Friday - 18 October

On Friday the Daily Prophet carried a small article on page 5.

Firstborn Society helps Assimilate Muggle Born Witches

Story by Rita Skeeter

Hermione Granger announced the formation of the Firstborn Society – a group of firstborn witches (children of muggles) that have achieved excellence in their fields, demonstrating that hard work and ability, not heritage ultimately will determine success in the wizarding world. The group is chartered to help firstborn witches and their muggle parents assimilate more easily into the wizarding world culture. Miss Granger, currently the top student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is quoted as saying, "I am very proud of my parents. I am equally proud to be a witch. I look forward to starting what I hope is a large family with my fiancé Harry Potter." The first meeting will be held at the Hogs Head conference center in Hogsmeade on Saturday 26 October at 1 PM.

As it was on page five of the Daily Prophet, most of the students had not read the article. At the Ministry, Percy Weasley and Amelia Bones had both noticed the article. Neither one mentioned it to the other.

In his morning class, Harry was dueling Kingsley, Hestia, and Tonks. All of these people were absolutely loyal to the cause. Harry didn'tt have to hide secrets from them. He said "This duel will be over when I have tapped each of you on the back of the neck." After a few minutes Harry disappeared. Harry apparated behind Hestia and tapped her neck. He immediately disappeared.

Harry appeared absolutely silently behind Kingsley. Kingsley saw Harry's shadow appear and managed to move before Harry could get him. "Good try, Potter. I didn't hear a thing. Watch your shadow." Harry drew his sword with the protective covering over it. He tapped Tonks on the back of the head with it, and disappeared. Harry tried a misdirection. He appeared and conjured a pebble to toss in front of Kingsley. He appeared a foot behind Kingsley and wandlessly transfigured Kingsley's wand into a snake. Kingsley turned to his right. "Potter, that's not funny. That was my good" (tap) "Shite." Harry transfigured Kingsley's wand back.

Kingsley sat down. "Lets take a break. How long can you stay invisible like that?"

"I don't know. I've never tried it for more than a few minutes."

"Can Moody see you when you do that?"

"He says that he can't."

"I couldn't hear a thing when you reappeared. I could see your shadow, so you may want to keep that in mind. What do you want to learn about next time?"

"I'd like to learn to shoot a handgun. Do you still have those .45 Automatics that Remus and I gave you?"

"Yes, but they're illegal."

"So is ordering two hundred dementors to wipe out a village."

Shack admitted, "Good point. I'll see you next Thursday in the rock quarry. Don't bring this up to anyone."

"OK. Thanks. Thank you Tonks. Thank you Hestia. Thanks Kingsley."

… - …

That night at dinner, Pansy was the first to get in line to sit at Harry's table. She handed him the parchment that she'd written for her newspaper article. Harry looked at it.

A Better Year at Hogwarts

Story by Pansy Parkinson

The changes at Hogwarts this year have all been for the better. Dr. Wo Pei Chang has made a lot of improvements to the daily teaching of potions. He has been taking the time to explain how and why the chemistries work the way that they do. This has been helpful to all of the students regardless of their skill level, or background. The changes that he has brought about as head of Slytherin house have all been positive as well. He's done a lot to give us our pride back, distinguishing the attributes of hard work and ambition from heritage or dark magic. He rewards us and disciplines us fairly.

The changes in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class have all been positive too. With the teaching staff consisting of Professor Alastor Moody, Professor Remus Lupin, and Professor Harry Potter, we're getting the best possible instruction. We have also have guest lectures delivered by members of the Ministry Auror team. The results of the lessons that we have had were evident a week ago when Voldemort ordered the attack on the wizarding village of Hogsmede by those disgusting dementors. I personally saw Susan Bones cast a Patronus charm that chased some of the dementors away, which allowed a lot of the students and me to get to safety. That was a charm that we are starting to learn about this month in Harry's class. The class has been very beneficial.

Harry observed, "This looks really good, Pansy. I'm seeing the Editor of the Quibbler tomorrow morning. Can I give this to him from you?"

"It would be really great if you would do that. Thank you very much."

