Chapter 15 - Day Five
Day Two
Harry was staring quizzically at Lillian. "Okay, backtrack," he said firmly. "Slytherin was a muggleborn, that I already knew. He was going to be burnt at the stake when he was discovered to be a wizard and Gryffindor saved him."
"He came galloping out of the forest on the most gorgeous horse I have ever seen," Lillian gushed. "You should have seen it Harry. The villagers were so stunned by his appearance and I was too!" She laughed. "He had long yellow hair and this horrible scraggly beard but he was tall and bloody well built. I'm telling you, Tarzan has nothing over what Gryffindor was."
Harry dismissed her praises about Gryffindor impatiently. "Can we get back to the part where you said his mother was a slave in my ancestors home!"
"They were terrible," she said frowning, her mood shifting from swooning to disgust. "The McDougan's were incredibly arrogant because of their vast influence and they were very powerful as well. After Slytherin was rescued by Gryffidor, the McDougan's found out where his mother had escaped to and killed her."
The gory tale didn't effect Harry one bit. He was deeply fascinated by the history of his ancestors for better or worse. "And then Slytherin found them and killed them."
"To make a very long story short. Yep," said Lillian. "But he let this one girl live. She was ostracised by the rest of her family and she was the one who lead him to the castle just like Vivian said. He met her once thereafter and by then she was married to a potter in one of the villages in Scotland." Lillian giggled. "And he was a potter in the sense he made clay pots for a living. That's how your family got their name Harry." Lillian couldn't stop giggling. The Potters were once well respected in the Wizarding world and their origins amused her to no end.
Harry rolled his eyes. "And what about Hogwarts? Was Slytherin as bad as the history books say?"
"Well he never had any issues with muggleborns," she said thoughtfully. "But he wanted the complete isolation of the magical world from the non magical. He wanted muggleborns to give up their lives in the non magical world permanently."
"Muggles tried to kill him. I'm sure we can allow him a little sympathy for his stance," Harry said.
"Yea, but the other founders were completely against it and that's what lead him towards the black arts."
"Black arts?"
"That's what they called the dark arts then," Lillian explained. "Anyway he went so deep that he lost himself and tried to create a spell that would permanently divide the two worlds. Once a muggleborn accepts his place his the magical one, he would be bound by a contract to leave the non magical world or else forfeit his magic. When Gryffindor found out about it he was furious and tried it put an end to it but Slytherin was unswayed. They had a terrible argument and ended up duelling in the great hall."
Lillian had an expression of awe when she remembered the duel. "Both of them were evenly matched," she said reverently. "But towards the end Slytherin made a mistake. He dropped his guard for an instant and it was all that Gryffindor needed. I don't know why he did it but he did and he just smiled and allowed Gryffindor to strike him in his back with his sword." She shuddered recalling the amount of blood that had spurt from his torso when that magnificent blood soaked sword was withdrawn.
Harry hung on to every word she said, wishing for the hundredth time, he could get into the pensive. "So he died? How did his memories end up in the pensive."
"He didn't die in the duel. Gryffindor banished him from the castle and told him to never return. It was all very emotional. Helga and Rowena were crying. The students were watching with distress and worst was Gryffindor. He felt betrayed by the man he had saved from certain death and trained him to become such a great wizard. I honestly don't know what was going through Slytherin's head but he could have defeated Gryffindor if he really wanted to but he didn't. Instead he went down to his chamber, which is the chamber of secrets by the way and deposited all his books and memories into the pensive before leaving the castle. I haven't seen all the memories but these were the ones I was interested it."
"So Vivian wasn't lying," Harry murmured. "I did have my doubts before but now..."
"Crazy right? I loved the memory where Slytherin peed at the foot of Vivian's portrait after slaughtering everyone inside." Lillian laughed gleefully. She was definitely going to rub it in Vivian's face if she ever met the arrogant portrait again.
Harry snorted. "She didn't mention that when we met her."
"As if she would admit to such a thing," laughed Lillian. "And if we see her again I'll be sure to bring it up. Nasty bitch called me names last time."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Did you at least find out why the hell can't I enter the pensive?"
"Oh yes. Slytherin really hated your family. I think I caught a memory where he inscribed the rune of rejection using the blood of your ancestors at the bottom of the pensive. Only a parselmouth can enter the pensive and I fulfil those conditions. You, however, have been barred by magic," she said smirking.
