A/N: Not much Rose in this chapter, but a whole lot of remembering.
A Darkened World
The Final Plan
As they made their way around the side of the mountain, what little that remained of the once proud Hogsmeade village came into view.
"So this is the great Hogsmeade Village, is it?" asked one of the wizards, a Canadian by the name of Varley.
"Well, what's left of it." answered Padma Patil, who was leading the group. She turned her head to the wizard standing next to her "You alright Harry?"
Harry tore his eyes away from the ruined village before him to look at Padma. He said nothing, but after a long moment he just shook his head and turned away before saying "Let's just get this over with."
With that he and Padma took the lead, guiding their five companions towards the ruins, and what remained of the Hogs Head Inn.
Those in authority hadn't taken too kindly to Padma just letting Harry out of his prison without first consulting them. Their objections had only gotten more vehement when Padma informed them that it was in the best interests of everyone for them all to drop the desired questioning of Harry about Dumbledore's death, as such a thing was divisive and was only wasting time.
"But we must know the truth." protested the Mexican Minister.
"It will take another two weeks for you to brew the truth serum you require to question me to the extent that will satisfy you," answered Harry "And when you question me under truth serum, you realise that I have been telling the truth all along and you will realise that you have wasted those two weeks. Now, I don't know about you, but I rather think that getting this damn war over with is the far more important issue at the moment. Of course, if you'd rather take the "wait and see" approach, then I fully understand. It seems to be the chosen modus operandi of wizards, after all."
Finally they all agreed on ending the war sooner, and Harry, with prompting from Padma, told them all of what he had told her; of the existence of the Horcruxes, of the ways to destroy them, of the task that had been handed to him by Dumbledore, along with the reasons why he now needed to enter Hogwarts Castle.
Their reactions to this had been predictable; if he had known twenty years ago about the Horcruxes, why had he yet to enter the castle. Harry offered up the simple explanation "If I went in and got caught, there would be no one left who knew of the existence of the Horcruxes, and therefore Voldemort would never die."
Harry had then revealed something that he had not told to Padma in their meeting; the Prophecy.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
Harry had watched them for their reactions, and many did not seem to get it, so he had explained "My parents defied Voldemort three times before their deaths by his hand. I was born at the end of July." He raised a hand and pulled his long, lank, unwashed hair back from his forehead, revealing the familiar scar that was shaped like a lightning bolt "And Voldemort left me with this mark when he failed to kill me. Voldemort make me the only one who could vanquish him."
They understood them, and were not willing to set aside their questions about Dumbledore's death.
"What do you need from us?" asked the Canadian Minister.
"I need to get into Hogwarts and find the remaining Horcruxes, as well as the ability to destroy them. I have no chance of completing that task with the castle filled with so many of Voldemort's followers."
"You wish for a diversion." said the Russian Minister, and it was a statement, not a question "You wish for us to draw out the dark forces, draw their attention fully onto us so that you may infiltrate behind enemy lines."
Harry gave one short nod of confirmation.
"That would be a suicide mission." stated the United States Minister.
"If anyone has a better idea then by all means share it." said Padma.
No one offered up any other solution to their problems.
Finally it was the Australian Minister who broke the silence "You should take some others with you at the very least. We might be able to draw the attention of the forces of darkness onto ourselves, but not every eye will be blind; some are bound to remain behind to keep watch."
"True," replied Harry "and so I will consent to take six others with me. That will give us the magically powerful total number of seven; the same as the number of pieces of soul Tom had."
"I will go." said Padma, volunteering herself "Harry will represent himself, I shall represent India. Perhaps other countries should grant one of their warriors to our mission. We have all stood against Voldemort for a long time; it would be fitting."
Eventually the five others were decided upon. Although each country had offered up a choice of fighters, in the end Harry had chosen one Canadian wizard, one Russian wizard, one Japanese witch, one Kenyan wizard and one Argentinian witch to accompany himself and Padma.
