Harry Potter and the Magnificent Seven
Chapter 25: A New Headquarters, the Fall of Beauxbatons, and Discovery
Two weeks after the raid at the East London Mall, the Marauders and Rainbow had re-located to its new home. The new base and headquarters was located in a rather large Cold War-era command and control facility located deep under the Scottish Highlands known as Site R. John had been correct; the security precautions already in place at the facility were very effective and elaborate. To this the Marauders added numerous magical protections, including a specially modified Fidelius Charm. They also used their powers to rearrange portions of the facility to better fit the needs of the unit, and expanded the facility. By the time they were done, it had more than enough room to fit the entire Rainbow unit, plus their families, as well as the new recruits that would be arriving today from the Ministry.
Harry and Ding were waiting near in the large embarkation point near the surface. It was here that all the new recruits from the Ministry would be arriving. According to the last message from Dumbledore, approximately thirty-five Aurors, Hit Wizards, Unspeakables and members of the Order of Phoenix would be arriving any minute. Among them were three individuals Harry wanted to greet personally. Harry looked at his watch. The specialized portkey that would bring the recruits to the base was due to activate any second. A moment later there was a flash of light and a rushing sound and thirty-five figures appeared.
"Welcome to Site R." Harry said, examining the faces before him. "As I am sure you have already been informed, from this moment on you will live, train, and work from here. This complex is protected by a specialized Fidelius Charm that prevents anyone who enters from divulging the location of the facility or anything about what goes on here. Whatever your previous associations were, make no mistake about it, you take orders from myself, Ding, and the commander of Rainbow, John Clark. If anyone has a problem with this, speak up now. You're memory will be modified and you will be sent back." Several of the people gathered looked at one another but no one spoke up.
"Good." Harry said. "This is Domingo Chavez. He will be in charge of assigning you to the various Rainbow teams, as well as quarters. Once you received your assignments, feel free to explore the facility; but be sure to get to bed early. Tomorrow you begin training. And I promise it will not be easy." Harry then turned them over to Ding.
Fifteen minutes later, all had received their assignments. Harry stood against the back wall as three wizards made their way over to him.
"Sirius, it's good to see you." He said, pushing himself off the wall and engulfing his godfather in a brief hug. Then he turned to the two redheaded wizards that were also there. "Bill, Charlie. Good to have you onboard." Bill and Charlie Weasley both smiled at him.
"It's good to be here." Bill said. "After all, can't let you, Ron, Ginny and the twins have all the fun." Harry grinned.
"Yeah, besides, somebody needs to chaperone you and Ginny." Charlie said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Harry laughed; he knew Charlie was just teasing him. The entire Weasley clan had approved of his and Ginny's relationship. Besides, its not like anyone could have done anything to them anyway.
"I'll keep that in mind." Harry said.
******
The next six weeks were busy for the Marauders. Voldemort and his forces launched about a dozen attacks throughout England in that time, though none came close to the level of the East London Mall raid. In addition to these missions, the Marauders also took an active part in the training of the newly integrated Rainbow teams.
So far everything seemed to be moving along well. The new magical members of Rainbow were quickly assimilated into the unit and were progressing in their training exceptionally fast. Team-1 led by Ding and now including Sirius, Bill Weasley and Charlie Weasley, was perhaps the best team of all of them, with the exception of the Marauders. But the other teams were almost as good.
The little down time that the Marauders had was either spent catching up with Sirius and the elder Weasleys, working out, or in the case of Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny, quietly in their quarters. Tonight Harry was sitting in the base cafeteria, having a cup of coffee with Sirius.
"I still can't get over how good these Rainbow chaps are." Sirius said. He and Harry had been discussing the training and muggle fighting techniques. "I never realized the muggles had such ingenious methods for fighting one another." Harry nodded.
"I know what you mean." Harry said. "Sometimes I wonder why we didn't approach them sooner."
"I've wondered the same thing." Sirius said. "What amazes me more though is how quickly we've picked up their methods." Harry nodded.
