Hopefully from now on my spelling errors should be down to a minimum. I found a tool on this WordPerfect thing called Grammatik which makes sure the sentences actually make sense. So it will tell me when it should be illusions and not allusions or "oh shit" instead of "oh sit"
As for Regulus' middle name, I saw it in a message during a conversation on R.A.B. on the WishWeaver yahoo group. I figured that is most likely the middle name if R.A.B. is indeed Regulus because he has an uncle named Alphard.
Does anyone know what a Curse-breaker actually does? I mean do they also take down wards or do they just work on booby-traps and hexed items?
Harry Potter- Teenager. Likes playing Quidditch, girls and making fun of Snape. Makes mistakes, forgets things and is driven by his hormones. Enjoys hanging out with his friends and pranks. Has snowball fights, perverted thoughts, fantasies about pretty witches and all that other drama one faces as a teenager.
Boy-Who-Lived- Leader. Is calculating, powerful and cunning. Has high intelligence and quick reflexes. Good at dueling, thinking on his feet and annoying Voldemort to know end. Makes life and death choices, charges into battle bravely and risk his life for others.
Chapter 22 The Golden Knights
Before, during and after breakfast on the Thursday morning Harry did indeed approach Slytherins he believed to be trustworthy and that were in the new D.A. He asked nine Slytherins to go to the meeting but only five accepted his offer. Kurt Bundy a fifth year, Tracey Davis a sixth year, Abbie Feste a seventh year, Pierre Tayte a fifth year and his defense partner Blaise.
Kurt Bundy was a half-blood who got picked on by Draco Malfoy, regularly for not being a pureblood. Tracey Davis came from a pureblood family who made most of their money off of muggle stock. Pierre Tayte was a half veela, who was looked down upon for not being a full wizard.
Abbie Feste was a different story then the others. Her family was part of the ancient families, and very rich. She didn't like pureblood views though. Because of those views her parents, brother and sister, were forced to marry each other because the family could find no one worthy enough to marry them. She also promised her brother, Lancelot would love to join up as well, sharing the same views as her. He would be at the meeting during lunch.
Blaise Zabini came from a family much like the Malfoys, which was not surprising considering her father and Lucius Malfoy were cousins. When she was younger, she got lost in the muggle town by her house. She stumbled upon a park and made friends with a muggle girl. Every day she would sneak out of the house with the aid of a house elf dislike to play with the girl until her parents caught her. They punished her severely and executed the house elf. Not having the same hate for muggles as her parents, she had turned down the Dark Lord's offer to join his Death Eaters. Her parents, not liking this had tortured her and they only let her escape with her life because they thought they could break her. She now wanted a way to get back at her parents and Harry was her way.
Harry knew they were all telling the truth because he knew Legilimency. Though they could be proficient as Occlumency, he doubted it. Besides he would be testing everyone, and he meant everyone under Veritaserum.
During breakfast, after he had finished talking to Blaise, five large barn owls came flying into the Great Hall. The five owls were carrying a large package between them. They dropped the package in Harry's breakfast. Reading the note attached the teen nodded satisfied. Picking up the package, the Boy-Who-Lived, wiped the eggs off the bottom of it and carried it out of the Great Hall.
Having Dobby as a friend had been a godsend. Especially since the house-elf was free so he didn't have to follow what his duties entailed if he didn't want to. Something Harry was going to miss, what with the house-elf working for him now. So Harry could send Dobby on peculiar errands, such as sending the enthusiastic house-elf into the Chamber of Secrets to take care of the dead basilisk. He wanted the hide for battle robes and basically everything else as potion ingredients. With enough potion ingredients to fill up half of Snape's personal storeroom with rare ingredients, Harry was quite proud. The basilisk supply he had was enough to make Snape or any other Potion Master have an orgasm on the spot.
Since Harry owned a shop that made battle robes and the like he had written to Jonathan and asked if the man could do him a small favor. That favor just happened to be in the package Harry had in his hand. He carried the package to the Defense classroom, since the class would be starting in several minutes.
Professor Kamana raised an eyebrow at the large box but didn't say anything about it, for which Harry was grateful.
The class was rather uneventful. They just talked about the Vegg Shield and its advantages in a fight. Ron said it was good if your enemy just happened to be a creature who did not use magic, like centaurs. Harry snorted, remembering their experience during the summer.
After the class, Harry had a free period, he wanted to spend it finishing up his dingo transformation. However it seemed Dumbledore had other plans for him because the old man had sent Fawkes with a note, asking the teen to come to his office.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked, looking curiously at the box.
"You called me here . . . " Harry said, confused. He was glad though that Dumbledore was not asking about the box.
