Chapter 28
Harry woke up in Headquarters hospital area, with Splikvin in another bed and Remus and Sirius next to him in chairs. "You alright kiddo?" Sirius asked, his face tired.
Harry nodded, yawning. "I'm fine, was just-yawn- tryin' something."
"What was it?" Remus asked.
Harry grinned, and explained his last experiment; his guardians' faces were shocked. "See?" he said, still grinning, "If it all goes right, I won't have to kill anyone."
Remus looked pensive, but Sirius looked worried. "I don't like the idea of you getting that close thought," Padfoot said, "If it goes wrong, everything will."
"You can't think like that," Harry replied, "It'll distract you, and puts doubts where we can't afford them."
Sirius sighed. "Still…we'd have to plan it carefully in order to do our best to keep you safe, Tallon."
Harry cut back a smoldering reply, not wanting to be kept 'safe' from something that had to be done. Instead, he merely nodded. "We can talk about it at the meeting today."
"Talk 'bout what?" Splikvin mumbled, waking slowly.
"You'll see," Remus answered. "Feeling any better?"
She frowned, looking at herself. "Yes and no." she replied, noticing that she was still fifteen in appearance. She got out of the bed, and looked at Harry. "How is your magic?"
He checked; it was back to normal. "Recharged," he answered, finding it awkward to be talking to a professor younger than him.
She nodded. "Good. I wouldn't use it for today, too soon."
"Alright," Harry replied, then hesitated and asked, "Why are you still fifteen?"
Splikvin grimaced, "I'd like to know that myself. Is Headmaster Ilvgont here?" she asked Remus. He nodded, and she left the infirmary.
"Feeling up to walk?" Sirius asked lightly, "Personally, I'd like to see her rant—it's pretty amusing, when it's not at you anyways." Harry grinned despite himself, and Moony attempted to smother a laugh, but he failed miserably. So Harry got out of bed and stretched his legs, feeling rather refreshed despite the slight ache in his shoulder blades; probably from flying, he thought to himself.
They walked down the stairs, and to the meeting room. Some of the Order was already there, talking about the shield Voldemort had used on Durmstrang. Harry got a surprise: Alex was there too. She saw him and stalked over, a scowl on her face. "What?" Harry asked, confused.
"You went flying through a building that was on fire!" she exclaimed.
Harry grinned uneasily, "Er—yeah, I did, as a phoenix though." She seemed to relax.
"For the most part," Sirius added dryly, seeming amused by the situation.
Alex scowled at Harry again, "'Most part'?" she repeated.
Harry glared at his godfather, "Er—yeah."
Alex stared at the ceiling, "Why on earth do I like a maniac?" she asked no one in particular; Remus and Sirius laughed.
Harry blushed slightly. "No idea," he said with a grin, and kissed her, drawing whistles from his guardians.
Alex smiled, "Don't think you got away from this one," she warned.
Harry smiled back, "Not planning to; when'd you get here?" he asked, sitting down while Moony and Padfoot went to look for Splikvin again.
"About two hours ago," she replied, "Dale thought I could use a break from hiding and work."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Dale?"
Alex blinked, "Oh, sorry. Mr. Blurnof, his first name is Dale." She giggled slightly, noticing the look on Harry's face. "Yeah, he thinks it's an odd name too; he does a pretty good impression of the chipmunk though."
Harry laughed, remembering the muggle cartoon he'd seen when he was little. It had been at Mrs. Figg's house. She then asked him about what he'd done to make himself black out, and Harry explained his idea in a quiet voice. She pondered it for a few minutes. "I guess it would work," she said slowly, "if you take the right steps anyways."
Harry's reply was cut off by two Weasley twins fleeing and onslaught of hexes. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" They were exclaiming, ducking behind the unfortunate furniture. Splikvin came into the room, glaring furiously at them, with Sirius and Remus laughing behind her.
