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Harry was angry. No, that wasn't really true. He was angry when his fathers told him he couldn't help evacuate the at risk children from their old school. He was angry when he was told he had to leave the only home he had known. What Harry was feeling right now was a dark, murderous rage that had settled deep in his bones and roared furiously in his chest.

Severus had shown up at the castle and must have performed some kind of cultural ritual that his fathers knew based on how they responded. Sirius deflated, which he had been doing a lot since they returned to his father's homeland. Remus was very much the alpha wolf of his small pack, protecting them from either Severus or the news he carried with him. It had taken much congoling, but Harry had convinced all three of them to let him stay and to also bring Draco. If something had happened to Narcissa, they both deserved to hear it first. Now, however, Harry wasn't so sure that was the right decision. It was clear what Severus said was a highly sanitized version of events, but even then, what he spoke of was nothing short of horrific and no one in the room was prepared for it.

Sirius had gone to some bank called Gringotts with Narcissa to take care of some sort of Black family business and had taken Nymphadora and Alastor with them for protection. On their way back out, they had run into Lucius, who had become enraged by the sight of his wife with, according to Severus, a stranger, an auror, and the daughter of a blood traitor. Sirius was the only one that had remained unscathed from the resulting street fight against Lucius and some assorted goons that Alastor didn't immediately recognize. Alastor had been cut deeply on his chest, but had refused to go to any large hospital for treatment. Judging by his numerous scars and constant paranoia, Harry wasn't surprised. Nymphadora's injuries had been much worse. She had taken some kind of curse to the face and it had left her blinded. There had been no word from Andromeda on how bad her injuries had been or what kind of recovery she would be facing. Lucius had managed to grab Narcissa and teleport away while Sirius was busy protecting the injured Auror's from his minions.

After that, Severus spoke very little of what actually happened to Narcissa. He spoke of Lucius holding her at his Manor until he could move her discreetly to the Lestrange Manor, which had recently been turned into Voldemort's headquarters. Severus was summoned to Lestrange Manor by Voldemort personally as well as many other marked Deatheters and allies. Lucius had wanted to simply torture her for the amusement of all that had arrived before killing her for her betrayal, but Voldemort had overruled him. It seemed like the torture of an innocent wasn't enough amusement for Voldemort. He ordered the lower level Deatheters and a group of savage werewolves to, and Severus quoted, "Do whatever they wanted to her". Severus would not speak further about what had actually transpired after that order was given. Only that it had lasted for hours before Voldemort had finally had enough and ordered Lucius to end the game and he did so by killing her instantly. Her body was then disposed of unceremoniously.

Harry knew that involving Draco was the right thing to do. He deserved to know what was happening within his own family straight from the person that was reporting it. Harry knew that he would want to know every small detail of something that had happened to any of his family. Now though, looking over his shoulder to see that Draco had not moved from the old study desk in the memory tower that Harry had found the first day he was in this castle, he wasn't so sure. Harry felt like this was the best place for them to go for Draco to mourn without having the other children causing problems that would make Harry want to use the spells that he was sure his mothers would ground him for life if they even knew he knew them. Draco had gotten past the crying stage, but now he was at the moping stage, having spent what felt like hours laying sprawled across the desk, not saying anything.

Had he made the right decision? He thought that Draco knowing the truth was the right decision, but now, looking at him being a mere shell of himself, he wondered if he should have left Draco out of the conversation with Severus and allowed him to live in blissful ignorance of the evil his father had become.

"You know as well as I, that would have been a fate worse than death. To always wonder how, why, and whom," Amaru spoke to him without warning.

Harry looked away from Draco and to the 'corner' at the opposite part of the circular room from him and saw the astral projection of Amaru's head and some of his neck that had appeared there. Harry knew not to speak to him directly with Draco in the room with him. Harry may be able to see and hear him, but no one else would and Harry didn't need to try and explain how he could see and talk to a giant talking snake that no one else could see or hear in a way that didn't make him seem like he had completely lost the plot.

"I know it was the right decision, but it doesn't feel like the right decision," Harry 'spoke' in his mind to Amaru. Harry was sometimes envious at the sheer amount of power Amaru had access to. He could speak and show himself to Harry with barely a sweat while Harry had to fully commit himself to projecting himself and speaking to Amaru.

Amaru's projection moved over to Draco and regarded him closely, "The right thing rarely feels like the right thing to do when it is done."

"Certainly seems like it's a cosmic joke," Harry sighed mentally. "The right thing never feels like the right thing to do, while the worst thing is so easy."

"Call it a joke. Call it karma," Amaru turned back to Harry, "Call it whatever makes you feel more in control of your fate. But it is always right."

"Does it get easier? To tell if it makes a difference, that is," Harry asked hesitantly. Amaru was a being of immense knowledge, but getting any particular knowledge from him was, sometimes, an exercise in futility.

Amaru turned back to Draco. "It always makes a difference. Even if it doesn't seem like it in the moments of fresh pain," Amaru moved closer to Draco, the why escaped Harry but he was only so wise and Amaru was, imore/i. "He's upset now and will be for some time, but the knowledge you insisted he have will allow him to heal more fully. He will grow stronger and kinder because of your actions," Amarus turned back to Harry. "You may not feel like you are worthy of being my priest, but you misunderstand the meaning of the position. It is not a duty you are born to fill. It is a duty to strive to earn with every action. It is the example you teach by being and reaching for just a little more perfection."

Harry looked over to Draco, who had not moved during Harry's silent conversation. "It will help him though?" Harry wasn't sure why he decided to ask that question. Amaru had already answered it.

Amaru smiled at Harry as much as a snake could. The snake's countenance seemed to beam pride and love down on Harry. Harry was young, and while he had learned so much, he had been alone for so long, this would be the beginning of his growth. "You give yourself far too little credit, my priest. You have made a difficult decision and sculpted someone else to be stronger for it. Find peace within yourself. In time, you will see the fruits of all the difficult decisions you have made and will yet make."

With that last bit of information, Amaru's visage disappeared. While Harry felt like Amaru was never telling him the whole story, he knew it was because the ancient seer knew that Harry didn't need the whole story yet, if at all. Amaru could see forward in time and the science fiction books he read always cautioned against telling people too much of their own future or else you run the risk of changing their actions. Harry would prefer to know what he was supposed to do so he could simply do it and be done with the whole affair. But perhaps that was the point. Maybe he was meant to do more than just defeat this Lord Voldemort. If that were the case, Harry could understand why Amaru kept mum on certain things. Self growth was a bitch. Harry let out a long breath and rubbed his hand down his face in frustration.

After looking over Draco again Harry turned back to looking over the trinkets and books that lined the many shelves covering nearly all of the circular interior of the tower. A lot of the books were written in different languages that Harry was not familiar with and he wasn't really in the mood to start a project like that just yet. He found a curious statue of a pyramid that looked very Egyptian. It even had some small hieroglyphics etched into the sides of it. Looking closer at the writing, he could tell it was an incantation of some sort, though it couldn't tell off hand what it was supposed to do. There was a clear crystal much like the ones used for teleportation before sitting just above the pyramid by elaborate golden wires that formed something of a cradle. Harry picked up the crystal, but felt no magic from it and so he quickly placed it back.

The image of the old man that had greeted Harry the first time he entered this room flickered into life once more, repeating the same memory from weeks ago. The sudden noise startled Draco into attention and Harry could now see how red his eyes were from crying.

"What?! Who are you?!" Draco demanded with an accusatory finger pointed at the old man that was now making his way towards Draco.

"Calm down Draco. It's just a memory," Harry tried to soothe him. Harry couldn't help but to chuckle when Draco quickly moved out of the projected man's way as he sat down at the desk once more.

"A memory? How? Of who?" Draco asked him rapidly eyeing the old man who was talking to no one.

"This recording or memory or whatever played when I first found and entered this tower," The recording of the man finally flickered off, leaving the room overly quiet. "He directed me to the tapestry in the Study that our family has taken up residence in."

"Mother told me about that tapestry," Draco nearly choked on the word 'mother', but pushed past it. "It allegedly shows that you're related to the great wizard Merlin." Draco shook his head and then looked at Harry and raised one eyebrow to seemingly scoff at the thought.

Harry couldn't help the chuckle that erupted from his chest. He could almost hear the word spoken with the same sneer Narcissa would have said it in even as Draco said the word 'allegedly'. "I'm not surprised she said that. However, that doesn't change the fact that I am in some way connected to this castle and that man in the recording."

Draco looked over his shoulder to where the recording had ended. "That much is true, though I think most people will need more than a single recording of some old guy and a dusty wallpaper to be convinced."

The way Draco said that, it seemed like he was one of those people. Harry couldn't blame him for not believing such an outlandish claim with little to no facts. Despite everything that had happened, his fathers were still much the same way.

Harry placed his hand on his chest and with as much mock hurt as he could muster, "Well,if you don't believe your honest and forthright cousin, then let us poke around and see if there's more facts." Harry suggested lightly. Draco rolled his eyes at Harry's tone and dramatics, but the small smile told Harry that he was grateful for the diversion.

Harry looked around the walls for something that looked similar to the clear crystal that he had pulled from the pyramid. His eyes latched onto an elaborately decorated box that had many more clear crystals sticking out of the top in not too dissimilar fashion as the crystals in what Harry had come to call the Teleporter Room. He walked over to the box with Draco following right behind him. Looking now, Harry noticed that there were no free spots in the box for the crystal that was already in the pyramid. These crystals held no noticeable magic, much like all the other crystals he had come across in this castle.

