The Battle Standard
by Jardyn39
Summary
Voldemort may have gone, but the Wizarding World is still at war. As armies are preparing to do battle at the last stand of their Lord Protector and absolute ruler, Harry learns his own future rebellious family and friends will be slaughtered by the unconquered Gryffindor Army. The seeds of their destruction were sewn in the present day and Harry fears the only way he can save them is by setting himself against the increasingly ruthless Miss Alice and her Invisible Army as she prepares to bring Voldemort's reign of terror to a premature end irrespective of the cost in lives. Knowing his seduction had such a terrible price, Harry struggles to resist the forces pulling him towards the same fate. Continuation of "The Final Lesson".
Introduction
This story is set in what would have been Harry's Seventh Year at Hogwarts and commences a short time after the events of "The Final Lesson."
This is the fourth in a series of stories that began with "The Deceiver's Distillation," followed by, "The Kemmynadow Betrayal," and then thirdly, "The Final Lesson."
Although I've tried to make each story reasonably self contained, this particular story does make several references to characters and events from the previous stories.
There are a number of events and characters that are important to the continuing story, but rather than include a complete recap here, I have as before summarised the main characters and events below. Although some reminders are included in the text, you may find the answer to an obscure reference here.
I have excluded minor characters (unless they get a mention) and events that have no direct bearing on this part of the story.
Please note that these notes contain major spoilers to the previous three stories.
Character Profiles
New characters follow after.
Harry. Has received some bequests from Dumbledore's Last Will and Testament. Includes the Kemmynadow Book, Dumbledore's draft standard book of spells and a Phoenix chick named Phryne. Growing prowess with dark magic halted by Hermione. Uneasy truce with the Dursleys. Has acted as a go-between for Prime Minister and Minister Scrimgeour.
Hermione. Long periods with no contact with her parents. Has split with Ron and is now romantically linked with Harry. Has confessed to being able to read Harry's moods and feelings by his aura.
Ron. Recently got job working for Fred and George, but isn't too happy about his prospects. Has become skilled in duelling due to his tuition by Ollivander. Fell out with Harry and Hermione but recently reconciled. Dating Luna.
Kreacher. Displays growing affection for Harry whilst revelling in any opportunity to try and infuriate him. Harry, though, almost encourages Kreacher to rebel and show independence. Has been promised freedom by Harry when he is ready.
Dobby. Has returned to work at Hogwarts but only until Harry has more work for him. Usually in conflict with Kreacher.
Professor McGonagall. Newly appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts. Has continued to give private defence tuition to Harry. Gave Harry Dumbledore's Kemmynadow Book against her better judgement.
Delores Umbridge. Official Head of the Auror Department. Has absolutely no idea where any of her Aurors actually are, though.
Kingsley Shacklebolt. Now effectively in charge of the Aurors. Discovered he was a recent victim of one of Miss Alice's plans against Voldemort.
Muggle Prime Minister. To Harry: "I know there are things you have got to do, and I know we will never know what they are. If you need resources that we have, just ask for them. Realistically, we will never amount to much more than a diversion or distraction against the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Just remember, if we use what we have at the right time, we just might give you and the Aurors the edge." (From The Kemmynadow Betrayal.)
Grangers. Hermione's parents are together but are in hiding. Location unknown.
Neville Longbottom. Currently Head Boy at Hogwarts. Much happier now that fewer students attending school. Proposed the abolition of the school House system. Continues the DA as open student activity. Very recently began quiet romance with Ginny.
Ollivander. Distrusted by Harry. Links with criminals and Voldemort. Tries to place Harry in danger but has always given him an escape route. Dark past. Uneasy relationship with Dumbledore who punished him for misdeeds but would not permit Wizengamot to act. Harry rejected Ron's explanation of Ollivander's behaviour. Ollivander was apparently badly hurt by Harry after their last encounter, although he still got away.
Voldemort. Finally forced to relinquish Dumbledore's bequest to Harry (a Phoenix egg). Was shot and wounded by Muggles. Tried to kill Hermione and make Harry fall victim to The Kemmynadow Curse. Utterly fooled by Miss Alice leading to a complete rout of his followers at the Ministry of Magic. Miss Alice may have developed a trick to block his Legilimens skills. Was told his ranks may have been infiltrated by Miss Alice's spies, but this may have been a lie.
These characters were introduced in The Deceiver's Distillation:-
Sergeant John Bateman. Nicknamed "Bear," he is the leader of the Muggle Special Forces team assigned to Harry. He is physically imposing, fit, strong and quite a bit older than his charges. He was attacked by Hagrid when he failed to heed his warnings concerning Hermione's treatment. Trusted and respected by Harry, Bateman is experienced, clever and very skilled at what he does.
Lately a training instructor, he seems happiest shouting orders, but is actually very protective of those under his command. He is not afraid to admit his own fears in order to help others overcome theirs.
Bateman is twice divorced and has one daughter.
Met with Fred and George and commissioned a number of items, including weapons and clothing. Encouraged Dudley to consider a career in the Armed Forces.
Had his memory modified to forget Harry and his closest friends but this was later recovered.
Voldemort believed Bateman had been programmed to act as his spy but in fact Miss Alice had anticipated this and turned the tables to great effect.
Reluctantly promised to retire from physically arduous missions after near miss at the Healer's lair (The Final Lesson).
Careem. Weapons and explosives Special Forces specialist. Rank of Corporal. Clever but physically slight compared to Bateman's other men. Originally assigned to Harry for close personal protection. Was the first to (jokingly) suggest they bayonet Ron.
