...
Harry groaned and turned his head away from the light. Definitely morning then.
"He's waking up, Madam Pomfrey," he heard Hermione say.
He felt some magic wash over him and he stirred more, groaning when it pulled at his injured side.
"That was quite the scare you gave us, Mr. Potter."
He took a moment to blink his eyes open before groaning and shutting them again.
"There, there," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly in a tone he recognized as playful for the matron. "If you're this tired after more than twelve hours of sleep, perhaps a weekend in the infirmary would do you good."
"I'm up, I'm up," Harry declared immediately, forcing himself into a sitting position.
"Here," she handed him two small vials. "Pain reliever and an anti-inflammatory. Drink up."
He scrunched his nose but drank the potions he'd been told to.
"I'll go summon the headmaster," she declared, wiping her hands on her robes.
"Madam Pomfrey," Harry stopped her. "You think you could wait a few minutes? It's just that the Professor is gonna ask as lot of questions and I could use a minute to get to rights."
"Absolutely, Harry dear," she said kindly as she bustled away.
"What happened?" he asked Hermione immediately after she finishing throwing up a privacy ward and silencing spell.
"We got Rookwood in the prophecy room. We also got Avery, Crabbe, Nott, Jugson, Mulciber, MacNair, and Malfoy."
Harry couldn't help but smirk at the news of Lucius' capture.
"The LeStrange's and Dolohov got away?"
"Barely — Harry, you should see the headlines. They're incredible."
"What?"
"Look."
She handed him the newspaper.
The headline was completely overtaken by the picture.
The ministry atrium looked completely wrecked. The debris from the destroyed fountain was strewn everywhere. Chunks of marble and stone had been blasted out of support columns, fireplaces, floors, and walls.
Central to the picture was a terrifying image of Voldemort in all his repugnant glory. More attention grabbing was Harry laying bleeding on the ground an arm's length away.
Over and over, the picture replayed Harry spitting at the snake-like wizard's feet, being tortured, and then spitting again.
"I'm surprised they published his picture."
"Lilian made sure they had the proper incentive."
Harry snorted, knowing that meant a bribe, but skimmed the article. It seemed to skip over the entire ministry break in and instead focused on Voldemort's return and Harry being the "spitting image of heroism."
"God, I bet they were proud of that pun," he said sarcastically.
He studied the second half of the front page, noticing the mugshot of Lucius Malfoy.
"Oh that's satisfying," he crowed. "Wait, they're citing the aurors for all the captures?"
"You didn't expect them to give all the credit to you, did you?"
"I 'spose not," Harry admitted before his face darkened. "It's not like they were even there though. What happened to our backup, Mione? The Order, at least?"
"McGonagall struck again," Hermione answered with a grumble.
As Hermione's favorite teacher, McGonagall's inability to act even when students hand her information on a platter hurt the bookworm emotionally almost as much as it hurt Harry physically. (Idly, Harry thought that was a rather good line to use when tearing into McGonagall in the future. Really compounds the personal disappointment with the lasting physical damage her mistakes cause).
The Deputy Headmistress was due for some sort of tear down. She'd let them down more times than they could count by ignoring them or following along with the headmasters useless plans. The time where three of her lions had approached their head of house and said 'Hey Professor, Voldemort is definitely going after that super valuable and dangerous object you guys are guarding on the third floor' came to mind.
"How do you mean?" he asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts.
"She apparently got Seamus' message but then decided that boys will be boys and kept it to herself until too late."
"Well you can't blame her-"
"Don't you start. The one time we need our strictest Professor to act like a responsible adult, she doesn't."
"Maybe she was trying to let us have our fun? We were supposedly broom riding anyways."
"That's still not an excuse for her to stop behaving like a proper professor."
"And the aurors?"
"Floo was blocked internally, portkey and apparation cut off as well."
"We portkeyed out just fine."
"It wasn't meant to keep us in, just others out," Hermione informed them. "Otherwise their escape would be blocked as well. By the time Madam Bones coordinated the aurors enough to bring the wards down, they were useless."
"They were useless anyways," Harry grumbled. "I remember them just standing there when Voldemort appeared."
Hermione looked apologetic but both of them knew that there wasn't anything they could do to get the wizarding worlds tail from out between it's legs.
"Where's Ron?"
"Coordinating," she answered. "The Sally's haven't left the room since you got back; those tracking spells and potions went off without a hitch."
"So it's spreading?"
"Kind of," Hermione said. "There's a few kinks to work out; every Death Eater Bellatrix meets will 'catch' the tracker. They won't pass it on though."
"So it only spreads once."
"Right," she agreed. "I'm going to meet with Chie this summer about it. Either way, Bellatrix is still adding multiple Death Eaters to our maps. Some of them we've got names for but most of them are just dots."
"Dots we can track," Harry corrected. "So no one knows anyone other than me was there?"
"Dumbledore suspects; I'm pretty sure he might have picked up on our portkeys."
"How do you know he suspects?"
"Just the looks he was giving Neville, Ron, Ginny, and I this morning at breakfast."
"How is Neville?" Harry asked, concerned and cursing himself for not having asked sooner. "Is he alright?"
"Bruised and scraped," Hermione answered in a tone that said she would have told him immediately if he wasn't. "Graham was waiting in the room and was able to fix him up easily enough. Couple real nasty splinters though."
"Merlin, the prophecy. I can't believe I forgot that too."
"It's safe in the Cathedral," Hermione promised him. "Graham had Ron secured it as soon as his portkey landed."
"Have you listened to it yet?"
"Of course not," she answered immediately. "We're waiting for you. Do you want Dumbledore to know you have it?"
"What happened to the fake?"
"Broke in your pocket during your duel with Bellatrix," she answered. "As far as the headmaster is concerned, it broke before you had a chance to hear it."
"I want to see if he tells me the truth. If he doesn't, that's gonna put him against us next year." Harry admitted grimly. "And if he does, I want to make sure it sounds the same as the prophecy we've got."
