Chapter 24: Death and Loose Ends

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

Chapter 24: Death and Loose Ends

25th July 2000 - 30th July 2000

110 BBY

3,543 ATC

North Hold

Sirius smiled as sweat moved down his body enjoying working again after being confined to his own house and before that Azkaban. He had then been slowly rehabilitated on his journey here, at least physically, though he had been asleep for much of it.

It felt good, he thought, to be working again on something worthwhile even if it was under such a strange sky with different stars.

Sometimes he still found himself wanting to disbelieve the Flamels explanation and if it wasn't for the red sun in the sky above him, not to mention the fact that Flamel had given an oath on his life and magic, the fact that Sirius was standing on a whole new world was more than enough to convince him of Flamels truthfulness as was the ship that brought him here.

As a former Hit Wizard Sirius had to, at one point, interact with the muggle world more than most of his fellows in the Auror Department let alone other Pureblood Heirs (as he was for a time). The people that they were sent after had often managed to evade the law for some time already it was quite common for them to slip into the muggle world when they felt the net closing in.

So, more than most of Wizarding Britain's elite anyway, he had some small inkling of how fantastical the ship that carried him away as well as all of the other things that he had seen since. He certainly had plenty of questions for his Godson when he saw him next. For now though Harry had given him something that he had been missing for quite some time.

He had a purpose once again.

He was also beyond angry when he was informed by Nicolas Flamel of Dumbledore's manipulations when it came to Harry as well as the very great likelihood that that Sirius himself had been manipulated or poisoned since his escape. Thankfully, during his converleance, any and all things like that were removed while he slept though he wasn't told (and he hadn't asked) if any had been found in his system.

Often he found his thoughts turning, not only to Harry but, to Remus and he wished that his friend could have come with him.

Between himself, the Flamels, and a few of the more experienced magic users (who just so happened to be not only Curse Breakers recruited but also with their loyalty vetted by Gringotts) had begun to give all eighteen worlds of the twelve systems magic and the simple fact of having something to do as well as see new worlds was both liberating and intoxicating.

In his downtime (a literal turn of phrase for him when his magic was often drained very low performing the ritual to grant a whisper of power to these new worlds) he studied the history of this newly minted Commonwealth that he found himself in.

There were quite a few surprises for Harry when he returned, Sirius thought, and when he does return I just hope I will be there to watch his face as he discovers them. Though in all fairness he only has himself to blame. He had, after all, issued specific orders before he left for his droids (including his Holodroids that acted quite often literally in his name).

The success of those plans really started and ended with his decision to accept Republic refugees fleeing both from the immediate financial fallout of his last actions as well as his reputation as a Jedi Lord. That was on top of colonists from already friendly worlds as well as his own people wishing to be pioneers of this new frontier.

On top of that there was the progressive way that Harry had insisted on education and health for his people. It seemed that not a single week went by without there at least being plans for a new school, hospital or library being built. The eighteen worlds already had five top standard universities and it's expansion did not seem to have an end in sight.

This meant that, with the corruption of both the Republic and the Wizarding World, this small collection of independent worlds was turning into a shining beacon of hope against the loss, sorrow, anger, bigotry and hardship that each person had faced in their original situations. The fact that they were getting overtures, though only faint ones, from both the Merfolk and the Veela was a case in point.

Added to that, on the Republic side of things, the Potter families reputation had only grown with time and their name was now synonymous with compassion and freedom in some planets in the Outer Rim. Some planets were just as likely, if not more so, to call Spero for help in adjudicating disputes for example as they once would the Jedi or the Senate.

Harry's secret longevity was, sort of, out in the open now. Given that (between the two melding sources of population) the people had a working 'knowledge' of both the Force and the Philosopher's Stone as well as the fact that both Flamels were here they were surprisingly accepting of a near immortal leader.

That was not to say that it wasn't hard for some to get their heads around it at first and, of course, no one came close to knowing how it was achieved but given the advantages in the Commonwealth they found it a very small price to pay. Eventually they would accept that immortality as a constant much like they accepted the stars themselves. Of course both the Elves and the Goblins had no problem with it as they were well aware of that little fact before they ever left Earth.

Security against external threats for the burgeoning power was not a problem either as, though slightly amoral, a solution was found almost as soon as the last of the first waves of ships from Earth had landed.

Between Wizards like Sirius (who felt indebted to either Harry or the Nation) and the few goblins who had easily rediscovered their aptitude with wands they had instituted a 'health' check on all citizens as well as a quarantine on all future visitors. This of course was largely not needed but, thanks to the trust that the Potter family had built as well as the promise of a new life and the relative novelty of magic, no one had balked at the compulsory health check.

This had been the combined brainchild of Sirius and the Flamels as, though obviously not quite in their league, being a marauder had required inventive thinking more than once in his life. Neither he or they were excluded from it either as they had performed it on each other first. This was, in a very small part, a show of unity and largely because it did have beneficial effects even if that was not the main point.

They had started with the fifty or so wizards that had come with the Nation and roughly half of them would form the core group (for now) that would continue the health checks while the other half would join Sirius (in teams of four) on awakening other worlds. Both required multiple wizards as, though it was hardly mentioned, none of them even came close to Harry's raw magical power and therefore had to work in concert.

The process involved taking a small amount of freely given blood (the magicals did need a oath that any left over blood would be destroyed straight afterwards and in some cases watched it being done) and inscribing a set of runes on the ribcage of the subject that disappeared as they sank into the skeleton of the target.

The amoral part was that only the Flamels and Sirius (and later Harry and Luna) would ever be aware that the longevity that the runes provided, around an extra fifty years across the board, were only a minor component of the runes and had worded the few magical oaths they had to give very carefully to avoid revealing that fact.

It was not harmful to the people of the Commonwealth in any way nor did it take away their free will. The main continuous effect that it had was essentially a rune based hybrid between a wizarding Notice-Me-Not and a subconscious form of occlumency. They were able to do this primarily because of all of Nicolas's research on creating the Philosopher's Stone and his other pursuits as the runes sank into the marrow and was there continuously present in the blood.

This hybrid meant that details of their home, if the people ever chose to leave it or were willfully taken from it, would be fuzzy and dim in their minds. It also gently encouraged, but didn't actually stop, those that did leave from talking about their former home and to be generally less inclined to do so anyway.

Sirius knew enough to know, from both Nicolas and the newly transplanted Black Library, that this very complex solution was one of many options for the problem of the Commonwealth's security. All of the other tried and tested solutions, whether simple or complex, in some way suppressed or supplanted the free will of their subject to a very large degree.

That this was as abhorrent to Harry as it was to him was something that Sirius was more than grateful for. Not that this new system didn't have an element of that, especially as the true purpose was applied in secret, but, like most similar institutions of government, the Silver Commonwealth (it's new full name though hardly anyone in the systems used it) had to take the safety and security of its members very seriously if it wanted to continue to exist.

Given that Sirius was happy to help as much as he could but, he had honestly thought, when the Flamels had suggested what he do next that they were trying to prank him. It was only after they had informed him that Harry himself had put his name forward that he realised that they were serious in their request.

They had asked him to become the Deputy Headmaster at the first (and currently only) school for magical training that the Commonwealth had. It was called the Royal Institute for Sorcery and Spells or just the Institute for short.

After he had gotten over the fact that it was not a prank and that they actually wanted him to help mold young minds he had found himself warming to the idea. The fact that the newly constructed Institute was less than a few minutes from Harry's tower (when he returned) was a nice bonus as well.

He had accepted, after a small time to think through his many options, and had even approved of allowing any sentient with the gift of magic to study there. This was both, in part at least, to spite his close minded upbringing as well as the fact that the city of New Atlantis never needed to deal with the fallout of a Goblin Rebellion.

Many of the teaching positions were going to be filled with former Curse Breakers and disenfranchised muggleborns but, as Harry had planned so long before, Pernelle would become the Headmistress of the new school.

This fact helped soothe the few purebloods and half bloods that had joined them (thanks in no small part to Neville's grandmother) as having a figure step out of the history books and legend to teach was a great draw for the new school. It had, more than most things, helped many to agree to journey here with their families rather than pursue their futures on the Earth.

When he had first visited the marbled and shining city Sirius had been struck most by the feeling of hope and happiness that seemed to embrace it like a lover.

It was more than the fact that the former refugees turned colonists had found a home, more than the artful gleaming buildings, more than the magic in the air that seemed to nourish everything it touched, more than the tame(ish) dragons that chased playful phoenixes over their heads, more than a beautiful sky or even the fact that more planets were being colonized and terraformed even now almost as soon as each batch of colonists arrived.

