A/N: Well this was a rather hard chapter to get out as my muse didn't want to focus on it, but I did want to get it out for Halloween, so HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone and enjoy.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Halloween
"Maybe we should just focus on the pending battle like this 'friend' said to" Linda said as she tried to calm Harry down.
"A 'friend' wouldn't send a note like this; a friend would have just given me the bloody scroll and allowed me to decide what to do with it."
"There isn't much we can do about that now Harry, come on if this person wanted to hurt you they could have already. Clearly the person is trying to be a friend by telling you what they have, so let's just focus on the matter at hand."
"So I am to forget that someone out there knows of the coming apocalypse and that the legends of the Four Horsemen are mentioned in the scroll? How can anyone expect for me just to forget that when we are already at bloody war?"
"I am not asking you to forget about it Harry, I am just asking that you not allow it to cloud your focus on our more pending brush with doom."
"Fine let's stay focused on the pending battle then" Harry said as he got his map from the trunk. "It looks like our friends are on their way back to the common room so we will meet up with them there."
They made their way down to the common room and a short while later they saw their friends returning from their class. Harry walked up to them and soon had then off to the side of the common room.
"Hey guys I need to have a meeting with you, but not here, so could we all get together in the Room of Requirements after your last class of the day?"
"What's up mate" Ron asked not really thinking that Harry didn't want to discuss it in the common room.
"I will explain everything later I promise, oh and Ron could you send word to the twins that I would like them to join us at the meeting as well?"
"Oh and don't forget to have Luna and Ginny come for the meeting too" Linda said as an after thought as those two weren't with the rest of their friends.
"Sure I will send an owl to them, but I don't know why you would want those two there" Ron said calmly.
"Thanks" Harry said "well shall we head to lunch then?"
Harry and Linda went over the basics of what Harry would explain when the core DA group arrived that evening since they had the rest of the day to prepare. Harry didn't like the idea of fighting within the school as he didn't want the students or his friends getting hurt. But he knew that they wouldn't have a choice so he accepted that, but he was determined to work out plans enough to prevent unnecessary deaths. That simply meant that he didn't want any non death eaters to die, their deaths were guaranteed the moment they took their mark.
After dinner that night Harry and Linda watched as one by one the people Harry considered the core of the DA arrived plus Fred and George Weasley. Harry waited until they were all seated in comfortable chairs and then stood in front of them like a true leader.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice" Harry said looking at each of them. "I've asked that you come here because I have reliable intelligence that there will be an attack on Hogsmeade on Halloween. As you can no doubt guess an attack on that village would probably only be a prelude to an attack on this very school."
Hermione seemed to grin slightly but hid it quickly "have you had a vision? If you did you should tell the headmaster so he can plan for any possible attacks."
"Hermione you know as well as I do that if I told Dumbledore he would no doubt call his order of the waiting chicken to discuss what to do. Hell look at last year I told Snape well before we went off to the Ministry and yet the order didn't show up for what like an hour after we have been there? It took us maybe three hours to fly there and yet it took them over an hour longer? What the hell took them so long, because they shouldn't have taken over four hours to get to the ministry."
"Sorry" Hermione said in a low tone.
Neville grinned "so what's the plan Harry?"
"Well if I had my way I would have Dumbledore send everyone home so no students were in the school to be hurt or killed. Unfortunately I doubt he would agree to that, so Linda and I figured we would bring the best of the best together to work out a new plan."
"So why we here then" Fred asked with a laugh.
"Oh brother of my twin age I believe young Mister Potter done did bumped his head."
"Must of if he thinks this group is the best of the best" Fred said with another laugh that George joined in on.
"Quiet you two" Luna said with a grin "do continue Harry."
"Thanks Luna and yes I do believe that those of you here are the best of the DA and the twins are surely good at what they do as well." Harry paused as he looked at the twins waiting for a retort but none came. "Linda and I have been working tirelessly all afternoon to work out a basic plan, but now we want input from the rest of you. Ginny are you still planning to further a career in magical medicine?"
"Yeah" Ginny said with a big smile. "I have worked out the courses needed with Madam Pomfrey so I can obtain the N.E.W.T.s I will need to become a healer."
