Chapter 31 1/4: Swept Up, Pt 1

T -7 days

"Hey, Harry", Hermione said, looking up from her book, "do you have any more of those green, self-cleaning fizzy drinks? I'm really craving one for some reason."

Huh, Harry thought, that hasn't happened before. He called for a comed-tea from his pouch and handed it to her, wondering how exactly he was likely to surprise Hermione. She should've been expecting the conversation that was coming.

"You're not going to have one with me?", she asked. He had suddenly started feeling thirsty. This was probably not a good sign, but he still retrieved a second comed-tea. They popped the tops nearly simultaneously and began drinking.

"You're staring out into space, Harry. What's on your mind."

"The next battle for Quirrell's armies, actually. I think it's in both our interests for Chaos and Sunshine to join forces. Dragon Army has a big advantage."

"Hm", Hermione said thoughtfully, "Maybe. I'll have to discuss that with my captains."

Harry was surprised by this reaction, but not nearly comed-tea level surprised. "That means 'no' doesn't it? I thought you would jump at the chance actually. Sunshine is at a significant disadvantage for this battle, so the logical choice is for you to work with us."

"A few of your assumptions there are wrong. I assume you've figured out by now where the Sunshine Regiment plan for winning the first battle came from?" Hermione asked smugly.

"I'd guess that you read a book on tactics but I don't know which and I can't imagine a real war where that tactic would have been wise. Or anything other than suicidal."

"Not even close, Harry. It was actually Zabini's plan."

This time the comed-tea was satisfied. When Harry stopped coughing, he asked "you gave control of your army to Zabini? Why? I thought you wanted that position?"

"No, Harry. I'm the general. I just listen to the ideas and advice of my soldiers."

"You think I don't listen to my soldiers or let them have ideas? That's the opposite of what I'm about. I encourage them to be creative and think about what they should do all the time. And I'm pretty sure Professor Quirrell set this battle up deliberately as part of an ongoing effort to see what it takes to make the different armies work together. There's no way he didn't know his students' skills by the time he assigned people to armies."

They were both silent for a moment. Hermione took another drink and abruptly laughed, spraying Harry with comed-tea. "Oh! Sorry, Harry." she said immediately.

"You're forgiven if you tell me what exactly was so funny", he replied, wiping the already-disappearing liquid with his robe.

"It occurred to me", she began, "that if Sunshine needs to make an alliance, working with the Dragon Army for this battle would at least guarantee us a partial victory, or second place, or something. We don't know that Sunshine and Chaos can beat them even working together." Harry said nothing and Hermione couldn't read his expression; it wasn't dark and angry nor at all concerned or annoyed as she had expected, but merely blank. Controlled.

T -4 days

"Professor Quirrell has provided each army with 24 brooms", Draco addressed his lieutenants. "Apparently we'll be fighting an aerial battle."

Gregory smiled. "This is going to be so much fun. Easy, but fun."

"Not necessarily. Generals Chaos and Sunshine will know we have the most skilled fliers. They'll probably work together", Terry warned.

Vincent replied "Zabini said Potter offered an alliance but Granger was too proud to accept it."

Draco thought for a moment then said "That may be true, or it may be deliberate disinformation to make us overconfident. Or maybe Zabini just needs to insult Granger in front of the other Slytherins occasionally. Working for her army isn't a good way to gain political power in Slytherin."

"Do the Sunnies have a single decent flier?", Gregory asked. "You could probably take their whole group yourself, General. Potter shot me down once but he had several soldiers covering him. One-on-one, it shouldn't even be a challenge. If I have a few others to keep him distracted while I shoot down the rest of his army, I could probably take all of them down. This battle should be really easy even if they do work together."

"Don't underestimate Potter. Or Granger with Zabini's help. The more the odds are against them the less conventionally they'll fight."

"How many options do they even have?", Vincent asked. "They'll all be on broomsticks just like us. We'll all be in the air, so no one will be casting somnium or any new creative spells for safety reasons. That's Quirrell's rule: luminos only for targeting pilots and brooms. And they can't pretend to get shot either because a hit is obvious."

"I know Potter better than that. The fact that I can't think of any alternatives doesn't mean anything because he's more creative than I am. We'll have to send out scouts first to get an idea of what they'll be doing. If both armies start out moving toward us, it means they're planning a joint preemptive attack and if they're moving toward each other, it means they're planning to get into a joint defensive position. If they're not moving, they're probably not working together, but they won't be fighting each other first. And they'll probably be setting up preplanned defensive positions. And they won't be using straightforward tactics; they'll be setting any kind of trap they can think of while our scouts are still approaching." Draco paused momentarily and shuddered slightly, attempting to imagine what Harry might do.

