Chapter Eleven

Power shifts

"Hello Tom"

Voldemort spun around and pointed his wand at the source of the voice.

"Potter!"

"I'm not Harry Potter; I'm a manifestation of your most feared person, the one person capable of ending your tenuous hold on immortality."

Voldemort scoffed as he looked away.

"I am closer to immortality than any other before. I am all but unending now."

The phantasm smirked.

"Your Horcruxes mean nothing to The Prophesy, or the one who cast this spell. The man that sent me here is a true immortal, and he intends to end you."

Voldemort hissed as he spun and fired and Avada Kedavra at the figure, though it passed harmlessly through him.

"I will linger until your death, Lord Voldemort, I will whisper in your ear, whispers of your eventual death, and the cost of your desires."

Ginny watched as Harry opened his eyes and smirked.

"He took the bait, and it all worked perfectly. We have the best spy ever now."

Ginny couldn't repress her almost deviant smile.

"And we have the perfect weapon; as we attack the body, it will attack his mind. By the time we get to the end, it will be against an uncollected Tom."

Albus sighed as he sat down at his desk and look at Ron and Hermione.

"The Order grows suspicious of the new leaders. They are demanding to see the face or faces that lead them now."

Ron nodded as he looked out of the window.

"We thought it wouldn't take long, though it was a lot longer than we thought. We have to go to Holyrood later though, so it will have to be later today or tomorrow."

Hermione nodded.

"It's understandable for them to make such demands of faceless leaders. We work for the Light yet do so in shadows, that is enough to make them wary."

Albus sighed.

"I do not look forward to the outcry this will cause."

Ron snorted as he glanced at Hermione.

"Snape might just explode when he sees Harry."

Albus could only chuckle as he reached for a Lemon Sherbet.

When Hermione and Ron returned from hearing Albus' report, Harry and Ginny were removing their robes.

"Hey, you aren't intending to do anything dodgy with my sister were you?"

Harry laughed slightly as he threw his jeans aside.

"We're getting ready to meet the Queen, and what better way to meet the Queen as embodiments of Gaia, than clothed in the elements?"

Ginny nodded as the ground and air began to spin around her, droplets of water coalescing around her, only to stop.

"Fuck, I forgot that man made fibres stop these."

Before any of them could look away, Ginny cast aside her underwear and let the elements clothe her. As she looked around, Harry just shrugged and followed suit.

"Well, we'll be around each other for eternity; we're bound to see each other naked."

The four friends ran a hand over their clothes, idly noting how soft they felt, despite being one forth earth. They flowed down in to the floor and in to a large, ornate bedroom. A man in a finely pressed suit stood by the door.

"Please; walk this way."

Ginny sniggered softly as she imitated the posture and walk of the man, with a swift nudge from Harry stopping her.

The door was opened by two more suited men and a herald called out.

"Presenting; Harry James Potter, Hermione Jane Granger, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Ginervra Molly Weasley."

Harry surveyed the table, noting a General, dressed in his immaculately pressed Uniform. The four friends took their seats and waited. They did not have long, when the herald announced.

"Presenting; His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales"

As this was announced the four people stood up as the doors opened and two teens, no older than Harry and the others walked in. They took their places near the head of the table and waited.

"Presenting; Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second of England, Scotland and Wales."

The doors opened and the Queen walked in sedately. She took her seat at the head of the table and gestured for the rest to sit.

"Now that we are all here, we can start. Now, can someone tell me why they deem it prudent to arm a school?"

Harry nodded as he stood up.

"Ma'am, the man known as 'Lord Voldemort' sees the school as a lynch pin to magical Britain, and in a way, it is. If the Ministry of Magic fell, many people would look to Hogwarts, and Dumbledore, to help them. That would not work in reverse. It is also where we expect Tom Riddle to do his final attack, as that is where his two biggest threats are. The wards offer us only a passive protection, and while we do have magic, our foes are more than willing to use the more obscure and darker spells. We need to play on the weakness of all magic, which is range. The most powerful of spells can travel barely two hundred metres before the ambient energy dissipates them. From wall to forest, Hogwarts has two miles of open ground. With non magical weapons, we could better defend the school."

