Great Hall

The press was waiting as Harry and Neville entered. The reporters tried to swarm the duo, having heard rumours that they had turned the tide of the battle but Moody had prepared for this occurrence. A group of 10 Aurors kept the reporters at bay while Harry and Neville joined their friends at the Gryffindor table.

"Alright", growled Alastor Moody, "If yer want to attend this press conference, you'll have to behave like sensible wizards and witches or my Aurors will take you into custody for causing a nuisance. This has been a hard day for us and we would appreciate some order."

Knowing that Alastor Moody would not hesitate to do exactly as he had promised, they immediately settled down and took their seats at the table in the centre of the Great Hall which had been set up for them. After the disturbance from the members of the press quieted down, Frank stood and all conversation stopped, "This evening, a contingent of death eaters, under command of some foreign wizards who have joined them, attacked Hogsmead. Since it was a weekend, the students were out in great numbers and the death eaters attempted to take them hostage. It is assumed that they intended to keep the children hostage and force the ministry to do their bidding. There has also been some speculations that their intention was to hurt us by killing as many of our children as they could.

What they did not count upon was the students resisting them and fighting back. Under the leadership of some unnamed students, the students fought back, saving a lot of lives. Tragically, many gave their lives defending their fellow students. They kept the death eaters at bay until help arrived. Their bravery and sacrifice was not in vain. The defence they mounted was timely, well-coordinated and effective.

We have been informed that Heir Longbottom and Lord Peverell assisted the students in evacuating the non-combatants while fighting with the death eaters. At length, the death eaters were defeated and a few of them were able to run away. We will take your questions now."

One of them stood up, "For the Daily Bugle from France, what will the ministry do now, General?"

"The ministry has ordered the Aurors to use lethal force. They are fully authorized to kill any death eaters who are participating in a raid, battle or ambush."

Another stood up, "For the Teen Witch Weekly, General. It has come to our knowledge that the defenders used lethal force against the death eaters and even killed them. What is the ministry planning to do about that?"

Frank's visage turned grim, "Your sources are wrong. None of the students deliberately caused any death or used any dark spell. Every such action of theirs was in self-defence. Any allegation of murder regarding them is wrong and baseless with the only exception of Lord Peverell. However he was issued a Hit Wizard license when Voldemort stepped out into the open in consideration of the threat posed to him by the death eaters and Voldemort himself. The same consideration has been extended to a few more civilians considering the help that they render to the ministry and their precarious position."

Another stood up, "The Magical Statesmen, General. What do you have to say about the members of the infamous Order of the Snow Leopard? There is no information about them."

"First, let me assure you that the actions of that order have been 100% in the public interest. Their actions are monitored by select members of my senior staff to ensure that this continues to be the case. Their identities are a war secret, classified under the Official Secrets Act."

"For the Daily Prophet, General. It is speculated that the members of this Order are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

"Speculate away. The ministry does not confirm or deny the speculations."

With that, the General's briefing was over. As the members of the press began to talk among themselves, Harry stood at his place with his voice magically magnified, "General with your leave, I wish to address the press."

The General nodded and Harry walked up to the staff table, "If you all would, please take a message for me."

When they all appeared eager to hear whatever the boy-who-lived had to say, he started speaking, "TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS HAVE PLAGUED US LONG ENOUGH. I WILL NO LONGER STAND BY WHILE YOU TORTURE, MURDER AND PLUNDER THE INNOCENT WHO WILL NOT BOW TO YOUR WILL OR FURTHER YOUR AMBITIONS. FROM THIS MOMENT, I LORD HAROLD JAMES PEVERELL-POTTER-BLACK-ROSIER-WEBER DECLARE A BLOOD WAR ON YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS. YOU, YOUR DEATH EATERS, ANYONE WHO TAKES YOUR MARK AND ANYONE WHO ENTERS INTO YOUR SERVICE IS MY SWORN ENEMY FROM THIS MOMENT. I WILL SHOW NO MERCY. I WILL GIVE NO QUARTER. I WILL NOT REST UNTIL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HAS BEEN PUT DOWN AS THE VENOMOUS VERMIN THAT YOU ARE. SO I SAY SO MOTE IT BE."

A surge of power jumped from Harry to every student who was a vassal of any of his houses. At some level, they all understood that they were just as bound by this oath as Harry.

Pandemonium broke out in the Great Hall with his declaration. There had been a number of blood feuds over the centuries and they were common and destructive enough, but limited in scope. A formal apology and reasonable terms could end one of those quickly. But there hadn't been a blood war since the era of the Romans. What's more was that Harry had not allowed for any terms of settlement or surrender. Only total destruction of one or both sides would end this war and Harry had magically bound all of his houses and vassals with that same oath. People were cheering but it was doubtful that many in the room understood the scope of what the war mage had just done. A careful observer would have noticed that Dumbledore was not very enthusiastic with his cheering and that Snape was absent. This declaration formally made Harry the leader of the light faction surpassing even the General and the Headmaster.

