A/N- Hey guys, I am really over whelmed that so many people have favorited and followed this story. I hope it will keep you all interested till the end. I do not intend to this story through the 7th year but the final show down will happen somewhere in the middle of 6th year or at the end of it. I am trying to give distinct identity to every character but if you do not like it, please let me know. I will try to make it more interesting. This chapter is more like filler in the story before we go with Harry aboard the Marichika. I hope we will have lots of fun while he is trying to get him ready to achieve his destiny.

This chapter has been edited by my muse Hypergym.

Disclaimer- I wish I owned Harry Potter and if not him then at least Susan and Daphne but I do not. JKR owns Harry Potter.

Bones Manor

Amelia Bones had a tiring day. When she left the Port of London, she was called into the Auror Office by Gawain Robards who was quite insistent. If it had been any other auror, she would have delegated one of her subordinates to look into the matter, but; this was the auror she had assigned to track the Dursleys. Another team was gathering evidence and recording statements from the neighbours near the muggles former home. While they were not able to say much, because they had seen very little of Harry over the years, their stories were remarkably consistent. They stated that Harry was mostly kept at home and indoors. What glimpses they did get of him showed that he never had clothes that fit, he was pale and underfed. There were far too many times that they heard him crying or shouting in pain. A few years ago, he had gone off to some boarding school and they did not see or hear much of him after that.

Then one of the aurors encountered Mrs. Figg, the cat obsessed neighbour who looked after Harry whenever the muggles went off to do something fun. Her investigators Hammer and Daily knocked on the door gently. When Arabella Figg opened the door, Daily flashed his badge to her, "Hello Ma'am we with Law Enforcement."

Arabella smiled at them brightly, "No, you are not. You are Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. I can see the wands sheathed in your sleeves and I know that there are at least two more Aurors at #4 Privet Drive."

Daily's mouth dropped open in surprise, "Are you a witch? We Don't have any record of a witch or wizard, other than Harry Potter, living in the area."

She scowled at them, "I am not a witch but a squib. The ministry and the houses aren't so fussed about keeping track of us are they? I mean, once they discover that we are not blessed with the abundant gifts of mother magic, they send us off to live as muggles and take no more trouble about us. So, it's not too surprising that you have no record of me living here is it?"

Hammer raised her hands in surrender, "I know what you mean, Mrs. Figg. I am a half blood. My mother who was a pureblood was disowned for marrying a muggle-born. My partner, Daily here is a muggle-born. We are not the people who deserve your anger."

Arabella shrugged, "I'm not angry anymore. My own family abandoned me 40 years ago and never troubled to find out what became of me. There are almost none of them left anyway. "

Daily asked her, "If you would not consider it too much of an intrusion, would you tell me which family you come from?"

Before Figg could answer, Hammer interrupted, "You are a daughter of the Montrose family, aren't you? The second born child and only daughter to be born in the Montrose Family in about a century and declared dead around her 12th birthday. I distinctly remember my mother telling how Lady Montrose had wasted away in sorrow for her daughter. Their son had joined You-know-who and was killed by Alastor Moody in the first war. Moody told me that the boy was magically very weak and all he had been able to do was fire a bone breaker which Moody batted aside and peppered the boy with a chain spell of 'Reducto- Confringo- Bombarda'. He said that the duel hardly lasted for 5 seconds. Now the Lord Montrose is the only one alive and advancing in age. I would give him only a couple more years."

Later Arabella had given them a vast and detailed account of the life of Harry Potter with the muggles. They recorded the entire interview with steadily increasing distaste and horror at the treatment Harry had endured at the hands of the muggles. Daily was thankful that the muggles had left Privet Drive or she would have cursed them beyond all recognition with all the hexes and jinxes that she knew.

Amelia had received their reports and ordered Robards to move in to apprehend the muggles this morning. While the son was easily found with the sister of Vernon Dursley and was taken into custody, Vernon and Petunia were missing.

Robards had failed to track the muggles then she asked Remus for the tracking device. Using the device, they were located on a rock, some distance out to sea. While she was seeing Harry off at the port of London, Roberts went to the shack on the rock to arrest the Dursleys. He was just reporting in now. Very tired, Amelia entered her office and sent a paper plane to Robards. Within a few minutes, he strode through her office door and stood at-ease before her desk.

Sitting alertly and looking determined, she asked, "What is the report Gawain? Did you get the muggles?"

Robards hesitated for a second before starting to speak, "Ma'am we apprehended them all right and brought them in, but; someone else got there first."

"What do you mean?", She asked, annoyed, "I have had a tiring day, Robards and I am not in a mood for riddles."

