Chapter 28

Harry

I didn't want to go to the feast, but Sirius and Lupin both insisted and pointed out that the one person that was bound to be noticed as missing was me. I would have rather had just hung around with Sirius as I hadn't had much time over the summer with him, just those last few days at Grimmould, and there was something about being outdoors, just hanging around, without a worry in the world that was just nice. London felt like a prison. Sirius said that he and Lupin wished to discuss Hazel's offer and promised to be there when I returned. I guess the thing is that since I never knew my dad, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin were the closest people to being my father as I had, and of them, Sirius had the closest connection to my parents.

Speaking of parents, Neville and Reyna got his folks situated in quarters in the mansion before joining us at the feast and the rest of us went on.

The big announcement was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, and as Lupin wasn't going to the feast that could only mean Alastor Moody would be it. He was supposed to have taught us the year before, but instead had been kidnaped and replaced by Barty Crouch Jr. If he taught like Crouch did while imitating him then it would be an interesting year. Hermione didn't think it would be Moody as the Ministry would want another lacky they could control or thought they could control like Umbridge, but really, Moody was the only one available. I looked forward to learning from him as his experiences would, I thought, align well with the American training. He clearly was aggressive in hunting down dark wizards and witches.

As I walked into the dining hall I stopped by Cho and asked if she could meet me in the commons after the feast as I needed to talk to her. Of course this brought a chorus of "ooohs" and "aahhs" from her friends, and then she told me she already had a date for the formal.

"Oh, no, no, its, its well something else, won't take long." I smiled as she agreed.

Everyone else got their people easier. Ginny invited Luna, Ron got Seamus, who was coming around nicely to no longer believing what was said about me in the papers, and Hermione started to get the Weasley twins but they were cutting up so much that Piper simply commanded them to be there.

We got seated just as Dumbledore took to the podium to signal the start of the feast. He made a few mundane announcements, that next Saturday would be a Hogsmeade outing day, that students were to avoid the dark forest for the time being until Hagrid had dealt with a giant tick problem there, and finally to welcome our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Instructor.

We were listening now, waiting for Dumbledore to confirm Moody as we all thought.

"It is not easy to find a person to fill this position. Year after year we have seen professors come and go, none lasting more than a year. Last year, Professor Moody wasn't able to teach at all, and this year his duties to the Ministry prevent him from the role. Still, there is one person with the courage to step up and take on the challenge of Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, and I am proud to say when I taught her she had the highest scores on both OWLs and NEWTs we had ever seen at that time. Molly Weasley will be an excellent addition to our faculty and I know you will all welcome her. Professor Weasley?" he said, offering Molly a chance to speak.

Annabeth leaped up and applauded and was soon followed by the rest of America House, and then slowly Gryffindor. We were stunned, but Ginny, Ron, Fred and George were absolutely gob-smacked.

"You might as well sit down Miss Chase, there will be no favoritism shown here." She said. "I agreed to teach on the condition that I could teach in my way, the spells I believe you will need to defend yourselves. It is my job to provide and explain the material. It will be your job to learn it, all of it, and learn it well. If you fail at your job, you will fail my class. This should be understood by all. Other than that, it is an honor to teach at Hogwarts and I look forward to meeting and learning a bit about you all." Molly said, before she sat down to silence. Frankly we were all afraid to even give the courtesy applause at the end of her words for fear of losing House Cup points for looking like suck ups.

Dinner was, to say the least, a reserved, quiet affair. Ron, Ginny and the twins were inconsolable. It wasn't that they didn't love their mother, they certainly did, and I think they were likewise proud she was selected. Its just that having a mother on staff would make their lives, complicated.

"She barely uses magic anymore, and clearly doesn't want us trained" Ginny said. "Why would she take the position?"

"Hey guys, give her a shot. She might be alright. If not, we have Nico." Percy said with a wicked grin.

"NO! No no no!" Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione all said at once.

After dinner we rushed back to the commons, well, Ginny gathered up Luna who had a million questions, all of which were left unanswered, until we returned to the Leodis. Mrs Weasley came in to see Arthur off, then decided to inspect her classroom and meet with Professor Dumbledore before going to bed for the night. Jennifer offered her a room, which she began to decline then remembered that her Professor's Chambers was currently lined with decorative plates with cat pictures on them, and agreed to stay for just the night. All the Weasleys were on eggshells about this.

"Annabeth!" Mrs Weasley said as she was about to leave.

"Yes professor?"

