Harry Potter and the Resistance

by HarryPotter21

The Battle for the freedom of the world is going horribly wrong. Join Harry and company as they try to save the world. Please continue to review and stay tuned for the sequeal.

11. Loss

Loss

Harry paced back and forth, avoiding everyone's gaze. His eyes were red and he had to keep moving. He stopped and took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

Casey nodded sadly. "Yes, it was definitely a premonition of a past event."

Harry stopped breathing for a second. His face paled again and he started to tread back and forth. Hermione and Ron were also red eyed and Ginny was actually crying into Wyatt's shoulders. Harry stopped pacing. "We have to tell Dumbledore."

Casey and Brendin nodded. "We'll go."

"Thanks."

Casey and Brendin got up and headed out the door. They walked slowly with their heads hanging. They had only known him for a year, but his death was completely unexpected. He always seemed capable of taking on anyone or anything. Brendin knocked on Dumbledore's office door. There was no immediate answer, but there were muffled voices.

"Come in," Dumbledore's voice drifted through the oak door.

Brendin and Casey entered the office to see Dumbledore was not as alone like they had hoped he would be. Uurande-tur, McGonagall, and Leo were sitting quietly watching the two teens.

"We'll come back." Casey said quickly. They turned around to leave.

Dumbledore called them back in. "It's alright. I'm sure whatever you have to say concerns the Order, otherwise Harry would not have sent you to me."

"Ok…" Brendin faltered.

Casey bit his lip. "I…err…had a premonition."

"So why aren't you doing something about it?" Leo questioned calmly.

"It was of a past event." Casey got a bit defensive.

Leo frowned. "You don't get those types of premonitions."

"Well this one was of the past!" Casey was getting annoyed now. "The newspaper was from three days ago."

Dumbledore nodded. "What triggered this premonition?"

"I touched Harry's wand." Casey answered calming down. "My finger ran over the newly placed emerald."

Dumbledore's eyes grew distant. "How did it happen?"

The rest of the adults were bewildered. McGonagall asked, "What happened, Albus?"

Dumbledore remained quiet, looking gravely at Casey. Casey took a deep breath. "A giant killed him. Voldemort convinced them to join him by handing over the Rocky Mountains when he took over America." Casey's voice grew emotionless as his eyes welled up. "Three giants attacked him and Hagrid was able to stop two of them. But he was too tired to battle the third and the giant showed no mercy…."

McGonagall had gone white. Leo and Uurande-tur sat still, but did not take the information as badly as the two humans who knew Hagrid best. McGonagall began to shake her head.

"No. It's not possible…Albus, it's not possible!"

Dumbledore reluctantly nodded. "I can no longer contact him…. He is dead."

Casey and Brendin stumbled out of the office quietly. Although they suspected that they could have brought in a dragon and the adults would not have noticed. The loss of Hagrid was not a simple loss of the war. Hagrid had played a major part in the training and protection Harry Potter. He had been the only part of the "old crowd" that made sure to connect with the younger generation. He would be sorely missed and his death set back the Light more than the loss of Magic School.

Magic School had fallen utterly. Voldemort or Ash Goth or some other powerful evil force had brought the entire plane crashing into nothingness just a week earlier. Two Elders had been killed, along with a teacher. About a hundred other members had been severely injured and about half were expected to not make enough of a recovery to rejoin the battle. Voldemort lost minor demons and a few newly recruited Death Eaters. The Battle for Magic School had been a complete loss for the Light.

With the loss of Magic School and two Elders, the Resistance had met and had two rocky days of talking the Elders of leaving the fight. The Elders felt that in order to protect themselves and the Whitelighter population, they had to leave Earth to fend for itself while this war raged on. The Elders reasoned that they were the only ones capable of truly escaping the war and remaining hidden until it became time, in order to start a resistance campaign to overthrow Voldemort. The rest of the Resistance saw this war as that campaign. If they did not dethrone Voldemort and Ash Goth soon, they felt that the two would never be overthrown.

The Elders decided to leave the question of their withdrawal on the table until all the Elders could be convened so the situation could be discussed. Leo estimated that it would take about a week or so for the Elders to gather and another day or so before a decision would be made. Leo had warned Dumbledore to prepare for the worst. The last time an Elder had been killed, the Elders had withdrawn from the Earth for a thousand years. Leo had convinced the Elders not to disappear when the Titans had been reawakened because he had become an Elder. This time however, he had lost most of his sway in the Council because of his and Gideon's constant bickering. The Elders had just recently convened, the reason Leo had been in Dumbledore's office.

"Wyatt, Harry, Dumbledore has excused you from classes for a bit." Leo informed the two. The teens were all in the library trying to work through their pain.

"Why?"

"We both believe that you two will pull more sway than I will." Leo stated.

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "They're pulling out, Dad. They're too cowardly to not back out."

Leo frowned. "Well, they have no choice if we don't put up a convincing argument otherwise."

