Siege of the Soul
Chapter 1- Return of the Travellers
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thank you to all of you who have been following the Guardian Diaries series, especially Vesper Logan, Dancer and SJ Iolanthe. Naisa and Nikou-tan, thanks for starting, rest assured that you have a really good finale to look forward to! Here it is, it's called the Siege of the Soul!
It all comes down to this- everything they have done, every trial they have faced and every sacrifice they have made, for Gallardo and Harry it all comes down to a final battle to end the reign of Diablus and Voldemort, once and for all! But Gallardo soon realises, that the bigger war has to be fought within their soul. Without this, all could fail.
Please read and review! Also, bear in mind that I found this chapter quite hard to write, it was hard work to fit all the dialogue and make the scene my own without copying exactly what JK wrote; I hope I did it justice.
I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does, I only own my OCs including Gallardo Eagle, Marcena Sempatho and Lord Diablus.
Contains strong violence, death, angst and cruelty on my part.
1st May 1999
"One thousand of them," observed a short hooded figure. "One thousand Rivarian riders march upon Hogwarts, allied to Lord Diablus and promised the flesh of mature and young ones."
"They've not moved from their camp yet," another hooded man who was a little over six feet tall replied.
From the mouth of Mount Luna Moraga, they scouted a perfect view of Hogwarts School, which had once been a safe and homely place for many witches and wizards, old and young alike. For many months, it had apparently lost that glow, with the school seeming as grey and suppressed as a peasant farm weighed down by the dark night sky. However, a few hours ago, the lights of Hogwarts Castle flickered like a beacon calling for aid and having the hope of receiving an answer.
But towards the North West, there camped a battalion of half men and half beasts, who rode large black dogs.
"It will become a blood bath!" warned the shorter man.
"That depends," the taller reasoned."Captain, can I count on your support and allegience? Will you stand with me and make sure that the Cult of Rivarians don't even set a foot into Hogwarts Castle?"
"Yes, sir, you have my word." Both smiled at one other, before a Giant called from behind them.
"'Scuse me, here's Buckbeak, like you asked for, Professor." The Giant motioned the grey Hippogriff towards the taller man, who bowed slightly as the Hippogriff returned the gesture. The man chuckled placidly and stroked the creature before mounting him.
"Thank you, Hagrid! Captain, we need a few more of any Hippogriffs, Griffins, Thestrals or any steeds that you can get hold of, please."
The Captain nodded. "I shall do that; God speed!"
"Good luck, Professor!" Hagrid wished.
"Thank you, and good luck to you both," the Professor eased around on Buckbeak. "Gather all the back up you can! Tonight we take back Hogwarts!"
With that he galloped on his steed towards the edge of the mountain and ascended into the sky, where the stars began to shine again!
A Few Hours Ago
"Quickly! In here!" commanded a grey bearded man, who held open a door that was bolted shut moments ago.
Harry, Hermione, Ron and Gallardo scrambled inside, desperate to escape the Death Eaters that were hunting for them outside. They had sensed their prescence like a wolf sensing a wounded steer. The companions raced into the refuge of this old man, who was stood by the door arguing with a Death Eater. Gallardo placed a hand on his wand scabbard as he and his friends pressed themselves behind a wall that was opposite the entrance, before clambering behind the bar (which seemed very familiarly like the Hog's Head) up the stairs and into a room. Gallardo's heart raced as he whipped off the Invisibility Cloak and contemplated the potential consequences. If they put up a fight then the old man will officially be harbouring a group of fugitives. But if they did not then the Death Eaters may barge in and torture the man, before they had the chance to thank him. Harry pulled the curtains of the window shut and Ron and Hermione slumped onto the nearby sofa, holding their breaths.
"So what if I let my cat out?" the old man demanded. "I hope for your sake that you haven't summoned your Master over a cat!"
"You broke the curfew!" a Death Eater snarled.
"Does the curfew apply to cats? No! Did I step out into the street? No! Therefore no curfew was broken!"
