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Chapter 8: Back To School Part 3: Swimming With A Squid

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Time passed after the first task. The students finally realized how dangerous it was when Cedric Diggory had barely gotten away with serious burns. The girls were excited that there was a ball. Horus wondered why until he realized that this was a big deal for such an arcane boarding school. Besides he had thought that maybe they had clubs or something in Hogsmeade. He had never looked for them. Now that he thought about what he knew of the wizarding world, they were old fashioned by muggle standards and considerably bizarre by mystic standards.

He had been informed that he had to have a date to the Yule Ball as a champion. He did not have a problem with finding a date; he had a problem in whom to pick to ask of his girls to come to the ball with him. He thought of asking Seras, but Dumbledore and Moody would try to hurt her. The Senshi are a bit more likely to go along with it as are the others. The problem is that I would like to spend the night with them as well.

Horus wondered who he could ask about the rules on whom to ask. He might as well ask his girls if they had a good idea on the matter. He took time that night to ask his girls who would want to go as his designated date as they would not let him go stag. He had found Kasumi working on some simple magic. He hugged her when she told him how much she had to actually use healing magic on Ranma nowadays.

'Some people need to die slowly for making my Kas-chan cry,' he thought. 'Maybe having their chi blocked and the Ultimate Moxibution modified. Yes, leave them with no strength and then block their chi flows, limit there speed and decrease their pain threshold.'

He had held her as she cried out at the unfairness of it all. Even with Horus getting the Amazons off his back, Ryoga had reverted to form a few months later and had almost gotten her hurt in his last reckless attack. He kissed her and asked her if she wanted to go to the ball with him. He knew she needed a night away from her studies. Her mother had almost eviscerated Ryoga after that attack and told him he was no longer welcome in their home.

It was the night of the ball. The Champions came in with their dates and were Announced. Victor Krum was with Hermione Granger. Cho Chang was with Cedric Diggory. Fleur Delacour was with Roger Davies. The people waited with baited breath to see who the-boy-who-lived's date was. Harry Potter and Kasumi Tendo.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. He guessed that the idiotic brat could not admit that he was attracted to her. Life is short and one should embrace what little pleasure and joy one can have. These people would call him a cynic, but he was a realist. One had to be if one was going to survive all the demon hunts he had been on.

Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students. Horus was wondering when he would pay the money he owed. At least he found out why he wanted to help him, it was for purely self interest. He had bet on Horus to win the cup for a lot of Galleons. Horus had agreed for a percentage. Idiot signed a rather binding contract if he forfeited his debt and tried to run. Necromancers rarely get those foolish enough to barter their bodies as servitors let alone their souls willingly offered.

Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Barty Crouch, Horus suddenly realized, was not there. He had heard that he was never absent. People were of the belief that they would have to drag his ghost from the job.

The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley much to his annoyance. He could barely tolerate any of the Weasleys he had met besides the twins. When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Horus.

Horus took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Horus thought it ought to be fined. Then again, he could easily slip a poison in his wine and watch him suffer. He despised the self deluded only second to the self conceited. Things were so much easier when he could just drop idiots like him off for the Warlocks to play with. They still reminisce about the partial lifting of the WPA during the Great Wizard War. Still some of them spoke of watching wizards in shock when their feared Unforgivables proved to be useless. Rumor had it that a rather large number of wiz who believed the nils to be sub-human animals had binders put on and then chucked into mundy federal pound me in the ass prisons. If he recalled, they spent the rest of their lives as bitches. Killers, thieves and rapists have a limit on what even they would do. There were reasons that most Serial Killers and Child Rapists have to be in confinement, that being that even the criminal have a code of conduct.

"I've been promoted," Percy said before Horus could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Why didn't he come?" Horus asked. He wasn't looking forward to being lectured on whatever boring topic the blow hard wanted to talk about all through dinner. It was far better to have an accident. Much safer to be in the hospital wing then to be the idiot who ruined Kasumi's night.

"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising... overwork. He's not as young as he was... though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but... well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with. That revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around. No, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."

Horus was irritated and so decided to put him in his place and asked, "So has Mr. Crouch stopped calling you "Weatherby" yet?"

There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Horus picked his up uncertainly and looked around - there were no waiters. 'Maybe the house elves will take our orders from this list. Hmm. nothing Kas-chan really likes,' he thought. 'Might as well just have her ask for whatever she wants.'

Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!" And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too.

Horus glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining. Surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? Thankfully for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about SPEW. Maybe someday she will learn that she should not pick acronyms that sound stupid; then again, there was some hope for her if she ever decided not to blindly trust authority. The house elf thing had seemed a good point for her to disagree with the system.

She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating. It now occurred to Horus that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that. "Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these, though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains..."

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy... one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh, I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon, or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Percy frowned at the story as it was so inappropriate for the occasion, but Horus could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink. 'He is just trying to worm his way in and take control,' Horus thought. 'Still I might as well keep playing along. If he endangers those precious to me he will pay.'

Horus shook his head for once the old man was being amusing. It was time for his random act of kindness for the possible Darwin Award winners. So decided he said, "We all have our secrets and security is always a concern. What with the less scrupled wizards wanting to take what knowledge we have accumulated. Some things are not meant for the masses or those too foolish to know."

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies. There are some reasons that stereotypes have some validity. Horus acknowledged this since most thought he was at times a bit psychotic. He would gladly correct them on that matter. He understood the ideas of right and wrong, but he did not really believe in the overly invasive nature that people tried to control others actions by saying that it was bad and not to do that. If he had listened to those in this time, he would never have been with anyone and would have been a far more distant person.

"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course... zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.

Horus thought about what she said. It was a wonder that no one else dealt with the poltergeist. He had his deal, but that did not protect normal students.

Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Horus had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying. It was obvious that he had almost no resistance to the Veela charm. It was a shame how easy it was for his emotions and hormones to control him.

"Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."

Horus looked around the Hall taking in the sights and observing the people there. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Horus saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight. He wondered why the man had grown on him. He normally did not get along with people that naive, but Hagrid at least was locked on an act of kindness.

Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own." It would be cute normally, but the interest of a guy in her did mellow her out from hos she had been so obsessive. Horus just thought she needed a little more help from something other than her hands.

