Chapter 17 - Strike and Counter Strike Part 1

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

WARNING: This chapter contains scenes of torture. If you are not comfortable with it, leave out the end of the chapter.

Harry was kneeling and waited for any kink of acknowledgement from the fog with burning eyes. After what seemed like half an hour had gone by, Harry heard a soft lisping voice. The voice itself had an echoing quality to it. He heard the voice telling him to rise. Harry obeyed the voice and stood tall in front of the swirling mass. Harry now noticed that the mass had a set of black lips moving. Shortly after he heard the sound. Harry felt like laughing, he remembered watching those old Kung-Fu movies where the lips would move and the sound would follow after.

The voice spoke to him directly and said, "Young one, I have waited a long time for you. I have called you from your dream state. In case you are wondering, it is possible with great effort for a higher spirit to access the astral plane of your dimension."

Harry bowed his head and replied, "I do not understand why you have summoned me here. Have I done something wrong?"

Harry could almost see a smirk coming from the formless lips. The being answered, "No young one, you have not upset the spirits as you call us. I wanted to meet your spiritual form, champion. I needed to see your true soul and see if you were indeed the bridge. Although I am not at liberty to divulge much at the present, the fates work in mysterious ways young one. You were meant for a great purpose and destiny."

Harry replied, "I do not want to sound impudent, but who are you and what do you know of my destiny?"

Harry could hear the being laugh and it answered, "You are the past, present and future. You were meant to battle the cheater of fate and the false light bearer. As for who I am, you can call me Tiamat. I was worshipped as the scorpion goddess a long time ago. I fought a Great War in millennia past and lost. I lost due to the treachery of my brother. After the battle my soul was split. A part of my soul was cast into the heavens, and the other lives on this plane in the nether world."

Harry knew that the spirit was holding something back. The spirit continued, "As I said, I cannot divulge your destiny but I can tell you to simply keep to the path you have set yourself."

Great Harry thought, As if I don't have enough stress as it is, I am now bloody responsible for helping bring an ancient spirit's soul back together. God the fates absolutely hate me. Harry was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp laugh coming from the spirit.

Tiamat smirked and said, "Yes young one, the fates can be quite unforgiving. You will find however that the universe cannot run without checks and balances. I find that since my fate is now linked to yours, when the time is right I will reveal more of my ancient dark arts to you. Surely you didn't think that what you have learned up to now is the sum total of the ancient magic which was wielded in millennia's past, do you?"

Harry bowed his head and replied, " Truth be told, I simply took the gifts that I found and never pondered to think that there might be more to be found. I suppose that was very short sighted on my part but there you have it."

The spirit said, "I have enjoyed meeting you, champion. This will not be our only meeting. When the time is right I will seek you out. It is time for you to go back."

As soon as the spirit finished her last word Harry felt himself spinning as if caught in a portkey. Harry realized he was rapidly floating upwards through a thick black fog. He could see a kaleidoscope of colors and found himself suddenly waking up. He sat on the bed and shook his head. What in hell was that all about, he thought? Harry picked up his watch and noticed that it was around 10:00 am. He could feel Xiana stirring also. Suddenly the previous day's events came into focus. He would have to ponder his dream at some other time. Harry had long ago learned to ignore all that mystical crap.

Harry decided to get ready for his day. He had a lot of things that needed doing. Harry suddenly realized that when Voldemort found out that his war fund had been eliminated he would go into a towering rage and go on a killing spree that was sure to cause enormous chaos. Snake face never liked being made a fool of. Well Harry though they would cross that bridge when they got there, for now he had to concentrate on the here and now. With those thoughts at hand he got up and headed to the mineral bath to get some healing done. The potions had worked wonders. Now he just needed to polish off the last bit of stiffness.

Harry spent that time reviewing the different battle scenes and came to the conclusion that his battle inside the ship had taken a lot longer than it should have. He would have gotten rid of the bloody Vampires a lot sooner had he used his Jackal warriors. Harry realized that having Xiana with him had caused him to be more cautious and hold back his powers. He could not afford to do that again. Then again most of his fights up to now had been out in the open. Close quarter fighting was something entirely different as he had found out. Harry remembered reading a book on the muggle WWII battle of Stalingrad. Much of that battle had been about close quarter fighting. Harry was sure he would pick some valuable information from that battle.

Harry came out of the mineral bath trying to be as quiet as possible. His wife was still sleeping, no doubt still recovering from all of that portkey travel. There is a reason they tell pregnant women not to take portkeys, because it makes them violently sick due to the spinning action. Xiana figured that by making herself into a cannon ball she could avoid the more tortuous spinning. However it doesn't stop the inner ear from spinning and that coupled with raging hormones makes for a messy sight. She apparently stopped puking at around 6:30 am this morning. Harry made his way to the bed and picked up some fresh clothes. God bless Dobby and Winky, he thought.

Harry made his way to a breakfast table that Dobby and Winky must have rigged while they were sleeping. Harry helped himself to some scrambled eggs, back bacon, hash browns, and some Russian black bread. When he was done breakfast, he went into the inner chamber and booted up his laptop. While the computer was booting up, he decided to have a little peek inside the castle. He cycled through various cameras, but most of the students were in class. He hooked up to the Internet and went back to check on his Swiss bank account.

When Harry looked at the amount, he nearly fell off his chair. Harry never realized that drugs and weapons dealing were that lucrative. The amount flashing on his screen read €44 billion Euros. Harry immediately began his task of splitting that amount into ten different banks. Harry had already consulted with Bill on what they would do with Voldemort's war fund if they ever got a hold of it. They decided to not repeat Voldemort's mistake of putting most of their eggs in one basket. Part of their strategy session was to contact high level security banks and open accounts. They came up with ten banks and decided to only have two people know the bank account numbers. Freeport Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Bank of Hong Kong, Bank of America in the US, Canadian Royal Bank, Lloyds of England and a host of other banks.

Harry also found a charm that would transfer the account number from a designated member to another should the person die or become incapacitated. The beauty of the charm was such that the person whose memory was transferred would be obliviated of any memory regarding the account numbers except for him. Harry came up with the succession list. Currently Bill and he would have access to the accounts. Harry decided to set up a war fund council to review all spending. This way the group could have a say on war effort spending and have the power to veto him or Bill should the need arise. The group would include Remus, Xiana, Neville and Luna.

The group itself would rotate every six months. This way, there would be a good balance of opinions and strategy. Harry realized that he did not have all of the solutions and ideas. Besides, Sun-Tzu always stressed the importance of listening to your closest advisers. Harry decided to have a bi-weekly meeting with Bill and the executive group to review all spending. When Harry was done splitting the war fund, he came out of the inner chamber and found that nearly everyone had already gotten up and had left for lunch. Harry spotted his wife and made his way to her table. Xiana was currently talking to Neville and Luna.

Xiana was the first one to spot her husband walking towards them and waved him over. Harry came over and said, "How are you, love?"

"Much better thank you. I'll wait till the baby is born before I take another portkey. I'll tell you this much." She replied

Harry replied, "Well now we know why they say pregnant women shouldn't travel by portkey." Harry looked over at Neville and knew from the look on his face that he was dying to ask how much money they had swindled from Voldemort. Harry went and got himself a plate of Connolly pasta and made his way back to their table. Before Neville could blow a fuse, Harry assured both of them that he had already accessed the accounts and told them how much money their operation had transferred. The look at his table was quite amusing. They all nearly fell off their chair and then Neville laughed like a maniac. Both, Xiana and Luna had a very satisfied look on their faces. Harry told them that there would be a meeting that night to have a mission review and fill the rest of the group on their accomplishments.

The conversation moved on to their newspaper, which had Luna and Xiana very excited. Harry and Neville discussed classes and how to get to their NEWT's as fast as possible. Harry needed to get to Gringotts to get some things completed. He was going to miss Transfiguration and Charms but he really didn't give a shit at this point and time. In less than four weeks he was going to write his NEWT's come hell or high water.

Harry also needed to meet his father in law and get the file folders on the Wizengamot members. When he was done there he needed to get back to Potter castle to meet with his other elves. Harry had already postponed his meeting with the Elves once already, and he had no intention of postponing again. Harry kissed Xiana and told her that he would meet her back at their meeting tonight and told the other two to tell the teacher that they had not seen him since Friday. This should keep the heat off of them. Harry walked back to the middle of the lair with his laptop safely stowed in his backpack and apparated to Gringotts apparition point.

