After everyone left, Harry and Hermione kept an eye on the tracker, but Taylorson didn't move again before ten in the evening. At that time Harry told Hermione to get some sleep while he took the first shift. They decided to each take four hour shifts watching the tracker in case their subject ended up being a night owl who decided to move on them. Then around 11:20 Harry noticed that the tracker disappeared completely and decided he needed to check with Hermione as he gave her a gentle mental nudge.
Hermione my love…
Mmmhmmm…
Hermiiiooonnne…
I'm here, what time is it? My turn?
It's only 11:20, but the tracker isn't showing anything.
Hmm, let me look.
Hermione got up and checked. After resetting the device and watching for a couple of minutes, she concluded that the device had finally overloaded or the battery had gone dead. Anyway, it appeared that they wouldn't get any more data on Taylorson and Harry sent Hedwig off with an urgent message to Kingsley. Then he and Hermione both went to sleep.
Monday morning dawned quietly, but Harry and Hermione were both busy calculating everything they had to get done for the day. They were up early in the morning and down at breakfast to talk to Neil and Jean. Once breakfast was over, the two couples departed for their separate destinations. The Grangers to their practice, Hermione to Grimmauld, and Harry to the manor.
When Hermione arrived at Grimmauld, it was unplanned, but the floo alarm chimed to announce her. Sirius was barely awake, but Remus was in the kitchen with his tea, reading the Prophet and came in to see who was calling.
"Hermione, good morning. What's happened since last night?"
"Nothing, except that we've been thinking on a lot of things. I'm glad you're here too. Is Sirius awake?"
"Grr..I'm uh..awake…um yeah…"
Hermione smirked as she turned to look at the tousled Lord Black in house robe and slippers.
"Very good. It's past eight you know. Those mirrors you made in school. We need more. As many as you can make in the next few days, but we need them a third smaller. And we'd like to use them as you make them. Impervious and unbreakable charms on them as well as long as it doesn't interfere with communications. Also, if you can make a broadcast feature that will allow an open communication to all recipients that would be very helpful. We start training at the manor tomorrow and ideally we'd like to train with them. Having battlefield communications will make a big difference. Harry will pay you back for any costs.
"Whatever. You do know it took us fourteen months to develop those."
"So you have your notes and know what you did. It should be easier now. Harry also said if you need me to help that it may speed things up. He is giving this top priority."
Remus smirked.
"I see. So he heard that we needed Lily for the final development of the mirrors before so he figures we need another bright witch to do it again. I appreciate the vote of confidence. We'll see if we need the help. Padfoot, you go get a shower. I already had one. I'll get dressed and go shopping. By the time I'm back, hopefully you'll have found all your brain cells and we can get to work. Hermione, I assume you and Harry will be at the manor?"
"Yes, Harry and I will be working on a mockup of the battle site. We've got plenty of open land to do it and all the pictures and reconnaissance data. By tomorrow hopefully we can start running drills."
"Excellent. Well, we've got our marching orders. We'll talk to you later."
Sirius growled something, but left and headed back upstairs as Hermione floo'd away to join Harry back at the manor.
While Hermione was making her trip to Grimmauld, Harry arrived at the manor and immediately called for all the elves. All eight lined up in front of him, but a few looked a bit uneasy since he was a bit agitated.
"Hi everyone, calm down. No one is in trouble. I need your help with a big project. You all have been doing a great job with the manor. I know there is a lot of work around here, but I have been very happy with how quick of a turnaround the place has been seeing. For the next week or so we need to take a bit of a break for a special project though. I'm preparing for a battle, but since I know where the battle will be I need to simulate the exact battle site. I want to use some of the farmland on the edge of the forest. The battle site will also have some rivers, so I want to go north of here where I have one river. Or, well large creek really. We also need to move some boulders and trees around and make it look like it does at the site. I need to do this today because I will have allies coming tomorrow so we can start practicing fighting. That also means that there will be at least twenty people to feed here tomorrow. If there's going to be more, I'll let you know. I have pictures and charts, but I need a table to lay it all out…"
Dobby immediately popped away and returned a minute later. Two other elves helped and soon the grand entrance hall had a series of large tables. The elves watched intently as Harry began to lay out all of the pictures and notes he had. He really could use the magical pictures. He needed to talk to Tonks. He looked around and saw the elves were hovering around, their big eyes taking it all in. He could see they were already planning. He was about halfway through the layout when Hermione arrived.
"Hi Harry. I just got done setting Remus and Sirius on their task. Sirius was barely awake. I see you are busy."
"Yes, but I need to get the magical pictures from Tonks. I'm also curious to find out from Kingsley if anything came from the tracking locations."
"Hmm, alright. Why don't I go to the DMLE while you finish the layout here? Whenever you show up at the Ministry, it raises eyebrows."
Harry sighed and nodded. That was too true. Hermione turned and left to floo to the Ministry while he continued on his task. Jean had taken a copious amount of picture angles.
When Hermione arrived at the Ministry, she warranted barely a glance as she disappeared in the early morning crowds at the Ministry and made her way to the DMLE. Once there, she found Tonks easily and their friend was happy to see her.
"Wotcher Hermione! Long time no see."
"I came instead of Harry. Less fuss. He was wondering if you got your pictures developed."
"Sure thing. I made a couple of copies. Here's one set for you. I have questions, but let's see if Shack has a quick minute."
