Unofficial Portkey Archive

The elves were surprisingly quick about relocating his bed. Harry had requested the move from Professor Slughorn and unsurprisingly, the jumpy Potions professor agreed. His bed was placed in the front of the room beside the door, far enough away from the rest of his roommates so that he was sufficiently isolated.

He woke up at five thirty and for once, Malfoy was still asleep by the time he was dressed. Trudging down the stairs and out of the Common Room, Harry basked in the relative silence of Hogwarts. The sun had not yet risen, but there was enough light peeking over the horizon so that the torches were giving off a light smoke. His footsteps clattered loudly against the cobblestone, but they were his and his alone.

Upon entering Trow's classroom, Harry was surprised to find that Cedric and a smatter of other older students were already there. They looked up at him, some staring longer than others, but they quickly went back to their observations. Only Cedric continued to stare at him and gave him a small smile. Harry walked over to the bench beside him and gave Cedric a curt nod.

"That's more like it, Potter," Cedric said.

As Harry readied his Stationary Omniocular, he asked Cedric, "Are all of you always here this early?"

"There's a lull around breakfast, but it's pretty full here until late at night. It's a lot less stressful trying to fight some Second Year for a station," he explained.

With nothing else to say, Harry buried his head in the Stationary and rewatched the previous day's match. He already knew of the obvious mistakes, but it was time to start highlighting individuals. The late night dramatics would either prove fruitful or disastrous, but for now, Harry was focused on trying to find everyone's particular skillset. Given Hermione's journal from the previous year, Harry had a rough idea of how everyone could perform, but that told him nothing of how they would do in a team setting that did not contain him.

Tracey followed orders as best she could, but she was hesitant and unsure of her abilities. This wasn't a new problem. It was an ongoing confidence issue that didn't have any sort of consistency. She had her moments. After Harry had fallen in the forest, she had rallied the Slytherins well and reduced Gryffindor down to just Granger, but there were other times when she completely froze on the spot.

Draco surprised him, not only taking the initiative to stun Millicent to stop the pain, but he was also one of the few that followed his order to move off the hill. He was alone in that regard, but it showed that he was willing to follow orders when necessary and Harry made a mental note to give the git some credit. He had been much changed since the beginning of the school year and perhaps he would be more compliant in Battle this year.

Blaise was most disappointing. Harry had assumed that whatever classes he had taken in Leadership would grant him de facto command on the field, but he was panicky and questioned him at every turn. It wasn't that Harry thought it was unhealthy to question his orders, but there was a time and a place for that and Blaise, like he did outside of duels and matches, had no filter. Furthermore, he had little understanding of how to use his spells and even less awareness of his surroundings. Harry saw it in the panicked way he would turn and fret at every movement. Blaise was at his best by himself, operating within his domain. When it wasn't in his control, he lost all discipline.

The rest were a hodge podge of miserable and directionless. Harry didn't know how he had been so blind to see the defects of the Slytherin house, but perhaps his own ego had gotten in the way of seeing the obvious rot. Without him, they were almost non functional, but there was something to work with. It was far from hopeless, but it wouldn't be easy to reform them into a unit worthy of the Slytherin name.

"You look stressed," Cedric said, interrupting his viewing.

Harry pulled back from the station and pondered on a thought he had been having.

"Did you start the Board Room in Fourth Year?" Harry asked.

"The Board Room," Cedric chuckled, "The first time I stepped into the Board Room, I barely scratched out a win and that was due more to luck than anything. It's a completely different experience trying to command a bunch of your friends that won't listen to you. Yeah - I can see why you're stressed."

"Any tips?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Make them listen."

Cedric offered nothing else, so Harry returned to the replay of the match, taking notes on how he should approach the next match. It occurred to him that even if he were to apply everything he learned about the Fourth Year Slytherins, it would serve him no good to attempt to accomplish everything in real time. They would have to meet outside of class and they wouldn't be happy. But it wasn't his job to keep them happy. It was his job to make them win.

Harry stayed until the breakfast bell, well after Cedric had left. Harry thanked the older Hufflepuff for his kindness and wondered why the Hufflepuff stalwart had taken a liking to him. Either way, it was nice to know that others had struggled in the Board Room as well. He entered the Great Hall late and noticed that most of the students had already sat down. As Harry walked towards the Slytherin table, he realized the Fourth Years and some of the other Slytherins were looking at him expectantly.

