Age of Insurrection
Prologue
Before Hermione Granger, some one hundred meters away, Harry Potter lay dead upon the grass.
Hermione starred at Harry's corpse, her body frozen, her mind unable – perhaps unwilling, to comprehend the scene before her. But, as much as her subconscious tried to suppress the all-too-unpleasant truth, her mind broke free. Harry Potter was dead, it declared. Her eyes had seen it. The burden of truth was too great to ignore.
It was only mere hours ago that Harry Potter had tread amongst the ranks of the living, hunting hidden Horcruxes across the entire castle with her and Ron. And now, he lay before them, seemingly dead. But, in the midst of shock, it felt as though Harry Potter had never died. Perhaps he was feigning death until the right moment arrived? And, of course, when that moment came about, he would rise from his prone position in the grass, fire a curse at Voldemort, and rally the defenders of Hogwarts to do battle once more...
Yet, as the crowd waited longingly for their hero to rise, it was all too apparent that he was dead.
Oh, Harry... Hermione thought. Despite the orgy of death that she had witnessed tonight, she found it unbelievable that of all people, Harry Potter could die. He was named the 'Boy Who Lived' after all, right? And she had seen him escape death on more than one occasion...
"He beat you!" Ron yelled beside her. Once again, the crowd around them roared with defiance, breaking Voldemort's silencing spell once more.
Hermione found herself able to speak again. And so she did her part, yelling at the top of her lungs-
Voldemort's wand cracked once again. The crowd was muted. He strode forward to address the crowd.
"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds, killed while saving himself-"
Hermione felt someone pushing her into Ron's side. It was Neville. He elbowed his way through the crowd and lunged towards Voldemort's feet, wand at the ready.
Voldemort, anticipating this, blasted a curse at Neville's feet. He fell backwards. "And who is this?" he snarled. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"
Bellatrix Lestrange laughed. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of Aurors, remember?"
Voldemort turned away from his lieutenant and looked at Neville, who was struggling to assume a standing position before him.
Meanwhile, the crowd remained silent. A few gasps and whispers broke the silence, however. Although Hermione could not hear the muted chatter all around her, she knew what they were thinking. What was Neville trying to achieve in this moment of defiance? It seemed bizarre, even foolhardy, by any standard of bravery.
"Ah, yes, I remember," began Voldemort. "But you are a pure-blood, aren't you, my brave boy?"
"So, what if I am?" asked Neville rhetorically. He was unarmed, and it hardly seemed likely that any battle between him and Voldemort would result in a most lopsided victory for the latter.
Voldmort eyed the boy before him with a mixture of curiosity and admiration. "You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over." Neville raised his fist towards the stars and turned to face the crowd behind him. "Dumbledore's Army!" he screamed. The crowd resounded in a roar of approval for Neville's words.
Hermione cheered. Although it seemed likely that Neville probably wouldn't make it back to their side, at least he would die a hero.
"Very well," said Voldemort softly. He stepped back and raised his wand. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it." He waved his wand. Neville froze where he stood.
Hermione heard one of the windows in the castle shatter behind her. There was nothing but casading glass by the time she turned around, but someone in the crowd yelled, "Look!" and pointed it at the Sorting Hat, which was speeding itself towards Voldemort's hands. Voldemort seized it.
"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," began Voldemort. "There will be no Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?" He tilted his head in Neville's direction.
"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue opposing me," said Voldemort.
Voldemort shoved the Sorting Hat roughly onto Neville's head, and lit it aflame. The crowd booed and hissed. Some in the crowd tried to break free and run towards Neville, but the Death Eaters' curses kept them in their places. Hermione suddenly felt a great urge to save Neville from his predicament. She began pushing forward through the crowd.
"Hermione, where are you going?" hissed Ron.
She ignored Ron, elbowing her way through the crowd. She was almost near the front of the crowd-
BANG! Hermione was knocked off her feet. A few people behind her helped her up. A Death Eater had cast a Blaster curse at her feet. Reorienting herself, she squinted at Neville in the distance. The Sorting Hat was still burning upon his head. A few people in the crowd continued to scream. Voldmort relished in the crowd's horror, giving off a sick laugh.
There was no way they could save Neville, no possible way now-
But, then, almost suddenly, Neville broke free. He had a sword in his hands. Hermione was perplexed. Where did that sword come from?
Neville ran towards Voldemort's snake, Nagini, and swung the sword in a sideways motion, cutting the great snake's head off with the precision of a bullet making its mark upon the enemy.
Voldemort screamed with the fury of an angry widow, yet he did not raise his wand to curse his beloved snake's killer. Neville took advantage of Voldemort's momentary shock to sprint back towards the crowd. The crowd cheered. The Death Eaters fired curses at him, but all of them seemingly missed. He ran into Hermione and shoved her roughly into the ground.
"Oh, sorry, Hermione. Didn't mean to push off your feet-"
Hermione got up, breathless. "No, don't worry, Neville. I'm fine," she gasped. She then looked at Harry, who remained prone on the grass. Then it struck her. Neville had just killed one of Voldemort's last Horcruxes. Voldemort no longer had any protection. This was the time to strike back, to kill Voldemort, to avenge for all the pain that he had caused...
"Way to go, Longbottom!" George Weasley cheered.
"Yes, a brave and foolhardy move, Longbottom, but still effective nonetheless," Professor McGonagall commented.