"That's right! I did indeed. Please have a seat." The old man gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
"Are you all right sir?" Harry asked, concerned that his headmaster was losing it, well more so then he already had.
"Everything is fine Harry. However there are a couple of things I need to talk to you about. The first of them being that I have been approached by many different people, most of them from different countries, to arrange meetings with you" Dumbledore stated.
"Why not just owl me or come up to me?" Harry questioned.
"They probably feel that if it was I who arranged the meeting, then you would be less suspicious of them and more likely to agree with the meeting. Many of them are indeed trustworthy." Dumbledore explained.
"I guess then sir" Harry said, a little unsure.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling merrily. "Now my next order of business is more serious." Dumbledore held out a lemon drop but Harry shook his head. Popping the lemon drop into his mouth, the only wizard Voldemort has ever feared turned solemn.
"You remember when I told you that Voldemort took steps to immortality" Harry nodded his head. How could he forget? "There is something called a Horcrux, which is when a person splits their soul into pieces and then stores those pieces in some object."
'Why do I have a feeling I know where this is going' Harry thought to himself.
"Voldemort, it seems split his soul into seven pieces, placing them in items he valued and securing them in locations he deemed safe." Dumbledore explained.
"He has seven pieces of his soul scattered about?" Harry asked, his eyes bugged out. "So if he died would his soul be destroyed and he has to get another one in order to be reborn or what?"(1)
"Harry there is part of your soul that no matter what can't leave your body even if you are killed until the other pieces are all destroyed, which is how Voldemort survived the rebounded Killing Curse. It is kind of like the roots of a tree. It is implanted in you. However, you can still cut off the branches and the trunk. Which is what Voldemort did. As long as those other pieces of soul are around, that one that is rooted to your body cannot be destroyed." Dumbledore told the young mage in front of him.
"So we have to go out there, find six pieces of his soul and destroy them if we want to get rid of Voldemort?" Harry asked, angrily.
"Five" Dumbledore said, calmly.
"Excuse me?"
"There are only five left. The diary you destroyed in your second year was actually a Horcrux. Voldemort probably gave it to Mr. Malfoy thinking that Mr. Malfoy would keep it safe. Instead Mr. Malfoy, slipped it into Miss Weasley's books. I'm sure if he knew the significance of it, he would have undoubtedly been more careful with it"
"Do you have any idea on where the other five reside or what they are?" Harry asked.
"I have several leads to their places and what they might be" Dumbledore answered. "However nothing is definite."
"Thank you for telling me sir. I'll keep my eyes, ears and scar open for any mention of Horcruxes" Dumbledore chuckled at the little joke he made before bidding his favorite student goodbye.
Harry walked from the headmaster's office, to the Room of Requirement where the D.A. was all gathered. Ron and Hermione were standing in the middle of the room. The Slytherins he had invited were against one wall being glared at from the rest of the D.A. Fred and George had both showed up, as well as Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and surprisingly Oliver Wood.
The five Slytherins had indeed shown up, as well as two graduate members. Lancelot Feste he had expected but Terrence Higgs, the first opposing seeker he had ever played against, he had not. Looking into Higgs eyes, Harry saw that Terrence was good friends with Lancelot. It appeared that Terrence was a muggle-born orphan that was adopted into a pureblood family that couldn't have children. At the end of his sixth year, which was Harry's first, it got out that he wasn't a pureblood, just adopted by a pureblood family and so he was kicked off the Quidditch team.
Many of the Gryffindor members there, had their wands pointed at the Slytherins, looks of outrage on their faces.
"Stop being such bloody babies and put the wands down. This is war people and allies should be picked carefully. Slytherins are tricky little bastards, no offence, and true Slytherins you don't want as your enemies. And when I say true Slytherins, I don't mean Malfoy because he gives Slytherins a bad name what with his whiny behavior and the fact that he hides behind his father. No when I say real Slytherins I mean the ones Salazar Slytherin are beyond honored to have in his house." Harry took a breath.
"By ostracizing a house of Hogwarts, you are ostracizing a fourth of your society. Not all Slytherins are evil, just like not all Gryffindors are good and not all Hufflepuffs are pushovers and not all Ravenclaws are hardcore book nerds. Here, there are no houses. Just a bunch of people trying to survive a war" Harry finished his speech with a glare at everyone. The Gryffindors put their wands down slowly, though still throwing suspicious looks at the seven Slytherins.