"Alright," she agreed, matching his tone before letting her face soften slightly. She leaned across the bed to hug him fiercely before pulling back and giving him her signature glare. "Don't you ever do that to us again. That was so reckless, stepping out and facing Bellatrix head-on. And what were you thinking, antagonizing the Dark Lord?!"
That last point seemed to stress her out more than any other.
"It wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't," Harry said, returning her hug with aching arms.
"You saved Neville's life," she said softly. "That was an impressive piece of transfiguration. The Peakes brothers want to know how you got the cloak over there so fast."
"Might have conjured some wind? I just reacted, honestly," he answered. "You've shared the memory then?"
"Would have been mobbed if not."
"When do you think Madam Pomfrey will let me out?"
"Tomorrow morning," she declared, ignoring the frown he pulled. "And don't think to argue the point — that spell you got caught with was a nasty one."
"Fine, fine," he said, lifting his shirt to look at the side. It was a mottled, shiny pink.
"She had to regrow the skin," Hermione said distastefully. "Although I did stay to watch."
"She let you stay?"
"Of course not," she scoffed. "But we weren't going to leave you alone in here. Right Blaise?"
From below Harry's bed, he heard some shuffling.
"That's right," he heard the distinctive voice of Blaise Zabini say. His voice came from near the foot of the bed. Harry assumed the boy's feet were under his head and that he was stretched out on his stomach.
"Bloody hell, Zabini. How long have you been under there?"
"Since half past ten — Dean's taking over in an hour."
"He bloody well is not-"
"Malfoy Jr.'s gotten nasty since the morning paper and a lot of our problem-students are getting restless. You wanted a Castle Security team so now you've gotta let us do our job."
"Lurking under the bed?"
"Getting the best view of the doors," Blaise corrected.
"What's Dumbledore going to say if he finds a Slytherin under my bed?" Harry asked dryly. "In fact, I'm pretty sure first year Gryffindors have nightmares about this scenario."
"Oh shut up," Blaise said, poking the underside of the mattress forcefully with his wand.
Harry squeaked indignantly and was going to retort when he was interrupted.
"Pomfrey," Hermione hissed.
Immediately, Blaise was completely silent, even the sound of his breathing.
Now that Harry was looking for it specifically, he could feel the almost undetectable thrum of the Weasley twins stealth bomb, as they called it. Apparently, they liked the name because it contradicted itself. Personally, Harry thought they liked to add 'bomb' to the end of all of their inventions.
Blaise was also under Harry's cloak. Harry had come to learn that neither Dumbledore nor Mad-Eye could see under the cloak. The Headmaster had only been able to detect him in first year thanks to tracking charms that Harry had long-since removed. He doubted his prankster father would have been pleased to know that Dumbledore had placed them on the cloak (though his mother might have approved).
Hermione dropped her privacy wards just as Madam Pomfrey bustled back into view.
"You should be getting to lunch, Miss Granger," the matron said firmly.
"Yes ma'am," Hermione agreed. "I'll bring you the notes you missed from the last day of classes after lunch, Harry."
"Thanks," he said softly.
"The Headmaster is on his way," the mediwitch said with a look of disproval on her face. "I believe he may bring with him somewhat of an entourage."
"That's okay, Madam Pomfrey, I expected it."
That didn't seem to ease her displeasure with the incoming visitors; Harry immediately decided to be as sweet and docile as he could possibly be.
"Do you think I could have a dreamless sleep potion after he leaves, ma'am? I'm real tired," he said.
"Absolutely dear, wonderful idea," she agreed as her eyes lit up. "I'll make sure I have the proper dosage all readied up."
Harry knew how to play the matron like a fiddle; five years of extensive time in the infirmary had taught him that much. He just had to be careful not to play it up too much because she'd know if he did. He knew that she also undoubtedly wanted to force a sleeping potion on him so it was better if it seemed like his idea. Plus, she'd be hovering and making sure the Headmaster couldn't bother him for all too long.
Soon, Dumbledore was striding benevolently into the room. Surprisingly, he was free of any ministry employees. Well, Shacklebolt and Tonks were technically aurors but Harry knew they were there as Order members.
"It's good to see you awake, Mr. Potter."
"Hello, headmaster."
"Perhaps you'd like to tell us your story?"
…
"Well," Harry said to Hermione as they entered the DA room the next morning. "He told me the prophecy, at least. He also told me how it got to Voldemort, bloody Snape. Let's see if he told the truth about the wording."
The assembled DA was waiting for him, some of them upstairs and some of them gathered around the maps.
"We've got over thirty dots on the map and we've confirmed six of our suspected Death Eaters," Ron said when he noticed Harry.
Harry spent a few minutes looking over the map with Gareth and Ron before he asked about the prophecy.
"It's upstairs in an oak box on a shelf," he gestured, watching as a low chime sounded and a new dot appeared on the map.
Harry picked up the specified box and brought it to the dining tables.
"Ready to listen to this thing?" he asked Hermione.
Checking with Luna, who was acting as scribe, the blonde gave him a sure nod devoid of her normally dreamy look. Blaise, Susan, and the core of the group was gathered around him. The rest of the DA was watching with interest but would wait for Harry to address them.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
Though it was nothing he wanted to hear again, Harry was relieved to hear that the words were the same as the ones Dumbledore had relayed to him. Half an hour later, after Luna and Hermione and a small bunch of Ravenclaws had done enough interpreting to last Harry a lifetime, he addressed the DA.
Just like everything else, they'd taken it in stride.
Most of them had known Harry for years and considered him an incredible friend. Those that weren't particularly close to Harry still supported him and took the prophecy to mean that he was, indeed, necessary to bring peace to their world.
"I'm more interested in talking about summer plans," Oliver Rivers, a fifth year Ravenclaw, voiced.
"As are we," the Carrow twins, Flora and Hestia, spoke up in their still-creepy monotone.
There had been an informal poll once and it had been decided that the sisters ability to speak in unison was both cooler and spookier than the Weasley twins ability to finish each others sentence. The Patil's had been voted 'most normal twins,' much to their enjoyment.
