Tested In Fire

Chapter 29: In Which We're Almost Done

Harry and Sirius trudged wearily towards Hogsmeade and The Three Broomsticks, neither one of them speaking. Sirius carried Wormtail over his shoulder, the living proof of his loyalty to the Potters, for those who had still refused to believe him. Harry had a feeling that now Sirius would finally be able to relax more than he ever had in the past.

Harry himself had a strange yearning to grab Ginny from The Burrow and kiss her senseless, not that either one of them was brave enough for that. The adrenaline rush was over, for now. He only hoped that the attacks were over with for the night.

When they reached the tavern, three teachers greeted them. Professors Sprout, Snape and McGonagall were decked out in all of their winter gear.

The fire behind them crackled warmly, and Harry wanted desperately just to sit in front of it for about a year to thaw out his body, which seemed to have thawed.

"Is that...?" Professor Sprout asked, gesturing towards Wormtail.

"Is that what?" Sirius responded, feeling irritated and cold. "Blast it," he murmured.

"I believe," Snape injected, "that Professor Sprout wishes to know if that is Peter Pettigrew."

"Yes, that is Peter," Sirius said shortly. "Or what is left of what was Peter Pettigrew. Now he's just a rat."

Professor McGonagall shot Sirius a disapproving look. "Really, Professor Black, you shouldn't try to pick fights."

Sirius nearly snarled.

"Sound familiar, Black?" Snape mocked, sounding almost boyish.

"Yes," Sirius shot back. "She said it quite often... to you."

Snape sneered. "I believe the reverse is true."

Harry shook his head. It was sad to see two grown men act this way. No matter how much he disliked Snape, it would make his life easier if his Potions professor and his godfather could get along better.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said with a kind, almost pitying look in her eye, "I'm afraid that your night has only just begun. Professor Dumbledore has decided to... Well, we'd best have this conversation elsewhere. Come with us."

The head of Gryffindor house saw Harry's longing glance at the fire, and smiled. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore's office will be just as warm as our present location, if not slightly warmer."

Harry grinned. "All right then, let's go."

"Mr. Potter, you're going to have to grab my watch on the count of three."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "I did this earlier this evening."

"I assure you the results will be better. This Portkey will take us directly to Professor Dumbledore's office."

"I have one that Professor Black can use," Professor Sprout said helpfully.

"And I," Snape said with a self-deprecating smile, "am here to make the scenery more pleasant."

"Actually, Severus is here for security reasons," Professor McGonagall corrected mildly. "Are you ready, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded.

"All right then. One. Two. Three."

Harry and the professor grabbed the watch, and McGonagall twisted something. Quite suddenly they were whirling through space again, and landed with a bump in the middle of the headmaster's office. In which, Harry noted with a bit of surprise, there were more than a few Weasleys. In fact, as Harry's mind began to count, he suspected that all of the Weasleys were in attendance, including Percy and his newly reclaimed Penelope.

"Harry!" A bright red fireball launched herself at the surprised boy, and Harry found his arms automatically encircling the small body.

"Ginny!" he answered with just as much confusion. He was even more confused when Ginny gave him an affectionate, but hard, slap. "Ouch. What was that for?"

"That was for scaring me like that. Honestly, the next time you're going to be killed you could send me a postcard or something."

"But how did you know?"

"I had a vision," Ginny said calmly. "But no one saw fit to give me the conclusion to your little dilemma. I thought the Malfoys were going to rip you apart."

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm afraid the Malfoys will be out of any further movements on Voldemort's part tonight. Don't you think, Sirius?"

Sirius grinned. "That's right. I'd say they'd be pretty cool to the idea."

Harry returned his godfather's bright smile, and they both began to laugh.

"Oh, that's horrible. Are they both unconscious?" Ginny asked, her tone mildly disapproving.

"Yes," Harry answered decisively, "because--" he kissed her hair and breathed in her scent "--if I hadn't knocked them out, they would have killed me. Your past record has indicated you like me better alive than dead, so I reckoned I would make the trade."

Harry got slapped again for that. He decided that he couldn't win.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter." It was the first time that Dumbledore had spoken. "Your night is not over, though. Miss Granger has finally fixed the spell, and it should work."