"You think these might be more of those memories?" Draco asked as he looked at the same box as Harry.

"One way to find out, I suppose cousin," Harry announced as he picked up the box with a lack of hesitation that made Draco flinch.

"Can you please have a little more consideration when putting your hands on items that you lack any knowledge of their nature or purpose?" Draco pleaded with Harry as he looked around the odds and ends in the room on various shelves.

"What?" Harry couldn't understand Draco's worry, "There's no magic in these." He said as he held up the box and looked at his cousin over his shoulder.

Draco sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You know, Harry. People have died messing with less than all this," Draco said as he waved his hands around him to gesture to the room and the castle beyond it.

"Well, yeah. That happens when you don't understand magic like I do," Harry explained slowly. Harry was wondering why he had to explain this to a nearly sixteen year old that magic could be felt.

"Are you really that full of yourself?" Draco snapped before taking a calming breath. "Harry, you just can't be that deluded."

Harry couldn't really understand why Draco was so upset with him over this small thing when compared to the other strange things Harry had done since they had come together. Draco was just stressed out then? This was uncharted territory for him, but he knew enough to know that it almost certainly had something to do with Narcissa's death.

"It's not that I'm full of myself, Draco. I'm simply confident in my abilities," Harry explained carefully. "I have a fair amount of experience with handling strange magical artifacts with no instruction manual, so I'm hardly an amatuer. I spent two years with monks learning to feel magic in the air, I spent years letting magic guide me in Mesoamerica, and I lived with a tribe of Six Nations that taught their kids to touch magic as toddlers."

Draco sighed dramatically. "I'd still prefer that you took a bit more care. I'm running out of family," Draco added so softly that Harry barely caught it.

Harry gave Draco a supportive pat on his shoulder after he shifted the box to his chest to hold with one arm and with a supportive smile reassured his cousin, "It's going to take more than a pretty box full of crystals to take me out."

"I guess you're right," Draco followed Harry back to the pyramid statue and watched as Harry began looking over the crystals for which one to pick first. "You wouldn't have been able to get past the defenses at Hogwarts without knowing your way around magic," Draco said as he stepped up to his cousin as he pondered which crystal.

Harry smiled at Draco as he picked out a random crystal from the box. "Don't go justifying my behavior, Draco. Next time I might not do something the least bit rational," Harry said with a grin that Minerva would have taken points for if she had seen it.

Harry removed the crystal in the pyramid, placed it on the bookshelf nearby, and then placed a new crystal into the cradle before Draco could reply. A new image of the now familiar old man flickered to life over by the writing desk. He was hunched over it, like he was reading something. He sounded tired as he began to speak to the room around him.

i'It seems like Salazar and Godric have finally decided on the location for their school. Quite an ambitious project, but most sorely needed. Without a centralized institution for education for magical persons, it will be nearly impossible to overcome the many challenges we face as a magical community.'/i

"He's talking about Hogwarts, isn't he?" Draco asked Harry excitedly.

"You'd know better than me," Harry whispered as he pulled out the crystal and placed it back into the box. It was a short memory, likely just one of the old man's attempts to work with the memories.

"I get to pick the next one!" Draco announced as he smacked Harry's hand away from the crystals. Harry smiled as he let Draco get his way. It pleased him to see Draco coming out of his self imposed lethargy and despair, if only for a moment. Draco picked a crystal in a separate row on the opposite side of the box and placed it in the pyramid himself. The image of the old man flickered alive once more and he was sitting at the writing desk again.

i'Salazar and Godric were always separate sides of the same coin, so it could not have been helped. Salazar has left his position at Hogwarts to pursue other...solutions.'/i The old man sat back in his chair as he looked towards the pyramid in the room this time. i'Godric has set his sights on the future, which means his solutions will not bear fruit for much time. Salazar, however, has always had a better head for good short term solutions. They have managed not to be children about the whole situation and have remained good friends, much to my eternal relief.'/i

"Slytherin and Gryffindor remained friends?" Draco asked no one in particular as he plucked the crystal out and held it to Harry.

"What does Hogwarts teach about them?" Harry asked as he placed the crystal back in the box.

"They were friends, but that ended over the school admitting Muggleborns," Draco shrugged. It was known of course by everyone but Draco was wondering now how things might have been back then.

"Everyone believes this?" Harry asked without looking up at Draco.

"Verily, my cousin, verily," Draco sighed. "It's taught in school as fact. He's considered the Paragon for Purebloods by most of the community. His attitudes are what most families of purebloods emulate."

Harry chose not to say anything more. He instead picked out another crystal and placed it in the pyramid. The old man from before flickered to life to show him sitting at the writing desk once more reading a few scrolls that were on the desk in from of him before sighing and speaking.

i'The Muggle-Bred attacks are happening more often now. It seems like the many of the warring muggle Lords in the country have been taking advantage of the living conditions of the peasant Muggle-Breds by offering them little by way of compensation in return for unlimited use of their abilities. A real shame. Muggle-Bred attacking their own kin in the service of those that will discard them without a second thought. Salazar has come by my castle many times asking for my council, asking for my Seer's Stone, but I fear my answers will never be adequate. He wants to know the future of our kind, yet I will never have the ability to see that much.'/i

"Muggle...Bred?" Draco turned to Harry and asked him in clear confusion. "Does he mean Muggleborns?"

"How long ago did these people live?" Harry asked while pulling out the crystal but equally as confused.

"A thousand years, about," Draco said after a moment to think on the timetable.

"Then it's really unlikely that their terminology remained the same all this time. To be honest these crystals or the pyramid must be heavily enchanted to allow us to understand it at all," Harry waited for Draco to pick out a new crystal. "Things change and it's rarely recorded properly. Especially when the winners of history have something to gain from holding back the truth."

Draco hummed as he placed the new crystal into the pyramid. The old man appeared again, sitting at the writing desk.

i'Salazar has come by once more hoping that I've made progress with my Seer's Stone. I hate telling such a good friend bad news. His wife's worry over her family grows as quickly as the Muggle-Bred attacks. She is the first of her entire family to show magical promise and that puts her entire family at risk. Salazar's werewolf associate suggested he look into contracting protection for her family from one of the groups of magical creatures that are native to the area, like the Goblins or the Centaurs. He is going to speak to the local Centaur herd first, since he prefers their company over the Goblins.' /i

The old man flickered out and left the room in silence once more. Harry took the crystal out of the pyramid and placed it back in the box, not failing to notice Draco's somewhat pained expression.

"Salazar married a Muggleborn?" Draco asked the world with a shade of white on his face that likely wasn't natural at all. "And he was friends with Halfbreeds?" Draco looked up to Harry and asked him that clearly rhetorical question. Harry nodded his head to assure Draco that yes, he had heard correctly.

"Is this...bad?" Harry wasn't sure what to say since he didn't understand the meaning of this information.

"It's not bad. It just completely rewrites our country's history concerning one of its greatest founders!" Draco's hysteria was building up with impressive speed. Harry was beginning to get nervous as Draco began to pace back and forth in front of the pyramid.

"So...that's good right?" Harry asked dumbly. He really had nothing to go on with this situation and he wasn't sure an agitated Draco was better than a Draco wrought under despair.

"It's…" Several emotions crossed Draco's face as he tried to think. "It's...big. Too big," Draco shook his head, like he was trying to shake the information out of his head. "I need...I need to go...lie down. For a bit." Draco informed Harry, sounding very tired.

"Sure thing, Drake. You go on ahead. I'm going to poke around here for a bit longer," said Harry as he placed the crystal back in the box and organized them again into neat rows.

Draco gave him a pained smile and a soft pat on the shoulder before leaving the tower, his skin nearly a paste white instead of it's normal light, very light, tan. Harry wasn't sure what to do with this. He thought that looking through these strange crystals would give Draco a diversion from the death of his mother at the hands of his father and really only succeeded in radically shifting the core of his entire culture. Harry really felt like he was the least qualified grief counselor in history. A dog could do a better job than him. A feral cat could even do a better job and they hate people!

Harry decided on clearing a spot on the shelf near the pyramid and putting the ornate box there for the time being next to the crystal they had pulled from the cradle. It'd make it easier to find next time he felt like watching more of the memories. Once that was done, Harry was at a loss as to what to do next. He didn't feel like exploring more of this old castle or the many mysteries that still remain. Even going out to socialize with the many other teenagers that he could hear outside didn't appeal to him. It was like Draco's dour mood was infecting him and he felt like it was his fault because he didn't do more to help him.

With a heavy sigh, he plopped himself down in the chair at the writing desk. He felt listless. With a half hearted effort, he absently poked through the drawers of the writing desk. He wondered if there would be anything beyond dusty parchment and various knickknacks. He was just about ready to give up and go take a nap himself when he noticed the faintest bit of magic hidden at the bottom of the top most drawer he was looking through. It was hard to really concentrate on because of all the magic in the room. Harry pulled out the various papers and the few miscellaneous objects from the drawer and tossed them haphazardly onto the writing desk. In the bottom of the drawer was something that looked like a thin rope handle. He reached down to pull on it, but yanked his hand back quickly when he was pricked by something that felt like a needle. Then there was a soft clicking sound that sounded like a lock releasing. Harry decided to ignore that for a moment and examine the small wound on the tip of his finger.

