Part 2

After a pause when everyone digested this information he moved on to the other attack "At the same time two highly trained assassins managed to break into the Queen's private audience room and managed to kill both her and the head of the Royal Wizards who she was having a meeting with. That the two attackers both died in accomplishing their task is cold comfort at the moment though it does mean, according to our analysis of the ward breach, that the enemy strike team is down to three".

"The King" said Mcmatthew somewhat frostily and clearly trying hard not to put emphasis on the man's title for the moment "wants their heads".

"Of course he does" replied Harry condescendingly "because no reign should start without a good old fashioned and very bloody beheading".

"Harry" said Luna while gently placing a soft hand on his arm "play nice".

"He is the King" stated the Royal Auror frostily as he, like all those of his kind that currently served the Crown, was fiercely devoted to House Windsor (though whether it was natural or magically enforced was really anyone's guess).

"Of a pre-hyperspace backwater island. He is not even the King of the planet for fuck sake and the British Commonwealth is a shadow of their Empire's former power". Macmathew's look turned murderous as Harry continued "But I take your point. It was, after all, his mother that was killed and allowances must be made".

"So" said Cracktooth who was rightly eager to move this conversation along and away from such dangerous waters "how are we going to do this?"

"Neville" stated Harry as he unconsciously slipped back into the familiar role of commander "will guide the largest team to take Hogwarts and I will be with them".

"Shouldn't you lead them?" Cracktooth asked.

"In combat I tend to work better as a skirmisher or in a very small group rather than as part of a large and, quite frankly, slow military unit. We must play to our strengths after all".

As he said this he shot Luna a small but warm smile and Cracktooth nodded as, to him, it made fine military sense.

"Luna will" continued Harry "take half of the HP's and attack the strike teams staging point, wherever that may be,.as I assume that they didn't just repeatedly cross the wards back and forth did they?"

"No. if they had we would have noticed" stated Mcmatthew with the confidence of the man that was assigned the duty of organising and protecting the soldiers that guarded the English side of the wards.

"You were supposed to notice during the first attempt" snarled Neville angrily. "If you had done your job properly in the first place, you pompous prick, my grandmother would still be alive".

"Easy Nev" said Harry soothingly "now is not the the time".

"It was your Prince's fault as it was his ward work that failed" spat Mcmatthew's clearly not interested in mending any broken bridges preferring instead to burn them entirely. "Do not blame me for his failures".

"Say whatever you want" stated Neville coldly "but if any ward work was foolproof then they wouldn't need guarding. Even the Ancient Egyptians didn't rely solely on warding in their great tombs".

Inwardly Neville promised himself that, if the man did start anything, then the idiot would die for both his attempt and the inept command of the guard units that allowed this to happen. By the thousand yard stare that the man gave him in return he was more than willing to start something but, more than that, was eager to put this 'Grandmagi' in his place.

Harry took all of this in with a single glance but said nothing.

During his many conversations with the New King, both before and after he ascended to take the title (as well as with the late Augusta Longbottom), he was aware of the growing arrogance of the 'Royal Aurors' as well as the derision and sometimes outright contempt that Harry and his people were beginning to be held in.

Their arrogance, from what he could tell, was only a pale shadow of their King's own and it had begun well before he had taken the Crown.

It also appeared that, in the years that they had been gone, Harry's contributions had either been lost or marginalised even as the new breed of English wizards had become complacent in their duties thinking that both the threat from the rebel wizards had gone and that they could do anything that Harry's wizards could do and, more than that, do it better.

"How" sneered the clearly hostile man "do you plan to get past the powerful wards of Hogwarts?"

"See those backpacks that my Goblins brought?" Harry asked rhetorically "They are not just for show".

No matter how much the abusive man pressed Harry would say no more about it.

-LAFA-

Less than eight hours later they had split up with Harry and Neville leading the majority of his forces, the fifty Royal Wizards and thirty goblins of the Nation to the edges of the (now greatly expanded) Hogwarts wards.

The ward work stretched before them like a great angry wall of glittering bees that shifted and moved slowly and continuously making a pale wall of yellow light into the sky. The hairs of every person nearby raised like that of a scared cat and that told all present that they were at full war settings.

They almost seemed incredibly angry at the mere presence of the invading group and would surely kill anyone that tried to cross them.

The Nation's goblins, with the assistance of the Royal Wizards, were starting to bury large wardstones along the perimeter of the Hogwarts wardline. They were not happy about it however and it appeared (whether due to the arrogance the wizards displayed or as a holdover from the days of the Ministry of Magic) that they would not actually work together as the groups split along racial lines.

He also noticed some of the higher ranking humans watching the HP-60's assemble with a possessive gleam to their eyes. Being suspicious of anyone with such a gleam he, being very careful, extended the lightest probe of Force power that he could manage (it was not very light despite his caution as he had honed his power for battle so where Luna could be gentle and almost scalpel like he was more akin to a hammer) but it was enough.

Then he found Mcmatthew's mind and was very thankful that he found only the most basic and seemingly natural shielding that he managed to bypass undetected.

What he saw there should have surprised him but, given everything that he had seen, didn't even come close to shocking him.

It appeared that the new King was not as happy with the standing arrangement between his and Harry's people as his mother had been.

He intended, through his agent who's mind Harry was in, to 'confiscate' any and all droids on Earth as well as any technology that they could manage that would be of use and back engineer it for use in a new British Empire.

