Disclaimer: Own nothing but a few Hobgoblins preparing to come out and play. More mature subject, reader discretion is advised. Thanks for the reviews.

HMS Boreas

Chapter 8

A large oval table filled a small room, with only a few candles burning, emitting small plumes of smoke that coalesced on the low hanging ceiling. Many Hobgoblins sat around the table, some discussing the weather, others discussing the upcoming plan, but most were wary of the one chair that needed to be filled: the chair from the House of Blood. When the Hobgoblins were sentenced to the Island, feuding erupted from the many factions, with each adopting their old ways of segregating into the many different houses. The House of Blood was the warrior group, named for their love of spilling enemy blood. Their leader was always the most vicious, and none were as vicious as Tanarak. He caused fear wherever he went, with the scalps of the foes he has killed pilled in what he calls his treasure room. The group knew of the fight between the brothers, but none knew that Tanarak feared no one but his brother. He knew his brother was both smarter and more cunning then himself, and that is why he always angry.

Tanarak was in the corridor leading to the room of gathering. He also knew that they would wait for him to enter before they started their discussion. He was angry that he could not find a way off the rock and needed his brothers help in doing so. What he wanted mostly was to leave this place and return to the home under the ground. He knew that whatever family he had left had died many centuries ago, and that maybe he would find peace again; he sometimes had a hard time understanding why they had gone to war, but that was forgotten. The killing of his own people, to satisfy that need for death, had always troubled him. It was a vicious circle: he felt bad, so he killed, but since he could only kill his own people, he felt worse. With a heavy sigh, he resigned himself to enter the chamber, catching the eye of one of his brother's servants smiling at the leader of the House of Blood as if he the leader had no choice. With a snap of his blade, the head came and blood sprayed everywhere, making everyone gasp as he entered.

"Brother, welcome to my humble chamber, please sit by my side so that we may begin the discussion," Without a hint of acknowledging the gruesome scene.

The meeting went on through out the night and into the next day. The preparations were set and they would meet by the ships at the break of dawn to prepare for their final voyage home.

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Ginny was in the kitchen preparing herself an afternoon tea. Now that the outside was almost finished, Ginny had started on the hard work: interior decorating. Harry had made the comment of turning the whole place into a miniature Quidditch field, and Ginny loved it, but as things were, it was not very formal. Natalie, Mr. Evans daughter, had offered her services to help with getting things started. She said that her connection to both the Muggle and the Wizarding world made her a good choice, as she was not limited in what she could use. Ginny had invited her over after supper, to look at some of the possibilities. She had also convinced Hermione and her mom to come over. She heard Harry approaching, and at the speed of his steps, she could tell he was excited. It seemed to do the trick as the worries of decorating disappeared.

"Gin, take a look at this."

"That's a nice ship Harry."

"It's the HMS Boreas, sold to one of my ancestors by Lord Nelson after the ship was heavily damaged during fighting with the French. Says here she was a sixth class Frigate, but when sold in eighteen hundred and two, converted to a slop ship, then after the war of eighteen twelve in North America, she was converted to a 'pleasure' craft, which probably means they used it to hunt pirates in the Caribbean from what I could discern. I thought it would be cool to take for spin for my birthday. It says it can hold six couples plus the captain and his mate," Harry nudged her and winked "comfortably for over a month at a time. Her hull can handle between fifty to four hundred crewmen, depending on the set-up, plus hold fifty tons of goods, probably treasure. Her cruising speed is estimated at around ten knots, but has been known to hit fifteen knots with a good wind. Of course there are other modifications that might even make it go faster. I wanted to invite Ron and Hermione, Neville and Luna."

"I think that it would be a lot of fun, and it is your birthday. Do you think we could invite Natalie and her husband, I heard he was in the Navy, and he already knows about us 'Wizards'? Who else would you invite?"

"Natalie and her husband would be fine, and maybe her husband can teach us a few things. As for the other couple, I was actually thinking of inviting Remus and Tonks. When I went to visit him on Sunday, I noticed his placed looked a lot better, as if it had a woman's touch, plus some of the things around wthe house are definitely hers. I'm just not sure how to broach the subject, as he seemed not to talk much about it."

