Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, words, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling'sHarry Potterseries as well as anything from the Star Wars franchise now owned by Disney.

Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.

'Mind Link Language'

"Regular Language"

"Communication Through the Mind, Communicator, or Parseltongue/Draconian"

'Thought or Spell'

The Grey Assassins

Chapter 24

"Lord and Lady Hogwarts, the train has just arrived and the students are offloading."

"Very good, Hogwarts. Please notify us when the first years as well as the other students reach the school itself."

"Of course, Lady Hogwarts."

Harry and Daphne sat upon their dual thrones side-by-side at the center of the teachers' table at the Great Hall. McGonagall would be sitting to their right in her adjoining throne with Daphne being farthest away from the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Harry being to the old woman's left. The woman at the moment was customarily waiting for the first years to dismount from their dinghies to lead them to the chamber where generations of aspiring witches and wizards had waited before traveling into the Great Hall to acquire a house that was told to affect their entire future dramatically.

Umbridge sat also on the two's right but at a place at the table away from the lord and lady of Hogwarts.

The students in their second year or higher began to fill into the hall, but they began to quickly murmur and buzz as they saw Harry and Daphne sitting on their thrones and holding hands, their lordship, ladyship, and wedding rings clearly visible on their hands. The buzz of the Great Hall also was strengthened by the rejoining of friends after a summer of absences from one another.

The Orderians locked eyes as they entered the Great Hall and discreetly nodded at one another. The castle was secure and was theirs. The best part was that no one realized it.

A couple minutes later, Hagrid returned from seeing the first years across the lake, and a few seconds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.

The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, and then stood back.

The first-years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. Harry recalled, fleetingly, when he had stood there, waiting for the unknown test that would determine to which house he belonged. The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song:

In times of old when I was new,

And Hogwarts barely started,

The founders of our noble school,

Thought never to be parted,

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning,

To make the world's best magic school,

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach!"

The four good friends decided,

And never did they dream,

That they might some day be divided,

For were there such friends anywhere,

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there and so can tell,

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those whose

Ancestry is purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife,

When first they came to light,

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted,

So, for instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning, just like him,

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,

And taught them all she knew,

Thus the houses and their founders

Retained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The houses that, like pillars four,

Had once held up our school,

Now turned upon each other and,

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet an early end,

What with dueling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend

And at last there came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into houses

Because that is what I'm for,

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether Sorting

May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes

And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you…

Let the Sorting now begin.

The Hat became motionless once more; applause broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time in Harry's memory, with muttering and whispers. All across the Great Hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbors, and Harry, clapping along with everyone else on his throne, knew exactly what they were talking about.

Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read out the list of first-years' names, though, was giving the whispering students the sort of look that scorches, and the muttering came to an abrupt end.

With a last frowning look that swept the four house tables, Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out the first name.

"Abercrombie, Euan."

The terrified-looking boy Harry had noticed earlier stumbled forwards and put the Hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very prominent ears. The Hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted:

"Gryffindor!"

Harry clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor house as Euan Abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down, looking as though he would like very much to sink through the floor and never be looked at again.

Slowly, the long line of first-years thinned. In the pauses between the names and the Sorting Hat's decisions, the fifth year Gryffindor Orderians could hear Ron's stomach rumbling loudly.

In the middle of all of the first years, Jacob stood, waiting to be sorted. Officially, he was a transfer student from America with a cover name of Jacob Miller, and as it was his first year at the school, he needed to be sorted into one of the four houses.

"Miller, Jacob."

Whispers had been heard as soon as the teen was seen, but now they intensified as everyone got a clear look at the American as he sat down on the stool. McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head, and it took the ancient hat half of a minute before shouting, "Gryffindor!"

Finally, "Zeller, Rose" was Sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall picked up the Hat and stool and marched them away as Harry rose to his feet.

"All of you have had a long journey here, so as the last headmaster said, 'tuck in!"

Food appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.

The entire hall, including the faculty, staff, Harry, and Daphne, began to eat their filling plates and was filled with the sounds of conversations and food being devoured.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, McGonagall got to her feet. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmistress.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said McGonagall. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too." The Weasley twins exchanged smirks and chuckled.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have had one change in staffing this year. We are delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." A tone of displeasure could be easily heard in McGonagall's voice as she introduced the new teacher.

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which the Orderians scarcely clapped at all.

McGonagall continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the -"

She broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why McGonagall had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

McGonagall only looked taken aback for a moment, then she sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though she desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmistress," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little girlish and, again, all of the Orderians felt a powerful rush of dislike that they could not explain to themselves; all they knew was that they loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another little throat-clearing cough "hem, hem" and continued.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Harry glanced at the students in front of him. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her, and then she gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"

While almost the entire student population grew restless and began whispering to one another, every teacher, the Headmistress and caretaker included, as well as every Orderian listened very attentively, though the Orderians acted uncaring like the rest of the students.

"… Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Harry clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, McGonagall had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," she said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…"

'Hmm, interesting. I did not think that the Ministry would state any of their intentions to the school or reveal their spy. This is not good.' Harry spoke to Daphne.

'No, it is not. This means that they are going to come onto Hogwarts strongly. We must tread carefully. They obviously want our heads.' She replied.

"Now, as the heir to the founders has revealed himself and is the rightful head of the school, Lord Hogwarts, I believe, should stand and give us his speech for the upcoming year. Milord, it is your stand." McGonagall introduced after finishing her welcoming notices.

Harry stood as the headmistress sat.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. I greatly appreciate it." Harry said sincerely.

"For those of you who do not know me, I am Lord Harry James Hogwarts Potter Black; I prefer to just say Hogwarts instead of each of the founders' names. I am the lord of the castle but a student here as well and will be treated as one. If you worry about my position providing me a way out of things, you will be surprised. That being said, I can do with the castle as I wish. If I wish to section of a part of the grounds, I may do so. I also may leave the grounds on family business as I am the head of each of the six houses, but I will still be required to do the same work as all of you.

"Now, though, that I have cleared any misperceptions, let me say this, especially in lieu of the recent speech by the Sorting Hat. Hogwarts is a school founded by four. There are four houses. I am technically a member of all four. All of us are. You see the Sorting Hat does not identify just one characteristic in all of us that categorizes us into a house. It sees characteristics in Gryffindors that would put them in Slytherin and characteristics in Hufflepuffs found in Ravenclaws as well as each person in each house holding characteristics of every house. Nobody here is as separated as they think. Just because you are in a different house, does not mean you should not befriend one of another or even hate one of another house. This is what the Sorting Hat means. We must stick together, not just because of a threat, but because it is how it should be. We should not separate and divide; we should unite and come together as a school. The Triwizard Tournament helped us last year, but it is time we now do it on our own to get far greater results. Stop letting the names Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw bind you down; let you call yourself first and foremost of all a student of Hogwarts!"

The entire Great Hall erupted into applause as his words sunk in and his tone energized the crowd. All of the teachers and faculty stood to applaud as well as the students. Even Umbridge rose from her seat to give a polite bit of clapping after seeing the others rise. Even the strictest of purebloods in the school couldn't help but applaud and think of the possibilities of friendships that could happen with people of other houses. Everything they imagined was positive.

"Let us unite, Hogwarts! If there comes one thing from me inheriting this castle, I wish for that! Now, my fellow students, you are dismissed, but do not let my words just be contained within this hall. Let them permeate your thoughts and swirl within your brains not just tonight but every night and every day until you don't need to think of it until it is just natural. Goodnight, everyone, and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Prefects, please show the first years to their common rooms and dormitories." Harry finished, turning to raise Daphne from her throne by her hand and then walking out of the Great Hall and to their suite. The students, upon seeing this, rose from their benches and followed behind, heading to their dormitories.

"Interesting speech, my love. I didn't think they would have responded so fervently. I suppose you just gave Umbridge another reason to dislike you." Daphne told her husband as they sat down in their suite.

"A small price to pay. She might be aware that I can rile up a crowd well now, but I just took a great step to uniting Hogwarts. This means all of our troops here can be together more often and that we might gain an advantage with those not with the gray. They could side with us, give us some respect, or at least a second of hesitation if they try to attack us, which we can use to easily dispatch them." Harry replied.

"Now, it is time for us to hide again, huh?"

"Yes, the life of a spy was never said to be an easy one, and with us we have no choice but to. Our heritage ensured that." Harry sighed.

"At least we are not alone."

"With our numbers growing every day, not necessarily here but all over the globe." Harry finished his wife's sentence. "Shall we change and head down to do a head count for this year's population of Grey Assassins to make sure our calculations match up and to address all of them?"

Daphne nodded by using magic and her ring to switch out her official Hogwarts robes for her Assassin ones. Harry did the same beside her. They then leaped forward, transforming into shadows before silently zooming through the halls and into the Assassins' base of operations at Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets.

Waiting for them there was every member for the Order that was stationed at Hogwarts, including the spying teachers of Severus and Minerva.

"Good evening, everyone. It is very good to see all of you once more. I hope that all of you enjoyed your time away from Hogwarts and that you appreciated being out in the world. Now, though, it is time once more to resume what we have been doing here and spy, prepare, train, and execute missions as they come up. This year, though, it is obviously different with the appearance of Umbridge.

"Hopefully all of you realized from her speech that she is inquiring here at Hogwarts for the Ministry of Magic. She is probing into the school and is after everyone associated with me as well as me we believe. This is due to my rapid rise in power, my thuggish background story, and probably the dark nature associated with the Greengrasses with whom I am linked by marriage as well as the dark nature associated with some of my closest friends." Harry spoke to the cloaked figures.

