Again, I apologize about the Filch references after I killed him off. It's such a long time between when I write chapters that I don't remember half of the stuff I already wrote. I constantly have to go back to re-read the chapters I posted so far in order to remember enough to continue on. Sometimes things slip my mind. My bad..
Also the grading system used is comparable to the one in New York state, which is where I'm from. In New York, at least in elementary/grade school its 90-100 for A, 80-89 for a B, 70-79 for a C, 60-69 for a D and anything below that for an F. When you enter middle school and high school it switches to just numbers and anything below a 65 is considered failing. At least this is how things were done at my school district.
Chapter 6 The Express
Neville looked on in interest as Harry finished drawing the circle on their living room floor. He had found out a few weeks ago that Harry was an animagus and that Ron was on his way to becoming one as well. Since it was the summer months and they didn't have nearly enough things to occupy all their time, Ron had decided he wanted to finish the animagus process before school started. With help from Harry, who was constantly pushing him, Ron had dedicated several hours a day to the training and now, August 31st, it was all about to pay off.
"What if Ron's animal is bigger then the chalk circle?" Neville curiously inquired.
Harry chuckled. "The same question was asked when I went through my first transformation. We just have to hope he isn't."
He had drawn the circle big enough to encompass most animals. If Ron was something like a dragon though, well that wasn't going to end well for anyone. He surveyed his circle and made sure there was no breaks in the line. Last thing they needed was for Ron to be some kind of man eating beast that was able to attack them. There were stories of such situations happening in the various books on the subject. Satisfied with his work, he nodded his head and waited for Ron.
The redhead entered the living room a moment later, coming from the small hallway that led to his and Neville's rooms. He held the potion Harry had purchased for him, the one that allowed him to transform into his animal form for the first time.
"You think I'll be something as cool as a tiger?" Ron asked.
"Nothing is as cool as a tiger," Harry stated.
Neville rolled his eyes. "You'll be something cool," he reassured.
"You'll be a praying mantis," Harry added. "They're pretty cool."
Ron hesitated outside of the circle. "Cor blimey, what if I really am an insect? I never thought of that."
Harry rolled his eyes before stepping toward his friend and pushing him into the drawing. Taking his wand, Harry tapped the drawn line and activated it's latent magic. Since he didn't have his wand on him, Ron was stuck in that circle until Harry or Neville let him out, neither of whom would do it until he took the potion and completed his transformation.
"Bottoms up!" Neville exclaimed, indicating Ron should just drink the potion.
Ron looked between the two of them, his face pale. With a noticeable sigh, he tilted the potion back and drank the entire thing.
"You might want to sit down," Harry advised.
Ron gave Harry a confused look before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground.
"I don't like this," Sirius muttered, as he observed the crowded platform. "A dozen Auxiliaries and a Hit-Wizard team on the train is not enough security."
Harry, who leaned against a column, shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe Dumbledore has intel that another place is going to be hit today."
Sirius shook his head. "He would have told us. We have nine teams active today, including the one on the train.
Harry knew the standard procedure for the Hit-Wizards was eight teams on duty, four on call and four off duty. The fact that nine were on duty today meant that Dumbledore wanted the extra team because he suspected something might happen. There was concern among the populace about the lack of qualified fighters in the Ministry. Enough recruits for three new Hit-Wizard teams were currently being trained, but it would still be four months before that training was completed. So far, with Voldemort remaining quiet since his attack on Hogsmeade in May, it hasn't been too much of a concern but Harry knew the minute an attack happened, it would definitely be something people wanted rectified.
"Almost every Auxiliary is on active duty right now," Remus pointed out. "We got them at every major location and on the train today. Dumbledore doesn't want us to commit everything to guarding the train, leaving another vulnerable target open for attack."
"The Ox," Sirius snorted, referring to the Auxiliaries by their more common nickname. "Those guys are barely better than your Hogwarts seventh year. Harry could take them in a fight!"
"To be fair, I could take you in a fight too."
