|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: pottervader Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesied Six Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 11 Words: 374,905
Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR. A/N: I deeply apologize for the long wait. I had a personal problem that left me depressed so much I lost the will to write for a while, in addition to a short period of writer’s block. I’m better now, though not completely normal. Don’t worry. I’ll finish this and I still want to write a sequel. This chapter was revised a couple of times in the last week. I hope you guys like it. As always, please review. I hope to pass 900 reviews with this one.
He had arrived at the outskirts of Hogsmeade with about fifty men and women, expecting only a couple dozen Death Eaters. Instead, they had run into almost a hundred Death Eaters occupying many of the shops and houses in the village and blocking the path to Hogwarts. Fortunately, Dumbledore had called in the Order to assist them, evening the odds. Even then, he had already lost almost half his original force over the last three hours of fighting. At least Tonks, Remus and Shacklebolt were still fighting. They were among his best duelists. He was glad that most of the Weasleys were here as well since they were no slouches themselves in dueling, even Molly, who had been a top duelist in her Hogwarts days. Still, he wished Frank and Alice were there as well, but he had decided they would be the best to leave in charge of the Aurors remaining in the Ministry building. Crouching down close to the ground, he peeked around the corner again. There were two Death Eaters across the road from him, watching for any sign of movement. Moving back before they saw him, he decided surprising them would be best. Concentrating, he turned into his dog Animagus form and ran around the corner. The spells fired at him passed harmlessly over him because of his smaller size. If he had been in human form, they would have blasted him apart. The Death Eaters stopped casting when they realized that their target was a dog. Sirius pretended to be terrified and sped around them. As soon as they couldn’t see him, he moved around to their rear. Once behind them, he transformed back to his human form and quickly hit one with the Full-Body Bind spell. The other turned around in surprise, giving Sirius enough time to Stun him. He then Stunned the other one and bound both. He moved over to them at a crouch, picked up their wands and broke them over his knee. Going behind a wall, he pulled out a piece of parchment and muttered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” An exact map of Hogsmeade appeared. Sirius grinned to himself. It was an idea of sheer genius to create a map of the Wizarding town in the same way as the Marauder’s Map: his idea. After having Aurors impersonated with the Polyjuice potion the last time Hogsmeade was attacked, it was decided that a way had to be found to accurately identify an impostor. It was a good side-effect that it also allowed them to know how many attackers there were and where they were. He looked over the dots identifying the different people in the village. He was interested in seeing the different colored lines travelling from one dot to another, indicating spells being cast. He grimaced as a green line travelled from a suspected Death Eater to a dot representing another Auror, causing that dot to disappear, which meant the Auror had been killed, most likely by the Killing Curse. He grinned as two separate red lines travelled from the dots of Remus and Tonks to hit the Death Eater, causing that dot to stop moving, probably because he was Stunned. He noticed a dot approaching Remus and Tonks from behind them and froze as he saw the name identifying the dot: Peter Pettigrew. Anger swelled inside him as he quickly deactivated the map and stowed it in a pocket. He transformed to his Animagus form and took off at a run, hoping he was in time to save his friend and cousin. ******* Harry leaped to the side, avoiding a giant’s fists that pounded into the spot he had been in. Ginny came up beside him and clasped hands with him. Then, gathering up as much power as they could, they yelled, “Reducto!” The two spells sped up to the giant towering over them, blasting a hole in its head. Harry held his breath as the giant stopped moving, then swayed on his feet before crashing to the ground. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the giant lay still. He could feel Ginny’s own elation through their bond. He paused for a moment to go over what had happened since the start of the attacks an hour before. The first attack had consisted of over forty Death Eaters attacking straight from the forest. The group on the front steps and some of the DC members at the windows managed to disable most of them and drive off the rest in twenty minutes. From a warning sent by Rose through Ron, Harry had managed to keep two students from getting hit by Killing Curses and knocked Professor Sprout down before she got hit by an Organ Shredding Curse. Then Voldemort had sent in the giants, trolls and werewolves who had sided with him. Ron warned Harry that Rose had seen most of the students on the front steps, with him, being killed by these magical monsters if they stayed. So, Harry had most of those students retreat back inside the castle with Professor Sprout and had the DC teams at the windows of the upper floors providing cover while the former group withdrew. Then he, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick remained behind to continue fighting. The three teachers combined efforts to bring down several of the trolls and werewolves, the latter in their feral forms in spite of it being broad daylight, probably from some kind of Dark Magic. With the clever use of spells against the otherwise magic-impervious creatures by the DC teams at the upper windows of the castle, two giants had been taken down quickly. With the one Harry and Ginny had killed, that made three of the behemoths eliminated. Looking around to check on other foes, he saw Hagrid and a giant smaller than the others working together to bring down a fourth. He’d have to ask his huge friend about that later. That left one more giant, two trolls and five werewolves to deal with. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle up. Throwing himself to the ground, he barely avoided being tackled by one of the werewolves. The creature flew over him and landed on the ground but quickly got to his feet, growling and flexing its front paws as it prepared to launch itself at Harry once more. Before the werewolf could attack Harry again, Ginny shouted, “Argentum fluxium!” A silver bolt flashed from her wand and hit the werewolf in the chest, causing a wide burn accompanied by the smell of burning flesh. Howling with pain, the werewolf collapsed to the ground and began writhing violently as his whole body started to burn. The spell Ginny had used was an old Roman spell — they had found the spell in one of the old books in the Potter Manor library — used to put down werewolves. It wasn’t known widely because of the great power it required to work, something only Ginny and Harry had. Harry and Ginny watched the werewolf for a couple of seconds as it was consumed before turning back to the battle. They saw the last two trolls being disabled by the DC members at the castle’s windows. Then they spotted the last giant standing beside one of the castle’s walls, smashing a tree trunk against it. They were alarmed to see cracks appear on the wall. Afraid that killing it there would cause it to crash into the wall and cause more damage to the castle or even collapse the wall, the bonded pair starting throwing Stunning spells at the giant to draw its attention away from the castle. They succeeded in forcing it away from the castle to come after them. As they ran from it, Hagrid and his friend intercepted the giant and started fighting it. Leaving his half-giant friend to deal with the monster, Harry and Ginny found that the remaining werewolves were running back into the forest, signaling an end to that part of the Death Eater assault. Glad for the respite, the bonded pair returned to the castle steps. Harry could feel his scar burning, a sure sign of Voldemort’s anger over another failed attack. On the steps, they saw that only Dumbledore and McGonagall were there. The two teachers greeted them and explained that Professor Flitwick had to go to the hospital wing with a broken arm after landing badly on it while dodging a troll’s club. Harry felt his mirror warm up again and drew it out. Ron’s face appeared on its face when he activated it. “Harry, Rose said that more Death Eaters are going to come out of the forest. If you guys stay there, they’ll cut you off from the castle and keep you busy until Voldemort gets there. You had better get out of there now.” “All right, Ron,” Harry said. “We’ll get back inside the castle. I’ll leave the mirror on but keep it in my pocket so you can warn us of any more attacks.” Harry and Ginny turned around and saw at least thirty Death Eaters come running out of the Forest. Ron was right. There was no way the four of them could hold them off, so they ran back into the castle. Dumbledore and McGonagall waved their wands to close the main doors and seal them up. Harry and Ginny ran up the main staircase to the third floor where Ti, Maggie, Hermione, Neville and several other DC members were positioned, already casting spells down at the attacking Dark forces through openings in lower parts of the tall floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows on that floor. From one of the windows, they could see several Death Eaters casting spells at the doors but without success. Harry fired a Cutting Curse that destroyed the wand of one of the evil wizards while Ginny used the same curse to cut off the wand hand of another Death Eater. “Sorry, love,” she told him mentally with a mental smirk, “I tried the same thing