Summary: When aunt Marge visits the Dursleys after the events of OotP things become too much for the Boy Who lived and he snaps, the power of his dark side that Voldemort helped create on that horrible night fourteen years is unleashed and he decides to fight the war on his own terms, his ultimate goal to create a world where there is no corrupt government or discrimination towards magical animals and half-bloods or muggleborns.
Warning: swearing, angst and tragedy.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, Warner Bros., Inc. and Sunrise., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Everything else is mine.
Power
Of
Revenge
A brief interlude
"What the bloody hell happened." Hermione shouted as she sprinted towards him with her arms open and engulfed him in a hug without slowing down which resulted in the both of them tumbling to the floor of the War Room.
Harry laughed tiredly.
"That was probably the only question I didn't expect to come out of your mouth Hermione, especially not in that kind of language." Harry said and Hermione let out a brief chuckle as well.
"Now if you don't mind getting off me, I'm a bit sore from kicking a demon's arse." Harry said and Hermione immediately jumped up looking ashamed while blushing a little while the other members of the Iron Circle that were also in the War Room looked amused.
She extended her hand and he took it but she didn't dare look him in the eyes as she pulled him on his feet.
When he was up he stared for a few moments at her, he wondered what was going on with her but quickly let it drop, he had some more urgent matters to take care of.
"Alright," he said "first of all I want you to brief me on what happened during the time I was out."
"Ginny was a traitor and she has kidnapped Amy, we haven't tried to go after them just yet since we feared an attack and we were right, the Americans have been testing our defences now and then but we haven't seen them in two weeks, which is rather strange since we weren't able to dispatch cruisers to chase them away with Voldemort attacking so I thought they would be invading by now." Neville informed him.
"I know about Ginny and Amy and I'll assure you you've made the right decision to wait with tracking them down. As for the Americans, I wonder about them, we may have defeated them but they are out for revenge for sure, we'll have to be cautious of them."
"How do you know about Ginny and Amy, Harry and what was that thing with the wards." Hermione asked.
"Just a moment Hermione." Harry said.
He turned around and faced the other person that had been in the core chamber of the Potter when it had become unstable.
"Hello Sarah, I'm glad to see you're alright, it appears my plan worked." Harry said but Sarah's face remained emotionless like it was carved from stone.
Suddenly the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh at high speed sounded in the room.
Harry rubbed his cheek which had a perfect red imprint of a hand on it.
"Yeah, I guess I deserved that."
"You sure about that, I could always smack you again to convince you." She informed him with a stormy expression but a moment later it softened considerably.
"God damn it Harry, you almost gave me a heart attack when I woke up and they told me what had happened, you and your stupid Gryffindor bravado, couldn't you have done it any other way besides blowing yourself up." She said and tears started welling up in her eyes.
"At first I thought it was all my fault, that I had activated the wards wrong or had disturbed the process somehow while you were making the core or that you had done it to save me, when they told me what had actually happened and the devastation it would've caused if it had exploded in the harbour I knew it couldn't be helped what you did but it was still my fault that someone was able to enter the ship and sabotage the protective wards, I'm so sorry." She said and tears started streaming down her face.
"It wasn't your fault, Ginny wasn't herself and she had some aid from a powerful ally." Harry informed her as he put a comforting hand on her upper left arm but she didn't look at him, instead she looked sideways at the ground refusing to accept it, she still felt responsible as tears continued to stream down her face.
"We all have done things that we'll regret later, I know, I've done a few of them, sharing the cup at the Triwizard Tournament was one of them, I still feel guilty about that and that will never pass but you'll have to learn to live with it, you couldn't know that Ginny was not loyal to us and that she could pass security without a hitch and neither could I've known that the cup was a portkey."
She sniffed a few times and nodded her acceptance.
"Now, let's get this meeting started we have a lot to discuss and let me begin where it all starts, the core explosion." Harry said and all of them moved to a large table where scattered maps and other equipment were still lying since this was the strategic table during an attack.
With a few quick flicks from Severus the table was cleared and they all sat down.
Neville, Sarah, Andrew, Hermione, Luna, Tom McGuire, Severus, Draco, a few other high officers, still an empty seat for Dean which pained Harry and of course himself.
"I believe we haven't been properly introduced." Harry said as he turned towards Andrew Waldfeld.
"Indeed, Commander Potter, some unforeseen events have prevented our talk, my name is Andrew Waldfeld, temporary Captain of the INIS Ekliptica and fleet commander, temporary as well." He introduced himself, he seemed like a pretty loose guy to Harry, not too serious like Draco or Hermione when it came down to business but Harry could sense a kind of aura around the man of great leadership and authority, like a lion.
"If Luna trusts you enough to assign you our flagship then that temporary status will soon be a thing of the past, we will have a conversation about that later." Harry informed him and Andrew nodded his acceptance.
"One month ago," Harry began as if he hadn't just had a conversation with Andrew "while I was in the process of constructing the Potter's core something went wrong, I swear that ship has a curse on it, first it is delayed, then the core blows up and now it looks like it has sunk before it was even commissioned, not now Hermione," Harry said as Hermione had opened her mouth to explain how that had happened "while I was pouring energy into the core one of the security wards protecting the outside should anything go wrong started interacting with the process, I didn't know why it did that but it was destabilising the core's internal structure that held it together so I tried to fight it but by doing that I started losing my concentration and the core began destabilising even more rapidly, there was nothing I could do about it and while I was trying to figure out how to deal with the problem, while looking for a solution the intrusion from the ward began to spread and when it was almost done I could clearly sense the magical signature from the person who had sabotaged the ward and I immediately recognized it."
"Ginny's" Luna said without emotion.
