Now comes the long awaited update on my progress with Harry Potter and the Secret of Sorcery. I could tell you roughly how many pages I've written (over 100) or how many words those pages contain (nearly 50,000), but it wouldn't really inform you at all about when to expect the finished product. The reason for that is the fact that my progress is dictated by events outside my control, namely school, an endeavor to which I dedicate upwards of 80 hours per week right now (as some of you are guessing, it isn't undergraduate school anymore). As a result I can't tell when I might get finished (I've got a ten page draft paper that has to be researched from scratch and turned in six days from now). I get projects like that all the time, not to mention a hefty reading schedule. Enough excuse making, the point is that I haven't quit or disappeared. A finished product will be coming eventually. For all of you waiting for that finished product I'm sorry its taking so long, but I trust you will all understand that real life must come first to our hobbies. For those of you not waiting, hopefully this will bump these two stories back up to the top (I'm posting this update in both my stories because people may not be watching both of them for updates) where new readers can be exposed to them (that isn't too shameless, right?). So, until you see me again, keep shipping for Harry and Hermione, the best couple in the HP universe and enjoy this tiny excerpt from Chapter 4 - Fear and Loathing, though, as usual, everything is open to change.
Septimus and Sense both smirked as they took up inconspicuous positions next to the door. Sense twirled an idle strand of her nearly white blonde hair that had fallen down from the elegant spiral atop her head.
"Please try to be respectful Lucius," Fudge muttered before approaching a full length mirror that hung unobtrusively on the wall.
"Pretentious scum, calling itself Morbus," Lucius muttered in such a way that Percy doubted the Minister heard him. "This had better work."
Fudge touched the ornamental framework that the mirror sat in along several different decorative ridges before stepping back. A moment later a familiar thick darkness began to coalesce inside the reflective area, slowly taking on the roughly human shape of the vampire who called himself Morbus.
A shiny black boot and the attached leg stepped out of the mirror followed by the rest of the vampire liaison. Percy noticed some subtle changes between the Morbus in the memory Fudge had shown him and the Morbus that had just finished walking through the mirror. His skin was less pale, his hair slightly longer, and his fangs no longer protruded past his thin lips.
"A delight, as always Minister," Morbus said as his eyes darted to the location of the two Artemis siblings. "But was it really necessary for those things to be present?"
Lucius' face, normally placid, hardened noticeably.
"Ah, Lucius, my good friend," Morbus said jovially. "You were no doubt overjoyed to hear about the success of young Vitter's potion."
"Ah, there will be plenty of time to reacquaint later," Fudge interrupted. "I'm afraid we have urgent business to attend to."
"My followers stand ready to fulfill our part of the bargain," Morbus said.
"How good to hear," Lucius said. "Potter is still causing trouble and now it seems as if the Americans are involved too."
"This had better not interfere with our arrangement Minister," Morbus said sharply. "If the Americans catch on to what we're doing it'll be troublesome."
"They won't have a clue until the situation is beyond their ability to interfere with," Fudge said reassuringly. "What we must do is prevent potential revolutionary factions from igniting the civil war that You-Know-Who's death was supposed to suppress."
Morbus made a rumbling noise deep in his throat. "I should hope so, for the sake of our bargain," he said. "But keep in mind that our agreement does not include us fighting your war for you Minister."
"Of course, of course," Fudge said, still trying to be reassuring. "Your forces will merely do routine patrol and other mundane policing work. Your job is to free up our forces to intensify their ongoing counterrevolutionary duties."
"Do you think you can handle that?" Lucius asked brusquely.
"Don't worry," Morbus said. He grinned in a way that Percy thought almost sinister. "My followers and I shall protect England's magical community like a faithful shepherd watches over his flock."
"Excellent," Fudge said before Lucius could bring a full blown scowl to bear against their guest. A feat which was rather intensely frightening as a result of his scarred visage left over from some battle Percy knew had something to do with the defense of the Ministry. "Inform me when your preparations are complete."
"As you wish," Morbus' voice said echoing as his form lost its shape and dwindled away as a dissipating cloud of black mist.
"Lucius, don't let your temper get the best of you," Fudge admonished once their guest had departed.
"Minister, you know what that abomination," Lucius began, teeth gritted with pent up rage.
"I know and I sympathize," Fudge interrupted sharply. "Why do you think I'm taking this opportunity to get those bloody monsters out of the country? For now we have to make our move before this nation is ripped apart again by people who want to side with demons like that."
"Yes, Minister, it's just that," Lucius said, but let his voice trail off with an uncharacteristic note of pain.
"Lucius, you've been my greatest supporter and one of the few people I can truly name as a friend," Fudge said sincerely. "Can I count on you again?"
"Of course Cornelius," Lucius replied.
"Thank you," Fudge said, jovial again. "Go find Dolores and Vance. This won't be like the end of the first war where the enemy got to linger until he was ready for us. This time we're going to clean them out so fast that they won't know what's going on."
Lucius nodded and turned away smiling. If Fudge wanted those two then he was finally going to get his wish and this time Dumbledore wouldn't be around to foil him.
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