"I saw Potter's Patronus!" the Death Eater insisted. "I saw a stag; he's here, in Hogsmeade!"
"A stag? A stag?" scoffed the old man. "That was my goat! Expecto Patronum!
"If you send Dementor's my way, I'll send a Patronus back at them! I'm not having it!"
"No, I think I saw Potter's stag!" a second Death Eater with a gruff voice said.
"Are you thick enough to not know a goat when you see one?" laughed the barman.
"Right, well, make sure this doesn't happen again," the first Death Eater said. "Because next time we won't be so lenient!"
The door was slammed and bolted shut, as the barman made his way upstairs to the companions, who finally exhaled with relief.
"You bloody fools," he scolded wearily, as he entered the room. "What were you thinking? You almost got yourselves killed." The old man was tall, with silver hair and a beard and wore spectacles that brought out his bright blue eyes.
"Thank you, so much," Gallardo chuckled.
"Yeah, you saved our lives," Harry panted. "It was your eyes that I saw in the mirror at Malfoy Manor, wasn't it? You saved us before by sending Dobby, didn't you?"
The old man nodded, as it sunk in who this could be.
"Are you Aberforth Dumbledore?" Hermione whispered, as she caught his features under the lamp that he had just ignited.
Aberforth grunted. "So, where is Dobby? I thought that he would be with you."
"We lost him," Gallardo said grimly. "Just as we escaped. Bellatrix Lestrange." He didn't need to say anything more.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Aberforth said, after a few moments. "I always liked that Elf, always loyal."
"And very brave," Ron toasted.
"How did you get the mirror?" Harry asked.
"Bought it from Mundungus a few years ago, and Albus told me what it was. Been keeping an eye over you."
"The silver doe, was that you?" Ron gasped excitedly.
"I beg your pardon?" Aberforth demanded.
"Someone sent us a doe Patronus!"
"Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son," Aberforth sighed. "Didn't I just prove that my Patronus is a goat?"
"Well... I'm just really hungry," Ron said defensively, prompting Aberforth to flicker a smile.
"Well, come downstairs, I'll get you some provisions. You can also freshen up with a quick shower, if you want."
They headed into the pantry, where a long rectangular table and a few stools welcomed them. Aberforth waved his wand and clicked his fingers; four plates, four cups and three dishes - each containing pasta, roast chicken and cobbed sweetcorn respectively.
Ron's face lit up, as Aberforth placed a jug of rose sherbet, a pot of tea and coffee on the table. They all ate graciously, but with an awkward silence. They all took turns to freshen up with a shower, and met Aberforth downstairs once more.
"You lot need to get out," Aberforth declared. "Hogsmeade is not safe; I won't be able to pass my goat off as a stag this time, so it's best not to set off the Caterwauling Charm by breaking curfew again. Wait till the morning, when curfew lifts, use your Cloak and get out of here!"
"We can't," Harry corrected. "We have to get into Hogwarts."
"No, my boy, you need to get as far away from here as possible."
"You don't understand, there isn't much time," Harry protested. "Dumbledore- I mean- your brother wanted us-!"
Aberforth sighed and shook his head. "My brother wanted a lot of things, and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. Forget Albus, Potter, he has gone where none of this can hurt him." Gallardo sensed a faint break in his voice, but his gruff manner quickly returned. "You don't owe him anything."
"No, you don't understand!" Harry repeated.
"Don't understand?" Aberforth snapped. "Do you think that you understand my own brother better than me?"
"No, I mean he left us a job to do!"
"Did he now?" scoffed Aberforth. "Nice job, I hope. Easy? Pleasant and one that a group of pre-NEWT wizards can do without overstretching themselves?"
"Easy?" Gallardo echoed; he had been quiet up to now. "It's not easy but it's definitely important. Surely, you should understand, you are a member of the Order."
"The Order of the Phoenix is finished," Aberforth said glumly. "You-Know-Who has won." He took a sip of mead before continuing. "You really need to get out of this country. It's not safe! There is no hope! Anyone's who thinks differently is kidding themselves!"