you did but I’m not as good in precision as you.” Harry grinned at her. “Well, nobody’s perfect but you’re as close as anyone can get to perfection, at least for me.” “You are so getting lucky when this is over, Harry,” she replied before resuming casting spells at the Death Eaters below. Harry’s mind shut down for a few seconds as it started to comprehend what Ginny said. A smile slowly spread over his face before he also resumed his spell casting, more eager than ever to end the battle. To do that, he needed to make sure the Death Eaters were unable to continue fighting so he stopped simply Stunning them and starting hitting them with more incapacitating spells. He had several DC members Summon the wands of the downed Death Eaters and break them, preventing those from getting back in the fight, even if revived or healed. After twenty minutes, most of the Death Eaters were down and out of the fight and a pile of broken wands lay at Harry’s feet. Ron’s voice suddenly came out from Harry’s pocket. “Harry! Have everyone get down, now! They’re going to break the windows!” Alarmed, Harry yelled, “Everyone, get down now!” A second after he shouted, a strong wave of magic exploded outside the windows, shattering them, and knocking most of the DC members down. Harry was only knocked to his knees by the glass and managed to throw up a massive shield to keep the DC members from getting cut badly by the thousands of shards of flying glass that blew into the school. “There are fifteen Death Eaters on brooms headed your way,” Ron said. A barrage of spells from outside hit Harry’s shield, almost breaking it. The Death Eaters on brooms, seen by Ron on the Marauder’s Map, then swept in through the window. By then, the defending students had recovered and began resisting this latest assault. Harry started casting spells at the nearest Death Eaters, downing two of them. A third who was obviously a woman managed to dodge out of the way though her mask slipped off, revealing her identity. It was Bellatrix Lestrange. “Not bad, Potter,” Bellatrix cackled. “Quite an improvement since the cemetery two years ago. Do you miss dear old Professor Mad-Eye?” Harry felt a rage he had seldom felt before course through his body. His awareness shrunk to focus only on Bellatrix as he began casting spells at her with frightening speed, using both his wand in his right hand and wandlessly with his left hand. Bellatrix’s eyes widened for a second before she started dodging the numerous spells thrown at her. She managed to evade most of them but got caught by a couple of Cutting Hexes on her cheek and forehead. She screamed in rage at the ruining of her beauty. Distracted, Harry managed to land a Bone-Breaking Curse on her right forearm, disarming her. Another one cast by Ginny broke her left leg. Bellatrix collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain. By then, all the other Death Eaters on the floor had been dispatched and bound. Harry bound up Bellatrix. He and Ginny were walking towards her when a powerful spell slammed into the floor in front of them, throwing them backwards to land dazed on the floor. “Whoa, Rose didn’t see that happen,” Ron’s voice again came out of Harry’s pocket. Harry was broken from his daze a second later by an intense pain from his scar. He got to his feet, fingering his wand, which he had managed to hang on to. He was dismayed to see Ginny ten feet away from him, still unconscious, with Voldemort himself standing just a couple of feet from her, just in front of the shattered windows. Several Death Eaters holding brooms were also gathered around him. “You stay away from her!” he screamed at Voldemort, shooting a Stunner at him. Voldemort deflected the spell and smiled. “Now, now, don’t be like that, Harry. You don’t want anything to happen to your bond mate, do you? Oh yes, I know all about the magical bond you have with this pretty one. It’s makes things so easy for me. I have no need to try and kill you. All I have to do is kill her and the shock of the breaking of the bond between you two will kill you eventually.” Voldemort’s wand hovered over Ginny’s unconscious form. Harry held his breath, mentally calling on her to wake up. He wondered if he could Summon her wandlessly or use the Bond to get between her and Voldemort. Then Voldemort raised his wand and spoke, “However, I won’t… if you surrender yourself to me.” ******* “Bloody hell!” Rose, still a bit groggy after coming out of her latest trance, looked up on hearing Ron’s curse, to see the brother of her best friend on his feet, the Marauder’s Map falling out of his lap to float to the floor. He was holding his communication mirror in a tight grip. “What is it, Ron?” Ti asked, looking back at him from his position in front of the Fat Lady’s Portrait. “V-Voldemort’s here, in the castle, on the third floor, with the last of his Death Eaters,” Ron said. “He was standing over my sister. I heard him, over Harry’s mirror, demanding Harry surrender in exchange for her life. I have to go help