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ZOMG an Inevitable update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inevitable Forty-Eight: Pieces of You
by Mhalachai
Note: In which I compress most of HBP into about 2,000 words! Previous chapters here.

~~~~~~~


"Stop Voldemort?" Harry repeated, stunned. "How?"

Dumbledore turned the ring around in his fingers, staring into its depths as if it held all kinds of secrets. "It was something that I have wondered about, dreaded, for a very long time, but never had any proof."

"Do you have the proof now?" Harry asked. His heart was pounding in his chest. If Dumbledore knew a way to stop Voldemort, then everything was going to be all right. Right?

Dumbledore let out a weary sigh. "I do." He set the ring down on the desk, then pulled a long, thin box out from a drawer. "Do you recognize this?" he asked as he opened the box and held it up for Harry to see.

Harry stood and leaned over the desk, looking intently at the object in the box. A heavy silver chain and locket glinted in the lamplight.

Frowning, Harry said, "It looks a bit... I can't remember."

Dumbledore laid down the locket. "It used to reside in the Black house."

Of course! Harry remembered now. That's why the locket looked familiar, he'd seen it in one of the cabinets when he'd been helping the Weasleys and Sirius clean at No. 12, Grimmauld Place, a long time ago. "So it belonged to Sirius's family?" Was this supposed to help them stop Voldemort?

"This locket did not belong to Sirius's family, Harry," Dumbledore said. He stared at Harry over his half-moon glasses, suddenly looking very old. "It belonged to Salazar Slytherin."

Harry's breath caught in his throat. "One of the founders of Hogwarts?" he asked, although he wanted to kick himself a moment later. How many Salazar Slytherins could there be in the wizarding world?

"Yes." Dumbledore held up the cracked ring again. "This belonged to a family knows as the Gaunts, the last remaining descendants of Salazar Slytherin. Specifically, to a wizard named Marvolo Gaunt."

Harry's eyes grew wide. He didn't know the man Dumbledore was talking about, but he knew that name. "But that's Voldemort's grandfather! The Tom Riddle in the diary, he said he had his muggle father's name and his wizard grandfather's middle name!"

"That is correct."

Too wound up to sit still, Harry paced across the room to Fawkes's perch. The phoenix trilled a greeting before going back to his preening. "Why was Salazar Slytherin's locket at the Black house?" Harry asked. "And what's with the ring? What is so important about them?"

Dumbledore waited until Harry had turned away from Fawkes's perch. "It is in these objects that Voldemort has hidden parts of his soul," Dumbledore said mildly.

Harry nearly walked into a table. "He what?"

Ignoring the incredulous tone in Harry's voice, Dumbledore stood and went to a trunk along the stone wall of the office. "There is a deep and ancient magic that allows a wizard to split his soul," Dumbledore said, emotion creeping into his voice for the first time. He was angry, Harry realized. Very angry. "It is never spoken of, has been hidden from view for centuries."

"Then how did Voldemort learn about it?" Harry demanded.

"Pride." Dumbledore straightened up, holding something in his hands, something Harry couldn't quite see. "Another's pride is what led Voldemort to this knowledge. Years ago, this happened, but its malignant touch grows more and more with each passing day."

As Dumbledore returned to his desk, Harry tried frantically to wrap his brain around all that he'd just heard. Voldemort had split his soul? Into the ring and the locket? But then how did Dumbledore have these objects?

Harry sank back into his chair, his knees suddenly feeling weak. From the way the headmaster had been talking, splitting your soul probably wasn't an easy thing.

"How did Voldemort split his soul into two pieces?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Why do you say two pieces?"

"You said it was into the ring and the locket," Harry said slowly.

Instead of responding, Dumbledore lifted the object in his hands and laid it on the desk. Harry blinked at it a few times before he realized what he was seeing.

"The diary!" Harry exclaimed, gripping the arms of chair so hard the wood cracked. "Tom Riddle's diary!"

His head was swimming, with new information and half-forgotten fragments of memory. Voldemort had put a sixteen-year-old version of himself into the diary, the phantom Tom Riddle had said, back when he had been trying to kill Ginny Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry had thought at the time that it was just memories in the diary, but if what Dumbledore was saying was true...

"Voldemort put a piece of his soul in that thing?" Harry said weakly. "How?"

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and waved it at Harry's chair, fixing the shattered wood. "These are Horcruxes," he said. "Objects that hold part of a soul. With a Horcrux, the person can never really die when the body is killed. They just... exist."

"Like Voldemort did after he killed my parents." Harry felt sick.

"Indeed." Dumbledore paused as Fawkes fluttered over to the desk and settled on a silver perch. "You know the ghost, Moaning Myrtle?" Harry nodded. "She died when Voldemort first opened the Chamber of Secrets. For years, I thought her death was an accident."

"Wasn't it?"

"No." The word fell like a stone into the silence. Even the portraits were quiet, listening to Dumbledore's tale. "The creation of a Horcrux needs a death, a murder. Young Myrtle's was the first."

"Of how many?" Harry asked. He didn't want to know. He wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else, not listening to how Voldemort was killing people, for no other reason than chopping his soul into little pieces. Listening to this made him feel tired, like once he knew, he'd never be able to rest again.

"What do you know of numerology?" Dumbledore asked, stroking the top of Fawkes's head.

