Chapter 9 Knights
"Your parents married for love but your grandparents, Charlus Potter and Dorea Black were an arranged marriage set up from a marriage contract that was signed by the heads of the families in the early 1800's. That was the last, publicly known marriage contract signed by the head of the Potter family. No other dormant marriage contracts still exist for the house of Potter, unless ones were made in secret."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Last thing he needed was some magical contract from a long ago ancestor coming up to bite him in the ass. Meeting with Terry about the marriage proposal had been a good idea. The pureblood heir had been drilled in every aspect of being a good pureblood lord. Put that together wit his love of history, and the Ravenclaw was a great source to go to on topics relating to the history of certain families.
"You might want to double check with Gringotts though, just to make sure," Terry pointed out.
"I'll write them a letter," Harry assured.
"More proposals will come Harry. The Potters might not be the richest house but your political clout makes it a very appealing house to be associated with. Every light and neutral family who still believes in arrange marriages will have their daughters and granddaughters approach you. Jessica is the first of many."
Huffing in annoyance, Harry crossed his arms over his chest. "Is there any way to nip this in the bud right away? Anyway I can send out a message to all of them to let them know that I won't accept any marriage proposals to save myself the effort?"
Terry tapped his chin in thought. "It's hard to say. Your declination of the MacGregor proposal will spread, as will your pointed statement in the declination note that you wish to marry for love. However word of mouth won't be as quick as you'd like and some will not hear of it. And even if this info should reach every ear in the wizarding world, some will choose to ignore it and send you marriage proposals still."
Harry groaned. "Maybe I should just tell them I'm gay."
"Then you'd get proposals from woman offering to birth your heir," Terry stated plainly.
Harry shook his head. Really, he shouldn't have been surprised. Out of the several hundred pureblood families in existence in the United Kingdom, thirteen of them were "Ancient and Noble" and another seventy-five were considered noble. That left a lot of families trying to maintain a close relationship anyway they could with one of the families considered noble.
"Thanks for the help Terry, I appreciate it."
"No problem Harry," Terry dismissed, waving his hand. "Now about the special training session you called after dinner, any hints on what's it about?"
"Something I had Daphne and Justin working on," Harry answered. "Something that will be useful in the future."
Terry looked curious but didn't press further. He would find out soon enough.
Harry looked over the results of each paper carefully before handing them to the proper person. The testing for magical gifts had been an eye opener. Some of them had no gifts at all, while others had several of them. Luna was the only one to possess more than three magical gifts. She was an Empath, Aura Reader, Diviner, Natural Occlumens and had Magi-Sight. Somehow Harry wasn't shocked, and judging by the look on Luna's face as she read over her results, neither was she.
Looking over all the skills, Harry jotted down eleven of gifts, as no one was a Natural Necromancer, and who had each one.
Metamorphmagus – Daphne
Innate healing – Harry, Neville, Anthony, Angel, Tracey, Daphne, Cho, Eddie, Kyle,
Animagus – Harry, Ron, Padma, Derek, Michael, Hannah.
Diviner/Seer – Luna, Lavender
Magi-sight – Luna, Cho, Anthony,
Elemental – Hary, Ginny, Terry
Empath – Luna, Daphne
Aura reading – Luna, Su, Hannah, Eddie
Natural occlumens – Luna, Marco, Seamus, Padma
Extrinsic healing – Parvati, Hannah, Wayne, Colin
"It's not an indication of the wizard or witch you are if you have no gifts and it's not an indication of the wizard or witch you are if you have five," Harry stated loudly, not wanting those who had no gifts from feeling discouraged or like the others were better than them.
He could see the look of disappointment on several of their faces, especially Hermione. Something he had realized last year, and seemed to become more evident as the days turned into weeks, which turned into months, was that Hermione was an average witch. She was extremely brilliant and smarter than basically anyone else Harry had met, but her magical abilities were limited. It was easy to see that out of all the other sixth years, she was near the bottom when it came to magical powers. Harry could think of five or six others who weren't as strong as his friend. Hermione wouldn't be someone on the front lines during battles but she could use her intellect to help in other ways. That wouldn't be something she would want to hear, but it would be something she would need to hear.
