HP: Fairborn Adventures

September 23rd, 1977

She tapped her foot along with the catchy rhythm that sounded over to her from the muggle record player in the corner of the room. It was rather humbling to be reminded that no matter how superior wizards and witches were to their muggle counterparts, music was still something her society could learn quite a lot about.

Marlene blended out the artist's voice for a few seconds and concentrated on carving the next set of runes into the silver necklace that lay on the table in front of her. The necklace was rather mundane looking compared to the blonde's usual jewelry, but still a neat piece. It was composed of a simple silver chain with a Celtic Knot that housed a small compartment. Within the said compartment was a small round mirror, perhaps an inch in diameter.

The piece of jewelry had an identical twin, both emitting a faint magical glow due to the multitude of tiny penta- and hexagons that she already carved into them.

'With many more runes to follow by the looks of it.' Marlene sighed.

She didn't bother glancing over her shoulder when she heard the door to the Room of Requirements being opened, knowing that it could only be one person. With a tiny flick of her wand, she muted the music.

"How was practice?" Marlene casually asked while Harry approached her table from behind.

"Superb." He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her neck: "We're going to beat you for a third time this year..."

She tossed her hair over one shoulder to glance up at him: "I seriously doubt that, but I can tell that practice was good." She wrinkled her nose, pinching it together with two fingers. "You're very sweaty and it smells horrible, Harry."

"It can't be that bad." Harry protested with a chuckle. His eyes roamed over the two necklaces and the stacks of parchment that littered the table: "How is it going?"

"Go take a shower and I might tell you after." She placed a hand on his chest and applied gentle pressure, keeping him at a healthy distance and ignoring his adorable pout. "And don't come back until you're clean."

"You could always join me and make sure of it." Harry's lips curled as he shrugged off the protective quidditch gear, dropping it to the floor.

"Unlike you, I don't smell and I still have work to do." Marlene forced her eyes not to linger on his exposed upper body and closed them instead. She quickly pictured a suitable bathroom in the corner, making sure to include a towel and some shampoo as well: "There you go, stinky boy. Now hush!"

"Thanks, you're the best!" Despite her protests, Harry planted a sweaty kiss right on her lips and strolled over to the showers, grinning at her one last time before he took a turn.

With an amused chuckle, Marlene dropped back down on her chair and resumed her work, activating the record player with another flick of her wand. She put the necklaces to the side for a minute and grabbed the original pair of mirrors she was trying to replicate.

The blonde's talent for sensing magic was not nearly as developed as her boyfriend's and still, she could feel that these two items were quite literally humming with it. Most of it she had been able to decipher and put on paper, yet there were some spells and charms interwoven so tightly that it was almost impossible to isolate their effects.

'But there had to be a way to do it...'

It was five minutes later that Harry emerged from the shower again, his hair still wet and a towel tied around his hip: "Now then, how is it going?"

"Not as well as I'd like." Marlene sighed, unable to keep the frustration out of her voice: "You know I've studied them for almost three weeks now and written down all of my findings, but still, I struggle to replicate them. The magic within them doesn't seem coherent at all."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Harry chuckled. He picked up one of the necklaces, weighing it in his hand: "Why a necklace?"

"It's a lot more practical than pulling out an entire hand mirror anytime we want to speak, especially for you as a wizard." Marlene explained while picking up the matching piece of jewelry: "I intend to enchant it with some blood magic. Keying them to our magical signature ensures that only we can open the compartments and use them to communicate."

"I like it." Harry nodded appreciatively: "You can always ask Aurelius for some help. He's arguably the most knowledgeable person on abstract magic at our disposal."

"I know, but I wanted to make something special all by myself for once." Marlene pouted and took back the necklace out of Harry's palm.

"Trust me, I understand that feeling all too well." Harry pressed a kiss to her forehead: "But in this case, we should use all the help we can get. How are you progressing otherwise? Did you establish a connection yet?"

"I did, but I can't get it to work over distances larger than a few meters." Marlene bit her bottom lip in concentration: "Don't take this the wrong way, but there's no way your father and godfather actually knew what they were doing when they created these. It's a miracle they even work that well."

"You're right," Harry laughed: "When I asked them If I could borrow the mirrors, they shared how they came into their possession in the first place. Originally they merely wished to create a mirror that will insult whoever looks."

"I just knew it had to be for some prank." Marlene rolled her eyes.

