I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me. I know some people are terrified of the bomb. But then some people are terrified to be seen carrying a modern screen magazine. Experience teaches us that silence terrifies people the most.
Bob Dylan
EQUALING THE DEVIL
_________________________________________
As James ran through the dark corridors the only sound he could hear was the frantic beating of his heart. He didn't know how, but he knew exactly what was going to happen, and he knew if he didn't warn the headmistress then innocent children were going to die.
James also knew that he would die before he let those bigoted supremacists destroy his home and all who resided within its walls.
Before he realized it James had reached the large doors that led to Madam Chevelle's personal office and quarters. James raised his fist and banged it against the door as hard as he could. He called out to the headmistress not caring if he woke the entire school; that was the point wasn't it?
He knew that most of the students would be awake by now. He was not quiet in his mad dash to reach Madam Chevelle and numerous students had seen him running through the dorms. He was sure word had spread and James hoped that his reputation, as well as the urgent authority in his voice, was enough that the students would listen to him and stay in their quarters.
After a moment, but what seemed like forever, the door was yanked open. James lost his balance and the momentum from his knocking sent him to the ground. Before madam Chevelle could say anything James scrambled to his feet and exclaimed, "The school is going to be attacked!"
The color drained from Maria's face instantly and she quickly headed toward her desk.
Without pausing she asked, "Quando?"
"Soon."
She nodded her head in understanding while casting a spell over a glass representation of the school. A loud wailing sound pierced the air and James knew the school was going into lockdown.
"You sure?" Madam Chevelle asked without looking.
There was no doubt in her voice, only hope.
"sicuro."
With a nod she opened another drawer and pulled out a small compact mirror. With the tip of her wand she touched the reflective surface and said 'Iungo'. The mirror glowed a dark blue and as if she took this as her cue Madam Chevelle began to speak into the mirror.
"Albus Dumbledore. This is Maria Chevelle and My school in under attack. I need help."
Standing in the middle of his mentor's office James watched as Madam Chevelle called the famous Albus Dumbledore for help. He had had no idea that she actually knew him but when he thought about it he wasn't surprised.
Not a second later the room began to fill with the other teachers and staff. They looked as if they had just woken up, and remembering the time they probably had; they were alert though, and that was what mattered. James received a few odd looks but no one questioned his presence. The door opened a final time and the Deputy headmaster entered. After a quick glance around the room to make sure everyone was there he closed the door and headed towards his student.
When Darius Maschio reached James he leaned close and in an urgent whisper asked, "What is going on?"
Before James had a chance to respond Madam Chevelle replaced the mirror in the draw and turned to face her colleagues. Her face was grim but set. She opened her mouth to inform the staff what was happening when there was a loud explosion that rocked the entire building. The front side of the blue model flared a bright red before turning clear; the western wards had fallen.
…..
It had been just over ten minutes since James had woken up from his dream and it was only now that he was finally able to calm himself.
They were ready.
At least as ready as they could be; help was on the way, the students would be safe, and Madam Chevelle was organizing her troops like the strategist she was.
Once everyone had figured out what was happening Madam Chevelle had reassured the staff that they still had time before the Death Eaters broke through the inner wards. She stressed that their main priority was to hold off the attack until help arrived; the children would be safe if they could do that.
While she was speaking James' breathing steadily got worse. Seeing his student's discomfort the Defense Master raised his hand and settled it on James' shoulder. James knew that Maschio's following squeeze was that of gratitude and reassurance and that insignificant act had calmed him more then anything else.
Maria Chevelle walked from behind her desk and exited her office. She led the large group through the corridors and without slowing her brisk pace she began to throw out orders.
"Dominic, I need you to take Claire, Dalida, Leone, Quentin, Bruno and Riccardo up to the second floor. Position yourselves at the Western windows; we need cover from above."
Though James knew the seven teachers that the headmistress had indicated were great in their individual fields and had excellent aim, James knew, and so did Chevelle, that they wouldn't last five minutes in a close quarters battle.
