Thank you all for the reviews. Harry Potter is not mine, this is a story from a fan.


(BSC 6 C23) C214 Preparing for Battle.


It was around two o'clock in the afternoon when Grindelwald stood in front of Malfoy Manor waiting for Voldemort to join him. Walter stood next to him looking at a couple of his own men. They weren't the ones who had been with him when he arrived in the country because he needed some fresh ones with him, for if, they would run into the same brats again. As Walter looked on and around him he thought back at the fight with those brats. Never in his life had he been afraid but they had scared him. For some to fight back wasn't a big deal. But those kids were ready to kill him where he stood, and that was new. Some people would want to kill him but they were about to do it. It really put some fear into him and the men that were there during the day. The fear had not been there during the fight or right after it. No, the fear had come later when he heard how old they really were. If they were ready to do this kind of damage to him at a young age. How would they do when they were older and fully trained?

A couple of minutes later Voldemort came walking out of the front door and was followed by Lucius and a couple of other Death Eaters. Walter sneered at Lucius who sneered right back. They had been water and fire from the moment Walter had stepped into his house. Lucius wanted to throw him out right at that moment. But Voldemort had stopped him because he needed men like Walter. Killers, murderers who had nothing to lose.

"It's about time you showed up," Grindelwald told him.

Voldemort didn't react to the words and just looked straight ahead. He knew Grindelwald was showing off before his men by acting all mighty, but he didn't need to react that low toward him. Voldemort respected his 0wn men even if he did not show them enough. A couple of Crucios would take care of that. "Well, where do you want to go first," Voldemort asked as he did everything to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Let us go to the Werewolves. They might not be much right now after the night they had. But we will see how many are still there" Grindelwald said as he made a Portkey to a spot a little away from there.

As they dropped to the ground they all looked around. "Why in Merlins' name did we drop this far away from them," Lucius said as he looked around himself realizing they were still a mile away from where they needed to be.

"You really are as stupid as you look," Walter told him as he pointed his wand at his face. "What would you do if we walked into a trap. It is clear they have done something to all of you or your buddies would still be in their own manors".

"Who the hell do you think you are" Lucius screamed back as he pulled his own wand from his cane.

"A real man who can keep his woman and not lose him to a boy" Walter smirked as he pointed his own wand at the head of Lucius.

"You do know that that same boy almost killed you, and your men. By the looks of it, it is clear that you are afraid of him. I can see the fear when I only tell you his name".

Walter didn't react and only swung his right hand around with all the strength he had and right at the head of Lucius. Voldemort looked on as he liked to look at people who were fighting. Grindelwald did not and conjured a wall between them and stopped the fist from hitting Lucius. "STOP IT BOTH OF YOU" Grindelwald screamed. "We are here to have a look at our army and see what those brats have done. We are going to attack Hogwarts and put a stop to them. We will do it, right there and right at that moment. We will show them who's boss and we will make our point before we take over the rest of England and after it the world".

Both nodded but were still glaring at each other like two schoolkids. Grindelwald shook his head at the two but started to walk away. They would follow and if they did not so be it. He knew that Walter knew, that he could not kill Lucius, everything else was fair game according to him. After a couple of minutes, he looked back and saw that both of them had started to follow. He did make a mental note to talk to all of them. It would not be good if there was friction in the ranks.

Voldemort had walked behind him and didn't say a thing. He wanted Lucius to deal with Walter, but he also knew Grindelwald would not let him. And as he thought about it, Grindelwald stepped in and put a stop to it. As Voldemort shook his head he saw that they had arrived at the edge of the forest. The clearing showed a lot of people lying around. They were sleeping and by the looks of it, they had a rough night. Still, as he counted them all, he could see that Greyback had done good. The numbers had doubled and there were about two hundred Werewolves lying in this spot alone.

"I don't see Greyback anywhere," Grindelwald said as he was doing his own count.

"He might have run off, to turn a couple more kids, he is like that," Voldemort said as he shrugged his shoulders. Grindelwald knew that it might be the one thing he would do. Because as he thought back it was the way Remus had turned. Grindelwald had attacked him after a battle because he was hungry for kids' blood. So he gave another look around. "Let's go to the next spot" and Voldemort left right away. As he reappeared on the south side of the swamp he held the two holes he had for a nose.

