Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.
The Second Darkness
Chapter 4: A New Allegiance
Harry walked down to breakfast the next morning, his arms felt stiff and it was painful to move them. He had been late in getting up so Ron had obviously got up and gone down to breakfast without him.
He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Hermione. He reached for various foods and put them on his plate and started eating, Hermione looked concerned as he did so,
"What's wrong with your arms?" Harry was moving his arms in slow movements,
"They're stiff from the sword training yesterday." Hermione nodded sympathetically. He finished his plate in a few more seconds,
"But today's a day off right? I mean, it is a Sunday after all." Said Ron.
"Doesn't look like it." Said Hermione, Harry looked towards the doors of the Great Hall. Sure enough, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Dumbledore were standing there looking in his direction. Harry sighed and stood up.
"See you later." He muttered to Ron and Hermione. He walked over to where the adults were standing and followed them out into the Entrance Hall.
"Same as yesterday, Harry." Said Dumbledore.
"Ok, Professor." Lupin led Harry out into the grounds. They got to where they were yesterday and Lupin handed Harry his armour. Harry unbuckled his sword belt and slipped on the armour before buckling his sword belt back on.
Harry positioned himself in the starting position. Lupin did likewise,
"First of all we will review what we did yesterday, then I will teach you some new moves." Lupin lunged at Harry, Harry flicked Lupin's blade aside and lunged at Lupin, stopping just short of stabbing Lupin through the heart. Lupin raised an eyebrow,
"I don't remember you being able to perform that as well as you just did." He said.
"Last night, just after Ron and Hermione told me about Madam Pince not being able to find anything in the library about how to get the wards back up, I came down here and practised everything you taught me that day until I could do it flawlessly."
"Why?" asked Lupin, Harry shook his head indicating he didn't want to talk about it,
"You would have thought," continued Harry, "That there would have been something in the restricted section."
"I personally never thought so." Said Lupin.
"Why not?" asked Harry.
"Well, which is safer, the Department of Mysteries or the restricted section of the Hogwarts library?"
"Yeah, but Dumbledore was the only-one-he-ever-feared."
"Think of it like this, are you afraid of Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"But you're not afraid to fight him. Voldemort is afraid of Dumbledore but he is not afraid to fight him, he just avoids it if he can. It is easier for him to get into the Hogwarts library than it is to get into the Department of Mysteries, I will tell you now, the Unspeakables are some of the most powerful witches and wizards, they are more powerful than even the top Aurors. Getting into the Ministry of Magic and then getting past them is a hell of a lot harder than getting into a school. Even if it does have wards." Harry nodded,
"That makes sense." Lupin smiled,
"Anyway back to sword training." Harry began to get into the starting position but, without warning, Lupin swung the sword at Harry's head, Harry parried the blow then counter attacked with a lunge at Lupin's chest, Lupin flicked the blade aside and swung at Harry's left side. Harry blocked, swung at Lupin's head, instead of blocking it Lupin stepped back and lunged at Harry, Harry had to jump back to avoid it, but he slipped and fell over. Lupin laughed, before offering his hand to Harry.
"Not bad, Harry, you weren't caught by surprise too much and when you got into the rhythm of the fight you did well."
"I did get caught out by that last move, I expected you to block it rather then step back."
"That move is good for catching an enemy by surprise, especially as not many people expect it." Harry laughed,
"I'll have to remember that one." said Harry.
"Now-" said Lupin grinning evilly. Harry's eyes widened in horror,
"NO! No, Lupin don't you dare, no, I absolutely refuse to do it!"
"-You will practise your sword strokes." Harry sighed and started swinging his sword in horizontal figures of eight. There were two reasons for doing this, one was that it improved his sword strokes and the other was that built up his muscles.
"My arms are still hurting from yesterday." Harry complained, Lupin's grinned broadened,
"Well at least we know it's working then." Harry groaned but didn't stop swinging. After fifteen minutes Harry's arms were on fire, he was sure of it, it felt like every nerve ending was burning to a cinder. Several time he pleaded with Lupin and every time Lupin shook his head although his smile faded slightly each time.
