The Good Thing
Finish the game, Chapter 6 complete (12). Get half of the game. Sandra write insults about the hotel (Secret), Insulting the hotel (16). The Underdogs Questions and Answers - Discover the eNotes.com community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on The Underdogs.
I will fight; will fight with my heart.
I will fight; will fight with understanding.
In my mind, the weather never changes
Skill overcomes, difficult situations.
A straight line exists between me and the good things.
I have found the line and its direction is known to me.
Absolute trust keeps me going in the right direction.
Any intrusion is met with a heart full of the good thing.
Try to compare what I am presenting.
You will meet with much frustration.
Try to find .. similar situation.
You will always find the same solution.
LDW 14-1
Anastasia Demetrios had not seen anything like this before. While she was aware of the nature of the area having intersecting magical ley lines, she was not aware of the actual location in relation to the hall they used for magical practice. And she was not prepared to see a large hole tear through the floor and flood the room with magical energy. Then just as quickly as the explosion of magic ripped into the room, it seems to suddenly vanish. Even more startling, was watching the remaining magical light as it was absorbed into the now motionless body of her trainee, one Harry Potter.
'Holy shit,' she said out loud, 'if I just killed Britain's famed 'Boy Who Lived' my career is officially over, being here undercover or not.' She then ran over to check on her charge, and was instantly relieved to determine that he was still breathing.
His eyes blinked for a moment, then they seemed to focus on the face in front of him. 'Did you get the number of that lorry? Or was that just a herd of stampeding unicorns that ran me over?'
Staci slapped him on the arm. 'How can you joke after that? Hell, what even happened to you?'
Harry moved to sit up, and felt his head throbbed and decided to lay still for a little longer. 'All I know is that something came flashing out of the floor after my apparently overpowered shield tore through everything.'
Staci stood up and did a quick magic detection spell, and shook her head as she whistled. 'You just opened up a connection to one of the most powerful ley lines in all of North America, let alone New England. And there seems to have been a magical backlash that focused on you.'
Harry let out a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling, then dryly added, 'Why do these things always seem to happen to me?' He decided to try and sit up and this time he managed to do so without any ill effects.
Staci eyed him carefully, not sure if she should offer to help him, as he slowly stood back on his feet. 'So, how do you feel now?'
Harry shook his arms slightly and turned his head from side to side. He let his arms swing around loosely and then he proclaimed, 'Actually, I feel better than ever.'
Staci just nodded, and then looked back at the hole in the floor. 'Well, I will have to get a message to some people so they can get up here and fix this.'
'But what about our training?' asked Harry.
Staci smiled at him, 'You're now ready for some testing and challenges. We'll be doing that off site from here.'
Harry noted the gleam in her eye and decided he did not like that look. Not at all.
LDW 14-2
The next morning, Staci had quietly prepared breakfast for them even before Harry had got out of his room within the trunk in the tent.
'You seem awful cheerful this morning,' commented Harry, still trying to get his body to wake up.
'Of course I am,' replied Staci with a clear level of excitement in her voice, 'this should be a fun day.'
Harry scowled at her comments, 'Fun for who?'
She winked at the wizard across from her, 'For me, of course. Today I get to see just how much you have learned so far this summer.'
Harry groaned in response to her obvious glee. Then he silently began to eat the eggs and sausage she had already prepared. A short while later they were on their way, driving north from the camp. They came upon a small lake to the side of the road, with a large mountain with a rocky peak rising up behind it. She pulled off the road and parked in a spot near the shore of the lake. As they climbed out of the car, Staci pointed to the peak and then stated, 'That is your goal. Make it up to the top of the mountain and then back down here. No apparating to the top or flying on a broom to get there. You can use magic to deal with any potential obstacles in the way. And I expect to see you back before dark.'
Harry looked at her with a frown. 'Umm, and just how am I supposed to do this? Which way do I go? And what is the real challenge?'
Staci just looked at her watch for a moment before looking back at him, 'Time is ticking, you better get started.'