It was simply the determination, the defiance, that led to to such a haven being built that inspired so. The universe was often unfair but the people here were united in a common cause and that was the desire to not repeat the mistakes of the past that had led them to being here in the first place. They were all determined that this place would not become another British Ministry or bloated Republic but strive to balance themselves and the worlds around them to simply find a better way.

Sirius, from almost the first moment his feet had touched the ground, had realised that he was not alone in this desire and had not been the least bit surprised when the people coming from the Wizarding World did not wish to be called Wizards or Witches anymore. It had simply too many bad connotations for all of the cultures that lived in the Commonwealth and, in homage for what the original Atlantis had once represented, had taken again the older term of Magi.

Magi, or Magi of the First Order, would be graduates (or the equivalent) of the Institutes F.M.C. or First Magical Certificate which was on par with the O.W.L.'s in structure if not in content. The Master Magi would pass the S.M.C. which was again on par with the N.E.W.T.'s and the Lord or Lady Magi would hold at least one mastery of a subject.

Sirius himself found it amusing that, even without his former title as Lord Black, he was now a Lord twice over.

This was all not to say that they had no problems. Aside from the obvious culture clashes and the knowledge gap between them as well as the period of adjustment (and frantic learning that it would cause) there would always be threats to what they were trying to create.

For just one example planet security, or policing, was currently being done only by droids but it was not a large issue as there were already people training to augment or supplant that force in the near future.

Then there were external threats. The tattoos, combined with a room that positively glowed with truth and compulsion runes even to normal sight where they were applied, had already ferreted out eight spies for the Republic (the ban on the planet having been lifted some one hundred years prior), twelve for various galaxy wide merchant companies including the Intergalactic Banking Clan, three from the Hutts, four from various pirate groups and at least two from the Sith.

All but those from the Sith and the Republic were mined for information and then had their memories erased and, as an added defence, had the blood runes placed on them while they recovered and would be otherwise unaware. There was an added component to their, slightly different, tattoos though. If they ever had their memories restored or the block removed then their minds would quickly collapse in on themselves. They were then released with a strong compulsion to return home.

The Commonwealth had no sympathy for spies.

The proven Sith spies, once they had gathered that they had no useful information to give, were then simply killed deemed a security risk that was too great given who their masters were.

The Hutts and the Merchant Associations were given a stern warning that, if they ever tried such actions again, then there would be dire consequences. The fact that a few of them had managed to wipe their returned spies minds beyond all usefulness meant that, for the moment at least, the Commonwealth was being believed.

As Harry had secretly been building ships since had first set up his Forge (as that was the main reason for the massive magically expanding and still growing Hangar underground) and their spies had been delivered using two retrofitted and redesigned ships that had started out as the old and slightly defunct Hammerhead class cruisers that were almost bursting at the seams with droids might have had something to do with it as well.

The Republic was shocked, to say the least, when they saw a few of their old ships entering their space when their people were returned but were not too alarmed. They had after all sold the basic design of the cruisers years ago once they had demilitarised after the Mandalorian Wars and their current technology (which they believed surpassed these) had moved on. The final Republic spy, sent after the warning was given, had his mind destroyed.

Though the idea of destroying minds makes me slightly uncomfortable, thought Sirius, but it is still better than what the Dementors would have done. Their minds may have been destroyed but their souls were untouched and eventually they would be free of their vegetative state.

Still despite the problems that they had suffered Sirius was more than happy with his lot and couldn't help but feel a brand new day dawning and feel true hope for the future. The only thing that he was left wondering was when he would next see Harry.

Harry meanwhile stared down at Dumbledore, struggling with that old hatred, as he saw the practiced and fake disappointment etched on his enemies face. He had to struggle not to simply punch the whiskered wanker in the face and stop him from ever making that expression ever again.

Beyond him Snape was still laying on the floor out cold.

Looking at the man before him Harry mastered, for the moment, his hatred and thought about all the things that he could say to the man before him. He sighed feeling a great deal of emptiness deep in his chest. This was necessary and, despite the flash of hatred he had at first, much of it had been tempered over time and he really just wanted to get this moment done.

Dumbledore had to talk however and for Harry's part it was because he wanted him fully aware of what was going to happen to him but for Dumbledore there was always another angle and another way to shape the future to his liking. It was a defining fact of the man's character that he would always look for another angle, another manipulation and another way to control the Great Game.

"I am so very disappointed in you my boy" said Dumbledore while artfully lacing his voice with regret and reproach. At least it would have been artful to others but Harry had been manipulated by the Sith and it was therefore incredibly clumsy even without taking into account what he knew of the man before him.

Harry merely snorted in response, refusing to rise to that bait, and began to drag Snape's unconscious body to within Dumbledore's eye line.

The Sith had also taught Harry a multitude of questionable (to say the least) including the most effective ways to torture, harm and interrogate his enemies. Of course they had also managed to teach him how to harness his emotions for deeply negative and destructive ends.

When it came to manipulation and coercion, especially with someone's voice or body language, his former Sith Master found that he had taken to it like a fish to water. His master had not realised of course that, as far as 'normal' humans went Harry had already gained a true education the hard way from the master that was Albus Dumbledore.

I can't credit the man with much actual direct teaching, thought Harry, but I did learn more about it by reviewing my memories of his interaction with people than I ever did with the Sith.

It was at that point in his musings that Dumbledore distracted his thoughts. Albus had finally realised not only exactly where he was but possibly a slight inkling of what he was here for and had to fight a feeling of mounting horror with a startled gasp.

This was, after all, one of the most complete (and also one of the most utilitarian) ritual rooms that he had ever seen or heard of in his very long life. Worse, now that he was able to focus on it for a moment, the nature and design of its runic circles and seals showed that it was a very old one.

Dumbledore's finely tuned senses confirmed his suspicion that it was very old one, hundreds of years at least, as the long and arduous process of meshing it's imbued power with the Earth's natural churning magnificence was complete and had been for some time.

"You know" Harry said conversationally as he held Snape upright before the worried man using only the Force. "You often told me that I should put aside my hatred for this retch and learn from this pond scum". The twin hatred and disgust in his voice entranced Dumbledore more than any spell ever could. "Well" Harry continued "you were half right".

With that Harry's palm came up and slammed violently into Severus's forehead as Harry began to forcibly shred it for any useful information. Unlike any other time that he had deliberately done taken information in this way Harry did so with deliberate slowness. He was also destroying every single element of Snape's mind that he came across as he went but did so in such away that Snape was aware of what he was doing.

It really was no wonder then when Snape began to unendingly scream.

To the watching Dumbledore it was as if whatever Harry was doing was the most painful thing that he had ever seen. The sound that came from Snape, only breaking for him to breathe and begin again, wasn't even human to his ears but more like one of a tortured animal being carved into small pieces while still alive.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. The still breathing and yet utterly lifeless and blank body of Severus Snape fell to the ground in an unresponsive heap.

"What have you done!" Dumbledore screamed in utter shock and not a little fear.

"I did what you supposedly wanted. I learned from Snape...every single piece of training, every scrap of diseased knowledge and every piece of useful information is now in my head. I also completely annihilated his mind in the slowest and most painful way possible that I knew how".

"And let me guess" Dumbledore said bitterly his mask slipping and a hate filled look stealing over his face and venom dripping from his voice. "You are now going to do the same to me?"

"And there he is" Harry said with satisfaction and all anger draining from his voice and outward body language. He was surprised by how good it felt to get a reaction from the normally calm looking and hateful man. "The Grand Manipulator, the Bearded Wanker in the flesh!" Harry paused and then continued "Isn't it a little freeing? Don't you get tired of playing the saintly grandfather routine for me? Isn't it nice to just let it go?".

"What I have done" began Dumbledore pompously is for the Greater Good of Wizarding Kind and if you were older and wiser than a small petty minded teenager you would see that".

"Somehow I doubt that" replied Harry ignoring the sudden irrational urge to point out that, in a certain sense, they were now almost the same age. "Even I, as deficient as you believe me to be, can see the immediate flaw in your argument. There is no such thing as the Greater Good, not mine, not yours, not Grindelwald's and certainly not the Wizarding Worlds. At best there are only people trying to do the best they can hoping against hope that their lesser goods have some effect and that maybe, just maybe, they are remembered".

"You are as close minded as your grandparents" snarled Dumbledore.

"Thank you for the compliment" answered Harry "but I don't believe for one second that you subscribe to your own hype anyway. No...this is about power and control...it always is with you. You want to own the entirety of the Wizarding World and, more than anything else, you want me dead to your plan because I represent the one thing you truly hate….which, now that I think about it is ironic considering I'm under the yoke of a prophecy".

"And what is that?" Asked Dumbledore intrigued despite himself.

"Choice. Free Will. The determination to fight against the odds, your odds, to freely think, call it what you will. There is no room for free thinkers in your dystopia".

