FicWad

Chapter Eighteen: Countdown.

Azkaban was said to be the ultimate inescapable magical fortress. As a result of this belief, the Ministry of Magic felt safe in keeping some of the most dangerous magical prisoners in all of Britain and perhaps the world, relying on the powers of Dementors to keep the guests of the prison at bay. The Ministry only checked up on the inmates occasionally, preferring just to keep them out of sight.

The small flaw in the Ministry system is perhaps the reason why they couldn’t exactly detail exactly when Adrianna Zabini, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape had escaped from Azkaban prison. It could have been anywhere from a couple of hours until the last time they checked the prison, nearly three weeks ago. The only information that they could manage to get from the Dementors, was that all indications were that someone broke the terrible triumvirate out of the prison. It was collective hope of those Aurors who were assigned to capture the escapees and whoever was responsible for breaking them out, that they didn’t get far from the island. The second breakout in many years after the first breakout many years ago sprung Sirius Black, who was of course later proven innocent, and eight convicted Death Eaters, a group that included one Bellatrix Lestrange.

Severus Snape was not too happy about being sprung from Azkaban. While the Dementors were bothersome, Snape had seen far worse horrors attempting to decipher the drivel that his students passed off as essays. Besides, the food was not as bad as some had made it out to be. Personally, Snape felt he would have gone mad faster had he remained at Hogwarts.

Snape looked around, taking in the surroundings and most importantly looking for a way out when he had a wand. As far as he could tell, he and his fellow prisoners were inside a small cellar with no windows and one door at the top of a small stairway.

“Severus, I do find it astonishing that we were broken out now,” remarked Lucius as he looked at his forearm absentmindedly. “My mark has been growing stronger so…”

“No, not in front of her,” muttered Snape as he looked at Adrianna.

“Snape, please, you think I don’t know that you’ll talking about the Dark Lord,” interjected Adrianna in a bored tone. “I doubt very much it’s him anyway, he would have just sprung us and not bothered to knock us unconscious.”

“She does have a point Severus,” agreed Lucius. “So, if it’s not the Dark Lord, I do wonder who would have anything to gain from breaking us out.”

The door creaked open and a hooded figure made her way down the stairway. A stubby hand reached from underneath the sleeve of the robe and pulled out a wand, which caused the door to swing shut, sealing itself. The figure walked down the steps.

“Hem, hem,” declared the figure as the hood swung down revealing the face of Dolores Umbridge as she stared at the three fugitives with her toad face.

“What are you doing here, Umbridge?” demanded Adrianna with absolute contempt.

“Now Adrianna, no need to be crass,” replied Umbridge with a girlish giggle. “It was I who managed to get you out of Azkaban.”

“How?” inquired Snape.

“Well, I didn’t do it personally obviously,” explained Umbridge. “A few members of the Auror department owed me a favor, so they managed to sneak off to Azkaban and break you out of jail.”

“So, Umbridge, you obviously want something from us, because I doubt very much that you broke us out of Azkaban out of the kindness of your heart,” said Snape and Umbridge just smirked, before nodding in response.

“A filthy Mudblood needs to be put in his proper place,” responded Umbridge calmly. “He has wronged us all in some way.”

“Barone,” replied Adrianna icily. “He put us all in Azkaban.”

Lucius nodded, he knew that a six year old could not have outwitted him and when he heard about Barone from the Aurors, Malfoy came to one logical conclusion. Barone told the Boy-Who-Lived exactly what to do after the mobster managed to switch the documents without Lucius knowing it.

“That’s all well and good Dolores,” said Lucius. “Our imprisonment was a minor setback, but what has he done to you to incur your wrath?”

“Other than being a Mudblood with way too much power?” asked Umbridge and Lucius briefly nodded. “Two things, he caused the Ministry to lose control of the Daily Prophet, a scandal that reflected badly on me and secondly, he caused Cornelius to lose his chance to become Minister of Magic thanks to that little smear campaign. Since I was one of Fudge’s strongest supporters, my reputation took a plunge and now I’ve been demoted down to the Department of Magical Maintenance.”

“Yes, Umbridge, rather horrific, actually working for a living,” responded Snape dryly.

“So, I wish to see Barone battered and broken, disgraced before the entire world,” continued Umbridge, ignoring Snape’s outburst. “You three were broken out of Azkaban to make sure Barone has a little accident that I can’t be tied to in any way whatsoever.”

“What’s in it for us?” demanded Adrianna, who didn’t do any charity work whatsoever.

“I will ensure that you will be able to leave the country with the Ministry believing you’re dead,” answered Umbridge.

“No,” responded Snape calmly.

“I beg your pardon, Severus?” questioned Umbridge

“Send me back to Azkaban, I’d rather take my chances with the Dementors,” answered Snape crudely.

“For once, I agree with Snape,” added Adrianna, who still looked rather bored. “I’ve only met Barone once face to face, but rest assure, I’ve heard things about him that proves that he is ruthless. If he wanted us dead, we would be dead and the only reason that we were sent to Azkaban is because Barone was in the right mood. When he’s caught in the wrong mood, it’s not exactly a pretty sight.”

“Some might say it’s your civic duty to help reel in a dangerous threat to the purity of magic,” said Umbridge shortly.

“Well, Umbridge, if you want to get shot at, then by all means, go and try to eliminate this dangerous threat to the purity of magic,” responded Snape. “The opportunity has not properly presented itself for proper revenge on Barone and perhaps Potter as well, if we act too soon, everything will be set back.”

“What will be set back?” demanded Umbridge but Snape remained still, with no emotion whatsoever on his face.

“Umbridge, you broke all three of us out of Azkaban, but only one of us will be of any use to you,” replied Snape calmly, blowing off Umbridge’s question completely. “Lucius didn’t get into a high ranking position with the Dark Lord because of his dueling abilities. His main attributes were his influence and his money, which he now lacks due to being a fugitive on the run and well as for her, a marriage followed by the subsequent mysterious accident and draining of her dead husband’s assets are about the only thing she’s good for.”

“Yes, Snape, getting knocked out by a six year old really showed how apt you are,” said Adrianna dryly.

“So Snape, you believe that you may be the only one of us that has a chance against Barone,” said Lucius.

“I never said that Lucius, but if you wish to believe that, then feel free,” retorted Snape. “Umbridge, I believe you will send me back to Azkaban. If these two want to go to their doom, then well, that’s a loss.”

“Severus let me make one thing perfectly clear, I’m not one of your Gryffindor first years,” whispered Umbridge in a nasty voice. “The fact remains that none of you have any choice of the matter and will fight Barone.”

Umbridge looked nastily as the three fugitives looked back at her with contempt, each wishing they had a wand so they could make her pay.

“You will find that I have placed around your necks a magical collar, that causes a pain that is only slightly below that caused by the Cruciatus Curse,” said Umbridge in a sickly sweet voice that was likely to induce cavities for anyone who heard it. “Observe.”

