Sixth Year: The Steps Towards The End

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling... If you don’t know this and are reading Harry Potter Fan Fiction then there is something seriously weird going on. This goes for EVERY chapter as I can’t be bothered copy/pasting for each chapter

Summary: Harry Potter has spent his summer after fifth year dealing with the death of his beloved Godfather Sirius Black. As the Hogwarts new school year begins, Harry makes the choice to continue the DA to train, not only for lack of a decent DADA teacher, but to teach those whom he can trust how to defend themselves as the war begins to pick up pace. New friendships begin and old ones fade as Harry discovers who he can truly trust with his secrets, his life and even his heart.

Picks up from when Harry arrives at Kings Cross during HBP. Everything that happened up to that point in the book may be assumed to have happened in this story, with the exception that Harry hasn’t told Ron and Hermione the Prophecy.

Pairings: Harry/Hermione/Fleur/Susan/Hannah/Daphne/Padma. I seriously doubt this will become a harem fan fiction…those are just the main female characters involved in the topsy turvy relationships that Harry will have over the next two years. There WILL be lemons in this story, though none for quite some time (like near the end of sixth year is the ‘planned’ first one), however there will be several sexually oriented scenes with Fleur’s character, since she is a part-Veela.

A/N: Well. Here we are. This is my first serious attempt at Fan Fiction so excuse the shoddiness that you’re about to read. Constructive criticism is not only permitted but encouraged! I want to improve so I can bring you, and myself, a story worth reading. After I finish these two years of HP, I plan to write my own original novel. This is effectively a release for my frustrations at HBP and DH, as well as a way to practice and improve my writing through practical use. I don’t yet use much descriptive language, or impressive techniques (personification).

I apologize in advance for the mini recount of the DoM by Bella but I felt that it needed to be done from her point of view to get into her state of mind. It WILL be important later for when she slips up. On the same note I apologize for the several recounts that occur in chapter two, four and five. They are there for a reason, to understand where each character is coming from and developing others further. After much deliberation I decided to keep them in the story, despite many complaints, because they are important and only exist in three chapters of the entire story. So, skip over them if you must, but do not judge the story by those chapters.

As for about why I started this where I did. I chose here because I felt that HBP was the worst book. I felt that Harry should’ve continued the DA and that the entire Ron/Hermione relationship crap that took up seemingly a third of HBP was a waste of time. Those two seriously don’t belong together. The Secrets to a Successful Relationship DO NOT include bickering every other day and insulting each other. Some may say it’s a sign of affection but can anyone honestly say a relationship will survive when the couple is like that, day in and day out?

As for Dumbledore, I am still neutral with him but for the path of my own story, he will have made mistakes that get revealed which lose the trust of Harry. The same happens with Ron. He’s an immature berk who does not appreciate his friends and lets this rule him. I will not be nice to him at the start of this story.

As for the chapter titles, I’m taking them from songs. I will mention the artist at the start of each chapter. This particularly chapter title comes from the Australian band “Augie March”. Oh, by the way, I’m Aussie too.

Lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to some of the excellent fan fiction authors that have inspired me to write my own. Most specifically are ‘old-crow’, ‘mathiasgranger’, ‘chem prof’, ‘S’Tarkan’, ‘Angry Hermione’ and ‘MissAnnThropic’. By no means is this the entirety of my inspirations. That might take another hour to write! Thanks to all of their work, and continued work, there are multitudes of fantastic fan fictions out there.

Without further ado, we start my tale of Harry Potter, sixth year and beyond.

Chapter 1: This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers

Alistair Gredford had noticed some strange things during his decade of service as a security guard at Kings Cross Station in London. It seemed that September 1st, without fail every year, heralded a strange sight. Children from the age of probably eleven to seventeen would enter the station with trunks, clearly weighing something ridiculous, with either a cat (which was normal all things considered), a toad (a little less normal) or an owl. An owl in daylight is a rarity in itself but children having owls caged up and bringing them on a train was something he would have not imagined.

The peculiar sight was unnerving at first, especially when there were at least thirty groups with owls. However, over the years Alistair had grown used to the bizarre ritual and as he made one of his rounds on this September 1st he was not surprised at seeing a couple groups entering the station with the large trunks and assorted animals.

Occasionally he would hear snippets of conversation from the groups. One word he had heard several years ago had been a commonly used one amongst these strange groups of people. Alistair had used the dictionary, local library and even the internet to determine what the word meant but he had failed in every attempt thus far. This unfortunately only increased his curiosity. Were these people using some sort of code? Were these people spies or MI5 or MI6 or some other intelligence agency or had he been watching too much TV recently? They really couldn’t be as the ones in control of the luggage seemed to be the children. In short, to say that Alistair was interested in these people would be an understatement.

Unfortunately this attitude was about to get him killed.

Alistair had decided this year to approach a group and ask what in blazes a “Muggle” was.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Bellatrix Lestrange was furious. Bellatrix Lestrange was delighted. It was a strange mix of emotions but this was Bellatrix Lestrange after all.

She had been assigned a mission by Lord Voldemort and this one she was more than happy to complete. Not three months ago she had failed to retrieve the Prophecy that her Master had asked her and Lucius to get from the Ministry of Magic’s infamous “Department of Mysteries”. The mission had started off fantastically. The target had been fed a vision of her dear cousin captured and tortured in the Hall of Prophecies and he had lapped it up like a good boy. Not two hours later he had arrived in a flurry of movement and purpose. Five of his allies had accompanied him. They had expected just two followers but the other three add-ons were barely a challenge in her eyes. One that had captured her attention even more than the target, however, was the Longbottom boy.

Before she had been captured at the end of the first war with Voldemort, she had taken orgasmic pleasure in torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. Bellatrix had tortured people before and since those two but they were her favorite. Every time she tortured someone now…it didn’t have the spark…the flare that it used to have. Was it because torture wasn’t as fulfilling as before? Or had she elevated her expectations after Frank and Alice Longbottom?

