Chapter 41: The Middle
The five students sat soundless in the meadow, being as silent as they had never been before. They could hear Nagini's hisses over the constant howling of the wind, but they were sure she had not spotted them yet or the snake would have done something by now, wouldn't she?
"Apparate," mouthed Harry to his friends, desperate for them to understand. "Apparate!" They others nodded and together they Disapparated, hoping so much it didn't make any sound which would tell Nagini there was anybody here.
As if reading each others minds they all Apparated into Dumbledore's office which was filled with, to their surprise, the whole Order of the Phoenix. The loud, but nervous, chattering became a hushed silence when the five students appeared, fear etched into their faces and eyes, maybe forever.
"This confirms it," said Dumbledore wearily, looking sorrowfully at the five students. "Voldemort has found us."
"Nagini, his snake, sir. She's here," whispered Harry, not daring to raise his voice, in fear the snake would hear him if he did. There was much muttering amongst the members of the Order. Amid the crowd Harry spotted Tonks' currently raspberry red hair and saw her wave at him as Lupin, who stood beside her, looking extremely old and weary, gave a weak smile.
"Why is she here? Why did Voldemort not come himself?" asked one fairly rough looking wizard who stood on the other side of the room from where Harry was currently looking.
"He has sent her to break through the magical barriers that protect this castle, I suppose, as he had done with Hogwarts," replied Dumbledore, pacing through his office, intently watched by the members of the Order and the five. "Only immensely powerful animals can break through such barriers, no human would be able to."
"When is Voldemort himself coming?" questioned Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice, standing beside Dumbledore's desk.
"I do not know. We will have to wait for his arrival, but remember, as soon as he enters the grounds of Hatsrowg, the Second War begins. Now, I need you all to get to the Ministry of Magic as fast as you can and warn everyone there. Come back as soon as possible. Around 15 Aurors will be needed to keep an eye out for Nagini, Voldemort and his supporters. I will be training with the five," ordered Dumbledore and almost immediately the members of the Order used a form of Apparation to Disapparate, leaving exactly 15 Aurors left standing in Dumbledore's office. Harry wondered how on earth they knew they were to stay, for he had not seen any of them conversing about it with the others. "You will take different posts in the castle and stand guard," Dumbledore told them before leading the five out of his office and towards where they were to train.
"Sir, excuse me, sir. When will we know the Second War has started?" asked Harry, catching up with Dumbledore, who was taking rather quick, large strides.
"We will know when Voldemort shows himself," replied the old man, no longer twinkling in his eyes or a smile on his face.
"Yes, but when will that be?" inquired Hermione, her voice shaking greatly.
"It is impossible to say. It may take hours, but it may as well take days, or even weeks," answered Dumbledore, making a sudden right. The five students, who had been taken completely by surprise by this unexpected turn, hurried to catch up with their headmaster again, for they had been standing still for a few seconds, completely startled, giving Dumbledore the chance to move many feet away. Draco held Nora's hand the whole way to what turned out to be the Kitchen, as Hermione constantly had to wipe tears away that kept forming in her eyes. Harry seemed determined to pry some information out of his headmaster while Ron let nothing except seriousness, penetrate through the shield he had set up.
"Severus," said Dumbledore when they entered the Kitchen. Professor Snape walked over to the headmaster, attentively watched by the five students, who he gave a glare of irritation before turning back to Dumbledore.
"I have handed out orders, Albus. The potions should be ready within the day," Snape said while behind him house-elves ran unnerved around the Kitchens, carrying trays filled with all sorts of ingredients over to the house-elves sitting by roughly 50 cauldrons.
"Very well. Keep an eye out for anything unusual and make sure all of those 500 potions are ready by the end of today," Dumbledore told him. Ron's jaw dropped.
"500 potions?" he whispered in disbelief as Professor Snape nodded to Dumbledore and then walked back to the center of the Kitchens. "What on earth for?"
"Probably healing potions for during the Second War," Hermione told him, a bit irritated he could not think of such a simple answer by himself.
"Very good, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore, smiling at her, though it was plain to see he was feeling nothing but worry. "Now, let's get to the training room and revise everything we have learned so far. It will be foolish to try and learn something new when the Second War is so close."
"But what about learning the Avada Kedavra curse!?" said Hermione desperately. "You said we only have a small chance of winning if we don't know it!"
"I'm afraid we do not have time. It takes a long time before you are fully able to cast that curse if you're not dark inside," said Dumbledore. "Now, show me your skills in Apparating and Disapparating by Apparating into the Training Room." He then disappeared and the five were left no choice but to Apparate into the Training Room as well. When they landed in it, they were welcomed by a small applause, coming from Dumbledore. The Training Room, they noticed, was completely different from what they usually practiced in, for this one had marble floors and walls and no windows, or any other source of light at all, which was extremely peculiar, for the room was as bright as if they were standing outside in the sun.
"The first thing we revise. . . actually, let's just go straight to battling, in which you will use the form of Apparation, the Amulet of Era's to regain energy, and of course the spells, curses and jinxes I taught you yesterday."
"Will we be practicing on you again, sir, or on each other?" asked Harry. Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, in order to see if you can properly fight during a battle, you will be practicing on members of the Order," he replied. The five students gaped at him.
