The Next Generation

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve stood over the man; she knew he was dead. There was a scream somewhere; someone had witnessed what had happened. She had to go. In the back of her mind she could hear someone calling her. "Help me." he said. She smiled. She could see the others now, the ones who had started all of this. They were Valencia's family. Geneve felt powerful. She stood upright and disapparated back to Hogsmeade.

She was dead accurate in landing, in spite of the long distance jump. She reappeared beside the writhering body of Liam. She crouched down and took him under the arms. She dragged him into an alley. She assessed him. He was injured ,but he would live. "Shhh.. " she whispered into his ear. "You will be fine." she stroked his hair and then stood up, took off her cloak and and covered Liam in it. Then she stepped out into the street. She stood beside Harry, who was firing curses at the hooded people. They stopped suddenly when they saw her. All went deadly quiet.

[*Riley*]

Liam was trembling with horror, Geneve had just heard his cry for help, maybe the magic she took binded them closer than she ment for.

Liam stood up with shaky legs and turned a corner, he was behind a bar, he took a random route to find the cloaked figures facing the other way firing curses at Harry & Geneve.

Harry caught Liams eye, back in the shop he had given Liam his invisibility cloak, this was the right time to use it.

He flung it over his shoulders, he tried to calm himslf whe nhe found himslef shaking ferociously.

Liam crept over to one of the hooded figures and stuck it between ones ribs and muttered a spell.

'Expelliarmus' Lucious flew through the air with surely broken ribs, the force of the spell had blown him practically apart.

Liam was impressed but before he could do anymore a rough hand pulled him aside.

"Listen boy, say 'Stupefy' and wave your wand like this" it was an old lady, Liam instantly recognized her as Mrs.Figg,

"I'll try"

"That's a good boy"

He was so shcked at this sudden kindness he forgot to thank her, instead her raced over and tried it.

'Stubely' a purple beam shot out of his wand and hit another cloaked figure, he knew he had gotten the spell wrong but it had done something...

The figure stood up and faced his fellow cloaked figure,

he shouted to the man,

"Say Bye Bye... Obliviate!" a whitebeam shot out and connected with the other man's skull.

Liam was now aware of what he had done, he had created a spell, a 1st year had created a proper spell!

He didn't take the cloak off as he ran back over to where Geneve was standing with Harry leaning against her, he had a wounded leg, it was serious.

"Geneve can't you do something?" Liam asked desperatly looking at Harry's leg.

"Sorry Liam, I cannot" and with that she disapperated with a 'pop'

Harry fell to the hard bitcheman he didn't even bother standing not that he could anyway.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia entered another doorway, emerging into a cozy room with a fire buring in it's grate. Two figures were sitting around it. They looked up to see her come in.
"Valencia!" the person sitting nearest to Valencia cried. Her name was Lanna. "Sit down, sit down. what brings you here?"
Valencia explained the whole story. "I'll be out your hair soon, I just need a safe place to plan what I'm going to do next, then in a few days I'll be off."
"Well, your welcome as long as your here." Lanna"s sister, Jana, replied.

[choki]

"Aberforth, Nikolaus, what are you doing? There are dangerous wizards roaming about and you're standing here, brawling in the streets! Do you have a death wish?" Valencia hissed. The sudden appearance of Valencia surprised both. After a brief moment, Valencia disapparated. Confused, both of them looked at one other before...

"Aberforth Dumbledore? Brother of the Great Albus Dumbledore? A former member of the Order?" Nikolaus uttered in surprise.
"Nikolaus... so you're not Grindelwald?" Aberforth questioned in disbelief. But Valencia, the Hogwarts teacher, knew this guy by his name.
"He died almost two decades ago... Voldemort killed him, remember?"

How could he had forgotten... Gellert Grindelwald was the same age as his elder brother and it is impossible for the man standing in front to be him. The last time he saw Grindelwald was that fateful day when his sister, Ariana died from a stray curse. The image of the young Grindelwald was etched fiercely into his memory.

"I'm sorry... I have mistaken you for him... but...you...look like him..." Aberforth grumbled in his usual rude tone. Nikolaus remained silent. He was starting to suspect a hidden connection between him and Grindelwald. Those surviving wizards from the dark time mentioned the same thing.

Soon after, Geneve appeared. Nikolaus noticed she seemed to be in a semi-trance state. He simply did nothing to stop her. And just like Valencia, she disapparated off.
"So the fun part begins..." Nikolaus said to himself and smirked. The missing ingredient that Geneve needed, was Valencia.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing... just wondering if you could buy me a drink? You owe this place, don't you? Take it as an apology to me..."