"Now onto brighter news!" Changing his demeanor entirely, Harry clapped his hands joyfully. "First order of business. If we are going to fight, then we are going to need protection. I have here in this box battle armor." Harry opened the package finally and held up a golden breastplate. "This is the breastplate and is not the whole thing. I've had these specially made for us. Would have cost a pretty penny too, what with the rèem being endangered and everything. However we managed to get in contact with a man who works at a magical zoo in America. He shaved the rèem there and then sent it all to us, said it grows back in a couple of months" Looking closer one did see that the breastplate was not made from gold but was in fact covered with the fur of a rèem.
"Featherweight charms as well as cooling and heating ones. It is more flexible then it looks, easy mobility. Good protection against all minor spells and a few not-so-minor. Can take a good amount of punishment. Spelled so you can carry it with you everywhere and have no one notice. Has a few nifty spells that record a persons' magical signature so whoever the first person to put them on is, is the only person that can wear them. Automatically adjust to size of that person, which is good considering all of you will be putting on muscles." A lot of the boys in the room grinned at this, eager to get the kind of attention for their bodies, Harry did. "Now I'm sure many of you are eager to try on this armor" There was a murmur of agreement. "However, I don't trust you enough"
The shock and anger in the room at that comment was suffocating. During the D.A. last year Harry had formed a tentative bond with many of the people in the room. During the past month and a half he had strengthened those bonds of friendships during meal times and the occasional small talk between and during classes.
"You don't approve? Well too bad. This is war people and I can't go on trusting everyone just because they are nice and I like them. I know all too well the consequences of unfounded trust in ones friends during a time of war" Thoughts of Wormtail came crawling into his head.
"It is simple we'll just go into this room" A large stone wall appeared out of nowhere and separated a fifth of the room, with a thick oak door in the middle. "I'll give you a truth potion and if you're trustworthy then you sign a parchment that assures secrecy, not just punishes one for ratting on us. If you don't want to do this, you can leave now but don't expect to be attending anymore meetings from now on. Now I'll do this alphabetically to save time. So, Hannah please step in with me"
It was going pretty well as Harry approached the S's, though Hermione's answer did upset him. She said that she did not approve of what he was doing. She was only joining because he was like her brother and she didn't want him doing something too stupid. She said that if Dumbledore thought Harry should do something then he should follow as the headmaster says. Though the stupidity of the Ministry had got rid of some of her trust in authority figures, she still thought that Dumbledore, the Order and the teachers at Hogwarts were always right.
When he called up Smith, he didn't really know what to expect. Really Smith could go either way and he wouldn't be that surprised, which is why he felt no remorse when he found out what Smith said.
Smith dreamed of being a member of Voldemort's inner circle as soon as he became a Death Eater. He hoped that by being a member of Harry's secret order, then he would be able to pass extremely valuable information to Voldemort that could cripple Harry. However Smith was too stupid to do any of that, especially since he thought Harry was going to use the minor truth potion he used on the new D.A., which he found out that Voldemort did indeed know of that other potion that would cancel out its effects. He dug a little deeper and got that Blaise was the only sixth year Slytherin, not loyal to Voldemort and Hayden . He also got out that Smith had yet to inform Voldemort of members of the old D.A., which was good.
That meant that he still couldn't trust all the members of the new D.A., considering that though they all said they were not loyal to Voldemort, they could have still been using the counter potion. Which also meant he couldn't trust his spy either, because they could have in fact still been lying.
"The asshole can't make my life any easier, could he?" Harry muttered. He gave Smith the antidote and was about to hit the teen with a Memory Charm but the bloke had to make things harder on himself. Zacharias bolted toward the door and had just turned the knob when he got hit in the back with an "Obliviate." The blond fell through the door and landed with a thump in front of everyone else.
Harry erased the memory of every member of the D.A. from the blond hair teen's mind. Smith still remembered the meetings but he didn't know who else was in it other then Harry teaching it.
Grabbing the confused Hufflepuff by his robes, Harry dragged him out of the room and tossed him into the hallway. He turned back to the other people in the room.
"Smith is loyal to Voldemort" Was all Harry said to the inquisitive looks sent his way. Dark whispers spread rapidly throughout the room. "Now we got thirteen people left, so Alicia will you please come with me"
No one else was a Death Eater wannabe or trying to spy for the Ministry. Satisfied with that out of everyone there only one was a Voldemort supporter and only one believed Dumbledore over him.
He walked over to the package and picked up a set of the armor. "Well, now that I can trust you guys . . . " he didn't have to finish his statement as the whole crowd ran at the box. Harry was knocked over by the crowd of people. Someone stepped on his stomach while someone else kicked him in the leg. He tried in vain to stand up. There was just no space to do so.
