The Final Battle

Of Mistakes and Such:

Okay guys, here goes my dream of a flawless story. Though I have a somewhat correct timeline in this story (Hey, I have improved since "The Last Marauder"!), some mistakes have occurred and I'd like to set them right now.

1.An anonymous reviewer kindly informed me that Hogwarts is in Scotland. (Which I of course knew but merely totally forgot.) This makes Sirius leave for Scotland in the earlier chapters somewhat ridiculous, especially since I let it sound like a bigger journey. Sorry for that one.

2.In chapter 7, when Dumbledore calls Harry back to talk about Sirius, it should of course read 'he really wished that finally people would stop telling him how to live his life', not 'start telling him'. Doesn't make sense otherwise.

3.And another one which is not my mistake though: I double-checked my story. And guess what I found there? I never (repeat: NEVER) wrote that Harry hates Sirius. That's the way you read it, and though I don't mind you to make up your own minds about my story, it just isn't true. Harry doesn't hate Sirius, he's just very angry and pissed off and therefore refuses to talk to him. A lot of people have asked for the reason why Harry 'hates' Sirius, which startled me somewhat. There is no deeper reason than what I described while Harry was asleep. He was finally able to be with his parents, he realized what he never had, and somehow (maybe supported by James' reaction to what Sirius had done), Harry started to search a scapegoat to put the blame on. Which was Sirius, because he talked Lily and James into switching and else, you know it from canon. That's it folks, there is no huge mystery behind it. Maybe re-read the chapters once more, then it might become clearer. If not, the author is the one to blame.

Full Moon Over Hogwarts

Oblivious to Voldemort's plotting, Harry spent a rather peaceful night. His sleeping patterns had returned to normal and finally Madam Pomfrey had agreed that he didn't need to report in the infirmary every morning.

Dumbledore and Remus had agreed that it might be rather urgent to complete the Dementor demonstrations. After Harry had left Dumbledore's office the previous evening, the headmaster had called Remus and after a long talk both had agreed that they shouldn't rely on an attack during a full moon night. There was still the slight chance that the disappearance of the Romanian werewolves had nothing to do with Voldemort at all, or that he didn't intend to send them against Hogwarts, and in that case an attack was possible at any time. They had come to the conclusion that it was rather important to show the impact of a Dementor attack as soon as possible.

So, when Harry sat on the Gryffindor table the next morning, ready to start the day with a huge breakfast, Remus once more approached him.

"Good morning Harry. Ron, Hermione."

Remus nodded his greetings to Harry's friends an then sat down next to him. Harry looked a little startled, but repeated the greeting.

"Good morning Remus. Is anything wrong?"

Remus shook his head.

"No, not directly. It's just that Albus and I had a talk yesterday evening and..."

Harry interrupted.

"Listen Remus, whatever he told you, forget it. I don't want to talk about Sirius and neither do I want to talk with Sirius. Could you all just stop it?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned that he and Harry had been talking about Sirius, not with one word.

"Well, actually Albus and I talked about the Dementor demonstrations."

"Oh."

Harry blushed and embarrassed avoided looking Remus in the eyes.

"What about them?"

"We have agreed that we might not have enough time to keep the schedule up. Full moon is just three nights away and we can't be absolutely sure that Voldemort will attack that night. Maybe he'll do it sooner, without the werewolves. Albus will make some announcement after lunch today, and I wanted to ask you whether it would be okay for you to show the Dementor to more than just one class at once."

Harry thought about it, then nodded.

"If it's sure that nobody will distract the Boggart. It would be quite useless otherwise."

"Yes, we thought about that. But all the students who have already been demonstrated will leave after lunch, which leaves only all the sixth years and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seventh years. The Great Hall is big enough to bring some distance between you and the rest of the students. And just in case the Boggart turns towards the students, Severus will be there to help me sort it out."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Snape will be there? Why that?"

