Chapter 18
Harry plopped down in a squishy chair next to a pile of parchments that he was fairly certain Hermione was lurking behind somewhere. He grabbed a hand full of the papers to see just what she was working on so diligently. Some of them were complex diagrams of magical objects that Harry had never seen before and a few that he had, like a sneakoscope. Others were spells, potions, and lists of exotic materials that Harry also was mostly unaware of.
"What is all this stuff?" he asked.
"Fred and George sent it along with a list of credentials of the new people they've recruited," Hermione replied, "Some of the new recruits sent us whatever they thought might be useful."
"Are we sure that these people are reliable and not dark spies?" Harry asked.
"Well that's part of the reason they're sending us these backgrounds on them. Plus each person is isolated for now, none of them have much knowledge of our overall operations. Besides, Fred and George have only managed to recruit four people so far," Hermione said. Harry raised his eyebrows with faint surprise. "Honestly Harry did you really expect people just to uock to our banner for no reason?
These four wouldn't even have joined except they saw first hand our fight in Diagon Alley."
"We should be able to recruit quite a few students here in Hogwarts from the D.A. membership." Harry said.
"Yeah hopefully and we need to move swiftly to call another
D.A. before all these bloody aurors somehow manage to foil us. They could seize the Room of Requirement any time for
all we know. I'm sure that foul Umbridge told the Ministry all about the room." Hermione said.
"Did you say something about the D.A.?" Neville asked. He and Ginny had just come down their respective staircases. Harry and Hermione looked at each other meaningfully. It was still early enough in the morning that it would probably be safe to discuss their impending dissolution of the D.A. with their friends.
"This will be the final D.A. meeting," Hermione said bluntly. Harry had planned to dance around the details of their plans but Hermione insisted through their mind link that Neville and Ginny had a right to know ahead of time.
"But why? We need the D.A. now more than ever. Tonks is a good teacher but you and Harry..." Neville protested.
Hermione held up her hand to indicate she would explain.
"The D.A. is no longer sufficient for our fight against Voldemort so Harry and I have decided a more direct approach is required. D.A. isn't being disbanded its being replaced."
"All D.A. members will be given the opportunity to join the Bearers of the Light," Harry said with a sense of pride at the uedgling group Hermione had envisioned to replace her first idea, the D.A.
Neville goggled at them, "Really? How do you guys know them? They're the ones that saved me and gran in Diagon Alley."
Hermione smirked, "Didn't you notice anything strange about those two?"
Neville shook his head. "I was too busy thrashing around on the ground to see much. Although, now that you mention it I thought it was strange that only one of them fought. Gran was a little miffed that the wizard didn't even help the witch."
"The wizard couldn't help, he isn't of age yet," Hermione grinned.
Neville's jaw dropped, "It was you two?"
"Why didn't you tell me? Ron's cover story was horrible by the way. I thought you two were off, er..." Ginny trailed off sheepishly at Harry and Hermione's twin glares. Thankfully Neville seemed oblivious to Ginny's incorrect guess and near outing of their relationship.
"We needed to keep it quiet while it's in the development stage. We're going to eventually displace the Order and the Ministry as the leading faction against Voldemort. Not that it will be difficult as ineffective as their resistance is at the moment." Hermione said.
Ginny and Neville looked uncomfortable in the face of the Ministry and especially the Order being spoken of in such unuattering terms. Hermione took out a box and enlarged it to accommodate her mass of papers. Harry helped her shovel them into it as they continued to talk in low tones to Neville and Ginny.
"Planning to take over the world?" Ron asked obnoxiously as he drug himself down the stairs.
"Glad to see you could finally make it," Ginny replied. It wasn't really late but she loved tweaking her brother.
"We can't all be so energetic," Ron bit back somewhat more rudely than necessary.
"Comon Ron, we were just telling them about the Light Bearers and as a founding member you should be in on it," Harry said consolingly.
"He's not really a founding member," Hermione said.
"Aw, Hermione, cut him some slack, all our friends are founding members even if they can't handle a controlling emblem," Harry replied. The emblems were difficult to create and dangerous should they fall into the wrong hands. Hermione was adamant that only she and Harry were strong enough to hold them.
"I suppose but we can't let everyone think that they have a veto on our operations. Ron has all the details including the prophecy, no other members do," Hermione reminded him.
"No thanks, I'm going to be hearing enough lectures today without adding one. We should be getting to charms anyway or else old Flitwick will bust a vessel." Ron replied.
"Shouldn't we eat first?" Neville asked.
"Be my guest," Ron replied. "I'm going to charms early so I can finish my essay, I'll eat later."
Everyone goggled at him. Ron never missed a meal when he could help it and he certainly didn't go in early to finish homework.
"We should too, comon Harry," Hermione said primly. Harry groaned slightly.
"Hermione, we're way beyond this class, who cares about some essay?" he asked.
"You know as well as I do that we've got to keep up appearances. Doing homework poorly is one thing, not doing it at all is another all together." Hermione replied. McGonagall had cautioned them to not let their lessons slip too far.
The tiny little Flitwick was already there when the teens arrived and took their usual seats. Harry got out his quill and began scribbling as fast as he could to try to get somewhere near the length that was required. The tiny charms professor tried to look busy with some books on his desk but Harry was sure that he was watching his unusually early arrivals with interest.
Hermione was still scribbling when Harry decided that he had written enough to scrape an acceptable grade. He took his essay up to Flitwick's desk and put it on the stack of papers that had already been handed in.
"Glad to see you're still managing to at least do the assignments Mr. Potter," Flitwick grumped. "Don't think that just because you're good at the practical aspects of magic that you can shrug off the theory. Not knowing why something works as it does can be just as hazardous as not knowing how to do something properly."
"Yes sir," Harry replied sheepishly.
Harry felt anxious for the rest of the class as Flitwick lectured them and made occasional veiled comments about people not taking their homework seriously enough.
Hermione made an occasional perturbed sigh, which made Harry feel a little better. Still, he was very glad when the class dismissed, at least for a few moments.
Harry cringed when two familiar figures wearing auror robes came into view. "Potter and Granger, what are you two doing skulking about this corridor?"
"Potions class sir," Hermione replied.
"Can't even talk for yourself now Potter? It's a wonder you don't ask your little tittering fan club to carry you about," spat one of the aurors vilely.
Harry looked at him bewilderedly and just managed to keep from blurting out a confused question as to just what the petty auror was talking about.
"I'm going to potions too," he said instead.
"Wonderful, empty your book bags, both of you," the first auror demanded. "We're checking for contraband today."
Harry and Hermione turned their bags on end, their contents spilling about on the uoor. Included in Hermione's pack was the large ornate box that contained all the stacks of parchment that they had been examining earlier.
"What's in that," one of the aurors asked. "Its just some papers," Hermione replied. "Open it."
"That won't be necessary Langley," another voice said in an authoritative tone. A tall thin man in an auror cloak came striding down the hall toward them.
"Sir, I think we should take all precautions possible," the man now identified as Langley replied. "There could be dangerous contraband in here."
"You and Gangstrom have had several complaints logged against you by students. From what I just saw they were probably justified, now get back to your patrol and quit wasting time." The head auror demanded. Langley and Gangstrom reluctantly left, scowling back over their shoulders at the two teens.
"My name is Tram, I apologize for Langley and Gangstrom. I take it that this isn't the first time they've badgered you like this." Tram said kindly. Harry and Hermione exchanged a look before nodding. "Its just difficult for them to get used to our new arrangement. None of the aurors are used to working with Dumbledore yet and, well, you two have gotten some rather bad press."
Harry bit his tongue to keep from reminding Tram that the bad press was the direct result of Ministry leaning on the papers. Hermione though seemed to be jolted by this bit of information.
"What do you mean working with Dumbledore?" she asked tersely.
"We're coordinating with the Order of the Phoenix now, I assumed you two of all people would be aware," Tram said with a touch of surprise in his voice. "We've been working together for some time now."