"But we're not good enough to fight them," stammered Ron. Dumbledore smiled.
"I have perfect confidence that you are," he answered as five members of the Order appeared, all unfamiliar to Harry and the others. "You may begin." Instantly the five Order members singled out one of the five and shot a curse at them, which could be avoided only by Disapparating.
The battle was quite interesting of course, especially for Dumbledore, who did not have to dodge any curses, and it appeared that, even though the five were only 6th year students, they could fight actually quite well, maybe just as well as the Order members. Harry for example dodged an exceptionally unexpected Avada Kedavra curse his heavily built opponent shot at him and he actually wondered whether or not Dumbledore ever considered the members to be, well, not really on their side and that he was now trying to kill Harry. But the thought left his mind immediately when the opponent shot an unknown curse at him that did not sound all too friendly.
Ron, on the other hand, was having no trouble at all dodging curses, mostly because he did not even give his opponent a chance by shooting every spell he knew at her. But this strategy worked out quite well for him, he wasn't in any immediate danger this way, so he kept going at it, while Nora and Hermione had decided to just Disapparated and appear somewhere completely unexpected and then shoot something at the opponent. Draco fought like he had battled with extremely evil, and not to mention unfriendly and rude, people before and Harry guessed he may have had to battle Death Eaters in order to become one himself, but of course that thought was run out of his head as his opponent cast another evil sounding jinx at him. He did not like his opponent very much.
After an hour of dodging and shooting curses Harry stopped to restock on energy and he walked over to Hermione, not before noticing his opponent sending another curse at him, which he immediately dodged of course; where was the fun in getting hit and falling flat on your face on some dirty, cold stone floor? When Harry had regained some strength he walked over to Dumbledore.
"Sir, I think my opponent isn't one of the members of the Order," he whispered, looking highly serious, which was why he was annoyed when Dumbledore laughed. "What?" asked Harry affronted.
"I used to teach Jackson myself. What on earth makes you believe he's not a member of the Order?" inquired Dumbledore.
"Well, he keeps shooting Avada Kedavra curses at me and he, er, well. . . he looks a bit dodgy," answered Harry, feeling a bit childish. The old man laughed again.
"Jackson isn't dodgy, and the Avada Kedavra curses aren't genuine, they are just to get you five used to the fact that they may be shot at you, so that you do not freeze up when one comes your way," he answered.
"Oh," said Harry a bit bluntly. "Well, all right, then." And he walked back over to this Jackson to regain their battle, though he still stubbornly thought his opponent might belong to the other side. He even thought about letting himself get hit by one of these fake killing curses, but whenever the chance came he continued to dodge it, fearing that maybe they were genuine, unlike Dumbledore had said. In any way, Harry was acting like a little child all through the battle, but he still did amazingly well, considering the fact he feared Jackson and didn't dare look straight at him.
"Very well done," said Dumbledore while clapping his hands. "I will allow you to have some lunch and after satisfying our stomachs again, we continue, and might I add, you are all doing exceptionally well. If you fight like this during the Second War we will win, I'm definitely sure of it." The five students gave each other skeptic glances, feeling more nervous by the minute, but they gave their headmaster as much of a smile as they could form at the moment before Apparating into the Dining Room, butterflies fluttering around madly.
Unlike usual, their appetites were rather small, and they only ate a few bites of whatever was piled on their plates before shoving it away, too nervous and worried to eat or even speak. Lunch ended fairly quickly and the five Apparated back into the training room, waiting for their opponents, who had probably went to grab a bite to eat as well. Dumbledore had said he'd have another Order of the Phoenix meeting and would not be able to watch, which did not make Harry feel much better, since he still suspected Jackson to be evil. But, again, he wasn't given time to think much, for as soon as the five members of the Order had Apparated back in as well, they started a second battle immediately, taking the five students completely by surprise. Ron even shrieked and toppled over.
But Harry had to admit that, even though he was fighting an immensely energy robbing battle with evil Jackson, it did take his mind off of all of the worries that kept entering his mind, worries about Parvati, his friends and his family, the Weasleys. What would happen to them if they couldn't win and were murdered? It was too horrible to even think about. If they didn't win this Second War, the whole world would be lost.
'Oops,' thought Harry as he jumped out of the way a bit too slow and felt the green curse of Avada Kedavra hit his arm. He rubbed his side where he had landed painfully and struggled to get up again, which, amazingly, he still could.
"A bit sluggish, there, are we?" said Jackson laughing. Harry looked at him, confused, until he remembered the curses weren't real. But that still didn't clear up why his opponent was laughing and not shooting some more jinxes his way, like expected. "All right there?"
"Huh?" said Harry, still dazed. Jackson pointed to Harry's arm, which was still rubbing over his side. He immediately stopped. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."
"Good." Harry nodded, still not trusting this strange man, which was very childish of him, which he knew. Before he knew it another spell hurtled towards him from the end of Jackson's wand, which he blocked with the shield, he had learned to cast just yesterday.
~*~*~*~
"Are you saying, Albus, that we do not stand a chance?" asked professor McGonagall incredulously. Dumbledore lifted his glasses and rubbed the spot on his nose, where they usually sat, with two fingers, closing his eyes wearily in the mean time.