Once all agreements had been made, Harry was shown to a tent to take some food and rest. Once he was gone, Padma had asked that there be a backup team put in place. Seeing as she knew so much about the task assigned Harry, Rose was called in to represent Australia. She would be joined by Stevenson, the man who had questioned her and Harry when they had first arrived in the camp. He would represent the United States. Joining them would be a wizard from Mexico, a wizard from Egypt, a witch from Brazil, a witch from China and a witch who was one of few who had escaped France when Voldemort had taken it for his own.
All of the witches and wizards selected were very able duellers and each could easily hold their own in battle against multiple foes at once. The second group would allow Harry and Padma's group a ten minute head start before following them into the castle.
Harry had been informed of this second group and agreed on the necessity of it; after all every good plan ought to have backup plans and insurance policies.
What was kept from Harry was that Rose was in the second group. As they made their way down to the remains of Hogsmeade village, Padma sent a sideways glance towards Harry, wondering what his reaction to that news would be. It was obvious that, despite their falling out, Harry did still care about Rose on some level. And despite everything, Padma was sure that Harry would not allow Rose to come on the mission if he knew. Not because he didn't feel he could trust her, but because he wouldn't want her in harm's way.
Padma knew that this was because Rose was Hermione's daughter. Padma didn't have the full story yet, but she knew that something had occurred to drive a wedge between the golden trio of friends that had been Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. She suspected Weasley. How Rose factored into this she wasn't entirely sure, though given that she looked so much like Hermione and yet had the last name of Weasley, she could take a guess. And Rose was the physical embodiment of both of Harry Potter's one-time closest companions; his once best friend, and the young woman who he, probably unknowingly, loved.
Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of spell-fire and explosions coming from a distance away. The battle had started; they needed to get a move on.
The wards around Hogwarts Castle fell, brought down by the efforts of a hundred curse breakers. They apparated out back to their camp as two hundred and fifty wizards and witches changed their bodies into plumes of smoke and soared overhead. Some scattered to blast apart the ramparts and battlements, killing any foe they found, but the majority made for the front entrance, clearing the main Viaduct of foes, flattening the structures of the Entrance Courtyard and blowing apart the Entrance Hall before bringing the roof of the Great Hall down upon the heads of those within.
As Voldemort's servants and followers swarmed from the castle in order to retaliate, the attackers went into a retreat.
As a great number of Death Eaters and Werewolves ran across the Covered Bridge in order to attempt to join the battle from a different angle, ten of the attackers swooped down and blasted the bridge apart, bringing it down and crushing those crossing it.
As one straggler made his retreat, he was hit with a spell that caused him searing pain. He came crashing to the ground and gazed around, bleary eyed. He immediately noticed that both of his legs were gone. As the blood gushed from his body and his vision faded, he saw the whole dark host leaving the castle; some charging on foot, others swooping overhead.
As he died, his last thought was "They've taken the bait Harry Potter; it's up to you now."
Inside the Hogs Head, or what remained of it, Padma let the group through the rubble as she searched for her target. Stepping over a skeleton, Harry wondered if perhaps it belonged to the owner of the pub, a man he now believed to have been Albus Dumbledore's younger brother, Aberforth.
Pushing that thought aside, disregarding it as insignificant, Harry followed Padma into another room. It was in that room that Padma had found what she had been looking for; a portrait.
The was old; stained through water damage and had grime coating the edges, but the image it held was still visible; a stone arch, covered with ivy, through which a grassy lawn could be seen, with a line of trees in the distance.
That was it.
Harry was sure that the portrait had been nice enough back before it was damaged, but he couldn't see how this would help them get into the school.
Padma stepped closer to it and muttered "Where are you Ariana?"
Harry was certain he had heard that name somewhere before, and knew it somehow related to the Dumbledore family, but he couldn't quite place just how. It had been years since he had bothered himself with reading about Albus Dumbledore's sordid past in that book by Rita Skeeter.
Padma spoke again "Ariana, are you there?"
This time something happened; barely half a face of a girl in her early teens moved to peer out at them from behind the right side of the stone arch. She eyed them very cautiously.
