Disclaimer:: I do not own Harry Potter, but I think I own this plot. I don't own the title either...that belongs to Sun-Tzu.
Summary:: Harry is left to his own devices over the holidays, and discovers some interesting facts about himself.
The Art of War
Making of Plans
'Master Sun said:
War is
A grave affair of state;
It is a place
Of life and death,
A road
To survival and extinction,
A matter
To be pondered carefully.
There are five fundamentals
For this deliberation,
For the making of comparisons
And the assessing of conditions:
The Way,
Heaven,
Earth,
Command,
Discipline'
Sun Tzu
Chapter 2 – Heaven
'Heaven is
Ying and Yang
Cold and hot
The cycle of seasons.'
Sun Tzu
.::.
The bus was mostly empty, save for the driver and a few elderly women, but Harry still went upstairs for more privacy. The bus driver had just announced that they would be departing the station when Harry heard a few more people climb onto the bus.
"London please." A male voice said, and by the sound of his accent, American. "Now, what's this?" He asked and Harry could hear coins chinking together.
"Honestly father." Came a younger male voice. "These are pounds. We give the nice man three of these, and two of these notes things with the 10 on." He fell silent, and Harry guessed the money was changing hands.
He supposed it must be strange for Americans to use English money, he thought, a bit like him using wizarding money. It always took him a little while to remember how many knuts were in a sickle and how many of those to a galleon.
"Come on father. Up here." The voice said again, and the bus started off, the new passengers making their way up the stairs to the second storey where Harry was sitting. He had positioned himself at the back of the bus, so that he could see the Americans as they made their way to their seats.
"Honesly. What a stupid monetry system they have here; it's worse than the American muggle system." Harry's eyes grew wide as he heard a female voice for the first time, and the three made their way to the middle of the bus.
There was a man who looked to be in his early 40s, a woman of the same age and a boy of Harry's own age, or thereabouts. They were dressed neatly, almost too perfectly; as though they had just bought the items from a style magazine, or top fashion page. Although, if they were wizards, it would be quie possible for them to transfigure themselves the outfits.
The boy had caught Harry's attention. It was well known round the Gryffindor tower that Harry was bisexual, which had please a lot more people than he thought was good. The boy had black spiked-up hair, a tanned complexion and brilliant blue eyes. He was lean and muscular, wearing black jeans, vans (AN: shoes), a tight white t-shirt and black shirt left open with the sleeves rolled up. Harry could see the bump in his pocket where he had his wand; not the safest of places, especially in London.
He stood and walked carefully over to them, making sure he didn't fall and make a fool out of himself.
"Hi." He said, smirking as their heads snapped round. "I couldn't help overhearing your comment about muggle money, and thought I might introduce myself." He chuckled lightly at the looks of relief on their faces.
"I'm Ray Crews, and these are my parents, Lisa and Nathan." The boy said, and Harry shook the two men's hands and kissed the woman's.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Crews, and you Ray." Harry said, wondering if he should tell them his whole name, or leave out his surname. Afterall, he wasn't sure if his 'legend' had reached America, and wouldn't want to be treated any different.
"Please call us Lisa and Nathan. Mr and Mrs Crews makes us feel so old." The woman told him and Harry nodded at them. "What's your name dear?" Harry sat down.
"Before I tell you my name, I would like your word that you won't treat me any differently." At their nods, he continued. "My name is Harry Potter. "
The two older Americans looked at him blankly, but the younger one grinned suddenly.
"Cool. I've met the Harry Potter." He said. "Nice to meet you Harry." After a few seconds, Lisa gasped before pulling Harry into a motherly hug. Apart from Molly, Siruis, Hermione and Ginny, Harry had not been hugged since he could remember, and he had to blink back tears.
"Mother. Let him to before he suffocates to death." Ray said, and Lisa let him go, wiping her own eyes.
"I'm sorry Harry. I remember reading about you in 'Famous Witches and Wizards of the Present Time'. You poor thing – everything you've had to go through." Nathan placed a hand on her shoulder over the table.
"Well, you're welcome with us whenever you want son." He said, bringing tears to Harry's eyes for the second time since he had got onto the bus, even though he hardly knew these people.
.::.
