The Art of Peace

Chapter 22

Interim

Hogwarts:

The breakfast in the Great Hall was interrupted by Lobsang and Sifu with a dozen heavily guarded prisoners trailing behind them. Without glancing at the curious faces surrounding them, Sifu approached Dumbledore's table.

"I am assuming you have dungeons in this castle?"

A slightly stunned Headmaster nodded in response.

"Yes, yes we do. Why are these people in chains?"

"They are in chains because they are some of your 'Death Eaters'. We captured them last night in an abortive attack on our encampment. Sixteen more are dead and an unknown number escaped. We took everything off of them and incinerated the bodies after recording their identities. Now where can we bring these prisoners for interrogation?"

"Professor Snape! Show these men to the dungeons, will you? Make sure you make doubles of the keys when you put the prisoners in the cells."

Snape nodded to the Headmaster and stood, motioning for the others to follow him. Without another word the eclectic group left the hall, leaving yet another speechless crowd behind them. Dumbledore turned to Arthur Weasley with an amused smile on his face.

"They certainly do know how to make an entrance, don't they? While I may not find them the most agreeable sort, they do seem to be most enthused about engaging in this war of ours. Perhaps things will work out after all."

Location Unknown:

The ten battered survivors of the Death Eater assault team cowered before their master in the dank lair.

"You failed me. The boy lives," the Dark Lord hissed as his eyes swept the group huddled on the stone floor in front of him. "Will you plead for mercy or shall I kill you now?"

"Please, Master, spare us!" cried one as he looked up at the throne. "We have information for you!"

"Yes? Be quick about it then!"

"The new wizards, they aren't from England, they weren't even from the mainland. They were Asian! Somehow Dumbledore received reinforcements from one of the other Ministries!"

"I knew that, you fool. Is that all you have?"

"N-no. They did not all rely on wands, Master. Some carried wands, to be sure, but others carried staffs and some were wandless mages. Also, they did not just use magic. I saw one of our brother's necks snapped by the enemy's hands, not a spell. When I moved to make my own attack, my wand was struck away and my arm broken. See?"

The wizard held out the obviously broken arm for his Master's inspection without any pain on his face. This was one of the veteran's from the first reign of terror. He knew that he could get the arm taken care of if he was still alive later, but until then it was best not to scream. After all, he had watched others have their lives snuffed out for merely whimpering. Finishing his inspection, Voldemort moved back across the floor to his throne and the surrounding bodyguards.

"Very well. It seems that these new wizards are a formidable sort. However, our plans for the weekend remain in place; just prepare for a larger opposing force. Go."

The Death Eaters left his sight as quickly as decorum allowed. It was not often that they escaped an audience without the excruciating pain of a Cruciatus Curse, and this was one opportunity they would not miss.

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts:

Ginny rolled out of bed with a groan, recoiling as her feet hit the cold stone floor. She was confused for a moment before remembering that she was once again at her home away from home and not in Tibet any more. Harry. Where was he now? Ever since she had had the run in with Ron and Hermione she had not looked for him - no reason to give her family a chance to catch them together before they became used to having him back. Quickly she dressed and headed to the bathroom before going down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Her family pointedly ignored her except for a couple of glares from the twins, so she sat off to one side with some of her former classmates. It was a lonely meal, but everyone had a lot on their minds, so she did not feel left out. When the disturbance at the door drew everyone's attention, her reaction was wonder as with the rest of the Hall, but then she felt fear. Where was Harry? In her, admittedly brief, time with the group before they left, Harry and Sifu had been almost always together, but now Sifu was there and Harry was not. Neither was Claude, and that was frightening too as they seemed to have formed some sort of strange familial connection. Abandoning her breakfast she moved quickly out the door as everyone else watched the prisoners.

She found the ordered encampment from the day before in sorry shape. Wizards moved through the wrecked tents, avoiding blast holes as they restored them to their former condition. Pulling one aside she used signs and the constant repeating of Harry's name to get across that she was trying to find him. Finally the wizard understood and she hurried off in the direction he pointed out. Reaching the large tent Ginny entered. Inside was a sight she had never seen before. It was a hospital tent, and wounded lay in cots along the sides as they were treated by healers. Her heart was in her throat as fear filled her until she saw the object of her search standing over a cot in the back. Almost sobbing in relief she ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"I thought you were dead!"

Harry looked down at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why would you think that? I was just here to see Phuntsok. He's in my squad and got hurt in the fighting last night. Are you all right yourself?"

"I saw the prisoners, and you weren't with Sifu, and one of the wizards said you were here, and..."