I must not show weakness. I am different now. I am their Commander.

He chose to sit more than a few lengths down the table, isolated from the Fourth Year Slytherins or any other Slytherins for that matter. Food appeared on his plate and Harry ate in stony silence, not bothering to look up at the rest of them. Let them talk.

Harry heard someone settle in across from him and looked up to see Tracey's blue eyes. Her face was drawn tight, the bags visible underneath her eyes. Her usual chipper expression was gone from her face and it was replaced by a passive demeanor. Harry thought about asking her to sit down with the rest of the Slytherins but realized it would be counterproductive in Tracey's case. He still needed someone that would listen to him without question and sending Tracey away would only solidify her under someone else's control.

The corner of her mouth ticked upwards as she said, "Commander."

Harry nodded back at her, thankful that she understood his troublesome position.

* * * * * * * *

He sat alone in all of his classes, noticeably removed from the rest of his classmates. Tracey tried to sit with him in Potions, but he subtly shook her off, not wanting to give the impression that he was playing favorites. Her pained expression hurt him inside, but that was the choice he made and there was no turning back on his persona as Commander.

Blaise chuckled and winked at him as he walked by to sit with Tracey. Harry didn't find the situation particularly amusing as any sort of favoritism would undermine the entire reason for this structural change. It wasn't a joke anymore and it hurt Harry to have to do this to his friends. The divide was even more pronounced as the class was held by Hufflepuffs and Harry found himself seated close to Justin of all people.

Justin refused to meet his eyes, resolutely staring ahead and down at a scroll of parchments. His hands were shaking, his posture nervous. Snape must have really done a number on him to completely change his attitude. Harry regarded him coolly, not forgetting about Justin's exploits last year. As he stared at him, an idea started to form in his head. There was something he could work with here.

"Good morning class," said the nervous Potions professor. Professor Slughorn wobbled as he stood behind the desk in the front of the classroom. He gave a small, quivering smile and adjusted the glasses on the perch of his nose. Slughorn always gave the impression of a fearful worm trying desperately to avoid being squashed.

"Today, we will be talking about the Polyjuice Potion," Slughorn said.

Harry kept his eyes on Justin and hissed, "Justin."

Justin didn't move his head up, his hand furiously copying down notes as Slughorn continued to speak, but Harry knew he had been loud enough for the Hufflepuff to hear him. The soft scratching of quills was his only response, so Harry called out his name again. This time, Justin at least glanced his way, his eyes subtly darting sideways and finally catching Harry's own. Still, he said nothing and refused to acknowledged Harry. Patiently, so as to not draw attention from Slughorn, Harry waited and hissed the Hufflepuff's name again.

"This is a very difficult potion to make and an even more difficult potion to gather materials for. For that reason, we will only have one test potion, but I assure you that I will test you heavily on the theory of it!"

"I know you can hear me, Finch-Fletchley," Harry whispered.

"What do you want?" Justin asked.

"The potion is created in two stages which totals for a duration at about a month. There are particulars to each stage that make it difficult for even the most advanced potions student to make, but the theories to be learned are very important. I don't expect any of you to achieve a Polyjuice worthy of use, but it is important to know what its uses and applications..."

"I need a favor from you," Harry said.

"I don't particularly want anything to do with you right now, Potter."

"Well I think you owe me."

Justin finally turned to him and Harry could see that he was different from the previous year. His face was fatter, his eyes a little more haunted. His mouth kept twitching as if he were chewing on gum. The Hufflepuff said, "What the hell are you on about?"

"A more experienced master can make a Polyjuice with a duration of up to twelve hours, but this is very rare. The average duration is roughly three and a half hours for the average potion maker. Now let's go over the ingredients…"

"Do I need to remind of you of what you did to Tracey?" Harry whispered in an even lower volume, minding the curious ears around him.

Justin huffed. "Snape already - he almost expelled me. That wasn't what you - it just - it got out of hand."

"That's a bit of an understatement given what you did."

"You were ready to kill me!" Justin hissed.

"And I should have," Harry hissed back.

"The appearance of the potion resembles a very thick liquid that bubbles. Something special about Polyjuice is that upon inheriting the piece of material of the potential transformee, it adopts a slightly different texture that is unique to each person. The less you see of the thick liquid, the purer the potion is…"

"I can get you expelled if I have to," Harry threatened. "For all the other shit you've done. You owe me enough to hear me out or else I'm going to Snape and getting you out of here."