"Yeah, that too." Harry said. "But I got to warn you Sirius, killing someone using muggle methods can be a lot more…messy."
"I know." Sirius said. Harry had long ago told Sirius about some of the Marauders' experiences. He was still amazed that they had been able to adjust so well given what they had seen and done. This was not say it didn't have an effect on them. Sirius knew for a fact that they had had some uneasiness. Luckily John and Ding were there to help them through it. Turning to a happier subject, Sirius asked "How are things with you and Ginny?"
"Good. I'm telling you Sirius, I've never been happier in my life." Harry said. "She's everything to me."
"I know you've been sharing a bed, does that mean you and Ginny-" Sirius began. Harry blushed slightly.
"No. Not yet." Harry replied. "Neither one of us is ready for that, at least not yet."
"Okay." Sirius said. "Your mother would kill me for what I'm about to say, but you know Harry, just because you aren't sleeping together doesn't mean there aren't other things you can do together." Harry laughed.
"Promise you'll never speak about this again." He said. "It's way to weird. Besides, who says we haven't been…experimenting?" Sirius grinned.
"Ah, our little Harry is growing up." He said teasingly.
*****
"How's Sirius holding up?" Ginny asked as Harry walked into their quarters. Harry went over to her and pulled her into an embrace, planting a small kiss on her lips.
"Good. He seems to be adjusting to everything rather well." Harry said. "That includes our arrangement." Ginny blushed slightly.
"That's good." She said. "I know he didn't say much about it when we visited the Burrow, but I was afraid once he got her he'd have a problem."
"Relax, sweetheart." Harry said, laughing. "He's fine with it. In fact, he started to give me advice on things we could do even though we weren't having sex yet."
"He didn't!" Ginny said.
"Yep. You should have seen his face when I told him we already had it covered. It was priceless." Harry said. "I'll tell you what I was really surprised at though; that the rest of your family hasn't tried to hex me into oblivion."
"Well, Ron really can't talk; considering that he and Hermione are doing the same thing." Ginny said. "And the twins are part of our team; not to mention the fact that they've got their own love lives to worry about." Fred and George had begun seeing the twin daughters of Captain Jeff Stucker, the leader of Team-5. "And of course Bill and Charlie have too much respect for you to do anything. Plus, you make me happy; and none of them want to ruin that."
"Well, I'm glad to hear I make you happy." Harry said. "I love you Ginny."
"I love you to Harry." Ginny replied, kissing him. When they broke apart, Ginny smiled at him. "You know, neither one of us has watch tonight." Her eyes twinkled mischievously. Harry grinned.
"What did you have in mind, Ms. Weasley?"
*****
The next day, Rainbow staged its first unit wide war game since the addition of the witches and wizards from the Ministry. The war game had two parts. First, each team made a mock assault against the Marauders, who were playing the enemy or Red Team. Given their power and skill, none of the teams were able to beat them, but they did perform exceptionally well. They would definitely be a match for almost any of Voldemort's forces.
The second part of the war game consisted of Rainbow dividing into two forces. The larger force would portray the Red team. The other force, the Blue Team, then had to alternate attacking and defending against this superior force. This portion of the war game was based on John's knowledge of the U.S. Army's National Training Center exercise. The thinking was that Rainbow would almost always be going up against a numerically superior force; therefore all its members needed to be prepared.
The war games dragged on for nearly a week. Harry and John were very impressed with the progress each team had made. They would put them against any fighting force in the world.
In addition to the war games, the Marauders also began modifying Rainbow's helicopters so that they could operate in a magical environment. This included making modification to the flight gear worn by the pilots. Unfortunately it would take another couple of days before the modifications would be complete.
*****
Harry and Ginny were sitting in the cafeteria, enjoying dinner together. The rest of the Maruaders were off working on the modifications to the helicopters. About halfway through their meal, the base alarm klaxons began to sound. Exchanging looks they immediately put their forks down and rushed to the base operations center.
When they arrived, John and Ding were already there.