"So what does this mean?" Marco Chambers asked.
"Some of these gifts don't need to be learned to use properly. Innate healing is something your body automatically does when you're injured. Natural occlumency means your mind, on its own, built up defense mechanisms around your thoughts. The other gifts though, need to be worked on. You might be able to read people's auras but you don't know what you're seeing really means. You might be able to change into an animal, but you don't know how to do it."
"Who is going to teach us all of this?" Cho asked.
Harry shifted into his tiger form, causing some to jump back in fear while others shouted in alarm. He let out a loud roar before stretching his body out. After a few seconds, Harry shifted back into his normal form. It still took time to make the change, but he was improving.
"I already helped Ron become an animagus. I'll help the others achieve it as well. The rest, I'll have to find teachers. I know a metamorphmagus for Daphne but that's it right now."
"What about Professor Trelawney?" Lavender asked, indicating herself and Luna.
"Professor Trelawney is a dormant Seer. While she does have the ability to produce prophecy, her gift isn't something that is always with her. It is buried within her and only comes to the surface when the Fates wish to speak through her," Harry explained. "Besides, even if her powers weren't dormant, she wouldn't be a good teach for you or Luna because you're both Diviners."
"I read somewhere that Dumbledore has Magi-sight," Su piped up.
"Don't think the Minister of Magic has time to teach them how to use their Magi-Sight," Tracey pointed out snidely.
"Relax guys, I'll find teachers," Harry assured. "Just give me a bit."
Moody sat back with a sigh and rubbed his hand over his face. That Krum kid was finally getting a hand on the concept of stealth. When he had first started teaching the kid it was like trying to teach a dragon how to tap dance. The others all showed the ability to stealthily move throughout an area without being detected right off the bat, yet it seemed a lost cause on the Bulgarian. Though he guess he should cut the kid some slack after what happened to his home country. Luckily the Krums were old purebloods so his family should be fine if they kept their heads down.
It had been easy to convince the six young adults to agree to his idea. They were all extremely smart and quick learners so the training had been running relatively smoothly. The problem had been when he introduced the idea to the rest of the Order. Sure many had agreed with the idea but people like Molly Weasley were strictly against it, especially since her son was part of the group. It was too dangerous and too violent, they argued. Moody had prepared for that though. He brought pictures from the last war, showing the mutilated remains they found of victims of the Death Eaters. The disfigured remains of Gideon and Fabian Prewett shut Molly Weasley nee Prewett up pretty quick. It was an underhand tactic, but a necessary one. People had to realize this was a war not a game. Rules and morals didn't apply here like they did in times of peace.
Cloak and Dagger teams is what he called them; although the better term would probably be assassination teams. A Curse Breaker to bring down the wards and to act as back-up and an experienced fighter to take down the target. Three Cloak and Dagger teams; Bill Weasley and Andre Peeters, Michael Patterson and Idalia Ortego, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum.
He left it up to Weasley to teach the other Curse Breakers about the wards and bringing them down. Wards and enchantments were not Moody's expertise and so he left it to the young man who knew a lot more about that stuff than he ever could. It made it easier that Patterson was a former apprentice of Weasley and Delacour was the current one.
Four nights a week Moody himself worked them for hours at a time to improve their fighting. All of them may had participated on the Junior Dueling circuit, and Weasley might have been an amateur dueler when he wasn't breaking into Egyptian tombs, but all they knew was how to duel, not how to fight. And that difference would be life and death in the field.
He taught them tactics to use in a battle. He had them practice sneaking up on members of the Order. He went over countless spells and their counters. Everything he had learned while an Auror in the first war, he tried to pass on. It was difficult though. Weasley was the only one of the six to have hit his magical maturation, and while an above average wizard, didn't have the raw power like Krum, Ortego and Peeters would have when they all hit their magical maturation, which was still five to six years away.
