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Chapter 26 -- Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood

Harry let it be known that he had plans to handle an invasion at the school. He realized that there was no way he could count on many to actually help him fight. He saw that people believed in concept that they could be invaded, but he could also see that they didn't really grasp the very real possibility of their own deaths. They'd been raised as sheep for too many generations, told that they should never fight, never defend themselves, always rely on the intervention of authority figures, always call the cops.

He also knew that Voldemort would not wait until 8am on April 1st, the time and date of the challenge. Not only would the Dark Lord not have the aid of the one hundred eighteen (including Malfoy)dead death eaters, but now he was in serious jeopardy of losing his remaining followers. Harry Potter had challenged him, and then attacked him. The death eaters would be looking to see if their lord was indeed worth following.

That Saturday he had, with the help of Luna's Hogwarts aspect, verified that all the little death nibblers had departed. There had been no need to call the aurors after all. Even the most stubborn of them knew about the confrontations with the two Malfoys, and the squibbing of Pansy Parkinson

Over the next few days after his duel with Malfoy, Harry worked with the acting Headmistress. She took very seriously being charged with the safety and well-being of all students at Hogwarts, and she cared about the faculty as well. He had to make sure that she was confident that none of her students would be harmed, and that took a great deal of convincing. He even took her to a quiet room to demonstrate some of what he was going to do.

In the end, it was his quiet confidence, coupled with a demonstration of nearly-incalculable power, that won her over. When he revealed part of what he had planned, even the hardened older woman had to admit that it had a great possibility of working. But faith alone was not enough to satisfy her; she spent quite a bit of time with him hammering out an approach that was more than belt-and-suspenders. It was more like belt-and-suspenders-and-spare-belt-and-staples-and-rivets-and-safety-pins.

School days and classes marched on... though if anyone had thought to stop a student in their hurried transit to and fro, few of those students would have been able to report what had transpired in the class they'd just departed. They were going through the motions, but everyone in and around the castle knew just exactly what was important, what was coming, and what it meant.

Harry had no illusions either, concerning Riddle. The wiley trickster was insanely powerful, and just plain insane. He also had the advantage of his own private army. Some served because they believed Voldemort's raving about blood supremacy, some because of fear, and some because they got their rocks off hurting people.

The Boy-Who-Lived also had no illusions about the Dork Lord waiting until 8am on April 1st.

***

Wednesday, March 26th, 1997

"Harry?" asked Luna.

"Hmmm?"

"Harry, why have you been staying nights in the castle? I mean, we know you don't really like to stay here."

Harry sat up at that. He, Luna and Hermione were in the Room of Requirement, where the two girls could do their prep without being disturbed. He answered,"Why would you say such a thing? I love Hogwarts, and she loves me!"

"Harryyyyy..." said Luna with a pout that made Hermione try to stifle a grin.

"I have always loved this castle," he said. "Ever since I found out it was here, and what it was all about. It's just that some of the people who have lived here at the time have made life rather... stressful."

Hermione broke in, "Well, you've fixed that already. You already got rid of most of the 'stressful' people who were here. Is that why you're here every night now?"

"No, ladies. I'm here every night because Iknow Riddle is going to attack soon. I'm no seer, but I have a feeling he won't wait until April Fools'Day. He has hidden himself from my scrying somehow, so I can't see where he is directly. But I have a feeling he's close," he concluded, tapping his scar with a forefinger. "Closer all the time."

"You know, Harry," Hermione said, "Just a few months ago and your friends would all have been screaming at you for being crazy enough to try to prevent us from helping you. At least you should let the aurors know what you're planning, even if you won't tell us."

"Yes, yes, we've all heard the sermon on how important it is to tell the teacher when there's a bully. That's what got us into this mess in the first place."

Hermione flushed and lowered her eyes as Luna looked on, her normal dreamy expression firmly in place. "Harry, I know Iwas wrong to trust Dumbledore, but you have to admit I had your best interests at heart."

"No I don't," Harry retorted. "You didn't do what you did because of something I needed; you did it because of something you/thought I /should need. That's not the same, and you will have to learn that. Stubborn or not." He let a corner of his mouth rise in aslight grin, to try to take some of the sting out of his words.

"Just because you proved that one man was hurting you doesn't mean that all of them are. There are people around you who genuinely care for your well-being. Like Luna and me, for example."

Harry sighed. "Hermione, when you went to Muggle elementary school, what did they teach you to do if you ever got lost?"

"Find a policeman, of course! Look for the uniform, find a policeman, and he would help you get home." Hermione looked proud that she had remembered her early schooling.

"Exactly. Now, when is the last time you saw apoliceman in uniform walking a beat? No, don't talk, listen," he said when she started to argue. "There are two general kinds of person who become policemen, or aurors. One group is made up of starry-eyed young people who see opportunities, and want to change the world into a better place. Another group is made up of those who want an easy government job, and like to be able to bully and boss people around, ignore red lights, and steal an apple whenever they like.

"After the young idealists are on the force for a few years, they find out that they cannot change the world after all. So they become embittered and hardened to suffering, or leave the force. So who does that leave waking the beat? The policeman is not your friend. His only friend is another cop."

Hermione was incensed. "Harry, how could you become so cynical--" She stopped that line of thought when she saw Harry raise his hair to show the scar. "Yes, well... But that can't be the way the world works!"

"Are you just going to continously gainsay what I have said, or try to refute it? Use your mind first. Then tell me which thing I have said is false, and why." Not letting her off the hook, he looked directly into her red face as she sputtered.

"But... well... Har... Harry, is that how you see the world?" She looked ready to cry, and probably was.

Smacking his hand on the table with a loud 'crack!', he said, "Think, Hermione! Don't recite, don't spout platitudes, and don't regurgitate what you've been spoon-fed." That got her attention, and she was getting angry for being spoken to sharply. "No, I didn't say get mad, I said think. Evaluate the information you have, and arrive at a conclusion of your own!"

Freddie's voice came from Luna's placid face. "Hermione, this is a critical point in your life -- perhaps one of the most critical. You have learned more about Harry than anyone alive except Harry himself. You have seen his scars. You have seen his treatment, his torment. What event or element in his entire life could possibly have suggested to him that any authority figure --teacher, adult, preacher, government, auror, /any/-- would be someone to turn to?"

Hermione was openly weeping now. "Oh, Harry, how could you just hate everybody so much?"

"Did I kiss you today?"

"Yes, but--"

"Did I kiss Luna today?"

"Yes, but--"

"Do I kiss people I hate?"

"Huh, no."

"Then, do I hate you?"

"No."

"Then, do I hate everybody?"

"That's not what I meant at all, Harry Potter!" Hermione was quite indignant.

"Isn't it? Are you a parrot?" he asked, getting little louder.

"There's no need to be insulting!"

"Answer the question, please."

"No!"

"Then stop. Parrots recite. Children react emotionally. True intellect shows through original thought. You are reported to have one of the finest minds in the building, and you continuously cram information into your head, and you know what it's for." His voice was calm once more, seeing that he had successfully made his point. "Now bring it with you, and turn it on."

Luna said, "The world isn't what we want it to be, or what we wish it could be, or what we pretend it is. It is what it is." It was, perhaps, the saddest thing anyone had ever heard Luna say. That, as much as anything else, drove home what Harry was trying to teach the young Gryffindor.

"So, are you saying I should give up all my ideals?" sniffed Hermione.

"No, love. I hope you never lose your ideals of what life and the world can become. I just want you to see that the starting point for changing the world isn't where you thought it was."

The three gave up all pretense of studying, and just held each other for a while.