"Then just invite them individually. You call Remus and Neville, I'll call Tonks and Hermione, and Natalie is coming over tonight, so I'll ask her then."

Harry went up to his bedroom and used the floo network to contact both Remus then Neville. Remus was a little apprehensive about going with them, but since it was Harry's birthday, he agreed. Neville was a little harder to track, so he contacted St-Mungos. Neville's parents had been cured after the defeat of Voldemort, as their suffering were linked to him, but even so, St-Mungos always kept in touch with them, and so they would know where he went. "Hello Mr. Potter, yes we know where they are. Now normally we would not divulge this type of information, but in your case, you may reach them at their summer home in Scotland. Just say 'Longbottom Summer Home'." Harry thanked the man, and called Neville.

"Hey Neville, how are you doing?"

"Great so far, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you and Luna would join us for a short trip on a ship I just inherited for my birthday. Maybe just a week or ten days at most, unless of course everyone is seasick then we'll shorten it. What do you think?"

"I know Luna would love it, as that's one of the few things she's not done, and she's always looking at the ships going by. That would be fine by me. Where do you want to launch from?"

"Never thought of that."

"How deep of water do you need?"

"Doesn't say."

"Harry, where is this ship?"

"In a bottle, see."

"Wow, that's a big ship at least a hundred feet long if not more. If you want, we can launch that from our place?"

"Really, that would be great. Where are you anyways?"

"Our summer home is on the north coast of Scotland, near Crosskirk. If you floo over to a place called 'The Flying Fish', I can meet you there and we can go back to my place, just give me a time."

"How about Wednesday five o'clock? We can eat something and make our way to your place. We can let the boat out at night and cast our cloaking charms on it so that we are ready to go that morning."

"Sounds good to me, see you then."

Harry went back down and met both Ginny and Dobby who were getting the evening meal ready.

"So, did you reach them?" asked Ginny.

"I certainly did, and they will join us. Neville offered us his dock at there summer home in northern Scotland as a launching point. How about you?"

"When talking to Tonks, she wasn't all that that thrilled about going on the boat and all, but then I told her Remus might be going she agreed readily. Hermione was also a bit skeptical about the whole thing too, but figured they did need some time off and this would be relaxing. So now we need to brush up on our navigation skill."

"May you need a cook too? Dobby would be willing to cook for all of Master Harry's friends."

"I forgot about that. That's a good idea Dobby; you will need to get the provisions ahead of time. We could store them at the Longbottom's home before leaving."

They quickly ate, and then Ginny went to prepare to greet Natalie. While the girls spent the next few hours with some of the wedding preparations, Harry and Ron went out to practice some Quidditch. Ron was a little rusted, but even if he'd been at the top of game, he was no match for Harry. They worked up quite a sweat and stopped at the local pub for some refreshments. After a few drinks, Harry thought it might be safe to return to the house and not be subject to too much 'girl' stuff. When they arrived, the girls had just finished up; Hermione was waiting for Ron and they both left right away. Ginny and Natalie were discussing the upcoming trip.

"Harry, Natalie is telling me that her husband Richard would love to teach us about ships and that."

"That's right, Richard is still a bit nervous about our world, but it would do wonders to get him familiar through a trip on a ship. I appreciate the offer, and if possible, we can set-up a night out on the town where you would be able to meet him. He will be back in town by the weekend, and I'm sure a week on land will be too much for him."

"That would great. Just let us know and we will be there."

With that, Natalie left, leaving the couple to retire for night in their bedroom.

The next few days followed the same pattern of house repairs, but it soon came apparent that the house was complete, and that all the repairs were complete, and that all the spells to keep it that way were done. Harry decided that he could do to read up about seamanship, so he went about gathering information, mainly from his own well-stocked library. Hermione had taken it upon herself to ensure the library was as full as possible. The Vault helped out with a few old navel books. They received an owl from Natalie inviting them to dinner in London. It was near the river and catered mainly to Navy types. They accepted the invitation and met the couple that evening. Although the building looked a little run down, and area had the smell of fish, all that changed once they entered the premises. Natalie and Richard had just arrived and were standing near the bar. Harry and Ginny joined them.

"Harry, Ginny, this is my husband Richard; Richard this is Harry and Ginny."

