Okay, here is the next chapter. I think I'm going to stop saying what the next chapter is going to hold for now on because they never seem to get to where I want them to be. If you wanted a faster update, here it is. Brought to you because I've had nothing better to do with no internet for the past week because we were putting hardwood flooring down. That glue is a pain in the ass.

Okay, on with the story.

Read, Review, Enjoy

-Omni

Previously…

"What did you do to him!" Neville demanded, and Odd saw that he might actually be in danger of being cut. Neville had positioned the steak knife at the man's throat when he was laughing.

"I didn't do anything to him. He just tried the strongest stuff he's ever likely to find and is coming down from a blood high." Odd explained to the boys. They weren't satisfied though. Whatever they were about to do was cut off as Seraph sat up again.

"Holy fucking shit." He said, louder then he had meant to. His eyes were still glowing, though not as brightly, and sparks of black flame shot from his fingertips absentmindedly, burning small holes into the table and plates. "What the hell was that!" Seraph demanded. He wasn't mad, far from it, actually. It just came out that way. Odd laughed heartily, the boys backed down, and Luna wished she could maim her father.

"Well, you were going to have to have some of it soon, so I thought you might try some of the 'good stuff'." Odd explained to him.

"Seraph likes the Dragon Blood…" Luna sang.

Chapter 19: Black Echoes

Seraph looked around the room that he had been given. It was fairly large with a massive bed, comfortable bathroom, with a small study like area complete with desk and books. He looked at the bed and wondered why he had even been given a room with one. It was not likely that he was going to sleep. For a while. He cursed Odd in his mind. A half goblet of muggle blood would sustain him for six months, maybe more. Longer with magical blood. So what did the damn demented vampire master do? Gave him a straight ounce of Dragon Blood. Dragon Blood, one of the most powerful substances available to wizards, not to mention the most magically charged blood known to vampires.

Odd had explained to him what had happened. That sudden rush of energy was his body assimilating the blood for the first time, and since it was from such powerful blood, it was unlikely that he would loose any energy due to a blood high from less powerful blood. The sudden influx of energy had essentially overloaded his body and he had passed out from it. Once it was able to get used to the blood and energy, he had woken up. While he may have lost a lot of the energy during the blood high, he still had too much to sleep. Probably for days. This would have been unfortunate, if he was not motivated to actually do something. He had looked at the date and time when he came back from dinner.

12:18 a.m. July 3, 1996

It was the third of July and he had yet to activate his father's portrait or even think about redoing the will. While he did have the excuse of being busy, he was disappointed at himself that he had forgotten to one, activate his father's portrait, and two, such an important event. He took off his ring and enlarged it. Opening up one of the regular sized compartments he found that he had opened the wrong one. Lying in dark sand where several small eggs. Two looked to be ready to hatch, another pair whose eggs seemed to be trying to blend into their surroundings and an oddly black egg that had a light whitish, almost silver, glow to it.

'The snakes.' He thought to himself. A pair of Basilisks, Chameleon Snakes, and an experimental Viper/Basilisk breed if he remembered correctly. He had almost forgotten about the little guys, er, guys and girls, whatever. He had planned on waiting until he got to Hogwarts to hatch the Basilisks, but maybe the room that the Book of Time would make would be better. If he could keep them from gazing at anyone unprepared, that is. Once they were old enough, he wanted them to repopulate the Chamber of Secrets, only to answer to him. If Hogwarts was attacked then they would have some of the most powerful magical creatures at their disposal for protection. His disposal, really, but they would be used for the defense of the castle. The Chameleon Snakes he planned on breeding as well and placing them wherever they would be most useful, like Knocturn Alley, the Knocturn Slums, Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, and possibly at known Death eater homes. He would hatch the last one soon. He had an idea of what he wanted to do this year, he would have to speak about it to his father first, but he hoped that Cheleb and the yet-to-be hatched snake could join him.

He opened the next compartment and found the portrait he was looking for. He noticed the other portrait there but did not look at it. He pulled out his wand and tapped the far right corner saying 'Activate'. The portrait had a light run across it as though a reflection of the sun had passed over it. The small rectangle slowly started to grow. Finally it reached its proper size and Sirius scratched his nose and stretched, eliciting a few small pops from his back.

"Merlin, that feels better. Whoa, pup! You changed quiet a bit there, haven't you?" Sirius asked, surprise and amazement in his voice. "How did you manage that?" He asked. Seraph grinned at his father.

"Animagus, my dear Padfoot." Seraph replied, leaving his father gobsmacked.

"How long have I been deactivated then?" Sirius asked in confusion. "It took James, the rat, and I almost three years to complete!"

"Well, you probably used instructions put out by the Ministry. You have been deactivated for a few weeks now." Seraph told him.

"We found the book in Hogwarts…so I suppose that it would have had to have been approved by the Ministry at some point. I hated the pre-transformation exercises. So you actually achieved a full transformation in what, little more then a month?" He asked his son. He wasn't expecting him to laugh at him.

"A month, no. Just long enough to finish the potion." He informed the portrait.

"Potion?"

"Yeah, the potion. Took maybe a day in a half. And I don't know what exercises you are talking about, unless you mean finding your animal."

"No…the book told us that we had to practice transforming our hair and appendages before we could pull a complete transformation." Sirius said, a little put out.

"Interesting. I have a book written by Gryffindor on it. You have to be slightly versed in meditation to find your animal, and able to follow some directions, as well as access to some pretty rare ingredients to make the potion, but that was about it. Once you found your animal, you take the potion. The potion forces the first transformation. How much pain you go through during the first transformation was dependant on how well you found your animal, maybe how much you knew about it too. I had a full transformation, hence my 'god-like' physique." Seraph said, pulling a pose fit for Hercules. That made him wonder who Hercules had actually been. Maybe he could meet him at some point, if he was still alive? The comment and pose sent Sirius into hysterics. When he finally calmed down, he wiped a stubborn tear from his eye.

"You truly are my son. I said the same thing to James after my first transformation, of course, mine wasn't as impressive... I wish I would have known that we could have gone through it in less then a week, but I suppose it was all part of the adventure. So what's been going on since I last talked to you?" Sirius asked.

"Too much." Seraph told him sadly. "I know you know about Dumbledore and his manipulations, but they extend further then either of us thought."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked and Seraph clenched his fist.

"My friends have been keeping tabs on me almost since I started at Hogwarts. They were my friends, people I trusted, and they betrayed me at every turn. Then Ginny, damn overly obsessive fan girl, turns on me as well. I don't know how long she was ever actually spying on me though. They each got something as payment for betraying me. Tonks is sure that Hermione was promised the Head Girl position at Hogwarts, Ron got his prefectship as well as a spot on the quidditch team, and Ginny…Ginny was promised me." Seraph said, anger burning in his eyes.

"I can't believe that they would turn on you like that…Hermione may have put too much stock in authority, but I thought you guys had said she was mellowing out. And Ron, I knew he was jealous of you, but I did not think that he would stoop so low. I never really talked to Ginny much, but she did ask an awful lot of questions about you. I thought it was cute at the time, but now…" Sirius trailed off, shaking his head. "How was she promised you?"

"Will bonding potion which was going to be personally administered by Dumbles himself…" Seraph trailed off as he saw more anger in his father's eyes then he had ever seen before.

"That basterd! Oh, just wait until he dies…I'm going to kill him!" Sirius calmed down after a couple of minutes. "That's…that's just disgusting." Sirius told Seraph. Seraph nodded.

"Yeah, it is. He controls Ginny, Ginny controls me, and no one gets any ideas of free will. They did the same thing to Hermione, but I don't know how long she's been under it. I could see it in her aura, she was bound to Weasley. The potion felt like Ginny and chains I think, that was how I knew what it was. That was the night that I left Headquarters. Blew the front door right off and caught a ride on Cheleb." Seraph said with a pained smile at the memory.