"You'd think a mage of that level could at least figure out a way to hide something behind a family magic lock that didn't involve pricking people all the time," He groused as he absently rubbed his poor finger with his thumb.

With a heavy sigh, Harry grabbed the rope handle again and was only mildly pleased that it didn't prick him. Pulling up on the rope handle, Harry found that the bottom of the drawer had been magically extended and had another small ornate box hidden beneath the false bottom. Taking the box out and examining, Harry found that it was full of more memory crystals exactly like the ones he and Draco had just been watching. This whole thing just begged the question, 'why hide these crystals, but not the others. Harry decided to try at least one of the crystals to see if maybe he could figure out why these ones had been hidden away.

The same image of the old man flickered to life. He was standing nearly right next to Harry as he fiddled with something against the wall. Harry could guess that it might have been the pyramid or perhaps some other device he used to record these crystals.

i'Ah, there we go,'/i He muttered to himself. i'Good day!'/i He exclaimed happily. i'Now, I imagine by this point you have explored at least some of the castle and have hopefully found it well suited for your needs. Now, hopefully it is not too dated for your tastes. I tried my best to mimic what might be possible in the far future.'/i The man chuckled to himself as he made his way to his writing desk and pulled his chair out to stand next to it still looking at the pyramid. i'You must have many questions, so I will start with the most important ones.'/i The man sat down at the writing desk. i'My name is Myrddin Emrys. I'm widely regarded as the most wise and powerful Wizard in our country, but that's mostly poppycock. I like to learn and I like to tinker. All of this could be considered my life's work.' /i Myrddin looked away with unfocused eyes. i'I'm an old man and I have watched too much of my family die for terrible reasons. They either wish to become tyrants and are cut down or are murdered by tyrants. I have so little family left and they continue on that same path. As if their destiny will be any different.'/i He scoffed. i'I have decided to take matters into my own hands and do what few are willing to do for their families. I cannot save my family now for they are beyond help, but I can make sure it lives on later.'/i

Well that sounded ominous. Harry didn't know what to make of this old man or his layered words. He plucked out the crystal and put it back into the small box. Harry wondered if he should try one more crystal or if he should follow Draco and take a nap. He was working on a rather impressive headache and he really wanted to hide away in his bag where no one would think to find him for a few months. But alas, that was no longer an option. He was in Great Britain, or France really but it's magic, and was fulfilling whatever destiny Fate had written for him. With a sigh, he plucked out another crystal and dropped it onto the pyramid.

i'It's a terrible thing, you know,'/i Myrddin spoke sadly behind him. He was sitting at his desk again. i'Brothers and Sisters of magic killing each other. I do not blame the Mugglebred for what they do, for we have done so little to help them,'/i He grimaced before continuing. i'Forgive me. Our terminology will most likely be much different than your own. When I say 'Mugglebred', I am speaking of magical people that are raised by non-magical individuals. Likewise, the 'Wizardbred', are magical people raised by other magical people.'/i Myrddin shook his head once more. i'Our society is in a precarious position. We have children being murdered by superstitious peasants that are led by evil men. No one is safe.'/i

How typical, Harry thought as he plucked the crystal out of the pyramid. The terminology did indeed change and it seemed like it did so to benefit the rulers, the winners who became the houses of Britain. Without thinking, he replaced the crystal.

i'This has all gone too far!'/i Myrddin yelled as he paced the room angrily. i'It's not enough for the power hungry Lords to attack magical people? Now they attack the most powerful families with knives in the dark.'/i He stopped pacing to lean heavily on his desk. i'My family now dwindles to near nothing. I fear that soon my line will die out entirely and the world will be worse for it. My magic. My potential. Our potential, lost to time.'/i Myrddin's head hung low in defeat. i'I had hoped that the great minds could come together and solve this problem, but there are too many moving parts here to really fix the issue. And my time has passed, I am becoming old and frail.'/i He rose and turned to lean against the desk. i'I had stumbled upon a rather obscure text hidden away in the Arthur's Royal Library that detailed the process of locking away one's magical core to awaken at a later time. It's an incredibly modified version of a magical malediction. Once the magical core awakens, the malediction ends and will no longer curse my family line.'/i Myrddin rubbed his face roughly, his fingers tugging on his beard in agitation. i'It has become clear that I cannot save my magical family. I have chosen a young maid in a neighboring kingdom to sire a line with its magical potential locked away for forty-nine generations. Hopefully by that time, the magical community sorts itself out or my heir will be willing and able to do it for them. Whether they wish it to be so or not…'/i Myrddin spoke the last line with a hard timber in his voice before the recording flickered back out.

Things must have truly been dire if he had resorted to placing a blood curse on his own family. Harry had read a lot about blood curses from his books from Central America, but they tended to only cast them on their enemies as a way to end their bloodlines. Harry couldn't imagine a scenario to cast something like that on one's own family. But then again, he did say it was a modified version of the curse, so maybe it wasn't the same kind of magic that Harry was envisioning. Harry placed the memory crystal back into the small box and hid it back in the writing desk drawer. He was far past done with the forgotten memories of yesterday and the ever evolving problems of today. He wanted out of his life for at least a little bit.

He walked back to the castle, being especially careful by Bellatrix's cell since she was sleeping. Alastor wasn't there, but that could just be because licking his wounds was more important than a quiet Bellatrix. There were a few small groups of children walking in the hallway that connected to the teleportation room, but it was easy enough for Harry to use a camouflage spell and hide himself long enough to get to the room without being seen or heard. He snatched up a crystal and teleported away before his spell wore off.

Harry appeared just outside the ridiculously named restaurant that Draco had taken him to before. Looking over his shoulder, he conceded to himself that 'Leaky Cauldron' was not that strange of a name. He could remember a nice place in North America called 'The Screaming Cow' and another seafood place called 'The Codfather', so he really shouldn't criticize the name of this restaurant, and honestly those were non-magical establishments so really who was he to judge.

Harry wasn't really sure what to expect from the market place in this country, but found it as boring as he had feared. The people that milled about either had little life to their steps or were nearly skittish with how they walked quickly with flitting eyes. Harry knew that he was going to stand out amongst these people, so he cast a quick glamour spell on himself and headed out to check out the local stores.

The first store that he went into was a bookstore. It didn't have anything new or interesting on its shelves which bothered him as much as it disappointed him. He could tell from just looking at these books that this country was behind most other magical communities when it came to their easily accessible knowledge. There wasn't a single book from the non-magical community amongst the shelves and even the magical books were of very few subjects, most of them the core subjects of Hogwarts and specific NEWT and Mastery texts. He was beginning to understand why so many seerers had told him that his path would lead him back to his homeland. This land was in a bad place.

The many owls squawked at Harry as he walked by the pet store. He just didn't understand this place's fascination with owls. It was like these people didn't know that other birds that could carry letters even existed! He decided against going inside, mostly because he would want to get one of the birds and his fathers were already exasperated with the creatures he had. It didn't matter to them that they were all magical in nature. A pet was a pet and 'he didn't need anymore of them!' Despite being a dog Sririus was really such a killjoy.

He continued on until he saw a sign for an apothecary. He slipped inside quickly to avoid a couple of men that looked like they were trying to find a fight. The first thing that Harry noticed was the smell. It smelled of rotting vegetables and eggs with a strong undertone of wet dirt. A proper apothecary. A couple of Queenie's drones slipped out of his bag to do what they normally did when he entered a new store with things inside that he wanted. Steal the items for him. He opened the bag and gently corralled them back inside. He was fine with them stealing books only because books were easy to duplicate. Potion ingredients could only be grown or gathered in the wild and he just couldn't, in good conscience, steal something that would be difficult or expensive to replace. From innocent shopkeepers anyway.

Harry quickly looked over the many exotic ingredients quickly, already making a list of things he needed to buy once he figured out what kind of money they used in this country. An older looking man walked around a shelf and looked at Harry with a critical eye.

"You looking to buy something, boy?" He asked Harry in a gruff voice that spoke of a hard life. Harry was getting a little tired of listening to this strange accent.

"Yes, but not right now. Seeing what you have and then I can compare to what I need back at home," Harry turned back to the ingredients to continue making his mental list. "I'm not from around here and don't have the Galleons you use on me."

"Ah, a traveler, huh?" The Shopkeeper perked up marginally. "Don't get many these days." He spoke to himself. "The only place to exchange money around here is at Gringotts," The store owner explained to Harry.

"Gringotts? Where is that?" Harry tried to sound like a traveler, but realized once he had spoken that he was a traveler. It would be silly to try to sound like something you actually were. Harry mentally shook his head and clued back into the chat with the man.

"It's the big white building at the Knockturn Alley intersection. Just watch them Goblins," The man warned before taking his place back behind the counter that was overflowing with Alchemical ingredients.

Harry decided that he needed to visit the Goblins and get the money he had stashed away in his bag converted over. Hopefully they could exchange the large amounts of Chinese Yuan or Indian Rupees he had. He didn't think he had enough American Dollars or South American Pesos to buy much around here. He nodded to the Shopkeeper while heading back out of the store, who nodded back at him. It was easy enough to find the building the shopkeeper was talking about since it stood out more than he did during his time in China. It certainly was a big, white, building.