Umbridge gave a small flick of her wand and seconds later, the three fugitives screamed in absolutely agony, as all the nerves in their body seemed to be getting assaulted simultaneously. The suffering lasted for about ten seconds, before Umbridge flicked her wand again and the magical collars quit doing their work.

“These were originally developed to keep werewolves in line, but some people in the Ministry thought it was unethical to use such means even against filthy half breeds,” scoffed Umbridge. “Therefore, they will serve nicely to make sure you three help me do what is necessary.”

Umbridge removed a box from underneath her robe before she opened it to reveal three wands.

“I would highly suggest not thinking about attacking me when you get your new wands,” warned Umbridge. “Those collars do have another setting that can be activated by a jab of my wand, which may also be activated should you attempt to make a run for it.”

Without another word, Umbridge passed the wand to the three fugitives. Snape in particular looked like he wanted to kill that vile woman if he could get away with it and the other two didn’t seem to care for Umbridge all that much at the moment.

“Now, I would suggest you three work together and figure out a way to track down Barone,” added Umbridge, who was well aware that the Ministry wasn’t too successful in their efforts to bring the mobster down. “I will be monitoring your progress, is that clear?”

The three fugitives nodded sullenly, which prompted Umbridge to respond with her most sickeningly sweet smile.

“Very well, off with you,” commanded Umbridge sweetly.

Outside of the Burrow, in the early part of the morning, just a bit past dawn, two ten year old girls were sitting on the grass.

“It’s just not fair, Ron gets to go to Hogwarts and see Harry Potter,” complained Ginny. “I have to wait a whole entire year.”

Luna just hummed under her breath, her friend’s infatuation with Harry Potter seemed to be a bit silly, considering she had never met Harry before.

“Seriously Luna, Harry Potter, I bet he’s so cute and the nicest boy in the world,” continued Ginny who had a dreamy look on her face. “Don’t you think Harry Potter’s just the best?”

“I wouldn’t know, because I’ve never met him before,” answered Luna calmly. “For all I know he could be a wicked little boy that tortures small animals.”

“Luna, you really shouldn’t be saying things like that, I mean he’s Harry Potter!” shouted Ginny stubbornly.

“He might be nice, I don’t know,” responded Luna. “If I meet him one day, I’ll judge him for myself and I think it might be a good idea for you to do so too. He might not be someone you get along with.”

“Luna, you’re my friend but you’re wrong,” replied Ginny stubbornly. “Harry and I will get along great, we’re be perfect together. Mummy said that when I grow up, I can marry him, wouldn’t that be nice?”

“If you say so Ginny,” responded Luna in a vague voice and Ginny decided to change the subject.

“So, how’s your Mum doing?” asked Ginny, referring to the accident that happened just months ago in this reality.

“Pretty good actually, she’s starting to regain the use of her limbs,” replied Luna in a happy voice. “She might get let out of St. Mungos in a few months; it depends on how well she’s doing. Daddy’s really happy; she seems to have learned her lesson about experimenting with unknown magic.”

A scream and a shattering of glass was heard from inside the Burrow.

“Mum’s upset,” muttered Ginny, who recognized the symptoms immediately.

“I better go, your Mum’s really scary when she’s mad,” said Luna in a serious voice and Ginny nodded, agreeing one hundred percent. “Bye Ginny.”

“Bye Luna,” responded Ginny before she turned her back to enter the house to see her mother seizing. “Mum what is it?”

“Your brother got himself sorted into Slytherin!” shouted Molly as she waved a letter in her hand, sent by Percy. “I thought, of all of them, Ron would have been the least likely to go in that house, but he’s going to be steered on the path of evil or killed. If Dumbledore was there this wouldn’t have happened, he would have made sure that Ron would have gotten in the proper house, how is he suppose to befriend Harry now?”

Ginny just half listened to her mother rant and a howler looked to be in Ron’s not so distant future.

After receiving the Marauder’s Map from Fred and George, Harry was met by Professor Flitwick who told him that Flamel wanted a word with him and Hermione up in his office before they were to begin their first class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The two Ravenclaw first years entered the Headmaster’s office, where Blaise and Malfoy were both waiting as well.

“What are you doing here, Potter?” demanded Malfoy.

“I could ask the same question to you, Malfoy,” replied Harry.

“Now, I’m sure we’ll find out in a minute,” said Hermione calmly.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to speak, Mudblood,” hissed Malfoy.

“Yes, Malfoy, that word loses meaning every time it passes off your tongue,” chimed in Blaise in a bored voice before Harry could remove Draco’s tongue with his bare hands. “Why don’t you find a new insult? I’ve only heard it about twelve times from you and that’s just today!”

Perhaps for the best, Flamel walked into view at that moment.

“Now, I’ve called you to this office on a rather grave manner,” stated Professor Flamel. “Three fugitives have been broken out of Azkaban, Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Adrianna Zabini.”

Blaise looked absolutely rattled at the news that her mother had been broken out of Azkaban. At the time, she didn’t fully grasp what her mother had attempted to do to her but now as she was older, Blaise understood enough to be absolutely disgusted with her mother.

“I highly doubt this has anything to do with me, Professor,” remarked Draco haughtily

“Malfoy, do you use that space between your ears for anything else other than collecting cobwebs?” asked Blaise. “Your father has been in Azkaban for a long time and he might be unhinged, plus with his beliefs, he might not take too kindly of you being sorted into Hufflepuff.”

“Miss Zabini does have an excellent point Mr. Malfoy and I doubt I have to explain to the rest of you why you may be in danger,” prompted Flamel and Harry, Hermione, and Blaise nodded. “Now, the school is being checked for security flaws and all teachers are to be made aware to look out for the strange. The Ministry of Magic may very well send a few Aurors to keep an eye on the area around Hogsmeade.”

Flamel paused, before he resumed his speech calmly.

“The most important thing is to be careful, now I’m not foolish enough to assume that you’ll be protected just because you’re inside the school walls but I would highly recommend not going out after hours,” continued Flamel. “If everything goes right, the Ministry will have these dangerous fugitives back in Azkaban where the Ministry feels they belong. I feel they belong in the ground personally, but unfortunately, I won’t be the one deciding their fates”

“Professor Flamel, I want to ask you a question about something you said,” prompted Hermione.

“Yes, Miss Granger, what is it?” responded Flamel.

“Well, you said that these three were broken out of Azkaban so…” stated Hermione before she trailed off.

“That means that someone wanted them out, which to me seems to be more troubling than the fact that they broke out on their own accord,” added Harry.

“Yes, I’m afraid you may be right, but the Ministry of Magic assures me that they are investigating all leads thoroughly,” responded Flamel and the look on his face showed Harry exactly how much faith Flamel had put into the assurances of the Ministry of Magic. While the new Minister seemed to be a bit better than Fudge or Scrimgeour ever were, there were others in the Ministry who had their own agenda and even the best Minister couldn’t magically make everyone else competent, even in a year.

Flamel paused.

