Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or setting. I don't make money on my writing.
Chapter 24: New Opponents, New Allies?
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the holiday vacation relaxing and practicing their advanced lessons. They were continuing to reinforce and refine their occlumency, but given how close they were to mastering the art, their lessons tended to teach them each more about legilimency, since they were not quite to the same level with that art. With regular practice, they were improving their legilimency.
"Harry," Hermione asked casually one night after their occlumency practice, "do you worry about how we'll fit in after all this is over? We're already pretty far along in our advanced studies. You've talked about wanting to be an auror, but at this point you'd be bored if you went to the academy after Hogwarts. The standard aurors only learn the most basic occlumency and despite what Snape says, I think we're close to mastering it. Your defense skills are easily on par with the best aurors you're training with. We're both starting to learn legilimency, which is illegal since we're not licensed. How are we ever going to fit in after all this?"
"I don't know." Harry sighed, "My life has never been normal. I went from being the male Cinderella to being the Boy-Who-Lived, hero and savior of the Wizarding world. Then every summer I had to go back and forth. Every year at Hogwarts they think I'm either the hero or the villain of our story, depending on the year. We're rich, famous, and talented. I don't know if our lives will ever be normal."
"Do you still want to be an auror?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure." Harry said, "I don't think I'll ever be just an auror. Can you see me following rules enough to fit in? I might be better as a Hit Wizard, since they have more leeway. I definitely want to do something where I can continue to use my defense skills, because I'm hooked. The adrenaline rush I get when I duel is even better than Quidditch. I wouldn't mind playing some pro-Quidditch, either. I don't know, but we're rich. I think we've got the opportunity to dabble in whatever we want…as long as we live through this whole thing. What do you want to do?"
"I don't know either." Hermione said, lying nude on her back in Harry's room at Grimmauld, looking around the Gryffindor themed room as she talked, "I used to go back and forth between becoming a healer, which would be intellectually challenging enough for me and is similar to what my parents do, being some sort of legal advocate lobbying to change the discriminatory laws against non-humans, or trying to be an Unspeakable, researching deep magic for the Ministry. I think I agree with you. We're rich and can do whatever we want. I might do a bit of all of that. We've got at least one hundred years and from some of my reading that suggests wizards' life spans are based on magical power, the equations suggest we may have many hundreds of years, so we've got time to decide."
"Have you ever read comic books, Hermione?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Is there anything that I haven't read, Harry?" Hermione said, looking at him with a fake scowl, "I don't advertise the fact, but as a girl I'd read anything I could get my hands on, so I've read a good number of them. They get boring after a while, because you can only save the world so many times in so many different ways."
"Well, I think I want to be Batman." Harry said.
"I thought Snape already had that sewn up." Hermione said with a giggle.
"Oh, yeah, good point." Harry laughed along with her, "No, I mean I want to be like Batman with his Bruce Wayne alter ego, but mine won't be secret. I'll just wrap both roles up into one. I'll do whatever I want, study whatever I want, and take out the bad guys while I'm doing it."
"If you beat Voldemort, you'll have the clout to do just that." Hermione said, "Now less talking, more snogging."
"Yes, dear."
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Harry and Hermione worked on Dumbledore's visualization magic. The basic concept came more easily to Harry, because he had a relaxed view of rules and the complete lack of rules inherent in this type of magic didn't bother him. Hermione initially had a little trouble dealing with the complete lack of theory behind it, but she had become a lot more relaxed since she'd been bonded with Harry. She was also able to isolate that feeling with her occlumency so she could just focus on the actual technique. Given her encyclopedic knowledge of magic, she soon was very good with it, because she could imagine a wide variety of uses, knowing so many spells already to merge or modify.
"Harry, I get it!" Hermione said, "It's not that there are no rules to this, it's that all the rules we've learned before are wrong!"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Wands, movement, words…they're all shortcuts." Hermione explained her theory, "Not every wizard is a skilled occlumens and auramens with a huge magical core. They have to have a way to access their magic that works for them. The wand is a conduit that doesn't involve a lot of self-discipline. The wand movement and the incantation are shortcuts to help with the visualization. Whatever underlying theory is missing from Dumbledore's technique is missing from all of magic. There is no unifying theory of magic, despite what I learned in arithmancy. So maybe I can write the theory that explains all of this…once I figure it out."
"That's great, Hermione." Harry said, "Let me know when you've got it figured out, ok?"
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Harry spent time dueling against Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Bill, the twins, Ginny, Luna, Neville… whoever would come down in the dueling room. Neville and Luna could floo through whenever they wanted. Dumbledore had warned them the floo was being monitored, but for normal trips they were happy to use it, because it made them look like normal Wizarding children, visiting each other over the holidays.
"No wonder he and Ron are friends." Ginny said when she settled onto a chair in the library next to Hermione.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"They're both obsessed!" Ginny said, throwing her hands up. She was breathing a little fast and her cheeks were red.
"Harry and Ron?" Hermione asked, trying to piece together the redhead's thoughts.
"Yes!" Ginny said, "Ron only cares about eating, Quidditch, and chess. He keeps begging people to play and you can always find him in front of the board in the sitting room, but nobody wants to play because he always wins. Harry's becoming the same way. He's always down in the dueling room looking for someone to duel and he always wins, even when we take him on together!"
"So do you feel like not playing anymore?" Hermione asked gently.
"No!" Ginny exclaimed, "I can't bring myself to stay away. He's so good and he always teaches me something. I keep getting better and better, so each time I think I'm finally going to catch up to him and win, but it's like he's so far ahead of me that even though I'm getting better faster than I ever thought I could, he's always a mile ahead of me."
"Hmmm…" Hermione said, listening and thinking about what Ginny said, "Ron's obsessed with chess. Some people say I'm obsessed with books. Harry never really had an obsession. He enjoyed Quidditch and has always been good at it, but I don't think anyone would ever say he was obsessed. Maybe this is good for him."
"Maybe you're right." Ginny groused, "I just want to beat him sometimes. At least when Ron, Luna, Neville and I all take him on."
