A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands
BEGINNING OF PENULTIMATE ARC: Growth and Building Blocks
A/N: Merry Christmas to all!
Chapter 56: An Important Meeting and a Game
April, 1995
"Come back to bed, love."
"You know I shouldn't my beautiful flower" Harry told Fleur as he dressed. "Akira has been getting restless recently, and I'd rather he take it out on me rather than Neville." Fleur pouted at that, and while that usually would have worked Harry was restless as well. He had recently enjoyed significant success with his morning workouts, and did not want to let up. His improvement had coincided with the aftermath of the day of the three battles, as it was being called.
The aftermath of the battles at first was visceral. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students walked around in large groups, and after a conference between the champions, Krum backed down from asking to deal with Karkaroff himself and Harry had a pointed discussion with a few French students. To Harry's credit, none of them spent too much time in the infirmary. He wasn't surprised that Fleur's headmistress looked the other way. Two Hogwarts students and the Beauxbaton champion had been in real danger from her students, and Harry reigned in his more primitive tendencies.
The reaction of the Hogwarts students towards the actual combatants was dramatically varied Harry's battle with Karkaroff, perhaps the most impressive use of magic in a combat situation by a Hogwarts student in years had not been observed by anyone but Luna and Krum. They both swore an oath of secrecy despite Harry's opinion that it was unnecessary. The major change from the Bulgarian seeker was a major reevaluation of his chances to win to Triwizard tournament. When he voiced the thought to Harry, the Gryffindor was left in stiches when he admitted that he had forgotten all about the tournament. Luna told Harry he was in the lead, with Krum right behind him. Harry did not care one ounce and told them so. He had never considered himself a real champion, despite the goblet of fire giving him the chance to meet and fall for Fleur.
The general population of Hufflepuff had heard about Dean's rather routine dispatching of the significant amount of Slytherin students and regarded him with equal parts gratitude and suspicion. It did not help the 4th year that he was called to the headmaster's office twice in the days following the battle. Dean had eventually, after fairly consistent prodding from his friends explained that Dumbledore had asked for his memory twice and after his second refusal had to fight off a passive legilimency attack. The dark skinned wizard seemed to grow angrier at Dumbledore every day, and Harry could not really blame him, even as he talked Dean from attacking the headmaster in the middle of the great hall.
Even if Dean had committed to assaulting the man driving him up the wall, he would have found it hard to follow through on the idea due to Dumbledore consistent absence. Outside of his meetings with Dean, and a meeting with Minerva, Filius, Pomona Sprout, and Severus, the headmaster had not been at school. His grandmother had explained that Dumbledore spending most of his time at the Wizengamot and European International Confederation of Wizards. After all, it was the Bulgarian seeker who had been attacked by a convicted Death Eater, while the Hogwarts champion had been attacked by students taught by yet another Death Eater Dumbledore had personally vouched for. The punishment for the Slytherin crew would have to wait until his formal return, though after the contentious meeting between the heads of house, it was decided Severus would hold their wands while they were not in class.
There wasn't much change between Fleur and her school. Most of the school had not liked her before, and now that dislike was colored by a begrudging respect and a clear message not to mess with her. Fleur now characterized both Neville and Hermione as friends, which had thrilled Harry. Although it was not in response to Fleur's new "friends", Fleur and Harry began to grow much closer
Harry's relationship with the 7th year Beauxbatons had evolved as well. Fleur had barely let Harry out of her sight since the battle, and Harry didn't complain all that much. Sleeping together every night had been a contentious issue between Fleur and her headmaster, so the couple simply kept it a secret. Sneaking into the carriage in the evening was not all that hard for Harry, and no one, except perhaps Dumbledore could break through the intricate rune scheme Harry placed on the door every night. Neville and Dean made sure Ron wouldn't talk, and Seamus was so impressed he agreed to stay silent.
There was nothing overly intimate on the physical level when they slept. It was simply enjoying the pleasure of each other's company before bed. As in Italy, Harry had some of the best night sleeps ever, even though he was not exhausting himself with training. The fact that he spent the last three nights with her meant she would allow him to go class, which Harry did to add a sense of normalcy.
The overall amount of time they spent led to teasing from Fred and George that little Harrykins had a girlfriend. Harry shocked the table when he put his arm around Fleur and said that she was indeed his girlfriend, and asked if they had a problem with that. Harry had steadfastly refused to label their relationship through the year, so the change of pace was a surprise to everyone. The use of "my flower" and "my champion" as terms of endearment remained private, though Harry told Hermione. He had told her about the first night at Fleur's room, but after a disapproving look and a short lecture about how Madam Maxime and Dumbledore would react, Harry hid his repeat visits from her.
The best benefit of his time was Fleur was that his magic had stared to stabilize much faster. Harry had been warned by the two gods he had met that his magic was different. It took one spar with Akira to realize he was more powerful. Simple shields couldn't stop anything he did. However, his increase in power was so abrupt that Harry's form was sloppier, and he didn't have the precision he had before the increase. He also had to reduce his killer instinct dramatically, for fear of really hurting Akira or Neville.
Harry had eventually figured out how to best keep his magic under control while fighting. As he fought, Harry kept a layer of magic in shield form around his entire body. It annoyed Akira to no end, as the magic subconsciously shifted to the point of impact, nullifying any spell without Harry having to cast anything defensive in nature. The only way to penetrate the spell would be to fire two incredibly powerful spells at the same time to land in different spots. For someone of Akira's skill this was manageable, but Harry simply dodged the second spell and Akira was regularly knocked down by the vicious counter attack.
