Meh. You know that writer's block thing? Well, I didn't have it. I've known what I've wanted to do for about this entire length of time that I've not posted any chapters, but...I just had no will to write. I really wanted to, so I'd open up the chapter, and place my fingers over the keyboard...but I just couldn't do it. :P But tonight, I finally got the urge to finish it, so here it is.
Okay. To my awesome fellow guy reviewers! I always swore to myself that I wouldn't take up five pages of a chapter solely on replying to reviews...but I feel that I must have some replies here, because you kick so much ass. :P
Gabriel Shans! We think alike. Seriously. With your reviews, you ruined the surprise of a part of my future plot, so...bah at you! Trust me, I was thinking H/Hr/T threesome before I even started writing this thing :P FFN would probably destroy me though if I pursued in such graphical ways that I would be interested in, so we'll see what happens :P
Gallandro! Yes, yes. Tonks would be a goddess. Changing appearances and everything...one couldn't imagine the fantasies I've...er, Harry could be having :P
I'd address more reviews, as I'm truly thankful for everyone's support...but it would take quite a long bit.
A/N: Uncustomary non-spacing for paragraphs explained at end of chapter.
The silence continued for a few moments after this revelation. Everyone stared in shock bewilderment, and even fear. From the head of the table, there was a snicker. Heads turned to Sirius, whose shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. This was the ice breaker, and all of a sudden, the silence ended. Some people shouted, others cheered, and some even fainted. In general, chaos had insued.
Harry raised his hands, and boomed in a towering voice, "Silence!" Everyone quieted down and Harry gave them all a once over again. "I understand the questions and suspicions on your mind, so if you would please remain quiet, I will address the most obvious ones." Silence remained, so Harry nodded his head in approval and continued speaking, "I escaped from Azkaban shortly after it was destroyed. Somehow, I managed to survive the explosion, with only a few very severe wounds to tell for it. After I regained consciousness on what was left of the island, I swam out into the water and grabbed onto a Ministry boat, and hung on until it went back to shore. Once there, I made my way back to Hermione, who called in Sirius and Remus. Tonks joined us shortly afterwards, so that explains why these four don't seem the least bit surprised." Harry paused here to make sure everyone was still listening, and addressed a lone raised hand. "Yes?"
A young man who looked about the same age as Harry, rose to his feet. "How did you survive the explosion?"
"What is your name?" Harry responded.
"Thomas Finwell," The young man replied. "I'm the Assistant to the Minister of Security."
"Ah, yes. I've heard mention of you." Harry smiled, putting the man at ease. "To answer your question, I'm not sure how I survived. I vaguely recall a shielding spell being cast over me, and I guess it was strong enough to withstand the majority of the explosion." He looked down the table at the faces surrounding it, seeing some of adoration, happiness, relief, and others of suspicion. "To ask you a question though...You look about the same age as me, yet I don't recall seeing you or hearing of you at Hogwarts."
Finwell nodded, "My parents moved us to France when I was ten, so I attended Beauxbatons. After I graduated, I moved back to England. I was friends with Fleur Delacore...she's the one that convinced me there was no way you committed those murders."
Harry smiled, "Fleur was a good person. How is she nowdays?"
Several faces turned downwards at this, and Finwell responded with difficulty, "She went missing in Romania during the war there. No word from her since the day she was deployed."
Harry frowned and looked crestfallen for a moment, but quickly covered himself up. "I'm sorry. But let's continue on with this meeting. I know a few more obvious questions, and I shall answer them now. As for this castle; It is mine. I gained knowledge of it while in Azkaban, and learned that it had been abandoned for the greater part of the past century. After I escaped, I came here with these four and checked it out. It was still in great shape, so only minor touchups were needed. There is one thing that I need to add though, before anything else is answered." He paused here, looking over the table again, "Did any of you, by chance, notice the set of runes on the crest above the doors leading to the dining hall?" Just about everyone nodded that they had. "Very good. Do any of you know what they mean?" Everyone shook their heads no. "It's an ancient form of African rune magic, not very well known to the modern age. A crude translation of it is, 'Let go of a secret learned within these walls, and spend eternity breathed in flame.'" Harry drew silent to let everyone soak up this knowledge.