"I hope you understand why I singled you out at the feast. I have four, well really six children in Gryffindor, and America House is clearly just an extension of it, or perhaps Gryffindor is an extension of America House these days... either way, I can show no favoritism. What I said earlier about being anxious to start working with you? I do mean it. I think together we can whip these kids into shape."

"I understand. I should have been more reserved, but I was just so happy you would be joining us. I know we are going to have the best trained team anywhere by Christmas!" Annabeth said, then out of the blue hugged Mrs Weasley.

"Oh stop, or I'll start feeling like I have seven children here."

"Well if you would consider adopting Percy, I do feel he needs some adult supervision!" Annabeth laughed.

It would be the last time any of us laughed for weeks with Mrs Weasley present.

Hazel gathered everyone in the main study room. None of the Order were there, although Lupin and Sirius were still on the premises waiting to talk once the meeting was over with the new folks, or DA2 as we were now calling them.

"First, each of you is here because someone trusted you and vouched for your faithfulness. What you are about to hear is to be kept in the utmost privacy. You cannot discuss it with anyone who is not here. Do you agree?"

All of the newbies nodded, most still stunned by their surroundings.

"Good, so, as some of you may have heard our school being flooded to the point of being destroyed so that we had to find a school to allow us in until it is rebuilt. That is generally what you might call rubbish. We, the American House, are here to assist in what is believed to be a coming wizarding war. Prayers were made to the goddess Hecate, and we were sent. Our job is to both fight Voldemort and his followers, as well as train you guys so that you have the skills you need to survive. You may have heard we have dispatched Death Eaters and dementors already. The stories are true, Luna observed part of it, maybe some of the rest of you did too. We will continue to, and will be working with the Order of the Phoenix to organize forces to confront the darkness that is rising."

"Make no mistake, as we say in America, this isn't our first rodeo. Some of us have been in two magic wars against superior opponents already, and all of us have been in at least one. We come from two disciplines, one that favors individual combat skills or at best pairs or small groups, the other is geared towards mass combat. Over the last year we have merged our skills and we want you to learn them. We practice here, at a practice facility just through those doors, and we work with spells and magical weapons. Mostly these are swords, although ultimately you will learn spears and archery. You will learn to fight as we do, with both swords and wands. You will learn to fight as individuals and as a group, and you will learn to survive. You will learn to face overwhelming odds and when it feels like all is against you, you will learn the courage to attack without mercy, and to expect none in return. Is this something you're interested in? If so, please introduce yourself and tell us why."

"Uh, I'm George. George Weasley. This is my brother Fred. We're Ginny and Ron's brothers. We saw the fight at the train, and heard about the dementors attacking Harry and one of you guys killing them. Sounds wicked. We're in." He smiled.

"Wicked?" Hazel asked.

"It means really cool." Frank said.

"Oh. Okay."

"George and Fred have a talent for pyrotechnics and explosive devices, actually , Seamus tends to blow things up a lot too." Ron said helpfully.

"After my own heart" Leo said, grinning manically and pounding a fist against his chest, although he had heard this previously.

"I'm Seamus. I didn't know what to think about Cedric dying and Voldemort being back, I mean the Prophet said... well, the thing is Harry has never lied to me before and I don't think he is now. If a fight is coming, I want to fight with the best. I saw the train fight too. Never saw anything like it before. If you can teach me that, I'm in."

"I'm Cho, Cho Chang. Cedric was my boyfriend. I believe Harry. I've heard about your fights, I saw Percy crash and you heal him. I want to help. I'm, well I'm average with my wand, but I want to learn."

"And I'm Luna. Harry told the truth, and when the war comes I'd like to be able to defend myself and fight. I don't know anything about fighting though."

"Each of you has perfectly valid reasons to be here, and we want you all. The reason we started with what we call DA1 though, is they were already a tight group of friends, loyal and trusting of each other, just as many of you are. You must develop that same trust with all of your team mates, as well as those on DA1 and any that join us after today. You must know that when you are covering a 60 degree fire zone ahead of you that the person on your right and left are covering the same so that no one can attack you from the side. This takes time and practice. We have great facilities for practice, but we do not know how much time we have. Voldemort has sent his minions twice. He won't give up, you must work hard to get ready. Now, if my team would introduce themselves."

The Americans went around the table giving pretty much the same introductions they had given us a few days before, then Annabeth gathered everyone up for a little light sword work in the yard. Ron got paired against the twins and after only a few days training soundly defeated them several times. Ginny took on Cho, with the same results, in fact all the DA2 were beaten badly. This was a great ego boost to DA1, and showed us all that the training was having positive results. Annabeth began teaching DA2 individually as she had us, while Percy and Jason taught advanced blade work to DA1.

