DISCLAIMER – Harry Potter and its affiliates are the sole property of JK Rowling. I don't own the characters. I only own the plot. NOTE – This story is MINE and not JK Rowling. I have gotten some nasty reviews on some of my other stories telling me that they didn't like the way I portrayed certain characters. If I wanted to do exactly what JK did, I would just plagiarize her work. Fan fiction isn't about following what the original author writes. It's about writing what YOU want using their characters.
DISCLAIMER – Harry Potter and its affiliates are the sole property of JK Rowling. I only own the plot.
DISCLAIMER – Pairings are Harry/ Luna and Draco/ Susan.
DISCLAIMER – Please don't badger me because you don't like the story. If you find that you do NOT like the story, then please stop reading it and move on. You not liking the story will not prove anything if you get ugly about it except showing that you are a fool. If you want the story to go a certain way, then write your own.
Author's Note – The characters will be very out of cannon. I enjoy writing the characters as I want to portray them. It's what makes some of my stories the success that they are. Canon characters are boring.
Chapter 11 – Hide and Seek
The following day, Sirius and the other adults responsible for the Champions and their friends sat the teens down for a serious heart to heart. Once the teens were settled, Sirius stood up and began his speech. He had spoken with everyone the night before concerning Harry's feelings and his thoughts regarding what was happening with his life. He couldn't blame his godson in the slightest for feeling like he was.
"It's time that we talked about how each and every one of you feels about things," stated Sirius looking at the teens. "We sometimes forget that you are all teens and need to be able to express yourselves. You may be more mature than most others your age, but you are still teens none the less. Harry's little outburst of emotions made me and the rest of your caregivers realize that we don't always take into consideration how you all feel."
"We have been pushing the lot of you hard due to what we feel is best," said Minerva. "For that, we apologize to each and every one of you. Your classes are advanced and because you were all doing so well, we just kept adding to it. We are going to slow down a bit and let you all have some down time. All of you except one is either OWL or NEWT students and we forgot that those two years in particular are harder than most."
"We have a new idea of how we are going to do things," explained Godric. "First and foremost, we are going to cut back on your muggle and non-magical training. One hour a day with me and two hours in the muggle world is tiring even for the fittest of the fit. Therefore, we are dropping my class to thirty minutes a day for swordsmanship. You will still have an hour with the Sensei, but you will only take shooting twice a week. While the physical aspect is important, so are your studies. We don't want to harm your learning for the physical side of things."
"You are all progressing very well in most areas," said Salazar. "We are almost in February. Therefore, until your OWL time comes, we will go with the less strenuous activities and concentrate on your learning aspects. We want you all to do well in your lessons and for your OWLS. Fred and George have things a little easier as they have fewer classes. However for those of you that is fifth year, we don't want to harm your good grades on your exams."
"We are not going to give you any more advanced lessons right now," said Rowena. "Maybe in a few weeks when your bodies and minds have a chance to breathe, we will pick things up again, but we will move at a slower pace for now. Don't forget that you all are welcome to stay in the castle this summer and continue your lessons then. I know that some of you will probably drop some of your classes so that you don't have to take them anymore. Muggle Studies and Wizarding Etiquette will not be required after an OWL. COMC is also not a required to go beyond OWL year. You are already not going to have to take HOM after this year as we are teaching you far more than Binns is. Astronomy is not a course that you need anything better than an EE in to get a career unless you are going to go for the job of professor or master in that subject. With Divination, either you can do it, or you can't. There is no real training that can be given."
"I'm going for a NEWT in the five core subjects and Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," said Harry. "Seven classes as compared to thirteen will be a whole lot easier to deal with. If I'm not mistaken, Draco and Hermione are going to do the same."
"I'm going for four of the five core subjects," said Susan while Hermione and Draco nodded at Harry's words. "I'm sorry, but I just don't like potions all that much. I do well and am passing, but I just don't want to try for a NEWT. I'll try for a COMC NEWT as well."
"I'm going for DADA, Charms, and Herbology for the core subjects," said Neville. "Potions are hard for me, and I just don't have an easy time in Transfiguration. Like Susan, I know I'm passing, but I just don't think I'll be able to handle the tougher course. Like Susan, I'll be going for a NEWT in COMC. I mainly want my mastery in herbology."
Minerva was busy writing it all down. Severus was busy encouraging the students to speak their mind and say what they wanted and didn't want. Sirius was beaming happily at everyone while they spoke their mind.
"I'm going to take the same classes as Susan except instead of Herbology, I'm going to go for a NEWT in potions provided I get the grade," explained Hannah. "We seem to be getting a well-rounded curriculum for the classes. Everyone is picking main ones and we are stopping our weaker ones. I would also like to go for a NEWT in Astrology. I like that class even if it is at night."