"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.

"Herm-own-ninny."

"Close enough," she said, catching Horus's eye and grinning.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The 'Weird Sisters' now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Horus, who had been so interested in watching them after hearing them on the wireless that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.

They were wondering who this person was and where the famous boy had met her. It was a magical night as they danced. Horus spun her into a waltz as he moved to the rhythm of the music. He switched into a lot of more modern dance moves then he had started on a few that were not around yet. Several of them were far more daring than the crowd was use to there were some that were seductive, some passionate, some that inflamed the senses. Throughout all of the dancing, there was a fluidity in the movements as if they had known each other forever as there was a feel of familiarity that went beyond intimate. Where most of the students moved without grace or understanding, Horus and his partners moved as if one mind. The only ones that came close were the older adults and Fleur and Davies. The Veela charm had its uses in lowering inhibitions.

Horus danced with his girls as they traded back and forth. The girls were dancing around him as they danced in an elaborate pattern of exchanges. Never tarrying to long as to slight the others yet still favoring his official date. It was almost over too soon for the happy dancing boy and his girls. He had a plan to make this night memorable for the girl that had found a truly cherished place in his heart. She was his cherished Kas-chan after all.

Horus had thought of a song to sing with Kasumi. He wanted to make the night perfect. He knew she loved romantic music. He took her into a very modified tango. It was relatively easy to convince the band to play the music he wanted it was a deep base melody full of anguish and sorrow accentuated by the .

They started apart with the crowd having spread to give them enough space.



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Original song bit skip if hate romance and Lyrics

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"I was once a King, In the Land of Dreams. I ruled without a care, I thought I had everything," Horus sang in a reminiscing tone.

"I was once a Queen, In the Land of Dreams. I ruled with care, I thought I sacrificed everything," Kasumi sang in a thoughtful tone.

They circled each other slowly approaching each other.

"With you by my side, We lived out our dreams. We were never sad, that is all we had ever asked," they sang together happily.

"Once alone I was, Ruling from my lonely throne. All I wished for was someone to walk with me," they sang together sorrowfully.

They danced in an approach their hands held apart by inches before spinning away and circling outward.

"Alone in my Pristine tower, I saw the world pass me by. As I was bound to my duties," Kasumi sang in a melancholy tone.

"Alone in my ancient Castle, I ruled my lands without mercy. As I was bound by my duties," Horus sang in a cold cruel tone.

They danced in a circle as they circled each other in a slowly inward spiral.

"Here I am among my subjects, doing the best for them that I can. Why am I still all alone," Kasumi sang wistfully.

"Here I look upon my servants, they willingly serve so faithfully doing whatever I say yet I feel so alone," Horus sang boldly.

"My heart is full of caring for my people, and yet none seem able to care for me," Kasumi sang in a sad tone.

"Then one day as I was traveling, I saw a distant minstrel playing. He spoke to me and said," Horus sang with hope rising.

"There is a lady there, far away over hill and dale. Who's compassion knows no bound," Kasumi sang happily.

"Is this what I am missing, will this make my emptiness disappear or leave me only wishing," Horus sang questioningly.

"Here I am compassion for all in my care yet wondering why no one ever thought of my passion," Kasumi sang with regret.

They Spiraled closer again as they began to approach each other once again.

"To there I went, as swift as I was able. Across mountain and field, did I travel to see," Horus sang in an adventurous manner.

"Here I was duty bound, a slave to my people. Adored by all yet never loved like I was able," Kasumi sang softly.

They looked back and forth as they twirled around each other before stopping arms length from each other.

"I came upon a distant place, a white tower in the wilds. Here I came and there I found," Horus sang with a building tone of excitement.

"I was sitting performing my sworn tasks, when upon a knocking came upon the door I found," Kasumi sang in a matching tone.

They moved toward each other and embraced twirling around each other with their hands clasped.

"The one I was looking for, the one who would walk beside me. He/I held my/her hand as I was lonely no more," they sang happily.

"Compassion met passion and we were never more alone no longer did we feel abandoned to our Lone duty," they sang happily.

They moved apart to look at each other while their hands were still clasped.

"I was once a King, In the Land of Dreams. I ruled without a care, I thought I had everything," Horus sang.

"I was once a Queen, In the Land of Dreams. I ruled with care, I thought I sacrificed everything," Kasumi sang.

They drew close into a firm hold their bodies touching with their lips almost touching.

"Now I Know that I have everything, For I now want for nothing," they sang.

They brushed their lips after every word lightly kissing each other gently.

"With you by my side, We lived out our dreams. We were never sad, that is all we had ever asked," they sang together.

They kissed each other deeply as their right arms twined in each others hair their left pulled them closer.

"In the Land of Dreams, we were King and Queen. Together forever until the end of all things," they finished as they moved around with smiles on their faces as they kissed every few words.



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End Dance Sequence

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The students had clapped after their performance to the sight of a blushing Kasumi taking bows with a grinning Horus. It was not everyday they saw the tough and gruff Horus act romantic with someone. Outside of his girls he tended to be cold and distant. Kasumi was blushing as all of Horus's girls seemed to swarm them and just hug them as they congratulated them. For a moment everything was right in their world, there were no monsters to fight or duties that would take them away from each other.

'The dance has been fun,' Horus thought. 'It is good to see Kas-chan have a real smile and not that smile that masks how sad she was.'

He had decided to treat Kasumi out to a magical night of dancing and it had worked out better than expected. He had remembered to dance with all his girls present. Though he had been looked at a bit as he group danced with some of them and they danced with each others in pairs if he was unavailable.

Soon Horus and Kasumi had faded into the shadows as he led her to get some drinks. They found a relatively abandoned table the only problem was that the Weasel brat was there. It allowed them to overhear several conversations in addition to those who came to meet Horus or as they kept yammering Harry Potter.

"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?" said a voice.

Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers.

"No idea," said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her, have you?"

Krum was looking surly again.

"Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks," he said, and he slouched off.

"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?" Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. "Excellent! That's the whole point, you know - international magical cooperation!"

The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next song ended, everybody applauded once more, and Horus saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall's hand and make his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him.

"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?" Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. "No respect..."

Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Horus, waved and came over to their table.

"I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?" said Percy at once.

"What? Oh not at all, not at all!" said Bagman. "No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop..."

Percy didn't look happy about this at all, and Horus was prepared to bet he would be rushing to tell the Mother Hen about this the moment he got home. Apparently Fred and George's plans had grown even more ambitious lately, if they were hoping to sell to the public. Not that Horus would begrudge them. Hell if they sold to the miz alone they would be good. No one orders from Zonko's as Perfidies and Pranks has that covered. Bagman opened his mouth to ask Horus something, but Percy diverted him.

"How do you feel the tournament's going, Mr. Bagman? Our department's quite satisfied, the hitch with the Goblet of Fire," he glanced at Horus with a bit of inquiry in his gaze, "was a little unfortunate, of course, but it seems to have gone very smoothly since, don't you think?"

"Oh yes," Bagman said cheerfully, "it's all been enormous fun. How's old Barty doing? Shame he couldn't come."

"Oh I'm sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no time," said Percy importantly, "but in the meantime, I'm more than willing to take up the slack. Of course, it's not all attending balls," he laughed airily.

'Must... not... strangle... Weasel. At least the Weasel brats make each other suffer,' he thought as he saw the brat try not to find something to club his even more of an annoyance brother unconscious. 'Does he ever shut up. Note to self give recipe for voice change to twins. They will like Percy to sound like a horny female including mannerisms in speaking.'

"Oh no, I've had to deal with all sorts of things that have cropped up in his absence. You heard Ali Bashir was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets into the country? And then we've been trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on Dueling. I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the new year..."

"Let's go for a walk," Horus muttered to Kasumi, "get away from the Merciless Weasel." 'Before I gut him for being a nuisance. This is a school and I don't want Kas-chan to see me killing,' he thought. 'Flying carpets are illegal in Britain who would have thought of it. Wait a minute ban dueling? The only thing they actually have that is a real sport?"

Pretending they wanted more drinks after their duet, Horus and Kasumi left the table gracefully. They slowly edged around the dance floor after a quick spin around several couples, and slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Horus could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. He and Kasumi set off along one of the winding paths through the rose bushes, but they had gone only a short way when they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice.

"... don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it _"

"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."

Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rose bushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. Horus decided to diffuse the belief they were listening in by taking Kas-chan in his lap and kissing her while he ran his hand down her back.

"And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Horus and Kasumi on the path ahead as they were kissing rather openly his hands holding her as he stroked her back.

Karkaroff, Horus saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. 'He is definitely worried that we heard what they said,' he thought.

His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger as Horus glared at him for interrupting them.

"We're talking. We had been walking, but all that dancing left me short of breath," Kasumi told Snape shortly. "That is not against the law in England, is it? I am rather unfamiliar with the local laws here. Could this be considered loitering that we stopped so I could catch my breath?"

"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. They continued down the path looking for a different nook to rest in. It was Kasumi's night after all.

'Snape has to be in a truly foul mood to act that way to me,' Horus thought. 'He is aware that I know enough undetectable potions to make his life... interesting.'

They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. It looked like the perfect place to snuggle with his Kas-chan. It would have been perfect until they noticed that spot was occupied.

"C'mon Kas-chan," Horus said, very quietly to her. "Let's go. . . I don't want to intrude on them. They seemed to fit you know?"

The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Horus heard Hagrid speak. He had nothing against the guy, he did know his creatures. His only flaw was that he trusted the old man too much for Horus's peace of mind. Friend of his parents or not, he trusted the man that let him be expelled for a crime he did not commit when he could have done something.

"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.

The two lovers froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow. . . . It would be rude to intrude on those two especially if the kind man had finally found someone that did not treat him like a

Horus looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. 'That is not the smartest ways to have safe fun,' he thought. 'Well unless your into pleasure and pain.'

He gently squeezed Kasumi on the shoulder and jerked his head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Horus), but Kasumi, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, shook her head vigorously. She reacted to the Veela charm differently than before. She pulled Horus deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer as she straddled him and tried to suck his tongue down her throat.

"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.

Horus definitely didn't want to listen to this; he knew that he would hate to be overheard in a situation like this. It was a private moment and he loathed anything interfering with private moments. If it had been possible he would have put his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option with Kasumi writhing against him as she tasted his mouth.

Trying not to respond to her, he instead tried to interest himself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back. It was difficult to do so, since he did not let himself just rip Kasumi's dress off and fuck her roughly against the statue. Sadly, the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Kasumi's hands or Hagrid's next words. "I jus' knew... knew you were like me... Was it yer mother or yer father?"

"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid. ..." she said confused at what he was asking and telling her.

"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well. . . she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well. . . it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her . . . might be dead fer all I know. ..."

Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Horus, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening... He had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before. "Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh..." Hagrid's deep voice broke.

Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. Horus was grateful that he had some control of his body in this situation. His hearing was amped as Kasumi had got her hands into his pants. She was on her knees in front of him greedily suckling him. No matter how distracted he was; their conversation seemed to be crystal clear to his ears as it burned into his memories.

"Dad raised me . . . but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was. . . ." Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. "So ... anyway . . . enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?" But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. "It is chilly," she said - but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."

"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don go! I've - I've never met another one before!"

"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.

Horus could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer, that tone meant shut up and you might not get castrated. The number of mothers and male family members of his playmates he heard say that he had long since lost count of. He stood there in the shadows gritting his teeth as he held back the moan from his throat. He was hoping against hope that the naive man wouldn't... but it was no good.

"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid.

Horus's eyes widened as he felt himself tightening. His eyes shifted under the pressure to see the similarities before he had gripped her head and let himself go. He stifled his moan as he felt himself drain into her hungry mouth. After catching his breath, he looked down at her with a smile as she looked at him saucily. The silence was suddenly broken and they snapped their heads to the sound that brought them out of their revelry.

"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him. Horus heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. The colorful words he categorized for the next time he was about to go off on someone. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave... I 'ave big bones!"

She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark for Kasumi to make out his expression, but unfortunately for Horus; he easily made it out as dejected and sorrowful since his eyes were still shifted from the arousal from what Kasumi had done.

Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin. Horus felt sad that he had been rejected by her. Then again, she had just lied to him. He had looked at their auras when he had said that and they had species alignment in their non human parts. He looked down at Kasumi with her wry smile on her face as she licked her lips savoring her treat. He caressed her face and she looked up to see his slitted and lightly glowing eyes look at her in adoration. She swallowed her yummy treat with a moan.

"C'mon Kas-chan," Horus said, very quietly to her. "Let's go... The mood is a bit down now."

Horus looked around and noticed that Fleur and Roger Davies had disappeared, probably into a more private clump of bushes. 'That is what I would have done in their place,' he thought. He looked at Kasumi and saw that her eyes were still lust crazed from Fleur. 'We will need to work on that. Can't have her going cave girl whenever she is around a Veela. Still it proves what I had suspected. Like most of my girls she is a switch hitter.'

"All right Kas-chan. Don't worry I'll make you feel so good you won't be sad any more," Horus said as he held her close.

He kissed her and then set her against the statue. He kissed her a few more times as his hands darted to squeeze her ass gently. Horus hitched her dress up before diving under it. He found her panty-less dripping snatch and proceeded to make her need to muffle her screams with her fist. A few minutes later a glaze looking Horus withdrew from under her dress and licked his lips. His eyes spoke of the promise of what would occur when they were alone and would be uninterrupted.

They returned to the Great Hall after he helped her straiten her hair after he helped her off as he returned the favor. Parvati and Padma were now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of Beauxbatons boys trying to get them to dance, and Hermione was once more dancing with Krum. They sat down at a table far removed from the dance floor. He made eye contact with the twins and inclined his head while wondering why they had not asked mentally. That was until he realized that they were blocking so as to not have to deal with their feedback showing in their arousal.

When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wind their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but Horus was perfectly happy to be going to bed, especially since he would be with Kas-chan. As far as he was concerned, the evening hadn't been much fun with all the idiots almost succeeding in making Kas-chan sad. Out in the entrance hall, they saw Ron watching as Hermione was saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Ron a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. The couple looked at her and contemplated following her, but halfway up the staircase Horus heard someone calling him.

"Hey-Harry!" It was Cedric Diggory. Horus could see Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below.

"Yeah?" said Horus coldly as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him. He did not want to allow anything else to attempt to ruin Kas-chan's night.

Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Kasumi, who shrugged and gracefully glided out of ear shot to allow the boys their privacy.

"Listen ..." Cedric lowered his voice as Kasumi disappeared. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," said Horus as if Cedric had asked if the sky was blue.

"Well... take a bath, okay?" he asked him.

"What?" Horus asked confused. 'Why would a bath... Water changes the sound from to high a pitch,' he thought.

"Take a bath, and - er - take the egg with you, and - er - just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think. . . . Trust me." Horus stared at him confused playing innocent youngster to the hilt.

"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go ... want to say good night -" He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.

Horus walked back to Gryffindor Tower after rejoining Kasumi. 'That had been extremely strange advice,' he thought before she kissed him until he could not think of anything but how good her lips tasted. It was lucky that he had already deduced why a bath would help him to work out what the wailing egg meant. If he had been as naive as he played at then he would have been lost.

The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Harry had been almost tempted to yell, but instead growled out "Fairy lights!" before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated at least until Horus glared at them and held his right hand out crackling with a sickly green and black glow. They stammered and apology and opened. Anything to avoid that... stuff affecting them. Besides he was there with a rather pretty lady and she was standing behind him with her hands wrapped possessively around him as she rose her head from where she was nursing on his neck to frown slightly at the blushing portraits.

He climbed into the common room having spun Kasumi into his arms and carried her into the room. He was not expecting what he saw. He was expecting partially clad teenagers making out; instead he found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face with a shine in their eyes.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.

Horus was in deep thought about what he had just heard. The conversations that he had heard after the ball had serious ramifications. Snape and Karkaroff had discussed His return revealing that both were Death Eaters. He felt a momentary pang that the would probably have to kill them, but it passed as he realized that they deserved whatever happened. He had also heard a beetle buzzing around Hagrid and Maxime's conversation. It was not like he had anything against giants. That was until Kasumi had grabbed him and pulled him to his bed against her as she removed his shirt.

'Think later, Kas-chan now,' he thought before he quickly threw thorough silencing wards up as things became rather loud inside the silence ward with the screams and moans and springs creaking. It would be amazing if the house elves did not need to repair the bed.



*******

Lemon Scene

*******



Horus kissed her hungrily. The waiting in the Great Hall and their previous activity had not sated them. It merely left them from being at the screw who watches need relief stage. Horus's mouth was hungry. He had not had time to enjoy before, but Kasumi had become far more confident in her body as she disrobed neither rushed nor agonizingly slow. She let the dress pool to her feat leaving her clad in a silk like bra that was designed to hide just enough to raise desire, while the crotchless panties had a soft silk veil over her sex. The veil drew the eye while hiding what one wanted to see to build anticipation. She turned around as she bent to pick up her dress she folded it giving Horus plenty of time to see the veil fall revealing her aroused sex.

Horus groaned as she straitened up hiding her delicious pussy from view. She sauntered over to the top of the bed and placed her clothes to the side. She kissed him softly as she ground into his lap eliciting a sigh from her and a groan from him as she rubbed against his erection. She took his shirt off as she kissed her way down and then up his chest until she was pressing her panties against the bulge in his pants as she kissed him softly and repeatedly.

She removed his pants as she lifted her ass to rub her covered pussy against his chest. She positioned him to enter her veil covered pussy. She sunk down impaling herself as he moaned from the silk caressing him as she slid down taking more of him into her warmth. She reached the bottom feeling his thighs pressing against her silk covered bottom. She kissed him tenderly as she closely ground her pelvis against him. She slowly withdrew with a sigh feeling him slip from her as her muscles tightened trying to keep him inside as she raised up with her knees.

