Yuan sighed and closed his floo. At last, a breakthrough with the problem of the Horcrux in Harry’s scar that had been posed to the dragons. Yuan’s friends and relatives in China had finally tracked down an elderly rider whose late father had been bonded to a dragon that – with a prior dragonrider - had dealt with a Dark Witch that had made a Horcrux of one the sons of the Emperor of the time.

A rather tenuous thread to follow, but the rider was quite sure that she might have an answer and she was willing to come to the Welsh Reserve to lend her assistance. The only hold-up was that she would only give the information in person, and she insisted that she would fly her own fireball there … all the way from China.

A stubborn old witch, but at least they had a potential answer to the unwanted chunk of Voldemort residing in Harry. The dragons all seemed smugly sure they had the right solution, and Yuan breathed a few prayers that they were once again right.

Yuan was cautious, though, and did not want to tell Harry’s family until the witch arrived. Dashed hopes of a cure could be a terrible thing when it came to the families of children with a threat of death on them.

Yuan sat at his desk and glanced out his large window. Tom had yet to return, but Percy was back – and had a new admirer. Heather Black and Oliver were making wedding plans with the help of her mother Ruth and her cousin … Jennifer ‘the Juggernaut’ Lovelace … who felt that anyone who could attract the attention of the part-Veela Champion from Beauxbatons was well worth looking over.

Percy now found himself being stalked by a very determined Harpies beater who had no intention of being eluded. The bite from the untransformed werewolf had not made her a werewolf, but she found her instincts for the chase were quite enhanced … and she now preferred her steaks rare instead of well –done.

Percy wavered between awestruck at the attention and a bit nervous at Jennifer’s determination. Percy had been very flattered at Fleur agreeing to have him as her escort at the ball, and it had definitely been a high point of his life and had taken up several pages in his journal. Once out of Fleur’s sight – and her veela influence - his Occlumency skills, rudimentary as they were always cleared his head and he realized that she was not truly interested in him. He did notice that her eyes tended to be on Tom – not him. He’d have felt jealous if he’d felt any real attraction to her when he wasn’t under the veela influence.

He’d found, the moment he after she’d said yes to him being her escort, that every other male over the age of twelve had their eyes on her and a glassy – eyed grin on their faces when she was in the vicinity. The only exceptions were Aurors who likely knew Occlumency, Ministry workers who likely also knew mind magics … and a few of the teachers, like Severus Snape who Percy knew was master of the art.

None the less, he quickly realized that if he truly had such an extraordinarily beautiful girlfriend would be a literal hell for him. He wasn’t nearly self-confident enough to not feel threatened by the constant attention to her from other wizards and plays that would be made by men attracted by the veela influence. He’d heard someone say that having a truly beautiful girlfriend or wife was constant agony. He’d thought they were stupid for saying that, now he understood - and he hadn’t even really been dating Fleur.

Now he felt a bit of a fraud with Jennifer chasing him … she thought that if Fleur had found him interesting that he must be truly awesome underneath the unprepossessing wrapping. The problem was he found he truly liked Jennifer – she was rather extraordinary and seemed to light up whatever room she entered with her irrepressible energy. He dreaded her finding out he was really rather dull. Jennifer caught up with him at that moment and looped her arm through his with a beaming grin.

"I finally talked Heather into a color that won’t clash with our red hair and cause the wedding guest’s eyes to bleed." She laughed.

Percy chuckled along with her and let himself be led to the nearby dining hall for lunch.

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"Moody’ chuckled a bit as he took a sip from his flask and approached the scowling Rufus. Being Head Auror of Azkaban and Ministry holding cells kept him busy, but Rufus managed to get to Hogwarts for the competitions. Several of the Aurors and Auror trainees that he’d trained and who looked up to him, agreeing with his philosophies were here as security … so was Auror Tonks, and he felt she needed watching. Usually his friends in the ranks did that, but now and then he liked to look in on her … and the nest-full of Dark Slytherins that were definitely up to something.