Nevertheless the target had arrived just as planned. He took the Prophecy off the shelf, just as planned. Lucius had stepped forward to announce their presence and demand the Prophecy. It was simple really. The target wouldn’t allow any harm to come to his friends. She enjoyed taunting him. She was surprised though, when the other five shot the Reductor Curse at the glass spheres containing the recordings of Prophecies made that had and hadn’t been fulfilled yet, and the shelves that they sat on.

Bellatrix was not adverse to a little hide and seek given the right situation and she had initially found the chase to be refreshing. However after twenty minutes of solid chasing and fighting where she had to revive most of her “allies” several times, she found her amusement diminishing. She had a mission to do and it wouldn’t do to fail. She would be in for it if she failed. And so, with this fresh in her mind, she found herself with all the remaining Death Eaters and the last two brats in the Death Room.

The veil stood on its outcrop in the middle of the room, an enticing sight. She could hear voices emanating from the inside when she listened hard enough but her mind was brought back on track with the arrival of Dumbledore’s accursed Order.

She found herself soon dueling Nymphadora Tonks. She dispatched of her quickly enough but was unable to reach the target when her cousin stepped in to duel her. Sirius Black was not a Death Eater as the Ministry had claimed for more than a decade but a loyal Light side fighter. She had taken great pleasure in taking away the life of the target’s Godfather. She saw the target try to go after Black but the Werewolf had restrained him. Unfortunately. It would have been great to see the target kill himself by walking into the veil. She glanced about the room and saw that her fellow Death Eaters were beginning to lose the fight as Dumbledore had just arrived. She brushed off someone nearby and made for the exit.

“I’LL KILL HER!”

Her ears managed to catch the target’s grief fueled angry exclamation as she made her way out of the Department of Mysteries. She passed one of the target’s injured allies but passed on the opportunity to cause more pain to the target in favor of escape. The target managed to catch her in the Atrium and even had the balls to cast her favorite spell on her. Not that it worked. He was too “pure” to cast it properly.

Remembering the Prophecy, she cast the Summoning Charm to retrieve it. Unfortunately, again, she was foiled. The target taunted her, saying it had been destroyed in skirmishes throughout the Department of Mysteries. She could literally feel Lord Voldemort’s anger as he Apparated into the Atrium. She watched as the target battled with Voldemort and then as Dumbledore did too. She saw Voldemort possess the target but get thrown out. She didn’t know how he managed that and before she could give it any real thought, she was taken by the arm and Apparated out of the Ministry.

Now, on September 1st, Bellatrix had her chance at revenge for her failure at the Department of Mysteries. The target would be on board, as would be several hundred other children. Her mission was simple.

Find the target.

Destroy his wand.

Get out.

Voldemort had explained the significance of the target’s wand to her and her alone. As she was now the most senior Death Eater thanks to Lucius getting himself captured, she was privy to this information and was now leading the charge on the Hogwarts Express. She would get her revenge on the target and maybe even a treat if she so happened to find a special someone along the way.

Neville Longbottom would join his parents, with any luck.

As for the target…well Harry Potter would’t know what hit him.

Watch out Baby Potter. Aunty Bella is coming to play!

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was now nine-thirty and the first groups of peculiar people were arriving. Alistair noted them quietly but he could have screamed bloody murder and they wouldn’t have noticed, for the noise of the station drowned out most conversation.

On his fourth round since the first group, Alistair was passing the main thoroughfare when a tall, dark haired woman collided with him.

“Bloody Muggle! Watch where you’re going” she screeched.

Several people nearby heard the shout and turned to satisfy their curiosities.

Feeling embarrassed, Alistair momentarily forgot that this woman had just called him a Muggle. “I sincerely apologize, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

The woman brushed out the creases in her clothing, which was odd in itself. Who did wear robes nowadays? She then looked straight into his eyes and said, “see that it doesn’t.” and took off.

Alistair’s mind took several seconds to come back online. Deciding that this was as good a time as any, he took off after the dark haired woman. He followed her down past several platforms before she veered off onto platform nine. Dodging dozens of other citizens on the platform, Alistair closed this distance between the woman and himself. Alistair reached out to tap the woman on the shoulder but just as he touched her, she disappeared into a barrier. Alistair was perplexed. She was there one second ago. She walked through the barrier. How was that possible?

His curiosity spiking now, Alistair reached out to touch the barrier. He expected to find a stone wall. Nothing more. Nothing less. He was so sure of himself that he nearly fell over when he leaned onto the barrier, which proved to not be solid at all. His hand went straight through. He risked a glance to see if anyone saw that his hand was going straight through stone but it seemed that not one person paid a lick of interest in him or the barrier. Thinking about it, it occurred to him that he never saw anyone near this particular barrier.

Making a decision, Alistair decided to follow the woman into the barrier. He took a breath and stepped forward.

Alistair didn’t know what he was expecting. Would it be an “Alice in Wonderland” adventure? Would it be a “Wizard of Oz” one? Alistair was certain however, that he had not expected a knife to the gut.

The knife pierced his skin the second he passed through the barrier and cut straight through his organs. His insides were beginning to feel cold. Slowly he raised his head and locked eyes with the woman from before. Now that he could see her better, her face was hollowed. There were few remnants of fallen beauty left on her face, and if the hollowed cheeks and eyes had not been enough to dissuade of the notion of beauty, the look in her eyes would undoubtedly be enough.

Looking into her eyes, you would be hard pressed to find a look filled with any more genuine happiness.

Alistair began to feel weak in the legs. The woman let go of the knife and he fell to the ground, coughing up blood onto the pavement. He heard the distant noise of a train. His vision slowly faded as he began to pass out.

Alistair had no family. No wife or children. His parents had been strange people. He recalled, for no particular reason to him that he had been told that his parents had disappeared for nine months a year to a boarding school in Scotland. They had died some seventeen year prior, when he was thirteen. He couldn’t remember much about them at all but he took solace that he would them again soon enough.