"Pansy, I'm glad to help you get started. It might be a little bit longer than what he has room for, so he might need to cut a line, or two. I'm sure that he'll read it and like it. He probably will ask you for another article for a later issue too."

"Thank you Harry."

… - …

Harry left dinner and went to the hospital wing for his healing lesson. The lesson that he got that night was one that he hoped he would never have to use – how to attempt to restart a heart that had stopped beating. Poppy started with a quick overview of the biology of a heart, keeping in mind that Harry would be using this as advanced first aid. As such she kept the theory parts to a minimum. Poppy told him that a heart may stop for a number of reasons – a person drowning, shock, a severe injury, myocardial infarction commonly called a heart attack. "Muggles try to massage the heart to get it started, or sometimes provide an electrical stimulation to get it started. The spell that I will show you will cause a stopped heart to beat for a minute. During that time, hopefully the body will get the heart rhythm working on its own. You could cast it a time or two on a dying person, and possibly save them." Harry tried it several times on the practice mannequins that they had used a few weeks before. Poppy showed Harry several places on the body to check for heartbeat. "If you want to practice it, come up and use the mannequins any time that you need to.

"Thank you, Poppy. I'll see you Sunday evening, if not sooner."

… - …

Harry had a lot of stops to make on Saturday. The first was to visit Remus. Harry delivered the package to him. "Are you sure that you're up to this?"

Remus smiled. "I'll be fine. However it will be hard matching your energy level for an entire day."

"I can't help you with that. There should be enough potion for about six hours. You can say that my working with Moody has started to rub off. It will probably get you a laugh or two. Moody will watch your back. It's a friendly audience. There really is only one potential person that you'll have to fool."

Harry continued. "There's only one fly in the ointment. I'll go with you and start the class. At the first break we can switch. I'll have demonstrated my Patronus form in the first session. From there you can work on memory selections. Moody will cast his form on a demonstration basis after that. Our wands don't look too different, so I don't think that there will be a problem."

Remus asked, "What if they have placed an anti-apparation ward around the village by the time you're ready to get there?"

"I don't think that will be a problem. The meeting isn't scheduled to start until one. I would expect an attack to take place somewhere between two and five. That would mean that any potential spy would have had to make their move by noon or one to give the attackers time to stage the attack. I'll watch him at the first break.

Remus remarked, "Just schedule a late lunch and see if he steps out. Moody can keep an eye out for him."

Rubbing his forehead, Harry remarked, "Bad humor never changes does it?"

"No. I suppose not, but it'll be nice of you to lend me a hand."

Stunned that he'd fallen for such a set-up, Harry was speechless.

Remus added, "Keep in mind Harry, it's likely that you will be on your own for at least five minutes until help arrives. A lot can happen in five minutes."

"Moony…Seriously, if you change your mind, or something doesn't feel right, let me know."

The old werewolf replied, "Okay. I'll see you on Saturday. We'll meet at the Training Center at 8:30."

… - …

Harry went back to Hogwarts to collect Hermione. Their next stop was to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley then stop to see Mr. Lovegood. They apparated to the Weasley back garden. Molly was out in the garden feeding the gnomes. There seemed to have been some improvements made to the house. "Hello dears."

Harry saw her and waved. "Hi Mrs. Weasley. We just dropped by to say hi."

"That's lovely. Please come in." They walked in and sat at the scrubbed wooden table in the kitchen. "Hermione, Ron said that you passed your Apparitation test. Congratulations. I read about you in the Daily Prophet the other day. That group sounds like a wonderful idea. Harry, how are Ron and Ginny doing in class? They aren't misbehaving are they?"

Harry said, "They both are doing well in my class. Actually no one has misbehaved in my class yet this year."

"That's good to hear. How's your year going, dear?"

Hermione said, "Arithmancy is quite interesting so far. We are working on spell modification on multipart spells. Potions is so much better this year, and of course everyone likes the new format for the Defense class."

Harry said, "I ran into Percy the other day. I hadn't heard that he was working with Director Bones."

"Yes. He thought it would be a more interesting area, and requested a transfer late in June. He seems to like it."