"Ma'am when we entered the cottage, we found Vernon Dursley slumped on the floor of the cottage, whimpering and babbling in pain saying that his body was burning, his bones were broken and his blood was clotted. A few diagnostic spells revealed that there was not much physically wrong with him, but; he was suffering the after effects of a series of rather nasty dark spells. Whatever they were, he believed that he had suffered all the torture he described and was still feeling the effects. He did have a few broken bones and his ribs were badly bruised, but that was all. We took him to St. Mungo's where he is under observation now. We found Petunia in a worse state than him. She looked like someone had viciously broken her bones and we discovered liberal use of some mind altering spells. She was taken to St. Mungo's where the Healers said that the torturer knew what he was doing because the amount of pain he inflicted on her was enough to keep her in bed for a month or so but will not kill her or permanently incapacitate her. There was a letter recovered from her person which said that she was being paid her comeuppance for her actions towards Harry Potter and that he will return for her again when she is cured."

Amelia shuddered picturing what had been done to the Dursleys. She was sure this was not the work of death eaters. They would have killed them outright. This was someone who wanted vengeance against the Dursleys for what they had done to Harry Potter. May be, someone from the Order but she could not say who. May be Albus can find out later. She was not sure what she would do under the same circumstances. She decided that she was not going to try too hard to find out who had done this. She instructed Gawain to take care of that part of the investigation and to keep the muggles under guard until they were well enough to be tried for child abuse.

She had just returned to her manor, when Susan, very excited, came barrelling up to her and embraced her tightly.

Smiling, Amelia ruffled her hair, "Calm down Susie. What are you excited about? Did the thoughts of a messy raven haired, green eyed Gryffindor excite you that much?"

Susan blushed and squeaked, "'Auntie!".

After some time, Susan asked her, "Is he gone, auntie?"

She smiled at Susan sadly, "Yes Susie. He has gone to learn magics we do not have access to. It is his destiny. But don't be sad. I have it firmly etched into his mind that the moment he returns, he has to visit you or face the consequences."

Susan, who was still blushing, scowled at her, "Auntie, I did not ask you to threaten my betrothed. You should not have given fright to the poor guy. If you threaten him like this, he might be scared of you."

Amelia laughed at her, "He is Harry Potter, Susie. He does not fear anyone. It will do him some good to know that there is a witch who can intimidate him."

Seeing no response but a pink blush on her cheeks, Amelia continued, "Susie, we all will be fighting a war soon and I know how bloody wars can get but remember that is no excuse to stop living. There is no guarantee that we all will escape the war unscathed. People will die and we will not be able to do anything about it. We both know that Harry Potter will lead us in the war but you will need to stand with him, holding him and supporting him."

Susan nodded her head, "I know Auntie."

Amelia whipped out her wand and shot a stinging hex at her, "However that will not stop me from hexing you at every available moment if you forget to live your life. The war will not last forever and I would be angry if you forgot to live."

Susan nodded and then said, "So where did Harry go, Auntie? You never told me."

"Susan, this is being kept a secret for the time being. The man that he went with is virtually unknown to anyone. The only one who perhaps knows him is Albus Dumbledore however I am not even sure if Albus knows him", Amelia said frustrated, "the only thing that I know is that he belongs to some sort of order and comes from India. The Indians have a very rich heritage of magic and they do not have the same restrictions over magic like we do. They use magic without inhibitions of light or dark. Whatever they teach Harry Potter will definitely not be stunning spells or bone breaker curses. He will be learning magic which can kill hundreds in one go. Magic that we have forgotten or we are not able to perform anymore. Today I saw one of their accomplishments, a ship."

"A ship? How can a ship be so special, Auntie?", asked Susan sceptically.

"The ship named Marichika is special. I have found references to that ship in old secret archives of the ministry and those records go back to the times when House of Longbottom was not even established. They have always appeared throughout the course of our history in Britain and have been instrumental in several of our wars", said Amelia, "the ship itself is absolutely amazing. It has wardstones the size of boulders and is propelled magically with no mechanism whatsoever. The most incredible thing is that it can fly."

Susan was amazed. "I still cannot believe that you refused to take me with you.", she pouted, "I would have liked to see the ship."

Amelia smiled at her, "Would you have been looking at the ship, or a certain raven haired wizard that you fancy?"

"Auntie!", she squeaked in protest but did not say anything knowing that anything she said would not make any difference.

"Now Susie, you are to start your training soon.", said Amelia, "Are you ready for the trainers?".

"Who will be the trainers?", she asked interested.

"This is an idea which has been bouncing around since the third task. You see, I do not often agree with the head master, but; he proposed that people close to Harry Potter need to be ready.", she explained, "He has a knack for attracting trouble like honey attracts flies and he thought that it would be wiser if we trained the younger children to hold their own. Nothing fancy, mind you, but enough to get them through any tight spots they might find themselves in. To that end, Susie, I have fetched the family Grimoire for you and you will start learning what you can from it. I will make time for you to oversee your training when I am able. Needless to say, this part of your training must remain secret."

Susan nodded, "Who will I be training with and who will be our teacher?"

