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Beta reader for the chapter is Jessica

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Approaching war (continued)

The next day was not much better then the previous one. There were reports of death eater activity, many people had lost their lives and the couple was teaching their DA classes. Their research into the unforgivable curses started to have its first results. Harry managed to create a shield, which contained two layers of different energies. The problem was here the stability of the shield. He could not keep up the shield longer then 10 seconds; after that Harry felt totally drained, even with the extra power he felt with the help of Hermione.

Someone was knocking on the door of the dorm. "Harry, can you see who is knocking?"

Harry opened the door and professor Dumbledore stepped in. "Good evening, children. Can I have a few moments of your time? "

Hermione and Harry sat in their chairs. Professor Dumbledore however preferred to stand. "We have intelligence which indicates that death eaters are planning to attack Hogwarts at the end of the next week, when we have Quidditch."

"That Thursday, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are playing against each other." Harry was looking sharply at the professor. "That means that the death eaters are coming from the Forbidden forest or they have a way to penetrate the school via one of the secret passageways. Are you sure that the death eaters only coming at that date, and not earlier, professor? "

"We are almost positive, because they want to attack the school and the best possibility is during the match, where almost everyone is outside and gathered."

Hermione looked somber.

"Professor, that means that Quidditch will be canceled?"

"Yes, Hermione, I am afraid it will."

Harry was thinking. "Professor, I think I have an idea. Please, don't make any announcements yet. Give us some thinking time, and we might have the chance to prepare a nasty surprise for the death eaters when they arrive here. Can we continue our discussion about this tomorrow morning?"

"No problem, Harry. Good night, you two."

With this he left the dorm.

Hermione sat on the sofa with her head leaning on Harry's shoulder. Harry was massaging her neck and top part of her back very slowly. His mind was wandering somewhere else. Hermione felt his mood and said nothing.

"Hmm ... Hermione ... I think I know a nice way to welcome those death eaters."

"How Harry? How can we beat them? Not only that, if we let the Quidditch game continue, then we risk the safety of many people, people might die!"

"Hermione, do you remember my shield charms? Do you remember the charm Contego orbis? This shield will build a wall of energy around a group of people; the power of the spell can cover a lot of people and a lot of space. The more powerful the shield, the more it will deflect. The problem here is that this charm continues until the caster cancels it or collapses. Not only that, the caster needs to stay outside the shield."

"From my research I've been able to create a charm for the death curse shield, even though it's not complete yet. However, I've been able to create another other charm, which is also a shield, but much more effective and much stronger! This charm is called Contego orbis terrarium. It is a charm like the Contego orbis, except that the shield does not depend on the presence of the caster, but is independent. It gets its magical energy from the earth, and the caster can stay anywhere. Not only that, every object in the shield will be lifted in the air, and the charm will form a round orb", said Hermione.

"And I know another shield, which will not let anything out, but it will let anything in! That charm is called Contego orbis tergiversatio. Oh yes, it will also stop apparating."

"Harry, how do you know those shields? I never heard from those shields before!"

"The Contego shield is the basic one. The Contego orbis shield I borrowed from an ancient shield, but changed it to help me find the solution for the shield against the death curse. And from that one, I developed the Contego orbis terrarium and the Contego orbis tergiversatio. I think that professor Dumbledore will be very happy to hear this."

"So, what is your plan?"

"I think, my sweet smelling and good looking Hermione, that when the death eaters are arriving, we put the Contego orbis or Contego orbis terrarium shields around everyone, and the Contego orbis tergiversatio around the death eaters and then we can blast them to hell."

"I think this needs demonstrating, planning and implementing, and of course we need to talk as quickly as possible with professor Dumbledore ... and we can wait until tomorrow morning for that... first we should go to bed. "

With this she jumped from the sofa and sped to the bathroom. Harry sighed.

"Good morning, class. For the next five classes, we will study only blocking and shields. We will work on eight general purpose shields. Four of those shields we have developed and they are new. Nobody else ever has used those four shields. If you don't mind, professors Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall and professor Lupin will join the lessons as well."

Everyone in the class looked overwhelmed that the professors would be joining them as well. "We will start with the shields within 15 minutes, but before we continue, are there any questions? "

Hermione looked around the class.

"Yes, Ms. Brown?"

"Hermione, are you and Harry really a couple and are you really going to marry in December?"

"Lavender, I do not know that shield. Maybe you can keep your self on the subject?"

Hermione was snapping.

Lavender's face became bleak.

"Does anyone have a question?"

Nobody moved. At that moment the professors entered the classroom. Hermione changed gear immediately. "Dear professors, please be so kind as to take a seat at the right of the class. Take care that you have your writing materials ready."

At this the class smirked and some smiles appeared on the faces of the students. "Payback time" Dean mumbled.

Harry rose from his chair and walked towards the whiteboard. With a flick with his hand the material about the shields appeared and he started.

"We have here the Contego shield. This is a conventional shield, which protects against most magical energy like spells, curses and charms, except the unforgivable curses.

