Harry sighed internally as Andre walked up to him just as he finished his breakfast. It had been two weeks since he returned from Christmas vacation, and ever since then, one member or another of the study group had sought him out, all of them trying to convince him to join them. He was running out of excuses to give them, and knew that he couldn't put this off any longer.

"Harry," Andre said, a casual easy going smile on his face. "Can we speak outside for a minute?"

"Sure Andre," Harry replied, following him out of the great hall.

"I think you know what this is about," Andre said as they stepped into the hallway. "We're running short on time, and we need to know that you're with us."

"Harry," Merlin spoke into his mind. "Think about this. There's still a lot we don't know. Keeping them close is our best chance to figure out their plans."

'They'll want me to do the rituals they did,' Harry thought back. 'There's no way around that. They won't tell me anything else unless I do.'

"I know," Harry nodded. "I've thought about this a lot," he continued. "And… I can't help you, I'm sorry."

".. What?" Andre asked, looking at Harry in shock, not believing what he just heard. "You can't be serious. You know what's on the line."

"I do," Harry replied, keeping his voice even. "And I want to believe you, believe her, but I don't."

Andre stared at Harry, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to process what Harry was telling him. "But, we told you everything… you even met Celestia. You talked to her. How can you not believe us?"

"When someone breaks my trust," Harry started, knowing that this would put him in direct conflict with Andre, but pushed forward regardless. "I have a hard time trusting them after that, and what you're asking of me, it requires a lot more trust than I'm willing to give you."

"She's in danger, Harry," Andre replied, his voice taking on a harder edge. "We owe it to her, all of us. Everything we have in the modern world, it's all because of her."

"And I only have your word on that," Harry replied, some of his own anger seeping through as well.

"I can't believe you could be so petty," Andre said angrily. "I've apologized for that! Are you really going to punish Celestia just to get back at me!?" He demanded, raising his voice.

"I don't like your methods," Harry shot back. "You manipulated me right from the start. You pretended to understand what I was going through to get what you wanted," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Andre. "And you did the same for Draco and Hermione! Where do you suppose they got the idea to steal the transfiguration test?" He asked, lying through his teeth as he went on the offensive.

"Calm down, Harry!" Merlin shouted, worried that Harry would let his anger get the best of him and give away everything.

"I had nothing to do with that!" Andre said, defending himself. "It was a decision they made all by themselves. When we found out what they did, we kicked them out of the group."

"I have a hard time believing that," Harry replied, reeling himself back in. "Neither one of them would have done something like this on their own."

"Harry," Andre said, taking a deep breath to calm himself before he said something he would regret. "This isn't about you or me. I get you don't like me, but this is bigger than that. We have a chance to save someone, an innocent, a hero," he stressed.

"You're going to have to find someone else," Harry replied coldly. "I don't trust you, and I don't trust your study group."

"…You're a fraud," Andre accused, looking at Potter in disbelief. "I don't know why I didn't see it before," he said, shaking his head with a bitter laugh. "You have a chance to do something truly great, and you're passing it up? Why? The spot light not big enough for you this time?" He accused. "You don't get all the damn glory to yourself?" He demanded, poking his finger into Harry's chest. "Is that it?!"

"You got me all figured out, don't you?" Harry said sarcastically, slapping Andre's hand away angrily. "That's what you do, isn't it?" Harry growled. "You find people's weaknesses, their insecurities, and you use it to manipulate them! I'm not letting you do that to me a second time. Stay away from me and stay away from my friends!"

"Harry!" Merlin warned again, trying to rein him back in.

Andre stared back at Harry coldly, "you're going to be sorry when this is all over, Harry. What we're doing is re-writing all the history books. You're going to be nothing but a footnote in history, if not outright forgotten when we bring about the new golden age of magic into the world without you," he said, shoving past Harry as he stalked away.

Harry watched Andre leave, a matching glare on his face.