"They magically recorded their voices, so the mirror might use them for said insults and kept applying the most complicated charms they could find in the Potter library." Harry continued: "At some point, these two tightly interwoven pieces of magic started responding to each other and this is the end result."

"If they actually knew what they were doing they could have made a lot of Galleons with this." Marlene hummed. "Just think about it: the Ministry alone would probably order in mass to optimize communication across departments."

"Well, time for you to cash in where they missed out." Harry shrugged: "Let me know if I can help you with anything." He walked over to the table he had set up for his own studies, putting on some clean clothes on his way.

"Don't worry about me, it's not going to take much longer." Marlene assured him, turning back to her work: "What about your project? Any breakthroughs there?"

"Unfortunately not yet." Harry sighed: "It turns out that parselmagic is inherently much more difficult to detect than I assumed, almost like there's something encoded in it that allows it to dodge any attempts at exposure."

"It does make sense, doesn't it? Why would Salazar go through all the trouble to invent a magical trait that can only be passed down by his blood if any first year was able to detect it?" Marlene hummed: "It is probably also the reason why generations of Hogwarts headmasters failed to locate the Chamber of Secrets. Some simple revealing spells will hardly do that."

"I wish I had a Dark Mark to study on." Harry grimaced, shuffling through some stacks of notes: "That way I could test directly which stimuli the Mark responds to."

"Well, I bet we'd find some test subject down in the snake pit." Marlene snorted in amusement: "But all it takes is one wrong spell or trigger for Voldemort to realize someone is studying his Dark Mark. It would risk the entire operation."

"You're right of course." Harry sighed. He glanced up from his work, a playful gleam in his green orbs: "Well, Ms. McKinnon, how about a little bet on who finishes their project first?"

"And what are the stakes involved?" Marlene challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"A single favor." Harry grinned, "But it can be anything the other wants."

"Anything?"

"Anything." Harry nodded again.

"Very well." Marlene giggled: "You might regret doing this, love..."

"I don't think I will," Harry replied confidently, quickly lowering his head to get back to work.

They worked in concentration for two more hours, holding small chats in between until Marlene failed to repress a heavy yawn.

"Tempus." Harry whispered, waving the Elder Wand through the air.

Purple traces of magic twisted into the number 11.

"We should probably call it a day." Harry stretched his arms over his head: "We do still have classes tomorrow after all." He grabbed his bag and pulled out a familiar-looking, folded piece of parchment.

"Or... we could just stay in here, you know…" Marlene suggested as she tidied her workplace: "It's been some time since we took some time for ourselves and spent the entire night together because sneaking me into your dorm hardly counts."

A small blush crept up her cheeks when Harry glanced at her in amusement: "I remember you still enjoyed yourself..."

"It's not like I don't trust your silencing charms, but it still feels weird to do anything when your father and his friends are sleeping a few meters behind the curtains..." Tossing her hair over one shoulder Marlene crossed the short distance to where he was studying his version of the Marauder's map.

"You know I'd like nothing more than that, but I don't think tonight will be the night for it, love." Harry groaned, pointing at a name and pair of ink footprints right in front of the Room of Requirements.

Albus Dumbledore

"I knew it was too good to be true. Why doesn't he just leave us alone for a single term?" Marlene scowled: "We could always ask the room to let us out somewhere else?"

"That will only delay the inevitable. Dumbledore will simply call us into his office tomorrow if we refuse now." Harry shook his head: "He knows it's us in here since he can't get in. The only way to keep him out is if we stay inside and if we do leave somewhere else, he knows as well since the room will let him in after."

"Fine; we'll talk to the crooked-nose snooper then." Marlene grimaced and fixed her uniform: "What do you think he wants from us?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the Unspeakables?" Harry packed his things, checking the room to see if he had left anything behind: "I also think he suspects I'm involved in Snape's death. His visit over the summer wasn't by chance."

"May Circe provide us a nimble tongue then." Marlene sighed, waiting for Harry in front of the door before she willed it to open.

Just as the Map had shown, a person was waiting for them right across the tapestry of the troll.

"Aha." Albus Dumbledore looked up from the muggle lawn chair he was sitting in and beamed at them.

"Good evening, headmaster." Harry greeted him politely: "You seem to have been waiting for us. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Good evening to you as well, Ms. McKinnon and Mr. Peverell. Indeed, I did wait for a bit; not to worry though, I kept myself occupied." Dumbledore chuckled: "I was hoping to catch you before you went to your respective dorms for the night. Perhaps we can have a little chat while taking Ms. McKinnon down to the fifth floor?"