Terry interrupted his thoughts, "I saw Chaos and Sunshine practicing earlier this week. I thought it was strange that they had so many brooms and were training with them so much, but now it makes sense."

"Did you see anything useful? What exactly were they practicing?"

"Sunshine appeared to be practicing flying and dodging. It looked like they had one or two brooms in the air at a time and everyone else spread out firing at them from multiple directions. The pilots were also practicing firing back at the soldiers on the ground. So just general combat flight skills, not really any noticeable tactics."

"I wonder... could she be planning to leave people on the ground during the battle?" Draco pondered.

"That would be dumb; they can't move or maneuver as fast. Maybe if they had a fortress of some kind, but not in the open", Gregory responded quickly.

"We're fighting over the forest, so they might have enough cover for it to work. Or maybe they're just so bad at combat flight that they're more accurate, slightly faster, and overall less useless on the ground than in the air. What about Chaos?"

"General Chaos mostly had his soldiers over the lake going through some kind of crazy training drill on brooms, with hard turns and loops and rolls and dives." Terry reported.

"They may have been practicing impressive-looking stuff just to mislead us into believing they're better than they really are. Potter would totally do that", Draco observed.

"I doubt it. I also saw a bit of combat practice", Terry continued, "but it was all just pathetic. General Chaos looks like he'll be a big challenge, but the others are more likely to fall off their brooms. In fact, most of them had fallen into the lake by the time I had to leave."

"Oh. I assume the combat came before the looping?" Terry nodded and Draco continued. "That makes sense. I wonder how good they can get with one week of practice. It's probably a misdirection so we'd expect them to fly and fight normally when they'll really do something weird."

"We usually send scouts, so they'll be expecting that." Draco began, "But we'll still need scouts to report back where their armies are going and what tactics they're using. Lieutenant Goyle, you'll scout the Sunshine side this time because you usually scout Chaos, and Potter probably has a plan for you by now. If enough people are shooting at you, they'll eventually get a lucky shot. I'll need to think of something else for Chaos."

Draco paused and thought for a moment. In combat, as in life, everyone is either a Slytherin or a Hufflepuff in the end. He could use the less skilled as pawns to determine what tricks and traps had been laid so the skilled soldiers could stay on the offensive and destroy the enemy. He nodded to himself; it was a good plan and a simple plan. All he had to do was figure out who was which and avoid calling anyone a pawn where they would hear about it. "Find out when everyone is available", he instructed. "We need to schedule some practice time."

T -6 days

Hermione sighed. Why did it have to be brooms? She gestured at a pile of brooms in the corner of the office, no, her office, and addressed the Sunshine Regiment: "Any ideas for a broomstick battle?"

"I hate to admit it, but I'm rubbish on a broom", Blaise answered.

"I think most of us are", Anthony added, "I think the defense professor wants the other teams to catch up on points. We've been doing surprisingly well."

Ron frowned.

"What's wrong, Ron? You can't possibly be worse on a broom than I am."

"I'm good on a broom. I'm bloody brilliant", Ron announced, a little too loudly. "And Malfoy is mine. Nobody get between him and me. It's just that these brooms are just such trash. An Airsweep 72, a version 4 Swift, a Lightbroom 105; those are all twenty years old. A Radio Flier? Have they even made those in the last 50 years?"

"Radio Flier? That sounds like it should be a remote controlled airplane or something, not a magic broom", Hermione commented. "The only way that could be a less appropriate name is if it were given to something with wheels."

"A Cumulus 500? I've never even heard of that brand", Ron continued, stepping away from the pile in disgust. "Is it too much to ask for a Nimbus? Or a Firebolt or a Comet? They're almost as good. Even the Cleansweeps we use for class are better th-"

"Really, you've never heard of a Cumulus?" Ernie interrupted. "They're made by the same company as Nimbus; that's just their racing series. The Cirrus is their low cost, general purpose broom for people traveling outside the floo system. The Stratus is their multi-person broom series, and the Cumulus is their heavy-lift industrial series. The Cumulus 500 lifts 500kg."

Daphne smirked, "hey, Ron, here's a Nimbus."

Ron's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Oh, that's perfect. I want that one."