The plans for any person that they manage to capture, Harry included, after they had pumped them for information were decidedly less nice. Mcmatthew's was looking forward to dealing with Neville, preferably bound and helpless, personally.

Death of course would be far too good for Harry and he was to be forced to swear a new oath of fealty (among others) and then work for everything that he had in him until he was either of no more use, the work itself killed him or he was broken beyond measure.

Moving over to Neville he watched as his people constructed rudimentary catapults from the forest that was around them (the majority of the creatures that had once lived there had left or been killed long ago) and slowly, but very casually, pulled him aside.

"The Royal Wizards" he said quietly "be ready".

Such few words but Harry could tell that not only had Neville understood their meaning with ease but, like Harry, was surprised by the Royal Wizards utter stupidity.

It wasn't that Harry's people couldn't defeat them easily in any attack if they were the slightest bit aware of an attack coming (though they could) but rather that the Goblins that came with Harry and those from the Nation changed things.

Though each group was now almost completely separate from the other they still maintained good relations and, while on Earth at any rate, were counted as Goblins that were the same as any other and bound by both the Nation's customs as well as it's laws.

They were also protected by them.

As soon as the wizards attacked Britain would be facing another Goblin rebellion but this one, as those that had left for Spero had ties to all of the clans and internal disputes over accounts and lands meant that most didn't, would involve all of the Nation rather than the more historically common single clan.

Harry didn't fancy the Wizards chances even if, in the very unlikely event, they managed to get the I.C.W. involved on their side. More than likely though the international body would leave them to their fate if only to protect their collective arses.

"The catapults are ready my Lord" said one of the Goblins that came with them. Nine catapults stood in a loose semicircle following the slight curvature of the barrier (and the speed at which they were constructed and their quality was a marvel and a mark of the makers skill) and were ready to fire.

"Good… Bloodstone is it?" At the Goblins nod Harry continued "Ready the first volley if you please".

From his research into artificially (rather than naturally) imbued wild magic into a staff Harry realised that it did not want to be contained and tended to react quite explosively when you tried.

That was where his R&D department came in.

They had been experimenting, with admittedly limited success, to enhance the warheads of the ships missiles on his fighters and had just recently come up with an alchemical glass that was almost literally crawling with microscopic containment runes.

These glass balls, almost twice the size of Harry's head, could store for short periods of time (usually less than a month) a quantity of natural magic and were beyond useful as an explosive.

Added to that they were quite mesmerising as the magic inside constantly shifted gently through the colour spectrum and moved inside like a thick lazy smoke and, ironically enough, powered the very wards that contained it in its globe shaped prison.

The main reason that this advancement hadn't been added to the missiles yet, let alone the torpedoes on the larger cruisers, was simply that they hadn't perfected the technology yet.

If they were made too thin the globes glass cracked at odd moments and exploded as well as doing very odd things to everything around them before they did so most likely due to microfractures that allowed small amounts of magic to leak out and overstrain the runes.

If they were made too thick then much of the potential power was lost and at best the explosion was only as strong as conventional weaponry. At the very worst the globe survived impact and simply bounced off it's target.

Given the fact that it had runes to magically strengthen it to contain the magic in the first place it was a very delicate balancing act between too thin and too thick.

These globes worked very well as catapult shot however as, due to the relatively low tech nature of the delivery systems combined with the comparatively short amount of time in it, any globe that was a shade too thin shouldn't impact the functionality of the catapults all that much.

At Harry's hand signal Dobby (the soon to be named Grandmaster of the Knights of New Atlantis) fired the first catapult with the others following less than half a second later with a distinctive wooden groaning.

The nine balls flew up into the air and, as they sped towards the target, not only did Harry watch them fly but the crews reloaded the catapults for another volley and were ready to send another even before the first hit.

When the first volley struck it was almost like a blast of multi coloured lightning but shaped more like a wave rather than a branch.

Then the light came before the sound, so strong that everyone had to look away for a moment, followed by a thunderclap so loud that it almost seemed to rattle bones that was only strengthened as each of the other eight shots impacted the barrier.

Already, from the very first shots, Harry could see the ward barrier thin and its own internal light dim and so he turned to join the droids preparing for the ground assault knowing that, as soon as the wards were down, the majority of his engineers would join them being more than eager to enter the fray.

As he checked his gear and the droids loaded the weapons that they carried (the HP-60's also had a bayonet like spike that would extend from the underside of their forearms in close combat) even as the catapults continued to fire with loud flashes and echoing booms.

Soon enough he was approached by Dobby, Mcmatthew, Cracktooth and Bloodstone.

"Why" said the Royal Auror "if your weapons are so effective are we even bothering with a ground assault?"

"There are children here" Cracktooth snarled before Harry could answer. To a Goblin family was everything and Harry was surprised that the man hadn't been gutted by either Goblin for simply asking the question.

"They can't have missed the light show and are no doubt preparing a response by now" pointed out Mcmatthew. "It would be much safer just to destroy the castle from a distance" the man continued to argue ignoring, for the moment, the twin looks of utter loathing that the Goblin's were sending him.

"There are children here" Harry repeated Cracktooth's words sounding as cold as a tomb and ending the conversation as quickly as it started.

Soon enough and with a great sound like shattering glass the war wards of Hogwarts (that had stood unbreakable for around a thousand years) were broken beyond repair and the anti apparition and portkey wards that were engraved in the stones that they had placed snapped into existence.