"I became enraged, all my self control disappeared and my primitive mind took control, I started pouring vast amounts of magic into the core destabilising it even faster but somehow, I don't know why, something clicked in my mind and I dissapparated away taking the core with me to the only safe place I knew where the explosion wouldn't hurt anyone, high up into the sky, of course this stunt caused the core's instability to go beyond the breaking point and it exploded."
"We had guessed as much." Luna informed him, who for once seemed focused and listening attentively to Harry.
"I don't really know what happened next, I thought I'd died, that explosion should've killed me but somehow I kind of connected with all the cores on the island and they seemed to protect me from the unstable magic of the core but they couldn't protect me from the fall of course but somehow I managed to survive, it was only after some time I realised this, I don't know how long since time is relative when you're trapped inside your own mind. That's where I discovered just how I was able to survive, you see, when the human is trapped in a life-threatening situation the primitive mind takes over, something we like to call survival instinct, your mind becomes completely focused on one thing, staying alive, basically it shuts down everything that's not needed and focuses solely on surviving, while being trapped, and the next part is solely for Hermione, I explored this mindset and developed Drone-Mode, a state of mind where…" Harry explained.
Luna was looking at Harry with pure awe.
"How does he do that." She thought "they knock him down, he stands back up, brushes of his robes and continues like before and deals with whatever consequences that knocking down has caused. He's like a machine that never stops, no, not a machine ,they don't have emotions, more something akin to a god, God has shaped the world but he has been gone for a long time it seems if you look at the state of the world and now a new god has risen and he will reform this new world into a better one, I know it for sure." Normally people would be afraid of a person with so much power at his command, especially her, Voldemort had done some terrible things and had caused her harm and now here was a person with so much power as well yet she knew there was no way he would ever harm anyone if he didn't have to, she felt secure when he was around and she was sure that the other occupants of the room felt the same way, she was lost in thought until Harry concluded his explanation.
"… and that's how I was able to fight that demon." Harry concluded, he had explained about the block on his magic and the way he had fought the demon but somehow he had left his conversation with Voldemort out, he didn't know why but he felt it was better if no one knew about that.
"But what about the wards?" Hermione asked as she scribbled a line on a piece of parchment, she had several rolls already full lying before her, apparently she was going to do a thorough research in regards to this Drone-Mode.
"That was another matter entirely, I told you already I somehow linked myself to the cores on the island. Well, during my coma I was able to connect on a deep level with the castle, I had begun on altering the wards before the accident but they weren't done yet so I continued doing that while I was comatose, I also noticed that this ambient energy was still around me while I was unconscious despite the block on my own and when Voldemort attacked I used it to strengthen the wards, it appears that I can't use my own magic but that I can still manipulate some types of magic but there are large limitations on it, I can still summon my sword but not my staff and I can't make the sword do anything anymore, it's just a tool for cutting at the moment." Harry said and called for a house-elf to bring some glasses and a large pitcher of water through the intercom.
They all sat in silence for a few minutes while each contemplated the passed events.
"So what do we do now?" Luna asked, breaking the silence.
Every head swivelled to look at Harry who was sitting at the front of the table with his fingers steepled in front of his face while looking down at the table. He slowly looked up and the evil but calm smile on his face made several people in the room shiver."
"I still don't think he will ever harm us but I sure don't want to be the thing he's thinking about now." Luna thought as she repressed a shudder.
"We take revenge." Harry said in a cold voice, hard as steel and a shine crossed his glasses as he moved slightly giving the impression of a truly dangerous man. Harry would've beem grateful for his glasses being repaired by Neville after the battle if he could've seen himself.
"Luna," he said turning towards her "I need you to make me something by tomorrow, it won't be hard but I might need it, I'll tell you what I want later. Andrew, you, Draco and the rest of the officers prepare the Ekliptica and about thirty men that are specialized for infiltration missions, tomorrow we'll pay a visit to Dumbledore and his little gang, we're going to get Amy back and Ginny if possible, I believe she was under the Imperius curse instead of acting on her own when she did what she did. Hermione, I'll want to speak to you about your current project and the progress you've made, Sarah, I want to speak to you as well about a new line of ships I want you to build." They all looked at him perplexed.
"What?" he shrugged "I've had a long time to think about things. I'll explain exactly what we're going to do tomorrow in the morning. The day after that we'll start repairing the damage done by the attacks, from what I've experienced we'll have to repair the Potter, a coastal gun, the entrance hall and various other things but a good thing is, we've found the Room of Requirement which will be very helpful in the future for experiments and such."
"That's not all Harry," Neville said a little downcast "We've lost 112 people in total, the INIS Savage was destroyed when Voldemort first arrived, they had a hundred and six people aboard and six people died when the decoy for the demon was destroyed, it drained so much of their magic their hearts stopped and there was no way to revive them out on the open sea, their ship was destroyed. By the time help arrived, it was too late." He added and slammed his fist down on the table angrily.
"A ceremony will be held next Saturday, by then the cause of this tragedy will be punished, namely Dumbledore, that will be all for now, I'm in need of some rest, you can all go back to what you were doing, Luna if you could stay a little longer too discuss what I want you to do, Sarah and Andrew, I'll look you up after I'm done."
All of them nodded and they left the room except Luna.
Harry got up from his chair and sat down next to Luna and let out a tired sigh.
"What's the matter Harry?" Luna asked with some minor concern.
"Why can't the rest of the world leave us in peace, what have we ever done to them, I know we stole the Missouri but that was only for our defence and Dumbledore and the founders because we stole Hogwarts, maybe I shouldn't have done that but I was quite angry at him but the ministry is just a bunch of idiots who can't stand it if they are not in control, at least when they believe they are in control they are happy, I'm surprised the Wizarding world survived the first war with Voldemort. Gah, I need some target practice." Harry said frustrated.
"I'm sorry Harry but Voldemort destroyed all my spiders." Luna informed him dejectedly.
"I'm sorry Luna, I didn't know that, I know they meant a lot to you."
