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Chapter 17-- Preparations
Harry woke up feeling extremely rested. Snuggled up at the base of his feet was his new familiar, Alissa. Carefully getting out of his bed without disturbing Alissa. He made his way out of his master suite and down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen, Harry began to prepare breakfast when Winky appeared silently with a stern look on her face.
"What is it that Master is doing in the Kitchen? It looks to Winky like Master is attempting to make food." said an irritated Winky.
"That is exactly what I am doing Winky. Don't get me wrong, you know I love your cooking but every once in awhile, I enjoy cooking. I used to hate it, mostly because I was forced to do so and when I was little…" Harry paused lost in his thoughts as he continued to pull out pans and walk towards the refrigerator, pulling out food.
"Dobby has told me little about your younger years…..I am sorry Master Harry, if you want you can talk with me about it. You know that I am forbidden to discuss anything you do not wish with anyone, even under torture." said Winky as she hesitantly placed her hand on Harry's shoulder as he sat at the table, placing the sausage and eggs he pulled from fridge down, still lost in thought.
" Thanks Winky….I really don't know why I feel like this sometimes….I'm not used to talking about it I guess. I hated cooking for my relatives mostly because they would hurt me if it wasn't to their liking. But really why I hated them was because they used to taunt me with the food that I cooked. They would love to watch me staring at the food, hoping to have some, but they never did, they would eat it all or sometimes throw away their left overs." Harry said as he was lost in thought once again before continuing.
" As the years went by, I found peace in cooking. It's kinda like potion making really. The fresher the ingredients the better the result. Plus their was the upside that I was left alone to do the cooking, no matter how long it took me, and the better my cooking abilities became, the less frequently I was hurt." said Harry as he finally shook those disturbing thoughts from his mind as he rose and continued his preparation.
"They should have never treated you that way, you did nothing wrong to deserve such treatment." said Winky with a little anger in her tone.
"I know that, but it doesn't stop it from happening does it? You never did anything to deserve such horrible treatment from the Crouch Family either, but that didn't stop them from treating you like trash. I guess some people just have evil tendencies no mater how hard they try to hide it. One thing I have learned is evil comes in many forms." finished Harry as he looked over to Winky who was rubbing her hands together as she watched her Master prepare breakfast. Harry thought that bringing up the Crouch Family was upsetting her like this, before it dawned on him what was really troubling her.
" Winky, would like to assist me in making breakfast for everyone? I have never had help in cooking anything, I don't really need it but it would be nice to experience what it would be like to have four hands while preparing the food?" Harry let the question linger as he looked to Winky who went from wringing her hands to slowly letting them fall to her sides as she let out a few tears.
"I would love to Master Harry sir" said Winky as the two got down to work making a full spread enough for a whole army.
As the aromas' of some amazing cooking left the kitchen and rose to the upper levels, people began to stir and awake. Minutes later, everyone was down in the kitchen and eating some amazing breakfast.
"You really out did yourself this morning Winky, this tastes absolutely amazing." said Krista as everyone at the table nodded their heads in agreement.
Winky blushed a little bit before stating, "I can not take full credit for breakfast today for I did not make it by myself."
Everyone turned towards Dobby assuming it was he who helped her until Dobby spoke.
"It wasn't I, it was My Master, Harry." at hearing this statement everyone turned towards Harry who had a little smirk on his face at the astonished looks on his friends faces.
"At least I learned something useful from my abusive relatives." said Harry as an awkward silence took hold over the table. It was Neville that broke the silence.
"What time are the Twins and Remus coming over this morning?"
"Well, seeing how it is only four thirty in the morning outside this trunk, I figured we could get some training in this morning and set Luna up with her training schedule to get her on par with the rest of you ladies, before I call the twins over. As for Remus, I wanted him to have a little rest before I introduced him to everyone, he is currently sleeping in Harrington Two." said Harry as even Neville didn't know about that.
Everyone agreed to Harry's suggestion and after some time had passed to digest their breakfast, the five teenagers left Harrington One and re-entered Harry's Privet Drive Bedroom. Krista and Jennifer took Luna into the dueling room to show her how to operate the marvelous creation of Dobby's, while Harry and Neville went down in Harrington Two to have a little conversation with their ex-professor.
