Disclaimer: All charcters and world concepts are property of J.K. Rowling

Disclaimer: This is not the work of CNG25 but that of Lilausty, originally published on harrypotterfanfiction-dot-com.

Chapter 34: Oh You're So Cute

"Harry, where did you stash the Devil's Snare? Godric is about ready to start the third phase of the maze." Salazar called to Harry.

The founders and the six leaders of the DA were busily working in one of the many Potter Castle gardens, growing a huge maze rapidly for the lesson on Saturday. The first two phases of the maze were already completed, with low level jinxes and creatures lurking at every turn.

Harry turned from the vertigo jinx he had just finished installing and yelled back, "Check the basement, I think Neville moved them there to keep them out of the sun." After receiving a confirming nod, Harry turned and slowly walked out of the maze.

His muscles were sore and his eyes were gritty, having been working on the maze solidly for nearly 4 days. Ginny had complained a bit at the hard work, but Salazar merely laughed and told her that she could consider it her endurance training, and she really had no reason to whine since she didn't need to sleep.

Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna returned to Hogwarts each night, but the others stayed to continue working. Fawkes was exhausted from flashing creatures and plants all over the world, but he was enjoying himself, saying that he hadn't had so much fun since Dumbledore decided to hold a family reunion.

Harry walked into the castle's dining hall and grinned looking around at the changes. Rowena, knowing what everyone's animagus forms were, had taken over the hall and had removed all of the tables. The floor had been changed from polished marble to dirt which had more grip. Before she had started, Harry had extracted a promise from her that she would put everything back the way it was.

He walked over to her, "Well, the first two stages of the maze are now done, I think Helga may want some help with the Abaia, she has already stocked the water hole with the fish."

Rowena shook her head, "I still don't know where Fawkes found half the creatures, let alone how he managed to convince them to partake in our little exercise. Abaias do not like leaving their homes unprotected, thinking that if they leave for even a moment, a fisherman will come and kill all the fish that they protect."

Harry shrugged, "Maybe this Abaia is more accommodating than normal? Or else it just owes Fawkes a favour, he says that they are very long lived."

She nodded, "maybe, anyway tell Helga I'll be in, in a minute, I just want to finish transfiguring the tables into some trees."

Harry grinned, "Why couldn't we have just done this outside then?"

"Because, oh questioning one, in here I can control the weather!" she responded, giving him a teasing smile. He rolled his eyes and said farewell, moving back outside to the maze.

He heard a yell behind him and turned, immediately dropping to the ground as an enormous winged creature swooped over him. Its call sounding almost like a roar, it checked its speed, wheeled around and landed next to him.

Recognising the creature as a Piasa, a huge winged feline with stag antlers from Northern America, Harry eyed her with caution. Notorious for being short tempered, total respect was needed to deal with one of them.

Bowing low, Harry asked, "What can I do for you? Are you unhappy with your surroundings?" Mentally he called Fawkes to help him communicate, and the phoenix automatically appeared.

The Piasa's gaze fixed itself upon the bird as she growled and Fawkes translated, "She feels that there is not enough room for her to move around, and she is missing her mate. The Wampus Cat that is stationed near her is also making her nervous. They are not generally enemies, but living in such close quarters is straining their tolerance."

Harry nodded in understanding, pondering the situation. He turned and called Godric over, asking the older man, "Could we move this being to the fifth stage of the maze do you think? Maybe on the left? There is more room there, and I don't think we have any other creatures there yet. I think she provides a substantial challenge to warrant such an increase." The Piasa, obviously understanding, grunted in agreement.

Godric considered the Piasa for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I think that is easily done. Though Helga had intended to put in a partial swamp with some Colo Colos."

There was a slight hiss from the Piasa and Fawkes said to Harry, "She says that Colo Colos will not be a problem, that they will get on fairly peacefully, especially if it means she can have more room to move."

Harry looked at the Piasa before turning to Godric, "That's fine, tell Helga she can put in the swamp, just make it as small as possible without crowding the Colo Colos."

The lion founder nodded before giving a slight bow to the Piasa, "If you could please fly over to the bright blue marker, I will join you and help you settle in."

There was another hiss that sounded remarkably like a chuckle and the Piasa leapt into the air before swooping down on Godric and picking him up, carrying him in the air. Harry got a good look at his startled face and he started laughing. Apparently the Piasa was not inclined to wait while Godric walked through the maze.

That problem dealt with, Harry sat on the ground, his muscles reminding him that it had been four days of pretty intense work. Fawkes looked at him with reproach "You really should take some invigorating potions, especially if you intend to keep up this pace until Saturday."

Harry raised an eyebrow at him, "You're one to talk. I distinctly recall walking in on you where you could barely stand up and Rowena was still trying to force feed you a pepper up potion."

Fawkes ruffled his feathers looking defensively sheepish, "I was fine, she was overreacting!"