"When did they take you to headquarters and who is Cheleb, might I ask?"

"That's right…you don't know. Sorry. After I got through with Diagon and Knocturn alley, met some very interesting people down there too, I made my way back to Privet Drive. My uncle was pissed out of his mind, telling me I was going to learn my lesson, and how proud of Dudley he was. I didn't know what he was talking about until I went to the kitchen. Dudley caught me off guard and punched me in the stomach and threw a lighter or a match, I can't remember into a big basting pot. It went up in flames…Hedwig was inside. They killed her. I never did anything to them besides living, if you could call growing up with them 'living'. And they killed her." Seraph told him, his eyes slightly wet. But he would not let any tears fall. He smirked darkly, which unsettled Sirius slightly.

"We got our revenge though, Hedwig and I." Seraph concentrated for a moment and a long black blade appeared in his hands. "I found some interesting things in the vaults. This is just one of them. Black fire is in the blade, and I cut the fat pig down, blew him to pieces. I went to find Hedwig, but she was burnt to ashes…Had she been allowed to die naturally, she would have been reborn a phoenix. I always knew she was special, but I could not have imagined that…But she was killed, murdered. She came back as more of a 'fire spirit' I guess I should say. A dark phoenix of black flames…she was beautiful. When she sang, it was the most amazing thing that I have ever heard, but the rest of the Dursley's would hardly agree. It killed them, tortured them before they died, I'm sure. I heard that blood came from out of their ears. I passed out after that." He finished

"I'm really sorry, pup" Sirius said sincerely. Seraph waved the comment off.

"I'm okay, really. Cheleb is a friend that I picked up from the vaults. He's a grim, a puppy, but he's growing quickly. I'm going to have to figure out a way to make him look smaller though… Anyway, I had my choice while I was out. I was in a magically induced coma, apparently. I thought that they did it early just to get it out of the way, but now I think that they did it so that I would be able to get my Chiefs and train earlier. I chose grey, if you were wondering." Seraph told his father at his unasked question. Sirius just smiled. "I got some gifts as well, things like martial and the full transformation, the ability to use parsel magic from Slytherin and some gifts from some of the old families that died out. Ritual, potion, languages, things of that nature. Hedwig gave me my fire affinity," Seraph said, forcing a small ball of black flames into his hand, amazing his father. He concentrated a little harder and was able to reduce the size of the ball until nothing was there.

"That's amazing." Sirius said.

"Thanks. It was after I passed out that the Order came. Well, Remus and Tonks, actually. The wards around the house had fallen and they called the rest of the Order and told them that the house had been attacked, the Dursley's were dead, and that I passed out during the fight alongside Tonks. Dumbledore bought it and took me to Headquarters. I woke up a little more then a week later, I think. Remus and Tonks talked to me, Pomfrey too. They told me what Dumbledore and my friends were doing and said that they sided with me. The twins and Moody are with me as well. Dumbledore went after Neville after I 'died'. Once Dumbles tried to force the potion on me I hit Gringotts and Vulcans. He's an armor and weapons dealer. He gave me a very life-like dummy and I transfigured it to look like me. Harry Potter after getting hit by a rather violent bus across the street from the Leaky Cauldron. The world mourns and Dumbles is off my back." Seraph said.

"How sad. You do know that you just pulled a prank bigger then the Marauder's ever could. Good on ya boy!" Sirius said with a smile.

"Dumbledore was bent on trying to turn Neville into his next pawn, but Remus, the twins, and Tonks got him out of the house and he joined me in Black Alley. Truly awesome place, by the way. Neville is the Head of his house now, so the old man does not have any say in what he does. That's not stopping him from trying to find him and bring him back to H.Q., I'm sure. For his protection or something similar. Since then Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood have joined me and are going to become my Alpha Advisors and Chiefs. Or Luna will when I ask her anyway."

"Malfoy, stuck up little ferret, Lucius' son? How the hell did that happen?"

"After the fight in the Department of Mysteries, Malfoy Sr. lost his standing in the public's eye. That would be an understatement, actually, but whatever. Point is, Draco was made the Head of his house by his father to do his business for him. As soon as Draco became Lord Malfoy, he was told to go to Gringotts to get money for Voldemort. Draco took everything he could from the house and split. Went to find his mother in the Knocturn Slums. She had left earlier after I disowned her. According to Draco, if she did not have any money to offer to Voldemort, then she served no purpose. I found them and offered them safety. I haven't spoken to Narcissa since and Draco has been training with me and Neville for the past couple of weeks." Seraph explained.

"And Lovegood? I heard that he had a daughter, nice guy. Helped me out when, in his own way, when escaped from Azkaban. Said that he knew that I was innocent and gave me a room to stay in for a couple of nights before I went to Dumbledore. He wrote an article in that magazine of his about me being some rock star or something. I got a kick out of that." Sirius said.

"Really now…I'm staying at his 'house', I guess you could call it now. You do know that he is a vampire, correct?" Seraph asked to Sirius' shocked look.

"N-no. I, uh, can't say that I did… Kind of wondered why he never slept though. He never tried to take a bite out of me, so I guess I can't hold anything against him. His daughter is a vampire too then? How did you end up wherever 'here' is anyway?"

"Well, long story short, Neville, Draco, and I went into London for a break, tried to find a club to go to. Didn't quiet work out. Some girl took us to a muggle club, where we almost ended up dinner for her and a bunch of other vampires. Before we could become the main course though, they were attacked."

"What would attack a vampire?"

"Shinobi. Yeah, they are coming back again and they're a hell of a lot harder to fight then your average Death Eater. They never used magic, but they are as fast and strong as the vampires that were guarding Luna. We got caught up in the fight, got pretty messed up, actually, and saved them. Luna got the other vampires to take us to their castle so we could be healed. That didn't go over too well. Draco and Neville were healed fairly easily but I was on the verge of death and Luna did some blood magic to heal me…" Seraph trailed off and looked at Sirius hesitantly.

"You were turned, weren't you?" Sirius asked

"Only partially, but yeah." Seraph said, not meeting Sirius' eyes. If he would have, he would have seen the mischievous glint held within them.

"Well, at least you got a girl out of it." He laughed at his son's almost shocked expression.

"Your not, I don't know…"

"What, mad, disappointed? Hell no! One of my very best friends is a werewolf. He got hairy once a month; you'll start eating medium rare steaks and develop a taste for blood pops. Or at least that's what my great aunt Delilah liked. Your alive, that's what matters."

"That means a lot to me, dad. And what did you mean by me 'getting a girl out of it'?" He demanded.

"Well, partial or not, you were turned. Generally that creates a bond. While not technically a marriage bond or anything, the bonded are…'mates' you could say." Sirius explained.

"But Odd said that it was only a partial bond and that Luna bonded herself to me."

"Then it looks like it's a one way bond then. The 'partial' part he was probably talking about was the fact that it was Luna to you and not both ways. That bond is most likely as strong as any other bond. Vampires don't talk about theirs bonds though, or if they do, they down play them. It's like the turning, it's very personal and if you were not there to witness it, they won't talk about it to you. Odd did not see it, so he probably felt uncomfortable talking about it with you." Sirius said with a shrug.

"I so do not need this right now." Seraph said, not at all ashamed of the whiny tone his voice had taken, much to his father's amusement.

"Well, you've got it. From what it sounds like, she won't be with anyone else, other then you, but you don't have the same rules. I wouldn't suggest taking advantage of that though. From experience, I can tell you that 'Hell hath no fury like a witch scorned'. And I don't think you want to find out about a scorned vampire." Sirius told him, and Seraph nodded with a shudder.

"So what's all this going to mean for the Potter family assets and such though?" Sirius asked after a moment.