After a two hour meeting with Griphook, Harry walked out of Gringotts smirking to himself. His troops were going to be mighty surprised during their post operations meeting tonight. Harry knew that he had to play a fine balance in rewarding his troops. Harry had no intentions of repeating the mistakes of the famous muggle general Napoleon Bonaparte. You don't want to make your troops afraid to loose what they have gained from the spoils of war, yet you don't want to deny them their rightly earned spoils of war. The balance is very delicate. Harry believed that he had achieved the right one, only time would tell. With that thought he apparated to Stenton and Zabini Attorney office.

Harry reached his father in law's office and made sure that he had his hood on with a disillusion charm on. The last thing he wanted was to create trouble for his in law. Harry walked up to the second floor and spotted his father in law's office. He knocked and heard a voice telling him to enter. Harry noticed that the building along with the office was nicely decorated in black and burgundy. There were many nice tropical plants and nature like paintings. Harry looked around to make sure that no one was around except his in law and put up the strongest anti-listening charms that he knew. When he was done he walked across the lush black carpet and greeted his father in law.

Michael looked up and smiled when he saw his son in law walking towards him. They both clasped each other's forearms and Michael said, "Hello Harry, it's good to see you. I'm sure you have lots of news for me today."

Harry smiled and replied, "Hello Michael. You are quite right there are a lot of things to discuss today." They both sat in comfortable chairs and Michael conjured some tea and scones. With the formalities out of the way, Harry gave his father in law a summary of the events over the last three weeks. By the time Harry had explained their actions from the previous night and how much money they had taken out of Voldemort's war chest, Michael was left flabbergasted.

Michael was now thinking furiously. He knew that the Scorpion army had just dealt a very nasty blow to the Dark Lord. That being said, Voldemort was not stupid and would likely have some backup reserve somewhere, not to mention that the Dark Lord would be seeking retribution for his losses. Events were certainly moving at a furious pace.

Finally Michael looked at Harry and said, "I have heard from some sources at Gringotts that Voldemort has a special vault set aside there. I wouldn't doubt that it is filled with money. I would also hazard a guess that the vault is by blood recognition only. That being said, there is no question that you and your group has managed to obliterate a major part of his funding organization. You must be careful Harry, because there will be retribution for this. However, now that you have his funds you will be in a position to start your takeover of the Wizengamot very soon."

Harry thought about what Michael had said, and he fully agreed with him. He needed to make sure that his troops treated Voldemort and his death eaters with extreme care. They could not afford to let down their guards. He looked at his father in law and replied, "You are right, there is no doubt that the Dark Lord has a back up vault closer to home. He will be able to finance his current troop level in the foreseeable future but at least he will not be able to gain massive troop replacement anytime soon. Now as for the Wizengamot, I believe the first step is to take care of the Supreme Mugwump and get you to head the Wizengamot." Harry said the last bit with a feral smile on his face.

Michael laughed and walked over to the left bottom drawer on his desk. Harry could hear him muttering several charms and heard a click coming from the desk drawer. Michael pulled out a thick file folder and handed the folder to him.

Michael said, "Son, this is all of the information I could get on the members of the Wizengamot. It is fairly comprehensive and contains some interesting tit bits. For instance, the only way to have the head of the Wizengamot thrown out of his position is to prove that he is not a member of the light. Harry, for you to step into the Wizengamot, you must get rid of Dumbledore. You must use your knowledge to get him expelled as the Supreme Mugwump. That being said, due to some families being hard up for money, they have forfeited their rank and position on the Wizengamot council. Anyone with the right power could buy one or more of the seats on the council.

Michael continued with his explanation. In order to influence the Wizengamot, one had to understand its power structure and its influence. The Wizengamot was composed of the Upper House and the Lower House. The Upper House was made up of permanent members. Currently the permanent member was based on pureblood status and overall magical strength.

The lower house was composed of fifteen elected members. The Lower House members tended to be either famous, rich or academics with lots of contacts. One needs to serve the Lower House for a minimum of seven years before they are even considered for the Upper House. To become a member of the Upper House, a Lower House member needs sponsorship from a member of the Upper House. The Upper House then needs to vote in said member and reach two thirds majority for the lower member to become an Upper House Lord.

All Wizarding laws came from bills initiated from the ministry. Bills can also come from the general populace by either petition or referendum vote. These bills are then sent to the ministry for review. Once ministry lawyers put their two cents worth on the new bill it is sent to the Lower House of the Wizengamot.

The Lower House then votes on said bill. If the bill is passed in the Lower House, then it is sent to the Upper House, which also named the House of Lords for final approval. Once in the Upper House the bill could be passed, rejected with a very valid explanation or delayed for a minimum of eight weeks before the bill can be debated again. This stalling or fill busting could be done to a maximum of three times before a final vote can be cast. The upper house seats were comprised of voted in purebloods. Magical creatures were excluded from being nominated in both houses. The Supreme Mugwump was the tiebreaker in the upper house should a law or bill be tied in the Upper House. The Mugwump could cast the deciding vote on any tie bills but could do nothing to a bill that was annulled by the House of Lords.

During their visit to Potter castle, Michael had given him a very detailed crash course on the events of the House of Lords during the last thirty years. It seems that during the early seventies many Lords of the upper house had gone missing or found dead. All of the Auror investigations had been kept under wraps. However, Michael had read the reports and found that many of the purebloods who had taken a negative or neutral stand on the topic of blood purity had been eliminated. All of the evidence pointed to Voldemort. Harry now knew that good old Voldie would have had the cash and connection to elect Lords that were sympathetic to his cause.

Harry's plan was simple. He was going to fight fire with fire. If mayhem, blackmail and murder were good enough for Voldemort and his supporters then he was going to give them the same treatment ten times over. Harry needed to have his people in place before he could dissolve the House of Lords and overturn the Lower House. Almost two thirds of the Upper House of lords was made up of absolute pureblood racists. Those fuckers were the first to go. Harry felt that there was no use even bothering to buy them or blackmail them. They were absolute fanatics and had to be exterminated. Sun-Tzu said that political expedience was the fastest track to power. All methods justified the means. Harry had candidates for every lord he took out of commission. In war there are no luxuries, you do what you have to.

Harry took his time to explain his plan in details to his father in law and asked him for his input. Michael gave him a few suggestions, which he took. When he was done, Harry picked up the thick folder and said his goodbyes.

Harry walked out of the building and decided to make his way to the leaky cauldron for a quick bite to eat. Harry took his time and finally reached his destination. Harry scanned the place and quickly found an empty booth and went to seat himself. While waiting, Harry decided to read up on his file of the Wizengamot members. Unknown to Harry a man had been tailing him since he had left his father in law's office. Harry had forgotten to cast his perimeter charm when a man plopped himself in front of Harry with his wand pointed at his head. Harry slowly put his hands on the table and slowly lifted his head to see who his attacker was. Harry immediately recognized the beaten and scary looking wizard facing him.

Moody was the first to speak and said, "Boy, I am rather disappointed in you. Haven't I always told you constant vigilance! How come you let your guard down that easily? "

Harry smirked at the retired Auror and said, "Old man, I'll admit that I forgot to put my perimeter alarm charm on, however just so you know you would never get a hex fast enough to catch me even with your wand pointed at my forehead." Harry immediately brought out his magical aura reading ability. Harry would know the moment a curse was starting to come his way.

Moody meanwhile raised his eyebrow and said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Harry replied, "Try your best, old man." Harry saw Moody's aura change and saw a curse coming along his wand arm. Harry recognized the curse as a stupefy spell and wandlessly cast a protego shield. To Moody's shock the spell was rebounded right at him. In that close of proximity Moody never had a chance and flopped on the table unconscious. Harry smiled and cast enervate.

Moody woke up and made the scariest grin Harry had ever seen. Moody shook his head and said, "Damn boy, I sure wish I could have trained you instead of the annoying little shits I was forced to train this summer. Now I am more curious than ever, and I was wondering what you were doing out of Hogwarts grounds Potter."

