24/07/11
As we were speeding down the track, we had mainly converged onto the dining cart, we had discussed the plans for attacking Hogwarts and had split into a number of groups. I was part of an infiltration team. Yay.
"So, are we clear as to what to do?" Dumbledore asked us.
"As Alpha takes over Hogsmeade, Bravo acts as a distraction around this 'Forbidden Forest' and Charlie and Delta break into the school," Draco explained. "No biggie, then."
"You have your team designations," Dumbledore said, as he sat down. "Is there any problems?"
"There is one problem," Mad Eye said, as he looked around. "There's someone else on the train." As we looked scared, I equipped my armour and drew my gun. "I'll check it out."
"I'll come as well," I said, as I headed towards the door and slid it open, aiming my gun into the next cart, before Moody opened the door for me. I then ran straight towards the wall, throwing my back to it, before aiming down the cart, as I spotted the different compartments.
"There's someone in the first compartment," Moody said, as he aimed his wand down the hall, before aiming it at the door. "They're Japanese, teenagers, three girls and two boys, all have guns… What are you doing?" he asked me, as I got out of cover and threw the door open, as Kyon, Haruhi, Itsuki and Mikuru jumped in surprise, but Nagato just looked up from the book she was reading from, then going back to reading her book.
"Oh, God, [what the hell are you doing]?" I shouted at them, as they all stood up.
"We said that we wanted to help," Haruhi complained, trying to guilt trip me. "[You described your situation to us and you didn't think we would want to save some students?]"
"[I didn't want you to come because the aliens that attacked Earth are planning another strike!]" I shouted at them. "[I wanted you all to stay in London to protect the civilians down there!]"
"[Oops,]" Haruhi responded, obviously panicking.
"Goddammit, get in there!" I shouted, as I pointed towards the food cart. "And don't you dare think about volunteering, you're heading back to London on the first opportunity!" As they marched out, I ran my hand over my temple, trying not to explode. "I know them from London and one of them is my pen-pal."
"There's more here," Moody responded, as I headed over and opened the other door, to show Miranda, Kasumi and Keiji having a small argument.
"Tickets, please," I asked as they all began to panic. "So, why did you bother to come after us?"
"You're going after the most dangerous Dark Wizard since World War II," Keiji said, as he cocked his rifle. "F*** yeah, we want to take him down."
"And I'm trying to find out whether this specific legend is true," Kasumi responded. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on stealing anything, I want to know if this specific room really exists."
"The Death Eaters stole some Element Zero," Miranda said, trying to remain calm, but obviously panicking. "They also have a large amount of Red Sand there, so they could easily overpower your crew with Biotics."
"Get to the food compartment, now," I said, before they walked off, with Miranda and Kasumi arguing. Ginny and Luna then came towards me, with Ginny actually happy.
"What's Itsuki doing here?" Ginny asked, obviously surprised, "And Kyon, and Haruhi?"
"I met them the other day and made the mistake of explaining why we were in London," I said. "I know Kyon; he's a pen-pal of mine from Japan. He and the rest of the SOS-Brigade decided that they'd rather save Hogwarts than protect the camps."
"Is there anyone else in here?" Luna asked, as I headed to the third compartment and opened it, to reveal Mr Lovegood and Vivi, who began to panic. "Vivi, how could you?"
"I wanted to help," Vivi said, as he began to cry. "I didn't want you to get into trouble."
"Well, Vivi does have a lot of powerful magic behind him," Mad Eye responded. "Xeno, what the hell are you thinking taking a child into a battlefield?"
"I'm following him," Xenophilius responded, pointing at Vivi, who was grinning… I think.
"You're letting a five-year old child go onto a battlefield, and then blaming him?" Luna asked her father, obviously angry. When he nodded, ashamed, she let off the greatest lines of swearing to ever be heard in existence (I don't think she was speaking English for most of them, what the hell does 'Flurgen' mean?) and began beating him with a flag, as Vivi began to sneak away. "And where do you think you're going?" Vivi froze, as Luna gazed at him. She's been learning from Mrs Weasley, I think. With a single point of her finger, she got both Vivi and Xeno to go to the dining car, as Vivi tried to fight back tears.
"Three more to go," Moody said, as he headed over to the fourth compartment, and flicked it open with his wand, as I looked inside. "Nobody's there."
"Yeah, sort of weird," I responded, before I spotted a beetle. There's an Animagus, on the chair. With a single flick of his wrist, Mad Eye made Rita Skeeter appear, who was slightly dazed from being forcibly turned back. "Miss Skeeter, I guess you're really interested in finding your story?"
"Of course I am," she responded, as Mad Eye held his wand at her. "You're going after the most dangerous Dark Wizard in the world, and you need someone to announce it to the world."
"We already have a reporter for the Quibbler," I responded, about to close the door.
"Wait," she responded as she began to panic. "You're going to need an Animagus. You could have native wildlife, but if they become too close, they'll become obvious. Now, if a bug got near…"
"I'll think about it," I responded, as I slammed the door shut and locked it, while Mad Eye charmed the door to keep her from escaping. "And I thought I asked you to stay in London, Apollo!" In response, the Lombax opened the last door and stepped out.
"…I'm going to get yelled at, aren't-" Apollo tried to ask, as I punched him square in the face and broke his mask. While he was dazed, I grabbed him by the hood and pulled him into the food compartment.
"There are about two more people hiding in the next cart." As we entered the next compartment…
"I'm happy to accept your help, Miss Suzumiya," Dumbledore said, with a smile, as I released Apollo and almost dropped my jaw to the ground.
"Oh, for f***'s sake," I responded, visibly angry. "I just told them that they couldn't!"
"[OH MY GOD, AN ALIEN!]" Haruhi shouted, before lunging at Apollo, and going into insane gibberish between English and Japanese. It was confusing, but not unsatisfying.
"Suzumiya, heel!" Kyon shouted, as he and Itsuki tried to pull her off, as Apollo gasped for air. "[He can't breathe, let him go!]"
"I can help you from the train," Nagato said, as she closed her book, before causing several haptic displays to appear out of nowhere, as they all appeared around her. "I can monitor all of you, as well as monitor any locations that you have been to."
"Like an RTS?" I asked, as she nodded. With a sigh, I sat down and just rubbed my head. "Is there any more problems?" I asked, as Mad Eye walked in with Akihiko and Naoto.
"We were following Apollo," Naoto replied.
"Alright, go over the plan again." I said, as I looked for something to drink… Hopefully, there's some rum on the train.
The Plan
Objective: Capture the town of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Teams: There will be four assault teams, all with different objectives but the same goal
Alpha (Secure team): Bill (Leader), Fleur, Charlie, Vivi, Fred, George, Miranda, Lupin
The main strike team whose main objective is to capture Hogsmeade and to secure it, making sure that anyone still in the town is safe and recruiting them to defend the town. Bill will use a Portkey to take Charlie and Fleur into the town and cause a large enough distraction to draw away attention from the train platform. When the train stops, the last four team members will get off and fight any Death Eaters in an ambush assault. When the town is secure, Bravo, Charlie and Delta will be able to perform their roles. If survivors are found, they are to be freed and recruited in defending the town. When Bravo secures the school, Alpha will migrate the Hogsmeade survivors to the school and officially join with Bravo to become Epsilon team.