Moody had been keeping him apprised of Snape and Malfoy’s constant meetings – and the Karkaroff was now joining in their plans. The Slytherins seemed quite friendly with the Durmstrang students – an entire school of Dark Arts practitioners.

‘Moody’ ambled up with a grin, dragging Neville with him. "I told you Snape was up to something. This lad overheard a conversation with Karkaroff last evening – the plot is definitely thickening." Moody smirked at Rufus.

Rufus glared a little, something seemed off about the old war-dog. However he was more interested in what the student had to say … even if it was a Slytherin student. He frowned – Frank and Alice’s boy, if he remembered right. How the devil had he ended up a snake? Although, it did show that some Slytherins were not Dark … just as he, himself was not he thought smugly.

Neville had thought it quite brilliant when he passed on the news that Snape was meeting with the Durmstrang Headmaster to Moody. Being dragged in front of Scrimgeour was something else. If the other Slytherins found out he had essentially ‘snitched’ on their Head of House … well, he may as well leave school.

"No one will know you heard this from me?" Neville asked fearfully.

Rufus cocked an eyebrow and agreed. Moody snickered happily, making Rufus frown again. Moody was definitely going a bit barmy.

"Well, I couldn’t understand everything that was said … Snape and Karkaroff were talking real quiet. Snape was saying he needed to research a potion – one to reverse something. I heard him mention the Dark Lord several times. He wanted books from Durmstrang – copies or the books themselves." Neville sweated a little, the Auror’s intense stare was unnerving. "Karkaroff was agreeing to it all, but he looked … frightened, and he kept showing his left arm to Snape … saying ‘it’ was getting darker."

"Did Professor Snape seem … frightened … about this?" Rufus asked slowly.

"No – he looked at Karkaroff’s arm and said that perhaps he had nothing to be frightened of." Neville was pleased to be able to impart that fragment of the conversation to the Auror.

"Thank you, you have been a great help Mr Longbottom. You have been of help." Rufus waved the relieved Neville off absently.

So Snape was not concerned about the Dark Lord’s return? Either Snape was showing a great deal of bravado, which Rufus could not imagine … or he did not fear the Dark Lord’s wrath. The lack of fear could only be because he was really working for ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’. Likely Snape either intended to turn Harry Potter over to him … or was in the process of turning Harry Potter to the Dark. Either way he needed to be stopped.

‘Moody’ watched Rufus stride away with satisfaction. Creating suspicion among the ranks of Aurors regarding Potter’s family and friends could only be a good thing. And his Master did hope to get the blame for the coming deaths to rest on Snape and Malfoy. With luck no one would know that the Dark Lord was completely resurrected until they were absolutely ready.

‘Moody’ limped away cackling to himself. He had a Triwizard Cup to enchant.

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Harry sat on the stool in front of his father, sweating already. They’d done this once before, during the summer to help him direct his Occlumency practice. It had been horrible, but necessary for Severus to cast a strong Legilimancy spell at him. It had felt like his mind was being pried open … but after that he’d been better able to tell where he needed to shield.

Harry took a deep breath, suppressing emotion as best he could and clearing his thoughts away.

Severus pulled together his own will. Attacking Harry’s mind the last time was nightmarish. He hated hurting his son, but protecting Harry’s mind was paramount. Harry was really too you to learn this very effectively. Most teenagers’ emotions were out of control and their minds chaotic. The abuses of his own life and his solitary existence had created the right atmosphere for Severus to gain an early control … and his own natural ability had certainly been a factor.

Severus lifted his wand and reminded himself that this was for Harry. "Legillimans!" Severus cast the spell, watching Harry thrown back by the force of it.

Once again Harry felt like his skull had been split apart and his mind being pried open. He resisted for a moment and then memories flooded by. Flying as an osprey … dancing with Luna and smelling her perfumed hair … crashing into Auror Savage’s pool with the broken flying carpet …

Severus pulled back, letting Harry pant and pull back together.

