Fire consumed the castle, and students flooded out gasping for air. Screams could still be heard coming from inside. Death Eaters were blocking every exit, and green sparks came from left and right as students tried to protect themselves against Unforgivable Curses.
"Everything is going according to plan, my Lord." Bellatrix Lestrange shouted enthusiastically before silencing yet another young wizard with a cry of "Avada Kedavra!"
"Almost, dear Bellatrix. But where is Harry Potter?"
Harry Potter was, in fact, no more than a few miles away from the site of this tragedy. He was fast asleep on the shore of the Black Lake.
Chapter one: Return to Hogwarts
The castle was filled with laughter and dancing upon the student's first night back at Hogwarts. Dumbledore felt it was only fitting for a celebration to take place, considering the tragic ending of the previous year. The memory of that moment seemed to linger in the room as students stole glances toward the famous Harry Potter, the only person who wasn't enjoying himself.
"Harry, can you believe Dumbledore even supplied butterbeer for tonight? This is fantastic! Are you alright?" Ron Weasley was talking at an almost alarming rate and though he tried to look concerned for his friend, the overwhelming amount of desserts was far too distracting. Harry shrugged, the only response he had really given anybody all night. He wasn't exactly in the mood to celebrate. Cedric's face haunted his dreams every night this summer. Voldemort was back, and though he had all but dropped off the face of the earth, it was only a matter of time before he put some brilliant plan in to action.
Harry scanned the room for a friendly face. More specifically, he scanned the room for Hermione Granger. He loved Ron dearly, but he needed someone who would help him slip away from the party unnoticed and just keep him company. Ron was never good at being the sensitive one.
Finally he spotted her weaving through crowds of people, heading his way. He breathed a sigh of relief as she made her way over and handed him a glass of butterbeer.
"You look like you could use this, and a chance to get away." She said to him, a bit out of breath. He nodded and together they slipped unnoticed through a side door out in to the courtyard.
"What's on your mind, Harry?" Hermione asked him as soon as they were out of earshot of any lingering classmates.
"This whole thing just feels wrong to me. Cedric died, and nobody cares at all. Isn't this a bit insensitive? I understand Dumbledore wants everyone to just get over it and not worry about-" Harry paused midsentence, concentrating hard on a far off pine tree. Hermione glanced over where he was looking, and then looked back at him questioningly.
"Harry, are you okay?"
"Shh, I heard something."
They both continued listening; allowing silence to engulf them as they tried to find the source of the noise. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he shrugged it off and took a sip of his butterbeer.
"Must've just been the wind."
Beyond the trees, however, there was a third being present. A small house elf named Dobby was pacing back and forth, checking the sky, watching the distant gate that was the entrance to the Hogwarts grounds, and looking anxiously back at the pair of teenaged wizards. He was muttering to himself and growing more frantic with each passing moment.
"Dobby must save Harry Potter! Think Dobby, how can Harry Potter be kept from the horror?"
He looked over at Harry again. He and Hermione were laughing about something, though it was more than likely the influence of the butterbeer. It was better than nothing, though. Hermione yawned before taking another swig of her own glass, and suddenly Dobby had the solution. He began working frantically, casting charms in a great circle around the two of them to prevent them from being seen by anyone outside the circumference. Then he cast one final spell that took effect almost immediately. Harry and Hermione both yawned simultaneously, and before either realized what was happening they were fast asleep on the shore of the Black Lake.
Dobby sighed with relief, happy he had saved Harry from what was about to happen. He looked at the gate again. He was just in time. Professor Snape was slinking through the shadows, making his way to the gate. It was almost time. Dobby snapped his fingers, and disappeared.
At the castle gates, Professor Snape was busy fishing a key out of his robes.
"Stick to the shadows. Everyone is distracted, I don't believe you will have much trouble getting inside. Hurry!"
He began running back toward the castle, and behind him Death Eaters dodged between the trees, moving noiselessly. Voldemort himself was last to enter the castle gates.
Back inside the castle, the music was playing and everyone was dancing and feasting just as they had been when Harry and Hermione slipped out. None of them noticed the disappearance of their Potions professor. Nobody paid any attention to poor Neville when he fainted near the entrance of the Hall. It was only when Seamus yelled "Death Eaters!" that anybody even thought to look up from their activities. It was only when a flash of green light caused him to fall to the ground that students began to panic. Suddenly there was chaos. Light was coming from every which direction as Death Eaters flooded in to the Great Hall and professors tried to counteract the various curses. Professor McGonagall was frantically shouting instructions at the students.
"All first through fourth year students, find your prefects and do exactly as you are told! All other students follow me!"
Those who heard over the shouting did what she asked of them. It seemed strange to be following instructions at such a time, but the head of Gryffindor house had never given any student a reason to doubt her. She pulled aside a young prefect named Hannah and whispered to her the passageway she would need to use to take the younger students away from Hogwarts. She would rather have saved them all, but they needed fighters. The professors were outnumbered, and Snape was nowhere to be found. Dumbledore had left earlier in the evening, and he hadn't bothered to tell anyone where he needed to be. They were outnumbered and unorganized. As much as it pained her to admit it, she needed the older students to stay. She gathered them all away from the area where the majority of the fighting was and spoke quickly.
"Hogwarts is in terrible danger. Pull out your wands and do what you can. Please avoid unforgivable curses or anything else that could get you expelled or tossed in to Azkaban. Go!"
Ron had his wand at the ready before she was finished speaking. The others drew theirs as she rushed away and looked to him for instruction. He didn't understand why, until someone from the back yelled,
"Hey, where's Harry? He would know what to do."
Suddenly he understood. They were expecting him to take charge. He had no idea what to do, though. He just knew they had to fight. Suddenly there was a flash of red hair on the other side of the hall. Ginny. Without a second thought Ron took off through the crowd, ready to defend his sister. As he neared her location he was struck by two very conflicting thoughts. The first was, wow, she's a pretty good fighter. She has that Death Eater in the palm of her hand! The second wasn't even a coherent thought, but pure terror. Before he had time to react, he heard those awful words.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Ron watched his sister fall. It was like a slow motion sequence in an action movie. He willed her to get up, but she didn't. He screamed in agony. Other students rushed to pull him away, but they weren't fast enough. He ran not to Ginny's body, but straight at the Death Eater who uttered the curse. Luna Lovegood tried to stop him, but the mask was gone before she got there and she found herself staring in to the face of Lucius Malfoy. It took her a moment to realize Ron was lying on the ground, dead near the man's feet. She raised her wand, but wasn't quick enough. Three students gone. Lucius put his mask back in place and only gave a short, disdainful glance at the three young wizards before turning to fight yet another group of naïve wizards-in-training.
It was all over in a matter of minutes. It's not that the students were outnumbered, but inexperienced. Sure, a couple of Death Eaters had fallen at the hands of skilled professors, but none of them could fight the fiendfyre. Even the bravest were screaming and looking for an escape. Bellatrix giggled maniacally and cast the Dark Mark in to the sky. And like that, it was over. Lord Voldemort had overtaken Hogwarts.