Harry stood still for a moment, and then realised the he was not about to get any further instructions. He turned on his heals and started to jog around the lake, keeping his eye on the mountain to his left. He had his wand secured to his wrist on a holster and was running through his mind just what sort of things he might have to encounter on his trek up this mountain. He wondered if there would be non-magicals, meaning that he would not be able to use magic or at least not use his wand. He wondered if he would have to deal with wild life, and he was aware that there may be bears in the area. He had not studied magical creatures in America and he was unsure if that would be a possibility. He continued to make his way past the lake and grit his teeth as he decided to do what he usually does, run in headlong and figure it out as he goes. He had worked for him so far.
He was actually surprised when in a just about half a mile he came upon a trail with a sign indicating that it was leading to the top of Mount Chocorua. 'Well, that's a help,' he stated to himself, then he began to walk up the trail. He decided a brisk pace would help him reach his goal and still allow him to keep alert for any possible dangers on the way up.
He made it up the trail a mile and had not even seen another hiker. The only sounds that he had heard was that of birds in the trees and the wind blowing lightly through the leaves. After another few hundred yards he noticed a young couple hiking up the trail. He had been gaining on them due to his quick pace. Harry quickly wondered if they were here for his trial, or just having a pleasant hike. Constant vigilance, he told himself, recalling the words of the late Auror Alistor Moody. He figured he would just be prepared in case anything happened, but he would assume that they were just out on a nice hike on a gorgeous late summer day.
As he got a little closer, he overheard a part of their conversation.
'There is just no way he could have done those things,' stated the woman.
'But when one is forced into such a situation, one can do amazing things,' countered the young man.
'But flying around like that? And the amazing things he was able to do, it was all too fanciful to ever be believed as real,' reiterated the young woman.
'But he had the skills to do it, everyone knows it,' stated the man. He let out a sigh, and then added, 'Would you want to face him in a duel?'
Harry stiffened as he caught part of what they were saying, thinking they were talking about him. He was readying his wand to be released into his hand when the woman added, 'Face Zorro in a duel, with a sword? No, but then again it was all just a stupid movie.'
Pharaoh cleopatra government structure. The man shook his head as he added, 'The Mask of Zorro wasn't just a stupid movie, it was the best movie so far this summer!'
'Well, when you compare it to Godzilla or Armageddon, it isn't hard to be the best movie of the summer,' snapped the woman.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he suddenly realised he had misinterpreted their conversation. He stepped on a branch that made a loud snap, and the couple turned around to see who was behind them. Harry had briefly looked down at his foot which had cracked the dry old branch, and then looked up to seeing that the man had a stick in his hand and it was pointing it at him.
Harry cursed himself silently as a jet of red light suddenly came shooting from the wand in the man's hand. Harry dove to his side and cast an overpowered shield towards the couple. He registered the startled look on the faces of the couple right before they collapsed from the bludgeoning affect of the shield, having registered too late that Harry could indeed cast wandlessly and silently. Harry stood up and spun around to survey the surroundings, and quickly ascertained that he was now alone. He then summoned the wands of the two and then positioned their bodies to be sitting up against a large nearby rock. Harry pocketed their wands and then left to make his way up the trail. After about another mile of an uneventful journey he started to slow down his pace so as to preserve his stamina.
He had noted a sign near the start of the hike indicating that it would be about 3.5 miles to the summit. He made his way up the trail and he was surprised that he did not encounter any other hikers on this trail. He did note that there was a trail that branched off, but it had a longer distance to the summit. As he had been working out all summer, he figured that the shorter, albeit most likely steeper route should be fine. As he neared the tree line the trail became steeper still and he needed to scale some ledges, aided with some metal rungs that were attached to the rocks. In less than 3 hours from when he had left Staci, he had reached the summit. There were clear views all around, and he could see various lakes to the south and to the west, and then he looked north at the range of larger mountains. He briefly wondered if he needed to do anything to prove he had reached the summit, but he decided that simply sharing his memory of the magnificent views should be adequate proof. Taking a deep breath and one final look around, he began his slow descent down the steep rocky face.
