Wednesday came quickly. They'd used what time they had to make some plans for their meeting. They had thought very carefully about who would attend after deciding to bring a much larger group.
"Fleur will meet us at Firewall Wednesday after classes. She's coming to the meeting," Daphne Greengrass confirmed to the group where they were meeting in the Cathedral. "Tracey got a hold of her."
Fleur Delacour was a rather recent addition to the DA — Charlie and Bill had been brought in by the twins and that meant the saucy French witch had been as well.
The two Slytherin girls were going and so was Lisa, Graham, Neville, and Blaise. Sirius, Harry, Hermione, and Ron would, obviously, be in attendance.
"Kenny, Amanda, Katie," Harry said. "Since we're going to be over a relatively deserted island, I want you in the air as scouts and support. Angelina's gonna be there as well."
They spent the rest of the meeting looking at the renderings of the islands just for posterities sake while discussing how they thought it would go. It was a mixed bag of reactions but everyone realized what a boon trained hit-wizards would be.
"Aunt Amelia says he's a character and not necessarily a bad one but that's about all she'd say," Susan shrugged. "She told Sirius she didn't want to hear about it until they were all bound to contracts and secrecy clauses."
"Right," Harry agreed. "We have an hour before we have to go. Everyone put in their final appearances in the common room and let's get ready. We're wearing our robes, not the full armor."
Those who were staying behind helped the group prepare and made sure they had all of the contracts and gear they needed then went back to studying or working.
Most of them were preparing things for the centaurs like more of Nigel Wroxton's portable ward stones. Others, like Luna Lovegood, were working on far more interesting things…
…
It was nearing midnight on the island but the moon was bright enough. The sound of the ocean was the most prevalent thing followed by the squall of birds used to being undisturbed by man.
The fifteen members of the DA had arrived early and immediately realized it might be difficult to conduct a meeting on the beach in the dark with little else.
Thankfully, Hermione had thought ahead. She reached into an expanded pocket and pulled out a rug that was half the size of the Gryffindor common room, a large table, a handful of torches, and a tent with no walls so they could see in all directions.
"Nice," Harry said with a small smile.
"That's our Hermione," Ron said while smiling at the brunette witch.
"What?" she asked defensively. "Am I the only one who doesn't want to stand around in the dark?"
"No, no," Harry told her. "You're just the only one smart enough to have thought ahead."
"We're gonna start scouting the island," Angelina said as she glanced around.
"Alright," Harry agreed as he took stock of everyone.
Amanda, Angelina, Katie, and Kenny took off into the sky on racing quality brooms, not bothering with disillusionment charms. A few minutes later, they were content with their once over and began patrolling the length and width of the island in a grid pattern.
Angelina was the first to spot the new arrivals a couple hundred yards off of where they'd set up. It was Masson she encountered when she touched down after sending a signal to the other broom riders.
"Hello," she greeted politely. "We're set up about two hundred yards to the northwest of here."
He gave her an appraising look before nodding.
"You are flying the island?"
"There are four of us up in the air tonight," she confirmed. "We'll be staying around 30 or 40 meters up."
"Very well," he agreed.
More people began appearing and though she would have liked to stay and watch, she remounted her broom and took back to the skies.
Below, Masson watched with an intrigued look on his face. He had noticed the cut of the robes and the impressive body armor immediately; it was a uniform and a nice one at that.
He waited until the sixteen other men and women showed up before addressing them in low tones. They were a rag tag group. All of them were in various darker shades of color and were certainly armed to the teeth. A good many of them looked uninviting, scary, or just plain scarred.
They made their way towards the assembled group they could see and began the awkward introductions.
"Thank you for coming," Harry greeted, Sirius standing to his right with Ron on his left.
"And you for hosting," Masson returned surprisingly politely. "Shall we resume our previous discussion? They are all up to date."
"Sure," he agreed. "I'm Harry Potter, pleased to meet you all. From my understanding, many of you have families or loved ones being threatened by Voldemort? We're offering them and you a safe place to stay free of charge."
"If we fight," a Russian man growled brusquely.
"No," Harry said. "If they sign a secrecy contract and an oath to do no harm to the other people who live there. It's meant to be a refuge."
"There are many?" the same man asked. "Who live here?"
"Yes," he answered simply. "All of whom are afraid of, against, or at the very least neutral to Voldemort. Everyone there has sworn an oath never to join or support him. We have copies of the contracts here."
"More than one?"
Masson was content to let the Russian man press the questions as the others listened keenly.
For the most part, the students maintained their best stoic faces as they observed the faces of the adult men and women in front of them. Clearly, they were fighters and warriors.
On their parts, the other group observed the students with heavy scrutiny and some surprise at how well armed and geared up they were. They were obviously organized though young.
"The general secrecy contract that applies to all things relating to our interactions, organization, or those living in the sanctuary," Harry answered. "If you chose to join our organization, you would do so by signing an employment contract. Because of my titles, that grants certain protections to everyone who joins in my technical employ. Standard rate of pay is 25 galleons a week, every week, plus holiday bonuses, hazard pay, and medical care."
The last bit got an eyebrow raise. Medical care was a bit of a grey area in the wizarding world and was typically very expensive.
"Medical?" a different man prodded; he was a rugged looking American.
"We employ a full time healer and her apprentice for our infirmary," Graham answered as he worked closely with said healer. "Medical is provided for any who live there including your family and yourself whether or not you want to fight."
A blonde woman in baggy red cropped riding pants and a red leather corset spoke up next.
"And what about young children?" she asked edgily while frowning.
"We have classes four days a week with private tutors in magical and nonmagical subjects and there's always someone there to watch after the kids. There's also planned forays into the magical and nonmagical world to see movies, go to museums, get ice cream and the like," Lisa Turpin spoke enthusiastically before blushing. "Not that you care much about ice cream."
The blonde smirked in amusement.
"No but my kids might. I'm Marcy," she introduced. "Lucas said it's Fidelius protected — how many grounders?"
"Three and the secret keeper," Harry answered. "And we have a resident ward expert who assures me all the wards are still as strong as they were two years ago."
There were a few shifts and noises at that. Four was a significant number of people for a spell as unwieldy as the Fidelius. It's just too hard to coordinate the magic of four different people harmoniously. If it had been standing strongly for two years, they were indeed powerful wards.