Harry had shut out Ares entirely. The part of the god's soul was still fairly vicious, even if he did not advocate outright torture and murder anymore with the influence of Voldemort removed. But it was still dangerous and until Harry locked in behind bars in his mind, his magic fought him as it raged to be released without control. With Ares safely contained, it became much easier to handle his growing power.
As he spared Harry for the second day in a row, Akira came to a stark realization. He had been even, maybe even a little stronger than Harry a week ago. There was an element of hesitation to his moves ever since the unveiling of Ares, and hesitation against someone of Akira's level was enough to make the difference. But something had changed, and it seemed to literally happen overnight.
There were a variety of things Akira noticed as a plethora of blasting curse tore down his shield, forcing him to frantically dodge as Harry pressed his advantage with a blinding flurry of spells. Akira couldn't attack, and even if he wanted to, Harry's new powers made it a useless endeavor for the most part. The unconscious control of Harry's magic was the most obvious change, and it gave him what amounted to an impenetrable defense. Akira was exceptionally talented at silent magic, as well as wandless magic. His abilities with wandless magic kept him from casting complicated spells, but his wandless casting with his limited repertoire was flawless and had just as much precision and power as his normal spells. He was especially proud of his shields.
But what Harry was doing transcended the normal wandless skills. He had simply but a thin shield of magic around his body. If Harry couldn't dodge a spell, he simply allowed it to hit him, and no matter how much power Akira put into a spell, Harry's invisible body shield absorbed the spell with not problems. What's more, Harry did not even need to think about the magic enveloping his body, allowing him to defend and attack at the same time.
Harry's attacking magic was all over the map in terms of power, still stabilizing from his temporary coma a few days ago. A few times Akira had seem Harry frown as a spell went askew or was easily caught on a shield. Not that it mattered, as Harry's body shield held up easily against anything Akira threw at him. It didn't matter if it was a light stunner or an overpowered bone-breaker. Harry walked through everything entirely unscathed.
Akira felt his foot slip out from under him, and saw that his opponent had transfigured a patch of ice underneath his back foot. Harry whipped his wand up and promptly ended the fight, a levitation spell sending Akira flying. Akira tried to roll and break his fall, but was wrapped in chains as he fell. He landed heavily on the ground, but knew he was beaten. Harry looked at him quizzically for a moment before vanishing the chains.
"Your mind is elsewhere at the moment, brother," Harry commented.
"I guess so," Akira said. "I've been planning an event for all the older years, I think 3rd year and up. I'm going to unveil it today. Hopefully it is well received."
"Can I get a hint?"
"I figure you won't participate. Don't you have a fairly important meeting this afternoon?"
"Oh." Harry shook his head. "Not important in the slightest."
"Really?" Akira raised an eyebrow at that. The British minister of magic and his head of the DMLE, along with two seniors aurors from Norway and an officer from the Mibu Wolves were all meeting in Dumbledore's office. Of course Harry would dismiss it as not important, and try and wriggle out of the meeting. Harry abhorred the politicking in meetings like this, but apparently his grandmother had brought the hammer down, and after forcing her way into the upcoming meeting had insisted Harry come with her. To her credit, Minerva did not back down in the subsequent argument with her grandson, even if he stormed out of the room saying some hurtful things. He apologized the next day, but it was clear their relationship was a little strained.
"Minnie says its mandatory," Harry relayed
"So you are no longer mad at her?" Akira questioned. He suspected Harry would not use his grandmother's term of endearment if he was still mad at her.
"I wasn't really ever mad at her," Harry admitted. "I just don't like getting told what to do. Besides, I doubt I could stand that sanctimonious old man's preaching right now." Akira nodded knowingly. "I'm far from happy with how he handled his business, and I'm sure he'll object to what happened on our end too."
Dumbledore had taken the Slytherin students and given them detention for 2 months, along with a significant loss of points. Harry and most of the student body was appalled, and Dumbledore lost every teacher's support when it was revealed Snape was the one with the suggestion. His limited support deteriorated further when Maxime's students, who had arguably been less threatening were all expelled the moment Fleur's memory was shared.
On the other side of the spectrum was the treatment the vanished Karkaroff had received from his master. Yesterday at breakfast a black eagle appeared with a letter from Harry's master. Apparently Karkaroff had not survived his "enhanced interrogation," which did not surprise Harry in the slightest. He would have been shocked if Karkaroff had survived more than 24 hours.
Along the way, Nambung had gained some interesting information and was mobilizing the Mibu Wolves. The presence of an officer meant Harry would be told what information he could release and what he couldn't. Harry knew Dumbledore would be crushed when he was informed of Karkaroff's death, as the headmaster had been one of Dumbledore's redemption "projects." Although there was no such thing as a reformed death eater, Harry didn't love the fact that Karkaroff had been killed as a result of his actions. But he was not remotely surprised that he had died. Nambung was not known for his restraint.
Later in the day Harry trekked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. All of the expected personnel were there, including Professor Snape who really had no business being there, not that this was a surprise. Harry silently debated whether or not to request his dismissal. A hand on his shoulder and a subtle gesture towards Snape along with a shake of her head from his grandmother convinced him otherwise. Harry sighed in frustration and plopped down unceremoniously in the chair in front of the headmaster's desk.
"Well, now that we are all here let's get started," Dumbledore said, the customary twinkle in his eye going to full effect.
"Where is the headmaster of our school?" One of the foreign aurors demanded. Harry gave a small smile at that inadvertent reveal. So Durmstrang was in Norway. The Norwegian aurors meant it was likely the school was located there or close by, but confirmation was useful knowledge to have. His more level-headed comrade looked frustrated at that. The officer from the Mibu Wolves, the combat trainer Alexis Bracken, gave Harry a nod.
