Prophecy

Manticore

The next week was busy for Chimera as they prepared to link the Manticores. James and Tiffany were talking to all the recruits while Melissa, Rose and Lisa worked on the wards they would use to hide the little room off the meeting place. Most of the people had taken to calling their meeting room on the fifth floor Manticore Hall, and the name just kind of stuck. Hangeld, Adam and Emma were working on strategies and tactics for the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, and all of them were still doing their classes of course.

Thursday after classes James and Rose were in Manticore Hall when they had two visitors. Emily Kitchen was a 3rd year Ravenclaw. She was widely acknowledged as the best researcher in Hogwarts and some of her house mates claimed she had read every book in the library. Jerrick Clearwater was another matter entirely. Another 3^rd year Ravenclaw, he was quiet and had an amazing ability to take the smallest clues and put together a reason for them. Jerrick and Emily came into Manticore Hall and sat down at the table James and Rose were sitting at.

"We'd like to help you with your efforts." was Jerrick's blunt opening remark. "When 58 people from all four houses start hanging out together, it arouses some interest. I did some checking, asked a few questions, and none of them were talking. At that point, I got Emily involved, and had her check the public records on the ringleaders. That I assumed were you two. Three things came to light fairly quickly. One: You two have done something to your bond, and extended it to your friends. Two: Somebody paid a great deal of money to bring you here from America. Three: Both of my parents think the Elric Prophecy is happening now, and you have people that meet almost every line in the Eight." Jerrick finished speaking and watched the twins carefully.

"I think we've found the person to lead our intelligence section Rose, if he passes you and Melissa." James grinned inwardly as he thought. Rose had found mediwizards, and everybody else they needed, but none of the Manticores they had so far were particularly good at digging out intelligence, or spying as James bluntly put it. "Run them through the mill Sister mine, and make sure they understand what we want them for." James looked at Jerrick and Emily as he spoke to Rose. Then he got up as Melissa came over and his last words were at Emily. "I understand why Jerrick wants to work with us, but why do you?"

Emily blinked as she looked at James. "You are an Evans, from America. You are about to wage war across the world. This means you'll be looking into a million different things, and I want to help. With the Cumulus name behind you, you will be able to get me access to things I could never see on my own."

James nodded as he thought about what she said, then looked at Jerrick. "I know you like finding things out, but you could do that without getting involved with us." He made it a statement, but waited to see what Jerrick would say.

Jerrick took a deep breath, and his response made everything clear. "My mother is Athena Clearwater." Even in America the story of Athena Clearwater was known. Athena had been an Auror during the Voldemort war. She had gotten pregnant and pulled back to light duty until her child was born. During a routine visit to the hospital after the birth, Death Eaters had attacked the hospital, trying to kill some fifteen wounded Aurors there. Athena Clearwater had single-handedly held them off, capturing four and holding the room the Aurors were in until help arrived. She had paid an awful price for her final stand though, and had burned out her magic. She lived, but was a squib now.

James bowed slightly to Jerrick. "If you are half the person your mother is, you'll be one of our best assets."

Friday all the new people received an owl with the things they had to study, and Chimera was up until late in the night preparing Manticore hall for the spells that would be cast the next day. As they worked, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore came in the room. They looked around at the busy students and walked over to James and Rose, who were preparing the final steps for the linking spells to be cast the next day. "How many spells will your group be casting tomorrow?" asked Dumbledore.

James looked at the ceiling as he thought about it. "I'm not sure exactly. Six linking spells, three wards, a couple of illusions, a blood bonding, and a couple more at least."

Professor McGonagall raised one eye at the news of the blood bonding. "What kind of spell is that?"

James shrugged. "A minor one actually. To keep anyone from finding the lab, We're going to tie the doorway's spells into Manticore via blood, and since we are not all blood related, the only way to do that is to use a Shaman spell, and do a clan acceptance on everyone. That will give everyone a blood tie I can use to tie all the Manticores into the wards."

The two adults stayed a bit longer, and Dumbledore cast a spell that created a fireplace on one wall. At the request of Mercy and Rose, he also created two bathrooms. Dumbledore had one more comment before he left. "I understand the Quidditch tryouts for next year are Sunday, but I have not received the broomsticks that you are supposed to have for those tryouts. Will they be here in time?"

The members of Chimera that were going to tryout looked at James. Emma was the first to say anything. "You said you'd take care of that James, are we going to have our broomsticks in time?"

