Chapter 25

(Hogwarts)

Dumbledore sat in his chair in the Great Hall still expecting the floo call from Harry. He was certain the boy would come begging him for help in repelling the attack on the Alley. He ignored the growing sense of worry in the other members of the Order, like Severus they were growing concerned about their lack of action and the consequences of them not doing anything to help. As if the Ministry would actually do anything to him he thought bitterly. He was Albus Dumbledore the defeater of Grindelwald and the man who had held Voldemort back until his defeat during the first war.

What had gone the year before was all down to Fudge being in Malfoy's pocket and an urge to stick their heads in the sand by the majority of the others. That was the only reason he had been stripped of most of his positions, it wouldn't happen again. They needed him and the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort was beyond the Ministry's capability to defeat on their own.

"Albus," Severus said as he approached him again. "We must act, we can't wait for Potter," he advised, wanting to get to the Alley and help stop the Death Eaters. "The Ministry is not likely to ignore us doing nothing. Amelia Bones is no fan of yours Albus," he reminded the older man. "She will do what she says if we don't do anything," he stated.

Dumbledore stared at Severus for a long moment as he took in what he had said and while he wanted to dismiss it all as rubbish he knew he couldn't, Severus was correct. Bones was no fan of his and had clashed with him on multiple matters in the past. If she gained the backing of Fudge then he might actually be in real trouble, but Fudge wouldn't take such a stance after everything that had happened.

"Very well Severus, if Harry has not called in the next ten minutes we will go. Is that satisfactory?" he finally conceded.

"It will have to. I just hope we all don't come to regret our slow reaction Albus," Severus responded, knowing that was the best he could hope for and so turned and headed back to the others to tell them the new plan.

Dumbledore watched him go with a frown, wondering at Severus's almost eager intention to get into the fight. Had something happened he wasn't aware of. Had the man been given new orders by Voldemort? Something to do with the Harris'? He briefly wondered if he had been ordered to kill them again, something he could do in a fight and then he could just claim it was an accident. A bad case of friendly fire, which could be useful to him as it would remove Potter's guardians, but still all this was just an idea and he had no proof and he was not willing to cater to Amelia any faster than he was.

+C+

(Diagon Alley)

Xander watched as the Death Eaters began to advance once more with volley after volley of spells and he decided it was time to take this fight to the next level. He had been told by Moody that the use of all spells, even the Unforgivables had been granted by the Ministry, something Dumbledore had somehow got pushed through. Since they had arrived however he had noted that their side had kept away from using those spells, probably because it was so ingrained in them not to use them.

"Switch your spells to lethal force, including the unforgivable," he ordered, gaining a few surprised looks from the others. "The Ministry made it legal for them to be used and if we don't start cutting their numbers down, we will be overrun and killed," he pointed out.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Alex?" Tara inquired, as she shivered. Even at the idea of using such dark magic made her uncomfortable.

"It is the only way we are going to gain some ground here Tara," Xander shot back. "Every time we stun the bastards their friends just revive them," he reminded them. "We need to start taking them down with far more lethal spells than we've been using so far. This is war and in war you use everything in your arsenal," he stated heatedly.

"Xander's right," Harry said, gaining their attention and all of them could see he was doing all he could to stay awake, but he was clearly drained from been hit by two killing curses and somehow surviving them. "We have to start getting ourselves in gear, we need to start acting like soldiers," he added. "No matter how horrific it might seem to us to use those spells, they've been made legal and it is the only way we are going to win this fight," he stated clearly.

"So we go all out?" Neville asked with a dark gleam appearing in his eyes as he glanced at the advancing Death Eaters.

"Yes, we have to or we'll be overrun and Moody and the others will be caught between two enemy forces and massacred," Harry replied with a nod. "It is the only chance we have unless the Order shows up," he added with distaste when he mentioned them.

"Ok so we do it, just don't hit Faith. She'll be on them soon and she is disillusioned," Tara reminded them as she prepared to enter the fight again.

