Chapter 27: Decision time!

Malfoy Manor, 11th November 2010, 1300 GMT

The group had just finished lunch in a subdued mood when Malcom urgently requested his public presence. Hermione agreed.

Malcom publicly popped into visibility and bowed to her and the group.

"I am sorry for interrupting your post lunch relaxation time but our Intelligence gives me a worrying news. As per the plans discussed in Knock-turn Alley, the young immature members of the Dark World are now planning a simultaneous attack on Muggle and Wizard Hospitals, Magical Retirement Homes, Schools, Hogwarts, Gringotts, Diagon Alley, Azkaban, and all other critical infrastructure of our world including Kings Cross Platform 9 ¾. They are numerically superior and wish to use that to their advantage."

Initially Hermione and all others were silent as they processed the news and absorbed the shock. Hermione was the first person to respond.

"Malcom, do you know when they are planning to start this execution of the strategy?"

"Yes Ma'am, we have 2 hours to think of a response."

"OK, this is what we do. Adena, you told me once that the Dark World accesses the Middle and Good Worlds via a portal. This is part of the peace treaty between the Dark and the Middle. That means all the Agents of the Dark World will use that single portal to come out and if the Good and the Middle wish to engage with them, either in negotiation or as war, we can do it right at the source. Do you know the exact dimensions of the portal and how many Dark World members can exit there each second?"

Adena smiled at Hermione, "This is the only major thing I have done all my life, Hermione. I know the exact location as well as the dimensions of the portal. At a time a maximum of 30 wizards and witches can exit per second. The Location itself is tricky. It is 1000 miles from SYDNEY right in the middle of Pacific Ocean. If we engage with them, we will have no solid footing, literally. At our disposal in the Middle World, we have 2000 elite war ready agents and the good world can also manage a few of their own, right?"

Draco spoke up, "With our good relations globally, I can arrange 90,000 elite Aurors to assist the Good and the Middle world. Add to the Order of the Phoenix and our Auror Base, we have a force close to 96,000. 98,000 against 30 seems like a favorable odd to me."

Harry shook his head, "It is not as simple as that, Draco. Their elite will try to throw covering spells of aggression so that most of them escape the portal, even as we engage in battle with the front-line."

Athena also shook her head, "With our 4 layer force-field cover, we can't have any more than 5000 warriors."

Draco countered, "All Aurors do not need protection, only the best of them numbering 5000 will be protected and rest would be the foot-soldiers fighting the war without protection."

At this Hermione, Natalie, Athena, Luna, Adena, Ginny, Fleur and Penelope, all shook their heads simultaneously in disgust.

Athena responded, "Even if I ignore the ethical cruelty of your proposal of saving some and leaving others as sacrificial pawns, there is a strategic reason why your proposal can't be carried out. The Dark World are no fools. If they see some people dying from their spells and others are not, they will easily figure out the boundaries of the force-field. They will then push their numerical advantage. I can handle a 100K or even a Million of them but if it is 10 million, even my strongest force field will crack. All have to be protected, not some, that is final. Hence we can have a maximum of 5000 warriors on the front, including us."

Hermione nodded, "If it is 5000, then that is what it will be. If we can stop the Dark World with our brains and brawn, so be it. If some of them escape and wreak havoc in the Magical World, so be it. As the Order of the Phoenix, we live and die together. We do not split up and try to protect the strategic locations of the Magical World, even our beloved Hogwarts. I know that when it comes to our children, I am taking a very tough stand, but I need to. I believe in all our emotional character and I am certain that all of you agree with me. If any of you feel otherwise, I will have no grudges whatsoever, if your decision diverges from my path. It is purely your choice and I love every single person here."

Harry smiled, "We are your core group, not just for random functionalities of the Ministry. We are with you, every step of the way. We love you and stand by every decision you take."

Fred spoke, "Speaking for George and Me, you have always raised our profile by pointing our value to others, Hermione. Today, I have got the one chance to return the favor. You are an amazing lady and only women have the strength of character to die for the country and even sacrifice her loved ones, without a second thought. We don't praise you like Harry but just know this, our lives and our after-life, will forever be graced by you, Hermione."

Ron spoke, "Heck, Mione! Just when I think you have surpassed all limits of courage, love and wisdom, you set new benchmarks daily. I am mighty proud to see you develop from an insecure girl in the first month of Hogwarts to the special Witch that you are, today. I believe in all your decisions, without any question."

