Author: SportsNightLover
Title: Harry Potter and his Trusted Followers
Summary: Post HBP. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and others search for the horcruxes. They skip their last year at Hogwarts, so that they can find and destroy all of Voldemort's horcruxes.
Disclaimer: The characters are not, and were never, mine.
After the Order thanked Harry and his army, and told them it would be wise to not do it again, they left. Harry, with everyone following, went back to Hogsmeade and talked over the day's events. They went to the cave, but didn't start practicing like normal. They all crowded around Harry, hoping to hear the whole story.
"Great job, everybody. I couldn't have asked for better," Harry said to his beaming crowd, although he was lying.
He was still thinking about what Bellatrix had said. She said that they had the element of surprise. He knew she was right, and hated himself for thinking it. Even with double the people, and surprise on his side, they only managed to get away with stunning two thirds of the Death Eaters. They had even suffered a few, curable, injuries. Though he wouldn't tell Ron or Hermione any his thoughts.
Collin Creevey was hit by a stunning spell, but seemed to be happy that he was involved, which Harry found a little odd. Peakes was hit in the chest by a stray disarming fleck of light, but was fine after a bit of time. Ron's division was spotted by one Death Eater, and he fired a spell at the oncoming enemies. Ron, being in the lead, was hit, but only in the arm. Harry saw to it that he was fixed, and was thanked by Ron. Harry felt they were lucky that the Death Eaters didn't use Unforgivable Curses like they normally do.
"What were those people doing there?" asked Lee Jordan
"I don't know. We didn't expect them, or we would have brought you all along," Harry explained.
"Who were they?" asked Hannah Abbott, hoping that she had thought wrong.
"Death Eaters," Ron said, obviously annoyed by the stupid question.
"They appeared out of nowhere and were surprised to see us there," Neville helped.
"But what were they guarding, that they didn't want anyone there?" asked Zacharias Smith.
"I don't know," Harry said, and then to himself more than anyone else, "But I am going to find out."
"Can we come, too?" asked Luna. "We know that there might be more security now that we were already there, you might need us." A couple of people agreed, but some stayed quiet, hoping that they were not included.
After a moment's deciding, Harry said "Yes, you all can come, but it is only in case we are attacked. They will be expecting us, so they won't be surprised. We will only be able to win with skills. We'll go back tomorrow in case they try to move whatever is there. Tonight, try to practice what you know, and learn better curses. It is important that we win. Good night."
Harry walked out into the evening's air. They had been talking for so long, that he was surprised it wasn't night yet. Ron and Hermione made to follow, but he just told them that they were needed to help command their divisions, and that they should make up a form of attack. They should try to hide a few soldiers, and have them pop out of nowhere, or behind a Death Eater's back. He went along the streets, only to find empty stores and deserted alleyways. He had a pocketful of galleons, in case he needed anything, and he decided to send a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, to tell them of their adventure, and how they were doing.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,
It has been a while since I left with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George, so I thought I should write and tell you everything. Over the summer, we worked on new spells and curses. In case you didn't know, we also got twenty-four more recruits, and are training them as I write.
We just went to visit my parent's grave when we were attacked by fifteen or so Death Eaters. Don't worry, everyone is fine.
He thought he should get that out of the way before she started to really worry.
There were only twelve of us, but when the rest arrived, we outnumbered them 2-1. We also surprised them that we were willing to fight, so that helped. Five of them escaped, but we managed to capture ten. We called the Order to help, and they brought the Death Eaters to prison. It turned out to have helped us and stop a few of our enemies.
A couple of our people came out with bumps and bruises, nothing that can't be mended.
Sorry to have to worry you like this, but the work has to be done by someone. Hope to bring back your family soon.
Best wishes,
Harry Potter
While on the subject of writing, he thought he should write a quick letter to Professor McGonagall for all the missing students, especially ones from her own house.
Dear Professor McGonagall,
Sorry that I stole some of your students. If you didn't know where they were, they are with me. Just thought that you should know.
Harry Potter
Harry sent the letters with rented owls, and decided to return to bed, hoping that his army was training well without him.
"Harry, get up. We should leave soon," Hermione's voice floated over him, and he felt like going back to sleep.
"Get up, now. We are all ready," Ron voice wasn't the same, but did manage to get Harry to roll out of bed, put on his glasses and stare at his friends.
