Chapter Three
The Great Lakes Academy of
Auror Training and Advanced Magic
The tension between Hermione, Ron, and Heather continued
and grew more as the night wavered on. Harry felt it he didn't help the
situation when he mentioned something to Hermione about handling
the situation differently since she was after all his second in command.
After waking alone in his bed for the first time in a long time,
Harry knew he had to take car of the situation before it affected their
grades. Harry stood up and his aching, tired muscles screamed in
protest of their over use. He ignored them and went to his bathroom
to take a shower. Fortunately, he didn't have a Stealth and Tracking
practical today, but the strain of his sister officially joining the team
today; he didn't think he could handle too much more.
Harry quickly dressed in the squad's regulation drill uniform
which consisted of a pair of black nylon windbreaker pants with a
matching jacket. On the legs and the arms of the pants and jacket
were two large vertical red stripes. Harry placed his red beret on to
his head and stored his wand in his wand holster on the inside of
his jacket while he opened the bedroom door and walked out. As Harry
began to saunter down the hallway, Hermione stepped outside of her
room with her wand in hand. "Morning." He greeted and she blissfully
ignored him.
Dressing identical to him, her pants swished as her well formed
legs rubbed against them. Harry jogged after her as she began walking
down the corridor. "Hermione, this has to stop."
"What has to stop?" Hermione gave him an innocent look
as she turned around to face him. Harry saw right through it.
"Knock of the innocent act. You know what he bloody hell
I am talking about."
"Really, Harry, I don't know what you're talking about."
Hermione turned back around, but Harry grabbed her arm;
determined to get the situation eased.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Hermione
could feel the building sake and the crystal chandelier's intricate
bead work jingled slightly. Hermione knew it was because over the
course of the past few months, Hermione noticed his powers were
growing more powerful and more rapidly than she had before. She
had a feeling he could soon easily match his younger sister and
give her a run for her money.
Hermione sighed and tired to figure out how to say what
exactly what she meant without tripping Harry's already ready
temper. "Harry, do you really think Heather should join the team?
I mean, she is rather young and…"
"Heather would be an asset to out squadron, Hermione.
Her wand-less magic ability alone is more than worth it to keep
her." Harry tried to explain to her his reasoning. "I really would hate
to loose the chance to have my sister on our team. She's already
bonded with four of us and that is the majority of the team. How
much more does she really need."
"Harry, its not just that."
"Then what else is there?"
Hermione crossed her arms in defiance. "What else do you
think there is?"
"I don't know, Hermione. I'm not a mind reader." Harry sighed
as he threw up his arms in exasperation. "Look, put your personal
thoughts of my sister aside. Don't you think she deserves a chance
to prove herself? Doesn't the squadron deserve the chance to see
if she can become the asset I think she will be?"
"Harry, I know your sister's temper. All it would take for her to
loose it would be for someone to say something she doesn't like."
Hermione sighed. "I think this is a big mistake, but if you want to give
her a chance, then Harry, then give her the chance. The only one
who can make this decision is you. You're squadron leader and what
ever you decide is best."
Harry sighed and then wrapped his arms around her and kissed
her forehead. "Hermione, you're opinion means the most of all to me.
You're my reason, Hermione."
At this Hermione smiled. "You're reason?"
"Yeah, my logic. You can always see reasoning when I can't.
Remember in third year when Sirius sent me that Firebolt?" Harry
thought back to prove his point. "You knew it was from him and you
did the right thing."
Hermione grinned. "Its nice to see we finally see eye to eye on
that."
Harry almost laughed. "Yeah it is. Just give her a chance, okay?
She deserves it after what happened last year."
Hermione nodded as she leaned against him to breathe in his
scent. "You didn't have to come and rescue me."
Harry chuckled as he took her had and began walking down
the corridor. "Yes I did. You know me; I always have to be the hero."
*****
Heather Potter knew the moment she stepped into her brother's
inner circle, she and his girlfriend wouldn't be able to get along the
majority of the time. Hermione and her were like fire and water; they
rarely got along.
As Heather reclined at the table in her drill uniform, she quietly
held Ron's hand in support. Today would be her first day in full uniform
with her squadron. Ron blissfully ate his breakfast as he held her hand
and would squeeze it on occasion to assure her things would be alright.
"Heather, you'll do fine. Eat already. It will be a long time before lunch."
"I know," Heather poked at her egg bake half heart fully, "I'm just
not hungry."
"You're just nervous. That's all." Ron consoled her as he grabbed
a piece of toast with his free hand. "Trust me, eat something. You'll feel
better."
To satisfy the boy, Heather took a small bite of the food on her
plate. "I wonder if Harry and Hermione are still fighting."
Ron took the sudden change of topic as a clear sign she didn't
want to talk about food or the Great Lakes Academy for Auror Training
and Advanced Magic for the time being. "Knowing your brother and
Hermione, I think its very possible they are still mad at each other. I mean
Look at what happened in our third year…"
Heather gave him a confused look. "What did happen in your
third year?"
