FicWad

Chapter Thirty One: The Shadows Unmasked

At the Ministry of Magic, Percy Weasley shuffled through a stack of highly confidential Ministry of Magic documents, sorting out all of the paperwork from the recent change of management from Cornelius Fudge to Lucius Malfoy. Over the past several weeks, the Ministry was rather chaotic as many people hired under the regime of Fudge had been either suspended pending a review of recent actions or promptly sacked. At this point in time, Percy was one of the few left over that worked directly for Fudge under his six year reign as Minister of Magic. Despite not quite trusting the new Minister, Percy vowed to work as hard underneath Malfoy as he did with Crouch and Fudge.

The rumors flying through the Ministry had made Percy rather glad that he severed all ties from his family. His sister had run off with Potter, who the Ministry pegged as having potential to be more dangerous than You-Know-Who. Percy agreed with the fact that Potter was gathering minions for a brand new dark uprising and had spread lies about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returning to power, despite the fact that the official Ministry word that You-Know-Who died fourteen years ago. The fact that Potter’s mother had mysteriously come back to life seemed very fishy to young Percy Weasley, based on the official Ministry of Magic stance on that particular subject. Based on the official Ministry of Magic word, Percy highly suspected some sort of powerful dark magic involved in resurrecting Lily Potter. He would expect no less from a Slytherin such as Harry Potter.

There was no question about Percy being glad he left home and dissolved all ties to what he perceived to be his former family, especially if they were going to be brought down along with Potter. After all it was bad enough that Percy had to fight the negative stigma that the name Weasley had within the powerful officials within the Ministry and thus needed to work three times as hard as he normally would have. His work to create his own reputation may never be completed.

The door of Percy’s office pushed open without warning and Draco Malfoy stepped into the office, with a sneer on his face. He looked up at Percy with a disgusted expression, sticking his nose high in the air before he proceeded to speak.

“Weasley!” declared Draco in a sharp voice and Percy looked up, just barely acknowledging Draco. “You are to report to my father right now!”

Percy just narrowed his eyes, not looking too happy about a person who was expelled from Hogwarts barking orders at him but his desire to keep his job overruled any objections. He nodded his head curtly before getting to his feet and walking across the office, past Draco barely acknowledging the young Malfoy heir. He walked down the hallway straight to the Minister of Magic’s office without uttering one word.

Draco walked towards Percy Weasley’s desk and sat himself down in the chair, absent mindedly shuffling through the papers on the desk. His father had insisted that Draco spend some time working at the Ministry, to help reestablish some respect for the name of the Malfoy family. Draco had to work as what he thought to be a demeaning job, basically an errand boy. Definitely a task that was far below something like a Malfoy should be doing.

Then again to a Malfoy, any kind of labor was very demeaning.

One thing Draco was extremely irritated about was that his father didn’t use his power as Ministry of Magic to allow Draco to return to Hogwarts. He suspected he had a better chance to take control of the Slytherin house as he should of since Potter had been forced to run off. Despite Draco’s reasoning with his father, Lucius insisted that he had his reasons and Draco should not question them. In the back of his mind, Draco suspected that the incident when he was sent back to Malfoy Manor as a ferret at the hands of Harry Potter soured his chances. Of course, Draco felt his father was mistaken, as that particular incident was Potter’s fault and surely he could understand that Draco had done nothing to warrant such embarrassment at the hands of Harry Potter.

In his free time, Draco dreamed about the swift and utter demise of Harry Potter. Draco was obsessed with seeing Potter on his knees, begging for his life before he fell to a painful and messy death. Draco surely hoped that he would have a chance to personally bring down Harry Potter, to make him pay from stealing his rightful position of power within the Slytherin House and then getting him expelled from Hogwarts. Potter was responsible for every recent misfortunate in Draco Malfoy’s life and Draco hoped to one day end Potter’s life.

Draco got to his feet and exited Percy Weasley’s office, before walking down the hallway. He suspected that there wasn’t too much more time to waste, as his father would want him back promptly and have him take another message to a Ministry official who was under review from the new management.

In a dusty and grimy corridor around the area of the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione sat against the wall with her robes looking worn and her face smudged with dirt, clutching her right wrist in agony. The Inquisitorial Squad had spent a good part of their time bullying the segregated muggleborn population of Hogwarts since Umbridge became Headmistress. Many of the muggleborns seemed on the verge of being absolutely depressed at their horrid treatment and many mentally given up. Each day seemed to be an exercise of terror, as the muggleborns did not know when the Inquisitorial Squad would have their daily fun.

A favorite method of the Inquisitorial Squad to torment the muggleborns had been using the bone breaking hex on their wrists or fingers. When the representatives of the Inquisitorial Squad felt particularly hateful of the muggleborns, two members held a muggleborn down while a third member broke the chosen victim’s fingers one by one with this painful hex. Most days it was just the muggleborns finding themselves levitated about fifty feet in the air, being spun around or flung around, until they threw up. The worst part was that Umbridge had banned muggleborns from going into other parts of the school, so they couldn’t go to the hospital wing to get the needed medical treatment from their torment.

Some days, Hermione felt like mentally giving up but she owed it to Harry to try and stick around Hogwarts. Harry might have left the school, but he only took that step to stay out of Azkaban. Besides, she couldn’t give up just because a group of pureblood elitists kept tormenting her and the other muggleborns on a daily basis. The sorting hat put Hermione into Gryffindor for a reason. She needed to grit her teeth and remain at Hogwarts, despite the fact that every day was rather unpleasant thanks that wretched Inquisitorial Squad and Umbridge.

Hermione looked up, a frantic look in her eyes as she felt a tapestry obscuring a secret passageway brush against her shoulder as it was opened right next where she was sitting. She sprung to her feet, pointing her wand towards the passageway, even through her arsenal of spells were limited and the Inquisitorial Squad never traveled alone, they always traveled in packs.

Hermione relaxed her arm slightly, as she saw that only a befuddled looking Ron Weasley walking into the corridor, looking around wildly with a bit of a paranoid expression on his face. She still kept her wand instinctively raised, in case there were members of the Inquisitorial Squad lurking around.

“Bloody, Inquisitorial Squad,” muttered Ron in an agitated voice, not seeing Hermione at first.

“So, I’m guessing they got bored with just tormenting muggleborns,” said Hermione in a cool voice, pretty much devoid of any emotion whatsoever. “As my duty as prefect, I should remind you that non-muggleborns are not allowed in this section of this school but I suppose I wouldn’t have much power to enforce anything. After all, my prefect badge has basically become a useless piece of tin over the last couple of weeks.”