"And if we wanted to fight without allying with you?"
"Then you fight without allying with us."
"And if we wanted to live there and fight without allying with you?"
"Then you live there and fight without allying with us," Harry answered deliberately. "You just won't be privy to the full extent of our organization."
"May we see these contracts?" Masson asked.
Fleur had the folder and handed him the three separated stacks.
"Employment, secrecy, and allegiance oaths, monsieur."
"Ah, another frenchman?"
"Oui," she agreed. "Fleur Delacour."
"Lucas Masson," he returned. "You are the daughter of Jean-Jacquard."
"The very same," she agreed.
He appraised her for a moment before nodding to himself and passing around the copies. There was some small discussions between some of the hit-wizards in foreign languages and whispered voices.
"These are very comprehensive for a student organization," Masson scrutinized.
"We take our security seriously," Blaise answered. "Not all of our members are students."
"Like me," Sirius barked with a bright grin and a wink towards Marcy.
She gave him a stony look but it seemed like they knew each other.
"And you think you're capable of fighting Death Eaters?"
"Some of us have before," Harry answered bluntly. "I've faced Voldemort four times since I've been eleven. I know what I'm facing. Every single one of us trains every day."
"And is this the entirety of your number?"
"No."
There was some shifting and looks of heavy consideration before the frenchman seemed to come to a decision.
"Saturday, those who will join you will be here before sundown with contracts in hand."
Harry nodded and shook Masson's hand politely.
"You have given us much to think about. You remind me much of your father," he told Harry, holding his gaze for am moment before looking away. "Mr. Black, it was a pleasure working with you again."
Harry was interested by that immediately but knew that now wasn't the time. He, like all of the DA, kept his features blank.
"You as well, Lucas, and thank you."
"Something tells me I will be the one to thank you," he murmured before turning to Harry. "Some of our number are leaving on timed portkey — are we able to remain here?"
"For as long as you need," he agreed, unconcerned.
Ron placed a hand on his ear, "Air 4, land to return."
The four on brooms landed quickly enough and joined the ranks with respectful nods towards the diverse assembly. In a moment and after a few more nods, they portkeyed out in cohesion leaving contemplative professionals in their wake.
…
The turnout on Saturday surprised them.
They arrived in the same place the tent had stood and were surprised to find Masson and all 16 of the collective were there. More surprising than that were the fifteen or so other people that were with them, some carrying luggage and others carrying cages and baskets for familiars.
Hermione blinked before shaking her head and stepping forward.
"Miss Granger," Masson greeted. "Everyone is here."
"And far too exposed," Ron muttered. "Let's get them out of here quick."
"We have acceptable temporary wards in place."
"They'd fall in seconds," Marcy, the blonde woman who seemed to favor dark red clothing, spoke up again. Two boys, one a year or two older than the other, were standing just behind her and were clearly her sons.
"Agreed, let's begin," Hermione started nervously before finding herself. "If I could have children and everyone who wants sanctuary on the left and anyone who intends to join our organization in the direct fight against Voldemort on the right."
From there, it was a simple matter of getting contracts signed. Some of the family members weren't English speakers and others were nervous and suspicious. All of the hit-wizards were choosing to fight and sign the DA contract which pleased Harry.
When Hermione was ready, she gestured to Luna who passed out lengths of silk rope to everyone.
Then, five DA members on the perimeter of the group raised their wands and produced their strongest soundproofing charm. Harry followed it with powerful privacy charms which Ron added his own to. If anyone had been listening, they would hear nothing now. They were taking no chances with the secret.
"Please focus on and remember this phrase," she requested, making sure to look at the children in particular. "Firewall Castle and Firewall Island are located in the Hebrides of Scotland."
Then, the portkeys activated and the DA were the only ones left on the beach. All of them followed immediately after except for Hermione and Harry. They'd decided it was probably a good idea to scrub the island of everyone's magical signature and portkey trail.
…
The portkeys landed the groups outside of the castle. It was sunset and the island was bathed in brilliant hues of red, yellow, and gold.
"Welcome to Firewall," Ron said. "If you'll follow me."
As he led them into the grand curved doors of the entryway, it was easily to tell they were impressed. The mahogany grand stair case swept upwards and balcony-like walkways allowed them to see all four of the main floors. Two DA members were waiting to get everyone settled in.
"If you're staying with family members, please follow me into the family wing," Jimmy Peakes spoke up from the right of the grand ballroom doors.
"If it's just you, I'll take you to the single rooms in the West Wing," Sean, his brother spoke up.
"Dinner is in thirty minutes," Ron added. "Sean and Jimmy will bring you there after you've had a chance to drop off your things."
There were a few murmurs but a large group eventually followed Jimmy while a smaller group followed Sean out. Ron waited for a few more minutes for the arrival of his two best mates.
"Beach scrubbed?" he asked, taking in their wearied appearance.
"Not a trace on the whole island," Hermione confirmed. "Even the ones in the air."
"Almost forgot about the broom-riders trails," the redhead said, giving his friends a proud look.
"Where's everyone?" Harry asked.
"Sean and Jimmy are showing them to their rooms then to dinner."
"I'm guessing everyone's coming to dinner tonight?" he asked.
"Everyone's very interested in the new arrivals," Hermione noted. "I'm sure they will be."
"I know the twins will be here," Ron agreed.
"Oh Merlin," Harry grumbled. "Let's go ward our plates early then."
"Sound plan, mate."
…
Dinner had gone surprisingly well. There had been a fair amount of awkward staring and some gawking but Mrs. Tolipan put a quick stop to that and got everyone settled in.
The kids, few that there were in the hit-wizard group, were quick to make friends with the kids that were already living at Firewall. From there, the parents started talking and everyone seemed to start settling in.
The tour came after dinner and was led by pretty much everyone who didn't have something to do following the meal. Harry walked with Masson directly behind the Quinn brothers and their wives (who were also sisters) that Hermione was showing around.
"I am very impressed, young man," Masson admitted in a measured voice. "I admit, I did not expect you to be so well prepared nor warded."
"You looked over the wards then?"
"Craven was running diagnostics as soon as the portkeys stopped spinning," he said wryly. "He was more than satisfied. Your wards are strong over the entire island."
"We update them as much as we can."