"Well then, all we have to do is empty the memories into vials and erase that stupid rune," said Harry. "Then we can use the pensive for our own needs."
Lillian suddenly grinned mischievously and her eyes sparkled as an exciting thought crossed her mind. "We could see our own memories of us doing it," she said, her eyes alive and imagination running wild.
Harry's eyes glazed over. "That..." he breathed, his nostrils flaring, "That is an incredibly erotic idea," he said, his blood pressure rising. He glanced at the pensive and weighed the pros and cons of getting to it right now but Lillian put all those ideas to rest the next moment.
"But I think we should probably find Sarah and Sirius first," she said, her voice heavy with disappointment. She silently cursed Harry for stilling responsibility in her. "I'm sure the others are going to need our help."
"Menial work," Harry said wrinkling his nose in disgust. "We'll be shepherding people and following instructions. It's a pain Freckles. I like the pensive idea better."
"Let's at least make sure they don't need us," Lillian said responsibly and it was a bit odd that it was coming from Lillian and not Harry this time around. Harry was a little preoccupied with visions of his tour of the pensive with his girlfriend.
"Fine," he grumbled. "But if anyone tries to unload work on me I'm going to get nasty. Even if it's your friends."
"Fine," she said rolling her eyes.
Harry spent the rest of the day in a terrible mood and was rude to anyone who even spoke to him regardless of their polite and even cautious tone.
Just as Harry predicted, Lillian, their friends and he were given the task of herding all the remaining muggles in the castle to the Australian sanctuary. Hogwarts was being evacuated of all non essential personal and every single person was on the move, transporting thousands of portkeys to the remaining muggle troops all over the world. Wizards and witches were being transported to the naval fleets to help speed up the movements of the ship with the help of new crystals the department of magical weapons had created. Thousands of troops were converging all around the area Voldemort was suspected of being in and thanks to the cold weather Harry and Lillian were also put in charge of creating portkeys to send charmed clothes to keep the troops warm and alert.
Lillian was treated to more than a few dark glares from Harry but she steadily ignored him. It wasn't her fault they were actually needed.
Harry wondered if he should find Luna and ask her where she hid all the time because he never saw her doing a thing around the castle. He discarded that idea as soon as it came and glumly resigned to his fate for the day.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Day 4
The day before they set out, the remaining people in the castle had organised a small party. There were many budding musicians in the army and in record time a small band was set up in the great hall and copious amounts of booze and chips were obtained as entertainment.
Those who were lucky enough spent the day in the company of the opposite sex and made merry all day and all night.
Harry and Lillian never left their room.
Day 5, December the 5th 1996
The portkey was set to leave in one hour and two men were impatiently waiting for a woman in the room of the founders.
Harry had finally brought Dumbledore to the room he had discovered a long time ago when he was an innocent first year. Dumbledore had been shocked to know that he never heard about this room and Harry dryly informed the headmaster it was mentioned in Hogwarts: A History.
As it transpired that despite it being such a famous book, like the thousands of students before Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, Albus 'The Great' Dumbledore had not read the book too.
Harry wondered what Granger would have to say about that. He chuckled under his breath imagining her shock and outrage.
"Something funny?" Dumbledore said mildly, while carefully examining the runes on Slytherin's pensive. He was fascinated by the object and was carefully poking and prodding at it with his wand.
"What isn't," Harry joked.
Dumbledore hummed and found an interesting rune that allowed only a parselmouth access to the pensive. He carefully pushed a little magic in that rune and with practised ease, born out of a century of experience, he disabled the rune.
He smiled in satisfaction. As if runes would stop him from seeing Slytherin's memories he thought in amusement. He lightly touched the shimmering silver mist of memories with his wand and drew a thin strand out of it.
Harry was facing Dumbledore's back and was tapping his foot impatiently as they waited on Lillian to come out the washroom. She had mysteriously said she wanted to get ready and had disappeared into the washroom. That had been almost an hour ago and Harry was getting very annoyed. They were going into the most important battle of their lives and they were being held up a woman in the washroom. As a result he didn't see what Albus was up to or else he would have warned the ancient wizard.
Albus was expecting to see a memory of a young Salazar Slytherin and what he saw mortified him. With a loud gasp he broke the connection and whipped around facing Harry with an expression of shock and embarrassment.