Grindelwald appeared next to him and did the same thing. The smell was horrible and his eyes started to tear up. He wasn't the only one because they all had the same result. They could barely see so he asked if some of them could see them. He did place a Bubblehead charm over his head but the damage had already been done. The smell was in his nose so it didn't work. Walter pointed at a spot that looked like a couple of Trolls. As Grindelwald and Voldemort nodded they went away for the next place. Never realizing that it had been big boulders they had been nodding at.

As they reappeared on the side of another open Area they saw about four Giants lying on the ground. "You only have four Giants," Grindelwald asked as he looked at the four lying on the ground. The one thing they didn't see was the couple of house elves that were taking care of them because they were too sick to go back to their new home. So the moment they were good enough, the elves would take them there right away.

Voldemort looked on and started to point to the side. Between the trees that surrounded the place, there was a big cap. "I think some of them are looking for food".

Grindelwald looked on and turned to Walter. "Pop over there and see if you see footprints of Giants coming and going from that spot".

Voldemort frowned and looked on as Walter apparated away to the path between the trees. They all saw him standing there very tiny because he was far away from them. When he popped back he walked passed Voldemort and straight to his master. It frustrated Voldemort because he was ignored and he hated it.

"There are a lot of footprints that are coming and going from there," Walter told Grindelwald as he smirked at Lucius.

"One more place to go," Voldemort said as he himself stepped up to Walter. "You better start to respect me or I will put you down".

Walter raised himself up in all his height and stood in front of Voldemort. He was a head bigger but the moment he raised his hand to strike Voldemort he was blasted against a tree by Grindelwald. "Respect me, even when I'm in that body". Walter looked back at Grindelwald and nodded fast because if he didn't he would be killed on the spot. He had lost enough men who went against his master in that way. He would not be one of them.

When they got to the next spot they only saw a dead Goblin in the middle of the clearing. Both of the Dark lords looked on from the side and told Lucius to go and have a look. Lucius walked to the body and took a closer look. It was clear this Goblin had died in a fight and it was one hell of a fight by the looks of it. There were deep cuts all over this Goblin's body and no sign of Magic. Lucius walked back and bend down for his Lord. "My, Lord. It is clear that, that Goblin has been killed by another Goblin".

Voldemort cursed but Grindelwald had a thoughtful look. Voldemort believed he lost the Goblins because of an inner fight for leadership. Grindelwald on the other hand believed the brats had something to do with it. The only trouble he had now, was how they did it, What they did. But most of all what they thought they would achieve by it.

#*

A day later at Hogwarts.

Minerva Had been sitting in the corner of the infirmary at Hogwarts. It had been an Hour earlier that all of the friends had been brought back here by house elves. Harry was still lying in a bed. He had been put back to sleep by Poppy. She had woken him up every four hours to check on him and to tell him how the situation was. After it, she put him back under so he could heal more and get better in a faster time. She had done the same with all the others. but they were healed and kept awake when she woke them up a second time. Only Neville got a third period of rest. Harry had asked so much from himself in the fight with Greyback and the vampires that he had been put back under for two days on and off. Now was the last time he would be woken up and they would do it where the battle would be happening.

Minerva had not left the Infirmary but the others had. When they got back in the morning everyone rushed to them to see the kids for themselves. It was hard to see Harry was still under. But they all knew the reasons why. They were ashamed of how they had reacted after they had seen all of the memories. But they knew their friends had thought ahead. They might not know what they wanted to accomplish, but they never had known any of it before. Still, it always worked as they wanted it and they had seen enough of it. So after they had rushed into the infirmary the friends had taken them away to see if they had done what was asked of them. No words were said about the things that had been done. But it was clear that the friends had not yet forgotten anything about it.

Bella who would be at the heart of the battle with Harry went to the grounds to see how things had been handled. She would be in the air at the start of it so she did just that with Amelia next to her. Amelia pointed to the ground where they had placed rocks every twenty feet. "We placed those stones but we do not know why we had to do it".