"He took you all on?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah and beat us all!" Ginny said, "He's bloody fast."
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Mr. Weasley was discharged from St. Mungo's. He came to Grimmauld Place, where the House Elves had helped put up banners throughout the large house. One said, "Welcome home, Dad!" another said, "You can't keep a good man down!"
Molly Weasley had cooked an enormous welcome-home feast, not allowing any of the House Elves to help. She served a Beef Wellington and Yorkshire puddings with gravy. There were huge bowls of mash potatoes, plates of roast potatoes, and tureens of gravy. Asparagus and sprouts provided at least a little vegetable support to the heavy dishes. There were pitchers of pumpkin juice and bottles of Butterbeer. The dark dining room was livened up by the gaslights turned high and a general feeling of joy over Arthur's return. Everyone was present, including the Weasleys, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, Neville and his gran, Luna and her father, Sirius, Harry, Hermione and her parents.
Arthur Weasley sat at the head of the table, in the position of honor. Sirius had escorted him to the seat that normally would have been Sirius'.
"Welcome home, Arthur!" Sirius said, "As the guest of honor, please sit here. If there's anything you want that your lovely lady wife did not already provide, please let me know and Kreacher will get it for you. I have some lovely brandy that we'll have with desert."
They ate and talked. The mood was extremely high due to Arthur's survival, a rare instance of successful defiance of Voldemort.
For pudding, spotted dick, trifle, and Harry's favorite, Treacle Tart were served. Kreacher set glasses of a very old brandy at every place, giving small servings to the children and more generous to the adults.
"Thank you all." Arthur said, "I appreciate everything you've done for me and my family this Christmas. For Sirius Black, who invited my family to spend the holiday to make it easy to be near me, you have my gratitude. A big toast and my eternal thanks to Harry Potter. Without your alarm, I would not have survived. You have been a true friend to our family since we met. You saved my daughter's life and her soul from worse than death during her first year at Hogwarts. You saved mine this year. You will always be family. House Weasley owes House Potter a debt. Harry!"
Harry blushed as everyone echoed Arthur's toast. Once he would have stayed silent, but he was not that boy anymore. His dueling skill had awoken an increasing self-confidence in him as he knew he could stand amongst any wizards, secure in his power and his ability.
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley." Harry said, inclining his head, "But I have to disagree. You have already made me part of your family and there can be no debt amongst family. To your health, sir. You bravely guarded against Voldemort and you have made us all very happy by surviving his attack. To Arthur Weasley!"
Everyone raised their glasses again.
Neville glanced at Augusta Longbottom. She nodded and Neville stood.
"Harry brings up something I wanted to discuss. I have already spoken with the Dowager Lady Longbottom who represents House Longbottom until I come of age and she agrees. I would like to renew the alliance that has lasted for hundreds of years between House Longbottom and House Potter. Both our parents defied Voldemort and suffered for their defiance. I wish to continue to defy him and I see that by Harry's side is the place to do that."
Sirius stood. "Well said, Neville! House Black was traditionally arrayed on the other side from Potter and Longbottom, but that has clearly changed. I wish to join the alliance against Voldemort, not only as part of the Order, but placing the Ancient and Noble House of Black against the so-called 'Dark Lord'. Having questioned Kreacher, I've learned he was responsible for the death of my brother, and he was responsible for the death of one who was like a brother to me and his wife who was like a sister, so House Black also has reason to hate him."
Arthur nodded. "If it wasn't clear from my earlier words, the Weasleys have always stood by the Potters and with Harry, we've got even more reason to do so. My house stands with you."
Xenophilius Lovegood looked up after being elbowed by Luna.
"What? Oh, yes dear. The Lovegoods are in. Unless the Snorkack is sighted. We have a prior commitment there. We'll support you with the Quibbler. We've got quite a story almost ready, just waiting for the right time until Fudge is fully committed, then we can take him out at the knees."
"I don't represent a great house." Remus said, "But the Marauders were and are my family. We've lost to Riddle and I'll continue to fight until my last breath."
Tonks was staring at Remus as he talked and got a strange look on her face. "I'm a Black again, so I'm in!"
Oberon raised his glass, "I'm not a wizard, but Hermione's told me how this Voldemort would treat non-wizards and how he wants to kill her. I understand I'm like a Jew in Nazi Germany, so hell yes, the Grangers are in!"
Harry nodded his head. It was all coming together. The light side was uniting and Voldemort should tremble, "I don't exactly know how this works, but I think my godfather and Neville's gran do. Would you be willing to approach a few of the other traditional light familys, like the Bones' and see if they will join our alliance? So far it's been accepted that all the Purebloods would stand with Riddle, but if we can change that, maybe we can get the Ministry behind us."
The two named nodded.
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Harry sat on his bed, watching as Hermione packed. She looked around the room with a focused look on her face and then flicked her Vinewood wand. Drawers opened and their contents lifted out and flew in an orderly way to stack themselves in her chest. Books floated in from outside and neatly arranged themselves.
"Nice one." Harry commented, "Is that an established spell?"
"No." Hermione said grinning, "I kept trying to find it, but to do that would take at least a handful of spells. To do it Dumbledore's way is much easier. Now I know how he does everything he does."
Harry nodded, closing his eyes for a moment to visualize where all his school supplies and clothes were. With a wave of his Holly wand, everything rushed to arrange neatly in his trunk.
"Well done, Harry." Hermione said, satisfied.
"Do we teach Ron?" Harry asked with a grin.
"He still would wait until last minute." Hermione said, "We'll help him if he needs it. We can't share all our secrets." The corner of her mouth quirked up, enjoying having something on their friend.
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12 Jan
At breakfast, a bleary eyed Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, both already dressed for their return to school.
"Ah, bloody hell." Ron grumbled.
"Language, Ron!" Hermione scolded him.
"I don't want to go back." Ron grumbled.
"Are you sure, Mate?" Harry asked, grinning, then lowering his voice after looking around for Molly, who'd stepped out of the kitchen for a minute, "I can see why Hermione or I might be reluctant to go back, but you know it's going to be easier to sneak Luna into the Room than it is to smuggle her to your room here."