Harry frowned wondering what was wrong with the headmaster and then noticed a rune flickering on the pensive. He quickly connected the dots and his eyes widened comically before he began to laugh.
"Yes," Harry said turning blue in embarrassment. "Lillian and I removed Slytherin's memories and out in one of our first memories of doing it an d then recreated that magic inside the pensive."
Dumbledore quickly regained his composure and shook his head in exasperation. "Harry, that pensive is a historical artefact! And those memories are priceless! You can't have..." His voice choked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, there was an expression of deep disapproval. "You can't desecrate it in such a fashion!"
Harry just grinned, unrepentant. "Our sex drives would like to disagree," he said dryly.
Dumbledore could only feel sorry for the pensive. He was certain this wasn't the fate Slytherin had hoped for his precious pensive. "I hope you kept those memories safe," he said sighing.
Harry pointed at the foot of the bed where there was a huge jar filled to the brim with liquid like silver mist. "We were going to gift it to you since you already have a pensive."
"How thoughtful," Dumbledore said dryly. "Now where is the lovely Miss Austin? I sincerely hope she realises how dire being late is going to be."
Dire was an understatement, Harry thought. He would have gone in to get her but she had forbidden him from coming in and warded the bathroom to boot.
Relief was visible on their faces when the washroom door opened and Lillian came out.
Harry's eyes widened and he banished all annoyance from his mind.
Lillian was wearing black tight fitting pants and a neatly tucked in white shirt with a black full sleeved leather jacket that had its collar kept down and zipped up halfway over it. Her hair was cut into neck length with jagged ends and was now a shade of black that rivalled Harry's. She had applied the perfect amount of mascara and brightened her lips with a light shade of red. To top it all off she was leather boots with a slight heel that made her look hot and badarse.
Harry swore never to complain if she took her time getting ready.
"This could be the end or a new beginning," said Lillian with uncharacteristic seriousness. "Either way, I want to look cool and attractive."
Harry's breath came out in a shudder and he reined in his hormones. "You know that I love you right?" He said seriously.
"Of course. I love you too."
Dumbledore wisely kept silent and let the young adults to have their moment.
"I can't look like this with you looking like that!" Harry joked.
"I believe I can help," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. He swished his wand at Harry and his plain black robes transformed into a tuxedo without the jacket and a loose silver green diagonally striped tie around his neck keeping the top button of his white shirt open.
He gave a critical once over and then flicked his wand at Harry's hair giving it a wind swept appearance.
"Dashing," Lillian said in approval. "I wouldn't mind being caught with you at my side now," she joked.
Harry rolled his eyes and transfigured the shiny shoes into tough hunter boots. He wasn't going to go into battle wearing toe hurting shoes.
A stray thought reminded him he would have never even considered dressing up for a war and he affectionately credited Lillian with the change in his personality. He looked at Lillian with an arched eyebrow. "Well?"
"Now I just want to jump your bones," Lillian said grinning.
"And now I simply must interrupt and insist," Dumbledore said politely. "We have to go."
Harry and Lillian looked at Dumbledore's bright purple robes that had a moving two dimensional solar system printed on it and simultaneously decided it was definitely the best look for the powerful wizard.
"Let's go," he said and Lillian and Harry followed. Harry gave one last look and Lillian squeezed his hand gently.
Determination filled the two elementals and with faces set in stone they headed to the Great Hall. It was finally time.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The entire castle was empty. Harry couldn't remember the last time he was able to hear the sound of his boots echo off the walls. Those who were not fighting were shipped off to Australia and those who were going to fight were in and around Canada, either on land or on water.
The elves had set up a magnificent camp in Northern America where Harry was told there were nearly two hundred elves and twice as many healers and doctors, waiting grimly for their beds to be filled. It was inevitable. There were going to be more casualties then they could handle. The elves shared none of those worries and peacefully waited.
The Drakons had already departed to the edge of Voldemort's hideout and the Dwarf army swelled the ranks of those on foot. The muggles and wizards couldn't help but feel bolstered and confident when the Dwarves arrived with their huge axes and ginormous futuristic catapults.
Through the frozen waters of the North West, the remaining fleet of destroyers and aircraft carriers powered through until their invisible target was within their range of fire. General Casey and his counterparts from all over the world were on the ships connected by magic and technology to all their troops. Every artificial satellite that they still had control over were all aimed at one region of the world.