"Daphne and I are going to do the same as Harry, Draco, and Hermione," said Blaise speaking next. "We are good at what we do as well and I think that with so many of us working together that we can pass all seven of those classes with ease. We work well as a team and can get things done once we put our minds to it."
"Once you get past this year, things will get easier for you," explained Helga. "Then you can go back to two hours in the muggle world and one hour with Godric. You don't HAVE to learn to shoot a gun and you don't have to become an expert in handling a sword or martial arts. We want you to progress in your studies more. We also want you to learn things you would like to learn instead of always learning what we insist you learn."
"We also want you to start expressing your feelings with us," said Filius. "The more that you bottle up your feelings and let it eat at you, the more prone you are to making mistakes and hurting someone or yourself. You are all welcome to tell us how you feel as long as you are telling us in a manner that is both respectful and mature. Yelling at us will of course, upset us, but calmly telling us that you don't like something will not affect the way we treat you at any given time. If there is some sort of compromise that we can make, then we will do our best to assist you in coming up with a fair solution. We can't help you if you don't tell us what is going on."
"Harry had the right idea in some ways when he blew up the way he did in the courtroom the other day," said Augusta speaking next. "It made some people realize that just because he is Harry Potter doesn't mean he doesn't have the right to have some sort of private life. Now, Harry does have to understand that he IS an icon, but that doesn't mean that the Wizarding World has the right to control him or monitor his every move. He does have the right to go to Diagon Alley without being bombarded by people wanting something from him or from stopping him just because they are being a stalker and such."
"It would be the same as movie stars," rationalized Hermione. "Harry is popular for his accomplishments. He can't deny that he has done some amazing things since coming to Hogwarts or what has happened when he was a baby. He has done more in not quite five years that many adult witches and wizards have done in their entire life. HOWEVER, like a movie star, he has the right to privacy without being hounded just because he is who he is."
"I feel bad for exploding like I did, but I did mean what I said," stated Harry looking down. "I should not have to carry the weight of the Wizarding World on my shoulders. What Dumbledore and Voldemort did to me is inexcusable. They should never have used me in their power struggle. One took my parents and the other took my freedom. I am not a prisoner and I shouldn't be treated as such. Also, I'm not made out of glass. I would rather have someone tell me a harsh truth than to keep me in the dark about something that is hurting me when we can fix it."
"Well said Harry," said Narcissa. "Your life SHOULD be your own. We are here to help guide you in that. You are more than welcome to blow up and tell people to get a life and to look after their own affairs. The Ministry of Magic is responsible for stopping the Dark Lord. You are still a child, albeit, you are a mature child, but still a child none the less. You deserve to have fun and do things that the rest of your classmates do. Therefore, we are going to work on stopping as much of the paparazzi as we can. You are absolutely correct when you say that you are NOT a prisoner. We are going to ensure that you have some sort of freedom in your life to be able to do what you want and not what others dictate you have to do."
"Now that some of the problem people are out of the way, I can breathe a little easier," explained Harry. "I know that some of what happened was not that pleasant, but when it all boils down to it, you all took care of it and I didn't really have to do all that much. I still want whoever is publishing all of those books about my life sued. They have no right to do that. I also want the Daily Prophet to back off of me and stop slandering my name every chance they get. It's not only insulting, but it's childish."
"I already have your solicitor looking into the illegal franchising of your name," said Sirius. "You are correct when you say that they have no right to use your name in books and other merchandise while they are not even getting permission from you to do so. Some of these people have made a fortune using your name and you haven't received a Knut in exchange for it. Just give us some time to get it all taken care of. The Ministry is already censoring the Daily Prophet about you. Your name is not allowed to appear in the paper unless you give explicit permission for them to do so."
"The Quibbler has my permission as I own part of it as well as am engaged to the owner's daughter," said Harry with a grin. "Besides, Xenophilius doesn't write anything bad about me. I am rather amused as some of his stories about Fudge and some of the others that never get a good name in his book. I loved the story about Fudge baking goblins in pies. That was seriously funny."
Everyone started laughing at that. Each asked if Harry had a copy and he promised to let the others read his copy as he kept each installment of the Quibbler for his collection. The founders relaxed a little as the teens started to ease up and show some happy emotions. They let them carry on for a bit before they called their attention.
"Would you all like another history lesson tonight?" asked Rowena. "I have a few things still that I can teach you about my part in the creation of this school if you would like to hear about it."
That got the teens sobered up. Each looked delighted at the prospect of learning some more history in the making of the top magical school in Europe. The teens made their way to their desks and set their quills and parchment to writing.
