The room was loud as Hermione entered behind Jack, following her brother closely. Since the Battle of Hogsmeade things had been chaotic and stressful, but finding out that Jack was her brother had been a point of happiness amidst the chaos. She had also discovered that James and Lily Potter (her birth parents!) had named her Emilia, and she had legally changed her name after telling her adoptive parents. They had approved, via email as they had left the country after she warned them the war was getting worse, and now her name was Emilia Hermione Morgan although she used Potter now in the Wizarding World. Another change had been getting a new sister. Jack and Luna had grown very close over the school year and even closer after they had left the school to liaise with the military. Luna had been happy for both of them when Jack and Emilia had rediscovered their sibling bond but absolutely ecstatic when Jack had offered to adopt her into the Potter Family and make a blood oath as to their own siblinghood. Emilia approved. She had also gotten closer to Luna over the year and they also became blood-sisters. Luna still used Luna Lovegood in the Wizarding World, but when they spoke with muggles she always introduced herself as Cassandra Morgan.
A sudden hush in the room distracted her from her musings and Emilia looked up towards the head of the table in the center of the room. Her brother, having settled his sisters in chairs along one of the sides of the tables without her noticing, stood in front of a large map of the UK, and a white board. He had not called for silence verbally, but his presence drew attention and respect and the various high-ranking figures quieted in deference to the young Captain. "I would welcome you all to Britain, but these are not welcome circumstances. Regardless, thank you all for responding to our call to aid, however unofficial it may be." Jack nodded to various figures around the room and they nodded back. Emilia looked around the room. They were a varied bunch, mostly foreign magicals and high ranking British muggles. Not everyone they asked had answered the call, but more than she had expected had answered the call from an unofficial rebel group.
"We are here to make a stand against the Dark Lord Voldemort." It was a novel experience to sit in a room and not have anyone flinch at that name. She supposed it was because he had had less of an impact outside of Britain and those British wizards in the room had grown accustomed to Jack saying it. "He has taken over our school and our government with a small group of followers because the average person is too terrified to make a stand. However, he has not pushed at the borders yet and has no official foreign allies. We outnumber them and if we make a stand there is a possibility that people will gain confidence and stand with us. We only need a solid plan. Are there any suggestions?"
One of the generals spoke up. "I think that some training as a group is important. Our soldiers need to get used to dealing with spellfire, and you magic folk need to learn to work with those without." The other various military personnel in the group nodded. Their soldiers could deal with a lot, but most of them had never heard of magic outside of children's tales. They would have no idea what they were getting into and what their equipment could handle and what they might have to dodge. Their previous training had never covered it.
Jack nodded. This was a valid suggestion and he would have to consider how to implement it. Some of the other magicals in the group looked a little indignant, though. They didn't think muggles should learn how to deal with magic. They were separated for a reason! "That is a valid suggestion." The indignant looks grew. "We can implement a training plan once we come up with an attack plan. This will allow us to train the squads in the groups they will be working with during the attack."
The general who had originally made the suggestion sat back, relieved. Bertram Alden had seen the looks some of the foreign magicals were giving him and his colleagues. He had feared that his suggestions would be discounted simply because he was a muggle. He was one of the top military minds in the country! But, he remembered, Jack Morgan (or Harry Potter as most of the magicals apparently knew him) was also a military man. He knew how useful strategy and planning was. Some of his ideas were a little outdated, but apparently, when he had last been in a war, it had been the 1860's. Warfare had changed a lot since then. At least he was open to suggestions. His two sisters seemed reasonable too. They at least weren't giving them any odd looks.
At Jack's words, a Finnish wizard who had been recruited by Theo Nott stood up. "Now wait just one minute Potter. You can't expect us to work with muggles?!" Otso Korhonen was extremely angry, and also a little confused. When his wife's cousin had contacted them hoping to request aid against the Dark Lord who was trying to take over Britain, he had thought that it would be very similar to his grandfather's war against Grindelwald. In that war, it had been muggles against muggles and wizards against wizards. There were no muggles involved on the enemy side of this war! There was no reason for Potter to involve muggles on theirs! "They have no idea how to fight against magic and most of them won't be able to see where we are fighting anyway!" Otso's words stopped in his throat at the glare Potter had leveled at him. "That is what the training is for." Otso cleared his throat and tried to speak again, but Potter just spoke over him. "And wards can be dealt with. That is what we are here for, to determine how best to use our forces to get into their stronghold and fight their forces. We have ward breakers and curse breakers on our side, if we need to we can tear down the muggle-repelling wards. Do you have any suggestions on what to do after the wards have fallen? Or do you only have complaints?" Otso sat down again, feeling like he was 15 again and being scolded by his mother.
