To several reviewers of the previous chapter, yes, I am perfectly aware that the Hungarian Horntail is not Smaug the Dragon. It was a bit of fun. Get over it! The story simply took the summation that the Tasks of the Tournament would have the exact same amount of protection as the Goblet of Fire had on it, which, as we all know, was pretty piss pore! Anyway…
The Werewolf Conspiracy
Summary: After assuming the post of Headmistress, Dolores Umbridge enlists Lucius Malfoy's help in settling a few old scores. In the aftermath of a horrendous attack, Harry finds himself in a race against time to save the survivors from the Ministry's barbaric new regulations, and in the process they discover more about Hogwarts' past than they ever thought they would…
Warnings: Character Deaths, Werewolves, Some Angst, Harry Finds Out Who His Real Friends Are, Harry and Friends vs Just About Everyone Else, Creature Allies, Sentient Hogwarts, Ancient Magic, Canon To This Point, Some Pottermore Information
The Bar Room, The White Wyvern, Knockturn Alley
The Innkeeper of The White Wyvern was a tall, balding wizard with a narrow grey moustache and a grizzled face. He had owned the establishment for close to forty years, inheriting it from his father who, in turn, had inherited it from his own father, who, in turn… well, you get the idea.
Knockturn Alley was a place with a bad reputation, brought on by a few of the shops, such as Borgin and Burke's, Cobb and Webb's, The Coffin House, Tallow and Hemp Toxic Tapers and Shyverwretch's Venoms and Poisons, all of which liked to base their businesses around some of the darker branches of magic. These establishments, along with the clients they regularly attracted, had eventually given Knockturn Alley as a whole a bad name, even though there were many establishments with perfectly innocent and unthreatening business plans.
The Beard Trimming Barbershop was exactly that. A branch of McHavelock's Headgear was operating in the Alley, while their sister-store was in Hogsmeade. Trackleshanks Locksmith were the best specialists in keys and locks in Wizarding Britain, while Potage's Cauldron Shop had done so well in Diagon Alley that they had opened a second branch in Knockturn Alley. And whatever your views on gambling, there was nothing dark or dangerous going on in the Knockturn Alley Betting Shop, the owners of which were known to be firm but fair and paid out exactly what they owed, unlike a certain previous Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports who shall remain nameless…
[Cough] Bagman [Cough]
The proprietor of The White Wyvern wished that he could say with honesty that his establishment was one of those locations that did not deserve the reputation that came with being located in Knockturn Alley, and there were days when he could do exactly that.
When he had groups of Warlocks in, listening to a Quidditch Match over the Wizarding Wireless, getting louder and more boisterous the more beer, rum, mead and whiskey they consumed, it was easy to forget that his pub had more than its fair share of seedy clients as well.
Sometimes he wished that those seedy clients would bugger off and do their business elsewhere, but he knew better than to put a sign on his door saying "No Dark Wizards Here" – his business would be burned to the ground while his dead body was transfigured into a large bone and given to a Cerberus to chew on!
Tonight was one of those nights where The White Wyvern would live up to its reputation.
The wooden door opened to allow a short, rotund figure to enter. Whoever this person was, they were wearing a long, dark brown cloak with a hood pulled up to conceal the face.
The hooded person shut the door behind them and began walking over to the proprietor. The clacking of heels against the polished wooden floor indicated that this was a woman, and looking down he noticed that with each step the hem of the clock would come up just enough to reveal pink high heeled-shoes.
The proprietor decided that this confirmed that the mysterious customer was indeed a woman, until he remembered that October night two years ago… some men had specific tastes!
"Hem, hem," said the figure, snapping the proprietor out of his thoughts.
"Good evening," he said, without letting his emotions show. "What can I get you?"
"I am here to meet with Abraxas Leach," replied the figure in a high, simpering, girlish voice.
"Of course," said the proprietor. "He said to send you straight up the moment you arrived. Just go up those stairs at the end of the bar and then it's the third door on the right."
The figure nodded and turned away. The proprietor watched her go and then snorted to himself once she was out of earshot. Some of these idiots were so convinced of their superiority that they barely even bothered to try and conceal who they were, relying not on their own cleverness but the presumed ineptitude of everyone around them to disguise them.
The woman hadn't even bothered to disguise her voice, even though she had just that very afternoon been heard giving an interview over the Wizarding Wireless. And as for the man she was here to see, that fake name fooled no one who paid the slightest bit of attention. The surname Leach was one of Muggle origin, not of a pureblood family. Furthermore, the last person to go by the name Leach was Nobby Leach, Britain's first Muggleborn Minister for Magic. Leach's time in office had, somewhat surprisingly, lasted six years. But then he was forced to resign after contracting a mysterious illness, which eventually led to his death. This was something which many people were still convinced was part of a shady plot to get rid of the man. The presumed orchestrator of the plot was one Abraxas Malfoy.
Taking the first name of your father and the surname of the man he had allegedly (and most likely) had killed was hardly a fitting disguise and if that didn't give the game away then carrying around that black cane with a silver serpent's head carved on top certainly did!
Room 11, The White Wyvern, Knockturn Alley
"You have arranged everything with your… contact?" asked the woman.
"Everything has been arranged as requested," replied the man. "My contact is currently selecting the twelve strongest members of his pack. They will enter the shack during the early hours on Wednesday morning and will wait there for the full moon the following evening."
"Excellent. I will ensure that our targets are in place at the right time. Are you certain that we must keep Potter and the other boys out of it?"
"Potter has a nasty habit of getting himself out of sticky situations, as you should know well enough by now." replied the man. "Though I hate admit it, if he is present when the attack happens there is a far greater chance that there will be survivors. It is best that we keep him out of the way. Dividing the detentions into a boys group and a girls group will result in far fewer questions being asked than having Potter in detention on his own while his friends are all in one group."
