Harry Potter and the Ring of Reduction

Chapter 11

Muggles at Hogwarts

Harry awoke to see Ginny's amused face looking down at him. "Sorry, but they need the room for breakfast," she said. Whispering now, she added, "It was really nice of you to sleep here. I've talked to a few of them, and I can tell it made them feel better."

He nodded, not wanting to whisper or answer out loud. Sitting up, he saw most of the first years sitting near their sleeping bags, talking; a few were watching him talk to Ginny. "Well, I probably slept enough anyway. I assume nothing happened during the night. Are Neville and Hermione tired?"

"They say they're not," said Ginny, as Harry stood and started Vanishing sleeping bags and pillows; he found that she had already taken care of most of them before he woke up. "Snape definitely knows his potions. I think Ron and Pansy aren't up yet, they're in guest quarters. McGonagall wanted them to be able to sleep in a little, considering how late they were up."

"That was nice of her. Well, I'd better shower, change, and get some breakfast. Kind of nice that I can do all that in my quarters now if I want to." He headed off and returned to the Hall in half an hour, feeling refreshed, and grateful that Hogwarts' plumbing did not rely on magic.

Entering the Hall again, he found that the tables had been restored to their normal positions. He had forgotten to Vanish the carpet, so he assumed Ginny must have done it. He found her, along with Neville and Hermione, at their normal spot at the table. He also found a tray in his spot. "It's not going to be piping hot, but it's better than nothing," said Ginny.

"I'll take it," said Harry, picking up a fork. "Hi, you two. I guess, I hope, you had a nice, boring night in Hogsmeade?"

"I don't know about 'nice,' but definitely boring," said Hermione in between bites of her breakfast. "I'm not complaining; we always have things to talk about. Especially last night, since so much happened. But we don't know so much about what happened with you, so if you could fill us in..."

Harry spent the next ten minutes doing that, while trying to eat soon enough that his food didn't get any colder. "Well, your night definitely wasn't boring," she commented. "As for us, even before our patrols, we weren't doing anything exciting. After we finished Apparating the wounded mercenaries out, we had to do the wrapped ones as well, then as you know we were assigned to Flitwick and Sprout to go around doing stuff. Like, I went into the Ravenclaw common room to start their fire. It was really great, they have a little library right in their common room! A few long bookcases, filled with some of the most useful books. It even has three copies of 'Hogwarts, A History.' Anthony was teasing me, saying, 'Now, don't you wish the Hat had put you in Ravenclaw?' Of course, I don't, but I know what he meant."

"Well, your trunk is practically a library," said Harry; Hermione gave him a 'very funny' look. "Sorry, Ron's not here, so somebody had to say it."

Hermione chuckled. "Yes, I was just thinking, that's something Ron would say."

"He'll be pleased I stepped in for him," joked Harry. "But why did you have to go in? Couldn't they have just used matches?"

"I don't think there are any matches at Hogwarts," she pointed out. "A lot of things that you and I would take for granted because we grew up with Muggles just aren't common in the magical world, because they aren't necessary. It's like, you don't think about getting water from a well, because we have running water. But if the plumbing stopped working, you might have to think about a well. Anyway, just a lot of stuff like that. I had to conjure big blocks of ice so the stuff in the kitchens wouldn't go bad. There's lots of food, the elves just can't cook it now. Especially lots of meat, which even if it's kept refrigerated is going to go bad by the time we get magic back. I was thinking, we should have a big cookout on the grounds. Do you think you can conjure up fifty barbecue grills, Harry?"

"If I can do one, I can do fifty," he said, though he knew she was joking. "I'd have to look at one closely, I think. I've never tried to conjure anything made of metal before, but I guess it shouldn't be any different. Oh, speaking of metal, I need to go get that guy out of the tank."

"It's okay, we got him out last night," said Neville. "McGonagall had us do it after we'd finished Apparating out the thirty that Ron and Pansy got."

"Have any trouble?" asked Harry.

Ginny smiled at Harry. "He wants to know if he's the only one that can lift a tank."

"I would, if it were me," said Neville. "It was pretty impressive."

"The answer, Harry, is no, but that was with all of us," explained Hermione. "It was pretty funny, actually. McGonagall said we should get him out of there, so we walked over. Pansy yelled, "Are you still in there?" We heard this voice yelling, "Let me out of this damn thing!" Pansy said, "I don't know, you almost killed my boyfriend. You should say 'please.' The rest of us laughed, and McGonagall gave Pansy one of her best disapproving looks. The man yelled, "Please let me out of this damn thing!' Pansy really wanted to say something else, but she didn't because of McGonagall.

"So, Ron said, 'I'll have a go. If I can lift thirty people...' He tried, and nothing happened. Then he said, '...it doesn't mean I can lift a tank, apparently. Why don't you give it a try, Neville.' Neville tried, and he made it wobble a bit, but that was it. Ron said, 'Wow, I knew Harry was strong, but this is really amazing.' We were all agreeing, and finally McGonagall said, 'Yes, let us all stipulate to the fact Harry's strength is most impressive. Now, I would like to get some sleep tonight, so if you would lift it together and get on with it...'" Harry and Ginny started laughing; Hermione wasn't imitating McGonagall's tone, but Harry could easily imagine it. "So we did, and McGonagall told him that he'd better come out hands first and with nothing in them, or she'd have us drop it again. He did, and Neville wrapped him up while the rest of us put the tank down. We left it upside down so nobody would get the idea to jump into it and try to use it. Also, as a little monument to Harry's strength." She and the others smiled at Harry's predictable embarrassed expression.

"Well, I spent most of the night being McGonagall's shadow, and I think that's how I'm going to spend most of the next few days," said Ginny. "I'm not complaining, it was pretty interesting. But it's a real comment on how important she considers Harry that even though I'm one of only six people here who can do magic, I'm more important to her as a way to communicate with Harry than for any other reason."

"I think she also wants you with her so you can do magic she needs done," suggested Harry.

"You're cute when you're overly modest," she chided him, grinning. "No, it's because of you. It's what I would do if I were her. If there's another attack, she either wants to let you know immediately, or for you to let her know if you find out first. You're important to this situation, so she always wants to know where you are."

Harry was about to respond when Augustina and Hedrick walked up. "Hi, Professor," said Augustina.

"Hi there, what's up?" asked Harry.

"We've just been talking to the first years," said Augustina. "It was nice the way you talked to them last night. Not only did it help them, but now they're pretty popular, because they know lots of stuff the rest of us didn't, that you showed them in that thing. They saw you knock out Voldemort-that sounded great-and they saw Ron lift those people, so everybody wants to hear about it. It's a good way for them to get to know people."

"And Harry did it just for that reason, he knew that would happen," teased Hermione. At Harry's annoyed look, she said, "Well, it's what Ron would say."

Now he chuckled. "Yes, it is. No, I didn't know that would happen, but I'm glad it did. It must be especially strange for them because they didn't get to be Sorted, so they probably feel sort of... lost, maybe. Like they don't know where they belong."

"I'd probably feel that way, if I were them," agreed Hedrick. "Anyway, we mainly came to tell you, if you didn't know, that the Muggles just arrived. They seem to be setting things up, kind of between the lake and the gate."

Harry nodded, impressed. "That's the best place, since those are the two places we could be attacked. Thanks, Hedrick, I should go take a look. I hope they don't scare the phoenixes. That reminds me, there should be a lot of them by now, right?"

"It looked like, over a hundred," confirmed Augustina. "It's really amazing."

"Well, that's something I have to go see," said Harry. "How about the rest of you?"

"I'll try to go look later," said Ginny, "but McGonagall wanted me back as soon as I finished breakfast and showered, and I still have to do that. See you later." She got up and left the Hall. Neville and Hermione were interested, so the three of them went out to the Quidditch pitch.

It was a bright, clear morning; warm, but not too warm. About thirty students were spread out around the area near the pitch, talking and watching the phoenixes. Harry walked up to Hannah, who looked positively enraptured. "Pretty nice, aren't they?" he asked, with deliberate understatement.

She smiled brilliantly. "Oh, Harry, they're so beautiful... and do you know how rare it is for humans to get to see this many at once? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, it's incredible. Every minute I'm not in classes or eating, I'm going to be out here. I just want to watch them, see how they eat, if they interact with each other... just everything about them. I'm curious, do you know what's going on with them? I mean, do you get any impressions, as a phoenix companion?"

He shook his head. "Any impressions I get are just from Fawkes. But I could ask him about the others, and he'd tell me if he could. I'll try asking how they feel about us watching them." He knew that Fawkes was among the many phoenixes they could see, but he didn't know which one. He relayed Fawkes's response to his silent question. "He says they don't mind. Some of them are bonded to humans, so they're used to them. Even the ones that aren't find comfort in numbers. They'd only get nervous if they were approached by someone with bad intentions, which they'd know right away. I got the impression that they're a little wary of the Muggle troops, but fortunately, they aren't near where any of the plants are."

"Are they afraid of the Muggles?" asked Neville. "Do they think they might hurt them?"

"Not exactly. It's more that they don't get a good impression from them. I'd guess you need a particular frame of mind to be in the military, and it's not one that phoenixes find attractive."

"I don't doubt it, it's not one I find attractive, either," said a familiar voice from behind them. Harry turned to see Hugo looking at the phoenixes. "They are lovely, aren't they?"

"Hi, Hugo. I'm always surprised when I see you in these situations, and then I realize I shouldn't be surprised. Of course, this is big news. Now that I think about it, I'm a little surprised you weren't here last night."

"Kingsley didn't want anybody here last night who wasn't already here, the security situation was too unsettled," explained Hugo. "Of course, I wanted to come. But I've just spent some time talking to some first years, so I'm up to speed now."

Harry laughed, because it was more or less true. "Don't need me at all then, do you?" he joked.

"No, I actually do want an interview, sometime today if it's okay, whenever's best for you. I know you're busy, or at least, you may be soon, if not right this second."

"I understand," said Harry. "I should talk to Professor McGonagall, see if she has anything in mind for me right away. I just wanted to take a few minutes right now to enjoy the view." He turned his head away from Hugo and back to the phoenixes.

"I know what you mean," agreed Hugo, taking out a camera. "I don't always bring this along, but in this story, the pictures are almost as important as the text. The phoenixes, the Muggles setting up shop over there, whatever damage to the Great Hall hasn't been repaired yet, the overturned tank... say, any chance I can get a picture of you in front of the tank?"

Neville and Hermione laughed as Harry turned his head in mild annoyance. Hermione said, "Harry, I thought you liked to be teased, because it meant the person liked you."

Harry couldn't help but smile a little. "Seems like more and more people 'like' me all the time, in that case."

"What can I say, Harry, there's just something about you that makes people want to 'like' you," joked Hugo. Turning solemn, he added, "Also, I already got some pictures of the students you Apparated out last night; I was able to go to St. Mungo's. There are plenty of people, Harry, who are sure they wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for you. And the others, of course," he said, glancing at Neville and Hermione.

