The Awakening of a Magus

The Awakening of a Magus
Chapter 29 - Sun, Jul 30 - Day 10 and Mon, Jul 31 - Day 11
Setting a Rat Trap

"Well, I suppose we need to get down to the meeting room," Harry said, wincing as he got out of bed on the side opposite Draco's chair.

As Harry stood and carefully stretched, Draco finally got a good look at Harry Magus. Just under six feet tall, his hair long and thick, tapering toward the back in a very elegant, masculine style, the Magus was remarkably muscular. Draco realized he could sense, not only the magical strength, but some of the more-than-human physical strength Harry carried with such grace, even as sore as he was just now. He thought to himself in awe, And this much transformation isn't enough for him to fully use his Magus powers ... I must still be only sensing a fraction of what he's got.

Then Harry shapeshifted to Darius and looked shocked. "Hey, it stopped hurting!" Shifting back to his true form as an experiment, he still was free of the soreness he had felt moments before. "The shifting somehow healed the physical injuries ... though my power center still feels quite a bit bruised. I've got to remember that." Once again shifting to Darius, he asked Draco, "Ready? Oh, and don't worry. I don't need physical contact to take you along."

Draco nodded and the hospital wing was suddenly empty

As the professors and the Minister entered the room, they saw Draco sitting back in a chair near the fire, his eyes closed. The Magus stood behind the chair, his hands lightly touching Draco on the sides of his head. Darius was saying, "Good. You've got your shields well in place, and they're very sturdy. You should be able to block out most mental interference, even the Imperius in most cases." Draco blinked and sat up as Darius dropped his hands.

Fudge was surprised. He had insisted that Draco get training as Lucius asked, but he had never expected Draco to be ... capable of anything special. "Where's Potter?" he suddenly asked.

Darius turned to Fudge and lied smoothly. "He's out visiting his friends today. I've already taught him advanced mental shielding; today was Draco's turn." Turning back to Draco, he said, "We'll continue as soon as I take care of this, ok?" Draco nodded.

"So, Minister, what is it that you want of me?" Darius looked at Fudge with a cool gaze and not a little impatience.

"It's been over a week and people are asking about you, wondering if there really is a Magus. You need to come to the press conference tomorrow and prove I've been telling the truth." Fudge was insistent, acting as though it was all the fault of the Magus that the Minister's credibility was in doubt.

"I should just say that's your problem, not mine. It wasn't my idea to hold press conferences or tell anyone a thing until I was ready to go public." The Magus ... prowled over to the table and sat at the head. The professors had taken seats along one side of the table, the Minister was standing at the other side. As the Magus stared him down, he pulled out a chair and sat abruptly. From the lounge area, Draco watched, surprised at seeing this side of the Magus, showing an almost Slytherin confidence and arrogance.

"I had no choice!" Fudge protested. "The papers already ..."

Darius cut him off. "What's done is done. I'll do this, but on my terms." The midnight blue gaze of the Magus glowed faintly. "First, it should have been Arthur Weasley contacting me about this. Your unannounced visit disrupted a rather complex training session of mine. Albus is fortunate that he wasn't hurt in the process. Arthur will be the one to introduce me and will be in charge of that portion of the conference. I will arrive after you have had your little games with the media."

As Fudge swallowed dryly, Darius continued. "You will make no promises concerning what I am willing to say or do, is that understood?" The Minister nodded, shakily. "You will say nothing more than the fact that I will arrive at the end of your portion of the press conference. At that time, you will turn the session over to Arthur."

Though the professors didn't show it, they were almost as surprised as Draco that Harry/Darius was laying down the law to the Minister of Magic. Dumbledore sent quietly, /* My, my, Harry ... you *do* dislike dealing with Cornelius, don't you? */ Then he truly had trouble keeping a straight face as he was pointedly ignored, except for a faint mental ... growl.

Fudge finally realized that he was dealing with a very strong-willed, very powerful man ... a man with whom he needed to stay on good terms. "Of course, Darius, anything you say." Now Fudge was beginning to be afraid, and began acting very agreeable and spoke in a soothing manner. "Depending on the number of questions they have after my initial statements, we should be ready for you between 10:15 and 10:30. Will that suit you?"