"How many people are worrying about this summer because their families might have loyalties to the Dark?" Hermione asked, grabbing a sheet of parchment.
Ten hands went up, including the Carrow twins, and she quickly wrote down their names.
"Alright. How many of you are worried about your families because of a lack of wards or safe location?"
About thirty people raised their hands.
"As I call your name, put them down."
It only took a few minutes for Hermione to have all the names written down.
"The question is, what do you all want to do about it?" Harry asked. "I've got more than enough room to accommodate everyone behind a Fidelius."
Blaise, among others who hadn't been a member during the previous summer, looked more than surprised by that last statement.
"You have a working Fidelius?"
"We do."
"With enough room for everyone?" the Slytherin clarified.
"More than enough," Harry said. "The renovations there are done and the elves should have it fully ready for habitation before the summer break starts. If you don't already know about this, please come up here before this meeting ends so we can get you sorted out. You'll need to know the secret otherwise using your amulet portkey becomes a lot more confusing. Trust me, you do not want to experience being under a Fidelius without knowing its secret. It's very disorienting."
The students broke out in chatter and Harry sat back with Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and the twins. The DA were breaking off into small groups; he could see Blaise Zabini directing students.
"Muggleborns or half bloods with family safety concerns, by the maps please. Those of you concerned about pressure to join the dark either for or by your family, by the stairs. If your families will be okay with you staying elsewhere for the summer, move to…"
…
"We've got about seventeen who can commute using portkeys or apparation. Another fifteen plan to tell their families they're staying with friends, fifteen are staying with their families and won't be available, and six snakes who plan to stay with or without parental approval."
"I'd like to bring my sister with me, Astoria, and maybe my mother," Daphne spoke up. "Though my father isn't likely to approve."
"Anyone else want their families with them?"
About 15, 20 people were in that group.
"Can you accommodate this many people and families?" Blaise asked, interested.
"Oh definitely," Hermione answered.
"I believe my mother and I might have an interest," he said slowly, still not quite as comfortable in front of the entire group. A few of the students who knew his mother raised an interested brow.
Adriana Delia (referred to by her middle name more often than her ever-changing last name) probably had good reason to seek protection. A fair few of her husbands would have been the Dark Lord's bankrollers and the snake-like man was probably eager to have those funds within his reach.
"Alright, those of you who are planning to tell your parents you're staying with a friend — start making arrangements by owl with your parents, do whatever you have to do. Those of you who want to move your parents to the island, stay. Everyone else, dismissed."
Heading for various exits along the walls, a lot of the members dispersed. Those that were left were sticking to the map and loft library area.
Sixteen DA members circled loosely around Harry. Two of Hermione's roommates and a few other notable members settled down with Harry to figure out the logistics of this endeavor.
It was going to be a balancing act with all of their various circumstances but if they all put their heads together, they would have it all worked out in time for summer vacation.
"Well, at least your parents weren't so hard to convince," Harry said as he looked at Hermione.
"Let's hope the rest are as easy," she said.
"Oh, I doubt it," he sighed.
…
For the last remaining days of term, Harry avoided the majority of Hogwarts population religiously.
Aside from the DA, the entire castle was still buzzing over having proof of Voldemort's return. Naturally, that meant a lot of them were coming up to him with questions. Some apologized for not believing him and others claimed to have believed him all along.
Needless to say, Harry was not enjoying the attention.
He also had to avoid the professors religiously while still being obviously present in the castle (mostly at meals). He, Hermione, and Susan Bones had been tasked with visiting and convincing as many of the muggleborn and halfblood families as possible to move to Firewall Island. That meant they had a lot of people who couldn't be visibly missing from the grounds. Of course when they visited, they brought the student with them so it took even more scheduling. Ron and the other Gryffindors were running interference in the times that they were off of the campus.
With the DA's help, Chie had taken a few key memories and pieced them together into one coherent memory so that they could show parents using the pensieve. Using some of Sirius' memories, they were able to make a sort of terrifying movie depicting the first war and the string of attacks the Death Eaters launched against muggleborns and their families.
The next memory the parents would see was Cedric's death and Voldemort's return. After that, there was the memory of the pivotal DA meeting following Cedric's death and a few other memories about the DA.
As Harry predicted, they weren't all as easy to convince as Hermione's had been.
Most of the parents had reacted with extreme shock, outrage, and fear. Multiple times, they blustered and asked just what he thought he could do about it.
They were speaking to Trent and Kerrie Entwhistle, Kevin's parents.
Susan was standing near the front door, behind the couch Hermione and Harry were sharing, with a vigilant look that didn't quite fit the girl of fifteen. Kevin was sitting in an armchair in the cosy living room and his parents were sharing an opposing sofa.
"What are you saying? That we should just uproot our lives?" Trent asked.
"You're just schoolchildren yourselves, what do you really think you can do?" Kerrie pressed right afterwards.
"Ma'am, I've tried to deny it and run from it since I was eleven years old and got pulled out of the normal world I grew up in," Harry told them with understanding. "But there is no more running from it. It's a reality of life now and this war is part of that reality."
He held their eyes seriously, emerald orbs conveying both the depth of his severity and his unwillingness to yield.
"I know you look at us and see schoolchildren, and we are, but that doesn't change the fact that the war that's coming is our war whether we want it to be or not. We're going to do our part in it."
Hermione, Susan, and Kevin were all nodding with equal conviction, not seeming to realize they were even moving their heads.
"We're ready to do things that the ministry can't or won't. In fact, we're doing it right now."
They gave him doubtful, questioning looks.
"We're offering you security — as soon as Kevin got his Hogwarts letter, he became a part of this world and you with him. Now that there's a war on, that puts you in danger."
"Well then we'll pull him out of it!" Trent growled.
