535Author's Note: So the long awaited next chapter is finally out before the end of the weekend, as promised. It took me a surprisingly short amount of time to write this which is hopefully a good indicator for future chapters.
Anyone who wishes to support me and my writing (and in the process give me more time to write for you) can go to p/atreon .com (slash) SephiranLehran. All of my writing on there is my own original creation meaning you won't be able to find it anywhere else so give it a look.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.
The Stage
"I need to know who I can trust."
Harry growled in frustration as the spell he and Hermione were attempting to create still didn't turn out as intended. It was meant to fire off multiple bolts of energy that could hone in on up to seven targets but at the moment they just went in random directions. It had been two weeks since Voldemort attacked the Ministry and Harry and Hermione both agreed that they needed more of an edge. They were both powerful and had become much more experienced over the past several months but it was now necessary for them to be more unconventional. Both knew that Voldemort's magical knowledge extended far beyond theirs so they were responding by creating entirely new spells, the idea being that the Dark Lord couldn't prepare for what he didn't know about.
Thus far they had managed to create a spell that conjured a ball of fire that would explode on impact and one that would push them forward in any given direction, which was Harry's personal favorite. They had also managed to gain mastery over using the Fulmisium spell without a wand, though Harry was attempting to manipulate it even further. It still didn't result in the prolonged lightning that was produced from their wand, instead forming as a ball of lightning like when Harry used it wandlessly on the train, but they were currently able to focus the spell so that it didn't affect them. Harry however wanted to take it even further, making it last longer and deliver more than just a ball of electricity. His goal was to make the spell able to deliver an electric shock throughout the target's entire body when the user grabbed them, similar in effect to a muggle defibrillator but with a more powerful shock. It seemed that he was making considerable progress, as he proved by grabbing the practice dummy and causing lightning to visibly course throughout its entire body. A bright "6" appeared over its head, indicating the pain a real person would feel. It wasn't as high as Harry was hoping but it was a step in the right direction.
The battle at the Ministry had taught Harry and Hermione something very important: Witches and Wizards, especially the Death Eaters, relied too much on spell work during a fight. While it made sense, that was the way they had been raised after all, it didn't negate the fact that they gave absolutely no thought to close range combat. The movements for most spells were often long, making spell work unsuitable for fighting in close quarters, and the two teens were seeking to exploit that weakness. Many of the spells they were designing were either made specifically for fighting at close range or weren't hindered by range. In addition they were learning basic forms of Muggle fighting, not enough to fight even beginner Muggles but more than enough to be a threat to the Death Eaters.
In addition to developing new spells, Harry, Hermione, and Ron when possible were all revamping their dueling style. On the surface it seemed they were simply adding close combat fighting but the reality was much more than that. It had quickly become clear to them that fighting at close range was easy but transitioning from ranged to physical contact fighting wasn't as easy as it appeared. In order to truly be effective they needed to practice just as Muggles did, and most likely even more than they did. While it wasn't something they could put off, it did stretch Harry even thinner than he already was and he was finally beginning to see what Hermione had been talking about when she first brought it up several months ago. It gave him even more of a reason for the decision he had made but it still didn't make it any easier.
"Did you notice anything this time?" he asked Hermione as she came out of the Pensieve they were borrowing from the Ministry. Both of them had noticed how Voldemort's spells all seemed to miss Harry and they were determined to find out why. They needed to know if it was something that could be relied on or if it was a random fluke.
"Nothing," the young Witch replied with a shake of her head. "The only thing I really noticed was that Voldemort's wand was different. Harry, what if he finally found the Elder Wand?"
"He might have," Harry agreed, though he didn't seem too overly concerned about it. "If he has then I don't think he's the master of it. The wand is supposed to be incredibly powerful but it didn't seem like he was much more dangerous than usual."
"So that means we need to find out who is the master of it," she mused. Harry nodded his agreement but didn't say anything, choosing instead to turn back to the practice dummy and continue his spell work. "Have you still not been able to direct the bolts?" Harry shook his head, this time nearly yelling out in anger when the spell still didn't cooperate.
"I've succeeded in refining the Fulmisium spell even more but no matter what I do I can't seem to get this one to work right!"
"Maybe we're going about it the wrong way," Hermione offered as she stepped in front of the dummy as well. She fired off the spell which did exactly the same as Harry's had done, though they noticed the bolts did slightly curve right before they dissipated against the wall. She tried again and this time they turned sharply but there still wasn't enough time before they hit the wall. Harry gave her a quizzical look and she just shrugged. "We'll need to slightly change the wording but it looks like we'll be able to make it work with enough concentration.
"C'mon love, we need to get to the Great Hall. Are you still gonna say something to them?" she further inquired as they changed from their sweaty clothes into their Hogwarts uniform. Despite the fact that they were only going to eat, they still felt the need to set an example for the rest of the students, not because of Umbridge but because of the tradition of the school.