“Now, you needed to know but do not let that trouble your schoolwork, as I said, all the precautions possible are being taken to ensure that the escapees will not make it past the Hogwarts gates,” concluded Flamel. “With any luck, this is the last you will need to here of the matter, but if anything else pressing comes up, you’ll know.”

Blaise, Hermione, and Harry all nodded in agreement but Malfoy still looked like he couldn’t believe that he was in any danger.

“Very well then, off to class, wouldn’t want you all to miss too much,” continued Flamel as he waved them off and Malfoy quickly left the Headmaster’s office.

Blaise, Hermione, and Harry waited until Malfoy was a good distance away, before they separated, with Blaise heading to Transfiguration and Harry and Hermione making their way to join the rest of the Ravenclaws for the Defense of the Dark Arts.

“So, someone may have it out for me,” remarked Harry in a low voice as the two Ravenclaw first years made their way to class. “I have my ideas on who it might be, but I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You don’t think its Voldemort, do you Harry?” asked Hermione in a worried voice.

“I hope not, but we can’t rule him out,” replied Harry. “Just the fact that those three were broken out at the same time raises some very interesting questions and you know how much faith I have in the Ministry”

“But there is a chance they will be caught before you have to deal with them,” argued Hermione.

“Anyone else but me, yes there might be,” said Harry. “However, as you know, I have the worst possible luck in the world.”

“Professor Flamel said that everything was being done to keep those three out,” replied Hermione.

“Yes, but he also just about as much said that no defense is foolproof and I agree with him,” said Harry as they reached the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom before they made their way inside, where Remus appeared to have been just entering the classroom as all the Ravenclaw first years were seated.

Remus spent a couple of minutes taking roll, before he turned to the class.

“Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts class,” said Remus. “I am your teacher, Professor Lupin and I hope that throughout the next seven years, you will get a through understanding of how to defend yourself against some of the most dangerous creatures and spells. Now, exactly what are the dark arts?”

Several people raised their hands but naturally, no one raised their hand higher than Hermione. Harry snickered, some things never changed.

“Hermione,” called Professor Lupin.

“The dark arts are considered to be any spell that is used for malicious and permanent injury on another human being or any magical creature that is considered a deadly threat to a human being,” replied Hermione in a confident voice.

“Very good take five points for Ravenclaw,” responded Lupin and Terry Boot had his hand up. “Yes, Terry, would you like to add something?”

“Professor Lupin, the dark arts are also considered to be evil, aren’t they?” responded Terry.

“Official Ministry edict says yes, but there is a few common misconceptions about the line between evil and dark,” said Remus as he looked over at Harry. “Harry, you look like you know the reason why, so please tell us.”

“There are times where the dark arts are used for very evil purposes,” admitted Harry. “However, the criteria of what has been considered dark have been determined by strictly lack of knowledge. The Ministry of Magic may officially label a spell to be dark or at the very least questionable, because they lack the knowledge or power to counter the effects.”

“Excellent Harry, that’s true,” responded Remus. “For example, the stunning spell and the coma curse has the same general idea, to knock an opponent unconscious. The stunning spell does have a counter spell while the coma curse is unable to be reversed. Not only that, but a powerful witch or wizard can cause permanent brain damage with such a curse, which falls under the general definition of the dark arts.”

The rest of the class was a discussion of a general overview of the dark arts, along with what was to be covered in this class. Harry agreed with the opinion that justifying the use of the dark arts was a sketchy area at best, in the past timeline he had learned them but had only used them when he was up against uneven odds as a bit of an equalizer against his opponents. Other than that, Harry was secure enough with his abilities not to use them as a crutch, but the knowledge did come in handy when figuring out a way to counter his deadly adversaries in any event.

Still the lesson was useful, if a bit of a rehash of most of what Harry had already knew but Remus managed to go over a large amount of material before the bell rang to end the class.

Boss Zabini looked at his crack council of mafia advisors for their quarterly meeting.

“Okay, as you mugs might have realized, last quarter we didn’t do so good, like every other quarter since they wise guy Barone took Boss Evans’s old organization by the throat and revolutionized the criminal underworld!” barked Zabini. “So any of you have any suggestions about how we reverse this downward trend. We need a gimmick to drum up some money to fund our operations, other than the passé drug, prostitution, and protection racket ideas that have been making us look like a group of two bit hoods against Barone.”

“How’s abouts we start up a phony religion,” suggested one of the mobsters. “We can sucker some people into donating money to save themselves from the inevitable armageddon, that our messiah is better than anyone else’s”

“No, religion ain’t going to cut it, that racket’s too seedy even for the mob,” responded Zabini seriously.

“Telemarketing scheme?” suggested one of the mobsters.

“Time shares?” inputted another mobster.

“Fake an alien invasion and then sell weapons to the public to defend themselves?” suggested a third mobster.

“No, those ideas require resources that we can’t afford to spread out right now,” said Zabini sighing as his advisors appeared to have either no ideas or completely idiotic ideas. “Just go with the protection racket scheme, again.”

A tapping outside the window signaled that Zabini had an owl.

“Check it for listening devices or bombs or anything else that can screw me over!” barked Zabini to his advisors as they let the owl inside, before they frisked the animal.

“It’s clean, Boss Zabini,” confirmed one of the mobsters as before handing the note to Zabini who read it, his face becoming more grave with each passing second as he read it.

“What kind of idiot what break her out of Azkaban?” demanded Zabini as his men cringed, the tone where Zabini uttered “her” made it painfully obvious who he was referring to.

“Now, Boss Zabini calm…” cautioned one of his men but this suggestion didn’t calm Zabini, but rather he pulled out his wand and pointed it out, with his fellow mobsters stepping back fearfully but he blasted the window, causing it to shatter and sending glass flying everywhere.

“I will not calm down, with Adrianna out of Azkaban, she’s likely to kill me and no doubt whoever broke her out has it in for me as well!” exclaimed Zabini in his most paranoid voice.

“Exactly who would have it in for you?” asked one of the mobsters. “Barone?”

“No, he has no reason to let out my wife, she’d want to kill him for foiling her sinister plot to change my daughter’s gender!” yelled Zabini dramatically. “It has to be someone, most likely in the Ministry, I have stepped on a lot of important toes.”

The group of advisors looked around, awaiting Zabini’s next order.

“Well don’t just stand there, make sure this building is secure, bring me some strong arms to send to Hogsmeade so I can keep an eye on my daughter, and someone fix this window!” ordered Zabini as he sank down with his advisors moving to follow his orders, it was so hard to find good help these days.

At breakfast before the second day of lessons, Harry spotted a familiar owl jerkily flying towards the Slytherin table, a red envelope clasped in its talons.

“Hermione, put these on,” muttered Harry as he passed Hermione a pair of earmuffs, before he took one out. “They are my super secret sophisticated weapon to combat the shrill tones of Molly Weasley.”

“Secret weapon?” asked Hermione in bemusement.