"We have gathered a good bit of attention, huh?" Seamus chuckled.

Harry gave a small chuckle as well. "Yes, we have, but this year we need to change that. She already told me that I have no power here at the school despite my positions, so she wants me to back down. Normally, you know how we, me especially, would respond and ramp things up, but if we do here, then we reveal ourselves. With this upcoming war, we need all the time we can get to prepare. I want us to be optimized as much as possible."

"I think we are pretty damn ready." One spoke up confidently. He received a cheer from most of the lesser-experienced Assassins. The older members shook their heads.

"There is always room to improve, and the less room there is for improvement the safer all of you are." Harry replied with a slight tone of anger. "The longer we can hold off Umbridge, the longer we can get a foothold against Voldemort and the Ministry. We cannot let anything slip in front of her.

"Now, we will not let this deter us, though. I want everyone training as much as possible always. If you are not here, in class, seen publicly to avoid suspicion, or in bed, I want you going to Grey Base One to receive official training or equipment. Everyone here also could possibly be sent on missions either individually or in groups."

Harry's right lightsaber appeared in his hand as he began to speak again. "No matter what, though, we have to continue as we always have and remain in the shadows."

A blade of red blade of energy emerged from the hilt, and Harry raised it up above his head as he shouted, "Long live the grey!"

Everyone who also possessed a lightsaber raised theirs as well, and for those who were not outfitted with one, they raised their swords to mimic Harry and the others.

"Long live the grey!" The crowd of gray cloaked Orderians yelled in reply.

"He certainly has gained some charisma." Severus smiled a little in pride.

"Quite. He's always been quite… professional and commanding. When I first met his true self and not his guise, he gave off a very powerful and knowing vibe that would attract many followers, but now… he can do more than command the troops." Minerva replied quietly.

"He can inspire them." Severus finished for her.

The next morning, the skies were clouded with gray as if speaking of the coming change in power for magic. After the morning exercises, all of the Assassins proceeded down to the Great Hall for breakfast and to receive their first schedules of the year along with the rest of the school.

A half hour after first sitting down at their tables, the Heads for each house passed along their table and passed out schedules to everyone.

As Harry and his Gryffindor friends in his year received theirs from McGonagall, they saw that they had History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Good. We can see the nuisance in action." Harry whispered ponderingly.

They then began talking amongst themselves in their tight-nit group that everyone knew not to fuck with. Everyone knew not to even before the school discovered Harry's lordships. The group just emitted a closed in, powerful group although many in the school noticed that it seemed to accept random people from the other houses.

"So what are you guys going to focus on next year… you know if some things don't happen?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione…" Harry had trouble breaking the news to the girl. "It is highly doubtful that we will even be able to go to school next year."

"Wait… do you mean that we are never… if we…?" Hermione asked, afraid to ask.

Harry nodded grimly. "It is highly unlikely. Either it will last longer than when we'd be in seventh year or we will be busy maintaining things afterward. Besides, it is even more unlikely that we will do anything once we become full-operation members. We will probably never get a chance to go back to school once we do."

"Will we do anything after…?" Susan asked.

Harry nodded. "Of course. You can perform another occupation if you wish under the authority of the Order. Right now, we are more exclusive to just members. Nikki is a great example. If we are successful, however… that is subject to change." Everyone gave a small smile, as they knew what that meant. If they were successful, they would be completely public and accepted as peace enforcers.

It was then that everyone separated by house and headed to their classroom.

The Gryffindor fifth years in their group continued on to Binns's classroom and entered the classroom quickly a minute before the bell rang.

They quickly found their seats and sat down, putting down their bags and pulling out what they would work on throughout the class. None of it was what Binns would ever assign; it was Orderian material, consisting of strategies, studies, or personal projects dealing with their organization. They already knew an exceptional amount about what Binns would teach throughout not just the school year, but for the entirety of their career at Hogwarts.

"Ah. Free time." Seamus sighed as he leaned back in his seat with his work on his desk. "I love it."

Hermione gave him a glare.

"You know I'm still productive." Seamus replied quietly. "I'm just saying. It's good to do whatever we want in a classroom."

"Get to work, mate." Harry shook his head.

Seamus nodded and bent forward to work on his weapon designs.

"Anyone register to use the holograms for today's classes?" Harry asked Daphne.

"Nobody, not even the twins, registered." She replied quietly.

For the past couple of years, Harry and the rest of the Orderians would use hologram projectors to skip a class or several to accomplish other matters that needed to be done for the Order although some would occasionally use it just to skip a boring class for just the reason of escaping boredom.

The History of Magic class passed smoothly thanks to their work as it always did, and everyone rose from their seats while packing up their seats when the bell rang.

The Orderians quickly left the classroom and met up with their fellow fifth year Slytherin counterparts in Severus's classroom along with all of the other fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Settle down," said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him.

There was no real need for the call to order. The moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had fallen and all fidgeting stopped. Severus's mere presence was usually enough to ensure a class's silence.

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Severus, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your OWL, or suffer my… displeasure."

His gaze lingered this time on Ronald, who gulped.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Severus went on. "I take only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye."

"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Severus softly, "so, whether or not you are intending to attempt NEWT, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing. The ingredients and method -" Severus flicked his wand "- are on the blackboard -" (they appeared there) "- you will find everything you need —" he flicked his wand again "- in the store cupboard —" (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) "- you have an hour and a half… start."

All of the Orderians chuckled lightly to themselves but were unheard by the rest of the class. This potion was such an easy one for the Order that they had learned it quite soon after they joined the Order.

"A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion," called Severus, with ten minutes left to go.

Looking around the room, every one of the Grey Assassins had silver vapour steaming up from their cauldrons and disappearing into the air.

"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing," said Severus.

"Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday."

Everyone nodded and began to fill up flagons and take them up to Severus's desk. All of the Assassins did so nonchalantly. If they were not experts at faking emotions and being stoic, they would not have been able to show a simulated nervousness. All of them, though, did display more confidence than anyone else in the class. They had to remain the top dogs at the school. Harry and his fellow Orderians, though, had to hide the fact that they were not dogs at all; they were hunters, killers… wolves.

"Come on. Lunch time." Harry smiled.

"Can we at our spot?" Draco grinned.

"You know we probably shouldn't." Seamus warned.

"But that just makes it all the better." Blaise finished. They both gave a chuckle.

"One of the most dangerous duos was formed when you two were put together on the same team." Harry shook his head.

"For who? Our enemies or us?" Tracey asked.

"Both." Neville replied, as they reached a corridor void of any life except for themselves.

"Let's go." Harry said before lunging forward headfirst, merging into a shadow. His fifth year Gryffindor and Slytherin friends followed close behind him, flying through the corridors and soon arriving in the Chamber of Secrets.

Coming out into the main chamber, Harry called forth a house-elf.

"How may I service Lord Hogwarts?" The elf automatically asked as soon as he was called.

"I need two things. First of all, you and all others working here cannot be allowed to speak of this or any other secret location's existence as well as anything that you may see, hear, feel, smell, or even taste. I do not want anyone to know anything about any of my friends,' allies,' or my goings on throughout the day if it is not a part of any other student's day. Can you do that?"

"Of course, sir. We are already sworn to keep your secrecy. Normally it was for the headmaster, but you have returned, and we serve firstly you and your Lady." The elf bowed in respect.

Harry nodded his head. "Good. Now, could you be so kind as to bring a part of today's lunch for us? You need not overdo anything; normal portions shall do."

"Yes, Lord Hogwarts." The house-elf bowed before popping away.

"I guess we should hit the dining hall, huh?" Draco asked, starting forward and into the depths of the Chamber with the others already doing so upon hearing his words.

They quickly arrived into a fully decorated, long, tall room that fully fit Slytherin house of old. It had dark emerald walls outlined with black wooden trim matching a dark wooden table that spanned the entire hall. At its ends sat two matching ornate chairs for the Lord and Lady Slytherin. The other chairs around the table were ornate as well but not as much so. On the table at the moment were several silver candlesticks positioned intermittently that were eternally lit by the castle's magic. The hall was also illuminated by a hanging crystal chandelier with a large candle of wax bigger than a man's arm encased inside.

Harry moved towards the less ornate of the head chairs and pulled it out for his wife. "Love." He bowed his head slightly. Daphne smiled and sat down with Harry pushing her chair in as she did so. He then walked around the table to the other end and sat in his own chair.

Everyone else had no trouble finding chars to sit in with their only problem being which one to sit in. Soon after they sat down, plates of food that mimicked the ones currently in the Great Hall appeared in front of each person at the table.

"Dig in, everyone." Harry said before starting his meal.

Their lunch was much like any other at the castle except this one allowed them to discuss whatever they wished away from unwanted ears.

"We have to do this more." Harry said as they finished eating and got ready to depart.

"I am more than up for that." Seamus agreed. "No Ronald to fuck with us."

"Come now. Don't let him ruin this fine time. We already have to deal with Trelawny in a few." Daphne replied.

"Speaking of that, we should be on our way." Blaise commented.

"Then let's be." Harry resolved. He along with his friends then merged into the shadows, traveling as close to the Divination classroom as possible before emerging into empty alcoves.

A class later, they walked down the corridors to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Harry's least favorite teacher already.

When they entered the classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head.

The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.

"Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down.

A few people mumbled "good afternoon" in reply.

"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.

"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Harry shoved his wand back inside his bag and pulled out quill, ink and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:

Defense Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centerd, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by: Course Aims:

1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.

2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.

3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she asked, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.

"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, 'Yes, Professor Umbridge', or 'No, Professor Umbridge'. So: has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room.

"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk."

Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all closely with those pouchy toad's eyes.