"Tonight I'm going to tell you the story of how we got the centaur herd here in Scotland," she said when they were ready. "They are part of the defense of Hogwarts, in the aspect that they guard the forest from intruders. While some intruders do manage to get by them from time to time, it is hard and not often an occurrence. Centaurs are not originally from this area. As you may know from history and legend, they originated in Greece. Chiron is a notable centaur in history and legend. He is not a myth. He really did live a very long time ago. Anyway, I was traveling in Greece one year when I saw a couple of centaurs being harmed in the arena. I didn't much like what was being done to them and decided that I would intervene. I made a few magical inquiries and discovered that for a price, they could be rescued. Their captors were muggles and with a few waves of my wand, I got both of them for about ten sickles."
"Do you mean to say that they were going to kill those poor centaurs?" asked Hermione with shock on her face. "What kind of barbarians would do that to someone? So what if they are half horse. That doesn't mean they need to die or to be made sport of. Some people just make me want to punch them in the face for their stupidity."
"Easy Hermione," soothed Rowena. "You have to remember that a thousand years ago, people WERE barbarians in many places. Civilized people didn't start becoming popular until much later. Remember that we LIVED a thousand years ago. Like most witches and wizards, we lived to be a rather old age. This was when I was young, and let me tell you that Dumbledore is a child compared to us when we passed from this world to the next. A witch or wizard will have a long life depending on the amount of magic that their core has. I can tell you that Harry will outlive all of you by a considerable amount of years. His heritage and his magical core are larger than most adult witches and wizards. If I had to guess, he would probably live to be close to five hundred years old before his body gives out due to age."
Hermione took a deep breath and relaxed. She didn't want to make the same mistake with centaurs that she did with house elves. Dobby, Winky, and the elves of Hogwarts were treated very well by Harry, Susan, and Luna. They were part of the family. Even Kreacher popped in from time to time to see if Harry needed something. No one could say that centaurs were any different. She had seen the centaurs in the forest and they seemed content with their lives. She knew she had to let things run their course as they were supposed to. At least the centaurs were a people of their own and didn't necessarily adhere to the human doctrine that beings such as house elves did.
"Over the next decade or so, the four of us would go back to Greece and see if we could rescue any more centaurs," Rowena said picking up her tale. "We would try and buy them if we could. If we couldn't, we would use magic and to be blunt, we would steal them. Once here near the castle, we would set them free in the forest to join family or friends that they may have had at one point. We didn't want them to die any more than Hermione or Harry would. We did what we had to do to save the species from becoming extinct. Now in the more modern world, we don't have to worry about that. The herd that lives in the Forbidden Forest is healthy and active. From time to time, we may ask you all to go and talk with them to get a prospective from their point of view. While not forthcoming in their information, centaurs are highly intelligent. If you know how to get around their evasiveness, you could learn many things from them."
"Before we allow you to do that, we have a serious problem in the forest," said Salazar. "Hagrid procured an acromantula spider egg when he was in school. When Riddle framed him for the death of Myrtle, Aragog escaped and went to live in the forest. With his kind heart, Hagrid got a female for Aragog and they have children all over the forest. They do NOT belong here. They belong in Brazil where their kind is worked with as easily as we work with unicorns. Therefore, we need to go through the forest and send the spiders back home. Aragog and his wife may stay as both are too old to have more children. However, the rest need to leave before they wipe out all life in the forest. The centaurs are battling nonstop to keep the spiders from taking over. We don't want to eradicate the species, but they don't belong here. It wouldn't be hard for Riddle to come here and cause them to come into the human habitation surrounding the castle. That would mean death to any that the spiders bite."
"While they are not quite as poisonous as a basilisk, their venom can still kill you within moments," explained Severus. "There are potions to counter the venom, but you would have to carry one on you at all times for it to be effective. Due to their size, the amount of venom flowing in your system would kill you within thirty seconds. During that time, they could literally take off your appendages. This is why they need to go back to their original habitat in South America. They train people to work with the spiders there. We don't have that luxury here."
"Maybe we can hire a squad of trained individuals from South America to come and take the spiders back to their natural home," suggested Harry looking at the Ministry personnel. "If their prices aren't too high, I would be more than willing to donate to the cause. We don't want something as lethal as an acromantula to become a liability to us or an asset to the Dork Lord."
"That is something that we can look into," stated Sirius writing it down on his list. "We can see about getting it done as soon as we can. Now, I know that many of you have homework to do, so why doesn't the lot of you head to wherever you need to go to get your work done. We don't want you to get a poor grade for not completing it."
"Like any of us would ever get a poor grade for not having homework turned in," snorted Harry. "You forget that we have Severus for a tutor and Hermione for a tower mate. Between the two, we don't get a moment's rest about things like homework."
"Harry James Potter," said Hermione and Severus at the same time. "You had better start running. You are SOOOO going to get it for that comment. I'll teach you a lesson about saying things like that about me and Severus. I'll hex you into next year. If it weren't for us, you would probably not want to study at all. We are SOOO unappreciated."