It was an unprecedented act of war upon on terrible enemy that had laid waste to the world and murdered over seventy percent of its population just because of his ambition and mad desire to look down upon the world.
The great hall was never so empty as it was now. There was no one save a few wizards who were waiting on them. The ceiling glittered with stars and a silver plate served as their portkey to war.
"We'll see you soon Hogwarts," Lillian whispered, squeezing Harry's hand.
"Good luck," said the wizards left behind and the portkey activated.
Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore arrived in a white wasteland with a drastic drop of temperature. Harry's mood brightened considerably and Lillian and Dumbledore broke out in chills.
"B-bloody Christ!" chattered Lillian for a second before raising her body heat to melting point. The snow beneath her feet began to melt and she quickly adjusted her temperature.
Dumbledore spelled an heat bubble around his body keeping the cold winds away and he looked around curiously, wondering where the Drakons were hiding.
"Doesn't that dark lord know you're stronger in this frozen desert?" Lillian groused. "This ice is bloody irritating!"
"All this ice and I can control it all," Harry grinned, "Poor strategy Voldemort is employing."
"Or he's that confident in his power," Dumbledore added. "Now we have to go North. A mile ahead is where our scouts have been disappearing. I believe we might find our Drakon allies on the way."
They started to trudge through the deep snow and had to employ certain charms to walk easy. Harry couldn't use his element to take them faster because of caution against wards. They couldn't feel anything as they traveled but the three kept their senses sharp.
A gust of wind passed by and Harry sighed in bliss. "This is perfect," he said. "I could live here forever."
"You won't be seeing me around," Lillian said darkly. "Repulsive weather this."
They saw several snow covered dead pine trees around them and around them was the Drakon army. Their black scaled monstrous body glowed with molten cracks and their eyes were burning balls of crackling magic. Nineteen Drakons stood side by side, their leather and bone wings folded and spiked tail twisting and swaying.
They were a dangerous and awe inspiring picture to the three wizards against a pure white landscape.
"Have you found anything?" Dumbledore asked their leader. The smallest and humanoid Drakon, who stood at six and a half feet.
"We have," the Drakon rumbled, his voice almost soft in the screaming wind. "Bicorn wards," he said, his features twisting into an ugly rage.
"Bicorns?" Lillian asked, bemused. "What are those?"
"You will see," the Drakon said and turned around to lead the way.
They had arrived at the crack of dawn, under the cover of a light blue sky and now the blue was brighter and deeper as they continued their slow trek towards an unseen enemy. They trudged over a small hillock and when they reached the peak they saw it.
A vast moat of bubbling black ooze stretched on in a gargantuan arc. Coming over the hill seemed to remove the illusion of calm and throughout the sky, emerging from the moat, tiny black veins enclosed the enormous tower glaring over all.
The group of wizards didn't have time to comment on the malevolent power rolling out of the tower as a lance of black ooze launched towards them at incredible speed.
The Drakons let loose a blast of power in unison and the landscape turned red.
Rock and ice showered all around them in the aftermath of the clash and Dumbledore raised a silver shield while Harry and Lillian let the debris pass through them harmlessly.
"Well that explains why everyone we sent was killed," Harry said.
"What the hell is that?" asked Lillian making a face.
"Bicorn," spat the Drakon. The ooze was reforming into a reptilian shape after it's first attack failed.
"I don't see two horns," Harry said, squinting to see if he had missed anything.
"The tail."
What looked like a pool of ooze that served as strange wards was a deep pit swarming with hundreds of creatures with a long and thick torso, a wide head with razor sharp teeth and a tail that had two dangerous curved horns at the end.
There was no noise apart from the howl of the wind but all of them could feel the scream in the magic around them.
"For the Bicorns' to be revived, Voldemort has indeed fallen," Dumbledore said quietly. "Do you still have the compass Harry?"
Harry summoned the compass from his bottomless pocket and showed a flicker of surprise at the reading.
The needle was a heartbeat away from complete release. Whatever the wards were, they had even fooled the compass. Voldemort had given up and allowed Evil to begin its return to the world.
The thought crossed his mind once more and his heart skipped a beat. Voldemort had given up. This was no longer a war against a dark lord. A tiny pocket of fear appeared in his heart before he cursed and crushed it by summoning his element. His eyes turned hard and determined.