Ron thought for a moment, imagining the time they'd spent in the Room of Requirement. A smile crept over his face.
"You're right!" he said, "I need to pack!"
The rest of the Golden Trio laughed.
"Finish your breakfast, Ron." Hermione said with a smug smile, "I shouldn't facilitate your bad habits, but I've tried to reform you and it hasn't worked. Harry and I will help you pack and I guarantee it will go faster."
They finished breakfast and then walked up to Ron's room. Given how many rooms were in Grimmauld Place, Ron didn't have to share with Harry, which was good, since Harry shared with Hermione when she wasn't with her parents. Ron's room was a mess, with clothes on the floor, drawers pulled out with clothes overflowing…the only thing empty of clothes was the hamper.
"Oh, Ron." Hermione said, disappointed, "Won't you ever grow up?" She looked at Harry and lifted an eyebrow. He nodded. Together they waved their wands in a coordinated way.
Ron's clothing shot into the air, standing as if there was a body inside. It danced along in a sinuous line, going through a blast of steam that spontaneously formed in one corner, then a blast of warm air a few feet further along that wall. The clothing miraculously folded itself and then neatly packed itself into Ron's trunk.
"Blimey, where did you learn to do that?!" Ron asked, his mouth open wide.
"We didn't." Harry said, "We just made it happen. We've been practicing."
With all their trunks packed, they shrank them to the size of matchboxes and put them in their pockets. Walking downstairs, they saw Sirius, Remus, Ginny, Fred, George, Arthur and Molly Weasley.
"Pup, have a good spring at Hogwarts." Sirius said, looking sad that the house would be almost empty again.
"Don't be sad, Padfoot!" Harry said, hugging his Godfather, "Just imagine, you and Remus can drink some whiskey, chase some women, and play bachelor until I'm back. Oh, well, you can chase some women. I have a feeling Remus may be limiting himself to one woman now…"
"What are you talking about, Cub?" Remus said, giving Harry a curious look.
"Don't think we didn't notice how Tonks looks at you." Harry said slyly, "Please don't tell me you didn't notice?"
Remus did look surprised.
"Harry, quit teasing your uncle." Hermione said, before whispering to Remus, "Moony, she did seem to have her eye on you. Think about it."
She gave Remus a hug, then Sirius. Harry got pulled into a big hug from Molly, before Arthur shook his hand.
"I meant everything I said, Harry." Arthur said, his eyes gleaming, "My seven children still have their father because of you. We owe you, Harry."
"There's no debt amongst family." Harry said, "I meant it when I said that. See you this summer!"
The children all gathered around a portkey Dumbledore had given them for their return, trunks stowed in pockets, and grasped it before disappearing.
They materialized in the entry hallway of Hogwarts, stepping to the sides in case others returned. They walked towards the main stairs, looking upwards at the magical staircases of Hogwarts, moving and shifting.
"Well, we're home." Harry said softly.
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13 Jan
First day back had passed uneventfully. Harry ate dinner and then walked with Hermione as far as Professor McGonagall's office, then continued up the unpredictable staircases to the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. Like it always had since he'd apprenticed to Dumbledore, the gargoyle moved out of Harry's way without a word. Harry rode the moving staircase upward.
"Harry." Dumbledore said, looking up distractedly from a letter, "Thank you for being so prompt. Have a seat, I want to finish reading this."
Harry sat and waited a few minutes. Dumbledore was a fast reader and quickly finished scanning the parchment.
"I have spoken with the goblins of Gringotts." Albus said, "They are willing to discuss the cup with us, but they want to meet us in person. They want to speak to at least you and I in person. They suggest this weekend as a possibility."
Harry nodded, thinking. "I'm happy to meet with them, Headmaster, but I can't imagine why they'd want to speak to me."
"Harry, like it or not, you are the Boy-Who-Lived. Now that you have assumed your mantle as Lord Potter, you will find more and more people will want to meet you."
"What should we say to them?" Harry asked, "I'm afraid that if Voldemort realizes we're seeking his horcruxes, he'll gather them together, guard them, or hide them much more effectively. I'm certain Hermione's spell to seek them could be blocked if he'd anticipated anyone having access to one to calibrate the scrying spell."
"I am afraid you are right." Dumbledore said, "Which is why we are being so careful, planning to destroy them all at once in case they send out a distress signal or he feels the loss of part of his soul, although his soul is already so fractured, I strongly suspect he will not notice. I carefully enchanted the letter to be readable only to my contact among the Goblins. They replied in a similar guarded manner. I think our knowledge is safe so far, but you are wondering how much we let them know?"
"I am, Albus." Harry said, "The more we tell them, the more likely they are to cooperate, but also the more likely the information is to leak. I don't even know whether they're against Voldemort. For all I know, they could be allies."
"No, Harry." Dumbledore said, "The Goblins have found themselves a place in the Wizarding world, but it depends on an orderly society. If businesses do not flourish, then the gold does not flow. That is against what the Goblins desire. Further, Goblins have a strong distrust of dark magic. They made Godric Gryffindor's sword, which is enchanted to be inimical to dark magic. No, despite their exterior, they are firmly on the side of the light. However, their inclination towards rules and law is even stronger. They may be very reluctant to let us take anything from one of their vaults. If word got out, their reputation for flawless security would be no more."
"Do they have any rules for what can be stored?" Harry asked, "Maybe we can use their love of rules to help us. If there's a rule against keeping dark items, maybe that would allow them to seize it."
"That is a brilliant idea, Harry." Dumbledore said, eyes sparkling, "I will definitely look into that…"
"Ow!" Harry said, putting a hand to his scar and focusing all his attention on his shields. Dumbledore stood, quickly walking towards him. Fawkes looked up from her perch, trilling a note of support, her magic washing over the room and strengthening the two light wizards.
"Harry, are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.
"I will be." Harry gritted, "This was a strong one, I barely feel his emotions anymore, but he's very happy and the changes I made to be able to see his visions lets me feel a touch of it. I can't imagine what happened to make him feel this strong an emotion. "
"It cannot be good." Dumbledore said, "One moment." He walked to the floo and threw in some powder, "Alastor Moody!"