"It's still twenty years old", Daphne responded, rolling her eyes.

"Don't you know what that is?" Ron asked excitedly. "That's a Nimbus 300! That's the broom that made the Nimbus name. It put Redline, Lightbroom, and Swift out of business, and Airsweep never recovered. It's easily the fastest broom in that bunch." A sad look came over his face and he slowly added, "Hermione, it's the best broom; as general, you should take it."

"That'd be a waste; if I rode any broom at full speed, I'd probably die. Anyway, why exactly is the fastest broom the best broom? We're not playing quidditch here... Anyway, the first question to consider is whether we should ally with Chaos Legion on this battle. Harry offered earlier, and while I'd personally prefer not to, we should discuss it. Harry seemed to think it was important, but are the Dragons really that good (or are we really all that bad)?"

"Ron's not the only one here who can fly; I'm pretty good too", Susan answered. "And don't worry, I'll help you."

"That's not really where I was going with that", Hermione said, "Apparently we don't have as many good fliers as the other armies. Are there any strategies or tactics that we can use to win anyway, or do we have to work with Chaos? And anyone hanging around to protect me is just going to be slowed down and more vulnerable. We need the opposite of that."

"An alliance may sound like a good idea at first, because the Dragon Army has a big advantage on brooms", Blaise began, thoughtfully, "but I don't see how it's likely to benefit us in the end. Either the Dragons can defeat all of us together, in which case, it wouldn't matter, or it will hand victory to Chaos by helping them beat the Dragons before they finish us off." Blaise's eyes lit up. "Ooh, I know the opposite of people protecting you: we use you as bait."

The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in the group looked appalled. "Bloody Slytherins", Ron muttered.

The meeting continued for a short time longer before they had agreed on their strategy and tactics.

"I'd love to see the look on Draco's face", Blaise concluded.

"Okay. Sounds like a plan", Hermione concluded. "We should schedule some extra practice time for this one; Show of hands, who can make it Saturday? Okay, let's meet Saturday after breakfast."

T -6 days

Harry gathered the Chaos Legion members near Hogwarts Lake for practice. "We're all getting broomsticks for the next battle", he began, gesturing at a nearby stack of brooms. "Apparently the mental illness wizards refer to as 'quidditch' requires many of the skills needed in aerial dueling and apparently Professor Quirrell assigned a disproportionate number of quidditch fanatics to Dragon Army. And for whatever reason, Sunshine has a lot of soldiers who are scared of heights or bad at flying for whatever reason."

"Um, General?" Tracey also waved to make sure she had his attention. "Everyone who's really into quidditch volunteered to join Draco's team because they thought you or General Granger might schedule meetings or practices to make them miss quidditch matches or something."

"Oh. That makes sense. It's not like I've looked at that schedule or anything, so... Wait, Ron's in Sunshine; are there people more obsessed with quidditch than him?"

"Ron's obsessed with two things", Lavender answered, "loving quidditch and hating Malfoy. And no one in Gryffindor wants to be seen backing down from a fight, so he had to join an army. It was really funny watching him try to decide what to do."

"Huh. Okay. Anyway, we need a strategy that can defeat Captain Goyle and General Malfoy, and then finish off whatever's left of Sunshine Regiment. Our goal for today is to explore effective methods of fighting broomstick-to-broomstick using luminos. For a first step, I want to get a feel for what aerial combat is like and what the other first years are likely to do. So we're going to do some one-on-one practice. Any volunteers to go first?"

Lavender jumped up waiving her arm. Harry gestured toward the pile of brooms while rising into the air on his own. A moment later Lavender was airborne as well. "Let's stay over the lake" , he called, "And everyone else, wands out to catch anyone who falls. Whenever you're ready". Harry kept his wand in his pocket; at the moment he was only planning to observe and dodge. Lavender pointed her broom toward him and accelerated, then lifted her wand arm and began firing bursts of red light. Harry slowly moved perpendicular to her flight path, making small corrections up and down when one of her shots threatened to get close. Even when she passed the place where Harry had started out, they were at a distance that made dodging largely unnecessary. At that point, she put her wand hand back on the broom and spun around to face Harry, then brought up her wand and resumed firing while he continued to move away.

