Chapter 27: Atonement and Planning

The morning after the attacks, Harry joined Snape in the Great Hall, after his morning training with Dumbledore and Sterling. While he had not been able to yet draw the elements out of nothing, he was able to manipulate fire that already existed, and mold the clay of the earth into objects.

Bowing, Harry loudly announced, "Master Shadowman, I apologize to you for my behavior yesterday morning. I was exhausted and emotionally spent, but that is no excuse for the disrespect and dishonor I brought upon you. I present myself for punishment in front of the Guard and the school as witnesses."

Snape raised an eyebrow as he stared levelly at Harry. Harry could feel others staring too. They watched one another carefully. Snape had been willing to let this one mistake go. Harry, sensing that, forced Snape's hand. This was sending a clear and loud signal to the Junior Guard and Guard: Harry's own position of authority would not excuse him from poor discipline. Further, this rarely-used formal presentation, within the Mastery, typically implied a harsh punishment to come. The presentation of the apprentice meant that the Master had to respond with punishment.

Snape finally relented, noting the straightness of Harry's back and the hardness in his eyes. "You may wait in the front-leaning rest position while I finish breakfast, Apprentice."

Harry nodded, grateful Snape would follow through. As he settled into the top position of a push-up and waited, he listened idly as Terran explained to Ginny that Harry's request was rarely used, and tended to indicate several hours of pain. "Terran, can you please inform Master White that he will be taking my classes this morning?" Snape asked.

"Yes, Sir," the boy agreed, pushing himself away from the table, and setting off to a table on the other side of the hall. As Terran returned, Harry heard a scraping, as Ginny pushed her chair back and walked around the table to join him.

"Masters," Terran bowed. "As Lieutenants of the Guard, Pandora and I present ourselves for punishment with our Commander. Where he falls, we fall."

With that, both apprentices fell into the front-leaning rest position with him. Harry turned to argue, but Snape first spoke loudly, having heard several additional chairs. "Pandora and Terran, your request is granted, foolish though it may be. And not a single additional person's will be granted," this was directed at the students and apprentices who had already begun to push back their chairs. "First of all, very few of you will be able to keep up. Second of all, the intention of this honored tradition is not to make others suffer. It is a plea for absolution. None of you require such a thing." Mollified, Snape stood.

"I believe," Dumbledore spoke quietly, "That many of you have responsibilities this morning."

"Get up," Snape said to the three, as the hall began emptying of students, masters, apprentices, and faculty, leaving Dumbledore with Snape, Saldor, Silverwood, Isaac, and Atwater, all of whom had been seated at the same round table. "You three may wait by the door," he ordered, "silently."

Harry swiftly moved to the exit of the Hall, standing motionless, as he waited for his master. He could not hear what was being spoken, nor did he care. He waited, feeling Ginny shift uncomfortably beside him. He realized that she truly had no idea what she had signed up for.

With a nod to the others, Isaac swiftly left the hall, ignoring the three apprentices standing at attention. Finally, Dumbledore also left. Saldor approached with the other two, stopping in front of Ginny. "You are sure, Pandora, that you would like to do this?"

"Yes, Sir," Ginny nodded. "As Terran said, we are a team. We are Aeter's leadership, and so it is our job to make sure we bear our share."

"And you, Terran?" Silverwood asked.

"Without a doubt, Sir."

Snape sighed and looked at Harry. Harry stared back stoically. "Will this help you?" Snape quietly asked. "You know the intensity of the request is much greater than your actions yesterday."

Harry blinked twice but did not respond beyond a sharp nod. "Very well. Fletcher has indicated the Training Hall is free today."

As the small group arrived at the Training Hall, Harry pushed the door open. Standing inside were several people: Strider and Atwater watched Harry keenly as he entered, Isaac stood near the back with Fletcher, talking quietly to Smythe. Ron and Hermione were with Sirius and Remus, and a small group of Fred, George, Neville, and Luna stood off to the side. Small groups of his best students and apprentices waited, totalling about thirty, in all.

Harry paused, and it was Neville who first dropped to one knee. "Aeternus, we cannot bear this with you today, but we are yours to command." The others followed in his stead, until only the masters remained standing.

Still on one knee, Ron spoke. "Aeternus, we will make them pay for what they have done."

Harry looked around, closed his eyes for a moment, before glancing up again. "You know that fighting could mean you die?"

"We've always known," Hermione said quietly. "But it's worth fighting for."

Harry gave them all a small smile, grateful to their loyalty. "Thank you, all. Go. You have duties to see to. We will win."

As everybody filed out, Harry was surprised to find Isaac stopping in front of him. "You did us proud in battle this week. Do not doubt that. They are monsters. That you feel so much for those lives proves why you are the better man." Without waiting for a response, the man followed Atwater out of the room.

"Training clothes. No shoes," Snape indicated without waiting for a response. Clearly expecting the three to obey immediately, he turned to speak quietly with the other two masters.

Leaving the locker room, Harry approached the three men. "You will await your peers in the front-leaning rest, again." Harry usually hated this position. He found it awkward and uncomfortable, but said nothing as he complied. When first Terran and the Ginny came out, Harry had only been in position for two minutes.

