Companions of the White Warlock

The capture of Nagini was given wide publicity. The nature of the enchantment on the snake was not revealed, but the fact that a source of magical power had been removed was. Voldemort would therefore know that he was down to one Horcrux. The Ministries all around the world were searching for any hint of Voldemort's location, but as the New Year dawned and moved from January through February and on into March, not a hint would be found anywhere.

Voldemort had seemingly disappeared.

The Ministries were also searching for the Walpurgis groups. The open announcement of the groups' existence and their practices would rock the magical world from the New Year through the entire spring and into the summer. There were calls for greater protection of Muggle rights from the magical world, and a greater appreciation for the place of the Muggle-born. While no one was anxious for the Muggle world to discover the existence of the Magical, it was seen that some ways to avoid that was to have greater precautions against the magical world from harassing Muggles and to ease the Muggle-born into the magical world with greater acceptance.

Voldemort's sending the Companions to attack the Weasleys and then having the Malfoys direct the attack on Hogwarts had backfired. It had brought home to the British public that the war would likely only be over when Voldemort was destroyed. The tactics of the Walpurgis groups, plus Voldemort's, had discredited the extreme Pure-blood agendas for most (although not all) of their sympathizers. Therefore there was not a peep from the remaining Pure-blood sympathizers to cut back on the hunt for Voldemort.

Harry and his friends continued their training. On top of that, Hermione decided that she was going to take at least some of her N.E.W.T.s. She talked Harry into preparing himself to take his N.E.W.T.s in Defense and Charms, while she would also do Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Runes. Then they could prepare to take more exams the next year with Luna and Ginny.

Much to Harry's disgust, he also had to work again with Professor Trelawney. Desperate to make any gamble to locate Voldemort, Russell had again suggested that Harry try to reverse the link to Voldemort. When Legilimency produced no results in January, Russell proposed Astral Projection. Unfortunately, no one could locate an expert by late January, so Harry started studying the theory with Trelawney the First of February.

Harry and most of his friends slowly recovered from their losses of the previous year. The exception was George Weasley. While he was not quite clinically depressed, he was mostly avoiding it only by putting in fifteen hour days at the shop.

Oddly, the other thing that was helping George was the fact that Percy had moved in with him. Everyone, including George, had worried that Percy would drive George to distraction. Instead, Percy had taken over the household chores whenever he was in town plus the store's bookkeeping. George still missed Fred beyond what even he had expected, and missed Ron as well. Still, Percy was his brother, was on his best behavior, and was working hard to fit in. Staying with George also helped Percy deal with the loss of his brothers, his wife, and his possession by Voldemort.

Hermione and Harry dealt with the loss of Ron by throwing themselves into their training and study.

"Good evening, my lord."

Harry repressed a sigh and merely said, "Good evening, Professor Trelawney." He hated these lessons, which really were not accomplishing much, but this night he had had the choice of a session with Trelawney and a study session in Transfiguration theory. Harry had quickly demonstrated that he could do the N.E.W.T.-level practicals in Transfiguration as well as Charms and Defense, and so Hermione had convinced him he should take that N.E.W.T. as well. He had managed to convince Slughorn that he would study Potions the following year to keep the elderly professor from bothering him about it, as Slughorn still did not know the reasons behind Harry brilliant brewing the previous year.

"Now, tonight we will be trying a new incense."

"Great." Trelawney was convinced that the right 'atmosphere' would help Harry project his mind. Harry was just glad he didn't have any allergies. Harry managed to get into the lotus position on the prayer rug Trelawney had provided. He slowly cleared his mind while trying not to trigger his Occlumency defenses.

Harry's breathing was controlled; slow, and even. Suddenly, Harry was outside of his body, looking down at himself and Trelawney, who had her eyes closed as she sat on an over-stuffed chair.

Harry was so surprised that he snapped back into his body. He smiled, opened eyes, and looked at Trelawney. Harry frowned. This was not the first time she had fallen asleep, but at least this time she had been sober.

Harry wriggled, trying to get out of the lotus position. He was on his side, letting the blood flow back into his legs, when Trelawney's eyes opened, but Harry saw that she was not really looking at him.

Nor was she looking at anything else. In a voice that Harry knew only too well, she intoned:

"On the day after the next full moon,
The Children of the Night Forest
Shall attack the legend of Hellas.
Only the Son of the Phoenix can decide
If he shall warn the lesser of evils."

Harry left Trelawney as soon as he could, calling Hermione and Russell to his cabin to join him and Luna (who had moved in with him).

"Since the Knights of Walpurgis have also called themselves 'the Children of the Night Forest, this seems to be a remarkably straight-forward prophecy," Hermione remarked after Harry had explained what had happened.

"Exactly," Harry agreed. "Can anyone think of any reason why wouldn't I warn Theseus?"

"The Ministries are uncertain who he is, where he comes from, and how powerful and who his friends are," Russell pointed out. "They would no doubt be grateful if we allowed the Knights and Companions to attack and destroy Theseus in his current form and then swarm the attackers."

