4 Bravado
After potions class with Slughorn Harry made his way to the seventh floor. A familiar if ephemeral door appeared to his right. Harry wasted no time entering the Room of Requirement. Two wizards were waiting for him there: Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody.
"Welcome to school, Harry," Mad-Eye said. Kingsley merely nodded.
"We were going to call this class Defense Against the Dark Lord but that's not appropriate. Defense be dammed, you're going to kill him."
Before Harry could open his mouth Kingsley spoke.
"We know what you're thinking Harry. You don't want to kill or be killed. You fought him several times and barely escaped alive. You already have the capability in you to finish him. Alastor and I are here to help you reach and master that power."
That had to be the most Kingsley Shacklebolt had ever spoken to him.
"If Albus Dumbledore had killed Voldemort would you feel differently towards him? Or if it was Godric Gryffindor that had done the deed? If your good friend Miss Granger separated him from his last shred of a soul would you consider her a murderer? Or Longbottom? Of course not," Moody said. "And not a word about horcruxes Potter, we've had a couple of people from the Ministry who see things our way come out to share their expertise in horcruxes and spell-breaking."
Harry looked at the pair of them and saw the same iron determination that McGonagall had.
"To make what we need to teach you much more effective we'll start with concentration. Relax and then focus as much energy as you can without breaking your relaxation."
Moody's eye swiveled about dizzyingly.
"For me it's a feeling of balance, like standing on the edge of a knife without either being cut or falling off."
Harry couldn't imagine a battered, wooden legged Mad-Eye balancing on anything. He looked to Shacklebolt.
"Same feeling, different description," was all he said.
Harry practiced for the first hour with mixed results. He could raise difficult and powerful spells until breaking his relaxation broke his concentration. Both Kingsley and Alastor were pleased.
"What did you find out about horcruxes from the Ministry, Professor Shacklebolt?"
"Professor Shacklebolt?" Kingsley chuckled. "I'm just an Auror. You don't look for a horcrux directly. You have to be where you expect to find them. They don't leave a magical spoor or project an aura."
"That's not very encouraging," Harry grumbled.
"What Kingsley is saying is that a horcrux won't behave like any other magical object. Spells won't have the same effect," Moody explained.
"We'll assume for the moment you suspect an object to be a horcrux. A Reductor Curse would shatter an ordinary object. A horcrux would either absorb the spell or in all likelihood throw it back in your face."
Harry thought about when he destroyed Riddle's diary. Maybe he was lucky Tom Riddle took his wand and he used a basilisk fang on the diary instead.
Harry spent the next hour learning offensive magic. Moody had a hard lesson to teach for each of his many old wounds. Kingsley showed Harry defensive moves and a few tactics to wear down opponents with little or no spellwork. The lesson left Harry on the receiving end and exhausted.
"Get yourself some rest, Harry. We've a lot more to do," Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his slow, reassuring voice.
Seamus had been tasked with escorting some of the younger students to Flourish and Blott's. Seamus railed and fumed to no avail. McGonagall insisted he take them to Diagon Alley for their overlooked school needs.
Seamus eyed Knockturn Alley while his young schoolmates laughed and joked noisily. Cracks and bangs and shouting in the High Street distracted him. "Those Weasley boys," he chuckled.
"Death Eaters!" someone yelled.
Cold fear and panic froze Seamus. Two black robed, masked figures were moving his way. He shook himself free and turned towards his young charges.
"Get in the alley, get in the alley. Get behind me! Get behind me! Seamus shouted to the students all around him. He gathered them together hastily.
"Who can do a shield charm?" A few students came forward.
"Who can do Expelliarmus or stunners well?" A few more students came forward. "When they come down the alley you stun and you shield," he said to the two groups. "The sun is behind them, they're coming from the right. Hit the one on the right first, and then blast any others. The rest of you stay out of sight."
"What if they use the Avada Kedavra?" A Hufflepuff girl asked.
"They never use it straightaway. I'll be out here in the open as bait. Take cover as best you can. Stay in your groups and protect each other."
Seamus drew out his wand and stood ready watching. A shadow preceded the hideous masked figure that came from the right.
"NOW!" Seamus bellowed. The first death eater soaked up half a dozen red stunners and collapsed on the spot. The second one broke the shield of the Hufflepuff girl and sent her into shrieks of agony with a Cruciatus Curse. The other students closed up around her and returned a shower of badly aimed hexes. The clumsy barrage was enough to break the curse. Seamus rushed the Death Eater and snapped his wand. Binding spells flew from every direction, one hitting Seamus in the legs. He undid the spell and checked on the Hufflepuff girl who was sobbing from shock and in pain beyond tears. Then he made sure the fallen Death Eaters were no longer a threat.
"A full body-bind curse on the other one," Seamus barked.
"Already done," a Slytherin answered.
Seamus scowled at the half-conscious Death Eater and kicked off his mask.
"So you like torturing twelve year olds do you? Make one move and you'll be feeling my Cruciatus Boot in your backside. See you in Azkaban, if you live that long."
The Death Eater spat at him in contempt. Seamus picked up a broken ale mug from the alley and set it ablaze with his wand. "Me and fire is old friends, you want to try me?"
The Death Eater said nothing. Seamus turned to the students that were coming out of hiding. "You all saw what happened. Look at these two. They didn't last two minutes against us. They are nothing but cowards that need to hide behind masks just to attack schoolchildren. Even those of you who didn't pull your wands, you didn't run or panic. You've all got the makings of fighters. We can take them on and win!"
"We're not trained, Seamus," several people said at once.
"That's the point. Think of what we could do trained up a little."
"Magic or no magic, I'm killing the next person who tries the Cruciatus Curse on me," the injured Hufflepuff girl said in a weak, shaky voice.
A cold silence swept over the alley. An innocent child making such threats heartened them and frightened them at the same time. They had been given no choice and shown no mercy. But they had fought as a team and won.
"Do you think there are others?" a student asked.
"No, this was just a hit-and-run to try and scare us. Anyone scared?" Seamus growled.
Silence. Seamus looked to the stricken girl.
"Get her to Madam Pomfrey." Seamus said quietly.
The students placed her in a makeshift litter and carried her away; afraid that a Levicorpus spell might deepen her shock.
A pair of Ravenclaws levitated their prisoners and headed toward the High Street with more than a bit of swagger in their step.
Hands still trembling, Seamus picked up the two masks and the unbroken wand and followed his little band to Flourish and Blotts.