"Fine? You were pretty well passed out on the floor! Mind you, you had flashed a manticore from Russia." Harry retorted before sighing, "But, I cannot deny that I am pretty well shot at the moment. If you want, you can get me a potion and I'll drink it. I'll need all of my wits about me when I deal with the Indrik."

Fawkes bobbed his head, "Yes, nasty beasts those things. I saved this one's mate sixty years ago, and he knows not to truly harm anyone here, but don't push him."

Harry winced, "I kind of feel bad about putting all of these creatures into the maze, it feels like I'm using them for my own gain. But the DA has been looking forward to this for a while now."

Fawkes chuckled, "Fear not, the only creatures here are the ones that agreed with my proposal. They are not here unwillingly. Most are aware of Voldemort and the threat that he poses to the world around them. If this small sacrifice can give them the feeling that they have helped in the war, then they are more than happy to be here."

"Thank goodness, for dealing with an irate Indrik is not my idea of fun."

Saturday arrived, and it was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly and a light breeze stirring the trees. Harry had elected to stay at the castle while Ginny returned to Hogwarts to get the DA. Hermione had been a little worried that the teachers would notice that such a large group of students would be missing for the entire day, but the founders assured her that they had created illusions of some of the students to run around the Hogwarts grounds at odd intervals so that no one would get suspicious.

After talking with the leaders of the DA, they had decided to show everyone's animagus forms before entering the maze. Harry also wanted to talk to them about their role in the war, but was slightly nervous about how they would take some of his ideas.

The students arrived, all extremely excited about the planned day at the castle, with the younger students like Dennis nearly hopping around with anticipation.

Once Harry had quieted them down, he grinned, "Well, if enthusiasm is anything to go by, today is certainly going to be memorable. Now, since I am in the dark as the next person about all of your animagus forms, I am going to hand over to Rowena to lead us off."

The founder walked forward with a huge, proud smile on her face, "I am truly pleased with all of your progress. The speed at which you all learnt the ability was something that I have rarely seen." She clapped her hands, "Now, who wants to go first? I don't particularly think we are going to go through each person individually since that would just take forever, but if someone is brave enough to start us off that would be great."

There was some nervous eyeing passing between the members before a dreamy voice spoke up, "I'll go first if you like."

Harry smiled at Luna as she walked to the front of the DA. As if completely unaware of the many sets of eyes that were glued to her, she let her eyes unfocus and suddenly Luna was no longer standing next to Rowena.

In her place was a beautiful white swan. There were gasps of amazement as the DA examined her pure white plumage. It was so bright that she almost seemed to glow with an ethereal light. Her pale blue eyes had remained, and they were as dreamy as ever as she blinked peacefully at the people clustering around her.

Harry clapped a couple of times, "Wonderful! Luna you are absolutely stunning! Not that we expected anything less of you! Well done!"

Immediately, the swan transformed back into the blonde girl and for once, she was actually blushing, a faint pink tinge coloured her cheeks, "Thank you Harry that means a lot."

"Now, whose next?" Rowena asked.

Bolstered by Luna's transformation, the rest of the DA surged forward, and before Harry could say animagus, forty-odd animals were moving around him, their voices, all so different, echoed each other as they exclaimed in amazement and joy as they examined their comrades.

Harry and Ginny didn't bother to transform, rather they just looked around in astonishment at the array of animals around them. Rowena came and stood next to them, pointing out various creatures and who they were.

It turned out that Ron's form was a large white Siberian tiger with deep blue eyes, Hermione was an African antelope and Neville was a jaguar with red eyes that seemed to glow with their own fire."

Ginny giggled as a tiny sugar glider landed on her shoulder. Picking up the animal she held it in her hands exclaiming, "Oh you're so cute! I do hope that you are female!"

Rowena turned and smiled saying, "Ah, Lavender, it is good to see you have gotten the hang of flying."

There was a great kaawww cry and Harry looked up to see a peregrine falcon diving in and around a huge brolga. Rowena smiled at Harry's questioning gaze, "The brolga is Ernie and the falcon is Justin."

A noble looking black Arabian stallion trotted up to Harry and Rowena, a red setter by its side. The stallion inclined its head at Rowena, thankfulness in every gesture. She smiled, "You are most welcome Dean, and you too Seamus. I must admit, that red fur of yours seems to get brighter every time I see it!"

The dog-that-was-Seamus gave a slight howl that Harry interpreted as a laugh and he grinned at his fellow Gryffindor. Ginny meanwhile was stroking Dean's mane and she whispered cheekily, "You'll have to let me ride you sometime!"

Harry gave a slight snort at the lewd suggestion as Dean whickered thrusting his head at Harry. Knowing what he was indicating Ginny rolled his eyes, "No, he won't get jealous, besides, you are with Parvati now anyway!" He bobbed his head before following Seamus over to a magnificent Giant Panda and a Llama that were examining each other in great detail.

Rowena followed Harry's gaze and beamed, "You know, for a couple of identical twins, the Patil girls sure are different."