"I see that you have succumbed to the lure of the Dark Arts and madness" stated Dumbledore trying, once again, to project deep sorrow in his voice and with his well worn grandfather mask back in place. "Do whatever it is you are going to do but, if you think the fight ends with me then you are wrong. When you leave this place you will find no friends and enemies behind every door. I am only sad that i couldn't save you, that I couldn't set you down the proper path. There is still time though Harry... if only you are willing?".

Harry had to hand it to the man he never gave up. The sorrow, regret, hope and even anguish were so artfully balanced and conveyed in both his voice and facial expression that if Harry had worn a hat he would have taken it off to the man. He knew better than to believe him though and so ignored the question.

"Enemies? Because of your successor you mean?" Dumbledore gaped, truly startled, but said nothing. "What part of all of Snape's knowledge did you not understand? The man was a pimple on the arse of life certainly but he was also a very effective double agent". Dumbledore's mouth set into a thin line even as his eyes hardened into stone. "What? no witty comeback to that? That's fine as I already knew anyway but, between you and me, it's always nice to have clarification of facts and vindication for one's actions". When there was no comment forthcoming he continued "Still not talking? No? The only thing I don't know is if he was your agent throughout or if he only became one after you healed him?"

Harry caressed the hilt of his lightsaber with one hand and looked down briefly at Snape before he continued speaking. "Still I'm not going to turn you into a vegetable as I have something special planned for you. Not only have you hurt me more than Snape ever did, most of his actions were engineered or otherwise allowed by you after all, but quite frankly my mind currently feels like it's carrying a fetid swamp around. I'll be cleaning up all traces of that oily git for a week and Force knows how tainted and corrupted my mind would be if I did that to you. Knowing you as I do so well I'm sure that you have some hidden plan or defence in your mind for an occasion like this".

Seeing Dumbledore's crestfallen look, as well as the fact that Dumbledore was a master of occlumency years before Harry was even imagined and a magical researcher since his late teens, and the fact that in theory magic could do almost anything with the right application of will and power (Harry was proof enough of that given the fact that he had survived the Killing Curse) he saw that he was right. "But first..."

As Harry advanced on Dumbledore (intending to slowly dice what was left of Snape before the man's horrified eyes) Fawkes flames in with a soft thrill as well as a whoosh of flame and in his talons he was carrying something.

The body of Hedwig.

"Fawkes! Free me!" Shouted Dumbledore. He was more than a little taken back when, instead of the freedom that he was expecting, he received a hate filled hiss in return. It was so full of that negative emotion in fact that it made Harry's teeth vibrate and ache. As soon as it was finished though Harry couldn't help himself and burst into laughter at the expression on Fawkes face.

Fawkes turned to Harry, after releasing his bowls at Dumbledore (though the 'package' fell short of its target) and trilled a long and complex note full of sadness and joy at Harry for a long moment. Harry's face turned from confusion to shock and then finally to an almost guarded wonder.

"Really? You can use him?" Asked Harry followed by another short trill "If that's what you want my friend who am I to say no?" Harry's voice was full of solemn reverence.

Harry turned to Dumbledore after a long moment communing with the ancient bird. "Nicolas is going to be so pissed at me for this". Apparently the amount of revelations that Dumbledore had received had frozen his face as, apart from a widening of his eyes and increase in his breathing, he didn't react physically. "Please. Did you really think that Nicolas Flamel, with all his years of experience, would never see any warning of your true self? Of your true motives? With all the years that he had on the Earth I'm sure that he figured it out fairly quickly and if he didn't I'm sure his wife did. I'd say never get on the wrong side of her but, well, that won't be a problem for you. I digress, as he did obviously, and he prepared this…" Harry pulled out a faintly glowing yellow vial from an inner pocket of his robes "just in case. I have to say that it was stupid of you to so carelessly destroy his Stone as I don't know anyone else idiotic enough to risk his anger. Until that point he was quite willing to simply outlive you but then, after that travesty, he made this and also made me promise to use it on you".

Harry looked over to Fawkes and then back to Dumbledore even as the bird stared at the two very different men in interest. Fawkes also had his wings flared protectively over Hedwig's body seemingly content to wait for Harry to act. "Now I'm going to break that promise".

With that Harry dumped the vile concoction down the throat of the husk that used to be Severus Snape and, following Fawkes's instruction, began to chant softly at first and then in a rising crescendo. Harry had never channelled such power (and he silently vowed to never do so again) and he struggled even as all of the runic circles and arrays light up with what appeared to be starlight.

A pillar of white power began to trickle like a river from the earth beneath Harry's feet even as he broke into a sweat and some of his own magic joined in. Even as that was happening a dark grey mist began pouring from Snape's mouth, nose, ears and eyes and they all combined into a boiling multi coloured cloud. This led to Severus Snape losing all of his magic and Harry becoming nearly exhausted.

Still he kept chanting and slowly, as if herded by Harry's strong and yet somehow tired voice, and the brightening starlight from the arrays themselves the cloud moved over to Fawkes who was still covering the body of Hedwig. As the mist touched them and enclosed them Fawkes let loose one great final cry. It was sorrowful, triumphant, beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.

It was also Fawkes's last goodbye and his last gift to Harry as well as to the memory of Hedwig.

Both animals burst into flames roaring together and consuming both the mist and the starlight from the runic circles. They sucked it in like a babe at his mother's breast or a wildfire demanding fuel. When the mist finally dissipated and the flames died down the bodies of Fawkes and Hedwig had gone. More than that the magic of Severus Snape had finally been put to good use.

Where the flames once were there wasn't just the ash that one might expect from such a flame but also a large white egg that was marbled throughout with streaks of red. As far as he knew both Fawkes and Hedwig had gone on to their next great adventure so the egg puzzled him but, with a mental shrug, he decided to leave that particular mystery for later.

Harry tried to turn and then found himself staggering as it finally hit him how much magic he had used in helping Fawkes with his last request. It would take quite a few pepper up potions just to get through the day after he was done here but there was never a chance that he would have refused. After all it was his last request.

He did realise that the reason the ritual had called to his magic probably had something to do with the remains of the bond that he once shared with Hedwig but, thankfully, he felt no perverse bindings between him and the egg. His magic showed him nothing and the Force was full of what he could only roughly interpret as anticipation.

He still wasn't looking forward to the crash later when the potions borrowed energy left him though.

"So what now?" Sneered Dumbledore interrupting the beautiful moment of wonder that he had just witnessed. "What will you do now that your plan for revenge is ruined?" The malicious glee in his voice was almost physically sickening to Harry but he merely smiled a thin and bitter grin.

"Ruined?" Disagreed Harry with a biting and sardonic tone "Surely the great Headmaster would realise that I have a backup plan? I did after all learn from you whether I wanted to or not and those kinds of lessons leave a mark trust me. Don't worry though that just happened to be Nic's last minute improvement, his personal fuck you, to my plan"

"Which was?"

"Patience Albus. Patience. Besides I think that you might be stalling for time especially now as I am weaker than normal. Do you think that the Order of the Phoenix or perhaps even the Aurors will come a knocking at my door?"

"Oh Harry" smiled Dumbledore with a smile as equally as biting "of course they will. Someone will have seen you leaving and even now the hunt for us will have started in earnest".

"Not so Albus" Harry replied with particular relish "they believe that Snape took you to Voldemort. After all he, a known Death Eater, was seen entering your office and with the Dark Mark hanging in the sky why would they ever suspect poor hiding Harry Potter? I have not actually been seen since the Department of Mysteries after all".

"Really Harry" Dumbledore tried to bluster "stop this nonsense. If you give up now i will ask for leniency on your behalf".

"All so that I can die at the appropriate time of course" accused Harry.

"It is your destiny" Dumbledore affirmed with great conviction.

"According to you" spat Harry. With another twist of his wrist Dumbledore was silenced "Now be quiet. I am trying to work here".

With that Harry moved Snape, now without magic as well as unresisting, out of the way before half carrying, half dragging Dumbledore to the exact center of the ritual room. He then removed from his pocket an artfully made (clearly by the goblins) golden cage, several thorns from english roses, a series of miniature chains and sliced Dumbledore with the potions knife from Snape's boot drawing blood.

The symmetry of that moment, that it was almost in the exact same place that Wormtail had cut him years ago was lost on Dumbledore but perversely amused Harry.

He then slowly and carefully began to arrange the items at equidistant points around the large central ritual circle before, just as easily as he had placed it, removed the silencing charm from Dumbledore.

"Tell me Dumbledore" Harry began slowly "what do you know of the Shackles of Judgement?" Dumbledore's face went so pale at that Harry had to wonder if he had any blood left in his face.

"That ritual is barbaric!" It was willfully lost years ago. We have become more humane since then".

"Because Dementors were so much more humane" was Harry's sarcastic reply.