The General looked over Harry.

"If you were provided with weapons, could you teach your defence force to use them yourself, or would you need our help."

Harry looked at the General, square in the eyes.

"Sir, we are not experts in the use of such weapons, we know of their capabilities and limitations from many nights of study. We would need help."

The General nodded in approval, wise men knew when they needed aid.

"Are there ways in which the Death Eaters could infiltrate Hogwarts without a large scale force, such as one or two men?"

Ginny looked at the one that spoke: Prince Henry

"We can't make Hogwarts impenetrable; however we have taken every step to allow us to view every person, in spite of any attempts to fool us."

Prince William added his own thoughts to the matter.

"Can't Magicals use spells to hide themselves?"

Hermione nodded.

"There are manners in which we can conceal ourselves or others from sight; however they can not work on us. Allow me to demonstrate."

With a wave of her hand, a pair of glasses appeared in front of every non magical person in the room.

"These glasses are enchanted in a way that allows you to see what we see. Try to avoid looking at us for the moment."

Prince William put on his glasses and looked out of the window in awe. The world was a swirling mass of colours. Greens and light blue were the most prevalent on the grounds. He looked down at his hand and barely held back another gasp; purple energy danced around his hand. His brother and grandmother were surrounded by a similar energy, though the General barely had a pale green energy. He looked over at the red headed woman in the group of Magicals and could not hold back his awe: when he first saw her, he thought her stunning, but now he could see a massive golden corona around her. She and her friends all shared the same colour, which illuminated the entire room, bright enough to hurt his eyes, yet leaving them feeling warm and safe. Yet, just behind the aura, barely visible, was a female figure, with arms wide open in acceptance. He now believed them to be what they claimed to be.

Ginny could not help cheering as they entered their room. The Queen had agreed to arm Hogwarts, and was assigning three squads to train them in use of their weapons.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would, and Ginny; I think you have an admirer. Prince William was enthralled by you."

Ginny laughed slightly.

"I saw, but it's nothing new, I get young men and women eyeing me up every day now. Any way, we've got more business to deal with."

Ron nodded as he sat down.

"The Order is demanding to see their new leader soon. We've got enough time to do it today."

Snape took his seat at the table for the order meeting, his eyes on Dumbledore at the head of the table.

"What is the meaning of this meeting, Albus?"

Albus smiled benignly from his seat.

"We are here to introduce the leaders of The Order of the Phoenix."

There was a wave of muted mutters as the group ran over theories on the new leader. They were silenced when Dumbledore called for it.

"The current leaders believed, rightly so, that it would be better in the long run, for them to remain faceless, and so judged by actions alone. They believe that it is time for you to meet them."

Four figures, cloaked in bright red robes, walked in and stood behind Albus, as one, they lowered their hoods, and there was silence.

The room erupted in outrage; they were being led by children. It all stopped when the room was filled by an unbearable pressure. They looked up and Hermione was scowling at them.

"We will not have any doubt within this group. Albus handed over shared command of this group, and in months we have done more to stop Voldemort than decades under Albus' command. That doesn't not mean we are better, it means we are different. As we have proven, with the Higgs raid, we are no longer trying to just capture Death Eaters. We are willing to kill."

Harry walked around the room, surveying the faces.

"We are capable of doing this alone, but all of our lives will be easier if we can work together on this."

Snape sneered at this point.

"Potter, you aren't even capable of keeping me out of your mind."

Harry smiled, all too warmly from the remark of Snape.

"I would like to see you try Snape."

"Legilimens!"

Snape appeared in a large green field, looking around he could not see anything to give him a hint on where the memories were kept. A figure slowly walked in to view.

"Potter, what have you done?"