"This wasn't wise, Harry," Merlin admonished. "You let your anger get the better of you. There's going to be consequences for that."

'It was always going to come down to this,' Harry thought back, still angry. 'And we're not going to find out how to stop them by playing their game.'

"I hope you're right," Merlin replied. "Because you just painted a huge target on your back."

'It was the only way out,' Harry thought back. 'He wouldn't have believed anything else, and stringing them along for much longer would have just made them even more suspicious.'

Merlin sighed, silently acknowledging the point. "We'll need to step up your training, then. He's stronger than he was before he left for the holiday."

'They did the ritual again?' Harry thought, wondering if they all had some kind of death wish. 'Are you sure?'

"I'm sure. He's trying to hide it, but all the signs are there," Merlin replied. "You saw how quick he was to confront you. The strain of so many rituals so close together has a mental component as well," he explained.

'How many more times can they do this?' Harry thought worried, remembering how powerful they had been the last time he faced them.

"Perhaps once more at most," Merlin replied. "Any more and it will kill them outright. That's why I suspect they've put so much effort into recruiting you. They're running out of time and options."

----------------------------------------

Harry stood outside of the Nimbus building, glad to be out of the castle, especially after his blow up with Andre earlier in the morning. Devlin had sent him a letter earlier in the week asking him if he wanted to test out one of the per-production Nimbus brooms, and he had jumped at the chance, glad to have a reprieve from the stress of dealing with the study group.

"Harry!" Devlin said, a big smile on his face. "Glad you could make it," he said, meeting him at the door.

"Are you kidding?" Harry asked, returning his smile. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

"A lad after my own heart," Devlin laughed, clapping him on the back. "You're going to love this. It turned out even better than we expected. Top speed is 130 mph, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, 35% lighter than the 1700, and twice as maneuverable. It's an absolute beast," he boasted.

"That's 15 mph faster than the engineers said before the start of production," Harry said, surprised and impressed by the results.

"We switched from oak to mahogany," Devlin explained. "Old man Ollerton bought up most of the broom grade oak to slow down our production," he explained with a laugh. "Jokes on him, though. We tested the enchantments on the mahogany, and they worked even better than on the oak. The engineers said the would grain was more receptive to the charms and enchantments."

"Ollerton?" Harry asked. The name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.

"Barnaby Ollerton," Devlin explained. "Owner and founder of Cleansweep."

"And no one thought to test other types of wood before?" Harry asked curiously.

"No," Devlin admitted sheepishly, guilty of being complacent himself. "Everyone went with oak because it's denser, and a stronger hardwood, but with modern charms and enchantments we can make up for the durability, but mahogany turned out to be far better at channeling magic."

"So it's basically a wand?" Harry asked.

"Well, I wouldn't try casting a spell with it," Devlin said, pausing to think about it. "But the crafting techniques are very similar."

"I can't wait to see it," Harry said excitedly as they walked into the testing room.

"Here they are," Devlin said, handing one of the finished brooms to Harry. "What do you think?"

Harry examined the polished wooden handle of the broom, letting out a low whistle, impressed. He looked down at the handle, examining the brass fittings around the bristles and the gold lettering on the handle. The broom looked far sleeker than the 1700, and certainly more powerful. He knew immediately it was going to be a hit. "Wow," Harry replied.

"Wait till you try it," Devlin said. "Then you'll really be impressed," he promised.

Harry nodded, mounting the broom and kicked off into the air, hovering in place as he got a feel for the broom.

"Open her up," Devlin encouraged with a laugh. "See what she can do!"

Harry smiled, leaning forward as he shot into the air, executing a barrel roll as he quickly gained altitude. 'We could have easily got away from Andre with these,' he thought, remembering his and Ron's escape from the Ravenclaw common room.

He turned into a loop, aiming at the ground with a big smile on his face as he quickly sped down, before pulling up sharply and leveling off.

"Nice feint, Harry!" Devlin shouted from the ground. "Keep pulling off moves like that and you'll be a shoe in for your school's quidditch team."