Eventually Harry just dropped his sword,
"I can't do it anymore, my arms hurt too much." He moaned through clenched teeth, clutching his right arm with his left hand and his left arm with his right hand. Lupin hurried forward looking extremely worried.
"It's okay Harry, you don't have to. Here rub this into your arms." Lupin handed him a small pot of 'Madam Sorbridge's Super Muscle Relaxant'. Harry rubbed it into his arms and experienced instant relief,
"God, you're a slave-driver." Said Harry grinning at Lupin, Lupin grinned back.
"I know, but it's better that you're prepared, even if it does hurt a little."
"You're starting to sound like Moody." Lupin hit Harry on the shoulder good-naturedly. Harry laughed.
"Thanks for that, Harry, now, you'd better get to Tonks, she's in the charms room again." Harry nodded. He took off his armour and handed it Lupin who was just about to fold when he hesitated and then gave it back to Harry, Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You'd better keep that, after all, I won't always be around to give it to you if you need it." Harry sighed and stuffed it under his robes, he didn't want to give people another reason to talk about him. He said goodbye to Lupin and ran off towards the charms corridor.
To his relief he got there without incident, he opened the door and sat down on a desk. Tonks, who had long black hair with blond streaks in it today, raised her eyebrows,
"Is it just me or have you put on weight since I last saw you?" Harry grinned weakly and took out the dragonskin armour.
"Cool, let's have a look at it then." Harry handed it to her. Tonks looked impressed.
"This is really good armour." She said studying it carefully, "Must have easily cost Lupin at least one and a half thousand galleons. What's it from?" she asked looking up at him.
"Scottish Red-Eye." Tonks let out a low whistle.
"God, that must've doubled the price at least. Those are really rare and really valuable, not only because they are so rare but because the armour is so light and comfortable." Harry was slightly angry.
"He should've told me it cost that much, he shouldn't have even gotten me one of that quality." Tonks laughed kindly.
"He only wants the best for you, we all do." She said.
"I suppose, but I should still give him some money for it." Tonks laughed again.
"Ah, you know he'd never take it." Harry nodded, but he was less than happy.
"Anyway, we'd better get on with some healing." Suddenly a thought struck Harry,
"Do you know any muscle relaxant spells?" Tonks looked surprised,
"Yes, why?" Harry gestured towards his sword.
"Lupin," He said forcefully, "is a slave driver." Tonks laughed,
"Ok, there is one spell that will relax your muscles and that is 'musculax'. It's not too difficult so you should be able to pick it up easily." Tonks showed him the wand movement. Harry tried it on his left arm. He immediately experienced a wonderful feeling in his arm; it was like his arm was floating. There was no tension it just felt light and relaxed. Eventually the feeling faded but his arm lost the stiffness that remained even after the ointment Lupin gave him.
"Excellent, thanks Tonks." She smiled at him. Tonks also taught Harry a blood-replenishing spell.
Moody was already in his classroom when Harry got there. He indicated that Harry should have a seat.
"Thanks to the DA you already know most, if not all of the spells that I would teach you at this level so, as I said yesterday, we will move onto a few of the more advanced defensive spells. First of all I will teach you a defensive spell that is extremely difficult to perform and it requires a lot of energy to do it. Basically it absorbs the spell and the energy your enemy put into casting that spell will be transferred to you and drained from them. As it requires so much energy it is extremely unwise to use it on spell like expelliarmus that does not require a lot of energy to cast. Using it on something like the cruciatus curse is wise, as the cruciatus curse requires a lot of energy to cast. Understand? Good. Now try it, the incantation is 'Nunctia Dranus'.
Harry took out his wand, he tried and as Moody had predicted, nothing happened, he tried it again, nothing happened. On the third attempt a thin, wispy wall, pale green, shot out of his wand. Moody looked impressed.
"That was good, Potter, concentrate on the spell now, nothing else, concentrate hard on the spell." Harry did as he said; he focused his mind on the spell and tried it.
Harry suddenly felt extremely weak, but he managed to see a forest green wall appear in front of him, he felt very tired and swayed violently, Moody hurried forward ready to catch him if he fell, but Harry stayed upright. He felt light-headed and it was difficult to focus on anything.