"Very well," replied the woman as she took out a sheet of parchment. "Here is the current list of targets. I assume you approve?"
The man took the parchment and looked over the list. Muggleborns, Half-bloods and Blood-traitors the lot of them. None of them would be missed once his Lord threw down the Ministry and the Pure-Bloods took their rightful place as the leaders of the Wizarding World.
After a few moments he placed the parchment back down. "Add Davis the Greengrass girls to the list. It would raise questions if no Slytherins were caught up in this mess and might just sway a few votes in the right direction when we take your proposals before the Wizengamot."
"Davis I can understand," said the woman. "That man sullied his good line by marrying that muggleborn filth and producing a half-breed daughter but why target the Greengrass family?"
"Cyrus Greengrass is a man who does not know what is good for him. He has constantly failed to vote correctly since taking the family seat from his father ten years ago and he has repeatedly rebuffed marriage contract offers for his daughters and the heirs of multiple upstanding families. His wife recently gave birth to a son, Cyrus needs to be brought to heel before that boy can be raised with the wrong ideology."
"And you think that removing his daughters will bring him around to the correct way of thinking?"
"Either that or it will break him. In that event I will be able to petition the Wizengamot to have the child removed from their care and placed into a more… appropriate environment."
The Clock Tower Courtyard, Hogwarts.
"Are we all here?" asked Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank. In the wake of Dolores Umbridge taking over as Headmistress, Rubeus Hagrid had been sacked and removed from the castle while Wilhelmina had been asked to take over the running of the Care of Magical Creatures lessons full time.
Tonight was the first night that she was taking detention and there were quite a few students for her to oversee, twenty in all. She held in one hand a self-inking quill while in the other she held a sheet of parchment on which was written a list of names, all of them girls.
Initially the list had only consisted of thirteen names, those being the girls who had taken part in an illegal club which had been run by Harry Potter (those were all the details Umbridge had seen fit to reveal). However over the last few days seven more names had been added to the list, all of them girls awarded detention for, as Umbridge put it, "failing to provide evidence on illegal activities".
In other words these girls had not noticed that their dorm-mates were sneaking off to take part in Potter's club and so were being punished for it. The Professor wanted to object, but had recalled McGonagall's words to her on her first day "Keep your head down, do nothing to anger Umbridge and you will be fine."
"Hem, hem," coughed Professor Umbridge as she arrived on the scene with three Slytherin girls. "I have three more for you, Professor Grubbly-Plank. I am afraid that these three were caught trying to hex a Hufflepuff first year."
From the looks on the faces of Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greengrass and Tracey Davis, this was anything but the truth, but no one said anything while Umbridge was still present. The three girls fell into line beside Megan Jones while Professor Grubbly-Plank added their names to the rest of the list, which already consisted of Hannah Abbott, Katie Bell, Susan Bones, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lavender Brown, Cho Chang, Fay Dunbar, Marietta Edgecombe, Hermione Granger, Angelina Johnson, Megan Jones, Su Li, Luna Lovegood, Morag MacDougal, Lilith Moon, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil, Sally-Anne Perks, Sophia Roper, Alicia Spinnet, Lisa Turpin and Ginny Weasley.
It did not escape the Professor's notice that, with the exception of Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Alana Runcorn, every girl in Harry Potter's year group was in this detention.
Putting that thought aside, the Professor rolled up her sheet of parchment and handed it to Umbridge before addressing the girls. "Right-o then. Tonight's detention will see us searching out fluxweed, as Professor Snape had requested that some be picked specifically at a full moon for his stores. Professor Sprout tells me that as long as you all paid attention in your second year Herbology classes, not one of you should have any problems identifying fluxweed, even if only by moonlight."
Hermione Granger raised her hand and, when the Professor nodded to her, asked "Where will we be collecting the fluxweed from?"
"There is a healthy growth along an embankment down where the Black Lake meets the Forbidden Forest. With all of us picking, we should be back within two hours."
"Perhaps it is time to get going, Professor," said Umbridge. "The sooner you get there, the sooner you'll get back and these girls can get themselves tucked up safely in their beds."
Professor Grubbly-Plank nodded and led the girls through the Clock Tower Courtyard.
Umbridge could not help but smile as she watched them go. Her plan was coming together perfectly. Within the hour those girls and their Professor would be dead and Umbridge would turn the fallout in her favour. Fenrir Greyback and his pack of Werewolves would feast tonight, but by the same time tomorrow the Wizengamot will have revived and approved Umbridge's proposal to cull Werewolves and the first steps in purifying the Wizarding World would begin.
If anyone asked how the Werewolves got into the Hogwarts Grounds, all she had to do was point out that Dumbledore had allowed a Werewolf to teach in the castle for a year and had obviously removed the Werewolf-repelling charms from the school's ward system in order to do so and had failed to put said charms back in place following Lupin's resignation.
The students selected to die were also perfect. While no one in their right minds would mourn the muggleborns, such as Perks and Brocklehurst, their deaths would certainly take the fight out of the Hogwarts staff while the death of Granger would be a crippling blow to the Potter brat. As for the rest, the Bones, Abbott, Bell, Brown, Roper, Moon, Jones, Greengrass, Davis, Dunbar, Johnson, Spinnet and Turpin families had all voted down her proposals on Werewolf culling five years previously while the upstart Weasleys needed to be reminded their place and the Lovegoods were guilty of printing anti-Ministry propaganda for years. Meanwhile, if this attack could convince the Patil, Chang and Li families to go back where they came from, preferably taking others of their sort with them, then that would be delightful.
