Prophecies, Love and the Ancient Magic
By The Haydster
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling.
Warning. This story will contain slash (gay love), and is set in Harry's 7th year. This story does not comply with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Thanks goes to Kokou for letting me know that Kingsley's patronus is a lynx. That has now been fixed.
Chapter 10: We Fight As One
From chapter 9:
"It is time to form a true army. Every one of you must decide whether you will fight or not. None of you will be forced to fight, but no one will be turned away if they decide to. Make no mistake, this is a war, and people will die. No children should have to fight in a war but we have no choice. If we do not fight, Voldemort will destroy the world as we know it.
The Army Of Hogwarts must be created"
Everyone in the Great Hall seemed to be in shock. Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued to speak.
"Students, as much as it pains me to say this, I believe there are students among us who support Voldemort. As I have a responsibility to them by being their headmaster, they have 24 hours to leave the castle grounds unmolested. If any choose to remain and they are found out, they will be arrested. Also, let me warn every person here that when Hogwarts' magic accepted the fact that we are at war, it bound every person to secrecy. You are unable to tell anyone anything that may betray us, and anyone trying to use Leglimency, that is, anyone who tries to read your mind will regret it."
"All students please return to their common rooms for the time being, with the exception of the students in the DA. Owls will be sent to all the families offering them sanctuary at Hogwarts. DA members, please go to the Room Of Requirement." Dumbledore finished, sitting down.
As the students left he called Dobby, Winky and the other house elf over. "Dobby and Winky, you are free elves and Tolly, you are the head house elf of Hogwarts. You are not required to stay here if you do not want to, as you will be in danger too. Will you stay?"
"Dobby is willing to go into danger to serve Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter" Dobby instantly replied.
"I is willing to stay" Winky squeaked out.
"All the house elves in Hogwarts is wanting He Who Must Not Be Named to be defeated. We is staying Professor" Tolly said solemnly.
"Thank you, that is what I was hoping, but you needed to be given the choice. You may go now" Dumbledore told them. The three elves bowed and then disapparated. As soon as they had left, Fawkes flew up off Dumbledore's shoulder. Dumbledore lightly held his tail and they disappeared in a ball of fire.
Harry, Ron and Hermione left for the Room Of Requirement feeling like they were in a dream. Hermione explained that Hogwarts was now a fully independent country, with Dumbledore being the leader of it, with total control by law.
Upon their arrival at the room, the door was already there. The trio walked in to find a room with a large number of comfortable armchairs set up in a circle. There were many more chairs than Harry expected to be needed for the DA though. The room was coloured in light earth tones, as were the armchairs. In the centre of the circle was a table with a model of Hogwarts on it. Dumbledore was already seated in one of the chairs and invited them to sit down.
"Harry, do you have the Marauders' Map with you? I would like to duplicate it if possible." Dumbledore asked. Harry drew the Map out of his pocket and Dumbledore cast a complicated spell on it and a second copy appeared next to it. After revealing it, Dumbledore opened it and placed it on the table in the middle of the circle.
Once all the members of the DA were assembled and seated (there were still empty chairs), Dumbledore addressed them.
"When this group was formed, you decided to teach yourself Defence Against The Dark Arts. You have all progressed further than anyone expected you to. Amongst the students of Hogwarts, you are all the elite when it comes to defence. That is why I intend to teach you special war skills, if you are willing to fight. If any of you do not wish to fight, please return to your common room and no one will think any worse of you." No one made any move to leave their seats.
A knock sounded on the door, and upon being invited to enter Kingsley Shacklebolt entered with about 15 other people.
"Albus, these are all the Aurors that could come. All the others that escaped have gone to defend their families."
"I quite understand Kingsley. Aurors, I would like you to meet the members of the group known as Dumbledore's Army. These students have been learning war skills since the return of Voldemort and have excelled in all areas. They are willing to fight alongside you in this war. Please be seated"
All the seats were filled by the time all the Aurors sat down.
"Now that Voldemort has taken control of the Ministry, Hogwarts is no longer under the control of the Ministry, and the sentient magic of Hogwarts herself is helping us fight. Eventually Voldemort must be defeated, but our main priority is to make sure that Hogwarts does not fall. The wards that protect the castle are strong, but they cannot hold against a full attack.
The Ministry has long believed in the superiority of wizards over other creatures, but we must ally ourselves with all creatures who will fight for the light now, if we are to survive this battle."
Dumbledore briefed the DA and the Aurors on the spots where the wards were most vulnerable and what the weak spots were.
In the next day, the students that were willing to fight were to begin training. The students that were not willing to fight were designated to help with the war effort.
The first years were to be trained in potions, amongst other things to provide materials needed for the battle. The second and third years were not to fight, but they were to be trained in healing and were to help in the hospital wing.