Harry was making decent time back down the trail, but he was trying to remain alert, as he assumed that he would encounter further obstacles. He stopped when he became acutely aware of the silence in the woods. He was not hearing even the sounds of birds or the wind blowing through the trees. 'Now that is a little unnatural,' he thought to himself. 'Constant vigilance,' he repeated to himself again and again. His wand was now in his hand as he slowly walked down the trail. He noticed a slight motion to his right, and he immediately ducked and rolled while putting up a shield spell. The motion was someone raising a gun to their shoulder and Harry heard the bang of the gin being fired as his shield was going up. He was surprised when his shield shimmered for a moment as the bullet bounced off and to the ground. His concentration was momentarily lost, and his shield dropped. Another bang echoed through the woods and Harry's left arm was bruised by the impact of a rubberised bullet. He silently cursed as he sent an stunner spell at the individual and the man with the gun was soon out cold and on the forest floor. Harry did a quick scanning spell and did not detect anyone else. He decided he definitely needed to remain attentive to his surroundings for the rest of this journey down the mountain.
He was about three quarters of the way down the mountain when he came upon a wide and rocky stream bed that the trail was leading over. He made it about halfway across the stream when he felt a sudden sharp pinch on the back of his shoulder. He had not heard any sounds of any attackers so he was worried about what could have happened. He reached back with his right hand to feel the area on his left shoulder, and his hand came down upon a small buzzing object. Then he felt a sharp sting on the palm of his hand. He initially reacted by squeezing his hand and pulling it forward, only to find a hornet in the palm of his hand. As he tossed the offending insect to the ground, he felt another sting on his neck and then one on the back of his leg. He doubled over to brush off the attacking insects and started to run across the rocks. He slipped on one of the slick moss covered rock as he was stung again, and just happened to fall down as a red beam of light passed over his head. Harry rolled off of the rock he had landed upon and into the stream while snapping his wand into his hand. He cast a large shield spell which was quickly bombarded by several different coloured spells coming from various directions. Harry jumped up from where he was laying in the stream and quickly cast off a series of overpowered stunners as he spun around in the air. He noticed several wizards drop in the woods upon the impact from his spells. He landed awkwardly on a loose and wet rock and twisted his ankle. He grunted in pain, but knew that he had to keep fighting. He managed to put up another shield before another round of spells came flying out of the woods from different locations.
Harry wondered how many there could be and briefly considered sending out a very destructive spell to take out the nearby forest, but decided just as quickly that he really should avoid leaving any lasting damage on the surrounding area. Harry then used a series of body bind hexes and other spells to incapacitate the new assailants and started to make his way down the trail, this time more slowly as his ankle was already swelling up and he had burning pains from the various hornet stings he had sustained.
The trail levelled out as he was nearing the bottom of the mountain. He could see a clearing up ahead, then paused to caste a homenum revelio spell. He paused as he detected several individuals at the side of the clearing. Harry limped towards the clearing, and once again prepared himself for the next attack. He noted that the three were slowly raising rifles and were about to take aim. Harry muttered under his breath and then quickly cast the shielding spell he had been taught that was purported to be strong enough to block bullets. His shield, however, was raised too slowly to stop the first round fired at him. A rubber bullet slammed into his left arm again, which caused him to falter, but he grasped his wand more tightly so as to continue the spell. The shield flashed white and blue as the remaining bullets bounced off. Using his injured left arm while ignoring the pain, he summoned a second wand from a wand holster on that wrist and started casting stunning spells as soon as there was a break in the gunfire. Harry had to concentrate to be able to drop his shield for the instance that his spells were sent out from his left hand and then raised his shield once again. To his surprise he did not need to raise the shield as his use of the left handed wand had caught his assailants off guard and he had quickly subdued them. Harry then quickly summoned their weapons to him and tossed them into the woods. He once again proceeded to limp down the trail, rubbing the sore area on his left arm with his right hand.
As he approached the far side of the clearing he could make out the presence of another person approaching him up the trail. He quickly raised his wand with his right hand, and then noticed the individual raising both of their hands.
'That was both amazingly quick and efficient,' called out Staci.
Harry grunted, then replied, 'Not efficient enough. I have too many injuries, and I bloody well didn't need to deal with a swarm of angry wasps.'