“Yes they might look like a pair of ordinary earmuffs and that’s because they are, specially charmed to block out howlers, all yours for three, count them three easy payments of four galleons, sixteen sickles, and twenty eight knuts,” said Harry in a really bad impression of an infomercial announcer, as he put his ear muffs on with a few of his fellow house mates looking at him like he was insane, a belief Harry was hoping to confirm sooner rather than later. “Seriously, Hermione you better put them on, if you want to hear into old age.”

Hermione did as she was told and not a second too soon as the howler was heard by everyone in the Great Hall.

RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY, HOW DARE YOU GET YOURSELF SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN! HONESTLY, I RAISED YOU BETTER! THAT HOUSE IS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! YOU BETTER MARCH RIGHT DOWN TO THE HEADMASTER’S OFFICE AND DEMAND A RESORTING NOW YOUNG MAN, OR YOU WILL BE DOING NOTHING BUT CHORES AND HOMEWORK ALL SUMMER, NO QUIDDITCH OR CHESS! PERCY, YOU ARE TO KEEP AN EYE ON RONALD TO MAKE SURE HE DOESN’T GO DOWN THE WRONG PATH!

The howler burst into flames and vanished with Ron looked very put out at the howler.

“Ah, Weasley, what does your cow of a mother know anyway?” remarked one of the Slytherins. “I guess she can’t take the fact that one of her five hundred children decided to do something better with themselves.”

“My mother is…” started Ron.

“Yes, don’t trouble yourself about what she says, there had to have been a reason you were sorted into Slytherin,” replied a second Slytherin. “Your mother obviously doesn’t know anything, starting with birth control.”

At the teacher table, several of the teachers grimaced, despite the fact that had heard the infamous Molly Weasley howlers several times due to the tendency of the Weasley Twins to get into trouble on an almost hourly basis, it still was an experience that they would not care to relive ever.

“My that was an experience,” muttered Remus shaking his head.

“WHAT?” shouted Sirius. “SPEAK LOUDER, I CAN’T HEAR YOU BECAUSE I’VE GONE TEMPORARILY DEAF THANKS TO THAT BANSHEE!”

“I said that was quite an experience!” repeated Remus before he looked over to the Ravenclaw table. “It seems like Hermione and Harry had the right idea.”

“Still can’t hear you, but at least it looks like Hermione and Harry had the right idea,” said Sirius, causing Remus to sigh in frustration. “Wouldn’t mind getting a pair of those, just in case she sends another howler.”

“Sirius, they’re just ordinary earmuffs,” said Remus shaking his head.

“What?” demanded Sirius.

Harry and Hermione left to make their way to their first class but footsteps indicated that Ron was following him.

“Harry, mate, you’ve got to help me,” begged Ron.

Harry sighed, Ron just didn’t get the hint ever.

“I don’t know if we should be talking to you,” said Hermione in a serious voice. “I mean, you are a Slytherin and you pretty much said all Slytherins go evil.”

“Yeah Ronald, I know what you’re up to, your trying to corrupt us with your evil and vile, insidious ways,” added Harry.

“I didn’t mean me, I meant everyone else!” cried Ron in a hysterical voice. “My Mum’s going to kill me…”

“Well, you’re stuck, as resortings aren’t allowed at Hogwarts,” replied Hermione.

“What?” shouted Ron in a horrified voice.

“Read Hogwarts: A History, it’s in there, you know,” said Harry smugly and Ron looked absolutely horrified at the thought of having to read a book.

“I’ll just ask Professor Flamel,” said Ron quietly.

“Yeah, you do that,” said Harry. “Now, if you excuse us, we have to go to the library.”

“The library!” exclaimed Ron in shocked voice. “There is only ten minutes before the first class…”

“There’s isn’t any concept of not enough time to go to the library when you’re in Ravenclaw, Ronald,” responded Harry.

“Mental,” retorted Ron shaking his head. “And I’d really prefer if you called me Ron, mate.”

“Whatever you say, Ronald,” said Harry calmly before he turned his back with Hermione and walked off, Ron not wanting to follow.

A short time later, Blaise had joined them until they had to separate to go to their respective classes.

“Good morning Blaise,” said Harry and Hermione nodded cordially.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just here to corrupt you with my evil, vile, and insidious ways,” replied Blaise with a smirk. “Seriously, Weasley is going to end up saying something that’s going to get him hexed by half of the house, sooner rather than later.”

“Good, then maybe it will teach him not to be so stereotypical,” replied Hermione stiffly.

“Well, I might as well baby sit him, to see that he doesn’t get killed before he learns his lesson,” said Blaise calmly. “Plus, all things considered, he may be one of the smarter students in this year, as depressing as that sounds and keeping an eye on him sure beats having to spend time in an enclosed room with Parkinson.. “

“Hey Harry,” said a voice and Harry turned slightly, to see Fred and George walking up, as they massaged your ears slightly.

“Hey, Fred, George,” greeted Harry.

“We were wondering how you didn’t seem to have any reaction to our mother’s shrill tones,” said George.

“Yeah, we saw you give something to Hermione too but we really couldn’t see it from we’re sitting and besides we were too busy looking at the look on Ron’s face when he saw he got a howler,” added Fred.

“Glad you asked, it was due to these,” replied Harry as he pulled out a pair of earmuffs. “First, exactly how many howlers do you receive a week from your mother?”

“At least two,” admitted George.

“Three or four, if we’re being really sloppy and get caught a lot,” added Fred.

“And that was just one howler and my ears are still ringing,” said Blaise. “After seven years, I’ll be deaf or at least hard of hearing.”

“But now, thanks to my super, secret sophisticated welcome to combat the shrill tones of howlers created by Molly Weasley, you will be able to avoid a premature loss of your hearing,” announced Harry. “For…”

Hermione clapped her hand over Harry’s mouth to interrupt his bad impression of an infomercial announcer.

“Please don’t do that again,” pleaded Hermione.

“Okay, I plan to mass market this revolutionary breakthrough to the public for three easy payments of four galleons, sixteen sickles, and twenty eight knuts,” said Harry with a completely serious expression etched on his face.

“We’ll take three, each,” said George as his twin nodded in agreement beside him.

Later that evening, Ron was about to leave dinner, when Percy stepped in front of him.

“Ronald, have you been up to the Headmaster’s office to suggest that you should get yourself resorted?” demanded Percy in his most pompous tone.

“Er, no, I was just about to…” stated Ron but Percy didn’t bother to allow him to finish.

“I’ll take you now Ronald, after all it is my duty as a prefect to ensure that students are fitting in correctly,” interrupted Percy as he grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled his younger brother towards Flamel’s office.

“No wonder Weasley got sorted into Slytherin, anyone would want to get away from him,” muttered one of the Slytherins.

Sometime later, Ron and Percy entered Flamel’s office, as he was sitting at his desk, looking at a magazine that he hastily put away when the two Weasleys entered the office.

“Ah Mr. Weasley and…another Mr. Weasley,” said Flamel as he surveyed them, pushing the magazine further out of sight. “What can I do for you two young men?”