"Ah, about that. Unfortunately, he did not survive his interrogation. Our apologies." Harry said with a very real sigh. Harry had seen an "advanced interrogation" during his time in Asia, and it sickened him, Harry leaving the room after 10 minutes of a two hour session. A long discussion with his master had impressed upon him the necessity for gathering information. That night, although he had refused to do so before, Harry started studying legilimency.
"The British ministry killed him?" The auror was nearly frothing at the mouth.
"When I say our, I do not refer to Britain," Harry calmly replied. "I speak of my association with the Mibu Wolves."
"Please," the second auror scoffed. "The Wolves of Mibu are an urban legend. A special ops team with a perfect record for 150 years started during a Japanese war?"
"Oh, trust me," Alexis spoke for the first time. She turned and allowed her shirt to slip down, revealing the brand of a snarling wolf on her upper back. "The Wolves are very real. And when someone attacked one of our members, we take that very personally. We would, however, be happy to return the ashes of Karkaroff to you." The bluntness of her statement left some of the office in stunned silence.
"Listen here," Minister Fudge blustered. "We can't have people handling out vigilante justice as they please."
"No, you listen," Alexis snapped back. "I don't care who you are, but I certainly don't take orders from you or some random foreign aurors, no matter who you are."
"I'm the Minster of Magic of Britain!" Fudge proclaimed.
"I said I don't care," Alexis reiterated. "I take orders from two men, neither of whom are you."
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "It is truly sad that Igor could not be returned to the light." Harry scoffed at that. "Harry, my boy, you have something to say."
"In all seriousness!" Harry angrily shot back. "I'm certainly not your boy, and I distinctly remember telling you not to address me so casually. I'm one Harry away from demanding you address me as Lord Peverell." Harry shook his head. "I respect you, so I call you Headmaster Dumbledore. Extend me the same courtesy." Dumbledore reluctantly nodded, while Fudge paled at the knowledge Harry had just revealed.
Peverell had been a powerful name in England for a good 400 years before the family vanished. The Potters had power before the death of Harry's grandfather, including a Wizengamot seat, a true oddity for a family without a lengthy legacy in Britain. The Peverell family added an air of legitimacy to Harry's already impressive resume, one that would give him a significant voice in politics, even among the heavy pureblood faction if Harry chose the life of a politician.
"As for returning Karkaroff to the light, that is near impossible," Harry continued, unaware of the thoughts swirling in Fudge's head as he reevaluated the boy-who-lived. "Reminder, he tried to kill one of his own students simply because he did not approve of the girl he was dating. Some of the spells he threw at me suggested he was far beyond redemption."
"Harry, anyone can be returned to the light."
"You are mad if you believe that," Alexis said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry tried to keep discomfort from his face. He didn't agree with Dumbledore in regards to redemption, but he was not desensitized to death the way many of the Wolves of Mibu were. "This is a waste of time. I've given the necessary information. Any more requests should be put through the office of international cooperation in the Asian Ministry of Magic. That's their job, after all. If that's all?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Heir Potter, you are given permission to discuss anything you like, except for the specifics of the upcoming mission." Harry gave her a nod and with a swirl of bright colors Alexis vanished.
"I do wish she wouldn't call me that," Harry muttered. Apparently Dumbledore had picked up on the peculiar name.
"Heir Potter?"
"Yeah, well the Asian Ministry doesn't recognize English Lordship, so as a temporary measure to allow me to work for a specials ops team operating out of Asia, my master named me his heir."
"And who is this all so important master?" Rufus Scrimgeour spat. Harry coolly fixed the man with a gaze. This was the man who replaced Amelia as the Head of the DMLE after she stepped down to marry Sirius? He was not impressed. While he looked tough, Harry could sense his magic, and the man was not close to the impressive power of Bones, soon to be Black. Granted Harry had still not gotten the invitation to the real day, so he assumed the name change was still a little way down the road.
"Nambung Sa-Bum?" He heard sharp intakes of breath from the Norwegians in the room, and a frown from Dumbledore. Serves you right, Harry snarled in his mind. They were acting like bloody prats anyways.
"Nambung Sa-Bum is involved in this?" One of the Norwegians asked carefully.
"He was the one who issued the orders to take Karkaroff into his custody," Harry explained. The two aurors looked at each other, having a silent conversation Harry was more than willing to let them have.
"Very well. If he could send the results to our ministry…"
"I'll talk to him.." Harry said, taking pity on the men. They were just doing their job after all. "But you best go through the ministry like the lady said."
"Of course, of course." After some half-hearted goodbyes the two were gone and Harry relaxed a little. Two down, three to go, if you didn't count the bat in the corner.
"The Wolves of Mibu and Nambung?" Minister Fudge asked. Harry held back an eye-roll. Most of this was common knowledge. "Dumbledore, what do you know of this?"
"I think Mr. Potter would be best at describing," Dumbledore observed, and Harry gave a small nod of agreement. "Mr. Potter, if you could?"
"Of course, headmaster." Harry took a moment to gather his thoughts. "You don't need to know the Japanese history, but the long and short of it was during the Japanese civil wars in the 1860s, an elite group of sword wielders called the Shinsengumi were formed. They were originally garrisoned in Mibu, so that's where the name comes from. It was commonly thought, after being on the wrong side of the war that they were decommissioned."
"Instead they went underground, and to my understanding there were a few clashes between the sword wielding unit and the Asian Ministry of Magic. They were soundly beaten, but the Asian Ministry of Magic was impressed by the devotion to their art. For around 20 years they vanished off face of the earth."
"There was a muggle and magical war between Russia and Japan in the 1900's and Japan was being pushed back until the entrance of what was described as a group of 30 wizards, who rarely used magic, instead preferring hand-to-hand combat. The war ended in a bloody draw. Similar sized units were seen during the first world war as Japan claimed a variety of islands. Then, after the first world war, things changed."