"Good to hear, why I asked was that I would like you to head up the team for an emergency infirmary. I know Madam Pomfrey is a great healer but if the worst case happens and we do get attacked there could be a lot of injuries. I only say this because we are planning for the worst and hoping to Merlin for the best."
"Yeah I guess it would be best, and I know a few of the old DA members that are on the healer career path as well. I will check with them to see about them being part of the emergency team if you want?"
"Please do as of now you are in charge of that area, but do try to keep it quiet as we don't want to start a mass panic among the lower years. Neville you are a genius when it comes to Herbology and as I am pants in that area I would like you to come up with a few plans to set up plants as traps. The point here is that if we are attacked we want to slow down or prevent the Death Munchers from getting anywhere near the students. If we can do that by placing something like the Devils Snare at the gate then all the better."
"That might just work" Neville said after thinking about it for a moment.
"Ron you are by far the best at strategies so I will be relying on you to help out all around to ensure things are strategically planned out to the best of our abilities. I have managed to get blueprints of the school and the grounds, so if you and Neville could look over them and decide on a plan of prevention I would appreciate it."
"Sure thing mate" Ron said with a grin as the praise from Harry elevated his personal ego.
"George and Fred I have a special job for you two which is why I have called you back to these hallowed halls but I will have to get into that in a minute. The next thing I would like to discuss is about getting a team together that can fly. I think we could do with an aerial attack force that will be able to deliver a few of the surprises I want the twins to make. I don't want this team taking unnecessary risks though, I just want them to fly in hit and run nothing more."
"Well Fred and I aren't bad on brooms so I suppose we could work with a team and get something put together."
"Yeah since we'll be designing whatever it is you are having us deliver it will easier if we handle the team as well."
"That's up to you, but that will require you to be on call that day since we have no way of knowing if or when they will attack."
"No problem we got your back major" Fred said with a grin, but the silence that followed was a tense on.
"Umm okay, but what's with the major crack" Harry asked after a long awkward silence.
"I think my dear brother been spending too much time watching those moving picture things muggle's call movies with new girlfriend."
Harry laughed figuring Fred been introduced to military movies in some form and as Harry thought about it he could see how he did seem like a military leader preparing his troops for battle. "Alrighty then moving on so we aren't here all night. Hermione you are a brilliant witch, and no doubt the smartest of our generation. I would like you and Luna to workout what spells will need to be covered again by the DA to ensure they can be brought up to speed in time. We have two weeks which isn't a load of time, so we are going to pushing whatever we can into getting ready. Hopefully this mysterious Magi Order I been hearing about can handle things in Hogsmeade so it doesn't spill over here, but I am not letting anything to chance. Also Hermione if you could I would like to get a DA meeting set up for Saturday as I would like to test the groups accuracy with spells. I am hoping to have a team of sharp shooters up on the towers that can pick off a few of the enemy before they manage to cause any real problems."
"I will get on that as soon as we finish up here" Hermione said and then with a knowing smirk she added "sir."
Harry rolled his eyes as he looked at her and then looked at the rest of the group. "Well that's about all I have at this time. I am willing to listen to any and all suggestions you have, as the core members of the DA I trust you all. However right now I will like to go to talk Fred and George, so if you have anything at the moment, please meet up with Linda until I am finished."
Harry took the twins off to a corner to discuss things with them while the rest paired off to work on what they needed to. Ron and Neville started to look over the layout of the castle to work out the best strategy of where to place plants to aid in the battle. Hermione and Luna sat talking quietly, supposedly about different spells and such. Ginny didn't have anything to work with anyone on, so she pulled out parchment and started to outline what she needed to set up for an emergency infirmary.
"Ok you two I know you like your pranking, and honestly I support that as your choice of career. Now though I need something a bit different from you two, but similar in a way I guess." Harry paused as he conjured up what looked like a water balloon. "You both know what this is, so I won't get into too much detail. What I want is something similar, but it has to be able to hold something like potions in it or something. I don't know I guess I want something that can be flung at an enemy and have it splash something nasty on them that might render them out of commission for a bit or permanently if possible."
Fred and George exchanged what appeared to be knowing looks, or as Harry thought it was their twin ability to communicate silently. After a moment Fred spoke "well it is possible, and I'm sure we could come up with something rather quickly."
"We've been working on some different powder mixtures, like an instant darkness dust" George added seamlessly.