"I was going to get to that before I was side tracked. All of the assets in the Potter estate have been added to the Black's, along with a few other families I was made a magical heir to. I took a vault from one of the families and asked the goblins to take the money from that and put it in a relief fund for the war. It's going to be stated in my 'will'." Seraph said with a glint in his eye.

"We're going to need to talk about my will then. There is no way in hell that I'm going to let those traitorous bastards get their hands on anything of mine, yours…whatever." Sirius said vehemently.

"My thoughts exactly. I spoke to the goblins about changing a will after death. It can be done, but they have to get the new copy, or in your case, your portrait. They will duplicate your echo and update a second portrait. There is some charge, I'm sure, but you will have two portraits that you can move within and have your will changed. You can stipulate in your will that you want one of your portraits to go to Hogwarts somewhere. Think of the hundreds of children you could eventually corrupt." Seraph said, and Sirius' eyes were shinning now.

"So, what do we do about my will? Originally I wanted Grimmuald Place to go to the Order, a few million galleons each to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, as well as five million galleons to Arthur and Molly Weasley. About ten million galleons to the Order, another five million and a nice house that I have on a private Island for Remus, three million and a large flat I have in London for Tonks, a few million for her parents as well. Good people, they are. That was the main part of it, besides giving you the rest, which you have now. I had not thought about it, but now that you are dead, the Black line should have been dissolved." Sirius said with a frown.

"It should have been, but it passed on to your only heir, Seraph Black." Seraph stated.

"Yeah, I know that pup, but…Oh."

"In a private will reading held early in the morning of July 13th, your only living descendent was named your heir. No one but the Potter's knew about him, and of course, my mother…who will not be named. No one knew about her because you were a target and did not want the Death Eaters to go after her. After you were imprisoned, she fled the country to, I don't know…"

"France, Japan, Brazil?" Sirius supplied.

"Brazil?" Seraph asked.

"Always wanted to go there." Sirius shrugged.

"Right, well she fled to wherever. I kept your name; she never could believe that you were guilty. You got in contact with me after you escaped. My 'mother' died in an accident a few months ago and I traveled to England stay with you, if I could. I was contacted by Gringotts shortly after and have been staying in a muggle hotel until the will reading." Seraph finished.

"How long did it take to think that up?"

"About ten minutes."

"Works for me. About where you went, I don't know much about Brazil, or how they do things. I know that they don't teach a lot of 'General Magic', like Hogwarts does. I think they go more for what you can do with magic and nature. The old man is too close to the Headmistress of that French school for you to have gone there and all home schooled students are registered with their Ministry. So that leaves Japan. Their Ministry is very formal and will only step in if it is absolutely required. There isn't too much need for them because people generally follow the law, or face some serious punishments. Most children there are home schooled, so that won't be much of a problem."

"And tutors teach general magic?" Seraph asked.

"More or less. You would defiantly get your Hogwarts equivalent from any tutor. They also teach the basics of a very difficult magic called jutsu. Well, technically, 'Jutsu' isn't magic, it means 'technique', but it requires this technique to perform the magic. Some of them don't even use visible magic, more like the magic charges you body and lets you do things you should not be able to. It has all sorts of purposes, though, but outside of Japan, it's not widely known." Sirius said.

"So I'm going to have to learn at least the basics of this magic?" Seraph asked.

"Yep, more studying!" Sirius said happily.

"And where am I going to find someone to learn this from?"

"I'm sure the Guild held information on it." Sirius assured him.

"Fine. Just how do you know all of this anyway?"

"Pureblood world history, economics, and I wanted to keep my options opened before I went to Hogwarts if I could get away from my family early." Sirius explained.

"So, what are you going to change it to?" Seraph asked after a moment.

"I think I'll still give Grimmuald Place to the Order, I couldn't stand the damn place anyway. I'm afraid that the old man will try to take any money for himself I give to the Order, so nothing for him or them. He can use his own. Nothing for Ron, Ginny, or Hermione. Arthur is a good man, but I don't trust his wife, and I think we both know who wears the pants in that relationship. I'll give him some muggle appliances. I'm sure that Gringotts can arrange that. I'll give more money to both Tonks and Remus, some for the twins, and you'll have to arrange something for Moody because I doubt that he will want someone to acknowledge him…maybe you could get him something from your friend Vulcan? I'll leave some to the Hogwarts hospital wing to thank Pomfrey for helping you. Narcissa will be expected to show, if nothing more then to contest it. She's a Black now, so I guess I can leave her something, that little snot of her son too, I guess. Your friends, Neville and Luna can take what I was going to leave for Ron and Hermione…Yeah, I think that's it." Sirius said, going over it in his head and nodding to himself.

"Sounds good. I'll have to get you to Gringotts in the next three days so another portrait can be updated." Seraph said

"Sounds good. Its getting late pup, you going to sleep?"

"Nope, had some Dragon Blood. I don't know what sleep is."

"Right…Well, I'm going to crash. 'Night." He said, making his way to the back of his portrait where a door was. The door opened to reveal a large room decked out in Gryffindor red and gold.

"Yeah, night." Seraph said. He took out the book that Odd had given him and began to read.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBlack-Ascensionxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Since Sirius had gone to sleep, Seraph had been looking over the 'Element' book. It didn't say much, actually. Once you figured out how to summon your element, which according to the book was half the battle, you had to concentrate and will your element to do or form whatever you wanted it to be. Concentrate and will it to be. It gave some ideas as to what you could make your element do or become too. 'Basic' things like shields, chairs, summoning, concentrated balls that could be thrown, everyday items, and some exercises in control. Several hours later Seraph had managed to make a ball of fire flatten into a disc.

There was a knock on the door. But Seraph did not notice it, trying to keep his disc of fire floating above his palm.

"Seraph?" A soft voice asked from the door.

"Shit! Duck!" Seraph yelled as his disc suddenly shot out from above his palm towards his door.

"Good morning, Seraph." Luna said as she got up from the floor as if flaming disc of destruction being shot at her was an everyday occurrence.

"Sorry about that Luna." Seraph said, wincing slightly as the rest of the door that hadn't turned to dust fell to the floor. Luna just smiled dreamily.

"I shot daddy through a wall once with a blast of water." She told him airily.

"When you were first using your element?" Seraph asked.

"Hmm? No. Breakfast is ready if you want it." She said, looking over his head. Her dreamy smile dropped slightly. "You know then?" She asked. Seraph did not need her to specify.

"Yeah…Thank you, by the way. I owe you my life."

"No, you saved me as well. Come on, breakfast is ready." She said as she turned and walked out of the door. Seraph just stared at the lack of door for a moment before he shook his head, grabbed some clothes, and made his way down to the dining room.

(Black Ascension)

"Morning, Seraph." Neville said. Draco nodded to him as he took his seat. The news that he was now slightly vampire was met with mixed reactions. Neville had been shocked, but had accepted it with little hesitation. Seraph was still his friend. Draco had actually spit out his drink from his nose, not the most dignified of reactions. He was uncomfortable with the new development, probably due to his upbringing, but thought that it could be advantageous. Seraph had been forbidden from even joking about biting him, something Seraph did not have a problem with.

"Morning, Neville, Draco, Luna, Odd." He said to the small table. Breakfast was a quite affair until Odd spoke up.

"Now that you boys are all healed up, what do you plan on doing?" Seraph looked towards Neville and Draco. Neville shrugged and Draco concentrated on his food.

"I need to go to Gringotts to have my father's portrait duplicated and his will. The reading is going to held on the 13th and he needs to get there at least a week before the will reading." Seraph said.

"Ah, Sirius Black, I assume." Seraph nodded. "Good chap he was."

"He said the same about you, actually. He got a kick out of an article you wrote about him. Luna, you know that your father was once part of the Grim's Guild, correct?" Seraph asked.

