There will be... a sea of blood

Harry turned into a simuran and darted after Snape. The large wings prevented proper flight, so Harry, dashing down the corridors, only managed to take off as he burst out the door into the night sky. Unfortunately, the little raven was quickly lost in space, and Potter only had time to notice the bird disappearing into the twilight. Harry stumbled to the grass, reverted back to human form, and spat angrily. The potionist was definitely dead now. In any case, after the next meeting, Snape's head would be delivered to Voldemort in a black box. Or maybe Harry would even do it himself.

****

Passion was brewing at Nott Manor. Snape was crawling on the floor, unable to catch his breath from the second unforgivable. The Dark Lord was tearing and tearing. This time it hit everyone, including the master of the manor.

- You stupids! You can't be trusted with anything! I might as well have come to Hogwarts myself and declared a third magical war! - Voldemort, in anger, kicked the rug where the body of Selwyn, the most "fortunate" servant, lay open-eyed. Amadeus had a short note on his chest, "With love, from Hogwarts."

- Such a plan to s-s-slip to Mordred! Crucio! Crucio! Avada Kedavra!

The nameless drunk has dropped dead.

- And you, my spy, S-Severus! Shouldn't you have had your back? You shouldn't have assured me it would all go well! You lost yourself, you lost your partner! You've got to think of everything yourself! Get the hell out of here! - Once Lord kicked everyone out, he went on a long rampage, taking his revenge on Selwyn's corpse. Of course, who likes it when a boy messes up the cards?

Once he had calmed down a bit, Voldemort thought about it. The first order of business was to expand the army to include sentient beings. So to begin with, the Dark Lord summoned Greyback and ordered him to begin negotiations with the vampires. It would not be easy and would take a long time, but there was no point in waiting any longer. The time had come.

****

Potter sat pensively in the teachers' lounge on the first floor of Hogwarts. Everyone around him was gathered: the Malfoys, Granger, Neville, Luna and the other Order members. Oddly enough, Ron Weasley was nowhere to be seen. His parents were standing to the side, Ginny walked over to Neville and Luna, the others were talking softly.

- All right, gentlemen and ladies! Can I have everyone's attention, please? - Harry had a plan. - I propose to open a primary school at Hogwarts for children aged three to eleven. After all, children are much better at enjoying life than we are. Positive emanations are vital right now. At the same time, we'll teach them simple spells so that magical outbursts won't be too destructive. Do we have any lists of those entering Hogwarts in the near future? Well, or younger siblings of current students?

- As a member of the Board of Trustees, I dare say we've seen a self-renewing book of names of prospective students in the castle. It was used to decide who to send to the Muggleborns, if any were available within Britain and Scotland. - Lucius Malfoy, as always on time and with the right information.

- Excellent! And where is it kept?

- I saw it in the Headmaster's office," Granger inserted her five knots, "it's on a separate table. Professor McGonagall wrote the names of the eleven year olds out of it in September.

- That's fine," Harry stood up, "I'll go and see what I can do tomorrow. I'll present the plan tomorrow as well. In the meantime, good night, everyone.

Potter left the castle and, reaching the gate, apparated to his room. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought there was nothing like his own home. It was only now that he remembered Louise.

****

The next morning Harry went down to the kitchen. Louise was already sitting there, drinking aromatic coffee and buns.

- Good morning," Harry muttered and sat down in his seat. Dobby had immediately set up a hot breakfast.

- Morning! - Louisa smiled.

- Don't expect me for lunch today. Hogwarts has been having a bit of a revelry. We have to decide what to do with the magic of the castle. Keep an eye on the tailgaters while I'm gone?

- Hmm. Good. Only I plan to visit Madame Malkin. She's been taking house calls since the shop was destroyed. I need some new robes. Oh, and a few other things.

Louise didn't seem to be angry with Harry. He blushed, sighed and got up from the table. It was going to be a busy day.

****

As he parried into the castle, Harry strode through the corridors. They were brighter and drier. It wasn't as damp as it had been a month ago. Students were coming out in small groups for fresh air, the fireplaces were still burning, the dungeons were clearing, the stairs were moving, but not as fast as before. Only Dumbledore remained in the Hospital Wing. He seemed to have been hit the hardest. Professor Vector was temporarily put in Snape's place. Lessons went on as before, Potions and Artifacting were cancelled until better times. There was a catastrophic shortage of people.

Potter walked into the headmaster's office. Minerva McGonagall was sitting at her desk, sorting out bills. A lectern with a large book stood near the entrance. Harry said hello and looked in the book. Indeed, it showed all wizards and muggleborn wizards up to the age of eleven. Asking permission, Potter copied the pages he wanted. After which he sent the Patronus to all the teachers and wizards present. How quickly they appeared made Potter wonder about their professional conformity.

"Hmm, as if they weren't teaching lessons at all," Harry grinned, "Well, that's okay, the workload will increase now. We might even get some inactive mages involved."

****

- In principle, nothing is impossible or unduly difficult," Minerva adjusted her glasses, "I propose we divide up the duties and invite all the children to Hogwarts. Along with their parents, of course. I'll take the Muggleborns, there aren't that many of them, given recent events.