Harry's jaw dropped. He turned and enveloped Hermione in a hug. If Ginny had been less of a woman, she would have been jealous.

"Well done, Hermione," he whispered.

In spite of herself, Hermione felt herself tearing up.

"It was nothing, really. It was obvious, once I figured out what the problem was."

"It was more than that, and you know it, Hermione," Ron contradicted her. "Don't try to be modest. We all know you're brilliant, and this is only another chance you had to prove it."

"Nice," Ginny muttered. "If she doesn't forgive him for that alone, she's a colder one that I am."

"We've decided to attack Voldemort immediately. The most recent of our intelligence reports that we just received places him about three miles outside of school grounds," Sirius informed everyone, ignoring Ron and Hermione.

"Is he planning to attack the school?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"I don't know, Molly," Professor Dumbledore responded frankly. "He tried last year."

"We can't allow him and the Death Eaters to get to the school," Bill said, a bit of his Head Boy showing through.

"So we lure him to the Shrieking Shack," Fred threw out, and everyone turned to look at him.

"It really is quite simple," George agreed. "It's close enough to the school that we can retreat if necessary, and it's far away enough that we don't have to worry too much that the Death Eaters will attack Hogwarts."

"What exactly is this product you're going to use to make Voldemort angry? You've given us the gist of it, but what does it do, exactly?" Charlie asked, after he had exchanged a look with Bill.

Fred and George shook their heads simultaneously.

"That would be telling," George answered with a grin.

"We wouldn't want to do that," Fred agreed. "Bad for business, you know. Our motto is 'A Surprise Every Time You Buy,' after all."

Molly's face was gradually turning red, and Arthur patted her hand comfortingly.

"Maybe, my dear," he whispered to her, "it's best that we not know."

"I don't want them wasting time making things like that. They're so clever, you know."

"We'll have this conversation sometime later, Molly. We can't have it right now."

Molly blushed becomingly. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Dumbledore smiled. "It's good that you're not overly preoccupied with what is to come."

"Professor, I believe we should hurry. We don't have much time to teach Ginny and Harry the incantation and wand movements, you know," Hermione cut in. "Also, we have to find someone whose magical energy we can borrow."

"The last part of your question is very simple to answer, Miss Granger. You'll be using my energy."

"Professor Dumbledore!"

The Headmaster blinked in shock. No less than six people had just shouted at him.

"My energy, not me," he clarified. In his old age, he found that he had to do that more and more often. In most cases it was amusing, but now he was just tired. "You see, I've been storing it. I'm quite sick, as Fawkes and Professor McGonagall would tell you in a heartbeat if I let them, and I wouldn't be much use to you if I were there in the physical form.

"I've taken the liberty of transferring my energy to another student, who will, I imagine, be more than willing to help you, even if he is a little shocked."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

Dumbledore smiled, and his eyes twinkled with self-satisfaction. "Neville Longbottom."

"Neville Longbottom?" Ginny was truly shocked. "But, I mean, he's almost a Squib..."

"Exactly," Dumbledore said.

Hermione, naturally, was the first to pick up on it. "Only a near Squib would be able to handle that much magical energy. There's so little of it in his system."

"Exactly, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Dumbledore praised.

"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said, and then caught herself when they all looked at her. "Mr. Ronald Weasley, will you please retrieve Mr. Longbottom from his dormitory?"

Ron nodded and took off towards the Gryffindor dormitories.

Harry was still struggling with his disbelief.

"Neville?" He shook his head, and decided to leave it alone.

"Here's how the spell should work," Hermione began. "You need to form an equilateral triangle, with you and Ginny being the base angles facing Voldemort, and Neville being the tip, the furthest from any sort of danger."

"Equilateral triangle, Ginny and I closest to Voldemort. Got it."

Hermione nodded. "Next you'll need to build a defensive shield so that you can work the next bit without anything terribly nasty happening to you while you're trying to save the world."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Fred mumbled.

"My sentiments exactly," George agreed in a subdued tone.

"To build this magical shield, you need to focus on your strongest emotion at the time. Harry's parents suggested your love for each other in their original notes."

Harry and Ginny blushed.