Harry exchanged a quick glance with her before she shot him a nod: "That sounds agreeable, professor."

"Excellent." The headmaster jumped out of the chair with more agility than one would expect of a wizard his age: "I can understand why the two of you became so smitten with that room now. I've had the opportunity to study it over the summer and I find it most ingenious. The only items it fails to provide are those included in commonly known magical laws, like gamp's law of elemental transfiguration. But forgive me, I'm trailing off again. How did you like your first month back to school? You must feel excited about being finished so soon..."

"Actually not as much as one might think." Harry remained right in between her and the headmaster while they rounded the corner to the staircase: "Hogwarts has quickly become the very home I never knew in my earlier childhood. I will enjoy my last year here to the fullest."

"You speak like generations of students have before you, my boy." The headmaster smiled genuinely: "The ability to provide sanctuary is perhaps the most important magic deeply embedded into every stone of this castle. I sincerely hope that every headmaster and headmistress after me will be able to uphold that unique flare."

They nodded quietly.

"But what about you, Ms. McKinnon? Did you enjoy your summer?" Dumbledore suddenly addressed her: "Professor Slughorn kept mentioning that it was your dream to become an Unspeakable one day. Your internship must have given you some valuable insides."

"That it did, headmaster." Marlene confirmed, holding the twinkling blue gaze confidently: "The work was as fascinating and interesting as I hoped it to be."

"Truly a shame that your time in the Department came to such an abrupt end." Dumbledore sighed: "Just out of curiosity, you don't happen to know any details that you can share? Not much light has been shed on the events surrounding the accident."

"I'm afraid not, headmaster." Marlene smiled apologetics as they passed the sixth floor, waiting for a staircase to move over to them: "As interns, we weren't involved in many of the Department's most secretive affairs. Whatever caused that accident must have been one of them. All I can tell you, sir, is that we were asked to vacate immediately on that day and get ourselves to safety."

"Yes, yes, that does sound plausible, of course." Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully: "Well, your internship wasn't the only major event this summer though, was it?"

"Whatever do you mean headmaster?" Marlene inquired innocently.

"I'm talking about your change of wands, my dear. Allow me the comment, but it is quite unusual for a witch of your age to have a change in wand already, especially since I've been assured that your previous companion was still in excellent condition."

"Sometimes we simply outgrow our companions, headmaster." Marlene buried the flicker of irritation that rose within her underneath a cold emotionless mask: "Your concern is appreciated; however, I don't think my choice of wand falls within your area of expertise."

"It's fascinating to hear you define it as outgrowing..." Dumbledore slowed down on the fifth floor until he came to a full stop, turning towards her: "I'd say it was more of a case of growing apart."

He fixed her with a long look; traces of sadness welled up in his blue eyes: "As headmaster, my foremost priority will always be the safety of my students, Ms. McKinnon, do you understand that?"

"I believe I do." Marlene replied, in the corner of her eye, she noticed how Harry tensed ever so slightly.

"Good, then you will understand that I have great concern for the path you have chosen to walk on." Dumbledore continued: "One might argue whether or not it was wise to outlaw the magic you decided to dabble in. In any case, it remains magic no seventeen-year-old child could hope to comprehend the consequences of."

"I'm afraid I don't know what magic you're talking about, headmaster."

"Oh, of course you don't." Dumbledore smiled kindly: "But perhaps you will understand a warning." He regarded Harry briefly, the disappointment evident on his face: "In fact, it's a warning addressed to both of you, since it's hardly a secret who has enticed you on this path in the first place."

"Headmaster- "

"Please, let me finish, Mr. Peverell," Dumbledore said kindly, yet there was a foreboding that reminded Marlene who exactly they were talking to right now.

'Albus Dumbledore'

'The wizard whom many believed to be the greatest of the last centuries.'

"I'm not fully aware of what goals you're pursuing yet; perhaps you, Ms. McKinnon, aren't fully aware either yet. But I do know what I've witnessed over the last month ever since you came to this country and school, my boy." Dumbledore looked at Harry: "I've watched young men walk down the very path you do right now; watched them chase a higher power and fall to magic's greatest temptation. I myself almost lost myself on a similar path once, following a dream I once had; a dream I was so consumed by, that I considered minor sacrifices acceptable; up until said sacrifices weren't so minor anymore."

