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Chapter 36
Luna sighed as she looked over the edge of the chasm that had once held the gigantic moving staircases that Hogwarts was famous for, and looked sadly at the pile of smashed marble far below.
Turning away she paused a moment to consider her options, "Well so much for the quick way…" she said to the empty air. "And if the stairways have been destroyed I suspect my nest will, at the least, be inaccessible… I need to go down then… Perhaps the house elves or ghosts may be of help?"
She nodded. "Yes, the elves, that will be the best course of action, and I must do it quickly!" she said breaking into a run.
Alex rolled out of the way as one of the skrewts tried to impale her with its tail. "Merlin! What the hell? My pistol is useless against this thing!" She screamed even as she had to duck yet another strike. "Expulso!" she cried, pointing her wand toward the exposed chest plate of the monstrosity as it reared back to strike again and pouring as much power into it as she could. A second later she realized her choice of spell had been a mistake.
She felt her magic sailing from her body into its target much faster than she intended, leaving her feeling almost dizzy from the drain, even as she fought to end the spell.
Jerking her wand away, and gasping for air, she watched as the plate began to crack and then glow, "Oh, bugger me!" she said.
She had only seen this reaction to magic in one material, a small sliver of titanium they had been testing in the chamber. Harry had been trying something simple, changing the small pea sized piece into an equally massed needle, no real change other than shape.
Evidently titanium and magic don't mix well, and the results? Well. Those had been… energetic, to say the least.
As she stopped casting, by finally wrenching her magical connection away, she made a desperate gamble in her now weakened condition and twisted on her heel disappearing with a crack only to reappear several dozen yards away as the plate detonated with the power of a small mine, destroying the creature in a shower of gore.
She collapsed to her knees, her hands shaking and sweat pouring off of her brow. "Note to self, don't try that again! Skrewts don't mix well with that spell!"
"You did well young one! Go, back the way we came, someone will find you along the path and take you to safety!" hissed a voice from nearby making her jump, as flashes of shadow blurred past her toward the maze. "Leave the other to us the Shadow Hunters!"
She shook her head and reached toward her belt and began twisting a knob. "Sorry, can't do that. Harry- my partner is still in there… he's still in the maze, he's counting on me."
The goblin that had paused next to her looked her over dubiously. "And you are?'
"Al-" she began but caught herself, before giving her operations name instead. "Glenda! You can call me Glenda."
The goblin eyed her for a moment longer, before nodding once. "Then you may call me Balcross, wielder of the axe Kraven, Leader of the Shade Jokar," he said, thumping the blade of his large axe. "Find your partner; we will deal with the creatures," he finished.
She nodded quickly. "That's the plan!" she said as she keyed her mike. "Harry? You there?"
Fleur was startled as Harry stopped running and held a hand up to his ear. "Alex!" he said. "Thank god you're back! Things have gone to shit in here! The creatures are tearing through the walls of…"
His voice paused. 'Was he actually in communication with someone?' she thought.
"Great… Just perfect," he muttered. She took an involuntary step back when his eyes passed her way. Those eyes were no longer the eyes of the kind young man she had grown to think of as a friend but those of a predator. A man ready to kill.
"Roger that," he said a moment later. "Any chance on this contest being a no joy?" he asked in a rushed voice, as he dragged her down into a kneeling position next to him.
She moved automatically as he directed her to a position behind him, between his body and the maze.
"Roger," he finally said, lowering his hand and turning to her. "You need to make a decision, you can come with me or you can try and hide here until this is over."
She looked at him with a puzzled expression as he put his wand away and drew both hands deeper into the shadows of his robes.
"Following me could be dangerous, but someone needs to get to the center of the maze as fast as possible. My school's headmaster is down and without her, even if we send up sparks to concede it may not be valid as we are both physically able. I need to put an end to this game so we can get out of here…" His hands reappeared and her eyes widened. In his right hand was a different wand and in his left a pistol.
"This is no longer a game Fleur," he said, his eyes scanning the area. "And I won't lie to you about the danger we are in… Hogwarts is under attack."
She could feel her breath catch at that pronouncement as he continued. "Her wards are down, and her headmistress is unconscious, so there is no way to stop this tournament other than completing it."
"We already know that there is at least one person in here trying to cast potentially deadly spells and there is every chance that we will be walking into more between here and the center. I need you to make your decision right now," he said, looking toward her. "What are you going to do?"
James ran into the situation room. "Status!" he said as he approached the rotunda area that overlooked the pit of intelligence analyzers at work.
"Helo flight, call sign Echo 1, has radar contact with what we think are the targets, three heavy lift sky cranes moving at eighty knots to their southwest away from them. They are moving to verify," said a blond woman from her workstation at the back of the room.
"I want them on speaker, then connect me," he said moving to the front of the room.
There was a crackle then the voices of the flight crews filled the room. "Repeat, this is RAF Flight 6871 to unidentified aircraft you will come about immediately, this airspace is restricted."
When he had finished speaking Bond keyed his own mike. "RAF Flight 6871, this is Station Bravo Control. Command word Caledvwlch."
There was a long pause as the command word was verified by the flight. "Go ahead Bravo Control.
"Station Bravo has now received command of this mission, is that understood Captain?" Bond asked.
Another pause then finally, "Roger that, command change of mission has been verified."
"Status of target?" he asked.
"Heading is unchanged, speed has increased to eighty six knots," came the reply. "Six minutes till weapon intercept range at present speed."
"You are cleared for redline! You are to intercept them at your top speed!" he said. "Your target is entering code word controlled airspace! If they do not alter their course as directed by the time you enter weapons range you are to engage."