He felt some warm liquid being poured down his throat and the world suddenly swam back into view and the light-headed feeling disappeared. Moody's face came back into focus. He was holding a small vial.
"Excellent, Potter, that was extraordinary. Not many wizards would be able to perform a full Dranus on their fourth attempt. Do you reckon you could do it again?" Harry nodded.
"This time I will perform the cruciatus curse and it is vital that you block it. Understand?" Harry nodded again, "Good, now, one...two...three! Crucio!" At the same time Harry cast the Dranus spell, the wall appeared in front of him but he only felt weak for a second before a surge of strength surge through, making him feel stronger and more energetic than before. He looked up to see Moody take a drink of potion that was electric blue.
"What's that?" asked Harry when Moody had finished drinking it.
"Strength replenishing potion. Now, that was excellent, Potter I had expected it to take two or three lessons before you got the hang of it. Well done. Dumbledore will let you know when your next lesson is." Harry said goodbye to Moody and went to find Ron and Hermione.
The next day Harry was sitting in Potions when Lupin came bursting in.
"You knock before you enter a professors classroom, Lupin." Said Snape quickly, Harry didn't like the way he put emphasis on the word 'professors.'
"Sorry Snivellus," said Lupin coldly, "I'll remember that if I ever have to enter your greasy classroom again." Many of the students exchanged looks of glee. They loved seeing Snape get put down. Lupin turned and looked around the classroom. Eventually his gaze landed on Harry.
"Dumbledore would like to see you, Harry." Harry nodded and stood up.
"Potter has another half an hour of potions to complete." Said Snape immediately.
"Well, Unfortunately for you Snivellus, Dumbledore's wishes come before yours." And without another word Lupin turned and led Harry out of the dungeon.
"Why does Dumbledore want to see me?" asked Harry.
"You'll see." Harry knew he wasn't going to get any information so he stayed silent. They approached the stone gargoyles and Lupin gave the password and they walked up into Dumbledore's office. Inside were some of the most prominent members of the Order. Shacklebolt, Tonks, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Vance and a few others Harry didn't recognise. All the teachers were there but there were also three creatures, about four foot high, all broad and muscular wearing chainmail with heavy battle axes at their sides and shield slung over their backs. With a jolt of surprise Harry realised that they were Goblins.
Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"These are the head of three Goblin Clans who are here to negotiate an alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and the Goblin Clans Morger, Ragnon and Fenwold. This is Lenwok, leader of the Goblin Clan Morger. This is Ragnok leader of the Goblin Clan Ragnon. This is Karvuk leader of the Goblin Clan Fenwold." With the introductions over the Goblins wasted no time in getting down to business. When they spoke their English was fluent but heavily accented so it was sometimes hard to understand what they were saying.
"We are prepared to enter an allegiance with the Order of the Phoenix. There are no conditions. We are doing this because You-Know-Who has been murdering more Goblin families." Said Ragnok. Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.
"We have no conditions on the forming of this alliance. But we do have one query. Who commands?" Ragnok, who had become the spokesman for the Goblins, did not hesitate in answering.
"My troops are your troops and your troops are my troops." Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
"That's a good idea."
"Are we agreed?" asked the Goblin, Ragnok.
"We are agreed." Said Dumbledore. From the belt around his waist Ragnok drew a beautifully crafted knife. Placing the edge on the palm of his hand Ragnok swept the blade across. He clenched his fist and squeezed the blood out.
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger, Fenwold and their new allies the Order of the Phoenix." He then handed the knife to Dumbledore. Dumbledore took the knife and he cut his palm.
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and their new allies the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold." Dumbledore handed the knife back to the Goblin.
"Does anyone oppose this alliance?" asked Ragnok. No one spoke, "then allies we are and allies we shall remain." A cheer went up in the room and people starting talking in loud voices. Harry turned to Lupin.
"How many are there in a Goblin Clan?"
"About six thousand, of which a third will be men so we know have six thousand Goblin fighters, two thousand from each folk. Ragnon especially is renown for producing able and strong warriors." Harry let out a low whistle.