Sirius went to retort but Remus quickly intervened. "Oh no you two! I'm not having you two start dueling in the middle of the platform. Sirius, stop getting goaded by a sixteen year old. And Harry, last time you did this you ended up with neon orange hair for a week after Sirius beat you. People thought you were Ron's cousin the entire time."
Harry sulked at the memory. He had never actually been able to take Sirius in a duel yet. There was a reason Sirius Black was one of the best Hit-Wizards the Ministry had at its disposal. Harry knew when he reached his magical maturation he would be able to take his godfather in a fight but that was nine years away.
"Enjoy your school year," Sirius stated, ruffling Harry's hair.
Harry batted his hand away with a scowl. "Really man? I'm sixteen for Merlin's sake."
Sirius rolled his eyes before pulling Harry into a quick hug. "Seriously kid, try to stay out of trouble this year."
"Why doesn't anyone understand that I don't go looking for trouble, it just seems to find me?"
Remus chuckled as he too pulled Harry into a hug. "Because we know it's a lie."
"Make sure to study hard this year. NEWT classes are a whole new level," Sirius lectured.
Harry rolled his eyes. His OWL grades had come in during the middle of July and like any excited teenager he had immediately gone to tell the important adult figures in his life. He had handed Sirius and Remus his grade card with a big smile on his face.
Class: Letter Grade | Number Grade (Class Rank)
Astronomy: EE- | 83 (19th)
Care Of Magical Creatures: O | 96 (3rd)
Charms: O | 97 (4th)
Defense Against the Arts: O+ | 100 (1st)
Divination: D+ | 58 (22nd)
History of Magic: P | 66 (29th)
Potions: EE | 86 (17th)
Transfiguration: O+ | 100 (2nd)
Class Rank: 13th (86 overall)
Besides Divination, which he now realized he should have dropped when Hermione did, and History he had done extremely well. He had even come close to making it into Snape's NEWT potion classes. Not that he would have taken the class anyway. Or that Snape was going to be teaching it. The Head of Slytherin was still at St. Mungo's in a coma.
Ever since he had handed the two Marauders his scores though, they were suddenly pushing for him to study harder. Harry assumed it was because they felt obligated to make sure he made something of himself after Hogwarts, and that he made it not because of who he was. That's why he didn't feel annoyed at their constant nagging about his studying, because he knew they did it out of love.
"I'm going to find a compartment, the train leaves in ten minutes."
Harry went to pick up his trunk but Sirius laid a hand on his arm.
"Before you go, Remus and I have a gift for you. The first year of fencing is exactly what the name implies. You will learn how to fence with the standard epee, foil and sabre. The second year, the instructor will let you guys practice with other kind of swords; to see if any of you have an affinity for a different kind of blade."
Remus held out a package which Harry slowly took. It was covered in simple brown wrapping tied with twine. Pulling at the twine, the brown wrapping fell away to reveal a sword sheathed in a dragon hide scabbard. Looking up at his father's best friends with a bit of apprehension, Harry pulled the sword out. It had an anthropomorphic hilt and leaf-shaped blade. It wasn't as big as Gryffindor's sword, the only other bladed weapons he had wielded, but it looked like it could do some damage.
"That's a Celtic combat sword. Your ancestors, as the only Noble and Most Ancient House of Wales, wielded swords just like that in the centuries after Rome had left Britain," Remus explained.
"Your father had a sword just like that," Sirius added. "He was taught to fight with one by his father as he grew up and was gifted his very own sword upon his sixteenth birthday, as is the Potter tradition. We know we're a little late, but we don't want to let the tradition die, not while a male Potter still lives."
Harry put the sword back in its sheath, less he draw unwanted attention from the Auxiliary who patrolled the platform. He pulled first Remus and then Sirius into a one armed hug.
"Thank you."
The train whistle blew, indicating there was only five minutes left to board before the train pulled away.
"Be safe," Sirius stated.
"You be safe too Sirius. And Remus, the whole point of underlings is that you can pass your work off on them every now and then. Try to relax."
Remus smiled. "I'll try."