That was the downside of this whole thing. Most of his fighters were still in their late teens to early twenties. Many of the old members were dead and those that weren't, the ones they had initially hoped to bring back into the fold, were avoiding the war at all cost. Some of them, like Jerome McGinnis, had fled the country all together.
He had used Potter to recruit members because the teen was famous, a leader and had a connection with many of the recent Hogwarts graduates that he needed to exploit, much like Dumbledore had used Black and James Potter all those years ago. Now with Black, Lupin, Shacklebolt and Tonks going back to work at the Ministry, they had lost their best fighters and they needed new blood in the ranks. Only problem was, that new blood was still a few years away from being a true threat.
There were feelers out there for new members who had already hit that magical age of twenty-five. Their main concentration was on the United Kingdom dueling circuit, targeting muggle-borns and half-bloods who had some skill with a wand. There were a handful who seemed like real possibilities of becoming members but nothing was certain at this point. The only one they had approached so far, someone who they had thought was a definite, had turned them down.
As for the rest of the Order's members, he had plans to make them into rapid response teams. He, along with Elphias Doge, a former Auror, and Lawrence O'Reilly, a former Hit-Wizard, would be the leaders of the teams. There were twelve other fighters in the Order, not including McGonagall, Flitwick and the younger McGonagall, whose main job was the defense of Hogwarts and couldn't be pulled from the school for extended period of time. He would split those twelve into three teams of four that he would assign to himself and the other two for training. The only downside, again, was the fact that out of the twelve others, it was Hestia Jones who was over the age of twenty-five, while the rest were between seven and four years away. That, added with the fact that he wanted the rapid response teams to consist of at least ten people a team, is why he was pushing the recruitment.
He wanted to assign a medic to each team, to accompany them into the field, but so far only had Coates, a Medi-Wizard, and Vance, a Healer. And Coates wasn't one who would do well in the middle of a fight; he was too jittery. Moody assigned them the task of finding two others who could be combat medics, which would allow them to use Coates as their base medic.
They had informants in Diagon Alley and the wizarding hub in Glasgow, and an ear in the underworld of wizarding society. The addition of more fighters and a few more medics would go along way toward making the Order what he wanted it to be; a small military force capable of backing up the Ministry during battles, as well as operating on its own in a smaller scale. However, that was still a few months away. Right now his main focus was getting the personnel he did have ready to go.
"Thank you for meeting with me Mr. Potter," Amos Diggory said, smiling at Harry.
The teen sat down in the seat across from the Undersecretary to the Minister, his face curious. He hadn't spoken to Amos Diggory since Cedric had died at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "No problem sir." There was a beat of silence. "You said you wanted to meet with me to discuss helping out the Ministry?"
"Straight to the point I see. Very well. Yes, I invited you here to help out the Ministry and to help out in this war. Before you ask, I have indeed cleared this with Dumbledore, and he gives his approval. Now, while it is true that the Dark Lord is in Bulgaria, building up a base of power before spreading into the rest of Eastern Europe, that doesn't mean there isn't a threat here. Dangerous wizards still pose a threat to our society."
Harry leaned back in his seat as he listened to the Minister speak. He had an idea where this was going. "Very true Minister but I don't see how a mere sixth year can do anything about that. I mean, Albus Dumbledore is the Ministry of Magic, not much I can do compared to him."
"Please Mr. Potter, a mere sixth year you are not, and as Minister, Dumbledore is far busier than he has ever been. Let's not play games for neither of us has time for them. I need talent and I need it now. I have already approached five seventh years who have agreed to take their NEWTs early and join the Ministry. Along with several of Hogwarts recent graduates they will spend the next few months being trained to be Knights, some of the best fighters we will have in his upcoming war."
"Do you mind me asking which seventh years?"
"Eddie Carmichael, Geoffrey Hooper, Lucas Cadwallader, Katie Bell and Kyle Summers." Amos ticked them off on his hand as he listed off each person.