"When did you get so cold?" Dumbledore asked pointedly, perhaps, seeking a weakness he could exploit. Harry saw no harm in answering him (at least for the moment).

"I am, or at least I started as, a sort of soldier. Soldier's do not build, they do not farm, in fact at best they are charged with doing only one thing. They are there to protect their society, their loved ones, from threats by any means necessary. Threats like you".

"I do what I do to protect and preserve my society!" argued Dumbledore hotly.

"And I do as I must to protect me and mine from you!" Harry roared back. The volume of his voice shocked Dumbledore into silence but Harry was tired of verbally sparring with the evil man. He knew who the Heir of Dumbledore's grand plan was and, he decided then and there, that knowing why wasn't all that important if this was the price.

With one hand then he viciously used the Force to tear out Dumbledore's tongue and with the other he cast, only a moment later, a crude healing spell so that he did not die of blood loss.

Now, thought Harry, the man who lies will lie no more.

"I know you can't speak and trust me the world is better for it. Now to move to your sentence...I am not an enchanter by any means but, using runes and with a lot of time to work on it, I have managed to partially copy one of Merlin's lesser feats just for you. I wonder if, in the back of your mind, you can guess?"

Harry smiled a humourless and pitiless smile when all Dumbledore could do was make inarticulate sounds in response. There would be no more manipulation or double talk from the man ever again. "No? Well I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise and you will find out soon enough, of that, I have no doubt".

Harry nodded behind him and, with a shimmer, a Notice-Me-Not charm faded away with a small ripple in the air. Dumbledore's eyes focused on the area to reveal what appeared to be a new and roughly cut, but pristine, cell that was still partially hidden in the shadows of the room.

As Dumbledore stared longer his experienced eyes noticed a couple of things. First that, though most were covered by darkness, the prison and door way were etched with thousands of tiny runes and second that the cell was missing something that every one of it's fellows he had ever seen needed. A door.

"You know I'm glad in a way that it took me, and friends of mine, years to devise this" Harry commented. "After all it takes years and years for natural magic to soak into something and truly bond on it's own and trying to force it can get very explosive. Trust me I know".

That comment confused Dumbledore as he had no idea where Harry might have learned such things and was enough for his eyes to be drawn back to Harry as his former student began chanting.

The items under Harry's feet burst into flame and melt like ice cubes but, instead of the black that he was half expecting, this time it was the colour of Dumbledore's own magic. Dumbledore knew of the ritual that Harry was trying to perform (though as it had been lost hundreds of years ago he had never, and never wished to have, any desire to perform it) and all he could hope was that it failed.

Soon he realised, with his terror mounting, that it was not going to and like Snape had done minutes before all he could do was scream.

The Shackles of Judgement were one of the things that wizards had once used instead of Dementors but the practice had fallen out of use centuries ago. Though it did not impact the soul in the least, as those foul creatures were wont to do, but it did do something just as abhorrent if not more so.

Dumbledore felt the ritual began its insidious work even now.

The Shackles did not remove magic they twisted and corrupted it. They shattered and changed the magic of the target and reshaped it into something new and used the very magic that was designed to aid the wizard to both imprison and punish them. It was also utterly irreversible and within moments Dumbledore felt the pain that he was feeling reach its peak.

The horrendous act was now in full swing and Dumbledore felt his pain coming in strong and strong sharp waves. He felt his consciousness ebb at the agony of it. Then moments or years later (he honestly wouldn't be able to tell) he felt both his horror realised and blessed relief as it stopped as it was finally and irrevocably done.

If he attempted to use his magic in any way it would cause him mind numbing pain. Worse for him as his magic, in his advanced age, was actively helping to keep him alive it was already causing him slowly increasing agony. The more magic he tried to use the more pain he would be in. Not that he would ever be able to cast a spell ever again but if he tried to do so he would, at the very least, collapse in a heap under the waves of torture that would come.

As this new reality was being absorbed by Dumbledore Harry was already dragging the frozen man into his new cell and, once that was done harry jabbed a syringe of dark silver liquid into his arm.

"My original plan" said Harry with some pride when he could get Dumbledore's attention "forcibly taken unicorn blood. You will never be fed, but even if you were, you will always hunger and that desire will only grow. You will live forever cursed and in agony. Add the Shackles to that and it must be almost intolerable for you to even breathe".

Harry let that sink in before he moved to the next part of Dumbledore's punishment.

"One of Merlin's more famous small acts, even to the muggles, is the story of the Sword in the Stone" Harry lectured. " If you don't remember the story Merlin enchanted a rock one second out of time to keep Excalibur safe".

Dumbledore stared at Harry in confusion and incomprehension obviously wondering why, despite his pain, Harry was telling him this story now.

"As much as I hate time magic I have done something similar here and you will, in effect, be one second out of the time stream compared to anyone else. That plus a runic concealment cluster means no one will ever find you. No Order, no Aurors, no help of any kind. You will forever exist in a state of hunger and agony eternally unfulfilled. Fitting, don't you think, that the man who wanted to shape the future will live it? Aren't you going to thank me?"

Dumbledore made a sound that, if he had a tongue, might have been something exceptionally rude. Harry smiled at that before he continued "More than that… you wanted to direct people's lives and make your own little kingdom. Well here is your very own tiny land that you can rule forever and make every single decision. Enjoy eternally ruling your small little box while being impotent and powerless".

Dumbledore's face crumpled at the knowledge of his hellish future that awaited him. Tears sprang from his eyes even as he wordlessly pleaded with Harry not to do this thing.

Perhaps he hoped that somewhere deep down there was still that needy, young and impressionable boy that he once knew. The fact that Harry had been tempered by years of war, training and pain was something that he could never know. In truth that part of Harry, that innocence, had been lost a long time ago.

"Oh now none of that" said Harry with false sympathy dripping from his voice like acid " I am not heartless. I would never send you in there completely alone".

Harry then, and with a great deal of power, once again dipped into the Force and caused Snape's living husk to slam both into Dumbledore and force both men into the cell itself. "There. Now you can look into your favourite pets blank eyes until he dies and, after that, when his body begins to fail and starts to bloat and stink… when that smell reaches your nose, when you want to retch, remember that you are here because of me. Remember the cost of trying to manipulate me and hurt my friends. When he is finally dead I hope you look into the dark sockets of his skull and know that everything you wanted and dreamed is not just gone but completely obliterated".

He paused and, though it was petty, he couldn't help but twist the knife as he added "Oh...do try not to eat him. He was your friend after all".

With those words and a final scream of inarticulate rage from Dumbledore Harry activated the runic clusters on the prison. The runes caused a wall to instantly almost organically grow enclosing the old man and it instantly disappeared from local time and space.

For the rest of eternity Dumbledore would be under the glow of silver runes and stare at only grey featureless walls or a slowly decomposing body, and later a skeleton, that used to be one Severus Snape.

Harry left him to his well deserved fate without a backwards glance.

The next morning several things happened.

At Bluestone the Longbottom family consisting of Augusta, Neville and his comatose parents, were being greeted by an apologetic Luna as Harry was off on his final set of errands. It was understandable that they were surprised by this as it was very early in the morning that they had arrived and dawn was still some way off.

Augusta was tearfully hugging her grandson and telling him that she loved him and was proud of him as she would be staying behind. She had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to be the groups eyes and ears on Earth (interspersed with regular visits to Spero) and so she was only here to see them off.

Under such praise Neville, for his part, looked as though he might faint.

Thankfully for the absent Harry, when they had finally sat down and had their overdue lunch and conversation with him, everything had gone well between them. Knowing that there was a possible treatment for Neville's parents they had easily, even eagerly, agreed to his request that she stay behind even if at the moment that only meant seeing a small flow of shuttles fill with people and head for the Silver Commonwealth.

It was really thanks to them, and to a lesser extent the Flamels, that any of the old families of Wizarding Britain were on any of the shuttles at all. The fact that those that did go from that select group were almost all tertiary heirs to their families (at absolute best) also helped their choice to do so.

Meanwhile, far away and in many undisclosed locations across the country, many of the squibs and muggleborns that had tried to rejoin the muggle world (and their immediate families) that had either joined the muggle Armed Forces or, the case of the wizards that hadn't, after swearing a vow of secrecy and around a year of specialized training were preparing for a midday operation that would change the Wizarding World forever.

The Crown had been aware of the problems, or at least rumors of them, in the Wizarding World's 'modern era' for at least two centuries but it had taken Harry to fully realise a viable plan of action. The few witches and wizards that had 'crossed' over to their side were either uneducated, had no useful knowledge of the players involved or had no idea of the societies weak points.

Harry did.

There was one other major factor that could make this radical work and, put simply, it was a fact that the pureblood elite had buried centuries before and no one had bothered to remind their heirs in generations.