Laughing, Harry raced from the tower with his book bag on his arm towards the library. Hermione was hot on his heels with Severus not far behind. Minerva and Filius were turning blue from their hard laughter. Luna was also looking amused at the banter between them. Draco and Susan sighed as they headed out to make sure that Severus and Hermione didn't do too much damage to Harry. When they got to the hall, they stopped as Severus and Hermione were busy holding a shaking Harry. It was obvious that nothing happened to him from Hermione and Severus as both were seriously concerned for him. His eyes were glazed over and glowing. It looked like he was having a seizure. He and Susan swiftly made their way to the trio.
"Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Rookwood are all on the grounds," whispered Harry quietly to them. "Get everyone else together. If we do this right, we can get the last Horcrux and I can get his wand. We have to do this as quickly and quietly as possible so that we can stop him from killing any of the students. Their safety is more important than anything else at this time."
The three teens raced back to the Tower to find that Luna was in an almost identical state as Harry was in. She was busy passing on information to the others who were listening with rapt attention. Harry was led back into the tower by Severus and the group quickly started to make plans.
"I can lower the wards long enough for Amelia to go and get some Aurors," said Harry. "I can limit it to this room. From there, we need to get all of the students into their dorms with every teacher available to protect them. As there are so few people attacking the castle, we can make sure that we beat them once and for all. There is no way that I can kill Tom, but we can make sure he loses what he values most of all."
"Let's do like we did last time and get all of the house elves to gather the students and bring them back to their dorms," suggested Susan. "From there, we can get the teachers to join them in each common room while we handle the intruders. We can use the secret tunnels to get around without being seen. We just need to know what our main objective is and how we are going to go about doing it."
"The sad part is we will lose some of the student body before we can make our move," said Luna. "Some of the Slytherins are already on their way to meet him to assist in the taking over of the school. If we are going to do this, we need to move now and get this over with. The longer we take, the more difficult it will be for us to succeed. If we work now, we can accomplish what Harry needs to do before we evict the trespassers into the arms of the Aurors or just off the grounds period. I would like to see the two Death Eaters arrested."
"Minerva, you, Luna, and Hermione will work on getting the students that are not on their way to Tom back to their common rooms," instructed Harry. "Filius, you will work with Draco and see about getting your hands on Nagini. Kill her with anything that you can use. Susan, you, Narcissa, and Augusta will work on bringing in Rookwood. Neville, you, Amelia, Daphne and Blaise will work on keeping Bellatrix occupied. Severus, Sirius, and me will go after the Dark Lord. Fred and George, you and Hannah will work with the professors to keep the students safe and act as runners. Get some of the incoming Aurors to help you. Your knowledge of the tunnels will come in handy in keeping information passing back and forth. Hannah, I also need you to get the house elves to start abducting the dark students and have them locked into a room they can't escape from until the fruition of this fight. If you finish your duties, then help out another team with theirs. Let's get this over with."
"Harry lower the wards in this room so that the Aurors can come in," said Minerva. "I'll quietly put the school in lockdown. The more we can get the students to safety the better it will be. I want all of you to be careful. Our biggest goal is to get the Dark Lord and his minions out of the castle. Also, if we can get to the snake, we will have one more problem solved for us."
While Minerva began the lockdown as Headmistress, Harry lowered the wards carefully on the tower. Amelia turned on the spot and apparated away. Within moments, ten pops could be heard as Moody and a contingent of Aurors came into the room. Harry let the wards snap back into place as he and his team grabbed Tonks and moved out.
They entered the tunnels and separated depending on where they were going. Those that needed the help of the elves went to the kitchens and quickly explained what was going on. The elves all nodded their heads in understanding and soon enough, pops could be heard as the just over one hundred elves got busy with their task. Hannah quickly made her way to Hufflepuff Tower and demanded that all students not a prefect to head to their dorms. She stated that as many as could fit into one dorm room would be best. Prefects were told from there that they were to keep the students calm and collect while the rest of the professors and the Champions worked on stopping the threat to their lives. From there, she went to the other dorms and did the same.
It wasn't long before the students that were not to be abducted and moved were in their safety sections. The professors were quickly told what was going on as those that were there to stop the problem moved quickly around the castle to attempt to capture the Dark Lord, two servants, and the snake. Harry was using his gift to guide him to where the Dark Lord was. He watched as Bellatrix and Voldemort had a few words before she went off on her own.
"Go down to the Slytherin dorms and get the children of our followers," he had told her. "Once you have them, I want you to bring them to the entrance hall and defend them. With the old fool out of the castle, it is powerless to stop us. The more minions we have, the sooner we can have a little fun."