It was likely that, one way or the other, Hogwarts as it had always been would end today and part of the reason (though admittedly a very small part) that something like this hadn't been attempted before was Harry's sentimental reluctance to destroy the first true home he remembered.

His ragtag army soon began to move towards Hogwarts proper, minus ten Goblins to move and reposition the catapults, encountering no resistance.

As soon as they reached the grounds of the school (moving past fifty or so empty greenhouses that had clearly been heavily expanded and enchanted to be turned into makeshift farms and an abandoned village or two) that changed as they found two hundred and fifty or so hard faced wizards and witches in a rough formation and waiting for them.

At the head of the group were both Hagrid and Mcgonagall and, though Harry wasn't looking forward to this confrontation, he was grateful for the fact that most of the teachers that he knew hadn't remained at Hogwarts but rather had joined the Royal School almost as soon as it was set up.

Filius Flitwick had returned to both his roots and the Nation which had, in turn, welcomed him with open arms and was considering moving to the Commonwealth though the excitable teacher wouldn't be rushed in his decision

-LAFA-

Luna, at the same time, was slowly approaching the enemy strike teams newest entry point to the greater world.

Once they knew what to look for it hadn't taken long for them to realise that the old Gringotts building having been left unused as a pointless relic of the past (the Royal Wizards using the King's pounds as 'all proper wizards should') was the most likely place they were attacking from and this had been backed up by Luna's senses.

Though she was worried as she felt emanations of great pain from there in her future though what exactly that meant was, as it so often could be with the Force, unclear.

The old building made both tactical and symbolic sense when someone was looking at it from the strike teams point of view. It was deep, cavernous enough for larger forces in the future and was a remnant and pillar of a past of the old regime that they wished to (in their own twisted way) restore.

The twenty droids that she had taken with her were characteristically silent as they flanked her and she entered what used to be the main floor. The medical droid ME-54 did not knowing that it was in no way designed for combat and instead waited outside ready to be called in.

The first thing that she noticed was that the tellers workstations had been converted into makeshift beds and then that all three of their targets, Hermione included, were sitting around a table in the centre of the room.

They were also in the middle of a very heated card game.

The reason that they were caught unprepared was very simply that, if they had put any wards up, they would risk detection by the Royal Wizards and as such while the place was secure they didn't have any placed.

For now though they were relying on the secrecy that no wards provided because, whether they admitted it or not, a crowned King could rip almost any ward down in his domain including the Fidelius charm and they clearly didn't know that the King of England was currently not crowned.

Following King Charles III request all of the droids weapons had been switched to stun the enemy as he didn't just want them dead he wanted to make examples of them to crush any future rebellion before it started.

They managed to fire before almost anyone could react and the two male wizards dropped unconscious to the floor.

Hermione on the other hand popped away though, as she clearly had no intention of fleeing, not very far.

Given the highly defensible nature of the bank (Goblins were, after all, always prepared for war) and with the element of surprise on their side Luna had elected not to raise apparition wards and alert the enemy to their presence or give them any time to prepare.

A warning from the Force screamed at her and she dove into a roll naturally responding to it even before her mind began to fully register what was happening even as the spell that went past where she was standing took a large chunk of the marble wall behind where her head would have been.

Even as she smoothly rose to her feet with her purple lightsaber flaring to life she saw a fire whip slash sink deeply into the droids destroying the closest by bisecting them into glowing pieces and damaging the others nearby.

As the damaged ones, runes glowing, began to repair themselves Luna slipped easily into Ataru and used the environment around her to her full advantage. This was more than needed as it was this that saved her from an early death in the those first few hectic moments.

She then, bouncing off the walls like a pool ball, lined herself up for a classic hawk bat swoop batting aside spells as she did. The maneuver was one that Hermione had to scramble to avoid and, soon enough, she was almost constantly on the defensive.

Then Hermione changed tack, clearly believing that a good defence was a furious offense, firing spell after spell in such rapid succession that her wand almost seemed a continuous blur of movement and, if she survived, she would probably have to cut the almost red hot wand from her flesh.

Soon enough her spell choices got darker and darker culminating in a vicious and corrupted cutting curse that was aimed at Luna's face that was deflected, if barely, back at her and cut her arm off at the elbow.

Even while she screeched in rage Hermione scrambled for her missing arm as she wanted the wand that the hand held.

With a almost delicate sweep of her blade Luna both cauterized Hermione's elbow and, moving in a beautiful figure eight motion with her blade took off her other arm as well. She ignored the smell of burning flesh and focused completely on her former friend.

"Arrrgghhh!" Hermione screamed "You traitorous bitch!"

"I suppose" began Luna calmly and almost philosophically "that treachery is a matter of perspective".

Then she half turned her head and called out in a louder voice "Fifty Four I need you"

"Princess" stated M.E-54 in its emotionless tone as it entered " you called for me?"

"Princess!?" Hermione screeched with a pained gasp and full of hatred "You really are looney if you have that fucking thing calling you a princess".

"Luna Potter is one of the leaders of the Silver Commonwealth and, by virtue of her marriage, is indeed a princess".

"Potter! Bastard! Traitor! Whore!" Screamed Hermione seemingly stuck in a hateful and vulgar loop of almost all consuming rage.