"Enrico, I need you to go up to the children. Take Christain with you."
With a nod, the Art and English Language professors nodded their heads and wished the others luck; they began to rush up the stairs towards the students.
The group had finally reached the foyer and Maria stopped just inside the large double doors. She took a deep breath to steady herself, spun on her heels, and leveled the remaining witches and wizards with an intense gaze. She began to speak.
"The rest of us are going to be in the direct line of fire, so if you don't want to be here go now."
No one moved, and after a moment of hesitation Maria nodded her head in gratitude and began to scrutinize the remaining teachers. After a moment she came to a conclusion and began to issue orders once again.
"Avy, Raul," she stated, "I want you to take position inside the entrance way. Keep cover and hold your position so we have a retreat if we need it."
With their nod of assent the headmistress turned to the other thirteen and said, "We will spread ourselves in a defensive line on the front lawn; I will take point. Once the fighting starts I want you to stay in groups. Simone, Giulietta, Erika, Maurice, Bebbe and Gino you will take the South end while Gemma, Frank, Matteo, Giorgio, Fernando, and Bruno will take the North. Darius you'll take right point with me."
She finally turned to James and with a hesitant look asked, "I want you at my back James, but if you want to go back up to the dorms I'll understand."
With a crooked grin that all the staff knew well James replied, "I'm still here aren't I? You already gave us the choice to leave."
With an exasperated laugh and a fond smile Maria Chevelle assented and placed both her hands on her student's shoulders. With a sad smile she said, "I am so proud of you James."
At the moment of sentimentality James lowered he head and shrugged his shoulders. When he raised his head again his mentor had composed herself and had her lecture face on.
"You have your spare wand?" It wasn't a question, but a statement.
With a role of his eyes James replied, "What do you think?"
"What about you knives?" This was a question that James had to smirk at. He raised his eyebrow incredulously and stared at the headmistress.
With another exasperated shake of her head she answered her own question, "I shouldn't have asked. I hate those things you know? And I should have taken them away."
James smirked again. "You should of, but then I wouldn't have them now."
Maria Chevelle went to smack her student over the head but he dodged quickly. When she turned towards him again his expression was series.
"Ready for a fight?"
"Have you said your prayer?"
James nodded his head solemnly.
"Then yes, I'm ready.
………….
Albus Dumbledore was nervous. Less then a week ago Michael Potter had had a dream in which Voldemort had discussed attacking the School. When Severus had been told, the Defense Teacher had scoffed at the idea. Albus' spy had reassured the headmaster that the Deatheaters were not preparing an attack and that Michael had been wrong.
Albus had wanted to believe his students but there was no other evidence that Tom was going to attack Hogwarts this night. Severus' continued presence reiterated this. Still, he would not put his school and her students at risk; Albus had been channeling extra power into the wards all week and he had called the order together in case Michael was right.
Thought it was only a little before ten Albus began to doubt his decision. There was school tomorrow and the teachers needed their sleep. Once the clock struck ten and there was still no indication that an attack was imminent Albus decided to send his phoenix's to bed. As the others started for their quarters for the night Albus Dumbledore began the long hike towards his own office and attached quarters.
The stone gargoyle moved quickly out of the way and he ascended the stairs. When he entered the room Fawkes gave him welcoming twill and ruffled his feathers in greeting.
"Hello old friend." He sighed and he crossed the room to his familiar. "I do believe I missed something important tonight."
At his statement the phoenix quirked his head to the side and with a knowing chirp flew to the cabinet I which Albus kept all his communication devices.
Tired, Albus replied to the bird. "No Fawkes, there is no one I need to talk to tonight."
At Albus' misunderstanding the bird flapped his feathers and raised a few feet off the cabinet. At the birds indignant squawk Albus walked over to the cabinet. Curious he opened the door and to his surprise one of his mirrors was glowing a dark blue.
"Oh Dear."