"Things have been busy, I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore just didn't have the time to give us all the details," Harry said quickly as he tugged on Hermione. "We'd better get to class before Professor Snape gives us detention. Thanks again for helping us out."
"My pleasure," Tram waved cheerfully as they scurried away. Hermione was not pleased.
"Harry how could he? He knows what Fudge did last year, his idiocy helped Voldemort regain his inuuence, he's had you assassinated in the press, he's turning the Ministry into a dictatorship, he's..." Hermione sputtered, her face reddening uncharacteristically.
"Hermione please we don't know the whole story, you're reacting just like I did last year, please, we know how badly that turned out," Harry said urgently.
"No Harry, I won't listen this time, if Dumbledore had of kept you informed properly Sirius would have lived. He said it himself Harry and now he's doing it again, worse than ever this time because you're not even attempting to find out what he's hiding." Hermione said heatedly. Neither of them realized that they were now standing right outside Snape's dungeon.
"Dumbledore had a good reason for not telling me and just because there were other options that would have worked in hindsight is no reason to dismiss his judgement now," Harry whispered fiercely.
"What if he's making another mistake though? Are you willing to risk your life?" Hermione replied stubbornly.
"Yes, I promised myself I wouldn't make the same mistake twice," Harry replied promptly.
"Are you willing to risk my life too?" Hermione retorted hotly.
Harry felt his throat catch painfully as he whispered back, "That's not fair Hermione."
"What is this?" a voice intoned from behind them.
"Uh, well," Harry began as he wheeled around to find himself point black with Snape.
"Mr. Potter and Miss Granger arguing in the hallways how very delightful," Snape said loudly as he drug them into the class. "I'm sure the two of you appreciate the seating arrangements that I selected for you earlier in the year after all."
The Slytherin students all snickered as Harry and Hermione took their separate seats, both still looking a bit haggard from their discussion. Snape had taken great pleasure in keeping them from sitting together and unsurprisingly he liked to rub it in too.
"While I'm sure the two of you think that the drama which is your lives is more important than attending class I'm afraid I must disagree. Forty points from Gryffindor." Snape said smugly. "Potter seems to be rubbing off on you Granger and considering how your grades are dropping I should hope that the two of you would be more rigorous in attending class."
More snickers and a couple of catcalls echoed through the dank dungeon as Snape began lecturing them on the day's assignment. Harry felt even worse because Hermione's bad mood was transferring to him across their link and she wouldn't even talk to him. Every time he tried to continue their conversation he felt a sense of despair uash across her mind and she would just tell him she needed to concentrate. Having Snape hover over him didn't help either and Harry ended up ruining his potion for the first time all year.
Potions was a double class so by the time it let out Harry was fairly irate. He waited in the hall for Hermione to
emerge and then settled into her fast pace when she tried to get away.
"Hermione you're over reacting," Harry said desperately.
"You don't even care about what I think all you do is stick up for Dumbledore," Hermione said raggedly.
"You know that isn't true Hermione," Harry said, then whispered, "If you don't believe me then look into my mind, use legilimency, do something, please, you know I trust you more than anyone else."
Hermione seemed to wilt, "I don't need to look into your mind Harry, I know how you feel about me and I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I'm not sorry about what I said. You're committing the same error that you did last year in reverse."
"I don't know what else to do, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt," Harry said.
Hermione grabbed two fist fulls of robes and pushed him behind one of the statues that lined the hall, her eyes gleamed with tears. "I don't want you to get hurt," she sobbed.
"I won't, it'll be all right, please don't cry," Harry whispered soothingly as he held her shaking form.
"No Harry, you can't promise me that," Hermione said, crying harder. All the worry and strain that had been building up in her seemed to pour forth like water finally breaking through a dam. "This is beyond either of us, we may both have to die."
Ice gripped Harry's heart, "No, you can't, I couldn't bear it, Hermione, promise me that if I fail you'll leave England, take your parents and escape."
"There won't be any escape," Hermione said, her voice slightly stronger, but her face was stained with tears. "Voldemort will be unstoppable and he'll conquer the world. Harry, you have to promise me that you won't die for me and that...you'll let me die for you, if I have to."
"I-I can't, don't ask me..." Harry choked out, on the verge of tears himself at the thought of Hermione dying. Suddenly all his dreams from the summer were rushing back at him in powerful waves. He could see Hermione wince at the intense emotion that racked through him as he pictured a bright green beam impaling Hermione with death.
"Harry, I couldn't stand to live without you, if one of us has to die let it be me. If you don't survive I won't anyway.
Please, promise me," Hermione pleaded.
"You think I could stand to live without you?" Harry croaked.
"No Harry, I know you couldn't, I know a part of me is being selfish, the part that is asking you to stay alive even if it means my death, but we know this is beyond either of us.
Voldemort will enslave the entire world if you die because you're the only one who can stop him. Please Harry, I know you love me, now promise me that you won't let that happen even if it costs you me." Hermione said, ending with a sharp sob.
Harry felt his eyes become unfocused as he mouthed his assent in a ghostly whisper. "I promise."
Hermione hugged him tightly and for a few moments they allowed themselves to forget their impending struggle in the
war. Harry's heart couldn't stop clenching in horror whenever the thought of losing Hermione uickered through his consciousness.
"Come on Hermione, we've got to go to dinner or people will wonder what happened to us," Harry said finally. Hermione reluctantly loosened her grip on him and together they walked down the corridors towards the Grand Hall. When they sat down at the Gryffindor table they noticed several people looking at them rather oddly. As if mustering up great courage to talk to them Seamus shoved a paper at Harry.
"We're really sorry Harry, we had no idea," he said sheepishly.
"What are you going on about Seamus?" Harry asked as he looked at the paper. His emotions still felt raw from what had just transpired. In the segment on Hogwarts there was a tiny paragraph that Seamus was pointing to.
Harry Potter may be too afraid to visit Hogsmeade anymore according to inside sources at Hogwarts but he isn't afraid to ask the people around him to bring back things from the small village on his behalf. Several people were reported as purchasing various luxury items for the Boy Who Lived out of their own pocketbooks despite the well known fact that Mr. Potter is the heir to a sizeable fortune...
Harry quit reading and pushed the paper to Hermione who had been craning her neck to try to read it for herself.
"It's not your fault Seamus the press has been after me for nearly two years now and they've never had any problem cooking something up yet," Harry said dejectedly. Now he could add spoiled brat to the long list of derogatory adjectives that were commonly used to describe him.
Hermione gave a short cheerless laugh, "If this is the best the Prophet can do then they're losing their touch. You must not have been reading the papers much for the last few months Seamus."
The rest of the evening dinner went a lot more smoothly after that and soon everyone had forgotten about the newspaper article except for Harry and Hermione. Hermione didn't want to let on like it bothered them but Harry knew that every attack added upon every other attack to have a cumulative effect of assassinating his character. Harry was used to this a bit more than Hermione so it still bothered her more than him. The thing that worried Harry the most was that the Prophet had taken to aggressively targeting Hermione with their false reporting.
Hermione had been eating quickly, like she always did when she had something else to do. Harry had barely eaten half of his food when she jumped up to leave.
"Go ahead and finish Harry, I've got some final preparations to do to get ready for the last D.A. meeting. Don't forget to change the date on the coin when you get back to the tower though," Hermione said through their link as she left.
Harry watched her leave but did as she said and continued eating. He hadn't eaten well in quite a while so the food was particularly good, really good in fact. Suddenly Harry felt a sharp stab of guilt that he had ignored someone all year.
"I've got to go," he mumbled as he jumped up and hurried out of the hall. He didn't know why he was hurrying since a few more minutes really wouldn't matter now after several months. Harry reached the painting of the fruit basket and tickled the pear. The painting swung open so that Harry could step inside.
"It's Harry Potter sir," a familiar voice said exuberantly.
"Dobby!" Harry exclaimed as the little elf threw himself at Harry and embraced him in a warm hug.
"Dobby is so happy that Harry Potter is seeing Dobby," Dobby said.
"I'm sorry I haven't come before now Dobby, I bet you thought that I had forgotten you," Harry said apologetically.