[DucksRMagical]

Galena watched and waited as Arthur thought about whether or not to return to the school. He appeared quite undecided about it. Galena looked anxiously towards Hogwarts. She couldn't wait much longer to inform the other teachers. She turned back to Arthur. "Why don't you come with me and you can think about it on the way up. I've really got to meet with the other teachers."

Arthur nodded and he followed Galena up to the school. Galena walked as fast as she could towards Hogwarts, making sure that Arthur could keep up. The teacher and student were both breathless by the time they entered the Entrance Hall. Galena breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was deserted. Well, seeing as it was the middle of the night, that wasn't surprising. But James Potter and his friends were known for sneaking around in the dead of night.

"Come with me," she whispered to Arthur. Arthur followed as Galena walked briskly up a few flights of stairs and back to the Headmaster's office. Or, rather, her office, Galena realized. When she arrived there, the gargoyle immediately moved aside and she and Arthur stepped onto the moving staircase. It stopped, and Galena stepped off. Arthur timidly followed.

Galena immediately spotted the newest portrait, hanging next to Professor Snape's. Dumbledore, Snape, and her now dead boss appeared to be having a heated discussion, but they stopped abruptly when they saw the new Headmistress. "Albus, Severus, Prescott," she greeted the three former headmasters of Hogwarts. She turned to Prescott Naresh, the most recent of the three. "Everyone has returned to Hogsmeade. We are all wrapped up in some kind of plot with Valencia's relatives, and now Geneve as well."

"What is going on?" Snape demanded.

"Severus," Dumbledore replied, "Galena will tell us shortly."

"Thank you, Albus," Galena said as she paced around her office. She had never been that fond of Snape when she was a student, and she had hoped he would be asleep when she got there. Galena started to explain everything that had happened since Naresh was killed, including how Harry and Nikolaus became involved. When she was done, all three portraits were silent. "I have to inform the other teachers of your death, Prescott. I will call them here."

"What about him?" Snape pointed his large nose towards Arthur. Arthur stepped back and glanced nervously at the foreboding Potions Master.

"Arthur is undecided about whether he wants to continue with this battle, if you want to call it that," Galena answered.

"Hmph," Snape snorted, "He's only 11, he shouldn't be involved."

"Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, "Remember that Harry was only 11 when he saved the Philosopher's Stone."

Snape did not reply and just continued to glare at Arthur. Galena drew her wand and whispered an incantation. A silvery beagle shot out of the tip and hovered in front of the headmistress. "Go tell all the other professors to meet in the headmaster's office, it's urgent." The beagle disappeared through the wall.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve reappeared a short distance away. She could still see Liam, and Harry was not collapsed on the ground. "Men." she scoffed. "So weak. Speaking of which..." she pulled the sleeve back and stared down at her pale forearm. She looked at her wand, then, closing her eyes, she mutter a spell. She winced at the pain, and when she opened her eyes, a tatoo of a black serpent and a skull was burning in her arm. She smiled, and pressed her wand into the centre of it. "Come." she hissed. All at once, the space around her filled with cloaked figures. As they appeared, the faces looked confused to see her. She scanned the men and women who appeared. There were around 10 in all; and 4 of them were the people who had taken her before.... and one was her father. He stepped forward.
"Geneve... we were worried about you..." he started.
"Don't be.. I have it under control now." Geneve stepped back, avoiding his affection. She brought her gaze to the others. "They gather at Hogwarts. The new generation of resistance to the dark lord. It has been 19 years since my grand father was killed... but he has found a way to return." There was a commotion, the others started to talk amongst themselves. Geneve's father interupted.
"You all know it to be true! She has taken the potion! All she needs is Marcellus' magic, which is strong in his grand daughter, Valencia." he announced. The others fell silent.
"I will find her. And when I do... it will be complete. I believe..." Geneve stood as straight as she could, she could feel her eyes go dark again. "That nothing will be able to stop us."
"Geneve, we will gather reinforcements. There are others.. ones without the mark, but are true and willing to join us. Will you let us go now and inform them?" Geneve's father asked. Geneve knodded. The others disapparated. Geneve looked up in the distance at Hogwart's castle. She closed her eyes, desperate for a breath from Valencia. Completing this spell was more important to her than oxygen.

[choki]

A silver stag rushed past them, and disappeared from their sight, under the cover of the darkness.
"It's Harry's patronus!" Aberforth exclaimed, "is he is troubled?"
Without any hesitation, Aberforth ran towards the direction where the patronus came from. Nikolaus followed suit.

A few winding roads down and there they spotted Harry was bending, clutching his leg with one hand and the other, holding his wand pointing at the cloaked men a distance away. Aberforth sprung swiftly into action. He casted several stunning spells that took those men in surprise. The brief distraction was sufficient for Nikolaus to reach Harry in time to cast a magical shield.