As his declaration ended, a figure at the Gryffindor table stood and raised his wand with the tip- lighted green pledging his support to Lord Peverell in this blood war. Neville Longbottom was shortly joined by Ron and Hermione and others too joined in. Within a minute, more than half of the Great Hall had their wands up and their green tips illuminating the enchanted roof but that was not the end of it. The ministry led by the General soon followed with Frank being the first to raise his wand to pledge his support. Soon every other ministry worker and Auror present in the Great Hall had raised his wand.

Harsh was sitting in an obscure corner under an invisibility cloak. He sighed deeply and nodded his approval. Harsh was no stranger to war, death and destruction. He knew too well what was coming next. But he also knew that evil had to be stopped and far too often, this was the only way. The final war had started and the wizarding Britain has chosen its leader.

Headmaster's office

Albus was in his office with the leader of the Mystics and a few other senior members of the ministry. There was something that had been bothering him and he wanted to ask. "Harsh, can you tell us what prompted you to come after the battle was over? Can you explain what we saw when Harry went berserk? I mean, we've never seen anything quite like that."

The mystic took his time before he started speaking, "You must understand that I cannot explain everything, Albus, You must be content with what I can say. Miss Greengrass was fated to die in that battle. When Miss Bones threw herself in front of that spell, her unselfish act of heroism changed that fate. Sadly, she will have to pay the price. There will be consequences."

Amelia asked him sharply, "Please explain what you mean by that?"

Harsh said grimly, "The curse she was hit with is a curse which eats at the magical core of a person. What is the most horrible thing about this curse is that it can never be fully abated. There is no counter to it. What I was able to do today has only postponed it. It is still working but at a very slow pace. A few years down the line when it finishes its spread, it will cause the destruction."

Amelia apprehensively asked, "Do you mean …"

He nodded in answer to her unasked question, "I wish there was something I could do, Amelia. But alas, the bitter truth is that it will eventually take effect."

Frank asked him, "Then why delay the inevitable? I mean I am really glad but wouldn't it cause her more agony and pain later?"

Harsh replied after a few moments of thinking the best way to answer, "It will not cause any more agony or pain to her than it would have caused otherwise but it will certainly hurt the Young Lord. We delay it because otherwise your champion will become useless. Without her, he will lose the will to carry on and fight. He fights for a future with her where he will have a happy family. And her stars say that she will help two families extend further before her eventual…"

The rest was left unsaid.

The next day, Great Hall

The headline on the front page of The Daily Prophet screamed:

"DEATH EATERS ATTACK HOGSMEAD!

With the largest force committed to a single attack since the return of You-Know-Who, death eater forces attacked Hogsmead yesterday. Students from the nearby Hogwarts School were in the village enjoying their Valentine's Day when the attack on the unsuspecting village began. Their objectives were to attack businesses and kill as many students as they could before help could arrive and force their retreat.

The ministry and the Aurors remain firmly tight-lipped about the entire situation. However this reporter was able to gather these accounts from a handful of people who were willing to talk:

'There were maybe a hundred of them, those death eaters. They moved out in squads, taking over businesses and killing as they went. They laid down wards so that nobody could get in or out. They took over the whole village before we even knew what was happening. They set up in the shops, holding students hostage.

They didn't seem to expect any resistance. I mean, they must have known there were Aurors stationed here, but that didn't seem to concern them. I'm sure they didn't expect the students to do anything. They didn't even bother to disarm them. I suppose they were waiting for some signal that the village was secure before they started to execute the hostages.

Well sir, the young ones weren't standing still for that. I heard that it started in The Three Broomsticks. Next thing the death eaters knew, three of them were down and the last guy in the squad ran for it. I'll tell you, it did my old heart good to see the looks on their faces when it dawned on them that the students, the students mind you, were going to take the lot of them out.

That's when the Aurors attacked in formation and the students likewise rallied. As I live and breathe, it looked like them evil beggars were getting the worst of it! Some of us residents got fired up then. We grabbed our wands and joined the fight. But we weren't organized like them students were.

While the Aurors and the students were keeping the invaders busy, other students were shepherding the younger ones out of harm's way. I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it. They were organized.

The good guys were taking some losses and it was starting to go badly for them. That's when there was a noise like a bomb going off and that lad arrived riding a hippogriff. Well sir, The Headmaster and a lot more Aurors showed up then. I don't know why the scum bags didn't run for it right then and there because it was all over for them. Dumbledore kept their leader busy while those two lads went through their forces like a hot knife through butter. I swear I've never seen anything like it.

That was when I heard a girl scream that Susan was down or something like that. Well, the one lad who was cloaked in blackness went berserk. I'll never forget that lightning bolt he cast. The death eater he hit with it just exploded. I don't remember much of what happened after that.'

The organization and effectiveness of the counter attack by the students of Hogwarts suggests that they have been training. For how long or under what leadership is a matter of speculation. One student (name withheld) we interviewed at St. Mungo's made this statement:

'I can't tell you more but we have been preparing for it since forever. We have already had a lot of practice at it and our leader has taught us well.'