"Dobby knows many things he does sir. I is watching Harry Potter and seeing how busy he is so I isn't disturbing him," Dobby said proudly.
"That's very thoughtful of you Dobby but I want you to disturb me. If I don't come visit you then please come visit me and don't worry about disturbing me, ok?" Harry said firmly.
"Harry Potter is so kind," Dobby said with a little sob, "Dobby promises to visit Harry Potter. Where is Harry Potter's Miss and his Wheezy, they is always visiting Dobby with Harry Potter."
"Hermione has been busy too and I don't know where Ron has gotten off to actually. He was at dinner but now that I think about it he left shortly after Hermione did." Harry said thoughtfully. Ron had been acting rather strange of late, going off at unexpected times, snapping at people more than usual.
"Harry Potter's Wheezy often gets himself into trouble he does sir," Dobby said, blinking his big round eyes seriously. "Dobby sees Harry Potter's Wheezy get waylaid by the nasty wizards. They treats Dobby so badly they does, almost as if they were Dobby's old masters."
"What are you talking about Dobby? Is Ron in trouble now?" Harry asked.
"Oh no sir," Dobby squeaked. He went on to describe how Ron was being picked on by two aurors that Harry immediately recognized as Langley and Gangstrom. Then another auror, who sounded like Tram from Dobby's description, had come to his rescue. The way Dobby described it though Tram was even more menacing than the others.
"I know him, his name is Tram, he's a good fellow," Harry said defensively.
"If Harry Potter says so, Dobby is not liking him though," Dobby replied uncertainly. In Harry's experience Dobby was often suspicious of wizards he didn't know due to his poor treatment at the hands of the Malfoy family.
Harry chatted with Dobby for a while longer before the little elf began to get anxious to return to his work. The other elves also took the opportunity to push food at him so by the time he left he was laden down with tons of tasty pastries. Harry made his way back to the commons and sat the excess down on the table in the middle of the room so that anyone who wanted something could help themselves.
"Harry, can you come to the Room of Requirement for a while?" Hermione's voice popped into his mind.
"Yeah, I was just wondering where you were," Harry replied.
"Get Ron and Neville too," Hermione said. Harry climbed the stairs to the boy's dorms and roused the two from their studies.
"Comon guys, Hermione and I need your help in the Room of Requirement," Harry said.
"It's almost curfew Harry," Neville said nervously, "and I don't want to get caught out again after last time."
Harry didn't ask what had happened last time. "Don't worry Neville, we won't be that long and if we are I can get you back undetected."
The three boys walked swiftly through the halls to the unobtrusive location of the Room of Requirement. The door was already there, appearing much as any broom closet door, since Hermione was presumably inside. When they entered they found not just Hermione, but also Ginny and Luna. Harry felt another twinge of guilt for not paying any attention to Luna all year either, except for during D.A. meetings.
"Good, everyone's finally here. Harry I trust that you set the coin to call the meeting, right?" Hermione asked.
"Uh, yeah, I set it to the time you told me earlier," Harry confirmed.
"Alright then, Luna, Neville, Ginny, do you all have your coins?" Hermione asked. "Put them over here on the table."
The three teens did as Hermione requested. Each of the galleons Hermione had created to tell D.A. members when to meet were still slightly warm from having only recently been altered. Harry sat down at the table across from Hermione and took his wand out. Together the two began pouring energy out of their wands and into the coins, altering their fundamental makeup as well as their shape. Harry was only dimly aware of the presence of the others in the room as he concentrated to hold up his half of the
process. The task was less taxing than it had been previously when they had manufactured the controlling emblems though. Harry imagined that between the two of them they could make many of the client emblems with only modest exertion. When the couple had finished each of the coins had been transformed into silver torch emblems on silky metal chains.
"Here you go, are there any questions?" Hermione asked as she handed over the emblems to the three. Harry assumed that Hermione had already explained the details of how the emblems worked before he arrived.
"They're very pretty," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice, "don't you think so Ronald?"
"Er, yeah, they're right spiffing," Ron replied dubiously.
"You're such a male Ron," Ginny teased. Ron cast an askance glance her way as the three new members donned their necklaces.
"I was going to give these out to everyone who joins at the next meeting but I think it would be better if you four already had yours," Hermione said cryptically as she enlarged four ornate boxes that Harry immediately recognized since he had filled a good number of them himself.
Hermione demonstrated the proper sequence to turn the inset crystals on the top of the box to open it without destroying the contents within. Neville looked scandalized by what he saw.
"Invisibility cloaks," Ginny gasped, "but if we get caught with these we'll be criminals."
"Nevertheless you're going to need them from time to time in all likelihood. Invisibility is a tremendous advantage which is why the Ministry has been trying to get rid of them," Harry said.
"But how did you guys get a hold of so many?" Neville asked when he finally regained some composure.
"Harry and I made them ourselves," Hermione said proudly, "these aren't woven from demiguise hair, they're corporeal invisibility charms."
Neville's eyes widened, "Wow, you guys can do corporeal spells? My gran says that the mark of a truly great wizard is when his spells can last beyond his own life. The founders could cast spells that powerful but there aren't many wizards alive today who can."
"Voldemort can," Harry said darkly as he thought of the diary that nearly killed Ginny during his second year and the silver hand that he had conjured for Wormtail.
"Don't be such a kill joy Harry," Ginny sniffed disdainfully at Voldemort's name. Ron and Neville still shuddered, much to Hermione's annoyance.
"We should get back to our dorms, even with the cloaks we could still get caught if they have a random bed check," Hermione said. They all packed up their gear and slung on their cloaks except Harry and Hermione who instead just cast invisibility charms on themselves.
As they crept through the halls they heard muted voices coming from up ahead. Harry motioned for silence and crept forward around the corner so he could see what was going on. Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the hall along with two aurors and Tonks. They all seemed to be discussing
something heatedly but no matter how close they got their voices still seemed jumbled.
"They're using some kind of spell that prevents eavesdropping," Hermione said through their link.
"What do you think they're doing out here in the middle of no where?" Harry asked.
"Looks like they're getting ready to leave," Hermione said. It was soon apparent that leaving was indeed their plan as Dumbledore took out a thin uat disk and waved his wand over it. The disk glowed blue as it was transfigured into a portkey. The aurors turned and scanned the halls once more with their eyepieces before everyone grabbed the disk and vanished.
"I guess Tram wasn't kidding us. The Order really is going on missions with the Ministry," Harry said.
"I wonder if the Ministry now knows that Tonks was working as a double agent the whole time or if they still think she's just an auror," Hermione mused.
"Don't know, but we'd better get moving again," Harry said. After making sure Luna had safely made it to the Ravenclaw quarters they all went back to the deserted Gryffindor common room. Harry and Hermione materialized out of no where as they let their charm drop. The others struggled out of their cloaks and put them into the ornate boxes that Hermione had given them.
"Are you guys coming?" Neville asked as he and Ron started up the stairs.
"In a bit, Harry and I are going to work on wards. You want to stay and help?" Hermione asked brightly.
"No thanks, some of us like to sleep," Ron replied crossly before hustling Neville on up the steps.
"Ron this is really important you know," Hermione said.
"Everything is really important to you," Ron bit back, "Do you just enjoy rubbing it in our faces that we're not as talented as the cleverest witch of the century?"
Hermione looked stricken, "Ron, I didn't mean it like that, I just thought that you might want to help."
"What do you think I've been doing this whole bloody time? I've worked more on this boring junk than ever before and I don't even have quiddich anymore." Ron groused as he finished disappearing up the stairs. Harry felt a twinge of unease at Ron's increasing moodiness but refrained from getting involved since his track record at mediating their disputes was less than stellar.
Hermione grumbled something that sounded like "lazy git" before pulling out the stacks of parchments she had been sent by Fred and George's recruits. She sifted through them before pulling out some that were obviously ward guides.
"Portkey dispersion wards," Hermione said with a grin, "We can block incoming or outgoing portkeys with these."