A French witch stood up then. "A team of ward breakers at each compass point of the property if possible. I would suggest that some of the muggles be used to guard these teams against interference because any magic other than that going towards breaking the wards can cause a backlash and kill the teams." Isaure Proulx was determined about that point. Her sister had been a ward breaker and had been killed when Isaure was 8 by the magical backlash when her team had tried to defend her from wild creatures in China. She had been devastated and learned all she could about curse breaking while at Beauxbatons. She had also learned how to wield muggle firearms so that she had a way to defend her own teams without killing them.
Jack looked at the witch and nodded. "That is a good suggestion." He turned to Emilia who was already writing it down and then to General Alden. Will you be able to provide 8 squads of 5 in addition to any soldiers who would be joining the main assault?" The general nodded. Of course, they would! 40 soldiers about the size of a platoon. He would have to find Captain who knew of lieutenants who really trusted their sergeants and have them assign them to this duty. Jack turned back to the witch. Thank you for your suggestion, Miss..."He paused realizing he didn't know her name.
"Proulx, Potter." She laughed at him. "I am Isaure Proulx." She sat down again, glad her suggestion had been listened to.
Henrik Kappel added to her suggestion. "We should station the main assault squads behind the ward teams so that when the wards fall the property is surrounded. There should be multiple entrances, and it is my understanding that muggle military is used to not going through doors." Henrik was a half-blood German wizard. His father's father had fought with Grindlewald, while his mother's uncle had died in Hitler's purges. It led to awkward family reunions, but it meant he had familiarity with both sides of the table. His cousin (who was the son of his mother's aunt who had escaped to America) was also a member of the military, and while most of what he did had to be kept secret, Markus had shared some of their tactics when discussing his training.
Jack looked to Emilia again who had written that suggestion down as well. "That is a good idea. Unless anyone has any objections, that will be the base of our attack plan. Individual companies will determine their specific strategies based on their position. Any magicals with experience in ward breaking will be placed in those squads, all others will be placed on the main assault. If there is someone you absolutely cannot fight with, please report it to myself or one of my sisters. We cannot have any risk of infighting in each company." He looked around the room, which had regained its silent air. "For now, we will break. Meet again tomorrow for assignments. Gather your troops and be ready for training, we will start immediately afterward.
"Training went well. There were some wizards who resented being forced to work with muggles, and the older generation of the Order was displeased with Jack, but 2 months after that initial meeting, we were ready to attack Voldemort's stronghold." Cassandra summarized.
Emilia continued. "Surprisingly, the attack went almost exactly as planned. The Death Eaters had no idea how to deal with muggle weaponry. The foreign magicals were also less reluctant to permanently incapacitate them, and most of them died before the battle ended."
Jasper could read how difficult it was for the two girls to discuss the battle. Despite training, death was always hard to deal with, whether people you had fought with or people you had killed. He sent out a wave of calm at his brother's family and watched as their shoulders relaxed. Jack took his twin's hand as his younger sister leaned against his shoulder and nodded at Jasper before continuing their tale of war.
"Ultimately, there were few non-Death Eater casualties despite their tactics. Of the 4,000 people who participated, less than 500 died while the Death Eaters lost 80% of their forces. Voldemort fell surprisingly quickly to a shot in the head via sniper rifle and the war was over."
Despite the good news Jack had just given them, it was very obvious to Carlisle that he was not happy. "The Wizarding World then proceeded to regard me as a hero." The disgust was extremely obvious to all of the Cullens, even those without a gift that lent itself to sensing it. "They never left me alone, and even accidentally sabotaged some of the exercises I did with the RAF." That explained it. Rosalie found it difficult to comprehend the idiocy of most wizards. Why would you bother the military right after they had just shown what they were capable of? Did they attribute the victory solely to Jack? It didn't even sound like he had taken the final shot! "In the end, the Air Chief Marshal was forced to admit that I couldn't stay with them. Since the US Air Force had been asking for a liaison with the RAF, they gave me a promotion and sent me here. The US Air Force stationed me at McChord AFB, and I got to fly for them. My most recent FUBAR of a mission was my seventh with them. Cassandra and Emilia looked grim for a moment at the thought of the mission but, like the Cullens and Jasper in particular, they were happy he had returned safely. Jasper summed it up neatly for them all. At least it led to us meeting again.
AN: Well that s a wrap. I know it ended very abruptly, but recently I have been disappointed in the story flow, and new plot bunnies have moved in. I never had a really clear place to take the story, and one never really appeared as I wrote it. I didn t want to abandon the story unfinished, so I pushed through. I am happy with some of the chapters and unhappy with others. At some point in the future I may come back to the idea and rewrite it more cohesively, for now this is it. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of my first story everyone! Look for new ones coming at some point.
~bookworm1016