Song Of The Guardians

Under The Influence

Harry's gaze roamed over the Great Hall, watching the various pairs of dueling wizards. Occasionally, he would step in to make a suggestion but he mostly wanted to observe their progress. Snape was doing the same thing on the opposite end of the hall, but his suggestions were less polite and his attitude seemed to suggest that any mistakes were personally offensive.

Harry noticed that the other Guardians had grouped together with the Freemans and they were all taking turns dueling. He had to admit they were an impressive lot. He frowned in thought and walked over to where Snape was sneering at Lavender and Parvati. The young women had gone into a fit of giggles over some poorly cast spells, nearly setting Dean Thomas on fire. Naturally, Snape swooped in and the laughter stopped abruptly.

"Could I have a word?" Harry asked Snape, shooting a disapproving look at the young women. Snape had been in a foul mood all day and he really didn't want Lavendar and Parvati making it worse. Snape gave the young women one last glare before moving away with Harry.

"What is it Potter?" he asked irritably.

"I was watching the others," he said, gesturing to where Hermione was stepping forward to duel Ron, looking very much like a martyr. "They seem to be doing very well, but I'm afraid that defensive magic just isn't enough. These vampires aren't something to trifle with."

"With the exception of the Freemans, every one of them participated in the last war and survived," Snape pointed out.

"That's not good enough," Harry insisted, sounding almost desperate. "We were so very lucky. It's a miracle we survived." His eyes rested on Ginny and he had a sudden tightness in his chest. "I can't lose her," he said quietly. "I can't lose any of them."

Snape stared at him for a moment. "What do you want from me?" he asked. "What are you suggesting?"

Harry took a deep breath and then met potions master's eyes. "You have experience and knowledge that I have no claim to," he said carefully. "I'm not suggesting that you teach them dark magic. But, I would like them to have more aggressive training. The Guardians in particular. I want for us to be able to take an offensive stance rather than just defensive. I feel as if I could train them, but I think that you are much better for that task." He fell silent, looking back over at his friends.

Severus stared at Harry for a moment, unsure of what to think or say. After a few moments, he rolled his eyes and said "We should get started." He sneered at Harry's expression of amazed gratitude. "Move along Potter. I have no desire to share in your sentimentality."

"Thank you Professor Snape," Harry said with a nod and a wide grin. He hurried away to resume supervising the dueling. Severus sighed in aggravation and walked over to the rest of the Guardians.

"Come to watch the show?" Draco called out to him with a smirk. "Granger is about to make Weasley cry."

Severus stood with his arms folded, looking irritable. "As entertaining as that would be, Potter feels that your dueling skills are inadequate and I have been chosen to remedy that."

"Hermione is great," Ron protested moving toward Snape menacingly. "You're just being a prat, like always."

Before Severus could his snarl his response, Hermione spoke up. "Ron, he was sent by Harry," she said, stepping between Ron and Severus. "Obviously Harry is concerned and we'll take that seriously." She turned to Severus. "Just tell us what to do."

Harry smiled in satisfaction as the various groups finished their practicing and gathered around him, awaiting instructions. The Guardians had been the last group to finish, but they were looking confident. "Great work today," Harry said looking around at everyone. "This will be the last training session with the whole group. I encourage you to continue practicing on your own and small group training will be scheduled for each team in the near future. If anybody would like some more personalized training, let me know and I'll see if I can work something out." He waved his wand at a roll of parchment and it flew into his hand. I highly recommend becoming as familiar with your team as possible. We have to rely on each other completely. Nobody is to work alone," he added sternly. "Our opponents are dangerous and once they realize that we're preparing to fight them, they'll be looking to pick us off." He used a charm to enlarge the parchment and then posted it on the wall near door so everyone could check the list as they left.