"The unit was starting to draw attention, so they went missing again. They popped up again during the rape of Nanjing, supposedly hired by the Chinese to cut down on the atrocities of the Japanese soldiers. But as you know Japan was destroyed in the aftermath of WWII. So the wolves, who had been on the continent, became a little more mercenary. They were all over China and Russia, gathering information and killing key members of the magical and muggle community. In time, they were re-folded into the Asian Ministry after the fall of communism. They have supposedly taken on over 100 missions involving combat or espionage, and have supposedly never failed to complete their mission. I do know that the rumor of never being defeated in battle is spot on."
"So there are rogue wizards running around in Asia doing whatever they want?" Fudge asked.
"Not in the slightest. At the moment, information is available to anyone who asks. The Wolves of Mibu are formally registered as a diplomatic arm of the Korean Ministry of Magic. Officially, they are an intelligence gathering force. Unofficially, they are one of three all-purpose special ops units run out of the central hub of the Asian Ministry of Magic."
"But that's also a bit of a lie," Harry elaborated. "Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall 5 years ago, they have become much more…for lack of a better world, self-sufficient. They still work as an arm of the Asian Ministry, but they take on contracts and jobs from all around the world. In 1991, the man I discussed, Nambung Sa-Bum, a Korean Magical Martial Arts natural took over the unit."
"He changed almost the entire makeup of the unit and they gained a significant amount of autonomy under his reign. He was a well-known wizard, and the wolves became active as intelligence gathers in all six continents. They will not work directly against the Asian Ministry, but they take no orders from the central powers either. The top three commanders in the unit vote on deployment to battle, while any of the three can initiate covert ops. Nambung is the commander, and you all met the second in commander Li Min."
"And the third?" Dumbledore prompted. Harry gave a wry smile.
"You won't like it." No one jumped in to stop him. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Yuri Oslorsky."
"The man convicted by most of the Soviet Bloc for selling state secrets?" Scrimgeour growled.
"The very same," Harry said. "He does not have the best reputation, but he runs most of the information ops of the unit. At anytime, the unit has around 20-25 members. The current count, if you include me, is 22. As the Heir to the commander they took the attack on me personally after investigating Karkaroff."
"This is all insane!" Fudge complained.
"Not really," Harry remarked. "Every continental ministry has a few, and there are some specific to countries as well. I would have assumed as Supreme Mugwump of the European International Confederation of Wizards, Dumbledore would tell you. I know for a fact that they have worked with a group from German called the Ironbloods."
"You knew of this?" Dumbledore looked distinctly uncomfortable. Minnie tapped Harry and the shoulder, and he frowned, but did as prompted.
"Now, away from history and onto the events after the day of three battles, as they believe they are calling it?" Harry smiled at that. "Rather silly name, but I guess the shoe fits. Since he was a master class fighter who had attacked a member of the unit, Nambung personally interrogated Karkaroff and he came up with a few odds things. There was residual magic similar to the Imperius Curse on Karkaroff."
"And they killed an innocent man?" Dumbledore seemed horrified at the thought.
"No, I said similar," Harry said as if explaining it to a child. He saw Dumbledore grind his teeth at that, "The curse on him has to be taken willingly, and it is time activated. So the ex-headmaster agreed to have a spell put on him that would activate at a specific time and would attack a specific target. His target was Luna Lovegood, but luckily I was able to foil him. But there were enough red flags that Li Min came back last night."
"What? An Asian agent violating British territory?" Fudge looked violent.
"If you want to get technical, Hogwarts isn't actually territory you control, Minister," Minerva pointed out.
"How did she enter without my knowledge?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring the back and forth between the deputy headmaster and the minister.
"Li Min is one of the best, if not the best ward cracker in the world. She looks young, but she is nearly 50, and has been the second in command of the wolves for 11 years now. For her, sneaking past Hogwarts wards would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Nevertheless, she ran diagnostics on the Slytherin students and Beauxbatons students, or I guess they are ex-students."
"The particularly violent Beauxbaton student who initiated the attack had the same spell residue as Karkaroff. Due to Li Min getting there two days after the spell wore off, she couldn't determine the target, but the rest of the group were normal. The same thing with one of the Slytherins. A 7th year, Cassius Warrington was under the same spell and the rest followed voluntarily. It bears remembering that the target has to agree to be under it. But put simply, this was a three-pronged attack."
"What was the goal?" Scrimgeour asked. It was actually a good question, and although Harry had a very low opinion of the current head of the DMLE fighting prowess, he was a competent investigator. He had also known about Yuri, so he had a decent information system as well.
"As it turns out, the interrogation and subsequent investigation turned out a recurring name. The Vengeful Brotherhood."
"They are?" Scrimgeour looked curious.
"A rogue group of wizards. They seemed to be prominent in Asia and Australia. They were always seen as a bit of a nuisance, but their use of Achilles Bane, the poison that almost killed me, caused the Asian ministry to act. The Wolves of Mibu accepted a contract to attack the known bases of the Vengeful Brotherhood. I don't know where or when, and even if I did, as Alexis said, I can't tell you. But they are clearly a dangerous group."
"The infirmary attack is the last component. It appears that the attack there was a contingency, to kill whoever their real target was. Karkaroff didn't have an idea, but we do know one thing. I wasn't the target. And trust me, I'm all out of free passes when it comes to near death experiences. If that arrow had hit anyone else, they would have died in minutes."
"So what is this Achillies' Bane?" Fudge asked.
"I'll defer to the poisons master," Harry said with a sly smile. "Or is it potions?" Harry felt his grandmother holding back a smile behind him.