"They died an honourable death, defending the castle and its inhabitants." Luna said.
"And besides," Harry said cheerfully "now you have the chance to improve them some more." And Luna's eyes lighted up like a roaring fire.
"That's what I thought." Harry said "Now, about this thing I want you to build…"
"Enter." Sarah Brown said as she heard the expected knock on her door.
Harry entered and greeted her as he sat down on the opposite side of the desk.
"So tell me, what do you have planned." She asked getting straight to the point.
"My, eager aren't we." Harry said jokingly.
"I've been feeling a little useless lately, Luna and Hermione are working on this new project and while they ask my advice from time to time I don't really have the knowledge to be of much help." She said a little downcast, she still wouldn't meet Harry's eyes but stared rather pointedly at her computer screen.
"That's not true, without you we would have a lot of things that would need to be altered later on, I'm sure of it and without you our ships would've never been what they are now." Harry said with conviction.
"Thank you Harry." She said and turned to face him at last, it seemed strange to her how such a young man could lead a nation and calm her down when she was so much older, it should be the other way around.
"Now about these ships." She prompted.
"Alright, I had been thinking about a larger submarine, while I didn't see the use of it before it would be handy if we could transport and repair TSFs while we are out on the sea, while the Ekliptica can carry eight of them and the Potter six that won't do when we'll be facing a large battle and it could be a valuable defence against those American submarines." Harry said.
She nodded and prompted for him to go on while she took notes and started drawing a rough sketch.
"I'd also like some fast and agile smaller boats, two types if possible, one line of ships will be fitted with Gattling guns, I have a rough drawing here, made it on the way over here." He said and handed her a few pieces of paper.
"Impressive, I like the idea, we'll see what we can do about it. And the other type?" She asked.
"A small, fast and agile boat as well with the technology from the Potter ingrained, it would take too long to modify all the cruisers and they are not built for this purpose, the energy requirements are too high for their systems which would mean a complete remake of all the power conduits which is not only time consuming but it would weaken our defences as well and the shipyard wouldn't be able to build new ships at the same time, instead these small boats could carry a front and aft shield turret."
"You've really put a lot of thought in this Harry, I'm impressed and I think they will be a good addition to our fleet but if you continue like this we'll have to expand Hell's Bay pretty soon."
"That's another advantage with these boats, you can easily store them on land if the need arises because they are relatively small and a few cruisers could even take one aboard." Harry said excitedly
"Alright, I'll get a design team or two working on the small ones and another on the submarine although this will once again be a mega ship like the Potter or Ekliptica." She said with a smile.
"The bigger the better they say."
"Indeed."
"I'll leave you to it then." Harry said and stood up to leave.
"Harry," Sarah suddenly said in a weak voice as he was almost out of the door "thank you, for everything."
"You're welcome." He said with a warm smile and left the office.
Harry entered the bridge of the INIS Ekliptica and everybody immediately jumped up and saluted him.
"At ease." He said and everybody continued with what they were doing.
"Welcome, Commander Potter." Andrew greeted him and shook his hand.
"Harry will do just fine Andrew, how do you like the ship." Harry asked as he looked around the bridge.
"She's a mighty beast Harry." Andrew said with a smile as he stroked one of the stainless steel surfaces lovingly.
"That she is indeed." Harry agreed "May I?" he asked and Andrew immediately knew what he meant.
"She's all yours Commander."
Harry's posture switched immediately and authority seemed to sweep trough the bridge like a cold gust of wind.
"Increase engine power to maximum, advance to top speed, turn to heading 000, inform me when we have reached top speed." Harry ordered and the men immediately did as they were told.
Andrew asked himself what Harry was planning but did not voice this question, Harry knew this ship better than him.
Two and a half minutes later a crewmen informed him they had reached top speed and Harry nodded, indicating he had heard him.
"Lower the bridge shield and activate anti-water barriers, prepare for emergency dive to two hundred meters." Harry ordered but a few crewmen hesitated.
"Sir," Andrew said "are you sure about that, this ship has its limits."
"Believe me, I'm sure." Harry said with a slightly derailed smile.
The crew on the bridge shrugged and continued as a siren blared throughout the ship, announcing an emergency dive followed by another siren telling them it was a drill.
The bridge was lowered down to the deck and Harry felt the ripple of power as the anti-water barriers were raised.
The ship suddenly gave a lurch and groaned as the front rudders were aimed downwards abruptly to a forty degree angle and the bow was suck underwater while massive pumps pumped twelve cubic meters of water into the water tanks per second.
When the first turret hit the powerful wave of water that crashed onto the deck the crew was afraid it was about to be ripped off the deck but it held although the ship groaned some more. Special shields had been devised making it so that no water could enter the turrets' gun barrels but you could still shoot the turrets without destabilising the field. Luna had told him something about it and it had something to do with the fact that the energy holding up the shield was one hundred and eighty degrees out of phase with the beam energy but still in the same phase as the water when it came to physical things, he found it very confusing. Luna had also mentioned something about visibility cloaks having the same property but with light and that she was now investigating technology to make things invisible, the things you could do with Thecnomancy, as Harry remembered Luna had called it and he shook his head in wonder.
As the water rose higher and hit the shield protecting the windows of the bridge the structure of the bridge groaned, while the water didn't actually touch it the device holding the field had a fixed place and the distance between the shield and the device was always the same so the water actually pushed on the device which was welded to the bridge structure, now even Harry had a few seconds of doubt but they soon passed as the windows were now completely underwater.
The ship continued descending into the depths of the ocean while creaking noises continued to alert the crew of the increasing pressure on the ship's hull and superstructure. When they reached the set depth and the ship levelled out Harry spoke again.
"Reduce engine power to 25 per cent and turn to heading 180, maintain this course until we are two miles offshore, then continue patrolling around the island." He ordered and the ship immediately started to turn.