James nodded. "They will be delivered Saturday morning. Professor Dumbledore, when they are, I'd like to have the Quidditch pitch for a couple of hours to practice. Say Saturday afternoon? We're going to be fairly busy Saturday morning."

Albus Dumbledore nodded, looking thoughtfully at James. "Why would you be taking care of everyone's broomsticks? I would think that getting them from their parents would be easier for them."

James's face went innocent, and he was just a shade too casual with his answer. "I'm sending ten or twelve owls a week, and sending one more to be copied and sent to their parents asking for the broomsticks was no big deal."

Albus Dumbledore had been a Professor and Headmaster too long to be fooled by any innocent look, no matter how good it was. He considered James thoughtfully as his mind went over all the possibilities. He considered James and Robert's intense need to win, and then a stray thought rose up from something he had read about the Evans clan. "Are your friends going to get the broomsticks they had, or something new?"

James closed his eyes, and then opened them. He looked at the members of Chimera that had been gathering since Jerrick had shown up and shrugged. "Something new. Well, Rose and I will be getting our old brooms, but everybody else including Adam will be getting the same brooms Rose and I already have."

Four voices started complaining all at once, and only Lisa didn't add to the noise level. The gist was that most of them liked their brooms, and what did he think he was doing anyway. Lisa was thinking instead of reacting, and after a second, she spoke. "Excuse me." Her voice was just loud enough to cut through the babble of the other four. They all turned to look at her, but she was staring at James. "What kind of broomsticks will be arriving for us?"

James grinned, and the others could feel a rising mirth through the link. "Well, one of Cumulus's businesses happens to be a Broomstick company, so I talked to Dad, and we got moved to the top of the list for Starblades."

Silence fell as the wizards thought about that. Hangeld and Adam were looking around, and everybody else had their mouths open and were staring at James. Adam sighed and spoke. "I wish I was not the only muggle born here, because I get tired of asking for somebody to explain things that the rest of you already know."

Hangeld shook his head. "Don't feel bad, this time I have no idea what's so impressive about a Starblade either."

Emma turned to them. "Nimbus and Firebolt make the finest mass produced broomsticks in the world. Their brooms are made for anyone to ride though. Starblades are custom made for one rider, much like a wand only works well for one person. Starblade Broomsticks outperform anything else in the world, they're faster, have better braking, and over a hundred individual charms for safety, comfort and reliability."

Lisa added, "it's not a well known company because each broom takes nearly a month to make, and takes the combined efforts of at least five wizards. They also cost about ten times their weight in gold. Even with that, there is a waiting list about a year long to get one." She turned to James. "You and Rose weren't riding Starblades during the Junior Quidditch Finals."

James smiled at her. "Yes, we were. However, one of the reasons that I got us all a Blade is that you can easily disguise it as any other Broomstick, and it can hold a few extra spells easily. We might find that useful in the days ahead, and I figured that you might as well start getting used to them now. I'd rather you made any mistakes on a Quidditch Pitch than when we're doing something prophecy related."

Adam looked puzzled. "Wait a minute. I thought only the people that were trying out for the team were getting broomsticks, so how am I getting one?"

James looked at him, feeling alarm bells going off. "Um, I ordered yours when I ordered the rest, so that all of the Eight would have one. Professor McGonagall will hold yours until the end of the year."

Adam and Lisa were staring at James. Lisa asked, "did you order one for Daniel as well?"

James sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It's always the smallest things that trip you up. No, I didn't. Rose saw that Adam was our eighth person at the Sorting Ceremony, but with the Bonding and other things, we just never had the right time to tell you about it."

Hangeld looked around for Daniel. "What you mean, is that you didn't want to tell Daniel that he wasn't one of us."

"Pretty much," admitted James calmly. "by the time I found out about it, and we were certain, neither of us were quite sure how to tell him. I mean, what was I supposed to say, 'Daniel, we were wrong, and we don't need you?' I don't think that would have gone over very well, do you?"

Chimera looked at each other and had to concede that James was right and that might not have been well received. James ended the discussion, sending the group off on errands to prepare for Saturday morning. He reached for Rose, and found her talking to Jerrick and Emily. "How do they look? Will they be good for us?"

Rose conferred with Melissa, and responded, "More than good James, Jerrick's father is a senior Auror, and Jerrick says he'll help us if we need any information from the Ministry of Magic."

"Good. Give Jerrick the codes and have him give them to his father. We can use an Intell source in Europe. In fact, ask him to ask his Father if he knows anyone that might be willing to do a few things for us."