"No, we have got this far!" Gallardo snapped, rising. He recalled the locket, the cup, the Nexus Prism and the Baronze Order- things they had found and accomplished, even when it felt like they were deep in their darkest hour. "We can not run away, not now!" Just then he glanced at the mantelpiece fireplace, above which was a brown painting of a blonde girl in a Goldilocks like dress and a white bow. The way she yawned sheepishly and smiled, reminded Gallardo of someone else. He started blinking fiercely and compelled himself to look away.
"You've come far enough," Aberforth croaked. "Now it's time to stop! The longer you all are here the more danger you are in. Let me ask you something: did my brother tell you everything? Was he completely honest with you? Hmm?"
The companions held their breath. Yes, Dumbledore had been very secretive with them; there were so many things that were obscure. However, it seemed like Dumbledore had planned every bit of help that he was feeding them like saline through a drip. Ron had been given the Deluminator to return to his friends, Hermione had worked out the meaning of the clue that she had been given, Gallardo's Nuri Lamp finally thought him worthy enough to manifest the wand, fob watch and ring: the three-quarters of the meta-wave, the key to conquering their enemies. But there was still so much that remained unanswered; the jigsaw was not yet complete.
"I knew my brother. Secrecy and lies were how we grew up. Albus was a natural."
"Professor Dumbledore really cared about Harry," Hermione defended quietly. "He cared about us all, as his students."
"Did he now?" Aberforth snickered grimly. "Funny thing, how it was the people he seemed to care about most got hurt the most. Far worse than if he'd left them alone." He ran his gaze briefly over the portrait over the mantelpiece.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gallardo said suspisciously.
"Never you mind."
"Mr Dumbledore, that was a serious thing to say!" Hermione insisted. "Are you talking about your sister, Arianna? Is that her?" She motioned to the painting.
Aberforth glared at her and blinked before turning away. He poured them the beverage of their choice before he took a deep breath and began to tell a story.
He told a story about the quest for greatness, tragedy and the love for one's family. The story of two brothers and their younger sister. This little girl was attacked by a group of Muggle boys when they saw her performing magic and she refused to show them. It traumitised and completely broke the little girl, causing her magic to implode driving her mad. Her father sought revenge on the boys, and accepted time in Azkaban, refusing to say why or what exactly had happened. He knew that his little girl would be sectioned in St Mungo's so he kept quiet. The girl's family moved her away to Godric's Hollow, a quiet place where they could protect her and look after her.
The middle brother knew how to handle her best, he could get her to be calm, help him feed the goats and be her sweet and endearing self, rather than the violent and unpredictable child she could be. But when he was elsewhere, one of these outbursts cost the mother her life. The older brother, who was busy being great and travelling, had to cut his plans short and returned home. He insisted that the middle brother finish his education, while he looks after their sister.
All seemed all right, until the arrival of Gellert Grindelwald- an equal to the older brother in terms of greatness and intellect. They made grand plans to make the world safe for the sister, where Muggles would no longer harm Wizards, and where Wizards would rule over Muggles.
The middle brother eventually lost his patience, he berated them for neglecting the young girl, who they couldn't possibly take with them wherever they were planning to go.
Grindelwald lost his temper at his short sightedness; an argument followed and a fight ensued. Grindelwald used the Cruciatus Curse used on the middle brother; suddenly, all three were locked into the duel- the older brother trying to stop Grindelwald. But none of them noticed the little girl, who had been disturbed by the noise. She had only wanted to help. No one noticed that she had come in the middle of the duel, wanting to pull her brothers away from the conflict, until it was too late. Ariana Dumbledore had lost her life- a very heavy price for Albus Dumbledore's visions.
Aberforth's voice had broken. Hermione was sniffing, wiping the tears from her face, as Ron, with his pale face, leaned his hand under the table to comfort Hermione by gently squeezing hers. Harry breathed heavily, staring at his coffee. Gallardo's insides welled up, as his white knuckle grip tightened around his tea, he took a sip to steady himself. He thought about Mary, not daring to look up at the portrait of Ariana- he felt the pain and the guilt of Aberforth and Albus, while recalling how he had felt finding his sister's body in the alternative reality.
