A/N: Important change...yes, I have read some of your suggestions and lo and behold- I changed the characters of the Hogwarts and Durmstrang champion. If some of you would like to reread the ending part of chapter seven go ahead, if not;

The champion for Hogwarts will be Johnathan Lescott, a ravenclaw seventh-year student. The champion for Durmstrang will be Gregorio Voronin, Durmstrang seventh-year. Oh, and I decided to not lower the age for entry, it will remain seventeen.

Sorry for all the changes but thanks to Roxoan or something, I have created a slightly more original plot that won't have anything to do with Viktor or Cedric - to be honest, I never really knew what to do with them but with these new OCs; I have a more defined story base for the future chapters.

Chapter X

November 1 1996

Hogwarts, Scotland

'Thar she blows.' He thought. 'The reason for my existence, my ever present ray of light in the darkness, my lighthouse when I'm trapped in a raging sea, my-'

He was brought out of his musings by Fernando. "Boss, you're staring at her." He whispered.

Without a second thought, he plopped himself down on the seat across the raven-haired girl whose blue eyes were sparkling with amusement, a small quirk on her lips. Harry let a smirk come over his face as he appraised the girl before him. She had changed in these past six years since he had seen her, her body growing out a bit more. Every bit of perfection he could have imagined.

"Hello Daphne, it's been a long time hasn't it?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Hmmm- Yes it has, Potter. I'm surprised that you managed to hold out this long without uttering one of your ridiculous one-liners. Holding it in?" She said seductively as she traced her finger on his hand.

Harry smiled sincerely. "You look beautiful Daphne."

Daphne blushed. "Not like you at all, Potter. I suppose you've grown up these past six years. Never would I imagine that little ten year old dweeb wearing a suit and-"She pretended to gasp. "No glasses? My, my - don't we look dashing today?" She smirked at him.

Harry ducked his head down and mumbled. "I wasn't that short back then." Fernando patted his shoulder condescendingly and staged whispered. "Yes, you were Harry."

Daphne leaned in and asked conspiratorially. "So where have you been all these years?"

Aware that their conversation was being watched by the entire hall, he chuckled. "Oh you know - around. Not introducing you me to your friend?" He jerked his head towards a dirty -blond haired girl, eyeing Harry with no equal amount of shock.

"You know the Boy-Who-Lived and you never told me?" The girl asked in disbelief.

"Yes, we've met 'briefly' six years ago. He was a rather obnoxious little boy back then. Still is." She turned to look at Harry. "Potter, this is Tracey Davies. Tracey, this is Potter." She then held out her hand to Anna. "Daphne Greengrass."

Anna just stared at her hand for about a moment, as if checking to see whether there was any form of malice intended behind the greeting before slowly shaking her hand. "Anna Ivanovic." She murmured.

"And you must be Fernando right? We've met before back then." She eyed him appraisingly. "You've certainly grown into a ruggedly handsome man." She smirked slightly and carefully avoided Harry's alarmed gaze.

Harry twitched slightly as Fernando leaned in close to him. "Do you want me to kill myself?" He asked uncertainly. "Because I'll do it…I think."

"I'm thinking about it." He whispered harshly.

"I'll help." Anna added.

Luckily, Harry was saved from contemplating the murder of his right hand man by the appearance of Remus and a sulking Sirius.

"Scoot over." Sirius said to Fernando as he took a seat beside Harry. "I can't believe you're in Slytherin. It goes against everything I believe in." He paused and took out his wand. "Flagrate" He then begun to draw shapes resembling human heads in the air.

"Look-" He said as he pointed to his badly-drawn caricatures. "good people equal every other house while people who don't wash their hair equal Slytherin." He mumbled angrily and narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Are you shampooing regularly?"

"Excuse me, what gives you the right to insult us when you're sitting here?" A sneering blond boy hissed from further down the table.

"Oh, stuff a sock in it and go tell your daddy, little nephew." Sirius said sarcastically.

The boy huffed indignantly. "Listen Black, I-."

"Shut up." Harry and Sirius said in unison. The sneering boy clenched his fists and begun to cut the steak on his plate violently; aware that he would not want to cause a scene in front of the whole school. A few sniggers were heard from the other tables as the unofficial Prince of Slytherin reddened in embarrassment.