“Professor Flamel, my brother Ronald believes, and I agree, that the Sorting Hat has been a grievous error and placed him in the wrong house,” said Percy.

“Arrogant child, the Sorting Hat never makes a mistake,” remarked the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black. “It obviously saw something in him that caused him to be put into Slytherin that none of you arrogant minded fools saw.”

“As crude as our friend on the wall put it, he does have a point,” said Flamel. “Besides, resortings are not permitted, the founders laid down that law from the beginning, as stated in Hogwarts: A History.”

“Surely exceptions can be made,” pleaded Percy.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Flamel in a final sort of voice. “Your brother must deal with the deck that the sorting hat dealt him for the next seven years, unless you can prove that the hat was somehow influenced into making a particular decision.”

“Influenced, I’m insulted,” said the hat from behind Flamel in an indignant tone. “Rest assure, while there was a part of Ronald Weasley that belonged in Gryffindor, there was an even bigger part of him that wanted to outshine his brothers that gave me little choice to place him into Slytherin. And who knows, perhaps this will be a sign of house unity, a Weasley in Slytherin.”

“Mother will be furious,” begged Percy.

“That’s her problem them, isn’t it,” sniped the hat. “Personally, I very nearly put her into Slytherin as well, she does have the ambition to run every single aspect of everyone else’s lives but I just barely put her in Gryffindor at the end.”

“Ronald this is all your fault, thinking those ambitious thoughts when you had the hat on,” hissed Percy.

“Oh yeah right, like it’s my fault you guys came along first and better!” snapped Ron. “Just leave me alone Percy, you’re just worrying about looking good in the eyes of the other prefects!”

“You’re disgracing the family name by being sorted in that house, if you listened to Mum, she said that house has turned out more dark witches and wizards than everyone else,” responded Percy.

“Enough, I’m disappointed with this lack of a show of house unity, stereotyping all the houses into one grouping” said Flamel calmly. “This is why I wanted to abolish the entire house system, but the board of governors shot me down. Still, I’m not Dumbledore and I won’t encourage this petty house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Perhaps fifty points from Gryffindor would encourage you take a more open minded view?”

“Headmaster you…” stated Percy who looked horrified that Flamel took so many points.

“Are you disagreeing with me, Percy?” asked Flamel and Percy shook his head. “Good, I hope you learn your lesson, because I’d hate to see such an able prefect lose his badge and I will be writing to your mother about her misuse of howlers. Understand?”

“Yes Professor Flamel,” said Percy, hanging his head in shame, having been humbled by the centuries old wizard.

Classes were generally the same, if a bit better constructed to work together in conjunction with each other than during Dumbledore’s time. Even Harry found Potions to more bearable with Narcissa than it was with Snape, she was a perfectly acceptable teacher and didn’t play favorites despite the fact that Ravenclaws shared Potions with Hufflepuffs. The only one who seemed to be put out by this was Draco.

Still Harry sensed the Potions Mistress was a bit preoccupied with matters outside the school and for good reason, she didn’t paint Lucius in the best light when in the process of gaining the trust of the public to gain her position at Hogwarts and with Lucius at large, no doubt she feared repercussions from her former husband.

At the end of the week, Blaise, Harry, and Hermione made there way to the library, as it was a neutral place to quietly do their homework.

Needless to say that they weren’t the only one there as Neville Longbottom was sitting with a Transfiguration textbook, looking extremely frustrated. Harry hadn’t had a chance to talk with Neville, who turned out to be a fairly good friend in the old timeline whose life was unfortunately cut short by Death Eaters so Harry stepped over, seeing that Neville obviously had been given the assignment by McGonagall to turn a matchstick into a needle.

“Need any help?” asked Harry.

“No, I think I almost got it…” muttered Neville, who looked embarrassed at the fact that he was asked for need help.

“Ah, the matchstick into the needle, well there is a very simple way to do that you see,” responded Harry as he sat down in front of Neville with Hermione and Blaise sitting on either side.

“Really, I mean that does seem to be nothing but a lot of theory, lot to remember,” said Neville. “First time I tried it, I set the desk on fire…”

“First thing you need to do is relax,” replied Harry. “It’s very hard to do the simplest of magic when you are bundle of nerves, you need to relax and have faith in yourself, along with your abilities. Block everything else out of your mind, visual the matchstick turning into the needle, believe that you can do it and then wave your wand.”

Neville looked very skeptical that this could work, but he did as he was told, raising his wand and the matchstick he had borrowed to practice on had turned into a needle, nowhere nearly as good as the one Harry and Hermione had produced that had earned them ten points a piece for Ravenclaw, but perfectly acceptable work.

“I did it,” whispered Neville in an excited voice.

“Naturally, the Ministry might have my wand for this, but nine tenths of all magic is confidence and while the theory is important, it isn’t a good idea to dwell on it…” stated Harry, before deciding to ask Neville’s name as a courtesy, even though he already knew it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh sorry, Neville Longbottom,” replied Neville.

“Please to meet you Neville,” interjected Blaise. “I’m Blaise Zabini.”

“Also pleased, I’m Hermione Granger,” said Hermione.

“Wait a minute, if you’re Hermione Granger that means…” stated Neville.

“Ah yes, I’m Harry Potter, you may know me from the defeat of Lord Voldemort,” responded Harry which caused Neville to laugh, after doing the mandatory flinch of Voldemort’s name.

“Pleased to met you Harry, you didn’t have to take time to help me but you did,” said Neville grateful.

“Yes, happy to help, I figure you wanted to live up to the reputations of your parents,” said Harry.

“How do you know?” asked Neville in surprise.

“Neville, it’s natural, your parents were great, and maybe one day, but you need to work on forging your own destiny,” said Harry. “My parents were too as well from what I heard, but at least you don’t have to live up to a lightning bolt scar.”

“When you put it that way Harry, I guess it’s not that bad,” replied Neville. “It’s just that my grandmother is talking about how I should do more to live up to my parents, my father especially and I think they were glad, they thought I was a squib for years.”

“I’m sure they overreacted,” responded Hermione. “We’re about to wrap up some homework, if you’d like to join us and we can help you through it?”

Neville seemed conflicted, but nodded, as Harry had already helped him through one difficult piece of magic, so it looked to be an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.

The next couple of months moved by at a rather brisk pace, with Harry’s favorite class being Defense Against the Dark Arts, but perhaps he might have been just a tad bit biased. Both Sirius and Remus were knowledgeable on the subject, with Remus perhaps being the better conventional teacher but Sirius also imparted his fair share of knowledge on the class. Harry did give them one piece of advice that thankfully they followed. That advice being for Remus to take off random days on occasion that didn’t fall on the full moon, as they last thing they needed for anyone who had access to a calendar to figure out that Remus was a werewolf.