Darius nodded curtly, then stood, saying, "You will excuse me now. I have a great deal of work ahead of me in addition to preparing for tomorrow. Good day, Minister." He then turned and walked back to the area where Draco waited. Only Draco saw the look of utter relief and the way the Magus rolled his eyes in disgust. Somehow, Draco was able to suppress a laugh and just looked back, eyebrow raised.

Back at the table, Snape said, "I'll see you to the door, Minister." Fudge then exchanged quick good-byes with Dumbledore and McGonagall, glanced over at the Magus once more, shivered, and followed Snape out of the room.

Minerva quickly cast a silencing spell on the room before she burst out laughing.

Harry and Draco then spent time together working on organizing Draco's Scanning abilities. Harry would perform some magic, or use some talent, and Draco would attempt to correlate the ability with the symbols he sensed. When Harry demonstrated his panther form, Draco identified the animagus pattern, but then was confused. Then Harry shifted to butterfly form, and Draco began to sense the image of the form in the patterns ... and began to suspect ...

After leaving their two students alone for awhile, the three professors had returned and were observing. Draco shifted his attention to McGonagall, knowing she was an animagus, and saw the pattern and the cat image without any other ... shadows? ... around the pattern as Harry had. As he was returning his attention to Harry, he focused for a moment on Snape and Dumbledore, receiving quite a shock. Knowing that the current topic was animagi, the professors guessed the reason for the look on Draco's face.

Snape looked archly at Draco, asking, "Notice something, did you?"

Draco just whispered, "A raven? And a phoenix?" He said the last looking at Dumbledore in shock. "I didn't realize any animagi could be magical creatures."

Dumbledore, with his trademark twinkle, suggested, "Take a closer look at Harry."

Draco focused again on the Magus, awkwardly shifting his perceptions around the shadowy symbol and finally realized what the shadows were hiding. "Bloody Hell! How many forms do you have, Potter? Is that ... a ... an Emperor Horntail?" Draco's voice had tightened so that the last came out in a harsh, cracked tone.

"We thought that would be too conspicuous, so I settled on the panther and butterfly for now." Harry said calmly, realizing Draco was reaching the end of his ability to absorb it all. "It looks like I can take any form, though I haven't tried everything yet. Do you realize how many kinds of bugs and birds there are?" He joked, trying to relieve Draco's tension.

Snape then spoke up for his student. "Draco, I think you've had more than enough for one day. I was planning on skipping the class tomorrow, since Harry will be out, but it's up to you. You should rest before you make that fire-call later tonight."

Draco's face tensed again. Snape looked at the others, sent a wordless question to them, then said to Draco, "I think perhaps a mindspeech link might be in order to help you get through these calls, and also for your protection."

Draco looked around at the others, then settled on Harry, who said, "Would you rather have the link with Severus?" He wasn't sure Draco was ready for such a tie to Harry Potter.

Surprising all of them, Draco looked hurt, and whispered, "You'd rather not?"

"That's not it at all! I assumed you would be more comfortable with the Head of Slytherin House than with some Gryffindor." Harry didn't know what to make of this, and firmly refrained from reading Draco in any way. "You're willing to have the link with me ... and Severus?"

Draco looked determined, then projected to the Magus, /* I want more than that, but ... my Lord Ma- ...*/

/* Wait ! */ Harry sent back. /* It's not that I don't want this, too, but ... you have to be sure. It may not always have been the case, but with *this* circle, there are aspects that just can't be undone once we commit. Can you really say that the last week, the last 24 hours, has changed the previous four years so much? */

/* Snape told me that you refused him at first. He also told me ... well, *someone* used the line 'we don't have to like each other, just *trust* each other'. */ Draco left the question unasked, but thought quietly to himself, Can you trust me yet, Potter?