"I'm afraid it's not so simple, Mr. Entwhistle," Hermione interrupted softly. "I'm a muggleborn too, like Kevin. My parents had the same idea as you but it's not as easy as that. Once you agreed to let him go to Hogwarts, you essentially signed away your magical parental rights to the headmaster because you're muggles. He's too far into his education; he's considered fully integrated. You could have petitioned courts for the rights back a couple years ago, but even that wasn't likely to succeed as the headmaster is also the head of our judicial system."
"Well they can't stop us from taking him right now," Kerrie said, looking as if she'd be perfectly content to pack a bag and drag her son out by the ear if she had to.
"No, mum, they can't." Kevin spoke up. "But I can and I won't run. That boy you saw m-murdered was my friend. This is my fight now. You need to listen to Harry, dad, because he's the only one who can protect you."
"Well where's this headmaster now?"
"The headmaster is the leader of the other organization we talked about and he's currently sitting on his hands just like most of the ministry."
"Well why isn't he here?"
"Mostly because, even if he doesn't know it, Kevin isn't his responsibility anymore. I'm a legally emancipated adult — I'm the Lord of three houses. For the DA's protection, they've all signed a sort of contract that protects more of their rights under me than Dumbledore would be capable of."
The parents sat there quietly, looking from their son to each other and talking with barely perceptible facial expressions.
"You lot have really got this figured out, have you?" Trent asked slowly.
"We've had all year to make this plan, longer, even. The castle you'd be moving to will be inhabited by dozens of other families, some of them muggles; you won't be alone for company and you'll be free to leave at any time."
"What about our house?"
"I can have your house locked up and furniture packed into secure storage until you're ready to come back."
"Well it'll take us some time to pack up everything and get it moved…" Kerrie said, looking around as if she couldn't believe she were considering this.
"We've got a special crew to help you pack," Harry assured her, thinking of the array of excitable elves in his employ.
"All you have to do is sign this contract; basic secrecy and loyalty oaths for everyone's safety," Hermione told them, opening her deceptively small bag.
"Secrecy?"
"You'll be unable to talk to anyone about the DA, it's members, or activities that aren't already in the know. Mostly because some of the things we do aren't exactly legal. Being here at all, for example, since we used magical travel and we're supposed to be at school." Harry gave them a reassuring smile.
"We also won't be staying cooped up in the castle all summer," Hermione assured them. "We've made a couple travel plans that are very family friendly."
"Well how can we say no?" Kerrie said slowly. "Did you say you had a moving company?"
"Let me introduce you to one of the castle house-elves, Sassy…" Harry said with a wink.
The reactions were to house-elves were always interesting.
…
"I've made sure the portraits will stay asleep," Harry said quietly.
"Perks of being Lord Gryffindor, eh?" Amanda asked in the same low tone.
"Yeah," Harry agreed.
"Amanda, are you sure this is a good idea?" Susan pressed the Ravenclaw carefully.
"I know my aunt, Susan," Amanda Hooch said back quietly but surely.
They were standing outside of Madam Hooch's private chambers. It was a couple hours after curfew already and Susan was glancing around the shadowy corridors carefully.
"If you're sure…" she said with a hint of skepticism.
They were taking a big risk by introducing a member of the staff to the group. If they were wrong and Madam Hooch told anyone about the three of them asking her to sign a secrecy oath, there would be consequences they didn't want to deal with.
The least of which would probably be detention for being out after curfew.
"The Dark Lord took my mum and dad and my uncle, her husband. She's terrified something will happen to me too," Amanda admitted. "We don't have anywhere really safe to go except for Hogwarts and I can't stay at Hogwarts over the summer."
Susan's face softened; Amanda's story was much like her own.
"I know Madam Hooch, Hermione," Harry said softy. "She's good, real good. I think if anyone's going to listen to us fairly, it's her."
"I've got a couple extra memories I want to show her. Especially some of those maneuvers Katie, Angelina, and Alicia have been practicing." Amanda said. "That'll impress her more than anything."
"Alright, let's do this then."
Amanda turned to face the portrait. It depicted a wizard in a field with one of the first commercial broom models. Though he was normally riding it, now he was cuddling it on the grass and snoring lightly.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the frame three times. The occupant didn't wake.
A long minute crept by.
The three teens outside waited nervously.
"Should you knock again?" Harry wondered aloud.
Amanda shook her head. "My aunt's a light sleeper."
Proving her correct, the portrait creaked open to reveal Madam Hooch. Her wand was in hand, a soft glow from the tip illuminating her cozy sitting room and the mouth of the portrait.
"Amanda?" she asked in surprise before raising her wand a little higher.
"Hey, auntie," the Hufflepuff said nervously.
"Can we come in?"
Seeing the two very recognizable teenagers standing behind her niece, Madam Hooch only needed a moment to nod her head sharply.
"I think you'd better, children," she stepped aside, gesturing for them to enter. "In you get, then."
Amanda went right over to the long couch in front of the fireplace. Harry and Susan followed her a little more sedately. Their eyes were darting around.
It was clear based on the color scheme that she was a Hufflepuff through and through. The room looked homely and well-lived in, clearly in use for many years. There were a number of pictures of Amanda and Madam Hooch together as well as Quidditch memorabilia.
"We're terribly sorry to wake you up so late, Madam Hooch," Harry began as the flying professor began lighting the sconces and fireplace.
"Is everything alright?" she asked, assessing her niece from head to toe with worried eyes. The glow of the firelight made her odd yellow eyes appear even sharper. Amanda hurried to reassure her.
"Everything's okay. We just have to talk to you."
"You needed to talk to me in secret?" she asked keenly.
"Yes," Harry admitted with a wry smile.
"I didn't even know you knew my niece more than in-passing, Mr. Potter."
"That's part of why we're here now and not in your office during the day," he answered forwardly. "The three of us would have a hard time matching our schedules and avoiding attention."
"And why would you three need to avoid attention?"
Amanda glanced at Harry nervously before shifting slightly. She met her aunts eyes head on.
"We have something important to tell you about the war and our safety."
Madam Hooch looked back and forth between the three teenagers for several long moments. What in the world could those three possibly have to tell her, a flying professor and Quidditch coach?