"I'm sorry," he and Hermione muttered simultaneously.
"Gone," croaked Aberforth. "Gone forever."
"No," croaked Gallardo. "No, she will always be part of you, and part of your brother."
Aberforth grunted. "Yes, I suppose so.
"Grindelwald scarperred, of course, fleeing from the authorities from his home country and those in Britain. Albus was free, wasn't he? Free from the burden of his sister, free to become-"
"He was never free," Harry snapped, with a touch of passionate rage. "Never."
"I beg your pardon? Are you saying he confided in you?"
"On the night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him mad," Harry recalled. "He started pleading with someone that wasn't there. 'Don't hurt them, hurt me instead' he said. He thought that he was back with you and Grindelwald, watching him torture you and Ariana. He definitely wasn't free."
Gallardo, along with Hermione and Ron, stared; he had always thought of Dumbledore as strong, wise and composed. Now he just seemed flawed and burdened like everyone else, which stirred up pity in Gallardo's heart. All this time, Dumbledore wore a mask for the benefit of the thousands that had looked up to him, promising to himself to never let them down. After all, Dumbledore was only human; surely that gave him the right to forgiveness from at least some of his sins?
"How do you know that you aren't as dispensible to him as my sister was?" Aberforth said bitterly, after taking a long pause.
"Professor Dumbledore had a good heart," Hermione defended. "He always cared about Harry."
"Why didn't he tell him to run or hide? Or show him how to save himself?" Aberforth shot back.
"He's right, you know," a new voice from the doorway to the bar said. The companions strained to catch a glimpse of a man in a black coat, grey hair and stubble, and scars and bruises on his face.
"What are you doing here?" Gallardo asked, surprised.
The whole room gaped at them, but Harry spoke up.
"Excuse me, do you two know each other?"
"Yes..." Gallardo began. "This is Mr Sempatho... Marcena's biological father."
The Gryffindors stared at each other in disbelief.
"I work here at the Hog's Head," Mr Sempatho replied, as soon as the hushed whispers died down. "I always have, to watch over them when they come for their Hogsmeade visits.
"How's my girl, Marcena?"
An uneasy lump caught in Gallardo's throat, as his heart skipped a beat. Gallardo had been forced to leave her heartbroken, in order to protect her from the eye of Diablus.
"She's safe," Hermione came to his side.
"Good," Sempatho nodded.
"Mr Sempatho, why did you leave your family?" Hermione asked.
Sempatho seated himself next to Ron and sighed.
"I left simply because I was bitten," he answered. "This was long before the wolfsbane potion was discovered, so I had no choice! I could not be around my family without endangering them..." his voice began to break. "I've never stopped watching over them, or at least whenever I can."
"You've been here this whole time?" Gallardo asked.
"Aye," responded Sempatho. "But it's got harder once they leave school and grow up... it's so hard to not be able to tell them the truth or love them like you should, but you have to protect the ones you care about, do all you can to save them from harm, even if you have to lose face, reputation or glory. I don't expect you to understand."
"No, I do," Gallardo said.
"Then you agree, that Dumbledore should have let you and told you to run?" Sempatho said.
"No, because sometimes you have to put your safety second. After all, how can you ensure the protection of those you love if you aren't even prepared to lay down your life for it?" Gallardo reasoned, stumping Pablo Sempatho.
"You're all so young!" Aberforth shook his head. "You're barely of age!"
"But we are of age!" Harry said firmly, with newly found determination. "I, and I'm sure these lot, will carry on fighting even if you've given up!"
"Who says that I've given up?" Aberforth said defensively.
"The Order of the Phoenix is finished; there is no hope," Harry repeated. "There is always hope!" he growled, causing Gallardo to smile widely.