"Ariana, I'm Padma Patil. Do you remember me?" Padma asked, and Harry noted her use of her maiden name in this instance "Your brother Aberforth used to supply myself and some others with food and drink, do you remember?"
The girl in the portrait nodded and stepped out completely from behind the pillar.
"Ariana, we have a great need to get into the castle." Padma explained "We want to destroy the man who has dealt out so much death and destruction over the years; to do that we need to get inside the castle. Will you allow us passage?"
The girl's eyes drifted over the group that stood behind Padma, and they only came to a stop when the fell on Harry. Then they moved on, instead looking over Harry's left shoulder. When her gaze didn't break, Harry turned to see what she was looking at. Seeing only a wall there, he wondered what she could see that he could not. Then it occurred to him; she was looking in the general direction of the skeleton he had stepped over.
And it clicked; if the owner of this pub had been Albus Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, then this Ariana was their sister, the one who had died young under hazy circumstances. And it was almost as if she knew where the last member of her family had fallen.
He turned back towards the portrait to see that Ariana was watching him intently.
Finally she gave a nod and the portrait swung forwards to reveal a long dark tunnel.
Padma led the way inside, with Harry following on immediately behind her.
"This tunnel opened up shortly after a load of us retreated to the Room of Requirements for safety. We needed food and water so two doorways opened up; one to the Hogs Head and one to the Hogwarts kitchens.
"When the battle began, we used it as an escape route. The Death Eaters seemed to know every other route out of the castle except this one. We got the younger years out first, of course, but many of the older students stayed to fight. The last of us left alive sealed the door to the room and then retreated along this passage. When we got to the other end we found the pub being ransacked. I took great pleasure in skewering that Half Troll Millicent Bulstrode on a conjured wooden pole before making my escape with an injured fifth year student."
Harry snorted "And the great Albus Dumbledore always insisted that those snakes could be redeemed."
"Actually some of them did join our side in the final fight." said Padma "Tracey Davis saw a Death Eater holding Professor Sinistra under the torture curse, and made a nice new hole in his head for him before taking out Pansy Parkinson's father. She made it out that night, but we lost her when France was taken. Then there was a sixth year, Jeffery Harper. He rallied a couple of his mates together and took on a couple of Death Eaters so some of the younger Slytherins could get out. He and his friends all paid the ultimate price for that. And then there was Daphne Greengrass. She knew some basic healing and was assisting Madam Pomfrey as best she could. In the end she took a killing curse from Bellatrix Lestrange in an attempt to save the matron, not that such a thing did any good, Bellatrix just fired another killing curse."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, he did vaguely recall a sight of a blonde-haired young woman throwing herself between Bellatrix and Madam Pomfrey. Harry had always assumed that it was a Ravenclaw he didn't know, but recalling the memory now, he supposed her robes did appear to be green lined rather than blue.
Padma went on "Some say that the Greengrass family was punished heavily for Daphne's betrayal of the pure-blood ideals. Most of the family was wiped out, but current evidence suggests that Daphne's younger sister Astoria was forced to provide Draco Malfoy an heir before being killed."
They came to a door "Here we are." said Padma, reaching out and pushing it open.
The room beyond was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt, but was still as she remembered it.
The banners of three of the four houses still hung proudly upon the walls. Hammocks and camp beds were still set up ready for people to sleep in them, and all around trunks stood around, as though patiently awaiting the return of their owners.
She heard an intake of breath and she turned to see where it had come from.
It had come from Harry, who was several feet from her, and was staring at something on the ground. Slowly he stooped down and picked it up.
"Luna." he said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he stood up straight again.
Clutched in his hand was the string necklace decorated with corks from butter beer bottles that was so familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of Luna Lovegood.
Padma and the others stood completely still as Harry slowly began to make his way around the room.