"Professors McGonagall, Filius Flitwick and Remus Lupin have agreed to train you all", she said, "And Alastor Moody has assured me that he will make sure that you all are in top form by the time you are done with training."

"Who are the others and where will we train?", asked Susan curiously.

"The Weasley children, you, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger have been proposed initially but with time, they may bring others into the fold. The training will take place four hours a day and thrice a week. The training place is kept under the Fidelius Charm and Dumbledore is the secret keeper", she said, "The training will commence the day after tomorrow and will continue for four weeks. In that time, you will learn how to apply what you have been learning these last four years in combat. After all, you can't expect that knowing how to turn a match into a needle will help you much in a fight."

Susan nodded knowing that this was going to be an opportunity for her to know others who were a part of Harry's life and will be a part of her life when they eventually married.

"Mistress Susie.", her attention was taken by her elf Tweaky, "this being in your trunk. The buggy is restless."

"Buggy?' Susan tried to think what the elf was talking about until she saw the jar that Hermione had given her. There was a bug in the jar, "Oh, she is not a bug, Tweaky."

Taking the jar from the elf, she pompously presented the jar to Amelia, "Auntie, allow me to present you my new pet, Rita Skeeter."

Amelia who was drinking a butter beer, choked on it, "Rita Skeeter! Susie, your sense of humor is simply awful."

Susan grinned maniacally at her, "Auntie, this bug is an unregistered animagus. A nefarious witch who goes by the name of Rita Skeeter.".

Amelia almost snatched the jar from her. Casting a stunning spell she opened the jar and forced the beetle into her original form. Seeing the infamous witch stunned in her manor, she smirked maliciously. This was a perfect opportunity for her to exact vengence for the many things that she had done to all of them.

"How did you capture her, Susie?", asked Amelia, curiously.

Susie related in detail how Hermione Granger had figured out what was going on and had captured her on the window sill of the hospital wing when Harry was brought there after the third task.

Susan knew that Rita will not be having a good time in Azkaban where she will be staying for a minimum sentence of 12 years, the official punishment for being an unregistered animagus. Add the punishment for leaking secret information she had accessed through the years by using her illegal form, Amelia could not see Skeeter getting out anytime soon.

The wretch would get her day in court soon enough, but; for now, Amelia had other uses for her. Calling her elf, she ordered Skeeter to be imprisoned in one of the dungeons which had anti-animagus, anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.

Black Townhouse

Molly Weasley was worried. The war had not even started and everyone was gearing up for it. If she had her way, she would have kept the children away from the war. It was not their duty to fight the war but as Dumbledore pointed out, Harry Potter was the lynchpin to this war. Everybody would either ally themselves against Harry Potter or they will fight under his banner. When Dumbledore had proposed training for the children and included her children into it, she had put her foot down and sternly refused. While she was not Hermione's mother, she felt that she could speak for her knowing what was best for her, but; then Dumbledore pulled out a letter which gave her parents' permission for her participation in the training program. In fact, Hermione Granger had quit her vacations for this and was arriving this evening to Grimmauld Place.

The twins had fought against her decision and nothing she said had convinced them. Arthur had not helped matters either by saying that they were of age and free to make their choices. Nobody understood that she was worried for their innocence. War took people's innocence away.

Last evening, Harry Potter had left for goodness knows where. Till recently she had thought that he would always listen to her but he had outright refused her every time she tried to dissuade him. He had gently but firmly told her he loved her like he would love his favourite aunt but she was not his mother. She remembered when he had recounted his experience of limbo while he was in the hospital wing. He had told everyone what his family had advised him to do.

At last, she was left with only Ronald and Ginevra whom she could stop from joining the training but Arthur had pointed out to her that they were not going to make killers of them but only teach them to defend themselves. As they had no decent teachers in their years of education other than Remus, it was only right that they learn at least some of the basic things like stunning, shielding etc. Molly herself had attended Duelling classes during her time at Hogwarts and knew a fair bit about it but those classes had been abolished after the Duelling instructor had turned out to be a 'death eater' and there had not been any decent teachers for DADA for years. It was a miracle that the students managed to get their OWLs and NEWTs. She still remembered Percy telling her and Arthur how grateful he was that Remus was teaching at Hogwarts in his NEWTs year and he was the reason that he got an E in his DADA NEWT. The argument that the training was only for self defense and this would help them in their studies had convinced her to agree reluctantly.

Sirius Black was feeling morose since Harry Potter left for India but he felt some comfort knowing that his godson will come back armed with knowledge to defeat that monster. This was important for them to start preparing for the war which was almost at the door. The spies of the order had not found anything substantial but they were keeping vigil over everything that was happening in the magical world. Voldemort and his followers were not yet in the open but they were approaching people, trying to recruit them and it was starting to be the same as the last war. If Voldemort did not come out in the open soon then it would be too late for the magical world to know of the danger it was in. It was a great blessing that they had Amelia Bones on their side in the war and she was preparing the Aurors. Any problems that she was facing due to Fudge being a fool would vanish by the time Harry Potter returned and took his rightful place on the Wizengamot. Amelia had taken it upon her to revive the Grand Alliance and together, they would be able to make a difference.