Albus Dumbledore had immediately recognized the mirror as the brother of the mirror he had given Maria Chevelle at the beginning of the summer. The fact she was calling for help, added on top of Michael's dream, made the Headmaster realize his mistake; he knew what the message would say. As he picked up the mirror and tapped the surface with his wand he hoped that he was wrong.
He was not.
The reflective surface clouded for a second before it settled onto the face of a grave Maria Chevelle. The message was simple, but urgent. "Albus Dumbledore." It said, "This is Maria Chevelle and My school in under attack. I need help."
Without a moments hesitation the Headmaster replaced the mirror into it's spot and raised his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!"
As the familiar form of his patronus appeared Albus Dumbledore considered what message to send to the order members still in the castle.
"Voldemort is attacking the Italian Muggleborn School. They need reinforcement. Meet in great hall and be prepared to Portkey out within ten minutes."
As Albus Dumbledore watched the silver creature rush out his office he only hoped that they were not too late.
………….
The fighting was intense. Their defensive line had broke within five minutes of the Deatheaters breaking the inner wards. James and his two professors now formed a tight triangle and attacked from all directions. They worked in perfect sync and James knew it was only because of the hours that he spent with his teachers training. James agreed that this formation was critical in battle, he loved that he didn't have to worry about his back, but he loathed not being able to easily dodge. He just hoped that when a sickly green light came their way all three of them would all be able to move.
Spells were coming from the main door as well as multiple windows on the second floor. The Deatheaters had been taken by surprise; they had not expected the teachers to be prepared and for the defensive wards to be at full strength. Four lives were lost just trying to cross the no mans land between the outer and inner wards and numerous Purebloods had already fallen in battle with the teachers. The wards on the building itself were the strongest and the Deatheaters still had to pass the fifteen highly trained wizards and witches before they could even attempt to break the last set of wards. The Deatheater's were loosing.
On the peripheral of his Vision James saw two hooded men nearing the Northwestern edge of the building. He only took a second to decide what to use and before the attackers even noticed they had been spotted James threw a sequence of low level spells in their direction. Though he was perfectly capable of using high powered destructive spells James could tell the two men weren't that quick so there was no need; he knew that if he conserved his power now then he could out last anyone on the battle field.
James raised his wand in the air and with whipping motion yelled "Flagello"
A vibrant purple beam of magic soared towards the intruders and with a crackle of magic the tip wrapped around the wrist of the lead Deatheater. With a yank James was able to pull him off his feet. Not a moment later James sent a jet of water towards the two men with his secondary wand. Before the water even reached his targets James incanted another spell.
"Levitas!"
Instantly a blindingly white light left James primary wand and followed the purple bean of light that still connected the wet Deatheater to his wand. The length of light suddenly reached its target and one after the other both Deatheaters screamed and collapsed to the wet ground.
James turned back to the battle in front of him knowing the two men would not get up. Before he could contemplate the slightly smoking figures James noticed a neon purple curse heading strait for him. He swatted the curse away with a reflective shield at the tip of his wand and reciprocated the attack.
"Ventus Parietis!"
A wall of wind burst out of James wand and even though the Deatheater was able to raise a shield in time the force of the wind blew his shield away and tossed the wizard into the air at least a dozen yards. There was a sickening crunch as his body hit the trunk of a tree and crumpled to the ground lifeless.
'Opps!' James thought. 'Guess I put a little too much power behind that spell. Oh well.'
An urgent command to duck came from his defense master at his back and James instantly dove to the ground in a roll. He came up in a crouch and saw the familiar face of the man who had just tried to kill him and his teachers.
Gino Lambardi, the most elite of the Italian Purelbloods, was only slightly more of a bastard then his son. A low growl formed in James throat and he rose to his feet intending to curse the bastardo.
Lambardi's curse missed the teachers and had instead hit one of his comrades in the back. It was a surprise to the charms master when the unsuspecting Deatheater fell to the grass and didn't get back up.