Harry placed the sword on top of his trunk and picked up the piece of luggage. With a nod of his head, he turned around and made his way onto the train. He went to his usual compartment, the same one he sat in ever since his first train ride five years ago, and found it occupied by a group of Slytherins. Harry frowned at that. Everyone knew that was his compartment. He, Ron and Hermione had even carved their names into the wooden paneling, protecting it from being removed by the train staff and leading to a few anger letters from said train staff.
He contemplated going in there and kicking the Slytherins our but thought against it. That really wasn't the kind of person he was. That and it probably wasn't the smartest thing started a fight with a bunch of older Slytherins on the train. No need to start the school year on a bad note. With a sigh, he turned and made his way toward the front of the train, looking in every compartment as he passed for his friends. Ron and Neville had both decided to spend the last night of the summer at their respective homes, to see their families one more time. Harry, after some time to think it over, had decided to do the same and had crashed at Sirius and Remus' house.
He found the two teens sitting in the fourth from last car, in the middle. And sitting with them was Hermione. He hadn't seen or spoken to the witch since they broke up over two months ago. He hesitated entering the compartment for a moment before shaking his head. Hermione was one of his best friends before they had started dating. It might be weird at first, but he wasn't going to let it ruin their friendship.
"Hey," Harry stated as he used a bit of wandless magic to open the door.
Ron and Neville nodded their heads in greeting, Harry noticing a chess board between the two of them. It seemed like Ron was winning, as per usual.
"Hello Harry," Hermione greeted, seemingly trying to not look at him but look at him all at the same time.
"How was Canada Hermione?" Harry asked.
"It was amazing actually," Hermione started. She started rambling off all the things about wizarding Canada that had fascinated her, not even remembering the fact that she felt weird being around Harry again.
As Hermione talked, with Harry asking questions or making a statement every few minutes, and Neville and Ron completed their game of chess, the train took off from the station. It was another ten minutes for Ron to final get his check mate. Another three minutes after that for Hermione to stop talking about Canada. In that time period they were joined by Ginny and Luna.
"Is the training starting on the first day back?" Luna asked, as she browsed through a magazine issue of something called The Quibbler.
"Of course," Harry answered. "It was great being able to get mostly everyone together over the summer, but it wasn't nearly enough. Still a lot to learn. You'll have some catching up to do Hermione, since you missed everything we went over during the last few months."
"Shouldn't take too long," Hermione answered.
"I have a list of the spells," Neville supplied.
"And I'm sure if you find yourself needing help you can go to anyone to assist you. Obviously Harry would be your best choice but we're no slouches," Ginny added.
Hermione nodded her head in thanks. It was good things weren't too weird between her and Harry. He didn't think he'd be able to handle it if their brief relationship made things too awkward for them to still be good friends.
Suddenly the train started to slow down, rapidly loosing speed. Harry glanced out the window and saw nothing but countryside.
"We're still hours from Hogsmeade," Hermione murmured.
Harry stood up and took out his wand, making the others to do the same.
"Last time this happened there were Dementors," Harry reminded. "Keep yourselves sharp."
He moved to the compartment door and slid it open, stepping into the hallway. He peered up and down and saw that many heads were poking out in curiosity. He glanced out the window to the other side of the train and didn't really see anything but obviously something was amiss. He squinted out the window and was about to shrug his shoulders when he thought he saw a glimmer, like something was there but wasn't really there. Something Sirius had taught him rang in his head.
"We've got threats under disillusionment charms," Harry called out.
"Explains why Malfoy and his friends moved to the back of the train," Ron stated, stepping into the hallway behind Harry. "No chances of friendly fire if all the Death Eater children and supporters are in one area."
"I think I see some on the other side," Ginny yelled from inside the compartment.
Harry frowned. This would be the perfect time to get in communication with Sirius or Dumbledore. He figured their best bet would be the Hit-Wizard team located on the train. Harry knew they would have ways to communicate with the headquarters and get a rescue team sent.
"Right I'm going to make sure no one who doesn't want to be back there is on the back cars. Hermione, you go tell the Hit-Wizards about the disillusioned threats. They might already know but best to be safe. Ginny and Luna, push the students toward the law enforcement officials. Neville and Ron, guard this car until I come back."