"You mean Hermione never told you?" Ron's eyes went wide in
mock shock. You mean, Hermione "I read Hogwarts: A History more than
a thousand times and mock anyone who hasn't" Granger didn't tell you
about it?"
Heather shook her head. "Neither did Harry."
Ron laughed. "Well to make a long story short, Harry was sent a
Firebolt by your Godfather. Now this is before he wasn't a raving massive
murderous lunatic."
"Let me guess," Heather held up a hand to pause his train
of thought, "Hermione turned it in so she could make sure there
wasn't any spells or enchantments that weren't suppose to be
on it."
"Basically."
"I'm willing to bet anything he wasn't exactly too happy
with her mothering him like that."
"To say the least. I can only imagine what would have
happened if he had half the powers you do." Ron chuckled, but
once he noticed Heather's serious expression, he stopped.
"Its not that he doesn't have my powers and in all actuality,
his powers surpass mine in many ways. He can teleport, what you
call apperation, in short distances with out the aid of an incantation.
I know I haven't been able to learn incantation-less magic. With the
proper training and enough confidence, which his main problem, he
could easily match Professor Dumbledore." Heather took another
bite of her egg bake. "After all, he is the first born child of two very
powerful wizards of their own right and as soon as he taps into
them he will be too."
"Harry can teleport without an incantation?" Ron exclaimed.
"He never told me that."
"Yes, I did that a grand total of once." Harry's voice floated
into their ears. Ron and Heather looked up to Harry entering the
room with Hermione. "Some of Dudley's gang once tried to beat
me up in Elementary school, so I jumped behind some garbage
cans, thinking I'd be behind them, but somehow, I ended up on the
roof. This is before I knew I was a wizard, so I thought a strong wind
put me there."
Hermione swatted his arm playfully as Harry pulled out her
Chair. "You never told me that."
"I did it once," Harry defended. "I've never been able to do
it since."
"With the proper training, you could." Heather offered. "Like I
said, Ron, he's way more powerful than me. He can speak
parseltounge and I can't. You know how rare a gift that is."
"Only because a murderous deranged wizard gave me the
ability." Harry took his seat next to his fiancée.
"True, but you do have the power never the less." Heather
buttered her toast. "I can only imagine what powers that son of
a hag gave me if he gave you that. Thank Merlin, I haven't found
out otherwise I might have to break stuff."
Harry chuckled. "He probably gave you your temper."
"You're probably right." Heather took another bite of
her meal. "So are we going out this afternoon for lunch or
staying on campus?"
"Well, I think we'll stay on campus today since it is
your first day." Hermione offered. "I think you'd like your
initiation to the squad done and over with the first day."
"Initiation? No one ever said anything about an
initiation."
"Does she really have to do it, Hermione? I mean
technically, she's been a member since day one."
"And she didn't go through Initiation week, Ronald,
so she has to."
"What do I have to do?"
Hermione grinned evilly and said nothing. Heather
gulped audibly; deciding she did not like it when Hermione
did that.
*****
The clock in the tower chimed the hour as Professor
Albus Dumbledore paced his office in deep thought. The quill
on his desk danced on the piece of paper it was taking notes
on. The portraits of the former Headmasters snoozed carelessly
in their oil canvases. The current Headmaster took a moment
from his nervous movements to wonder if any of them shared
his anxiety toward any similar situation like one at hand.
The danger of Voldermort returning this time were very
slim compared to what it had been eighteen years ago, but
the item found amongst the ruins that once had been the Riddle
mansion hadn't been completed, laying in the hands of the
some of his best pupils' enemies. When Harry Potter had
graduated, the Headmaster knew he wasn't ready to leave
and no where near his full potential, but he had no choice
in the matter. He could no longer attend the school due to
his age.
A Knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and
Professor McGonagall entered his study. "You wanted to
see me Albus?"
The Headmaster smiled at her warmly. She had
promptly left the comforts of her canopy four poster feather
bed to find out what the headmaster wanted. Her nightgown
and robe swayed a little behind her as she walked towards
him. The Headmaster grew serious. "We have a dangerous
situation on our hands, Minerva, and several lives are
endangered if we don't act quickly."
"What's wrong, Albus? He-who-must-not-be-named
has been defeated. What else could happen now?"
"I am afraid that a tool of Voldermort's is now in the
hands of some of his future Death Eaters." Professor
Dumbledore took a seat at his desk after he petted his
Phoenix's head gently. Fawkes closed his eyes to enjoy
the moment, then suddenly burst into flames and turned
into ashes. "I have sent for the only people who know them
and their abilities well enough to be any real hindrance to
their plans; however, they will be in need of some training
to be able to handle the book. At least their leader will for
sure."
"I hope you're not talking about who I think you're
talking about."