Harry just raised an eyebrow and said, "Well as an emancipated person, I was simply taking care of some family business, especially finances. History has taught me not to trust many people, if you catch my drift. As for Hogwarts, I could miss the next six months of classes and study on my own and I would be much further ahead. Let's face the facts, that school's curriculum sucks. With a headmaster hell bent on sticking with light spells, he is ensuring that we lose this war. I have every intention of rectifying that little problem if you know what I mean. "

Harry saw Moody's shoulder slump and he replied, "I don't know what's happened to Dumbledore Potter. He has changed an awful lot these past fifty years. He was always manipulative, but never to the extent that I experienced this summer with you Potter. I can't blame you for writing off the Order and especially Dumbledore. If somebody were manipulating me to my death, I would tell them to fuck off also. Don't worry boy, I'm not going to report you to Dumbledore. I don't exactly see eye to eye with the old boy anymore. The Order has turned into nothing but a cluster fuck."

Moody looked at Harry and saw him nod for him to continue. "Listen Potter, I'm no fool. I know that you are somehow in contact with that Scorpion Sorcerer. Now I know the guy is using some awfully dark magic, but from everything I hear and see, he uses it to fight Voldemort's forces. Personally I see no problem whatsoever in fighting fire with fire."

Seeing that Harry was still paying attention he continued, "I guess what I am trying to tell you, is that I would like to join him at some point. I still need to convince myself that he is the genuine article and not some other Dark Lord in the making. Now to prove that I am not smoke and mirrors I am willing to pass critical information from the Order as long as it is used to help innocent people, you understand? Also, I have a lot of contacts still at the ministry with the Unspeakable and senior Auror departments. They can provide valuable information concerning the ministry's and Voldemort's plans."

Harry looked at Moody and carefully completed a surface scan of the man's memories and intentions. Harry didn't want the risk of being found out, so he left the deeper memories alone. Moody was an Auror and they were taught Occlumency as well. If Moody eventually decided to join him, then he would request a deep memory scan. So far, the man appeared to be sincere, but until Harry was one hundred percent sure, he was going to keep his guards up. That being said, he wasn't going to refuse Moody's gifts. One of Harry's weak points so far was his lack of accurate intelligence within the ministry. Moody's contacts providing information on the ministry of magic would go a long way in closing that gap. Now, Harry had to be careful as not to appear too eager.

Harry replied, "Alright Mr. Moody, I like your idea of taking it slow. The Scorpion Sorcerer doesn't like to rush into things. I have something to give you that will allow for secure communications between you and me. I'll relay any information directly to him. When you feel you are ready to join him, let me know." With that, Harry took out his cell phone and showed Moody how it worked. He showed him the letters under the number buttons and told him to dial Scorpio to reach him.

Moody looked pretty impressed with the muggle contraption and said, "I thought muggle electronics didn't work with magic?"

Harry smirked and replied, "Well our mutual friend found a way to counter act the magical effect on muggle electronics. We'll keep in touch." With that Harry stood up and walked out of the pub leaving a laughing Moody behind. Harry made his way out of the pub making sure that his cloak hood was on, and walked to an apparition point by Gringotts. When he got there, he apparated to Potter castle for a meeting with some very excited Elves.

Meanwhile back at Stenton and Zabini Attorney office

Michael was sitting at his desk marvelling at Harry's success against the Dark Lord, when a black-cloaked person wearing a deep hood came through his office front door. Instantly Michael took out his wand and leaped from his seat and took a defensive position behind his desk.

The stranger casually stopped walking and looked at Michael directly in the eye and said, "Now, now is this how you normally greet your clients Michael?"

Michael suddenly remembered whom that voice belonged too and replied, "Lucius, this is quite a surprise, I thought you were locked up in Azkaban?"

Lucius listened to Zabinis reply trying to discern any kind of sarcasms. Finding none, Lucius pulled his hood down and said, "Well, when one has friends in the right places, anything is possible, don't you agree?"

Michael answered, "I suppose that holds for just about anybody. As you well know, I have never favored playing word games or play the high society politics. We, Zabinis are practical and completely independent. Now why don't you tell me what you want?" Michael finished the last with lots of emphasis. He knew deep down why Malfoy Sr. was meeting with him, but he would be damned if he gave in to him.

Lucius raised his eyebrows at that last comment but decided to ignore it for the moment and said, "Since we are dispensing with the formalities, I am here to offer you a position in the Dark Lord's inner circle. We need strong and capable purebloods to carry out the purging of half-bloods and muggle born wizards and witches. The Dark Lord needs people he can count on."

Michael knew that Malfoy was here to recruit him and his answer was going to be the same one as when he was asked during the first war. "Lucius, my position has not wavered from the last war. Zabini's have always remained neutral in wizard wars. Besides, even though we do have some issues with muggle born, they are certainly not enough to want to exterminate them. I don't know if you have been reading the latest medical magical journals but it seems that the rise of squibs in pureblood families has increased dramatically due to inbreeding. Killing muggle borns is not going to help the magical world any. I am sorry, but my answer is no."

Deep down, Michael saw through Malfoy's recruiting as that of a desperate man. It seems from Lucius visit, that his son-in-law's activities were having a much bigger impact on the Dark Lord than he had originally thought. Michael could almost see the near desperate look coming off Malfoy's face. Michael was no berk. He knew that there would be retribution for his refusal. Michael felt that he needed to prepare for the eventual conflict faster than originally planned.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Zabini, one way or another you are going to join our ranks. It would be a pity to have to have your family come to harm."

It was now Michael's turn to narrow his eyes and he said, "Remember Malfoy, the art of kanly is very much alive." With his last comments, Malfoy put his hood up and pulled out a portkey. Before he left, Malfoy left a parting shot, "I'll be seeing you soon."

Michael went back to his desk and immediately started to make a priority list. There were lots of things to be done in a short amount of time. Michael took out the contraption that Harry had given him, and dialled the number as he showed him. He heard his wife at the other end and smiled to himself. Harry was right; the Wizarding world was amazingly backwards on a lot of things. He immediately told Xenna to get the Elves to gather all of the family treasures into the large storage room on the east side of the manor. He was going to Gringotts to open up another vault.

10:30 am Riddle Manor in little Hangleton

It was a very scared group of death eaters who had come back from investigating their operations overseas. Bellatrix was looking at the other frightened faces in their group and couldn't blame them for feeling the way they were. When they informed their lord of their findings, there would hell to pay like none of them had ever seen before. Yesterday evening, key members of the inner council failed to show up, and their Lord had sent them very early this morning to investigate.

They found all of their underground labs destroyed, RQG headquarters destroyed and all of their fellow death eaters dead. Many of them had been with their Lord since the first war. Bellatrix herself had lost her husband. There were no physical traces of him but she recognized his residual magical signature. At their New York lab they also found scimitars and kama weapons. At all of their labs, they found evidence of very dark magic. This was definitely not the work of that old fool Dumbledore or the ministry. She was leaning towards this Scorpion Sorcerer, but there was no obvious clues left like a mark or what not. The best thing they could do was to bring all of the evidence to their Lord and hope to make it out alive.

They reached the throne room to find the Dark Lord talking with Lucius. As they entered the inner chamber, red eyes suddenly looked up to find a very subdued group of death eaters. The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes and said, "Bella, what news do you have of our contacts?"

Bella scurried to her lord and bent down on one knee and kissed the hem of his robe and said, "My Lord, our forces have suffered a dreadful setback. We went to all of the sites only to find the same result. All of our underground labs have been destroyed along with RQG headquarters. We found none of our brothers and sisters alive. All of our muggle contacts were killed. We did a thorough search of the site and found indisputable evidence of dark magic and we also found unusual weapons. There was no call sign left at the site, my Lord." Bella looked up and for the first time in her life she saw panic in her lord's eyes.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes and started going over the information that Bella had given him. To say he was pissed was an understatement. He had spent many years establishing his financial empire and thought that it was completely safe. He sat on his throne thinking for a moment and realized that this had to have been a coordinated attack. Voldemort was not a stupid man and started going over the evidence and realized that there was a distinct possibility that more than one group of forces may have been at work.

With the evidence of dark magic it was unlikely that they were dealing with the Order of the Phoenix, however with the information that Snape had given him, he would not put it past the muggle lover to strike some kind of alliance with this Scorpion Sorcerer. The real question was why the attack had taken place in the first place. Granted they had struck at his forces and many members of his inner circle were gone. Fools, he thought if they were that weak, then they deserved to die.

His inner circle could be replaced easily enough. However the destruction of his financial organization was a significant blow to his plans. How they had found out about his financial empire in the first place was a complete mystery to him. One thing that stood out was the fact that his enemies were a lot more resourceful and organized then he ever thought. They were going after a specific target but surely they must have known that he would be able to eventually replace his financial empire. Suddenly Voldemort felt as if an iceberg had taken residence in his stomach. He mouth suddenly went dry and he started to actually sweat.

