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SIYE Time:1:40 on 29th March 2024
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Harry Potter & the Veil of Shadows
By elaithin

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance
Warnings: Death, Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence
Rating: R
Reviews: 306
Summary: Moving on, strange dreams, mysterious newcomers, Death Eaters, the Veil of Shadows, and a little bit of life, laughter and love. Join Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione for their last year at Hogwarts - and the first year of the rest of their lives as they learn that just because Voldemort's gone doesn't mean life's going to be easy!
Hitcount: Story Total: 160528; Chapter Total: 6591





Author's Notes:
So sorry for the wait, everyone! College has been really busy this term, so thank you for your patience. And thanks to my betas, TeyriJen and Geluf, for their invaluable contributions! On with the show!




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Chapter 18 - "Acts of Valor"

- - - - - -

Harry’s hand tightened around the sword of Gryffindor. Even as he reached through the flames, the steel grip was cool in his hand, comforting in its own way. He was far more nervous than he appeared on the outside - or so he hoped.

Mostly, what he couldn’t believe that he was here, that things had come to this. All their preparations, everything they'd done in the D.A. ... no one had ever imagined that Voldemort could break through the wards at Hogwarts itself. Hogwarts was supposed to be a sanctuary.

It was supposed to be safe.

Ha rry had never wanted to return to the Chamber again. He'd revisited that place so often in his dreams - nightmares - and frankly, it was not an experience he or Ginny had ever cared to relive in the waking world. Harry couldn't fight his shudder as the all-too memories surfaced. Back in second year, they'd never have figured out the mystery of the Chamber so soon if Cordy hadn't recognized just who the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle" belonged to. Not that that had helped much. In the first two months of school, eight students, including Hermione, Draco, Fred and George had been petrified - the last four, all in one go. And then Ginny had gone missing for three days.

That third day had been Halloween, and that was when the message in blood had shown up on the wall. Ginny had been taken down into the Chamber. She’d been completely possessed by Riddle’s Diary, they'd learned. When Harry had confronted him, Riddle's shade had gloated about how easy it had been to completely take over her mind. But even at twelve, Harry had easily seen see through the self-styled Lord Voldemort’s boasting. Plus, he knew Ginny — he knew she wouldn’t have been easy to possess, no more than Ron, Hermione, Cordy, Draco, or Neville would have been. All of his friends shared that indomitable character that made me uniquely Gryffindors. They would never stop fighting.

Ginny had confirmed that, later, after he’d slain the Basilisk, killed the Diary, while Harry lay dying himself. It had been one of the most horrid moments of his life, seeing one of his best friends — the girl he was just starting to recognize, back then, might be more than a friend someday — face-down on the stone floor of the Chamber as though dead. The same girl who was certainly more than a friend to him now. Her panicking confessions still rang in his ears.

Fawkes had saved him, though, Riddle's shade had been destroyed along with the diary, and Lockhart had Obliviated himself. In the end, Harry and Ron had joked about how glad they were to have only had Lockhart for a teacher for a few months. When Moony had come to replace him, they’d gotten a much better teacher out of the deal.

Hermione, Ginny and Cordy hadn't thought that was very funny. At first, but then, Lockhart's cowardice had cured them of their hero-worship.

Now the Chamber was open again. That, however, wasn't really the problem. The Basilisk, after all, was long dead. But with Dumbledore chased off, Hogwarts had lost its greatest protection, and the Death Eaters were inside the walls of the ancient keep itself. That was what had brought Harry here, now, to this place, reaching into a wall of fire to claim Gryffindor's sword. Voldemort had practically waltzed right through the front door of the castle. With Umbridge in charge, it wasn't like there was anyone to actually stop him. Bless him, Flitwick was leading the remaining teachers in the running battle in the hallways, but Harry didn’t know if anyone had gotten word to Dumbledore and the Order. As good as he was, Flitwick wasn't a match for Voldemort. They could only hope help arrived in time.

But the real problem, to Harry's mind, consisted of one main thing.

Voldemort had Ginny and Sirius down there. Whether he wanted to go or not, Harry had no choice.

The D.A. had rallied, thankfully, and they had contributed heavily to the initial fight. But then he’d gotten a vision - the pain from his scar had cost him dearly, and he'd been hit with a slicing curse by Bellatrix, whom he, Hermione and Ron had been dueling at the time. In the vision, he'd seen Voldemort himself levitating the two people who meant the world to him down the chute and into the Chamber. Neville had caught the insane Death Eater with a Petrificus Totalus from behind and Hermione had stopped Harry's bleeding.

They'd confirmed the vision with the Map - Ginny was nowhere on it. Harry had taken his "core group" and left the D.A. under the leadership of Dean, Seamus, and Cho. They’d snuck into Headmaster’s office — which Harry had discovered would let him in, even if was barred to Umbridge - to Floo Grimmauld Place, and Kreacher had confirmed that Sirius was gone. No one else from the Order was at Headquarters, nor did anyone answer at the Burrow.

They couldn’t even find Snape to alert the Order, and McGonagall was at St. Mungo’s. No one knew where Hagrid was. The D.A. had no one to turn to for help - very suddenly, the second wizarding war hand landed on their very young shoulders. He, Ron, Hermione, Cordy, Neville, Luna and Draco had only barely escaped the Death Eaters and the damned Inquisitorial Squad thanks to the efforts of the rest of the D.A. Some of that Darkness Powder of the twins' had covered their escape into the office.