Marlene swallowed heavily when the headmaster turned back to her: "I too had a partner in ambition once, someone to share that dream with. We believed we were the only ones able to change the world into what it should be, and we clung to that dream desperately, wishing nothing more than for it to be fulfilled..."

"That doesn't sound very healthy..." Marlene glanced at her boyfriend and frowned when she saw the ghost of a smile on his face: "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, headmaster."

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a few seconds, lips slightly parted before he nodded: "You're right, my boy, which brings me back to my warning: Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, Thomas Avery, Severus Snape..."

The headmaster added name after name, fixing Harry with a calculating look: "I don't think those names and the circumstances of their deaths are inconsequential. I think they're connected, just as the tragic occurrence in Lily Evans' neighborhood and whatever happened in the depth of the Department of Mysteries."

Harry and Marlene remained completely silent.

"I know that you're involved in them, which is why I decided to warn you just this once." Dumbledore nodded slowly: "Neither of you two is judge, jury, and executioner. You don't get to decide who lives and who dies, especially not when some of my students are involved; students I vowed to protect. If I catch any whiff of you endangering those lives again, lives of people who deserve a second chance, then you're forcing me to act against you. Do you understand that, Ms. McKinnon?"

"I do, headmaster." Marlene grimaced.

"Good, I'm very glad you do." Dumbledore said, turning to Harry next: "Now as for you, my boy, from the moment I invited you into this school I was intrigued by you, I admit that much. However, my intentions were always honest and I wanted to work with you, never against you. I don't know what reasons I have given you to mistrust me from the get-go. I don't know why you hold such a firm grip on all that secrecy you're involved in."

The headmaster paused, studying her boyfriend's emotionless expression curiously: "What you should understand though, is how your behavior will look from my perspective. The more reason for concern you give me and the more mysterious, little bread crumbs you leave behind for me to pick up and create a grand picture with, the further you push me to believe that we might not have a common enemy out there. I beg you to prove me wrong, Harry, I sincerely do."

September 30th, 1977

The dream he found himself in slowly faded, almost like something was tearing down the walls of his imagination to push him back into reality.

Apparently the reason for it was a faint pattern of vibrations coming from right underneath the pillow he rested on, accompanied by the familiar weight that stirred on his chest and the hair that tickled the tip of his nose.

Slowly the meaning of the vibrations became clear to him.

'His improvised version of the project they worked on. A charm that told if someone left the Slytherin common room in the middle of the night.'

Harry immediately threw off the sleepiness and opened his eyes wide.

"Marlene!" He pulled the Elder Wand from underneath his pillow, flicking it four times in a row to soundproof each of the other boy's beds.

His girlfriend stirred with a very cute moan. The blanket slid down her breasts, exposing soft pale skin. 'Wrong timing, love.'

"Marlene, you have to wake up now!"

"What is it, Harry?" The blonde groaned, refusing to loosen her hold on him: "Lemme sleep..."

"No more sleeping, love." Harry gently rolled her off of him and scrambled for the Marauder's map underneath his bed: "My charm was just triggered, Marlene. We have to get up now!"

"What-" The blonde blinked slowly, blowing a few stray golden hairs off her forehead: "What charm do you- "

Her eyes widened in realization when she saw the spot where Harry pointed on the map and the pair of ink footprints that crept through the dungeons: "Morgana's saggy tits, oh shit."

Harry stiffened a burst of laughter as she threw the cover aside and jumped to her feet, frantically searching for her bra at the edge of his bed. "How many names are there?"

"Two," Harry said, handing her the blouse she arrived in last night while pulling up his pants: "Gregor Higgs and Arthur Gibbon. We have to move, love. If they reach the ground before us we can't track them!" He added urgently.

"I'm not hunting Death Eaters without underwear, Harry!" Marlene whispered heatedly, pulling up her silky pair and fixing her skirt: "Where are they now?"

"They've almost reached the courtyard!" Harry examined the Map, taking one last look at it before he folded it: "If we don't move now, we'll lose them."

"I'm ready now." Marlene beamed, putting her hair into a high ponytail.

"We will never catch up when taking the stairs." Harry grimaced. His eyes found the handle of his Nimbus, poking out from underneath the bed: "You'll take this one." He pulled the broom out and threw it over to her.