Bella smiled and dropped down by one of the stones. "It is something we will tell everybody tonight in the second great hall. There we will explain everything that we had you all do. But I will tell you now".

"You better" Amelia mumbled as Bella raised an eyebrow at her.

"Those rocks are painted Yellow on our side. From the other side, they look just like rocks that lay in the field" Bella took Amelia to the other side to see it. "Now on the bottom of the rocks, there are ward runes painted onto them. When the battle starts we will push our Magic into them. When we do it will raise shield wards that are ten feet high and eight feet reaching out to each side. That will leave a gap of four feet for them to get through. Now we had them painted yellow on one side and that will tell us where the wards will be and where they stop. They will not see it because to them it will just be simple rocks laying around".

Amelia looked at the rocks and shook her head a little. "But when they see they can't get through, won't they leave".

Bella shook her head. " The moment they all come onto the grounds. which they will do through the Forbidden Forest because they will think we would not see them that way. We will raise the old war wards from Hogwarts meaning everything will stay inside until the war is over, or Harry of Zanita will bring them down".

"You are going to trap them," Amelia asked clearly surprised by the answer.

"Yes, Like we said we want a very fast war and if we can we will keep it in one Battle alone". Amelia shook her head and smiled while she did it. It was then Bella walked back to about halfway between the spot they were in and the castle. "These stones are going to do the same thing as the one you had placed there. But these will be in big circles and be four feet high and all around. There will be an opening in the middle between the two circles".

"Why so low. and why in a circle".

"We will place Muggles and Sentaures in the circles. They will shoot their crossbows and Muggle guns at the Death Eaters and all they have with them. If they get the fire back they have the wards to hide behind".

"I thought wards were always dome-shaped," Amelia asked as she looked at one of the little rocks.

"We thought so too until we saw the ward they placed during our expedition duel in the great hall".

"Yes but those wards had a floor and a ceiling," Amelia told her as she looked up. Right above her was a rope that was placed in the same circle. "You made a ceiling from a simple rope". And Bella nodded. Amelia looked back and saw that they had also placed a rope above the other ward but this one was almost as high as the ceiling in the great hall "What if they cut the rope. the wards will drop". Bella didn't say a thing and only pointed at a stone in the middle of the circle. Amelia took a closer look and saw it was a protective dome. "Alright when the rope drops, they can protect themselves by the wards, but it will also mean they will be out of the fight until they drop them again".

"Yes, we told all of you we wanted to keep everybody as safe as we could. So if they have to be out of the fight for a little while or for the rest of the fight, so be it. They will survive and we will do everything we can to keep them as safe as we can".

Amelia sat down on a tree stump and looked at everything she had just seen. "You really thought of everything. Am I right to say that Firenze and Dan Granger will be leading the circles". Bella nodded and looked up at the castle where they saw Daphne and Fleur walking with Apolline and Emma on top of the Hogwarts walls.

"They are explaining the things the students will be doing for the fight. And while you are all doing it Harry and I will be bomb diving at them and fighting the first things they send at us".

"The first"?

"Sure, Voldemort and Grindelwald will be the last to fight us. They will not be making their hands dirty like we will be doing. So they will think they are fresh when they attack us but we will have a surprise for them".

"What did you do".

"That is something we decided in the last couple of days and you will see it when they tell us when they will attack us".

"You really think they will tell you" Amelia smirked.

"Well not directly, but we do have our own information lines".

"You mean, you have House-elves spying on them". Bella just smiled at amelia.

#*

While Amelia was told why they had to do what they had done. Fleur and Daphne were doing the same with Emma and Appoline. The first thing they wanted to do was to go down to the grounds. But it was there they saw that Bella had already walked outside. So they took Appoline and Emma up the walls. Just like on the ground, there were wards placed on the walls. However, there was also something they had only seen in one of the memories. Between the walls, there were little metal circles pushed through the wards. Fleur took one of the circles and showed it to the others. We have made them, Daphne and Hermione found a rune line that pushed a ward outwards. We tried to put that Rune line in this just to see what it would do and to our own surprise the ward just folded around it like it was a tree that was pushed through it".

