Ginny had been so happy to see Harry, Ron and Hermione again after almost a year of them being away, searching for Horcruxes. They had turned up yesterday at Hogwarts to tell Professor McGonagall (who was now the Head of Hogwarts and of the Order of the Phoenix) that they had finally tracked down and destroyed all 4 remaining Horcruxes, and that they were ready to gather an army to hunt down and kill Voldemort. Since then, members of the Order, along with other Wizards and Witches had arrived at Hogwarts to help.
Before anything could happen though, terrified villagers from Hogsmeade had run screaming through the Main gates and up the lawns into the castle – the Death Eaters had attacked and were using the Village as a garrison from which to attack Hogwarts – she was not so happy now!
From the window of her office, McGonagall could see Giants in the distance, pulling apart the Shrieking Shack, and down in the grounds Centaurs were racing out of the Forbidden Forest as more Giants made their way through the trees toward the Castle.
Ginny was sat beneath a great tree beside the lake with Harry when they first heard the screams.
"Stay here, I'm going to get everyone together! Make sure you're out of sight!" Harry shouted to her as he ran away from her – she didn't have a chance to complain.
Giants were now walking up the sloping lawns towards the front doors, with many Centaurs weaving between their legs, shooting up at their faces with Bows and Arrows.
The sun had already gone down by the time Voldemort, with Belatrix, Lucius, Wormtail and Snape walked through the gates, with an army of Death Eaters and Inferi behind them – the Inferi were clearly the murdered people of Hogsmeade! At the top of the lawns, Ginny could see the silhouettes of the members of the Order of the Phoenix, and many of the DA, against the lit-up windows of the Castle.
She heard a harsh shout from the gates as Voldemort and Snape lifted up their wands together and cast a spell upon their ranks. They shimmered for a second, and then returned to normal.
Ginny felt someone grab her arm and spun around, her heart beating. It was Luna
"What are we going to do?" she whispered hurriedly. "We can't get up the lawn without getting caught!"
"What are you doing here?" asked Ginny.
"I've been hiding from those Giants all day, over in those bushes! When the Order brought them down, I was going to make a run for it, but then they came!" she gestured with her head over to the Gates.
They were still thinking about this when they heard screams and saw people pointing over at the Forest. A strange fog had gathered, and as they both looked where everyone was pointing, they saw Hundreds of Dementors gliding out from between the trees, accompanied by 5 Mountain Trolls, whom were moving much less gracefully, as they pushed trees out of the way to get out into the open.
As the full moon came out in the sky, they heard howling from within the castle. Ginny knew that Lupin had begun his transformation.
As the Dementors reached the Order Members (the trolls were still lumbering behind), bright light shot out of their wands. Most of it was just haze, but Ginny could see a few Corporeal Patronuses in it too, including a fading Otter, a bright and consistent Wolf and, brightest of all, a Great Stag, which was running around and charging at the Dementors with its head lowered.
Ginny heard more howling, and thinking that it was just Lupin, she didn't bother to look away from the scene before her. Behind her though, Luna gasped and began trying to drag her behind the tree which they had been crouched beside. As she was being steered away, Ginny looked over her shoulder and the bottom fell out of her stomach – the first of many Werewolves were dragging themselves out of the gap between the roots of the Whomping Willow. Ginny realised that the spell that Voldemort and Snape had used had made them unattractive to the Werewolves, so that they would not target them.
Most of them began running in the direction of the Front Doors, though some just ran into the Forest. A few, however, had started running directly for Ginny and Luna! She knew that the leader of these few was Fenrir Greyback, who prayed on Children.
"Harry, help me!" she shouted out as Greyback advanced towards her and Luna on the banks of the Great Lake.