Remus just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I wanted another teacher present and he was the first one I met this morning. He immediately agreed. Come on Harry, I know that you don't like him, he's not my best friend either. But as long as he's your teacher, you'll have to be able to stand his presence."

"Well Remus, from everything that I know you thought differently about him while you were still at school."

"Yes Harry, but that was a time during which the greatest threat was that one of us could be expelled. Now the castle and all the students that have remained here might be in immediate danger and we need every capable wizard to turn that danger away. And no matter what I think about him personally, I am completely willing to admit that Severus is more than just a capable wizard. I would have thought that you were mature enough to make that chain of thought on your own."

With this, Remus got up and left the table without another word.

Hermione gave Harry a scolding look and even Ron, whose expression had been one of complete listlessness and disinterest during the last couple of days, looked somewhat startled.

"Harry, did you have to say that?"

Harry turned towards Hermione and merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry too much about it Herm. Remus is just tense and nervous like the rest of the teachers are as well. You should have heard him during the last holidays, he was talking quite differently about 'Severus' then."

"Speaking of which, we have to leave for potions. Come on Ron, we need to go."

Without answering, Ron got up from his breakfast, which had remained untouched and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall. Harry shook his head while he followed them. He definitely needed to talk to Ron, otherwise his friend would drive himself into exhaustion without even caring about it.

They arrived just in time to enter the classroom in front of Snape who gave them a cold sneer. Obviously he was disappointed that they weren't late.

The three Gryffindors took their usual seats at the back of the classrooms and started pulling out their books and setting up their cauldrons while Snape shut the door loudly and strut in front of the class.

"Today we'll prepare the Cruoris Potion, a very useful potion when you are taking care of a person who has suffered from an extreme blood loss. Can anybody tell me what the main ingredients of the Cruoris Potion are?"

Hermione's hand immediately shot in the air, as usual. But Snape ignored her, just as usual. Then Malfoy rose his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"The main ingredient of the Cruoris Potion are pine needles, crayfish liver and an essence from slug skin."

Snape nodded.

"Correct Mr. Malfoy, ten points for Slytherin. Now, I want you to open up your books on page 247, there you'll find the receipt. The crayfish liver and slug essence are to be taken from my desk. At the end of the lesson, you'll leave a sample of your potion on your desk to be graded. What are you waiting for?"

Hurriedly, the students began to set up their cauldron and fetch the required ingredients. They worked in silence for a couple of minutes, cutting pine needles and liver, while stirring the potions and adding the other required ingredients. When Harry and Ron set their potion to simmer, Harry had the first opportunity to look around in the classroom. Malfoy and Goyle on the desk next to him were still occupied with their potion and with a grim satisfaction Harry noticed that the bruise he had given the Slytherin was still clearly to be seen. Though he could only guess what it had looked like when it had been new, its slight greenish-yellow colour was brightening up Harry's morning.

As if feeling Harry's gaze, Malfoy turned around and looked at him.

"Something wrong, Potter?"

Harry grinned.

"No nothing. But the next time you use Parkinson's makeup, you should remember to put the eye shadow on the eye, not on the cheek."

Malfoy spun around and for a moment Harry thought that he would hit him. But then, Malfoy only sneered and took up the spoon again to stir the potion.

"I should have guessed that you know about the use of makeup, Potter. Who taught you, the mud blood? Or did you try to hide the Weasel's freckles?"

Harry was just about to answer something, when Snape came over to their desks.

"And what exactly is going on here? Potter, are you already finished with your potion?"

"It's simmering, sir."

Snape stepped over to Ron's and Harry's cauldron and took up some potion with the spoon.

"You've let it thicken too much, that way it's not really useful. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Harry looked over towards Ron, expecting his friend to protest about that. But Ron just stared at his textbook, oblivious to everything that was going on around him. Harry turned his head when he heard somebody hissing towards him.

"What's up with the Weasel? Did he finally realize how poor he is and is now going depressed?"

"Shut up Malfoy, or I'll give you another jaw treatment."