Harry paused a moment. Listen to her and obey, fake it and do something else, or just thoroughly ignore her instructions? Those were the thoughts running through his head. He knew he shouldn't just plainly ignore her; that was never good. Read it, though? Maybe just for the time being.

This second was all it took for Harry to decide his course of action soon thereafter turn to page five of his copy of Defensive Magical Theory and start to read.

Quietly the entire class tried to read the chapter with only the Orderians managing to get through the reading. Each one of them, though, found it excruciatingly dreadful and dull. It was unanimously for the entire class, the most tedious thing they had ever read. Their reading took everyone to the end of class. As soon as the bell rang, everyone quickly packed up their things and rushed out of the room towards their sleeping area to drop of their things and head to dinner.

"Wow. I finally get the talk about Umbridge." Neville commented with a shake of his head.

"She's the worst teacher we have, even worse than Binns!" Seamus added.

"Can we just off her in some way?" Dean asked.

"Guys." Harry interrupted the complaints, grinning. Everyone turned towards the Orderian leader. "She's on the list." Harry whispered.

"What list?" Susan asked after leaning forward like her friends.

Daphne grinned. "The capture list for the sanguines." She said below her breath, which was still not hard to hear for their elevated hearing.

"No." Hannah gasped in disbelief.

"Yes." Harry replied with a devilish smile on his face, which soon began to form on the others' faces.

"That is too good." Draco smirked.

"Yes, it is. I can't wait until we launch." Blaise agreed.

Double Transfiguration succeeded double Charms the next day for the fifth year Gryffindor Orderians. Professor Flitwick and Professor Greengrass both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.

"What you must remember," said little Professor Flitwick squeakily perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

They then spent over an hour reviewing Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.

It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.

"You cannot pass an OWL," said Professor Greengrass grimly, "without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.

"So… today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL."

As per the usual outcome, all of the Orderians managed to vanish their assigned snail within their first three tries. They would have all made it the first time, but they did not want to seem too good to their fellow classmates. At the end of the class, all except for them were assigned to practice the spell for homework so they may be ready for a fresh attempt at it the following afternoon.

They then spent their lunch once more inside the Chamber of Secrets, as did all of the other Orderians throughout the day no matter what year or house they were in.

The day had become cool and breezy, and as they walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Hagrid stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of him laden with what many thought to be twigs. The Orderians, though, automatically recognized what the twigs truly were, however.

"Everyone here?" asked Hagrid, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?"

He indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. The Orderians waited to see if anyone could answer before Hermione raised her hand.

"Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione. "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor," said Hagrid. "Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Woodlice," said Hermione promptly, "but fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl, take another five points. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

Bowtruckles were what looked like tiny pixyish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, and a barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

Everyone easily finished the task although some had trouble keeping the Bowtruckles still enough so they could be drawn; then the Gryffindors headed to Herbology to join up with the Hufflepuffs.

To nobody's surprise, the Orderians grouped together despite their differences in houses, and Hannah and Neville seemed to brighten as they sat next to each other, as they were newly boyfriend and girlfriend. Everyone at the school expected it from how they always hung together in their large group of friends. As well as this, the student body at Hogwarts had largely come to expect the large, mysterious group headed by Harry and Daphne that consisted of members of each house to find their loves amongst each other. It seemed like the only place these particular students truly fit in, so it was not very farfetched to assume that they would partner well. Little did they know, however, the bonds formed between each couple were more than just strengthened by their military engagements. Going through these events also had boosted the bonds between each and every person in the New Order's ranks, who had worked together in some way, shape, form, or fashion.

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; it had started to go beyond his normal Hogwarts classes' boredom and into irritation. An hour and a half later, everyone left with another essay assigned for homework, which had most of the other students grumbling. The only inconvenience it posed for the Orderians was a little extra time spent away from training.

It seemed as if the school year for the Orderians was going to be quite boring and tedious but one to be very careful in. Each class was a breeze as usual, however, and the Orderians once more dominated the school in behavior and grades. If not for the Ministry's newest presence, which exponentially grew each day although its expansion started quite slow, the Orderians clearly would have ruled the school. Umbridge was at the school, though, and she made it known that she was not just the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It was not long before the educational decrees began to roll out, one after the other quicker and quicker, and it was not much later when she became the High Inquisitor. She employed an Inquisitorial Squad, trying to spy on Harry, Daphne, and their large group of friends and troops, but it was easily penetrated and corrupted by the secret Orderians among the students at the school. Although its general mandate was stated to prevent and, if not able to do so, punish students for violations of the rules and educational decrees, the Orderians were easily able to derive their true purpose from the Squad's missions and directives: to catch and disrupt the Order at Hogwarts. She constantly tried to dispatch more and more decrees to seize power from Harry, McGonagall, and the school in general until eventually she rid McGonagall of her position as Headmistress and adopted the title as her own. Iris willingly left the school so the old Scottish woman could retake her position as the Transfiguration teacher, gaining even more for Umbridge as Daphne's mother could not be right there to help the Orderians or so she thought with her lack of knowledge of the Transport Room beneath the school. Umbridge kept teaching Defense, however, and made sure to constantly harass all she knew to belong to Harry's exclusive group, which really began to wear at his nerves.

Finally, it was Halloween once more at Hogwarts, and Harry's patience was at one of the least steady times his friends had ever seen. Now, on top of all the Umbitch bullshite going on his life, he also had to deal with his least favorite day of the year: Halloween, the day his parents died. He easily was angered that entire day, glaring at any who dared cross him, and all backed off quite quickly. Everyone knew that the one specific day of the year not to fuck with Harry James Hogwarts Potter Peverell Black was Halloween unless you wanted to die or worse. His wife barely managed to brighten his mood at all this year as well because of the toadish woman now called Headmistress. Suffice to say, Harry was not too thrilled already when he arrived at Umbridge's classroom for his last class of the day.

"Open up your newly assigned books to page two hundred and thirty-nine, and begin reading the passage." She instructed as soon as the bell rung for class to be begin. She then sat behind her desk smirking to herself mentally although the Assassins could see it in her body language. It was subtle but there.

The Gryffindors opened up their books and began reading the assignment when everyone gasped mentally or out loud in shock. What they were reading were supremacist views against magical creatures of the world and how they were inferior to wizards and witches in every way.

"What is the meaning of this, Umbridge?" Harry demanded, holding up his book and letting it slam down on his desk. He wasn't about to raise his hand anymore for the woman. "What kind of garbage are you trying to push on us now? It was one thing trying to leave us defenseless, but it is another to try to brainwash our views!"

"I am not brainwashing anyone, Mister Potter." Umbridge replied in her sickly sweet voice, irritating Harry to no end.

"My name is Lord Harry James Hogwarts Potter Peverell Black, and you will treat me with respect, Delores!" Harry announced, anger lining his voice. "This shite you are trying to give us is wrong just as you are. You think because of your blood you are all much more high and mighty than everyone and everything around you. You think because you can bully students with your will that you are strong, but no, wretch. You are the one who is weak. You scramble for any power you can get and do not care who stands in your way in doing so. You are just despicable as the rest of the fucking Ministry of Magic, you cunt!"

The entire classroom audibly gasped; some people's mouth gaped open wide like fish with their eyes trying to match. Nobody had ever talked to a teacher in the history of Hogwarts like that before, and certainly nobody dared to insult the Ministry while their presence was so dominate.

Umbridge smiled a cruel smile, and the Orderians knew exactly what had just transpired. Harry had fallen for her trap.

Harry did not let the shock on his face show and neither did his friends, so instead he glared fiercely at the toad still and began to walk out, carrying his things, his friends starting to follow behind him.

"Stop right there! You are under arrest for high treason against the Ministry of Magic and a number of many other violations of the law." Umbridge called out.

"Take your bloody rules and stick them up your arse, you fucking toad." Seamus replied as they continued to leave.

Umbridge was extremely with his answer and began to take out her wand but stopped as the group disappeared in a large puff a smoke after Seamus dropped a small ball onto the ground. When the noxious, black fumes cleared, the group was gone.

Moments later Harry and the others appeared in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Contact the others! Get them away from all public and private areas not completely controlled by us if they are associated with us!" Harry shouted instructions. "Start arming up the castle and preparing it for battle as well as one of our military headquarters!"

"Where are you going, sir?" Neville asked. Dean was on his communicator sending out the message to the other Orderians at the school, and Seamus and Daphne had run to the Control Room with the former heading for his weapons consoles and the latter moving to follow Harry's other instructions.

"I need to make a couple calls. Start linking up our network throughout the castle to full confidential potential. Then get everyone to meet up in the general locker room." Harry ordered.

"Yes, sir." Neville bowed before running off to the Control Room while Harry quickly shadow-traveled to the Communications Post.

He activated the hologram as soon as he arrived and contacted Victor.

"Harry, what's wrong?" He knew something had happened if Harry was calling when he should be in class.

"I publicly insulted the Ministry and Umbridge. She is probably already getting aurors here to arrest the others and me. I am afraid the war shall start tonight." Harry speedily but clearly informed the last Elder.

"All right. I will inform the rest of the Order around the globe of this development and to get ready to prepare for war. In the meantime, I suggest you prepare yourself fully and execute decisions as you see fit. You are our leader; the time has finally come for you to completely show it."

Harry nodded. "I need some extra troops. None of our direct own, though. I need magical soldiers but without anything to distinguish their origin. I don't want to use any of our spies or lessen our Orderian numbers anywhere."

"I will send a company of eighty Americans, four platoons by our teleporters and another four companies in C-130s. The first one should be helpful enough until the other ones arrive." Victor replied.