"Oh yes, he talks sometimes about the first Black and his tendency to create the oddest things." Luna said. "I hope you will let me join you." She said, a slightly hopeful look in her light blue eyes.

"This Black isn't too far off the mark then." Neville spoke up. "Got a house elf to become an Animagus." He finished, and Odd just shook his head, muttering something about Black's doing things that ought not be done. Luna was not to be distracted though.

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Since your father was in the Guild, you will be as well. Albeit a much younger generation." Seraph said, and Odd gained an affronted look which Luna laughed at. "The Guild is in your blood, and you would have felt the call. What I am asking you is if you would like to join me, Draco, Neville in the training we are doing before I do the Blood Call?"

"Sounds like fun, I always loved to play hide and seek." She said as she speared a particularly bloody sausage. Draco gave her a disgruntled look while Neville shook his head, still a little bit uncomfortable with the odd girl's way of speaking. Seraph studied her closer and thought he saw a hint of a smile on her face but was not sure. 'Does she say things like that on purpose to confuse people or something?' Seraph wondered.

"Good, good. Odd, do you by chance have a ritual chamber?" Seraph asked suddenly. Odd gave him a curious look.

"Yes, I do…Why would you need one though?"

"The Guild has the most extensive knowledge on rituals that is known, I believe. There are some rituals that we want to do. I have an affinity towards rituals, so it is not likely that I would die from a small mistake. My companions, however, do not have that luxury. Most of them are relatively simple, but there is one that while not an advanced ritual, is dangerous. More so then any other of the basic variety. We could benefit from someone with any experience or knowledge of rituals. At the least knowledge of how to heal someone after a bad ritual, if they are not dead, that is." Seraph told him.

"And what is this more dangerous ritual?"

"It is designed to increase ones magical core and make the veins more malleable."

"The Core-Breaker? That is indeed one of the more dangerous, and certainly powerful, rituals. It was designed after I had reached my maturation so it had little affect on me when I did it. It did allow me to increase the amount of power I could put into my spells. Increasing your magical veins is painful, but ultimately rewarding. I assume that you will want to do the Maturation Ritual afterwards?"

"Not at the moment, but eventually. There are a few more that we wanted to do before that. The Clear-Mind, System Neutralizer, Stone-Skin, and the Revealer-Eye are my top priorities, but I doubt that I can finish those and the Core-Breaker before the will reading on the 13th." Seraph said.

"I want to do that Sleep-Reduction ritual and the Stone-Skin one myself." Neville said added.

"The Sleep-Reduction ritual will definitely help for studying, and the Revealer-Eye has potential." Draco commented.

"I'd like to do the Core-Breaker ritual too, daddy. Seraph, can I look at your ritual book?" Luna asked. Seraph pulled it out of his trunk and handed it to her.

"I've not seen that trunk for more years then I care to admit." Odd said, watching as the black and silver trunk shrink into a ring. "Yes, I will help you and your friends with your rituals. Luna, I would rather you not do these rituals, but they will certainly help. Be careful." Odd told his daughter, receiving a bright, yet dreamy, smile.

"The Core-Breaker takes at least a day or two to recover from. Luna, Seraph, if you drink some blood, it should help you recover faster. I'll have the regular waiting for you, Seraph." Odd said, laughing. "I don't know about the other rituals, as I've never had to do them myself, but most basic rituals will take a full day to recover your magic, but physically you'll just be very fatigued. The Core-Breaker takes so long to recover because it uses your magic as well as your energy." Odd explained.

"Alright, I need to go to Gringotts, but I want to set up when I get back. I have everything that we will need." Seraph told the assembled group. "Odd, can portkeys work in the Shadow Realm?" Seraph asked. Odd looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I suppose they would. Might even bypass wards…I've never tried it personally. I stick to apparition in the Shadow Realm or swifting." Odd said.

"Swifting?" Neville asked, confused. He had never heard of it before, and from the equally confused looks from Seraph and Draco, they hadn't either.

"Swifting is like the vampire equivalent to apparition. Apparition is essentially 'jumping' from one place to another. You throw your magic from the place that you are at to the place that you want to be. It's rather violent and causes a disruption in the air around you and any magic fields you happen to be near, that's why you get such a loud pop when it's done. The slower you 'jump', the quieter the noise will be. Swifting is similar, except that you are not throwing yourself from point a) to point b) but traveling, like flying. The closest thing that I can associate it with would be like traveling at the fastest possible speed through the Shadow Realm." Odd finished. Seraph had a look of understanding while Draco and Neville still looked confused.

"Imagine being banished through water by Merlin." Seraph said. Draco nodded, though Neville thought that sounded painful. Seraph tapped the trunk/ring on his finger, muttering 'Portus' under his breath, concentrating on where he was and where he wanted to be, and enough power for a return trip. The ring glowed a dark purple before setting to its original color. Odd was curious at to why the portus spell would make anything glow a color other then light blue, but shrugged it off.

"Hold on, what will reading?" Draco asked, interested. He had been too caught up in the discussion about the rituals to question it, but now he remembered.

"The will reading of my father, Sirius Black. Harry Potter's will is going to be read at the same time. Or it will be once I set it up." Seraph said.

"How can you make Potter's will be read at the same time?" Draco asked. Something wasn't adding up and he didn't like it. Seraph cursed himself mentally, having forgot that he had not told Malfoy about him being, or had been, Harry Potter. He concentrated for a moment and looked at Draco with a face from 'beyond the grave'.

"Harry Potter never existed, so I killed him." Seraph said, bright emerald green eyes locked on surprised and confused grey ones. "Well, I'll be back shortly." Seraph said, standing up and walking towards the corner wall. Even before he reached it, his body took on a blurry look before he totally disappeared, leaving two thoroughly shocked men, a third wondering how he had changed his features, and a laughing witch.

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Seraph finished with his business at Gringotts within an hour. For a price, the Goblins were more then happy to acquire various muggle appliances. Official notices would be sent out within the day. He made his way to Vulcan's to see what could be done for Moody.

"Hey, old man!" Seraph yelled as he walked into the darkened shop. Well, he assumed it was darkened, but between his Animagus transformation and now slightly vampiric abilities, the room looked fairly bright.

"Oi." A disgruntled voice from the back called. A couple of crashes later, Vulcan walked out of the back with an arm full of leather. "What can I do…Why, hello young Master. Your friends have come by, looking for you. They left young Dumbledore's 'Order of the Flaming Peacocks' as one of the red headed fellows said, permanently. I was under the impression that you would be on ventures requiring most of your time, and sent them to the Keep with your two house elves. They've been there a couple of days now." Vulcan said.

"I planned to be, but circumstances beyond my control have delayed those ventures to after the 13th. I assume that Moody stayed with the Order?"

"That's what they said."

"Good, I still needed someone in the Order. Speaking of Moody, what do you have in the way of upgrades? Wooden pegs cannot be the latest in advancements." Seraph said. Vulcan grinned.

"I've been trying to fit him with something new for the past fifteen years. He preferred to make something himself, so he got a fairly functional wooden leg. Wood is easier to enchant, but they need to be recharged fairly often, like every year. I was able to obtain a rather substantial amount of mythril recently. It's an extremely strong magical metal, easily enchanted, and they hold longer then any other substance besides ward crystals."

"I would like to contract you to make a replacement leg made out of the mythril. I want it enchanted to size to fit, silenced, not be removed by anyone but the owner, and space inside of it to hold a couple knives and a spare wand, maybe a potion or two."

"I can do that, take maybe a week. It will be based off a real leg, bones and joints and such, so it will be as good, well, probably better, then his real leg. When are you going to need it by?" Vulcan asked, making some notes on a floating pad in front of him.