"Well anything you could come up with in the time we have will be great, but you're going to need enough for your flying squad." Harry paused a moment as he thought about what he hoped to achieve. "The next thing to discuss would be the squad I guess since I will let you two set it up. I know we have some good flyers in the DA like Cho Chang, Katie Bell, and other Quidditch players, so I guess you could see if any of them are interested in it."
"Yeah we had the same thought" Fred said with a grin.
"Might get the old team together and see who would be willing to join. Maybe Angelina and Alicia will come back to help us."
"I doubt they would want to return aren't they trying to get on a professional Quidditch team?"
"Angelina has tried out for Puddlemere United, but was put on a reserves list until a spot opens up" Fred said with a grin.
"Yeah so while she waits she been working at our shop with us" George added with his own grin.
"Ah okay so I guess her 'bosses' could allow her to come help then" Harry smirked. "What about Alicia though, I'm sure she is looking to get on a team too."
"She's in the same boat as Angelina…"
"And works for us as well at the moment."
"Cool" Harry said with a grin as he imagined the twins were probably dating the two former Quidditch teammates. "I guess that is all I needed to talk to you two about, I just hope that we won't need the squad."
"We'll be ready mate" Fred said confidently. "I know you would rather no one be involved in this fight, but the truth is we're at war."
"Yeah so don't go getting all 'I'm the Hero' on us, and allow us to have the chance to help if it comes to it."
They spoke for a bit longer on the basics of what the squad could do and how to best aid the war effort without being in any unnecessary danger. When they finished the twins left to return to their flat, while Harry went to check on what the others had come up with.
Two days later, on Saturday, Hermione managed to set up an impromptu DA meeting with most of the old DA members in attendance. Hermione and Luna also managed to compile a list of spells that could prove to be useful, and most of them had already been covered by Harry the previous year.
"You have all been briefed on the potential threat to the school that could be coming our way. Now it is time to find out who among you wish to stand and fight, for any who wish not to that is fine as well." Harry paused as he looked at the group of DA members looking at him. "This battle could possibly be one of the worst fights we could ever encounter and I won't lie to you we will be sorely outnumbered. I have been through a lot along with Linda this past summer, and before that I stood with some close friends as we battled Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. I learned a valuable lesson from that fight and that's stunning an enemy only delays them. It seemed no sooner did we stun one another was countering it and reviving their ally to continue fighting us."
Some of the kids in the room started to mumble 'what's the point then?' 'How can we beat them when they are fully trained?'
Harry could hear all their comments and hushed questions and the truth was he didn't know how they could beat them. "I have told you that I won't lie to you, and I promise I won't, but you must understand this isn't about winning the war. If we are attacked it will be about surviving the battle we are in at that moment. You are all right to be worried, but fear can also be an enemy when in a battle. Another enemy is over confidence because if you believe that you are unbeatable then you get sloppy."
Hermione moved forward "another thing to worry about is believing an enemy is out of the fight when they aren't. I silenced a Death Eater, but as some seventh year here can tell you, being silenced doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot. The Death Eater managed to cast a silent curse at me and struck me down before I even realized my error."
"When I saw her drop I froze" Harry said quietly, which caused a lot of people to worry. "Thankfully Neville was by my side and got me to focus on the battle and that's what you must do too. I won't blame any of you that wish not to fight if we are attacked, but I will ask if you aren't fighting the main force that you protect the younger students. In fact I will want a squad for each of the houses to serve that particular job."
"What about Slytherin" a fifth year Ravenclaw asked.
"That's a good question" Harry said calmly. "We don't have any Slytherins in our group, so we will have teams for the houses we do. If anyone would like to volunteer to help the younger Slytherins then I will get a group together for them as well."
Ron moved over to Harry "actually mate it would be best if we keep all the younger students in the Great Hall. That way they are all together and easier to protect instead of having them spread out in four different sections of the school."
"You got a point mate" Harry said with a grin. "For those that don't know Ron Weasley is our strategist for this campaign. He has a gifted mind when it comes to this type of thing, so I would like you to listen if he suggests something to help our cause. As for your suggestion that is simple brilliant. I was thinking like Dumbledore would, and you just provided that that course of action is not the right one. I want a full protection plan worked out to ensure that the those not fighting in the main battle are fully protected at all times."
"What if the professors argue" a timid Hufflepuff asked in a scared tone.