them.” Feeling the need for some action, Rose stood up. “Let’s go, then. I’m tired of being stuck here, looking into the future. I want to be making our future, by helping get rid of old Moldieshorts once and for all.” She was glad to have used her Seer powers to save the lives of several students and Professor Sprout, but it wasn’t enough for her. She also wanted to see how Neville was. “We’re going with you, then,” Ti and Maggie said together. Rose and Ron exchanged a look. They knew Neville didn’t want his sister fighting, which is why he stuck her on guard duty with them. But they knew she’d just follow them, even if Ti didn’t go with them. As for Ti, he had already fought the Death Eaters before. “Come on, then,” Ron said. “Just be careful, Maggie. I don’t want to have to face Neville if you get hurt.” “Yeah, yeah, I will,” Maggie said. Realizing Harry and her dad would not like it left lying on the floor, Rose picked up the Marauder’s Map from the floor. She just put it in her pocket without deactivating it. So she didn’t see the dot representing Harry suddenly appear in front of Voldemort and jump on the Dark Lord, pushing both of them out the nearest window. ******* James paced back and forth along the floor of his inner office. It was almost two hours since he had last called Harry and more than that since he had heard from Sirius. He was very worried. To top it all off, he wasn’t sure if it was safe in the Ministry. He felt his mirror warm up in his pocket and pulled it out. Activating it, he saw Frank Longbottom’s face on it. “James,” Frank said, “I think it’s clear here at the Ministry. We’ve gone through all the floors and haven’t come upon anymore Death Eaters.” “Any sign of Greyback?” James asked. Frank shook his head. “He seems to have disappeared. Maybe he Flooed or Apparated out to join wherever his master is at.” “I hope so,” James said. “Where are you now? What do we have left?” “I’m at the Atrium,” Frank said. “We lost at least three Aurors and about a dozen MLE officers. Should we go reinforce Sirius?” James sighed. “I’m not sure we can, with that few left. We can’t leave the Ministry unguarded.” A new but familiar voice came from the door of his inner office. “I think I can solve both problems, James.” James looked up and was surprised and glad to see Arthur Weasley in the frame of his door. “Arthur, is that really you?” James asked, raising his wand while he stood up. “It’s really my dad, Minister,” Percy spoke up as he appeared in the doorway. “I asked him a few questions only my real father would know before letting him in the office. I also checked to make sure he was Imperiused.” Reassured, James came forward to embrace his older friend and Deputy Minister. Then he said, “So, what solutions do you have to our situation?” Arthur grinned as he answered, “Well, James, it seems that my diplomatic efforts have paid off. I was informed of the attack just as I was finishing negotiations with the heads of the Auror offices of several continental Ministries. They overheard and now they’re sending a least a dozen Aurors from each office to help us.” James felt both relief and surprise over Arthur’s pronouncement. He knew he was now grinning like an idiot, but he didn’t care. It was the best news he could have received, other than that Hogwarts was safe again. Then he realized that Arthur was waiting for him to make some sort of comment. “That’s wonderful, Arthur. When can they get here? We need their help right now.” “The first contingents should be coming here by Portkey or Apparition in a few minutes,” Arthur replied. “I’d better inform Frank then,” James said. He hoped they arrived in time for them to get to Hogwarts before Harry had to fight Voldemort. He also hoped Sirius was all right. ******* Sirius ran as fast as he could in his Animagus form. He needed to get to his friends in time. He turned around a corner and saw a person he once considered a friend but was now one of his worst enemies. The man he now only called Wormtail was behind a tree. Several feet in front of him, taking cover behind a low wall were Remus and Tonks, too busy dueling with three other Death Eaters to notice the danger behind them. Wormtail started creeping forward, his hand hidden from Padfoot’s view, headed toward Remus. Though he was confused by Wormtail’s actions, Padfoot decided that he didn’t want the rat to get close to his friends. Before his former friend got within five feet of Remus, Padfoot jumped on top of him, which pushed the balding Death Eater to the ground. Padfoot heard a gurgle and noted that Wormtail had stopped moving. Making sure he was hidden from the view of other Death Eaters, Padfoot transformed back to Sirius, kneeling down on one knee. He turned Wormtail over, taking care to cover his former friend with his wand. Wormtail’s face had a look of surprise on it. His eyes were wide open but glazed in death. Puzzled as to why Wormtail was dead, since his pounce hadn’t been strong enough to break Wormtail’s neck, Sirius looked down and