Tonks led Hermione through the maze of cubicles to Kingsley's office in the back corner of the department. Thankfully he answered their knock and seemed relieved when he saw who it was, gesturing them in immediately. As soon as the door closed, he sealed it with an elaborate rune cluster over the door.
"I'm glad you came by this morning Hermione. Saves me a trip. And thanks for the early morning alert on the tracker. We raided two locations identified by surveillance located near the two tracker locations, which got us close. Both were Death Eater hideouts. At the second we took Taylorson back. He was still in bed and not at all happy to have been duped. We arrested sixteen between the two locations, only five were marked though. The others were all low level scum though. We did seize plenty of stolen goods and illegal potions and such. So, while getting the letter to Voldemort was the main aim, we still got the messenger back and got a bit of other junk off the streets as well. I'd be all for using your muggle trackers in the future if we can make them a bit more robust. Anyway, something to look at in the future. So, what are your plans?"
"Well, I'm glad to hear that Taylorson isn't on the streets anymore. And getting a few others as well is also good news. Harry is at the manor today to prepare for training starting tomorrow. We've got the land to build a mockup of the site and he is going to get the elves working on that. I came by to get a copy of Tonks' pictures to go with the non-magical pictures that my mum took. We're going to try to duplicate the area as close as possible. All the junior allies are coming for lunch tomorrow and then we start training. The adults that have to work will come later. Also, I visited Grimmauld and Remus and Sirius are working on building communication mirrors for the field."
"Well, it sounds like you've been busy and it's not even nine in the morning. Of course, Harry did set a tight timeline. I'm picking elite squads of Aurors for this, but I don't want word leaking. I may need to sequester them somewhere and then put out word that they're on an out of country assignment. We need to keep this as quiet as possible."
"Well, the manor has room. We can bunk them there. The elves would love to have visitors. When would you want to bring them in?"
"Hmm, there's an idea. Let me think on that. Oh, one other thing, I had a package waiting this morning from my muggle resources. The satellite images from the site came through. Truly amazing to think these pictures were taken from space. There are multiple copies, so here's one for you. It should help Harry with what he's working on today."
Kingsley handed over an envelope and then his alarm buzzed and he growled, realizing he had an appointment. Hermione and Tonks excused themselves and Hermione made her way back to the Atrium to floo back to the manor.
Once she was back at the manor, Hermione added the magical pictures and satellite images to the nearly completed map layout of the duel site that Harry had been working on. In another half hour it was complete and they were ready to begin with the mockup. All the elves were practically bouncing with excitement to begin the project as Harry turned back to look at them.
"Alright, I know the area that I think is the closest match to the site already. We're going to fly to that spot. It's a distance from here, north and west of the manor. Once I arrive, I'll call for Giley. That will be the signal that we're ready. Can one of you please link the tables and put them in stasis just like they are now so that they don't move? Then bring them to us when we call for you?"
The elves nodded and Harry and Hermione left for the back veranda, where they then mounted the Firebolt and took off. Harry was excited and zoomed off quickly, causing a small yelp from his wife.
Harry, I know you're running on adrenaline, but please slow down. Remember who is riding with you.
Sorry dear.
Harry slowed down and also adjusted his course slightly. The slower speed did allow him to get a look at the grounds and see some of what the elves had been working on. The manor was looking much better with all the furniture in good repair, the wood polished, and all the lights working. Now looking at the grounds he saw that the gardens were pruned, as was the orchard. All the lawns were not only mowed, but had been treated and were looking much greener. In total, the entire manor was starting to look healthier. It wasn't just about invisible wards, the visible elements too were noticeably better.
After about eight minutes direct flying, they reached the spot that Harry had been thinking about, on the edge of some fields and the start of some forest. He circled to ensure that he had remembered correctly and checked with Hermione.
Yes love, this looks like a good place to start. It already has a lot of similar physical features.
With that reassurance, Harry landed and then called for Giley. A moment later, all the elves appeared. Then Dobby snapped his fingers and the planning tables popped in, completely in stasis with everything laid out. Rubbing his hands, Harry was ready to get started.
"Alright everyone, you can see that this spot already has some similarities. The forest is almost perfect positioned, but it sticks out a bit here, while it doesn't curve over here. The first task I would like you to do is to move the trees from this point and create a curve to the forest over in this section. Is that possible?"
Dobby bounced and nodded, then took two of the younger elves and headed off to do as requested. That left five elves still looking at Harry, obviously waiting for their assignment. Harry had thought the trees would take more help, but since they didn't, he moved on.
"The next big task is the rivers. We have the one river and the path is close enough to the River Lyon, except that it's wider and rougher. I'd like to divert some of that flow and create a temporary diversion into a secondary path so that it looks like the River Tay. We can eventually loop it back into itself a couple of kilometers away. I don't think the battle will extend that far. So, the next task is digging the secondary riverbed to match what would be the River Tay and then splitting the water."
This time it was Giley who nodded and took two other elves as he left to work on that task, leaving two of the youngest elves with Harry and Hermione. They seemed a bit daunted to be left with the lord of the manor, so Harry smiled at them reassuringly.
"Okay, so that leaves the four of us to start looking around for large boulders to match the ones at the site. Then we have to levitate them into their correct positions. Let's start looking around. Let's do this in pairs. I'll go with Sammy and Hermione can go with Tura. Alright?"
"Sounds good Harry."