When Lambardi saw James rise from the ground he yelled in rage and began to stride towards his new target. James surveyed his surroundings and saw his mentor not ten feet away fighting a petite women. She caught his eye and after dispatching her opponent she nodded her head. James knew she had his back.
As Gino Lambardi stalked closer James held his ground. He knew only one of them would walk away from this fight alive and he prayed it would be him. Out of habit he reached up and grasped the Sphinx Pendant that hung around his neck; he hoped that he would live long enough to find whoever gave him the gift. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he raised both his true wand and his secondary wand. He was in a ready battle stance; feet planted firmly with his body twisted so he only exposed his side. One wand was raised above his head to attack while the other was held at his side to defend. He took a deep breath and then let loose a fire storm of spells.
"Avis! Stupefy! Ruducto! Incendio!"
James knew that most people would wonder why he would cast this particular set of spells; they had nothing in common. In dueling though, it was a trick that if mastered was a great advantage. The four spells might not have been similar, but fired in this particular order their movement flowed together perfectly and James was able to cast the spells much quicker then he would have been able to separately. It was only luck that the particular way Lambardi fell to the ground allowed him to escape the onslaught unscathed. When the birds cleared he jumped to his feet and sent the green unforgivable his way.
James easily sidestepped the curse and sent the body bind followed by another "Stupefy!"
Lambardi raised a shield in time and quickly sent back a cutting jinx. James took the hit so he could correctly set up his next move, and ignoring the blood pouring from his arm he incanted his spell.
"Caliga!"
A thick mist poured out of James wand obscuring his and Lambardi's vision. The Pureblood shot a blue curse toward his opponent but it was wide. James now knew the location of Lambardi and raised both his wands to where he knew his enemy was. He fired two curses almost instantaneously.
"Impervius! Incendio!"
His aim was true and the echoing screams began immediately. Through the fog the other Deatheaters had no clue what was happening and Lambardi's repeated aquaeous spells had little affect against the water repelling charm.
Not wanting the man to suffer James fired one last curse at his enemy.
"Stupify!"
His aim was once again true and the screams died instantly. James didn't feel guilty about killing a man who was there to kill him, but he was no monster.
As he stood in the protection of the fog he thought about the man who he had just killed and remembered his first encounter with the Pureblood. It was the same day that he had met Anthony and they had been exploring Caduceus Alley for a few hours when an older boy ran into Anthony
"Hey!" He yelled, "Watch were you are going Dal Sangue Sudicio!"
Anthony, being the aristocrat he was, raised his chin and let loose a set of profanities that Even James had never heard.
It was as Anthony was finishing his rather colorful display that his father and their two chaperons caught up to them.
"Ragazzi." The music teacher admonished. "I hope you were not causing trouble?"
It seemed Anthony's manners were back and he cordially replied. "Of course not, Madam Machiavelli. We were just talking to our new friend."
Clair knew the antagonism between Muggleborns and Purebloods and so she knew this was a lie but let it slide. At least there was no blood. Yet.
Suddenly a tall and intimidating figure aproached the group and interrupted.
"Darius Maschio, the Master Duelist and Claire Machiavelli, the Muscian." He scoffed at their names and titles. "I do hope you do not believe that cazzata. You know those bambini are trouble."
"Hello Gino." Darius replied stifly. "I hope you are wonderful this day."
"My day was going good." He replied snidely. Gino Lambardi suddenly noticed the figure standing by Anthony.
"A muggle?" He scowled. "How marvelous. Come Giuseppe, we have things to do."
With that final remark the two Purebloods walk away.
........
James shook his head to clear it of the distracting thoughts. He took another breath to ease his nerves and walked through the fading fog. The first thing that he saw were the glazed eyes of his Potions and Chemistry Professors. The nightmarish sight shocked him for a moment and in a panic he looked around the field. There were dozens of bodies but other then the married couple all were wearing masks. He took another breath to compose himself again and ran to where he saw his mentors battling four figures.