"No, it's okay, it is mainly him," said Neville. "He's the one that comes up with new spells whenever he needs them. Even the four of us, us two with Ron and Ginny, barely managed to take care of the Gryffindor table and start on Hufflepuff before he had everything done."

"Most of the wounded are Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws," said Hugo. "I assume that's because they were the inner tables, and harder to get to."

"I guess it's just natural to take care of where you are first, then do whatever's easiest to reach," agreed Harry. "I wish I could have got to them sooner."

"Nobody blames you, Harry, believe me," Hugo assured him. "You already did way more than you should have been able to."

Harry reluctantly nodded, still looking at the phoenixes. "I suppose so. I hope I can get a chance to visit them today."

"A lot will be coming back," Hugo pointed out. "The people at St. Mungo's told me that they think two-thirds will be back today, and even the more serious cases, later this week."

"What?" asked Harry incredulously. "Some of those people had major burns, and that takes weeks to heal, and leaves all kinds of scarring. How can they be back so fast?"

"It takes weeks with Muggles, Harry," explained Hermione. "Not with wizards. There are magical ways to treat burns, even serious ones, which are much better than anything Muggles can do. They'll heal fast, and there won't be any scars."

More things about the wizarding world I didn't know, he thought. "I'm really glad to hear that."

He was about to make another comment when he heard McGonagall's voice. "Harry, there you are. Would you come with me, please? There is someone I would like you to meet. Mr. Brantell, you may come along, provided you keep a certain distance."

It must be whoever's in charge of the Muggles, thought Harry. He glanced at Neville and Hermione apologetically. "It's okay, we know that meeting people isn't exactly your favorite thing to do," said Hermione. "We'll see you later." Harry took a last look at the phoenixes, then reluctantly followed McGonagall.

She led him over to a small group of people about ten yards away from the Muggle vehicle and troops. Harry saw one person in black robes, one in deep crimson robes, and to his surprise, a man in a Muggle business suit. He had assumed all the military people would be wearing uniforms.

As they got closer, Harry saw that the two wizards were Bright and Kingsley, but he still didn't recognize the Muggle, though he did look familiar somehow. The three turned to greet them. "Harry," said McGonagall, "this is Kenneth Barclay, the Prime Minister. Mr. Barclay, Professor Harry Potter."

Harry tried not to let his surprise show on his face. He found that his reaction had nothing to do with being impressed that he was meeting the Prime Minister, but surprise that the Prime Minister would bother to visit Hogwarts. Barclay extended his hand, which Harry shook. "I'm pleased to meet you, Professor," said Barclay politely, pausing slightly before the last word. "Sorry, I can't help but react with surprise at seeing a professor who is quite so young. Or are you perhaps older than you appear?"

"No, I'm seventeen," replied Harry, interested in the notion that people could use magic to make themselves look younger. "But sometimes I feel a lot older."

Barclay nodded. "Yes, I have been briefed on your situation, if not your exact age. It sounds as though you have been through quite a lot."

"Yes, I suppose so," said Harry. "I'm curious, sir, why are you here? I'm surprised that you'd be involved with something like our getting troops."

Barclay seemed both surprised and amused that Harry had asked the question; Harry suddenly got the impression that no one else had. "Yes, it is quite true that this situation does not necessitate my personal involvement, except insofar as actually approving the deployment. But I was briefed on the situation with magic when I became Prime Minister, and I confess to having had some curiosity about it since then. So, when this request was made yesterday, I thought I should come out here to see what the troops would be seeing. It seems to have been worthwhile already, if only to see those magnificent birds."

"Yes, they're really nice," Harry agreed, as he wondered what he was supposed to say to a Prime Minister. "Of course, because of the situation, you're not going to see much magic around here right now."

"Well, I did catch a glimpse of that tank outside the gates," said Barclay, with what Harry thought might be amusement, but wasn't sure. "An upside-down tank is not something one sees every day. I am told, by the way, that you did that because it was firing on you. Why did you not do something more destructive? Surely no one would have blamed you."

"I don't make it a priority to learn destructive spells," said Harry, thinking it was an understatement, but not wanting to explain the energy of love to a Muggle. "I'd rather do defensive things, so-"

He cut himself off as he got a strong impression from Fawkes. He turned around and saw thirty phoenixes take flight suddenly, then a few more, as one of the Muggles approached the Quidditch pitch. Some flew to an area near Hagrid's hut, some flew to a different location, and a few disappeared. To Bright, Kingsley, and McGonagall, he said, "Something just happened that really disturbed the phoenixes. Fawkes?"

Fawkes burst into view and settled onto Harry's shoulder, as Barclay gave a start, then looked impressed. "I'm going to ask Fawkes what's going on," he said to McGonagall, "can you give me a minute? I think it's important."

McGonagall nodded, and Harry tried to shut out her explanation to Barclay about how phoenixes bonded and communicated with humans as he focused on the impressions he was getting from Fawkes. After a minute, he spoke. "Fawkes says that it was that man's approaching them that made them nervous. They don't want to be within a certain range of him. Probably the other... military people as well," he added, trying not to use the word 'Muggle.'

"But your students are much closer to the birds than Captain Ingersoll got," pointed out Barclay, clearly surprised. "Is there something they know about handling phoenixes that our men need to know?"

"Not 'handling' them, exactly," said Harry. "Is he the commander of the troops?" Barclay nodded. "Could he join us? I need to explain something to him."

"Of course," said Barclay, "but I have no way to communicate with him at the moment, except shouting, and he is a bit too far away for that."

"Let me see if I can do it," said Harry. He took out his wand, and a medium-sized, shaggy silver dog suddenly appeared. It barked, then ran off to find Ingersoll. As Barclay watched, eyes wide, Harry explained the purpose of the spell. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw Kingsley and McGonagall exchange a smile. The dog reached Ingersoll, jumping a little and pawing at him. Ingersoll tried to push the dog away, then Harry saw Hermione approach him and talk to him for a few seconds, pointing in their direction. She walked with him to Harry and the others.

With a glance, Harry thanked Hermione. "My apologies, Captain," said Barclay to Ingersoll, "it appears that is how they summon people around here; Professor Potter had my authorization to attempt to get your attention."

"Harry Potter," said Harry, extending his hand.

"Captain Martin Ingersoll," the man said, shaking Harry's hand. "What is this about, Mr. Prime Minister?"

"The young professor has something important he needs us to understand, I believe, about those birds, the phoenixes," explained Barclay. "Professor?"

Harry first made sure they understood how important the phoenixes were to the current situation, then gave some background on phoenixes. Finally, he said, "The phoenixes flew away because they could see that you don't like them; they don't know that you wouldn't harm them, even by accident, in some situation. It's very important that they not be disturbed; they're the key to us getting our magic back and ending this situation."

Ingersoll looked puzzled and annoyed. "What do you mean, I don't like them? I have no particular opinion about them. What gave them that impression? All I did was walk out there, they flew away before I even got close."

"Sorry, I chose the wrong word," said Harry. "I didn't mean 'don't like' as 'dislike,' but as 'absence of liking.' See, phoenixes usually only are around wizards, and everyone knows about them; almost everyone likes them. Fawkes tells me that you view them the same as if they were, say, pigeons; if one got killed, too bad, but no big deal. Phoenixes are very sensitive, they can know things like that. They don't want to be anywhere near someone who has that attitude."

Ingersoll gave him an obviously skeptical stare. "If that's true, then why is this one still around?" he asked, gesturing to Fawkes, still on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm bonded to him, and he trusts me. He knows I wouldn't let you do anything to harm him."

Ingersoll chuckled for a second, then stopped himself. "Not that I plan to, but I don't think you could stop me if I wanted to."

Unable to help himself, Harry laughed, and he saw Kingsley stifle a chuckle. Ingersoll looked at him indignantly. "Harry..." warned McGonagall.

"Sorry," he said to her, then stared at Ingersoll.

"Captain," said Barclay, "I suppose you must have noticed that tank out there. I am told that this young man is the one who did that. I suspect he could protect this phoenix if he wanted to. In any case, I am requesting that you keep whatever distance from the phoenixes Professor Potter asks, unless necessary in actual combat. Will you do as I request?"

Ingersoll came to attention, even though Harry understood that Barclay was not technically his commanding officer. "Yes, sir!"

Harry sighed deeply. To Barclay, he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but he's lying. He has no intention of making any special effort to stay away from them. And he doesn't mind lying to you about that, since you're not in a position to give him a direct order. He wanted to humor you, and be left alone to do his job."

Ingersoll gaped at Harry, and Barclay was clearly surprised as well. "You can know that?" asked Barclay. Kingsley gave a brief explanation of Legilimency, after which Barclay turned to Ingersoll, now annoyed. "Captain, I am not your direct superior, and was making a request, not giving an order. But I can send orders down through the chain of command which you will find most unpleasant once you get them. Now, I ask you again, will you and your men keep such distance from the phoenixes as Professor Potter requests?"

"Yes, sir!" repeated Ingersoll.

Barclay looked at Harry questioningly. "He's telling the truth this time, sir," reported Harry.

"Glad to hear it," said Barclay sardonically. "Listen to me carefully, Captain. You are in command of this mission, but the reason we are here is that we want to cooperate with the magical community, and your presence is a part of that cooperation. You are here to see that the area remains secure, and to extend goodwill to these people, and to their phoenixes if they ask us to. If you don't feel able to do both, I will withdraw your squad and send another one, with no prejudice to your career. Would you like to be relieved of this assignment?"

"No, sir!" said Ingersoll, staring straight ahead.

"Very well, then. Please feel free to get on with your duties." Ingersoll saluted, then moved off to join the other troops. Turning to face the wizards, Barclay said, "I'm sorry about that. Our military officers aren't used to having to consider such things as whether birds will be disturbed by their activities."

"Very understandable," said Bright. "We do not take offense."

"I'm sorry I had to do that, sir," said Harry to Barclay. "Normally I wouldn't, it's just that it's extremely important that the phoenixes be left alone. I don't blame him for being annoyed, he didn't even do anything. This must all be pretty strange for them."

"No doubt," agreed Barclay. "Well, Professor McGonagall, you mentioned something about a tour of the castle, which sounded very interesting indeed. Will you be coming along, Professor Potter?"

"Actually," said Harry, looking at McGonagall, "I'd really like to visit the people at St. Mungo's, I was hoping-"

"You can do more than that, Professor; you can take some of them back," she said. "Madam Pomfrey will let you know which are ready to come back. Miss Granger and Mr. Longbottom may assist you if they feel up to it."

"Professor Snape told us that we'd probably be awake through this evening," said Hermione, "so yes, I'd like to, and I'm sure Neville will too."