"DRAKONS!" boomed the leader. "THE TIME HAS COME!"
The battle had already begun.
"Dumbledore! We need to get rid of those wards!" Harry shouted as a Bicorn thundered on scaled feet towards him.
The ground began to rumble as close to two hundred Bicorns flew up towards them and the black veins in the sky grew larger and stronger.
"Confrigo Glacius!" Harry roared and the entire length of the hill exploded halfway. The massive mass of rock and ice rose, defying gravity and suddenly fell atop the oncoming hoard.
The ground and air shook with the impact of nature and it's power.
"A little warning next time moron!" Lillian yelled
The tremors receded and the destroyed Bicorns oozed out from the cracks and reformed into their monstrous forms.
"How do you kill these things?" Harry asked frowning.
"Leave that to us," said the Drakon leader taking a step in front of the trio with a strange gleam in its molten eyes. "Attack the moat with all your power and destroy the ward. It is a powerful concealing ward but fragile to assault. We will handle our eternal enemies."
The Drakons took flight in a burst of turbulence and Harry watched in awe as the Drakons roared in unison, combining all their magical power in a single blast and the Bicorns, looking up with cruel eyes burning with hate, met the colossal ball of magic with black orbs of condensed magic with the ends of their tails.
Dumbledore grabbed Harry and Lillian's wrist, his face a mask of concentration. "Above Miss Austin. Quickly now!"
Lillian teleported the instant the land space was torn apart with wild uncontrollable magic. Opposites had met with equal power and blown the surrounding air away.
They reappeared far above the clash and could see specks of movement on the broken Earth below. "Take us to the highest point of the dome!" Shouted Dumbledore, as gravity took hold and they began to plummet.
Lillian's eyes flared with fire and she teleported them to the top most point of the ward. The power of the ward was strongest at ground level but was weakest at the top.
"Together now! Your most powerful attack!" Dumbledore commanded.
They had to focus their attacks at a single point. They instinctively knew this. Harry created a lance made of highly condensed ice and it materialised on Harry's wand hand. His eyes glowed silver and he mixed explosive magic into his ice changing its glow to the blood red of the confringo curse. Lillian raised both her hands making a heavy sphere of fire; waiting to be released from Lillian's hold. Dumbledore; his blue eyes cold, revealing the ancient depth of power behind the wrinkled face; held his wand like a dagger and then they thrust down.
Lillian's fire was the fastest as it exploded away from her and struck the black ward with a massive boom. The air began to heat drastically when Harry's lance and Dumbledore beam of silver light collided with the rippling wards.
The entire magic was absorbed by the wards and the black veins crawled and then froze and then cracked.
"Freckles!" Harry shouted as the cracking wards rushed towards his face as he fell.
Lillian was alert and once again she teleported the instant the ward exploded. Wings of fire sprawling out from her back sharply slowed their descent while the air thundered with the sound of the ward failing.
They had to clench their eyes and ears while the air and ground quaked in an effort to contain the blast of magic. Three seconds later it was over and they opened their eyes to the full view of the enemy forces.
"Damn," Harry was the first to say.
The sky was brightening, a happy gold but was in complete contrast to the shadows on the ground.
Lillian had brought them to a couple of miles distance from the tall tower and all they could see was an assembled army of deformed monsters that sort of resembled werewolves; only more larger with dead black eyes and shark like jaws. Hidden behind them were many other creatures along with wizards loyal to the insanity of Voldemort.
The one thing they all had in common was pupil less black eyes devoid of any semblance of life. The ground beneath them was covered in a liquid similar to the ones powering the wards and they were all coming out from the foot of the tower. Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore were slowly being surrounded by monsters and black magic alike when Harry called for a tactical retreat.
"The wards are down, we should recover and gather the ground troops," he said amidst the menacing growls around him.
"The Drakons Miss Austin," Dumbledore said quickly and for the third time Lillian teleported them back to the destroyed ward line.
The whole operation took fifteen seconds.
They were teleported into another raging battle field between Drakon and Bicorn. There was no time to take a breath.
"Harry the signal," Lillian shouted as Dumbledore raised a shield around them as a Bicorn came crashing down towards them in three pieces. The Drakons were running riot.