"Why?" Harry asked, sick of these words games.

"There is great power in numbers," Dumbledore said. "Some things are repeated a number of times, to gain more power. With death magics, there is a certain power in the number seven."

"Seven," Harry repeated dully. "Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces."

"I believe so, yes."

Harry stared at Dumbledore. "Voldemort killed people to split his soul into seven pieces. Let me guess, we can't kill him unless we find all those seven pieces?" He flung his hand at the objects on the desk. "We've got these three here, what about the rest? Rowena Ravenclaw's hairpin? An old shoe? Better yet, how about a grain of sand on a beach!"

His voice rose until the last words were shouted. The portraits on the wall muttered amongst themselves, but Harry didn't pay attention to them.

"It is interesting that you mentioned Rowena Ravenclaw," Dumbledore said, ignoring the outburst. "Once I realized that this locket belonged to Slytherin, I began searching, for other objects. I found that a young Voldemort, when he was known as Tom Riddle, had a certain interest in objects that had once belonged to the founders of Hogwarts."

"So all we need to do is find three other objects belonging to the other three founders of Hogwarts, that have pieces of Voldemort's soul in them, and then destroy them," Harry said sarcastically. "Then figure out where the rest are, then kill Voldemort. Right. Easy."

"Harry," Dumbledore chided, but Harry didn't want to hear it.

"What do you expect me to say?" he demanded, leaning forward in the chair. "How wonderful it is that we know all this? How brilliant it is that Voldemort killed people to make himself invincible? That he might just well be invincible?"

"I expect only honesty from you, Harry. Nothing less."

Harry dropped his head into his hands. This was insane. Facing Voldemort was one thing. Facing him when Harry would never be able to actually kill him was a very different game.

Not a game Harry corrected himself. There are no rules and no safe areas in this. If I'm going to do it, I can't ever stop.

What would Anita do? Harry tried to imagine Anita sitting here, having been told that Olaf had broken his soul into several pieces to make him harder to kill. She'd probably be yelling more than he had, but he didn't think that she would consider stopping, even for a second.

Right. Harry lifted his head and met Dumbledore's gaze. "So where do we begin, sir?"

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth crinkled up into a tiny smile. "At the beginning," was all he said. "If you could again tell me how you destroyed Tom Riddle's diary, we will see if we can determine how to destroy the other Horcruxes."

Harry slumped down in his chair and proceeded to tell Dumbledore the story of facing the ghost of Tom Riddle's diary in the Chamber of Secrets. When he got to the part about how Fawkes had cried on his wound, healing him with phoenix tears, Dumbledore sat up straight. "Phoenix tears," he mused. He looked at Fawkes, who trilled softly. Harry felt his tension vanish with those delicate notes.

"Can we use that to destroy the Horcruxes?" Harry asked.

"We will see," Dumbledore said. Fawkes shook himself, then flew up to the top of a bookcase. "I suspect that each must be destroyed in its way. With the diary destroyed, and the ring broken, that leaves us with the rest. But not tonight."

Harry stood up and paced around the office, restless with sitting still for so long. "Does that mean that the locket is still a Horcrux?"

"It does."

Harry ran his fingers idly over a spindly silver instrument on a table. "Where are you going to put it while we try and figure out how to destroy it?" He was just curious, but something about Dumbledore's sudden silence sent a prickle down Harry's spine. "You're not going to keep it here," he said, turning back to Dumbledore.

"It would be best if you did not know their exact location, Harry, in case--"

"You can't keep those things here!" Harry exploded. "If Voldemort wants them, and he finds out they're here, he's going to come!"

"Hogwarts is the best protected place in the British Isles," Dumbledore said. There was a warning in his voice, but Harry was too angry to heed it.

"This place is full to the brim with little kids!" Harry said with a growl. He and his beast were equally angry. "Maybe the seventh years might be able to hold off a Death Eater attack, but what about the first years? If Voldemort attacks, he's not going to do it with a handful of Death Eaters like at the Ministry!"

"I have made my decision," Dumbledore said, finality in his voice.

Harry concentrated on breathing, trying to temper the anger and fear roiling about in his chest. Adults were supposed to protect kids, not put them in harm's way. Kids like Reece, without any idea of how to protect themselves... simple levitation charms and being able to turn a match into a needle wouldn't save them. Would he be able to start up Dumbledore's Army again, to teach defence skills to the younger children?

"Harry," Dumbledore interrupted his thinking. "Please, sit down, we have much more to discuss."

Mutinous thoughts in his heart, Harry grudgingly returned to his chair. His eyes fell on the silver locket. "How did you figure out that was a Horcrux?" he asked, curiosity winning over anger.

Dumbledore closed the box on the Horcrux and slid it back into a drawer. "It was only after Mundungus Fletcher was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, over the summer," he said. "We found this among his possessions."

Harry clenched his jaw. He didn't want to think ill of the dead, especially someone who'd been killed by the eternal pain curse, but he'd known Mundungus Fletcher had been nicking Sirius's stuff, and was suddenly angry all over again.

"For a time, I speculated that Bellatrix was sent after Mundungus because of the Horcrux, but his possessions were untouched. It looks as if he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Dumbledore said.

"She does tend to kill people like that," Harry said. He had to work to keep his voice even, as he remembered Anita screaming on the darkened forest floor; the sight of Clay's lifeless body... Bellatrix's half-eaten corpse.