Ten minutes later, the four were sat round one of the tables on the bus. Lisa Crews had unshrunk and unpacked a large picnic hamper. Harry looked at the spread of food infront of him; he had only seen this much food in one place at Hogwarts. Ray must have been able to see the amazement on his face, for the American laughed and passed Harry a ham and mustard sandwhich, neatly cut into a triangle.
As they ate, they talked about the war, and Harry found that he could trust them; mainly because of his gut instinct, but also because he could see six bare wrists.
"So Harry. We've heard rumours in America, and that's about it. Is You-Know-Who back?" Lisa asked, and her, Nathan and Ray leaned forwards.
"Yes. Voldemort's back." Harry confirmed, glad that they seemed to want to listen to him for once, and that they didn't look shocked or horrified, and neither did they reprimand him for using his name. Finally, Nathan spoke.
"I see where you're coming from son. Fear of a name only increases fear of a person, right?" Harry nodded. "I see. A word of warning though: in America there are certain spells that can be used to alert the spell caster when a specific word is said by anyone. Some can even trace the person who said it, and relay the information back to the caster."
Harry leant back in his seat. This new information made sense, but why would Dumbledore tell him to use Tom's name if it would harm Harry. In fact, he hadn't heard Dumbledore say Voldermort in a while, and instead used You-Know-Who. Harry had always thought that this was because the people he was speaking with were afraid of it, but it made sense with what Nathan had just told him.
"Ok. I'll call him Tom instead. Tom Riddle." Harry said at last. At these words, the three Americans looked confused, so Harry explained. "You-Know-Who's real name is Tom Marvalo Riddle. He's a half-blood." He said, and they nodded, letting the information sink into their heads.
"If You-Know-...Tom is a half-blood, why is he going for pure-blooded supremacy?" Ray asked and Harry shrugged.
"I don't know, although Hitler believed that the German Aryans were the best when he was neither German nor Aryan."
.::.
The bus stopped outside a large station, and Harry and the three Americans clambered off, thanking the driver. Just as Harry was stepping off, the driver called his name, making the young man turn round.
"Harry. Here." The balding man covered in tattoos said, handing the by a piece of folded paper.
"Go to that address in K Alley. Tell the owner that the boomslang is rarer than it was in 1919. Ok?" Harry nodded mutely, before muttering a thanks and leaving. It seemed as though there were wizards hidden all around the muggle world.
"What did he want?" Ray asked curiously.
"He told me to go somewhere." Harry replied vaguely, surprised that the Crews family was still here.
"Ooh, where?" Ray asked, but his mother slapped her hand over his mouth.
"Now now Ray. Harry doesn't have to tell you everything." She said with a smirk worthy of a Slytherin. Harry smiled and handed over the piece of paper.
"It's alright. It's nice to have a friend who is actually curious." He said, also surprised that Ray seemed to have adopted him as a friend so quickly.
"Hey mom. This is Jak's place." Ray said, handing the piece of paper to Lisa, who looked surprised.
"Who is Jak?" Harry asked, very curious now.
"He's a friend of ours. We were going to meet him today. Would you like to come with us?" Nathan asked, and Harry nodded, smiling shyly.
.::.
Darkness. All around. A door opens and shuts again, letting no light through. A match flares brightly, and the flame burns merrily on the wood as it is brought ever nearer to the wick of a candle.
As the candle is lit, it illuminates the face of the match-holder. She is pale skinned with red lips and deep blue eyes. Her straight black hair frames her beautiful face. She moves without a sound around the room lighting the other candles that were positioned in neiches around the room. Soon the whole room was illuminated by hundreds of tiny candles.
She sighed. They didn't usually go to so much trouble, usually it was a case of turning on the lights, but Micheil had insisted as it was an official meeting.
The room was large, very large, with no windows, and only one set of doors; a pair of large oak doors that opened into the hall itself. The room, known as the 'ante-chamber' was round, with large neiches in the walls. Each of these was large enough for a person to sit comfortably inside, and there were at least two hundred of these alcoves in total.