Harry felt his eyes go wide, "That's Padma and Parvati?"

She nodded in confirmation, "Yes, the Llama is Parvati and Padma is the Panda."

Ginny snorted, "I would have picked the opposite, I wonder how Parvati is going to take being the peaceful one while her sister can be a lethal killer?"

Rowena grinned, "Oh I don't know, Parvati has a pretty wicked spit range when she is annoyed!"

Harry laughed deeply, his body warm with joy as he saw his friends all enjoying themselves as they showed off their new forms. A lemur, a leonberger, a crocodile and a magpie all flitted in his field of vision. This eyes couldn't help but focus themselves on the crocodile.

It was huge, nearly 6m long, and not like any he had seen in pictures. He turned to Rowena, "Who is that? And what sort of crocodile is it?"

Ginny too was staring in unabashed amazement at the animagus form. Rowena grinned again, "That would be one Romilda Vane, and she is an Australian Salt Water Crocodile. It took us a while to find out exactly what she was, in the end we took a picture of her and sent it away to receive an answer. Impressive though isn't she?"

Harry nodded dumbly, looking at the animagus-girl that had once tried to give him a love-potion. He gave a half hearted laugh, "Remind me never to piss her off again!"

Ginny meanwhile was tugging on Rowena's arm and pointing to a beautiful female deer "Who is that?"

Following the pointing finger Rowena responded, "You mean the doe? That is Laura Madley, one of the more beautiful animagus forms if you ask me. Her bone structure is so fine and delicate, but believe me she has a kick that could knock a human's head off!"

Harry nodded as he saw her half rear up in an obviously playful manner with the antelope-that-was-Hermione. After nearly an hour of the DA members playing around in their various forms, Harry clapped his hands, "alright, I know everyone is having a lot of fun and you all could probably stay like this for the rest of the day, but if guys want to tackle the maze today, we need to move on."

At the mention of the maze, all of the members returned to their human forms, anticipation written on every feature. Harry grinned, "Ah, it is so much easier to talk to human faces than it is animal ones!"

Titters wafter round the room as he continued, "I must say, I am beyond impressed with all of your efforts and I think Voldemort isn't going to know what hits him….literally! Not even in his wildest dreams could he imagine that 40 school students have learnt to be animagi. Isn't he in for a shock?"

The vigorous nods of agreement was enough to make him chuckle before he became more serious, "Now, before we go to the maze, there is a couple of things I want to talk to you about. Please have a seat, I don't know how long this will take."

The excitement faded from the DA's faces as they realised that he was deadly serious about something, and it probably wasn't going to be related to the rest of the day's activities.

Once they were all comfortable Harry sighed, "Since the attack on Hogsmeade, Voldemort has been moving more into the open. Attacks are occurring daily, and deaths are all we hear about. Pretty soon there isn't going to be a magical community to fight for. Well I say enough!"

He practically shouted the last word, and most of the members jumped. He saw a mixture of determination, apprehension and comprehension written in the eyes focussed on him. He sighed again, "I told you that when I created the DA at the beginning of the year, that we were going to be an army, not a study group. While that was true, I didn't give you the whole truth."

Most looked confused so he pressed on, "What I didn't tell you is that when Fawkes bound himself to me, he automatically made me the head of the Order of the Phoenix. You see, Fawkes' original bonded human created the Order 2000 years ago, and tied it to Fawkes. Whoever Fawkes chose to bind himself to would then automatically become the head. Just like Rowena here." He gestured to the older woman who nodded.

Turning back to the DA he continued, "Dumbledore was the head of the Order of the Phoenix, but when he died, McGonagall assumed control of the group. She knew that Dumbledore wished for Fawkes to bond to me, yet even so, she disregarded some of his last wishes and took control herself. The moment she did that, the organisation that Dumbledore had been head of, died. The 'Order' as you know it, is not the true Order of the Phoenix, but merely a group of people trying to fight Voldemort. We, or more importantly, you are the true Order!"

Silence met this declaration, and Harry nearly winced at the look of stunned disbelief being directed at him. After a moment's silence and hesitant voice called out, "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Harry sighed, "For the same reason that I kept Ron and Hermione in the dark about the Founders for so long, not to mention the rest of you. I was afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid that if you all knew what I was asking of you, you would turn your backs and leave me on my own. I admit, I have never been accused of being forthcoming, and I admit that I have probably been stupid regarding this information."

There was a soft snort from Ron before the red head spoke up, "Well, does any of our enemies know this? That we are the Order I mean?"

Harry shook his head, "Not unless you count McGonagall, and it is unlikely that she is going to spill the beans as it would cause a massive exodus from her group to ours."

Ron grinned, "Well then it doesn't really matter that you have kept this from us. I mean, Voldemort already knows that we are against him, so what difference does a name mean? I mean, would he even know of the history of the Order?"

Harry turned a thoughtful look to Fawkes, "You know, that is a good question…?"