While walking past the few people that were skittering about, Harry noticed a sign down the way a little bit that said 'Ollivanders'. Now that was a name he knew well. His fathers often spoke with great reverence about when they were young boys and they went to that shop to buy their first wands. It was apparently the Right of Passage of this land and Harry felt like he should partake in it. He wondered if he should go back for his fathers so they could experience this moment as a family, but Harry knew that things rarely went well for him, so he chose to go by himself. This way, when things did inevitably go wrong, he could spare his fathers the stress of having a child that could not experience their memories the same way they and their families did.

Inside the shop was more than a little dusty. There was a much older man standing behind the desk that looked anything but put together. His grey hair was pointing in every which direction and the heavy bags under his eyes spoke of his age and a lack of sleep. He seemed startled when he looked up and saw Harry standing at the counter.

"Ah! Welcome young sir!" He greeted Harry happily. "I'm Ollivander. Welcome to my shop!" He leaned in close to Harry and seemed to examine him closely. Harry knew his glamour was still active, but the man's attention made him nervous. "You...are not this," He spoke slowly. He pulled out a wand from somewhere and cast a spell to remove his glamour before Harry could even react. "There we go. Finding the proper wand is a delicate process, afterall."

Harry just looked at the man, feeling a mixture of disbelief and offense. "You could have iasked/i, you know," Harry muttered angrily at Ollivander. It was taking everything in him to remain respectful. How easy it would be for him to show these backwater hicks what true power looked like. He knew from what he had heard and seen from his fathers that it would be too easy for him. But he knew, if he started a one man campaign on wizarding Britain, his grandmother would walk across the ocean just to hit him in the head with her walking stick.

Ollivander looked at Harry with wide eyes. "Ah, my apologies," He bowed his head to Harry. "I didn't realize you were foreign," He spoke softly as he apologized.

"It's fine," Harry breathed out his anger. "I'm not entirely foreign. I was born here, afterall. I just haven't been back in a long time."

"Born here?" Ollivander asked him as Harry could see the gears turning and connecting in this old man's mind. "How long have you been gone?" He asked carefully.

Harry sighed to himself. Should he tell the truth or should he try to lie? Something told him that a lie would work as well here as it normally did when he was dealing with Seers.

"About 14 years, I think? I'm not really certain on the exact time frame," Now that he thought about it, he wasn't really sure how old he was when his family went on the run. He was told he was about a year old, but they never liked to speak of that night very much. He stopped asking about that night years ago.

"14 years?" Ollivander drawled quietly. He looked at Harry closely once more. "Could you perhaps be...Harry Potter?" He asked Harry in a very straightforward manner. The man was excitedly rubbing his fingers together as he held his hands at his side.

Harry couldn't help the display of teenage attitude he put on display. "I might as well just wear a damn sandwich board that says 'My name is Harry Potter!'" He groaned loudly.

Ollivander didn't seem too moved by Harry's words. "Oh, no. I wouldn't do that if I were you Mr. Potter," Ollivander shook a finger at him. "I'm just an incredibly observant wandmaker. I don't want any trouble. Others however..." He made a back and forth motion with his hand. "May want things of a more...nefarious nature," He cautioned Harry.

Harry snorted but was intrigued with this shopkeeper. "How do you know all this?" Harry asked in an amused tone. "You're not a seer are you?"

Ollivander shrugged tiredly as he walked back into the high shelves that were filled with little boxes. "People talk. Especially when they think someone isn't listening or…" He reappeared before Harry holding a small box in his hands. "Is beneath them." He finished in a whisper as he slid an open box that held a new wand towards Harry with an expectant look.

"I have no Galleons to pay you with sir, I haven't been to Gringotts yet," Harry replied sadly. He wanted a wand like his fathers and it killed him that he would have to wait until he got some local money.

"Let me worry about the money," Ollivander smiled at him and nodded towards the box expectantly. The man's face alight with amusement and anticipation.

"What do I do?" He appealed to the far more experienced Wizard.

"Just pick it up. We'll know right away," was the old man's reply with a smile.

Harry looked down at the box that held a sleek wand made of a light colored wood. He picked it up, immediately feeling the magic held within it. The magic felt much like water, still when not in use, but capable of incredible power. Not too dissimilar to Hausis's walking stick.

Ollivander plucked the wand out of Harry's hand and put it back in the box. "Ah," Said Ollivander as he shook his head and placed the wand back in the box. "Shame," He muttered as he walked back into the tall shelves of wands.

"What is it we're looking for?" Harry asked once Ollivander reappeared with another open box.

"The wand chooses the Wizard, Mr. Potter," He spoke serenely as he pushed the new box holding a darker colored wand towards Harry. "That is what we're looking for."

The wand chooses the Wizard? His father never told him anything like that when they spoke of their wands. Just that they were a tool like any other. Unthinking and unfeeling. Harry picked up the second, feeling a power closer to fire. Wild and untamable. Ollivander tisked as he took that one back to the others. Ollivander came back with another wand and handed it over with an expectant look that felt different.

"Try this one," He suggested slowly as he watched the wand in the box closely.. Harry picked up the softer colored wand and felt an incredibly powerful, yet detached magic. Ollivander seemed as confused as he was disappointed. "Truly? I could have sworn…" His words trailed off to a mumble as he placed the wand back into the box.

"Mr. Ollivander. These wands of yours don't seem to be working for me," Harry stated the obvious. "The magic feels good but disconnected?"

"Yes, I see. So strange. It's not usually this hard." Ollivander's voice seemed disheartened at not matching Harry to a wand, the man had taken the last wand back to the stacks with the last wand almost reverently returned to its rest.

Harry considered his next words carefully. These people were a bit backwards and he didn't need to startle them into attacking him. "Could you make one just for me?" Harry called out to wherever Ollivander had disappeared to.

"Make a wand? Of course I can make a wand. That's all I do," Ollivander reappeared down one of the aisles and motioned quite sarcastically to the shelves that surrounded him.

"Yes, I can see that you are quite proficient at the discipline. Can you make wands from...foregn ingredients?" Harry asked a bit nervously as he fingered his bag.

Ollivander walked back to Harry, now intrigued. "Foreign ingredients?" Ollivander hummed as he pondered. "I can make a wand out of any ingredients, so long as they pair with one another. Can't force that young man. Harmony cannot be forced," Ollivander waggled his finger at Harry.

"Naturally," Harry replied as he nodded along with nearly every lesson from Grandmaster Yi, Hausis, and Amaru gently floating across his mind. "Then how about you make me a wand?" Harry said while he began to call for some items from his bag, the drones bringing them to his hand as he reached in.

"Show me the ingredients you have and I'll tell you if I can make a wand with them," Ollivander informed Harry as he conjured himself a stool and sat across the counter from the young man.

Harry pulled out one of the long feather's Amaru had given him many years ago and the horn the Qilin in China had gifted him. Ollivander leaned in close to the feather and the horn, clearly confused.

"What are these?" He asked as his gaze riveted to the items and he reached out to take them in his hands to inspect them.

"A Queztcalcoatl feather and a Qilin horn," Harry explained.

Ollivander raised his eyes to give Harry an unconvinced glare. "You expect me to believe that you got a feather from a muggle mythological creature?" He asked Harry, clearly unimpressed with whatever joke he thought was trying to tell.

"Amaru wouldn't be very happy if he heard you call him that," Harry replied dryly. He knew this was going to be an issue.

"Who's Amaru?" Ollivander asked confusedly.

"The Quetzalcoatl that gave me this feather," Harry pointed at the feather sitting on the counter between them as Ollivander placed the horn back to the table and eyed the feather warily. "He was very nice about the whole thing, especially how much of a teenager I was when we spoke that first time."

Ollivander blinked slowly as he seemed to digest Harry's words. "You're sure you actually spoke to a Quetzacoatl?" He made a drinking motion with his hand. "Didn't drink something meant for adults and find a feather from a pretty bird?"

"I mean, the hot chocolate at that little cafe was really good, but I don't think it was because of something... extra in the mix" Harry shrugged. "Or maybe it was, maybe that was cinnamon added to the chocolate," Harry pondered to himself.

Ollivander looked at him for a long moment, like he was trying to figure out if Harry was lying, before finally looking back down to the feather. The older man reached to pick the feather up, but yanked his hand back like he had been burned. He looked at the feather with surprise and a glare.

"Are you alright, sir?" Harry asked him. He wasn't worried about the man, but knew from experience that the amount of magic that remained in Amaru's feather's could be quite shocking for the more inexperienced magical users.

"That's a lot of magic!" Ollivander muttered breathlessly. He picked the feather up this time, cradling it in his hands like it was made of glass and carefully examined it. "How very strange. The magic within this feather is potent, yet controlled. Like a phoenix feather, but more," He spoke to himself quietly as he turned the feather over and back again.

"Can you use it to make a wand?" Harry knew nothing about wand making and little more than that about actual wands.

"Make a wand out of this?" Ollivander asked Harry, almost like he was confused about the question. "Oh. Oh, yes." His voice quivered as he ran his fingers down the fine vane. He seemed to snap back to himself. "Wood! I need to find what wood works best with this feather!"

"The wood matters?" Harry asked. He was legitimately curious about what went into making wands. His fathers had let him use their wands a few times over the years, but they never really worked for Harry. It was like the magic was closed off to his use.