Draco wore the biggest smile, "What can I say, Hermione? You refined me from a bitter crackpot to the sensitive and caring wizard that I am today. Your love and our family has been the greatest gift in my life. I will sacrifice a 1000 lives just to get the chance to be your life partner, once again. I am with you all the way, until my final breath, be it today or when I am an old and senile Wizard."

Veena sobbed, "It was my greatest dream to serve my Hero and by giving me a chance to go the the portal with you, my greatest wish to live and die for my Hero, is fulfilled."

Pansy/ Neville, Katie/Zabini, Arthur, Ginny, All other Weaselys as well as the Rest of the Order eulogized her.

Hermione smiled, "Patrick, you swore your loyalty to me, of your own free will. For the second time, I am entrusting you with a critical responsibility. If you and the children survive this war, but we don't, you will transfer the full set of my wisdom, ideology, research and mindset to the worthy children. You will be Elf responsible for carrying out my wishes after I am gone. I will magically transfer you my essence, before we leave this room. No one else deserves that honor, more than you. You have displayed the greatest act of love, service and loyalty, trading freedom with serving me."

Patrick bawled, "Patrick and the entire family lineage is dedicated to you and your family. It will be my greatest honor to carry out all your wishes to the letter."

Hermione dried her tears, embraced Patrick and gave a gentle kiss on his forehead. She then turned and faced the others.

"I have confidently given you my orders. I also know that we still have emotions. In the remaining 100 minutes, let us visit Hogwarts, probably for one final time. Let us talk to our children, beloved teachers, Hargrid, and see our school lawns. We assemble here, as a group, in 20 minutes. We will fine tune our war strategies over an hour and leave for the portal, 20 minutes ahead of time."

"Kindly turn your backs as I execute a special transfer spell of the copy of my essence to Patrick. Then, we leave for Hogwarts. Pansy/Neville, please inform the students and teacher body, about our pending arrival. All right folks, back here in 20 minutes."

Hermione completed the essence copy spell in 15 seconds and the entire group Apparated to Hogwarts, following the early departure of Neville & Pansy.

They reached outside the Hogwarts ground. Hargrid let them in. Draco and Hermione reached the Griffindor common room. Aurelian was waiting for them there. Hermione had magically relayed the message to all Auror family members and all of them were already in the different common rooms.

Hermione went first, "Aurey, you know the ground realities. It all began with your unfortunate incident here. We have now come to the moment of truth, although this is a lot earlier than planned. Should we survive this, we will continue status quo. We adults have seen death and we are used to it. On the other hand, you may face it later tonight. If it does come for you, please don't be scared. In the Magical World, part of your essence is in the Magical Photos. The rest of you goes to a special place, where all of us are uniquely connected in a quantum entangled ether. We will join you in that place, sooner or later. You were the greatest gift to our lives. All in all, we are proud of you!"

Aurey replied, "Very few children have a living legend as a mother, but I do. More than that though, I am proud of your legacy of wisdom, integrity, research, intelligence and pure as well as infinite love and beauty. All of that reflects in my life. I love you Mom!"

He tearfully embraced Hermione and gave a manly Hi 5 to his dad.

Hermione then went outside and gave a tearful hug to Hargrid. It was almost too much for the Giant. She then gently patted Fang, who looked at her with sad, love-lorn eyes. It seemed that even he sensed the monumental importance of the moment.

Finally, Hermione and Draco entered the Office of the Headmistress, Professor Minerva.

Hermione cast her eyes down, "For the first time in my life, I am leaving my school unprotected. I am covering the source of the danger but if they escape, the Ministry can't spare any resources to protect this Ancient Temple of Wisdom."

Her Professor scolded her, "Why do you look downcast in the moment of your greatest victory? I am proud of you as a Witch and as a Woman. You were the best Witch that this institution had a privilege to teach. More than that though, I am proud as a woman. Only we have this strength of character to put the cause above everything else. Irrespective of what happens tonight, I will use all my wisdom and energy to help Hogwarts, and so will my students from 5th Year up."

Hermione and Draco were too gagged with emotion to reply. They silently embraced Professor Minerva and made their way back to the gates. Together, the entire group Apparated to Malfoy Manor.

As they all gathered back, Hermione called their attention, "I am afraid to convey more somber news. For the first time in a long time tonight, we are without insurance. If the force-field begins to crack, I will give the Morgana ring to Athena and she will Apparate away. She is immortal but spells are existing to permanently incapacitate her. I will not take the risk of that nor the ring falling into wrong hands. I am asking for your commitment but have no insurance to offer. This is an unfair but factual situation."

