QUEST FOR FREEDOM
By Fire
Chapter 1 Flight of the Bumblebee
"The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
Thomas Gray
"Mornin' Albus," said Harry , entering the Headmaster's office at what was once Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The old man was already wearing his cloak and seemed ready for a long journey.
"Are you close, Albus?" Harry asked.
"I believe so," said Dumbledore.
"Which one?" asked Harry.
"The diary," said Dumbledore. "Although I cannot be certain."
"How long will you be gone?" Harry asked.
"A few weeks," said Dumbledore. "But this is not why I wanted to see you. An urgent matter has arisen which needs your attention."
"An attack?" asked Harry.
"Of sorts," said Dumbledore. "As you know, there are many undiscovered muggle-born wizards and witches hidden in the muggle world, people who, were it not for Voldemort, would have been brought here to learn magic as soon as they were old enough. It is one of these who needs your help. Voldemort has gotten wind of some very powerful accidental magic taking place in this muggle-born's town and he has spent the last few days trying to locate her and kill her."
"She must be powerful for Voldemort to want her dead that badly," said Harry.
"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Which means that with a little training, she could be very useful to us."
"Where can I find her?" asked Harry.
"You don't," said Dumbledore. "The group in the south have already uncovered her location."
Dumbledore handed Harry an envelope.
"The envelope contains the location of the rendezvous point and the passwords you will need when you liase with the leader of the southern rebels," said Dumbledore. "I trust you will exercise caution. We cannot let Death Eaters infiltrate our forces now."
"Of course," said Harry. "But why are we working with those in the South? We've never joined before. You said yourself it works better to have us in two separate factions."
"True, true," said Dumbledore. "However, you know as well as I do, Harry, that the end of this war is close at hand, and for you to fight Voldemort alone, we need all our forces together to hold off the Death Eaters, to allow you the time and space you need. The time has come to join our forces so we can build a trust between the two groups before the battle commences."
"What if the mission is compromised?" Harry asked.
"Then we will have to give this muggle-born up for lost," said Dumbledore. "As unfortunate as that may be. I don't want to lose any fully trained wizards if I can help it. We need every man we have."
"What happens when the muggle-born is retrieved?" Harry asked.
"Bring the whole group back," said Dumbledore. "I mean you, the muggle-born, the leader of the southern rebels and any other members of that rebellion who helped you. I have had the house-elves prepare rooms for them next to yours in the old staff quarters. This is the first stage of moving our forces to a single base."
"Ok," said Harry.
"I must go now," said Dumbledore. "I expect you to complete training drills this morning before you leave."
Harry chuckled.
"Of course, Albus."
Harry left the room.
Later, out on the old Quidditch field Harry and his forces were completing their wand drills. These involved dodging curses, firing spells at moving targets and basic duelling practice. It was also the time when they were taught new spells and made up all kinds of useful potions. These were distributed among the ranks to be carried at all times, particularly when missions took them away from the safety of the castle stronghold. Dumbledore had decided many years ago to have his troops trained to fight with muggle weaponry as well as wands. And whilst nobody was sure why, they learned to fight with swords, to throw spears and to wield an axe effectively. From what they had heard, the southern rebels learned archery, and so between them they had quite an accomplished muggle army, although as Lily Potter said, it looked like something out of the Dark Ages.
As the troops were training and practising, Harry walked among them, to see how they were doing and to help them if they needed it. Often during morning drills, Harry's mind slipped back to when he was younger and was being trained to fight. He remembered his friends, the people who he grew up with, the people who had already passed beyond the veil.
Harry and his two best friends had had the run of the castle when they were children. The adults were all outside training, or on missions or fighting in battles, but the children were locked inside the safe walls of the castle, and caused complete havoc. Their parents were at their wits end with what Minerva McGonagall used to refer to as the unruly trio, but they let them continue to run riot so long as they cleaned up after themselves. The parents knew that it was only a matter of time before it would be their children's turn to be called up to fight.
And so, young Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones were allowed to explore the castle, causing the kind of mayhem that hadn't even been seen when the castle was still a school, or when Peeves the Poltergeist was at his most mischievous. Harry recalled how Dumbledore always found their behaviour hilarious and encouraged them more than scolded them.
They had always been aware of the dangers their parents faced, to a certain extent. They were children, but they weren't stupid. They knew it was dangerous when their parents nearly squeezed them to death, and had to wipe tears from their eyes nearly every time they left. But it was one thing to be aware of the dangers, and another to be prepared for the worst. Harry knew he would never forget the look in Neville's eyes when his parents were carried back by two wizards they didn't know, tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange – a Death Eater – and several others who were still unknown. Harry, Neville and Susan all knew their lives would be very different from that point on.