"I did not expect quite so many families," the frenchman commented as he stepped deftly out of the way of a toy train that was moving with entirely too much speed.
"Most of our students convinced their families to come," Harry said as he stepped around the child chasing the train. "Though we're always willing to take in more. Have you had a chance to visit your room yet?"
"More than adequate," he agreed. "Everyone is very pleased with their quarters, the families especially. I shall look forward to seeing more of this place. What is this meeting hall I hear of where the parents aren't allowed to go?"
Harry had to chuckle at that. "You sat through one dinner and you already know about that?"
"Younger siblings complain the loudest."
"Don't they?" Charlie Weasley commented as he approached the group. "My siblings whinging is never ending."
"Hey Charlie," Harry greeted. "Charlie Weasley, this is Lucas Masson."
"Welcome to the castle," the redhead greeted warmly. "Chie sent me to find you; she's in Hermione's den."
Hermione's den was a study that had been turned into a small library with a ring of desks covered in the bookworms research projects. She and Chie were currently working on translating the scrolls the Japanese witch had received not so long ago.
"Sure, thanks Charlie."
The redhead nodded and headed off. Harry stopped and turned to Masson.
"The DA has meetings in the ballroom but we've been holding those meetings in Hogwarts since the majority of us are there and the rest can portkey freely."
"You portkey freely into Hogwarts? All of you?"
"I'm Lord Gryffindor," he admitted with a shoulder shrug. "No use keeping that cat in the bag now, I suppose, though it's far from public knowledge. We should be having a full meeting tomorrow night around 8:00, we'll make sure someone arranges to bring you and your men."
"They are your men now."
Harry frowned and shook his head. "I don't know what they're capable of and I assume you have a pretty good idea. We'll talk about that tomorrow night though. Oh, and we'll make sure you have portkeys to here and to Hogwarts. All of the children and non-DA members will be getting portkeys tonight but they're different than ours. Can you let everyone else know to expect theirs tomorrow?"
"Of course," he agreed, shaking Harry's hand firmly. "Until tomorrow night, Monsieur Potter."
Harry left the man in that hall and made his way across the castle to Hermione's den. He found the slim Japanese woman in pajama bottoms and an evening robe poring over the fragile looking scroll.
"Hey Chie," he greeted. "Charlie said you wanted me?"
"Ah yes," she said, looking up and setting down her quill.
"Didn't you guys just get the scrolls? You don't have anything yet, do you?"
"No, no," she said. "Not much at least. We've figured out that you'll need to start taking a weekly cleansing potion."
"Cleansing what?"
"Your body and magic channels. You'll need to have taken them for at least two months before any of these rituals and it could take us that long to translate them," she explained. "Staying on them longer can't hurt you."
"So better to start now."
"Mhm," she agreed. "I will talk to Lanuaria about the proper potion and have a house-elf deliver it weekly for you to take before bed."
"Sure, thanks Chie," Harry said. "And thanks for spending so much time translating all of this. And for helping us find it in the first place."
"It is of much importance and is one of the few things I can do. You needn't thank me."
"Still. Don't know what I'd do without all this help," he said as he scratched his head. "And you've done more than just this, what with teaching us all how to do Occlumency."
Chie just smiled and looked back towards her research.
"There's much you do for us," was all she said as she picked up her quill. "And much still to be done."
"Yeah that's true," he agreed. "Well, I better get back to Hogwarts."
"See you soon," she waved as he nodded and left the room.
…
On Sunday the next night, Harry, Ron, Neville, Morag, Lilian, Seamus, Nigel, and Blaise forayed out into the forest followed by Katie, Amanda, and Justin on their brooms. It had been two weeks since their initial meeting with the centaurs and the time of their next meeting had come around.
They met in the first clearing that wasn't as deep into the forest as the centaurs preferred meeting grounds. Five warriors stood around Saram and Pavo.
"Greetings Elder Saram, Elder Pavo," Harry said respectfully while they all bowed.
"Lord Gryffindor," Saram returned. "Perhaps your compatriots would introduce themselves?"
"I'm Ron Weasley."
"Neville Longbottom."
"Morag Macdougal."
"Lilian Moon."
"Seamus Finnegan."
"Nigel Wroxton."
"I'm Blaise Zabini."
"Greetings to you all," Pavo returned, bowing his head.
"We have deliberated much on your alliance," Saram picked up. "And for many nights, there were those of us who were unconvinced."
Harry frowned at that but Pavo began speaking.
"They were unconvinced until they saw the ails of the sick being mended and tasted the fruits of trees we have not had. They were unconvinced until the spider population was decreased by half and until they tasted the waters of streams denied to us in past years. Never before has any British wizard paid reparations or made any amendments for wrongs done unto us and you, the youth of your generation, the only ones perhaps innocent of the crimes of your kind, have sought us out."
"For that," Saram picked up. "You will have the alliance of our tribes and the bows of the warriors under our command. We will fight to defend these forests and, if necessary, the grounds of the school and the town."
Harry tried not to smile but he knew that his happiness with the news showed on his face. That would make their lives much easier.
"It would be useful to our plans to know your numbers," Ron spoke up. "We've planned for the defense of the forest, grounds, and town but those plans change if you're willing to work with us when the time comes."
"You would like to coordinate with our commander?"
"If possible."
"I believe Balthazar will be willing to converse with you," Pavo agreed slowly. "He has no particular like or dislike for humans nor centaurs for that matter. His mind is always on mars."
"We made a portkey," Ron offered. "Into our place in the castle. The return location is set for this clearing. He's welcome to come there unless you'd rather meet in the forest."
"We will take your transportation," Pavo agreed, gesturing for one of the warriors to take the silver arrow. "And if Balthazar is not agreeable, we shall send you a missive by owl."
Ron nodded, looking satisfied. Saram turned his eyes towards Neville.
"It was your idea to construct the greenhouses, you said?"
"Yes, sir," Neville agreed sounding bashful but proud with his chin up.
"Our healers and herbalists were very impressed."
"Thank you, sir."
The centaur nodded and continued giving the assembled members a measuring look until he was distracted by a light throat clearing.
Ron was pulling a shrunken trunk out of his pocket that was clearly much larger than its current size.
"I brought some more supplies to help exterminate the spiders. The instructions are attached and the trunk will expand if you give it a tap on the lid."
