Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Competitions and Preparations

As exams grew nearer Luna and Ginny began spending more and more time studying in Harry's trunk, the quietest and most well equipped place in the whole castle for studying. Harry, Neville, Hermione and Ron were doing everything they could to help them but they had their own exams to worry about so their help, even though Hermione did help them prepare their study schedules, was limited to - Charms (Harry and Neville), Herbology (Neville), Transfiguration (Harry and Hermione), Potions (Ron and Neville) Arythmancy (Hermione), Defense Against the Dark Arts (Harry, Ron and Neville) and History of Magic (Hermione) - more than one sleepless night was spent either in Harry's library, in his study, or in the conference room. Dobby and Winky took over all of the cooking and cleaning chores at the end of the second week in May and refused to let anyone help them because, as Winky said one night when Ron asked if he could help her with dinner, "Winky is thanking you for the offer, Master Ron, but Winky and Dobby is understanding how important these tests is and is wanting you to spend your time studying. There is being plenty of time for you to learn how to cook after you is finished with your exams."

Ron had actually gotten used to the idea of treating Dobby and Winky as equals and was becoming fascinated with their magical abilities. Once he realized just exactly how human they really were and took the time to get to know not only Dobby and Winky but many of the Hogwarts house elves he found that he tended to agree with Hermione on a few of her original S.P.E.W. goals and objectives. House elves really were very powerful creatures and he wanted to learn everything he could about them so that he could include them in his plans for the defense of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

More often than not, in the last few weekends leading up to their final exams all six would spend their days and nights, except for when they were needed for their respective seminars, in Harry's trunk. On these occasions Harry and Ginny would share the main bedroom and the Trunk's Room of Requirement would be transformed into a two-bedroom suite. Ron and Hermione would share one bedroom while Neville and Luna would share the other. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Luna's father and Neville's Gran had all been informed of these arrangements and, while they were all hesitant and slightly nervous about the situation, trusted their children to do the right thing and not do anything that they might regret later. On top of that, Albus had insisted that all six of them be subjected to a number of contraceptive charms that could only be removed by either himself or Madam Pomfrey.

The nice thing about these charms, as Harry and Ginny had discovered on the afternoon of the day Severus' body had been found, is that not only did they render them temporarily sterile but manipulated their hormones in such a way that they did not desire sexual intercourse. They didn't mind snuggling and cuddling, but intercourse was not something they even thought about. One of the side benefits to these charms, aside from the fact that they were very effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies, was that they made studying and concentrating a lot easier. Even with these charms in place, however, many's the night, as exams drew nearer, that Ginny cried herself to sleep on Harry's chest and many's the morning her orange juice was laced with a calming draught.

Of course Harry was not immune to the effects of pressure. Indeed, he probably felt it worse than most because on top of his studies he had his spying duties for the Order, his teaching duties and his Thursday evening classes with Albus. There were many nights Harry wanted to give in and cry himself to sleep in Ginny's arms but he wouldn't. He wanted to remain strong for her so he found his solace in comforting the girl he loved.

Bill and Fleur had brought copies of all the work they had done on the Purgatory Charm to Hogwarts at the last meeting. Everything looked right but there was still something missing. They had people working on it around the clock but no one seemed to be able to figure out what the missing component was. They were hoping, since Harry, Remus and Hermione had designed the original, shell charm that they, along with Albus and Professor Flitwick, would be able figure it out.

The fifth and seventh year students were being excused from their dueling labs and early morning training sessions so that they could spend more time studying for their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. Exams but most of them still participated in the early morning runs because not only had they grown used to the routine but, according to Ginny and Luna, the exercise seemed to sooth their nerves and give them more energy, providing them with that little extra something they needed to make it through the day.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors (Harry included) had picked their teams of duelists for the competition, which would be held the day after the Quidditch final (Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw), which was to be held the Saturday after the conclusion of exams. None of the duelists were to be told of their participation in the exercise until the morning of the competition so that, as in the case of an actual duel, they would not know anything of their opponents' individual strengths or weaknesses or who they would be partnered with. And the professors would know only who their team's members were so that they could not give their team an unfair advantage by briefing their students on what to expect.