After a few moments, Moody's face was seen amongst the green flames.
"Albus, what can I do for you?" Moody grumbled.
"Alastor, Harry has felt something from Voldemort, a strong feeling of happiness. Something must have happened. Get word out to our network, find out what has happened. I fear any warning is too late, but put it out anyway. Let me know if you find anything."
"Will do. Moody out."
A few hours later, they learned of the mass breakout from Azkaban. Many of Voldemort's worst henchmen were free.
"Bellatrix?" Dumbledore muttered, "This means we must get the cup soon or she may retrieve it. Be ready for this weekend, Harry."
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Filius was sitting in his office with a tall wizard, hook nosed like Snape, but smoothly bald. He was still young despite his baldness and his dark eyes glittered with magical power.
"Alexander Dimitriov," Filius said, "it is an honor to meet you."
"Please, call me Alex and let me assure you, the honor is all mine." Alexander said, with a Russian accent, "My Master often told stories of his days learning the duel alongside you. I am pleased to finally meet the man behind the stories."
"Well, we had some interesting experiences together, that's true!" Filius said, smiling, "The friendships you make on the dueling strip are some of the closest I've experienced. The shared challenge really adds something. I've missed it."
"Come back, then, Filius!" Alexander said, "What can the children need you for? Anyone can teach them charms, but you're a master duelist. I am hoping to retake the title this year and your coaching might be enough to make that happen."
"I appreciate the offer, but I do have duties here besides teaching children." Filius said.
"Ah, yes, you mentioned in your letter." Alex replied, "A potential staff member you were helping teach and evaluate? You thought I might be of help?"
"Yes, I quickly thought of you." Filius said, "We have a candidate who I can easily see teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, a position we've had difficulties filling. He's very promising, but the problem is that he doesn't have the usual academic qualifications. I have evaluated him myself and think he's over-qualified, but the Headmaster is not satisfied and wants to put him against top tier duelists to really test him. He's got so much promise that we're also hoping to further train him, so he'll be an even better candidate."
"You wouldn't normally go to this much trouble for a teaching candidate, would you?" Alex asked, confused.
"Well, not normally." Filius admitted, "However, we really have had inordinate problems filling this position to the extent that we've had poorly qualified teachers. I'm sure you heard about Lockhart."
"That fraud?" Alex laughed, "He tried to enter the dueling circuit, but quickly withdrew. Not only could he not compete, he was terrified of someone injuring his face."
"Yes, precisely." Filius sighed, "Also, this candidate already has a bit of a name, so a little extra effort might be worthwhile. Because of his fame, we're hoping to keep the rumors of his application quiet. We're afraid they would be very newsworthy. So if you agree, we'll cloak him in glamour spells to maintain his anonymity."
"Krum?" Alex asked, "It must be. He's only just graduated, but he is famous and would make a decent Professor in Defense."
Filius allowed a look to cross his face that indicated surprise that Alex would so quickly deduce the secret, "I can't confirm your guess. I do need to know if you're interested, however. We will pay standard rates along with room and board."
"It just so happens I received another letter." Alex said, smiling, "Some rich brat had his father write to me to extend an offer. I'm apparently to provide extracurricular lessons to he and his friends, so working with your candidate will give me an opportunity to maintain my skills while I waste time with schoolboys. I have already taken a room in Hogsmeade, but I will take you up on your offer of board and standard rates in addition to the money I'm getting for those lessons will be more than enough."
Flitwick nodded, hiding the true surprise from this unexpected information. Who could it be? He had a suspicion, but surely not?
"When should I expect to work with your candidate?" Alex asked.
"Tonight would be optimal." Filius replied, "Meet me here immediately after dinner. We'll proceed to the dueling room together. I am going to dress you in a disguise. I don't want him to know who he's facing. He will also wear a disguise. I don't want there to be any publicity, as I've told you. Questions?"
"No, sounds good." Alex said, "I hope your boy knows what he's facing."
"I think he'll do fine." Filius said with a smile.
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Harry, not knowing of his new opponent, sat at the Gryffindor table eating. Hermione was on his right, Ron was on his left. Neville sat straight across from him with Ginny beside him.
"Hermione, how are the plans going?" Ginny asked.
Hermione brought her soup spoon to her mouth and gently blew on it.
"Well, they're going really well." Hermione said brightly, "My mother was worried at first, because she didn't feel like we have enough time to plan, but when I pointed out that I could put it together in an hour by myself with magic, she was really reassured. The only difficult parts are invitations and announcements, since those have to be done ahead of time. Mother handled the Muggle announcements, saying we were going away to be married. Your mum is helping with the Wizarding announcements, which we're putting in the Quibbler to show our distaste for the Daily Prophet. The Quibbler is also going to get exclusive access, so that should burn the Daily Prophet, too."
"What about flowers?" Ginny asked.
"Didn't Neville tell you?" Hermione asked, surprised, "He's working with Professor Sprout to grow the flowers. I showed Winky what I want the arrangements to look like, so she's going to put them together."
"The dress?" Ginny asked.
"Madame Malkin." Hermione said, "She's made all my clothes so far, so I talked to her and found out that she really loves making wedding dresses. She drew a few pictures for me and showed me some photos of brides in dresses she'd made. They were really beautiful. She's giving me a great deal, because making the wedding dress for the Boy-Who-Lived's wedding is such a big deal, she'll get enough orders afterwards to pay her back just in publicity."
"It's so romantic." Ginny sighed, "Mum would kill me if I tried to marry before graduation."
Hermione shrugged, "It's different for us. My parents were concerned at first, but once they saw how happy I was, they came around. They see Harry's been good for me. I've had my head out of a book so much more, they thinks he walks on water."
"I don't?" Harry asked, teasing.
"No, dear." Hermione teased back, "Given how long it took me to teach you the bubblehead charm, before we decided to just go with gillyweed, you certainly don't."
They finished eating and walked out of the Great Hall. Neville and Ginny continued up the stairs, while Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed downward to the dueling room. Harry opened the door like usual to find a small entranceway room had been added.