Harry and Alex observed the mini-battle, amused, but also confused. "Clearly, I know every single hex I do as a professor," Splikvin growled, "And do not repeat a word you said Weasleys, understand?"
The twins nodded vigorously, while still ducked behind a sofa. "What did they do this time?" Mrs. Weasley asked with suspicion.
Splikvin flushed, "Nothing major." She muttered, pocketing her wand. "Just an issue with recognizing people." Harry raised an eyebrow, looking at his godfather, who was still shaking with laughter, though now silent. Splikvin walked over to Ilvgont and cut into the conversation, most likely asking how to get back to normal.
Only when she was fully occupied did the Weasley twins come out from behind the couch Harry and Alex were sitting on. "What did you do?" Harry whispered as they sat down.
"Not saying," they said instantly, glancing at Splikvin.
"We can though," Sirius said cheerfully.
Harry grinned, "What happened?" So Padfoot leaned over and quietly explained what had occurred. Harry's eyes widened as he fought not to laugh himself into hysterics.
The Order meeting occurred that evening. Splikvin had changed back to her normal self several hours ago, but she still glared at the Weasley twins whenever she saw them in the halls.
The first order of business was to explain what type of shield that had been used. There weren't many shields that could do what this one had done, so that limited it down to three, one being Parsletongue magic. "That is probably the one he used," Snape said, "Seeing as it is the one most unlikely for someone to be able to counter, and that he is the only one who would know how to do it."
Dumbledore nodded, "Very true, Severus. However, we are not sure if he is aware of Parsletongue magic just yet."
"I think he is, Sir." Harry said. "He probably started looking up different types of magic after he saw Parsloz magic being used."
"Mind, he does have my journals," Salazar put in from his frame, "They are written in Parsletongue script, and I wrote about the magic in them. It is very likely he has come to fully understand what it means to be a Parslemouth."
"Is there anything else he might be aware of due to your studies?" McGonagall asked, somewhat stiffly.
Salazar lifted his chin slightly. "Yes."
Harry bit back a grin as McGonagall pursed her lips in annoyance at the vague answer. "What are they Salazar?" Tallon asked politely, knowing that the Transfiguration professor wouldn't.
Slytherin answered immediately, in a slightly smug tone. "Transformation, summoning creatures part snake, potions that require the blood of a Parslemouth, charms that include serpents-" he faltered slightly.
"Anything else?" Harry asked, sensing Salazar's sudden reluctance and discomfort.
He sighed. "Only a bit on the wards of Hogwarts, secret entrances to the Chamber of Secrets, a few prophecies Rowena made, a way to counter-act the Fideleus Charm, the rites needed to bring someone from the Veil of Death," he cleared his throat, "and a few theories on becoming immortal."
"And he calls that only," Godric muttered, earning himself a glare. The Order was rather quiet, in a slight state of shock from what Voldemort could already know.
"No wonder he was able to sneak into Hogwarts to attack," Hermione murmured, a bit too loudly. Salazar merely kept his face blank, though Harry knew he wasn't happy about what he'd practically taught Voldemort.
Dumbledore sighed quietly. "Well, at the very least, we are aware of what Voldemort may know, and he does not know that, so that does give us a slight advantage in his underestimating us. Sir Salazar, if you would brief Harry or Selena on what is in your journals after the meeting, it would be greatly appreciated." The founder nodded. "Now, onto the next matter: our newly gained allies." A few of the Order perked up at this. Dumbledore smiled, "It would seem that Tom was erred in the matter of attacking an international party at Durmstrang. Due to the injuries and losses suffered by the Ministries of other countries, they have put a certain amount of efforts into our cause." He pulled out several official-looking rolls of parchment and opened them, spreading them out on the table for the rest of the Order to see. "From the Russian Ministry, our Ministry has been lent, on an emergency basis, the assistance of their Defense Wing Members, which includes roughly one hundred witches and wizards.