James registered the look of relief on his Professor's faces before he added his own volley of spells to the attack. With the extra help the four Deatheaters were quickly dispatched. Once they were sure that the Deatheaters were not getting up the three Duelist turned back to the main battle.
Out of the original thirty attackers there were only nine left. They were winning.
James was exultant, and as a sense of warmth rushed through his body he couldn't help but laugh. The Italian Purebloods might have the support, but in regards to sheer magical power and talent, they had nothing against this particular group of Muggleborns and Halfbloods.
Thinking about their soon to be victory James couldn't help but think about the architect of the attack. He knew Voldemort had planned it but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.
'Did he think we would be that easy to overcome?' he thought.
As if James' thought had summoned the monster a green light struck Maria Chevelle in the back.
She fell to the ground dead.
James and his defense teacher stared in shock for a moment before Maschio grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the ground.
As James hit the ground he opened his eyes only to be met the the sightless brown eyes of his mentor.
His breathing became labored as he began to hyperventilate.
"James," Maschio commanded. "You need to stay together. We need you. Now breath."
At his mentor's command James squeezed his eyes closed, laid his head on the cool earth and breathed deeply and evenly. The smell of the damp grass brought him back to reality and he was able to climb to his feet. James saw a deep purple curse heading his way and instantly threw up a shield.
As the curse dissipated on his shield James turned to where the curse had come from and met the eyes of a monster.
Suddenly, as if he was seeing double, an unfamiliar scene began to play in front of his eyes. It was dark, but James could tell that the room was a nursery. There was a tall dresser on the far wall, a rocking chair in the corner, and adjacent to where he was there was a crib. Unexpectedly, the crib was occupied by a red haired child. Suddenly the door shuddered and then flew off it's hinges. James tried to raise his arm to protect his face from the Wood shrapnel but nothing happened. Dust obscured his vision, but through the darkness he saw two serpentine red eyes.
Suddenly the vision was gone and as James Blinked he realized he was facing the same pair of eyes.
'What the Hell?' he thought. 'Was that an another vision?'
The thought that the scene could have been a memory passed through his conscious but he quickly disregarded it. Until today, he had never seen the Dark Lord in person.
When he met the malevolent eyes once again they drew in all his attention and he could not take his eyes away. It wasn't until Voldemort raised his wand that James was able to shake himself out of his trance. He quickly took stock of his surroundings and realized that he was alone. Darius Maschio had been drawn into battle and it seemed that it was evenly matched; the other teacher's were still occupied with their own opponents. James took a breath to calm himself and got into his battle stance.
The spells came so quick that James barely had time to dodge let alone send any back. Most of the spells were so obscure that James could only dodge hoping they didn't hit one of his allies. Finally, Voldemort took a wrong step and James took advantage of the second respite.
Hoping to break Voldemort's shield He threw two of the most powerful spells he knew followed by a creation of his own.
"Reducto! Incendio! Vacuus Anima!"
The spells hit and miraculously the Dark Lord's shield shuddered and then fell. He was so surprised that James third spell hit him effortlessly. The dark Lord began to gasp as he realized he could not breath in air.
James was shocked, and before he could recover and send a Stupefy at the Dark Lord he was surrounded by a vivid red light and he fell to to floor in excruciating pain.
Suddenly nothing else mattered. James just wanted the pain to stop, to end. He wished for death not even caring that others were still in danger. He bit through his tongue while preventing himself from screaming out. He would not give the bastardos that satisfaction. Finally, when it seemed like his body would burst, the pain was suddenly gone.
James was free and able to think rationally again.
He rolled over onto his stomach and spit out the blood that had pooled in his mouth. It was as he was gasping in the cool night air that James reliazed his cherished pendant was gone. Before he could look for it Master Maschio was at his side in and calling his name. James was able to roll over and reassure his savior. His mentor helped him to his feet and kept an arm secure around his shoulders until he was steady. James once again took stock of his surrounding and noticed his attacker was dead. Unfortunately, Voldemort was not in the same state; he was recovering and staring at James with hatred.