Bravo (Attention Team): Raphael (Leader), Elizabeth, Victor, Apollo, Itsuki, Kingsley, Akihiko, Hagrid
When Alpha secures Hogsmeade, Bravo will make their way towards the main the school and act as a distraction for the two infiltration teams head inside the school. They'll mainly defend themselves, with no main attempts to breach the school authorized until after at least one Infiltration team lets them in. By then, their objective changes to securing the school. They also have flares that will emit red smoke. When this is done, they will help with the rescuing of students as well as the migration of Hogsmeade residents towards the school for their personal safety, and become Epsilon team. In the event that they are overwhelmed, they are to retreat towards Hogsmeade and regroup.
Charlie: Ezio (Leader), Seamus, Neville, Kasumi, Kyon, Mad Eye, Ginny, Luna, Draco
There are a series of secret tunnels beginning from a cave in the Forbidden Forest that lead into Hogwarts. However, there are several powerful curses that prevent invaders from attacking the castle. Using the cursed lantern to find a path through the tunnels and head into the school's dungeons (It's an old castle, Ezio, what did you expect?) and take out as many Death Eaters as possible before meeting up with Delta and securing the inside of the castle, then letting Bravo into the castle. After, you are to save as many students as possible, and keep the younger ones inside the dungeons before getting the Sixth Years and whatever graduates that did come back to defend the school.
Delta: Harry (Leader), Ron, Hermione, Keiji, Haruhi, Mikuru, Naoto, Cho, Sirius
While Charlie sneaks in through the catacombs, Delta are to sneak in through a secret passageway through Honeydukes and sneak into the castle, before trying to make your way to find the last Horcrux and Neutralise it. When that task us completed, they are to meet up with Charlie, followed by Bravo, then lead the younger students into the dungeons and get as many of them to fight with you.
As we sped down the tracks, we all headed into our teams, except for me. I headed towards the combustion engine as Raphael and Apollo worked on the engine, as Apollo looked over the engine, fascinated. "I've never seen a steam-based machine before. Compared to most of the other technology from the Andromeda galaxy, this is an antique over thousands of years old, and in working condition-" before he was cut off by a sudden bump and a rock of the train. "What the hell was that?"
"I'll take a look," I said, as I stuck my head out of the window. "Hey, there should be snow here, right?" As Apollo looked out on the other end, his tail dropped in shock. "Most of England, and probably Europe, are suffering from a severe snow storm because of what the Death Eaters are doing here. So why is there no snow here, and why is it summer heat around here?"
"You saw 'The Day After Tomorrow', right?" Raphael asked. "Perhaps Voldemort did, too?"
"Oh, son of a bitch," I responded, "He's really f***ing insane."
"What are you talking about?" Apollo asked, confused, as I headed out towards the dining cart, as Apollo followed me. "I haven't seen that film, what the hell are you talking about?" As we got inside, I saw everyone looking outside, obviously confused, with Liz talking to Dumbledore.
"How much magic would be needed to create a storm of such calibre?" Liz asked Dumbledore, as he sat down, thinking.
"Well, Voldemort wouldn't be able to do it by himself," Dumbledore said, confused. "It would take about 50 people to summon rain in a desert…"
"But it would take a thousand magical children to create a blizzard that covers the entire Northern Hemisphere," I responded, as I butted in. "Whoever this Voldemort guy is, he watched 'The Day After Tomorrow', and is trying to kill everyone by both freezing them to death and cutting off their food supply. Professor Dumbledore, where does Hogwarts get their food from?"
"The vegetables are grown on grounds," he responded, "and there's a nearby farm where we get our poultry and meat."
"Wait, you said that he's drawing magic from the students?" Cho asked me, suddenly realising something. "All the students were petrified when the Death Eaters attacked, but I managed to escape."
"Draco," I said, walking over to the blonde haired teenager.
"I wasn't turned into a statue," Draco responded. "Neither was Crabbe or Goyle, but there were a few other students in Slytherin who weren't affected as well."
"A perfect, pure-blood paradise," Hermione responded, realising what we were thinking. "But Voldemort is a sociopath; he only cares for is himself."
"Voldemort's main goal is immortality," Dumbledore responded. "Not the preservation of 'Blood Purity'. But, all this trouble to obtain immortality?"
"Has he tried to obtain a Philosopher's stone?" I asked. "Because I watched Fullmetal Alchemist…"
"So did I," Dumbledore responded, "and let me tell you, the creation of a Philosopher's stone does not involve mass murder."
"How else do you obtain immortality?" Ron asked. "And why would he need every one of those students?"
"Grand Panacea," I responded. "I've seen rumours on the net, and there are two ways to obtain the recipe. Either have someone who knows the recipe teach you, or summon a demon… Oh, shit."
"What?" Seamus asked, as he stood up, while I looked up an image online.
"Is this Agnus?" I asked, showing him my BlackBerry, as he took a good look at it.
"Yeah," Seamus replied, obviously confused. "How do you have his picture?"
"He's on the FBI's most wanted," I responded, putting my phone away. "Not much is known about him, other than his alias, 'Agnus'. He's known to be from a city called Fortuna, somewhere in Italy. It's the location of some strange religion. However, they're a separate state from the Italian government. Apparently, Agnus was part of the main church there, but was excommunicated for committing some sort of crime. No one knows what he did, except for those in the city, and he's completely Persona non Grata, so no one speaks of him. However, when he showed up in the US, he went on a murder spree all over the country, killing 5 people in every state, on average. When the FBI caught up with him, he slaughtered all of their agents, and a few cops as well. There were a ton of rumours about the guy, but the most popular one was posted by someone who said they used to live in Fortuna. He committed the church's capital sin and was going to be executed for it. He intentionally freed demons into the city and his murder spree was an attempt to obtain demonic power."
"So, he's an urban legend?" Miranda asked. "I've heard of a few serial killings, but 250?"
"Agnus constantly moved around the country, so it was hard to pinpoint his killings," Naoto said, coming forward, before Apollo tried to get away. "His MO always changed, and the FBI were only able to pin a few murders on him because he always drained the victim's blood." Just as Apollo had gotten to the door, "And Apollo, can I speak with you, for a minute?"
"I'm just heading to the bathroom," he said, innocently. "I'll only be back in a minute." As he closed the door behind him, Naoto just looked at me, realising I knew something.
"…That door leads to the main engine," I said, cracking. As I said that, Naoto started running to the door, and began looking around, before the door closed. "Anyway, if they're planning to summon a demon to obtain immortality."
"Wait, Voldemort, when I was at the mansion, mentioned something called the Ritual of Emigré," Liz revealed. "Is that involved?"
"Wait, the ritual of Emigré," Dumbledore said, remembering something. "Bones of the father, blood of the enemy, flesh of the servant…"
"What?" Harry asked, stopping Dumbledore. "Why would he perform the ritual twice? He already performed the ritual a few weeks ago?"
"…Harry, what did he put into the potion, specifically?" Dumbledore asked.
"His father's bones, my blood and Wormtail's hand," I responded.
"…He botched the ritual," Dumbledore said as he stood up. "His body is deteriorating at an advanced rate, since he used the wrong ingredients. It's bones of the Father, as in Priest, blood of a Roman, because it's a druidic ritual, and the flesh of a slave, like a House-Elf."
"So, he's dying?" Akihiko asked, confused. "So, why don't we just wait until after he kicks the bucket?"
"Because he's immortal until after we destroy something that has his soul sealed inside," I responded, as we all looked up, to hear some movement on the roof. With confusion, we just continued on with the discussion. "But, why would Voldemort want a demon?"
"Perhaps he wants the power," Luna responded. "Now, there's one thing I want to know." Suddenly, Apollo ran into the room from the opposite door. Pressing a button on his belt, he jumped behind the bar of the train, visibly (to Harry and me) shaking, before Naoto came in, and looked under the tables and then behind the bar, before running back into the other carts.