After Making their way down and entering the mini-mansion, Neville and Harry found Remus sitting in the main living area drinking tea and reading old Daily Prophets. After smelling Harry's presence, Remus greeted Harry without turning around.
"Morning Cub, I need to thank you once again for letting me stay in this marvelous trunk of yours, I haven't felt this at peace in so long." said Remus as he finally put the paper down he was reading and turned to face a smiling Harry and a curious Neville.
"I already told you Remus to stop thanking me, after what you said the other day, that oath you gave, you have no idea how important that was too me." said Harry as Remus stood as the surprise of a new guest finally vanished as he realized who it was.
"Mister Longbottom, it has been some time since I have last seen you, I must say you are looking very much like your Longbottom legacy, looking good mister Longbottom." Remus said while reaching out to shake Neville's hand.
Neville reached out to shake Remus' hand while blushing at the compliment he just received while Harry beamed proudly at his blood brother.
"He is looking good these days isn't he Remus, wait until the girls see him upon our return to Hogwarts this September. My plan is coming along beautifully, with all the girls fawning over Neville, I'm free to be left alone to myself." said Harry teasingly as Neville punched him in the shoulder.
"Thank you Mister Lupin sir, but really I have Harry to thank for my physical changes. Has he filled you in with….everything?" asked Neville as he looked over towards Harry for confirmation.
"He has in regards to the second prophecy, but I have a feeling there's a lot more to his manipulations then what Harry has told me. I think this is a good time to fill me in Cub, if you don't mind." asked Remus as Harry looked to Neville as he nodded as well.
Harry and Neville led Remus back over to the lounge area where Remus was reading the papers earlier and began to fill him in with everything that had happened from Dobby's rescue of Harry from Vernon Dursley all the way to the Gringotts attacks. To say that Lupin was a little shocked was a serious understatement. After several minutes of shocked silence, Remus finally spoke.
" I don't know where to begin really….I mean..first Neville, I can't believe he could go this far… do you mind if I do a quick scan of your magical core to see how well Harry here has unblocked what the Headmaster has done?" Remus asked as Neville simply nodded that he could do whatever he wanted.
Remus pulled his wand and cast several diagnostic spells, some of which Harry had never heard before, after several minutes of checking where Neville was surrounded in a gold shimmer of a tornado, Remus finally came to a conclusion. Stowing away his wand, Remus took a seat before addressing the two boys.
"Your magical core Neville is completely unblocked, I don't know how you pulled it off Harry but you must be more powerful then even you realize to unblock Albus' magic, it's quite impressive really. Almost as impressive as that little stunt the two of you pulled off at the bank, Harry do you know what that little show in the Branch Managers office truly means?" Remus asked the two smirking boys.
"Well not really to be honest, I assumed this means that we might have a few new allies to join our cause when the going gets rough, but really what it means is a few less Death Eaters on Riddle's side, and that's what I care most about." said Harry as his smirk only grew stronger.
"It means more then that Harry, when the Branch Manager knelt before you, to the Goblin Nation it is very similar to a wizards oath, and to have the Head Goblin in London no less do so…. Well it means that you have London's entire Goblin tribe at your beckon call, they will do whatever you please and I do mean whatever you wish, something I can safely say no wizard in centuries has ever achieved." finished Lupin with an astonished look on his face before it grew into a prideful smirk.
Neville and Harry simply looked to each other in a little bit of surprise before both busted up in a fit of laughter that had Remus joining in. After finally calming down and the laughter ceased, the trio discussed a few more things before finishing up. Remus informed the two teens about what he had been up to for the last few months in regards to the Werewolf's. According to Remus, only about thirty percent of the Werewolf population have sided with Riddle. About fifteen percent were strongly oppose to his cause and the remainder wished to remain neutral and wanted no part in the upcoming war other then to feast on the remains of the carnage that was guaranteed to be littered all over England.