A minute later everyone had grabbed a set of armor and walked off to different areas in order to try to put them on. Harry stood up and stared at them all incredulously. 'They just bloody trampled me! And no one even noticed! What great soldiers' he thought sarcastically.
"Harry I noticed that there was eight extra in there" Hermione stated.
"I plan on getting sixty members Hermione" Harry started. "It is a good number considering that it can be divided by two, three, four, five and six. Besides that is the most armor I could get made out of the limited material available"
Hermione nodded her head in understanding before trying to put on the armor she carried.
"People, you can't put the armor on wearing the outfits you are wearing now. If you will watch me, I will demonstrate" Harry called out. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to him. Making sure he had everyone's attention, he first pulled off his robe, shirt and pants. Fighting the blush that rose on his cheeks as he stood there in a white t-shirt and boxers Harry reached down and picked up and then put on the thick and white-dyed basilisk hide pants, which were too tight. The pants adjusted to the length of his legs and the muscles of his calves and thighs. They were now loose around the leg but snug at the waist, they were a bit stiff but once they were worn in they would allow easy movement. Then the teen strapped on both the golden greaves(shin armor) and the golden cuisse(front thigh armor) both of which grew longer. He finished of the lower body with a pair of golden boots that fit his feet perfectly.
Moving to the upper torso, Harry pulled on an odd looking shirt. The front and back of the shirt was a soft silky material. The sleeves were made of the same thick white-dyed basilisk hide as the pants. The sleeves reached to mid-forearm where it ended. The chest and shoulders both broadened and the upper arm area of the shirt expanded as well as Harry put it on. He pulled on a golden breastplate which wrapped around the waist and proceeded to buckle it into place. He picked up the pauldrons (shoulder armor) and pulled it over his head. He made sure they were perfectly in place before strapping them around his armpit. A pair of golden gauntlets ran up to mid-forearm, where the sleeves of the shirt disappeared to. To top it all of he placed on a golden dome helmet with cheek plates and back protection. If they did not want their face viewed by others, they could wear a mask, that attached to the helmet. The mask was of the face of a unicorn, including the horn sticking out of the middle of the forehead.
The greaves, cuisse, pauldrons, gauntlets, breastplate and helmet were all made of the same thing. Three layers of thin golvern, a rare and strong metal that has some magical properties, are covered with a piece of basilisk hide while it is still soft. Then the piece of the hide is nailed to the weakened golvern. Finally piece of the fur of a rèem, after it was delicately attached to the hide of a deer which was done by magicwork with me here folks, was then sewed over the basilisk hide. The boots and gloves were made of just basilisk hide and rèem fur. The mask was made out of a thin layer of basilisk hide and fake fur.
He stood and looked at them in his white and gold armor, one they would be wearing as well. "It takes a while to put it all on, but after several tries it will become like second nature to you. The longest it should take is a minute."
"We'll just finish up today with you guys trying on the armor and then by that time, classes will have begun. Sorry you guys missed lunch. When you are done tap the outfits and say 'Conceo' The whole getup should change into a gold band on your wrist. When you want it back to the outfit touch the band and say 'Reveo.' I'm trying to find a way where it automatically appears on you, instead of you having to assemble it yourself. However, it is taking me awhile to do it."
Friday
"Welcome. I hope you have all been practicing putting on your armor. Today we must do several things. The first thing is think of a name for us. There is a new D.A. so we cannot continuously use the same name"
"Hogwarts Army!" Hannah said, enthusiastically.
"We aren't just defending Hogwarts" Harry said, dismissing the idea.
"Harry's Angels!" Justin called out.
"No way in hell"
"The White and Gold Champions!" Ron yelled.
"No white and gold. If we must include a color stick with one" Harry stated.
"I say we take gold, it sounds better then white" Lavender added.
"The Gold Fighters?"
"The Golden Fighters!"
"The Golden Warriors!"
"They just don't sound right." Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"What about the Golden Knights? I mean our uniform looks like some kind of mediaeval armor. Plus Hogwarts is a castle." Terry pointed out.
"Terry, you are my man" Harry held out his hand for a high five, for which Terry looked confused. "It's a muggle thing" Harry muttered. "Now, we, the Golden Knights, are to be the main force of the Anti-Evil League. I know, a very original name, just be lucky Hermione didn't name it or we'd be calling it CRAP for short." Many people laughed at that while Hermione looked outraged. "Come on Hermione, You know it is true. I mean spew?"
"It isn't spew, it's S.P.E.W.!" she retorted loudly.
"Whatever. Now for the different "departments" a Knight will be the head of everyone, the second in charge will be just a regular person. So if the Knights are away their subordinates can still play. Hermione you will be in charge of Researching. Ron will be in charge of Strategy and Tactics. Hannah, you will be the head Healer and Terry here will be head of Potions" The four nodded at his words. "George, Fred? Are you two in Dumbledore's order?"