She nodded before she left. Harry sent a message to the others to let them know where she was going. Harry used his gifts and watched as Amelia, Daphne, Neville, and Blaise grabbed a few Aurors and went to head her off. From there, he watched as Susan, Narcissa, and Augusta went off to challenge Rookwood. Time was of the essence. Nagini was already slithering away to look for prey. Harry just hoped that she would go off by herself long enough for Filius and Draco to kill her.
Harry waited with baited breath as Voldemort took a leisurely stroll through the empty corridors. He could tell by the facial expression on the Dark Lord's face that the man knew something wasn't quite right. Harry followed him in the walls until he knew that there would be a safe place to come out and challenge him. He also knew that he had to keep Voldemort occupied long enough for the other teams to succeed in their missions. Harry looked at Sirius and Severus and his eyes lit up in a mischievous smirk.
"A marauder and the one man strong enough to stand up to the four of them," hissed Harry in glee. "With me being the heir of two founders, we can have a little fun at his expense. How would the two of you like to help me drive him to slight paranoia? I promise that we can make it fun and we will be able to keep him occupied for as long as we need."
"Do tell me what sort of devious plan that you are concocting in that mind of yours," said Severus with interest. "It would be an honor to work with you and Sirius rather than against you. I have my own pound of flesh that I want to get off that fiend for what he did to me and some of my friends over the years."
"You have my interest as well," admitted Sirius. "Severus was always fun due to him making us actually work for everything we did. He was a good sport and a well learned opponent in school. With your statuses and our experience, we can drive the fool insane."
"Well," said Harry fighting to not giggle. "We ARE in the walls. He doesn't know that the school has all of these tunnels. We not only know about them, but we know how to navigate them as we have been doing it all year. We also know that other than him, I am the only known parselmouth in this part of the world. We can do the same thing to him that the basilisk did in my second year. He can hear the voice, but can't do much about it. Even with all of his powerful spells, Hogwarts will not be harmed by him. She will absorb all of his magic. Let's drive him crazy by hearing a serpent in the walls."
"Oh wow," said Severus really impressed. "That is a great idea and I know exactly how Sirius and I can assist you. Stay here and keep an eye on him. I want to get a few potions from my lab. Sirius can help you by casting the magic on your voice for you so that you sound more like a serpent rather than a human. This will leave you able to not only use the wards, but other stuff as well. I'll be back in a few moments."
With that, Severus left the section they were hiding in. Salazar appeared next to Harry and Sirius and was told what they were planning. The founder totally approved of the idea and was able to give Sirius a few hints as to how to help Harry. He also told the duo that the other founders were with the other teams offering advice and tips on how to survive their portion of the tasks. Sirius listened intently to Salazar and did the spells needed on Harry. Harry went into torture mode and began his work.
"AH! The idiot pretend heir has arrived," hissed Harry while Sirius made the voice float to different parts of the walls surrounding the hall Voldemort was walking in. In the castle, others heard the hissing of the snake and most knew that Harry was up to his task. "What would the Great Salazar Slytherin say to see his supposed distant relative walking around in such a manner? I can tell you. He would be disappointed in you for your failure to uphold the family traditions. You never took the time to learn the truth about the founder of your house."
"Whose there?" asked Voldemort pulling out his wand and looking around trying to find the source of the voice. "Is that you Potter? I will make you sorry you were ever born when I catch you. Your death will enable me to live forever. Come out and show yourself and die with honor and dignity."
"Going to kill one of your hosts?" hissed Harry again. "Did you know you made him a host when you tried to kill him? I can sense these things. You made a huge mistake that night. Instead of killing him, you made him into something that you should really value. Salazar would be so disappointed that you are trying to kill one of his children."
"What do you mean?" hissed Voldemort starting to get paranoid at not finding the voice. "I'm the last of his line. He doesn't have any more children other than me. I am the heir and only descendant."
"Oh how wrong you are about that," hissed Harry from a different part of the corridor, or so it sounded. "Harry Potter is the youngest and strongest of the clan. His line is directly descended without the taint of muggles in it. Can you say the same about yours Tom Morvolo Riddle Jr.? I don't think that you can. You are nothing while Harry Potter is a pureblood. You are the byproduct of a squib and a muggle."
"You lie," screamed Voldemort casting a spell at the walls only to watch them dissipate and not do any harm. "Where are you? You can't fight me as I'm a wizard and you sound like a disemboweled ghost. I have more rights in this castle than anyone else. I'm one of the few heirs walking the planet and none of them have a strong claim to the castle."
"Wrong, wrong, wrong," hissed Harry with Sirius projecting his voice all around in an echoing manner. "There are three inside of Hogwarts that are in full control of her and the wards. I know who they are, and I can promise you that their claim is stronger than yours. A bloodline of all four is in the three teens in the castle and they are powerful individuals. Two have one and the third has two. I can tell you who they are if you want. It will cost you a price, but I can tell you. Beware the Champions Tom Riddle. Beware the Champions."