The next three hours were spent in hard labor working on converting the site to match the duel site. Harry originally thought that it would be a near impossible task, but the elves proved otherwise as they took to the challenge and seemed to revel in it. As noon approached, Besa went back to the manor early to prepare lunch and everyone else followed not long after. Just before taking his break, Harry looked around in shock at the changes that had already been wrought.
When lunch was served, both Harry and Hermione were adamant that all the elves had worked hard and should eat as well. They finally conceded, but only because it was a special day with the project. While they ate, plans were discussed for the next day and Hermione made a suggestion.
"I know we have lunch planned with our friends, but I think we need to call together everyone for dinner. I know it's tricky with everyone working, but this is too big. If they're planning on fighting, they need to be training as well."
Harry sighed and nodded. As the senior house in the alliance he knew it was time to assert his authority and pull his allies in. With that thought in mind, he finished lunch and went to the lord's office to draft letters to everyone regarding a mandatory dinner at the manor the following evening. While he was doing that, Hermione made a trip to Grimmauld and the elves went back to the mockup site to work on their tasks.
When Hermione arrived at Grimmauld, the floo announced her, but no one came to the sitting room to greet her. She could hear quite a loud discussion coming from the kitchen though and immediately went that direction. When she walked into the kitchen, the informal dining trestle table had been converted to a work table and was completely covered in supplies. Remus and Sirius were both hunched over, muttering and didn't notice her arrival so Hermione shuffled her feet and cleared her throat a bit to announce herself. Remus looked up first, nose twitching.
"Hi Hermione, the mirrors are coming along. The main issue is size and detail. And we haven't gotten to the potion work yet. How are things at the manor?"
"Quite well actually. Between Harry and the elves, I'm not really needed. The elves seem to really like the challenge. I actually didn't just come to nag you, Harry is sending letters to all the allies and I brought yours. Tomorrow night is a mandatory dinner. Lunch tomorrow will actually be most of the junior allies and you're welcome as well if you want, but most of the adults have work. After tomorrow night, we need to crack down on training."
"That makes sense. Even if it means clearing some calendars, there is nothing more important. Alright, let's show you what goes into the mirrors and you can help us. The size is really a pain, although I can understand why you want them smaller. First you start with high grade Czech crystal and back it with a thin sheet of pure titanium. We chose that due to me being part of the development. Silver obviously wouldn't work. You use a fusing spell and then etch runes through the crystal into the metal. Here's the sequence. You have to use a reflective sequence on the crystal side. As you can see, there's a lot of runes to fit on the edge and fitting them on a smaller mirror means making them smaller. It takes a lot of detail. Fusing the two materials takes time. We've got eleven total so far fused. Oh, and we added the runes for indestructibility and weatherproofing, those were a good idea, but it's still more to have to fit in a small space. Anyway, eleven are fused and ready for carving. Total that we've finished carving is nine. I'm working on a tenth. The final step to get them activated is a complex potion that is the final binder between the metal and crystal. Sirius was going to start that before he started carving another, but if you feel up to the task, you can start that and he can keep carving. You brewed polyjuice in your second year, so you should be able to handle this."
Remus handed Hermione a potion formula and Hermione looked it over. It was definitely complex and it would take six hours of brewing and curing time, so it was best to get started. She was sure she could handle it though.
"Alright, I'll work on this. Everything looks good, but one question. What about the being able to broadcast to everyone on the mirrors? My understanding was that you could only talk to one person at a time?"
"Yes. And we only had four mirrors originally. Making more than that has pushed the limits of what the original design was, but it should work. We added another sequence that should work to broadcast, but honestly there's no way to know until we have enough mirrors done to test. That was actually something that Lily had researched originally and we had notes on, so we weren't starting off from nothing, but it was never completed. Once we get a half dozen mirrors complete, we'll try. Of course, we may break them all and have to start over."
Hermione grimaced, but nodded. She only hoped that Harry's mum was as brilliant as everyone claimed she had been. With nothing else to be done, she turned her attention to the potion and left Sirius and Remus to their rune carving.
Meanwhile, back at the manor Harry and elves were busy terraforming a portion of the grounds to match the duel site. After lunch all the letters regarding dinner the following day had been sent off to his allies and Besa had taken a break from the project to go shopping for supplies. The work was tiring, but magic helped greatly and elf magic was quite amazing. By half past four in the afternoon Harry looked around and was amazed at the transformation. Then he hopped on his Firebolt and did a flyover. There may need to be a few tweaks, but he thought it was a decent mockup and decided to call it a day and head to Grimmauld and check on the mirror project. Landing his broom, he smiled at all his elves as they gathered around.
"Alright everyone, this looks great. Thank you all! This was a lot of hard work and I want you to take it easy for the rest of the day. We're going to have guests tomorrow and the next few days will be busy. Hermione and I will be here in the morning and then we'll have guests at lunch and even more guests at dinner. I appreciate greatly all your efforts today."
The elves were all grinning and looked quite pleased as they all popped back to the manor. Harry did the same and then caught the floo to Grimmauld. When he arrived, the usual chime sounded, but nobody came to greet him so he wandered out of the room and went looking for Hermione. He soon found her, Sirius, and Remus all hard at work in the kitchen. Hermione felt him coming well before he arrived in the room.
Hi love. We're coming along with the mirrors. They're hideously complicated though. Come on down to the kitchen, but be prepared for Sirius to grumble about the deadline.