"Shall we go to your office Captain and have this job interview." Harry said as he addressed Andrew dropping his commanding posture.
"Sure Harry but I think it might be better if we go to your office."
"Isn't that the same room?" Harry asked.
"No, Luna didn't think it appropriate to just give me your office, mine is much the same albeit on the other side of the corridor and a little lest luxurious and not as nicely decorated." He said with a wry smile.
They walked down the narrow staircase at the back of the bridge but it was a little disorienting as the ship was turning and listing slightly to the left.
"Maybe Luna can device an internal gravity system so that it would seem like we're walking horizontally." Harry mused.
They reached his cabin and Andrew opened the door but let him go in first.
Harry was a bit shocked at the room, he hadn't actually been in here, he had always used his office on the Missouri but this room was even bigger and more expensively decorated.
The room was about fifty meters square and had red carpeting on the floor, the walls were painted red as well about halfway to the veiling which gold lines running over the red forming intricate patters, the ceiling was covered in dark brown wooden boards that had been polished until you could see yourself in it.
The ceiling was quite high as well, a good four meters and in the centre of the room a giant chandelier hung dangling from the ceiling, its candles producing far more light than was normal as they lighted up the entire room. On the wall there were lampposts as well, every five meters or so which made sure there were no shadows at all in the room which Harry liked best. Opposite the door, in front of the furthest wall stood a massive mahogany desk, a tiny plaque at the front that said 'Commander Harry J. Potter'. Behind the desk was a stretch of wall where two katanas had been hung, crosswise and above that a replica of the painting wherein Harry was fighting the Dragon and Hogwarts crumbling in the distance. The wall also displayed sic large windows that all stretched from top to bottom and were all three meters across in front of which heavy looking red drapes hung with golden trim, Harry wondered briefly how that was possible because he was sure there was only one window on the outside and that was a very small one. To his immediate left was a section where the floor wasn't made of red carpet but of stainless steel, a post from where the entire ship could be controlled but with less crew members, of course it was less effective but it was in case of emergencies, there was an exact replica of the bridge as well in the lower parts of the ship should the bridge ever be taken out, which was highly unlikely. To his right there was a large space preserved for something akin to a living room with some large comfortable looking couches, a small table, several large bookshelves filled with everything imaginable and a smaller desk where a computer had been placed, they had thought it wasn't appropriate to place a modern piece of equipment on the large mahogany desk and something Harry was a little surprised about, a giant pool table, the ship was still listing slightly but he saw that the balls weren't moving so he figured had already designed a gravity devise for such purposes. While he had never played the game he knew he would enjoy it immensely. Several paintings had been hung at various places on the walls as well, each with their own lamppost, lighting them do you could all see them clearly, like a nice one of the Missouri and Dean standing on the bridge and waving at whomever was painting. There was another of the moment when the Ekliptica had been revealed in all its glory "Must've been a picture." Harry thought and then there was another one that would make any Commander proud.
The entire fleet of Insania skimming across the surface of the ocean in attack formation, a V pattern, several rows of them with the Ekliptica in the lead, the picture had been taken from the air, the sea was covered in white foam, created by the powerful propellers of the fearsome Fleet. There was a pattern to them and Harry noticed that there were a few spots empty, probably for when the Potter would be finished.
There were two doors, on in the middle of the left wall and the other on the opposite side. Harry presumed these led to a bedroom and the loo, he would look at these later.
All in all it was a nice room.
"This is,…, nice." Harry said awkwardly.
"Nice," Andrew sputtered in astonishment "that's got to be the understatement of the century, I thought mine was a bit over the top but this is ridiculous."
They looked at each other and shrugged, again one of these Luna-things, they concluded.
Harry walked across the room and sat down in a large comfortable armchair, way too comfortable to be normal so he figured there were charms placed on it.
Andrew sat down in one of the ornate chairs on the other side of the desk.
Harry pulled open the lowest drawer on the left of the desk as he was curious to see what they stored in it and to his great surprise he found several bottles and a few small glasses.
"Just what I need." He said and picked a bottle of Firewhiskey from the drawer and two of the small glasses. He offered one to Andrew who inclined his head. He quickly poured the two of them a healthy dose and put the bottle back to where it came from.
Harry picked up his glass but didn't drink form it, instead he seemed to think of something, then he suddenly raised his glass towards Andrew and said: "For Freedom."
"For Peace." Andrew said and clinked their glasses against the other and gulped down the contents in a single swig.
Harry coughed and a puff of smoke escaped his mouth.
Once he had recovered he began the conversation.
"So Andrew, tell me something about yourself, like why did you decide to join us." Harry suggested.
"That's a long story so I'll guess I'll start at the beginning." Andrew began and let out a weary sigh.
"Thirty years ago I was a captain on one of the MFA cruisers of the time, they were far less advanced back then, the government had only just discovered an interest in the might vessels but new technologies were discovered every day, my son was a new recruit who was serving on one of the new experimental vessels. Something went wrong and the ship blew up, the commanders told me that it had been a terrorist attack but after I called some people who owned me some favours I found out the truth, there had been a crucial error made during the construction of the vessel and they had known about it but they had presumed that the risk of something was not high enough to spend a lot of money on the vessel to correct it. They had lied to me, one of their most trusted captains and veterans who had served them for twenty three faithful years so I resigned and moved to the United Kingdom to some distant relatives of mine, my wife was shattered by grieve and after a few years she killed herself, losing our only child had been too much for her and I never even told her the truth behind the accident, I know it would've completely devastated her. After that I started looking for ways to avenge my family, I even briefly considered joining the upcoming Dark Lord but I knew it was no use, he attacked innocents, like my son, my wife was a muggle, and he was certainly never going to attack the MFA so I continued my search and then one day a niece of mine came over to our house and told us about what you said, her family decided not to join you but I immediately made up my mind, even if you didn't plan on fighting the Americans, you were going to fight for the right thing and I was looking for a fight, I had almost given up hope and would certainly have followed in her footsteps if I couldn't take my mind off things and now here I am. Don't be alarmed, I'm not looking for revenge anymore on the MFA, that's past me now, I've found a meaning to live again in this nation where people live in harmony and the fact that the occasional American shows up doesn't hurt either."