Harry had, since early May, been working with many of his best students on the art of fighting while under the influence of disillusionment and invisibility charms. He knew that it was an underhanded and dirty trick to play on his fellow professors but he wanted to give his students the greatest possible advantage, not only in this competition but in the upcoming war. Some of them were better at it than others but they were all progressing rapidly in learning to sense the magical energies around them and in defending themselves against invisible opponents. Harry's ten best fighters were Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Cho, Colin, Susan Bones, Padma Patil and Pansy Parkinson, who had joined his group at the start of the second term. He knew that four of his fighters - Ginny, Luna, Colin and Cho - would be exhausted after taking their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T Exams but he had faith in them and knew that they would rise to the occasion.

Harry, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Alastor would be monitoring the duel from the air while the rest of the professors and students watched it from the battlements, the Astronomy Tower and from the roof the castle. They would be in constant contact with each other and Albus through a communications charm that would let them monitor the charms being used by their respective teams but would not let them be heard by any of the duelists. All in all it was shaping up to be an exciting competition.

Gryffindor won the Quidditch final due, in no small measure, to the skill of their players and the fact that four of their members were flying the new Electra 5000 Battle Series of brooms which were at least twice as fast and fifty times more maneuverable than even their closest competition which was the Electra 5000 Racing Broom.

Once everyone had arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast on the morning of the competition Albus stood and waved his wand. As the doors closed a silence fell over the hall and all but a few turned their attention to the Headmaster. "Good morning," Albus said cheerfully. "As you know, today has been set aside for a competition between the Defense Against the Dark Arts Laboratory classes. Your five Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors - Professors Lupin, Moody, Potter, Shacklebolt and Tonks - have chosen the ten best duelists from their classes as representatives of their best efforts. Over the course of the next few minutes they will be informing you of their choices. Once their selections are made you will have one hour to strategize over breakfast. After that you duelists will be moved to your starting positions and those of you who wish to observe, which I am hoping is most of you as this should prove to be a very informative competition, will be directed to the observation posts which have been established around the school grounds.

"Could Professors Lupin, Moody, Potter, Shacklebolt and Tonks please step to the head of the hall."

While Remus, Alastor, Kingsley and Tonks stood up from their seats at the Head Table Harry got up from his seat between Ginny and Luna and stepped back over the bench. "I'll see you guys in a bit," he said as he turned and made his way to stand in front of the Head Table with his fellow professors.

When they were all standing in front of Albus he handed each of them a stack of ten modified playing cards. On the back of each card was a team name - in Harry's case it was "Potter's Pirates" - and on the face was the location from which they were to start. None of the professors had been informed of their team's starting position because every effort was being made to make it as realistic as possible even though it was going to be a disarm only competition.

After a few more brief comments to the student body about the rules of the competition and that they would be monitored by their professors, Albus turned to the five and, with a smile and a twinkle, said, "Off you go."

As they set off Tonks Grabbed Harry's arm and threatened, "You better not have chosen Neville, Harry."

Harry turned to her and smirked. "Why not, he's in my class?"

"Arrgh!" Tonks growled at him. "But that's so unfair. I mean, we have been working with him since July!"

Harry could swear he heard Remus and Kingsley chuckling at Tonks' reaction but it was Alastor who came to his rescue. "Luck o' the draw, lass," he growled. "Luck o' the draw."

Tonks threw Alastor a dirty look and stalked off to deliver her cards to her chosen students. Harry chuckled and shook his head as he made his way down between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Tables. Cho and Marietta looked up as he approached. Harry rested his hand on Andromeda Babcock's shoulder and, looking down at the young first-year girl, said, "Good morning, Andromeda. How are your parents doing?"

Andromeda looked up and smiled. "Last I heard they are doing fine. They say they are working with the Department of Mysteries again, trying to see if they can find a way through a giant's natural defenses."

Harry nodded. "Good," he said. "Tell them I said hi, will you?"

Andromeda nodded her head. "Will do, Harry."

Then, turning to Cho, who was sitting directly across from Andromeda, handed her a card and, smiling softly, said, "Cedric would be proud."

Cho looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered and Harry could see a small tear trickling down one of her cheeks.

Reaching out he wiped it away with his thumb and said, "I suggest moving your breakfast to the Gryffondor Table because six members of my team are Gryffindors."

