The War of Shades

Chapter 37 - Speaking of War

The next night, Harry addressed the entire DA before drills:

"I am delaying the beginning of practice for a few minutes because of a problem that I have been seeing which may lead to a much bigger problem. All this year, I have noticed that fights have broken out among you: sometimes just arguments, more often extending to fistfights or exchanges of hexes. You are all wearing sunglasses so that I, and through me Voldemort, may not know what defensive plans may be made. But just as easily, he can glean information from the things you say and do, and he watches most closely what you do in unguarded moments, when you are unaware I am around. What he has learned is that we are fractious and divided, that we cannot cooperate and that we are weakened by this. This has caused a recent shift in his strategies. Even now he is massing forces, recruiting dark wizards and opportunists from the world over, as well as bringing in giants. Of course, he already had the dementors on his side. They are being brought for one purpose: to make war on Hogwarts. They are using other forces to keep the Ministry forces occupied.

"I would hope that I would not need to impress on you the magnitude of this problem, but I will share with you what I know about the situation. They are even now in the process of moving the several hundred giants still remaining to Britain. To defeat the giants, each one would have to be attacked with massed firepower, at least ten spells hitting at once. Two years ago I saw Professor Hagrid shrug off repeated stunners from trained aurors: realize that he is only half-giant, and you'll begin to appreciate the magnitude of the task if we have to face them. They have already over 500 wizards and witches enlisted and hope to have at least twice that number by the end of the school year. As for them, there will be a great range in their talents, but you can expect that the ones who volunteered for a battle are skillful and completely ruthless. And finally keep in mind that they will be using dementors as well - hundreds of them. To help deal with that I am adding another night of patronus sessions - every Friday evening starting at 7 p.m.

"This change of strategy has come from two developments. First, the aurors and the auxiliaries have been very effective. The enemy will no longer be giving us warnings of their targets so that they more effectively spread terror without the losses they had been suffering. Even now, the witches and wizards who had not done so previously are being encouraged to gather in the well-protected strongholds such as Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Second, there is the concern Voldemort has about all the skilled and courageous fighters of this school entering the general wizarding population. In this regard I must agree with him. You have been brilliant. You have worked so hard and you have become very strong and able. I have been involved in a number of adventures in my life. I'll not bother to recount them, but I want you to know that nothing has pleased me more or made me more proud than to work with all of you and see the development which has occurred. It has been awesome and humbling.

"But your very talent makes you a critical target for Voldemort. He does not want to let you join the rest of the wizarding world, where you would be able to thwart his followers again and again. He did not dare to order an attack on the school so long as we worked together. As the Headmaster told us after Voldemort regained a body, 'We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.' Of late, he has found you divided and therefore weak. You all still work brilliantly when you are focused on training, but then I see you allowing yourselves to fall into discord. I watch these things when I'm not working with you. The fighting, the bitterness, the rancor, the division must stop. If this continues as it has, he will order his forces to attack by the end of the year. Death and destruction on a scale never before seen in the magical world will be the result. We must each find within ourselves the strength of character to look beyond our immediate annoyances and work together. If not I can assure that this fighting within our walls will lead to a very deadly war outside them."

There was silence for several seconds and then Ron stepped forward. "Speaking for the squadrons, Harry, I can assure you that we will do everything we can to stay unified for the greater needs of all."

Ernie McMillan also stepped forward. "And speaking for the real army, we too will put aside any differences."

"REAL army!" shouted Ron. "Your kind just hunkers down in holes - you're not out in the open where the real danger is!"

"Real danger!? - Your kind just sneaks in for quick hit-and-runs. You haven't the backbone to hold your ground!"

Ron charged at Ernie, who charged back. "No backbone, eh?" and the two of them commenced tussling on the floor.

Harry hit them both with a spray of ice water. They stopped fighting. The whole room was silent. Harry hung his head and walked out and down the hall.

Harry was halfway down the corridor when Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe caught up with him.

"Harry! Hey, Harry," called Crabbe. "Wait up. We need you."

Harry turned and looked at them.

"Harry, I don't know what's got into those guys - all that fighting is nuts," said Goyle, "but those of us who just started this year sure need you. We're barely doing the disarming and Protego spells. We can do a poor stunner and a few other hexes. It may not sound like much, but it's more than we could do three months ago. All we knew before was some goofy prank spells. We stuck our necks out to join and we need to be able to defend ourselves if things get rough. Everybody there says what a great coach you are and how they would do anything for you."