Harry trained with Eddie, Katie and Kyle. He knew what they were capable of and agreed each would make great fighters for the Ministry. Geoffrey was a fellow Gryffindor and the nephew of Lord Anwell, a pureblood lord whose family pledged their support to Harry. Lucas was a Hufflepuff who was a great duelist and excelled at Transfiguration. He also used to be a good friend of Cedric Diggory. He wondered if Mr. Diggory knew that fact.
"So you want me to be a Knight as well," Harry mused.
"No. Not a Knight. Something more. Something better. The Knights will be soldiers. What I want you to do, well lets just say you won't technically work for the Ministry. For what I have in mind, most of your work will be in the shadows and probably abroad. You will be one of three; one of a secretive three."
"Abroad?"
Diggory didn't answer right away, instead taking out a folder and examining it closely. He peered at Harry over the information. "Voldemort is trying to recruit followers and build alliances throughout Europe. We can't allow this to happen but don't want to soil relations with other countries. You will be trying to foil him at every turn, all the while keeping the United Kingdom's name free of any wrong doing."
Voldemort was only as strong as those who followed him. The more allies the Dark Lord had, the harder it would be to kill him in the end. Still, how did this solve the problems domestically? If the Ministry needed fighters to combat the Death Eaters in the United Kingdom, why would they send Harry abroad?
"I'm a little confused. If the problems here, why send me somewhere else?"
"The Knights will handle the problems here. You're to make sure the problems out there don't come in here."
Okay, well that made sense.
"How long will the training take?"
"The training will take eighteen months. You'll be done with it in six through the use of a time turner."
Eyebrows were raised in surprise before green eyes narrowed in thought. Staying at Hogwarts was good and all but he needed to be out there helping in the war effort. Not to mention, most of what he had left to learn under the Hogwarts curriculum in Defense, Charms and Transfiguration he had already taught to himself. Eighteen months would seem like a long time doing nothing but it would probably be worth it.
"My training will entail?"
"Stealth, tracking, dueling, magical combat, hand-to-hand combat, fencing, information gathering, healing, potions, curse breaking, ancient runes, ward constructing. You will also be required to learn three or four other languages."
"You expect me to learn all that in eighteen ... er, six months?"
"Well, I doubt we can teach you anything else in standard dueling. My file on you says you already know enough to get your OWL in Ancient Runes, probably your NEWT as well, even though you never took the class. Your potions skills are average but we want to make them great. The file also says you show competence in the fighting styles known as boxing, kickboxing, jiujitsu and tai chi and you just started fencing. Not to mention Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody and Sirius Black have mentioned the private lessons they have already given you.
"The other two will be going through twenty-four months of training in eight months. We figured since you already know and are competent at so much of what we wish to teach you, you'd require less time, despite your younger age. Thirty-nine combined hours a day being taught by the best we can find should be enough to get you up to scrap."
"How the hell do you have so much information on me?"
"Because its my job to Mr. Potter. If I want to properly defend this country from Death Eaters I must know everything I can about everything and everyone."
The Boy-Who-Lived slowly nodded his head, accepting the explanation even if he still had a problem with people knowing so much about him without him being aware of it. "What would I be? What would be my official title?"
Diggory smiled, realizing he had successfully recruited Harry Potter, even if the teen hadn't admitted it yet. "Well technically you don't have a title. However, when the Romans use to have control over Britain they hired local agents who worked as spies and scouts for the legions. These agents helped with the Great Conspiracy in which various tribes rallied together and attacked the Roman occupants near the end of Roman occupancy. Because of their involvement they were disbanded. They were known as Areani and have only been mentioned once in historical writing.
"That's what I want. I want you barely mentioned. I want their to be no recording of you. You will be a scout and a spy and so much more, and you will do it under the shroud of secrecy. The best thing about those Areani was since they were British natives, they blended right in with all the tribes and no one suspected they worked for the Romans. I want you to blend right in. I don't want anyone suspecting your working for me and that you're a dangerous person to know."
"But I'm Harry Potter. I'm pretty noticeable."
"Disguises will also be a part of your training. And not magical disguises like glamors and polyjuice. Glamors and similar types of spells can be negated by wards and counter charms. Polyjuice needs you to take a drink every hour and sometimes you can't do that. We'll do things the muggle way."