"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore chided.
"I'm sorry," Harry lied, "but my statement is accurate, is it not? I heard from my friends that Severus seemed to diagnose the poison but left without telling anyone. I know he didn't go to brew an antidote."
"Why is that?" Scrimgeour asked. Harry just looked at Snape.
"Because there is no cure. You cannot create the poison. It is unknown where it came from but the poison known as the Bane of Heroes, or Achilles' Bane is always deadly. It attacks the magical core of a wizard. It wouldn't harm a muggle, but to a wizard it is certain death. How Potter survived I do not know."
"And I'm not sharing," Harry finished. There was a sound of indignation from the headmaster and minister.
"If it is a deadly poison, then we should share the antidote freely," Dumbledore argued.
"Please respect my grandson's wishes," Minnie told the assembled members. "Harry would share the cure if it was generally applicable. But as everyone can attest, nothing was administered to him. Everyone's personal magic should allowed to be kept secret."
"Very well." Dumbledore deferred. "Now, it is fortuitous you are here, Cornelius and Rufus. We have a special event today, and I would like to discuss it with you."
"Harry, if you hurry you can make it," Minerva said.
"My magic is still unstable," Harry whispered. "I'm worried I would hurt someone, so I'll sit it out for the time being." Minerva nodded. "But I heard all about it from Akira. Should be fun."
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O-
"Thank you all for coming," Akira said, lowering the wand from his throat. The assembled students of all three schools were there. For Hogwarts, the only students were 3rd year and up. At Akira's request, 1st and 2nd years were confined to their common room for the afternoon. "Today, we will have the opportunity to try to simulate some real-life battle experience. Please take note this is entirely optional. There will be a reward for the winners, but if you do not compete, not one word will be uttered against it. Is that understood?" Akira glared at the crowd but there was silence.
"Good. We will be playing tag." Murmurs of confusion flickered through the crowd. "The spell we will use is the colored paint spell." Akira spent a few minutes making sure everyone in the great hall could use the spell. "Now, right before we will randomly select a group of students who will taggers. These taggers will be attempting to attack, via the paint spell, the other students. If you are a tagger, the only spell you can use is the paint spell. If you are not a tagger, you may use a shield, but you cannot return fire. The entire castle, including the grounds, are fair play. If you do not want to participate, you may return to the common rooms, which are out-of-bounds." Akira was thrilled that the students seemed excited. A few students left, but the vast majority were enthusiastically chatting among themselves.
"The other professors and I will be watching, and we have a few other ways to make sure that no other spells are used. If you attack a tagger, you will lose house points. If you use a spell that is not a shield or paint spell, you will receive a detention. We will also be observing your performance to see who gets the rewards. For the time being, just endeavor to tag as many people as you can as a tagger, and stay untouched by paint if you are not. Once you become tagged, you may either stop, or you may join the taggers. It is up to you."
"What is the prize you talked about?" A voice from the back of the crowd said.
"Since this is a combat simulation, the students who we deem to have performed well will be offered the chance to join myself, Professor Moody, and one other professor yet to be determined at the auror training center tomorrow and undergo a full training session." This sparked wild excitement. No one was leaving now. Akira knew Dumbledore was discussing it with the minster right now. Even though Akira did not like Dumbledore, the headmaster had promised that he would make it happen, so Akira was happy to offer a good reward. Besides, he was a little curious to see auror training in Britain himself.
"Now, it is 12:58. The bells will ring at 3:00pm, signaling the end of the game. Any spells fired after that will lead to detention. Now, let the game begin!" Akira raised his wand and a stream of colors burst from it. As the various colors neared the apex of their arc, they changed directions and shot down at high speed. Around 10 students cried on in surprise as they now had paint on their clothes.
"The first taggers have now been chosen. You have 1 minute to run if you are not a tagger!" Akira swung his wand and the door to the great hall opened. After a second of silence, students burst out into yells and a veritable stampede of students rushed out of the all."
"Interesting spell," Flitwick remarked, standing next to Akira.
"It's the same spell," Akira modestly noted. "Just a modification."
"Still, spell modification is no simple thing." Akira nodded in acknowledgement of the praise. "Mr. Weasley?" Akira looked at the students his spell had hit. Fred Weasley had been hit, but George had not, yet the unmarked twin was simply standing with his twin. "Mr. Weasley, do you wish to not participate?" The charm professor asked.
"No, I'm going to participate," George said. Or at least he thought George, not Fred, who was unmarked. He had given up knowing who was who. "But my brother and I decided this would be more fun to do together. So he'll tag me and then we'll go hunt down people together." Akira grinned at that. They would be a formidable pair, certainly some of the most dangerous adversaries. The only other random tagger of note was Jason Chambers, the 6th year Hufflepuff that Akira knew from his association with Cedric. He was a strong student, but nowhere near as inventive and creative as the Weasley twins. Being a tagger didn't play to his strengths. The rest of the taggers were an assortment of 3rd through 5th years.
"That's not a bad idea," Flitwick said. "Perhaps to begin with, the taggers should team up?"
"If they want to." Akira said. The bell started to chime. "Ok, go get them!" One twin hit the other with the paint spell and they raced out of the hall. Jason and the other taggers were just behind them. "Let's head to the grounds."
"The other professors are scattered around the castle, and the portraits will report any danger to Sprout in her room?" Flitwick asked as the two professors strolled out of the room. Akira nodded. "This was exceptionally well planned out, Professor Hayashi. Are you sure you do not wish to return one more year? The students rave your praises, and we have never had something as innovative as this. You have a real talent for teaching."