James got her agreement, and began going over the spells they were going to cast the next day. The wards and charms were all old spells and he didn't anticipate any problems with them. This linking spell though, was new and untested. He was only going to let one group cast the spell until he was certain it worked properly. He set that one aside and looked at the blood bonding spell. He had lied to Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore, lied by omission. It was a simple spell, just as he had told them, accepting a person into a clan at the simplest level, much like the Blood Brother bond that even muggles could use.

What James had not said, and the Instructors had not known enough Shaman magic to figure out, was that to bond somebody into a clan, you had to have a clan first. James was about to Bloodbond every single Manticore into a new clan with him as the head of that Clan, and somehow, James didn't think Professor Dumbledore would be too happy to find out that James would be able to draw on that bond, and use their power to augment his own. Rose knew, and so did Tiffany, but James trusted them not to say anything.

James looked around and drew out the scroll containing the last spell he would be casting Saturday. Looking around again, he made sure that nobody could see what he was working on and went over it again. As he checked the spell again, making sure he knew what he was going to do, Tiffany spoke to him from the girl's dormitory. "I still don't think that is a good idea James. I know why you're doing it, and I can even agree that it might be a good thing in the abstract, but not in this case, and certainly not with this many people."

"We've been over this a dozen times. I am going to do it, and I would hate to argue with you for the next fifteen years. Like you said, you know why I'm doing it, and I am not going to change my mind." James and Tiffany had in fact talked about this a hundred times since he had started adapting the spell for what he wanted. Tiffany didn't like it, and made sure he knew that, but she was willing to let him do it. Not because she agreed with him, but because she could feel his need to do it. James finished checking the spell and put it back in his robes. He checked the time and headed to dinner.

Saturday morning fifty-two people were sitting in Manticore Hall, waiting to cast the spells that would bind them, to each other and to James. Chimera was sitting behind him at the only table they had so far. He made a mental note to get Phoenix on 'requisitioning' enough tables and chairs for everyone from some of the unused rooms, as well as the bookcases and other things they would need before long.

James had spent the last week talking to and evaluating the group. Overall, he was satisfied with them and with what Rose and Melissa told him about them. He frowned slightly as he saw Ron stone sitting with the people that would make up the Ravenclaw team of Sphinx. Rose saw a pivotal point in there future, three or four years away, and there were too many paths coming out of that point for her to see anything specific at this time, but two thirds of the paths from that point had the gray or black feel to them that meant bad things had happened. James had told them all about this, and they had discussed it. Since they were here, James assumed that Sphinx was going to go ahead anyway.

James looked back at his team. "Are we ready to begin?" he sent, and got a collective 'yes' back.

He stood up and the low conversation that had been going on died as the would-be Manticores looked at him. "Sonya, would you and Hydra go with Lisa and Adam please?" Sonya silently collected her team, and the two Chimeras lead them into the door on the northern wall. That was the only entrance to that room, and by the end of the day, nobody should be able to find that room except the members of Manticore. James looked at the rest of the people while Hydra and his two people went through the door. When they were gone, he started talking. "As you have seen other the last week, the link spell is proven. But since we had to change the spell a little to account for the fact that none of you have pre-existing links to work with, I'm only allowing one team to use it until I'm sure it does exactly what we want it to do, and nothing more."

James began pacing slowly as he talked. "After all the teams are linked, we're going to cast a few more spells. I will be casting some of them, but Adam and the others will cast the majority. When we're finished, this Hall will still be here, but the door you're going to enter and the room you link in will be gone as far as the rest of the school goes. I'm going to take a bit of your blood, and perform a Shaman magic thing. That will bind all of us together and allow me to hide the door from anybody not in our group."

Arthur Weasley raised his hand. When James pointed at him, he stood up and spoke. "Why are we hiding that room, and what's going to be in it?"

James smiled. "Good questions, but I cannot answer them yet. After you are linked and bonded I'll be casting three more spells on you, one of which will be an Oath. After you have taken it, ask me again."

This led to a lot of questions as they waited for Hydra to come out, and James answered as many as he could before the Oath was taken. When the door opened and Sonya's group came out, James and Chimera grinned at their somewhat absent expressions. All of them recognized it from their own experiences with the link. Sonya looked up at James. "It worked. Hydra is linked."