"Ok, lets go." Harry got up and with a wave of his arm his homework disappeared. Wyatt orbed his homework to his room with a movement of his hand. He got up and glared at Harry but took his father's extended hand. The three orbed out.

Elder Capitol was a giant version of the Parthenon in the clouds. It was not a separate plane, but it was well separated from Earth. It was a place few non-Whitelighters ever saw, and in fact, impossible for an average human to remember. The Elders placed spells on their realm so that memories of it disappeared from everyone who left it. The spells affected Elders the least, followed by Whitelighters, then witches, wizards, and demons and finally, a non-magical human.

Harry was in awe. He had heard Wyatt describe it and Chris even showed him a picture he had drawn after spending a month up here. Neither did the place justice. The columns seemed to continue on forever in all directions. Harry felt the nearest column and the stone was ice cold despite the fact that the surrounding air was a comfortable seventy-six degrees. Harry removed his hand.

"Be careful," Wyatt whispered, "those pillars are sometimes cold enough to kill tissue."

Harry tucked his hands in his pockets. He quickened his step to keep up with Leo and Wyatt. Leo had transformed his clothes into the golden robes of an Elder. Wyatt had transfigured his robes into the brown robes he and Harry wore when they went into battle. Harry decided to follow suit.

"Why did we change our robes?"

Wyatt slowed down so he was walking next to Harry. "There is a dress robe for these types of meetings. The Elders are already going to be pi…angry that you and I are up here, we don't need to provoke them anymore."

Leo stopped in front of giant white walls. He placed his hand on the wall and a deep rumbling sounded from underneath them as a part of the wall started to slide into the ground. It continued to gather speed until the top hit the floor with enough force to cause Wyatt and Harry to grab onto each other to keep from falling. "You guys will sit behind me at the table. Stay quiet until you are spoken to. And Wyatt, no snide comments."

Wyatt and Harry fell in step behind Leo acting as bodyguards would. Leo took the empty seat next to an Elder Harry had never seen before. Wyatt waved his hand slowly and conjured two chairs for Harry and himself to sit on. They were getting suspicions looks and Harry could see that Wyatt was losing it.

"Who's the guy your dad's sitting next to?"

Wyatt's eyes ran over the Elder. "A newbie. Probably a replacement for Gideon."

Harry frowned. "So quickly?"

Wyatt leaned back in his chair. "Yes, so is the red-haired girl sitting next to Grant."

Harry nodded. "Was Grant Tolkien's Whitelighter?"

Wyatt's lips twitched. "No. Grant has been an Elder since before the foundations of the Egyptian empire."

"It's just that he looks so much like Gandalf as Tolkien describes him and his attitude is exactly the same." Harry nodded his head when Grant waved his hand in a greeting.

Gabriel, once Leo's student, voiced what most of the Elders were feeling. "Why did you bring them along, Leo? This was a meeting for the Elders only!"

Leo spoke calmly, but deliberately addressed the entire Council rather than quarrel with a single Elder. "They requested to be present for this meeting. I saw no reason for them not to be a part of the discussion."

Josiah—another Elder who was totally against Leo—pushed the argument. "That was not your choice. You should have informed us."

Leo waited for the shouts of agreement to die down. "I was under the impression that Grant was the one who decided who could and could not be a part of this meeting. I informed Grant of my decision to bring Wyatt and Harry with me; he agreed."

Grant got up and leaned heavily on his staff. "I believe we will all benefit to hear from those who will be affected by our decision to withdraw all Whitelighters from Earth."

"That is what we will decide, despite having these two mortals up here!" A few Elders declared. "We were never meant to get involved in the first place, but we all followed Leo's advice blindly. We should have listened to Gideon, then maybe he'd still be with us."

Wyatt jumped up. "Gideon betrayed us all!"

"Wyatt, sit down!" Leo snapped.

Wyatt ignored his father. "I was there when he died. I heard what he said and saw his face. He was surprised. He was expecting to receive a warm welcome from Lord Voldemort, instead the wizard gave that bloody traitor what he deserved—"

Grant took control again before Wyatt could continue on. "That is enough, Wyatt. Whether or not Gideon was a traitor has yet to be decided by this Council. The question still remains: should we pull back?"

"Yes!" boomed the majority of the voices.

Leo shook his head. "If you pull out you are practically sentencing the world to the control of Voldemort and Ash Goth. And just because we left them alone does not mean they won't come after us. Ash Goth has a score to settle with us and I doubt having us withdraw is going to satisfy him."

Grant nodded. "I agree with Leo, but this decision has to be made by the majority."

"We must pull out while we still can."

The debate raged on for two whole days before Grant finally called for a vote. Seventy five percent of the Council voted to withdraw from the immediate war with the two Dark Lords. Wyatt and Harry felt sick, but they stayed still waiting for the meeting to be dismissed.

Leo stood up. "I'm still going to carry on fighting."

"You'll be stripped of your power as an Elder!" Warned a number of angry voices.

