Harry stared at Dumbledore in grim determination. He did not say anything, neither did anyone in the room. Silence hung over them like an ominous dark cloud, each waiting for the other to break the silence. To be frank, it was much too early than expected. Harry only had another two weeks to prepare.
Severus squeezed Harry's hand lightly, and Harry smiled, taking strength from Severus' support.
"We will be ready." Harry started, a new sense of maturity in his voice.
"I will organise the DA, get them ready. Meanwhile, I want to continue training, harder than ever. I need you to organise the Order and the Aurors," Harry commanded, taking charge. There was no hint of the initially vulnerable teenager that had first come to Hogwarts five years ago.
Albus and Severus smiled proudly.
In the weeks to come, Harry trained harder than ever. He did not attend regular classes anymore, instead spending all his free time strategising, training or reading thick dusty tomes in the library. He worked tirelessly, with Severus ensuring that he did get at least five hours of sleep every night to prevent him from breaking down. It seemed that defeating Voldemort was the only thing occupying the boy's mind these days.
Everyone in school knew something had changed with Harry Potter. He was more confident now, with fire burning in those emerald eyes. He seemed more animated when talking to his friends, a vast difference since the start of school.
Harry started organising the DA, meeting every alternate evening, training them intensively and strategising.
"Look, Voldemort has fewer Death Eaters now. The Order managed to kill off quite a number of them when they attempted to attack the Ministry and Hogsmeade. Voldemort hasn't had much time to recruit more Death Eaters before ensuring their loyalty. So we have the advantage of number." Harry instructed in the Room of Requirement, looking down at the numerous attentive faces of the DA.
Hermione nodded in agreement before interrupting, "But they will be using all kinds of dark curses and Unforgivables. We won't be able to fight that..." She let her voice trail off hesitantly.
"This is why we are training, to strengthen your spells. We can defeat them even without the use of Dark Magic. Dumbledore will be summoning the Order, while Fudge has agreed to lend us his Aurors." Harry explained, relieved that Fudge had finally seen sense.
"Are you willing to fight for the light, fight for our future, fight for the wizarding world?" Harry questioned.
Without any hesitation, everyone nodded.
Harry smiled slightly. "I have faith in you." He said quietly.
It was the day before Voldemort's planned attack.
Harry was nervously sitting at the Gryffindor table, staring down at his food. He hated to think that by this time tomorrow night, he wouldn't know if half the people sitting in this hall peacefully eating their dinner would be safe, or even alive.
"You have to eat something, Harry," Hermione coaxed.
Harry nodded, but didn't move.
He looked up at the staff table. His teachers' faces were pale and drawn. He guessed Albus must have informed them of the impending attack.
He looked down the staff table, only to meet the gaze of Severus. Severus smiled comfortingly, seeming to have read Harry's mind.
Harry smiled in response, and picked up his fork to eat some mashed potato.
Suddenly, alarms rang out, and people screamed in surprise.
Dumbledore stood up, his face pale. With a burst of fire, a single feather floated down in front of the Headmaster. It was Fawkes' warning.
Voldemort was attacking a day early.
A lump in his throat, Harry stood up, waving his wand above him to create gold sparks, as was the signal for the DA to get into formation.
The final battle had begun.
A/N: I know this was short. It's mostly an interlude chapter. I don't have much time to update now since school has started. So it'll come more slowly. A few more chapters to go before this finishes I think.