Posted 6/19/2015

.

This is a work of fiction, based on the book series by J.K. Rowling. Neither do I claim ownership nor do I intend to.


Chapter Seventy-One -Lupin's Worries

.

Unsurprisingly, the day after the successful excursion, Harry and his friends got a visit. For once, both Lupin and Moody had come, and the latter took it upon himself to explain their side in about as many words as Harry could have expected.

"Funny idea you had there," he grumbled, his eye jumping wildly from one to the other. "Going after the grunts? I've seen worse, but also better."

Ron seemed to suppress a smile, and Daphne sent Harry a look somewhere between impressed and something Harry couldn't quite place. Worry? Sympathy?

"Do I even want to know... ?" Lupin tried, pacing back and forth, before shaking his head. "Harry, that was highly irresponsible of you. You could have been caught! You could have been seen!"

"That's what you're worried about?" Harry threw in. "Seen, really?"

"Yes, Harry, really. You may hide here and only come out when it suits you, but others aren't so lucky. Some people have to go to work, for example. Not me, of course – not for months under the current rule –"

"Their fault there," Moody interrupted, chuckling, "not letting you work. Letting your enemy out of their sight, big mistake. Now they've got you running around and messing up their plans."

"Still, people have to go out. If you had been seen, your enemies would have known who was behind it. A little asking around and they'd have known who's close to you. A little asking around and they'd have known who to target to get to you."

"And they'd get a bloody nose if they tried that," Harry replied, waving him off. "Or do you honestly expect me to believe they could have taken you? Alive, that is?"

"And what about others?" Lupin argued. "We, those of the resistance still alive and –"

"Did someone die?" Hermione threw in, sitting up straight.

"People do all the time," Moody grunted.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lupin shook his head. "No one of ours is what Moody tried to say. Others did, however. Those of us still alive and free was what I was about to say. The Ministry doesn't just kill, they also imprison. They also question, and with no one stopping them, they have no reason not to use Veritaserum or whatever means of persuasion they can come up with. And you forget it's not just us you should worry about. Do you think You-Know-Who wouldn't take hostages? Do you think he hasn't already? We may be strong, experienced, and lucky enough to escape, but others aren't and weren't. Alicia Spinnet wasn't. Remember her? What do you think would have happened to her if you had been seen?"

Hermione's nervous glance was gone in a flash, but both Harry and Moody had seen it. "Well," she tried, pursing her lips in an attempt to mimic Harry's stubbornness, "we weren't. And I doubt she's treated all that well whether we act or not."

"Still, it..." Lupin broke off, sighing. "Well, it's done now." He glanced at Harry and Hermione. "Sirius would have been proud, you know? Tricking your enemies, using their own trap against them? And James and Lily... Ah. Well, we wouldn't be talking about this if they were here, but..." He scratched his chin, and for a moment, something like a glimmer of mischievous youth shone in his eyes. "Do I want to know how you did it?"

"Nothing too mean, really. As for telling you..." Harry drifted off, looking at Hermione and his friends, as he made up his mind. "Maybe after the war, but right now, it's probably better if we don't tell the tale. I don't like handing out my weapons, especially those that have been proven t work very well in my capable hands, and the more people know about a secret, the less secret it is. Just know you wouldn't be able to pull it off with the same style and success. Just know we have over two dozen prisoners. I haven't decided yet what to do with them. Hermione argued in favour of alive and handing them over once the war is done."

"A good idea," Lupin said. "The only reasonable option, really, isn't it?"

"Well," Harry said with a shrug, "there are different degrees of alive, especially with what magic can do. Moody is alive – most of him, at least. For now, they're prisoners. If we need to send a message, maybe they'll come in handy."

Hermione sent him a glare, silently warning him against harming any of the prisoners, but Harry ignored it – so far, he hadn't made any plans to maim any of the prisoners and had little reason to apart from pettiness.

After a moment of silence, Moody nodded. "You've shocked many, Potter. Both in the Ministry and elsewhere. There are rumours of the resistance as the perpetrators. A good thing, for once, so we're not complaining. It increased the workload for the Ministry; it gave a spark of hope to the cowards still running free. The ones not in league with Riddle, I mean."