Fawkes trilled softly, "While the Order's history can easily be tracked through the years, I am fairly confident that its origins and how it keeps popping up is still secret. To be honest, you are the first person to blatantly broadcast how it works to the entire group."

Harry winced, "Sorry."

The phoenix trilled again, chuckling deeply, "Idon't think it matters Harry. Your followers are extremely loyal to you, and would not betray you willingly."

Harry turned back to Ron who had a questioning gaze, "In answer to your question, no, it is not likely that Voldemort knows of the history of the Order."

Neville spoke up from the side, "Well, now that we know the truth, are we going to change our name to the Order of the Phoenix?"

Ginny laughed lightly, "Don't you think that will make conversations a little confusing Nev? I mean, we already have one Order running around, even if they aren't the true Order, so imagine if we also were the Order! See, even in that sentence it is confusing!"

The DA laughed and Neville grinned, "Oh I don't know, you could have some pretty wicked conversations."

Harry held up his hands, "Personally I think we should keep our name the same, remember who we named it after."

The members fell silent and nodded, recalling the last leader of the Order. Rowena spoke up, "Besides, there is nothing that says the Order cannot go by another name. And if Voldemort is looking for the Order as his main threat, he won't see the DA coming up behind them to knock him flat!"

"Which brings me onto my next topic." Harry said, settling himself back into his seat again. "Now that you all know what group you actually belong to, I think it is time we take a more active role in the war. Voldemort is too hard to access, particularly now that he has gone to ground after being so thoroughly beaten by our friends here. But that doesn't mean we cannot take out his support network! His Death Eaters are what makes him strong; we take them out, we severely weaken his position."

He glanced at Ginny before continuing, "We have a spy in his midst, though don't ask me who, their identities must remain secret for now. However, we have given them a way of contacting us, and they have promised to supply us with information regarding attacks that we may be able to thwart."

Demelza spoke up, "How do you know this spy is trustworthy? I mean, not even Dumbledore could tell that Snape was a greasy traitor! What guarantees do you have?"

Harry kept his face blank of all expression when Snape's name was mentioned merely inclining his head, "A good question. All I can say is that, thanks to our friends here, there are techniques that can be used to determine a person's loyalty that not even Snape would have been able to get around. Our spy is most definitely on our side, and at great personal risk I might add."

Suitably satisfied, Demelza nodded and Harry stood up and continued, "So, this is the question I put to you; are you willing to fight? Are you willing to go into direct battle with the Death Eaters again to protect the innocents? This will not be like Hogsmeade where we were taken unawares and were in battle for self defence. Here, we will be actively seeking battle, to take out our enemies any way we can."

There wasn't even a moments hesitation as every single member stood up nodding emphatically. Ernie, always one for speeches said, "Harry, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we are with you all the way. We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect those we love. We are not afraid!"

Harry felt a swell of affection rise up within him like a wave and he struggled to keep back tears that threatened to appear in his eyes. He gave a genuine smile, gratitude written in every feature, "Thank you. For everything."

He received many smiles in return before Dean clapped his hands together, "Now that we have taken care of all that, can we please go to the maze now?"

The emotional mood broken, laughter rang through the air and Harry grinned, "Yes, I think it is high time you guys had some fun. One word of caution though, the creatures that you find in there are all guests. Do not harm them! They will attempt to prevent you from getting past them, but they will not use deadly force. I am telling you now, return the favour!"

After receiving serious nods of understanding from all of the members, he gestured for Godric to lead the way. When everyone was assembled the lion founder announced, "Right, this maze has six phases, each more difficult than the last. Inside you will find creatures, plants, jinxes and curses all which will attempt to stop you from reaching the centre."

Salazar took up the commentary, "We four founders plus the six leaders will not be partaking, merely watching and if anyone gets into serious trouble, we will help you out."

Helga smiled encouragingly, "Though you should not have an impossible time. Only things that we have covered with you during your training will be in the maze. This is simply a fun way of testing your readiness for war."

Harry finished off, "The person who reaches the end first will see a large statue. Place your hands on the stone tablet in front of it and everyone will be transported back here. The prize for winning is a personalized sword created by Rowena and Godric."

Ginny gave a grin, "Believe me, they are very useful! You saw Harry's and mine at work at Hogsmeade."

With that final thought to spur them on, the members all took their starting positions (there were many different entrances to the maze) and Harry blew a whistle. Instantly they dove into the maze, exclamations of excitement and thrill wafting through the air to reach the ears of those not participating.

The maze was deliberately huge, considering the number of creatures being housed within it, not to mention the number of members trying to find their way around.

While Harry was hoping that injuries sustained would be minor, he and Salazar had taken no chances, and had created a full medical centre, complete with anti-venoms, shock and trauma potions, skele-grow and anything else they though they might need.

The 'spectators' took to pre-prepared brooms to circle the maze. Harry was pleased to see the progress of some of the members with a couple already well into the second phase. He saw Dean splash his way through a fairly shallow pond, shooting out freezing spells at the grindelows that tried to attack him. Seamus was in the next path and had just finished wooing a hippogryph to let him past.