The only one that she might feel a little bit sorry for sending to her death was the Edgecombe girl as her mother had proven herself to be a valuable Ministerial employee. However, sending every girl from Potter's little group apart from one would only raise questions. Best to make the Ministry look as innocent as possible.
The Trophy Room, Hogwarts
"Come on, get on with it!" barked Mr Filch, the Caretaker, while his beloved cat rubbed her head against his leg.
"Yeah, yeah…" grumbled Ron as he wiped down a silver plaque with a cloth.
While the girls had been sent outside with Professor Grubbly-Plank to collect fluxweed, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Colin Creevey, Dennis Creevey, Ernie MacMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Zacharias Smith, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Lee Jordan, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner had been left under the watchful eyes of Filch and his cat in the Trophy room where they were set to work dusting and polishing the Muggle way.
Harry set down a small golden trophy and turned to the next plinth, on which he saw something that made his stomach churn and the bile rise in his throat. For whatever reason, someone had apparently decided that it would be a good idea to keep the Tri-Wizard Cup on display at Hogwarts.
Harry's hands clenched into fists. The last time he had touched that trophy it had been taking him away from great danger… though admittedly it was a danger that the trophy had taken him to in the first place. He hadn't seen the trophy since that night when he had returned to the edge of the maze, clutching the dead body of his fellow Tri-Wizard Champion, Cedric Diggory.
A hand clapped on his shoulder and Harry turned to see that it was Neville, who had Seamus by his side. "Don't worry Harry. We'll get this one." stated Neville as Seamus nodded in agreement.
Harry gave a small smile of thanks and had just turned away to start in on a collection of medals when he heard a terrified scream off somewhere in the distance.
"What was that?" asked Fred.
More screams answered him, now accompanied by barks and howls.
The Black Lake, Hogwarts
"Lumos!" incanted Hermione, Ginny, Susan, Marietta, Angelina, Lisa and Fay. Light sprang from the tips of their wands, illuminating the ground beneath their feet.
"Ah, here we are," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, stepping forward, ahead of the group. She pulled up several strands of fluxweed and held them up.
"Now, this is exactly the sort of thing that Professor Snape is looking for. I have here two old duffel bags. As soon as we have filled the both of them we can return to-"
A twig snapped in amongst the trees nearby.
"Hello?" she asked, dropping the fluxweed and drawing her wand. "Who's there?"
There was no answer. The night was silent. Not even an owl's hoot to be heard.
Professor Grubbly-Plank lifted her wand and lit it, casting a pale glow on the trees.
"If there are Centaurs here, then we mean you no harm," she said. "We have just come to harvest some fluxweed."
There was a low growling sound.
"I don't think that's a Centaur," whispered Ginny.
The Professor stepped closer to the trees and held her wand a little higher. She just had time to see a pair of evil, yellow eyes glaring at her before a set of wide, snarling jaws filled with many sharp teeth came at her.
Several of the girls screamed as their Professor fell beneath the immense body of a grizzled, grey-furred Werewolf. Then, without warning, a dozen more burst out of the trees.
Within seconds Lisa, Fay and Marietta had been pulled down. A large brown Werewolf lunged at Hermione and Lavender, but not for nothing had they attended Harry's club.
"Reducto!" screamed Hermione as Lavender simultaneously shouted "Diffindo!"
Hermione's reductor curse blasted apart the Werewolf's lower jaw and severely mangled its nose and face while Lavender's cutting curse sliced deeply into the beast's neck. It was dead before it hit the floor.
Seeing them taking action, those who could still stand drew their wands and began to fight back.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts
"Get back here you lot!" shouted Filch, but the boys paid him no mind as they ran along between the house tables, Harry and Neville in the lead.
They ran full pelt at the doors, intending to just barge through them while losing as little speed as possible. This idea ended quickly and painfully for Harry, Neville, Ron, Ernie, George and Terry when the doors proved to have been locked by someone. As the six boys crashed into and over each other and fell to the ground the others managed to slow up just enough to avoid collision.
"What the hell…?" demanded Seamus of no one.
"Hello?" asked a voice and they all scrambled back from the doors as Nearly Headless Nick, the Ghost of Gryffindor House drifted in.
"Nick," said Harry. "Can you let us out?"
"Oh, I am afraid not, young Gryffindor," replied the ghost. "A ghost such as I cannot affect change in the physical world. Of course, locked doors are no problem to us, except when we wish to help a friend."
"Nick, we need you to go and wake up the Professors," said Harry. "We heard screaming and what sounded like Werewolves out on the grounds."
"Oh my," exclaimed Nick. "Yes, I shall go and alert the staff at once!"
Moving faster than they had ever seen a ghost go, he disappeared back through the door.
"Now what?" asked Justin.
Harry looked around and answered "The windows."
The Black Lake, Hogwarts
"Confringo!"
"Expulso!"
"Stupefy!"
"Reducto!"
"Defodio!"
Out on the grounds the girls were fighting to the best of their ability, though all but ten of them were now down.
Hermione, Lavender, Cho, Susan, Luna, Katie, Alicia and Padma had formed a semi-circle, trying desperately to protect the badly injured Parvati, Hannah, Lilith and Angelina while a good twenty feet away, Daphne and Tracey were standing back-to-back over the prone form of Astoria.
Luna caught sight of a black Werewolf shaking Ginny about like a rag-doll and aimed her wand to avenge her friend. As the monster's back blew apart in an explosion of gore, two more werewolves charged.
Wands were aimed and the first one fell, but the first one leapt and crashed into Alicia and Cho, biting the first while sending the second flying backwards onto Angelina.
The other Werewolves took the chance to regroup and charge again.
Second Floor Corridor, Hogwarts.