Harry nodded, keeping a pleasantly interested look on his face. "That's interesting. You should have seen Ron last Saturday. He did a great job as Keeper. He should try out for one of the pro teams."

Hermione said, "Mrs. Weasley, we need to get going. We have a few more stops to make. It was great to see you."

"It was great to see you two. Please keep any eye on Ginny and Ron for me, won't you?"

"I will. Thanks for the tea."

… - …

They apparated into the edge of Ottery St. Catchpole, and walked to the office of the Quibbler. They found Mr. Lovegood in the back working on one of his large mechanical newspaper presses. He saw them and walked over, wiping his hands on a rag that he had in his shop apron.

"Hello Mr. Potter. Miss, I don't believe that we have met. I'm Odd Lovegood. Perhaps you have met my daughter Luna. She's about your age."

Harry said, "I'm sorry Odd, this is my fiancé, Hermione Granger."

Suppressing a smile over the appropriateness of his name, Hermione said, "I'm pleased to meet you, sir. Luna and I are friends. We're having dinner together tonight."

"Excellent. How can I help you both?"

"I have another installment for you. I also have another short piece that I would like you to run. I just have one small change to it first." Harry drew a line over several of the sentences. "It would be very helpful if you could include this in this week's issue."

"I would be more than happy to help you, Mr. Potter. You have done so much to help Luna and me. He read through both pieces. That is P A N S Y correct?"

"Yes. Thank you very much. Odd, may we use your floo?"

"Of course. Help yourself."

They ended up outside the stadium of the Chudley Canons. "Shite." Harry picked himself up from the floor. Hermione suppressed a giggle.

"Come here." She brushed him off, straightened his robes and kissed his nose. "You look good. Where to?"

"I was hoping that you could wait for me here for just a few minutes. I need to talk to a guy, and he'd be a lot more comfortable if it was just him and me."

"Okay."

Harry walked off. Ten minutes later he returned. "Thanks Hermione. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"What was that about?"

"I met with the owner of the Chudley Canons. I asked him to give Ron a tryout for the team the next time that they held tryouts. Please don't say anything to him. I wouldn't want him to know."

"Harry, that was a really nice thing to do. You did the same thing for Pansy Parkinson, didn't you?"

"Yes. In her case, I'm hoping that if she gets a career going, she will be a lot less susceptible to bad influences. A lot of people have helped me through the years. I just feel that I should be doing the same. It's sort of like your great idea about the Firstborn society. I realize that we originally thought it up for a different reason, but I think it's a fantastic idea! The Slytherin kids had a much easier time than we did at first because they had grown up with magic. I'm sure it would have made things a lot easier on Dan and Emma if they had other parents that they could have talked with."

"Harry, I'd really like to do that. Where to next?"

"I was hoping to take you to lunch? Where would you like to go? Paris, Crawley, Diagon Alley, London or Hogsmeade?"

Hermione squeezed his arm. "Actually, I'd love any of them if I was with you. Perhaps we should go to the Hogs Head Inn and see the meeting room."

"Okay. We can go to Paris next Sunday."

No one would use the words tidy and Hogs Head Inn in the same sentence. It was as crusty as Harry and Hermione remembered. Aberforth showed them the bar, the back room, and the meeting room. Harry sealed the door. They agreed on the signals that they would use. Aberforth wished them both luck and went back to the bar.

… - …

On Thursday, Harry met with Kingsley in the stone quarry by the school. "Harry, the .45 Automatic is an outstanding weapon. The slug is quite wide and heavy. The bullets that you are using today are jacked hollow points." He handed Harry a bullet that he had taken apart for demonstration purposes. The outside of the slug had a thin copper casing. The inside was lead. The slug had a hollowed front about the depth and width of a pencil eraser. "The diameter will expand upon impact as the slug flattens." Kingsley conjured a football-sized pumpkin and set it on the ground about twenty feet in front of Harry. Kingsley showed Harry how to use a two handed hold, with his right hand on the grip, and his left hand over the right. "Keep your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to fire. Focus on the front sight and fire a round into the pumpkin by squeezing the trigger." Harry lined up the weapon using a two handed grip. He fired a round at the pumpkin.

