Chapter 1335: Long-Term Strategy
Chapter 1335: Long-Term Strategy
"Neville, over here..." Dean waved to Neville.
"They said you're here for training!" Neville exclaimed as he walked over and gave Dean a big hug.
"Mr. Thomas, I'll leave Mr. Longbottom to you," Dobby bowed slightly to them, ready to leave after they had greeted each other.
"Thanks, Dobby. I'll take care of him," Dean assured, patting his chest.
After the house-elf left, Neville started looking around. "Is this really the headquarters of the Defense Association?"
"Of course," Dean smiled, as if seeing through Neville's thoughts, "This village is actually considered the outer perimeter, meant for our activities. The most important areas are protected by the Unbreakable Vow, so it's quite normal that you can't see them."
"The Unbreakable Vow?" Neville asked, intrigued. He had heard about this spell from Hannah, and was surprised to learn that there was yet another layer of protection in place.
"Mr. Thomas, have you informed Mr. Longbottom about the special things to note while staying here?" A gentle voice suddenly interrupted them, and Shana appeared out of thin air.
"I was just about to tell him," Dean scratched his head awkwardly.
"What is it?" Neville asked, puzzled.
"Please come with me, there are some rules to abide by here," Shana led Neville into the house protected by the Unbreakable Vow.
"Can I join the Defense Association now?" Neville asked in a low voice.
"Of course, as long as you are already an adult," Shana replied.
Shana took Neville to the office to complete the formalities of joining the Defense Association, while Dean waited outside for about ten minutes before seeing a very excited Neville again.
Neville pocketed his watch and whispered, "I should have dropped out of school and come here for training from the start."
"It's not that exciting here, to be honest. It's mostly just training all day, every day," Dean said, but his words lacked conviction.
"You have no idea how many people would envy you for getting this kind of formal training," Neville suppressed the urge to punch Dean, "Show me around."
"Most of the houses here have been abandoned. Those who stay at headquarters temporarily usually live in tents. Of course, you can also take the time to fix up these old houses," Dean pointed to the few restored buildings, "But it's not really necessary to waste your time on that. Dobby and others help provide food."
"Then where is everyone?" Neville asked, voicing his confusion.
"They should all be training," Dean laughed, "Come with me to the training ground, and you'll understand."
"This..." Neville looked at the sloping entrance, puzzled, and turned to Dean, "I thought..."
"Ordinary Death Eaters have no way of breaking through the outer perimeter's protective magic, and they don't even know where this abandoned village is," Dean explained what he had learned during his time here, "In fact, none of us really know where we are either."
"If the village is ever truly breached by Death Eaters, the two safe houses protected by the Unbreakable Vow will be our last refuge."
Passing through a dimly lit passage, they entered a large hall the size of a Quidditch pitch. Fred and George were organizing a dueling practice session, and although they were only using conventional spells, the intensity of the practice was evident, and it stirred the blood of those who watched.
"Want to give it a try?" Dean asked with a smile.
"With you?" Neville asked.
"Yes."
"Okay."
And so, a minute later...
Neville lay on the ground, having been struck in the chest by a Stunning Spell.
"Are you alright?"
"No wonder Cedric always emphasized the importance of mastering the basics," Neville said glumly as he took Dean's hand and pulled himself up, "It would be amazing to receive personal training from Mr. Anderson."
"Well, it's not that easy," Dean grinned, "Mr. Anderson has his own affairs to attend to, and he's also the Secret-Keeper for this place. He usually only shows up for important gatherings; most of the time, we train on our own." Recalling the changes over the recent period, Dean added softly, "But the atmosphere here is really great. Everyone shares their combat experiences, and there's ample time for dueling practice every day. You'll understand once you've been here for a while."
"So it's similar to the DA meetings at school, but why is there such a huge gap?" Neville still couldn't help but feel bothered by how easily Dean had defeated him.
"It's different," Dean countered, "What happens at school is just kids messing around."
He pointed to a few people sparring nearby, "This is what basic combat training looks like. Once you complete the foundational training, most ordinary wizards won't stand a chance against you."