"That's got to be good for us."
"It is, very good. Goblin skin is like giant skin, very hard to penetrate with spells and they are also extremely famous for their blacksmith work."
"Why did Dumbledore want me here?"
"Basically, leaders of people who fight for one of the sides who are entering the alliance must be present, as witnesses."
"Oh ok." Harry turned and left after seeing other people. He hurried back to the common room where, as he predicted, Ron and Hermione were anxiously waiting for him to return. As soon as they saw him enter they jumped and hurried over to him. He beckoned them over into a corner,
"Well?" asked Hermione impatiently. Harry grinned at them both
"The Order of the Phoenix has three new allies. Goblin Clans." Hermione's hand flew to her mouth and Ron's eyes widened in shock.
"What?" breathed Hermione.
"Three Goblin Clans, Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold have allied themselves with the Order. In each Clan there are about six thousand Goblins, about a third of the Clan are males. So we now have six thousand Goblin warriors baying for Voldemort's blood."
"Why have they joined us? Goblins are meant to be fiercely independent!" asked Ron incredulously.
"Voldemort's been murdering Goblins from those Clans and although the Goblins aren't on the best of terms with Dumbledore and the Order well, you know, my enemy's enemy is my friend."
"If it's going to come down to a final battle having Goblins on our side is really going to help." Said Hermione earnestly. Harry nodded.
"I'm going to see Cho, I'll see you guys later." Said Harry turning to leave. He walked out of the common room. He headed up to the owlrey. When he got there he quickly scribbled a note to Cho.
My Darling Cho,
Meet me by the room of requirement. I haven't seen you for ages.
All my love,
Harry -
He conjured up a red rose and attached it to the note. He looked for Hedwig. She was up on one of the rafters. As soon as she saw him she flew down and landed on his shoulder. He stroked her for a minute before giving her the note.
"This is for Cho, ok?" She hooted softly before flying out of the window.
******
Cho was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room talking to some of her friends when they heard a tapping on the window. She looked up,
"Hedwig!" she exclaimed. She jumped and ran to the window and opened it. Hedwig gave her the note before flying off. She let out a tiny 'oh' of surprise.
"What?" asked her friends, Cho turned round smiling and held up the rose. One of her friends smiled,
"No prizes for guessing who that's from." Cho tuck her tongue out at her and looked down at the note. She read it quickly, her smile widening.
"I've got to go, he wants to see me." She said dreamily before running out of the common room. Her friends smiled at her retreating back.
"She's starting to act like Luna Lovegood." One of them said grinning broadly. Another hit her on the arm.
"Don't be mean! I think it's sweet."
"Yeah," agreed another, "Who'd have thought that Harry Potter would be so romantic."
******
Harry waited impatiently by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. He heard approaching footsteps and looked up expectantly, his face broke into a huge grin as he saw Cho come round the corner. She ran up and threw her arms around his neck.
"That was so sweet." She said, holding up the rose. Harry grinned.
"I'm glad you liked it."
"I loved it." He kissed her tenderly on the cheek.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Cho nodded and put her hand in his. He led her down into the grounds. They sat by the lake and Cho put her head on his shoulder.
"I love you so much." He said smiling down at her.
"I love you too." She murmured sleepily. He stroked her hair softly. Soon she fell asleep.
"I love you Cho, more than life itself. I love you so much, I just want to lie next to you every night that I go to sleep, wake up next to you every morning. And yet a new era of darkness is upon us and it scares me, it scares me because I might be leading you to your death. I love you too much to let you go and yet I think I have to."
A/N I have finally managed to get this chapter uploaded. I am so sorry that it is late. Next chapter we find out what Voldemort is up to.
LogicalRaven – Thanks a lot for the review. I look forward to receiving them.
Anime-Master7 – I am still not sure about the Ron/Hermione but it probably will be in the end, though it might not be.
Colm – The tables crashing is definitely better, Death Eaters using plates to kill people is just too out of character. By the way your e-mail address doesn't work. I tried to send you an e-mail about the fight scene but 'kealkillfreeserve.co.uk' doesn't exist.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.
