While Hermione and Ron were keeping an eye on Harry to make sure that he didn't overdo things while catching up on the decades of paperwork that had piled up without the presence of a Commander, their parents met in the ship's mess to discuss several matters. "Something tells me you know more than we do." Mr Granger remarked to the Weasleys.

Mr Weasley sighed. "I wish I could say that we had answers, but I fear we just have more questions," he remarked.

Behind the Grangers, a voice spoke up. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

They all turned to face the voice and saw Hood. "I spent a lot of time with Commander Potter over the summer and he told me a great deal about his adventures at Hogwarts and showed me the memories in our Pensieve."

Mr Granger shrugged, figuring they might as well. "Why don't we start with Halloween?" he remarked.

At the other's nods, Hood raised an eyebrow, "Which Incident are you referring to? The Troll? The Chamber of Secrets? The Black Matter? Or are you referring to this fine mess?"

The parents looked at each other in shock and horror. "Umm… all of them?" Mr Weasley finally said.

Hood sighed and sat down. "Well, let's start at the beginning then…"

Akagi stalked her target stealthily. Considering he was a werewolf, she was pleased with herself for being able to fool his nose. So confident was she that when he entered a side alley, she didn't think anything about it until she made to pass by it before she was roughly yanked into it and a wand was pressed against her neck. "I appreciate people being forward with me. Part of that is not shadowing me for nearly two miles."

Akagi flushed but kept her voice steady, just. "We were under the impression that you would want to help Harry Potter, Mr Lupin."

Remus growled. "And what would you be doing to help Harry?"

Akagi grabbed his arm and apparated, the end result being that she now had to contend with a knife being pointed at her throat. A deep sigh came from across the room. "Akagi… god dammit…"

Remus spun his head so fast that Harry was concerned about the whiplash effect. "Harry? How?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed. "Long story Remus," he replied before gesturing to another person. "Yorktown? Could you see to his needs? I'm sure the Grangers will be thrilled to meet him."

Yorktown bowed her head and gestured Remus to the door, before the door had fully shut, they could hear Harry launch into Akagi. Even when the door was fully shut, his anger was still quite plain to hear. "I take it that was unexpected." Remus drolly commented.

Yorktown sighed. "Akagi was supposed to convince you to come up, preferably with Mr Black, not abduct you," she replied. "She has a habit of finding… alternate meanings to her instructions. And while she is often able to use this to great effect, situations like this lead us to often be exasperated with her."

Remus chuckled. "There's always one," he murmured. He then turned to her. "You call her Akagi? And you are called Yorktown?" he asked.

Yorktown nodded, "I take it you are familiar with our steel counterparts?"

Remus rubbed his chin. "Akagi I am familiar with, I am a student of history after all, and I did some studies in Japan," he replied. "You on the other hand… which Yorktown are you the counterpart to?"

Yorktown let a small smile grace her features. "I was the lead ship of my class, my sister Enterprise was the most decorated ship in the American navy during the war," she replied before her smile slipped. "We have been… imprinted with the memories and spirit of our steel counterparts. We've memories of battles we've never fought all while having our own."

Remus bowed his head. "I'm sorry." he whispered, knowing she would understand what he was saying.

Yorktown hummed, knowing what he was referring to, but said nothing.

Harry laid his glasses to the side and rubbed his face. "Urgh. I feel like McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape just assigned three feet each due tomorrow and I've not done an inch."

Hermione grimaced and Ron laid his head on the table. They had done what they could, but there was only so much they understood. When Harry stared at one spot for a time, they wondered what was going on in his mind, only for him to speak. "Sheffield, I want you to contact Port and send for Amagi, Zuikaku, Prinz Eugen, and Dreadnought. Something tells me we'll want all the big guns, so to speak."

The clicking of heels and the quiet: "Yes Commander." stopped Hermione and Ron from questioning if he had cracked. Instead, Hermione asked: "Harry? How did you know she was there?"

Harry grimaced, "There's always been one of the Royal Maids Corp nearby no matter where I am. They take their service very seriously."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "Royal Maid Corp? You mean they're organised into a group of some kind?" he asked.

Harry laughed mirthlessly. "That's putting it mildly Ron," he remarked. "There are so many groupings and sub-groupings I can't keep them all straight. But suffice to say that the RMC are Super-Spies with none of the glitz and glam, just results."