Grant shook his head. "The vote was not unanimous; Leo has every right to carry on battling along side his family. I am also not going to place a ban on Whitelighter orbing. They will have the choice whether to remain with their charges or to remain up here."

"That is crap, Grant!" cursed Gabriel.

Grant rose to his fill height. "I could have forced you to remain on the front lines, Gabriel, so don't push it! The meeting is adjourned."

Leo, Wyatt, Harry and Grant walked down the row of columns.

"I am sorry that they have disappointed you Leo." Grant sadly stated. "But I have a feeling that they may change their minds soon."

Wyatt dryly laughed. "They won't change their minds. That would mean crawling back to my dad for forgiveness; they're too stuck up to even think of doing that."

Grant deeply chuckled. "You'll keep in touch?"

Leo nodded. "I'll make sure to inform you of major changes in the war, but I doubt we'll see each other again until the war is over."

"Yes," Grant nodded regretfully, "They will shut off the portals so no one can come up here…well, you all better get home. And give Dumbledore my deepest condolences."

"Will do," Leo touched Harry's arm and the three orbed away.

It was mid-November and winter had come early. The ground was covered in two feet of snow one morning, and ever since then, it had been snowing constantly. It was not a blizzard, but the snow was slowly rising. The griffins and their young had become like statues in the white oak tree. The only time they moved was in the late afternoon in order to eat and drink before returning to the same perch and freezing in the same position.

Harry spent the morning staring at the four griffins out of his bedroom window. They were such a perfect family and they made him thinking more and more of his own parents. He grew jealous of the two fledglings for still having their parents, for being happy, for not suffering under the pressure of having a destiny. Harry ripped his eyes from the window. He dipped his quill in the inkbottle and continued his letter to Neville. It had been a whole month since he had mailed any of his friends still in the States. He had received a small postcard from Seamus on the temporary meeting place for the United States Congress. He had replied to the postcard, but had not sent the letter yet. He first needed to finish the rest of his letters.

"Come to breakfast, Harry?" Kyle peeked through the door.

Harry turned around. "No. I have to finish these letters before Potions."

Kyle shrugged and departed. Harry pushed the door shut with shove of magic. He finished the letter and two more before getting up from his desk. He looked around his room and spotted a piece of buttered toast sitting on his chest-of-drawers. Picking it up and taking a bite, Harry grabbed his bag and headed off to potions.

Potions was, as always, a nightmare. Snape assigned them an intrinsic and difficult potion that was supposed to immunize the drinker from all common magical and non-magical diseases including dragon flu, polio, measles, chicken pocks and the like. Snape had given no direction of any kind and the potion was not in their textbook. All they knew what the ingredients were, but not the amount or anything else. Snape had even forced Caleb into brewing this potion instead of the one assigned by Paige.

"How the hell does he expect us to do this?" Brendin asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. "No idea. I'll ask Chris."

"Potter, do shut up or it'll be a detention." Snape snapped. "Twenty minutes left."

Caleb was close to tears and Brendin did his best to comfort his younger brother without calling attention to themselves. Snape unfortunately had a knack of picking up on those types of things. "Will, Will, detention!"

"Absolutely not, sir!" Brendin snapped. "You assigned us a Potion without giving us any direction! How is that fair? And then you punish me for comforting my twelve-year-old brother when you assigned him the same potion!"

"One more word, Will," Snape spoke quietly and deadly, "And I'll have you expelled from this class. I don't care if you're supposed to be a deliverer from Ash Goth."

Brendin stood up and started to walk out the door, but then Paige appeared in the door. "Snape, Dumbledore requests your presence."

"Tell the headmaster that I'm busy trying to instruct these imbeciles."

Paige strode up to Snape's desk. "You will get out of this classroom now or you will leave this classroom without your heart!"

Snape sneered. "You don't have the guts to kill me, Mathews."

Paige smiled. "You're right; but I think that you could live without your fingernail!"

Snape yelled in pain as he wrestled against Paige's magic. Paige stopped summoning the fingernail and glared down the Potions Master. "It's not polite to keep your employer waiting."

Snape walked out of the classroom glaring at everyone and everything. His cloak billowed out behind him and when he closed the door the inserted window shattered. Harry waved his hand and the glass pieces reformed into the window before clapping along with the rest of his friends.

"Bravo Aunt Paige!" Chris exclaimed over the clapping.

Paige calmed them all down and looked at the lesson plan on the board. "He expected you to do this? All of you?"

"Yeah." Harry confirmed.

Paige nodded. "Well, this potion is simple to make once you know the amount of each ingredient. In fact you have all made the potion that this potion is derived from. Any guesses?"

Chris raised his hand and continued with a nod from Paige. "Because of the beetle legs and wormwood I'd have to say it's a Vanquishing Potion."

"Well done," Paige smiled in approval. "Chris it quite right. Those two ingredients are indicative of a Vanquishing Potion. Another indicator is the fact that you need a drop of blood that contains each disease your vaccinating from. Because of the time, please brew one batch of this potion together. I'll explain things to Snape and he'll give you all credit for the day."