Fireboy
The Second Darkness
Chapter 4: A New Allegiance
Harry walked down to breakfast the next morning, his arms felt stiff and it was painful to move them. He had been late in getting up so Ron had obviously got up and gone down to breakfast without him.
He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Hermione. He reached for various foods and put them on his plate and started eating, Hermione looked concerned as he did so,
"What's wrong with your arms?" Harry was moving his arms in slow movements,
"They're stiff from the sword training yesterday." Hermione nodded sympathetically. He finished his plate in a few more seconds,
"But today's a day off right? I mean, it is a Sunday after all." Said Ron.
"Doesn't look like it." Said Hermione, Harry looked towards the doors of the Great Hall. Sure enough, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Dumbledore were standing there looking in his direction. Harry sighed and stood up.
"See you later." He muttered to Ron and Hermione. He walked over to where the adults were standing and followed them out into the Entrance Hall.
"Same as yesterday, Harry." Said Dumbledore.
"Ok, Professor." Lupin led Harry out into the grounds. They got to where they were yesterday and Lupin handed Harry his armour. Harry unbuckled his sword belt and slipped on the armour before buckling his sword belt back on.
Harry positioned himself in the starting position. Lupin did likewise,
"First of all we will review what we did yesterday, then I will teach you some new moves." Lupin lunged at Harry, Harry flicked Lupin's blade aside and lunged at Lupin, stopping just short of stabbing Lupin through the heart. Lupin raised an eyebrow,
"I don't remember you being able to perform that as well as you just did." He said.
"Last night, just after Ron and Hermione told me about Madam Pince not being able to find anything in the library about how to get the wards back up, I came down here and practised everything you taught me that day until I could do it flawlessly."
"Why?" asked Lupin, Harry shook his head indicating he didn't want to talk about it,
"You would have thought," continued Harry, "That there would have been something in the restricted section."
"I personally never thought so." Said Lupin.
"Why not?" asked Harry.
"Well, which is safer, the Department of Mysteries or the restricted section of the Hogwarts library?"
"Yeah, but Dumbledore was the only-one-he-ever-feared."
"Think of it like this, are you afraid of Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"But you're not afraid to fight him. Voldemort is afraid of Dumbledore but he is not afraid to fight him, he just avoids it if he can. It is easier for him to get into the Hogwarts library than it is to get into the Department of Mysteries, I will tell you now, the Unspeakables are some of the most powerful witches and wizards, they are more powerful than even the top Aurors. Getting into the Ministry of Magic and then getting past them is a hell of a lot harder than getting into a school. Even if it does have wards." Harry nodded,
"That makes sense." Lupin smiled,
"Anyway back to sword training." Harry began to get into the starting position but, without warning, Lupin swung the sword at Harry's head, Harry parried the blow then counter attacked with a lunge at Lupin's chest, Lupin flicked the blade aside and swung at Harry's left side. Harry blocked, swung at Lupin's head, instead of blocking it Lupin stepped back and lunged at Harry, Harry had to jump back to avoid it, but he slipped and fell over. Lupin laughed, before offering his hand to Harry.
"Not bad, Harry, you weren't caught by surprise too much and when you got into the rhythm of the fight you did well."
"I did get caught out by that last move, I expected you to block it rather then step back."
"That move is good for catching an enemy by surprise, especially as not many people expect it." Harry laughed,
"I'll have to remember that one." said Harry.
"Now-" said Lupin grinning evilly. Harry's eyes widened in horror,
"NO! No, Lupin don't you dare, no, I absolutely refuse to do it!"
"-You will practise your sword strokes." Harry sighed and started swinging his sword in horizontal figures of eight. There were two reasons for doing this, one was that it improved his sword strokes and the other was that built up his muscles.
"My arms are still hurting from yesterday." Harry complained, Lupin's grinned broadened,
"Well at least we know it's working then." Harry groaned but didn't stop swinging. After fifteen minutes Harry's arms were on fire, he was sure of it, it felt like every nerve ending was burning to a cinder. Several time he pleaded with Lupin and every time Lupin shook his head although his smile faded slightly each time.