Harry Potter had left last evening and since then Sirius had been staying in his room partly out of the longing and pain he felt for his son and partly because the Weasley miscreants had taken it upon themselves to make him the victim of their next prank. Molly Weasley had taken them to task for causing so much trouble, but; they were undeterred. So far, they did not target Remus thinking that Sirius was an easy target. What they had failed to take into account was that Sirius was always the one who executed the pranks with James during their time at Hogwarts. Till the time Harry returned, Sirius could enjoy pranking the hell out of everyone. He had a reputation to live up to.

For the time being, his recuperation had been going very well. His health had been reaching its former state but his skills were rusty. It had been years since he had fought a proper duel. To be at the side of his godson, he would need to be at the peak of his health and skills. While he had heard about the training program, he had not given it much thought considering it was for children but on introspection, he thought that he could do with some training to help him to get into shape before anything else. So, he had hounded Dumbledore and pestered McGonagall until they caved in and allowed him to be a part of the training. He knew that he would not need to train with them all the time but since he owned the training facility, he decided to do something he had never thought he would. Sneaking to Diagon Alley, he had went to his family vault and brought the family Grimoire. While the family magic did not accept him as Lord of Black, he had no problem using it. He had decided that when others were not using the training facility, he would learn his family magic and to that end, he had asked Winky to be ready whenever he needed her to take him there.

Moony had agreed that he would help bring him to the top of his form. He also proposed to make Nymphadora a part of the family training but Sirius was a little reluctant knowing that she was firmly entrenched in light and would not use Black family magic unless situations were pretty dire. Also, he would have to ask Andromeda if she agreed with the proposition. Knowing Andromeda, she would protest the decision with all fervor. So he decided to tackle that issue when the Lord of Black returns.

He had wanted to go and escort Harry to the Port of London but Dumbledore had cautioned against it and therefore, when Moony had returned he immediately had hounded him to describe everything. He was fascinated with the description of the ship and everything that Dumbledore had told them while ranting about the ship like a child.

Sirius desperately hoped that Amelia would be able to secure him a trial sooner than later because he wanted to go out and do things for the order. Moony had been going on scouting missions for the order and was taking stock of the loyalty of werewolves. They were an important factor in the war and the larger their number, the more they would augment the monster's forces. Not all of them infected with lycanthropy were evil but the way wizarding society scorned them and the way they were ostracized by the ministry with the draconian laws did not give them any options really. Those laws were written during the first war by an obscure witch who was now Undersecretary to Fudge. If they had to keep the werewolves on their side or at least neutral, they would need to offer them a better deal than Voldemort would.

Amelia had swung by the headquarters a couple of times and she had told how hard it was to weed the ministry of Voldemort's loyalists but she had been achieving some headway in that direction. She had asked for assistance from several department heads she knew would oppose Voldemort if they knew he was back and told them to just push Voldemort sympathisers to menial positions in their department and keep stern watch over them. She had shared with them that she does not know if Harry Potter and Dumbledore were speaking the truth but they needed to keep the fanatics in check because some reports she had been receiving pointed towards another rising of a dark lord and the ministry was ill equipped to deal with any such conditions. If things turned for the worse, they needed the ministry to be in a position to have a swift response ready for those conditions.

Green Hues

Neville Longbottom was simply having the best time of his life. He was happy with knowing his parents and talking to them. Augusta had forbidden them to talk about the wizarding world or things that had happened since they had been admitted to St. Mungo's and Neville was happy talking to them about their time at Hogwarts. He noticed that his father had too many stories about his time at Hogwarts and they often featured Marauders in them with a lot of people who had died in the first war. Frank would often get quiet while he was speaking and look in the distance perhaps thinking of all the time that had gone by and all the people that he had lost.

The day after he woke up from his long slumber, he asked for his wand.

Neville was surprised that he wanted to hold a wand and feel its warmth and comfort. He wanted to feel the exhilaration of his magic coursing through his veins again. He missed using his wand and seeing his magic work wonders. Frank described magic to him so fondly as if it was a sentient being.

-FLASH BACK STARTS-

As Healer Lynn had come to Longbottom Castle that day, Frank had repeated his demands while Alice merely shrugged. She knew that Frank could be stubborn as a mule and that was one of his most endearing traits for her. She had once tried to dissuade Frank from asking for a wand the previous evening but he had been adamant about it. When she asked why he was insistent about it, he told her that he did not want to feel helpless again. He told her that he had a feeling that things were not good in the wizarding world right now and he wanted to be ready for whatever may come.