Soon enough she was bouncing in his lap as she sighed from contentment. Horus was content to let her set the pace and moved his hands over her chest squeezing her before he darted his hands to caress the silk veil. He slowly put his hands on her ass and squeezed it as she bounced up and down raking her tits against his chest. He snaked a hand under her ass and rubbed at her silk covered area below her pussy wetting his fingers from her juices. He snaked his wet fingers up under the rear silk veil. He slowly slid a finger in her drawing out a gasp. She resisted the temptation to slam herself roughly up and down to feel alternatively stuffed full and achingly empty. She was shining with a slight layer of sweat as she used her legs to raise and lower herself at a tortuous pace. She wanted it to last so she could draw out every shuddering sensation.

She shivered as she slowly dragged her chest against him kissing him as she held herself partially impaled to meet his lips. She felt the slow and long strokes of his finger inside her as he kneaded her ass. The death of a thousand cuts was the only thing similar. Instead of cuts she had so many little orgasms cut her as she forced herself to keep a crawling pace. Finally she collapsed against him. She was unable to move her legs anymore, but she made up for it by the milking of his cock her pussy was doing. He was still languidly finger fucking her asshole as she was sighing as her muscles were spasming around his finger. He let out a low moan as she drew out his cum with her pussy muscles sucking like a mouth only tighter and smoother which rippled along his length. She let a contented groan out when she felt him cum inside her soothing her straining pussy muscles with the warm oil like feeling. He withdrew his finger as her head rolled to the side. He held her in his arms as he lowered her to her back without letting his dick move from where it was buried in her. He slid out of her with a sad sound coming from her throat before he slid in her ass until he was buried. Her spasming ass soon drew another creaming into her. She was still ridding the ripples of orgasms as her eyes drifted shut.

They fell asleep wrapped around each other. Just as they drifted off they felt their bodies being licked off. Their eyes fluttered open to see the usual girls crawling into the bed. Some of them were licking their juices off as the others were pairing off to play.

'Yep, everyone of these girls enjoys the pleasures of the female form as well as my form,' Horus thought as Lavender played with Parvati as Padma was feasting on Kasumi's cum full snatch. She ran her hands over Kasumi's body as she did her best to suck Kasumi's snatch empty before it filled up with her juices. This continued before she dove to lick the cum dripping from their joined bodies. She lifted Kasumi off and took her place with a far less paced pace. She rode him like a bucking bronco until she flopped back when her final orgasm knocked her out. Lavender and Parvati were the next to ride him while the other cleaned out Padma. Two Veela Ana and Nova took their place while Tasha and Talia were still sixty-nineing waiting for their turn. Tasha took her ride and crawled over to lick Ana while Talia finished licking the cum out of Nova before crawling over to ride Horus one last time. Talia passed out as Horus thrust up one last time as he coated her before falling back. Parvati and Padma woke up later to the smell of cum. They wiggled their mouths to the sources and nursed until there was no cum Padma from Horus's shiny dick while Parvati licked Talia clean. They soon fell asleep with their mouths latched on to nurse the night on their cum meals.



*******

End Lemon Scene

*******



It was the morning of the Monday after the ball, he woke up in a puppy pile of girls snuggled up around him. They had some more fun after they had woken up. The girls had crawled off to the shower to clean up even though they had been licked clean. Horus drifted of again as he pulled Kas-chan to him and snuggled against her as she sighed in her sleep.

Unfortunately, no one had seen him or the girls he had danced with after the ball. They had finally decided to send people to look for him. McGonagall had strode up the stairs and pulled the curtain apart easily as Horus forgot that the charm dissipates when someone leaves the bed. McGonagall had found him sleeping with Kasumi their bodies wrapped around each other. She had yelled and screamed and ranted at the pair of them. She acted like they were little kids who got their hands caught in the cookie jar.

Horus ignored her as he comforted Kasumi telling her, "You have not done anything improper, Kas-chan. Your mother is very proud of you. Why should you let an old prude like her bother you and allow her to ruin your good mood?"

Kasumi had smiled at him and shook her head. She drew the covers over her and settled back to sleep. Horus smiled at her before he turned to look at the head of his house. His eyes lost their humor and grew cold as he glared at her. He slipped from the bed and stalked toward her with a body language that conveyed a complete sense of fury. McGonagall stumbled backward.

"How dare you make Kas-chan cry?" Horus asked her in a cold tone that was a barely vocalized whisper yet cut into her like an arctic wind. "Who do you think you are to berate her for doing what she did? She is my friend! She has been through far too much in her life to have to deal with your unwarranted accusations!"

"Mr. Potter," she stuttered out. "It is not proper for ladies to be in men's beds. I was only doing what her mother would have in my position."

Horus threw back his head and laughed. "You do not know what her mother would have done. She approves of our relationship. Kas-chan grew up to soon and I have been helping her learn to live again. If you ever make her cry again, I will not rest until I am sure you will never have a moment of peace in your life. Do we understand each other? I am very protective of my friends. Personally I would have snapped your wand and left you bound in the forbidden forest. Be grateful that Kas-chan is so forgiving. I will not be next time. Trapped in your animagus form and cursed to be in heat would seem like a picnic compared to what I will do!"

She stayed on the floor where she had fallen. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She felt as if she had been in her animagus form and come across a wolf that would like nothing more than to tear the invader apart. She had never had a student that would treat her so. Then again, he was very protective of his friends being more than willing to show the bravery her house was famous for if someone threatened them. She shivered at what she would act like after that type of torture. It was far better to not antagonize the man.

************

Diggory had told him about the prefect bathroom. So he had sneaked down to the prefects' bathroom and whispered the password before entering. He had stripped down and stretched before sinking into the prefects' bath where he felt a ghost there.

"Hello who is there? What spirit has chosen so foolishly to interrupt my bath?" Horus asked the ghost. His eyes gained a slight darkness to them as he let his vision shift from the living to the dead. Everything turned gray to his eyes except for spirits which burned a brilliant shine to his eyes. In this view, the living were black blobs that the lighter they were the closer to their death they were. She glowed to his dead sights the colors depicted that she had died young and violently.

"Myrtle. My name is Myrtle. I would have thought you would have heard of me," she said in a rather annoyed tone.

"I have not talked to any spirits here besides Nearly Headless Nick and Peeves. The other ghosts avoid me for a good reason I believe. Your rather young for a spirit. Barely half a century by the looks of things. So Myrtle any reason to be haunting the prefects bath, or are you trying to make up for what you did not get to experience in life?" Horus asked her with a tilt to his head.