The Dark Lord bellowed, "Lucius check the status of the war accounts immediately." Lucius rushed off to one of the side room adjacent to the throne room and made a muggle phone call to Switzerland. Meanwhile the Dark Lord was pondering all of the different scenarios that could have brought about this attack. With all of the resources he had expanded on this Scorpion Sorcerer the truth of the matter was that he didn't know a whole lot about him.

That fact alone truly wrangled him. Voldemort always took pride in making rational decisions based on facts. He had always taken great pains to find out everything he could about his enemies before making his move. The fact that he had so little info on that Scorpion Sorcerer showed that this enemy was not of the ordinary lot. The fact that he could hide his tracks this well spoke highly of the man. What really confused him however was the fact that the Scorpion Sorcerer was obviously dark, and yet he went to great pains to attack him. Someone that intelligent wouldn't do all this to just dethrone him as the reigning Dark Lord. No, Voldemort was more certain than ever that he was missing something in this equation. A shaking Lucius brought him out of his thoughts.

Voldemort sneered and looked into Lucius eyes and said, "Well, what have you found out?"

Lucius gulped and went down on one knee and said, "My lord, I don't know how this is possible but our war funds are gone. According to the muggle records you approved the transaction as it had your authorization code issued for the transaction. I know this was not the case my Lord as we were planning strategy last night." Lucius looked up at his Lord and saw a fire burning in his eyes that truly scared him shitless. His master roared with anguish and malice.

Voldemort was pissed beyond reason. Overnight he had lost over eighty percent of his war fund, over twenty years of planning, subterfuge and killing gone in one night. Suddenly he took out his wand and started firing the darkest curses that he knew at the gargoyles lining the wall of the throne room. Dark, purple, green and crimson lights were erupting out of his wand faster than anybody had ever seen. His entire inner circle dove to the ground hoping to avoid the curses. After about ten minutes of straight cursing, Voldemort fell back on his throne panting.

Finally he looked up at his inner circle and said, "Rise, tonight I want the entire council to meet here. We have much to plan. I have no doubt that the Order had something to do with this and I want to plan an attack on them. That's not all. We are going to be doing some major muggle hunting. Who ever planned this thinks that they have us on the ropes. I say it's high time we take the initiative once more and show those bastards who they are fucking with."

Voldemort took some deep breaths and hissed, "You are dismissed! Be back for eight o'clock sharp tonight. Severus, I want a little chat with you." He said the last with a sneer.

Snape looked at his Lord and gulped. He knew that he would have to play this one very carefully. He stood up and approached his Lord. Severus took a deep bow and said, "How may I be of service my Lord?"

Voldemort sneered and said, "Do you know if the Order was involved in this attack in anyway?"

Severus realized that he was threading on very thin ice here so he formulated his answer to appeal to his lord's intelligence. He said, "My lord, much like you, the old fool has learned from his own mistakes during the last war. All plans are on a need to know basis. I was not aware of any Order strike plans. The old man keeps his cards very close to his chest these days. It is unlikely that he would have involved me at any rate since we are effectively into a new school year, and he probably was trying to give me some kind of cover. The old fool tends to be sentimental at times. A most unfortunate character fault if I do say so myself."

Voldemort was paying very close attention to Snape's reply. He detected no sarcasm on his part. Dumbledore was a muggle loving fool, and often gave the appearance of a barmy old man, but Voldemort knew this to be just a front. In reality his nemesis was as cunning as they came and to under estimate him was a very grave mistake indeed. Voldemort narrowed his eyes and said, "Severus I believe you for now. I want you to find me an easy target from the Order of the Phoenix and also, it has come to my attention from Lucius, that certain Slytherins aren't willing to pledge their allegiance to me. The Zabini's come to mind. I want you to tell Draco to arrange for a message to be sent to Zabini senior. The message is to be quite harsh, do I make myself clear?"

Severus looked at his Lord and replied, "Crystal clear my master. My Lord as for your order to directly attack the order of the Phoenix, I think that a target outside of England would be easier to carry out. The order would have great difficulty getting there and it would show that your power base is not situated mainly in the U.K. There is a Weasley living in Romania that would make an ideal target, my Lord."

Voldemort pondered Snape's reply with great care. Everything that he said made perfect sense. He remembered Bella telling him that this Scorpion Sorcerer was somehow implicated, and Voldemort knew the truth in that statement due to the high level of dark magic used. Dark magic was not something the Order of the Phoenix would sully their pretty little hands with. Voldemort also saw the benefit of a marriage of convenience between the Order and the Scorpion Sorcerer.

Voldemort finally replied, "Severus I have many assignments for you today. First, you are to get word to the Malfoy brat concerning his task. Second, I need you to find out where this Weasley is residing outside of the U.K. I also want you to brew many medical potions. You will not be taking part in any of the attacks except for the one on this Weasley. I cannot risk the old coot's suspicion anymore than he already has concerning you Severus. Third, you will come back here tonight and assist the rest of the inner council in planning the muggle raids. Your logical mind will benefit them greatly. That being said, rest assured Severus, I will be watching you very closely. Your loyalty as far as I am concerned is still in question. One screw up on your part and believe me, I will give you pain the likes of witch you have never seen. Dismissed!"

Severus bowed low and made a quick retreat back to Hogwarts. Severus counted himself lucky to be getting away without any severe punishment unlike many of his brothers and sisters. The Dark Lord was pissed, that much was undeniable. Loosing over twenty year's worth of accumulated funds would make anyone pissed. His work as a double agent was getting harder and harder. Severus realized that in order to save his neck he had just sacrificed an Order member. The old coot would have to be kept ignorant of this particular activity in order to keep his neck off the chopping block.

Too bad Potter was not an Order member, he thought. Still, he considered, the Weasley was just as good of a target. Severus had no love for any of these idiots. The father was a simpleton, and the mother was nothing but an annoying twit. Some of their kids had some potential but had unfortunately been contaminated by the other two. There were far too many Weasleys to go around anyway. His order to inform the Malfoy heir of his task in taking care of one of the Zabini's would be a lot more difficult. This had the potential to set Slytherin house on fire. Severus made his way out of the wards and apparated to Hogsmeade. He looked around to make sure he was not being followed and made his way to the castle.

Harry apparated back to Potter castle into the main parlor to see Dobby and four other house Elves waiting for him. Dobby was the first one to his side and said, "It is so good to see you master, how is your day being master Harry Potter Sir?"

Harry bent down to Dobby's level and heard the other Elves gasped. Harry replied, "I'm doing fine Dobby, I see that you have brought our guests."

"Oh, yes I have been searching for free Elves to join the greatest wizard Harry Potter sir. They would be honored to be part of our family sir."

Harry looked up from Dobby and gave the other Elves his undivided attention. He noticed that they were all looking at their feet, and seemed to be very self-conscious to be in his presence. Harry's first duty as their future master was to make them feel secure and welcome.

Harry conjured four plush chairs and a pot of tea. He told them to have a sit and have some tea and scones. The Elves couldn't believe that a wizard would carry out such an act for mere Elves. Harry turned to Dobby and said, "Dobby, before we get going with the interview could you please tell Xiana to meet me in the parlor room."

Dobby replied, "Right away sir." Dobby disappeared with a slight pop. Ten minutes later Xiana walked straight to her husband and gave him a peck on the lips and took a chair next to him. Harry then went on to explain to the Elves how things worked in the Potter family. Xiana jumped in to add more details to some of the issues Harry glossed over. Harry made no bones about what his expectations were concerning loyalty, perks, pay and other administrative tit bits. In return Harry found out that the Elves were named Toby, Zagred, Dez, and Rico. There were two males and two females. Harry couldn't believe his luck. Both Toby and Zagred had worked for the Goblins at their mining site in Terri's Minor in Scandinavia. Toby worked in extraction and Zagred was a metallurgist expert. The mine had been rendered bone dry and the Goblins had decided to let all the Elves go, instead of relocating them.

