Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Author's Note: My muses just wouldn't quit for this story, and wouldn't start for any other, so look what you got! Thank you all for the lovely reviews!
Chapter 1
Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'
"I still don't understand how any of you can trust me," Severus said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Especially you, knowing all you do." Harry covertly cast a silencing charm. It was hidden enough that McGonagall didn't notice, especially as she didn't know what to look for, and Severus was distracted enough that he didn't even flinch like he usually would as the ward took effect.
"How could I not, knowing what I do?" Harry questioned.
McGonagall strained to hear what was being said. She started forward, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Sighing, she settled back against the wall, content to wait out whatever was so important that they had to put up a silencing spell.
Meanwhile, inside the bubble, an argument that had already been hashed through many times before was being fought once again. The topic was always the same, as was the arguments used and the sides taken.
"Anyway," Harry continued. "That's my problem, isn't it."
"I willingly joined him."
"And you willingly switched sides." The argument continued for several minutes, both too stubborn to back down, until Harry conceded. This time, anyways.
"We should get going," he finally sighed. "McGonagall must have something extremely important to say; she's been sitting there for quite a while."
"What? You mean she heard everything?" Severus asked, a shocked and betrayed look on his face.
"Of course not," Harry replied calmly. "Give me at least a little credit. I put up a silencing charm a little bit after we got up here. She only heard the very beginning of our conversation." With that, he took down the silencing barrier. "Now, I suggest we go see just what's so important."
"What, exactly, is the cause for this interruption?" Severus glared. IT took all of McGonagall's nerve to not step back.
"Some of the staff doubts your capabilities in defending the castle. They request that you duel Dumbledore, so they can see a true representation of your skills."
"That's bullshit," Harry said with a grin, although anyone who knew him well, which McGonagall didn't yet, could tell that he didn't really mean it. "If they want an accurate demonstration of our skills against a swarm of Death Eaters, we should duel all of them." McGonagall did a wonderful imitation of a fish out of water for a moment before recovering.
"Dumbledore is one of the strongest wizards in the world," she sniffed. "So of course it's an accurate measure."
"Think about it," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Right now, Voldemort and Dumbledore are about on the same level, right?" McGonagall nodded. "As people age, their magic continues to get stronger until they reach about 170, when it levels off, to an extent. Now, people can level off before then, having tapped into that power earlier. However, neither Dumbledore, nor Voldemort, know how to do that, meaning that the Voldemort I've fought against had at least four years more power than he does right now. When I defeated him the final time, it was more than twenty years more."
"Fine, we'll ask Dumbledore what he thinks. Follow me," McGonagall said, stalking down the steps.
"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore called as they came into view of the stone gargoyle that guarded the staircase to his office. "I was wondering where you had gotten to!"
"They've agreed to a duel, but think it would be a better representation of their skills in defending the castle to duel the entire faculty at once."
"An excellent idea," Dumbledore concluded, shocking most of the staff. "What are the rules?"
"Normal training?" Harry questioned. Most stared at him with blank looks, but Severus shrugged then nodded. "Anything but the Killing Curse is allowed."
"The other two Unforgivables are acceptable?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Of course," Harry shrugged. "You have to learn how to fight against them somehow, so we always used them in practice duels. Better to have a friend in control of your mind than an enemy, until you can break the spell. This needs to be as much like a real battle as possible, excluding numbers and allies."
"Let's go then," Dumbledore said. "We'll duel outside."
As soon as they exited the castle, spells started flying. Dumbledore stood back, observing the fray. He watched as his staff battled the two newest members who, despite the odds, were holding their own. Then, right before his eyes, the two seemed to step up their attack, taking out Professors Sprout, Vector, and Sinestra, as well as Madame Hooch and Madame Pomfrey. There were only six teachers left dueling, Professors Kettleburn, Flitwick, McGonagall, Lawrence (Ancient Runes), Kale (Muggle Studies), and Marin (Divination). At Dumbledore's order, they divided the pair, and attempted to awake their colleagues. This didn't work, however, as they had been put under the Body-Bind curse, which had to run it's course, instead of Stunners, which as they knocked the person fully unconscious, could be reversed by the awakening spell, Enervate.
Not a single spell had hit Harry or Severus. With Harry's wandless magic and Severus's defensive potions, they could maintain shields and fire curses of their own at the same time. Seeing this, the professors soon adapted a similar method, with one of the three holding a shield while the other two fired spells. He watched as Harry spotted this and grinned before dropping his wandless shield and snapping a wand into his left hand. Dumbledore thought that his staff would beat him until Harry conjured up another shield, using neither wand nor hand. Dumbledore practically refused to believe that the boy could use telekinesis. He and Voldemort couldn't even do that. He didn't know a single wizard alive today who could do that. There were rumors that the founders had been able to, but no one knew for sure.