The Wizarding World was not and never had been a Constitutional Monarchy in any sense. In fact, legally speaking, they didn't even have a definition for the concept and therefore it was ultimately the Muggle Queen that they owed their allegiance to. Their personal oaths had lapsed centuries ago however during Cromwell's Republic and given his protestant leanings they had hidden.

The wizards, in a rare show of cunning and sense, had then effectively stalled (legally and otherwise) when it came to renewing their personal oaths ever since. That was fairly easy for them to do given the versatility of wards and magic in general.

Eventually the Royal Family had largely dropped the matter but had never forgotten what they were owed and, during Voldemort's first rise, had begun to develop plans to deal with their seditious fiefdom. However as stated they lacked key information to make any plan truly viable before now.

Each group of soldiers knew what they were facing and were fully equipped to deal with the threat. The loyalist wizards, for example, were not only armed with their wands but also twenty round capacity P226 pistols and tactical knives. They had been, of course, extensively trained in their use as it was thought that wizards being less adaptable generally would be unable to deal with multiple forms of attacks.

And that didn't even include the non magicals in the forces who were armed with heavier weaponry.

The units were, at this predawn hour, running final checks and preparing for the inevitable resistance as they entered (and resumed their rightful control of) every single major wizarding stronghold on the British Isles with only one notable exception.

An hour earlier than the Longbottoms arrival and the Armed Forces preparations for the return of the Crowns land and people Harry was completing his last ritual. This time, as he couldn't use his own lest he upset the balance of natural magic imprisoning Dumbledore, he had borrowed the less advanced one that the Nation had in the bowels of their French Branch.

Technically this was against several I.C.W. laws and a violation of more than a few treaties between the Nation and the European Ministries. Neither the Nation nor Harry were ever going to tell them what he was doing however.

He had used the rest of Voldemort's arm, some snake venom, a picture of a lightning bolt that resembled his former scar and some of Snape's blood that he had found on the floor of his ritual room near where he had impacted the wall after his being hit.

After checking his gear and spending some time in a light meditation he was ready to proceed.

At roughly the same time that the Longbottom's knocked on his door Harry found himself outside Riddle Manor ready to proceed with his plan.

He couldn't bring anyone with him as the weakness that his last ritual was designed to exploit was a deeply personal one. He had at one point been inside Niagni as well as had a deep connection to Voldemort through his former scar. Those very personal events had allowed him to poke a small hole into the Fidelius Charm with the ritual he had used as they now believed that he was part of Voldemort (at least for the next few hours anyway).

He had lied to Dumbledore, sort of anyway, as though it had taken that long for the room to charge the actual technical details for Dumbledore's ritual had taken less than a year. The planning for this one, being utterly unique to him, had taken both Him and the Nation a lot longer than that to finish.

Harry then used every trick that he had ever learned to keep himself hidden as he entered Voldemort's home. He even went so far as to attach a suppressor to his blaster that was in his off hand and masked his scent on top of disillusioning himself and wearing his families cloak for good measure.

He had an open and currently silent comm line to Gringotts and the Vault of Horcruxes attached to his ear. It wouldn't be as fully interactive as the one on his bracer as it was only sound but it did have audio which was enough.

It was silent because the goblins on the other end, knowing what he was doing, knew better than to interrupt a warrior hunting his enemy. Each horcrux however had an eager goblin standing over it with a charmed stone vial of basilisk venom ready to pour.

It still took Harry a long time to enter the grounds and even longer to enter the Manor proper. He could feel the seconds ticking by in his head as no one was clear on what would happen to him if he was still inside the Fidelius Charm when his rituals power faded. In their defence no one had ever used this particular ritual before, nor would they again, so an amount of uncertainty was to be expected.

Despite himself he was impressed with Voldemort's level of paranoia as he obviously didn't trust his entire security to the charm as Harry's parents had done he found himself passing many Death Eaters as he worked his way through Voldemort's house, like a ghost, to find either the Dark Lord or Niagni.

That might have to do with the fact that Voldemort couldn't ward the inside of the house effectively as well. The house was not willed to him by his father, he was an legitimized bastard after all, and that meant that he could not gain it through the normal inheritance process either.

This of course meant that any wards Harry faced were (to his extensive experience) rudimentary and easy to bypass. Clearly they were that way for Voldemort as well or Harry probably wouldn't be almost stumbling over Death Eaters on almost every corner.

His palms were sweaty and his breathing was shallow even as he systematically hunted his prey. Each time that he found a patrolling group of Death Eaters, with never less than three in each group at the very least, he tensed involuntarily until they had either passed him or he was able to slowly work around them.

Eventually, having not found Nagani, he had to conclude that she slept in the same room as her master. At length he came to a dark and expensive looking oak door that clearly did not match the original architecture.

Trust Voldemort, thought Harry, to pick the most gaudy and ugly looking door to his room. A door that was supposed to insinuate how important he was to everyone but really screamed hey everybody I'm a stupid twat who will always waste my money on shiny things.

Harry had to admit that, besides all of the priceless gems that were studded into it and the overabundance of gold leaf, there was one thing that he liked about the door. The had been designed in such a way that the grain of the wood formed a picture of a falling waterfall if you were to look at it head on.

Sadly that artwork was ruined by the over the top additions and was somewhat analogous to Voldemort himself. Tom Riddle was disadvantaged by his birth yes but he was also a brilliant genius. He could have been a leader that ruled by example and become a shining beacon of hope in the crumbling society but he had instead chosen the quicker path and become something less than he could have been.

There were two Death Eaters guarding the door. From his years of observing soldiers Harry could tell that these two were both tired and lax in their duties. They were unconcerned with their surroundings and even laughed and joked with each other while only rarely looking at their surroundings. They were clearly not only negligent but bored of their duty.

Harry fired a blaster bolt into the dead center of the forehead of one with a soft whine from his weapon. The Death Eaters mask, which proved very effective in cowering full grown wizards and defenceless muggles, was no match for the superior technology of the blaster and melted around the impact wound.

The remaining Death Eater, before he could react, was caught in a Force choke. Instead of trying to reach for his wand the terrorist foolishly tried to grasp at the phantom hand squeezing the life out of him. Soon enough and very softly (though the sound was unnaturally loud to Harry's senses, the man's neck snapped and his body was then gently lowered to the floor to rest with his partner.

Harry slowly eased open the door and thankfully it made not a whisper as he did so.

Inside was an opulent bedroom, as tasteful as the door and covered in things like pure silk bed sheets, and on a massive comfortable looking bed the Dark Lord Voldemort lay sleeping. His familiar was also asleep in the room on a makeshift nest at the foot of the bed.

It is often said that people look peaceful in their sleep and for most it might have been true but this was not the case with Lord Voldemort. Even at rest he exuded an almost physical aura of malice and hatred as if his dreams were nightmares that should break the sanest of men.

Harry began to slowly approach the bed with silenced steps and he did not not cast any magic just in case Voldemort could sense the subtle thread of magic in his bedroom and awaken too early.

"Now" he said softly even as, at the same moment, he fired his almost silent blaster causing the head of Niagni to explode in a splatter of flesh and blood.

Far away at Harry's command each goblin dropped the vicious poison from the vials on the infected items. The black venom did its work quickly and with a large amount of hissing and spluttering (not to mention great screams from their cargo). The souls went kicking and screaming to their next great adventure.

Voldemort's eyes snapped open, still dazed from sleep, even as he struggled to awaken fully even as the adrenaline surged throughout his body and with the screams of his horcrux in the room only beginning to ring in his ears.

Perhaps he expected to be assaulted by a team of Hit Wizards from the I.C.W. or maybe even an attack from Albus Dumbledore himself. He might also have expected a great titanic battle to be fought between himself and Harry Potter where, of course, he would win and there after many other battles and conquests Voldemort would eventually realise his ambition to become the undisputed ruler of all.

If he had faced a normal Jedi that outcome was as likely as not. The Order prided itself on it's desire to save everyone, even its enemies, and rarely killed their enemies if they could help it and tended to try and talk their way through if they could.

Harry, as much as he tried to forget it, was first trained by the Sith and not the Jedi however and despite his desire not to be like them some of that training remained.

Once gained the Sith never gave up the advantage. Notions of fair play and honour were not just derided by them but completely alien after the harsh training that they went through. They of course didn't act that way outwardly very often but, like a consummate actor, it was merely a role they played hiding the predator beneath.

Though Harry didn't agree with the sentiment enough training remained that he would always, whenever possible, use the most effective, ruthless, and expedient method to achieve his goals as long as it didn't conflict with his personal morals.

With the telltale snap hiss of his lightsaber the threat of Voldemort was ended before the man could even begin to react. Though Harry was sure that the late Tom Riddle could have recovered from most wounds even the greatest rituals didn't allow you to recover from your head being separated from your shoulders.