Other than the general stupidity with Ron and Draco, it was a pretty quiet school year and before anyone could know it, the Christmas holidays had arrived. When Sirius had mentioned that he was leaving for a couple of days to visit his cousin Andromeda and her family, Harry and Hermione had jumped on the chance to join him, mostly to get out of the house. Plus, Harry thought it would be nice to see Tonks again, who was one of the few members of the Order in the first timeline that wasn’t a mindless Dumbledrone, even though it was a shame that she didn’t quit before Voldemort had eradicated the whole of the Order of the Phoenix.

“Sirius good to see you were able to stop by and visit,” said Andromeda.

“Glad to be here, I’ve been going over the ancient family laws and I think I’ve found a loop hole or rather, Mr. Barone did, that would get you back into the family,” responded Sirius.

“There will be plenty of time to tell me about that later,” replied Andromeda, waving it off. “Come on in, Ted and Nymphadora are waiting.”

Sirius nodded before he turned to Harry and Hermione.

“This is my godson Harry Potter and his best friend, Hermione Granger,” added Sirius.

“Pleased to meet you both,” responded Andromeda, nodding at Harry and Hermione, as they made there way inside to join the others.

Little did they know that three shadowed figures were watching their moves from the bushes, cloaked under a Disillusionment Charm and each saw Harry Potter as their chance to get to Barone. It was quite lucky they managed to spot the three in Hogsmeade before tracking them here and their momentarily lapse of security would be what they needed to make their move and gain their freedom.

“Pleased to meet all three of you,” said Ted.

“Nymphadora get down here, our guests are here!” called Andromeda up the stairs.

“In a minute,” said Tonks from her room upstairs and before Andromeda could call up the stairs again, the eighteen year old girl made her way down the stairs and stopped. “Ah, Sirius, I didn’t expect to come this early, must have been caught up in my assigned reading for the Auror Academy.”

Tonks turned to Harry and Hermione.

“Hermione Granger,” replied Hermione as she greeted Tonks.

“Harry Potter, yes that Harry Potter,” said Harry as he greeted Tonks, as she was taken off guard by who she was speaking to. “So training to be an Auror, huh? How’s that working out for you?”

“It’s not as fun as you think, especially in the first year,” responded Tonks. “We have to spend hours upon hours of studying Ministry regulations; I never knew the Ministry had so counterproductive laws.”

“I had an idea,” remarked Harry. “My guardian told me about some of them, like that one about how fifth generation and above purebloods can’t be arrested without an approved warrant from the full Wizengamot court.”

“Ah yes, the famous Mr. Barone,” said Tonks. “Harry, he sure does have his share of fans in the Ministry, especially among the senior officials.”

“Really, he does?” asked Harry.

“Yes, it seems they all would like to see Barone get a little kiss if you catch my drift or as Scrimgeour refers to him, ‘that damn gangster’”, added Tonks with a smirk and Andromeda looked at her daughter. “What, Mum, I’m just telling you what my direct superior at the Ministry is telling me.”

“Now, this couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Uncle Al wrong an article, criticizing the Ministry about spending too much time having their Aurors memorize procedures and not enough time teaching them to teach the people they are supposed to be serving,” said Harry.

“That and the fact they still haven’t figured out how Barone could go in and out of the Ministry at will, along with triggering the anti-Magic defenses and basically making the Ministry play by his rules,” added Tonks. “But, really, I think that he hasn’t done wrong, I mean he hasn’t destroyed anyone’s reputation. At least anyone who didn’t deserve it.”

“Dora, I think that the Ministry is just a bit apprehensive about a Muggleborn having that much control over them,” remarked Ted as he had joined the conversation. “It disrupts their perfection tradition but the only one’s who have suffered are a few corrupt politicians.”

“Yeah they got tossed into Azkaban for…breaking the law,” inputted Hermione dramatically. “Oh no, that blasted Barone, he’s really victimizing the Ministry, better stone him to death and then suck his soul out. If we don’t put down this vile fiend, it’s the end of the world!”

“You have issues you know,” teased Harry.

“Most of them come from hanging around with you, Harry,” retorted Hermione.

“So, I think we might be able to get you back into the family, if we can prove that my mother was not of sound mind when she disowned you,” concluded Sirius from the other end of the room.

“That shouldn’t be so much of a problem, should it?” prompted Andromeda.

“We have to prove my mother’s insanity to the Department of Heritage,” added Sirius.

“Okay, that may constitute as a problem,” amended Andromeda. “The fact that you’re only the head of the Black family on a technicality doesn’t really bode well.”

“Tell me about it, but I haven’t quite given up, even if the Ministry’s making me leap through hoops just to reverse a simple disownment by my trigger happy mother,” replied Sirius and all of the sudden, an annoying shrill siren echoed from outside the house. “What in the bloody hell is that?”

“Parameter defenses, someone unauthorized is outside,” replied Andromeda.

“Really, what person would want to want to come here?” asked Tonks before Harry just looked at her with a knowing look.

“Oh, I can think of at least three people,” responded Harry. “Come on Hermione, let’s leave so we can let the adults and Sirius handle this.”

Hermione looked surprised but followed Harry into the next room as Sirius looked at Harry with mock rage as he retreated.

“Such wonderful children getting out of the way of danger,” said Andromeda.

“Yeah, they have much more sense than Nymphadora did at that age,” added Ted.

“DAD!” shouted Tonks incredulously.

“Or much more sense than Sirius did…well at any age,” inputted Andromeda.

“Hey what is this, pick up Sirius day?” asked Sirius.

“Yes, haven’t you checked the calendar?” replied Tonks with a grin but the banter was interrupted when the front window cracked open.

“Damn, I really hoped that the Ministry would have gotten here before they managed to find a way in,” muttered Andromeda as Snape, Adrianna, and Lucius made their way in, wands raised, stepping forward.

“Potter, where is Potter?” demanded Lucius.

“Sorry, you just missed him but if you come back later, like around the time where hell freezes over, we’ll let you have him,” replied Tonks, who very nearly paid for her tongue, as Snape blasted a lethal curse towards her that she had the sense to duck and the spell destroyed a large vase behind her as the three fugitives stepped forward.

“We need to get them now, I’ll take Snape,” muttered Sirius but before anything could happen, more footsteps were heard and the imposing form of one Boss Barone had stepped from the shadows, wand in one hand and gun in the other.

“Hello, children!” exclaimed Barone as he pointed both weapons at them. “Daddy’s home!”

“I thought you said he wasn’t supposed to here,” hissed Adrianna to Snape, who had coordinated the entire effort.

“We didn’t see him come here, so how did he get it?” asked Lucius but at least they had the sense to put up the bullet blocking shields.

“It might be a good time for a retreat, the plan doesn’t account for him coming up against us this soon” responded Snape casually as they made their way to the door, after dropping the shield.

Snape and Adrianna escaped but Lucius couldn’t make it in time, as he found his legs snapped together and he fell to the ground.

The next thing he knew, Barone had stood over him, with a malicious look in his eyes as he kicked Lucius’s wand out of the way.