Hermione got up to her feet, ignoring the stabbing pain through her wrist. She sighed, expecting Inquisitorial Squad members to follow Ron through the passageway in any second.

“I thought the rest of the school was shut off from this place,” said Ron in a confused voice, looking around at the surroundings with a bit of disgust, flinching at the sight of a spider. “It seems absolutely horrid..”

“Well what do you expect for people who despise all muggleborns. To put us up in a utopian paradise,” answered Hermione in a deflated voice, her heart not really into taking Ron to task for his stupidity. “I’m sorry but I’m just not in a good mood. I wish someone would do something about Umbridge.”

Ron didn’t answer, but Hermione reached towards his pocket, her fingertips up her two way mirror. She shook her head, before retracting her hand. Harry didn’t need to be bothered, he would return when he was ready. Hermione tried to ignore the nagging thought in the back of her head that indicated that Harry didn’t have to return. Quite frankly, she would not blame Harry in the slightest if he never returned to the British Magical World. She knew Harry would because he was Harry but he had no obligation whatsoever to return.

Hermione’s eyes flickered upwards looking rather frantic as she saw the imposing form of the current Hogwarts Head Boy and leader of the Inquisitorial Squad, Warren MacNair, with Crabbe, Goyle, and a seventh year Slytherin that Hermione did not know. Ron stood right there, looking like a dear in the headlights.

“Weasley, you shouldn’t have gone exploring when we wanted to have a nice little chat with you,” declared MacNair in a severe voice as Crabbe and Goyle chuckled like mindless drones. “I am afraid you will have to have a nice visit with our headmistress Umbridge.”

“MacNair, look at what we have here,” said the seventh year, pointing to Hermione, who coldly glared at the Inquisitorial Squad. “Weasley has snuck down here to socialize with this Mudblood.”

“Weasley, all other students are forbidden with socializing with these things,” barked MacNair in a savage voice, pointing his wand towards Ron. “Stupefy!”

Ron was caught unawares by the stunner, sliding to the floor with a thud. MacNair turned to Crabbe and Goyle, who looked at him with stupid looks.

“Crabbe! Goyle! Take Weasley to Umbridge’s office and tell her about how he was trying to see this Mudblood,” ordered MacNair slowly and clearly, so Crabbe and Goyle had an ample amount of time to let every word sink in.

“Wait a minute, he wasn’t trying to see me, he just got lost and accidentally found this place,” said Hermione in a desperate voice, but MacNair just looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“You have some nerve, Mudblood,” said MacNair coldly. “Potter has been run off and soon, all Mudbloods and blood traitors will be put down like the rabid animals they are.”

“Harry will return,” responded Hermione in a stubborn voice which caused MacNair and his cronies to begin laughing.

“Potter’s turned coward,” declared the seventh year. “He isn’t coming back, we ran him, his foolish sister, and his no good bitch of a Weasel girlfriend off. There will be no savior to save you Mudbloods from the Dark Lord this time. No one left at Hogwarts to stop the Dark Lord from getting what he wants.”

MacNair looked at his seventh year Slytherin associate with narrowed eyes, he had obviously said too much. The seventh year Slytherin looked fearful, hoping that Hermione didn’t pick up anything awry from what was said. Crabbe and Goyle stood there, holding a stunned Ron up, looking absolutely confused.

“We’ll deal with you later, you dirty little Mudblood,” declared MacNair in a threatening voice. “Right now, our beloved Headmistress would like to question this piece of trash.”

Hermione watched Crabbe and Goyle drag Ron off through the corridor. She wished those wretched magical blocks were not on her wand, because she imagined any amount of spells that she would like to use on the Inquisitorial Squad or indeed, Umbridge herself.

Back at New York, there was a group gathered around in the basement of the Potter residence. Harry paced back and forth on the floor, as Master Splinter, Raph, Don, Mikey, Leo, Hailey, Ginny, and Lily looked on intently, waiting for what Harry had to reveal.

Harry was rather pleased that he had finally finished something that he had been working on periodically since the Christmas holidays. Since Harry was forced to flee from the Ministry of Magic, he managed to get some serious work done on this project, one that to his knowledge no one had ever attempted before. Finally, a few days into the month of March, Harry finished the construction of this ambitious and rather obscure magical device. He couldn’t wait to test it out and see if he needed to make any adjustments.

“Now, I’m sure you wonder why I asked you all here,” said Harry, finally breaking the silence. “What I am about to show you is the culmination of several months of hard work and is a revolutionary object that assist in preparation against any threat.”

Harry walked over towards the table, before reaching over and pulling a large piece of clothe off of a small object. The crowd around leaned in and saw a small, multi colored cubed shape object.

“A rubix cube?” asked Mikey in a confused voice. “Harry, I hate to break this to you, but I think that’s already been invented.”

Harry just shook his head, sighing.

“This little object is more that it appears to the human eye,” responded Harry. “It makes perfect sense when you consider magical physics. For most other people it boggles the mind about how something that looks so simple can turn out to be so complex.”

“Perhaps if you explain what it is, we will have a better idea my son,” prompted Master Splinter.

“I’ll do you one better, Master Splinter,” said Harry as he unrolled the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a metallic wristband with two small knobs on it. “I’ll show you all. Gather around, everybody.”

Hailey, Ginny, Master Splinter, The Turtles, and Lily walked towards Harry, gathering around him. Harry twisted one of the knobs on his metallic wristband and a flash of white light appeared for the briefest second, before the scene in the room changed.

The group looked around rather frantically. Harry smirked for a second at their panic, as from their perspective they appeared in the middle of the Great Hall at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“Harry!” exclaimed Hailey in a frantic voice. “You transported us directly into Hogwarts!”

“Relax, it is just merely a replicated illusion of the Great Hall of Hogwarts,” said Harry in a calm tone of voice.

“It doesn’t look like an illusion, through,” said Don, looking around for some kind of hint that they had never left the basement. “The bits of matter around the room must have magically contorted, creating an exact replica of the Great Hall at Hogwarts.”

“In English please?” prompted Raph in an agitated voice.

“My virtual magical cube projects a reality that emulates the surroundings of the Great Hall of Hogwarts and many other places that I choose to implement from my memory,” explained Harry before reaching for the knob on his wristband. “Observe.”