"I'm not here," Apollo responded, as he stayed under the bar.
"Anyway," Luna asked, as she drew attention to herself. "What's with that spiral of light?" As we looked out the side of the train, we all looked out of the side of the train to see a large spiral coming out of the ground, as we saw the point of origin, a castle.
"I think," I said, looking onward, "that there… is pure magic. And it seems to be fuelling the spell for the snow storm."
"Okay, we're almost at Hogwarts," Bill said, as Fleur and Charlie walked over towards him. "We'll take out as many Death Eaters as possible," he said, as they put a chain around themselves. "The rest of Alpha, get on the roofs, take your weapons. Bravo, get ready to head up to Hogwarts. Charlie and Delta, get ready for infiltration!" They then disappeared before we all got ready.
Bill
As we appeared in the town, I removed the chain as we took out our wands, as Fleur moved through a building and sent a Death Eater through the window. Charlie used a body-bind charm on some Death Eaters who came around the corner as I set up the fireworks. "I'm ready; you can light them, Charlie." As I stood up, a few Death Eaters appeared through Apparation, so I raised a wall from the ground, before sending spikes out from the wall and striking them, knocking them out. Fleur then went through a Death Eater, before putting her leg up, closing it around his neck and throwing him over her with a handstand.
Charlie transformed, before sending flames from his mouth to light the fireworks, causing them to fire off and draw the Death Eaters to the down square, leaving very little to defend the train, just as it pulled in. as I created a shelter in the town square by raising a few walls, we heard some gunshots ring out, as we readied our guns. As Fleur readied her shotgun, she phased it through the wall, and fired at a few Death Eaters, killing them, before everyone else came over and started attacking. Miranda created a Biotic light, which Vivi then cast a spell through, which caused a series of fireballs to shoot out of the sky, most of the Death Eaters. As reinforcements appeared, Fred and George grabbed each other's hands, and closed their eyes, before sending a series of curses and jinxes around to disarm as many Death Eaters as possible, before sending Body-Bind curses to trap as many of the Death Eaters as possible. While we were being attacked from the roof, Remus attacked them in his wolf form, knocking one off and biting the other in the leg, before throwing him off.
As we ran around, we made sure to check for Death Eaters, as we began searching the houses, to make sure there were people inside. "It's clear," Miranda said, looking around, before holstering her gun. "It's clear… there's no one here."
"They must be at Hogwarts," Lupin responded, before becoming a human again. "Fred, George-"
"We're on it," they said in unison, before their eyes went completely white.
"They could be in Hogwarts," Fred said, as he let go of George. "But we can only see the courtyard for some reason."
"Charlie, help me get onto the tallest roof," Miranda said, as Charlie lifted her up. Miranda then took out a pair of binoculars and aimed them at the castle. "I spotted the problem, there's a large kinetic barrier surrounding the school. We can't see anything unless we take them out."
"How are they getting that barrier up?" I asked.
"They're sending an electrical charge through wires of element zero, possibly as a chainlink fence," Miranda replied.
"I figured that out," I said. "What I want to know is, how are they running an electrical current through it without a generator?"
"Voldemort's a hypocrite," Miranda responded. "He's probably charmed an electric dynamo to spin and create an electrical current. Alpha team is clear, ready for orders." A haptic display then appeared in front of us, showing Nagato and Dumbledore. "Area is clear. Death Eaters are neutralised but there are no civilians in the town."
"Try looking in the Hog's Head," Dumbledore responded, as Fleur and Vivi ran towards the bar. "There's a secret compartment somewhere in the bar." When he said that, we saw the three other teams getting out of the train, before splitting up and heading their separate ways. "Everyone on Alpha team, make sure that the town is secure."
"I've located the compartment," Nagato replied, speaking in a dull tone. "Behind the bar, there's a secret trapdoor. It's charmed, so it will appear invisible."
"We found it," Fleur said, as she came out of the pub with Vivi, followed by about 15 people. "They're all adults, no children."
"The town is secure," I responded, as I finished searching the town. "Alright, moves all of those weapons out, make sure they're ready to move."
Raphael
"Well, this is bad," I said, as we moved into position. "Bravo to base, there is a very serious problem."
"Base hears you," Nagato responded. "What seems to be the problem?"
"The Death Eaters have weapons," I responded, "LOTS of weapons. Grenade launcher, RPGs, sniper rifles, assault rifles- is that…" I began, taking a good look. "Is that a f***ing tank?"
"There's no way we'll be able to just distract them without getting killed," Itsuki said, taking a look, before looking behind him. "Hold on, I need to get up into that tree."
"And that's where I come in," Apollo said, grabbing Itsuki and teleporting into the tree. Itsuki then took out a pair of binoculars and looked into the castle courtyard.
"Okay, there's a few dozen trucks in the main courtyard, as well as about three tanks," Itsuki said, as he assessed the damage. "Large cache of weapons, including side-arms, SMGs, sniper rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, about several miniguns and at least one gun I don't recognise."
"It's a military-grade railgun," Apollo said, as he took the binoculars from Itsuki. "Good news, it uses around a large amount of power to fire, bad news, there's several dozen dynamo generators running off magic powering the railgun alone. There's a chain-link fence travelling around the entire grounds that's emitting biotic energy. First guess, it's coated in element zero, but there's a chance that it's made from element zero, then how did the Death Eaters get a bulk of eezo worth around… 50,000,000 credits? There's no way we're going to get near that thing until we kill the power, and that would require someone to head in. The biotic field being projected appears to be a kinetic barrier, as it stops things from getting near the fence. Tell Charlie and Delta team to cut the power for us."
"Wait, what's that, hanging from the tower?" Hagrid asked, as I looked up.
"It's a hanging corpse," Victor said, putting a hand to his mouth. "I don't know who it is, but it appears to be an adult."
"Then take a look," Itsuki said, as he and Apollo came back down. "I can't see anything up there in the trees, and you're more likely to know who it is."
"Let me take a look," Hagrid said, taking the binoculars and looking through them. "It's Filch," Hagrid said, gravely, as he gave back the binoculars.
"Why would they kill this 'Filch' guy?" Akihiko asked, confused. "If he has magic, they need him alive to use it, right?"
"That's exactly why he's dead," Kingsley said, looking upward. "He's a Squib."
"Squib?" I asked, confused. "As in, 'Blank'?"
"That's exactly right," Victor said, as he sat next to a tree. "There are times when someone with magic is born to Muggle parents, right? Well, a similar phenomenon occurs when someone is born to magical parents but doesn't have any magic themselves. That person is a squib."
"What happens to Squibs, then?" Akihiko asked. "Are they allowed into magic society?"
"Well, in Scandinavia, at least, they're encouraged to try and integrate with Muggles, but they know about magic and some schools even allow Squibs to take magical courses that don't require magic, such as Potions or Care for Magical Creatures."
"It's slightly different here in Britain," Kingsley said, butting in. "When a Squib is born, they're not given a birth certificate or have their births recorded in any way. Also, Squibs are treated the same way as Werewolves or beings by the Wizangamot, that is, as second class citizens given remedial jobs such as street cleaners, if they're given a job at all. It's a common practice for Pure-bloods to either abandon their children who are Squibs or, in extreme circumstances, raise them as servants or murder them."
"Okay," Itsuki said, before muttering something in Japanese, which Akihiko then responded to.