"A week sounds good. If I can force him to use this then maybe I can get him to update his eye as well. It's kind of his thing, but it might make people lower their guard around him." Seraph said thoughtfully. "I'm coming from Japan to England, settling here permanently. The clothing that I have will do, but I want a cloak or something that has more of a Japanese style to it. Several if possible, and as protective as my last cloak. More physically resistant if you can." Seraph said, pulling out his tattered cloak.

"That was a work of art!" Vulcan wailed sadly. "What did you do, run into a group of Shinobi or something?"

"Yeah, actually. That's why I'd appreciate it if the next was more resistant to sword attacks." Seraph said, not noticing Vulcan's dumbfounded expression as he inspected a large pickaxe type weapon.

"The Shinobi have risen again? Well shit. I knew they would not stay down for much longer. I've got something back here that might interest you though." He said as he went to the back. "The Japanese are very traditional in their armor. Up until a thousand years ago, maybe more, they wore full suits of metal and dragon hide. Think of what the muggle samurai wore to war and you'll be close." Vulcan's voice got stronger as he walked towards the front. "With more advancements in enchantments and being able to use stronger dragon hide, they got thinner, until they started to resemble what you might think of a cloak. What was once used for war has become everyday protection. With frequent use of clothing, comes the inevitable. Style. This is a sample that came in a few years ago." Vulcan said, holding up a thick light grey cloak with a high neck and no sleeves. "This is what I made." Vulcan told him, handing him a bundle of leather.

Seraph laid it against one of the numerous tables. It was similar to the grey one, but it was thinner, made out of the same dragon hide mesh that his now destroyed cloak was. It was a deep black with silver lining on the inside and on the high collar. Several pockets lined the inside and an odd silver rope hung at the hip on the left side.

"What's with the loop?" Seraph asked.

"The heads of families traditionally carry a weapon. In Europe this mostly died out or was replaced by canes, but the tradition holds in Japan and other places except America. A sword would fit in that loop and it is charmed to hold the scabbard until it is removed by the owner. Depending on the standing of the Head, he might carry more then one weapon. The second loop under it can hold another sword or a dagger. These blades can be used but have become more of a show of standing and power. You would probably carry two blades and a dagger, at least. But that isn't practical, which is what you're going for." Vulcan said.

Seraph nodded and took off his shirt, wearing one of his undamaged vests that Vulcan had made for him. He put the cloak on and looked at a mirror. The collar came up to his ears, protecting his neck from attack. The lack of sleeves was probably for more mobility, he thought. The cloak was not very loose around his chest and back, but flowed freely at his legs. It was as long as his cloak, stopping just above the ground. All in all, he thought it looked pretty good. His longer hair was getting caught up in the collar though, and he shortened it, making several full spikes in his hair that were tipped in silver.

"Heating, cooling, cleaning, silencing and sizing charms. While the arms are unprotected, the physical protection for the chest, sides, and back more then make up for it. During a fast turn, the bottom half will flare out, possibly deflecting blow or distracting an attacker. It has some demiguise hair laced in, but not much. I designed it to have more of a sheen, its slightly more formal that way, I suppose. You'll need these as well, they go with it." Vulcan told him, handing him a pair of black and silver leather gauntlets.

"Those can carry a concealed dagger and a wand in each. They'll work just as good as the wand holster I gave you before." Vulcan said and Seraph tried them on, noting the fit and the hard pieces of metal at the sides.

"To deflect physical attacks if you're good enough with them. They can deflect some spells, but I wouldn't rely on that too much." Vulcan commented.

"I'll take it and several more when you have the time. Can a crest be put on it?"

"What kind of crest?"

"For this one, family crest. But I think I'll try to use these instead of the Hogwarts robes."

"For familial crests, just have your ring put it on. Hold it to where you want the crest and simply tell it to add the crest. Pretty simple, but only the Head's ring can do it. And I'm pretty sure the house elves at Hogwarts put the house crests on." Vulcan told him.

"How much for the cloaks and the leg, and how much of that mythril can you bare to part with?" Seraph asked.

"Leg will be a thousand galleons. Cloaks are on the house, and I can part with about a two hundred pounds. I meant it when I got a substantial amount of the stuff. Nearly a ton. It'll keep me busy for a few years yet." Vulcan told him.

"How much for the metal as well?"

"That would be about three thousand galleons." Vulcan said, as he ran to the back and returned to the front a minute later, carrying a large red case. Seraph nodded and pulled out 4,500 galleons and laid it on the table.

"Thanks, Vulcan. See you in a week." Seraph said, grabbing the case and disappearing into a shadow. Vulcan just shook his head and began to make designs for a leg.

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Seraph felt the same odd feeling that he felt from the last time he used a portkey, like he was made stationary while the rest of the world moved around him. It was an odd, if less nauseating, way to travel. He just didn't know why they did that. Perhaps that was how all portkeys affected their owner? He appeared in the Shadow Realm of the dining room in Moon Castle. He had spoken briefly to Remus, Tonks, and the twins, telling them about where he was staying for the next few days and to expect a letter from Gringotts at some point. Remus had immediately noticed his smell, or his lack of smell. He said that he now smelled like he had been in the room recently or that he was far away and his scent was in the wind. Seraph explained what had happened and besides the worry filled reprimand from the werewolf, it had gone over pretty well. Tonks complimented him on his 'duds' as she called it and the twins promised to get started on a full line of blood flavored sweets.

He walked out of a shadow and took a seat at the table, startling the only occupant there and making her drop her book, Luna. She retrieved the book and Seraph had a sudden thought. 'Can vampires blush?' Then after a moment he had a second one. 'Why do I care?' He thought to himself and noticed that the book that she was reading was actually his, the one on mostly basic rituals.

"Find anything that interests you?" He asked her. She nodded absentmindedly.

"The Re-Breather might be useful, if you need to be underwater for a time. Some of the eye enhancements too. There is a ritual here, called the Re-Heal. It's advanced, but it heals any cuts in a matter of minutes and it regenerates blood. It actually says that it infuses magic into the blood so that it can be replicated faster." She explained.

"Yeah, that is one that we all eventually want to do." Seraph commented.

"Vampires already heal faster then what this is talking about, it this ritual would make you heal as fast as any vampire, I'm sure. But I'm more interested the blood regeneration. It might be possible that it would provide the blood that the vampire needs to survive…It would be the closest thing to a cure that has been found." Luna said.

"It has the potential to be, but it would probably kill more then half of the people that try it. Rituals are precise, unhurried, and a little bit different for everyone. If this became common knowledge, someone would probably try to sell the 'correct' version of it and get a lot of vampires killed. Maybe your father should take a look at it. It's possible that it could be altered to just regenerate blood." Seraph told her.

"I suppose, but it might be nice…" Here she trailed off.

"What, to be normal?" Seraph asked. She nodded, her eyes not leaving the book, but she had stopped reading.

"What is normal anyway? There is no set guideline but what society expects, and they don't usually meet it. I survived the killing curse, survived Voldemort or his goons more times then I care to admit. I lived a lie for fifteen years, in a skin not my own. I'm the magical heir to more families then I can list on one hand and blood heir to one of the oldest families in history. I'm not yet sixteen years old and I am the leader of an ancient Guild who prided itself on killing and stealing, and being skilled enough to get away with it. I had to kill myself just to get away from a manipulative old man and traitorous friends." Seraph told her, listing things off on his fingers as he went.

"Not exactly normal." Luna admitted.

"Maybe not, but besides the backstabbing friends and the old man, this has been the best summer that I can remember ever having."

"Even after being turned?"

"Hell yes. Dragon Blood beats out firewhiskey any day. And no hangover." Seraph told her, watching her fight a laugh. It ended up coming out a snort, making Seraph laugh. "And now I'm going to stretch my core, so let's find your father." Seraph said, standing up. She followed a moment later, still reading the book.