"Well it is fun to peek," she said as her face blushed.

"IT is more fun to join in. A shame most ghosts never learn to be tangible. Closest here is Peeves and he is far too annoying to teach such a thing," Horus said.

"Ghosts can't touch people silly. It is one of the greatest regrets we have to see, but never touch what we left behind," she said.

"What do spirits in the wizarding world learn anyways. Yes, it is possible to touch the living. Besides I am not silly in my line of work one needs to know facts about things," Horus said.

"What type of job would need to know about spirits? Your not an exorcist," she said.

"Exorcists can only banish restless spirits from this world. My job is far more infamous among the dead," Horus said.

"It's not like your a necromancer. They would never allow one of them into Hogwarts," she said seriously thinking he was joking.

"Not as a title no. I am a Speaker for the Dead. It is a step above a Necromancer and a step below a Master Necromancer. I can bind and release spirits like yourself with little difficulty. I believe most of the older ghosts just neglect passing on that lore as we are a rare breed nowadays. Far to many people raise the dead, far too few put them to rest," Horus said.

"Ne.. nec... necro... mancer," Myrtle stuttered out in a near blind panic.

Necromancers had a rather bad image for the dearly departed. They could bind the spirits and bodies of the dead to do their bidding. Wee Ickle Ghosties still learned of the soul binds and the weapons the Necromancers of Old made with their soul forges. Shamans at least bargained with them while a Necromancer could just as easily bind a spectral spirit like summoners can normal spirits.

"Please don't bind me," she begged in complete terror.

"I have no reason to bind you, nor to make you pass on. You still have unfinished business. No ghost may remain if they have no unfinished business. Care to tell me why you have remained?" Horus asked.

"Tom Riddle. He killed me and then he made a name for himself as the Dark Lord. I cannot rest while he is still here," she stated quickly as any hesitation was far too dangerous to allow.

"So I was right. He did make up the name he went by," Horus said. "By any chance do you know his middle name?"

"Marvolo. Tom Marvolo Riddle," she told him. No ghost would willingly piss a necromancer, a speaker no less, off.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. Twist the letters around and you get his self described name, 'I am Lord Voldemort'. Pity, I hoped he had picked something less basic to get a name by than an anagram. Flight From Death and his Death Eaters. So he is not after power but fears death. Thank you Myrtle, you may go. Tell no one living about this. It would not do to have the ill informed try something," Horus said.

She curtsied and fled as fast as she could. She had felt the Authority in his voice. He had not needed to bind her to command her. 'Better to risk Peeves and the other ghosts taunting than deal with HIM,' she thought as she fled through the most direct route to her bathroom.

After Myrtle left, he had upon turning his head met a lovely mermaid. He had been rather interested in her behavior as he bathed. It was obvious she was aroused as she had removed her sea shell top and had started to fondle herself as her other hand moved lower. He had thought he might as well relax with a soak as he let the girls sleep off their exhaustion and now he was being watched by a voyeur mermaid who was openly masturbating as he bathed. Still part of his mind was amused as he watched her lick her lips while her wide eyes looked hungrily at him.

Ignoring her, he had placed the ball in the water and placed his ear to listen without blocking her view.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching, ponder this: We've taken what you'll sorely miss, An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took, But past an hour... the prospect's black, Too late, it's gone, it won't come back"

Horus had listened to the message several times. He could not believe what he had heard. He was fairly certain that they would not do anything life threatening to observers, and yet he knew that they would be in danger. Time limit one hour to rescue a hostage from the bottom of a lake would not be too bad. Then he had looked at the Mermaid watching him as he had not placed anything to restrict her view and she had decided to entertain herself. He had asked her if their were mermaids in the lake. It had sounded a good bet since it was in mermish. Still there are other aquatic creatures with a similar sounding language.

He could not believe no one thought to mention they were there. She had giggled and asked if he would play with her. He told her she would not want to considering who he had been playing with. She said she would not and promptly started cursing at him when he told her he had Veela lovers. They did not get along. She refused to calm down so he cursed her. She went vacant as she was rendered unable to move as she was cursed to be permanently aroused but never allowed release. He would see if she changed her mind someday.

He still could not believe that something most likely someone precious to him would be taken. He would find out who picked this task and make sure they begged for death if any of his girls so much as had a hair disturbed. That the egg had held a recorded message in mermish meant that he would have to be prepared for underwater combat. It would be easy enough if he was not holding back.

'It will be my pleasure to start letting loose if any of these fools were as foolish as I take them for. If it is one of my Veela Girls, there will be no if ands or butts about it,' Horus thought. 'Veela and mermaids do not get along. Well more like they would kill each other on sight if given a chance. Fleur is part Veela no doubt about it. A part Veela going against mermaids after someone precious. Shit! She said she has a little sister and Veela are protective as all hell of children, especially their own. I guess I might have a reason to use some impressive magic after all. My girls would never forgive me if I let a child die if it could be prevented, hell I razed a damn village because they sacrificed a little girl to demons. What would I do to some know it all bastard that put an innocent child in danger? I need to find Fleur and warn her.'

Horus raced through the school moving faster than he had allowed himself among the wizards. If one had been able to get a good look at his face, it would have seemed primal. This was because Horus was tapping into part of his heritage from his blood adoption. The line of Oroborus was the only line that could still use summoning and necromancy as all others had specialized and had a choice of either summoning, invocation or necromancy. They had lost the ability to use conflicting magicks. His line was honorary members of the Zoanthrope Pan-Were Council and Vampire Nation systems, this allowed them access to the few abilities that each cousin race had developed to greater extend than the Guild had taken the time to do.

Horus's eyes had taken on the slitted nature of a predatory animal resembling that of a jungle cat. His nails had sharpened and lengthened as had his teeth. He looked like his Unca Remi at the first partial shift he had managed. The shift allowed greater access to the ambient energies around him into his physical reserves. Where before he would have to use his own internal chi stores to speed past his already high speeds, he was tapping into the residual energy around him which while less concentrated replenished far quicker from all the residual leakage of people and the sun added to the planet. He was moving at near limits of the near human shift as he sped toward where he believed she would be from the strength of her scent. He did not even leave a blur as he went by none of the students noticed him pass as he continued trying to follow her scent trail. His nose was locked on to her scent and he was going to find her. It would only be right if he came to her aid after the amount of good will his girls had told him of.