"What's that mean?" Someone asked from the other end of the table.
"You are?" Harry inquired.
"Dennis Ivers."
"It means that if you try to spill a secret that you learned of in here, you'll be placed in a body stasis and set fire to. I'm not sure exactly how the magic works, but I'm sure that it's quite painful. I did hear of one account where a warrior from one tribe tried to betray his brethren by telling their secrets, he was placed in something similar to a body bind, had his aging prevented and magic fueled into him to keep him alive...and was set fire to for several years, before he was broken out of it."
Everyone at the table shivered at the thought of it, and several had turned an interesting shade of green.
Hermione had a thoughtful expression on her face, and asked a question that was actually on a lot of peoples' minds, "An anti-aging spell is used? So why hasn't Voldemort used it in his quest for immortality?"
"All it does is prevent aging, not harm caused to the body. It has a few side effects as well. If it's used longer than a few years, even by the strongest witch or wizard, the magic required for it will begin to destroy the body. The first to go will be the central nervous system, effectively paralyzing you. That would be shortly followed by muscles, tendons, ligaments, and eventually brain cells. Basically, it's useless unless you want to torture someone forever. Which is what this magic is all about." Harry replied, looking slightly satisfied at having established a way to prevent spies among the Order.
Shudders swept through the room, and more people began to look sick.
Harry noticed this, and spoke again. "You all have the option now of leaving this order. Nothing will be held against you if you wish to avoid the danger of showing yourself in open alliegance to me when my live status is made known, so leave if you don't want this hanging over your head." Nobody moved, and Sirius grinned. Harry's gaze darkened, and he resumed speaking. "I'm telling you all now, that open war will be waged against Voldemort and anyone else that stands against us, namely the Ministry of Magic. You will not just be seen standing beside me, making a public appearance to try and appeal for the charges against me to be dropped, you will be seen fighting beside me, firing curses and hexes at everyone against us. There is a good chance that you will be captured, tortured, then killed. If you are not prepared to actively fight, then you should leave this room now, and nothing shall be held against you. We each have a purpose in life, and if you believe yours is surviving this war, then nobody else can influence your decision."
Several people rose to their feet at this, and made way towards the exit. Hermione jumped up in a panic, sending Harry a brief glare before addressing those that were leaving. "Please, everyone, stay. This war will not all be about fighting on the battlefields. There's other things that will be needed: Intelligence gathering; supply procurement; researchers; tacticians, and the list goes on! Soldiers are not the only thing we need." She looked pleadingly at the departing members; Several of them looked relieved, and sat back down, but still, a small group of them remained standing. One of them spoke up, "I believe in Potter's innocence, but I'm not willing to risk dying for it. When he goes to war, anyone that's discovered to be in this Order, will be hunted down to the end of the earth, by not only the Ministry, but by Death Eaters as well." He finished, and the others in his group nodded their agreement, and they all left the room.
With the membership at the table now seven less, Harry actually looked quite pleased. "Excellent. Now that the weeding out process is over, this meeting can be started."
Several people looked surprised, and Jonathon Timmerly spoke up. "Hasn't the meeting already begun?"
Harry shook his head, "No. That was just...a teaser, so to speak. Something to whet everyone's appetites. See who is serious about being in this order." A few people nodded in understanding, though the rest remained generally the same as before; Alarmed, scared, confused, suspicious.
"Again, now that the weeding out has been completed, the meeting can continue. All funding issues of the Order have been solved, and I plan for a pay system to be implemented, so that you will all be financially stable during the war."