"Oh yes, my boy. Every part of the wand matters," He carefully placed the feather back onto the counter. His head snapped over to the Qilin horn. "Now what did you call this?" He pointed to the horn.

"A Qilin horn. Or a part of one I suppose. The Qilin seemed like it would grow another, the master wasn't concerned it gave it to me to be honest..." Harry said as he thought back on the time.

Ollivander looked up at Harry again, "I'm not familiar with that creature Mr. Potter."

"That's alright. It's so reclusive that most people believe it to be nothing more than an ancient myth," Harry explained as he waved his hand to brush away the man's comment.. "I met one while I was studying with some monks in China. It gave me it's horn as a gift."

Ollivander had a look of wide eyed disbelief as Harry spoke. Once Harry finished, he nodded his head slowly. "Alright," He picked up the feather. "Give me a moment to see how this feather will react with the woods I have on hand."

The old man scurried off the back of his shop and disappeared for a few minutes. Harry noted the sour look on his face when he reappeared.

"None of the woods I have responded well to the feather." He sighed and put the feather back on the counter sadly.

"How does the wood affect the overall wand?" Harry inquired the older man.

"Oh, many ways." Ollivander sighed as he thought of how to explain to the young man. "The wood that holds the core must interact with the core otherwise the Wizard won't be able to channel their magic through it effectively or at all. Granted some combinations just seem to fit together anyway even if normally they wouldn't be compatible, but that's rare."

"Can any wood work?" Harry asked him. He had picked up various pieces of wood throughout their travels, both magical and non-magical, and he wondered if any of them might work.

Ollivander shrugged his shoulders. "I have a selection I tend to stick with, but I'd love to experiment with new woods to go with this new core."

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a long piece of Redwood that he had kept for making a staff like his grandmother. The next piece was a piece of Birch that his mothers had tucked away for him and was from the same tree that Hausis carved her staff from. He then pulled out a piece from a tree called Guaimaro having been given from an old seer in South America and then another piece from an ancient Peach tree that resided in the holy orchid at the Monastery. Ollivander looked over the various pieces of wood in unrestrained awe.

"Such a selection!" Ollivander ran his fingers across the various woods. "You've certainly traveled far, Mr. Potter."

"Out of necessity if you ask my fathers. Can you use any of these for my wand?" Harry politely steered the conversation away from his fathers' criminal activities.

Ollivander ran his fingers across the various woods in a way that reminded Harry of the crafters in his tribe. He finally picked up the piece of Birch and examined it closer.

"Ah, yes." He showed Harry the wood. "This one already has a close bond with you! It'll work wonderfully."

Harry began to put the other woods back into his bag while Ollivander seemed enthralled with the piece of Birch. Harry picked up the Qilin horn. "Can you use this at all?"

Ollivander went to grab it from Harry, but pulled his hand back quickly like he had with the Quetzalcoatl feather. Harry holding them seemed to fill them with intent and power. "How do you have multiple artifacts with so much magical power?!"

"We went to some really strange places," Harry grimaced.

"No doubt," Ollivander uttered as he took the Qilin horn carefully. "I can use a piece of this as the handle. It'll act as an enhancer to the magical potential of the wand's power." Ollivander gave Harry a pointed look. "Normally this is where I would caution you as to the power this wand will be capable of, but something tells me I don't need to lecture you about that," Harry only shrugged, not knowing how to answer his unstated question without showing too much of his hand. Ollivander nodded in response to whatever question he had silently asked Harry. "Come back in a week. I should be done by then."

"Alright," Harry said as he stepped away from the counter and secured his bag back at his hip. "See you then, Mister Ollivander. Thank you sir," Harry bowed his head to the old wand maker before leaving the shop.

Harry was actually quite pleased with his day so far. He found a good apothecary to get some new, exotic potion ingredients and commissioned a wand from the local wandmaker. Once he left the Wandmakers store, he wasn't really sure where to go next. He didn't feel like going home just yet and he really didn't feel like going to the bank and messing around with the Goblins. His interactions with them down in Egypt had left a sour taste in his mouth for their businesses, so he was going to put that off. Next to the bank was another road that Harry remembered the Shopkeeper in the Apothecary said was called Knockturn Alley. Harry had heard his father's talking to Alastor about Knockturn Alley and how it was where the more disreputable people and businesses tended to be, so obviously Harry was heading there next.

Knockturn Alley looked less maintained than Diagon Alley, which was pretty typical of places like this. Disreputable people who ran shady businesses tended not to care about the actual location much beyond making sure the roof didn't cave in. Most of the shops that were actually open looked like they could hardly be called a store. All in all, Harry was quite used to places like this since his father's were forced to work in the seedier parts of town during their travels. Some of the people he passed gave him curious looks as he walked further into the Alley, but none did much else. Glass houses and all that.

Harry passed a couple shops that seemed to sell different Alchemic ingredients. He made a note to come back later. He poked his head into the shop that sold bones, but was disappointed that they really only sold overly expensive human bones and some long dead fossils that were of no real magical use. Harry was becoming quite bored as he realized that these 'Dark Artifact' stores weren't anything special. He had been to many shops in South America and India that were far better stocked with a much wider variety of artifacts. These shops seemed to be selling the idea of Dark Artifacts rather than artifacts that were actually capable of doing fantastic magic or damage.

Harry stopped in front of a storefront that seemed better taken care of than most of the other ones. The sign above the door said Borgin and Burke's and under the name was written 'iobjects with unusual and powerful properties/i'. He highly doubted that claim, but decided to go in and see if the lofty expectations could be upheld. Inside the store was large and dimly lit, which made it easier for him to use his magic to melt into the shadows. Harry looked over the generally unimpressive magical artifacts that lined the walls with little interest. A part of him wanted to pull out his talking skull and perform some proper necromancy in the Alley just to fuck with these subadequete mages, but he doubted he would survive the resulting lecture from Remus. Honestly his dads had been really stressed out since coming back into contact with people from the United Kingdom. He was just about to leave when he heard a patron enter the store, so he chose to wait a little longer to allow him a better chance to slip out unnoticed.

"Good day Mr. Borgin!" A man with a wheezy voice greeted loudly.

"Ah, hello again Mr. Pettigrew!" Harry's ears perked up at the particular name. He had heard it enough in the stories from his fathers' childhood as well as the betrayal of his parents. But he doubted the last name was so uncommon that he could just 'happen' across the person whom his fathers hated most. But decided to stay and gather more information on this person, just to be sure. Every bloody seer ever knew his name and was right where they wanted to be to run into him. So maybe this could be fate too? "I just got a new shipment of some curiosities you might like!"

"I was actually hoping you had some more poisons in stock," The Pettigrew seemed a little too happy about this shopping trip. Harry's eye twitched. Ok disreputable places and all that, but really? Talking about potential lethal substances this loud?

"Ah ha. Is Lord Malfoy planning a little house cleaning?" Mr. Borgin spoke in an extra oily tone that Harry just hated. Maybe it was his upbringing, but slimy criminals that made their money off the death and suffering of others always rubbed him the wrong way. And Draco's father being in the middle of it confirmed to Harry that he made the right decision when he stole Draco away from Hogwarts. Even if this Pettigrew wasn't the Pettigrew he owed a talking to, if he was working with Malfoy senior, well...

"You know him. Always has some scheme going on. The death of his wife hasn't seemed to slow him down much," The Pettigrew chuckled thinly but seemed to be remembering something fondly. Harry's deep control born of training and temperance in adversity with mages and seers across the world was very, very close to breaking with them talking about his late aunt. 'The death of his wife.' Spoken like Lucius wasn't the one responsible for that death. This interaction was just making him furious, but he couldn't leave yet. He needed to know if this Pettigrew was the one that changed the course of his life so long ago. He might not have cared much about what his life may have been like without the war, but his fathers had their lives stolen by that man. They deserved some kind of closure. And so did Aunt Narcissa.

"Are you still working at the ministry?" Borgin asked conversationally over the clinking of glass bottles.

Harry cast a camouflage spell on himself to hide himself as he peeked around the shelf of overpriced knick-knacks he had been hiding behind. He saw the Pettigrew man standing at the counter with his back to Harry. He was a short man that was also quite overweight. His hair didn't seem to have any color and, while heavily manicured, did little to hide the bald spot.

"Oh yes. I got moved up to Junior Sub-Assistant to the Head of the Muggleborn Registration Commision," The fat man seemed overly pleased with a position that sounded to Harry like a glorified intern position.

"Moving up in the world," Borgin replied in a less-than-generous tone as he handed a bag to the fat man. "Do try to remember us little people?" Borgin made an obvious jab at the other man.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll always come back to your shop!" He replied happily. The jab practically made a whooshing sound as he went over his head. If Harry wasn't firmly suspicious that he would soon be tearing out the man's throat with his own teeth, Harry could have possibly felt sorry for the fat ass.

The Pettigrew shuffled back out of the shop with a big grin on his stupid face. Harry silently cast a muffle spell on himself and followed the man out the door closely so the shopkeeper wouldn't notice anything amiss. The fat man walked further down the alley than Harry had been yet, nodding to various people as they passed. He turned down a narrow walkway that was barely wide for two people to walk by one another, but that wasn't going to happen with this fat man. Harry felt a thread of magic that felt similar to some of the magic on Bellatrix. The narrow alley led to what looked to Harry like a small, empty courtyard with a single stone bench and a very dead tree in the center. Poetic? Perhaps, in Harry's experience fate was like that.