"That should do. Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I need to depart." Harry said.

"Of course. Goodbye and good luck."

Harry turned away as the hologram turned off and shadow traveled to the locker room to meet everyone else.

There he met his other troops just as the bell rang for the other classes to let out. Within thirty seconds, the entire Orderian force excluding its spies occupied the locker room.

"Good; I am glad everyone is here." Harry paused. "Now, I don't know how Dean told all of you the situation, but the basics are that I let out that I was against the Ministry which reveals our position in the grand scheme of things as an opponent of their ways and order. Aurors are probably already being called in, and…" Harry zoned out for a second before speaking again. "Some have arrived and more are arriving as we speak. It was already inevitable that we go to war sometime, but now it looks like the war shall start tonight. Everyone suit up and fully ready yourselves. We will launch our attack on the aurors and seize the castle as close to when our first wave of reinforcements arrives, eighty Americans. Until then, we will prepare for blood tonight, the blood of our enemies. Any questions?"

Everyone shook his or her heads.

"Then you know what to do."

They then spread out throughout the room to reach their lockers.

Black robes cascaded down onto the floor in heaping piles, which quickly were stacked with red and gold, green and silver, canary yellow and black, and blue and bronze ties. Then came the sweaters and the button down shirts, followed by the shoes and socks as well as the pants and skirts. With flashes of magic, the piles disappeared from eye view.

A gray material that seemed to almost move all on its own slid up like pants normally did, and soon the same material flowed down on top of it like an undershirt would. That then was even covered by another layer of that material as well, which created a shirt, and on top of that material, a cloak created another layer. Socks and boot like shoes fitted on feet perfectly. Gauntlets emerged out of arms, opening up to reveal wands before closing again, and spikes popped out of the sides with the top and bottom extending outward to reveal a line of lasers. Other gauntlet effects occurred as well, but quickly, all of the features merged back together into the gauntlets before they were covered by the layers of material. Hoods rose to cover heads, the Orderians' faces masked in a shadow of black.

"Arm up!"

Boots marched in a line, headed out the door and to the armory, where dull grey rings glowed with magic as weapons and ammunitions disappeared. After that, boots spread out amongst the underground chamber and Dark Forest, readying different parts of the caste's defenses.

"Status?" Harry asked from his head chair in the Control Room.

"Fully prepared, sir. All castle automated defenses are either ready or fully prepared to be launched." Seamus notified.

"Centaurs are moving into position." Hannah affirmed.

"All secret passages are clear and fully operational." Neville informed.

"All systems are fully functional and operational." Daphne added.

"Good. Dean, how far out are our reinforcements?" Harry asked.

"They are thirty-five minutes away."

"That is a half hour after dinner starts." Neville warned.

"And they will obviously expect us there for dinner." Dean added.

"We will wait it out here." Harry replied.

"Attention all students, faculty, and staff." Umbridge's voice rang throughout the entire school and its grounds. "Everyone is to report to the Great Hall for dinner this evening. It is in five minutes, so do not be late."

"So what now?" Justin asked.

"Go. Keep your robes hidden. I am going to stay behind for the others. Stay close together and look out for one another but try not to cause too much trouble before I arrive with the reinforcements." Harry replied after thinking for a few seconds.

Everyone nodded as their robes were pulled into their rings and their school robes appeared on them. Daphne gave Harry a goodbye kiss quickly before she led the group up through the chamber and into the school, heading for the Great Hall. Harry turned away from them as they left and walked over to the Control Room and sat down in his chair, waiting patiently. The calm before the storm had come upon him and the rest of the Grey Assassins across the globe as they waited for the coming storm.

As the group approached the entrance to the Great Hall, aurors met with them, ordering them to disperse to their house tables. From the teachers' table, Umbridge looked down upon all of them with her contemptible smile; although it was stymied slightly when she realized the man she really wanted to confront was missing.

Harry sat in his chair, beginning to meditate, becoming one with his magic, body, mind, heart, and soul as well as the world around him, magical and non-magical. He was one with everything although his body remained where it was, sitting in his chair. His magical core filled with power, his muscles with biochemical energy, his mind with thought while not thinking at all, and his soul with peace and tranquility as it realized what Harry was to do that night and far after. He would not get much of a chance soon with new age dawning, and although he already had made peace with war and violence long ago, he ensured he was fully comfortable with it in a non-deranged manner.

"I commit myself to the Grey Assassins with everything I have." Harry began to chant out the words he agreed to seven years ago from an elderly man he had killed over a year ago, swearing to his oath once more.

"I swear to defend and never betray another member of this order." Harry continued but then added a little twist.

"I swear to fight for good and grey magic wherever ago, to never let my fire die out; I swear to fight with everything I have and more. I swear to die believing and fighting for my cause that I perpetuate. If I am to die in battle, let it be glorious, and let me take with me to the great unknown at least another as my lifeless body hits the ground."

A swirl of grey magic had begun to swirl in the air around Harry and was speeding up, growing more intense as the young man's did.

"Let me fight with others and lead them well. Let me concede my wrongs and atone for them. Let me be able to fight alone in the darkest of conditions, in the least hopeful of situations and not lose my hope or my spirit." Harry was shouting now although his eyes remained closed and he remained in his meditative state.

'Sit iuramentum meum priorem tsand verum aeternum!' Harry shouted at the top of lungs, the magic exploding in a flash around him before transferring into him, the school rumbling with the power behind the ritual Harry had just unintentionally performed. The young man totally unaware of the events until the magic began to pour into his body.

Umbridge had just started to address the students when what felt like an enormous tremor knocked everyone off their seats or feet, in the case of the aurors. As it had come out of nowhere, so it disappeared, not lasting long.

"What in the bloody blazes was that?" Ronald exclaimed when the short but terrifying quake was finished.

The Assassins at each table exchanged looks with one word on their minds: Harry.

Harry rose up off the ground in front of his chair, having collapsed off it when the grey magic had finished absorbing back into him.

'How the fuck…?' Harry thought, looking at where he was standing before sitting back in his chair.

Little did Harry know, all of his Orderian rings were glowing grey except not in a dull way, as usual. His gloves covered the rings.

Before Harry could ponder what happened any further, he received a notification from the system on his gauntlet; the first of the troops had arrived ahead of schedule and were waiting outside of the Transport Room.

Harry quickly shadow traveled to the soldiers who automatically saluted the person in grey robes, emanating power.

Harry returned the salute.

"Disobedience and shifting loyalties will not be tolerated… which is why they are under arrest." Umbridge indicated each of the known Grey Assassins. "Aurors!"

"Now, now." Fred began, standing along with all of the other Assassins.

"Isn't there an easier, friendlier solution to all this?" George finished.

"One that doesn't entitle Azkaban, perhaps?" Seamus grinned.

"Or any other prison for that matter?" Blaise smiled.

The aurors came and handcuffed each of the Assassins despite the four's tomfoolery with serious faces.

"I guess not, eh?" Seamus asked after his head was pushed down on the table for winking at the lady auror arresting him. Susan rolled her eyes at this.

"Before I can ship all of you off campus and to Azkaban, I first need the leader of your insurrection." Umbridge remarked before walking to Daphne and sticking her sickly sweet smile in the young woman's face. "Call him."

"And if I don't, Umbitch?" Daphne asked innocently.

"Now, a lady shouldn't curse," Umbridge paused for a second, "but then again, I don't think you are a lady either."

"No, I'm not." Daphne replied. "I'm more than a lady."

"That's what the transvestite said!" Seamus called.

"Seamus, will you pipe down?" Susan scolded.

"Where's the fun in that? I mean we might as well enjoy our time in handcuffs. After all, it is just a part of tonight."

The Assassins rolled their eyes and sighed at this.

"So, my dear?" Umbridge asked Daphne.

"No." Daphne replied nonchalantly.

"You stubborn little girl!" Umbridge smacked Daphne across her face.

Harry's eyes widened automatically to full, his anger rising to almost completely full.

"We're moving out!" Harry shouted to the eighty men in the main part of the Chamber of Secrets. "I want twenty of you to come with me, twenty to start defenses at the entrance to the grounds, twenty to go outside, surround the Great Hall, and prepare to rappel into it on my cue, and I want the last platoon to help set up our defenses in the Dark Forest. Centaurs are already there and preparing as well. Do what you can to help. Any questions?"

"Sir, no, sir!" The eighty shouted.

"Then let's go!" Harry began to run for the exit that led directly into Hogwarts; twenty fully strapped magical soldiers running in formation behind him.

"Deus, Basiliscum, Jericho, Acquilina, Meles, start moving to your positions to defend the castle. You know what to do to prepare." Harry sent out to the five as he left the Chamber.

"Double time, everyone. Eliminate all aurors as encountered until we reach the Great Hall."

The twenty-one kept running; their footsteps silenced by magic, until they reached the last set of stairs on the Grand Staircase, spotting the first aurors they'd seen that night.

"Pick your targets." Harry ordered, a rifle appearing in his arms that soon was set against his shoulder as Harry aimed down his sights. The others were doing the same. "I want this done quietly. No going loud yet."

The soldiers nodded and prepared themselves to use their wands, which were positioned like bayonets on their rifles.

"Shoot to kill."

Harry then fired a short three round burst at one auror before quickly positioning the gun at another and squeezing off a two round burst. After Harry's first three bullets had left his gun, the soldiers' followed suit towards their own targets. The aurors were caught unaware and were confused by the sudden dropping of their fellow. Thankfully, however, they did not wait long, as all thirty of them were dead in only a few seconds.