Harry quickly took out Flitwick, using a spell Dumbledore had never heard of. The other two were quickly taken out. Harry advanced on Dumbledore as Severus managed to take out Lawrence and Kale, leaving only McGonagall. Taking advantage of Dumbledore's lapse as he watched Severus and McGonagall, Harry sent two quick strings of spells at him, not all of which were strictly legal. Dumbledore hurriedly erected a shield before diving to the ground. Harry, however, had apparently expected this, as he fired more spells at the base of the shield, where all shields are their weakest. The duel continued for several minutes, far longer than Severus and McGonagall's. Finally, however, Harry managed to get a Stunner around Dumbledore's shield, just as the professors were starting to regain control of their limbs.
"Satisfied?" Harry smirked, shooting an amused look at the professors.
"Sorry we doubted you," Flitwick said, and the others nodded as Dumbledore woke up.
"Now," he said, clapping his hands together as if what he had to say was the most exciting thing on earth. "There's still one more matter that needs to be taken care of. Who is going to be head of Slytherin house?" This question was greeted with blank looks. It was always hard to find heads of houses. He had to beg Professor Sprout for weeks before she had consented to filling the position as head of Hufflepuff house. With the war going on, and as Slytherins were the main players for Voldemort, this would be even harder.
Harry and Severus appeared lost in thought, having dazed expressions on their faces. They could tell, with only minor Legilimency, that the question wasn't solely directed at them, but rather, at all the teachers. However, they also get definite signs that Dumbledore expected one of them to be his best bet, if only because none of the others had volunteered before.
"If we can split it, it's a deal," Harry said, seemingly coming out of his trance.
"That's not what we agreed on," Severus snapped, glaring at him.
"Shoulda said something first," Harry replied as innocently as he could.
"I thought you were too Gryffindor to do that," Severus responded, sounding as if that was the best insult he could have ever thought up.
"You know as well as I do that the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin," Harry shrugged.
"I see nothing wrong with a joint head of house," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Although I reserve the right to take one of you out of the position if this doesn't work."
"Deal," Harry said quickly, not wanting to have to be head of house on his own, which was exactly what would happen if Severus managed to answer first.
"Now, are you going to join the Order?"
"Technically, we're already members," Severus pointed out.
"That's kinda confusing, don't you think?" Harry asked thoughtfully. "Because for us, we already are, but for them, we aren't, because the time we joined hasn't happened yet. So, are we or aren't we?"
"Your intelligence is astounding," Severus replied, rolling his eyes. "It is quite obvious why the hat never even suggested Ravenclaw."
"I do believe I've been insulted," Harry teased.
"At least your intelligence has grown that much."
"Ha ha ha ha. You weren't exactly in Ravenclaw either."
"So?"
"Your logic is astounding."
"Thank you."
"Can we get on with this?" McGonagall asked as Harry opened his mouth to respond.
"Of course we'd love to join in now," Harry replied.
"Excellent! The next meeting is tonight," Dumbledore said. "I'll show you to your rooms now."
The two newest professors followed Dumbledore, fully expecting to be led to the rooms they occupied in the future. After all, those were the customary rooms of the positions they were now occupying. Severus was in fact led to his future rooms. Harry, however, was not.
"As you are the new co-Head of Slytherin house, I felt it best that your rooms would be closer to the common room," Dumbledore explained, seeing Harry's curious look.
"That's fine," Harry said, waving away the explanation. "I just want to know how, exactly, you knew I'd accept."
"Let's just call it a hunch," Dumbledore said. "Settle in; the meeting starts at 8."
Eight o'clock found every member of the Order not on a mission sitting in the Great Hall.
"We have much to discuss tonight. The first thing will be introducing our two new members, Lance Collins and Jonathan Granger," Dumbledore announced. "They are also filling the positions of Potions professor and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor respectively."
"Are you at least adequate in Defense?" a voice called.
"I like to think so," Harry answered mildly.
"How so?" a different voice asked. Apparently Dumbledore's options for Defense teachers had been slipping for some time already.
"I can teach them to ward off two of the three Unforgivables, as well as many other Dark curses. I can teach them to play to their strengths, so they don't necessarily have to know the counter spell if their talent isn't in Defense; they can use Transfiguration or Charms or Potions or many other things. I can teach them to duel. I can teach them to fight the muggle way, both with weapons and without. And if I don't know something, I have practically unlimited resources to find out," Harry replied calmly. "How does that sound?"
"Can you really? I find it hard to believe that someone so young can know all of those things," the first replied.