Harry saw his opportunity and quickly threw up a force field around the two of them that was augmented with muffle and camouflage to hide them during Harry's questioning. He had stopped walking once he had set the force field spell, but the man, wholly unaware of what was happening right under his nose, continued to walk until he ran face first into the field and landed hard on his fat ass.

"Oi?!" The man squeaked as he tried and failed to get off the ground. Harry chuckled as he realized that the man sounded like a pig. He finally scrambled to his feet after an embarrassing amount of time, leaving the bag of poisons on the ground. "What's the meaning of this!" He demanded at the invisible wall.

"Relax," Harry decided to use a tone Hausis tended to use when dealing with outsiders to the tribe. Powerfully restrained. "I mean you no harm."

The man whirled around to face Harry. His colorless eyes darted about Harry's body, no doubt trying to figure out who he was and why he was doing all this.

"You did not answer my question!" He wheezed loudly in an attempt to sound more authoritative than he was. It did nothing to Harry who only raised an eyebrow and took one step forward towards Pettigrew, who instinctively took a step back.

"I have one simple question for you. I only ask that answer truthfully," Harry replied neutrally. He wanted this man to remain calm until Harry got his answer.

"Ask then, urchin!" He raised his chin in defiance, though in defiance to what Harry did not know attempting to use his most authoritative tone.

Harry needed to be clever about this. He needed to ask a question that only the man he wanted would really know. "Do you know Padfoot?" He asked carefully.

The man's eyes flashed in a deep seated fear faster than he could cover it up. "What? No!" He wheezed loudly.

Harry had his answer. It felt strange, staring down the man that got his parents killed at a young age and set him and his fathers on their endless escape. If he had been a better friend, a stronger person, Harry's life could have been much different and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He liked his life, his mothers, Grandmother, and fathers. That didn't mean he had to like the worthless mage trying hard not to cower before him now.

"I don't believe you," Harry grinned at the man. The simple act made his knees shake.

"And just who are you then?" The man tried hard to quell the quiver in his voice, but he failed badly. "A new member of Sirius' gang of troublemakers?" He tried to sneer, but it looked more like a grimace.

Harry couldn't help the laugh that erupted from his chest, which startled the man. He was trying very hard to make Sirius sound like the bad one in this equation. Though he wasn't entirely wrong. Harry really was a troublemaker, just like his father.

"Yes and no," Harry quieted his laughter. "You will know my true name though Peter," Harry bowed deeply at the man before him. First impressions are everything after all. "I am Harry Potter."

The fat man's eyes grew comically wide. "No. No. No no no!" He shocked his head sharply. "That's impossible!"

"Improbable," Harry corrected him. With a smile that would have been more at home on Bellatrix's previously crazy visage.

Pettigrew reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a wand. Harry knew this was how British Mages started their fights. He snapped his fingers and used his magic to jerk the wand out of the man's stubby fingers. It flew through the air towards Harry until he caught it in his left hand. He doubted any Wizards born and raised in this country could fight properly without a wand. Harry noticed the magic in the wand reaching out for Peter. A curious little detail.

"What?!" Peter gasped thinly. "How did you do that?!" He demanded in fear.

"Very carefully, Mr. Pettigrew," Harry very nearly hissed in, replied calmly as he twirled the man's wand between his fingers. Oddly Oheo seemed to be trembling under his skin, he could feel her tightly coiled about shoulder and chest. His beautiful companion was just as eager as he was to turn this rat over to his fathers.

The man lunged at Harry, but he saw the desperation in the man's eyes and knew the action was coming. Harry used his free hand to summon tree roots from the ground to wrap tightly around his legs. He flailed wildly until he fell hard onto his face.

Pettigrew struggled against the roots in a way that made him look like one of the fat cats that were so fat they couldn't get off their backs after the roots twisted his body over so Harry could look down at the man's face. "You...dare...attack a...member of the Ministry?!" He wheezed thickly as he struggled to get free.

"I dare a lot of things Peter," Harry replied smoothly as he continued to twirl the wand between his fingers. "Attacking some worthless member of an ineffective government doesn't even crack my top ten. We've been breaking laws since I was a toddler." Harry's eyes hardened and he sneered down at the vile, and gutless betrayer, "You made sure of that Peter!" Harry's eyes flashed a deep green and Pettigrew recognized as the killing curse and nearly wet himself.

Pettigrew suddenly rallied and in a very sad display of Gryffindor courage bared his teeth at Harry as he continued to struggle against the roots. "I should have slit James' and your throats and fucked your mother when I had the chance!" He spat at Harry.

Harry narrowed his eyes and smiled. Internally he rolled his eyes, he knew just from this brief interaction with this man that he was wholly incapable of murder, much less infantcide. Rape though, if his comment earlier was an indication then Narcissa… Harry shook the thoughts away. He had Pettigrew now and that's what mattered. Harry flicked his wrist and summoned a glass marble in the man's mouth. Before Peter even knew what had happened, the marble expanded rapidly in size and forced his mouth as wide as it would go. Maybe even a little more. Pettigrew clawed at the marble in a feeble attempt to remove it, but Harry knew there was no way he was going to be able to get it out without Harry's assistance.

"I'm really tired of hearing your voice, Mr. Pettigrew," Harry drawled in boredom. He had some ideas on how this interaction might have gone, but he had no idea it would be so pathetic. He made a complex motion with his free hand and the roots grew up his legs to his arms and then forced his arms and legs behind him. Much like a fat piggy ready to be cooked. "You and I have more to discuss, so we're going somewhere much more quiet and private Uncle Wormy." Harry opened his bag and about a dozen of the Queenie's children flew out and to the struggling pig. It took a few tries, but the drones were finally able to pick the man up and carried him into the bag. A lone drone followed behind carrying the bag of poisons he had purchased from the shop. Harry hoped the rat bastard struggled and got stung once or twice.

With the bag closed and secured, Harry decided his outing had come to an end and he should head back home. Holding up the crystal he focused on 'going home' and let the magic build up and then carry him away back to Merlin's castle. He had to quickly skirt around some groups of kids in the hallways before they noticed him, but he was able to get down to the dungeons without anyone noticing him.

"Harry?" He cringed when he heard Bellatrix's voice call out to him. She noticed and narrowed her eyes as she walked to the edge of the cell she was in and glared at him. "What have you got?" She asked as he smiled but refused to look her in the eyes attempting innocence.

"Nothing Aunt Bella," Harry used his sweetest voice.

She smiled at him just as sweetly, "Liar," she practically sang to him.

Harry smiled and moved up to kiss her on the cheek before leaving her cell. He continued past her cell and deeper into the dungeon. He picked one of the larger cells that was hidden from Bellatrix's view and quickly augmented it with some muffle spells. He wouldn't want Bellatrix to be disturbed, after all. Harry closed the door behind him and opened his bag for the bees to bring his prisoner out. They plopped him onto the ground hard before retreating back into his bag.

The fat man looked up at him with pleading eyes even as he struggled to free himself from the roots that still held him firm and tried to speak around the glass marble he was drooling around. Harry snapped his fingers and the marble disappeared.

"I have information!" The man sputtered. "Bellatrix didn't get everything. I'll tell you everything I know!"

"I doubt your information would be of any use to me. And how can you hear Bellatrix from in my bag?" Harry sneered down at the man.

"No! No please! I work for Lord Malfoy! I hear things!" He implored pathetically. "I know Lord Voldemort has returned! I've seen him! Barty Crouch Jr. escaped Azkaban and brought him back!" The man wheezed tightly, making Harry's head hurt.

"You need to shut up before I put the marble back," Harry growled down at the man.

"Please! Just let me live!" The man actually started to cry. Peter curled in on himself as much as he could and sobbed into the stones at Harry's feet.

Harry could only roll his eyes. "How did any of my fathers consider you a good friend?" He sighed loudly. "You are nothing more than a pathetic coward and no longer worth my time. It's fine though I'll let my dads know you've dropped in town for a visit." As much as Harry wanted to gloat and lord over the Betrayer, he just couldn't. This man was barely worth the effort to capture, much less the effort to truly enact some sort of revenge.

Harry left the cell and the man blubbering on the floor. He closed the door with a heavy sigh. So much for his fun. He could hear the voices of his fathers coming closer to where he had hidden Peter away, so he decided to wait by the cell door until they found him.

"...that's when I landed right on my ass and broke that weird crystal. Then bam! I was back here." Sirius was explaining to Remus rather animatedly.

"So, what? Breaking them acts like an emergency protkey?" Remus asked in a far more relaxed tone.

"Maybe?" Sirius shrugged. Sirius looked away from Remus and finally saw Harry. "Pup! Where have you been?"

"Staying out of trouble, I hope?" Remus asked pointedly.

"I went to Diagon Alley and got you two a gift! But you have to share," Harry pointed his finger at Remus before he crossed his arms and straightened his posture to stare down his troublesome parents.

"A gift to share?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Where'd you get money?" Remus growled softly.

"Oh, relax you old wolf," Harry smiled wide as Remus held back a snarl. He hated it when Harry called him old, so Harry did it as often as he could. "This gift didn't cost money."

Remus glared at him, looking for the lie, but found nothing. "What kind of a gift doesn't cost money?" Remus asked, already suspicious of his son.