(Black Ascension)

"I wondered if you were going to show up soon." Odd said. "Ritual chamber is down the hall on the left. I can watch over your friends if you are sure that you can do this yourself. There is a second chamber across from the first. It is slightly smaller, but it is warded the same." Odd told him, and Seraph nodded. "Luna can assist you. I want to watch over hers after she has studied it."

Seraph opened up his trunk and pulled out everything that they would need, ingredients, some pre-made potions, pure white rabbits (still held in stasis), and the ritual blades.

"They should look over the ritual once again. They should know it, but once more can't hurt." Seraph told him as he went down the hall and to the right.

The chamber was still larger then the one in his trunk, despite Odd saying that it was a small one. Several rings lined the floor, the smallest one, about ten feet in diameter, held a large pentacle. Luna helped with the set up. Open braziers filled with a strange mixture of herbs and incense had stood in each corner, the resulting shadows giving an even stranger atmosphere to the ritual chamber. A white rabbit was placed at every point of the pentacle. A bowl and a ritual blade sat next to the rabbit at the top most point. The potions that he had brewed earlier in the month and had sat long enough to be their most effective and were placed next to the rabbits. The room was ready. Seraph disrobed completely, as was required for the ritual and found that vampires could blush. Luna quickly exited the room and Seraph walked into the center of the pentacle.

He started a slow chant designed to start the ritual. As the lighting of the chamber went down, the magic in it increased. Seraph kneeled inside of the pentacle, still chanting. It was slower then before, but now harsher, more guttural. The magic in the room had lifted the stasis on the rabbits, but now they were stuck in place, unable to move. Seraph lifted the thin silver blade and slit the animal's neck. Blood immediately gushed forth and was caught by the bowl that was next to it. Seraph's chanting became lighter and faster. He dipped two fingers into the bowl and used them to trace runes across his chest, arms, and stomach. As the runes were written on his front, they were being burned into the back of him by the magic in the room, feeling as if a red hot poker was doing it. Once the runes were completed, he drew veins across his legs and parts of his arms that were not covered by runes. The room became darker, and small cracks of magical lightning could be seen in close proximity to him. The chant became faster, almost frenzied, as he picked up the ritual blade once more. He carved the knife into the traced runes. The blade was cold, biting. The runes that cut into his skin did not feel like cuts, they felt like fire spewing from his insides. The same runes that were cut on his front were being cut into his back by his magic, even more painful then the blade.

His blood flowing freely, Seraph felt the first effects of the blood loss. Small stars floated in front of his face but he ignored them. The potion was mixed into the bowl of rabbit blood and Seraph stuck two fingers in. The potioned blood felt like acid on his fingers, and had he not seen they were still there, would have thought that they were floating in the bowl. In front of him, maybe half of his arms length, he wrote runes into the air. The blood stuck as if on a wall. When a rune was finished, it moved to the side for another rune to be made. Rune after rune, most repeating, but not always. His arms dropped to his side for a moment, barely able to keep it up anymore when he finished the last rune. The circle of runes began to speed up, moving around him fast enough to blur them. He picked up the blade once more and drew a pentacle in the center of his chest, at the bottom of his stomach, and in the center of his forehead. Blood coursed down his face, obscuring his vision and burning his eyes. It would soon be over.

He placed the blade in front of him, and picked up the bowl. The dark blood and the even darker potion swirled around as he brought it to his lips. It was like drinking molten lead, burning everything that it touched. A deep rumbling met his ears as he sat the bowl back down again, empty. He realized that it was coming from him. His scream had been muddled, filled with the chant that the ritual would not let him stop. He sounded absolutely demonic as he picked up the blade for one final time and shouted the final chant. The last syllable hung in the air as he plunged the blade in the center of his chest.

It was pain. His whole world was pain. It was his purpose and agony his life's blood. His insides burned with an intensity that he had yet to feel. The Cruciatus curse was laughable compared to this. Being disemboweled while being burned alive would have been preferable. As the magic in the room crackled, sending bolts of black lightning around the room, the runes began to circle the rabbits. Each rune found its place and soon the runes pulled away, taking the essence of the rabbits with them. The charged runes shot through Seraph at his head, chest, and stomach. What was left gathered together to form a burning rune that blasted into the pentacle on his chest, physically lifting him into the air. He was held there by the magic in the room and the pain intensified. A cracking and stretching sensation accompanied the pain now and he was sure he would pass out soon. The pain stopped, the magic in the room dispersed, and Seraph dropped to the ground like a stone.

(Black Ascension)

Seraph woke up an hour later and stood up slowly. The blood that covered his body before was gone, and so were the runic cuts and burns. He stumbled into his clothing and exited the room to find a worried looking Luna and Odd holding a wineglass filled with a red substance.

"Drink it, it's a little bit of wine and Augury blood." Odd told him, handing the glass over. Seraph drank it greedily. The bitterness of the wine was complemented by the sweetness of the blood. He felt his energy slowly returning to him, but he still felt as if he had been running for hours. 'Or days, I suppose, in my case. I can run for hours no problem…' His thoughts trailed off as he realized that there was no point for it.

"Thanks." Seraph said a little bit stronger then he thought he could.

"No problem." Odd told him.

"How do you feel? Any different?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. I feel tired and numb. I think I need to meditate." Seraph said as he handed the glass back to Odd and sat next to a wall, immediately searching for his core.

"Come, Luna. Let us leave him be for now. We should probably have the healers look at the other two boys." Odd told his daughter as they walked down the hallway.

Seraph found his core quickly and noticed that it was indeed larger then it was before. There were places that showed signs of stress, probably where it was stretched, and large cracks that were in the process of stitching themselves up, probably where it had been cracked. Magic was slowly filling up the empty space left by the expansion of his core and some of its burning glow was returning. The veins that ran off from the core looked less stiff then the last time he had seen them. He was now able to move the veins that had no place to go and attached them to his arms. It was painful, but manageable. A couple days ago he may not have said the same thing, but he had now discovered a new level of pain and he hoped that nothing would ever be comparable to it. He delved into his mind and was able to transform into his Animagus there. For the next several hours he played a somewhat violent game of tag with some of the grim puppies that filled his mind.

(Black Ascension)

"Tempus." Seraph muttered, waving his wand in front of him.

7:00 a.m. July 13, 1996

The will would be at nine this morning. Seraph had been right. He was unable to finish the rituals that he had wanted to do, but he had been able to do some. The Revealer-Eye had been more painful then having his vision corrected and the Clear-Mind had been slightly painful but mostly just cloudy. He was unable to make the remotest bit of sense for two days afterwards. He was able to have a thrilling conversation with Luna about lint and the application of toothpicks though. She wasn't 'Loony' as most of Hogwarts thought, she was rather brilliant, actually. She just hid it behind a mask of extreme eccentricities. He got up from the chair. He had continued to study the 'Element' book and had managed to turn a ball of fire into several small balls of fire or two small discs of black fire. It was progress though, and he knew that not everything could come easy.

Luna, Neville, and Draco had also completed the Core-Breaker. Neville had been able to fit in the sleep reduction and Draco had been able to do the Revealer-Eye as well.

He got dressed in his dragon mesh pants, boots, vest, and the new cloak that Vulcan had given him, and the leather and silver metal gauntlets. He was pretty sure that the metal was the same mythril that he had bought from Vulcan. The Black crest stood proud in black and silver on the left side of the cloak, just over the heart, there was another one on his back which was about five times larger. The Black family ring was back in its original form. The Black Katana was inside an enlarged pocket on the inside of his cloak, the blade he wore at his side was one he had found at the Keep. It was more artistic then his other blade, but could be used just as well. His hair short and spiked, looking like they could actually spear something. He looked both regal and dangerous. Everything a Black was.