Dolores Umbridge was quite surprised when she turned the corner and saw Professors Filius Flitwick, Aurora Sinistra and Septima Vector sprinting towards her.
"What on earth is going on?" she demanded.
"Werewolves!" shouted Professor Flitwick "Werewolves in the grounds, attacking students."
"Call the Ministry," added Professor Sinistra. "We're going to need Aurors."
"Of course," Umbridge shouted after her before turning and making her way back to her own office. Calling in the Aurors would be a nice touch and would only serve to make her look good. Of course, she made her way at a fairly leisurely pace. No sense in endangering the lives of Aurors and chancing the survival of some of the victims.
The Black Lake, Hogwarts
It took Hermione a moment to realise just what Susan was screaming.
"Auntie! Auntie!"
The bushy haired girl used an "Incendio!" to set a Werewolf's fur on fire before chancing a look at Susan, who was clutching a crystal which hung on a chain around her neck.
"What are you doing?" demanded Hermione. She, Susan, Padma and Luna were the last of their group standing, though Padma and Luna were providing Daphne with cover-fire as the last-standing Slytherin backed towards them.
"My aunt," replied Susan. "She's the head of the DMLE. Diffindo!"
A Werewolf yelped when the curse cut its shoulder and retreated.
Miraculously a voice responded from the crystal "Susan? Hello?"
"Auntie! Werewolves! Black Lake!" replied Susan, frantically and panting for breath. "We're under attack!"
There were six Werewolves remaining, and they chose that moment to burst out of the trees for a second attack.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts.
"CONFRINGO!" bellowed Harry. The spell burst from the tip of his wand and exploded upon impacting the window, but the window remained firmly in place.
"You ain't gonna get them open," said Filch, who had overheard what Harry had said to Nearly Headless Nick and now understood the severity of the situation. He had tried using his personal keys to unlock the doors of the Great Hall but to no avail. "They're charmed to resist all destruction spells."
"What do you suggest we do then?" asked Fred.
As if in answer, the lock on the doors clicked as it was unlocked and swung open, allowing Peeves to enter. The castle's resident Poltergeist had never looked more serious in living memory.
"I have never been so glad to see you, Peeves," said Harry as he made his way over.
"They are down by the Lake," said Peeves, before holding out, of all things, the school's Sorting Hat. "Protect Hogwarts as you have done before Harry Potter."
Harry nodded and turned to the others. "Come on," he said before leading the way out of the Great Hall.
The Clock Tower Courtyard
The Professors had met in the Courtyard closest to the Hospital Wing and were now making quick preparations. Madam Rolanda Hooch, Madam Irma Pince and Professor Bathsheba Babbling, all of whom had minimal skills in the areas of defence and dark creature combat had gone to assist Madam Poppy Pomfrey in preparing the Hospital Wing.
"Use stunning spells where you can," Professor Minerva McGonagall was saying. "Remember that Dumbledore does not condone murder…"
"And where is our illustrious Headmistress?" asked Professor Severus Snape, a sneer on his face.
"She should be alerting the Aurors," replied Professor Sinistra, earnestly.
McGonagall nodded "Right, on we… Potter?"
Harry and the others burst through the doors of the Clock Tower, Harry himself pulling what appeared to be a silver sword out of a tatty old wizard's hat.
"Werewolves!" Harry yelled back at them as he sped through the Courtyard. "Get moving!"
"The lad has a point," said Flitwick as he fell in line with Dean and Ernie.
The Black Lake
The Werewolf's jaws clamped on her wand arm tightly as the beast knocked her to the ground. Hermione saw stars as her head bounced off of a flat stone. The pain in her arm lessened as the Werewolf let it go but she felt its weight as it pinned her down with its two massive forepaws. She felt its hot breath on her face, she smelt the reek of its maw as it opened its jaws, and she felt a spot of drool land on her left cheek. Her vision cleared, giving her a good view right down the throat of the wretched beast.
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The Werewolf was going to rip her head off as had happened to Tracey, of that she was certain. But why was it taking so long?
Dimly, she became aware of the sound of running feet, and a voice shouting her name.
It was a voice that she knew very well and, somehow, hearing that voice suddenly meant that she wasn't going to die. She knew she wouldn't die… not while he was there.
The Werewolf lifted its head and snarled. There was a flash of a silver blade and suddenly the weight of the beast on her chest was gone. Breath filled her lungs, even as darkness began to claim her.
Fenrir Greyback reared away from his victim, reeling from the blow of the sword. His face was cut open and his right eye was gone. He sprang backwards, away from the one with the blade, and snarled at his attacker even as his remaining comrades were taken down by a hail of spell-fire.
The Werewolf snarled and snapped his jaws, prompting the sword wielder to take another swing at him, this one catching him on the muzzle. His head instinctively snapped to the side in recoil from the blow and a second later the blade came down on his neck.
Every eye still able to see watched in astonishment as the head of Fenrir Greyback, the most notorious Werewolf in recent history, rolled away from its spasming body while Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, stood over it, covered in blood, shimmering silver sword still at the ready for any foe that might remain and dare to avenge the death of the leader of the Werewolf pack.
It was to this scene that the Aurors arrived, led by Amelia Bones herself.
Very quickly a perimeter was set up and Madam Pomfrey and her helpers were summoned from the castle as it was not immediately clear if any of the girls could be moved. Most of the boys were ordered to return to the castle after Colin, Dennis, Seamus, Justin, Anthony, Terry and Lee all almost simultaneously emptied the contents of their stomachs while Ron, Fred and George had all fallen into near hysterics at the sight of their sister's mangled body.
However, it was abundantly clear that Harry would be going nowhere and, on seeing this, Neville and Dean had resolved to suck it up and help out however they could.