There was some definite interest apparent in the ranks of the warriors as they looked at the box with a gleam in their eyes. They definitely didn't doubt the effectiveness of the wizards tools and though they preferred not to be indebted to their lesser counterparts, they wouldn't be able to get rid of the acromantula without them.
"One other thing," Nigel spoke up nervously after glancing at Ron for confirmation.
"Yes, young man?"
"I've been working on these ward stones," he began nervously. "You place them around the perimeter and they ward off predators and insects, prevent uncontrolled fires, trap heat or cool air depending on the temperature, filter diseases and the like out of the air, and they'll alert you if they're breached by anything dangerous. They won't stop anything determined but they will give you a heads up. It was just this idea I had and I thought it might come in handy in the forest."
It was clear that the boy was both nervous and proud of his achievement as he pulled out a shrunken crate.
"It'll return to full size in about an hour," he explained as he handed it to the same warrior who had the portkey. "But there's about a hundred stones in there and some instructions on activation and placement."
Saram gave him a measuring look and then nodded in acquiesce.
"This is something our own spell masters would be most interested in," he agreed slowly. "And we thank you for the…gift as further proof of our alliance."
"Thank you for meeting with us again," Harry said, bowing his head.
"And you for your assistance."
After everyone finished their farewells, the DA portkeyed out of the forest leaving only contemplative centaurs in their wake.
…
A half an hour later, everyone was assembled in the Cathedral at Hogwarts including non-students like Fleur and the older Weasleys.
Andromeda Tonks and her daughter were both in attendance for the first time as well. They hadn't had a full meeting since before the summer holidays and most of the students were excited. Plus, this would be the first gathering with the seventeen hit-wizards in attendance.
"Still waiting on Sirius?" Scarlett Lympsham asked.
"He's picking up the mercs," Blaise responded. "Have you seen Tracey?"
"She's here somewhere," the strawberry blonde Slytherin answered. "She and Daphne were poking around the classrooms in the Chamber of Secrets."
Near the front of the room, Harry and Hermione were having a rushed conversation.
"I'm just saying, Mione-"
"You're not having this argument with me, Potter," she growled back.
"But-"
"We're already at three DA practices a week. One day for Quidditch practice is enough."
"I'm not suggesting Quidditch practices on two days; I'm suggesting Quidditch practices twice on one day, before and after lunch maybe."
"Once a week is enough, Harry," she said. "Maybe twice a day on match weeks, if that."
"Fine," he agreed with a huff.
"There's just not enough time in our days."
"I know, I know," he waved off. "You get to tell Ron though; this was mostly his idea."
"How either of you have time for Quidditch is a mystery to me."
"How do you find time to reread Hogwarts: A History?"
"That's supplemental reading, Harry."
"Sure it was but not after the first two times you read it."
Their banter was cut short by the arrival of Sirius and the 17 new members. All of them were shocked to see such a large amount of people gathered in the obviously well-used room. Some were in Hogwarts uniforms and some were in their DA robes or armor. Tonks was even in her auror robes.
"Hello," Harry greeted as he strode over.
"Harry," Sirius greeted warmly, pulling his godson into a hug. "We need to talk after this meeting, pup."
"Should I be concerned?"
"No," the man answered. "And it could wait if you have something planned."
"No," he shook his head. "Late dinner?"
"Perfect."
"Lord Potter," Lucas Masson greeted with a nod.
"Just Harry, please," he corrected.
"Is there any agenda to these meetings?"
"We have a few special teams and projects that we're going to discuss and hopefully get some new ideas for. A few people might have something to add or address the group about near the end. After, we'll do some group hand-to-hand and spell-accuracy practice. I know for sure Lanuaria's going to teach those interested in healing something new."
Most of the hit-wizards behind him nodded at that, satisfied that they had an idea of what to expect.
"We're waiting on one more person if you want to get settled in front of the platform," Harry recommended as most of the members who were milling about had started moving towards their preferred seat.
Everyone was settled just as Amelia Bones portkeyed into the landing area.
"Evening, Amelia," Hermione, the closest, greeted.
The austere woman nodded and shifted her monocle as she gazed around the room. Her eyes quickly landed on the new contingent of people of whom she recognized many. She was obviously recognized by most of them too judging by their well-concealed but visible surprise.
"Madam Bones," a broad-shouldered muscular British man greeted with shock in his voice.
"Mr. Nathan Kennedy," she returned. "I see you have found new employment after all."
"Yes, ma'am," he agreed. "Didn't think I'd see you here."
"Mr. Potter has quite a few surprises, I'm sure," she said as she found a seat by her niece. "Perhaps we should begin?"
"Right," Hermione stepped up and sat behind a conjured table facing the group. "Let's get some preliminaries out of the way. Can everyone who doesn't have a pendant, ring, and journal raise their hands?"
There was some confused muttering before all of the hit-wizards, Tonks, and her mother raised their hands. They were all floated a velvet bag containing the items which they opened with some amount of surprise. None of them were expecting such powerful amulets nor rings.
"These are standard issue?" Deirdre, one of the hit-wizards, asked, receiving a nod. "A woman could get used to this."
"The full range of their use is marked on a page in those journals. Please learn the vibration patterns for the rings so you don't miss any communications and set the portkey phrase on both pieces of jewelry."
Once that had been taken care of, the brunette continued.
"The first thing we wanted to talk about today is the Chamber of Secrets, one of our largest Hogwarts-related undertakings," Hermione said. "We talked about it during the last meeting but there's still no set decisions yet."
Andromeda showed clear markers of surprise at the mention of the legendary cavern as did a couple of the British mercs.
"For those of you that don't know, we've reclaimed and refurbished the Chamber of Secrets located nearly three miles underneath this school. It's fully equipped as a sustainable bunker to house the entire school. Rather than wait for an attack and risk student injury evacuating them to the Chamber in the midst of the bedlam of a Death Eater attack, it's been suggested that we move all of the students, professors, and classes there upon their return from Christmas break."
"This chamber — is large enough to house all of the students, da?"
"Yes, Mr. Craven," Hermione answered. "Sally-Anne, the 3D blueprint of the Chamber, please?"
Said girl withdrew a piece of parchment from a folder in front of her then tapped it, causing a projected image to appear in the air. The expanded image conveyed the size and span of the chamber quite well and was carefully studied by the new members until the spell was cancelled.