"What time is it?" he asked while putting on his clothes.
"It is about seven in the morning. We wanted to get an early start," Hermione's soft voice was back, but hinted a little urgency and even a little fear.
Harry grabbed his wand, and walked out of the room, to find his whole army eating breakfast, and waiting for him. They were all clutching their wands, and some looked afraid. A few more than last time looked confident, probably because they won previously. He hoped the confidence would work, like when he tricked Ron into believing he had taken Felix Felicis, and help them do well. He also prayed that they didn't meet any opposition, and especially that no one got hurt.
"My squad is going to go first and check out the area. Hermione's division should wait a minute and then join us. Ron's group should come last, but be on your guard. If fighting erupts, and you appear in the middle of it, you don't have good chances, so be very careful. Let's go team one," Harry shouted and disappeared with a crack.
His soldiers followed him, and appeared back at the cemetery. Harry immediately saw the burned building and told Neville to come with him. He told the rest of his army to stay, assume that they would be ambushed, and tell the same to Hermione. As he approached the building, he heard ten cracks and pops, and knew that his second attack team must have arrived. With Neville ready, and wand held high, he searched around the building for hiding Death Eaters. He found none and, very carefully, went into the building. It was as badly burned as ever, and a few spells from last time must have hit it, because more walls were damaged and caved in. He saw what looked like the kitchen, with shattered but elegant plates and long tables. He saw that the cabinet doors were hanging on its hinges and that the cabinets were filled only with more destroyed property. He saw a few of the goblets and cup on the floor, which must have been strong, because they didn't break. Not knowing why, his feet led him to the unbroken cups.
He picked up the first and saw that it was small and emerald. It was stained by the liquids that it used to hold and had an inch of dust on it. He picked up the second, scarlet colored goblet and held it to the sunlight. It was larger than the first, and was dull and rusted. The third one was bright blue, and shined in the sunlight. It was very light, even lighter than the smaller one. He started to walk out when he was blinded temporarily by the sun being reflected off a fourth cup. This one was hidden under wood and piles of the wall. Harry uncovered it, and felt that this little cup must have been the reason that the Death Eaters didn't want them exploring. Sure enough, when Harry bent low over it, he saw that the golden cup had a badger on it, the same one that he saw in Dumbledore's Pensieve. Without expecting it, he had found a horcrux.
Harry did not know what to do. He didn't know if he could touch it, because he remembered Dumbledore's burned hand. He didn't know if it was still a horcrux, or if someone else had destroyed it. He had no idea of what was protecting it, besides Death Eaters and an unattractive building. He tried to use a spell to see what enchantments protected it, but found nothing. He didn't know if it was unprotected, or it just wouldn't show him. He very carefully picked it, and held it in his hand. He didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, it was slightly heavy, but it felt just like the other three. For a split second, he thought that it was the wrong one, but then reminded himself that it was once Helga Hufflepuffs, and that Voldemort wanted it protected by Death Eaters. Harry brought it out of the house, holding it close to him, to make sure that it wasn't going to be harmed.
When he walked out into the daylight, he saw his whole army circling the building. They didn't seem to have been in a fight, or they would have told him, and they happy to see him, assuming that they were leaving. Just as he was about to tell everyone to go home, thirty Death Eaters popped out of thin air. Harry couldn't help himself thinking that Voldemort must have been good to get so many followers, thirty now, ten before, and even a few from the ministry. Harry's army seemed to have noticed them to, but didn't have time to react, because the Death Eaters were angry that they were back and fired spells all over the place. Harry yelled to his army that they weren't needed anymore, and that they could go back to the cave. Now knowing that he just told the Death Eaters were they possibly lived, in a cave somewhere, he knew that he had to fight them. He said to his troops that any who wanted to leave where allowed to, and any who wanted to stay and help should be careful. Twenty two pops were heard simultaneously when twenty two of his soldiers disapparated. Harry was only left with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, the ones from the ministry, and Fred and George. Now that the rest of his army left, they were outnumbered almost 4-1. Harry quickly devised an attack plan while dodging dangerous curses.