"Maybe," Harry retorted, "but I would never do that. Even leaving aside that Theseus has been a great help to us. . . ."

"He has," Hermione interrupted, "but he was fulfilling his own ends."

"True, but leaving that aside, Theseus would not be destroyed, and we don't need him or his friends as enemies. Furthermore, how many of his Muggle and Squib women would be killed or raped?"

"It is also possible that the 'Legend of Hellas' does not refer to Theseus," Luna pointed out. "It is the obvious explanation, but that does not mean it is the correct one."

"I think you should visit Theseus and talk with him," Russell said.

"I'll send word to Marcia to set it up," Harry agreed.

"Take Hermione," Luna said.

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"As a sign of good faith," Luna suggested. "You are, after all, powerful enough to escape if you were trying to fool him in any way."

Harry looked at the Prof, who shrugged his ghostly shoulders. He looked at Hermione, who shrugged as well. "Alright," Harry said.

Valentine's Day at Hogwarts was a very sedate affair, with all of the older students gone. Harry and Luna had a romantic lunch, and made certain that they were seen at dinner that night.

Right after dinner, Harry and Hermione left for France.

Theseus met the pair at breakfast. "You have visited more often these last mine months or so than any other wizard has in any five year period," Theseus told Harry as they settled in to talk. "You are a harbinger of some sort."

"If you think that now, I'm afraid I'm about to reenforce it," Harry replied ruefully.

"And why is that? Are those silly Ministries pestering you for information about me and my friends?"

"They are," Harry agreed, "but I really could not care less about that kind of pressure. No, the problem is yet another prophecy."

"Is the seer reliable?" Theseus asked, amused.

"About just about anything else, no," Harry answered. "She has made a few accurate ones about me, however."

"I see. And what is this new prophecy, which apparently also concerns me?"

"On the day after the next full moon,
The Children of the Night Forest
Shall attack the legend of Hellas.
Only the Son of the Phoenix can decide
If he shall warn the lesser of evils," Harry simply repeated, letting the Prophecy speak for itself.

"Well," Theseus admitted, "that's pretty straight forward for a prophecy." He grinned, making him look fully human for once. "I'm not keen on being 'the lesser of evils', but I do like the sound of being 'the legend of Hellas'."

"Could it mean anyone else?" Hermione asked.

"It could," Theseus agreed, "but if so, I don't know why these Walpurgis fanatics, who absorbed an older group known as the Knights of the Dark Forest some two hundred years ago, would attack anyone else. They obviously figured out that I who was involved in the recovery of Valley Dracul." He thought a moment. "The full moon is just past. The next day after the next full moon is what? What you would call March Twelfth or Thirteenth?"

"The full moon is at Four thirty-four in the morning, Greenwich Mean Time, the Thirteenth of March," Hermione stated.

"So, the attack would be that morning, most likely, or possibly that of the Fourteenth," Theseus mused. He looked at Harry directly. "You weren't at all tempted to let them attack me?"

"Of course not," Harry answered. "I don't approve of you, but there are lots of people I wouldn't approve of if I knew them. That doesn't give me the right to do anything about it. Plus it would most likely be the Muggle and Squib girls who were hurt or killed, not you."

Theseus' now-cold smile made him look less human this time. "Tell me, o White Warlock, what special wards have you ever detected on your arrivals here?"

"Just some very powerful Muggle distraction spells," Harry admitted with a small shrug.

"Most wizards would not even detect those," Theseus replied, impressed. "I can assure you, only a wizard older and more powerful than myself would have any chance of cracking these wards. I don't care if the entire magical community of Europe showed up and tried, I doubt they could put the right kind of force against them. The Knights and Companions may come and try. They will suffer, not succeed."

"It might be useful if some of them could be captured and questions," Harry suggested off-hand.

"Questioned by you, your Ministries, or by myself."

"If you capture them, you decide," Harry said.

Theseus nodded. He and Harry understood each other.

"Would you like any assistance?" Hermione asked, phrasing her question cautiously.

Theseus' face grew mask-like. "No, thank you. We will take care of things. We shall send any information we gather to you. You worry about finding Voldemort and destroying him."

"You won't be too confident, will you?" Hermione asked, still trying to be polite.

"I won't be facing them by myself, no," Theseus said, managing to take the question lightly. "My little cadre is quite upset with Voldemort, bringing all this attention."

"They aren't upset with you, are they? For talking with me?" Harry asked.

"No," Theseus said firmly. "I did not leak my name to John Russell through my vampire contacts on my own initiative. Once it became known that you knew about Voldemort's Horcruxes, it became easier to contact you to indirectly help you destroy him than any other course of action. Even if we had moved him and somehow destroyed him and his Horcruxes, you would have sought answers as to how he was destroyed. Besides, well. . . ."

"You don't destroy other wizards' Horcruxes, at least not directly, because you don't want to give each other ideas," Hermione stated.