Harry thought it all over. He was going to accept, there was no way he couldn't. He had learned everything Hogwarts had to offer him in three of the subjects already, bordering on four if you wanted to include Care of Magical Creatures. It was time he moved on and started to learn more of the things necessary to survive in a war. It was time he stepped up and became the soldier he would have to become if he wanted to have any hope of killing Voldemort.
"I have obligations," Harry warned. "I train a group of students every day. Not to mention we've recently tested for magical gifts. I'm supposed to supply teachers in each field to educate them in their gifts."
Amos hid a smile. Potter was training the next generation of fighters for them, and seemed to be doing a good job of it. Several of those Potter trained with he had tagged as potential Knights upon their graduation of Hogwarts and another handful would probably become Aurors or Hit-Wizards. It might be best to help along their training now so as to have them better prepared when they entered the Ministry.
"The Ministry will provide these trainers for your friends. Do you mind me asking if you have any gifts?"
"Innate healing and water elemental," Harry answered, purposely leaving out his animagus ability.
"I'm sure we can supply you with a mentor for your elemental abilities."
Harry nodded his head. He wanted to make sure all his friends would be set when he left.
"I have a contractual obligation to the Nimbus Broom Racing company for sponsorship of their new broom line. I'm to go to the unveiling on December 1st, as well as to several other public events for promotional purposes."
This caused Amos to frown. That would be a pain to deal with. Potter skipping a few classes to run off to play sponsor wasn't too big of a deal. It was the fact that each of them would be a public event that would be heavily advertised and easy targets.
"You can still attend them, but security will be a big issue."
"Alright then, I accept."
Diggory smiled and closed the folder he had in front of him. He leaned across the table and offered his hand to the teen, who slowly took it and shook it. "I will arrange for you to take your NEWTs in the last week of October. That gives you four weeks to study up as best you can. Use this month wisely, as afterward you will be committed to the Ministry and the Areani Project. Remember, once you start you won't see any of your friends for several months. And Mr. Potter the Areani are suppose to be classified so be careful what you tell people."
"Lancelot, nice of you to meet with me."
"Amos, please call me Lance. You know how much I hate my parents naming me Lancelot."
Diggory smiled at the man across from him. Lancelot Russo was the best Hit-Wizard the United Kingdom Ministry of Magic had in the pass century. He was in the task force Dumbledore took with him when he went after Grindelwald. He had fought with Voldemort and survived, captured Rabastan Lestrange after the Longbottom incident, and had personally trained Sirius Black. He had close to three hundred arrests and eliminations under his belt. He was also retired, having called it quits in 1984. He was now seventy-nine years old., missing three of his ten fingers and walking with a heavy limp. While Amos was sure the man could still put up a fight, that isn't why he wanted him.
"I'm hoping you gave some serious thought to the offer I gave you."
Lance leaned back in his seat, staring at the man across from him. "I did and I accept. However, I'd like to ask that Alastor help me train them as well, if he's willing. He can teach them the other side of the business with the whole stealth and tracking shit."
"Mad-Eye?" Diggory questioned. Lance nodded his head. "Doubt he'd be willing to help. He's running a civilian militia. Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix."
Lancelot looked at him in surprise. "I thought they were vigilantes?"
"Dumbledore made them official when he became Minister," Amos answered with a shrug. "They are licensed by the Ministry and we work hand in hand with them to combat the Death Eaters. Now, I have the list of Knight trainees if you'd like to take a look."
Lance nodded his head and Amos slid a piece of parchment across the table. Lance quickly scanned the list, a frown making its way onto his face.
"When I just agreed to come out of retirement to help you train an elite group I didn't think you'd have me training children.
"Johnny Banks, age 19. Katie Bell age 17. Tyson Benjamin, age 18. Samantha Brodie, age 18. Lucas Cadwallader, age 17. Eddie Carmichael, age 17. Phil Conway, age 19. Jamie Delaney, age 20. Jacob Edwards, age 20. Geoffrey Hooper, age 17. Abigail Jackson, age 19. Lawrence Nicks, age 19. Timothy Ruth, age 18. Dennis Saunders, age 18. Patricia Stimpson, age 18. Kyle Summers, age 17. Naomi Tavern, age 20. Jeff Summerby, age 18.
