Chapter 7: Let the mayhem begin
Trolls were coming from every direction. Students panic-stricken, teachers caught off-guard. Harry and Eli soared high above the Great Hall to get a perfect view and to plan their attack well. Then a crack was heard behind them. The ceiling collapsed and wyverns had gone in. Professor Dumbledore ordered the students to seek refuge in their Common Rooms.
"Harry, take on the wyverns, I'll go get the trolls. Beware! The wyverns have poisonous needles on their tails. They're weak against fire! GO!" Eli screamed. The Great Hall looked like an ant hill. Students running up and about. Dodging the whacks of the cave trolls' club. Hermione, Ron and the rest of the prefects were able to take down some of the trolls that were near them.
Harry soared higher, he tried his best to recall the spells that would help him. He remembered the spell Professor Lupin just taught. He focused hard as he moved round and round the area. A red orb was forming in Harry's left fist. His eyes started to light up in a red color. He aimed his spell at the nearest wyvern which was about to dive down and attack. He released the red glowing orb from his fist, like a baseball pitch. Halfway from Harry, the ball divided into 5 red glowing balls and hit the wyvern. It screeched in pain as it sought out to see its attacker. Harry made no time put into waste and drew out his sword. He dived down as fast as he could to surprise the wyvern he just hit. He came from behind it, with a slash from his sword, the tail of the wyvern was cut. It groaned more and more. Harry sought out it's head. Upon reaching it, the wyvern made its attempt to catch him with its mouth. Missing just a fraction, Harry struck the wyverns head. It was hard, considering that the wyvern had a really tough scale, much like a dragon's. He struck it again at the same place with all his strength, and the head was cut off.
"That's one down," he muttered to himself. As he flew off to search for more.
Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of the Gryffindors tried to seek refuge in their Common Room. As they made their way, another troll was in their path.
"Ron! Distract it! I'll try to aim for its head with a stunning spell!" Hermione shouted as they did their best to evade the monster's attacks.
"That's easy for you to say!" Ron muttered to himself as he aimed his own wand to cast a spell. "Vaxio!" he called out as three red glowing orbs came out from Ron's wand hitting the troll. The troll lost it's grip of the club as Hermione aimed her on wand at it.
"Stupefy!" she shouted. As the troll fell on it's back, and unconscious as it seemed. "Nice going! Mione!" Ron congratulated her as they made their way to the common room.
"Practice," she said "But, what about Harry?" Ron asked. "He'll be able to take care of himself!" said a 5th year from Gryffindor. "You should have seen him back there! He's bloody brilliant! First light was all over him, then a loud bang and there! He had this wicked armor on him and he had wings and he had a sword too!" Seamus added as they ran their way.
Professor Dumbledore was casting spell after spell. So far he was able to bring 2 wyverns down and a troll. He was casting spells unknown to all the teachers. "Chromatia!" he bellowed as he pointed his wand at the wyvern. This rainbow-colored sphere stuck the wyvern. It froze up and turned into a statue as it fell down and shattered into oblivion.
Professor Lupin saw what the headmaster had just done. 'The chromatic orb! But I thought that was forbidden!?' he thought to himself as he tried his best to drive back the trolls around him.
Eli was having the time of his life. Hacking and slashing any monster that came to his way. It seems that his strength when he's a dragoon multiplies more than ten times a normal man's strength. He divided the trolls into two as he slaughtered his way among the enemy's ranks.
Soon, the battle was over. A lot of students were injured. Fortunately, there was no casualty. With the combined help of Eli, Harry and the rest of the teachers, they were able to prevent any casualty. The other monsters that were left fled for its life. But something wasn't right. It wasn't over.
Darkness started to fill the whole place. Sadness and sorrow was once again present in Harry's heart.
"Dementors!" he called out to everyone. He cast-out his Patronus as it wildly ran and searched the Dementors. But the Dementors didn't even flinch to the Patronus' attcks.
"They are no ordinary Dementors, Harry! Use this, call out lumina! It is the divine light spell. That is the only thing that can eradicate those dementors!" Eli called out.