"The best kind! The gift of memories!" Harry replied happily before casting a muffle spell behind them.

Remus watched the spell take hold before turning back to Harry.

"Pup…" Remus growled warningly.

"Hush," Harry commanded Remus like one would a dog, which irritated him further. Harry then opened the cell door dramatically. "Ta da!" Harry announced as he held out his arms like one of those women that worked on game shows.

Sirius' expression changed faster than Harry had ever seen. He snarled as loud as Remus did when they laid eyes on Harry's prisoner.

"Peter!" Remus growled low like a stalking predator.

"You rat!" Sirius yelled at the fat man.

Harry interjected from the side of his parents, "He does sound and look like a pig sometimes too, it's really a toss up. I suppose the animagus transformation does take priority though…"

Peter flinched hard. "My fiends! Please! He…." Harry summoned the marble and caused it to swell inside his mouth once more.

"Shut up piggy," Harry told the man in a bored tone. Harry turned back to his fathers with a smile. "Do you like it?" Sirius advanced on the cell, but Harry stopped him with a finger in his chest. Sirius looked over at him, slightly startled. "I said 'share', dad. It's a gift for the family to share," Harry used Remus' tone of gentle chiding.

Sirius took a step back while nodding. "Yes, of course. Sorry pup."

"How did you capture him?" Remus spoke a little calmer, but Harry could still hear the tremor of anger hidden in his voice.

"It was stupid easy. He's the poorest excuse for a mage I have ever encountered," Harry sneered as he remembered capturing the man.

"Good job pup," Remus praised with a smirk. "I think this may be the best gift you could give us," He said with a surprising amount of sincerity.

Sirius saddled up next to Remus with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Ready to share our gift, Moony?"

Remus turned to Sirius. "Of course, Padfoot. We mustn't keep him waiting," Remus replied sweetly.

Harry didn't miss how they used their childhood nicknames as they decided to enact their revenge on their ex-best friend. Remus turned back to Harry, seeming very calm.

"Why don't you run along, pup?" Remus suggested. "We'll catch up later."

Harry nodded to his fathers, even though Sirius was not looking at him anymore. His eyes were on Peter. Harry left them to their gift and headed back upstairs. Bellatrix was standing by the cell door and waved her hand through the bars as he approached.

"What's going on, Harry?" Bellatrix asked softly. "I heard Sirius and Remus yelling about something."

Harry took a moment to really look at his Aunt Bella. He noted that she was looking a lot better since his ritual was completed. Her skin had more color and her hair had a brighter sheen to it. She may have even put on a little bit of weight.

"I found an old friend of theirs," He explained. "They weren't happy to see him."

"Peter Pettirgrew," Bellatrix nodded to herself.

Harry was surprised she knew exactly who he had captured. "Do you know him?"

"All the Death Eaters know Peter Pettigrew," She sneered. "He's a coward. Sold out his friend because he thought they were on the losing side." She flipped her hair angrily. "Can't say I'm upset that I tortured him for nothing that night."

"You tortured him? What night?" Harry asked, now intrigued.

"The night Lord Voldemort killed your parents and almost killed you," She gave him a pained look. "My husband, Rodolphus, wanted to go after Frank and Alice Longbottom when Lord Voldemort went missing. He was so sure they had something to do with it. I wasn't convinced," Bellatrix sighed heavily. "I went after Peter Pettigrew by myself. I know he had given something to Lord Voldemort in order to join his cause. I wanted to know what it was."

"Did he give it to you?" Harry asked. Despite hearing that it was her that had done these things he knew it was mostly her being a puppet and only a little bit of her was in control. Enough that she went to look for Peter instead of attempt to torture and murder another family with a baby.

Bellatrix reacted in disgust. "Of course he did. My Cruciatus Curse is...was quite effective," She corrected herself quickly. "All he gave Lord Voldemort was the location of your parents," She looked disgusted again. "I was so offended that he had taken our Mark in return for so little. I...may...have tortured him more out of anger and pride."

Harry nodded in agreement, "From what I've gathered about the man, you aren't alone Bells."

Bellatrix smiled shyly. "You're sweet, Harry."

Harry smiled back at her and with a wink inspired by Sirius said, "Only to those that deserve it."

"Get out of here, sweetling. There are others that need your attention," Bellatrix spoke softly as she sat back down on her bed.

"I'll see about talking to Alastor and getting you moved out of here into the family room Aunt Bella. I think you've been down here alone long enough. Good night Bella." Bellatrix smiled from her bed and waved Harry off with her hand and a soft thank you.

Harry nodded to her and took his leave from their conversation. He headed upstairs and didn't hide from the groups of children that looked at him curiously as he passed. Their looks didn't bother him and he didn't need to hide right now. His extended family and their friends were sitting in the Study having what looked like a very serious conversation. Harry noticed that there were a few new faces in the room. Harry chose to lean against the door frame and stay outside the room, so he could make a quick getaway if needed.

"What about Barty Crouch Senior?" Andromeda suggested to a dark skinned man wearing colorful clothes. "He was always against any government action of this level."

"Barty Crouch Senior is dead," Alastor replied gruffly.

Andromeda gasped softly and brought up a hand to her chest. "Truly? How?"

"Official story is that his House Elf, Winky, killed him." The dark skinned man replied. "No one on the outside believes that." Harry eyed the dark skinned man. He was a big dude.

"I don't believe he would have been any help before he died anyway," Alastor added. "He was never right in the head after his son went to Azkaban. Less so after he died."

"We can always count on Amelia Bones," The dark skinned man spoke once more. "She's always fought the good fight. When she heard that her niece is here with you she smiled the most evil smirk I'd ever seen on any Slytherin's face and started issuing carte blanche for some of her special forces."

"Are there really so few people left on our side?" Andromeda sighed unhappily.

The dark skinned man echoed Andromeda and rubbed the bridge of his nose and eyes before replying, "Many of the old members of the Order are dead. As for the Ministry...the Death Eaters that managed to evade Azkaban have been busy corrupting it with either money or fear."

"Which leaves us with Guerilla tactics," Alastor growled happily but winced as he shifted in his seat.

Harry heard footsteps coming up the door and found his fathers walking towards him when he looked. They both seemed loose, like they were finally able to relax for the first time in years. Remus patted him on the back firmly as he passed Harry and entered the Study. Sirius gave him a cheeky grin with mouthed 'Thank You' and followed Remus closely.

"About time you two decided to grace us with your presence. Found your boy in no trouble then?" The dark skinned man groused as his fathers took their seats next to Andromeda, but his smile told Harry it was in good humor.

"Forgive us Kingsley. We had some last minute dirty laundry to take care of," Remus replied diplomatically. "Now our time is all yours."

"Were we going to be eating soon?" Alastor grumbled loudly. "I'm fucking starving."

"I was feeling a bit hungry myself," Kingsley added. "Is there any way we can take a break for an early dinner?"

"Of course we can. We have many House Elves that came from Hogwarts, so they're amazing cooks," Andromeda replied kindly before turning to Sirius and Remus. "Are you two hungry as well?"

"Yes, Andy. I'm quite hungry," Remus replied to Andromeda before turning to Sirius, a telltale twinkle in his eye. "What about you, Padfoot?"

"I actually just had a bit of a snack, so I'm fine. Worry about yourselves," He replied with a grin like the Cheshire cat.

There was a firm tap on Harry's shoulder that pulled his attention away from the adults' conversation. He found the red-haired twins looking at him expectantly.

"Hey there...Logan," The more dominant one greeted him. Harry didn't miss how he stressed his alias.

"Since you're not busy, why don't you come outside with us?" The more passive twin suggested.

Harry wasn't too thrilled with the conversation the adults were having, so he shrugged to the twins. They at least had the capability to keep him from dying from boredom. He nodded to the twins.

"Wonderful!" They replied in unison. They each grabbed an arm and spun him around so they could lead him down the hallway and towards the Courtyard.

"I'm Fred," The dominant one identified himself.

"I'm George." The passive one identified himself quickly.

"We were talking about you outside with the others…" Fred followed up immediately.

"...and we thought it was just so rude to talk about you when you weren't there!" George finished the sentence.

"So now you can answer all of our questions!" Fred exclaimed just as George finished speaking.

"All at once!" George then exclaimed.

Harry found these twins quite amusing. He had met a few sets of multiples throughout his travels, but they never acted like this. Like one person inhabiting two bodies. They continued to lead Harry down the hallway and out to the Courtyard where he could see groups of kids and teens milling about. They took him straight to the largest group near the outer wall where a large tree stood. He recognized a couple of of the teens, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger being the most obvious, but there were a few he hadn't met yet.

"Look who we found!" The twins announced in unison. Everyone in the group looked over to them as they approached and even some of the kids in the neighboring groups looked over curiously.

"So good of you to finally join the rest of us," Ron practically sneered at Harry.

"Don't get your panties in such a knot, Mr. Weasley. Family comes first," Harry replied calmly. No need to instigate a fight. Not yet, at least.

George walked up beside Ron and smacked him upside the head that looked very much like the way Remus would smack him upside the head when he misbehaved. A few of the other kids snickered at the show, earning them a glare from Ron.

"Name's Logan, right?" A thicker boy with an accent couldn't place spoke a little too loudly. Harry nodded to him, but a girl with long, pale blonde hair spoke up before the boy could continue speaking.