"Pleasure to meet you at last Harry. Natalie has filled me in on some of your 'adventures'. I reserved a booth to get a bit more privacy, if that is ok with you?"

"That would be fine. This is a beautiful restaurant; I can almost feel the history."

"History it certainly has; going back to before Lord Nelson led the battle group against the French. Natalie tells me you are an athlete of some sort, Quidditch I think it is. I have never seen the sport, but Natalie tells me it's quite exciting, and very dangerous. Anything like Rugby?"

"I don't know much about Rugby, although I did see a few matches while living with my Aunt, but I would have to say that it is a bit less physical then that, and a lot faster. The level of play is such that speeds of fifty to sixty miles an hour is common. Like all sports though, it is more fun participating then watching, although I don't see myself going up against some of those Australian players in Rugby."

"I imagine not, but then they could probably not see themselves flying around neither. Now sixty miles an hour seems a bit fast don't you think? I'd love to see it some day, if that would be possible? Now about your trip you are planning, Natalie and I would love to go with you. I have done a bit of research, more as a refresher since it has been a few years since I've been on that type of ship. In my cadet training we spent the better part of three months aboard frigate about the same size as this one. Now I assume that I will not be able to tell anyone about this trip."

"Actually, you won't even be able to take pictures, as it will require 'special' film to get any type of picture, but don't worry, you will have some have pictures. So why don't we order and you can tell me what we will need for this trip to work."

The meal went late into the night, with Harry getting all the information of what he will need. He made a mental note to thank Ginny for thinking of a scribing spell cast to make sure that everything said would be recorded back home. Richard was quite resourceful, and Harry and Ginny made a note to invite them over for a bite. It was unfortunate that Harry had to cast a memory charm on him; this way he could talk about his experience with the group, but would not bring it up outside of the group. Ginny did tell Natalie that it was part of the deal to invite a muggle into the group. Time would tell if they could allow him to broaden his horizon within the wizarding community.

They met Richard a few more times to work on the trip and what was needed to know to captain a ship that size. Harry was grateful for the information, for even if the ship ran its self, you never knew when things needed to be done by wand. The Wednesday approached and Harry had plans to have Natalie and Richard come to his house before departing for 'The Flying Fish'. As conventional means were not present to reach the Potter Residence, and Richard could not travel through the floo network, Harry had Natalie use a broom and an invisibility cloak to get up. When Richard arrived he was flabbergasted at the size of the manor. Harry noted that he seemed to have enjoyed the ride up.

"Harry, you say this is a family residence. It could almost compete withany castle in Europe. It didn't look like much on the outside, but this is amazing. Now, it came to me while we were flying up, that we would not be able to travel by broom all the way to Scotland. How do you propose to get us there?"

"First of all, broom travel is possible over great distances, but not very comfortably.Do you have all your stuff?"

"Yes, we were able to pack everything in this. Natalie kept on adding clothes, almost a months worth, but once she closed the lid, it shrunk down to this size." Richard was holding a palm-sized chest.

"Well Richard, they say that if the chest is bigger then the hand, its just a waste. Now for the travel problem, I have here an armband magic inducer. It will allow you to do some of the things a wizard can do, like use the floo, fly a broom, and a few other minor things like seeing things that were normally not apparent, like the outside of my home looks completely run down to all Muggles due to the spell cast on it. Anyways, let's just say that you should be fine, although I suggest you change out of what you are wearing, maybe put on some robes. We don't want you stick out too much."

Harry summoned some robes for Richard who just placed it over his own. Harry explained how the floo worked; joking with them about the first time he used and ended up in the wrong place. The couple left and arrived at 'The Flying Fish'. Ron and Hermione had already arrived and were sitting at the table waiting with Neville and Luna. Remus arrived next, with Tonks not long after. The look they both had upon seeing each other was good enough to take a picture, and soon they both sat down together with the group. Food was ordered and the couples quickly ate, talking and filling in on some of the things they had done so far this summer.

The walk back to Neville's place took about half an hour. When they arrived, they found Dobby in the middle of preparing all the cargo that needed to go onto the ship. Once on the property, they dug out their brooms where Natalie and Harry were trying to teach Richard how to fly. They started off by tying the broom to a twenty-foot rope so that he could not fly off. Within an hour, he was able to maintain good enough control of the broom that the rope was removed.