"But no longer," Dumbledore said softly. Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as Dumbledore continued, "About her death, Harry..."

"It was my fault," Harry said in a rush. "But I'm not sorry. She killed Sirius and Clay and Nigel Spencer and she tried to kill Anita and Jamil and Suzanne." He folded his glasses up and rested them on his knee, thinking hard. "Does Voldemort know she's dead?"

Dumbledore folded his hands on the desk. "It is a certainty."

"The Dark Mark?"

"Yes."

Harry stared at a spot of dirt on the edge of his robe's sleeve. "Are the people in St. Louis going to be in danger because of that?" he asked. "If Voldemort finds out what happened?"

"I do not think so, but one can never be certain," Dumbledore said.

Harry fiddled with his glasses. "Maybe I should let Anita know, if she's going to be in any danger."

"If you wish."

"What, no cautions against telling the muggles about magic?" Harry asked, unable to help himself.

"I think we both can agree that Anita Blake is no ordinary muggle," Dumbledore replied.

Nine tiny chimes sounded from somewhere in the room. Harry hadn't realized it was so late. "Neville said, on the train, that everyone thinks necromancers are evil," he said. "Do they?"

"It is a common viewpoint," Dumbledore admitted.

"Just as Parselmouths are usually seen as evil?" Harry pressed. "Or like kids with vampire fathers?"

Dumbledore's gaze seemed to bore into Harry. "Are you wondering about your mother?" he asked.

Sometimes, Harry hated how Dumbledore seemed to read his mind. "Yeah, maybe I am," he said defensively. "How would you feel, if you find out that your dad would have hated your mum, if he knew who her father was?"

Fawkes swooped down from his perch to land on Harry's shoulder. The phoenix rubbed his head against Harry's cheek. The beast in Harry recognized the gesture as comfort, even if it came from a animal unlike his own, and settled down.

"You do not give James enough credit," Dumbledore said gently. "He loved Lily, and he loved you. Knowing of Damian would have surprised him, but he would have reconciled that knowledge with his love."

Fawkes trilled, a soulful, melancholy tune so heart-breaking that Harry felt tears burning in his eyes. "Thanks," he muttered, reaching up to touch the bird's head.

Dumbledore waited for a few moments, then asked, "Harry, do you no longer need your glasses?"

"Huh?" Belatedly, Harry realized that he was still holding his glasses. "Oh, right." He shoved the glasses back on, displacing Fawkes to his knee.

"Another change from the werewolf?"

"Something like that," Harry said. "I mean, I really didn't shift, the other night. It's just, not everything's the same."

"I see." Dumbledore seemed pleased by that, but Harry wasn't sure why.

"But Reece," Harry said as Fawkes fluttered away. He didn't want to question Dumbledore's decisions, but he had to know what was going to happen to the young werewolf, in a month's time. "Is he going to be okay with everything here?"

"Yes, he is. I visited his family before his uncle would allow Mr. Trevelyan to attend Hogwarts." Dumbledore stood and walked to a table Harry hadn't noticed before, that held several small glasses. "Would you care for some hot chocolate?"

"Tea, if you have it," Harry said automatically. The thought of hot chocolate at this time of night made him a little queasy. While Dumbledore poured from a waiting teapot, Harry looked around the office. Things were the same as they had been the many times Harry had been here, with dozens of mysterious objects on tables, bookshelves full of ancient tomes, portraits of all the former Hogwarts headmasters gracing the walls.

Several of the portraits nodded at Harry as his gaze drifted over them. One portrait, however, glared at Harry as they made eye contact. "Really, consorting with necromancers and werewolves," sniffed the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, former headmaster and Sirius's great-great-grandfather.

"I thought you'd approve of making friends with powerful people," Harry snapped back. "Especially that sort."

"One doesn't make friends with werewolves, boy," the portrait retorted in its thin, weedy voice. "One simply delays being eaten."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dumbledore approach, but he didn't take his eyes off the portrait. "Shows what you know about werewolves then, doesn't it?" Harry said, smiling wide enough to show his teeth.

Dumbledore silently handed Harry his tea, and Harry quite deliberately turned away from the portrait. While Dumbledore moved back to his side of the desk, Harry had a sudden thought.

"Are there any portraits of my parents, sir?"

"No, there are not," Dumbledore said, not making any sign that he found the question at all strange. "Even though James was from a family that typically had portraits done when a son or daughter graduated from Hogwarts, he always found a way to avoid the sitting. He said it made him think too much of dying."

"How about Sirius?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Sirius left his family's home as soon as he could. He held even less store in portraits."

"Right," Harry said, surprised at how much it hurt. Even if it wouldn't be them, just a picture that talked like them, it still might be nice. Or maybe it would make things worse, Harry didn't know.

Taking a sip of his black unsweetened tea, he tried to drag his mind back to the problem at hand, of Voldemort and the Horcruxes. "How did that locket get to the Black house?" Harry asked. "You'd think they'd have put it somewhere special, not in that dirty old cabinet."

"One would think that, yes." Dumbledore took a sip of the amber-coloured liquid in his glass. "Something is not right about the situation, of how this locket came to be in the Black house, and later in Mundungus's possession." He shook his head. "But what I do know, Harry, is that I can rely on you on this matter now. This is not the way I would have chosen to tell you this information, but we are running out of time." He stared into his glass. "Many things have had to be changed."