Voldemort's voice broke the sounds of celebration emanating from the crowd. "You will all pay for your defiance." His lips curled as he paused momentarily for dramatic effect. "With your lives." He raised his wand. "Charge!"
The Death Eaters fired curses in all directions towards the crowd as they charged. People in the crowd crumbled as Blaster curses flew into them. Voldemort's giants weren't far away either. The ground thundered as they too made their way towards the castle entrance.
"Fall back on the castle!" McGonagall screamed. "Fall back!"
Hermione, who had not been caught in the firing of curses, ran back towards the castle as ordered. A few members of the crowd stayed behind to cover the others' retreat. She saw Ron amongst them.
"Ron!" she screamed. "Fall back! You can't fight them!"
In the midst of all the noise, Ron appeared unable to hear her pleas. He continued to firing curses into the oncoming Death Eaters and giants. But, then, a beam of green light from out of nowhere hit Ron squarely in the chest. He fell backwards and did not stir.
"NO!" Hermione screeched in shock. "NO!" She wanted to run back, to retrieve his body, to curse his killer into a million slimy bits-
"No, Granger! You musn't!" Aberforth Dumbledore grabbed Hermione's arm, pulling her back into the castle.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO AND FIGHT THEM!" Hermione shook her arm, trying to shake Aberforth off of her, but his grip upon her arm hardly slackened.
"The fight is lost, girl! We must flee!" Aberforth tugged Hermione into a side chamber as the battle continued to rage inside the entrance hall. The sounds of battle grew distant as they walked deeper into the castle. Aberforth stopped in front of the Room of Requirement.
"What now?" Hermione asked, gasping for breath. Aberforth let her arm go.
"We wait for survivors. People who have chosen to flee. We will continue the resistance elsewhere. There's no damn point in standing to die here. The Dark Lord's forces are too strong."
"What?" Hermione began, still reeling from Ron's death. "You would rather live like a coward rather than face Him? He'll find us, and then kill us..." Her voice slackened... She no longer had the energy to yell at Aberforth anymore. She collapsed onto the floor. She no longer even had the energy to cry.
"Now, now, girl. When there is a will, there is a way. Cheer up." Aberforth knelt down besides Hermione. He then pointed his arm down the hallway. "Look, there are survivors right now!"
Hermione saw Luna and Parvati Patil running towards them. Despite her lack of energy, she stood up to greet the two girls nonetheless.
"Hermione, I just saw what happened to Ron..." Luna gasped. She embraced Hermione with a hug. "I am terribly sorry, I should have dragged him away when I could, but then I lost my grip and lost track of him!"
"No," Hermione said quietly. "It's not your fault, Luna."
"What should we do now?" asked Parvati. She had cuts all over face. "I saw McGonagall die... They just overwhelmed us. We... we... just crumbled."
"We did manage to kill a few of them, though," Luna rebutted. "Yaxley, or whatever his name was? Someone on our side killed him with a Killing Curse."
"What about the rest of the DA?" Hermione was regaining her composure. Her breathing began to steady.
"Dunno what happened to the rest of them. They just scattered as soon as the giants came in." Parvati replied. "I don't even know what happened to my sister." She blew her nose.
"I think I saw Neville running into the kitchen..." Luna said. "But I am not sure. I just saw Parvati running, so I just followed her. And we ended up here."
Aberforth cut into the conversation. "Ladies, while I know it's important to know what happened to our loved ones, we need to start moving now. We can go to my bar, for starters. Then, perhaps we may establish a more secure location for ourselves."
"I know a relatively secure location," Hermione replied. "It's in London." Although she had revealed the location of 12 Grimmauld Place to Yaxley during the raid on the Ministry a few weeks ago, it was possible that he would have been unable to reveal it to the other Death Eaters, for he was not a Secret-Keeper himself.
"London?" Luna asked. She paused, then a light came to her eyes. "Oh, so we are going to hide ourselves amongst Muggles, then?"
"In a way, yes," said Hermione tersely. "But, Aberforth is right, we need to get out of here. The longer we stand here, the greater the chances are of us getting killed. But, rest assured, I know what I am doing."
"Right," replied Parvati. She gripped the door handle, apparently in deep concentration. After a few moments, she opened the door. "There. I think we can access Hog's Head now."
"Excellent," replied Aberforth. "Ladies first, am I correct?" There were no males before him.
"Oh, what a gentleman you are," Luna commented. "Even in the midst of crisis."
Aberforth sighed. It was certainly no time for sarcasm. "It's a way of remaining calm," he said quickly. "Now, don't dawdle. Let's go!" The four of them piled into the Room, and Aberforth shut the door behind them. The entrance to the tunnel was immediately before them. "Lumos," Aberforth muttered. His wand was suddenly lit.
"Follow me," he beckoned to the three girls.
As Hermione set off into the tunnel with Aberforth, Luna, and Parvati, she could still hear the faint sounds of battle above them, though the sounds have become far less frequent. Voldemort was most likely cleaning up what remained of Hogwarts' survivors. She hoped that most of them had managed to flee out of his reach.
Her eyes wandered. They lit like an angry flame, fixated upon the light from Aberforth's glowing wand.
Voldemort will pay. Voldemort will die for his sins. And Hermione Granger, the girl whom many had considered a bubbly know-it-all, will cast the final curse upon his snake-like face.