Harry didn't say a word. He just waited. Draco stood up, and walked toward the Magus, head held proudly, but somehow without the trademark Malfoy arrogance. Harry sensed what Draco was about to do, began to refuse, but Draco stared him down, wordlessly indicating that this was how a Malfoy did things and he would not be denied. Smoothly, Draco held out his right hand, and went down on one knee, clearly but softly saying, "My Lord Magus." No question, but a statement.

Harry stood, clasped the hand of the Slytherin, and answered in kind, "Draco." A statement of acceptance.

"I pledge my magic, my loyalty, and my life to the work you have before you, Harry Magus."

"And I pledge my magic, my loyalty, and my protection to you, Draco Malfoy." Harry finished the ritual mentally with /* Sodalis! */ The circle bond flowed between them, and Harry extended the mindspeech link to Snape. /* I think we'll leave it at that, for now, while you get used to the idea, Draco. We'll call this the Slytherin circle. Did I ever tell you I was almost sorted into Slytherin? */

(-Mon, Jul 31 - Day 11-)

As Draco woke up, he thought back through the events of the last two days. Finally, he carefully sent a thought to Snape, who answered back, /* No, you didn't imagine it all. Harry is going to pick up Granger and Weasley for the day ... birthday cake later. Come and join us for breakfast. Since you're a part of the circle now ... well, there's something you don't know about the press conference later. */

Granger and Weasley. Draco wondered how they would take his being a part of the Magus circle. "Well, they were there at the hospital wing the other night. Harry was right about just starting with the Slytherin circle, though."

As he dressed, he remembered the fire-call with his father the previous night. He was desperately grateful that Snape could help coach him through the conversation, and for Harry, just being there. He never knew what it was like to have that kind of undemanding support from another human being. He began to understand what he had seen in Snape's eyes when Harry had been hurt the previous day.

"Well, Sir Magus," he whispered, not actually sending the thought, "what surprises do you have for me today?"

There were more people at breakfast than Draco expected. Besides the three professors and the Gryffindor Trio, he saw Arthur Weasley, Trelawney and Forester, Remus Lupin, and ... he couldn't believe his eyes ... Sirius Black.

Harry sensed his surprise, turned and smiled. "Well, Draco, this is everyone except Molly Weasley, who is just linked to Arthur, Ron, and Hermione ... and me. I present the Magus circle to its newest member. Do you know them all?"

As Draco's gaze passed over them all, then stopped on Sirius, he heard, "I'm Harry's godfather." Black's voice was a bit defensive, and slightly hostile, but apparently willing to accept Harry's decision.

"Sirius Black." Draco whispered. Then a thought occurred to Draco, and he asked more normally, "Were you the one who took the Polyjuice potion the other day?"

Sirius stared at Draco a moment, looked at Remus and Harry, then grudgingly laughed, "He'll do, I suppose. Sharper than I'd expected."

"Unquestionably." Draco stated blandly, and sat next to Snape at the end of the table, more than a little shaky worrying about his acceptance, but hiding it well.

Snape sent a wordless reassurance along the mindspeech link, then mentioned, /* Don't be bothered by Black. Harry skipped linking the two of us together until we learn not to try to kill each other at the least excuse, */ which put Draco more at ease.

After everyone finished eating, Harry finally said, "I suppose we need to call this meeting to order, so to speak. Draco, it turns out that the Death Eater you met with the other night is the very one we've been most anxious to capture."

Draco was surprised, "You mean, more than Father?" Then he realized what he had just said and blushed slightly.

He thought he heard Remus mutter to Sirius, "Damn straight, he'll do!"

"Do you know anything about Peter Pettigrew, also called Wormtail?" Dumbledore asked.

Draco paled, "That was Wormtail? Father curses him constantly, but he's supposed to have a very special connection to the Dark Lord. Something about a ritual."

Harry confirmed. "Voldemort's rebirth ritual. He used his father's bones, my blood, and Wormtail cut off his own hand. You may not have noticed the other night, but one hand is made of silver now." Harry took a deep breath. "Wormtail is the one who led Voldemort to my parents. He was their Secret Keeper. Then, he framed Sirius for his own 'murder' and the deaths of a group of Muggles. It's because of him that my parents are dead, and Sirius spent 12 years unjustly in Azkaban, and is still on the run today."