Harry scoped out the area for a second before quietly saying, "clear," and proceeding down the rest of the stairs and into the Entrance Hall. Besides Harry and his soldiers, the hall was now empty of life.

"Check the courtyard to make sure none are lurking around." Harry ordered as he turned towards the closed doors of the Great Hall. Ten of the soldiers had stayed with him.

Thirty seconds after first standing there, the other ten came back with news that the courtyard had been empty.

"Good. I want half of you on each side, but do not reveal yourselves until I give my cue. You will know it once I give it." Harry ordered and waited for the twenty to position themselves.

"Excuse me, Umbridge. You are in a seat that doesn't belong to you, and I am not just referring to your position of power." Harry remarked after he kicked open the doors to the Great Hall.

Every head swiveled to turn towards him in his grey robes.

"Who are you?" The wretch demanded.

"A man you have long suspected but have never caught and who will know be your undoing. You see… you have arrested some of my people…" It was at that moment that all of the arrested Assassins broke their handcuffs and kicked their former guards away from them. Each then appeared in their Assassin robes with their hoods covering their faces partially after using their magic and rings.

"That is much better." Harry commented before he raised his hood to reveal his face.

"Now." Harry said calmly as everyone excluding the Assassins gasped in shock.

Before the surprised could finish gasping, the ten on each side of the doors eliminated twenty aurors while the other twenty repelled through the glass windows, shattering them with their feet, unhooking from their ropes, and bringing their arms to bear as they landed in rapid succession. They then eliminated twenty others while Harry and the Assassins killed the rest of the aurors using silent, wandless magic. Harry then had Hogwarts shut down all general communications with the outside world. Only Orderian forms were allowed.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge raged.

"First of all, my name is Lord Hogwarts Potter Peverell Black, so learn it and learn it well, Umbitch." Harry replied angrily. "Second of all, it is more like what is the meaning of your actions? You are the one who enslaved the school and usurped power in any way you could, and I imagine you would have continued to do so if not for tonight."

Harry turned in a circle to gaze at all of the students, faculty, and staff.

"All of you know my name, and some of you outside my group of friends and partners would say you know me. I was not brought up on the street. I was not a thief or a crook although I was taught how to be. Most of you think that I disappeared when I was one, but to Dumbledore, I disappeared when I was eight. I was trained from that age on by the organization I know lead and here today represent along with my other colleagues.

"You see there have been many lies spoken here at Hogwarts relating to our group and me in particular. My organization is not just those you see dressed in these robes… no, there are more of you spread throughout all of you." Harry indicated the entire Great Hall. "Why doesn't everyone show themselves and don thy garments, including my top spies here?"

The mentioned gave a glance to Harry and shared some amongst each other before standing. Second years to seventh years of all houses stood along with McGonagall and Severus, who particularly gained a shocked gasp from those unaware of his true allegiances. Each then used magic and their rings to trade out their robes.

"We have been everywhere around you, hiding in secret, gaining more of you as time has gone on. We are deadly, yet hidden, and now, at the dawn of this war, we are announcing ourselves."

"Who are you here to fight for? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Umbridge chimed in, mockingly.

"No, we are not dark, so we will not fight with or for Voldemort, but we are not light or corrupted, so we will not fight with or for the Ministry of Magic." Harry replied.

"If you're not light, then you have to be dark!" Ronald yelled from his seat. His lesson years ago had finally faded enough from memory.

"No, we are neither. We are the middle, the true and effective good… We are the grey." Harry let out the bombshell. "The Grey Order has existed for centuries, waiting for its opportune moment to strike, and now, we shall face Voldemort and the Ministry at the same time. This war will not just be a clash between the light and dark as past ones have undergone; this war will involve the Grey as its third proponent. Light has recently gained almost full control of the land; dark used to rule and still comes to power on occasion. It is now time for the true nature of magic to be known. There is no dark magic; there is no light magic. Grey is the only one that exists. There is only good and bad, not light and dark.

"In this coming war, my organization, one consisting of the highest trained warriors in history, will lead the grey, and we will win. We have more experience in war, tactics, and deception than the 'light' does nowadays, and we are trained better and smarter than the 'dark.' We will honor those who choose to stand with us before and during the war but not those who choose afterward. We will not punish anyone for their beliefs, but those that attack us, be warned: we will retaliate." Harry's voice grew grave as he spoke his last sentence.

"So who will join our cause? Who will defend good from evil and corruptness? The dark wishes for pain and anguish while the light cannot defend itself well and cannot let those with truly good intentions or capabilities to power as the corrupt lead. Look at our dear 'headmistress.' She has stolen Hogwarts from its own students, faculty, and staff! It probably would not have been too long until aurors patrolled the corridors, looking to detain students for even the slightest of transgressions. If that is what the light entails, I do not consider myself a renegade but a revolutionary, and it is now time for a revolution. A war was already going to break out because of Voldemort's return; we are merely here to ensure that he does not succeed and that good is not overridden as it has been. Join us and support good! Do not let the corrupt tumble down and let the evil in. Stand up and see both fail! Let good finally have its day, be triumphant, and rule the land!"

People in the crowd started to cheer. Others looked aghast or enraged; some booed. The other part of the crowd that was non-Orderian sat in contemplation of Harry's words. The Orderians, however, stood still, not letting their emotions show except for Harry who had raised his right fist in the air to encourage the cheers.

People, Orderian and newfound supporters, came up in between the tables to join the bulk of the Assassin force with the new in jubilation and defiance as if already heroes of their latest cause.

Severus looked on with pride in his hidden eyes. The Elders had been very right when they first recruited Harry. He was born to lead this cause, and Severus could not help but think of how far his pupil and son had come from that night at the Dursley's. He remembered seeing the tortured boy for the first time in seven years, laying in the cupboard under the stairs, later, his introduction to the Order, the first time he trained, his first time leaving Grey Base One, his first and many later missions. Severus remembered every step Harry had taken under his supervision, and now he looked upon his son with bountiful pride and a slight amount of bitterness as he realized Harry had grown up into a man by now.

The New Assassins stood, thinking of the changes about to come and the glory of true battle. They imagined the future with happy hearts. They were ready. They had trained to be so, and they would never stop training to make sure of it. Everything was already changing, and there was no going back to where they had come from. None of them cared for that, though; they didn't want to return to the way things were, hiding like rats but hunting like and truly being dragons. This was finally time for their actions to speak of their hearts, minds, and souls.

Suddenly though, the atmosphere was broken by a spell impacting Harry's raised right hand. With everyone's minds occupied, nobody had realized that Umbridge in her rage had removed her wand and aimed it at Harry.

Automatically, the entire Order and its allies turned with weapons of all kinds ready. Umbridge dropped her wand in shock and terror.

Harry fell to his knees gripping his wrist. "Don't kill her! Remember the contract!"

Everyone relaxed slightly but remained weapons ready.

"Hannah, come here. The bitch poisoned my hand. Can you stop it?" Harry called; automatically she and Daphne rushed over.

"No. It's a spell and spreading too fast. It impacted your pinky and is going to keep spreading until it consumes you, I imagine. You're going to have to-" The healer replied.

"Ok. I got it." Harry cut her off. Already black had consumed his pinky entirely as well as reached his palm, aiming for his other fingers before it would spread up his arm.

The leader of the Order reached behind his back and drew out his sword with his left hand.

"Daphne, everyone, look away." He warned before bring the sword down onto his wrist, cutting straight through the skin and tendons, severing the radius and ulna from the carpal bones and leaving his still blackening hand cut completely off his body and on the floor.

Most were able to avoid their gaze before the sword began its descent or were not close enough to get a view of the act, but some were unlucky and could not look away in time, resulting in their screams of terror. The Orderians, though, had watched on in sympathy, amazement, and pride for the most part as they saw their leader do what was necessary, as he had long ago promised. Daphne and Severus, though, were pained by Harry's act, as they knew what pain he must have experienced.

Harry meanwhile had stayed calm and not screamed but merely grimaced before cleaning his own blood off his sword and onto his rotting hand and strapping it back onto his back. The young man then grabbed his rings off his right hand and adorned them as they had previously been on his left. After that, Harry used his elemental magic to cauterize the wound before wrapping it in a bandage he had previously carried in his storage ring.

With the on looking crowd in amazement, Harry stood and calmly walked up to Umbridge before punching her out cold with his remaining fist and then stunning the woman.

"Yet again, the light proves my point, attempting to kill me while my back is turned… Is this what the Ministry does? If so, how can you support them and say they are good?" Harry called to the people.

"Now, it is time to prepare for war. Effective immediately, I am going to have to send all who do not agree home. Hogwarts, the school, is now closed temporarily until the safety of its students can be ensured. Now, for those who think I am being biased let me explain to all of you that the only reason our supporters are staying is so they may help with the cause. Hogwarts is now a military installation for the Grey Order. Everyone now please head up to your dormitories and pack your things. All fireplaces are now open as exiting floos. For those of you in support of the 'light,' I hope that you change your minds and let good prevail. Warn the Ministry; they need to know that we are here. For those who support the 'dark' for known evil reasons, warn your Dark Lord. Warn Voldemort that we are coming for him and are ready if he chooses to come at us first. We are aiming for him and the Ministry, and we never miss when we launch or fire. War is upon us.

"Now goodbye everyone. Let the good survive this war and see the grey in magic.

"Soldiers, join your comrades outside and set up the defenses for the castle. Assassins, make sure that the faculty, staff, and students head only to their quarters and the nearest floo. Seamus, set the defenses to fully operation. Hannah, go ensure things are well with the forest defenses. Daphne." Harry didn't need to say anything to his soul mate. "Meet back in the main part of the Chamber once all of you have achieved your objectives."