She sat down in a plush armchair across from the sofa they were sharing and tilted her head.
"What could you three possibly have to tell me?" she asked, voicing her thoughts.
"The thing is," Amanda hedged. "Everyone who has this information has signed a contract to keep it secret. All I can say is that we would have a safe place to stay for the summer."
"After you sign, you don't have to make any decisions immediately," Harry said. "All we ask is that you hear us out."
Madam Hooch considered the three of them carefully for a few more moments. To her niece, they felt like forever.
"Very well."
"What?" Amanda squawked before trying to hide her surprise. "I mean, uhm, really?"
"I've always known you're mature for your age, Amanda," she told her niece simply. Sadly, that was true of many children orphaned by the first war. "If you say you have information pertaining to the war and our safety that requires I sign a secrecy oath, then I'll sign the secrecy oath."
"Really?" Amanda asked hopefully.
"If you have a safe place to stay over the summer, I can only assume there's more people there. That means these secrecy contracts are to protect everyone involved, correct?" she reasoned.
"Correct," Susan agreed with a firm nod of her head.
"And the presence of your friends helps," she said with a nod towards Susan. "Miss Bones is the niece of the Head of the DMLE and Mr. Potter just faced down the Dark Lord no more than a week ago."
"Yeah I thought these two would help convince you," she said. "Plus I know Harry's your favorite Gryffindor."
"How could he not be? Minerva and I have made a killing betting against Severus in the quidditch matches."
"Wow," Harry blinked. "You guys do that?"
"Oh yes," she nodded. "Flitwick made a killing in your third year; only match you ever lost and it's the only time he bet against you. Damn goblin intuition, I swear. It's like they have a sixth sense for when a deal will go south."
"Huh," he said, still sounding surprised.
"Perhaps you should show me this secrecy oath?" Madam Hooch suggested.
"Oh right," Harry said.
Susan pulled a copy out of the journal she had tucked into an expanded robe pocket. "This is the first contract," she said as she set the parchment down on the table between them.
"If you decide you want to stay with us in the summer, there's an additional contract," Harry explained. "It's also possible that you might want to take a more active role in the war effort; there's a different contract for that too."
There was no stopping her brow from raising at that. At this point, she needed to know what exactly her niece was involved in that would involve information sensitive enough for contracts in triplicate. That meant there was really only one more thing to say.
"Anyone have a quill?"
…
A couple days before the train left, they had another DA meeting. It was mostly planning for the remaining parent meetings they had to set up. It also served as an introduction to the group for Madam Hooch, who was impressed with the scope and breadth of everything she'd seen.
By the end of their explanation a few nights ago, she had realized that she had no choice but to sign all three contracts. How could she do anything else when her niece, who she loved like a daughter, was hip-deep in all of it?
At the end of it, Ron indicated that he had something to stay.
"I've decided not to go back home for the summer," he said bluntly.
"What?" Ginny asked, blinking in surprise.
"Really?" Harry asked curiously.
"With everything that's going on, I'm not going to sit in some dusty old house watching the Order of the Phoenix twiddle their thumbs," he said seriously.
"Can he do that?" Fred asked George offhandedly.
"Not sure, no one's ever tried before," his twin muttered back.
"Percy pitched two weeks away at summer camp once and the howler I saw her record actually shattered glass in the Burrow," Ginny said in the same tone.
"I remember that one, I could hear it in the orchards," Ron commiserated. "Ah, good old mum."
"Charlie and Bill had to leave the country to get out. Don't be a fool — there's no way mum is going to be okay with this," the redheaded girl continued.
"Now you sound foolish," Ron snorted. "It's not like I'm going to ask her for permission."
"Wait a second, you're just gonna pull a runner?"
"That's the idea," he agreed.
"You're going to rile her up like a Spanish bull and then just leave us with her?" Ginny asked incredulously. "We're literally bright red targets for her rage at that point, come on!"
The twins shared a look with each other.
"Not sure why you said us or we," Fred said.
"Yeah," George continued, gesturing between himself and his twin. "We're the only we here."
"You're a you."
"And we're a we," George reiterated, still pointing back and forth.
"And we've," Fred said, mimicking the gesture. "Got our NEWTS now."
"So we'll be out of there by the first week."
"See how that works?" Fred asked.
"We, together," George pointed between himself and Fred. "And you," he finished, jabbing a finger towards his little sister. "Separate."
"What?" Ginny cried out before whipping her head around towards Ron. "You've got to be kidding. You're going to leave me alone with her?"
"I can't be benched this entire summer, Ginny," Ron said. "There's too much going on right now."
"Then where the bloody hell are you two going?" she asked, whipping her head back towards the twins angrily.
Ron made a sign for danger behind her back which the twins noted with matching gulps. If her fingers so much as twitched towards her wand, they were prepared to dive out of the way before escaping in a zig-zagging run.
"Harry helped us lease a shop in Diagon."
"A nice one too."
Harry held his hands up when Ginny's brown, ire-filled eyes turned on him. "I'm innocent," he said hurriedly. "I've got nothing to do with any of this."
"Uh huh," she said, looking unconvinced. "Why haven't we heard about this shop?"
"We just finalized the sale yesterday," Harry answered.
"Which store?" Ginny asked suspiciously as if they were making this story up to intentionally abandon her to her mother's tender mercies.
"The big one on the corner near Gringotts," George answered hurriedly.
"Across from Gringotts," his twin corrected nervously.
"Right, right, across and a little down," George amended.
"Four stories, with the windows all around."
"Little flat on top."
"So as far as mum's concerned, we'll be there."
"But we'll probably split time between there and Firewall."
"Since the rooms are nicer."
"And the food's nicer."
"And our workshop here is better."
"Aw hell, Fred, we're rambling."
"Right, anyways," they cleared their throats together.
"We'll be officially moving into our flat this summer."
"Soon as we can break the news to mum, of course," the twins finished nervously.
"Well then I'm coming too," Ginny huffed angrily.
