Chapter 14: Training and a Plan
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter and am in no way associated with J K Rowling or Warner Brothers.
A/N: Thanks again Kitten Arina for the correction. This has now been corrected. If anyone finds a grammar or spelling mistake please don't hesitate to let me know.
"How the hell did this happen?" Sirius asked.
Erfolg was about to answer that he didn't know when a flash of green fire shot over his head missing him by millimetres. The source was obvious, a goblin that had been hiding behind a small hole in the wall.
"Find some cover." Erfolg shouted over the resulting explosion as the fire impacted part of the door sending splinters flying everywhere. Erfolg started shooting balls of fire back at the goblin, one catching him on the arm. The goblin yelled out in pain as the fire burned away at his skin. Dropping the sword he was wielding, he tried to get rid of the fire with his other hand. Erfolg wasted no time in charging at the goblin, picking up the sword, and severing both arms from the now screaming goblin.
"Amber, seal the wounds so he won't die." Erfolg said.
Amber nodded grimly and immediately started tending to the goblin's wounds while Erfolg kept the blade ready to end the goblin's life if he even twitched.
When Amber was done Erfolg fixed the goblin with an icy glare.
"Demon! Tell me what I need to know and I will not kill you. If you don't I will kill you in the slowest way possible! Do you understand me?" Erfolg said.
The goblin nodded.
"Where did you take the occupant of this house?"
"The Dungeons of Gringotts."
"How did you know he was here?"
"Albus Dumbledore told us where to find him. He wanted another of your parents dragon friends taken care of. With the Grangers having been taken care of by Molly Weasley you won't stand a chance of stopping our invasion of this world. One dragon cannot withstand the might of our legion! You won't save your friend even with the help of your friends!"
"I will be reborn from the space between worlds where you cannot tread. You will not be able to stop me from returning with the invading force!" the goblin spat.
With those words the goblin burst into green flames killing himself.
"Could it be a trap?" Minerva asked.
"Undoubtedly." Erfolg replied, "However, in seven days, we still move on Gringotts attempt to rescue him, free the dragons held captive inside Gringotts, and find out any information about what they are planning."
"We can't ignore the possibility of Dumbledore and others working with the demons inside Hogwarts." Daphne said.
"No, no we can't." Minerva said.
"Let's at least get the ritual done." Amelia said, "We are going to need every single advantage we can get when we assault the bank."
Amelia however had just thought of someone who would be affected by her and Sirius going through with the ritual.
"If we go through with this, any children we have will be dragons won't they?" Amelia asked.
"Yes they will." Amber confirmed.
"Then I won't go through with this unless my niece, Susan, has the same option to do this ritual as well." Amelia said, "It just wouldn't be fair on her to be the odd one out."
Sirius nodded in agreement with her sentiments.
"Amelia." Erfolg started, "We were going to suggest this anyway as we were thinking the same thing. We were simply waiting to see if you would ask it on your own."
"You asking this has just proved without a doubt that you are a caring and fair individual. Of course you can give the option to Susan." Amber finished.
The next moment Remus Lupin's house was empty, and five dragons, plus two humans were heading to the Potters' quarters.
When they arrived they went to Minerva's office where she then made an announcement stating that, due to a reported incident with a student, Susan Bones was to come immediately to her office alone.
Fifteen minutes later a nervous girl knocked on the open door. Minerva motioned for her to come through the door. As soon as she was through the door Amelia and Sirius came out of hiding closing the door behind her and erected several privacy and security wards.
"Professor, Auntie, what's going on?" a scared Susan choked out.
"You aren't in any trouble." Minerva said, "That announcement was a pretence to get you here safely. Erfolg if you will?"
"You have been…" Erfolg started to say before the door was broken to splinters.
Erfolg, Amber, Daphne, Minerva, and Tracey had reacted quickly throwing up a fiery shield around the eight of them as five goblins poured into the room only to burn into nothingness due to not seeing the draconic shield for all the dust. They didn't even have time to scream in pain.
"Erfolg, Amber get us out of here!" Amelia commanded, knowing that human apparition was impossible.
They arrived in a flash of flames at the same mountain as they had been to complete the ritual for Minerva, Daphne, and Tracey. Susan was clinging to Amelia like a lifeline.
"Susan, it's okay here. This place is warded so heavily that No one could get in with hostile intentions." Amber said gently.
"It would appear that we have less time than we originally thought." Erfolg said.
"Susan today your aunt and Sirius Black decided to take part in a ritual that will turn them into dragons like us. However, they both wanted you to have the option as well." Amber explained gently.
Over the next half hour they explained all that had been uncovered. As they talked Susan became less nervous and, although she was still holding her aunt's hand tightly, she wasn't clinging to her as she was before. At the end Susan was asked if she had any questions before she reached a decision on the ritual.
Susan shook her head, "No, you did a pretty good job explaining everything, and my answer is yes, I won't feel safe otherwise, especially now I know an invasion is on its way. Besides, even if my animagus is an ant, that won't save me from the destruction of our world."