Malfoy snorted but returned his attention towards his potion. Harry sighed and kept on stirring his brew while he concernedly watched his friend.

"Ron, could you bring me one of those glasses for the sample? I think it's finished."

Ron nodded and went over towards the self on the wall to fetch the requested item. He put it on the desk and sat down again without a word.

Again, Harry sighed and then filled his sample into the glass, writing their names on the label afterwards.

They quickly cleaned up their working place and when Snape dismissed them left the dungeons as soon as possible.

Hermione went into the library to do some Arithmancy homework while Harry and Ron headed back into Gryffindor tower. There was still slightly more than an hour left until they had to leave for lunch, and Harry wanted to use that time to have a talk with his best friend.

Just as Harry had expected Ron withdrew into their dormitory as soon as they had reached Gryffindor Tower. He wanted to head after him, but was held off by Colin Creevey.

"Hiya Harry!"

Harry sighed.

"Hi Colin. Look, I don't have that much time until we have to go to lunch, so if we could just..."

But Colin didn't even let Harry finish the sentence.

"Is it true that you'll be demonstrating the Dementor again after lunch?"

"How come you know that?"

Colin smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Well, I heard Professor Lupin this morning. Do you think I could stay just as well?"

Harry just shook his head in disbelief.

"I've shown that Dementor to your class already. Why would you see it another time, it's not exactly the way one would spend his spare time."

"I thought that I maybe could take a picture of it..."

Harry raised his hands.

"Whoa Colin, no. No, no, no. This is not for fun and especially it's nothing to take souvenir pictures from. It's meant so that the remaining students can get an insight to what a Dementor feels like, nothing more. So, if you don't mind, there are still some things I wanted to get done before lunch."

And without another word, Harry turned around and left Colin in the Common Room. Harry still shook his head in disbelief while he climbed the stairs towards the dorms. He had known that Colin was somewhat strange, and that his admiration for Harry took a really scary extend sometimes, but this time he'd really gone too far. Taking pictures of a Dementor, really.

He finally stopped his mind from rambling when he reached his dormitory. If his suggestion was right, then Ron would have hidden on his bed, like he had done during the last couple of days, with the curtains drawn tightly around his bed.

Harry opened the door and immediately found his suggestion proved right. For one moment, he was tempted to leave Ron alone in whatever pity he found himself in, but then shook his head. Ron had to see reason, and if it was his place to show him than he would do exactly this. No matter if Ron would get annoyed at him or not.

When he drew back the curtains around Ron's bed, he found his friend awake, lying curled up on his side and, much to Harry's surprise, staring at a photo album. His photo album, in fact. It was full of pictures from the Weasley family and from Harry's visits at the Burrow. Molly had given it to him as a present for his last birthday, and so far he had not realized that it was missing from his trunk.

Ron spun around when he heard the curtains open and looked at Harry with the expression of a deer that was caught in the lights of a quickly approaching truck on the street.

"Harry...look, I didn't mean to..."

Harry raised a hand to silence his friend, then climbed onto Ron's bed and closed the curtains again.

"Ron, you and I need to talk."

Ron pulled himself into a sitting position and didn't dare to look into his friend's eyes. He had blushed so deeply that his face now nearly had the colour of his hair.

"Look Harry, I know that you are angry because I took the album out of your trunk. I'm sorry, but I realized that I didn't have any pictures from home and I thought that you wouldn't miss it, but here, you can have it back. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have done that..."

"Ron."

Harry's hand on his shoulder pulled Ron out of his mindless babbling. In fact, Harry didn't want his friend to stop talking at all, this was far more than Ron had said during the last days counted together.

"Ron, I'm not angry. True, you could have asked before you took the album, but it's okay, really. But I want you to listen to me now, okay?"

Ron nodded hesitantly.

