Chapter 26:

The next day Harry approached Tonks in private, while Darrel did the same with Heidi and Cedric. After Harry explained the problem, without of course the Horcruxes, or Quirrel Possession part, she was all on board for extra defense training.

A little bit of something to help her before she did Auror training would go a long way anyways. Hannah and Susan were a little sad knowing they were going to be in the back of the pack, but after Harry explained to them that it wasn't about strength but perseverance they seemed to cheer up and prepare for the following day's training.

Harry had also informed Neville of what they had learned about Quirrel. All of it. They were in this together from the beginning and they wouldn't start keeping secrets now. Neville was disgusted and asked for some time to think, while Harry began bringing the others onto the training regiment.

They had a small meeting in the Hufflepuff common room after hours. Heidi, Cedric, Tonks, Hannah, Susan, Darrel, and Harry were sitting around the fire while Harry began to speak, "Cedric, Heidi, Tonks, I know this is going to sound a tad ridiculous coming from an eleven-year-old, but I ask you remember what I have done, and what you all have seen the first hand before you judge what I have to say."

"As you may have noticed for the past five months, the girls, Darrel, and I have been training every morning. It's not just for dueling training, it's to prepare for the inevitable worst. Now had I been sorted into a different house I may never have had the courage to divulge this information to my friends, but we are known for our loyalty, and I hope I can trust you all with this."

Tonks proclaimed, "Well if anything you can rely on the fact we're family."

Cedric spoke softly, but it carried great weight with the others, "Darrel has been talking to me over the past few months about your training, he has not told me much about why, but he has hinted at me that I would want to join one day. It involves you, I think I have at least figured out that it has to do with the Dark Lord or a death eater."

Harry looked sharply at the boy, while Cedric continued, "My dad has driven himself crazy doing his best to stop Death Eaters from just resuming their lives, and living on their fortunes. He has ruined his career and his possibility of being the Ministry of magic forerunner to stop these men. They took my mother, and I will do whatever it takes to avenge her."

"My dad believes that the first war was only the beginning, and hearing about your training, and as hard as you have pushed yourself, I think you may know the information to prove his theories. I won't ask for that information, but I want a straight answer here and now. If you are honest with me, then you have my wand at your side. Is the Dark Lord truly gone?"

Harry and the boy seemed to stare at each other for several minutes, but only seconds had passed before the green-eyed boy answered the question, "No." The room sucked in a breath, then Harry continued, "He is at a point right now with the power to return to a full body. When he threw the killing curse at me all those years ago, my mother created a ritual that would rebound the spell, with the possibility of me absorbing the dark magic.

It worked, and we thought we had destroyed the Dark Lord for good, but it was not meant to be. As of right now, he does not walk among the living, but we have discovered that it may not always remain that way.

Since I was seven I have been training every day to prepare to defend my family. When the next round of this war comes through I hope to be of fighting age and prepared to make a difference. If the Dark Lord came for me once, it is only logical that he will do so again. Me probably at the top of his list, as I am the one who got away."

Heidi gasped, while the others cringed, having heard his argument before, Cedric however stood up offering his hand, "You stopped the Dark Lord for a period of time to allow the rest of us to grow into capable witches and wizards. The fact that you are offering me a chance now to help defend what is left of my family, and train beside you is a gift. As a Hufflepuff, a Diggory, and a Wizard I would be glad to train beside you to prepare for the worst to happen. To prepare for another war."

Harry turned his eyes to Heidi, "I understand where your problem may lie here. Being a muggle-born means before you were eleven you were not aware of the Dark Lords' presence. Hearing stories, and learning to fear his name from the moment you entered this world has probably struck a certain fear in you about the man."

"I can promise you when he returns, if he can return, it will be most violent, and likely much worse than the last time. We do not have near the capable witches and wizards as we did in the last war. The Death Eaters however will only grow stronger."

Heidi asked in a weak voice, "I am not a pureblood Harry. I heard what they did to Muggleborns in the last war. Murder was a nice option. I have every intention of finishing my life in this world. The Muggle world was not a nice place for me, and when I graduate from Hogwarts I do not ever wish to return there. If I want to be free, I understand that I may have to play my part. If this training will help us, then I will stand with my friends. Hufflepuff loyalty through and through I guess."

Heidi tried to sound optimistic, but Harry could understand her fear. Harry had this to say though, "In a few short months, Hannah, and Susan have come a long way. They can produce full shields and stunners. For first-years that's pretty incredible. For the rest of you, your cores are more developed. I can work you through more advanced magic that I have come to discover."

"Darrel and I have been working on wards and traps. We were going to delve into curses and offensive magic soon. It is more important that you three can adapt to magical stamina that way we can start building your cores. It involves physical as well magical exercise. I hope you three are up for it."

The group seem to agree to it, and Harry wished them all a good night in hope that they would think it over for the night.

The next morning the group did the essentials. The first-year girls had managed to run the full course for the first time, but they were seemingly dead on their feet afterward. Susan nearly vomited in the water, while Hannah just seemed to lie down and pass out.

Heidi looked like she could run the course again, while Cedric and Darrel were just heaving for breath. Heidi explained that she was a track runner in her grade school, while she loved to run marathons with her parents every year.

Harry could sense there was more to that story, but let it go...

With Susan and Hannah down for a few minutes, Harry ran them through meditative exercises. Heidi struggled here as she did not have Occulmency shields yet. Darrel promised to start teaching her as soon as possible, and it was easily decided that he would be the best teacher. They did their best to get her through the exercises, but in the end, it was time to duel. In the last practice, Harry had done shields with Darrel, so now they would break into dueling.

Harry and Darrel kicked off the game to show the others what they were doing. They started with stunners and then blasted curses at each other, while Harry called out, "Your wand movement is flourishing with more precision."

After a minute or two, Darrel called, "Your power is off, flick your wrist on water blasting charm."

The duel continued and the whole group was watching carefully when Harry was hit hard with some type of piercing hex which caused the boy to grunt in pain, while Darrel called out, "Wrong shield mate. Remember solid shots are better with Aegis, not the protego.

Harry nodded and the two continued. After a few minutes, Darrel slipped into the sand allowing Harry to stun the boy. Tonks looked amazed, "That looked auror level. The way you two complimented and fixed each other's technique. I want a go!"

Harry paired Darrel with Tonks, while he put Heidi against the two girls and Cedric against himself. They took this turn for only five minutes then switched partners with Harry now going against Heidi and Cedric taking shots at Tonks, and Darrel taking the two first-year girls.

It seems the two on dueling needed work because the pair had yet to lose so far. That was until Harry got to them. He was used to battling two-on-one against his siblings, so the girls were unsure how to combat an experienced multi-talented dueler.

The training on a whole was great. He gave them a brief cap over what they would be doing over the next few days, and the whole group seemed to leave with pretty high confidence in the lesson.

Harry was proud to be leading the group, but he knew he would have to expand his spell arsenal over the summer if he was going to keep up with his older classmates over the summer. However, now he was just happy with the way things were going.

Voldie: Hand me the stones or I will AK the author~