Harry had no intention of getting Justin expelled, but he was frankly tired of the Hufflepuff's refusal to acknowledge the severity of his actions. What he really needed was someone that could give him outside help without tracing it back to Slytherin. Justin was silent for a moment as Slughorn droned on.

"What do you want?" Justin asked in a small voice.

"I need you keep tabs on Cedric Diggory."

Justin frowned, the displeasure immediate on his face. "Diggory? Why would you want to do that?"

"I don't care why and you shouldn't either. All I need to know is what you hear from Diggory. Things he says. Things you overhear. Anything you think would be useful. Most importantly, he can't know."

"There are some noted research scrolls on some of the side effects of the Polyjuice Potion. One commonly held theory is that long term use of Polyjuice Potion causes the taker of the potion to inherit some of the traits of the person the user is impersonating. Indeed, the most well known example would be Boxer the Beautiful who thought he was a woman after more than three months use of impersonating his wife to fraud the local town….."

"Is that all?" Justin asked.

"That's all," Harry replied. "Remember, he can't know."

Of course, there were no guarantees that Justin wouldn't tell Cedric. For all Harry knew, Justin would tell Cedric as soon as he returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room, but that would be okay. Harry didn't know Cedric that well and as much as he hated it, Diggory was being abnormally helpful towards him. Whilst he had no evidence otherwise, Harry was still cautious of someone who seemed to be actively helping him.

"Do you want to meet up for me to tell you?" Justin asked this with a mocking tone of sarcasm.

"I'll find you."

* * * * * * * * *

Harry had Tracey and Blaise gather the Slytherins late that night again. They were quieter this time, hushed tones instead of loud complaints. Harry led them out of the Common Room towards the lower dungeons. The dungeons were colder, or perhaps, the quiet allowed Harry to feel the chilly breeze of the lower rooms against his skin.

He had thought about using the Room of Requirement for practices, but they would be monitored and other students would take notice of the extra time Slytherin were putting in. Preferring to keep the extra practices discrete for the time being, Harry chose the same empty classroom he had used to solidify his command the previous night.

They weren't dressed for the occasion, wearing their night garbs instead of their usual Battle class uniforms, but that might have been for the better. Forcing them to acclimate to less than ideal circumstances would allow them to adjust easier when faced with different situations in Battle class. Furthermore, Harry wanted them to feel uncomfortable. He would have to break them before he could form them into something useful.

"Blaise, what did you do wrong in the last match?" Harry asked as soon as they were settled in the abandoned classroom.

"I, um, everything?" Blaise rhetorically asked.

"Specifically."

"We didn't . . . move off the hill?"

Harry shook his head and made a disgusted noise. "Anyone? Did anyone even bother to watch the replay?"

Down the line, they were all bowed heads and shuffling feet. One lonely voice spoke out as Harry did his best to imitate Snape's snear.

"We were slow to react to location changes as well as failing to take the initiative in the match. We were on the back foot the whole time. We had no planning. No execution. Blaise is right. We did everything wrong," Draco montonally droned.

Harry barely hid his shock at Draco's rather frank assessment. The fact that he was correct in all regards was even more surprising. Not for the first time this year, Harry found that Draco was a far more useful participant than he had been in years prior. If he continued in this same vein, then Harry would have no choice but to start leaning on him a bit more.

"One person. Pathetic," Harry said, not bothering to praise him. "Everyone is going to watch the replays or I will not be taking you into Battle class."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Blaise shaking his head. The dissension only further stoked his ire. When would he learn to take things seriously?

"Is there a problem, Zabini?" Harry singled him out.

Blaise was temporarily stunned that Harry would single him out. "I just - you're not really going to hold us out, right?"

Harry stopped pacing and cast a freezing charm behind his back, lowering the temperature in the room as he spoke.

"I will freeze you out. You will fail. You will leave Hogwarts."

Daphne shivered and all of them shifted uncomfortably, a combination of Harry's chilly declaration and the artificial drop of temperature in the room. Harry cast the charm again, the air noticeably colder and a slight fog coming from his breath. Unlike them, Harry was dressed in his Battle class robes, so he was not as cold as the rest.

"Malfoy. Davis. Parkinson." Harry pointed to one side of the room.

"Greengrass. Nott. Baldock." Another corner of the room.

"Bulstrode. Goyle. Zabini." The last corner.