“You don’t have the guts to do anything to me Barone,” taunted Lucius.

“Oh I won’t be doing anything to you Lucius,” said Barone as he snapped his fingers and Dobby appeared to his side, dressed in a suit, with the infamous Malfoy family pimp cane in his hands. “He will.”
The next thing Lucius knew, he was suffering the indignity of being beaten by his former house elf with his old pimp cane, as Barone looked on in amusement.

“Now exactly who broke you out of Azkaban?” demanded Barone.

“I don’t have to tell you anything, I need Potter, and then I’ll make my son and wife pay, dishonoring the Malfoy family name,” muttered Lucius.

“Dobby,” prompted Barone and Dobby stood on Lucius’s crotch eagerly, grinding both of his little feet into it with a burst of ruthless aggression, causing Lucius to shriek like a little girl as Dobby was punishing him and ensuring that Draco would never have a younger brother or sister.

“Fine Barone, get this damn thing off of me!” shrieked Lucius and Barone waved Dobby off, as Lucius rolled into a fetal ball, in a huge amount of pain. “It was…”

Unfortunately, Barone never heard who it was, as he heard the Ministry of Magic Aurors disapparating outside and he took it as his cue to leave, along with Dobby.

“Man someone did a number on this one,” remarked one of the first Aurors on the scene as they looked at Malfoy. “Well I’ll be, Lucius Malfoy.”

In the next room, Hermione helped Harry through the window, as he returned for his little interrogation of Lucius in his other persona.

“I was so close in worming a confession out Lucius,” said Harry in an agitated voice.

“I wish I could have seen it, Malfoy sounded like he was in pain,” said Hermione.

“I can tell you that he got nothing that he didn’t deserve,” responded Harry before he held up his hand. “Sounds like they’re taking Lucius in and they captured Adrianna as she attempted to flee as well.”

“Snape’s still at large then,” prompted Hermione in a worried voice.

“Hermione, that’s a good thing,” said Harry. “Last time I met Snape, I wasn’t physically ready to take him head on, this time, I stand a better chance to make him pay.”

Hermione looked a bit unsure about Harry’s confidence but she reasoned that her friend never was too overly confident about something unless he had a good reason.

Harry had spent the next several months awaiting for any word whatsoever ever that may have clued him in to Snape’s presence. He had nearly lost hope but by May, Harry had the opportunity to seize the chance that he had been waiting for.

The last several months had been rather good for Harry, as his super secret weapons to block out the shrill, sonic, vibrations of Molly Weasley’s voice, had made him slightly richer, a good eighty five percent of the students had one and most of the teachers had also purchased one, although they half heartedly claimed it was for “research purposes”. The Daily Prophet continued to expose the wrong doings of a fair few corrupt Ministry officials. Harry had always thought that Rita was vicious with a pack of lies, but she was ten times more brutal with the absolute truth. Plus, Harry also had finally completed one of his first projects, several years behind schedule, but after running into some rather depressing snags, he was able to complete his super transmitter that could tap into the frequency of every radio and television station around the world, to broadcast undisputed proof that the Wizarding World existed for a period of twenty four hours, charmed against any magical interference. It was only to be used as a last result, if the Ministry had done something stupid beyond all belief that caused Harry and his friends to be put in jeopardy. Plus business was up, despite Harry being at Hogwarts for most of the year, only popping in on weekends.

Harry was walking through the hall with Neville, Blaise, and Hermione, with Fred and George joining them.

“Harry, I still say we should go with Marauders, the Next Generation,” inputted Fred.

“I agree, I mean we are following in their footsteps, aren’t we?” asked George.

“In a way yes, but I prefer not to bastardize the legacy of the greatest group of pranksters ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts,” added Harry. “If I want to bastardize anyone’s legacy, it will be my own.”

“So exactly what do you suggest we name ourselves now?” asked Blaise.

“A group of students who get together occasionally to pull pranks to keep the rest of the school on their toes and don’t need a name to refer to themselves, because it would seem like a cheap rip off of the Marauders,” said Harry in one breath.

“Harry, we like you but you suck at naming,” responded George seriously.

“Yeah, better stick to devising the pranks, because if you had invented the dung bomb, you would have named it the poo projectile or something to that nature,” added Fred.

“Actually, I think Harry was basically tell you two that we don’t need a name,” said Neville. “He just did it…”

“In a slightly sarcastic manner,” supplied Hermione helpfully. “And I quite agree.”

“You would,” said Fred with a wink.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Hermione.

“Nothing, nothing,” answered Fred, backpedaling quickly.


“Now children behave, don’t make me get the switch,” reprimanded Blaise.

A soft pop echoed and Dobby appeared with an frantic look on his face.

“Harry Potter sir, Dobby has heard tale that Snivellus Snapey is being in Hogsmeade,” replied Dobby. “Sir has been telling Dobby that he wants to know but would sir like Dobby to help knock up Snivellus Snapey!”

Harry stepped back, looking revolted at the mental image that Dobby had given him by misspeaking common mafia terms once again.

“No Dobby, I’d like to handle him and I think you should know that it’s knock off, not knock up,” corrected Harry.

“No amount of firewhiskey can erase that particular image from the inside of my brain,” muttered George in disgust as Fred, Blaise, and Hermione nodding, with Neville looking a bit confused.

“Dobby apologizes sir, and Dobby wishes you good luck against Snivellus Snapey,” said Dobby with a bow before the house elf disappeared.

After bidding his friends good bye and leaving before anyone could protest, Harry briefly considered contacting some of his men but he wanted Snape face to face on his own, he had a score to settle with Snape, after he had found out from Dumbledore that Snape was the one who told Voldemort part of the prophecy that lead to the Dark Lord killing his parents. Dumbledore had offered some feeble words that Snape was remorseful but Harry could smell the shit leaking out of Dumbledore’s mouth. Harry thought he could have never hated Snape any more after that, at least until he found out the reason why Dumbledore had thought that Snape was remorseful that also made him lose what little respect towards Dumbledore as a human being that he had been clinging onto.

Yes, apparently Snape and his mother were friends at Hogwarts, Harry didn’t believe it at first, but the proof he had seen left him no question in his mind that Snape was the most rotten human being that ever lived. At least Wormtail could offer up the fact that he was a spineless coward as an excuse for his treachery, Snape never came across as a coward. Cunning, calculating, always knowing when to pick his fights, but Snape never was a coward. Lily, most wisely in Harry’s opinion, had terminated their friendship after Snape had called her a Mudblood, showing his true colors, degrading someone who had selflessly shown in friendship. The fact that Snape had begged Voldemort to spare Lily, just so he could have her, not even carrying about her opinion, really revolted Harry to his stomach and made Snape lower than pond scum.

With Snape in Azkaban, Harry never had time to dwell on his need to make Snape pay for his disgusting actions, but with him out, now was the time to swerve justice.