"Well, it's not like their relationship is news to us," Ron muttered. Hermione shot him a look, and he managed to look contrite.

Sirius was studying Hermione carefully, listening to every word. He was going to be there to take care of his godson, even though he hadn't been able to do so the first time Harry had needed him in that capacity.

"Anyway," Hermione said, apparently feeling it was time to move on, "once you're both in accord with one another, then you have to say Defensia at the same time. Otherwise the spell is unbalanced."

"Defensia, same time," Ginny said to herself. "Sounds simple enough.

"Good," Hermione approved, "but that's just the beginning. There are two other incantations you need to learn."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look of panic, but only briefly.

"We'll remember it," Ginny said forcefully. "We have to."

Hermione nodded. "That's good to hear. To take the energy that you'll need from Neville, simply flick your wand and say Clepto."

"Clepto," Harry and Ginny echoed together.

"Excellent. Then, once the energy has been stored in your wands, it can only stay there for so long, otherwise you'll both have some unpleasant side effects."

When Harry and Ginny exchanged yet another look, Hermione sighed and found herself having to explain even more.

"Your wands aren't really meant to store energy, just magnify it. Most witches and wizards simply don't have enough magical energy to perform wandless magic. A wand magnifies that power, that energy, to a point where it's focused enough to do what the witch or wizard wants it to do. They do this by constantly being in touch with your magical aura. Storing the energy in the wand means that that power is being connected with your aura. If there are two people on this earth who couldn't handle anymore magical energy be connected with their auras, it's you and Ginny, Harry.

"Listen, the reason that you two alone can perform the spell is because of your unique abilities. Ginny is a Seer, which means that the magical energy in her aura is decidedly different than a normal witch's. Harry, on the other hand, has an extremely high level of magic in his aura because of genetics and Voldemort's early attack, which means that more energy would be deadly for the both of you."

When they still looked a bit confused, she went on.

"That sort of energy would begin to mingle with yours, and you'd experience an overload. Nausea, headache, loss of conscious, and delirium are all possible results. Of course, that's just the physical effects. I'm not sure you want to hear about the magical ones."

"No thanks," Harry mumbled weakly. "I'll pass."

"I rather thought so," Hermione agreed. "Now, the third spell you'll have to learn is going to be by far the hardest, as you'll have to maintain your defense shield and keep Neville safe while trying to capture Voldemort's power in the silver hand."

Ginny swallowed, then nodded. "All right. What's the incantation?"

"Philantra Carpe."

"Let's run through it," Harry suggested. "I want to make sure we've got it down..."

"Harry! Ginny! Sirius! Are you all fine? We came as soon as we heard..."

Through the door came Remus and Anna, who didn't look the least bit relaxed from their extremely brief honeymoon.

"They're fine, Anna," Remus said patiently. "That's Dumbledore's letter said."

"I know," she moaned, "I just can't believe it had to happen tonight."

"Actually," Bill threw in, "it's perfect timing for Voldemort."

Ginny and Harry stood together in a corner, running over the incantations and the spell.

"What's going on?" Neville Longbottom's voice paused all the activity in the office, except for Ron, who sat down heavily next to Hermione.

"We're going after Voldemort tonight," Harry said quietly. "Would you like to help?"

Neville face paled. "You're what?"

"Going after Voldemort. We've got a spell that should bring him down, once and for all," Ginny announced firmly.

"Why do you want my help? I'm horrible at everything. Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts... Really, the only thing you'd need me for is Herbology, and you can't defeat You-Know-Who with plants."

Dumbledore stood slowly. "They'd like to use your energy, Mr. Longbottom."

Understanding lit up on Neville's face. "Oh, I see. They want to use me as a channel!"

"Precisely," Dumbledore said with a hint of congratulation and pride in his voice.

"How did you know about all this?" Hermione demanded. "I've spent months researching, not mention the time that Harry's parents spent in the library."

"It runs in my family," Neville said, as though it were common. "It used to be quite ordinary for a wizard to store his power in another wizard's aura to use at a later date. There have been some powerful witches and wizards who were Longbottoms, and those that weren't contributed in other ways."

Hermione grinned. Neville had grown up considerably since first year, and he was showing it now.

"We'd best move out now," Dumbledore announced. We don't have much time."