At nine forty eight am on September 1st, 1996, Alistair Gredford died on Platform 9 ¾.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Bellatrix had felt someone trailing her after bumping into a stupid muggle on her way to the platform. In her peripheral vision she noticed that it was that very same muggle. Ignoring him she concentrated on boarding the platform that took students to Hogwarts. She had expected the Ministry to have put up wards preventing access for Death Eaters but she had been mildly surprised when she met no resistance boarding the platform. Despite the new Minister for Magic, they were still incompetent.

Not that it would’ve mattered.

It had been some time since Bellatrix had last visited Platform 9 ¾. She took in the familiar but different sight before sensing someone behind her. She turned, hand ready to whip out her wand, only to find a hand sticking out of the barrier between muggle and magical Kings Cross. No person familiar with the platform would stand on one side with a hand sticking through. Even the mudbloods would have more sense than that.

She drew a muggle knife she had acquired for this mission, as magic on the Platform was monitored closely and she did not want to alert the Ministry that Bellatrix Lestrange was on the Platform that hundreds of students would be on in the next eighty minutes. She waited, prepared to strike at any moment should the muggle that had been following her pass through the barrier. Would the Ministry notice that a muggle was passing through the barrier? Shouldn’t there be Notice-Me-Not charms around the barrier? Did that mean this person knew of magic?

Regardless of who he was, she couldn’t risk someone identifying her before she made herself known on the train. Memory Charms could be broken. That left one thing. Killing him.

More of the exposed arm made its way through the barrier followed by elbow, then more arm and finally the torso. The instant she saw the torso, Bellatrix thrust the knife into the muggle’s flesh. Muggles may have been inferior in her eyes but she had to admit this manner of killing was just as fulfilling, if not more so than using Avada Kedavra.

Had she had more time or less fear of being spied upon by the few students and families already at Kings Cross, she would have spent time reveling in the feeling of power she gained from killing someone through her own strength and the knife. She let go of the knife and the man fell to the ground, surprisingly silent. She had expected to have to cast a quick Silencing Charm to keep the noise down but the man had been so shocked that he barely made a sound except to cough up blood.

Bellatrix whipped out her wand and transfigured the body into a bone and banished it to a distant corner of the station. Wherever she put it, it would be found out. Transfiguration would be noticed by the Ministry but not on what. The Banishing Charm would be obscure enough to use up more Ministry time.

After Scourgifying the blood, Bellatrix made her way out of sight and covered herself in the Dark Lord’s Invisibility Cloak. Safely under the Cloak, she pressed her wand to the Dark Mark. This was her signal to Rowle and Travers so they could enter under Disillusionment Charms that had been put on some distance from the station so to not alert the Ministry.

Ten minutes later, after several more families had arrived, she saw the shimmery outline of Rowle and Travers pass through the barrier. She reached out and tapped them both on the shoulder to make her presence known. The three then moved to the train and climbed through the open doors.

It was just past ten o’clock on September 1st when Bellatrix, Rowle and Travers were in position, waiting for Harry Potter on the Hogwart’s Express.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry Potter had had an eventful summer. He had been picked up early by Professor Dumbledore from the Dursley’s, unknowingly persuaded Horace Slughorn into retaking his position at Hogwarts as Potions Professor, visited the Weasley twins’ shop in Diagon Alley and figured out that Malfoy was a Death Eater.

Unfortunately neither Ron nor Hermione had believed him about Malfoy. Him being “too young” and it being “unlikely” were the arguments that his two best friends came up with and it annoyed him to no end.

Why did Malfoy freak when Madam Malkin touched his arm? Why did Borgin freak when Malfoy showed him something on his arm? Malfoy has been a Death Eater in training since before Hogwarts, now that his father is in prison, Voldemort would recruit Lucius’s son in an instant to replenish his ranks after the Department of Mysteries fight.

The Department of Mysteries… Harry had spent much of the summer thinking about that disastrous evening. He had foolishly fallen into Voldemort’s trap and Sirius had paid the price. He had coped with the loss of Sirius…eventually. He no longer blamed himself; instead put the blame where it belonged, on one Bellatrix Lestrange. Now both Harry and Neville had vendettas against the psychotic second in command.

Sirius was Harry’s second last true connection to his parents, and his Godfather. Two years ago Harry had rescued him from the Dementor’s Kiss with the aid of Hermione and her time-turner. That night he had, for a brief few minutes, believed he could live a normal life with a caring relative, but as luck would have it, that night was a full moon and Professor Lupin was a werewolf. Harry was happy with the limited amount of time that he had spent with Sirius before he had fallen through the veil. Professor Lupin was now Harry’s last link to his parents and with any luck, he could spend a bit more time before it was his turn.

The Department of Mysteries also brought up another problem: The Prophecy. For Harry’s entire life, and even some time before then, he had been controlled by this Prophecy. It had taken until the end of his fifth year before Dumbledore saw fit to give Harry the reason why he was hunted constantly by the strongest evil wizard alive. Harry had been told he could tell those he trusted and who did he trust more than Ron and Hermione?

When Harry had arrived at the Burrow for the remainder of the summer, he had planned to tell them both the Prophecy. The morning after he arrived, the two of them had ambushed him in his bedroom to talk about Sirius, as Owl Post had not been permitted due to security reasons, and they had yet to discuss that night. He was a second from telling them but something in the back of his mind told him not yet. He hesitated and in that second, Hermione had found herself with a black eye from one of Fred and George’s prototypes. The moment of tension passed and Harry decided not to broach the subject for a time.

Life at the Burrow had been significantly better than life at the Dursley’s. The news of Bill and Fleur getting married had sparked some tensions between Mrs. Weasley and Fleur, Ginny and Fleur, Hermione and Fleur... Truthfully Harry wasn’t bothered by Fleur at all and found her to be somewhat uppity but a generally caring individual. Without actually having heartfelt discussions, Fleur and Harry had a mutual friendship stemming from their Tri-Wizard Tournament days. One conversation he had with Fleur when they found themselves alone over the summer, Fleur had shocked him by saying ‘eef you were a few years older ‘Arry, I might ‘ave been marrying you instead.’