"Yeah," said Crabbe, "you haven't let anything stop you from helping us - what house someone's in, things that might have gone on before, the friends someone has, ...

"...what their fathers have done ..." added Goyle.

"Right," continued Crabbe. "None of that stuff. And I really feel like a changed person. The world has turned around for us."

"Absolutely," said Goyle, "and there's one reason - because Harry Potter took the time to work with all of us. I guess tensions have gotten a bit high or something. But we're all really together. Trust us. Come back."

"And even if some people are not really all that much together," said Crabbe, "that's all the more reason that us poor wizards need your help. Don't leave us hanging out there. You don't know what it's like until you've walked a mile in our shoes."

Harry started to laugh. "Well, actually, I have. But that's a long story for another time."

Harry looked from face to face. How could he refuse them? Here were Malfoy's longtime henchmen, the sons of two Death Eaters, begging him to come back to lead the training to defend against Voldemort. He smiled and shook his head.

"Come on," he said, stepping between them as they turned, and reaching up to put an arm around each one's shoulder.

"A poor stunner, eh? Let's see if we can't punch it up some, okay?"

Chapter 38 Caving

Since Saturday was a Hogsmeade day, Ron had made sure far in advance that he had the quidditch pitch booked for practice between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. That way his entire team could make their 4:30 a.m. run, then go straight to the pitch, practice, shower, eat breakfast and still not miss any of the available time in Hogsmeade. He had known that they were to have an early severe cold snap, and that temperatures would be more than twenty degrees below freezing with a stiff wind, but his only response was a chipper "Well then, it's good to get it out of the way early!" He was indeed proving a worthy successor to Oliver Wood as captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Ron's enthusiasm was met with at best stoicism and more generally hostility. Nonetheless, the captain is the captain and the team went through their drills right after their run. However, he noticed that when the chasers made their scoring drives toward the hoops - with him defending - their throws were often not as sharp as they should be in order to get the quaffle around him. If he didn't know his team better, he would have thought the quaffles were instead aimed at him. Charitably he attributed it to fingers being stiff from the cold.

Similarly, the beaters proved as able as ever at keeping the bludgers away from Harry and the chasers, but somehow their swings always drove the bludgers toward the goals Ron was defending. Nonetheless, practice went very smoothly and Ron announced magnanimously that he was going to call practice early - at 7:23. After even rather lengthy hot showers to restore feeling to the limbs, there was enough time for a hearty breakfast before the Hogsmeade departure.

Being somewhat miffed, the rest of the team steered clear of Ron at the breakfast table. Ginny talked conspiratorially of kidnapping him and shutting him in one of the caves with the millions of spiders. Harry laughed along with the rest, but then told them stories of equally miserable practice sessions under Oliver. Somehow reminiscences of quidditch practices so many years ago made him feel like an old man He realized that their new chaser, a second year named Brendan Stephens, had only been 5 years old when Harry first joined the team, and yet Brendan was now fully as tall as Harry and still growing.

By the end of breakfast, Ginny had seemed to let go of any animosity over the harsh practice conditions. Ron and Harry waited in the common room for Hermione and Ginny. They were well bundled for the weather, but clearly Ron had made an effort to look sharp, while Harry had put on layers against the cold with three of his oldest denims, two sweatshirts, his largest Weasley jumper, and a large old coat on the outside for being outdoors and in caves all day.

Hermione and Ginny showed similar disparity in clothing, with Hermione choosing to wear a long, heavy dress, a white coat and a furry muff, while Ginny was in two or three thicknesses of old dungarees (with shabby knees from repeated detentions scrubbing floors for Snape) and an oversized Navy peacoat which appeared to have been a hand-me-down from one of her brothers. Harry thought that while Hermione could have been one of the revelers in The Nutcracker and as such was quite adorable, Ginny in her own way was charming in the well-worn and comfortable clothes she had on.

When they got to Hogsmeade, Harry suggested that he and Ginny should pick up some snacks at Honeydukes to help keep their energy up while they hiked and caved. Ron and Hermione decided to come along for that. After that, Ginny and Harry went on their own way to The Three Broomsticks to pick up the box lunch which was waiting for them. Before Ron and Hermione's lunch at Madame Puddifoot's, they went to a nearby hilly meadow where the sheep farmer who owned it made extra money renting sleds and skis during the winter.

As Harry and Ginny walked over to The Three Broomsticks, they could look between the buildings and see Ron and Hermione climbing the hillside for their first slide. As they climbed, they shoved and laughed and threw snow at each other.