"What's the situation?" Harry asked as he approached the situation map where John and Ding were standing. John looked up.
"Looks like Voldemort is feeling feisty." John said, indicating to the map. "His forces are making a full-scale attack in France. A school called Beauxbatons." Harry and Ginny's eyes widened. Behind them, the Marauders came into the room and examined the map.
"Looks like Snake-face is starting to get a clue about tactics." Ron said. "But he's not good enough yet. He's left a relatively small force to cover his rear."
"Do the French have Aurors?" Ding asked. Harry nodded.
"Yeah. But I wouldn't want to leave the safety of the students of that school to the French Ministry." Hermione replied.
"Why not?" John asked.
"Because, their Ministry is exactly like the rest of the government. Remember what happened when Hitler invaded in the forties?" Harry said.
"What's the plan?" Ginny asked Harry.
"Rainbow uses those special portkeys and takes up position around the school to support the Aurors and Professors that are defending the school. There's no way we'll be able to defeat the force that Voldemort has there; at least not without air support and the choppers aren't ready yet. The best we can hope for is to hold them off long enough to evacuate the school." Harry said. "The Marauders will transport behind Voldemort's forces and hit them from the rear. Maybe we can draw some of his forces away from the school."
"Okay, let's get moving." John said.
*****
Madame Maxine cursed. She was positioned, along with most of her professors and a small contingent of French Aurors, were fighting to hold off Voldemort's forces while her students were evacuated. The attack had come as a complete surprise; especially when they realized that aside from Death Eaters, Vampires, and Trolls, the attacking force also included muggle mercenaries. She silently prayed that the Order of the Phoenix had heard of the attack and would come to reinforce them. A muffled scream drew her out of her thoughts. She turned to see the school's Herbology professor, Andre Deveraux, get hit with a killing curse. He promptly dropped to the ground. She frowned. The battle was not going well and it would only be a matter of time before they were overrun.
Suddenly there was a rushing sound and several flashes of light. Her eyes widened as about seventy black clad figures appeared. One of the French Aurors turned and fired a stunning curse at one of them. The lead figure ducked and fired another stunning curse back, which hit the Auror. Cursing, the figured called out.
"Hold your fire! We're here to help!" Sirius shouted. Madame Maxine immediately recognized his voice.
"Hold your fire. They are friends." She ordered. She watched, eyes widening as the figures, all of them bearing muggle weapons, and some wands as well, took up position and began returning fire against the attacking dark forces.
"What is going on?" she asked as Sirius came up to her. "Who are all these people?"
"This is Rainbow." Sirius replied. "It is a mixed muggle/wizard strike force."
"Are you in command?" she asked, as she fired another spell. Sirius shook his head.
"No." he replied. "Merely a soldier. Command is held jointly by John Clark, a muggle soldier, and Harry Potter."
******
About two miles away, Harry and the rest of the Marauders appeared just inside the tree line. Harry surveyed the scene in front of him. He could see the magnificent towers of the school in the distance, lit up by the unnatural light of curses, tracers and explosions. He could see the mass of enemy troops surging towards the castle. He grinned as he saw for the first time tracers coming from the castle; Rainbow was in position. Turning his attention closer to his position, he saw a thin line of sentries guarding the rear. About three hundred yards past them, he saw a large cluster of Death Eaters, seemingly arranged around another wizard. He immediately knew it was Voldemort.
"Okay, listen up." He said to the others through the mind link. "We move in fast. Change into you Animagus forms. Fight that way as long as possible. I'll signal when to change out of them."
"Got it Harry." Hermione replied. The others nodded. A moment later seven animals charged out of the woods.
******
Bellatrix Lestrange was silently fuming. She had hoped to take part in the assault on Beauxbatons. But her Lord instead ordered her to take charge of the rear guard. She didn't really see the point; given the size of the force they had, no one was going to beat them. As much as she hated to admit it, her lord had made a wise move enlisting the help of the muggle terrorists. They were indeed proving useful. However she couldn't wait until they had taken over the world; then her master would let her have her fun and destroy them.