Staci raised an eyebrow, then used her wand to cast a quick charm to assess his injuries. 'Well there is nothing a few spells and potions can't mend quickly,' she stated with a smile. Having detected the large bruise on his left arm from the rubber bullet she frowned slightly. A real bullet might have done quite a bit of damage' she observed. 'At least these rubber bullets were also magical treated to not cause any serious injuries.'
Staci then conjured a crutch and tossed it to the young wizard. 'This ought to help you get back to the car, then we can work on healing you properly.'
A short while later they had arrived at her vehicle and she then brought out several potions. She instructed him to drink the first two, then she cast a few specific healing spells to deal with some of his injuries. She then handed him two more potions. 'You'll probably want to lie down in the car,' she commented, 'as these will probably make you more than a little drowsy.'
Harry sighed, then drank the potions and laid down in the passenger seat of her car - and soon was sleeping soundly as his body began to heal from its many injuries. It was evening by the time he started to stir. He sat up and found Staci seated at a nearby picnic table. The sun was setting and dark shadows covered the lake as the mountain he had climbed blocked the fading rays of sunlight.
'Here, let me help you,' she said as she got up and offered him a hand. 'You had quite a fall there on your trip down the mountain. I must say, you accomplished it all much more quickly and more easily than even I had anticipated you would.'
Harry noticed that her smile was almost predatory. She took his hand and instead of leading him to the table she led him to the shore of the lake. 'Why don't we celebrate with a little relaxing swim?'
Harry was puzzled by her words, and was about to comment about not having any swim trunks, when he noticed that she was slipping off her clothes. Slowly she walked away from him and into the cool water.
Harry stared after the now naked woman who was slowly descending into the clear water, and he tried to decide what to do.
'Aren't you going to join me?' called back Staci. 'The water is quite nice.'
Harry needed no more motivation and quickly discarded his clothes and then made his way out into the water to join her. As he approached her, he could see her smile and and lick her lips. He reached out towards her to take a hold of her hands, anticipating what would come next.
As he was about to embrace the woman in front of him, a bright light was suddenly shining on the two.
Harry held up his hand to block the light, but he still couldn't see anything from the shoreline which he had just departed. Then the light seemed to move back and forth from one of his eyes to the next, which Harry thought was quite odd. Then he felt a hand on his forehead, which was soon followed by his hearing voices.
'Don't worry, he is coming around now,' said the first.
'That was quite a fall you took there, young man,' came a voice he clearly did not recognise.
Harry realised that his head was throbbing. The room was suddenly very bright and he then had the sensation that he was lying down on some sort of bed. He moved to sit up and suddenly felt the room spin around him. He went to shake his head, which only made the headache throb even more.
'Here, drink this,' came a soft female voice.
Harry reached out and took the offered drink, and did just that, starting with a tentative sip. Next, he felt a cool cloth wiping his forehead and then he heard the familiar sounds of Staci's voice.
'So, young man, you're finally back with us,' she said gently.
'What do you mean?' Harry wondered aloud.
Staci frowned slightly at him, 'You were running down the mountain, apparently after dealing with the various ambushes w had set up along the way, and then you were attacked by a swarm of angry hornets, and then you tried to out run them and you apparently slipped on some wet rocks as you ran across the stream bed. You were found unconscious in the middle of the stream. However, the teams indicated that your shield spell, which you used as you were falling, stopped all of the curses and spells which were fired at you, and even the magically protected rubber bullets that were shot at you. You put on quite the show, only to be outdone by a few nasty insects. Even the first shooter who managed to get you in your left arm was surprised by how quick your response time was. And the couple that you left unconscious on your way up the mountain were happy to get their wands back, which were found on your person when we brought you here.'
Harry avoided looking at this trainer, and looked up at the ceiling tiles, which were suddenly quite fascinating. The light in the room started t make his headache worse. After a minute of lying still with his eyes closed, he then asked a question. 'So, my memories of fighting off countless wizards the rest of the way down the mountain from that stream bed, they're all just dreams or something?'
One of the voices from earlier spoke up. 'You, young man, had quite the fall and suffered a concussion. The potion you just drank should help with the symptoms. However, you should take it easy for a couple of days.'
Harry let out a long sigh realising the memories of going swimming with her were merely dreams in his delirious state after losing consciousness. He stated simply, 'So, that was unexpected.'