- Then with your permission I'll take care of the financial side," Malfoy Senior's eyes lit up, "I'll make sure everything is in the best possible shape. Draco and Astoria will help me. We'll stock up on writing implements, children's textbooks.

Draco nodded in agreement. And no one asked his wife, for that matter.

Sprout and Flitwick had agreed to teach the primary courses of their subjects to the little ones. And Harry took it upon himself to watch over the mood of the little ones. And so it was settled.

****

A week later.

Two classrooms were set up on the first floor. On the seventh they put the families of the new arrivals in. Not to say they liked the idea much, but in wartime no one chooses.

Hogwarts was cleaner. Argus Filch was no longer grumbling about the running and noise in the corridors - he was assigned his own house elf, who was happy to run any errands for a squib. And the little children rejoiced at the new discoveries, lessons and opportunities for mischief.

Dumbledore recovered from exhaustion and went away at once. He reappeared a couple of weeks later, and immediately began headmastering.

Harry shuttled between the Vale and Hogwarts. Louise was doing well as hostess, and she communicated regularly with all the dragons with the help of the stone, occasionally shifting into her animagic form to stretch her wings.

****

During this time the little ones had become accustomed to the majestic castle, and had searched the place up and down. Hogwarts' defences had been restored, but it was a long way from complete happiness, though the magic was steadily returning.

"The children are sitting on the green grass, squinting funny at the bright sun. Harry conjures bright rainbow bubbles straight out of the air and sends them flying. Some boy can't take it anymore and rushes to catch the bubbles. Without bursting, they turn into multi-coloured balls, which scatter right under the feet of the other kids. A resounding laughter shakes the neighbourhood...

The older kids try to conjure up the same bubbles, but all they get is foam flakes. Harry goes round the clearing and shows the right moves.

- Harry, Harry! Why are you not using your wand?

- I don't need one," Harry grinned, conjuring up a flock of colourful canaries with a wave of his hand..."

Potter was pleased. The castle's defences were stronger than they had been, the portly characters were visiting each other again, the staircases were moving around the floors as before. Children's laughter rang in the corridors, the stomping of little feet could be heard. The students wizened bravely, getting excellent results. So the time for examinations passed and summer came.

****

One summer day, as Harry was making his rounds of the castle to hand over the running of the primary school to a subdued Dumbledore, an unpleasant event occurred.

A huge patronus dog burst into the castle walls and, finding Harry, said sobbingly:

- 'Louise has been kidnapped, let's go home quickly. Details later.

In a second Harry's mind went through every possible version of events. He cursed himself for relaxing and spending too much time away from home. Potter shifted and raced towards the exit of the castle, towards the edge of the protective dome that would now withstand even years of magical siege. As soon as he crossed it, he immediately apparated to his own.

****

As he burst into the house, he saw the mess, with Dobby trying to clean up in the middle of it.

- What. There. Happened? - Harry was furious.

- Dobby the bad elf, Dobby is cleaning up after Master Sirius!

- Where is Sirius?

- In the lab, Master Harry! Preparing some kind of potion.

The houseboy was ready to punish himself and prepared to wring his hands.

- Don't you dare punish yourself, Dobby!

Harry ran down the stairs to the cellar.

- Godfather, what happened? Can you explain?

Sirius, tied up in a camouflage bandana, didn't take his eyes off the cauldron and began to tell:

- I let Louise go shopping. It had been quiet for the last few weeks and I decided to leave her unaccompanied! I wanted to buy myself some robes. For different occasions. Just outside the defence, she was surrounded by the uppity Dementors and vampires. She fainted, they picked her up and disappeared! The bastards! I didn't even get through the Dementors in time. Patronus sent you, trashed the living room, and then I saw this.

He held out a piece of parchment. On it was written in calligraphic, snake-like letters:

"Harry Potter! Wait for you at Little Hengleton Cemetery at midnight sharp. If you show up alone, I promise you, the girl will live. You have six hours. Lord Voldemort."

- What are we going to do? - Harry, circling around the lab, almost tearing out wisps of his hair, was raring to ambush him.

Sirius looked guiltily at his godson and shrugged tiredly:

- I found some Muggle recipes while I was travelling. Explosive concoctions. We have all the ingredients, the base is already cooked. We need to add porcupine needles, but that's right before we toss the vials. We'll add dragon's breath to these. By the way, go to them, calm them down and choose which one of them to go with us.

Harry did just that - he went to the dragons. Talking to them, he found out that the ambush was recent: Louise had been waiting there for about two days, and not just the uppivans, but the Shadow-Sliders as well. Dragons are too slow, and Potter was so engrossed in school that he wasn't interested in what was going on at home. Oh, and the dragons couldn't report the ambush to anyone but Harry and Louise. There was no time.

Ingvarr had agreed to go to the cemetery. The fierce lizard was black as night, which made camouflage much easier. Kelly, Sif, and Yunshan volunteered as well. There was no point in taking more lizards with them, though in the end almost everyone was ready to fly now. Miss Stone was loved by all.

They decided to leave early, so that they could be ready on the spot by ten o'clock in the evening.