The next morning Harry awoke in a cold sweat. He had been having a nightmare, but not one of the kind which caused his scar to hurt. He had stopped having those when the Horcrux inside his head was destroyed. This was a normal nightmare, but that fact did not make it any more pleasant. In his mind he had replayed the events of the previous day a hundred times and each time he came to the sad realization that there was very little he could have done to save Moony. Perhaps if he had been better with his healing charms… but no, not even Hermione (who was the best of his group) could have done anything to heal Moony. He didn't blame Tonks either, and hoped she would not blame herself. She had been caught in a three against one fight against a team of Death Eaters, it would be foolish to expect almost anybody to come out on top in a fight like that.
As Harry pulled himself out of bed a sudden thought struck him: he had killed a man the day before. And unlike the incident with Professor Quirrel, Greyback's death couldn't be blamed on Voldemort. Harry did it on his by himself of his own free will. Harry paused to consider this new development. He didn't feel bad about what he had done nor did he feel any regret, and it was that feeling that disturbed him more than anything else. He had been told to expect subtle changes in his personality, was this evidence of that? Reluctantly he decided it probably was. His opinions on killing in battle had changed in the past few weeks. Trying to end the war with the least amount of casualties, whether enemy or ally, was a noble but unrealistic goal. People on both sides would continue to die, and his only real concern should be to make sure most of those were Death Eaters.
Harry walked down to the kitchen hoping to find breakfast waiting for him but saw instead that the Weasley's weren't in the house. Sirius, however, was sitting at the table with a cup of tea in one hand and the Daily Prophet in the other. From the expression on his face Harry knew he didn't like what he saw there.
"Morning, Harry." Sirius said, looking up from his paper. "Sleep ok?"
"Good enough." Harry answered as he sat down at the table. "So what's in the paper that's got you so angry?"
"Look for yourself." Sirius said, sliding the paper over to his godson. Harry picked it up and saw that the headline read "Harry Potter Brutally Kills Werewolf in Diagon Alley!" Below it was a picture of him apparently taken during the battle. Even Harry had to admit that the picture made him look fairly intimidating, something he didn't think he was capable of. The story itself was, of course, written by Rita Skeeter.
"Damn it." Harry swore when he began reading the article. Rita was really trying to make him look dangerous, completely ignoring the fact that they had been ambushed by a group of Death Eaters. "I think Rita Skeeter just outlived her usefulness."
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked curiously.
"It's time she stopped writing this trash." Harry replied. "And the Greengrasses and I have a way to do that."
"Good. Don't let her off easy, either." Sirius said. He paused for a moment and Harry could tell he was thinking about what he was going to say next. Harry thought he was going to ask how he was feeling after what had happened, but he apparently decided against whatever he had been thinking of and said "So the Order is having an emergency meeting tonight to discuss yesterday's attack."
"What is their response going to be?" Harry asked, wondering how the Order would handle the situation.
"Response? There won't be one." Sirius snorted. "Dumbledore will say a few nice things about Moony, warn everyone to be careful, and then go on as if nothing had happened."
"But that's ridiculous!" Harry said. "We ought to be doing something to weaken Voldemort and stop this from happening again."
"Like what? We don't know where the Death Eaters are hiding, and even if we did Dumbledore would oppose an attack."
"Fine, but what about the Dementors?" Harry asked. "They were there yesterday, which pretty much confirms that they've sided with Voldemort again. Maybe we don't know where the Death Eaters are, but we do know where the Dementors are. They'll probably leave Azkaban soon if they follow the same pattern as the last war, now is the time to strike. Who else can cast a Patronus powerful enough to kill one?"
"Moody can. Shacklebolt, too. I assume Dumbledore can. Other than you, that's it. I don't think I'll ever be able to, a side effect of all those years in Azkaban I suppose." Sirius answered. "But an assault on the Dementors at Azkaban? I don't know if it could work, Harry."
"Of course it can." Harry assured him. "It wouldn't even take that many of us. How many Dementors are at Azkaban?"
"Nobody is really sure. But if I had to guess I'd put it at somewhere between one hundred and one fifty, and that was back when I was still a prisoner. You've killed about ten already."
"Exactly. They aren't that tough once you figure out how to fight them." Harry replied excitedly as a plan began to form in his head. "We wouldn't even need that many people. Maybe a dozen Order members surrounding Azkaban making sure the Dementors can't escape, then the three or four of us who can kill them directing our Patronuses inside the prison. It could work, Sirius, and if it does it would take a powerful ally away from Voldemort."
"Maybe so…" Sirius answered thoughtfully. He had heard worse plans, after all. "The Ministry would be pissed at us and Dumbledore would never go for it, but it might work. I'll start asking around, quietly of course, but if Moody and Shacklebolt say no we'll have to call it off."
"Fair enough." Harry replied. "But remember, I want to be a part of this. I was the one who figured out how to kill them, I deserve that. And if we're in need of people who can cast a Patronus, Daphne and Hermione both can. I'll start working with Neville and I bet you he'll have it down in a week or less."
"I'll admit they did a good job yesterday, but do you really want to purposefully put them on the battlefield?"
"They deserve to choose for themselves whether to fight or not." Harry responded. Sirius shrugged as if he wasn't convinced but didn't say anything else about it. "I've got something else we could do today, if you aren't going to be too busy."
"I'm sure I could find a few free hours, what did you have in mind?"
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