"I don't know, Gin-Gin."
"There's only two rooms."
"Hardly enough space."
"Mum wouldn't buy it."
"You understand, right?"
"Not with you two idiots," Ginny growled. "To Firewall."
"Mum's already going to throw a titanic fit," Ron shook his head. "If her baby is gone too, she'll tear the country apart searching."
"And dad might actually worry if it's Ginny," George agreed.
"Harsh," Hermione muttered.
"If it's just Ron, they won't involve the Ministry," Fred said surely.
"Are you implying that they love Ginny more?" Ron asked in a flat tone.
"Oh definitely," Ginny answered for them with the twins nodding in agreement.
"Harsher," Hermione muttered.
Ron maintained his flat stare before cracking a grin. "Yeah, alright," he agreed. "Fair enough."
"You owe me one," Ginny responded with a deep sigh.
"I know," Ron agreed.
"You owe me so much more than one."
"Probably," he allowed. Her sharp glare had him amending his statement. "Definitely."
"That goes double for you two twits," Ginny grumbled at the twins.
"Hey, at least we'll be with you for the initial Ron-related explosion," one of them said.
"Yeah, we'll go to the Burrow from the platform."
"We'll leave not too long after, of course," they continued.
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes doesn't run itself, after all."
"She'll still be furious," Ginny said with a beleaguered sigh. "You're leaving before your NEWT results come in."
"That's part of the plan, Gin-Gin," Fred said.
"That's all part of the plan," George added.
Ginny made a sound of disgust coupled with an exasperated huff. That was enough to break the silence that had fallen over the rest of the room as the Weasley-family-drama had commenced. Everyone was laughing at the fiery redheads sour expression. After a moment, Ginny cracked as well and laughed.
"It's all fun and games now but my summer is going to be miserable," she groaned.
"At least you have an emergency escape if it gets too rough," Ron offered, gesturing to the portkey they all wore.
"I can always throw myself out of a window," she huffed dramatically.
"To escape via broom?" Hermione clarified.
"Sure," the redhead said fatalistically with a dour expression. "That's what I meant."
"That's the spirit," Harry chuckled.
Ginny made a rude hand gesture which had the room dissolving in laughter again.
"Shove off, the lot of you."
"We love you too, Ginny."
"Whatever," she grumbled.
…
The DA were all gathered in one entire car at the back of the train.
Since it was the last car, none of the other students had any excuse to go in and were subtly turned away. This gave the DA their privacy for the journey. It'd taken some work but eventually all of the other students had settled in for the ride.
All of the compartments in that car had been expanded just enough to house ten or more students. The corridor, narrow as it was, had been expanded by Harry to the size of a large hallway and a comfortable bench had been transfigured under the windows for seating.
A loose group, mostly those who were staying in the castle over the summer, were circling what they'd come to view as the command group in the expanded corridor. That group consisted of Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Blaise, Daphne, and Susan.
"I still can't believe you convinced Madam Hooch," Lisa Turpin said with a head shake. "A professor in the castle this summer. Almost sad I'm missing it."
Lisa was one of the 15 or so students that would be mostly inactive for the summer.
"That still leaves us with about ten families that need talking to," Harry said, checking his list. "Now, Luna, Dean, Blaise, and Sally Smith think they can convince their parents to move to the castle on their own?"
The three nodded.
"Alright," Harry nodded. "About an hour before we reach the station, Nanette, Hermione, Ron, and I will be portkeying off to talk to her parents. After that, we're meeting Alice at her home. Then Sally-Anne."
All of them nodded in agreement with that schedule.
"Tomorrow, bright and early most likely, we'll be coming to your house, Seamus."
"I'll try to sound me mum out now that the prophet's changed its tune."
Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "The last on our list will be you, Lilian," he said to Lilian Moon.
"Think it's gonna take more than you and Granger to convince my parents," she said after a moment.
"Which is why Blaise is coming with us, as well as Neville and Daphne," he told her, knowing her pureblood family would be hard-pressed to essentially run to the light side.
"Let's see how it goes then," Hermione said. "Everyone's had the trace removed from their wands?"
Everyone nodded.
"Remember not to use magic in front of anyone, trace or no trace," she warned.
After that, the DA split into groups within compartments and began working on summer homework or DA research. The current research topic was field healing, though some students searched exclusively for new defensive and offensive magic.
An hour before the train reached the station, Hermione, Harry, and Nanette Desford left the train via portkey. By the time the train reached King's Cross, Harry and Hermione were organizing the house-elves to pack up Nanette's house. By the time Alice Tolipan's family got home later, they found two children who their daughter greeted warmly on their doorstep.
Everything was going according to plan.
…
Within two weeks, every family had been moved into Firewall Castle.
They were all suitably wowed by the amenities in the newly built structure. He'd had a similar reaction the first time he'd visited. Made mostly of reddish stone, the L-shaped castle was distinctive and sizable. The three towers seemed to scrape the sky.
"Wow," Harry said as he stared up at the huge building with wide eyes.
"They did an amazing job," Hermione remarked. "Look at the detailing around the doors and windows, it's all true to the period."
"It looks old but also new," he offered in a put-on sage tone that made her laugh a little.
A unique pair of grand, curved wooden doors were set into the base of the tallest tower. They marked the main entry into the castle. When they swung open to admit them into a grand round entryway, they quickly decided the inside was even more impressive than the outside.
"Bloody hell," Ron squawked.
"Language," Hermione said absently, jaw still hanging a little.
The floors were a polished marble with a decorative circular medallion in the center inlaid with gold. A huge spiraling staircase wrapped its way up the entire tower with various balcony-like landings looking down at the entryway.
"We have to find a way to thank the elves," Harry said as he looked around. "They did an amazing job."
"I'll have to add interior design to the list of things I didn't know they could do," Hermione muttered.
"Master is happy?" Dobby asked as he appeared with a pop.
"I'm beyond happy, Dobby," Harry said. "I can't believe I live here — it's like something out of a history book or a magazine."
