Harry plopped down in a squishy chair next to a pile of parchments that he was fairly certain Hermione was lurking behind somewhere. He grabbed a hand full of the papers to see just what she was working on so diligently. Some of them were complex diagrams of magical objects that Harry had never seen before and a few that he had, like a sneakoscope. Others were spells, potions, and lists of exotic materials that Harry also was mostly unaware of.
"What is all this stuff?" he asked.
"Fred and George sent it along with a list of credentials of the new people they've recruited," Hermione replied, "Some of the new recruits sent us whatever they thought might be useful."
"Are we sure that these people are reliable and not dark spies?" Harry asked.
"Well that's part of the reason they're sending us these backgrounds on them. Plus each person is isolated for now, none of them have much knowledge of our overall operations. Besides, Fred and George have only managed to recruit four people so far," Hermione said. Harry raised his eyebrows with faint surprise. "Honestly Harry did you really expect people just to flock to our banner for no reason? These four wouldn't even have joined except they saw first hand our fight in Diagon Alley."
"We should be able to recruit quite a few students here in Hogwarts from the D.A. membership." Harry said.
"Yeah hopefully and we need to move swiftly to call another D.A. before all these bloody aurors somehow manage to foil us. They could seize the Room of Requirement any time for all we know. I'm sure that foul Umbridge told the Ministry all about the room." Hermione said.
"Did you say something about the D.A.?" Neville asked. He and Ginny had just come down their respective staircases. Harry and Hermione looked at each other meaningfully. It was still early enough in the morning that it would probably be safe to discuss their impending dissolution of the D.A. with their friends.
"This will be the final D.A. meeting," Hermione said bluntly. Harry had planned to dance around the details of their plans but Hermione insisted through their mind link that Neville and Ginny had a right to know ahead of time.
"But why? We need the D.A. now more than ever. Tonks is a good teacher but you and Harry…" Neville protested. Hermione held up her hand to indicate she would explain.
"The D.A. is no longer sufficient for our fight against Voldemort so Harry and I have decided a more direct approach is required. D.A. isn't being disbanded its being replaced."
"All D.A. members will be given the opportunity to join the Bearers of the Light," Harry said with a sense of pride at the fledgling group Hermione had envisioned to replace her first idea, the D.A.
Neville goggled at them, "Really? How do you guys know them? They're the ones that saved me and gran in Diagon Alley."
Hermione smirked, "Didn't you notice anything strange about those two?"
Neville shook his head. "I was too busy thrashing around on the ground to see much. Although, now that you mention it I thought it was strange that only one of them fought. Gran was a little miffed that the wizard didn't even help the witch."
"The wizard couldn't help, he isn't of age yet," Hermione grinned.
Neville's jaw dropped, "It was you two?"
"Why didn't you tell me? Ron's cover story was horrible by the way. I thought you two were off, er…" Ginny trailed off sheepishly at Harry and Hermione's twin glares. Thankfully Neville seemed oblivious to Ginny's incorrect guess and near outing of their relationship.
"We needed to keep it quiet while it's in the development stage. We're going to eventually displace the Order and the Ministry as the leading faction against Voldemort. Not that it will be difficult as ineffective as their resistance is at the moment." Hermione said.
Ginny and Neville looked uncomfortable in the face of the Ministry and especially the Order being spoken of in such unflattering terms. Hermione took out a box and enlarged it to accommodate her mass of papers. Harry helped her shovel them into it as they continued to talk in low tones to Neville and Ginny.
"Planning to take over the world?" Ron asked obnoxiously as he drug himself down the stairs.
"Glad to see you could finally make it," Ginny replied. It wasn't really late but she loved tweaking her brother.
"We can't all be so energetic," Ron bit back somewhat more rudely than necessary.
"Comon Ron, we were just telling them about the Light Bearers and as a founding member you should be in on it," Harry said consolingly.
"He's not really a founding member," Hermione said.
"Aw, Hermione, cut him some slack, all our friends are founding members even if they can't handle a controlling emblem," Harry replied. The emblems were difficult to create and dangerous should they fall into the wrong hands. Hermione was adamant that only she and Harry were strong enough to hold them.
"I suppose but we can't let everyone think that they have a veto on our operations. Ron has all the details including the prophecy, no other members do," Hermione reminded him.