The scene changed rapidly with each twist of the knob. Before their eyes, the scene in what was in reality of the basement kept changing slightly to reveal the Hogwarts Grounds, the graveyard that Harry battled Voldemort in when Voldemort returned to full strength, an abandoned warehouse, an exact replica of the lair, the Chamber of Secrets, the Tri-Sports Arena from the Triceraton Homeworld, Prime Leader Zanramon’s throne room, and the room where he battled the Voldemort possessed Professor Quirrell over the Philosopher’s Stone.

Lily looked around, impressed by her son’s work. Every location was unique and if she didn’t know it was just an illusion contorting reality, she would have thought it to be absolutely real. The device was on part with the majority of creations submerged in the Department of Mysteries and the virtual magical cube might have been more of an achievement than more than a few of said devices. Lily wished she could have thought up something like this when she was an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries.

“It’s kind of reminds me of a portable Room of Requirement,” remarked Ginny as she looked around.

Harry smirked, as he reached for the second knob on his metallic wristband.

“Yes, I was inspired somewhat by the Room of Requirement but the exact magic was very difficult to pin down, so I had to make some guesses on how exactly it worked,” responded Harry. “Some concepts are also borrowed from the creation of a pensieve and holographic illusion charms. There are improvements made by me, many of which are unique, not to mention quite complex to outside sources. All based off of situations I have encountered in my life, linked straight to my memories.”

Harry drew in a deep breath before he continued his demonstration by twisting the second knob of his metallic wristband. A second later, a group of virtual Foot Ninjas appeared, weapons drawn. The Turtles drew their weapons on instinct at the sight of the assassin holograms.

“Observe the realism of my virtual magic cube,” muttered Harry as he watched one of the virtual ninjas rush forward towards Raph before he swung a sword towards Raph. Raph blocked the sword with his Sai and leapt up, before he kicked the Foot Ninja in the chest. The assassin flew backwards and cracked back first against a wall before it vanished into thin air.

Harry reached forward and with a reverse twist of the knob, caused the rest of the Foot Ninjas to disappear into oblivion in the blink of the eye.

“This is just one of many features, but some have not been completely perfected yet,” continued Harry.

“Do you have any other features that you know are perfected, Harry?” asked Lily curiously.

“A couple more, Mum,” said Harry, nodding his head. “Nothing really major but they are still useful enough to unique enough.”

Harry reached for his metallic wristband, preparing to demonstrate some of the other features based in his virtual magic cube. Unfortunately, a loud ear splitting squealing sound echoed throughout the basement, causing Hailey, Ginny, Harry, Don, Raph, Leo, and Mikey to clasp their hands to their head, attempting to block out the sound.

“What in the bloody hell is that?” yelled Ginny in an absolutely irritated tone of voice, as she clutched her ears in agony.

“Yeah, did something go wrong with the virtual magical cube?” asked Leo as the sound continued to echo throughout the basement.

“No, this is just my magical security system going off,” said Lily frowning, as she raised her wand in the air moving towards the stairs. “Which means someone is trying to force their way through the spells around this house.”

Ginny and Harry exchanged apprehensive looks, several horrible scenarios each running through their minds about who could be attempting to break through the security charms. None of the possibilities were good at all.

“I hope it isn’t the Ministry,” muttered Hailey in a worried voice.

“Possible, but highly unlikely,” said Harry curtly.

“I agree, since Voldemort is more or less in control in the Ministry thanks to Malfoy, he wouldn’t want to draw the American Wizardry Government into this war,” said Ginny.

“At least right now, maybe later on if he acquires more followers,” replied Harry darkly. “Right now, he’d spread himself way too thin.”

The squealing continued as Lily pointed her wand forward, with the Turtles, Master Splinter, Harry, Ginny, and Hailey walking up the stairs behind her, preparing for a fight just in case someone broke through. Master Splinter looked around, the rat sensei’s eyes narrowed and he looked around, sniffing curiously.

“There is some type of external presence nearby,” muttered Splinter. “One that is going to an incredible amount of trouble in masking their presence, so it is very difficult to determine anything else about whomever is trying to break through the security spells.”

The group walked from the basement, across the kitchen, preparing to defend themselves at a moments notice as they moved closer towards the living room area of the house. Lily pointed her wand towards the front door and did a silent unlocking charm, preparing to curse any unfriendly attacks. After looking up around the area of the Potter residence, Lily came to the conclusion that whomever was trying to break through her security spells must have given up as the squealing had began to slowly taper off.

“Why did it stop?” asked Raph in a confused voice, with his Sais in his hands, just begging for some intruder to give him an excuse to start an altercation.

“I’m not really sure,” said Lily with a frown, as she waved her wand around but all of her security spells seemed to be intact. “Nothing seems to be out of place with the spells but if anyone triggered them, they would be frozen in their tracks, unable to move right now.”

“I don’t like this,” said Harry in a shaky voice. “Mum, could someone have gotten around the spells somehow?”

“Possible,” said Lily nodding her head, thinking quickly. “It wouldn’t be the easiest thing to do, as they were based off of security magic that was being developed during my time as an Unspeakable. If anyone did that, they would need expert knowledge to do so and even then, they would be lucky to barely push through because of the modifications I made.”

“I really don’t like this,” repeated Harry darkly, as he raised his wand cautiously in one hand with his double edged sword in his other hand. The others also looked around, looking uneasy. It was quiet, in an eerie sort of way.

The silence was broken by a loud bang from beneath their feet. Harry spun around, holding his wand, before standing on his toes and frantically looking around in every direction.

“The basement, they might have found a way into the house” muttered Harry darkly, and quickly the others moved forward back through the kitchen, towards the opened doorway with the stairs leading down to the basement.

“They can’t have gotten far, maybe we can block off the stairs,” suggested Ginny.

Harry nodded absentmindedly as he followed both Leo and Mikey down the basement steps, with the others following closely behind them. As he came closer towards the bottom of the stairs, he saw a faint glow coming from his virtual magic cube illuminating the area of the basement. Harry heard someone or something move in the shadows and he quickened his pace down the basement steps.

“Whoever you are, there is no way out!” yelled Harry as he raised his wand and blasted a stunner towards the shadows but his virtual magical cube began to glow, before a wave of light shot out, engulfing Leo, Mikey, and Harry.

“Harry!” yelled Ginny in a horrified voice, but a solid barrier appeared right at the bottom of the stairs, blocking anyone else from entering the main basement area. Ginny attempted to blast it down with her wand, but the barrier stopped any magic from penetrating it. Ginny turned around to address the others, looking quite frantic. “Someone’s blocked us from getting down once Harry cleared the stairs!”