Horus saw her and new he would have to slow down and shift back. He blurred into a shadow and came out in a gentle walk behind her. She was talking to one of her classmates. "Hello Fleur," he said. "I need to talk to you about something important."

She knew that he had four Veela attached to him and was curious as to what he wanted. She motioned to her friend to leave. After saying goodbye, she left with her gaze traveling back with a hint of worry for her friend.

Horus waited until he was sure she had left and then said in French, "The Second Task is far more dangerous than they are letting on. There are mermaids in the lake. I am worried that one of my more visible friends will be taken. As there are certain dangers that they would face against mermaids, I believe that it is a risk one should be warned about."

Fleur looked at him with a look of horror. She was prepared for something in the water, but she was unaware of the mermaids in the lake even if it now was obvious that the message was in mermish and said come seek us. This would be a danger if they took her sister as her hostage. She nodded her head at him and replied in French, "Thank you for the warning. This is most worrying. Why were we not informed of this?"

"The disagreement with the mermaids is unknown by most wizards and no one would think to ask as they are biased and assume that one is of pure wizarding society in their little games. I would suggest sending a warning to the Colonies that someone is going to cause problems here. Tell them that this should make us even and that if they need my assistance in the future just to ask. Unfortunately, I am worried that Dumbledore will go ahead with this as it is. He is a focused individual who believes that no one would do certain things. He even thinks that Blood Purists as fanatic as Death Eaters can be reformed. If this is allowed to happen, I will do my best to prevent any tragedy from occurring. They will dislike me because of my affiliations as it is," Horus said in a sad tone trying to convey his worry and concern for her sister.

"Oui, I will send notice immediately. It is possible that Gabrielle will be in danger. If you need to help us, we will be in your debt," she said in a serious tone.

"Saving a child's life is not something that one should feel obligated to ask recompense for. So I will not. Though a favor for a favor at most to keep honor in tact is the most I would ever ask for," Horus said simply and sincerely.

Fleur left to send a rapid letter to her mother to convey what dangers might they be under. She had to warn her mamman about her fears.

"I hope it is not what I fear will happen," he whispered in English. He had been glad that the gift of tongues worked for human languages. He turned and walked off shaking his head at the ignorance of the majority of the wizarding world.

************

It was the morning of the second task. She felt apprehensive. They neglected to inform them about the mermaids. She had received a notice that her sister was missing. These fools were risking her sister's life and they would pay.

Horus felt a tremor of fear along the bond meaning one of his girls was in danger. The bastard had gone to far this time. He sent a reverb through the link. He felt the confusion of Seras, Narcissa, Padma, Parvati, and Lavender. They were fine. Who the hell could the old man have convinced to go there. He let his mind focus on the bond that was dulled. Kasumi! The bastard old fool had risked her life in this stunt. They all were scented by Veela; the mermaids would kill her.

Horus hit the water fast tapping into the water around him and moving at fast speeds. He swam to them and saw the damn merman trying to decide who would get to deal with the part Veela and the Veela lover. He saw Kasumi between Hermione and Cho Chang Cedric's Girl. Little Gabby was tied there to the side, he noticed one of the merman start to paw at her with a rather sinister grin on his face as he brought his knife to cut off her dress. He probably figured who would care what happened to a dead Veela before she died and since her body would take a while to show up things could happen; his status would rise at pulling one over on the Veela.

Horus saw red, his eyes were glowing red and black as he looked at the vermin that dared harm one of his precious people. He started to send off water attacks at them to get them away from the girls. Krum swam in as a shark-man and tried to get Hermione from the structure as Horus distracted the mermen. He opened his senses to try to find Fleur she was too far away and theses bastards would get away with it. He flicked a blade to the shark-man as he engaged the mermen that were in his way. Unknowingly he had saved all of there lives as all the hostages had been close enough to be scented.

He let loose compressed water blasts that rendered the mermen dead with their internal organs blown out the back. They looked in shock as their intestines trailed outward from their back like tentacles. More merman came with spears as Krum got Hermione away. Horus needed a way to deal with the mermen without allowing the Hostages to be endangered any more then they already did.

Horus lengthened his fore-nail until it was sharp and slashed his left palm. Blood was a very potent source of power especially in magic. He was of the line of Oroborus, the eternal serpent of light and darkness. The dark and sinister powers of Necromancy he used against Das Millennium were as much his birthright as were the dreadful powers of Summoning.

The Serpent Line, the progenitors of Oroborus, had a blood pact that allowed a rather interesting occurrence to happen. Long ago, blood oaths were used to bind loyalty to the cause. Oroborus of the Line of the Snake was well known for his command of serpents great and small to a level that even parslemouths would wish for in complete envy. Then again, Lord Snake was the progenitor of the serpent speakers, the creator of snake magic, and the patriarch of the Serpent Order. The commands of the Lord of Snakes were absolute to any serpent and could overrule even orders to a bound familiar.

'By my blood, willingly shed, I summon thee. Arise Leviathan, Serpent of the Seas, Devourer of the Deep,' Horus thought as his blood formed a sphere in the water and condensed into a very hard glowing ball attached to his bleeding palm.

He brought his bleeding hand holding the ball toward his right palm. When they struck the blood ignited. The flash of light blinded the mermen in its intensity. A wave of primal terror washed out from the ball paralyzing the mermen. The light spread out flash boiling the water around him. As it vaporized the water around him, the air crackled with lightning. He floated in the bubble of air in the deep his hair spiked up with electricity sparking between his hair and the bubble. His eyes had gone black save his now white pupils as physical evidence of his summoning. A shock-wave spread out as the burning ball of blood turned a dark red color tinged with a black flame corona.

The lake shook as the water spouts shot up and drove the boat back from the now increased waves. Horus threw his head back in a scream and beams of lights rose from the sphere of rapidly spinning water reaching up from the depths of the lake piercing the waters surface as the lake began to rise and fall roughly as a storm suddenly formed above them. Unbeknownst to Horus, his serpent tattoo had begun to move circling around the ying-yang tattoo on his neck.