"I do not know if we stand a chance or not, but for now it doesn't look promising," he replied after setting his glasses straight and opening his eyes.
"But you said we'd be prepared this time, Albus!" exclaimed a furious sounding professor Snape.
"I know exactly what I said, Severus, and we seemed to be prepared then, but it appears Voldemort has even more Death Eaters on his side than I thought, and not to mention the large force of Dementors. We don't nearly have enough Aurors and members of the Order to fight them and I'm afraid I cannot gather so many in such a short time. It seems forlorn at this moment."
"Albus, you really should not speak-"
"All we can do at this moment, Minerva, is pray," Dumbledore cut in, before walking over to the door that led out of his office, followed by Professors McGonagall and Snape, who were both looking grave.
"What's this?" asked McGonagall sternly as she Dumbledore and Snape stopped dead in their tracks upon entering the hall. The five smiled innocently up at her.
"What did you hear?" demanded Snape, taking a menacing step forward.
"Nothing," replied the students in simultaneously. Snape glowered at them.
"All right, then. What is it you five want?" asked Dumbledore. The five could see he knew they had heard every single word.
"Erm. . . we wanted to tell you we finished training," replied Harry nervously. Dumbledore smiled bleakly at them before looking at his complicated watch.
"6 o'clock already? You may go down for dinner. I will be there shortly." The five students nodded at quickly Disapparated before another word could be said.
Dinner was an even more unpleasant event than lunch, but all of the five were glad Dumbledore never showed up, for it would've been unbearable; lying to Dumbledore was not exactly something to be proud of. Not a word was spoken as they poked despairingly at their food, playing with it, rather than eating something. They went up to their living room after only a few small bites and a sip of water, wondering if they'd ever eat again.
Instead of sitting in front of the fire right away, they all walked over to the windows and carefully peered outside. Light of the setting sun reflected off of Nagini's back as she continued to slither around the grounds. Only after having seen Voldemort wasn't there yet, did they sit on the floor in front of the fire, feeling discouraged, useless, withering and so desperate it felt as if someone was slowly trying to rip them apart. Hermione and Nora silently cried, comforted by Harry, Ron and Draco, who were keeping themselves a lot braver than they really felt.
None of them could get Dumbledore's words out of their head, no matter how hard they tried. If he didn't think they'd be able to triumph over Voldemort, then why even bother? But they all knew they'd fight him, no matter what. They owed it to all of the innocent people who had been killed, or who were yet to be murdered.
~*~*~*~
When any of the five awoke, it was yet again first Harry and Draco who opened their eyes, once more with the feeling that something was wrong, though one glance out of the window told them everything seemed normal. There was an eerie silence in the castle that pressed upon their ears. Harry wondered if he'd gone deaf before deciding to test it by moving his arm around, trying to make as little noise as possible, but still making some that he can hear. Draco looked at him in confusion, wondering if his friend had gone completely mad, and Harry dropped his arm, allowing it to land with a *plop* on his lap. Ha, he wasn't deaf at all! It was just very, very quiet in the castle, which was a first.
Draco stood up and walked over to the wall, carefully leaning sideways to peer out of the window, but not so much that someone outside could see him. Out on the meadow it was completely calm, which meant Nagini had gone to report to Voldemort. Harry walked over to him and looked outside, too, sighing. A year ago he had thought everything would be so much different when the Second War arrived, but at least now he was with his friends and if he died, it'd be in their presence.
Ron's small cough brought Harry back to reality and he spun around to look at his friend.
"Anything out there?" whispered Ron tormented, he of course thought Voldemort might already be there, waiting for them. Harry shook his head and walked back over to the place where Hermione and Nora still lay, both fast asleep, Nora in Draco's arms again. As Harry sat down next to them he wondered how he could've ever felt happy and content a few days ago. He considered fleeing, but knew it wouldn't be fair towards his friends and everyone else in the world. He would go into battle against Voldemort, but that did not lessen the amount of butterflies fluttering frantically in his stomach.
"You know," whispered Ron, turning to look at Harry and Draco, "in a day we could already be dead."
"Oh, great. That'll give us something to look forward to, then, won't it?" said Draco sarcastically. Harry snorted softly, but Ron shrugged as Nora hit him upside the head. Apparently she wasn't as asleep as everyone had thought her to be. Draco glared at her, rubbing the back of his head. "Stop pretending to be asleep!" he whispered. Nora stuck her tongue out to him.
"Stop being a sardonic little git!" she replied. "You're ruining the spirit of it all," she added in the ethereal voice Trelawny always used. Draco chuckled as Hermione yawned and stretched herself out before sitting up as well.
"I'm hungry," Ron stated bluntly. Hermione sighed and everyone feared another argument between the two, but instead she said:
"Me too. Let's go downstairs. It's not like there's anything for us to do here." The five of them slowly got up and instead of Apparating into the Dining Room, they walked downstairs. Dumbledore wasn't present for breakfast and after having eaten a small bit, the five Apparated into the hall beside his office and knocked on his door before even getting the chance to hear one word, not wanting to get caught on eavesdropping again. Dumbledore opened the door and welcomed them inside. His entire office had been enlarged by an enormous amount, and even though it was now ten times its usual size, it was still packed with people, most of who were unfamiliar and looking rather foreign.