"Should help you a bit, am I right?" Harry laughed. "Without the Snatchers, the Ministry workers will be stretched thin and tired. Should be easy enough to slip through so that you can do something as well."

"Do something, you say," Lupin sighed.

"Oh, come on," Harry groused, throwing his hands in the air. "Do I have to do everything?" Hermione cleared her throat, and he amended, "Do we have to do everything? Go out and recruit. Or hunt down some Death Eaters. It can be done; I've shown as much, haven't I?"

"Harry, it's less that we don't want to or don't know what we want to do and more that we're a bit cut off from reliable support," Lupin explained. "Kingsley is on the continent, yes. From what we've heard so far, it's going reasonably well, but that's not enough to strike back. I've heard rumours about some people on the continent networking and trying to drum up some support, but it's the same as above."

"When you say support," Hermione interrupted, "what are we talking about?"

"Yeah," Ron added, snarling. "It's not like those old farts in power to actually do something."

"What we are talking about," Lupin told them, smiling sadly, "is hearsay so far. You-Know-Who seems to have started extending his influence to the continent, which could have been bad. Luckily for us, he isn't one for international diplomacy. It's been years, maybe decades that he had to rely on smooth talking, and by now, almost anyone knows what he is. As a result, the Germans are on the fence, not wanting some British Dark Lord marching in. Italy and Spain are too happy with the way things are. For better or for worse, pureblood supremacy is simply to bothersome for them when there are sunny beaches and the riches of the land to enjoy.

"As for the eastern European countries," he continued, "You-Know-Who might have had an easier time recruiting a year ago. The Dark Arts are taught at Durmstrang –"

"That doesn't make them evil," Harry pointed out.

"The Dark Arts are taught at Durmstrang, so a lot of those in the east are already familiar with them," Lupin said in the calm tone of a teacher continuing his lecture. "Additionally, bad luck breeds resentment. Grindelwald hit them hard enough, but not enough to actually warrant the same attention others got. When it came to helping after that war, Italy and France got a lot of help and sympathy whereas places like Russia got empty promises. It took them years to get back on their feet, and there's still some bad blood between Western and Eastern Europe."

"Viktor said something of that sort," Hermione put in. "He mentioned Karkaroff had taught them the history of Europe's betrayal so that they would never forget about the fickle nature of the feather-brained French or the aloof, cold-hearted Brits. It didn't quite work with Viktor, international Quidditch player that he is, and his... err, presence and opinion seemed to have made some of his schoolmates slightly more open-minded than Karkaroff might have liked. But then, leaving the Viktor Krum at home and miss out on the chance to show off?" She laughed.

"Well," Lupin chuckled, "that was one of the reasons why Dumbledore agreed to bring the Triwizard Tournament back. Some of the more serious preparations had begun as early as your second year. Lots and lots of work, many people had to agree, dozens of compromises. Yes, Dumbledore had hoped the time had come to start anew and have the next generation bridge the gap.

"As I was saying, You-Know-Who might have had a chance in Eastern Europe a year ago, but not any more. A lot of supporters of the Dark Arts joined him and came here, which left more forgiving and open-minded people back home. Not open-minded enough to allow Muggleborns into Durmstrang or anything big, but open-minded enough that, from what I heard, they're not that happy about what they heard Wizarding Britain turned out. There's a lot of Schadenfreude, of course –"

"Huh?" Ron mumbled.

"Well, seeing Wizarding Britain fall and pay the price seemed rather satisfying to some, but now that You-Know-Who turned his eyes to the continent, those in power have begun worrying how long they will be. That leads me back to the rumours I've heard. Russia has increased its security forces. That's one path blocked for You-Know-Who. And France... Well, they might have been willing to compromise, but they'd rather keel over dead than accept something British. France? Tentatively on our side. It does help, of course, that for some reason, they do have a higher-than-average number of mixed-races. Or Halfbreeds, as our Ministry calls them. You can imagine how much they like that."

"Okay, so Europe is slowly building up to defend their land," Harry summarised.

