It looked somewhat silly when Ron had everyone gathered together in front of him like they were doing an actual-classroom-style lecture. Harry could tell he hated all the attention; if anything the reason he loved doing demonstrations so much was not just because he liked to be active and moving, but because he liked giving people something of a visual aid. It was something else to draw their attention, even if it was something he was doing.

"Why haven't we had this talk before?" Michael asked. There was some odd thing between him and the current speaker, something that had never quite gotten resolved, and perhaps it never would, even if it was long irrelevant.

"That's not a bad place to start, I reckon," Ron said, responding thoughtfully instead of snapping. Hermione, across from him, breathed a sigh of relief. He had started to gather that one of the primary things that girls seemed to fear about binding their reputations to someone else was the spiderweb of social implications that he had never once bothered to track. He understood, but he could not say he sympathized. Everyone knew his mate had a temper and was not always the most polite. "Basically, we're all quite chuffed that we've all made some progress with Occlumency, but having this talk had to happen after I was satisfied with how far we've come, and checking up on that landed on the back burner."

He said as much to avoid directly putting the blame on his not-quite-official girlfriend. Technically, she was the one who tested the strength of their mental shielding, but she had so many other responsibilities that it hardly even seemed fair to blame her for that not having happened much recently.

"So, now we're ready?"

"Most of us are. I'll get right into it. The second I got there- nothing really happened on the train- there was an announcement. They didn't even let us in the castle- and it was pouring- they had us all stand there and listen to this waffle about the new rules. It was like they decided that if we set foot in the school, then we'd be agreeing to the rules. Didn't really matter; I don't reckon anyone could've just gone home from there. We get inside, and they divide us up by year instead of House just so that we could hear this drivel about how this year, we're meant to be thinking about potential careers and setting up our prereqs for our N.E. ." He seemed to consider the speech for a moment. "That's pretty standard for sixth-years, but what was weird was they were treating us like we were all one class."

"If I may, most likely the point was to demonstrate their power over the school and its traditions," Susan said. "Going against ancient rule sets your expectations for the other changes that they intended to make."

"Right, so we go into what I'm sure was an old classroom and there were just conjured cots everywhere and we were expected to sleep there, all one class."

Immediately there were objections and Harry reminded everyone that they were not to interrupt, and that questions could be answered later. It was not as if they were children; it was the fact that they were the same age as the speaker, and were not accustomed to respecting his rank. The story went on.

"We get up in the morning and I swear by Merlin's saggy left bollock no one knew or cared that I'd left in the night. I can't say anything about that yet. The point is, the castle was locked down after hours and I couldn't even see anything without igniting my wand; they'd put out all the torches and they'd already said that being seen out of bed would get you sent straight to Azkaban, whenever they rebuilt it."

"It is back up and running," Susan said. Her input was considered relevant and allowed.

"Anyway, morning comes and I'd already been there longer than I'd meant. I had everything I needed in my school bag, so I wasn't thinking about that, and I could carry it around without any issue, but I get accosted in the corridor. You lot already know Malfoy wasn't there. It was a bunch of wankers I couldn't even identify. I couldn't string together three of them. One of them might have been the Creevey boy, but it doesn't really matter. They couldn't use magic in the corridor, or anywhere, really, so they just pushed me around a moment before leaving. I didn't reckon the teachers would be interested in hearing about it and I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I went to class and it was like they were having a bit of fun. They don't intend to teach us anything. There was no excuse. Some people got up and left."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"Well, I can't even guess at what they were going to do outside the classroom, but if they were at least as clever as I am, they figured out that it wasn't really important that they were there." He shrugged. It seemed everyone who noticed it was going to ignore the surprisingly subtle dig at his apparent rival of sorts and move on. "They were really just being detained. I went up to the library and they must've decided it was easier to just keep people out rather than burn all the books, because that's what they did. I was almost surprised Quidditch was allowed; it was actually mandatory. Either you were on the team or you had to watch. I decided that was my way out. They'd let me on because hardly anyone bothered, but then I wouldn't show up for the match, so all I had to do was keep a low profile until then."

"Was every other exit covered?" Neville asked. It seemed like he was having trouble letting go of the eventuality of an invasion.

"The place was surrounded, round the clock. I found that out shortly after I got there. I couldn't fly out, even if I'd brought my broomstick; the air was poisoned."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone said it was a curse from down in Panama, but I never learned if that was true or not. If you flew high enough, you died. There were no birds in the air, anywhere."

"How did Quidditch work then?" Michael asked, as if trying to catch him in a lie.

"I didn't stick around to find out. Don't give a damn."

