The Room of Requirement was full of people - D.A. members, people who had been members of the original D.A. but had left school, and some other people that Morag didn't recognize, and a few she did. "Professor Lupin," she said, surprised. Everyone was mingling around, talking; the Room of Requirement seemed much smaller now, with all of these people in addition to the D.A. members. Neville hadn't, apparently, thought to make the Room expand, although it wasn't a necessity, for a short while later, Harry reappeared.
"What first, Harry?" called one of the Weasley twins, the one with a missing ear. Morag had never been able to tell them apart while they were at Hogwarts, and although now it was easier, she didn't know which one had lost an ear. "What's going on?"
"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."
Several members of the D.A. - Seamus, Su, and Romilda, most noticeably - let out great cheers, and everyone, at once, rushed towards the door. It was a mad stampede out the door and through the corridors to the Great Hall. Morag was in the middle of it, her wand drawn with everyone else's. She felt wild, adrenaline already flowing through her body at the prospect of a fight. Every nerve was on edge, and although she was scared, that feeling was overwhelmed by the desire to battle with the Death Eaters, to show them that they couldn't keep this up. The students - as well as those random people who had returned - were going to fight, and they were going to win.
Morag and her friends found seats at the Ravenclaw table. For a moment, it felt almost normal, sitting in the Great Hall alongside these people, the D.A. members and the younger students and the Slytherins, but that atmosphere didn't last long. Some students - those who hadn't been in the Room of Requirement, and therefore had a little bit of warning - had traveling cloaks on, and some of the other students were still in their pajamas. All of the D.A. members were dressed in their school robes, and they were the ones who looked most prepared.
Everyone stared up at Professor McGonagall. She was standing on the platform where the teachers' table sat; all of the remaining teachers, minus the Carrows and Snape, stood there, as well as Firenze and Professor Lupin and several of the adults Morag didn't recognize. "The evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."
"And what if we want to stay and fight?" shouted Ernie, standing on the bench of the Hufflepuff table. All of the D.A. members applauded.
"If you are of age, you may stay," Professor McGonagall replied. Morag glanced around the Great Hall; apart from the Slytherins, every table had a few younger students shaking their heads, as if they were already planning how not to be evacuated. Glancing at the Gryffindor table, Morag read Romilda's lips - the younger girl had just said, "Oh, hell no" to Demelza Robins.
"What about our things?" called Mandy. "Our trunks, our owls?"
"We have no time to collect possessions. The important thing is to get you out of here safely." Professor McGonagall looked tense, as though she was waiting for the question-and-answer session to be over.
"Where's Professor Snape?" Tracey Davis looked confused, but not very sad.
"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk." At Professor McGonagall's words, Morag let out a cheer; she was not alone in doing so. "We have already placed protection around the castle, but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects-" Her next words were cut off by a cold, high voice that Morag had never heard before, and was sure she never wanted to again. It seemed to come from all around, and she - along with many other students, she dimly noted - looked around wildly for the source of the voice.
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood." Morag thought of Stephen, and her hands balled into fists underneath the table. "Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
Everyone was completely silent. Morag's gaze shot towards Harry, who was standing behind the Gryffindor table, looking rather blank. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" Pansy Parkinson cried. It took all of Morag's strength not to curse her right then and there. All of the Gryffindors stood up then, blocking Harry from her; the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws followed, and Morag and several other students pointed their wands in Pansy's direction.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." McGonagall's voice was cold and clipped. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow." The Slytherins trooped out, and Morag's eyes found Astoria Greengrass at the end of the line. She left the Hall with the others, but through the open door, Morag could see her go in a different direction as the rest of them, and barely ten seconds later, Daphne dashed after her, both of them splitting apart from the rest of the group. "Ravenclaws, follow on!" Professor McGonagall called, and the tables began to empty out. Morag could see underage students splitting apart from the rest, even while she remained at her seat. It was chaotic enough where nobody was going to miss a couple - at least, not until it was too late.