Hermione then cocked her head. "And the ones you asked Sheffield for?"

Harry sighed and rubbed his brow. "It is difficult to explain them, but suffice to say that when it comes to combat prowess and sheer willpower, very few can match them," he replied before leaning back into his bed. "Dreadnought fighting obsolescence, Eugen would throw herself into battles where she would take a punishing amount of damage if it meant that more survived, Zuikaku would take on impossible odds and win all for very long stints in the infirmary, while Amagi fought her own body's failing health while fighting in War," he explained. "If battle must fall, as I fear it will, I want to stack the deck in my favour."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in concern, but understanding. Though it was odd for a teenager to have to think in terms of battle and war, for Harry, it was just another day.

The following morning, the first shot of the war was fired. Not a shell or bomb or even spell, but by newspaper, or what passed as a newspaper in magical Britain. Harry laid the copy of the Daily Prophet down upon his lap and looked at everyone in the room. The front-page headline of "Boy-Who-Lived declares war on Hogwarts" was enough to get anyone with half a brain certain ideas. "I thought we planned for this. What happened?" he asked.

Enterprise huffed, "We weren't even shown the courtesy of a cup of tea before being thrown out of the building. Not even Akagi trying to do her thing worked."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Akagi's seduction failed? That's a shock, but what about this story that did get into the paper?"

Hood sighed. "Dumbledore was seen entering the Prophet's offices yesterday, it's likely that is the cause of the story. Some basic facts with the Prophet's usual liberal grasp upon the truth."

Harry rubbed his face as the Grangers and Weasleys all tried to come up with something. Eventually, Harry spoke. "Time for Plan F." he muttered.

Everyone raised an eyebrow, but it was Hood who asked the all-important question: "What's Plan F, Commander?"

Harry laughed mirthlessly. "Fucking Wing It," he replied. "Most of my adventures have fallen under Plan F."

Hermione's mind was spinning about a million miles an hour so she didn't bother chiding Harry for his language. When she did speak, everyone looked at her. "For now, we let them make the first move. Gather the Fleet and keep them aboard, but the moment that the Ministry makes a hostile move against us, deploy them and make it clear that if they want a Shooting War, we'll end it, but they'll start it."

Harry looked at her before nodding. "Sheffield. See to it." he ordered.

Sheffield nodded then left the room in silence. No one say anything for a while before Hermione spoke again. "Fate. It protects Fools, Children, and ships named Enterprise." she quoted before looking to the shipgirl in question. "How quickly are you able to deploy? We'll need cover to deploy the fleet and an airstrike, real or fake, will likely do it."

Enterprise blinked before answering the girl. "I can have a squadron in the air in about ten seconds. As can most of the carriers in the fleet."

Hermione nodded, crossing her arms and rubbing her chin. "How many carriers?"

This time, Harry spoke up. "About dozen. Any more and I'd be leaving critical bases under-defended and I'd rather not get chewed out for that."

Hermione nodded before shutting her eyes. "Could Ron and I speak with Harry? Alone."

Arthur, Dan and Emma stood to leave, as did the Kansen, but when Molly and Remus made to protest, Harry cut them off. "While you're out of the room, coordinate with Hood and Belfast to get Fred, George and Ginny out of the castle. With Dumbledore seemingly against us, I don't want them in the hands of the enemy as it were."

With Molly and Remus distracted, and Hood giving him a nod, the room was soon clear, leaving only the three friends. "Every damn year." Harry muttered.

Hermione laughed mirthlessly. "Next year ought to be calmer than this." she mused. When Harry and Ron looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head, she raised a finger. "Well, we shouldn't be at war next year."

Ron groaned. "Fair point." he conceded. Then he looked to Harry. "This is by far the most dangerous thing we've done yet. If we survive this, we can survive anything."

Harry didn't say anything before he gestured to the nightstand beside him. "Could one of you open the drawer and hand me the box in it?' he whispered.

Puzzled by the request, Ron opened the draw and pulled out the small, but weighty, box in it. After Harry opened it, he seemed to deliberate for a while before seeming to come to a decision. "Ron, I know your talents in chess are second to none, coupled with Hermione's powers of logical and deductive reasoning, you two are practically unstoppable. I'm granting you both commissions in Project: Azur Lane for those reasons, and that I can't keep secrets from the two of you."

