20-Getting Ready

While the group at Hogwarts was having a nice time, the Death Eaters were suffering quite badly. Although Draco escaped worse punishment and was able to crawl to relative safety, some weren't as lucky. With most of his best lieutenants gone, his Horcruxes missing and his minions hunted, the Dark Lord was afraid for his life, and the expected duel loomed ominously above him. Of course, showing fear or any weakness was out of the question, so he was crueller and much less patient to his minions.

It took him several hours to calm down. "Leave me alone. I need to plan," he told the few minions who were trying to stay as far away from him as the room allowed. They thankfully fled the room.

'Potter challenged me to be there on Tuesday. I can go there a day or two early to position my minions where they could easily curse him when he comes. By the time they bring him to the duelling area, he will be in no state to duel, ensuring my victory.'

'Mmm… Sunday is the full moon time. I won't be able to use the werewolves. Well, they may not be useful in this situation. I still have the trolls and the giants. Potter won't come alone, and these will remove the others quite nicely.'

This planning improved his mood. Now he needed to check that his forces were ready. He called the one responsible for dealing with the trolls for a report.

"The trolls are content, although quite bored. If we don't give them something to do, they might turn on us," the man reported.

"Tell them they'll be busy enough in a few days." The Dark Lord dismissed him.

"Are the giants ready?" he asked the other man.

That one bowed deeply, not daring to look at his master. "I'm sorry, my lord. The giants had a problem with the ants that decided to make them their homes. We tried to give them pain killers, but they didn't help. The giants left back to their homes a few days ago."

"And you didn't inform me as soon as I arrived? Crucio!"

Ten minutes later, when that man's heart stopped beating, he welcomed the peace. His master was once again fuming, though, making others stay as far away from the madman as possible. What the Dark Maniac didn't think of was that throwing temper tantrums was also a weakness, a very significant one.

\/\/\/

The Hogwarts Defenders, as the people following the Potters called themselves, had a much better time. They spent the next day fortifying some weak spots and adding more obstacles to slow the enemy. The Weasley twins joined the forces, adding their own kind of mischief to the castle's protection. Many of the prank items, when exaggerated, could become dangerous weapons.

Harry had to refuse the offers of most other Weasleys. He didn't want too many put in direct danger and wasn't sure how well he could count on some. Percy was still at the Ministry, although he was severely demoted, due to his family. Ron had always been somewhat unreliable under stress, as shown by him leaving the search, and Ginny was still too young. Well, if one asked Molly, none of her children was old enough to fight.

As expected, Bill made sure that no information leaked to others, not even to the Order of the Phoenix members. Hosting his whole family, except for Percy, had certainly helped. Nobody in the family understood why Percy continued working at the Ministry after being demoted.

The Hogwarts house-elves were glad to be busy and to serve people who appreciated their work and thanked them, whenever possible. They let the Potters have a married couple apartment and turned the guest lodgings into elegant barracks for the rest of the force. Of course, none of the regular school rules was enforced, allowing Dean to share Luna's bed as much as she wanted. A few other couples were also enjoying this opportunity.

The Potter couple had used the time before the occupation very efficiently, buying some more weapons that were considered suitable for the coming battle. Two machine-guns were positioned on the highest towers, each on a solid base that allowed aiming anywhere but removed all recoils, allowing anybody with a minimal talent to use it effectively. They also brought a few grenade launchers. These two kinds of weapons allowed for quickly disabling large groups of enemies, although Harry wasn't sure if they could harm the trolls. Well, they had the anti-tank missiles for that.

"You should all keep practising," Remus told Harry the first evening, "although it should not be too tiring. You want your force agile and alert, able to dodge and to keep fighting for as long as it takes."

Hermione was quick to prepare training schedules that took into consideration the watch duties, the meals and everything else they needed to do.

"Can you move the wards at will?" Hermione asked.

"They are tied to the castle and needed to protect it, but they can be shrunk or expanded to some degree. Why do you ask?"

Hermione smiled. "I thought that if we move the layers somewhat farther apart, we may allow the ones in the back of the incoming force to pass the outer layer before the ones in the front reach the inner layer, not giving them any indication that it might become a trap. Once the last ones pass the boundary, we can start disabling them."

"I may also be able to move the layers closer to each other at that stage, forcing them to group, making better targets," Harry suggested.

"In that case, you may also squeeze them sideways, not allowing them on most of the perimeter, but only at our selected kill-zone."

"What will we do if he brings ward experts to dismantle the wards, though? As strong as they are, they're not infallible," Harry asked.

Hermione gave it a thought. "The house-elves can freely pass the wards, can't they? They can also stay invisible. They can take their wands or, in case they are just forced to do it and not willingly cooperating, take them away completely."

Harry smiled with some mischief. "We can also use them to disarm the worst of the enemy even before we start."

She smiled sadly. "That may work, I still don't like this whole situation, though. We're going to kill too many people and I can never be alright with killing."

He moved to her side and hugged her. "I don't like it either, but we were forced into this situation, where it's either kill or be killed. I hope you prefer surviving."

Her answer was a passionate and desperate kiss.

\/\/\/

It took Voldemort some time to be able to plan. Whenever he thought of whom he could count on, he was sorely reminded of the ones assassinated by unknown means or the ones who perished in the unexplained fire. He had lost his best and most motivated fighters, and that almost caused him to lose control of himself several times. He couldn't even enjoy the comfort that Nagini used to bring him. He knew he was in a bad situation and only killing Potter would get him somewhat out of it. He dared not even consider the other possibility.