"Will you- " She left the sentence unfinished when Harry nodded immediately. Still, she looked slightly concerned for him.

"Don't worry about me, I've practiced enough." He ran towards the closest window and opened it, taking a deep breath as the cool air invaded the seventh-year boys' dorm.

"Stay close to me at all times." Harry cupped her jaw and pressed his lips on hers: "And if it's getting too hot, promise to get out of there. Just apparate out immediately!"

"Harry, I won't- "The blonde attempted to protest.

"Promise me, Marlene!" Harry repeated with determination: "Now!"

"Fine, I promise." She gave by, eyes sparkling with defiant irritation: "Let's go, otherwise we will actually miss them."

"Follow me." Harry nodded and stepped onto the ledge of the window.

He took another deep breath, pushed aside any traces of apprehension that were left, and jumped forward into the dark depths.

Cool air rushed past him as he fell, bringing tears to his eyes. He closed them and pictured the long black feather and sharp beak, feeling how his body shrank and gave less and less resistance to the fall. A pair of feathered wings spread to either side of him a few seconds before he would have connected with the roof of greenhouse five.

Flapped his wings he gained back some of his height and glided around the Gryffindor tower towards the courtyard leading to the ground.

A long shadow passed over the stone wall next to him, indicating that Marlene was following him, probably cursing him for his reckless dive.

The raven's sharp eyes soon spotted a pair of dark-cloaked figures sneaking from pillar to pillar in the courtyard and making their way towards the edge of the ward line. Deciding to cut them off, Harry flew over to Hagrid's hut. He landed next to a giant pumpkin and forced his feathered form to transform back into a human.

"How do we even track their apparation?" Marlene landed silently behind him, shrinking his broom with a quick tap of her wand. Her eyes sparkled with unspoken scorns, some of which Harry was positive to hear over the next few weeks.

"I believe they might be using a portkey." Harry whispered. The Elder Wand twirled over his head, applying the disillusionment charm to his entire body. "In any case, we will have to hold on to them."

"I better not splinch myself." His girlfriend huffed as she copied his movement, following him over the deep lawn to where the two figures hurried down the hill.

"I'll take Gibbon." Harry grimaced, fingers curling around the Elder Wand in anticipation: "You take the Higgs and hold on tight."

She didn't make any sound, but Harry knew that she had heard him. They closed in on the two Slytherins; only a few meters separated them by now.

" -and tonight you might finally earn your mark." The taller of them, Gibbons chuckled drily.

"What do they expect me to do?" His companion asked nervously.

"Well, it's not a bloody tea party you idiot." Gibbon huffed in annoyance. "Torture some, kill a few more of them, or rape a dirty muggle girl and you'll be fine. Just don't do anything stupid! I vouched for you, you hear me!"

"Yes- Yes, okay."

"Good. Now hold on tight." Gibbon pulled out a small leather inbound book: "It will take us there once I finish counting down."

Higgs nervously grabbed the edge of the book, fingers shaking.

"3"

Harry watched as a series of footprints in the grass indicated that Marlene was stepping closer to her target.

"2"

He kept his hand hovering right above Gibbon's shoulder, ready to hold on to him anytime now.

"1"

Harry brought his hand down; his fingers curling into the Slytherin's robes as the world twisted past them in a rainbow of colors. He felt like he was sucked through a tight tunnel before staggering over a cobblestone road a second later. A few lonely streetlamps bathed the small village in spare light. The wooden sign of the local pub creaked on a set of chains in the gentle nightly breeze.

"WHAT THE- "

Harry twisted on the spot. The Elder Wand slashed forward cutting a deep gash, ranging all the way from Gibbon's shoulder to his navel. Blood sprayed from the wound, drenching his dark robes while he dropped dead to Harry's feet immediately.

"ARTHUR!"

The name of his companion was the very last word Higgs ever spoke before Marlene's piercing hex sealed his fate. She tore a hole right through his throat, causing him to spit several mouthfuls of crimson all over the cobblestone before he too dropped down.

Harry dispelled his disillusionment charm and thrust his wand high into the air, forcing his magic into an impenetrable dome over the entire village. He continued pushing until the ache of exhaustion had him wheezing. Then he tightened his many layers of wards by twisting his wand around.

He glanced over to Marlene, who had dispelled her disguise as well, curious to see how she would deal with the first-ever person she killed.

