Chapter 52 - Chapter 52: Sixth Year (Part 5)

Headmaster's Office - April, 18, 2007

"Headmaster?" Nymphadora Tonks called as she stepped through the floo into the headmasters office.

"What can I do for you this morning?" Albus questioned in slight confusion. He hadn't even managed to get down to the great hall for breakfast yet.

"It's bad headmaster." Tonks sighed. She had been surprised to find what had happened the night before when she had gotten to work half an hour before. "Molly was arrested last night."

"What?" Albus sank into his seat in shock.

"I only just managed to gain access to the case file this morning. Apparently Dawlish and Proudfoot caught a smuggler a few weeks back and he cut a deal." Tonks sighed as she took a seat. "He gave up information on those he had sold too recently, and Molly had been on the list."

Albus rubbed his eyes. This was not what they needed. Dung had come to him a few weeks before just to tip him off that Molly had approached him about some ritual materials that were still on the controlled list. Dung had managed to get her most of what she wanted, but he hadn't had a few things and had sent her to another smuggler that might have had what she had needed. He had wanted to warn Albus that Molly had been up to something on her own.

When he had first learned, he had mostly brushed it off, but had quickly realized it was foolish and gone to speak to the woman. He had tried to get her to talk, but Molly had just smiled and told him not to worry, that had, of course, just made him worry more. In the end all he had managed to get out of her was that she had found a ritual in her great aunts book that would help them to achieve their goals. Albus had chosen not to stop her. If she was successful in whatever she was doing then it might help him to regain control, and if not, then oh well, it wasn't like Molly could do too much damage he had thought.

Now he knew just how wrong he had been.

Molly could destroy everything. If she was given even a light truth serum them she would tell everyone everything. She could destroy what little power he had left with just half of what she knew. It had never seemed like much of an issue since the woman was blindly loyal to him, but now everything was different.

Albus needed to stop Molly from talking.

"When will her arrest be announced?" Albus questioned, his voice sounding as old as he was.

"It won't be." Tonks assured her old headmaster. "As soon as I saw her there I went to the file and switched out the security level. It is, as of now, a classified case. There will be no public announcement and her arrest will be held under the secrecy wards in the Wizengamot."

Albus let out a relieved breath. "That is wonderful Nymphadora. You handled the situation perfectly. I'm sure this is just a slight misunderstanding and we will be able to sort this out quickly, there is no need to ruin a good woman reputation over nothing."

Tonks preened over the praise. "What should I do know Headmaster?"

"Can you tell me what the charges are?" Albus questioned.

"Purchase of illegal goods and suspicion of using a forbidden ritual." Tonks said. "Molly apparently purchased three blood stones, which, as you know, are still classified as illegal due to the fact that their only purpose is to control people. They had apparently had her under surveillance for the past week and noticed that she was preparing for a ritual tonight. They felt that it was too dangerous to allow her to do the ritual so arrested her before she could fully start. That's why she isn't charged with actually using an illegal ritual, they only have the suspicion of it since they stopped her."

Albus leaned back. He had his suspicions about who's blood she had been planning on using with the blood stones, but he couldn't let that get out. Luckily, he had a contact in the evidence locker that owed him. He was going to have to ensure that the blood evidence was compromised. He unfortunately couldn't have all the evidence destroyed since it would only draw more attention to the case, but a few blood vials could easily become corrupted without being too surprising.

"Thank you for informing me about what is going on Nymphadora." Albus gave her a soft smile. "I will make arrangements to visit Molly so she can inform me of her view of things. I will also make arrangements for legal representation if Amelia and the others in charge of the DMLE refuse to see sense.

Now, why don't you get back to work. We don't want to risk anyone finding out you came to me. The new minister seems to feel threatened by me and might not like your coming to me with this little issue."

"Of course Headmaster." Tonks smiled as she got up and left. Like everyone else she was close to she found the ministers disrespect of the Headmaster is an insult to everything the man had done. But, like the others, she was sure the man would wise up soon enough, only the headmaster would be able to handle He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Once the war picked up the minister would either turn to him for help, or he would lose his position due to an angry public she was sure.

Minister's Office - April 27, 2007

Kensington Shacklebolt was not looking forward to his next meeting. He was going to have to speak with Albus Dumbledore.

A few days earlier the spy the Unspeakables had, had come forward and warned them that Voldemort was planning on turning his attention for trying to get access to the prophecy and instead go after Hadrian. To that end, he was planning to attack Hogwarts before the end of the school year.

And that meant he needed to inform Dumbledore.

It was not going to be a fun meeting. He knew that Dumbledore was going to try and use this somehow to gain some form of control. And that was the last thing that any of them wanted.

Albus arrived a few minutes late as usual, making an excuse of having been busy dealing with a slight problem at the school. Finally, ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, everyone was settled down with their tea and the meeting could begin.

"What is it that you all wished to discuss with me?" Albus asked cheerfully. He had hope that Kensington was finally coming to his senses, but as he saw members of the military there he thought he might be wrong. He really didn't like having the military involved in this.

Not wanting to waste time General Whitcomb spoke up. "It has come to our attention that Voldemort is planning an attack on the school. The primary target is Hadrian Potter-Black, with you and the rest off the staff and students as secondary targets.

We called you here to assist in making arrangements to increase the security around the school. We also are putting in a formal request to have our people be able to do rounds of the castle."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Albus gave the man a sad look.

"I beg your pardon?" Alice said coldly as she looked at the old man. She had been selected to come as the board representative. "You have just been informed that one of the most feared Dark Lords in history is targeting your school specifically to kill one, if not more, of your students and you are unwilling to do anything to protect them."

"That's not it at all my dear." Albus tried to smile, but was annoyed with how the woman was sneering at him. "We would, of course, be pleased for an increase in security, but I can't allow uniformed military officials to start marching around the school. The exams are coming up and we can not risk unsettling the children. They need to focus right now, and seeing uniformed military members walking the halls will put them on edge and make the students fearful.

My job is to ensure a calm environment, and soldiers will destroy that calm."

None of the others could even really deny that. Having soldiers in the school would just serve to frighten the students, especially the younger ones. They needed to balance the security of the school with the needs of the students.

"Then we will use my aurors in plain clothes." Amelia said. "The students are used to them being around since they patrol Hogsmeade during their weekends.

Have the soldiers stationed in Hogsmeade. Then, if anything does happen the aurors will be there and they can hold the attackers off until the soldiers arrive."

"I can accept that." General Whitcomb agreed.

"As can the board." Alice added.

Everyone in the room looked too Albus. He knew he really didn't have a choice. If he refused and anything happened he would be blamed. During the last war Albus had known Whitcomb and he knew the man would take great pleasure in turning the public against him. And that just wouldn't do. Despite all the power he had lost in recent years, he was still thought of as a great man and hero by the public, he needed to maintain that reputation since it would stop the ministry from doing anything overt against him. The people would rise up if they saw the ministry go after him, but only if he could keep them on his side.

"I think that can be arranged." Albus twinkled, already making plans to ensure that the aurors assigned to the school were those that were loyal to him.

"Wonderful, then I will leave it to Madame Bones and General Whitcomb to deal with the particulars." Kensington smiled, pleased that things had actually been fairly simple.

Ministry Cells

After leaving the Ministers office Albus quickly made his way down to the holding cells where Molly was being kept until her trial in a few weeks. In the week and a half since Molly was arrested Albus had been working hard to get the woman out, but it was just no use.

The blood evidence had been destroyed, like he had requested, but that still wasn't enough. Molly was still found with illegal artifacts. If she was taken to trial she would most likely be forced to take truth serum, and he couldn't risk that, not with what the woman new.

Arriving at the cells, Albus made his way in. One of his pawns was on guard duty and arranged for him to have access to the cells without it being noticed. No one would know he had been there. There also would be no record of any magic he may have to do.

"Albus." Molly practically shrieked as she jumped up from the cot she had been sitting on. "It's so good to see you. Can you believe this? Some fool arrested me. When I get out of here I'm going to…"

"Molly." Albus held up a hand to silence the woman. "I was only able to arrange a quick visitation, I don't have much time. I needed to speak with you about how we are going to handle this."

"When am I getting out?" Molly demanded, she was annoyed that it had taken this long for him to come and see her.

"I have done everything I can Molly, but you are going to have to stand trial."

"WHAT?" Molly screamed. "I didn't do anything wrong. I'm a good light witch. How dare they treat me like this?"

"Molly, enough. You had blood stones, you know as well as I do that it is illegal. They also caught you when you were starting a ritual." Albus sighed. "I think it is now time to tel me what you were trying to do."