"I'm going to stay behind for a moment, discuss a few security issues with Harry," said Kingsley to McGonagall. She seemed to regard him suspiciously, then nodded, and headed off to the castle with Bright and Barclay in tow.

"What security issues?" Harry asked as they walked away.

Kingsley waited a few seconds, then said quietly, "There aren't any, really. That was my way of not being dragged along for the tour. You're not the only one who'd rather not spend time with politicians if he can help it."

"I've been training with you for a long time, but I see there are still things I can learn from you," said Harry humorously.

"I certainly hope so," responded Kingsley. "Well, I'm getting back to work, there really are things to do."

"How are you getting back?" wondered Harry.

"We've defined the edge of the area in which magic has been neutralized, and it's at about the outer parts of Hogsmeade, a half mile away. It's a four-minute jog, or a ten-minute walk. But if you wanted to give me a lift, I wouldn't say no."

"No problem." To Hermione, he said, "I'll see you in a few minutes at St. Mungo's, right?" She nodded, and he put his hands on Kingsley's shoulders and Disapparated.

After lunch, the Great Hall was cleared of all students except for a few, and the two long teachers' tables were moved together parallel to each other, creating one wider table. Sitting at the head of the table at one end were McGonagall and Kingsley. Along one side of the table sat Ingersoll, John, Sprout, Hagrid, Ron, and Neville; along the other side were Snape, Harry, Dentus, Flitwick, Hermione, Pansy, and Ginny. At the other end were Ernie Macmillan and Padma Patil.

"Very well, we are all here, so we will get underway," said McGonagall. "This meeting is to coordinate our information and activities, to make sure everyone who needs to know what is going on knows. All the teaching staff are present except for Professors Sinistra, Vector, Svengard, and Trelawney, whose specialties are not directly relevant to the situation. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Dentus's specialties are not directly relevant either; Professors Snape and Flitwick are here in their capacities as Heads of House, and Professor Dentus, as a former Ministry undersecretary, to provide political perspective if needed. All students except for Professor Potter are here as observers, though they may ask relevant questions if they wish.

"First, I would like us to address the most pressing question, that of Hogwarts' defense. That is the responsibility of Captain Ingersoll, who leads the non-magical defense of Hogwarts, and Professor Potter, in charge of the magical defense. Captain Ingersoll, firstly, I thank you on behalf of Hogwarts, and the magical community in general for being here. Would you please brief everyone on your responsibilities and activities?"

Ingersoll looked a little nervous, which Harry supposed was understandable, considering that this had to be by far the strangest assignment he had ever had. While McGonagall had talked, he looked around the table more than others, especially looking at Hagrid uneasily more than once. As he noticed this, Harry had to stifle a smile.

"I am the leader of what we call a Special Forces squad," began Ingersoll. "There are fifty of us, currently divided into five groups of ten. One is on the Hogwarts grounds; the other four are at various locations in Hogsmeade. Our function is primarily defensive; we are not to engage in combat unless we are directly threatened. If we make visual contact with enemy forces before they see us, the group leader is to call Professor Potter, who will... appear there immediately, I am told. I will then be contacted, as will the other students who can use magic. It is hoped that Professor Potter will be able to use magic to resolve the situation without casualties, as Mr. Weasley and Miss Parkinson did last night.

"In addition, later today, an anti-aircraft battery manned by a team of four is scheduled to arrive. Mr. Shacklebolt has explained the possible aerial threat to the castle, so this measure has been taken. This area is far from commercial flight lanes, so any aircraft flying towards Hogwarts and descending will be considered an enemy, and fired upon."

"Thank you, Captain. Professor Potter, do you have anything to add relating to Hogwarts' defense?"

"Just that if there's an air attack at a time when there's not a land attack, I could take Fawkes into the plane to make sure that it's an enemy. I'd hate for them to shoot down something that wasn't. But is an air attack all that likely? I mean, you need a military plane to drop bombs, I thought."

"It would not be beyond the Dark Lord's capabilities to subvert the crews of, say, a Royal Air Force aircraft for long enough to accomplish the task," pointed out Snape. "We must also consider the possibility of a plane on a suicide run. The pilot could be put under the Imperius Curse to do such a thing. The Curse would lose effect once the plane reached a point within a half-mile of Hogwarts, but the pilot could be instructed to aim the plane and take his own life before reaching that point. I assume, however, that the anti-aircraft weapons would be effective against that." Ingersoll nodded.

Kingsley spoke. "Harry, you can't get onto the plane anyway, can you? You know you can't Apparate from a stationary point onto a moving object."

"Fawkes can do it," responded Harry. "Let me make sure, anyway." Fawkes appeared and perched on Harry's shoulder. It took only a few seconds for Harry to get the answer. "Yes, he can do it, he's sure of it. So, if I try to do that, I'll have to tell the anti-aircraft people not to fire until I've finished."

"There are optimum firing ranges, Professor, which can't be ignored," said Ingersoll sternly. "Before you do such a thing, you must inform the anti-aircraft battery operators, who will tell you how much time you have to do so, if any." Harry nodded his acknowledgment, and gestured to McGonagall that he was finished.

"Now, continuing... Professor Smith is functioning as the liaison with the member of the Special Forces who is supplying us with various items of Muggle technology, which of course will function while Hogwarts' magic does not. Professor Smith, would you fill us in on that, please?"

John glanced around the table before speaking. "First of all, we have been provided with several cell phones, which for those of you who don't know, are currently the most common way for Muggles to speak to each other when not in person. Phones will be given to the six who can do magic, Professor McGonagall, Mr. Shacklebolt, and Mr. Macmillan, whose responsibility it will be to organize the movement of students if necessary. The number of each phone has been set up in all others on speed-dial; I'll meet with those getting phones later to explain how that works.

"As we speak, I'm told, monitoring cameras are being set up at the Hogwarts gate, near the lake, and at a few locations in Hogsmeade. This is to get advance notice of an attack in the highly unlikely event of something getting by the Special Forces groups, and as a redundant safety measure. The images will be continuously displayed on the screens of two laptop computers with which we have been provided. Student volunteers will monitor these images twenty-four hours a day, in shifts of no more than two hours. Ernie and Padma, it's your job to recruit the volunteers and schedule their shifts." Harry was pleased to see that Ernie did not seem to be acting self-importantly, instead appearing grave and thoughtful. Now he gets to do Head Boy stuff, thought Harry. Harry hadn't been told, but understood that Padma was there because Hermione was too busy with magic-related responsibilities to function as Head Girl, as was Pansy, so Padma was temporarily Head Girl. Harry wondered if Hannah had been asked and declined, preferring to watch the phoenixes.

"The cell phones are for people to keep in contact, but not in urgent situations, as there can be a delay of five seconds or more in establishing contact when using them. The six who can do magic will also be given pagers, which will only go off if an enemy is sighted by a Special Forces group leader. So, for example, if Harry's pager goes off, he'll look at the pager, know from which group leader it came, and Apparate there immediately. Those given cell phones and pagers will wear them around their necks at all times, on straps." McGonagall looked very unhappy at the idea of wearing Muggle technology around her neck, but said nothing.

"Thank you, Professor Smith," said McGonagall. Professors Sprout and Hagrid, if you would give us an update on the status of the lutas, and how soon we may hope to have magic back?"

Sprout and Hagrid exchanged uncertain looks. "It's jus' impossible ter know, or even guess," said Hagrid, shaking his head. "We don' know exactly how fas' they're eatin', or how many they have ter eat before the magic comes back. Sorry, but there's jus' too much we don' know. The best guess yer goin' ter get is whatever Fawkes tells Harry."

Sprout nodded in agreement. "We can't even say for certain how many plants there are, though we have a good idea now, based on the places I've seen the phoenixes feeding. The lutas' effect on magic is so rare that we have no idea how many it will take to be removed before magic is restored. By the way, I should say that I would like the phoenixes not to eat every last plant; it would be good to keep a few around."

McGonagall looked unsympathetic. "I understand why, from the point of view of a Herbology professor, but I will not consider even having Professor Potter discuss such a thing with Fawkes until magic is restored. We will discuss it more then. Now, are there any opinions as to whether there will be another attack, and if so, what type will it be?"

No one spoke for a few seconds. Then Harry said, "On the one hand, Voldemort isn't the type to give up. I mean, he keeps trying to kill me, even though he keeps failing. I'd almost be surprised if he didn't try something else, while our magic is still down. But on the other hand, it had to come as a huge shock to him that the six of us can still do magic. He had to have thought that the hard part would be getting the magic down, then it would be easy. He can't have prepared much beyond what he did, so anything he does now is going to be something he didn't have to plan too far in advance. And besides an air attack, it's hard to see what that could be, since it obviously can't be anything magical."

Snape nodded. "I agree with Professor Potter's analysis. The Dark Lord will know by now that Professor Potter and the others can use magic, so he almost certainly will not try to gather more mercenaries. An air attack is the likeliest attempt at this point. I do not think it likely that he will use bombs, however. From his point of view, the plan with the greatest chance of success is as many small planes as he can manage, loaded with explosives, making simultaneous suicide runs."

"Why do you think he won't use bombs?" asked Ingersoll, surprised.

"Too easy to get rid of," responded Harry, just having realized it. "I can have Fawkes take me in the air and have us free fall along with the bomb, and Vanish it. They'd have to have more than twenty falling at once for us not to be able to do that."

"I'd like to see that," muttered Ingersoll.

"The Dark Lord will know that Professor Potter can do such a thing, so he will probably not try. I do not know whether he is aware that phoenixes can transport onto moving objects; if he is not, that could be an advantage," concluded Snape.

"Does anyone have anything else to add, or ask?" asked McGonagall. After a short silence, she said, "Very well. I expect, of course, that everyone understands that everything that was just said is to be held in the strictest confidence, not to be repeated to a single person outside this room, even after the crisis is concluded.

"I will now be taking the first years to be Sorted; we will use a park on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, just outside the range of the lutas' effect. All Heads of House will attend, as will all fifth-year prefects. Mr. Weasley and Miss Parkinson will attend as well, for security reasons. That will be all for now."

Two hours later, the six took their usual seats in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, arranged in a circle in the center of the room. "So, what's this one about, Harry?" asked Neville, the last to arrive, as he sat down.

Harry was wearing a small, abashed smile. "I told McGonagall that I needed to discuss battle tactics with you, but there isn't that much to discuss. I think we all know what to do. The fact is, I just wanted us all to be able to talk for a few minutes, spend some time together. I mean, at this time yesterday, we were all on the Hogwarts Express, the rest of you wondering how long I could hold out without going to the bathroom." A few of his friends chuckled at the recent memory.

"Seems like a long time ago," agreed Ron. "So much has happened. How are you doing, Harry? This is kind of hardest for you, you're the one in big demand."

