Drifting

Chapter 24: On the Brink of Battle

"We know that the storm is coming nearer and nearer-"

Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas II.

The storm refers to the coming battle.

~*~

"Well, Harry," Dumbledore started, "Minister Fudge is much more understanding than he was last year."

Harry sat anxiously in a chair across the desk from Dumbledore. He had sprinted up here as soon as he had gotten the message from Dumbledore that he had returned. Now he sat, fidgeting, and waiting for news.

"He has taken into account that we haven't lied to him in the past and has finally chosen to listen to us."

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Stuck up git," he muttered under his breath.

"Since we are not positive of the attack and Minister Fudge does not want to raise alarm yet, he has not agreed to allow Aurors to be stationed around Diagon Alley."

Harry opened his mouth to start yelling but Dumbledore held up a hand.

"However," Dumbledore continued, "he will be alerting the Aurors so there is a squad of at least fifty ready at all times for an attack."

"That's a start," Harry said darkly. "So what happens if the attack takes place?"

"The Aurors will be summoned and sent out immediately and Tonks, who will most likely be in the dispensed squad, can go to alert the Order members. One of them will alert me, and I will go join the fight," Dumbledore answered.

Harry sat back in his chair. He thought over what Dumbledore had just said. It all made sense and at the moment seemed like a pretty flawless plan to get people assembled to stop the attack quickly. Then he found a flaw.

"So where am I in all of this?" Harry questioned.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. He knew Harry would find this problem and would ask about it. Dumbledore didn't want Harry to fight yet. He wanted the boy and the other three to train for at least a month before being allowed to duel the Death Eaters. Still, somehow he knew Harry would find a problem with this.

"You will be staying here at Hogwarts under Professor McGonagall's instruction. She will take over Hogwarts until I get back."

Harry stood up so fast he nearly knocked his chair to the floor.

"You are NOT leaving me out of this! This is my battle more than it is anyone else's! Was all this training so far for nothing? When were we going to get to fight? Were you just saving us until the final battle so we wouldn't have to see horror before then? We've already seen all the horror one way or another. There's nothing new to see!" Harry yelled.

Dumbledore stayed still as he watched Harry. After about a minute of heavy breathing, the teenager began to calm down. Harry sank back into his chair and put his face in his hands.

"You're not going to let me fight now, are you?" Harry said sounding defeated.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you simply haven't been trained enough yet."

Harry stayed silent. His face remained in his hands and Dumbledore couldn't make out his expression. However, he could tell Harry was angry, upset, and feeling slightly betrayed. The pure magic was acting up inside of the young wizard. It tended to respond the most to emotion. Waves of anger were rolling off of Harry in the form of small pulses of pure magic. Dumbledore knew that if the teenager became angry enough that he could bring the school down without having an ounce of control over it.

One of the various knick-knacks Dumbledore had collected on his shelves shattered suddenly. Dumbledore knew it was Harry's doing. Pure magic was rarely controllable when it was acting because of strong emotion. Harry looked up at the sound of the breaking glass and his eyes lit on the tiny shards on the shelf.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, honest," Harry said.

"It's quite all right, Harry. It's nothing a quick spell can't fix," Dumbledore said in an attempt to calm the boy.

It seemed to have worked as Harry relaxed a little in his chair. He waved his hand as he muttered a spell under his breath and the glass shards rearranged themselves to put the object back together. Soon the object sat fully pieced together and gleaming on the shelf just as if nothing had ever happened to it.

"You will let me fight at some point before the final battle, won't you?" Harry asked.

"Of course I will, Harry. You, Ginny, Draco, and Blaise will all have plenty of chances to fight, though I don't think that will be a good thing for the world with so many battles going on. All I want is for you four to get through a month's worth of training first," Dumbledore said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

Harry nodded and stood.

"If that's all, I should be going. I have a killer essay to write for Professor McGonagall and I should probably get started on it."

Dumbledore stood as well. He walked around his desk and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Good day, Harry, and good luck with the essay," he said as he saw the teenager out the door.

~*~

"No, no, boys," Dumbledore said Monday afternoon during a training session. "Why are you using your wands? This is the same thing I just got through telling the girls. You have the ability to do powerful wandless magic and I want you to use that ability to your advantage. The Mark of the Phoenix isn't only good for doing ancient spells."

Harry and Draco grinned sheepishly at each other and pocketed their wands. For both boys it had been second nature to use their hands to perform magic instead of their wands during the summer. However, once they got back to school, any magic done in classes required use of a wand. They had both fallen back into the routine of using their wand for magic.