"Dumbledore knew how to defeat Riddle and Diablus, and he passed on that knowledge to us! I, for one, am going to defeat Riddle, or die trying. Don't think I don't know how this might end, I've known for years, and so do my friends. But still, we do what we have to do."
Aberforth and Sempatho both looked taken aback by the passion and determination of the youths.
"You've got to hand it to him, Aberforth," Sempatho conceded.
"Look, we need to get into Hogwarts. If you can't help us, then we'll wait till day break and leave you in peace. On the other hand, if you can help us, then now would be a good time to mention it," Harry submitted.
Aberforth let the words engrave themselves into him, before he turned to the portrait of Ariana. "You know what to do," he muttered. Ariana nodded, turned to the tunnel, that was behind her in the painting, and proceeded to skip down it like a carefree six year old.
"What the hell?" Ron asked.
A minute later, she returned, but with another figure. The companions cracked a smile, as he approached. He had ripped clothes, a fluff of messy hair and stubble. As he stepped closer to the portrait, the door flung open and there he stood; his face was covered in bruises and cuts, but he was before them in full flesh.
"Oh, I knew that you would come back!" Neville Longbottom beamed, in his usual Northern accent. With delight, he jumped off the mantelpiece.
"Hey, Neville! I am so glad to see you!" Gallardo laughed, as he and Neville met with a pounding hug.
"Neville?" Ron began.
"Ronaldo, my mano!" he roared hugging him. "I've definitely been expecting you, Harry, I always knew that you'd come!
"And of course, the dashing Hermione Granger!" he grinned, pulling her into a hug. Luckily, he didn't see her blush and Ron scowl.
"Neville, what the hell happened to you?" Harry asked.
"What this?" Neville pointed at the gashes and dried up gouge mark on his face. "That's nothing, Seamus is a lot worse, you'll see.
"By the way Gallardo, Mary and Glenn are at your house for now, probably better that way. I did what I had to to keep them out of trouble," Neville explained.
"Thank you, Neville," Gallardo said hoarsely. "I knew I could count on you."
"It's no bother, it was nice- like having a sister and brother of my own!" explained Neville cheerfully. He turned to the others, with their inquisitive expressions. "I remember that July evening in the Leaky Cauldron, when Gallardo asked me to look after Mary and Glenn.
"Right, shall we get going then? Oh, Aberforth, there'll be a couple more arriving-"
"What do you mean a couple more?" Aberforth looked alarmed. "For crying out loud, there's a Caterwauling Charm and curfew on this whole village!"
"I know, which is why they can Apparate directly into the bar for you to direct them through here." Neville leapt into the portrait hole and helped Hermione in, follwed by Ron.
"We can't thank you enough," Harry told Aberforth.
"Just look after these lot," Aberforth grunted. "I may not be able to save them a third time."
Harry nodded, as Gallardo helped him into the hole; Harry shut the door behind him and the companions stepped into corridor, which led them towards some stone stairs. Some little lamps burned and emitted some light, guiding the five down their path.
"Well, I suppose I should give you a tour. Ladies and gents, I'm Neville Longbottom, I will be your tour guide for the evening," he adopted a posh accent.
"Careful you don't get lost, you might need that Remembral!" Gallardo laughed.
"Did you forget? I gave it to you!" Neville jested in his normal accent, prompting the others to chuckle.
"Lancashire?" Ron asked suddenly, after eight years.
Neville tutted and pointed to his right.
"He's a Yorkie through and through," Hermione said. But then as the light shone on Neville's scars, her face dropped. "Neville, what's going on?"
"Well... it's not really like Hogwarts any more, after Snape's taken over as Headmaster, conscription has become mandatory for two years for those who don't want to do an eighth year at Hogwarts. Not that that's much better- Amycus and Alecto Carrow are in charge of discipline here. The other teachers hate them and avoid it if they can help it. Amycus teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, now it's called the Dark Arts, where we have to perform the Cruciatus Curse on those with detention. I got this because I refused to do it," he narrated, pointing to a black scar on his cheek.