"Yeah but it isn't" one started.
"like they let us do anything" the other finished.
"They think we're immature"
"and that we would be of no use"
"Well, since it seems you two aren't let in on much info, would you guys mind quitting and just doing stuff for me?" Harry asked.
"Sure"
"thing mate"
"we'd love to"
"help you"
"You do know it is really weird when you two do that right?" Blaise asked.
"Why do you"
"think we do it?" they asked.
"Well" Harry interrupted, "you two will be head of Development. You two are really creative, your joke shop is evidence. Just create things that will help us in the war. Now Blaise, I'm going to give you an important job. You will be head of Intelligence. All spies and scouts will report their finding to you and you'll report it all to me and Ron. Then Ron will base our future strategies upon the information you get him"
"You want me to what?" she asked.
"You heard me and don't give me that look. I know you have a spy network in the school so you can get the dirt on people, I've known about it since the beginning of last year. Why do you think your informants couldn't report anything on me because I made sure they couldn't see anything" Harry smirked at the shocked look on her face.
"Now as for training. Training will be split up into several sections. We are to learn everything we can. Those of us in here who are purebloods or have pureblood ancestry should have special abilities that are passed down from generation to generation of the family. If you have them, we'll train you in them. I want everyone here to learn the basics of healing, Occlumency, rune magic, curse breaking, wards, tactics, stealth, unarmed combat, fencing, muggles and their technology and defense against magical creatures and beings. Also if you would like fighting with any other kind of muggle weapon other then sword as well as bow and arrow. If you find your self proficient in one field then you may continue expanding on it in your free time.
"That means you'll have to do a lot of reading and a lot of training. I have two people willing to teach you different things. One to teach you curse-breaking and wards and one to teach you fencing and unarmed combat. I'll be teaching you the basics of Occlumency as well as muggle culture. However, most of this will involve practicing on your own. I know that sucks but we don't live in a time where being a normal teenager is allowed. This will also involve a bloody shit load of reading. Fortunately I happen to have those books" Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of a giganteus pile of books. "There are twenty-three books here for each person. The average pages per book is three hundred and fifty-nine pages. I know a lot of reading, but I don't care. I expect it all to be read and memorized by the middle of November."
"What? That is impossible" Even Hermione seemed shocked at that.
"It is impossible for the normal human mind. I leave how you accomplish this up to you. Just get it done." He proceeded to put the sets of twenty-three books into fifty-one rucksacks and then distributed it to the mostly upset members. "Oh cry me a river people"
"Now on to the matter of groups. First off is the division, which will be all of us together. Second comes the battalions which will be three groups of twenty. After the battalion comes the platoon, which will be six groups and then finally the squads which will contain twelve groups. Now I'll always be a leader of a group.
"Ron and Susan here will also be leaders of a group starting from the battalion down. Hermione, Terry and Neville, will be leaders of a group starting from platoons down. I don't know who the last six will be yet. These ranks can be changed, nothing is definite."
(Division LeaderHarry. Battalion LeadersHarry, Ron, Susan. Platoon Leaders-Harry, Ron, Susan, Terry, Hermione, Neville. Squad LeadersHarry, Ron, Susan, Terry, Hermione, Neville?.)
"Each squad is going to need a healer, a curse breaker, a defensive magic specialist and two offensive magic specialists. When you are finished reading all of the books, I'll test you. Out of those four, whichever one you are more efficient in is the one you will have to expand on. Now, get started reading!"
Saturday
"No, no, no! You are supposed to dodge or catch it! Not banish it away with your wands! How many times do I have to tell you purebloods! If I see that happen one more time, I'm taking away all your wands" Harry yelled.
"Why are we playing this game anyway?" Hermione muttered as she got hit by a red rubber ball.
"If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge a spell" Harry answered as he tried to duck from an oncoming ball. The two Gryffindors walked to the wall, out for the time being.
"Muggles come up with some weird sports" Blaise said as she walked to the wall and joined Harry and Hermione.
"Oh yeah, cause Quidditch is sooo normal" Harry drawled out as he leaned against the wall.
Harry had introduced (or reintroduced) forty-six of the Knights to dodgeball.(Ron, Neville, Terry, Parvarti and Padma were at an Ancient Family meeting) After going through the basics of the game with them he had split them into teams and started the game. At the beginning they weren't very good at all. In fact, most were bloody horrible. Blaise couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat, and the others weren't that far behind them. The only one who were remotely good were the chasers, Dean and Justin.