Cho smiled up at Harry and nodded her head.

Harry's next stop was Colin who was sitting next to his brother Dennis. Stopping behind the two boys Harry cleared his throat and said, "Well, Colin, Dennis? Are you guys staying here this summer?"

Colin and Dennis both jumped slightly then turned around and nodded. "Yes we are, Harry," Colin said. "After they received our letter I guess they talked to their guards and decided that if we want to fight, even though they think it's a shame that teenagers should have to fight in a war of this magnitude, they will support us one hundred percent."

Harry frowned slightly then nodded. "Good," he said. "I hope and pray that you don't have to fight but I'm glad your parents are supporting your decisions."

Colin matched Harry's slight frown. "I hope we don't have to either, Harry. But if we do we are not going to let you down."

Harry nodded and handed a card to Colin. "Thanks," he said. "I suggest you move down to sit with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna as they make up the bulk of your team."

Colin nodded and stood up to move down the table.

Harry's next stop was to stand behind and between Ginny and Luna. Smirking mischievously he said, "Well, guys, exams are over and quidditch is finished for another for another year. Do you feel like getting a little exercise?"

Ron looked up at him and tilted his head to one side. "Huh?"

Harry laughed and handed each of them a card. Then, looking around at the other, nearby occupants of the table, said. "I suggest you budge over, mates. This section of the table is going to become the Potter Pirates' war room for the next hour."

Before he left to hand his cards to the last three members of his team he leaned over and whispered into Ginny's ear, "I'm sorry, Gin, but I can't help you. It's all up to you guys. We've done everything we can to train you; now it is up to you to use what you've learned."

Ginny smiled up at him and said, "Alright then. I'll ask Dobby to move your plate up to the Head Table."

Harry smiled back at her. "Okay," he said with a shrug. Then, as he remembered something he had meant to tell Colin, said, "Could you tell Colin that there is a certain house elf who would like to talk to him about photography."

Ginny giggled. "Yeah, sure."

Looking around Harry saw Padma and Parvati sitting together at the far end of the Ravenclaw Table. Since the school year was over and there was no need for robes it was nearly impossible to tell them apart since they had the unfortunate habit of dressing alike. Harry hated it when they did that because it made his life all that much more difficult. But since he had gotten away with it before he decided to try it again. Walking casually down to the end of the Ravenclaw Table and stopping opposite them he glanced up and said, "Hey, Padma."

The one on the right looked up and smiled. Hey, Harry"

Harry smiled to himself. It had worked again. Handing Padma one of his last three cards he said, "Here. They are meeting at they Gryffindor Table, up around Ron and Ginny."

Padma smiled and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Harry."

As Padma got up and stepped over the bench Harry turned and looked up and down the lengths of the Huffelpuff and Slytherin Tables. The Huffelpuff Table was closer but Susan was seated at the far end visiting with some of her friends while Pansy, at the Slytherin Table, was only halfway up and on the far side visiting with Blaise Zabini and Orville Burns. She seemed to have gotten over Draco and had taken Harry's advice. She was now looking at the qualities that lay within her friends' hearts and not paying quite so much attention to the amount of money they had or any of the other, superficial qualities most people like to flaunt.

Turning away from the Ravenclaw Table Harry walked around the end of the Huffelpuff Table and made his way up towards Pansy. Stopping behind Millicent Bulstrode he looked across at Orville. "Hi, Orville," he said. "How's you knee doing?" Orville had injured his knee during the battle on Christmas Day and had never quite gotten over it.

Orville looked up from his conversation with Pansy. "Oh, hi, Harry. It's still a little stiff. I'm going in to London next week to have the healer's at Saint Mungo's look at it; but I plan on being back by the end of the week."

Harry nodded. "If you need anything make sure you let us know." Then turning to Pansy he said he handed her a card and said, "I hate to break up a good conversation, guys but they need you over at the Gryffindor Table, Pansy." Pansy looked up and smiled, her eyes dancing with the happiness and joy she felt at being chosen as one of the top ten duelists in her class. "Just look for Ron and Ginny's red hair."

"Thanks, Harry," she said as she excused herself from the table and began making her way across the Great Hall.