"I don't say that I understand what you're feeling like, but you can't go on like that. I am sure that Charlie is not dead, and it's not good if you start mourning when there still is the chance that he's alive. And I do believe that he is alive, because otherwise his body would have been found. Especially if it were really Death Eaters who attacked their camp. Of what use would it be to kill them and then to hide their bodies? Ron, those Death Eaters always want to display their power, they don't kill people and then try to hide it. Do you understand me Ron?"

Ron still didn't look into Harry's eyes, but slowly he nodded. With a low voice that sounded as if he was close to tears he answered.

"But even if Charlie is still alive, if he's in You-Know-Who's hands, then I don't even want to think about it..."

Harry gave his friend's shoulder a supportive squeeze.

"As cruel as it sounds, there's nothing we can do about it now. The Ministry is searching for him, your father is searching for him, they'll do anything to find him. Believe me.

You have to be strong now Ron. We're all very concerned about you. Ginny is not doing fine, you have to be there for her. And though Hermione pretends to be all fine, she's worried and scared out of her wits just as well as you and I are. We have to stick together. And there is still the possibility that the castle could be attacked in three days. You'll be in even more danger if you don't have your mind together. Do you understand why it's so important that you don't lose yourself in self-pity now? It's way too dangerous for you and for the people around you, okay?"

Again, Ron nodded. Harry knew that this little talk still wasn't enough to set things right for his best friend again, but maybe it was the first step along the way.

"Now, how about some lunch?"

Harry smiled at Ron and both boys got up from the bed. Ron actually smiled for the first time since days.

"Yeah, I want to see how Malfoy reacts when seeing a Dementor. You know Harry, you're somewhat strange."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You got a talent to talk reason into others, but you yourself stubbornly refuse to see reason."

Seeing Harry's questioning gaze, Ron continued.

"Harry, you're my best friend and even if I run the risk of annoying you, I think I owe you to be honest. Nobody, and that includes me, understands why you behave towards Sirius the way you do. And I think you have absolutely no reason to behave like that."

Harry's smile immediately vanished from his face.

"Ron, stop it please."

Ron shook his head.

"No, I won't stop it. And do you know why? Because what you do is totally unreasonable."

Harry's face hardened even more.

"Let's just forget about this and go to lunch, shall we?"

Ron reluctantly nodded and followed Harry out of the dorm. On his way, he took the photo album and placed it on Harry's bed again.

Both friends reached the Great Hall together with the masses of other students. Well, masses might be the wrong expression, for only slightly about two hundred and fifty students had remained at the castle except from the usual seven hundred.

There mood in the Great Hall was excited, after all Dumbledore didn't announce a fixed lunch time for the entire student's body every day.

Harry and Ron sat down next to Hermione, who was still discussing her Arithmancy homework with Dean. From the far side of the table, Colin gave Harry an impish grin as a greeting. Harry groaned and let himself fall into his chair.

Ron and Hermione gave him a questioning look, but Harry shrugged it off with the comment that they didn't even want to know.

At that moment, Snape and a couple of Slytherin fourth years arrived and the Potions master closed the doors to the Great Hall behind him.

Dumbledore rose and the Great Hall immediately fell silent.

"My dear students. I'm sure you've all wondered why I asked you to join a common lunch today. The reason is that I have to make a couple of announcements to make, and this way seemed to be the best.

As Professor Lupin has told me, most of the classes have received their Dementor demonstrations already. However, Professor Lupin and I have agreed that there is no use in wasting further time, so everybody who has not been present at one of the demonstrations so far will please remain in the Great Hall after the meal is over. This means all sixth years, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seventh years as well as Mr. Adams of Ravenclaw and Mr. Strangler of Slytherin who missed the demonstrations in their classes due to illness.

You will receive your further instructions from Professor Lupin, the rest of the students will leave for their houses or afternoon classes after lunch.

For now, this is it. I have a couple of other announcements to make after the meal, but until then enjoy the food."

Dumbledore sat down again and the four tables immediately filled with food. Harry now realized how hungry he was and so he filled his plate with a huge portion of chicken and ham pie. Even Ron put more food than usual onto his plate, a fact which earned him and Harry a questioning but nevertheless happy look from Hermione. It seemed that at least some of the tension between them had been lifted, and about time, she thought.