"No…you're not," The girl gave him a strange smile. Not too unlike the many Seer's he had come across in his travels. "You're Harry Potter," She spoke with an airy voice.

"Harry Potter?" Ron Weasley questioned with a scowl. "You're Harry fucking Potter?!" He exclaimed angrily.

The ginger's expressions ran the gamut from utterly confused to shocked. Harry could only roll his eyes as his anger rose once more. He saw Remus exiting the courtyard door out of the corner of his eye.

"Dad!" Remus stopped and looked over to him when Harry snapped at him. "Why did we bother with aliases when ieveryone/i knows my real name?!"

Remus only shrugged in response and continued on his way. Harry wanted to be angry and yell some more, but he felt very strange all of a sudden. Like a foreign happiness had settled into his very soul and had rooted it's way through his bones. He was then hit from both sides of his body by two, very nice smelling, very soft, and very warm bodies.

"Logan!" Padma and Parvati squealed together as they hugged Harry's body tightly.

Harry cringed hard when he realized who had grabbed onto him. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't unhappy to see the girls but he had been Logan to them and now well, he'd have to come clean. And honestly of all the people that he would run into here, he was not expecting it to be the girls he spent a single summer with in India. Fate was really a lady that loved her plot twists.

"Ladies…" Harry replied slowly. Explaining how he had lied to two people he actually enjoyed being around was not how he wanted to spend the day. "I have a confession," The two girls looked up at him with their beautifully brown eyes wide with wonder and surprise. "My name isn't Logan."

"It's not?" Parvati asked softly before smiling at him. "That's fine you're still our friend," She shrugged before laying her head on his shoulder.

"What is your name, then?" Padma asked as she nearly drowned in his green eyes she'd dreamed of over the last year.

"Harry Potter, apparently," Seamus answered for Harry.

"Really?" She asked not having strayed from his gaze for a moment as the teens around them watched a very different display of both Parvati and Padma no one had seen before.

"Sorry Padma," He nodded with a frown. "The alias was to cover our tracks for anyone that may be after us."

"Ah-ha! So you idid/i meet up with Harry Potter in India!" The girl with long, pale blonde hair gasped softly as she furiously wrote something in her notebook.

"After you? Who would be after you?" Parvati questioned as she lifted her head and took over looking into Harry's eyes and Padma laid her head on his other shoulder. She was glad to be holding onto him or else her knees might have given out under her from the intense look she had just shared with Harry.

Harry gazed at Parvati and really thought hard about if he wanted to tell the twins everything. Deciding that he would with his two friends he nodded but deferred when he said, "That is a long story for another day Parvati," Harry stated before turning his attention back to the rest of the teens around them that seemed a little too interested in their conversation. "You were saying…what was your name?"

"Seamus Finnigan," He stated with a smile. "So is that your godforsaken crow that's always bringing letters to these two?"

"First off," Harry huffed as he thought about all the work that went into that just so he could contact the girls while they were at school. "It's a magical construct in the shape of a Raven. Secondly, yes, it's mine, I made it so I could talk with the ladies Patil," Harry hoped that these idiots could at least infer as to what a magical construct was.

"A magical construct?" Ron muttered. "The fuck is that?" Harry would have hidden his face front he frank incompetence in front of him in the guise of one Ronald Weasley, but his arms were occupied at the moment.

"Is it similar to the cat machines that walk around the castle?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes and no. The core of the Raven I sent here was a crystal that I carved into the shape of a Raven skull and fused with the soul of a Raven that had recently died," Harry explained in the simplest terms he could manage.

"That's Necromancy!" A girl with short blonde hair exclaimed with a gasp.

"Yes? And?" Harry was confused about the girl's response.

"That's evil magic," Seamus uttered his accusations. And most of the teens were gently reaching for their wands and warily watching Harry. The Patil twins hadn't moved, still soaking in the presence of their friend and not so secret crush. Padma did send a half glare at her bushy haired friend which was ruined by her almost immediate return to blissful smiles. It did stay Hermione's hand though.

"Magic can't be evil. It's one of the neutral threads that holds everything in nature together. It can only be used for evil," Harry tried very hard not to sigh as he explained the very first lesson of magic to these brainwashed kids. They couldn't help their substandard education.

"Told you he was great, Lavender," Parvati slyly muttered to another long haired blonde girl, Padma nodded dreamily. Both girls were very comfortable and very happy, both would have to do something very nice for their grandmother. Lavender didn't really react to the twins. She seemed starstruck by Harry, like a few of the girls now that he looked around.

"So, Harry?" Fred asked, pulling Harry's attention to him. Harry acknowledged the red haired twin with a hum that nearly sent the Patil twins to their knees. "You were going to tell us where you've been hiding since you gave Ron a proper ass whooping," His comment earned more snickers from the group of teens and another glare from Ron.

Harry didn't know if he should tell these...kids the truth about what happened within the family. He had done so for Draco and he had spent the next week second guessing that decision. Amaru said that Harry had made the right decision and that Draco would benefit from the truth, but Harry wasn't convinced of that yet. Eh, fuck it.

"Draco's mother was murdered. The family has been in mourning. Draco needed someone to watch out for him for a bit so I took him to a private area of the castle and we've been held up there for a bit," Harry chose to relay this with his most priestly tone.

A lot of the group looked somewhat shocked, but a few simply nodded like they were somehow used to this sort of thing.

"Unfortunate, yet unsurpring," Hermione replied sadly. "Things have gotten bad enough around here that a single murder doesn't even make the news anymore," She sighed unhappily.

"I know my fathers said things had gotten bad here, but how bad is it really?" Harry asked. The Patil twins both held onto his arms a little tighter while the other teens exchanged glances. Attempting to doctor explanations? This only confirmed how bad things were.

"Ginny died three years ago," Ron muttered without looking up.

"Mum was two years ago," George added.

"Percy just a couple months ago," Fred finished with a shrug.

"Percy now, too?" The girl with long, pale hair asked with a soft gasp.

"Yeah," George sighed as he looked at the blonde girl and reached for her hand and gently rubbed it with his thumb. "...something...happened at the Ministry. Sorry we didn't say anything, Luna."

Luna placed a gentle hand on George's hand and held it in between hers delicately, "It's ok, George. I understand." She comforted the twin. George tried to smile at her, but he just couldn't manage it.

"Neville was found murdered just after Halloween last year in a bloody graveyard," Seamus stated grimly.

"Didn't something happen to Hannah Abbott the day after he was found, Susan?" Lavender turned to the short haired blonde girl.

"Yes," Susan said with a half sob. Her eyes immediately blinking tears and glittering trails of pain ran down her cheeks. "We found her hanging from her bed poster the next morning," Susan sobbed as she turned her head into Hermione's embrace. Harry couldn't help but feel bad for Susan and any others that found the poor girl. That's a situation Harry had thankfully never experienced. Lavender walked over to Susan and gave her a firm hug as well, which Susan returned. She pulled both girls together and hid in their arms.

"Had to hear from a neighbor that Lee Jordan died over the summer," Seamus spoke up again with his arms crossed. "No official story, but mum says it was Death Eaters."

"Lee Jordan died?!" Fred exclaimed. "God dammit." He muttered angrily before walking away from the group. George followed after him dutifully. Luna chose to stay with the other teens.

"I haven't seen Cedric since mid-last year," A younger boy popped up from behind one of the older kids. "Did something happen to him?!" He appealed to anyone that would look at him.

"He wrote me a letter saying that he had been attacked by some sort of magical creature," Susan explained to the boy calmly. She had brushed the tears away and squeezed both girls' hands in thanks before turning to the younger student. "His father found a small town on the other side of America that was considered a haven for those…afflicted." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's doing just fine," The boy's face lit up at her words.

Hermione suddenly stepped closer to Harry and it took everything in him not to smirk when he felt the Patil twins squeeze him just a little bit more.

"A girl from my House named Cho Chang was murdered at school," She explained like she was giving a news report. "Headmistress Umbrigde tried to explain her death as a tragic accident that happened during a Quidditch game. She tried to say that she fell from her broom during the storm," She raised her chin at Harry, "But I know the effects of a Dementor's kiss when I see it." Dementors. Harry had read about those creatures when his fathers mentioned them in passing. Their ability to remove the soul from a person and eat it made them feared throughout the magical world.

"That's your opinion, Hermione," Ron sneered at the girl.

"Based on ifact/i, Chav," Hermoine slung back at him.

Harry didn't understand the word Hermione just called Ron, but it must have been bad when he saw the fury in Ron's eyes.

"You wanna go Arsemonger?!" Ron growled in return.

Harry knew a fight starting when he saw it. "Excuse me," He used his best priestly voice, listening to Amaru had to pay off in something right? "There will be no brawling here unless you wish to fight me," Harry leveled his best fatherly glare at both Ron and Hermione. Ron nearly flinched away from Harry, no doubt remembering their last fight. Hermione gracefully turned and walked back towards the castle.

"Nicely done, Harry. Mia just needs a bit, she's great but Ron really pushes all the wrong buttons," Padma spoke softly into his ear, making the hairs on his neck stand up on end. Parvati snickered and with a wink to her sister kissed Harry on the cheek as her sister kissed the other.

"We're happy to see you again Harry," Both girls said as they tugged on his arms to take him to the castle for dinner. Neither wanting to let the raven haired heartthrob out of their sight.