"Honestly if they want to fight us on it then they can get stuff" Harry said firmly. "I will lay out the plans to Dumbledore as soon as I have them and hopefully that will nullify any resistance on the part of the professors."
"Are you asking us to kill people" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked as he stared at Harry.
"No, what I am asking you is to defend yourself and your friends. Does that mean vile things known as Death Eaters might die? Yes it does, but that doesn't mean you have to be the one killing them. Personally the only good Death Eater is a dead one, but as I'm not that into killing myself I will be satisfied with an injured Death Eater unable to kill or torture an innocent person."
Harry could tell that some of the people in the DA wouldn't or couldn't bring themselves to accept what war truly meant. He had been living with death for a long time, and he still didn't like the idea of killing people. He did however know that a follower of Voldemort wouldn't hesitate, and at this point neither could he.
"If we fight on Halloween as I suspect then I have no doubt that stunners will be useless. If you can't bring yourself to harm a living being then I suggest you stay with the group in the Great Hall, because to do otherwise might get you killed if you aren't careful. I know it is cruel and insensitive to say, but you all know that we are at war here, and that means maiming or killing your enemy before they can do it to you."
Harry wasn't surprised that a small selection of DA members led by Justin got up and left when given the option of kill or hide. What was surprising was that it was only a small selection of Hufflepuffs and two Ravenclaws that left. Of course Harry knew Susan Bones and Hanna Abbott wouldn't be among them, even if deep down he had wished they would have been. He didn't want to think about any of his friends, even limited acquaintances from DA, being injured or killed in the coming conflict.
"Okay those of you that didn't leave accept that this is a war and that means certain things will be done that we most defidently won't like doing. So at this time I will ask Fred and George Weasley to collect the members they have selected to be on their squad."
The Room of Requirement changed once more from a small meeting room into a larger room. There were doors off along a wall that led to smaller rooms for the different squads to meet up in and discuss what they were going to do in the fight.
"I want the twins to discuss what their team's role in the battle will be. For those of you that don't want to accept that role please let them know immediately so you can return for reassignment and so they can get a replacement."
It didn't take long for the twins to gather the best flyers they knew and direct them to a door to discuss what they planned. It was vital for them to have the best flyers, but even though Harry fit that billing his place was to face Voldemort if he showed.
"Next I will ask Ginny Weasley to collect those that she wishes to have on her squad. Again any of you that decide you don't wish to be there once it has been explained please return for reassignment and so we know who we must replace."
Ginny had already met up with most of those she would have on her infirmary squad, so she didn't think there would be any problems. She led her group off to another door, so they could speak alone like the twins did with their group.
"Neville I believe you have a group that you intend to help you with the plant portion of our offensive?"
"Yeah" Neville said as he stepped up. "I won't need a large group, maybe five other members that are good in Herbology."
After about five minutes Neville found that Susan Bones and Hanna Abbott were two good students in Herbology. He then collected two more Ravenclaws that were good with plants and they went off to a third room to discuss what plants had to do with the upcoming battle.
"Okay next up I want to find out who is are best sharp shooters when it comes to spells." Harry paused as the room changed a bit more adding lanes in which targets were positioned down them. "At this point there is a target set up at five meters (about sixteen feet). I will have Hermione and Luna go over the paintball spell, which isn't too hard of a charm to learn. After you have mastered the spell I want you to line up in one of the six lanes available. Each person will then fire the spell at the target to try and hit the center point. Think of it as a game of sorts, because if you hit the center you move on to the next round. If you don't then you will excused as you will be part of the main fighters on the grounds. We will meet again tomorrow for those of you dismissed so that we can start working on other spells and strategies for the upcoming offensive."
Over the course of the next hour Harry watched as members of the DA were eliminated from the target competition. The target started at five meters (16.4 feet) then was moved to ten meters (32.8ft). Most could hit the center at those ranges the cuts increased when it was moved to twenty-five meters (82ft). At fifty meters (164ft) they were down to a half dozen people that could hit the target.
"Okay I think you will be the shooters up on the tower, but the problem is will you be able to hit targets at a hundred meters?"
Most of the six left missed the center point of the target at the hundred meter position, but they did hit the target at least. Hermione stepped forward to the group as she was one of the few that did hit the center point. "I think we will be fine and to add to that certainty I think we should use the Reductor curse to ensure it. Even if we miss the direct target we will still inflict enough damage to slow down or eliminate a threat."