"Come in, Harry. Shut the door." Filius said.
The three of them squeezed into the fairly small room and shut the door.
"I've got a change for you, today." Filius said, "You're getting to know your opponents too well, which you won't always have the luxury to do, so from now on, they'll usually be anonymous. I don't want you to have an advantage, since they'll be wearing masks you will also wear a mask. Sometimes your opponents may be highly placed aurors who would get in trouble if they were helping train Harry Potter, since your name is not exactly at the top of the Ministry Christmas Card list, so you'll also be anonymous. Don't introduce yourself. We can make up a nickname for you, if you want."
"The Machine." Harry said, not thinking.
"Interesting." Filius said, "Nice and very anonymous. I'm glad you didn't pick 'Phoenix' or 'Seeker'. The Machine is much more generic."
Harry wondered why he'd said that so quickly and not 'Prongs' or 'Pronglet', but he didn't overthink it.
"Here's your mask, Harry." Professor Flitwick said, "Put it on, then go through the door."
Harry put on the plain mask and a glamour spell washed over him, turning his dueling robes into anonymous black robes with his face kept in shadow. He turned the knob and walked into the main room. He could see a dark robed figure at the other end. He took his place while his friends walked to the seats against the sidewall and sat. Filius took his place as the coach and judge, waving his wand to bring up protective wards, including some to protect the spectators.
Harry looked more closely at his enemy, who appeared to be in Death Eater robes and mask.
"Machine, are you ready?" Filius asked.
"Yes." Harry said flatly.
"Deater, are you ready?" Filius asked, already having told Dimitriov this would be his code name.
"Yes." Dimitriov said.
"Bow, salute, and begin." Filius said, stepping back slightly.
Harry bowed respectfully, made a crisp salute, while his opponent did the same.
Utter stillness settled over the room. Harry had felt similar before, but it somehow felt thicker today, with a deep underlying feeling of teetering on the edge of a precipice. He could hear his heart beat as he circled, his eyes on Deater's hips, taking his whole body into account, watching his wand and trying to see his eyes. Harry shifted his feet, sliding them along the stone floor with a quiet rasp of sound. Foot slides out double shoulder width, then hind foot moves forward to shoulder width. Step, slide, step, slide.
He almost felt a 'click' as he sensed Deater begin to move. His enemy's wand dipped through the barest motions of a spell, sliding right into the next. Harry flicked his wand through his reply. A stream of spells hurtled his way. With auramancy he could see they were violent spells indeed. Entrail expelling curses, bone breakers, cutting curses, piercing curses and reductors flew towards him. He sent back his own stream of hell, mostly a new spell he'd constructed, a focused piercing charm with a very tight blasting hex riding the back of it, designed to pierce armor, dueling robes, or shields and then explode. He sidestepped, rolled, avoided Deater's curses, while continuing to shoot his own. He watched his opponent do the same, part of his mind appreciating the other's smooth movement while the rest of his mind was occupied with how to kill the faceless Death Eater.
A spell came too close and he wove in a tiny shield charm, flicking the spell back with his wand like a fencer parrying a thrust. His enemy's attack flew back at him, joining the stream rolling off Harry's wand.
Chips of stone flew off the walls, floor, and ceiling as the missed spells impacted.
Harry swung his wand in a circular movement, a whip of fire unfolding off the end, forming a huge circle of burning death flying at Deater. 'crack, crack' the tip sounded as it exceeded the speed of sound as it flicked at the robed man.
Deater dove out of the way, then with an odd gathering motion, he formed a blue spark between his hands, adding more with each caressing movement of his hands as if he was forming a snowball. Larger and larger it grew, before he threw it at Harry, the light changing as it flew to become a giant wall of water. The fire whip hissed as it flashed some of the water to steam before disappearing. Harry was thrown into the stone wall by the wave of water, making an 'oof' sound, before fighting to hold his breath.
Deater made a similar motion with his hands and the water gathered itself into a ball again, but this time around Harry, suspending him in the middle of a globe of clear water.
Harry grew frantic, unable to breathe. He made a motion with his wand and the entire globe froze solid, before shattering, shards of ice flying everywhere. Harry hit the floor and rolled, quickly gesturing. All the shards gathered, oriented in the same direction, then flew at Deater like clear spikes.
With a flat motion, like drawing a wall, the Death Eater created a thin, red plane in front of himself. The shards hit the wall of energy and disappeared into steam.
Both opponents circled each other warily, realizing they were well matched.
Holly wand waved and the chips of stones turned into grey spiders, fangs dripping with a potent green poison, scurrying towards Deater like a carpet of poisonous death. A wave of oaken wand and an arc of fire, mere inches off the floor, rolled out, crisping the spiders. Harry conjured serpents that responded to his commands to attack, but Deater countered with little weasel like mammals that bit the snakes, killing them. Deater fired off another chain of attack curses, causing Harry to weave between them. Finally, he dove underneath, rolling towards Deater to close the distance. Potter came out of the roll into a crouch, left knee down, right foot down. He flipped his wand around and slammed the butt of it against the floor as if it were a much bigger staff of wood. The floor rippled like a still pool, ripples expanding outward in waves.
Deater was thrown from his feet, never having seen that spell. He landed hard on his back, the stone floor once again very solid. A red beam hit him, knocking him unconscious.
The spectators were silent, stunned at the duel they'd just seen, but then Hermione jumped up.
"Go, Harry! Woo-hoo!" she yelled, face flushed.
"Woo-hoo?" Harry asked, "Did I just hear Hermione yell woo-hoo?"
"Hell, yeah, you did." Hermione said, grinning and running to him, "You won't hear it often, but that was incredible!"
"Good job, Mate!" Ron said.
"Enough celebrating!" Professor Flitwick yelled, "Remember, don't call him Harry, especially if Deater is awake. That was an adequate showing against this opponent, Machine, but we need to wake him and keep working. You have a lot of practice before you're where you need to be.
What was that piercing charm combination with the blasting hex?"
"I call that my SPEAR." Harry said absently.
"Spear, like the 'telum' spells?" Flitwick asked, "It didn't look like those at all."