It was such a direct refusal to go along with the objective of the inquisition Harry thought a fight might break out or something. On any other occasion Ron might have responded more combatively, but it was like he did not care what the challenger had to say at all. The other members looked around as if that would tell them what they were missing. Everyone else was looking at him to step in.

"I asked you to keep your questions until the end."

"Isn't that the end of the story?"

"Not really. There weren't any proper Aurors in the school. I reckon the point of all the rules was so that they wouldn't need any. The whole reason we were there was to be hostages for the Ministry. There's no way we could pass the tests that they used to set, and there was no way they didn't know that, so yeah, they didn't intend to have those tests because they didn't intend to teach us. Teaching us, even just basic potions and charms, was too much of a liability for the regime. It'd fall apart if there were enough young people like us. I didn't intend to speak to anyone when I was there and Dean actually came up to me and asked me if there was anything he could do. I told him just to get out and work on it from there."

"What did you do with the payload?" Neville asked. "You said you were carrying something, but when we found you-"

"I dug a hole and left it there. No one knew I stole it, so no one would know to look for it there, even if they knew I escaped there. That's part of why I had to get out."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. How could he have not gotten out? Originally, it seemed like he thought he could get it done without having to leave, so what had changed? Did he have to change the plan? Even as he thought of it, though, he wanted the thought process to stop. He was certain that he was picking at a scab that he was meant to leave alone, and yet, being so close to the truth, it irked him all the more that he did not know it.

"That's the part I can't say, mate, not until our Occlumency is a lot better."

It had been months since he had a dream, and yet, he could not convince himself that it was because Voldemort had given up on trying to get in his head, or that he had become so strong it was no longer possible. Most likely, his old enemy was waiting for him to be at his weakest, and then he would strike. Where would he be at the time, though? Hermione always made sure she was in a safe position while actively using Legilimency, though Snape seemed to be be able to do it just by pointing his wand.

"I imagine we're all a touch disappointed," Ernie said. Only just before the story time, he had delivered some surprising news that there were willing recruits. They had been asked to apparate to a separate location where the training camp was to be held, and they were under similar instructions as the main force. It was fortunate that the Ministry, at least in its current state, could not get people to work or die, because as long as basic charms had existed, witches and wizards had always been able to feed themselves with their wands. There were truly downtrodden people in the magical world, but mendicancy was quite rare.

"Does anyone have any other questions?" Ron asked. "Are we missing anyone?" The question in itself sounded somewhat patronizing, but it seemed like Daphne was not bothered, or she had something else in mind.

"Were there any other Slytherins who left outside of Malfoy's group?" she asked. "We killed five of them and took two prisoner. Was there anyone other than that missing?" Harry remembered that Ron, not part of the Apparation squad, had the chance to uncover the faces of each of the bodies.

"There was talk of a few names that weren't related to the dead. I'm sure Miss Parkinson would be able to tell you if she reached out to someone who didn't respond." Would it really be so simple, though? The prisoners had not said anything so far. Initially, they were just shell-shocked from having friends, or associates, at least, whom they had known from childhood, killed right in front of them, either by the curse directly or being stunned and then killed while unconscious with various charms. They had decided at some point that it was not terribly effective and besides that not terribly humane to use fire charms to kill people; they were more likely to run in a random direction after getting caught on fire. There were better ways to kill people and the particularly merciless never complained about not using the fire charm.

"Would any of them be useful?" Hermione asked, keeping her tone neutral. "Do you know if any of them would have any interest in making the kind of agreement we require?"

"I suppose I can see why you might think they would not," she said after a moment. "Those who would not have shown up and would not have appeared to any other group might well not want to be tied down to anyone. Perhaps I should not get anyone's hopes up, because some of those who did, likely went to the Death Eaters without our knowledge, and we are being too hasty in thinking there is still some availability in them. The Dark Lord offers some amount of certainty that even those who have spent years boasting in their independence may fear they need."

"What kind of certainty is that?" Ron asked.

"It's the knowledge that things can only get as bad as your own personal demise. With sheer magical power, he will force the world around him to bend to his will, and form there, his displeasure is your undoing. Little else frightens you."

No one said anything. Perhaps foreign powers could still present a threat, if they ever felt like it, and perhaps people would still have things stolen from them, but as long as their focus was constantly on Voldemort, they would be afraid of no one else. Was that how the enemy felt all the time? Did they want to feel like that, or at some point did they decide that they had no other choice?

He had wondered if the man who killed his parents really was the strongest in the world, and if he was, whether that lent any credence to his argument or whether it even mattered. It was true that he had always feared Dumbeldore, and perhaps he would even admit to that, but perhaps the way he would put it was just that the risk was not worth the reward. Even if he was the strongest around, though, was he the strongest in the world? If he was that, was he the strongest in the universe?

"They know you've escaped. Who's looking for you?" Harry asked, moving things along again.