"I found a ritual that would break the supposed soul bond between Hadrian and the twins. Then Ginny could have taken her rightful place." Molly huffed, still annoyed that she hadn't gotten the chance to complete the ritual.

Albus had to admit, if that ritual had been successful it would have been extremely beneficial. He had been trying to tempt one or both of the twins to see things his way in the hopes of gaining control of Hadrian, but they weren't willing to listen to him yet.

"Now we have a problem." Albus sighed again. "You can not risk going to trial. If they give you truth serum it would destroy everything. I have arranged for Kyle Smith to be your legal representation. You will plead guilty to the possession of banned objects and he will get the other charges dropped.

Thankfully, Nymphadora managed to get this case classified so it will be kept from the public. We will just say you went to visit a distant relative while you are away."

"I will do no such thing." Molly glared, she hadn't done anything wrong. "I wasn't doing anything that didn't need to be done. I will not lie and pretend that I did. And I especially will not be going to prison for doing nothing wrong. My babies need me."

"There is no way out of this Molly. The aurors had you under observation and everything. I've done everything I can, but I can't fix everything. We have no choice. You either go to prison for a few months for the blood stones, or decades for using soul magic with the intent of breaking a soul bond." Albus tried to stay calm.

"You either fix this, or I will make sure everyone knows Ron and Ginny are yours." Molly threatened. "After all, if they can't be with their mum, then they should be with their dad."

And there went Albus's calm. Grabbing his wand, he spelled the woman still. Pulling her closer to the bars he stared into her eyes and cast legilimens and accessed the womans mind.

Not even bothering to try and limit the pain, Albus went deep. With a few quick spells and tugs on different memories Molly forgot that he was the father of her children. As far as Molly was concerned she had gotten pregnant from one night stands she had with muggles.

Just to make his life easier he also found the womans interest in him and removed it. Ensuring that she was still completely devoted to him, Albus removed any romantic interest the woman had in him. He also did what he could to make her more agreeable before he pulled out and cast a memory charm to make her forget what had just happened.

"Now, you will take the plea deal that is arranged. You will not tell anyone any of the secrets you have. You will keep quiet and pay the price for your actions, do you understand me?" Albus kept looking deep into her eyes.

"Yes Headmaster." Molly's voice was distant and unfocused.

Stepping back, Albus let the magic fade. Molly came back to herself and shook her head to clear it before she gave him a sad look.

"Can you arrange for me to speak with Kyle Smith, I think I need to go over a plea deal. We can't risk anyone finding out I'm a member of the order of the Phoenix. We both know the minister would ensure that I was charged for it, and then we would risk me being given truth serum and being asked about who else is a member."

Albus smiled slightly at how agreeable the woman had suddenly become, he should have done this years ago. "I will speak with him my dear. Don't worry, I will do everything I can to get you the shortest sentence possible for you. I feel I must agree with you, we can't risk this going to trial."

Molly just nodded before calmly returning to her cot.

Macmillan, Smith, and Boot Law Office

Leaving Molly, Albus went right to see the barrister he had arranged for Molly. He didn't bother to even acknowledge anyone else, he needed to get this done so he could get back to the school, he went directly into Kyle's office.

"Headmaster." Kyle jumped up seeing the man suddenly in his office. "I didn't realize we had a meeting today."

"Not to worry my boy." Albus waved the nervous man to sit back down. "I just had a meeting with Molly Diggle. She has decided that she will just plead guilty to the possession of the blood stone and requested that you arrange a plea deal for her. She doesn't want to make a big deal about this. She realizes her mistake and will admit she was misguided in her actions. She was only trying to do what she thought was right and it seems there was a slight misunderstanding with the aurors, but she is willing to take the high ground."

Kyle blinked. It took him a few minutes to work through what the man was saying. Looking past all the typical Dumbledore yammering, he was pleased that this time he wouldn't have to take a losing battle to court because someone was unwilling to admit the truth to him. He was still dealing with the fall out from the trial of Lily Evans with the partners in the firm. At least this time he just had to negotiate the plea deal rather than try and defend a clearly guilty woman.

Knowing better this time, Kyle just agreed to letting the woman plead guilty so he could just get this over with.

May 6, 2007

It was just over a week later when the plea deal was finally agreed to.

Albus had used every trick he knew to try and limit the amount of time Molly would be locked up for, she was still too closely associated with him for him to risk a long prison sentence. Unfortunately for him, he was limited in what he could do.

In the end, she had only been given a month for possession of a controlled ritual artifact. But, since she had three, her sentence was multiplied. Molly would be serving three months in Azkaban.

This just caused another problem for Albus. With Molly locked up until August, Ron and Ginny couldn't stay with her. Ron would be able to just go back to The Burrow, but since Ginny had disowned herself, she couldn't. That meant he was going to need to figure out what to do with the girl until her mothers release, and there was no way he was going to let her stay with him.

Albus had decided that he was just going to let Arthur deal with the children since he didn't want to have too. But, rather than going to speak with the man, he knew that would be counterproductive since they weren't on the best of terms, he just sent a letter so he would know that Molly was in Azkaban and he would need to deal with the children until her release.

Prewett Estate - May 7, 2007

Arthur sighed as he stepped through the floo into the Prewett Estate.

"That doesn't bode well for this meeting." Muriel smiled at Arthur as she poured the both of them tea.

"It's a complication." Arthur said with a deep breath. "Have you heard what Molly has done now?"

"Nothing has come to my attention." Muriel shrugged.

"Molly has somehow managed to land herself in Azkaban for a few months. She won't be released until August." Arthur told her. "I have no idea what she did since it was classified, but the end result is the same. The kids can't stay with her this summer.

I can easily take Ron, but not Ginny. Since the girl disowned herself over Yule break, she is no longer a Weasley, and that means I no longer qualify for having her custody. That's why I'm here."

Muriel nodded her understanding. "She's a Prewett and not a Weasley now, so I can take custody.

I will happily take the girl. But I highly doubt she will like it. The girl has much to learn, and I have no intention of letting her dishonour my family anymore. After what she did to the Weasley family, she has already done enough damage to her reputation."

"You can do as you see fit. I think she would benefit from a strong hand to guide her down the right path." Arthur smiled. "As much as I love the girl, she is no longer classed as my daughter, and as such, I have no standing to intervene with how you educate a family member."

"I still can't believe what she did." Muriel shook her head sadly. "Molly truly did a number on that girl. I just hope I can get her back in line before she completely ruins her life, more than she already has anyway."

Arthur nodded. "do what you can, but I have my doubt you can do much. Molly has spent years making that girl into a carbon copy of herself. Maybe seeing that it will lead her to prison, like it did her mother, will be enough to get the girl away from that path."

"We can hope." Muriel lifted her cup in salute to the man before taking another sip.

Hogwarts Library - May 12, 2007

Hadrian was sitting in the library going over his latest enchanting project. He needed to make sure everything balanced before he risked starting to do the casting aspect. Normally he wasn't so paranoid, but this was more advanced than anything he had ever done before, and used more magic, so if something went wrong it could do a lot of damage to him and everything around him.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she and Ron flop down in two of the seats at the table like they belonged there. "That doesn't look like anything from any of our classes."

"I am working on an enchanting project." Hadrian rolled his eyes, he knew it was far too much to expect any form of manners from these two. Seeing them starting to unpack their bags he knew he needed to stop them. "Don't bother getting comfortable. I have friends coming and you've taken their seats."

"There's plenty of room." Hermione said, completely ignoring what he said as she started to set up her books in the order she wanted.

"No, there isn't. We booked this table for our spell crafting study group. There are 8 chairs, and 8 people in the study group. If you wanted to use this table, then you should have booked it." Hadrian said as he went back to his book, the study group wasn't supposed to start for another 5 minutes.

"Then we will just sit with you till the others get here." Ron shrugged, he didn't want to study anyway. All they really needed was to be seen with the other boy.

Hadrian chose to ignore them since he didn't want to have to deal with the two of them throwing a fit in the library.

"So why are you working on enchanting if you are meeting for a spell crafting study session?" Hermione asked, trying to pretend she cared.

"Because I'm planning on going for my mastery in enchanting once we finish school. I want to already have a good grounding in the subject before I finish school. It will make things easier for me later on." Hadrian answered on reflex, he wasn't really even paying any attention to who was there, instead choosing to focus on his work.

Hermione was annoyed by that. She didn't like that Hadrian was planning on furthering his education. He shouldn't be able to do that well without her help.

"Why would you want to do more school?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Because I like to learn." Hadrian rolled his eyes again. "I enjoy enchanting so I want to get my mastery in it. Having a mastery also adds credibility to ones name, it also allows you to get a higher paying job.