“Surely there has to be some way around the barrier,” said Raph as he twirled his one of his Sais before he heaved it directly at the barrier, in a futile attempt to get through. The barrier

“Maybe, but it would help if we knew exactly what happened,” replied Lily.

“Let us try and work around then to try and determine another way around the barrier,” suggested Master Splinter in a calm voice and the group moved up the basement steps, attempting to find another way around the barrier.

Harry blinked, one second he was coming down the stairs and the next second he was in what appeared to be a virtual projection of the Chamber of Secrets. He looked around and saw Leo and Mikey getting their feet, looking a bit dazed and confused.

“Leo, Mikey, are you okay?” asked Harry in a concerned tone of voice.

“Fine,” said Leo.

“Yeah, but we’d be a lot better if we knew what just happened,” responded Mikey.

“Well, apparently someone managed to find a small flaw in the security charms long enough to slip into the house and they attempted to tamper with my virtual reality cube, causing a backlash of magic, inadvertently activating the cube,” said Harry without taking a breath.

“Wait a minute, inadvertently activated the virtual reality cube?” asked Leo. “Wouldn’t whoever was tampering with it mean to activate it if they were in fact tampering with it?”

“Yes and no,” responded Harry. “I can tell that something went wrong in their tampering so the virtual magic cube is acting in strange ways.”

“Surely, there is some way you can shut it down if it malfunctioning,” said Leo.

“I think I might be able to but it will take time, so who knows what will happen when it is activated,” muttered Harry as he raised his wand.

Mikey and Leo went rigid for a second, as a slithering sound echoed throughout the Chamber of Secrets. Harry panicked immediately, he had a sinking feeling he knew what was coming next.

“Shield your eyes!” ordered Harry in a sharp voice. “Keep your weapons ready at all times, so you are able to promptly fight for your lives!”

Leo and Mikey spun their bandannas around, shielding their eyes, with their weapons at ready. Harry looked around, what he hoped was a virtual projection of a basilisk was nearby. He didn’t want to risk anything, just on the off chance that the tampering had made the virtual basilisk just as deadly as the real one.

“What is it Harry?” muttered Mikey in a serious tone of voice as he had his nunchucks grasped firmly in his hands.

“Basilisk,” replied Harry darkly, holding his hand a few centimeters away from his eyes so he could shield his eyes at a moment’s notice.

Leo and Mikey winced and prepared to fight at the slightest incident of trouble. Sure enough, a large snake slithered a few feet away from Harry, Leo, and Mikey. Just as a few seconds before it spun its head around, Harry instinctively shielded his eyes with his left hand while holding his wand in his right hand. The basilisk dove for Harry’s legs but the Boy-Who-Lived sprang up into the air right over the basilisk before landing perfectly behind him. The basilisk went for Leo and Mikey but Leo swung his sword to the side, whacking the basilisk in the face, slowing it in its tracks, allowing Harry to rush around to the side. The king of serpents was not harmed by that shot but Harry aimed his wand directly in front of the mouth of the basilisk before stomping his foot hard on the ground to gain the attention of the snake. The basilisk spun around and Harry shot a jagged red light from his wand, impacting the mouth of the snake. The spell blasted the basilisk high into the air before it flew a distance of about fifteen feet, landing on the stone floor with a thud.

Harry slowly pulled his hand from his eyes. The basilisk was not dead yet, just merely disoriented. Spying a large fang that had been blown from the basilisk’s mouth, Harry saw a chance to put down the simulated monster. Harry rushed towards the fang quickly before the serpent had a chance to recover, expertly grabbing it in his hand, careful not to stab himself with it. The Boy-Who-Live leapt up and stabbed the fang right through the top of the basilisk’s head, impaling it right through the beast’s brain. The basilisk deflated, blood oozing everywhere as Harry stepped back before pulling his sleeve back, taking advantage of the beast being slain. Harry pushed the second knob of his metallic wristband in and a large surge of magic blasted Harry forwards right onto his back before the scene in the Chamber of Secrets slowly morphed into another area from Harry’s past.

“Damn!” cursed Harry loudly, as he looked around. He hadn’t been here in over a decade but he hoped he would never have to even have a glimpse of this wretched place.

Leo and Mikey cautiously turned around, looking at the spotless interior of their new location.

“Where are we?” wondered Mikey.

“Hell,” responded Harry darkly. “Or to put things more bluntly, Number Four Privet Drive.”

Leo and Mikey glared for a second but a thunderous sound echoed in the distance, as if wild animal was thundering into the distance.

“Heads up, Mikey, Leo,” responded Harry and sure enough, the form of Vernon Dursley appeared in the doorway, his face purple with unmistakable rage.

“BOY!” thundered Vernon in a loud voice as he brandished what Harry recognized to be a cricket bat in his hands, waving it threateningly at the two Turtles and Harry.

“Please tell me this oaf didn’t beat you with a cricket bat, Harry,” said Leo in a shaky voice.

“No, Dursley wasn’t that creative,” remarked Harry darkly. “This is a case of the virtual magical cube interacting strangely with the magic that was tampered with it.”

The virtual projection of Vernon Dursley bellowed, rushing forward, swinging the cricket bat at Leo, Mikey, and Don but Leo blocked the attack with both of his swords, pushing Dursley back. Vernon spiraled over the sofa, landing on the ground with a thud.

“Well that was easy,” said Mikey.

“Too easy,” muttered Harry darkly as he saw virtual Vernon get to his feet, his eyes widened in anger before he picked up a vase and tossed it towards the two mutant turtles and Harry.

Mikey swung his nunchucks, shattering the vase before leaping up and swinging his weapon towards Vernon but Vernon barely ducked before he sunk his large beefy fist into Mikey’s stomach. He grabbed the turtle by the throat but Leo caught Vernon in the face with a kick. Vernon Dursley flew backwards, cracking hard against the wall. Vernon pulled himself to his feet, looking absolutely enraged.

“What will it take to put this guy down?” asked Mikey in an agitated voice but Harry rushed over.

“Boy, I will make you pay for bring these freaks into my house!” screamed Vernon but Harry ducked a punch before kicking Vernon as hard as possible in the face. The cricket bat flew out of Vernon’s hand and Harry summoned it silently into his hand.

Vernon went for Harry but Harry swung the bat right into Vernon’s collarbone, splintering it. The virtual projection fell to its knees momentarily stunned as Harry looked over to his two brothers.