'Lumina!' he called out in his mind. Blinding light was present again. This time, there was some sort of hymn that can be heard. It was so subtle, so warm. The Dementors could be seen burning alive as it somehow screeched. One by one, they burned into ashes. And the light was gone.
Harry landed to the ground. Muscle-sore, and spent. He sat at one of the benches of a house table. He could see as all the corpse of the monsters turn into ashes and disappear.
"That is what happens when a creature has joined in-league of Tom Riddle." Dumbledore said as he went to Harry's place and sat beside him. With the flick of his finger, the Great Hall was neat again, except for the damaged ceiling and the destroyed door.
"Harry, call out all the students in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, tell Elijah to get the other two houses to come here. I have an important announcement," he said as he looked into Harry's eyes with seriousness.
Harry had no choice but to obey. He wondered 'Why am I supposed to be the one to call out Ravenclaw?' then he called out Eli telepathically 'Eli, orders from the headmaster. Go get Slytherin and Hufflepuff to come down here. Dumbledore has an important announcement,' he said as he glanced over to where Eli was. He looked at Harry and nodded as he flew away.
Harry flew his way also to the Gryffindor Tower. He went inside the Common Room to find it packed with almost all the students of the house in there.
"Dumbledore. He wants all of us to come down. Important announcement. Don't worry, the monsters are no more," he said reassuringly.
"What was that all about anyway!?" asked Dean as he seemed to be shaken by the turn of events.
"It'll be explained later. C'mon, you wouldn't want to be late. Dumbledore's pissed I think," he said as he left the Common Room.
He made his way to the Ravenclaw portrait entrance. He didn't know the password.
"Please! I need to get in! Professor Dumbledore has ordered me to call them to the Great Hall," he pleaded.
"Sorry, young man. No password? NO ENRTY!" just then, the portrait hole swung open and Roger Davies came out.
"Potter! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be there fending the monsters off?!" he asked as he looked at Harry with surprise. Harry and Roger's relationship was fine. They never talked that much though.
"Dumbledore told me to make you all come back to the Great Hall. The attackers are gone. It's safe now. Go! Dumbledore's not in a good mood!" With that, Harry soared away and just as he left, Cho went out the Portrait Hole. She saw Harry's traces as red glowing dusts where falling down like snow after Harry passed it.
Soon enough, the whole Great Hall was packed with students again. This time all of them had loads of questions. They wanted to know why all these have happened. And why attack Hogwarts?
Harry sat between Hermione and Ron, whom as soon as he got down, barraged him with questions. Eli too had a fair share of interrogations from Fred, George, Seamus and Dean.
Professor Dumbledore stood up and cleared his mouth to get the people's attention. "What had just happened earlier was a demonstration of what is happening in the streets of the cities of England today. All sorts of creatures have joined Voldemort's cause. As you can see, two of your fellow students helped prevent casualties from this attack. Harry Potter and Elijah Austin, please stand up and be recognized."
As soon as Professor Dumbledore was finished, murmurs all over the room was heard. Harry and Eli stood up from their seats as more murmurs were heard. Apparently, they were still wearing their battle armors.
"These two brave men are no ordinary human. They are dragoons. Elijah is a full-blood while Harry is half. Dragoons are dragon knights, their blood is mixed with a dragon's. They can do a lot of things that any of us can't. They can understand ancient magic that any normal person, including me, cannot understand. They have come to our aid, just as the wyverns have come to Voldemort's aid. The tides are dark nowadays; therefore, I shall assign these two as Hogwarts' Elite Guards. Prefects will answer to the head boy and head girl, the both will answer to them and they shall answer to me. When something like this happens, it is imperative that they are to be alarmed,"
The Hall fell silent. They were still trying to take in all these facts that Professor Dumbledore has given. Harry chanced a look over the teacher's table. All of them looked serious. Lupin was very exhausted from the battle. He had scars and his robes were torn. So did the other teachers. Even Professor Snape was too spent to give him a look of disgust. The Slytherins too were too shaken to comment on what Professor Dumbledore had said. Needless to say, this is just the beginning.
oSomewhere…o
A man with serpent-like face sat in a throne. A throne that had skulls at its edges. And beside him stood a man. This man was Wormtail.