"Sir?" the captain of the flight asked a second later. "Did I hear you correctly? Engage at maximum range?"
"Roger that captain! Engage!" Bond said smacking his palm on the table for emphasis. "Knock them out of the sky!"
Luna ran down the stairs at a breakneck pace, only pausing a moment at the place she knew was the hidden entrance to the kitchen, one that was normally hidden behind a door controlled by a painting containing a basket of pears.
Catching her breath she pushed gently on the door and entered. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
"What is miss doing in castle?" asked a small voice from the darkness deeper in the room.
"Something has happened," Luna began. "Something is wrong in the castle-"
"I knows," said the voice, as the small creature approached, wringing long ears harshly in her tiny hands. "Winky can't wake the other elves… Big bang happened down stairs then elves collapsed, they alive but I can't wake them…"
Luna stepped closer and knelt in front of the child like elf. "Can you show me?" she asked.
Winky nodded and turned quickly. "I brought all of them to the kitchen, even ones from the fields and green houses. None of them wake."
"All of them are Hogwarts elves, like you?" Luna asked following.
The hand wringing motion returned again. "Winky not a Hogwarts elf…" she said, looking down with tears pooling in her eyes. "Winky's…" She hiccupped. "Winky's family all passed… She have no family, and I not want to work for Hogwarts… I want a family…"
"You are a free elf?" Luna said in surprise, even as she knelt and began to look at the collapsed bodies that Winky had arranged carefully on the floor. "How long have you been without a master?"
The tiny elf looked nervous and tugged at her pillow case dress. "Before beginning of school year…" She sobbed, "Winky knew poor master died… I miss taking care of family…"
Luna smiled softly. "And you have lived here and helped at Hogwarts ever since?"
The little figure nodded. "Headmaster Kitty said that was fine," she said. "There be lots of extra magic here and… It is kind of like a family. She said I may find a new family that take me here and to tell her if I found a new family."
"I may be able to help," Luna said., "But first we need to find out what is going on here."
The little elf nodded, sending her ears flapping. "Can you go find Headmaster Kitty? She should be down at the quidditch stadium at the tournament, ask her what you can do to help. I'm going to go see what the Bang was you heard downstairs."
The elf nodded her head again then disappeared with a tiny pop.
Luna shook her head as she stood. "Poor thing, she seems lost without a family." Pondering how she could help, she made her way toward the door.
Poppy was startled as the small figure appeared next to her. "Goodness!" she cried.
"Headmaster Kitty," said the elf with a sob, wringing her ears. "Yous like the elves in the castle! Oh nos!"
Filius waved his wand quickly, muffling the roar of the crowed around them. "Winky, what did you say?"
She looked up at the small man. "Professor Fillus! She like elves in castle! They won't wake either!"
Amelia looked between the pair, as Filius spoke again. "The castle elves? They are unconscious as well?"
She nodded, her ears flapping wildly. "I took them all to kitchens. Silver haired student came, sent me to find Headmaster Kitty! Big bang came from down stairs, others fell! Didn't know what to do!"
He nodded. "You did fine Winky." He looked up at Amelia. "She's a free elf that has been working at the castle since her master passed this summer… I need to get to the castle and find out what is going on!"
Amelia nodded. "If the wards have collapsed, you should be able to apparate there."
He stood quickly. "I'll send you a message as soon as I know something," he said and spun on his heel, disappearing with a crack.
She then addressed the elf. "Can you take Poppy and the headmistress to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead without jostling them too much? Then retrieve whatever Poppy needs to help?"
The tiny figure nodded quickly. "Poppy, do what you can for her, then be ready for any injuries we find. We'll make that our aid station; have someone contact St. Mungo's with their floo and get help on the way."
Poppy nodded and disappeared as the elf touched both her and Minerva. "Roberts!" she yelled at one of her subordinates. "Get to the Three Broomsticks! You're security for the people I'm sending that way! Contact Headquarters, get additional security to St. Mungo's just in case! Jackson! You are in charge of the evacuation of the crowd from Hogsmead, the Three Broomsticks floo is for Healer use only. Use the one in Honeydukes, connect it to the Leaky Cauldron and tell Tom it's an emergency."
She stood for a moment scanning the area around her. "Come on Sirius we have work to do."
Harry peered carefully around the corner of the hedge and into the clearing he assumed marked the center of the map. "We're here," he said in a whisper.
He had almost been surprised when Fleur chose to accompany him onward and had, so far, been impressed with how well she had taken his lead and helped keep watch behind them as they made their way through the remainder of the maze.
"Then we should go quickly," she replied just as quietly. "I believe there is someone not far behind us. I saw a light down one of the passages."
Harry nodded. "Right…We need to hurry..." But he paused none the less, that feeling deep in his stomach had returned. "But we can't rush in headlong… something… something is off here, I can feel it."
Fleur's eyes darted to the young man then out back to her assignment. "We haven't run across any traps or creatures for some time," she agreed.
"But that may not mean anything… Give me a minute," he said, kneeling as he reached deep inside his cloak pulling out two objects.
The first was a cylinder with knobs on the side, which he quickly fastened under the barrel of his pistol, affixing it with practiced ease.
The second was a small box that he sat down on the ground in front of him as he stood again. "One way or another we'll know something soon."
She watched, confused as he tapped the box with his wand and it rose up into the air slightly and the top split open revealing what appeared to be a small funnel.
Before she could ask, it shot forward away from them and into the darkness of the clearing.