James set Chimera to teaching the link spell. Since they were on a deadline, James took Hydra aside and cast their Oath. Once he had theirs, they could give the Oath as well. By lunchtime, only one spell remained to be cast. James passed the silver bowl around with a small knife and got one drop of blood from everyone. Sitting before the door he was about to hide, he took a pair of disks out of his pocket. Unlike the prank disks, these were made of gold. James added the measured herbs to the 60 drops of blood and chanted a short phrase over the bowl. The herbs dissolved into the blood that began changing color. James added a few drops of fluid and chanted another longer phrase. When he was done, the blood changed to steel-gray for a minute and then back to red. James set the gold disks in the mixture and began chanting again. The disks absorbed all the fluid in the bowl and sudden rose and hovered before James.

James pointed without breaking his chant, and the disks floated over by the wall. They rose to the top of the door and settled against the wall above the door. A line ran along the door, and when it reached the disks again the entire door shone the steel-gray, and then the colors faded away. The two disks sank into the wall above the door. James brought his chant to a close and looked at the door. He looked at Rose and smiled. "Told you I could do it."

One of the Manticores called out, "but I can still see it." Lisa turned her laugh into a cough.

Emily Kitchen raised her head from her book and looked at the door, and then the Hufflepuff that had spoken. "You gave the drop of blood, you're supposed to be able to see it."

Connor McCloud, the Pegasus team leader scratched his head. "So, how do we test it to be sure it worked?"

Emma shrugged. "Easy, we find somebody and bring them up here."

James got up from cleaning her work area. "That will have to wait. Chimera has some work to do up here, but we also have the Quidditch pitch this afternoon. Just leave the little room alone for now. Now, I don't know about y'all, but I'm hungry." Tiffany and James went out the Manticore Hall door and James looked over the balcony. Right here, you could look down and see the main floor hall five stories below. James grinned as he suddenly thought of rappelling down that expanse of stone.

Tiffany looked at him oddly. "Why do it that way? Why not just float down?"

James grinned at her as he passed the thrill of rappelling, and the adrenalin rush that came with it to Tiffany. She blinked as she absorbed it. "Do you have rappelling gear here?"

"Not yet, but when the war wizard supplies get here we will." James told her. They smiled at each other as they made plans for one night.

After lunch, Chimera waited for Professor McGonagall. When she was finished eating she took them to her office where the Starblades waited. James unwrapped the large package and pulled out the two broomsticks not in soft cloth cases. He handed Rose hers and set his aside. He reached for the first broomstick. On the end was a tag, and he read it. "Emma, this one is yours."

Emma took the broomstick from James and removed the case. As the broomstick came into view, it shimmered for a minute, and glowed. Emma looked at James for an explanation. "It's set to you, but you might not be exactly the same as when you ordered the broom, so the spells don't seal until you touch the broomstick for the first time."

He spent the next few minutes handing out the broomsticks, even Adam's although he'd have to leave his here with Professor McGonagall. They examined the Broomsticks. No two were exactly alike, although they all had handles of African Ironwood. Some had twigs of willow or hazel, and Hangeld's had twigs of oak and ash. The seven people that were trying out for the house team the next day took their new broomsticks to the Quidditch pitch.

One by one the seven lifted off. James and Rose were used to theirs, and engaging in a wild game of tag, trying to come close enough to each other to touch the other person without hitting them. Broomstick tag was very hazardous, but they made it look easy.

"It's the link. They are using their twin link to play tag." It had taken Lisa a minute to realize that they could not be coming that close all the time without using the link. Once she pointed it out, they could all see it. Tiffany was the first to join them, and her sheer exuberance drew the rest in.

The broomsticks were forgotten as they opened the Chimera link and chased each other around the pitch. James and Rose had been playing games like this for a couple of years now, and passed advice down the link. They flew for a couple of hours and then Adam sent to them. "Are you guys going to practice these moves we worked out, or can I go inside where it's warm?" They landed and Adam began briefing the chasers.

James and Rose were trying out for the Beaters slots, Lisa, Emma and Melissa were after the Chasers and Hangeld was trying out for the Keeper's slot. Tiffany had given them all grief for a few days over expecting her to be the Seeker just because she was a Potter, until Emma told everyone that Tiffany had been planning on being the Seeker for Gryffindor since she was six.

