Everyone in Hogwarts watched as Harry continued making his way through the rooms of the enormous castle on his way to the exit. The more observant ones noticed that he was being careful with the arm that had its shoulder slashed, though it didn't seem to be unduly affecting him. Which was good as he'd had to fight several more enemies.

Now he was walking through a room full of crates. As they watched the all heard his stomach practically roar with hunger. He paused and patted his stomach with a sigh before lifting his musket and resuming his trek.

"I'm worried, Ron." Hermione said, biting her lip as she wrung her hands.

"He'll be fine, Mione." Ron said, being as reassuring as he could in spite of his own misgivings.

"Ron, we don't know how long it's been since he ate or slept, and he's been using a lot of energy fighting, not to mention his wounds. He's got to be getting worn down. No matter how many new skills and powers he obtains, they're useless if he can't fight due to exhaustion and hunger." The bushy haired witch said, her voice shaking with fear for Harry.

The anxiety in the room rose as those who heard her shared the observation with the other students, though there were more than a few who'd already deduced the same thing. Everybody was wondering how long Harry would be able to keep going before he got too tired and made a fatal mistake.

"Five galleons say Potter kicks it within the next twenty minutes." Draco Malfoy said with a nasty smirk, making sure only his fellow Slytherins would be able to hear him.

The other Slytherin sixth years glanced at each other before one of them smirked back. "I'll take that bet." Tracey Davis said confidently. At Draco's surprised look she shrugged. "Potter's impressed me tonight. He's not only managed to survive this long, but he's also become a lot stronger. Sure, a lot of it was luck thanks to finding that gauntlet, but I'm pretty sure most people in the Great Hall wouldn't have made it far enough to even find it in the first place." She sat back, arms crossed in front of her chest. "If he could find some food and a place to get some sleep, I'd lay odds on him making it out entirely."

Draco sneered. "Really? You think he can escape that place? You said yourself he's only alive due to luck."

"Draco, without a wand I doubt you would have managed to escape from that first skeleton in the first place." Daphne Greengrass said, backing up her best friend. "You'd have been cowering in a corner of the cell, crying for daddy till you got gutted."

Let it be said that with Malfoy Sr.'s arrest, a lot of Draco's power in Slytherin house had disappeared, letting those who had never kissed his ass in the first place, like the two girls and Blaise Zabini, feel secure enough to actually talk to him the way they'd always wished to.

The blonde growled at Greengrass' words, but didn't say anything back. As obtuse as everyone knew he was, he was well aware of his diminished status among his housemates after getting smacked down during the end of the previous school year once his father was sent to Azkaban. He was not eager for a similar incident now.

Meanwhile, at the Ravenclaw table, several students of various years, even the newly sorted ones, were furiously writing down and discussing observations on the castle, the gauntlet, the monsters Harry'd faced, and the powers he'd obtained. Originally it had just been them talking amongst themselves, but after an especially clever seventh year thought of asking a house elf for quills and parchment, several of the students had taken it upon themselves to document everything.

"I wonder why alchemy isn't taught in Hogwarts?" Fourth year Jatin Agarkar asked as he wrote down an observation on Harry's musket. "I mean, if a Master of it can create something like that gauntlet…"

"Actually, we don't know how much alchemy was used to make it." Sue Li said as she watched Harry take a quick break, rechecking his bandage. "The note Harry read about it from the warden said it was made using that and the creator's magic. If she was a resident of that castle, she might not have been human, in which case her magic might have had a special component that made it work."

Jatin glanced up from his scribbling. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Actually, alchemy IS taught at Hogwarts." Seventh year Roberta Lutterworth said patiently. "It's a N.E.W.T. only elective you can choose in sixth year, but it's only available if there's enough interest in it. If only one or two people want to take it, then unfortunately they're out of luck."

Jatin glanced around at the students watching the projection. "…Something tells me that's not going to be a problem next year…"

Those around him chuckled, agreeing.

At the Hufflepuff table, Hannah Abbot glanced at Justin Finch-Fletchley. "I can't believe how strong Harry is. He's a lot stronger than I ever thought he was, even during the DA."

"Well, he showed that he was very capable last year. I think if he had a wand he'd have a much easier time of it, though." Justin said.

Hannah shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I meant the fact that he's still going on in spite of his wounds and hunger and everything else that's happened. If it was me I'd have already curled into a ball somewhere and cried my eyes out over everything. If I wasn't already dead, that is."

"I suppose you've got a point." Justin allowed. "God knows I'd have probably been killed by the musket skeletons at the least."

