Kassandra Bauer and the Deathly Hallows. (Book 7)

Chapter 14: The Essential Guide to winning a Civil War.

(Ethan P.O.V)

And that's how it began. That was how I found myself fighting a Civil War against a Country I had sworn to protect. The Ministry was gone. Replaced with a government that was nothing more than a puppet to Voldemort. 

After escaping the new Imperial Center and declaring a state of Civil War, my brother and our friends were temporarily hiding out in Grimmauld Place in London. The rest of our party were waiting for us in the Sherwood Forest inland. At least for a time.  I sat in the kitchen with Jacob. And also with Jae, Chiara, Tulip, Charlie, and Bill. That was when we saw Mr. Diggory enter. 

"Well?" I asked hopeful for some good news.

"We searched the entire Square. But there's no sign of the House Elf-" Mr. Diggory started to say.

"Kreacher." Jacob interrupted. "His name is Kreacher." 

"Right... Kreacher." Mr. Diggory corrected. "There's no sign of Kreacher. Or the kids." 

"They must've thought Grimmauld Place was compromised. Probably, Yaxley grabbed one of them. And then they got compromised and Apparated again into the wilderness or something." I figured. I knew Kassie and her friends always talked about that option should the worse happen. 

"Well if this place is compromised, then it's not safe." Tulip pointed out.

"No, it's not." Jacob agreed. "But we're only here temporarily. With the Death Eaters in control of the Ministry, it's only a matter of time before we're overrun in London." 

"So where do we go? France?" Charlie asked. 

"No." I shot down. "We can't leave Britain." 

"I agree." Bill said. "If we leave Britain, it cements the Death Eaters control over it. We can't take our Country back by leaving it." 

"So what do we do?" Jae asked. "We can't stay here in London or we'll be overrun." 

Jae was right. I looked over at the map. "Hm. We need a city of our own to use as a main capital." I noted. 

"I'm going to automatically assume that London is out of the question?" Chiara asked.

"Yes." Jacob answered. We then looked at the cities of Britain. And what we could potentially use. 

"What about Dover?" Jae asked. 

"Too close to London. And I have a hunch that the Death Eaters already have the place on lockdown. Same with Cambridge." Tulip answered. 

I then had an idea. "I have an idea." I said. And everyone looked at me. I was the leader now. And considering that I had just declared Civil War against the Empire, it was easy to see why. 

"But which city? There's tons of cities where we could set up shop." Bill asked. 

"We'll put our base of operations in the heart of England." I answered. I then pointed to a position of the map. "Nottingham." 

"Nottingham?" Mr. Diggory asked.

"Say... Ethan... isn't that where we fought R and also tried to save Ben from a huge mistake?" Chiara asked. 

"Yeah. And also where we first saw our use of Golems for battle." I answered.

"And also where I rode a Dragon and had the best day of my life." Charlie added. 

"It's the best place for a stand." Jacob agreed. He could see where I was going with this. "Nottingham is a city situated in the heart of England. Both metaphorically and physically. And it's also overlooked by the Death Eaters. If we can successfully use the city as a base. We can also use it to split off the Death Eaters from England to Scotland."