Who this leader is, none of the students would say. It seems to me that they are honour-bound to keep this to themselves. While there may be people at the ministry who know the facts but they are not talking either.

According to the eye-witness account quoted in this article and many more like it, there was a coordinated effort to get students to safety. The force of ten Aurors stationed in Hogsmead was brave, disciplined and well-coordinated but also vastly out-numbered. They were quickly overwhelmed and would have perished at once if not for the timely intervention of the students. Casualties were high on both sides of this battle but much higher on the side of the Death eaters than one might expect from fighting students.

For some time, the students fought a holding action, distracting and harassing the death eaters while their main effort was focussed on evacuating the more vulnerable back to the castle. The battle started to go badly for the valiant students until none other than Neville Longbottom, heir and son of our General Longbottom, entered the battle, riding a hippogriff. We remind our readers that Albus Dumbledore recently took Neville on as his apprentice. The young boy lived up to any expectations we have of him. He fought like a man possessed and dispatched a handful of them to hell fighting alongside his master and mentor. They were soon joined by the boy-who-lived. He gave an opportunity to the students to evacuate others to safety while he joined Neville Longbottom and Albus Dumbledore in dispensing carnage on the battlefield.

There was also an incident, the details of which are unclear. It seems that the boy-who-lived who had cast only lethal spells during the fight was said to have gone berserk when the heiress of House Bones was hit with a deadly spell. He was said to have lost his control and began casting indiscriminately. He killed more than a handful of death eaters in his rage before others subdued him.

The curious thing during the fight was that the spells which the boy-who-lived cast aren't available to ordinary witches or wizards. Even the senior Aurors of the ministry, whom this reporter had been able to interview, expressed their surprise at such spells saying:

'Spells like that are not common. They certainly aren't taught at Hogwarts or even the Auror Academy for that matter.'

This makes us feel that either the boy-who-lived is dabbling in family magics or is associated with some band of assassins who taught him such things.

When the dead were counted, 15 students and 5 Aurors had perished during the battle. 20 more students and 4 Aurors were grievously injured of which 1 student passed away due to their injuries later in the night. A total of 65 Death eaters are dead, Antonin Dolohov, notable member of Voldemort's coveted inner circle, included.

The General, who led the Aurors in defending the village himself, has promised that there shall be no mercy for the death eaters from now on. Orders were issued last night that from now on, the Aurors would not duel to capture but would duel to kill. It is high time that we answered their brutality with brutality."

There was another item in the lower half of the page:

"The-BOY-WHO-LIVED DECLARES BLOOD WAR ON TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

An historical moment took place in the Great Hall of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last evening. As the ministry was briefing the press on the cowardly attack on the students of the school at Hogsmeade and of the ministry's changed stance in the war against death eaters, Lord Peverell-Potter-Black-Rosier-Weber proclaimed a blood war against Tom Marvolo Riddle and his followers.

This reporter who had the fortune to be present at that moment saw it happening. The boy-who-lived sat in the crowd of students at Gryffindor table surrounded by his peers and none of the students seemed interested in eating. They were paying attention to everything that the General, the Head of DMLE and Head Auror were saying.

After the General was apparently done with the press brief, Lord Peverell walked up to the staff table and took every body's attention. He was dressed in his blood smeared robes, a gash on his cheek, his eyes blood red and the emerald orbs shining like two miniature suns. When he spoke, every student hung on his word as if it were a sermon. The teachers as well as the students listened to him enraptured as he declared a blood war:

'TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS HAVE PLAGUED US LONG ENOUGH. I WILL NO LONGER STAND BY WHILE YOU TORTURE, MURDER AND PLUNDER THE INNOCENT WHO WILL NOT BOW TO YOUR WILL OR FURTHER YOUR AMBITIONS. FROM THIS MOMENT, I LORD HAROLD JAMES PEVERELL-POTTER-BLACK-ROSIER-WEBER DECLARE A BLOOD WAR ON YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS. YOU, YOUR DEATH EATERS, ANYONE WHO TAKES YOUR MARK AND ANYONE WHO ENTERS INTO YOUR SERVICE IS MY SWORN ENEMY. I WILL SHOW NO MERCY. I WILL GIVE NO QUARTER. I WILL NOT REST UNTIL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HAS BEEN PUT DOWN AS THE VENOMOUS VERMIN THAT YOU ARE. SO I SAY SO MOTE IT BE.'

While this was a singular occurrence of itself, what followed was more surprising. As he finished making this proclamation, many of the students present stood and raised their wands in support of his proclamation expressing their commitment to his cause. This reporter was baffled when the students were joined by the Aurors of the Ministry with the General being the first to raise his wand in support.