My papa is a potions master. If he hadn't gotten his mastery he would have been barred from working at Hogwarts. Plus, he would be paid far less for the same work, and he would even be barred from brewing certain potions due to their complexity.

Simply put, having a mastery makes a career much easier and profitable."

"So what, you just take a few tests and get your mastery?" Hermione questioned. She had been looking into it, but hadn't found much about the process of getting a mastery.

"No, there is a lot more to it than just taking a few tests. You also need to write academic articles as well as work a certain number of hours in your chosen field. That's why many try and get apprenticeships. It allows you to work on your hours while also getting help in preparing for the tests and having someone to review your articles and guide you in what it takes.

Usually it takes an average of 5 years of work to get a mastery. My papa actually holds the record for the youngest person to achieve their potions mastery. He got it just before his 20th birthday. He managed it in just over two years. No one had managed to finish any mastery that quickly in over 50 years, and no one has beaten that time since. He also managed his DADA mastery in only 4 years." Hadrian's tone held the pride he felt.

Hermione was startled. She had known that Professor Prince was smart, but she didn't realize he was that smart. It annoyed her that someone like him held such a prestigious honour, being the youngest to achieve a mastery, she wanted that. Then everyone would know that she wasn't just the smartest witch of her generation, but ever. Hermione knew that it was her right to show everyone just how great muggle-borns could be if they were just given the same chances as everyone else. Thinking over her classes, she felt that she was best in transfiguration, she would have to speak with Professor McGonagall about getting her mastery.

Hermione was sure that she would be able to manage getting her mastery while she worked her way up in the ministry. Professor McGonagall could just say she was her apprentice so that she would get whatever benefits came from that. It probably wouldn't be that hard to get her mastery. She would do it in less than two years, then everyone would see how much better she was and she would get to show up Professor Prince, who was making potions extremely difficult for her.

When the others started arriving for the study group Hermione didn't even complain, she had more plans to make. Instead, she just grabbed Ron and dragged him away. He might have matured recently, but not enough that she was going to risk leaving him alone with Hadrian. This had been the first time they had managed to sit with the boy for more than 30 seconds without him being clearly annoyed and she didn't want Ron to ruin it.

But, it wasn't like Ron was going to argue. He found the other boy so boring. Ron would hate to have to spend that much time with such a loser. Sure, Hermione was all about school, but she was hot so it was excusable. Besides, they had already been seen with him and that was all they had really needed.

Hadrian let out a sigh of relief once the two were gone as he closed his book to start on spell crafting. He was glad that the two had not started arguing with him, for once.

Pushing any thought of the two of them out of his mind, he turned to focus on his work. It didn't take much effort to block their existence from his mind.

Minerva's Office

After leaving Hadrian in the library Hermione ditched Ron, ordering him to start work on their charms essay that was due the next day, and went to see her preferred head of house. Now that she knew Hadrian was going to try and get a mastery she wanted one first.

"What is it that I can do for you Hermione?" Minerva asked, slightly surprised to see one of her favourite students.

"I've decided that I want to get a mastery in transfiguration." Hermione announced with a smile.

Minerva blinked a few times, trying to process this change. "Ok…" Minerva said slowly.

"So when can you take me on as your apprentice?" Hermione questioned, happy that she was going to get her way, plus the professor was on her side so she knew she wouldn't set her up to fail like others would. "I want to beat Professor Prince's record."

"I wouldn't recommend trying that." Minerva said instantly. "Professor Prince made himself very sick doing things like he did."

"If it made him so sick then why did he do it?" Hermione was confused.

"Because he was broke and didn't have time to waste. Most apprentices don't make that much money. The current apprentices in the school only make about half of what the other assistants make, and it's even worse outside the school.

There was also a war going on and he was under a lot of pressure to complete it. You-Know-Who wanted a potions master, and failure wasn't an option." Minerva told her.

"But I want to be the youngest. I can do it, I'm sure." Hermione folded her arms and got ready to argue. "When can I begin my apprenticeship?"

"You have to finish your NEWTs with an O in your chosen field before you can even be considered for an apprenticeship." Minerva explained. "Now, you are perfectly capable of getting the grade, but you don't take your NEWTs until next year.

If you are serious about getting your mastery then I can give you a list of recommended reading and topics to research. You might also want to start practicing to become an animagus as it will get you bonus points on your NEWTs and help you better understand human transfiguration. I can set up a schedule to meet with you on weekends to start working on it. But… It might not be possible for you to finish before you take your tests. The process to become an animagus usually takes about 2 years and you only have a little over a year."

Hermione was annoyed by that. "But I want to start now."

"Like I just said Hermione, you need your NEWTs first." Minerva said calmly.

"Can't Headmaster Dumbledore let me start early?" Hermione whined.

"No. While the Headmaster is in charge of the school, he is not in charge of the mastery board. The Transfigurations Guild is currently headquartered in Greece. A majority of the committee is from other countries. I believe… that there isn't a single witch or wizard from Britain on the review board. So we currently hold no sway with them."

"But that's not fair." Hermione all but cried.

"I understand, but we have no control over the mastery boards." Minerva knew this was one time she could not make her student feel better about the subject. "A few years ago Headmaster Dumbledore was working with the ICW to gain control of different mastery boards, but after the neutrals gained control any advancements that had been made were negated.

If you really want to work on your mastery, we can discuss an apprenticeship next year."

"Why does everyone and everything have to be set up to make muggle-borns fail?" Hermione whined.

"Not to worry my dear, if this is what you really want, we will work together to help you achieve it. It's just going to have to wait until after you finish school." Minerva was actually not that sympathetic on this issue, she had managed to get her mastery after all. "But I thought you wanted to work in the ministry. Have you changed your mind?"

"No, I'll just do both." Hermione shrugged. "It shouldn't be a problem."

"Hermione, it takes a lot of work to get a mastery." Minerva tried to explain to the girl. "If you work at the ministry you really won't have time to work on a mastery properly. It would take over a decade just to finish your hours. There really aren't any departments that would qualify towards your mastery."

"Why would I need to put in hours? I know you need to work in your field, but I'm sure there is away around that." Hermione didn't like what she was hearing.

"No, there isn't. You need to put in a minimum of two thousand hours in your chosen field." Minerva informed her. "This is one time where there is no way to get around the requirements. There is a reason there are so few people with masteries. Less than 2% of the population can achieve them. Either because they lack the needed grades, the time, or the money. And there is nothing we can do to change it since masteries aren't given out by the government, but by international guilds."

Hermione pouted at this. She was getting really sick of being told no. Years ago, when she had been told of the magical world she had been so excited. She had thought that given who her allies were, it would be easy to force the idiots of this world to give her what she wanted, but apparently her allies weren't as powerful as they had lead her to believe.

At least she and Ron had seen that already and had started to separate themselves. While she still looked up to Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore, Hermione knew she needed to prioritize her own needs rather than theirs.

Rather than arguing the point, she would just have to do more research to find away around it, Hermione just requested the suggested reading list. She would just add the books to the list she was already working on since she had been trying to study to take more OWLs at the end of the year.

Minerva pulled out the standard list of recommended reading for anyone looking into becoming a transfiguration master. The list was set up the way it was to show people just how much work they would need to put into their studies and ended up dissuading many. The list covered all the different aspects of transfiguration that would be covered during the mastery work so it held over 200 different books, and none of them were written for the layman, or even someone that was decent, they were written by the best, for the best.

Hermione just stared at the list. She hadn't realized just how much reading was going to be needed.

There just wasn't enough time for all of this, Hermione thought, she would have needed to start on that list in first year to get through it all and become the youngest to achieve a mastery.

Secret Passage - May 17, 2007

Hadrian moaned as he was pressed against the wall. He had been on his way to his dorm to drop off his book bag before heading to lunch when he had been dragged into the secret passage.

Before he had been able to do anything he was pressed into the wall and kissed breathless by George. Thankfully, the bond between Hadrian and Fred and George had strengthened to the point where they were able to tell when the others were near. Hadrian was even beginning to be able to send through impressions and basic thoughts, soon enough he would be able to talk to them like they could with each other.

Over the past few weeks he had found himself in this position multiple times. It had all started just before the twins birthday.

Fred had ended up pulling him into one of the unused classrooms and the two started making out. Fred had used the link to let George know where they were while both he and Hadrian sent through the pleasure they were feeling at that moment.

Unfortunately for George the two had forgotten that he was hosting a tutoring session and wouldn't be able to leave for a while. It had been hell to have to feel his brother and soulmates pleasure while trying to pretend nothing was wrong as he went over different alchemical equations with some of the students.

