The Aerial Duel
Hermione Granger sat on the back of the reptilian, inky black thestral. At least, that was what she pictured it would look like, having seen it only in books. Hermione couldn't see thestrals; she'd never seen anyone die before, nor had she comprehended the nuances of death till now. She'd needed a helping hand from Kingsley as she boarded the beast, and she was unnerved; looking down at the ground from quite some height with empty space below her made her feel like she was levitating. The round glasses kept sliding off her sweaty nose, and she flicked out her wand to remain at the ready.
It's a brilliant plan, she thought. Seven Harry Potters going to seven different places, and there is no way of telling who goes where. She remembered her unease when Moody had said, fleetingly, that even Voldemort could not split himself into seven. She shuddered at the thought of being one of the few people who knew that terrible secret of Voldemort's, the secret of his immortality.
Man-Eye Moody was speaking again, and Hermione quickly focused on him.
"Right, take your positions, everyone," said Moody, and he mounted his broomstick, dragging Mundungus along with him. Tonks, Ron, Fred, George, Mr Weasley and Lupin followed suit. Thank God I'm not flying on a broomstick, she thought nervously. I really hate those. But then again, flying on an invisible thestral doesn't exactly sound the best way to go, does it? She shifted slightly as Kingsley clambered onto the thestral, using her hands to feel her way.
Kingsley looked at her and smiled reassuringly. "Ready?" he asked in his slow baritone. She nodded briefly. Kingsley patted the thestral, and whispered, "To my house, then." Next to her, Moody shouted, "Good luck, everyone! See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One… Two… Three!"
Hermione hugged the cage with the stuffed owl close to her and clutched the invisible thestral as it rose steadily into the dark sky. She looked all around her at the streetlights, houses, and her fellow fliers who grew smaller and smaller; the feeling of nervousness returned, and she fervently wished that it would be a short trip. Her quick mind estimated a height of about hundred feet from the ground as they broke the circle. She raised her wand, and Kingsley did the same in front of her.
It happened very fast. They were surrounded. Hermione threw a quick look around to see a circle of at least thirty hooded figures, who could only be Death Eaters.
An angry yell escaped Kingsley as he struggled to maintain his balance; the thestral, clearly sensing danger, was doing its best to get away from the hooded figures. Hermione held on for dear life, as the cage escaped her grip and sank earthwards, slowly out of sight. Almost blinded by the orange, red and yellow jets of light, she thought, Protego! The Shield Charm worked, and she moved a little to take better aim at the advancing Death Eaters.
"Incendio!" shouted Kingsley, and one of the tailing Death Eaters gave a howl of pain as his robes caught fire. He struggled to contain it as his four companions followed Kingsley and Hermione, casting jets of green light at them that missed them narrowly.
"Ventus Dromonem!" she shouted, and made a slashing movement with her wand. As she did so, the air in front of her wand assumed great speed and a razorlike sharpness. The air pocket cut through the night and hit the nearest Death Eater's broom tail as he swerved to avoid it, causing him to lose control and sink towards the ground.
"Good one!" shouted Kingsley as he blocked a couple of unfriendly spells. Hermione nodded, a little elated. She had been practicing the Wind Cutter spell which she'd found in Jinxes for the Jinxed, a book that Harry had used to train the DA back in their fifth year. She could see that the spell was a great offensive spell; a particular slashing movement from the wand with the incantation led to an extremely potent air pocket that could cut anything in its path before dissipating.
One of the Death Eaters broke from his ranks and surged forward, almost coming level with them. Hermione screamed as he aimed his wand towards her, but before she could cast the Shield Charm or any other defensive spell, Kingsley yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" The Death Eater froze in mid-air as his broom bucked unsteadily; taking advantage, Kingsley shouted, "Immobilis!" The broom froze too, and both rider and broom remained suspended as their thestral sped away, with two of the Death Eaters in hot pursuit.
Hermione turned backward and screamed, "Stupefy!" The Death Eaters dodged her spell, and sent jets of green light towards them, but missed. Hermione retaliated with more Stunning Spells, but the Death Eaters kept blocking or dodging them. They drew level with her and Kingsley, and launched a renewed assault on them. Kingsley responded with a barrage of powerful non-verbal spells, forcing their pursuers to scatter a couple of times and keeping certain death at bay.