James and Rose had been pairing off as beaters in the North American Junior Quidditch Championship for three years now, and they were confident they'd get slots. Adam released the Golden Snitch for Tiffany, and James and Rose spent the time throwing a Quaffle at the Goals while Hangeld blocked them. Adam had a sketchpad, and was showing the three plays. After he showed them the play, they would take off and try it several times. Then they would get the Quaffle from the twins and try to work it on Hangeld. Adam was watching the beater and thinking about the game as the chasers tried to get past Hangeld. Tiffany had caught the snitch and was trying to push the limits of her new broomstick.

By the time the light started to fail, the group was comfortable with their broomsticks and the positions they would play. James was openly hoping to get to play against the Slytherin team. They had a set of twins as Beaters also, and James wanted to see how good they really were.

After dinner, James and Rose were called to the Headmaster's office again. "What do you think we've done this time, Sister mine?"

"I don't know. We've been too busy this week for pranks. Is it about the clan acceptance I wonder?"

"I hope not. I want to hold that as a last minute surprise." James was frowning as they were led into Dumbledore's office. "Sir, have we done something wrong?"

Albus Dumbledore smiled faintly. "I'm sure you have, but that is not why you're here tonight. The Househeads are a little upset that they were not told you would be recruiting their students for your project."

James looked at Rose. He consulted quickly with Melissa and Tiffany, and looked back at the five adults. "We didn't even think about it. I'm sorry, but since you knew about the project and what's going to happen, we just figured whatever we did was ok with everyone."

The adults made certain that James knew that any further recruiting would have to be cleared with the Househead in question first, and the Househeads left. Professor Dumbledore looked at James. "By my count, you forgot to mention a few spells in this morning's castings." He stared at James and the amusement was gone from his face. "In fact, I cannot find a room I know should be there, and I felt a dangerous spell I didn't recognize being cast. Would you care to enlighten me as to exactly what you did up there this morning?"

James didn't let his sigh of relief show. Dumbledore didn't know about the 'Final Moments' or Clan binding yet. "The room you cannot find Sir, we bound to the blood of the sixty Manticores, so that we have a place to put all those things and supplies we'll need. However, just in case someone does find it, I put a Pendragon Fire Ward around the room as well, tied to the Manticores first, and if there are no more Manticores, the binding will pass to the current Headmaster."

Dumbledore thought carefully about that. Knowing the kinds of things that would be stored in that room, he was happy to have it well protected. On the other hand, the Pendragon Fire Ward was a potentially lethal ward. "Tell me how the ward is set up." Maybe he wouldn't have to do anything about it, if it was set right.

James thought for a second before responding. "If a person who is not bound to Manticore enters the room, the ward will cause a flare of light around them. If they step out of the marked paths, the second warning kicks in, and they begin to get hot. Thirty seconds of increasing heat including a second decree burn on exposed skin should get rid of any accidental tourists. If not, the last stage activates, and somebody has to sweep up the ashes."

Rose was watching Fawkes, and spoke almost absently. "Professor, if the ward goes that far, it's needed. First somebody would have to find a room that only shows it self to people that have donated blood to the room. Then it warns you in a way that should be obvious to anyone that sees or feels it. If they continue past the second degree burn, they're UTS."

Albus smiled at Rose's contraction of 'Up To Something' "Then we shall allow it to stand for now. In the future however, I insist that you discuss any lethal wards with me first."

James agreed to that, and he and Rose left the office. "Alright James, what doesn't he know about? You did something Professor Dumbledore wouldn't like besides the Clan thing."

"Well, I didn't exactly accept the Manticores into the Evans Clan, sister mine." James could feel Rose waiting for an explanation and tried to avoid her questions. Rose though, was wise to James, having helped him perfect the very ploys he was trying to use on her now.

"James. Quit fucking around and tell me." Rose's voice was tightly controlled and James could hear her gritting her teeth.

"I created a new clan, with me as the Clan head. Dumbledore doesn't know yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. In fact, I'd rather nobody knew that. The special skills and talents that come with it are a bit much to deal with today. At some point though, it might come in handy."

Rose blinked. She had studied under the Medicine Woman of the Flathead Indians while James had been with the Shaman, and she couldn't remember much about the Clan things, with were Shaman's magic. Then a memory boiled up. "James, you can draw on their magic, all the Manticores, can't you?" Rose waited for James to deny it. In the silence that followed, she groaned. "James you can't use that. No one person can channel an entire Clan's magic. They have always died."

"True. No ONE person can. What if we channeled it from everyone, to the eight of us, and we used it that way?" James knew about the hazards of the Clan linkage, and had already been planning to avoid dying. After all, it would be annoying to die this week. "Besides, while I want to have it in reserve, I really don't want to use it. It reminds me too much of the final strike spell."