"You sure you don't want us coming with you?" Neville asked, tapping his wand anxiously against his thigh.
"Way I see it, this car is the Death Eaters ticket to the rest of the train. They won't face opposition on the back three cars. Besides I'm not worried about any of the Junior Death Eaters."
Harry flicked his wand and the sliding doors that separated the train cars quickly opened. With one last look at his friends, he moved quickly through into the next car. He looked into the first car and saw five younger kids, probably first or second years. He slid open their door and peered in at the confused looking faces.
"You guys should head to the front, Death Eaters are attacking the train."
They all looked frightened at the news. One of them tentatively raised his hand.
"My father told me to stay in the back three cars, no matter what happens," the kid stuttered out.
Harry nodded his head slowly. Ron was right in that anyone who was associated with Death Eaters were told to stay to the back train cars so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire during the attack. That meant anyone in the back three cars had a better chance of survival then the rest of them. For a moment, Harry thought about trying to shepherd some of the younger students back this way. Then he remembered passing by Malfoy in one of the compartments earlier in the day and realized that probably wasn't the best idea.
"Then best you stay here," Harry stated, stepping out of the compartment.
He closed the door behind him. And walked by each compartment, looking inside to make sure no one was there under duress. He ignored the faces and the taunting comments thrown at him from the students he passed, though made sure he remembered every single one of their faces. He would get names later and hand the information to both Moody and Sirius for investigation.
He paused in front of the last compartment, and upon seeing nothing, turned to make his way back.
"Are you scared Potter?" he heard Malfoy call out.
Harry stopped but didn't turn around. "Not at all Malfoy. In fact I'm looking forward to running into your father again. I wonder how many times the great Lucius Malfoy can be thwarted by a teenager before Voldemort realizes how much of a worthless piece of shit he is."
Harry heard Malfoy start spitting in anger and moved on. He glanced out the train window and saw a wave of powder fly out from one of the front trains. The powder quickly coated those Death Eaters not smart enough and/or quick enough to block the substance. As soon as their shapes were revealed, spells started flying from the train cars. Soon clouds of powder were flying from every window, revealing more and more Death Eaters.
Harry cursed at the numbers he was seeing. That must have been almost all of Voldemort's followers. He wondered if the Dark Lord was here himself. That wouldn't be good at all.
Harry slid the door open to the compartment door Ron and Neville were in, and found two wands pointed at his chest.
"Blimey Harry," Ron exclaimed, lowering his wand.
"Looks like the Hit-Wizards came up with a plan," Neville said, nodding his head outside.
"Can you guys cover me?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron muttered distractedly, staring at what he was seeing outside.
Harry turned to the door he just came from and waved his wand, locking it and casting some basic protection wards on it. Satisfied with the protection, the tip of his wand started to glow a bright red. He pressed his wand against the door and began to carve a quick series of runes into the door.
"What are you doing?" Neville asked.
"The students were told to stay put in the last three cars. Anyone trying to get through this door will be a Death Eater. I'm booby trapping the door. When they break through my wards, they'll trigger an explosion. Nothing to serious, but should knock a Death Eater or two out of the fight," Harry explained as he finished the rune scheme.
Ron looked at Neville and Harry, his face pale. "I think the Death Eaters have a dragon."
Neville cursed. Harry felt himself get lightheaded. They both looked out the window and saw a giant shadow making its way closer to the train.
"Right, make your way to the Hit-Wizards, see what assistance you can provide. Make sure every fourth year and below you run into is gathered in one spot for better protection. When you get to the next compartment, lock the door behind you."
Harry moved into the compartment of all his stuff and levitated his trunk down to the floor. He opened up the trunk and knelt down to rummage inside.
"What are you going to do?" Ron demanded.
Harry was silent for a moment as he dug to the bottom of his trunk. After a moment he stood up, his broom held in his hand. "Fight the dragon," he answered.
"Fight the ... fight the dragon?"