By this time, Filius and Draco arrived with the head of Nagini in a box. Harry and Sirius silently congratulated the men on their success. Harry stopped long enough to allow Filius explain what they did.
"She was just wandering around," admitted Filius. "It wasn't that hard to come out of the mirror and use a Cutting Hex to sever her head from her body. In fact, I'm rather disappointed at how easy it was. She didn't even realize we were there until she lost her head. What are you doing here?"
"We are driving the Dark Lord crazy," explained Severus walking up. "I have the potions I need to make the illusions. Filius, you are a master in Charms. I need you to help me make phantasms come out of these potions. Harry is already hard at work driving him mad with anger with the taunts. You can hear them all over the castle Harry. All of our allies know what's going on. Keep going! You are doing an excellent job."
Harry grinned and thought of what he wanted to say next. The Dark Lord was already screaming and not making much sense, and Harry decided to make a jab at his skill, knowledge, maturity, and intelligence.
"Ah yes!" hissed Harry while Sirius moved his voice around. "You are in your seventies and you are throwing a temper tantrum that would make Ronald Weasley look like an innocent little boy. Why don't you throw yourself on the floor and pound it with your fists? That would make the ensemble complete don't you think? Do you want the names of the heirs or don't you? My time is valuable and you are wasting it. Knowledge is power and I have the intelligence needed to pass all of this information to Harry Potter."
Voldemort was seeing red. He was firing hexes in between his screams of outrage. He knew that somewhere, someone was doing something, but his magic seemed ineffectual against the walls of the ancient castle. The more he listened to the voice the more be wanted to curse the creature or person to death. Meanwhile, Severus and Filius got together and made their move. When the Dark Lord turned away, Severus opened the mirror slightly and threw the potion into the corridor. Filius used his wand to cast certain grotesque charms into the fumes and watched as horrible disfigured people and creatures came out of the fumes and started to walk towards the Dark Lord.
Voldemort thought he heard a noise behind him. While he was trying to deny the voice, something happened that almost made him jump in fright. Fearful looking creatures were already making their way towards him. He tried using his magic to banish them or kill them, but found that he was unable to do any of that. His magic may be strong, but Filius was a master at what he was doing. The castle was also working with the occupants of the castle and not the Dark Lord.
By now, Voldemort was beginning to panic. He knew he was a powerful wizard, but he also knew he was having trouble fighting whatever this was in front of him. Severus and Filius made their way through the tunnels and came up behind the Dark Lord. With a well-placed spell, they made the corridor fill with smoke that was so thick that you couldn't see through it. Harry ceased his torment of the Dark Lord and watched with interest as the fog blinded the man in the corridor, but didn't affect him. He knew that it was his ability to work with the wards as well as his seer abilities that gave him the upper advantage.
While Severus and Filius were busy doing what they were doing, Salazar had Draco open the mirror and throw out Nagini's head to her master. Draco carefully opened the mirror and did as he was instructed. He took aim, and with the help of his wand, he made sure the head hit Voldemort squarely in the face. When the Dark Lord realized what hit him, he started casting every known spell he knew at the walls. Harry waited while the Dark Lord cast all sorts of magic in all directions. He used the help of Sirius and made sure that his voice surrounded him as he continued to taunt the Dark Lord.
"Would you look at that," hissed Harry. "Another Horcrux is dead, dead, dead. Salazar knew you made seven of them. One question remains. Will you try and kill Harry Potter? He is a Horcrux. The locket has been cleaned and returned to the heir. The Diadem has been cleaned and returned to its heir. The Diary was destroyed thanks to a blunder by Lucius. The cup has been cleaned and returned to its rightful owner. The snake is dead. The ring is in possession of Harry Potter. What are you going to do now?"
"That is not possible," hissed Voldemort in confusion as he concentrated on reaching out to his anchors. "I made sure they were in locations that they couldn't be gotten too. There is no way you are correct in this."
Harry used the cover of the fog and stepped into the corridor. Sirius had draped the cloak over him and knew that Harry couldn't be seen and most moderate hexes wouldn't hurt him. Harry waited until Voldemort was very engrossed in his search before he lifted the Elder wand and cast one small spell silently. Once he cast the Disarming Spell, Voldemort screamed in shock and rage as his wand vanished into thin air. Harry had opened his cloak long enough to catch the wand before he sealed it again. With a few deft motions, he immersed himself into the wards and with a quick command, he sent the Dark Lord out of the castle and away from the students.