"The spell I am about to teach you is a spell that only wizards with the Mark of the Phoenix can perform. It is a spell with massive quantities of ancient magic in it. Over the years, this spell has been reformed so that normal wizards can perform it. Today it is known as the Impedimenta spell."

"So what exactly is the difference?" Draco asked.

Dumbledore required a dummy that the two boys could practice the spell on. As the dummy appeared, it began to advance on Dumbledore.

"Watch," Dumbledore instructed as he turned his hand to the dummy. "Impedo Glacialis."

At once, a jet of silver light shot out of Dumbledore's palm. It connected with the dummy and both Harry and Draco's jaws fell open at the sight of what happened next. The spell didn't only stop the dummy from movement but it froze the dummy. Ice wound its way up the dummy's body, hardening as it did.

"This version of the spell also lasts much longer than the newer version. It lasts for an hour instead of a few minutes. It has proved to be a very useful spell. Whole armies have been frozen, giving the opposing side time to regroup and heal wounds before the battle begins again. Quite a few battles have been won this way. However, we will start off small so as not to wear you two out. First only with one dummy, then with a few more. In a few lessons I hope to progress to at least forty dummies frozen at once," Dumbledore said, concluding his explanation of the spell.

Harry continued to look from the dummy to Dumbledore and then back to the dummy. Draco turned back to the Headmaster.

"So we're going to get to learn this?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded and smiled. Draco smiled back, a true genuine smile. He liked to learn new things and with all the learning going on in these training sessions Draco was quite happy. Noticing Harry was still looking back and forth; Draco reached up and smacked him in the back of the head. Harry's hand flew to massage the spot but stopped turning his head.

"Thanks, Draco," he said and Draco couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or actually meant it.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at the sight of the boys. Only last year Dumbledore had thought a bond like this to be impossible. He, as well as the rest of the staff, had thought that Harry and Draco were at the breaking point for all of the past year. Half the time he expected them to start a duel in the middle of a corridor. The events of the summer had definitely surprised him, to say the least.

"Now, Harry, Draco," he said, calling the boys' attention back to him. "I would like you to repeat after me Impedo Glacialis."

"Impedo Glacialis," both boys said.

"Next, hold out your primary hand, the one you use to do magic with." Harry and Draco each held out their right hands in an awkward position. "No, no. Hold them out as you would when you normally do a spell without a wand." Harry and Draco corrected themselves.

Dumbledore willed for a second dummy to appear and it did, fulfilling his request. He then banished the dummies to the other side of the room.

"When I set the dummies in motion I want you to say the spell with your hand pointed at one dummy. Draco, take the dummy on your right. Harry, take the one on the left. Get ready."

With a flick of his hand, Dumbledore set the dummies in motion. Both Harry and Draco shouted the spell at the same time. Two jets of silver light hit the dummies at the same moment. Ice wound its way up the dummies until there was no part of the dummy left to cover.

Dumbledore began clapping. "Very good, boys, very good. Quite good aim as well for the distance. I should start training you on distance shooting as well..." Dumbledore said, trailing off in his thoughts. "Ah, yes, would you like to try the spell with two dummies instead of one?"

"How does that work, sir?" Harry asked.

"Quite simple, really," Dumbledore began. "All you need to do is when you say the spell, will the spell to split as it's leaving your hand. You can command the number of times the spell splits by knowing the number of opponents you wish to hit. All you need to do is get the number in your head, or in the case of a whole army, an estimate, then think the number as you say the spell and the spell will split into the needed number."

"Is this something that can only be done with ancient magic?" Draco spoke up.

"Yes, Draco. Only people who can do ancient magic can split spells like this. Now, let's try it."

By the end of the lesson, Harry had mastered the spell up to hitting fifteen at once. It was hard, however, to keep his aim from wavering as he shot the spell. It was harder to pinpoint the middle person in the group to aim the spell at so that when the spell split it would split equally and everyone would be hit. Draco, who had slightly better aim than Harry, got up to eighteen.

"Have a dip in the stream and I'll see you four at dinner," Dumbledore said as he left.

The four teenagers, not wishing to go against the Headmaster's order, ran to the stream and jumped in, enjoying the feel of the cool water on their warm bodies.

~*~

A slight breeze rustled the trees' leaves that surrounded the outskirts of the Quidditch pitch. The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm glow over the fields. The moon was beginning to shine overhead. It was really a breathtaking night.

Harry would have stopped to admire the scene too, if he wasn't already busy with Katie trying to organize Quidditch tryouts for the Gryffindor house team.