Just over 20 minutes later he had finally managed to reach the two of them. As soon as he had arrived he had pushed his brother out of the way and taken up his former position.

It had been a few days after that that Hadrian had been pulled into a warded alcove by George. He had known that Fred was in the middle of a class at the time. George had been particularly smug as he sent the feelings and images of what he was doing to their soul mate to his brother.

After that it had become more like hide and go seek. Two of them would gather in a secluded area of the castle and send a few images to the third. It was a very enjoyable way to bring a little excitement to the monotony that was school.

Given how well they all knew the school it took Fred less than 10 minutes to find the two and join in the fun. Moving his brother out of the way Fred started to kiss Hadrian as George had been doing previously.

George, knowing it was his brothers turn, just moved behind Hadrian as Fred pulled him forward. He took up a new position between Hadrian and the wall, leaning down to start sucking bruises on to Hadrians beautiful throat, making sure they were low enough that he would be able to use his robes to cover them since they still had to keep their relationship semi-quiet.

Hadrian was perfectly pleased with this situation, he did so love being sandwiched between the two of them.

Lake Cottage - May 26, 2007

On one of the final Hogsmeade weekends of the year Hadrian and the twins chose to go directly to the cottage the rest of Hadrian's family lived in during the school year. His dad had been meeting with the military to help them set up strategic locations in town since their family owned plenty of land and also had many contacts in the local businesses. They had already managed to convince the proprietors of Honeydukes to allow a few soldiers to be placed at the entrance to the secret tunnel that led to the school.

Not that it had taken much convincing. All they had had to say was that the soldiers wanted to be able to secretly access the school in the event of an attack and they had been happy to assist. They were willing to do anything needed to assist in protecting the children.

Today, Hadrian had been requested to come down to meet with Cedric and another member of the military. They knew that he was the main target so they wanted to ensure his protection.

"Hey Ced." Hadrian waved to his friend as he sat down on one of the couches, the twins to either side of him.

"Hello Hadrian." Cedric was happy to see that the relationship between his three friends was still as strong as ever. "Allow me to introduce the three of you to General Whitcomb. General Whitcomb this is Lord Hadrian Potter-Black and his fiancée's Fred and George Weasley."

The three nodded their greeting to the general as they were introduced.

"It is a pleasure to meet the three of you." General Whitcomb had no intention of wasting any time with social niceties, they were already being delayed by Dumbledores attempts to take control. "I wished to speak with you today because Voldemort is planning an attack on the school to target you. I wanted to make sure you were aware of what was going on so you could also protect yourself."

"I figured there would be an attack soon." Hadrian told him. "I've already started taking precautions. I don't go anywhere alone, and make sure that there is always someone who knows where I'm planning to be. Also, since I'm a Lord my room is secured."

"That's good." The General was pleased the boy wasn't one of those idiots that followed Dumbledore. "What is it that made you think there would be an attack? Did your parents tell you?"

"It's just what Voldy does." Hadrian shrugged. "From everything that has happened, he seems to stick to the same patterns. He always does something on Samhain when he can, and his larger attacks seem to take place at the end of the school year.

When he was here at the school, while he did something on Samhain, he waited until the end of the year before trying to get the stone even though he had known what to expect for months. He even waited until the final task last year even though he had had someone on school grounds all year, all they would have needed to do was give me a portkey since the wards were clearly down, but they waited.

I looked it up, during the first war he always staged his major attacks on Samhain and in the final two weeks of June.

So, I expected that he was going to do something major now that he was back. Plus, you would have to be blind to not notice the aurors that are now all over the school staring at me."

"Smart." The General was surprised, he was going to have to get his people to look into the patterns for when there were attacks, it might help them to predict future attacks and not have to rely strictly on their spy.

"Hadrian, I was wondering if we might be able to temporarily borrow your map?" Cedric questioned, remembering the amazing map he had seen years before.

Hadrian pulled the map out from his pocket. "I thought it might be needed."

Hadrian and the others explained to the General how the map worked and the man was pleased to have something that would give them such a tactical advantage. The only thing that Hadrian asked was that he get the map back once everything was done, and that they kept the map a secret from those like Dumbledore.

"Do you have any recommendations on where we should watch?" Cedric questioned as the General looked over the map.

"Lately we've been finding the ROR sealed to us. We know that it can be made into a secret passage, but there's no way to determine when it's active and where the passage goes." Fred said.

They knew that the ROR was the most likely access point for the attack. Over the years they had tried creating secret passages out of the school and found that they could choose where the passages would come out. That would give them an excuse for why that area should be watched without risking their secrets.

"ROR?" The General questioned.

The three, along with James and Severus went on to explain what they knew about the ROR. Originally, they had been planning to remove the vanishing cabinet that had been used last time, but had left it as a way to gain a slight bit of control. If the cabinet wasn't there, then the Death Eaters would have found another way in. At least they knew the most likely entry point so they would be able to prepare.

"Now our only issue is keeping the Death Eaters away from the students until we can arrive." The General got up and started to pace as he thought. "Sure, the aurors are there, but they are all Dumbledore's chosen people, so there is no guarantee with them."

The others in the room just watched as the General muttered. Making and throwing away multiple different plans every minute. Hadrian had to agree with him about the risk of the aurors. Dumbledore had selected all those that were loyal to him to patrol the school. He knew it was a way to try and elevate his people and have the children associate them with safety. Dumbledore really didn't like how the people were turning to the military and the ministry and not him.

"Why not use the house elves?" George suggested.

"House elves?" Both the General and Cedric looked at him like he was crazy.

"I know what people think, but house elves are much more powerful than they are given credit for." George said.

"Have you ever had to deal with a truly angry house elf, they are vindictive." Fred added.

"But what could they do?" Cedric asked.

"Take their wands. Restrict their magic. Stick them to the ceiling or the floor." George said.

"Make them do the dishes." Fred muttered grumpily under his breath.

"Do the dishes?" Cedric questioned with a smirk.

"They started experimenting over the summer while they were visiting their dads. Their elf, Winky, did not appreciate them using her good pots. So she made them scrub everything they got so much as a smudge on." Hadrian grinned, Winky really could be entertaining when angered. "It took them over 4 hours to get things clean to a standard she would approve of. And they couldn't run since she stuck their feet to the floor. And took their wands so they had to do it all by hand."

Cedric just laughed at his old friends. He could just imagine what it would be like to see the two being scolded by a tiny little house elf.

"But if we wanted to use the elves then we would need to tell Dumbledore as he would need to be the one to give the order." The General sighed, he didn't want that man any more involved than he already was.

"Not necessarily." Severus said in a thoughtful voice. "After the attack in Godric's Hollow, all the Potter elves were sent to work at Hogwarts. Since we live in a Peverell property we never saw a need to call the elves home.

There's 37 elves at the school that will answer to us and not the Headmaster. So long as Voldemort doesn't send everyone he has, that should be more than enough to restrain them until your men can arrive."

"This might actually work." The General was pleased, he had never thought this meeting would actually give him a tactical advantage over their enemy. He had to admit, he never would have thought to use house elves, but it just might work.

After that Severus called for Mipsey and Dobby and discussed the latest idea with them. The elves were more than happy to help protect their masters and the school. Between all of them they had a plan set fairly quickly.

Cedric and a few others would keep the map open and watch it, and the house elves would monitor the school. The house elves would alert them when the Death Eaters arrived if they weren't already aware. The elves would then restrain them and keep them away from the students as best they could until they were taken into custody.

By the time Hadrian and the twins left to go back to the school they felt much better about what they knew was coming.

Lake Cottage - June 4, 2007

When Severus and Sirius came home for the night they were both slightly surprised to see James and Remus dancing around the living room like crazy people with the girls joining in. They were even letting them jump on the couch, which is something Remus always stopped.

"What have you done now?" Severus questioned in slight fear. He loved his husband and daughter, but he also knew some of what they got up too while he was away and it frightened him.

"We had a very good board meeting today." James smiled before skipping over to kiss his husband.

All the girls covered their eyes and faked gagging.

"Monsters, why don't you three go and get your homework so we can check it over." Remus gave the girls an excuse to get away from the mushy stuff before going over to welcome his own husband.

The girls didn't bother to argue, they knew when it came to their school work they wouldn't win. Their parents never let them get away with handing in substandard work. The price of having teachers for parents.

"So… What happened that has gotten you both so excited?" Sirius questioned as they all went out onto the back deck to sit.

The girls quickly returned and handed over their work before going to grab their brooms. They always got to fly or play while their parents checked over their work, and since they were outside they would be able to properly fly. Whenever they tried to fly while their parents were inside the house elves kept them low to the ground. They couldn't go above 5 feet unless they had adult supervision.