The meeting went on for several hours, only being interrupted by te arrival of the same group that left, demanding to know how to get off the island. Harry laughed benignly, and provided them with a portkey back to the mainland. Continuing on as if nothing had happened, a rather large number of topics being brought up and addressed. It was finally ended, after many of the people at the table were forced to depart, having other engagements.
Hermione sighed wearily, and piled together several scrolls of parchment with the recorded transcript of the meeting. "What time is it?" She asked.
Remus glanced at a magical clock on the wall, and replied, "Nearly midnight."
Tonks jumped up from her seat, in a near panic. "Malfoy's attacking the galleon train in less than an hour!"
This caused Sirius and Remus to jump up as well, "I'm on the Phoenix team that's supposed to be helping in launching a counter-attack against them," Remus declared. "I'm late in getting to the rendezvous point." Remus took a portkey from Harry, and disappeared from the castle.
Sirius soon followed, telling Harry that he was required at the Order's headquarters to help coordinate the impending battle. Before he left though, Harry turned the portkey into a permanently working one, capable of sending the correct persons to the castle or away from it. Tonks took one as well, and went with Sirius, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
"Harry, questions are going to be raised about this war. People are going to be questioning why we're fighting against the Ministry, instead of allying with them to defeat Voldemort." Hermione began.
Harry nodded, expecting this line of questioning. "And it's a reasonable question...but it also has a very obvious answer. Who is in command of the Ministry? People who condemned me. Ronald sold me out, and now he all but has an entire division of Aurors under his command. His father is the Minister of Magic, and Malaston...I know almost nothing about him, but I'm sure that he doesn't want me rising up, putting his quest for power in jeopardy. Add everyone else that's high up in the Ministry that have profitted since my imprisonment; They all risk enormous backlash if they stick their necks out and admit wrong doing, they will instead fight me to the grave."
Hermione nodded in understanding, and yawned widely. Harry smiled, and suggested that she get back to Hogwarts and go to sleep. She reluctantly agreed and took the portkey, which Harry had also made permanent, and went back to her quarters in Hogwarts.
Harry rose out of his elaborate chair and casually strolled out of the room, making his way up to what he had claimed as his personal domain, the tower at the top of the castle. He stood at one of the many windows, looking out to sea, where lights from a few muggle boats were visible. It had been a long day, but he wasn't as tired as he thought he would be. He thought back to the meeting, and the questions that were raised during it. He had done his best to answer them all in something at least vaguely resembling honesty, and for the most part, they seemed to believe him. There were however, a few suspicions remaining. Of that, he was rather pleased, as he thought that someone who started completely believing in something on such short notice, was slightly bent.
The meeting soon drifted from his mind as the time ticked by, and his thoughts began occupying themselves with the impending war. 'But before any curses can be fired,' he thought to himself, 'A lot of preperations must be made.' Preperations such as recruiting; With a mere thirty odd people in his 'army', he hardly had an effective fighting force. It would be good enough for guerilla tactics, but if large amounts of resistance was met, it could turn into a disaster. Harry himself would be the most valuable asset in battle, he figured that by himself, he could probably take upawrds of thirty Death Eaters or Aurors at once, but beyond that, dodging and blocking the hexes and curses could get tricky. He knew that he could cut a bloody swath through any army during battle, when the entire opposition was not entirely focused on him, but going solo against an army was entirely different. He had a few what he liked to call 'armageddon incantations' up his sleeve, but was reluctant to put them to use unless the situation was absolutely dire. 'Of course,' he thought to himself, being solo against an army of trained warriors out for his blood, could probably be considered a dire situation.
Other preperations that needed to be made included security for Order members, supplies, and training. He figured that he had enough raw materials from his vault, that more than enough weaponry and armor could be made to dress up the current membership. 'At least of metal,' he added as an after thought. Other materials were also needed to complete the armor and weapons, most especially leather.
Harry leaned forward onto the window ledge, looking but not seeing the ocean surrounding him. He was replaying events on his mind, specifically, the events leading up to his current magical status.
His mind drifted off to his meeting with Naylajaratim, leaving the present world behind.