"So that's why Voldemort never portkeyed into Hogwarts, he can't," Harry said with dawning realization.
"Yeah, but the wards can be set to admit certain people unlike anti-apparation wards." Hermione explained.
Under Hermione's instruction Harry conjured a ward base and began burning the symbols onto it. Thin black wisps of
smoke trailed out of the end of his wand lazily before they impacted with precision onto the ward base.
"The more power you put into it the larger the affected area will be," Hermione said. "At this rate the ward will probably cover an area the size of Hogwarts."
"How many of these have you done?" Harry asked.
"I've got five different sizes right now," Hermione said. Harry raised his eyebrows with surprise. Hermione grinned coyly. "What? I work on them before I go to sleep."
"Did I ever mention you're brilliant?" Harry replied proudly.
Hermione blushed and quickly gestured for him to complete his ward. Harry lost track of how long they worked as they tracked from one type of ward to others of increasingly more difficulty. Hermione had plans for unplottable wards which wizards used to hide locations, sentry wards that could have offensive spells tied to them, memory wards that could impart a pre-selected memory onto whoever triggered it, and many others that they didn't have time to study fully.
The next couple of days went by quickly in a pattern that was becoming all too familiar to Harry. Most of his professors spent their time issuing snide remarks to him or Hermione about their lack of work ethic except for Tonks, who tried not to look at them and McGonagall because she actually had a clue. The grandmotherly old witch had guessed during their apparation lessons that the two of them were much more powerful than there grades let on.
One time when she handed back an incomplete essay to Harry she made some remark about him "working hard" and winked at him. Harry had nearly fallen out of his chair, but in retrospect McGonagall was always one of the cleverer professors, maybe even more so than Dumbledore.
"Are you ready for this Harry?" Hermione asked as they stood outside the Room of Requirement. Harry and Hermione were wearing their golden trimmed Light Bearer cloaks. Flanking them was Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville, also dressed in their new silver trimmed Light Bearer uniform cloaks.
While Harry and Hermione's cloaks had a golden torch emblem on their right shoulders the other four had silver torch emblems on their left shoulders. Ron's cloak had four parallel silver bars on his right shoulder indicating that he was the supreme commander of their new organization.
Luna had three silver bars outlined in blue to indicate her status as one of two wing commanders. Ginny had similar bars but with a red outline, though she was a little upset about it. Neville wore the markings that Ginny had wanted, two silver bars that indicated he was to be the commander of the first special champion breaker team that would be formed to fight the toughest of the Death Eaters. Harry knew that it would be suicide to duel the strongest of Voldemort's supporters one on one. Champion breaker teams would be trained to use their superior numbers to quickly overwhelm and kill such dangerous individuals.
The only rank not showcased by the six founding members was that of squad leader, the basic unit of organization.
These units were envisioned by Hermione to act as their own cells and be able to operate with a great degree of independence unless called together into a greater unit. Despite the fact that Hermione knew it would be pointless to resist if Harry were killed she had designed the structure of the Light Bearers to be able to carry on even in the event of a complete decapitation of its leadership.
"Ok, I think I'm ready and I doubt anyone else will show up now," Harry finally replied.
"Does everyone know what to do?" Hermione asked. Four heads nodded. "Right then, let's do this."
Harry uicked his wand and the door to the Room of Requirement opened up. The room had configured itself into a huge open space for some reason as if it were anticipating some use not currently required of it. Neville, Ginny, Ron, and Luna marched in rather impressively in their matching uniforms with shining rank symbols. Harry and Hermione followed in behind them causing several people to gasp as they recognized their outfits from the Daily Prophet story on their encounter with the Death Eater recruits in Diagon Alley.
Harry looked around nervously at all the people staring at him even though he knew that they were his long time friends and associates. They were gazing with curiosity at the four silver trimmed teens too no doubt wondering what all the different things on their uniforms meant.
Harry cleared his throat and prepared to speak. Hermione insisted, as usual, that he do all the major speaking despite the fact that he hated being a leader. He was much more comfortable when Dumbledore or even Hermione was telling him what to do. He sighed inwardly; Hermione was trying to get him to trust in himself instead of relying on others. How ironic, Hermione was bossing him to be bossy.
"I'm sure most of you have already heard of the Bearers of the Light from the article that appeared recently in the Daily Prophet," Harry began, trying to remember everything that he was going to say, wishing that he had written it all down. "The truth is that the conuict with Voldemort is approaching the scale of a civil war and now is a critical stage."
The assembled students began to murmur softly as Harry continued. "The Ministry has covered up the true extent of the ongoing struggle for reasons that frankly make no sense, though I'm sure some of what I'm about to say will be vaguely familiar. All of you are aware of the battle that took place nearly a year ago now at the Ministry. What you have not been told is why Voldemort's forces were there.
Voldemort was trying to get a weapon, the one thing that can potentially assure his complete victory."
Looks of panic broke out now, especially among the youngest of the D.A. members. Harry was glad that they hadn't invited anyone below fifth year if only for the sake of their nerves.
"Obviously his efforts failed or else we probably wouldn't be here, but the point is that he would have succeeded and there is nothing the Ministry could have done to stop him," Harry said grimly. Harry made a sweeping gesture with his arm to indicate the others standing beside him. "We six have formed the Bearers of the Light because we know the truth, the whole truth or something very close to it, about what Voldemort's true aims are. We intend to stop Voldemort at any cost, but more than that we intend to secure equal rights for all sentient creatures that have so long been denied to them. Only with the help of all magical creatures can we hope to prevent future Dark Lords from threatening our lives and freedoms."
"If you know all of the truth then why not just go to the Ministry with it?" Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw in the same year as Harry, called out as soon as Harry stopped talking.
"The Ministry is compromised, part of the whole truth is the weapon I mentioned. The weapon is knowledge and if Death Eaters hidden within the Ministry were to learn of it all of our
efforts would be put in great peril." Harry explained. "Obviously those of us who know cannot tell anyone, the risk is too great."
"We're not just asking you to join so we can wage a private war on the side," Hermione interrupted. "The primary purpose of this group beyond defeating Voldemort is to defend its members and their families from the ever escalating Death Eater attacks. We will supply tools, training, and the promise of whatever support and sanctuary that might become necessary."
"What can you do that the Ministry can't?" someone else shouted out.
Hermione took a tiny box out of her robes and enlarged it. From it she took the standard Light Bearer equipment that they were planning to hand out.
"Everyone will get protective clothing along with instructions or assistance in making more for their families. We've also uncovered many valuable potions from rare books we have come into the possession of recently. This invisibility cloak is completely undetectable by most Death Eaters and even Ministry aurors. Finally, we will give everyone one of these..." Hermione said as she took out the chain around her neck to hold up the emblem.
"This emblem will bind us all together, we will be able to find any of you and respond instantly in case of an attack. It also allows us to call anyone who wears another emblem to us. We can assemble the entire strength of our forces together in an instant to protect a single person." Harry explained.
"What's to prevent Voldemort from getting a hold of one of these and luring us all to a trap?" Terry spoke up again.
Ravenclaw intelligence certainly isn't underrated Harry thought.
"I was just coming to that," Harry said, "There are two master emblems held by myself and Hermione. We will broker each summoning, in essence deciding who will apparate where and when. We will be the only ones who can find all other members. Most members will be unaware of each other much of the time and we will ensure secrecy by performing a fidelius charm as soon as this meeting is complete."
Some people seemed to be impressed at the mention that they could perform a fidelius charm but Terry wasn't done raining on their parade.
"So you want us to be your Death Eaters," he accused.
Harry felt the blood drain from his face and Hermione stiffened sharply. "No, absolutely not," he said hastily, "that isn't the point at all. Everyone will wear an emblem, nothing will be burned into your skin."
Hermione broke into Harry's clumsy protest. "The emblem isn't compelling. Anyone can remove it at any time if they choose. You can only put the emblem on willingly and you can only take it off willingly. However once taken off it will crumble to dust to prevent any tampering."
"Do these controlling emblems work that way too?" Terry asked, somewhat mollified.