"I hope he can get some rest soon." She said with a sigh.

Over with the Gryffindors, feelings were a bit mixed. Being the house of the suicidal adrenaline junkies, the entire experience was both amazing and terrifying. True, Harry was in an immense amount of danger (not that that was anything new, as far as those who actually knew him were concerned), but he was doing so well and being so impressive they couldn't help but be awed.

"The Weasley twins are going to be so upset they weren't here for this." Dean Thomas said with a small chuckle.

Seamus Finnigan nodded. "Not only is harry kicking all the ass, but they could probably come up with so many joke ideas from this it isn't even funny."

"It's not funny." Lavender Brown said with a frown. "Harry's in real danger. Again. Except this time we're all witnessing it. I'm scared to death that I'll end up seeing him die to some horrible monster."

Seamus hurried to reassure her. "Lav, he's not going to die. He's Harry Bloody Potter. He's survived so much shite I think it would take Merlin himself to make him finally stay fuckin dead. Have some faith, eh? Just think about how good it will feel to cheer him on when he finally escapes, more powerful than You-Know-Who could ever have feared, ready to kick arse." He grinned confidently at her to make her feel better.

Lavender smiled slightly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"I'm always right, Lav." The Irishman said with a chuckle. When Lavender turned her attention back to the projection, Seamus looked at his best friend, a serious look in their eyes. Yes, they both had faith in Harry, but this was different from other situations their friend had been in. They were trying to keep their own spirits up as well.

Suddenly there were multiple shrieks as Harry almost took a fireball to the face when he turned a corner into another crate strewn hallway. He backpedaled with a curse, his face red from the heat of the flame he'd just managed to avoid. After patting his face to make sure nothing had gotten burned off he growled, eyes narrowing, and raised his musket. He peered around the corner to see what had attacked him now, rifle at the ready.

At the other end of the room, near the door, sat something odd. It was what appeared to be the skull of a dinosaur, a T. Rex, most likely, but flames filled its eye sockets. It was perched on what appeared to be its spine, able to move slightly to aim, and when it spotted him it opened its mouth, the light of flames building up in the back of it before it fired a ball of flame at Harry, doing its best to roast him.

Harry fell back around the corner, wincing when the flames hit the wall beside him, the heat washing over him. "For fuck's sake, what's next? A giant bloody robot?" Letting out a sigh he prepared himself to attack as everybody watched expectantly, his musket disappearing from his hand back into storage.

Harry glanced back around the corner, and the dinosaur skull fired again at him. Immediately after the flames left its mouth, Harry was on the move. He rushed out to one side of the room, running towards the skull while hugging the wall. When it fired again he pushed off, running to the opposite side of the room, hugging the other wall.

When it fired one more time, rather than zig after his latest zag, Harry used his new jumping ability to leap high, his hands actually touching the ceiling. Falling towards the skull, which didn't appear to be able to aim upwards, he made one of his huge axes appear in his hands and brought it down on his enemy using all the force and weight of his fall. The skull, sturdy as it was, shattered into pieces, the flames in its eyes winking out as it collapsed, a brackish light escaping the remains to flow into his gauntlet.

The students cheered as they saw him stand up from his landing, huffing and wiping sweat from his forehead with a smirk before sitting down on one of the many crates, axe disappearing to be replaced by his musket, which he planted against the floor, ready to be picked up at a moment's notice.

"He's doing really well with his new abilities." Neville said, arms crossed as he sat back against the table, eyes riveted on the screen. "You'd think he'd need more time to adjust to something like the jumping ability to keep from splattering himself against the wall or ceiling, but he doesn't seem to have any trouble besides the first time when he was caught by surprise."

"Perhaps there is some instinctive knowledge on how to use the abilities once he knows he has them?" Luna postulated from where she sat beside Ginny. "It's like with his knowledge of using the weapons, except he has to figure out what each ability does before he can actually use it."

Ron blinked. "That doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't instinctive knowledge include what the knowledge is about?"

"Not if it's actually instinctive and not conscious. The 'how to use it' aspect could be something he isn't actually aware of and can use without a thought. Sort of like walking or moving your arm. You don't need to think about it." Hermione said to expand on Luna's hypothesis, the blonde nodding in agreement.

The two redheads glanced at each other before shrugging.

Everybody's attention was back on the screen as Harry got up and began to make weird gestures. He opened his mouth and looked like he was trying to vomit for several long seconds before frowning and beginning to thrust out his hands, muttering too softly for them to hear.

"What's he doing now?" Ginny asked, confused.