Staci stepped into view and gave a slight smile. 'What was unexpected? That you didn't quite make it down in one piece? The wizards and witches that you did manage to take out on your trip all thought that it was unexpected that you made it as far as you did, and that what finally stopped you had nothing to do with any of their attacks.'
Harry couldn't stop a slight blush form rising to his face, 'No, not that, although I thought I did make it down. I guess my memories were a little jarred when I fell and hit my head.'
Staci frowned slightly at his comment, but let I go. Then she turned to the medical-wizard. 'So, when can this young man leave?'
'Any time, but he should wait, oh, an hour or so before any strenuous activity,' commented the man, 'and he shouldn't try to tax his magical reserves.' Then he turned and looked at Harry with a slight shake of his head, 'but then again, with our recent analysis, that would probably be a pretty difficult thing to do for this young man.'
Later that afternoon they had arrived back at the camp via port key. Harry and Staci were sitting inside their magically expanded tent and she was explaining what was to happen next. 'We're almost done here,' she stated. 'I have a few friends who will be coming up to review a few things with us.'
Harry gave her a puzzled look, which she noted and then went on to explain further. 'It's just a few young wizards who want to review some of the technical aspects of the shields and other new spells and how your recent surge in magic may be affected by them. Once they're done, we'll be ready to send you back.'
Harry took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh. 'It always seems like its time to move on to the next big thing. So, if I'm heading back to Britain, then what are you going to be doing?'
'Officially? I'll be returning from my leave of absence. And I am quite sure that my next assignment will not be anywhere near England or Scotland,' she said with a sense of frustration, or was it sadness, Harry wasn't sure.
After a few moments of silence, there was the sound of a car pulling up in front of their camp site.
'That is probably the young men from Boston,' stated Staci as she stood up and made her way to the tent door.
Harry stepped out after his mentor and saw three wizards who appeared to be in their twenties getting out of what appeared to be an older car. Harry wasn't sure what to make of the vehicle, but decided he would wait before he asked anything more.
Staci called out to the young men, 'So, you lot made here safely after all.'
'Hey there, gorgeous,' called out the one who had stepped out of the passenger side of the car.'You know us, just the pros from Dover making our appearance.'
Harry was puzzled about this comment, 'I thought you said that they were from Boston.'
Staci laughed at Harry's comment, 'He's quoting a movie and yes, they are from Boston, or thereabouts anyway.' Then she turned back to the men, 'Hi, Tom, and no, you are not the pros from Dover. Those two had skills and charm.'
'I've got skills and charm,' protested the one now identified as Tom.
'Hey, we're starved, we've been on the road all afternoon,' said the man who had been in the back seat. 'Any place we can go get something to eat?'
'Always thinking with your stomach, aren't you Jim?' replied Staci. Then she turned to the man who was getting out of the driver's seat. 'Hey there Bill, I see you got your classic Skylark back on the road.'
Bill, who was a little stockier than the other two and had a small beard patch on his chin gave a big smile. 'Finally got the body patched up and the big tires replaced,' he said as he placed his hand on the black roof which was in contrast to the emerald green colour. 'The engine is running great, now that this V8 has all of those added fancy stuff removed.'
'Food? I thought we were talking about food not cars,' asked Jim again, who was the thinnest of the three, with the look of a long distance runner.
'But you're wizards,' commented Harry as he looked at the car and then at the three men, 'why travel here from Boston by car?'
Bill just grinned even bigger. 'Obviously you haven't ever driven a muscle car.'
Jim scoffed at the comment. 'You call this a muscle car?'
Bill almost glared at his friend, 'Hey, what do you have, an old GMC Pacer?'
'Oh, burn,' added Tom. The two turned and looked at him, and he raised his hands, 'Hey, I'm just saying. I don't even have a car. Apparating works fine for me.'
Then Bill turned back to Staci. 'So, food?'
'Well there is a pizza place not too far from here,' she stated.
'Pizza sounds great!' exclaimed Jim.