Harry looked down at the broom, getting an idea. 'Let's see what this broom can really do,' he thought, pushing a bit of his magic into the broom. His eyes widened in surprise as he shot off like a rocket, streaking across the room even faster than the broom's stated top speed.

He pulled on the handle, checking if the boost in speed affected maneuverability, noticing the controls were struggling to keep up. 'This is incredible,' he thought, considering the possibilities, wondering just how much faster he could actually push the broom.

"I wouldn't suggest it," Merlin replied. "The broom isn't designed to take that kind of power, especially directly."

'What's the worst that could happen?' Harry thought back, a carefree smile on his face, just before the broom stuttered and the speed dropped considerably.

"You could burn out the enchantments for one," Merlin said wryly. "And if I were you, I would land before they fail entirely."

'Right,' Harry thought back, quickly landing, and hoping that Devlin wouldn't be too upset with him.

"What happened up there, Harry?" Devlin asked, taking the broom from Harry, noticing the scorch marks running the length of the handle. "How did you get it to move so fast? You must have hit at least 200 miles per hour up there."

"Sorry about that," Harry said sheepishly. "I got a little carried away. I'll pay for a replacement."

"Forget about that," Devlin said, dismissing his concerns. "How did you do it? I've never seen a broom go that fast, even the experimental ones."

"I tried using it like a wand," Harry explained. "You said it could channel magic. I wanted to see if it would make the broom faster if I did."

Devlin laughed, clapping Harry on the back. "Well, it was certainly faster," he agreed, remembering how much he enjoyed pushing the envelope himself when he first started the company. "It's too bad the charms couldn't keep up," he said, running his thumb along the scorched wood of the handle.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I also noticed the maneuverability took a big hit as well."

"Makes sense," Devlin agreed with a nod. "We had to tone down the runes and enchantments to fit them all inside the broom. It looks like they burned out. It's too bad," he said, shaking his head.

"What is?" Harry asked curiously.

"With the 2000, we've pretty much reached the limits of what we can do with conventional racing brooms," Devlin explained. "The handle can't take anymore enchantments without the whole thing becoming unstable."

"I remember," Harry said, remembering their first conversation about broom design.

"We've tried a bunch of things to get around it," Devlin went on. "Increasing the length of the broom, even the width, but it becomes too hard to grip, and raises a whole bunch of other safety concerns."

"What about the test board you showed me before?" Harry asked. "You said you built runes and enchantments on that first, then refined them for the broom. Could it handle the extra magic?"

"Sure," Devlin replied with a shrug. "At least a little better than the broom. We'd have to rethink all the enchantments and runes to get anything useful out of it, but it's doable."

"Can I give the test board a try?" Harry asked, getting an idea. "I have a friend. He suggested I do some traveling when I get a chance. This could be a fun way to do it."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"I had the same idea a few years ago," Devlin replied, "but it's a dead end."

"What? Why?" Harry asked, surprised.

"We already have apparition and portkeys, the floo network, even the night bus," Devlin explained. "They're all cheap and effective. There just isn't a market for anything else. In fact, the only reason we still use brooms today is because of Quidditch."

"Still," Harry said, refusing to let go of the idea. "It could be worth exploring. You never know."

Devlin smiled. "I thought the same thing. I even brought in a focus group and had the engineers explore the possibility. You know what they told me?"

Harry shook his head.

"It would cost between 7000 and 9000 galleons to produce, and that's assuming we manufacture at scale," Devlin replied. "The focus group was even more blunt, calling it a colossal waste of time and money," he chuckled.

"How about just one?" Harry asked. "A special order?"

"12,000 galleons," Devlin said, pausing to think about it. "Maybe more, depending on testing."

"Alright," Harry agreed, knowing it was a splurge, but he couldn't let go of the idea. "When can you start on it?"