Just then, she heard a cry and she looked behind in horror; the Death Eater whose broom tail she'd cut was back, albeit with a wildly unsteady broomstick; he was closely followed by the two others they'd left behind. She could stand it no longer. "Lumos Intensum!" she yelled, and an all-consuming, blinding jet of white light shot from her wand. She thought wildly of Muggles imagining bright fireworks as she looked around; the Intensifying Spell had blinded the Death Eaters, who slowed down in clear discomfort, giving them a few crucial seconds to accelerate and get away.
"Well done, Hermione!" Kingsley yelled, but their relief was short-lived; the five Death Eaters were moving faster than them, and they were closing the gap between them rapidly. It seemed as if they could see properly again. Hermione watched as the Death Eaters neared them in some sort of formation; the ones on the flanks were moving faster towards them than the ones in the centre.
Kingsley placed an arm on her shoulder. "Now, I'm going to show you an excellent battle trick. Come on – use the Wind Cutter spell to isolate the flanks from the others." Hermione nodded and took careful aim. "Ventus Dromonem!" she shouted, aiming to her right and slashing her wand. The rightmost Death Eater mover further away from his colleagues in order to avoid the blade-like air pocket. She repeated the spell on her left with identical results.
"Nicely done! Look, the central ones are all very close together. Now's the time to make our move!" shouted Kingsley. He took careful aim at the three central Death Eaters, who had now come quite close, and shouted, "Confringo!" The Blasting Curse struck the broomstick of one of the Death Eaters, and he was thrown clean off it and vanished from sight. The others scattered and rolled horribly in the air with their brooms, clutching their faces.
"Might have killed that one," said Kingsley calmly, his baritone devoid of emotion. Hermione looked downward and made an unpleasant discovery: the inky black, reptilian thestral had suddenly materialized below her. Too shocked to speak, she only nodded before turning her attention to the two flank Death Eaters who were now almost level with them.
"Incendio!" yelled one of the Death Eaters. Hermione reacted quickly, countering the Fire-Casting Spell with a similar spell by shouting, "Glacuis!" A thick jet of ice erupted from her wand, meeting the fire in mid-air. Hermione struggled to maintain the force of her spell, but the Death Eater had cast his spell extremely well, and she slowly felt her spell being overcome until she heard Kingsley shout, "Immobilis!" The Death Eater dueling with her froze and his hood came off.
"Travers," said Kingsley grimly, as the thestral carrying them surged forward. "There's obviously been a mass breakout from Azkaban." He looked behind them and uttered an oath. "Damn it, two of them are still following us."
Out of nowhere, a third figure materialized in front of the two. Hermione noted that it was devoid of a hood, before getting a glimpse of its face. She couldn't help screaming in terror as she saw the face, whiter than a skull… With its snakelike nose, red eyes and slits for pupils…
"Kingsley, it's him! HE's here!" she yelled, and Kingsley looked back at Voldemort, his face carrying an expression of terror and anger at the same time. Voldemort was flying on his own, without a broomstick to support him, and it looked like he was extremely skilled at flying like that. His mouth curled into a mirthless smile as he looked at Hermione. He raised his wand and cried, "Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light narrowly missed them, and Hermione felt terror as she realized how close she'd come to dying, and for the first time, she understood how Harry must have felt every time Voldemort had tried to kill him.
"He'll kill us!" she screamed, a little hysterical, as she felt tears in her eyes. "Not if I can help it!" Kingsley said grimly, and slashed his wand through the air. A jet of purple light flew towards Voldemort, who vaporized it almost lazily. He shot another Killing Curse at them but missed again.
One of the Death Eaters drew level with them and raised his wand, about to curse them, when Hermione shouted, "Stupefy!" The spell hit the Death Eater in the chest, and he sank downward along with his broomstick. The second Death Eater followed his colleague earthwards in order to save him; another Death Eater whose face had been burnt by Kingsley's earlier Blasting Curse joined the chase. Voldemort laughed as he duelled with Kingsley; jets of light shot from both wands as each tried to gain an upper hand over the other. Hermione watched in awe for a few seconds as Kingsley's wand moved so fast that it was nothing but a blur before concentrating on the task at hand; the Death Eater was attempting to Stun her.