"At a guess? Trying to figure out what he got from the thing he just destroyed. He must think it's flame projection, or something like it." Hermione said.

"Being able to breathe fire would be helpful." Ron said, interested.

"Your mastery of understatement is truly breathtaking, Ron." Hermione teased, a small smile quirking her lips in spite of herself.

"Ha, ha, ha…" Ron said sarcastically even as he watched Harry do more and more absurd things to try to launch a ball of fire somehow. "This is pretty funny. He'll never live it down when we tell him we saw everything." He wasn't the only one nearby to snicker at the thought.

Finally getting bored of his ineffectual attempts at pyrokinesis, Harry picked his rifle up with a grumble and made his way through the door that his latest enemy had been guarding. He carefully looked through the door, only to blink at what he found on the other side. When the Hogwarts inhabitants saw it, several gasped.

The storerooms he'd been travelling along for a while now had given way to a very opulent area that reminded Hermione and a few other students of the interior of some of the more lavish palaces of Britain and France. Elaborate chandeliers that hung from the high ceilings illuminated the halls and rooms brightly, flawless windows allowing a view of the outside of the castle. The walls were painted and decorated exquisitely, portraits and mirrors hanging here and there. All in all, it looked like where the rulers of a wealthy country would entertain guests.

"…Wow…" Harry said softly as he closed the door behind him. "Hopefully this means that I'm going the right way to reach the exit…" He glanced out a window before grimacing. "Still pretty far, though…" He sighed when he heard a screech, turning to see several more flea men, a lancer, and an axe armor. "Of fucking course…" With a growl of frustration he launched himself into the fight.

Everyone watching noted that he was doing even better against the various monsters now, shifting between weapons with ease in order to take advantage of any openings he found, and using his new jumping ability to good effect.

"What is that chandelier doing…?" Susan asked hesitantly. The others took their eyes away from Harry's fight to see the chandelier directly above him swaying ominously, the heavy, pointed mass of metal and crystal jingling as its motions became more violent. Finally it gave way, snapping off at the base, and began falling down, close to impacting against Harry's head.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. Harry looked up as he finished off his last enemy when he noticed the change in lighting and the sound of tinkling crystal. His eyes widened almost comically and without a thought crouched down and launched himself horizontally using his jumping ability, barely making it out from under the chandelier as it crashed against the marble tiled ground with a resounding crash.

Harry sat on the ground a couple of meters away from the twisted mass that had once been a beautiful light fixture, eyes still wide and his breath coming out harshly. "Holy fucking shit, that was close!" He fell back against the cool floor, staring up at the ceiling. "Bloody hell, the fucking castle itself is out to kill me, isn't it?"

Hermione had a hand to her chest, feeling her heart race till she thought it would explode after the fright she'd just had. "Oh god that was close…"

Ron's eyes were wide, his freckles standing out in his pale face. "No kidding. I can't believe he survived that so narrowly."

After another minute of rest, Harry got up and began making his way through the hallways, keeping well clear of any other chandelier he came across.

It was several minutes later that Harry encountered his next challenge. He was walking through a room that was displaying a wide array of ornamental weapons, all of them hanging in display cases or from hooks and stands on the walls. "Wow. You could arm an army with all of this…" He said, staring at a gigantic claymore leaning against a wall. Due to his distraction he didn't notice a silver rapier lift itself up off a stand on the wall. His friends, however, did.

"Oh no…" Parvati moaned. "What now?"

Her question was answered when the rapier paused behind him before rushing forward to stab Harry in the back. Most of the hall cried out, sure they were about to see him die. But Harry noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye when he began turning around and scrambled to the side with a yelp, managing to avoid a severe wound but receiving a scratch on his non-injured arm. Several eyes in the Great Hall narrowed at the sight of the scratch.

Harry immediately summoned his chipped and worn katana before beginning to fight the floating rapier, parrying ever strike while he tried to think of a way to stop it considering nothing was holding it. As he fought, however, the thrusting sword managed to score several more wounds, though those confirmed something for several of those watching.

"Is it just me, or are the injuries Harry's taking from that thing less serious than they should be?" Katie Bell asked as she kept her hands curled into fists.

Katie's Hufflepuff friend, Leanne Billings, glanced at her. "I noticed that too. The scratches aren't as deep as they should be considering how hard the sword is striking him."

"That's it!" Colin cried out, jumping to his feet, making several people jump.

"What!?" Romilda Vane snapped as she clutched at her chest after the surprise from Colin's shout.