Neither of them spoke for a long time after that but Harry did fish out the bottle of Firewhiskey again and poured them another dose which they drank without comment.
Harry didn't know how much time had passed but he guessed it was about twenty minutes when all of a sudden Andrew spoke up.
"So did I get the job?" he asked back in his usual spirit.
Harry said nothing but stood up and extended his hand towards Andrew.
"Congratulation Captain, the Ekliptica is all yours, I'm sure now that the fleet is in good hands while I am unavailable, now if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep, it's been a long day." Andrew nodded and left without further comment although Harry thought he could hear a whoop of joy coming from the other side of the door.
He looked around the room one more time and marvelled at the work that had been put into it and then went to the bedroom were a large four poster bed stood waiting for him, the room was as richly decorated as the main one, he didn't even bother to undress, he was too tired for that, he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.
He woke quite early the next day as was his custom when he was not in a coma and got out of bed, he turned on the lights since his room had no windows, security precaution he guessed and saw to his amazement Hedwig sitting on the single dresser in the room.
"He girl," he said and she flapped her beautiful black wings a few times while thrilling a joyful note that warmed Harry's heart while she landed on his shoulder "long time no see."
He stroked the feathers on her head for a few moments which he knew she liked.
"Well, I was planning on calling the hydrofoil again to take me off this ship but it appears that my personal transportation has arrived." He said with a smile as he opened the dresser and took out some clothes to wear while Hedwig settled on the bed while she gave an undignified reply about being personal transportation.
Harry laughed, he took out his clothes and walked over to the bathroom.
It was twenty minutes later that Harry arrived on the bridge with Hedwig still on his shoulder, and after he told the men to continue as they were he approached Andrew who had sat down again in the Captain's chair.
"I'll be off now, I expect you in the War Room in half an hour, I'm going to make a brief visit to Luna first." Harry said and Andrew nodded his acknowledgement.
Harry grabbed one of Hedwig's tail feathers and they disappeared in a flash of black flames that gave no light whatsoever.
He appeared right outside the door but while he stood there he suddenly thought of the fact that the security device wouldn't let him in because he had no magical signature at the moment so he asked Hedwig to take him inside the workshop.
When they appeared and Hedwig settled on his shoulder he looked around the workshop, searching Luna.
"Hello Harry." Luna said from right next to him and Harry jumped in surprise and let out a very unmanly yelp.
"Damn it Luna, don't do that, you just scared two years of my live." He said as his heart thudded painfully.
"What do you think you just did to me, appearing out of thin air in a burst of black flames." Luna said in an even tone as she looked down at a notepad like she wasn't having a conversation at all.
"Sorry about that," Harry said while rubbing the back of his head but Luna didn't seem very frightened to him "but since my magic is blocked the security device probably wouldn't let me in without a magical signature."
"You're right, that's why we programmed it to only ask fingerprints, iris identification, voice recognition and password when someone used it without a signature." Luna said still in the same tone.
"Should've guessed you had thought about everything." Harry said looking sheepish but grateful to have such good friends.
"You're welcome." Luna said.
"How is the device coming along by the way." Harry asked.
"It's nearly finished, they're installing the timer now. Don't worry,' she said as she saw his worried face "they haven't installed the secondary explosive that will trigger the primary ones."
"Ones, you mean you installed more."
"Yes, it will be more effective that way." She said as a matter of fact.
"Of course it will be more effective but don't you think that one was more than enough you have seen what devastation they can cause." Harry said a little alarmed.
"Yes, I know very well what kind of devastation they can cause." Luna snapped, Harry was taken aback by this, Luna snapping was something he had never seen before.
"I've seen the damage done myself Harry, how we almost lost you, how the entire harbour could've been destroyed, the castle included, how it could've killed us all thanks to that manipulative old …" and here Luna used a string of words that would make any sailor blush and be proud at the same time.
"Calm down Luna," Harry said in a soothing tone and he lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She suddenly turned around and threw her arms around his waist and gave him a hug that would make Molly Weasley proud, if they were on the same side.
"God damn it Harry, don't you realise what you mean to all of us, you have changed our lives so drastically and for the better, we're all happy now, we know our place in this world and we know we're doing the right thing, for the first time in my live I know what it is to be truly accepted, to be part of one gigantic family, all thanks to you." She said with her head buried against his chest and while he didn't hear it he could feel his t-shirt getting wet from her tears.
"That day when you went missing the world collapsed around us, while we managed we knew we could never win the fight without you. It's just that you are always there when we need help, when the situation looks like it can't be won you show up like the knight in shining armour, saving the day and while you can't save everyone now does as good a job as you, you make us feel safe. I know for sure that the relatives who have lost their loved ones are very proud of them and don't blame you in the slightest, they realize how much trouble you've gone through to ensure our safety, and nothing will ever change that because we all believe that while you're with us we will come out victorious." She said and now she cried freely.
Harry was stunned, he had felt guilty about the people that had died on the ships that had been sunk and other casualties and while the people didn't show he had expected to be blamed somewhat at least but was this truly the way they felt and then he suddenly thought of those that had died on the Missouri while saving him, about Dean Thomas and the other crew members whom had given their lives for him and the dam burst.
Slowly but surely tears started to form and while he tried to fight and blinking them away it was no good and slowly they made their way down his face.
He wrapped his arms around her now and he cried freely as well, although in a slightly more masculine way of course, and rested his chin on the top of her head.