Flying in a diagonal direction across the maze, Harry grinned as he saw the two Creevey brothers cross paths and try to stun each other. Harry supposed that there was nothing wrong with a bit of sibling rivalry, and he didn't say that they couldn't take out the other members.

Harry heard his name being called and looked up to see Ginny flying towards him, laughing hard, "Harry, you should have seen Lisa Turpin handle the Re-em, she just walked right up to it, even though he was pawing at the ground in agitation. When she finally was in arms reach she transformed into her animagus form, which was the ox and pretty well seduced him! The re-em was so wrapped around her hoof that he just stood aside!"

Harry grinned, "Well, I guess that's one way of stunning a beast!"

A shriek interrupted their conversation and their heads whipped around. Salazar was hurtling towards the sound and the two teens flew fast to join him. Alicia Summers, one of the Hufflepuff students had reached the third phase and had come across the small lake that contained the Abia. She had tried to freeze the water's surface to walk across it, but the Abia had taken exception to having it's air blocked off and had forced its way through the ice and was rearing up in front of the terrified girl.

Remembering that Alicia had once said that she was terribly afraid of eels, Harry winced, "She isn't thinking clearly! She is going to fall back into the water in a minute!"

Ginny nodded, also watching the scene like a hawk, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. Salazar, seeing that the two teens were ready to act, waved at them and flew towards Rowena who was gazing intently at someone also in the third phase.

Poor Alicia looked ready to faint as the Abia slithered towards her, trying to get her off its lake and away from the fish that it was protecting. She slipped on the ice and fell onto her back, screaming slightly again. As if encouraged by the sound, the giant eel reared up, almost on top of her, its fangs glistening in the sunlight.

Harry, knowing enough was enough, swooped down and put himself between the shaking girl and the creature. The Abia, recognising Harry and what his appearance meant, gave a slight nod with its head before slipping back beneath the ice. Harry turned to Alicia who was white as a sheet and pulled her onto his broom, flying up to meet Ginny.

Obviously receiving one shock to many, the Hufflepuff girl fainted in his arms and he sighed. Turning to Ginny he said, "Undo the freezing spell, I am going to take her to the medical centre and give her something for the shock. She'll be alright in a bit."

Receiving a nod, he turned his firebolt and shot off towards the edge of the maze. Landing gently, he carried the girl and laid her down on one of the makeshift beds, spelling a shock potion directly into her stomach. Immediately her shaking stopped and she regained consciousness.

She gasped in fear, her eyes squeezing themselves shut for a moment before forcing them open again. Looking around wildly, her gaze fixed itself upon Harry and realisation slammed down over her face. She went bright red with embarrassment but Harry, knowing what was going through her mind said, "Don't be silly Alicia, anyone with a true phobia cannot control how they act then faced with it. I know full well what facing an Abia would have done to your physic, so don't be embarrassed. Your ingenuity in freezing the water was very good, and I was extremely impressed with your progress up until that point."

She still wouldn't meet his eyes, but she nodded anyhow. Harry was just turning to leave when Helga and Godric came in, both levitating two unconscious members each. Harry raised an eyebrow in askance to which Godric replied, grinning slightly, "These four met up with each other at the manticore's den. They decided that it would be the best place to have a little duel to try and take out some of the competition. They made the mistake of turning their backs onto the beast which had no qualms about batting them all with its paws, knocking them out."

Harry shook his head, "They know better than that! Particularly with a manticore!"

Helga sighed, "Well, because the manticore hadn't made any threatening moves towards them, I guess they thought it would stay out of their way until one of them came out victorious."

Harry snorted before turning back to Alicia, "See, at least you didn't show foolishness around a dangerous creature! You were just afraid!"

She gave him a weak grin and he turned to leave the tent, picking up his broom and returning to the maze. Neville gestured for him to come over, the fellow Gryffindor still not looking entirely comfortable on a broom. He gestured below him, "Justin is just approaching the drunken pirate jinx Salazar set up."

Harry grinned, "Oh I do so hope he just tries to walk through it. I let Salazar cast it on me once, it was so much fun! Had no control over myself at all!"

Neville nodded, "Yeah, though with the Shiva in the next bend, he may not be laughing about it quite so much."

Harry looked up abruptly, "Shiva? I didn't know we had a Shiva in here!"

Neville looked sheepish, "Sorry, guess I forgot to tell you. Fawkes brought her in just last night and Salazar thought she would make a nice addition to the fourth phase."

Shaking his head Harry turned and watched Justin again. When the seventh year saw the jinx he cast a reveallo spell on it, to discover what it was. For a moment he looked stumped as to how to get around it, but then he grinned as he looked up and saw Harry and Neville watching him. He gave them a cheery wave before instantly transforming into his falcon form and flying up to them. He circled them twice before landing on the other side of the jinx and transforming himself back into a human again.