He kept up the appearance of disliking her to make things simpler around Hermione and Ginny, as whenever someone defended her they glared at him and started bickering about her for the next twenty minutes. After the third time this happened, Harry had wisely learned his lesson.

Harry had spent a fair bit of his summer contemplating the Prophecy. The only one that could defeat Voldemort was him according to the Prophecy. Somewhere inside of him he had realized this after their third meeting in Harry’s second year. Why else would a dark wizard concentrate on trying to kill just one person if he wasn’t a threat?

-x-x-x-x-x-

The morning of September 1st was yet another busy one for the Weasley family. After having seven children, each one attending Hogwarts and therefore doing this for some years, you’d think that the family would have learned to pack the night before but alas, it was all down to the last minute. Thankfully the Ministry had provided cars as ‘The Chosen One’ was amongst the Weasley family. Harry felt that had he not been at the Burrow, there wouldn’t have been any Ministry cars.

“Au revoir, ‘Arry’ said Fleur throatily, kissing him goodbye. Ron hurried forwards, looking hopeful, but Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur’s feet. Furious, red faced and dirt-spattered, he hurried into the car without saying goodbye.

The trip from there on was a quiet one, each of the passengers in their own thoughts, or in Ron’s case, embarrassment.

King’s Cross Station heralded two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in Muggle suits who flanked Harry, more than the Weasleys, from the moment he got out of the car till he passed through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

The Hogwarts Express stood on the tracks amidst large amounts of steam. The platform was full of students and parents bidding their children farewell and luck. Now that Voldemort’s existence was revealed, albeit a year after he returned, some students did not return despite there being safety in numbers and the fact that Hogwarts had one of the best ward systems in Magical Britain.

Hermione and Ron passed through the barrier seconds after Harry, and just by eye-contact Hermione followed Harry onto the train to find an empty compartment. After storing their trunks safely in the compartment, Hermione reminded Harry that she and Ron had to go to the prefect carriage for their briefing for the year. Nodding, Harry made his way back outside to bid the Weasley parents farewell. He thought about telling Mr. Weasley, as a Ministry employee, about Malfoy being a Death Eater but already imagined him giving the same response as Ron.

“I doubt that You-Know-Who would allow a sixteen-year-old to join the Death Eaters.”

What would follow would be a pointless argument of whether Mr. Weasley knew what Voldemort would or wouldn’t do. So by deciding against, Harry left the Weasleys on a high note and made to return to his compartment. Avoiding the unabashed stares that half the people he passed gave him, Harry made his way down the train till he saw Ginny.

Nearly stumbling into her as the train finally lurched out of the platform, he gave her a tap on the shoulder and asked, “Need to find a compartment?”

“That’s alright, Harry, I’m meeting Dean,” she replied happily, and continued searching for him amongst the students.

After several collisions and apologies, and another fifty people staring at him, Harry entered his compartment. To his surprise, and a good one for once, Harry found Neville and Luna already seated.

“Hi, Harry!” Neville said brightly. “We saw your trunk in here and thought you’d prefer us to your numerous fans in here,” he continued with a smirk. The summer had treated Neville well. He was tanned, with a bit more muscle and a maturing face with only a few traces of the former chubbiness left. Neville had also grown a bit, to equal Harry in height but with a bit more weight behind him.

“Neville!” Harry responded. “Too right I’d prefer your company to the hundreds of idiots out there who don’t even try to hide their stares anymore.”

After giving Neville a handshake, Harry turned to Luna and sat beside her. “How’re you Luna? Enjoy your summer?” he asked.

Luna looked up from The Quibbler that she was reading upside down again and with her usual dreamy voice greeted Harry. “Very well thank you! My father and I went on a holiday. We didn’t expect one this year but that article you gave us last year sold so much that we were able to go to Romania to research their mythical creatures.”

Harry, used to Luna’s peculiarity, suspected that she and her father went off in search of a creature like the ‘Crumbled Horned Snorkack’ that lived in Romania. Whether or not you believed in the creatures that Luna spoke off, The Quibbler magazine was circulating better than ever, also as a side effect to his article the previous school year.

“That’s great to hear,” Harry said sincerely. “You’re both all right after the Department of Mysteries?” he asked as he shifted his eyes between them both. Luna just smiled and nodded enthusiastically while Neville spoke his affirmative. Harry had meant to contact them both during the summer but there was always something on his mind preventing him when he actually had alone time at the Burrow.

The three drifted into a semi-comfortable silence for the next minute before Harry and Neville heard giggling outside their compartment door. There was a flurry of words spoken by the several girls outside the door that Harry couldn’t grasp before the compartment door suddenly opened. Harry, hand ready on his wand, spoke first.

“Yes?”

A girl with large dark eyes and long black hair took a step in front of the rest of the giggling girls. “Hi, Harry, I’m Romilda Vane,” she opened with. “Why don’t you join us in our compartment rather than sit with them?” She added the last part with poorly concealed distaste in her voice.

Harry turned back to look at Neville who was reaching in his trunk for something unknown, and Luna who was putting on a pair of unusual glasses that came with her magazine. Certainly they were an odd pair to be seated with, but they were important to him. They fought side by side with him unflinchingly at the Department of Mysteries.

Harry turned back to Romilda, who had an expectant look on her face. “Neville. Luna. In your eyes they are hardly ‘cool’, am I right?” he queried. Romilda smiled as she nodded. Harry nodded too as his guess was proved to be a right one. “Neville and Luna, full knowing they were going to fight Death Eaters, came with me to the Department of Mysteries without hesitation.” Harry paused to see Romilda’s reaction. Her initial expectant look had been turned into one of confusion and fear at the mention of Death Eaters.