"Master, the school is vulnerable to the attack. But there were no casualties. The dragoons, master! They are in league with Dumbledore!" he informed.
"If they have dragoons with them, I also have a counterpart," he hissed. "Nassil!" he called out.
From the ceiling of what seemed like Voldemort's fortress soared a wyvern. But this wyvern was different. It had armor all over him. And a rider was on his back, a drow. A fallen high elf. Once one of the most beautiful beings that walked this earth. He was dark. He too wore an armor, an armor that seemed enchanted. He carried a long bow that was on his back along with the quivers. He also carried a rapier. A scimitar, but it was thin all the way to the tip.
"This, my servant is Nassil. He is the leader of the stewards of wyverns. They are the only one's that equal the dragoons," Voldemort hissed proudly to Wormtail who was in awe.
"I offer my allegiances to the Dark Lord. And the Dark Lord alone," said Nassil. His eyes were different. The colors of his eyes were inverted. And you can read from his eyes all the anguish, the malice and anger.
oBack At Hogwartso
A week has passed since the attack. The students a more weary than ever. Constant vigilance was in their minds. They were keen to their surroundings. Ever watchful for anything unusual that happens. Even the centaurs along with the other creatures that go about the Forbidden Forest are mindful of the situation at hand.
Never the less, everyone tried to make things back to normal. Qudditch practices were more constant. So that they students would be distracted a bit from worrying. Provided that there is a teacher at watch. George has been elected as the team captain and Fred as his co-captain. Since they were the eldest in the team, they took it to themselves to take charge. Finding their new chasers wasn't that hard. Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and much to Harry's amusement; Colin Creevy was up for the task. ("Oh bugger. It's gonna be a long school year! I'll tell you that!" he told Ron as they started training.) Roger Davies was chosen as team captain for Ravenclaw, and Zacharias Smith was also chosen as captain for Hufflepuff. And much to everyone's ALMOST everyone's dismay and surprise, Draco Malfoy was chosen as captain. Harry couldn't help but smile a bit. He stopped his overgrowing dislike for Malfoy ever since he apologized to him.
Harry and Cho also found some time for themselves to get together. They kept their relationship as a secret to themselves since it's been known to the public that Cho was going out with Michael Corner. Harry couldn't help but feel very jealous when Michael and Cho were together. Cho however could only smile. She still can't find the right time to dump Michael. "He seems too kind to hurt" Cho said to Harry in one of their discussions about this topic. They would intentionally walk the same path everyday just to see each other. Every time that they would get too sweet in public, they would just explain that they were best friends. And everyone seems to buy it since hugging seemed as a Standard Operating Procedure for both of them.
Classes were much more intense. Professor Snape was more hellish than ever. He would make the students concoct very complex potions like the potion of invisibility, and the like. DADA however was more interesting than ever. Professor Lupin moved his classes to the Room of Requirement as Harry had suggested. He was allowed to teach the Chromatic Orb hex to 6th and 7th year students. "It's the only spell that can equal the Killing Curse. If you concentrate well enough, when the spell hits your target, he would be either petrified or shattered into smithereens. But it if ever you do not get that, the spell will only work like a normal magic missile spell. The students seem to get the hang of it since almost everyone anticipates their DADA classes everyday. There was no more need for DA, since Professor Lupin has called on for Harry and Eli as his assistants whenever they had a free time.
December was near. And everyone eagerly waits for an announcement about Christmas Balls. Snow started to fall as early as the first week. The teachers seemed to be in good spirits since they haven't been giving a heavy load of homework. Harry and Cho find their selves a lot meeting in the Astronomy Tower. It seems that being without each others company was bad for them. But still, Michael Corner was a problem for the both of them.
It was time for breakfast. Two more weeks and then it'll be Christmas. Everyone's all hyped up to go to Hogsmead in the weekend. And everyone was still waiting for the announcement of the Christmas Ball.