Before any of the now alarmed and confused Death Eaters (from a combination of the horcruxes wail and the burning sensation of their Dark Mark disappearing) could open or break down the door to their master's chambers Harry had taken the head of Voldemort and hurriedly left even before he could have heard the first Death Eaters enter.

When they did they would only be horrified at seeing the remains of their master.

Breakfast at the Burrow was a wonderful time for Molly Weasley as, especially with her children home from school, it was her favourite time of day.

Fred and George were upstairs making explosive compounds and the sound of their shaking the floor was so much a part of her life that it was almost a beat to the music of her cooking though she had no idea what mad scheme they were currently dreaming up. Her two youngest, her secret favourites, were currently de-gnoming the garden and counted herself lucky to have such obedient children.

Soon, she thought, my family will rise to the very top of society. As soon as Dumbledore took care of Voldemort and the minor issue of Harry Potter the Weasley name will be respected and feared more than it has ever been.

The Ministry, for once, was managing to keep a lid on Dumbledore's kidnapping by Severus Snape and the Order of the Phoenix had not informed the Weasley's both for the fact that all the members of the weasley family were non combatants (and had no useful skills to find Dumbledore) as well as their own desire to avoid a panic.

That was also the Ministry's official reason for not telling the populous as they weren't equipped to deal with the fallout that would ensue from peoples hysteria.

Many knew about it anyway of course but, not being completely stupid were not disseminating the knowledge beyond a few like minded individuals that they trusted.

The rich purebloods and the Neutrals were taking this time to shore up and fully stock bolt holes that were overseas and far away from the conflict and panic that was around the corner.

It also allowed those few that Harry, the Flamels and the Longbottoms trusted to prepare a short trip to France or to a short (and secret) audience with the Queen.

The so called Light were in shock, by and large, and wondering what to do as well as being divided between rallying behind Harry Potter or Dumbledore's successor. Admittedly the fact that no one, as far as they knew, had seen or heard from Harry Potter made their decision easier.

The Dark were much more confused than anyone else having a few more pieces of the puzzle. They hadn't taken Dumbledore, nor did they know of anyone who did, and with the very recent (and shocking) secret death of Lord Voldemort by unknown assassins. In short they were huddled in dark corners feeling a deep fear while jumping at shadows.

All of this was unknown to Molly as at the moment and though the Order planned on telling and protecting the family later that day they hadn't done so yet.

That meant that, instead of panicking, she was humming happily preparing for the day and not sending her children as well as her sleeping husband to Grimmauld Place or Hogwarts and it's ancient and powerful wards.

She was happy in her blissful ignorance right up until the moment she felt her body freeze from a simple silent first year spell as well as her tongue glue to the roof of her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a young hand take the spoon that she, just a moment before, had been using to stir the morning porridge.

She then felt herself float gently and slowly drift to a chair next to her own dining room table. Only then, after a moment, did she manage to focus on the very angry face of one Harry James Potter.

She knew right then, in her heart of hearts she knew, that he was aware of what her family had been planning. The look that he gave her was reminiscent of the look that a rattlesnake gave a mouse before it pounced. There was no mercy there, no pity or caring in those orbs, as they judged her and found her wanting.

She dearly prayed for freedom from those eyes and their judgement but, if she could not at least get that, she hoped that her family might be spared.

Molly Weasley was in many ways a vile and despicable creature. She was twisted, greedy, immoral and cruel. Vain and demanding were very good objectives of her character but she was still a product of her upbringing and to her the Weasley family's status and reputation was everything. This was why she had agreed to Dumbledore's plan in the first place as she would stop at nothing to secure her family's future.

The fact that it would cost Harry his life meant nothing to her as her sole focus was on raising her impoverished family to the greatest heights that she could manage.

And it has all come undone, she thought, he knew. I have no idea how but he knew somehow he knew!

"Molly" Harry said quietly approaching her chair until he was right next to her and his face was less than three inches from hers. "Did you really think that I would never find out? You may be wondering what horrors I am going to inflict on you. You are here defenceless and, for the present moment, alone I could do so many things to you after all".

Harry paused his slow and measured speech to slowly torture her with his silence and the images that were running, by now, through her head. "I could rip out your soul, bind it to a rock and then drop it at the bottom of an ocean. I could slowly electrocute you so that you feel your very blood boil and muscles spasm so hard that your spine snaps and your eyes burst. I certainly hate you enough".

Molly may have been frozen but in that moment she proved that her bladder was not and harry wrinkled his nose at the repugnant smell as it released its contents.

"If I was feeling whimsical I could even turn you into a toad but I will do none of that. I know you, better than you know yourself, after all we are almost like family aren't we Molly dear? All I'm going to do is tell you what I am going to do with your two youngest. I know you love them and care about your family deeply and I wanted you to know what will happen to them. After all what kind of brother would I be if I didn't take care of them?"

With that Harry leaned down and whispered for a few long moments in her ear. As he did so her face became pale and her eyes turned wild as she struggled unsuccessfully to break the spell that she was under. She was trying and failing, of course, to warn her family if she couldn't stop him outright.

Harry watched amused for a moment at her struggles and then stood.

He deliberately smoothed down his clothes and composed himself for what he was going to do next even as Molly watched impotently from her chair. He smiled a hard and cold smile at her.

Then he moved quickly to her cupboard then he took down two of her cups and, with a flick of his fingers created a simple note with a fair imitation of Molly's handwriting. He took two vials from the pocket of his robes and poured one into each cup (half a vial in each creating a full measure) while internally thanking Nicholas Flamel for his final gift.

The first liquid was the beginning of his revenge and the second liquid was both the end of it and testament to the fact that, deep down, Nicholas Flamel was not only a meticulous researcher and inventor but was in his own way a very moral man.

The first vial was widely available and borderline illegal as it was often used by pureblood families to help keep their lines going. The main reason that it wasn't illegal, other than the political aspects, was that it did not last long and unlike some others it was easy to tell when someone was under its influence.

The second vial was the one that the Flamels had created. They knew that they had made an error of judgement in deciding to simply outlive Dumbledore as, not only was the man reprehensible in his own right, but he was responsible in part (indirectly or otherwise) for allowing both Grindelwald and Voldemort the free rein they needed to act.

People often forgot that the ancient married couple spent more time researching than they did anything else. A side effect of their elixir meant that they couldn't have children and so, even after they had discovered the Stone, they kept researching new mysteries and innovations to leave some sort of lasting mark on the world.

This little liquid had the ability to turn some potions and potion like substances (though not the Elixir itself) permanent and it could have had numerous beneficial uses especially in emergency medical care. They had not published it however as the risk of abuse was far too high as it could be paired with numerous illegal potions (bought most likely from the same smugglers that had supplied Harry with his) to disastrous results.

"You know Molly there is something that you should have remembered and I sincerely hope that it is your last thought on the Earth. Never fuck with a Potter….Goodbye Molly".

With a small application of the Force and a wave of his hand Molly's Weasley's neck snapped with a wet crack. Harry would have been both sad and happy to realise, at least on a very deep petty level, that despite Harry's request her thoughts did not center on him or his family.

They centered instead on the fate of her two youngest children.

After all, though it was believed that the purebloods often did such things it was never ever spoken of or made public in any way. Her last thoughts were on the inevitable scandal that would ensue and the fact that, in the unlikely event that any Weasley's survived what was to come, the scandal and the fallout that resulted from it would utterly destroy the family and the family name for generations to come.

Harry then popped away with cups in hand as Molly Weasley, alive or dead, was no longer worth his time.

Ginny had just finished removing her share of the gnomes from the garden and, hot and sweaty even in her summer clothes, headed for the stump at the edge of the garden that doubled as a bench for her family. Given the heat she sat for a second and, as she sat on the bench, she saw two drinks sitting innocently on the edge of the stump. She quickly read the note that came with the drinks and soon called out to her brother.

"Oi!" Ron, having thrown the last of his gnomes over the boundary of the garden, turned to his sister. "Mum left us drinks".

Thanks to the fact that they couldn't use magic over the holidays plus some temporary masking and compulsion charms on the cups neither noticed that what was in them wasn't actually tea.

Ron shrugged, feeling the morning heat beat down on him, knowing that it would only get hotter with the midday sun just over an hour away and sat next to his sister where they both began to drink slowly and began to chat about what they were going to do over the next few days.

Ginny slowly felt something strange steal over her. The thin summer dress that she wore seemed to scratch at her nipples and small breasts very pleasantly. Sweat broke out on her forehead as the feeling moved swiftly down like a hot river and connected with a similar itch that had bloomed between her legs.

She stole a glance at her brothers face, blushing and mortified, while silently cursing the fact that due to the heat she hadn't had the forethought to wear a bra or knickers today.