"The greenhouses are up and running," Neville reported. "And the elves have enough dry foods and preserved things that we could turn and store three harvests while still feeding the school."
"The hospital wing is fully equipped," Lanuaria spoke up from her place near a window; she rarely interacted during these meetings out of a lack of need. Her white hair was pulled into a crisp bun and it looked silver when the light shined through it. "And the two potions labs are up to par."
"Sleeping arrangements?" Marcy asked curiously.
"The dorms are all completely finished. We're working on Professors quarters and offices right now," Megan Jones spoke up. "Once it seemed like they'd be teaching in the Chamber in the long-term, we thought it prudent to add those rooms."
"What about the untrustworthy students? I still don't know that we can get away with sedating suspected dark students," Sophie Roper spoke up.
"Well we can't have them running around what's meant to be a secure bunker," Angelina retorted. "It's bad enough they're running around Hogwarts now."
"If they wanted into the Chamber, they can't be loyal to the Dark Lord," Harry said with a tone of finality.
"It's not like they do want into it," Mandy Brocklehurst said. "It would be sort of pressed on them. What if students would rather go home than live underground? Why not just send dark students back to their families?"
"Because they'd know that Hogwarts students are in a bunker of some sort," Ron answered. "We lose the element of surprise."
"Surprising them with what?" Mandy pressed. "An empty school? Sounds like a less appealing target to me — isn't that what we want to be?"
"Well-" that stopped Ron short. "I guess I just assumed, after the prophecy and all, that we'd want to draw Voldemort here to finish him off."
"That's mad," the girl said seriously. "We're nowhere near ready for that and it would be idiocy to draw a battle towards a school. Who are you, Dumbledore?"
Ron's faced twisted at that but he couldn't disagree.
"If we let them go home and tell their parents the whole school is hiding in the Chamber of Secrets, that could incite Voldemort's wrath. Something tells me he's probably a bit possessive of that chamber, Slytherin thing and all," Harry added.
"They wouldn't know it's the Chamber of Secrets if we don't announce it as that," Hermione pointed out. "Only those already inside would know it's name. Those sent home wouldn't have a single clue."
"I think Voldemort would put two and two together — underground would be the only place to house all of the castle occupants and he knows the Chamber envelops most of the available underground space even with expansion charms."
"If any dark students are let in, we chance more information getting leaked to Voldemort. Parchment and owls aren't the only ways to communicate in the wizarding world," Daphne added. "Better to turn them away entirely."
"It's more ethical than drugging them and safer too," Madam Hooch said in agreement with Daphne. "Better to not have them in the building at all. And dosing dark students with the draught of living death, while within our rights, still makes us responsible for them. If technically innocent minors died while imprisoned by Lord Potter's staff…it'd be quite bad."
"That's if we move the students there in the first place. How would that even work?" Kevin Entwhistle asked.
"Wouldn't that have to go through the Board of Governors?" Andromeda asked with interest.
"No," Zara Valli answered. "It could but we would go to the Headmaster. He has full control over the location of classes and dormitories."
"Would he agree to that?" the woman asked, still not fully in the know about Harry's lordships.
"With the proper application of leverage…" said young man spoke up. "Most likely. In the interest of sharing information, I should tell you all that I'm Lord Potter Black Ravenborough Gryffindor and that I own 2/3's of Hogwarts and the other 1/3 is lost."
"So you could dissolve the board…"
"But would have to step into the public eye," the young Lord completed Andromeda's sentence. "Which we would rather happen next year than now."
"So if Dumbledore agreed to it, it would work?" Madam Hooch asked.
"Moving the students and staff would work, yes. Classes would be the biggest issue," Lisa Turpin noted. "Or at least scheduling them with the amount of classrooms we have. Charms and Transfiguration will have to share a room and Herbology will be greenhouse practicals most days…"
"But would that be what is best for the students?" Lanuaria asked. All of them gave the witch their attention since she rarely spoke up. "Many are already feeling the tensions of the war and while the Chamber would increase their safety, it might lower their morale. Young children might find it hard to cope with a sudden lack of freedom or outdoors."
"Is there that great of a likelihood of attack on the school itself?" Falcon, a hulking sandy blonde man, spoke up for the first time. "Voldemort's forces are growing, true, but not strong enough to attack here yet."
"Yes but he could have locked down his alliances with the giants by February," Gareth Pewsey started. "Once he has them, smaller groups will join his fold like a domino effect."
"But still it will not be enough to take castle," Craven opined in his thick Russian accent. "Next Fall at soonest."
"So we put off moving the students until the beginning of the next year," Ron said. "That'll give us time to add more classrooms and prepare the rest of the castle to be shut down."
"And we can add a pool to the chamber," Lavender Brown, who helped decorate the Chamber, chirped brightly.
"We could tap into the natural springs below the castle," Megan mused, tilting her head from side to side. "That's how the basilisk was getting water."
"We'll leave that up to the Chamber group," Harry waved off. "So we'll move the students into the bunker next year?"
"That'll give us all summer to talk politics and securing the headmaster's cooperation," Zara added.
"So, agreed?" Harry pressed.
Various murmurs of agreement went around the room.
"What about the centaur meeting?" Amelia asked.
Harry couldn't help but smile brightly at that. "It went great. We have their alliance and their bows if we need them."
"We might even be meeting with their military commander," Ron added, looking towards Sally-Anne. "So we'll have a better idea of the number of defenders available in the forest and the side of Hogsmeade that borders it."
"They agreed to defend the town as well?"
"And the castle too," Harry answered Amelia.
"Incredible," the woman muttered. "The Ministry hasn't been able to get so much as a returned letter out of them in more than twenty years."
"I don't think the Ministry really tried," Lilian Moon said as she shook her head. "It's not like it was that hard to figure out what they wanted."
"You speak of the tribe of half-horsemen in the forest surrounding the school?" Masson asked with a slight frown of confusion. The others in his group matched his expression.
"The DA's been trying to foster an alliance with them this year because they are the most intelligent civilized forest inhabitants and they have an interest in protecting it," Hermione answered.
"The British Ministry has been trying to get the centaurs to work with them for ages," Nathan Kennedy said. "How'd you manage it in a few months?"
"We gave them what they needed," Harry shrugged.