"I've been trying to figure out what powers Harry got from the golem and the skull thing." Colin said in his usual excitable manner. "Maybe they're different than the others and don't give Harry some active power, but something passive, like more durability!" As everybody stared at him he shuffled his feet. "Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? What else could a monster made of rock give him? It musta just made him tougher."

The others considered it. "That… makes sense…" Katie said slowly. "Wow, that could be a real life saver."

"It probably already is." Leanne said. "The wounds from the rapier might have been debilitating instead of irritating without that, and Harry might not be able to hold it off."

While this discussion was going on Harry was still trying to hold the rapier off. Finally, in frustration, he slashed his sword at where a person would be if they were wielding it… and met resistance, much to his surprise. The rapier recoiled, as though its bearer had been struck, and Harry's eyes narrowed. "So that's your game…" With a menacing grin Harry went on the offensive now that he had a target, parrying the increasingly desperate rapier between strikes at its 'body'.

The Hogwarts students cheered as they watched Harry take control of the fight, striking out at whatever it was that was controlling the rapier. Finally he stabbed forward, and there was a cry that sounded like it came from some sort of animal before the rapier dropped to the floor with a clatter, what looked like a soap bubble appearing from out of midair and streaming into the gauntlet.

There was a cheer and some applause at Harry's victory as he once again took a moment to rest, holding his growling stomach. The children spoke amongst themselves, sharing Colin's observation with those that hadn't heard and discussing what Harry had gotten from his latest opponent. Some guessed invisibility, others that he could now handle a rapier.

In the end the second group was right, as when Harry was rested enough he picked up the rapier and went through a few movements. He didn't exactly have the ability of an expert, but that was to be expected. At least he had a new weapon he could use.

Once again Harry began making his way through the decorated hallways, looking for a way out. A couple of people wondered why he didn't take any of the weapons in the room he'd just been in, but others had already deduced that it was because none of them were ones he knew how to use.

That or it slipped his mind. That was possible too.

After another battle with a zombie samurai, a musket skeleton, and a new monster that was just a gigantic eye with a long scorpion tail that reached below it which floated around and tried to sting him, Harry opened another opulent door… and stopped dead as his audience grew excited.

Inside was a formal dining room that royalty would use. But that's not what drew attention.

The enormous table for thirty people was laden with enough food to match the Welcoming Feast the Hogwarts students had recently consumed, all of it looking fresh, steam rising from the hot dishes.

Everybody could hear Harry's stomach roar, and few were surprised when he made his musket vanish in order to attack the food. He reached forward and grabbed a turkey leg, stuffing it in his mouth like a ravenous beast, eating like he hadn't eaten in months.

Which they supposed was close enough to the truth.

Still, not everyone was happy that he'd found some sustenance. "Harry, no! It could be poisoned!"

"He doesn't have a choice, Hermione." Neville pointed out reasonably. "He's starving, and if he doesn't get some food soon he's going to collapse. You said it yourself: he's tired, hungry, and exhausted after all the fighting. We'll just have to hope this won't kill him, cause he'll definitely die without it."

Hermione whimpered but went silent as she watched Harry devour the food in front of him ravenously.

Harry, for his part, had stuffed half a warm, buttery roll into his mouth, moaning in almost orgasmic bliss as he felt his stomach begin filling. He kept going without pause for almost five minutes before finally beginning to slow down. He sighed with relieve even as he continued grabbing things to eat.

"I trust everything is to your satisfaction?" A female voice suddenly said, making both Harry and those in Hogwarts jump in surprise. Harry dropped his food from the shock, turning around as his new rapier appeared in his hand, looking for who spoke.

Out of a small alcove neither Harry nor those watching had noticed came a beautiful young woman in a dark purple stereotypical maid's outfit, the skirt reaching her knees and the traditional headpiece on her head. She was very good looking, but there was something inhuman about her. She had blue hair and violet eyes with slit pupils like a cats which were locked on his own.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, and everyone could hear his surprise at finding someone that could speak and wouldn't just attack in this castle.

The woman curtseyed, a picture perfect high society maid. "I am Persephone. I am one of the maids that cares for this section of Castlevania."

"Casltevania? That's where I am? Who's the master of this castle, then?" Harry asked, still eyeing the woman wearily.

"This is the castle of my lord Dracula." She said primly. "It is nearly time for his full resurrection, and there won't be any interference this time thanks to the wizard who left you here."

The alarm those words caused among the teachers and Ministry personnel was evident, and within seconds a low level auror tore out of the Great Hall on Amelia Bone's orders.