As the Assassins merged into the shadows, Harry turned back to the faculty and staff.

"I propose the same offer to all of you."

Flitwick and Sprout looked along the table, saw the empty seats of Minerva and Severus, and stood.

"Thank you, both of you." Harry bowed his head slightly in respect. "Please wait here with the other students… As for all of you," Harry turned to the others, "you are dismissed from Hogwarts for the time being. Please pack your things and return home, and also I would advise that you prepare yourselves for the upcoming war." The teachers and Filch stood from the table and quickly ran out of the Great Hall.

"Now, everyone who has just joined us. I will leave you with instructions to our headquarters here at Hogwarts. None of you will participate in this upcoming battle," He turned to Flitwick and Sprout, "even those experienced in magic. I won't risk any of your lives until I know you can defend yourselves at least at low Orderian standards."

The students and the two teachers visibly saddened at this but nodded their heads in understanding.

"Now, proceed to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, go to the second stall on the left, lift up the handle instead of plunging it down, and proceed down the stairs. Ask Seamus to direct all of you to the Transport Room so you may go to Grey Base One. Once you transport, tell the guard that all of you support the Grey, that Alpha Wolf sent you, and that you need to speak to Victor about recruitment. All of your stuff will be sent to you soon. Good luck, everyone, and I hope to see you soon. Safe journey." Harry then held Umbridge's limp arm and merged into the shadows.

Harry reappeared in a part of the Chamber he had rarely visited, the prison. He pushed Umbridge into the cell and closed the door before turning and shadow traveling up to the Entrance Courtyard, where one of the main defenses of the last line of defense of Hogwarts was to be held.

"How are we doing here?" He automatically asked as he raised his hood when he appeared.

"Good, sir. Each defense on the road and along the road is secured and set up. Every trooper is in position. What do you need of the spare troops?" The Captain of the company replied.

"I want all snipers positioned evenly amongst the towers. I want the surrounding area completely covered by their rifles. Have everyone not already designated to a dense distributed at each entrance to Hogwarts evenly based on accessibility. If an area is smaller and harder to reach, then I want less troops there."

"Yes, Commander." The Captain then turned and began to relay the orders to his soldiers.

Harry then went to the Dark Forest to check on the progress of Hannah, the soldiers, and the centaurs.

"We are set here, Harry. I was actually just about to depart for the Chamber to inform you." Hannah said without prompting.

"Good. Head there. The others are meeting there." Harry replied before she disappeared.

Before Harry could do the same, he received a call from his gauntlet.

"Yes?"

"Sir, everyone who isn't supposed to be here is gone. The last just departed." Neville told Harry.

"Good. Continue following your orders. I'll meet you in the Chamber." Harry then turned his gauntlet off before facing the centaur chief and giving him a nod of respect before reappearing beside Daphne at a large and empty part of the grounds that had recently been flattened. "Need some help?" He smiled.

"No…" Daphne then smiled as well, "but it is always welcome and appreciated."

The two then turned together to face the large area of flattened land.

The C-130s needed a place to land, offload the four companies, and takeoff.

Tremors began to shake through the earth as a long, fully marked tarmac began to replace grass and hangars began to rise from the ground. While Harry still focused on in front of them, Daphne turned back towards the castle to create an aircraft control tower that looked exactly like all the other towers except that it rose to stand above all the other towers and towards the very top had a few floors completely encased in glass instead of stone. Finally the airport was created after five minutes.

The two then turned back to each other and exchanged a loving kiss before parting ways; Harry to the kitchens, Daphne to the Chamber.

"House-elves," Harry addressed the magical creatures, "I know all of you are loyal to the castle and, as a result, me, but I want to offer any of you who are not comfortable with working at an active military installation or the concept of magic not being light or dark but grey the opportunity to leave. Would any of you?"

The house-elves stood in silence before a small one piped up, "We stand with you, milord. You are Lord Hogwarts, and you are our master."

Harry smiled slightly and patted the little elf on his head before nodding his head. "Thank you, everyone." His servants nodded in response, a slightly spoken agreement reached between the creatures and Harry.

"Now, I will need all of you to disperse throughout Hogwarts, especially to the dormitories currently to send the things of the newest recruits to the Grey Order. Besides that, you will continue with all of your tasks except with the addition of services to the military aspect of Hogwarts and the new airport here. Don't worry. None of you should risk anything especially with our upgraded wards. Thank for your continued service, but for now I must attend to other matters in the castle." Harry bowed and merged into the shadows.

He reappeared, seconds later, in the main part of the Chamber, where all the British New Assassins at his disposal were residing.

"Sir."

"Hello, everyone. The day has finally come that we all knew would be upon us. Our day of retaliation is tonight. Finally, we are free of our deceptions and our patience. We no longer must wait for the call; we are giving the call!"

A small but powerful cheer rose amongst the Assassins.

"Tonight, the Grey Assassins must die."

"Now, go disperse our automated vehicles throughout the Dark Forest as well as our secret weapon. Keep the secret weapon, though, hidden from the centaurs and our allies; I don't want anyone but us aware of it. Everyone else is free to disperse throughout the castle until the time of reckoning comes."

Everyone nodded before breaking out of the group and traveling throughout the castle and its grounds.

Daphne went to ensure the basilisks were okay while Harry apparated to the edge of the roof of the aircraft control tower.

The night was clear with the air brisk and clean as almost every night in the Scottish mountains. Far off in the distance, storm clouds though were gathering and heading toward Hogwarts. Harry could feel tension in the magic around him despite the fact that superficially all was calm. It was much like the weather before a hurricane crossed through; there was a calm before the upcoming storm.

The man upon the tower looked out at the world around him, not seeing the world as it was but what it had been and what it would be. Harry reminisced of fights and stealth in places thousands of miles away. He envisioned scenes of blood and battle, grassy knolls devastated by war, London erupting into chaos and eventually a better city.

His gauntlet, signifying a call from Grey Base One, interrupted Harry from his thoughts of the past and the future.

"We have activity from Voldemort. He has instructed a large group of his followers to proceed to Azkaban to free more of his followers. Among them is Sirius Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. We cannot let them fall into the Death Eaters' hands." Victor informed over the video screen.

"What am I to do with them?" Harry asked.

"Capture and bring back to Hogwarts. You are to keep them imprisoned there until we can get a prison transport to take them back to Grey Base One." The last Elder replied.

"Understood. I will gather my squad as well as some of the extra soldiers and infiltrate Azkaban. Anything else?"

"That is all. Good luck, sir, and Godspeed."

"Thank you. Alpha One, over and out."

"Grey Base One, over and out."

Harry deactivated his gauntlet before jumping off the roof, his robes billowing around him everywhere but his head, before disappearing from the air and reappearing in the Entrance Courtyard.

"Captain, I need ten of your men to accompany my squad, Jacob, and me to Azkaban to stop some of its prisoners from falling into enemy hands. Your men will be providing security and help with transport." Harry got down to the point. "I know that that is an eighth of your troops, but we should arrive back well before the counterattack is launched. Our spies in the Ministry have reported that they will be attacking at two a.m. That is more than enough time for us."

"Yes, sir. I will send them to…?"

"The interior hangar. We will be flying there." Harry replied.

"Yes, sir. They will be there within ten minutes."

"Good. Keep preparing our defenses. I want us to be ready as possible for any possible assaults on the castle." Harry nodded his head before drifting away into the shadows and reappearing in a large indoor runway with three V-22 Ospreys waiting at the beginning of it.

His squad of men along with Jacob was already waiting beside them thanks to a mind communiqué from Harry.

"Load up into the first one. The ten support soldiers will take another while the other will be kept empty until we are spread among the three along with the prisoners." Harry ordered.

Eight minutes later, Harry, still waiting outside the first Osprey, was met by the ten troops.

"Get on one of the other two transports except for one of you who will fly the other Osprey. Another will also fly the other eight of you. I will fly the last one. Now get in, and follow my lead." Harry instructed before boarding his Osprey, closing the door behind him, and getting into the cockpit before preparing for takeoff along with the other two birds. He then started his engines and began taxing down the runway until its slope increased and he lifted the aircraft off the ground and through an empty patch of the Dark Forest. The two other Ospreys followed suit in quick succession. Soon, the Ospreys were well over the trees, and then, after activating their magical engines, flying faster than the normal eye could keep track towards a lonely, forbidding island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Minutes later thanks to magic as they also had apparated closer to the landmass, Azkaban was soon in sight.

"Three, stay in the air out of sight. Two, go around the island and land on the other inside part of the prison. Free the designated targets and escort them back to your LZ. Eliminate all resistance en route by ground. Notify three when your transport is full, and continue to update us of your progress. Understood?" Harry ordered.

"Clear, sir. Moving out of sight." The third Osprey replied.

"Understood, commander." The second one answered.

Harry then maneuvered his Osprey low above the edge of the island, right in front of a guardhouse. As they began to land, aurors started leaving the guardhouse, aiming and firing at the Osprey with their wands. Like usual however, the Assassins had reinforced the vehicle with wards and armor that were magic repellant. The landing gear had already come down and soon did the plane as well.

"Shoot to kill."

Harry aimed the side-mounted guns at the guardhouse while Seamus and Blaise defended the Osprey's on turrets and Anthony and Jacob offloaded from the back. Once the guards were pinned at the guardhouse, Seamus and Blaise abandoned their turrets and joined the other two on the sides of the aircraft.

"All the guards are in the guardhouse, sir." Blaise informed.

Harry then, using magic, flipped a switch on the right joystick and pressed on the trigger. A millisecond later, explosive spells rocketed out of the machine guns like bullets, impacting the stone guardhouse and annihilating it along with the guards inside. The Assassin then turned the aircraft off and locked the controls before offloading himself and joining his squad.