Harry turned away from the Slytherin Table and bumped into Remus. "Oh, sorry about that, Remus," he said. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Remus chuckled. "That's quite alright, Harry. But I must say that I think I am beginning to agree with Tonks."

Harry stepped back and looked at his friend in shock. "What?"

Remus chuckled again. "I'm only kidding, Harry. But you must admit that you do have three of the best strategists and seven of the best fighters this school has ever seen on your team."

Harry laughed. Then, assuming Alastor's brogue, said, "As a good frien' o' mine once said: Luck o' the draw, laddy. Luck o' the draw."

Remus laughed. "Hey, that's pretty good, Harry! You may make an auror yet." Even though the war wasn't over by any means the end of term and the conclusion of exams did call for a certain amount of levity and as Harry made his way up to the head of the Huffelpuff Table he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

Susan looked up as Harry approached and smiled. "Hi, Harry."

Harry smiled back. "Hi, Susan. How's your aunt doing?"

Susan giggled softly to herself then blushed a light shade of pink. "Last I heard she was doing fine," she said lightly. "She's still the Acting Minister of Magic, you know. And she's always asking about you."

Harry blushed slightly then groaned. Handing Susan the last of his cards he said, "They are meeting over at the Gryffindor Table." Then grumbled, "And you can tell Yenta that I am already spoken for.

That entire end of the Huffelpuff House Table erupted into laughter. It was well known throughout Hogwarts that Susan's aunt had been trying to fix them up since the beginning of the year. It would seem that, where her niece was concerned, Madam Bones was almost as bad as Molly Weasley. Harry didn't mind being friends with Susan but everyone at Hogwarts also knew that Harry and Ginny were together and that, baring the death of either one of them, there was nothing that was going to tear them apart. "Oh, I've told her, Harry!" Susan laughed. "But I don't think she wants to listen."

Harry groaned and, shaking his head, turned and walked towards the Head Table where Dobby had moved his plate and made a space for him between Victor and Professor Sprout.

An hour later, as Harry, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Alastor kicked off from in front of the castle's main entrance to monitor the duel, Potter's Pirates were standing at the ready around the great oat near the lake; Remus' Renegades were at their staging area in the quidditch pitch; Kingsley's Clan was stationed near a small clump of trees on the far corner of the castle grounds; Tonks' Trolls were getting ready on the fringes of the Forbidden Forest, near the front gates; and Moody's Miscreants were preparing themselves in one of the castle's smaller courtyards. When everyone was in place and ready Albus shot a shower of red sparks from the top of the Astronomy Tower and the competition began.

The first thing Harry heard through his charmed communications link was Tonks gasping and then complaining about Harry's team cheating. "What's wrong, Tonks?" Remus asked.

"Harry's team just went invisible!" Tonks said indignantly.

Harry looked over to where his team had been and could easily see the light distortion patterns of ten people moving off in fice sets of two. "I don't see what you're complaining about, Tonks," he said. "I can still see where they are."

Tonks huffed. "Yeah but . . . None of the other teams can! They weren't taught to look for distortions. They were taught to fight!"

"Speak fer yerself, lass," Alastor said. "I taught mine to look fer every kind of concealment charm. O' course I didn't think they'd be fightin' against invisibility charms today but this will give them all somethin' t' think about when we're finished."

Albus chuckled into the link. "Indeed it will, Alastor. Indeed it will." Then, turning his attention towards Harry, said, "Good thinking Harry. I'm glad you taught them to fight using every advantage. But tell me, how good are they at fighting an invisible foe?"

Harry thought for a moment then said, "Of the ten I think I would have to say that Ginny, Hermione and Neville are the best. After that I think It would have to be Luna, Cho, Padma, Ron, Susan, Colin and then Pansy. None of them are on your level, Albus, but I think they can hold their own against most ordinary witches and wizards."

An hour later, after almost half of the combatants had been disarmed, Harry excused himself from the battle and drifted out over Hogsmeade. "What is it, Harry?" Remus asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I want to get away for a few minutes to see if I can make sense of it."