Inwardly smiling at her fear, Harry continued. “Despite the danger, they came with me and fought two-to-one odds against wizards twice our age and managed to draw level with them for a good twenty minutes before we began to lose. Would you have done the same? Come with me, without hesitation into battle without knowing the odds or chances of survival?”

Romilda and her giggling friends were shocked into silence. That silence was good enough for Harry.

“I thought so. I think this answers your question quite thoroughly. It’s nice to meet you Romilda.” Harry got up and Romilda took a step backwards involuntarily. “It’s not me you should be scared of you know.” Smirking, Harry closed the compartment door and turned back to his two friends who were beaming at him. Feeling happy with himself, Harry retook his seat next to Luna and struck a leisurely conversation about their summers.

Harry was on his way home, with two of the people he trusted the most. It was one of the rare moments in his life, and getting rarer still, that he was content.

Glancing at his watch amidst the conversation, Harry saw that the time was eleven thirty.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Bellatrix was uncomfortable. For the last two hours now, she had stuck herself to the ceiling of one of the compartments that ended up, coincidentally but fortunately, to contain Draco Malfoy and several other future Death Eaters. However, people could still come in at any time so she had to remain under her Invisibility Cloak and stuck to the ceiling. Unused to such conditions, her head was throbbing.

Her partners Rowle and Travers had it considerably better in her opinion. The racks designed to carry the trunks of the students were magically expanded to accommodate both the Disillusioned Death Eaters and the Slytherins’ trunks.

The Dark Lord’s knowledge of the wards at King’s Cross proved to be very helpful. The attack, naturally, couldn’t happen at the station. There were just too many people and too many Aurors around. Not to say she couldn’t take them, she was Bellatrix Lestrange after all, but the aim of this mission required the element of surprise.

The Aurors had entered the train, casting Homenum Revelio to detect any invisible stowaways, such as herself. Thankfully the Aurors didn’t look up. She could’ve taken them and modified their memories but once again, the Ministry would have been alerted to the magic and known something was wrong. This part was the hardest in the mission. The dimwits that the Ministry called Aurors proved to be inept, which made her job that much easier.

Potter would be on guard for most of the trip. There were no Aurors on the train itself and the wards on the train only prevented people from entering without permission from the driver once the train left the station, not at the station itself. The loophole was supposed to be covered by the Aurors but their ineptitude allowed Death Eaters access to Potter.

Lunch time would be the time she would make her move. The students would be loud and grumbling while waiting for the trolley lady to bring them something to eat and it would be the time that they would least expect an attack. After all, Death Eaters had lunch breaks too. After all, they were on their way to the safest place in the United Kingdom. After all, an attack on the Hogwarts Express was unprecedented.

Bellatrix Lestrange would be the first to attack the Hogwarts Express, and would go down in history as the catalyst in Harry Potter’s defeat by the Dark Lord.

-x-x-x-x-x-

“Hey, Harry,” Neville spoke up. “Do you plan on continuing the DA this year?”

Harry had contemplated this for some time during his stay at the Burrow. Certainly the members of the DA managed to get all O’s in their OWLs or NEWTs but would they need it this year with Umbridge gone?

The mist that was now common throughout all times of day in London and the surrounding cities was now behind them as the train chugged through the English countryside. Harry was about to voice his thoughts when Ron and Hermione finally came by.

“Wonder what he’s up to?” Harry heard Ron speak as they made their way to his, Neville and Luna’s compartment.

“Does it matter? As long as he’s not being a pest to first years,” Harry heard Hermione answer.

The door was pulled to the side as Ron and Hermione came in. Ron was looking confused, and Hermione exasperated at Ron.

Nothing strange there. Harry mused.

“What’s up?” Harry and Neville asked at the same time.

Hermione turned and gave a warm greeting to the pair, and a less warm one to Luna who was now wearing the peculiar glasses and singing a song quietly in some strange language that the glasses deciphered for her. “Malfoy…,” she started before Ron cut across. “…He’s not out and about showing off his prefect powers. He’s just sittin’ with other Slytherins.”

Giving Ron a glare, Hermione continued from there. “Maybe Malfoy is bored with the usual prefect role after the Inquisitorial Squad?”

“Unlikely,” said Harry coldly. “He never passes up an opportunity to put someone down unless he’s planning something big.” Turning to Hermione he continued, “You should know this after five years of dealing with him.”

Hermione looked taken aback at Harry’s sharp remark. “We have no proof that he’s doing anything but glorying in the presence of his idiotic followers,” she replied defensively.

Harry, knowing that she still didn’t believe Malfoy to be anything more than a schoolyard bully, appeased her and ended the conversation there. Just as well, as the instant he decided to stop, the compartment door opened and a young third year appeared carrying two letters.

In a shy, quiet voice as she laid her eyes on Harry, she said, “I’m supposed to give these to you H-Harry.” Confused, Harry took the two letters. The girl squeaked as his hand touched hers and then turned and ran out the door.

Harry, muttering about crazy females, and then apologizing about saying that to Hermione and Luna when he caught Hermione glaring at him, passed the second letter along, which happened to be addressed to Neville, and opened his.

Harry,

I would be delighted if you would care to join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C at 1pm.

Sincerely, Professor H.E.F. Slughorn.

“Who’s Professor Slughorn?” Neville asked.

“The new Potions Profressor,” Harry answered re-reading the letter. “Which means that Snape either has left or has gotten the Defense Against the Dark Arts role at last.”

Ron looked positively livid at that revelation. “You’re not serious are you? Snape teaching Defense…we may as well get the Fake Moody back here and get him to teach us Dark Arts.”

“He won’t dare teach Dark Arts or treat us badly in class, Ronald.”

“Just like he won’t take house points from Gryffindor for no reason”

“Don’t start,” Harry interrupted the start Hermione and Ron’s next argument. “I’m not in the mood to listen to this today.” Ron gave him a thankful look, presumably for ending the argument before it started, while Hermione gave him an apologetic look before glaring at Ron a few times.