"I don't know, okay, I guess. In some ways, I feel like I'm running on automatic pilot. There's so much to do, to think about." Hermione then had to explain the Muggle reference to the others. "By the way, there's something I need to tell you about. Ginny knows, but I haven't had a chance to tell the rest of you yet." He went on to tell them about his new version of the Imperius Curse, and what he had done to Malfoy. He omitted mention of Snape's involvement.

"I was wondering how you found out," said Hermione. "That sounds pretty amazing. Could you do it to me?" Harry did; he had Hermione knock on the desk five times. Afterwards, her amazement was plain. "Oh, my God... Kingsley was right, people would pay for you to do that... Harry, you have to be careful with this."

"I will, obviously," he said, wondering why she felt it was necessary to caution him. "I don't plan to run around making people do things all the time."

"No, of course not, that's not what I meant," she clarified. "I mean, you shouldn't do it to people who ask you to, for their own enjoyment. People could get addicted to this, it could feel like a drug. If they had enough of it, then they didn't have it, they might get depressed. I don't know, it's just a guess. All I'm saying is, be careful, and only use it when it's necessary, not for entertainment."

"I hadn't even thought of that," he admitted. "I guess I wouldn't, since I can't have it done to me." At the others' insistence, he did do it once to each of them, and they reluctantly agreed with Hermione that it could be too tempting to have it done often.

"Anyway, it could obviously be useful in some situations," pointed out Harry. "For example, if someone was flying a plane at Hogwarts under the Imperius Curse, I could get aboard and do this to him, make him fly past Hogwarts and land at the nearest possible place. Or, if we were attacked by a group with an obvious leader, I could do it to him, make him order his men to retreat. That kind of thing.

"But the best thing about this, and it's strange, because this was completely by accident... but this is something I can use against Voldemort. I can now do to him what Albus does to him."

Ron looked puzzled. "How do you know? I mean, just because it had this effect on Malfoy, how can you be sure it will on Voldemort?

"It will. It'll have the same effect on all Death Eaters." Harry hoped that Ron would ask no more questions, but his hope was in vain.

"But how can you know?" repeated Ron.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

"Ah, another Ginny and Hermione thing..." Ron paused, obviously thinking, then put two and two together, as Harry feared he would. "You tried this on Snape? He let you??" He gaped, and Neville and Pansy also looked amazed.

"Look, I'm really sorry, but I just can't talk about it. I wish I could."

Ron shook his head. "Boy, if we ever get to hear about all this, it's going to be really interesting. Okay, I know, you can't talk about it. Well, anyway, I'm glad you can do that, if only so Albus doesn't have to anymore. Are you going to let this be known publicly... oh, I guess so, since the first years saw it. You've been so busy, I heard about it before you got a chance to tell us about it."

"That was Albus, not me; that happened before I knew I could do this. But yes, I'm going to make it public that I have something that can knock Voldemort out, not say exactly what it is," explained Harry. "The public explanation will be that it's for security reasons, which is kind of true, but the fact is that it's related to the new Imperius-type spell, and I don't want that to be public. It wouldn't be considered illegal, since it's not really the Imperius Curse, but I don't want people looking at me nervously. I'm going to take my time to decide whether to make that public or not."

"I can really understand that," said Neville. "But why say anything at all?"

"I want people to know that I can do it, because I want them to know that there's hope, that they can be optimistic," said Harry. "I think it would be good for morale."

"I think so too," said Pansy. "It's good for my morale."

"It's a good idea," said Hermione seriously. "I was talking to a few of the Gryffindor first years after they got back from the Sorting. I'd say their morale is pretty good. After seeing what you showed them in the Pensieve, I think they think it's just a matter of time before you defeat Voldemort. That's the attitude we want them to have."

"Oh, yeah, I missed the Sorting," said Ginny, who had been left behind as a means of communication: since McGonagall had Harry with her, she wanted Ginny at Hogwarts. "How did it go?"

"Pretty unusual, to say the least," said Ron. "When we got to the point where the magic worked again, the Hat suddenly said, "'-fflepuff!', since it had got cut off in the middle of the word the first time. McGonagall had to tell it what had happened, and then they got on with it."

"As one of the few representatives from Slytherin there," added Pansy, "it was hard not to notice that most of the ones that got Sorted into Gryffindor were, let's say, unusually excited. And, a few that were put into other Houses looked kind of disappointed."

"I don't know, Slytherin seemed a little popular," Ron teased her.

"I felt kind of bad about that," said Harry. "I mean, I don't think Gryffindor is better than any other House, they should be happy wherever they go."

"They will be, they'll realize that wherever they went is pretty good," said Hermione. "But it's understandable; this was a very unusual year. Still, in future years-yes, I know, if you stay-Gryffindor will continue to be pretty popular, just not quite the same as this year, when they all got a chance to spend time with you before they knew which House they were going into. It just won't be like this."

Embarrassed, Harry looked down and thought for a few seconds, then looked up to see his friends' amused faces. Surprised at their silence, he asked, "Is there some reason why you're all not massively teasing me? It just seems like so obvious a chance."

"That's just it, Harry, it's too obvious," said a grinning Ron. "The situation itself teases you. We don't really need to add anything."

"It would just be too much," added Pansy.

Even when they don't tease me, they manage to tease me, thought Harry. "I see. Well, if the situation is done teasing me..." He managed to change the topic, and they talked for another twenty minutes before stopping so they could get on with their other duties.

Harry's next duty was to have an interview with Hugo, who already knew most of what had happened, but wanted Harry's versions for the article. "As long as there are no pictures of me," Harry joked. After they had covered the events of the past twenty-four hours, Hugo put down his notebook. "Can you tell me, Harry, not for publication, how you know it'll work on Voldemort just because it worked on Malfoy?"

"Sorry, Hugo, I can't. I just had to tell Ron the same thing a half hour ago."

"I understand, just thought I'd try. Kingsley wouldn't tell me either. I admit I have a few guesses, but I won't make you listen to them."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Hugo, I appreciate that."

"No problem. Before we finish, I wanted to know if you'd like to do a little... tying up loose ends, so to speak, journalistically." Taking in Harry's blank expression, Hugo smiled. "Sorry, I should be more clear. A few things have happened since you were last interviewed for an article, and I should see if you want to give a reaction to them; of course, you don't have to.

"For example, that Skeeter article about your childhood. You weren't interviewed for that, which was a breach of journalistic ethics, and the Prophet is responsible for that. Skeeter should have offered you a chance to comment, and if you had said no, said in the article that you didn't comment for it. People would have understood the article differently if they'd known you didn't cooperate with it. So, I'll ask you a question, and you can answer it and say basically anything you want. It's your chance to respond if you want, set the record straight."

Harry looked at Hugo suspiciously, only half-kidding. "Did Molly put you up to this?"

Hugo blinked in surprise. "What does Molly have to do with this?"

Feeling a little silly, Harry explained. Chuckling, Hugo said, "It's sweet of her to want to do that, really. I can see why she feels that way. But as for me, I wouldn't encourage her, because I know probably better than most people how hard it was for you with your aunt and uncle. Even the first time I interviewed you, when they came up, your whole mood changed, even though you were trying to be polite and not react. Then the topic went away, and you were back to normal. I've seen that reaction in enough people to know what it represents, and I knew it was pretty bad. So, no, I have no agenda in asking, except journalistic ethics."

Harry nodded, sighed, then made a decision. "All right, go ahead."

Hugo picked up his notebook. "Harry, as you know, there was an article in the Prophet last month about your childhood. My understanding is that you were not interviewed for the article, even though you were quoted in it. You should have been given a chance to be interviewed for the article, and the Prophet apologizes for that. Would you like to say anything to correct the record on that matter?"

"Yes, Hugo. I was unhappy with the article, because it gave an impression that I think wasn't accurate. If somebody read that article and thinks they understand what my childhood was like, well, they really don't. I would really have preferred that the article hadn't been written at all. I understand I'm a public person, and can be written about, but it was done in a way that I think wasn't fair."

"Are the quotes from you in the article accurate?"

"Yes, the quotes are accurate, but they were taken out of context from conversations, private conversations, which the reporter overheard because she was an unregistered Animagus. Again, they give an impression which isn't accurate."

"Much was made in the article of the idea that your aunt and uncle dislike wizards. What was your impression of that?"

"My aunt and uncle are Muggles, and just want to live a normal life, the same as most Muggles do. My mother, my aunt's sister, was killed by Voldemort; that's their main association with the wizarding world. It doesn't seem too surprising to me that they should want to keep their distance from it."

"As you know, that reporter was killed soon thereafter, by an assailant using Polyjuice Potion to take your form. Do you think that was an attempt to discredit you?"

"I imagine partly, and partly as a ruse to get her to open her door, which she probably wouldn't have done if it had been a Death Eater standing there. But, yes, I assume that Death Eaters thought it was a good idea to do that. I was unhappy that they took my form, but of course what was much worse was her death, and that of everyone the Death Eaters kill. They have to be stopped, and we're all trying very hard to do that."

Hugo put down his notebook. "Thanks, Harry."

Harry chuckled wryly. "I think that last sentence was the only thing in all that that wasn't false or misleading. About my aunt and uncle, what I said was literally true, as I'm sure you know, but gave an impression more misleading than Skeeter's article. Maybe there's a future for me as an unethical journalist."

Hugo laughed. "Better stick to fighting evil, Harry. It was nice of you, though. Your intentions were good."

"That was for Molly, not Petunia," said Harry, a little more vehemently than he meant to.

Hugo raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I can understand that."

"Anyway," Harry went on, "I especially didn't like lying in the sense of giving the impression that Death Eaters killed Skeeter, since as you know, I know now that's not the case. But I knew you'd understand why I had to say that." As he spoke, he saw Hugo's eyes go very wide. "What?" asked Harry, puzzled. "You had to have known that I was lying."

Hugo smiled a little. "Harry, remember, magic is out at Hogwarts. My abilities may be natural, but they're based in magic. They aren't working right now."

Harry's mouth opened in surprise, then he kicked himself mentally for not having thought of it; he was annoyed at himself for having given away a secret he didn't have to, especially one having to do with Snape. He looked at Hugo unhappily. "Could've told me."

Hugo's first reaction was surprise, then his expression changed rapidly several times; Harry had a hard time understanding why. Finally Hugo stared at Harry, clearly annoyed. Now, Harry was surprised. "What?"

Hugo shook his head. "I'm upset at you, which is a kind of a compliment to you, in a way you may not understand." He paused for a few seconds, then continued, as Harry wondered what he had done. "This goes back to the last time I talked to you, in your room at the Burrow. I was telling you about people's reactions to my ability. One of the things I like about you is that normally, my ability doesn't bother you. You may comment or make jokes about it, but you don't care, which is fairly rare. So, I guess I have higher expectations of you.

