Time inevitably moved forward.
Classes were going well. The war was in a lull as Tom went out of the country. The ministry was preparing all important locations in the British magical world and even important Muggle targets such as the Prime Minister or Royal family. Preparations at Hogwarts were well underway as well.
Most current issues lay outside of Britain.
Tom was recruiting. Mainly in Eastern Europe and Russia, something which worried governments, but only after they were made aware of the similar pattern Tom was using as there were still a good number who still remembered Grindelwald very well. Until Dumbledore made his speech at the ICW, those bloody cunts were all happy to let Tommy boy take all the scum from their countries while leaving Britain to the sharks.
Dumbledore's time within the ICW did result in many foreign entities carefully eyeing our situation, but with mother in charge and Tom almost completely on the run and near desperate, it satisfied most countries enough to let us handle things while securing their own nations. Eastern European countries were very enthusiastic about their own tenuous and only recently obtained stability after the emergence of Fortress, resulting in heavy policing against Tom and his potential allies.
Europe as a whole had taken a stance, but there were still many who held similar ideals as the near-soulless fool. Those were the ones who could finance or arm Tom for his last stand, even if he was unaware it would be one.
The problems lay more in a rather reclusive Russian Ministry and the possibilities for Tom laying in other continents or the Middle East.
After the Russian Revolution, the rise of Communism and WW2, the majority of surviving magical families grew incredibly distrustful and hated the non-magical world for the severe prosecution they had endured in those days, then when they rose up and failed while many supported Grindelwald in his efforts to ensure Wizarding supremacy over non-magicals, only to suffer again in the aftermath, they were many nursing old hatred.
Magicals had a longer memory to go along with their longer lifespans, this extended to their grudges.
Some families might even side with Tom simply because of Dumbledore.
His victory over Grindelwald might still be seen as the true reason for their complete defeat, resulting in them blaming him for their suffering. This being part of the reason very few know of Grindelwald's survival and subsequent imprisonment, nobody wanting to risk the surviving supporters of magical supremacy freeing him to restart the campaign. So with Tom making the offer, he might truly gain some heavyweight support where we simply don't have any way to stop him.
Russia is still very isolated from the world.
In Africa he may receive some supporters due to the scattered nature of the African magical world. The looser views on 'dark magic' and consistent supply of deadly creatures being the most attractive for Tom, but neither were big threats at the moment.
Uagadou had sent out a notice regarding this matter and the premier magical school for the continent held significant influence there. It helped tremendously.
The Middle East was a bigger problem, mostly due to prevalent underworld markets, current rise in extreme religious views and the influence some of the truly wealthy magical families held. Tom could gain support from the poorer or oppressed magicals, but this would go against his M.O. he would target the rich and long established lines, but they would treat him as a backward savage in all likelihood.
Quite a few well established domestic families fought against the man and those who followed him were essentially slaves, those opulent Middle Eastern ones who've held their power since before the rise of Islam would never bow. Any act against them would also lead to severe backlash Tom simply could not afford.
There were even less chances of Tom finding true support in Asia unless he built some very strong connections while he disappeared to become Voldemort.
Never mind the East/West divide which is even more prominent in the magical due to the completely different magical philosophies, many old families still hold behavioral standards from the old court culture age. The idea of bowing to a total foreigner, offering their money and manpower alongside their families in return for essentially gaining a master/emperor would be met with outrage. Any who would bow would likely end up being erased for betraying everyone else and bringing incredible shame to any remotely related.
South America may hold some options for Tom, there are some more isolated magicals, but Castelobruxo was going to have none of that on their continent.
MACUSA was more determined than even the Bristish Ministry in regards to Tom. They would not even let him land on their side on the pond and ramped up their already rather impressive travel monitoring and response teams to stop the madman.
It was simply wonderful to see the vast majority of the world reject the poison Tom espoused. Gives one hope for the future, even if some of it is based on a different kind of mentality.
Cultural differences can be bridged, but hate is a corruptive poison to any society.
Only when Earth all comes together, magicals, non-magicals, all races and beings, will we truly be able to achieve the wonders I know we could.
A personal belief, one which only came with the understanding that it would simply not happen until humanity can control fundamental impulses and survival mechanisms, but a pleasant thought nonetheless.
It does make me laugh slightly at how much the biblical Tower of Babel could be used as an example of my belief.
The Tower may have never existed, but the principals behind the story were something which I hoped humanity could achieve again before we destroyed ourselves and the planet.
Regardless.
With the international community on alert, we continued our preparations.
The Ministry was secure.
Minimal means of entry without prior permission, something Tom no longer had or at least not nearly enough to harm the Ministry, with ready and alert Aurors and Hit-wizards/witches and defenses which were almost exaggerated.