"He's dead..." The blonde watched emotionlessly as the body of the sixth-year Slytherin eventually stopped spasming in a pool of his blood. She swallowed heavily before looking back up to meet Harry's gaze: "And he was younger than me..."

"It will get eas- "A massive explosion behind him had him spun around on the spot.

Fire seared high into the dark night sky as one of the few houses along the main road went ablaze. High, cold laughter and screams of panic tore through the previously silent night.

Bright flashes of light sizzled over the street, colliding with walls, roofs, and windows, exploding anything they impacted with. Harry spotted a small group of five robed people making their way down the street, leaving a trail of havoc and complete destruction. One muggle home after the next went up in flames. The few cars were bumped into one another or banished into the living room windows of nearby families.

"No second chances." Hatred bubbled in Harry's stomach; the Elder Wand showered the blood-covered tiles underneath him with green and silver sparkles: "No mercy."

"I'm ready." Marlene's hand clenched around her own wand while she nodded and followed him up the road in a sprint.

The group of Death Eaters was currently having their fun with a family of four that managed to escape the flames: "Make him watch while we pass around his wife and daughter!" The tallest of them chortled in amusement: "But don't kill any of them yet, leave them alive for the new guy! Where are they? They should be here by now!"

"I think it's them coming up there." One of them pointed their wand toward Harry and Marlene, cocking his head sideways when the couple stepped out from behind a burning car: "No, wait that one is a girl- "

"Avada Kedavra!"

A brilliant flash illuminated the scene, sparkling a bright green in the Death Eater's silvery mask before it struck his chest and the man dropped dead.

"Good evening." Harry grimaced in satisfaction, reducing the distance even further until it was easy to recognize him.

"Fuck!"

"It's Peverell!"

"RUN!"

The screams of the surviving muggles now mixed with those of the Death Eaters. Soft snaps echoed through the night, yet all of them failed to apparate into safety.

"My friends, why would you want to leave already?" A cold, cruel smile played on Harry's lips: "This is where the true fun begins..."

Just as expected, when the Death Eaters realized they couldn't flee, they tried something desperate and went on the attack. Harry effortlessly curved past the incoming spells, batting those that came close to him back to their casters with lazy flicks of his wand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the golden whirlwind that was Marlene's ponytail as the blonde moved with elegance and grace like a deadly ballerina. She made excellent use of her surroundings, transfiguring the broken door of a nearby car into thin spikes of steel that tore right through her opponents' shields, making them yelp in agony and stagger backward as blood splattered their robes and limbs.

Focusing back on his own opponents, Harry turned the street into a sea of crimson flames, fueling the blaze with his bubbling hatred until it melted the cobblestone like butter in the sun. With a roar he whipped the Elder Wand horizontally, hurling the wall of flames against the terrified Death Eaters with such force that it threw them off their feet and tossed them backward.

"Now that you don't show any desire to run anymore- " Harry wrenched his magic into the air and seized the silvery masks of his opponents in a tight grip: " -Let's see who we've got here, shall we?"

One by one he tore the Elder Wand backward, yanking the masks off of their faces. He summoned them and fused them into a slim silvery blade that hovered a few inches above the ground.

Harry studied their faces curiously: "You look like a Nott, you have the same ugly sneer as your relative before I killed him this summer." Harry pointed at the tall one, who had led the raid on the village: "But I'm afraid I don't know the rest of you. My girlfriend is better versed in the pureblood cycles, perhaps she recognizes any of you..."

"I don't either..." Marlene denied it. She adjusted her stance and tightened her hold on her wand: "But luckily their names aren't important anymore."

Harry shot them an apologetic smile. "Well, I suppose you shall die nameless then."

"Please, have mercy!" One of them staggered forward on his knees; his youthful face bloodied and lips busted: "I didn't want to come tonight, they forced me to join them!"

"Oh, is that so?" Harry chuckled in amusement. The Elder Wand flashed through the night, tearing a scream from the young man's lips as his left arm was severed from the shoulder and dropped to the ground with a low thud.

"The evidence against you is quite substantial, my friend." Harry pointed at the black tattoo that stood out from the pale flesh of the man's limb: "I'm sure you know that the Dark Mark cannot be taken against your will."

"Please- please, have mercy." The man begged in between sobs.

"I don't give second chances; I cannot allow myself to." The headmaster's naive words and his mad twinkle danced through Harry's thoughts. The tip of the Elder Wand started glowing a faint green: "There's no mercy tonight for you, only justice..."