It had been hours since Harry first entered the ethereal realm in his dream like state, and he and the god had discussed much over that time.
"Harry," Naylajaratim began, "One thing you must remember when you regain consciousness, is that you are not invulnerable. There are limits to your power, and how much damage you can take. Your magical ability has been heightened, but as I said, there are limits to it. The human body can only funnel so much magic before it starts to combust from the raw kinetic energy. Also, this is only human controlled magic. The magical properties differ between races and species, and no two are alike. It's why elves can perform it wandlessly without a second thought, why Phoenix's can heal injuries with their tears, and ailments of the mind with their song. You will be very powerful in battle against fellow humans, and still very powerful against other races. But the magical abilities of the other races could be harder for you to fight against; Goblins, elves, centaurs, veela, and banshees being the most prominent."
"The goblins are very powerful, why do you think Gringotts has never been broken into? Not a single knutt has ever been stolen from there; It's more than just dragons that protect the vaults in the lower levels...it's goblin magic as well."
"Veela...you've had experiance with them, have you not? Masters of manipulation, even over the strongest willed creatures. You know what they're doing, how they're doing it...but you're powerless to stop yourself from being bent to their will."
"Banshees...it takes vast power to be able to produce a scream that will knock out, or even kill a fully trained witch or wizard. You can ably fight against all of these creatures, but you have to be on your guard. Their magic is different from humans, so it will be different combat from what you're used to. You were able to fight off the Imperius curse, even though it was cast by a very powerful wizard, so you have a very strong mind, fully able to fight off the seduction of a veela...but it is not guaranteed that you will be able to ward off your mind enough to resist the will of an entire clan of them."
Harry remained silent for a few moments, taking Naylajaratim's warning to heart. "So my powers against humans will be stronger than against other races?"
"No," The disembodied voice answered. "They won't be stronger or weaker against anyone; They remain the same. But different races respond differently, and are effected differently than humans. What may kill a human, may only injure another creature, and vice versa. It will take experiance with each race on your part, to figure out the best way for you personally to fight them."
Harry drifted back to a normal, awake state, and resumed his casual observation of the waters surrounding the island. He pushed himself away from the ledge, and made his way to the stairs. Slowly, thoughtfully, almost hesitantly, he made his way down the stairs to the dining hall. Once there, he strolled into the kitchen and was struck, not for the first time that day, that he really needed to get some food in there. He also thought that he really needed to update the kitchen wares. Brick and clay ovens were not exactly the rage in the current fashionable castle. He decided that the next morning, he would take a trip to the mainland and order a stock of consumables. Until then, he decided that he would take a closer inventory of the war supplies in his vault.
The variety was expansive, Harry discovered. He had so far spent the past fifty minutes cataloging the first four racks, and he still had a good half dozen to go. He lifted a sword off of the rack, and pulled it from its sheath. The blade was double edged, sarrated towards the hilt, and was a good forty inches long. The hilt was silver plated, with runes engraved into the surface, while the pommel was about ten inches long, and wrapped in black leather. The bottom of the pommel was circular shaped, and another rune was engraved into it. Harry felt an immediate attraction to the sword, and held it up closer to the light. He ran his finger over the flat of the blade, and admired its smooth, cool feel. He returned the sword to its scabbard a moment later, and summoned an old leather belt from a nearby rack. He ran the belt through the loops of the scabbard, and drew it around his waist, buckling it. He now had himself a weapon, and intended to try it out as soon as he finished cataloging the rest of the weapons and armor.
He was just finishing the fifth rack, which had several dozen bladed weapons, and a rather beautifully crafted long bow, when he heard a crash echo down from the dining hall, followed by a frantic scream. Harry quickly replaced the bow and took off running for the stairs. He took them four at a time, bounding up them in record time, getting to the dungeons, and then bounding up the stairs to the dining hall. He crashed through the semi-opened door, and found Tonks screaming her bloody head off, "Harrrrrrry!"
