Chapter 9 : Protests and mutiny

The sound of heavy, mechanical breathing filled the hallway as a tall figure advanced toward his target, an old man in tattered hooded robes. Both figures ignited and raised their colourful blades in anticipation of a climactic clash of destinies which would decide the fate of the galaxy. Haughty threats and quips were exchanged, as the blades of a master and his fallen apprentice met in a battle of strength and will.

"This is awesome."

Katie's remark was quickly shushed by the rest of the audience, but with her undivided attention focused on the great screen on the wall of the lounge, she did not even notice it. This movie night was a special one, as an overly enthusiastic Lee had brought back the new re-release of the first Star Wars movie he'd been talking about for months now. And as the last jedi and the lord of darkness fought one another in a duel on which hung the destiny of all things, the room was filled with an almost palpable tension and awe.

"Could we make some of those laser swords? It'd be dead useful stuff to have."

"Not to mention awesome."

"I don't know... Maybe? I'm not sure if maintaining a laser, or whatever the blade is, in that shape is even possible."

"Don't bother. It's not like he would be able to swing one without cutting his own leg or something."

"Hey! I'd be great with a sword! Better than you, at least."

The argument was shushed down again as the dramatic fight concluded with the death of the old Jedi and the film carried on. As the climactic end neared, the space battle on the screen had them at the edge of their seats. The small Rebel forces were slowly being picked off by the merciless troops of the Empire as they made their desperate dive through the Death Star's trench.

"Forget the swords, I want one of these x-ships."

"Why bother with the small fighters when you can have one of those dreadnoughts we saw earlier? It'd be like the entire station could move around and shoot things down."

"And you'd just be a big target standing there, impossible to miss and too slow to avoid anything. Think of what we could do with real fighters instead of just hoverboards."

"Well, the Death Eaters aren't exactly flying around in spaceships, thankfully. So it's not like we would have any use for either of those anyway."

"Speak for yourself. I'm sure the big brains of engineering are already working on it."

"Oi! Stop calling us-"

"We looked a bit into it, but there are just so many problems and things to consider that the project was shelved for now. We'll definitely get back to it when we'll have a better grasp of how Requirement works, and have access to more efficient generators to allow-"

"Will you all shut up? We're trying to watch a movie here!"

"At first, we thought she'd finally been caught sneaking into the library at night one too many times and they wanted to punish her. It wouldn't have been the first time, you know? So when the Professors took Amanda aside, we weren't really worried. B-But when she missed lunch and dinner, we knew something had happened. Sure, we sometimes had to d-drag her out of her books to come down to eat, but-"

Padma's rambling became unintelligible as her words devolved into messy sobs, and Ginny's comforting hand began to gently rub her back to sooth her.

"It's ok. Take your time."

Ron, who stood awkwardly in front of them, pulled out a tissue from one of the many pouches he had added to his suit and offered it to Padma without a word. Despite all he had been through the last few years, consoling crying girls was definitely not something he was comfortable with. After several deep breaths and nose blowing, she managed to steady her voice enough to resume her tale.

"When she came back to the dorms, she told us... She told us that her entire family was dead. Her house had been burned to the ground and a dark mark was floating above it. She looked so... broken. We tried to console her, but what can you even tell someone when they lost-Merlin, her brother was five . How could someone even do this?"

"Do you have any idea why they were targeted? I mean, they haven't exactly been going after specific people out in the muggle world before. Not since the last war at least."

"I... No, I don't. They are- were gardeners. Amanda didn't even want to tell them about all the bad things happening in the magical world... They were so happy when her brother had his first bout of accidental magic. They didn't even know why they were-"

Her voice broke once more as new tears filled her eyes.

Ron's brow furrowed as his mind began to race. This could be bad. Very bad.

"Wait, her brother had magic too?"

"Not the time, Ron."

"No, hear me out here. This might be the reason they were attacked. The ministry can't go after the students in Hogwarts while Dumbledore is there, right? And the Trace can detect us if we use magic outside school. What if they decided to prevent the next generation of muggle-borns from ever reaching Hogwarts?"

The girls' eyes widened in fear and shock at the implications. Padma's mouth opened soundlessly a few times before she managed to find her voice again.

"You mean... They're after the kids ?"

"It never stopped them before. And even if that's not how or why they did it, I doubt it will be long before they start using the Trace like that."

"Can we even do anything about that? I've never heard about anyone fooling the Trace."

"I don't know... The magic's pretty much unavoidable." Ron crossed his arms as he dug deep in his memory, bringing out faded remembrances of a long past talk. "I think they use an artefact to interpret it though. Dad told me it's like a big map that lights up every time someone who's not supposed to use magic, but he never went into the details. He was mostly warning me not to use my wand."