"Only one sled between them, I notice," said Harry.

"I'm sure they're just going to take turns. Ron probably couldn't afford more then one sled."

"He might have told her that, anyway," said Harry grinning.

"Don't think she isn't bright enough to play along with that ploy."

Harry feigned crying like a heartbroken mother. "They grow up so fast. Boo-hoo!"

Ginny put one arm akimbo and wagged a finger at him. "Unlike some people who never seem able to grow up."

"Izzatso!" cried Harry and began chasing her. They both ran somewhat clumsily in their excess clothes and didn't stop until they got to The Three Broomsticks door, where Harry tackled her from behind, both falling to the ground laughing. Just then Madam Rosmerta came out with a rug to shake out.

She shook her head, as Harry and Ginny rolled over onto their backs and Ginny shook the hair from her face.

"Here, what's this? Until you showed your face, I would have thought it was James and Lily Potter back to their old tricks. What is it with you Potter men and redheads?"

Harry blushed crimson.

"Oh, Madam Rosmerta, it's not ..., I mean, we're not ..., we were just."

Ginny frowned and shook her head. "Oh, shut up, Harry. Like I'd have him, Madam! He can't keep his hair combed and I'd be forever patching him up and nursing him back to health."

Harry arched his eyebrows at her. "Oh, yeah, well what would I need with a girl with six big brothers? Seems like a dangerous combination to me."

"Uh, huh. You two are real convincing."

"Really, Madam," said Ginny. "If we were dating, do you think I'd dress like this? I clearly didn't go to any bother on his account. We're just here to pick up the lunch Professor Dumbledore ordered for us."

That's true, thought Harry. He had not before been able to shake the feeling that this day could be construed as a 'date' in some fashion. He was glad for the time to spend with Ginny, as he had come to like her quite a lot in the private morning training sessions, quidditch practice and the other times they were together. But dating had too many implications and expectations: it was good to not have that uncertainty and uneasiness. It was far more to his liking that they just be good friends exploring the hillsides together. And yet he could not deny that he felt different than he would have if he were exploring the caves with Hermione.

Harry was relieved to find that once he and Ginny were in the area covered by the map, it showed their positions and the direction they should go to get to the next cave on the list. It reminded Harry of the Global Positioning System device on Uncle Vernon's company car, except that the magical map was up to date. As had become quite habitual since the connection with Voldemort had become so open, upon coming on a type of magic or magical object he had not previously done or made before, he searched Voldemort's knowledge for the technique and learned to make a map like this himself. He also triggered memories of Voldemort making his own versions of the Marauders' Map covering Hogwarts along with the Chamber of Secrets, the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo's, and Azkaban. He filed the information away to tell Dumbledore later.

As they traipsed around the hills, Harry's mind wandered at times to the last time he was in Hogsmeade with a girl - his disastrous date with Cho Chang. He appreciated the fact that Ginny was not afraid to clamber about, be rugged and get dirty. He was spending the day with someone who had become a good friend and valued emotional stabilizer. Both were reddened and chapped by the icy winds, filthy, in grubby clothes and just having a wonderful time talking about everything but love and war.

Between chatting and exploration, Harry found himself wondering why there was always such tension between the sexes, until at the ninth cave when they stopped for lunch and had heated a sheltered boulder to white hot to warm themselves by, Ginny decided to pull off the coat and one of her sweatshirts; as she pulled it over her head, it lifted the shirts beneath it more than halfway up her body, revealing a glimpse of her brassiere and her trim abdomen which set off her womanly hips in the nicely snug jeans which peeked out of the baggier ones. Instantly Harry remembered why girls and boys get nervous around each other. He bit his lip to keep himself from saying something embarrassing. He wondered if she ever felt that tension about him. It was both a disappointment and a relief when she pulled the shirts back down, looking over her shoulder at him and making a joke about getting chills up her spine. They could then go back to being a couple of friends on an outing together.

They got to talking about picnics at The Burrow when Harry had visited and that started Ginny reminiscing about good times she had there. Many of them seemed to revolve around her brothers playing tricks on her or teasing her, but she remembered finding ways to get back at them. They laughed and laughed over the various pranks.

After a bit, Ginny made Harry close his eyes. She didn't say why, but then he heard her sniff and blow her nose. Their noses had been running from the bitter cold and wind, so at first Harry didn't know why she wanted his eyes closed. Then he realized that she needed to wipe the tears from her eyes and had to take her sunglasses off to do so. Harry also found that his eyes could use a wipe. There was so much to 'boring family life' that he had missed out on; he couldn't imagine finding a moment of such times boring.