Chris and Wyatt took charge and in a few minutes, the base of the potion was simmering over a low flame. Hermione added the wormwood and the potion "poofed" and turned a shiny pale yellow. Kyle dropped the frozen blood droplets in to the potion, which then turned blood red. Paige came over to inspect the potion and nodded.

"Perfect. You are all dismissed early for lunch." Paige started to fill seventeen vials, one for each student. Leah and Michelle had decided to join their boyfriends for the remainder of the school year. They all packed their bags and thanked Paige before leaving for lunch.

Harry sat in Dumbledore's office waiting for the headmaster. Dumbledore had summoned him with a letter passed on by Hermione, but when he had arrived Dumbledore had left the office. Harry's gaze fell on the Pensieve, which was sitting under an elongated cake glass cover. The two bottles that had contained Dumbledore's memories sat under the table empty. Harry sighed and continued his inspection of the office. He was surprised to see the picture of the original Order that Moody had shown him hanging next to a painting of the Hogwarts Founders.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Harry." Dumbledore said as he entered through the door and shut it behind him. "I just had to inform Minerva of some information the Elves just gave me. They're fearful that this abrupt change in weather patterns is caused by the destruction of Magic School and Washington DC and that it may be permanent."

Harry nodded. "O…kay."

Dumbledore smiled. "It is not vital information for you to know about…. Now where did we leave off?"

"You were telling me of your suspicions that Voldemort made six Horcruxes." Harry responded.

Dumbledore nodded. "We got further than I remember…ahhh…yes, well Voldemort made six Horcruxes or at least that is what I suspect."

"Sir could you explain Horcruxes? I mean, how do they protect a person from dying?"

"Certainly." Dumbledore detangled his finger and started to circle his right pointer finger around in the air. Slowly, a ghostly picture appeared and covered Dumbledore's desk. "A Horcrux is an object that contains and protects a part of a person's soul. In the usual case, half of a person's soul is in a Horcrux and the other half is inside the person's body. When the body dies or is killed, the part of the soul inside the body wanders around the Earth, void of form…"

"I thought Pellaeon said the soul inside the body dies?"

"He did, but even he can get his information mixed around when he is intoxicated." Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "The soul cannot take physical form again until it is reunited its the other half. From there, the person has to do a similar ritual as Voldemort performed to regain his body."

Harry sighed. "So Voldemort no longer has his Horcruxes?"

"That is not what I said." Dumbledore licked his lips to wet them. "Voldemort is a very powerful wizard and he performed other rituals and made numerous potions to try and gain immortality on top of his creation of Horcruxes. I believe that his soul took on a ghostly form despite not being reunited with its counterparts; the diary again is proof of that."

"Ok." Harry sat forward again and paid close attention.

Dumbledore got up and opened up a cabinet. He pulled out Riddle's diary. "I recovered this from Lucius shortly after the Battle at the Ministry at the end of your fifth year. I have been analyzing the remnants of the magic to gain some deeper understanding of Horcruxes. And I came to the conclusion that Voldemort had done something vastly different than any of the previous witches and wizards who attempted to manufacture a Horcrux. Can you guess what?"

Harry frowned and thought things through. "When a Horcrux is destroyed, that part of the souls is destroyed with it?"

"Yes."

"So that means that Voldemort should have lost a part of his soul and…and a part…a part of his magical power!" Harry looked up for confirmation when Dumbledore stared at him blankly he continued, "Is Voldemort any weaker?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "He is not weaker, Harry."

"So that means he must have perfected the ritual…" Harry bit his lip, "…so that when a Horcrux is destroyed, he doesn't lose that part of his soul, but it rejoins him."

"Well done." Dumbledore pushed the diary aside. "I came to a similar conclusion…Now on to the practical implications of this knowledge."

Harry fidgeted a bit. He was a bit fearful now that he knew that Voldemort had backups should Harry finish him off again. Dumbledore remained quiet. Harry closed his eyes and calmed his mind; he still had to focus.

"As I'm sure you have realized we have to destroy these Horcruxes before going after Voldemort."

"Do you know where they are?" Harry jumped in.

Dumbledore tapped his fingers against his desk. "No…no, I have not been able to find out the location of Voldemort's hideout. I have, however, been able to determine what artifacts Voldemort used in the ritual."

Harry blinked his eyes quickly. "How?"

"I have dug back into the history books for answers on powerful magical objects that might interest Voldemort. I learned from his time at Hogwarts that he was fascinated with his heritage. Through various means, I discovered that his interest extended to the rest of the Hogwarts Four. I decided that at least four of the Horcruxes would be objects that belonged to the Founders. Also, he would use the heirloom his mother left him, a locket that belonged to Slytherin's wife.