However after an hour of playing many had picked up the skills needed to play the game properly and the game got better. With forty-seven people, the game lasted for quite awhile, sometimes people sitting out for twenty minutes before being allowed back in.
Not only that but it kept people eyes open. With twenty-four balls flying around one had to watch every direction if they didn't want to be out.
"Alright, that is officially an end to the meeting. Some of us have S and S in an hour and have to get ready." Both teams had agreed that losers buy the others a butterbeer at the first Hogsmeade weekend. The Room of Requirement had kept a score of how many times people got out on each side. The two sides had done well, though Harry was ashamed to admit his side did worse. His team had one hundred and three outs, while the other had eighty eight. When the teams were made Harry realized to late that the other team had the only people who were competent at dodge ball, besides him.
"Don't forget Harry, but your team owes mine some butterbeer!" Dean said, a smug look on his face.
"Wipe that look off your face Thomas, or I'll make you run laps" Harry snapped, grouchy over his loss.
"Sore loser!" Dean sang in a cheery tone.
"Twenty laps around the lake!" Harry sang back.
"Still a sore loser!"
Harry opened his mouth to retort but Dean ran ahead of him.
Ron and Neville walked in the portrait hole with unreadable looks upon their faces.
"Well? How did it go?" he asked, impatient for information on the night.
"We learned that you are a pureblood" Neville stated.
"Wh..what?" Harry asked, confused.
"Your mom is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. A result of an illegitimate daughter he had with one of his underage servants. Your Aunt is a squib, though they have no idea how your mom was come too believed as a muggle-born" Ron explained. "They have some huge ass tapestry, one that takes up more than one thousand square feet, and it has a list of every magical person alive. From there they are able to trace back family lines and things like that. A muggle born just pops up on there when they are born."
Though intrigued and curious by the information he had more important things to worry, more important then worrying about his blood purity. "And the meeting?" he asked.
"Well, most of the families were there, about four-fifths of the whole congregation. We brought up the issue of Voldemort and how we as the Ancient Families had much influence over the other pureblood families and that whatever side we joined, many others would follow." Neville started.
"A huge argument broke out about the pros and cons for both sides. How pureblood societies would die out because of the rigidness many families put upon the class system and that most families only have kids up until that point where they get their first male. They brought up that with the ever increasing intelligence of muggles and the creation of all these weapons of destruction that the muggles were dangerous to not only wizards but to themselves as well. They all made fairly good points really but the con list of killing off muggles was a lot longer and far outweighed the pros of it." Ron finished.
"So they aren't backing Voldemort?"
"Well this is where it gets odd. The argument wasn't going to stop so finally the council, which was split itself, agreed that both sides would go their separate ways and at the end of the war, the families that survived would reinstate the Ancient Families, no matter what side won. It was agreed, signed by every family there and they both split up. Though more of the families went to Voldemort, we got more of the older and richer families. They'll be reporting this to the news papers." Ron explained.
"They'll be doing what?" Harry was really confused now.
"Well what do you expect. A hundred families no who they support and besides they are just saying that the Ancient Families split up over the issues of the war happening in Britain. The Ministries can't do anything to the Ancient Families unless they have cold hard facts, because the Ancient Families have a lot more power then the Ministry"
"Wow. This whole pureblood thing is really confusing. I really wish I was still a half-blood." Harry muttered as they left the common room.
"I know what you mean. If my Uncle was to order me to do something as the head of the Weasley family then I have to follow the order, less I be kicked out of the Weasley family. Speaking of my Uncle, ran into him today" Ron said out of nowhere. "He wants to have a family reunion of the Weasleys, well at least the United Kingdom Weasleys. Which is about thirty-three, I believe. He'll be sending the formal invitation to us all soon"
"Like I said, the whole pureblood thing is really confusing. Pureblood society is pretty old age and brutal if you ask me. Muggle society is more fair to everyone. Though the rich do get less of a punishment for crimes then regular people do."
The three finished their conversation as they reached the Strategy and Simulation classroom. Being the last ones to enter they took the only available seats and turned their attention to their professor.
"All right, so here is the new mission for you guys. You've been scouting a mansion for several days now because it is suspected that a powerful object is being hidden there. Your commander has just given the order to go in and retrieve the object if it is indeed there. You know the general layout of the house as well as where several key rooms are. You also know that the object is being kept somewhere on the second floor. Your estimated number of enemies in the house is anywhere between thirty and eighty, so you have to be careful where you step. Now one team will go today and the other tomorrow. Points will be awarded for many things, such as how many team members are still moving, if you retrieved the object and those sort of things. Whoever goes tomorrow will have points docked off for having an extra day to prepare." Professor Curris explained. "Now, Potter call it in the air" he pulled a sickle out of his pocket and flipped it in the air.