"No thanks, I'm going to be hearing enough lectures today without adding one. We should be getting to charms anyway or else old Flitwick will bust a vessel." Ron replied.
"Shouldn't we eat first?" Neville asked.
"Be my guest," Ron replied. "I'm going to charms early so I can finish my essay, I'll eat later."
Everyone goggled at him. Ron never missed a meal when he could help it and he certainly didn't go in early to finish homework.
"We should too, comon Harry," Hermione said primly. Harry groaned slightly.
"Hermione, we're way beyond this class, who cares about some essay?" he asked.
"You know as well as I do that we've got to keep up appearances. Doing homework poorly is one thing, not doing it at all is another all together." Hermione replied. McGonagall had cautioned them to not let their lessons slip too far.
The tiny little Flitwick was already there when the teens arrived and took their usual seats. Harry got out his quill and began scribbling as fast as he could to try to get somewhere near the length that was required. The tiny charms professor tried to look busy with some books on his desk but Harry was sure that he was watching his unusually early arrivals with interest.
Hermione was still scribbling when Harry decided that he had written enough to scrape an acceptable grade. He took his essay up to Flitwick's desk and put it on the stack of papers that had already been handed in.
"Glad to see you're still managing to at least do the assignments Mr. Potter," Flitwick grumped. "Don't think that just because you're good at the practical aspects of magic that you can shrug off the theory. Not knowing why something works as it does can be just as hazardous as not knowing how to do something properly."
"Yes sir," Harry replied sheepishly.
Harry felt anxious for the rest of the class as Flitwick lectured them and made occasional veiled comments about people not taking their homework seriously enough. Hermione made an occasional perturbed sigh, which made Harry feel a little better. Still, he was very glad when the class dismissed, at least for a few moments.
Harry cringed when two familiar figures wearing auror robes came into view. "Potter and Granger, what are you two doing skulking about this corridor?"
"Potions class sir," Hermione replied.
"Can't even talk for yourself now Potter? It's a wonder you don't ask your little tittering fan club to carry you about," spat one of the aurors vilely.
Harry looked at him bewilderedly and just managed to keep from blurting out a confused question as to just what the petty auror was talking about.
"I'm going to potions too," he said instead.
"Wonderful, empty your book bags, both of you," the first auror demanded. "We're checking for contraband today."
Harry and Hermione turned their bags on end, their contents spilling about on the floor. Included in Hermione's pack was the large ornate box that contained all the stacks of parchment that they had been examining earlier.
"What's in that," one of the aurors asked.
"Its just some papers," Hermione replied.
"Open it."
"That won't be necessary Langley," another voice said in an authoritative tone. A tall thin man in an auror cloak came striding down the hall toward them.
"Sir, I think we should take all precautions possible," the man now identified as Langley replied. "There could be dangerous contraband in here."
"You and Gangstrom have had several complaints logged against you by students. From what I just saw they were probably justified, now get back to your patrol and quit wasting time." The head auror demanded. Langley and Gangstrom reluctantly left, scowling back over their shoulders at the two teens.
"My name is Tram, I apologize for Langley and Gangstrom. I take it that this isn't the first time they've badgered you like this." Tram said kindly. Harry and Hermione exchanged a look before nodding. "Its just difficult for them to get used to our new arrangement. None of the aurors are used to working with Dumbledore yet and, well, you two have gotten some rather bad press."
Harry bit his tongue to keep from reminding Tram that the bad press was the direct result of Ministry leaning on the papers. Hermione though seemed to be jolted by this bit of information.
"What do you mean working with Dumbledore?" she asked tersely.
"We're coordinating with the Order of the Phoenix now, I assumed you two of all people would be aware," Tram said with a touch of surprise in his voice. "We've been working together for some time now."
"Things have been busy, I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore just didn't have the time to give us all the details," Harry said quickly as he tugged on Hermione. "We'd better get to class before Professor Snape gives us detention. Thanks again for helping us out."
"My pleasure," Tram waved cheerfully as they scurried away. Hermione was not pleased.
"Harry how could he? He knows what Fudge did last year, his idiocy helped Voldemort regain his influence, he's had you assassinated in the press, he's turning the Ministry into a dictatorship, he's…" Hermione sputtered, her face reddening uncharacteristically.
"Hermione please we don't know the whole story, you're reacting just like I did last year, please, we know how badly that turned out," Harry said urgently.