"He's your nephew?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, Purebloods are all inter-related Harry, don't you know that?" Sirius answered. "His mother is my cousin who then married a pureblood scion named Malfoy and together they spawned-" He drummed his fingers on the table. "-Tadaa- Little Draco over there. I might even be related to your dad." He added.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked in disbelief and grabbed Sirius's collar. "What about the Potters and the Greengrass? Are we that closely related?" He asked desperately as he shook Sirius back and forth.

Daphne reached across the table and whacked his on his head. "What made you think of that question? So help me God if you're thinking that we're going to get married, I'll-"

Remus cut her off. "So you're Gerard's daughter?" He asked curiously. "What's he doing nowadays? Is he still with his law firm?"

She nodded before kicking Harry under the table.

Harry winced and rubbed his shin. "It's a vague question Daphne, and who am I to foretell the future even if the chances of us being together are incredibly high?"

"Wait-" Tracey Davies said as she clicked her fingers. "so he's your mysterious eastern-European lover? All those years on Christmas, he's the one who's been sending you those presents that you've been gushing over for days?"

Daphne dropped her head on the table with a thud, her voice muffled. "Smooth move, Trace."

Harry smiled cheekily. "Gushing?" He, Fernando and Sirius said in unison. They quickly turned to look at each other.

"Oh great, another one." Anna muttered as she stared off into the distance.

"What was that, Anna?" Harry asked excitedly. "Did you somehow string certain words together to form a sentence that was meant to insult us?"

"No, my- Harry." She murmured.

"Your Harry?" Tracey asked with an eyebrow raised. "Something you're not telling Daphne, Potter?" She glared at him.

Anna twitched slightly and reached her hand into her suit as if to pull out her gun. Fernando quickly stopped her and hissed into her ear. "We're normal now, normal."

"Well damn." Harry said as he looked at Tracey, amazed. "You got her to twitch without saying Gustav." The three of them promptly flinched and touched their right knee, a sharp pain shooting up their knee.

"Whoa, what the hell was that?" Sirius asked as his eyes shifted between the three. "I mean the three of you flinched at the same time. That was kinda cool. So all I have to do is say Gust-" He gulped and quickly shut his mouth when he found three wands pointed at his face.

"You will not utter that name in our presence, ever." Harry growled menacingly.

"And what are you doing Potter?" A silky voice drawled behind him. "Not that I mind if you kill Black or his werewolf pet." The black haired man spat. "Then again, threatening a person so early into your enrolment? Tsk, tsk. It's just as I suspected, it appears your celebrity status has inflated your ego. Always thinking you're above everyone else don't you, just like your father-"

Harry cut him off. "I would appreciate it if you stop talking about my father, since you know he's dead and all. It's kind of weird that you keep bringing him up so much. I mean- I'm his son and you don't hear me talking about him so often." He shocked the group into silence as he casually dismissed his father's death. "Who are you anyway?" He asked the black haired man.

Sirius shook his head sadly. "Harry, you poor bastard, I'd like you to meet the other bastard who is now your head of house, Professor Snivellous Snape."

That seemed to enrage the man and he clenched his jaw in an effort to contain his anger. Harry quickly turned to look Daphne. "What's his real name? I mean what poor bastard is named Snape? That kind of sounds like a 'Snapple' flavour." He chuckled. "Snape Apple Snapple."

This sent Sirius into a howling laughter while Remus hid his sniggers behind his hand. Even Daphne and Tracey had to fight from showing the smile twitching on their lips.

"Detention tomorrow at my office." Snape hissed.

"Detention? Isn't that for children who do naughty things and have to sit in the corner?" Harry asked before he nodded his head. "It's fair, I suppose. I did insult your father. Would you mind apologizing to him for me?"

"I can't, seeing that he's been dead for twenty years." Snape replied through gritted teeth.

"Hey." Harry brightened. "Like my dad. We're both alike if you think about it."

Snape twitched slightly, appalled that Potter had the audacity to insinuate that they were similar. He sneered at him and walked away before he did something to the hell spawn of James Potter that he'd regret…maybe.

"That was…fun." Harry turned back to face the group. "So what's it like here at Hogwarts? I heard some exciting stuff happened while you were in school." He asked as a dark smile crept on his face.

*~*~*~*~*

"So then, these two idiots, Weasley and Finnegan rushed to the supposed forbidden corridor to try and stop Professor Snape from stealing the Philosopher Stone but instead of Snape, they found Professor Quirrel instead. When they barged into the room, they apparently disrupted Quirrel's process to try and lull the Cerberus guarding the room to sleep." Tracey paused and drank from her goblet. "Long story short, the dog ate him and those two Gryffindor idiots have been overbearing ever since."