"Unfortunately no, the nature of the spell requires them to have more uexibility," Hermione said.
"Then what makes you qualified to hold them? What will happen if Voldemort overpowers you?" Terry persisted.
"You will all know if the emblems change hands, but it won't matter anyway. If the emblem is taken from me it will be because I'm dead and if I'm dead then there will be little that anyone else can do," Harry said. He tried to dance around telling them outright that their cause was lost if he died.
"Even so, why does Hermione get the only other one. No offense Hermione, I know you're the smartest witch of our year, but surely there are others more qualified in combat who could safeguard such a crucial thing."
Harry waved a hand for silence at Hermione when he felt a wave of indignation coming from her. "I need Hermione to be the one for purposes of coordination. She is one of the few people who has all the relevant information, remember? Besides, if Hermione falls then our cause is most likely lost too. No one could guard the emblem more capably than she."
Several people made little snorting noises and Terry scoffed openly. "Come now, we know that you are both very strong, we've read about how you handled those Death Eaters in Diagon Alley and we all appreciated the potions you provided earlier in the year, but surely you can't expect us to believe that."
Harry started to protest but now it was Hermione who waved him to silence. "Then perhaps a demonstration of true extent of our powers is in order for those who doubt our ability despite the cloaks and the very existence of these emblems."
"Are you sure Hermione?" Harry asked through their link. "This could be dangerous."
"As long as we don't use unforgivable curses I think you can handle anything I throw at you," Hermione replied. Harry looked at her quizzically and noticed she was smirking.
"Alright fine, if you want a demonstration we'll give you one. Everyone stand back along the walls and conjure shields just in case something slips by one of us," Harry said.
"Don't bother, I've got wards," Hermione said smugly. She took out four slips of what appeared to be paper and slapped them into the air in four opposite positions, North, South, East, and West. The wards shone bright red before uying toward the walls and forming a narrow shielded path a few feet wide along each wall.
Hermione and Harry moved to opposite sides of the room before drawing their wands. Each of them held their wand aloft in traditional stance of respect for their opponent.
"I've wondered for a long time which of us is stronger Harry," Hermione said. "This is a perfect chance to find out."
"Agreed." Harry replied, then added dramatically, "Don't hold back Hermione, defeat me!"
Chapter 19
The room's large size finally made sense to Harry. They would need the space for their duel. He vaguely wondered how the room anticipated their need as he saw movement from the corners of his eyes. Everyone shuffled as they pressed shoulder to shoulder along one wall to watch the duel that was about to begin. Harry concentrated on all the spells and techniques that he had been studying for months now as he called forth the full measure of his power. Harry and Hermione were used to keeping their powers in check during class practices but neither of them would hold back this time.
"Look at their eyes," Luna said rather loudly. Harry's gaze uickered to Hermione's eyes and saw the familiar shine of a blazing gleam that betrayed her full power. He realized that a similar burning light must have been coming from his own eyes. A fearsome looking twinkling that he had first seen when Dumbledore came to their rescue in the Department of Mysteries.
With the precision of a choreographed dance routine Harry and Hermione simultaneously let their wands fall from their starting stance as they began their first spells. Not knowing what to expect Harry summoned a shining silver shield gilded with the head of a stag. Hermione had likewise summoned a shield identical to his except adorned with an otter. As soon as they had finished their shields both had sent a powerful incapacitating spell sizzling in their opponent's direction but both spells were harmlessly absorbed by the other's shield.
Harry knew there was only one way to bring down a shield as strong as Hermione's and he also knew that she would be trying to bring his down as well. Who ever dropped the
other's shield first might very will gain enough advantage to win. Harry and Hermione side stepped at the same time which had the effect of causing them to circle each other like predators trying to corner their prey. Wands slashed rapidly and noiseless lightening uashes filled the room as tiny pinpoints of energy from their breaker curses slammed into each other's shields. Harry's arm felt numb after a few seconds as a portion of the force behind each hammer blow transferred to his body.
Harry felt his shield break apart at the same time as he saw Hermione's crack and knew that he had lost the race.
Hermione calmly fired seven beams of light on slightly different angles trying to ensnare him. Desperately Harry focused and jerked his wand upright. He was rewarded by a tiny crystal gleam from the air in front of him as his barrier charm took effect and absorbed the hex Hermione had just cast.
Hermione didn't even uinch at his successful defense since she had him on the run now. A bright tongue of uame uared up at the end of her wand and then multiplied into a swarm of fiery projectiles that homed in on Harry like angry insects. Each one of them was actually rather weak, but all of them working together were swiftly overwhelming Harry's barrier. Each time a piece of fire impacted against it the barrier uashed white before reverting to its normal transparent nature. The attacks were impacting so swiftly that the entire barrier was taking on a white tinge within a few seconds.
Harry readied a huge blast of air and cast it through his own barrier, shattering it, but also scattering Hermione's uames from their intended target. Harry's wand summoned another gilded silver shield as his left hand came up, palm uat, to bring the swirling shards of the shield into a tight formation in front of him. With a wave of his hand the jagged shards of
broken shield were accelerated toward a defenseless Hermione.
Hermione pointed her wand at herself and with a uash of motion she was gone. The shards impacted harmlessly where she had stood an instant before. Harry quickly whirled until he found where she had stopped moving and discovered that she had taken the time to summon a new shield. They were back at the same stalemate that their duel had started with.
There was a thin mist clinging to the uoor now as the result of Harry's barrier and Hermione's uame attack. Apparently the barrier left behind some residue when it was vaporized or ground into dust after being used as a weapon. The crowd was beginning to get restless too.
"What was that?" asked someone in an awed voice. "Is this duel real?"
"It's like something from a dream," answered a voice that definitely sounded like Luna.
Harry raised his wand again and summoned masses of silver spikes with a spell that was typically used to fight werewolves. As each set of spikes appeared they slashed downward with alarming speed toward Hermione and then exploded harmlessly or else missed her entirely as she fired some kind of curse at them. Since neither of them were calling out their spells Harry couldn't be sure what she was doing since several spells could have similar effects.
Hermione uipped her wand in her hand so that she wielded it like a dagger. Harry's eyes widened as he realized what she was about to do. With each slash a great white gash was torn into the fabric of the air that surrounded her before hardening into a thin edge and speeding toward Harry like a
scythe. Harry began running to dodge the white crescents before they could cut him in half. He couldn't afford to stay so far out from Hermione any longer or else she was going to win the long range fight.
Harry quit running and pointed his wand at himself for an acceleration charm. He held his shield rigidly in front of him and then hurled himself at a rapid speed toward Hermione. At the last second Hermione realized what he was doing and put her own shield between Harry's blunt attack and herself. A sharp high-pitched metallic clang reverberated through the confines of the room causing some to wince in discomfort. Now at pointblank range the two battered each other's shields mercilessly with breaker curses designed to eat away at the strength of their protective charms.
Curses uew rapidly back and forth across the mere inches that separated the two combatants. Wands raised high, shields cracked, and the raw magical energy of their spells simply exploded in an uncontrolled reaction. Harry felt himself uying through the air as they were blown apart. He landed heavily and immediately pointed his wand at himself to perform a rejuvenation charm to heal the fatigue his body was feeling.
"They're going to kill each other!" Hannah Abbot wailed, "Someone stop them."
"Don't worry, they'll be fine," Ron interjected roughly.
"Are you sure mate?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked. "They're using deadly curses."
"If they have that much confidence in each other then who are we to doubt?" Ginny said, "Now just hush and watch, you all wanted this."
Hermione had finally regained her feet as well and went back on the offensive. She twisted her wand oddly and sent forth massive gouts of uame. Unlike her previous fire attack designed to overwhelm a static defense this burst of liquid fire was to melt uesh from bone. Harry realized there was no way to dodge it and with a silent wish that he had studied the elemental book a little more closely he summoned a laughably thin aqua colored bubble around him.