"Well?" Severus grabbed the girls potions work to review as he looked to his husband.

"Molly wasn't at the school governors meeting." James grinned.

"Yeah, isn't she visiting some distant relative or something?" Sirius questioned as he took the defence and astronomy work.

"Nope." Remus grinned as he grabbed his stack of work to go over. "I was talking with Arthur last week and he mentioned it.

Apparently, Molly got caught with some restricted ritual material. He didn't know what she was trying to do, but knowing her, it could have been anything, and none of it good. One of Dumbledores people managed to classify the arrest, but they had to inform him because of the kids.

Molly will be enjoying the hospitality of Azkaban until August."

"Wow." Everyone was slightly shocked. They knew Molly was capable of doing illegal things, but they never thought Albus would actually let her go down for it. It worried them about just what she had been trying, if it had been something little then Albus would have found some way to get her out of it.

"That just makes it all the better." James grinned.

"Why is it so good that she wasn't there?" Sirius questioned.

"Because it allowed us to have her removed." James smiled so big his cheeks hurt.

"Still not seeing what has you so happy, besides the obvious of not having to deal with her." Sirius said.

"If you would let me finish then you would understand." James stuck his tongue out at his oldest friend. "Molly was the last Dumbledore hold out. Dodge is dead, and Jones's niece is graduating this year. We've already selected their replacements and, while they do support Dumbledore, they are not his blind followers.

Starting next year, if that man puts one toe out of line we can have him removed as headmaster. Since he's been there for over 50 years he will still be able to reside in the school, but he won't have any control."

Severus just grinned. It wasn't perfect, but it would allow them to get the man out of his final position of power.

Headmaster's Office - June 9, 2007

Hadrian repressed a sigh of relief. It was the first time he ever felt such an emotion while around the headmaster.

They had just finished the final collection of memories. This time he hadn't even been asked to try and get Slughorns memories. He figured it was because the old man was finally learning that Hadrian had no intention of making things easier for him and would have just pretended he couldn't get the memory.

"Do you understand now Hadrian?" Albus gave the boy a sad look.

"Voldy did dark rituals." Hadrian stated. "I already knew that. I think everyone knows that."

Albus ground his teeth. "He created horcruxes. Until we destroy them, he will never be truly gone. I have made up a list of possible locations where he may have hid them, but it will need to be investigated.

It would be for the best if you took a few close friends, like Ms. Granger and the youngest Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Prewett to investigate the different locations. They would be of great assistance."

"No." Hadrian looked at the man like he was crazy, because he was. "I'm not running all over the country, with people I don't like, searching for things that you only believe to exist.

This needs to be taken to the ministry or the military. If there is any truth to what you believe, then they can deal with it much quicker than a few teenagers could."

Albus really hated this kid. "It really is for the greater good if you four were to do it my boy. We can not risk this becoming public knowledge. It would risk others being swayed to the dark side if they thought it would let them live forever. We really must protect our world from the dark side, surely you must understand that."

"I agree that we shouldn't let the information about horcruxes to be made public knowledge, but the ministry or military would be able to keep the information quiet much better than three loud mouth teenagers that don't seem capable of keeping their mouths shut." Hadrian said tiredly, he just wanted this over. He knew that these were the last memories, so hoped that this was the last of these meetings.

Sirius couldn't help but snort at Hadrians description of the annoying trio. Those three really had no talent with stealth.

"Now my boy…" Albus took one of his unaltered lemon drops to soothe himself. "It really is for the best if we keep this amongst ourselves."

"Yet you want to inform Granger, Weasley and Prewett?" Hadrian questioned.

"It's for the greater good. Between the four of you it shouldn't take too long. Only a few months at the most." Albus gave a slight smile.

"I will not spend months tramping all over the country looking for things that might not even exist." Hadrian rolled his eyes. "I still have another year of school left."

"You can just put things off for a bit. Winning this war is more important, after all. It won't be a problem my boy. You will be able to catch right back up once you return I'm sure. You are a clever boy after all."

"Are you out of your mind?" Sirius was actually shocked by what the old man had just said. "He is not skipping out on his final year of school just because you have a theory.

I agree with Hadrian. Turn this over to the appropriate authorities. You are in charge of a school, maybe it is time you start focusing on that rather than things going on in the outside world. The children should be your main focus, not the war."

"Why don't you give us your opinion Hadrian?" Albus ignored Sirius and turned back to the boy. "I'm sure you understand the importance of making sure Voldemort can never return, it is, after all, the only way to ensure the children of our world, like your younger sisters, can grow up without fear."

Hadrian wanted to snarl when the goat tried to use his sisters to guilt him into doing what he wanted. "I think I already stated my opinion. I will not be leaving school to go running around the country. I have one year left after this. Once I graduate, then I will look into getting involved in the war. But I will not be doing anything like going up against the madman before I even graduate. It would be like willingly walking to my death, which I have no intention of doing.

I still think you need to pass this information to those who's job it is to deal with this. Surely you could just pass it off to the aurors, there are enough of them around here after all."

Albus twitched ever so slightly when the boy mentioned walking to his death. That was what he wanted the boy to do, it was the only way to destroy the horcrux in him after all.

"Come my boy." Albus needed this. Something had to go his way. "It really is for the greater good to…"

"He has given you his answer Albus." Sirius interrupted. "Hadrian is not going to drop out of school at your whim. He has his NEWTs next year, he actually needs to attend the school for that.

For Merlins sake man, you run a school, you should not be encouraging students to drop out. Hadrian has told you no, accept it."

Albus was ready to scream as he was denied once again. How could these people be so selfish? Didn't they understand it was for the greater good? They needed to help him to regain his former positions so that he could fix their world. He was the only one who could save their world after all.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to win since the boy wasn't alone he decided to wait to try again next year, by then the boy would be of age and Albus wouldn't have to invite one of his guardians up with him. "If you insist my boy. We can just hope that more people don't die in the interim.

You may go."

Hadrian and Sirius left without looking back. Both were furious with the man trying to make Hadrian feel like anyone dying would be his fault.

Once the two fools were out of his office Albus grabbed one of his glass paperweights and threw it across the room where it shattered against the wall. The boy was everything he never wanted him to be. He was supposed to be weak, complacent, and unloved, instead he was strong, defiant, and adored by his family.

Over the years he had wished he had kept a closer eye on the brat, but it had just never occurred to him the boy might escape until it was already too late. Nothing he did was allowing him to gain control over the boy, everything he had tried had failed.

Getting up, Albus went over to his bookcase and skimmed the titles. None of his ancient ritual texts could even be brought in to the school anymore much to his anger. This point was emphasized by all the empty spaces. Many that had previously been there had been destroyed, to his eternal rage.

Maybe it was time to stop playing the roll of kind old grandfather with the boy and go the path of rituals. Sure, Molly had failed, but Albus was smart enough to make sure he wasn't caught, he hadn't been yet, and he had been using old rituals, that were technically illegal, for over half a century, it was fine for him to do so since he was only doing it for the greater good.

He could remember once reading about a ritual that would allow the caster to strip away the subjects natural personality and apply one of their own choosing. But it had been so long that he just couldn't remember what was involved. And as far as he knew that book was still in Nurmengard, so he was going to have to pay a visit to his old lover, it had been a few years since they had seen each other.

And that brought him to another issue. What was he supposed to do about the upcoming attack on the school?

They needed a big attack that was successful to get the public to return to being afraid. But, at the same time, he couldn't let any of the students die. If any of the students died then he would be held, at least, partially responsible. He would be able to deflect most of the blame onto the military, he would still get some because he was in charge of the school.

The only really good thing was that if the attack was stopped, he would get some of the credit. And, he would be able to use The Prophet to make sure it was a majority of the credit.

It would be like the year before. After the ministry attack he had once again been lauded by the public and people were falling all over themselves to thank him whenever he was out in public, which was why he made sure to be out in public almost every day during the summer.

He needed that again. With the trust of the public it would be easier to gain control of the boy. No one would be willing to accept any accusations from the boys family if they thought Albus was the hero he really was. They would just assume that the boy had wanted to follow in his footsteps. Then he might even be able to break that ridiculous marriage contract and get the boy together with Ginny.

But, it all depended on the people trusting him.

Azkaban - June, 2007

Molly was furious as she sat in her cell in Azkaban. She only got angrier each day she was forced to sit there.

Those idiots had no right to treat her like this. They wouldn't even tell her what day it was. She needed to know, her babies needed her. What right did they have to deny her access to her children.