Neville looked at Harry as if he was crazy. Which he probably was. But someone needed to keep that dragon occupied or they wouldn't stand any chance and he was their best bet. He was the best on a broom and besides the law enforcement officials, who would be needed to protect the students, he was the most powerful.
"Harry, this dragon isn't going to be chained to the ground." Ron pointed out, bringing up the only ever time Harry had faced a dragon before. "There aren't going to be a dozen dragon keepers on hand in case things get out of control. You know that right?"
"The odds are already against us. If that dragon gets free reign to breath fire on the train and do whatever it wants, we're already screwed."
Voldemort observed the scene in front of him. His Death Eaters hadn't gotten on the train before being noticed, like he wanted. The tactic of using the powder to expose most of his forces was a sound one, if a major pain in the ass. And given the spell fire he was seeing coming from the train, at least a handful of law enforcement officials were on the Hogwarts Express. It was to be expected, after all.
He had sent a handful of Death Eaters with regular civilians under the Imperius curse and a handful of dangerous animals to cause a distraction and draw away the on duty Hit-Wizard teams and to delay the response time. That would give him and his followers enough time to kill Potter and his friends, and kidnap several children for leverage against the powerful purebloods who had been sitting on the fence so far. The death of Potter would be a serious blow to the moral of the United Kingdom wizarding public, and the addition of families like the Boot and Greengrass families to his followers would greatly increase his power base.
His instructions had been clear. Do not harm the children of their own. Kidnap the children of nine neutral pureblood families. Kill the Weasley children and that mudblood always following Potter around. Leave the Longbottom heir for Bellatrix as a toy. Leave Potter for he himself to fight and kill. Everyone else would be a casualty of war but it didn't matter what happened to them.
As he saw the dragon fly over head, he vaguely thought that the dragon could accidentally kill Potter, Longbottom or one of the neutral children but didn't mind too much as long as it wasn't Potter who was roasted alive.
Voldemort just wondered where his nemesis was. Was Potter one of the spell casters targeting his Death Eaters? Was he in the front car by the engine? Or the middle cars where most of the spell fire seemed to be coming from?
Suddenly a figure shot out of one of the back train cars on a broom, surprising a nearby Death Eater and knocking the fool to the ground. As Voldemort observed the figure as they rose into the air, dodging spell fire, he wondered if the person was running or trying to aid the fight. Then the figure twisted in mid air and flew right at the dragon.
"Potter," Voldemort stated, slightly pleased. No one else would be that stupid.
If nothing else, the boy was entertaining in his attempts at being a hero. While this made things difficult in trying to kill the boy himself, it would at least provide him with some amusement.
However, he could only enjoy the amusement for a few moments. Pops started to fill the area behind him, indicating the law enforcement officials were responding a lot quicker then they had anticipated. Voldemort scowled. He had been assured by Nott Jr. that the response time was terrible at best and they shouldn't expect resistance for thirty minutes at the earliest. Voldemort didn't need to look at a watch to know it had only been a little over twelve minutes.
He turned around and observed the two Hit-Wizard teams lead by Black and Anwell, two powerful purebloods who had betrayed their blood. Popping up behind them were a bunch of Law Enforcement Squad members, or Auxiliaries as Dumbledore now had them known as, along with a handful of Aurors. He wouldn't be able to take them all in a fight, and sent a signal for most of his followers to turn around. If they couldn't complete their main objectives, they might as well cut the Ministry's fighting force in half.
Harry knew as soon as he rocketed out of the train car that what he was doing was stupid. At no point was this going to be a good idea. He bowled over a Death Eater who wasn't quick enough to get out of the way, his right foot slamming into the man's head and sending a jolt of pain shooting up his leg. He winced at the feeling as he was forced to quickly maneuver around some spell fire. He twisted his body and forced his broom into a sharp ninety-degree turn that would lead him on a trajectory to intersect with the dragon.
He could tell that the dragon was a Welsh Green, common to the mountainous terrain of Wales. On its back was a Death Eater, their black robe flapping in the wind. Harry frowned at the sight. That would make the difficult task all the more difficult. He clenched his wand in his hand and knew he couldn't give up. Clutching his wand tightly in his right hand, he took a deep breath and increased his speed.