Standing in the center equidistant to each trio, Harry said, "These are your groups. Know them well because you are going to have to get used to working with each other. Learn each other's strengths. Their weaknesses. Whenever the other Houses figure out that we've split into three groups, you'll need to divide further, but take your cues from each other. They need to fear us. They need to be in awe of us. I will teach you how to do that, but you will follow my every command. There is no more losing. We will not ever lose again."

So they began as Harry named each triplet. Tracey's group was Black. Nott's group was Silver. Blaise's group was Green. Harry thought about giving them alphabetic codes, but he wanted them to have an identity. It would inspire them as well as have them compete against each other. Their grouping was purposeful as Harry wanted to have at least one mildly competent person as the leader of each small group.

Black, which consisted of Tracey, Draco, and Pansy, practiced Disillusionment Charms on each other. They all picked it up easily and Harry already knew that he would use them as his main attack force. Draco, in particular, was already ironing out the wand movements so that their concealment would be better. Harry only nodded at them as he passed their group, trusting them to continue with their practice.

Silver would be his support group. They had various skills but excelled at nothing. Daphne was about as average as they came. Pretty in the face, she probably could have been better had she put any effort into it, but that effort was sorely lacking unless Harry paid special attention to her. Only then would she amplify her movements, showboating in front of him. Nott had one track and it was forward. Harry wanted to call him stupidly aggressive, but he knew Nott was more tactical than that. There was a certain malice in his attacks that Harry could use to their advantage. Last of all was Sadie Baldock, the quiet, mousy girl that never particularly impressed Harry. She was quiet and that unnerved him.

Green was a special project of his. What was he supposed to do with two students that obviously did not belong at Hogwarts? Gregory and Millicent were simply lacking in magical power and so Harry had to devise a way to deploy them in such a manner that would not render Slytherin down two students from the beginning. He just needed them to somewhat perfect two or three spells. The first would be a numbing spell they could use on their own bodies to dampen the effect of the usual spells that the other Houses would use. The second spell was a radial shield similar to Protego that would allow them to effectively act as meat shields.

Of course, having those two on their own would be akin to trying to lead a Hippogriff by pulling its nose. Blaise was supposed to be there to help lead them. As soon as Harry walked over to their group, however, he could see that Blaise was none too happy to be grouped with the two dumbest members of Slytherin. His friend was already barking orders at the pair of them, overly criticizing them as they failed to reproduce the radial shield needed to absorb the blows.

"Goyle, what are you doing? Circular motion and Clipeum!" Blaise demonstrated it again, producing a shimmering silver shield that encompassed the front half of his body.

When Goyle failed to reproduce the spell, Blaise berated him again, growing more frustrated as the other groups moved onto other spells, discussing their tactics in small voices as Harry floated in between them.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked.

"No," Blaise sharply said.

Harry stared directly at him, his jaw clenching as his teeth grinded together.

"Sorry, Commander," Blaise corrected himself.

Harry hit Goyle with a light Stinging Hex. Goyle grunted, surprised by the suddeness of the pain. Harry stung him again, this time increasing the severity of the spell. Harry exaggeratedly raised his wand a third time and Goyle responded by gruffly saying, "Clipeum!"

The large Slytherin produced a strong shield, a half bubble that dispelled of Harry's tame Stinging Hex. Harry nodded at Goyle, a mild form of approval on his face. Gregory looked stunned that he actually performed the spell and spun in a circle in a way that was comical for a boy his size. Harry turned to Blaise, his expression cold.

"You need to find the right thing to motivate them. They don't learn like the others."

"And of course it's up to me to get them up to speed," Blaise responded.

The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss. Yet, Harry viewed this as an opportunity for Blaise. He was a de facto leader as it would be impossible to have Millicent or Gregory lead Silver group. Harry knew that Snape must have selected Blaise in Leadership for a reason, so he wasn't going to take it easy on him just because Blaise was paired with the weakest of the group.

"And you will. You have four days until our next Battle class and we will practice every night until that day.

"Every night?!" Blaise exclaimed.

"Every. Night."

Harry turned towards the rest of the group, enunciating each word so that they would understand the gravity of the situation. There were a few grumbles and shocked looks, but no one else said anything.

Good.

"There is one spell I want all of you to learn."