Wasting no time, Harry removed the device that Croaker had given him and launched it in the air. "Reducto," murmured Dumbledore and Harry stuck an earpiece in his ear, as did Dumbledore and Lillian.
The small box shaped object burst into a blue rune and glowed brightly before dissipating into nothingness.
"General?"
"Alright we got the location," crackled General Casey' voice. "What's their strength like?"
Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore were standing a little distance away from the Drakons who were zipping through the air with a black, jagged sword in one hand and pulsing magic in the other, cutting the tails of the Bicorns and blowing them to oblivion. But the sheer numbers of dark creatures that kept rising out of the ooze never changed and they knew they would have to join the battle soon.
"Abnormal but we are stronger," Harry replied.
"If the Drakons can cope, you three return to the second rendezvous. We'll begin phase two."
"Got it," muttered Harry. "Freckles? Do you mind?" Lillian was their personal instant transporter now.
Lillian huffed but nodded and disappearing in a roar of fire. She was very sensitive about being used as a messenger girl because of her powers.
She returned a couple of seconds later. "The Drakon says they can handle the Bicorns. These are only creatures meant to slow the enemy down, he says. The real battle is yet to begin."
Dumbledore removed the second portkey; a doll, and held it out. "Let us not waste time then," he said grimly. When three fingers touched the doll, Dumbledore added his wand and murmured, "Activate."
They were dropped in stormy waters aboard the biggest aircraft carrier they were ever likely to see. NMF VICTORY was being readied for the launch their warplanes and in tandem with the waves rocking both sides of the ship, men in yellow coats ran from point to point yelling and gesturing orders. The sun was shining brightly above the ocean behind the dark clouds gathering over land.
"The General is in the bridge," said a man in blue overalls after they arrived. "He's waiting for you."
Dumbledore was familiar with the ship and led them up a series of holes with metal ladders guiding their way. Lillian bumped her head and cursed about five times before they made it to the red lit bridge of the aircraft carrier. In the middle, surrounded by blinking machines and men manning the the equipments, General Casey stared down at a large virtual map on a glass panel with a cigar dangling between his hard lips.
"We're live," he grunted. "Satellites are now working and we're marking the apparation points for the ground squads. A dozen drones have already been launched to test the enemy and drop a few bombs. Depending on the response our manned birds will fly." He puffed his cigar a couple of times and flooded the room with more smoke. The fire detectors had been turned off for the General. "Should we be worried things are going smoothly?" he asked.
"Yes," Harry said simply. "The Drakons and even the elves mentioned several creatures that are a creation of evil. Vampires are one, the newly discovered Bicorns makes two and if the dwarves are to be believed, we're looking at the source of lycanthropy; monsters on another scale."
"Don't forget the Dementors and other experimental creatures be been working on," added Lillian.
Casey grimaced. "The yes was sufficient enough Potter," he growled. "I didn't ask for a god damn lecture on retarded creatures."
"When do we move in?" Dumbledore interjected. His eyes focused on the spot where there were dozens of red dots moving together. "Voldemort is prepared, that much we now now. We should press forward and back up the Drakons.
"The Drakons already have back up," Casey said. "Something they call Newton or something. They basically ordered us to leave the freaky creatures and deal with Voldemort."
"You mean the Neytons," Dumbledore said. He had met with the Drakons, Elves and Dwarves but the Neytons were a mystery. All he knew was they were providers. But what did they provide he had no clue. But he brushed past the question and focused on more immediate matters. "How long till the portkeys are set up?"
Casey's eyes flickered to the top of the glass panel. A timer was going down and it was now at eighty minutes and fifteen seconds. "In that time we're going to start our air strikes. We can't wait and test the enemy too much. This is a fight to death and everyone knows it. Three minutes and our air fleet is going to launch," he said grimly.
"And when do we go back in?" Lillian asked.
"After the grounds troops engage the enemy. It is likely that the Drakons will defeat the bi-whatever on the outskirts and they can back up the ground troops once they're done. Judging by the type of magic powering these creatures, it safe to assume that Voldemort has given in and is only buying time until Evil is reborn. Your job is to wait until we get an opening and find and kill Voldemort." He looked at them with eyes burning with resolve. "Do you think you can do it?"
"Heh," Lillian smirked. She looked mischievous and her eyes were wreathed in flames. This was elemental Lillian and her body was lusting for blood and violence. "It's a good thing I've gotten good at this patience thing."