Harry rode with Staci in her car and the group made there way to the Pizza Barn, where Harry and Staci had an encounter with some of the staff from the camp. As they were enjoying their pizza, Staci indicated that she needed to get back to work on some reports. The others were still enjoying the pizza and the beer and said that they would catch up. When they were ready to leave they headed out to the parking lot. As they were making their way to the car, Harry commented that he had heard a rumour that the local sheriff owned the Pizza Barn.
As Bill was about to pull out of the dirt parking lot he stated, 'I guess I shouldn't do a burn out and kick a lot of dust and rocks in the air.'
The others laughed at his comments and then Bill pulled out slowly onto the local highway. They hadn't driven more than 20 yards when suddenly flashing blue lights came on behind them.
Tom commented, 'What the hell is up with this?'
Bill stopped the car on the side of the road and rolled down his window. The deputy slowly walked up to the car and shined his flash light inside and into everyone's faces. 'So, there was a report that someone was doing donuts in the parking lot, was that you guys?'
The group all wondered what the officer was up to as he must have been close enough to the parking lot to have seen them walk out of the Pizza Barn and into the car.
'No, sir, we haven't,' replied Bill simply.
'You're not from around here,' commented the officer, referencing the plates from Massachusetts. 'Do you even have a place to stay?'
'We're all staying up at a campground in Freedom, on the lake,' Bill explained.
'Is that so?' commented the officer, clearly not impressed with the group of young men in front of him. 'What do you have in the back here?' he asked as he now was shining the flashlight into the back. 'What's in those bags?'
Harry, who was in the front passenger seat, was confused as to what the officer was questioning about and why, but he just kept his mouth shut so as not to get himself in trouble with the officer who seemed to be on some sort of crusade. He also was worried what these guys may have had in the bags in their car.
Tom, who was seated behind Harry, picked up the bag in front of him and pulled out a thin wafer like item, bit into it, as he proclaimed, 'Potato chips!'
The deputy was not at all pleased with the response, but there was nothing he could do as his question was answered and potato chips were not illegal.
Then he turned to Jim who was sitting behind the drivers seat. 'And what about that bag?'
Slowly Jim picked up a brown paper bag, and Harry worried if there was something illegal in the bag as he was moving so deliberately.
'Well?' asked the officer again.
Jim moved his hand quickly and the bag popped with a loud bang right in front of the deputy as Jim proclaimed, 'Nothing!'
The deputy was now more than a little angry however there was nothing he found that the group had done to cause any trouble. He then sneered as he stated, 'Well, you better be on your way, and don't cause any more trouble. And be sure to return to where ever it is that you're from as soon as possible.'
The four wizards sitting in the car waited quietly for the officer to return to his patrol car. Then Bill slowly pulled out and stayed about 5 miles per hour under the speed limit for at least two miles and he was sure that the deputy was not following them.
Once they were closer back to the camp, Harry finally voiced his concerns. 'What the bloody hell was that all about?'
Tom spoke up first, 'He was either looking for underage guys with alcohol or some other illegal substances with them. Figured he could hassle some flatlanders just because they are not from here.'
'Probably right,' agreed Jim.
Then Bill commented, 'I thought I was going to die when you popped that bag in his face.'
Harry then added, 'I was worried there was something in there with how serious you were when you slowly picked it up, and I had no idea what we would be getting in trouble for with that.'
Tom laughed, 'Probably won't ever have an experience like that again.'
'We better not,' added Bill.
The rest of the trip back to the camp was, thankfully, quite uneventful. The next morning the group of three men met with Harry and Staci in the training room under the summer camp meeting hall. Bill was analysing the ley line that was discovered when it sent out a magical shock wave into Harry. Tom and Jim were reviewing Harry's memories of the mountain climb and how he used his magic to deal with both magical and muggle weapon attacks, however, it was admittedly less than they had hoped for due to the unfortunate accident with slipping on the rocks.
They then spent an hour reviewing the theory behind how he could use older spells he had learned in school and incorporate a slight change so as his shields would protect not just from magical attacks but from physical ones as well.
Jim offered a little caution at the end of their training session. 'Depending on how much magical power is put into the spells, the shields may only slow down or slightly deflect the trajectory of a bullet, but it is possible the shield may actually stop it completely.'