"Ouch …" Harry said with a bit sulkily. "I still don’t understand how this helps – except to show me I suck at it … my mind feels more open than ever after getting pried open like that."

Severus counted slowly in his mind, refusing to get angry over this. "I know you’ve been reading about Occlumency and building shields … and I know it mentions finding weak points. The only way to ‘see’ weak points is to look for them while you are being attacked. When you are a master Occlumens you can check your shields without attack – as a beginner, like yourself, this is the only way to see it. It isn’t so much that I’m prying your mind open as it is that you have very little shielding and when I am attacking is the only time you really notice the lack of shields."

"So it’s not that you’re removing shields or making it worse … I just notice how bad I am when I’m attacked?" Harry summarized with a sigh of discouragement.

"You are getting better – it is a difficult discipline to learn, especially when you don’t have a natural talent for it." Severus reassured him. "You stopped having the visions at night once you learned to clear your mind before sleep."

Harry sighed and nodded and Severus explained once again how to start putting up a defense after seeing where the weaknesses were – in Harry’s case that was everywhere.

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Barty slammed the lid down on the trunk, blocking the real Moody’s bellow out. Barty renewed the spells on the trunk … if he didn’t the small toilet and shower in the small 10’ by 10’ room would fail, and while that might be amusing at first – Barty would be the one to have to clean it all up in the end.

Sending down meals daily and collecting hair was tedious, but it gave him a chance to heckle the old Auror and gift him with the latest joke of reading material. His master had said to not let the Auror get too crazed, as they might need him in the future for something. The solitary confinement was more a danger to Moody than anything else.

Daily Prophets were handy and then Barty tossed down first year textbooks, knowing Moody would be insulted and find them dreadfully boring. Cookbooks followed as well as manuals on how to repair flying carpets. Occasionally Barty would throw in a biography or novel if he couldn’t find anything amusing. Today he’d come across some Hufflepuffs giggling over some very trashy muggle romance novels. He’d happily lectured them on the tawdriness and confiscated them. He’d tossed the books down to the outraged Moody along with that day’s meals.

‘Moody’ almost skipped to the classroom, but the fake leg prevented it. He’d decided it was time to test Potter. His master wanted his little ritual to involve a few things with Potter under Imperious and they needed to know if he would put up a fight.

He started the lecture with the history of the Unforgiveables and where they’d come from. In the 1700’s some Auror’s had been looking for a painless and quick execution method since many of them heartily disapproved of the Dementor’s kiss. Of course the result had not been kept secret for long and then it was found that there was no counter that could block it and no one could survive it.

‘Moody’ looked at Potter at that moment and followed the statement with. "… well no one except for one …" They entire class perused Harry Potter, making him squirm and flush a little.

The cruciatus was more obscure and there were several theories on how it was invented. Every wizarding community seemed anxious to blame someone else for its invention. It was thought to have existed as far back as the height of the Roman era. Some insisted that Caligula had ordered some ‘court mages’ to invent a torture curse for his enjoyment. Descriptions of the result were vague, but many preferred to blame him rather than someone from their own countries past.

"Many wizards and witches have been driven mad or died from the cruciatus curse …" ‘Moody’ let his gaze drift over Neville Longbottom, who had paled. "… cast by Death Eaters …" ‘Moody’ ‘just happened’ to be looking in Draco’s direction, who was giving ‘Moody’ a stony glare. Most didn’t catch on, but Neville immediately glared in Draco’s direction, then down to the book in front of him.

Neville had let the knowledge that Draco’s Aunt Bellatrix had driven his parents mad and left him in the clutches of his Grandmother and Uncle Algie. Draco’s father had the Dark Mark … Harry Potter’s new father did as well. His hatred boiled back to life.

He’d do anything to get back at them for the shambles his life had become.

‘Moody’ had read Longbottom’s face easily and was satisfied. "The last Unforgivable is actually quite new – was invented early this century by mediwitches and wizards to use on patients in the closed ward. They would cast it on patients to order calm and prevent violent actions. It did not take dark practitioners long to realize that this could be used as a weapon as well."