Harry stepped into the room and surveyed what appeared to be the center of a cyclone. His godfather looked up at him and shook his head. Deciding to head for friendlier quarters, Harry made his way toward the hearth where Hermione was brewing. She had two large copper cauldrons over different levels of flame and a small golden cauldron cooling nearby. To the side sat a black marble cauldron that he assumed was the for the final mix. Shaking his head, he held back from embracing her, not wanting to disturb anything.
"Not to worry Harry, you picked a good time. I'm actually not stirring for another four minutes and I could use a hug."
Harry smiled, noticing that she had mentioned it out loud, while shooting a look at the disgruntled Lord Black across the way. He proceeded to sweep his wife up and kiss her soundly. When he set her back down, she proceeded to explain a bit of the potion she was making. As was obvious, it was terribly complex. And it was only one element to the mirrors. And she was making a double batch due to the quantity that they were trying for. He knew of course that he had asked for a lot, but it was necessary.
When Hermione had to return to her cauldrons, Harry stepped back and decided it was time to see what was going on with the main mirror assembly, even if it required facing an angry godfather. He turned to the table and began to assess the apparent chaos strewn across it. The primary elements appeared to be some kind of glass and metal, as well as a lot of runes. Looking closer, the runes being carved looked quite complex and very small. His request to make the mirrors smaller wouldn't have made things easier for sure. It looked like from a few almost finished pieces set to the side that it had been accomplished though. After he assessed everything, he figured it was time to break the silence.
"Wow, it looks like you've made really good progress. I do appreciate this on the tight timeline guys, I know I asked for a lot. It will make a big difference in the field though if we've all got these. I was going to see if I could help, but I have no idea what to do, so I tell you what. I'm going to go back home and let Neil and Jean know that they're on their own for dinner. Then I'm going to clean up since I've been mucking about in the fields most of the day. I'll come back in a while with whatever you want to eat and drink. You name it."
That perked up everyone and Sirius immediately lightened as Harry began taking orders. He figured that the Leaky could make everything that was requested and decided to stop there after the Grangers. He left the workshop a while later and apparated from the back garden. The Grangers weren't home yet, but by the time he got out of the shower they were just arriving, eager to hear updates on how the day had gone. They readily accepted the invite to dinner the next day at the manor and, when they heard that Harry and Hermione would be out that night, they decided to go out themselves.
Once the Grangers were updated, Harry apparated to the Leaky and ordered all the food that had been requested. Then he sat down to read a book and wait, enjoying a few minutes to relax during the busy day.
A bit over an hour after he had left Grimmauld, Harry returned just in time to watch as Hermione did the last combining of her potion. It then had to sit with an auto stir spoon in it for an hour and twenty five minutes, giving them plenty of time to eat. Since the kitchen had become a workshop, all the food was taken and spread out in the dining room. Harry and Hermione split steak and kidney and shepherd's pies, while Remus enjoyed a huge slab of rare steak with a pile of mashed potatoes. Sirius also got a steak, although a different cut and cooked a bit more, although he got his with Yorkshire pudding on the side. There was also chilled butterbeer and a specific brand of Scotch that was ordered at Sirius' specification. The end of the meal was capped with an apple tart topped with cream that hadn't been requested, but had been on the Leaky's menu for the night and Harry had added it. No one seemed to mind as the entire dish was cleaned out. By the end of the meal everyone was quite full and dispositions were significantly improved, Sirius' especially. And, while he had had a couple of glasses of scotch, it wasn't too much and hadn't affected him noticeably. It was a lesson that Harry filed away in regards to his godfather, always keep him well fed if you wanted Sirius Black to work well.
Harry proceeded with the cleanup while the others returned to the kitchen after dinner. He wasn't long in joining them after and sat back to watch the process to make the mirrors. Twenty minutes after he arrived, the potion was ready and there were a total of eighteen mirrors ready to be coated. Hermione carefully measured out the amount for each mirror and then took the first and carefully ladled the potion across the crystal surface, tilting it until the entire surface was covered in a thin film. Then Sirius touched his wand to one rune and spoke the activation phrase. The entire surface glowed and then settled as he set the mirror aside.
"Well, that should be it. Hard to know if it worked until we do more. Let's try two more and then we'll key the mirrors to three of us in the room and test them out. The potion is stable for a few hours, or we can put it in stasis for a few days."
Harry nodded, fine to watch, still amazed at the complex amount of magic that went into each small mirror. He watched over the next few minutes as two more mirrors were treated with the potion and activated. Once they had three new mirrors, Sirius then keyed one each to himself, Harry, and Hermione.
"Alright, moment of truth. Let's each try to call one another."
They went around the circle and let out cries of joy as each mirror worked in sequence. Remus, who was normally reserved, was also shouting joyfully. They had managed to recreate the work they had done seventeen years before with Lily's help!
While Sirius and Remus were hugging and dancing around though, Hermione was looking a bit more reserved. She still wondered if the additional runes would work. Harry heard her thoughts and gave her a nod and she spoke up, breaking through the happy celebration.
"Sirius, Remus, can we run the other tests now?"
The guys settled and saw the look on Hermione's face. Remus nodded and stepped over. He took a mirror and stepped to a far corner where he erected a shield to block the mirror from the rest of the room. Then he seemed to think for a minute and went and grabbed the other two linked mirrors and put them behind the shield as well.
"Just in case. I know we checked the formulas, but I still think this is risky."