As Draco tried to take this all in, Harry continued. "Just before you arrived to meet him, Severus and I had found Wormtail. I left a bit of magic in his mind, hidden away, so that I could trace him later for capture. If we had taken him then, you would have been endangered." After a pause, he continued coldly, "Well, 'later' is 'now'."

Voldemort had decided that among his first targets would be the three great wizarding schools of Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. He had the Malfoy child at Hogwarts for now ... a shame he couldn't have a loyal Snape there. At Durmstrang, since Karkaroff's disappearance, the deputy headmaster had taken over. Karol Caradja had already offered to make an alliance with Dumbledore, but Voldemort secretly had a Death Eater on the faculty there, one Zoltan Kiraly.

Today, he was sending Wormtail to spy at Beauxbatons. It was known that Madame Maxime had gone with Hagrid on some mission, possibly to negotiate with the giants. Voldemort needed to check things out there, and decided that Wormtail would be ideal, since he could observe almost as well through the animagus as if he were there physically. In the past two days, Voldemort had attempted ritual magic that would allow him to use Wormtail as a channel for his power, but the best he could accomplish so far was a mindspeech link with his minion. At least he would finally be able to communicate better than one, two, or three burns of the Dark Mark.

Wormtail apparated to a wooded area near the French wizarding school, just outside its defensive screens. He would travel in his human form until he reached the edge of the woods, then shift to his animagus form and infiltrate the school grounds as a rat. After a couple of minutes of walking, Wormtail passed a shadowy section of the woods. He was shocked to hear a voice speak up just behind and to the right.

"Peter Pettigrew, I presume? Or should I say Wormtail?"

The Death Eater turned suddenly, pulling out his wand. /* Master! Help me! */ he sent shakily to his Dark Lord. He saw a tall man, leaning casually against a tree, his arms crossed at his chest, his ankles crossed, and despite the easy posture, the man appeared deadly dangerous.

/* Fool! */ sent Voldemort. /* He doesn't even have a wand. Kill him! */

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Voldemort," the other man said, as a purple aura began to show around him.

"H-how did you ..." Wormtail began to stutter.

/* Shut up, idiot! */ Voldemort ordered. /* Just kill him. */

"But, it's the Magus, Master!" Wormtail wailed aloud as well as in mindspeech.

"Yes, Voldemort. I'm called Darius. And I can hear your conversation. He tries to curse me and he ends up like Quigley and Crandall did when they tried to kill Harry Potter. I was there. Their curses rebounded from my shields and they went down." The Magus began to walk towards the frightened Death Eater. "I'm told it's Harry's birthday today. I intend to present him with a gift ... the betrayer of his parents, and the freedom of his godfather. You're coming with me, Pettigrew." Darius glared at the Death Eater, knowing that his ultimate enemy, Voldemort, saw and heard him.

Voldemort, deciding to cut his losses, began the final power drain of Wormtail's magic and life-force. The rat knew far too much for Voldemort's comfort. The power flowed for only a moment when it was cut off. Just as Voldemort was hit with a magical backlash, he heard the Magus send to him directly, /* You can't have this one, any more than you got Severus Snape. But this one will pay for his crimes. You? ... I deal with another time. Make no mistake, I *will* deal with you, Tom Riddle! */

As Voldemort blacked out, his fury burned within him and he swore vengeance on this upstart Magus.

Chapter 30 - Mon, Jul 31 - Day 11
Free at last ...

The young Slytherin looked at the vial of Polyserum in his hand and reminded himself, You offered to do this, fool that you are, Draco. Then he thought back to the conversation just a little while earlier ...

They had been discussing setting the scene for when Darius brought Wormtail for their own private interrogation. Granger had said, "Whether Ron and I are there or not, it's going to look strange if Harry isn't there. And Sirius can't use the Polyserum again, because he needs to be there."