Eventually Harry just dropped his sword,
"I can't do it anymore, my arms hurt too much." He moaned through clenched teeth, clutching his right arm with his left hand and his left arm with his right hand. Lupin hurried forward looking extremely worried.
"It's okay Harry, you don't have to. Here rub this into your arms." Lupin handed him a small pot of 'Madam Sorbridge's Super Muscle Relaxant'. Harry rubbed it into his arms and experienced instant relief,
"God, you're a slave-driver." Said Harry grinning at Lupin, Lupin grinned back.
"I know, but it's better that you're prepared, even if it does hurt a little."
"You're starting to sound like Moody." Lupin hit Harry on the shoulder good-naturedly. Harry laughed.
"Thanks for that, Harry, now, you'd better get to Tonks, she's in the charms room again." Harry nodded. He took off his armour and handed it Lupin who was just about to fold when he hesitated and then gave it back to Harry, Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You'd better keep that, after all, I won't always be around to give it to you if you need it." Harry sighed and stuffed it under his robes, he didn't want to give people another reason to talk about him. He said goodbye to Lupin and ran off towards the charms corridor.
To his relief he got there without incident, he opened the door and sat down on a desk. Tonks, who had long black hair with blond streaks in it today, raised her eyebrows,
"Is it just me or have you put on weight since I last saw you?" Harry grinned weakly and took out the dragonskin armour.
"Cool, let's have a look at it then." Harry handed it to her. Tonks looked impressed.
"This is really good armour." She said studying it carefully, "Must have easily cost Lupin at least one and a half thousand galleons. What's it from?" she asked looking up at him.
"Scottish Red-Eye." Tonks let out a low whistle.
"God, that must've doubled the price at least. Those are really rare and really valuable, not only because they are so rare but because the armour is so light and comfortable." Harry was slightly angry.
"He should've told me it cost that much, he shouldn't have even gotten me one of that quality." Tonks laughed kindly.
"He only wants the best for you, we all do." She said.
"I suppose, but I should still give him some money for it." Tonks laughed again.
"Ah, you know he'd never take it." Harry nodded, but he was less than happy.
"Anyway, we'd better get on with some healing." Suddenly a thought struck Harry,
"Do you know any muscle relaxant spells?" Tonks looked surprised,
"Yes, why?" Harry gestured towards his sword.
"Lupin," He said forcefully, "is a slave driver." Tonks laughed,
"Ok, there is one spell that will relax your muscles and that is 'musculax'. It's not too difficult so you should be able to pick it up easily." Tonks showed him the wand movement. Harry tried it on his left arm. He immediately experienced a wonderful feeling in his arm; it was like his arm was floating. There was no tension it just felt light and relaxed. Eventually the feeling faded but his arm lost the stiffness that remained even after the ointment Lupin gave him.
"Excellent, thanks Tonks." She smiled at him. Tonks also taught Harry a blood-replenishing spell.
Moody was already in his classroom when Harry got there. He indicated that Harry should have a seat.
"Thanks to the DA you already know most, if not all of the spells that I would teach you at this level so, as I said yesterday, we will move onto a few of the more advanced defensive spells. First of all I will teach you a defensive spell that is extremely difficult to perform and it requires a lot of energy to do it. Basically it absorbs the spell and the energy your enemy put into casting that spell will be transferred to you and drained from them. As it requires so much energy it is extremely unwise to use it on spell like expelliarmus that does not require a lot of energy to cast. Using it on something like the cruciatus curse is wise, as the cruciatus curse requires a lot of energy to cast. Understand? Good. Now try it, the incantation is 'Nunctia Dranus'.
Harry took out his wand, he tried and as Moody had predicted, nothing happened, he tried it again, nothing happened. On the third attempt a thin, wispy wall, pale green, shot out of his wand. Moody looked impressed.
"That was good, Potter, concentrate on the spell now, nothing else, concentrate hard on the spell." Harry did as he said; he focused his mind on the spell and tried it.
Harry suddenly felt extremely weak, but he managed to see a forest green wall appear in front of him, he felt very tired and swayed violently, Moody hurried forward ready to catch him if he fell, but Harry stayed upright. He felt light-headed and it was difficult to focus on anything.