"I make my ability public; I specifically mention it to people I'm going to interview as a matter of course. This means that practically everyone who knows me knows I have this ability. I could have hidden it, not told people, like most Legilimens do, but I just thought telling people was the right thing to do. I still think that; as a journalist, not telling people I can see through them isn't that different from Skeeter listening in on people as a beetle. I don't regret doing it. But as I said last time, it's hard for me personally, both romantically and in a day-to-day way. I don't mean to complain, and usually I don't. But what you said just really hit me the wrong way. My thought was, it's bad enough that I have to go around telling people I have this ability, and now he's saying I should have to tell them when I don't have it? It just seems like that would be a burden on top of a burden. I wasn't trying to deceive you, I just didn't happen to mention it. But even if I deliberately neglected to mention it, I can't imagine that there would be anything wrong with that."

Upset with himself, Harry shook his head. "Obviously, there wouldn't be. I just... felt stupid, I suppose, telling you something I didn't need to. Then it was more stupid to blame you. Anyway, I'm sorry." He chuckled ruefully. "This is exactly what Hermione means when she says I don't think very well sometimes. It just never occurred to me how it might look to you, even though you told me what you did at the Burrow."

Hugo shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Almost no seventeen-year-old would've picked up on it, and many adults wouldn't. And even without my abilities, I get the sense that the question of who killed Skeeter isn't an easy one for you, so you must not have been happy to have to lie about it in your answer. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but... does Hermione know who killed Skeeter?"

Harry got the feeling that Hugo was concerned about Hermione. "Yes, but it didn't matter so much by that time. What she went through had more to do with herself, as I'm sure you know."

"Yes, I do. I asked because... you recall that I was there for a few minutes that night, when Skeeter was killed. Most of you were just stunned, surprised, and feeling bad that some little part of you was happy about it, but Hermione... she was in such emotional pain, I felt awful for her. It wasn't in her face, but she was just in turmoil. She seemed okay today, though. Did she get through it all right?"

Harry nodded, pleased that Hugo was so concerned. "Yes, she did, but it wasn't easy. Both she and Neville had really difficult summers, emotionally, but they helped each other, and got through it okay. I think they're both better people for it... but it's a hard way to become a better person."

"You would know about that, wouldn't you," Hugo reminded him. "Well, I should go, there are a few first years I haven't talked to. I'm still not sure I know what they think of you yet."

Harry smiled, knowing that this was Hugo's way of letting him know that everything was okay. "According to Ron, the situation itself teases me, so you don't have to."

"I suppose it does," agreed Hugo. "See you later."

* * * * *

That evening, and the entire next day, passed uneventfully. Harry went back to sleeping in his dormitory, and there were no attacks. There were no classes on Tuesday; McGonagall wanted to resume them, but some students had crisis-related duties, such as watching the video monitors or helping transport the food that came in from the outside three times a day. The loss of magic would also be a problem. Some classes, such as History of Magic and Muggle Studies, required no use of magic, while others, such Charms and Transfigurations, were almost not worth holding without it. McGonagall decided Tuesday evening to hold classes on Wednesday, but they would not be formal classes, but rather opportunities for students to ask general questions about the topic, and for teachers to say anything they wanted which wasn't a part of the normal curriculum. Even for classes like History of Magic, she felt, having normal classes wouldn't be fair to those students who were occupied elsewhere.

The phoenixes continued eating, and Ingersoll and his men kept the distance from them that Harry asked them to. To Sprout's surprise and pleasure, shortly after Monday's meeting, the phoenixes stopped eating the lutas near the greenhouse. When asked about it by McGonagall, Harry swore he hadn't talked about it to Fawkes, but reminded her that Fawkes got impressions and images from him as well. Fawkes had no doubt understood what Sprout wanted, and Harry knew he was pleased that some plants would remain. Sprout assured McGonagall that what remained would be nowhere near close enough to interfere with Hogwarts' magic again.

Soon after Harry went to sleep Tuesday night, at least by his reckoning, he was in the phoenix place. "Hi, Albus," he said happily. "I haven't seen you for a few days."

"Yes, you have needed your sleep," said Dumbledore, as they sat down on the grass. "Yet again, it has been a trying few days."

"It sure has," agreed Harry. "But at least one thing happened that wouldn't have without all this, that new spell, I don't know what to call it. Maybe it should be called the Imperius Charm, since it isn't a curse."

"Since you invented it, if you called it that, I'm sure others would as well," said Dumbledore humorously.

"You must be happy that you don't have to do that thing with Voldemort anymore," said Harry.

"I am pleased that you are now able to do it as well, but I may still be called upon to do it myself," pointed out Dumbledore. "There could be circumstances requiring it. What pleases me most is that you can do it without suffering as I do."

"That's why I hope you don't have to do it again," said Harry. "I was-"

"Up, up," said a voice gruffly, and Harry felt himself being yanked from his bed, as the image of the phoenix place disappeared, replaced by one of rapid movement as he found himself standing near his bed, off-balance and confused. He looked around and saw one of the Muggle soldiers holding him by the wrist, and two others with pistols pointed at Dean, Seamus, Ron, and Neville, who were all in their pajamas, as was Harry. Dean and Seamus were frightened, Ron looked angry, and Neville appeared to be thinking.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry indignantly, as the soldier patted him down, obviously looking for his wand, which was under his pillow. "What's going on?"

"C'mon, out," said the soldier. "We're taking you out to the pitch. No talking, let's go."

What in the world is going on? thought Harry. Why are they taking us there? Why are they doing anything at all? Could they be under the Imperius Curse? No, of course not, no magic is working. Then, what? He couldn't imagine what would cause Ingersoll and his men to do this, they had orders from their Prime Minister.

As they were led out of their dormitory, Harry found himself thinking less about what had happened and more about how to get away. He didn't have his wand, but there was Fawkes. But if he suddenly appeared, the soldiers might start shooting, either he or Fawkes, and he couldn't risk that.

They were led out the portrait hole. One of the three soldiers went first, followed by the five Gryffindors, then the other two soldiers. Harry and Ron were the first two out, and they looked at each other as they waited for the others to come out. Harry mouthed the word 'Fawkes' and glanced upwards; Ron gave him a tiny nod. They walked down the corridor, again with one soldier at the front, two at the rear. Harry communicated to Fawkes that he should appear just after Ron turned the corner, the idea being that the soldiers at the rear wouldn't see, and the one in front wouldn't turn around until it was too late.

The soldier turned the corner, then Harry, then Ron. Right on cue, Fawkes appeared above Harry and Ron. They reached up for the tail, and Fawkes took flight. As the lead soldier turned, Fawkes disappeared.

They were back in their dormitory. Harry and Ron ran to their beds, scrambling for their wands. Ron grabbed his, breathing a sigh of relief. "I feel naked without this thing, hadn't realized it until now. What do you think is going on?"

"I have no idea, but I know how to find out. We're going back, behind the soldiers at the back. Repulsion Charms on."

Ron grunted. "If you'd said 'Repulsion Charms off,' I'd have said, 'up yours, mate.' Damn right, they're on."

Harry nodded. "Just making sure." He didn't like the idea, but he knew that soldiers shouldn't be shooting at people they knew didn't pose a threat to them. Of course, he thought, they shouldn't be rounding people up in the middle of the night either. "Ready?" They grabbed Fawkes's tail, and were again in the corridor they'd turned off from a minute ago. Harry felt his hand tingle, but didn't have time to answer it. It continued to tingle, then she spoke. "Harry! Are you okay?" He looked at his hand as they ran and whispered, "I got away, can't talk now." As they neared the corner, she spoke again. "Thank goodness, Harry. They have us all out at-"

He held up his hand again. "Ginny, please stop talking. I have to concentrate." The last look on her face that he saw before he put his hand down appeared hurt, but he couldn't think about that at the moment.

They turned the corner, and saw the group fifteen feet ahead, soon to turn onto another corridor leading to a main corridor where there might be more people, which Harry didn't want; he wanted to be sure these three soldiers talked to no one else, though he knew they might have radioed ahead about his and Ron's escape. Harry and Ron ran ahead, trying to be as quiet as possible, which made it fortunate that they were in their stocking feet. Harry got to within ten feet of the rear soldiers, and used his new Imperius Charm. The soldiers stopped walking, and stared at the ceiling. The lead soldier was about to turn the corner; Harry ran past the rear soldiers and pointed his wand at the lead one. The soldier stopped walking and turned around, facing an astonished Dean and Seamus. Neville smiled at Ron and Harry. "I knew you'd be back, just didn't think it'd be quite that soon."

Harry nodded at Neville, then turned his attention to the lead soldier. Using his spell again, he asked, "What's going on? Why are we being rounded up?"

"I don't know, sir," responded the soldier. "Captain Ingersoll's orders. We're to round up all the castle's inhabitants and take them out to the pitch. We don't know any more than that."

"How many more of you will be there?"

"All fifty-four, sir."

"Including the anti-aircraft operators?"

"Yes, sir."

Damn, thought Harry, this means there'll probably be an air attack. "Did you communicate to anyone that Ron and I got away?"

"Yes, sir. Captain Ingersoll said he'd send reinforcements to help search for you."

Harry turned to the two rear soldiers. "You two, point your guns at us. You, call Captain Ingersoll and tell him you recaptured us," he said to the lead soldier, who proceeded to do so. Harry hoped that Ingersoll would call back the reinforcements; he didn't know how many people he could put under the Charm at once. "Okay, you three continue marching us out there. I'll talk to Ingersoll when we get there."

"Yes, sir," said the soldier, and they resumed their previous formation. As they started forward again, Dean said, "Harry, what the-"

"Don't say anything," Neville interrupted him. "Harry's got it under control, they're doing what he says. Just pretend they have us, he's taking care of it."

They continued walking, turning the corner and heading towards the castle entrance. It was still dark, with the first signs of light on the horizon, so Harry figured the time to be roughly five o'clock. He remembered the sky looking the same way at this time almost exactly a year ago, when he had been out flying with Ron and Dumbledore. He kept his wand in his right hand, holding it by one end, up his sleeve so as to be as inconspicuous as possible.

As they exited the castle, Harry noticed that there were no phoenixes, at least none that he could see. He thought of asking Fawkes, but then realized the reason himself: the emotional atmosphere was too negative for the phoenixes to be around, what with three hundred people being held captive near where the phoenixes had been eating.

They approached the Quidditch pitch, and could see that almost all the castle's inhabitants were there; glancing behind him, he saw other soldiers leading out the Slytherin seventh year girls and the Hufflepuff seventh year boys. The rest of the soldiers were at the outer edges of the group of students, many of whom looked frightened and anxious.

McGonagall and the teachers were in a group near Ingersoll, looking angry, except Snape, whose demeanor was calm. The lead soldier walked up to Ingersoll. "Was there any trouble recapturing them?" asked Ingersoll.