The others nodded their head in agreement before they each got ready to open fire. Each chose a target before Harry opened fire first with a powerful killing curse. The Death Eaters came to a dead stop and three of their number was downed by green curses. None of them believed the enemy were actually using the Unforgivables until they failed to rouse their fallen comrades. They felt shock hit them when the truth dawned on them. Another two were put down before they jumped for cover.

Even Dolohov hit the ground and rolled to cover. He was shaken to see the enemy finally willing to match them spell for spell. It seemed one of their biggest advantages had just gone up in smoke. He shivered as he realised his report to the Dark Lord was not going to go down well. Infact more than likely he was going to end up been punished severely for bringing such bad news. He cursed Malfoy for getting himself killed as he would have borne the brunt of such punishment instead.

Faith smirked as she closed in on the Death Eaters who had no idea she was even there. She pulled her knifes and continued her advance, knowing she would have to kill any of the enemy she encountered. As sick as such a thought made her, this was war and she had to do it to protect Xander and the others and especially Harry, who she had been brought her to protect in the first place. He had been lucky to survive those two damn killing curses and she was not going to take a chance on a third such miracle happening.

+A+

(Riddle Manor)

Voldemort sat on his throne feeling strangely weak and unsteady. It had started a few minutes before when some kind of feedback hat come across the connection he somehow shared with Potter. The connection had been mostly closed off after the previous year's event and neither of them seemed to want to try and exploit it again. His attempted possessing of the teen in the Ministry had caused him a similar reaction and he needed to know what was going on.

He stood up and headed for his room, intent on not allowing any of his followers to see him displaying any weakness. It wouldn't do to have any of the less loyal to try and usurp his command. He wouldn't put it past any of them all, bar Bellatrix. She was the only one who he actually trusted to stick by him. Granted she was not exactly right in the head especially after she spent so much time in Azkaban, but she was loyal and committed to his cause and not their own advancement unlike so many of his other followers like Malfoy. Finally reaching his room he moved to his bed and collapsed into it. Maybe if he rested he would feel better later on and then he could start finding the reasons for his sudden weakness.

+A+

(Diagon Alley)

Moody unleashed a powerful bone breaker at the giant that lurched towards him and the others. The damn thing had shrugged off nearly everything else they had sent at it. Many of the Aurors Amelia had brought were down and injured. The combination of trolls and giants was proving to be a real problem. Flitwick fired off multiple cutting curses, while Emmeline tried some piercing curses aimed towards the eyes and head of the giant. McGonagall was trying to help Jenny bring the troll down, but it was not easy as its skin was as thick as the giants. Plus the Dementors kept dive bombing them, but they kept a close watch and fired of their Patronuses to keep them back.

"Merlin, what will it take to bring this thing down?" Tonks growled out as she fired off a strong Reducto at the giant's leg and actually managed to make it roar in pain.

"Try more lethal spells," Moody finally responded as he ducked a wild swing from the giants club. "Remember the Ministry basically allowed for any and all curses to be legal," he told them. "Maybe something more powerful will get past their damn hide," he growled as the others looked to be trying to find some kind of response.

"Guess we have no choice," Emmeline finally said as she turned back to the fight and began to fire off darker curses than she would normally use.

Tonks and the others hesitated before following her and Moody's example. Amelia and her remaining strike force had already switched to more dark curses, but had not yet tried the Unforgivables.

Behind them Harry's vision began to blur as he continued to fire spells off, but they were growing weaker as he did so. Fleur kept a close eye on him and tried to talk him out of continuing, but Harry refused to stop.

"Harry please," Fleur pressed as she downed another Death Eater with a nasty bone breaker aimed at the point above his heart. "If you keep this up you will be laid up for a week or more," she told him. "You may even do yourself much damage," she added with the worry clear in her tone.

Harry stared at her before noting the looks Xander and Tara were also shooting him. Was it worth pushing himself here? It was still only a small battle in the war and Voldemort was not even here and he was the main threat. Finally conceding to their wishes he stopped casting and lay back and tried to recover his strength. Fleur let out a relieved sigh before she turned back to the battle. Neville only gave the conversation a brief look before he went back to firing all the curses he could. Luna was slightly concerned by his sudden hostile actions. She knew he held a deep hatred for the Death Eaters, but she was worried he might end up becoming more and more like them if he kept up his current actions.