Then that Obliviator had offered to do it, but the lady Auror had pointed out that he didn't know Harry well enough to imitate him, even if the Polyserum did replicate a person's voice perfectly. At first some of them thought it didn't matter, until the point was made that Wormtail did know Harry fairly well ... he had shared the Gryffindor Tower with them for almost three years as Ron's rat Scabbers.

Then Draco had found himself saying, "So, you need someone who isn't expected to be present, someone who knows Potter fairly well, and someone who is a decent actor." They all looked at him. "That would be me."

Weasley had looked at him and drawled, "You? An actor? Acting like Harry Potter?"

Draco then proceeded to begin with mimicking Dumbledore: "The Forbidden Forest is, as usual, forbidden, and the third floor right corridor is off-limits to anyone who wishes to avoid a painful death." He even shook his head sadly, just as Dumbledore had done at their first-year banquet. Then he did a quick impersonation of Weasley making nasty remarks about Slytherins. Finally, Draco did an impersonation of Potter from the previous year, denying everything when his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire as the fourth member of the Triwizard Tournament. The mannerisms and inflections were perfect, the voices very close. Draco was quite pleased with himself at first.

As everyone looked at him with various expressions of shock, amusement, and even admiration, he realized he had offered to be an imitation Harry Potter. Before he could think of trying to retract the offer, it was decided. Potter had obtained a vial of Snape's Polyserum, shifted to his ordinary-Harry form, taken a couple of short hairs from his bangs and placed them in the serum, then handed Draco the vial of dark purple liquid. Not long after that, Harry had shifted to his Darius form, focused on the beacon in Wormtail's mind, identified the area as the vicinity of the Beauxbatons campus, and disappeared.

Now, Draco was looking at the vial having second thoughts.

"Oh, Draco, we neglected to mention a side-effect of using Polyserum based on Harry," Dumbledore mentioned casually.

"Side effect?" Draco covered his apprehension well, but did raise an eyebrow at this comment.

"Nothing harmful, my boy. Quite the opposite in fact." Dumbledore went on. "You see, the Polyserum partially replicates some of the ... physical improvements of a Magus. You will need to be careful, because you will be stronger than normal while you look like Harry, even though it won't be his true Magus form." Then the headmaster's gaze went slightly out of focus. "You had best take the serum, Draco. They will be back here shortly."

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Draco swallowed the Polyserum quickly. He felt the changes in his body's proportions, and the slow-but-steady increase of strength within him. "Bloody Hell!" Draco said, but the voice ... was Harry Potter's.

Wormtail was gasping for breath after the intense pain he'd felt and the sudden absence of pain. Voldemort had decided to kill him! After all he'd done ... even cutting off his own hand! He looked down at his left arm, where he had been Marked many years before. Like a wrist band, but higher, a solid-looking band of intense purple light surrounded his arm, covering the death's-head. Then he looked at the man standing before him ... who had saved him, severing the Dark Mark linkage with the creature he had called Master. Hmm. How could he use this to his advantage ...

The Magus looked at him in disgust. "Don't even try to thank me ... or use me. The only reason I did that was because you are more use to us alive than dead, especially by denying Voldemort your life-force." At Wormtail's stunned expression, he continued. "Don't tell me you didn't know that he slowly drains all of you of power and life-force through the Mark, and that the execution spell lets him totally absorb your magic and life-force as you die even more painfully than the Killing Curse or Cruciatus. You can't be that naive."

As Wormtail still said nothing, the Magus just said, "Well, there are a number of people who want to talk to you. Let's go." And with a flicker of purple light, he apparated them both away.

Harry/Darius looked down at the small man, Peter Pettigrew, who looked around the Great Hall in terror, focusing on the head table. Wormtail stood before those he had betrayed and those representing the main opponents to Voldemort. It suddenly occurred to Harry that there were 12 of them present for the interrogation ... a kind of jury: Albus, Minerva, and Severus standing for Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix; Remus and Sirius standing for the betrayed Marauders and also the Order; Arthur, Erasmus and Sylvia standing for the Ministry (Administrator, Obliviator, Auror); Ron, Hermione, and 'Harry' standing for Hogwarts and possibly the Potters as a family (Ron and Hermione representing the late James and Lily); and Darius, standing as the most powerful opponent of Voldemort. It didn't matter what 'the Fudge' and the Ministry eventually did ... this was the moment of true judgment.