So when Healer Lynn had tried to dissuade him from using his wand, he had ordered her to leave. She was a healer and she did not like her patients to order her around and so, she had put her foot down. But when he continued being obstinate, she had no option but to floo call Augusta to bring Frank and Alice's wand with her. While Neville and Augusta flooed to Longbottom Castle, Healer Lynn had transfigured two squishy and comfortable chairs in the master bedroom where they were sitting, looking every bit the lord and lady that they were.

Neville had his father's wand held across the palms of both hands and he adopted the old way and presented it to Frank on one knee with his palms extended in front of him, "Your wand, my lord."

Frank scowled at him, "Neville, you are my son. I will not have you prostrating yourself in front of me."

Neville simply smiled at his father, "I will remember that, father. Now, here is your wand, polished and shining, as you prefer it. Gran mentioned that you never could tolerate a speck of dirt on your wand. It is a pity that I failed to take care of it as you do."

"Take care of it as I do?", asked Frank, "Were you using my wand? How can you use my wand?"

It was Augusta who answered, "It was my fault, son. When Neville got his Hogwarts letter, I gave him your wand. I had no hope that you would ever be cured so I thought maybe he could connect with you through using your wand. I did not realise my folly till recently and it was thought that he was an inept wizard. It was only at the end of Neville's fourth year that Mr. Harsh Vardhana pointed out to Neville that he was not weak but he was using a wand which had not chosen him. He also gifted a family wand to your son, though I do not recall any such wand missing from the family lore."

Frank wanted to rage at his mother but her tear streaked face and the guilt in her voice convinced him that there was nothing worse that he could do not that he had the heart to do anything as such.

Alice, in an attempt to dispel the frostiness of the situation, said to Neville with amusement in her voice, "What became of my wand, son? Did you not want to feel connected to me? I am sure it would have suited you well enough."

Augusta turned to her with sorrow in her voice, "Your wand did not survive that ordeal Alice. When we reached Green Hues, you and Frank were on the verge of insanity, the Aurors were there subduing the death eaters and Bellatrix was cackling like a mad woman, holding up the snapped pieces of your wand."

Alice was sad hearing the news of her wand being destroyed but there was nothing she could do about it. "I guess I will have to buy a new one from Ollivanders. Is he still around?"

Neville smiled at her, "Yes, he is still in Diagon Alley, mother. I went to see him recently and he asked me if I needed a wand. I told him that I am using a family wand."

Frank was intrigued by the tale of this wand, "What wand is this, Neville? Do you have it on you?"

Neville presented his wand to Frank who handled it carefully, his fingers touching the Longbottom motif and caressing it lovingly, "This is not an ordinary wand. This almost seems like a mythical wand. Did he tell you whom this wand belonged to or anything about the wood and the core?"

Neville who was watching his father intently nodded, "It was Harsh Vardhana who gave me this wand with a strict instruction to not to let many people know that I have it and especially not to show it to the wand maker. He implied that I may not get it back if I did. Harsh also said that this wand belonged to Lord Harfang Longbottom who was given this wand as a gift from a wand maker. He said that the wood came from some 'grove of Dodona' and the core was feather of a magical owl species, Pravirkarna."

Frank's eyes widened in surprise at Neville's words, "The wand of Harfang Longbottom! This is the wand that won him such renown."

Now, Neville was intrigued, "what is his tale, father?"

Frank smiled at his son and then for some reason gave a victorious smirk to Alice, 'Harfang Longbottom was our ancestor, my great grandfather as I remember. After graduating from Hogwarts, he went on a world tour, as was the custom. At that time, there were some Dark Lords running around in Rome terrorising that city and the region about it. The resistance that was being offered to them was minimal. One day while Harfang was touring the country side, he ran into some of them while they were out to kill a wand maker's family. Harfang was well versed in our family magic and he annihilated all of them. In gratitude, the wand maker made this wand for him. This is one of the most powerful wands ever made. Later Harfang gained his reputation as a warrior. In the later part of his life, he was engaged in another war with a dark lord, aiding several allies when he was killed in war. His body was sent back but this wand went missing. I wonder how Harsh Vardhana got this. If this suits you my son, bear it with pride".

-FLASH BACK END-

Today, Neville was supposed to go on training with the Weasley's and Granger. His grandmother had agreed to it when Dumbledore had paid a visit to them two nights ago. He was supposed to wait for an elf who would come and take him to the training site. He wondered what he would be learning and who he will meet. His Gran had strictly warned him not to say anything about his parents. She said that she wanted to shock the wizarding world and he found that he liked her sense of humour.

He was brought out of his reverie with a 'crack' as the house elf Dobby appeared before him, "Dobby be taking yous to Master's dogfather."