"No Harry, I won't listen this time, if Dumbledore had of kept you informed properly Sirius would have lived. He said it himself Harry and now he's doing it again, worse than ever this time because you're not even attempting to find out what he's hiding." Hermione said heatedly. Neither of them realized that they were now standing right outside Snape's dungeon.
"Dumbledore had a good reason for not telling me and just because there were other options that would have worked in hindsight is no reason to dismiss his judgement now," Harry whispered fiercely.
"What if he's making another mistake though? Are you willing to risk your life?" Hermione replied stubbornly.
"Yes, I promised myself I wouldn't make the same mistake twice," Harry replied promptly.
"Are you willing to risk my life too?" Hermione retorted hotly.
Harry felt his throat catch painfully as he whispered back, "That's not fair Hermione."
"What is this?" a voice intoned from behind them.
"Uh, well," Harry began as he wheeled around to find himself point black with Snape.
"Mr. Potter and Miss Granger arguing in the hallways how very delightful," Snape said loudly as he drug them into the class. "I'm sure the two of you appreciate the seating arrangements that I selected for you earlier in the year after all."
The Slytherin students all snickered as Harry and Hermione took their separate seats, both still looking a bit haggard from their discussion. Snape had taken great pleasure in keeping them from sitting together and unsurprisingly he liked to rub it in too.
"While I'm sure the two of you think that the drama which is your lives is more important than attending class I'm afraid I must disagree. Forty points from Gryffindor." Snape said smugly. "Potter seems to be rubbing off on you Granger and considering how your grades are dropping I should hope that the two of you would be more rigorous in attending class."
More snickers and a couple of catcalls echoed through the dank dungeon as Snape began lecturing them on the day's assignment. Harry felt even worse because Hermione's bad mood was transferring to him across their link and she wouldn't even talk to him. Every time he tried to continue their conversation he felt a sense of despair flash across her mind and she would just tell him she needed to concentrate. Having Snape hover over him didn't help either and Harry ended up ruining his potion for the first time all year.
Potions was a double class so by the time it let out Harry was fairly irate. He waited in the hall for Hermione to emerge and then settled into her fast pace when she tried to get away.
"Hermione you're over reacting," Harry said desperately.
"You don't even care about what I think all you do is stick up for Dumbledore," Hermione said raggedly.
"You know that isn't true Hermione," Harry said, then whispered, "If you don't believe me then look into my mind, use legilimency, do something, please, you know I trust you more than anyone else."
Hermione seemed to wilt, "I don't need to look into your mind Harry, I know how you feel about me and I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I'm not sorry about what I said. You're committing the same error that you did last year in reverse."
"I don't know what else to do, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt," Harry said.
Hermione grabbed two fist fulls of robes and pushed him behind one of the statues that lined the hall, her eyes gleamed with tears. "I don't want you to get hurt," she sobbed.
"I won't, it'll be all right, please don't cry," Harry whispered soothingly as he held her shaking form.
"No Harry, you can't promise me that," Hermione said, crying harder. All the worry and strain that had been building up in her seemed to pour forth like water finally breaking through a dam. "This is beyond either of us, we may both have to die."
Ice gripped Harry's heart, "No, you can't, I couldn't bear it, Hermione, promise me that if I fail you'll leave England, take your parents and escape."
"There won't be any escape," Hermione said, her voice slightly stronger, but her face was stained with tears. "Voldemort will be unstoppable and he'll conquer the world. Harry, you have to promise me that you won't die for me and that…you'll let me die for you, if I have to."
"I-I can't, don't ask me…" Harry choked out, on the verge of tears himself at the thought of Hermione dying. Suddenly all his dreams from the summer were rushing back at him in powerful waves. He could see Hermione wince at the intense emotion that racked through him as he pictured a bright green beam impaling Hermione with death.
"Harry, I couldn't stand to live without you, if one of us has to die let it be me. If you don't survive I won't anyway. Please, promise me," Hermione pleaded.
"You think I could stand to live without you?" Harry croaked.
"No Harry, I know you couldn't, I know a part of me is being selfish, the part that is asking you to stay alive even if it means my death, but we know this is beyond either of us. Voldemort will enslave the entire world if you die because you're the only one who can stop him. Please Harry, I know you love me, now promise me that you won't let that happen even if it costs you me." Hermione said, ending with a sharp sob.
