"I've locked the changes to my magical signature, without that, no one can change anything about you." Harry assured the dragon.
"Good. I am… hungry. I would eat."
"Sure, come on, hop up here and we'll get you something to eat, then I'll show you my treasury. Alright?" Harry patted the carpet and Smaug stood and stretched, his wings spread, and his neck rose, while his tail was pushed out behind him. Then he nodded and leapt into the air, flying in a circle before landing on the carpet and looking at Harry, closely.
"You will make a reasonable attendant." He nodded again. "I shall stay with you."
Harry turned to Thorin. "So… What do you need done next?"
Thorin raised a brow at the question and turned to look at the Gates of Erebor, smothered in shiny blue foam and then back to Harry. "Harry, my friend… Look at my mountain… and ask that again." Thorin's voice was tired and a little disbelieving.
Harry did as Thorin asked and sighed. "Oh…"
"Yes. Oh…" Thorin tilted his head. "What are you going to do about it?"
"ME!? It wasn't my fault, I didn't touch the potions. Blame Severus and the twins, not me!" Harry squawked.
"I didn't mean you, personally, lulkhâ nadan, I mean 'you' as the leader of your people." Thorin said but kept muttering under his breath in khuzdul.
"Oh… Okay, that makes more sense." Harry nodded, his indignation gone. "I suppose we… umm… I think I need to talk to Severus and Bill and find out how long it takes for those potions to reach their peak efficiency. Before we make any other plans."
"Shall I leave that in your hands, or do you require assistance?" Thorin asked.
"I got this." Harry was already up and moving, a still yellow Smaug following him, muttering about disturbed sleep and lack of sunlit stones.
Severus had moved his house and lab from the Nest to the valley outside the crumbling walls of Dale. He'd cleared a patch of ground and placed the two wizarding buildings with their rears to the walls, looking out towards Erebor.
Harry stopped at a reasonable distance and sent a quiet Patronus message, alerting the potions Master to his presence. A second message was sent to Bill, asking him to join them.
"Potter, to what do I owe the honour?" The silken voice had a definite tone of menace to it. "I was about to start a particularly sensitive brewing."
"I apologise for the interruption." Harry gave a tired smile. "But Thorin raised the subject of how to empty the mountain of that foam, which made me think."
"Dangerous ground, best not to go there." Snape sneered.
"Don't really have much of an option, just yet." Harry disagreed.
"And what was this precarious foray into the delicate, and unknown to a Gryffindor, art of thinking, left you with?" The twitch of the potions Master's lip, decried his words, he was enjoying bantering with Harry.
"How long does it take for the potions you sent with us, to reach the peak of their potency?" Harry asked.
"Peak? In what way?"
"How long before we can start to break down the foam?" Harry sighed and asked bluntly.
"Ah." Snape nodded and sighed, too.
"And how do we do that?" Harry added.
"Ah." Snape nodded again. "The potions we used reach their maximum peak efficiency in two hours and stay at that level for a week. As for their removal? There are two options. Spray the foam with water, distilled water, that is. Or sunlight. Either way you are going to end up with floor covered with liquid."
"But won't spraying with water re-ignite the ashwinder's eggshells and the salamander blood?" Harry asked.
"Possibly, but unless you know how to create a miniature sun, it is the most feasible option." Snape reminded him.
"Is it sunlight or ultraviolet light that causes the potions to break down?" Harry asked seriously.
Snape blinked. "I'm not certain. I know that a high powered lumos is often enough, used in a domestic environment. But a housewitch usually only uses a half cup per five gallons of water…"
"… and we used one hundred gallons of super concentrate of each of Mrs Scower's Cleaner, the general antidote to poisons, the wiggenweld potion, the general healing potion, Gringotts' gold clearance potion and a general antiseptic potion, with no additional water." Harry sighed.
"Indeed." Snape smirked.
"How would one of the twins Solem ingem charms work? They use them for their hydroponics greenhouses as an additional light source for the tropical plants. We could take turns casting them into jars and levitating the jars into the different chambers."
"Why would you be doing that?" Bill asked as he trotted down from the path between Erebor and Dale.
"Oh, Potter was undertaking something extremely unwise... thinking. His thought processes are a mystery to all who know him, usually, but in this case…?" Snape snarked.
"In this case, Severus and I are trying to work out how to remove the foam from the mountain. He says water or sunlight." Harry went on.
"But…" Bill objected.
"Ashwinder eggshells and salamander blood?" Harry asked. "Yep, that's what I said."
"At which point Potter mentioned the menaces' greenhouse charm." Snape said.
"Hmm… or there is the solis charm, that's what's used in the pocket spaces to create a simulation of sunlight." Bill offered. "It's not as easy to control, but it's quite easy to cast."
"No, control is more important than ease." Harry objected. "We're going to be in the same space, getting sunburnt every time we cast is going to get irritating very quickly."
"I agree." Snape said.
"So, I guess I need to talk to the twins and get them to give a memory of casting, so that Hermione can make some training memories for the rest of us." Harry looked from one man to the other.
"Yes, you do. I run the potions lab not the charms classroom." Snape reminded him.
"And I'd rather deal with potions than the twins." Bill smirked.
Harry snorted and nodded. "Fair enough."
"Keep us informed of developments, if you please." Snape requested.
"Will do." Harry agreed and headed off to find the twins and his godfathers.
The next day started the two month long clean-up. First the foam had to be broken down, then the liquid had to be siphoned off using tergeo charms and processed until safe, then the stonework had to be repaired before the furniture and soft furnishings could be restored.
While the mountain was huge, the Hogwarts magicals were able to use reparo's, renovo's and a rebuilding charm sequence that Professor Flitwick had taught those that worked on the rebuilding of Hogwarts' castle and outbuildings. By the first weekend in October, the first of the dwarves were able to move into the mountain.
Dori, Nori and Ori moved into an apartment close to, but inside, the royal wing, stating that while they were related to the royal family, it was distant enough that they were more comfortable living elsewhere. Fíli and Kíli moved into their Uncle Frerin's rooms and Thorin moved back into his own rooms, he planned to move into the king's suite after his coronation, until that time he was using the rooms from his childhood. And Dwalin, Balin, Oín and Gloín, moved into the suites that their parents had lived in.
The brothers Ur had yet to move into the mountain, but when they did, Bifur would return to his prior position as Thorin's personal valet, while Bombur and Bofur had selected accommodation just down the hall from Dori, Nori and Ori. Not quite royal levels but highly respectable all the same.
The Hogwarts contingent had scouted around and after much debate had chosen to locate the new Hogwarts castle on the lower edge of the mountain's south arm. It was less than five miles from Erebor's main Gates and only a half mile from the Guard Tower of Ravenhill. The dwarves watched in amazement as stone was shaped and stacked to form an elegant castle with five massive towers, all surrounded by a lowset wall. The foundations were laid, and one tower was complete, before construction was halted, due to the preparations for the oncoming winter and the planning for the much-wanted influx of dwarves from the Blue Mountains or Ered Luin as the Thorin called it.
Dwalin, Gloín, Fíli and Kíli offered to head back to Ered Luin and inform Thorin's people that the mountain was waiting for them, but the oncoming winter concerned Thorin.
"What about carpets?" Kíli asked Thorin one day. "We could take a few days. One night with Beorn, one at Rivendell, one at Bilbo's, then on to Ered Luin."
Thorin blinked and hummed in thought, before going looking for Harry, finding him in the pavilion, sitting in on a class on transfiguration uses in building, with a number of the other students. "Kíli had a suggestion about Ered Luin." He went on to tell Harry, what Kíli had suggested. "What of powering the carpets? We've taken master Snape's Core Booster, how long until we know if they've worked for us? How long will a crystal sustain a carpet in flight? At what height? Bearing how much weight? Bearing how many people? Would it be simply to deposit those of my Company? Or would it be possible to collect those that would live in Erebor? How much many trips would it take to retrieve those that wish to join us?" The questions were fired in rapid succession.
"I'm uncertain." Harry frowned. "Miss Sissy would need to scan you all, that's way beyond me. As for carpets? Padma? Parvati? You two are the most familiar with carpets. What do you say, that you work with Thorin and his crew to come to some sort of arrangement in regard to getting someone to Ered Luin and whomever back from there? Agreed?"
Padma, Parvati and Lavender all exchanged glances, before nodding.
"We can do that, Harry." Lavender gave a smile. "Shall we meet with Thorin and Balin to discuss it?"
"Yes, please, Lavender." Harry smiled back at the girl, she'd had a hard time coming to grips with the emotional upheaval that the battle had left for her. "I think I speak for most of us from Hogwarts, when I say that if we need to charge unbonded crystals, just let us know. Don't forget to see Miss Sissy about core scans, that may make things a little easier. Don't bank on it, but it is a consideration."
"Ooh, yes." Padma gasped. "I'd forgotten bout the unbonded crystals. We'll talk to Thorin. About the carpets, crystals and find out who among his Company took the booster. Once we have all those details, the four of us can work out a solution."
"Brilliant, I'll leave that with you." Harry crossed it off his list. "Next is… What?"
"That would be me, Harry." Oliver had entered the pavilion a jog, during Padma's last comment. "I'd suggest that Lavender, Padma and Parvati do their research, but not take action, just yet. You and McGonagall assigned me to head security and work with Dwalin and the elves. Then gave me Justin, Colin, Dennis and Euan as scouts. We're seeing movement of orcs from both the north-west and from the south. Torvold and Jessian went to the north with Colin and Euan, they reported a force of over fifteen thousand. They're using some sort of massive earthworm, the damn things are taller than Gringotts, maybe a about fifty feet, no idea how long they are. There's a few trolls, too, mountain trolls by the look of it, and some sort of troll-giant cross bred thing, not a troll but not a true giant, either. They're about the same size as Hagrid's friend."
"Shite." Harry sighed.
"There's more. There's a smaller force coming from the south, more than five thousand but less than ten, it's a bit vague. The bloody things stayed in the fringes of the forest, so… getting exact numbers? It just wasn't going to happen. Sorry." Oliver shrugged. "Lendalen and Justin, are still tracking them. They're on a carpet under heavy disillusionment charms. Finfain and Dennis are a few hours in front, they'll leapfrog with Justin and Lendalen, one team resting while the other tracks." Oliver turned to Legolas and Kressian. "I suggest sending King Thranduil a warning. Dennis used an eavesdropping charm to try and listening, then he had to hold Finfain back, the orcs are coming here, and their plans are simple. Once they have the mountain, they'll start on the forest, they plan to burn it to the ground. They'll attack some place called Laketown and sink it, the leader was clear, they're not to allow any survivors, kill them all, he said."
"We must warn them." Legolas said. "The Master of Laketown is a greedy man, but Eryn Galen has contracts with the town for supplies. Without those supplies, those in my father's Halls will fall to hunger."
"Get together with Hermione and Justin. The three of you get to sort that. Hermione knows of the man that is the… What did you call him, Mione?" Harry interrupted himself.
"Bard is the descendant of Girion, the Lord of Dale." Hermione answered. "Girion fired a Black arrow at Smaug during his attack on the city, it hit and broke off a scale. Bard is the unofficial… he's the one the people turn to, he's accused of being the people's champion and frequently is the one to find food for the poor and medicinal herbs for the elderly and ill."
"I know of Bard, he is a bargeman. Our supplies are mostly delivered in barrels and he is the one that retrieves and delivers them back to the town." Legolas said.
"Right, we're out of our depth, a little, here." Harry shook his head. "Thorin? You're the most experienced when it comes to warfare, I'm handing everything over to you. Just… please remember that we need to be reasonably close to affect the enemy, not right in the thick of it, but close. We have a group of aerial fighters, Oliver lead a flight at Hogwarts and felt that it would be handy to have here, so he's been training them. The younger ones may not be ready for a full-on battle, but they can help behind the scenes, levitating the injured, conjuring arrows for the archers, helping the healers, that sort of thing."
"Yes, I understand. I would like to speak more with whomever can give me a breakdown of capabilities for each of your people. Knowing what I have to work with is essential." Thorin nodded.
"Frank and Severus." Harry answered. "They've been working with the contingent since the day after the battle. Frank has been working us hard, physically, with Severus right there beside him, snarking at us as we went. If we'd had a few more months before this hit, I might have thought about involving Smaug, getting him to fight with us, but I'm not sure that it'd work, he's still a bit anti-dwarf."
"No, leave him where he is." Thorin said. "Maybe have him guard the Nest or the infirmary? But no more than that, the risk of Azog or Bolg tempting him is just too great." Thorin agreed.
"I agree with Harry, I hand my people into your command." Legolas said to Thorin. "A messenger to my father would be advisable, but if someone would locate the White Gems, he'd be far more receptive to elven involvement."
"Agreed." Thorin nodded. "Harry? Would you and Bill see to that?" Thorin had only just started to use the name abbreviations that the Hogwarts people preferred.
"Will do." Harry nodded. "Send whoever is to be messenger to the mountain. Bill and I will be in the treasury." He waved to the Professor and left the pavilion at a jog, absently summoning a broom as he went.
"Thank you." Thorin called to his retreating back and turned to Oliver. "How fast are the orcs travelling? How many days do we have before they arrive? Best guess."
"A week to ten days?" Oliver grimaced. "No longer than a fortnight at the outside, but certainly no less than a week."
"Good, that I can work with. I need to find Balin, then Master Snape. If you would be so kind as to send a message to Auror Longbottom and Dwalin, tell them I would speak with them in the Gate Guard room." Thorin requested.
"I can do that." Oliver nodded. "I'm assuming you want me to hang around and give a more detailed report?"
"Yes, please. Legolas? If you and Kressian would join us, I believe we can get plans underway." Thorin took a deep breath. "Let's get started." Legolas and Oliver nodded and headed for the mountain, while Thorin grabbed a broom and headed for Snape's lab.