"Wow-" Fernando breathed. "I always thought a three-headed dog would be useful for something." A small sadistic look on his face. "Anything else we need to know?"

Daphne scrunched up her face in thought. "Well there was that 'Chamber of Secrets' fiasco and about Black-" She looked pointedly at Sirius. "But you already know that."

"Yeah, any ideas what happened to the chamber thing?" Harry asked.

"Supposedly, some student got possessed by an evil spirit or something and attacked the caretaker's cat." Daphne shrugged. "All we're told is that Dumbledore managed to banished the spirit away before it could plan another attack."

"You know, people get possessed a lot here at Hogwar-" Fernando was cut off.

"Students, if I may have your attention please? There is a meeting regarding the first task of the Triwizard tournament. Champions, if you'd please step this way." Dumbledore's voice carried through the hall as he gestured to a door on the side of the hall.

Harry sighed. "I guess that's my cue to leave. Daphne, Tracey." He nodded to the two girls as he stood up.

"Later champ." Daphne smirked at him.

Anna and Fernando followed him as he walked to the door. Surprisingly, Sirius and Remus tagged along as well.

He entered the sparsely-lit room where the only source of light was from the fireplace at the opposite side of the room. The room was deathly silent as he entered, each of the individuals in the room staring at him with some amount of hate, suspicion and wariness.

The silence was broken by a tall and thin man; his shaggy black hair and goatee that ended with a small curl. The man sneered at him and spoke in a Slavic tone. "Dumbledore, we have already agreed against our better judgement that the boy is allowed to compete but why should he have so many advisor?" His beady eyes trailing to observe the group behind Harry. "Does it state in the rules that the 'fourth' champion-" He spat. "be allowed to have more than one advisor?" He suddenly looked up in shock. "Oh wait, nowhere in the rules states that there was to be a 'fourth' cham-"

Dumbledore interrupted him. "Igor, we have been through this." He sighed wearily. "The rules states that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament." Dumbledore turned to look at a man who vaguely resembled Hitler due to his toothbrush-like moustache. "Isn't that right, Barty?"

The man nodded. "It is clearly stated, and there is no way around it unless the champion wishes forfeit and risk losing his magic."

A rather large woman stood up to her full height, her head slightly touching the ceiling. She sneered and glared at Harry. "Yes, but 'ow do we know he didn't put it in himself and 'ow did was he able to get past ze age-line?" She drawled.

Dumbledore turned to look at Harry and put his hand on Harry's shoulders. "Did you put your name in the Goblet?" He asked seriously. "Or asked somebody older to do it for you?"

"No." Harry deadpanned. "Did you?"

Dumbledore tensed slightly.

Harry gave an annoyed frown as he briefly wondered how stupid can these people get. 'Wait, better say it out loud.'

"How stupid can you people get? I wasn't in England when my name was called out, so how could I possibly put it in myself." He growled to the group in general and pulled out his parchment. "Look, you idiots, there's no name on it except for my blood. Itwas rather ingenious to use my blood for a magically binding contract. Have you never heard of blood contracts before?" He asked sarcastically.

Karkaroff shifted his eyes over towards Dumbledore, suspicion dancing in his eyes. "Whoever did this was knowledgeable of the nature of magical contracts."

"Listen-" A man 'clanked' his wooden peg on the floor as he called for attention. One of his eyes was normal but the other had been replaced by a glowing blue orb, much like a prosthetic which twirled in his socket. "It'd be useless to start arguing since there's no other way around. Unless you have any other alternatives, I suggest we continue with the instructions for the first task."

"Fine." Karkaroff grumbled under his breath as he glared at the scarred man. "Still, why does he have so many advisors?"

Dumbledore nodded and turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I'm afraid your friends aren't allowed here right now."

Harry examined what he thought were his competitors in the room. A tall, dark haired and browned eye boy was leaning against the walls, looking on disinterested at the scene. He appeared to be fighting of exhaustion as his eyes were drooping and he was yawning ever so often.

A gangly boy with long black hair was standing next to the heavily scarred man; he narrowed his eyes at Harry as their eyes connected. A scowl on his face and he turned to look away.