"I searched through all the information and found the only artifacts that survived all the wars and instability that struck the magical world since the foundation of Hogwarts. I also discovered that only five of those objects were not accounted for in the inventories of museums and family heirlooms. One of those objects is now destroyed, Gryffindor's sword. The other four objects are a ring, a brooch, a goblet, and a bow. Each of those objects seemed to have disappeared in a short time after Death Eater raids in the towns they resided. "

Harry nodded. "So we have to find these things and destroy them?"

"That is the reason I decided to start informing you about all of this." Dumbledore looked guilty. "I did not want to burden you, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to tell you about this. Instead of you and your friends running off into unknown danger chasing facts I already knew."

"How do you destroy a Horcrux?"

Dumbledore shook his head at a loss. "Again, I have no answers for that question. I am working closely with Elven and Dwarven crafters to discover answer, but so far all our attempts have been in vain. Horcruxes seem to become invincible once they are made, except for a specific weakness. The diary's weakness was the destruction of its pages, but it is one thing to burn a book it is quite another to destroy a locket protected by spells that render most fire and magic useless against it." Dumbledore got up and walked to the door. "But I'll not bore you with those details. I'll inform you when our next meeting will be closer to the date."

Harry nodded and exited the door without saying a word. Dumbledore closed the door behind the thoughtful Gryffindor. Harry checked his watch and realized he was late for dinner. Cursing under his breath, he raced down to the dining room to get a bite to eat before delving into his pile of essays and research due for Transfiguration.

Harry propped himself on the work desk. He watched Wyatt add another slimy reddish object into the sludge that he was working on. Harry coughed as the fumes of the potion drifted his way. The back of his throat was burning when he was finally able to regain control over his diaphragm.

"You could've warned me!"

Wyatt smiled and continued to stir the potion. "Well, it's almost done."

"What's left?"

Wyatt pulled out a knife from the drawer next to his chair. "Our blood." Wyatt smiled as he poked his finger with the knife. A tiny droplet of blood oozed out of the hole and dropped into the potion with a soft splash. The self-inflicted wound glowed gold for all of a microsecond and healed. "Your turn."

Harry gulped. "I hate things that require blood." He held out his hand and Wyatt placed the blade firmly on top of Harry palm. Harry pulled his hand away very quickly and his face was ghostly white. "What on earth was that?"

Wyatt hugged his sides because of the pain from laughing so hard. "Sorry, Harry," Wyatt got himself back under control, "couldn't help myself."

"Give the damn knife here." Harry snapped.

He held his finger over the cauldron and shakily pressed the knife into the tip of it. The blood fell into the potion, which changed into a colorless, clear liquid. Harry sucked his finger. Wyatt stepped over to see the potion and smiled proudly. Harry nodded with a smirk. "I'm so happy!'

Wyatt pouted. "Well don't spoil the all the fun. Do you know what we just did?"

"Yeah," Harry blew his finger dry, "You just made me cut myself open."

Wyatt shook his head. "You're a big baby. I've had to cut my wrists to get enough blood for a potion before."

Harry snorted. "I told Leo that you were supposed to be instituted."

"Funny," Wyatt bit back without any emotion. "We've just brewed a more effective and less costly Vanquishing Potion for a balrog!"

Harry nodded, impressed. "I know. There's no use in you screaming about it."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Just help me put this potion into vials and then you can go off and sulk some place else."

The two conjured turkey basters and began sucking up the potion and filling up the potion vials Paige had supplied them with. The potion made about a dozen vials and Wyatt packed all but one away in the secret cabinet behind the chalkboard. Harry cleaned up the mess they had made with a wave of his wand. He also forced the cabinet back into its hiding place. The thing fought back with all its might, but Harry eventually stunned it and sealed the wall so it wouldn't jump out during Potions class.

Harry headed off to the library to waste time before dinner. Wyatt was meeting Uurande-tur so the potion could be verified before they made another batch. Harry rubbed his injured finger and tried to heal it, but nothing happened. He continued on his way up the staircase and passed the giant inward looking glass window before coming to a stand still in front of the library doors. He turned around and looked out the window. The ground outside was covered in snow and he could see that the oak tree was empty. The center rock strangely enough was complete void of snow and showed no signs of the snow having melted.

"Harry." Hermione called. "Harry! We need to talk."

Harry stood still but did not turn around to greet Hermione. He noticed that Hermione was a bit stiff when she finally took a spot next to him staring out of the window. Harry continued to look out as the male griffin had returned along with the two younglings. With a deep resolute sigh, Harry turned to face Hermione. "What about?"

Hermione was angry but that did not stop her from prying into Harry's life. "Did you speak to Dumbledore?"

"If you mean did I finish my lesson…then yes." Harry stated evenly.

"So what did you learn?" Hermione's thirst for knowledge overrode whatever feelings she had toward Harry at that particular moment.

The sun was beginning to set behind the mountain that surrounded the Phoenix Hall. The sky turned various shades of orange and pink; the snow reflected the colors and made the scene all the more beautiful. Harry turned completely away from the window and started into the library. "Hi, Ron."