It would be foolish to attack there, with the additional threat of exposing the magical world due to the Ministry's position in London should an open attack be carried. Tom would soon face the anger of the entire magical world should it come to it, something which would assure his fall as he has become near desperate while only facing the British Ministry.
Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were tempting targets, but new defense and warning wards were set in case of an attack, especially against Death Eaters and Dark Magic. All residents were given emergency portkeys, the Floo network was being very heavily monitored to allow for pre approved evacuations and a set of rapid response teams were on constant rotation with everyone in the DMLE aware of the possibility of emergency deployments.
While some thought this a bit extreme, the majority were rather pleased with mother's actions to secure the safety of every witch and wizard while being ready to end this 'war' once and for all.
The real prize was undoubtedly Hogwarts in the minds of all the current leaders of the fight against Tom.
Large, open area from which to mount an assault. 'Known' defenses, terrain and defenders due to Tom's rather intimate knowledge of the castle. Large number of only partially trained young witches and wizards with quite a few related to important individuals, the niece and nephew of the Minister and 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' being the foremost.
The number of relatively intelligent dark creatures in the Forbidden Forest were certainly an appealing bonus to any Dark Lord as well, as such they would be purged.
It was a long time coming and the Headmaster was rather… optimistic to have let the problem develop to such a state that the Forest could no longer even be used to properly teach students how to care for our world's creatures. According to old history books I had found in the Room of Requirement, that was one of the two major ideals behind the Forest back in the day, alongside it being a preserve to protect one of the few remaining magical forests in Britain as a habitat for magical creatures.
Hagrid would be devastated, but the big guy would need to understand that regardless of how 'harmless' he thought all those creatures were, especially the Acromantula, it needed to be done.
The next headache would be the centaurs. They were rather mule headed and believed the forest to be theirs. It simply wasn't. There was a contract to allow them to settle here when the open spaces dwindled in exchange for becoming keepers of the forest and for helping any child lost within and the likes. They did not have any true right to stop anyone, especially those of Hogwarts, from going anywhere.
Sure wizards treat them like beasts, something which would be fixed once the war was over, even faster if they decided to at least help in ending Tom's followers and the clearing of the forest, but they did not have any legal rights to the land or forest.
This was simply a case of people living in a place for so long and doing a type of job through generations that they shifted from 'being allowed to live here in exchange for a service' to 'this is our land and has been for generations and it is our duty to protect the forest from anyone other than us.'
A surprisingly human shift. They usually avoid such by living their lives according to the stars, but nothing can stop the biological desire to see one's 'home' to be 'mine'.
For now, the most interesting event in our preparations happened a day after the winter holidays began.
There was an increase of students staying at the castle due to some fears regarding possible attacks, although it wasn't a large increase thanks to all the security measures in place for individual families, it was still obvious that many were still nervous about the current lull.
But it was at this time that the Headmaster decided to test the war defenses of Hogwarts Helena had informed me about. Apparently the old man hadn't actually known about the matter due to many pieces of information regarding the castle having been lost over the millenium. As such, he decided on a test over the holidays.
"Hello Headmaster." Helena calmly greeted the man with a nod as she made her way into his office at the agreed upon time.
There was a look of longing, bitter-sweetness and wistfulness in her eyes as she looked around.
"Hello my dear lady." The Headmaster politely replied.
"Thanks for coming to rectify this matter Helena. It should be of great help, especially if the elves maintained things like you said." I warmly said to my ghostly friend.
"I have already discussed the matter with the elves. And I am only doing as I should for the protection of Hogwarts." She answered with a silvery blush.
'Still weak to praise.' I briefly thought with some slight amusement.
"And we appreciate it nonetheless my lady." Dumbledore smoothly said with his usual disarming grandfather smile.
"This way." She quickly replied to end her embarrassment, leading us to a well made painting of Hogwarts at night, from the same angle one sees while undergoing their first crossing on the boats.
"A hidden passage? How fascinating to discover new things about one's place of work even after 50 years." Albus cheerfully said as he stroked his beard with a critical eye.
"And now, tickle the dragon." Helena directed as she pointed to the school emblem surrounded by a sleeping dragon at the bottom of the well carved frame.
"Wow… I love how they made the school motto a hint regarding the war defenses." I chuckled.
"Mother enjoyed her layered hints." Helena said with a wistful smile.
"Allow me." Dumbledore simply offered as he tickled the dragon.
In response, the dragon glared at being woken up, hiss, roared with a bit of fire, then the wall painting swung open to reveal a carved dragon head with iridescent eyes.
It was at least enchanted to be animated, if not sentient according to its movements and the way it seemed to judge us.
"Hath a foe risen forth anew Helena?" The dragon head questioned.
"Yes. Although not an immediate threat, the defenses have not been used for too long and needed to be verified before the coming battle." She solemnly answered.
