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Chapter Twenty-Four

Yusuke sighed and rolled over on his futon. It was time to get up, put on his Harry Potter persona and go back to Hogwarts. He was bored. Hogwarts, he grumbled, was extremely boring. Also, someone was casting honesty spells on him. He, or his Father, was going to find out who, and do something nasty to them. He ran names through his head, finally deciding on Dumbledore, someone from the Ministry; or, just perhaps, Draco Malfoy. Snape knew better, McGonagall was on his side and Flitwick was too much a goblin to do such a thing.

He'd discussed the problem with Shiriusu-Oji and Remusu-Aniki, as well as his father. They hadn't come up with any answers, as no one recognized the signature. Yusuke put that aside for now.

He moved on to consider his next step in dismantling Tom Riddle's organization. He'd kicked the lowest level into bits, most of the lowest sort were now either in hiding in England or had scarpered to the continent. He'd taken out a few of the next level as a warning to the upper echelon, but most of them had no sense and wouldn't be scared off. He knew he was still looking at at least two years of work to get most of the Riddle-gumi out of England, or under its dirt.

His main problem was, he didn't want the common populace to realize what he was actually doing. Dumbledore also didn't need to know more than that he was working with the Ministry to do the job they wanted done. Dumbledore was a pain in his ass and a detriment to his work, in general and in particular. Yusuke didn't really understand why he couldn't just go in, guns blazing, and finish things up. He was, after all, only sixteen, and his father's explanation had made little sense. Who cared if there was a general panic and he was declared the next Dark Lord of England. Obviously, his father did, and as an obedient son, he tended to do as his father asked. Besides, all the sneaking around and clandestine 'operations' were fun.

Yusuke picked a cigarette from thin air and stuck it in the corner of his mouth; squinting against the smoke, he pulled on a yukata and ambled into his sitting room. He usually ate breakfast there, with whatever officers needed to speak to him before the day's business.

Today was different, Shiriusu-Oji and Remusu-Aniki joined him, instead of his Japanese officers. They spent breakfast discussing what they should do and how to do it. It was decided that the Japanese gaki would stay, if they wanted to. Yusuke had found, much to his dismay, that most of his men in England just wanted to return to Japan. The few that were willing to stay were mostly young and wanted the excitement of living in a foreign country. The older one's who would stay were mostly dumb muscle, spying wasn't their forte, or even a skill.

Yusuke knew that his network was a bit thin, but he didn't think he needed many men to just keep their ear to the ground and keep an eye out for the people in the pictures they were given. The worst part of this whole operation was the Ministry of Magic. The whole organization was made up of idiots, fools, and venial bribe takers. Yusuke was enjoying taking them to the cleaners on a regular basis. Every Dark Mark he turned in was worth money. He'd asked what they did with the marked forearms he sent them. Seems they just banished it the second they made sure it had the mark. Yusuke snickered into his tea.

"So, brat, what's so funny." Sirius nibbled on his smoked fish.

"Oh, the English Ministry of Magic. I've been soaking them forever. Every other arm I send them is transformed. It's not sucking them dry by any means but it's fun." He grinned at Sirius over his cup.

Sirius blinked then started laughing. Remus joined Sirius, and the two men wound up hanging onto each other to keep from falling onto the table.

Remus managed to get his snickers under control enough to ask, "And whose brilliant idea was that?"

Yusuke smirked in satisfaction. "Mine. There's no reason not to run a con on those idiots. They think I'm just a sixteen year old. I'm much more than that. Father has trained me well. After all, Japanese children are meant to work hard and learn quickly. I always wish to please my Father, it is so rewarding. I've been trained by the best of the best from the time I was healthy enough to do so."