FicWad

Wednesday, July 31, 1996

Appearing with a 'pop'on the sidewalk of a rundown neighbourhood, Bill Weasley focussed on the space between houses number eleven and thirteen, and watched as number twelve Grimmauld Place appeared as if from nowhere. Stepping up to the door, the tapped it with his wand. The clattering of locks disengaging sounded loudly, before the door creaked open. He entered the house and relocked the entrance behind him.

Removing his invisibility cloak, the redhead strode quietly down the long entry hall, approaching a door near the far end. Raising a tentative hand toward the door he watched it hit an invisible barrier before making contact. As expected, there was an Imperturbable Charm on the door. And, if the conspicuous absence of his younger siblings attempting to listen in was any clue, they had figured that out too.

He stepped back and raised his wand.

"Finite Incantatem."

Charm successfully dispelled, he turned the handle, opening the door to a set of narrow stone stairs. Closing it behind him he recast the charm and descended to the kitchen.

Reaching the room, he found Mad-Eye Moody staring at him. No doubt the wizard had been following his progress since the moment he Apparated onto the doorstep. He nodded respectfully to retired Auror and received a brief nod in response before the man turned his attention elsewhere.

The rest of the room was filled with numerous witches and wizards of various ages and appearances. The meeting had apparently already started, as at the moment Professor Snape was making his report to the Order.

"Bill. Sit down, sit down," his mum ordered quietly, appearing at his elbow. "Here, have some stew."

He let her lead him to a seat beside Tonks and fill a bowl with a delicious smelling concoction, noticing that several others about the table had had his mother's cooking pressed upon them also.

"Thanks mum," he said and kissed her on the cheek.

She gave him a fond look and shuffled away.

"It's good," Tonks muttered from beside him, swallowing a spoonful from her own bowl.

"My mother made it," he replied with a slight grin. "Course it's good."

As he dug into his meal, he listened peripherally to Snape's comments that Voldemort was planning to utilise Mountain Trolls. He had never liked the man and, as with most of the people in the room, only trusted him because he had Dumbledore's backing. Still, he couldn't deny the Slytherin usually had the most interesting, useful and current information on the War front.

As always Snape left once he had made his report and the rest of the group immediately seemed more cheerful for it. Dumbledore stood up next.

"Before I call up the next speaker," the old man said, "William, do you have anything to report?"

"Just that Harry was up and about," the curse breaker replied calmly, ignoring the murmurs from the crowd. "And I have a message for you from him. I reckon it can wait till after the meeting though. I don't know whether it should be private or not."

A few Order members objected but Dumbledore hushed them all.

"Very well," the old wizard agreed with a nod.

"How was he though Bill?" his mother blurted out. "You can tell us that at least."

"He's looking a lot better," he replied honestly. "And I'm pretty sure I heard him asking for seconds for dinner from his Aunt, so he's eating well enough."

It was an unspoken agreement in the Order to portray Harry's situation in the best possible light when in the presence of Molly Weasley. The first night a guard had reported overhearing Harry refuse food, and that they thought they'd heard him crying, she had kicked up a huge fuss, and been near unbearable to live around till she calmed down.

So, rather than announce their observations during the meetings, the guards instead reported privately to Dumbledore any worrying behaviour they happened to notice. Honestly though, they noticed very little. Harry had not been leaving the house or even, most suspected, his bedroom. And since the Order was not going to stoop to spying on the grieving teen, information on the young man's state was limited. Judging by what he had seen earlier that night, Bill suspected Harry had been eating very little and sleeping fitfully at best.

"That is wonderful to hear," the headmaster replied to his comments, looking honestly relieved. "And now, onto the next order of business..."

..ooOOoo..

It was a little more than an hour later. The meeting was adjourned and people were getting up to head home.

"If Alastor, Nymphadora and Emmeline could please remain behind?"

Bill smirked as Tonks, halfway out of her seat, growled in annoyance at the form of address and glared at the headmaster as she sat back down. For his part, Dumbledore gave her a mildly surprised look at the vocalisation, then a breezy smile as if he had no idea why she would be irritated with him.