"Bravo to base," Liz said into the radio, "We're at the rendezvous but there's a huge problem." As Liz described the situation, I got to thinking. "Is there any new objectives?"
"Wait until Charlie and Delta teams turn off the generators," Nagato said. "Your instructions have not changed."
"But if we draw their attention, we're dead in an instant," Liz responded.
"…Do not draw attention to yourselves, then," Nagato responded, before I raised my hand.
"Kingsley, Ginny, Liz, can you send a spell to hit the fence?" I asked, pointing forward.
"What kind of spell?" Ginny asked, taking a look.
"Any spell," I responded, before taking a step back. "When magic collides with biotic energy, it reacts to greatly strengthen the spell."
"Hold on," Kingsley said, thinking it through. "You want us to send a magic spell to destroy the weapons?"
"How about electricity?" Akihiko responded, drawing his gun. "We could burn out their generators, melt the wires and stun as many of the Death Eaters as possible."
"…Do it," I said, as he stepped forward. As he aimed the gun at his head, he took a deep breath, before putting his finger on the trigger.
"Let's do this, Caesar," He said, before pulling the trigger to make a spirit appear and send out a lightning spark to the fence, causing a pulse from the fence's radiation to appear. "I don't think that worked." Suddenly, more pulses appeared as electricity travelled over the fence, causing the guns to fire, the Death Eaters to be electrocuted, the generators to explode, the tanks to fire off and send them into a wall, and the railgun to fire something into the atmosphere. "Wait, the fence is melting… Oh, god." The radiation from the fence became so bright that it was surrounding the immediate area.
"Get back to Hogsmeade," I ordered, before I began to feel faint, as I saw Apollo start rapidly teleporting everyone away, before I lost consciousness.
Ezio
"What the hell is that?" I asked, looking out towards the school.
"I have no idea, but it looks pretty," Seamus said, with a smile.
"Oh, no," Kasumi said, obviously worried. "That's a large amount of biotic radiation."
"Is that bad?" Draco asked, as I called in mission control.
"Charlie to base," I said, into the phone as a haptic display of Nagato appeared. "Nagato, what the hell was that light?"
"Large scale dark energy concentrated to the main courtyard of Hogwarts which was suddenly made stronger by electricity-based dark matter distortion of exponentially large potential," Nagato responded. "Basic answer, Akihiko sent a Ziodyne spell to try and blow some generators powering a biotic field and it severely backfired."
"Did it breach their defences?" Mad Eye asked, as his eye whizzed around.
"It destroyed a large cache of weapons, and fired off one railgun," Nagato replied. "Most of Bravo managed to evacuate to Hogsmeade. However…"
"Wait, what do you mean 'Most of Bravo'?" Luna asked. "Was anyone injured?"
"Raphael has been captured," Nagato responded. "He was captured, alive, by a black haired woman."
"Show me," Neville said, as an image appeared in front of us, which caused him to tense up. "Bellatrix Lestrange."
"How do you know her?" Kyon asked, as he put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm Neville down, while setting down his katana.
"…She's responsible for my parent's condition," Neville said, sitting down on a stump. "When I was about one year old, she and another Death Eater, Barty Crouch, Jr. used a spell called the Cruciartus curse on both of my parents. The result is that… They're permanent patients at Saint Mungo's permanent spell damage ward."
"The Cruciartus curse, when used on someone for extended periods of time, around 10 minutes, it drives them permanently insane," Mad Eye said, as he continued looking around. "Neville's parents lasted around 15 minutes, before they were so damaged that they had to be committed."
"Why would someone do that?" Kyon asked, horrified. "Why should a spell like that exist?"
"The root of the spell involves something around payback," I said, as I looked around the rock where Voldemort told us the tunnels began. "I think that… It was supposed to make someone who's trying to avenge someone… It's about emotional pain. Say someone was murdered. The family would cast the spell to make the murderer know what pain he put the family through."
"That's an accurate description on the origins of the curse," Mad Eye responded.
"So, let me get this straight," Seamus asked, speaking up. "Dark Wizards twisted the spell from something used for righteous punishment into a form of pure torture?"
"Well, Bellatrix, when I was eavesdropping, mentioned something about how the Cruciartus curse inflicted the pain you want to inflict," Draco said. "Emotional, physical, righteous… Sexual…"
"How many S&M clubs are there in Wizarding Britain?" Kyon asked.
"…Bellatrix did something to my dad," I said, as I think I found the secret entrance. "Back in Ireland, she tortured him to the point of insanity, driving him violently insane. He killed my mother and, in a lapse of sanity, killed himself. I discovered the bodies."
"So, your parents are dead?" Draco asked me, as I gave a quick nod. "I guess you must have moved on quickly… or are you just good at hiding it?"
"…I'm more concerned with keeping the people I care about alive," I said, somberly. "I've moved on, not completely, but I don't want to see anyone else I care about die, so can we hurry up and save those students, and my brother," As I said that, Nagato's screen appeared before me.
"He's being held in a chair, she's sending a broadcast out via a large screen by the bell-tower." She told me, before putting a screen up, showing Raphael in a chair, severely weakened. "The biotic energy seems to have done some permanent damage, or he's taking a while to let it wear off. Either way…" She was cut off when Raph started to scream as he had an electric current sent through his body. "She's saying that he'll die if anyone is found in Hogwarts."
"Well, let's just be careful not to get caught," I said, pressing a switch to open the secret passageway. "Okay, I've got the cursed lantern which should show us how to get through this tunnel system. Why is it a 'cursed' Lantern, anyway?"
"If you use it in the wrong place, it will kill you," Kasumi shouted, stopping the match I was about to use.
"Keep your voice down, Goto," Mad Eye said, taking out his wand. "There are centaurs coming, and they seem angry." Suddenly, several centaurs rushed towards us, as we drew our weapons, guns and wands, as they aimed bows at us.
"You have a lot of nerve coming into the Forbidden Forest," one of them said, as he aimed a bow up-close to my face.
"Wait, they're not Death Eaters," another centaur said, while lowering his weapon.
"That doesn't mean that they can come here," the first centaur replied. "Give us one reason we shouldn't kill you."
"We're students," Draco said, trying to negotiate with the centaurs. "We're trying to get into Hogwarts and force the Death Eaters out."
"One of you is an Auror, and the rest aren't students here," the first centaur replied.
"I'm an Auror, IWC," Kasumi said, drawing her badge. "Kasumi Goto, I'm an infiltration specialist, as well as reconnaissance."
"And the olive one, and the one with the purple eye?" The centaur asked. "You're no wizards."
"We're mercenaries," I said. "Kyon there and I were hired by Dumbledore to help with the eviction."
"He would trust a pair of Muggles?"
"No," Kyon replied. "He trusts a group of individuals who are skilled enough to survive two separate surprise invasions, and are also responsible for capturing several Death Eater outposts. We're badass enough to have the experience with the supernatural to deal with it and take out our targets. So, would you kindly leave us alone and let us save the 1,000 students that are in there? Or would you like us to individually hurt every single one of you before you let us do the job that we were hired to?"
"If you don't back off, we will seriously hurt you," I warned. "We've already captured Hogsmeade. If you want to help kick those Pure-blood assholes in the daddy-bags, head there and receive the orders from Dumbledore."
"…It's really secure?"
"Dumbledore has several skilled combatants there," I said. "He also has several weapons and weaponised magical items."
"It's better than getting caught by the Death Eaters," The leader said, before they all headed off.
"Bane's usually very temperamental, especially around humans," Luna responded, when they were out of earshot.