"Thank you for the praise," Akira replied. It was indeed nice to receive praise from one of the few great teachers at Hogwarts. Flitwick's enthusiasm and dueling mastery would see him easily accepted at almost any wizarding school. People like him and McGonagall were why Hogwarts was so well-renowned, and why anyone who could sent their child to Hogwarts rather than the regional and local schools. "But I'm afraid that is unlikely, near impossible. Next year I will either return to Mahoutokoro or take a job within my father's division of Magical Martial Arts for a time."
"Well the curse continues," Flitwick said with a chuckle, but didn't elaborate. "Well, the Weasley's are well suited towards this. But any others you have you eyes on? There are a few I think could do well."
The aforementioned Weasley twins had a 5th year Hufflepuff pinned down on the 4th floor. George dropped to the floor and fired. The shield did not extend to his ankles, so George's change of level left the student splattered with red pain. The twins grinned at each other. It had been barely ten minutes and they both had 2 tags. Well, George had three since Fred had not been tagged at the beginning, but they weren't counting that.
"Two each!" Fred called. "Which way now?"
"Well, I figure most of the students have probably fled outside, so down we go!" George replied. The twins grinned at each other and silenced their feet again. However, the speed of their rush still left sound echoing down the hall. They soon found a 4th year Slytherin and gleefully engaged.
Dean had shown up at the hall, curious as to what the "special event" was. He had been pleasantly surprised. Hogwarts had never had anything like this before. The closest thing they had done to this was the dueling club his second year, and to put the club and tag in the same conversation was an insult to the current competition. He had not been tagged at the beginning, and quickly realized that not being able to fire back meant his best tactic would be to stay hidden.
Or maybe not, Dean realized. Technically, redirection was not a spell. Most taggers would be focused on attacking they wouldn't be able to react to a redirection. Of course the paint spell wouldn't be able to do lasting damage, but the shock of being hit back should give Dean time to get away again. He stopped his flight down the hall and leaned calmly against the wall. He heard footsteps and stepped to the center of the hall, seeing a 3rd year Ravenclaw. The girl raised her wand at Dean, who almost smiled. The perfect candidate to attempt his theory on.
Fleur was calmly sitting on a bench outside the entrance to the school. So far two attempted taggers had tried to cover her in paint, but after a few minutes of dodging and shielding with both of them, the two had given up and gone after easier targets. After hours on hours of being forced on the defensive by Hermione and Flitwick during daily training, paint spells from 3rd and 4th years weren't much of a challenge. Then Fleur saw the twins racing towards her and smiled. They would be more interesting opponents.
The twins slowed as they approached her and fired from opposite sides. Fleur dodged one spell and shielded the other. She was forced to roll to dodge the curved spell from her right side, and she flipped to her feet, levering her entire body into the air to dodge the left sided spell. In the exchange one Weasley had managed to get into her blind spot, and only her sensory magic allowed her to sway back and dodge the spell she sensed coming. The other Weasley, 180 degrees across from his brother, was forced to drop to the ground to avoid the errant spell.
"Very clever," twin #1 called. "But we are far from done, are we Forge?"
"That's right, Gred." Both twins fired at the same time, then raced around Fleur like they were on an invisible circle only they could see, firing at seemingly random times. Fleur was evading the shielding the best she could, but felt it was only a matter of time. The restriction on not being able to retaliate made this exercise remarkably challenging, since it allowed the attackers the chance. But she managed to keep the two at bay.
Suddenly, the twin in front of her dropped to his stomach. Fleur was forced into the air to dodge his spell, but contorted her body in the air and facing the now upright twin a quickly and silently cast shield blocked his attack. Fleur landed lightly, but then staged back as she was hit on the right thigh. She looked at the twins, but they were just as surprised as she was.
"Gotcha!" Lavender cried. "You were so caught up fighting those idiots it was easy." She smiled and raced off towards the lake, where Fleur could see a few student congregating.
"Well fought, Dame Delacour," one of the twins said.
"Shame Miss Brown interrupted our furious fight," the other added.
"Stop with the alliteration and go tag some people," Fleur countered, though the small smile on her face belied her exasperated tone.
"I could not have said it better myself." The twins saluted in unison and headed off in an opposite direction to Lavender. Fleur chose the third option and headed for the quidditch pitch. She hadn't seen Harry in the hall and knew he might not make it in time for the game, but if he was frustrated from the meeting and nobody was available to train, he was likely to be flying. Now that the weather had turned, Harry had used flying as a way to destress from what was quickly becoming a year of unbelievably stressful proportions, even from Harry's lofty standards.
Dean left two groaning 6th years behind him as he jogged back down towards the Great Hall. He had been attacked a few times, but redirecting the paint spell got easier every time. Ever since the fight with what seemed like the entire house of Slytherin spell redirection and deflection had gotten remarkably easy. It had brought him out of a stupor of disinterest and made him realize that while studying on his own was useful, the only way he could really improve was to test himself in battle simulated situations. He would have to approach Professor McGonagall to ask if she had any advanced training he could do soon.
Dean heard the verbal incantation and easily stepped out of the way of the two paint spells that whizzed past him. The ambush tactic might have worked on a lesser wizard, but saying the incantation gave them away. Dean faced up to the two attackers and in the process was struck from the paint spell from behind. He groaned and turned woefully to see Susan behind him grinning at Daphne and Hannah in front of him.
They all stopped as they heard the bell ringing. Dean looked down at his watch and saw that it was only 2:42. Susan cast a tempus spell and Dean saw she was confused as well. Hadn't Akira said the game would end at 3? Had something gone wrong so that it had to end early? They were close enough to the great hall to go in and check.
They were some of the first people in, but it seemed like all the students had the same idea, and slowly the hall was filling. Dean looked around and every student seemed to have some form of paint on them. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Neville smiling at him. Neville had a glob of orange paint on his shoulder.