"Attention everyone," Professor Dumbledore called out as he stood up. "On the 18th of December, there will be a Christmas a ball. All year levels are welcome to join. The attire will be semi-formal, but please do not wear your school uniform. Muggle attire is also allowed. The ball starts at 6:00pm and will end midnight. Also, students are allowed not to come with dates, but it doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to have a date. Now, enjoy your meal!" with this said, the Hall was filled with ecstatic murmuring.
As Harry walked the corridors of Hogwarts, girls have been ambushing him to be his date. Whenever this would happen, he would have to make excuses. Some of the girls that invited him would put up quite a fight but failed up to avail.
Just as he was on his way to the Gryffindor tower, he saw a pair of shadows. A boy's and a girl's. With his curiosity driving him mad, Harry went to check. The sight he saw in front of him gave quite a shocker. It was Michael and Parvati. They were kissing. Just then he felt his eyes covered. And a whisper in his ear.
"Guess who?" said a girl cheerfully. Harry knew it was Cho. But he didn't want to call her out. He didn't want to see her get hurt as Michael and Parvati still continue to do their lip-lock session, unmindful of their audience.
"Cho" he said briefly. Cho moved to his side and froze as she saw the scene before them. Michael and Parvati finally noticed this and Michael was in disarray. He was in trouble, yes indeed.
"CHO! I can explain!" he pleaded up to no avail. Tears started to cascade from Cho's eyes as she stood there in shock. Harry, knowing that if she continued to just stand there it would be mayhem, did the right thing and tried to pull Cho away. But Cho didn't let him.
"I thought you were better than that, Michael," she said. And before anything else happened. She gave Michael a hard slap on the cheek which made his right cheek burn deep red. She gave Parvati a look that could be interpreted as 'have a nice life' and she took off. As soon as she took of Harry tore after her.
Cho ran as fast as she could toward the lake. She couldn't believe that Michael would do that to her. She always thought that Michael was a great person. Needless to say, she was free again. Free for Harry. But can she just step into another relationship?
"Cho!" Harry called out as he caught up with her by the lake. As if on cue, Cho flung her arms around him. She was sobbing. And Harry could only hold her.
"Its gonna be fine.." he said as he rocked he while saying some very soothing words. Cho however just continued to sob on Harry's shoulder. As soon as Cho had stop crying, they sat under a tree. Cho was still in Harry's arms. She felt relaxed when Harry held him. He made her feel warm, something that she never felt when Michael held her.
"What happens now?" she asked.
"I don't know…"
They stayed there as long as they could. Until it was time for dinner. They walked back to the Great Hall in silence. Harry was quite thankful that the butterflies in his stomach had gone when Cho was there. It seems like he's used to be near her.
Harry made her sit in the Gryffindor Table since another encounter with Michael might cause an uproar between the both of them. Both of them received quite a large amount of looks, even some of Cho's friends went to the Gryffindor Table to ask her if something was wrong. She'd only tell them that she'll explain ever thing later and that he can't bear to sit near Michael Corner that's why she's sitting on the Gryffindor table.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked Cho as Cho sat down in between Harry and Hermione. Cho was still looking miserable. It felt so bad to be cheated. Harry knew that, and he could only be there for her.
"Michael. He… he cheated!" Cho said in an almost whisper-like tone to Hermione. She was about to burst into tears again but she bit her lip and Harry putted her on the back gently.
"That bloody git!" Ron said as he looked awfully surprise with his tone rising after every word. "I knew he was a good-for-nothing! It's a good thing that Ginny ditched her!" he said indignantly. But this didn't seem to help Cho.
"Shut you orifice, Ron!" Hermione scolded as Ron gave her a 'what-did-I-do?' look.
As soon as they were done eating, Cho got up to leave. Harry followed suit but he saw that her friends were after her too. 'Better leave it to them.' He thought. Cho came back to Harry and hugged him. "Thanks, Harry," she whispered as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
Harry was yet again frozen. Ron and the others' catcalling was blurred away from his ears. He was trying to evaluate the last situation. Again she caught him off-guard.
"I think I'm going to have the best Christmas yet…" Harry muttered to himself as he touched his lips.