When night arrived, Harry went out on the magically enhanced dock and took out the boat. He placed the bottle in the water and cast the release spell. The bottle slowly started to shake, then the ship 'popped' out of the bottle and started to expand. Within a minute, the ship had grown to its full size. A minute after that, crew started to come out of the hold, stretching and yawning as if asleep. Soon, an old man looking a lot like Moody, with peg leg and all, stepped up to the side of the ship; "I am Captain Lucky Peg Leg, at your service. And who might you be sir?"

"The name is Harry Potter." Harry went and introduced his friends and Ginny. He then motioned to the captain where all the supplies were. The captain had the gangplank lowered and had the quartermaster send some of the hand to fetch the supplies. The captain explained that they also had a cook aboard, but as Harry explained they had a House Elf, the Captain nodded and told him it would probably be better that way, as their cokk was "too heavy on the beans" and such. Harry and Hermione started on the concealment charms while Ron, Ginny and Dobby set up the kitchen and the sleeping quarters. The rooms had been magically enhanced to include a large king size bed, and its own privy and working shower. Once the ship was prepared. They all went back to the house to sleep. Harry had found Richard walking among the crew, his uniform back on, inspecting the ship. Upon seeing Harry, he gave him a big thank you and went down to his quarters to sleep. While everyone slept in the house, Richard and Natalie decide to stay on the ship.

The next morning, everyone was awake before the break of dawn. Harry found it strange that Neville was a little grumpy, until Luna pointed out that he had been unable to cast a large enough silencing charm on the walls to his bedroom. When Ron asked why that was needed, Luna replied that Harry and Ginny were quite vocal in their sleep. Harry and Ginny left for the ship, blushing deeply, before things got out of hand. Hermione made a note of working with Neville to strengthen his charm. Breakfast was quickly eaten and everyone boarded the ship. The wind had picked up a little, allowing the ship to easily slip out into the sea. Captain Lucky Peg Leg had the crew working hard. Harry decided to have a chat with the Captain about how things worked on the ship, and where the crew came from.

Once the group had all sat down in the officers' mess, the Captain started; "most of the crew where from the original ship during the battle with the 'Frenchies'; unfortunately, we all died, except for a Lieutenant Potter. Before the final battle, I was in my quarters on death's row, and he asked us how badly we wanted to win, and when the crew replied that we would come back from the dead to help, Lieutenant Potter made us a pledge; for as long as we wanted to serve for the goodness of King and Country, we would be allowed to do our favorite thing: sail. Some would say that it was unfortunate that we died, but all of us believe that to 'work to live' is wrong, and that we 'live to work', even after death. After the battle, Lord Potter purchased the ship from Lord Nelson, and we went to the New Colonies to fight off the invasion into British Territory by the Yanks. After that, we went out a few more times down south in Carribean, but it has been a long time since we've been able to set to sea. Of course we don't understand time anymore, but it is good to be at sea again. The last time we sailed was back in about 1946, when we were asked to help out a fellow ship that had had sunk near Hait, it was the Bluenose. It was an unfortunate thing to happen to such a beautiful ship. We raced her once about ten years before in 1936, but she was much to quick for us and the rest of the competition. We arrived to late to help, being much slower then the rest of the ships around. There was also a war that was just finishing up and I guess our time had passed. Well, I hope that gave you the information you were looking for. If you want, a log of all our trips is kept in the chart room. Now if you will excuse me, I need to check on our progress."

The rest of he day passed along hectically, letting everyone get used to the roll of the ship, and never straying too far from land. Although the ship was magical, it still required much work. Luna, Natalie and Hermione tended to stay out of the way of the crew, Ginny and Neville decided to work the deck with the deck hands. Harry and Ron worked in the sails, and Richard stayed on the rear quarterdeck with the Captain, discussing navigation and seamanship. The couples shared a quiet evening meal before retiring early, with Hermione and Natalie complaining of a queasy stomach. Harry and Ginny spent some time in the navigational chart room planning their trip. They decided to go towards the Outer Islands, then Northwest towards the Faroe Islands, and then back to Scotland, or maybe Ireland, if things went well. Ginny and Harry finally retired to their cabin. Once the door was closed, both Hermione and Neville caught themselves casting silencing charms on Harry's room. Hermione laughed; "Maybe someone should tell them to keep it down?"