After their information sharing, the trio left Harrington Two and made their way back into Harry's walk in closet. Harry led Remus over to the dueling room door before pausing and explaining a little of what he was going to see before opening the door. He thought that Remus has had enough surprises this morning to last a few years. After the trio entered and closed the doors they walked over to the viewing area where they joined Luna who looked up beaming at Harry and blushed a little at Neville. Harry noticed that she looked a little disheveled and assumed that the girls must have put her through the ringer. Remus on the other hand was transfixed on the dueling area where he witnessed Krista and Jennifer battling seven Death Eater dummies in a vibrant show of various colors as spells and charms flew about the enormous dueling room. After the session had ended, a very winded Krista and Jennifer walked around the viewing area to see two smiling teens and an astonished looking wizard who they assumed was the famous Remus Lupin.
"That was some show ladies, I haven't seen anything like that in all my years. Can I ask where you learned some of those spells? I haven't seen some of those spells in a long time, something tells me those are not Hogwarts standard spells." finished Lupin.
Both girls simply smiled as they shifted their glances towards Harry who simply smiled back. Lupin figured as much but he had to ask anyhow.
"Actually Remus, they don't attend Hogwarts, they attend a private school." said Harry as Remus looked surprised at hearing this bit of information.
"Really now, I have been out of the loop so to speak for the last few months but this is all to much. You girls are some pretty fierce fighters and from what I heard of Harry and Neville's little Gringotts adventure, I think you teens could possibly be the strongest teens magically I have seen in many decades." Remus beamed pride fully.
The girls both blushed as they thanked the weeks of practicing with Harry for their progress as Harry spoke up.
"Thanks Remus, but we are not even close to where we need to be, this amazing dueling room that Dobby created does help tremendously. You see it gives you feedback as to where your spells landed and how powerful they were cast. The most amazing thing though is it gives variations to the spells you cast, some of which are very old magic like you saw earlier and those older ones are much harder to block." Harry smiled as Remus understood what Harry was referring too.
" You are correct Harry, although the spells would have similar results, the incantation and wand movements are easier as well as the looks of the spell are so much different that your opponent won't know what to expect." said Remus
"Exactly! We also, thanks to my amazing trunks, have more time to train then the average person, this is how the girls have progressed in such a short time, because to us it hasn't been that short of time, if you catch my meaning." Harry smiled
Remus laughed at hearing that as the remaining teens joined in. After several minutes of goofing around, Remus decided to gauge the teens dueling skills first hand, starting with Harry. After about an hour's worth of dueling with Remus, the small group left the dueling room and re-entered Harrington One to map out the happenings of the day. It was decided that Remus would report at the Order meeting as planned with the Twins that would be arriving shortly. At the same time Harry and Neville with Dobby would visit with Whiplock at Gringotts while Luna, Jennifer, Krista and Winky would remain at Harrington palace and hopefully record the proceedings at the Order meeting.
After everything was planned for later in the day, Luna was eager to continue training for she felt severely behind everyone and she knew that she needed to work twice as hard as everyone else if she was ever going to catch up. Harry knew she was rather intelligent and when determined or challenged, that she would eventually rise to the occasion. Jennifer and Krista decided to join her. Meanwhile Neville needed to check on some experiments down in the Green Houses in Harry's Herbology room in Harrington One and vanished. Harry had a chuckle to himself and made a mental note to check on him because he knew how Neville lost track of time while down there.
Harry decided to Give Remus the full tour of both his trunks and they discussed many things along the way. Harry found that he really enjoyed an adults perspective and he was so thankful for Remus joining his little cause. Remus looked around in Harry's poitions compartment with complete awe. While walking around he opened one of Harry's storage cabinets as his jaw almost hit the floor at what was before him. Stacks and stacks of various vials and glimmering potions all meticulously labeled out in front of him. Glances at some of the names, Remus let out a small whistle before finally finding his voice.
"Wow Cub….you told me you have been busy but I had nooo idea. I haven't even heard of some of these?" said Remus as he picked up a vile and looked at the bottle more closely.
"That is only about a fourth of my supply. I have them separated into four categories at the moment. Healing, Defensive, Offensive, and experimental. This cabinet is the healing stores, that one your holding is an old potion I researched earlier that will seal flesh wounds quite impressively." said Harry as Remus returned the vial to it's proper place.