After they'd finished with the Floo, Harry had seen something in Dumbledore's office, something that made him pause.

"Harry?" Hermione had asked, before she followed his gaze to the sword hanging on the wall behind the Headmaster's desk.

"Oh," she'd said.

"Hell with it," Harry had muttered, and reached for the shining blade. "It helped last time, didn't it?"

But just as Harry's hands went to close around the pommel, a sheet of flame had erupted, surrounding and enveloping the entire sword. It was hotter than any fire he'd ever been near, but for some reason, Harry hadn't pulled himself away.

"Bloody hell!" Cordy had cursed as Neville and Ron jerked Harry backwards.

"Oh, that's perfect," Draco had said sarcastically. "How are we supposed to get it now?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, before Hermione had spoken up. As she did so, she'd met Harry's eyes, and Harry had seen the apprehension in hers. "Gryffindor's sword has to be obtained through an act of valor, Harry."

He didn't blink. "Right," he said, and then reached into the fire. As he did so, he felt something, something indefinable. The closest he could come was the feeling he'd had when he'd been sorted. It was as though he was being judged.

No one was more surprised than Harry when his hand came away unburned - and with the Sword. Harry hefted its weight experimentally and everyone else let out the breaths they'd been so carefully holding. "Let's go," Harry said simply.

When they left the office, several Death Eaters - and the Inquisitorial Squad - were waiting for them. It was a running battle all the way to Myrtle's Bathroom, but Harry's mind was already on the confrontation ahead. Ron directed their defensive attacks while Harry himself led the way. Harry knew that he couldn’t kill Voldemort, but Dumbledore had only just started his lessons about Riddle’s Horcruxes when he’d been forced to leave the castle. He didn't know enough to leave and find them.

With the Sword heavy in his hand, however, Harry decided that eliminating Voldemort’s current body would have to do. After all, his "victory" when he was a baby had bought them years. Maybe this could, too.

Ron paused as they reached the second floor bathroom. “Harry — we’ll need a rear guard.”

“Right,” Harry sighed, and then looked to his fellow Gryffindors (and one Ravenclaw). Luna had been remarkably quiet all afternoon, though Harry had been amazed at how brilliantly she'd handled herself so far. “Draco, Neville, guard the door.”

“Harry-“ both protested.

"Look, I know you've got scores to settle, ” Harry said, acknowledging the debt the Lestrange brothers and Malfoy owed to his two friend. He put up a hand, cutting the pair off from further protests. “But you two are a team, you work best together. I’ll need Ron and Hermione both with me to get Sirius and Ginny back. Cordy and Luna can support us - you two're better on your own than they are. No offense, girls -”

"None taken, mate," Cordy acknowledged, and Luna simply nodded, her wide eyes accepting. Draco looked a bit sulky at the order, but Neville was resigned, and both young wizards finally agreed, however reluctantly.

Harry looked down at the snake on the sink in front of him. Fear gripped his heart once more, and it had to have shown on his face, because Ron placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“We will get her - them - back,” Ron whispered, and Harry appreciated the reinforcement. To say he was pretty well terrified at this point - Voldemort had the two people who meant the most to him in the world - well, that would have been an understatement of the most severe order.

“I hope so,” he answered truthfully. "I've got a plan."

"You realize, Harry," Neville pointed out, adopting a bit of his usual wry grin, "That those are the four scariest words in the Queen's English."

Harry just glared at his friend, deciding not to acknowledge that statement any other way.

“Harry, mate,” Cordy started to point out, her voice thoughtful. “You and Moldy-shorts are the only Parselmouths in Britain. If y'seal the door behind us, we won’t need a guard — “

“- And they won’t know where we’ve gone,” Draco finished.

"I like that plan much better," Luna added frankly. "I wouldn't want to leave any of my friends behind. I think that's what we should do," she declared.

Harry drew back in surprise, realizing they were right. He was more rattled than he thought, if he could forget something like that. Apparently Ron was, too. “Alright,” Harry acknowledged, and turned to the sink. “Open,” he hissed, and then the seven of them - Harry was only too conscious of the missing member of their group - willingly descended into the trap Voldemort had set.

- - - - - - -

The clanging of his alarm clock drug Harry forcibly into the waking world. As was increasingly often, he felt more than a bit irritated at the interruption, though he still didn't know why he was having such vivid - or strange - dreams. After slipping on his glasses and checking the time on the clock's face (pointing rather annoyingly at You're Late!), he groaned. Had he more time, he probably would have considered everything he'd just seen. But, after all, a dream was just a dream, and he was perilously close to being very late on the first day.

That Harry had experienced in the past dreams that were not, in fact, just dreams didn't seem to register to his sleep-addled mind.

He’d have to hurry to meet Ginny and the others before breakfast. , he realized, and wondered why Ron hadn't awakened him. Beyond that, it really wouldn’t do to start off his year as Head Boy by being tardy. Somehow, he rather thought McGonagall would frown upon that. Granted, she frowned upon a lot of things, but that didn't mean Harry wanted to make himself a target. Sighing, he slipped his robe on and grabbed his shower pack and towel, and rushed toward his dorm's facilities. Within minutes, his dream was completely forgotten.