"Too true," Moody grunted. "Looking out for themselves has served them well in the past. Or that's what they tell themselves to sleep at night, and that's why the ICW doesn't have enough power to change much. Empty words and hot air is all they're capable of. That and lining their pockets. Cheh."

"Right, but what about Wizarding Britain?" Hermione asked. "You made it sound as if you can't do anything."

"We can do something," Lupin admitted, "but far less than we would have hoped. True, you've given us an opening, but we lack the numbers to take full advantage of it. We're trying to gain some footing, you see? Most of us are in hiding by now. The Ministry knows who we are, and they've done what they could to cut us off from support from within. We can hunt Death Eaters, yes, but we lack the numbers to guard them."

"Poison them," Harry interrupted. "It's what we do. Douse them with sleeping potions and put them somewhere out of the way. Depending on what you choose, it's enough to check on them every few days."

"That's..." Lupin broke off, blinking. "Well, it's not proper treatment of prisoners –"

"The hell with that," Moody spoke up. "Good idea, Potter."

"Hermione's, actually," Harry replied, shrugging. "Part of that whole keeping them alive bit."

She blushed and nodded in thanks before Moody had the chance to direct the compliment at her.

"Well, hunting Death Eaters might work, but we're lacking in numbers. And as for recruiting, that has become a non-issue, unfortunately."

"How come?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the Ministry has imprisoned everyone that might have been swayed to our side. Turns out finding possible rebels is a lot easier if you don't care about laws or rules or common decency. So hardly anyone still around would be willing to join us, and all we have left are the upper ranks of the resistance. Moody and Tonks, the Weasleys, some younger recruits that have come through – friends of Tonks, mostly; she has a knack for making light of the dangers."

"And you, obviously," Hermione added, smiling.

"Well, true, but for every one of us, there are twenty or thirty of them."

"I took out that many," Harry pointed out. "Took me a few hours, I admit –"

"We helped," Ron chuckled.

"Fine," Harry admitted with a roll of his eyes. "So on average, we took out about six each. Happy? I'm just saying, it's possible."

"Well, be that as it may, you've given us an opening, but we don't have the numbers to do much," Lupin said, trying to keep the talk on topic.

"That's crap," Harry mused. "After all that work to give us, to give you a chance to catch up before it's too late –"

"Catch up?" Moody asked, glaring. It seemed he had taking offence, Harry realized.

"Well, we've begun our plans for the counter-attack," Harry explained. "We'll have to push Riddle and his ilk out and win this war for us. That takes some planning, and it'd have been nice if you'd helped a bit."

"And you think you can plan a war?" Moody growled, leaning on his walking stick.

"Hermione thinks," Harry pointed out. "I know I can, and I know I do. Actually..." He glanced to his friends and, after a moment, received a nod from Hermione and no complaints from Ron. Daphne had leaned back, looking at him wearily. Had he come off too strong?

"Well," Harry said, "I guess it's probably a good idea to tell you what we've come up with so far. Maybe you can add your thoughts and we'll see where it leads us.

"Step one," he began, "to end this war, Riddle needs to be dealt with. He doesn't show his face much, so it's either luring him out or storming his strongholds until he's cornered. He's not that much of an idiot to just wait around while we fight our way to him, and going with what you've told me, by the time we'd be up against him, we'd lack the strength to do much. So luring him out it is. We plan to bait him by taking something he won't like losing and we can defend reasonably well with the forces available to us – Hogwarts."

Moody's eyes bored into Harry, but he didn't speak up.

Lupin didn't have the same problem, shouting, "Hog – ? Are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten about the children there?"

"Have you?" Harry countered. "Let's say half of them are on Riddle's side. And mind you, we're not talking about people trying to keep out of trouble by going along with it but truly supporting Riddle. If we act quickly, we should be able to capture the castle for our side. Personally, I think we're talking about maybe a fifth of the students that would need to be taken care of by their fellow students and the staff. Capturing Hogwarts with the help of Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick? Shouldn't be that hard. And once Hogwarts is retaken by us, it can be fortified. Everyone who doesn't want to fight can be evacuated or hide somewhere. It's not like there aren't enough places in the castle."