"True," Theseus agreed. "One wizard with one Horcrux is likely not dangerous. One with five or more, well, they tend to be power hungry. It is not universal, but nearly so. It may be that nearly all who have had that many tended in that direction, or it may be having that many at one time draws those feelings out." He leered slightly at Hermione. "I assure you, my dear Miss Granger, I will be here a long time."

Hermione blushed slightly.

'People rarely learn the lessons of the past,' thought a heavily-cloaked figure, standing just down the street from the Leaky Cauldron. Peter Pettigrew was at best an average wizard in most ways, yet he had been able to cause a large explosion by sending a reductor curse against a Muggle gas line. The figure had now verified that large feeder lines not only went right in front of the Leaky Cauldron but also underneath it -- obviously some of the residents there were not above using the fuel. The roads near the entrance to the magical area in Dublin and the British Ministry were almost as well-supplied.

Voldemort smiled. He decided that instead of attacking the Ministry first, he should hit the gas lines in front of the Leaky Cauldron as a start.

Less than twelve minutes later, there had been three huge gas explosions, and three Dark Marks floated in the air, two in Greater London and one in Dublin.

"How bad is it, Mister Weasley?" Harry asked. He and his Council and other advisors were gathered together late that night.

"It looks worse than it is, from our perspective," Arthur said, somewhat dubiously.

"Meaning what?" Harry asked.

"The main street running near the Ministry has mostly warehouses. They sustained some damage, but no one was injured, Muggle or magical. The wards on the Ministry itself held perfectly. Now the entrances to Diagon Alley and Leprechaun's Row have caused more problems." Arthur sighed. "The pubs disguising the entrances were not damaged. Like the Ministry building, we've gone and added glamors so they actually look somewhat damaged, so that they do not stand out to Muggles. While there were no magical fatalities, there were six Muggles killed and thirty-nine injured. Both the British and Irish Prime Ministers have sent rather sharp messages, to say the least."

"I just do not understand why he did it," Hermione mused.

"I don't either," Harry agreed.

"At the least, this was at least a gesture of defiance," Russell mused. "He's reminding everyone that he isn't gone."

"If that's all he was doing, and it might be, considering his egotism, it was a mistake," Harry said.

"Why is that?" Percy asked.

"Because he should just fade away for a long period of time, years even," Harry answered. "Wouldn't the Ministries, especially those where he hasn't made any direct impart, start to go on to other problems? By attacking, he reminds everyone he's still a danger."

"And that's not as good a thing as he imagines," Ginny suggested.

"Then we have to make that work to our advantage," Percy stated. He looked at Luna.

"Yes," she stated. "I will talk with Father. He's been running articles reminding people of the danger Voldemort's mere existence creates. I'll ask that he move them to the front page of every issue."

"I'll speak with Skeeter," Hermione added. "Maybe she can put some additional pressure on The Prophet."

"The Ministry spokesmen will keep up the same idea," Arthur agreed."

"Harry," George spoke up, "may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What do you think your chances would be, facing Voldemort one-on-one?" Everyone looked a bit uncomfortable with the question, as they all (except for Dobby) had been wondering the same thing.

"I think I would have a good chance," Harry said. "I can't ask the phoenixes for the help they gave me attacking the castle. If they did, I would be able to crush Voldemort in a straight fight."

"But as you said, they may not be helping," Luna pointed out.

"And we all know that Voldemort is unlikely to show up without some dirty tricks," Ginny added.

"True," George said.

"And, if I messed up the Horcrux-trap, we might never track the bastard's essence down," Harry stated. "If we can somehow track down that final Horcrux, I will challenge him."

"Just track down or track down and destroy?" Hermione demanded.

"One way to coax him into that final confrontation would be to announce when and where I'm going to destroy it," Harry suggested.

"What!" Hermione, Luna, and Ginny cried out.

"You wouldn't! You shouldn't!" Ginny protested. "Destroy it the instant you can!"

"I will," Harry said. "That wouldn't prevent me from announcing its destruction later."

"No," Luna said.

"Is now the time to be thinking about fair play, lass?" Moody asked.

"It is, but more importantly, Voldemort would be more likely to seize innocent hostages to trade for the Horcrux than show up to rescue it," Luna argued.

A number of faces fell.

"Let's find that last Horcrux," Ginny urged. "Then we can finish him off."

"How goes your astral projection?" Tonks asked Harry.

"Slow."

"I received word today that a friend of mine will be available in late April," Russell said. "He'll be able to coach you if anyone can."

"And your friend knows how to do this?" McGonagall asked.

"He is a skilled Tibetan wizard. He knows."

Voldemort leered with satisfaction. He would prepare another Horcrux shell, and had decided what it would be. It had been a shock to piece together the story of how the sixth Horcrux had been created without his knowledge. Creating a seventh Horcrux was a gamble, but one he felt he had to make.

Voldemort knew this would be his last chance at putting off death, hopefully forever. He also knew that, if this worked, there could be only one victim whose death would allow the spell to work without destroying his mind.

Harry Potter.

Voldemort would just have to insure that Potter would come and fight on his terms, and without the remarkable power he had shown in Transylvania.