Ginny was the only one waiting for him downstairs by the time he was done with his shower. Harry was touched by the not-too-minor show of loyalty. She was a Weasley, after all, and keeping her from her breakfast was a bit of a big deal. "Just you left, then?" he asked.

Clearly, Ginny didn't want to let the rhetorical question slide, and her eyes glittered at him as she answered, "Obviously. You had about two more minutes before I came and got you out of the shower myself."

"I'm sorry I hurried, then," Harry smirked at her before giving her the good-morning kiss she'd obviously been waiting for. Ginny wrapped her arms tightly around him, and as she did so, a thought - well, a dream that he did remember - occurred to him, and he grinned wickedly at his girlfriend. "You know..." he started.

"Oh, no," Ginny replied instantly, cutting him off as quickly as she stepped away from him. "I don't care if the common room's empty. We are not doing that here. And we are going to breakfast."

"Spoilsport," Harry replied in a way that was simultaneously grumpy and good-natured. He settled for slipping his hand into hers, and they rushed to the Great Hall as quick as was possible with seven flights of stairs. Luckily, they were able to make judicious use of some of the castle's hidden shortcuts. Harry's stomach was busily reminding him that he was hungry, too, and Ginny took the mickey out of him about it all the way down. Harry, at that point, was merely wishing he had installed a lift when he'd been repairing the castle.

"-I keep telling you you're one of the family," she teased as they joined the rest of their friends at the Gryffindor table. "What more proof do you need?"

Harry just snorted, and bid everyone else a good morning. As he looked around the Great Hall, he noticed that only a few of the Professors remained at the Staff table. Also of note was that almost all of the Hogwarts students that were of the female persuasion were chatting very, very animatedly. Harry found this to be slightly worrisome (in a non-threatening way), but was distracted as Ron returned his greetings around a mouth-full of food. Hermione, strangely, ignored that and simply offered her salutations. Neville, Cordy, and all the others nearby did likewise.

"Felt like a lie-in today, Harry?" Cordy asked, giving the dark-haired wizard a cheeky grin. Harry felt an instinctive pause at the dark-haired witch's attention. His decision to welcome her aside, there was a still a corner of his mind wondering if she could be trusted and wanted - no, very badly needed - to know the source of her surname, and all that it implied. Still, he tamped down on the urge to ask those questions. Harry suspected he would have to fight that urge a lot. Words were easy, after all - but actually welcoming Cordelia Riddle into their group, no questions asked, probably wouldn't be so easy.

But it was right, a corner of his mind reminded him, and he decided to stick to his resolution.

"Shut it, you," Harry said with a grin that was only partially forced, and then realized that he and Ginny hadn't been too late after all - no one had their schedules yet.

Hermione seemed to have picked up on what he was looking for, and decided to extend sympathy. "Professor Weasley hasn't passed them out yet, Harry," she supplied, referring to their new head of house. That's going to take some serious getting used to, Harry thought once again. Maybe we can just call him 'Professor Bill'?

Ron let out a snort at the title once again. "Going to be bloody hard to call him 'Professor'," the redhead observed before shoveling in another mouthful of eggs. Amazingly, he finished chewing and swallowed before continuing. Maybe Hermione was actually having an effect on him, too. "Honestly... how're we supposed to do that with a bloke we've seen in his skivvies?"

Harry bit back a laugh, and decided that the question was a rhetorical one as Lavender's head whirled their way from farther down the table. "What was that, Ron?" she asked in obvious interest. Harry also noted that Seamus was rolling his eyes. Then again, if someone had mentioned Fleur in her knickers, Harry reckoned they'd probably have Seamus' absolutely undivided attention. Those two really were suited for each other.

"Tell me about it," Ginny groused, as everyone ignored Lavender's interjection. "I wonder if...”

"Don't you even try it," Ron suddenly warned, stabbing a fork in her direction. This rather pointed act had the effect of sending a piece of sausage flying her way. Harry's hand darted out to catch the greasy projectile pork before it could strike Ginny in the face. He was oblivious to the stares he drew from around the room as he did so, but the speed of his reflexes had not gone unnoticed - especially by the members of the other House Quidditch teams.

"Thank you, luv," Ginny said, without missing a beat.

"And you were worried about being out of practice," Ron muttered under his breath, and Harry lobbed the sausage back at him. Ron doges, but still, Harry didn't fight the grin that came forth - it was good to know those reflexes were still there. Given that he hadn't played more than a pick-up game in more than a year and a half, like Ron said, he had been worried about it.

The thought made him briefly nostalgic that this year would be the end of his Quidditch career. He couldn't like - he was tempted at times to send 'Dora winging back to Puddlemere or the Cannons and say that he'd been absolutely daft, and that he would of course like to play for them. But whenever he thought such things, something would bring him crashing back to reality. He had the ability - the chance - to make a real difference in the wizarding world as an Auror. And as nice a dream as it was, Quidditch just didn't offer him the same opportunity.

But then, he also had no doubts Ginny would get to play professionally, so he knew there'd still be plenty of games in his future. That lessened the sting considerably.

Ron dodged the incoming food, but kept his focus on his little sister. "Don't even think of trying that little trick of yours with Bill if you get in trouble in his class, Ginny," he continued.