Earlier, she had tried to get them to let her go early. She needed to be there to get her babies off the train. She was a mother. But no one was willing to listen. What was going to happen to her babies if she wasn't there to meet them? Molly hated this. While she knew that things could be much worse, the dementors could still be around, she still wasn't happy. And she was going to make sure Albus knew it once she got out of this. She had only agreed to plead guilty to protect him and The Order after all. Once she got out she was going to make sure they gave her the respect she deserved. She was done letting those like the Potter brat get away with not showing her the proper respect. She just wanted him to have a happy marriage, and he had done worse than ignore her, he had gotten together with her brothers disgusting spawn.

Any love she had once had for Arthurs older children was now long gone. Bill was dating a creature, Ron had been sure to tell her all about how he was dating a veela girl. Charlie was dating a man and still worked with those dratted dragons. Percy had absolutely no respect for her, going so far as to cast secrecy spells on her without her permission. And Fred and George were Fred and George. Molly no longer accepted them as her children and was going to make sure they learned that her babies were much better than them.

And that started with her getting out of here and making the Potter brat marry her Ginny. Molly was going to make sure that the twins were sitting, silenced, in the front row during the wedding just to make sure they understood that the boy was Ginnys and would never be theirs.

ROR - June 24, 2007

Pansy was as smug as could be as she watched the first of the Death Eaters step through the vanishing cabinet. It had taken months, but they had finally managed to get it fixed and ready to use. She already knew that if the Dark Lord questioned why it took so long she would make sure he knew it was because of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw idiots that he had assigned to her. She hadn't even bothered to learn their names, they were just the lackeys after all.

"You did well my future niece-in-law." Bellatrix giggled as she stood next to the younger girl. Bella knew just what the girl had been promised to encourage her and was pleased by it. She was still furious that her pathetic little sister and her spineless husband had turned their backs on their Lord. She would work with the young girl to ensure that her nephew didn't follow his parents in their betrayal of the proper way of being a wizard. He was the last member of her family that hadn't turned traitor, and she wasn't going to admit that her family was such a disgrace to the Dark Order.

"I only did as our Lord ordered." Pansy stood up a little straighter at the way she was addressed by one of the Dark Lords most trusted followers. "I could have had it completed faster, but I had the misfortune to be held back by a few fools that were trying to show off for our Lord."

Bellatrix followed the girls eyes to the two that had been assigned to work with her. "Not to worry my dear." Giggling manically she thought of having fun playing with the unsuspecting little kiddies. "They are simply here for the grunt work. After all, not everyone can come from a noble pureblood house."

With that, she skipped off towards the door. She was going to have fun. All the students should just be sitting down to dinner. When she got to the great hall she was going to enjoy lining all the mudbloods up at the front of the hall so their classmates could see what to do with scum.

Once the first wave had gathered up and gotten their bearings, they headed towards the door that would bring them into the school. All had a maniacal glee as they went. It had been so long since many had been able to properly torture anyone. The few raids they had been on had been interrupted before they could have any real amount of fun.

Now they had a school full of practically defenceless children.

Over the past few weeks their people, the kids, inside the school had been keeping track of the aurors and the timing on their rounds. As of now they should be able to make it all the way to the main hall without meeting a single person. Not that any of them had a problem with killing a few aurors, it would just be more fun to surprise the kids.

The group of thirty Death Eaters entered the halls of Hogwarts and split up. While a majority of them were to go to the great hall to corral the students a few had been given other tasks.

Two were meant to go and block access to the Ravenclaw common room in case any of the students managed to escape. They didn't care about most of them, but they couldn't let Potter reach his rooms since they had been informed his rooms were warded against entry. And another team of two was meant to go up to the astronomy tower and give the signal that it was safe for the others to follow.

There was a team that was waiting just outside Hogsmeade to see the signal. Once they saw it they would apperate to the Dark Lords current manor to let the others know that the path was clear for them to follow. They only had 15 minutes to give the signal.

They had arranged for the second cabinet to be moved to a secure location just so no one would see them coming and going from the shop over the past few months. Ever since the school had opened its doors to more students Knockturn had slowly started to become less dangerous and more and more people would report them if they saw them.

But this year there wasn't going to be any big battle. As the Death Eaters made their way down the hall it started getting harder to move. It was like they were moving through molasses.

With a slight pop, Mipsey appeared at the end of the hall. The little elf wore a colander on her head and was holding her wooden spoon like it was the sharpest of sabres, she even had war paint on her face, although, it was glittery. The other elves had selected Mipsey to be their general in this war.

To her left was her second in command, Dobby. Dobby wore a mixing bowl on his head and a baking sheet covered his chest, only his multi-coloured socks could be seen peaking out from between the sheet and the floor. Like Mipsey, he had his war paint on, but rather than the glittery red and gold stripes Mipsey had chosen he went with fearsome designs. But what Dobby feared was a little different than anyone else so he had what was supposed to be a menacingly growling unicorn on one cheek, and a butterfly on the other. Most of the elves thought Dobby was more than slightly crazy, and that was why they had made him second in command. Sometimes crazy was just what was needed.

"Elf. You will get out of our way or I will show you your insides." Bellatrix snarled as she tried to move further down the hall.

"Yous is not welcome here." Mipsey didn't even flinch at the crazy womans threat. "Yous will not be able to move further down the hall. Turn round and go back. Yous will not hurt students."

Bellatrix smirked as she sent an intestine expelling curse at the elf.

Dobby stepped in front of General Mipsey. The baking sheet, which had been spelled with house elf magic, absorbed the curse without any damage being caused.

"Yous is a bad crazy munchy. Yous try to hurt General Mipsy. Now yous be punished." Dobby clicked his fingers and Bellatrix had her nose stuck to the nearest corner and her wand was at Dobby's feet.

All the Death Eaters started trying to cast at the two elves, but it wasn't working. They struggled just to get their wands up, and as they spoke they found their mouths full of soap. Glancing from side to side they found themselves surrounded by angry house elves.

As soon as the Death Eaters had stepped into the hall on the seventh floor one of the younger elves had been sent down to alert the soldiers that had been watching. When he arrived he found everyone already getting ready to go.

The marauders map was held tightly in Cedric's hand. He had been one of those that was watching it and had called out as soon as he saw the name Bellatrix Lestrange show up.

The General handed over a short, pre-prepared, note for the elf to give to the headmaster. It basically just told him to send the great hall into lockdown and secure the children inside. He also made sure to let him know he was not to panic the students in any way since they were in no danger.

The last thing they wanted was to scare the students. He knew more than likely Dumbledore was going to do something stupid, but they still had to try and keep the students out of danger. To that end, they had the elf, Kato, seal the large doors when he dropped off the note.

Great Hall

Albus was slightly annoyed as a note appeared next to where he was sitting at the high table. Didn't those elves understand that it was dinner and he was relaxing.

His annoyance both increased and decreased as he read the note. It infuriated him that General Whitcomb was threatening him about not scaring the students. But he was also please to learn that the attack had begun.

He had made sure the military was stationed outside the school grounds, so it would take them longer to get there. The aurors that he had personally selected were there and they would be able to deal with it long before the military members arrived. He figured Voldemort would bring his followers in through the forest or that dreaded chamber of secrets so as not to draw too much attention to themselves so he had the aurors stationed closer to the forest since he still hadn't found where that blast chamber was.

Getting up, Albus called the attention of the school. "Students, if I may have your attention. I have just received a warning that Voldemort and his followers are attacking the school. Do not panic, I have already made preparations for an event like this.

I am putting the hall into lockdown. You all are to stay here and enjoy the rest of your meals and allow me to address the situation."

Albus waited to smirk until his back was to the students. As soon as he had told them not to panic they had panicked, it was a natural reaction to a perceived threat. He made sure to flare his bright purple robe with golden suns as he made his way to the staff exit. His loyal followers on staff following in his wake. The rest of the staff chose to attend to the students rather than follow him, much to his rage.

Hadrian rolled his eyes as he watch Dumbledore head for the exit. The man really didn't understand how to be stealthy in his actions. Although, he did have to admit, the main reason he could pick up on so many of the mans schemes was because of everything he had lived through in his last life.

He sent a small smile up to where Fred and George were sitting. He knew they weren't going to take their eyes off him until the threat was over, then they would be watching him for other reasons.

"How are you so calm?" Theo questioned his friend fearfully.

Hadrian looked at his friend who was sitting next to him. "Because I knew something like this was going to happen. The military has been setting up strategic areas for months, we also have a near constant rotation of aurors walking around. They knew this was coming, and have spent the past months getting ready.

I'm not afraid because I'm sure it's all already handled. There's no way any of them are going to make it here."