The black flames grew like a nebulous shadow from the dark red burning blood. The bloody shadow stretched out from the ball to form the Great Sea Serpent. It saw the mermaids and released a large blast of water at them forcing them up and out of the lake with their flesh having been pealed off as if sand-blasted leaving a trail of blood and ripped skin behind them. Horus quickly freed the remaining Hostages as Cedric and Fleur were no where around. He swam up to Leviathan dragging the hostages and grabbed a hold directing him to pick Fleur up as they raced for the surface. Leviathan's tail swished demolishing the village as it moved. They neared the surface as Leviathan moved at a break neck speed. The water was driven out of the way as they reached the surface. Leviathan's head rose above the ship before turning pointing to the sky before lowering down to face the ship.

The people on the ship were shocked by the giant sea serpent that rose out of the sea. Their jaws dropped as they noticed people riding on its head. Leviathan lowered his head to allow them to disembark. Horus looked at him and told him he could have his fill of mermaids before he left. Leviathan hissed his thankful approval before diving down into the lake. The lake shook and soon was colored in the mermaids blood turning the water pink. Horus looked around at the three Headmasters his glare was very cold. He stalked up to them as they shivered with a barely restrained sense of primal fear coming from Horus.

"Who was the idiot, who decided that having a kidnapping with the victims in a lake with mermaids was a good idea?" Horus asked in a cold tone as if asking which one wished to die slowly. This drew a colder chill through their spines at the coldness of the tone he had used.

As he tried to decide if he was going to rip whom ever of these fools had decided this tasks, they looked at each other wondering what the hell was going on. The two foreign school leaders wondered what mermaids had to do with it. Mermaids and mermen rarely caused humans and part humans trouble. It was normally sirens that had the bad reputation for sea beings.

Finally, Dumbledore stepped forward as the guilty party or more accurately; he stepped forward to chastise Harry for his behavior. He cleared his throat as he had organized what he wanted to say and was about to speak his words of wisdom that he had deigned to condescendingly impart to the child before him. All he did was able to do was to gurk when he was interrupted by a blur that lifted him up. The first thing he was aware of was his feet dangling and then he felt a crushing pain as he tried to draw breath into his raged lounges as his eyes bulged out.

Suddenly to their shock, Horus moved swiftly, almost inhumanly fast. In a blink of the eye before they had a moment to think, he had the meddlesome old fool held up by the throat. He looked at him coldly with only contempt in his eyes as he casually squeezed the throat of the fool who had endangered his friends. It took every bit of control not to crush his throat and rip out his vocal cords.

"Well old man? It looks like you have once again nearly succeeded in getting somebody killed. Bravo at that. You must have balls the size of bowling balls to act like you do," Horus said as he looked at the man he was dangling above his head.

"I can't believe you would trust those entities not to misbehave," Horus said as he tilted his head looking deeper into the old man's eyes as he brought his free hand to his chin. "Or is it that you have brains so small that you can't comprehend a simple clear warning?"

He shook his head at the old man he was holding up with no visible effort and said, "They are far to dangerous to allow to harm my friends. Be grateful that the problems your death would cause, would be greater than the problems solved by killing your stupid ass."

Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime had a look of shock in their faces as they looked at the interaction between the most powerful wizard in the world and the-boy-who-live. It dawned on them that Dumbledore had not been honest with them and had yet again used them to further his own goals.

"If you ever think of endangering someone precious to me again, I will make you wish you died by the Cruciatus frying your nerves until you died for it will be far less than what you will suffer by the time I am done with you."

"Do," he said as he clenched his grip tighter on his larynx as his nails started to dig in.

"You," he drew him to look into his eyes.

"Understand?" he asked coldly with absolute loathing as blood started to pool from his nails sinking into the strangling mans throat.

He cocked his head as his cold glare penetrated the man causing his eyes to widen in primal fear. The old man was many things, but maybe this time he would be suicidal in his arrogance.

"Blink once and I let you down as you understand. Blink twice and I throw you in the lake to let whatever happens to you happen to your wrinkled addled ass. I think my friend might just enjoy ridding the world of your ignorant shriveled ass," Horus told him slowly. He was hoping that he would make a mistake so he could dispose of the idiot once and for all.

Dumbledore blinked once and Horus dropped his candy sucking shriveled old ass to the deck of the ship. Leaving the old man to draw his breath as fast as possible to refill his empty lounges. His eyes were locked onto him.

Horus turned his back and began to walk away. He stopped and said in a very cold tone, "Your lucky old man. If those bastards had harmed them, I would have made sure your death would be most... unpleasant. Next time, think before you act. You are ignorant of anything and everything that is important in this world. Never forget how little you understand of the real world."

"Harry, I am sorry. I did not know that they would try anything. They said they would be on there best behavior," Dumbledore tried to convince him by saying. "Mermaids have never been that interested in harming humans anyways."

"Not everyone is human, old man. Too many good people have a bit of other in their veins. Mermaids have grudges against quite a few groups of people. Then again, so do humans," Horus said. "Don't ever try to keep me ignorant of something this important again. Next time something far worse than my friends being scared could happen."

Horus walked away from the old man to see how well Madame Pomfrey was treating her patients. Behind him was one shocked headmaster trying to piece together what had gone so terribly wrong.

The waters were still churning with bits of clothes and wood floating to the surface. At that moment, Cedric Diggory surfaced from the water looking very green in the face. The crew quickly scrambled to get to him and hauled him out of the cold and blood tinged water. The moment he was on the ship he dropped to his knees and vomited until his stomach was empty then dry heaved for a few more minutes. He was escorted to Madame Pomfrey.

Dumbledore approached him and asked with a very concerned tone of voice, "Mr. Diggory what has you so ill?"

"Blood... everywhere... they were... ripped... apart and... devoured. That... thing... killed them," Diggory said with a glazed look in his eyes. He looked out on the lake no longer just pink with blood it was now a dark red with floating artifacts from the mermaid village.

"Don't worry Mr. Diggory everything will be all right," Dumbledore said consolingly.

Dumbledore looked in shock at what had happened. 'I underestimated his loyalty to his friends and almost paid for it,' he thought. 'I had better be careful next time or something worse will happen.'