Moving to stand, he was stopped by Saldor. "Ah, no, Aeternus, you will maintain that form while the other two join us in a duel." He turned to the other two and gestured to them to follow him and Silverwood the short distance to the marked dueling circle.

Several minutes in, it became clear that neither master intended to allow this duel to end quickly. Both pushed at a fast pace, casting at the two apprentices from every side, careful to hit them with strong stinging hexes only. The two were easily forced onto the defensive, dodging hexes that were thrown at them more quickly than they had ever done so before.

Meanwhile, Snape settled on one knee beside his own apprentice. "Why are we here, Aeter?" He asked quietly.

"I yelled at you, Sir."

"That's the reasoning you gave, but we all know this is not the appropriate course of action. Why are we here?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. "Because I can't save them. People are dying every day that this war does not end. People who don't deserve to die."

Snape stared at the boy. "Ah. You are wrong. We are here because you are not responsible to save the world. You will. The weight of the world is on your shoulders, but you are not at fault when people are killed. Your self-flaggelation will only harm your cause."

Harry did not respond, but looked back to the duel, where Terran and Ginny were tiring quickly. Looking at the ground, Harry realized his own arms were shaking, but Snape was hardly finished. "We will remain here, Aeter, until you recognize that what happened this week is not your fault."

"But, Sir-"

Harry was interrupted by the glare sent his way. "You will be continuing to meet with Master Atwater for counseling," the man announced. "We will also treat any further self blame with punitive action. You will fight him, and you will win. Understood?"

Harry looked down, his arms shaking more noticeably now. "Yes, Sir," Harry relented.

By the time lunch came around, it was an overly-exhausted trio that dragged themselves into the Great Hall behind their masters. "Sorry," Harry finally admitted as they each collapsed into a seat. "My melodrama pulled you guys in."

Terran and Ginny both stared at him for a moment. "Aeter," Terran began slowly. "We both volunteered. It was a hard, strenuous workout, but where you go, we will follow. We trust you."

It was that evening that Harry dropped the book he was reading on his lap. "Sir," he turned to his silent master, "What are the chances that Voldemort will attack this spring?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "If we continue to halt his attacks and embarrass him, he'll want to prove himself. It's very likely that by April, we'll have at least had an attempt."

"We should let him attack, Sir," Harry said quietly. "We'll be ready."

Snape stared at Harry for a moment. "We will need to discuss this with the War Council. We'll need plans for evacuating at a moment's notice before we bring it to him. If we can't eradicate the loss of innocent lives, the Headmaster will never go for it."

"Nor will I," Harry agreed.

"We'll want to evacuate Hogsmeade somehow, too," Snape mused.

"As soon as the wards are broached," Harry agreed. "How soon can we get the War Council together?"

"In the morning," Snape said firmly. "I'll send a note to Sterling and Dumbledore."

Reluctantly, Harry agreed, noting that nobody would be pleased to be meeting at quarter to nine. "Ought we to include Terran and Pandora?" Harry asked cautiously.

Snape shook his head. "Eventually, but when to pull them in will be up to their masters and Sterling. Once the War Council has an agreement or plan, we'll have a better idea when to include the myriad of people that will need to be read in. For now, we'll keep it only to the War Council itself."

It turned out, with the exception of Dumbledore, the entirety of the War Council felt that a spring attack by Voldemort was inevitable. Many of them felt it might occur as early as March, or as late as May.

Fletcher and Isaac, coming to enjoy one another's company and create a friendship, had both begun to share their own ideas, whispering to one another occasionally. Moody and Shacklebolt watched the two curiously, almost as though they were feeling a little left out of the planning.

Saldor had sat quietly and listened to Harry, his face stoic and not betraying anything. Both Sterling and Silverwood were jotting thoughts and ideas down, looking quite the pair, side-by-side.

Finally, as Harry wound down, surprised that Snape had not said anything, he looked around, surprised to find the room watching him with rapt attention.

"My boy," Dumbledore began hesitantly, "I'm not sure we should risk the students—"

"Albus, you know as well as we do that Voldemort is itching to attack Hogwarts. Honestly, we'll be lucky if he doesn't attack the train in a couple of weeks," Saldor said. "Aeternus, have you considered how we would evacuate?"

"The Room of Requirement," Harry said softly. "And the passageways. I'd like a dual approach in case one is compromised. I would also like to create an impenetrable room that can not be breached unless Hogwarts falls, at which point apparition out of the room will be possible."

Dumbledore rested his head in his hands. His movement caused everybody to remain silent and look at him. It was a minute before he spoke. "All the lives…" he muttered into his hands. Finally, he looked at Sterling. "The Board will be in support, I presume?"

Sterling nodded. "I am going to authorize Silverwood to pull any masters from the field at this time, or at a later date. I will, of course, be requesting notification, Reg." Silverwood nodded. "Most of the Board will be here. Reg, I will trust you to plan, but the Board will request an update every week, either at Headquarters or here."

"Thank you, milord," Silverwood bowed.

Dumbledore sighed. "Minerva will kill me, but if this war can end…"

Harry looked at Dumbledore, emerald eyes piercing Dumbledore's silver ones. "I'm going to take that bastard down," Harry said quietly. "Then Hogwarts can be a school again."