"You're sure?" Nox questioned, he was just as uneasy as Theo.

"Yeah, I figure, since they knew this was coming they would have plenty of plans in place to keep us all safe, I'm just trusting that."

The other two nodded, and so did a few others around him. Luna smiled at her friend before sending a smile to Neville, she knew it would all be fine.

Albus was ready to kill as he reached the staff entrance only to find the door was sealed shut. He needed to go and be seen fighting, instead he was stuck in the hall.

There was no way out and he knew it. He had felt the attack wards trigger letting him, as head master, know that there were hostiles in the school. The school wards would lock all children in whatever room they were in to keep them away from the danger. And since the kids were all in the great hall, they were sealed in with no way out until the invaders were dealt with. But he should have been able to override it.

Casting a quick spell that would make it so the students couldn't see or hear them, Albus summoned one of his personal house elves. "Otto."

"Master Headmaster calls Otto?" The thin, nervous, little elf appeared.

"Open this door." Albus snapped.

Otto reached out his magic for a moment before pulling back. "Is sorry master, but I's can't."

"Why not?" Albus demanded.

"The door is sealed with strong house elf magics. Only elf who cast can remove." Otto knew what was going on, and, although the Headmaster was his master, he would not let him endanger the children if he could help it.

"Why not? You're an elf, just remove the magic." Minerva huffed.

"Elf who cast is stronger than Otto." The little elf squeaked. Because the Potter family was stronger and took better care of the bond the Potter elves were much stronger than any of the other elves at Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore wasn't willing to share any magic with his own elves they were the weakest.

"Which elf cast it?" Ted questioned.

Otto felt the magic. "Kato."

"Kato." Albus called, but nothing happened. "Why didn't he come?"

Otto looked up at his angry master before hanging his head slightly. "Kato is not a Hoggywarts or Dumbledore elf."

"Then why is he here?" Albus was only getting angrier.

"All Potter's elves was sent to Hoggywarts by Master Headmaster. They has been here since." Otto explained.

Albus glared. Swiping his hat off his head he thrust it into the hands of the elf at his feet. "You are free. Now get out of my school and never return you utter failure."

Otto's eyes filled with tears as he felt the bond break. With a soft pop, he was gone. He was going to wait until everything was done, and then he would go to General Mipsey and see if she could help him find a better master.

Albus wanted to go and yell at Severus or the boy to make their blasted elves let him out, but he couldn't do that. If he did, then the children would see he and his people hadn't really left. He needed them to believe that he was off fighting to protect them.

Seventh Floor

By the time the soldiers, and few aurors they had come across on their way, reached the seventh floor everything was still and calm. There was a large pile of wands sitting at the feet of Mipsey and every Death Eater had their mask removed and their nose stuck to a wall. Their robes were also multicoloured and a few even looked like they were covered in pudding.

"What happened?" Tonks questioned as she looked around. She had been ready for some major battle, but not this.

"The idiots thought it was a good idea to cross house elves." Cedric couldn't help but smirk. He wished they had thought of using house elves to assist sooner. House elves were surprisingly powerful.

"What do we do?" One of the other aurors asked.

"We bind them, and then we will take them to the cells we already have prepared." The General announced as the soldiers started pulling out suppression bracelets that they used to start binding the Death Eaters.

"Honestly, we've known about this for over a month, how could you not have thought about what to do once it happened?" One of the soldiers muttered.

When it came time for Bellatrix to be bound she started screaming at them, although she had been just screaming in general before then. When she started going on and on about who she was Dobby snapped his fingers and everything became very funny.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM BE'w'ATRIX w'ESTRANGE. I…"

Bellatrix froze as everyone giggled at her toddler like speech.

"What did you do?" The General asked the angry elf.

"She's is being a bad witchy. She loose right to the letter L till sunrise." Dobby glared at the woman. This woman had been planning on hurting his Master Hadrian.

Everyone just kept laughing as Bellatrix started yelling about how she was going to inform the Dark Lord, but since she couldn't use L's it just sounded funny.

Less than half an hour after the Death Eater's first made their way into the school they were being escorted out. A platoon of soldiers was sent back through the cabinet to see if they could find anything but the area had been abandoned after there was no signal.

It was only after the prisoners were all gone that General Whitcomb called the elf that had sealed the great hall and had him release the spell, also sending him with a note for Dumbledore, before making his own way down. He wanted to reassure the children that they were perfectly safe since he knew that Dumbledore would have scared them in spite of what he had said.

Great Hall

Albus was still trying to break down the wards on the door, with the magical support of his followers, when an elf with the Potter emblem on his toga appeared and handed him a note, snapping his fingers to unseal the door, before popping away.

They could only assume that had been the elf, Kato. Andromeda had gone and gotten Severus a few minutes before so they could try and get him to summon the elf to let them out, but the man had refused and gone back to his food. Albus was going to get that man in his office and make him suffer for denying him, but he would have to wait.

Glancing at the note Albus read that everything was dealt with and the Death Eaters had been removed from the school. It was safe for the children to leave.

Turning with a flourish, Albus walked back into the view of the students. "Students, I have good news, everything is safe once again.

Although we were successful in protecting the school this time, let this be a reminder to everyone, Voldemort is back. We must all be on guard as we never know where danger lies.

I wish to remind all of you that you can come to the staff with any issues or concerns that you may have. We are here to listen and will always do our best to help."

Hadrian wanted to snort. Translation, the man wanted more spies. He would help any Gryffindors, but if they were a Slytherin he would guilt them into thinking what ever was going on was their fault and that they needed to give him any information on anyone dark that they might have.

Before Dumbledore could say any more, the main doors opened and General Whitcomb entered, followed by a few soldiers, Cedric amongst them.

Reaching the front of the hall, the General gave the headmaster a nod before turning to survey the students. "As I'm sure your headmaster has informed you, less than an hour ago thirty Death Eaters managed to gain access to the school. They have all been captured and removed from the school grounds. Their path of entry has also been located and closed so you need not worry about any others following."

"How did you capture them? We didn't hear anything that sounded like a battle." One of the braver voices called from the Gryffindor table. It sounded like Seamus Finnigan to Hadrian.

"One of the greatest failings of wizards and witches is that we continuously underestimate those around us. Just because they aren't like us, many think they aren't strong. But there are all different kinds of strength.

In this instance, what was overlooked was the devotion and loyalty of the house elves. As soon as the Death Eaters set foot on school grounds the elves mobilized. As long as you are in this school, you are their responsibility, and they take a threat to your safety seriously.

When we arrived all thirty had been stripped of their wands and were standing in the corner like naughty children just waiting for us to collect them. So I would recommend that you thank the schools elves and remember, just because they are different than you, doesn't mean that they are weaker."

"How did they get in?" Another voice shouted out.

"I regret to inform you that a few of your school mates assisted. They have also been taken into custody and a full investigation will be conducted. We are going to attempt to determine whether it was by choice that they assisted, or if they were being threatened or forced. We have no intention of type casting everyone. Everyones sentence will be reliant on their actions, and not just the type of core they have or their political ideology." The general announced.

This calmed many students. Many in Slytherin were worried that things would go back to how they were when they were considered evil just because of the house they were sorted into.

With one final nod, the General and the soldiers made their way out of the hall.

All the students instantly started gossiping. Looking around, they tried to figure out who was missing so they could figure out just who had been arrested for assisting the Death Eaters.

That evening, when the soldiers left the school, they had one extra members. Mipsey had met with Otto and then gone to the General and explained what had happened to the elf. The General had been happy to take Otto on as his personal elf.

He thought it would be helpful to have an advisor that thought differently than he did. After all, house elves were clearly very powerful, and when treated correctly they could make a very intimidating force.

Hogwarts - June 29, 2007

Only a few days after the failed attack the school year finally came to an end. There really hadn't been that much that had happened that year, but it had still dragged on.

Hadrian in particular couldn't wait to get home. This year he was turning 17. He would be a legal adult. It wouldn't really change all that much for him, but it was the principle of the thing.

It also meant that he would be able to take his apperation test. While apperation could be uncomfortable, it was still preferable to floo or portkey travel for Hadrian. He had learned in his last life it was because he had higher than average magic levels. Both floo and portkeys used the magic of the traveller to power itself and since he had so much of it his trips were always over powered which caused him to spin much faster.

Even better, he had managed to get a summer internship with one of the top enchanting masters in the UK. Master Icarus Hobb was the man who had invented the contact mirrors that Hadrian used to stay in contact with his family during the school year, for the most part. He knew better than to not send any letters, Hedwig had a tendency to get huffy if he didn't use her at least a few times a month.