Harry felt his eyes become unfocused as he mouthed his assent in a ghostly whisper. "I promise."
Hermione hugged him tightly and for a few moments they allowed themselves to forget their impending struggle in the war. Harry's heart couldn't stop clenching in horror whenever the thought of losing Hermione flickered through his consciousness.
"Come on Hermione, we've got to go to dinner or people will wonder what happened to us," Harry said finally. Hermione reluctantly loosened her grip on him and together they walked down the corridors towards the Grand Hall. When they sat down at the Gryffindor table they noticed several people looking at them rather oddly. As if mustering up great courage to talk to them Seamus shoved a paper at Harry.
"We're really sorry Harry, we had no idea," he said sheepishly.
"What are you going on about Seamus?" Harry asked as he looked at the paper. His emotions still felt raw from what had just transpired. In the segment on Hogwarts there was a tiny paragraph that Seamus was pointing to.
Harry Potter may be too afraid to visit Hogsmeade anymore according to inside sources at Hogwarts but he isn't afraid to ask the people around him to bring back things from the small village on his behalf. Several people were reported as purchasing various luxury items for the Boy Who Lived out of their own pocketbooks despite the well known fact that Mr. Potter is the heir to a sizeable fortune…
Harry quit reading and pushed the paper to Hermione who had been craning her neck to try to read it for herself.
"It's not your fault Seamus the press has been after me for nearly two years now and they've never had any problem cooking something up yet," Harry said dejectedly. Now he could add spoiled brat to the long list of derogatory adjectives that were commonly used to describe him.
Hermione gave a short cheerless laugh, "If this is the best the Prophet can do then they're losing their touch. You must not have been reading the papers much for the last few months Seamus."
The rest of the evening dinner went a lot more smoothly after that and soon everyone had forgotten about the newspaper article except for Harry and Hermione. Hermione didn't want to let on like it bothered them but Harry knew that every attack added upon every other attack to have a cumulative effect of assassinating his character. Harry was used to this a bit more than Hermione so it still bothered her more than him. The thing that worried Harry the most was that the Prophet had taken to aggressively targeting Hermione with their false reporting.
Hermione had been eating quickly, like she always did when she had something else to do. Harry had barely eaten half of his food when she jumped up to leave.
"Go ahead and finish Harry, I've got some final preparations to do to get ready for the last D.A. meeting. Don't forget to change the date on the coin when you get back to the tower though," Hermione said through their link as she left.
Harry watched her leave but did as she said and continued eating. He hadn't eaten well in quite a while so the food was particularly good, really good in fact. Suddenly Harry felt a sharp stab of guilt that he had ignored someone all year.
"I've got to go," he mumbled as he jumped up and hurried out of the hall. He didn't know why he was hurrying since a few more minutes really wouldn't matter now after several months. Harry reached the painting of the fruit basket and tickled the pear. The painting swung open so that Harry could step inside.
"It's Harry Potter sir," a familiar voice said exuberantly.
"Dobby!" Harry exclaimed as the little elf threw himself at Harry and embraced him in a warm hug.
"Dobby is so happy that Harry Potter is seeing Dobby," Dobby said.
"I'm sorry I haven't come before now Dobby, I bet you thought that I had forgotten you," Harry said apologetically.
"Dobby knows many things he does sir. I is watching Harry Potter and seeing how busy he is so I isn't disturbing him," Dobby said proudly.
"That's very thoughtful of you Dobby but I want you to disturb me. If I don't come visit you then please come visit me and don't worry about disturbing me, ok?" Harry said firmly.
"Harry Potter is so kind," Dobby said with a little sob, "Dobby promises to visit Harry Potter. Where is Harry Potter's Miss and his Wheezy, they is always visiting Dobby with Harry Potter."
"Hermione has been busy too and I don't know where Ron has gotten off to actually. He was at dinner but now that I think about it he left shortly after Hermione did." Harry said thoughtfully. Ron had been acting rather strange of late, going off at unexpected times, snapping at people more than usual.
"Harry Potter's Wheezy often gets himself into trouble he does sir," Dobby said, blinking his big round eyes seriously. "Dobby sees Harry Potter's Wheezy get waylaid by the nasty wizards. They treats Dobby so badly they does, almost as if they were Dobby's old masters."
"What are you talking about Dobby? Is Ron in trouble now?" Harry asked.