"No, sir, no problems," replied the soldier. Harry moved his wand as far down into his hand as he could without it being seen, and with a small movement, pointed it at Ingersoll. He mentally instructed Ingersoll to defuse the situation to the extent possible, imbuing him with the certainty that he had been given false orders, and that his primary duty was to keep the Hogwarts inhabitants safe. Harry knew he couldn't have Ingersoll do anything obvious, such as order his men to drop their weapons; it had to be something that Ingersoll might plausibly do.

Ingersoll had each of the four other squad leaders report to him, then ordered them to take their squads and resume their former positions in Hogsmeade, including the anti-aircraft units. They did so, clearly assuming that Ingersoll and his nine men could handle three hundred unarmed civilians. Ingersoll then ordered his men to a spot near him. From ten feet away, Harry started applying his Imperius Charm to all of them, then took a surprised McGonagall by the arm and walked up to Ingersoll.

"Everyone's taken care of, Captain," said Harry, seeing Snape and motioning him to come forward. "Why were we rounded up?"

"I received new orders from the Defense Minister himself, sir," replied Ingersoll. "We were to round up the castle residents, and take them out here. I was to call for further orders after that was completed."

"This Defense Minister was under the Imperius Curse, no doubt," put in Snape. "Professor, Headmistress, there will be an air attack any time now."

"I know," replied Harry. To Ingersoll, he asked, "How soon will your anti-aircraft people be ready to use them?"

"Another five minutes at least, sir, to reach them and get them ready," said Ingersoll. "I'll contact them, tell them it's imperative to get set up as soon as possible."

As Ingersoll did so, Harry exchanged glances with McGonagall and Snape, both of whom seemed to have worked out what Harry had done with Ingersoll. Harry saw Ginny, Hermione, and Pansy edge their way to the front. "Well, we'd just better hope that nothing happens in the next five minutes," said Harry. Just then, he heard shouts from a few students, and saw a few pointing to the sky. In the darkness, he could barely see the lights of an airplane. "Damn," he said, then to the others, "I'll be right back," as Fawkes appeared. Fawkes took off, and the next thing Harry knew, they were in the air, inside the plane.

It was a small plane, with some boxes where there would normally be passengers; Harry immediately assumed that there were explosives in the boxes. He moved toward the cockpit, where the pilot was picking up a gun. He waved his wand, and the man put down the gun, turned, and looked at Harry. "Are these boxes yours?" asked Harry.

"No, they were put on the plane by the people who sent me out," replied the pilot.

Harry immediately Vanished the boxes. "You should land at the nearest possible place," said Harry.

"I will," agreed the pilot. Harry nodded, grabbed Fawkes, and was back at the Quidditch pitch. Fawkes set him down.

"Professor," said Snape, and pointed at a different section of the sky. Harry saw more lights, closer this time. Harry grabbed Fawkes's tail again, and again they were inside a small plane.

This time, however, they were too late. The pilot lay slumped over in his chair; Harry could smell something he had never smelled before, but knew it had to be from a very recently fired gun. He quickly turned and Vanished four boxes, then was back on the ground.

"The pilot is dead," reported Harry to Snape, McGonagall, and Ingersoll. He realized he need not report that the plane was descending sharply towards them, as that was obvious. To Ingersoll, he asked, "Can you fly a plane?"

"Some kinds, but there's no time," said Ingersoll urgently. "That thing's less than thirty seconds away."

Students were starting to run, but Harry knew there was no point to it, as there was no telling exactly where the plane would hit. "Grab onto me," Harry instructed Ingersoll, who did. Harry put an arm around Ingersoll, grabbed Fawkes's tail, and they were on the airplane.

Harry pointed his wand at the cockpit, and the dead pilot flew out of the seat; Harry placed him on the floor behind them as Ingersoll quickly sat in the pilot's seat. The ground was getting closer and closer as Ingersoll struggled with the controls. Looking out the front window, Harry saw that the plane was headed right for the people on the ground, many of whom were now trying to run away from the pitch. Harry put a hand on Ingersoll's shoulder, ready to Disapparate them out at the last second before the plane crashed. He couldn't use Fawkes to get them out because Ingersoll was sitting, in no easy position to be carried, but Harry also knew he couldn't Apparate from there directly to the ground.

When they were so close to the ground that Harry was sure they were going to fail, Ingersoll shouted, "Got it!" The plane slowed its descent and started to level out. Harry saw that it would miss the ground, but plow into the Quidditch stands, and knew they couldn't be around for that. Harry grabbed Ingersoll firmly by the collar, and at the last second before the plane hit the Quidditch stands, Disapparated.

They were in the air, free-falling. Harry had decided to Apparate two thousand feet off the ground; he wasn't sure how fast they would hit the ground, and wanted to leave plenty of leeway. Fawkes materialized beside him and started falling. Harry grabbed Fawkes's tail, and Fawkes slowly started to fly, gradually decelerating so Harry could get used to Ingersoll's weight. When Harry was carrying almost all of Ingersoll's weight, Fawkes disappeared, and appeared three feet off the ground, on the Quidditch pitch. Harry set Ingersoll down, then Fawkes glided down further, so Harry could release him and land.

McGonagall stepped up to them. "Professor Potter, Captain Ingersoll... well done."

Thirty minutes later, there was a meeting in the staff room, attended by McGonagall, Bright, Snape, Kingsley, Harry, and Ingersoll. Bright had been roused out of bed by Aurors, and on his arrival at Hogwarts, privately given details by McGonagall about what had happened. Harry had kept Ingersoll under the Imperius Charm since the plane crashed, having him communicate to his group leaders that the orders he had received were not valid, and to resume their previous activities.

McGonagall spoke first. "Professor Potter, if you would now lift your spell..."

Harry did so, and Ingersoll blinked, then looked around, finally settling on Harry. "You did that to me?" he asked in astonishment.

Harry nodded. "I didn't have much choice. If I hadn't, we'd all be dead... including you, by the way. I'd bet the explosives on those planes would have taken out more than the entire pitch. Voldemort really doesn't care who he kills."

Ingersoll stared at Harry, then looked at the others again. "Have you confirmed that the Defense Minister's orders were coerced?"

Kingsley looked at Ingersoll gravely. "The Defense Minister is dead. I Apparated to his office to talk to him, I found the body. It appears clear that a Death Eater got to the Minister, put him under the Imperius Curse to issue the desired orders, and killed him when he had no more use."

Ingersoll looked stunned. "I guess we can safely assume that the orders weren't valid. But what do we do, then? Have them give me orders and tell me that no further orders I get are valid unless they are given in person? And how would I know that whoever did that wasn't under the same spell that he put me under?"

Bright spoke. "You can believe this or not, Captain, and I would understand if you didn't, but law-abiding members of the magical community use such spells only when their use is absolutely necessary. Nobody who gave you orders would be under duress from us. But it appears safe to say that we made a mistake in asking you to assist us, as we involved you in situations you could not be prepared for. We are so used to the forces of Dark magic leaving the non-magical community alone that we failed to consider the steps they might take once we ourselves involved you. In any case, this does not concern you personally, but I will be speaking to the Prime Minister as soon as possible and, for your safety more than ours, requesting that you and your officers be removed. No insult to you is intended; you have performed your jobs admirably, and you personally saved many lives, with Professor Potter's assistance."

Ingersoll shook his head. "After I endangered them. Yes, I had orders I had reason to think were valid, but I did think they were strange, and I should have tried to get confirmation. It's just that in the military we don't think to question orders unless they're obviously immoral or illegal, and this was borderline. You are all magical, so it's not inconceivable that you could be a threat. Anyway, you could be right, we may be in over our heads here. After what just happened, what almost happened, it would be hard to argue with you. All I can tell you for now is that I'll just flat-out disobey any orders I get that seem hostile to you people."

"Thank you, Captain," said Bright. "We know that's not an easy thing for a member of the armed forces to say. Well, if you would excuse us, there are magic-related matters the five of us need to discuss. You may want to make whatever preparations are necessary for your departure. You do not yet have orders, of course, but I suspect you will be getting them at some point today. I do not want to endanger you, or anyone in your chain of command, who may be vulnerable to another such attack."

"I understand," said Ingersoll. "I'll tell my men to get ready. I'll be at my usual post if you need me in the meantime." Nodding to them, he stood and left.

After he was gone for a few seconds, Bright spoke again. "I assume everyone agrees that it's better if they leave?"

"They have to leave, even if it wasn't a safety issue," said Harry. "Fawkes has let me know that after what just happened, the phoenixes won't come back here until the Muggles are gone. Not that they think the Muggles are evil, exactly, but that they can be made to do bad or dangerous things. Fawkes is sure that once they're gone, the phoenixes will come back."

"I can't blame them," remarked Kingsley.

"Indeed," agreed Bright. "Well, that would appear to settle that matter. I will put in an urgent call to the Prime Minister as soon as we are done here. Now, Harry, do you think that you and your friends will be able to handle the defense of the castle by yourselves?"

"Don't really have much choice, do we?" pointed out Harry. "But yeah, we can do it. The electronic equipment the Muggles gave us will be a big help."

"Yes, it will," said McGonagall. "It should reduce the burden on you six by quite a bit. I will have to think about it, but I may not have you do Hogsmeade patrols at all. Hogsmeade residents have indicated a willingness to do patrols of their own; they accepted having the Muggles here, but did not particularly like it. After what just happened, they would probably demand their removal as well. I can give them a few of our cell phones, and they can call if they see anything suspicious." With distaste, she added, "I would be happy to let them have mine."

"What will we do about air defense?" asked Harry.

McGonagall looked at Kingsley. "I think we can get patrols going," Kingsley suggested. "We would need to find out just how high in the air the magic-prevention effect goes, but once we know that, we can put people up there on brooms, even at altitudes like a few thousand feet. They would patrol around the area, keep an eye out for planes or anything suspicious. It could be six people at a time, one Auror and five Ministry volunteers. If they see anything, they'd contact me, then I'd contact Harry on the cell phone."

"That sounds excellent, Kingsley, thank you," said McGonagall. "If you can get started on those arrangements soon, perhaps they will be ready by the time the Muggles leave." As McGonagall was speaking, Harry felt his hand tingle, then Ginny's voice, saying, "I know you're busy, but if you could come to your office when you're done, I'll be waiting for you there." He wanted to respond and say he would, but he knew he couldn't.

"I'll head back and get started on it right away," said Kingsley. "One thing before I leave... we, by which I mean the Aurors, are going to monitor all incoming communication to Captain Ingersoll." Harry raised his eyebrows; he didn't know they could do that. I guess there's still a lot of things that can be done by magic that I don't know about, he thought. "I believe him when he says he'll refuse orders that are hostile to you, but he could be ordered to do something that he doesn't realize is hostile. It's better to be safe." Kingsley stood and left. Harry wondered for a second how Kingsley was going to get back to the Aurors' facility, then he remembered that one of his friends could escort Kingsley.

"I should be going as well," said Bright. "It is late enough that I should be able to contact the Prime Minister; he may be awake already, having been told of the death of the Defense Minister. I will impress upon him that time is of the essence in removing his troops. Professor Potter, would you escort me to my office?"