Sighing, she turned her attention back to her troops. They were spread out in a ragged line, approximately fifteen yards apart. Suddenly one of her men let out a scream. A large phoenix was pecking at his eyes through the holes in his mask. Then six more creatures stormed out of the woods. Each began attacking here men. She watched in horror as two lions, a fox and a wolf ripped several of her men to shreds. Another of her people was being attacked in the eyes by a large owl. The wolf finished off his victim, as did the phoenix. Then both turned and looked at her.
"Neville. That's Bellatrix Lestrange." Harry said over the mind link. Recognition flashed across Neville's animal face. A second later he charged at her. She tried to fire a killing curse at him, but he was too quick. In a flash he had knocked her down and ripped at her throat with his teeth. She let out a gurgled screamed as he ripped into her. A moment later she was dead.
*****
Theodore Nott was standing next to his master, watching the battle for the castle when he heard several screams from behind. He and several others next to him turned at the noise in time to see a large wolf rip into Bellatrix.
"My Lord!" he gasped. Lord Voldemort turned, his eyes widening as he watched the rear guard being slaughtered. Though he couldn't recognize the magical aura around the seven animals, he could tell that they were animagus. When they were done, he saw them turn towards him and begin to move forward. As he watched, they seven animals soon morphed into seven people; all black clad, all wearing baklavas over their faces. Then he noticed the phoenix patch on their shoulders.
"What are you waiting for?" he screamed. "Get them!" Several of the Death Eaters exchanged looks, then mad their way towards the advancing figures. They were soon joined by about two dozen more Death Eaters which Voldemort called from the attack against the castle, as well as twenty Dementors and fifty Vampires.
"Expecto Patronum!" the figures shouted. All at once seven misty figures erupted from their wands. Voldemort watched in shock. It was not the fact that they had cast patronus's that had him bedazzled. Nor was it the fact that the patronus's were blue instead of the typical silver; or the fact that they were twice the size of a normal patronus. No, what shocked him the most was the fact that rather than just driving the Dementors away, these patronus's were actually destroying them.
A vicious fight of curses and bullets then erupted as the seven phoenix figures began taking out the rest of his forces. Voldemort watched as one by one half of his followers fell.
"Enough playing around." Harry said the mind link as he fired a flame spell that enveloped a vampire nearby. "We've got to get Voldemort to pull more of his people from the main attack."
"How?" Ginny said as she fired several rounds from her MP-9 at a cluster of death eaters advancing towards them.
"Same way we did it at the Ministry." Harry replied. The rest of the Marauders moved closer to Harry. They quickly joined hands.
"Maximus Expelliarmus!" they shouted. A blinding flash, accompanied by a loud boom, rushed forth, hitting the remaining Death Eaters and Vampires. The Death Eaters were thrown back several yards, knocking them unconscious. The flash had a different effect on the Vampires, the light burning them up in an instant.
Watching from eighty yards away, Voldemort cursed, and then pressed the Dark Mark on his forearm.
"McGregor! Move your division back here, immediately!" he ordered through the link the Dark Mark provided between him and his followers.
"But my lord, we're almost upon the schools defenders!" the Death Eater protested.
"Do not disobey me." Voldemort hissed. On the other side of the link, McGregor gulped.
"As you command my lord." He replied. A moment later, one hundred Death Eaters, accompanied by two hundred mercenaries, and fifty trolls were transported between Voldemort and the Phoenix team.
"Well, looks like we got his attention." Ron said through the Marauder's mind link.
*****
"Looks like Harry and the others managed to attract some attention." Ding said to Sirius as they returned fire against the enemy. Several seconds earlier, a large portion of the attacking force disappeared from the front lines. "That should by us the rest of the time we need."
Sirius nodded. The evacuation was proceeding well, all of the students had been evacuated, and now the professors, as well as the wounded, were being evacuated. Rainbow was holding its own, conducting a collapsing bag defense, slowly giving up ground and tightening its defensive perimeter to make up for those no longer in the line. However, it would still be another ten minutes before they could pull out completely.