"Not me. Remember how upset he was when we asked him to keep quiet when he was in the shower; he came out stark naked and dripping wet and stunned us all. When we came to, he had gone back to the showers and kept signing."

"And it might be just a phase too, although I doubt it."

Content that they did not want to mess with Harry and Ginny, they both cast their charms just as the moans started to creep through the wall. Both smiled and went back to their respective rooms. In the Captain's cabin, Harry smiled as he felt the charms being put up.

Back on Hobgoblin Island, it took all day to load all the ships with every Hobgoblin and enough food to make it back to shore. It had been too long since they've been on the mainland that they were not able to Disparate the group. It was decided that they would all leave together. The fleet would be made with the warrior factions running the sides in a V pattern. The cargo ships would run last as they were the least reliable. The leader of the houses were on the lead ship, at what would be the point of the V. They were the ones needed to guide the ships to the barrier; once at the barrier, they would proceed to the ceremony, timed with the height of the Black Moon. They arrived at the barrier with enough time for the preparation. This was a dark ritual, and most did not know that their chance for surviving the ceremony was quite low. This information was withheld from the group for they needed all the Houses to be present for the magic to work, and they knew that some of the House Leaders had grown lazy on the island.

The water around the ships had calmed down quite a bit, and thankfully for many, so had the rocking of the ships. Hobgoblins are earth creatures, living usually within the earth than on top of it, although Godric ensured they would adapt themselves. As the ceremony progressed, the wind picked up and waves started to break on the ships. Quickly, the tempo of the ritual increased, with the weather taking a turn for the worse. Soon, the waves crested over the ships, and the Hobgoblins scrambled quickly to get the water out by any means possible. With a clap of lightning, a huge waterspout shot into the air, and like a hammer, it started to attack the barrier. The barrier held for what seemed an eternity, but then cracks appeared and the water hammer increased its tempo. With a boom louder then a volcanoes explosion, the barrier collapsed. As the weather started to revert back to its docile state, the field of view showed many ships had been damaged or lost during the ferocious attack. Hundreds died, including many leaders from the different Houses; but most were left and soon the convoy started to head towards the mainland. Behind them, on the island that had been their home for over millennia, a volcano opened up and started to spew its lava, destroying what was left of the protective walls and huts.

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Harry awoke with a jerk. His head pounding, and when he looked up he saw Ginny's eyes upon him from the ground; he had knocked her clear off the bed. With one hand on his head, he helped Ginny up.

"Are you ok Harry? What the bloody hell happened, knocking me on my backside like that? Harry, can you hear me?"

"Sorry love, but my head is aching, as if Gawp was using it as a Bludger. This feels bad, something's happened."

"I'll get everybody, but it's a wonder nobody heard you."

That took a bit of the edge off, "I'll explain that later."

Ginny quickly put on a robe and slippers and went off to get everyone. Dobby popped right in with a cup of hot cocoa, helping Harry put on his robe and slippers. Dobby always seemed to know what Harry needed. Harry walked out of his room and into the chart room, which seemed like a good place to talk. Everyone met him there, still blurry eyed but coming around quickly. Dobby had also prepared some coffee, tea and hot cocoa for those who needed it. The ship rocked slightly as everyone wondered what had happened to Harry. The first to speak up was Remus.

"Harry, what's going on? Your eyes are bright and practically glowing. You haven't been like this since the battle with Voldemort."

"I'm not sure. It just felt as if an evil power just came into existence, out of thin air. I saw visions of some sort of hammer made of water, battering down a shield spell, or something like that, then I saw this creature that I did not recognize. It cast a spell at me, one that I never saw before; it seemed to burn me and that's when I woke up. That's all I know."

"We'll at least its not Voldemort", answered Ron.

"I remember when I was unconscious after the Quidditch final that Sirius visited me. He told me that some great evil would be coming back, or something of the sort."

"You saw Sirius and you told no one? Why not?", asked Remus

"I didn't think it was good to go around saying I saw dead people when I'm unconscious. Anyways, the fact remains he told me something was happening and something has. I'll send a message out to Severus and Minerva letting them know to be on the look out for anything. I'll also tell them where we are, or approximately where we are. So why don't we all go back to sleep and we'll figure what to do tomorrow."