Harry was a bit shocked by her choice of spell, since he didn't think Hermione would be willing to kill people. Sure if they hit the ground they wouldn't kill the Death Eater, but if they did manage to hit them then it would no doubt kill them. Harry might have been willing to do it himself, as was Linda, since they both had been trained for war, but he never expected Hermione would.
Over the next week each squad went about training on spells that they would need to know for the upcoming battle. Harry didn't like that they would be fighting any more at that point than he did when they started training, but he also knew they had no choice.
The last week before Halloween was spent going over all the strategies that Ron had worked out for them. Harry knew that if they could all work as a cohesive team then it would save a lot of their lives. He couldn't afford for them to rush off half cocked and get themselves killed.
Harry had also been in negotiations with Dumbledore and was surprised when Blade showed up to aid in the talks. It took a good bit to convince the old fool that sending the students off to their dorms wasn't the best course of action. Finally he relented and said that it would be beneficial to have them in the great hall so only a limited staff had to remain inside the castle. Of course that the was the point Harry had tried to make, but of course at first it was over ruled at once until the old man had time to analyze the whole matter.
Dumbledore had tried to confirm the attack from his spy Snape, but Severus didn't know anything about the attack. He hadn't been filled in on any plans for the last two months since he was stuck at the school. He did say that there wasn't any mass summoning, but that didn't mean that there weren't plans in place.
The morning of Halloween Harry awake with an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach. He figured it had to do with the pending battle or maybe it was just the effect that the day itself had on him. As he went down to the great hall for breakfast with Linda he found that he wasn't too hungry.
He was surprised when he entered to find that the Slytherin table was completely empty, but all the DA members were at their house tables already. As he sat down each of them seemed to nod to him and he replied with a nod of his own.
By the end of breakfast Harry was still in shock that the Slytherins hadn't joined them to eat. As the food vanished Dumbledore stood up and called attention of those in the great hall.
"By now most of you have noticed that the Slytherins aren't here for the meal. I have asked Professor Snape to secure them in their dungeon common room. You also know that there is a potential for an attack today by Voldemort."
None of the DA members were affected by the name, but those not in DA shuttered and winced at the name.
"I have decided that all classes for today will be postponed just in case the forces of darkness do in fact pay a visit here today. I would rather none of you have to fight in a battle that should be left to the adults meant to protect you. I do however agree with the advice of Mr. Wolf and Mr. Potter in that this is a battle where people could get hurt or killed if they don't fight back. I have agreed to allow only those of the DA that have volunteered to partake in the battle. All those that aren't on that list will be held here if an attack occurs, until then though you are free to return to your common rooms. I would ask that you remain there, here, or the library. It wouldn't do for anyone to be caught outside these areas if an attack does actually happen."
Harry and Linda disappeared to the Room of Requirement once they were dismissed. Harry was a bit surprised that Hermione and some of his other friends weren't at breakfast, but figured they were preparing for the battle that could come.
In the RoR Harry had a monitor appear on the wall that would give him a magical view of Hogsmeade, while Linda watched another that showed the Hogwarts ground. Everything had been set up in place the day before as Neville and his team positioned plants to aid in the protection of the school. The twins had showed up as well as they had something else to add to the defense plans. They had set up explosive like pranks along the edge of the Forbidden forest just in case Voldemort's forces attempted to enter that way. These 'pranks' were more like land mines that would help defend the grounds even more than what the twins left on.
At ten that morning Hogsmeade did get attacked by Voldemort's forces as the Death Eaters Apparated into the village. They sent curses at buildings hoping to raze the village to the ground and kill as many as they could in the process. It didn't happen though as the mysterious group known as the Magi Order was there waiting for them.
The attack on Hogsmeade was meant to be a distraction as those in that group were mainly new recruits that hadn't been trained too well. A lot were fresh out of Hogwarts, so they didn't have a lot of experience under their collective belts.
As soon as Harry saw the attack happening he sounded the alarm to get all the students into the great hall. He then went off with Linda to get the squads in place as they expected they would have a bit of time with the Death Eaters battling the Magi Order.
