“ The Arrival -
Harry arrived at the top of the hill first, wand drawn and ready. He froze in a crouch, just behind the crest, looking intently at the ancient site in the valley below for anything suspicious. It was dark but the sky was clear and the field was lit by moonlight and stars. He knew the others had arrived by hearing the sound of successive small ‘pops’ pierce the silence of the hill. He glanced behind him to see…nothing. Only a strange assortment of wand tips that hovered oddly in mid-air.
“All clear,” said Harry to the air behind him. One by one, his classmates revealed themselves as they tossed back their invisible hoods and robes.
They don’t look like students anymore, Harry thought with both pride and sadness. Dressed in their dragon-made tunics and leggings, they indeed looked like the warriors they had worked so hard to become. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
This will work.
“My brothers are wicked brilliant!” Ron commented with a bit of reverence in his voice as he looked about the group emerging out of thin air. “These robes will definitely be on Filch’s banned objects list once this is all over!”
“My father will find loads of uses for them on his expeditions,” Luna remarked as she made her arm appear and disappear by pulling the sleeve of her robe up and down.
Harry walked among the group, counting heads: Ron and Hermione, Neville, Luna, Susan and Ginny. He walked over to Ginny who was holding onto Neville so tightly he was grimacing in pain.
“You all right?” Harry asked, prying her fingers off Neville’s arm.
“Thanks, Harry,” Neville said in relief and walked over to help Ron.
“You were right, Harry.” Ginny looked a bit green. “Nasty feeling “ Apparating.”
“It does get a bit better when you can do it by yourself.” He smiled in sympathy, remembering his first side-along Apparition with Dumbledore.
Recovering quickly, Ginny let out an impatient sigh and started to pace a bit. “I can’t wait to get on with it! Harry,” Ginny said, stopping to look at him directly, “do I have to join mum after we’re done? I’m no good with patching people up like she is.”
Harry checked his watch. It would begin very soon. He returned her gaze. “Ginny, you know the only way your mum allowed you to do this much is if I promised I’d get you to her immediately after to help in the infirmary.” He gestured off in the distance where the wounded would be taken. “Think about how this is for her “ especially after Percy. She has so much to lose tonight”” He stopped himself, not meaning to have put it quite that bluntly. Though it did have the desired affect. Ginny shook off her impatience and gathered Harry in an embrace. Harry hesitated for just a moment before returning her hug.
“Of course, you’re right, Harry. I’m sorry. This is your plan. I trust you.” She let him go with a light kiss on his cheek and went over to join Luna and Susan.
Harry felt fear and doubt attack from the bottom of his stomach. His plan. As confident as he was, Ginny’s part in it was the one place he still felt uncertain. In the end, despite his still surprising love for this amazing girl, she had persuaded him that no one’s life “ even hers “ was more important than any of the others he was putting at risk. Hadn’t she suffered as well? Shouldn’t it be her choice? In the end, she was right. Molly, to his amazement, agreed. So that was that. He pushed his uncertainty aside forcefully and re-focused on the task at hand.
He looked around at his friends, who, preparing themselves for this night all year, had turned themselves into the real Dumbledore’s Army. They were going about their business with precision, their well-practiced activity appearing calm and assured. Hermione was making some last minute checks in the book of runes she had insisted on bringing along. Ron and Neville were checking the packs they had brought. The other girls were walking through some of the trickier spells. He felt a rush of love and respect for them all. Harry was humbled and grateful for their resolve and unwavering trust in him, agreeing to follow his instructions completely, even though they only knew their part of the whole plan.
“It’s just amazing!” Susan remarked in awe, looking down from the peak of the hill. “It’s exactly as it looked in practice!” Their eyes followed her wand pointing to the valley below where they stood. The small group joined her at the grassy crest, all feeling the old magic that had been created there so long ago. The moon was high and casting shadows on the outer, larger circle of standing stones, which rose from the ground like sentinels. Susan was right. It was laid out exactly as Moody had conjured it for their practices in the Room of Requirement.
Even after thousands of years, the stones still stood at heights between four to six meters high on a grass covered, chalkstone bank, surrounded by a deep, wide ditch that appeared to have once held water. The field itself was enormous “ certainly larger than six Quidditch fields put together. There was the meandering stone pathway that entered the first, largest circle from the west, moved up to cross through the second, smaller circle at the northern end and retreated out of the circle to the east, looking like a giant serpent. Remnants of the original entrance gates to the circle were still visible, marking their planned destination points: east, south and west.
Harry took out his Omnioculars to get a better look at the smaller circle, farthest away from where they all stood. Still quite large, this inner circle was shaped by twelve tall stones. A fallen remnant of a thirteenth stone lay inside, on the ground. Also inside the circle was a small group of Death Eaters standing around a fire in the center: Bellatrix Lestrange, Goyle, two others Harry didn’t recognize, and, thanks to the last successful breakout of Azkaban, McNair and Avery.
Harry was glad the Ministry had new, more trustworthy guardians of the wizard prison. They were going to be busy there later this morning.
CRACK! At the sound, they pivoted as one, pointing their wands collectively at Malfoy who had Apparated behind them.
“It’s okay!” Harry gestured for them to lower their wands. “Excellent reflexes, though. Moody will be proud!”
Malfoy looked at the group with apprehension and wariness. Harry went to him quickly and took his hand in greeting, which Malfoy held for only a moment before stepping back.
“Is everything on plan?” Harry asked with concern.