"No, SPEAR, as in S.P.E.A.R. it stands for 'shield piercing explosive anti-personnel round'." Harry said, "I made it up to be like a Muggle weapon."
"Oh." Flitwick said, "It appeared like it would be effective. I see you redesigned the spell to be fast cast, not like casting both of those charms on top of each other. What's the downside?"
"It costs more energy than both of those spells cast in sequence would." Harry said, "But I'm barely tapping my core by the end of these duels, so I don't think that will matter as much as crafting some really effective spells."
Flitwick woke Deater, who spent a few minutes walking around the room, stretching the kinks out of his muscles and glancing at the man who'd beaten him. He gave him one small respectful nod before taking his place.
Both men bowed, saluted, and then started the next duel.
They circled, then Deater sent a huge wave of force at Harry, banishing him into the wall when he tried to dodge. Slamming into the stone wall, Harry felt something crack and it hurt when he breathed.
He retaliated, sending a stream of the piercing blasts at Deater, who deflected them all, sending some back at Harry, who had to defend against his own attack. Deater then sent a small cloud of flechettes, tiny vaned darts, at Harry. Harry started to dodge, but realized his error when the flechettes multiplied in the air, the cloud growing to ten times the original size, much too large to dodge. Harry managed to deflect most of them with a hurried shield, but took some to the left arm, left leg, and had some grazes to his side.
Hermione gasped, feeling Harry's pain and seeing blood against the stone as he rolled upright.
Harry flicked his wand through another chain of attacks, small black beads rolling off and streaking towards Deater, who'd never seen the like. Deater dodged successfully, none of the black beads hitting him directly, but as they neared him, they stopped and he felt like his body was about to be torn apart, unknown forces pulling him towards the black beads, towards all of the beads, threatening to rip him limb from limb. He gestured, sending out a banishing charm in a sphere around himself, forcing the miniature black holes away, the force becoming tolerable as they became more distant. Deater groaned with the effort and pain, many of his muscles and tendons strained.
Potter took the opportunity to perform a quick combat healing charm, closing his bleeding wounds.
Deater waved his wand through a complicated series of movements, wincing under the mask as his strained muscles protested.
The stones of the wall and floor around Harry reached out arms and grabbed him, holding his arms and legs to his body. Unable to use his wand, Harry struggled to fight, struggled even to breath. He could sense that Hogwarts didn't want to let herself be used in this way and if he'd called, he thought she'd resist, but he didn't, knowing most of his fights would not be in Hogwarts and not wanting to cheat. He struggled to think of how to respond. None of his wandless magic was strong enough. He wandlessly shot a stream of reductors at Deater, once of his best wandless spells, but Deater dodged all of them. Harry's vision grayed as the arms squeezed his chest and choked him. Just before his vision disappeared, he tapped his hand to his thigh rapidly, yielding the fight.
Deater dispelled the transfigured stone arms and Harry fell to the floor, gasping, his vision slowly returning. The grey retreated and the red tinge finally cleared. Once he finally caught his breath, he walked back to his starting place.
"Again."
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Soaking in the Prefects' bath, Harry relaxed, letting his muscles recover from the damage. He'd swallowed some potions Flitwick had given him for healing and now he was letting the warm water work its own magic. Hermione floated next to him, occasionally massaging his arms, legs, back and chest.
"Wow, if that was one of the ones I've been fighting," Harry groaned, "they've been holding back."
"I don't think so." Hermione said, "He had different spells and was much…better…more polished than they were. I don't know who he is, but he's done this exhaustively."
"It seemed different." Harry said, "It seemed like I was fighting myself, but a better, faster, older self. I don't know how I won any."
"Don't say that, Harry, you won several." Hermione protested.
"The first one was a surprise." Harry said, "He'd never seen my stone wave spell."
"Neither have I." Hermione said, "You made it up, didn't you."
"Ok, ok, I made it up." Harry chuckled, "I almost got him with your black hole spell, but he managed to defeat it. He was fast and improvised well."
"You got better as you went along." Hermione said, "You're still learning. Give yourself time."
"But do I have time?" Harry asked grimly, "I don't know how long we've got until Voldemort doesn't give us anymore time."
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"You lied to me." Dimitriov said to Filius once the others had left, "That's not just a candidate for Defense Professor."
"Oh?" Flitwick responded calmly, "I welcome your opinion, since that is why we hired you. What did you think? Who do you think it is?"
"Was it Estaban?" Dimitriov asked, "He doesn't usually have that original a spell selection, but it could have been him, almost had to be him to do that well against me. What a strange spell selection. It was like a cross between a school boy and a spell designer. He was fast, I could tell he's had training to make him faster, probably Ashdown, but could have been Richaud. He was powerful. He's as strong as Dumbledore, isn't he? He's just young. With more training, he's going to dominate the dueling circuit. Why should I train my replacement?"
"Why? Why do we always do it?" Flitwick asked, "If you duel against him, you'll make each other better. I wouldn't expect him on the circuit for at least 2-3 years. You'll have plenty of time to beat Estaban and be back on top for a while before he shows up."
"It's not that and you know it." Alex said, "Fighting him makes my blood sing. That's why I do this. It's always been why I do this. I only thought I was going to hate teaching schoolboys. Now I'm really going to hate it, because I'm going to be teaching the stunning spell while thinking about how that young man flies across the strip more than walks."
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That week passed differently than most. Harry still held the DA meeting, drilling the skills the members had gained prior to break and knocking the rust off. Otherwise, he spent all his extracurricular time dueling with Deater, who taught him counters to some of the spells he beat him with, including working on wandless dispelling charms and stone to gravel transfiguration.
Dec 18
Harry, Hermione, and Dumbledore met in the Headmaster's office. Both Harry and Hermione wore their finest robes, ready for a meeting with the Goblins. Strangely, Hedwig had knocked on Harry's window early that morning. He'd expected her to bring him a letter, but she hadn't had one tied to her leg when he'd checked. She landed on his shoulder and refused to leave. Harry couldn't remember her ever being this clingy, but ultimately, he'd let her come along. He liked having his familiar with him. It didn't hurt that she was a gorgeous snowy owl and made him look even better in his black robes.