"The school's not responsible for that. All the officials who were assigned there are meant to stay put."

"Theoretically, there should be an Auror assigned to his case, if it's at a high enough profile," Susan said. "Once upon a time, you two made the news for a Secrecy violation, so they should know about you."

"Right," he muttered, letting out something of a sigh. It was not a terrible honor, of course, that Hermione was in Witch Weekly and Harry never enjoyed the headlines about himself, but it was still impossible to enjoy the fact that the only time he had ever had his name mentioned was for a completely foolhardy mistake. In those days, the public still had a generally positive impression of him, so it would not be terribly surprising if it had been written to imply that the not-famous friend had been a bad influence. "Anyway, I s'pose you know more about that than I do. They don't investigate much of anything at the school."

"How are rule violations handled? Do they just kill you?" Michael asked.

"He already said that he tried to keep his head down," his not-so-secret love snapped. Her volume was not high, but the pitch was; she was making no secret about how annoyed she was about how many pointless questions came from one person. Generally, they did not have a lot of problems with him, and he was competent enough they could overlook a verbal shoulder-check, so fro him it was confusing more than anything else. The speaker himself, however, seemed unbothered.

"I only ever witnessed light punishments being handed out. I did not even hear about harsh penalties. The place was meant to be safe from outsiders; they really didn't care if you attacked another student, as long as you didn't demonstrate any magical skill." He sighed. "There was a kid screaming his lungs out down a corridor one day. It was a shame I couldn't do anything about that."

The payload that Ron mentioned earlier seemed to have been forgotten entirely. It was like everyone around was steadily feeling worse for him and a few people were even staring daggers at Michael. Ginny was near enough to him to whisper.

"I don't like this." That was the first thing she had said to him in the last day or so. "This could get..."

"I'll speak to him." He stood up in front of everyone. "If that's all the questions we have, then we'll end this session and get to work on training the recruits. Can't have them training themselves." Fortunately, most of them came with standard adult skills like apparation and more general knowledge, as well as a few things that came from job training. Harry had never really been asked to think about what kind of career he wanted after school, so he had no idea which of the trades and professions appealed to him, and as a result, he had never really looked into them. It seemed like such a small thing next to the fate of the world.

Already, Neville and Ernie went off to see the recruits, along with Hannah and Luna, who had volunteered their skills for different reasons. Other members practiced on various areas where they were lacking, and he caught Ron overseeing a combat simulation- even if they gave the best possible orders, everyone with a wand needed to be able to think on his or her feet.

"It's pretty swell you didn't let Michael get to you," he said. His friend's movements were jerky as he cast the human reveal charm as a way of charting the simulation's progress.

"Can't take too much credit. I thought he was only embarrassing himself." As someone who had prepared a lot of speeches and apparently off-the-cuff remarks, he knew one when he saw it. He frowned, though Ron was not looking at him. "I thought if I let him go on a bit, then he'd only look more ridiculous."

"It's like you've been getting on with Blaise."

"He's not bad. He's- you can tell from his upbringing that he'd turn out like he did, but it's not like he's entirely dishonest."

That was probably the main reason any Gryffindor hated any given Slytherin. They characterized constant lying as tact and social skills, but it really only made them less trustworthy. It was a wonder if they even believed themselves. Other students could pretend to think everyone was the same, if that was the ideology they were meant to follow, but no one really trusted them, and with that, all the trickery they could ever try to apply was futile unless they brought evidence into the picture, and if they were going to do that, there was no sense in building up any personal credit.

"I heard someone express concern," he started, shifting the discussion. "-that you were just egging him on and making conflict more likely."

"If there's a conflict, that's fine," he said. "If he wants to say something to my face, then he can, and he can do it in front of everyone. I don't have a problem with conflict."

"Well, sure, and it's probably best to have it out rather than what's going on right now, but if he keeps avoiding direct confrontation, camps are going to form."

"That's on him. Do you want me to go challenge him to a duel or something?"

"Just talk to him. You have a higher rank; that makes you the responsible one. You can ask him what his problem is; it doesn't have to be in front of anyone- if he avoids the question or doesn't cooperate, that's fine. We've done all we really can. I don't think anyone else is talking to him, but it probably won't help if-"

"I get it. I was going to do it myself, whatever happened. I don't exactly like having other people stand up for me."

"Sure. It's not just you, though. I think Hermione was standing up for the DA and the order of our meetings. I- I mean, I don't really know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but you weren't reacting to the provocation, so she might have thought there was something wrong. I don't think it's fair to say she was standing up for you."

"Fine," Ron said. He was still annoyed, but he was still not responding with any of his standard body language. "I just want you to know that you're not the only one who's changed in this war."