"Would you like to find out?" Harry asked, starting to lose patience. He could fully understand that they were concerned about their children; that's why they joined the Order, after all, to protect them from Voldemort, but this was getting ridiculous. Of course, given some of Dumbledore's choices…
"I would, actually," the man said, emerging from the crowd. It was a man Harry knew only from pictures. A man who probably could have beaten Dumbledore in a duel if their power levels had been a bit closer together. His grandfather, Edward Potter.
"Just what would you like me to prove?"
"Anything you can," Edward Potter replied. "Like how on earth do you throw off the Cruciartus Curse?"
"No one can, not completely. It still hurts like hell, just not as much as before. The only thing for it is practice. If your unfortunate enough to get captured by Death Eaters, they are fairly good at giving you all the practice you need to increase your pain tolerance. Nothing can block all of the effects, but that's the closest anyone I know has ever come up with."
"You think you're going to teach our students that?"
"Of course not," Harry snapped. "Do you actually think I'd be that careless? There is absolutely no pride to be had in saying that you've been put under the Cruciartus Curse so many times, that your pain tolerance is so high that you don't really notice a broken wrist until you try to cast a spell. I could kill you many different ways, and none of them use Dark magic. I could pick up a goblet from this table and throw it at you, killing you instantly if my aim is good enough."
"And you can teach our children to defend against this?"
"And use it to their advantage against Death Eaters who are too stuck in blood purity to realize that Muggles just might have superior weapons," Harry confirmed. "Is that enough?"
Edward Potter could only nod before stepping back.
"Are you all quite satisfied?" Dumbledore asked. He found it amusing that, should the Order know the two newest professors' actual names, it most definitely wouldn't be Harry who would have had to defend himself. 'Sad, too, really,' he thought to himself. "Let's continue with the meeting…"
Two days later, the faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were once again stuck in a staff meeting in Dumbledore's office. This time, however, they were confirming course schedules. Suddenly, the discussion was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise, coming from one of Dumbledore's shelves.
"Potter Manor is under attack. Minerva, alert the rest of the Order; it sounds big." She nodded, grabbing a figurine off Dumbledore's desk, one in the shape of a phoenix. Harry glanced at it interestedly; he'd never seen one, so they must have been scrapped before the end of this war. He was still considering why as he grabbed on to the port-key they were using to leave Hogwarts.
They landed hard, bouncing off of unexpected anti-port-key wards.
"You wouldn't happen to have a headache potion, would you?" Harry asked, gritting his teeth in pain at what he recognized to be wards against telekinesis. Severus handed him a potion, giving him an odd look.
Harry downed the potion, all the while thinking hard. He was the only Order of the Phoenix member who had ever been skilled at telekinesis. Why would they put up wards? Then it hit him. Somehow, at least one of the spells that transported things to the past had leaked out. Hopefully it was only the one that sent inanimate objects back.
Feeling the potion take affect and lessen the affect of the wards, Harry took time to survey the scene. Something was off… Sure, there were Death Eaters dueling Order members, and people falling on both sides, but there was something… Suddenly, he knew. The Death Eaters were using spells they had invented. Twenty years in the future. Once he realized what was off, he knew it shouldn't have thrown him so much. It was simply a surprise. He quickly rushed into the fray.
The battle went on for what seemed like hours. The Order was losing. Not badly yet, but enough to still be considered losing. Harry knew that if he didn't get the wards preventing his full potential down soon, they would really lose.
As he started working, he heard someone approach.
"So it is true," a young Lucius Malfoy drawled from behind a Death Eater mask. "I must say, I found it hard to swallow at first. Honestly. A telekinesis, and able to survive the Killing Curse?"
"Get lost, Malfoy," Harry replied. "Go fight someone more on your level, like a two-year-old."
"Avada Kedarva!" Malfoy called, firing one of the first Killing Curses. Harry simply let it hit him as he felt the wards fall.
"Did you not believe it?" Harry smirked. He concentrated for a moment, before sending a spell at Malfoy that knocked him at least twenty feet backwards.
"It has also been said," Malfoy continued, doing his best to appear unfazed. "That you are the first Potter in many, many years to use the Dark Arts."
"Can no Death Eater keep their mouth shut?" Harry asked rhetorically, fairly certain that no one could hear them. Unfortunately, he was wrong, although the person who overheard wasn't about to let that slip just yet. Harry, having had enough of Malfoy, quickly stunned and bound him before snapping his wand. He heard shouting coming from near the Manor. He knew that a few Order members who were trying to break the wards the Death Eaters put up, and James and Sirius were barricaded inside. From the sounds of it, they had just been joined by Death Eaters.
Author's Note: How'd you like it? Tell me in a review, and thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter!
Oh, and please, tell me your opinion on if this should be slash or not! At the moment, slash is winning, but it won't matter for another few chapters, so please tell me!