"Just keep applying the dittany to their wounds," Madam Pomfrey had instructed Harry after assessing both Hermione and Luna. "And give them a blood replenishing potion every ten minutes. I have put in an emergency call to St Mungo's Hospital and they're sending out a team of specialist healers. This is all that can be done for these two girls until the team gets here."
Harry nodded and set about the task of taking care of Hermione and Luna.
"Just keep your hands there, Mr Longbottom." Madam Hooch was saying as they and Professor Sprout leaned over Megan while Professor Snape barked "Mr Thomas! Blood replenisher! Now!" as he and Professor Babbling attended to Alicia.
Harry dipped the pipette into the bottle of Essence of Murtlap before gently applying it to the wound on Luna's shoulder.
"Hem, hem…"
Even the most professional amongst the Aurors cringed at the sound of that fake cough.
"Madam Bones, a word," said the Great Pink Toad.
"What can I do for you, Madam Umbridge?" asked Madam Bones, though her tone had a rather distinct "Go feed yourself to a dragon" edge to it.
"I am just wondering if it is such a good idea to have these students in amongst all of this?" she simpered.
Harry knew immediately that she was referring to himself, Neville and Dean.
"I am right where I need to be," he replied before Madam Bones could say anything.
"You are supposed to be in detention, Mr Potter."
"Yeah, so were these girls. Now, if you don't mind, I think that saving their lives is a much more important and worthwhile use of my time than removing non-existent dust from several hundred old trophies, plaques and medals that no one really cares about anymore."
Umbridge looked about ready to explode, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by the arrival of the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and his entourage of personal Aurors, aides and sycophants.
"What in the name of Merlin happened here?" he demanded before his eyes locked onto Harry. "What have you done this time?"
"I would advise that you not antagonise Mr Potter at the moment Minister," said Madam Bones from where she was conferring with Senior Auror Gawain Rhobards and his protégé, Trainee Auror Gemma Farley. "He just took on Fenrir Greyback single handed and won."
Fudge looked around and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the decapitated Werewolf head lying a few feet from him.
"No! Megan!" shouted Neville "Megan!"
Pomfrey hurried over to examine the girl and, a few tense moments later, she shook her head.
"WHERE ARE THE BLOODY HEALERS?" demanded Harry.
"Dawlish," said Madam Bones, rounding on one of her Aurors. "Did you contact St Mungo's?"
"Williamson was doing it," replied Senior Auror John Dawlish.
Fudge turned to one of the Aurors who had arrived with him. "Proudfoot, go and see what's taking them so long."
Auror Adam Proudfoot nodded and hurried off to a point from which he could disapparate. No one was paying any attention to Dawlish and so they all missed the look on his face. Auror Wallace Williamson answered to him, and Dawlish had been paid quite a decent amount of gold to look the other way while Williamson, also for a substantial sum, delayed the emergency call. Had Fudge sent Auror Jacob Vaisey there would be no problem. Sending Proudfoot meant that there would likely be an investigation into the delay.
Proudfoot moving away gave someone else a better view of the scene, and Percy Weasley's cry of anguish as he caught sight of his sister drew eyes towards him as he staggered forward and sank to his knees by her side.
"Ron, Fred and George already know," said Harry, grimly.
The Junior Assistant to The Minister for Magic looked up at Harry, his eyes filled with the agony of his sister's death and the guilt that he had not been able to reconcile with her before her death. "They've seen her like this?" he asked, his voice hoarse and trembling.
"We would have gotten here sooner had we not been locked in the Great Hall by someone. Were it not for that Ginny might still be alive. The same goes for Megan, Parvati, Angelina, Marietta, Fay, Lisa…"
There was a series of apparition pops nearby and all turned to see a dozen healers and their assistants running up over the sloping lawn.
The Stone Circle, Hogwarts
By now a large crowd of students had begun to gather, drawn in part by the noise, but mostly by the reports given by those who had witnessed the scene first hand.
"Are they going to be alright?" demanded a second year Gryffindor, Romilda Vane.
"I don't reckon so," replied Seamus, who was still as pale as a ghost. "It was a bloodbath down there!"
While many students were electing to go no further than The Stone Circle so as to waylay any Professors who came by, still more were edging their way ever closer to the horrific scene.
"But Werewolves!" Demelza Robins was saying, on the verge of hysterics. "How could Werewolves get into the castle grounds?"
"It's the Ministry's fault," declared Lee Jordan. "Nothing like this would have happened if Dumbledore was still here."
"Are you insane?" demanded Patricia Stimpson. "Shit like this has been happening for the last few years. Or perhaps you Gryffindors have forgotten about Muggleborns getting petrified in the corridors, right under Dumbledore's crooked nose, I might add."
"We Gryffindors forget nothing, Stimpson!" retorted Cormac McClaggen, his temper flaring at the slight against the House of the Brave. "In fact, if I remember rightly it was one of ours who put an end to the attacks while all you lousy Badgers did was try to pin the attacks on him!"
"That's rich!" spat Wayne Hopkins. "I don't recall too many people in the Lion's Den speaking up to defend him. You lot were perfectly happy to jump on the same anti-Harry Potter bandwagon, so don't try and pin all of that on us!"
The situation quickly dissolved into a shouting match with Gryffindors on one side and Hufflepuffs on the other while a few Ravenclaws were scattered about on each side for good measure.
The Clock Tower, Hogwarts
While the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had made their way outside, the majority of the Slytherin students had elected to stay in the warm. Besides, they had a perfectly good view or the now illuminated battleground from the topmost windows of the Clock Tower.