The notices had arrived after he had gotten through with his first ritual. Draco, Luna, and Neville had been surprised when they received theirs. Draco had been both confused and pissed at the revelation that Seraph had been Harry Potter. Seraph explained what happened as best he could, but Draco couldn't get past the fact that he was Potter. He felt betrayed, and he did not really know why. It wasn't like Black, Potter, whoever, had been his friend. He hadn't spoken to Potter since.

For the plan to work, Seraph would need to be at Gringotts plenty early before the will reading. Harry Potter's will would be read first, then Sirius Black's. Seraph arrived ten minutes later and began to go over his holdings with Silverhook. By the end of it, he had backed WWW with nearly unlimited funding and had found several books on Jutsu from the Linksys' vault. Sirius had been right, not all of it involved magic. The technique of it was the use of hands or the body as a focus. It was around 8:50 when people were being let into the room where the reading would be held. Seraph sat in a chair in the corner, hidden by the shadows. He had learned that if he was in a shadow and didn't want to be seen, he could blur himself into the shadow. Even if he was seen, it was more likely that the person who saw him would believe that it was a trick of the light.

The first two people in were Draco Malfoy and Narcissa Black. Narcissa had been coerced into coming by the protection that could be provided by her son as well as the emergency portkey she carried. Next were Ted and Andromeda Tonks. Ted looked uncomfortable and Narcissa and Andromeda struck up a tentative conversation. Next were Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks greeted her mother and father and joined the conversation with the two other women while Remus and Ted began to speak about something to do with magical fishing in the Bermudas Triangle.

The Weasley's and Granger were next. The twins had somber expressions and joined the conversation with Ted and Remus, adding colorful ideas like dripping levitating potion into the water to catch the fish. Charlie and Bill had been given notice but could not make it to the reading. Bill, though he worked for Gringotts, was curse breaking in Africa. Percy had not been notified. Ron looked excited, though he was trying to hide it, and failing, sending hateful glares at Malfoy. Hermione looked a bit sad but otherwise anxious. Arthur and Molly Weasley were discussing something and Ginny was crying silently. Actually she was wailing and she had been silenced. She looked terrible over all but Seraph couldn't bring himself to care. Moody walked in afterwards, and settled in a corner as well. Seraph saw him clearly though, and nodded to him, receiving one in return. Luna Lovegood and her father walked in with Neville in tow. Of course no one knew that it was Neville and so he was left alone for the most part. Remus became more interested in them once he realized that unlike Seraph, they had no smell whatsoever. He had taught Luna before, and he was sure she had had a scent then, but it was possible to mask a scent so it was also possible to create scent. Odd joined the fish conversation, saying that the best spots were in the underwater lakes or spear fishing.

Lastly was Dumbledore. He walked in as dramatically as Snape ever did; an air of sorrow around him. His robes were noticeably without color, looking the epitome of a man in mourning. Silverhook walked in after everyone had been seated with two small flashlight looking things in his hands. All portraits were created the same way and he had contracted Gringotts into making a portrait of him, looking like Harry Potter. It knew everything that he did up until the third of July. Since he was still alive, he would be able to connect his portrait to any other at his home. Silverhook set up one of the projectors, the other one was next to it, filled with the updated echo. The echo would be placed in a portrait after the reading and it would be connected to Sirius' other portrait. The second echo would merge with the first and Sirius would have two portraits to stay in.

"Friends and colleagues of Sirius Black and Harry Potter, I welcome you to this most somber affair." Silverhook began. Seraph thought that he was laying it on thick, but nobody else noticed. "I have here before you the last will and testament of Sirius Black and Harry Potter. It is sadly ironic that the last thing that the late Mr. Potter did was make a will before tragically perishing due to a muggle transportation device." Silverhook said, indicating the silver objects. Seraph was biting the inside of his cheek to not laugh. "Without further ado." Silverhook finished, tapping one of the projectors.

A silvery gas rose up from the object until it began to form the image Harry Potter. Some sound broke through Ginny's silent crying as she broke into a new wave. Seraph felt a small amount of pity for her now. Just enough to wonder if she would commit suicide. He knew that some might consider his thinking cold or harsh, but her actions had disgusted him almost more then Ron and Hermione's put together.

"I, Harry James Potter, being of sound mind, well, I can't say much about my body, so mind will have to do, do here state my final will and testament. Well, that part is out of the way. Let's see, who's here? Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Twins, Neville, Remus, Tonks or several Tonks' actually, some Malfoy's…must not be for my will…Luna, I'll hazard to guess Mr. Lovegood, Molly and Arthur Weasley, the Headmaster of course. Good, mostly everybody I hoped to never have to see again in life or death." The silvery Harry said, shocking the room. Well, most were shocked; others were trying not to laugh or being indifferent.

"I'm dead; you can't do any more to me. No more traitorous friends, Headmasters trying to control me, or expectations from the press and the rest of the damn world. What, your shocked Dumbledore? You've been playing my life since the day my parents were killed, possibly from before. You didn't think that I wouldn't see through you eventually? Or my 'friends' trying to worm information out of me every damn time I stub a toe? You may not know everything in Hogwarts, but you know what goes on there, enough to prevent three first years from getting past protection for a stone, stopping a student getting possessed, preventing a Death Eater in disguise teach at Hogwarts. Crouch was coincidently the second best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher I've had in the five years that I've gone to Hogwarts. What does that tell you? That will binding potion was the last straw though. Ron, you're a jealous bastard, learn to live with what you have, which is more riches then I could ever obtain." The gaseous Harry Potter said, and Ron had to be held back from attempting to attack the echo.

"Not the brightest knife in the bucket." Harry said, confusing Ron and making Luna snort on accident, bringing attention to her.

"Hey, Luna, nice to see you, you to, Neville. You look ruff, man. Mr. Lovegood, thanks for your articles. So enlightening with a hint of confusion. Tonks, Remus, more Tonks'. I think I'm happier to see the Malfoy's then I am of seeing you, Headmaster. You know, if I weren't dead, I'd sue your ass for what you did to me and what you did with my money. But, as it is, dead people can't sue. Anyway, all of the Potter properties have been liquidated and any and all stock that I had was in control by my godfather and I don't care what he did with it. That leaves us with few physical things to give away. Neville can take my invisibility cloak, its been used frequently but its still in good condition, Luna gets a book on rare magical creatures and one on enchantments from the Potter vault, I'd like Tonks to hold my Firebolt, if that won't make Remus too mad…" Harry said, watching as Tonks turned red and Remus look affronted. Ted and Andromeda gave him angry and curious looks respectively. "I've got a trunk of stuff I think Remus might want, complete with a large warded place when in need, the Twins get some extra funding and a duplicate of the Marauder's Map if Remus will do it for them, a large hat I found in the vault for Moody, Malfoy gets a chocolate frog," At which Malfoy rose an eyebrow, "and my hopes that he will torment Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley for as long as necessary." At which Malfoy smirked. "Ron can get fucked by Buckbeak, who incidentally goes back to Hagrid…who does not appear to be present. I'm not sure how much Hermione did was off her own volition, so I'll say that you're living your punishment and say no more. Ginny needs to obsess over someone else, and the Headmaster should be happy I don't come back to haunt him. Lets see…yeah, that's it." The ghostly looking Harry said, looking up from a little piece of paper he was holding. No one spoke for a few minutes. Then:

"Harry, you mentioned your liquid assets." Dumbledore prompted. The silver Harry glared at him with more malice then he had seen on anyone besides Tom Riddle. 'Perhaps it is good that he is dead then.' The old Headmaster thought.

"You've got a lot of damn nerve to even bring up money, old man. Yes, I did mention liquid assets. And there is a reason why no one outside of the Weasley twins got any. More then eight hundred million galleons went into the Harry Potter War Relief Fund, controlled by Gringotts, at the moment of my death. Families were decimated in the last war, and more will happen. This is something truly for the 'greater good', Dumbledore." The echo spat.

