Chapter 8 - Strategy Studies
Professor James Bond waited for his two students to sit in the small classroom. Then he began a lecture he himself had been taught at the same age. It was the most important lesson he had ever learned and he had used it time and time again to overcome his enemies. He knew it by heart.
He began:
In 400 BC the great Chinese General Sun Tzu wrote
"The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry that can on no account be neglected."
"The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field."
"These are: 1 The Moral Law; 2 Heaven; 3 Earth; 4 The Commander; 5 Method and discipline."
"The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger."
"Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons."
"Earth comprises distances, great and small, danger and security, open ground and narrow passes, the chances of life and death."
"The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness."
"By method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure."
"These five factors should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail."
Professor Bond paused, and then repeated, "he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail."
"In this class we will explore these 5 factors in detail, and how they have been applied throughout the history of warfare, both muggle and magical. So lets go over them in more modern terms"
"The moral law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger, That is the government, ruler, or leader of the group, society or country should use political pressure and influence to bring the people into harmony with him. To simply put it, there should be general agreement and support within the group that the leader is acting correctly."
"Harry who is the leader in the fight against Voldemort?" Professor Bond glared at Harry.
Harry thought about it carefully. Fudge was the Minister of Magic but Harry knew he was far from being the true leader of the forces of light. No, there was only one right answer to that question. "Dumbledore!" he replied.
"And does he have the Moral law and harmony of the people with him."
"Yes" Harry said forcefully.
"Excellent, now does Voldemort have the harmony of his followers with him?"
Harry thought carefully, "Well they support him but they are really only interested in what he can give them, I think. So no I don't think he has the moral law on his side or harmony with his followers."
"One for the good guys then." Professor Bond said happily.
"Now lets move on to number 2: Heaven which is about timing and the forces of nature. Neville what can you make of that in the current situation?" Professor Bond continued.
Neville was never very good at answering questions and he suddenly realised the problem with being in a class of two was he that had no way to avoid being asked half the questions. //Oh well I'll do my best// he thought to himself.
"Well, I think it's timing an attack to gain an advantage, like at night so the other side is asleep, but it is also about using the time of year to your advantage. Winter is wet and cold so you should be careful how long your forces are exposed to that or they will be weakened, so you should try to have your opponents stay out in the weather so they are weakened.
"Excellent, Neville, excellent answer" Professor Bond said filling Neville with more pride than Harry had ever observed in his friend. Now he turned to Harry saying "Number 3: Earth by which he meant terrain, distances ease of travel, whether your position in battle favours defensive or offensive tactics. Tell me about that Harry?"
"Well this castle is a defensive position." Harry began "I mean the death eaters would find it difficult to attack. Their position is difficult to attack too, because we don't know where their headquarters is or even if they have one. I am not sure about the travel thing?"
"Traditionally armies had to travel and feed themselves over long distances to attack an enemy. But I believe that may not be a problem here, as you wizards can apparently appear instantly wherever you need. What's the word again. Apparate!" Professor Bond explained.
"Well its not that easy. First not everyone can do it and even then for a split second the wizard is vunerable to attack as he appears. And there are places you can't apparate, like in the school grounds or this castle." Harry replied.
"Well lets leave that one to later for a more involved discussion" Professor Bond told Harry.
"Neville Number 4: The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness. Who is the commander of the fight against Voldemort" Professor Bond asked.
Neville thought hard and then a sudden look of realisation came over his face "Harry!" he said suddenly.
"Me!" Harry was shocked "Not me, I am not the commander, no it's Dumbledore"
"Is it, Harry? Dumbledore is the leader as we discussed in point number 1 but the commander? The one who will actual take the fight to Voldemort? I think not!" Professor Bond looked into Harry eyes with all the honesty and concern he could muster.
"Me, commander, no. I don't have anybody to command." Harry began.
"Yes you do Harry!" Neville interrupted "Me!"
"And us" Hermoine's voice came from the back of the classroom. Harry turned to see Hermoine and Ron walking to the front of the classroom.
"Sorry to interrupt Professor but we have a note from Professor McGonagall" Hermoine handed Professor Bond the note and he read it and said: "Well, seems my class just doubled in size again!"
"See Harry, now you have command of an army of four. The death eaters don't stand a chance." Ron said as he sat down.
"That's the spirit, Ron!" Professor Bond said and went on to review what they had covered so far for the two new students.
"So that brings us to the last factor, number 5: By method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure. Hermoine, what do you think that means?"
"In a word Logististics, Professor" Hermoine beamed "Keeping the army ready to fight which means not only supplied but trained and disciplined in their actions."
"Excellent start, now lets go over some examples of each of these factors in history. I even have some examples during the goblin wars from Professor Binns. Goblins and ghosts, amazing!" Professor Bond continued on for the next two hours talking and asking many questions of each of his students.
When it was over, each of them felt like their brains would explode but they began to see their world in a very different way. Harry was not pleased to have been named as the commander of the forces of light but try as he may, he could not shake the feeling deep down in his gut they were right.
"Now go change into your fatigues, that's army talk for t-shirt, shorts and runners, then out the front entrance you will find some backpacks nicely weighted with rocks. Once they are on, around the lake double time. If you hurry you will make it back in time for lunch." Professor Bond watched the expressions on their faces."
"Lunch doesn't involve raw eggs does it?" Ron asked warily "I might not want it if it does."
"Disciple in the ranks Ron. If you are part of this class, you will eat everything that is put in front of you!" Professor Bond told him kindly enough but firmly too. They had no delusions that they would be doing exactly what he said, no excuses.
The four got up and headed off to change for their ordeal.
"After you Commander Potter" Ron told Harry as they approached the door.
"If I'm a Commander Ron, you're a Major." Harry told him.
"Major!" Ron said delighted.
"Yes, Major pain in the arse!" Harry told Ron and then ran before Ron could react.
Hermoine and Neville howled with laughter as they followed an irate Ron out the door.
Professor Bond watch his four students leave. "Four now, so young and innocent. Can I really prepare them for the horrors ahead? But there was something about these kids, they had the raw talent and more, much, much more. Imagine what they could accomplish with their special powers with the right training." he thought to himself, "Oh well while they are out running I have time to prepare another little surprise for them when they get back."