"Aren't you afraid that it will be stolen by someone and that it was then being used against you?" Emma asked as she looked over the circle searching for the rune line.

"NO, as you can see it is very hard to see and we never tell anyone outside of the family how it works," Fleur said as she got a little smile that told them they were up to something. "We also put another very tiny rune on it that will make it crumble the moment it goes through the Hogwarts ward. So no one can steal it for other purposes".

"What are they being used for," Appoline asked.

"They will be used to shoot through with a wand or a muggle gun. We have placed all of those rings all over the castle. We will try to keep the fight on the ground and in front of the castle as long as we can. We will do this by attacking them on the ground after we have closed up the wards". It was at that time Fleur told them about the old war wards from Hogwarts. "We will then see what they will throw at us first. While they do that we will attack them from the ground, from the castle walls, and from the air. The students have learned how to reload a muggle gun or how to help the wounded to get to the Infirmary. Just so they can help all the people that will be fighting for their freedom. The Students don't know about the other side of Hogwarts but everyone will be transported there when they show up hurt in the infirmary of Hogwarts.

Slowly they walked on and all over the castle wall. Everywhere you could go outside there was this magical wall with those circles. Daphne and Fleur told them they were not only to be used for the attack on the ground but also for attacks from the air. They had found out that Voldemort had sent out other people to find magical beasts to help them in the attacks. The only thing they didn't know was what kind of magical beast they would use.

#*

In the great hall were Susan and Neville who were walking around with all the others. "Do you all have placed the Portkeys at all the places we told you to put them?" Neville said as he looked behind the head table.

"Yes, we placed them under the throne of Harry and behind the hourglasses of the houses. We however do not know why we had to place them there and why".

Neville looked over at Susan and saw how she hung her head. "It is something we will tell you all tonight. We had a talk about it and we have made our decisions".

Sirius and James looked at each other. Just like Frank and David did. It would be another thing none of them would like. But just like every other time they had to deal with it or they would only make it worse. Before David could ask anything Sirius grabbed a box from behind the head table and showed a little field bed. "What are you all planning to do with these toy beds".

Neville smiled at him when he saw it. He went over to Serius and took it from his hand. When he tapped it, it became a full field bed. "In this box, there are a thousand field beds. In the other box you have little bags with a pillow and blankets. There are also a thousand of those".

It was now that James held up a box with little boxes in it which held even more boxes in them. "What are these".

"Those are boxes filled with little boxes that are filled with pots and cans of food. They need to go to the kitchens. So when we go into battle we will need food to keep us going. These cans and Pots have meat vegetables and other things in them that only need to be warmed up. That will make it easier for the house elves when they have to prepare it for everyone" Susan told them. "Now we will go to the walls and after it, we will go to the grounds. We will show you what we have wanted to do there and it will be all over the grounds. We might even fight in the forbidden forest if we have to" and Susan started to walk out of the great hall.

#*

Back in the Infirmary Harry was woken up for the last time. He just sat there looking on as Poppy waved her wand over him. "You are not all there yet but after a couple of hours you will. Just in time to be ready for tonight".

"Are you really going through with it?" Minerva asked as she looked at Harry who was looking at Poppy.

"You told her," Harry asked behind his hand in a fake whisper just as he saw from the corner of his eye that his friends were standing behind Poppy in the doorway of the Infirmary. "You know she will go all medieval healer on us. She will fill us up with potions that will all taste horrible".

Poppy bristled at his words and started to lift her wand. "Let me tell you something" She started. "I will not only fill you up with Potions but I will tie you down until you say you love me".

It was right at that point all the friends rushed to Harry as Neville took him in his arms. "Grandma Mini help us. She is mean to all of us" Bella said as she rushed to the other side of Harry.

"Save us we are still innocent and young" Daphne went on.

"Before Susan or Neville could say something poppy was letting go of a series of Stinging hexes to all of them. Poppy knew they were just joking with her because they had to let off some steam. She was okay with it because she knew they loved her. As all of them stopped laughing she had to ask what Minerva asked again. "So are you really going through with it".