"Alright, can we get on that speed machine again?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, if we are going to train you a bit today as well then we had better head down." Amber said.
It took them an hour to finish and return to the surface, but when they finally emerged there stood eight dragons. Sirius looked very similar to Erfolg being just slightly lighter in color than him with the same color eyes as him. Amelia's scales were of a navy blue color, her grey eyes completing her very threatening look. Susan looked the same as Amelia, only slightly darker.
With that done they apparated to a valley to teach the new dragons how to fly.
"Right first thing to remember, is that you don't want to be flapping your wings all the time. You can glide using the speed you gathered from flapping your wings, but when you need to clap your wings, angle them back. Flying as a dragon is similar to how a bird flies." Amber explained, "When you kick off from the ground you need to be propelling yourself forward. When you land you should practice being as silent as possible. This is so you can sneak around easier."
"Alright, let's see how well you do." Erfolg said.
Within a half hour the new dragons were flying like pros and would be able to out fly even the most seasoned broomstick flyer.
"Alright, when we assault Gringotts we will have to be the ones to break down the doors. This means we will have to concentrate our attacks on a specific area in order to break through. However, I have no idea how we are going to practice this." Amber said.
"There is one place that would possibly be able to make exact replicas in Hogwarts." Minerva said, "It is called the room of requirements and takes the form of whatever you need it to be."
"That sounds very useful, can it make animated targets?" Amber asked.
"It should be able to." Minerva said.
"Alright, let's head there then." Erfolg said, "We can meet there for training every day, presuming Minerva can get cover for her lessons, and provide us with a free pass out of lessons."
"One question I have is who is going to lead the aurors now that I am with you?" Amelia asked seriously.
"Is there anyone you can trust implicitly, Amelia?" Daphne asked.
"There are only two that I can think of, but both were part of Dumbledore's order." Amelia said.
"That shouldn't be a problem as long as we get an oath of secrecy from them." Tracey said.
"Alright, do you want me to call them to Hogwarts now?" Amelia asked.
"Yes, but first, who are they?" Minerva asked.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody." Amelia said.
"Alright I'll meet them at the front and bring them up. Should we meet at your quarters, Erfolg, Amber?" Minerva asked.
"Minerva, I hardly want to do another meeting in your office, no offence, but it is hardly very secure as was shown recently." Erfolg said, "Of course, we will do it in our quarters."
With that Amelia used a magical mobile phone to contact the two aurors to meet her at Hogwarts. Amber then apparated everyone to their quarters. While Minerva and Amelia went to meet the two aurors, the rest of the dragons set up a table with 10 chairs around it and sat down waiting for them to return. It wasn't long before they returned with two men following, both looking rather confused as to why they were now in what appeared to be a cave. Amelia introduced the two men as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody.
"Have they given the oath yet Amelia?" Tracey asked.
"No, not yet. I figured it would be better to be done in here, away from prying eyes." Amelia explained.
"Alright, you want to know what is going on?" Amber asked.
The two men nodded.
"Alright then, here's the deal." Erfolg said, "All you get to know without the oath is that this operation goes way beyond top secret. To know more you need to give your oath on your magic and life that what is discussed in here will remain in here."
"Well I have to say I'm very curious about this whole thing so I'll give my oath. I Kingsley Shacklebolt swear on my magic and life to keep whatever is discussed in here a secret."
Moody sighed, "Very well. I Alastor Moody swear on my magic and life to keep whatever is discussed in here a secret."
"Thank you." Amber said, "We can now get on with telling you what is actually going on."
"To start with, apart from you two gentleman, every single person in this room is a dragon." Erfolg started.
"That's a load of crap!" Moody interrupted, "Dragons can't be humans, so stop lying to us!"
There were a lot of menacing growls now being directed at the two aurors as they were faced with eight dragons.
"Would you care to repeat that statement?" Daphne growled.
Moody shook his head slowly and sat down on a chair. The dragons then transformed back to their human forms, and sat down at the table as well.
The dragons explained about the looming demonic invasion and were about to go into details about how they would split their forces to cover ground inside the bank when the sound of tortured screams rang out.
"That's coming from the direction of the headmaster's office!" Minerva exclaimed.
"Well." Erfolg started, but as quickly as it had started, the screaming stopped.
"Damn, silencing wards just went up around the headmaster's office." Minerva exclaimed.
"Well I think, given the evidence that we have, this needs to be investigated now!" Amelia almost growled.
The others could only nod.
A/N: I apologize for the length of time between last update and this one but I have been extremely busy working on my university work. I was also figuring out where I am going to take the story next. I would really like to know who you think is being tortured. I figured since I probably won't get round to working on the next chapter much until after Christmas I would give you this chapter now and put the rescue in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading, following, favouriting, reviewing, and Merry Christmas :)
Jonathan Palmer