"Experimental? I am curious what that crazy mind of yours is tinkering with." said Remus as he looked on to Harry with a curious yet mischievous look.
Walking over to his experimental stores, Harry opened up the cabinet so Remus could get a good look. The first thing Remus noticed was that there were not as many as in the healing stores, the second was that instead of names on the labels, there were numbers. At his curious look to this, Harry decided to explain.
"Well as most of these are crossbreeds and never before thought of potions, I don't really have names for them, so I decided to number them instead. The ones with numbers with letters are variations of the same potion." said Harry as he pulled out a little notebook and handed it over to Remus.
Reading through Harry's notes detailing the ingredients and the purpose behind each experimental potion, Remus was extremely impressed.
"I know how much you love spending time with your favorite potions professor, so I have to ask, when did you become such a proficient potions brewer?" said Remus
"I did a lot of reading on the subject and I was blissfully awaken to all the benefits that potions provide. Also, I learned that different brewing techniques have different results on the same potion, as well as changing one or two ingredients can make a simple potion that much better. I never really paid much attention in potions class, and don't give me that look, you know bloody well why, but now I absolutely adore the subject, it is so damn useful, really amazing it is."
Remus had to laugh at that, he loved the passion in which Harry spoke about potions, and he was right of course. Remus knew all too well the power behind potions and he often thought that Hogwarts students were turned away from the useful subject because of that vile and arrogant potions professor.
"Your right of' course Harry, Potions can be truly useful, especially during times of war. It is very wise to have healing and such type potions on your person during battles, it not only can save your life but can turn things towards your favor with energy restorive potions, giving you the boost to finally put down your opponent. But by the looks of your amazing stores, I think you have already realized this." Remus finished with a smirk as he waved his hand at the four huge storage cabinets.
Harry chuckled at that before saying.
"I have Remus, I decided that I will be as prepared as I can be and I will use every weapon at my disposal as I can. But one of the main reasons for my tinkering with potions has been this." said Harry as he tossed a vial to Remus labeled 1-CF.
Curious Remus opened Harry's experiment notebook and turned to the page labeled 1-CF, after reading the long list of ingredients, some of which were quite rare, he read on to the applications of this potion and his face began to pale. After reading all the way through with it, he took a good look at the vile and then over at Harry who was watching Remus' expression closely.
" I know it's a huge risk…but in theory I think it will work. I was going to ask you if you knew anyone that would possibly try it out for us for a nice sum of gold?" Harry asked
Remus was still slightly stunned, Wolfsbane was a really complicated potion to brew but this knew one Harry invented was even harder. Holding the vile, Remus watched the thick liquid swish around a little before looking Harry in the eyes.
"Harry, this is a really complicated procedure and I'm not sure you realize what could happen if something were to go wrong during the brewing process." Remus said cautiously.
"No Remus I do, that is why I was hoping you might have met someone during your last couple months that would be willing to try this out for some cash. I know it's risky that's why I want to test it before you even thinking about trying it yourself. As for the Wolfsbane itself, I am quite proficient at brewing it, after several useless attempts that is, but I find it highly unstable with a few of the ingredients counter acting against each other. You will find my Wolfsbane is a better quality then what you have had in the past due to the fact that I grow all my own ingredients and prepare them fresh each time." said Harry as he walked back over to the Healing stores and pulled out a vile of Wolfsbane and tossed it at Remus.
Lupin was a little shocked but then he realized that he should have known better when dealing with one Harry Potter. Looking at the Wolfsbane Harry just tossed at him, it was a brilliant shade of gold, better then he had ever seen before, including Snape's Wolfsbane. Glancing up to Harry he was sort of speechless.
"I'm sorry Harry, I just wanted to be sure….I am kind of sensitive in regards to my furry little problem." Remus said bashfully.
"It's okay Remus, I understand….I mean..no I don't really….but you don't have to apologize to me but I really think my new potion will work, and if it does you know what that means, don't you?" Harry asked.