“Guys, keep him occupied,” muttered Harry as stepped out.

Leo and Mikey exchanged looks as the simulated counter part of Vernon Dursley got to his feet. He turned to his head.

“PETUNIA!” bellowed Vernon. “The freak brought some freakish friends into the house and I need your help in dealing with them.”

A virtual projection of one Petunia Dursley walked from the kitchen, her hands on her hips and a disapproving look on her horse looking face, a soapy frying pan in one hand.

“Slimy filth, messing up my house!” bellowed Petunia, taking the two turtles into account as she moved forward quickly, swinging her frying pan towards Leo, who blocked it with his sword and flipped Petunia over to land on her back.

Virtual Vernon was back into the game as he swung the cricket bat right at Mikey who bounced off the wall, before attempting to wrap the nunchucks around the weapon. Vernon hoisted Mikey up but Mikey let go and Vernon toppled to the ground.

In the next room, Harry waved his wand at his metallic wristband while mentally making calculations. If his theory was correct, he could manage to reset the virtual magical cube to the point it was before it was hit with the magic. However, both Harry and someone from the outside had to perform the spells simultaneously to shut down the virtual reality world projected by the cube and return Mikey, Leo, and Harry to the real world.

Hoping that he would be able to contact someone from the outside, Harry pulled out his two way mirror. It was worth a shot.

Outside the Potter residence, Don and Raph attempted to pry open a window leading the basement, but it was becoming a very difficult endeavor. It was impossible to break through using magic because of the charms around the house, so they desperately attempted to get in by Muggle means. Ginny paced back and forth, her eyes wide. She wished she had some hint that Harry was okay. Hailey and Lily didn’t look too much better and Master Splinter leaned on his walking stick, attempting to remain calm but there was a dark look evident in his eyes as three of his sons may very well be in grave danger.

Lily stepped back when she suddenly felt a call coming in from her two way mirror. Reaching into her pocket, she saw a faded image of Harry coming through.

“Mum, are you there?” asked Harry as he stared at the mirror, as it faded in and out, the magic in the virtual magical cube fading in and out.

“Harry, I’m here,” said Lily and Ginny looked a bit more cheerful but still worried.

“Listen carefully, as I might not have much time to explain this,” responded Harry. “On the dresser of my room there is a blue folder. In the folder, there are detailed instructions how to shut down the virtual magical cube. I need you to get that folder and contact me back once you have it. Understand?”

Lily nodded as the image of her son her son flickered out. She turned to fill the others in on what Harry had told her.

Back in the world projected by the virtual magic cube, Mikey rolled underneath a swing from a frying pan and swung his nunchucks up into the air, cracking virtual Petunia across the head. Petunia fell to the ground, bleeding from her head where Mikey’s weapon struck against it. Vernon rushed over, swinging his cricket bat towards Mikey but Mikey side stepped. Leo sprang up into the air and the cricket bat sliced in half. Vernon gave a mighty bellow but Mikey took advantage of his rage by grabbing him by the arm and flipping him into the ground. Vernon rose up and Leo and Mikey jumped up, kicking Vernon in the chest with all the force the two Turtles could muster. Vernon dropped to the floor with a sickening thud right on top of Petunia, nearly crushing her underneath his bulk. Leo and Mikey looked down at their two fallen foes.

“Was it just me, or did those two seem a bit more difficult than you would have thought?” asked Mikey in a curious voice.

Well, yes because whatever magic was used to tamper with this is causing the virtual world projected by this cube to act in strange ways,” replied Harry as he walked into the room, surveying the downed Dursleys with an indifference expression. “Now, I think I figured out a way to shut this down.”

“I just hope we don’t run into any more trouble, because if a minor threat can be that hard to beat, just image what a major threat can be,” said Leo darkly.

Just as those words came out of Leo’s mouth, the scene around the two mutant turtles and Harry shifted into the hallways of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“You just had to say the magic words, didn’t you Leonardo?” asked Mikey in a disgusted voice.

“Any idea who we are going to face off against Harry,” said Leo in a calm voice.

Harry opened his mouth to reply but some of the doors off to the side of the hallway began to swing open. Leo and Mikey pulled out their weapons, as the doors stood open before seven separate foes walked out of seven separate doorways.

Standing before Harry, Leo, and Mikey were virtual projections of Agent Bishop, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Hun, Baxter Stockman with his head mounted on top of an Utrom exoskeleton, The Shredder, and Lord Voldemort.

“What now Harry?” asked Mikey.

“Fight like you’ve never fought before,” suggested Harry dully a split second before jets of light from wands and fists flew in every which directly going after Leo, Mikey, and Harry, with the three narrowly avoiding them.

Harry leapt up, avoiding the beefy fist of Hun, dodging each attack before rolling out of the way as Stockman attempted to attack Harry, causing both Stockman and Hun to collide, knocking each other off balance for a few seconds.

Bellatrix set a large orange ball towards Leo, attempting to incinerate him one shot but Leo threw himself to the side and the spell completely obliterated the wall where Leo was once standing. Bishop promptly gripped Leo by the throat, before tossing the mutant turtle to the ground effortlessly. Charging forward, Bishop kicked Leo in the chest full force with both feet, causing him to land hard against the wall.

Mikey side stepped a jet of red light from the wand of Lucius Malfoy before leaping up into the air and swung his nunchucks straight into the top of the head of virtual Malfoy. The weapon parted Malfoy’s hair with a sickening crunch and he slid to the ground. Mikey spun around and Lord Voldemort shot a jet of black light at Mikey, which Mikey only just narrowly avoided.

“Avada Kedavra!” hissed virtual Voldemort and a jet of green light soared directly towards Mikey but Mikey threw himself on the ground, allowing the dreaded killing curse to soar over him and blast a large hole through a wall.

Mikey sprung up, swinging his nunchucks at Voldemort but a huge shield appeared in front of the dreaded dark lord. Nunchucks clanged against the shield, shaking Mikey and a second later, snake like ropes shot from behind the shield, binding Mikey’s arms and legs. Mikey struggled against his bonds but much to his dismay he found he was unable to escape.

Voldemort dropped the shield and sent a powerful surge of magical energy through the ropes but Leo managed to push Bishop off, breaking Voldemort’s concentration and allowing Mikey to slip out of the coils of the Dark Lord.