Harry muttered a quick thank but there wasn't much time to waste. Even though with the 2 new addition, those cloaked men were gaining in numbers as they randomly appeared.

"What are you doing? I thought you were the Head of the Aurors department. Don't disappoint me, boy!" Aberforth reprimanded.
"I wouldn't disappoint you, sir!" Harry replied and stood up right, ignoring the numbing pain on his leg.

"Why are there so many reunions today... and everytime, it has to lead to some kind of fight," said Nikolaus.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Harry's patronus had reached it's destination; and the people his messsage reach wasted no time to gather and disapparate back to him. His wife Ginny and best friends, Hermione and Ron Weasley appeared at his side, but they didn't anticipate a fight. Ducking curses, they tumbled into action, pulling out their wands. Ginny expertly passed Harry his own wand, and he discarded the other, as a wand belonging to someone else never works as well. Liam stayed out of the way, and moments later, Fleur and Charlie Weasley appeared. Fleur ran to her son and hugged him. "Are you all right?" she held his face in her hands.
"Yes. But...." Liam began. Fleur hushed him.
"I know, ve vill sort everthing out. Right now, my dearest, stay out of sight until zees mess is over." Fleur pushed him back into his hiding place, drew her wand and went back out into the fight. In the back of her mind she had sensed in her son something fearfully wrong; it seemed his magic had been 'pinched', and he was suffering badly for it. Whoever had done it would pay dearly.

[*Riley*]

Liam smiled to himself, his friends were here everything was going to be ok ...

"Get up!" a hoarse whisper said from behind Liam

He turned to see one of the masked men pointing a wand in Liam's face,

"I said get up boy !" he repeated urgently

And together they dissaparated into the black squeezing tube...

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia sat down in front of the fire, only to hear her grandmother's voice again. "Go back. They need you." Valencia felt herself being pulled into apparition. And then she was gone.

[salemboy]

Damien sat down on the tatami mat, his monkey, Suge jumping onto his shoulder, holding out its hand. Damien laughed as he reached into his pocket for his wand and said, "Accio Banana." A few seconds later, Suge was happily eating a banana. Sunlight was coursing into his home through the open windows. He looked out the window at the beautifully setting sun. It had been a great day. The new recruits were coming along nicely, learning routines, how to discern poison from cure, and how to counter curses. He had spent several hours down in a muggle village looking at the sights with his dad and Tomo. Then him and his dad, who although old was still amazingly active, had broomriding races through the mountains. It was great. He could remember the old man's grinning face as they zoomed down just above the tree tops.

He fell back on the mat as the sun set over the mountains. The light remained for several more minutes, then vanished. It was dark, and Damien was tired. He soon drifted to sleep. Not for long though, for he was being shaken awake by someone, who was saying, "Damien, get up! Get up!" Then Damien recognised it as his father's voice, sounding serious and alert. Damien sat bolt upright, launching Suge who had decided to sleep on him. He pulled out his wand and held it ready.

"What is it?"

"There've been sightings of Dark Wizards in Europe. One being a young woman who killed a muggle in Italy, and many others in Hogsmeade," his father said briskly.

"Can't the European officials deal with it?"

"That's just it! In the last dealing with Voldemort, the messed up big time, so we're going in to help."

"Did you say Voldemort? THE Voldemort?"

"Yes, I did!"

"I thought he was dead."

"He was, but there've been rumors of some spell that brought him back, and he's already more powerful than the first two wars."

"Have you contacted the rest of the order?"

"Not yet."

"I'm heading to Hogwarts, to see what the professors there make of it, that is, if they aren't already involved. If they are, I'll just try to assist in any way I can." He pulled on a jacket as he talked.

Then his father said, "Once I tell the others to prepare, then I'll join you."

"But-" Damien started.

"Listen, Damien, I might be old, but I still want to fight. I was around for the first war, the second war, and there is absolutely no way that I'm missing out on the third war. Got it?" Damien nodded, but still wished his father wouldn't go. People were beginning to consider him, Damien, to old to fight. Damien didn't think his father could handle the stress. Seeing the worry in Damien's face, his father said, "Listen, I'll be fine. I've been through two wars before, and I've seen pain and suffering. If I die, I die. I've had a good life having you as a son. My only regret is that I didn't get a daughter-in-law, or a grandchild." Suddenly, Damien felt like he did when he was a child, not wanting for his father to go off to fight the deatheaters. Still, he let go of those feelings as he took out his potions suit.