This event has a lot of significance for the wizarding world. According to this reporter's research, the most recent blood war was fought before the fall of Camelot. House Peverell declared a blood war against House Le Fay citing their acts of treason against the crown and their crimes against the people of Britain. When the war was over, only three fragments of House Le Fay remained of which two have gone extinct since then. House Peverell was so badly devastated that no witch or wizard, heir or descendant survived to become the next lord until the recent rise of The-Boy-Who-Lived. The support by the General and others signify that they have accepted the-boy-who-lived as their champion and will rally under his banner in the war against Tom Marvolo Riddle and those who serve him. In fact, the boy-who-lived becomes the true chosen one with this declaration of blood war."

Accompanying the news was a photograph of Harry at the time when he was declaring the blood war. The deaths had shocked him. For Harry, now it was personal. The other side must know what they were up against.

The second page was dedicated to all the students who had died in the battle with their houses. On the third page, a news item which was published with importance was:

"The Order of the Snow Leopard: Are they among our own children?

This reporter came across some curious sightings of the battle which gives rise to reasonable grounds to suspect that the members of the now infamous Order of the Snow Leopard are not some paid mercenaries but students studying at The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some of the spells which were used during the battle, the damage done to the death eaters and the similarity in the death wounds to those who were killed in ambushes in the previous few months lead to the only possible conclusion: that the members of this Order are the future of the wizarding world. It begs the question- Who is teaching the students such things and who leads this order?

As readers may remember, it has often been speculated that none other than the current headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, leads the vaunted Order of the Phoenix which helped us survive during the last war. While this has never been confirmed or denied, the speculations kept pointing to the obvious. That Order however employed non-deadly measures, even at the peril of their own lives while trying to fight death eaters. This is part of the reason they had unofficial ministry backing. This new Order however kills first and asks questions later. It gives rise to suspicions as to what exactly this Order wants to do.

While the ministry may have turned a blind-eye to their actions, this is a scary thought. This reporter for one would rest easier if we knew that they are not some new strain of dark wizards."

Harry let out a deep sigh and Daphne asked him, "What happened Harry?"

"The Daily Prophet, what else. They have another gossip columnist amd it looks like she's channelling Rita Skeeter. I's just love to haul Barnabass Cuffe out of his office by his ears and remind him that responsible journalists publish verifiable facts, not this bilge!" Harry slapped the paper down on the table, his finger pointing at the offending article.

She chuckled, "Why don't you have him reprimanded, demoted or outright fired? I mean you do own the majority of the paper, don't you?"

Harry grimaced, "Sure, I could do that. Or send Aunt Andromeda to put the fear of Merlin into him. But, you tell me, Why not?"

Ron spoke around a mouthful of bacon he was rapidly consuming, "Yeah, sure. Go ahead and do that, Harry. Then you get to be censoring the news while at the same time confirming all their worst speculations."

Harry nodded, "Too right, Ron."

Hermione turned serious again, "It doesn't matter much anyway, Harry. We all support you. Rubbish like that won't change anything."

He nodded, "I suppose you are right."

Hermione who was sitting across from him asked him, "Harry, did you see Susan this morning?"

He shook his head, "I stayed in the hospital wing with her until it was well past curfew last night. Then Madam Pomfrey kicked me out telling me that I am not allowed back in till I am done with my breakfast. She can be quite scary sometimes."

When the others chuckled, Harry asked them challengingly, "I dare you all to defy Madam Pomfrey. Anyone of you who can do so will get 100 Galleons from me."

That shut all of them up. None of them in their right mind would defy Madam Pomfrey. She was one holy terror to the students.

Dumbledore stood to address the students, "yesterday was a day in the history of our world which will always be marred with the blood of those who died on the battle field. A lot of our students died so that others could live. They chose to stand for what was right rather than to bow and live. They walked among us, lived among us and have shed their blood for us. They will always remain in our hearts and keep inspiring us with their deeds. When you are in doubt or feel that you are losing your courage, remember your friends who stood up in the face of insurmountable odds so that others could live. Please join me in two minutes silence in remembrance of those who died at the Battle of Hogsmeade and those who succumbed to their injuries this morning at St. Mungo's including Ms. Moon."

The silence which followed was the heaviest period of silence for them. Everyone who had lost someone had their eyes wet and by the end of the two minute period, sniffs could be heard throughout the Great Hall. Harry himself was wiping his eyes furiously at the thought of losing such a great friend as Lilith.

From among Harry's own circle of friends, Justin was in St. Mungo's where he had spent a very hard night and lived through it. The healers had been sceptical of his chances of survival but by morning, his condition had improved. Lilith Moon had been shielding Ernie while they fought with a group of death eaters was grievously injured. She succumbed to her injuries during the night. It was a heavy loss for Ernie.

Ernie had joined them at their table and he was inconsolable. Neville patted his back trying to comfort him but there were no words. What would you say to console someone who had just made a promise to someone and they were dead by the evening? Oliver and Su Li from Ravenclaw were in the Hospital Wing but Madam Pomfrey was sure that they would recover. The battle personally had taken a lot from Harry. When the adrenaline and excitement were over, he was quite exhausted. If he hadn't taken that "nap" immediately after the battle, he likely would have passed out anyway. The deaths of all those students weighed heavily on him. And the vigil past curfew at Susan's side hadn't done him any good either. He was pale, tired and irritable. In that state of mind, he was trying to make urgent and critical decisions.