“Is it time to eat yet?” hissed Vinny sleepily from underneath Harry’s sleeve. Vinny had spent most of the days sleeping in the Ravenclaw dormitory, as it was very difficult to explain a snake to the teachers and students at Hogwarts, only joining his master when

“You just ate three fat mice three hours ago,” replied Harry as he exited the passageway into Hogsmeade. “Once I finished with Snape…”

Harry looked around, hoping that Snape had not left since Dobby had told Harry of his presence.

After a few moments of careful looking around, Harry spotted the greasy hair of Snape, as his prey entered entering the abandoned and condemned Hog’s Head. It appeared that no one had bought the place because there was no way to get the lingering goat smell to go away.

From outside, Yaxley spotted Harry Potter entering the Hog’s Head, with a grin on his face. It was too good to be true, Yaxley could redeem himself to the Dark Lord by bringing him the person he desired the most.

“It’s magic time,” muttered Yaxley to his forearm. “My Lord, I will have the boy in fifteen minutes, I just you’ll have everything you need ready by then.”

Harry entered inside and saw Snape standing there.

“Potter, I was just about to lure you here but your presence will spare me the trouble of locating a hostage,” replied Snape before he held a vial out towards Harry. “Now, do you know what I hold in my hand Potter?”

“A common curse for hiccups,” answered Harry smartly.

“Very good Potter, I’d award you points if I was still a teacher,” said Snape. “I would suggest you surrender your wand or all of Hogsmeade will be destroyed by a deadly explosion.”

Harry paused, wondering exactly how a cure for hiccups could destroy Hogsmeade.

“Now, Potter, this potion his harmless but if I add another ingredient to the mixture, it would be dangerous,” added Snape. “That ingredient would naturally be a goat’s testicle.”

Harry failed to understand how that conclusion would come naturally but Snape was in fact the Potions Master and didn’t look like he was bluffing.

“Accio goat’s testicle!” cried Harry, using three words that he hoped he would never have a reason to utter in succession ever again and the ingredient came sailing towards Harry.

Snape angrily lashed out at Harry, blasting him halfway across the bar and raised his wand, before he held it at Harry’s throat.

Harry prepared to react but he didn’t need to, as Vinny popped out of Harry’s sleeve and sank his fangs into Snape’s wand hand. Snape grimaced in pain as the snake held onto his hand and gave Harry a chance to blast Snape right into table, with Vinny letting go before impact.

“Vile,” hissed Vinny in disgust, as biting Snape’s hand had been a very bad idea indeed and it would take weeks to get the taste out of his mouth.

Snape reached for his wand but Harry stepped on it with his foot, snapping it before Snape’s very eyes, before he levitated Snape up, so they were eye to eye, before Harry began to break through Snape’s mental defenses, like a jackhammer through pavement. Slowly by slowly, Snape’s defenses were shattered until Harry was able to leaf through Snape’s mind like an opened textbook before he quickly found what he wanted.

“So Umbridge broke you three out,” muttered Harry, making a mental note to deal with that particular woman as soon as he was finished with Snape.

“Potter you have what you want!” yelled Snape but Harry wasn’t finished, he had such a hold on Snape’s mind that he could finish him off once and for all.

“Sweet dreams, Snivillus,” concluded Harry in his “Barone” voice, letting Snape in on the secret just seconds before Harry used his advanced Legilimency knowledge to completely fry Snape’s brain, destroying it beyond all repair.

Harry backed off, a little weary, taking a couple deep breaths. It had taken a lot of magic to do what he had done, along with a lot of hatred, but it was necessary. He looked down at Snape.

The lights were on but no one was home.

Yaxley entered the Hog’s Head, before he made his move.

“Master,” hissed Vinny in warning but it was too late as Yaxley had caught Harry off surprised when he was basking in his victory over Snape, grabbing his arm and disapparating him to the location where the Dark Lord was waiting.

Harry dropped down, his stomach turned from his forced form of travel and he hoisted Yaxley up into the air before he slammed him down.

“I don’t know…” started Harry but he turned around, realizing that he was surrounded by twenty five Death Eaters, all with wands raised at him.

“Get him!” yelled one of the Death Eaters and Harry fired as many spells as he could against the extremely lopsided odds he was put against, while dodging as much as he could, knowing that there was no way he could fight off these many Death Eaters alone.

One spell caught Harry right in the lungs causing his breathing to stop for a few seconds.

“Quick, before he recovers!” yells one of the Death Eaters as several wooden stakes rose from the ground, and as the breath returned to Harry, he was shackled to the ground, unable to move.

Several Death Eaters carried a glass crypt, containing what looked to be a body of some sort from Harry’s vantage point, with unconnected tubes poking from the back. Seconds later, another glass crypt was carried out, something stirring inside it and placed beside it to the left of the first crypt, with the tubes from the first one being connected to the back of the second one. In the center of both crypts was a solid glass tube.

“Now remember, hold your wand steady when you begin the ritual!” lectured Bellatrix.

“We know how to control our wands, Lestrange,” grumbled Avery.

“That’s what all men say,” scoffed Bellatrix as she walked off, allowing a group of Death Eaters room to start performing the ritual.

Harry managed to shift his weight enough to reclaim his wand and he attempted to use an unlocking charm on one of the pairs of shackles. The light from the wand connected with the lock holes, but nothing happened.

“Made of solid platinum,” explained Bellatrix calmly. “The one metal on earth that is completely impervious to all magic.”

Harry gritted his teeth, as he looked above at the light show that began above the crypts. Swirling vortexes of dark magic never boded well for Harry.

“Excellent the spells have been cast,” said Bellatrix as she turned to the crypts. “Now we can begin the transference of the memories from the body in crypt A until the body in crypt B, that will be stabilized by taking the blood of Harry Potter and our glorious master shall rise again?”

“What are you explaining it for Lestrange, we already found out what was going to happen five minutes ago?” asked one of the Death Eaters.

“I wasn’t explaining it to you, I was being courteous and explaining it to our guest,” said Bellatrix in a sweet voice as she nodded towards Harry, before her eyes flashed with anger as she turned to her fellow Death Eaters. “DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?”

The Death Eaters shook their heads, as Bellatrix had that psychotic look in her eye and bad things tended to happen when she had that look in her eye. She had pulled out a knife and a vial before she turned to Harry, who not only knew what was coming, but also knew he wasn’t gong to like it.

“Hush little baby don’t you cry, or Bella will stab you in the eye,” cooed Bellatrix before she psychotically slashed Harry’s right arm, drawing blood which she quickly siphoned into the vial and walked over, pouring it into the glass tube.

The tube illuminated in deep red color as large silvery strands were pumped from the crypt to the left into the crypt on the right, with the blood inside the tube flowing into the right crypt as well.

Seconds later, the crypt on the left burst into black flames and the crypt was consumed, leaving nothing left, not even the smallest cinder. The right crypt burst open and from it emerged the imposing figure of Lord Voldemort.

And here’s your chapter, you have no idea what it went through to get here.

Also, I can now reveal that a Twisted Timeline will be Twenty Five Chapters in total.