"Unfortunately, Minerva, I am." Professor
Dumbledore opened the book on his desk. "If Harry Potter
does not come to complete his training with his new
powers, of which only are just coming to him, the Onyx
Spell Book could mean not only the end of him, but our
world as we know it. I have sent word to the Headmaster
of the Great Lakes Academy and has agreed the proper
training must be completed as soon as possible and
he is sending us the entire red squadron."
"That means Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Ms.
Potter will be with them. " Professor McGonagall calculated
in her head. "We must prepare for their arrival."
"I'll have Professor Flitwick place a shatter-less
curse on the windows and trophy cases." The
Headmaster grinned playfully once he stood up to greet
his phoenix into the world once again.
*****
Heater had not expected she too had to perform
drills until she "dropped from exhaustion". In fact, she had
thought because the situation had taken place in her absence
she would do something other than this, but as Professor
Knut had explained: It didn't seem to be fair to allow her to
be omitted from the exercise because it had been her leaders,
the ones who spoke for the entire squadron, who had
questioned the command. Even though this was the last
day of their disciplinary action (It had been extended to
eight weeks worth after several protests from her fellow
team members.) it still remained yet another exhausting day
that her limbs were drained due to a series more drills they
were not accustomed to.
Heather pointed her wand at the target, frustrated
she even had to use the device to concentrate her spell to
hit the target. It would have been more effective for her to
use her wand-less magic, but wand-less magic couldn't
be traced well by the Department of magic and she would
have been accused of not doing the exercise according
to procedure. "Damn her "if one fucks up we all will" policy."
Heather's mind screamed as she dodged the reflection of her
spell from the target. Heather took a second to look down
the row to where her brother just dodged yet another spell.
Hermione wasn't as lucky as a spell came toward
Her. Ron tried a shield charm, but it was useless. It hit the
both of them and they fell to the ground. As this happened,
Heather felt the ground shake in a violent tremor. The
target split in two and limply fell from where it hung on the
wall.
As the tremors stopped, the rest of the red squadron
looked fearfully at Heather who held up her hands in protest.
"It wasn't me this time."
"Then who was it, Heather? Surely it wasn't…" Ron
stopped as his gaze floated to his best friend.
Heather grinned knowingly at her brother. "That was
really good, Harry. Next time, though, you may want to use
your wand. Professor Knut already warned me against
using my wand-less magic."
"Did I really?" Harry looked at his hands in disbelief.
"I knew it was only a matter of time, Harry." Hermione
stood up from where she fell on her knees and hugged him
tightly. "Congratulations."
"Yes, congratulations." The voice or Professor Knut
called from the doorway. With a straight face, she called to
him. "Mister Potter, you will come with me to my office. Your
Squadron Sergeant and I would like a few words with you."
Harry nodded as he stood up on his feet from where
he knelt to dodge the last spell and followed the Stealth
Professor to her office. Once there, he claimed a winged
arm chair across the desk from Professor Duckhorn claimed
the Stealth Professor's chair. "I'm sorry, Cadet Potter, but I
must be blunt. Your squadron has been called up for active
duty."
"Active duty? Sergeant, I'm sorry, but I really do
not feel my squadron…"
"Neither do I, but naturally of course, you and a few
other members of your squadron are the experts on the
situation at hand and your cooperation has been ordered."
"Experts? What do you mean, Sir?"
"I'm not allowed to say at the present moment in
time. You and your squadron will go home and pack your
gear. You'll leave immediately and get more information
when you return." Professor Duckhorn leaned forward
in the chair. "The wizarding world needs you more now
than ever."
"But what if my squadron doesn't accept this
mission, sir?" Harry folded his arm defiantly. "Sir, you haven't
told us anything that we really couldn't have already
have figured out and that its top secret."
"He told us he would probably say that." Professor
Knut offered the Sergeant.
"He also said he would take it." Professor Paula
Duckhorn tossed back at her. "Dumbledore wouldn't lie
to us like that."
"Dumbledore?" Harry sat up in his seat. "What does
Professor Dumbledore have to do with this, sir?"
"You'd better go and pack if you want to find out,
Potter." Professor Knut offered. "Classified."
Harry groaned, knowing he wasn't going to get any
farther with them. "Sir red squadron accepts this mission,
if it is from Dumbledore, can we expect we will be at
Hogwarts?"
The squad sergeant said nothing on the matter
other than. "You're dismissed, Cadet. Go pack and be
ready to leave at 1600 hours."
"But sir, you never said what my squadron is
risking their lives for. I think we should know up front
if we're going to be risking our lives for."
"Cadet Potter, if I were able to at this point in
time to acquaint with you the specifics of this mission,
I would. For now, I suggest you prepare for the mission
at hand before I decide to take away your command
of the unit and send you anyway." Professor Duckhorn
shot Harry a warning glance. "Is that crystal clear, Cadet?"
"Sir, yes sir."
"Good. Go and inform your squadron to pack and
I will see you at 1600 hours."
*****
End of Chapter.