Harry fidgeted in his seat. "What are we going to do to find the remaining Horcruxes?" he asked. "Is there some--"

Dumbledore held up his hand, cutting Harry off. "These are all matters that can be dealt with at our next meeting," he said. "It is getting late, and you need to be back in your dormitory before curfew."

"But sir--" Harry tried to protest.

"We will meet again in a few days, if that is all right with you," Dumbledore said. Harry knew he was being placated, and he had to swallow his annoyance to nod. "Very well. Before you go, I have something for you."

The Headmaster stood and walked to one of the bookcases that lined his office. Harry craned his neck, trying to see what sorts of titles were on the shelves, wondering what books Dumbledore would have hidden up here.

"Here we are." Dumbledore returned with a dusty old book, which he handed to Harry. "Talking of your father and Sirius reminded me that you might like this book."

Curious, Harry looked down at the cover of the book. The golden script was almost rubbed off the cover, and it was with great difficulty that he read the title out loud. "Most Mysterious Tales of the Animagi?" He looked up at Dumbledore. "What's this? A book on Animagi?"

"More specifically, a book on how to become an Animagus," Dumbledore said, his eyes regaining that old familiar twinkle. "It takes the most gifted of wizards years to even attempt the first transformation, so I have no qualms about giving you this book at this stage, for some extra reading."

Harry's stomach lurched. Him? Become an Animagus like his dad? Like Sirius?

"But I will tell you what that book does not, Harry," Dumbledore continued. "There are spells, meditations, trances, but all the preparation comes down to one thing: The wizard needs to accept the animal he will become."

Harry ran his fingers over the leather binding of the book, not sure what do say.

"No matter what that book says, Harry, the hardest part of the exercise, all of the training, is part of letting the animal overcome the human part of the mind. Once a wizard accepts the animal, he is very close to becoming an Animagus."

"Is that so?" Harry said, his mouth strangely dry.

"It is," Dumbledore said. "Now, you should return to your dormitory. I will see you in a few days."

"Right." Harry climbed to his feet. His head was spinning. All he wanted to do was to sit down and read this book right now. Could he be an Animagus? Like his dad and Sirius? Would the animal he already held inside of him prevent him from becoming an Animagus, or would it make it easier?

"And Harry?" Dumbledore said as Harry was in the doorway. "This evening, bringing Miss Weasley to discuss her potions book. That was a very wise decision."

It seemed like so long ago, that Harry and Ginny had walked up to Dumbledore's office together. "She was worried," Harry said, then stopped himself. "With good reason, too."

Dumbledore nodded. "Good night, Harry."

"Good night, sir," Harry said, heading for the revolving staircase. The door shut behind him, and soon he was walking though the hallways of Hogwarts, heading for Gryffindor towers.

Two days, Harry thought as he quickly shrunk the book and shoved it deep into a pocket. Two days until I see Dumbledore again, and I can ask him more about being an Animagus--

Harry stopped dead in his tracks in the stone corridor. He distracted me! Harry realized. Dumbledore didn't want to talk about the Horcruxes anymore and so he gave me this book on Animagi and I fell for it! He felt like kicking himself. How stupid could he be?

Good mood gone, Harry stormed silently along the hall. He was almost at Gryffindor tower when his senses prickled as he approached a corner. Not sure why, he slowed to a near-stop and made sure he had a clear grab at his wand.

Moments later, Snape whipped around the corner. He started slightly when he saw Harry standing there, waiting, but he covered his surprise with a snarled smirk. "Why are you out so late, Potter?" he spat. "Out past curfew on your first day back?"

"I was just seeing the Headmaster," Harry said. His annoyance with Dumbledore, mixed with his customary dislike for Snape, stirred the animal that lurked in his body. Harry suddenly felt stronger, more agile, and more than willing to attack an enemy.

Snape smiled coldly. "That will be five points from Gryffindor for being rude to a teacher," he said. "Shall we go for ten?

Harry glared at Snape. Did he know about the Horcruxes? He was a spy for Dumbledore, Harry knew, but did that go two ways? Would Snape tell Voldemort that there were pieces of the Dark Lord's soul hidden in Hogwarts?

A suit of amour at the other end of the hall exploded in a shower of metal. "Peeves!" Snape shouted, attention momentarily diverted from Harry. Taking the opportunity, Harry ducked around the teacher and ran around the corner, away from Snape and the temptation for violence.

I can't attack a teacher, even if it is Snape! Harry thought, trying to wrest control from the animal. The danger's supposed to be gone, because I didn't become a werewolf!

Running up three flights of stairs took an edge off his anger. By the time he reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry decided that he should see if his Occlumency would stop him from reacting like this. He had a three-hour Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Snape on Friday morning. If a thirty-second confrontation in a corridor set him off, all kinds of bad things could happen in class.

"Monk's Hood," Harry panted to the Fat Lady. She looked him up and down, then swung the portrait open without a word.

Great, I'm pissing off portraits too.

Even so late, the room was still full of students wound up from their first day of classes. Harry spotted Ginny and Hermione bent over a book at one of the tables.

"Harry!" Hermione said as Harry dropped into a chair beside them. "How was your meeting with Dumbledore?"