"I'll get Bellatrix. The rest of you gather your targets. You have the same orders as the other bird." Harry ordered before shadow traveling into the prison, subtly knifing any guards he found as he made his way for the maximum-security portion of Azkaban.

Soon, he reached a cell door and reappeared out of the darkness, a dozen dementors already trying to swarm him.

"Pitiful."

With only his left wand, Harry forced the dementors back with the usual Expecto Patronum.

"Hmm?" A woman with ragged hair questioned to herself as she thought she heard a voice. She turned away from her cell window and towards her door. Not seeing anyone, she ventured to the bars before being shocked by a lone figure in grey robes pushing back over a dozen dementors with one wand. Soon, they disappeared down the hallway, fleeing like scolded puppies.

"Hello, Aunt Bellatrix."

"Who are you?" The woman demanded.

"Now, now. Come on. You can't recognize me?" Harry paused. "Oh, the cowl probably hurts your chances." He lifted it over his head.

"Harry? Why are you here?" She then asked a little hysterically, "what happened to your hand?"

"To free you. Voldemort was going to free you and all of the other Death Eaters imprisoned here, and I can't allow that. You will still be inserted back into his camp, but we needed to weaken him in some way. As for my hand… that's a long story." Harry explained before pausing and raising his hood back over his head. "All of that can wait for now, though. Wouldn't you rather be free than have a full update?" Before Bellatrix could answer, however, Harry pulled the door of its hinges just by motioning it back with his left hand.

"Good point."

"I know. Now grab onto me, I want us out quick." As soon as her hand grabbed his right arm, they merged into the shadows and almost flew straight to the Osprey.

"Get in. I need to visit another prisoner before we go. Tell my squad that I will be back soon." Before any reply was given, Harry disappeared once more.

An old, withering man sat with his legs crossed in the middle of his cell, meditating and trying to gain at least some magic together, but almost as soon as he gathered the least bit, dementors found him again and seeped his energy. Oddly, though, tonight, he had heard something before also hearing explosions then silence once more. He shakily stood up after a couple minutes and began to pace his cell, listening, hoping to hear another sound of life. As hard as he listened, though, all he heard were his own footsteps on the cold, dark stone. Suddenly, though, a voice broke through the emptiness, greeting the man and surprising him so much that he fell onto the floor, having not heard the young man approach his cell door.

"My, my. You have not heard a human in a very long time, have you?" Harry almost asked, amused.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, how about I entertain your once 'sharp' mind and give you clues instead? I think that is more suited to us, don't you?" Before the old man could answer, Harry started to give his hints. "I have traveled all over the world, am much younger than you and more powerful as well. I am the head of some of the most powerful families as well."

The man was silent in thought.

"Aw. I thought that last one really would have helped you. Fine. Needless to say I am the one who put you here."

"Potter!" Dumbledore raged as he threw himself at the cell bars.

"I prefer Lord Hogwarts Potter Black for those that are not my friends or, in fact, the opposite. You are definitely the opposite, Dumbledore. Now, I have a question for you, and I hope you will answer… How does it feel? How does it feel to have stood at the top of society and be brought down by your own actions? I might have been the one to have you arrested, but it was your actions that allowed me to do so. How does it feel to have thought to be the best in the world and to be brought down by one, obviously stronger in every way, who is decades younger than you? How does it feel?"

"Kill me now and get on with it!" Dumbledore shouted.

"No."

"What do you mean no? Kill me! That's what you want, right? Revenge?" The old man yelled, losing control.

"No. That would be too merciful. I want you to suffer in here and every day think about what I have said. Think about my question. Think about what you have done. I will tell you now, though, we shall see each other again soon, and when we do, don't worry, you will die. Now, goodbye, Dumbledore, and have a good night. It shall be the first of the war." Harry then turned around and began to walk away.

"What war, Potter? What war?!" Dumbledore shouted through his prison bars, watching Harry until he turned down a corridor, never getting a reply.

"Everyone ready?" Harry asked as he boarded the Osprey.

"Yes, sir. All designated targets have been captured and are on board one of our planes. We are all packed up and ready to move out on your command." Blaise replied.

"Good. Close the ramp." Harry nodded his head as he walked into the cockpit and began readying for takeoff. "Here we go, everyone," he sounded from the cockpit a minute later before lifting off the ground and raising the landing gear. "Two and three, this one. We are taking off. Join formation and let's get home. We still have a war to get to."

"Roger that, sir. Forming up on your wing." Three replied.

"Roger, sir. Lifting off and moving to form up." Two sounded.

Once all three of the Ospreys had formed back into a triangle, they magic boosted back to Hogwarts.

Each of the Ospreys quickly entered the hidden runway in the Dark Forest, a metal plate closing it off once the last one cleared the entrance. Each then moved to the end of the runway before touching down and offloading the prisoners.

"Soldiers, escort the prisoners to our own prison. Keep them subdued and unaware of their surroundings, though, at least until they are locked in their cells." Harry ordered.

"Yes, sir." The sergeant amongst them replied before he and his comrades began to carry out Harry's orders.

"Bellatrix, go to the Transport room and get to Base One. This is no place for you right now. Get outfitted for your new position and return once Victor finds you ready."

"Okay, Harry. Goodbye for now." She gave her 'nephew' a hug before running off into the base.

"Sir!" Dean shouted, running in. "We have aurors approaching from all sides, heading towards the entrances!"

"Have everyone move into defensive positions." Harry ordered before disappearing along with his squad, Jacob, and Dean.

All of the Assassins gathered in the Entrance Courtyard along with some of the soldiers.

"I want an ETA on those reinforcements."

"Three hours." Justin answered.

"That's not that great. ETA on the auror force?"

"None, sir." Dean replied. "They have stopped, but radar reports that one figure is approaching the front gate."

Harry looked around at everyone. "I'll go meet the ambassador. Everyone, stay hidden; do not let them see you. We don't want to give away the least bit of our defenses." He then summoned a fake hand gloved like his old one to fit his right arm before shadow traveling behind his dragon's tower. He then walked to the closed front gate as it opened for him. After he passed through, it closed once more. There, Harry stood, waiting for the lone person, his hood lifted over his head to reveal his face.

Soon, a lone auror came walking up the path towards Harry, slightly surprised at seeing him waiting for him.

"Ah, Alastor Moody. I have heard great things of you." Harry bowed. "Out of all the aurors, I give you my respect. You truly are a worthy opponent."

The man hesitated for a second before resuming his task. "Then you know I mean business when I say to stand down and stand trial or be killed. If you don't let us in, we will come make our way in."

"Mister Moody, as one warrior to another, may I ask you something?" Harry asked.

"What do you know of war?" Moody asked angrily.

"Much I can assure you, possibly more than you in fact. I won't go into the details, but suffice to say, I know war and am a warrior." Harry paused, and Moody nodded. "Would you surrender if you it was you?"

Moody nodded. "Good luck, Lord Hogwarts Potter Black."

Harry then surprised the old auror further and presented his hand forward, saying, "It is Harry to those who have earned my respect."

"Harry." Moody shook his hand. "The name is Alastor."

"Good luck to you as well, Alastor."

The two warriors, young and old, then turned and headed back to their camps.

"Moody, what did he say?" Cornelius Fudge questioned once the auror came back. "Are they scared?"

"No. They are ready for us and know it."

"How do you know that?"

"His voice, body language, and, mostly, a feeling." Alastor then muttered something to himself, which Fudge, as he had almost always done with the auror, ignored. "I have to say… I almost want to join them."

"Are all defenses set?" Harry asked the captain as well as the other four of the five main leaders of the Grey Order.

"We are ready for them." Daphne grinned.

"Good. Now we wait."

At one o'clock ante meridian, the radar detected all of the Ministry's force starting to converge on Hogwarts. Parts split to head through the Dark Forest while the main force headed to the main gate.

"It's time, everyone. The battle is about to begin. Remember my words, my fellow Orderians. Remember my words." Harry spoke quietly but was heard despite the mass rush amongst the soldiers into their positions.

The aurors reached the main gate and hesitantly blew it off its hinges. The metal itself had stayed intact. They tried to spread out amongst the lawn, but the aurors who stepped off the path instantly died. Learning somewhat quickly, the rest stuck to the path. They rushed up the path, gaining hesitation once coming up the new dragon towers, but remaining unharmed until they reached an odd protrusion in the road. It was very foreign to the Ministry police as it looked to be made out of tan bags that stacked to chest height. Suddenly, turrets popped out of the ground on both sides of the path and fired wildly at the aurors, eliminating all of them quickly. The first wave of aurors died without even knowing what had happened.

The next wave did the same as the first excluding its misfortunate adventuring off the path and were not killed by the turrets. Instead, four soldiers popped up out of spider holes along the side of the path, killing almost all of the aurors before two raised out of the ground and headed back to the sandbag pile, where they covered the other two's run to the makeshift bunker. There, the last two to arrive killed the last aurors while the first reloaded.

The third wave just encountered the bunker with the four continuing their two attack while two reload strategy, which eliminated all of them. Once the last auror fell, the four ran to the next bunker, where they encountered another two troops.

The fourth did not even reach the first bunker as Rex and Regina descended upon the aurors and making quick work of them with fire, ice, lightning, fangs, and claws. The two dragons then retreated back to the castle.

The entire time, explosions, gunfire, spellfire, war cries, and screams could easily be heard from the Dark Forest.

"Maybe we should retreat, sir." An auror of the fifth wave suggested as they walked through the devastation and heard the noises from the Dark Forest.