"I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about," she responded, just a little too innocently in Harry's opinion. He and Hermione shared a quick glance where they both raised their eyebrows - clearly she was thinking along similar lines. The conversation had quickly entered 'sibling only' territory, and Harry and Hermione both knew they would have to pick their words carefully in order to keep their favorite red-heads from drawing wands. Harry really didn't want to see bat-bogeys during his breakfast.

"Erm, what trick?" Harry asked, his tone somewhere between bemused and curious.

Ginny just raised her nose in the air, continuing with her pretense of ignorance. Ron snorted, and then explained as he continued eating. "She's been doing it since she was three. She does this cutesy little-girl voice, makes her eyes really big, and -”

Harry was now looking at Ginny speculatively. "She's never done that when I'm mad at her," he pointed out.

"That's because I have other ways of getting you to do what I want, Harry," Ginny said, nonplussed, and continued eating her breakfast.

Harry was grateful for the quick shield Hermione conjured for him when Ron spit his pumpkin juice out. He was a bit embarrassed by the comment, after all (prompting Ginny to comment once more that he even blushed like a Weasley).

Of course, the way that Cordy and Neville were grinning at him wasn't helping, either. Then he considered Ginny's statement for a moment, and finally just shrugged. It was pretty accurate, actually. "Fair enough," he eventually said, and returned his attention to his plate.

Neville smirked at Harry as he started eating the black pudding that he'd loaded his plate with. "Oh, Harry, you missed the announcement that McGonagall made this morning."

Harry, with a mouth that was quite full, decided not to emulate Ron and gave Neville a questioning glance back. He did, however, notice that Hermione peaked up at Neville's words, and he wondered if this had anything to do with why the female student body of Hogwarts had been in such animated conversation as he and Ginny arrived. As it turned out, it was.

"She explained why we needed dress robes this year," Neville continued. "We're having a Halloween Ball."

Given the way the last Ball Harry had attended had turned out; it was no surprise that he very nearly choked on his sausages at the revelation. Ginny gave him a solid thump on the back, and after Harry had taken a bit of drink, he looked at the other wizard once more. "Say again, mate?"

"Hal-low-een Ball," Ron answered in Neville's stead with a rather cheeky tone and overenunciating every last syllable. This, of course, earned him a suitable glare from Harry. Sadly, Harry's glare didn't have the effect Ginny's or Hermione's - or especially Molly's - did.

Then Harry noticed that Ginny now seemed just as excited as all of the other girls - though, plainly, she was trying not to show it. Paying a bit more attention, Harry realized she was displaying very little outward sign of her excitement, but just looking at her he could tell that she was practically giddy.

With this knowledge, the reason for the behavior he'd seen when entering the Hall was abundantly obvious. As much as a nightmare as the Yule Ball had been his 4th Year, Harry was understandably apprehensive at the thought of the whole thing. He was pretty well convinced he'd bollox the whole thing up, actually. Still... well, he could get this part right, at least.

He hoped.

"Rosaeus," Harry mumbled, drawing his wand and causing a single long-stemmed red rose to grow from its tip. Grabbing the flower, he cleared from his seat, and kneeled in front of the red-haired witch sitting next to him with exaggerated amount of pomp and circumstance. Ginny was facing him with an expectant look, and a happy glint in her eye that Harry found he rather liked. Of course, he also had the attention of were several other people, he now realized. Most of the Great Hall, actually. But Harry had come to terms with having an audience for most of the rest of his life - why not this?

Unless, of course, she said no. That would be a bit of a blow to the ego.

"Milady," he started, purposefully laying it on thick, "It would honor me greatly if you would consent to accompany me to the Halloween Ball. There is no fairer creature -"

"Creature, is it?" she laughed, and immediately cut him off by swatting him. "Prat," she added and Harry grinned widely. After all, she had taken the rose. "You've been hanging around George too much this summer."

"Probably," Harry admitted, "What do you say, Gin? Think I could convince you to go to the ball with me?"

"I don't know," she asked archly, "Can you?"

"I'm not too proud to beg, you know," he continued, very casually. "I can do it right here. Or would a midnight serenade in the common room be more to your preference?"

"Oh, Merlin, no," she said emphatically, waving a hand in front of her to emphasize her point. "I've heard your singing. I'll go with you just to spare my ears."

"The rest of us thank you," Ron interjected, and without so much as a blink, Harry shot a stinging hex at him under the table.

"Ow!" Ron yelped, and reached down to rub his knee.

Harry snorted as Ron muttered something very unflattering, and turned back to face Ginny. She was holding back a laugh, but she was smiling so brightly that Harry lost is breath for a moment. Merlin, she's beautiful... he thought in disbelief, and was suddenly occupied with many other notions. How the hell am I this lucky? "So... er... was that a yes?"

"That's a yes," she confirmed with a smile, and leaned towards him for a quick kiss - their version of one, anyhow, which was probably a bit too lengthy for such public circumstances. Strangely, Harry didn't much care.

Well, not until he heard the sound of coins being tossed from Cordy's direction towards Ron, and then a few more towards Neville.

"Oi, take it, then," the dark-haired witch said with disgust.

Ron, however, was just grinning widely, and Cordy answered before Harry or Ginny could ask. "Red over there bet me three Galleons the very first thing you'd do after hearing the news was ask her to go with you. Sodding love-birds. You owe me now, you know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry noted as Ginny and the others laughed. Then he looked to Hermione. "So, uh, 'Mione..."

