When Demons Walk Amongst Us

It's late. I know that and I apologize. No excuse I can give will do justice to this little fact, especially since I've had the beta'd version on my computer for awhile now.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I’m sure everyone would be out for my head.

And finally….

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Chapter Four

With a growl that had Bane step back slightly in respect, Severus tried to push his way past Harry and his sisters, only to meet a solid wall of air that kept him in the circle the five siblings had created. “Let me show this imbecile what it means to be me,” he snarled.
Harry calmly placed his hand on the centre of Severus’ chest and pushed slightly, rocking the potions master back half a step. “You promised to let us deal with this, Sev’rus,” Harry stated, green eyes darkening with determination and anger.
“What exactly do you plan on doing, Harry? What could be more effective than allowing me to take him on?” Severus sneered.
“Utter humiliation,” Harry told him, his eyes finally lighting up to match his siblings’. “Since he is on our territory, we will deal with this as we see fit. It’s about time these fools realize that I’m not playing games here.” A slight smile crossed his face, as he gave Severus a sly look. “I promise to let you have your say, if you promise to stay right next to me, and allow one of us to do the talking first.”
Severus considered it for a moment before nodding his agreement, a slight shiver going down his spine at the unholy light that flashed in the eyes of all five siblings. “As you wish.”
Harry grinned slightly. “I’m going to place a slight notice-me-not spell on you,” he said, waving his hand slightly over the Potions Master, “nothing drastic, but it’s going to be enough so that no one will think twice over who you are. Then it’s just going to be business as normal.”
“You really don’t have a plan do you, James?” Severus asked, realizing that the silencing ward had come down at the same time the spell was placed on him.
“Kinda hard to make a plan when I don’t know how the idiot is going to play this,” Harry answered.
Jedzia, who had been keeping track of the impostor, looked over at Harry. //It looks like Albus is just about to confront them.//
“Perfect,” Harry purred.
The group of six continued towards the main hall, seemingly not noticing Jones and his friend, until Harry heard Jones raise his voice, garnering the attention of everyone in the hall.
“This is the young man I was talking to you about, Severus. He claims to have been taught by you?” Jones questioned, his voice slightly on the smug side.
“I have never seen this adolescent before in my life,” ‘Severus’ stated in a raspy voice, trying and failing to produce a sneer.
“Good evening, Mr. Jones.” Harry said politely. “Who is your friend?”
“You don’t recognize him, boy?” Jones asked, a faint triumphant note entering his voice.
“Was I supposed to?” Harry asked, gritting his teeth at being called ‘boy’.
“Why, this is Severus Snape, the Potions Master you claimed to have been taught by.”
Whispers of disbelief flew through the hall, with a few snorts of laughter. Feeling Albus coming up behind him, Harry had to fight down his own laughter. “Really? Are you sure about that, Jones?” Harry asked.
“Of course I am,” Jones snapped.
“That’s really funny, because this isn’t the man I know from Hogwarts. What do you think Headmaster Dumbledore? Is this the man who’s been in your employ for the past fifteen-plus years?”
The group of people who originally came from Hogwarts watched in wide eyed awe as the veneer Dumbledore kept around himself was sweeped away, and in its place stood a powerful wizard who reminded them all of why exactly Voldemort was afraid of him. “No, James, it is not. I have never seen this man before,” Albus stated, his voice cold.
Jones paled drastically, before gathering himself once again. “Another bid for attention, boy? Using someone's likeness to bolster your own story?” he managed to squeak out.
Harry's laughter was tinged slightly with a malicious undertone. “Why, Mr. Jones, I was under the impression that that was exactly what you were doing!”
Jones' face went red in anger and, forgetting that they were surrounded by many of the students, and by this time all of the faculty as well, he drew his wand. “How dare you, an insignificant child, accuse me, a respected member of this community, of such a crime?” he hissed. “I have had more than enough of your pithy comments and juvenile behaviour. It's time someone took a stand and put you in your proper place!”
By the time he was done, his voice had reached a mild roar, and Harry rocked back on his feet slightly as his mind flashed back briefly to his uncle. Jones, seeing his advantage, raised his wand, his magic swirling around him with his rage, and cast it forward with no real spell, just clear bad intent.
