Bang Bang
"Your candidate did well in the first trial." Merlin told Eggsy. "He's a skinny lad but he spent less time breakin' the mirror than you did." And if he spent a few more seconds than he should admiring the lithe form, well, he won't be mentioning that to anyone.
Eggsy rolled his eyes at the teasing. "Your candidates did a good job too. Titus seems like an alright bloke. If a bit rough 'round the edges." Now it was Merlin's turn to huff, "Like you're one to talk... bruv."
Since their time spent working together after Harry's unfortunate 'death' they've developed a strong bond and consider each other as friends. Although it did took quite awhile for Eggsy to shake off the intimidating aura Merlin naturally has to relax enough in his presence.
"Can you please not gossip like a bunch of old biddies in my office?" Another voice chimed in. They both turned to Harry looking rather miffed behind his desk.
"I'm rather busy with work."
"You ain't workin' when we came in luv." Eggsy said as he stood up from his seat and approached Harry. Laying his hands on Harry's broad shoulders he gave them a small squeeze before starting a massage.
"Merlin, I need a moment alone to speak with Harry."
"You dinnae have to tell me twice." Merlin was already at the door when Eggsy started the massage.
Merlin was quick to leave before he gets the chance of hearing any moaning. Letting out a small resigned sigh at the two agents, he then checked his clipboard. The puppies are ready and the next test is about to start.
"Merlin, is Arthur in?" Roxy asks, appearing on his right.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you lass." He replied.
"He's alone with Eggsy isn't he?" Roxy asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes."
"Well I'll be back in an hour or two for my debriefing. How's my candidate doing?" Roxy conversed as they slowly started walking along the hallway.
"David is doing rather well. If nothin' unfortunate occurs I imagine he'd be in the top three."
Roxy's face shone with pride and elation at the news that her candidate is performing well. "That's good to hear, how about Eggsy's candidate?"
"Harry has the potential to be a part of the top three as well." She gives a nod at that, "I knew it, I had a feeling Eggsy would have a good eye in choosing candidates. Should he succeed however, we'll have to figure a way around that name, else we'll have two Harry's to contend with."
Roxy soon bids him farewell and takes a different route, most likely to get room to rest. Merlin continues on ambling through the mansion and as he's walking he ponders over Eggsy's candidate.
There's something about him, every time Merlin's gaze crosses with Harry, he starts feeling something different with the air... it was almost electric, a supercharged feeling. It was a most unusual phenomenon.
Merlin will have to keep a close eye on that young man.
"Bombarda!" She heard the shout behind her and she quickly ducked around a corner. The spell hit the wall and it exploded outwards in dust and debris.
'Goddammit!' Hermione cursed. The ministry has somehow been breached and a majority of the aurors are busy fighting the bulk of the Deatheaters. Some managed to slip through and wreak havoc along the corridors of the ministry.
She rummaged through her bottomless purse and found some peruvian instant darkness powder. Sending a quick thank you to Fred and George for the little prank gadgets, she threw one ball around the corner at the rapidly approaching Deatheaters.
Hermione counted to three as the ball exploded and shouts suddenly echoed in the hallway.
"Reducto!" She aimed a spell at one of the Deatheaters. It cut through his clothes and sliced through his wand arm. The man screamed in pain while Hermione continued on shooting curses on the group.
As the last of them fell down she cautiously approached them and did a quick 'expelliarmas' and 'accio' to collect their wands. Stuffing it into her purse for identification later, she then did a full body-bind along with tying them up in conjured rope for good measure.
After making sure they won't be getting away Hermione continued moving along the corridors. A few minutes later a familiar terrier patronus flew through the hallway and stopped in front of her. It opened it's mouth and she could recognize Ron's voice go through.
"The Deatheaters have retreated and the ministry has sustained considerable damage. Casualties have not been announced but most of the Order is safe and accounted for. You know what to do." The patronus dissipated into mist after saying its message.
Hermione palmed the enchanted coin in her pocket. She had modified her existing coin into a master coin a few years ago when Harry disappeared. She activated the spell to alerting the other members of the DA, and waited for the response.
The fake galleon slowly started warming up and she checked the numbers along the coin, there's forty responses. Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief, everybody in the DA is safe.
After a few seconds spent thinking Hermione set the date and time for their next DA meeting, she has plans to discuss the recent attack on the ministry.
Hermione had taken leadership of the DA after Harry left, it was hard and it was almost disbanded but with the help of the others, she managed to hold on somehow.
When Harry didn't appear in Hogwarts five years ago, the students were having mixed feelings about it. Some said good riddance while others fell into despair.
Especially due to the fact that Voldemort had appeared in the ministry of magic near the end of the school year. Many people saw him dueling with Dumbledore and the Fudge knew there was no way the ministry can conceal the truth. Voldemort is back.
The students who called Harry a liar and fame-hungry were instantly guilt-ridden for days after the revelation. However, and much to the DA's disgust, they rallied again and started calling Harry a coward for walking away when he didn't show up for their sixth year.