"Nice knowing you, Granger…" Draco Malfoy muttered with a smirk on his face. The Mudbloods were long overdue a reminder that they did not belong in the Wizarding World and the death of Potter's pet bitch was the perfect way to start. That Brocklehurst and Perks got removed too only sweetened the deal as far as he was concerned while the rest were nothing but blood traitors, so their deaths were just the icing on the cake.
It was a shame about the Greengrass girls as they had been stunners, but their father simply would not listen to what was good for him.
"Shame." he said aloud as he turned away from the window, though the smirk was still present on his face.
Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Bulstrode, Runcorn and many other Slytherins shared his sentiments and turned away, all of them beginning to head back to their dormitories.
Pansy Parkinson was one of the few to remain behind. She had always considered the Greengrass sisters to be good people and, while one didn't really set out to make friends within Slytherin House, instead settling for making worthwhile allegiances, Daphne Greengrass had been to Pansy Parkinson what others might have called a "best friend".
And while she might not have liked Tracey's parentage, the girl had been Slytherin through and through – sly... cunning… ambitious… all marks of a great Slytherin.
"Bit of a wake-up call, huh?" commented Blaise Zabini as he came up to her side.
"I don't understand…" muttered Pansy.
"Don't you?" asked Blaise. Then he snorted and said "You've been hanging around with Malfoy too much." He nodded towards the carnage that lay beyond the window. "I don't expect his Daddy ever told him, but that out there is the reality of the Pure-blood movement – Muggleborns, Half-bloods and Pure-bloods alike, all dead."
He turned to look at Pansy. "Abbott, Bones and Moon are three of the oldest wizarding families in Britain. Each of them pre-dates the arrival of the Malfoy family from France by at least a century. And yet Hannah, Susan and Lilith are all down there, most likely dead, all because their parents don't agree with Malfoy's views."
"How do you know Lucius Malfoy was behind this?" asked Toby Harper.
Blaise turned and saw that he had the attention of all the Slytherins who had remained. "Because ordinarily Malfoy would be spitting with rage that someone dare attack anyone from Slytherin House, regardless of who they are. His reaction the deaths of Tracey and the Greengrass sisters suggests to me that he not only knew in advance of what was going to happen, but also that he knew why they were going to be targeted."
He stepped away from the window and began walking towards the doors that led back into the Castle proper, continuing to speak as he did no. "Abbott, Black, Bones, Crickerly, Evermonde, Gamp, Longbottom, Lufkin, McKinnon, McPhail, Meadowes, Minchum, Moon, Potter, Spavin, Spencer and Stump. Before the first War with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, these were the Noblest of Noble, the most Ancient of Houses, widely regarded as everything wizards should strive to be – leaders, pioneers in various fields… Then the Pureblood movement gains a new leader. The Blacks joined him and their numbers were gutted in his service. The rest opposed him and for that the houses of Gamp, McKinnon and Meadowes were exterminated while the rest were decimated to their last few members."
At the door he paused and looked back at the few of his gathered Housemates who had remained. "The problem with the Elitists ruling is that in the end there will be no one left for them to rule."
The Hospital Wing, Hogwarts
The first light of dawn crept through the windows, irritating Harry's sleep-deprived eyes. The healers from St Mungo's had done everything that they could out on the grounds before finally agreeing to move the survivors to the protection of the Hospital Wing.
Once there, Neville and Dean had been given dreamless sleep potions so that they could get some rest, but Harry had refused. Madam Pomfrey knew better than to argue and persuaded the other healers to let the matter drop. The teachers too kept quiet about his continued presence as did most of the Aurors, though Umbridge, Dawlish and Williamson each let their disapproval of the situation be known.
Currently he was sitting in a wooden chair between the beds containing Hermione and Luna, holding their hands. He did not know what it was, but something was telling him that his leaving the Hospital Wing or falling asleep would be putting these two girls and the other survivors in even more danger.
Movement on the other side of the room caught his attention and he looked up just in time to see a healer covering Alicia with a sheet. His heart sank with the knowledge that another friend had died.
His eyes followed the healer as the man walked over to Dawlish, most likely to report this newest piece of bad news. Both men then left the Hospital Wing, leaving Harry alone with the sleeping and the dead.
Less than a minute later the doors to the Hospital Wing opened and Professor McGonagall entered, accompanied by Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and two men and a woman whom Harry did not recognise. McGonagall and Kingsley led the trio over to Alicia's bed, offered their condolences and then left. Harry quickly surmised that this must be Alicia's immediate family, most likely her mother, father and older brother.
Harry did his best to ignore the sobs of Alicia's mother, instead turning to Hermione's bedside table and pouring some water into a goblet before drinking it down in one go.
Families had been coming in and out for the last few hours, grieving for their lost loved ones. He hadn't seen any of the Weasleys yet, but that was probably because Ginny's body had not been brought to the hospital wing. Nor had Tracey's for that matter, nor had Fay, Lisa, Marietta or Professor Grubbly-Plank – their bodies had been savaged the worst.
Harry was suddenly aware that someone was watching him and was surprised when he turned around and came face to face with The Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower.
After taking a brief second to get over his initial shock, Harry cleared his throat and offered a croaky "H-hello?"
The ghost tilted her head to the side, as if judging him, before turning and placing a transparent hand on Luna's shoulder where she had been bitten worst.
"This one is kind, unlike so many of the others…" she said sadly, before turning her gaze back to Harry, who was quickly getting the impression that, like Luna, The Grey Lady did not need to blink as much as everyone else.
"It pains me to see her hurt like this…" the ghost continued. "Protect her, Harry Potter. And protect Hogwarts… just as you have done before…"
With that she turned away from him and sank through the floor.
"Hey, wait…!" Harry began, but she was gone.