"Indeed, many Death Eaters are included in the category of ordinary wizards. So, a wizard who has completed basic training will be significantly stronger than most dark wizards," Dean added, "You must have heard about how they used Dementors and dark wizards as practice opponents some time ago."
"If I had that kind of power, I would definitely drive Snape out of the school," Neville clenched his fists, still upset about the situation at Hogwarts.
"How is everything at Hogwarts?" Dean asked, feeling that Neville might have some misunderstandings, and so he steered the conversation in another direction to avoid discouraging his friend.
"Not good," Neville replied, a frown creasing his brow, "Those Death Eaters love using Veritaserum to cause trouble. I was planning to hide out in the Room of Requirement and pretend to be missing." Neville and Dean stood to the side, watching the others practice. He envied their ability to cast various spells smoothly, and everyone in the training room seemed much stronger than him.
"There's no other way," Dean sighed, knowing what Neville wanted to do, "Unless you defeat the mysterious person, it won't make a difference even if you drive Snape away. They'll just come back."
"Is Mr. Anderson unable to do anything about it?" Neville asked a rather foolish question.
"Unless we take on the mysterious person in advance, but that would be meaningless," Dean lowered his voice, "Right now, we're secretly gathering our strength, waiting for the day we can fully confront the mysterious person. The number of official members in the association is increasing, and everyone is getting stronger, so there's no need to rush. We'll bide our time and wait for the opportunity for a final battle that Harry will bring about."
"Actually, I was just about to ask—aren't most of the people here recent graduates from Hogwarts?" Neville had noticed the youthfulness of the association members as soon as he entered the training room.
"I asked a similar question before," Dean smiled, clearly curious himself, "They said that other members have more complicated thoughts and many lack the courage to stand up against the mysterious person. Some older adults join the Order of the Phoenix, as you know, they generally have decent combat strength and don't need to undergo training here."
"Can we join the Order of the Phoenix too?" Neville knew that Harry had joined the Order, and his grandmother had also mentioned that his parents had once been members.
"Of course, we can, but I don't think it's necessary," Dean replied, "Because both sides have been cooperating, and Fred and George are the liaisons. A lot of information is shared between us."
Dean patted Neville's shoulder, signaling for him to follow as they prepared to face Lee Jordan together.
This kind of sparring would provide invaluable experience for all three of them in a chaotic, three-way duel.
Amidst the crowd's enthusiastic cheers, the trio's duel commenced.
Dean and Neville failed to leverage their numerical advantage, especially when Neville's spells were blocked by Dark Magic Defense artifacts, causing him to falter momentarily before being knocked back by a Stunning Spell. Dean soon followed, unable to withstand the onslaught.
"Don't get distracted during a fight," Dean reminded his companions, a bit dejectedly.
"Isn't that cheating?" Neville muttered.
"No, it's not. In a life-or-death situation, no one cares if you play dirty," Dean shook his head emphatically, "We just need to defeat him without resorting to Dark Magic ourselves."
"Do you teach Dark Magic here, too?" Neville asked, astonished.
"Yes, but not extensively. Most Dark Magic requires a strong magical foundation to be effective in duels," Dean explained, "We focus more on practical combat and subduing our enemies."
"Remember, most witches and wizards are virtually helpless without their wands. So, after you defeat your opponent, use the Disarming Spell to take away their wand. That's easier than trying to kill them directly," Dean advised.
"Have you killed many Dark Wizards?" Neville asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
"I don't know. My abilities aren't up to par with the others yet, so I haven't been able to join their missions." Speaking of this, Dean looked a bit glum, "I heard they're planning another operation soon, but I'm not qualified to participate yet."
"Sounds exciting," Neville commented, intrigued by the Defense Association's activities against Death Eaters.
"There's even more interesting stuff, but you've come at an inopportune time. Otherwise, you could have experienced the Imperius Curse training," Dean said.
"What's that?" Neville asked, unsure if he had heard correctly.
"It's a training session where Mr. Anderson casts the Imperius Curse on us, and we just need to resist its control to pass. Unfortunately, no one has successfully resisted it yet," Dean explained.
"Like what we did in our fourth year with Fake-Moody?" Neville recalled the lesson from their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where Harry had been the only one to resist the Imperius Curse.