Ron looked up from the table he was sitting at. He seemed rather awkward without any materials in front of him. "Hey, Harry."

"Let me guess: you were waiting for me?" Harry nonchalantly asked.

Hermione sat down next to Ron. She pushed on with the conversation before Ron could answer. "What did he talk about?"

Harry took a seat opposite Ron, the table separating them. "We spoke about Horcruxes and how Voldemort made a few." His voice was airy-fairy.

Hermione frowned and Ron looked as dumbfounded as ever. "What?"

"Horcruxes," Harry repeated, "Don't tell me that you don't know what they are. Certainly you've come across them in your readings, Hermione."

"Shut it, Harry!" Hermione snapped.

Harry stopped, but smiled. "They're dark magical items that encase a part of Voldemort's soul."

Ron paled. "Why would he do that?"

"It allows him to be invincible. As long as a part of his soul is still alive then Voldemort cannot be destroyed." Harry continued to put on a face of indifference.

Hermione had a book in front of her in a matter of seconds. "There has to be something on Horcruxes in here."

Harry shut the book gently. "Not all the answers are in a book, Herm."

"But there has to be—"

Harry placed a hand on top of Hermione's quivering ones. "Dumbledore would have told me where to look if there was a book. He didn't, so there isn't one."

Ron stared quizzically at Harry. "How can you be so calm? You just found out that Voldemort, the guy we're all hiding from is invincible. We may as well turn ourselves in now!"

Harry shook his head. "Voldemort is only 'invincible' as long as those Horcruxes remain intact. All we have to do is destroy them and Voldemort becomes as vulnerable as Dumbledore…"

"Destroy what?" Chris asked. He entered the library along with Leah, Brendin, Michelle, and Daelan.

Harry looked sharply at Ron and Hermione before answering: "Nothing. I was just frustrated with the homework load. I just said wouldn't be nice if the school was destroyed then we would not have to do homework."

Hermione looked very cross and went back to reading the book she had summoned out of the bookshelves on the Dark Arts. Leah came and sat down next to her and smiled.

"He was just kidding, Hermione. We all love school." Ron smiled half-heartedly to support Leah's argument. "But I should warn you, Harry, to be careful what you wish for. A girl in my AP physics class said that right before Magic School was destroyed."

November slowly dragged by. The snow finally ceased around the 21st, which was lucky as they had another Defense class outside in the early morning. This time they were studying the creation of a foundation stone. The foundation stone is the object that a ward is tied to; in the case of Phoenix Hall, the giant rock in the center of the courtyard was the foundation stone. Every single ward emanated out from the foundation stone and the destruction of the stone would lead to the destruction of the wards.

The class was enjoyable, especially since the rock seemed to have created its own microclimate. The air around the rock for about a foot in every direction was heated. As long as they remained in that foot of warmth it felt like midday in the middle of summer. The inch outside of that foot felt like being dropped naked into the Antarctic Ocean during the longest night of the year. The rock itself was cool to the touch, but not uncomfortably so, just enough that one had to move every few minutes to get feeling back into a certain part of the body.

Snape had become even worse, but was being seen less and less by his students. Paige took on the heavier class load and they were all happy because of that selfless decision. Wyatt and Chris both took it on themselves to help Paige in every way they could without actually teaching the classes. The few times Harry had seen Snape, the man was looking more stressed and strained than Dumbledore had during Harry's fifth year. Any amount of color Snape had in his skin before was utterly gone now and he had bags under his eyes that could have fit a couple of elephants and still have room to spare. When Harry inquired on the matter with Dumbledore, the headmaster had given him the old runaround.

The staff and the Order had gotten together and planned a weekend away from the Hall. They would all spend the time up in Portland, Oregon as an escape and well deserved change of scenery. The city had been set up as the new headquarters for the Ministry for Magic. That made the city supposedly the safest city in the United States with the Aurors and Magical CIA on high alert and concentrated around the city and Muggle military guarding all major ports from another terrorist attack. And the only thing standing in their way was one more day of school.

"If Paige gives us anymore essays on the uses of basic herbs, I'm going to personally kick her." Harry declared as he and Wyatt strolled down the corridor.

Wyatt smiled. "Well, this is the last class on non-magical herbs and potions. After this we start the review on all the herbs and plants we've used in potions."

Harry nodded. They rounded a corner and almost walked straight into Ginny. "HELLO!" Harry exclaimed when Wyatt walked into his back.

"Hi, Harry." Ginny smiled, "Hey, Wyatt."

"You alright, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Just peachy, Harry." Ginny grabbed Wyatt's hand off Harry's shoulder. He had been trying to regain his balance from crashing into Harry. "Could I speak to you about this weekend?"

Harry stepped around Ginny. "I'll see you two in Herbology." Harry carried on down the corridor wondering what Ginny and Wyatt were planning. He had noticed that other couples were making plans as well and all were keeping it very quiet. It did not bother him; he and Cho were planning on having a quiet meal together. This was going to be a nice break from the stress of school.