Jack Sloper, one of the stand-in Beaters from last year's team once Fred, George, and Harry had been kicked off, had decided that Quidditch wasn't really what he wanted to do in his free time. Andrew Kirke had stayed with the team. This left one Beater position open and two Chaser positions since Angelina and Alicia had graduated.

Harry, since Katie insisted on taking the Chasers because she was one herself, got stuck with the Beater tryouts. The object was to hit the targets floating in the air as accurately as you could. The three best would move on from that and try to hit Harry when he flew about. Whoever came in closest range to him, or actually hit him, would be picked for the team. The remaining two would be the substitute players on the reserve team.

It was basically the same for the Chasers except it was the six best that moved on. They would be split up into pairs. Then when Harry was done with Beater tryouts, since there were far less people trying out, he would come over and play with Katie against the opposing teams. Whichever team could get past them and score the most goals on Ron would get the spots on the team. The three who did the next best would be reserve players and one would not make the cut.

Trying out for the Beater position was a second year and two fourth years Harry didn't know, Colin and Dennis Creevey, and Seamus Finnigan. Harry was secretly hoping that Seamus was good, especially so he wouldn't get stuck on the same team as Colin or Dennis who were still quite big fans of him.

Under Andrew's instruction, the six people trying out kicked off, soaring into the air. Much to Harry's relief, Seamus was a great Beater. He only missed the center of one target. The second year fumbled a lot with the bat and therefore missed most of the targets. The two fourth years did quite well. They looked like twins, a boy and a girl. Both Colin and Dennis weren't that good, but because they came from purely Muggle backgrounds that didn't surprise Harry. The second year and the Creevey brothers ended up being sent away. The twins and Seamus moved on.

Just before Harry was about to fly up in the air to start the moving target part of the tryout, Seamus came up to him.

"How was I, Harry?" he asked a little nervously.

"Brilliant, Seamus. You're as good as on the team already. Just please try not to hit me that hard because I know you have great aim."

Seamus laughed and smiled. "I can't pull my hits until we're on the same team, Harry, so you better watch your back."

Harry flew up into the air praying that he wouldn't be in the hospital wing by the end of the night.

As it turned out, Seamus nearly hit him every time. It took Harry a series of very daring rolls and flips to avoid the Bludgers from knocking him off his broom. Seamus did manage to hit him on the last time when Harry didn't swerve fast enough to get away. He turned far enough so the Bludger only grazed his shoulder, not doing any lasting damage, only a bruise.

"All right there, Harry?" Seamus called as Harry massaged his arm.

"Fine, Seamus. You were great!"

The twins had excellent aim though it wasn't as good as Seamus's. Harry was fairly sure that Katie would decide to put Seamus on the main team and the twins on the reserve.

Since his work was done, Harry dismissed the rest of the Beaters and said that the list of who made it would be posted in the common room within two days. Then he flew over to the Chaser tryouts. Before Harry flew up with Katie to do the two-on-two, he asked her how Ginny was doing.

"Just watch," Katie replied with a knowing smile.

Ginny and a third year named Kira Wilson-Hunter were the first pair up. Ginny's skills as Chaser blew Harry away. She was as good as Katie was, if not better. Harry nearly forgot to play as he watched her. She flew with grace and was much better handling the Quaffle than Ron was.

Kira was also an amazing Chaser. She was small and moved quickly around the field. Though her size was no indication of her power, since she could hammer the ball anywhere on the Pitch. Harry was sure by the end of the night that Ginny and Kira were the new Chasers.

When the sun had nearly set and tryouts had ended, Harry walked back up to the castle with his broom slung over his shoulder and his left hand loosely holding Ginny's right.

"You were amazing today, Gin. I could barely keep my eyes off you," he said.

Ginny grinned. "I'm sure you couldn't keep your eyes off me for certain other reasons as well."

Harry stopped her, turning around to face her. "You're absolutely right."

Then he kissed her.

~*~

Cloaked figures began to appear on the corners of the streets. They walked out of the entrance to Knockturn Alley and into the broad daylight of Diagon Alley. As soon as the passer-by started to pay attention to the cloaked figures, they began to fire spells.

Within a minute Aurors had started arriving and were firing spells at the figures that had lowered their hoods, revealing their masks. The Death Eater attack had come.

Five minutes after the battle had started, miles away at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley came bursting into the Headmaster's office. Both were panting and Harry was holding a hand to his scar.

"It's started. The Diagon Alley battle has begun," he said weakly before collapsing into a chair.

Dumbledore immediately flooed the Ministry to make sure Fudge had sent the Aurors. Then he flooed Professor McGonagall to tell her that the battle had started and he needed to go to the Alley. Professor McGonagall agreed to tell the rest of the staff and keep the students from knowing until Dumbledore returned.

