Remus, who had watched the last five minutes of the dance party was amused by the tone Harry set for the group. He said. "After tea tonight I want to add a drill where we practice getting from this tent to the woods and for us to establish a meeting point there in case we get separated, as well as go over general security procedures for the group."
"Sounds good." Harry agreed.
Madame Bones arrived a couple hours later trailed by the senior trainee she was leaving with Susan. She was somewhat surprised that Harry took her through what he'd told his fellow students, what protections had been placed on the tent and what plans were in place in the event of an attack. She knew Sirius before his incarceration and as things were shown to her she felt the worst of her concerns for Susan's safety falling away.
Sirius mentioned trying to come up with a ward he used to know that would protect the tent and the kids even more. He was frustrated he was having trouble remembering it. Amelia couldn't help but think that there lay one more bad thing to blame on Azkaban.
Tonks had been very surprised when Madame Bones had come and given a briefing to the the Senior Trainees shortly after lunch. She and her fellow auror trainees had been surprised that they would be getting a chance to act as full aurors before their training was finished, most would be paired with an on duty auror in places like Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and the Ministry. Only Tonks had asked, "Why?"
The answer had been,"We have received a credible report that some Death Eaters intend to start something at the Q.W.C. Therefore I'm pulling more experienced aurors for that location. At the same time I can't leave other areas undefended. Trainer Dalton has your duty assignments. Trainee Tonks come with me.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No, I have a special assignment for you. As you know, you're the only woman in your training group, I am picking you for this duty because of that fact."
After Tonks followed Madame Bones from the briefing room to her office, she was told, "My niece, the next Lady of the Bones family, is at the Q.W.C. I can't justify putting a full auror on her for security when they may be needed elsewhere, but I can put you there. Go home get three days' worth of clothes, including one semi nice outfit, and meet me back here in half an hour."
So now Tonks was here in a tent with her cousin, and a bunch of teens. She watched as the group got a security briefing from one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen. It was impressive, perimeter alert wards, active wards that would protect the tent from fire and limited physical damage, and wards that would lock down the tent when they were away from it, an escape plan and a rendezvous point. For a bunch of civilians the group was security conscious. If everyone were like this the aurors would barely have any work to do. She noted that when they left the tent most the boys carried something that could be used as a weapon in addition to their wands. Beater bats being the most popular choice. Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom both carried long swordlike sticks and Harry was actually carrying throwing stars. It was clear they weren't taking the threat lightly. She was going to like this duty. So far the food was to die for, she was going to get to attend the Q.W.C. and it seemed that everyone she was with was clued into security. It was brilliant.
That evening was fun they played a couple wizarding games before Harry pulled out a muggle game called Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. The next two hours were hilarious as the group were dealt role cards and they began the rounds of elimination trying to find which people had been dealt werewolf cards before all the villagers died. Harry played the moderator's role with panache, displaying a gift for storytelling and keeping the game on track. At the end of the first game the villagers won but only two villagers were left. Everyone was laughing about some of the defenses people used during the game. Zinnia came in with hot chocolate and biscuits.
Ferris said, "That was amazingly fun, Potter. You say this is a muggle game."
"Yes. Werewolves don't hold quite the same fright factor for muggles that they do for magicals. The part of me that was raised in the muggle world doesn't really get it either. I mean think about it. Yes, on the night of the full moon a person who is a werewolf is a danger to themselves and others. But what about the rest of the month? They are still people with the same feelings and needs as everyone else. I mean sure, there are some werewolves that are evil because they don't care if they hurt someone, but should all werewolves be painted with the same brush. There are some that are good people but they get a bad reputation and penalized for the person they are one night out of twenty eight, doesn't seem fair to me."
Most the people in the tent frowned because they had never thought of it that way. They all knew Professor Lupin was a good person and they all knew that he had been dismissed from Hogwarts post because he was a werewolf.
Remus felt touched he hadn't done much for Harry but here he was trying to make others see the wrongness of how werewolves got treated. Remus felt a trickle of acceptance that he never thought he would get from Harry after his many mistakes and wondered if it was real.
Aaron felt the introspection had gone on long enough. "Next game!"
Harry grinned. "Okay, Uno or Pictionary?"
It was almost eight the next morning and Madame Bones had already left, when people started rolling out of bed. Games last night had gone on until the wee hours of the morning. Harry sipped the tea Zinnia gave him before pulling the cadre together for a workout. Tonks, Remus, and Sirius were surprised to see the teens pulling on sneakers and stretching out. "What's going on?"
"Workout." Blaise muttered.
The Slytherin quidditch team stuck their heads out of their room.
"Hi, guys, care to join us?" Harry cheerfully asked.
"Wha' for?" Ferris asked.
"My version of a conditioning workout." Harry said.
Their eyes widened. It was fully accepted by Harry's teammates that Harry was by far the fittest member of the team, it was also widely accepted in the Slytherin dorm that he was slightly insane. "No thanks," most of them said before heading back into their room for more sleep.
Marcus, however, had been told if he increased his fitness level he might get playing time sooner by the coach of the Bats. So he said, "I'm game."
Remus said, "I'll stay here, and guard the fort." He grinned at Sirius and Tonks and said, "Have fun."
Tonks and Sirius put on their own trainers. Sirius thought he'd be fine. Paige had made working out a part of his recovery. Tonks had physical training as part of her auror training, so she figured she'd be good as well.
....
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