"To start with, we bought all of the land parcels owned by the Ministry within the forest and reopened them to the public, so to say," Lilian answered. "Longbottom set up three greenhouses full of foods, plants, and medicinal herbs that are rare or inaccessible to the centaurs. Nigel over there came up with a bunch of portable ward stones to improve forest life. The Weasley twins provided them all of the ammunition they needed to eradicate the acromantula population."
"And Neville and Morag saved the chief's granddaughter from a whole mess of spiders," Seamus added. "Although that was an accident, of course."
"It did get our foot in the door though, so to say," Lilian said.
"Ingenious," Masson complemented. "And fruitful."
"When are we meeting their military commander?" Sally-Anne asked.
"We gave them a portkey to use whenever," Ron answered. "They have to talk to the bloke and if he's willing to work with us, he'll be here. If not, they'll send us a letter."
The girl nodded and made a few notations.
"How are the team-building exercises coming?" Amelia asked. "Practicing the new shield formations?"
"We have team exercises weekly," Harry said. "Everyone's coming together really well though. We're going to do some large scale practices today so we'll go over that more later."
"How's the ritual scroll translations coming, Hermione, Chie?" Lisa asked.
"Slowly," the older woman answered. "We could use a hand if you're interested."
"Runic translations?" Bill Weasley asked. "I wouldn't mind lending a hand with that."
"You any good with Japanese?" Hermione asked.
"I've a decent understanding of Asiatic runes."
"And I could learn," Lisa said.
"I help," Craven volunteered.
Chie and Hermione both blinked at the burly Russian man before nodding.
"Meet us in the entry hall of Firewall tomorrow night after dinner," Hermione said. "We'll bring you all up to speed."
"Blaise, how're things with the Castle Security team?" Harry asked.
"Quite well," he answered. "We're mostly supplementing prefect patrols and monitoring the forest perimeter. We've been sending some people into the pubs around Hogsmeade to keep their ear to the ground but we haven't picked up anything yet."
"Might be an unnecessary risk, students in town so late," Andromeda voiced.
"We thought so too, Madam Tonks," Blaise agreed. "That's why we've had Oliver Wood, Bill, Charlie, Angie, or whomever is on hand to do it in disguise."
The stern woman nodded, satisfied with that.
"How are all of the prefects doing?" Ron asked, a Gryffindor prefect himself.
"All of the puffs know what to do in case of an emergency evacuation and they know to look to DA prefects and upper-year members."
"None of them think it's weird that the professors haven't spoken to them?" Harry asked.
He wasn't involved with getting the younger years (and even upper years) to trust and listen to DA directions in case of an attack.
"All of the Ravenclaws think our directions come from Professor Flitwick," Terry Boot answered. "We've sort of…mislead them."
"So did we," Hermione said with a somewhat guilty look. "Though it's a tad ridiculous that the professors haven't actually spoken to the school at large about in-case of attack plans."
"That's because they plan to lock the students in their dormitories," Madam Hooch said. "Regardless of the vulnerability of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers."
"Slytherin's are at risk of a cave in too," Sophie said.
"Strategically speaking, Hufflepuff is the safest structurally but it's far too close to the main entry point for invading forces," Ron spoke up. "It's illogical to trap the students and there'd be no one there to enforce order, calm students, or coordinate with the outside."
"That's why we've done what we've done," Sally-Anne waved off. "Their stupid planning or lack thereof isn't the problem. Getting the students there without interference from the professors is."
"It shouldn't be," Blaise, a prefect, answered. "All of the students will follow our directions."
"Same for ours," the various house prefects agreed.
"At most, they'll seal the dorms," Hermione said. "Harry can unseal them no problem since the castle answers to him. Keep in mind, it might not end up mattering. The students might already be in the Chamber."
"True," Harry agreed before turning to Andromeda. "How are things going in the Wizengamot, Andromeda?"
"Slowly," the woman answered. "Fudge has regained his footing after the Umbridge debacle; with his undersecretary in Azkaban for two years and the appeal period at it's end, the spectacle has died down in the press."
"Does that mean you can take over voting for the Ravenborough seat? I'd like it in play before the departmental budget votes in December."
"Now would be the best time, yes," the woman agreed. "There's been much talk about that name since the source of the DMLE funds increase was revealed. Perhaps it would be wiser to give that voting block to Augusta."
"The Blacks are playing the neutrals well at the moment; association with a wildcard like a reemerging family could send the wrong message especially as the Black family has just regained its footing," Zara agreed. "It's wouldn't be as strange for the Longbottom's nor as alarming."
"Neville? You think your Gran is up to it?"
"She might be," he agreed. "It might be time to tell her a little more though. She's getting antsy now that tensions are rising — it might do her some good to know she's involved and helping in a very direct way."
"Is Dumbledore still prodding her?" Lisa asked.
"He was even before he found out she was the Potter proxy," he confirmed.
"We'll go round and talk to her in the next couple of weeks then, Nev," Harry said. "Andromeda, would you be adverse to joining us?"
"Not at all."
"Good," Harry nodded. "Now we need to talk about Halloween; that's just a few days off."
"We know he's going to do something," Tracey Davis opined. "He has every other year, nearly."
"It still feels too soon for an attack on Hogsmeade," Ron spoke up. "But he'll certainly do something."
"The Ministry is anticipating a rash of attacks on muggle villages," Amelia said. "We're mobilizing large forces of aurors that'll be ready to respond to an attack in two minutes or less."
"What if he chooses to go after somewhere like Diagon or St. Mungo's?"
"We have twenty five aurors stationed at each location as well as fifty for the ministry itself. The rest of our force, including hit-wizards, are ready to move in case of an attack."
"How many attacks would it take to overwhelm you?" Ron asked. "If he attacked three villages, would you have enough people to respond to each?"
"Yes," she answered without pause. "We'd be stretched at five."
"He doesn't have enough forces to launch a full scale attack on a magical location while hitting five muggle villages."
"Unless he goes in for smash-and-burn destruction," Gareth disagreed. "Ten Death Eaters, all casting fiendfyre could go from one town to the next before aurors could respond. They could easily hit five, six, seven towns."
"We haven't received any intelligence so we've done all we can do to prepare," Amelia said. "The obliviation squads are at the ready and we've already contacted our muggle liaisons to warn them of the possibly impending violence."
