Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

Harry inspected the seven Ice soldiers that Queen Xerina had insisted escort him back to Nair'icaix and to remain his bodyguards on permanent assignment while his wife watched from the background. According to Xerina, they were the most highly skilled of the top divisions in her army. They had not demonstrated their skills as of yet, but when they walked, it reminded Harry of cats stalking their prey.

Despite Harry's friendly overtures, they remained as formal as ever and now stood in a straight line as their pale eyes watched Harry. Their uniform consisted of silver robes that seemed to flow like an Invisibility Cloak, black breastplates, shin-guards, and dragon-hide boots. All seven had their silver hair cropped into similar styles.

After satisfying his curiosity he addressed their leader, Captain Nailoff. "We'll Apparate into the main entrance point at the Ministry of Magic. Once we do that, our goal is to look as imposing as possible. I don't expect any trouble. However, if anything happens- follow my lead."

Nailoff nodded to show that he understood. "As you wish, my lord."

Bellatrix stepped forward and cast some charms on Harry and his cloak as soon as he pulled the hood over his head. Harry was dressed in pure black with a hood that hid his face from view. Bellatrix had also suggested that he wear black gloves to further disguise him. Overall, Harry decided that he would not like to meet himself in a dark alley.

"Do you remember everything that I told you?" she asked.

"Yes, but I wish that you would go with me." Harry answered. Bellatrix had spent endless hours telling him precisely how to manipulate Fudge and how to counter every possible move he might make.The plan was to blackmail him with certain documents that she had somehow gotten her hands on. If Fudge wouldn't cooperate with him, he would publishthem in the Daily Prophet, which he now owned.

She shook her head. "Not this time, Harry. It would spoil your appearance. A disguised woman is much more interesting than a disguised man. If I came with you this time, you would have to share his attention with me."

"I don't mind sharing."

"That's not the point." she said as she pecked him on the lips quickly. "Be sure to tell me about it when you get back though."

"I will." Harry promised. He pulled his Black Ash wand from his cloak and gave it a short wave in order to Apparate. He had gotten to the point where he didn't really have to vocalize his spells all that much.

He reappeared in the Ministry's atrium and seven similar pops behind him signified that his bodyguards had safely arrived behind him. Quickly returning the wand to his cloak, he arrogantly strode past the security desk with its shocked guard, and ducked into an empty elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, he used his wandless skills to sense the mechanics of the spells that operated the elevator and manipulated them to skip the floors between the atrium and the floor Fudge was on.

The elevator zoomed toward its destination and arrived with a jerk. The doors clanged open to reveal a large area filled with desks filled with various aides and assistants. They all looked up to see who the arrival was and were shocked to watch as a hooded figure and seven strange looking men stepped into the room.

Harry spied a large set of double doors and correctly assumed that they led to Minister Fudge's office. He and his bodyguards effortlessly passed through the sea of workers who were only now beginning to protest his presence.

With a little wandless magic, the double doors slammed open with a crash and Harry was admitted into a plush reception room. Percy Weasley was sitting at one of the few desks in front of the door that led to Fudges office and he stared at the entourage in a rather shocked manner.

He soon regained his countenance and put a very self-important expression on his face. "The Minister is quite busy at this moment. I'm afraid that you will have to schedule an appointment for some later time."

For some reason, Harry wanted to laugh. However, he restrained himself and spoke. "I don't care how busy your incompetent minister is. Tell him that the Lord of Polairix is here to see him." This all came out in a very loud, yet frosty whisper, courtesy of some of the charms that Bellatrix had used on him.

Percy, desperately trying to retain some sense of nerve, quickly stood up and disappeared behind the door that led to Fudge's office. He appeared a moment later, looking very flustered. "I'm sorry, sir," he said, emphasizing the 'sir,' despite the fact that Harry's proper address was 'my lord,' "you will need to make an appointment."

Harry began to slowly step toward Percy, saying nothing. When they were nearly face to face, with Percy desperately trying to see through the charm that hid Harry's face, Harry finally spoke. "I don't think so." Then, with a casual wave of his wand, he sent Percy flying to the other side of the office.