Dumbledore sat in the center chair at the head table, as always. To his right sat Minerva, Severus, Draco/Harry, Hermione and Ron. To his left were Sylvia, Arthur, Erasmus, Remus and Sirius. He began by addressing their prisoner. "Peter Pettigrew. Much has happened in the years since you last stood in this hall, none of it good. You betrayed those who were your friends, and ..."

Wormtail, feeling he had nothing to lose, lashed out with his true feelings for once. "Friends? Some friends. Barely tolerating me. Treating me like a poor cripple when I didn't keep up with them. And Lily ... gods, Lily ... choosing James Potter, laughing at me whenever I tried to tell her how I felt. Then, the worst insult, having his child. I ... I had to ..." Pettigrew's voice trailed off, shaking.

Everyone, but especially Remus and Sirius, were in shock. They never knew that Peter wanted Lily, had apparently been obsessed with her. They knew that anything Peter might have said, Lily would have taken as teasing, not realizing she was hurting someone. Lily and James had always been meant for each other, and their friends knew it even before the couple had realized and admitted it. And none of them ever dreamed that Peter, a rejected suitor, would go so far as to destroy what he 'loved' to prevent his rival from having what he couldn't.

Harry/Darius looked at Wormtail with disgust and the beginning of true hatred. "You betrayed a family, a Fidelius, killed more than a dozen Muggles, framed your friend, served Voldemort, all because you had a crush on another man's soulmate? Your name suits you, Pettigrew, as well as your animagus form ... you are a petty-minded little rat!" The anger and anguish of the Magus began to appear as a soft purple haze, that was slowly but surely growing in strength.

Snape was the first to realize the danger. /* Harry! If you don't control yourself, you're going to kill him before you can do the memory scan. We *need* that information! Revenge will have to come at a later time. */

Dumbledore also sent wordless, calming emotions to his student, watching the power flows carefully now.

Harry took a deep breath, closing his eyes to shut out the face of their prisoner, to try to shut out all the pain, memories, anger, and to control his emotions and the Wild Magic that could be unleashed by them.

As he struggled to control himself, Dumbledore spoke again. "Peter, you will tell us everything you know of Voldemort's plans. You have no reason to protect him; he decided to dispose of you, and you would now be dead if not for the Magus. You, in fact, owe him your life, as you already owe Harry Potter."

"Yes, that puzzles me," Draco/Harry surprisingly asked. "There should have been a life bond between ... us. Yet, you did nothing to prevent Voldemort using me for his rebirth."

"Oh, there was a moment," Wormtail snarled. "A moment when I was compelled to contradict my Master, suggesting he should use someone besides you. But he knew I wouldn't dare contradict him. He guessed about the life bond, and used a ritual to negate it, to redirect it. Each night for a month, new moon to new moon, he drank a potion containing 13 drops of my blood. That life bond and any future life bonds would transfer to him. I am bound to protect my Master, not Potter, not this Magus. I am his favored servant. None of the others was granted the privilege to help him rise again." Wormtail's eyes grew wild, almost hysterical. "I was given this mark of his favor," he shouted, raising his inhumanly strong silver hand, clenched in a fist. "Not Malfoy, the pompous ass, nor even Crouch ... me!" He began to babble, hanging on to sanity by a thread, if that. "The Malfoys! Stupid, arrogant, even that stupid child. Is he the reason you found me?" He continued to mutter insults and threats directed at the Malfoys.

Sitting at the table beside Snape, Draco/Harry was fighting hard not to jump from his seat and strangle this man, or pull out his wand and curse him into next year. He sat, trying to keep his composure, panting, gripping the arms on the chair, when he felt them splinter in his hands. Stunned, he looked down at the shattered wood.