He felt some warm liquid being poured down his throat and the world suddenly swam back into view and the light-headed feeling disappeared. Moody's face came back into focus. He was holding a small vial.
"Excellent, Potter, that was extraordinary. Not many wizards would be able to perform a full Dranus on their fourth attempt. Do you reckon you could do it again?" Harry nodded.
"This time I will perform the cruciatus curse and it is vital that you block it. Understand?" Harry nodded again, "Good, now, one...two...three! Crucio!" At the same time Harry cast the Dranus spell, the wall appeared in front of him but he only felt weak for a second before a surge of strength surge through, making him feel stronger and more energetic than before. He looked up to see Moody take a drink of potion that was electric blue.
"What's that?" asked Harry when Moody had finished drinking it.
"Strength replenishing potion. Now, that was excellent, Potter I had expected it to take two or three lessons before you got the hang of it. Well done. Dumbledore will let you know when your next lesson is." Harry said goodbye to Moody and went to find Ron and Hermione.
The next day Harry was sitting in Potions when Lupin came bursting in.
"You knock before you enter a professors classroom, Lupin." Said Snape quickly, Harry didn't like the way he put emphasis on the word 'professors.'
"Sorry Snivellus," said Lupin coldly, "I'll remember that if I ever have to enter your greasy classroom again." Many of the students exchanged looks of glee. They loved seeing Snape get put down. Lupin turned and looked around the classroom. Eventually his gaze landed on Harry.
"Dumbledore would like to see you, Harry." Harry nodded and stood up.
"Potter has another half an hour of potions to complete." Said Snape immediately.
"Well, Unfortunately for you Snivellus, Dumbledore's wishes come before yours." And without another word Lupin turned and led Harry out of the dungeon.
"Why does Dumbledore want to see me?" asked Harry.
"You'll see." Harry knew he wasn't going to get any information so he stayed silent. They approached the stone gargoyles and Lupin gave the password and they walked up into Dumbledore's office. Inside were some of the most prominent members of the Order. Shacklebolt, Tonks, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Vance and a few others Harry didn't recognise. All the teachers were there but there were also three creatures, about four foot high, all broad and muscular wearing chainmail with heavy battle axes at their sides and shield slung over their backs. With a jolt of surprise Harry realised that they were Goblins.
Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"These are the head of three Goblin Clans who are here to negotiate an alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and the Goblin Clans Morger, Ragnon and Fenwold. This is Lenwok, leader of the Goblin Clan Morger. This is Ragnok leader of the Goblin Clan Ragnon. This is Karvuk leader of the Goblin Clan Fenwold." With the introductions over the Goblins wasted no time in getting down to business. When they spoke their English was fluent but heavily accented so it was sometimes hard to understand what they were saying.
"We are prepared to enter an allegiance with the Order of the Phoenix. There are no conditions. We are doing this because You-Know-Who has been murdering more Goblin families." Said Ragnok. Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.
"We have no conditions on the forming of this alliance. But we do have one query. Who commands?" Ragnok, who had become the spokesman for the Goblins, did not hesitate in answering.
"My troops are your troops and your troops are my troops." Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
"That's a good idea."
"Are we agreed?" asked the Goblin, Ragnok.
"We are agreed." Said Dumbledore. From the belt around his waist Ragnok drew a beautifully crafted knife. Placing the edge on the palm of his hand Ragnok swept the blade across. He clenched his fist and squeezed the blood out.
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger, Fenwold and their new allies the Order of the Phoenix." He then handed the knife to Dumbledore. Dumbledore took the knife and he cut his palm.
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and their new allies the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold." Dumbledore handed the knife back to the Goblin.
"Does anyone oppose this alliance?" asked Ragnok. No one spoke, "then allies we are and allies we shall remain." A cheer went up in the room and people starting talking in loud voices. Harry turned to Lupin.
"How many are there in a Goblin Clan?"
"About six thousand, of which a third will be men so we know have six thousand Goblin fighters, two thousand from each folk. Ragnon especially is renown for producing able and strong warriors." Harry let out a low whistle.