He then reached past the shield and tapped the mirror, saying 'nuntius omnia'. Everyone gathered around and looked and sure enough, all three mirrors turned on, showing and image of the room. It appeared it had worked. Remus and Sirius both looked stunned. They had not expected the broadcast to work. Remus reached through the shield and canceled the spell, pulling the three mirrors out.
"Hmm, they feel a bit warm. Not something you would probably feel, but my heightened senses do. I wonder if it would be worse if we linked more mirrors or if we left them connected longer? We may need to test more. Anyway, we know it works. I guess the last part is to test the impervious rune. Sirius?"
"Damn, alright, you did the last test. Give it here."
Sirius took one of the mirrors, closed his eyes, and then drew back and threw it full force at the stone wall. The mirror appeared to bounce off. Harry went to go get it, checked it out, flipping it over, but it appeared intact. Another couple of tests indicated that it worked fine.
"And yet another testament to your mother's brilliant notes pup. Honestly, if she was still with us, we'd probably have these on the market and you'd be even more filthy rich. Anyway, we need to keep adding potion, plus see if we can carve a few more tonight."
The group worked through the night and ended up with twenty-two complete mirrors by the time they called it quits shortly after nine. There was still more potion, and under stasis it would last for twenty-four hours, so Sirius and Remus agreed to work through the next day. Harry promised to have Besa pop over with breakfast in the morning. He had learned his lesson about keeping them fed. Then they all said goodnight and he and Hermione apparated back to Grimmauld to get their rest for the next day.
Tuesday dawned a bit overcast, but Harry and Hermione were up early and down to have breakfast with the Grangers before heading to the manor shortly before eight. As soon as they arrived, Hermione went to the kitchen and packed a basket of food. She then floo'd to Grimmauld and was pleased to see that Sirius and Remus were both sort of awake. They happily accepted the food and then she popped back to the manor.
Once she was at the manor, she and Harry did some training and swam a few laps to get themselves energized for the day. Then he took her out to the mockup site to show her what he and the elves had done the day before. The tables with the pictures and drawings had been left out under stasis charms so that she could compare, but first they did a flyover. She was quite impressed and only had a couple of small suggestions, which were immediately implemented.
With everything looking good at the manor, they left to run their next critical errand, taking the floo to Diagon Alley. Once there they visited two different shops and purchased fourteen magical training dummies, the most they could get of the type they needed. They had decided to buy autonomous, open movement, rapid response dummies. They were expensive and buying them in bulk raised eyebrows, but they didn't care. Since they needed more, Hermione suggested a trip to Gringotts. That proved to be another brilliant idea, as Silverstaff was able to sell them a dozen slightly used dummies for a reasonable amount. By the time they were done, it was a quarter past 10:30 and they only had 26 of the 50 dummies that Harry had been hoping for. Desperate, they next floo'd to Hogsmeade. There they found three more dummies. Two more stops ins Tutshill and Wimbourne yielded another five and then they had to be back at the manor for lunch with their friends. Still, at least they had 34 dummies total.
Back at the manor, Harry handed off all their shrunken purchases to Giley and then went to the arrivals hall to wait with Hermione. Starting at 11:45 and spaced in two minute increments, the portkeys for their friends began arriving, depositing them in the main hall at Potter Manor. First to arrive was the largest group from the Burrow, including Ron, Ginny, the twins, and Blaise. Next came Luna, then Neville, and finally Susan. Hermione was just about to lead everyone to the back veranda when the arrival floo flared and Sirius and Remus stepped out.
"Hi. Glad you could make it. You look better than yesterday."
"Well, the mirrors are coming along. That elf of yours is a fantastic cook and we figured we should come see what was on order for lunch."
With that, the group all proceeded to the veranda and soon were served a lavish lunch spread by the elves. After everyone had a chance to get a bit of food, Harry decided to begin.
"So, I called you all here to get an advanced start before the rest of the allies come tonight. Sirius, Remus, Hermione, myself, and the DMLE have been working for the past couple of days to do the initial preparation for the duel. We have to assume that Voldemort has received the letter by now. We know the tracker stopped working late in the evening after everyone left the Grangers. Still, we got the two locations and Kingsley made a number of arrests, including getting our messenger back. Tonight he'll be here to tell us what else the DMLE knows. As for me, I spent most of yesterday working with the elves to modify a large chunk of the grounds here at the manor to replicate the duel site. This morning Hermione and I canvassed most of the country for dueling dummies that will work in the open field. We have thirty-four and we plan on starting training in the morning. Tomorrow is Wednesday and that only gives us five days to prepare until Monday. Once everyone is done eating, we'll all go out to the site and the first thing I want is all of your fresh eyes to take a look and let me know what you think of the mockup. Then I want ideas of strategies to give us an advantage on attacking. Kingsley has the duel site locked down and under surveillance, so we have the advantage as far as access right now. Sound alright? Does anyone else have plans for the next week?"
"Sure mate."
"No, no plans."
"Anyway, even if we did, this is kind of more important."
"Just a bit."
Murmurs of assent met Blaise's comment and everyone continued eating as the conversation moved to lighter topics for a few minutes. Soon the food dwindled and everyone was eager to see the work that Harry and the elves had done. Sirius and Remus though excused themselves back to Grimmauld to work on the mirrors, promising to be back that evening with everyone else.