"The students aren't battle-ready," Moody spoke up. "They won't be any good."

"They'd be up against other students. If our friends aren't battle-ready, then neither are the traitors among the student body," Harry replied.

"Not true, Harry, and you know it," Lupin disagreed. "Just because we haven't trained your friends up doesn't mean the same is true for You-Know-Who. He's got half-a-dozen of his followers running around at Hogwarts."

"Well," Hermione said, clearing her throat, "we might be behind a bit, but... Well, Neville, Luna, Ginny, they proved they can learn quite well when need be."

"We could ask Flitwick," Ron added.

"Or we do it ourselves," Hermione told him with a smile. "Harry isn't half-bad of a teacher, and we do have the mirror." She quirked an eyebrow, daring either of her friends to disagree.

"You've lost me," Lupin admitted. "Mirror?"

"We've got a two-way mirror connection into Hogwarts," Harry explained. "I guess that could work, yes. It's not like I need to be there in person, and it should be enough to give them some pointers. So that's settled. I'll see to it our friends are trained up a bit, so no worries there."

"Still, Hogwarts is a school," Lupin reminded them. "Yes, it's also a castle, but far from a perfect stronghold. Luring You-Know-Who out is a good idea, I'll give you that, but Hogwarts?"

"I can't think of any place that is as easy to fortify and defend. However, Hogwarts is the best bait we can find. Apart from myself as bait, there's little that will really get under Riddle's skin. It's not like he really cares about anything, is it? And we need him to lose his patience. He needs to come out at once, not after we've dealt with all of his troops. We need to be sure he comes in person instead of sending his followers first.

"Hogwarts is precious to him," Harry continued. "If Dumbledore were still alive, he'd tell you the same. Little orphan Riddle traipsing around the halls, finally somewhere he belongs? Someplace where people are awed by his incredible power and skills? There is little that had as much meaning to him and even fewer that we could hope to bait him with. As much as he tries to hide it, Hogwarts is dear to Riddle. Hogwarts is a weak spot of his because Riddle has a soft spot for it in his heart. And if I've learned one thing from him, then it's to go for the weakness and the heart. I doubt there are many things that would make him forget about reason as losing his first true home – the first place where he came into contact with his heritage. Or the part of it he likes, anyway – his wizarding side. The best part about it is that retaking it makes sense even without all of the above.

"Hogwarts is also important to Wizarding Britain. It's a symbol. It is the future – Hogwarts under Death Eater rule signifies a Wizarding Britain of oppression and cruelty; a free Hogwarts is a future of freedom and fairness. Riddle can't let the latter exist, so yes, once he learns of it, he will come with his entire force. We don't have to let him know we know how much losing the school rankles him on a personal level.

"He will come to crush us under his foot, but he will come at a time and to a battlefield of our choosing that we know about as well as they do. And they'll come to a fight we'll have spent preparing for. They'll come to a fight with the entire resistance. Where else could we field McGonagall or Flitwick? Where else will we have that much control over the fight? Because with Snape as Headmaster, we will be in control of whatever protections are in place. All we have to do is get him in on it and have him discreetly modify the wards."

"But we don't have the numbers to face his forces head-on," Lupin argued.

"Shacklebolt –" Harry tried.

"Doesn't train an army like that," Moody interrupted. "It takes a while to get to acceptable skill levels. And not that many people have the strength of heart to go up against You-Know-Who, the one dark wizard they couldn't bring themselves to say his name even when it was still safe. No, Potter, they won't be the army you hope for. And he does have a lot of forces in his employ by now. Not everyone has it in them to curse a Ministry worker. And those will be there, make no mistake."

"Once Riddle falls, there won't be much of a fight left, I figure," Harry reasoned. "Many are ruled by fear. Once they stop fearing, they'll stop fighting."

"It's Chess," Ron added, followed by a glare at Harry and Hermione who had exchanged glances and smirked. "Laugh all you want. Yeah, Weasley the idiot, I know. Once the King is taken, the game is over, that's what I meant."

"True," Lupin agreed, "which is why the King keeps back in Chess. Also, the King we're talking about is actually the strongest piece on the board and neigh-invulnerable as well as well-protected by his Pawns."