Harry saw Harsh making a gesture to him from the Staff Table and rose, "Guys, I have some errands to run. I will see you later, in the Hospital wing."

Chamber of Secrets

He met the mystic in the Chamber of Secrets. The mystic was sitting in his chair and asked him, "Harry what is your progress with the horcruxes?"

"Guruji, the last one out of Voldemort's control is somewhere in the castle. I guess I'm very near it. I will find it soon."

Harsh nodded, "It is important that you do it soon. However I actually wanted to know what you will do about the final battle?"

Harry spluttered, "M... Me? The General is directing the war."

Harsh shook his head, "He is directing the war, Harry but with the declaration of the blood war yesterday, you have become their leader. Now you will make the decisions while they will follow you unless you want to sit back and let them do your dirty work?"

Harry's eyes went wide, "No Guruji. A lot of people already died for me yesterday. I won't allow any of them to die anymore. When the final battle comes I will have all of them evacuated. The Aurors and I will be sufficient to defeat him and his forces."

Harsh was a veteran of more battles than Harry could even conceive. He had been a witness to the bloody campaign that had been the last blood war. He had also spent the blood of his dearest friends putting down the various dark lords over the centuries. He knew, far too well, the burden of leadership. Harsh understood, better than anyone, where Harry's statement came from, but sadly, he also knew how foolish it was. He also knew that Harry had good and wise friends and that nothing teaches wisdom like experience, so he let it go. Now he had to meet just one more person before he would eventually leave. The time for his battle with Abbadon was also coming. This time, he will die. It seemed a bit ironic that even Harsh would have a critical role to play in the blood war the young war mage had declared.

He had sent a scathing letter to Vikram and chastised him for leaving Britain. The errand in Germany was important but they should have brought more forces from Adrishpuram rather than taking him away from such an important assignment. There will be a reckoning for this laxity. There were however a few things to be discussed.

He turned to Harry, "Harry, I have been trying to track down the one who saved Voldemort in Romania. It is my understanding that he is learning a way to defeat you. As you would understand, you are not immortal yourself nor are you invincible. Any determined group of individuals can defeat you with good strategy. Voldemort cannot defeat you honestly because you possess unsullied soul which is whole. To even the odds between the both of you, there is only one thing that he can do. He would resort to barbaric use of his powers and cruelty. He would try what has been tried only a few times and if he is successful, he will pose threat to you."

"What is it, Guruji?"

Harsh said gravely, "The Parasite Spell."

Harry asked him curiously, "What does it do?"

"It will allow him to claim the magical powers of all of his followers when he needs it. In that condition, the only thing that he will need to do is to keep you engaged in battle and tire you out. Even though you are very fit wizard yet you cannot stand against him indefinitely. When you falter, he will move in against you."

"And how do I defeat him?"

Harsh smirked with pleasure, "Oh there is something that you can do, Harry."

Unknown Castle

Wagner woke up in the hospital wing. His side felt like he'd been kicked by an angry hippogriff and the rest of his body ached. He looked up at the healer who looked relieved, "Oh good, you're awake."

"What happened? Why am I hurting all over?"

The healer replied, "You don't remember what happened? Were you not fighting someone?"

He remembered bits and pieces of the battle, "We were attacking Hogsmeade and I was fighting Albus Dumbledore. We were in a public place so he was not using any lethal spells on me…"

The healer cut into his line of thought, "Quite wrong, Mr. Wagner. Dumbledore might not have hit you with curses which would have killed you outright but every spell that he hit you with was intended to cause hurt to you. When you came in, many of your organs were damaged; you were losing blood due to internal bleeding, your heart was in danger of stopping anytime due to loss of blood to pump and not enough oxygen supply. And yet, there was no outward visible damage. It is possible you would not have realised the threat to your life until you had succumbed to him. May be he wanted to capture you after having injured you but the thing is you were just a step short of death and we had to work fast to save you."

"What happened to the others? How many survived?"

Lucius Malfoy spoke as he entered the room, "We were hoping you could fill us in on that, Mr. Wagner. You took 80 men with you and only 15 returned. Incidentally all of them were your fellow Germans except for three of our own men. What happened there?"

"I don't really know. We set up our wards and took over the village as planned. As we rounded up the students to execute them before the Aurors could arrive. I remember having killed a couple of students before Travers came running out of the inn. He told me that students had killed his companions. It all went south from there. Those students were better organised than many forces that I have seen. They knew what they were about and none of them were afraid to die. It was as if they did not have the fear of death in their lives. I saw students jumping in front of killing curses meant for their friends. I have never seen such camaraderie and love among people. In the time it took to adjust to the students fighting us, they pushed us back and even killed many of our companions. That didn't last long. We rallied, killed 4 Aurors and were doing great having cornered many students. That's when that boy came in flying on a Hippogriff and destroyed the wards by sheer strength."