"Fifty Four" continued Luna ignoring Hermione's outburst as if she had never spoken while inwardly the pieces were starting to fit together into a disturbing picture in her mind. People under a potions or spells control often had magnified emotions especially to controversial or otherwise forced (to their own psyche at least) ideas.

It may even have been that the word Harry or Potter had been used as a trigger to bring on a murderous rage to help further the control of her. After all it was much harder to summon your will or even realise that you were being used if anything and everything relating to one of the largest signs of that swamped you in unthinking and all consuming anger.

Still ignoring Hermione as, no matter her emotional state, the downed woman recognised the threat of a lit and humming lightsaber Luna continued her conversation with the droid. "Take a blood sample now please. I want immediate analysis and then, if necessary, move on to an in depth brain scan".

The droid moved to obey and, reacting as programmed to Hermione's dire threats, shot the witch with a short term tranquilizing dart shot from a concealed launcher in it's hand and, though would cause no permanent damage. it would knock her out for a few minutes.

The results when they came not only required a quick but deep brain scan but were hardly surprising to Luna at first. Thankfully that scan was accomplished when M.E-54's chest opened up like butterfly wings and began a non intrusive laser scan.

There were significant amounts of an unidentified substance, that Luna obviously took to be a potion, in Hermione's blood. What was far more worrying to Luna were the results of the brain scan and the implications were so disturbing in fact that she asked for the droid to repeat itself.

"I said" repeated the droid " that it appears the substance that is riddled throughout her system has impacted and damaged all lower brain functions. Somehow, though it escapes my database how, it appears to function for them".

"Can you treat it?" Luna asked. She knew that this was bad as, if it was one of the several hundred potions stored in the droids medical database it would have named it and a suitable treatment could have likely been devised.

As it wasn't that now would only happen if the potion bore striking similarities in it's makeup to some other, more well known, potions but she knew the likelihood of that was extremely low.

"Not without assistance from both Healers and a great deal of equipment" was the succinct reply.

"And if you purge it?" Luna asked for clarity's sake.

"The patient would cease breathing in under a minute" was the emotionless yet chilling reply.

"Can we not take her back to the Commonwealth to treat her?"

"My analysis shows that the substance is breaking down far too quickly for her to make the journey with anything beyond a 0.0004% chance of success. There is also not time for a clone to be produced and it even appears to ignore all standard healing techniques including phoenix tears.".

Luna sighed, weighed down with the hard truth that assaulted her mind, and she knew that not even a blood bag would work at this point. The fact of the matter was that it took more than a minute to get the genetic material required and perform the ritual. That was assuming she somehow had the time to teach Hermione the ritual as well.

If she tried to do that with Hermione still potioned it would be the same as doing it against her will and, like all magic, intent was key in creating one.

Whoever had programmed their friend had made it so that anything she suggested, even everything connected to her or the name Potter, would be dismissed out of hand with a deep and abiding knee jerk anger.

"What do you require in terms of treatment?" M.E-54's bland statement broke her from her thoughts for a moment.

Luna was torn. On one hand she didn't want to see her former friend die but, on the other hand, not only would she die anyway but for as long as it was in her system she would be a slave and eventually die anyway.

Someone had turned her friend into a twisted caricature of herself and the anger at that almost threatened to spill out of her and tear at the foundations of the former bank. She mastered it though, if barely, as that emotion would be of little use at the moment.

"Purge her. Take that vile thing out of her...the tranquilizer too" said Luna tiredly.

Soon enough the detox was complete on the unconscious woman as the droid used a needle in it's left arm to remove tainted blood, where upon it travelled to specially stored cleaning systems in its body only to be sent back clean through a similar needle in its right arm.

The vile concoction was analyzed and stored inside its chest cavity either for further study or to safely remove it depending on its eventual orders. For now though it was effectively neutralized and safe.

Luna silently wept knowing that, if her friend was to die anyway, Hermione deserved to pass on as herself rather than the twisted thing that she had been made to be. Luna couldn't let her die alone though as after everything that she had been through it would have been too cruel in Luna's mind.

It was also the younger woman's penance for not arriving in time, for not understanding more, and simply not being able to do more.

"L-luna?" Hermione asked waking up slightly groggy.

She felt her friends pain and confusion in the Force and knew the instant that Hermione remembered what she had done, what she had been forced to do, as the weight of Hermione's guilt flooded the Force even though she was blameless (or nearly so) by any measure.

"Shhh...it's okay...it's okay. It wasn't you...no one blames you...not now and not ever". Luna's frantic whisperings were trying to convey with everything that she had how true that was and how Luna herself held Hermione blameless.

Though the weight of guilt lessened she could tell that she was not wholly effective and, for a time, Luna dropped to her knees and gathered her friends head in her arms whispering soft soothing phrases while still crying.

"But I remember it… I remember everything. I was in there somewhere trapped and watching my body do horrible things" Hermione said softly and with her voice growing weaker as her body began to fail.

"Who did this to you?" Luna asked quickly hoping that she could personally condemn the person that had done this to what was once a bright and slightly naive girl.

"R-remus. I trusted him" Hermione's voice leaked hurt, naked and raw, and all that Luna could do was slowly rock her friends head and stroke her cheek.

"Why did I trust him…." Hermione half wondered aloud and Luna could have explained about the potions but, she knew, that was only half the problem and they didn't have the time.

"We all did. That's how spies work. It wasn't just you... we all trusted Remus fucking Lupin" she instead answered.