Harry ducked around to the side, avoiding the Shredder from punching his face in. Another swing from Shredder and Harry blocked Shredder’s metal gauntlet with his blade, but Shredder pushed Harry off and swung at him. Harry ducked and Shredder punched a hole through a closed door. Harry took advantage of the Shredder’s momentary distraction by leaping up and swinging his weapon, slicing the Shredder’s helmet off the top of the armor exosuit. The helmet splattered to the ground and Shredder slumped to the ground,

Hun grabbed Harry by the throat and hoisted him up, just as Harry felt an incoming call from his two way mirror. Harry choked for air, desperately reaching for his mirror, kicking Hun full force in the face, opening a nasty gash underneath the right eye of the man mountain. Hun gave an angry bellow and charged forward but Harry tripped him up, causing Hun to spiral towards an open doorway and crash headfirst into a desk, knocking him out cold. Taking a breath, Harry cautiously pulled his two way mirror and put it in front of his face. His mother was on the other side, looking frantic.

“I have the folder, Harry and I’m looking over the instructions now,” said Lily. “Now what do you want me to do to shut down the cube?”

“Stand by,” said Harry through gritted teeth as he put up a shield charm, blocking a lethal curse shot by Bellatrix’s virtual counterpart before firing a set of iron manacles at Bellatrix, causing her arms and legs to be bound, her wand rolling to the floor.

Leo swung his katanas at Voldemort, attempting to disable him. Voldemort whipped around, causing Leo’s weapons to clash with the ground.

“You will pay, turtle,” hissed Voldemort in a dangerous voice. “Crucio!”

Leo found himself undergoing pain that was equivalent of dozens of knives being stuck into his body and being twisted. He dropped to his knees, as Voldemort tortured him.

Mikey struggled as Stockman pinned the mutant’s arms behind his back as Lucius Malfoy stepped into the picture, carefully aiming his wand towards the turtle.

“Avada Kedavra!” cried Lucius but Mikey managed to flip Stockman over, using his robot body as a shield against the lethal killing curse. Stockman’s metal exosuit blew into thousands of tiny pieces, causing the mad scientist to be disabled and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared into oblivion.

Mikey leapt up, grabbing Lucius by the throat and tossing him over in front of Voldemort, breaking his concentration. Voldemort dropped the curse on Leo and swiftly moved forward, preparing to attack Mikey.

Harry jumped onto a statue as Agent Bishop quickly joined him. Bishop punched towards Harry but Harry swung around the head of the statue, before kicking the sinister government official in the face. Bishop landed gracefully on his feet and leapt up but Harry grabbed Bishop by his tie and attempted to hang him from the statue but Bishop pulled away and flipped Harry off the statue onto the ground. Harry managed to land on his feet and pointed his wand, blasting the statue into pieces with Bishop standing on the top of it. With Agent Bishop temporarily disabled, Harry resumed his contact with his mother on the other end of the two way mirror.

“Okay, Mum, I think…” started Harry but he spotted Bellatrix who had broken free from her restraints and had joined Lucius in surrounding Harry. “Just a second.”

“Avada Kedavra!” screamed Bellatrix and Lucius at the same time but Harry simply dropped down, causing the Killing Curse to blast full force into both of the Death Eaters. Bellatrix and Lucius disappeared into oblivion, taken completely out of the equation.

“I’ve got it!” yelled Harry, as he watched Mikey narrowly duck an attack from Voldemort with Leo down on the ground, looking worse for wear. “We need to use their own brute force against them, that’s the only way we can even the odds enough so I can shut down the cube.”

Harry looked as Hun and the headless form of the Shredder advanced towards him.

“Come on, let me see what you two got,” taunted Harry as Hun groped towards Harry but Harry slid to the side and Hun spun around as Harry lured the headless Shredder towards him. Hun swung his mighty fist towards Harry but Harry dropped down, rolling to the side and Hun punched Shredder viciously, denting his exosuit severely. Shredder’s virtual counterpart disappeared swiftly into midair, having been defeated.

“Ah crud,” muttered Hun as he watched his virtual master fall to the ground and Harry caught him with a leaping kick, knocking Hun in the face. Hun went after Harry just as Bishop grabbed Harry from behind, but Harry managed to break free of the grasp of Agent Bishop.

Voldemort watched Mikey levitated ten feet into the air and spinning slowly like a top. The Dark Lord seemed amused with the fact that Mikey was about to get sick and Harry decided to kick Hun in the back, causing him to hurtle towards Voldemort. Voldemort pulled away his grip and Mikey spiraled to the ground, landing on top of Hun. Hun’s back cracked underneath the sudden impact and he vanished, allowing Mikey to slip towards the ground.

“Two left,” muttered Leo as he looked at Voldemort and Bishop coming from either side.

“Unfortunately, these two will be difficult to put down,” replied Mikey darkly before Voldemort sent a killing curse towards the turtles who scattered.

“We just need to get these two to wipe out each other,” responded Harry, who had just joined the festivities, attempting to stab Bishop with his weapon but Bishop blocked the attack with his sunglasses.

“Easier said then done, Harry,” replied Mikey as he made a futile attempt to attack Voldemort but dozen razor sharp arrows blasted directly towards Mikey, causing the mutant to bolt.

Leo and Harry battled with Agent Bishop. For a virtual projection, he was doing an excellent job keeping up with the two accomplished ninjas. Of course, the real Bishop was a painful adversary during the only meeting that Harry and the Turtles had with him. Bishop grabbed Leo’s katana effortlessly with his hand, allowing him to swiftly block Harry’s attempt to wipe him out. Bishop hoisted both Leo and Harry but Harry kicked Bishop squarely in the chest. Bishop looked unfazed as Mikey stood back to back with Bishop as Voldemort shot a dagger from his wand. At the last second, Mikey backflipped gracefully over Bishop as Leo and Harry held the government agent into place. The magical dagger impaled directly through Bishop. Blood splattered from Bishop before he vanished from the virtual world.

Leo, Mikey, and Harry looked up apprehensively at their final foe, the imposing form of Lord Voldemort, the most feared dark wizard the world had seen in over a century. Voldemort’s red eyes narrowed, staring at two mutants and one wizard with cold indifference.

“Go Harry, disable the code, we’ll hold Voldemort off,” muttered Leo in an undertone to Harry.

“We will?” asked Mikey but Harry had already moved off to the side, crouching down, and taking his two way mirror back out.

“Okay, Mum, I’m ready now,” muttered Harry.

“Okay, Harry, just tell me what you’re doing and I’ll copy you from the outside,” replied Lily in a serious voice.

Harry nodded trying to shut the sounds of combat off to the side out of his mind.