"From Bulgaria, several squads of Aurors; from France, seven Animagus Squads," Dumbledore had a slight smile on his face, "And from the United States Ministry, a V-Group."
"Cheapskate Yanks," Dung muttered.
Dumbledore beamed, "Not quite Mundungus, they have lent us more than that: a W-Group legion, access to their muggle technology such as satellite surveillance and infrared, and three teams of their M.D. Department." A surprised murmur swept through the room, some people more excited than others.
"What're all those groups?" Ron asked, though Harry was wondering the same thing.
Moody answered first. "The Defense Wing Members from the Russian Ministry are soldiers, much like Aurors, but they excel in muggle-style fighting as well as dueling."
"Not to mention they deal mostly with Dark creatures, like dementors and such." Tonks piped. "The Animagus Squads from France are just like the name: teams of Animagi; some have magical forms, some have normal. But they're trained like no other in those. Heck, you wouldn't even know they were an animagus if you met them in animal form!"
Lupin grinned as he explained another. "The 'W-Legion' in the United States is a rather large department of werewolves who work for the U.S. Ministry, working alongside Aurors during the full moon, and as normal aurors during other times of the month." The younger Order members' eyes widened.
"A V-Group is basically a team of half-vampires," Splikvin added, "They have alliances with the local clans in the U.S., bloody good fighters."
"Teams from the M.D. Department are the elite forces in the U.S. Ministry." Kingsley told them with a smile, "Every last one of them is a metamorphagus, animagus, and trained in battle of all types; they deal mainly with the dangerous creatures and magical gangs that tend to spring up quite often in the States. There are five members per team."
"Only five?" quizzed Neville.
Shacklebolt nodded. "Think of it as five very smart and very angry Hungarian Horntails in a group, working as a team." Neville's eyes widened, causing several chuckles to be heard.
"All in all, I'd say we didn't do half-bad gaining allies this time," Mr. Weasley said somberly; others nodded their agreement.
The talk then turned to Harry's idea for Voldemort. He summarized how he'd found out about it, and then his experiment after the shield broke over Durmstrang. Thoughtful silence followed his proposal.
"But the prophecy says…" someone muttered, then fell silent.
Harry would have glared at the person if he had been able to tell who'd said that. As it was, he kept his face blank. "I know what it says," he told them, "And this will work, I know it." He grinned slightly, "Besides, if you twist the words of the prophecy around a bit in meaning, I'm not really changing a thing. Either way, the result will hopefully be the same." Sirius grinned at his godson, and Remus smiled while the rest of the Order thought for a bit.
"It's the best idea ya got!" Helga piped.
"He has thought of it for a while now," Rowena added, "We believe him to be ready to do this. However, it might possibly require a test of sorts before the main trial."
Dumbledore nodded. "We would have to ask one of the Ministers about it, seeing as how—unique, this idea is. Some may consider it on the borderline of dark."
"Dark doesn't make it evil," Harry said automatically, earning himself a slightly surprised look from some members. "It's the intent of the user that makes it evil or good." Salazar nodded in agreement.
Mr. Weasley looked at Tallon thoughtfully, "I'll ask Amelia about it; but I think we should first think about how on earth we would be able to give you the chance to do it."
"We would have to set a trap of sorts," McGonagall said, "That in itself could be the hardest part: making one suitable to trick you-know-" Dumbledore frowned slightly and she rolled her eyes, "V-Voldemort."
"Bait." Charlie suggested. "A big event or something that would draw his attention, something he himself would have to come to."
"Naw, he wouldn't risk something like that this soon." Tonks replied.
"A decoy perhaps?" Remus suggested. "Maybe two events at the same time, pretending to have more defenses set up at one than at the other."