Voldemort raised his wand and before James could respond a reducto curse was heading towards him and his teacher. Not having enough time to create a shield, and not trusting it to hold, James pushed Maschio to the ground. The curse flew inches over their heads and hit one of the pillars that held up the entryway.
James could hear multiple screams behind him and prayed it hadn't come from one of the teachers. James jumped back to his feet and began to throw every curse he knew.
"Reducto! Flipendo! Silencio! Expelliarmus! Levitas! Liago!"
James knew that these spells would have little affect but he just needed to hold the monster off; if he inundated him with simple, even ridiculous spells, then he wouldn't be able to attack. James knew if he slowed down at all that the Dark Lord would take the offensive and he would never give it back. Albus Dumbledore would be here any second though, and he could fight Voldemort. James just had to slow him down, and hopefully live through it.
James' luck didn't last though. Voldemort was faster and was able to slip in a spell between James' onslaught. The orange light Hit James square in the chest and he was thrown ten feet into the air. His back hit the already crumbling walls of the school and he fell to the broken floor.
James pulled himself to his feet and began to fire off spells once again.
"Stupefy! Tarantallegra! Cavusum! Ferula! Conjunctivitis! Expelliarmus!"
The overhang and front of the building were in ruins though, and was coming down all around James. The majority of the spells that he fired at the dark lord were absorbed by falling debris and none hit their mark.
James was clipped in the shoulder by a large piece of stone. The sting of the wound hurt but the popping of the joint was even worse. The force of the debris took him to the ground before he could recover. James was able to pull himself to his knees but when he looked up all he saw was the triumphant smirk on the Dark Lord's face. It was then that James realized his primary wand was in Voldemort's hand and his secondary wand lay in pieces to his left.
"Avada Kadavra!"
The words that left Voldemort's mouth were not a shock. James knew there was very little chance that a sixteen year old could out dual the Dark Lord. He had wished that he could do a little more damage before he was taken down though. With this thought James pulled out his last knife and positioning it flat against his wrist he pulled back and threw it at the monster.
As James looked into the red eyes of his murderer he knew two things; One: he was going to die, and two: his aim was true. Less then a second later the green light was upon him and everything went black.
____________________________________________________________
We go on together for better or worse
Our history is too real to hate
Now and forever, we stay until morning
And promise to fight for our fates
Til we die
Til we die
The start of a journey is every bit worth it
I can't let you down anymore
The sky is still clearing
We're never afraid
And the consequences opens the door
I never stopped trying I never stopped Feeling
like family is much more than blood
Don't go on without me
The piece That I represent compliments
each and everyone
Til we die
Til we die
We won't be forgotten
We'll never give in
This war we've achieved
Has allowed us to win
Til we die
Til we die
My last true confession Will open your eyes
I've never known Trust like the nine
Let it be spoken Let it be screamed
They'll never ever Take us alive
Til we die
Til we die
We won't be forgotten
We'll never give in
This war we've achieved
Has allowed us to win
Carry on
Carry on
(We'll never be broken, We won't be denied)
(Our war is the pressure, We need to unite)
(We'll never be broken, We wont be denied)
(Our war is the pressure, We need to unite)
Til we die
Til we die
We won't be forgotten
We'll never give in.
This war we've achieved
Has allowed us to win
Carry on
Carry on
A/N
'Til We Die lyrics by slipknot
So can everyone guess what is going to happen? Anyhoo I hope everyone likes this chapter and leaves a review. Toodles!
ITALIAN TRANSLATIONS
Quando---When?...Sicuro---certain...Bastardo---bastard...Dal Sangue Sudicio---Dirty Blooded...Cazzata---worthless thing
SPELLS I CREATED
Iungo- activate...Flagello-whip...Levitas-lightning...Ventus Parietis-wall of wind...caliga-mist...vacuus Anima-empty breath