After a few minutes of this he slowly separated from Luna and looked her straight in the eyes which were still shining from her tears.
"Thank you." He simply said gave her a bone crushing embrace and lifted her slightly of the ground in the process.
"No," she said near his ear "thank you."
As he put her down her expression changed immediately and she was back to business.
"Come, I'll show you what we've made."
Twenty five minutes later, Dragons' Keep War Room
Draco, Andrew, Luna and Harry were all present in the War Room.
The three of them were looking expectantly at Harry who paced in front the table.
He suddenly stopped and looked at the, he seemed surprised for a moment that they were there that he quickly recovered.
"This is what we are going to do today," he began "this will most likely determine the course of our actions for the next couple of months. In a few hours we will set sail to England, I, along with Andrew and Draco, will take the Ekliptica and use the Transportation Drive to go to our front base their, namely Potter Mansion which will be given another name later, it's going to become confusing with a ship, a base and me around with the same name but that's not important right now. Once we're there Andrew will set up base camp and establish a security perimeter, we'll be taking a thousand men with us, I know it's a lot but we'll need a good defence, we'll be on enemy territory, let's just hope they don't notice us being there for another week or so. Luna's teams have already rebuilt some of the AIDS forces that will help with the defence and a few transportable Gattling turrets which can be relocated within the hour and deployed in half an hour, five of these are available at the moment and about four spiders which will be enough to start with, two cruisers will be transporting most of the equipment and men, the Ekliptica will only carry what's absolutely necessary since it's on such short notice, the ships will be expected to join us within seven days. When we've arrived with the Ekliptica and the house and grounds are deemed safe Draco, me and two dozen soldiers will head out and pay a visit to Grimmauld Place where our beloved ex-headmaster is most likely to be, we'll storm the house and stun or incapacitate everyone inside, I do not want any casualties, not even accidental ones, we'll see if Amy is there and Ginny and get them out of there and bring them over to the Ekliptica, Amy is our priority, Ginny we will have to determine if she is in the right state of mind, if not, leave her. Once that is done we will order everyone to get out of the house and we will use this device Luna has built especially for this mission."
"And what might that be?" Draco asked.
"I'll show you on the ship since it is already on board. After we're done with that we'll retreat back to the Ekliptica and have a debriefing and see if Amy is all right. Tomorrow the Ekliptica will return briefly in order to aid in lifting the Potter out of the water, I know that most of you don't know bar Luna but the cannons on the Ekliptica have more than one function but we've been a bit apprehensive about the other functions since we haven't tried them yet and because up until now they had no purpose, but besides destructive beams we also have a levitation option, a banishing option, which might have had some uses in the past but I hadn't thought about it then, a heat option for making the seawater boil and using the vapours as a veil to hide from view, there was a fire option, it basically makes the gun shoot flames in a straight line over a distance of a kilometre that can reach temperatures of over four thousand degrees Celsius but I have never opted to use it against enemies because I thought it was a truly horrible death for those who weren't immediately killed but were set on fire, once a certain temperature is reached human skin will burn you know, while the normal beam just wipe out everything in its path, many don't even have the time to realize it had happened, then there is the water option for should a ship next to you be on fire but be careful with that, those water hoses are extremely powerful and then there is the last option. This one was a hard decision to make, should we include it or not but I said it might be useful someday. The cruisers only have five options, Destruction, Banishing, heat, water and the last one." Harry said and paused.
"Well, what is it." Draco snapped.
"It's a self-destruct mode." Harry said simply.
"A what, are you out of your bloody mind Potter, do you know what would happen if an enemy found out about this and infiltrated one of our ships." Draco yelled outraged.
"We thought about that and therefore you will first have to enter a password and a magical signature check which has to be done simultaneously by the Captain and the second in command, it also has a detection system of free will, to see if you do it on your own accord, it can only be overwritten by me, I alone can set the detonation device of on my own." Harry explained.
"Alright then but was it really necessary, do you think we'll ever need it." Draco said as he calmed down somewhat.
"You never know in what kind of situation you might be in sometime in the future, suppose the ship was compromised and the enemy was about to take it over, we can't risk of a ship like the Ekliptica to ever fall into the wrong hands and neither any of the cruisers, if the enemy ever got their hands on one of those cores and use it as a bomb the results would be catastrophic."
"I guess you're right," Draco said reluctantly "but why do you only mention this now and not sooner."
"No idea," Harry said "with everything going on around here it must've slipped from my mind. Tomorrow we'll test them for the first time for real."
"I must say I'm curious about these functions but right now I'm anxious to get on with our mission and I know you are too Commander." Andrew said.
"And you're right," Harry said "and I prefer Harry."
"As long as we're on the job I would rather refer to you as commander." Andrew replied.
"Very well. The ships are being loaded as we speak, we will be taking some powerful weapons with us in order to establish a base camp for our upcoming campaign, I'm sure we'll face an attack within the next two weeks so we'd better be prepared, the plan is that we'll start to fight actively against Voldemort and the Ministry in one month starting today, during that time we'll transport about seventy five percent of our troops over to England, the largest part of our fleet will remain behind in order to defend Insania, we've made some rough calculations and we should be able to transform the mansion in a stronghold within a month. A lot of work has to be done, barracks built, underground complexes excavated, defences built and most important of all, a printing press has to be built in order to house the Quibbler." Harry said with a ghost of a smile.
Luna beamed at him but the rest showed confusion on their faces except Hermione, who had probably already figured out why this was so important.
"But why," Draco cried bewildered "surely there are more urgent issues than giving refuge to that rag."
A shiny metal sphere flew over the table and hit Draco square between the eyes and with a heavy thud connected with him, he was knocked backwards making his chair topple over.
"Oww," Draco cursed "what the hell was that for."
"For insulting my father's paper." Luna said simply.
"What is it anyway." Draco asked he picked up the object and inspected it.