In the split second following this movement, several things happened at once. Harry's magic reacted to the threat with a crystalline wall, which was overlapped with several protection shields cast by various people in attendance. The notice-me-not spell covering Severus vanished, revealing his presence to the impostor, as Severus' arms wrapped around Harry and turn them both away from the danger. The students cast a variety of jinxes and hexes at both Jones and the impostor, bringing them down to the floor, and Anya locked down the entire building so that the two men had no chance to leave, despite the spells they were under.
All of this paled in comparison though, when the shadows in the hall started to come alive, flickering with hellish flames, while the temperature around the two men dropped dramatically and the air stilled completely before it started to compress around Jones and his companion, and the ground beneath them rolled and started to fissure where they were standing.
Coming back to his senses completely when he felt the elementals’ rage, Harry pulled himself away from the shelter offered by Severus, and started to gather the wild magic dancing through the hall. “Stop!”
With that simple command, everyone froze, and time itself seemed to stand still.
His eyes burning with a dreadful intensity, Harry looked at his family. “Go to the Glade, and take our new arrivals with you. I will be there as soon as I clean up this mess.” Sharing a look between them, K'lal, Azera and Iris nodded their heads, and along with those indicated disappeared.
Harry next looked to Anya, and with a whispered word of regret, used the Fae magic he had been granted, and wiped the memory of this confrontation from the minds of everyone in the school, sending them all back to their dinner, leaving only the memory of a message from Jones and Jarvis, sending their regrets for not being able to make the meal, with the headmistress. He watched as the students and staff drifted back to whatever they were doing before.
Breathing deeply to control the rage he could still feel from his family, Harry stood still for a few moments, before turning to Jones and his 'friend'. A quick glance through the impostor’s mind indicated that it was truly Jarvis under a heavy glamour, and Harry felt his anger spike once again. “The two of you truly do not know when to leave things alone, do you?” he asked softly. “So far, I have treated you like an annoyance, something that just buzzed around my awareness, but no more. I have up to this point been downright benevolent with the two of you, but it ends today. I am going to show you exactly what could happen if you do not stop this infantile behaviour,” Harry told them, his voice no more then a whisper.
Redirecting the magic swirling around him to the focus stone in the Demon Realm, Harry rested his hands on their foreheads, and envisioned where he wanted to go, using the magic of the focus stone for a safe passage for the two humans.
The three of them arrived within a blink of an eye, and Harry immediately directed the humans to a specific holding cell. This cell had been designed more as a warning than anything else. Once inside and the door closed, the wards surrounding the room played out the worst nightmares of whoever was incarcerated within. After playing out those nightmares, various torture scenes followed, driving home the point that the Being they had managed to piss off was not playing games, and if that specific Being didn't follow through on the techniques shown, there were plenty of others willing to do it for them. The best part of the room was that it wouldn't allow for the mind to break. Once you left the room, you left it whole, exactly how you entered.
Sighing softly, Harry sealed the door with his personal mark, allowing everyone to know that those inside were not available for 'play-time', and turned to the guards. Dragging a hand through his hair, he gave a sad smile. “Ka'laz, once they're done could you do me the honour of returning them to their homes?”
“Of course, Ishal.” Ka'laz smiled, showing a row of sharp teeth. “Perhaps with an urgent impulse to leave the area entirely and find another line of work?”
Laughing softly, Harry nodded his head. “Sounds good to me.” Casting one last look at the sealed door, Harry sighed again. “If anyone comes looking for me, I'll be in a pool. I need to relax before I join the family for dinner.”
Without waiting for a response, Harry turned and opened another door, letting a blast of super heated air into the containment area. Shedding the mask of humanity he wore, Harry walked toward the nearest Lava pool, and dropped in, allowing the molten rock to embrace him as he slowly sank to the bottom.