BANG!

The noise was as loud as anything that Harry had ever heard. Kingsley smiled at his shock. "That's why I had you put on the hearing protection. Okay, now put the pistol down on the table. Go look at your target." Harry saw a hole the width of his index finger in the front of the pumpkin. What surprised him was there was no longer a back half of the pumpkin! Kingsley demonstrated how to fire a three shot burst with the weapon, maintaining the sighting between the shots. "Be certain that you are sighted correctly for your first round. Re-sight your weapon before you fire your second shot. The point is to hit your target. Missing eight times quickly will not help you achieve your objective." Bang, Bang, Bang. The next pumpkin was mush. Harry practiced safe handling, loading, and firing the weapon until the lesson was over two hours later. Kingsley gave Harry an extra box of ammunition, a shoulder holster, and told him to lock the weapon up in his trunk. While not an expert by any means, Harry was confident that he could hit a target that he was aiming at.

Dumbledore walked up to Harry as he entered the castle. "Harry after you have locked that away in your trunk, I would like to have lunch with you in my office."

Harry walked to the gargoyle by Dumbledore's office. It stepped aside. Harry walked to the circular stairs that began moving like an escalator when he stepped on the first step. Dobby had set the table in the conference room for two. Dobby had made pepperoni pizza exactly the way that Harry liked it and had a tray of iced butterbeers. Dumbledore's side was set with a green salad and a large mug of cocoa.

The two men sat down and began their lunch. After a few minutes, Dumbledore spoke. "I may not have mentioned it before Harry, I killed Grindelwald some 52 years ago this month. I shot him with an American .45 auto, much like the one that you were practicing with this morning. I shot him eight times. It helped end a greater struggle. I'm not certain that I could have beaten him in a wizards duel. He was a master at creating shields against spells."

Dumbledore sipped his hot chocolate. "It's very likely that there will be casualties and injuries this weekend. I can only hope that you prevail and that the casualties are few. Who has offered to stand with you?"

"Fred and George, Hermione and Tonks, Hestia and Susan, and three of the other Aurors. Remus offered to, but he will be at the training session in Kent along with Kingsley and Moody. Amelia will have a team of Aurors and Healers ready when we call."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll alert Poppy this evening." The old wizard put down his cocoa. "Harry this will be my last year as Headmaster at Hogwarts. Like Sir Nicolas, my time is also coming to an end. While I have several wishes for you, I am not sure that they are in harmony with each other."

I would like you to rid the world of Tom and his followers

I would like you to be headmaster at the school beginning next year

I would like you to help the wizarding world embrace modern technologies

I would like you to marry Hermione and have at least six children when you are ready

I would like you both to enjoy each day of your lives

I would like you to lead the Order of the Phoenix as soon as you wish to

"You have much to live for. Therefore, I formally request that you prevail over Tom when the time comes. I also apologize for not taking appropriate action fifty years ago. I was all but certain that he had started killing, and allowed it to happen. While I admit that I was distracted with a larger problem, nonetheless I allowed it to happen. For that I apologize. I'm pleased to see that you are doing a better job than I did at embracing the Slytherins and helping them into appropriate careers."

He continued. "With respect to the suspected spies, I'm equally certain that one or both of them will betray you. Amelia has been notified. She will make the arrests. I wish you much success, Harry. Remember that it will be at least five minutes before any help can arrive."

"Thank you sir. Thank you for lunch. Thank you for everything."

Hugging his young friend, Dumbledore said, "You are very welcome, Harry. Good luck."

… - …

Healer Pomfrey was bottling potions when Harry came up for his lesson Friday evening. "Good evening Harry. Professor Dumbledore stopped by a moment ago." He asked to see you in your office in 15 minutes." She went up to him, and gave him a big hug. "Good luck tomorrow, Harry." She went back to bottling the embalming potions that she prayed she would not have to use.

Dumbledore came to see Harry in his office, carrying a large mug of cocoa, a polished wooden box, and a cold butterbeer. "Can we visit for a while Harry."

"Of course. Please sit down."