Touching down outside the Shrieking Shack Harry cut himself out of the link, stepped up onto the porch, leaned his broom against the wall and sat down. His scar was telling him that Tom was up to something but he didn't know what it was. So, dropping into the ethos, Harry went in search of his enemy and found him at the Riddle Manor, holding court with one hundred of his top fighters. He was standing on a small stage in a large ballroom near the back of the house. "Today," he hissed," we will destroy Hogsmeade and kill that pitiful, muggle-loving old fool, Albus Dumbledore. We will attack at dusk and we will not stop fighting until the task is complete. In this mission we will have three objectives. The first is, of course, to take Hogsmeade. The second is to kill Dumbledore. Our third and final objective is to kill Harry Potter. Once those three tasks are complete Hogwarts will be mine and the rest of the world will learn what it means to fear the Dark Lord. They will kneel before me or die."

For the next hour he outlined, in great detail, his plans for the attack. When it was all over Harry cut himself back into the communications charm and asked, "How's it going, guys?"

Kingsley chuckled. "You are definitely winning, Harry. Tonks and I are out of it. Remus still has three and Alastor has five; but you still have all ten."

"Call it off." Harry said dryly.

"What is it, Harry?" Albus asked.

"Tom is coming. He says dusk but I want to give ourselves at least an hour."

"Very well," the Headmaster said. Moments later he cut himself out of the communications charm and, casting a particularly loud Sonorus Charm on himself, said, "Attention all students! This competition is being canceled until further notice. We have eight hours to prepare for an attack by Voldemort and his followers. Third-years and below please report to your common rooms and await further orders. Fourth-years and above please report to the Great Hall. Will Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley, Luna Lovegood and all of the professors please report to my office immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Thank you." With that Albus Dumbledore, the venerated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, removed the Sonorus Charm from his voice and strode quickly from the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Fifteen minutes later, as the last of the professors and the youngest members of the Order of the Phoenix found seats in the Headmaster's Office, Harry conjured a large map of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the surrounding terrain, including all of the secret tunnels and passages that led either into the castle or onto the castle grounds. As the vast majority of the tunnels and passages were unknown to most of the faculty, many of them were surprised at their existence.

For the next three hours Harry went over Tom's plans, Ron and Neville discussed battle strategies and, with input from all of the Defense professors, made plans on which students would be teamed with which professors and where they would be stationed and Hermione discussed the defense of the castle proper. Hagrid was sent into the forest to talk to Aragog; Albus went down to the lake to talk to the merpeople; Madam Pomfrey and Victor left to get the Hospital Wing ready for any casualties; Professor Flitwick left to begin making portkeys for the fighters that would take them directly to the Hospital Wing; and the rest were Taken to the Great Hall to gather their troops and move into their defensive positions.

The possibility of transporting all of the younger students out of the area via either portkey or floo was discussed but dismissed due to the fact that they had so little time. The first second and third years would be encouraged to take their trunks and belongings with them into the dungeons so that they could begin flooing out, to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Diagon Alley once the fighting began but until then all hands would be needed to get the castle ready. The tunnels from HoneyDukes and the Shrieking Shack would have to be guarded because Wormtail had told Tom of their existence and Tom had included them in his plans. Even the partially collapsed tunnel from the Hog's Head would have to be guarded because Peter didn't know that it had collapsed and they didn't know how far onto the grounds it came.

Professors Vector, Sinistra and Sprout were placed in charge of organizing the evacuation of the younger students; Luna was placed in charge of making sure that each team of fighters had at least one partially trained healer in their midst; Ginny was placed in charge of organizing the house elves to serve as messengers, couriers and orderlies to make sure everyone had what they needed in the way of food, water and weapons; and Fred and George were contacted and asked to bring several cases of their portable swamps, Death Eater charmed fireworks and other weapons of war as well as healthy supplies of their Calming Candies and Potter Charms. They didn't need anyone going to pieces in the middle of a pitched battle so everyone was going to be issued small bags of Calming Candies and Potter Charms, no matter their level of experience, because in addition to Tom's top one hundred fighters he was bringing one thousand of his mid-level fighters as well. This was promising to be a very long, drawn out and potentially bloody campaign and everyone was made aware of that fact. The only bright spots in the whole affair, so far as Harry and Neville were concerned, was that somewhere in the maelstrom they might actually get a crack at Bellatrix LeStrange and Peter Pettigrew.