Harry rushed forward, concern showing on his face. "What is it?"
"Harry!" Tonks screamed again, upon seeing him. "It was an ambush! You have to get to the train and help!"
"What happened?" Harry asked, trying to slow Tonks down.
"Malfoy had already taken the train long before the Phoenix team arrived, and they were just waiting for them. It's a massacre, they put up anti-apparition and portkey wards. Half the team is already down, you have to get there and help!" Tonks screamed even louder.
Harry's expression hardened. "Remus?"
"He was still fighting the last I heard. Sirius had me rush here to get you after he found out what was going on." Tonks replied.
Harry told Tonks to stay where she was, and he disapparated, appearing immediately in his vault. He ran to one of the armor racks and chose a black and silver colored helmet from it, and a pair of matching gloves. He donned them, and disapparated back to Tonks, now fully concealed. "I'm going to apparate to Remus, you go back to Sirius and watch in on the battle. Remember, nobody knows who I am." With that, he disapparated.
Harry apparated directly to Remus, tearing through the anti-apparation wards like they were made of paper, terrifying the remaining Phoenix members in the process. Several wands were turned to him, as well as a few reflex curses. Harry threw up a shield without really thinking about it, looking for Remus. He found him crouched behind a pile of crates, firing curses left and right down the walkway, to the other end of the car. Harry looked to where he was aiming, and as if on cue, a flurry of green lights came flying towards their location. Harry reflexively ducked, and jerked his head towards a Phoenix member who was currently trying to break through his shield with the Cruciatus curse. Harry growled under his breath leaped to one side, lowered the shield and slammed his fist into the wizard's jaw, dropping him unconscious to the floor. Harry looked at the rest of the Order members who were still alive and fighting, most of which, including Remus, were currently turned to him, attacking him again. He raised the shield again, and took stock of who was there. He noticed that Charlie Weasley was one of them, as well as someone who looked suspiciously like Seamus Finnegan. Harry finally grew tired of their ceaseless attacks on him, and barked at them, "Do you see me attacking you? Pay attention to your enemies, you idiots!"
Finally realizing that it was Harry, Remus was quick to lower his wand and yell at the others to do the same. Harry gave a barely perceptable nod of thanks to Remus, then lowered his shield. He began creeping foward to an edge of the crates that were currently offering protection, and then stopped. He turned, looking at Charlie Weasley, who seemed to be stuck between watching him, and the Death Eaters at the other end of the car. Harry solved his dilemma by raising his head to look him in the eye.
Charlie tore his watchful gaze from the Death Eaters, to look into a pair of gradually darkening emerald green eyes. Eyes he had seen before, but not for a good many years. He tried desperately to place the exact time he had last seen them, and who they belonged to, but his musings were cut short when the figure whose eyes were in question grabbed a piece of piping that had fallen from a shelf and weilded it baseball fashion, swinging it into the side of Charlie's head. Charlie was knocked across the floor, immediately unconscious, with blood gushing from a severe head wound. A whispered, "Karma," was heard along with a low chuckle, and he had vaulted over the crates, and sprinted towards the Death Eaters before the shocked Phoenix members could raise their wands.
Harry grinned at the surge of adrenalin that enhanced his already lightning quick reflexes, and allowed him to dodge the curses that were now being aimed at him from both the 'light', and the 'dark' sides. He leaped foward and rolled when he hit the ground, coming up and jumping high into the air, and over a section of shelves and tables that the Death Eaters' had toppled over for cover. He landed on the other side, amidst a seven man unit of Death Eaters. Harry briefly wondered where the rest were, as he assumed that more than these seven had done the ambushing. He pushed his wonderings to the back of his mind, and barreled his way into the middle of the surprised Death Eaters, not recognizing any of them due to the traditional white masks and full length robes. He dropped to a crouch and pushed his hands outward, banishing four of the Death Eaters into the wall, accompanied by several loud cracking noises. Harry rolled to his right, and kicked out with his right leg, hearing a satisfying pop from a nearby ankle, and a loud scream of pain. He pushed himself to his feet and dodged the bright green light of the killing curse, and jumped at the person that had casted it, kicking out at him while in the air. His left toe caught the offending wizard under the chin, and lifted him off his feet, propelling him over their protective barrier, and was immediately hit by several curses and hexes. Harry looked at the remaining two Death Eaters that were not either unconscious or writhing in pain on the floor. He looked into a pair of cold gray eyes behind the mask of one of them, and summoned the mask to his hand.