Harry smiled at Snape.

"I have brought you to meet someone very special."

A hand lay itself upon Snape's shoulders, and he felt an unbelievable calmness.

"Severus Snape, I would like you to meet Gaia."

Snape spun around and looked at the person behind him. The woman, he thought, was stunning. She was glowing just like Potter and his friends were.

"I know all about you, Severus. Oh how my child has wandered from his path. Though you may doubt it, my Brothers and Sisters will guide you well."

Harry stood beside Gaia with a smile.

"When we leave, if you want: I'll remove the Mark on your arm."

The room watched Snape and Harry intently, and were stunned. Snape nodded slowly.

"They're good enough."

Snape stood up and raised his wand in salute.

"You have my loyalty."

Ginny shook her head as she walked down the length of the room.

"We only need your trust. Trust that our actions are in the best interests of us all. It is also important that you question our actions. We lack a human perspective, going off our memories alone for that. That will slowly wear away too. The longer this war goes on, the less human we will feel. It's not a fast process, so you won't wake up and find us damning all humanity as stupid."

One of the Order members watched Ginny.

"Why are you loosing your humanity?"

Ginny smiled as she started walking back to the head of the table.

"We may be stood in front of you in our human bodies, but we are not human. A human mind can not handle the passage of time of an immortal. It was one of our adaptions."

A man decided to add his two knuts at this point.

"You're still in a human body though. Doesn't that make you human?"

Ron nodded.

"We still inhabit our human bodies, and they are still alive, but we can live without it. If we were to be classified, I think we would be called a Magical Construct."

There was a general murmuring at that little titbit of information on their new leaders. Hermione cut off the murmuring with a wave of her head, and she did not use magic to do it.

"It may worry you that we aren't human, like you, but it will take someone beyond normal, to defeat someone below human."

Remus leant forward to look Harry right in his glowing Emerald eyes.

"Harry, what ever you have planned, I will do it without hesitation."

Harry smiled at the weary lycanthrope.

"Remus, we have a very special type of job for you. If you wait behind after we finish up here, we can discuss your new role in detail."

Snape watched Harry at the end of the meeting. He and his friends commanded as much respect as Dumbledore when it came to power. It was more than evident that they were the best people for the job when they were all issued with a new means of communication over their old method: invisible phoenix pendants that would relay information to all that were needed. He waved the Order out, while Lupin never rose from his seat. Harry locked eyes with Snape, and the man knew he was to stay as well. The door shut and the four new leaders of The Order took a seat across from the two men.

"Severus, we can remove your Mark, showing that you have switched over, or we could modify it and give you a less risky job than spying. We have a new spy that Voldemort has no power over, so it would not hurt the war effort. If you go for the modify; we'll prevent it from hurting you, with an implanted reflex to make you act like it hurts, and an instant retreat. You'll be set to find the unwilling Death Eaters and bring them over to our side."

Snape felt his jaw go lax: Albus had said nothing could remove or modify The Dark Mark.

"Remember: we are not bound by the same laws as you. Albus could not modify the Mark, but he can not see or control magic to the same extent as we can. Now take your time, we do not need an instant answer."

Ginny looked at Remus.

"We have an offer for you that I think you will love. We need to deprive Voldemort of werewolves."

Hermione waved her hand and a crystal vial appeared above Harry's hand.

"This will rid you of your lycanthropy. It will constantly refill, and will not have any side effects."

Ginny waved her hand and a second vial appeared.

"This one will alter your lycanthropy. You'll not turn in the light of a full moon, but you can turn partially or completely at will. The bite isn't an automatic transmission of the curse."

Lupin was in shock; loose or change his lycanthropy.

"We don't need an instant answer. Both are of a tactical usage for us, and you'll keep your heightened senses. We'll leave these with you."

Ginny tapped the vials, and the cure turned gold, while the modifier shimmered like a diamond. With their business done, the four friends sank in to the floor.