Assuming that the Death Eaters knew most of them left, he figured that he should leave two of them behind, and they would shoot nonverbal spells from their hiding spot. Ginny, George, and Ron were to attack from the right, while Harry, Neville, and Luna shot off spells from the left. Fred and Hermione were supposed to use only their minds to help out the others. If things got really bad and uncontrollable, they were going to come out of their hiding spot and help.
Fred took out some of the distracting toys that he carried with him, and set them off. While the Death Eaters were temporarily distracted, George threw some darkness powder out, and it helped. For just in the beginning, Harry went out alone and fired spells and curses. He went out alone so that he wouldn't hit his own soldiers. After only a minute though, the powder faded and disappeared. Harry ducked under cover without looking at how many he had hit. He continued with the original plan, and went to left with Neville and Luna.
When he looked around, he saw that he had hit about five of them, which brought their odds to a little over 3-1. He was instantly spotted by at least six Death Eaters, who took no time in using their wands.
"Petrificus Totalus," Harry yelled while he ran out of the way of the Cruciatus Curse. He hit the Death Eater in the chest, who in turn fell straight to the floor.
Another spell smashed into the ground at his feet and he looked up to see a big Death Eater starting to say another Curse. Harry got out of that danger, and ran right into a Death Eater who was about to kill Ron. The Death Eater fell and Harry took the time to stun him. When Ron started to thank him, Harry cut him off and went to help the others. Hermione seemed to have stopped a few Death Eaters from her hiding spot. Fred got one or two, but Neville was really helping. He defeated about three Death Eaters in a row before he was hit by a spell. He fell straight to the floor, and the Death Eater went to finish him off.
"Stupefy," the Death Eater fell to the ground to reveal Luna Lovegood standing behind him with her wand raised to where his back was.
"Thanks a lot," Neville said as he got up off the ground and picked up his wand.
Ginny seemed to have escaped everyone's attention, even Harry's, because before he knew it, two Death Eaters fell to the ground with Ginny standing in between. George decided that using his wand was useless, and took to ramming into the Death Eaters when they were near, which only delayed them. They got right back to their feet, but by then, Harry had got to them and they were finished. When Harry thought that his team might need a break, he told them to go back behind the building. Counting their side's wins, he realized that they were now only outnumbered three to two. Just as they were about to attack again, three people popped out of the air right beside them. Harry was happy to see that they were on his side. Katie Bell appeared first and explained that she rethought it, and wanted revenge for the necklace that sent her to the hospital last year. After her were her friends, Angelina and Alicia. That meant that they were only one person short of an even fight. They changed their plans so that the Katie, Angelina, and Alicia should stay behind and attack from the back, and that the other eight were out in the open.
The Death Eaters must have been waiting for them, because the second Fred stepped out, he was hit by a stunning spell and was instantly knocked off his feet. Before the Death Eaters got the chance to finish him, George stepped in to defend his twin brother. He shot spells at anyone who even looked at Fred that was a Death Eater, and helped to move his brother out of harm's way. Before they knew it, the battle had turned in favor of the Death Eaters. After Fred went Ron, who was hit by a spell that no one knew. Neville seemed to fight too hard, and was brought to safety next. By then, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia had taken their places. It was again twelve on eight.
Finally, Harry shot a spell at the back of a Death Eater, who was down in a second. The rest of the Death Eaters looked around and started to advance on Harry, when they were attacked by the other seven. Luna, Hermione, Ginny, and Katie all got one Death Eater each, which meant that Harry now had more soldiers then they did. Harry took out another Death Eater, while George finished off another. Realizing that it was eight to five in favor of Harry, the Death Eater fled once again. Without thinking about just beating thirty Death Eaters, Harry went to help the injured.
Fred was ok, but was unconscious. After making sure that Fred wasn't hurt in any other way, Harry turned to Ron. Ron wasn't hit by a spell or curse, but by a jinx. This being Ginny's area of expertise, she knew what to do and cured Ron right away. Harry couldn't figure out what was wrong with Neville which scared Harry a little, but thought that he wasn't in danger, so he just helped him home.
Once home, he recounted his adventure with the rest of his army, and praised the ones who fought with him. The ones that went back were forgiven.
Harry was glad that he got a horcrux, but still knew that he had a long way to go.
He next went to the headquarters of the phoenix, and told Lupin what just happened. Lupin left instantly, obviously bringing the Death Eaters to jail.