"Fine," Harry lied. Should he tell Hermione about the Horcruxes? Part of him wanted to, but he knew that she'd tell Ron. Perversely, Harry didn't want Ron to know anything about this, not while he was still acting like such a prat.

The look Hermione gave him indicated that she didn't believe him. "We were just going over some potions work," she said.

"Don't suppose you know why silver would affect the Draught of Living Death?" Ginny asked, not looking up from her parchment.

"Not really." Harry shifted around in his chair. He no longer wanted to look at the Animagus book that Dumbledore gave him. Not right away, anyway. He watched Ginny's quill scratching over the parchment, and out of nowhere came an idea. "What kind of living death?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny said, finally raising her head.

"Living dead like zombies, or living dead like vampires?"

"Why?" Ginny asked, but Hermione was already digging in her book bag. Pulling out a library book, she flipped pages frantically.

"Like vampires more than zombies," Hermione said excitedly. It looked like Hermione was as smart as ever, Harry thought, amused.

"Silver can hurt a vampire," Harry explained to a confused-looking Ginny. "A silver bullet can kill a young vampire, where a lead bullet won't do any more than piss it off. With zombies, silver doesn't do anything; you need cold steel to deal with it."

Ginny stared at him. "How do you know this?" she demanded.

"Just stuff I learned over the summer," Harry said with a shrug.

"Here it is!" Hermione interrupted. She dropped the book on the table. "This section, here!" She bent over the pages, oblivious to Harry. Ginny gave him an apologetic look, then leaned closer to Hermione to read.

Harry leaned back in his chair and watched as they began arguing quietly over something in the text. The normal scene, with the sounds of the common room in the background, soothed him, and he made himself turn his thoughts back to the meeting with Dumbledore.

Maybe there's a reason he didn't want to talk more about the Horcruxes, Harry admitted grudgingly. Maybe he had to meet someone. Or maybe he didn't know any more, and he didn't want to admit that.

And it was rather decent of the man to give him that book on Animagi. He didn't have to. Maybe after Harry went up to his room, he could take a look in that book, see if he could become an Animagi. Like my dad.

What kind of animal might he become? Various animals flitted through his mind, big ones like lions and tigers and leopards. Nothing seemed to fit, though, until he remembered the way the wolves moved at the Lupanar on the night of the full moon. The image stuck in his mind, of Jason and Richard and Sylvie and all the pack, of fur and claws and sharp wicked teeth.

"Are you still studying?" Ron's voice interrupted Harry's pleasant daydream. The redhead had come up behind Hermione's chair. "It's been hours."

"We've got a lot to work on, Ron," Hermione said, a bit irritated.

Ron clenched his jaw, and his eyes slid from the open books on the table to where Harry sat. "You don't seem to be helping."

The undercurrent of anger in Ron's voice set Harry on edge. He hadn't forgotten Ron's angry and ugly accusations from earlier in the day, nor the demand to stay away from Ginny. He didn't see why Ron was so angry at him, and for no reason.

Harry stood in a fluid motion, which put him facing Ron. He had to look up to meet Ron's glare, but the height difference didn't really matter. He wanted to hurt Ron, like Ron was hurting him. He could, too, say something that would rip Ron apart, leave all his jealousies and fears on the floor for everyone in the common room to see. Harry knew his best friend better than anyone, and he knew how to hurt him the most.

They were just words. Looking up into Ron's angry eyes, Harry knew he could destroy their friendship, could hurt Ron as much as Ron seemed intent on hurting him.

Harry turned around and walked away without a word.

... to be continued

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Date: 2006-02-19 07:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kristen257.livejournal.com
Hey mhalachai, could I possibly tempt you into joining [livejournal.com profile] ironfic? I started it a while ago with a friend and I'm hoping to lure more authors over into participating.

The community is based on the Food Network show Iron Chef only with authors and fanfic. We have a list of both Het and Slash Iron Authors from both BtVS/AtS and HP fandoms for each character. Although someday I hope the community grows enough to make it a multi-fandom thing for now we're just sticking with those three.

Other authors can challenge the iron author of their choice and then they have a month from the day their challenge begins (we will announce the date of the challenges) to write a minimum of 1000 words (either in a one-shot fic or by combining the word total of drabbles) using the "secret ingredient" assigned. At the end of the month both the challenger and iron author post their submissions and are judged by 3 judges on their use of the prompt, grammar, characterization, length, quality, etc and a winner is declared.

So does it sound like something you'd be interested in doing?

Date: 2006-02-19 11:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Thanks for thinking of me, but I'm going to have to decline at this point. I've got so many fics on the go these days that I can't pick up anything else.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] kristen257.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-19 11:57 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] lishel_fracrium.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-21 04:35 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2006-02-19 07:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] goddessvicky.livejournal.com
::becomes puddle::

I always am so excited when you update.

I've never really liked Harry as a character. I like my characters strong. Harry was always too... mousy?... for me. I know, I know. He's fought Voldemort, seen his godfather die, yadda yadda yadda... He's just not strong enough for me.

But *your* Harry? Yum.

I like my men with teeth. And even if those teeth are metaphorical, as is in Harry's case, they still do it for me.

Yay for the update!

Date: 2006-02-19 11:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Oh, at some point Harry's teeth may no longer be metaphorical :) He'a strange mix of angry teen and dangerous man and half-beast. Makes things... interesting.