"They're all so young Amos. Five of them should still be seventh years in Hogwarts."
Amos nodded his head in recognition. "Five of them, as you said, should still be in Hogwarts. Five of them were Hit Wizards. Four of them were to be Aurors. One was joining the dueling circuit. One was going for a masters in Charms and Transfiguration. One was training to be a curse breaker and the last was going for a masters in Charms and Ancient Runes.
"They are young but we'll need them. There is talk that the ICW wants to form a coalition of nations, like they did against Grindewald. If that was to happen some of our best fighters will be gone, leaving us with little to defend our own shores. They may be children but in a few years, they might be the only thing standing between us and utter defeat."
"I'll give you that." Lance sighed. "You said there would be twenty-seven to be trained. You gave me eighteen kids. Who are the other nine?"
Diggory took out a group of folders and slid it across the table. "The team leaders. Still fairly young but people who have experience. First folder is Nymphadora Tonks, age 22. Daughter of former Ravenclaw Andromeda Tonks nee Black; yes the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Andromeda was disowned for marrying Ted Tonks, muggle-born and former Hufflepuff, so you don't have to worry about her loyalties. Nymphadora was a Hufflepuff, graduated in 1991 eleventh in her class. Joined Auror training soon after. Was inducted as an Auror in 1994, first in a few years, and apprenticed under Kingsley Shacklebolt. She's a metamorphmagus and an excellent duelist but a little clumsy.
"The second folder is Broderick Anwell Jr, age 24. His father is Lord Broderick Anwell, former Gryffindor, current Wizengamot Lord and Hit-Wizard team leader. His mother is Alicia Anwell nee Cornfoot, former Slytherin. Broderick was a Ravenclaw, graduated in 1989 third in his class. Signed up to be a Hit-Wizard the following year in 1990, completing his training six months later. Assigned to his Uncle Dylan Anwell's team for his first two years as a probational officer before achieving status as a full agent in 1993. He's the best young duelist we have in our ranks and was in promotion to be given his own Hit Wizard team but I think a Knights team would be better suited for him. He's a team player."
The retired Hit-Wizard looked at the picture closely. "Anwell Jr. huh? I trained his father and both his uncles. Looks more like his mother."
Amos cleared his throat. "Folder three is Aaron Gallagher, age 25. Muggle-born, both parents died two years ago. Aaron was a Gryffindor and Head Boy, graduated 1988 top of his class. Got a masters in Charms in 1989 before joining the dueling circuit the same year. Did both singles dueling and team dueling in a team of five; he was the team leader. Won the European Dueling Competition: Adults- Team in 21993. He's got the leadership and dueling skills down but he's a bit of a hothead.
"Folder four is Zachary Rivers, age 24. His father is a muggle and his mother is Rita Rivers nee Vane, a former Ravenclaw. Graduated seventh in his class, in 1989. He was a Slytherin, Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. He played Chaser for five years. Tried out for the Tornadoes after graduation but failed to make the team. Became an Obliviator after that, but quit in early '92. Joined Protego Security, a private security company, as a hired gun. Became one of their best guns for hire. Was working for Lord Gwyther during the assassination attempt in 1993. Great duelist, relies heavily on Transfiguration in fights and really charismatic.
"Fifth folder is Jesse Gunn-Taylor, age 23. Muggle-born, his dad owns a jujitsu dojo, jujitsu is a form of hand-to-hand combat. Graduated fifteenth in his class in 1990, Gryffindor. Joined the Werewolf Capture Unit..."
"A WCU boy huh? Takes balls to be on the WCU."
"Joined the WCU in 1991. Assisted in the capture of forty-six werewolves, including nine on the nights of the full moon. Was arrested once for getting in a drunken brawl at the Hog's Head pub. His dueling skills can use some brushing up but he's a brave son of a bitch. Well versed in several hand-to-hand fighting styles.