These characters were introduced in The Kemmynadow Curse:-
Miss Alice. Muggle analyst working for the Prime Minister against Voldemort. Very clever and totally ruthless. Once tricked two Ministry wizards and ended up having tea with Dumbledore. Liked and on the whole trusted by Harry. It was Miss Alice who assigned Bateman to protect Harry.
Miss Alice is connected and knows how to draw on any resource the Muggle Government has if she needs to. It has slowly dawned on Harry that she is not just an analyst, having been directly involved in planning of military actions.
Miss Alice's real name of Mary Happell was revealed in "The Final Lesson", and she has become romantically linked with John Bateman. However, whereas Miss Alice is ruthless and calculating, Mary is understanding and kind.
Harry now recognises she practically has a split personality. For a brief period, Mary became the dominant personality but this was probably due to Miss Alice modifying her own memory to protect her secret plans.
For a brief period, Miss Alice fell out of favour with the Muggle task force when she was suspected of betraying them.
Her current official status is unknown to Harry.
Voldemort knows Miss Alice exists but does not know whether she is one individual, a computer or a group of people.
Scenariste. Librarian and only ghost survivor of the Archive. He and Hermione set up a system to share data and intelligence with Muggle forces. Librarian has deep distrust of the Ministry since they failed to come to the ghosts aid.
Herita. Giantess freed from Ministry captivity by Harry after the Archive raid. Her brother was murdered by Voldemort in front of her. Now living in mountains overlooking Hogwarts under protection of Hagrid. She helps guard the school with Grawp. Advised Harry to kill Ron to simplify matters when he admitted he didn't know if he entirely trusted him.
Phryne. Phoenix chick hatched at the moment Voldemort attempted to use a killing curse on Hermione. Named by Hermione, "after the Greek courtesan not the place, obviously."
These characters were introduced in The Final Lesson:-
Mary Happell. See Miss Alice (above).
Harriett Castle. Assistant Muggle analyst. Imperious Curse victim currently in hiding. Romantically linked to Careem.
Items, Places and Events
Dumbledore's Standard Book of Spells. Loaned to Fred and George but now in Harry's possession. Incomplete book manuscript begun by Dumbledore when they hoped Voldemort was gone for good. Would have become a bestseller and the new standard reference for teaching spell work. Combined several disciplines of magic.
The Kemmynadow Curse. Ancient dark magic. Like a spirit that ensures that Dumbledore's last wishes are complied with. Prevented Voldemort from attacking Harry until he had passed on Dumbledore's bequest of a Phoenix egg.
The Kemmynadow Book. Name given to Dumbldore's personal reference book of the darkest magic he ever faced and the counter-spells for most of them. Book is sealed to everyone except Harry. Very powerful, Harry only has to touch the book and the book pushes the dark knowledge into him. Addictive. Harry had problems after prolonged exposure.
Privet Drive. Number Four was trashed by the Death Eaters after Harry and the Dursleys vacated it. Harry paid for it to be refurbished although the Durlseys no longer live there.
The Archive. A large underground depositary located somewhere in Kent. Was all but forgotten by the Ministry of Magic until the Muggles raided it, convinced it could help gather information about Voldemort's plans. Was already occupied by Voldemort but he was evicted by the Muggle raiding party. Staffed entirely by ghosts, the documents are stored in the surrounding rock strata. The ghosts' pleas for help when Voldemort began attacking them were either ignored by the Ministry or intercepted by sympathisers. The Archive is currently under Ministry guard but the ghost librarian, who controls all access to information, is no longer sympathetic to the Ministry.
Grimmauld Place. Subject of a new Fidelius Charm which Harry performed but the Secret Keeper has not been revealed. Harry has intimated that there is a twist in the new secret to prevent the problems caused by the Dursleys being repeated. Briefly occupied by the Dursleys. Currently home to Harry, Hermione, Kreacher and sometimes Ron.
Room of Requirement. Sealed to everyone except Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry can seal the room to all others. The room provides anything they need upon arrival, but it usually looks the same now. Seven large fireplaces provide Floo access in and out. Hermione likes to study there now.
Hogwarts. Harry now has access to the grounds. He can create an opening in the boundary wall for himself only.
Hogwarts Houses. House system abolished because of low student numbers. Even the four tables in the Great Hall have gone.
Rodium Curse. One in a family of powerful and deadly dark curses introduced to Harry by Ron, taught to him by Ollivander. Harry learned to perform them using the Kemmynadow spell book.
Golden Rowena. Animated golden statuette of Rowena Ravenclaw. Harry was loaned the original black marble base that belonged to Ravenclaw and is suspected to contain a Horcrux. Currently residing in the Room of Requirement.
The Red Cauldron. Not yet seen by Harry. Claimed by Bateman to have been made especially to cook Nagini in, but it may not actually exist. Supposed to have a message for Voldemort on the side.
Timeline
This story begins during the spring, after Christmas, in what should have been Harry's Seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry met Bateman at the beginning of the summer and the raid on the Archive occurred towards the end of the summer.
Comments
There may be some confusion over which of Miss Alice and Mary Happell is actually speaking dialog, since they are physically the same person.
Harry knows that Miss Alice is ruthless and would lie to him if necessary. He also knows that Mary, in contrast, probably wouldn't. So, when you read something like,
"Hello, Harry," said Miss Alice, or, "Hello, Harry," said Mary,
the actual speaker depends upon Harry's perception of which of her two personalities he is hearing. Basically, Harry won't always know immediately which of them he is really listening to. Out of politeness, of course, he may call Miss Alice, "Mary."