The Order broke into a flurry of debates of what to use. Harry listened carefully, weighing the pros and cons of each idea in his head, while adding the ones others thought of. This stage went on for several hours; the Order took a break only when Moody and McGonagall got into a rather heated debate about the disadvantages of involving too many unknowing people. After roughly fifteen minutes, the Order 're-grouped' for another debating session. The founders even put in their own opinions, sometimes with dry remarks between Godric and Salazar. Harry often laughed at theses—he'd forgotten how amusing it was to watch the two argue about something.
After suggesting they put up wards on a certain area where they would set the trap, and giving a detailed explanation on how to do it, Harry received several curious looks. "What?" he asked.
"Where'd you learn all that?" Sirius asked.
Harry blinked, then remembered…last summer, when I ran away—crap! "Er—last summer." He answered.
"From whom?" Dumbledore asked mildly, "The description you gave matches those of Hogwarts rather closely."
"A little help?" Harry pleaded, looking at Salazar.
The founder smirked, "You got yourself into this one, you get yourself out."
Harry glared at his tutor. "From Salazar." He answered finally.
"But some of those things can only be demonstrated," the Headmaster commented. Harry found he could only shrug in response.
Rowena sighed. "Does the name Grindelwald Black the First sound familiar?" she asked.
Several people's expression grew curious. "He's the wizard who was famous for studying the different types of portraits!" Hermione exclaimed, "Creating new ways to preserve a person's personality on canvas! He was also a Seer."
Rowena nodded with a smile. "Indeed. Now, some of you may recall at Harry's home a room with a chimera-shaped knocker on the door, one that most likely could not be opened by some of you." Several people nodded. "Our original portraits were in that room, which we call the Chimera Room. After Harry found us in there, he solved the riddle that was inscribed on the door, and a scroll signed 'G.B.' appeared. It explained how our portraits came to be there, and how long it had been. After becoming better acquainted with Harry, we began to tutor him in magic. I taught him Ancient Runes, Arthrimacy, Wizarding History, and occasionally tested him in Occlumency. Helga taught him Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Charms. From Godric, Harry learned about Defense, Animagus transformations, and" she smiled slightly, "Quidditch. Salazar taught Harry Offensive Dueling, Parsloz magic, the History of Hogwarts, and Potions."
Hermione stared at Harry, her jaw practically hitting the tabletop. He blushed slightly, noticing that others were looking at him strangely as well.
Rowena continued. "Now, as we began to work with him, we found ourselves agreeing on something: that he was doing rather well." She smiled as Dumbledore looked with surprise at Slytherin, who was keeping his gaze carefully on the floor. "Yes, even Salazar admitted it, much to his embarrassment." The founder in question glared at her before she went on, undaunted. "When we voiced this, another little trick left from G.B. was revealed: we found ourselves free of our portraits." There were several gasps from the Order, and it took a few minutes for them to calm down; Hermione nearly fainted.
"We are able to do this two days a week, and then we go back into our portraits." Rowena explained. "And although we do not know just how Grindelwald was capable of doing this, we decided to take advantage of it, therefore giving Harry more practical lessons."
"And helping out on occasion," Godric added.
"Remember the attack on the Ministry?" Harry asked, "The one where the four creatures came to help?" Some people nodded, "That was them, in animagus form."
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like a child's on Christmas Eve. "Interesting, very interesting. There were rumors that Grindelwald had discovered a way to make portraits more-- lively, but it was never confirmed before his death."
"Can ye do it now?" Dung asked.
The founders looked at each other in silent question. Godric was the first to shrug, and with a small flash of light, his portrait was empty, and he was standing in the room; Hermione right-out fainted.
Ron caught her, but he was staring as well. People's eyes got wider as Helga came out, then Rowena, and finally, Salazar.
"You made the extra potions," Snape said, looking at the founder of his house.
Slytherin smirked. "Indeed I did."
"This is just bloody creepy!" Ron exclaimed, causing Godric to laugh.
"Though this occurrence does merit a strange quality, I believe we are getting slightly off topic," Dumbledore said, though clearly amused.