Harry had warned his friends to bring brooms and a few had, while others didn't ride often enough, so couples started pairing off. Soon everyone was in air as Harry led. He knew he could have apparated, but he preferred an aerial approach. As they flew over the greenhouses, Harry swung over by Ginny's broom to talk to Neville.
"Take a look below Nev. Once we get rid of Voldemort I have another project. Those greenhouses haven't been touched in years. When I open them, I want you with me. I think it may be interesting to see what, if anything, is still living in them."
Neville tapped Ginny and whispered in her ear. She nodded and did a few circles down lower to look closer at the buildings in question before coming back to fly next to Harry so that Neville could talk to him.
"Definitely looks interesting Harry. My kind of project."
Neville was grinning, looking quite enthused and Harry had to chuckle. The idea of what might have gone rogue in the greenhouses made him queasy, but Neville was another matter. Oh well, everyone had their thing.
They flew for another couple of minutes until they reached the mockup area and Harry led everyone on a flying pattern of the area before then landing next to the tables that were still standing with all the pictures and charts. Everyone gathered around and began to compare the pictures to the actual site, looking around as they did. Finally, it was Susan who spoke up first.
"Well Harry, I'm impressed, you and the elves did quite amazing. I was especially worried about the rivers. Or creeks really, they don't have that much water. But you split your one into two nicely. I don't see any issues."
"No I agree. Now, I have an idea on strategy…"
The next couple of hours were spent talking about various strategies and formations. Many ideas were discarded, while others were taken and developed and improved. One that was suggested that everyone liked, if it was possible to get access to the site, was the idea of disillusioned platforms built in the trees where snipers could fire down from. That was added to the list of items to discuss with Kingsley.
After a good bit of time in discussion, the group split into pairs and Harry had the elves fetch some of the dummies, which were then positioned around the field as they began practicing some of their attack positions. After an hour of practice, getting used to the terrain, they called a halt for the day and flew back to the manor. The last couple of hours of the afternoon was spent in the games room unwinding and trying to be normal teenagers for however brief a period of time they could be.
As the evening approached six, Harry cleaned up and donned his more formal robes while Hermione left to floo back to her parents' home. Neil and Jean would be back from the practice and she was going to portkey them to the manor for dinner that evening. Everyone else's dinner invitations were their own portkeys. Promptly at six the portkeys began arriving in two minute intervals, delivering all of the House Potter allies for the semi-formal dinner that evening. Some had not seen the manor yet and Harry greeted them properly as Lord Potter, gathering them all in the entry hall. The elves were waiting to take cloaks and offer initial refreshments while everyone waited for the entire group to arrive. Once the last portkey had arrived, Harry took Hermione's arm and looked over his assembled guests.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. We have much to discuss. First though, the Potter elves have prepared a wonderful meal and I am personally quite hungry. Please join me in the dining hall."
The group followed the lord and lady of the manor in an informal procession to the dining hall, which nonetheless had been outfitted lavishly for the meal. When the meal was served, everyone delighted in all the courses, especially the roast that was the best anyone could remember having tasted. Despite the heaviness of the pending meeting, the conversation at dinner remained lighter with discussion of family topics, including a number of interesting tidbits on various family histories. After taking a long hour to eat, the meal finally finished and Harry stood to once again address the group.
"Now then, please join me in the library. It has the room we need, as well as being a bit less formal."
Two minutes later the entire group was transferred to the spacious Potter library and arrayed on the assortment of leather couches and tufted chairs around the room. Once again, the lord of the manor led the discussion.
"Alright, we're all here to begin planning for the duel on Monday. I know many of you have jobs that keep you busy during the days. You may need to take some holiday time over the next days while we prepare. Myself, Hermione, and our friends have started some preparations here at the manor already. In addition, Sirius and Remus have also been working on a critical project. Also, I am sure that Kingsley has been busy at the DMLE and will be briefing us on what he can, but now we all need to come together. I won't ask anyone to fight who doesn't want to, but we need support positions as well, especially in healing. First, Sirius and Remus, why don't you show us what you've been working on."
The two men looked at each other, seeming to decide who was going to go first and Sirius as usual was the one to step up. He pulled a bag out of his pocket and enlarged it. From the bag he withdrew a number of mirrors.
"The task that Harry and Hermione set us on was communication mirrors. This was something that the Marauders had developed on a very limited basis after much work during our sixth year at school and with much help from Lily. I have to tell you that these were very complex and it was the work of many months to get four linked mirrors working. Well, Harry came to us and asked us to do it again in a week, but with as many as possible. He also wanted them smaller, impervious, and to have a broadcast feature if possible. Sure, no problem. He did offer to loan us his own brilliant witch to help with the task. And he sent us regular food and paid for all the supplies. So, we dusted off our notes and have been working nonstop. The basis for the mirrors are sandwiched layers of Czech crystal glass and titanium metal with etched runes. We originally chose titanium for the simple fact that we can't use silver due to having a werewolf on staff. Anyway, it polishes up nicely and conducts the runes quite well. Except that reducing the size by a third and adding the additional runes wasn't easy. I'm not getting any younger and my eyes certainly aren't. Anyway, Hermione helped with the potion that is used as the final step to coat these before they are charged. As of today we have thirty-two working. We had six that failed, but I think the percentage is decent. We've done some limited testing on the broadcast and they seem to heat up quite quickly. So I don't think we can use that feature for very long, maybe a quick emergency only. Something perhaps that we want to test more. Anyway, we have enough for the immediate allies at least."