Hermione snorted. "Managed to keep Azur Lane a secret for the past couple of months." she countered.

Harry winced. "Well… schoolwork tends to distract from super-secret naval projects," he replied before pulling out two strips of cloth. "In any case, I'm naming you both Lieutenant-Commanders in the Royal Navy, effective in Azur Lane." he said before pausing again, hesitant.

Hermione picked up on his hesitancy as she and Ron took their insignias. "What is it Harry?" she asked softly.

Ron also looked at their friend in concern and he sighed. "It was suggested to me by… a superior, let's say, that I should update certain documents in the event of things turning pear-shaped," he revealed. "Especially after we discovered a degree of meddling by the Headmaster." he continued before looking down. "Part of those discussions had me learn of my true heritage as a Potter and secure its future."

Hermione blinked and Ron cocked his head, both completely confused by the tone he was taking. "The two of you will get equal parts of the estate should… the worst happens." Harry finished.

Hermione shut her eyes and took several deep breaths before speaking. "Let us not worry about things like that. It will only lead to anxiety and sleepless nights."

Ron nodded gravely, "Agreed." he said thickly.

Harry paused but nodded. "Very well…" he whispered. A potent pause filled the air between them before Harry spoke. "Well… once more unto the breach my friends. Let us hope that Fate protects us children, and considers Dumbledore not to be a Fool."

Sheffield was, unfortunately, proving that Dumbledore was quite a fool. She kept to the shadows as she moved through the castle. She had decided to deliver a personal message to the Headmaster, one that he wouldn't be able to anticipate.

Or that had been her plan. But, as Harry told Vestal, the "Potter Effect" seemed to be in full swing as she encountered three students together bearing a resemblance to the boy they had brought along. "I don't know what more can be done Fred," one of the boys said. "McGonagall can't protect us and Dumbledore doesn't seem to want to protect us."

Fred grimaced. "I know George," he replied before rubbing his chin. "And there's only so much stock that we have that might be effective and considering Hogwarts' track record, we can't cast to protect ourselves."

The girl spoke up. "Do you think that we can escape? Make our way to Ron?"

At first, Sheffield was content enough to let them make their way to the lake, but then one of the boys spoke. "I doubt we could get more than a foot out of the castle before Dumbledore would be hot on our heels to "keep us safe" as he puts it," he said, practically spitting what he thought Dumbledore would say.

Sheffield acted quickly and revealed herself to the group. "Come quickly. Do not worry about your things, I'll handle that after we get you aboard," she whispered.

The group jumped but followed her. To their amazement, they seemed to be invisible to teachers and students, even McGonagall didn't seem to see them. "What in Merlin's name…" one of the boys trailed off.

Sheffield smirked. "Kansen Magic, it's useful if you don't want to be seen, or make a large entrance," she replied simply.

Fred and George filed it away for later investigation and they were soon aboard Hood and making their way to the mess hall. Their entrance nearly went unnoticed if not for Hood turning to face them. "Sheffield. I'm glad you've returned, and with the Weasley children as well. Perhaps they can shed some light upon this letter that has perplexed their parents."

Quick exchanges were had between children and parents and they sat and read the letter:

Dear Mum and Dad,

It's looking like I'll be home for the holidays and I have business in Scotland in November overseeing some of our stock. There's supposed to be a transfer of some of our property for a time, but I'm sure everything will go fine. Especially since Ron, the Twins and Ginny are too young to be around it.

-Lovingly

Charlie

George was the first to speak up. And what he said did little to calm anyone's nerves. "Oh dear…"

Sheffield turned a questioning look to the boy. "What do you mean?" she asked.

George looked at Fred and the other twin grew pale. "I doubt Hagrid will be looking after any of the Dragons here, so that leaves the question: what does Harry have to do with a Dragon as an obstacle?"

Ginny pursed her lips. "Retrieve something would be my guess, what with the line about a "transfer of property" and such," she commented.

Sheffield clenched her fist by her side, going unnoticed by all except by Hood who said nothing about it. Instead, Hood grimly said: "Then, as soon as he is healed, we need to prepare him for dealing with a dragon."

Everyone nodded and they began brainstorming ideas, hoping that at least one of their ideas would work.