"Heads" Harry called.
The man caught the coin and slapped it on the back of his hand before looking at it. "Heads it is! Your team goes tomorrow. Potters' team has the rest of the day off" Everyone on his team cheered before quickly leaving the room.
As Harry exited the room, he was greeted with the sight of the headmaster walking toward him. "Harry my boy!" Dumbledore greeted cheerfully. "I was hoping your team would go tomorrow."
"Hoping we would or did you rig the coin toss?" It wasn't a question.
"The coin was made to land on whatever side you called" Dumbledore admitted as he led them through the school. "But that was because I have arranged a meeting with several of these foreigners who wish to speak with you. I know for a fact that two of them are definitely ones you will want to meet You'll be meeting in the Three Broomsticks in an hour. Rosmerta has a private room ready for you. Now Order members will be . . . "
"With all do respect sir" Harry said, cutting the man off. "I would find it better if I could provide my own protection"
"Harry, you must understand that it is dangerous to go out there by yourself" Dumbledore insisted. They came upon the familiar corridor that led to the stone gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office.
"I will not be going by myself sir, I do have some protection. Though I am glad you set up this meeting, technically I could just go off once you said I could because I am an adult." Harry stated calmly.
Dumbledore sighed. 'Teenagers and their independence!' he thought. "Fine Harry, but I would feel better if you were to take a portkey with you. One to activate in case things get to rough"
"Thank you sir" Harry took the offered portkey (a lemon drop) and placed it in his pocket.
"The password is Oddment" Dumbledore told him. Harry smiled, remembering his first feast at Hogwarts. They finally came to the front of the stone gargoyle, sitting in its usual position. "Junior Mints" Dumbledore said clearly. The two wizards stepped upon the winding staircase as it led them to the wooden door of Dumbledore's office.
"Is there anything else sir?" Harry questioned.
"Yes. Three things actually." AS they reached the top, Dumbledore pushed open the wooden door and walked to his desk, before offering a seat to Harry. "Professors McGonagall and Flitwick have both approached me on your behave about you taking the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test and how you asked them if you could. Professor Flitwick says you could get an O easily and Professor McGonagall thinks you'll get an EE minimum. Since they both think you are ready to take the exams, I have agreed to let you take them as well. In a week a Ministry official will come down here to give you the exam. Secondly, another official will be here to make you sign the Firearm Restriction Contract" Dumbledore explained.
"The hibbity whatsit?"
"The Firearm Restriction Contract is a magical contract that forbids wizards and witches from using muggle explosives and firearms at all. It has a long list of weapons one is not allowed to use and such. When a Hogwarts letter is delivered to a new student, the next day a Hogwarts teacher and Ministry official both go to the house. That is when the child signs the contract with their magical signature. However, since I sent just Hagrid to get you, you never signed the contract."
"What is the penalty for using a firearm?" he asked, quietly.
"Your magic" Dumbledore said gravely. Harry nodded his head in understanding. Wizards were in great fear of muggles, of course they would want to stop wizards from using their deadly weapons.
"And the third thing sir?"
"We have found the people to guard the school. Since you agreed to pay for them, I thought I would let you know who they were. First of all, the Order of David has agreed to send thirty of its members to Hogwarts, because they realize the significance it holds to the magical UK."
Harry let out a low whistle. The Order of David was established by the Roman Catholic Church a hundred years before the collapse of Rome. It fought against the forces of darkness and the servants of Satan to preserve mankind. Now, in modern days it is an organization of three hundred wizards and witches who fight things they classify as Dark. Such as vampires, werewolves like Fenrir Greyback, demons who stumble upon Earth and dark wizards like Voldemort.
"We have also been able to hire a group of Hit Wizards from the American Ministry. I believe they are sending more than sixty men"
"Ninety men? I did not think it would take that many to guard the school" Harry stated, clearly shocked at the news.
"They will have four six-hour shifts. Which means they get twelve hours off every day so they can sleep, eat, train, study and do stuff like that. They get every other shift off. Eight to guard the gate, ten to patrol the edge of the forest, six to patrol the wall, five to patrol the perimeter of the castle and sixteen to patrol the hallways."
"And the price?"
"The Order of David asks for a fifty thousand galleon donation and two hundred and fifty galleons per person a month. The Hit Wizards ask for four hundred galleons a person per month" Dumbledore said.
"That's" Harry paused for a second, doing the calculations in his head. "428,000 galleons for the first twelve months!" Harry said, shocked.