"Luna" Hermione's voice came out strong almost as if she was gathering the very last of herself all in one final push. "Don't...I'm so ashamed…..please….don't tell Har…"

And with that Hermione Granger died in the arms of her friend.

All Luna was left with were the blank eyes of the woman staring unfocused at the ceiling and more regret than she feared that she would ever be able to manage.

Luna had no time to dwell, no time to grieve, however as like a great tidal wave she felt a massive wave of pain, anger, sadness and horror crash over her even as the Force screamed out in warning.

"Chime" she called even as the beautiful bird appeared in a ball of fire "take me to Harry right now".

On hearing her anguished and frightened tone the bird didn't even protest with a single chirp. Instead she simply nodded, landed on Luna's shoulder, and flamed her and her bonded's mate away.

-LAFA-

"Will someone please deal with that FUCKING TOWER!" Harry bellowed into the comlink in his ear even as he watched the tallest tower of Hogwarts launch another massive bolt of lightning into the mass of Royal Aurors and droids on the battlefield and scattering them like bowling pins even as he felt many die in a wave of sudden shock and agony.

Harry himself was ahead of the larger main body of his mismatched army surrounded by eager Goblins who, as it turned out, could run very very fast.

"On it Harry" stated Neville as calmly as if he was discussing the weather, still back with the catapults, and seconds later (and with a satisfying loud boom and spectacular light show) it was no more than slightly glowing rubble and ash having crumpled under the powerful attack.

Thankfully the enemy wizards had made the understandable mistake of thinking that the Royal Wizards should be the first targets.

Though the defenders outnumbered the actual human wizards they were still outnumbered in total and they, like all wizards, thought that other wizards were both the most important unit and the greatest threat.

The only other force that the defenders had going for them were the enchanted suits of armour that had always guarded the castle. Though there were only twenty (as many wizards were needed to direct and control them) they were still formidable in their own right.

The droids were quite easily dispatching some broom riders that the wizards had sent out from the castle learning the hard way that, as a distance weapon, wands were really unsuitable when compared to the light repeaters their enemy carried.

In short the aerial battle was a slaughter.

While the droids were quite easily disposing of any broom rider that came in range (and close enough to fire a shot at Harry and the Goblin skirmishers) the lead forces moved in and, with their runic blades and their shields on one arm, charged in with Harry a few steps ahead.

They began to cut a bloody swath through the ranks of wizards and suits of armour.

With a flame whip in one hand and his lightsaber in the his other Harry quickly dispatched his nearest enemies as both the armour and wizards fell to his blade and whip some screaming and others in eerie silence.

He moved like liquid mercury quickly dispatching one suit of armour with his whip even as he slashed through a charging wizard and spinning on the spot to deflect an errant spell.

The line of men, goblins and armour seethed against each other, both struggling for dominance, even as the last of the broom riders fell from the sky dead. This freed both the droids and the Royal Wizards to begin to flank their enemy.

Sheer numbers alone made this task difficult however and so, deciding to try and even the odds, Harry Force Jumped high and behind his enemies deflecting three spells back into the mass of enemy fighters as he went.

When he did land he cut down four wizards before they could begin to react. Then he moved both his blade and his whip into a rising whirlwind of death and interspersing that with liberal amounts of Force Lightning.

This was particularly effective on the suits of armour who's charms and runes failed under the onslaught and they fell back from the force of it with pieces of them, red hot and smoking,spinning off to strike at their allies exposed flesh.

Harry felt more than saw Dobby decapitate Professor Mcgonagall, the old teacher not even having any time to begin an attempt at defence, and her nearest allies despair as they saw her fall.

He also felt Hagrid's utter and complete fury at her death and the resolution that the half giant would demolish Dobby here and now even before he began to see the distinctive figure began to hack a destructive path towards his former padawan.

Harry knew that he had to act as, though his friend was very skilled in his own right, he was in no way prepared to fight an enraged half giant covered in armour and wielding a razor sharp butterfly axe.

Cutting one wizard vertically through the unfortunate man's torso and using his whip to take the legs of another he used Force Scream to bellow and scatter many wizards, mostly unharmed (except for those closest to him who died with ruptured ear drums and internal blood loss in their skulls from burst blood vessels), from his path.

Casually he flipped his lightsaber around and, plunging down, dispatched the wizard who had lost his legs to the flame whip even as he used the path he created to intercept Hagrid long before even the mans massive steps could carry him to Dobby.

"Hagrid" Harry called loudly. He struggled with making himself heard above the din of battle and the cries of the dying even with both magic and the Force aiding his voice.

Hagrid looked confused for a moment clearly trying to reconcile the familiar voice with the face and frame of one of the enemy commanders who, according to the Lord of Scotland, were traitors to the legitimate government.

"Harry what'cha doin' here?" Hagrid asked before he took in the sight of all the loyal (to him) dead around his former friend and, when his brain caught up with his eyes, his face hardened.

"Killing the rebels who killed my friend Augusta" Harry chose to reply simply.

"We're not the rebels 'arry" protested the almost childlike and innocent Hagrid.

"You are to me" Harry responded his tone tired but resolute.

Hagrid shrugged, as if that fact didn't matter to him, and then suddenly lowered his shoulders and charged at Harry with his axe swinging to to cut Harry in half just as Harry himself had done to one wizard moments ago.