Half of Gryffindor remained behind - apparently, the younger students hadn't thought of simply slipping away if they wanted to fight - and Professor McGonagall and a few of the other teachers had to step down and direct them to the crowd. When the underage students had been escorted out of the Hall by their prefects, a tall man with dark skin stepped up to the teachers' platform. "We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we have to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus, Arthur, and I -" He gestured towards Professor Lupin and a redheaded man. "Will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school."
"Sounds like a job for us," called the Weasley twin with both ears attached. The man nodded at him.
"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops."
The of-age D.A. surged forward, all calling requests. The Ravenclaws exchanged glances, and Morag couldn't help but wish they had more time. Time to wish each other luck, time to have one last goodbye, in case it turned out to be necessary. Morag tried to shake her head free of that thought, instead thinking about the underage students who had left, no doubt hiding somewhere until the battle began and it was too crazy for anybody to tell them to leave. What would they do? Presumably they'd just wander around and shoot spells at people; they weren't able to be part of any plan, since they weren't technically allowed to be there.
It didn't take as long as Morag had figured it would to divide everybody up. Su - thank Merlin - ended up with Professor Flitwickl's group, going up to Ravenclaw Tower. Su seemed relieved, and Morag was as well - she'd be safer up there, most likely, since Death Eaters probably wouldn't think to invade Ravenclaw Tower, and the chances of them shooting spells a hundred feet up as opposed to at their ground opponents was unlikely.
Morag, Kevin, and Leanne Moon of Hufflepuff were the last three; two of the groups had already left, and Neville, who was ordering students around just like a professor, looked harried. "You three," he said, "stay near the doors to the Entrance Hall outside. Help pick off some of the Death Eaters who are trying to enter Hogwarts. Remember, keep the wall to your back, you don't want to have to protect your back as well. And if there gets to be too many of them, get out of there. You don't want to be sitting ducks."
"All right," Kevin said, saluting Neville. Morag couldn't tell if he was being serious or not - knowing Kevin, it was probably the latter. Neville appeared to not notice - either that, or he ignored it - and the three students hurried off. Morag risked a glance at Leanne as they ran. Leanne had always been a quiet member of the D.A.; Morag had never seen her get in any trouble, and she had been one of the few students who hadn't needed to run away from the Carrows into the Room of Requirement.
"Er," Leanne said once they reached the doors, "are we supposed to just incapacitate them? Or -" She didn't look like she could say the next words, but it was obvious by context what she meant.
"Look," Morag said, "we're not going to win this battle if everyone just uses Stunners and Body-Binds. Use what you need to - what you can." She peeked at Kevin out of the corner of her eye; he was nodding.
"Morag's right. I don't think this is the time to hold back and just be defensive." He held his wand at the ready, and Morag and Leanne did the same. "Not long until midnight," he said, glancing at his watch. "You ready?"
Leanne laughed quietly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this," she said. Kevin reached over and patted her arm.
"You'll do fine. We all will." He looked at Morag, and they quickly hugged. "Hey, you know what?" Kevin said to Morag, a slightly mischievous look on his face. "Bet I can take down more Death Eaters than you can."
Morag raised her eyebrows. "You're on, Entwhistle." She smirked at him, and he chuckled. The air was tense, despite their attempts to break the tension, even among three people alone; they knew that within minutes, they would be fighting for their lives, and for everything they believed in. It was a sobering thought, and Morag stood up tall, raising herself to her full height, her fingers clenched around her wand. This was what they had wanted all year. This is what they had spent preparing for all year.
This was it - this was war.
Okay, so next chapter/s will be the actual Battle of Hogwarts - just had to get all of that pre-Battle stuff all over with, but now it's officially here. Note: It's either canon or widely-accepted fanon that Leanne is a Hufflepuff in Harry's year. 'Moon' comes from the original class list; there was a 'Moon' on there whose first name began with L, and considering the changes to that original class list that were made, I'm taking it as my head canon that 'Moon' is Leanne's last name.
