Chapter Five
Harry turned and fixed an eye on the man, "Fletcher," he said coldly, "If what I've done throughout my life isn't enough, then you will see again during the training program and our activities against Voldemort, why I am leading the Order. And remember, All of you are free to leave at any time."
There was a shuffling, and Harry continued, "Each night, you will be expected at Godric's Hollow at some point, where we will all be training. It will only take a few hours each night. You will be hurt, injured and in pain, but when you face a Death Eater, it will be worth it. Dismissed."
Everyone shuffled out, walking to the edge of the anti-apparition barriers, Harry nodded to Dumbledore, "I'm living at Godric's Hollow for the moment. My House is under renovations. If anyone needs me, they can apparate or floo in." He nodded to Remus and Sirius, and left.
When he arrived at Godric's Hollow, he removed the illusion charms on it, and returned it to a habitable state, soothing the raw, injured magic that ran through it, left over from Voldemort's attack. He fixed the outside first, reconstructing it from nothing, before finally feeling satisfied enough to enter.
It was a small, two-storey house at first glance, with a homey sort of feel to it, but nothing like what it had been as he remembered from childhood. Instead, the garden was neat and well cared for, green and lush to boot. The house was made of bricks, strong and solid, with magical doors and windows that opened according to Harry's desires.
A few minutes later, he finally got inside the house, he realized that he still had more work to do if he was going to finish his house before the first lot of Order members came for training that evening. He quickly blasted some walls into place, and the second story, not forgetting to add steps that acted like a muggle escalator, rolling you up to the next floor as soon as you stepped on.
He painted the walls with another spell, and placed a fireplace in what would become the living room, and then went upstairs to the master bedroom which was his first priority. Training for tonight would be fighting as a team against an illusion of twenty five death eaters, who could injure them but not kill them.
The Bedroom was decorated in a pale yellow, with a lush golden yellow carpet, thick, warm and soft to the touch. He conjured up a double-bed, adding a thick, comfortable mattress and a large green doona that adjusted to keep you warm, or cool as needed. Two pillows for either side, and another European one in the middle.
As he was creating the wardrobe there was a knocking on the doorjamb behind him and Harry turned around to see Arthur Weasley, holding a green Weasley sweater and a box of Mrs. Weasley's toffee's, "A peace offering!" Arthur said, holding them out to Harry.
Harry grinned, "thank you!" he said, "Come on in,"
Mr. Weasley had been quite upset when he'd heard that Harry had disappeared, and he was relieved beyond belief when he found Harry had returned, but this wasn't the sort of Harry he was expecting. He'd expected Harry to be more like Ron; a relatively carefree teenager, dating, going through puberty…
"How are you, Harry?" he asked.
"Oh," Harry grimaced, "as well as can be expected, I don't have many friends anymore, or even anyone who believes me. Obviously my credibility was used up for me."
Arthur sighed, "well, I believe that whatever happened, it wasn't your fault. I just struggle to believe that it was Dumbledore's fault."
Harry nodded, "well, I suppose I can hope that one day the truth is revealed, one way or the other…"
"Well, I have to be going, but I just thought I'd let you know that you're always welcome in our home. Only Ron and Hermione don't-"
"I know," Harry interrupted, "I might drop in some time to say hi to Mrs. Weasley again, and did Fred and George start their joke shop in the end?"
"Yeah, they did. It's doing quite well, although many of their products have been banned at Hogwarts and their sales dropped slightly…"
Harry grimaced, "I can try and change that, but I doubt it would do much."
Arthur nodded, and left quickly with a promise that if Harry needed anything, all he had to do was ask. Harry promised to visit, and the world was somewhat happy again.
Harry moved downstairs and created an underground floor for himself, turning it into something of a tavern, stocking it with weapons of every kind imaginable, and even some that weren't. He set up the illusion for tonight and created something to transport everyone straight down as soon as they arrived and then he started running around the track as he warmed up.
When he'd covered ten kilometers he created an illusion that would fight him, being slightly better than himself, he set about a magical fight.
Magical fights are interesting because they use both muggle and magical weapons, and spells, charms, hexes and curses are passed along the blade and at the opponent until one or other of the two fighters fall down dead, or unconscious. Harry feinted with his sword, the light from the stadium lights being passed off the blade, temporarily blinding his illusory opponent, at the same time as he threw four curses across.
The two of them switched between swords, knives, daggers, throwing circles and shooting stars, spells being sent left right and center, rebounding away from shields stronger than any previously created. Harry was almost positive that he could block the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, but he wasn't about to risk his life to test his theory.
He stopped immediately when people started to Apparate in, and sat down, pouring himself a cup of coffee, and just watching to see who appeared. When Dumbledore arrived, he walked straight over to Harry, "What will we be doing tonight?" he asked wearily, obviously being tired from his day at school.
"Duelling," Harry shrugged, "should be fun."
The Order fell into a circle that reminded him eerily of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Harry noted Sirius, Remus, Professor McGonagall and a few other familiar faces. To his surprise, Snape wasn't one of them. He waved a hand, "At ease," he said with a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, and then it hardened into a single, thin pressed line.
"Good Evening, everyone," he said coldly, "We are here to fight against some things that I have conjured up because I want to see everyone's skills first hand and tomorrow you will be fighting me. After that, everyone will be working on their strengths and weaknesses until they know at least some of every method of fighting.
"You will be fighting Death Eaters, most of the time, but some of you might receive the doubtful privilege of fighting face to face against Voldemort. Let me assure you, this training will allow you to be able to fight with a reasonable chance of success. Naturally, I make no guarantees, but I do believe that you are all capable fighters.
"Now, earlier today, someone asked why I was leading this group, and what experiences I had. I'm going to fill you in after our training session tonight, after which I believe everyone will be nursing an injury of some kind. I recommend you change into your fighting robes and grab a weapon that you KNOW HOW TO USE."
The men and women scattered, picking up the shooting stars and looking at them strangely, most of the men took swords but some took daggers and throwing knives, looking dubious about their value. All of them had their wands out.
Harry stepped to the front, dropped his hand, and the illusion appeared. Fifty Death Eaters, twenty-five Dementors and a huddle of Vampires against the twenty people from the Order. There were horrified gasps, and Harry shook his head in disbelief, these people were really quite soft and wouldn't last long.
One of the "death eaters" fired a curse, at Harry who backflipped under it, forcing the man behind him to shield it. Out of his foot, as it flew over, Harry shot back another curse, and the Death Eaters, Vampires and Dementors attacked in full force.
Suddenly, whatever had been holding them back was lifted, and the Order leapt into battle, throwing curses and hexes backwards and forwards with a remarkable speed and agility. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters changed to physical weapons, forgetting wands, and the men looked lost. Harry grimaced, jumping into battle – followed by Remus, Dumbledore and one other man who he didn't know too well, Smythe.
The others stepped back, firing curses off as best they could, dealing with the Vampires and Dementors while the other four dueled all the Death Eaters. Harry was back to back with Dumbledore, a protective action, but Dumbledore wasn't doing too well. Harry was having to cover both his front and Dumbledore's side, as the Death Eaters were throwing their swords exceedingly fast. Remus and Smythe were being backed into corners on the other sides of the room, and with a cry of pure frustration, Harry waved his hand and the illusion disappeared.
The four who had been fighting doubled over, breathing heavily. Harry was the first to stand again, and he walked over to the table and magicked all the weapons back to their stands. He then conjured up drink bottles for everyone, "Alright, please take a seat," he said, drawing seats out of thin air.