"It's a device that causes impotency by any male that touches it." Luna said in an airy tone.
"What!" Draco yelled in a high squeak and all the males in the room took a step away from the object.
Draco fell backwards again as he fainted and dropped the device in the process, making it roll across the floor straight towards Luna who picked it up calmly.
"Now Luna, that wasn't very nice." Harry admonished, he hadn't taken a step backwards.
"But he insulted the Quibbler." She whined.
"That's no reason to frighten him like that, it's a very sensitive topic amongst men, now hand over the remote detonator." Harry said sternly.
"Oh come on, now you've ruined my fun, now everybody knows it not a device that causes impotency but just a detonation device, which reminds me that you still have to insert the detonator in the bomb itself, it's also on board."
"Don't change the subject Luna, give me the remote detonator." Harry said and some people could've sworn his aura had flared up but that was of course impossible with the block in place.
Luna handed over the remote detonation device reluctantly.
"Could someone please wake up Draco." Harry said.
Somebody cast an Ennervate and Draco immediately woke up, looking around wildly.
His head suddenly snapped in Harry's direction.
"Please tell me that she was just joking." Draco said in a pleading tone.
"Afraid not Draco, and it appears to be highly effective as well, it worked on all four test subjects." Harry said dead serious.
Draco paled dramatically and fainted again.
"That was cruel." Hermione said with a disapproving tone.
"But you must admit it was funny." Harry said and only then did he notice the faces of the other occupants of the room, expressions ranging from horror to fear to shock. Whether it was because of the impotency, the confirmation or the fact that Luna was throwing around with a remote detonator he did not know but they certainly seemed shocked.
"You're bonkers." Sarah suddenly exclaimed.
"Only a little." Harry said sheepishly. "For those of you who are wondering, the quibbler will serve the purpose of making the people see the other side of the war, the Daily Prophet is on the ministry's side and they will not be bathing us in a very good light so we will fight fire with fire, while the Quibbler is not nearly as popular as the Daily Prophet I believe it will stir an interest in the people." Harry concluded
"I suggest we round up this meeting, I think everything has been said that needs to be said, if anyone needs me I'll be on the Ekliptica." Harry said and started heading out of the room.
"Shouldn't we wake up Draco." Severus said.
"Yes, but would you mind waiting till I'm out of the room, he'll probably be a little agitated with me once he finds out what that thing really was." Harry called over his shoulder as he suddenly sprinted out of the room, Hedwig flying in front of him. He jumped and grabbed one of her tail feathers and they both disappeared in a burst of black flames.
Harry could've sworn that he heard someone screaming 'POTTER' but from very far away some five minutes after he had arrived on the bridge of the Ekliptica.
"We're good to go sir." Andrew said as they all stood on the bridge.
"Commence operation Countdown, shields to full power, weapons' safety disengaged and charge to full power, fire up the Transportation Drive, notify me when it is fully charged and Draco stop glowering at me, it was just a joke." Harry ordered.
Draco mumbled something Harry didn't hear but seemed to stop sulking and focus on the mission.
A couple of minutes later a crewmember notified Harry that the Drive was fully loaded and ready to go.
"Engage transportation Drive, destination two and a half miles away from Potter mansion to the South-East, sound the transportation alert, as soon as we have arrived head over to Potter Mansion at half speed and scan the perimeter thoroughly for enemy threats and make sure we aren't followed." Harry ordered and the familiar power ripple of the Drive starting up confirmed that his orders were being followed.
"If you two wouldn't mind of joining me in the cargo compartment, I have something to show you." Harry said addressing Draco and Andrew and the three of them left the bridge and headed down to cargo compartment number three.
"We all hoped that it wouldn't be necessary Albus but right now we have no choice, we can't keep on fighting two battles at once like this." Rowena said
"Three if you count that bumbling fool of a minister as an opponent" Helga quipped in.
Dumbledore sighed as he stood at the centre of the crater that once held Hogwarts, he spread his arms wide.
"Be quiet now, I have to concentrate and this place is not helping me," Dumbledore said "I'm still not very happy about the fact that you were the once that made the decision to destroy Hogwarts."
"Better destroyed than in the enemy's hands." Godric said with determination.
"You have destroyed Hogwarts' soul, it could've been a powerful weapon in the future."
"He would've destroyed it anyway Albus, it didn't fit his purposes." Helga said.
"No, Harry wouldn't have destroyed, it was too much of a home for him to do such a thing but he would've transformed it, but at least this new castle won't be able to think on its own."
"That's what you think." Rowena said.
"You didn't see this new castle Albus, Hogwarts is nothing compared to that, although we already know a few things about the castle there is still a hundred times more we don't know about it and I think that this one also has a soul, a part of Harry's soul." Godric said.
"That boy continues to amaze me." Dumbledore said and he mentally ordered the founders to be quiet as he concentrated on what he wanted.
"Apertum Antrum Parentalis." He chanted in a clear voice.
The earth started to rumble
The ground in front of his feet disappeared and descending stairs were revealed.
"Let's just hope everything's still there." Dumbledore said as he lighted his wand and descended the steep stairs.
In the distance deep down into the Earth he could see a bright white light and this gave him hope that this expedition wouldn't be for naught, he had been apprehensive of Leaving Ginny alone so he had put her in a safe location for the moment, once this was over he could revitalize the order and begin opposing Voldemort more actively.
After what seemed like of hundred miles of chairs he finally entered the chamber, he had to shield his eyes with a spell on his glasses to darken them or else he would've been blinded by the intensity of the glimmering pool of raw magic below him.
He crossed the bridge with some trepidation and stood before the pedestal at the centre.
"Just put your hand on the pedestal and let us do the rest." Godric said reassuringly.
"While I do trust your expertise or you sure that my body will be able to handle absorbing such a massive amount of magic."
"It might hurt a bit in the beginning." Godric said and Dumbledore could hear he was already starting to concentrate.
"What do you mean it might hurt a bit in the begin…" but that's all he managed to say as magic coursed through his body and he let out an unearthly howl that could be heard all the way to the surface.
Harry woke up with a start, he looked around the room frantically searching for a threat but he found none.
He let himself fall down again onto the bed, he had been dreaming about something important but he couldn't remember what it was.
He was lying in his bedroom on the INIS Ekliptica, he had decided to take a little nap to be well rested for the mission later that day while the soldiers performed a sweep of the grounds and the manor to make sure that there were no threats or that it had been visited lately.
The Ekliptica was currently anchored at the base of a twenty meter high club on top of which stood Potter Mansion., they had gotten here without encountering anyone that they didn't want to encounter or without being followed, which had been a relieve. There was a lake next to the mansion where they would rest the Ekliptica once the estate had been deemed safe, this was also the place where they had constructed the largest part of their cruisers in secret and where the idea for the ship elevators back at Insania had come from since the lake wasn't on the same level as the ocean although that the one used here was slightly more complex, the cliff would've been ideal to hide such an elevator in if it would've been a good thirty meters higher and then they still faced the problem of there being no cliffs on the shores of the lake so when they had to get a cruiser out it would anchor in a specified location on the lake. The water around it would start to lower the ship down while the rest of the water looked like it was held back by an invisible wall, about a good three hundred meters down a cavern had been excavated through which the ship could sail to a good two hundred meters out into the sea where it would be raised up again, the lake was only big enough to house five of these it they were put close together, three if the Ekliptica was anchored in it so when they had completed the first five they hid some in the cavern below where a few side tunnels had quickly been excavated, this was where the idea for Hell's Bay had originated, it had been a complicated issue to construct the ships without them being noticed and a costly one as well wince Harry had paid the goblins to help them dig the caverns, they were experts when it came to underground complexes but with expertise also came a nice donation to the bank. Harry had been amazed it had remained unnoticed at all. But it had turned out fine and now this quickly assembled boatyard would become their stronghold in the UK.
The house that stood on these grounds was huge, big enough to house three hundred of his men without them even having to share a room but like with Dragons' Keep the upper part of the house would be the least used part, the levels underground were what mattered, while the mansion already had a vast amount of basements, dungeons and underground tunnels it would not nearly be enough to house the force Harry was planning to station hear, never mind the assembly plants for weapons and the repair shops, training grounds, some minor research facilities, the Quibbler, holding cells for prisoners and a whole variety of other rooms but now was not the time to ponder over all this, the excavation teams would arrive with the other two cruisers and he was expected in the briefing room on deck six for the start of the mission.
Ten minutes later he was in the room along with Draco and the twenty four men that would accompany them.
"This is the house we are about to storm." Draco said and he showed a floor plan of the building "we will stun and incapacitate only should we encounter resistance, after we have retrieved what we are looking for that device at the back of the room," and he pointed to a large wooden crate at the back of the room "will be activated and we will escort everyone inside the house out, one way or the other and the the hell out of there, any question." He asked but no one raised his hand.
"Good." Draco said "Gear up."
The men did as they were told and checked their weapons, took everything they might need with them and went over the specifics of the device.
Harry mused about the fact that he had been lucky to be able to talk about the place itself while not being able to tell them the address itself, but Hedwig knew where it was and if he led them inside there would be no problem, he just hoped Dumbledore was smart enough to cooperate or else there would be casualties.
Everyone was ready and Hedwig, who had been sitting on Harry's should started hovering at the centre of the room.
"Everyone grab onto on of her feathers." Harry ordered.
The men looked sceptical that they could all hold on to these feathers but as if by magic (no pun intended) the feathers on Hedwig's tail started to grow longer till they could comfortably hold onto it.
They all nodded, giving the signal they were ready and all of them disappeared in a burst of black flames.
They appeared on the little square near the house and Harry told them to follow him and grab onto each other so they could follow him into the house, the last two men carried the crate between them.
As he stood at the spot where the house was supposed to be he concentrated and slowly but surely the house appeared, as if it was reluctant to do so.
Harry picked a metal cube out of his pocket and yelled 'Deploy' and the MAG cannon landed on his shoulder, he aimed at the door and squeezed the trigger which was blown clearly off its hinges and flew noisily into the hall. The men stormed inside, most of them going up the stairs while the portrait of Surius' mother started screaming at them.
"Shut up you inbred old hag, I'll deal with you later." Harry snapped at it as he strode past it.
He opened the door to the kitchen, his gun still on his shoulder prepared for anything except encountering the only occupant of the room.
"Hello Harry." Remus Lupin said.
Author notes: I'm impressed with myself for getting this chapter done so quickly but it was about time, besides I have something to make up for the long wait of chapter eleven, I'm sorry that the real scenes you're all waiting for haven't come up just yet but had a lot of loose ends that I had to tie up first but next chapter will be interesting. Reviews are more welcome than ever, my yahoo group is still open to anyone who wishes to join and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Till next chapter.
Special thanks to my wonderful Beta Lordvitris (hey, I remembered)
Review responses:
Hamm On Wry: good thing that this is fanfiction, isn't it, that means it doesn't have to be possible and I can post all this claptrap I write without having to worry if it sounds convincing.
RexMyno: she still serves a purpose.
john1234: coincidence I guess and thank you. Somehow it seemed appropriate to let them work together just this one time.
karone-sakura; while there are fics that I like where they work together they are few and very unlikely to ever happen but as the saying goes, My enemy's enemy is my friend.
5HAD0W: that was one of the reasons for me to start writing this story, thanks for confirming I've completed at least one of my goals.
Thanks to everyone else who has reviewed:
read-on, imakeeper, bandgsecurtiyaw, Drake0x.
