Title Is It Worth It 2: The Final Battle
SummaryThe temptation of darkness ebbs away at Harry's last nerve as he attempts to keep his views out of public eyes. Everyone believes he has returned to the light, but has he really or is he fighting for both dark and light, inside himself and in the impending war.
Sequel to: Is It Worth It?
Rating: PG13
Chapter 10 "Starting Over"
They stood at the head of the table overlooking the vampires and others that have joined into their small, but powerful group.
"Today we have all joined as one for the first time to fight a war. I won't say that it will be easy; I won't lie to you and say that some of you won't die. I can't say that some of you will not be injured in any way. War is brutal and with that comes our failures and our triumphs.
"I understand that some of you have just finished school, and some of you have lived for hundreds of years and have seen your fair share of wars. For many of you this will be your first war."
Harry Potter paused in his speech to glance around the chamber solemnly. They were all looking up at him, hope shining in their eyes. Most of them were vampires, werewolves, students and a couple of elves. They all knew what to expect, even if it was their first time in a war. They knew that to defeat the looming threat, they had to pull together. Werewolves had made pacts with the vampires and the elves have gotten over their animosity towards humans.
They were anxious to start planning, to win this war once and for all. They knew it wasn't going to be easy, they knew that some of them won't see the end of it. They still continued, knowing that what they did was right, if they did not pull together, many more would die and the diversity between humans and elves, werewolves and humans, vampires and humans would never be mended.
"I ask that you do not think of this war as a child's game. You have all seen at least one battle this past year and have seen deaths, you have found that war isn't always about how many you kill or maim, it is about how many lives you save. It is about protecting our rights and our freedom.
"I hope that you will all work together and become stronger. Train together so you know how to work in sync when the time comes. In this army there will be no animosity between races. We cannot allow ourselves to rely on prejudices, we must become strong if we are to defeat Voldemort once and for all."
Cheers echoed around the chamber.
Harry took a deep breath and smiled slightly at them.
"We have decided to have small divisions, that way all groups will have their own specialty they can work on. Hermione will read all the names and put each of you into a group that will most likely suit you. When your name is called join the group that you are assigned to. There will be five groups:
"Spies will go around the country and bring back news of what is happening.
Recruiters will try to find people that are not with Voldemort or Dumbledore; you will need to find people that are most suited for the army.
"Strategists will be creating battle plans and all other things that are needed to win a battle before we lose too many.
"Diversionists will create tactics that can be used as a diversion if we need to go into battle that is too risky without a diversion.
"Researchers and potion makers will be translating languages, ancient curses, potion makers will be making healing and poisons.
"All of you will have a chance to recruit the people that you think are most suited for their jobs. There are also going to be five leaders of each group. When you are called to the front you will be given the name of your group and your role."
Harry stepped back and Hermione produced a long list and stood in front of the anxious group.
"When I call your name please come up here.
Andrew Culligan, Potion/Researcher."
A brown-haired vampire walked up to the front and stood on to the side where a sign had popped up next to him, giving him his role.
"Maiolica Wheater, healer" The black haired elf walked up and stood next to the sign that had appeared next to Culligan.
"Drasto Kreug, potions/Researcher." Drasto walked up proudly and stood next to Culligan. He grinned up at Harry and waved. Behind Hermione, Harry shook his head in amusement.
"Remus Lupin, Strategist." Hermione paused and stared as Remus entered through the crowd and stood off to the side next to his sign. The name had surprised her quite a bit. She had heard of the fight between him and Harry and did not know what to expect. She had not seen him in the crowd. Sighing, she sent him a meaningful look and returned to her list.
"Kage Kirai, Diversionist/Captain." Kage strode up and moved to his sign. An emblem engraved itself onto his robes and the words captain gleamed at them.
"Ronald Weasley, Strategist/Captain." Ron went to the strategist group and the captain emblem glowed on his robes as well.
"Ginerva Weasley, Potions/Researcher." Ginny grinned at her as she passed.
Hermione smiled back at her and continued with her list. After twenty minutes, almost everyone had their own groups and were talking like they had known each other almost all their lives. There were only fifteen people left on the list and she didn't know what to do. They had all stood on the floor in front of her, but the list hadn't given her their roles. She sighed and motioned for Harry to come over.
"Something's wrong."
"Why, what's going on?" Harry whispered.
"There are fifteen people whose roles haven't been put up. What do we do?"
"I don't know. Let me see the list." Hermione handed the list to Harry and he read through it.
He turned to those that weren't called and took a deep breath.
"For those that are here, we have not gotten your role for it is either too complicated, or you are good in all the roles. All of you that are in front of us right now must decide which group will suit you the most. I say that you do not choose a group just because your own kind is in it."
Names began showing up on the list and their desired role. Harry grinned at them and began handing the list back to Hermione before freezing. On the list the name he had never expected to see glowed up at him. He snatched it back and read and reread the name. He glanced around the hall and across each group, the person associated with that name was not there.
Harry didn't know what to do, he did not know if the paper had gone faulty or maybe there was someone else with the same name in the room.
"Malachi Michaou, Diversionist." A stealthy vampire emerged from the group and walked to stand next the diversion crowd.
"Neville Longbottom, Diver–Neville are you sure?" Harry began to call out the role before he stopped and looked at his friend. Neville stared at him determinedly under blond hair. Harry smiled at him, "Diversionist."
The names were called out and one by one the fifteen had found their way to their groups. He had skirted the name on the list that was puzzling him. Why was it there?