"That's strange." Hermione had said, seeing him with Hedwig as they'd headed down to breakfast.
"I know." Harry said, "Although she does sometimes want to ride on my shoulder. Maybe I haven't sent her out enough or been neglecting her."
"Familiars can sometimes sense danger." Hermione had said, "I don't believe in divination, but we should be cautious today."
"We will visit the Head Goblin." Dumbledore said, "He is chosen as the leader for Gringotts and the Goblin nation. They take the position so seriously that he sacrifices his name and is forever after known only as the Head Goblin until he dies and another takes his place. He is totally devoted to the well-being of the Goblin nation, which they see as embodied by profit. Be polite, but confident. Do you understand?"
Both nodded.
"Gringotts!" Harry said, flinging a handful of floo powder into the Headmaster's fireplace and stepping through the green flames. He moved out of the way and helped steady Hermione as she stepped through, Dumbledore following seconds after.
"We are here for a meeting with the Head Goblin." Albus said, going to a goblin at the counter.
The Goblin stared for a moment, looking ready to say something rude, but quickly hopped off his stool.
"Very well, come this way."
He led them down a long hallway through a door marked "Staff Only". He came to what was clearly the biggest office, entering through a smaller office occupied by the Director's administrative assistants.
"Wait here; the Head Goblin will be notified."
They went to sit in fine leather chairs, but before they were even seated, a door marked "Head Goblin" in gilt letters on glass opened and a finely dressed Goblin stepped through.
"Come along, then." The Head Goblin said, "Time is money."
Dumbledore, Harry, and Hermione stepped into the Head Goblin's office, which was dominated by a huge desk. On one side of the desk was an archaic calculating machine with a roll of parchment tape. Otherwise the desk was dominated by a large blotter and several bottles of ink. The walls were lined with bookshelves, some book titles in Gobbledygook, others in English appeared to be about Wizarding law and finance. Three comfortable leather chairs were arranged in front of the desk.
The Head Goblin tapped a rune which previously had been unobtrusive, but once touched, it started glowing. Large steel vault-like doors came out of recessed slots in the walls, clanking together and hiding what had been the wall with the regular office door in it. A blue glow traced along the seam and it suddenly looked like a solid wall of steel.
"We won't be disturbed." The Head Goblin said in his raspy voice, "I understand you ask a boon of us? Lord Potter, please tell me in your own words what you desire."
"Me?" Harry asked, sitting upright and glancing at Dumbledore. At his nod, he cleared his throat, "Very well. I'm not sure what I'm asking is really a boon for us, it's more a question of helping us help you. There's a very dark item in one of your vaults. I could tell you more, but I need complete privacy."
"Gringotts privacy is legendary. Our customers trust us with their gold and their secrets. Nobody will ever get at either." The Head Goblin said, glaring at Harry.
"Right. Just checking." Harry said, "Have you heard of a Horcrux?"
"Dark magic indeed." The Goblin said, sitting forward, "Tell me more."
"A wizard by the name of Tom Riddle created Horcruxes to save himself from his greatest fear: death. He used murders of innocents to fracture his soul and imbued objects with these fragments. He chose objects of significance to the Wizarding world. One object is within your walls. We have a spell that will help us locate it within your bank. If you allow us, we can tell you were it is and you can bring it to us. We will destroy it. Or you can allow us to retrieve it. The choice is yours, but to destroy Voldemort, we must first destroy the item."
The Head Goblin laced his fingers together and contemplated what he'd been told. Given Goblins desire for brevity and efficiency, his contemplation revealed the true seriousness with which he'd taken these revelations.
"We've reviewed the contracts Gringotts makes with customers." Hermione offered, "Horcruxes clearly violate what items are allowed to be stored within. Cursed items are one thing, but soul fragments violate your rules. We understand how seriously you take your customers' security and privacy, but you have the right by contract to remove this item. We are even willing to return it, once we've destroyed the soul fragment within. The item was stolen to begin with, but we're willing to return to the pieces, if any are left."
"You're right, we are allowed by contract to remove this item." The Head Goblin said, "You say it was stolen? We will verify both of these claims, that it was stolen and that it is a Horcrux. If so, you may take it if you swear an oath on your life and magic to destroy it. What spell do you need to cast to locate it?"
"Do you have a map of Gringotts?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, here." The Head Goblin said, touching a small rune on his desk. A large map unrolled covering most of one wall. Twisted passages, marked tracks, and endless vaults were marked clearly. The writing was in Gobbledygook.
"I need to cast a spell that will show where the item is. It will only touch the map." Hermione said.
The Head Goblin nodded and Hermione started. She cast a very long, difficult spell, gesturing at Harry's forehead and the map several times, drawing a magical connection between them. Then she repeated the spell she'd cast on her map in the Headmaster's office and a wave of energy washed over the surface of the wall map, slowly coalescing into a glowing dot.
"Ah, the Lestrange Vault." The Head Goblin said, "I will go personally and retrieve this item. If you have lied, you will be punished before you are allowed to leave. If you are honest, I will give this item into your hands for destruction. Is this acceptable?"
"It is." Harry said, holding his hand out.
The Head Goblin looked at Harry strangely for a moment, then reached out and shook hands with Harry.
"You are an unusual Wizard, Lord Potter. I could wish there were more like you."
The Head Goblin touched the glowing rune and the steel door opened a crack, enough to expose the office door. He walked through and the steel door closed behind him, sealing as if it were a steel wall.
"Well, I hope they find what we expect." Dumbledore said, "There are strong wards on this room. I do not think that even I could penetrate, although Fawkes might be able to."
Minutes passed and the tension grew until finally, the steel doors reopened. The Head Goblin entered with a guard of six heavily armed and armored Goblins.
"Albus Dumbledore, you came to me with a story of Dark Magic." The Head Goblin thundered, "Luckily for you, it turned out to all be true. We found a cup within the Lestrange vault that was thick with the darkest magic. We tested it for a soul fragment and one was bound within the object. It is a Horcrux."