"Whoa Harry," Devlin replied, holding his hand up. "I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself here. This is something that's never been tried before. We're a long way off from even building a prototype. Besides that, how do you know you'll even like it?"

"OK," Harry said, seeing Devlin's point. "How about you let me try out the test board, and I'll see for myself?"

"Alright, Harry," Devlin said, deciding to play along. "But I have to warn you, it doesn't work the same way as a broom. We just use it for testing. No one's actually ever tried to fly one before."

Harry took the board from Devlin, staring down at it. It was an inch thick, about 8 inches wide, and about 24 inches in length. There were no other visible markings or anything else that would distinguish it from any other piece of lumber.

"Interesting," Merlin said, examining the combination of runes, charms, and enchantments applied to the board.

'What is it?' Harry thought.

"The way this is all designed is brilliant. How everything interacts with each other is incredibly well done," Merlin explained. "But it's designed from the ground up to apply to a broom. That's going to limit a lot of its potential."

Harry nodded, stepping onto the board, still willing to give it a try.

"Oh, hold on a second," Devlin said. "I almost forgot. You're going to need the handle."

"Handle?" Harry asked, curiously.

"Yeah, how else are you going to control it?" Devlin asked, handing him a t-shaped cross bar.

"Oh," Harry said, noticing the small, rounded hole in the middle of the board.

"You won't need it," Merlin dismissed. "You can control the flow of your magic well enough through your body to control it directly now."

Harry examined the board, a small smile forming on his face as he recognized the control clusters for the runes. Pushing a little of his magic into the cluster, he hovered the board a foot in the air.

Devlin's eyes went wide as he watched Harry levitate the board. "How did you just do that?" He asked, staring between Harry and the test board, perplexed. "The board needs direct contact to your wand hand to work."

"I'm good with runes too," Harry explained, mentally thanking Merlin for the lessons. "Although," he said, looking down at his feet, realizing there was nothing to keep him attached to the board without the handle. Pulling out his wand, he cast a sticking charm to his feet to make sure he stayed attached to the board. "Let's see what this can do," he said with a smile as he directed some more of his magic to the rune cluster, lifting him higher in the air and propelling him forward.

'Wow,' Harry thought as quickly picked up speed, already exceeding what he was able to do with the Nimbus. "This is amazing!" He shouted, looping around the test room, going faster and faster.

"Careful Harry," Merlin warned. "The board can handle more magic than the broom, but it still has its limitations."

'Right,' Harry thought back, slowing down as he tested out the handling. 'It's nowhere near as good as the Nimbus,' he thought, 'even at normal speeds.'

"The controls were designed to be used with a broom," Merlin agreed. "But with some modifications, it could work even better."

Harry took a few more loops around the test course before landing next to Devlin. "How long do you think it would take to make?"

"…I'm not really sure," Devlin admitted, finding a new interest in the project. "It'll be a complete re-design of the control systems, but using the Nimbus as a base, it shouldn't take too long, maybe four or five months."

"Can you let me know about the progress?" Harry asked, knowing that with Merlin's advanced knowledge of runes and enchantments they could speed up the development time.

"Sure," Devlin agreed. "As long as you to tell me just how you controlled the board without even touching the handle."

"It takes some practice," Harry explained. "You have to push your magic out through your feet and connect with the rune cluster on the board."

Devlin nodded, wanting to try it for himself. "Let's get some lunch, and you can teach me all about it."

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Andre paced back and forth in the library, waiting for his friends to arrive. He still couldn't believe how wrong he had been about Potter. There were always rumors about his sister being too full of herself, and his family being nothing but a pack of glory hounds, but after meeting Potter, he assumed they were just rumors. It was only now that he realized just how wrong he was about him.

"What's going on, Andre?" Ismelda asked, seeing the state her friend was in as the rest of the study group followed her in.

"Potter's out!" Andre practically growled.

"What? What do you mean, he's out?" Talbott demanded, his eyes widening in surprise. "We can't do this without him!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Andre snapped, directing his anger at Talbott now.