"Final strike? I don't remember that one." Rose was trying to recall anything about a final strike spell, but came up blank.

"It's in the war wizard's spellbook. It takes every bit of your magic, and your life and converts it to a single bolt of force. Nothing can block it, nothing can stop it. However, the caster dies instantly with his or her target." James smiled at Rose and tousled her hair. "You don't need to worry about me using that spell, it's not even a calculated risk."

James and Tiffany spent most of their night in Manticore Hall, casting a few spells and wards, and clearing out the smaller room. James had already sent for the things he wanted, and that meant that he had to have the area ready to accept them before they got here. Professor Dumbledore might be a tolerant man, but even he had limits, and cases of war wizard supplies and boxes of muggle guns and ammo sitting around without protection would exceed even his tolerance levels.

At the Quidditch tryouts the next morning, the acceptance of the seven of them for the next year's team was nearly a forgone conclusion. Between the link, Tiffany's skills, James and Rose's experience and the Starblades, nobody even came close to matching their performances.

The rest of the school year passed in a nightmare rush for James and Chimera. Between the Prophecy, Quidditch practice, schoolwork and all the other things that came from just being children, only James and Tiffany had any spare time to plant pranks.

With the faster ageing of the Soulbond had come a decreased need to sleep, and Tiffany and James were sleeping only about four hours a night now. They spent the rest of the night doing things, not all of which they told anybody about. Matters came to an abrupt head during the last month of school. James had been growing increasingly stressed as the year passed. Simply getting permission for 60 people to go to America had taken forever.

They had finally created the Fraternal Order of Manticore, as an Educational Society. FOM had offered scholarships to some of the less well off students, and had 'randomly chosen' some people to go to America on an internship. If they went, and passed the internship, their expenses at Hogwarts the next year would be paid for. That the people chosen for the internship were all the Manticores was a well-kept secret.

To make up for the loss of time with their families, FOM was paying for a week's holiday in Hogsmeade at the end of the summer. To make sure the people that were leaving school at the end of this year didn't have to break their links, Cumulus opened a British office in Hogsmeade. The links were great, but they all had one major problem. While you were linked, you couldn't get more than about 15 kilometers from the rest of your link without experiencing headaches and increasing levels of pain.

Prefects Grey and Moore were two of the ones leaving school, although Prefect Grey was the only one of the two that was linked. Prefect Moore had been offered a position with Cumulus's British office, but he had turned it down. Albus Dumbledore had offered him a position as assistant Librarian at Hogwarts. That would allow him to stay close to the majority of people he was documenting, and give him better access to the research possibilities of the Library.

James and Rose were in Manticore Hall and Rose was watching James. James was aware of her concerns and he was a little concerned himself. James was falling so far behind in his work that he had cut almost everything he did for fun out. James's problem was simple. Tracking the school marks, project works and of training sixty people was running him ragged even with Tiffany to help. He hadn't even worked on a prank in nearly three weeks, and his tension level was getting so high that even Tiffany and Rose were walking very carefully around him. That of course, just made him even more frustrated.

He was going over the end of week training reports for Sphinx when a hush fell over the Hall. He looked up and blinked. Albus Dumbledore and Alexander Evans stood in the doorway of the Hall. Seeing anyone that was not in Manticore up here was odd enough, but Mr. Evans was dressed in Borderer leathers and carrying a large sword strapped across his back.

Alexander Evans looked at the wide-eyed kids and decided to test their mettle. "I am going to count to ten," he said in a quiet voice remarkable only for it's utter tonelessness, "and anybody still in this room is going to regret it." He pulled the sword off his back and leaned on it. "One."

Chimera knew who he was, and they merely loosened their wands, wondering if this was a training thing. Of the other Manticores, James was pleased with their response. The teams formed up loosely, given themselves room to jump in any direction. Phoenix stayed to the rear with the non mediwizards in front of the mediwizards led by Mercy. They were prepared for their part as well James saw, as an adjusted robe showed the first aid pack belted under the robes of one of the Mediwizards.

"Two." The only reaction Alexander got was the team leaders looking at James for instructions. For an instant, James considered pitting Manticore against the Borderer. He quickly nixed that idea. Squib or not, Uncle Alexander was one of the most dangerous people James knew. Years of warfare, muggle and Wizard, had honed him to a fine edge, and he had often faced dark wizards and giant mages. Alexander was still here, and his opponents were not.