"Of course, sir, but I wanted to ask something while you were still here. I wondered... how many people saw me use my new spell-and by the way, I've decided to call it the Imperius Charm-and recognized what it was? Or will they think I used the Imperius Curse? Should we do anything about that?"

"You may have to let it be known publicly," said McGonagall. "Enough people saw, and by now will have told others, that it would be difficult to keep secret. In addition, people will assume that you used the Imperius Curse. While the cause was sufficient for you to have done so, I would rather they knew you had not done that. So, you should feel free to reveal it to anyone who asks; the only thing you should not reveal, of course, and no one will think to ask, is its effect on Death Eaters."

"I guess that makes sense," he agreed. "I mean, I'd rather not have people worried that I'll do this to them, but hopefully they'll understand that it'd only be used in dire situations."

"I think people's regard for you, Harry, is such that they would understand that without having to be told," said Bright reassuringly.

"Thank you, Minister," said Harry. "I'll get you back to the Ministry now, then." He did, and was back very quickly; it was now just he, McGonagall, and Snape. He turned to Snape and said, "Well, you were right about the suicide runs. What else do you think he'll try, at this point?"

Snape thought. "Considering that he has no magical means at his disposal, it is difficult to imagine what he could do now that he has not yet done. If I had to speculate, I would guess that he will now decide that his best efforts have failed in this situation, and work on new ways to eliminate you."

Harry was surprised. "You mean, you think this whole attack was just to get me?"

"Not originally, obviously, since when he had Malfoy spread the seeds he had no idea of the threat that you would come to be. But now, I strongly suspect that he saw this attack primarily as a way to get rid of you. He will be highly frustrated that he has failed yet again."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, Professor, I appreciate your making the effort to lift my spirits like that." Annoyed, Snape gave him a very disapproving look. "Actually, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask. The fact that he keeps failing, and now I can knock him out... is that going to start making him look bad to the Death Eaters? Like he's lost power, or maybe they'll think they shouldn't have joined him?"

"Not that exactly, but yes, I believe it will cost him some standing with them, if only in the sense that they will no longer view him as the greatest power in the magical world," agreed Snape. "No one will say so to his face, of course, nor will they speak of it among themselves. They will prefer not to even think it, because they know he has access to their memories. But it will be there in the background, unmentionable yet unavoidable. It will tend to depress their morale."

Harry talked with them for another ten minutes, then Apparated to his office to find Ginny sitting in his chair. She leaped up, hugged him fiercely, kissed him, then hugged him again, holding on. "Oh, Harry..." She didn't say more, but he knew what she meant.

"It's over," he said, one arm around her shoulders, a hand holding the back of her head.

She shook her head. "It'll never be over. Not until he's gone."

He couldn't deny that. "Well, for now, at least, anyway. Snape thinks he's done all he can. I hope he's right." She finally released him, and they sat.

"I was really scared, when they took us out there," she said, fear from the memory clear in her eyes. "I thought they were going to kill us. A lot of us did. I was so glad when you said you'd got away, I knew we were going to be all right."

He recalled something that he hadn't thought about since it happened. "I'm sorry I had to cut you off, when you were talking to me-"

"No, that was my fault," she said apologetically. "When you said you couldn't talk, I should have understood it meant you couldn't listen either, you had to focus on what you were doing. I just couldn't help it, I was so anxious, and so happy that you'd escaped. I know I need to keep that in mind for the future. But just standing out there, without our wands... I wanted to tell people that you'd escaped, so they'd feel better, but I knew I couldn't take a chance on the soldiers finding out, making it harder for you. It's funny, I got a little feeling of what it's like to be you. Since I'm one of 'the six,' which I think people are starting to call us, a few first and second years came up to me, even more scared than I was, asking if there wasn't something I could do. All I could do was shake my head and say I didn't have my wand, just like them. They just wanted to know that there was some hope. I guess people look to you for that a lot." She smiled, and added, "Including me, I suppose."

"I'll always do my best, for you," he assured her, taking her hand. "Thank goodness for Fawkes, I couldn't have done any of that without him. Funny how I get credit for a lot of stuff he does."

"You get credit because he chose you, and that's really rare," she pointed out.

He nodded, and was silent for a moment. Then he said, "It's interesting... I never worried about the soldiers killing us, because I'm Muggle-born. I know that even if they'd been ordered to kill us, they wouldn't have done it. Voldemort would have made their Defense Minister order Ingersoll to kill us if he could have, but I'm sure that the Minister would have told Voldemort, or whoever did it, that Ingersoll wouldn't follow that order. Not being familiar with how the Muggle military works, wizards wouldn't know that. I can see why you were scared."

"It was like a nightmare, being dragged out of bed like that," she said, shuddering. "I feel like I want to go to sleep with my wand in my hand from now on."

"At least until the magic comes back, and nobody can get into Gryffindor Tower without the password," he agreed. "It must be really hard for everyone but the six of us, who can't do magic. They must feel pretty helpless."

She nodded. "And they need us to protect them, while this goes on. It's hard to get used to that, that people would look at me like that, even if only for a few days. I feel like, 'I'm nothing special, what do you expect me to do?'"

He gave her a slightly teasing smile. "And if people started going on about how great you were, you might get embarrassed, don't you think?"

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop teasing you about it."

"Well, obviously, I would never expect that," he joked. He started to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. "It's me," he heard Hermione say. He opened the door with his wand.

"I'm sorry, I can see why you two would want to be alone," said Hermione sympathetically. "All I wanted to do after this happened was be alone with Neville, have him hold me."

"It's all right, we've done our holding," Harry assured her as he conjured a third chair. "Sit down, I want to tell you something Snape-related while I have you two alone." He proceeded to tell them about the events of Sunday evening that he hadn't told the whole group, including the memory of Snape's he was shown. They gasped when Harry told them about Snape's 'practicing,' and tears came to Hermione's eyes. "Oh, it's so terrible... for all of them..."

Harry nodded. To Ginny, he said, "That's why McGonagall wasn't worried about what you were. She knew I would suffer, because she had, and that as long as I suffered, it wasn't immoral. I was doing it for a greater cause, and so was she, when she did it."

Ginny shook her head. "I could never have imagined something like that... but there's something I'm wondering about, from that memory. You said Snape suggested that test, but it seemed like Voldemort knew about it already. Why didn't Voldemort just demand that Snape take the test, instead of waiting for Snape to suggest it?"

"Part of Voldemort's standard cruelty, I suppose. This comes across when you see it, but not when I tell you about it... Voldemort knew how horrible it would be for Snape, of course, and Voldemort got off on making Snape be the one to suggest it. You could see it in his face, in his smile. He was enjoying the anticipation, the fear he knew Snape would have at the idea. He would have preferred that Snape begged him not to do it; I got the impression that he was a little disappointed at how brave Snape was being. He likes to see people in fear, squirming."

They were all silent, overwhelmed by the idea that someone could enjoy such a thing. Then Hermione asked, "Speaking of fear and squirming, that reminds me of something I've wondered about since I found out about the Cleansing. You said that Death Eaters always have the Cleansing done. But Pettigrew obviously hadn't had it done, had he? He didn't act like it, at least, when we saw him."

"I don't know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure he hadn't," said Harry. "Not at that point, anyway. At the time he betrayed my parents, Pettigrew couldn't have had it done, because he was Voldemort's spy, and the Cleansing would have caused such a change in his behavior that it would have been noticed. So, at the time Voldemort came back, it still hadn't been done. As for now, I have no idea, but I'd guess Voldemort had done it to him. There'd be no reason not to, for Voldemort, and he always would have to worry about Pettigrew betraying him, feeling guilty for having helped kill my parents. Pettigrew doesn't exactly have the personality of a killer; the main thing we saw of him was fear. He could still have fear after the Cleansing."

"Snape doesn't seem to have much, if any, fear," suggested Ginny. "I mean, look at what he did."

"It was extremely brave," agreed Harry. "But he has fear, he just doesn't show it. I could feel it in the memory, and in one of the other memories he showed me before. But what he really fears... and he's never told me this exactly, I'm not sure how I know, but I know... he truly fears the idea of carrying on like he does without a purpose. Like, if he got exposed, and couldn't be a spy anymore. What would he do? Carry this huge burden, for no good reason? Now, he has a motivation to do what he does, a very important and valuable purpose. For that, he can endure what he endures, which is really hard even with my help. But could he do it if the purpose was just to stay alive, or be a viable member of the Hogwarts staff, or society in general? That would be really hard."

"But what's he going to do after Voldemort is defeated?" asked Ginny. Harry noted that she said it as though it were a certainty, an accidental or deliberate statement of her faith in him.

"I don't think he knows, and I don't think he cares. I think if I asked him that question, he'd say, 'I will think about that after the Dark Lord is defeated.'"

"You know what the really sad thing is," said Hermione. "When Voldemort is defeated, we'll be happy, celebrating, helping Harry avoid being made Minister of Magic." She smiled, as did Ginny. "Sorry, couldn't resist slipping that in. But anyway, he won't even be able to be happy, or relieved. He's done so much, suffered so much, to see that happen, but all he'll get is a sense of satisfaction, maybe Schadenfreude at Voldemort's expense."

Harry nodded somberly. "I think that'll be enough for him. I do wish there was some way to undo what was done to him. I just don't think there is."

After a pause, Hermione spoke, looking at Harry. "Anyway, the reason I came here was to suggest that you go be with people. Maybe go to the Great Hall. A lot of people are hanging around there, waiting for breakfast, not wanting to go outside where the soldiers are. You could talk to them, explain what happened."

"McGonagall said she was going to do that, she's probably doing it right now," said Harry. "But yes, I suppose people will want to ask me questions. Okay, let's go." He got another hug and kiss from Ginny before they left.

They arrived at the Great Hall in time to hear the end of McGonagall's speech, which was heard by most students. After McGonagall finished, Harry was surrounded and asked questions. He found that there was a lot of resentment against the Muggle troops, even though the students understood that Ingersoll had thought he was following legitimate orders. "There's something about getting pulled out of bed at five a.m. and having a gun pointed at you that makes it hard to be understanding of it," said a Hufflepuff fifth year prefect.

"Of course, Beth, I know what you mean," agreed Harry. "But you have to keep in mind that he did save all our lives. Fawkes and I got him up there, but he was able to get enough control of the plane at the last second that it didn't kill a couple hundred people on the ground."

"But, Harry, that was-oops, sorry, Professor," she interrupted herself as most of the hundred or so people in hearing range chuckled.

"We're not in class, 'Harry' is fine," he assured her.

"Well, anyway, that was only because you'd put him under that new spell of yours," she protested. "He probably wouldn't have done it if you hadn't." This prompted several people to talk at once, offering opinions to anyone nearby.