found a dagger thrust into his chest. Sirius pulled out the dagger and was disgusted to find that it was made of silver. Wormtail’s intent was now clear. He had planned on stabbing Remus with a weapon made to kill werewolves very painfully. Thankfully, Sirius had stopped him and the rat-faced man had finally paid the price for betraying his friends. Sirius searched Wormtail’s body and found an ornate sheath and Wormtail’s wand. Wiping the dagger clean of Wormtail’s blood on the dead man’s own robes, he sheathed it and stuck it into his belt. He then tucked Wormtail’s wand into a pocket of his Auror robes. By then, Remus and Tonks had spotted him and motioned him forwards. He stealthily approached their position and crouched down beside them. He explained what had happened with Wormtail. Tonks immediately embraced Sirius in a Molly Weasley-style hug, thanking him repeatedly for saving Remus. Sirius then turned to Remus to see his reaction. Remus looked grim and sad, probably finding the incident ironic. When the four of them were in school together, Sirius and James had tolerated Peter because they were amused by his sycophantic antics while Remus had genuinely tried to be a friend to Peter and even tutored him, which was probably the only reason Peter managed to finish school. It was too bad that Peter had decided to repay that kindness by trying to murder Remus in the most horrific way. “Well, forgot that traitor,” Tonks said. “We still have a battle to win here.” “Right you are, Tonks,” Sirius said. “Either of you know what’s happening at Hogwarts?” The couple shook their heads. “We’ve been seeing the flashes of spells from the area of the castle for the last hour,” Tonks said, “but no one has been able to head in that direction with the Death Eaters blocking us.” Sirius growled, feeling frustrated at their inability to help. ******* Harry knew he couldn’t trust Voldemort, but he couldn’t let him threaten Ginny. He did the only thing he could do; he concentrated on the Bond and willed it to get him to her as he began to run and transform to one of his Animagus forms. The next second, he was only a couple of feet from Voldemort in his tiger form, running at the Dark Lord. He saw Voldemort’s eyes widen in surprise before he slammed into Voldemort. The force of his pounce overbalanced the evil wizard and pushed them both out the window into open air. To his shock and surprise, as they fell through the air, he felt Voldemort transform into a more sinuous form. Harry pushed himself off the now serpentine Voldemort and landed on his feet virtually unharmed. Voldemort landed heavily near him but immediately raised his head. The Dark Lord was also an Animagus and his form was a twenty-foot-long anaconda. A smile broke on the face of the huge serpent. He hissed and Harry discovered he was speaking Parseltongue. “Surprised, Harry?” Voldemort-Anaconda asked. “I must admit I am surprised you managed to learn this skill.” Harry replied in Parseltongue as well, “Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises. Here’s one more.” He concentrated for a second and transformed into his dragon form, immediately attacking the anaconda. Voldemort was surprised for a few seconds, suffering several gouges from Harry’s claws before he too transformed into another serpentine form, a Basilisk, not unlike the one Harry had killed in the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny four years before. Containing his surprise, Harry simply resumed his attacks, all the while trying to avoid looking in the serpent’s eyes. He didn’t remember reading that dragons were immune to the Basilisk’s gaze attack and didn’t want to take a chance. After several minutes of fighting, Harry had managed to avoid gazing into its eyes and getting bitten. He had also managed to inflict several claw marks on the Basilisk’s body but was no closer to killing it. He was a bit distracted by wondering what was happening on the third floor where he had left Ginny and the rest of the DC and the remaining Death Eaters. Then he heard a whipping sound and felt a sudden rush of pain on his head which knocked him down and left him dizzy. When he looked up, Basilisk-Voldemort grinned and prepared to launch a biting attack at him. Harry realized that there was only one thing for him to do to stop this form of Voldemort. ******* When Ron, Ti, Rose and Maggie got to the third floor, they found that Harry and Voldemort had disappeared while Ginny, Hermione, Neville and the rest of the DC members on that floor were dueling with several Death Eaters. They sadly saw a few of their fellow students already on the floor, not moving. Not hesitating, they dived in to help their friends. Ti saw Hermione dueling a squat, lumpy Death Eater who was insulting her because of her blood status. Hermione didn’t let this distract her and handily dodged or deflected most of the evil man’s spells before Disarming and Body-Binding him in succession. Proud of his Muggleborn friend, Ti began hexing other Death Eaters, assisted