Another wave, and the door to Fudge's office flew open and the group made their way through to find a very nervous Fudge using his desk as a barricade. "Don't come any closer or I'll be forced to use magic against you!" he cried.

"Get up." Harry commanded as a bodyguard closed the door behind them. "I'm here to discuss Azkaban and my other decrees as you have likely guessed by now." Harry said.

Fudge was stupid enough to sneer at Harry. "Azkaban remains under the control of this Ministry! There is nothing you can do that will make me decide otherwise. Even if you kill me, my successor will never allow it!"

"The Ministry will get off of Azkaban. Do you know why?"

"No."

Harry pulled a document that the goblins had owled him from his cloak and showed it to Fudge. "This certifies that I am the sole owner with managing control over the Daily Prophet."

"I fail to see your point, Mr. Polairix." Fudge replied, at the very least acknowledging that the document was indeed valid.

This time, a large sheaf of papers came out of Harry's cloak. "These are copies of the Smythe Memos and the records of one Dolores Umbridge. They illustrate, in express detail, the facts that you knew the Dark Wizard Voldemort had indeed returned, yet deliberately ignored it, and they also detail the multiple felonies Umbridge has committed- with your full knowledge. If they were to be published in the Daily Prophet, you and anyone else named 'Fudge' would be ruined forever."

"How did you get those?" Fudge yelled.

"That doesn't matter." Harry replied, annoyed. "If you fail to turn Azkaban over to me immediately and fail to come into compliance with my perfectly legitimate demands, these papers will be published in the Daily Prophet."

Fudge was at a disadvantage, yet his anger overrode any common sense he had. "I'll shut down the Daily Prophet!" he roared.

"You can't shut the newspaper down until it screams your misdeeds to the general public. By that time it would be too late anyway."

Finally admitting defeat, Fudge sighed. "It'll take me a couple of months to properly turn control of Azkaban over to you."

"If you aren't off Azkaban by Saturday afternoon, these documents go to press for the Sunday edition of the Daily Prophet." Harry said, knowing full well that it wouldn't take as long as Fudge was making it out to be.

"Two weeks then?"

"Saturday."

"Saturday it is." Fudge sighed.

"Good." Harry whispered. "Don't mess with me again. I also expect you to comply with my other decrees." He turned and left the office with the bodyguards following, leaving the incriminating memos on Fudge's desk. Bellatrix had made several duplicates, and he personally doubted that he'd be able to use them again. Fudge would expose himself slowly to prevent being blackmailed with them again.

Not wishing to remain any longer in the Ministry, Harry and his bodyguards returned to Nair'icaix . He dismissed them to return to their normal posts and made his way to his private study where he arranged with Bess, Tess, and Reggins to have the appropriate personnel prepared to take over Azkaban for Saturday, which was approaching quickly.

After signing off a few documents, and writing a letter to Snape detailing the latest news to be shared with Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and to some extent- Neville, he decided that he might as well begin his drills early. His plans were disrupted when the door opened to admit a very cross looking Bellatrix who physically escorted a sulky Narcissa in.

"Sit." Bellatrix commanded. Narcissa disagreeably sat in a chair across from Harry's desk and did her best to pretend that he was not present. After seeing this lack of acknowledgment on Narcissa's part, Bellatrix scowled. "Tell Harry what you just did!"

"I called one of the servants a half-breed." Narcissa mumbled.

Harry arched on of his eyebrows. For some reason he wasn't particularly surprised, butthat didn't mean that he was happy about it however. He inwardly sighed at the irony of having his wifeasking him todiscipline a woman who was probably twice his age at the very least. Finally he uttered the only thing he could think of. "Indeed?"