The friends did one of their eye talks and then nodded. The grandmas and by the looks of it Poppy knew the big part of it. They had said they would be telling the final plan tonight and after it, it was to wait for the attack. The one thing they did not tell all of them was one thing they had planned when they ordered them to make the Portkeys. It was Susan who would tell them what they were planning to do later that night.

Tonight we will be having a big talk with all the students and the fighters from the other side. We will tell everyone what we want to do and how we want to do it. After it we will be doing some drill runs just to see how fast we can be. We will also be telling about our escape plan for if it goes their way".

"Why do I have the feeling you are not telling us everything," Minerva asked as she took the hand of Harry's in hers.

The eyes of Harry found the eyes of his grandmother and he just gave her a little smile. By the look, he gave her she knew that there was more. She also knew she could not push them for it. Not now because she did not know all of it and they always had a reason. "You rest a little bit more, after dinner, we will get everybody into the great hall and you can tell what you all have to tell" The friends nodded as they all took a bed and rested a little bit more.

#*

Voldemort and Grindelwald had walked back into Malfoy's manor After they had returned from the Goblins. Just as they were about to leave that spot, The Goblins walked back out of the woods. One of them was covered in blood while the others were caring a dear on their shoulder. It was clear that that would be their dinner, so they didn't say a thing and only apparated back. In their thoughts, they knew that the one with all the blood was the new Leader. Because they were still there they knew they had not gone to the other side so to say. While Voldemort went back to his throne Grindelwald stayed by the door. He had a feeling he had missed something but he just didn't know what. So after an hour he also went inside and sat down next to Voldemort. "Do you still have your people staying with the giants to make sure they stay with us".

Voldemort had almost drifted off to sleep and woke up with a jerk when he heard Grindelwald talking to him. "Yes, I have Walden Macnair keeping an eye on them He also has a couple of young Death Eaters with him". Voldemort looked at him and wondered why he asked. "Are you expecting something"?

"I don't know, Something feels off. I have this feeling we are missing something. We can't find the homes of your Death Eaters. Now we know they did not place them under the Fidelius because we can still feel them. It is also strange that we lost the leader of the Goblin group we had fighting for us. The only Giants we saw were sick and where is Greyback".

"I could get Lucius to go and get Macnair here. He could tell us what happened in the last couple of days if it makes you feel good".

Grindelwald thought about it and he knew it was one way he could get rid of this feeling he had. In his mind, he knew those brats would not do anything to their Giants, Trolls' or Goblins. Even if they would have been in front of one of their Giants they would have shit themselves on the spot. That thought made him chuckle a bit, but the off feeling he had did not fade away. "That is a good idea. You get him here and we will see what we do from that point on".

#*

Lucius walked along the top of the mountain to the spot where Macnair would be keeping an eye on the Giants. He knew his master wanted him to do this but he just didn't understand why. He missed his wife and most of all he missed his son. Potter had him killed he was sure of that. He was using his wife like a plaything. He already knew she would love it when she would not do it for his buddies. The other ladies didn't have that problem and were letting themselves be used whenever the need was there. Potter had her brainwashed and now he had Bellatrix. Voldemort had not told him but he had heard it through the door. That Bella girl was Bellatrix black. So if Potter had her on his side he wasn't so sure they could win. Still, he believed his master was stronger and better so he just did what he had asked or ordered him to do. From a distance, he could see the camp where Macnair and the young Death Eaters would be. When he got there he didn't see any of them. Something was off because he knew Macnair would not leave this spot. He would have the young Death Eaters doing it for him, while he would just lay around waiting on them as he himself would do.