"I think he would've, but I agree we can't know for sure," said Harry. "I am sure that if he hadn't been given false orders from his superiors, he definitely would have. Muggle military people are trained to do things like that."

Harry heard some doubtful-sounding noises. "How is it that it just so happens he can fly a plane, anyway?" asked Terry Boot. "I thought he wasn't in the Muggle air forces."

"They're Special Forces," explained Colin Creevey. "They're like the elite Muggle military forces, they get sent on all kinds of unusual and dangerous missions. They get trained in everything."

"That's true," agreed Justin, "but why were they sent anyway? Why not ordinary Army troops? All they had to do was fight mercenaries, who couldn't have been very well trained."

"Well, the Prime Minister seemed pretty keen to cooperate," related Harry. "He was strict with Ingersoll about ordering him and his men to keep away from the phoenixes. I guess he wanted to send the best they had. And it was a good thing they did, because most Army officers wouldn't have known how to fly a plane, I'd guess."

"Oh, something I was wondering about, Harry," said Ron. "Sorry, I mean, Professor," he added, getting a big laugh.

"You call me 'Professor' in class, and you'll get detention," retorted Harry, to further laughter, including Ron's.

"Anyway," said Ron, "when you had those soldiers under that spell, they kept calling you 'sir.' Why?"

Harry chuckled, embarrassed. "That was something I did on the spur of the moment. I don't know if it was necessary or not, but I decided to have them view me as a superior officer. Since they're military, I thought it might make more sense to them to be following my orders if they thought that."

"But you didn't specifically make them call you 'sir,'" clarified Ron.

"No, of course not, I was a little too busy to think of things like that. It wasn't as though I was controlling them like puppets. I just gave them the impression that it was important to follow my orders, and to ensure the safety of everyone at Hogwarts."

Just then, a phoenix burst into view and flew around the Great Hall. Everyone watched it, including Harry and those nearby. "Is that Fawkes?" asked Ron.

"No," replied Harry, confused. "I'd be getting an impression from him if it was." The phoenix flew for another half a minute, then to Harry's surprise, fluttered down and settled on his shoulder.

The others nearby reacted with great surprise. "Wow, Harry, you've been chosen by another phoenix!" said Ron, who Harry thought wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"You can't be chosen by more than one phoenix," said Hannah, who looked like she was resisting the impulse to walk over to Harry and pet the phoenix. "Harry, you should ask Fawkes what's going on."

Harry did, and reported the answer to the others in less than a minute. "He says she's curious about humans, and just landed on me because she recognizes that I'm a phoenix companion, so I would know how to deal with them, be comfortable with them. Apparently, she's one of the ones who's never bonded with a human before, so staying near me is kind of her way of feeling comfortable."

"That's interesting," remarked Hermione. "I guess it makes sense. After all, a lot of us went out there to watch them when they were eating. They should be able to come in here and watch us if they want to. She's really pretty, even prettier than Fawkes." She glanced at Harry, suddenly concerned. "No offense to Fawkes, I hope he knows."

Harry laughed. "He wouldn't care... I'm getting something from him... he thinks what you said is funny, too. He agrees with you, he thinks female phoenixes are more attractive than male ones. Of course, he would think that."

They talked about phoenixes a little more, then got back to the topic of the morning's events. Even though the students had been told what happened by McGonagall, those around Harry wanted to hear his version of events, so he dutifully told the story as he had seen it. Those nearby who were Muggle-born agreed with Harry's assessment that they had been in no direct danger from the troops, which the others found hard to believe. They discussed that for a while, then the subject changed to Harry's new spell. It was generally agreed that the Imperius Charm was a good name. Harry described how he did it, and Hermione described how it felt, and why she felt that he shouldn't do it unless absolutely necessary. Even so, some people asked him to do it to them, but didn't argue when he demurred.

The female phoenix stayed for less than a half hour, then took flight and disappeared, to the regret of the students. After spending the better part of an hour talking to the other students, Harry went outside to talk to Ingersoll. He found him talking to one of his officers, and waited until he was finished to approach him. "Captain," he greeted him.

"Professor," responded Ingersoll politely. "Soon after I left that meeting, I talked to the Prime Minister briefly. He confirmed that the Defense Minister should have given no such orders, and is now dead. Last I heard, he's now talking to your Minister of Magic, so I expect we'll be getting our orders any time now."

Harry remembered Ingersoll's earlier comment that he had endangered the Hogwarts residents. "You know, what happened wasn't your fault. We should've guessed that might happen, it's not the kind of thing that you could know."

"It's good of you to say that, considering what almost happened," said Ingersoll. "I must say, I have a somewhat greater appreciation of your abilities, after that. And whatever you did to us, it felt awfully good. I heard some of my men joking about it, saying, 'Any chance we can get that kid out here and do it again?'" Harry chuckled as Ingersoll continued, "They were kidding, but I'm sure they wouldn't have minded. I know how they felt."

Harry found himself wishing he could experience the spell himself. "I also wanted to thank you for what you did in the plane. Without that, quite a few people would have died. There was nothing magical that I could do at that point."

"I'm just amazed that I could feel that good, and yet focus when I had to," said Ingersoll. He looked at Harry quizzically, as if having had a sudden thought. "Look, let me ask you... they told us that when we were finished with this assignment, our memories of it would be erased. I doubted it at first, but now I can definitely believe it. That's probably going to happen soon, maybe in the next two hours. So, why are you out here talking to me, telling me stuff I'm not going to remember? Why bother?"

Harry hadn't thought of it that way. "I'll remember. I don't know, it just wouldn't have occurred to me to act like you don't matter just because you're not going to remember this. I'm not sure I can give a better answer than that."

Ingersoll nodded. "I guess I can understand that. In that case, let me ask you another question, the answer to which I won't remember. Why don't you people just take over? Lord knows, you could, it wouldn't be that hard."

Harry grinned ruefully. "It's too bad you didn't ask someone who paid more attention in History of Magic. I have a vague recollection that it has happened before, mostly with wizards being advisers, the power behind kings and queens. All I know for sure is that wizards dread the idea of being known by Muggles, which is why your memories are getting taken away. I think the idea is that once the information got out, it would be very hard to undo, and wizards would get a lot of unwanted attention. People would be jealous of what we can do, and afraid of us. There may be more to it than that, but that's all I know, really."

"Sounds reasonable," said Ingersoll thoughtfully. "Although I am surprised that even one person hasn't tried it before, and got your world exposed that way."

"Me too, come to think of it," agreed Harry. "I'm sure someone has, and they probably just fixed it with Memory Charms. But I'd bet that was before they had television; it would be a lot harder to fix now."

After a pause, Ingersoll said with mild embarrassment, "Okay, another question... for a guy who's about to have his memories wiped, I'm awfully inquisitive, but as long as you're willing to answer... how many times have you been in combat, or whatever is your equivalent of combat?"

Harry thought. "Depends on what you count, but at least a half-dozen times."

Ingersoll nodded. "I thought as much. You have this look, very unusual for someone so young. You get a different outlook when you've looked death in the face, and I can tell that you have, more than once. You're what, seventeen? How did that happen?"

Chuckling, Harry said, "If I tried to tell you the whole story, I wouldn't be finished by the time they gave you the Memory Charm. I'll just try to cover the highlights." He took the next half hour telling Ingersoll about Voldemort and his history with him, though he had to stop a few times as Ingersoll fielded questions from his men.

After Harry finished, Ingersoll shook his head. "Amazing. Only seventeen, but you've really been through the wars. And it sounds like you're not done yet."

"Unfortunately, no," agreed Harry.

"Why doesn't Voldemort do more than he does, though, especially to Muggles? Here I am, using your word... anyway, why would he care about keeping your world secret?"

"I think I know this one. He's afraid that Muggles would help us fight him. Not directly, but they could report sightings, that sort of thing, just make his life harder. He likes to do things behind the scenes, pull strings."

"But, you're saying they-" Ingersoll cut himself off as his cell phone rang. "Ingersoll," he said. As he listened, his eyes went wide.

As Harry wondered what was wrong, his own cell phone rang. "Yes?"

"Harry, Kingsley. Ingersoll just got a call from a Death Eater, they're telling him to shoot you or one of the others, or they'll find him and kill him once the Memory Charm's been done to him. You have to find him--"

"I'm right here with him," said Harry, keeping his voice down so he couldn't be heard over Ingersoll's phone.

"Good. Put him under the Imperius Charm, make sure he stays on the line. We're tracing the call now." With magic, not technology, Harry assumed.

Ingersoll was saying little to the caller, looking serious but not panicked. Harry decided not to put Ingersoll under the Charm until there was a compelling reason; instead, he waved his wand, and the words 'keep him talking' appeared in the air. Ingersoll raised his eyebrows at the method of communication, but nodded his agreement.

"Okay, we have it," said Kingsley. "Sending a team out."

Harry watched Ingersoll finish asking the caller a question, then listen. About five seconds later, Ingersoll closed the phone. "He stopped talking rather abruptly, so I assume they got him. You were monitoring my calls?"

"The Aurors were; I didn't know they could do that," said Harry.

Ingersoll nodded. "A reasonable precaution, given the situation. I assume you know that there was no way--"

"I know," Harry interrupted Ingersoll. "Kingsley told me to do that spell I did on you before, but I could tell it wasn't necessary. I think he knew that you wouldn't, but he just wanted me to be careful. Being Muggle-raised, I knew there wasn't any chance you would do what they asked you to do."

"I'm surprised the one who called didn't know," commented Ingersoll. "What did he think, I was just going to walk up and shoot you or the others?"

"They have a different attitude about killing, as you may have worked out from what I told you," Harry explained. "They assume you would kill to save yourself, because they would."

"So, can they do what they threatened?" asked Ingersoll; Harry felt that Ingersoll wasn't overly worried, but was taking the threat seriously.

"Not if we give you protection, no," said Harry. "The Aurors will give you magic-detection jewelry, like my cousin Dudley has. If anyone magical gets anywhere near you, Aurors will be there before anything can happen. The people that threatened you know that, but they knew you wouldn't."

"They must be desperate, to try something like that," said Ingersoll.

"They must have thought, why not, one last try before you left," said Harry. "They would have thought it wouldn't hurt to try; I'm sure they had no idea we could track them."

Ingersoll's phone rang again; he answered it, spoke briefly, and put the phone away. "We just got our orders; we're to get out as quickly as possible." Ingersoll extended a hand. "I hope things go well for you, Professor."

"Thank you," said Harry, as he shook Ingersoll's hand.

Ingersoll took a look around. "This would be such a good story to tell my grandchildren someday," he said, a little wistfully.

"Tell you what, I'll tell my grandchildren," said Harry. "And I'll speak well of you."

Ingersoll smiled his thanks, turned, and headed off to talk to his men. As Harry walked back to the castle, he couldn't help wondering whether he would live long enough to have grandchildren, or children.