"As a recipient of an award of service for the school I request my portrait be hung in Hogwarts. Preferably Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. She always said I could join her if I died." Harry said with a laugh. While Seraph knew that his portrait would be annoyed endlessly by Myrtle, he could command the Chamber of Secrets to open to release the Basilisks he planned on putting in there. And less people would bother him if he was in an unfavorable location. And, if he was in Hogwarts, he could visit the other portraits, so he did not feel too bad for his echo. "I'm done, Silverhook." He told the goblin who could not hid his grin.

"Yes sir. Now the will of Sirius Black." Silverhook said before Dumbledore could comment any further. The echo Harry was placed in a portrait to watch the proceedings.

The echo stretched as it began to form, and Seraph wondered how something with no bones could crack them.

"Alright, here we go. I, Sirius Orion Black, of mostly sound mind and incredible body, do here state my updated last will and testament publicly. I see almost everyone that I asked to be here is here, missing a couple of Weasley's and our favorite groundskeeper, but we'll manage. Wait, where's Harry?" Sirius asked, looking around and was honestly surprised when he saw a portrait of the boy.

"Aint that a bitch…How'd you go, pup?" Sirius asked.

"Trying to get freedom, got hit by a bus." Harry said with a shrug. Sirius nodded, though he was slightly confused until he saw Seraph in the corner and continued.

"Okay, The Bird Club can keep that damn house, I leave Arthur Weasley my assorted muggle appliances in thanks for taking care of my godson," Mr. Weasley could barely contain his glee, "Ten million galleons to Remus Lupin and this quaint little island, eight million and a large flat in London to Nymphadora Tonks. You can't yell at me, ha!" Sirius said as Tonks attempted a glare despite her tears, holding on tightly to Remus' hand. "Maybe I should have made that a dowry, eh?" Sirius said, and Remus growled at him, though it was half hearted. He was holding on to Tonks' hand as much as she his. "That one goes later," Sirius said absentmindedly, looking at Moody in the corner, who gave a scarred grin. "Eight million to Andromeda and Ted Tonks, and I want to give fifteen million to the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts to be dispersed by Gringotts in thanks for keeping my godson alive after all his attempts at the otherwise. Rubeus Hagrid is to receive my motorcycle, I believe it is already in his possession. I request that Narcissa Black -if she can prove that she has not served Voldemort willing and will not ever serve said Dark Wanker in any respect- to be welcomed back into the Black Family. To Draco Malfoy, if the same stipulations can be met that were set for his mother, will receive one million galleons. Not like you need the money, kid. I'd like to thank the next two people for being such good friends to my godson when he needed them." Here Ron and Hermione looked at each other, Ron with greed in his eyes that frightened Hermione slightly. "I leave five million galleons each to Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood…"

"What!" Demanded Ron. "We were Harry's friends for years, those two just showed up last year!" Ron shouted point his hand at a smirking Neville, a most frightening expression to those who knew him as a timid teen, and a thoroughly surprised Luna. "Those two losers don't deserve a damn thing! We didn't work our arses off following Potter on his every attempt for more attention to get landed with a goose egg come payout!" Ron raged, despite the attempts from Hermione to shut him up. She finally gave up and began crying softly, wondering where it had all gone wrong. They had all been friends, but the Headmaster would help her become head girl, and Dumbledore was law… 'Where did that come from?' She wondered. Her mind was so full of contradictions, Ron would help. He would make everything okay again…but Ron was a disgusting self-centered egotistical jealous cretin…and he made everything alright…

"Weasley, if you weren't so stupid, you'd be the embodiment of what people hate about Slytherin's" Sirius said. "You weren't friends, you were spy's. You get what you deserve, nothing."

"Be reasonable, Sirius. They were certainly good friends to Harry, you must give them that." Dumbledore said in there defense.

"Old man, you are now officially deaf and senile, shut the hell up." Sirius yelled, and the silence he created could be cut with a knife. It was a good thing that Sirius Black was indeed dead; otherwise Albus Dumbledore might have killed him at that moment. The carefully crafted mask of sorrow on the Headmaster's face cracked, revealing fury and indignation.

"Now see hear!" The wizened man shouted, the magic in his words set the room buzzing.

"If individuals cannot keep their comments, and or emotions, to themselves, you will be asked to leave. Forcibly. Albus Dumbledore or not." Silverhook said when Dumbledore gave him a pointed look.

"Right, well the next bit is more of an apology," And Dumbledore looked smug, assuming he was referring to him or at least Severus. "I would say that I was detained by circumstances beyond my control, but that would be making excuses for two people who's lives were affected by my absence. So instead I'll say that I'm sorry for the pain that I caused you and others and I hope that you'll forgive me in time. Title and estate of the Black family go to its rightful heir, my son." If the silence before was deafening, this one was painful.

"Sirius, you had no son." Dumbledore said smugly. "Now, I move to contest this entire proceeding and wish to claim the Black estate under the Head Mugwump Seizing clause." Dumbledore said, looking like he had already won.

"A clause you had amended yourself not three days ago, I believe, Head Mugwump Albus Dumbledore." Silverhook said with disdain. "And if there was no heir, you would indeed be able to claim the estate. However, there is an heir, and he was made Lord Black not two hours ago during a private reading." Silverhook told him with a smile that revealed every one of his pointy teeth.

"Preposterous, I demand to see this 'heir'." Dumbledore said, having lost his cool a while back. He was sure it was in-between Potter's will and Black's.

"Then see him." A cold voice from a corner said.

Nothing could be seen for a moment until the owner of the voice stepped out into the light. The boy that stepped out of the shadows was not what anyone, save those who knew, expected. Dumbledore recognized the cloak as that of a modified Japanese battle robe complete with gauntlets. The blade at the 'heir's' side immediately put him on edge. The silver and black shield of the House of Black stood proudly on his chest. The eyes were what caught his attention most though. They were glowing dark liquid silver with a band of onyx around the outside and Dumbledore was sure that when this boy was angered his eyes would look like the metal and stone. A large black dog sat beside him, and he was sure it was a puppy, though it was the largest 'puppy' he had ever seen. The dog would become truly massive. Ron's jaw dropped, Hermione looked up, shocked at the resemblance between Sirius and this boy, no, man, who claimed to be his son. Neville nodded, as did Draco, less stiffly then he would have had he not witnessed Potter's will, or was it Black's? The twins saluted, Moody nodded as well, Luna smiled dreamily, and several others were simply shocked or pretended to be. Ginny Weasley stopped crying immediately and gained a lustful glint in her eye, apparently taking Harry's words to heart, and Seraph was sure that he was going to get ill. Dumbledore thought fast.

"Mr. Black, I wondered when you were going to join us." Silverhook said, his smirk almost audible.

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That would be the end of this chapter. Time moved a little bit faster, a couple of highly waited events took place, and the debut of Seraph Black. Hope you guys liked the ritual part. One of my reviews said that Jutsu was 'technique', and someone else told me where I could find information on it, but my computer is without the internet at the moment so I couldn't research it before this chapter. I thank all of you who review, I really appreciate the comments, the good more then the bad, of course, but constructive criticism is essential. I hoped to convey in the last chapters that even though Seraph and co. have gotten stronger, strength isn't everything. Seraph knows that he needs to start studying, but the fight was good experience.

Next chapter will include the time room. Has to. I can't think of anything else to do with the next chapter, so there. The time room won't be a 'one day is a year' type deals. Well, essentially it is based off of that, but it won't be exactly. I figure I'll take something from DBZ, Naruto, modified vampire lore, a hint of Matrix, and some HP magic, and press puree until it hits the ceiling.

For those of you who think that there is too much outside of canon going into this fic, well, be glad I haven't watched as much Inuyasha as I wanted and incorporated it into the fic…wait, I did that too… Any body with knowledge on 'blood magic', tell me in a review, if you will, please.