Mikey and Leo dodged madly as virtual Voldemort started to look rather irritated with the two mutants avoiding every lethal spell he fired off.

“Ah, come on Moldy Voldie,” taunted Mikey from the other side of the room. “Can’t you fire off a spell that can wipe out a measly turtle.”

“Impudent reptiles!” yelled Voldemort in an angry voice. “Avada Kedavra!”

Mikey was caught off guard and barely dodged out of the way. The curse blasted a large hole through the wall and Leo managed to sneak up behind Voldemort in the confusion, to catch him with a glancing blow with the flat edge of his sword across the back of his head. The blow only stalled Voldemort for a brief second and he hoisted Leo up magically, spinning him around. Leo swung around the room a couple of times before Voldemort let go and sent him flying right into Mikey. The two Turtles crashed onto the ground in a heap, looking rather worse for wear as Voldemort stepped back preparing for the swift annihilation of the two mutant turtles.

“Prepare to redirect the flow of the magical output directed from the virtual magical cube to begin with the shut down process,” said Harry as he waved his wand in a rectangular formation with Lily copying from outside, her wand pointed towards the basement. Harry’s metallic wristband began to glow blue. Harry looked pleased to see that the process was working. “Okay, now we are going to double up the output so we begin cancelling it out.”

Back in the virtual magical world, Leo and Mikey looked up, they appeared to be obscured into some kind of fog as the surroundings around them. They began to see flickers of the basement at the Potter residence around them. Unfortunately, the cube was not completely shut down, as the ominous form of Lord Voldemort threatening hovered over him, his wand raised. Time seemed to slow down to a terrifying level for Mikey and Leo. All of Harry’s descriptions of Voldemort didn’t really scratch the surface of how terrifying he looked, even if it was a virtual counterpart.

“It’s almost disabled,” muttered Harry as he looked around. “Now we need to look for the virtual magical cube to focus into sight, so we can use the disabling spell directly to the cube. It could take up to a minute. I just hope Leo and Mikey can hold off him for that long.”

Leo and Mikey were rapidly running out of room, as Voldemort had them corned.

“Come on Harry,” mumbled Mikey in an impatient voice but Leo tossed his sword towards Voldemort but the Dark Lord blasted the sword into dust with a well placed spells.

“Nowhere to run, you infernal mutants,” hissed Voldemort in an icy tone of voice.

Harry looked around and saw through a small window, the virtual magic cube sitting on the table. Quickly he raised his wand.

“Now, Mum!” cried Harry as Lily pointed her wand as through the basement window as they both silently performed the spell, focusing on the cube quickly before it had a chance to slip off into nothingness.

“Avada Kedavra!” yelled Voldemort causing a jet of green light to soar towards the Turtles, who had nowhere left to run.

The deadly killing curse stopped a second before it would have hit, frozen in time. Everything in the virtual world became to fade out, including the virtual projection of Voldemort. About thirty seconds later, everyone was safely back in the basement, the virtual magical cube absolutely still.

“We’re back,” said Mikey happily as Leo breathed a sigh of relief off to the side.

Harry brushed his untidy hair from his eyes The danger caused by making the virtual world all too real had passed and Harry began to mentally make plans to make alterations to the cube, so anyone who tried to tamper with it would get a very unpleasant surprise.

Raph, Don, Master Splinter, Lily, Hailey, and Ginny bounded down the stairs, looking rather relieved that the danger had passed. Harry opened his mouth to say something but an envelope slid right next to his feet.

“Now what?” asked Harry in an irritated voice as the others looked at the envelope like it was another trap. Harry slowly levitated the envelope into the air, before slicing it open slowly. A harmless piece of parchment floated to the floor.

“It’s just a letter,” said Raph in a befuddled voice but Harry levitated the parchment up into the air, before spinning it around, allowing everyone to read the contents of the letter.

Mr. Potter:

You have passed the test. Our organization is very pleased as our expectations have been greatly exceeded. You have been judged worthy in knowing certain crucial information that could help bring into motion the downfall of the Dark Lord. If you want this information, write your full name at the bottom of this parchment

The Black Wand

“They recklessly endangered your life just for a stupid test of your worthiness!” yelled Ginny angrily, looking at the parchment with disgust. “Harry, these people don’t sound very trustworthy at all.”

“Being named the Black Wand, someone would think that they want Voldemort out of the way so whoever is leading this group can replace him,” said Hailey tentatively.

“Still, any information about Voldemort would be rather useful,” said Harry in a thoughtful voice.

“Harry, please tell me you aren’t going to think about trusting these people?” asked Ginny in an absolutely terrified voice, fearing for Harry’s life. “They might want to take out Voldemort; they might be Voldemort sympathizers for all we know.”

“Not to mention that they used the term Dark Lord in the letter, which no one but Voldemort’s Death Eaters use to refer to him,” added Lily in a dull voice.

“My curiosity has nothing to trusting these people…” started Harry before he trailed off and pulled out his wand, before frantically putting a privacy barrier around the group. “Now, that we can’t be overheard…”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean overheard?” interjected Raph.

“I’ve been sensing presences at odd times, but they seem to be just a faint trace, mainly obscured, as if someone was following me and going to great lengths to make sure I did not see them,” remarked Harry.

“Much like the presences I observed earlier today,” muttered Master Splinter.

“So, I guess we can safely assume these people have been observing you for some time, Harry,” replied Don.

“Yep,” said Harry coolly. “I might as well see what this Black Wand group has to say. Don’t worry through, because I plan to have plenty of backup, just on the off hand chance this is setup.”

Ginny looked a bit relieved but still rather uneasy. Still, at least Harry didn’t go into an unknown situation by himself.

Without further ado, Harry signed his name to the bottom of the document and seconds later, instructions on where and when this Black Wand group wanted to meet with Harry.

Back at the Ministry of Magic, Percy Weasley walked into Lucius Malfoy’s office with an apprehensive look on his face. Off to the side of Malfoy sat the parasite known as Evan Darthmorth, looking particularly sleazy. Darthmorth recently was named the Head of the Department of Magical Press relations.

“Ah, young Percival,” said Lucius in a calm voice. “Do sit down.”

Percy sat down nervously across from the Minister.

“I have been reviewing the quality of your work since you arrived at the Ministry and the quality is rather impressive,” said Lucius. “So impressive in fact that I am offering you a promotion of sorts within the Ministry providing you prove yourself to me.”

“What is this position, Minister?” asked Percy curiously.