Ginny was not exactly in a pleasant enough mood to discuss magical theories, however, and stood up abruptly, her entire being burning in righteous fury.

"Who cares how it works? If it's just a piece of parchment then, we just have to burn it down and they won't be able to find those kids anymore."

Her outburst made Padma flinch, but she soon nodded at her words, her tears flowing freely from her eyes where sadness turned into determination.

"Hey, I'm not saying we let them do it. But we can't exactly walk in and destroy it. We're talking about one of the most secure parts of the Ministry here. And they've increased security since Malfoy's dad took over."

"We can't just sit here forever! We have to do something !"

"I know Gin. I'll..." Ron fought back a sigh that was becoming far too familiar lately. "I'll bring it up to Harry and we'll see what we can do."

If he even let them do anything.

Neptune shone brightly through the large windows of the station's corridor, its light a pleasant companion to Harry in the early hours of the evening. The recent incidents had been an unwelcome highlight to their need for greater medical expertise and resources, and the daily reports he was now receiving made sure the issue remained on his mind. While he could understand their impatience, their insistence was now dangerously bordering harassment and did nothing to warm Harry to their demands.

After a heated talk with Ernie, Harry was now making his way toward the infirmary, intent on keeping his frayed nerves in check when he would reassure Susan and Dean that he was, in fact, trying to solve their problems. Taking one last calming breath, he made the final turn that brought him to the door he sought and stopped in his tracks.

"-shouldn't have to tell you that the suit can only take so much. Especially since you guys don't bother wearing the armoured parts down there. It's a wonder why you even made them in the first place."

"It's not exactly safety equipment. They were supposed to be for- outch -for battle so they're far too heavy to lug around all day. I don't know how Potter does it."

"Habit I'll say. I think he even sleeps in his armour these days."

Amidst the soft beeping of the consoles and the sound of simmering potions, Dean and Terry's voices were carried out of the infirmary with such clarity that they could have been right next to Harry. Awkward as silently standing out of sight of the open door was, it was a far better prospect than interrupting the conversation at this point. Trying to distract himself, Harry brought up his slate and did his best to focus on the logs of the last flight of Requirement .

"Jokes aside, you'll need to be more careful down there. It's like I can't go a day without someone from your team coming in for a burn or a broken nose. No one has ended up as bad as Fred did yet, but it's just a matter of time at this rate."

"We don't exactly have the time to be careful. You heard about Brimingham?"

"Yeah... Can't say I'm fond of how things are turning out down there."

Despite his efforts, the runes displayed on Harry's slate could have been dancing around while balancing trolls on their branches and he wouldn't have noticed.

Brimingham...

Whispers of the events had come to the crew through the families of their muggle-born members. Hundreds of people suddenly fell into vegetative states when an unpredicted cold front had descended upon the city. Now, two days after the first reports, the streets remained in chaos as people fled the city while more and more victims continued to be found.

The true nature of the wave of dread that befell upon the unsuspecting muggles was the largest pack of dementors in living memory. While the motivation behind this atrocity remained unknown, rumours were spreading like wildfire through the station. Some thought the Ministry had decided on new feeding policies for their jailers, while others grimly suggested some Death Eaters simply wanted to have a good laugh that day.

During that time, the Daily Prophet had preferred to report on other, more pressing subjects. No doubt they had judged that these events were unworthy of the ink they would need to spend on it. They instead elected to publish an edifying multiple-page piece on the oh-so important need to lift the restrictions on freshwater creatures breeding in order to compete with the mainland by repelling century old laws.

The fact that these laws had been established to protect the few merpeople communities remaining in Britain was of course conveniently left out of the passionate plea in favour of the Minister's agenda.

In a stark contrast to the Prophet's enthusiasm to lick Lucius Malfoy's boots, the Quibbler had become a surprising, and sometimes worrying, herald of the truth. The tabloid was now publishing reports on the atrocities condoned by the new administration in between its usual crackpot articles and was gaining in popularity among the British muggle-borns.

Having the conspiracy theories on their side wasn't quite the win Harry would have hoped for, but it was still far better than not being able to get news and warnings out to those who still hoped to get through those troubles times.

"If we can't go out and fight directly, this is the only way we have of helping those who do. The more he works, the more chances there are that we'll invent something that'll actually save lives or help to end the war."

"Can't say I'd like seeing you all throw yourselves against Death Eaters, but... You're right. We can't just sit here and do nothing forever. Just... be careful, alright? You won't save anyone if you-"

Despite the soft tone of Dean's voice, Terry and him never heard Harry's footsteps as he went back the way he came without a word.