Neville knew the elf of course. At the start of 4th year, Susan had approached him after the infernal goblet had spewed Harry's name. He waited for Harry to return to the dorms so that he could tell him that he believed him. But damn that icon of jealousy, Ron Weasley who had caused such a ruckus in the dorms that night that Harry could not talk to him. The next day, Susan had cornered him after herbology and asked for some of his time. In an unused classroom, after raising some privacy wards, she had told him that Harry was her betrothed and she needed his help. When Neville asked her why she did not tell Harry, she merely shrugged and said that she approached him a lot of times but Ronald Weasley had stopped her every time. Since that day, Neville met Susan in secret and they did everything they could to help Harry Potter. They had heard about the house elf Dobby and with the help of Tweaky, they found him and used him to help Harry Potter.

As Harry was looking for a date before the Yule Ball, Susan had wanted to approach him but every time she tried to do so, Harry was never alone and her opportunity was missed. When Neville told her that Harry had asked Parvati Patil, Susan had felt her heart break and she did not go to the Yule ball with anyone.

Before the second task, Neville heard the trio in the library going over the clue of the egg and knew that they were looking for a way to stay underwater. Neville knew the answer was Gillyweed and he waited for Harry to ask him but when he didn't they sought Dobby before the second task and told him to borrow some Gillyweed from Snape's personal stores. Since then Dobby held him in high regard.

"Master Neville," the elf's voice brought him out of his musings, "Yous be ready to go?"

Neville nodded and the elf passed him a piece of parchment, "yous be reading this."

Neville read the parchment, "The training facility for the members of Harrys' circle can be found at the cottage on the hill, Hogsmead."

Neville understood that he was just told a fidelius secret. The elf grabbed his hand and disappeared.

Cottage on the hill, Hogsmead

Neville appeared at the foot of a low hill which he knew was in Hogsmead. What was missing was a cottage which was present on it. Thinking of the fidelius secret, the cottage appeared. Then Remus Lupin appeared beside him out of thin air, "Mr. Longbottom, this is your first test, sort of an initiation ceremony. You have ten minutes to reach the cottage. You may use any spells you have learned in school in the last four years."

With that the werewolf disappeared and Neville took out his wand clasping it firmly and trekked up towards the hill. As soon as he set his first foot forward, he felt like something had grabbed his leg. Looking down, he saw a coil of rope was wrapped around his legs and was proceeding towards his torso. He cast a finite at the ropes and they fell to the ground inert. He resumed his trek and immediately noticed that it was getting cold fast. Checking around for dementors, he found none. He realised the ground around him was freezing perhaps the result of a glacius charm. Putting his wand arm out, he chanted 'incendio' and the snow around him started melting away. Knowing that he would not make any headway if he continued to tackle little obstacles like this, he started running uphill. Suddenly a big boulder fell in his way and while running he transfigured it into a wooden branch which he knocked aside with his shoulders. As he was nearing mid way, the ground beneath his feet opened up and he fell in, locked in a closet. He tried to yank the doors open but they did not budge. Taking a deep breath, he used an 'Alohomora' on the door but it did not open. He racked his brains and remembered one of the advanced unlocking charms he had learnt from a charms book in the library. Waving his wand in the required motion he cast the charm and the door opened outwards. Climbing outwards, he resumed his trek to the cottage when a dog came running towards him, fangs bared. Neville recognised the dog; hell he had even played with it only to be told that the dog was famous mass murderer Sirius Black. Grinning he stooped to pet the dog, only for it to growl at him ferociously. Scrambling to his feet, he pointed his wand at the dog and stunned it without another thought and continued. Lastly, he found a boggart standing in his way which morphed into Snape a second later. Sneering the boggart strode towards Neville with a menacing expression when Neville pointed his wand towards it calmly, "Riddikulus" and Snape was replaced by a Snape in his grandmother's clothes complete with the vulture stuffed hat. As he moved past the boggart, there stood Remus Lupin, his wand pointed at him. Before Neville could do anything, Remus had shot a spell at him and instinctively Neville whipped his wand and formed a shield before the spell hit him. In the matter of a few seconds, he was inside the cottage where Susan was beaming at him and Professors McGonagall and Flitwick looked at him proudly.

"Hi Neville", Susan greeted him jovially. "You cleared the gauntlet in half the time that I took,." she pouted, "I thought the ropes were Devil's Snare and tried to use sunlight on them and it cost me sometime before I realised someone had conjured those ropes. Then I was assaulted with Glacius and I set about using incendio maxima to melt all the snow not realising that it was being replenished. I really freaked out when the boulder fell and it took me minutes to realise that I had to transfigure it after I tried to side step it and it kept moving to block my way. When I fell in the closet, I could not open the door and I was so panicked that I forgot all unlocking charms. Since I could not recall the unlocking charms, I used a reducto and blasted the doors open. When the dog attacked me, I used incarcerous on it and then the boggart became the dark mark. I was so scared but then I remembered what Professor Lupin had taught us and banished the boggart when Professor Lupin used a disarming jinx on me. I lost my wand but before he could use another hex I was inside the cottage."