Finally, a girl with silvery blond hair and large, deep eyes who only looked back curiously. The large woman hovered protectively behind her as she laid her huge hands on the girl's shoulders. The girl buckled slightly under the weight but quickly regained her composure.

"How about them?" Harry jerked his head to the rest of the adults in the room; he vaguely recognized some of them sitting at the staff table.

"They're the champions' advisors and the rest are supervisors of the tournament." Dumbledore answered.

Harry sighed. "Fine, Fernando-" Fernando perked up. "Get out. Remus, Sirius, you too. Out now." The three of them grudgingly left the room as they grumbled about the unfairness of the world. "I'll tell you later." Harry shouted to their retreating backs.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry, are you sure you want Ms. Ivanovic to be your advisor? It's a very important position. Every one of our champions has chosen a teacher, perhaps Septima over the-"

"Is it stated in the rules that I have to choose a teacher?" Harry cut in and glanced at the official with the Hitler moustache, he slowly shook his head. "Anna stays." He said blankly.

"All right. Now, I'll pass it on to Mr. Barty Crouch, the head of the International Magical Co-operation who will instruct you on the first task."

Crouch coughed to get their attention. "Now, seeing that all of the champions are here, we can finally release the details of the first task. The first task is designed to test your courage and daring. As such, no information shall be revealed until the start of the task which is three weeks away from now. Now, as for-"

Crouch was cut off by the aloof boy wearing the fur uniform of Durmstrang who yawned loudly. "Gregorio-" Karkaroff hissed. "Silence."

"As I was about to say-" He looked pointedly at the Durmstrang champion. "the champions will face the first task armed with only their wands. The details of the second task will only be revealed once the first task is over. That is all." He said before he smiled politely to the group.

Harry and Anna were the first out of the door and walked over to the group sitting at the front of the Slytherin table. The Great Hall was deserted except for them, since dinner was already over and the students must have moved on to their respective dormitories.

"Well?" Sirius asked excitedly.

Harry just shrugged. "I don't know, they only told us that the first task was three weeks from on."

The doors to the room opened again as the rest of the champions and teachers exited the hall. The two foreign champions left through the main entrance while the black-haired boy just scowled at him and walked away.

"Mr. Potter, do you mind if I talk to you for a moment in my office?" Dumbledore asked as he approached the group.

"Sure." Harry shrugged. "We do have a lot to discuss."

The five of them followed Dumbledore as they walked up the crazy-moving staircases to his office. "What's the point of them moving? I mean what happens if somebody just drops down because they never noticed the stairs move?" Harry asked.

"Oh, there's nothing to fret about. The castle recognizes each of the magical signatures of its occupants inside, so there is never a risk of that happening. Why of course-"

Harry drifted off as Dumbledore continued to rattle on and on about the mysteries he had observed over the years. He sighed inwardly. If he couldn't pay attention for five minutes, how was he going to pay attention in class?

They quickly reached an empty corridor with a stone gargoyle statue. Dumbledore immediately stood in front the statue and said "Mars Bars."

'Great, he really has gone senile.' Harry thought.

To Harry's surprise, the statue jumped out of the way, revealing a flight of steps up to a door. "Welcome to my office, Harry." Dumbledore said.

*~*~*~*~*

"Why do I get the feeling that you already know that the five of us are going to come here?" Harry asked as he took a seat on one of the five armchairs in front of the Headmaster's table. His office was littered with odd trinkets that were placed on the shelves; one of the devices suddenly gave out smoke periodically. There were bookshelves packed with faded tomes and an empty bird stand next to his desk.

"Ah, the castle is a mysterious thing Harry." Dumbledore said while his eye twinkled, as if it answered everything.

"Remy, remember that time when James and I blew up the potions lab during our fourth year and we had to come here?" Sirius said excitedly. "Good times back then."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, I believe your concoction of vanishing potion managed to vanish most of the occupants' clothes."

"Yeah, best one hundred points we ever wasted and it was worth the three months detention." He said wistfully. "James and I caught an eyeful of Debby Harrison without…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Remus coughed. "Yes, I believe she was one of the first to develop in our cohort?"

Sirius nodded. "God bless Hufflepuffs." He winced as he rubbed his cheeks. "But they have a mean right hook too. I wonder what happened to her; maybe I should pay her a visit."

"Too late, she got married thirteen years ago." Remus said.

"Damn." Sirius grumbled under his breath.