When everybody had finished and the plates had cleared, Dumbledore once more rose from his chair.

"Now, before everybody who won't remain for the demonstration leaves, I'll have something else to say.

As you all have been informed by the Heads of your Houses a couple of days ago, we are all very concerned about the threat that the Dark Lord poses against us. The Ministry and I believe that he and his minions are ready to strike against us, and unfortunately we believe that Hogwarts will be one of his targets. Your parents have been informed about this situation and they had and still have the possibility to take you home if they wish. So, if your parents think that it might be safer for you to leave the castle, just let the head of your House know and we'll arrange things.

We believe that an attack is possible within the next days. If however, this doesn't happen, then school will have to continue as normal, even though the threat won't be banned. Therefore, the teachers and I have established emergency plans for the case of an attack.

What I tell you now is important, so please listen carefully.

In case that Hogwarts is under attack, all of you will be apparated out as soon as the wards around the castle break down. We'll establish certain meeting points all over the castle. Those are: the common rooms, the Great Hall, the North Tower, the owlery, the greenhouses and the DADA classroom. In case of an attack, an alarm will sound and every student will head for the closest meeting point, no matter whether it is your own common room or another. You'll receive the exact location of each of those meeting points from the heads of your houses this evening.

One teacher will surveying each meeting point and take the assembled students out by group apparition. Those of you who are familiar with this concept might be aware that there are some risks.

When apparating a larger group of people, there is the possibility that one or two don't end up in the planned location. So, if any of you finds himself alone somewhere after the apparition, don't lose your head. The teachers will track your destination down and come fetch you as soon as possible. Remain calm and don't move too far from the point where you arrived, then there is no danger in it for you. However, I prefer to temporarily lose a student because of group apparition than to lose a student in a fight.

In case we get attacked, everybody is to head for a meeting place immediately. Nobody is allowed to wander around the castle or involve themselves in any fighting.

Those rules remain until further notice. Thank you for your patience, now off for your classes."

Dumbledore clapped his hands and the majority of the students left the Great Hall. To his great relief, Harry saw Colin get up and leave just as well, so at least he didn't have to worry about him shooting pictures anymore.

The Gryffindors left their table and stepped in front of the teacher's table, where the other remaining students had already assembled. Remus was nowhere to be seen, only Snape stood in the middle of the Hall and moved the house tables to the far off wall with his wand. When he had cleared the space, he gestured the students to assemble in the middle of the hall.

"Where is Professor Lupin? I thought he would be here for the demonstration."

Lavender and Parvati looked around in search of their favourite teacher which made Harry groan and roll his eyes. As amusing as their behaviour had been, it slowly got on his nerves.

As if on cue, Remus came through the door of the ante chamber and floated a large suitcase in front of him. From the inside of the suitcase the Boggart made rumbling sounds and pounced upon the lid.

Parvati and Lavender immediately drew their wands, ready to aid Remus in case the Boggart should attack him. Ron just shook his head.

"Really, he's DADA teacher. I think he can handle a Boggart on his own."

Both girls blushed a deep crimson but never let the suitcase out of their eyes. Ron turned towards Harry.

"Really, those two..."

He was interrupted by a muffled cry from Hermione. When Harry and Ron looked at her, she had her mouth wide open, her hand pressed against it, and her eyes wandered from Lavender and Parvati to Remus and back again. She shook her head feverishly.

"You don't want to tell me that Remus...that he's...that Lavender and Parvati..."

Ron and Harry broke into identical grins.

"Took you long enough to figure out Herm. Really, for a witch who's considered to be so intelligent, you can be really thick sometimes."

Hermione stared at Ron.

"You knew...?"

Ron nodded.

"Of course. Was hard not to notice, wasn't it Harry?"