As Sirius was talking, Remus went around the table and was passing out the mirrors. Everyone was examining them close, especially looking at the runework. It was quite impressive what they had managed. It was obvious now why they both looked tired. Once everyone had a mirror, Sirius proceeded with the instructions on how to key each mirror to an individual using the key rune at the top of each mirror. Then they went around the room a few times running some practice drills making calls on the mirrors. Everything worked as planned. It was agreed though that the broadcast feature would be tested later. Harry was grinning as everyone else looked amazed.
"Wow, these are great Sirius. I am thrilled with how many you got completed. I know how much work that was. This will be a definite advantage for home security, as well as coordinating people on the battlefield. I will already feel better knowing each of you can call for help if you need it. And we have a couple left that I think will be helpful for anyone who may want to stay behind to take care of the wounded, which is something else I wanted to discuss. First though, Kingsley, can you give us updates from the DMLE?"
"Sure. As expected, Voldemort has been sending scouts to the site. They've been funneled into the spot that we designated and we captured four medium level Death Eaters before turning off the funnel completely. He can still get in, but they have to walk in. The four were all secondary, set to report to inner circle, who then report to Voldemort. Still, it's a few less wands for him. They were able to confirm that the rank and file are gloating about how their master is going to annihilate Potter and how the Boy Who Lived is too full of himself. We also got a few details on potential numbers. We think with the short notice he can bring in about 120 maximum and a fair few of those aren't heavily trained. He has some giants, but they're too far away to make it in time. The only wolf pack that he has control over is Greyback's, but that is enough. The pack numbers about twenty. While deciding to make the duel happen quickly is pushing us to our limits, it is also bad for him as well and gives him less time to gather his resources, so it's a good and bad thing."
"Still, that's a lot more numbers than I thought he would have, even if they're not the best trained. How many will we have?"
"I'm trying to keep this quiet, but I'm pulling together about three quarters of my Auror squads, as well as a squad of hit wizards and Algie is giving us some Unspeakables. Auror squads are ten man groups and I'll have seven that I'm putting on isolation training starting tomorrow. Basically that means they are out of touch with their families and the public until action. I need somewhere to put them though. Harry, can we bunk them here? Even just cots."
"Sure Kingsley. I'll get the elves to start setting up. What about the hit wizards and Unspeakables?"
"The hit wizards are four man squads and I don't know when they will show. Hopefully tomorrow or the day after. The Unspeakables will appear in time for the battle, or sooner. They never tell anyone anything. That's how they earn their name. Algie promised me at least five people though and with the unusual weapons they have, they're worth at least double for each person they bring. They're difficult to deal with, but you take what you can get."
"Alright, so I tell the elves to prepare for 70-90 house guests over the next week. Everyone here is welcome to stay as you need. And everyone here has priority to get an actual bed versus a cot. The wards on the manor are green now and the grounds are yellow green so we're much more secure. And given the fact that we're about to turn into a barracks, even more so. Giley! Dobby! Besa!"
The elves popped in and waited in front of Harry for their orders.
"Hi guys. Things are going to be getting busy around here for the next week or so. We're going to have a large number of Aurors bunking with us. I need four bedrooms converted into dorms on the second floor…"
"Kingsley, any women among the Aurors?"
"Yes, a few. And one in the hit wizards."
"Alright. We need three large bunk rooms for the wizards and a medium size bunk room for the witches. I think we have some cots in storage. If we don't have enough, use the house funds to buy some. Put the beds in storage in the meantime. Make sure the women's bunk room has one of the en-suites. Also, I need all the other bedrooms upstairs ready for guests as my allies will be visiting regularly throughout the next week. We also may be taking in the injured after the battle. Besa, I'll be sending an owl to Gringotts to increase the house budget for the month. Please stock the kitchen with whatever you need. Ensure there is plenty of mead, ale, firewhiskey, and scotch as well please. Any questions, please ask me. Oh, and when everyone arrives, remember that you do not take abuse from anyone. Come to me if anyone tries to abuse you. Understand? Please pass that on to the other elves as well."
The three elves bobbed their heads and popped out to begin to start their tasks. Harry turned back to look at his allies and saw some appraising looks.
"What?"
"Nothing my lord, but my thanks."
My lord?
Kingsley is just honoring you as he sees fit Harry. We all just watched you take another step into your role as lord of the manor. It was quite inspiring.
Harry shrugged and decided to move on.
"Alright, so we are looking at Voldemort having maybe 140 total fighters, not all trained very well. We will have maybe 100. We can count 80 well trained of that number?"
"Actually Harry, you should count the wolves as double numbers with their speed and fighting ability, as much as I hate to say it."
Harry looked at Remus and then around the room, stopping at Kingsley and Amelia, who nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Remus has the right idea. Werewolves are hell to fight. We should be glad that it looks like Voldemort hasn't managed to forge an overall vampire alliance yet. There's rumors that he has one or two rogues, but that's it. Anyway, we can probably figure that he has forty decent fighters, twenty hard core inner circle fighters that we really need to worry about, and then the twenty werewolves. Of the seventy Aurors, I say there are three squads that are hard core. The other forty are quite good. I'd put the hit wizards in the hard core as well. As for the Unspeakables, they're in another class."
"And then there's us. I mean we're good, but nowhere near Auror level, except maybe Harry and Hermione. Maybe put us about in the middle of the pack."