"Ah, how nice of you to join us," said Dumbledore smiling. "I am pleased to say that so many people have come here in agreement to battle in the Second War, after I asked them in such short notice. Now, all of you may have noticed that Nagini has left the grounds, which means Voldemort will be turning up soon." Butterflies fluttered madly around. "I want those who are fully capable in casting a corporeal Patronus to only focus on Dementors during the Second War, which will allow the rest of us to freely wage war against the Death Eaters and for Harry and Draco to completely focus their attention on Voldemort." Half of the people present shuddered or winced. "If all goes well we will defeat him and, therefore, win."
"What about our Zecret Weapons, Albus?" asked a well-dressed woman with a slight French accent. "Do we still 'ave them?"
"Yes, Sabine, we still do," replied Dumbledore.
"Und what about Voldiemort?" asked a man with a German accent, sounding a bit ridiculous. At least he wasn't wearing lederhosen, but just normal robes.
"We do not know all of Voldemort's Secret Weapons, Hans, but the Dementors and the Unforgivable Curses are the main ones, as well as Voldemort himself."
"What about the Giants?" asked an elderly man with scars to rival Mad- Eye Moody's.
"I have received word that the Giants are on neither side and wish to be left out the Second War," answered Dumbledore, looking rather relieved.
"Is it true Voldemort has dragons in his control which he will use to fight with?" questioned a man standing somewhere in the back and hardly visible. The ones in front of him moved aside a little.
"I find it doubtful, for dragons are almost impossible to tame, especially when fully grown up, and they have a high distrust against humans. There is a larger chance for us to be able to tame them than Voldemort, so we need not worry," replied Dumbledore and again there were many sighs of relief to be heard.
"Albus, are you sure we are with enough people?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice. "You know it's better to be safe than sorry and I'm sure many more people would be willing to fight in the Second War." Dumbledore shook his head.
"I do not think there is enough time and we already have many more allies than I could have hoped for, and these are the most skilled wizards and witches in the country. If we make our number even larger everything will become messy. We are fine as we are. Now, you five head towards the training room for some more training. Five opponents will come shortly," Dumbledore told Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron and Draco. They nodded and Disapparated, many people, mostly female, shook their heads in grief for the five.
"Wow, did you see all of those people?" asked Hermione in aw when they Apparated into the Training Room. The others shrugged.
"We've got more people fighting with us, so?" asked Ron.
"They're not just any people, Ron," Hermione told him, her eyes shining brightly, as if she'd received 10 books for Christmas, which had come early. "Most of them are completely famous and have accomplished many and brilliant things. Remember Sabine?"
"That woman with the French accent?" said Ron. Hermione nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes. She once fought off a fully grown dragon by herself and discovered a new use for dragon blood in the process!" she exclaimed. "And the man in the back-"
"The one almost invisible and hidden behind everyone else?" asked Harry, a bit sarcastically. Hermione nodded again.
"Yes, he invented all sorts of medicinal cures, like the Pepperup Potion."
"That was him!?" asked Nora. Hermione nodded frantically.
"He didn't look too bad, did he?" Nora and Hermione both gazed dreamily into space.
"Looks like you've been replaced, my dear friend," Harry laughingly told Draco, who looked at his girlfriend in disbelief.
"I look way better than him," he muttered childishly.
"Sure you do," said Nora, tuning back in. A few minutes passed before five more Apparated in as well. By the excited squeak Hermione emitted the others guessed that their opponents were famous as well.
~*~*~*~
When training was over, which had gone extremely well considering they were battling against immensely powerful opponents, Hermione told the others that the five women they had battled against had once created a shield charm so powerful it lasted during an entire volcanic explosion, which was about 3 days, and prevented them from suffocating on the dangerous noxious gasses and ashes that were emitted and kept them from being burned by the lava. The others had to admit, holding up a shield charm for 3 days was quite an accomplishment, especially during a volcanic eruption.
The five of them sat down in their living room after dinner, completely exhausted from a whole day of training to fight. Now that they had heard all of the stories, from Hermione, about many of the people that had been in Dumbledore's office, they felt more confident in winning the Second War than before, but the longer it took to start, the more nervous the five got and for the second time in a row they slowly fell asleep beside each other in front of the warm crackling fire, which didn't seem to go through the skin, for they were completely cold inside as they dwelled on all of the things that could happen.
A/N: Ah, you guys like it, don't you? I just know you do. =D
Dumbeldave – Well, I guess it just needs some getting used to that people like my story and that I'm a gifted writer, as you call me, because I never really thought I was good in anything, and now it turns out I can write stories. =D Well, in any way, I certainly feel rather special now. Thanks for reading and reviewing. (Oh, and the coughing has become less, but now my nose keeps running. I hate having a cold!)
Athenakitty – Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Ananymouse – Glad you like it. Hope you catch up soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Nicki – Glad you like my story, as well. I put song lyrics in my story to kind of explain the feelings of the characters a bit better. Too bad you haven't heard any of them, 'cause I think they're really good, and sorry it annoys you. You're the first one who's complained about them, but I'll try to keep them out of my story. =) Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Skins Thunderbomb – Actually, it's the middle of the end, but you were close, lol. And maybe you should cut down on your sugar intake, because you give really weird reviews when you don't, =P. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing.