The Elves in front of him were relatively young, however if they were not bonded, soon they would lose their magic. These two would be a great asset he thought. They could help the other two with what they knew and all of them could be sent to the asteroid sites to mine the Naquadah and extract the Naquadria. Dez and Rico had worked as farmers. They were both experts in herbology and animal care. They both had worked for a company called the Wizard Co-Op. The company had gone into receiver ship and all of the workers were laid off. Harry found out that he had extensive land holdings that had once been used for farming both in magical and muggle kind. Harry had every intention of bringing back those lands to full production. Harry's first priority was to make Potter holding completely self-sufficient. What ever was left over would go to wizard and muggle markets. All of the Elves seemed very excited to be joining his family. After a few more explanation Harry told the Elves to chat among themselves while he consulted with his wife.

Harry said, " Well I don't know about you, but I have a pretty good feeling about them. They are honest and they seem really eager to begin working. What do you think?"

Xiana replied, " I have to agree. The mining Elves seem like a godsend, and the farming Elves will come in really handy later on. We will have to get them to cross train, but it already seems like they are eager to learn from each other. With the manor trunks already made, they can get going as soon as you have given them your instruction. "Harry nodded and went back to tell the Elves that they were going to be part of the Potter family. He proceeded with the bonding ritual. With the ritual completed, his new Elves were all wearing black leather outfits with the Potter crest on the upper left side of their chest. He also asked them to set up a training schedule as soon as possible to that they could cross train each other.

When that was done he introduced them to one of the trunk manors and told them about their new assignment. He showed Toby and Zagred what they would be mining and how do it. He also explained the formula to Zagred on how to stabilize Naquadria. Harry then showed them the ancient blood wards that he wanted them to use, and told them to include any elf wards that they knew at their work site. He explained to them the importance of secrecy at all times. When they were done mining a site, they were to come back to Potter castle with the purified ore. Harry would then tally and store the ore. Harry decided to let the Elves choose a room for them selves. It turned out that unlike Dobby and Winky they chose a room on the main floor towards the back end of the castle. The rooms were not big but were very cozy and seemed to appeal to these Elves.

With that out of the way, he told Xiana that he would meet her at the Scorpion lair later in the evening. He gave her a passionate kiss and apparated back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When he was there he pulled out his schedule and noticed that his next class was DADA. He cast a disillusion charm on himself and made his way towards the DADA classroom. Once he got there he noticed that no one else had arrived yet and cancelled the charm. He transfigured Michael folder to make it look like his DADA book. When he was done, he began to read the files. The files were very thorough. He began reading when he noticed Cindy Donovan (aka Tonks) walking towards him.

Tonks looked around and cast a quick silencing charm and asked, "How did it go Harry?"

Harry smirked and said, "It went a lot better than I thought Tonks. There is a meeting tonight to go over our results. It is time that you saw our operation first hand. I will require you to take a vow. The information that will be divulged tonight is critical. Everyone in the group takes the vow."

Tonks looked hurt at first, but realized that everyone was taking the magical oath. Magical oaths were binding, and if broken would result in that person losing their magic or dying. She had made up her mind to follow Harry after the Grimmauld debacle. The fact that Sirius made him Lord Black only cemented her oath to him even further. She looked at him, smiled and nodded.

Harry smiled back and slipped her a portkey. He told her that it would activate at 7:00 pm. Harry looked up and heard people coming. Harry nodded at her, and walked to the other side of the corridor. He did not want to jeopardize his spy. He had to maintain his distance from her. Harry noticed Draco and his goons walking towards him. As usual, the albino couldn't pass up on a confrontation.

Draco noticed Potter leaning against the wall in a bored like manner. Draco got within three feet of him and with pure venom said, "Well boys, pothead decided to grace us with his presence. All bow to the great pothead. Now why is it that he is never around much these days? Personally, I think the reason we don't see him is because he spends most of his day's hiding and crying over the fact that no one wants to be his friend. After all, losing so many fans can be devastating to one's ego."

Draco waited for Potter to blow his stack. However it never came. Potter simply raised his eyebrow and made a fake yawn and went back to reading his book. Draco thought how dare he ignore him in such a callous fashion. Draco finally said, "What's wrong Potter, getting stupider as the years go by? Can't come up with a decent comeback?" Draco spat.

Draco had barely finished his last words when Harry had moved so fast it seemed like a blur. Suddenly Harry was standing nose to nose with the Malfoy heir and said, "You know Blondie, you are really starting to get on my nerves. It seems my little lesson has gone unheeded. Very well! If you are so eager to meet your final end, I'll hasten my timetable just for you. "

Draco suddenly saw Potter's eyes take on a cold green glow. If he were honest with himself, he would admit to being scared shitless. However, loosing face to Potter was not an option. Draco narrowed his eyes and finally whispered back, "You know Potter, I simply can't wait for the Dark Lord to have you in his clutches. I'll be there to enjoy every moment of your torture. You will be begging for your death."

Harry whispered back, "Maybe the Dark Lord will get me in the end, but not before I get to torture you to death. That, shit for brains, is a promise I intend to keep." With those final words Harry brought out his Dementor aura. The hallway suddenly became very cold, and Harry concentrated on Malfoy and his goons. Harry could see Malfoy's face contort in agony. Malfoy and his goons collapsed on their knees. Harry kept concentrating his aura on those three when he suddenly felt a hand roughly push him away. Harry tuned around to see the sneering face of his favorite batboy and heard him say, "That was an unprovoked attack on Mr. Malfoy, Potter." He spat the last and continued saying "That will be fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for a month."

Snape smirked expecting to rile the little shit further. However, this was not to be, Potter turned around and Snape found himself looking into the coldest eyes he had ever seen. The sickly green neon color of his eyes and the cold utterly unemotional face that met him, made him shiver where he stood. Finally Potter managed to say, "Sorry professor, I was simply putting a death eater in his place. It's not because the headmaster tolerates them that all of us agree with him. After all, most of us aren't willing to give the bastards a second chance." With his last words Snape saw the implied meaning behind his words.

Snape narrowed his eyes and said, "Mister Potter, please keep your unwarranted suspicions to yourself. That will be another fifty points from Gryffindor for falsely accusing a fellow student of wrong doing."

Harry replied with pure spite in his voice, "Is that so!" Suddenly he reached for Malfoy and with incredible strength he hauled Malfoy to his feet and slammed him against the wall and pinned his left arm against the wall. Harry then took his wand and yelled finite- incantatum. He then pocketed his wand and ripped the sleeve off Malfoy's left arm. The dark mark stood plain as day on the boy's forearm. Suddenly Harry bellowed loud enough for everyone to hear, "So, Snape! Still think that I have an unwarranted accusation against your godson, eh?" Harry heard everyone in the hallway gasp when they saw the dark mark on Malfoy.

Harry suddenly spun around and said to the rest of the hallway, "What, you all didn't think that the Dark Lord's mini death eaters were real? Well if you won't believe the written truth at least believe what your eyes tell you." With that he whipped his wand out and cast incarcerous on Crabbe and Goyle. Once they were tied properly, Harry cast finite- incantatum, on their arms and did the same thing to them as he did with Malfoy. Sure enough, the dark mark was clearly visible for all to see on their left forearms. Harry finally said, "All of you look at them. Is this what you want in your school? Known death eaters operating amongst you? Ask yourself a simple question, why does the headmaster of this school allow death eaters to stay here?" Harry looked up to find his members gathered on the outside of the hallway walls smirking at Malfoy and his goons.

Harry whirled on the DADA professor and stood barely three inches from his face. He narrowed his eyes and bellowed, "So professor Snape, do you still maintain that I am telling stories, and being a big head like my father was. Are you still denying the fact that this school is harboring death eaters? I wonder what the ministry and the board of governors would say to having marked death eaters present at Hogwarts. Believe me, they will find out."

Snape was seething with hate. He never expected Potter to react the way he did. Potter had called out his godson and his pals in front of the whole class. He needed to consult with the headmaster on where to go from here. Snape swore revenge on the little bastard. He finally said, "Class dismissed. You haven't' heard the last of me Potter." He turned around with his cloak billowing and made his way to the headmaster's office.

On his way he picked up his godson and his two goons. Severus needed to talk to the headmaster about his morning's discoveries concerning the Dark Lord's financial situation. Perhaps he could talk the headmaster into letting his godson and his goons stay at Hogwarts. Severus could claim that their parents had made them take the mark. After all, to his knowledge they had not stepped out of line. At any rate, they had to stay long enough for them to take care of the Zabini's. With these thoughts in mind, he dragged his godson and his two morons with him.