"You have to tell all the elves who helped how wonderful they did for us, please," Hermione told Dobby.
He nodded vigorously before popping away with muttered exclamations. They were working get him to calm down and be less excitable when people treat him like a living, feeling being.
"This had to have cost a fortune though," Ron remarked as he looked around.
"Less than you'd think," Harry said.
"Yeah, your Gringotts artifact vaults are certainly emptier though," Hermione agreed before explaining to Ron. "A lot of this furniture was taken from there or unused properties and storages."
"I see…"
…
Over the next couple of weeks, things went pretty smoothly. The house-elves were taking all of the muggles to work or other arrangements as needed and the DA had upped their training.
The first snag came three weeks into summer when Su Li wrote to tell them about how scared her family was.
They were attempting to move back to China (which Su desperately didn't want to do) but they'd been denied even muggle visas. A pensieve wielding Harry and Hermione had been sent to talk to the Li family, including Su's younger sister, and they'd moved into the family wing of the castle expediently.
Ron had gotten an untoward amount of howlers from his mother, as had Harry and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was, apparently, spitting mad.
Fred and George weren't present much during the first month. Their new shop was quite successful. Their distance had nothing to do with avoiding contact with Ron incase they cracked under the pressure of their mothers bi-weekly 'have you heard from your brother?' interrogations and somehow let slip that they'd spoken to him due to a flex of their right nostril or a twitch of their eyebrow hair or however mothers always seem to know they're being lied to.
No, it had nothing at all to do with that. No, they were just busy. Really really busy.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was doing even better than Gringotts had predicted in their first reports. Riptuck was quite pleased with Harry's decision to finance them once he'd seen the initial numbers coming in. With a few of the DA conspicuously employed as summer employees, they'd produced more joke and prank products than they'd thought possible. They'd also created a specialized belt for the DA members to hold all of their more destructive products that weren't on the shelves.
There had already been about seven group expeditions into the muggle world to parks or playgrounds or other attractions that everyone would enjoy. Hermione had even set out museum schedules and travel arrangements so that families could go out in smaller groups on any given day. No one had complained about feeling shut in or suffocated. It helped that all of the arrangements were pre-made and all-expenses paid.
Today, on the last Saturday of July, they were meeting in the grand ballroom that had been set up quite similar to the DA Cathedral in Hogwarts. There were about 50 members gathered; the parents and assorted family had been respectfully shut out.
There'd been some butting of the heads between families and their members about that. Some parents especially were irked that they were frequently shut out of conversations, training sessions, and whole rooms of the castle. They'd been forcefully shut up by Harry allowing them to watch one meeting from the second floor balconies of the ballroom.
The children had split in half, one side in white cloaks and the other in red. They faced down in a recreation of a pitched battle. The parents had been shocked by the displays of physical prowess and sheer organization their children had displayed. Now, the visitors and inhabitants of the castle accepted that the teens would have their privacy whether they liked it or not.
Lavender Brown was practically beaming as she stepped onto the stage. "So, as you know, some of us girls have been pushing for a real uniform for ages now."
Harry could hear Ron grumble, "Oh bloody hell."
"Well," the opinionated young woman said with a mild glare in Ron's direction. "With Daphne's help, we were able to take some of our designs and make battle robes and dress robes."
"Dress robes?" Seamus Finnegan cried. "Is that why you were journaling everyone for measurements?"
"Yep," she agreed brightly, clasping her hands together. "Though we didn't even need them, resizing enchantments and all."
Seamus and a few of the other boys groaned at her.
"Just wanted an excuse to get a tape measure around us, didn't you Lav?" Kenny asked jokingly.
She rolled her eyes and ignored him, tossed her bouncy curls, and waved her wand. "I thought you might like to see the finished products. I even have some models to help me show them off."
On cue, the disillusionment charms around Fred and George dropped. The hall burst into laughter as they took in the petrified twins. Their skin had been colored a plasticky mannequin white and their arms and legs were posed like runway models. Colin, never slow on the uptake, was already in their faces with his camera.
"Blimey."
"Awesome."
"Is that Freda and George or Georgina and Fred?" someone snickered.
"On the left we have Fred modeling our mens dress robes," Lavender announced. "And on the right we have Georgina modeling our ladies dress robes."
To complete the ensemble, George was sporting a platinum blonde wig that went well with the rather impressive set of breasts he appeared to have grown. His makeup was done rather tastefully (if prominently) and his posterior looked a little augmented as well.
"Looking good!" Seamus called with a whistle.
"I'd act surprised but this is hardly the first time I've seen one of the twins in a wig and ladies clothes," Ron said nonchalantly, ignoring the stares that he drew. "The robes look nice though."
No matter how they were displayed, both sets of dress robes were very tasteful. They were elegantly cut and made of a dark velvety purple material with silver embroidery and embellishments.
"As you can see, the ladies waistlines are more pronounced and decorated. Instead of a three paneled tailcoat, their over-robes fall into layers of split skirts in shades of purple that cover more of the black dragon hide trousers," Lavender explained while fluffing George's skirts.
Under the robes, Fred and George were wearing pale pearlescent undershirts covered by impressive pieces of silver buckled body armor. The design had a vaguely Celtic feel and was complimented by a wide band of leather around the waist where it ended and the pants begun. The belt held two knives and two small daggers and was carved with seemingly decorative runes.
"Blimey, what is that body armor made of?" Michael Corner asked, stepping forward.
"That's not dragon hide," Amanda noted as she looked closer at the deep blue-black shimmery scales.
"The basilisk," Lavender answered with a bright grin. "Harry said if we could make armor out of it, we didn't need to sell it. It's even stronger than dragon hide and we have more than enough. The boots are dragon hide though; knee-high boots for everyone would be pushing it."
"It all looks wicked," Michael complimented.
"And comfortable," Harry said. "Far better than some of the robes I remember from fourth year."
"No kidding," Ron muttered.
"We're working on matching lined cloaks still but the battle robes are done as well."