"Alright, alright, just calm down," Ismelda said, stepping in. "Tell us what happened."

"I went to talk to him, like we discussed," Andre said, continuing to pace. "That's when he told me. He's still mad at me for lying to him," he explained. "He doesn't even care that Celestia's life is on the line!"

"Ok," Ismelda said, sitting down. "Is there a way we can salvage this?"

"No," Andre said, shaking his head. "He's made up his mind."

"Maybe we can change his mind then," Beatrice suggested. "We'll give him some time to cool down, and maybe have someone else speak to him instead."

"That won't work," Andre replied, thinking about how he had left things with Potter. After what he found out, he wasn't sure he even wanted Potter with them.

"Why?" Lucian asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "What did you say to him, exactly?"

Andre looked away, his nostrils flaring in anger. "I told him what everyone else is too afraid to say to his face. He's a fraud. The only claim to fame he has is solving Merlin's Cypher, and that was just a fluke. He doesn't want to help Celestia because he won't get all the credit for it."

"You told him all that?!" Talbott asked, realizing the situation was far worse than he thought.

"What?" Andre asked curtly. "It was the truth, and it's about time he learned the world doesn't revolve around him."

"Did you even consider Celestia when you burned that bridge?" Ismelda demanded, feeling angry herself now as she glared at Andre. "We can't do this on our own. We need another caster. What are we supposed to do now?"

Andre sighed deeply, running his fingers through his hair. "…I don't know," he finally admitted, looking at his friends. He could see the frustration on their faces, and knew he had screwed up.

The pressure he had been under the last few months had finally caught up with him. Between all the rituals, the setbacks, and the Alumni breathing down his neck to get everything ready, he had let his anger get the better of him. "I'm sorry, guys," he admitted, sitting down as well.

"Who else is there?" Lucian asked. "If the bridge is burned with Potter, we need to find a replacement, and fast."

Before any of them could reply, a swirl of light appeared in front of them, revealing the ghostlike form of Celestia. "It needs to be Harry," she said firmly.

"Celestia," Andre said, his eyes widening in surprise. It was rare for her to appear like this, and after they introduced Potter to her, he didn't expect to see her again for some time.

Morgan looked at each one of her unknowing acolytes, seeing their haggard appearances, a clear side effect of the rituals they'd undergone. She had been afraid something like might happen, and if she didn't step in and take charge they were likely to ruin her centuries of planning.

'It's a pity they won't live much longer past opening the portal,' she thought. 'It's been nothing but screw up after screw up with them,' she thought contemptuously. 'I won't even get the chance to punish them properly for their failures,' she thought darkly.

"Why does it need to be Harry?" Ismelda asked curiously. "Can't we just as easily replace him with any other student?"

"No," Celestia said, shaking her head. "He's powerful, and not just for his age. To replace him, we'll need more students, and they'll need to perform the ritual at least twice. Time is running short, and they won't have enough time to recover between rituals."

"Then we'll do the ritual again. As many as time as it takes until we're strong enough to free you," Andre said reverently, needing to make up for his past failures.

"Thank you, Andre," Morgan replied, hiding her disgust for the child. "But that's not something I can ask of you, any of you. It's too dangerous," she said, adding the proper inflection to her tone as she played the part she had honed over the centuries.

"We're willing to take that risk," Talbott said, picking up where Andre left off. "When you return, we have faith that you will heal us, and bring about the new golden age," he said, oblivious to the worried looks on the faces of the younger members.

"It is not that simple, Talbott," Morgan said, moving to stand in front of him. "I can see your pain," she said, plastering a regretful expression on her face. "I know that I am the cause of it, and for that, I'm deeply sorry. Please forgive me," she added, bowing her head.

"No Celestia," Talbott replied, shaking his head. "There is nothing to forgive. We have all chosen to save you of our own free will. We are ready to make the sacrifices necessary to insure your return," he said, looking around the room, noting that even Lucian, Beatrice, and Elspeth who had the most difficulty with the recent ritual were nodding along.

