War Planning

Harry looked thoughtfully at the conference table and chairs which dominated the small room in Nair'icaix that he now stood in. His studies had excelled greatly and according to Bellatrix, he could easily rival any of the best duelists of the wizarding world. That meant that there was no longer any excuse for him not to do anything against Voldemort. This meeting would set things in motion.

There was a knock on the double doors and it opened to reveal Bess who bowed formally to Harry. "Milord Polairix, may I present Lord Hiscophney, Count of Trazkaban."

The count then strode in with a feral grin and Harry gave a smile while holding out his hand. "I'm pleased that you could come, Count."

Hiscophney took Harry's hand and shook it firmly. "It is of course an honor, my Lord."

Harry considered asking him to call him Harry, but decided against it. Count Trazkaban seemed to be set on formality and Harry needed all the presence of authority that he could get at this meeting and the many others to follow. However, he still spoke. "I hope that you don't mind, but I also invited Queen Xerina to attend this meeting as well."

"Not at all." the count replied magnanimously.

"Good." Harry said as he gestured for the count to take a chair. The count did so and he followed suit. Why was he being so friendly? Weren't the relations between Hiscophney and Polairix tense at the best of times? The ring quickly informed him that count had gained quite a bit of status by allying with Polairix. Harry put his mind at rest knowing that the count had no ulterior motives that would harm him.

After a very short wait, Bess presented Queen Xerina. The two men stood up and welcomed her before all three sat down. "I had not expected to see you here, Count." Xerina said, with a surprised smile.

"Well, here I am." Hiscophney said as a nervous smile crossed his lips.

Harry watched them thoughtfully. Apparently the two rulers knew each other or had at least met at some point in time prior to the meeting. That could be good, or bad. Nevertheless, it was time to press on with his goals. "I've called you both here so that we can discuss the upcoming hostilities with Lord Voldemort."

"What makes you so certain that such fighting will occur?" Xerina asked.

"Because I am against what Voldemort is doing and if I don't go against him, he'll try to kill me anyway." Harry said. "It will be only a matter of time before the fighting comes to our doorstep. I think that we would be better off fighting at his doorstep."

Hiscophney nodded, this time with a more serious attitude. "Yes, war will come eventually. I've already refused an alliance with Voldemort. In his eyes, I am now the enemy. Whether or not I am his enemy, he will come against me once Britain falls."

"Point conceded." Xerina said.

"Good." Harry stated. "However, this war will not as simple as killing Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic is against me personally- and at this point in time, barely acknowledges that Voldemort is a force to be reckoned with. We will have to change that. The Ministry must acknowledge fully the dangers it will soon face."

"Yes, that does make it a little more difficult." Hiscophney muttered thoughtfully as he considered what Harry had said. "I take it that you don't want to wage total war against this Ministry. Would that be correct?"

Harry nodded. "There are many good people who work in the Ministry. Their leadership is just a bit awry. Basically, I want to fix the Ministry and then do whatever I can against Voldemort."

"Diplomacy for the Ministry, war against the Death Eaters." Xerina said, summing up Harry's basic goal.

Hiscophney nodded sensibly. "That will work. I suggest that you divide you efforts between working with the Ministry of Magic and fighting against Voldemort. I would gladly volunteer to lead any forces or expeditions that are sent against Death Eaters. I also have some 'contacts' in the Ministry and other places that could prove to be useful."

"I can help with diplomacy." Xerina volunteered. "You can appoint me as some sort of ambassador or liaison to make it more official. Then of course, the Ice Army is yours to use."

"Okay, that sounds like a good set up." Harry said. "I can't think of a way to deploy our forces unless we have intelligence that is quick enough to get us to any Death Eater attacks. So, Hiscophney, why don't you assemble a small group force that is ready to go at a moments notice in the case that we are alerted to some sort of attack."

"As you wish, my lord." Hiscophney said readily.

"Xerina, get ready to open negotiations with the Ministry of Magic. You should probably try to connect their law enforcement assets with our own group so that we can help fight. Any intelligence they can provide will be valuable. However, do not let them know who I am. If they know that they're dealing with Harry Potter, it will sour everything up before it even starts." Harry instructed.

"Of course." Xerina said.

Hiscophney then cleared his throat. "I just thought of something. Where does the special force stay and how do you contact it yourself and let them know when to move?"

"I didn't think of that." Harry mused. "It would depend I suppose. Are you going to have your people in the group, or a combination of Ice People and your people?"

"For the sake of simplicity, let's just stick with my people for now." the count decided.

Harry nodded and he tried to think up a way for him to communicate quickly with the count. Finally a solution presented itself and saved Harry some thought. The ring glowed and Harry realized that he could connect other rings to it. "Do you have a ring or a piece of jewelry that you wear often?"

"Just my signet ring." the count replied.

"That will do." Harry announced as he held up the hand with the ring. "Touch your ring to mine and that will connect them. We then can communicate through them with out thoughts."

Xerina held out her hand which also bore a ring and smiled. "Don't leave me out."

...

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