He paid no heed to them; instead he kept his eyes open for any signs of his old friends. Next he found Luna's radish-shaped earrings, followed by a small glass sphere that he quickly identified as Neville Longbottom's rememberall. Nearby was a book, the one the Barty Crouch Jr. had given Neville back in their fourth year: Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties. Next he came across a green jumper that bore the logo of Ireland's national Quidditch Team. It had belonged to Seamus.
There was a hair band and a pair of shoes that immediately reminded him of Lavender Brown; a collection of bangles and a necklace that he remembered Padma's twin sister Parvati wearing when she had accompanied Harry to the Yule Ball in their fourth year at Hogwarts; a pair of glasses exactly like those Terry Boot used to wear; a watch that he remembered Anthony Goldstein telling a couple of others about during one D.A. meeting. It was a present for his sixteenth birthday, if Harry remembered correctly. There was a pair of earmuffs that he remembered Susan Bones wearing in the very first (although then unofficial) meeting of the D.A in the Hogs Head pub.
The more he looked, the more he saw, and the more he saw the more he remembered. He remembered names. He remembered faces. He remembered stories, laughter, friendship, loyalty… he remembered love.
And he felt something inside of his break in that moment. He had never realised just how much so many of these people had meant to him, and now that he had realised it, they were gone.
On the far wall, a piece of parchment hung. He approached it and took it down. The ink on it had faded with time, but what was written upon it was still clear.
Dumbledore's Army.
Founders: Harry Potter Ronald Weasley Hermione Granger
Leader: Harry Potter.
Second Leader: Neville Longbottom.
Members:
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Ronald Weasley
Ginevra Weasley
Neville Longbottom
Luna Lovegood
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Cho Chang
Dean Thomas
Hannah Abbott
Susan Bones
Colin Creevey
Dennis Creevey
Lavender Brown
Parvati Patil
Padma Patil
Seamus Finnigan
Ernest Macmillan
Justin Finch-Fletchley
Angelina Johnson
Alicia Spinnet
Kathryn Bell
Anthony Goldstein
Terrence Boot
Michael Corner
Cormac McLaggen
Leanne Simmonds
Romilda Vane
Nigel Wolpert
Luca Caruso
Alice Tolipan
Fay Dunbar
Ritchie Coote
Jimmy Peakes
Lisa Turpin
Megan Jones…
The list of names seemed to go on and on; far longer than the original number it had originally contained during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. He noticed that Zacharias Smith was no longer on the list. Nor, for that matter was Marietta Edgecombe. Also notable in their absence were the names of the various muggle born students who hadn't joined the first time around and had been forced into hiding or arrested and killed by the time Neville resurrected the D.A. in his seventh year. Their names came to Harry in a wave: Sally-Anne Perks, Lilith Moon, Wayne Hopkins, Stephen Cornfoot, Emma Dobbs, Stuart Ackerly, Laura Madley, Kevin Whitby…
All were gone now; some had hidden themselves away, afraid to fight; some wanted to fight but were too damaged to do so anymore.
Most were dead.
Dead, because the Ministry was so corrupt.
Dead, because Albus Dumbledore had kept so many secrets.
Dead, because Harry Potter had been left all alone and clueless.
Dead, because help had taken so long to come.
A fierce determination suddenly began to bubble violently within Harry.
All these people had died because Voldemort was an evil and no one had been able to check.
Today though, Voldemort would die.
Today Voldemort would meet his match.
Today all those who had died would be avenged.
It would all end today.
A/N: So what do you think? This chapter is mostly about reminding Harry about all that has been lost; he has known, but never truly remembered until now, because until now all his memories have been fogged by his own pain.
Not enough Rose in this chapter, I know. In fact, she doesn't even appear, only gets mentioned. Her arrival will be important though, and we will see plenty of her in the next chapter.
In personal news, I saw The Hobbit on Tuesday evening. Now, I must admit that I, like a lot of people out there, had my doubts when it was announced that Martin Freeman would play the central role of Bilbo Baggins. My doubts, however, were completely unfounded. He was fantastic and so was everyone else. If you haven't gone to see it yet, then what the hell are you waiting for? Get going!