"First, let me start by saying it is good to see you alive and in good health, Harry. We were all very worried when you were taken away from your relatives' house." Dumbledore said as his eyes twinkled when he regarded Harry.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Well, we have you to thank for that actually, since I learned you were the one who put me with them but…that was another chapter of my life that I do not like to reminisce. Still, I'm sure they were slightly better than an orphanage in any case."

"I would like to apologize, Harry but I had hoped that Petunia would be able to look past her resentment for your mother but sadly I was mist-"

Harry cut him off. "Sure, apology accepted. I just want to know the real reason why I'm here."

Dumbledore tensed and wriggled his hands worriedly. "Yes Harry. As you may have already guessed, it was I who put your name in the Goblet of Fire but you must believe me when I say I have a very good reason for my actions." He said hesitantly.

"Go on." Harry said blankly.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Harry's calm demeanour. "You're not angry?"

Harry shook his head, using his Occlumency training to control his emotions. "Hell yeah I'm angry, but it's stupid to get upset over something that has been done. I'll just bottle it up for more constructive purposes."

'Like chucking you into the the lake with cement shoes.' He thought inwardly as a small chuckle escaped his lips.

Dumbledore nodded uncertainly. "Perhaps I should inform you what had occurred in the time that you were away from-"

Fernando cut him off. "We've already heard about Voldemort's resurrection and what not. So if you'd please cut to the chase." He snapped his fingers impatiently.

"Oh, may I inquire how you already know this information?"

"No." Anna said curtly.

"Yes-" Dumbledore cleared his throat, slightly peeved at their rudeness. "well, I brought Harry back to England because I believe that Harry is the only one who can defeat Voldemort. Without him, Wizarding England will fall into Voldemort's hands."

"Does it have to do with the cursed scar?" Harry pulled up his fringe and waved his wand over his forehead, cancelling the glamour charm. "I suppose you know why he went after me and the reason why I was able to survive a killing curse."

Dumbledore sighed wearily. "It's one and the same, Harry. Voldemort came after you because of a prophecy and you survived because of it."

"You expect me to believe that a dark lord actually puts stock in Divination?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle as he was called prior to being Lord Voldemort; is a man who fears the unknown. It was during a job interview about fifteen years ago when the prophecy was revealed to me. Sadly, at that time, one of Voldemort's spies managed to hear the prophecy and report it back to him."

Dumbledore stood up and walked over to his shelves. He waved his hand over a section of the wall and it shimmered, revealing a stone basin. "This is a pensieve; one simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin and examines them at one's pleasure." He chuckled. "When you've lived as long as I do, you tend to forget the little details." He said as he brought the pensieve to the table.

He waved his hand over the basin and it glowed before a mist appeared above it and an image appeared much like a projector. A woman with rather round like glasses with bug eyes appeared on the screen. She suddenly turned rigid and spoke in a weird tone as if in a trance.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...." The mist quickly disappeared as she finished the sentence.

"I'm afraid that is all I can show you. When Voldemort learned that there was a child that could be the result of his downfall, he immediately acted on it." Dumbledore said sombrely. "As you can see the prophecy states that you are the one destined to defeat Voldemort. You fit everything described in the prophecy even where he marked you as his equal." He stared pointedly at Harry's scar.

"You mean to tell me that Trelawney gave the bloody prophecy? What's the proof that it's even real?" Sirius half-shouted.

"It is real Sirius; you saw the signs. She went into a prophetic trance and after she ended it, she appeared dazed and she did not have any recollection of reciting the prophecy."

Harry scoffed. "My parents died because this woman thought that I was the only one capable of killing Voldemort?" He asked rhetorically.

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I'm sorry Har-"

"Stop apologizing." He hissed angrily before calming down and began to rub the bridge of his nose. "Look, I don't believe in Divination. A friend of mine once said 'Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach Divination'." Harry deadpanned before tossing his hand up in the air. "Listen, I'll help you with this Voldemort fellow but I expect to be paid for terminating him oh- and compensation for being forced into this tournament." He huffed.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asked perplexed. "Compensation?"

Harry pretended looked up in shock. "You just hired us to do a service, Headmaster. You did want me to 'defeat' this Voldemort, did you not?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly.

"Well then, my associates and I expect to be paid for this. Don't worry, Headmaster. We have very 'reasonable rates' and a good track record when it comes to dealing with these types of…individuals." He smiled darkly. "We're very good at what we do."