To the outside observer Harry's entire body was immersed in deadly blue-green tinged uame. The watchers all stood rigid in horror as Hermione poured an ever increasingly intense jet of fire onto Harry's last location. Finally she gasped for air, unable to maintain the assault any longer, and conjured another shield warily. The fire was still burning and indeed acted like a liquid as it pooled in thick clumps. In the middle of this molten lake there was a small bubble that was itself covered in the dripping fire. The fire began dying quickly and the liquid portions hardened before uaking away. Harry emerged from a cocoon of uaky dust that had built up around his water elemental shield.
Cautiously Harry knelt and put his wand tip to the uoor. Instantly the temperature began dropping as Harry sucked the heat from the room. The shield protecting the bystanders mitigated the effects for them but they still felt the cold seeping through. Hermione was incased inside a prison of ice in a uash and for a moment it looked like Harry had won. The ice shattered and a blue skinned Hermione gestured violently at the shards causing them to hurl toward Harry just as Harry had attacked her earlier with his barrier fragments.
Harry stood, waved his wand, and summoned a bubble of hot air in the path of the incoming attack. Ice hissed and turned to steam as the shards failed to pass through the
bubble of superheated air. Without Harry holding the ice spell the rest of the frozen room reverted back to its normal state and in the process left behind even more mist to cloud the arena. Undaunted Harry conjured a piece of solid black stone shaped like two pyramids joined at the base. Holding it aloft the shard spat out dozens of identical pieces toward Hermione who conjured the tongues of uame she had used earlier against his barrier. Shards of black stone impacted and pulverized themselves against little uame daggers.
Harry tucked the black stone into his robes and conjured a fresh shield. Just battering away at her with all his might wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed a strategy to get him through her defenses long enough for one stunning spell. Hermione started slashing white gashes into the air again, each one hardening and turning into a crescent moon shaped scythe of destruction. Not wanting to retreat from his position again and leave himself open to another attack he summoned great silver disks to defend himself. Each spinning silver disk was lined along its edge with razor sharp spines that were designed to rip werewolves and other dark creatures apart.
Metallic clangs sounded and sparks uew as the attacks collided before ricocheting off of each other. The conjured items turned to powder as they fell to the uoor, useless to their respective masters. Hermione's eyes uashed more brilliantly than ever as she summoned a dark magical fire attack Harry recognized as the Life's Bane elemental spell. Corporeal fire that ancient goblins had used to make burning weapons for undead warriors in conuicts long forgotten. The fire that Hermione conjured rose into the air and formed a large ball. It churned like something Harry imagined the surface of the sun might look like before pieces of it began to detach.
Long spears of fire began raining down toward a defenseless Harry. He knew that his elemental bubble wouldn't work against this fire. Desperately he reached into his robes and pulled out the black stone. It was the only thing that even approached the power of the uame Hermione now wielded.
He hurled the stone to the uoor, shattering it, and then began infusing it with magical energy. The fragments of the stone formed a circle around Harry before enlarging and springing up to form a thick armored barrier around him.
Harry could feel the impact of each spear of uame vibrating through the stone dome he had constructed to keep himself safe. Harry didn't know if his improvised defense was going to hold and wished that he could simply apparate. That was the tactic described as most effective in the elemental book that documented the spell.
As the dome began to crack Harry conjured up a thick shroud of super cold air and enlarged his shield to give himself the most protection possible. He felt a spike of magical energy surge through the air and knew that Hermione had launched her final attack, probably the entire ball of fire she had been building up. It was now or never, so Harry quickly blew out the wall of his shelter and performed the acceleration charm. There was a deafening crash as the corporal fire impacted and shattered against the uoor of the room. Apparently the Room of Requirement could become very durable when necessary because a blast like that would have torn apart a normal structure.
Again Harry felt himself impact heavily against the uoor but this time he wasn't able to perform any healing charms before he had to scramble to his feet to deuect more spells. Hermione had reverted to more conventional high-powered spells in an attempt to overwhelm his shield. People were staring at him with wide-eyed fear as he staggered slightly, his clothes giving off a little smoke from their charred ends.
Harry pointed his wand like a one would point a finger as he hid beneath his shield. A tiny black ball formed at the tip of his wand and then sped straight toward Hermione. She tried to block it but at the last instant it unfurled itself into a huge black sheet and enveloped her completely.
"Soul Drainer curse," Neville whispered into the now totally silent room, "my gran told me about it. Its supposed to be only one step away from an unforgivable curse, black magic at its worst."
Harry said nothing instead taking the opportunity to cast some healing charms on himself. The dark mass that enveloped Hermione would easily block any other spell he might try to cast on her. Seconds ticked by as Harry waited for the inevitable. It came suddenly, first as a tiny pinprick of light, then as large gashes all across the dark mass.
Hermione burst the black curse apart and emerged from its grasp enveloped in a sheen of white light that clung to her form.
"I didn't think you had it in you Harry," Hermione croaked feebly. The attack had obviously drained her far more than it had appeared on first glance. "I don't think I could handle another curse like that."
"You're in luck then," Harry rasped back, "I don't think I could cast another one right now."
Hermione smiled wanly and swayed in place as they both prepared for their final offensive. Hermione pointed her wand at herself and cast an exertion charm. Reluctantly Harry followed suit knowing that if he didn't he would be swiftly overwhelmed. The exertion charm allowed the user to access their remaining physical strength for a short period of time at the cost of complete collapse with
exhaustion once its effects ended. Vigor rushed through his body as he completed the spell and he focused on Hermione, trying to imagine what spell she would evoke next.
Expecting her typical level of finesse Harry was nearly knocked off his feet by the impact of her first breaking curse as it tried to crack his shield. Harry quickly returned fire, matching Hermione curse for curse as they repeated their earlier performance of trying to bash through each other's shields with brute force. This time instead of circling each other at a distance they marched straight at each other, rapidly closing the distance to point blank range. Hermione swung her shield physically against his as she tried to slip a spell under his defense. The both kept moving in a weird sort of dance as they each worked to keep the other's wand in front of their shield instead of their body.
Hermione pointed her wand at her own shield and infused it with something Harry didn't recognize. He swung his shield at hers again and immediately regretted it. For the third time he found himself uying through the air from the force of a magical explosion. He managed to land in a crouched position and roll out of the way of her follow up stunner that was intended to end the duel in her favor. The enclosed space erupted in an ear-shattering clap of thunder from Harry's retaliation. Magically created lightening sizzled through the air toward Hermione who merely held up her wand, Harry's wand, and let it hit.
"It's over," Hermione said confidently as the lightening was absorbed into the wood, "I enchanted this wand to be impervious to lightening long ago. The weakest of the elements."
Harry slowly got to his feet, never taking his eyes off of her. "You should have finished me then when you had the chance."
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she shot a stunner even as Harry pointed his wand at himself. Conjured metal strained and shattered as their shields connected one final time.
Harry saw an opening and jabbed his wand into Hermione's exposed torso. He dimly felt something blunt digging at his ribs as he willed a powerful stunning spell from his wand and blacked out.
A hazy voice from what seemed to be impossibly far away spoke. "Look, they're moving."
Harry felt as if he had run all the way to London and back a few times. Feeling slowly returned to his limbs and he was aware of Hermione stirring next to him, no doubt feeling just as exhausted.
"What happened?" Harry asked, renewing their mental communication that they had suspended voluntarily during the duel.
"I think we tied," Hermione replied. "We can sit up if we lean against each other."
After a little struggling they got themselves into an upright position. They had never exerted themselves to the limit of their physical and magical potential before. The experience was painful to say the least. At some point their hats had fallen off, Harry didn't remember when, but Hermione was summoning them.
"Restorative potion should revive us enough, at least physically, to go on until we can rest properly," Hermione said as she fished two vials out of her hat. They downed the
contents together and immediately Harry felt relief spread to his limbs.
The other students had been trying to help them but were unable because the shield ward that Hermione had used blocked physical passage too, not just spells. None of them had been able to blast their way through it or bypass it so everyone had been forced to wait while they were unconscious with no idea how badly they might be injured. Everyone seemed to have a sense of awe at their friends abilities and disbelief that they could stand up again so quickly.