"I'm gonna have to," the Boy-Who-Lived responded, pulling his shirt over his head. "You were right back in October, I can't keep doing this. I should've listened to you then." Hermione merely nodded her agreement and the two of them continued dressing in silence. Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in the Great Hall at Gryffindor Table surrounded by Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna. At the moment the six of them were laughing at an unfortunate incident that Ron had recently been involved in but Harry was constantly waiting for the right minute to drop his news on them.
"I need to talk to you lot about something important," he finally began during a break in the conversation. The four of them immediately gave him their undivided attention, showing how much they respected him and how much they valued him as a friend. "I've finally realized that I'm trying to do too much. Yes I know you told me this already," he quickly added, seeing the look that Ron and Ginny exchanged with Hermione, "but I didn't realize how difficult I was making things for myself until recently. Ron I'd like you to take over Quidditch and Ginny, Neville, Luna, I'd like you three to take over leasing and teaching the DA. I'll still be playing of course and I'll officially still be the Captain, I don't think I can just change that in the middle of the season, but you'll be calling all the shots. And I'll still be at the meetings and helping out but you three will be in charge. Is that alright?" The four of them looked at each other before Ron answered.
"Yeah of course it is mate. You know we'll do whatever we can to help you but will this be enough? It doesn't seem like you're giving up much."
"I'm giving up responsibility, which is an enormous weight off my shoulders. I can choose whether to be at the meetings or not and I don't have to worry about coming up with the plays or anything, I can just concentrate on playing." Ron nodded his understanding and pressed on to another subject.
"I assume you still haven't figured out anything?"
"We think he's found the wand he was looking for," Hermione replied with a shake of her head, "but nothing more than that. It didn't seem like it really worked right for him."
"So he's most likely not the master of it," Neville voiced immediately. They all knew that Voldemort was looking for a specific wand, though Neville, Ginny, and Luna weren't aware he was looking for the Elder Wand, and the three had been trying to figure out why, not realizing that it was mostly because of Harry. The other three knew they couldn't let them in on the details and let them continue to speculate, preferring to let them believe they were helping. "So if he's not the master of it then why is he even using it?"
"Don't forget that Voldemort doesn't believe the laws of magic apply to him mate," Ron responded, causing Neville to give a nod of consent. "He believes that just by having it he can use it however he wants. We're not in any hurry to tell him otherwise. Do you think he'll ever realize it?" the redhead directed to Harry.
"Probably," he responded with a shrug, "but I hope we've figured out something by that point." Ron decided not to probe Harry further and settled for returning to his food. The group stayed together until the Great Hall was nearly and went their separate ways. Hermione had had a thoughtful look on her face for most of the meal and didn't participate much in their conversations, letting Harry know that she had something to talk to him about sooner or later. Sure enough they had barely been back at Grimmauld Place for more than a few minutes before she opened up.
"Harry I know we had some issues lately, which I view as more of an extended fight than a break up, but I feel like we're back in a good place and I have to ask you something I've been thinking about lately. I know I'm only eighteen and you're seventeen but this is a serious relationship for me. When I think about my future you're in it. I can see us getting married and having kids and I want that. This isn't just something I'm doing until I can find someone better or find the person I really want. You are who I really want and I just wanna make sure that you feel the same way and I'm not wasting my time. It wouldn't be fair to either of us." Harry heaved a great sigh, knowing that he couldn't give her the exact answer she wanted, and turned to face her.
"I try not to think too much about the future Mione. I don't even know if I'm gonna make it past this war. When I do think about my future though I see you in it. I'm very serious about this relationship but I don't wanna give either of us false hope. We both know that there's a very real possibility we won't make it to the future so for now I'm content to live in the moment. If we do make it past this though then you're the one I wanna be with."
Hermione nodded her understanding and let herself fall into her boyfriend's arms, tears of both joy and sorrow threatening to fall from her eyes. Their lovemaking that night was slow and passionate, each trying to pour all their emotion into it. Long after Harry had fallen asleep, Hermione found herself still awake at his side just looking at him. While she didn't want to acknowledge the truth of words the fact was he was right that they may not live through the war but he at least admitted that he wanted to be with her if they did. After what seemed like ages Hermione fell into a fitful sleep, vowing to herself that she was never going to lose him again.
The Hog's Head Inn was known by many to attract some seedy customers, though Aberforth Dumbledore did little to change that. Whether he genuinely didn't care or used it as an excuse to spy, no one was sure but he took advantage of it nonetheless. Not realizing that their barman was actually a member of the Order of the Phoenix, despite his participation in the Second Battle of Hogsmeade, many Death Eaters were known to frequent the place. Harry knew of this of course and used it as a way of further spying on the enemy, using their overconfidence that they were safe against them.
