Caer Azkaban Challenge.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anyone, -thing, -place, or object from the Potterverse. JK Rowling does. This is a Not For Prophet story. Yes, that was intentional.

Prologue: The Warding of Azkaban

The Lord of Azkaban awaited his guests with slight impatience and an immense amount of excitement. Finally! The Castle Azkaban was complete, and the Isle needed only a visit from the Hogwarts Four to complete the rest of the preparations. Lord Azkaban was anxious to see his old friend Salazar again.

He ceased his pacing when a guard informed him of the arrival of the Four. He spun on his heel and followed the guard to the entrance. Salazar Slytherin moved forward and grasped Azkaban's hand in his own.

"My friend, it is good to see you again. You have not tamed the nest atop your head yet, I see," Salazar spoke by way of greeting.

Azkaban laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "And you have yet to tame your serpent, I hear."

Salazar smiled good-naturedly. "He is confined to his chamber . . . as of yet."

One of the two ladies, Helga Hufflepuff, raised an eyebrow at her friend's statement while Godric Gryffindor merely smirked.

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After resting for the evening and restoring their energies, the five met again at the entrance. Rowena Ravenclaw took charge.

"To perform the warding, we need the blood of Azkaban. Do you have this?"

"I do," Lord Azkaban replied, giving her one exact pint of his blood.

"Very well. We are required to stand at equidistant points about the perimeter of the Isle. Each of us will take one fifth of Azkaban's blood, and dowse our chosen points with it. Then we step into it and begin. As I know that we all of us know how to complete the warding, there should be no questions. Are we ready?"

After receiving nods from her contemporaries, Rowena chanted a spell and five glowing pillars of light appeared. Each made their way to the spot they would call home for the next six hours.

They poured the blood, stepped into the liquid that was slowly seeping its way into the very grounds of Azkaban Isle, and began chanting. Six hours later, a dome shimmered into place above the Isle with Castle Azkaban at its center, expanding one half mile into the ocean beyond the shores. Azkaban was protected forevermore, or until the blood of Lord Azkaban's line was no more. Five weary and magically exhausted individuals bade each other a good eve, and went to their beds. They were required to remain on the Isle for six days to allow the wards to fully cement themselves.

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The Lord Azkaban and the Lord Slytherin were found the next morning eating breakfast and discussing the wards. Azkaban was delighted to find that his bane—the Dementors—were forever bound to the Isle and the Lord of Azkaban. There were anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards involved. If the Lord of Azkaban were standing on Azkaban soil, all those who tried to harm him would be expelled from the Isle and into the sea, never allowed to return. The current Lord would never realize that any of his more enterprising descendants could use this to their advantage. Of course, he would never think to tell them of this, either. Only Salazar recorded that bit of information, and then only in Parseltongue because everyone knew how rare Parselmouths were.

Rowena was sitting in the drawing room of Castle Azkaban, the receiving room the Lady of Azkaban if you will, when she went into a trance. Helga, who had been conversing with the Lady Ravenclaw, knew the signs and spelled a quill to take the prophecy down.

"The Lords shall fight

Of Snake and Wraith

With venom foul

They break the faith

And ere the battle

shall be o'er

A Lord lies dead

Forevermore

Purity lost

And ne'er regain'd

Shall be redeemed

When love attain'd"

Rowena came from her trance directly into a state of unconsciousness. Helga read the lines over and over and feared what they could mean. She daren't show it to Salazar or Azkaban. Not if what she believed were true. She could only hope, and speculate on what the future would bring.