"Well Harry, some do have families at home who they must take care of. And for the Hit Wizards, this is actually a scam for them, considering the fact that they get paid eight hundred galleons a month by the Ministry" Harry bit his upper lip as he thought. The Gryffindor vault had somewhere around two billion galleons so that price would barely dent it. And it was for the protection of Hogwarts and those who resided in it.
"Then it is a deal. Just finish the arrangements and send them over here as soon as possible. Now if you excuse me, I would hate to arrive late for the meetings you set up" Harry bid farewell to the old wizard and walked out the door.
After waiting several minutes' Dumbledore walked over to the fireplace in the office, reached into a bright colored candy dish and pulled out a pinch of powder. The old man tossed the powder into the fire and watched as a green fire came to life. Calling out "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place" in a calm tone. He stuck his head into the fire and greeted the ten people waiting anxiously at the table. "Harry is on his way to Hogsmeade" he began.
Harry in question had stopped off at the Gryffindor common room before actually making his way to Hogsmeade. The sixth year Gryffindors, and I mean all of them, were all gathered in a corner of the room, working on homework, reading or joking around.
"Friends, classmates, Gryffindors, lend me your ears!" Harry said in a deep, bold voice.
'What do you want now mate?" Ron asked as he glanced up from a Transfiguration essay.
"I'm going to Hogsmeade to meet with unknown foreigners that want to meet with me. I'll need . . . bodyguards" Harry ended, looking at the nine teenagers in front of him.
"What's in it for me?" Ron asked.
"I am your superior officer in the Golden Knights you know" Harry stated.
"Again, what is in it for me?" Ron asked.
"I'll do your Transfiguration homework. For a week" Harry offered Ron.
"Deal!" Ron shook Harry's hand eagerly.
"Harry! How else will he learn if he doesn't do his homework" Hermione scolded, looking up from the huge tome on wards.
"What about you Hermione? Will you come?"
"I have so much reading to do and I wanted to go to the library to look up more information on the Fidelius Charm. Not to mention we'll be breaking school rules. If Professor McGona . . . "
"I'll buy you the Big Book of Magic" Harry interrupted.. A look of thought worked its way on Hermione's face.
"Fine, I'll go" she relented. Harry smirked at her in triumph before turning to the other seven Gryffindors.
"It'll be at the Three Broomsticks. I'll buy you dinner and maybe even some Firewhiskey when we're done"
"Count us in!" Seamus and Dean said excitedly. Harry looked at the other five sixth years before him. They all nodded their heads as well, agreeing with the dinner and hopefully the firewhiskey.
"Good! Go get your armor on then. I'll put some glamors on you to hide your faces so you can eat!" The sixth years ran up to their dorms to put on their uniforms, Harry following behind them at a slower pace.
In his dorm room he immediately tapped the gold bracelet on his wrist and muttered "Conceo" The full suit of Armor that the Golden Knights would be using appeared in front of him in a pile upon the floor. He quickly put on the white and gold uniform before rushing off downstairs with the other four boys.
"All right" he started as he tapped Ron's face, putting up a glamour of a blurry image. "Ron and Hermione" he tapped Hermione's face, putting up the same glamour. "Will be in the room with me" he tapped Neville's face. "The rest of you" he tapped Dean and Seamus, "will be sitting at the table" he tapped Parvarti on the face, "right next to the stairs." He tapped Lavender, Melissa and Blair upon the face. "I'll pay for the food and any drink you want to get. Now I have permission to leave, but you guys don't so we have to do this quickly. Three in front, four behind. Make it look like your hired guards"
They did as he instructed.
If you can't tell this story is moving really slow. Chapter 22 done and not even at Halloween. And that is for a simple reason. The story is called Harry Potter and THE PREPARATIONS OF WAR. All sides are getting ready for the war. Sure some firefights, skirmishes and raids happen but barely any of it will be anything major. Maybe five hundred men on each side fighting each other in quick two hours battles, that kind of thing. Hopefully battles in this series will contain days of thousands of beings fighting to the death. I know I keep changing my mind and contradicting things I say in former chapters. Like before I said huge battles will be taking part soon. I'm stupid like that. But I realized that with the way I planned this story, no major battles can take place from now until the end. The reason for that is the ending of this story, which won't be revealed until at least twenty more chapters are added.
(1) Something I want to know as well. He had seven pieces. One was the diary and if another was in him and he was hit with the Killing Curse, that rebounded from Harry, does that mean he only has five left? Or does getting hit with a rebounded Killing Curse just destroy his body and not his soul because something to do with the other souls not being destroyed as well? I'm just making the answer up based on what I think it is.