"Well, that's the benefits of persuasion," I said, as I headed into the tunnel. "Just very carefully alter someone's manner of thinking enough without them realising it, and they'll go along with it."
"You can do that?" Draco asked, obviously shocked, as everyone entered the tunnel. "So, how do we go through the tunnels?"
"There's a seal down here," Kasumi said. "The common Muggle problem is that they think that magic involves seals and rituals, but actually, that's involved in the creation and formation of spells, to allow them to be used with a wand. There's usually some sort of 'Master Copy' of a spell that's used to allow everyone who knows how to cast a spell."
"So, this is an original spell?" I asked. "So, what's the spell?"
"I… Don't know," Kasumi said, looking at it. "It's an old spell, one that's main base is a quote from the Old Testament. This is powerful magic, and the spell creator is… that's impossible."
"What is it, Goto?" Mad Eye asked, getting annoyed.
"…I think it's a mistake on my part, but…" Kasumi said, before shaking her head. "Never mind, just… stand on the seal and let the lantern glow." Moving into place, the lantern then lit, before floating in the air. The red flame then turned into a dark purple, before two green paths appeared, both into separate routes. "Okay, I don't think I took this into account."
"This problem appears all the time in JRPGs," I said, standing out of the seal. "It's called a party split. Basically, we have to split up, sending our main group down two separate paths for the purpose of completing some sort of puzzle."
"…A puzzle?" Draco asked. "How the hell does splitting the group solve a puzzle?"
"Have you ever played a Final Fantasy game?" I asked, as Draco, Neville, Seamus, Mad Eye and Ginny shook their head to show a 'no'. "Well, in Final Fantasy 6, you have to send your playable characters down several different paths at the same time. You have four parties, each made up of 4 people. It's kind of similar to our roles right now. I just hope that it's not like Shadow Hearts, that one was a complete bitch to complete since the monsters that spawned are based around your character's weaknesses."
"So, you're team leader," Ginny said, looking around. "Which teams should we go into?"
"Draco goes with me and Mad Eye, along with Neville," I said. "Everyone else, you have numbers on your side, so use that to your advantage."
"Luna, Ginny, Seamus, Kasumi and I?" Kyon asked. "Who's the leader?"
"… … … Kyon," I replied. "You're the de facto leader of the SOS-brigade, so I know he has experience."
"All right," Ginny said, as she joined her leader, as everyone split into teams. "We'll go left."
"Okay," I said, as we all split up.
Harry
"We're almost out of the tunnels," I said, as I had everyone carefully move the statue to not make any noise. "Stay here while I go assess the situation."
"Be careful," Cho said, as we moved the statue back, before I turned invisible. As I moved through the hall, I saw petrified students everywhere; trapped in the same position they were in when the Death Eaters were attacking. They all had appearances of terror on their faces, scared for their lives. However, I almost puked with what I saw. It was Mrs Norris, dead, hanging from a hook. While I was able to hold it in, I moved over towards the door, before it swung open, to show a dirty-blonde haired woman who had her hair in a bun and Goyle Sr.
"So, we've got Vincent and Gregory back?" Goyle Sr. asked. "You have them back from the police?"
"We killed every single Muggle," the blonde haired woman said. "We asked Vincent and Gregory what happened to them. Vincent was abducted by a blood traitor and a Mudblood, some students at the school. They're friends of Potter. One of them beat him up. Gregory, however, was messed with by about four students, before being knocked out. They then woke up in a warehouse, and were then handed over to the police."
"Thank you," Goyle Sr. said, as they walked off. "So, what's with those bizarre wheels that Agnus set up?"
"Apparently, they keep the students in place," the woman replied. "They're also fragile, and can easily break."
"So, we have to be careful around them?" Goyle asked, as they exited the room. Heading to a different door, I snuck around until I found what I was looking for, the bathroom, and then, after carefully making sure all of the stalls were cleared… was promptly sick into the toilet.
"…Harry?" Someone said to me, causing me to jump, only to see Moaning Myrtle.
"Myrtle," I said, before I looked around. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," she said, as she looked around. "It was pretty horrifying what the Death Eaters have done. Riddle has killed a teacher and the caretaker, and threatened to kill the rest if the students that weren't affected by his curse behaved."
"He has hostages?" I asked. "Where are they? Has he hurt any of them? Which teacher is dead? What happened to Filch?"
"It was the Muggle Studies professor," Myrtle said. "The other students are being held in the dungeons, as well as a prisoner that this weird fellow called Agnus brought in, who's been impaled on a sword for two weeks now. None of the students are hurt. As for Filch…" She hesitated, before looking square in the face. "He's been hanging from the bell tower since the Death Eaters attacked."
"Can you tell me anything about the man named Agnus?" I asked.
"He's obsessed with the man he brought in," Myrtle replied. "He said something about his blood, I couldn't tell what… But he seems to be searching for the Chamber of Secrets, as well as the Room of Requirement."
"What's the room of requirement?" I asked.
"I know you have a lot of questions, Harry, but the Death Eaters are doing their rounds soon," Myrtle said, before I could hear some footsteps enter the room. Myrtle descended into the floor as I turned invisible, before a Death Eater came in and started kicking the bathroom stalls open. As he came to the last stall, he kicked it open, not bothering to check the contents. As he left, Myrtle came back and I regained visibility. "What an interesting new spell, Harry."
"Let me ask again," I said, drawing my wand, just to be safe. "What is-"
"It's a secret room that only initially appears to someone on the seventh floor," Myrtle explained. "You have to go back and forth three times. It's across from the portrait of the ballet dancing trolls."
"Thanks," I said, trying to walk away, before Myrtle appeared before me.
"Harry, wait-" She tried to say, before I bumped into her… I bumped into her. "What the…"
"That's new," I said, as Myrtle stuck her hand out.
"I can… I can touch you…" She said, smiling. "You have no idea how glad I am about finally being able to touch someone since I died."
"It must be due to the excessive field magic," I said, trying to leave. "Can you help me? See what you can find out around here."
"There's these wheels," Myrtle said. "There's one in the hallway nearby, as well as in the Great Hall."
"Find all of them," I said, as I turned invisible. "We need to destroy all of them." Heading back to the main hallway, I headed back to the humped back witch's statue and pushed it back. "I'm about to free these students, get ready to guide them back to Honeydukes." Haruhi and Mikuru got out in order to get everyone away, Keiji stood watch as Sirius and Naoto joined me.
"So, what is this?" Sirius asked me.
"It's a Mudo spell," Naoto said. "It's a dark magical seal of demonic origin. I can cast it."
"How?"
"It's my Persona's magic," Naoto said. "It can kill most demons in an instant hit."
"So, what do we do with it?" Sirius asked.
"This," I said, drawing my knives and started slashing at the seal, causing blue flames to appear out of it. When I had completely slashed it, it broke, causing a blue light to appear over the floor, drawing the petrified students into it, clearing the room, while red mirages covered the doors. "Well, that isn't good."
"Neither is that monster coming out of the floor," Haruhi shouted, as monsters suddenly appeared. "Okay, let's fight!" A haptic display then appeared showing the monster, and some sort of information.
"This monster is weak against holy magic," Nagato said, as a monster lunged at me and I barely dodged it. "Don't use dark magic. Use a Patronus to kill it."
"Expecto Patronum," I said with Sirius, causing our Patroni to appear and collide with at least 5 demons, killing them easily, before I was knocked into the wall. "Shit…"
"Persona," Nagato said, as her Persona appeared and sent out a few Japanese Symbols to appear, surrounded by bright lights on the floor, which destroyed every last monster. However, more monsters appeared as more displays from Nagato told us more about the monsters.