"Oh no sir," Dobby squeaked. He went on to describe how Ron was being picked on by two aurors that Harry immediately recognized as Langley and Gangstrom. Then another auror, who sounded like Tram from Dobby's description, had come to his rescue. The way Dobby described it though Tram was even more menacing than the others.
"I know him, his name is Tram, he's a good fellow," Harry said defensively.
"If Harry Potter says so, Dobby is not liking him though," Dobby replied uncertainly. In Harry's experience Dobby was often suspicious of wizards he didn't know due to his poor treatment at the hands of the Malfoy family.
Harry chatted with Dobby for a while longer before the little elf began to get anxious to return to his work. The other elves also took the opportunity to push food at him so by the time he left he was laden down with tons of tasty pastries. Harry made his way back to the commons and sat the excess down on the table in the middle of the room so that anyone who wanted something could help themselves.
"Harry, can you come to the Room of Requirement for a while?" Hermione's voice popped into his mind.
"Yeah, I was just wondering where you were," Harry replied.
"Get Ron and Neville too," Hermione said. Harry climbed the stairs to the boy's dorms and roused the two from their studies.
"Comon guys, Hermione and I need your help in the Room of Requirement," Harry said.
"It's almost curfew Harry," Neville said nervously, "and I don't want to get caught out again after last time."
Harry didn't ask what had happened last time. "Don't worry Neville, we won't be that long and if we are I can get you back undetected."
The three boys walked swiftly through the halls to the unobtrusive location of the Room of Requirement. The door was already there, appearing much as any broom closet door, since Hermione was presumably inside. When they entered they found not just Hermione, but also Ginny and Luna. Harry felt another twinge of guilt for not paying any attention to Luna all year either, except for during D.A. meetings.
"Good, everyone's finally here. Harry I trust that you set the coin to call the meeting, right?" Hermione asked.
"Uh, yeah, I set it to the time you told me earlier," Harry confirmed.
"Alright then, Luna, Neville, Ginny, do you all have your coins?" Hermione asked. "Put them over here on the table."
The three teens did as Hermione requested. Each of the galleons Hermione had created to tell D.A. members when to meet were still slightly warm from having only recently been altered. Harry sat down at the table across from Hermione and took his wand out. Together the two began pouring energy out of their wands and into the coins, altering their fundamental makeup as well as their shape. Harry was only dimly aware of the presence of the others in the room as he concentrated to hold up his half of the process. The task was less taxing than it had been previously when they had manufactured the controlling emblems though. Harry imagined that between the two of them they could make many of the client emblems with only modest exertion. When the couple had finished each of the coins had been transformed into silver torch emblems on silky metal chains.
"Here you go, are there any questions?" Hermione asked as she handed over the emblems to the three. Harry assumed that Hermione had already explained the details of how the emblems worked before he arrived.
"They're very pretty," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice, "don't you think so Ronald?"
"Er, yeah, they're right spiffing," Ron replied dubiously.
"You're such a male Ron," Ginny teased. Ron cast an askance glance her way as the three new members donned their necklaces.
"I was going to give these out to everyone who joins at the next meeting but I think it would be better if you four already had yours," Hermione said cryptically as she enlarged four ornate boxes that Harry immediately recognized since he had filled a good number of them himself.
Hermione demonstrated the proper sequence to turn the inset crystals on the top of the box to open it without destroying the contents within. Neville looked scandalized by what he saw.
"Invisibility cloaks," Ginny gasped, "but if we get caught with these we'll be criminals."
"Nevertheless you're going to need them from time to time in all likelihood. Invisibility is a tremendous advantage which is why the Ministry has been trying to get rid of them," Harry said.
"But how did you guys get a hold of so many?" Neville asked when he finally regained some composure.
"Harry and I made them ourselves," Hermione said proudly, "these aren't woven from demiguise hair, they're corporeal invisibility charms."
Neville's eyes widened, "Wow, you guys can do corporeal spells? My gran says that the mark of a truly great
wizard is when his spells can last beyond his own life. The founders could cast spells that powerful but there
aren't many wizards alive today who can."
"Voldemort can," Harry said darkly as he thought of the diary that nearly killed Ginny during his second year
and the silver hand that he had conjured for Wormtail.
"Don't be such a kill joy Harry," Ginny sniffed disdainfully at Voldemort's name. Ron and Neville still shuddered, much to Hermione's annoyance.