“Junior Minister of Magic, you will have power to fire employees in lesser departments of the Ministry,” said Lucius. “In fact, an employee will be coming to my office shortly that has proven to not be up to the standards of the environment we are attempting project from the Ministry. You are to release him from his duties at the Ministry effective immediately”

Percy looked eager to gain a chance to rise up to a higher position of power in the Ministry.

“Ah here he comes,” muttered Lucius with a sinister smirk as he looked over Percy’s shoulder.

Arthur Weasley entered the Minister’s office, having a sinking suspicion about what was to come. To be frankly, he was surprised that Malfoy hadn’t gotten around to booting him out of the Ministry right now. As he entered the office, Arthur saw his third oldest son sitting in the company of Darthmorth and Malfoy. He tried to ignore this particular fact.

Percy turned around, coming face to face with his father. Despite his lack of ambition of moving upwards, Percy thought that his father didn’t do anything to warrant being removed from his position at the Ministry.

“Father,” remarked Percy coolly.

“Percy,” replied Arthur in an even voice.

“Young Percival has something to say to you,” interjected Darthmorth in a slimy voice, looking pleased at the conflict between the Weasleys.

“Father, with my new position as Junior Minister of Magic, it is my duty to inform you that your job performance is not up to the standards the Ministry of Magic would like of their workers,” said Percy in a calm emotionless voice. “You have until the end of today to clear out your desk, as your services will no longer be required as a part of the Ministry.”

Arthur looked at his son for a few seconds, before he nodded his head. He didn’t feel angry, just extremely disappointed. He turned his back but the sound of Lucius Malfoy’s voice stalled him for a few seconds.

“Weasley,” started Lucius and Arthur Weasley turned around to face the Minister. “On behalf of the entire Ministry of Magic, I wish you the best in your future endeavors, although I am at a lost of what those would be in your insignificant life.”

Arthur didn’t respond, he just walked out of Malfoy’s office, dreading having to tell Molly that he was release. Merlin knows she was already on edge because of Ginny being a fugitive from the Ministry, despite the fact that they knew Ginny was safe and with Harry.

Percy watched his father leave, a sickening feeling his stomach that Percy tried to nerve.

“As for you, Percival Weasley, the Ministry of Magic feels that you would be too much of a liability to keep around,” responded Lucius.

“But, Minister, with all due respect, I thought you said my work was acceptable,” said Percy.

“Yes, it was, and very ambitious, something coming from people like you that the proper wizards in this establishment frown upon,” replied Malfoy. “Plus, you were tied with Fudge and I must purge anyone who was tied to that disgrace from the Ministry.”

Percy just hung his hand low, as he watched Darthmorth look as if Christmas had come early.

“You have thirty minutes to clean out your desk or you will be sent to Azkaban for trespassing,” added Lucius coldly. “Now get out of my sight, Weasley.”

Percy walked out of Lucius’s office; his shoulders slumped, looking rather dejected. Lucius looked rather pleased because any day that he could step on a Weasley or two proved to be successful.

Some time later, outside of a rather dark looking magical inn in one of the worst parts of New York about an hour after the sun went down, Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Lily, Master Splinter, Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Don prepared to confront the Black Wand group. Tonight Sirius and Remus joined them with a small group of Aurors from the American Wizardry Government stationed around the parameter, just in case this was an ambush of some sort.

The entrance of inn blew open eerily on its own accord. Harry walked in, with his wand in hand, with the others following him into the unknown. A chill blew through the inn as Harry felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

“This place looks like it has been abandoned for years,” muttered Remus as he looked around, curiously, wand in his hand.

“So no one would know to look for living people here,” replied Sirius, as he had his wand out as well.

“Hence the reason why we asked Harry Potter to come here, less of a chance of being found by undesirable parties, remarked a voice from the shadows and a dozen figures walked out from the shadows, all cloaked in black with only their eyes visible.

“Representatives of the Black Wand, I presume,” said Harry in a casual voice.

“Very perspective, young Potter,” remarked a grizzled voice belong to one of the cloaked figures. “We had expected you to come alone.”

“Yes, like I’d trust people who attempt to use my own magical technology against me,” replied Harry acidly.

“Just exactly who are you people?” asked Sirius in an impatient voice.

“Sirius, you are impudent as always,” remarked a cool voice off to the side which caused Sirius to raise his eyebrows in confusion. “To answer your question, we are the Black Wand.”

“We do know that much, oddly enough but who are you?” asked Harry.

“We are believed to be either dead or outcasts from the Wizarding world,” replied the first cloaked figure who spoke. “Over the years, we have accumulated certain important information regarding Tom Marvolo Riddle, or if you would prefer, Lord Voldemort.”

“Yes, finally, we are getting somewhere, but how can we know who you are when you have your faces obscured like that?” asked Lily in a suspicious tone of voice.

“We don’t have to verify yourselves to you, Mudblood,” replied the wizard who had called Sirius impudent earlier causing some of his fellow Black Wand members to look rather nervous.

“Wrong answer,” growled Sirius. “Now reveal who you are or else.”

“Sirius, Mum, I’ll handle this,” remarked Harry as he looked at him. “I must speak to the leader, since I suspect they would have the knowledge about Voldemort that you would want.”

“The leader would be me,” declared the wizard who had insulted both Sirius and Lily. “And you are most correct about your assumptions that I have the information on the Dark Lord that might assist in helping you defeat him. Include the location of two of his Horcruxes.”

This statement about the Horcruxes caught Harry’s attention right away.

“Now, I passed your little test, I deserve to know exactly who you are,” requested Harry.

“Potter, I am sure this is something you don’t want to know,” remarked the leader of the Black Wand.

“Trust me when I’ve say that I doubt that you can catch me off guard with your identity,” replied Harry.

“If you must know,” said the leader of the Black Wand in a morbid voice as he slowly pealed back his hood, revealing his gaunt and waxy face.

Sirius, Lily, and Remus all gasped, backing off as if they had seen a ghost of some sort. The others looked confused at the actions of Lily, Remus, and Sirius. Harry opened his mouth to ask a question but Sirius spoke, answering his question.

“R-r-Regulus,” choked Sirius in a disbelieving voice. “It can’t be…”

“Yes it can,” replied Regulus Black in a bored tone of voice.

“But you died,” responded Sirius looking absolutely flabbergasted. “Well, I thought Lily did too but we did find your body when hers was never found.”

“My brother, you can’t kill what is already dead,” declared Regulus in an eerie, almost inhume tone of voice.