Harry Potter and the Scrivenings of Slytherin Chapter 36: d3 x c2, a harry potter fanfic

A/N: I'm going to keep Author's Notes to an absolute minimum from now on, to not disturb the flow of the story. There will be Author's Notes at the end of the story, because there's something that I want to address as regards something that happens in these coming chapters, and you'll quite likely guess it when you see it. So if something strikes you, an answer may well be coming without you needing to ask a question!

Finally, you may be looking at the title of the chapter, and be thinking: "What the?". Of course, if you have knowledge of a particular something, then it's conceivable some of you have seen it and immediately thought "Aha, I see!", but for those that haven't, if you are particularly observant when reading this chapter, it should all make sense. If you still don't get it, I'll leave a hint in the next chapter, and I'll explain it in my final Author's Notes. It almost goes without saying, this is my favourite chapter title I've ever come up with. If you 'get it', then award yourself a metaphorical gold star! :)

Chapter 36: d3 x c2+

"Okay, I guess this is going to be our last meeting for a bit." Harry started. "Chances are it's Voldemort or his Death Eaters who've got the Board of Governors to close the school – maybe it's some of Malfoy's dad's friends." Harry shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. Hogwarts is going to be closed until Dumbledore can get it opened again."

"But we're hardly safe here, are we?"

Harry mentally rolled his eyes. He had tried to make a bet with Ron that Zacharias Smith would be first to raise doubts. For some reason, Ron chose not to take him up on the wager.

"We aren't safe anywhere." Dean, of all people, growled the answer.

"That's the reason we thought we needed Harry to teach us, remember?" Cho added tartly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted an amused and knowing expression on Hermione's face. He looked away before he risked the faintest blush. It was true – she probably had had a different reason at the time.

"But we know that You-Know-Who can get through the wards, don't we? What's to stop him doing it again, and killing more people?" Zacharias persisted.

Harry quickly conjured a whistle, which he blew shrilly to quell the burst of noise that statement provoked, but it was Susan Bones who put the resultant silence to use, as she spoke up in her soft voice.

"Zack, Professor Dumbledore helped put the wards up protecting my house, and they've worked so far, but if V- Vol- Vol-" She inhaled, and set herself, "if Voldemort can get through Hogwarts' wards, then he can get through ours. At least if we're in Hogwarts we have more people who can help us."

Before Zacharias could do anything other than glare at his fellow Hufflepuff, Harry managed to regain the floor. "Professor Dumbledore knows how the Death Eater who set the explosive curse got in. He'll be able to stop it happening again."

Many of the DA members exchanged looks at this, but Zacharias belligerently carried on. "How can you be su-"

"Because they used the Chamber of Secrets to get in, and Professor Dumbledore didn't realise that that wasn't protected by Hogwarts' wards."

Many of the DA looked away at the reference to Harry's second year, and the Heir of Slytherin. Harry had stopped being bothered by what had happened then, a long time ago. Or, at the very least, he was used to it by now.

"Has he stopped the Dementors?" Dennis Creevey piped up nervously. "Did they come through the Chamber of Secrets too?"

"I don't know." Harry admitted honestly. "I don't even know if he's worked out how they got in, but I think they came through the Forbidden Forest."

"Isn't it obvious?" Luna spoke up from a corner. She had spent the meeting so far doing something with her wand which had turned the ground before her into a picture made from pebbles. Harry had noticed her supposed lack of attention, but never for one second had he believed she wasn't listening. "Hogwarts must have thought they were animals."

"Dementors are animals." Hermione pointed out, and it didn't look like she would have been the only one to do so.

"Very intelligent for animals, aren't they?" Luna replied, completely unconcerned. "Or do you think centaurs or house-elves are just animals too?"

Harry was hard pressed to prevent a laugh, but somehow managed it, for he knew he had better head off Hermione's reply.

"Look: that's not why I called the meeting. Dumbledore will deal with it. The thing is, as far as I'm concerned, it's easier for Voldemort to pick us off one by one, than as a group. And it's far easier to end up trapped in a small area instead of a big one. Personally, I'd rather we could all stay here. But that's not important right now. What is important is that the school is going to be closed. With Voldemort's threats over the last weeks, he'd be making a big statement if he were to attack us when we leave Hogwarts protection, so chances are he will."

The silence would have caused the smallest of dropped pins to boom in echo.

"Then we'll fight." Seamus said bullishly.

Harry smiled slightly. He had known someone would say that.

"Exactly. That's why I called this meeting. Because, when Hogwarts is reopened, and trust me, it's going to be, I want everyone to be at the next one. This is life or death."

D- D'you think we're good enough to fight Death Eaters." Colin Creevey asked in a nervous squeak which summed up the general feeling in the room.

Harry found his eyes drawn towards Neville and Luna. "Yes." He answered simply. "I saw that much a year ago. And we all know more from this year too. Aravenne has been about as helpful as Umbridge was a cow."