"We'll have to deal with his followers is what you're saying," Harry argued, "and I say all it takes is one lucky shot. You're worried about the Ministry workers? Fine, we'll have to keep them occupied elsewhere. If I managed to lure the Snatchers into my trap, I'm sure we can think of something to tie up some, if not all of the Ministry forces. That way, we'll have them out of the picture and anyone at Hogwarts can fight without worry. Probably better that way, actually," he mused. "If it's just Death Eaters we have to deal with... Well, that'd be easier."

"Easier?" Ron asked, leaning forward. "I mean, I'm with you for the most part, but how are Death Eaters easier? They won't hold back. They're brutal."

"Well, for one," Harry replied, smiling, "we won't have any reason to spare them. If it's just Death Eaters, we just have to think of something to kill them by the dozens. Pettigrew managed that, and we are far better than him. I'm sure we can come up with something. Magical or not, they're still humans."

His mind had already begun working. How did Muggles fight armies? Modern warfare leaned towards smaller forces and concealment, but they'd fight either from the castle or on the grounds. Smaller forces might work, he mused – disillusioned, they could cause a lot of trouble for a bit, but just as Harry knew enough about blasting spells, so did Voldemort and his followers. If they couldn't see their enemies, they'd resort to bombarding the general area or just everything in sight. However, the thought of bombarding gave Harry an idea. He still had his coins. While it was possible to protect against spell fire, the Death Eaters would likely be staggered by that invention. Harmless coins falling from the sky, only to fling whoever was close into the sky? And with enough force... human bodies were so fragile.

"Ignoring the issue of killing them in cold blood," Lupin sighed, rubbing his eyes, "which many of our friends won't have the strength of heart to do, how do you suppose we do that?"

"Eh," Harry replied, shrugging, "wizards are stupid beyond a fault. All that magic is keeping them from thinking outside the box. You see, I came up with..." He broke off as another idea came to him. He snorted.

"Harry?" Ron asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Well, why not create touch-based Portkeys and let them rain down on the Death Eaters?" he answered.

"Portkeys don't kill," Lupin pointed out.

"Unless they're not properly spelled and malfunction, yes," Harry agreed while waving his old teacher off. "If they work properly, they'll just drop someone some place, even if they don't want to be there. Third Task, remember? But as far as I know, where they drop their load off is up to the creator of the Portkey. For example, right into the nest of a breeding Dragon. It'd be a bit of poetic justice – the Champion's revenge?" He chuckled. "On the other hand, if Portkeys can transport three-hundred kilometres north or south, west or east, why not a few hundred kilometres up? Or a few hundred feet below the surface of the sea? That should do it, right?" He looked around the room and was met with stunned silence.

"I... Harry, that's..." Lupin began, running a hand through his hair.

"Workable?" Moody offered, scratching his chin in thought. "Very worrying, especially since the same tactic could one day be used against us, but..." His eyes came to rest on Harry, almost as if he had begun to see him in a new light.

"Portkeys?" Daphne spoke up, pale-faced. "How do you want to do that? Ask the Death Eaters to please touch that Portkey?"

"Well," Harry pointed out, "I haven't worked out the details yet, true, but it's a start."

"If the mountain won't come to Muhammad," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow, "Muhammad must go to the mountain."

"Err?" Ron looked from her to Harry, both of whom had begun smiling, even if Hermione's was slightly shaky.

"If the Death Eaters won't touch the Portkey," Hermione explained, "we'll just have to make the Portkeys touch the Death Eaters. Is there any restriction to what can't be made into a Portkey?" She turned to Harry with a questioning look.

He thought about it. "Inconspicuous, usually, but that's mostly to not draw attention to it. It should be a reasonable size so that spelling it won't cause any trouble. Other than that? I don't think so. Seems like something we should investigate."

"Well," she told him, failing to suppress a giggle, "as long as we keep ourselves from getting touched, there's no reason why we should resort to something as crude as raining Portkeys down on our enemies. If the Death Eaters won't touch the Portkeys..." She pulled her wand and summoned a small flock of birds that circled the table.