Eventually the last of the people filed out, his mother being gently nudged along by his father. No doubt she wanted to stay to hear Harry's message. Bill however had no intention of mentioning in front of her that Harry wanted training. He could just imagine the outrage she would express at one of her 'children' being taught to fight, and her refusal to allow it. She could be very stubborn when she wanted to.

"But Bill is Molly was objecting.

"We can talk to him in the morning dear. He'll be here for breakfast. Won't you son?"

"Sure dad." He nodded, giving his mother a reassuring smile. "I don't start work till nine."

And then they were gone.

As Moody checked the wards and protections on the door, Dumbledore took a seat at the head of the table. Emmeline Vance a stately older woman who worked at St Mungo's remained in her seat across from him and Tonks, and Moody once the latter was satisfied with the spells hovered near the foot of the table.

"Well," Dumbledore said, breaking the silence, "you had a message from Harry?"

"I did," he conceded, giving the other three present a pointed glance. "Are you sure you don't want to hear it alone first, in case you want it kept private?"

"Good lad, thinking of security," Mad-Eye growled. "Trust no one. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Everyone in the Order was well used to this refrain from the retired Auror by now, and so none of those present jumped in surprise any longer. Truthfully, they barely reacted at all.

"It is fine William," the headmaster assured him. "If the message is what I suspect, then I would be speaking to these three soon enough anyway."

"Okay," he said with a confused frown, before relating the messages as accurately as he could recall.

Reactions were varying. Dumbledore merely nodded seriously, as if this was what he expected. Vance remained watchful but outwardly neutral. Tonks expressed that the request was understandable, given the trouble Harry consistently found himself in. And Moody began objecting most strenuously to the idea of Harry finding training elsewhere, 'regardless of the risk'.

"Please Alastor, there is no need to worry. I fully intend to grant this request of Harry's, so there will be no need for him to take hazardous actions."

"Good," Moody nodded, settling down. "I can see why he needs training, if he's going to keep ending up in scraps with dark wizards. We're hardly likely to refuse him though, so there's no reason for him to threaten doing something so stupid and dangerous."

"And as Bill said, Harry seemed to realise that the threat was unnecessary. And his instinct to make it in the first place was not without reason," Dumbledore sighed, looking quite old. "I have made some rather large mistakes with Harry, by holding things back. It is unsurprising that he considered, however briefly, the possibility I would refuse his request."

An awkward silence followed with the others shifting uncomfortably, unsure how to react to their leader's obvious show of regret. Finally, Moody spoke up.

"We're all human. Mistakes are inevitable," the man said gruffly. "The important thing is to learn from them and strategise better in future."

"This is quite true." The old wizard nodded, straightening and looking brighter."Now then, Harry will need trainers. This is where you four come in."

"Four?" Bill asked in confusion.

Moody and Tonks were reasonable, or even the headmaster himself. The first two were trained Aurors and Dumbledore was... well he was Dumbledore. But the man seemed to be indicating not only the two Aurors, but also Bill and Vance. What purpose could they two be in training Harry to fight? He'd done alright in defence at school, with an EE on his NEWT, but that was nowhere near comparable to Auror training. As for Emmeline, she was a healer, not a fighter.

"Yes, you four."

The elderly wizard's words were said sagely, but the twinkle in his eye gave away his amusement at their confusion. Though, not all of them seemed as lost as he was. Moody was glancing measuring between him and Vance and nodding slowly.

"Boy could do with learning some Medimagic," he said as he looked to Vance. "Field medicine at the least. I've never had the knack for it myself."

Moody then glanced down at his scarred body with its missing appendages and chunks of flesh, a rueful look on his face.

"That's why you look like something out of a horror film?" Tonks blurted, then flushed red as her eyes went wide. "I- I mean. It's just that- well, I always thought you just had the bad luck for getting hit by the curses that prevent healing."

Looking cautiously between the current Auror, whose hair now matched her flushed cheeks, and the retired Auror who was favouring her with a glare, Bill considered backing away from the line of fire. Fortunately Moody broke the tension by giving a snort, somewhere between amused and derisive, and deigned to answer her question.

