I was bored so I cooked up this one. ;) No SS/HG in this one though, sorry.
In the future, if I have the time:
-The legendary siege of Lady Hermione at Grimmauld Castle
-The future of the House of Prince, with Lady Hermione Prince and Lord Severus Prince, incl. wedding, as requested by Worrywart (I really need to research medieval weddings for this, though. Medieval Europe isn't really my expertise)
-How the future Lady Hermione Granger first met her future husband, and their courtly love and interactions in the court of King Albus at Hogwarts Castle
-How Lady Lilie Potter got spurned and humiliated (several times)
-Some other medieval jobs in the wizarding world, as well as the lives of witches (an essay by Mr Rudbeckia Parkinson-Weasley for the A.D.W.U., year 2026, rejected because of blatant plagiarism)
A short introduction to Medieval warrior-wizards, adapted from lectures of Mistress Minerva McGonagall to young Lady Hermione Granger, omitting the dozens of interruptions and places where the pupil took over the lecture herself by reciting something she'd read from 'Historia Magi Militibus'.)
The knights are divided into four Orders: The Knights of Gryffindor, The Knights of Slytherin, The Knights of Ravenclaw and The Knights of Hufflepuff. Each Order has their special abilities and capabilities, but also their flaws. The very best knights from all four Orders can one day be granted membership in one of the two highest Orders: The Order of the Phoenix and The Order of Merlin, which is the highest class of knights. Both these High Orders accept knights from all four lower Orders based on their nobility of heart and achievements.
The Knights of Slytherin are strategists and can be very creative. They are usually cunning and their leaders allow them to improvise on battlefield, leading to better results than ordering them to charge upon the enemy in a wave. They can abandon their steeds in battle and fight on foot, dancing through battlefield if they deem it more appropriate. They can employ Dark magic in battle, something which is mostly shunned by all other Orders, and do not shy from being ruthless and cruel to achieve victory. They also employ archers from a distance. They are, however, often unwilling to attack first, and might even withdraw from battle if the victory seems uncertain.
The Knights of Gryffindor have a tendency to attack first and head on. They do not shy away from any battle, preferring to fight on top their large and angry steeds. They are usually the spear-head of any charge, attacking to break the enemy lines. They, however, need to commanded rigorously, and still have the tendency to disobey their commanders, which can cause them to be led to a trap. They are also easily provoked into attacking before they're supposed to. They admire courage and are extremely loyal to their comrades and cause, which sometimes can cause problems in the bigger scale of battle. Usually loud and boisterous, they do not always get along with The Knights of Slytherin, seeing their strategies as cowardly.
The Knights of Ravenclaw are engineers. While they do well in battle and wield very sophisticated and large-scale battle-spells, they are also usually in charge of any siege. They handle and build war-machinery, employing their crafting spells and twining it with Muggle technology, creating weapons such as ballistas and catapults that fling burning and acidic curses upon the enemy battlements and fighters, or hexes that can corrode stone into sand within hours. Sometimes, though, they tend to develop strategies too complicated, which tend to backfire, and can bicker in the heat of battle for the best strategy to employ. The Knights of Ravenclaw also have problems of listening to advice from the others, and the most complicated strategies are wasted when Knights of Gryffindor are in the field. The individual fighters are usually skilled with the widest range of battle-spells, some of which are difficult to counter. They also are trained in the largest array of healing spells.
The Knights of Hufflepuff best work in teams. While the other Orders often fight as individuals, The Knights of Hufflepuff have specialised in team-wielded battle-spells. They divide into groups that work together to a common goal by crafting and flinging very large spells, which affect large groups and objects instead of individual enemy fighters. A well-functioning and trained group of Knights of Hufflepuff can take out large battalions from the enemy lines. They are usually also in charge of rations, bringing food and water for the entire army, which is especially necessary for The Knights of Gryffindor, who'd deploy to battle with barely any food or water rations, not to mention changes of clothes, healing potions, extra armoury or weapons. In defensive battle they are at their best, creating what is called "the yellow and black line" which cannot be crossed. Without their group they are, however, quite weak. They are also very predictable in battle, often employing the same patterns of casting and sword-fighting over and over again.
In battle warrior-wizards use both their hands: they wield their wands with the dominant hand, leaving the other free for a sword. They spend countless hours from very young age to developing extra strength to their left hands, and though many prefer to use a potion before the biggest battles for extra strength, they need rigorous practice to gain the necessary strength.
The sword of a warrior-wizard is short compared to the long broadswords wielded by many Muggle knights. Short and sturdy, crafted from special metal and forged with spells to reinforce them, they're both a weapon and a shield, built to withstand enemy spellfire and work as conduit for magic: a skilled warrior-wizard can charge his sword with a bit of magic and then cast momentarily with both his sword and his wand.
The battle-armour is quite heavy, although nowhere near as heavy as its Muggle counterpart. The armoury is reinforced with specialised spells and charms for protection against impacts and for mobility. The Knights of Gryffindor tend to wear the heaviest armour, while the Knights of Slytherin opt for the most mobile armour, preferring the ability to move fast and quietly. The Knights of Slytherin are, in fact, said to recite secret spells of their own Order upon their armour, which enable them to move more quietly than anyone else. The armoury is topped by a tabard and cloak in the sacred colours of the Orders: Gryffindor colours are red and gold, the Slytherins wear green and silver, Ravenclaw colours are blue and bronze, and The Knights of Hufflepuff wear black and yellow. The same colours are reflected in the banners and flags of the knights, as well as in the fabrics worn by their steeds. The colours help the commanders to distinguish different Orders in the battlefield from a distance.
All warrior-wizards begin their training from a very early age. They learn battle-spells from the age of eleven, but before that they're training with pre-charged magical swords and wands that fire pre-loaded stunning and sword-charging spells. Their training is very physical. They also learn to handle and care for horses and their armoury. Jousting is good practice for the older warrior-wizards: the lances are reinforced with magic, but instead of using a shield with their lance like Muggle knights do, the warrior-wizards use their wands to divert the impact. This can cause some rather spectacular results. Some use Abraxans for aerial jousting.
Though handling horses (and, to lesser extent, Abraxans) is considered one of the most important aspects of training young warriors-to-be, and all knights knew how to ride, horses are not necessarily used on all missions due to problems in transportation. While large groups of warriors with their weaponry and supplies can be moved with relative ease with Portkeys, horses can easily break their legs from the violent jolts, and they tend to panic from both the use of both Portkeys and Apparition. Training a wizard to Apparate with a horse can take a lot of training, and training a horse to remain calm through the process can take even more: usually calming potions are used, but they tend to leave the animals lethargic for long periods of time. All knights are therefore trained to fight on foot, and the Knights of Hufflepuff, for example, prefer to enter to fight on foot instead of horseback.
The trainers also teach the young warrior-wizards some basic healing spells and how to employ the basic healing potions. The groups are trained to move in controlled group for travel, for the armies need to be covered by specialised groups of sorcerers who use their magic to shield and hide the travelling armies of wizards. These so-called Covering-Wizards also employ some extremely talented witches in their ranks: while witches are generally house-makers, wives and mothers, potioneers, herbologists and healers, hiding a a large moving often loud group of wizards and beasts requires very specialised magic and high power...
Lady Granger, will you please stop waving your hand in the air?!