He heard Snape's mindvoice, /* You're supposed to be Harry Potter, Draco. Potter wouldn't react to insults to the Malfoys like that. And you're destroying school property, Mr. Malfoy! */ Snape unobtrusively pulled out his wand, gestured Draco to remove his hands from the armrests, and uttered a soft "Reparo" to put the chair back to normal.

Looking at his hands in shock, he finally remembered the warning about the 'side-effect' of the Polyserum ... a portion of Harry's unusual strength. He took a deep breath, nodded, sent a wordless thanks to Snape, and focused on being Harry Potter again.

During this interlude between Draco and Snape, Darius had finally taken control of Wormtail. It was something like an Imperius, but it was a direct mental maneuver, not a spell, and far more complete. For an instant, Harry/Darius was unsettled by this new aspect of his powers, but he pushed that aside for the present. "He can't hear us right now. I propose I just do the memory scan, then make him forget he was ever here. He's nearly insane, I believe. Voldemort's decision to execute him has sent him over the edge. If he's too far gone to testify to the Ministry, I can always share his memories the way I did with Fudge and the rebirth memories." He looked around at his circle, waiting for feedback. Harry had become almost emotionless, quite business-like about the matter. It appeared his emotions had also been strained almost to the breaking point, and he needed to lock them away for the present.

Though several members of the circle were also unsettled by this side of Harry's powers and his current emotional state, there was no objection to his plan. Sirius and Remus tried to send reassurance to their best friend's son, but it seemed to be useless. Dumbledore sent to everyone but Harry, /* He'll be alright ... just give him time. */ Then, aloud, he said, "That seems the best way to handle things. I assume you will release most of the controls when you arrive at the press conference?"

Harry just nodded. Wormtail's mental instability made any further conventional questioning a waste of time. He braced himself for what he would have to see in the man's memories. Likely it would include his parents' deaths and many other horrors. He tried, in a way, to use his mind control ability on himself, to keep himself detached from what he had to do, and it appeared to succeed in part. Then he 'dove in' to the murky waters of a traitor's memories ...

Cornelius Fudge was enjoying the attention at his press conference, but was concerned that Weasley wasn't there yet. He needed Weasley to deal with the Magus. Each time he met the man, Fudge was more and more convinced that the Magus needed to be manipulated very carefully. Perhaps he would talk to Lucius about it after the press conference. Lucius was present today, and could share his impressions of the Magus with Fudge.

He heard an odd sound, turned and saw that Weasley and his two colleagues had apparated into the backstage area off to his right. Good! he thought. It's about time to wrap up this part of the conference, anyway. He looked pointedly at Weasley, who nodded. Then he said, "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the press. For the next portion of this meeting, I present my deputy minister, Arthur Weasley." Arthur stepped up to the podium, nodding to Fudge as the Minister stepped back muttering, "Make it good, Weasley!"

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I have the pleasure to report progress in both areas of my department's responsibility," Arthur began. "First, we have a prominent Death Eater as prisoner." At this, Sylvia and Erasmus stepped into view, standing with wands ready. "Darius, if you please?"

Suddenly, standing near the podium were two men: one tall, dark-haired in black, and a smallish man with his hands bound in front of him, one flesh, one silver. Fudge looked in horror at the prisoner. He remembered a small man in a foreign memory, a man missing a hand. "Y-you!" Fudge stuttered. "You're the one who helped ... You-know-who to come back. Your ... hand ..." the Minister choked on his terror, staring at the silver fingers.

One of the reporters also recognized him. "Peter Pettigrew! You're alive! I knew it ... I knew Sirius couldn't have done what they said ..." She began to walk haltingly toward the front.

Darius reached out his hand, signaling her to stay back. "Wait, Miss ... Periwinkle," he finished, as he read her name on her press badge ... Adelaide Periwinkle.

Arthur quickly took control of the situation. "Yes, this man is Peter Pettigrew, known as Wormtail. Supposedly, he was killed by Sirius Black. Actually, it was Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord, who murdered over a dozen Muggles, staged his own death to frame his friend, and who several weeks ago orchestrated the rebirth of Voldemort." Nearly everyone in the room flinched at the sound of the Dark Lord's name.

