Chapter 6: Mobilization

Harry Potter worked quickly with Fleur to set up a meager defense around the "tomb." Nicolas Flamel had officially died in 1418, at which time he was entombed behind a tombstone which featured many alchemical symbols. Of course that was simply the official record. His tomb has been a source of speculation and myth ever since his "death" and he enjoyed feeding that legend until his actual death in 1992.

In 1992, once Voldemort had showed interest in obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, the secret to Flamel's immortality, Flamel and Albus Dumbledore had decided that it was for the best to destroy the stone. Thus Flamel and his wife Perenelle became the first people to sacrifice their lives to stop Voldemort in the second war. Flamel had a small amount of reserve Elixir of Life, and during the time which that bought him he had created a small, out of the way place for him and Perenelle to be buried. As much as he enjoyed the attention his tomb received, he hadn't wanted his actual tomb to become the same kind of attraction.

Thus Harry and Fleur were forced to defend a white marble building the size of a small, two-bedroom house. It had anti-muggle charms on it, which helped the defensive effort, and one small entrance which led to a large room with three raised coffins inside. Even if someone did get inside, they would have to figure out which ones contained the couple.

The building sat upon the banks of the Rhine River, square in the middle of Paris. Fleur had set up a perimeter of watchers for several miles around the building to spot any potential intruders, Death Eaters or Voldemort himself. Harry had only managed to get his five closest friends to come and help, but at least there was some British presence.

Harry was leaning against the back of the building, facing the river when Albus' owl swooped down. Hermione came up to him as he read the note, a look of disgust on his face. He finished reading, crumpled it up and threw it into the river. "He should have never sent him back, even a part," he said to no one in particular.

"What's up?" Hermione asked.

"He-Who-Should-Have-Remained-Dead got Travers to train him. No doubt he is on his way here now. We have work to do," he said getting up and walking around to the front of the building.

Almost as if on cue, Luna came up to them. "A spotter saw movement about a mile away. Not much, but it appeared to be a Death Eater who came, looked about and then left. Fleur is pulling all her forces into a half mile radius and preparing to fight."

Harry nodded. The fight was coming and as he looked around he was reminded of the Battle of Marshall only a few weeks earlier. They had a bunch of well intentioned and determined, but unprepared fighters against a superior force which was attacking. Harry had lost at Marshall and he could only pray for a better outcome in Paris.

Albus Potter had spent the next several days after the vision working out the details of his plans with James, who had recently returned from Romania, and John Wright, who he had recently appointed to lead opposite James while he dealt with Grindelwald. He was confident that his plans would put the NDA fighters in the best possible position against the army when it attacked. He just hoped it would be good enough. Besides, there was a contingency plan which Dumbledore had cooked up if things went wrong.

It was a bright, Sunday morning when Hugo returned with George Weasley, each knee deep in products from George's store. George apologized for the delay, evading Percy had proven more difficult than he had thought and George hurried back to the British Army before anyone noticed he was missing. Albus thanked him and wasted no time dishing out the supplies. About an hour later the NDA stood in matching, magenta robes and hats, the Weasley Magical Armor 3.0, they had each received at least one product which George thought might be useful and Albus had reworked his plan to incorporate the new tricks. After going over the new plan with everyone, he sent them to bed.

The next morning, they woke before dawn to the sound of a resounding alarm. Albus knew what that meant. The Americans had spotted the Army approaching. Albus, Hugo and Scorpius were the first ones up and dressed in the armor, and the three headed out the door and straight up to the Astronomy Tower. As the three emerged, they could see the first rays of sunlight creeping over the horizon as hundreds of Americans moved throughout the trenches in front of the castle. Albus looked out past the moat, but couldn't see anything yet.

Suddenly Hugo gasped. The Horizon was moving as shadows of people began to appear. Row after row of inferi came into the early morning light as the army approached the moat. Albus watched the reactions of Hugo and Scorpius. Scorpius had not been at Marshall and he wanted to make sure that Scorpius would be able to handle the fight. Scorpius grinned at Albus. "Now's when the fun begins," he said.

Albus smiled. Scorpius was ready. Albus looked out at the army, now fully visible and lined up on the other side of the moat. Showtime, Albus thought. He unsheathed his wand and waved it at the sky, sending a turquoise jet into the sky. Now you might have a chance, he thought as Hugo and Scorpius returned downstairs and got into position.