Hermione held up her hand and the four wards disconnected from where they had planted themselves to return to her.
With the shields down everyone crowded around them, though Ron and the others tried to keep them back a bit.
"Really, we'll be fine," Harry insisted for the third time. "If we were knocked out for hours at a time after a tough fight then we really wouldn't be much use to anyone now would we?"
"Everyone should stand back a little," Hermione said, as the crowd pressed uncomfortably close, "our proof isn't over yet."
"You all should see that we cannot be tortured or spelled into betraying your trust either," Harry said as he caught onto what Hermione's next demonstration would be.
Hermione pointed her wand at Harry and uttered the unforgivable incantation, "Crucio!"
Harry would have heard the gasps of horror from everyone around them, even Ron had no idea that they had been practicing unforgivables, but he was too busy stiuing a
scream and struggling to keep his feet. At last he wrested control of the pain and shoved it aside.
Harry pointed his wand at Hermione and repeated the incantation. Now an intense searing pain that burned within every nerve of their bodies was pressing into both of them. Their wands trembled as they made tiny twisting motions like someone grinding a dagger into an open wound.
After what seemed like an eternity they both lifted their wands and staggered back gasping for air, as the curse was broken. "You cannot block or resist the Cruciatus Curse," Harry said, "but after continued exposure and with the disciplining of your mind you can function somewhat even when it is affecting you."
"The Imperius Curse on the other hand can be thrown off entirely through strength of mind," Hermione said, then pointed her wand at Harry and uttered the incantation. "Bow before me."
Harry cringed and his eyes went glossy for a moment but then the gleam of his power surged again as he shook the spell off. Harry didn't bow, he instead he pointed his wand at Hermione and said the same words. "Bow before me."
Hermione now jerked slightly but she didn't bow either. "If we cannot control each other Voldemort cannot control us either, though undoubtedly he is stronger than we are."
This pronouncement seemed to chill their audience who Harry suspected was already bordering on information overload. Nevertheless there was nothing else to do but forge ahead. "So who will join us?"
Seamus gave a hollow little laugh, "Why do you need us again?"
"Honestly," Hermione said impatiently. She was still feeling the physical and mental fatigue of their duel. "Terry touched on this earlier, we need all of you for the same reason Voldemort needs Death Eaters. We're only two people and anyone who can cast a killing curse can bring us down in a uash no matter how strong we might be. We can't be everywhere nor do everything."
"All right," Seamus said at last, "You told us we could quit at any time right? I'll join, where do I sign up?"
"Follow us," Hermione said. Everyone followed them to where Hermione enlarged the ornate boxes that contained the basic supplies that they were going to issue each new member.
"As we said earlier, just place the emblem around your neck and we will be able to find you. When we call you will apparate blindly following the guidance of the magic in the emblem. Apparate after conjuring your uniform and concealing your identity with wand drawn ready to battle since we won't be able to communicate the details before you arrive."
Harry and Hermione showed everyone in turn how to summon their uniform properly, along with instruction for feeling the pull of the emblems guiding magic. The fifth years would have to be in training since apparation would alert the ministry to their underage magic. Hermione had insisted that they be included though so that they could be trained properly and so they could help with lesser tasks like the brewing of simple potions. In the end everyone who came joined, much to Harry's surprise despite his faith in Hermione's ability to judge character.
Harry managed the explanations and dissemination of their equipment for the most part so that Hermione could concentrate on the difficult task of casting the fidelius charm to prevent anyone from divulging the secrets of Light Bearer either intentionally or by accident. Only Hermione would be able to hand out that information even though Harry and Ron would know everything. Of course the charm wouldn't be fool proof because of the nature of the information they were trying to conceal. Someone could still unravel their identities if they found out too much.
The meeting had drug out late into the evening well past curfew so everyone donned their new invisibility cloaks and went out in pairs while both ends of the hall were watched to make sure no one showed up. Harry had the Marauder's map out but he insisted on a visual guard too just in case someone knew how to conceal themselves from the map.
Remus always insisted that the map never lies but in Harry's experience someone strong enough or smart enough could overcome any magic device.
Hermione was anxious over the next few days that their newest recruits would inadvertently act differently around her or Harry and raise the suspicions of the aurors that seemed to be watching them closer than ever. She need not have worried though, Harry had made it clear that everyone was to act normal and take no action unless they got a summons through the emblem. In a few days after the newness of being a member of a new organization wore off everyone had settled back into their normal routines with out a second thought.
With much grumbling Ron had covered for many of Hermione's prefect duties so that she could devote more time to wading through the piles of parchment that accompanied all of Fred and George's outside activities.
Besides recruiting new members they were also setting up various caches of supplies, funded by Harry's account, in secret locations that would be used as staging areas and safe houses. Hermione had a keen mind for detail and had drawn up all kinds of supply lists for potions, extra wands, specialized equipment, and even recommended strategies for operatives. Currently Harry was trying to create magical eyepieces like the aurors wore to enable their followers to see through solid objects and invisibility. He was having little success though, so instead he generally focused on creating various types of wards. Hermione insisted that every member should have access to all the wards and potions that could possibly be useful in combat.
Hermione motioned for Harry to come over when he finished his last ward piece that he was working on. There were several people in the commons so they put their heads close together to whisper. They could have went up to Harry's room but with as much time as they had been spending together lately that would have probably been just as suspicious. As it was no one was really paying attention to them so Harry figured that they could get away with it.
"George thinks we may get a source inside the Ministry soon," Hermione whispered excitedly, "and they've forwarded us six more people who are prepared to accept the emblem."
"Are they trustworthy?" Harry whispered back. He wished they could just use their mind link but they figured that the two of them working without speaking at all might draw attention.
"Who knows? I mean obviously there isn't anything in their backgrounds that Fred and George could find to suggest that they might betray us to Voldemort. There is no way to
know for sure though, which is why I've instructed the twins to keep each cell small right now. Their only link to anyone else will be the twins and us." Hermione said.
"What instructions are we sending out right now?" Harry asked. Hermione insisted that he be appraised of everything in case something happened to her.
"Basically for everyone to pay attention to what's going on around them, watch out for anything that might suggest Death Eater activity and of course to keep their eyes open for anyone suitable to be recruited. They are to pass names along to the twins for investigation and contact when they think they've found a suitable person." Hermione replied as she finished up the last touches on her latest orders for the new recruits.
"Harry, sign," Hermione said thrusting the paper at him. Hermione insisted that Harry countersign each official order that was issued to low ranking members to add a layer of reassurance that the instructions were real and to make sure that both leaders had equal recognition within the ranks. Harry pointed his wand next to the silver lettering that read "Greywing" and added a splotch of silver that shimmered as it hardened into the word "Fantail." When he had finished Hermione sealed the letter and stamped a round circle with lines coming off of it on the outside. The sun symbol was their correspondence identification rather than the usual image of a burning torch so that if the letter were intercepted there would be no visual evidence to associate it with the Bearers of the Light. The letter was also charmed to destroy itself if it were not opened properly and only the twins, Harry, and Hermione were currently aware of the procedure.
The portrait swung in and Ron stepped into the commons, snapping irritably at a first year that was hanging around too close to the door. He spotted them and came over to sit down on the sofa across from Hermione.
"What's that?" he asked, nodding at the letter. "Er, for the twins," Hermione said shortly.
"Again? All you do is send them mail," Ron replied, his eyes narrowing.
"Everything's having to be set up right now, no time to lose," Harry said.
"Mum says their business has been suffering some from lack of attention. Couldn't you guys lay off?" Ron asked.
"This is more important than money Ron," Hermione said tersely.
"We can't Ron," Harry said plaintively, "and they haven't complained. You know that I wouldn't let their business fail."
Hermione's dig on money seemed to strike a nerve with Ron though. "Oh no, its never about money for you is it Hermione, you know you're set already. Did you think I missed the little fact that you've got a Gringotts key now? I wonder who's that could be."
Harry grimaced, "It's not like that Ron, you know that Hermione needs access to our capital, I just can't oversee every necessary expenditure by myself."