Harry shook his head again, this time he was laughing though, "Oh, thank goodness he isn't a Slytherin!"

Neville looked confused, "Why?"

"Because a Slytherin would have no sense of fair play. He would just fly all the way to the statue and win, without ever having to face a challenge." Harry explained.

"Oh. Well, I don't think any of our members, even those that have the ability to fly, are going to try and win this maze like that. I mean, they know that we set it up as a kind of test of their abilities." Neville said, his gazed wandering over the maze, casually observing the progress of several DA members. Harry nodded in agreement before saying a quick farewell and flying off towards Luna and the person she was examining.

The majority of the members were able to get through the first four phases relatively quickly, but as soon as they hit the fifth, trouble started to occur. The founders had deliberately made the maze like that, simply to give a confidence boost to the members, but they didn't want to make it too easy for them to complete the maze.

Twenty six of the DA members, within 10 minutes of reaching the fifth phase, either were knocked unconscious or were rescued by the 'spectators.' Between a fairly temperamental Chimera, three stubborn minotaurs, a well riddled sphinx, a small nest of acromantula and a cockatrice that had its young around her, the DA members had their work cut out for them. That didn't take into consideration the various curses and jinxes that were sporadically placed around the area.

As the hours passed the watchers were becoming very busy flying members to the medical wing. Salazar had elected to stay there to help take care of those that had injuries to be healed. So far, no one was seriously hurt, but he preferred to be there ready in case someone was.

Suddenly, Harry felt a little shiver run through his body which signified that someone had reached the sixth and final phase. Whirling his broom around, he honed in on the person, and was surprised to see that it was Susan Bones. They Hufflepuff girl had several long scratches across her face and neck from where she had tangled with a Nemean Lion, but the determination on her face was evident to all.

Quickly looking ahead to see what she would face first in the sixth phase, Harry winced as he saw a quintaped. Often considered one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, Harry had thought long and hard about including one in the maze, but Fawkes had assured him that this particular quitaped would not kill, only knock out.

Still, Harry was quite nervous as he saw his fellow seventh year cautiously approach the creature. He saw the surprise and a flash of fear before a mask of resolved slipped over her features and her wand went up. Harry, momentarily distracted by Ginny's arrival, almost missed the fluid like movement of the Hufflepuff's wand.

A dozen enormous snakes appeared, all of which started to circle to beast. Harry recognised them as pythons and immediately knew what Susan was planning. As the quintaped snapped its mouth down on the body of one of the snakes, another two shot up like lightning and wrapped themselves around its body.

The quintaped reared up in an effort to dislodge them, but the remaining snakes all piled on, pulling themselves tightly around the body. They did not constrict so tight as to harm the quintaped, but they were firm enough that the beast could not move, and it gave a howl of frustration, the only thing it could do to show its displeasure at being so easily thwarted.

Harry turned amazed eyes to Ginny, "That was just incredible! Who would have thought to use the constricting power of a boa to immobilise an enemy? I have got to remember that one!"

Ginny nodded grinning, "If there is one thing I have learnt about Susan, it is not to underestimate the girl. Remember, her aunt is Amelia Bones, and ever since Cedric's death, she has been trying to bring Hufflepuff's reputation out of the shadows."

Harry turned his gaze back to the girl as she dissolved a particularly nasty boiling trap, "Well, from the looks of things, she may just do that! She only has two more challenges to go through before the statue, and frankly I don't classify a dementor as a sixth level challenge. Though it is the only creature in the maze that is here unwillingly, so I suppose it adds a bit of a wild card to the challenge."

Ginny shrugged, "Well, the founders think that they are one of the worst creatures that walk our earth, and also one of the toughest to get rid of. They always seem to forget that you taught everyone how to cast corporeal patronusses two years ago."

Sure enough, as soon as she spied the soul sucking lenthifold, she flicked her wand at it shouting out the incantation. A pure white dolphin burst from her wand and caught the dementor mid-section, throwing it back with a scream.

Using its pain to her advantage, Susan dashed past it and ran around the corner, skidding to a halt before an empty perch. She looked confused for a moment, but then there was a flash of fire and Fawkes appeared. He trilled softly at her and her gaze sharpened.

Harry glanced at Ginny, "For me personally, I know full well that I would not be able to get past what Fawkes is going to do."

She didn't really understand, but turned her gaze back to Susan and the beautiful phoenix. The red and gold bird began to sing, his voice low, melodious and powerful. The suggestion in his voice was to sit and listen, forget everything and to dwell in the peace and warmth that was his light.

Ginny's jaw dropped, "No one will be able to resist that Harry! That is mean! Creating a maze where no one would be able to finish it!"

Harry shook his head, "No, it is possible to resist, but one must be so focussed and determined that they can block out all outside influences and remain loyal to their own mind."

Ginny's eyebrows rose, "Well, a Hufflepuff's attribute is loyalty, so I suppose if anyone can do it she can."