The five of them would’ve settled into a silence if it weren’t for Luna’s singing. “You’re a good singer, Luna, but I have no idea what you’re singing.” Harry said absentmindedly.

Luna just looked up from The Quibbler and smiled while singing before retreating back into the lyrical gibberish.

Hermione and Ron were still glaring at each other every so often and Harry sighed. It’s obvious that they have feelings for each other. Why won’t they just admit it already? Not that bickering every other day shows great promise for a relationship. Even I know that and I know next to nothing about how do be in a relationship. Cho is a perfect example of that.

Their compartment being one of the last on the train meant that they were amongst the last students to get lunch. The trolley lady finally arrived, interrupting that line of thinking. Since both Harry and Neville had invites, they politely declined her offer as it was only twenty more minutes before one. Ron pulled out some sandwiches that Mrs. Weasley had no doubt made this morning while Hermione went and bought some of everything. Luna just kept on singing in her quiet voice, not noticing anything different in her surroundings.

For the next fifteen minutes, everyone, minus the singing Luna, kept up small talk till Harry and Neville felt it time to leave. Harry opened the compartment door, and found the hallways pretty empty as everyone was inside their own compartment eating lunch. Neville took a step out into the corridor while Harry turned and said his goodbyes.

Just as Harry was about to close the door, there was a scream from somewhere up the train. Harry met Hermione’s and Neville’s eyes, and the three of them ran towards where the scream came from. Ron called out but Harry didn’t even bother trying to make out what he said.

Dodging past a pair of second year Ravenclaws and drawing his wand, Harry passed through into the next carriage. Ahead of him, Harry saw two unconscious unnamed students with nobody else in sight. Harry stopped, with Neville and Hermione a step behind him. Here were two unconscious students, with no attacker in sight. Harry knew it was likely that the attacker had already left but something in his gut told him otherwise.

”Prepare yourselves,” Harry whispered to Neville and Hermione. “Accio Invisibility Cloak!”

Much to Harry’s surprise, there was a grunt and a thud from a compartment at the end of the carriage and a Cloak came flying through the now open doorway to rest in front of Harry.

“Down!” Harry yelled to his companions. The three hit the ground as two Stunners came out of nowhere. Harry raised his wand and cast a Protego shield just before another two hit them.

“Colloportus,” Harry heard, one from each end of the carriage. Nobody had yet come out of their compartments and Harry had no choice but to admit that they were trapped. There was at least one attacker at one end of the carriage and two at the other end. Neville and Hermione both cast shields while trying to find their opponents. Unfortunately there was nobody there.

Coming to the only conclusion that he could, Harry correctly assumed that their opponents were underneath the Disillusionment Charm. Three Disillusioned enemies verses three people in plain sight, stuck in-between their enemies…things weren’t looking good.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Bellatrix had had enough waiting. The trolley came by and the Slytherins bought plenty of food and gave some to the Death Eaters in hiding but there was a limit too how much waiting someone could do while stuck to a ceiling. Casting a spell silently, she unstuck herself and fell to the floor.

“It’s time to go Rowle, Travers,” she commanded.

Knowing that if she was seen leaving this compartment, the Slytherins would be under even more scrutiny in the investigation following the raid, she ordered Nott to make sure the way was clear. Even someone noticing a Disillusioned person opening and closing the doorway to this compartment would be bad enough. Thankfully though, most of the students were now inside their own compartments eating. This is what she had bet on.

Bellatrix, closely followed by her partners, moved into the next compartment. Giving the signal to the other two, she opened the first compartment and quickly silenced all the students before they could cause much of a ruckus. Rowle and Travers made their way past the other compartments, casting the Locking Charm and the Silencing Charm on each. Bellatrix ordered two of the students in her compartment outside and removed the Silencing Charms on them.

“Scream,” was all she said to the two and they complied. After giving them a few seconds, she then stunned the two and went back into the compartment. This was the part of the plan that was impossible to plan accurately. Bellatrix didn’t know where Potter would be sitting or how many people would arrive before he did, and it was impractical to make her way down the whole train searching for the compartment with Potter. There were just too many variables. It wouldn’t take too long for some of the students to try and use the Unlocking Charm to escape one of the locked compartments. Wizarding children were unprepared to defend themselves though, and the panic of an attack would cause most of them to loose their cool and forget such a simple spell to unlock the doors.

Almost naturally, Potter was the first to arrive. Bellatrix saw he was with two others but they wouldn’t be a problem this time, she would make sure of it. Giving the other two a look, she saw that Potter’s allies were the Mudblood and the Longbottom boy. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the Longbottom boy. She had hoped for this, another chance to send him to his parents.

The power she had felt from the killing of that Muggle came back to her in full force. Bellatrix was almost as close as she could come to bliss. That would be achieved during her torture of the Longbottom boy.

That moment of concentration lapse made her completely unprepared for the next thing to happen. The Cloak she was under was suddenly taken from around her and zoomed out down the hall. Potter must have figured out that his enemies were invisible. Swearing at the fact she lost the Cloak, at least momentarily, she cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself and proceeded to step out into the carriage hall.

Bellatrix cast the Locking Charm on the door she came out of and heard Rowle do the same for the door behind Potter. Now there was only one way out, and that was through Bella.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry had been in many battles in his short tenure in the wizarding world. More so than any other person his age, he was sure. Through his life, his already quick reflexes had been honed from his days at Muggle School, where he had to be quick to avoid being beaten, and then from Quidditch into what they were today. His mind had also become battle ready. He was no true strategist like Ron was, if his chess playing was any indication, but he was confident he could formulate a semi-successful plan given a few seconds. And that’s all he had.

“Keep your shields up, be ready,” Harry ordered Hermione and Neville. Harry dropped his and turned back toward where he came in and fired a weak Reductor Curse at the doorway. He heard a grunt and saw a shimmer near the doorway as the curse hit it. The Locking Charm’s magic protected the doorway from exploding from such a weak blast, as a normal one would’ve destroyed the doorway. Harry couldn’t afford to have those behind the doorway get involved in the fight. If these people, whom he was certain were Death Eaters, began to lose control, they would most likely cast the Killing Curse with reckless abandon and any innocents in the doorway could get hit by a poorly aimed spell. Nevertheless, the charm had achieved its purpose. He knew where and how his opponents were hidden.