Harry grinned, but before Hermione could say something in return, Remus had placed the suitcase next to him and gestured Harry to step forward. When Harry stood next to him, Remus looked at the other students.

"Now, as you all know the Dementors have left Azkaban some time ago. Unfortunately, we have reasons to assume that they have joined Voldemort..."

A sharp intake of breath from most of the students interrupted Remus here,

"...and therefore it is possible that they are sent against Hogwarts. Now, all of you have had Patronus lessons and some of you were even able to produce a Patronus. That alone is an achievement, but it might not be enough.

None of you have faced a Dementor before, and it's even more difficult to produce a Patronus in their presence. As you know, you have to focus on your happiest memories to perform that charm. Dementors however feed from your happiness. They suck it in and leave an aura of coldness around themselves. It is very difficult to hold tight onto your happy memories in the presence of a Dementor.

What I have here in that suitcase is a Boggart. You all know what a Boggart is, I assume?"

He looked around, and everybody nodded.

"Now, when the Boggart faces Harry, it will take the form of a Dementor. This can give you a small insight into what facing a Dementor means. Mind you, it can never show you the real extend, but we all hope that none of you will be facing a Dementor anytime soon. Not if we can prevent it. This is just precaution, but nevertheless I ask you to pay attention. You'll all have to step back a little, so that the Boggart won't be distracted by your presence. If it should turn to you, however, I hope you remember what to do."

The students stepped back obediently, leaving a couple of metres space between Harry and themselves. All had their wands drawn out, even Professor Snape.

Remus nodded at them, then he drew back the lid of the suitcase and stepped back to the wall.

As soon as the lid was opened, the figure of a Dementor slowly rose from the suitcase. Its breath came in sharp, rattling sounds and when it had risen to full height, it towered Harry for at least six inches. Immediately, the lights in the Great Hall began to flutter and the temperature seemed to sink sharply. One of the Ravenclaw sixth years let out a low cry and tried to hide behind her classmates.

Harry didn't hear her, though. He was too focussed on the Dementor and on the voices in his own head. Ignoring his mother's pleas for his life, he summoned every happy thought he could think of and shouted the incarnation.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The silvery stag shot out of Harry's wand and attacked the Dementor, driving it back into the wall. When it had cornered the creature, Remus quickly distracted the Boggart and drew it back into the suitcase, slamming the lid close behind it.

The lights in the room stopped fluttering and the temperature rose back to its normal level. Remus nodded his thanks to Harry and then turned back towards the rest of the students.

"This encounter might have been a bit disturbing for some of you. You might remember the time when the Dementors were stationed around the castle some years ago. As I said, we don't expect that you will be confronted with Dementors, even if the castle will get attacked. Nevertheless it is important that you get to know how difficult it is to fight them. You have realized that the mere presence of a Dementor makes your worst memories surface, and this is what makes it difficult to remember your happy memories.

Now, everybody of you will take some chocolate from the table on the wall, otherwise Madam Pomfrey will be after my hide. That's it, you can leave afterwards. If you have another question, just go ahead and ask."

He nodded at the students who immediately started grabbing the chocolate while Snape restored the table order in the Great Hall. Remus looked at Harry.

"You're alright, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah, though I think I'll never get used to Dementors. It's always as scary as it was the first time."

Remus smiled.

"Nobody ever gets used to Dementors. Now, get some chocolate and then off to your afternoon lessons."

With another smile, he picked up the suitcase and floated it out of the hall. Snape had already left and the other students were still occupied with finishing the chocolate. Ron held a large Milk Bar in his hand which he handed to Harry.

"Here mate, saved you one. Those Hufflepuff girls have already eaten the lot of chocolate."

Harry gratefully took the chocolate bar and was just about to eat it when a well-known drawling voice interrupted him.

"Well Potter, always in for the show, aren't we? I guess you enjoyed standing in the spotlight - again. Ever thought about a career at the Varieté, that little show might come in handy there?"