"Yes, Ronald has already asked me," She answered immediately. "As soon as the Professor stopped speaking. I was rather impressed, actually."

"And you said...?" Ginny prompted, trailing off at the last word.

"After everything that happened last time?" Neville snorted.

"Of course I said yes," Hermione admitted, though she looked as though she might have wanted to make her boyfriend stew a bit.

"He only made you wait four years." Ginny muttered in a stage whisper, and the two girls grinned at each other.

Harry and Neville couldn't help but laugh loudly as Ron started muttering under his breath.

"Yes, well," Hermione shrugged, "Ron got it right this time. I didn't even want to hex him once."

"Y'know...” Harry said thoughtfully, "I don't know that I'll ever get used to seeing you take the mickey out of Ron so easily. Argue, sure, but this teasing without fighting - it's bloody unnatural."

"You know, I love how you're all talking about me like I'm not right bloody here," Ron added, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Accordingly, no one acknowledged his statement.

Hermione just shrugged. "It's a good bit easier now that we don't fight so often," she said frankly.

Ginny and Cordy actually snorted at the same time. "That's because you've found other ways to relieve that, er, tension," the redhead noted, and they were all gratified to see Hermione blush and Ron's ears go scarlet.

In surrender, Ron just gave a great sigh. He was, thankfully, saved from having to comment by the arrival of the new Transfiguration Professor - the aforementioned Bill Weasley - who was handing schedules out down the table as he went.

"Miss Riddle," Bill said neutrally, and slipped Cordy's down to her first. Harry thought he saw a momentary change in the elder man's scarred features as he looked at the girl with the most unfortunate surname. He blinked, however, and Bill's face had changed back to normal - if it had ever been different - as the other wizard reached towards him.

"Thank you, Bi-" Harry started as Bill handed him his. "Uh, Professor," he corrected himself before Hermione could. He glared for a moment when he saw Ginny smirk at the slip-up.

"Morning, you lot," Bill acknowledged, nodding to them all in quick succession, and got salutations from each. "And don't worry about that little slip-up back there, Harry," the eldest Weasley sibling noted. "I expect it'll be hard for all of to remember, but at least try when we're in class, deal?"

"Deal," Ginny answered for Harry as Bill handed his sister her own schedule. "So why didn't you tell us you were going to be here, o brother mine?" she asked pointedly.

"And miss the look on your faces last night?" he asked. "Where would the fun in that be?"

Harry grinned, "I said the same thing."

Bill let out a low chuckle as he reached across the table, passing schedules to Hermione, Ron and Neville. Bill gave his sister a look as he responded to Harry. "Got a bit of your ear taken off for it too, I'll bet."

Harry continued grinning as Ginny glared. "That too," he confessed.

A sharp bark of laughter from the new Professor, and then he started to head further down the table. "You lot come down to my office later - I'll tell you all about it."

"You bet your arse we will," Harry heard Ginny reply for all of them, and he laughed turned his attention to his schedule. Professor or no, Ginny wasn't about to change the way she spoke to her eldest brother.

Cordy was the first to read their first morning's class aloud. Abruptly, Harry realized that he and Ginny were actually going to get to attend class together. That had seemed merely a pleasant fantasy before. Very soon now, it would be reality.

"Double Defense," Cordy read aloud.

"All morning with the new bloke, eh?" Ron mused. "Well, at least that'll be out of the way before lunch."

Harry snorted at Ron's sense of priorities. Still, he had to admit, he was curious about MacDougal. "Are we paired with anyone?" With the increase in the student population, Harry thought it was possible that even the N.E.W.T. classes might revert to the paired system.

"No - it's all mixed in,” Neville answered. That, of course, meant that there wouldn't be any avoiding the Slytherins - well, the ones they wanted to avoid, anyway. The ones like Blaise and Daphne were all right. Still, it was better that they weren't segregated. Not if some of the things Harry wanted to push for this year were going to be possible. It had to start somewhere.

"Won't that be fun," Ginny muttered, and Harry saw her toss a glare towards Pansy Parkinson. Absently, he noted that Parkinson was far away from Mal- from Draco. He was, in fact, sitting completely alone. Harry noticed the gaze and the target both, and decided it would, perhaps, be best if Ginny and Parkinson were kept as far apart as possible. Still, it did not bode well for Harry's intentions toward House unity, not if there was still that much bad blood with some of the Slytherins.

But with people like Pansy in the House - well, Harry could understand those feelings. He'd shared them, once. A part of him still did.

"Did Durmstrang use the same style of schedules?" Hermione was asking Cordy as he returned his attention to everyone else. Harry also had no doubt that before term was up, the bushy-haired witch would have wheedled all sorts of details about the other school out of their new friend.

The newest Gryffindor nodded her reply after she finished off the last of her drink. "After Professor Rasputin took over my third year - he was Professor Karkarov's Assistant. Karkarov disappeared just after the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"The Death Eaters found him," Harry said.

"We thought as much," Cordy acknowledged frankly, and gave a small half-shrug. "No great loss, to tell the truth. He was an absolutely horrid Professor, amongst his other issues."

"Other issues?" Harry asked, and then wished he hadn't.

Cordy made a rather unattractive face by screwing up her nose. "Bloke had seriously lacking standards when it came to personal hygiene," she explained.

"Ugh," Ginny shuddered. Harry concurred, remembering thinking that Karkarov had been even greasier than Professor Snape.