Truth be told Aberforth preferred Harry's leadership over that of his brother's and was more willing to help the young man. While Albus was a great leader, there was no denying that, his approach was too cautious for Aberforth's taste. Albus hesitated to use some of the resources presented to him out of a fear of getting anyone else killed but Harry had no such restrictions. The young man knew that everyone in the Order of the Phoenix was prepared to give their life to stop Voldemort and reacted accordingly, letting them decide their own limitations instead of imposing them himself. As a result Harry was much more proactive and aggressive than Albus, realizing that deaths were inevitable and seeking to limit them by refusing to let Voldemort get too much of a foothold. It was with this in mind that Harry didn't try to stop the Death Eaters from gathering at the Hog's Head and let Aberforth listen in on their conversations.
Most nights the pub was filled with veteran Death Eaters who knew just enough of their master's plans to be slightly useful but tonight was different. Most of the men Aberforth served were unknown to him and seemed to be some of the newer members of Voldemort's inner circle. None of them had any useful information, a disappointment to be sure, but the reason they were there was very interesting in and of itself. From what Aberforth was able to ascertain they were all unhappy with something, though what that something was he couldn't be sure, and had apparently gathered without Voldemort's knowledge to deal with said problem. Fortunately the old barkeep didn't have to wait long to find out.
"Hem, hem." The unmistakable fake cough of the Hogwarts Headmistress could be heard clearly over the din of conversation and everyone quoted as they turned toward the door. "We all know why we're here," she began, not even taking the time to greet them or introduce herself. "Harry Potter." Many of the others nodded in agreement.
"Yeah I thought we'd be in charge by now but Potter keeps getting in our way and the Dark Lord is starting to become obsessed with defeating him," one of the men said. "I didn't think a boy would give us this much trouble and a Half-Blood at that!"
"Yes he's been giving me a lot of trouble at Hogwarts," Umbridge responded. It wasn't lost on many of them that she practically didn't acknowledge the problems the boy was causing the Dark Lord but none of them said anything for now. "Fortunately I happen to be in a prime position to eliminate him. I know that the Dark Lord wants to kill him himself but I'm sure that he'll thank me after it's all said and done. It's for the best after all," she added with a sickening, girlish giggle.
"And how are you gonna do that?" one of the men asked. Umbridge dropped her false smile and glared at him as the others looked at him with expressions ranging from amusement to bemusement. He was a rather large man with his hood up so none of them could see his expression but the time of his voice suggested he was toying with the squat woman. Most of them hadn't even had a full conversation with the man but he was one of the few who dared to openly disagree with Voldemort, ironically earning the Dark Lord's respect in the process. "Potter has been right under your nose since September and you still haven't been able to stop him."
"How dare you?!" Umbridge shrieked, drawing her wand. Before any of them could stop her she had sent a hex to the man, who batted it away with a casual flick of his wand.
"Don't try that with me, Umbridge. I've held my own against Granger. Next to her you're nothing."
"You're comparing me to that Mudblood?"
"Mudblood or not she's still a powerful Witch. Even the Dark Lord admits that. There's really no comparison between you two. And at any rate who the bloody hell are you to decide what's best for the Dark Lord? You're not even an actual Death Eater." Umbridge looked like she was about to cast another spell but struggled to compose herself and settle for answering the man instead.
"You don't have to know everything. Spreading lies like that could get you punished." One of the other men cleared his throat before the first man could respond, attempting to bring the conversation back on point.
"So I assume you have some kind of plan to rid us of Potter, Dolores?"
"Indeed I do but I will not discuss it here. I didn't call you all together for that, I called you because I'll need your help when it's time. I need to know who I can trust." As was almost predictable, every one of them agreed to help except for the man in the hood. Umbridge had barely finished speaking when he got up and left, clearly wanting no part in her plan. None of the others commented on his departure, choosing to merely listen to Umbridge tell them that she would contact them when she needed them before leaving as well. Behind the bar Aberforth waited until he was certain that all of them were gone before sending a Patronus letting Harry know what he had learned. It wasn't much and it definitely wasn't a surprise that Umbridge was trying to eliminate him but the fact that there was seemingly dissension in Voldemort's ranks and that the Headmistress was working with some of them was news the Boy-Who-Lived needed to know.
Harry was currently sitting in Transfiguration class with his mind about as far away from the lesson as possible. The past couple of weeks had been especially good for him (he and Hermione had finally perfected their arrow spell and created three more entirely new ones) and he was now trying to determine why Voldemort's spells all seemed to have no effect on him in their last battle. At this point the teen was almost certain that the older man had the Elder Wand which made it even more unusual that he couldn't defeat him. Harry knew he had seen the wand before but try as he might he couldn't remember where. He did remember seeing it in Gregorovitch's memory through Voldemort's eyes but he was sure he had seen it in real life as well. He felt that if he could just remember where he had seen it he could figure everything out.