After they had finished lunch and gotten adequately warmed and rested, they set out again. The progress was a little slower now as the caves were more outlying. The next to last one was devilish to find, and the map was already flashing impatiently, showing they were almost on top of the cave when they pushed aside a large clump of heather and discovered a hole in the ground barely as big as two quaffles side-by-side. The map glowed steadily when they placed it at the entrance, which showed that this was the cave they had been looking for.

"Can you make it in there, Harry?" asked Ginny.

"I'm still pretty skinny. I think I'll make it. I just wonder if Dumbledore could possibly have a use for a cave with such a small opening as this."

"Well, he didn't tell you the reason. If it's to hide something, then this might be the best one," suggested Ginny.

"Yeah, but if so, he's certainly not hiding it from Voldemort, not with me on the errand. Anyway, you can take notes about the opening and lay of the land as I work my way in."

Harry had to shuck off his coat and slide in headfirst on his belly. He held his wands ahead of him both for light and so he wouldn't accidentally break them. He was about halfway in when he had trouble finding a further handhold. He reached down and found an exposed root and braced against that as he pulled his legs in. All of a sudden, his hand slipped on the root and he tumbled and slid down the sloped opening. First he yelled and then he groaned.

"Harry! Harry, are you alright!?" screamed Ginny into the cave. She quickly shed her coat and started to slide in She had to slide in on her back to make her way through and when she came to the slope she too tumbled and slid.

"Well, if you'd waited I would've told you not to come," said Harry.

"Eeyuck!" said Ginny disgustedly. "What is this muck I'm covered in?"

"Well, actually you're not quite covered yet," said Harry. Splat! He hit her with a big handful. "There - now you're covered. It's fresh bat guano."

"Bat -what'd you call it, guano? All I know is it smells like sh-"

"Ah-ah," interrupted Harry. "No need to say it, that's exactly what it is."

"And you threw it at me! We'll see about that, Harry Potter!"

Splat! She hit him with a double handful. From then on it was a free-for-all. It hardly mattered - they really couldn't get any dirtier. They scooped and threw and splattered and laughed like toddlers in a mudhole. They giggled and gasped with the sheer absurdity and release of it all. Finally they tired and sat panting.

"What now?" said Ginny.

"Well, we have to get out. Do you have your wand?" asked Harry.

"Um, no."

"Okay, I'll get mine and then get yours. Accio wands!"

Both of Harry's wands flew to his hand and he first shook them off and then wiped them on the cleanest part of his outer shirt he could find. "It's easier to summon my own wands than someone else's when I don't have one. Now I'll get yours. Accio wand!"

Ginny's wand flew to his hand as well. Harry shook it and wiped it on his shirt before handing it to her.

"I could've done that," she said

"I didn't want you to get dirty," he said, grinning.

"Take that, you," she said, heaving one last handful at him. "Okay, so how do we get out?"

"Hmm, there's no magical object in our gear for me to guide off of for apparition, and if I apparated us somewhere else, we might never find that stuff."

Ginny shook her head. "That's no good. I'd hate to report to Dumbledore that we lost all the notes and his map as well."

Harry held his wands up near the slope where the single shaft of sunlight was entering and said "Lumos!" The light from his wands showed that the slope would not be too bad to handle if it was not so slippery. He then quickly heated the moist guano to dry it out and in a few minutes they were edging their way up the slope.

Once up, Ginny said, "Okay, Harry, let's clean each other up and finish."

"Wait, I have an idea," said Harry. "Ron has a private table reserved for dinner at The Three Broomsticks. Don't clean up yet: let's finish up the last cave and drop in on them - just like we are."

"Harry, what's gotten into you? You haven't pranked anyone that I've heard of in a couple of years," said Ginny laughing. "Fred and George will be so proud."

"I don't know. I feel like I'm remembering what we're fighting for."

"To be able to go to dinner covered in guano?"

"Something like that," said Harry, laughing. "For freedom to be ourselves, to not constantly look over our shoulders for someone trying to kill us, to be able to put our guard down at times. I know there'll always be bad people, and a certain amount of care and watchfulness is part of life, but the constant brooding over the impending threat of terrorism and war weighs you down and breaks you down over time. And it's not as if you could just negotiate a compromise with such people - when the only choices they leave you are subjugation or death, you've got to choose their death instead of your own."

"Whoa, Harry! You're getting serious again. I know and agree with what you're saying, and you know I would do absolutely anything to protect my family and those I love, but let's have a bit more fun. How long do we have before Ron's reservation?"