"Have you spoken to any of your friends about being magical?" Leah asked.

Brendin and Leah were sitting at a corner table in a hole-in-the-wall burger joint. Outside the skies were gray, tiny droplets of rain splattered against the ground and glass. They had snuck off while the adults were getting settled in the hotel rooms. They had not been the only ones and Brendin had a funny feeling that Dumbledore had spies on all of them anyhow.

"No, I'm not sure they'd take that well to the idea." Brendin took a sip of Coke. "How about you?"

Leah let out a laugh. "I never even told you."

Brendin smiled. "Well, I just thought you might have told Cassie or…"

Leah leaned over and kissed Brendin, which promptly shut him up. "Brendin, I would have told you before anyone else."

"What made you bring this up?" Brendin finally found his voice after being caught off guard. He was usually the one who initiated the kisses.

Leah shifted her eyes off Brendin. "Well, I might have…err…invited them here."

"You WHAT!" Brendin closed his eyes and kept his hand stiff and still.

Leah interlaced her fingers with his. "You know that they all come up here for Thanksgiving weekend. I know they've invited you to join them more than once…"

Brendin nodded. "Yeah, they come up here with Lucus' older brother and his wife."

"So when Dumbledore announced that we would be coming to Portland, I just naturally assumed that you'd want to hook up with them." Leah spoke cautiously. "Didn't you want that?"

Brendin took a deep breath. "I'm happy that you wrote to them Leah, I just wish you would have warned me. I haven't spent that much time with them since I found out about being a wizard…" He trailed off.

The door opened and in stepped three soaked blonde haired boys. They stood at the entrance looking around, searching. Brendin took a big gulp and waved his hand slowly over his head. The three boys stopped looking and headed over to the table.

"Hey guys long time no see." Brendin stood up and high-fived each.

The one with green-gray eyes, Lucus, smiled. "No kidding, Brendin. You practically disappeared off the face of the Earth. One second you're dead, the next, you're a runaway."

Brendin smiled awkwardly. "Let's get a bigger table."

They moved to the table in the center of the floor right by the kitchen door. Brendin chose the table since none of the other customers would be able to over hear their conversation. The three boys went up and ordered burgers and drinks while Brendin grabbed the food from the previous table. Leah sat down next to Brendin and they ate in silence while the boys waited for their food at the front counter.

Lucus was the first to make it back to the table with his burger and Sprite. "So how've you been?"

"Fine," Brendin nodded slowly. He was nervous and trying desperately not to show it. "And you?"

Lucus shrugged. "It's been hell without you. Our track coach is still having a fit about you leaving."

Brendin smiled. "That man should learn to keep his blood pressure down."

"Who?" Zuriel asked. He was short for his age and had one gray eye and one blue eye. His hair was blonde, similar to Draco's, except his hair like Brendin's become two toned during the summer. Closer to the tips his hair was a darker blonde.

"Our track coach."

Zuriel nodded. "He has more of a hot-head than my third grade teacher. She was worse than a female dog during PMS."

Leah looked up from her burger, but didn't say anything. Brendin placed his hand on her knee and squeezed slightly; she smiled. "So what've you guys been up to?"

"Homework," Lucus droned in detest. "These teachers think that by giving us more work, we'll do better on these exit exams that have nothing to do with anything we're learning."

"Sounds like some of my teachers." Brendin muttered.

"That so?" Shawn sat down next to Leah. He was not a natural blonde; he had pitch-black hair to rival the Potters as shown by his un-dyed eyebrows. He had dark brown eyes that glinted with a deep knowledge of pain. His parents had been one of Jack's first patients when the Wills moved to Southern California. "Who's that?"

Brendin ran his hand through his hair. "No one you'd know. I just have a teacher that just loves to torture his students." The table fell silent. The three boys ate their burgers and kept stealing glances at Brendin. Brendin twiddled his thumbs and took the occasional sip of his drink. Leah had her hand in Brendin's, giving him as much support as she could without being too obvious.

"So you two are still going out?" Lucus asked.

Leah nodded, "Two and a half years this Christmas."

Lucus smiled. "Damn, Brendin! I haven't been able to stay with three girls in that amount of time."

Brendin smiled. "Well it's a lot easier when you go out with your best friend."

Zuriel laughed. "Don't you mean special friend?"

Leah slapped Zuriel playfully across the face. "I've not done a thing with him, Zur."

Shawn joined the conversation. "So where do you go to school, Brendin?"

Brendin froze. He placed his hands tightly on his knees. "I go to a boarding school in Scotland."

"With Leah?"

"Err…" Brendin stammered to find an answer. "…uhmm..."

Leah nodded. "I transferred there this last year."

Lucus continued the interrogation. "Why did you get sent to this school?"

"I…err…was invited?" Brendin finished. "I mean…this school…err…is designed…to…uhm…facilitate to my special needs."