"These monsters are physically weak, use any weapons," Nagato said. "Don't use magic, though, it heals the monster."
"I don't have a weapon," Sirius said, as I took a halberd from a suit of armour. "Thank you." As I ran through the crowd of monsters, making sure to dodge their strikes, I made some cuts into them to stun them, before Haruhi started throwing cards about, as two cards appeared above every demon she hit. While certain cards just disappeared, others shattered and cut into the monsters. However, one in particular was strange. They began to glow, before the monster was cut into several pieces.
"Blackjack," Haruhi said, as she drew some more cards. "Who wants to play Go Fish? You could have more luck with that."
"Well, that was awesome," I said, as Haruhi shuffled her deck.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Haruhi said, as she drew 5 cards. "I fight with cards. I have telekinesis, which I use for my fighting, but my real power is 'Deck of Fates', which allows me to fight enemies based on card games. That was my 21 attack. If the cards I draw add up to 21, it's an instant kill. But, for every number I get, my attack repeats that number of times." As she finished, the red mirages on the doors shattered, as the statues appeared again, before turning back into the Hogwarts students, who looked around in confusion. "Are you the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Haruhi asked the students, who all nodded. "Hi' I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, of the SOS-brigade and we're here to rescue you. Please, enter the tunnel and head down towards Hogsmeade."
"Harry?" I heard Padma Patil ask me, before I turned around. "You saved us."
"Not yet, there's still more to do," I said, as Haruhi and Mikuru lead everyone in the room towards the tunnels.
"There are students being held within the houses," Padma said. "The passwords never changed since last year, and there are students being held in the Muggle Studies class."
"Just… Head into the tunnel," I said, as Keiji looked around. "It leads straight back to Hogsmeade, to Honeydukes."
"Please, save my sister," Padma said, before running into the tunnel, as we all followed when Keiji raised the alarm. Moving the statue back into place, we heard someone come into the room, as we carefully listened from beneath it.
"What? They- They're gone! I have to sound the alarm!" As they ran out of the room, we guided everyone down towards the town.
"Harry…" Padma said, coming back to me. "What are you doing here, with a convicted murderer?"
"I was acquitted," Sirius blurted out. "I was formally acquitted by the head of the magical law enforcement office."
"Bring it up again and he'll whip out a bottle of Champagne out of nowhere," Ron said, as Padma joined the others. "Okay, now what?"
"We find the Horcrux then meet up with the others," I said, looking around.
"Okay, where would Voldemort, an insane, violent, sociopathic wizard who is full of himself keep a magic item that's keeping him alive in a large, magical, medieval castle?" Mikuru asked. "Well, it's probably not where anyone could find it, probably a secret room that only he knows how to open."
"Probably where you can discreetly hide objects," Keiji said. "Does Hogwarts have a fault? Or a hidden cabinet?"
"The Chamber of Secrets," Ron said, as he looked around for signs of more guards. "You can only enter it if you speak Parseltongue."
"Perseltongue is a rare magical power," Keiji said, looking at us. "How do we open the door?"
"I speak Parseltongue," I said, as I was about to leave. "I'll head towards the entrance and search the chamber."
"No, it's too obvious," Cho said, thinking. "Harry knows about the chamber, and Voldemort sees him as his worst enemy, so it would be suicide to keep it down there. Of course, there is the chance…"
"The room of requirement?" I asked. "Seventh floor, across from the picture of the ballet dancing trolls."
"Thanks," Cho said, as she looked at the team. "We have to split up."
"Mikuru come with Hermione, Ron and me," I said, as we opened the tunnel. "Good luck."
Ezio
"You know, there are usually some monsters that appear in an RPG," Kyon said, as the main party met up again. "So, how did you find the walk?"
"F*** you," I said, as I used a potion to heal my wounds. "We ran into 136 monsters, and they were random encounters. Hell, it turned into a tactical RPG down there!"
"Well, perhaps you had to know which path to go down," Kasumi said, as we entered a large room. "I'm sorry. I should have studied it a bit more. It's just that… the creator's signature was unbelievable."
"Is it that bad?" I said, before some blue haze covered the door. "Well, probably not as bad as that."
"I've never seen that kind of magic before," Mad Eye said, as he went to look at it.
"Wait… How many of you are good at puzzles?" I asked, as Luna and Kasumi raised their hand. "I think I've seen this before… but in a horror game I have."
"So, someone in the magic world is using the basis for magic to make video games?" Draco asked, confused. "So, what kind of puzzle is this?"
"…I don't know," I said, as I looked around. "But if we don't solve it, we're not getting out."
"I think I found the puzzle," Luna said, as she found a large 5x5 grid. "There are a series of images on the grid, and a machine to move these squares."
"Wait, there are some squares over here, one stone and blank, but the rest are onyx," Seamus said, as he used a light spell and walked over towards the squares, looking at them before standing up and standing on the stone circle. "Hey, when I stand in the centre, an image appears on each of the black squares." Upon hearing that, Ginny, Draco and Mad Eye moved over towards the three other squares, and took a look.
"He's right," Draco said, looking down on the ground. "I don't get how this solves the puzzle."
"I think I know," Luna said, looking at the grid. "The moveable squares have animals on them, but the squares on the grid have runes on them."
"I swear I saw this puzzle in a game, or maybe in a movie," I said, looking around. "Either way, it was like an Indiana Jones movie."
"Is it a popular movie?" Draco asked.
"Of course it's popular," Seamus said. "It's an incredible icon in Muggle pop culture. It's not as popular as the James Bond films, but is well known."
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about that series," Draco said. "Perhaps I should watch a film when I get the chance."
"Wait, you've never seen a 007 movie in your whole life?" I asked, as Draco nodded. "Dr No, Diamonds are Forever, A View to a Kill?" Draco just illustrated a no. "The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, Goldeneye?" Again, Draco gave a no. "Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough, Die Another Day!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Draco said, confused.
"You liked the Timothy Dalton films?" Seamus asked me.
"Yeah," I said, looking at Seamus. "What? License to Kill was a good movie, and The Living Daylights had one of my favourite Bond Girls, along with Goldeneye."
"You like the Russian ones?" Kyon asked me, looking at the tile. "I liked the Cellist as well, but I was also kind of sad about her, since her boyfriend set her up to die just for his own selfish motives and, when she survived, was being followed by the KGB. As for Natalya in Goldeneye, she was simply doing her job when a madwoman slaughtered her co-workers and left her for dead. Set up and with no-one to trust, no-one to turn to, she was forced into espionage and deception. I really like how she got one over on the villains."
"What did you do, Natalya," I said, in a horrendous Russian accent. [A/N: I actually look a bit like Boris]
"Can we hurry up?" Draco asked, as he looked around. "We have to get out of here."
"Sorry," I said, as I looked at the walls behind each person. "Do you see those pictures behind you? Each one is a tile that Luna has to move. The images on the ground next to you should show the tiles around where your image should be placed*." [A/N: This is how to solve a puzzle in Uncharted 3. This, however, is not the solution. I'm actually glad that, if you're stuck, then one of your AI partners will point you in the right directions.]
"One of these is blank," Mad Eye said.
"Then that means that it goes around the edge," I said, looking at the images. "Everyone, find your image's location then tell Luna where it goes."
"Mine's just one above the centre," Ginny said. "The Lion goes on that symbol that looks like a four." Luna then moved the tiles and set it down.