Bill had just come back from reviewing his analysis of the ley line. 'Based on my calculations on the amount of magic that was infused into Harry's core, it is most likely his shields will simply stop most any projectile fired at him.'
The others looked at him with wide eyes and then Staci spoke up, 'What do you mean that magic was infused into Harry's core?'
'Young Mister Potter here had a larger than average magical core to begin with,' commented Bill as though that information was common knowledge, but when he noticed the surprised reactions on the others' faces, he then went on to explain further. 'Harry Potter, from what we know of magical Britain's history survived the killing curse as a toddler, how and why is not clear. He managed to defeat a wizard who had used countless spells and enchantments and rituals to enhance his magic. That feat in and of itself tells me, should tell anyone really, that he is not a wizard to be trifled with.'
'Most of it was dumb luck and a stupid prophecy,' interjected Harry.
Bill scoffed at Harry's comment. 'Don't sell yourself short. The prophecy may have merely caused Riddle to target you, and perhaps that very act led to your surviving the curse he hit you with, and the resulting effect was a change in your core. Which is quite fortuitous for you, as if that had not happened when you were so young, then your core would probably have not been able to absorb the excess magical energy from the shock wave from the ley line. Most magical cores would have simply overloaded from such a transfer, and let me tell you, the results would have been most unpleasant for Staci here to have witnessed. You, sir, have a very unusual magical core, one that is fluid, not static.'
'So what the hell does this all mean?' asked Staci with more than a little hint of demanding an answer as she asked her question.
'Yeah, what does this mean, for me?' added Harry.
Bill shrugged his shoulders, then he simply stated, 'It means that you probably won't tire magically in almost any battle, but beyond that, I have not idea, really.'
Staci raised an eyebrow at that comment.
Harry frowned, 'I suppose that means any sparring sessions just got exponentially harder.'
Staci smiled at his comment, 'You would have been right, if you weren't returning to England tomorrow.'
LDW 14-3
In what appeared to the average person as an old abandoned warehouse in Liverpool, Middleton knocked on the door to what had become Barnes' office. 'Any word yet? It's been awfully quiet for us, too quiet. The men are getting antsy.'
Barnes rubbed his chin before responding. 'There are some mysterious goings on in the Northern Eastern part of the United States. But as there is no one talking about what is happening there, my theory is that Potter must be there, training.'
'That sounds like a bit of a stretch,' replied Middleton.
'Not necessarily, considering the young man went dark as far as magical Britain is concerned,' observed Barnes.
'What kind of specialised training would he be receiving? Do we need to worry about it?' asked Middleton, understanding the seriousness of what his partner had revealed.
'He didn't even graduate from Hogwarts, he spent the last year on the run,' stated Barnes as he began his explanation. 'His only real experience was that he somehow managed to take out Voldemort. He has survived everything that has come his way so far. So we are best not to underestimate his resourcefulness, but he is still limited in what he has learned. He simply has outstanding practical experience. Which is why we have been planning, and why we will be controlling the events by staging our attacks when and where and how we want to.'
Middleton nodded quietly.
'So, are things ready for the assault on the next target later this week?' Barnes asked his second in command.
'The port keys will all be ready by tomorrow afternoon. And everyone on the assault team will have their own series of escape locations before they eventually meet up at the rendezvous site, before finally making our way back here,' affirmed Middleton. 'Everyone will be going their own way, even if Aurors do show up, they can't track us all at the same time.'
Barnes nodded silently in response.
AN:
Yes I am back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long, but real life has it's way of interfering.
So, to get to some questions that may arise:
1. Yes, Harry will be back in England in the next chapter.
2. Some of the events that occur in this chapter are based on personal experience. Specifically, the incident with the sheriff's deputy - yes that did happen to me back in the early 80's - so while it has little to do with the actual story it was fun to write and reminisce about the absurdity of that event.
3. Hopefully the long time in between chapters will not lead to too many plot holes or inconsistencies, several of which were discovered within this chapter as I was editing it - again, the problem of taking too long to finish this story/chapter.
(Also, I am going back and doing some minor editing to older chapters..fixing spelling and grammar where I can find issues)
Lyrics: © 1978, 'The Good Thing', Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings And Food, written by: David Byrne