"It's all right, Ginny," Harry soothed. "I'm not hurt and we made it out all right. A squad launched a sneak attack last night so we had a bit of situation, but it turned out all right. We lost five men, but the Death Eaters lost a lost more. It's war, and people will get hurt - worrying about me won't change anything. Okay?"

"All right. But you're out here fighting, and once Ron finishes training he will be too, and the rest of my brothers are already out there. I just don't want to lose anyone, especially since I just got you back."

Fiercely she rounded on the taller boy, pushing her forefinger into his chest.

"You better not die on me, Harry Potter, you hear me? If you do, I-I-I'll kill you myself!"

With a chuckle Harry wrapped an arm around her in a brotherly fashion as he pulled her out of the tent with a wave to Phuntsok.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now let's go to the cafeteria. You've probably eaten already, but they're still cooking here and I'm starved."

With that they moved off to breakfast. It was Ginny's second, but she was a Weasley after all; she would not turn down food.

Back in the Castle:

Meanwhile in the castle the prisoners had been secured and Dumbledore and his generals were in deep discussion with Lobsang, Sifu, and some of their lieutenants.

"I tell you, to attack is suicidal! These are dangerous wizards with no compunction against using the most vile curses in any situation! I will not put my people in danger like that!" Sirius yelled. "Maybe you don't mind people dying, but we do! Any loss is unacceptable!"

"With an attitude like that, it is no wonder that you are losing this war," Lobsang calmly replied. "War means death, and if you fail to understand that then you cannot fail to lose. We are just asking for intelligence on Death Eater positions and a team of scouts to work with our own reconnaissance teams. Surely you have that many people with the skills needed and the willingness to sacrifice their lives for the greater good. How can you expect us to die for people we don't know when you won't die for your own family? And they call you brave."

A snort was heard from the back and Sirius turned angrily to a laughing Snape.

"Well, if you are so brave, why don't you go with them?"

"I think I will. This is a Slytherin mission after all, searching for weaknesses in the enemy. A Gryffindor would never understand."

Quickly Snape stood and walked out with Lobsang and Sifu close behind, ignoring Sirius' helpless sputtering as they went. It did not take long for Snape to gather a group of wizards not afraid to go out and get dirty, and they joined the Tibetan scouts outside of the castle. It was a motley group. The Tibetans of course were not uniformly armed, and although the British wizards were, they were an eclectic group and their dress showed as much. Snape looked over the Tibetans with a critical eye. They were calm as they waited to move out, readying weapons and talking quietly amongst themselves. With a start Severus recognized one of the wizards. It was Harry. With his trademark sneer on his face Severus moved towards him.

"Here for more glory, Potter?"

Even as he spoke the words Snape found himself being lifted off of the ground and rotated through the air. Looking down he found himself at the tip of an oak staff, its owner watching him with hooded eyes.

"I know you," came the simple statement.

"You do?" Snape asked in surprise. The boy was not of Oriental decent, but he did not look like anyone Snape had met before, although there was something there that was familiar. Those eyes, that was it. Where had he seen them before?

"Don't you remember chasing Harry in Marseille? Don't you remember attacking him in the middle of the street with your thugs? I was there. Not trained at the time of course, but I was in the background watching you. I was in the apartment too, and I saw you try to attack the first person through the door no matter who they were. We don't need your kind on a scout mission. Shooting first could get us killed, so you're going to stay with me so I can knock you out if you get nervous. Understood?"

Now Severus was mad. This wizard was still a boy, and if there was something he knew how to do, Severus could intimidate children.

"You will let me down, boy," he growled. "Maybe if you do your punishment will be light."

"That may have worked in the Potions Laboratory, but that won't work here," Harry said from behind him. "We've all seen things a lot worse than anything you could do these past couple years, and it will take a lot more than that to intimidate my brother. Right, Claude?"

The boy let slip a feral grin that chilled Severus to the core. He knew that look...

"Right, Harry. I guess I'll let him down though; we can't have him get vertigo before we leave after all."

Laughter came from the other scouts, Hogwarts residents included, as Severus touched the earth. With one last look at the pair he moved back to his squad with a grunt. If he knew anything, Severus knew when to back down. He had not been able to face Harry and his companions four years before, and it would probably be worse now. As a Slytherin that left him only one option, no matter how hard it was. Sometime soon he would have to apologize and somehow get Harry or someone as powerful to teach him how to fight like that. With Voldemort after him now on top of the 'light' wizards that still hated him he needed every bit of protection he could get.

One of Lobsang's lieutenants, Rinchen, soon joined them, and with the traditional 'pop' that announced apparation, the scouts moved off into the countryside.