Ron however didn't notice the look as he had his own problems. He also felt a strange heat steal over him but he assumed that he was sweating because of the sun. The pleasant burning heat spread from his stomach and, at first, he enjoyed it until it began to move further south.

He thought that he had erection issues when he had first hit puberty but it appeared that he was wrong as he was currently harder than he had ever been in his life. Worse for him was the fact that this was all happening as he was sitting next to his sister.

He looked towards his sister only moments after she had first glanced at him. As she noticed his glance and their eyes locked all embarrassment left him and he was utterly and completely lost.

Ginny however resisted. She of course knew the dirty secrets of the purebloods, all of them did really, she knew that some of them would become...inappropriate with other members of their own family. To some families it was considered a taboo, a secret shame, and to others simply a necessity to keep their family lines pure. Regardless none advertised it.

It was never us though, she thought, never the Weasleys. It was never the Light and it was such a scandal that, if they were ever discovered, everything she had worked for would be doomed and her family would become pariahs.

She was shocked by how much the forbidden and dangerous nature of what she was considering thrilled her. If her arousal had not begun to swamp her reason she might have wondered why she was feeling the way she was now but it was and it was all she could do to simply resist these new thoughts.

She watched as her brother bit his lip seemingly trying to hold himself back or maybe even broach the subject that she was thinking about at this very second. As she looked at him she found herself admitting how truly attractive her brother was and, as the light hit him, all other concerns fled from her mind as the thoughts that she was having for her now beautiful brother overwhelmed her.

Without any more thought she was consumed and driven by irrepressible need and they dived at each other at almost the exact same moment.

Ron almost savagely tore her sundress from her with the harsh sound of ripping fabric. He then captured one of her young and perky milky globes in his mouth and her back arched in pleasure trying to force more of it into his hungry mouth.

Ginny's hands were not idle either as she fished out his very hard and aching cock. The need they felt was so strong in both of them that she never even bothered, or had the time, to remove his trousers and she even laughed in joy as he forced her to the ground.

When he sank his shaft into her waiting body they both screamed in agony filled joy. She screamed as her virginity was taken and he did so out of the tightness he felt gripping him like a very warm and wet vice.

The sounds of their animalistic rutting echoed throughout the garden and orchard and the noises that they were making inspired each other to new and previously undreamed of heights. Ginny felt nothing for Harry now as her world had focused solely on what her brother was doing to her and the feelings that it caused to burst through her like a great tidal wave that just kept getting stronger. Ron was, of course, in a similar predicament.

At this point an invisible Harry left. He had no desire to see (as well as feeling nauseated) what would surely happen next.

He knew that, as soon as they had finished what they were doing the need would come upon them again. It would never stop now and if they somehow resisted for any length of time the need to begin again would become so strong that they would desire nothing more than to do so to the exclusion of everything else.

It would be so strong in fact that if anyone tried to stop them then the offender would have to fight for his life and someone would surely die.

Harry thought that this punishment was fitting because not only did it ruin the Weasley's and make Ron think of something other than food for a change but it was also one of the potions that they were considering using on him.

Legally it was meant for those, all too common, pureblood spouses that simply couldn't stand one another or were the wrong sex for their partner and unaltered would only last for one, maybe two, sessions at best. It was never designed to be permanent but Harry, with the Flamel's additive had changed that.

Harry was already gone however as he had one last very important stop to make before everything changed forever. He was off to see his last friend, one that had been kept in the dark for far too long, Hermione Granger.

Although it was a tuesday Harry was glad for the fact that, when he knocked on Hermione's front door, her parents were home as he thought that it could make his explanation easier on his friend to have her parents there. Added to that they, with all the massive changes that were about to happen, deserved to know too.

Hermione's mother answered the door.

"Hello young man" she said briskly and Harry couldn't help but note objectively that Emma Granger was a very attractive woman. "Can I help...wait...I know you don't I? Your Harry yes our daughters friend?" She asked with her tone softening as she realised who she was talking to.

"Yes I am. Do you think that I could come in for a moment? I have something important to discuss with you all".

"Of course dear. Hermione is out at the moment as there were a few books that she just had to buy. I'm sure that you can wait for her though".

"Thank you. Perhaps I could speak to you both first?" he asked even as he walked into there living room and settled on a nice and comfy looking sofa and then greeted Hermione's father who was relaxing in a small armchair.

Then, when they were both sitting down with tea in their hands, he began his story.

To say that they were both shocked by his story would have been like comparing a tsunami to spring rain. They ended up surprisingly accepting of the whole thing, especially for muggles who barely knew him or his legend as the Boy-Who-Lived, and they had the common courtesy to hold questioning him until his tale was finished.

He told the two dentists an abbreviated tale of his misadventures. He began with his going through the Veil and why he felt like he had to do so and the conclusions that he had drawn about certain people that he had made on his long journey home to Earth.

He intimated, though he didn't outright lie, that going through the Veil had extended his life span and, as he had hoped, they inferred that this was the reason why he had lived so long. He ended with his return from the Veil and excluded everything that had happened afterwards including all of his meetings with the Nation and the Queen. Then he finally, his throat now parched, stopped speaking.

He was pleasantly surprised to tell, through the Force, that though he had offered to (and did) show them his lightsaber carefully as proof they hadn't needed it to be convinced.

He made no mention of anything else he may have done (at least not in any detail) and the Grangers, far from being stupid people, knew enough not to ask no matter how much they might want to know. They wouldn't have had time for their answers anyway because, almost as soon as he had finished and downed a pint glass of water, their daughter came home.

"Harry!" Screamed Hermione and, knowing what was coming, he opened his arms wide expecting a hug.

He was beyond shocked then when instead of her gentle arms wrapping around him he felt a very strong slap hit him in the face. "Where the hell have you been? You look so different without your glasses. Are you taller as Well? Hold on don't speak just wait one second while I contact Dumbledore". Her speech patterns were as fast as he had ever seen them with her words tumbling out in a rush so that, even if Harry had wanted to, he couldn't answer anyway.

"Hermione" Harry said with steel in his voice and barely halting her "sit down". She waved away his concerns as she started moving again.

"Just one second Harry I need…"

"Now Hermione" barked Dan Granger in a tone that she hadn't heard use in this house since she was very little and trying to write her very first attempt at a novel on the living room walls.

She sat on an empty seat with an exaggerated thump clearly moody at being addressed in such a manner.

"Was it really necessary to bully me?" she half whined.

"Was it really necessary for you to wave off my reasonable concerns without first finding out what they were?" Harry's clipped tone indicated that he was in no mood to tolerate her sulking and would not hesitate to call her on it if needed.

As she opened her mouth to respond her father interrupted her before she could speak.

"Enough little one" Dan said "you will listen and try to understand what your friend is saying. You will not fly off the handle and spout a load of questions to jump ahead to what you consider the most important information and, when you do speak, you will allow Harry to respond am I clear?"

"It's that important?" she asked. At both her parents, as well as Harry's nod, she agreed though she was clearly not happy with the situation.

So Harry once again went through his story, though this time it was slightly more condensed than what he had told her parents due to time constraints, and then swiftly covered some brand new information, He didn't know how to put this new knowledge delicately so he decided to be blunt.

"The Wizarding World is about to fall. Today".

"Who?" she asked suddenly worried "Voldemort?"

"No. The rightful ruler" was his reply and Hermione's face shifted quickly from scared and confused to angry.

"The rightful rulers of the Wizarding World are the Ministry and the Wizengamot!"

"Not so Hermione" Harry disagree and, seeing that she was about to argue despite her father's instruction to the contrary continued "who owns Britain Hermione?"

"The whole of Britain? No one" she responded firmly with her face cycling back to confused again.

"Has it always been this way?" he asked gently trying to both calm his friend and lead her gently to the truth. He hoped that her intelligence would lead her to one of the truths that he had discovered.

"Well the Crown gave land grants to certain nobles when...you're not saying that the Queen is taking back the Wizarding World are you? She can't! It's against the Constitutional Monarchy".

"Not in Wizarding Britain it's not. It may be in the muggle world, honestly I'm not sure, but the Wizarding World's roots are old and the absolute power of the Monarchy still applies there. They have no term for the modern Monarchy, not legally speaking anyway, it's as foreign to them as a spoon to a duck. They didn't even sign the Magna Carta for Merlin's sake, granted they weren't asked but, they didn't sign. They have since shirked their duty for far too long and the Crown has grown weary of both it and the infighting that has spilled into the muggle world".

"We Harry, you meant to say we. if what you are saying is true, and I'm not saying that it is, how can we help the Ministry?"