With the werewolves unavailable during the full moon – nobody could possibly control them in beast form – and in very unpredictable moods the day before, he decided to move into position on Monday, a day before the expected duel. It wouldn't matter that the werewolves wouldn't be in shape after the transformation. They would still have more than a day to recuperate.

He wondered what happened to Snape. It was impossible to tamper with the Dark Mark – he'd made sure of it from the start, to prevent defection – so the only way Snape could disappear was if he died. But why would that man, one of the smartest servants he had, choose to disobey his orders? The man wasn't suicidal, as far as he could tell. Well, it didn't matter. He may have possibly left the wards as ordered, in which case they would just walk into the grounds leisurely, or he may have left them as is, that would require some work. He had a few ward breakers. They weren't the smartest, but as a group, they were more than good enough to undo the wards. They were unmarked, though. None of them had the guts to kill. He'd have them guarded.

He'd have the trolls and the werewolves come through the forbidden forest. He didn't need the Hogsmeade population made aware of them before the duel. He'd have some of his men control them. If the wards were still up, that could mean a battle, so another front was good tactics.

Then, once they gained control of the castle, he could come in, congratulate the fighters and punish those who failed to do their best. The punishment was actually the part he liked the most.

Of course, he would wait for Monday morning before giving the commands. No need to let the information leak beforehand.

Voldemort didn't notice the hidden house-elf that was listening attentively to all he was mumbling to himself. Once his plans were ready in his mind, the Dark Lord allowed himself some rest. As soon as he stretched himself on the bed, the house-elf vanished silently.

\/\/\/

"Some Death Eaters have just gone into the pub. Nobody but them goes to that pub lately," Winky informed the teens.

"The Dark One has gone to bed after finishing his plans to take Hogwarts on Monday, with the trolls and weres coming through the forbidden forest and the rest through the main gate, including some unmarked ward breakers," another house-elf brought his information.

"We may be able to reduce the forces of the enemy some more," Harry suggested.

"Whom will we take with us?" Hermione asked.

"I'm coming with you," Ted said as if it was the only option.

"I'm sorry, but so close to the full moon, my aim may not be good enough," Remus declined.

"Dean can use a shotgun and is almost as accurate as us," Hermione noted. "We should ask him."

"He'll join you gladly. May I come too?" Luna asked.

Harry gave it some consideration. "It may not be the best idea. You only know how to use a wand or a handgun, and your aim is not yet good enough for this kind of operation. I'd rather not put you at risk unnecessarily. A team of four is as large as we may need."

Luna nodded understandingly and went to fetch Dean.

Ten minutes later, all in black combat clothing, they reached their chosen positions. It was Dean's first time, and Ted stayed near him for support and cover.

The wait was long and cold. Luckily, it was dry, or they would have been even more miserable.

That feeling flew away the moment somebody opened the door of the pub. They forgot the cold and went into full alert. Winky pointed her laser at the man who left the pub as he stumbled towards Diagon Alley. A single shot made him fall. Winky moved the body to the hidden passage, vanished the bullet and the signs of blood and returned to her watch.

They were quite lucky. No group larger than four left the pub and each was quickly dealt with before the next came out. Dean proved his worth, not missing a single shot and not showing his emotions. When nobody left the pub for another half an hour, they decided to call it a night. Ted helped vanish the left sleeves of the bodies and Winky positioned them at Diagon Alley. Judging by the information gathered about the remaining Aurors, Ted was sure they won't be able to identify any magical signature.

They would all need to cuddle with their partners for quite long, after leaving about twenty cadavers behind them. Harry hoped Luna was up to comforting Dean. Despite his brave façade, he felt that the boy was on the brink of collapsing.

\/\/\/

Nobody dared bring the morning newspaper to Voldemort. Whoever did that was sure to meet his end. With so many removed, the Dark Army had already lost about a third of its wands. The Dark Lord would be furious, put mildly.

The one eventually sent was the one who had the least status – Draco Malfoy. It was his last action in the service of the Dark Lord. His last action, period. Voldemort blasted him to pieces as soon as he saw the news. Unknown to him, since his mother was Black, whatever the Malfoys still owned was automatically passed to Lord Black.

\/\/\/

Those staying at Hogwarts had a pleasant morning. None of the names mentioned in the news were any of their close relatives and the diminishing number of Death Eaters was considered a blessing. The only one still worried was Remus.

"Are you sure that room is well fortified? The beast has enormous power and could rip a door out in seconds," he asked Harry worriedly.

"It's a large room in the dungeons. We've put strengthening and cushioning charms on all the walls. The wood door was replaced by two steel doors with very secure locking, spelt resistant to magic. You'd be hard-pressed to open them even in your human form."

Remus sighed. "I hope you're right. I won't be able to live with myself if I harmed anybody."

"It will be alright." Both Potters patted his shoulders.

"Will we go hunting tonight, if we have a chance?" Ted asked Harry.

"Not likely. They should have already learned that we watch that area. Besides, I suppose they will be forbidden from leaving their camp tonight. That's what I would have done, at least. We all need a good rest to be ready for tomorrow. They're expected sometime during the late morning."

"Then we should make sure that everything is ready and everybody knows what to do."

Harry smiled approvingly at Ted. He couldn't help but feel some apprehension at the imminent battle.