"We need to be doing something similar," Harry said. "If a muggle town, the ministry, or Diagon is attacked, we can't do anything. Hogsmeade and the castle are a different matter. That's why we're going to spend tonight doing squad versus squad maneuvers."
The meeting went from there as the tables were cleared away and the room devolved into flashes of light.
Even the mercenaries and hit-wizards got involved, sharing tips and teaching more advanced hand to hand combat moves. They hadn't expected the teens to be so physically active. This was the largest meeting they'd ever had and Harry was proud to call it a success.
…
"I'm not going to lie to you, Harry," Sirius began with uncharacteristic seriousness. "I wanted to have dinner tonight so we could talk about Remus."
"Sirius-"
"I know you've already told me your reservations but I think enough is enough, Harry. Aside from that one time in your third year, what reason has he given you to mistrust him?"
"Aside from the first thirteen years of my life where I didn't know he existed? You'd think he would have had some interest in looking after me."
Sirius looked a bit stuck on that one. He could see that this was something the teen had clearly thought about for awhile.
"He was so quick to shame me with their memory and to talk about seeing me as a baby but he never made any effort even once I was in the wizarding world."
"Maybe that's something you should ask him about."
"We're not close like that, Sirius," the teen said. "I don't expect him to care anyhow."
"If you're not close and you don't expect him to care, why are you holding it over his head? He's unhappy in the Order and with Dumbledore but he could be valuable as far as werewolf liaisons go."
"What's his problem with Dumbledore?"
"The old man has him reaching out to the large packs with offers of alliances but he isn't actually offering the werewolves anything," Sirius explained. "Meanwhile, Fenrir Greyback has been making the rounds again and trying to scare them into compliance. With no better option, what are they gonna do? Dumbledore's not even going so far as to make empty promises. He's just making a fool out of Remus in the eyes of the werewolf packs."
Harry rubbed his face and looked down at the butternut squash soup before grunting.
"I guess maybe I am kind of holding a grudge over nothing."
"Remus' tattle-tale tendencies can rub anyone the wrong way."
"Another reason I'm hesitant to meet him," Harry added. "What if he goes right to Dumbledore?"
"We're obviously going to make him sign a secrecy oath, Harry."
"But what if he refuses? And goes to Dumbledore saying we asked him to sign one and hinted at weird things? That's the last thing we need."
"Remus is my oldest and best friend, Harry," Sirius assured him. "If you think I don't have a plan, think again."
"Fine," he agreed. "Just give me a week or so. Until Halloween tensions are over."
"You got it, kiddo," the man agreed as he broke a loaf of bread in half. "I'll get a contract from Hermione so it's ironclad. Now let's talk about better things — like girls…"
"Sirius," Harry groaned.
…
Halloween fell on a Wednesday so it was a tense bunch of students that attended meals and classes. Dinner was the most nerve wracking.
Despite the merry-making, sweets, and decorative treats, they were waiting with bated breath for the barest signs of anything. All of them had been wearing earbuds all day and someone was manning the maps in the Cathedral at all times.
"Eight Death Eaters attacking a muggle town," Zacharias reported during the feast.
Everyone shifted and stopped eating but no one moved.
"Aurors deployed," Amelia's quiet whisper was heard quite clearly by them all.
"Two Death Eaters apparated out," the Hufflepuff continued reporting.
"Six captured," Amelia said a couple minutes later.
Attacks on two more muggle towns followed; Harry's scar was tingling painfully by the last one but he could tell it was just dull satisfaction as the Dark Lord received reports.
Right as dinner let out, and a third muggle town was attacked, Kevin Entwhistle came on the line. He had elected to skip dinner and remained in the Cathedral on watch as well.
"Guys," he said in a worried voice. "The wards on Diggory Manor are triggering."
Harry paused only for a minute before he and every other DA member began quickly but discreetly making their way to the Cathedral either on foot or via portkey in a bathroom stall. Hufflepuffs went to their dorms and secured their bed curtains to avoid suspicion.
…
"Jimmy, get to Firewall and warn Lanuaria she might have patients tonight," Ron directed.
"Flora, Hestia," Blaise directed to the two other Castle Security members. "Double up on your patrols tonight. Halloween isn't over and we're not invulnerable to attack by any means."
"Squads one, two, three, four, and five," Harry called out as Hermione sent out a signal on the rings to those DA members on Firewall island. "Form up. We've got 25 Death Eaters on the map tonight; he isn't playing around."
The twins arrived and were very quickly briefed as were all of the mercenaries. In less than two minutes, all of the squads and fifteen of the adult hit-wizards were in their deep purple battle robes. Their hoods were secured. The broom squad (squad five), whom the twins were joining, had their top of the line brooms in hand.
"The wards on the manor have fallen," Sally-Anne briefed the 58 battle ready people in front of her.
The mercenaries had been added into squad four, Harry with them.
"Squads one and two will land on either side of the door; squad four will land directly in front of the doors. We're sending squads three and five in to secure the perimeter a minute in advance."
"We've practiced this people," Ron took up. "Our main priority is securing Amos Diggory and his wife, Mary. Thanks to Cedric, we know they'll be on the second floor in the wall-vault in the master bedroom closet. Don't pull your punches tonight."
"The aurors will be ready to mobilize in six minutes," Amelia said heatedly over their comms. "Do not confront these Death Eaters."
"We told you, we'd defend our own, Amelia," Harry said, shaking his head. "We can't wait a second longer — the aurors are already spread too thin and we're better equipped right now. First teams, activate your portkeys and find your footing. Team five, try to find out which window is the master bedroom. Go, go, go."
…
The grass outside of the English manor in which the Diggory's lived was lightly smoking. There was no fire — it was simply an after effect of powerful wards being decimated.
Team three, lead by Zara Valli, had landed outside where the wards existed and quickly moved closer to the edges of the property while donning invisibility charms. The hedges and manicured gardens surrounding the manor provided further cover.
"Count twenty on the doors," Oliver Rivers reported over his headset.
"Five more under disillusionment spells," Katie Bell reported. "There's two on the other side of the fountain, Luna."
Luna and Nigel Wroxton communicated with silent hand signals before silently approaching the signatures of the Death Eaters. With twin blasts of a colorful spell, the two invisible Death Eaters were down with a concussion.
"We've got the other three," Scarlett Lympsham reported as she shared looks with the redheaded twins.