The five students sat soundless in the meadow, being as silent as they had never been before. They could hear Nagini's hisses over the constant howling of the wind, but they were sure she had not spotted them yet or the snake would have done something by now, wouldn't she?
"Apparate," mouthed Harry to his friends, desperate for them to understand. "Apparate!" They others nodded and together they Disapparated, hoping so much it didn't make any sound which would tell Nagini there was anybody here.
As if reading each others minds they all Apparated into Dumbledore's office which was filled with, to their surprise, the whole Order of the Phoenix. The loud, but nervous, chattering became a hushed silence when the five students appeared, fear etched into their faces and eyes, maybe forever.
"This confirms it," said Dumbledore wearily, looking sorrowfully at the five students. "Voldemort has found us."
"Nagini, his snake, sir. She's here," whispered Harry, not daring to raise his voice, in fear the snake would hear him if he did. There was much muttering amongst the members of the Order. Amid the crowd Harry spotted Tonks' currently raspberry red hair and saw her wave at him as Lupin, who stood beside her, looking extremely old and weary, gave a weak smile.
"Why is she here? Why did Voldemort not come himself?" asked one fairly rough looking wizard who stood on the other side of the room from where Harry was currently looking.
"He has sent her to break through the magical barriers that protect this castle, I suppose, as he had done with Hogwarts," replied Dumbledore, pacing through his office, intently watched by the members of the Order and the five. "Only immensely powerful animals can break through such barriers, no human would be able to."
"When is Voldemort himself coming?" questioned Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice, standing beside Dumbledore's desk.
"I do not know. We will have to wait for his arrival, but remember, as soon as he enters the grounds of Hatsrowg, the Second War begins. Now, I need you all to get to the Ministry of Magic as fast as you can and warn everyone there. Come back as soon as possible. Around 15 Aurors will be needed to keep an eye out for Nagini, Voldemort and his supporters. I will be training with the five," ordered Dumbledore and almost immediately the members of the Order used a form of Apparation to Disapparate, leaving exactly 15 Aurors left standing in Dumbledore's office. Harry wondered how on earth they knew they were to stay, for he had not seen any of them conversing about it with the others. "You will take different posts in the castle and stand guard," Dumbledore told them before leading the five out of his office and towards where they were to train.
"Sir, excuse me, sir. When will we know the Second War has started?" asked Harry, catching up with Dumbledore, who was taking rather quick, large strides.
"We will know when Voldemort shows himself," replied the old man, no longer twinkling in his eyes or a smile on his face.
"Yes, but when will that be?" inquired Hermione, her voice shaking greatly.
"It is impossible to say. It may take hours, but it may as well take days, or even weeks," answered Dumbledore, making a sudden right. The five students, who had been taken completely by surprise by this unexpected turn, hurried to catch up with their headmaster again, for they had been standing still for a few seconds, completely startled, giving Dumbledore the chance to move many feet away. Draco held Nora's hand the whole way to what turned out to be the Kitchen, as Hermione constantly had to wipe tears away that kept forming in her eyes. Harry seemed determined to pry some information out of his headmaster while Ron let nothing except seriousness, penetrate through the shield he had set up.
"Severus," said Dumbledore when they entered the Kitchen. Professor Snape walked over to the headmaster, attentively watched by the five students, who he gave a glare of irritation before turning back to Dumbledore.
"I have handed out orders, Albus. The potions should be ready within the day," Snape said while behind him house-elves ran unnerved around the Kitchens, carrying trays filled with all sorts of ingredients over to the house-elves sitting by roughly 50 cauldrons.
"Very well. Keep an eye out for anything unusual and make sure all of those 500 potions are ready by the end of today," Dumbledore told him. Ron's jaw dropped.
"500 potions?" he whispered in disbelief as Professor Snape nodded to Dumbledore and then walked back to the center of the Kitchens. "What on earth for?"
"Probably healing potions for during the Second War," Hermione told him, a bit irritated he could not think of such a simple answer by himself.
"Very good, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore, smiling at her, though it was plain to see he was feeling nothing but worry. "Now, let's get to the training room and revise everything we have learned so far. It will be foolish to try and learn something new when the Second War is so close."
"But what about learning the Avada Kedavra curse!?" said Hermione desperately. "You said we only have a small chance of winning if we don't know it!"
"I'm afraid we do not have time. It takes a long time before you are fully able to cast that curse if you're not dark inside," said Dumbledore. "Now, show me your skills in Apparating and Disapparating by Apparating into the Training Room." He then disappeared and the five were left no choice but to Apparate into the Training Room as well. When they landed in it, they were welcomed by a small applause, coming from Dumbledore. The Training Room, they noticed, was completely different from what they usually practiced in, for this one had marble floors and walls and no windows, or any other source of light at all, which was extremely peculiar, for the room was as bright as if they were standing outside in the sun.
"The first thing we revise. . . actually, let's just go straight to battling, in which you will use the form of Apparation, the Amulet of Era's to regain energy, and of course the spells, curses and jinxes I taught you yesterday."
"Will we be practicing on you again, sir, or on each other?" asked Harry. Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, in order to see if you can properly fight during a battle, you will be practicing on members of the Order," he replied. The five students gaped at him.