"Who got you?"
"These demons," Dean indicated the three girls. "They were quite crafty with their ambush."
"It's Daphne's Slytherin nature," Hannah complained, coming over to give her boyfriend a quick peck. "It's corrupting our poor Hufflepuff natures."
"Hey!" Daphne cried. "I'm all Hufflepuff now. Especially after the day of three battles. Besides, Dean stole the chance for us to have all the glory, so it was payback."
"That's how you remember it?" Dean said with an easy smile. It was much easier to tease and joke with Daphne now that her robes had a badger rather than a snake. Even as he thought that, Dean chided himself for his shortsightedness, but if the events of the last four days had taught him anything, it was that he should never turn his back on the snakes. Sure, their wands were "confiscated," but having to see them every day in class, where Snape had returned their wands "temporarily," gave Dean an uneasy feeling.
"Thank you all for participating!" Akira called from the dais. "Let's give everyone who participated a round of applause." Dean clapped a little, but was more interested in figuring out why the game had ended early. "Some of you may be wondering why the game ended early. It was because every student was tagged."
"You?" Hannah asked, turning to Dean.
"Was I really last?" Dean asked, surprised.
"Well, I saw the twins in the initial tagging group, so it's not so surprising," Daphne explained. "With those terrors on the attack, there is no way we would all last two hours." The professor's sans Dumbledore and McGonagall had gathered on the platform and were talking animatedly. Dean thought the absence of the headmaster and deputy headmaster was curious, but Dumbledore was clearly stuck in the past, and if rumors were to believed, the Deputy Headmistress' declaration of intent to leave was not a bluff.
"So after careful deliberation," Professor Hayashi began. Dean heard Daphne scoff at that, and couldn't help but agree. The professors had been talking for two minutes at most, it was far from careful deliberation, "we have decided to award 8 spots in auror training. We hope they all accept, but we will have some alternates if you do not want to attend. First the awards for taggers. Tied for the most tags, with 11 tags each, George and Fred Weasley!"
The twins took to the stage to applause, both smiling. They were jostling each other but looked happy. They both seemed to be arguing about who really won, but for them to get a combined 22 in under two hours an average of about a student ever 5 minutes. If Dean had been a tagger since the beginning, he would not have been able to do that, especially as more and more students became taggers.
"Third for taggers, we have Head Girl Ella Lane, with 9 tags!" Professor Hayashi continued. Ravenclaw cheered as the popular girl joined the twins on stage. "Finally, fourth with 8 tags, even though he was not tagged until the final hour, Victor Krum with 8 tags!" The Bulgarian took the stage to cheers from Hufflepuff, who had temporarily adopted the Durmstrang, much like Ravenclaw had adopted Beauxbatons, sans Fleur who Gryffindor had claimed by virtue of her relationship with Harry. If Harry's occasional glares at the Ravenclaw table were anything to go by, they would regret any attempt to take her back. Then again, Harry had explained his anger at Ravenclaw's earlier this year when they cooked stemming from Luna's stories about constant abuse from her house, and Dean was more than happy to go along withholding the culinary experience from the table.
"Now, we have two general fighting awards. That means excellence in shielding and avoiding, as well as tagging." Professor Hayashi explained. "In First place, with 5 successful defenses and 6 successful tags, Angelina Johnson!" Dean clapped in surprise at that. He knew Angelina had been a frontrunner for the tournament at the year's beginning, but he did not know she had continued training at such a high intensity. But Angelina was not truly a surprise to most of the hall.
"In second place, with 8 successful defenses," a few sounds of surprise came from that. Dean himself was surprised, as he could only remember 6 successful defenses himself, and he retaliated within the rules "and two tags, Neville Longbottom!" Neville looked stunned as the Gryffindors began cheering. Most of the other houses just looked confused. Dean himself wasn't so surprised. Not too many people underwent daily special training with the Defense teacher and an occasional spar with Harry Potter, whose overwhelming power was quickly becoming legend, only reinforced by victory in single combat over both Bellatrix Lestrange and Igor Karkaroff.
"Now, awards for the two students who lasted the longest. The second to longest, tagged succesfully at 2:40 pm, Jessie Mitten!" Dean didn't know the student, but gave the compulsory applause. The Slytherin looked happy to be up on stage, probably happy to be praised in the slightest after the beating her houses' reputation had taken recently. Dean realized what was coming next and smiled. "The last survivor, tagged at 2:42 pm and ending the game, Dean Thomas!"
Dean walked up to the stage and hi-fived Neville and smiled at the twins. He had known his active defense would be a successful strategy, but to be the last standing? He was equal parts happy and frustrated. It was good to know that his strategy was well thought out, and he was happy that he "won." But it had not been super challenging. The need to ask his head of house for special training was now at the top of his list, after auror training tomorrow.
"Now for some unfortunately sad news," Akira called before the hall could empty. "Tomorrow at 4pm will be the last specialty dragon lecture from Professor Charlie Weasley. He will be heading back to the Romanian dragon reserve next week." There were more than a few sounds of disappointment. Many of the Gryffindors had fond memories of Charlie, and while he not universally beloved, there was not one year or house that did not have at least a few students attending his weekend lectures. "If you have gone to any of his lectures, I encourage you to come and give him a warm send off."
"Thank you all for participating!" Flitwick called. "Now off with you!" The students not on the dais with the professors started filtering out of the halls in groups. "Not you," Flitwick said to the eight students who had been recognized.