The fourth years were to be taught battlefield medicine and first aid, and the fifth years were to be trained in defensive magic enough to protect the fourth years while they would get the wounded well enough to send them to the hospital wing.
The sixth and seventh years were to fight on the front line, alongside the teachers. The DA and the Aurors were to be trained as specialised strike teams.
After the briefing session was over Ron and Hermione left for Gryffindor Tower while Harry met Draco in the headroom. As soon as he entered the door he was enveloped in a pair of arms and a kiss was placed on his lips.
"Merlin, Harry, where have you been?"
"With the DA and the Aurors Dray. We've been planning."
"I'm so worried about this. What's going to happen?"
"I don't know, but Voldemort has to be defeated. We need to find the last of his…"
"His what?"
"Um, I'm not supposed to share this info, but I can't hide anything from you anyway. Voldemort has horcruxes."
"Horcruxes, aren't they pieces of his soul?"
"Yes, he has seven. One is still in him. 3 of them have been destroyed. One is in Nagini, his snake. That leaves 2. We don't know what they are, but Dumbledore thinks they are hidden in Hogwarts, and probably belonged to the founders."
After speculating a bit about what the Horcruxes were, Harry and Draco got their minds off the impending confict and onto other, more personal matters until they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Draco growled from the bed, after removing his tongue from Harry's chest
"Ron and me, can we come in?" Hermione called out through the door.
"Just a minute" Harry shouted back, jumping out of bed and trying to find his shirt, while Draco grumbled about 'bloody Gryffindors sense of bad timing'. Once all their clothes were on they told Ron and Hermione to come in.
They were all seated in the room, with tea (provided by Dobby) when Hermione got to the point.
"We can't defeat Voldemort until his horcruxes are destroyed, but he can be weakened by the loss of the Death Eaters. The unspeakables are using all their knowledge and the Hogwarts library to try and work out a way to locate the horcruxes. I think the best we can do is help with the war in general until more horcruxes are found."
"There must be something we can do about the horcruxes, Mione" Harry argued.
"Our knowledge isn't as vast as Dumbledore's and the unspeakables. We should help with the training of all the students. The Death Eaters are almost as big a threat as Voldemort himself."
Eventually Harry agreed that Hermoine's idea was the best, and they all spoke of lighter things for the rest of the day.
At breakfast the next day Dumbledore informed everyone of the plans that had been made. 40 students had left Hogwarrts, 20 of which were from Slytherin.
Later on during the meal the fire in the Great Hall turned green and a voice said "Incoming Floo call from Olympe Maxime, Beuxbatons Academy Of Magic to Albus Dumbledore. Accept or reject?"
"Accept" Dumbledore replied, and Madame Maxime's large head appeared in the fire. She was incredibly agitated.
"Dumblydorr, I 'ave just 'eard the news. I am so glad to see that 'Ogwarts is still safe."
"Hogwarts is still safe, my dear Madame. Is Beuxbatons secure?"
"Ve are as secure as ve can be, but I fear for the safety of ze students 'ere. If zere is room at 'Ogwarts, I would like to send zem there. I 'ate to impose, but 'Ogwarts 'az ze strongest vards in Europe. Can ve come to 'Ogwarts, ve all vant to fight?"
"You will all be welcome." Dumbledore pointed his wand at a goblet and said "Portus" and the goblet glowed blue for a second and rattled. He then passed it to Madame Maxime through the fire. "This portkey will take you to the entrance hall, to activate it say 'safety'" It will only work from the grand ballroom of Beuxbatons, I assume your students can assemble there?"
"Zey are there now. Ve vill arrive in a minute. Zank you" With that, Madame Maxime's head disappeared from the fire. Five minutes later there was a loud noise as 500 students, along with teachers and Madame Maxime arrived in the entrance hall of Hogwarts.
At Voldemorts headquarters:
"You must tell me what you know!" Voldemort bellowed.
"My lord, his plans are…" Theodore Nott opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Speak, idiot boy"
Lucius Malfoy stepped forward. "My lord, I have checked the other students, they are under the strongest secrecy spell, possible. They can not write or communicate Dumbledore's plans in any way."
"We will see about that, Lucius. Leglimens" With that Voldemort delved into Nott's mind. He found the block in Nott's mind and pushed against it with all his might.
The spell promptly broke and Voldemort cursed as Theodore Nott fell to the ground, dead
Well, that's the end of another chapter. As you can see, Voldemort can't find out Dumbledore's plans. I'm moving house this weekend, so another chapter may be a fair way away, but I have plenty of ideas. They involve Aurors, Australia and Phoenixes. I am always open to suggestions though.
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