Slowly he started to walk on. Something had happened but he did not know what. He just didn't see any of them and that was not a good sign. As he took another couple of steps he felt his mark starting to burn on his lower arm. Voldemort was asking for a report but he had nothing to give him. So knowing his master would hurt him he just went on. It was after five minutes he saw a trail of Blood. It was going down the mountain and was slowly getting less. So if it was less he had to go the other way. The further he got the more blood he saw. When he got behind a bush he saw the first young Death Eater. A couple of steps further he saw the next one lying there. Two more were lying a couple of feet further but he did not see Macnair anywhere. What he did see was more and more blood going even further up the mountain. As he walked on he saw a couple of feet. Those shoes were the same as Macnair would wear. The body was under a bush so he just had to know and cut the bush away with a flick of his wand. Then he saw him. His buddy Macnair the one who would kill for them just to get some gold from a magical Animal. The last had been a Hippogriff but Potter had stopped that deal. As he looked down at Macnair he could see a stab wound right through his chest. It was clear he wasn't killed at first. The thing had gone through his spine so it must have cut his magic core. Macnair could not use his magic anymore or he would have apparated to safety. Knowing what he had to do now he bent down and took a hold of Macnair and Apparated back to his manor.

Now Lucius didn't Appear in the manor but more to the outside in the front yard. He knew that Grindelwald's men were training outside in the back. That was also the place they had put up their tents. So Nobody would be here. he dumped the body of his best friend and walked inside. The first young Death Eater he saw, he gave him the order to pick up the body and bring it to their Lords. He had pinned a message on it that he would remain with the giants until he had replacements. He walked outside and Apparated back to the mountain.

Later he would learn that the young Death Eater had been killed the moment he had walked in with the body.

#*

Voldemort had been sitting next to Grindelwald Calling for his Death Eater Lucius to return. Lucius didn't respond so he knew something was wrong as did Grindelwald. Grindelwald had gotten back to his feet and walked circles around the room.

It was after a while that the young Death Eater walked into the room. He didn't knock because he had his hands full of Macnair. When he dropped the body he saw only one thing and that was a green light.

The moment Voldemort realized it was Macnairs Body that was dumped on the ground. Grindelwald had already put the young Death Eater, down for interrupting them. "I think we have to stop killing our own man or we will not have the Army we want to have".

Grindelwald just nodded as he blasted the body away from himself. "This proves that those brats had something to do with it. They have been there I'm sure of it".

"How I do not know, but I'm sure of it because the Giants could not have done this".

"No, as you can see, he was killed by a weapon. Giants do not use weapons, they kill by crushing their opponents. So this is not done by a Giant but by a person or a Goblin. Now, I do not think Goblins will be stupid enough to go after one of our people. No, whoever it was and I still think, no, I know it had to have been these brats. They have found out about our Giants, they might as well have found out about all the other beings we have".

This time Voldemort got a thoughtful look. "Well, what would you have us do if they did do this".

"We attack tomorrow night. We will leave at the end of the day. We will get our Army ready and go to the Forbidden Forest. We will ask Aragog to help us. Whatever we and they kill, they can have it for dinner. Now I will go there tonight and put a spot under a big notice me not charm so we can hide all of us for all of them". At midnight when every one of them will be asleep we will attack and make Hogwarts ours".

"Why so fast, why not wait a week and prepare even better," Voldemort asked because he was of opinion that they weren't ready. Some of his Death Eaters hadn't returned yet. He might get in contact with them, but that would not mean that they got the Magical beast he had been asking for. "I have to get word to my Death Eaters so they can return before we attack Hogwarts".

"You will have time enough to do that. They can be here by tomorrow morning if you send out owls right away. The reason we have to attack so fast is that they will not have time enough to prepare for us". Grindelwald looked out of the window at his own men who were working out. His men were always ready and even if the Death Eaters were pathetic by his own standings. He knew they were eager to get back at those brats for their friend Parkinson and now Macnair. As he thought about it he knew the Goblins would be ready. They lived for a thing like this. Fighting was in their nature so every Battle they could get was a win for them. Their Trolls were drunk enough and as long as they gave them drinks they would do everything. The giants were the same. They had promised them everything but would never do it. They just wanted them to fight for them. Now the only troubles they had were the Vampires. something big has locked them up in Parkinson Manor. The same thing that had kept them away from finding it. "We have been fighting like this since world war one. We might be rusty but we have been training for a year now, so we know a lot more than they do. We can fight better than they ever could and if we do it now, we will have the advantage over them. If only we could get the Vampires out of the manor".


This was it again for this time. See you all in two weeks.


Gr Winmau.