Last time, Harry and the others watched helplessly as Bloom faced off against her nemeses, Icy, in an all or nothing air battle. When the threat of collateral damaged rapidly increased, Ginny suggested to Harry that use the Diamba spell to take out Icy. This only half worked; Harry missed with the spell, so Bloom caught it and she threw it at Icy, which then blew up. Harry passed out from the effort of using the spell, and when he recovered, he found Icy still alive. After a fierce debate on weather or not to kill Icy, Hermione made the Ice Warlock swear to leave the dimension and never return. On with the show!

Chapter 45: Battle Plans

The next day found Harry pondering over a huge map of the world while Will scryed over it with her crystal. They were looking for Voldemort's headquarters. "The sooner we find the main base of The Death Eaters," said Harry earlier, "The sooner we can stop Voldemort once and for all." So far, Will had covered Europe and most of Asia, with no hint of The Death Eaters main base. "Call it a hunch," said Will, "But I don't think Voldemort would have his main base on land." "I agree," said Harry, "Try scrying over water."

Just then, Max came into the room, holding up a piece of official looking paper. "It's official!" exclaimed Max. "What's official?" asked Harry. "This just came in from Washington," said Max, "It's an official Death Warrant. I am hereby authorized to terminate Voldemort, if I get the chance." "'Terminate?'" asked Will. "Yes," said Max, "'terminate with extreme prejudice.'"

"I thought the prophecy said that Harry was the one who would kill Voldemort." Said Ron. "No," said Harry, "Voldemort thinks I'm the one who's going to kill him, as well as everyone. Why else are they calling me 'The Chosen One?'" "How about this," said Max, "Whoever reaches Voldemort first gets to kill him. Sounds fair?" "Sounds fair to me." Said Harry.

"Well once we find the base of The Death Eaters," said Ron, "How are we going to stop Voldemort?" "The answer's simple," said Steve, "We go in, kick demon ass, kick Death Eater ass, and finally kill Voldemort." "Hold that thought!" exclaimed Will. The Heart of Candracar was glowing and pointing over an empty area in the North Atlantic. "This is it!" said Will, "The main base of the baddies."

"There's nothing there." Said Ron. "Nothing that would show up on a map," said Hermione, "It would be beneath Voldemort for him to not make his headquarters un-plottable." "This is why we have satellite cameras." Said Max.

One hour later Virgil had provided a satellite close-up picture of the area pointed out by Will. "The only thing I see is a fog bank in the middle of the ocean." Said Ron. "That's what I thought at first," said Virgil, "So I had a second picture taken using an infra-red camera." The second picture showed an island beneath the fog; an island in the shape of the Dark Mark. "If that isn't Voldemort's base," said Ron, "I'll eat Pig." "Do so and you die!" said Ginny.

Six hours later, Harry and his allies were standing around a large picture of what is now being called 'Death Eater Island.' Due to the importance of the plan, Rufus Scrimgeour was there as well. "Here's the plan;" said Max, "It's safe to assume that Voldemort has made it so that we cant teleport onto his base, unless said person was already a Death Eater. So, we'll attack by sea and air.

"There are two stretches of beach where we can land; here and here." Max pointed to an area on the northeast of the island (the brow of the skull) and one to the southwest (the lower jaw of the skull). "Our watch-eyes have determined that there are at least 10,000 demons on the island, and who knows how many other fell creatures. The main objective is the fortress in the middle of the island." He pointed to the large fortifications in the exact center of the skull formation.

"We assume that the missing pages of the Necronomicon are within the fortress. Now, the land forces will have to fight their way through the ranks of the demons, that's where the Guardians and Fairies come in. Will, Bloom, you and your friends are our air cover."

Virgil spoke next. "The enemy has, somewhere inside the fortress, some sort of field generator that makes it impossible to teleport in. The secondary objective is to find and destroy that power generator." "If you can get that anti-apparating device destroyed," said Scrimgeour, "I can have a hundred Aurors on that island in a matter of minutes."

"Once the anti-teleportation field is down and reinforcements have arrived, it'll be just a matter of finding Voldemort and killing him. Any questions?" "I have one," said Hermione, "How are we getting there if we cant teleport or apparate?" "That's the beauty of it," said Virgil, "We'll arrive by boat. I've made all the arrangements, we'll be ready the day after tomorrow." "Just how are we going to kill Voldemort?" asked Ron.

"You won't be," said Max, "Not to disrespect anyone's abilities here, but Harry and myself are the only ones strong enough to take Voldemort on. Especially if he uses the ritual in the missing pages of the Necronomicon." "I have to disagree," said Hay Lin, "Will can take on Voldemort any day of the week." "That's not true." Said Will.

"That's a bold statement Hay Lin," said Jill, "Can you back it up?" "Of course she can," said Irma, "Will has a secret weapon." "I do not!" said Will defensively. "Of course you do," said Irma, "She has Force Lightning." "It's not Force Lightning!" said Will, "You've been watching too much Star Wars again."

"What's this about 'Force Lightning?'" asked Max. "It's not 'Force Lightning,'" said Will, "Its just that, I can shoot large bolts of static electricity." "Exactly," said Hay Lin, "Force Lightning." "How many times do I have to tell you," said Will, "it's not Force Lightning!"

"If you can shoot electricity bolts," said Harry, "Why haven't you used it before?" "Let's just say," said Will, "It reminds me of a bad experience." "What fo you mean?" asked Steve. "I had a bad experience," said Will, "So just leave it at that. I'll only sue it as a last resort." "That's understandable," said Max, "So as a last resort it is. Anyone else has a secret weapon they want to talk about?"

"The full power of the Dragon Fire," said Bloom, "If given the chance, I'll burn Voldemort to a crisp." "Great," said Ron, "Instead of two people wanting to kill you-know-who, there's now four." "What's your secret weapon?" asked Harry. "Me," said Max, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve I save for special occasions." "And as an extreme last resort," said Steve, "We can always 'drop the hammer' on his ass."

"I doubt we'll need to use a stone-burner for this one." Said Virgil. "But I want to blow one up!" whined Steve." "So in two days we can be ready to attack," said Virgil, ignoring Steve's whinning, "Then we strike at dawn the next day. Let's call it, Operation: Rolling-Thunder-ball!" "How original." Said Irma sarcastically.

A few minutes later, Scrimgeour wanted to talk to Harry, as well as Hermione and Ron. "What you three have done these past few months," said Scrimgeour, "Is nothing short of incredible. And I just want to say that the whole magical community is behind you three."

"Gee," said Ron, "Thanks." "There's more," said Scrimgeour, "I have a proposal for the three of you. Should we all come out of this battle alive, I'll personally make sure you're made Aurors." There was a moments silence before Harry said, "Cool."

The end of chapter 45. Next chapter, Operation: Rolling-Thunder-ball goes into effect. The final battle is about to start! See you next time!