As Hagrid's axe swung sideways Harry sank so deeply into the Force that, for him, time slowed and conventional sight was currently not needed as he knew where the axe was going to be.

Harry lept and, with the sureness granted to his limbs by the Force, used the flat head of the axe to lightly spring up and over Hagrid twisting around as he did so and landed behind the formerly gentle giant.

Using a Force enhanced kick before the man could react he hit the back of the man's knees and Hagrid buckled into a kneeling position before the man could say or do anything else.

With great sadness in his soul he put his lightsaber gently through the man's chest.

Later he would rationalise that he really had no choice as, if he hadn't, Hagrid would have not stopped fighting unless the entire invading force was dead or captured and then he lent in so his next words could be easily heard by Hagrid as Harry's lips were next to his ear.

"I'm sorry" Harry whispered quietly to his friend even as the man began to die. "But Dumbledore and his ilk always had your heart".

Then he was off like a shot as now was not the time to mourn or analyse his feelings.

The defending army was wavering, almost broken, by the loss of their two commanders so Harry entered the school proper and headed towards what used to be the Headmaster's Office realising that the leader of the enemy would not wish to lose such a strong status symbol and was probably commanding from there.

He encountered little resistance aside from a few notable seconds of dirty close quarters fighting with Daphne Greengrass who announced her presence with a trio of emerald green killing curses.

She was quickly on the floor with her neck twisted at an odd angle, clearly dead, for her trouble.

Then he was at the 'Lord of Scotland's' corridor and gathering all of his pain into a volatile ball of magic between two hands which he used to shatter the Gargoyle and, through it, the door further on as well.

-LAFA-

Remus Lupin was the master of Hogwarts in a very literal sense and, from the first moment that Harry entered the castle proper, he had been aware of every step his enemy took.

Albus Dumbledore was a great man in many ways and had built in many contingencies (planning for many different scenarios) and this had given Lupin the power to override any Headmaster (excluding Albus himself) which, in turn, gave him almost unprecedented access to both the wards and the power network that fed them.

This had come in handy more and more over the years especially after the older man had died and it had fallen to him to pursue the 'Greater Good'.

Case in point although bringing down the wards had been a necessary step for Lupin's enemies it did have a bonus for him.

Dumbledore had taught him the value of backup plans and even if direct confrontation was somewhat out of character for him these days it didn't mean that he was incapable or that he wouldn't do everything to stack the odds in his favour.

All of the wizards that had been deemed disruptive or useless to the state had been integrated into the wards, greatly strengthening them, and with them now disabled the wizards had nothing to send that power to.

That was until, using his control to his best advantage, he turned the excess power to the best place he could think of...him. Forty nine magical cores, as well as the excess power of the reservoirs of magic that had historically fed Hogwarts now fed him and as he felt the monumental power feed him he couldn't help but laugh in joy.

Every cell of his being filled with it as his body drank in the magic like a man who hadn't had a sip of water in over a week. His eyes turned into a solid and brilliant white even as he burned his wand with a single thought and it seemed like (to him) that he had become as much magic as man.

Such a petty foci is no longer needed he thought.

He remembered Dumbledore's obsession with the Deathly Hallows and the power that theoretically came with becoming the Master of Death and he remembered well how he himself had coveted that very power.

Now, having magic almost leaking from every pore, he realised how foolish he had been.

What fable could compare to the raw feeling of so much magic and power, he thought, who could envision a greater strength than this?

So it was that when his door was blown inward by a battle ready Harry Potter he was remarkably unconcerned and, with barely a thought, turned the shards of oak that flew at deadly speeds into sand.

He, for the first time in years, beheld the long missing Potter and his glowing sword without a trace of fear and smiled deeply while looking forward to teaching this upstart his place.

He was already daydreaming about how much power Harry would provide when he joined the 'collection' as, if the average wizard with comparatively anemic power levels did this much, he was almost salivating about adding Harry.

"Lupin" spat Harry with disgust and hatred dripping from his tone.

"Nice of you to drop by to see old uncle Moony" said Lupin casually and even his voice echoed from all the extra power that was currently running through his system. "Nice weapon" he added.

"Nice eyes" Harry responded in a calm tone before he abruptly raised his hand and, quite suddenly, lightning spewed crackling madly from his hand clearly hungry for flesh "try this instead".

Only for it to be stopped by a marble block that appeared from nowhere and it seemed that the blue lightning hissed angrily at it furious at being denied its prize. Lupin simply raised his eyebrows in an expression of minor interest at the display.

"Try this instead" said Remus mockingly and as the block of marble disappearing along with Harry's attack another stream of lightning appeared, deep pink this time and magical, only to be blocked by the fierce crackling of Harry's lightsaber even as as the Boy-Who-Lived used all of his connection to the Force to enhance his speed and seemed to literally fly at his enemy.

All to no avail of course.

Even as the impudent brat came towards him Lupin simply twisted his hand and Harry was encased in a pale white (and almost see through) globe of magic that shocked him like a forcefield when he hit it and he hit it hard.

Then with a shooing gesture more appropriate to waving away an annoying fly and Harry, still encased, went flying into the corridor at very high speed.

"SHIIIIITTTTTTTT" Harry yelled as he was torn away from the office with Lupin following at a steady and unhurried pace.

Harry meanwhile was trying to break the magic holding him with all of his might but, to him, it felt like he was trying to move the tide with a toy spade. The only plus, if you could call it that, was that he still held his lightsaber even if he couldn't currently do anything with it.