Bellatrix nodded. "Yes, she did. She also refuses to apologize. I'll let you deal with this alone." She strode from the room and closed the door with a bang. It was a nice show, however- Harry's ring told him that she was waiting outside the door and was in the process of casting an eavesdropping charm. She seemed to want Narcissa to regard Harry as the authority figure, but was also curious. He appreciated the gesture, though the eavesdropping did put make him slightly uncomfortable.

"Why did you do it?" Harry asked.

Narcissa looked at him defiantly. "Because that's who he is. A half-breed."

Righteous anger was beginning to surge through Harry's veins and somehow, Narcissa could feel it. From the way her eyes widened after the fact, she probably wished to take her answer back. Harry suppressed his anger before responding. "What makes you think you're any better than that servant is?"

"They're servants! They have to work for their wages. We were born with money, therefore that makes us better! It's the same with Muggles. We were born with magic. We ARE superior!" Narcissa yelled.

Harry was shocked at her opinions. He vowed to himself that he would purge them from her and anyone else he could find in the world. First things first though. "You will apologize to that servant." Harry directed.

"I will do no such thing."

"You will."

"I won't!"

'Uncle Vernon would have beaten the tar out of me by now.' Harry reflected to himself silently as he observed his dis-obedient ward sitting across from him as he contemplated what action he should take.

Several ideas occurred to him, ranging from grounding her to taking her over his lap- strange as it would be. To be honest, his knowledge of child-raising skills came from what littlehe had heard from other children during his stint at a Muggle school. Parenting skills witnessed and heard about at Hogwarts were for those whowere older than Narcissa was acting.

Finally, Harry had an epiphany. One learned through experience, Narcissa would be no different."From this point on," he declared, "you will work as a servant. Not only that, you will work to pay for your room and board here at Nair'icaix. What you eat and how you live will be determined by how well you work. Not only that, you will not use or benefit from magic in any way unless I decide to make exceptions."

"What?" exclaimed Narcissa, pale as a sheet. "You can't do that! You're my ward and you have to care for me!"

"You're also older than seventeen." Harry commented dryly. "If it makes you feel any better, you can tell people that I'm your parole office instead of guardian."

"I refuse!"

Harry looked at her quietly and then responded. "You have no other choice."

Like clockwork, Bellatrix entered and closed the discussion. She put on a good show of asking what had happened and what was going to be done. After Harry 'told' her everything, she called for Bess who agreed to take Narcissa to Mrs. Higgin. If Narcissa wanted dinner, she would have to get at least an hour or so of work in.

After the door closed behind Bess and Narcissa, Bellatrix sat on Harry's desk and beamed at him. "You're an absolute genius! Personally, I would have… well… anyway- making her work will do wonders I'm sure."

"I just hope it works." Harry commented.

"Of course it will. That was the best display of parenting that I've ever seen." There was a lull in the room as Bellatrix studied Harry thoughtfully, a small smile and a faraway look coming into her eyes. "You would make a good father, Harry."

"It was just a lucky idea." Harry said. "The Dursley's weren't exactly good role-models."

"Perhaps." Bellatrix said absently. "Don't forget your drills. I'll come down later to do some practice duels with you, for all the good it will do. You've already surpassed me."

Snape disguised his laughter with a hacking cough as he passed a group of wary looking students on his way to the Headmaster's office. Because of his connection with Potter's Legion, most of the Gryffindors were now not so hateful of him. Other students still looked on him with suspicion though.

Due to Potter's communication that he had received earlier, Snape knew precisely what this emergency Order meeting was going to be about. Ironically, there was nothing the Order could do that would have any significant effect.

He smirked as he watched Weasley and Granger, who had come from the opposite direction, step past the gargoyle that guarded the office and go up. He shortly followed and joined the rest of the Order in the conference room that adjoined Dumbledore's office.

After everyone had arrived and sat themselves at the table, Dumbledore spoke gravely. "It has come to my attention through some of my contacts in the Ministry that Lord Polairix called on Minister Fudge this morning."

"Did anybody recognize him?" Ron asked quickly, before the aged professor could continue.

"He was cloaked and hooded." Dumbledore answered. "His bodyguards had silver hair and silver battle robes. None of the bodyguards were known to us."