Lucius exclaimed, "Destroyed wards? A single boy? But how? I mean he would have to be immensely powerful and then it would take some time. Are you sure he took them down himself?"

Wagner growled, "Now that you mention it, that's not clear. The old fool was right there with him. All I know is the wards shook just once, then there was an explosion and the wards were gone. He must have devised a spell to cause such an effect then. And what an entry he made. Even I was mesmerised by it for a minute. He jumped down from the hippogriff and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he took the head off one of my men with a bombarda. The boy however was the least of my concerns because Albus Dumbledore was with him. They gave enough time for others to flee. When my men tried to shoot down two of the escaping students, their spells were blocked by an earthen wall. By that time the boy-who-lived had arrived. You all call him just a little boy and he fought with us like a being possessed. He displayed such cruelty that a butcher would look humane next to him. One of the students fell and he went berserk and cast such spells that I have not even heard of. I am telling you, Malfoy that if that boy is fighting against you then even 10 of you together don't stand a chance against him."

Malfoy growled, "What happened afterwards?"

"I was hurt and fading fast. I decided to make my escape before I died too. Dumbledore was casting magic the likes of which I have never seen nor did I expect the old wizard to be so powerful. He moved with speed that much younger men could not match."

"What do you think caused our failure, Mr. Wagner? I mean two of the members of the Dark Lord's inner circle also died."

Wagner looked up in surprise, "Who?"

"Dolohov. His names featured in the list of the dead and it wasn't pretty either. I am told that he died as if he had been executed. Travers, I believe had been taken captive and I don't have any hope that he will live. Now the question that I have is where do we go from here, Mr. Wagner. What do you think was the reason for our defeat at Hogsmeade?"

"Your people failed to keep track of what is happening on the other side, Malfoy. We were not told what they are capable of. The students knew as many curses and jinxes as any of your death eaters, they were accustomed to duelling and they had formations as if they have been holding drills for battles like these. They had a bloody army out there. Either Hogwarts has started teaching military arts to its students or they are being trained in secret from another source. And I believe that your spy, whoever he is, is either incompetent or has already defected from your side."

Malfoy did not know about this spy. He knew Severus was at Hogwarts but he couldn't be the only spy. The Dark Lord was not the sort of person to keep all his eggs in one basket. He also bristled at the allegations of incompetency. But the truth was that they had been blind to everything that had been happening. He certainly hadn't known about students being trained for war but here they were. Mere students had kept the tide of death eaters from causing mayhem. When the Dark Lord returns, he will be angry and heads will roll. Unfortunately for Lucius, he was one of the few who were left of the inner circle and as such, he could be the target of the Dark Lord's fury. Running away was not an option since he had seen what happened to Igor Karkroff when Voldemort found him. He didn't have to imagine what sort of tortures would be meted out to him.

Bulgaria

Madame Alexandrov was in her office, perusing the Daily Prophet at a furious pace. Since she believed in keeping herself abreast with developments around the world, one of the employees of the Bulgarian Ministry fetched a copy of prominent newspapers every day for her and for other high ranking ministry officials.

The good thing was that Wizarding Britain didn't look like a backwater if it came to a war. She knew how they had insisted on non lethal force during the last war and that policy had caused immense damage to them. This time they were serious and in no mood to parley with or give a chance to the death eaters to redeem themselves. This was good. This meant that she could help them without being subjected to inhibitions which would put and her boys' lives in danger.

Viktor Krum had also written her a letter which was delivered with the newspaper. The letter told her that Wizarding Britain under the new Minister had been preparing for the war since last summer. Even their students were training in defensive magic so that if surrounded, they could defend themselves or even counter attack.

When Viktor had told her that Voldemort had returned after the Triwizard tournament, she had been sceptical. But when he told her that Albus Dumbledore himself had said this, she had every reason to believe him. Albus Dumbledore was no rumourmonger. He only said something after he had carefully weighed his words.

She had been raising a force after learning about the changing of the guard at the British Ministry. A former Auror at the helm of affairs was the best thing that they could do. He would not bow to pressure, would not talk of peace and empathy in war and answer brutality with brutality. That was the reason she had decided to support them and made Viktor her emissary.

For now, she had 70 Aurors who were daily running through the gauntlet while she also knew that Viktor's father was trying to raise another force. Since they had attacked students, the final battle wouldn't be far away now.

France

Monseiur Sebastian Delacour read the newspaper and sighed. His heart broke for those students who had been killed in the battle of Hogsmeade. He had been actively trying to raise a force since the New Year ball where he had met the boy-who-lived and the new minister, Frank Longbottom. He knew that his own ministry was not in favour of actively participating in this war but he knew better. He knew that Voldemort was not already winning and if substantial opposition was presented, he may be killed. Sebastian was determined to make that happen.