"No lass I'm just crap at them," he admitted. "Best I can manage in an emergency is a Cauterisation Charm, which of course buggers up any chance of re-growing things."

Indomitable as always, and assured her frankly scary mentor did not take offence, Tonks was back to her cheerful self.

"Okay, I understand Vance," Bill spoke up, with a nod in the other woman's direction, "but why me? I'm perfectly willing to help of course, but I don't see what use I'd be."

"Why my dear boy, I should think it obvious, given your profession," Dumbledore replied."You will be training Harry in warding, and any of the more exotic spells you have picked up in your travels, that you believe he could benefit from knowing. I need not remind any of you that Harry remains a particular target of Voldemort," everyone suppressed winces, "And so he could use every advantage he can get."

"Never underestimate the value of good warding in defence," Moody agreed gruffly."It might not be practical during a duel, but if you have time to prepare beforehand, some of them wards can be lethal."

The freckled man nodded, understanding his purpose. Already his mind was whirring over which wards to teach Harry he would start out with the easier ones of course and a few obscure spells which he thought could be helpful to the boy hero.

"So, if we are all agreed?" The headmaster paused for them all to nod. "Wonderful. I believe you are all free on Saturday. So perhaps you should go home, get some rest, make some preparations over the next couple of days, and meet at Privet Drive at ten o'clock three days hence."

"You won't be joining us Albus?" Vance asked.

"No, dear Emmeline. I'm afraid I'm rather busy; Cornelius has once more taken to owling me several times a day." He sighed. "But at least he is at last acknowledging the threat. No, I am sure you can manage without me. But please, do send Harry my well wishes. And assure him that I will indeed take care off Sirius's affairs."

"Course we will Professor," Tonks reassured him.

The meeting broke up after that, all five going their separate ways.

..ooOOoo..

Saturday, August 3, 1996

It had been three days since Harry sent Bill off with his message to Dumbledore. And two days since the headmaster had written him a letter, promising his request for training was being arranged, and to expect his teachers to arrive on Saturday at ten o'clock. Today was that day, and he was currently sitting at his window, watching the street below and anxiously waiting for sign of his visitors.

At promptly ten on the dot, a chorus of popping sounds echoed not from outside but rather from behind him. Harry spun around to find four additions to his bedroom, and his eyes widened in surprise at who had come.

Mad-Eye Moody's false eye was whizzing about suspiciously as the man prodded at Hedwig's cage with his wand. Tonks was grinning cheerfully, hair shifting to aquamarine. Bill Weasley was relaxing against his wardrobe, arms crossed loosely over his chest. And an imposing witch he thought was called Vince, who he recognised from the Order, was inspecting him critically.

"Wotcher Harry!" the Metamorphmagus chirped. "How you doing?"

"Hi Tonks. I'm alright," he replied. "Hi again Bill. Hello Professor Moody. And Vince, is it?"

"Vance," corrected the witch, whose brown hair was greying at the temples."Emmeline Vance. You may address me as Healer Vance. Dumbledore sends his greeting."

"Morning Potter. And don't call me professor," the scarred ex-Auror ordered. "You know better'n most I didn't teach a single class. Just Moody or Mad-Eye'll do."

"Yes sir- I mean Moody."

"You look good Harry," Bill said. "Much better than when I last saw you."

"Thanks," he said awkwardly. "I've been doing better. Got most of my summer homework done even."

"Well, let's get down to business," Mad-Eye declared.

When it became clear there was not enough seating for everyone present, extra chairs were conjured. Soon everyone was comfortable, Harry himself perched upon his bed.

"So you're all here to teach me then?" he asked them all.

"Yep." Tonks nodded. "Mad-Eye and me are gonna train you up in duelling and such. Emmeline is going to cover field Medimagic. And Bill here-"

"Has been so impressed by all the stories Ron's told us about your adventures, that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend more time with you," the Weasley son teased, giving him a wink.

Harry blushed a bit at the praise, but Moody rolled his eyes at the redhead.

"Weasley," the ex-Auror explained, "will be showing you some warding, and whatever else he can think of that'd be useful."

Harry considered all this. The benefit of duelling was obvious, but the other two...

"Why Medimagic and warding?"