"The wards and stuff," Harry said, refreshing Ron's memory.
"Oh yeah," he replied, and revived Hermione.
"Sorry!" she squeaked, blushing furiously under the gaze of the amused founders.
"Glad to know I've still got that effect on people!" Godric said smugly, causing her to blush even more.
Salazar rolled his eyes, "Must you drawn every conversation back to yourself?" he demanded.
"You're one to talk," Godric retorted.
He raised an eyebrow. "Since when do I-"
"Ya can stop now," Helga told them dryly, "Yer already makin' a scene that draws the conversation to both of yerselves." They blinked, realizing that it was true; the Order was watching them amusedly.
"Back to the wards?" Rowena suggested, sitting down in another chair.
So talk turned back to the original plans, though it took a while to get past the immediate shock of the four founders standing in the middle of the twentieth century, looking like practically no time had passed since they first created Hogwarts.
After deciding that they could lure Voldemort and some of his forces out with bait that was fake, and perhaps send in a large force to destroy his main stronghold, they debated on where to stage the event. This took them well into the night, and eventually they took yet another break, not wanting to stop right then.
Another two hours passed once the meeting continued, and this time debating on just what or who to use in order to bring Voldemort out. It/they had to be something big, something/someone Voldemort himself would want to deal with.
"Someone high up on his hit-list?" Ron suggested tiredly, fighting to cover yawns; Harry wondered if he'd ever been awake past one am.
"It might work," Moody said after a few moments of slightly surprised silence. "But who's on it?"
"I believe Potter and I are above several others," Snape said bluntly, drumming his fingers on the table in thought.
"Yeah, you two are highest." Draco murmured, also thinking. "After you, I think it's the Ministers, the Zabinis—since they won't join him." He explained to the questioning glances. "And basically any vampire, werewolf, or dark creature that isn't allied with him." He paused, "After that, anyone close to Harry, muggles, and mud—er, witches or wizards with muggle parents." There was a tense, but thoughtful silence following this announcement, one that made Harry's stomach churn slightly.
"We know if you're out, he'll come." Mad-Eye said, looking at Harry while his magical eyes zoomed around. "But we can't risk putting you in front-out danger." Though Harry fumed inside, he knew that Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, and basically most of the Order, would agreed with Moody.
"I do not think anyone should be sent into 'front-out' danger," Fleur said evenly, "We need all people we can get."
"Some people are trained to do it," Splikvin replied, also thinking. Harry noticed with a subtle amount of humor that they were both drumming their fingers; Snape's on the table, Splikvin's on her arm.
"For example?" Fleur inquired.
"Aurors, spies, anyone in war," Draco drawled; Harry chuckled quietly along with Salazar.
"What about an illusion?" Snape suggested after a few minutes.
"Come again?" Tonks said, scratching her head.
"An image of someone that would draw Voldemort out, but not be the real thing." Splikvin explained, catching on to her twin's line of thought.
"Might work," Moody said gruffly, "But how do you make an illusion real enough?"
"Maybe not an illusion, precisely." Snape said, "An imposter." He smirked. "Experiment twenty-four, perhaps?" he asked Splikvin. Harry blinked, having no idea what the potions master was talking about; he got the feeling that he wasn't alone in his confusion.
Splikvin grinned. "But instead of glamour, something more permanent?"
"Like?"
"Polyjuice?"
"You'd have to change it to make it last longer."
"Adding hyjar root might work."
"The acidity would corrupt the effects of the fluxweed."
"And why wouldn't the boomslang counteract it?"
"It would, but to the extent that its original effect in the potion would be lost."
"So then add shredded slit-gourd; it provides a steady changing rate, and should alter the time range sufficiently."
"But perhaps it would alter it too much. Taking out the leeches and substituting fergote scales-"
"Freeze there!" Godric exclaimed; the two Snapes and Salazar looked at him with mild irritation.
"Yes?" Slytherin demanded.