Define interesting.

Oh god, oh god, they're all going to die?

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] goddessvicky.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 01:35 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 02:35 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2006-02-19 07:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] carnadosa.livejournal.com
Yeah! I think I checked this everyday since the last update, even though you said you wouldn't until after the 14th.

What kind of animal might he become? Various animals flitted through his mind, big ones like lions and tigers and leopards. Nothing seemed to fit, though, until he remembered the way the wolves moved at the Lupanar on the night of the full moon. The image stuck in his mind, of Jason and Richard and Sylvie and all the pack, of fur and claws and sharp wicked teeth.

So he's still going to be able to run with them? That's so nice of you. ;) Not that I can think of anything else he could be as an animage at this point.

I like the way you keep bringing up the fact that he's changed, with the teeth bearing and such.

Date: 2006-02-20 12:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Well, as a friend recently pointed out, no one has considered that Harry's animagus form might be a mermaid. Er, merman. Or possibley a Snidget.

I like the way you keep bringing up the fact that he's changed

Mr. Potter is convinced that he hasn't changed all that much, but a lot of what is different is his maturity and self-confidence, which is leading the beast. Of course, all his friends see is this new and improved Harry.

I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] carnadosa.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 12:19 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 02:34 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2006-02-19 07:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] watcher457.livejournal.com
*snickers* hehehe. i knew animagi would be coming up. i so knew it.

one editing bit, second paragraph:

Dumbledore turned the ring around in his fingers, staring into its depths as if it held all kinds of secrets. "It was something Ithat I have wondered about, dreaded, for a very long time, but never had any proof."

Date: 2006-02-20 12:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Who can say no to Animagi? Esp. as it looks like JKR won't be using it in book seven, alas. At least not for Harry.

Thanks for the spelling booboo :) I'm horrible at stuff like that.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] watcher457.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 12:30 am (UTC) - Expand

Yay!

Date: 2006-02-19 08:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vampiress04.livejournal.com
Wonderful, you updated! I'm so glad. Though not as action packed as some of the chapters before it, it was still nice to read. I am one of those few people who actually like angry Harry in OotP, so seeing him all riled up and shouting at Dumbledore was excellent. It's been a long time coming, if you ask me.

I am also in awe of how Harry handled the situation at the end. He really has maured, a lot it would seem. Happy to see it.

Will there be an update soon? Hope so, because I cannot wait for more!

Re: Yay!

Date: 2006-02-20 12:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
In this chapter, Harry was still a little stunned. Give him a few days, then he may get all CAPSLOCKS!RAGEy when he realizes exactly how screwed they are. Or maybe not.

At the end, Harry's too angry to look at the other side of this, although he did have a very brief insight into it before he walked away. We'll soon get these guys ironed out (iron optional)

We'll see how the updates go :)

Date: 2006-02-19 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] todaygirl.livejournal.com
Wow. This was just what i needed to take my mind of things.

I really like the why Harry was worried about Reece and when he thought about what Anita would do, I could so see her having a fit over it. The best part was probably the end when Harry was the bigger man and walked away from Ron. It showed how much he had really grown over the summer. Thanks for the update:)

Date: 2006-02-20 12:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
You're quite welcome. Harry's got someone new as a role model now, and we can say that her way of looking at bad things is certainly different than most of the people Harry knows. Or, well, anywhere.

Date: 2006-02-19 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mefeather.livejournal.com
Wow. Wow. Wow. I think I can't say anything else. Except, Harry really acted more mature than Ron, turning away without hurting him. Although, Ron has a point about Hermione. :D

Date: 2006-02-20 01:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it :) We all grow in different stages, Harry and Ron are just out of phase (you know, what with Harry's "impending" doom and all)

Date: 2006-02-19 09:48 pm (UTC)
ext_60814: (Default)
From: [identity profile] thekams.livejournal.com
Oh yay!!

I think you did an awesome job with shrinking HBP down into this chapter, it worked for me! =P I was wondering if Harry would think of becoming an Animagus so he could join the wolves at the Lupanar on the nights of the full moon...and Reece! haha

I'm glad Harry was the bigger man and walked away from Ron. Even though I love Ron, sometimes he just needs to grow up a little, so it's nice to see that Harry didn't stoop to his level. Can't wait for the next update! :)

Date: 2006-02-20 01:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
My working title for this chapter was HBP II: The Wrath of Filch. It was a long week.

The difference between Ron and Harry, I think, is that Ron's not able to conciously hurt anyone like that. Harry is, but has decided after all he's gone through to *not* do it. I have no canon evidence to back me up, but I think this all the same.

Date: 2006-02-19 09:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melmscs.livejournal.com
squeelllll! yea! a new chapter.

Date: 2006-02-19 10:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sabriel-0405.livejournal.com
You just made my afternoon! I thought this was great. Bringing Harry into the "now" but keeping his summer experiences. He knows more, not just about himself, but about life. He's stronger, both physically and mentally, and it's starting to show. Well done!

Date: 2006-02-20 01:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
I'm glad you liked it :) Yes, Harry facing certain death x 10 over the summer was more of a growing experience than Ron going to see Hermione's folks. There is also much to be said about putting a teenager in an adult situation.

Date: 2006-02-19 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deathinapinkboa.livejournal.com
YAY! *does a little dance* So wonderful.