"By-the-way Harry, Happy Birthday!" Exclaimed Hermione.

Everyone hugged him or shook his hand as they left the chart room, a little nervous about hearing something was amiss, but nonetheless going back to sleep to try and get a few more hours. That is everyone but Harry. He let Ginny go back to sleep, helping her by rubbing her feet, which always seemed to help her relax and go back to sleep. Once asleep, he went to a chair and opened up his journal to write down everything he remembered, including what Sirius had said the first time.

Dawn soon arrived, and its redness was not a good sign. Harry dressed quietly, and went up to the quarterdeck; Richard was already there. He handed Harry a cup of coffee, which Harry accepted gratefully. Then Richard spoke up.

"Something happen last night? I heard you guys gather around in the chart room, but didn't bother getting Natalie or I. She figured it had nothing to do with the ship and let it go. I wake up this morning to a bloody sun, and that does not bode well. Maybe you should fill me in on what is going on?"

"Didn't see the need to wake you up, andI apologize if I did. The reason we were up was I had had a nightmare of sorts."

"That's it?"

"You must realize that my nightmares are usually a bad sign, so maybe we keep an eye open."

"That and the fact we will have bad weather should make things interesting. What kind of nightmare?"

"Hard for you to understand, but Humans are not the only race that live on Earth. I'm sure you've seen Dobby, or at least heard of him; he's a House Elf, although he is free to go anywhere he pleases. There are all sorts of magical creatures out there, and in this particular case, I did not recognize it."

"Yes I have seen Dobby, and Natalie did explain it to me. Well, next time, let me know if I can help."

Soon, the smell of bacon and eggs made its way to the top deck and both Richard and Harry met the rest of the gang downstairs for breakfast. In the corner of the room sitting on a small table were a pile of presents with bows and ribbons. They all started to sing Happy Birthday, and then Harry was led to a chair where everyone proceeded to give him presents. The first he opened was from Ginny, who told him the second part would have to wait until tonight for him to open. Ron looked at him quizzically, "What is it Harry?"

"It's a thong Ron. You wear it."

"Oh, sorry I asked." Ron turned beat red and backed away from the group. Hermione smiled and walked up to Ron and whispered to him in his ear. He seemed to perk up, point towards Hermione, to which she nodded, and then smiled as if he had just found a missing present under the tree and it had his name on it. This exchange only took a few minutes, in which Harry had gotten through to Fred and George's present. Before anyone could say anything, or hide in the case of Ginny and Ron, the present exploded. A poem rang out about 'being blue without you'. When the smoke cleared, Harry held a bag of candies, but when he looked around, everyone else had turned blue, clothing and all. Ginny piped up, "Not this one again. It took almost a day to get everything back to normal. Harry, why aren't you affected? I didn't notice you putting up a shield of any sort."

"I don't know, I just knew something was going to happen and I did it."

Tonks and Remus shared a look, then without blinking, both cast stunners at Harry's back before anyone else could react. Without turning around, both spells were repelled, with one actually diverted back towards Tonks, who dodged out of the way. Harry hadn't even flinched, actually apologizing to Tonks for the lack of control on his part.

"Harry, you haven't been able to do that since the battle with Voldermort," noted Hermione.

Richard and Natalie just stared at Harry, and although Richard did not know what exactly had happened, he knew magic (although just a little), he knew he was blue like the rest of them, he knew Remus and Tonks had cast something at Harry, and Harry reppeled it without thought. Whispering to Natalie, "Can you do that?"

Natalie just shook her head, but Ginny answered, "Only Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Harry could have shook those spells off that easily; except that after the battle, Harry sort of stopped being so powerful. Harry, when did you notice the change?"

"Actually, this is the first time since the last battle have I felt like this. Remember the feeling of electricity I told you about, the feeling as if I had just walked a carpet in my socks and was ready to zap someone, its back. I wounder if..." Just then, Harry transformed into a Phoenix.

Richard and Natalie, never having seen or heard of this, just stared at the phoenix with the blank stare of 'a deer in headlights'. Richard mumbled a question about what type of bird that was, and it seemed to have green eyes and, where did Harry go. Natalie told him what it was, and that it was Harry. Richard just replied with an O.