‘Moody’ eagerly pulled students up to demonstrate. Seamus was found to know an amazing amount of Opera arias, though his singing was off-key. Neville did handsprings down the aisle. Draco was horrified to be pulled forward but to his relief all the Professor ordered was a Highland fling which Harry assured him he did with a lot of flair.

Harry grimace in resignation as he was called up next. ‘Moody’ cast the spell and Harry’s brain immediately felt fuzzy, seeping through the cracks of his shields. It did slow enough for him to wonder why he should want to hop around the room like a kangaroo. He’d been preparing for his first leap when his mind un-fogged and he shook his head to further clear it and found himself locking eyes with ‘Moody’. His professor looked a bit shocked.

Harry sat before the Professor could try again. Moody managed a short speech about resisting the Imperious and mental aides used for those with no natural resistance to it.

Moody dismissed the class and sent an owl to his master. It didn’t look like they would have fun with the Imperious at the festivities after all. He watched the owl disappear over the horizon. Spring had arrived and the third task was at hand – in two weeks.

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Tom, Cedric and Harry watched Hazelette for a while after bringing her another deer. She hadn’t returned to the Reserve even now. She kept making excuses and the Board of Governors had stopped asking when she would leave. Tom kept her supplied with deer from his vault full of gold and she had made herself useful with the visiting dragons.

They watched Gilderoy Lockhart trotting after Moody as he headed toward the maze with a large box in his hands.

"Is he trying to talk him into a co-authored book?" Cedric asked in amusement.

"Most likely." Tom answered with a grin. He didn’t have anything against the idiot – he had proved useful in the end, and he was fun to watch.

"Did you see the girl he brought with him? … I think she’d as clothes conscious as him and twice as shallow." Harry snickered.

"Surely not?" Tom asked.

"How do you think they met? At a fashion show?" Cedric asked.

"I can hear his pick-up line, now … I love your blouse – I have one just like it in lilac …" Tom said, mimicking Lockhart’s uppity tones, and making Cedric and Harry roar in laughter.

Moody appeared to be getting desperate and desperately waved at them, shouting "Diggory … Potter … come over here!"

Cedric and Harry trotted off, willing to rescue Moody from Gilderoy. Tom frowned, while Yvane muttered. Yvane did not like Moody and insisted there was something wrong with him. Tom agreed – the old Auror was paranoid, suspicious, had a twisted sense of humor and sneered a lot. So if Moody was ‘just wrong’ … well, so was Severus, Lucius and likely Tom as well. Yvane had subsided but still said he bore watching.

At Yvane’s urging Tom followed the three, avoiding Gilderoy who was slouching back to the castle. As he approached the three it seemed that Moody was setting up for a photo.

Lucius and Severus were also following Moody. Severus was as suspicious of Moody as Yvane was, and no one was supposed to play around with the Tri-Wizard Cup until the final task. Severus curled a lip. Moody was likely trying to get back into the Corp by bribing Fudge with a picture of the Hogwarts Champion and ‘The Boy Who Lived’ with the Tri-Wizard Cup.

"Now then, stand on either side of the Cup and when I count to three you each take a handle and say ‘Victory’." ‘Moody’ said eagerly. He’d hope to just catch Potter, but one extra would be no problem – he might even be useful to drain – all that excess teenage energy. "One, two, three …"

Tom’s senses went on alarm as he got closer and Yvane started roaring about danger. Tom ran forward and grabbed Harry’s arm just as Moody shouted "Three …" and felt the tug of a portkey.

Lucius and Severus reached Moody just as the three vanished. Severus grabbed Moody and shook him. "What have you done?"

"You’re much too late, Snape …" ‘Moody’ chuckled with a challenging smile.

Severus growled and threw ‘Moody’ backwards far enough to land a blow to his jaw that knocked him to the ground. Lucius and Severus ran to the spot the three had disappeared from and frantically scanned for the trail and apparated after them.

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