He had already raised a force and his good friend Bossompierre was training the Aurors. They already had a force of 50 Aurors on their side. By the time of final battle, they will have more. Once the houses of Wizarding Britain had shed their blood for the wizarding world without any thanks and now it was time that they were helped.

Leaky Cauldron

The wizarding public was abuzz with the news. They were obviously grieving and angry with the deaths but they were also proud of the valour the students showed. The public in the inn was crowded around a table occupied by an old and frail wizard who had a few strands of hair on his bald head, wearing robes which would have been in fashion about a century ago, a beard which reached down to his chest and his tiny voice held such authoritativeness that one could not help but be attracted to it.

One of the patrons of the inn was asking, "What does this blood war mean?"

"Blood war, lad, is something that has not been declared since times of legends. The history books record that the last blood war was fought long before even the ministry came into being. All these Ancient and Most Noble Houses weren't even conceived then. Most of them were just houses. At that time, there were three houses which were considered above every other house. They were the house of Pendragon which later produced King Arthur, the house of Le Fay and the House of Peverell. Some feud erupted between House of Le Fay and House of Peverell and things became so tense that there was blood-shed and war. House Peverell initially tried to solve the disputes amicably but after many of its members were killed treacherously by House Le Fay, they declared that the dispute won't end until one of the houses was extinguished to the last member. Both sides started accumulating members to their side and the war started. This blood war lasted for 2 decades. It only ended when the House of Le Fay was reduced to three fragments. The House of Greengrass exists to this day but the other two fragments, the main family line which bore the infamous witch Morgana kept going for a few more generations until the fall of Camelot while the third line was extinguished by the end of that blood war. Since then there has not been a blood war. These are bloody. There is no way to end them until at least one of the sides had utterly been destroyed to the last man."

This chilled them to their bones. No one spoke for a few minutes. Some wondered, chosen one or not, did the 15-year-old lord really know what he was getting into when he declared a blood war? Finally another patron spoke, "So what happens now with this blood war?"

The elder spoke after collecting his thoughts for a few moments, "It was reckless of him to declare a blood war but now that it has been done there is only one way that it can go. Tom Marvolo Riddle and everyone who serves him or associates with him will die or he and his supporters will win. Either way, one of the sides will be totally annihilated. It was reckless of Harold Peverell to have declared this blood war."

One of the patrons snapped, "After this cowardly attack on our children, the death eaters deserve nothing less! But, unless he's studied his history, I'm not so sure he knows what he's getting into."

Ministry of Magic

"Alastor, what is the report?", asked Frank of Moody. They had not tackled this issue yet because there had been no time. Moody had been busy making enquiries, collecting reports, recording statements and overseeing his men until now.

Frank had been in conference with the headmaster, the head of mystics and the head of DMLE about the war and this declaration of blood war. Harsh had told him that the ministry should not stop doing its duty yet Frank knew that the leadership of this war had shifted from him to Harry. They will march under his banner to war.

When Neville had raised his wand in support to Harry's proclamation of blood war, Frank knew he would support it too. In fact, House of Longbottom couldn't be seen standing apart from House of Potter as was the tradition.

"General from what I have heard, there were two members of Voldemort's inner circle in the battle. One of them, Dolohov, was killed outright. I have been told that the Weasley twins engaged him after he attacked them to get to a group of students they were protecting. The other was Travers. He fell to Sirius Black. He was alive when he was arrested however this morning, his body collapsed into nothing. One of the healers suggested that he was probably cursed during the battle and since then the curse was eating him from inside. I am told he had a very painful night and his cries could have curdled blood. As for their escapees, there is no certain number about them."

"What can you tell me about the deaths at the hands of the students? Do you have a record of it?"

Moody shook his head, "It is difficult to find out who killed how many but there were very many students who didn't kill. They were mostly intent on disabling the death eaters so that once fallen they couldn't rise again. Mostly those who killed did it out of instinct of self-preservation and to save lives."

"Were they members of the Order of the Snow Leopard?"

"General, you know full-well that even if I knew, I couldn't tell you. I mean the lad has been training students but nobody is privy to the details."

"Mr. Harsh, what do you think they will do now?", asked the General of Harsh who was present there at special request of the General.

"As far as my understanding goes they will do nothing right now. I mean they have suffered a major blow so to launch a full frontal assault would not be the wise course of action for them. What they can do instead is to wait and let the ministry get complacent. In the meantime that the ministry does not forget about them, they would strike here and there", replied Harsh.

Moody growled, "Just because something is bone-head stupid, doesn't mean they won't do it. I wouldn't be surprised if they launched a full-scale assault on the Ministry this very afternoon. Besides, what will they gain by staying in their little hidey hole anyway? If they do that, people might stop fearing them and fear is their main weapon."

"I believe they will devote this time preparing for a final battle. This time, they will try to choose the battle ground as opposed to you choosing it. If there were any spies for you in their order, I would that they try to persuade their dark lord to attack at a time and place of your choosing."

Frank spoke after thinking it over for a few moments, "The ministry has no spy in their midst but I think the Order of the Phoenix may. We will have to talk to Dumbledore about it. What kind of bait would be tempting enough to lure Voldemort out of his hole and into a confrontation with us?"