Too many wizards saw magic as the end-all, be-all of everything, forgetting or not caring that millions of people made comfortable lives without any magic. Living between the two worlds as he did, Alexander picked and chose whatever he could from both worlds. James knew of at least two ways Alexander could incapacitate most of the room quickly.

"Three." Alexander was watching James. He had seen the impulse to pit his people against Alexander pass across James's face, and then James had shut down. Alexander was not sure which way James would decide. He started planning his actions. Pepper spray grenade over there; another there. He'd need to smoke the room a bit also. Burning, stinging eyes and noses interrupted a Wizard's casting ability, and smoke kept anyone that could cast from seeing the target.

"Four." James finally sighed and looked around. He motioned to Sonya Gebbs, the Hydra team leader.

"Take the Manticores out and have some fun. Chimera will deal with this, and we'll let you know what is going on as soon as we can." Sonya nodded, and turned to the rest of the Manticores.

"You heard him, get going." Hydra was already heading for the door in response to Sonya's sending. Sonya was the last one to leave, and she stopped before the big Borderer. "I am Sonya Gebbs, and that is my friend there."

Alexander stared at the young girl who knew the Borderer ways. Every culture had it's own customs, and the Borderers were no different. Living under the daily threat of Giant attack, many of their rituals were designed to allow hair triggered tempers and reflexes to interact without fighting every three minutes. Sonya had just warned Alexander that hurting James would mean that Alexander would have to deal with Sonya at some point.

"I am Alexander Evans, and he is my kin." Alexander saw the brief flicker in her eyes before she controlled it.

"I will add luster to my name to know you, but friends are rare." Sonya half bowed to Alexander and left.

Alexander grinned after the girl. She had guts. Her last comment had warned him that she would still hold him responsible for whatever happened to James. He turned to James and evaluated the boy. The ageing of the bond was showing up after almost a year, but Alexander was not worried about that. He'd watched James grow up, and to anyone that knew James well the signs of a temper held only by threads of control were plain. That and the tension tightening the area around his eyes worried Alexander.

"Would you care to explain to me just how you managed to get dumber at school?" Alexander launched his attack, wanting to get this over with. "I sent you the books on organizing large groups for a reason. Being able to run a group in peace time is just as important as the 'Art of War' or any other tactics." Alexander stared at the rapidly flushing boy. "Look, a general staff is the best way to do this. Only megalomaniacs and Gods can run every detail of a war, and I don't see any signs of divinity about you, boy."

James had clamped down on his temper before Alexander ever started talking. "So I'm a megalomaniac now am I?"

Alexander leaned on Chimera's table. "That or an idiot. Look, do you trust Chimera?"

James stared at him. "Of course I do."

"Then use them. Assign them to watch over a team, and let them deal with the small things. Have you even noticed that people are avoiding you?"

James blinked. "Not really. I've been busy. Nobody said anything either." James was looking at Tiffany while he spoke to Alexander. "Is it true? Are people avoiding me?"

"James, everybody in Hogwarts knows about your temper, and the way you've been getting recently, even Rose and I are being careful around you." Tiffany sent her impressions of the way he's been over the last couple of weeks to him.

James frowned, and closed his eyes. "You at least should know I would never hurt you." He opened his eyes and looked at her, feeling a twinge of fear for his Soulbonded. "You do know that, right?"

"Of course I do. However, I don't want to be the one that sets you off either. You wouldn't hurt me, but you might take it out on somebody else, and that would be my fault." Tiffany reached for James's hand. "We can't keep on like this anyway. I can feel your tension you know, and it's affecting me."

James sighed, and looked at Professor Dumbledore. "I assume you have something to say as well, Sir?"

The Headmaster was grave. "I do. In fact, I have a partial solution. Starting today, you and all of Manticore will take Saturday off from the Project. No training of any kind. You may work on the regular classes of this school, or simply relax, but no training." Albus stared at James, seeing his instant rejection of that. "That is not an option Mr. Evans. If I catch you training on Saturday, the first thing I will do is remove you from the Gryffindor House team. That will give you the twelve hours a week you spend practicing back, as well as removing one source of stress from you."

Albus smiled faintly. "Look at it like this. This will give you time to plan and play more pranks. It has been very quiet around the school this last couple of weeks, almost boring."

James looked around at Chimera and the two adults. "I assume from your lack of comments that you all agree with them."