"It is not the simple," Morgan replied, knowing that she had to rain them in before they did something stupid, and got themselves killed before they opened the portal and freed her. "As I've told you all, every time you perform the ritual, it damages your bodies. If you perform it even one more time, it could be the end of you. My freedom isn't worth your lives."

"I'm sorry," Andre said contritely. "This is my fault. If I had handled Potter better from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."

"It's not your fault," Morgan lied. "I can see the pressure you are under, and considering the circumstances, you have performed admirably," she said as a smile formed on Andre's face.

She couldn't tell him how she truly felt, not without shattering the goody two shoes image she had crafted for herself, but the fool had nearly cost her everything, and more than once already.

They had allowed themselves to be discovered, which in it itself was bad enough, but the time it took and the many failures they had stopping the thieves was another matter entirely.

Then losing the three promising first years and sending all her carefully laid plans into a tailspin. She would need to win back Harry herself. It was the only way to make sure the job got done.

"I will speak to Harry," Morgan said. "I know you all mean well, but for now, I want you all to keep your distance from him. I will help him understand the threat Chthon poses and what we must do to stop him."

Andre nodded, feeling a stab of jealousy. He didn't like that Potter would get to spend so much time in Celestia's presence, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. He tapped down his frustrations, keeping his mind on the bigger picture. "We understand," he said, "and we will do as you ask."

"Thank you," Morgan said, giving them each a nod. She had big plans for Harry once she was free. He would make the perfect herald. Intelligent, charismatic, and most importantly, he wasn't a fool, like the rest of them.

'All that power at their disposal, and they don't know the first thing about how to truly wield it,' she thought about the study group. The thieves would have been no match for even one of them if they knew what they were doing, but for better or worse, she was stuck with them, at least until the spring.

----------------------------------------

Filius knocked on the door of Minerva's bedroom. "Minerva, it's Filius. Can I come in? I'd like to talk to you, if I could."

"The door's open," Minerva called out from the other side of the door distractedly.

Filius walked in to find Minerva staring outside the window. He had known her for many years, and could tell when something was bothering her, and he knew it wasn't just her demotion.

"What did you want to talk about?" Minerva asked, turning away from the window.

"What's going on with you?" Filius asked bluntly. "I know it's more than what happened with the test."

Minerva sighed, 'maybe I should just tell him,' she thought. 'The school year's going to be over in a few months, anyway.'

"Minerva?" Filius asked, seeing the resigned look on his friend's face. "Tell me what's going on," he implored.

Minerva let out a sigh. "I've come to a decision, and you're not going to talk me out of it," she warned.

Filius felt his stomach drop, instinctively knowing this wouldn't be good news.

"I've decided to retire at the end of the school year," Minerva confessed. "This will be my last year at Hogwarts."

"What?" Filius asked, not expecting Minerva to just give up. "Why? Lord Niven said you could keep your job."

"I can see the writing on the wall," Minerva replied, looking away. "I'm barred from ever becoming headmistress. I'm no longer the head of Gryffindor, and Albus won't even speak to me anymore."

"What will you do? Where will you go? Another school?" Filius asked, still shocked that his old friend was even considering leaving.

"I haven't decided yet," Minerva admitted. "I might just take some time for myself first, but after that, who knows?" she asked, forcing a smile onto her face. "Maybe I'll write a book, or publish a study. It's been years since I've had the time to do some proper research."

"But you shouldn't just give up," Filius replied, wanting her to reconsider. "What if Lord Niven changes his mind?"

"No, Filius, I've made up my mind," Minerva shook her head. "Besides, without Albus to support it, I can't get reinstated anyway, and he made his feelings about me clear on the matter."

"Are you sure this is what you want? Absolutely sure?" Filius asked.

"It's not what I want… but it is what needs to happen," Minerva replied. "I can't even bring myself to look at Mr. Malfoy or Miss Granger," she admitted. "Much less call on them to answer questions or award them house points, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon."