This stalemate continued for a few minutes. "How can firing hexes from a broomstick be this boring and frustrating?", Lavender asked herself, "This should have been awesome." Then she saw Harry draw his wand and produce three red lights, one headed directly at her, and two aimed different distances in front of her. "Okay, less boring", she thought as she dove under the lights. She glanced back to see him flying almost directly at her, firing another set. She dodged up and right, not having a chance to fire a counter-attack, thinking, "Crap, what happened to boring? Why did I volunteer to go first? Crap, that sounded way too Hufflepuff." She leveled out and glanced over again, seeing three horizontally-spaced shots, much closer this time, preventing her from going left or right. She dove below them, directly into the path of a fourth shot she hadn't seen. She then descended and headed back to the group. Harry landed at the same time.

"Okay, who saw something noteworthy?" Harry asked.

"You're pretty awesome at this", Lavender announced, "that's noteworthy, right?"

"You didn't have to do any dodging", Neville added, "you could just stay out of range until you were ready to attack."

"Yes. Do you know why?", Harry asked. Neville just shook his head.

"She was only flying in straight lines. Slowly." Theodore answered.

"Yeah, very amateur flying", Tracey added, smirking at Lavender.

Lavender stepped forward and opened her mouth to respond, but Harry interrupted, "So you two think you can do better?" They nodded. Harry gestured upward, "Go for it. Get some altitude and some distance from each other, and I'll throw red sparks as the signal to start. Stay over the lake, and try to stay close to the group so we can catch you if necessary."

They nodded and took off. Harry shot red sparks from his wand and the opponents accelerated toward each other, flying much faster than Lavender had. They raised their wands and began firing, missing widely, as Tracey's broom went into a dive and Theodore's broom rolled upside down leaving him hanging on with both hands and crossed ankles.

"Now who's the amateur!" Lavender yelled.

"Feel better now?" Seamus drawled.

"Yeah, actually. That made my first try look really good."

"I wish Harry would hurry up and tell us his secret. He's making everyone look bad in comparison." Dean added.

"He's not going to tell us. He's going to keep asking annoying questions until we guess, like he always does. You hadn't figured that out yet?" Lavender responded.

While Tracey and Theodore recovered and moved back to the group, Harry turned around, smiling. "So what's the next question, Lavender?"

"You're asking questions about questions now? That's just not fair."

"I know the question", Tracey yelled. "We were deliberately trying to fly faster than she was while we were dueling. And we lost control of our brooms. Did the higher speed cause the loss of control?"

"That's a relevant question. What's the answer?"

"We have to do an experiment. We try the same thing except slower."

Harry smiled, "Good answer. Go ahead."

Tracey and Theodore again flew directly toward one another, but at a lower speed. A moment later they returned to the group, both thoroughly painted with glowing red spots.

"So what's the question now?" Harry asked.

"No question, I just need some practice to figure out how to speed up and slow down without diving or climbing and how to turn without rolling over with only one hand on the broom." Tracey answered. Theodore nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled. "Exactly. We're all going to practice one-handed flying." Harry cast luminos at two trees on the far side of the lake. "Line up, and one at a time I want you to fly toward the tree on the left until you get to the center of the lake, doing the steepest climb and steepest dive you can manage, then make a hard right turn, and fly along the center of lake until you're even with the other tree while doing a roll. There, I want you to pitch up, so you're flying vertically, roll right until you're looking back here, then pitch down and fly back to shore, while doing a loop. It's okay if you can't do all the maneuvers, or any of the maneuvers, on your first try. The point is to build up to it, to get comfortable with as much speed and maneuverability as possible."

About 20 minutes and 18 wet students later, Harry was ready to try a new plan. "Okay, some of you are doing pretty well at this. You can practice fighting over there. The rest of us are going to try some other things... come over here for a minute so I can demonstrate..."

Ten minutes later, the others joined in the running mock battle, which spread to cover most of the lake. Those joining the battle had a few disadvantages, but overall, putting an air force together had been simpler than it could have been. Harry was briefly relieved that they didn't have to figure out how to get an airplane to fire a machine gun through its own propeller reliably or anything crazy like that for this battle.

Before the next practice session, Harry spent some time reading about wizard flying battle tactics, for which there were few references. Apparently, brooms were often used to transport troops or for surveillance and reconnaissance, but were rarely used for direct combat. Any country could hire a powerful enough wizard to create a nearly perfect anti-aircraft defense using anti-flying wards which allowed exceptions for allies, therefore the idea of air superiority fighters or airborne ground-attack vehicles had never evolved in the wizarding world. And Professor Quirrell had explicitly banned anti-flying jinxes. Harry smiled; Draco wouldn't know what hit him.