Darius now spoke up. "Minister Fudge, in light of this information, I believe an immediate unconditional pardon is in order for Sirius Black. He has spent 12 years in Azkaban and two more years in hiding, all unjustly because of this man's actions." He looked hard at Fudge, daring him to deny his demand.

As Erasmus and Sylvia took custody of the strangely silent but twitchy prisoner, and moved him away, Fudge slid around the room to keep his distance from the Death Eater, then approached the podium. He nudged Arthur away from the stand, clearing his dry throat, and said, "Of course, Lord Magus ... Darius. I agree completely that this injustice must be remedied. As soon as Black can be found, I will pronounce the pardon." That should hold them ... Fudge thought.

"No time like the present." Darius stated. "Sirius, are you ready?" Then Darius waved his hand lightly and Sirius Black stood at his side.

Sirius had taken special care with his appearance, so as not to look like a wild fugitive, but a distinguished wizard. He heard a gasp, turned and choked out, "Addie? Addie Periwinkle?" Then the lady in question rushed forward to hug the living daylights out of him. "Hush, Addie. Later ... we'll talk later ..." he whispered, a warm smile on his face, his heart full of affection for his former Hogwarts classmate.

With a surprised smile to see his godfather accosted by a woman like that, Darius repeated. "No time like the present, Minister Fudge. Sirius Black stands before you."

"S-Sirius Black. It has come to the Ministry's attention that you are innocent of the charges that sent you to Azkaban. As the head Minister of Magic, I hereby declare you pardoned and exonerated of all charges against you to this date. You are a free man." Fudge, as he pronounced his decree, became more and more his pompous self, almost believing it had been his own idea. Yes, this will look good in the press ... freeing an innocent man, capturing a dangerous Death Eater ... my approval rating should go up and up! He grinned for the press, stepped forward for pictures with Darius and Black, and hammed it up to the hilt. Gilderoy Lockhart in his prime could not have done better.

Finally, one of the reporters called out, "How about something from the Magus? We've been waiting to meet you!"

Fudge reluctantly relinquished the floor. Arthur gestured for Darius to come up to the podium, but the Magus shook his head.

Instead, Darius stepped to the side of the room, leaning against an empty table, relaxing. "Well, you all seem to be the experts, if all the recent papers and magazines are to be believed." Some reporters laughed at that. "You tell me!" he smiled.

One called out, "Shapeshifter?"

"That one is obvious, isn't it? I look exactly like a museum portrait from over three thousand years ago. Next?"

Another called out, "Dual-animagus!"

Darius stood up, changed to a panther and jumped up onto the table he had leaned against. He paced back and forth a bit while pictures were taken, then leaped toward Sirius and Addie Periwinkle, shifting to a butterfly in mid-leap and landing on Addie's raised hand. After a few more pictures, the butterfly took off again, shifting back to Darius. "Next?" He laughed lightly.

Arthur watched both Sirius and Harry. He was relieved to see Sirius relaxed and happy ... he just had to ask later just who this Addie Periwinkle was, and what relationship they had. She didn't want to budge from his side! And Harry, laughing and showing off for the press ... this was a major relief to him, and to the others in the circle who were observing through Harry, Sirius, or Arthur. Harry had survived another personal crisis, thank the powers above.

"Who are you, really?" one daring reporter called out.

"You really expect me to answer that? Next!" Darius laughed again.

Over the next few minutes, Darius admitted to being a beastspeaker, did some wandless magic, and showed how his magic always showed in Magus Purple. He dodged other questions deftly, and when asked about his training, only said, "Making progress." Then he stood straighter, losing the relaxed attitude, and projecting the authority and power of a Magus. "Speaking of training, I'm going to have to call an end to the questions. Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen." He bowed slightly, looked to Arthur, nodded, and disappeared.

Lucius Malfoy stood in the back of the room, seething, when he felt the burn of the Dark Mark. He slipped out of the conference room into an empty hallway, and apparated to his master's current encampment.

(continued)