Harry turned around and saw Malfoy standing i front of him, a sly smirk on his face. Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be seen and Harry guessed that they were still occupied with the free chocolate.

"Yeah Malfoy, that's an idea. You could dress up as a Dementor, how about that? After all, you have already practiced that part two years ago. And I'll never forget that startled look when you lay there on the floor, knocked out by my Patronus."

With this, he turned around and went out of the Great Hall. There were really more important things than to listen to Malfoy's insults. Ron and Hermione quickly caught up with him, Hermione still flabbergasted that she seemed to be the only one who had not realized that Lavender and Parvati were head over heels in love with Remus, and together they went outside towards the Greenhouses.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

In the evening, Harry went to Professor Dumbledore's office, just like both had agreed. Harry was very grateful that Dumbledore didn't try and talk about Sirius again, he really had enough of those conversations during the last week.

The headmaster merely gave him a sheet of parchment with the spell written on it, and then went into lengthy explanations as to why Harry needed to know what exactly the spell did.

Basically, it used the magic of the wizard who cast the spell to separate the connection that existed between the mere biology of a body and the soul that inhabited that body. Dumbledore compared it to the Dementor's kiss, only that the spell didn't absorb the spirit but rather set it free.

"A spirit that has just been loosened from its former body needs some moments to completely separate from it." Dumbledore said. Those were the precious seconds during which the second spell had to be cast, the spell to finally kill Voldemort.

Harry asked Dumbledore to teach him that spell as well, just in case that something unforeseen would happen, but Dumbledore strictly refused. He told Harry that after casting the first spell, Harry would not be able to summon enough magic for the second one as well and simply had left it with that. Harry knew that this was not the true reason, but he had gotten used to the fact that nobody ever told him anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

He and Dumbledore spent an hour in the headmaster's office and had practiced the correct pronunciation of the spell. It was a Latin sentence and Harry quickly got the hang of it. After all, Hermione always bored Ron and him to death with her lengthy explanations of the Latin backgrounds of Charms and Transfigurations spells. Some of it seemed to have rubbed off, much to Harry's relief at that moment.

Satisfied with Harry's progress, Dumbledore allowed him to leave the office very quickly, but not without reminding him once more that in case they were being attacked, Harry had to stay close to at least one of the fully educated wizards and to wait for Dumbledore, no matter what would happen.

That evening, they had only three days left until the next full moon.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Much to Remus' distress, the remaining three days till the next full moon passed in a blur. After Harry had completed the Dementor demonstrations, he had continued his lessons as usual. His thoughts had been somewhere completely different most of the time, so he had allowed the students to work on their own in groups on the assignments he had given them.

Remus' thoughts always went out to what would happen if the castle really got attacked so soon. Sure, the teachers would try everything to take the students out, but what if despite all the warnings some of the students went astray? What if some of them were left in the castle, or on the castle grounds? No way were they really prepared to fight with fully educated wizards.

He tried to suppress those thoughts, but his mind returned to them nevertheless.

Sirius wasn't in the castle very often. After the unfortunate encounter with Harry in Remus' office, he didn't spend the days in the castle anymore. He returned every night and stayed until breakfast, but during the day he was away on various errands for Dumbledore. Together with Mad Eye Moody he and a couple of other Aurors did their best to find Voldemort's lair before he had the possibility to strike anywhere, but from what Sirius told Remus they were not very successful. Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the Dementors and the werewolves seemed to have vanished without a trace. And that alone was a very disturbing fact.

Thursday had arrived earlier than Remus had wished for it to come. A group of another fifty students had left the castle on Monday, but two hundred students had remained. And those students needed protection that night.

Remus shuddered as he made his way into the Great Hall for lunch.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The door closed with a loud sound and immediately the group of men who stood near the fireplace spun around when they saw who had just arrived, they sunk to their knees.

Voldemort smiled and stepped in front of one of the kneeling Death Eaters. The man looked up.

"Master?"

"Fetch me Valeria Salenin."