Harry was glad for another cancelled class. He had lots of work to do anyway. Harry decided to go to his lair in order to get his work done. He had no doubt that there would be repercussion for his little display. However the ball was in his court for a change. How could they possibly make him look like the bad guy in this incident? Harry decided to make his way to Myrtle's bathroom and apparate to his lair. As he walked out of the hallway he heard another voice that he would rather forget.

Another person by the name of Theo Nott had been looking at the entire spectacle. Over the last months, one thing had become very clear to Theo. One, Potter was definitely no one's golden boy. Two, he had fallen deeply in love for Blaise's twin, Brianna. Three, Theo found out that Blaise and Brianna were secretly siding with Potter. At first, Theo had been confused over his friend's action. For one thing, Potter was not a fully-grown wizard, how could he possibly stand up to the Dark Lord or Dumbledore. However, his own observations had proven him wrong. Potter could definitely take care of himself. He had after all fought the Dark Lord on many occasions.

Not many wizards or witches could claim the same. Theo had refused his father into taking the Dark Lord's mark. For one thing, Theo didn't believe in the Dark Lord's goals. Theo had also heard many times that the Dark Lord himself was not even a pureblood. That kind of hypocrisy simply turned his stomach. Theo had always been his own man and he would be damned if he allowed anybody to influence his decisions. Theo wanted to know more about where Potter stood and arranged a meeting with Blaise and Brianna to talk to them. He wanted to know why they pledge their allegiance to Potter. One thing for sure, he was so glad that Potter had put Malfoy in his place. Theo couldn't stand the bloody cretin. How that imbecile ever made it into Slytherin was a bloody miracle.

Further up the hallway, Hermione had also been there to witness Harry uncovering Malfoy and his goons as death eaters. What bothered her the most was the fact that he was missing so many classes. The teachers apparently had no clue as to his whereabouts and her lack of information on his activities was becoming quite irritating. She had nothing for the headmaster and the fact that she was disappointing him was making her even more resolute to find out what he was up to. She needed to get back into Harry's good graces and was willing to eat crow to get there.

Harry was passing near her when she bellowed "Harry I need to talk to you." Just as he passed by he looked at her and gave her the finger. She narrowed her eyes at him and stomped her foot. Ron was about to pull out his wand to curse him, but Hermione put her hand on his forearm and told him to relax. She told him that antagonizing Harry was not going to get them what they wanted. They started to make plans to get Harry to trust them again but unknown to them one Cindy Donovan was listening to their conversation.

Meanwhile, Harry made it back to the lair to finish reading the folders and work some more on his broom design and a new magical weapon based on a muggle construct. Harry made sure to inform everyone by cell phone of their post operation meeting later that evening. Harry had another little surprise for his group except for Xiana who already new. Harry had kept in contact with his tutors, and two weeks ago, Akima asked him if they could join him. Harry had been very surprised at his request. Akima who had been his martial arts instructor, was the first one to contact his other tutors to see if they would be interested in joining him.

Apparently, Akima wrote to him that during his summer training, he had secretly caught Harry training in dark magic. Seemingly, Akima had heard of the massacre in France and came to the conclusion that Harry had been responsible for that. Akima reassured him that he did not reveal that particular fact to his other tutors. All he told them was that Harry was involved in a struggle to death against the death eaters and the Dark Lord. After that, Harry took the initiative to contact all of his tutors one by one and told them what he was trying to accomplish.

Harry knew from his time training with them that they were all sympathizers to his cause. He asked them if they wanted to be part of his army and also teach their craft to the others. They seemed very enthusiastic to take up where they left off with Harry. From the way they wrote their letters, Harry got the distinct feeling that they were bored stiff with their lives and wanted some action. Harry told them that they would have to take a wizard's oath of loyalty to him before he could divulge any further details of his operation. This didn't seem to faze them one bit. Harry finally sent them a timed portkey via owl so that they could be present to meet his group tonight.

Harry was very glad that his tutors decided to join him. They were absolute masters of their art. They would offload Harry from teaching the others duelling, transfiguration, charms, potions and martial arts. Harry would only need to concentrate on the dark arts, muggle sciences and war tactics. Harry looked at his watch and noticed that it was time for another accursed class. God, he couldn't wait to take his NEWT's. Harry made his way to transfiguration class.

Harry made sure to go to transfiguration and met a very pissed McGonagall. Personally Harry didn't really care. She was complaining about him missing some classes, and that he needed to properly learn the art of conjuring. Harry informed her that since his tuition was already paid, he could very well decide on his own if he should attend classes or not. Harry just couldn't figure out why these people simply couldn't mind their own fucking business. The professor slapped a sheet on his desk and told him that if he could conjure every item on the list, then he need not pay attention.

Harry looked at the list and noticed that there were twenty items. He took out his old holly wand and began conjuring a cup, sleeping bag, English breakfast, chair…etc. When Harry was done, he noticed several people with their mouth wide open and a very pissed off Granger in the process. Granger looked at him with narrowed eyes and seemed to be seething with anger. She apparently had been stomped on item thirteen. That was conjuring a mirror with an oak border.

Harry smirked at Granger and turned around to find McGonagall looking at him with a curious look on her face. She finally said, "Mr. Potter, could you please enlighten me as to where you learned the art of conjuration so well?"

Harry smirked and replied, "Simply from a good book over the summer and of course lots of natural talent." He said the last as he looked up at Granger and the carrot head. Harry noticed her face twist with anger. Harry couldn't help thinking that he was having a pretty decent day indeed. He looked over to see Neville stifle his laughter. Harry noticed that Malfoy was still missing, which could mean that he had been expulsed, which seemed highly unlikely or the git had once again bought his way out. Only time would tell. Finally the bloody class was over and Harry made his way back to the Scorpion lair. Harry took the time to go over some critical issues he had with his broom design. He found the exercise quite relaxing. Before he new it, it was nearly seven 7:00 p.m.

Harry decided to pack his things and have a quick roast beef sandwich. When he was done he cleaned everything up and made his way to the project table. Harry had a chance to review all of his memories from their operation, and recorded them. He had already asked everyone to write down any specific events that stood out from their operation. It wasn't long before he heard a gasp and a squeak. Harry knew that voice and found Tonks looking at the lair with a look of awe on her face. Harry chuckled and said, "Hi Tonks, welcome to the revolution."

She whipped around to face Harry and said, "Who built all of this. This place is unbelievable."

Harry laughed at her enthusiasm and said, "I did. It took an awful lot of hours and funds but it's home away from home. Come, let me show you around and I'll explain everything, but first I need you to take the oath."

Tonks looked at him straight in the eye and gave him her witch's oath of loyalty. She swore to never betray him and to be a soldier in the cause. Tonks knew that she was going to take the oath but after seeing their headquarters and the level of organization that had gone into it, she knew she was on the right side. Harry had already given her a full disclosure of what his group stood for and what they wanted to accomplish.

She agreed with all of their goals. It was truly refreshing to see someone not just talking about fixing the problems in their society but actually do something about it. She hated the racist attitude and complete ineptitude of the ministry. On top of that, she found the Order of the Phoenix to be a joke at best. Harry's and now her group of people had already done more to squelch Voldemort than the Order and the ministry put together. Harry showed her the command center and now she understood why he wanted to plant one of his contraptions in the headmaster's office.

The information gained from there would be extremely valuable in figuring out what move the old coot was planning. Tonks walked out of the command center to find Remus, Bill, Charlie, Ginny, the Zabini twins, Neville, Luna, Fred, George, Fleur, Lee and Harry's wife. Harry asked her to change into her true form and informed his group what her function was. They were all roaring with laughter when they found out that the minister and Dumbledore were being played like suckers.

Harry asked them to sit at the conference table and brought out his projector. Harry noticed Tonks sitting by Remus and smirked to himself. Harry said, "Now as you are all aware, we are here for a post debrief of our previous mission. Now I know some of you are quite anxious to find out how we did. Now some of you already know, but I have asked you to not divulge the information until this meeting. Now we have been able to clean out Voldemort's war chest, which was worth €44 billion Euros. This is roughly equivalent to over 2 billion galleons."

Except for those present at breakfast, Harry heard most of the others gasp at his last statement. Harry waited for the shock to die down before launching his other bomb. Harry let the excited chatter go on for another few minutes and held his hand up. Every one quiet down and Harry then said, "Now each one of you will notice a gold key in front of you. I have taken the liberty of opening a vault for each one of you and deposited 2 million galleons into each of your accounts. This money is yours to do as you please. This money was dirty money, and I figured that as a start it should go to people whom I know will do well with it. To the victor go the spoils of war."