"Neville..." Gallardo was at lost for words. "If I had known this, I would have though twice before-"
"Oh, stop apologising, Gallardo! Keeping Mary and Glenn out of trouble was great fun!" Neville shrugged. "Mind you, do you have any idea how stubborn and mischievous Mary is?"
The companions chuckled, as Neville explained more about Hogwarts. Alecto Carrow was the Muggle Studies teacher, who ran her lessons by making Muggles and Muggle-borns out to be animals. Neville had got another scar below his eye for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother had.
Neville had been reviving and rallying the spirit of Dumbledore's Army, by doing what they could to remind people that Harry Potter was out there fighting. The DA had worked hard to release younger years who had been sentenced to torture. Unfortunately, sometimes, like Terry Boot, they had been caught and their skins used like a punch bag. But they didn't want to spill too much pure blood, only to rough the audacious up a bit, and the only people in real danger turned out to be the children of those the Ministry had been offended by. Xenophilius Lovegood's pro-Potter stance had got Luna arrested from the Hogwarts Express.
"Neville, she's fine, we've-" Hermione cried.
"I know, she told me," he said, pulling out a coin, which looked strikingly like the ones that Dumbledore's Army had used. "Clever little things! Some of us had already left early on in the year, like Tom Daniels, Yulia Schreiber and that blonde Scouser from Marteslon... sorry I can't remember her name."
"Penelope?" Harry offered.
"Yeah, Penelope Llewis! And of course, Marcena had joined Potterwatch, which is great, since they were helping from the outside, while we were inside.
"Speaking of which, Luna told me about you and Marcena! Congratulations! You got there after eight years!"
Gallardo swallowed, he didn't want to talk about that now; it pained him too much to think about her now. "So, you were working with Potterwatch?" he tried to shift the subject.
"Yeah, but we couldn't ask the students, especially fifth years or below to keep up with the stunts. Luna had been taken and Ginny had not come back from home since Easter. What had happened to Terry Boot and Kenshin Hwang really shook people, so we could never be carefree again, or ask anyone to put themselves at too much risk."
"You've not been using the Carrow twins for anything?" Gallardo asked suddenly.
"No, Flora and Hestia did enough for us two years ago, with rooting out Bordeaux's gang," Neville said. "I feel sorry for them the most, because you can see that all this Dark Lord sucking up isn't even in their hearts, but they have to pretend...
"Anyway, then when they came for Hagrid, they were prepared. Octavian Scorpius, someone who's trained in hunting Giants and other creatures, came with them. They would have succeeded, had it not been for Marks, who subdued them all. They're both on the run now; unfortunately, for us, Marks was our best protector, so that was a blow to our team.
"What about Eduardo, isn't he still of school age?" Hermione asked.
"You'll see in a minute. Next, they chased after Gran-"
"Neville!" Harry gasped.
"I suppose it made sense, since they wanted to shut me up and it was only a matter of time when they would pull a Luna on me," smiled Neville, with a frightening twinkle. "I suppose it made sense at the time to send Dawlish, who, let's just say will always be afraid of old ladies!
"Gran's on the run now; she sent me a letter saying that I'm my parent's son- a true Longbottom, and she's really proud of me." Neville sighed.
Gallardo grinned pensively, happy that Neville's grandmother had finally, not only accepted, but embraced Neville Longbottom with the pride he deserved.
"We're glad to hear that," Hermione said.
"Yeah," said Neville. "Still, that meant that they'd either kill me or send me to Azkaban, so I knew that I had to disappear and that Hogwarts wasn't safe any more."
"Mate, are we not going back there?" Ron asked.
Neville began grinning like a delighted school boy once more, as they ascended up a flight of stairs and towards a door. "Some people reckon that you lot have just been on the run, but I reckon that you've been up to something big, something great!"
Neville placed his hand on the door, teasing their intrigued faces. "Harry, Gallardo, Hermione and Ron- the four travellers, welcome home!" He pushed open the door.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading. Please read and review. The next chapter will be called the Horn and the Banner!