Three pairs of eyebrows rose at that point. "You mean li-like an assassin or something?" Sirius stammered.

Fernando shook his head and answered him. "We prefer the term; mercenaries."

Dumbledore eyes widened. "Oh Harry, what have you done to yourself?" His voice quivering as he looked at Harry pitifully, his eyes watery from unshed tears.

"Why?" Harry asked in disbelief. "I'm happy doing what I do and I love the people I've been doing it with. When I was taken away from the Dursleys, it was the second best thing to happen in my life."

"What's the first?" Dumbledore asked curiously as he dabbed his eyes with the sleeves of his robe.

"Meeting Daphne." Harry sighed dreamily as his eyes had a faraway look in them.

"Yes, you two seem pretty familiar with one another; you must have met her before you came to Hogwarts. May I inquire how you and Ms. Greengrass met?"

"It does not concern you, sir." Harry said curtly. "While I do not hold any grudges against you for your past transgressions, I would like to keep my personal life -well, personal. From now on, I believe it would be best if we were to keep our relationship strictly professional."

Dumbledore had a defeated look on his face. "If that is what you wish, Mr. Potter, I will honour your request but I would like to think that if you have any problems, you would not hesitate to come to me. After all, we are together in this from now on." He said as his eyes regained his customary twinkle.

"Sure." He said blankly. "Anything else?"

"Oh, I forgot to inform you that the examiners for your OWLs will arrive tomorrow. Your letter did mention that you were already prepared for the exams."

"It did?" Fernando asked.

Harry not-so-subtlety hit him in the ribs. "Yeah, it did. If that is all, Headmaster?" Dumbledore smiled politely and nodded his head.

*~*~*~*~*

Dumbledore watched the retreating backs of Harry and his companions. His mind working furiously despite his calm demeanour. 'A mercenary at such a young age?' He thought as he stroked his beard. It did sound rather far-fetched but it would somewhat explain where Harry had been over the years and why it was so hard to locate him.

Still, Harry being what he is, could have a very adverse effect on the student body, heck- maybe even some of the less experienced teachers. It wouldn't be good to have another fiasco like the year before, and the year before that and…

Dumbledore shook his head. No, he had faith that Harry would be able to control his impulses. After all, he did say he was a professional; he wouldn't just kill anyone who annoyed him.

'No wait-…he said he was very good at what he did.' Dumbledore eyes widened. 'And he's a mercenary.' He thought before he 'thumped' his head on his desk. Still, Harry being what he is, could prove to be very useful in the coming war. Judging by what he had seen from Harry's transfiguration skills, Harry had indeed inherited his father's affinity in that subject.

Then again, he wondered if Harry was travelling down the same path as Voldemort. It was not because of Harry's placement in Slytherin. He did not believe that all Slytherins are evil and automatically sided with Voldemort. Perhaps Severus may have fitted into that category but he did know a few Slytherins who refused to side with Voldemort. However, the similarities between the two were too strong even down to their intense eyes which seemed to be able to pierce the very soul of a man.

He wanted to believe that despite Harry's unusual occupation, Harry still had a conscience; a heart underneath his cold exterior. 'Yes, people who use disagreeable methods for the purest of intentions.' He reasoned.

After all, dark times were coming and Voldemort was surely not going to play nice. He sighed wearily. Now, the only predicament was that; how in the world was he going to afford their 'reasonable rates'.

He narrowed his eyes and mumbled angrily. "Damn schoolteacher's salary."

A/N: Again, one of the more harder chapter as yet...feels a bit iffy on some parts, so spot any errors or offer some constructive feedback...please review. It's all a learning process besides writing was never one of my strong suits.

Oh, and another thing - for those of you who write in FF, what happens when that life thing in your documents upload reaches zero? Furthermore; is there some way that I can sort the documents in the list? My document area's getting messy.

I am in no way affiliated with 'Snapple' or its various subsidiaries.

Remember I'm not endorsing Snapple but...the fruity & thirst-quenching flavour as it slids down your throat. The sigh of contentment as you realize that that something in your life you thought was missing, is now found. The disappointment you feel when you're shaking an empty bottle. The exhilarating thrill as you stop at your nearest supermarket or grocery shop and reached for that special bottle. The orgasmic pleasure wracking your entire body as your lips touch that fruity liquid.

As they say, run forrest run! run to the nearest convenience store....