Just as before everyone became very excited at hearing of their new wealth. This would make it much easier for people to build themselves their own safe residence. Harry once again let the excitement carry out and continued, "Now, that being said, I have also set up a magical orphanage fund worth 200 million galleons. The orphanage will take care of war orphans as well as magical children who do not whish to be part of the muggle world. I have also put forth 20 million galleons for a new lycanthropy research center, which will provide free wolfsbane potion and a safe house to those werewolves who need it. I have also set up a 10 million galleons for a magical fellowship center. This center will represent all magical creatures and act as sort of a diplomatic center where all magical creatures can learn from one another. The rest of the money will go towards our war effort. The newly elected war funds council had agreed to all of these proposals. By middle of October, everyone will also be fitted with top of the line battle gear. "

Xiana stood up and made her way to her husband and kissed him soundly. She could hear the whistles and catcalls from the Weasley twins. She was not embarrassed one bit. She was so proud of Harry. His heart was so big. He was always looking at the big picture and how to help people. His new vision of the Wizarding world was one they could all be proud of. He was so dedicated to making it happen. She knew he was doing this for his unborn children as well as all the oppressed magical creatures in their world. She had no doubt that in time he would build the biggest coalition of magical creatures that their world had ever seen. When everyone finally calmed down, Harry explained how the war fund was going to be managed and how everyone would take a turn eventually. Harry then asked everyone to go over their post operations notes. Many discussions were carried out and Harry took the time to listen to every one. He made many notes that he copied, to his computer files.

When they were finally done with the post operation debrief, Harry said, "All right everyone, we are almost done here, but before we go I want to spring one more surprise on you. During my summer training in flux time, I had the privilege of meeting some of the finest magical beings in existence. At first I hired these people to be my tutors, but in time they became my mentors. If you have any doubts, please talk to Xiana, she was there for a lot of their teaching, she can vouch for their worth if you don't believe me."

Harry looked around and seeing no interruption continued, "I want you to know that they are the best that the magical world has to offer in their respective field. My old mentors have decided to join our group and will help in training all of you to the highest standard possible, and will participate in war missions. The more people I have finished with their schooling the more time they can spend on war missions. With that being said, they will help all of you prepare to write your NEWT's. Are there any questions?"

Neville enquired, "Harry, when are we going to meet these new people and what will they be teaching?"

Harry replied, "Neville, I'm glad you asked that question, brother. They should be making their entrance just about now." On cue, Harry looked to his right and noticed people appearing one after the other, much to everyone's surprise.

Harry walked over and greeted his former tutors one by one. Harry took them and brought them by the conference table and said, "All right everyone I would like to introduce you to some of the greatest magical practitioners of our day. On my left we have Akima Nakamura. He is a Zen Master, a Samurai sword expert and master martial artist. He is a master of Muay Thai, and Jeet Kune Do. He is also an Expert in Body Magic. On my first right we have Hinrich Schäfer, and he is one of the most accomplished Potions Masters in the world. He received the German Governors Medal on creative healing potions. Next to him, we have Yadislav Klunichov, who is a charms expert, and winner of the academic medal of excellence in ancient charms and runes. Next to Akima, we have Michael O'Toole who is a Transfiguration Expert and Arithmancy master. He has received the Order of Merlin 2nd class for Inventive Transfiguration in advancing the theory of transfiguration physical kinetics. Standing next to him we have Tiberius Nantius, who is a duelling and tactical expert. He has won 5 consecutive International wizard duels. Finally yours truly will be teaching advanced dark arts and muggle science."

As one, all of his tutors bowed to the group. Xiana was the first one to stand up and greet each one. She did a formal greeting and kissed each one on the cheek. Next came Ginny, Brianna, Luna, Tonks, Fleur and finally all of the guys came around and shook their hands enthusiastically. This had been a very good night indeed, Harry thought.

Remus smiled as he shook each of Harry's past tutors. He had already heard about some of them. Most of them were already legends in the magical circles. Remus couldn't wait to talk shop with many of them. Remus couldn't believe how much he had learned these past few years in flux time and now he was going to learn even more from these masters. No wonder Remus thought that Harry was so well rounded. That being said, Remus knew that his tutors had simply helped Harry hone in his own natural abilities. All of Harry's magical inventions and discoveries came strictly from him. Remus simply couldn't help feeling immense pride for his cub. Remus silently let a tear escape from his eyes. He wished more than anything in the world that Lily and James were here to see their son along with Sirius. They would be so proud of him.

Tonks was feeling so overwhelmed. Thank God that Remus was here. She knew that Harry had been busy, but not in a million years could she have imagined how deep he had gone. She looked to her right and noticed the tears on Remus' face. Tonks walked over to him and laid her hand on his right forearm and said, "Are you o.k. Remus?"

Remus was startled by the physical contact but didn't pull his arm away. He smiled when he saw Tonks looking back at him with worried eyes. Remus finally replied, "Sorry Tonks, I was just thinking about Harry and how proud James, and Lily would be of him. If I know Sirius like I do, he is watching us right now with a big grin on his face. Harry is so special and he doesn't even know it. He accepts everyone and makes people believe in themselves. He somehow manages to bring the best out of everyone he meets no matter the circumstances. For the first time in a long time Tonks, I feel we stand a very good chance of winning this bloody war with Harry leading. "

Tonks thought about Remus' words and replied, "Remus, I think that from the day Harry was born, he has been leading us, wither he wants it or not. Anyone looking at him can't possibly doubt that he is a natural born leader." Remus looked down at her and took his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder and smiled down at her. Tonks blushed, but inwardly was jumping for joy that Remus was holding her.

Harry looked around to make sure that everyone had been introduced and told all of his school peers to come back for some serious training starting Thursday. He kept Tonks and his tutors back. He had his tutors take the oath of loyalty. After that was done, Harry went and picked up a mahogany box sitting on the table. He gave a portkey ring to each one of them and told them how they worked. When that was done, he took his mentors to the trunk manor sitting in the corner next to the mineral pool. He told them that the trunk was already keyed to them and that they could live in there indefinitely. Harry told them that they would discuss training schedule and such over the week. Harry then showed them all of the different labs that they had access to. All of them were excited about the state of the art equipment. When he was done with the tour and explaining what his plans were over the next couple of months. Harry went to meet his wife who had been waiting for him.

He met Xiana and said, "Well it's getting late love. How about we make our way to the other trunk manor by the lake? It's too late to make it back home. We could use the rest. You and Remus need to get started on the articles tomorrow."

Xiana replied, "I agree, I am absolutely bushed. Sorry luv, I sure seem to be slowing down lately."

Harry looked deep into his wife's eyes and bent down and gave her one of his most tender kisses. When he pulled back he said, "Beloved, you take however much time you need. As for being tired, I think you can blame the little tyke for that." Harry couldn't help himself and gave her a big grin.

Xiana simply laid her head on his shoulder and they slowly walked to the trunk manor in the Scorpion lair. Harry had many reasons for putting one of his trunk manors there. For one it would provide privacy for his past tutors and second, it would allow Xiana to travel without having to use her portkey. That mode of travel tended to make her sick as a dog.

Harry woke up early that morning. Harry could still see the stars outside fading quickly into daylight. He got dressed and went out for his daily workout. He had a good jog around the great lake. When he came back he showered and then practiced his Occlumency. When he was done sorting his thoughts and checking his shields he decided to go downstairs and get breakfast started. Due to seasonal changes, Harry noticed he was constantly hungry. Xiana's appetite had also increased dramatically. Harry got his pans out and cooked a fully loaded breakfast. Harry managed a nice Spanish omelette with pork sausage, stewed tomatoes, hash browns, and back bacon. When he was done, he realized that he had made enough for four people. Harry was just finishing the table when he heard his wife.

Xiana had been watching Harry cook breakfast. He was wearing a pair of jeans, with a black muscle shirt. His long black hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, and he was sporting a black scorpion earring. All in all, she thought, a totally delectable sight. She finally said, "Well husband of mine, with the amount of food you have, I'm wondering if we are having company over?"

Harry looked sheepish and replied, "Well I got carried away a little bit, but I wanted to make sure we both started the day with lots of energy. Besides, you are eating for two, and I imagine the little tyke is hungry about now." He finished the last with a smirk on his face.