"Far right, four down," Mad Eye said, pointing at the square in question. "It's the goat."
"Move the fish to A3," Draco said, as he came off of his tile.
"The last one goes on the very bottom, B5," Seamus said. "I have no idea what it is, the image is faded."
"…There's two more animals," Luna responded. "I don't know what to do."
"Well, look for another image," I said, looking around. "It's up there. Do you see that balcony?"
"Hold on," Kyon said as he started climbing the walls around the room, looking around. "There's another set of black tiles here. Does anyone have a light?"
"Here," I said, throwing him a torch. As he barely caught it without falling over, he shone it towards another wall.
"The image here is a bull," Kyon said, as he made his way back, before the beam he was walking on broke. As he fell, I caught him before he hit the floor, then gently let him down. "Thanks."
"I've moved the other image, a wolf, into place," Luna said, as she moved some wheels. "But where does the bull go?"
"Wing it," Mad Eye said, before Luna started moving the bull around. "In fact, try the fourth column."
"We got it," Luna said, as the tiles all suddenly moved to the centre. Suddenly, two doors opened up, one showing a way out, sealed by that blue haze, and one showing some strange ritual object. "What's that?"
"Okay, this is way too much like that video game," I said, looking at the object.
"What the hell is this 'Game'?" Mad Eye asked me, confused.
"Devil May Cry," I said, as I felt the object.
"Based off of a series of Japanese comic books, it follows a demon hunter who investigates activity of the forces of hell and kills any demons he finds to prevent them from conquering Earth," Kyon said.
"I haven't got volume 4 yet, but when the corresponding game was announced, a lot of people were pissed off when they switched to a new character," I said.
"I have volume 4," Kasumi said, showing me it. "Apparently, he's Dante's nephew."
"Wait… Dante?" Draco asked. "That's what Agnus called that Tony guy."
"Wait, is his name Tony Redgrave?" I blurted out.
"Yes," Draco said, as I took out one of my manga, flicking to a specific page.
"Is this him?" I asked, showing it to Draco. "Is this the guy you saw?"
"He's older than that image," Draco responded. "But… Yeah, that's him. That's Tony Redgrave. He's got the same jewel, though. Two, in fact."
"Okay, I can get someone making a series based around a magic school, a secret war with aliens, but Devil May Cry?" I asked. "For f***'s sake, how the hell do you hide a 250 floor tower that appears out of nowhere… Wait, don't answer that."
"So I was right?" Kasumi asked. "It wasn't a mistranslation on my part?"
"Hogwarts is around 1,000 years old now, right?" Kyon asked. "So, the designer of the original wards was…"
"None other than the demon Sparda," Kasumi said, massaging her head. "This can't be real, this really can't be real."
"Well, at least I know what kind of situation is going on," I said, as I drew my beam Katana. "And I know how to get out of here." I started striking the cursed object, causing runes to appear around it. As I finished, the blue haze turned into a hand, before shattering, as the exit, and the path to Hogwarts appeared. "Okay, what do we do if there's someone in the Dungeons?"
"I'll lead them out and back towards Hogwarts," Mad Eye said, as we headed towards the exit.
Harry
"So, how do we open up the Chamber of Secrets?" Mikuru asked, as we looked around the room for Death Eaters.
"The Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by using Parseltongue, a very rare magical ability to speak to snakes," I said, as I sat next to the sinks. "Only the descendants of Salazar Slytherin can speak it. I can too, but that's because I absorbed the ability to from Voldemort-" I tried to say, before the sinks began to move, as the main entrance opened up. As I looked around, I saw Ron, grinning, as he came over to me. "…Ron, how did you do that?"
"I just told it to open," Ron said, as we all looked at him in confusion. "You talk in your sleep, Harry."
"…Thanks, Ron," I said, looking at him, before heading towards the entrance. "I really needed to know that at this time." I then jumped down into the hole, followed by Mikuru, then Hermione, followed by Ron. "Would you like to open this one?" I asked Ron, before the door was opened by Hermione. "Oh, come on!"
"I can speak any language, remember?" Hermione asked me.
"Can you speak Japanese?" Mikuru asked, before Hermione and Mikuru started speaking to each other in Japanese.
"Harry?" Ron asked me. "There's nothing here." We then headed towards the large bust of Salazar Slytherin. "There's nothing here!"
"You said that," Mikuru responded, looking around.
"That's the reason I'm scared," Ron said. "Where's the dead Basilisk?"
"I have no idea," Hermione said, looking at the bust. "Perhaps the Death Eaters took it out? Since Basilisk venom is used to kill Horcruxes…"
"Delta Squad," Nagato said, as a hologram appeared in front of us. "Where's the rest of your team?"
"We split up to search for the Horcrux," I said. "Did everyone get back safely?"
"They're at Hogsmeade, being cared for," Nagato said. "Charlie Squad are almost inside the castle, and Bravo team have retreated to Hogsmeade. However, we have more information on the monsters that you killed. Charlie Team thinks they're demons."
"That's a load of nonsense!" Hermione said to me. "Demons don't-"
"Hermione, don't push your luck," Ron said. "If you say it, there's a very good chance that one could attack us right now." As we thought it through, we all looked at our guns. "I've got an assault rifle and a shotgun. What about you lot?"
"Assault rifle and Handgun," Hermione said.
"Sniper rifle and SMG," I said.
"SMG and handgun," Mikuru said. "Roll on three?"
"Three," I said, before we jumped out of the way of the Undead Basilisk's bite and started firing. "Oh great, not only is it alive, but it's a goddamn zombie!"
"So, you're the one that Voldemort has me waiting for," the Basilisk said, in English.
"The first time I killed this thing, it couldn't speak anything but Parseltongue," I said, cocking the sniper rifle. "So, what the hell are you?"
"Oh, don't try to make me toy with you," the Basilisk said, as if flirting. "I'm so desperate for a MEAL RIGHT NOW!"
"Stop!" Mikuru shouted, before the Basilisk froze in the middle of the air. "Come on, we should get out of here."
"Okay," Hermione said, as we headed straight for the exit. As we got out of the door, I told it to close, as we stopped in the middle of the chute. "I'll get us out of here. Accio rope!" Suddenly, some ropes came down, as Hermione grabbed onto one. "Tie it around your waist, wait until you see what I'm about to do." As we made loops in the rope and tied it around our bodies, Hermione braced herself. "…Accio Anvil!"
"What," I asked, as our ropes were suddenly pulled by a large weight, which then fell into the hole. We were thrown up into the air by the momentum, and Hermione softened our fall. As I stood up, I closed the main entrance, causing the sinks to move back into place. "Let's get out of here," I said, before we heard a large boom from below us.
"…What was that?" Ron asked.
"It's opened the door," I said, as we ran out of the room.
Cho
"Back and forth, three times," I muttered to myself, trying to open the Room of Requirement. "It's not opening."
"That's because it's the Room of Requirement," Sirius said to me. "You have to need something."
"So, if you need somewhere to hide, or a gun?" Haruhi asked me.
"Kasumi has been searching for records of this room since she heard of it," Keiji said. "She's going to be upset that I got to see it first."
"…Really?" Naoto asked. "Don't be so childish. Anyway, why isn't it opening?"
"If someone's in there, it won't open," Sirius said, looking at the wall. "It could be used as a hiding place."
"If someone's in there, we need to get them out," Haruhi said. "And if it's a student, we need to protect them." Suddenly, a doorway started appearing, growing out of the wall. Stepping forward, I gripped the loop on the door, before I pushed the door open, and looked inside.