* * * *

At every night, one hour before curfew, the fourth year Slytherins escaped into the lower dungeons. Collectively, Harry saw progress, but it was hard to estimate the amount of practice they had made. He had them duel against each other as well as having the groups duel. Unsurprisingly, Black proved to be the strongest group by the end of the second night. Tracey and Draco were growing a cohesive partnership while Pansy showed some considerable improvement. Harry had them practice a variety of spells, but he concentrated on Disillusionment and a variety of other spells to disguise their movements. They won seven out of ten duels in intergroup skirmishes and they were only growing stronger.

Silver was a more difficult group to manage. Daphne, in particular, was hard to motivate as she continually faltered in her efforts to Transfigure objects into moveable shields. Sadie and Theodore were fine, but Harry needed them to press harder so that Black wouldn't end up carrying the House every match. Harry practiced with them extensively the third night, making sure they knew how to Transfigure certain objects out of a variety of material.

Blaise didn't improve the second or third night, constantly berating Gregory and Millicent for not accomplishing simple things or staying in shape. They never even came close to winning a duel against the other groups nor did Blaise win a single match. It wasn't for the lack of enthusiasm however as it was the maddest Harry had ever seen Blaise. On the fourth, and final, night before their next Battle class, Blaise was nowhere to be found.

Harry waited patiently in the Common Room, prepared to give him a tongue lashing in front of the others, but he had never returned to the dormitory. Harry carried on with the practice sessions that night, filling in as Blaise with Green squad. When they returned after practice, Blaise was sound asleep on his bed. Harry had a thought to wake him and dress him down in front of the others, but there was nothing to be accomplished at that point.

During breakfast, Harry sat alone again and he noticed that the Slytherins seemed to be grouping more and more with their squads. Theodore, Sadie, and Daphne all sat together whilst Draco, Tracey, and Pansy sat in a cluster not far from them. Blaise, who sat next to Tracey, did not seat with Millicent and Gregory. Harry looked down at his stew, the steam of the broth warming his face as he contemplated this conundrum.

Looking up, he spotted Hermione talking to Weasley and Thomas, their heads pulled together as they discussed what must have been the next Battle class. Harry had not even bothered raising her through the coin they shared as the night practices had taken up almost all of this time and sleep. His whole group was ragged but far more prepared than they were the first Battle class. Sitting through Charms was an exercise of patience as Flitwick went over advanced versions of the Summoning Charm and perfecting it over long distances.

Around noon, all four Houses of Fourth Year were grouped around the entrance of the Room of Requirement again. Harry waited for Snape, silently hoping that what he was about to do would work. It had every possibility of backfiring on him if Snape didn't allow it, but this was a test for the headmaster as much as it was for Harry. As Snape approached and started shepherding the rest of the students into their staging area until the Board Room was set, Harry stepped in front of Blaise, looking his taller friend in the eye.

"You're not going in today, Zabini," Harry said.

The rest of the class paused, but Snape remained ever still, his face betraying no surprise. Blaise blinked at Harry, his mouth hanging agape as his eyes flittered from Harry to Snape. As the seconds ticked on, Blaise began to realize that Harry was actually serious.

"You can't do that," Blaise said slowly, trying to affirm that statement with Snape as he looked at the headmaster. Snape took a long look at Blaise and Harry before turning on his heel and walking towards the door to the Room.

"Inside," he barked.

The students followed slowly, several casting a curious glance towards the two Slytherins. Harry stood his ground, listening to the whispers behind him and plaintively ignoring him, still staring Blaise right in the eye.

"Harry, I couldn't do another practice last night. I'm sorry I missed it!" Blaise pleaded. "I'll do better. I'll come to everyone, but you can't hold me out."

Blaise looked at the rest of the students, save for Hermione, Susan, and Terry, file into the room. The dark Slytherin took a side step to try and go around Harry, but Harry matched him, his green eyes cold and his face rock hard.

"Not today, Zabini."

As Snape reemerged to take the quartet to the Board Room, Harry left Blaise in the middle of the hallway, his solitary figure tiny in the giant archway that surrounded him. If the others were to take him seriously, Harry needed to show that he had very little tolerance for subordination, even from one of his best friends. In time, Blaise might understand, but Harry also knew that his best friend might also become his former best friend. That was the price to pay to become a leader.

* * * * * * *

The map rose up from the board, a holographic representation of what the rest of the Slytherins, bar Blaise, were seeing on the ground. There were buildings, tightly packed together that would spill out into atriums of open space. It was not unlike downtown London and Harry suspected that it had more than passing resemblance to Diagon Alley.