"Yes." Seven minds spoke as one. James grinned at them. "Alrighty then. It seems I've been put on vacation. Miss Potter, I have an idea or two, would you care to join me in a game?" He looked at Rose. "I think I might need you as well Sister mine. Feel like testing a new game?"

Alexander choked. Dumbledore looked at him, an eyebrow raised in unspoken inquiry. "The last time those two," he said, indicating Rose and James, "'tested' a new game, I got to spend the night rounding up North American Mountain Pixies."

North American Mountain Pixies were considered one of the biggest annoyances in the Americas. Standing about sixteen inches high, they were chameleons that could assume any color or pattern. They were also fascinated by anything bright and shiny, and they would take it back to their nests to keep. Couple that with an insatiable curiosity, and they could make themselves a bigger pain in the neck than gnomes.

James grinned at the memory. "Maybe we should have tried another type of Pixie, but Rose knew where that bunch was, and we were running out of time." Alexander glared at him. Alexander never had found half the things the Pixies had taken, and he was still annoyed about that.

"You still owe me a new put-outer." Alexander got up, and started for the door. "I'll be sending you a few questions on those organizational books. I suggest you not fail that exam. Right now though, I've been invited to eat dinner here, and I have to show Sonya that you're in one piece. Dinner. Now. Go."

James and Rose knew that tone and the one-word sentences, and they were moving already. Tiffany and Melissa were right behind them and the rest of the Eight were catching up. They clattered down the stairs, and James stopped them on the third floor. He laid out a plan quickly, keeping an eye out for Professor Dumbledore or Alexander. He passed out a few disks after setting the time delay on them. The grinning group headed to dinner.

In the Hall, Chimera peeled off, each member heading for one of the team leaders and having a quick word with them. It didn't matter what they said, talking to the team leaders was merely the excuse for getting close enough to each table to plant the disk James had given them. With the disks planted, they gathered at the end of the Gryffindor table to await the fun.

Dinner was nearly half over when the disks went off. One minute, everyone was talking and eating, and the next, nobody could understand a word anybody else was saying. Every time somebody opened their mouth, only baby babblings came out. James and Rose grinned at each other. "I think we can count this one a success Rose." The Manticores were just as affected as anyone else, and they turned to look at James, who grinned and saluted them. Because of the number of people it had to stretch to cover, the prank only lasted about ten minutes, causing James and Rose to discuss how to increase the duration of the prank. On the back of each person's right hand was a small mark, a silver Chimera.

The next day James assigned a team to each of the eight, keeping the supply and intell side of Phoenix for himself. Melissa got the Mediwizards of Phoenix, Rose got Sphinx, (James was hoping that closer contact with them would allow Rose to see whatever was in their future before it happened.) Hangeld took over the training for Griffon, Adam was Dragon's controller, Tiffany wanted Hydra, and Lisa was paired with Pegasus. Emma had the last team, Unicorn.

The last three weeks of school were much more relaxed with the new rules, and James even managed to relax enough that when a potion experiment of Emma's turned Tiffany into a hummingbird, he didn't fly off the wall. He did however, ask for the recipe for that potion after Tiffany was restored to her normal shape.

On the last day, Ravenclaw won the House Cup, mostly because while Slytherin and Gryffindor had beaten them in Quidditch, the loss of points from the various things that had happened had allowed Ravenclaw to keep up and pass them.

The Manticores watched the other students leave, and then the transport for America arrived. The Manticores got on the large bus, and a few seconds later a jerk and a loud bang announced their departure. About four hours later, another jerk and bang announced their arrival.

The Manticores dismounted, and looked around. They stood in a clearing with tall pine trees around them. Alexander and a few others were there, and they passed out port keys. Each group took a port key and activated it. They appeared in another clearing. This one though, had signs of occupation. Alexander Evans portkeyed in with Chimera, the last group to arrive. He looked around, estimating the group.

"Welcome to America, and summer training. My name is Alexander Evans, and I am the head instructor here." Alexander got them all facing the same way, and took Emily's book so she had to pay attention. "You will note the people in the green uniforms standing around. You will refer to anyone in a green uniform as Sir or Ma'am. People, I don't have time to be nice. The next few weeks are going to be hell on you. I am going to work you until you can't move, and them force you to get up."

"In a week, you're going to hate me."

In a month, you'll hate me and James for dragging you into this."

"In two months, you'll hate everybody here."

"When the war begins ends though, you'll thank all of us that kept you alive."