Dumbles is an arse though...so is Ron.

Date: 2006-02-20 01:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
I'm glad you liked it :)

Date: 2006-02-19 11:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadzia7667.livejournal.com
I love this story so much. I was leery of reading a fanfic based on Anita Blake's universe (we all know she runs it, right?)...your story is intense, engaging, plotted well and the characterizations are to die for. Drool. I don't even like men, but I drool at some of these guys - grin.

Date: 2006-02-20 02:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Do you mean Anita runs the universe? Hee hee

I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'm having a blast writing it :)

Date: 2006-02-19 11:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shadowartemis.livejournal.com
Just a minor editing part in the second to last paragraph.

They were just words. Looking up into Ron's angry eyes, Harry knew he could destroy their friendship, could hurt Ron as much as Ron seemed intent on hurting him.

I really liked the addition of the Animagi book and Harry's musing about what his animal would be. It would be really great if Harry turned out to be a wolf or another large animal (the chaos that would ensue if Harry was a leopard.. *laughs*). I'd love to see him able to run with the pack. One thing made me uneasy about it all, and that was Dumbledore's cautioning about the hardest part being the acceptance of the animal. It might be nothing (and probably is) but I've accustomed myself to questioning statements like this. I have to wonder if this is a foreshadowing of Harry's animal perhaps being something he wouldn't expect and might not be too thrilled with at first.

Harry's interactions with everyone fascinate me and each shows how he's changed and matured more in that one month he spent in St. Louis. He's also gained a lot of knowledge that will probably help him in his classes more than he knows, as shown in the scene about the Draught of the Living Dead. In the books, Harry has grasped practical magic well enough, but he never seemed to put all that much effort into understanding the "why" behind it all. Harry's use of the knowledge he had to help Ginny out a bit is an interesting step forward in my mind.

Great chapter!

Date: 2006-02-20 02:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
If Harry turned into a leopard, Richard would have kittens.

Harry's pulling that bit of info out of his hat wasn't as noble as you make it out -- he was showing off for the girls a bit. But he's about at the stage where he should start to wonder *why* things are the way they are. Unlike Hermione, who seems to want to know why everything works, Harry's never really had that kind of curiosity. Levetation spell works? Right-O. Flying? Is just fun. If anything, Hermione overthinks things, while Harry doesn't think enough. But he's getting there.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] shadowartemis.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 04:46 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-20 05:08 am (UTC) - Expand

great part

Date: 2006-02-20 12:16 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
this is a great part. i like the way the story is going. i think this harry is going to be much better than the one i hbp. one thing about the anita:


"Silver can hurt a vampire," Harry explained to a confused-looking Ginny. "A silver bullet can kill a young vampire, where a lead bullet won't do any more than piss it off. With zombies, silver doesn't do anything; you need cold steel to deal with it."


in anita it's massive trama and fire for zombies, the type of bullet doesn't matter. the fey are the ones that like silver and have problems with lead.

thanks for the great part

Re: great part

Date: 2006-02-20 02:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Harry was mixing up the laying of a zombie to rest (with salt and cold steel) to blowing a vampire's heart out. Showing off for the girls is always tricky -- he's so bad at it. He was trying to point out the differences in metals.

Glad you liked it :)

Date: 2006-02-20 01:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cooper-666.livejournal.com
lovely job, I love the last scene!

Date: 2006-02-20 02:08 am (UTC)

Date: 2006-02-20 01:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maeglinyedi.livejournal.com
Great chapter! Loved Dumbledore giving Harry a book on becoming an Animagus. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

I do have a couple of nitpicks about HP canon in this chapter, though. I hope you don't mind.

First, how did Dumbledore get possession of Riddle's diary? At the end of CoS, Harry gave it back to Lucius Malfoy.

Secondly, Harry says about horcruxes: we can't kill him unless we find all those seven pieces?"
There are only 6 horcruxes. Yes, Voldie split his soul into 7 pieces, but the seventh and final piece of his soul is still in his body. So they only have to find 6 pieces and destroy them, then Voldie will become mortal again and can be killed.

Also, the discussion about vampires/zombies in relation to the Draught of Living Death threw me off completely. The Draught of the Living Death is a sleeping potion (more info on the HP Lexicon (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/potions/potions-l.html#Living_Death)), so I have a bit of trouble understanding how that relates to vampires and zombies and how silver affects them.

Anyway, I enjoyed this chapter and I'm looking forward to more. :-)

Date: 2006-02-20 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Didn't Lucious Lucius throw the diary back at Harry at the end? No, he gave it to Dobby, and it probably ended up on a Hogwarts floor. Now I'll have to find my copy of CoS...

but the seventh and final piece of his soul is still in his body
Shh, you'll give away the plot point. Which is, of course, that Harry can't count.

I always looked at the DotLD as a sleeping potion that mimiced death; and since I was incporating things about vampires (the living dead) I decided to throw this in. Also, Harry wants to show off his enormous, er, intellect for the pretty girls.

Date: 2006-02-20 02:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sparrow015.livejournal.com
I hope Ron does mature quickly and fast enough to accept Harry and what he is now. But Ron does have centuries of prejudice thrown upon him. People always telling him what is what. I mean, look at how he reacted to Remus at the end of Book 3. I don't think I can actually think of any other point in any of the books where Ron is actually alone with Remus without Harry, Hermione, or anyone else is there.