"We will be leaving for the ministry of magic at 7am tomorrow," Professor Hayashi informed them, and there were a few groans, Dean among them. He saw Neville smiling faintly, and had vague memories of Neville being out of bed almost every day when he awoke recently. Apparently 7am was not an early start for some people. "I know it is early, but we would like you to get the chance to do a variety of difference exercises. If any of you wish to not go, please tell me now." There was silence. "If you do not show up I will take it out on you in the next week of classes." Still there was silence. "Very well. Dismissed until tomorrow morning. Congratulations."
"So how did you do it?" Dean asked Neville as they walked back to the tower.
"Well, you know about my martial arts training with Profesor Hayashi, right?" Dean nodded. He didn't remember the specifics, but he knew Neville was doing special training. "Well, I have gotten pretty fast and strong, and there is a place on the back of the neck that will knock someone out for a few minutes if you hit it with enough speed and force. I don't have the stamina to keep it up for two hours, but usually if I could block the first few spells, I could dodge one and then get behind them and," Neville snapped his hand. Dean almost jumped back from the harsh sound, even though Neville's hand hit only air.
"Sounds so simple," Dean replied with a chuckle. He doubted anyone else in school could knock out 8 of their classmates with a single strike to the back of their neck.
"It is for Professor Hayashi and Harry," Neville countered.
"They don't count," Dean responded, and Neville inclined his head curiously. "Nev, one of them is a professor and the other might be the strongest double threat in Britain. Double threat meaning wizard and martial artist."
"They are both good enough that it's a single combined thing. They are magical martial artists. I'm just a wizard who happens to be good at martial arts."
"You are being too modest," Dean argued. "You use magic to augment your speed and strength? Like Harry showed us back in February?" Neville nodded. "I don't know anyone else in school who can do it, except maybe Krum." Neville ducked his head in embarrassment. "Modesty is a good trait, but a little self-belief isn't a bad thing."
"Yeah but communication is more important than both," Lavender snapped at him as she walked past them into the Gryffindor common room.
"You two fighting?" Neville asked, surprised by the venom in the voice of one of the nicest girls of their year.
"Eh, we broke up," Dean relayed.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Neither of us really wanted anything serious. We ended up getting together for the Yule Ball and staying together more out of convenience rather than real feelings. I'm really not ready for anything serious, and she wanted more commitment than I felt comfortable with."
"Dude, your maturity at times really leaves me a little stunned." Dean threw a companionable arm around Neville and laughed. "It occurs to me that although there is no quidditch cup this year, we have once again proved our house superiority."
"How so?"
"I mean, this was the closest thing to a house tournament. 5 of the eight slots for awards were filled by Gryffindors. You me, Angelina, and the twins."
"I guess," Dean said. "But half of Slytherin were disqualified, and trust me, they have some strong and fast spellcasters."
"Not faster than you," Neville replied.
"Nah, they are just stupid," Dean said. "They all came at me from the front, and they bottlenecked so they could only attack 3 or 4 at a time. If they had spread out and surrounded me I would have been in trouble. I don't have eyes out of the back of my head."
"Regardless, we did pretty well."
"Yeah," Dean agreed. "We did. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
"As am I," Neville concurred.
"Wait a moment," Dean interjected, stopping Neville. "You, me, Harry, Hermione, Lavender, and the others."
"The others?"
"Hermione does special training and Lavender was no slouch during those few meetings we had with Hermione when Harry was missing in action."
"Sure, but where are you going with this?"
"Do you think that we are the strongest single house year in history?" Dean asked.
"I doubt it," Neville said with a chuckle. "Ask me again when we are in 7th year though. Who knows?"
"But right now we have Harry," Dean emphasized. "He's our overpowering force."
"He's not going anywhere," Neville laughed.
"You sure about that?" Dean cautioned. Neville stopped in place.
"What do you mean?"
"Harry has clearly moved past us. Hell, he has moved past the tournament and school. He is also in love with a certain French student who is graduating, even if he doesn't say it. Why would he stay next year?"
"Sometimes I forget," Neville said with a shake of his head. "Harry won't be able to get independence until he takes an O.W.L."
"Didn't you guys go to his vault earlier this year? He is an adult by ministry law, and is loaded, right?" Neville paled at the realization. "Look, even though he is certainly awesome, I think most of school has spent the majority of four years looking at him with horror, adulation, or something else entirely. And as some of the people who spend the most time with him, we know he hates it."
"And if he wins the tournament…" Neville didn't even have to finish the statement.
"Yeah. It's not so unbelievable that he would just go elsewhere. Don't forget how the paper hates Harry and his friends. With his power, resources, and connections, Harry could vanish, and with Fleur graduating I wouldn't be shocked to see her follow suit. She certainly doesn't have close friends in her school."
"Yeah, but he is Harry Potter!" Neville responded.
"An indomitable spirit can only be crushed so many times before it has just had enough. First year with the dragon and the philosopher stone, second year with the whole Parseltongue and heir of Slytherin thing. Third year with the Sirius Black madness, and this year with the tournament and multiple attempts on his life. At the very least, his life seems to be in constant danger."
"Neville, I know that we see Harry as this larger than life figure. A little less than others since we share a room with him, but still," Dean continued. "Even if he hasn't slept there much recently." The joke didn't do much to disturb the tension growing between the two boys at the growing realization. "I think most people would happily trade places with Harry. But when everyone wants to be you, do you want to be you too?"
"I don't know," Neville admitted honestly. "But then again, I am not the embodiment of Gryffindor courage."
"Sure, but neither of us have a beautiful and frankly amazing girlfriend graduating this year." Neville looked at Dean oddly. "What?"
"Do you have a crush on Fleur?"
"Who doesn't?" Dean countered and they both laughed a little. But the idea wouldn't go away at night as Neville lay in his bed, sleep alluding him as he stared at the ceiling, trying and failing over and over again to imagine a Hogwarts without his best friend.