"Who's there," I saw a younger student say, aiming a wand at me. "You're… You're a student…" He then lowered his wand, before setting it down. "Oh, thank god…"
"Colin Creevey?" I asked. "Are you okay?"
"I've been safe in here since the Death Eaters attacked," Colin said. "When the Death Eaters attacked, I just ran in here, panicking."
"Colin, I need you to come out," I said, as I pointed towards the door.
"NO!" Colin shouted at me, aiming his wand at me again. "My safehouse, not yours!"
"Colin, we need to find something hidden in here," I said. "We can't do that until you-" I tried to talk to him, but he knocked my wand out of my hand.
"You think you can try to persuade me?" Colin asked me. "Put myself in danger for your own selfish reasons? YOUR WORDS MEAN SHIT TO ME!"
"Colin, just calm down," I said, raising my hand. "I can protect you. I can get you out of Hogwarts." Colin then faltered, so I realised that I was on to something. "I can get you to London, if you want. But Dumbledore already has Hogsmeade captured, and there are other students down there already."
"…really?" Colin asked me, lowering his wand. "I don't feel so good," He said, as he began to faint, before hitting the floor with a thud. I then went back and opened the door, and let everyone else in.
"Is he alright?" Naoto asked, as I helped lift Colin up.
"He's in shock," I said, as we headed outside. "He's slightly insane, but he should be fine. Alright, we need to head out, and try again." When we got out, Sirius walked back and forth outside the wall, as the door appeared again, which we all then entered, to find a large amount of items, broken furniture and a few dead animals inside. "Alright, we're looking for a diadem."
"What's a diadem?" Haruhi asked.
"It's a tiara," Keiji replied, as he took out a wand. "Accio diadem," Keiji said, before several dozen diadems flew towards him and knocked him over. "Seriously, why are there 70 tiaras in here!"
"It's a security measure," I said, looking inside several boxes. "Leave several around, anyone looking for the Horcrux would have to check all of them." I then opened a box, showing a diadem. Taking a look at it, I then started smiling. "I found it!"
"Are you sure?" Naoto asked me.
"Look at this central gem," I said, pointing at it. "Do you notice the distinct imperfection?"
"There's a shape in the crystal," Naoto said, looking at it. "It looks like a raven's claw…"
"Because the founder was called Rowena Ravenclaw," I said, smiling. "I'm going to take this, along with Colin, to the Hog's Head," I said, while we were leaving. "Try and meet up with Harry, his team shouldn't be far."
"GET IN!" Harry shouted, as his squad came running towards us.
"Harry?" I asked, before a giant snake crashed into a wall. Screaming, we ran back into the room, closing it before the monster tried to ram into the wall, but the door was already gone by then. "Okay, I'm taking the Horcrux out from in here."
"Good idea," Ron said. "Oh my god, why the hell are there demons in here?"
"…Demons?" Keiji asked.
"JESUS CHRIST, DIDN'T YOU SEE THE UNDEAD BASALISK!" Hermione shouted.
Ezio
"Alright," I said, coming out of the passage. "Where do we go now?"
"The students are being held near here," Draco said to me. "The cells are only in the next room."
"How many guards are there?" Ginny asked.
"5," Draco said, as we headed to the door. "They're the incompetent ones, the ones that Voldemort would normally kill by now."
"Alright, shoot to kill or maim?" Kasumi asked me.
"They could still raise the alarm if they're left alive," Mad Eye said. "I say to kill."
"Kasumi, Mad Eye, take them out with magic," I said, as I grabbed the door's handle. "It shouldn't leave blood, right?"
"No," Mad Eye said, gripping his wand. "Okay, kill all the guards, and dispose of the bodies."
"No, knock them out," I said, as they got into position. "Use a body-bind. That should keep them quiet." With a nod, I kicked the door open and shot a single bullet into a Death Eater's leg, before Kasumi and Mad Eye sent curses to stun a few Death Eaters. As more ran around the corner and used a Killing Curse, before I got into the way of the curse, as Kasumi stunned him. As the last one came in…
"Expelliarmus!" Draco said, sending a spell forward as Ginny came in.
"Stupefy!" She cast, knocking the Death Eater into the wall. However, a Death Eater walked around the corner, holding a hostage.
"Put your wands down!" He shouted, as we carefully moved around. However, Neville sent out a light from his hand, causing the Death Eater to freeze, before falling to the floor.
"Okay, I think I may have really hurt him," Neville said, looking at the knocked out Death Eater.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Mad Eye asked.
"I think it was a 'Neural Shock'," Neville said.
"You overwhelmed his nervous system," I said. "He's still alive, use the body-bind curse on them, and then open the cells." As everyone used the body-bind, Kyon found a series of keys and ran towards the doors to the cells and woke the kids up.
"We've taken out the Death Eaters," he said, getting everyone up. "Mad Eye, who should go with you?" He then ran over and started opening more cells.
"Can I take Malfoy and Kyon?" Mad Eye asked me.
"Go ahead," I said, as Kyon opened the last cage. "Why take them?"
"Kyon's a leader, he'll help co-ordinate the group," Mad Eye explained. "Malfoy, however, is the one in the most danger because he could be seen ny a Death Eater."
"Good point," I said, as they lead the students away.
"Ezio," Malfoy said, heading towards me. "That Tony guy, Dante… Whatever his name is, he's 2 rooms away."
"Thanks," I said, as he ran off, helping an injured student out. "Okay, let's head out." As we got over towards another door, we found a large room on the other side, which initially seemed completely barren. However, a red haze covered the doors after we had all gotten inside, and 9 demons showed up. "Hell Wraths?" I asked, as I shot them with my combustors, stunning them. "Seriously, when do the guys with the-"
"Don't push it!" Seamus warned me, before charming our guns and giving us infinite ammo. "Just kill the creatures before more show up."
"Alright, I got a SS score in DMC3," I said, drawing my katana. "Let me see if it gives some combat experience." As two Hell Wraths attacked me with scythes, I dodged the first one and slid under the second strike, before rolling and donkey kicking a demon into the air. I began shooting the demon, juggling it in the air, as Luna gave us strength, defence and magic buffs and smacked a demon into an execution device, with her flag, which the Death Eaters brought in, then Seamus and Neville closed it, killing the demon. When demons came over to them, Seamus unloaded on them with a pair of revolvers and Neville slashed at them with a sword, and also stunning them and throwing debuffs around.
Ginny then caused several shields to surround us as armour, before grabbing a demon and swinging it around, as Kasumi jumped up and started shooting at the swinging demon, before jumping off as Ginny slammed the demon into the ground, killing it. Kasumi, however, started kicking the demon I was holding in the air a few times, jumping off of it, and spinning around in the air, spraying the area with shots that bounced off our armour. As the demon came down to me, I grabbed my katana and made a single slash and killed the demon. As Seamus took out a shotgun, he started shooting the stunned demons and killed them, while one jumped behind him and tried to ambush him, while Luna blocked the attack, threw it to Neville and he impaled the demon by holding his sword forward.
"Well, that was fun," Neville said, pushing the demon away as it dissolved. "So, is Devil May Cry always this fun?"
"Normally, you get a score and a timer that you have to get the lowest time possible," I said. "The demons are stronger too. Thank god it seems the difficulty setting isn't DMD."
"Is that bad?" Seamus asked me.
"Dante Must Die, the hardest setting," Kasumi said. "And Devil May Cry is a difficult game."
"Come on," Luna said, as the red haze shattered. "We have to get through here to get out, and whoever this 'Redgrave' is, he could be a useful asset."