Zuriel frowned. "You're hardly stupid, Brendin."

Leah smiled. "That isn't the reason."

"Then what is?"

Brendin closed his eyes. Everyone had told him that it was all right to tell his friends about magic. They had a right to know what was going on. "You guys are going to kill me."

Lucus burst out into laugher. "What makes you say that?"

"Because…Imawitch." Brendin whispered.

The brows rose on their blank faces."You're a what?"

"A witch." Brendin said a bit louder.

Lucus forced his eyes to remain open instead of blinking. "You're joking!"

Brendin shook his head. "No. I've been going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"

Zur closed his gapping mouth. "So you can do magic?"

Brendin nodded.

Shawn tilted his head. "Show us."

"Here?" Brendin looked around the restaurant was still full of patrons.

"Why not?" Lucus asked.

Leah stepped in. "Magic isn't supposed to be common knowledge; that's why."

Brendin looked around again. "Ok, but a small one." He shook Leah's hand off his and lifted them shakily to shoulder height. He slowly pulled his fingers in and closed his eyes. With his brow furrowed he sprang his fingers back outward. Everything inside the restaurant froze except for the group of five teens.

"Cool!" Zur exclaimed. Shawn was smiling but still seemed a bit wary of the whole concept.

Lucus was smiling from ear to ear. "I always knew that you had to have something going on besides pure talent in running."

Brendin frowned and smiled. "Funny, Lucus, real funny."

"So you have Piper's powers?" Shawn asked slowly.

"How do you know Piper?"

Shawn frowned. "I guess you don't get TV at that school of yours."

"Oh, from Charmed." Brendin stated. He nodded slowly. "I can do a whole lot more than just that, but I guess you could say that."

Leah waved her hand gracefully in the air and the scene unfroze. "Brendin, we have to get back."

"Why?"

Leah got up. "Wyatt is outside."

The five got up and went outside. Wyatt was standing under an umbrella with a rather annoyed looking Ginny next to him.

"Ron and Hermione were just attacked by a chameleon demon." Wyatt went on to explain without waiting for introductions. "Dumbledore is requesting that we all return to the hotel."

Brendin looked over at his friends. "What about them?"

Wyatt smiled in their direction. "I'll orb them to the hotel as well…or to wherever they have to be."

A sound of displaced air reached Wyatt's trained ears and he threw his hand out in front of him. The tattooed eight-foot giant that had appeared out of nowhere stumbled backwards. The giant pulled out a tiny switchblade and threw it at Lucus. Brendin froze the blade in midair and flicked his hands again in the direction of the demon. The demon yelled in anger as his right hand exploded into black orbs that reformed back into the lost appendage.

"Err, what is that?" Zur asked. The three boys had backed up so that Brendin and Wyatt were in between them and the tattooed man.

Brendin blew up the fireball that was aimed at his heart. "A demon."

Wyatt orbed Excalibur into his right hand while fending off another fireball with his left. He pulled on the engraved pommel and out came his wand. He whipped the wand around his hand once and the demon dropped down dead. The body exploded in a burst of hot flames.

"Let's get out of here before the media shows up."

Wyatt waved his hand in front of him and the group orbed out. With one last look at the scorch mark in the pavement, he followed them.

December rolled around and the snow started again in earnest. Harry had conjured up a small cave for the griffins to spend the really cold nights in. The griffins took to the cave like a fish to water. They seemed to have accepted Harry as an ally and were not so wary around him. They had stopped trying to eat Hedwig, Holly, and Osiris. Although that may be because Osiris burned both adult griffins the last time they had tried to eat him.

Brendin had made friends with a wild owl when he had save her from the snow one night. The owl was quite content to remain perched on the boy's shoulder all day. He had named her Leia after his girlfriend. That, and he had a huge crush on Princess Leia when he had seen the Star Wars movies for the first time. The owl seemed to be magical as she was able to deliver messages to Brendin's friends in California in under a week while it took Hedwig or Holly up to two.

The loss of Magic School and Hagrid was not forgotten in Phoenix Hall, but the news that a large number of Whitelighters had chosen to disobey the Elders choice to pull out of the war lit spirits up a bit. The Whitelighters had come one by one to pledge their loyalty to Leo and the remainder of the Phoenix Council. Wyatt and Chris had been sure to see every one of the Whitelighters and Chris kept a notebook of all of the Whitelighters who joined. They said they were doing this just because they were interested, but many suspected that they wanted to know how many actually did join. They wanted a hate list for when the war was over.

Life dragged on and classes became tougher as the close to the first semester drew nearer. Snape was back to his former self and back to teaching Potions, although he kept to potions that actually had directions. He also relinquished the teaching of Caleb over to Paige with much disgust. All the teens were looking forward to a break from classes. After all,Christmas was just around the corner.

AN:

Hope this was enjoyable chapter. I hated killing off Hagrid but it was a choice between him and Cho. Cho unfortunately has involved into a more pivotal character.

Next Chapter is finals and Christmas.