The Boy-Who-Lived has also been trying to figure out who the young man who stole the wand was. Again he was sure that he had seen him somewhere else but couldn't remember where. For some reason he kept thinking of Dumbledore but had no idea why. Suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning struck his brain, the teen remembered seeing the young man in Rita Skeeter's book about Dumbledore. If he remembered correctly the caption of the picture had said that it was a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald, meaning that it was Grindelwald who had stolen the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch. In an instant Harry also remembered where he had seen the wand: it was the same one that Dumbledore was using the night he died. In fact, now that Harry thought more about it, he seemed to remember it being the only wand the late Headmaster ever used.
Like the last piece of a puzzle everything suddenly clicked into place for Harry. Grindelwald had stolen the wand from Gregorovitch originally, it made sense after all: like most Dark Wizards Grindelwald was obsessed with power and the wand maker was foolish enough to brag to anyone who would listen that he had the Elder Wand. From there it was easy to trace. Nobody was able to defeat Grindelwald until Dumbledore finally did, meaning that ownership of the Elder Wand passed to him. Unlike most people, Dumbledore was humble enough to keep the knowledge to himself so Harry was confident that he was one of only two people who knew the deceased Wizard had the wand, the other of course being Voldemort. Dumbledore had remarkably gone for the rest of his life without being defeated until the night he died when Lucius Malfoy both Disarmed and killed the older Wizard. Malfoy didn't make it through that night though before Harry defeated and tortured him into insanity, which meant only one thing.
"Harry?" The young man heard his name being called and pulled himself back to reality, seeing the unusually worried face of Professor McGonagall looking at him. His eyes went wide and he blinked in surprise at his lapse but it only took him a few seconds to regain his composure.
"I have to go Minerva," he announced to the older woman. "I'm alright but it's urgent." The professor hesitated slightly before nodding her consent and Harry haphazardly shoved his books into his bag before rushing out of the classroom, not even bothering to stop or say anything to Hermione or Ron. The young brunette Witch watched him go before turning to her teacher and raising her hand, though she didn't wait until it was fully in the air to address the older woman.
"Minerva can I?" She didn't even get to finish her sentence before she was dismissed, uncharacteristically shoving her books into her bag as Harry had just done and taking off after him. Ron, who by this point had put his own books away as well, stood up without even asking permission.
"Er, sorry Minerva." He left without a dismissal, though in her shocked state McGonagall didn't notice, and followed his two friends. Harry was walking so fast that he was already about to start down the stairs at the end of the corridor and Hermione and Ron almost had to run to keep up with him.
"Harry what's going on?" Hermione queried as she tried to keep up. "What's wrong?"
"I'm the master of the Elder Wand," the Boy-Who-Lived simply responded without even slowing down. Ron and Hermione stopped just long enough to exchange disbelieving looks then hurried to catch back up with him.
"Are you sure mate? That sounds barmy to me."
"Yes I'm sure Ron." Harry was walking even faster now to the point that Ron was nearly straining himself and Hermione had broken out into a light jog. "The person I saw steal the wand from Gregorovitch was Grindelwald. I knew I had seen him somewhere but I couldn't remember where until I thought about seeing him in that book about Dumbledore. They used to be friends growing up and I'm willing to bet that both of them wanted the wand at some point in time. Like most Dark Wizards, Grindelwald wanted power so of course he was drawn to it. Once he got it he was never defeated until Dumbledore beat him and took the wand for himself but he was smart enough to not brag about it." Harry was already on the first floor and walking across the entryway while the other two struggled to keep pace with him.
"No one would have ever thought he'd have the wand so he was free to use it over the years. I had seen him use it multiple times of course but I never thought there was anything weird about it and I didn't even remember that it was his until just now. Dumbledore somehow went the rest of his life without ever being defeated so he continued to hold ownership of the wand until the night he died. Lucius Malfoy Disarmed him in the tower and then killed him, finally defeating Dumbledore right at the end of his life. He didn't know what he had just done though and we all know what I did to him later that night. So I think it's safe to say that I defeated Malfoy not long after he defeated Dumbledore, meaning the ownership of the Elder Wand passed to me."
"But Voldemort doesn't know that," Hermione helpfully added between breaths. "And even if he did it wouldn't matter to him. All he cared about was that Dumbledore had the wand and he thought that just by taking it, it would make him unbeatable.
"So what did he do?" Ron asked, still surprised at how fast Harry was going. "Come to Hogwarts, break into Dumbledore's grave-" The three of them stopped at Dumbledore's desecrated tomb, immediately noticing that his wand was gone.
"And take the Elder Wand for himself," Harry finished.
"Well at least now we know," Hermione mused. The other two merely nodded their agreement as the three continued to stare at Dumbledore, Ron in shock, Hermione in thought, and Harry in grim acceptance.