Dumbledore heard the alarm Harry set up and instantly understood what he meant when he said he would be alerted to an attack on Hogsmeade. Dumbledore amplified his voice so it acted like a PA system within the whole school. "Attention all students and staff, Death Eaters have attacked Hogsmeade. All those that are to be in the Great Hall report there now and all DA members report to your squad leaders immediately. I repeat the attack has started, THISISNOTADRILL!"
What he didn't know was that the main attack force was heading in from the Forbidden Forest. He also didn't know that they planned to attack the unprotected school while the new recruits distracted the proficient Magi Order. What he did know that Voldemort didn't was that the school wasn't as unprotected as he figured it would be.
The first wave of Death Eaters that ventured out of the forbidden forest soon found how well protected the ground truly were. The tried to sneak on to the grounds, but as they walked out the first death eater in line stepped on one of the twins' prank bombs.
BOOM
The Death Eater that stepped on the explosive was launched into the air minus his legs that had been lost in the explosion. The next few behind him didn't know what hit them as they were also blasted into the air missing limbs.
The explosion also alerted Harry to the fact that the Death Eaters were attempting to enter through the forest. He ran even faster to the Entrance hall with Linda hot on his tail. The twins knew the explosion was their mine field being entered so hurried to get their squad into the air. The sharp shooters were positioned on the towers facing the grounds and sent reductor curses down at their enemies and quickly hide as some tried to return fire.
When Harry and his force exited the school he couldn't believe the carnage that was left behind. There was blood and body parts covering the ground from the curses and explosives that had met the intruders.
A few Death Eaters found that the Devils Snare that had been positioned as well didn't allow them easy access as they believed they would have. Voldemort wasn't happy with what was happening as he hadn't expected any resistance to his well thought out plan.
Harry and his force started to send curses at the Death Eaters as dementors started to float in from the forest. Harry gave the order for the flyers to distract the Death Eaters while his team dealt with the Dementors.
"Expecto Patronum" was shouted by Harry and his force as a vast array of silver creatures sprang into action. They were led by a large stag belonging to Harry followed by a bit small doe sent by Linda. The patronus force attacked the dementors head on and prevented them from really entering the battle.
A few of the death eaters that avoided the trapped border attempted to attack the group while they were distracted. It didn't work of course because the flying squad was on the ball and started to pelt them with balloon like objects with different potions in them.
Bellatrix had snuck up and prepared to send a curse at the group, but was hit by the objects. One of them contained a cloth dissolving potion that soon covered her, and began to eat through her clothes. She screamed out insanely as she realized that her clothes were dissolving before her eyes leaving her standing there naked within seconds of being hit by more balloons.
Harry would have laughed at the distraction if he wasn't in a duel of his own with another of the Death Eaters.
Bellatrix lost what control of her mind she had when she spotted Harry and Linda fighting her husband and brother-in-law. She shouted "Avada Kedavra" and sent the sickly green killing curse at Linda seconds before she was hit by another balloon like object. This one containing a flesh eating potion that started to dissolve her flesh like the one before had her clothes.
Her husband was distracted by her screams and glanced over to see her flesh being eaten away. Harry was likewise distracted because he saw the killing curse headed for Linda and shoved her out of the way just as it hit him instead.
Linda had seen Harry hit by the killing curse before during the summer, but that was before her change. Now as she watched him fall to the ground she lost control of her ability and her eyes turned blood red literally as tears of blood streaked down her face. She left out a cry of rage as she went into a blood frenzy unlike anything she had ever felt before. As she did her ability went wild hitting the two nearest Death Eaters, which were the Lestrange brothers.
Katherine had warned Linda that in times of great rage her power could be unleashed, but she didn't understand it at the time. At that moment she still didn't understand as all she saw was blood red. The Lestrange brothers fell under her control as she lost control of her powers and they rushed off to kill their own people following her command to kill.
Voldemort couldn't understand what went wrong, but knew something did. He decided to escape and analyze what happened. The Lestrange brothers were killed by their own side prior to the full evactuation that happened when Voldemort activated the emergency Portkeys. Bellatrix was in a lot pain and would require medical attention but the evac of the Death Eaters probably saved her sorrowful life.
Harry recovered as they were escaping and went to calm down Linda who he could tell lost control since he knew the blood tears were a true sign of it. He could only hope that he could calm her and not lose control of his own mind in the process.