"But we're not good enough to fight them," stammered Ron. Dumbledore smiled.
"I have perfect confidence that you are," he answered as five members of the Order appeared, all unfamiliar to Harry and the others. "You may begin." Instantly the five Order members singled out one of the five and shot a curse at them, which could be avoided only by Disapparating.
The battle was quite interesting of course, especially for Dumbledore, who did not have to dodge any curses, and it appeared that, even though the five were only 6th year students, they could fight actually quite well, maybe just as well as the Order members. Harry for example dodged an exceptionally unexpected Avada Kedavra curse his heavily built opponent shot at him and he actually wondered whether or not Dumbledore ever considered the members to be, well, not really on their side and that he was now trying to kill Harry. But the thought left his mind immediately when the opponent shot an unknown curse at him that did not sound all too friendly.
Ron, on the other hand, was having no trouble at all dodging curses, mostly because he did not even give his opponent a chance by shooting every spell he knew at her. But this strategy worked out quite well for him, he wasn't in any immediate danger this way, so he kept going at it, while Nora and Hermione had decided to just Disapparated and appear somewhere completely unexpected and then shoot something at the opponent. Draco fought like he had battled with extremely evil, and not to mention unfriendly and rude, people before and Harry guessed he may have had to battle Death Eaters in order to become one himself, but of course that thought was run out of his head as his opponent cast another evil sounding jinx at him. He did not like his opponent very much.
After an hour of dodging and shooting curses Harry stopped to restock on energy and he walked over to Hermione, not before noticing his opponent sending another curse at him, which he immediately dodged of course; where was the fun in getting hit and falling flat on your face on some dirty, cold stone floor? When Harry had regained some strength he walked over to Dumbledore.
"Sir, I think my opponent isn't one of the members of the Order," he whispered, looking highly serious, which was why he was annoyed when Dumbledore laughed. "What?" asked Harry affronted.
"I used to teach Jackson myself. What on earth makes you believe he's not a member of the Order?" inquired Dumbledore.
"Well, he keeps shooting Avada Kedavra curses at me and he, er, well. . . he looks a bit dodgy," answered Harry, feeling a bit childish. The old man laughed again.
"Jackson isn't dodgy, and the Avada Kedavra curses aren't genuine, they are just to get you five used to the fact that they may be shot at you, so that you do not freeze up when one comes your way," he answered.
"Oh," said Harry a bit bluntly. "Well, all right, then." And he walked back over to this Jackson to regain their battle, though he still stubbornly thought his opponent might belong to the other side. He even thought about letting himself get hit by one of these fake killing curses, but whenever the chance came he continued to dodge it, fearing that maybe they were genuine, unlike Dumbledore had said. In any way, Harry was acting like a little child all through the battle, but he still did amazingly well, considering the fact he feared Jackson and didn't dare look straight at him.
"Very well done," said Dumbledore while clapping his hands. "I will allow you to have some lunch and after satisfying our stomachs again, we continue, and might I add, you are all doing exceptionally well. If you fight like this during the Second War we will win, I'm definitely sure of it." The five students gave each other skeptic glances, feeling more nervous by the minute, but they gave their headmaster as much of a smile as they could form at the moment before Apparating into the Dining Room, butterflies fluttering around madly.
Unlike usual, their appetites were rather small, and they only ate a few bites of whatever was piled on their plates before shoving it away, too nervous and worried to eat or even speak. Lunch ended fairly quickly and the five Apparated back into the training room, waiting for their opponents, who had probably went to grab a bite to eat as well. Dumbledore had said he'd have another Order of the Phoenix meeting and would not be able to watch, which did not make Harry feel much better, since he still suspected Jackson to be evil. But, again, he wasn't given time to think much, for as soon as the five members of the Order had Apparated back in as well, they started a second battle immediately, taking the five students completely by surprise. Ron even shrieked and toppled over.
But Harry had to admit that, even though he was fighting an immensely energy robbing battle with evil Jackson, it did take his mind off of all of the worries that kept entering his mind, worries about Parvati, his friends and his family, the Weasleys. What would happen to them if they couldn't win and were murdered? It was too horrible to even think about. If they didn't win this Second War, the whole world would be lost.
'Oops,' thought Harry as he jumped out of the way a bit too slow and felt the green curse of Avada Kedavra hit his arm. He rubbed his side where he had landed painfully and struggled to get up again, which, amazingly, he still could.
"A bit sluggish, there, are we?" said Jackson laughing. Harry looked at him, confused, until he remembered the curses weren't real. But that still didn't clear up why his opponent was laughing and not shooting some more jinxes his way, like expected. "All right there?"
"Huh?" said Harry, still dazed. Jackson pointed to Harry's arm, which was still rubbing over his side. He immediately stopped. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."
"Good." Harry nodded, still not trusting this strange man, which was very childish of him, which he knew. Before he knew it another spell hurtled towards him from the end of Jackson's wand, which he blocked with the shield, he had learned to cast just yesterday.
~*~*~*~
"Are you saying, Albus, that we do not stand a chance?" asked professor McGonagall incredulously. Dumbledore lifted his glasses and rubbed the spot on his nose, where they usually sat, with two fingers, closing his eyes wearily in the mean time.