"Thine woes are for naught. Every moment strengthens Hogwarts." The dragon proudly replied.
"Ah, but we need to understand if our own additions would interfere and if Hogwarts' defenses will hamper our efforts to keep the children safe." The Headmaster informed the head.
"Thou arth prudent." The dragon noted with a pleased nod. "Witness the might of Hogwarts!"
Its eyes glowed brightly as the entire castle seemed to shudder for a moment before things began changing.
I could feel the intense magic at work.
How the very walls began surging with power around us.
"I do believe we should go out to both reassure students and survey the defenses." I commented with almost a sigh in my voice due to how pleasant it felt for me to be surrounded by so much magic.
All of it seemingly at my finger tips.
"Headmaster, thy shalt need to stay. An exchange of words is needed betwixt us." The dragon head seriously spoke.
"Then I believe I shall leave the analysis of our newly rediscovered defensive capabilities to your capable hands Aedan." Dumbledore said with a nod.
"Understood." I answered as flashed outside.
High above Hogwarts, using my own flight capabilities to observe the changes.
From an initial overview, I could see a new set of walls surrounding the castle proper, each with ballistae and some catapults at evenly spaced points. The back entrance was completely sealed and the front now sported a very durable set of gates before the official entrance of the castle.
Ward wise the new wall erected an incredibly powerful set focusing exclusively of the castle proper. The standard wards still held and covered the entirety of the lands, but the defensive wards were focused solely on Hogwarts.
From what I could feel, no entry above or below ground was possible, but one could leave. I could attempt to overpower them for weeks and it would simply be pointless due to how powerful the wards were and the fact that it was very efficiently using the power of three lay lines Hogwarts was built on to support everything.
After an up close inspection, I saw how magic was weaved into every stone initially but evolved after centuries working as a whole in such a powerful construct. Now each part strengthened the whole and even if one managed to damage the wards, they would also need to break the wall in order to prevent the wards from being swiftly repaired.
It would be a very frustrating thing to attack.
The wall was almost sentient, or possibly controllable by the Headmaster or from an apparently aware Hogwarts, with an attacked section's magic being aided by unoccupied ones. A possible danger, but likely more for powerful attacks at the level only few are capable of. Most wouldn't even be able to properly chip the stone of these walls, especially between the deadly artillery and likely defenders manning the walls, raining spell fire down on invaders.
From what I could see… none of the defenses would affect the welcoming gifts, but they did mean we would require any forces which aimed to be helping the defense from the castle to already be in it if every means of entry, including the ones following the construction of Hogwarts, was blocked.
I could already feel that apparition wouldn't work, portkeys likely being the same, but the Floo Network might be a possibility and I do believe I could Phoenix flash within, even if I might need a little boost from Sol. Some things to test with Dumbledore.
A quick check of the secret passages I was aware of later, it was confirmed that they were all sealed except for the Whomping Willow, but that was likely due to it being outside of the castle itself. Additional traps would be needed there.
Overall, I believe this new defense system would save lives and stop any sort of damage Tom's forces could possibly do. And with no giants, werewolves, vampires, dementors and soon acromantulas to worry about, I do currently predict a much less destructive 'Battle of Hogwarts'.
'I should send out some people to make sure Tom doesn't recruit any foreign creatures or beings.' I briefly thought as the possibility of him bringing less human help did exist. 'I know some hyperborean clans live in Siberia and so do some yeti and frost giants, so fire related traps may need to be obtained in greater numbers.'
My musing was broken as I felt the wards and defenses retreat, allowing me entry.
I gave the Headmaster my report regarding the outer defenses while he informed me of the changes regarding Hogwarts itself when they were activated.
It would seem the Castle acts like the defensive wall as it channels the potent magical energies of the lay lines to protect itself. The windows and opening are protected by heavily enchanted shutters and wards. Doors and means of entry are either completely sealed or reinforced. The castle itself will shift to aid defenders to either avoid danger, reach parts quicker, or even so aid may reach those needing it. Special rooms in the dungeons were opened for younger students to hide in. The infirmary was expanded and wartime supplies became available. The standard golem soldiers were fully activated, being faster and tougher than the currently used method. And many other smaller powers were awarded to the Headmaster, with the most important being a power boost as long as he is defending the school and its students during an assault.
I did note the need to prepare many additional healers to be on site for the conflict. Madame Pomfrey will likely need more than herself, but we can always hope it won't be necessary.
Overall, it was going to be a nice aid to our preexisting plans and some slight shifts needed to be made in order to already have the people we would need inside the castle before the battle happens, but so far that was about it.
We need to run a few tests with all the ballistae and catapults, alongside the Floo and whatnot, but we would be ready.
My last thoughts for that day were:
'I wonder if I could get have James to make some special bolts and boulders? Maybe the Weasley Twins could make some creative ammunitions too.'