Dolohov let out a growl as he saw how the battle was slowly turning against them. The shock of their enemies using such deadly spells against them had robbed the Death Eaters of their advantage and they were being forced backwards. Infact had the giant and troll not been present he would have already called for a retreat. Hopefully they could squat a couple of their more persistent enemies.

"Stop falling back you fools," he shouted at his rapidly retreating men. "We have to regain the advantage and force them back," he told them with a glare. "Now fight," he commanded.

The remaining Death Eaters looked somewhat unsure, but knew better than to defy Dolohov and they especially knew better than to retreat, unless they were ordered. If they retreated without such a command they would end up on the receiving end of the Dark Lord's displeasure and more than likely one or two of them would end up dead. They began to push forward again, while trying to stay behind cover. At the back of their lines three Death Eaters already lay dead, two with deep stab wounds and the third with a cut throat.

Faith did her best to keep herself under control, but it was not easy. Killing those Death Eaters had reminded her of her killing two innocent people when she fell in with the Mayor. Granted the entire situation had been different, but still the memories were deeply ingrained. They would never leave her. She stalked forward and shoved her blades into another hapless Death Eater, just as he prepared to let loose another spell. She noted Xander and the others had also begun to use more lethal ways of taking down the enemy and that made her feel slightly better about what she was doing.

Amelia Bones groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position next to her remaining force of Aurors and Unspeakables. The troll had finally gone down with a combination of killing curses and strong blasting curses, but the giant still refused to go down and had killed five of her Aurors and injured another seven. Moody and his friends were in better shape, but each was beginning to run low on energy. She growled when she realised Dumbledore and his Order had betrayed them. They were not coming and it may cost them the war.

"Damn that old fool," she couldn't help but mutter loud enough for Moody and Tonks to hear.

"You mean Dumbledore?" Moody asked as he rubbed his sore shoulder from where he had jarred it.

"Yes, I ordered him to help us under the old Ministry war act, but he has obviously refused and for that, should we get out of this, I will make him pay," Amelia spat.

Moody exchanged glances and realised things were falling apart far more rapidly with Dumbledore than they had expected. Moody had not been so surprised when Kingsley had sounded him out about what his old friend had been up to on the side. Infact Moody had been certain Dumbledore was not above using such tactics. This just confirmed that the old man had completely lost his marbles.

"We have to keep trying," Jenny cut into their conversation and brought them back to the problem at hand. "This thing must have a damn weak spot," she continued as she fired of another cutting curse that just missed the giant's neck.

"Maybe we should try a combined attack," Flitwick suggested as he looked out from his cover on the rapidly advancing giant. "Pool our remaining power into one big strike at its head," he advised thoughtfully. "That kind of strike it has to do some damage," he finished.

The others all agreed as it was the only thing they could think off at the moment. They had Tonks count to three before they all unleashed their own blasting curse. The giant let out a roar at that moment as it raised it club to bring it down on them. The combined blast struck it right in the mouth and exploded right out the other side. Blood erupted out of its mouth and ran down its front and back. It dropped the club which smashed one of the shops and almost killed another Auror who just got out of its way. The giant's eyes rolled up into its skull before it collapsed to its knees and fell forward to the ground. Tonks and the others quickly retreated so that they wouldn't be crushed under it.

"Well that was lucky," Emmeline mused as she looked back at the dead giant. "I doubt our shot would have worked had it not opened its mouth at the right moment," she pointed out.

Moody was about to reply when a killing curse struck one of the Aurors standing next to him and he collapsed to the ground dead. He spun and rushed to help the others. Amelia and the others quickly followed, while some of her team stayed behind to tend to the wounded. Remus held his side from where a cutting curse had struck him. Thankfully Tara had managed to stem the bleeding for now, but it hurt like hell. Harry lay next to him going in and out of conscious. Astoria and Daphne were both out cold from been caught in an exploding curse at their cover and Hermione lay next to them having been hit as well, but she had remained awake. Xander had a scar now running down his left eye from where a piece of sharp rock had hit him from a nearby curse, but they were winning the fight. The Death Eaters had been cut down in numbers and were quickly falling back where Faith continued to dispatch them with deadly ease.