"Yes, it's incredibly difficult. But if you can resist it, you'll be immune to the Imperius Curse in the future. Everyone says this opportunity is invaluable because both the mysterious wizard and Death Eaters love to use the Imperius Curse to control others," Dean shared, having personally experienced the training himself, even if it meant crawling around on all fours like a dog.
"Don't you practice on your own?" Neville inquired.
"No, Mr. Anderson always supervises Dark Magic training sessions to prevent any accidents," Dean explained, "We have these sessions about twice a week, and the next one is likely to be on Friday."
"I probably won't be able to make it," Neville said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Why not?"
"I need to go back to Hogwarts with Cedric to keep Dumbledore's Army going," Neville replied, a bit glum but understanding the situation, as Shana had emphasized the importance of giving Hogwarts students the courage to stand up against the mysterious wizard and Death Eaters, which took precedence over everything else.
"Looks like we all have our own missions," Dean said, his spirits lifting a little upon hearing Neville's determination.
"What's your mission?" Neville asked curiously.
"I'm in charge of managing the safe houses," Dean answered, "In a couple of days, Justin and I will be replacing Hannah and Susan to look after the expelled students and teach them Dark Magic defense."
"How's it going over there? I stayed there for a day before coming here," Neville inquired.
"It's fine, I guess," Dean said, his expression turning odd.
"What's the problem?" Neville asked, not understanding his friend's reaction.
"It was a mess at first, but thankfully, Hannah managed to unite everyone under Dumbledore's Army," Justin chimed in, giving Neville's shoulder a friendly thump, "I thought you were still at Hogwarts."
"I dropped out," Neville shrugged.
"He's just temporarily missing," Dean corrected with a grin.
"How's Hogwarts doing now?" Justin asked, curious about the school under Death Eater management.
"Not good," Neville repeated what he had told Dean earlier, his brow furrowing as he described how Dark Arts had replaced Dark Magic Defense, and the use of Cruciatus Curse on students in detention.
"Alright, it's about time for lunch," Dean checked his pocket watch and gestured for Neville to follow him to the dining room.
"The food here is much better than at the safe house," Neville observed, eyeing the house-elves serving food with a hint of surprise at the variety of dishes.
"Of course. And if you like, there's even afternoon tea," Dean said.
The three boys helped themselves to plates of food and sat down at the long table, chatting casually about recent events as they ate.
"By the way, do you have any news about Harry?" Neville asked eagerly.
"Harry? Fred and George mentioned that he's also undergoing some special training with Professor Moody. Apparently, he's learning a very powerful spell," Dean shared what he knew.
Justin couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. Like him, they were still at the foundational stage, learning simple and practical spells.
To learn more complex spells, one had to complete the basic training, which could take at least a year to accomplish.
"He must be preparing for his duel with the Noseless One!" Neville speculated, "Looks like the time for an all-out war between the two sides is drawing near."
"Noseless One?"
Dean and Justin stared at Neville, momentarily confused before realizing whom he was referring to.
"Indeed, he has no nose," Cedric joined them, sitting beside them with a friendly smile, "But we don't use his name directly here."
"I know," Neville said.
"You'll be sticking with me these next few days, and I'll give you some intensive training," Cedric continued, "For now, you'll be running back and forth between here and Hogwarts. Our main focus is still on the students at Hogwarts, as Albert hopes someone will guide them to continue resisting the mysterious wizard."
"I understand," Neville asked, "But why does Mr. Anderson place so much emphasis on the students at school?"
"Because many adults are unreliable," Cedric's expression turned complex, "Take the Aurors, for example. They should be standing with us against the mysterious wizard, but instead, they chose to submit to him and become his lackeys."
The mention of this angered all three of them, especially when they thought of Skringer, who had been killed by the mysterious wizard while trying to protect the Aurors. It suddenly made sense why Albert had chosen to rely on younger witches and wizards.
"If this Wizarding War drags on, the Dumbledore's Army members who graduate from Hogwarts will become our most trusted allies," Cedric explained, "So, I hope you can put extra effort into this."
"Leave it to me!" Neville assured, thumping his chest confidently.
(End of Chapter)
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