There were more than a few murmurs of interest as Lavender turned to an empty space not far from Fred and Georgina who were still frozen in place. She waved her hand and Megan Jones and Kevin Entwhistle appeared from under their disillusionment charms. They, unlike the twins, hadn't been turned into human mannequins.
They also looked far more intimidating.
"As you can see, they're wearing the same body armor and dragon hide pants but there's no more skirts or robes that might obstruct our mobility," Lavender explained. "Instead, there's an elbow-length capelet with a hood."
The purple capelet flowed over basilisk hide shoulder pauldrons and looked fairly intimidating. There were gauntlets as well and thin but flexible dragon hide gloves covered their hands and exposed wrists. The silvery undershirt from the dress robes remained to prevent chafing but was hardly visible under the gauntlets and shoulders.
"The shoulder armor is made of narrower pieces of basilisk hide that have been cut to allow flexibility," Daphne said from her place not far from Lavender. "Basilisk hide tassets that secure with buckles at the waist and thigh will protect the outside of the upper hip and leg."
"What they don't cover will be covered by the boots," Lavender said as she gestured to them.
They were different boots and were made of a thick dark grey leather. They ended at the knee but the outer sides of them rose up, ending below the tassets to provide full hip coverage from any shrapnel. The belt now held daggers and knives as well as pouches for potions and gear.
"Plus, all of our quick release wand holsters will fit inside the gauntlets, either left or right," Lavender said. Almost all of the DA members worse those holsters full-time to carry their wands now.
"That's perfect," Harry said. "Looks like you thought of everything. Great job, everyone."
"Does everyone like them?"
The general consensus was yes; everyone was appropriately impressed. Despite the color, the boys could find nothing to complain about since it was a darker shade. The girls, needless to say, had loved them.
"Everyone will be receiving their set over the next two nights as well as the instructions for the specialized clothing switching spell," Hermione took over after everyone had a few minutes to fawn over them.
The twins had been released from their mannequin poses and warned against attempting to prank Lavender's personal beauty supplies.
"They'll be coming in a specialized three compartment trunk supplied with the twins latest gear. You're to have this trunk on you at all times. You can keep it shrunk in your pocket or you can attach it as a small charm on your amulet. The armor switching spells will work without the trunk being returned to full size."
"Can we talk about some sort of badge system?" Megan Jones asked.
"Badges?" Harry asked, screwing up his face.
"Yeah," Susan Bones spoke up. "Like you should have something that denotes you as the leader, and Ron should have something that marks him as our tactician. It could be like a belt buckle on these hip things," the Hufflepuff pointed to the armored hip-plates Megan Jones was sporting.
"I think healers should have something on their cape shoulders too, to make them more identifiable from behind," Daphne spoke up. "Like a caduceus. That could be the buckle symbol and could go on the left shoulder too."
"And for the Castle Security team, a shield and crossed wands," Blaise spoke up.
"The broom squad could take the alchemic air symbol, since we're air support," Amanda Hooch offered.
"Harry could have five stars, like a muggle general," Colin spoke up brightly. "And Ron could have three, then all the squad leaders could have one."
"What about everyone else?" Harry spoke up, not really liking the idea. "We don't really have ranks anyways. Squad leaders are chosen because they're good coordinators and we need people elsewhere."
"We don't really have a symbol," Hermione agreed. "We never really discussed one."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's got his Phoenix."
"Because he named the group the Order of the Phoenix," Harry retorted. "Probably specifically because of Fawkes."
"I don't think we need a mascot anyhow, the school has enough of them," Fay Dunbar spoke up, picking at her nails. "Blaise suggested the shield and crossed wands. What about a wand and a sword?"
A few people began murmuring before Dean Thomas conjured a table and a sketchbook.
"I've got an idea," he said.
Everyone knew he was a more than decent artist so a couple of them huddled around and offered suggestions while Hermione told Harry that he was going to have to accept that they thought of him as the leader.
Even Ron agreed.
"Look at everything you've done mate — every one of them is proud of where they're at. And these robes are bloody cool, makes everyone feel important. Badges and shoulder designs do too."
"Alright, alright," he waved. "Lavender, Hermione, you can make it happen?"
"Easy — we'll get Dean to draw them all," Lavender agreed with a smile, bouncing excitedly. Her blonde curls seemed to have a life of their own. "He helped with the sketches for the robes too. Said some weird things about high elves and muggle games."
Hermione snorted and shook her head.
Still, Lavender looked quite pleased.
Dean enlarged his design and floated it to the front of the room. It looked a lot like the Hogwarts crest in shape and filigree at the top. However, instead of an H and the four house symbols, there was a purple flower that was blooming in sync with with sparks coming out of the crossed wand and sword overlaying it.
In the three-segmented ribbon below the crest were the words 'Amicus Protectio Fortis.'
"What's that mean?" Harry asked, a few students echoing.
"A faithful friend is a strong defense," Dean answered with a shrug. "My Grandmum always liked it. I thought it rather fitting."
"Any particular reason for that flower?"
"It's a purple columbine," Scarlett Lympsham, who had suggested the flower, explained. "It means resolved to win."
"Means?" Ron asked dumbly. "How's a flower mean anything?"
"Victorian flower language, Ronald," Hermione told him with an eye roll.
"Oh like that's something everyone knows."
"Quite a few people do," the ever-knowledgeable witch responded, quite a few Ravenclaws and purebloods nodding along.
"I like it," Lavender said, her room mate, Marie Janice nodding in agreement. "It matches the robes."
"Squad leaders and healers or other designations can wear their patch on the left shoulder and the buckle. Everyone can wear this one on their right shoulder and their buckle." Lavender decided, pretty much in charge of the wardrobe.
"Any complaints?"
There were none.
"Good," Harry stepped forward. "Now, moving on."
"Sirius should be here any minute; form your groups. Today we're running our non-verbal spell chaining drills but we'll be doing it on the beach. Aim for the water — we don't need this bleeding into the wards," Ron directed.
...