The bunch of hypocrites had started demanding the absent Boy-Who-Lived to do his duty and defeat Voldemort, just like he had when he was a baby.
That wasn't the last of it, it only got worse when Rita Skeeter printed more and more slanderous news about Harry. It happened almost everyday until soon the people slowly started believing that he betrayed them.
People love having scapegoats, someone they can point to and blame for their faults. In all these years, they haven't learned a thing.
Hermione still can't believe some students had the gall to say that the 'Boy-Who-Left' had abandoned them to deal with the Voldemort problem. Every time someone said so in her presence she would give a scathing reply of. 'Why should he and why can't you?'
And when Dumbledore discovered that Harry had disappeared, he started searching for him frantically. He doubled the protection in Hogwarts and in doing so, managed to catch Draco Malfoy before he could do any damage with the vanishing cabinets.
Hermione still mostly blamed Dumbledore for Harry's disappearance. But she knows she holds a part of the blame herself for not contacting Harry that summer. She was the first one to be alerted when Hedwig came through the window. Hedwig was angry and tried pecking anyone she could find for daring to hurt her master, and for abandoning him in his time of need.
It was due to Hedwig's presence and anger at everyone around her, most especially with her and Ron, that Hermione got the sunken feeling that Harry's disappearance was purely voluntary.
Voldemort is still at large and there is an ongoing war between his forces and the ministry. The only reason why they knew that Harry wasn't abducted by Voldemort was due to the fact that he is also searching for Harry.
The two sides are all frantically searching for any hints of The-Boy-Who-Lived, almost as if whoever caught him first would be the winner of the war.
Fortunately, through it a Hogwarts is still open, and is still accepting and protecting students from harm. Most especially the half-bloods and muggleborns.
Hermione just doesn't know how long they can hold out before Voldemort takes over.
"As some of you would have learned last night. Teamwork, is paramount here in Kingsman. We're here to enhance your skills, test you to the limits. Which is why, you're gonna pick a puppy." Harry's eyes flicker from Merlin to the cages in front of him. He slowly sends out tendrils of his magic, circling the puppies cautiously.
"Wherever you go, your dog goes. You will care for it, you will teach it, and by the time it's fully trained, so will you be. Those of you who are still here, that is."
Most of the puppies whine and cry at the presence of his magic and so he retreated from their cages, while some were curious and interested. One in particular was very excited by it's presence, Harry lets his magic pet the puppy softly and it crooned with delight.
"Do you understand?" Merlin looks them over for a second. "Choose your puppy."
Harry already knows which puppy he'll pick and immediately approached it. The puppy barked and lolls it's tongue at him, with his tail wagging in delight.
Harry opens the cage and carefully picks it up. Checking quickly he discovers it is a boy, and the puppy laps at his face when he got near enough. Chuckling, Harry attaches the leash and collar then goes back to position with him in tow.
"A dachshund?" David asks from beside him.
"Yeah." Harry replies and looks over David's pick. "A bulldog?"
"I have one at home." David shrugs.
"Attention." They both turn to the front.
"You will have this afternoon to bond with your dog, meet here again at sixteen hundred hours. Fall out."
They dispersed and Harry turned to his puppy and found his canine equally staring back at him. They did a small staring contest before the puppy whined and tried climbing his leg. Harry chuckled at the act and bent down to carry it.
"I better find you a good name shouldn't I?
"He named his dog 'Sausage'? Eggsy crowed with laughter. "That's brill!"
"Eggsy, focus on the task at hand." Merlin reprimanded him. "You're looking for a tall man, caucasian, and has a tattoo on his neck."
"I am, I just think it's hilarious."
"And how is Eggsy's candidate doing on his tests?" Arthur asked while sitting on the head table eating dinner.
"He's doing well. High grades in his tests, especially in technology and hacking, better even, than some of my handlers."
"Careful Eggsy, I think Merlin is going to take your candidate."
"Oi!"
"Aye, there is a large chance that he has an eidetic memory. Eggsy, a hundred meters to your left, we've found our target, fire when ready." Merlin certainly would steal Eggsy's candidate for himself, the boy's a genius with computers.
"Target has been shot." Eggsy said.
"Good job." Arthur murmured through the glasses and Eggsy beamed at the praise.
"What do I get as a reward." Eggsy teased.
"Come home and you'll find out."
Merlin's sound of disgust echoed through the comms. "I'm still here ye horny bastards. Eggsy, send a report immediately and expect a debrief once you've returned from Spain." Eggsy's whining could be heard.
"Oh an' Eggsy, did ye know your candidate calls ye Gary?"
"Wot?" Merlin could almost imagine his face. He hates being called Gary.
Merlin disconnects the comm link before Eggsy could say more and readies the next part of the candidate's training. Fighting and martial arts. Most already know how to fight but they certainly don't fight with finesse and style like a Kingsman agent just yet.