All but Athena and Natalie spoke and assured Hermione that they were confident in their own skills and they were fortunate to have insurance but that was not their precondition to joining in a war. Athena and Luna had trained them exceptionally well for the duel tonight. Hermione noted the silence of Athena and Natalie and asked for their final thoughts, given that they had only 40 minutes for the war to start and 20 before their departure.

Athena went first, "I think you grossly underestimate my powers. The training I have provided you are 2% of merely my defensive spells. In addition, I have the equal number of attacking spells. Each of the spells can form cascading chain links and protect an area, half the size of Earth. I never encourage attacking spells but with our situation tonight, it is warranted. These are just MY spells. In addition, the Good World has 4 other active immortals. With THEIR bank of spells sent telepathically, we can protect our galaxy, many times over. We are in a far better position than you make out, Hermione."

Hermione and others gave a smile of sheer relief, "That is really good to know. I would also use my lab spells. I also will use just defensive spells and only the attacking ones as a last resort, if absolutely necessary."

Hermione then smiled at Natalie, "What about you Natalie?"

Natalie gave a sneer, "I think I grossly overestimated your intelligence. I thought you knew the Big Game but you don't even know the players."

Adena protested, "Natalie, is this the way to speak to your host? You are still technically a prisoner, you know?"

Hermione intervened, "Adena, firstly she is a teenager who is impetuous, blunt and clear headed. Second and most importantly, I gave her the explicit permission to speak as any other member here. She can say anything in any manner she feels like."

Natalie gave a small smile, "Thanks Hermione! I do lose the grip over my speech, at times. At the same time, I am surprised at your shortsightedness. The immature members may plan a multiple location attack strategy but they will hardly be effective. Hargrid can take 5000 of them down, even with his rusty skills, but without killing them. A Middle soldier, who has war with the Dark Side, encoded within their DNA, can take them down 10,000 to one. Even hordes of them escaping the portal will have no impact. In the past half hour, Adena has already stationed 1000 Middle Witches and Wizards at every strategic location of the Wizard World. Much more importantly, this war will not even start. The Dark World has already lost a heavy 20 witches and wizards. They were the cream youth division, being trained to take over the Dark World leadership. All I need to do is inform Nathan and he can arrange the Mourning Senior Leadership to come to the table for Negotiation with me. My point to them will be crystal clear: It is in the interest of All 3 worlds that Good, Middle and Dark maintain status quo. In the past 4 decades, Good and Middle had enough resources to finish off the Dark World and vice-versa but chose not to do so. Both need the Dark Side to display fear based aggression to implement the far reaching and nobler thoughts of the Good and Middle World in the Muggle Universe. The Dark World needs the Good to maintain their reign of fear and extract handsome ransom from them, with a share to the Middle World. Without the Good World, Middle would have no hesitation in finishing off the Dark Side. Middle World needs both Good and Dark to enrich their coffers forever. They are the most effective gatekeepers. Every side has immature youth who plan on drastic action steps and they can be easily reined in. If you fix me with record-able bands from the Ministry of Magic, I would cover these arguments and make sure that the war never starts."

All occupants in the room clapped for Natalie and Hermione gave her the sweetest embrace. Wordlessly, Hermione then closed her eyes and within 5 seconds, there were 2 gold bands encircling the wrists of Natalie, bearing the seal of the Minister of Magic Ultra-Secret Intelligence Agency. She then adjusted her property wards and told Natalie that she was free to go. Natalie used Erwina's room to communicate an urgent message with Nathan and Wolff and within 5 minutes, she was away from the Property that had been her home for last 3 weeks, waving Hermione a temporary goodbye.

Natalie landed in the thickly wooded forest in Slovenia and admired the fresh air, the music of the rustling leaves, gurgling brooks and the fragrance of wild flowers. Every aspect of her life was filled up with Gratitude. Her happiness enhanced a notch when she saw Nathan there, smiling at her. Both of them embraced each other tenderly, relishing the physical touch, after what seemed like an eternity. Then they saw Wolff come in after a gap of 7 minutes and both of them took on a professional mask. She embraced Wolff formally and then asked, "Are the Senior group here?"

Nathan nodded, "They are waiting inside the cave. We still have to carry out the tests, you know."