Remus had a far away look on his face as he whispered the one word he thought was never possible. "Cure"
Coming to his senses, Remus pocketed the experimental potion and tossed the Wolfsbane back at Harry who put it back in his stores as the two of them left the Potions compartment as Remus informed Harry how truly amazing he thought he was and that he actually might know of a few werewolf's that might possibly be interested in a little testing, for the right price.
"I will get in contact with them in a couple of days and I'll let you know. This could be just what we needed to sway the where wolf's to our cause in this war." said Remus as he ruffled Harry's hair as the two made their way out of the compartment and back into Harry's bedroom.
Harry was greeted upon his return to his bedroom by the Weasley Twins, who were both sporting huge grins as they spotted Harry walking out of his walk in closet.
"Harry Mate….we have great news." said Fred
"Mission accomplished and no one is the wiser." finished George
"Yeah we planted six ear droppers under the meeting table and nine others strategically placed in various spots around the house." said Fred
"All made invisible with certain notice-me-not-charms and ready for all our eavesdropping needs." beamed George as Fred nodded along.
"Bloody brilliant guys! Are you sure no one is the wiser? No one spotted you lingering around or anything, because I have a feeling that at least Ron and Hermione suspect that you might be on my side of things?" asked Harry a little cautiously.
"No Mate, no one was even up yet, we did it way early in the morning." said George before Fred added.
"Yeah, then we left a note saying we had a business delivery to get ready for but that we would be back early for the Order meeting."
"Brilliant guys, thanks. So here is the plan, you two and Remus will attend the Order Meeting, remember to not act like you have seen each other for a long time." said Harry as the twins and Remus nodded that they understood before Harry continued.
"At the same time the Order meeting starts, Neville and I will make a quick visit with Whiplock at Gringotts with Dobby to discuss a few things and see if we can get whatever those Death Eaters were after in the vaults." Harry looked over to Dobby and Neville who also nodded that they understood.
"And lastly but most importantly, Krista, Jennifer, Luna, and Winky will stay here and use the four ear cores to record everything that is said at the Order meeting. I do mean everything, not just what is said at the actual meeting, but all the little conversations before and after and everything in between. The Twins have promised that they have strategically placed the Ear Droppers so that we should be able to pick up most conversations." Finished Harry as all four of the girls nodded that they understood and that they had probably the most important task ahead of them.
"Right O, so we have some time before we need to get moving, what do you say to some more dueling training?" asked Remus as everyone agreed to that plan before Harry spoke up.
"Why don't you guys start on that, I need to discuss a few things with the boys first, we'll meet you in there when we are finished." said Harry with a nod as Fred, George, and Neville followed Harry into Harrington One and they entered the dueling compartment and walked down into the trunk.
Harry waited until they were all in and gathered around in the center of the dueling area before he gestured to the Twins to start.
"So it took some time but of course we got them to work" said Fred
"Yeah, they diminish in power the longer they stay unused, but are quite effective, the ones we experimented with stayed pretty strong after twenty four hours, but start to slip downwards after that." said George with a grin as Neville looked on completely confused by the exchange.
Deciding to show a little mercy towards Neville, Harry nodded as the twins pulled out what looked like small crystals out of their pockets and handed them to Neville. Still confused as to what these crystals were, Neville waited for Harry to explain but it was George who filled Neville in as Harry beamed at his two brilliant inventors.
"They are storage crystals, what you do is cast anything you want in them and use them like little bombs. These we used stunners this morning to store them." George smiled as Harry activated the dueling room and two face-less dummies appeared at one end.
"Just huck them at the feet of your intended target but be ready to cast a shield, in some cases while we were experimenting, we noted that sometimes it would blast in a radius of several feet around the target." said Fred proudly.
"Which of course would be bloody perfect when taking on several Death Eaters at once, you could throw these at them then blast several curses their way, they wouldn't even know what hit them." George added while smiling proud as well.
Neville looked completely stunned as he turned one of the crystals in his hand and stared at it with awe before simply stating quietly, "Wicked!"
"Well, let's see how it looks, give it a toss Neville" said Harry while motioning towards the two practice dummies at the end of the dueling area while standing wand at the ready to cast a shield if need be.