"I think I speak for us all when I say: 'what the heck are you talking about?'" The other Order members and founders nodded.
"May we finish first?" Splikvin asked impatiently, "Then explain?" Rowena nodded and their talk began again. To Harry, it was like watching a tennis match. The ideas went back and forth between the Snapes, but occasionally Salazar would add something, and they'd go off onto a different track.
After fifteen minutes of listening to rather confusing names and effects and 'why not's, that even Hermione was clueless about, Harry began to get a headache, and the three Slytherins stopped for longer than a breath, looking rather satisfied.
"Now will you explain?" Godric asked, his voice a slightly pleading whine.
They rolled their eyes simultaneously, causing Dumbledore to beam at them while others chuckled. "Slytherins." Sirius muttered, holding back a grin.
"Where should we begin?" Snape asked in a bored tone.
"The 'Experiment twenty-four'." Moody said firmly.
"We were referring to one in a series of experiments we did during our third year in school," Splikvin began, "Testing out different potions and changing them around slightly to see the result. This one included a variant of a glamour potion, which slightly changed the drinker's appearance. It was mainly small things: eye, hair, or skin color, even an illness could be copied. It lasted until we came up with an antidote, unfortunately for Mr. Petresone, the Caretaker at the time."
"So it was you!" McGonagall exclaimed. Splikvin grinned openly and Snape smirked while Remus and Sirius applauded
Snape continued the explanation. "What we were debating is whether or not the Polyjuice potion could be altered in the same way, only to last longer in the way of lasting until only the antidote is administered."
"It should work," Salazar added, "The antidote should be similar to the one they came up with several years ago."
"That's all you were talking about?" Godric complained. "It sounded like you were having a telethon or something about mumbo-jumbo."
Salazar sneered. "It would to you, seeing as how you lack the intellect to understand the mere concept of substitution and affect."
"Whatever," Godric retorted, crossing his arms. "You can't understand squat about Quidditch or transfiguration; all you do is mess around with cauldrons."
"I do not 'mess around' with-" Salazar began hotly, to be interrupted by Helga.
"It doesn't matter right now," she scolded, "Leave be." Slytherin sniffed in disdain but was silent.
"So, what's the purpose of the potion-experiment-idea?" Bill asked.
Snape blinked. "To change a person's appearance to that of someone the Dark Lord desires dead, fooling him into following them into a trap."
"Simple, really." Splikvin commented. "Put up wards on a designated area beforehand, get someone to pose as Harry, get some guards to make it seem more realistic, lure Voldemort into a battle situation he thinks he'll win easily, then call in the cavalry to destroy his base, extra forces, and to back us up."
"Would it work?" Dung asked, looking mainly at Dumbledore as the others murmured their thoughts. Harry was intrigued, though he didn't like the idea of someone posing as him.
The Headmaster thought about it for a long time. Eventually, he sighed. "If we take enough steps to ensure the safety of those on the front line, it could work. If we are sure Voldemort himself will come rather than merely his followers, it could work. If we are prepared and certain of what we need to do and that it will work, it could work."
"An awful lot of 'ifs' there." Mr. Weasley noted.
"Anyone got a better idea?" Sirius said, leaning back in his chair. No one answered. "Then that settles it; all in favor of Operation Mutated-Polyjuice?"
Though there were scowls from the Slytherins, some people couldn't help chuckling as they raised their hands; not one hand remained down.
Coming Up:
Put into Action
(A/N: Ah, the tension of the 'Final Battle' begins! I have several questions for you, my most appreciated readers, about how the future chapter(s) will run:
1. In the fight, would you rather I describe it from more than one person's p.o.v., either in paragraph- or chapter –form, or just from Harry's?
2. Who do you think will pose as Harry?
3. Do you think the battle will go as planned?
4. Should I write an epilogue?
If you could answer these questions in a review, I would be much obliged. My thanks once more for reading as always. A.S.Leif)