Together, the two teens watched as Susan listened to the phoenix's song. Her eyelids got heavy and all stress and resolve faded from her face. Relaxation was in every movement as she took a step towards the beautiful bird.

When she was in arms reach, she lifted her hand and placed it on Fawkes head, stroking him softly as he continued to sing, full power in every syllable of his voice. Ginny sighed, as if disappointed that Susan had been overcome by the phoenix, even though she knew she could not have done any better.

Harry however was looking intently at Susan's eyes. There was a war raging in their depths, and he could see her internal battle as her heart told her to ignore the bird and continue on since she was so close to finishing, while her brain, completely overcome by the endorphins generated by the song, told her to wait, and to listen.

For a moment, Harry thought that her brain had won, for her body sagged and her face was still relaxed. But then she drew herself up and smiled, a smile that could have chilled the hottest fire and she said, "You can keep singing till the end of time Fawkes, but you will not keep me here. I have a task to do, and I will finish it, if it is the last thing I do!" With that, she removed her hand from his head and turned to pass him.

In a single last attempt to keep her spellbound, the phoenix sang a note, into which he poured every once of compulsion and power that he possessed. Indeed, it was so strong that it reached Harry and Ginny, even though it wasn't being directed at them, and they felt themselves drawn to him.

Susan's step faltered for a second, a flash of pain and confusion written on her face before it cleared again and she laughed, "That is not enough to overcome the loyalty of a Hufflepuff my dear phoenix. There is a statue with my name on it, and its call is louder and stronger than yours." With that, the girl turned and purposely strode past the phoenix and on to the statue that was hidden around the corner.

Harry felt his jaw hanging, and could see his expression mirrored by Ginny whose eyes were wide with amazement. Susan walked slowly up to the statue and gazed at it for a second before unflinchingly placing both of her hands onto the tablet before her.

Instantly she disappeared and Harry could hear from all over the maze, cries of disappointment as the other members were all transported back to the starting line. Shaking himself out of his daze, Harry poked Ginny lightly and they flew back to the assembled DA.

The four founders were already standing at the front dais that had been erected for the presentation while the other leaders were standing off to the side. Harry and Ginny landed the former looking out at the army that he had created with pride.

He announced, "I cannot tell you how pleased and proud I am by all of your efforts. I am not going to go into great detail, but know that the challenges you all faced, most full qualified adults would not have lasted a minute against. Yes, some of you were defeated, yes, some of you made mistakes that cost you dearly. But the most important thing is to learn from them!"

He breathed and smiled, "However, we do have a winner, who faced the most powerful and dangerous creatures that walk our earth with an unflinching determination to win. I give you Susan Bones! Winner of the DA Maze!"

The DA burst into applause, cheers causing birds in a nearby tree to flutter up in alarm. The seventh year, at Harry's beckoning, climbed up on the dias, her face quite red, though she was obviously very pleased with herself. Harry gave her a hug, "Congrats Susan, you have done yourself and your house proud. I think a certain founder wants to personally congratulate you as well. I want you to know that I would not have been able to overcome that last challenge. You strength of heart was staggering, and I am honoured to be your friend, not to mention having you as part of my army! You will receive your reward next Saturday, which will give Rowena and Godric enough time to make it perfect for you."

There were more cheers as Susan grinned and stepped down, Helga following her and talking to her quietly. Harry looked at the remainder of the DA, "I am not going to go into a lot of political feel-good waffle, but I will say this, while we could only have a single winner, you have all proven that you are ready for war. There will always be more things to learn, but I know that you can go into a battle now and I would not feel guilty for it, like I might be sending you to a hopeless death."

The surprised and grateful looks that were cast his way were enough to make him laugh, "What? You didn't seriously think I would send you off to war without checking to see if you were ready first? What did you think today was for?"

Jack Sloper gave a sheepish grin, "We though you were just seeing if we were paying attention during all of your training sessions."

Salazar burst out laughing, "Ah, the student's nightmare, tests!"

"Well, as much as I am sure we would all like to stay here indefinitely, we probably should head on back to Hogwarts. The illusions were only meant to last till 3pm and it is already 3:30pm." Godric spoke up, his eyes fixed on the clock on the castle wall.

Nodding in agreement, even as they moaned with disappointment, the DA made their way back into the castle and through the portal. Saying farewell to each other, they all split off into smaller groups, leaving the Room of Requirement and head out into the grounds.

Deciding to stay with the Gryffindors for a while, Harry and Ginny said farewell to the founders and wandered back up to the common room. Making themselves comfortable on the furniture, the DA members, from the youngest to the oldest, engaged themselves in some very excited conversations regarding their activities for the day.

Hermione cautioned them about their surroundings and who might hear them, so they started using the muffilato spell much to her chagrin. Harry sat back and grinned at her, "Come on, you can't still have a grudge against that spell now can you?"

She glared at him half-heartedly, "I can too! It isn't ministry authorised. I don't care how useful it is."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Please tell me you are joking."