Lupin, like some great and famous conductor in a orchestra, directed the floating Harry with short sharp movements of his hands to the seventh floor's Room of Requirement.

A small part of Harry's mind wondered where all the students were but the answer came to him within a second. They were all most likely hidden in their dorm rooms, locked away by magic, until the fighting was over.

They would be safe anyway as Dobby and the HP-60's had orders to extract and protect the students, forcibly if need be, from Hogwarts and they were probably doing it even now. Magical paintings were not really a defence against the technology that Harry's people employed and that was a fact that they would soon learn if they weren't already.

The tapestry that guarded the entrance shimmered but, instead of forming a door, it turned into an open archway at Lupin's unspoken command even as Harry was released from his prison in much the same fashion.

Unlike the door though his change in circumstance was not gentle but rather heralded by being thrown violently into the room and, because of the sheer force of it, he lost his lightsaber at the beginning of the archway hearing a dull clink as it struck the newly formed stone.

Lupin followed him in and,seemingly finding walking far too boring for his tastes, floated an inch or so off the ground gliding through the air.

"Welcome" stated Lupin "to your new home. I would have kept you imprisoned until I could convert you but we wouldn't want the different and strange magics you use interacting badly with those currently in place now would we?"

"Bite me" stated Harry.

"How quaint. No need to worry Harry" Lupin continued sarcastically " let uncle Moony take care of you...you won't be alone".

Lupin waved his hand around the Room of Requirement. "Did you ever realise what this room was? It's not just a silly little room you know... welcome to the oldest functioning ritual room in existence as well as the Heartstone of Hogwarts...it's soul if you will".

The room that they were both in was in the shape of a grand and arched cathedral with a brightly coloured and slowly moving semi precious stone suspended gently in the air above a runic plinth supported by its own magic.

There was also one of the most grotesque sights that Harry had ever seen.

What he saw were rows upon rows of people in the room suspended in something that looked like amber and all of Harry's senses screamed at the wrongness of it as he looked upon the faces of people caught in a moment of unending agony neither alive nor dead.

They were also beyond saving.

Though Harry could not distinguish individuals at this time (he was quite busy trying to think of a way to stay alive) all of the remaining Weasley's sans Percy and including the still potion addled Ron and Ginny were among those trapped.

Lupin had found a use for them after all despite their obviously strong desires.

"I'm not staying here" Harry said calling forth a fire whip to his hand only to have a burst of red hot magic (in the form of a vicious medical spell put to an inventive use) remove his hand from his wrist even as it also cauterized the wound.

"Did you really think" said Lupin who obviously didn't understand a distraction when he saw one "that you could stand up to the power of Hogwarts..to your true master the Lord of…"

With a sudden burst of Force power Harry's blue lightsaber flew up and decapitated the man. Lupin's face was permanently frozen in a picture of shock and that, on a purely petty level, made Harry happy….sort of.

"Yeah" Harry gasped to the corpse as the pain from the loss of his hand as well as a mess of adrenaline ran through his system. "You were more powerful than me, more of a bastard too, but you should really watch the monologuing...it's a killer".

At that moment Luna burst through the archway followed closely by half the droids that had left with her (taken by a thoroughly exhausted Chime one at a time) and, with a muttered spell, created Harry a silver hand like the one that Wormtail used to have.

Many people knew of the spell but very few used it. One of its usual side effects was metal poisoning though Harry and Luna were numbered among the few who could create one without that problem (Voldemort not only didn't care he had been amused that his 'reward' would eventually kill the recipient).

"Report" said Harry. Tearful reunions could wait until later as, at the moment, they were still in a battlefield situation even as he stood and moved over to those trapped people and studied them.

On top of that though Dobby would represent the Knights in the Council as a body they were currently led by Harry as it's most senior member though he didn't often use that to his advantage and the day to day running of the Knights of New Atlantis was generally the purview of the Grandmaster.

That, in turn, meant that Luna was not technically in charge of the battle outside and was therefore both free and almost required to come to Harry's aide.

Luna didn't need Harry to speak to understand how he was feeling at the moment as she had both their marriage bond and the fact that he was almost screaming it into the Force. Chime even appeared in a slower then normal flash of flame to land on Harry's shoulder and tiredly give him some support.

Disgust at what these people had been through radiated from his every pore and she felt deep despair at his inability to help them (far more than she had ever sensed from him).

They both knew that there was no releasing for people 'trapped and tapped' in such a living death and that was one of the many reasons that both the instructions for the rituals as well as the actual rituals themselves were destroyed a long time ago.

Even Harry, who had been schooled in a time centuries before the more oppressive eras, at least in terms of the dissemination of knowledge, had only ever seen vague references to their existence amongst the many and varied dire warnings about using them.

Seeing his pain at the trapped peoples torturous existence Luna could only share in it. She and Harry had killed many and he had even condemned those worst, such as Ron and Ginny, to a lifetime of pain but neither had ever done anything like this.

All of those people's magic, as well as their very souls, were being fed into the ward scheme. If they were left alone they would never die but instead be preserved by the very magic that was feeding on them.

They were also aware and unable to move. They were stuck in eternal torment and agony not for some great crime or unforgivable action but simply because it was more convenient and useful to some that they were.

All of this and the simple fact that there was no way to restore them to their former lives weighed heavily on Harry and Luna could tell that it was something that he would carry for a very long time.