The fact that Hermione's tone indicated that she was trying to humor Harry over the contents of his story and seemingly disregarding his lightsaber (which he had dutifully also shown her as he had done with her parents earlier) as proof of his claims was not lost on the perceptive man. It hurt him, though he hid it well, and if not for his occlumency barriers some of that would have no doubt shown on his face.

"You are wrong Hermione" he responded weighing his words carefully "I did mean they. For as long as I am on this Earth I am a sworn and loyal servant to our Queen Elizabeth II though I won't be here much longer".

"Are you dying?" she asked quickly before her brain could fully digest the rest of what he had said.

"No I just have other responsibilities" he replied enigmatically.

"Wait.. you're helping them aren't you? Harry! How could you?" she accused.

Her parents by this point merely watched the argument play out understanding that, for both of them, it was necessary and hoping that this clearing of the proverbial air would help both of them.

"How could I not?" was his equally quick response and both of their voices now carried a trace of heat and anger as the conversation became more tense.

"After all the Wizarding World has done for you…" she began and her parents still remained silent perhaps sensing that very personal waters were being tested here.

"What have they done for me exactly? Elevated my parents death and my survival into some kind of macabre fairy tale to soothe ignorant children? They certainly didn't protect me as they left me to be abused by the whims and manipulations of Albus Dumbledore. Let's not forget that they adored me one minute and then fucking revilied me the next when they didn't like what I was telling them".

"Dumbledore would never manipulate you Harry" she responded with absolute conviction. His humourless laugh both shocked her and made her more angry as, to her, it was if he was utterly dismissing her very reasonable point of view.

"Of course he would Hermione he did" was Harry's scornful reply. "He was stealing from me. He is responsible for leaving me with the Dursleys, despite the illegality of it, and is directly responsible for the abuse that I suffered there. I think that he actively encouraged it though I can't actually prove it as he was very careful. He and Snape weakened my mind and bound my magic to a mere fraction of it's true power. Manipulate me? Please! Hermione he would have me die on the altar of his so called Greater Good".

"He wouldn't do that. He is the Leader of the Light". Her face hardened "I don't know what's been done to you or who has been telling you these lies or where you came up with this ridiculous story. I don't even know where you got your interesting toy but this has to stop". Harry's face closed down into an expressionless mask even as her parent's became thunderous having watched what it had cost Harry, twice no less, to tell his story.

Then she continued " You have to stop Voldemort and save the Wizarding World and I will do almost anything to help you but Harry...please… you are the Boy-Who-Lived and something terrible has happened to twist your thinking. I believe that you believe what you are saying but we need to get you to Saint Mungo's".

Though Harry had managed to sit silently throughout her speech that did not mean that he wasn't reacting behind the mask that his face had become. His voice, when he spoke, was not loud or harsh but was instead cold. The thread of anger that infused it was clear and, though she thought that he would never hurt her, she suddenly realised that her friend could be very dangerous if he chose to be.

Some level of restraint that he used to have was now missing or gone and though that didn't scare her it did make her wary.

"That is the position that you are taking then" Harry said. Hermione had never seen her friends eyes so cold or her parents, though silent, so angry.

"Now Harry" she said placatingly "don't be like that I'm sure that you're just mistaken if…". Whatever else she was going to say was stopped by a great magical wave that hit the house and the two magicals stiffened as they felt it roll over them. The few wards on the house then fell as if they had never been. "What was that?".

"That was the Queen's representatives acting. Whether you believe it or not she owns all of Wizarding Britain and she has withdrawn all permission for any unauthorised wizards to have wards on her lands. Even now her emissary will be in the Wizengamot, holding Voldemort's severed head, and demanding their fealty".

"Be she can't do that Hogwarts a History…"

"Lies. They can and are exercising their legal rights". Ignoring Hermione's incredulous look Harry turned to her parents "Things are about to get bad for those clinging to the old order of things. I don't know how safe muggleborn families will be when if have half or fully trained magicals in their family. If you can convince your daughter or simply don't want to get caught in the crossfire find my people here".

He handed them a small folded piece of paper with directions, not to Bluestone as Hermione might tell someone else about it but, to the Paris branch of Gringotts. "If you can't I wish you the best of luck and I'd suggest heading to Hogwarts quickly as it will be the only warded structure left. No wizard will be allowed in the demesne of the Queen without giving their fealty".

"Even you? And why Hogwarts?" asked Dan Granger intrigued. It seemed that Hermione's love of books and history came from her father.

"My fealty is conditional and, believe me, it took a long time to work it out. Within reason, for as long as I'm on this planet, I am hers to command and in return I'm responsible for those that are not on this Earth. As for Hogwarts... blame an enterprising Headmaster for that. Dumbledore wasn't the first Headmaster with grandiose ambitions. During the time of Cromwell's Commonwealth he took advantage of the lack of royalty on the throne to quietly declare magical independance for Hogwarts. What his plans were after that I have no idea but, with the return of Charles II, they ended before they began. It was not a good time to piss of the Crown and he was bitter and vengeful about the execution of his father and wary for any sign of treachery."

With all the information that she had heard Hermione was shell shocked and silent and with a last sorrowful look Harry left quietly. Looking at her parents faces Hermione knew that she was in trouble given her recent attitude towards Harry.

With the falling of the wards everything that he had been saying had been proven true in her mind and she felt the tears slowly fall down her face.

She honestly didn't know what was stronger though her loyalty to the world she had entered and all of the figures that had taught her, trained her and made her what she was or her loyalty to her friend. Harry was her first friend but they, people like Mcgonagall, Hagrid, Lupin, Dumbledore and Flitwick, had shown her the joys of a hidden world of wonder and both they and it were under threat now.

Whatever her choice she knew that she was in for a long and cold night.

Countrywide the wizarding strongholds, starting with the Ministry and branching out from there, were being quietly and efficiently taken as their wards (which had protected them for so long) failed so spectacularly.

Their enemy was well prepared and waiting while they were caught flat footed. Aided and abetted by loyal wizards as well as some French goblins the Royalist Army was even able to mask this assault from the greater muggle public.

Only Hogwarts remained of the old order and although it wouldn't fall easily that, for now, was not what the Royalists had planned. Added to that, less than a minute after the Ministry had fallen Hogwarts had reactivated every single ward that they had and it was now truly a castle that was set to a war footing.

Using the remains of Hadrian's Wall, both physically as well as a focus of intent, as well as many complex rune stones (over one hundred and eighty) in the sea around Scotland one of the largest wards in history would settle over a small portion of England and the entirety of Scotland.

Any wizard that tried to cross the barrier it created in any way would be stunned by it and transported to hidden army units that guarded the boundary.

All new witches and wizards of school age would have the opportunity to study either at the new Royal School that was soon to be constructed on the grounds of the old Ministry building or, if their families agreed to go with them, at the Institute on Spero.

The Queen had not taken to this idea very well nor the idea that he would not allow her to use his advance technology but, as it was discovered off world, by the wording of his oath she could not compel him. He had even gone to great lengths to keep any traces of it from her or her agents just to be certain.

Needless to say any Force Sensitive that may be found on Earth, if any ever were, would also be given the choice to go to Spero to learn about their gifts.

Still, Harry thought, that organisational nightmare is Augusta's problem now. For me the Galaxy awaits.

At long last Harry felt a great weight lifted from him. Earth hadn't been his true home in quite some time (depending on changing calendars and how you actually measured his lifespan the numbers of years differed) and he was finally going back to his.

As he entered his ship along with a few others that would go with him he was glad that Luna and her father had decided to go with him and, through the Force, he could feel her comforting presence even now as she slept in her cabin.

As he was packing away his few meager personal belongings (he never had many as the Jedi had reinforced the minimalist attitude that had first been 'nurtured' by the Dursleys) his white egg, that was never far from his sight if he could help it, cracked suddenly and a small baby phoenix came swiftly out of the egg.

It was beautiful as all phoenixes were and already had a full tiny plumage of white feathers tinged haphazardly through with red. Distanly Harry felt a bond similar to the one that he had with Hedwig, but distinctly unique, begin to form between the two and, even if he was inclined, he was too shocked to stop it happening.

"Fawkes?" Harry said with awe "Hedwig?"

Neither" said an amused musical female voice in his head softly " I am made from both but I am not either of my 'parents'. I am Chime and I am very happy to meet you. We will be going off to see the Galaxy together yes?"

"Yes" Harry choked while being overcome with emotion at this new development.

Snapping out of it he picked up his new passenger and headed towards the ships galley and asked his new friend "Is there anything that I can get for you?"

"Well as you are heading that way" Chime's voice in his head was amused "you could get me something to eat...and then I will take a nap I think. Being born is quite tiring"

"I can imagine. Wait...what do you even eat?"

Chimes musical and uplifting thrill filled the ship even as, in his head, harry heard her laughter for the first time as they moved off.

Home, he thought, here we come.