A month goes by before they finally lose two candidates. Albert and Amelia weren't able to pass the language test and was consequently sacked. Harry didn't find it hard, the test was to pick a language they've never used before and learn as much as possible in three days.
Merlin was skeptical when he learned Russian and was able to write and converse with it freely in just three days. But to be fair, his accent was very off but he managed enough and was able to hold a lengthy conversation.
Merlin did a follow up test on just him alone with a different language, Mandarin, and it had the same results. Merlin then labelled him as someone who has an eidetic memory.
Harry didn't correct him, as that was the closest explanation for occlumency as he could get. He filed the Russian language in his mind under the folder titled 'Languages', he can open it anytime and use it. His tongue however, isn't as swift to pick up and he still has a hard time pronouncing most of the words. He plans to learn French and German next time once he gets his Russian accent down pat.
Sausage has been a great companion, was always the friendliest dog in the room and has done little work to get everyone enthralled under his tiny whims. Even that prick Stourton likes Sausage.
Harry tries to suppress a chuckle at that sentence.
So far in training, Harry feels like he's doing quite well. Sure there has been some mishaps when the pricks tried to bully him around. Given that he was the youngest and smallest candidate, they thought he would be easy pickings. But he remained unimpressed with their efforts and continued to perform well despite his age and stature, and they finally stopped pestering him.
The older candidates still don't take him seriously, despite his performance he could tell they're just waiting for him to pack his bags and go home.
"I'm impressed you're still here."
"Why?" Harry asked, looking through his binoculars.
"You're young, and out of all the candidates, you're the only one without military training." Titus explained from beside him.
"I'm still here aren't I?" Harry spots movement and immediately aims his binoculars on the spot.
"Which is what makes you impressive."
Harry grunts in response. "Pull the other one. Target acquired, three o'clock. Seven hundred meters."
"Roger, target identified. No, it's true. I'm impressed kid. I don't know if you'll make it to the end but you have as much chance as the rest of us."
BANG
"Target has been shot. Two more to go." Titus slowly stood from his position. His gun had a silencer but it doesn't eliminate the sound completely.
"I'll beat you old man, just you wait."
"Ouch, that's harsh."
"Yeah well, you're the oldest candidate and I'm the youngest. So to me, you're practically a fossil." Harry did a quick and silent 'homenum revelio' to sense the presence of the last two targets.
Harry tensed up at the results, the two targets are close. Too close. Titus must have noticed him and immediately scanned the area.
"What is it?"
"I think heard something snap nearby. Let's head for cover. Now." Harry dives for Titus and they both fall down to the forest floor with matching grunts.
BANG
A shot rang out behind them and they both quickly took cover. They both shared a look and Harry casted another 'homenum revelio' to find their location. He crouched down and acted like he was taking a peek of their positions while he thought of a plan. Harry then signed his idea to Titus along with the location of the targets and he nodded in response.
His plan was simple, they split up and dive in different opposite directions to confuse the targets then find a safe position to shoot. The targets aren't close enough to pinpoint their position once they move and that will be their opportunity to attack.
Harry counted to three with one hand visible to Titus while holding his gun at ready on his other hand. When it reached one they both dived for the nearest tree with bushes for cover. He heard another shot rang out but it missed.
Harry quickly refreshed the spell for precision then aimed.
BANG
After pulling the trigger he immediately heard a loud shout and a curse. 'One down.' He thought and aims his binoculars towards the remaining target, if Titus performed the plan he should have shot the other target right about...
BANG
Now.
Harry saw the other target get hit by the shot and fell down from the impact. 'Targets are down.'
"Well done. Now get back to the mansion for a debrief and the results of your performance." Merlin's voice sounded through the comm link and Harry tries to tamp down the urge to shudder when he hears the deep voice in his ear.
He slowly stands up and walk towards the last target. "You okay David?"
"I'm fine, just got the wind knocked out of me." Harry holds out a hand, David takes it and pulls himself up.
"Were you the one who shot me?"
"I did." Titus says as he approaches with Stourton limping closely behind.
"You fucking shot me on the dick!" Stourton looked enraged.
"I didn't mean it, I was behind some bushes when I shot in your direction."
"You did it on purpose! You little prick!" Stourton tried to charge towards Harry when Titus grabbed him from behind.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said while holding the enraged man.
"It was just an accident. Calm down Stourton, Harry didn't mean it." David said while raising his hands.
"Like hell he didn't mean it!"
"... Or you can attack Harry now and get kicked off for assaulting a fellow candidate, your choice." David added while crossing his arms.
Stourton shrugs Titus off him and points a finger at Harry. "I'll get even with you, you better watch your back." Then he whirls around and stomps off.
To be honest, it would have looked more threatening if he wasn't limping back to the mansion.
David claps a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Merlin won't let anything happen."
Harry just hums in response and starts walking back to the mansion. Pricks like Stourton always find a way, seems like he'll just have to keep an extra eye out.