The Death Eater got to his feet again, bowed in front of Voldemort and then left the room. Voldemort turned towards the remaining figures.

"You may leave now."

Immediately, they too got to their feet again, bowed and then left the room. The Dark Lord watched their retreat, then stood next to the fireplace and watched the door, waiting for Valeria to arrive.

"You called me, Master?"

It took much to surprise Lord Voldemort, but at that moment it took him all self-restraint not to show his surprise when he heard Valeria's voice coming from behind. He turned around and faced the tall woman, who bowed immediately.

"Always good for a surprise Valeria. But I should have guessed that you have means to appear other than to walk through doors."

Valeria straightened her back and looked into her master's eyes. A glint of amusement showed in the deep black pools of her own eyes.

"Master, I'm sure you didn't come here to talk to me about my knowledge about the unobvious ways to get through this manor."

Voldemort smiled and gestured her to sit down. Valeria took a seat in an armchair in front of the fireplace and waited for Voldemort to begin.

"I trust everything is going the way we planned?"

Valeria nodded.

"Yes master. You'd be the first to hear if things were otherwise."

"Any sign of an unexpected reaction to the potion?"

Valeria shook her head, her brown hair falling over her eyes in the process. She wiped it away quickly.

"No, as expected. The potion works just the way it was planned, without any unwanted side-effects."

Again, the Dark Lord smiled and rested his hands on his folded hands for a moment. Then he looked up again.

"I have finally settled on a time for our action, Valeria. Now all we have to do is coordinate the details. Potter is already taken care of, he won't stand in our way when it comes to a confrontation. I've taken care of that."

The amusement that had shown in Valeria's eyes at the beginning of their conversation had been replaced by interest while Voldemort had been speaking. Now the black eyes seemed to be sparkling with anticipation and excitement. Inwardly, Voldemort smiled. This woman was dangerous, even more so when given the power to act. But that made her his most important ally now.

"You will not tell anybody else until shortly before we take action. But you need to prepare the forces, so take care that the guards do what they are supposed to. The night we strike..."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Never before in his life had Remus been so reluctant to enter the Shrieking Shack on a Full Moon night. He had a very bad feeling about what lay before them, but he knew that he had no other choice. If he could, just for once, not transform into his werewolf self, just for this one night. He wanted to be of help if the castle got attacked, he wanted to do anything in his power to fight Voldemort and his minions, but it just wasn't possible for him.

All because he was a werewolf.

All he could do was sit and wait.

He hated it.

With a passion.

Snape had given him a strong Wolfsbane Potion that afternoon. Remus knew that Madam Pomfrey might have other things to do than to care about his self-inflicted wounds in the morning, and he wanted to be able to help in case that the attack was still going on. This night he couldn't risk hurting himself badly.

The potion really seemed to take every strength out of the wolf in him, he wasn't able to do very much else than sleep after he had transformed. The small human part inside of his mind regretted that he couldn't take the potion with this strength every month, but at long sight it would harm him more than it would do good.

In the hours before sunrise, the wolf got restless. Something was not right here, he knew it. He sensed it. Something was wrong, something was not the way they had expected it to be. Despite his fatigue, he started pacing up and down the small room, waiting for the sun to rise, waiting for his possibility to leave the prison he was trapped in.

When it finally happened, Remus lost no time in putting on his clothes and racing down the stairs of the Shack.

The restlessness the wolf had felt had not gone away after he had transformed back. On the contrary, it had increased and now formed a leaden lump in his stomach. He didn't really dare to imagine what would await him the moment he stepped out of the passage, he tried frantically to put all the horrid images of battle fields and dead bodies aside while he raced down the passage towards the Willow.

Sending a short prayer to whatever deity listening, Remus opened the passage, pressed the knot on the trunk of the willow with a long stick and stepped outside.

Remus didn't really want to, but he forced himself to look around, forced himself to see what had happened that night.

He let his eyes wander across the castle and its grounds and couldn't help but draw a sharp intake of breath at what he saw.