In the middle of the room stood a large wooden stand with a book lying open on it. The stand had been carved into a beautiful spectre-shaped humanoid with open eyes and mouth carved into the dark wood. The book itself was large, perhaps the size of some of the bigger bibles in the cathedrals, with white pages, the edges of which covered in gold leaf. The bindings were aged but perfect, gold and red seamlessly flowing into eachother on the covers. The writing itself was intricate and delicate, in a flowing script that had obviously been meticiously done by hand. On closer inspection, it could be seen that the writing wasn't English at all, and neither was it French, German, or any other 'common languages'.
As the room began to flicker with the light given off from the candles, the door opened and figures began to file into the room. They were each dressed in black muggle clothing, trousers, boots and hoodies, and had a black mask on their face. It didn't conceal that much of their faces, but enough for an outsider to be confused as to who was who. Their hair was unchanged, and the sheer variety of colours was surprising; blue, red, green, black, blonde.
The figures themselves were all different. Some were large and bulky, some were lithe and small, and yet others were a more 'humanish' shape. They filed in, and stood in a large circle around the hall, each before a specific alcove. More and more humanoids entered and soon the hall was full of people, all eerily silent as they stared at the door that had shut behind the last person.
It flew open with a bang, and the congregation smirked as one, their faces contorting into malicious and triumphant grins. Three figures could be seen, their fronts in shadows until the door shut, depriving the room once again of the light from behind the door.
"Welcome friends." The main figure said in perfect English, and they walked further into the room until they were standing in front of the stand. "Welcome to the three-hundredth-and-fourty-sixth meeting of The Shadowed Knights." He nodded at the room collectively, before looking down at the book.
"It seems as though everything is going as planned. The Drow Elves have nearly finished their weapons, and the High Elves are helping them to seep magic itself into them." He read from the book, translating the language fluently. "Werewolf Greyback has managed to contact the outer tribes of his kin, and they have finally agreed to help us. They will be arriving at the camp within the next few weeks; those who are stationed there will make them feel at home and gradually introduce them into out way of living, understood?" This sentence was more a statement than a question.
"The vampires are also making good progress, and Althalia, their queen, assures me that their troops will be ready for the battle." Here he turned to a section of the hall filled with lithe bodies. "Representatives, I need you to keep me up to date. That is all." He said, and stood back, letting anyone else who had any news report it.
A young woman, only about a meter tall stepped forwards, and turned to face the huge crowd in front of her. The wings that had been invisible, appeared and she fluttered into the air a short distance so she could be seen. "I have been able to finalize the pact between the fae and the sketes. The sketes will be arriving at the fae camps within the next few days. We shall update them and you accordingly." She said before floating back to her place in the crowd.
The leader nodded appreciatively, congratulating the fae, who blushed. "And now for the main business." He said loudly, before turning to another young woman who stepped forwards and bowed deeply, staying on her knees.
"Have you got it?" The man asked from behind his black mask. The black muggle clothing he wore made his spikey blonde hair stand out vividly. The woman infront of him merely nodded.
"Yes Micheil." She said in a voice of molten honey, and she smiled, showing off pearly fangs. Her hand snaked forward, the long nails glittering red. The sword in that hand was lond and heavy; the hilt was as polished as the blade itself with a ruby shining like blood.
"Very good Astarel." Micheil told her , taking the sword from her. Two men stepped closer, carrying an empty sword box. The glistening silver was soon enveloped by smooth black velvet.
The doors at the top of the stairs opened, and a young woman gardbed in the same black muggle clothing and mask nearly flew down the stairs.
"Micheil." She gasped, waiting until he nodded to continue speaking. "We have made contact with the Shadow." There were a few gasps from the circle of masked figures, and Micheil smiled.
"Good. It won't be long now." He said and clapped his hands. "Ok. You know the drill. He's here. To your shops and positions. Platoon 4 on protection today. Who is he with? - Which agent?"
The reply was short.
"Ray, Lisa and Nathan Crews."
The second chapter is finished.
'The Art of War' is a real book written by Sun-Tzu.
Now a little vote. I'm not sure whether to have the Weasley's as good or bad. Or whether Dumbledoor is going to be good or manipulative.
It will probably be a few chapters before either appears, but I'd love to have your thoughts on the matter.
On a lighter note...it's my birthday on the 17th February...I'll be 17. xD
Thanks
Kryztol Thorn