Maybe it was a Dark Arts thing.

Having finished his breakfast, Harry pulled out his pocket watch. As always, his gaze flitted across Ginny's, Ron's, and Hermione's hands perfectly stationary on the face - never mind that they were right there with him - and he was satisfied to see that they were all safe. Then he fulfilled his original intent, which was to check the time - and saw that they didn't have very long at all left until class began. "Bollocks," he muttered, "Come on - let's go check out MacDougal's class."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Harry and his friends only barely made it before the first class started. McGonagall's long-ago threats of being transfigured into a pocket watch rang in Harry's ears as he and his friends all but skidded into the Defense classroom. Harry absently noted that the room had been completely altered from its familiar setting - no doubt McGonagall had realized that very many of the students would have had unpleasant memories of the old room. If Harry hadn't known otherwise, he'd have thought he was in a completely different part of the castle.

There were a few tables left open for them, and Harry and Ginny naturally paired off, as did Hermione and Ron, and Neville, who Susan had saved a spot for. Cordy sat with Miranda McGonagall - the Headmistress' grand-niece, one of the other seventh-year Gryffindors. The witch was one of those who had joined Harry and his friends in not ostracizing her for her last name.

Even just in the time between the sorting last night and the start of class, Harry had notices the stares and whispers following his new friend. Part of him was grateful they weren't directed at him, but the larger part actually pitied Cordy. He realized then, that even he was doing it to a degree. He was always thinking of her as 'Cordy', and never referring to her as 'Riddle'. The question Harry couldn't figure out if that was good thing - or a bad one.

Dumbledore made dealing with stuff like this look easy, Harry thought ruefully. He had overheard Ginny and Hermione talking last night, while he had dozed with his head in Ginny's lap. The two girls had been speaking of Harry, and Hermione had pointed out to Ginny that people were starting to listen to him the way they had regarded Dumbledore. Harry had almost betrayed himself then - and especially when Ginny had agreed with Hermione.

Truthfully, it was something Harry had given several long afternoons of thought to. The Wizarding world needed a leader to follow. Shacklebolt was close, but he didn't have the... notoriety that Dumbledore had. Or that Harry himself had. And, being brutally truthful - if everything Harry had learned this summer was true - Kingsley didn't have the power that Harry did. Harry was all too aware that power meant responsibility - but it also meant temptation, like Grindelwald and Riddle had succumbed to.

The thought itself made Harry squirm uncomfortably. Even if he did wield the Elder Wand, and McGonagall herself thought he was probably the most powerful wizard in Britain... Accepting responsibility, accepting that he would do what he had to was one thing, but...

Well. Dumbledore himself had said - and shown - why "The Greater Good" could be a most horrifying thing indeed.

Further contemplation was forestalled by the arrival of Professor MacDougal. Harry got his first real good look at the man. He was older, definitely, at least sixty or seventy. He was a large man - over six feet tall, though Hagrid dwarfed him in comparison, of course. MacDougal's hair was pulled back, and his beard neatly trimmed. His robes were functional, but not overly decorative or unnecessarily bulky. His hair had once been a reddish-brown, but was now mostly grey and silver. Hints of the old color remained, however, and gave MacDougal a very 'weathered' look. His eyes were dark, giving a hooded sort of impression to his stare.

And staring he was. The Professor had entered the room, folded his arms, and simply... waited. Harry watched as the chattering students silenced themselves. After the nervous shuffling and coughs abated, he found himself rather impressed by the way MacDougal had brought the class to order without saying a word. He had done it through sheer presence.

That was a trick Harry wanted to learn, certainly.

"Welcome t' N.E.W.T. Defense Against th' Dark Arts," MacDougal began, revealing a thick Scottish brogue. As the Professor started speaking, Harry looked around to see who all was in the class. Gryffindor had the largest representation, of course, but there were a fair number of Hufflepuffs as well, and more Slytherins than he'd expected.

Ravenclaw had the fewest - but then, that house was rarely focused on Defense in the first place - Luna was one of the few. Their strengths tended to lie in Arithmancy, Potions, Ancient Runes - that sort of thing.

"I'm Professor MacDougal," the older wizard continued. "For anyone wonderin' about my qualifications, I used t'be an Auror a ways back. I had some... disagreements, we'll say, with Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch, and as a result, I've been... out of the country for a bit."

Harry liked MacDougal already. And as far as he could tell, those qualifications met the approval of most of the rest of his class, too.

"Anybody who hates Fudge is fine by me," Ginny whispered, running over fingers over the scars on the back of his hand, and Harry made a noise of agreement.

"Now, this last year especially, every single one of ye learned first-hand why Defense is a practical skill set t'be havin'," MacDougal continued, and then looked towards Harry. "More'n a few of ye have used these skills practically."

No one commented at that, Harry noted - not even Seamus. Defense wasn't a joke. Not anymore.

"I'm aware that four of ye're already members of Shacklebolt's new 'Reserve Auror' program. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Riddle and Ms. Bones, step forward, please."

Harry's eyes opened as wide as everyone else's at the announcement that Cordelia and Susan were 'reserve Aurors', too. Briefly, he noted the surprise on Neville's face. Neville hadn't known either. Harry winced on his friend’s behalf. First the incident with Hannah on the train yesterday, and now Susan hadn't told him something like this? That didn't bode well for Neville's relationship.

