Sirius sat at the table, parchment in hand working out the wards. The other boys were chatting in a desultory fashion and the Hufflepuff girls had drawn close to Hermione as if to hide their fears in the skirts of her Gryffindor brashness. Remus wasn't in the tent so Harry figured he was out scouting escape routes.
"Relax, guys. I just got off a mirror call with Madame Bones. She's sending a Senior Auror Trainee to us to provide a little extra security, and if trouble starts she told me she'd look the other way if we wind up defending ourselves. Plus she's carrying a companion mirror, if something starts there will be no delay in letting the DMLE know. It's not like we're defenseless. I mean, come on, we're all fit. Over half of us have at least some defensive training in martial arts, and I didn't come empty- handed. I brought some weapons." He went to the room he was sharing with the quidditch team and pulled out the beater bats he'd just bought, the bokken he and Neville knew how to use, and his shuriken sheath.
"But, Harry, it's Death Eaters." Hannah protested as he returned to the room.
"Yeah, what's your point? They are still people, Hannah. One person, or maybe a dozen. But how many people will be here, a fifty thousand? More? Even if half of them run away we still will outnumber the Death Eaters. My point is don't let fear rule you. Use your head, use what you know and what we have at hand and you'll be fine. Stick with the group; we'll watch each other's backs."
Harry's teammates thought about what he said and realized he was right. The beaters reached over and took two of the beater bats to examine them, nodding their thanks.
Sirius was surprised. Harry had just given this group of kids tools, most of them mental ones, for their own safety. His own inclination would have been not to tell these kids anything, and just put himself into a state of hyper-alertness. But with just a few words Harry had them more alert but not in a fearful way just a watchful one. That Bones would listen to a boy surprised him. He wondered what Harry had done that Madam Bones would give him that much credit.. He shook his head. "Harry, can I borrow your elf? I need some paint, to paint some runes on your tent here."
"Sure. Zinnia."
"Yes, Master Harry."
"Sirius here has an errand he needs you to run."
"What does Mr. Sirius need?" the elf asked.
Sirius wrote down what he needed. "Gautier's probably has all of this. Here's a draft to cover the cost with Gringotts, you'll need to fill in the amount."
"I bees right back." Zinnia took the list and popped out.
"So what will these wards do?" Harry asked his godfather.
"Well, in this situation I think Death Eaters may try to drive the crowd by using fire. So the first ward I'm putting on is a fire resistance ward. While most houses get them I don't know of anyone who has ever put them on a temporary structure like a tent before. I can almost guarantee this tent won't burn with anything less than a fiendfyre. Next if a crowd the size of this one panics and starts running it's a lot like a herd of stampeding hippogryphs. They can do a lot of damage through a stampede. In this a walled tent, like this one, is a big advantage. Was there a reason you chose this tent?"
"Two actually, I told Cassandra I wanted a tent big enough to house twenty four comfortably that would go unnoticed in the muggle world. She looked at muggle shops first so she knew what to look for, then found this one at the tent dealer's in Diagon Alley. He was thrilled to get rid of it. It wasn't magical enough for most wizards."
"It works to our advantage because by activating this second rune ward the walls will become hard like a wattle and daub house."
"I'm impressed. That should do a lot to protect us as compared to most tents." The other teens, overhearing Harry's comment, seemed to relax a bit an broke into groups to settle into the rooms.
"I have to say, Bambi, I'm pretty impressed as well. With a few words you had this group of kids in a mindset that will do a lot to protect them in a worst case scenario."
"Yes, well, they know me, and for some reason trust me to look after them. I'll reimburse you-"
"No need, it's my privilege and my pleasure to do this as your godfather. I thought about adding a ward that would keep all but our group out, but I didn't think I could get it to work."
"Hmm… Could we create a perimeter with something and just not activate it unless it's needed?"
Sirius thought hard. "Maybe. I'll think some more."
Harry left him and spent the next ten minutes or so getting his friends to relax and settle in. Then he put on the WWN and he and Neville started an impromptu dance party after moving the main room's furniture around to create a large enough space.
Forty minutes later everyone had flung themselves down into chairs to catch their breath. Zinnia moved among them with a tray stocked with cokes, butterbeer, lemonade and ice water. And with a snap of her fingers the table and benches were back in place. After everyone had a drink she came around with a tray of canapes, and biscuits.
"That was fun." Hermione declared. "So what other entertainment do you have planned for us, Harry?"
"Well, I got Cassandra to get an assortment of games both magical and muggle so we will have those to play this evening. I figure that between now and tea, we can go walk around, see what the various vendors have for sale, see who all is here that we know, that kind of thing."
"And for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow morning I have a Twister tournament planned. Followed by another walk around then I figure we'll come back have lunch take a nap so we're rested for the game. Then games again until tea. Then of course the main event. After the game and a good rest, I was thinking we could do another dance party and just kick back. Do whatever we decide to do as a group."
"Throw in a workout or two and I'll be entertained." said Blaise. "I've missed the group workouts, sad though that is to say."
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