Malfoy nodded. “Yeah. I told them I needed to step out for a bit. They hardly noticed,” he said, tossing his head in the direction of the Death Eaters gathering. “I’m only good for fetching things for them anyway. They wouldn’t even have had me here tonight if I hadn’t convinced You-Know-Who to let me come. ” Malfoy grimaced. “They’re going over their plan to attack Hogwarts tomorrow, as expected. I think you lot will be a bit of a surprise,” Malfoy added.
Harry noticed his group shifting about awkwardly as they stared at Malfoy. While they all knew that Malfoy had come to their side after his parents’ death, it had taken them a long time to believe it. Harry also realized that they hadn’t seen him since that awful night at Hogwarts, and it was likely that many would still find it hard to trust him. He turned back to Malfoy, but made sure the group could hear him clearly.
“Malfoy, without your help, none of this would have been possible. We wouldn’t have found out about Voldemort’s plan to take over Hogwarts, and about this place,” Harry gestured to the plain below.
Malfoy scowled, clearly uncomfortable receiving praise from Harry.
“Just kill him, Potter, then it will have been worth risking my life being under that foul creature’s beck and call,” Malfoy muttered.
“Are you sure he hasn’t been able to read your mind?”
“Of course not,” said Malfoy, affronted at the suggestion. “I’ve been taught by the best, remember? Snape“”
“Professor Snape!” Harry interrupted with a smirk.
Harry’s attempt at irony seemed to work. Malfoy grinned.
“Right. Professor Snape worked me hard until my Occlumency skills were perfect. Of course, he did say that I had learned it faster than anyone he had ever taught,” Malfoy said, in his habitual smug manner.
“You’d be the only one he ever taught, since he bungled it with me,” Harry remarked.
“Hmph. I heard that it was you doing the bungling, Potter.”
“Harry, Malfoy!” Hermione interrupted as she called the group together. As they circled around her, she reached into a small black pouch attached to her waist and pulled out a several small, round objects attached to black silk strings and began to hand them out.
“I’m giving one of these to each of you but, remember, use them only when Harry calls you. If you are in real trouble, call for me. Do you understand?” They all nodded in assent. “One for you too, Draco,” Hermione added as she put a mirror around his neck as well. She met his eyes, taking in his surprise. “We’re all glad you’re here, with us,” she added softly.
“It’s a mirror,” said Malfoy changing the subject, quickly shifting his eyes away from Hermione’s. He looked at the object in his hand with confusion. “What’s it do?”
“It’s from a special mirror my Godfather gave me a few years ago,” replied Harry. “I... well - it sort of “ broke.
“Hermione made them,” Ron explained. “She took all the broken bits and Transfigured them into individual little two-way mirrors. It’s a two-way mirror. You speak someone’s name and, if they’ve got one too, they pop up for a chat. Sort of like a… what do you call those Muggle things, Hermione? Walking... something?”
“Walkie-Talkies,” Hermione corrected.
“That’s it! She also fixed it so that they won’t work for no one but us.” Ron smiled at her with evident pride and Hermione blushed, pleased with Ron’s compliments.
“Pretty clever for a “” Hermione shot Malfoy a look and he reconsidered. “For a Gryffindor,” he finished.
Harry stepped away from the group, so they were out of earshot. He focused on his mirror. “Kingsley Shacklebolt,” he called. Immediately, the image of Kingsley appeared. Harry sighed with relief to see him.
“Everything all right?” Kingsley asked.
“Yes, sir. All go on your end? Dobby there?”
Harry saw Kingsley’s right eyebrow rise a bit. “The Order is ready and waiting for your signal, Harry. And, yes, Dobby is here with his….colleagues.” Hermione had stepped over to watch with Harry and she piped in.
“Tell Dobby we’re proud of him and all the house-elves. They are making history tonight!”
Kingsley looked off to his right for a moment and then turned back to look at them both. “Yes, he’s heard and wants to report that ‘Hermione’s Army’ is ready!” Harry saw him try to suppress a grin. Hermione looked ridiculously proud, and Harry released Kingsley’s image by dropping the mirror to his side. Immediately he picked it up again and, looking into it called, “Rufus Scrimgeour.”
Ron had joined them and they watched together as Scrimgeour appeared in Harry’s mirror.
“We’re ready, Harry,” Scrimgeour responded without prompting. “I have over one hundred Aurors and an expanded Magical Law Enforcement Squad at the ready. But Harry,” Scrimgeour paused as worry and frustration passed over his face, “please reconsider and tell me how you plan to confront V - Voldemort,” he said, spitting out the name with difficulty. Harry started to protest, but Scrimgeour pushed on. “Look, Harry, I know you have to be the one to face Voldemort in the end and, despite my better judgment, I’ve agreed to do this your way.” Scrimgeour’s sour expression conveyed that this agreement had not come easily. “But I think you should reconsider; you don’t have to be there alone. We have dozens of highly trained professionals who can support you!”
“Sir, with all respect, you need to trust me on this. You are supporting me by agreeing to follow my plan which, after all we’ve been through, I know must be difficult for you.”
Scrimgeour grunted in reply, acknowledging that it had taken him a long time to understand that garnering Harry’s support for the Ministry required offering his own.
“If it helps, think about it this way: I’m following Dumbledore plan. He’s been guiding me all along and I’m sure I’ve got this right. I won’t be alone,” Harry said, looking over at Ron and Hermione. “And, sir, you’ve already promised,” said Harry with a wan smile, knowing how this argument would end.
Scrimgeour sighed and shook his head. “All right, Harry. I don’t like it, but - we’re with you.”
“Thank you, sir. That means everything. We won’t fail.” Scrimgeour’s image faded. “We can’t fail.”
Turning to Ron and Hermione, he said simply, “It’s time.”