A couple of exhausting hours later we broke for rest and dress selection just as Molly returned. The girls took off, with Mrs Weasley, to do their dress thing. I decided to find Lupin and Sirius, with Percy, Jason and Frank joining us. Leo was working on something and whenever that happened it seemed best just to stay out of his way.

"Hey Leo, any idea where Lupin and Sirius are?" Percy shouted.

"Yeah, over by the quidditch pitch, thats where we're building.. Hey, that reminds me, Percy could you help out a bit?"

"Sure, what do you need me to do?"

"Come on, I'll show you.

We arrived at a couple of what appeared to adobe houses from the American west that seemed to be building themselves. Beside them was a large depression, thirty or forty acres in size.

"Forgive us friends, when Leo proposed to build us residences here so to train you, well..." Lupin said.

"I've always wanted to be a cowboy." Sirius grinned.

It warmed me all over to see him happy.

"So what's with the hole?" Jason asked.

"Right, see the thing is, I've been wanting to put in a bass or trout pond, but I can't, you know... uh."

"Create enough water?"

"Right, or command fish." Leo said.

"I'm not sure where we will get the fish, but the water is no problem." Percy said as he aimed his wand towards the middle of the depression and brought forth a torrent like a dam had burst.

"Good lord!" An awe struck Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah, pretty amazing isn't it? I just taught him that spell." Ron shouted over the roar of the water.

"Hey about the fish, Harry did you say there were mermaids in the lake?" Percy yelled, not paying attention at all to his spell, which never the less showed no signs of faltering.

"Yes, but I don't think they will help you. They are... well they are sort of evil I think." I shouted back.

"I'll try to talk to them tomorrow Leo, they will probably give me a few buckets of fingerlings and some lake water to get it started. Do you think Neville can help with some plants?" Percy asked.

"Well, if anyone could, yes." Ron answered. "Seriously though, last year Dumbledore made an agreement with the mermaids, without that no one should go into the lake."

"You know how Nico has a way with ghosts? I have a way with mermaids." Percy said, then added, "It will be alright."

It was about then that the pond was full and we all walked to the edge of it. The water splashed back and forth violently from the force of its arrival, but Percy held a hand out and in a moment it calmed.

"Amazing." Lupin said.

"Not really, all my brothers and sisters can do that. We've always been good with water. So, tell me your thoughts on the war. You two seem the most experienced." Percy said as he sat at waters edge and we all joined him.

"Well..." Sirius began, "You must understand that although it may seem like we disagree, Remus and I generally have the same opinions, except where Harry and your students are involved, but even then we both feel they should be ready to fight. I just expect them to and Remus hopes it won't be necessary."

"I fear you are closer to right."

"Well yes, so do I. We've talked a bit this evening about something Harry mentioned to me earlier. We agree that the most likely place for Voldemort's next attack will be the quidditch match. Its the sort of large public display of might he favors."

"So my friend Sirius says. While its true I generally agree, I'm not convinced he won't make a smaller scale try at Harry next week at Hogsmeade." Professor Lupin said.

"Yeah, Frank kicked around both of those ideas when he saw what the castle protections don't cover, and we will want to be ready just in case, but I've put some thought into this and if I were him, that wouldn't be my next attack, although I would hit both in the future."

"Really? Why is that?" Sirius asked. It was interesting that both were giving a great amount of respect and deference to Percy.

"Well, since we arrived, we've killed, what? Nine of them? And banished two more. Of those we know a couple were major supporters and one was a mercenary last minute hire. Since he is resorting to last minute mercenary hires, he must be just about out of major supporters, and that makes sense. Its known that he had about thirty central followers, right? Of those ten or so died in the war, while another ten or so are in prison. Of the rest, we've killed probably four or five at least, and then there are the ones no longer loyal."

"Like Snape." Lupin said.

"Exactly. Probably a few others. The thing is, an attack at the quidditch match would require a lot of people for it to be of any impression, and he could get the mercenaries to do it, he probably doesn't have the leader types right now to command those mercenaries. An attack at Hogsmeade would work about like this mornings, poorly. He is just about out of competent lieutenants."

"So you think his next attack will be where exactly?" Sirius asked.

"Azkaban. That's the quickest way for him to recoup his numbers, and he needs to do that before he sends anymore of them for us to kill."

Everyone got quiet as they contemplated what Percy said.

"Remus, I think you should alert Kingsley." Sirius finally said. "Percy... well it just makes sense doesn't it?"

"I think so. Its what I would do. I just hate we didn't develop better intelligence off the memories of the prisoners this morning."