As he closed in on the dragon it seemed that neither beast nor rider had any idea there was another being in the sky, for they didn't even look in his direction. Instead, the dragon drew back and let loose a blast of flames at the first passenger car behind the engine. Harry could see the protective magic shimmer under the onslaught. He knew, instinctively, that the defense magic on the train car wouldn't be able to hold up if the beating continued.
His wand snapped forward, launching forward as powerful blast of magic as he could muster. He was aiming for the dragon's head, trying to time his shot and hit the dragon as it surged forward but he miscalculated the dragon's velocity and instead caught it right behind it's wing joint. The attack didn't seem to do anything but take the dragon by surprise as it flinched violently in shock, almost bucking the Death Eater from its back. It was the dragon who first spotted him and began its long turn in his direction. Realizing that he was about to be playing a game of chicken with a two ton beast, Harry barrel rolled to the side and shot off at an angle from the dragon.
The Death Eater launched a wave of spells at Harry but they weren't properly aimed. Harry wondered if the spell caster had any idea the basic principles of physics and common sense needed to know if you wanted to hit a moving target, you had to lead the target. Harry didn't feel like pointing this out though, as he tried to position himself behind the dragon as it made it's wide turn, trying to slow down in the process to make the turn tighter.
Harry remembered from all his lessons that the best way to target the dragon was it's eyes. However, the Death Eater on its back made things a little more difficult. He needed to separate the rider from the dragon before he had any hope of taking out the beast. He shot a series of curses at the Death Eater, but they had turned in the seat enough to have a clear view on Harry. His few spells that were accurate enough to hit the Death Eater were quickly shielded against and the rest either missed completely or slammed into the hide of the dragon.
Harry tried to keep himself behind the beast but it had all but come to a stop and was now easily able to make sharp turns. He soon found himself dodging both burst of fire and spells. This couldn't continue, one of his attackers needed to go and Harry figured the Death Eater would be a little easier then the dragon. He twirled and twisted and did a quick one-eighty, shooting right at the dragon. He flew in a large corkscrew, trying to stay ahead of the spells and dragon fire.
As the fire got closer to him, Harry jabbed his wand forward and created a small gap in the flames. He shot threw, feeling his skin blister as the fire licked at his body. Neither the dragon or Death Eater expected him to emerge unscathed. Harry had to quickly deflect a last minute curse from the Death Eater before he found himself bowling into the Death Eater, his right shoulder slamming into the Death Eater's sternum.
Harry felt his shoulder pop out of his socket as the force of the impact knocked him off his broom, his wand out of his hand and the Death Eater off the dragon. As he started to free fall, Harry panicked. The broom was behind and above him. He couldn't see his wand and he didn't have a spare on him. He quickly looked and saw the Death Eater was in a similar situation with his wand being separated from his body and had taken to flaily his limbs wildly in sheer terror. Looking up, the dragon sat in mid air for a moment, as if confused as to what had happened to the human on its back. Harry knew there was only a few moments before the dragon recovered and went after him. That plus the fact that he was free falling several hundred feet without a wand or broom, well, it was understandable why he was panicking.
He only had one hope. Holding out his left hand, as his right hung useless at his side, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He didn't have much time, so he put all his thought and poured all his magic into it. It took longer then he hoped but eventually he felt the shaft of the broom slam into his palm. Instantly, he was contorting his body, swinging a leg over the broom and rotating his body. He opened his eyes to see the ground was way closer than he ever wanted it to be.
Harry pulled up hard, his Firebolt shuddering at the sudden increase of inertia being forced on it. Only having one hand was an extreme detriment to getting the most out of his broom. He was too close to the ground to pull up safely and he found himself slamming into the ground hard. He flipped end over end with his broom before his back hit the dirt and the air was knocked out of him.
