Blood Magic - Golden Trio Era

76. Amy's Army

Amy now had another project, reversing the age of the ancient druid. She was finding that she had little time for herself or her loves recently but her work was all building to something bigger. Her lessons with Winky had been yielding excellent results. It had taken a while but Winky was now able to refuse her; she was well read and able to write; still, she wouldn't use magic without her permission and still struggled to refer to herself in first person.

Sethi continued to grow rapidly. They had to bring in more and more food for him to stop him hunting too much from nearby farmers. She had started to teach Winky with him so that Sethi could hopefully learn to read too.

Where she could, she was still making time to work with Snape. His access to their potions lab was a blessing for him. It was a place where he could escape the world and work closely with Amy. He now dedicated himself to helping Amy create a potion to reverse the aging of Grandfather. She loved her relationship with Snape. Sometimes they felt like research partners, the next moment they were best friends or father and daughter or an old married couple. They held a purely platonic love and respect for each other.

Each day, the vampires called more and more to their cause. They'd so far heard little of those who had refused. That was more worrying than anything. Still, the clans that she had on her side were powerful in either magic, wealth or influence. They were all contributing to the construction of her new city. They'd already started building a wide street leading to her palace. On the strip leading up, each clan had started building a smaller palace for each of their own clans. Many others had built houses in the area, hoping to secure a prime spot before the city becomes too busy. Naturally, she had placed restrictions on the styles that could be built. She wanted to maintain a consistent Egyptian aesthetic there. She did allow the odd gothic flair every now and then. The vampires had grown to love the style. It was terribly cliche, Amy thought, but it could be handled tastefully.

The DA was off to an amazing start. She was worried that pairing certain people in groups would lead to fights. There were some. But mostly each group of thirteen were seen together outside of the sessions. The older students were often seen helping the younger. Bullying faded significantly, both because some bullies were now exposed to the other side and because the targets now often had backup. The large minority of the school that weren't part of the DA noticed a strange shift in friendships throughout the school but didn't understand why. During sessions they still focused on Defence Against the Dark Arts but, even outside of the sessions, the groups helped each other with everything. Members of the DA were performing well during all classes.

Because of the structured and borderline militarised style of the group, members jokingly started to refer to it as Amy's Army. A name that became less of a joke as they got to know her and her friends. The core group maintained an anti-Ministry and anti-Pureblood elitism rhetoric. The members began to see the organisation as a means by which they could defend themselves against the coming war. Even members such as Draco, Theodore and Blaise started to treat muggleborns more kindly.

Today was the last meeting before they rotated teachers and before they the Christmas break. They had decided to stay with each teacher longer than intended but it seemed to have worked well having a set teacher for the first term while they got used to their group.

She had tested each member of the group. All of them, even the first years could now cast powerful 'Expelliarmus', 'Stupefy', 'Incendio', 'Reducto' and 'Protego' spells.

"Outstanding!" Amy congratulated them as they gathered around. "Especially you, Hestia, Demelza and Dennis. Some of these spells wouldn't be taught to you for years but you've mastered them. I'm proud of you all for carrying each other. I hope you've realised the value of lifting each other up instead of keeping each other down."

"Thank you." Blaise spoke. Amy was surprised, he was usually very quiet. "You didn't have to help us. Most of us probably would end up as your enemies eventually, but you didn't care. You took us in and gave us a chance in this war."

Marietta smiled and nodded. "I don't know how but you've got me actually liking these snakes." She joked. "Seriously though... I think we've all done a lot of growing here. Things clearly aren't as black and white as we wanted to believe..."

Dennis nodded. "If you are a vampire..." The topic had been an obsession of his. "I don't mind. You're a good person, I reckon." Once again, she pretended to ignore the topic but she threw him a bone, she turned her eyes black and quickly grew her fangs before quickly returning to normal with a wink. He smiled widely at the confirmation. The others seemed shocked or amused. None were particularly angry though. It was an open secret since the Ministry and Daily Prophet had announced that she was a vampire.

She smiled at them. "We'll be having a full meeting soon but I wanted to say to you before then that it's been a pleasure teaching you. Remember what you've learned. Stay together and you'll be unstoppable. When you go home, remember, your parents views don't have to be your own. You are your own people. I ask you to think carefully about what is truly important to you. You are part of a new generation that will be stronger than any before it. I'm proud of you all. Now, take your places. The others will be here soon."

The group walked to their place. Each group would form a column in front of the stage. Currently, Amy's, Hermione's and Daphne's groups were using the hall. The rest were all coming for a goodbye speech.

Each group was led into the room by their teachers. Each followed in a line and orderly took their place in front of the stage. The teacher would then join Amy on the stage to wait. Amy was impressed by the way the students had been transformed in only a few months. In their first session, they were very disorganised and clung to their old cliques. Now, they stood orderly in front of her and looked almost like a real army.

When they had all gathered, Amy looked over the expectant crowd. They all seemed to stand a little taller, a little more confidently.

"Look at you all!" Amy called out. "I've been told that every single one of you in this room has excelled. I've seen you, around the school, helping each other. At the start of this term, most of you were indifferent or even hostile to each other. Now, I see a group of people who have seen each others triumphs and failures. You've pulled each other up when you've falled. You've raised the weakest of you to your level and, by doing so, strengthened you all..."

That was a message she liked to push because she genuinely believed it. The strong only hurt themselves by pushing others down. By supporting each other, everyone reaches new heights.

"I look at you now and believe, genuinely, that, should you all work with singular purpose, no one would be able to stop you." They seemed to grow taller as she verbally built them up. There were some cheers as she spoke.

"You are all individuals and your allegiences are your own. Some of you will fight for Voldemort, others for Dumbledore or the Minister. Still, right here, right now, we are unstoppable. Do you feel it? That pure potential filling the room, screaming to be let out."

Cheers again. She was hyping them up. She wanted them to taste the power she could offer them if they followed her.

"What you are feeling is only the surface. You all now have the basics, but we will delve deeper. Together, we will hone our skills until each of us is an army. Together, we'll raise ourselves to impossible heights. Together, we will break beyond the limits set upon us by those who beneft from seeing us weak. The Death Eaters... The Ministry... The Order... All of them want to see you restrained. Because, they don't want you to realise that, given the effort, anyone can reach the levels of Voldemort or Dumbledore. You can reach those levels."

She could feel it. The excitement, the anticipation, the taste of power on their tongues.

"Each of you will always have a place in this collective. You may leave us eventually, to fight for one side or another. You will always have a place. The only unforgivable act among us is that some of you may harm or even kill your brothers and sisters that stand beside you now. To do so is to betray and weaken us all, to weaken yourself. If you stand together in this war. If you look out for each other, even if you are on other sides of the battlefield, you will survive."

"In the new year, you will be with a new teacher. For now, go and have an amazing Christmas and New Years. Remember what you have learned and we'll grow more next year."