"That's got to be good for us."
"It is, very good. Goblin skin is like giant skin, very hard to penetrate with spells and they are also extremely famous for their blacksmith work."
"Why did Dumbledore want me here?"
"Basically, leaders of people who fight for one of the sides who are entering the alliance must be present, as witnesses."
"Oh ok." Harry turned and left after seeing other people. He hurried back to the common room where, as he predicted, Ron and Hermione were anxiously waiting for him to return. As soon as they saw him enter they jumped and hurried over to him. He beckoned them over into a corner,
"Well?" asked Hermione impatiently. Harry grinned at them both
"The Order of the Phoenix has three new allies. Goblin Clans." Hermione's hand flew to her mouth and Ron's eyes widened in shock.
"What?" breathed Hermione.
"Three Goblin Clans, Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold have allied themselves with the Order. In each Clan there are about six thousand Goblins, about a third of the Clan are males. So we now have six thousand Goblin warriors baying for Voldemort's blood."
"Why have they joined us? Goblins are meant to be fiercely independent!" asked Ron incredulously.
"Voldemort's been murdering Goblins from those Clans and although the Goblins aren't on the best of terms with Dumbledore and the Order well, you know, my enemy's enemy is my friend."
"If it's going to come down to a final battle having Goblins on our side is really going to help." Said Hermione earnestly. Harry nodded.
"I'm going to see Cho, I'll see you guys later." Said Harry turning to leave. He walked out of the common room. He headed up to the owlrey. When he got there he quickly scribbled a note to Cho.
My Darling Cho,
Meet me by the room of requirement. I haven't seen you for ages.
All my love,
Harry -
He conjured up a red rose and attached it to the note. He looked for Hedwig. She was up on one of the rafters. As soon as she saw him she flew down and landed on his shoulder. He stroked her for a minute before giving her the note.
"This is for Cho, ok?" She hooted softly before flying out of the window.
******
Cho was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room talking to some of her friends when they heard a tapping on the window. She looked up,
"Hedwig!" she exclaimed. She jumped and ran to the window and opened it. Hedwig gave her the note before flying off. She let out a tiny 'oh' of surprise.
"What?" asked her friends, Cho turned round smiling and held up the rose. One of her friends smiled,
"No prizes for guessing who that's from." Cho tuck her tongue out at her and looked down at the note. She read it quickly, her smile widening.
"I've got to go, he wants to see me." She said dreamily before running out of the common room. Her friends smiled at her retreating back.
"She's starting to act like Luna Lovegood." One of them said grinning broadly. Another hit her on the arm.
"Don't be mean! I think it's sweet."
"Yeah," agreed another, "Who'd have thought that Harry Potter would be so romantic."
******
Harry waited impatiently by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. He heard approaching footsteps and looked up expectantly, his face broke into a huge grin as he saw Cho come round the corner. She ran up and threw her arms around his neck.
"That was so sweet." She said, holding up the rose. Harry grinned.
"I'm glad you liked it."
"I loved it." He kissed her tenderly on the cheek.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Cho nodded and put her hand in his. He led her down into the grounds. They sat by the lake and Cho put her head on his shoulder.
"I love you so much." He said smiling down at her.
"I love you too." She murmured sleepily. He stroked her hair softly. Soon she fell asleep.
"I love you Cho, more than life itself. I love you so much, I just want to lie next to you every night that I go to sleep, wake up next to you every morning. And yet a new era of darkness is upon us and it scares me, it scares me because I might be leading you to your death. I love you too much to let you go and yet I think I have to."
A/N I have finally managed to get this chapter uploaded. I am so sorry that it is late. Next chapter we find out what Voldemort is up to.
LogicalRaven – Thanks a lot for the review. I look forward to receiving them.
Anime-Master7 – I am still not sure about the Ron/Hermione but it probably will be in the end, though it might not be.
Colm – The tables crashing is definitely better, Death Eaters using plates to kill people is just too out of character. By the way your e-mail address doesn't work. I tried to send you an e-mail about the fight scene but 'kealkillfreeserve.co.uk' doesn't exist.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.
Fireboy