"What happened during the visit?" Hermione asked, hoping to get the meeting back on track.

Dumbledore looked at each Order member before proceeding on. "Lord Polairix successfully 'convinced' Fudge to give up Azkaban and come into compliance with his other decrees. I believe that Polairix used some sort of force or compelling power to persuade Fudge to give it up. He was dead set on keeping it earlier this week."

"He has to be stopped!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley. "If some man can just walk into the Ministry without resistance and force the Minister of Magic to do anything, what prevents him from walking into Hogwarts and killing all the students in their beds!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Calm down woman! There's nothing to suggest that Lord Polairix is a Dark wizard of any sort."

"How would you know?" Ron said acidly in defense of his mom.

"I AM a Dark wizard, Weasley!"

"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore said loudly. "We will get nowhere if we continue to argue like this. Tonks, Moody? You two are Aurors, what are your opinions as to Lord Polairix's alignment in regard to Dark or Light? Is Polairix a Dark wizard?"

After observing Snape discreetly shake his head, Tonks answered. "He certainly hasn't done anything that is against the law. For now, let's give him the benefit of the doubt."

Before anyone could object, Moody added his support. "Being imposing enough to convince Fudge to do something isn't a sign of anything at all. Innocent until proven guilty. I assume that you've already had Fudge tested for the Imperious Curse and found it to be negative."

"Fudge isn't under any sort of curse right now." Dumbledore stated. "I propose that we bide our time and see what happens. If any of you hear anything about Lord Polairix, report it to me. We need him on our side if we want to bring Voldemort down. Any other business?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt raised his hand. "Fudge is still having us search for Harry Potter and Bellatrix Black. There have been no sightings whatsoever of the two prisoners, separate or together.

"Harry didn't know how to swim." Ron said darkly. "He probably drowned. At least, I hope he did. That traitor."

"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione. "Don't talk like that!"

"I'm intrigued by the escape, actually." Arthur Weasley said. "Both he and Bellatrix Black at the same time. There's no doubt that they were working together. Sirius escaped from Azkaban, but only because he knew he was innocent."

"Your point?" asked another Order member.

Mr. Weasley looked ruffled. "Just thinking." he mumbled.

"What would we do even if we did find Harry and Bellatrix Black?" Hermione asked. "Lord Polairix is taking over Azkaban. Could we trust him to keep Harry imprisoned?"

"Just kill him and be done with it." Ron growled.

Snape raised his eyebrows in surprise. Young Ronald was turning into an unmitigated idiot faster than he could count to ten. Maybe young Weasley needed some humbling. "How is your Defense Association coming along? I'm sure all ofus here would like to see as many Hogwarts students as possible trained for Defense."

Ron turned red as a beet. "Well, there's been a bit of a snag there." he mumbled, not quite so puffed up as he had been.

"What kind of snag, Mr. Weasley?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"The students are no longer coming to our meetings." Hermione announced on the behalf of Ron who was looking too embarrassed to do answer for himself. "It's probably because Harry isn't in charge anymore. He did have popular appeal."

"Curious." Dumbledore said.

Hermione looked around at the people sitting at the table. They didn't seem to impressed with them. Maybe one of her own observations would save them face. "I have reason to believe that certain students have formed their own Defense club. I don't know who's in charge, but students seem to disappear for an hour or two at least once or twice a week."

"What?" Ron sputtered in surprise. "Someone else has stolen my position?"

"It would seem that way." Snape sneered at Ron. The git deserved to be brought down a few pegs. And he had always thought Potter to be arrogant. Now Potter was quite possibly the most powerful wizard in the world and he was ten times less arrogant than Weasley.

"Discreetly look into this." Dumbledore said to Ron and Hermione. "Try to find out precisely what's going on. I'll put Severus here in charge of the investigation. If you find anything of significance, report it to him. If there is a club, they won't be suspicious that way."

Snape's lips quirked as he looked at Ron and Hermione. "Good luck."