"I do not know if we stand a chance or not, but for now it doesn't look promising," he replied after setting his glasses straight and opening his eyes.
"But you said we'd be prepared this time, Albus!" exclaimed a furious sounding professor Snape.
"I know exactly what I said, Severus, and we seemed to be prepared then, but it appears Voldemort has even more Death Eaters on his side than I thought, and not to mention the large force of Dementors. We don't nearly have enough Aurors and members of the Order to fight them and I'm afraid I cannot gather so many in such a short time. It seems forlorn at this moment."
"Albus, you really should not speak-"
"All we can do at this moment, Minerva, is pray," Dumbledore cut in, before walking over to the door that led out of his office, followed by Professors McGonagall and Snape, who were both looking grave.
"What's this?" asked McGonagall sternly as she Dumbledore and Snape stopped dead in their tracks upon entering the hall. The five smiled innocently up at her.
"What did you hear?" demanded Snape, taking a menacing step forward.
"Nothing," replied the students in simultaneously. Snape glowered at them.
"All right, then. What is it you five want?" asked Dumbledore. The five could see he knew they had heard every single word.
"Erm. . . we wanted to tell you we finished training," replied Harry nervously. Dumbledore smiled bleakly at them before looking at his complicated watch.
"6 o'clock already? You may go down for dinner. I will be there shortly." The five students nodded at quickly Disapparated before another word could be said.
Dinner was an even more unpleasant event than lunch, but all of the five were glad Dumbledore never showed up, for it would've been unbearable; lying to Dumbledore was not exactly something to be proud of. Not a word was spoken as they poked despairingly at their food, playing with it, rather than eating something. They went up to their living room after only a few small bites and a sip of water, wondering if they'd ever eat again.
Instead of sitting in front of the fire right away, they all walked over to the windows and carefully peered outside. Light of the setting sun reflected off of Nagini's back as she continued to slither around the grounds. Only after having seen Voldemort wasn't there yet, did they sit on the floor in front of the fire, feeling discouraged, useless, withering and so desperate it felt as if someone was slowly trying to rip them apart. Hermione and Nora silently cried, comforted by Harry, Ron and Draco, who were keeping themselves a lot braver than they really felt.
None of them could get Dumbledore's words out of their head, no matter how hard they tried. If he didn't think they'd be able to triumph over Voldemort, then why even bother? But they all knew they'd fight him, no matter what. They owed it to all of the innocent people who had been killed, or who were yet to be murdered.
~*~*~*~
When any of the five awoke, it was yet again first Harry and Draco who opened their eyes, once more with the feeling that something was wrong, though one glance out of the window told them everything seemed normal. There was an eerie silence in the castle that pressed upon their ears. Harry wondered if he'd gone deaf before deciding to test it by moving his arm around, trying to make as little noise as possible, but still making some that he can hear. Draco looked at him in confusion, wondering if his friend had gone completely mad, and Harry dropped his arm, allowing it to land with a *plop* on his lap. Ha, he wasn't deaf at all! It was just very, very quiet in the castle, which was a first.
Draco stood up and walked over to the wall, carefully leaning sideways to peer out of the window, but not so much that someone outside could see him. Out on the meadow it was completely calm, which meant Nagini had gone to report to Voldemort. Harry walked over to him and looked outside, too, sighing. A year ago he had thought everything would be so much different when the Second War arrived, but at least now he was with his friends and if he died, it'd be in their presence.
Ron's small cough brought Harry back to reality and he spun around to look at his friend.
"Anything out there?" whispered Ron tormented, he of course thought Voldemort might already be there, waiting for them. Harry shook his head and walked back over to the place where Hermione and Nora still lay, both fast asleep, Nora in Draco's arms again. As Harry sat down next to them he wondered how he could've ever felt happy and content a few days ago. He considered fleeing, but knew it wouldn't be fair towards his friends and everyone else in the world. He would go into battle against Voldemort, but that did not lessen the amount of butterflies fluttering frantically in his stomach.
"You know," whispered Ron, turning to look at Harry and Draco, "in a day we could already be dead."
"Oh, great. That'll give us something to look forward to, then, won't it?" said Draco sarcastically. Harry snorted softly, but Ron shrugged as Nora hit him upside the head. Apparently she wasn't as asleep as everyone had thought her to be. Draco glared at her, rubbing the back of his head. "Stop pretending to be asleep!" he whispered. Nora stuck her tongue out to him.
"Stop being a sardonic little git!" she replied. "You're ruining the spirit of it all," she added in the ethereal voice Trelawny always used. Draco chuckled as Hermione yawned and stretched herself out before sitting up as well.
"I'm hungry," Ron stated bluntly. Hermione sighed and everyone feared another argument between the two, but instead she said:
"Me too. Let's go downstairs. It's not like there's anything for us to do here." The five of them slowly got up and instead of Apparating into the Dining Room, they walked downstairs. Dumbledore wasn't present for breakfast and after having eaten a small bit, the five Apparated into the hall beside his office and knocked on his door before even getting the chance to hear one word, not wanting to get caught on eavesdropping again. Dumbledore opened the door and welcomed them inside. His entire office had been enlarged by an enormous amount, and even though it was now ten times its usual size, it was still packed with people, most of who were unfamiliar and looking rather foreign.