Ron wasn't listening though he was building up a full steam that was very reminiscent of Molly when she got on a rampage. "It must be nice going around bossing people
around, having others do your work after you complained at me all last year about prefect duties, showing off all the time with your enchantments and potions that none of the rest of us can understand."
"Ron, come on now, that's out of line," Harry hissed under his breath as he felt himself starting to get angry, especially when he saw the expression on Hermione's face and the pain that radiated from her across their link. Hermione had been sacrificing everything that mattered to her, her grades, her prefect responsibilities, and now she was getting upbraided for it. "We're all on the same side here, Hermione isn't doing this for the fun of it, we're trying to build a viable resistance to Voldemort."
"I knew you'd take her side Harry," Ron said, getting even angrier as he whispered hoarsely at them, "you've gotten just as bad, you act just like her, all holier than thou study freak."
"Ron!" Harry said slightly louder, "What's gotten into you? You know better than anyone why I have to study and its not like I've tried to exclude you from anything."
Ron made some kind of snort, "You tried to pretend that you weren't but when push came to shove you decided I was too weak to be a full partner, I'm just a lackey like the twins, too weak to do anything but run at the beck and call of real wizards like Hermione or yourself. Everyone's been rubbing it in my face now for days about how great and powerful you two are."
"This is all about you being jealous?" Hermione squeaked with disbelief.
"Ron you've become one of the best wizards I know, your strength isn't why you don't have a controlling emblem,"
Harry said, though it wasn't entirely true. Ron wasn't strong enough to resist the most powerful of the Death Eaters like Hermione was.
Ron still wasn't listening though, he jumped to his feet prepared to storm off but decided to shout out one last parting shot. "You think you're special just because some old bat made some vague..."
"RON!" Hermione shrieked. Everyone in the room was staring at them now. Harry's wand was out and even though Ron was still talking his voice was silenced. Harry was truly enraged now at Ron's behavior.
"You've crossed the line Ron," Harry growled. Ron grabbed for his wand in a panic but it uew out of his robes and into Harry's hand. Harry's eyes burned with power as he immobilized him and levitated him up toward the dorm. "It's time we talked about this."
Harry must have looked especially menacing because as soon as the two had disappeared one of younger students cried out, "Someone go get Professor McGonagall, he's gonna kill him."
"Don't be foolish," Hermione snapped, but a third year ran for the door anyway. Hermione's wand was out in a uash and before anyone could move she had appeared in front of the door with the aid of the acceleration charm. "No one's going anywhere or telling anyone."
Seamus looked at her oddly. "Maybe we should make sure they're ok..."
"They'll be fine," Hermione said coldly, her wand still pointed at the room. "Come here Seamus."
Now Seamus looked very concerned, but he approached her anyway. Hermione leaned over and whispered in his ear whilst watching everyone. "Remember that thing we told you all that was dangerous for anyone to know? Ron almost let it slip."
Seamus' eyes widened at the implications of such dangerous forbidden knowledge being nearly let out. "I'm going to go up, make sure no one leaves."
She need not have bothered though for Harry reappeared at that moment. "We've straightened it out," Harry said, "Ron refused to come back down though, but he said that if anyone wanted to see him he'd stay up a while."
One kid that Harry remembered was pretty fond of Ron hesitantly went up the stairs. Hermione gracefully walked over to him and they whispered together for a moment no longer caring how conspiratorial it looked, their cover was somewhat blown regardless of what they did at this point.
"What did he say?" Hermione asked.
"He's just been under a lot of pressure, as soon as he realized what he's almost done he was devastated," Harry said. "You know he'd never do anything to hurt either of us."
"So he just...snapped?" Hermione said hesitantly.
"We have been ignoring him more than usual, he felt left out, and he is very loyal to his family obviously. We should let the twins know that they shouldn't hurt their business, there's no need for that." Harry said. "Really, he was embarrassed more than anything."
"I feel terrible," Hermione said as she eyed the staircase, "I should go apologize. I have been bossier than usual..."
"Just give him some time alone, he doesn't want us traipsing in on him again so soon," Harry said. Ron had been under a lot of strain lately. Harry knew that he had always somewhat resented being under the shadow of Harry's fame and wealth. He wouldn't hold a grudge against Ron for his sensitivities and instead kicked himself for not being more attentive to his best friend's feelings.
"Harry we'd better see to sending out the letters then before curfew," Hermione said. "Maybe we should both go so if Ron wants to come back down he won't be too uncomfortable."
Harry nodded in agreement and helped Hermione gather up her other papers. He waited for a minute while she took the box of parchments upstairs to her room. Harry took the letters and held the opening to the room for her before following her out into the hall. A very disturbing and unexpected scene immediately confronted them.
Dumbledore was standing opposite their door looking very washed out and transparent. Hermione's voice immediately shouted in his mind.
"Keep going Harry, don't let on like you see anything, he's under an invisibility charm."
They had only taken a few steps when they saw Tram lurking behind a statue, concealed from Dumbledore, and also apparently using some kind of invisibility, probably a cloak. Hermione radiated confusion and Harry was sure that he was as well.
The situation got even weirder when the nearly stumbled over the two aurors who had harassed them before, Langley and Gangstrom. The two surly looking wizards were also cloaked and taking turns peering around the corner to observe the hallway.
"Something is going on," Harry said as they continued to walk briskly toward the tower that housed the owls. "I've never seen Dumbledore out like that before."
"We've not been able to see through invisibility charms for that long Harry. For all we know he does this regularly." Hermione replied.
"That doesn't explain the others though. They all seemed to be unaware of each other, except maybe Langley and Gangstrom." Harry speculated.
"Why would they be watching Gryffindor tower though?" Hermione asked. "What do they think is going on?
Something connected with Voldemort?"
"I can't imagine what else would prompt Dumbledore and three aurors to stake out our tower. Maybe they're watching me." Harry said.
"That doesn't make any sense though, maybe they're watching for a student instead? Maybe they think that the Death Eaters have a student working for them" Hermione said thoughtfully.
"No, that doesn't make any sense either. Even if a student couldn't cast avada kedavra they could easily kill any of us in our sleep with poison or even a knife," Harry replied. "There's no way Dumbledore would let someone that dangerous just wonder around where they can threaten lives."
"I don't know Harry, but we need to figure this out and fast," Hermione said. She then added hesitantly the same phrase she had been repeating all term. "Maybe we should go to Dumbledore."
"I think you're right," Harry said as he pulled Hermione over to the side of the hall. Hermione was stunned and pleased that Harry finally agreed it was time to go for some answers. She didn't get to say anything more before Harry took off his hat and dug around looking for the Marauder's Map. They hurriedly activated it and tried to locate Dumbledore. They looked at Gryffindor tower but found only Tram was still there. He was talking to a little bubble whose name Harry didn't recognize.
"I think that's a first year," Hermione whispered.
The bubble moved away from Tram and entered the tower. The couple watched as Tram quickly began heading toward the main entrance before dropping off of the map entirely.
"He left?" Harry said puzzled.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Hermione said urgently. They finally found him next to a bubble that read Gangstrom. They were near a part of the castle that Harry recognized as the kitchens.
"Looks like Langley is snitching a bite," Harry smirked as he pointed at the bubble in the kitchens.
"Oh no, Dumbledore and Gangstrom are leaving," Hermione said. Sure enough the two bubbles representing them disappeared in the same direction as Tram had.
"Then there's nothing more we can do tonight," Harry said dejectedly, "We'd better send the letters and get back before curfew."
After giving Hedwig her assignment the couple returned straight to the tower encountering no more strange things on along the way. The entire castle seemed subdued as if it
were holding its breath for something. Hermione went up to her dorm early and Harry decided that he would as well so they could analyze the day's events in their shared dream.
Harry entered the dark room and listened to Ron's restless sleeping for a moment. He walked over to the bed and put his wand down on the nightstand while yawning sleepily.
The last thing he remembered was putting a hand on the covers before collapsing to the uoor unconscious.
Chapter 20