"Medimagic can be of use in numerous situations, Mr Potter, both on the battlefield and in the wake of it," Healer Vance told him, sounding affronted that he would question its use.

"The basics are standard Auror training lad," Moody said. "In case you need to patch yourself up in an emergency so you can keep fighting."

"And it is all well and good to survive the battle, but the effort is somewhat wasted on the injured if they die in the aftermath due to lack of medical attention," Vance pointed out.

Harry nodded, hoping his expression conveyed his understanding. It seemed it did as the Healer sniffed once, and relaxed. He felt a bit silly for not having realised the advantages of Medimagic training in the first place. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, he considered how warding might be of use.

"And I suppose," he said slowly, thinking aloud, "that there's all sorts of uses for wards. Probably not so much during a battle, but if you had warning beforehand you could prepare. Or if you had to go into hiding, or wanted to secure a home."

"Exactly," Bill said approvingly. "And there's countless types of wards for every possible situation. A good warder can even improvise and create one to suit."

"There's a lot of people could do with learning a thing or two about warding," Moody observed. "Given the current climate, most people's homes are far too unprotected."

"It's getting better through, since Amelia took over," Tonks said.

"I read about that in the Daily Prophet," Harry said, leaning forward. "That Amelia Bones is the new Minister. I've been doing some catch-up reading. I generally don't pay much attention to what that rag says, but I figured they'd have the Minister's identity right at least."

"And they're saying you and Dumbledore aren't delusional and senile after all," the Auror said, sounding upbeat.

"No, we're 'lone voices of truth in dark times'," Harry recited, "or some such rot."

"They're finally getting the score on Fudge right too," Bill added. "He's now a publicly declared coward, who endangered us all by sticking his head in the stand. Not surprising he was voted out, now they're printing some truth in the Prophet."

"So is Minister Bones any good then?"

"She's already increased the budget to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Which means we can recruit more Aurors," the Metamorphmagus said.

"She's got her head on straight, Bones does," Moody growled approvingly. "Made Shacklebolt the new head of the DMLE. Started Auror patrols of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade."

"And she's getting basic warding and defence information out to the public," Bill added.

Vance didn't say anything but she did nod approvingly. Harry got he impression the woman preferred to keep silent unless necessary.

"So, this training I'll be doing," he asked, wondering. "How will I be able to get around the underage restrictions?"

"Bit late to be asking now boy," Moody barked. "The magic we four've used would've set off the Trace already."

"The Trace?"

"It's how the Ministry tracks underage magic," Tonks explained. "It's a charm they put on you when you start Hogwarts that breaks when you turn seventeen. It alerts the Improper Use of Magic Office at the Ministry whenever magical is performed in the vicinity of an underage witch or wizard."

"In the vicinity?So they can't tell who actually did it?" he asked and received a negative reply. "Well that explains why I got a warning before second year, when Dobby was here floating a cake," he said, but then something occurred to him. "But wait, what about children in magical families. They don't get in trouble when their parents use magic, do they?"

"No, the charm tells what spell was used, and where," Bill told him. "If it was used in a magical area, or a magical household, then no warning gets sent."

"So how do they tell when those kids have used underage magic?"

"They can't. They just expect the parents to keep an eye on their children."

The outraged expression on Harry's face made Tonks giggle, albeit sympathetically, and her hair turn yellow.

"I bet Malfoy's parents probably let him do magic at home."

"Probably," Bill agreed. "But it'll work to our advantage too, because we've made it official record that there's going to be witches and wizards on and around Private Drive, which makes it temporarily a magical area."

"So I won't be caught if I use magic?" he asked excitedly, as realisation dawned.

At the nods of agreement, he grinned widely and, just for fun, set off a rainbow of sparks. He quickly stopped however as this sudden display of magic seemed to set Mad-Eye one edge not an advisable activity.

"What about the where?" Harry inquired. "Where will I be training?"

"I believe Headmaster Dumbledore has warded the local park," Healer Vance said."No Muggles will wander in, nor notice any happening within its confines."

"So!" Tonks cried, jumping to her feet. "What say we head over and get started, huh?"

The others soon agreed.