Harry checked his watch. "Just over an hour."

"Okay, that gives us time to scout out the next cave. Say, Harry, you don't usually have a watch on - what kind's that?"

"Oh, yeah, around the castle I don't need it. I don't think it would even work there. It's a muggle electronic digital watch. The character there on the band is what muggles think leprechauns look like. My muggle relatives got the watch for three cereal boxtops and half a pound. They gave it to me last Christmas. It's the best thing they ever gave me."

Then Harry pursed his lips and looked down. "It is not! That was a terrible thing for me to say. It was the best gift they ever gave me, but the best thing they ever gave me was a safe place to live. They hated and feared magic with such a passion that they tried to squash it out of me, in hopes it would never again crop up in my life. They were cruel about it, but for what they thought was a good reason. They knew what happened to my parents, and they had heard about other atrocities in the first war. And still they took me in and participated in the spell that kept me safe. For all the insanity of living there, I was safe. Considering the sort of people that would have liked to have found and hurt me, that was a brave thing to do and a really valuable gift."

"Harry, since you first met Ron, I was always hearing stories about how awful they are," said Ginny. "I would've hexed them myself given the chance. Now you make me want to hug them."

Harry caught himself and grinned. "Well, if you did it as filthy as you are right now, I think they'd prefer the hex. Let's do the last cave, then I'll apparate us right beside Ron and Hermione."

It was a hard climb to get to the last cave and by the time they got there, most of the guano on them had dried and flaked off. Harry reported that parts of that cave as well had fresh guano deposits, so on Ginny's suggestion, after they put the finishing touches on their report and tucked the map away, they refreshed their stench.

"Harry, are you sure you can apparate to the table safely?"

"Yeah, no problem. I know their wands well enough to guide off of them - it's picking a familiar face out in a crowd. They must be right next to each other. They're in the third table in the back wall - you know, one of those in an alcove with curtains. Face me and hold my hands like we're playing London Bridge and we'll arrive standing on the benches between the back bench where they are and the curtains."

"Okay, then, Harry. No splinching me - I'm only up to full arm apparition and I've splinched my hand once. That's enough for me."

Harry got a wicked grin. "Trust me," he said unctuously.

She glared at him. "The first lesson Mum taught me about trusting boys is never trust the ones that say to trust them. IF you expect any kind of a relationship, you'd better not mess things up here!"

"Oh, does that mean you've opened the door?"

"Maybe. Let's get going."

With that she reached out with both hands, Harry grabbed them, lingered holding them an extra couple of seconds, and disapparated.

'Pop-pop," they arrived in front of Ron and Hermione, who quickly pulled out of a cuddle as Hermione gave a small scream.

"Hi!" said Harry. "Just finished - mind if we pop in?"

"Well, actually, we do!" said Ron. Suddenly he clenched his nose. " - oh, Merlin's beard! What is that stench!?"

"Oh, a couple of the caves were a bit untidy. We had a little accident," said Ginny.

"A little unti - Ginny, is that bat sh-," said Hermione.

Ginny quickly interrupted. "Guano: the word is guano."

"Not when it's that fresh!" grumbled Hermione. "Couldn't you two have cleaned up?"

"Ah, well, we're famished and heard that you two had a table," said Harry.

"Well, you're NOT welcome," said Ron. "This is a table for two."

"Now, now, Ron," said Hermione. "We've had the day together. We can have them at the table if - SCOURGIFY, SCOURGIFY - there now" she said, smiling smugly and tucking her wand back away, "IF they can be made presentable."

"Hmf," said Ginny, in mock indignation. "Harry, if they don't want us as we were, I don't think I want to hang around with them. Besides, you promised me a dinner, and I don't want to spend it with my brother being grouchy about being interrupted."

Hermione blushed. "Oh you weren't interrupting anything!"

Ginny leaned down to glare at both of them, glasses to glasses, and said quietly, "Well if we didn't, then I am highly disappointed in both of you - this is the closest any of us get to privacy at Hogwarts. Make the most of it."

Then she straightened up. "We'll be on our way then."

Harry jumped down from the bench and out of the booth, offering a hand to help Ginny out. Though she didn't need it, she accepted the courtesy graciously.

"You have to admit," said Harry, "that few people can do a clean-up like Hermione."

"Yes," said Ginny, looking over her shoulder, "no doubt she'll be settling into domestic life in no time."

She ducked the dinner rolls that came whizzing at her.