"Right," Neville announced. "We'd better get back now or people will wonder where we've been. Thanks for... Well, you know."

In the background, Ginny helped a slightly ruffled Luna to her feet, the latter far less disgruntled than the former.

Hermione searched Harry's eye and nodded discreetly as she busied herself with replacing the cushions while Daphne vanished the rubble of Ron's latest crash.

"Fine," Harry agreed after a moment of hesitation. "Until the next time, I want you to work on yourself. Do a bit running, ideally some stairs. Look into agility. All the spells in the world won't help you if you get hit. Conversely, all the spells in the world won't bother you if they miss. So become quick on your feet, if you can."

"Will do," Neville promised. "Not sure what we can do around here, though. Granted, Malfoy and his flunkies aren't that much of a problem, but there's only so much we can do to counter his mother's whispers. Say what you will, but she does know a bit about History. And it's easy to forget who sent her as long as you don't listen too closely."

"And Pettigrew?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, our newest addition. Well, he's not popular. Not at all," Neville commented.

"He was locked out of his office all last week," Ginny added with a smirk. "Served him right."

"Yeah," Neville agreed, "only trouble is, he is another pair of eyes around here. It's not like we didn't have enough of those to watch for us." He hesitated, glancing around the room. "They won't let us leave, will they? They'll do something before summer?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, if it were just Luna or Ginny, they might have been content with keeping you isolated. Or perhaps they'd try to get them for some small infringement? Maybe questioning for something completely inconsequential? With something constantly coming up that requires delaying the actual hearing? Sure, sounds about right. Of course, it'd be a lot more hassle than just throwing you in some dank hole and letting you rot. But since your N.E.W.T.s are coming up, they'd have to choose between letting you walk out of their reach or taking you while they've got the chance. They'll be better off coming down hard on you –"

"And once they do that," Ginny announced with a glare at a spot somewhere over Harry's shoulder, "We'd know their game is up."

"They'd have us to deal with," Luna added. "There's no way we'd just stand by."

"That's what this is all for," Hermione supplied, stepping to Harry's side. "Trying to give you the tools to stay free. Sorry it took so long to get our act together –"

"Don't worry about it," Neville interrupted, waving her off. "You've been busy, I figure."

"We've made some progress," Harry gave back with a measured smile not unlike a politician's. "Not the all-deciding victory so far, but..." He laughed. "Well, we keep the Ministry stooges on their feet."

Ginny and Neville exchanged confused glances while Luna tapped her fingernails absent-mindedly and hummed some kind of tune.

"That's good to hear," Neville admitted with a look somewhere between happy and sad. "We don't hear much around here. The Prophet's pretty much the only news, and I doubt that really counts."

"Probably not," Harry agreed, chuckling. "Oh well, see you next time."

After bidding their good-byes, Harry lead them from the room.

"That went quite well, I think," Hermione said. "I think we should look into doing it regularly."

Ron rubbed his sore behind. "I could do without getting hit constantly."

"Well," Hermione mused, rolling her wand in her fingers, "I guess we could mix it up next time. Daphne can partner with Harry, I'm sure they won't mind." Her corner of her mouth twitched traitorously as she watched Ron fill in the rest of her suggestion. "If you'd feel better being at the end of my wand, that is?"

Harry pursed his lips. "It's not spells I'm concerned about right now," he admitted. "Sure, they'll need those as well, but with what we've got planned –"

"You didn't tell them," Daphne spoke up.

In the silence that followed, Harry and Hermione managed to keep their faces neutral, but Ron looked troubled.

"You didn't tell them why you suddenly wanted to 'teach them a thing or two'," Daphne said.

"I knew what you meant the first time," Harry agreed with a nod.

"They're your friends," she reminded him, catching up to him to watch his face. "Friends you plan to throw into the fight one day."

"I know," Harry admitted, rolling his eyes. Did she honestly think he didn't? "But right now, they don't need to know. More than that, telling them is a risk I'm not willing to take, not with them around Death Eaters about twenty-four hours of the day with no means to protect their minds." Here he shot Ron a pointed look who had the grace to blush.