The Head Goblin gestured. One of his warriors came forward with a steel box heavily engraved with runes.
"Take it and destroy it." The Head Goblin said, "We will erect monitoring wards so if any similar items come into Gringotts, we will know. If this happens, you will be informed."
"Thank you." Harry said, shaking the Head Goblin's hand again.
"Harry, you and Hermione can go ahead of me." The Headmaster said, "I have more I need to speak with the Head Goblin about. If you want, you can do some shopping in Diagon Alley. I will join you once our discussion is through. Maybe we can have lunch before returning to Hogwarts."
"Ok, Headmaster." Harry said.
"Come on, Harry, we can look through the bookstore!" Hermione said excitedly.
Harry and Hermione walked past the Goblin warriors. They were escorted down the long hallway and back into the public lobby of Gringotts. They walked out the front door into the chill winter air. After the holidays, few shoppers walked around Diagon Alley. School age children were in school and parents were recuperating from Christmas spending.
"I hope they have the new addition of Arithmancy for Adepts." Hermione said, "I've heard it's going to include the new formulas for calculating spell strength. I've been wondering if I can adapt those to improvised spells using Dumbledore's technique."
Harry had been looking all around the Alley, noticing how different it looked in the winter. Hedwig rode his shoulder, also looking around. Harry noticed one knot of shoppers walking towards them, seemingly headed for Gringotts. It was a group of three in dark cloaks, bundled against the cold with hoods up. As he passed, he caught the barest glimpse of one of the faces, a witch that looked somehow familiar. She looked a bit like Sirius, he thought as he walked by. He realized he'd lost the thread of Hermione's conversation and tried to pick it back up before she noticed.
"Harry? Harry Potter?" came a high pitched sing-song voice from the group that had just passed them.
Harry turned, his blood going cold. He dropped his wand from the forearm holster into his hand.
"I see that little Harry wants to play!" the witch cackled, "Avada Kedavra!"
Time seemed to slow, but no matter how slowly it moved, Harry couldn't seem to react fast enough. He continued to turn, seeing a green light shooting toward him. He couldn't tell whether it was aimed at him or Hermione. He knew a shield wouldn't work, but took a split second to decide between dodging and trying to summon an object to block the killing curse.
While he thought, time continued to move sluggishly along. He felt a pressure leave his shoulder and saw Hedwig launch herself, wings beating furiously, interposing her body between him and the sickening green light.
He made an effort to levitate a cobblestone into the way of the curse, hoping to save Hedwig, but it was too late. With a green flash, she started to tumble. Time was moving so fast that she seemed suspended in air while the duel continued to unfold.
Flashes left Hermione's wand, hitting one of the two wizards. Blood sprayed from neatly sliced robes as her cutting curse clipped his shoulder and his wand arm dropped useless to his side.
Harry began a chain of SPEARs before he even had his wand fully pointed at his target. The explosive hexes tracked along the cobblestone towards the cackling, wild-haired witch. Stones exploded with the force of his anger, stone chips spraying everywhere as the line of death marched towards her.
Time seemed to continue to creep along. Hermione reoriented herself towards the other wizard, while he brought his wand to bear against her. Hedwig's body continued to tumble through the air on the same trajectory she'd launched herself on before being hit. The green flash of the killing curse seemed to resolve into flames, the power of the spell seeming to light the owl on fire.
"Another dies to save little baby Potter!" Bellatrix cackled, "You're running out of fan club members, Harry! Their sacrifices are touching, but pointless! You're still going to die."
She threw up a shield as the piercing and blasting hex combos reached her, but her eyes widened as she realized her shield couldn't take more than one, maybe two hits. She threw herself to the ground to avoid death.
Hermione's wand began spitting tiny black beads at the third member of the evil trio. Meanwhile, he slashed his wand down almost vertically and yelled an incantation which they didn't hear. A violet fan of fire rolled towards Hermione. She sidestepped and the fire missed her. Meanwhile, the miniature black holes missed directly hitting the evil wizard as he dodged, but he felt the tearing pull as he fought to avoid being sucked in or torn apart. Cobblestones were breaking up beneath the gravity forces and bits of stone were being sucked in, disappearing into nothingness.
"Jugson, go!" the Wizard called, as he grabbed something within his robes and disappeared. The injured
Wizard, Jugson according to the other, also disappeared.
"You do know how to play! We'll have to play again, sometime Potter!" Bellatrix shrieked, "Until then…"
She disappeared and the Alley was silent.
Harry screamed in frustration. His magic was pulsing off him in waves, the sheer power of his core not even touched by the destructive magic he'd thrown in the bare seconds of the fight.
Hermione rushed towards him.
Dumbledore walked slowly towards them from the main doors of Gringotts, seconds too late to join the fight.
Hedwig's flaming body hit the stone street, Harry's first companion and only friend during the long summers spent at the Dursley's. Harry knelt over the flames and his tears rolled down his face.
"Not Hedwig, no." Harry cried, unable to control his magic as it continued to fight to be free.
Tears dripped off his face, landing in the pile of ash. With a cheeping sound, a chick poked its beak out of the ashes.
"Wha….?" Harry murmured, unintelligibly.
Dumbledore reached them.
"What happened? How did Fawkes arrive…wait, this is not Fawkes."
"It was Hedwig." Hermione said.
"Hedwig? Harry's owl, Hedwig?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, it was Hedwig. She took a killing curse intended for Harry, burst into flames, and this chick just poked its head out of the ashes." Hermione summarized.
"Wha…?" Harry almost moaned.
Dumbledore placed a hand on his back. "I do not know either, Harry. There are no known instances where this has happened and I am one of two experts on Phoenix Lore, Newt Scamander being the other. No matter. We are not safe here. Let us return to Gringotts and from there floo home. We will have to discuss this attack and the consequences in greater depth there."
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A/N: I agonized for hours over whether to end on a complete cliffhanger, leaving the appearance of Hedwig just outright dying. I ultimately decided not to and wrote a brief conclusion to her temporary death. It's too brief, but we'll go into more theories on how this happened moving forward.