Dolohov finally noted that the giant was down and someone was taking down his remaining men from behind. This battle was over and he knew it. He finally gave the order to retreat and to use their emergency portkeys. He and his left over men vanished as Xander led a final push forward just as Dumbledore and his Order finally arrived to aide them.

"They retreated," Remus observed with a relieved sigh. "I guess they saw the way this battle was turning," he added to Harry who weakly nodded his head before he took note that Dumbledore had arrived.

Not wanting to look weak he forced himself back to his feet, ignoring Fleur's concerned look. He could barely believe the arrogance of the old man arriving at the very end of the battle. Amelia and the others quickly took note of his presence as well. Amelia headed straight for him and Dumbledore seemed to quickly realise he may have made an error. He quickly tried to think up an excuse. Severus shook his head in annoyance as he realised how bad this was going to go. He was at least relieved to see Potter and his friends seemed to be okay for the most part.

"Where the hell where you Dumbledore?" Amelia demanded as she stopped in front of the old man. "This battle has been going on for the last hour and you only have arrived now when you had plenty of notice?" she spat. "You were ordered to aide us under the Ministry war act and yet you chose not to aid us," she reminded him while glaring at him. "So where were you?" she demanded to know again.

"I'm afraid that we were delayed," Dumbledore responded with a smile. "It took more time than I thought it would to gather my Order to assist you. We did our best to get here on time I assure you," he added.

"Do you think I am stupid Dumbledore?" Amelia spat in response. "Everything you just said is a complete lie and you know it. When I have sorted out the fallout from this fight believe me when I say I will make you regret your choice to remain safe," she growled out before she stumped away to check on her wounded men.

Dumbledore rubbed his beard for a minute disturbed to hear the threat before he dismissed it as hot air. He then moved to confront Harry who had not done as he had expected and called for help.

"I am glad to see you are okay Harry. I'm certain the battle was not easy, but again you showed great courage in standing your ground," he stated as he stopped in front of the young who glared up at him. "However I expected you to call for help from the Order," he added.

"There was a call for help headmaster by Amelia Bones," Harry shot back leaning against Fleur and doing his best to keep standing. "But you ignored that call because it did not come from me, but do you really think I would ask you for help after what your Order did? After what Bill did?" he spat. "He tried to rape Fleur and the rest of his family attacked my friends and guardians. So I don't trust you and I will not call on you for aid," he growled out as the others moved to his side, including Faith who took up a stance slightly in front of him after having the Disillusionment spell removed.

"My dear boy you must realise the Weasleys were not acting of their own will. They were under the Imperious curse," Dumbledore shot back with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I did inform Minister Fudge of this and he informed Miss Delacour's family when they visited," he assured them. "We are still investigating who put them under the curse, but I assure you they are back in their right minds," he stated.

Harry shook his head in disbelief at the old man's lies. Fleur moved behind him, but kept her hands on his shoulders to help keep him upright. Xander frowned as he noted members of the Order moving to flank them. Tara and Jenny moved to counter them as did Tonks and Remus who did his best to ignore his injuries. Hermione, Daphne and Astoria were brought into their circle by Moody and Kingsley.

"You must be out of your mind if you think I believe that headmaster," Harry spat. "There is no way anyone could have put them under the Imperious curse unless you have a few spies in the Order," he countered as Xander began to hand out portkeys. "While your Order may not be evil or working with Voldemort, it is clear you have members who are looking out only for themselves and if Bill ever comes near Fleur again, I will kill him," he swore with a deadly glint in his eye. "And you better keep the other Weasleys away from me as well," he added before they activated their portkeys and vanished.

Dumbledore stared at the spot where they had been for a few seconds before cursing. He realized that the Weasley's actions had set him back even more than he had first thought. McGonagall frowned over some of what she was hearing and didn't like what it added up to. Far more was going on than she had first thought and she would get to the bottom of this sudden split between Harry and Albus.