"We should get back to our dorms, even with the cloaks we could still get caught if they have a random bed check," Hermione said. They all packed up their gear and slung on their cloaks except Harry and Hermione who instead just cast invisibility charms on themselves.
As they crept through the halls they heard muted voices coming from up ahead. Harry motioned for silence and crept forward around the corner so he could see what was going on. Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the hall along with two aurors and Tonks. They all seemed to be discussing something heatedly but no matter how close they got their voices still seemed jumbled.
"They're using some kind of spell that prevents eavesdropping," Hermione said through their link.
"What do you think they're doing out here in the middle of no where?" Harry asked.
"Looks like they're getting ready to leave," Hermione said. It was soon apparent that leaving was indeed their plan as Dumbledore took out a thin flat disk and waved his wand over it. The disk glowed blue as it was transfigured into a portkey. The aurors turned and scanned the halls once more with their eyepieces before everyone grabbed the disk and vanished.
"I guess Tram wasn't kidding us. The Order really is going on missions with the Ministry," Harry said.
"I wonder if the Ministry now knows that Tonks was working as a double agent the whole time or if they still think she's just an auror," Hermione mused.
"Don't know, but we'd better get moving again," Harry said. After making sure Luna had safely made it to the Ravenclaw quarters they all went back to the deserted Gryffindor common room. Harry and Hermione materialized out of no where as they let their charm drop. The others struggled out of their cloaks and put them into the ornate boxes that Hermione had given them.
"Are you guys coming?" Neville asked as he and Ron started up the stairs.
"In a bit, Harry and I are going to work on wards. You want to stay and help?" Hermione asked brightly.
"No thanks, some of us like to sleep," Ron replied crossly before hustling Neville on up the steps.
"Ron this is really important you know," Hermione said.
"Everything is really important to you," Ron bit back, "Do you just enjoy rubbing it in our faces that we're not as talented as the cleverest witch of the century?"
Hermione looked stricken, "Ron, I didn't mean it like that, I just thought that you might want to help."
"What do you think I've been doing this whole bloody time? I've worked more on this boring junk than ever before and I don't even have quiddich anymore." Ron groused as he finished disappearing up the stairs. Harry felt a twinge of unease at Ron's increasing moodiness but refrained from getting involved since his track record at mediating their disputes was less than stellar.
Hermione grumbled something that sounded like "lazy git" before pulling out the stacks of parchments she had been sent by Fred and George's recruits. She sifted through them before pulling out some that were obviously ward guides.
"Portkey dispersion wards," Hermione said with a grin, "We can block incoming or outgoing portkeys with these."
"So that's why Voldemort never portkeyed into Hogwarts, he can't," Harry said with dawning realization.
"Yeah, but the wards can be set to admit certain people unlike anti-apparation wards." Hermione explained.
Under Hermione's instruction Harry conjured a ward base and began burning the symbols onto it. Thin black wisps of smoke trailed out of the end of his wand lazily before they impacted with precision onto the ward base.
"The more power you put into it the larger the affected area will be," Hermione said. "At this rate the ward will probably cover an area the size of Hogwarts."
"How many of these have you done?" Harry asked.
"I've got five different sizes right now," Hermione said. Harry raised his eyebrows with surprise. Hermione grinned coyly. "What? I work on them before I go to sleep."
"Did I ever mention you're brilliant?" Harry replied proudly.
Hermione blushed and quickly gestured for him to complete his ward. Harry lost track of how long they worked as they tracked from one type of ward to others of increasingly more difficulty. Hermione had plans for unplottable wards which wizards used to hide locations, sentry wards that could have offensive spells tied to them, memory wards that could impart a pre-selected memory onto whoever triggered it, and many others that they didn't have time to study fully.
The next couple of days went by quickly in a pattern that was becoming all too familiar to Harry. Most of his professors spent their time issuing snide remarks to him or Hermione about their lack of work ethic except for Tonks, who tried not to look at them and McGonagall because she actually had a clue. The grandmotherly old witch had guessed during their apparation lessons that the two of them were much more powerful than there grades let on. One time when she handed back an incomplete essay to Harry she made some remark about him "working hard" and winked at him. Harry had nearly fallen out of his chair, but in retrospect McGonagall was always one of the cleverer professors, maybe even more so than Dumbledore.