Xiana laughed and made her way to the table. The smell of the food was delectable. Harry poured her a tall glass of milk and a vitamin supplement. She shook her head and dug in. When they were done breakfast, Harry said, "Are you still planning on meeting Remus at the news office? Because if you are, I have a couple of written bombshells ready for printing, after you have checked them over, of course. I am still discovering my diplomatic language skills after all."

Xiana replied, "That's good. We are almost done installing the equipment and we have already connected it to the floo network. Potter castle will only allow floo travel if you are keyed to the blood wards. When you have a chance could you cast the remaining blood wards on the agency floo also? This way, there will be no chance of anyone breaching our defences at the agency."

Harry said, "No problems love, I'll do it first thing this Saturday. After that I'll be leaving overnight to go to Egypt. I promised Anubis that I would help him find his kin. I have a feeling that In the future more people will adopt his kind as their familiars. They are amazing creatures. Now, I was wondering if you already had a name for our new paper, or is everyone invited in submitting potential names for the paper."

Xiana tapping her nail on her front teeth replied, "Remus and I have already brainstormed a bit on names, but I believe that it would be nice to hear what the other's think our new paper should be called."

Harry nodded and replied, "Well for what it's worth, I was thinking of The Discovery for name with a footer that says May the truth set you free." Xiana went and fetched a piece of paper and wrote down his choice.

Xiana said, "I'll collect everyone's names for it and we will take a vote on each name. How does that sound?"

"Great!" Harry replied. He took of his shirt and put on his Basilisk vest. He then transfigured his shirt into a tartan green flannel shirt. He put a heating charm on himself and passionately kissed Xiana, and said, "I'll see you at the lair later this evening. Stay safe love." With that he apparated back to the castle.

Harry had apparated inside Myrtle's bathroom and made his way to charms class. Harry made his way outside of class and waited for professor Flitwick to let them in. Harry noticed many people looking at him but he ignored them all. Harry was going over his idea for a magical bomb when he noticed the professor approaching.

Finally the tiny professor made his way to the front of the door when he noticed young Harry Potter leaning against the wall. When it came to charms, it seems that young Potter inherited his mother's talent. His work this year in charms has been nothing short of brilliant. Too bad he was going to miss yet another one of his classes. The small professor approached the Potter heir and said, "Mr. Potter, I was informed by the headmaster that you are to see him right away. I believe it has to do with yesterday's altercations."

Harry sighed and shook his head and said, "Very well sir." With that Harry made his way to the headmaster's office. As he passed the students, he kept hearing whispers about him. God, Harry thought, these fucking people were pathetic. They really needed to get a life or get laid. Harry finally reached the gargoyle statue and realized once more that the professor had not given him the password. God he hated playing these stupid games. Harry took caution to the wind and bellowed, " Headmaster, I suggest you open the entrance and let me in right now, or I'll be seeing you another day."

Harry suddenly saw the stone statues parting and he made his way to the headmaster's office. As he neared the top of the office he could hear voices. To his surprise he saw Percy Weasley, the minister of magic dear old Cornelius Fudge, Auror Dawlish, and Wedemire.

The headmaster looked at Harry and said, "There was a time Harry where you enjoyed guessing the password. All children seem to enjoy doing it."

Harry looked at the headmaster with as cold a face as he could muster and replied, "When I was a child I though as a child and I acted as child. When I became a man, I gave up childish things. Corinthian."

Standing to the right of the headmaster was McGonagall, and on his left was none other then bat boy himself Snivellus Snape. He looked up at Snape to find him sneering at him and said, "To think that you couldn't possibly have a bigger head, now you think that you are a man?"

Harry couldn't help himself and looked straight into Snape's eyes and sneered back, "You know Snape, they can now cure a sneer like yours at birth."

Snape's face took on an ugly puce color and spat, "You see headmaster, a total lack of respect for his superiors. Just like his father and his mongrel mother."

Harry snarled back, "The day you are superior to me you greasy lipped baboon is the day pigs fly and shit ten pound diamonds." Snape was about to pull his wand on him but Harry was quicker.

The headmaster stood up and bellowed, "Enough! Both of you sit down. We have some issues to discuss. Please act like the adults you are supposed to be."

Harry remained standing for a little bit but finally found a chair and sat. The ministry goons said nothing but gave Harry a disdained look. Dumbledore said, "Now we are here to discuss what happened yesterday and find a solution. Now Mr. Potter could you please tell us your side of the story."

Harry sighed and started telling them his side of the story. When he was done, he looked at Cornelius Fudge and found him giving him a sickly sweet smile. Fudge cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Harry just rolled his eyes at the buffoon's display of importance. Fudge said, "Well headmaster, it would seem that from what Professor Snape told us along with Mr. Potter's colorful rendition of the events. I feel that the ministry has no choice but to go along with Professor Snape's testimony." Fudge was looking at Harry and smirking the whole time.

Fudge seeing no reply from Harry decided to continue his speech and said, "Now I am inclined to believe that these death eater children were forced to take the mark. There is no evidence that they have done anything wrong. I am inclined to believe Dumbledore and there may be a chance to salvage them and have them work for the light side. At any rate, they are still minors and until they prove that they are true death eaters, we shall let them continue their studies."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Did those idiotic morons actually believe that Malfoy and his goons had been forced to take the mark? Anyone hearing Malfoy's rants and raves about the beautiful reign of the Dark Lord and the purebloods could tell he had been a death eater at heart since he was old enough to walk. Of course, Harry had no illusions about Fudge's motives. The man had no end to his vices. He would sell out his entire family just to stay in power. Harry wanted to know his true motives however, and looked at smirking Fudge straight in the eye and carefully brought his Legillimens powers to bear.

Harry carefully probed the man's surface memories and couldn't believe the man's gall. Harry found out that Fudge received a generous campaign contribution from Lucius Malfoy last night for keeping his son and his pals at Hogwarts. Harry also found out that Fudge was having an affair with Monica Edgecombe, who worked in the records department. Fudge apparently knew that she was a death eater but kept seeing her. Next Harry found that Fudge was scared of him and his popularity with the people. He wanted to severely discredit him. Given a chance he would throw him in Azkaban without a moment's notice. One last memory that intrigued him was a plot between him and the headmaster involving something called a Prima Nupta.

Harry broke contact with Fudge and found himself looking at Percy Weasley. Harry quickly scanned his surface memories and found the man to be even more pompous than he ever imagined. He further scanned his memories until he found one that shocked him to the core. Percy had been initiated as a death eater. God, Harry couldn't imagine what Bill would say.

Harry quickly left his memories and stood up. Harry carefully looked around the room, noticed Snape smirking at him as though he had won a war of sorts. Keep thinking that you stupid bat, Harry thought, when the time comes I'll be hearing your screams of mercy. As for Fudge, if he thought that he was going to anger him into doing something stupid, he and his sycophants were going to be sorely disappointed.

Harry gave them his coldest face yet and said, "Well it's just as I expected from the ministry and this school, which is nothing! If you are willing to believe a death eater professor who happens to be godfather to one Draco Malfoy, who is also a branded death eater, then I guess the Wizarding world has never heard the concept of CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Frankly, I truly don't give a shit what the ministry or this school thinks or does anymore. You want to allow death eaters free access to this school and let them loose in our society then be my guests. With you guys in power we are going to lose this war anyway. Remember this, you can protect them all you want, but they will meet justice in the end just the same."

By then Percy the git was sneering at him and shot back, "Who the hell do you think you are talking to the minister in such a rude manner. I sure am glad my younger brother is no longer friends with you. Severing ties with you was the best thing he ever did."

Harry completely ignored him and turned to leave when Fudge bellowed, "What do you mean boy that they will meet justice in the end?"

Harry turned around to see Fudge turning a beautiful shade of puce reminiscent of his dearly departed uncle and replied, "Well I thought it was rather obvious unless you don't bother reading the news. They will eventually meet the Scorpion Sorcerer and from what I hear, he just loves dealing with death eaters in the most gruesome way possible. Personally, if I ever meet him I'll make sure to buy him some cookies and milk. I might even give him a medal." Harry gave them all a very evil smile.

Harry saw their faces blanch at his last remark and said, "Good day all." and walked out of the headmaster's office. He could still hear the idiot minister trying to form a coherent sentence, and then Percy was all incensed when Harry hadn't even bothered responding to him. Well, one thing for sure the game was about to come up a notch. The headmaster was up to something with Fudge, and Snape had something up his sleeve. Well what will come will come he thought.