Behind him, Harry heard the unmistakable words of a Disarming Spell. Hermione heard it too and shifted her shield in that direction, protecting Harry from the spell. Another two Disarming Spells came from behind but Neville managed to quickly strengthen his shield against the overpowered spells.

Why are they putting so much power into the Disarming Spell when it really doesn’t require much? Why aren’t they attacking properly…unless…Harry recalled that night at the end of his fourth year. Priori Incantatem. They’re not here to harm anyone, they’re after my wand.

Harry cast another Reductor Curse, this time towards the doorway at other end of the carriage. He saw the curse bounce off a shield and he fired another one, a bit stronger this time in the same spot. Hermione and Neville held up their shields, trying to think of what else they could do but defend.

Without my wand, I won’t have the Reverse Spell Effect when I duel with Voldemort. He naturally thinks that without this brother wand that I’ll be helpless against him. Unfortunately for now that is true. If I can get out of this, I’ll have to get a spare wand and train harder than before. Harry was interrupted in his thoughts by a cackling laugh that he was all too familiar with.

“Come now baby Potter! Are you just going to hide under those shields casting your pathetic spells against me? Come out and fight me properly.”

That voice was unmistakably from none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. He sensed Neville tense up. “Don’t rise, Neville,” he whispered. “We can win; don’t let her taunt you into doing something stupid.” He got a grunt in response.

“I could say the same for you, Bella,” Harry called out. “I’m not the one hiding under a Disillusionment Charm now am I?”

Bella cackled again. “You’ve got a great attitude Potter. I naturally had to stay hidden, how else could I sneak up so I could play with you? You were even kind enough to bring Longbottom to me! I owe you one Potter! Crucio!”

Neville, in his crouching position, jumped to the side to dodge the spell but crashed straight into the opposite wall with another grunt, this time with a bit of pain making its way into his voice. There was little room to maneuver. There was nowhere on this train with more room though.

“Hermione, is there a way to reveal invisible people like Invisible Ink?” Harry asked quickly.

“Homenum Revelio,” she replied.

“Homenum Revelio,” cast Harry. He saw Bellatrix materialize and the two gasps from Hermione and Neville meant that the other two were visible as well. He promised himself to give Hermione a huge hug and a thank you if they got out of this all well and good.

What happened next was pandemonium.

“Expelliarmus!” was cast by each of the fighters and wands went everywhere.

Bella’s spell caught Hermione and her wand went flying straight up, hit the ceiling then the floor and bounced out of reach. Harry’s spell caught Bella and her wand went flying across of the room towards Harry who was about to catch it when Rowle’s spell got him in the back and his wand went flying towards the Death Eater until it collided with Neville’s, Rowle’s and Travers’s wands in mid air.

With everyone disarmed, there was a scramble amongst everyone for a wand. Harry charged after his own wand and collided with a tall, thin man who he would later learn to be Travers. Both fell back with two wands between them. Harry and Travers met each others gaze, daring the other to move first. Both ended up moving at the same time.

Harry picked up a wand unfamiliar to him and cast a disarming spell at his opponent, which connected and the other’s the wand went flying down to the other end of the carriage. Travers tackled Harry to the ground, knocking the wand out of his hand and the breath out of him.

Unused to Muggle fighting, Travers did nothing to pin Harry down and instead got straight off him and went for a wand. Harry, on the other hand, had gotten used to Muggle fighting due his time at Muggle School and knew how to fight back. Harry grabbed Travers’s foot, dragging him to the ground. Knowing the man was much bigger and stronger than he was; Harry quickly got up, rolled him over and used his knees to pin him down.

The closest wand was still a few meters away. Harry wouldn’t be able to reach it without letting go, so he punched Travers across the jaw a few times before getting off of the man and lunging for the wand on the ground. He managed to pick it up, and knew it was his own. Harry rolled over and cast another Disarming Spell, unknowingly dodging an Impediment Jinx.

Harry stood and found himself back up against the door he came in. He briefly saw spectators in his peripheral vision as he got up and paid them no mind as he had little time. Harry saw Neville struggling in a tug-o-war match against an enormous blonde man whom he would later learn to be Rowle. Unfortunately Neville had the wrong end of the wand and had to keep the end of the wand away from him to prevent being cursed by a variety of curses the blonde man was yelling. Harry pointed his wand at them both and cast the Disarming Spell again. The wand flew straight up but this time Harry was ready and quickly cast a Summoning Charm before Rowle could regain the wand. The wand flew straight into Harry’s left hand and he found it to be Hermione’s wand.

Hermione, Harry saw, was dueling properly with Bellatrix at the far end of the compartment. Both of them had wands that weren’t their own and their performance suffered accordingly. Hermione was managing to shield all of Bella’s less effective curses and getting a few of her own out but neither was effectively ‘winning’.

Harry’s attention was quickly brought back to events a little closer to him when Travers started to get up and reach out for the remaining wand on the ground.

“Stupefy!” Harry yelled.

A jet of red light burst from Harry’s wand and landed smack bang in the face of Travers and he fell unconscious to the world.

Raising both wands a little higher, Harry aimed at Rowle who was now on top of Neville, and had just started to punch him a couple of times in the face.

“Stupefy!” Harry called again.

A second jet of red light burst from Harry’s wand and hit Rowle in the chest when he looked up to see who had called the spell. Neville rolled onto his stomach and sent Harry a thankful look.

“Hermione! Hit the dirt!”

Hermione fired one last spell to knock Bella of balance long enough to drop to the ground safely. As soon as Hermione began to fall, Harry cast a Reductor Curse at Bella from both wands. Not used to using two wands, Harry was momentarily drained from the simultaneous spell casting. Both Reductor Curses bounced off a hastily erected shield and ricocheted up to the ceiling where the wards around the train absorbed the damage.