After this, Dumbledore made a Portkey, unauthorized of course, and prepared to leave. He didn't notice that Harry had stood up and was facing the Headmaster.

"You're not going without me," Harry said forcefully.

"Harry-"

"THIS IS MY FIGHT MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE'S!" Harry yelled.

"If Harry goes I'm coming too," Ginny said.

"Neither of you will be coming. The Aurors have the situation completely under control," Dumbledore said smoothly.

"YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ME HERE!" Harry shouted, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I have no choice."

Harry leapt forward and touched his finger to the Portkey just as it activated. Ginny jumped after him in an attempt to pull him back but only grasped thin air. She overbalanced as she landed and fell forward onto the ground.

I hope he doesn't do anything rash...

~*~

Harry stumbled as the Portkey deposited them in the destination it was made to send them to. They were standing in a dark corner of the Leaky Cauldron. People were crowding around the entrance of the Muggle world from the Leaky Cauldron. They wanted to get out and protect their families before anything major happened.

Dumbledore, for one of the very few times Harry could actually remember, looked furious as he gazed down at Harry. Harry nearly squirmed under the sharpness of it.

"You are so young, Harry, so young, yet you make moves to throw your life away. Why do you do this to yourself, Harry? Why?"

Harry stood before Dumbledore with a little bit of his confidence gained back. He now had a look of defiance on his face.

"Why do I choose the path I take? Simple answer, really. I don't. My path was decided before I was born. I'm just looking for the most dangerous ways to follow it."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Dumbledore felt the sudden urge to laugh. Harry could make seemingly disastrous situations funny without even meaning to.

It's too late to send him back now.

As soon as Dumbledore thought it he knew it was true. Harry was here and whether Dumbledore was ready to recognize it or not, the teenager was ready to fight.

"The first real battle awaits us, Harry."

Harry gulped and nodded. "Let's go."

Dumbledore whispered a charm on Harry that concealed his scar and changed his eye and hair color to brown but Harry never realized it. Dumbledore led the way outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Spells were flying everywhere. Harry watched in a mix of horror and awe as a jet of red light hit the window of Flourish and Blotts bookshop. He saw the debris of a few storefronts littered across the alley. Harry ducked as a stream of green light headed towards him. It narrowly missed his head and kept traveling. Harry never looked back to see if it hit anything.

Dumbledore was already shooting spells as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing. Harry nearly forgot about the battle raging around him as he watched Dumbledore with interest. The man, no matter how old he was, seemed to have a passion for battle. Once he was in it, he was in to it. Harry would have studied Dumbledore much longer except another jet of green light whizzed past him, making him flatten himself against the wall in order to avoid it.

All of a sudden, as if the spell had triggered it, Harry snapped back to reality and took in the full scene around him. Bodies lay strewn all over the street and shards of glass lay scattered around the bodies. Harry could hear the screams of small children who had been separated from their parents in the fray.

Small children. Innocent children. Children that can die because I'm not taking any action.

With that last thought Harry began to shoot off spells faster than he could blink.

~*~

When Ginny fully realized that Harry wasn't coming back she sighed. Sinking down into a chair, she buried her face in her hands and began to sob. She felt so alone at that moment that it overwhelmed her. Her source of safety, Harry, was gone. Ginny couldn't remember ever feeling so fearful in her life.

What if he doesn't come back? she thought in despair. What if he dies out there and I never got to say goodbye?

Her sobs became slightly louder as that last thought crossed her mind.

I never got to tell him how much he really means to me. He'll never know how much I love him.

Ginny trembled as she wept. She was letting herself believe that Harry could actually die. Ginny had a feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a feeling that she couldn't quite explain. All she knew was that it was a horrible feeling. It was a feeling that tended to occur only when someone she loved was in danger.

No, Ginny thought. Harry will be fine. He'll come back with Dumbledore and he won't have a scratch on him.

No matter how many times Ginny kept telling herself this for the next few minutes, it never fully sank in. Deep down she knew she still believed that something bad was going to happen to Harry.

Why am I thinking such morbid thoughts?

Ginny shook and her sobs continued, only the tears seemed to flow with more intensity then they had before.

Harry...

Just thinking about him made her cry even harder. She thought she'd never be able to kiss him again or even hold his warm body in her arms. She'd never be able to stroke his hair after a nightmare. She wouldn't have anyone to curl up next to at night. She would never see Harry's green eyes, full of life and happiness, again.

Ginny was so lost in her thoughts of Harry that she didn't notice someone come flying back into the room and land with a great thud.

~~**~~