"Squads one, two, and four are ready to portkey out. They'll land in a half circle around the doors," Sally-Anne said.
"They've breached the manor proper," Zara said, anticipation rising in her chest.
"Final teams are a go," Ron called out grimly.
A moment later, the three squads were whisked away. Ron frowned as he watched his two best friends, Harry and Hermione, disappear. He knew he was needed here though.
Zara saw them arrive and so too did the Death Eaters. The dark wizards were forced to duck out of the way of twenty multicolored blasts of light; six of them fell in the initial blast while four more disappeared up the stairs as the dust settled.
The remaining ten weren't prepared for the continued onslaught they faced. None of their spells made it through the shields raised by squads one and two while powerful spells from Harry, the adult wizards, and an infuriated Megan Jones brought down at least four more of them. The rest triggered their portkeys.
"Four portkeys triggered out," Ron reported. "There's still four upstairs."
"Spell-fire from the master bedroom," Katie said intently. "Merlin-" she stuttered for a moment before continuing. "Bellatrix LeStrange herself is here. They're still trying to break into the wall-vault I think."
"Squad one and two, secure the downstairs," Harry ordered. "Squad three and five, secure the perimeter. Get me anti-portkey and apparition wards — they are not taking the Diggory's from us now. Amelia, ETA on the aurors?"
"Four minutes," the woman answered tersely. "Injuries?"
"Not so much as a scratch on any of us," Susan answered her aunt calmly.
"Not true," Wayne Hopkins protested. "One of these damn rosebushes got me."
"It's not over yet," Harry growled. "Let's move; up the stairs, first corridor on the right."
"There's a Death Eater at the end of the hall," Justin Steele, one of the air squad, reported. "I can see him through the window."
Megan directed Eddie, Mandy, Michael, and Lavender to secure the stair case just as they felt their wards go up.
Darby Benedict, one of the hit-wizards, cast a complicated illusion which he made walk around the corner down the hall from the master bedroom. With the Death Eater distracted sending spells at an illusion, he fell (literally) to an ankle-level cutting curse and a bludgeoning curse from Megan.
Their way to the master bedroom was clear. Three Death Eaters and more than fifteen of them; more than even numbers but they couldn't all get into a room at once. They couldn't rely on shields because Bella was prone to throw an Unforgivable or two. Or twenty.
"Katie, Justin," Harry murmured quietly. "I need a flash bomb or two thrown into the master bedroom."
"We're ready."
"On your count then," the ebony haired teen responded as they got in position around the cracked door.
"3, 2, 1," the sound of breaking glass signified the end of their count.
Right as they heard the devices hit the floor, they heard the crack of the wards surrounding the wall-vault.
The muted sounds of a woman's panicked screaming could be heard through the still physically closed vault door. The dark wizards (and witch) were distracted by the explosion of the flash bang.
It gave Harry, Megan, and eight of the mercenaries time to enter the bedroom. By the time Bellatrix and her compatriot, whom they assumed was the ward breaker, realized what was going on, they were cornered. With the vault door still closed, they weren't worried about catching the Diggory couple in the crossfire. Wards down or not, it was still impervious to spell-fire. Bellatrix and the scrawny wizard fell to no less than twenty cutters, blasters, and percussion curses. They and four others from the entry hall were the only casualties.
"All Death Eaters accounted for?" Ron asked.
"Aurors expected in two minutes," Sally-Anne called out.
"All accounted for," Susan agreed on the ground floor.
"So are the five on the grounds," Katie Bella agreed.
"Get those two downstairs," Harry said to Connor and Murphy Quinn about the Death Eaters in the bedroom and in the corridor. "Everyone, downstairs. Hermione, meet me in the entry hall."
"What about the Diggory's?" Megan asked as she looked towards the ruined closest.
"They're most likely fine," Harry answered. "The aurors will be here soon — we can't kidnap them and we can't convince them right now. We have to go."
"But-"
"Megan, now. They're safe," he said firmly. "Go."
The girl frowned but nodded and triggered her portkey. After that, Harry and Hermione hurried to erase all traces of them being there. It was difficult with such a large estate so they had elected to do a full cleanse together in a short ritual. It would erase all evidence of transportation and magical signatures including those of the Death Eaters. It wouldn't matter though since all of them were marked.
"Aurors ready to mobilize," Amelia said.
They began hurrying in the final stages of their cleansing ritual, almost finished.
"They'll be arriving in three, two, one-"
Once again, Harry and Hermione left as soon as the aurors arrived. Their portkey and apparition wards dropped as their cleansing spell took effect.
All that was left for the aurors to find were trussed up prisoners, dead Death Eaters, and two terrified homeowners.
…
"-and of all the reckless, life-endangering stunts I've ever seen, this takes the cake," the monocled woman ranted the next night after dinner; all of those who had participated in last nights attack were there.
"Amelia," Harry finally cut the ranting woman off. "We did exactly what we trained for. We grossly outnumbered them and the only…casualties were the Death Eaters. They would have had Mr. and Mrs. Diggory before you'd even arrived and you know it."
"The aurors were overwhelmed by the muggle attacks; six different towns, two of which burned out completely."
"That's why we were ready. We told you, we'd protect our own. That's what we're here to do and that's what we're going to do. How are the Diggorys?"
"They're as well as can be expected," she answered. "And considering to leave Britain, from my understanding."
"Do they know anything about us?"
"Oh quite a bit, in fact," Amelia answered. "Apparently, they took to muggle style surveillance through a muggle born company and watched the entire attack unfold."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Oh dear," Hermione muttered.
"Oh yes," the woman told them. "They've elected not to submit the 'video' as evidence considering the fact that they were rescued but they did let me see it."
"We should probably talk to them," Harry said as he scratched his head.
"I do believe they'd have an interest in thanking you, yes."
"Are they back in their manor?"
"They're returning tonight in another hour against their better judgment. They're still thinking about leaving Britain."
"Do you think you could have them meet us at Calypso's Candle off that side street?" Harry asked.
"I suppose I could have them accompany me…"
"Then we'll meet them there in an hour," the teen said as he sighed. "Let me go change. Hermione, Megan, you two want to come along? You know them, right?"
"Yeah, met them once or twice in the summers."
"Then you two get ready as well. Bring a dark cloak."