Sirius Black knew something was going to happen. As the Hogwarts Express was leaving, reports of small Death Eater attacks had started popping up all across the United Kingdom. As soon as the first calls started coming in, Headquarters had called in the off duty teams, just to be on the safe side. As another few calls came in, Auxiliaries had been called in for support, along with a handful of the Auror teams on duty. Those in charge suspected there was a bigger target, and Sirius was quick to point out the Hogwarts Express and the blow to the country's moral an attack on their would bring. Not to mention the fact that Harry Potter, the Dark Lord's number one target, was on the train.
Everyone available was gathered to the Alpha Headquarters of the Hit-Wizards, located in Diagon Alley. Madam Bones, the leader of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, entered the building moments after Sirius arrived and the command was quickly deferred to her. As more calls came in about small Death Eater attack popping up, she decided to keep her two best Hit-Wizard teams on hand and instead sent out teams consisting of four Auxiliaries and two Aurors .
"Voldemort's planning something. I need you ready for the real target," she stated, as the third non-Hit-Wizard team was sent out to deal with a Death Eater attack.
"Stewart's calling in. The Hogwarts Express is slowing down!" one of the coordinators shouted.
"That's the target," Sirius immediately stated as dread filled him."He's going after Harry."
"Get me whatever Oxes are at the Ministry and put a call out to the Aurors. We need all hands on deck for this. Black, Anwell you know what to do."
Sirius turned toward his team. "When we arrive, keep a tight formation. No idea what to be expecting. Remember your roles."
Broderick Anwell was saying pretty much the same thing to his men.
"Here are the coordinates!"
Sirius felt like a cold needle was pressed into his brain as the information he needed to apparate to the location of the Hogwarts Express was forced into his mind. It was in the middle of the countryside, where not to many people would be around.
"Move out!"
With a pop Sirius disappeared from Hit-Wizard Alpha Headquarters and landed on the English countryside. During travel, he felt something push against him, forcing him half a mile from where he wanted to land. Anti-apparition wards had been erected.
Luckily he didn't arrive in the middle of an ambush, but the wards had spread the two Hit-Wizard teams dozens of meters from each other. As he waited for his team to join him, Sirius observed the situation. He could see spell-fire being exchanged from several score of black robes figures and the train. Most of the Death Eaters were on the side he arrived on, but there was probably twenty or so on the other side of the train. A lone figure stood observing the battle and with a sinking feeling, Sirius realized that Voldemort was here.
As his team formed around him, and Anwell's team moved over to him as well, Sirius looked at them with grim eyes. "Send word, Voldemort is here."
Sounds of terror went up throughout the group. Sirius had fought the Dark Lord twice before in his youth. One time it had been him and James, both of whom would have been dead if Dumbledore hadn't interfered. Even then, they had both spent over a week in the hospital. The other time it had been with his first Hit-Wizard team. Out of the four man team it had only been him, the rookie of the group, to survive, as Mad-Eye Moody had arrived with another Hit-Wizard team and Voldemort had retreated before he himself could be killed.
He had reached his magical maturity during his years wasting away in Azkaban and was much stronger now then he had been when he was twenty. Still, he knew he had no chance against the Dark Lord. But it would fall on him to take on the Dark Lord as the senior official.
"Broderick, you know what we must do."
More pops went on around them, as a handful of Auxiliaries popped into existence.
Anwell nodded his head, his face pale. "We will hold off You-Know-Who while our teams deal with his Death Eaters."
Suddenly a loud roar filled the valley, and they all looked up to see a dragon in the air.
"Who is that against the dragon?" one of the Oxes asked.
Sirius squinted and saw a broomrider exchanging spell fire with the Dragon and the Death Eater who road on it's back.
"Harry!" he shouted, knowing at once who would be stupid enough to take on a dragon.
"Merlin's beard! A dragon too?" a Hit-Wizard shouted in despair.
"Remember your training," Sirius growled out. "We have a job to do."
"You two," Anwell pointed at two Auxiliaries, "assist Lord Potter the best you can. He can't hope to take on a dragon by himself. Team Leader Black and myself will keep Voldemort busy. The rest of you, hit his Death Eaters fast and hard. Remember, our children are on that train."