"Severus Snape, Potions/ Researcher/Captain." The former students of Hogwarts gasped and looked around. No one had shown themselves by that name and Harry didn't know what to do. He knew than that the list was a bit faulty.
"I think the list might have messed up, everyone here has already been given the job they should do."
"Well, I guess I should just leave shouldn't I, Potter?" A voice snapped and everyone turned to the middle of the room. Snape's face came into view and an invisibility cloak fell from his shoulders.
"What are you doing here?" Ron said. He stepped up next to Harry and glared at his former professor.
Snape didn't answer, however, he was still staring up into Harry's eyes, waiting for his judgment. Almost all the vampires, werewolves, humans, and elves had taken an interest in the man standing in front of them. They had kept up their guard and waited for Harry's word of attack.
"What are you doing here, professor?" Harry asked silently.
"I believe, Potter, that you will need my help with many of the potions that I know you will try to make. You also know that I have been in both of the wars, a DE and part of the Order. I could be a useful asset in this army."
"Did Bumbledork send you?" Kage called from his side of the room. Smothered snickers could be heard as some tried not to disturb the sudden silence.
"No! I do not follow that man like a good little mutt. I came of my own free will. It pains me to have to follow Potter's orders, but if it will get rid of Voldemort than I will do what I have to. I am sick of these cat and mouse games the Order and Voldemort are playing. Now, if you think me worthy enough than I will join, if you do not..." Snape stood watching as Harry turned back to Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.
"He is good with potions, Harry. We can't let him go." Hermione said.
"I hate to agree with her, but Snape does know more about the Order and Voldemort than any of us." Ron said.
"Harry, Snape has been a spy for years, he could teach some of our recruits a thing or two about spying. If they become good enough some can join Voldemort and spy on him. We have to give him a chance." Ginny said, glancing back at Snape.
Harry stared from one face to another. They were all waiting for his final decision. He smiled at them.
"That was exactly what I have been waiting for you to say. Professor Snape will join." He turned back and nodded to his professor. Snape inclined his head slightly and walked in front of the Potion/Research group.
"Professor Snape will also be a partial member of the Spies group. He will give some pointers to the new members and will train them." The small group of spies nodded their heads in approval.
"You are all dismissed until I call you again. I want to you all to meet at least three times a week to work together and devise plans. I do not want any arguments between partners, understood?" He was met with agreements and one by one, the portkeys activated and they disappeared.
"Wow, Potter, I knew you had it in you, but I was not expecting you take control like that." Drasto walked up to them, smiling.
"Drasto, nice to see you under normal circumstances." Harry said.
Drasto chuckled and stuck out his hands, "Sorry for what happened, kind of got carried away this year."
"Yes, well, I should apologize for the show in the North Tower this year. After that I'm surprised you even considered of joining with us."
"One mistake is nothing compared to how many Voldemrot made." Harry started at the name, but chuckled softly.
"Voldemrot, that's a new one."
"Stick around, you might hear more of them from this one. You'll hear more than that actually." Kage said and sat down at the table.
"I'm glad things went our way today. I was a bit worried, there were some that were not too keen on being led by a "meer child" as they called it."
"Did I prove them wrong?" Harry asked.
"Don't know, there weren't that many complaints, so I guess it was okay."
"When do you think Dumbledore will try to intervene?" Ginny asked.
"Soon hopefully. He's due for another bashing." Kage said, he sullenly picked imaginary dirt off his robes.
"Really, I don't understand why you hate the man so much. What has he done to you to make you so angry?" Hermione said and stared at the vampire.
Kage ignored the question. But the sudden flicker of pain in his eyes made everyone else around want to know as well.
"Kage?"
The vampire looked up in to the green eyes and sighed, "Don't worry about it, Dumbledore just did something stupid when I was young and I have never forgiven him for it. It has nothing to do with you. Now, why don't we go back up to the school, I'm sure you humans are hungry."
At the mention of the words Ron's stomach started to rumble and he pressed a palm over it, "I guess it agrees with you." He grinned sheepishly at them.
"All right, let's go. We'll call another meeting later in the week, we need to see how they've progressed." Harry closed his eyes and imaged the fire elemental encircling all of them. As it did, they disappeared into the blaze and found themselves in the kitchen.
"Nice of you to drop by." Remus said as they appeared. The house elves scrambled away from them and busied themselves making dinner.
Harry grinned at him, "Hello to you to." Hermione glanced between the two suspiciously, but decided to confront them later.
"Draco stopped by, he seems to think that Voldemort is trying to contact you, but has no way because somehow that mark on your arm seemed to have disappeared."
Everyone in the room excluding the house elves turned to Harry. Harry frowned at them and lifted his right arm to gaze at the blank spot where the serpent would have been. There was nothing there.
"That's funny. I never would have noticed it, if you hadn't mentioned it."
"Harry, it could be dangerous. It could be just biding its time and making you think it just disappeared. It's like with Tom's diary." Ginny spoke up.
"Well, if it decided to leave and You-Know-Who can't contact you, than we're good. What's there to worry about?" Ron asked. He choked on the sandwich he had grabbed off of Remus' plate when Hermione suddenly hit him.
"What?"
"Don't say things like that, every time someone says it, they jinx it and things go bad."
Ron stared at her and rolled his eyes. Everyone laughed and each grabbed the sandwiches that the elves brought to their table.
"So, anyone up for quidditch after dinner?" Several voices spoke at once.