"I'm on it," he mumbled. "It's hard, okay?"

Harry bit back the reply; everyone but Ron had learned it, even Harry. Everyone had an idea of what it meant to learn Occlumency. Hermione and Daphne had learned it acceptably in a reasonable amount of time – the latter so far refusing to have either Hermione or Harry actually test her skills – while Harry had done it both in secret for the most part and while also dealing with his schoolwork.

"There's a reason," Harry continued, "I asked Moody and Lupin to not go into detail and ideally making it look as if we planned on some open combat elsewhere. Six people knowing is already a lot, even if four of them are here. For now, it's enough if everyone knows to start training for a counter-offensive we're planning for. The worst case scenario would be for our enemies to hear about it before we've made our move. Where we'll fight is on a need-to-know basis. Not letting the enemy know what we're planning is the best to keep the school safe for now. Or do you think if Riddle heard about it he would just shrug and continue with his day? The least would be sending a warning to his people at Hogwarts to put them on guard. Or he might decide the time has come for the students to make their choice to join him or die."

"Not letting your enemy know what you're thinking," Daphne summed up.

"Exactly," Harry agreed. "But once the time has come, I'll probably fill in the blanks."

"We could ask Neville, Ginny, and Luna to start their recruiting," Hermione suggested. "There might be a lot of people who have given in or have been charmed by the Death Eater's promises, but there have to be some who simply don't know where to start working against them." With a smile to Harry, she added, "Not everyone's a natural at fighting the forces of evil, you know? Or have one at hand to tell them what to do."

"Cheh," Harry snorted, "shouldn't they still remember what they learned the last time? I mean, it's not even twenty years. With how long wizards live, the majority should be familiar with the terror Riddle spread the last time. And for that matter, why haven't they spent the time preparing for the next dark lord to rise? It's not like that doesn't happen from time to time. Grindelwald was only half a century ago?"

"Well," Hermione hummed, scratching her chin in thought, "it's a good point, actually. Wizards and witches don't really seem to learn from the mistakes as fast or as thorough as Muggles do. Then again... hmm." Her eyes wandered over the hallway. "You know, now that I think about it, Muggle society has been rather inventive and open to innovations in general in the past – what? Two centuries?" She looked to Harry for help. "I mean, think about it for a second. Take a look at Muggle society and compare it to the world two centuries ago. Sure a lot has stayed quite similar, but... Well, it seems as if Muggle society worldwide was propelled by a sudden explosion of innovation. Industrialization led to a change in work environments while its by-products led to improvements like drastic increases in agriculture. And the sciences led to new means of warfare and health care. And all of those inventions led to an avalanche of follow-up ideas. And when you consider how Muggles multiplied in those two-hundred years and by extension also increased the number of bright minds... The magical world on the other hand mostly missed out on those things. And since people tend to not adapt to change as easily the older they grow, it might be less of a case of wizards being slow to learn and more Muggles being too good at picking up new things after seeing so many inventions work so well?"

Ron and Daphne shared an unsure and insulted look, but Harry shrugged. "Could be, but come on. Grindelwald came along and declared his intentions to rule. He spread terror and attracted the wrong kind of attention, which led to him being defeated by Dumbledore. But what do you know, along comes V... comes a new dark lord. Well, who would have guessed, he spreads terror until he's defeated. And it's not like they were the first either."

"Not everyone's a fighter at heart," Ron pointed out.

"Well," Hermione spoke up, warding off his reply, "the point was that we could ask our friends at Hogwarts to start keeping their eyes and ears open in case they notice someone who might be an asset. Or at least keep an eye open so they'll know who'll be an enemy one day. We don't have to tell them we plan to bring the fight to Hogwarts. That should work, right?"

"Depending on how we phrase it, yes," Harry agreed. "As long as –"

"We don't reveal our hand too early," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yes, we know."

"So we don't let our enemies know what we know," Daphne repeated with a closed-off look. "A war-related secret."

"Yeah," Ron laughed, "so please don't, you know, let anyone know what we've got in store." His laughter, Harry noticed, died the moment Hermione glared at him. "I–I mean, not that you'd... you know? I... Err."