"Then we have the Contego orbis shield, which is the same as the previous one, except that it forms an orb around the objects to be protected, and the caster must stand outside the shield. The shield is and stays connected to the caster. If the caster is wounded or hurt, the shield collapses.

"Then we have Contego orbis terrarium shield. This shield is extremely strong, and it is not connected to the caster. The objects to be shielded will float in the air and the shield will protect the objects on all sides. Then we have the Contego quadratus shield. This is a square shield, which must be held towards the opponent. The same for the Contego orbis, but this shield is round. Then we have the Contego contindo shield in the form of an orb. When an object or curse hits the shield, it will be returned to the caster."

"A very aggressive shield is the Contego trucido shield, which returns destructive energy to the caster when hit."

"And the last shield we're going to learn is the Contego orbis tergiversatio shield in the form of an orb, it lets everything in, but not out. "

The class started to work on the shields. They were able to cover the Contego orbis and the Contego orbis terrarium shields. Everyone was able to cover everyone and everything with the Contego orbis shield, which was as strong as the caster was. When they worked on the Contego orbis terrarium shield, nobody was able to break the shield, whatever they did. Professor Dumbledore was the first student to learn all the shields. The professor was beaming when he worked out the Contego orbis terrarium shield and was very interested to hear how Harry managed to build the shield.

When the class ended, it was lunch time. Professor Dumbledore asked Harry and Hermione to come in the evening to discuss the coming Quidditch match and the looming attack.

When everybody was eating their lunch in the great hall, Professor Snape approached Harry. He sneered. "Potter, can I speak to you this afternoon in my office?"

"Yes Professor, Hermione and I will come to your office at four pm if that is convenient with you?" Snape looked like he'd swallowed something bad and turned abruptly and left.

Hermione looked anxiously to Harry. "What was that? What did we do?"

Harry shuddered. "No idea."

After lunch they held the other class and went at four pm exactly to Snape's office.

Hermione knocked to the door and heard Snape calling her to come in. They entered the office and sat on chairs before Professor Snape.

"Harry and Hermione, I have heard that you are teaching shielding techniques, and that you two have developed four new shields."

"Yes sir, we have."

"Is it possible ... is it possible for you to document those shields ... and that I receive a copy?"

Snape's face was like he'd bitten a sour apple.

Harry opened his bag and placed a small handwritten book on his table. "This book is a copy of my own workbook. It contains all the shields we have worked on. It also contains information about the research into other shields and blocks. Several are not finished yet, but we are working on it. Is that what you want?"

Snape's eyebrows shot up and he looked into the workbook. "I am impressed! May I borrow this book?"

"Yes sir, we have no problem with that."

"Then there is the other thing ... about the ... about your curse ... the magical twin curse."

Hermione tensed and Harry looked glum.

"I did some additional research into twin magic, and I found other disturbing factors which were hidden in certain literature."

He paused a moment.

"The problem is that there is almost no reference material about the curse, because it is so rare. But I found some obscure references in the materials which are available."

Now he stopped and looked like he was very uncomfortable.

Hermione looked straight at the professor. "Professor, please continue."

"Well, when you suffer the twin curse, and you have intercourse with each other, the next phase of the curse starts. The other fact I have uncovered is that one of you becomes separated from the other, both of you will die within 6 months."

Harry turned uneasy. "What do you mean 'the next phase'? How many phases are there?"

"There are four phases. The first phase is that your magic is merging. This will happen in different ways, and also this phase has its sub-phases. The merge is slow in the beginning, but it will become faster and more intense. The second phase starts after the first intercourse. You will be able to read each other's minds, and you will begin to have problems determining which thought is from whom. The third phase will set in when you both are older. I have no idea how old or after how many years, but I think that might be at least 100 years or longer. In this phase you will lose the ability to read each other's minds, but you will continue to feel each other's emotions. The last phase will be triggered when you both are dying, because when you die of old age, you will both die in the same minute."

Harry and Hermione stood up. "Thank you, Professor Snape. We appreciate this very much."

Hermione asked "Are you willing to share your sources with us?"

Professor Snape stood up as well, and gave Hermione four black and flat books. "Here they are."

Outside the dungeons Harry drew Hermione close. He felt her arms wrap around him again. Her eyes closed as she lifted her chin and his lips met hers. She sighed and he pulled her close. The flutter in his stomach turned into warmth, slowly spreading through his body. "Harry", whispered Hermione. "Let's go to our dorm and continue this there."

Together they ran to the dorm. In front of the dorm Harry suddenly stopped. "I have a smashing idea, Hermione."

Hermione was still holding the hand of Harry and looked at him with a stunned expression. "What do you mean?"

"Let's go to the city and do some shopping, only you and me. We'll skip dinner here and have a romantic dinner together."

Hermione beamed. "Let's dress and go Harry, before someone spoils the fun!"

They freshened up and went the dress shop of Madame Guinette in Diagon Alley. Harry sat like king and was presented with a private fashion show by Hermione. The shop lady was smiling and came with other smashing dresses. Harry insisted on buying several other dresses for Hermione.