It's hard to get away from perceieved notions that has been your views for most of your life.

Ron is very quick to judge. Although in Book 6, it does show Ron maturing, so I hope that you can convey that as wonderfully as you've been allowing Harry to mature and grow out of his shell.

Date: 2006-02-20 02:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
I think Ron was able to get over his prejudice about werewolves when he had to reconcile the fact that it was Remus, but your point about his first reaction is spot on.

And it's only been a day for Ron, which is piled up with his thinking that Harry's trying to molest his little sister (which we all know is wrong, but ROn's got that protective jealous streak going on). Soon, it'll all, um, come to a head. (aka boom)

ahh chapter bliss

Date: 2006-02-20 03:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shopteacher-guy.livejournal.com
HI,
Thanks for taking the time to write, what with the real world on your case like you said it has been!
I am still waiting for the conversation where they tell Harry that Reese has to take the wolvesbane potion... ka-blam!

I like how you managed to make huge strides with the story in an efficient manner...
Come on Ron.. we know you can do it! (pull head out of butt that is)

Re: ahh chapter bliss

Date: 2006-02-20 04:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Wolfsbane -- Harry will orignally be okay with it; after all, Remus took it... but then he starts to think what that actually entails, and tries to mesh that with what everyone back in St. Louis was saying about accepting the beast and not trying to stifle it.

All of which will lead to an interesting Full Moon.

Anyway, thanks :)

Date: 2006-02-20 04:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] beachmouse.livejournal.com
I'm having a good weened here. First, I managed to snare a copy of Micah that the bookstore has mistakenly put out before the release date, and now a new Inevitable chapter. Hurray!

Hope that Harry does start to study the new book fairly quickly since it seems like the St. Louis crew forgot to tell him how having a beast but not a form to put it into has almost killed Anita a couple of times now.

Date: 2006-02-20 06:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Micah! Woohoo. I'm sort of happy that I can get a copy of the book on the busiest day of the year at work; I get to go home and relax and read the book. Yay!

With all this extracurricular reading material that Elsa and Dumbldeore and Ginny have for Harry, it'll be a wonder if he gets any actual work done this year :)

OOooooooorrrgggg!!!

Date: 2006-02-20 07:44 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Yay! I finally manage to comment on this story!

I absolutely love your fic. Thank you for keeping the darkness of Anita's world but still using the whimsy of Harry's world. This might be the best Anita/Harry crossover I've seen yet! Please, PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSE continue!!!

Re: OOooooooorrrgggg!!!

Date: 2006-02-20 07:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
I'm glad you're enjoying the tale. And of course I'll continue!

Date: 2006-02-20 08:27 am (UTC)
ansku: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ansku
Lovely chapter, as always :)

Date: 2006-02-20 02:29 pm (UTC)

A thought for Ron

Date: 2006-02-20 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shopteacher-guy.livejournal.com
I just had a thought in regards to the whole "Ron not a jerk"

Remember that after the Department of Mysteries thing Ron got his own set of scars from the brain/squid things in the tank. It is one thing to be jealous of a friend for getting all the adventure and attention and another to be in the thick of it.

I would love to see a scene where Ron finally breaks with frustration and tells Harry what is really going on inside his head/heart.
Harry's mercy at the end of the chapter is really a good snapshot of the post St. Louis Harry.. still forgiving, but now with the ability to size up an opponent.. Can't wait to see if you are going to have a Harry/Draco conversation.

Re: A thought for Ron

Date: 2006-02-20 04:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
There will certainly be a scene like that. They're best friends, and I refuse to let them grow apart. There may be fighting, there may be shouting, there may be cats. Those two never do anything by halfs. Such little Gryffindors :)

Date: 2006-02-20 07:25 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
"One doesn't make friends with werewolves, boy," the portrait retorted in its thin, weedy voice. "One simply delays being eaten."

hahaha...I love Phineas, he's just the perfect bastard

I'm so happy that you updated and it was a great chapter. The boys are still being boys, I'm just waiting for the dung to hit the fans.

Date: 2006-02-20 07:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Phineas is a total bastard. He fit in real well with the Black family :)

I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)

Date: 2006-02-20 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
I love how you concentrated all the HBP information in there in one go. JKR had great ideas in that book . . . need I say I like the way you presented them to the characters? Much more effective, an overload sure to evoke more thoughts in the near and not so near future :) I never really thought about all the parallels one could draw between the Anita-verse and Harry's. All the potential connections . . . and inexplicable differences. Right now I'm wondering what Anita would say about the 'split soul' . . .

Date: 2006-02-21 12:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Thank you! I like to stick with canon wherever possible, makes remembering things easier later on :) And you're right, Harry heard too much this night. Will he be abe to decipher it? Or will certain details slip by the wayside?

Anyway.

Oh, and Anita will be like this:

HARRY: *explains about Horcruxes*
ANITA: *explodes*
HARRY: Oops.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] moiraines-dream.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-21 01:37 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com - Date: 2006-02-21 04:04 pm (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2006-02-21 02:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] catherinecookmn.livejournal.com
Poor Harry. Life really is uncommonly shitty for him, isn't it?

Date: 2006-02-21 04:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com
Oh yes. Oh, yes indeed.
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