Natalie agreed and she took her wand and performed 22 of the 23 mandatory tests for a returning Dark Member. She however faltered before the final test. This test would burn alive a member, if he or she was illegally or surreptitiously monitored. She asked Nathan to do it and he agreed, hiding his trembles. The result was negative and all 3 breathed a sigh of relief. They then entered the beautiful caves.

Natalie bowed before the senior dark leader, "I am here as a prisoner of the Good World and our exchanges are monitored by these bands. I am here to negotiate a delay in the war, for the well-being of the entire Magical Universe. First and foremost, I join you in grieving for our lost cream of youth members. They also got the yellow box but our members trapped Harry and Molly. The former is back with the group though."

The senior leader nodded.

Natalie elegantly repeated her stance with the senior leadership and they agreed. She, Nathan and Wolff also pointed out to the patience and kindness of Hermione.

The leader replied, "We have lost our cream, who were meant to replace us. We can't afford any more losses. At the same time, we also feel for Celia. If she is in their team, we need to give her a chance for a fair fight. This seems a rather rare statement from the Dark World but we also relish a fair fight in some instances, specially if she does not pose a direct threat to us with her brawn. She must peacefully give birth and recover. All parties must recuperate and plan. We can't go by emotions, but pure Logic. However, we must postpone the Quidditch World Cup Final to May next year. This is a signature event to leave our mark. Wolff, can it be done?"

Wolff smiled, "My Polish best friend, Michal, is a surgical healer. He can make a potion such that the Slovenia National Team are not fit enough to resume training before April. He once betrayed his Muggle Medical Profession by adding high energy healing crystals from the Magical World to the saline drip of a recovering young patient from a brain surgery. Things went wrong and he lost the young girl. Since then, he has been away from Muggle medicine and focused purely on the Magical healing. His guilt makes him an ideal Dark World associate. We will also convince the Slovenia Minister of Magic to release an appropriate Press and Media statement. We can execute this in 15 minutes."

Natalie asked the Leadership, "Can I go back now? They are awaiting my return." They agreed and Natalie bade all of them farewell. She went back to the forest outside and Apparated directly to the Malfoy Manor living room.

Before Natalie spoke a word, Hermione asked her to remove the bands. Hermione then pointed her wand and with a silent spell, she burned the bands as others stood shell shocked.

Natalie was speechless, "Why did you burn the bands? They would have shown you the faces of the Leadership, their current location and many other vital data."

"If we wanted to know that, there were many ways to gather that information. We needn't have placed your life at risk for that. We fully trust you and your values and will happily accept whatever information you provide us. Beyond that, we need nothing more. I have full faith in my team's capabilities to handle any situation."

Natalie burst into tears and broke down to heaving sobs. "Why are you so kind to me, Hermione? I am the one who placed you under an unforgivable curse."

Hermione smiled at her gently, "I always remember people who stand by me. If I am alive and talking here, it is down to Jack and You. The face copy he attempted could be successful only after 2 minutes of extreme focus. Your argument with their leaders bought him that critical time. You also happily accepted a stunning spell, in accordance to your plan, earlier that night. If you as a Dark World teenager, face all risk and pain for an arch enemy, I am forever indebted to you and the dearly departed Jack."

Natalie took the hand of Hermione and completely broke down. After 2 full minutes of an emotional avalanche, Hermione gently picked Natalie by her shoulders and asked her to calm down and recount her encounter with the Dark World.

"They agreed to my arguments and have declared a truce until May on account of Celia and our own preparation."

Everyone applauded even as Hermione embraced Natalie. Then Malcom indicated her group to focus on a blank wall. The Slovenia Minister of Magic gave his typical flowery speech and apologized for postponing the Quidditch World Cup Finals to May because his team Witches and Wizards were pushed extremely hard by the passionate coach and needed time to recover. He profusely thanked Hermione for her impeccable hosting earlier and promised that his humble country made sure that in any future occasion, he would return her welcome manifold.

Hermione and Adena informed all other stakeholders to relax. Adena still permanently stationed 100 personnel at each strategic site. Then Hermione thought of something and smiled.

"Throughout our history, it is the Dark Side which used the weapon of fear against the Good. It is time to give them a taste of their own medicine. Percy, will you please deliver a message to Molly, taking the gracious permission of the captors?"

With this, a new chapter commenced in the dynamic relationship between Good, Middle and Dark. This was as much about brain as brawn, as much strategy as war. Unknown to all the parties, many more such moves were to come forth in the timeline ahead. All said and done, the next 8 months were the most interesting phase of all their lives.