"I know, Weasley," Daphne replied with a shrug that only seemed casual. "I know what you think of me. You've made it clear enough."

Ron blushed profusely, gaping speechlessly, perhaps because both of his friends nodded once to signal their agreement with Daphne's statement.

"I get it; this is a war secret," Daphne continued, lazily waving away Ron's stuttered attempts at an apology.

"... problem..." Ron mumbled, "... listen..."

"It's a need-to-know basis what you already know about the–your enemies," Daphne told him, sending the redhead a smile Harry could see wasn't genuine, "and you're wary I might –"

"Tell?" Ron spat. "Not really, no. 't was a joke, all right? No need to take it so serious. You knew it was a joke, didn't you?" he asked Harry.

"I hadn't made up my mind," Harry admitted, shrugging.

"It's fine," Daphne said, avoiding everyone's eye for a moment. "I accept your apology."

Hermione was about to speak up when Daphne sent her a warning look. Ah, Harry thought, the trouble of peace-keeping.

"Well, I... Yeah, well, that's... I mean," Ron grumbled. "Yeah. Err, I... don't know about you, but I need –"

"Something to eat?" Hermione interrupted with a bit of an edge to her voice.

"A shower," Ron replied, looking a bit confused as he stopped mid-step to the stairs. "Or, well, now that you mention it, I really could use something to eat as well, so..."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to the stairs, Harry following her, only to notice someone wasn't. Daphne stood on her spot, staring off into the distance.

"You coming?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

She woke with a twitch, sending him a slightly unsure smile. "I... Yeah?"

Once she had closed the distance, Harry turned to walking, albeit a bit slower than Hermione or Ron. Daphne seemed to have read his mind – metaphorically, at least – and allowed them to fall back.

"He really doesn't like me, eh?" Daphne asked, keeping her voice low.

"I think it's just that he can't wrap his head around you not being a monster out to kill me or something," Harry chuckled. "He'll come around, I figure. One day. Probably once the war is done and he's had a bit of time to clear his head."

"No jokes about little work there?" Daphne snorted. Maybe by coincidence, Hermione glanced over her shoulder.

"Ehh," Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He might just need to start thinking for himself instead of some hearsay influencing him. Grow up, in essence. Get a bit of perspective. A bit of travelling the world goes a long way in that respect."

"And how would you know that?" Daphne wondered, sending Harry a glance.

"Common sense," Harry admitted, trying not to think of the travels he remembered that hadn't been his, but Riddle's. "Lots of new experiences to broaden the horizon, as the saying goes."

"Meaning he's got a narrow world view right now?"

Harry forced himself to not show his amusement at seeing a bit of her resentment show. "Maybe? I mean, he was fine with a lot of things that have come our way and went along with a lot of the crazy adventures that seem to constantly come up with me around, but..." He scratched his cheek. "Well, that might be it, actually. He went along. The adventure was already there, leaving Ron the choice between going along or turning his back on it. And me. He was willing to face a Basilisk. He's a Gryffindor for a reason. But faced with a situation he doesn't like that doesn't require immediate action? Or that's not quite black and white? I mean, he doesn't know you."

"And you?" Daphne asked. "Or Hermione?"

"He knows us well enough," Harry replied, earning himself a playful jab of her elbow. "But he can't figure you out, so he's cautious. He tried to warn me about you, but... Ehh. Mind you, he does have a point about watching who knows what and – Daphne?"

She had tripped, stumbling into him. "He – he warned you about me?" she asked, blinking rapidly.

"Tried to," Harry confirmed. "Don't know why, I didn't let him finish. You haven't run away yet, and we did agree on privacy, so whatever it is, it's your business as far as I'm concerned."

"Unh," she sighed, smiling shakily. "Thanks for trusting me." As she continued down the stairs, unintentionally catching up to a quietly bickering Ron and Hermione on the floor below, Harry thought she seemed to avoid his eyes, but glanced every-so-often to Ron with a closed-off expression.


You could almost think I don't like Ron. Then again, immature Ron is such a convenient plot device sometimes I'm beginning to understand why Rowling clung to it for almost seven books. Oh well.