By the time Susan finished her account, Neville was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. A few moments later Remus joined them.

He did not say anything but he had mirth in his eyes, "Ms. Bones, your performance was sub-par but you did what we intended you to do. You entered the cottage as we had set the task to be. If any of you fails to enter however, we will not hold it against you. It will only mean that we are going to make you work harder. Now let us see, how the others do."

After 15 minutes, a haggard looking Hermione entered her eyes puffy, her hair even more tangled than usual. Seeing both she gave a small half smile, "How did you both do? I bet I failed at some of the tasks. As soon as I started, there were ropes which were grabbing my feet and I untied the knots with my hands, then in the snow, I used a warming charm on me but I did not walk fast enough and about froze. My warming charms were not good enough. When I saw the boulder I tried to go around it but it kept moving in my way so I used a reductor on it and that barely scratched it. Finally I tried transfiguring it and changed it into a small pebble. When I fell into the closet I used the unlocking charm twice before realising that I needed to use a different charm. With that, I was able to leave. The boggart faced me and I lost it there. The boggart took Professor McGonagal's shape and started telling me that I had failed everything and I freaked out there before realising that we had our exams and results were out already and then I realised it was a boggart I was facing. So passing the boggart, I faced the dog and I was sure I can pet the dog and move ahead but I had to reluctantly stun him and then Remus disarmed me before I could do anything. Then I had to wrestle him to get my wand back before I moved inside." She huffed in annoyance crossing her arms across her chest making Neville and Susan laugh and when she scowled at them, they started laughing uproariously.

Raising his hands, Neville pacified her, "Don't get angry Hermione, we are not laughing at you. We had to reach the insideof the cottage too. Only we did not have to do as much as you. Now let's wait for others."

Ronald Weasley came after 30 minutes. He looked like he had been through the mill quite viciously. When Hermione asked what he did, he grumbled, "I had to hop someway in the ropes before I remembered to cast a 'finite' and then there was snow. I ran all the way until I ran into the boulder and managed to save my face. When I found that I could not climb over the boulder, I reduced it to dust with an over powered hex and before it could grow again, I ran away. I fell into the closet, I stopped it from closing by putting a foot into the door and then as I stepped out from it, I was hit with debris. Then the boggart turned into an acromantula but I had practice with that one. Then I saw Sirius who was going to attack me and I ran from him and ran into Remus's wand who banished me towards the door and I got up and ran inside."

As he finished, everyone was howling with laughter and Ron's face was flushed red with embarrassment but now that he thought about it, he too started laughing.

About 20 minutes later, the twins entered into the room laughing. One of them was sporting an antler on his head, the other had hair all over his body and they were dressed like clowns.

Neville hesitantly asked, "Umm mate, how did it go with you both?"

"Neville mate, how are you?", said Gred or was it Forge.

"We had our fun on the trek", added the other.

Hermione put her hands on her hip and huffed, "Exactly how did you do?"

"One of us used finite on the ropes", said Gred

"Then we stunned hiding Professor Flitwick who was using the Glacius", added Forge, "but not before he gave us antlers."

They started taking turns to narrate, "Then we met the boulder and Professor McGonagall who transfigured Gred into a Weasel before I diverted her attention and
taking the Weasel I ran and when we were out of her range, I dispelled the transfiguration, returning him to his form. Then one of us fell into the closet and the other had to face the debris that came our way. After it had stopped raining debris, the one outside rescued the one inside and then we had to face the boggart who changed into us but before it could do anything we banished it with Riddikulus. Then the Marauders banded together against us and after a brief prank war during which they changed our hair, altered our appearances, gave us hoofs, we finally got some sense knocked into our heads and we ran inside."

The others were amused by the twins experiences and the twins had been better than most of them if not the best. Ron asked finally, "where are the teachers?"

Hermione pointed at the door and replied, "Ron, Ginny is still to come through that door."

They waited for about 40 minutes but there was no sign of Ginny yet. Then they heard spell fire being exchanged outside the cottage. As they rushed outside, they saw Ginny furiously firing hexes at the marauders however most of her hexes were being parried by them, while the rest were being deflected. Sirius laughed at her and anger her even more. After 5 minutes, Remus finally had enough and as Ginny was turned to Sirius, he stunned her quickly and bound her with an incarcerous hex.

After 10 minutes, they were sitting at a table with McGonagall sitting at the head. She scrutinised each of them critically before beginning, "This initiation was done to assess your quick thinking, your capabilities, your ability to perceive and your reaction to any event which you may face. Ms. Bones did not recognize the rope immediately and mistook it for Devil's Snare and then wasted time in melting the snow and then forgot the unlocking charms which we knew she had studied however she escaped from the closet with a reducto which would not be prudent in conditions where stealth is required. She faltered on her boggart but then she bound the dog with a incarcerous hex which was effective, but stunning it would have been faster. Finally, when she was disarmed, she ran inside leaving her weapon in the hands of the enemy. She made it inside but she failed at many points."