The ground in front of the castle was littered with the bodies of Death Eaters, trolls, vampires, and muggle mercenaries; as well as the bodies of several professors and a few of the Rainbow team. Sirius fired an exploding curse at a group of Death Eaters, killing two and wounding four more. Next to him, Ding and several Rainbow troopers were cutting down a Troll; their combined fire proving too much even for its normal tough hide.
Sirius felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Bill.
"The evacuation is complete," he said. Sirius nodded and spoke into the comlink.
"Rainbow, this is Padfoot." He said. "Execute plan tango. Repeat, execute plan tango."
******
"Execute plan tango."
Harry heard Sirius' voice give the evacuation code over the comlink. Firing a burst of silver bullets from his MP-9 at a werewolf that had joined the battle, he spoke through the mind link.
"Okay. Rainbow just pulled out." Harry said. "Everyone get ready." The Marauders formed a tight circle, each reaching with their non-weapon hand to pull a grenade off of their belts. As one, they brought the grenades to their mouths, pulled the pins and tossed them. Blinding explosions obscured the group a second later as they apparated out of the area. When the smoke cleared, the bodies of those Death Eaters unlucky enough to be in the blast radius littered the ground.
*****
The Great Hall at Hogwarts was pandemonium. A short while earlier, students from Beauxbatons began portkeying to the school as part of the evacuation plan. Professor McGonnagall was busy directing the Hogwarts prefects in where to place the new arrivals until such time as a more permanent arrangement could be made. She glanced around after giving them their orders and saw Dumbledore talking to Madame Maxine. A moment later he reached into his robes and pulled out his message parchment. His twinkling eyes scanned the parchment. Then he placed it back into his robes. He then turned and began walking towards McGonnagall.
"Walk with me, Minerva." He said as he approached her. She nodded and the pair exited the Great Hall and began walking.
"Are they alright?" Minerva asked after a moment. Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes." He replied. "The message you saw me reading before was Mr. Potter's report. He and the rest of the Marauders are okay."
"I still can't believe that did that." She replied. "Attacking Voldemort's army from behind by themselves. They could have been slaughtered." Dumbledore chuckled slightly.
"It never ceases to amaze me," he began, "how even knowing the prophecy, and after all they have accomplished in battle in the months they have been operating as the mysterious Phoenix Team, that we continue to underestimate them." Minerva looked at him oddly. "Don't you understand Minerva? They were quite possibly the only ones who could have pulled such a feat off and give the others enough time to evacuate the school."
"I suppose you're right, Albus." McGonngall said. "It's hard thinking of them as warriors though. Especially Ginny and Neville. To me they will always be students." Dumbledore nodded his agreement and the pair continued their stroll. Neither noticed two very different figures lurking in the shadows in different parts of the hall.
*****
"Oh my God! Harry and the others are the Phoenix Team!" Pavarti Patil thought to herself. The fate of the teens had been a topic of great speculation since they disappeared from Hogwarts. The Daily Prophet was even running a contest regarding who could come up with the answer. They were also running a contest on who could uncover the identity of the mysterious Phoenix Team. Suddenly it struck Pavarti as odd that no one had made the connection until now.
She smiled. She dreamed of opening her own clothing design business after Hogwarts, but had doubted she would ever be able to afford to do so. Now the chance to ensure her dream would become a reality was staring her in the face. She quickly rushed off towards the Owlery.
*****
An hour later, another figure made its way to the Owlery; carefully looking around to make sure she was not being seen.
Pansy Parkinson smiled gleefully as she began to write on a piece of parchment. Her father had ordered her to keep her ears open for any interesting information concerning Potter and his friends. As luck would have it, she was making her way back to the Slytherin Common Room when she heard Dumbledore and McGonnagall talking. Finishing the note, she tied it to a school owl and instructed it to deliver the message to her father.
As the owl flew away, she couldn't help but feel excited. When her father read the note he would almost certainly tell his master and she would be rewarded.