During all of this time, Narcissa and Susan led Augusta through the tunnels. They kept a close eye on Rookwood. They could see the panic in the man's eyes as he heard the hissing that was driving the Dark Lord to the brink of insanity. Susan quickly told the other two that it was Harry making the noise and that he was busy tormenting the Dark Lord. Narcissa had to stifle a giggle that was threatening to come out of her mouth at the thought of her cousin and Harry teaming up with Severus and Salazar to drive what little sanity the man had away.
Bringing her mind back to the task at hand, they watched closely as Rookwood was trying to hide in the shadows to avoid detection. If the man hadn't been so terrified of what he was hearing, he would have realized that it was already common knowledge that he was there. Everyone in the castle knew what was going on as they could hear Harry. While they couldn't understand what he was saying, they knew from the screams of the Dark Lord that it wasn't fun for him.
Rookwood was trying to get to some of the students. He knew from reports from his master where some of the dorms were. He was currently working on trying to get into the Hufflepuff dorm rooms. Narcissa, Augusta, Susan, and their Auror companions, quickly stopped that from happening by preventing him from even getting into the common room. Using a trick that Harry was doing, they made the man so paranoid with their illusions and gimmicks that he eventually fainted from fright. He was already terrified listening to the sounds of his master scream at what appeared to be a ghostly snake. While he wasn't a coward, the man wasn't that brave when it came to fighting something he couldn't see. If his master couldn't handle it, then he knew he couldn't. So when the ladies started their own pranks on the man, his mind went blank and he hit the floor.
When the man came around, he quickly took in his surroundings. When he realized that he had been duped, he became angry. They hadn't bothered to check him for his spare wand as he could feel it on his other forearm. He quickly summoned the wand and spoke the words of the Killing Curse. However, Susan has noticed his movement and cast a spell to intercept it. As the two spells collided, the Killing Curse deflected back to its castor. Rookwood was so surprised that he didn't move in time to avoid being his with his own spell. He died before he even hit the floor for the second time that evening. Everything happened so quickly that many didn't realize that anything was wrong until Rookwood was seen dead on the floor. Narcissa and Augusta were busy consoling Susan. She now knew what Harry felt like when he felt he was a murderer. She didn't cast the spell that killed the man, but she felt responsible none the less.
"You didn't do anything wrong," stated Augusta rubbing her back as she sobbed. "He was trying to kill us. All you did was cast a defending spell. It isn't your fault that his own spell killed him. You actually saved our lives. You stopped him from killing one of us. That makes you a hero and NOT a murderer. I can't know what you are going through, but I can relate as it's now my job to send people through the veil should justice warrant it. Everything will be alright. Just give yourself time to cry and you will be better soon. I promise that no one thinks anything less of you for what happened."
"I now know how Harry felt with Professor Quirrell in first year," she said. "It wasn't his fault that the man couldn't touch him due to the protections from his mother. Harry had to hold on to him to save his own life. I know for a fact that he felt like I do now and he was much younger. I don't know how he handles so much of this. He has everything riding on his shoulders and he makes it look so easy. I just don't understand how we can make things better for him."
"We already are," said Helga. "He does what he has to do, because he doesn't want anyone else to have those burdens. However, with each passing day and with each lesson we give, he understands that he doesn't have to do it alone. Thanks to Draco and Filius completing their task, anyone can get lucky and hit him with a spell that will kill him. If I know Harry, Sirius, and Severus, they are only annoying him while they figure out how to get his wand."
The ladies heard Harry's voice stop. They also heard the screams from the Dark Lord stop as well. It was then that Salazar appeared and told the group that two of the other teams had succeeded in their mission. Nagini was dead and Harry had the Dark Lord's wand. The other good news was that Voldemort was sent outside of the wards of the school and Harry was working to make sure he couldn't get back in. With that news, the group headed to see if they could help the last group get their victory. They knew that Bellatrix was a stubborn and powerful witch and that Amelia and her group would need all the help they could get to bring her down.
Amelia, Alistair, Minerva, Neville, and Blaise all hid themselves in the shadows near the entrance to the Slytherin common room. They knew that it wouldn't be long before the most feared witch alive today would be there. It was already common knowledge that the students she was seeking were safely locked in their current prison. They also knew that she wouldn't be able to get into the common room as Harry had the wards working with him to prevent it. Being sentient, Hogwarts was assisting her champions as well.
It wasn't long before the witch in question put in her appearance. The battle that occurred shortly after was epic if over a little quickly. Bellatrix was skilled and no one would ever be able to claim she wasn't. However, when you were in a place where portkeys, apparition, and other means of leaving an area were denied you, even the most battle hardened warrior would fall to the increasing challengers. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. In the first couple of minutes, she had Daphne and Blaise out of the fight with harsh cuts and broken bones. Amelia, Minerva, and Alistair surrounded her to take her out of the picture once and for all. At the time, Bella didn't see Neville standing there studying her movements. She weaved in and out of her attackers with grace that was impressive even if it was lethal. She was successful in her defense from his fellow students. She was also successful in her attempts to keep the Headmistress, Senior Undersecretary, and Head Auror from getting to her.