"The last folder is of Lucy Corvus, age 24. Her father is former Ravenclaw, Lord Charles Corvus, heir to the Ravenclaw line. Her mother is Cynthia Corvus nee Doyle, a former Ravenclaw. Lucy was also a Ravenclaw, and Head Girl, graduating in 1989, top of her class. Got her masters in Ancient Runes before signing up to be a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. Was an amateur duelist on the side when ever she wasn't breaking into tombs. Won the United Kingdom's Amateur Dueling Tournament four years in a row from 1990 to 1994. She's a bit stiff but she's knowledgeable."
Lance looked over the six folders for a few more minutes. Amos observed him in the silence. Finally Lance looked up, a questioning look on his face.
"I'm still only counting twenty-four. You're missing three."
"The other three aren't going to be Knights. They are going to be something a little different."
"How so?" Lancelot asked, his face curious.
"They'll be operatives on the mainland working to foil You-Know-Who's schemes in other countries. The intelligence they will be gathering can go a long way to breaking up any alliance attempts the Dark Lord makes, making local governments aware of attacks that are to be made and the like."
"So our equivalent of the SIS?" Lancelot asked.
"Exactly." Diggory slid three more folders across the table. "The first one is Lord Harry Potter."
Russo sputtered in shock. "You got the Boy-Who-Lived?"
Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic Amos Diggory smiled at the man's surprise. Yes, he had gotten Potter and he was damn proud of it too. The cream of the crop when it came to the United Kingdom's youth and talent, hell the world's youth and talent. The rising power that would be taking Dumbledore's place as the Champion of the Light would be working for them.
"Lord Harry Potter, age 16. Father was Lord James Potter, former Gryffindor, Head Boy and Auror; Moody's apprentice to be more specific. Mother was Lily Potter nee Evans, former Gryffindor, Head Girl and Spell Crafter for the Department of Mysteries. You know their story, hell our entire world probably knows the story. Harry is a Gryffindor, he will be taking his NEWTs a year and a half early. Judging by his teacher's assessments, he'll have no problems getting Outstandings on every single test. Second place in the 1995 European Dueling Competition: Juniors Division. He's an amazing duelist and brave. Eager to learn too. You'll love training him. The kid pushes himself pass his limits and picks things up easily."
Lancelot whistled appreciatively. "Whatever you got the Boy-Who-Lived doing has to be pretty good. Who are the other two?"
Harry sighed and put down the book he held on Ancient Runes. He wasn't worried about his Defense or Transfiguration NEWTs, and spent minimal time brushing up on the subjects. His Care of Magical Creatures and Charms textbooks were opened more frequently, but it was Ancient Runes he spent most of his time studying.
He looked up as the portrait hole to the common room swung open. Everyone was supposed to be in class at the moment. He had learned the schedule of the Gryffindor's fairly easily, especially the younger ones, since they shared their classes by year the first two.
"Was Defense canceled today?" Harry asked as Ginny came into the common room.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't feel like going."
Harry frowned and with a groan, since his body had been in the same position for several hours, stood from his seat. He walked around the table to the middle of the common room.
"Anything wrong?" Harry asked.
"Your exams start tomorrow?" Ginny asked, ignoring his question.
"Yeah. My OWL in Ancient Runes followed by my Defense NEWT. Then Charms and Care of Magical Creatures on Thursday, and Transfiguration and Ancient Runes on Friday."
Ginny moved over to one of the couches and sat down on it, pulling her legs up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them closer to her body. Harry moved over and sat on the other end of the body, moving so he sat at an angle and could just as easily look at Ginny as stare into the fireplace.
"I never really see you studying. I guess you do it when we're at class?"
"Yeah. I don't know when I'll see everyone again, so when they're free to hang out, I put down the books. It's really only Ancient Runes that I need to study for anyway."
She hummed in agreement. She laid her head on her arms, her face facing the far wall away from the fireplace. Harry observed her out of the corner of his eye. Ginny was acting weird. There was definitely something going on with her. He had noticed she seemed both more distant, but also more clingy.