Inside of his suit he held over a hundred potions and muggle chemicals, some being explosive, others for healing. He'd need this. He put it on, feeling its familiar weight. Then, Suge jumped onto his shoulder, and Damien walked out into the night. At this last moment, he was beginning to feel fear. What if he was captured? What if, in the middle of a battle, he turned into a werewolf and accidentally killed his allies? What if he gave away information that only his order knew? No. He wouldn't do that last one. No matter what happened, he could not allow that information to be given to the Deatheaters and Voldemort. With that, he concentrated with all of his might on Zonko's Joke Shop, and disapparated into the night with Suge still on his shoulder.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve felt Valencia's magic like a heart attack. She leaned forward, her dark hair falling into her face. she breathed deeply to keep from passing out, then she held up one hand and felt the very air around her. "She's here." Geneve breathed, and the child that she still was added, "Goodie!" She could not believe how connected she was to Valencia; it was like her very thoughts were coming through like a radio playing a song. But there was something else, something more powerful. "No..." Geneve said out loud. "It wasn't her magic, it was someone else." Geneve's grandfather revealed this to her. Valencia's grandmother was helping her. A rage ripped through Geneve that was not her own. "So it was you who aided the girl to destroy him. You might be able to guide her, but you won't be able to protect her." Geneve spoke, and as she did, Valencia's thoughts went dead silent, as if a metal door had been slammed on a noisy room. "Wretched, interfering little ....." she cursed. It would seem that her grandfather had known Valencia's grandmother. Geneve rubbed her temples. It was difficult to tell what her own thoughts were anymore. She was sharing head space with Voldemort and more and more his concious was stepping forward more often than her own.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia apparated in front of the Hog's Head and immediatly put a disillusionment charm on herself. Then she slowly walked forward, focusing on staying herself and keeping her mind safely closed.

[salemboy]

Damien apparated several blocks off of where he'd wanted to go. He hated apparating. Portkeys were much better, but the Japanese Ministry had long since banned them from being used, except with the supervision of the Minister himself. Kinda dumb, but the Japanese were brilliant in other things, so he forgave it. He looked around. He didn't recognize this street from the four years he'd been at Hogwarts before he'd moved. It was dark, with no lighting, and he didn't recognize any of the shops. So, like with every other situation, he consulted his monkey. It was just a psychological thing he liked to do, but it helped him catch his bearings.

After "consulting" Suge, he decided to go the way the wind was blowing. He walked cautiously down the street, wand at the ready, knowing that there had been several sightings of dark wizards in Hogsmeade. Then he saw a patronus dash by. It was a stag. It payed him no heed, obviously carrying a message. Then in an instant, it was gone. Damien ran the way he saw the stag come from. As he ran, Suge suddenly freaked out, jumping to the ground and tugging at Damien's legs, trying to make him stop. Damien of course didn't stop, but sped up. His monkey was kind of like his alarm. It had saved him several times from the few remaining followers of Voldemort. This time though, he need to go where Suge didn't. Suge had accepted the fact that Damien wasn't turning around, and jumped onto his shoulder.

Ahead, Damien heard loud noises, and the yells of curses and jinxes. It was a fight. He continued running towards the sounds until he saw witches and wizards locked in fierce combat, some he recognized as deatheaters, others he recognized as Potter and his friends. Amidst the fighting, he saw a young woman just standing there. Then he saw her lean forward, breathing heavily, obviously fighting off something. Then she leaned up, and said something. But it wasn't her saying something that unnerved him. It was the look on her face, the look of something far darker than he had seen before. It seemed as if it was the evil that he had seen Voldemort carry when he was younger, yet, it was more sinister, more cunning, and somehow more matured. Then the words of his father came to his mind, "There've been sightings of Dark Wizards in Europe. One being a young woman who killed a muggle in Italy, and many others in Hogsmeade."

Damien took aim with his wand at the young woman, and yelled, "Stupefy!"

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve was sure of one thought though - it was a clear command, "move. " it breathed. She stepped to her left, and something whizzed past her, shattering the wall behind her. She turned swiftly and hid behind the remains of the wall, her wand at the ready. She peered over the ruins and spotted her attacker. Her eyes narrowed, as she weighed up her options. Shall i flee? She pondered.Her heart raced. Who was this man. She had never seen him before, but something inside her told her he was not to be reckoned with, yet. She opened her mind and reached out for someone to help her. She felt a pull, and then disapparated to the source. It was Nikolaus. She reappeared right smack in the middle of their battle. He scooped her up and moved them into a nearby shop, the window to the rgiht of the door shattering from a stray curse. They hit the floor and Geneve crawled under a table. As she gathered her barings, she looked across the room; Liam was there, hiding in the shadows, and he was talking to someone in a black cloak. Nickolaus pulled on her arm to get her attention. She looked at him in the face, his expression was one of question, but somehow, of understandign too....