"Omnes."

"Malfoy, I need you to join Green squad and assume point. Davis and Parkinson, you're going to be operating in tandem with them, but take your direct orders from me. Ahead of you is a four way intersection. Sprint to it now and Disillusion yourself on adjacent corner buildings. Green, I want you go to straight ahead but stay a few paces behind them. Silver, cut through the alley going northeast and hold."

In unison, without complaint, they moved. Harry rotated and expanded the board as he gained a better grasp of the battlefield beyond them. Yes, it was eerily similar to Diagon Alley. There was no Gringotts nor were there any of the other landmark stores, but the layout was roughly the same. Harry assumed that the other three Houses would avoid the large intersection in order not to expose themselves, but he knew that Goyle and Bulstrode were easy bait.

"Malfoy, Disillusionment Charm. Bulstrode and Goyle, come together and hide him as best you can."

The disadvantage to the Disillusionment Charm was that upon moving, the user would be visible to the attentive eye. It was a sort of ripple in their vision, a blurred distortion that looked out of place, but hidden between the massive bodies of Bulstrode and Goyle, Malfoy would less likely be seen and any other person would see just Bulstrode and Goyle.

Harry watched them come together on his screen as Malfoy's smaller body was almost completely blocked out from view unless someone were directly behind them. Malfoy's hands were on both of their backs as he stayed in contact with each of them to keep the illusion. Switching his communications to just Silver, Harry relayed his orders.

"I need you to start Transfiguring everything you can. Nets and cannons. Make sure to stay hidden as best you can. Stay in that alcove if you need to. Get a good stockpile ready because we're coming in contact soon."

Smashing some more buttons on the board, Harry commanded, "Black. Keep your head on a swivel, but do not show yourselves. Only hit them with spells when their backs are turned. They won't know you're there for a while."

Taking a deep breath and expanding the board as far back as he could, Harry began in earnest.

"Green. Right up the middle."

They moved slowly, dumbly, presenting an easy moving target. Hermione wouldn't bite first. She would make Gryffindor wait, recognizing that it was far too easy. But Terry was eager. Terry wanted to impress. Terry would dive in headfirst.

A flicker of blue darted across the outer field of his omniscient view. Harry quickly rotated his board so that he would be facing them, yet expanded it so that he could view attacks from the rear.

"Black, hold steady. Green, numbing charms and shields ready. Slight adjustment to your west. Silver, prepare yourself."

Bulstrode and Goyle rotated a bit, still looking like they were stumbling through the exposed area. If Ravenclaw were already close, then the other two Houses would be within close proximity. The key would be dispatching Ravenclaw until they were ready to about face to the other two Houses.

"Commander," Tracey said in a hushed voice.

Three blue figures sprang around the corner, predictably firing out at Goyle and Bulstrode. Fortunately, their positioning was perfect and Goyle took the first spell and luckily it wasn't a Stunner. It did draw blood, exemplified by the sudden crimson Goyle's hologram. Their shields were up for the second spell and Malfoy fired an accurate Stunner underneath Bulstrode's armpit to strike down one Ravenclaw.

From where they started, the other five Ravenclaws spilled out into the larger alley, splitting into three and two on opposite sides as they also fired at Bulstrode and Goyle. Again, their positioning was spot on as they either absorbed the spell in their body or took it with the shield. They were a little further out this time, so Malfoy opted not to hit him with a spell.

It occurred to Harry that it was highly unlikely that those disguised in a Disillusionment Charm would show up on the opposing holograms. If it did, someone would have struck either Tracey or Pansy as they were both out in the open. Making a mental note to have everyone in Disillusionment Charms for the next match, Harry relayed his next set of orders.

"Silver, stay pat. Black, get ready."

Goyle and Bulstrode were backing themselves against a corner, drawing the Ravenclaws in. Malfoy stayed tucked behind them, timing his spells so that it didn't look like he was even there, using the massive frames of the two other Slytherins to keep himself disguised. Harry would have to compliment him when this was over for his good thinking.

Hufflepuffs suddenly swarmed out from a house, cutting off the five Ravenclaws and engaging them head on. Predictably, they moved as one, all nine figures overwhelming the five Ravenclaws not two blocks from where Silver was waiting. He could see their figures starting to stir, itching to poke their heads out to see the commotion nearby.