"Ah, how nice of you to join us," said Dumbledore smiling. "I am pleased to say that so many people have come here in agreement to battle in the Second War, after I asked them in such short notice. Now, all of you may have noticed that Nagini has left the grounds, which means Voldemort will be turning up soon." Butterflies fluttered madly around. "I want those who are fully capable in casting a corporeal Patronus to only focus on Dementors during the Second War, which will allow the rest of us to freely wage war against the Death Eaters and for Harry and Draco to completely focus their attention on Voldemort." Half of the people present shuddered or winced. "If all goes well we will defeat him and, therefore, win."
"What about our Zecret Weapons, Albus?" asked a well-dressed woman with a slight French accent. "Do we still 'ave them?"
"Yes, Sabine, we still do," replied Dumbledore.
"Und what about Voldiemort?" asked a man with a German accent, sounding a bit ridiculous. At least he wasn't wearing lederhosen, but just normal robes.
"We do not know all of Voldemort's Secret Weapons, Hans, but the Dementors and the Unforgivable Curses are the main ones, as well as Voldemort himself."
"What about the Giants?" asked an elderly man with scars to rival Mad- Eye Moody's.
"I have received word that the Giants are on neither side and wish to be left out the Second War," answered Dumbledore, looking rather relieved.
"Is it true Voldemort has dragons in his control which he will use to fight with?" questioned a man standing somewhere in the back and hardly visible. The ones in front of him moved aside a little.
"I find it doubtful, for dragons are almost impossible to tame, especially when fully grown up, and they have a high distrust against humans. There is a larger chance for us to be able to tame them than Voldemort, so we need not worry," replied Dumbledore and again there were many sighs of relief to be heard.
"Albus, are you sure we are with enough people?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice. "You know it's better to be safe than sorry and I'm sure many more people would be willing to fight in the Second War." Dumbledore shook his head.
"I do not think there is enough time and we already have many more allies than I could have hoped for, and these are the most skilled wizards and witches in the country. If we make our number even larger everything will become messy. We are fine as we are. Now, you five head towards the training room for some more training. Five opponents will come shortly," Dumbledore told Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron and Draco. They nodded and Disapparated, many people, mostly female, shook their heads in grief for the five.
"Wow, did you see all of those people?" asked Hermione in aw when they Apparated into the Training Room. The others shrugged.
"We've got more people fighting with us, so?" asked Ron.
"They're not just any people, Ron," Hermione told him, her eyes shining brightly, as if she'd received 10 books for Christmas, which had come early. "Most of them are completely famous and have accomplished many and brilliant things. Remember Sabine?"
"That woman with the French accent?" said Ron. Hermione nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes. She once fought off a fully grown dragon by herself and discovered a new use for dragon blood in the process!" she exclaimed. "And the man in the back-"
"The one almost invisible and hidden behind everyone else?" asked Harry, a bit sarcastically. Hermione nodded again.
"Yes, he invented all sorts of medicinal cures, like the Pepperup Potion."
"That was him!?" asked Nora. Hermione nodded frantically.
"He didn't look too bad, did he?" Nora and Hermione both gazed dreamily into space.
"Looks like you've been replaced, my dear friend," Harry laughingly told Draco, who looked at his girlfriend in disbelief.
"I look way better than him," he muttered childishly.
"Sure you do," said Nora, tuning back in. A few minutes passed before five more Apparated in as well. By the excited squeak Hermione emitted the others guessed that their opponents were famous as well.
~*~*~*~
When training was over, which had gone extremely well considering they were battling against immensely powerful opponents, Hermione told the others that the five women they had battled against had once created a shield charm so powerful it lasted during an entire volcanic explosion, which was about 3 days, and prevented them from suffocating on the dangerous noxious gasses and ashes that were emitted and kept them from being burned by the lava. The others had to admit, holding up a shield charm for 3 days was quite an accomplishment, especially during a volcanic eruption.
The five of them sat down in their living room after dinner, completely exhausted from a whole day of training to fight. Now that they had heard all of the stories, from Hermione, about many of the people that had been in Dumbledore's office, they felt more confident in winning the Second War than before, but the longer it took to start, the more nervous the five got and for the second time in a row they slowly fell asleep beside each other in front of the warm crackling fire, which didn't seem to go through the skin, for they were completely cold inside as they dwelled on all of the things that could happen.
A/N: Ah, you guys like it, don't you? I just know you do. =D
Dumbeldave – Well, I guess it just needs some getting used to that people like my story and that I'm a gifted writer, as you call me, because I never really thought I was good in anything, and now it turns out I can write stories. =D Well, in any way, I certainly feel rather special now. Thanks for reading and reviewing. (Oh, and the coughing has become less, but now my nose keeps running. I hate having a cold!)
Athenakitty – Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Ananymouse – Glad you like it. Hope you catch up soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Nicki – Glad you like my story, as well. I put song lyrics in my story to kind of explain the feelings of the characters a bit better. Too bad you haven't heard any of them, 'cause I think they're really good, and sorry it annoys you. You're the first one who's complained about them, but I'll try to keep them out of my story. =) Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Skins Thunderbomb – Actually, it's the middle of the end, but you were close, lol. And maybe you should cut down on your sugar intake, because you give really weird reviews when you don't, =P. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing.