"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.
Narcissa sat beside a smirking Severus Snape. Not something totally unusual, but the fact that Harry Potter, who sat on the other side of the potions Master, Sirius Black who sat beside his husband in the audience, and the Weasley twins, were all wearing the same smirk, was.
"Alright, settle down, please." Narcissa said, in her no-nonsense medi-witch's voice. "Thank you. We laid out a rough outline for the upcoming… battle…" The word was sneered daintily. "Jessian and Lendalen are on route to Eryn Galen, to return the White Gems to Thranduil and to notify him that two armies of orcs are set to converge on Erebor in a few days, and ask for reinforcements, food and medical supplies. Torvold and Windelor are en route to Lake Town to warn Bard and the Master of the orcs and advise them to get their people out or pull up the bridge between the town and the lake-fringes." She laid aside a single sheet of parchment. "Fleur has agreed to assist me, when they return, to brief them on the contents of this meeting. Merci beaucoup, ma cherie." The last was said in French and directed to Fleur.
"De rein." Fleur responded in the same language and nodded regally to Narcissa.
"To the battle, itself." Narcissa barely withheld her dislike at the thought of another war. "After we finish here, Colin will take Balin to meet up with Thorin's cousin, Dáin, so that he can be briefed. Thank you, both." She nodded to Balin and Colin. "Everyone has put forward their ideas, over the last two days and Thorin, Dwalin, Harry, Severus, Legolas and Kressian have met and read through them. As I said, a rough outline has been reached, we will need to finesse this down further, of course, but I did say 'rough'. We will be dividing into teams and each team will have a chance to refine their… attacks…." She pulled her wand and flicked it at the wall , off to her right and a large sheet of parchment became visible. "Once I announce the teams, I'd like you to move into those teams, left to right," she waved her hand from one side to the other.
A few voices agreed but most people just nodded and let her continue.
"Thank you. Team one? Lavender, Padma and Parvati. Team two? Luna, Fleur, Sirius and Remus. Team three? Bilbo, Colin, Dennis, Euan, Natalie, Headley and Justin. Team four? Severus, Harry and Thorin. Team five? The Weasley brothers, the quidditch queens, Frank, Alice, Draco, Oliver, Ori, Fíli, Bofur and Nori. Team six? Hermione, Kíli and our elven archers. Team seven? Neville, Seamus, our dwarven allies and any elves that prefer blades over arrows. Team eight? All other magicals. Team nine? Myself and Oín. If everyone would please move into your teams?"
There was a few minutes of clattering noise as people moved and took their chairs with them, a few muttered comments and a magical in each group, conjured up a sign that floated above them with their group number on it.
"Thank you. If there is anyone that feels that they are in the wrong group, I ask you to wait until duties are assigned, as that may change your mind." Narcissa held up a hand as a couple of people raised their own hands, those hands fell and the people attached to them nodded. "Again, thank you. We are basing most of our attacks on confusion, this is because we will have a limited number of people who will be in the actual battle, in comparison to the enemy. No-one we've spoken to has been able to determine a single reason for an orc to be spared, not one that stood up to scrutiny, anyway. As a result of this, we have determined that the only possible outcome for this battle is that the orcs and their allies must die." Narcissa's comments were greeted by a multitude of agreements. "Unfortunately we only have a limited number of people that are prepared to be directly responsible for ending the life of another being, even one so foul as an orc."
"Hence the pranks?" Hermione asked.
"Hence the pranks. Without knowing if and how many elves Thranduil may send or if he will even allow Jessian and Lendalen return to us, we are only counting those on those who have stayed here and Torvold and Windelor. However, Thorin has been in contact with Dáin, we know that he's bringing five hundred and fifty warriors with him and that they'll be here late tomorrow evening. That should, hopefully, give them a full day to recover from the hurried journey and a second day to prepare for the battle itself. That being the case, we are planning on five hundred and sixty three dwarves, sixteen elves, thirty four magicals and one hobbit. We are not including Teddy, as an infant, he will not be involved and will stay in the mountain, at the healer's station, with myself."
"Thank you, Sissy." Sirius gave his cousin a smile.
"You're welcome, Siri." She replied. "Each team will be assigned an area to target and each area will be clearly marked. Please try not to encroach on another team's areas, your method of attack may not complement theirs and may render both methods defunct." The grumbling that had started, when she'd mentioned not encroaching, stopped when she told them why.
"There are three areas that will cover the entire battlefield between them. Pink to the left, purple in the centre and blue to the right. Wait. Allow me to explain further and you will understand why this is so." She held up a hand again. "Team one are pink, they will be laying something that Hermione calls landmines, bombs hidden under a layer of dirt, camouflaged to look like the ground around it. but instead of explosives containing metal, they will contain bath bombs and other personal hygiene products. For those that haven't seen a bath bomb, the girls have a demonstration for later. These bombs will be highly scented and have cleansing charms and soap centres. They will also be casting a myriad of hygiene charms on the ocrs."
There were a few giggles and laughs.
"Exactly." Narcissa pursed her lips. "Orcs are filthy creatures that revel in dirt, decay and death. We are going to be using that to our advantage. Our actual killing force is limited, so confusion must reign long enough, for that force to be effective."
Faces cleared and heads nodded, now they understood.
"Team two have the purple section and their landmines will be transfiguring orc clothing and armour, into a number of things. Mostly ridiculous things. Silk, lace, ribbons, feather boas, corsets, lingerie, swimwear, if you can think of something, do it." She smiled at the anticipation on Sirius and Luna's faces.
"Team three will have the blue section and, in addition to landmines containing a variety of potions, they will be using muggle weapons, paint guns, Justin called them, to deliver small pellets of liquids that will burst upon impact. Each of these pellets are shrunken, or at least the exterior of them is shrunk, they each contain largish amounts of liquid. Liquids like soap, honey, perfume and cleansers." Narcissa paused as people laughed.
"Team four will be in charge of setting off the hidden traps, be they physical like the landmines or magical, like leviocorpus nets. They'll be on brooms, well above the battle itself. However, we understand that Thorin and Legolas wish to be the ones to deal with the orc leaders, and we'll support them however we can. Team five will be the aerial attacks, they'll be using potions and powders in small parcels that will burst on impact. These will contain various things. Cleaning potions, shrinking potions, blindness potions, itching powders, blindness powders, disinfectant potions and liquidised cleaning charms. And the Wonder-Witch range from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes."
The twins laughed and jumped up giving each other high-fives.
"Yes, yes, we're using whatever we can to distract and confuse our enemies." Narcissa waved them down. "Team six are the archers, at this point in time all magicals are charging crystals for recovery use, but shortly we are going to turn to other things, potions and prep-work for those that are safe in a potions lab, conjuring arrows for others, charming our allies' clothing and weapons for others. We will have many allies out on the battlefield and all of them will be exposed to whatever is out there. The only defence they will have from our landmines is what we give them prior to the battle."
Most people nodded, while a few frowned, not quite understanding.
"That will make more sense in a few moments, I assure you." Narcissa advised. "Team seven are… team seven will be physically on the battlefield, they are the ones that will be predominantly responsible for ending the lives of our enemies. Team eight will be the magical equivalent, casting cutting hexes, blasting curses, heartstoppers, reverse bubbleheads and other charms, hexes and jinxes that will be fatal if not treated."
Eyes opened and mouths fell.
"Exactly. Team nine will remain inside the mountain, staffing the healers' station." Narcissa sat back. "Harry is going to hand out to each team a listing of pranks that we'd like each team to prepare, most of these will be placed in fixed positions that will allow us to channel the orcs into the area set aside for team seven's use. Now, I'd prefer you all to think about this for a few minutes, but if after taking that time, you believe that you belong in a different team, please approach calmly and present your reasoning."
A young blond lad, very similar to the one that flew him to the mountain, lead a still dazed Dáin into Thorin's office. "Thorin? Colin brought Dáin here. Dain said, Balin said something about getting this troops here faster? He's a bit wobbly, but getting better, a calming draught would go a long way. Want me to fetch one?" The lad was bubbling over with enthusiasm.
"Yes, Dennis, thank you. If you would also locate Harry, Legolas and Severus, I'd much appreciate it." Thorin spoke to the young lad.
"I can do that." Dennis bounced on his toes and darted away.
"He makes me tired just watching him." Thorin muttered.
"Iffen he's anything like the other one, I kin understand why." Dáin nodded and the two dwarves shared a moment of commiseration before really grasping who the other was. "Cousin!" Dáin yelled and thumped across the room.
"Dáin!" Thorin met him halfway and after a brief embrace, the two lined up and… CRASH! Two foreheads collided.
"Good to see you, cousin." Dáin sighed in pleasure at having family in the mountain again. "I got your raven and rounded up a few lads, they'll be here before dark, or shortly after."
"Aye, that's grand, cousin. We've a war to win." Thorin replied.
"Bloody long-legged tree huggers." Dáin muttered.
"Nay, Dáin, not the elves, not this time. Orcs, there's two damn armies headed for my mountain and I've less than a hundred people to repel them with." Thorin corrected. "Which is why I sent for you."
"Not the elves?" Dáin raised a brow in surprise.
"Nay, not the elves. In this, I've a prince of Eryn Galen as an ally, Thranduil granted his younger son release, gave him permission to carve out a Principality of his own. Legolas and I have reached an agreement, he and his will aid Erebor as though they were citizens of the mountain, in exchange he and his will have all rights to that little stretch of forest off to the west, the one that almost reaches Eryn Galen, but falls short by a few miles, that and hunting rights on the mountain and to anything to the north of Dale. The elves aren't my only allies, there's a small community of magicals, as well. They'll be settling on the surface on the south arm. Of course, a small mutual tithe will be paid by all. Erebor will provide building materials, the elves will provide timber and game and the magicals will provide transport and education."
Dáin tilted his head and hummed in thought. "That's going to be… interesting…"
"You have no idea…" Thorin laughed.
"Having Balin and young Colin appear, riding on a floor rug…? I wasn't expecting that. Having Colin suggest that he brought me here for a proper briefing, in advance of the lads… I wasn't too sure about, but Balin seemed to think it a fine idea." Dáin shook his head.
"He would, at that." Thorin nodded.
"Riding on that… rug… It's not to my liking, cousin." The distaste on Dáin's face made Thorin snort.
"Nor to mine, I prefer one of the modified brooms, while Balin prefers his chair." At the confused look on Dáin's face, Thorin added. "Something for later, Dáin, after a briefing. Just wait until you watch a game of quidditch."
"Quidditch? Young Colin mentioned it, played on brooms, right?" Dáin asked.
"Oh, yes, but trying to explain it, is like trying to explain to an outsider, how a seam of mithril sounds. It just doesn't translate, you have to hear it for yourself, or in the case of quidditch, see it for yourself." Thorin explained.
"Ah…"
A quiet knock on the timber frame of Thorin's office door, had both dwarves turning.
"Harry, Legolas, come in. Have a seat." Thorin waved in two people. "Dáin, these are Legolas, prince of Eryn Galen and whatever he plans to call his new princedom and Harry, Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Harry, Legolas, my cousin Dáin Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills. Is Severus not joining us?"
Dáin studied them as they crossed the office to a trio of chairs. One was clearly an elf, tall, long-legged with pale silvery/gold hair and light blue eyes. The other was a young Man, or that was how he appeared. Pale skin, just a hint of warmth to his colouring, with rich green eyes that seemed old before their time, even with the gleam of innocent mischief dancing in them. Messy hair and dirty clothes, he looked like a street urchin from a human town, but his bearing and his eyes contradicted his appearance, as he handed Thorin a small bottle.
"One calming draught, Dennis said something about you wanting one? Oh, and Severus will be along shortly, he's just finishing up on bottling the last of the antidote potions. Fred and George are monitoring the anti-charm potions, they need another hour and a half before they can be bottled, but there'll be plenty for Dáin's warriors to spray their weapons and armour." Harry replied and bowed to Dáin. "Welcome to Erebor, Lord Dáin. I hope that our enemies tremble in fear at our alliance."
"I, too, welcome the warriors of the Iron Hills, if their Lord will accept my allegiance." Legolas followed Harry's lead and bowed to the redheaded dwarf.
"Pretty manners." Dáin grunted to Thorin, before nodding to them both. "We'll see. Your stance with Erebor will go far to gaining my dwarves approval… and mine."
"Fair enough." Harry nodded and opened his mouth to continue when a tall man in black clothes knocked on the doorframe.
"Severus, please join us." Thorin called him in. "Dáin, this is Master of Potions, Severus Snape. Severus, my cousin Dáin, Lord of the Iron Hills. Both of you sit down, we have a lot to discuss. Harry? If you would start, please?" He handed the small bottle to Dáin. "Down that in one go, it tastes foul, but works well." Dáin nodded and swallowed the purple liquid, grimacing at the chalky taste.
"Sure. Severus? Will you make sure I don't leave anything out?" Harry asked.
"Always, Potter." Snape nodded.
"Right, so we have two armies coming at us, one from…" Harry began to brief Dáin on what they were expecting and how they planned to deal with it.
As Dáin left with Harry to meet up with Colin, who was going to fly him back to his warriors, the young wizard told him about Kíli's comment and Padma, Parvati and Lavender's plans to use carpets, to transport Thorin's people from Ered Luin to Erebor.
"And these carpets? You think that these ainuth, these girls…? They can do this? Transport hundreds of dwarves, across a thousand miles, on floor rugs?" The disbelief was clear.
Harry just laughed. "Let me ask you something. Have you ever known a female to admit they can't do something that they want to? Have you ever known a female to back down from what she wants? What makes you think that human females are any different than dwarven females?"
"Huh… Do they have enough rugs? Or people to fly them?"
"As far as I know…? Yes. Padma and Parvati come from a very ethnically traditional family, one that disowned them when Parvati was injured, she wasn't perfect anymore and her family wanted nothing to do with a damaged female. Padma stuck by her twin and was disowned for her actions." Harry held up a hand to stall Dáin's disgust. "I was most displeased with the Patil family and I let it be known, it cost them a large sum of money, both the girls' had betrothal contracts, which I made their families pay out, I also made sure that both girls got their complete dowries and trust vaults. On top of that I insisted on a payout for the girls, both of them took it as carpets and other traditional materials. Then I watched as they were adopted into a friend's family, as his sisters."
Dáin said nothing but Harry heard a rumble from the dwarf.
"I wasn't that polite. I sent their family, and a number of other families, a howler." At Dáin's raised brow, Harry continued. "A howler is a letter that usually records the sender's verbal message. They're rarely pleasant and tend to be used to express severe displeasure."
"That why they're called howlers?" Dáin asked.
"It is." Harry grinned.
"So, the girls have rugs, enough to transport the nearly five thousand dwarves from one side of the continent to the other." Dáin nodded.
"They do, but I doubt that they're going to do that to start with. I think Thorin plans to call for workers, first. Let people get ready to move, but only bring enough to repair the inside of the mountain. Magic can do a lot, but if we don't understand the type of construction, we aren't going to be much help. Thorin needs builders and miners, farming can be left to Hogwarts, for the moment, while hunting will be predominantly the elves bailiwick." Harry sighed. "Even with Thorin backing them, not everyone is going to want to leave the relevant safety of Ered Luin. The memories and tales of the dragon will see to that."
"Maybe, but the chance to live and prosper will be very tempting, you're going to have to watch out for freeloaders." Dáin warned.
"Thorin's well aware and the rest of us will see that any that think they can take advantage of him… well, let's just say, they'll regret it." Harry's voice went hard, his eyes cold, and Dáin realised that the young Man wasn't as innocent as he had assumed.
"Hmm… Balin mentioned that some of Thorin's lads have taken some sort of brew that will let them do magic?" It came out as a question.
"Yes, Miss Sissy tested them all and dwarves, or at least those of the Company have a magical core that's been stunted by lack of exposure to ambient magic. Severus worked out a… well, it's a type of booster, it opens their core and encourages it to grow. If they had the lifespan of a human, their cores wouldn't reach full maturity before they died, but dwarves life longer, almost double that of most magicals. I don't know how many will be able to use a wand, but most of them will be able to fly a broom or carpet, without draining their core dangerously. Hermione and Alice are working on a charm that will enable them to use the booster crystal as a way to the crystals to help their cores. But that could take them a while, months definitely, maybe years." Harry replied.
"So… the girls will have plenty of fliers to draft to man these rugs…" Dáin hummed.
"They will." Harry nodded. "But we're not going to worry about that until the orcs are dealt with. Oh, there's Colin." Harry pointed to an area up ahead of them but off to the right. "Colin! Got everything?"
"Yeah." Colin yelled back. "Professor Snape's sending Justin with us, wants him to show the dwarves how to use the spray packs, so it won't be down to just one person to spray everybody's stuff." He was loading a large cask through a door into a pocket-space. "As soon as Lord Dáin is ready, we're cleared to leave." He closed the door and shrunk the frame, tucking it in the satchel that was slung over his shoulder.
"How long do we have before the orcs reach us?" Dáin asked.
"Three days." Harry answered. "You and your dwarves should get here late tonight, that will give them two days to rest, prepare and be briefed. We estimate that the force from Dol Guldur should arrive first, likely early morning, the force from Gundabad will be a few hours behind them. Thorin and Severus believe that this is deliberate, the intention being to let us get into the battle and then overwhelm us from two different directions."
"But as you know this, it won't be a surprise and won't have the effect that the orc leaders are hoping for." Dáin nodded approvingly.
"Exactly." Harry grinned.
"Well, done." He thumped Harry on the shoulder and stomped off towards Colin. "Let's get back to my lads, before they think I've abandoned them." He settled on the carpet and nodded to Colin. "When you're ready, Master Colin."
"See ya later, Harry." Colin waved and the carpet rose into the air and began its journey east.