The promised training with Moony saw Harry and Hermione rising at six thirty, only to find all their friends - along with Dan, Emma and Sirius - were up too. Breakfast was going to be after training so, like the Pied Piper, Moony led them all down to the beach. The marauder had figured a few laps up and down the beach would soon show him who was serious about this training. To his great surprise, everyone stuck it out. The three adults were dead on their feet but refused to quit. Sirius then led both Grangers over to a safe area for a seat to watch as Moony had the teenagers start on wand work.
"I'm so glad Remus told us we would practice shooting this afternoon. I barely have the strength left to lift a gun, far less hold it steady enough to hit anything I aimed at."
Sirius offered a crumb of comfort to the struggling Emma. "The cruciatus curse really screws with your body, especially your muscles and nervous system. I thought you did fantastic this morning." Dobby popping beside the trio with a tray of fruit drinks brought relief to all of them who were struggling after expending more physical effort jogging on the sand than they had in years. They sat and stared as Remus had the teens shooting spells at stationary dummies to practice their accuracy, before he then animated a few of those dummies - increasing the degree of difficulty by a fair margin.
It was a proud father who watched on as Hermione began knocking her dummy over, before almost choking on his fruit juice as Harry blew the arm clean off one. Emma's jaw was hanging open too before Sirius commented on what they had just witnessed.
"Hermione is a really powerful witch, second only to Harry in that group. Harry's power though is awesome, I don't have another word for it. They have the power and knowledge but not the training, that's where Remus comes in. He'll have them practicing until what they do becomes instinct. With their bond, that will make them a formidable couple."
It was a tearful Emma that asked the million galleon question. "Will it be enough to achieve what they seem to be heading into?"
Thanks to their bracelets, Dan now knew instinctively what to do. He had his arm reassuringly around his wife and kissed Emma on the cheek. "They have a family that will be with them every step of the way. Between all of us, we'll make sure they come out the other end in one piece."
Now that was something Sirius could put his name down for. He left the Grangers and went over to offer Moony a hand. Even if he only took over training the others, that would allow Moony to concentrate on Harry and Hermione. Sirius intended to do everything in his power not to make a liar out of Dan. Those two simply had to survive what was coming their way, no other option was acceptable to the marauder.
.....
The Quibbler was renowned for the eccentricities of its owner, reactions to the papers headlines were usually somewhere between laughter and being completely ignored - not today.
That the paper was suggesting Voldemort wasn't really gone was one hell of a bombshell to drop on someone while they were sitting down to their morning bowl of cereal. That was only the beginning though, the paper contained more shocks than the packet of cereal had free gifts. That Harry Potter was prophesied to confront the Dark Lord offered a smidgen of comfort until even that smidgen was brutally ripped from their grasp with the news that their saviour had left the country.
The Potter family instigating a Blood Feud against the Malfoy and Parkinson families also caused an impact of seismic proportions. These were two wealthy and powerful families that just lost their heads of house, supposedly murdered by muggles.
There were also meticulously detailed accounts of how the Ministry and Dumbledore had wronged the last of the Potters, actually forcing him to leave the country.
Before the meat of these articles could be consumed, readers were distracted by what amounted to nothing more than an advert for a new magical school. While the drawings of this wonderful building were certainly - to say the very least - eye-catching, what really drew the reader's attention was the name. In what was an understandable miscalculation, the owners and staff of the Institute had overlooked one vital piece of the psyche of the British witches and wizards.
With Voldemort trying to come back, and Harry Potter prophesied to banish him, parents the length and breadth of Britain instantly reached the decision that they wanted their children to attend the Potter Institute. When it came right down to it, they trusted Harry Potter with their children's safety - rather than the Ministry of Magic or Albus Dumbledore's Hogwarts. A quick glance at the list of professors teaching at the Potter Institute offered all the encouragement they needed to make their decision.
Most wouldn't even wait on the time it would take to send an owl to Gringotts to declare their family's interest in the Institute, witches and wizards floored or apparated to the bank in their droves.
....
Albus wanted to rant and rage at what he was reading here but the overwhelming reaction he experienced was fear - fear of being the headmaster of Hogwarts who saw that grand institution close its doors forever.
At least the tournament wouldn't be affected, as the Institute was currently only accepting students up to fourth year. That would be scant consolation though, as Albus imagined his embarrassment as headmaster if the other schools turned up to a half-empty Hogwarts.
Unlike those in Italy, Albus immediately recognised what the parents' reactions to reading this would be. It was now imperative that Harry Potter attended Hogwarts, by hook, crook or magical goblet.
.....
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