Meanwhile, Harry's eyes had narrowed. "So your master is in league with Voldemort. Guess it's even more obvious now that he's my enemy."

Persephone nodded placidly. "Yes. The wizard agreed to assist my Master while asking for aid in his own efforts towards conquest. He left you here to have us kill you. A sort of down payment, if you will."

Harry readied his rapier. "And I assume you're going to be killing me now?" Persephone nodded serenely as she settled into a martial arts stance. Harry sighed. "Alright, let's get on with it…"

Immediately Persephone launched herself at Harry, leading with a kick. Harry dodged to the side before thrusting with the rapier, which the demonic maid fluidly moved to the side of. They began fighting in earnest, the maid punching and kicking while Harry did his best to hold her off by switching between various weapons to throw her off.

Everybody winced as Persephone's foot planted itself firmly in Harry's stomach, making him bend over and vomit a bit of what he'd just eaten. Her fist then struck his injured shoulder, making him cry out, before the other slammed into his cheek, sending him sprawling.

"Oh no, Harry!" "Get up, man!" "You can do it, Potter!" "Kick that bint's ass!"

The students cried out encouragement to Harry even though they knew he couldn't hear them.

Thankfully Harry managed to recover enough to roll away from a stomp that broke the marble tile, quickly scrambling to his feet. He materialized his musket and fired at Persephone, hitting her in the shoulder, making her stagger.

Harry jumped up with a cry, summoning his axe in order to use the same tactic he used against the dinosaur skull. Persephone managed to dodge, however, quickly punishing him for the attack with a palm strike to his side, sending him back against the table, scattering food all over the wood and the floor.

Her shoulder still bleeding blue blood, Persephone moved to finish Harry off, but he jumped to the other side of the table to buy himself some time. The maid wasn't deterred, however, and quickly hopped up onto the table, ready to beat his face in.

Still clutching his axe, he reared back and threw it at her the way the armored being that'd borne it had, the large hunk of metal sailing straight at her chest. Persephone jumped to the side, but Harry was already slashing with a katana. The rusty, chipped and dented blade broke when it struck her, but not before it severed her spine. She let out a cry as she fell off the table, her legs no longer supporting her.

Harry didn't hesitate and summoned another axe to his hand, immediately swinging down. Persephone's head came off with ease, and a purple light escaped her body to enter his gauntlet.

Harry stumbled back and fell against the wall, holding his side in pain and gagging as he looked at Persephone's body.

"She may not have been human, but she acted enough like one that this can't be easy on Harry." Luna said seriously even as the other students celebrated another victory.

Ron sighed and nodded in agreement.

Eventually Harry recovered enough to get back up. He gathered his discarded weapons and moved towards the alcove Persephone had been hiding in, finding a door. Opening it he found a small, comfy room with a couple of couches and a lit fireplace as the only illumination, as there were no windows or other doors.

Harry hesitated, but soon he moved back into the dining room and grabbed more food before heading into the small room.

"What's he doing?" Someone asked.

"I believe he's preparing himself to get some sleep." Dumbledore said as Harry closed the door and pushed one of the heavy couches against it to keep it from opening. Then he lay down on the other couch, letting out a long sigh, his eyes closing. The headmaster turned towards his students. "I believe that Mr. Potter has the right idea. You should all head to bed now. It is after one o'clock in the morning, and you need to sleep, especially after all of this excitement." What dissent the students mustered was undercut by the yawning of many of them, especially amongst the younger years. "Of you trot, there we go…"

As the Great Hall began to empty, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna stood their ground, gazing up at Dumbledore. "We want to stay and keep an eye on Harry." Ron said.

"I will be staying here to keep an eye on Mr. Potter, children. Go to bed." McGonagall assured them, but sighed when she saw they weren't moving.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, his eyes twinkling, before waving his wand, sleeping bags appearing much like they had several years ago. "I trust you will try to actually sleep?"

The teens nodded and quickly grabbed sleeping bags, setting them on the ground and transfiguring their robes into pajamas. As they did so, Dumbledore bid them good night and left with the other teachers and the Ministry personnel, McGonagall changing into cat form and laying down on one of the tables as the candles that illuminated the Great Hall began to go out, her gaze locked on Harry's sleeping form in the projection.

Hermione looked at Harry as well as her eyes slid closed. "…Good night, little brother…" She whispered as sleep took her.

Here we have the newest chapter of Hunter, as voted on by my Patrons. Hope everyone enjoyed.

I don't really have much to say except to remember that you can vote one which of my stories I should update on my Pat A Ron at dotcom /athanmortis.

Till next time. Bye all.