He still trained with his friends in the morning but had begun shifting the leadership from himself to others. Susan, a natural leader, took over the instructions for the team training. Hermione, the most studious, took over the task of finding new and useful spells to learn. Marco Chambers, the best fighter out of the ones staying, took over the dueling aspect. Wayne, the most physically fit, took over the running and working out.
He mostly just followed along with everyone else, allowing the others to do their thing. When they were lost or had questions, he would step up and help out but he tried not to interfere too much. This was about them. They needed to be able to work efficiently without him. They also needed to show that it was more than just Harry holding the group together.
Ginny was one of the few who could easily keep up with the pace Harry set for himself in the morning and usually ran with him, exchanging small talk along the way. Now she still ran near him but not close enough where talk could be exchanged like it used to be.
"I heard about you and Cho," Ginny stated, still looking away from him.
Harry winced. Whispers had spread throughout the school of Harry leaving. He didn't know which of those he trained with had gave birth to the rumors, as they were the only students who knew, but he wasn't thrilled with them. It wasn't the gossip itself, as he was used to the absurd rumors flying around about himself. No, the biggest issue for Harry was with all of the girls that he had to deal with.
The purebloods approached him more frequently with marriage proposals from the head of their families. Numerous ones approached him about dating, assuring him they would be alright with a long distance relationship. A few had approached for one night stands and the like. All of them were realizing this might be their last chance to get the Boy-Who-Lived. In a moment of weakness he had given in and hooked up with Cho.
For the first several months after Cedric had died, Cho was a crying mess. As she took part in the training sessions, Harry thought she had learned to deal with the emotional damage she had been going through. It turned out that wasn't true at all. Cho had just shoved those feelings down with the use of the Occlumency she was learning from the Mind Arts class. Only problem was, that way of doing things had dimmed the rest of her emotions as well.
She had approached Harry with a plea to feel something again, rather then the unending dull ache she had become accustomed too. He had felt terrible for her and reluctantly agreed. Then that one time had turned into a few more times. Hermione was frosty with him when she found out. Despite it being her idea that they break up, it was obvious she still had feelings for him, and Harry felt some guilt for his actions.
"Yes, well, that will be ending shortly."
"Can I ask you something Harry?"
Ginny turned toward him and Harry was taken aback by the vulnerability in her eyes. Last time he had seen that look in her eyes was after the Chamber of Secrets incident.
"Of course Ginny. You can ask me anything.
"Why Cho?"
Harry rubbed the back of his head. "To be honest Ginny, I'm not entirely sure. Cho hasn't been in the greatest of places in the past sixteen months and I guess she convinced me that what we're doing is going to save her from herself."
"Always the hero," Ginny said, with a derisive snort.
"Yes well, saving others will always be a weakness of mine. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to studying the affects of combining Gaelic runes with Feudal Japan runes."
Harry moved to stand but found himself unable to do so. Ginny had moved from her curled up position and all but threw herself forward and into his lap.
"Ginny, wha-"
His proclamation of surprise was cut off as her lips found their way onto his. Her kiss was passionate and fiery but also desperate. Automatically, Harry found himself responding. She framed the sides of his face with her hands. One of his hands moved to the back of her head, intertwining in her hair and pulling her into him. The other traveled to her waist, where he pushed back her open school robe and pushed up a bit of her blouse, letting his hand rest on the bare skin of her waist.
Harry licked her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, granting him the access he sought. Things were moving too fast. This wasn't supposed to be happening. What the hell was he thinking.
Before Harry could do anything, Ginny pulled away/ They both looked at each other, panting heavily.
"This is a mistake," Ginny cried, quickly getting up from the couch.
"Ginny..." Harry trailed off.
"You're going to be gone in a week. I should have never of made a move on you like that."
With that Ginny turned and fled up the girls staircase, ignoring Harry's cries after her. He ran his fingers through his hair. Bugger it all to hell, his last month of Hogwarts had more drama than it should have had.