He frowned. Protect Hogwarts as you have done before… Hadn't Peeves said the exact same thing the night before when handing Harry the Sorting Hat?
Before he could think more on this and what it implied, the Hospital Wing's doors opened again, this time to admit Amelia Bones and an Auror whom Harry had learned, through the course of the night's events, was Rufus Scrimgeour, the Head Auror.
Madam Bones paused by Susan's bed for a moment before she and Scrimgeour continued towards Harry. Susan, Hermione, Luna and Daphne were the least injured of all the girls and were currently the only ones out of what the healers considered to be "the danger zone." So long as Lavender, Padma and Hannah made it through the next hour or so then they too would be considered through the worst of it, though things were a bit more dicey for Katie, Cho and Morag.
"Mr Potter," began Madam Bones once she was close enough to speak clearly with him without raising her voice enough to disturb the grieving Spinnet family. "We haven't been introduced. I'm Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with the Ministry of Magic, and this man is Rufus Scrimgeour. He is the Head of the Auror Office. We would like to question you regarding your part in last night's events."
There was a part of Harry that wanted to make a snarky comment in regards to her words. He wanted to say that he hadn't realised that the Ministry actually investigated criminal activity. He wanted to say that he was under the impression that the Ministry just found a scape-goat if needed and then swept everything else under the rug.
He wanted to bring up his farce of a trial before the entire Wizengamot for a matter of underage magic. He wanted to bring up the false imprisonment of his Godfather, Sirius Black, and the cover-ups surrounding the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, the terror attack at the Quidditch World Cup, the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort.
But he didn't. With his best friend Hermione lying seriously injured on his right, while his newest friend Luna lay in a similar state on his left, it just did not feel like the right time to bring any of that up.
And anyway, Madam Bones had been the only one out of the three interrogators at his trial who had actually been willing to hear him out and who had made sure that the Wizengamot acted as it should in the face of Fudge and Umbridge's attempts to rail-road the whole thing straight towards a guilty verdict.
Nymphadora Tonks had once told Harry that Madam Bones was fair when questioning people and would be prepared to hear him out. (Privately Harry suspected that this was a contributing factor towards Fudge's decision to drag his case before the entire Wizengamot.) Harry liked Tonks, so he decided to give the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement the benefit of the doubt.
"Ok," he replied before sitting himself back down into his wooden chair. "What would you like to know?"
"Everything," replied Madam Bones. "From the first moment that you knew something was wrong."
Harry saw absolutely no harm in that and told Madam Bones and Head Auror Scrimgeour everything that he could, with the two interviewers making numerous notes. He did notice each of them underlining what they wrote when he mentioned that he and the other boys were locked in the Great Hall."
"Even Mr Filch's keys didn't work," Harry added to place further emphasis on that point. "I know he's a squib but he seemed to think that his keys were supposed to unlock any door within the castle, regardless of what enchantments were placed on them."
Harry could understand the logic behind that, especially in a school full of teenagers where emotions sometimes ran a little high and bullying went unchecked – he imagined that Filch's keys had resolved a fair few problems over the years, such as rescuing students locked in cupboards by their less-than-friendly house mates.
"So it was Peeves who got you out?" asked Scrimgeour to clarify the point.
"Yeah. It was weird though. I've never seen him looking so serious. He unlocked the door, held out the Sorting Hat and told me to protect the school."
At this Madam Bones raised an eyebrow. "And do the magical denizens of this castle often ask you to save it, Mr Potter?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and admitted "This is the first time I've been asked to do it. I guess I've just done it so many times by now that Peeves knew to come to me rather than anyone else."
"Perhaps we should make time to discuss that statement some more, Mr Potter," said Madam Bones. "For now though, let us return to the matter at hand…"
Harry nodded and explained about leading the other boys through the castle to the Clock Tower Courtyard where they encountered the teachers.
Scrimgeour looked up from his notes and commented "Professor McGonagall said that she saw you drawing a sword from the Sorting Hat as you ran through the courtyard. I assume the poltergeist put it there?"
In response, Harry leaned over and reached under Hermione's bed. When he drew back, he had the sword in his hands. With reverence he held out the silvery blade, still blood stained, for the two Law Enforcement Officials to look at.
"Godric Gryffindor," Madam Bones read as she gazed at the engraving just beneath the hilt of the sword.
"The Hogwarts Sorting Hat once belonged to Godric Gryffindor," explained Harry. "In times of great need, a true Gryffindor can use the hat to call forth the sword used by the founder of our house. This would be the second time that I have done so."
"And it is this blade that you used to kill Fenrir Greyback?" asked Scrimgeour. "Most Wizards would have gone for their wands."
"I'm a little bit sketchy about using my wand for defence at the moment," retorted Harry. "I trust that both of you can understand why?"
This brought both of them up short, and for a moment neither of them responded.
Harry took the opportunity to put the sword away before reaching out to take Hermione's hand. "She is my best friend. When I saw her lying there in that pool of blood, with that… that monster looming over her… I didn't need to think. I didn't need to come up with a plan. I just had to get there and get him away from her. The first strike was to warn him. He didn't go away, so I killed him."
"There are a great many out there who will thank you for that…" began Madam Bones.
"There are a great many out there who should be thankful to me for much greater reasons, Madam Bones," said Harry, interrupting her. "I have come to find that the Wizarding World has a very funny way of showing its gratitude…"
Amelia Bones had worked within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement within the Ministry for a long time now and she knew the warning signs to look out for. The bitterness that was creeping into Harry's tone as he spoke then was exactly one of those warning signs. While emotional and physical exhaustion alike were good ways to get people to talk, it could also lead to belligerence and distrust. She rather wanted Harry to be on her side right now and so decided that they had questioned him enough for now.