"Ok," Filius nodded his head, knowing there was nothing he could do to talk her out of this. "Have you told anyone else about your decision?"

"No," Minerva admitted. "And I would appreciate it if you kept to yourself. I'll send Albus a letter at the end of the school year and make my goodbyes to the other professors then as well."

----------------------------------------

Harry returned to Hogwarts late in the evening. He'd taken Devlin through the basic lessons he's taught Hermione, Draco, and Ron, helping him to locate his magical points.

Devlin picked it up much faster than he'd expected, but considering his expertise in runes, it wasn't much of a surprise.

He pushed open the door to the room of requirement to find his friends already there waiting for him. He watched them from the door, observing their progress as they worked on locating their magical points. Ron and Hermione were obviously ahead of Draco, having spent more time on it than he had, but they were all making good progress.

"It'll still be some time before they're able to block any spells," Merlin said. "But they are at least taking it seriously."

"You've improved," Harry said, getting their attention.

"Thanks," Ron replied. "When do you think we'll be ready to block spells with it?" He asked, eager to move onto the next stage.

"It's going to be a while," Harry explained. "You need to expand your magical pathways a lot more, and you'll need to do the same for a lot more of your magical points before you can even attempt it."

"Right," Ron said, getting back to his training. He'd been practicing every time he had a moment to spare. After what happened in Ravenclaw tower the last thing he wanted was to be put in a situation like that again, and not be able to defend himself.

"Harry," Hermione said, getting his attention. "Maybe we should tell Professor Dumbledore what's going on," she suggested. "We're in over our heads."

"We still don't know who all the Alumni are," Harry pointed out. "If it turns out he's working for them, we'll be in real trouble."

"Why do I get the feeling there's more to it than that?" Draco asked. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Harry didn't treat Dumbledore the same as the other professors.

"…There is," Harry admitted. "After I solved Merlin's cypher, he sent someone after me, Allister Moody. He attacked my friend and kidnapped me. He wanted me to give credit to my sister for opening the vault, and when I refused, he threatened me," he said, giving them an abbreviated play-by-play of his first meeting with Dumbledore.

"What?" Hermione asked in shock, Harry's words not matching up with anything she'd read about the professor. "Why would he do that?"

"He's been trying to build up Glory's reputation over the last few years," Harry explained. "Let's just say that she doesn't make a very good first impression, and he thought that this would help her grow her influence."

"How did you escape?" Draco asked, knowing how formidable the Headmaster was.

"My goblin portkey," Harry explained.

"Handy, that," Ron agreed, having used it himself to escape the study group. "Why isn't he still trying to convince you? What changed?"

"They had a falling out when my father went on trial," Harry explained. "I don't have all the details, but they aren't on friendly terms anymore. Dumbledore tried to recruit me to his side a few times since, but I don't trust him."

"I get it," Draco agreed, seeing where Harry was coming from. "Your sister was probably going to be in Hogwarts when they planned to open the portal, and now that they've fond out they have to do it this year, and he's suddenly on your side."

Harry nodded. "I've already told my barrister, Ted, and he's working on getting a message to the Minister," he added.

"We need to find out if he's with them then," Hermione said. "Like it or not, he's the most powerful wizard in the world, and if we're going to stop them, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Hermione's right," Draco agreed. "Especially after your argument with Andre today."

"He didn't have much of a choice," Ron pointed out. "The longer Harry strung them along, the more suspicious they would get."

"They need at least three more students to open the portal too," Hermione said. "What are they going to do now? I doubt they're just going to give up."

Harry nodded, having the same troubling thought. There was more than one way to open the portal, and he doubted that after all this time Morgan didn't have a backup plan.

"I know her Harry," Merlin said. "She didn't put all her eggs in one basket. She has more than one back plan."

"I don't know," Harry admitted to his friends. "But we have to assume they have an alternate plan."