"Are you ready for this Harry?" Hermione asked as they stood outside the Room of Requirement. Harry and Hermione were wearing their golden trimmed Light Bearer cloaks. Flanking them was Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville, also dressed in their new silver trimmed Light Bearer uniform cloaks.
While Harry and Hermione's cloaks had a golden torch emblem on their right shoulders the other four had silver torch emblems on their left shoulders. Ron's cloak had four parallel silver bars on his right shoulder indicating that he was the supreme commander of their new organization. Luna had three silver bars outlined in blue to indicate her status as one of two wing commanders. Ginny had similar bars but with a red outline, though she was a little upset about it. Neville wore the markings that Ginny had wanted, two silver bars that indicated he was to be the commander of the first special champion breaker team that would be formed to fight the toughest of the Death Eaters. Harry knew that it would be suicide to duel the strongest of Voldemort's supporters one on one. Champion breaker teams would be trained to use their superior numbers to quickly overwhelm and kill such dangerous individuals.
The only rank not showcased by the six founding members was that of squad leader, the basic unit of organization. These units were envisioned by Hermione to act as their own cells and be able to operate with a great degree of independence unless called together into a greater unit. Despite the fact that Hermione knew it would be pointless to resist if Harry were killed she had designed the structure of the Light Bearers to be able to carry on even in the event of a complete decapitation of its leadership.
"Ok, I think I'm ready and I doubt anyone else will show up now," Harry finally replied.
"Does everyone know what to do?" Hermione asked. Four heads nodded. "Right then, let's do this."
Harry flicked his wand and the door to the Room of Requirement opened up. The room had configured itself into a huge open space for some reason as if it were anticipating some use not currently required of it. Neville, Ginny, Ron, and Luna marched in rather impressively in their matching uniforms with shining rank symbols. Harry and Hermione followed in behind them causing several people to gasp as they recognized their outfits from the Daily Prophet story on their encounter with the Death Eater recruits in Diagon Alley.
Harry looked around nervously at all the people staring at him even though he knew that they were his long time friends and associates. They were gazing with curiosity at the four silver trimmed teens too no doubt wondering what all the different things on their uniforms meant.
Harry cleared his throat and prepared to speak. Hermione insisted, as usual, that he do all the major speaking despite the fact that he hated being a leader. He was much more comfortable when Dumbledore or even Hermione was telling him what to do. He sighed inwardly; Hermione was trying to get him to trust in himself instead of relying on others. How ironic, Hermione was bossing him to be bossy.
"I'm sure most of you have already heard of the Bearers of the Light from the article that appeared recently in the Daily Prophet," Harry began, trying to remember everything that he was going to say, wishing that he had written it all down. "The truth is that the conflict with Voldemort is approaching the scale of a civil war and now is a critical stage."
The assembled students began to murmur softly as Harry continued. "The Ministry has covered up the true extent of the ongoing struggle for reasons that frankly make no sense, though I'm sure some of what I'm about to say will be vaguely familiar. All of you are aware of the battle that took place nearly a year ago now at the Ministry. What you have not been told is why Voldemort's forces were there. Voldemort was trying to get a weapon, the one thing that can potentially assure his complete victory."
Looks of panic broke out now, especially among the youngest of the D.A. members. Harry was glad that they hadn't invited anyone below fifth year if only for the sake of their nerves.
"Obviously his efforts failed or else we probably wouldn't be here, but the point is that he would have succeeded and there is nothing the Ministry could have done to stop him," Harry said grimly. Harry made a sweeping gesture with his arm to indicate the others standing beside him. "We six have formed the Bearers of the Light because we know the truth, the whole truth or something very close to it, about what Voldemort's true aims are. We intend to stop Voldemort at any cost, but more than that we intend to secure equal rights for all sentient creatures that have so long been denied to them. Only with the help of all magical creatures can we hope to prevent future Dark Lords from threatening our lives and freedoms."
"If you know all of the truth then why not just go to the Ministry with it?" Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw in the same year as Harry, called out as soon as Harry stopped talking.
"The Ministry is compromised, part of the whole truth is the weapon I mentioned. The weapon is knowledge and if Death Eaters hidden within the Ministry were to learn of it all of our efforts would be put in great peril." Harry explained. "Obviously those of us who know cannot tell anyone, the risk is too great."