An internship was nothing like an apprenticeship, but it would allow him to start working on his hours. It was more about just getting his foot in the door and letting those in the Enchanting Guild know that he was interested. Summer internships weren't very common since there weren't many masters that had the time and inclination to only take on an intern for a few weeks. Most preferred to make multi-year contracts that were apart of apprenticeships since it also assisted them in their own work.

But the best part of all… It meant that he only had one year left before he was officially done with school and could get on with his life.

Fred and George's Quarters

Fred and George were sitting in the little sitting room that was attached to the quarters they were given at the school when Ron and Ginny arrived. They had had to be marched up there by Sirius. Over the past week Fred and George had been trying to meet with the two almost every day, but the two never bothered to show up.

"What do you two want?" Ginny glared at her hated brothers.

"I need to finish packing." Ron whined.

"If you had come to see us the first time we asked…" Fred said in annoyance.

"Then we wouldn't have had to have you escorted here now." George had zero sympathy.

"What we wanted to tell you…"

"Is that you won't be taking the train."

"What? Then how are we getting home?" The two questioned.

"We will be shrinking your trunks…" George started this time.

"And George and I will be side along apperating you both." Fred finished.

"But why?" Ginny was suspicious.

"Because it will save time." Fred said.

"Look, that is what is happening. Plain and simple." George didn't want to argue with these two right now.

"So, finish packing and we will meet you back here once you're done."

"We will have one of the elves bring your trunks to us."

"Fine." Ginny didn't like the twins, but at least this would make it so she didn't need to spend hours on a hot train.

"Whatever." Ron just thought it would be nice to get to start his summer early, but he was going to miss not getting to spend the train ride locked in a small compartment with his girlfriend.

Prewett Estate

Ron and Ginny were confused as they were taken to their Great Aunt Muriels. They had figured they would be going to the restaurant, or to The Burrow. Their mum had written a few months earlier saying that she was going on a mission for The Order and would be out of contact for a bit, but they figured she would make sure she was back in time to get them off the train.

Before they could say or ask anything they were taken into the main sitting room and saw Muriel and their dad. Even though she had disowned herself, Ginny still thought of Arthur as her dad.

"What is going on?" Ginny questioned as she sat down across from the two adults.

"We wanted to speak about what was going to happen this summer." Arthur was not looking forward to this talk.

"The same thing that we do every summer." Ginny said like she thought they were being stupid. "We stay with mum, and visit you every other week."

Arthur was confused. Didn't Ginny understand he wasn't her father and therefor had no right to have custody of her. Plus Ron was of age, he could stay where he wanted.

"What did your mum tell you was going on?" Muriel questioned, assuming Molly had lied to the kids.

"She's on a mission for The Order." Ron puffed up with pride.

Arthur glanced at Muriel, he didn't want to have to tell the kids this. "I'm sorry Ron, but that isn't the truth."

"What's that supposed to mean." Ginny was angry at being told her mum had lied to them. "Mum wouldn't lie to us. Stop trying to make her look bad. I'm going to tell her once she gets back that your lying about her."

"Then where is she?" Ron demanded. He had seen the look the two shared and wasn't so sure.

"I hate to tell you this, but your mum was arrested." Arthur sighed.

"Your lying." Ginny shouted as she jumped to he feet.

"That is enough young lady." Muriel interrupted what was undoubtedly going to be a massive tantrum. "Your mother was caught with multiple illegal objects and is currently residing in Azkaban. She will be there until the middle of August."

Ron and Ginny just stared.

"That is what we needed to go over with the both of you." Arthur would have tried to tell them a little nicer, but Muriels way got it done faster. "Ginny. You will be staying here with your Aunt."

"No. I'm coming home." Ginny didn't like this. If she couldn't be with her mum, then she wanted to be at The Burrow. She didn't want to have to stay with Muriel, she didn't like her dad, but she hated Muriel.

"No, you won't." Arthur realized Ginny really didn't fully understand what she had done. "Ginny, you disowned yourself. You are no longer a Weasley. And, as such, I can not have custody. You either stay with your Aunt or you will have to go to the orphanage."

Ginny stared, horrified. That couldn't be right. "But…"

"No buts." Muriel said. "Actions have consequences, as your mother is now learning. You disowned yourself, now you deal with it.

I have set up a room for you. We will be going over your summer schedule after lunch."

"Summer schedule." This was just getting worse and worse from Ginny's point of view.

"Yes. I will not accept a layabout in this house." Muriel gave the girl an imperious look. "I will not allow you to go down the same path as your mother. To that end, I will be taking responsibility for teaching you what your mother failed to do."

Ginny just stared, to stunned to say anything. This was going to be the summer from hell and she knew it. Why oh why did her mum have to get herself arrested?

"What about me?" Ron asked in a slightly fearful voice.

"That is another complication." Arthur looked at the boy. "Legally, you are of age since you are now 17, but you still require a guardian since you haven't finished school yet.

As such, you have three options. You can come and stay at The Burrow, you can stay here with your sister, or you can possibly stay at your mums flat."

"I want to live at the flat." Ron said instantly, a huge grin lighting his face.

"I said possibly." Arthur reminded the boy. "Ron, do you really think you're old enough to live on your own?"

"Yeah." Ron shrugged.

"Ron, that would mean that you have to do all your own cooking and cleaning." Arthur told him. "Also, you are going to need to get an extremely good job since you will have to buy all your own food."

"I can just eat at the restaurant." Ron didn't like how this was sounding.

"No, you can't. Eating at restaurants costs money." Arthur tried to explain to the boy. "Your mum always covered any food you and your sister ate, but now you will have to do it yourself. Eating food at the restaurant and not paying is called theft, and that can get you sent to Azkaban. And, since you are now of age, it will not be a slap on the wrist, you will get in real trouble.

So, you can technically live on your own, but I don't think it's a good idea for you. Especially if you want to eat at all this summer. A basic summer job just won't pay you enough, especially with how much you tend to eat."

"But I don't want to have to work." Ron whined.

"That isn't happening. No matter where you choose to live." Arthur told him flat out. "The difference is, if you are with me or your Aunt, you get to buy what you want with the money you make. If you live on your own then you are responsible for buying your own food and supplies.

As for not wanting to work, welcome to being an adult. You work or you have no money. It is time for you to grow up young man. Things are not always going to just be handed to you on a silver platter. If you want things, then you are going to have to work for them."

Ron glanced between his dad and Aunt. It really wasn't much of a choice. "Fine, I'll stay with you."

"Good, that's settled then." Arthur smiled. "Now, on to the next thing. We have some good news. Bill is getting married next month."

"Married?" Both Ron and Ginny were surprised. They didn't really pay attention to what their siblings were doing. The only ones who's relationship they had really paid attention to was the twins, for obvious reasons.

"Yes. Bill asked Fleur to marry him. The wedding is going to be held on August 1st at The Burrow. So, we will be getting the both of you formal outfits." Arthur was happy as he thought about how happy his eldest son was. "I hope I don't have to tell you both that you will be expected to behave properly. This wedding is about Bill and Fleur, not either of you."

Both children were angered by that. Ron hated that Bill had gotten the beautiful girl. Ginny, just didn't like that the attention wasn't going to be on her.

"With that settled, it's time we head out Ron. Muriel, it was a pleasure to see you again. Goodbye Ginny." Arthur addressed the two females before leaving.

Ron just got up and followed his father.

"And you act like I'm rude." Ginny sneered at the door her dad and brother had just walked through.

"That is because you are, but don't worry, we will be working on that this summer." Muriel reminded the girl.

"You saw how he just acted." Ginny waved her arm in the direction of the door. "He treated me like I was nothing. I am his daughter, what right does he have to treat me like that?"

"You truly are a foolish little girl, aren't you." Muriel sighed turning to the angry child. "He isn't your father. Do I need to remind you you disowned yourself. You no longer have any connection to the man. He is not your father, and you are not his daughter. And nothing can ever change that.

From the moment you did that ritual you only had one parent. He has no responsibility to do anything for you. You should just be grateful he came to me to arrange your summer living or you would have gone directly to the orphanage from the train. And, since your mum clearly lied to you about why she hasn't been in contact, you would have had no idea what was going on.

Show a little respect for the man young lady, he was kinder than most would be after what you did.

Now, let's get this summer started. We are going to have lunch, which will consist of a nice house salad with a side of salmon. Then you can go to your room and unpack.

Once you have finished that you will meet me in the sunroom to go over the schedule I have set up for you."

Muriel smiled at the look on the girls face. Yes, this summer was going to teach the girl just what it meant to be a daughter of the house of Prewett.