"Harry, next week I need to go shopping for a wedding dress, and you can not accompany me. What shall we do?"

"I think I will come with you girls, but then I will wait outside the shop. Is that OK with you, Hermione?"

"Yes, it's okay with me. I'll take Ginny and my mother with me. You can treat us ladies to a nice dinner."

"Hermione, I know the perfect place for dinner right now. And it is romantic ... I hope."

They stepped into a small restaurant and indeed had a romantic dinner with too much wine. They were drinking wine after dinner, looking into each other's eyes and whispering softly, their heads touching, not aware of anything.

They both left the restaurant, holding each other's hands and still looking longingly at each other, stepping into the cozy street of Diagon Alley. Suddenly the coziness was disturbed by pops and cracks of apparating people.

"Death eaters", someone shouted and the street was full of cursing wizards in black cloaks. In front of Harry and Hermione an older man collapsed on the street, his body burst into flames. Harry reacted immediately. Harry and Hermione were enclosed by a red, pulsing field. Harry had instinctively activated the Contego orbis terrarium shield and they were both protected against magical spells and curses.

Several curses were bouncing from the shield and three death eaters jumped in front of them. Another other death eater appeared behind them and they heard him screaming several curses in rapid succession. Hermione fired the dormio depono spell, which knocked a death eater down. Harry took the other out with the same spell. The other death eaters looked stunned to them, and before they could react, the two remaining death eaters were also taken out. Harry and Hermione placed binding spells on the fallen death eaters and ran through the street to see if they could help the others.

They still heard the noise of people screaming and cursing. Harry used the Contindo spell to shoot stones at a group of death eaters and two of them were knocked down. They saw several people lying on the ground, dead, stunned or wounded, and no one seemed to move. The death eaters were now concentrating on Harry and Hermione. They entered a shop with the door open and fired several stunning spells at the death eaters.

Again a death eater went down. Then the death eaters seemed to change strategy, and started to fire death curses towards them. The air was again filled with pops and cracks and they could see the Aurors appearing everywhere, who immediately started to fight the remaining death eaters. Almost immediately the remaining death eaters apparated away and Diagon Alley became quiet, except for the moaning of the wounded and survivors.

"Hermione, let's apparate away here, there is nothing what we can do here."

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand again and they apparated back to the Three Broomsticks before anyone could see them. They ran towards Hogwarts castle, which was looking very inviting to them.

When Harry and Hermione approached the gargoyles, he muttered the password "Salty Drop". They entered the office of the professor, who waved them to the two easy chairs in front of his table. They explained to professor Dumbledore what had happened in Diagon Alley. The professor listened intently, but made no comments.

"Professor Snape is very impressed with your work in the research of the shield, Harry and Hermione. He thinks that you need to publish your work after school."

Hermione blushed and Harry looked surprised.

"You mentioned yesterday that you have a plan, Harry?"

"Yes, Professor, we have a plan, but I am afraid it is only a plan, and this will require organization, training and a certain risk."

Harry paused some moments and continued.

"When we have Quidditch, it must be a game, but is not a real game. All players must be members of the DA, and we need to act like we are playing. The public is a problem, because there aren't enough people in the DA to form a credible audience of such size. At the moment the trouble starts, we entice the death eaters onto our ground, we surround them with the Contego orbis tergiversatio shield so they can't do anything, and capture them. What do you think?" Dumbledore nodded.

"In that case we need to organize things correctly. I think it is just as well not to say anything about the Quidditch game until Wednesday. I also think we need to inform the DA, and train them for the task. They'll need to replace the Quidditch players. Now we need to have a group of volunteers, 6th and 7th years who are willing to play in the game and act as fans. We will train them on Wednesday night to get the spells working. Harry and Hermione, the professors will spend as much time as possible with you in the DA lessons to get the shield spells right, and we will train for this as well. I also think that nothing about our plan need to leave the castle. So that when the death eaters arrive here, we will be ready for them. I also don't want to warn the ministry until everything is over. The people from the order will also be here, but only after I have informed them on Wednesday. Thursday is the day of the Quidditch-trap."

"Professor, I will work out the schedules and the strategy and set up the detailed plans. They will be ready tomorrow in our strategy-meetings, where we can make decisions about the missing details. I will work of course together with my Harry."

Professor Dumbledore smiled. "I am so happy that we got this over with and we have resolved the magic twin issue. Did you talk with Professor Snape, Harry and Hermione?"

"Yes professor. Professor Snape came to us and told us about the issue of our phases."

Professor Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "Are you able to read Hermione's mind yet Harry?"

Harry was laughing now. "No professor, we are not able to read each other's mind, yet. I hope this starts on December the 23rd."

Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Children, I am not sure how you are feeling, but I am tired and sleepy."

Harry and Hermione returned to their dorm and went to bed as well. The next day would be very interesting.

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Beta reader for the chapter is Jessica