"Glacius!" she yelled. The Death Eater swerved to avoid the ice jet, but it hit his broom tail, which froze instantaneously. The sudden gain in weight caused the broomstick to sink rapidly, taking the Death Eater with it. Hermione yelled in frustration as two Death Eaters suddenly materialized next to Voldemort. Not more reinforcements, she thought angrily. However, the new arrivals did not strike, and they flew next to Voldemort, distracting him from Hermione and Kingsley momentarily. She looked on, nonplussed, as within seconds, all three figures vanished, leaving the fourth to chase them alone. Hermione was unsure of where they were headed, but she felt a sense of foreboding; the expression on Voldemort's face just before he Disapparated had been one of triumph, albeit of a wild and ferocious kind. Had he found the real Harry? That's impossible, she thought. The Polyjuice potion is infallible. It leaves no traces. It gives the user a complete and explicit change of physical appearance. So where did he go?
She had no time to continue these musings, however; the fourth Death Eater, his hood half off, was chasing them. She quickly brought herself back to focus as the Death Eater's Killing Curse missed her at least by ten feet. "Damn it, it's Yaxley," growled Kingsley, recognizing their pursuer. He shot a Blasting Curse at Yaxley but missed. Hermione followed up with two powerful Wind Cutters but missed as well; Yaxley was evidently a good flier.
She saw Yaxley smile cruelly before shouting, "Flammunda!" A wave of fire erupted from his wand, but Kingsley was alert, and he countered the fire wave with "Torrensum!" A powerful water jet erupted from Kingsley's wand which met the fire in mid-air. Kingsley's superior skill overcame Yaxley, who retreated, his face bloody and burnt. Silence reigned.
"Whew!" said Kingsley, "That was a close one. You-Know-Who almost got us both." Hermione said nothing, prompting Kingsley to ask her, "You all right?" She nodded briefly, preoccupied and concerned. Had the others been as lucky as them? Were they safe? And where was Ron? She hoped fervently that Ron was all right. Then again, said the nagging voice at the back of her head, Ron isn't exactly the world's best dueller. He struggles for speed and accuracy. The Death Eaters were obviously more skilled. What if they overwhelm Ron and Tonks? What if Tonks is unable to protect Ron? What if... She couldn't complete that thought, it hurt her like the Cruciatus Curse. Her heart ached with worry for Ron's safety, and of course, Harry's; she suppressed her tears and bit back a sob as she asked Kingsley instead, "Where do you think Voldemort went when he suddenly vanished like that?"
Kingsley shrugged. "Beats me," he said, and she saw the same concern and worry she felt reflecting in his eyes. "But I think the more important question is, how did they know that we were moving Harry tonight?"
Silence reigned again, but not for long; the thestral began its descent, prompting Kingsley to say, "We're almost there."
The thestral landed softly on the ground and ran forward up the concrete road, its hooves making almost no sound as it ran. Hermione observed the suburban-looking neighbourhood, where the streetlights shone dimly and the houses remained dark. The thestral came to a halt right in front of Kingsley's house, and the Auror alighted before helping Hermione off. She gave the thestral a grateful pat and it ran in the direction they had come from before taking off. It's probably headed for Hogwarts, she thought.
Kingsley opened the door of his house and they both went in, pausing only to look at themselves in the mirror. Kingsley had a number of cuts on his face, courtesy of Voldemort's powerful magic, but he was otherwise unharmed. Hermione, halfway through changing back into herself, looked rather strange, but had no long-lasting effects from the battle. The two of them had almost come out of the battle unscathed.
"It's a miracle that we haven't missed the portkey," said Kingsley, pointing at the rusty tin of salmon on his table. "We still have one-and-a-half minutes."
"I wonder if the others got back safely?" said Hermione fretfully. "Well, we'll find out soon enough," said Kingsley grimly, lifting the tin can and bringing it towards them. Hermione touched it. "You were absolutely brilliant in battle, Hermione. I'm proud of you."
She blushed at the lavish praise. "It feels great to hear that, coming from you!" she said. "Let's hope everyone's all right," she added anxiously.
"What I want to know is how they knew it was tonight, and who the traitor is in our midst!" Kingsley exclaimed. "Five seconds!" he added, as the portkey glowed blue.
Hermione felt the familiar jerk near her navel as her feet lifted off the ground… They were going back to the Burrow…