Bella was looking positively mad. Clearly her plan hadn’t gone according to…well, plan. She cast another plethora of spells in Harry’s direction. Hermione and Neville were both still on the ground and relatively safe now that Bella’s attentions were concentrated on Harry.

Harry erected a shield with Hermione’s wand and cast covering fire with his own. The double spell casting was draining to him but he had to get closer to Bella if he was going to win. Charging at full speed, past the stunned bodies of Travers and Rowle, past Neville and Hermione, Harry dropped his own wand and reinforced the shield in his left hand and lurched forward, fist first into the side of Bella’s shocked, and Azkaban affected face.

The force of the blow knocked her back a few steps into the door between carriages. She realized that she was going to lose if she stuck around, Bella pointed her wand at the carriage exit that students got on and off at the stations and fired a fully charged Reductor Curse, completely blowing the door off its hinges. The door flew outwards before crashing into a tree and breaking further. Harry raised Hermione’s wand in his left hand, about to stop her when all the lights went out.

To be more accurate, the Hogwarts Express entered a tunnel.

Completely blind in the sudden darkness, Harry reached out, trying to prevent Bella from escaping. He felt some robes and he grabbed on. Neither moved until a soft voice behind Harry said “Lumos” and light filled up a small portion of the carriage hallway.

Caught unawares, Harry was suddenly flung by Bella’s movements and stumbled towards the now uncovered exit. The sound of the train and the wind filled Harry’s ears and he barely managed to stop himself falling out by grabbing onto a handle above what was left of the doorway.

Harry turned back just in time as the Hogwarts Express exited the tunnel, to miss the blinding light that was the sun. Bella however, wasn’t so lucky. Harry clenched his fist again and punched her in the jaw. It was now the sixth time in the last few minutes he had punched someone in the jaw and Harry’s had was aching with the brutal treatment it was being given. Bella stumbled backwards before hitting the opposite wall. Both raised their wands and again managed to disarm each other.

Letting out a scream of rage, Bella lunged at Harry, who managed to step to the side enough to make her lose her balance. Harry turned and kicked Bella in the backside towards the open doorway. Unable to Apparate in the Hogwarts Express, Bella grabbed onto the same handle Harry had used to keep herself from falling outside. Although that was her aim, the Hogwarts Express was now out in the open, about to cross a river on a bridge some fifty feet off the ground and she did not fancy Apparating in mid-air or falling fifty feet into a river without knowing how deep it was.

She turned back to Harry, who now held a smirk on his face.

“Sorry, Bella, this train will be taking no more passengers.”

And with that, Harry kicked Bella in the stomach with as much force behind it as he could, knocking her out into the open.

The train continued to speed through the countryside without a care in the world as Bella fell through the air towards the river. Just before hitting the water, Harry was certain he heard a ‘Pop’ that signaled Apparition but couldn’t confirm it either way as the train rounded a corner and trees obstructed his view of the river.

With a sigh, Harry turned back and walked into the carriage. He found Hermione still on the ground with a shocked and then ecstatic expression on her face once she realized he was safe.

“You can get up now,” he smirked as he bent down and offered his hand. Smiling, Hermione accepted his hand and got to her feet before enveloping her best friend in a hug, to make sure he was still there.

Neville appeared in his eye-sight mid-hug, and although he looked a bit beaten with a few bruises making their existence known on his face, he was alright.

“Thanks, Harry,” was all he could say.

“I don’t think she’s dead yet, Neville,” Harry replied. “Next time she’s all yours.”

Neville gave him a genuine smile and a thump on the back and went around collecting the remaining wands and re-stunning the captured Death Eaters.

“I’m okay Hermione,” he whispered to her. “I’m not going anywhere.” And he meant it. Voldemort or him, it was down to. One day, a duel between the two of them would decide the fate of the wizarding world. Harry knew Voldemort was a far stronger wizard at the moment, with a lifetime’s worth of experience more than Harry but that did not mean that Harry would lose.

“You better not, you’ve still got your NEWTs to do!” Hermione scolded him, releasing Harry with a smile.

Giving her a genuine laugh, he returned her wand and began the process of unlocking the carriages and un-silencing the occupants. The spectators outside the doors at both ends finally had their minds come back online and both ends were suddenly filled with students. A small but steady applause began, which erupted into full fledged cheers before long.

Normally hating attention, Harry just blushed and felt very self-conscious. He was happy, no students were seriously injured, his wand was safe, two Death Eaters were captured and he got the pleasure of besting Bellatrix in a duel of both Magical and Muggle means, and because of this he couldn’t help but get swept up in the applause and let out a genuine smile, something he hadn’t had the chance to do much of lately.

The train jerked slightly and began to slow. Seems like the cavalry has finally realized we were under attack.

Harry made his way through the crowd, picking up a dumbfounded looking Ron, and greeting the people he knew who gave him praise as he made his way back to their carriage. He found Luna in the same spot as she’d been when he left. She looked up when he entered and smiled brightly.

“I knew you’d be fine!” she said in her peculiar manner. “I’d have to come to watch but I’m too short to see over other people. You can show me in a pensieve later anyway.”

“Uh…thanks Luna,” Harry replied. She just smiled and resumed singing her strange song.

He sat down next to her and Hermione took the spot beside him. Neville and Ron sat beside each other on the other side. Ron just stared at Harry unabashedly while Neville winced a bit when he moved his facial muscles in a certain manner.

The train stopped before reaching Hogsmeade as it was only one-twenty.

“Hey, Neville,” Harry started, and to which Neville perked up. “Consider the DA back on.”

Hermione turned to him with a questioning look on her face, Ron retained the dumbfounded expression from before, Neville gave him a smile, followed by a wince and Luna just gave Harry another bright smile and continued to sing.

-x-x-x-x-x-