Harry returned to his human form and grabbed the chair for support, "That still takes a lot out of me, as when I changed into the first time."

Remus sat down. "Harry, do you know what this means?"

"I think it means that my powers increase when danger is around."

"Not just danger," Remus replied, "but pure evil. There is always danger in the world, but maybe it takes pure evil to make it transform."

Just then, a crew member came down, looking at everyone with a question of why everyone was blue and keeping it to himself. He turned to Harry, who he noted was not blue, "Sir, the Captain needs to see you on deck."

"Thank you." Harry was about to follow, when, remembering the twins present, flicked his wand at the group and dispelled the magic dye, also causingTonks to revert to her true form, which was not far off from her normal state, except for ruffled looking brown hai,and an odd mark on her forearm. It just took a blink of an eye to revert, but she gave Harry a stare that made him hurry up the stairs. "I'll get you for that Harry!" she yelled at him.

Up on the deck, most of the men were looking straight at the front the ship.He walked over to the Captain, who was looking through a telescope. He noticed Harry beside him and handed him the telescope. Pointing almost dead straight he said, "Look down that way and tell me what you see."

"Looks like a lot of sails. Why, what seems to be the problem?"

Richard was looking into his own telescope, but without magical enhancements, he was unable to see it. One of the officers noticed this and handed his own over. Richard thanked the man, and looked through the enhanced telescope. "My Lord, those are very old ships, I mean very old."

The Captain came over to him, "How old would you estimate?"

"The design is strange, but I would have to say almost a thousand years old.They look like Viking Longboats, but a little different. They seem to be going much faster then those boats could have gone, and they seem to be heading towards the main land."

"Very good observation. I agree, these boats are old, but are magical in nature. Not in the same sense as us, but in the sense that these boats should not even be afloat let alone sailing at about seven knots. What would you like us to do, Sir?"

"We should investigate this."

"Yes sir!" Turning towards his first officer, he gave him the command for general quarters, and as the command was passed along at increasing decibel levels, the crew prepared for the unknown.

Without a word spoken, Harry looked towards his friends, each nodding in turn. They went off into separate direction, preparing the boat for the encounter with the unknown ships, but with a gut feeling it could be bad. Harry turned to Natalie, "Have you studied Ecto-Screens?"

"Not really my strongpoint, but I do know a little. Ecto is a insubstantial substance, if you can call it that, that exists between our world and the Ethereal world. Magic can be used to modify it to the casters will. That's abaout all I know."

"That is a very close example. What I want to do is encompass both you and Richard in an invisible bubble that will not be affected by any spells, charms or hexes from the outside. I will make it that a simple hex to disolve from the inside."

Looking towards her husband, who with the Captain, were giving out orders, she replied, "he won't like that, not being able to fight, but I guess he has no choice."

"Not unless he wants to stay in his room. This way he will get to watch."

Harry pointed to where they should be and watched her going to her husband. He did not look happy, angrily pointing a finger at Harry, but nontheless he went to where the spot Harry wanted them, mumbling about at least it had a good view point.

Harry summoned a blob of Ecto-Plasma, looking more like a blob of greenish smoke, then with a few flicks of his wands and a few spoken words, the ball of smoke turned into a hard opaque shell. Within a few seconds, the bubble went invisible and Harry turned towards the bow of the ship where off in the distance, the masts off all those ships were becoming visible.

After about fifteen minutes, the gang gathered down in the mess; Harry was enquiring about the preparations. Once that was all said and done, each went their separate ways to prepare and change. Most of them always carried Dragonhide garments, even on such a trip. Remus commented to Tonks that it was unfair that Harry and friends should be so prepared for life of combat at such an early age, but then conceded that they did a fine job of it. Soon, the group gathered back on the deck and prepared for the arrival. The group wuld spread themselves out amonst the crew so as to not draw to much attention. Only Harry, with Ginny by his side would do the talking. As they slowly moved towards the mass of ships, Ron muttered something about it taking so long.

A/N I am sorry for this taking so long, but the preparations for Christmas and the recovery took its toll. With the Con season staring soon, I will hopefully try to get as much done as possible.