Hermione looked insulted, "Of course I was joking! Couldn't you tell?"

Harry and Ginny shared a look but Ron came and rescued them, "Yes of course they could tell love, they were just playing along."

"Oh, well good then." Hermione huffed, her hand playing with a pretty bracelet on her wrist.

Ginny's eyes fixed themselves upon it, "That's very good workmanship Herm, where did you get it?"

Ron replied for her, his voice slightly sharp, "If you had been around on Christmas you would have known!"

Ginny winced, but Hermione butted in, "Enough Ron! I though we were passed this?" She turned to the red haired girl, "In answer to your question, Ron got it for me as a Christmas present."

Ron nodded, "Yeah, and Hermione got be a really nice cleaning set for my broomstick."

Ginny smiled, "Oh that's lovely you two! Its nice to see you can do more than argue, even if it is your favourite pastime."

Harry's face cracked into a wicked grin, "You know something Ginny?"

She raised an eyebrow, "I know many things Mr Potter. To what do you refer?"

"I am referring to a certain Christmas present that was never delivered." He replied, his eyes twinkling brightly.

She frowned, "What do you mean? You have me an absolutely perfect gift! Estelle has been a constant pleasure in my life."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not everything is about you my dear. I was talking about me!"

Realisation crashed down and her eyes widened dramatically, all colour draining from her face. Harry grinned, "Ah yes, the penny has dropped then."

Her hands went to her mouth, "Oh my gosh! Harry, I am so sorry! It-it completely slipped my mind! I mean, we spent all day in the box, and then dinner and then….Oh I am so sorry!" she looked ready to burst into tears.

Alarmed that she was taking it so personally, Harry gathered her into his arms, "Hush Gin, it's not that big a deal. I am not upset; I told you before that I didn't need anything. I only meant to tease you a little, not make you upset."

Ginny shook her head, "I don't care that you don't mind. I mind!" with that she pulled out her wand and cried "Vesto aresto prosenta!" There was a large crack and a small box appeared before them.

Hermione jumped slightly, "Ginny! You know that sort of spell isn't supposed to be used in areas where there are anti-apparation wards! You could set off an alarm!"

Ginny shrugged before handing the box quickly to Harry, "I am so sorry it took so long, but I hope you like it. It isn't anything fancy but it is practical."

He kissed her warmly, "Ginny, I am sure I will love it." He unwrapped it quickly and opened the box. Inside was a watch.

Though not just any watch, it was pure gold, with emeralds and diamonds inlaid into the metal work. The face was not like muggle watches where time was told, but more in likeness to the Weasley family watch. His own face as well as Ginny's stared back at him, all pointing to the 'home' point. There were several other hands that were empty and he pointed them out to her in confusion.

Ginny blushed bright red, something that was a rarity these days. She muttered something under her breath but Harry couldn't hear what she said. He waited for her to give him a straight answer and she sighed, "Those spare hands are for the rest of our family."

"Ok, that's fine, so why are you blushing? Did you not have a picture of your family members or something?" Harry asked.

Ginny shook her head, "No, you misunderstand. The hands are not for any family members that already exist." She replied delicately.

Hermione started to laugh, "Ginny, you little minx!"

Now Ron was looking just as confused as Harry, "What are you two on about?"

Hermione looked at the younger girl, "You are going to have to spell it out if you want him to understand."

Ginny nodded, "That is what I was afraid of." She looked at Harry before taking a deep breath and saying quickly, "The hands are for our children, should we have any."

Harry, who had been about to take a drink of some hot chocolate that Dobby had brought, jerked in surprise before coughing as the liquid went down the wrong way. His face flushed crimson and his face registered shock. However his face was nothing compared to Ron's whose dumbstruck expression was enough to send Hermione off into the giggles again.

Ron started to splutter, "Y-you're not? Y-you hav-haven't?...?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Don't be silly Ron, of course we haven't! Not yet anyway!"

"Ginny!" Harry yelped, somewhat afraid to find Ron's fist under his chin at any moment. He glanced at his best mate whose face was changing colour so quickly that he looked like a badly ripened apple.

Ginny sighed, "Look, the watch came with the extra hands; I didn't specifically put them on there."

Harry, realising that she was feeling quite unsure of herself, wrapped his arms back around her, "its fin Gin, I was just a little shocked. That wasn't what I was expecting. But it is a lovely watch, and I don't think I'm ever going to take it off." With that he took it out of the box and put it on his wrist, smiling happily at his girlfriend.

Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but at a look from Hermione he shut up. Some of the watching Gryffindors that had stopped their conversations to watch the show laughed lightly before turning back to their friends, once more rehashing their extremely enjoyable day.

Notes:

Abaia – Giant Eel - a legend of Fiji, a protector of all water creatures living near it.
Piasa – a winged, antlered feline from the Mississippi area
Colo Colo - Rat-bird hybrid that can shapeshift into a serpent from Chile
Indrik - Russian one horned horse bull hybrid