Neville finally snapping back to reality, handed back the crystals to Fred, keeping one to toss as the Twins stood behind Harry just in case. Taking one final breath, Neville threw the crystal towards the dummies and braced himself for whatever was going to happen.
As the crystal hit the floor at the feet of the practice dummies, a bright red light flashed in a circle expanding way past the practice dummies coming towards the teens but stopped half way towards them before finally disappearing. What was left in the after math were two practice dummies lying on the ground as Harry and the Twins let out huge Whoo Hoo's that made Neville laugh.
Harry walked over towards the examining area and pulled out the report as the two dummies flew over for inspection. Harry let out a little whistle as he looked at the effectiveness of the stunner.
"Really impressive guys, you said you cast that this morning?" Harry questioned as the twins nodded that he was correct.
"Just think of what we could do with these in a battle. More importantly think how powerful they could be if we had our little Harrykins cast what they stored" said George as Fred laughed along.
"How many of these do we have and is there limits to what they can hold?" asked Neville
"We have about fifty right now but will be making hundreds more, as to their limits, we think unforgivable's are out of the question but everything else we will play it by ear." said Fred as George chimed in.
"We haven't even shown you the best part yet" George smiled as he pulled another crystal out of his pocket as Harry and Neville got closer to see what he was talking about.
"You can set them to go off like muggle time bombs. You just turn the end here, each click is five seconds, then place them wherever and run like hell." George smiled as the others started laughing.
George ran over to the other side of the room, turned the crystal two clicks, stuck it to the wall, then bolted back towards the boys as they continued to laugh. George stopped as the laughter started to cease before the red blast exploded down the ways as the guys cheered.
"These are pretty awesome guys, what will you think of next." said Neville
"Well thank you my good friend but.." said Fred
"We didn't come up with this one, just the particulars, this one was all Harry!" finished George.
The four teens left Harrington One and re-entered Harry's walk in closet then over to the Dobby's dueling room. After several hours of training and several different scenarios that put the teens on teams against each other, they finished with everyone against Harry except for Remus. It took Harry nearly fifteen minutes but he managed to take down all six teens last of which was Neville.
Stepping out of the dueling room, Winky had a late lunch ready for them and they were starving and everyone dug in. After they stuffed their faces they sat back and discussed their practice duel.
"You were pretty impressive in their pup" said Remus
"Yeah mate, you were kind of awesome in there." said Fred as Harry blushed a little before coming to his senses.
"Thanks but I took several shots, they didn't incapacitate me, but I wasn't fast enough. Not to mention Neville almost got me several times and It took me almost fifteen minutes to subdue all of you. That won't cut it, I need to bring that down to under five minutes before I can feel proud about it." said Harry
"You made several excellent points there Cub but these are no ordinary teens you have here, especially Mister Longbottom there." said Remus as Neville blushed a little as he smiled.
"Yeah, you have a point there Mooney, but something tells me that as time goes on, instead of my time getting lower, it will probably get higher." said Harry as the small group started laughing until the Twins added.
"That is until we start knocking your ass out" said Fred
"Yeah little Harrykins, were not going to stay your little practice dummies for ever." finished George
"yeah, but until then, I plan on mopping the floor with you alls" said Harry as the group including Harry started to laugh.
"It's about that time Harry." said Fred
"Yeah, we want to get their early, way early, you know." finished George
"We should probably get ready as well, you know, make sure we get everything everyone says." said Luna as Krista and Jennifer nodded they agreed.
"Okay everyone, you know what to do, and be smart and safe, and girls, send Winky to get me if there is an emergency." said Harry as everyone stood up and said their farewells.
After the girls went into Harry's office compartment in Harrington One. Remus and the Twins left for Grimmauld Place leaving just Neville, Dobby, and himself standing in his huge bedroom.
"You ready for this?" said Neville
"You know it." replied Harry before turning to Dobby, "Please place our glammors back on us Prongs"
"Right away Mister Harrington." answered Dobby with a little smirk as he waved his hands and did a little snap.
Frank Narrow and James Harrington each grabbed one of Prongs' hands as the trio disappeared.