"My influence," Harry said dryly. He leaned over the glass panel and looked at all the dots that marked their allies. He wondered if one of the dots was Sirius and the others Moody, Sarah, Lupin and others he had become acquainted with in this long war that he had been fighting. He was wondered how many of them would still be alive if the war ended in their victory.
"Drone attack successful," a voice cracked over the radio. "Birds ready to launch."
"Launch," barked Casey into his microphone.
The sonic boom that followed went on and on and the sounds of tires screeching reverberated on their eardrums until they gathered the sense to magically plug the sounds.
Lillian them realised that everyone apart from them was wearing huge earphones and were speaking only through the radio. She scowled at Casey for not giving them a heads up and he just grinned.
"That's the sound of fire power girl," he smirked. "Tons and tons of payload built to exterminate."
"Casey, if I exploded with that much sound, you wouldn't be hear to be proud of it," she retorted. "I prefer to make noise only after I obliterate by opponents. Making noise beforehand is quite childish no?" she mocked.
Harry chuckled and Casey rolled his eyes, "Women," he muttered.
Lillian scowled and sympathised with the crap Sarah had to put up with in a mans world. "Do we have to wait here or can we go to the ground troops," she asked.
"We have Admirals on each ship plus me. All the other Generals and Captains are on the ground." He opened a bag and removed a cosco ball. "This ones a portkey to the Division Sirius is in. They're going to attack from the South. With the Drakons in the East you can combine with them easily. Amelia and Kingsley are coming in from the West."
"No way to attack from the North?"
"Too rough and too dangerous even with magic. If the enemy turns tail and goes North we'll attack them remotely."
"Right that's enough talking I suppose," Harry said. "Let's go to ground. We got to be ready for surprises."
"You and Ms. Austin go along," Dumbledore cryptically. "I'll join you later."
Harry frowned. What was Dumbledore thinking? He shrugged anyway and took the ball from Casey and held it out to Lillian. "Let's go?" He asked her.
Lillian lifted a finger to the ball and touched it with her wand. "Activate," she muttered and they were tugged into the spinning portal and dropped out in a huge camp.
They took a moment to reorient their senses.
It was a scene out of their imagination.
Tall elves with bronzed skins and elegant clothes were all around them, under massive canopies, standing amidst healers and doctors, exchanging soft words while preparing for the inevitable injuries and death that was likely to follow.
Harry and Lillian walked North, out of the medical Camp and found the army of Dwarf and humans ahead.
If the atmosphere in the medical tents was calm and anticipatory, the atmosphere here was charged and electric. The ground was dirt and flat with patches of snow over which stood a hundred Dwarfs and Wizards and Muggles. The wind had a bite but passing through the mass of bodies shouting and joking it became as mellow as a warm butter.
"Excuse me," grunted a Dwarf, holding a tall spear that seemed to have an odd mechanism along its length, when he walked into Harry and swiftly sidestepped and hurried along.
Harry could feel his element stir with excitement. All these men, clothed in heavy winter cloaks with silvery rifles that shimmered in the light slung over the shoulders talking about their upcoming deaths and how glorious or how horrible it was going to be. They laughed and joked and admired the news weapons mass produced in record time under the stern gaze of Croaker and the skilled hands of Chuck. They discussed their kill count in the past battles and Harry had to force his element to calm before it forced him to join in and raise the stakes.
He turned to Lillian and by the grin and glint in her eyes he knew she was enjoying the feeling more than she ought to. He put his hand on her shoulder startling her and told her to hold the impulse for the coming battle.
Lillian just laughed breezily and slung an arm around Harry's shoulder bringing him in close enough for her to smell him. He smelt like autumn leaves and she liked it. "Don't be so worried Harry," she said. "It's all under control but don't tell me you aren't overwhelmed by all this?"
She gestured all around her.
Further ahead were the metallic trebuchets the Dwarves had brought with them and if they strained their eyes they could see vehicles that looked very much like tanks and rocket launchers. Surrounding these massive machines were dozens of squads of Dwarves and Humans waiting for their turn to take the portkey into battle.
There were so many people and the air was thick with sweat and dust despite the actual cold. As far as they could see there were armed people and strange weapons that belonged to the Medieval age but looked as advanced as a machine from the future.