Harsh smirked, "On that count, I think Harry can help you General. He has something which would be as dear to Tom as his own soul."

Greece

"Boy!", Abbadon growled, "Get your butt in here this moment or I'll come there and whip it until it glows."

Voldemort was busy cooking food for both of them when Abbadon called him. The old master had been treating him this way and it grated on his nerves. Abbadon gave him snippets of information but had not taught him anything substantial yet. He would tell him something, leave him to mull it over for the entire day and pick it up the next day.

He had wanted to strangle Abbadon in his sleep once or twice over this attitude but as he found out to his woe, the old master never slept. He felt Voldemort creeping up to him in the dead of night and then he had brutally punished him with bone breakers. The only reason Abbadon hadn't managed to kill him was that he had Horcruxes.

"Stop day dreaming boy", growled Abbadon again. Voldemort made haste. It wouldn't do to antagonize him.

When he entered the chamber, Abbadon threw a paper at him, "Read that, you worthless apprentice. Your foolish followers will annihilate themselves."

A cursory look at the front page had him howling with fury. Those idiots! How dare they! They got so many killed in one go. Those pretentious idiots!

"Stop howling, boy. Your followers have been dying in droves since you left them in charge. What fool was left in charge of your forces?"

Voldemort growled, "I left my most ruthless, most able and most cunning follower Bellatrix Nameless in charge of them and gave her the duty to terrorise the ministry."

Abbadon chuckled evilly, "Oh, that one. She died about three weeks ago."

Voldemort's anger erupted, "WHAT! And no one told me about it?"

"Your followers are scared of you, boy. Most of them only follow you out of fear, a few want to make some profit from your campaign. There are only a handful of them who are really loyal to you."

"Do you know how many were killed?", Voldemort asked of his master.

Abbadon threw a bundle of papers at him. Every issue had the defeat of some of his death eaters as front page news, "See this. Your campaign has been failing since you left. Meyer informed me that he had told you about it."

Voldemort read the names of those who had died with fury welling up inside him. So many... So many of the members of his inner circle were dead and none of them had informed him. May be he should return now before they got everyone killed. He however will have to punish them to know that he was indeed angry.

As if he were reading his pupil's thoughts, Abbadon spoke, "You will not punish any of your followers". He continued, "They are expendables but they will enhance your strength in the final battle. So, it will be in your favour if you keep as many of them alive as you can manage. The Parasite spell requires it. The greater the number of followers, the better will be your chances of success."

Voldemort grumbled, "I would know it if you had taught me."

Abbadon slapped him hard, "Haven't I told you that I don't like whiners, boy? You still have a week left of the period you promised to stay under my tutelage. This is the last trick that I will ever teach you."

Voldemort nodded meekly, "yes master."

Abbadon smirked, "And boy, I have found out why the boy didn't die by the killing curse twice."

Voldemort asked eagerly, "Please tell me, master."

"You have told me that you already had 5 horcruxes by the time you went to kill the boy on that Halloween night. He survived the first killing curse because of the protection of his mother. As your spell rebounded and hit you, something happened which nobody had foreseen. My theory is that your soul was so fragile that it broke in two. One part latched onto the only living thing in that room, that being the boy. You made him into another horcrux. When you hit him with the killing curse in the graveyard, you destroyed that horcrux. Meaning that the only being you hurt was you. Bravo.

Careless! Thoughtless! Impulsive! Great galloping goblins, boy! Don't you ever bother to think?" With that last, Abbadon lapsed into silence and glared at his pupil.

Voldemort sat in contemplation for a long time before he eventually asked, "Does this mean that the boy can be killed by the Killing Curse now?"

Abbadon Slapped the Dark Lord upside the head, hard, "Is that all you ever think about boy? 'Can I kill him now? Can I kill him now?' I swear, boy, you sound like a toddler begging for candy! You've got a snowball's chance in Tartarus of killing that boy with that inane spell. He'll block it three different ways and put you down into the deal before you can finish shouting the incantation. You're going to have to do better than that."

Voldemort's head was ringing from the slap, his ego bruised by the insults, but for his master, this was a teaching moment. He folded his hands, "What are my instructions, master?"


A/N- So guys, I hope to make few things clear here.

1. Harry loves Susan. I know you all may see her bossing him around but he lets her do this. She knows this and if Harry wasn't really interested in her, he wouldn't have let her do that. She loves him to bits and would die for him without blinking an eye-lid. I thought I should clear the air for the hate that she seems to be getting. Most of the time, they are being playful with each other, acting their age. If I don't write the expressions in their faces or mannerisms, you don't have to assume that she was bossing him around or being nasty.

2. He won't ditch his friends. I have read those fics which are more like one-man army Harry but not this one. I am trying to write a grand story involving everyone. I don't like how the canon did not touch upon many things that could have been done.

I really love your reviews so may be, leave me a couple of them?