As she and Scrimgeour were getting up to leave, Harry began talking again.
"Madam Bones. There has been a massive smear campaign going on against me these last few months. A lot of it has come directly as a result of the Ministry's behaviour towards me. If, as I suspect, anyone within the Ministry had anything to do with the attack that took place last night, please find them and see to it that they are given the Dementor's Kiss."
He held up the Sword of Gyffindor again. "I have killed a Basilisk and the worst sort of Werewolf with this blade. I don't think that I would ever use it on a human being, but I don't think it would be wise to test that theory…"
Madam Bones was quick to assuage Harry's thoughts. "Mr Potter, if anyone anywhere helped to instigate last night's attack, there will be nothing and no one that will same them from a date with a Dementor. You have my word on that."
Harry nodded and set the sword aside once again as the two Law Enforcement Officials took their leave.
Neither one said it, but after witnessing the travesty that had taken place, both Madam Bones and Head Auror Scrimgeour were of the opinion that if anyone within the Ministry was behind the attacks and Mr Potter got to them before the Dementors, they both would personally help him dispose of the bodies.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts
CARNAGE AT HOGWARTS
by Andy Smudgley
That was the headline on the front page of the numerous copies of The Daily Prophet that arrived in amongst all the other owl post which been delivered during breakfast in the Great Hall a few hours later. Students and staff alike read the article with grim expressions on their faces.
In many ways the article was the usual piece of tripe that could be expected from The Daily Prophet these days, containing a good amount of wild speculation and fear mongering as opposed to actual facts, and were it not for the graveness of the situation being reported upon, most would not have paid it much heed.
But there was one way in which it did differ from its standard as of late. Harry Potter was not being portrayed as the villain of the piece.
At some point during the investigation, someone had shown a glimpse of their memory of the event to a reporter who had used a special camera to photograph the moment from within a pensieve.
Smack-dab in the middle of the front page of The Daily Prophet was a moving image of a great Werewolf looming over its intended victim before Harry Potter himself charges in wielding a sword, hacking at the beast once, twice… and then the image ended its loop and went back to the beginning before the decapitation happened.
The article made special note of the fact that Harry had lead student and teacher alike in the counter attack and in doing so had personally killed Fenrir Greyback before assisting in the care for the injured while they awaited the arrival of specialists from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Throughout the Great Hall, many students were quietly reassessing recent events and were not liking the conclusions that they were coming to – a sentiment that was being shared by wizards and witches the length and breadth of the British Isles.
The Office of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Hogwarts.
Dolores Umbridge was seething as she read the article on the front page of The Daily Prophet. Everything about it went completely against the Ministry's current position and was in violation of the understanding that had been reached between the leading Magical Periodical and the Minister's Office.
She had hung around for a long as possible the night before, just for appearances' sake, but after an hour she had retreated to her office in order to do some damage control. She had reported to Lucius that the attack had not been entirely successful, but the man seemed satisfied.
"Regardless of the survivors, the proposition to organise a Werewolf cull will now gain more support than ever, both within the Wizengamot and out amongst the commoners in the street," the arrogant man had assured her over the floo network. "If we word the bill correctly, we can ensure that tonight's survivors will be dispatched of in the exact same way as any other Werewolf will be."
But the survivors were not what had the Acting Headmistress worried. Survivors could be dealt with. The problem was Potter. Her spell work should have held against that door, yet he got out of the Great Hall anyway. And now he was back on the front page of The Daily Prophet, looking every bit the hero some claimed him to be, and Dolores Umbridge had no idea how to undo the damage this would inevitably cause the efforts of The Minister's Office to discredit the brat.
There was a knock at the door and she looked up, only to curse inwardly at the sight of Madam Bones and Head Auror Scrimgeour standing in her doorway.
The Hospital Wing, Hogwarts.
Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Senior Healer Hippocrates Smethwyck and Trainee Healer Augustus Pye were the only ones left on duty in the castle's Hospital Wing. Two other healers had just escorted Morag MacDougal to St Mungo's Hospital, but the outlook for her really wasn't good.
The rest were out of the danger zone by now and the nine girls left in the Hospital Wing looked to be on the road to make a complete recovery… well, as complete a recovery as you can make after being afflicted with the lycanthropy virus.
All nine were still asleep, though Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas had been woken up a while ago to attend breakfast.
As she made her way between the beds, Madam Pomfrey could not help but smile to herself. In spite of his insistence upon remaining awake, exhaustion had finally claimed Harry Potter. He was still sitting in his chair and was still holding the hands of Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, but his head was tilted back against the wall behind him and his mouth was opened slightly as he breathed gently.
Shaking her head fondly, the school nurse decided that there was no need to wake the boy. Instead she whipped out her wand performed a levitation charm to move Miss Granger's bedside table to the other side of her bed before transfiguring Mr Potter's chair into a standard hospital bed, which wedged itself comfortably between the two beds on either side of it without waking the boy up. A sheet and a blanket, initially folded up at the foot of the bed, unfurled themselves to cover the bed's occupant as a pillow materialised beneath his head.
Harry Potter shifted slightly to get more comfortable and then continued to sleep.
On either side of him, Hermione and Luna shifted as well, moving towards him as though drawn to his presence. It was the first time either of them had moved since being brought in.
A/N: Ok, people! This is the end of Part 1. From the summary you can probably guess that I intend for this to go further, so there might be a Part 2 coming your way soon!
Just to be clear, the nine survivors are Hermione, Luna, Susan, Hannah, Lavender, Daphne, Padma, Cho and Katie. For those of you wondering, no I do not plan to make this story go the harem route, but there may well be jokes and flirtation made around the notion.