"We're not just asking you to join so we can wage a private war on the side," Hermione interrupted. "The primary purpose of this group beyond defeating Voldemort is to defend its members and their families from the ever escalating Death Eater attacks. We will supply tools, training, and the promise of whatever support and sanctuary that might become necessary."
"What can you do that the Ministry can't?" someone else shouted out.
Hermione took a tiny box out of her robes and enlarged it. From it she took the standard Light Bearer equipment that they were planning to hand out.
"Everyone will get protective clothing along with instructions or assistance in making more for their families. We've also uncovered many valuable potions from rare books we have come into the possession of recently. This invisibility cloak is completely undetectable by most Death Eaters and even Ministry aurors. Finally, we will give everyone one of these…" Hermione said as she took out the chain around her neck to hold up the emblem.
"This emblem will bind us all together, we will be able to find any of you and respond instantly in case of an attack. It also allows us to call anyone who wears another emblem to us. We can assemble the entire strength of our forces together in an instant to protect a single person." Harry explained.
"What's to prevent Voldemort from getting a hold of one of these and luring us all to a trap?" Terry spoke up again. Ravenclaw intelligence certainly isn't underrated Harry thought.
"I was just coming to that," Harry said, "There are two master emblems held by myself and Hermione. We will broker each summoning, in essence deciding who will apparate where and when. We will be the only ones who can find all other members. Most members will be unaware of each other much of the time and we will ensure secrecy by performing a fidelius charm as soon as this meeting is complete."
Some people seemed to be impressed at the mention that they could perform a fidelius charm but Terry wasn't done raining on their parade.
"So you want us to be your Death Eaters," he accused.
Harry felt the blood drain from his face and Hermione stiffened sharply. "No, absolutely not," he said hastily, "that isn't the point at all. Everyone will wear an emblem, nothing will be burned into your skin."
Hermione broke into Harry's clumsy protest. "The emblem isn't compelling. Anyone can remove it at any time if they choose. You can only put the emblem on willingly and you can only take it off willingly. However once taken off it will crumble to dust to prevent any tampering."
"Do these controlling emblems work that way too?" Terry asked, somewhat mollified.
"Unfortunately no, the nature of the spell requires them to have more flexibility," Hermione said.
"Then what makes you qualified to hold them? What will happen if Voldemort overpowers you?" Terry persisted.
"You will all know if the emblems change hands, but it won't matter anyway. If the emblem is taken from me it will be because I'm dead and if I'm dead then there will be little that anyone else can do," Harry said. He tried to dance around telling them outright that their cause was lost if he died.
"Even so, why does Hermione get the only other one. No offense Hermione, I know you're the smartest witch of our year, but surely there are others more qualified in combat who could safeguard such a crucial thing."
Harry waved a hand for silence at Hermione when he felt a wave of indignation coming from her. "I need Hermione to be the one for purposes of coordination. She is one of the few people who has all the relevant information, remember? Besides, if Hermione falls then our cause is most likely lost too. No one could guard the emblem more capably than she."
Several people made little snorting noises and Terry scoffed openly. "Come now, we know that you are both very strong, we've read about how you handled those Death Eaters in Diagon Alley and we all appreciated the potions you provided earlier in the year, but surely you can't expect us to believe that."
Harry started to protest but now it was Hermione who waved him to silence. "Then perhaps a demonstration of true extent of our powers is in order for those who doubt our ability despite the cloaks and the very existence of these emblems."
"Are you sure Hermione?" Harry asked through their link. "This could be dangerous."
"As long as we don't use unforgivable curses I think you can handle anything I throw at you," Hermione replied. Harry looked at her quizzically and noticed she was smirking.
"Alright fine, if you want a demonstration we'll give you one. Everyone stand back along the walls and conjure shields just in case something slips by one of us," Harry said.
"Don't bother, I've got wards," Hermione said smugly. She took out four slips of what appeared to be paper and slapped them into the air in four opposite positions, North, South, East, and West. The wards shone bright red before flying toward the walls and forming a narrow shielded path a few feet wide along each wall.
Hermione and Harry moved to opposite sides of the room before drawing their wands. Each of them held their wand aloft in traditional stance of respect for their opponent.
"I've wondered for a long time which of us is stronger Harry," Hermione said. "This is a perfect chance to find out."
"Agreed." Harry replied, then added dramatically, "Don't hold back Hermione, defeat me!"