by Maggie. Then he saw a Death Eater with silver hair and a familiar walking cane dueling with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Before Ti could get to him, the Death Eater who was his father hit the Muggleborn boy with a Killing Curse Justin was not able to avoid. Rage coursed through Ti at the cold-blooded murder his father had committed. He charged forward, sending three Cutting Curses at the man. The first hit Lucius on his arm, alerting him to another opponent and he managed to dodge the next two. “Well, well,” Lucius said, “looks like you’re getting a backbone, boy. You never had the temerity to hex me before.” “That’s because I know now what a monster you are,” Ti answered before throwing several hexes at Lucius. Lucius cursed as he got hit by another Cutting Curse across his shoulder. He managed to dodge the others. “Darkness take you, boy! You should really learn your place.” He threw a Bone-Breaking Curse at Ti, who barely managed to throw a shield up in time. Lucius then began casting spells at a pace so fast that Ti had to move fast to avoid most of them, which kept him too busy to throw his own spells. Then Lucius cast a Blasting Curse at Ti’s feet. Ti felt himself flying backward before landing in a heap. Pain coursed through his body and dizziness gripped him. He could barely concentrate. He heard footsteps approaching him and tried to raise his wand but his arm responded so slowly. Then his father’s voice said, “Crucio!” and his world exploded into more pain. The pain was greater than that he had experienced when his Aunt Bella had used the same curse on him two years before. The pain seemed to last a long time, then it suddenly vanished. He lay panting, trying to regain his senses. After a couple of seconds, he became aware of someone screaming nearby. Lifting himself up on his elbows, he saw a sight that made his blood boil. Maggie was on the ground a few feet from him, screaming in obvious pain, as Lucius pointed his wand at her. That bastard! Ignoring his own pain, Ti raised his wand, pointed it at Lucius and cried, “Avada Kedavra!” Lucius turned in time for the green light to strike him on the chest, a look of surprise frozen on his face before he fell dead. Ti crawled over to Maggie, even as his body was still aching. She was curled up in a fetal position and moaning softly. It broke Ti’s heart to see her so hurt. He cradled her in his arms and said, “Shh, Mags, I’m here. You’re safe.” “Oooh…Ti… hurt so much,” she mumbled. Ti kissed her on the top of her head, tears forming in his eyes, “I know, baby. But it’s all over. He won’t hurt you ever again.” He continued rocking her as the battle around them continued. ******* Ginny had just Stunned a tall, thin witch when she heard a familiar voice screaming. She glanced over and felt her blood run cold as she watched Lucius Malfoy torturing Maggie with the Cruciatus Curse. Before she could move to stop the white-haired Death Eater, she noticed Ti, sitting on the ground just beyond his father, point his wand at the man and yell out the worse Unforgivable. She watched with horror as Lucius Malfoy was stuck by the Killing Curse and fell dead. For a couple of seconds, all she could think about was what Ti would feel later on when he realized what he had done. Shaking her off shock, she saw Ti cradling Maggie in his arms, oblivious to their surroundings. Determined to let them have some peace, she moved to keep watch over them. She looked out over the rest of the corridor. Most of the Death Eaters were down, though she could see a few bodies in school robes on the ground. She then realized that she saw no sign of Harry or Voldemort. Close to panicking, she reached out through the Bond to find her soul mate without directly contacting him. She felt him to be outside, on the school grounds. Seeing that there were no longer any threats around, she left Ti and Maggie and rushed to the windows. Looking outside, she was shocked by what she saw. Harry was in his dragon Animagus form, fighting a huge Basilisk which was even larger than the one in the Chamber of Secrets. So far, it seemed that the King of Serpents was having the worst of the fight. Ginny knew that a dragon was very resistant to the killing gaze of a Basilisk but not its venom. Then, dragon-Harry hesitated for a second which allowed Basilisk-Voldemort to bring his tail around in a powerful strike across his face, knocking the dragon down. Dragon-Harry looked dazed and Basilisk-Voldemort rose up over him and drew back, clearly intending to launch forward in a biting attack. NO! Harry! Just before the Basilisk struck, dragon-Harry’s form shimmered and vanished. Ginny looked on in confusion, wondering what happened, since she could still feel his presence there. Suddenly, a cock’s crow rang through the air. The Basilisk reared up and away, revealing a rooster where dragon-Harry had been. The Basilisk thrashed around for a few seconds as the rooster continued crowing, then collapsed to the ground with an audible boom. Then, a