"Hold," Harry said in a stern voice.

Where is Gryffindor?

If Harry was asking his House to be patient, Hermione must have been demanding it. It was his turn to draw her out.

"Green, move towards the battle. Malfoy, keep your eyes behind you."

"Yes, Commander," Malfoy responded.

Green moved towards the heart of the fight, minding the three Ravenclaws that were now ignoring them and cutting through the back alleys to help out the rest of their Housemates. Terry was panicking, reacting to the situation instead of sticking to his plan. Susan was playing it simple, keeping everyone together and trying to overwhelm with good timing and numbers.

As Green advanced, Harry watched Malfoy suddenly pull on Goyle's shirt and turn him towards a spell speeding their way. That broke their unified shell as four Gryffindors attacked. They were spread in a fan, making it difficult to take them down at once. Malfoy grabbed a fistful of Bulstrode's robes as well, pulling them backwards and away from the advancing Gryffindors.

"Tracey, five Gryffindors are going to emerge right to your left. They're trying to flank Green. Take them out on sight."

Harry hoped that he read Hermione right and his theory was confirmed as the five other Gryffindors tried to eliminate the backpedaling Green squad. They made the mistake of all emerging from one alley as Tracey pummelled them with Stunning spells, hitting at least three of them. Her Disillusionment Charm revealed, Tracey took cover behind an alcove.

"Silver, Banishing charms on my mark. Aim towards the northeast. They're about five blocks up. Baldock, sight them."

Sadie poked her head out and counted down the number of blocks. They adjusted the angles of their wands as they started banishing the collection of nets and transfigured cannons they had been building in the down time. They arced through the sky and forced the group of four Gryffindors to push towards the middle of the exposed area, still in pursuit of Green.

"Tracey, fall back and wait to intercept the remaining Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Keep yourself hidden. Pansy, stay still."

The Gryffindors, trying desperately to stay off the volley of nets and cannons falling behind them, were not a few paces from Pansy. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry watched Goyle's image disappear from the screen.

"Goyle's down, Commander," Malfoy said.

Malfoy kept Bulstrode in front of him, forgoing his camoflouge and shooting spells at a rapid pace from behind her. He was using her as a shield to great effect, hitting two more Gryffindors with great marksmanship.

"Silver, adjust and using Banishing charms all the way to the west. Dispense of everything and move towards the alley where we started. Cut off the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs with Davis."

Tracey cut off the two Ravenclaws before they could even reinforce the rest of their House and Hufflepuff took care of the rest, eliminating the Ravenclaws. As Susan's group moved north to the Gryffindors in the center of the square, Silver arrived on time to surprise and eliminate them as well. All that remained were three Gryffindors against eight Slytherins.

"All squads, break and attack."

In the end, only Weasley was left, cornered into a house that Harry had a thought to collapse. He didn't want a repeat of the Justin fiasco, making it look like he wanted to kill Weasley. Instead, Harry waited it out, stationing the Slytherins at every exit. Even a Disillusionment Charm wouldn't save Weasley.

"Well done everyone," Harry said as they waited.

Contemplating for a moment if he wanted to do this, Harry made his decision. Slytherin had to be more than just winners. They needed to be revered and feared. Slytherin had to represent a bigger entity than they actually were. The things made of legends and a House that frightened others at the very whisper of their name.

"Malfoy, use the spell," Harry ordered, giving his top performing member the honors. Draco spelled forward and pointed his wand straight to the sky.

"LOSTREGO!"

A flash of light erupted from the end of Malfoy's wand as Harry admired the second spell he created. It wasn't useful for anything tactical, but the message it sent would prove to be invaluable.

Colored in green, a hazy mist came together in the sky, a slight sparkle to it. It even showed up on his board and Harry took a step back to admire it, a rare smile coming to his face. Hanging there above the house was a bright thunderbolt, an almost perfect image of the one etched onto his forehead. It was monstrous in size, engulfing everyone's vision and Harry could only imagine the horror on Weasley's face as he gazed upon the thunderbolt in the sky, a symbol of unquestionable victory.

They would not soon forget the House of Slytherin.

* * * * * * *

A/N: I know I missed my mark by a long shot. I apologize for the delay and hope that this chapter is enough to hold you over until the next one. I'm hoping for a quick update on a date that all of you EG fans should know. Enjoy and leave a review!

Projected Update Time: November 1, 2013. Midnight EST.

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