"Hard to take in yeah," Harry admitted. They squeezed between an hastily set up tent and looked for the front line. Left and right; they were hundreds of men and dwarves divided into squads of twenty and they were kept separate by a five meter gap between squads. Harry and Lillian walked through the gaps and Lillian showed several people the finger when they hooted and cat called.
A 'nice arse babe' comment had Harry experience a great show of restraint from pummelling the man.
The Dwarves on the other hand stood calm and straight, talking in soft whispers and exchanging words with humans with an air of dignity. Their small but broad stature and pale but hairy skin brought them all lot of stares and the weapons they carried a look of awe.
By the time they reached the front squads were disappearing by the second with long ropes serving as portkeys. A large tent was erected at the front from where dozens of wizards emerged hurrying about with long ropes weighing on their shoulders. Harry and Lillian walked into the tent to the sight of two columns of witches and wizards working in pairs; one was conjuring ropes and the other was turning it into a portkey based on the instructions on a parchment. Men ran in empty handed and left with their shoulders laden.
Sirius was at the back at he was talking into a microphone.
"Is the enemy moving yet?" he asked solemnly.
"They're waiting on us," a voice crackled back. "Fifty squads have arrived in our location and the air bombardment has already begun."
"Any success?"
"Lots of land being blown up but there's some kind of shadow defending their troops. The tower seems to be the source of it."
Harry and Lillian exchanged a look. It was Voldemort, there was no question about it. From the little they had seen, it was safe to assume that Voldemort had given up control to Evil and it's power was serving as defence for now. They had to attack before it became offence.
"Hey Sirius," Harry called.
"Do not move in until the green flare is fired," Sirius said and put down the microphone with a sigh. He looked up and smiled at the young couple. "Good job with the wards. It went down quite easy from what I hear."
"It just needed a firm punch," Harry said. "How much longer do we wait?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
"We're an army of ten thousand, it takes a little time to get into position," Sirius said. "Half the troops are heading out now and the other half will be divided into two back up groups. It's the Dwarf machines that are taking time to be transported. Those monsters are so charged with magic that it takes nearly ten portkeys used together to transport one."
"I can't wait to see it in action," Lillian said eagerly. "Can you imagine what kind of destructive power it holds?"
"Black!" Called out a voice from the opening of the tent.
It was Moody. "Time for us to move out," he barked. "Stevens is going to stay behind to coordinate. Put on your ear piece and get Potter and Austin to the same frequency. If things get hairy, they're our backup."
His piece said, Moody stalked out, his robes bellowing behind him.
Sirius tapped the little black bud in Harry and Lillian's ear and smiled. "I expect us to be dining in the Great Hall tomorrow," he said emotionally. "And if I'm not there, I want you to lit the sky with fireworks to celebrate by grand exit from this life."
"You'll have to do it yourself," Harry said and hugged Sirius. Lillian did the same, her eyes watery.
Sirius walked out and didn't look back.
The fields got a little quieter after a few minutes as the last few squads departed and Harry and Lillian sat down, controlling the surging emotions. There was excitement, fear and aching anticipation that was making them feel fit to burst.
"Do you think it will come out," Lillian asked.
Harry frowned. "Will what come out?"
"You know what I mean," she replied.
"Honestly I'm not thinking about it. Our plan is simple ain't it. Crush anything that comes our way until we hear the battle cry of victory." Harry got up and sat on the arm of her chair, slipping his fingers through her soft hair. "Are you scared?"
"Don't be silly. My imagination is just running wild that's all. I don't know what to imagine thinking about this creature Evil. Will it be a black cloud or will it take a humanoid body. Does it have a voice and can it use spells..."
Harry put a finger on her lips silencing her. "Like I said. If it comes, we crush it. It's that simple."
Each second they spent in the tent alone with the busy wizards was like cheese being grated slowly and the torn skin was their patience and calmness.
The seconds became an hour and the hour became two when the ear piece they had crackled to life.
"Harry, Lillian, Dumbledore! It's your turn!"
Sirius's voice was heavy and urgent. It stoked their impatience and brought out their elements in full force.
"Portkey now!" Harry barked at one of the wizards and he tossed a stuffed dog at him. Harry caught it and Lillian quickly placed her finger on it.
"Good luck!" shouted the wizards and Harry and Lillian were dropped in a war zone.