"Why? Obviously we are pushing them back!" The wave leader replied once they saw the abandoned bunker.

Both were quickly eliminated at the second one along with the rest of the fifth wave.

The sixth wave first encountered all six of the anonymous Americans, but as two had to reload, they retreated back to a third bunker. Once the next two had to reload, the last two covered their comrades until they had to reload, which was the time for all of them to retreat with the second two covering the last.

"Sir, we are just getting devastated in the Dark Forest. We have made no known progress." An auror advised the Minister.

"Pour all of our forces towards the front entrance. We are at least making progress there." Fudge ordered.

"We should retreat, Minister." Moody warned.

"No, we can do. Pour all of our troops at once towards the front entrance! We will break through their defenses!"

Unnoticed by everyone, Moody slipped away and went the opposite way of Minister Cornelius Fudge's instructions, back home while the Minister ordered a few aurors to take care of a personal task for him.

The ten Americans soon spotted the many aurors rushing toward them, and five took turns letting out bursts of fire until they had to reload before retreating, the other five following close behind but facing the oncoming auror force, continuing to shoot. Quickly, they reached the last bunker, which heavily defended the start of the Entrance Bridge. There, soldiers were able to hold off the aurors for a few minutes until their morale was low enough that they backed away from the bridge; the Americans relaxed for a second before running away from their defense and across the bridge.

"They backed off everywhere but the front entrance. We had to back off the entrance to the bridge; they are launching a massive assault." One of the soldiers informed Harry.

"Good. We will hit all of them one last time with the spider turrets to weaken them and give them one last chance to run." Harry replied. "Everyone prepare to defend this side of the bridge!"

All of the aurors flipped up their hoods, and everyone did one last final weapons check.

"If the turrets don't send them running, I want snipers picking off as many as they can as quick as they can while the others shoot down all who break through. Once they get to our side, focus completely on them and force them back. After we get them going, push them to the other side of the bridge. From there, we will back all of you up." Harry ordered.

The entire auror force assaulting Hogwarts charged up the path to the Entrance Bridge. After they made it almost all the way to the bridge, the turrets popped up once again and eliminated many of the aurors. When they descended back down into the ground after a solid half-minute, the aurors continued to charge over their fallen fellows' bodies. As they neared the bridge, many of them began to drop dead out of nowhere, blood spurting from their heads and chests. Soon, though, they managed to reach the bridge and began to cross it until they almost reached the other side of it. Instead, they only reached the bullets and spells of the soldiers, who began to force the aurors back. A few minutes after their slow progress, the remaining aurors fled back over the bridge and formed a defensive line a bit behind the defense at the other side of the bridge.

"Let's go." Harry said before walking to the bridge, all of his fellow Orderians behind him. They soon began to cross it, calmly keeping up their modest gait. After a minute, they reached the other side of the uncovered Entrance Bridge as spells and bullets flew by them, some coming from behind them, others from in front. Explosions almost consumed all of them, yet they remained undaunted by all of it. They kept up their advance. Not just their own magic wards, rings, and their magic in general defended all of them, but by magic. Their courage, their determination, had spawned something from magic, which protected them all in a circle of grey. None of them could see it, but all of them felt it.

The aurors began to shake in fear as the grey-cloaked figures approached the line. Each then stopped, and the entire world seemed to stop. Each side paused, neither one making a single move except for each of the Assassins drawing their weapon of choice.

Victor leaned forward in his chair at the table of Elders, watching the footage being sent to him as it happened.

The Greengrasses at their home listened intently to the radio frequency their children were on; the Malfoys did the same.

Flitwick, Sprout, the new recruits, the teachers, Bellatrix, Sirius, and Remus stopped their training to look at the huge monitor at the top of the training room and classrooms.

Ragnok, Sharpfang, and all of the other goblins listened intently as well at their desks, especially Griphook, who waited to hear news about his client.

The sanguines all over the world were listening as well, hoping to hear good news about their human allies.

Elves of all regions prepared for war, sharpening their swords, knives, and bow arrows while the radio played the frequency humans and magical beings were listening to across the globe.

John and the other Americans waited with baited breath as they watched various monitors as well.

McGonagall and Severus paced by windows inside the castle. They could not help. They were not part of the New Order, just advisors and spies for it.

The soldiers looked on, none realizing they were holding their breath as if not to break the silence even further.

Japan, Russia, China, Australia, Eastern and Western Europe, the countries of Africa, the Middle East, India, South America, Canada, Mexico, no matter where in the world, every Orderian had found his or her way to a monitor to watch and view the first battle of the war, but all knew that since the British Assassins hadn't attacked yet, the battle was just about to really begin. Orderians in school snuck off to the bathroom or some other hiding spot. Orderians at work did the same, except most just went on break if they could. Those on missions had been evacuated or had paused to monitor the Brit's progress. All of the spies even did their best to know what was happening as it happened. The entire globe sat still, waiting for the next move, either by the Assassins or the aurors.

At the same time in Azkaban, Dumbledore received another two guests that night. The two aurors quickly unlocked the cell door and dragged the old man out by his shoulders and to the interior of the prison where two brooms waiting for them. The legendary wizard was forced onto one of the brooms before the two aurors mounted and took off. Minutes later, another auror forced Dumbledore to sit in a chair in a dark room.

"Do you know why you are here?"

Dumbledore kept his head bowed down low but shook it once.

"We need you to help lead our forces against a new threat and another that you have faced before. You-Know-Who is returning, but the grey wizard is the true problem. His name is Harry James Hogwarts Potter Black and is leading a new kind of magic called 'grey' that claims both the light and dark are evil or weak."

The old man's head snapped up. "What?"

"I take it you're interested?"

"Very much so. First I want everything you have about this 'grey' force, and then I want to know the status of our forces. Next, I want you to contact a list of people. They helped me during Voldemort's first rise to power. In the meantime, I would like a room, fresh robes, a brush, a comb, and a hot shower. I cannot present myself when I have just left prison."

"Of course, sir. Your room has already been readied. I will have your other requests fulfilled." The auror replied before leaving the room.

"Good…" Dumbledore touched his fingertips together. "It looks like I get another chance at Potter, and I can eliminate Voldemort as well. These events have spun wonderfully in my favor."

"Milord, the prison was void of all of our former brethren and many guards had already fallen." A Death Eater informed the dark lord while bowing at his feet.

"A new player. Hm." Voldemort killed the man at his feet. "No matter. He shall fall as well."

"All the pieces have been set." Victor talked to himself. "I have armed my side, my students, as best I possibly could. I have tried to give them the best I could. It is all up to them now." He summoned a bottle of scotch and a bottle of champagne, one for mourning, and the other for celebration.

The whole world seemed to come together at one spot. The Assassins could feel it; they could feel the energy of millions of ears and stares as well as an odd feeling with magic, as if it were gathering to empower and help them. Fog came out of nowhere and filled the area between the two forces as well as the gathering point of the aurors, clouding every normal person's vision.

"Magic is with us." Harry whispered, solidifying his comrades' and his own thoughts.

Harry then broke the tension and charged, his troops right behind him, their weapons poised. Each step seemed to take an hour although they were going faster than the human eye could track. Each step felt like it weighed a ton, not that it was hard to pick up and move, but with the gravity of the situation and how each step reached for importance. Finally, after what felt like days, Harry reached the first auror.

As he sped across the ground, Harry timed his sword's swing so that it would cut from the top of the auror's neck to the bottom at an angle. It would surely be a deathblow that would decapitate him instantly. Already Harry was planning how to best next assault the aurors after the first and how it could possibly fit with the others' strategies.

Finally, Harry began to put pressure on his swords' handle and to pull his arm down in a wide arc. His timing was perfect. The blade was going to strike perfectly at the man's neck.

Harry did not know the man's name; he didn't know his family. Harry could not say what his emotions were, and he had no personal grievances with him. Harry knew two things, though. One: the man's face with his light brown hair, blue eyes, skinny cheeks, rounded jaw line, big nose, and ass chin among many of the man's features.

Two: the auror had to die.

"Hello, everyone. The day has finally come that we all knew would be upon us. Our day of retaliation is tonight. Finally, we are free of our deceptions and our patience. We no longer must wait for the call; we are giving the call!"

A small but powerful cheer rose amongst the Assassins.

"Tonight, the Grey Assassins must die. It is a new age and we must shed not just our new ways but also our names. Tonight, everything changes. We become not just shadows creeping in the night, but actually be full-fledged warriors who do not have to hide. This is now our time to strike and we will. No longer are we just Assassins; we are now more. Our Assassin past, including how it defines us, will always be a part of us, but it is no longer adequate enough to completely be us as far as our occupation goes. We fight in the day, the night, and everything in between. We fight not just in the mist, fog, shade, tempests, hurricanes, tornadoes, snow, sleet, hail, and torrential downpours. We fight in broad daylight now and let others see us. We are no longer inhibited by our secrecy, but we are now freed with our openness. No longer are we the Grey Assassins! That incarnation of the Order will die once the first bit of blood is drawn, once the first sword falls from us, once we kill our first of many tonight! Do not fall; give it your all! Give your all not for me, not for our cause, but for yourselves! Fight until you are no longer able and still push onward! Do not even let yourself stop fighting as you die! As you fall on the ground, already growing cold, kill at least another! Take one last soldier with you! It is only right for our power, our strength! Give yourself that rare satisfaction and prove yourself to yourself! Prove your name! Our name is no longer the Grey Assassins! We are no longer Grey Assassins! We are the Grey Army of the Grey Order! We are the Grey Warriors!"

End of Book One of the Grey Order, The Grey Assassins