She glared intensely at Susan before turning to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, you were the most impressive of this lot. You used finite on the ropes as soon as they appeared and then you made the same mistake of using incendio against the snow without trying to find the source from which it was happening. Then you faced the boulder and you transfigured it into a stick while running and when you fell into the closet, you opened it with one of the charms that we thought you would use. When you faced your boggart, you made short work of it as you have been taught. When the dog tried to attack you, you stunned it and produced a shield against Remus almost as a reflex. Then you crossed the boundary without any trouble whatsoever. You made one mistake but you were the one most prepared to encounter anything and to back up if you had arrived here on a distress call."

Then she turned to Hermione, "You disappointed me with mistakes on your part. You forgot for a moment that you are a witch and not a muggle. You untied the rope by hand when you had a wand with you. Then you showed some good thinking by applying a warming charm but you did not pick up your pace rather you continued walking casually. When you reached the boulder, you wasted time trying to get around it before you realised that you had to transfigure it. In the same way you wasted time in the closet thinking of appropriate spells. If you had been captured, you would have been stunned in the time you wasted coming up with the right spell. Then you faced the boggart which made you break down into tears before you realized what it was. Then you wanted to pet the dog not even thinking that it may be an enemy ruse to draw your attention. When you faced Remus, you did not even attempt to use any hex or curse on him. However when he disarmed you, you wrestled your wand out of his grasp and that is commendable."

She turned to Ron with her mouth the thinnest of thin lines, "Mr. Weasley, I am disappointed in you. It would appear that you have forgotten everything that you have been taught in school. You could not remember a simple 'finite' but you tried to get away by hopping. Then you showed some brain activity when unlike others you did not try to best the snow but ran when your legs were free. You reduced the boulder to rubble with a massive 'REDUCTO'. While this did reduce the boulder to tiny fragments, effectively removing the obstacle from your path, it used an excessive amount of magical energy, producing a large cloud of debris and a lot of noise. Not a good idea if you are attempting to arrive fresh and unnoticed. Out of the entire group, you were the only one who showed the presence of mind to put your foot in the door and prevent the closet from locking when you fell into it. But, you failed to check for hazards when you exited the closet and were hit by falling debris. You handled the boggart easily, so full marks there. When it came to the dog, you just ran from it, forgetting that the same dog had mutilated you once. You did not even see Remus who used a banishing charm on you. By luck you landed near the door and hobbled inside."

Then she turned to the twins, "you both disappointed me and made me feel elated at the same time. You are both legally adults and you did not even check to see if you could apparate inside directly. Then you both showed us the advantage of numbers when one of you finit'ed' the ropes and then you decided to find the source of Glacius and stunned Professor Flitwick who was confident that none of you would see him and got antlers in return (Flitwick chuckled) and then you both saw the boulder and went after me when I transfigured one of you into a weasel (the twins guffawed) and the other took the weasel and ran. When you were out of range, you transfigured him back and when one of you fell in the closet, the other did not try to save himself from the debris. When you faced the boggart it probably did not know that it was facing laughter embodied (the others were trying to suppress their laughter). Then you found the two adults and you engaged in a prank battle with them rather than escaping. In a real fight, it would have been fatal."

Professor Flitwick who had been quiet so far, turned to Ginny, "You proved to be the most unaccomplished of the lot, Ms. Weasley. You easily escaped from the ropes, a promising start. You slipped on the snow. Then you started levitating the boulder but then you just stood there. You fell into the closet and kept pounding the doors with your fist forgetting that you could use an unlocking charm. When you finally came to your senses you used an unlocking charm. Then you did not try to fight your boggart but were rather run down by it. When Remus dispelled the boggart and you faced Sirius, you did not stun him or bind him but used stinging hexes on him which just enraged him. When Remus met you finally, instead of trying to make your way in, you engaged in a fight with him. You will need to work really hard."

Remus spoke then, "Now the first thing I want you all to do today is to follow me to the training room."

In the room, there were a number of dummies and they were asked to use color spells selecting one color each for themselves and hit the dummies in the mid section. After two hours, the Weasley twins were the winners. Then Minerva took them to task and made them revise everything that they had learnt in the last few years. Lastly Flitwick had them on the ropes and by the evening when they were done with everything, they were bone tired.

Remus instructed them to brush up on their reading and to report two days later at 9:00 A.M. since the training was on alternate days and dismissed them. Neville took the floo to Green Hues and from there he went to Longbottom castle. It was the longest time he had stayed away from his parents since they came out of their comas and he wanted to get back to them soon. The others returned to the head quarters of the Order.

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