When they were old enough to train and to fight, they always stayed together. Never once was one of them alone on a battlefield. Each of them protected the others, each willing to give their life to save their friends. And it was four years since such an event had happened.
Some Death Eaters had ambushed a muggle village, somewhere in Cumbria, and James Potter, the leader of the Northern rebels at the time, had immediately dispatched a group to fight them back. Each being seventeen, the trio had insisted they go along to help. They fought well, the three of them working together, advancing slowly forward. Never alone, always covered, until a spell deflected, by Neville from hitting Harry, ricocheted off a building and hit Neville knocking him unconscious. Harry ran immediately forward to protect his friend, whilst Susan stayed back to cover Harry and clear his path. But as she did so, a Death Eater approached from behind, one presumed dead from earlier in the battle. As soon as the spell hit her, she was dead, and the first Harry knew was the flash of green light that filled the street, but by then it was too late. Neither Neville, nor Harry ever forgave themselves for what happened that day.
Harry and Neville remained like brothers, but with a new energy in them. A new determination to win at all costs, to defeat the bastard that took their friend, to avenge her death. And so in their special training with Dumbledore they worked harder than ever, and after years of being kept away from the battles, they were finally allowed out on a mission once more. But they ran into problems, and were found by Voldemort. In the battle that ensued Neville was killed.
To lose one friend was hard enough, to lose two was nigh on unbearable. Harry had never felt more lonely. His friends had always been his greatest strength. Even when all the fear and suffering surrounded them, the three of them could just slink away to some forgotten corner of the castle and hide away and laugh amongst themselves about something very stupid and not remotely funny. But now, with his friends gone, and feeling the weight of the world and his destiny on his shoulders, Harry was in desperate need of a companion. Someone his own age, whom he could talk to, laugh with, just someone who could be company when he was feeling down.
Harry Potter missed his friends desperately.
After completing his daily circuit through the troops, he sat down in some of the long grass at the edge of the old pitch and allowed himself to think of happier times. Like when Neville put some stink pellets in Dumbledore's office, or when Susan charmed some keys to fly around in the kitchens, scaring the poor house-elves half to death. Harry chuckled at the memory of the old man's long crooked nose, crinkled up with the foul smell, or Minerva McGonagall and his mother trying desperately to calm a horde of terrified house-elves enough so that they could actually say the counter-charm without hitting a panicking elf.
"What did Dumbledore want with you?" Lily Potter asked her son, breaking him out of his reverie.
She sat down beside him on the grass.
"To tell me of my latest mission," Harry said.
"Which is?" Lily asked.
"Voldemort's after some muggle-born that doesn't even know she's magic," said Harry. "She must be pretty powerful, or else Voldemort just wouldn't care."
"And you're supposed to rescue her," said Lily. "Has he told you where to find her?"
"Yes and no," said Harry. "I'm meeting the southern rebels in a couple of hours at a secret rendezvous point. Apparently, they know the location and I'm to go with them to help with the mission."
"That's strange," said Lily. "This surely isn't that difficult a mission. You don't need any help and neither do they."
"That's what I thought," said Harry. "But Albus has decided that now is the time to start building the alliance between the two factions."
"We're near the end?" Lily asked in a more hushed voice.
"So Albus thinks," said Harry. "And with good reason."
"Why do I get the feeling that you and Albus know a lot more than is let on to the rest of us?" asked Lily.
"Because we do," said Harry. "This war will come to its conclusion very soon, probably within weeks. And whether I win, or Voldemort wins, it will be the end."
"Promise me you'll be careful, Harry," said Lily.
"I promise, Mum," said Harry. "I'm going to head off now and have a look around before the southern leader arrives."
"Good luck," said Lily.
Harry stood and crossed the field to the main gates. As soon as he left the grounds he Apparated away to the co-ordinates written on the parchment Dumbledore had given him.
When he arrived, Harry found himself in a dense wood. It was dark and cold, so much so that it reminded him of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, but he knew he was miles away from the castle. He could hear people moving around in the overgrowth not far from him. Slowly and silently he crept towards them and peered through the gaps between the dark green leaves of the bushes. He could see two figures standing on the other side, at what he realised was the meeting point, after glancing at the parchment in his hand. One of the two was clearly female, and knowing that the leader of the southern rebels was a young woman, he knew the time had come for the two factions to merge at last.
"Who goes there?" he said slowly and clearly.
A/N Thanks for reading. Thanks to Bill for the beat read. Please review!