"Er, yes, sir," Harry answered, and was the first to stand. Ron, Cordy and Susan did likewise. At MacDougal's bidding, the four paired off, Ron and Harry on one side, Cordy and Susan on the other.

"Good," MacDougal said, and then raised his wand and cast the Muffliato spell, so that only the four of them could hear. Harry's eyebrows rose again. Had the Professor been a member of the Order, then? Or had he learned it elsewhere? The spell had become common, after all, after Harry had passed it on to Neville and Ginny to give to the D.A. Still, he filed that away for future reference.

"Now, all four of ye have yuir Auror manuals, correct?" MacDougal asked, a glint in his eye that actually reminded Harry of Dumbledore a bit - or maybe Sirius.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, as did the other three, all of them uncomprehending.

"Read the chapters on sustained dueling, have ye?" MacDougal asked pointedly.

"Yes, sir," Ron answered this time, and the other three nodded. Harry began to see where MacDougal was going. 'Sustained dueling' referred to a prolonged duel or series of duels - like at the Department of Mysteries, or the Battle of Hogwarts. Aurors were required to maintain a particular level of physical fitness, in order to build up endurance. It had also revealed that there was a correlation between physical and magical endurance. As such, Harry and Ron both had been working on their own physical training for nearly a month. The change wasn't overtly obvious, but both young men were more toned than they had been before, and Harry was beginning to build some new muscle mass.

Both Ginny and Hermione had heartily approved of this, it was needless to say.

MacDougal nodded, and then dismissed the spell. "All right, then. We're goin' t'put on a little demonstration here. Our young reserve Aurors here have all been doing physical training lately. Today, they're going to show you how that can be an advantage. Everyone stand from yuir desks, please," he ordered, and then pointed his wand towards the class at large.

There was a mad scramble as everyone hurried to do so. MacDougal muttered a spell that Harry couldn’t hear, and the desks were strewn everywhere, creating a classroom-sized field with the desks as both obstacles and cover. Shelving and several other objects flew from the walls, and the formerly pristine classroom was now a prime battlefield.

“Potter, Weasley,” the Professor started, “To the left. Riddle, Bones, to the right. Begin on my signal. No fatal spells. Beyond that, anything goes. First team to disable both members of the other team wins. But remember what ye're tryin' t'demonstrate here.”

As the four students carried out their instructions and took their places, MacDougal cast another spell, and a shimmering, slightly gold dome encompassed the dueling area — to protect bystanders, Harry realized. The shield also blocked out the noise from the bystanders, preventing any outside interference (or distractions.) He very much wanted to learn that spell, too.

Harry and Ron ignored the murmurs of the other students as they took their positions. They looked to each other, silently formulating a strategy. Their long years of working together paid off, and with just a few hand signals, they had decided that when it was time to end it, Ron would use distracting tactics while Harry powered through. By the time MacDougal shot sparks from his wand, they were more than ready.

“Avis! Oppugno!” Ron cried immediately, conjuring a flock of blackbirds that went darting in towards the girls.

"Protego!" Susan instantly responded, and Cordy quickly threw a pair of stunners as she did. Ron's birds - which Harry imagined Hermione was probably smirking about - threw off the black-haired witch's aim.

Harry and Cordy's eyes met for a moment, and he saw more than a bit of mischief in her eyes. He couldn't help but return it.

The game was on.

Harry surprised everyone by crying "Chiroptera Mucosa," and launching Ginny's trade-marked Bat-Bogey hex Susan's way. The dark-hair witch dodged it completely, demonstrating one of the first principles taught in the Auror manual - that it was easier to dodge than raise a shield sometimes.

And in the case of an Unforgivable, a lot more useful.

Ron was gawking at his friend, "She taught you that one? She won't teach it to me!"

Harry grinned, but didn't take his attention away from Susan and Cordy. "What can I say, mate? Gin likes me better'n you."

Ron snorted, and paid for his distraction as Susan hit him with a Jelly-Arms Jinx. As his arms wobbled, Harry was rather unpleasantly reminded of his second year. He quickly hit Ron with the counter-curse. Ron muttered his thanks, as he and Harry took cover. Ron raised his wand towards the Basilisk skull that was hanging from the ceiling, and performed a pretty impressive bit of transfiguration that turned it into a Grand Piano.

With a resounding twang, the piano crashed to the ground very near to the two witches' position, and by reflex, both darted away from their cover. Harry took advantage of this, and thought Conjunctivo! The light that shot from his wand only managed to catch Susan, and she blinked as she tried to steady herself, temporarily blinded.

Cordy responded by sending an unknown spell winging Harry's way, and he ducked behind the overturned desk that served as his cover. The desk dissolved into a fine powder, and as he was darting to another one, he saw Cordy releasing Susan from the Conjunctivitis Curse.

The mock duel continued in this vein for some time, with both sides using every non-damaging spell they could think of in order to prolong the battle. Harry had hit Cordy with the Densaugeo curse at one point, and she had responding by actually performing a spell that conjured a dripping wet trout and slapped him in the face with it. Curse was met with counter-curse, and jinx with counter-jinx, much to the perpetual amusement of Professor MacDougal and the other observers. Both sides made excellent use of cover, and in removing that cover from the other side, drawing on all aspects of their magical education to do so. Overall, Harry and Ron proved to be able to work in concert with each other better - which wasn't truly a surprise.