She was seriously making a huge mistake in thinking that it was all she had to do. She was so determined to get her job done that she forgot the most important rules when engaging the enemy. She neglected to make sure she had an escape route as well as to make sure that there wasn't a hidden enemy somewhere nearby. So focused was she that she didn't see Neville come up behind her and cast a spell to make her fall to the floor. His stunner was so powerful and so close that she didn't even have time to comprehend what was going on before she was down for the count.
Moody was busy congratulating Neville when they noticed that Bella had recovered and fired a shot that killed Moody. Anger was coursing through her blood as she wanted the Longbottom heir to join his parents.
"I'll get you baby Longbottom," she hissed as she went on the offensive. "St. Mungo's Hospital will have another dead weight patient before long. Once things quiet down, I may be merciful and come put the three of you out of your misery. Your grandmother should be used to losing family members by now."
Neville didn't even rise to the bait of her taunt. He heard Harry stop speaking. He also heard the shouts of the Dark Lord stop. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the cavalry arrived to assist in the situation. He wasn't wrong. As Bellatrix went to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Neville, the point of the Sword of Gryffindor appeared covered in blood before their eyes. As she looked down, she could see the point coming out of her abdomen. As she looked around, she saw the anger and power radiating from the man named Harry James Potter. He killed her to defend his brother in all but blood. As she took her dying breath, he leaned over and told her one last sentence before her life left.
"You will be joined by him before long," he hissed at her.
Pulling the sword out of her body, he dropped the weapon on the floor and promptly turned to empty the contents of his stomach all over the corridor. Augusta and Narcissa quickly rushed in and with the aide of Amelia and Minerva, they quickly took control of the situation.
"Harry look at me," said Sirius holding his godson's head as the young mage cried. "You did what you had to do. This is war, and death is inevitable. We lost Moody this night due to lack of attention. You managed to take out of play one of the most vicious people that is within the ranks of Voldemort. I wish that you didn't have to do that, but she would have hurt Neville beyond anything that we could help him with. She killed Moody and he was an able fighter. You put an end to her reign of terror."
"I still took a life," said Harry as he turned and threw up again. "I killed her. This will make me a bad person. I don't want to be a bad person."
"Nor will you be," said Salazar. "Listen to what Sirius is telling you. You did what needed to be done. It isn't easy to take a life. If you find that you don't care if someone dies or not, then you should worry about becoming dark. This has been a very bloody night. People die in war. You are not the first, nor will you be the last to take a life during a time of war. It happens. You need to put this behind you and move on. It WILL be hard. That is what we are here for. We will help you through this. Young Susan also feels like you feel now. She blocked a spell that caused Rookwood to die. It happens during a war."
"Why don't you let Severus take you to the tower and the rest of the teens that are with you can make sure that both you and Susan are taken care of," suggested Rowena. "Luna should be with you and we will allow here to stay with you all night. Just go and get some rest. If you need to cry, then do so. If you need to scream, do that as well. However, DON'T let this make you feel any less of a human being. Things like this happen all the time. You are no exception to the rule in this. It is what it is, as the current muggle saying goes. You have to go with it as well. You will bounce back. You have other things that you need to do before this war is done. I can't promise that it will get any easier. It won't. However, it does need to be done."
With that, Severus led the teens back to their tower. Luna was waiting for them as was Hermione and a few others. Together, they sat with Harry and Susan and let them cry themselves out until they fell asleep. Severus levitated Harry up to his room and with a flick of his wand, changed him into comfortable sleeping attire. Luna came in a few minutes later and climbed into bed with Harry. With a wave of her wand, she doused the lights and wrapped herself around Harry. Meanwhile, Pomona was doing the same with Susan. Once she had the sleeping teen comfortable, Draco came in and did the same thing for Susan that Luna was doing for Harry. He vowed to be there for her during the night if she couldn't sleep or had a bad dream.
Around the tower, the other students were released from their areas and told to try and get some sleep. The few teens that were intent of joining the Dark Lord were questioned extensively by the Auror department. When all was said and done, all seven students were arrested and sent to holding cells to await further decisions about their futures. The bodies of Rookwood and Bellatrix were taken out of the castle while Poppy did what she needed to do for Moody.
During the night, Harry sat there once he woke and just stared off into space while he thought about what needed to be done and what he, as a dual heir, had to so to ensure that the safety of the school was seen to.
AUTHOR'S NOTE – This is a good a place as any to stop. I hope you like what I did to the Dark Lord. I had a sudden burst of mischief inspiration hit and decided to mess with him while getting a few other things done in the process. Thanks for all of your support.