It was at that moment, looking at her beloved, that Luna decided to honour Hermione's last wish both for her and Harry. The truth in this case would simply become a weapon that would only further hurt Harry.

So, she thought, he will never know the truth. The fact that Hermione had been used and abused by many men that she trusted in a multitude of ways would do no good now.

The fact that her friend had been perhaps the greatest casualty of this war would be buried with her and everyone else (including Nic although she was sure the Spymaster would suspect otherwise) would have to believe she died a traitor.

Sometimes the truth was just too painful and she couldn't do that not to Harry or Hermione's parents.

"The day is ours beloved" she said gently "The last of the students have just been evacuated by half of my droids with some of the Goblin's help. Dobby, Neville and the majority of the rest were unavoidably detained by the Royal Aurors. They did take care of it though".

"Mcmathew is alive?" Harry asked.

"Yes...though Neville did happen to remove one of his arms and both of his legs" Luna replied calmly. "Apparently he never learned that it wasn't a good idea to try and stab a well educated and trained man in the back. He also never learned not to piss off Neville".

"Remind me never to piss off Neville" said Harry with some humour in his voice.

Then activated his earpiece (having forgotten about it in the heat of battle) while resisting the urge to shudder as he felt the cold silver fingers of his new hand touch his ear reminding himself that it was his and not Wormtail's.

"My prince?" Asked Neville.

"Nev...you okay there mate?"

"Yeah...bastard thought that sending a Avada Kedavra at my back was the gentlemanly thing to do...I took care of the prick" Neville responded dismissively.

"Obliged Nev… did he attack the Goblins?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes" said Neville with clear relish in his voice.

"The prick is stupid to boot. Do we have any shots for the catapults left?"

"Yes" responded Neville clearly confused at the abrupt change of subject "why?"

"Bring them all up here...we have something that needs to be done".

When Harry and Luna left Hogwarts for the last time less than an hour later, with Chime nestled into Harry exhausted from her labours, only Luna heard him whisper something.

To her it sounded like regret and, though she couldn't make out the words, she saw him looking back beyond the walls of stone towards the people trapped in a state of living death. He couldn't free them to life but only give them peace.

He walked past Neville, who he passed guarding the bound and gagged Mcmatthew and he smiled at the imprisoned man without warmth or pity even as he stopped to talk to him.

"You may be wondering why your surprise attack didn't work. The short answer to that was that it wasn't actually a surprise. My group and the British Crown's relationship had admittedly become strained but we still had a working relationship until the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and then the current king ascended the throne".

Here Harry paused and took a small sip of water that Luna had passed him. "As you know he wanted the rebellious murders brought to justice, the old dirty kind of justice,, and personally I can understand that as the magical world has caused him nothing but grief as well as killing his mother whom he loved. What I cannot condone is the attacks on my people".

Harry gestured with his new silver hand (the ring working as comfortably on the magical construct as it did on his old hand) and the Royal Auror was lifted off the ground and floated gently into the air in a similar way to what Lupin had so recently done to him.

As he did so Neville slapped a timed portkey charmed to stick to the man and it began to count down the moment that it settled on him. As they were doing this Cracktooth approached the group and, while standing beside Harry, had a murderous expression on his face even as he began to speak.

"Take this as official notice human. Your King has now started a war with the entirety of the Goblin Nation due to this cowardly attack and so you must take a message to him. Tell him that no quarter will be given, no treaty will be signed and nothing will stop us".

After a moment's pause for the man to digest this news he continued "You are all without honour and we will have you running as well as dying alone and afraid" Cracktooth growled.

Cracktooth looked at the man as if he were filth beneath his boot as his finished his impromptu speech.

"As for the technology you wanted? It was not and never will be yours" said Harry picking up where the Goblin left off even as his forces moved slowly further and further away from the school "Hogwarts however was".

With a snap of his fingers he gave Neville the signal for the makeshift bombs to be activated.

The resulting explosion was massive especially as it started in the Room of Requirement itself vaporising its contents. Those that were once trapped there were released to their final peace before destroying the building so utterly that no single stone was connected to its former brother and spraying all bricks outward haphazardly.

"Enjoy the fruits of your deceitful labour" finished Harry and with that the portkey activated.

"My Lord?" began Cracktooth with hesitation colouring his voice "if we need help?"

"The Silver Commonwealth will have a small detachment of droids,around three hundred, for your use standing by. Any more than that like say goblin weaponry and the permission for individual citizens to fight in your war that can be arranged….for a price".

"What are your terms?" The bluntness comforted Harry and honestly he much preferred it to diplomatic doublespeak.

"Simple" replied Harry "all refugees can continue to leave from the Gringotts branch in France under the understanding that it is a one way trip from now on and you, or someone you trust, manages the process and vets those that wish to leave".

"That's all?" asked Cracktooth very surprised as he had expected more conditions for any help given Harry's bleak mood. "What about when we win?"

"The Commonwealth is done with this planet. Do with it what you will". Harry's voice was as cold and unforgiving as steel.

With that Harry and his group turned and left the Earth without another word, never to return, and leaving Britain fighting a war that they could never win and most of its people would never see coming before it started.

Too many people close to Harry had been harmed or killed on this world for him to have any affection left for it. To him it was like a crooked house of corruption and greed that stank with misery and something else.

To them both it was a world that stank of death.