"Harry, I wanted to talk with you a bit more about tomorrow. I believe that there is a better than even chance that Tom will be joining the dementors with his remaining Death Eaters, and come himself. I say this not to discourage you, but to offer you some advice. A war is not the same as a proper wizard's duel over a lover. Your goal is to stay alive, and destroy some of the enemies. In the Second World War, one of the American generals told his troops, "Your job is not to give your life for your country, rather to make the other guy give his life for his country." I may have improved his grammar somewhat, but that was the essence of his message."

He continued, "If Voldemort is there tomorrow, and you have the opportunity to stab him in the back, take it. Do not allow yourself to get into some sort of wizard's duel with him. For one thing, he always starts early. For another thing, he knows fifty years more spells than you."

"As I said Harry, people will almost certainly die tomorrow. Your primary responsibility is to make certain that the people who do are not you or Miss Granger. Anything you can do beyond that is extra credit. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Harry understood, perhaps too well. He hoped that Hermione understood as well.

Dumbledore unclasped the box that he had brought with him. It was a velvet lined pistol case. "This is the .45 that I used to kill Grindelwald. I would be honored to give it to you. With it is a signed permit for both of your pistols from Director Bones."

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much."

"Harry, please spend a restful evening in Miss Granger's arms. Good luck."

"I will see you tomorrow evening sir. Good night, Professor."

"Good night Harry."

… - …

An hour later, Harry was laying out the things that he wanted for tomorrow. He carefully checked the .45 that Kingsley had given him, his wand, his sword, the holsters, his Firebolt, and his dragon hide boots. Since he had practiced with it, he decided to bring that pistol rather than the one that Albus had given him. He laid out one of the blue oxford dress shirts that Hermione had bought him, and his favorite pair of jeans. He carefully put away the weapon that Dumbledore had given him.

Hermione looked angry and upset. "What's this?"

Harry looked at the object that his love was holding. "It's a copy of my will."

She slapped Harry, surprisingly hard. "I don't want your money. I want you to spend everyday of your life with me. I want you inside me. I want your smile. I want to ride motorcycles with you. I want you to teach me how to fly properly. You have to be here to give me these things. Please don't leave me." Tears had welled up in her eyes.

Harry gently held her arms. In as even a voice as he could muster, her said, "I can't promise you that I won't get hurt, anymore than you can promise me that you won't. I do promise you that I'll be very careful. Can you do the same for me?"

She looked into his eyes. "Yes I promise. Should I have a Will too?"

"Probably. You can use mine as a model."

"I'm sorry Harry. I never wanted to have to think about these things."

"No one does." He sat her on the couch next to him. Harry handed her a parchment and a quill. As she was writing, Harry conjured a dozen yellow roses. He picked one up and gently brushed the side of her face with the petals.

"Stop that, I'll smear the page."

Harry waited patiently for a few minutes until she was done writing. As she finished, Harry spelled each of the roses to lightly brush the sides of her face, hair and arms. "Did you know that a yellow rose smells different than a red rose?" Harry conjured a brush, and started brushing her hair.

"Harry, that tickles."

Harry vanished the roses. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I just wanted you to use them someplace else."

"Oh." Harry conjured a pair of red roses. He walked over to pick her up and carried her into bed.

There was a knock on the door. It was Ron. "Hi Harry. Hi Hermione. I was wondering if you wanted to watch the Hufflepuff – Slytherin Quidditch match with me tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry Ron, I made plans to teach a class tomorrow."

"I didn't see a signup sheet."

"It's not being held here."

With the tenacity of a bulldog, Ron asked, "Oh. How about you Hermione? Luna will be there."

"I'm doing something too."

"Oh. What's this?" he said, picking up her Will.

"Accio, parchment." Hermione said sharply, "It's personal. Okay? Please don't touch anything."

Ron looked around the room for a moment, eyeing the different items that Harry had laid out. He obviously was being excluded from something big. "Sorry. You two look busy. I'll see you later."

"Good night, Ron."

Ron left, closing the door behind him harder than necessary.

"Hermione, he didn't mean anything by it. He just has incredibly bad timing."

"I know. Let's get some rest."