Draco Malfoy crouched unmasked, glaring at the unknown assailent that had, in a matter of seconds, handily defeated five of his best men. "Who the hell are you?" He snarled.
Harry spared the other Death Eater a glance as he began shouting the killing curse, and waved his hand in a slicing motion at him. A blade of red light flew towards the Death Eater, and connected with him at the stomach, ripping through him, and effectively cutting his body in half. Both halves fell to the floor with a wet thump, and Malfoy's mouth dropped open in shock.
"Join the Dark Lord; You have anger built up in you. He will reward you well for your efforts." Malfoy requested, after tearing his gaze away from the mangled corpse of his body guard, one Theodore Nott.
Harry laughed; It was a disturbed laugh, one with years of anguish and near insanity built into it. Malfoy backed up a step and began figuring out the best way to get off the train. "Ask me that a couple years ago, and I might've been tempted," Harry responded, "But now, I'd rather castrate myself with a dull axe." Harry laughed again, and let his years of hatred of the person in front of him swell through his veins. His breathing quickened, and his eyes darkened to a nearly black shade of green, he opened his right palm at his side, and a fireball began forming on it. He curled his fingers around it like it was a grenade, and slung his hand outward, releasing the ball of fire. Just before releasing it, Malfoy whipped a vial out of a wrist holster, and threw it at Harry's feet where it shattered and turned into a billowing cloud of smoke, the fireball came streaking through it, barely missing the diving Malfoy. It impacted with a wall right behind him and waves of fire streaked out of it, covering the walls, cieling, and floor for several square meters. A tendril of the flame wrapped itself around Malfoy's ankle, causing him to scream in pain as it quickly burned through his robes, and began working its way up his leg.
Harry heard Malfoy scream out the Fluvius charm as he chanted a whirlwind into existence to clear away the smoke. By the time it had cleared away a few seconds later, a side door of the train car was open, revealing the landscape rushing by. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen. Harry rushed to the door and poked his head out, looking for him. He saw a rapidly retreating figure on a large magic carpet, and aimed several choice curses at it, but the distance was too great. Harry cursed violently, and strode to the opposite wall where one of the Death Eaters was waking up. Harry kicked him in the face out of frustration, promptly knocking him out again. At this point, Harry felt his sword softly knock against his knee, causing him to look down in surprise. He felt disappointed that he forgot that he was wearing it, as he was looking forward to trying it out. A curse suddenly slammed into his chest, knocking him back a step, and causing pain to erupt from his heart. Harry winced, and tried to draw his magic around him. He looked at the slowly advancing Order of the Phoenix members, and dropped to a knee, getting behind cover. Placing his right hand over his heart, he projected a small amount of healing magic into it, reducing the pain enough to concentrate fully.
A Reductor curse hit the barrier of tables and shelves, sending them exploding backwards; Harry dropped to his stomach to narrowly avoid being flattened by a shelf unit, and reached his hand outward, grabbing the wrist of one of the unconscious Death Eaters. He then disapparated them both, leaving nothing but a couple more unconscious Death Eaters to be found.
A/N: Wow. I'm irritated now. And really pissed off. FFN won't keep any of my tab formatting, even when I've put it in manually with the QuickEdit thing. I'm sorry I didn't take more time to try and figure it out, but I really wanted to post this tonight. So anyway. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Again, thanks for all of your reviews in the past. I really appreciate them.