flash of light emanated from its body, followed by a shockwave of strong magical force that knocked Ginny back from the window and onto her bum. Getting up, she looked down and saw that both Voldemort and Harry were both lying on the ground in human form again and motionless. She grabbed one of the brooms the Death Eaters had used to get up to the third floor and flew down to the ground. As soon as she landed, she abandoned the broom and rushed to Harry’s side, who she knew was simply unconscious. She was still wondering how he and Voldemort had got into a fight in Animagus forms on the grounds. Glancing over at where Voldemort’s body was, she saw that he was still breathing. Then, three Death Eaters came out of the forest and rushed to Voldemort’s side. From their size, she assumed that they were younger than the others she had fought. She managed to raise a shield over her and Harry just as two of the Death Eaters starting throwing hexes and curses at them. Then, a Stunning spell came from above her and hit one of the Death Eaters, knocking him out. Ginny looked over her shoulder and was relieved to see Rose, Ron and Neville flying down to her on more brooms with Hermione just shakily behind them. The four had their wands out and were ready to fight. Seeing that they were outnumbered, one of the Death Eaters took out a necklace from under his shirt and placed a hand on the arm of the other one. The other Death Eater grabbed hold of their master’s shoulders and that of their fallen comrade. The one holding the necklace spoke an inaudible word then the three Death Eaters and Voldemort vanished in a flash of light. Damn, Ginny thought, they had a Portkey. Then, her friends came rushing up and kneeling down around her and Harry. “How is he?” Rose asked, taking her brother’s hand. “He’s just unconscious,” she answered, “I think whatever that magical backlash was knocked him out.” “Yeah, we felt that,” Ron said, “What caused it?” “That is a good question, Mr. Weasley,” they heard Dumbledore’s voice say. Looking up, the five teens saw their Headmaster and Professor McGonagall approaching them. “I have a theory,” Dumbledore continued, “but it is best to discuss that later." He turned to Ginny, asking quietly, “Can you feel him, Ginny?” Ginny nodded before answering, “Yes, I can, Professor. He was just knocked out. We should get him up to the hospital wing anyway.” “Yes,” Dumbledore agreed before his face assumed a grim expression. “I’m afraid he won’t be the only one requiring Poppy’s attention tonight.” “We’ll help her,” Rose said, “At least, those of us who aren’t hurt.” “That’s good of you, Ms. Potter,” he said, smiling now. “It will give us teachers a chance to see the extent of the damage to the school.” He conjured a stretcher and levitated Harry onto it. Then they heard running footsteps from the direction of the gates. The teens and two teachers raised their wands, ready for more Death Eaters. To their relief, the approaching people were Aurors led by Sirius who, seeing them, hurried over to them. “Albus, what’s the situation here?” he asked. “What happened to Harry?” “We’ve succeeded in driving away Voldemort’s forces, Sirius,” Dumbledore said, “In the process, I think we captured or killed at least sixty Death Eaters. As to Harry’s condition, suffice it for now that he fought Voldemort in an unconventional way and drove him off. Ginny assures me that he is merely unconscious.” Ginny noticed that several of the Aurors were dressed in robes of a different style to Sirius'. “Sirius, why are those Aurors in different robes than yours?” “Well, that’s because they’re not British Aurors,” Sirius said, grinning. “It seems that your dad is a great diplomat. He managed to convince several Wizarding governments on the continent to lend us some help. Several of the Aurors with us are from France, Germany and Italy. I heard that there are also Greek, Belgian, Bulgarian, Polish and Romanian contingents, but they’re securing the Ministry.” “That’s great,” Ron said. “We could really use all the help. Some of the Death Eaters who fought us had foreign-sounding names, Eastern European probably.” “We thought that Voldemort was getting support from the continent,” Sirius said. “I hope we’ve got all of them.” “We better get Harry up to the hospital wing,” Ginny said. “Right,” Sirius said, “Let’s go.” He turned to one of the Aurors dressed in more familiar robes. “Williams, secure the grounds. Do a sweep of the forest near Hagrid’s hut and the gates. There may be Death Eaters still lingering around.” “Yes, sir,” Williams replied, saluting Sirius before going off toward the other Aurors. Ginny walked beside Harry’s stretcher as the group set off for the doors of the castle. She wondered if the rest of her family had been involved in the battle at Hogsmeade and hoped no one had been badly injured or killed. She’d find out later. For now, she had to make sure her bond-mate was properly healed of any injuries he may have suffered in his fight with Voldemort.
|
||||||||