Like every other day of the week, Toke Trail, a sprawling hub of all things magical niched in Bristol's old city, was teeming with activity. The hundreds of people marching in the alleys were not the usual candid shoppers or sauntering passersby, however. The upsets and desperates, marginalised by the recent reforms, had taken to the streets to proclaim their discontent with anger-fueled chants and colourful signs floating in the air. United in outrage, confidence filled their steps and voice, for they knew that the rest of Magical Britain's downtrodden walked with them in London, Durham and Canterbury.

Brayden Selwyn, one of the many new recruits of the Auror Office, hid in the shadows of a side alley with the half-dozen hit wizards under his command. The low ranking enforcers were far from pleasant company and made the wait for his colleague's signal all the more unpleasant. Even now, they were yet again exchanging vulgar jokes about the protesting mudbloods, despite his many injunctions to keep silent.

Not that the idea of ridiculing those animals was unpalatable, but one had to consider the time and place for such things. A dirty alley with overflowing garbage bins that smelled like a Troll's undergarment during his first official assignment certainly did not fit the bill on either point.

Bringing back down the too short sleeve of his uniform to cover the barely visible ink on his left forearm by rote, Brayden sent an impatient look across the crowded street. Behind the boarded up windows of a condemned shop, he knew that another group was preparing one of the dozen anchors for the anti-apparition wards being erected around the district.

Unlike the last hundred times he had surveilled the building, however, the smoke lazily coming out of the shop's chimney darkened to a charcoal black and Brayden's every muscle tensed in anticipation. His grasp on his wand tightened and, with a quick reprimand to his men, brought them to order as he stepped into the street.

The protesters had finally passed by his hiding place, and he could see the back of the procession continuing their march a few shops down the street. Quickly, the hit wizards formed up around him as the second group came out of the shop to join them as the mudbloods began to slow down. The other groups, dispatched around the district, had begun to block the path of the protest as it passed through a square, essentially trapping them as the lines of Aurors and hit wizards surrounded them. It did not take long for the protesters to grow restless and begin to throw insults and threats at them, but it was the few that brought out their wands that caught their attention.

These were the ones that would need to be neutralised first.

Unfortunately, and to Brayden's great disappointment, their orders were not to clean the streets of the filth that dirtied them, only to keep them contained. It did not stop a satisfied smirk from spreading on his lips distant shouts of fear began to fill the air, however. The weak wind that had blown all morning grew cold as panic swept through the crowd when they finally understood that dementors were feasting on the other side of the procession.

The street was plunged into chaos as hundreds of people tried to flee in every direction, all attempts at restraint and civility forgotten, only to be stropped by the cordon of Aurors and hit wizards. Try as they might to open a path by hexes and fists, the protesters were stopped by conjured obstacles and dark curses that left them incapacitated.

Of those who managed to keep a cooler head, a few tried to apparate away only to be violently thrown to the ground when they hit the wards. Others attempted to make their own way out by going through the buildings and a thin silver mist began to spread as a handful of wizards tried and failed to conjure Patronuses. Despite their best efforts, however, very few managed to break free.

When the dust and frost settled on the square, dozens of unresponsive bodies littered the pavement, bringing an end to what the Daily Prophet would call "a sedition act years in the making" the next morning. And for the first time in thirty years, the Quibbler's printing press remained silent when the time for a new edition came.

"I said no."

Harry didn't want to have this discussion. Not again. He had thought that today's training session would allow him to decompress a bit from all the bad news they had received lately, but his hopes were quickly dashed when he ran into Ginny on his way there.

Under any other circumstances, the coincidence would have been a godsend and they would have shared a few playful moments before joining the others. Any chance of that happening died with what remained of his good mood when he saw her expression and the anger in her every movement as she stomped toward him.

"That's why I'm not asking anymore." Her hand closed around Harry's arm as it would a quaffle, forcing him to a stop. "We've been patient, but since you decided that you'd rather keep your head buried up your arse than actually be helpful, someone has to get it out for you."

"We're not discussing this. I told you already, we can't take that risk! Not yet anyway."

The finality in Harry's tone was sharpened by annoyance, as he shook his arm free of Ginny's grasp and resumed his walk. He already had this conversation several days ago with Ron, and so many more with others these last few months. Unfortunately for him, none of them seemed to understand that they were simply not ready. Then again, how could they? Few of them had to fight for their lives before, and none had had to face Voldemort himself in a duel. They simply didn't know just how outmatched they were.

And they also didn't know when to quit it seems. Ginny picked up her pace, passing him and blocking the way to the door.

"They took Luna's dad, for Merlin's sake!"

Harry stopped in his tracks.

That... That he did not know. Sure, he had a passing thought or two about how unusually late this week's Quibbler had been, but this is the first time he had heard of Mr. Lovegood's disappearance.