"Aquamenti," Harry murmured, sending a flooding blast Susan's way, dousing the witch completely. They had been going for nearly an hour now, and Harry was feeling the strain of the constant spell-casting. Ron was pinned down by the conjured fairies that Cordy had dive-bombing him, and only too late, Harry realized that Cordy had taken advantage of the distraction to perform a Summoning Charm on his shoes.

Unsurprisingly, Harry lost his balance as his shoes flew off of his feet, but he managed to stop his fall as they went sailing towards Cordy's outstretched hands. He narrowed his eyes at first, but had to chuckle - even if only to himself.

Cordy was laughing - as were many of the other students, no doubt - but Harry returned his attention to Susan. After confirming that she was still behind the several overturned desks she and Cordy had most recently piled up as cover, he looked to Ron.

Ron had a knowing look on his face. "Time to end it, then?"

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said simply. Mentally, he fixed Cordy and Susan's positions in his mind, and then nodded at his partner. "Get the lights, would you?"

Ron withdrew his Deluminator from his pocket. He'd made a point of always carrying it, and Harry could see that it was a wise idea. "Happy to, mate," the redhead grinned, and flicked the switch a few times. All of the lit torches in the room winked out, their flames quickly swirling into the small device that looked like a Muggle lighter. With the shades all drawn as they were, the large classroom was plunged into near-total darkness.

Harry stood then, and aimed his wand toward Cordy and Susan's location. "Immobulus," he whispered, and added a little twist to the end of his wand movement to limit the area of effect to only a few meters. He had no desire to immobilize himself - or any of his classmates (or Professor), after all.

The small remaining glow from the shield faded as MacDougal lowered, and the Scotsman let out a hearty laugh. "Well done, lads, well done, indeed! The lights please, Mr. Weasley?"

"Of course, sir," Ron answered, and flicked his Deluminator again. Once illumination had been properly restored Harry and Ron - closely followed by Neville, Ginny and Hermione - went over to check on the two fallen girls. After Harry had lifted the Immobilizing Charm, Cordy glared at him. She did, however, accept the hand he'd offered to help her up.

"No fair, Potter," she muttered good-naturedly. "Where'd Weasley get a toy like that, anyway?"

"All's fair in love and war, Riddle," Harry grinned, declining to answer.

That choice of words caught Ginny's attention. "What's that, luv?" she asked pointedly.

Harry didn't miss a beat. "I didn't say a thing."

"Thought so," she huffed, but made her mirth clear by giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “You were wonderful," she whispered.

Harry fought to control his reaction to her praise. "Thanks. It was... fun," he said, and the other three agreed, though they were plainly as wiped out as he.

MacDougal snorted. "Very touchin'," he muttered under his breath. Absently, he waved his wand towards the center of the room, and the classroom reorganized itself. Unbidden, everyone reclaimed their seats.

"All right," the Professor began. "Who wants to evaluate what we just saw, and can tell me why these four we able to continue casting spells for so long?"

Unsurprisingly, Hermione's was the first hand up.

- - - - - - - - - - -

In a cold and forbidding place, on the edge of the North Sea, to the north of Scotland, there was a place called Azkaban. The wizarding prison was something children were taught of, as a deterrent. "Follow the rules, or you'll be sent to the Dementors," many a child had been told. Those days were done, however. The Dementors were long gone, and after the fall of Voldemort, Minister Shacklebolt had not invited them to return. It was rumored that the Department of Mysteries had perhaps even discovered a way to destroy Dementors, but they refused to admit it.

The prison had seen better days. Truthfully, it had never been a bastion of architectural wonders, but the several breakouts over the last several years had damaged much of the building. Repairing it beyond the necessary capacity was hardly a priority for the overworked Ministry.

In this dank and dreary locale, a place that could suck all the warmth from one's soul even without magic, a man waited.

Rodolphus Lestrange paced the interior of his cell. It was maddening, this confinement, but then, Rodolphus had to admit that he was probably more than a bit mad already. Oh well. Twelve years with the Dementors did that to a man.

Still, this 'new' Azkaban - one guarded by Aurors and Goblin mercenaries - wasn't nearly as foreboding as it had once been. It was not implacable. There were always... possibilities.

Rodolphus eyed the new prisoner in the cell across from his. She had just been transferred from Ministry holding facilities that morning. It was a cell that had so far been left empty. However, there was precious little room in Azkaban these days, and it was now definitely occupied. He had no love for the woman, it was true, and she certainly wasn't appealing to look at, even had Rodolphus remotely cared about such things. But she had been an enthusiastic servant of his Lord's regime, and a Ministry employee for a very long time. There was likely a great many things locked away in her mind.

Lestrange grinned - hardly a happy sight - as a plan began to form in his mind. A plan that would not bode well for Harry Potter and his friends, or this "new order" of Kingsley Shacklebolt's, no, not at all.

I may be mad, he thought, but then, we're all mad here.

Oh yes. He could make use of Dolores Umbridge, indeed.

And Rodolphus Lestrange threw back his head, and the first sound since the beginning of his imprisonment crossed his lips.

He laughed.

Had anyone heard it, they would have found it more chilling than even the winds that buffeted the sea outside. But Umbridge was asleep, and no one else was near.

Lestrange laughed some more.

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