"Ronald, you can't be honestly thinking of fighting! I mean you can help Harry prepare, but that's it!"
"Mum, I am an ally and even more, he's my friend."
"Same here mum."
"Same goes for me gran, before you say anything."
As a number of arguments erupted around the room, Amelia decided that she needed to take control, even though she was scared and not exactly happy with Susan.
"Alright, I guess we need to discuss the dragon in the room. Obviously some of the parents and guardians didn't realize that their minors were planning on actual offensive fighting. Defensive if needed is one thing, offensive is different."
"Exactly."
"Look, my parents are in St. Mungo's because of these monsters. You can't expect me not to fight the people who put them there. I know what's at stake. Maybe it would be better if I had another year to grow up a bit, sure, but the time is now and I'm doing my best to be ready. Gran, don't deny me this honor."
"We've all been training. A lot more than a number of Voldemort's flunkies. Yes, there are risks. No, it won't be easy, but if we want a better future we need to do this. Don't lock us up just because a calendar says we're a few months shy of some magical marker."
Each of the parents and guardians around the room looked at their charges and indecision waged across each face. Kingsley decided to step in.
"How about we table these family decisions for the evening? Talk about them tonight at your homes. We need to finish with a few other decisions. In the meantime we'll plan on everyone continuing training here over the next couple of days, even if it's only in a support capacity. Alright?"
Everyone nodded, clearly still not happy, but willing to move on.
"So, the Aurors arrive tomorrow morning. Hit wizards probably will be in the afternoon, depending on when I can get them. Next, are we going to have a fall back area for the injured, or will they go straight to St. Mungo's?"
Hermione pondered and was the first to respond to Kingsley's question.
"I hadn't thought about that. I suppose triage prior to St. Mungo's would be advisable. That would lessen their burden. Harry, could we set up something here at the manor? Kingsley, could we get someone loaned to us to run the triage who could handle minor injuries and package up more severe injuries?"
"That's what I was thinking and we've done something similar on large operations in the past. I have contacts at St. Mungo's. No worries, they can keep it strictly confidential. I can get a junior Healer on loan starting on Sunday and sequester them here. We'll need supplies and you'll need to designate a room. Basically any injuries have a portkey that sends them to that one room. From there they are treated. If they're bad off, a second portkey sends them straight to St. Mungo's after initial treatment. Hopefully this is all over planning, but it needs to be done."
"Alright, that sounds fine. Hermione, any ideas?"
"The manor has a lot of extra space. There's the 'ladies' parlor' here on the first floor that is good size. It's clean, but hasn't even been used yet. If the furniture is moved out, it could hold ten beds easily."
"Alright, sure. Let's leave the elves working on the second floor for tomorrow, and then get them working on an infirmary. Kingsley, please have your contact give us a list of potential supplies that we might need. Another shopping list to be purchased before the weekend."
"Will do. Again, better to be over prepared. That covers everything I wanted to discuss. What else have you been working on Harry?"
"Well, while Sirius and Remus were busy with the mirrors, I was back here working with the elves. As you know, we had all the surveillance and pictures of the duel site and I used all of it with the help of the elves to create a mockup of the site. The manor grounds have a lot of unused land and I picked a piece of ground with some forest and a river, or large creek, that we split in two and we moved everything around to transform it as close as possible to resemble the duel site. Starting in the morning, I want to run drills. Hermione and I went around to a number of shops and bought up a bunch of training dummies. We ran a few drills this afternoon to start practicing. It's not perfect, but as near as I think it can be without going to the actual site."
"Wow, you have been busy. The Auror squads will definitely be interested to see that."
"Okay, that covers the main points I wanted to discuss for this evening. I wanted to start drills at nine tomorrow morning. Kingsley, can you have the Aurors ready by then? I can create portkeys before you leave tonight, one for each squad. Alright?"
"That should work. I still have to brief them though. Let's plan one more hour, so say ten. I'll be here with them in the morning and as much as I can throughout the week. I'll pop in and out."
"Sounds fine. What about everyone else? Obviously Amelia as Minister has pressing business. Sirius and Remus are going to work on getting us a few more mirrors. Ideally, the head of each squad should have one."
"I'll call in sick for the rest of the week, so I'll be here."
"Arthur!"
"Molly, we swore an alliance, this is too important. My decision for our house stands."
"Well, I'm a bit past my prime, but I'll be here to help train at least. And, it scares me, but I'll go ahead and approve Neville's participation now."
Harry gave a nod and brief smile for Augusta.
"Us as well. Lovegoods never back down from a fight. Anyway, the next Quibbler isn't due for over a week."
"I'll need to talk to Susan and Blaise since he is my ward. Blaise, please come home with us for tonight at least so we can talk. We'll have an answer in the morning."
"I understand. Thank you everyone. Let's plan on those who can meeting back here at nine in the morning fora a final discussion then prior to training. Aurors due to arrive an hour later. By that time I would like to have all of our positions and decisions firm among us allies before we bring in the outside parties. Understood?"
Harry stood and looked firmly around the room. Everyone gave various nods or noises of assents. Molly especially didn't look happy, but Lord Potter, the head of their alliance had spoken. It was time to close ranks and focus on Voldemort. As the group broke up and everyone left for their own homes, the discussions that evening would go late and at the Burrow especially would become quite heated as the everyone firmly refused to budge as the final confrontation drew ever nearer.