He did not have long to ponder this revelation, however, as Ginny was not one to let the opportunity of his surprised silence slip away.

"The more we wait, the more we lose. We can't keep doing nothing while you do whatever it is you do with Dumbledore every other month."

"We-"

"Don't. I've had enough of your excuses. So here's what we're gonna do." Without turning away or breaking eye contact, Ginny pressed the door panel behind her, revealing the training room. "We're going to duel. Right now. Using everything we have and without holding back. If I win, you'll stop with this overly cautious crap and you're finally going to start acting like a proper captain."

"I'm not going to fight with you over this."

"Well that's too bad." She took a step back as she grabbed Harry by his collar, pulling him with her into the room. "Because I will."

When he noticed the slight tremor in the air in the corner of his eye, it was far too late.

The invisible punch hit him square in the side of the head, breaking his concentration on the shield he was painfully holding up. The semi-transparent shimmer in the air shattered as the blow made him lose his footing. He fell on his sides and quickly rolled away before a flash of red hit the floor where he had been a second ago.

"We found this ship. We're the ones training every day to fight. We're the ones who got rid of Umbridge."

Gritting his teeth, Harry pushed himself up as fast as his painfully throbbing head and leg allowed him, Squinting as he looked around for the tiniest distortion in the seemingly empty space around him. Without his helmet, he had no way of knowing where Ginny was and his spells missed more often than not. His only option was to stay on the move, keep his guard up and use spells with a wide area of effect.

"And we are the ones losing our family while you keep us leached here!"

Her shout gave Harry enough warning that he could raise another shield behind him in time for a nasty yellow hex to splash harmlessly against it. Breaking into a run on the left, Harry sent a large wave of flames in the direction the spell had come from, knowing full well that Ginny wasn't there anymore.

The most annoying thing about fighting against an invisible opponent using one of their hoverboards was that they could adjust the size of its electromagnetic cushion. By making it as thin as possible, the board would almost be touching the ground, but it would also reduce the sound made by its generator to almost nothing.

"You're not some sort of martyr. Stop trying to protect us by shouldering everything yourself. We're all in this hell together for Merlin's sake!"

Harry ducked, avoiding a series of spells by a hair's breadth, and decided that enough was enough. Whipping his wand downward, he brought it back up in circles, turning the pavement under his feet to sand. Harry closed his eyes, holding his breath as he brought his wand back down.

"Depulso! Protego!"

He felt the sand being blasted upward and fall back down on his shield before he dared to open his eyes again. When he did, he saw that a sizable portion of the room had been covered in it, and the floating silhouette that stood out against it had not escaped the dry rain.

Not wasting any time, especially since he could already see her move, Harry raised his wand high in sharp motions.

"Magnus Fulgur!"

A blinding flash of lightning burst from his wand, hitting Ginny right as she tried to flee. Her cry of pain made Harry wince, but did not dampen his satisfaction as he saw her. Small arcs of electricity ran across her armour and the board before dissipating, leaving her visible as her hoverboard fell to the ground with a loud clanking sound.

"It's ove-"

Fighting through the pain, Ginny leaped from the ground and started running toward him, her wand whipping the air as she sent one spell after the other in his direction. Taking a step back, Harry brought his shield back up and hastily deflected a spike of stone before it could pierce his side.

"You keep saying that we need to fight this war, that we can't leave it to the adults. But you're the one stopping us from actually doing something!"

"That's not fair! We need to prepare-"

"Prepare? That's all we've been doing for a year!"

"We're not ready!"

"We have the training!"

As he deflected another hex, Harry lost his footing, slipping on the oil that Ginny had turned underneath him the sand into.

"We have the tech!"

As he readied a blasting curse that would have brought him time to get up, Harry was suddenly blinded when Ginny brought up her other hand, a small stone shining on her suit-covered wrist.

"We have the numbers!"

His sight quickly recovering, Harry leaped to the side and stood back up in the same movement, avoiding another spell as he sent one of his own. Ginny easily deflected his haphazardly thrown stunner and finally closed the distance between them.

She dropped on one knee and sweeped his legs with her own, making him fall once more. Harry's armour took the brunt of the fall but the show made him drop his wand. Ginny straddled him, pinning his wand hand to the ground as she brought back her own, fist closed.

"We. Are. Ready."

"Stop!"

Ginny's fist stopped inches before his nose. One of her eyebrows was raised in a silent interrogation.

"I give up. We'll do it. Happy now?"

"Very."

Grinning, she brought back her fist and stood back up before holding out her hand to him. With a defeated sight, Harry took it and pushed himself off the oily ground.

He was so going to regret this.

And yet, deep down, he felt a knot of anxiety and fears begin to loosen up as he looked at Ginny in all her dishevelled, singed and smiling glory.