The tension eased slightly as there was muttered agreement to the last statement. It almost felt like a dirty trick, for the mention of how useless Umbridge was always lightened the mood.

"The thing is, that if we do end up fighting Death Eaters, and maybe that won't happen tomorrow, but it will sometime, it isn't like Aravenne's duels. In them, if you try something and it doesn't work, you might lose the duel. If that happens against Death Eaters, you might lose your life." Harry looked at them each in turn before adding quietly. "Or worse."

He had expected someone, even if it was only Zacharias Smith, to disagree that anything could be worse than death, but the DA was as silent as statues. Not one single member was the least bit blasé about what might lie ahead.

Bye-Bye Childhood.

"But we have to fight!" Neville protested eventually.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't." Harry inserted quickly. "What I'm saying, is try not to take risks, stick to what you're good at. Some of us are really good at improvising on the spot, some make fantastic wards, some are really quick. The Muggles have a phrase: 'If it aint broke, don't fix it'. We all know what we're good at: you don't need me to tell you, although I will if you want me to. Yes, Death Eaters are older than us, and have left Hogwarts or whatever schools they were at, but we have a couple of advantages they don't.

"I've ended up fighting Death Eaters a few times this year, and they always seem to think that because I'm a student, they'll easily beat me. Trust me, it's way easier to beat someone if they underestimate you.

"But I guess the biggest advantage…" Harry held the eyes of the DA members with the least confidence: Neville, the Creevey Brothers, even Susan Bones, who had sold herself short in the duelling tournament. He shrugged, and grinned. "Well, to be honest: you're much better duellers than most of them."

He took a deep breath. "But there's two main things I wanted to say to you. Two things I've learned this year myself." He paused slightly before launching into it. "You can't do anything if you're badly injured or stunned. You have to look after your own safety as much as anyone's. I guess some of you might already know this, but sometimes there is nothing you can do, or else you have to wait before you can do anything. Even if someone is being tortured in front of your eyes, sometimes acting quickly ruins the only chance you have to make a difference. Sometimes acting too early means that people are killed. Sometimes acting at all means that you die, or are tortured too. Not instead of; as well as."

He swallowed, not caring that the gesture could be seen, if anything, it would make the point all the stronger. He vividly remembered Voldemort putting Dumbledore under the Cruciatus curse, and knowing he had had to concentrate on getting the casting of the Unforgivable as perfect as possible in order to give him the best chance of killing the Dark Lord.

"Trust me, it hurts, it makes you want to throw up, it makes you want to scream, or yell, or use every spell you can think of, but if you do anything, the only thing you'll succeed at is killing yourself. And deep down, you'll know it. I can't tell you how you'll react if you ever find it happens, but the one thing you have to remember to do, is to keep yourself alive." He found himself looking at the Gryffindors.

"It isn't cowardice." He continued strongly, shaking his head. "In some ways it is being as brave as you can, because everything is telling you to help, even when you can't. It takes guts to tough it out, and not act before your best chance.

"The second thing is just as important." He quietened his voice slightly, trying to somehow ease the burden of what he had to say. "Look, if you fight, you might kill someone. It sounds a bit unreal saying that, I know, but no matter what spells you use, you may end up killing someone. You need to know that. It's not important what spells you cast, even something as simple as the Tarantallegra charm can kill. It might mean they set off a curse someone has set as a trap, it might mean they overbalance off a cliff, or fall into a lake, or a hundred other things. I guess I don't need to tell you that a lot of the spells Aravenne taught us will kill outright if they aren't blocked or shielded, but sometimes all these duels with the Abramites can make you forget.

"It's different to seeing someone else die, it's different to seeing someone else kill someone. I can't tell you what you'll feel like. It will affect you in some way, and until you've actually experienced it, you won't know how. Don't assume that you will be able to carry on as you did before. Your adrenaline might keep you going, or you might freeze completely. The best thing you can do is keep yourself in as safe a position as possible, just in case.

"I guess that's what I want to say: never do anything without caring about your own safety. Anything can happen, and some things you can't prepare for unless you've experienced them first. And if you die while saving someone, then you might have saved them, but you can't help anyone else. If you die, then no matter what, you've failed."

Many of the students looked ill as they left the Thestral driven carriages. How much of it was owing to them being able to see the horses that pulled each one, and how much was down to sheer terror as regards what awaited them, Harry had no idea. A group of sixth and seventh years, along with a few students in the lower years, followed Snape off to one side, where they would be allowed to Apparate home. The DA weren't the only people who were able to apparate, but didn't, but there were only a sprinkling of Gryffindor and Hufflepuffs there who chose that. The lack of Ravenclaws in that number showed what the sensible option was. Some students, like Blaise Zabini, side-along apparated with their brother or sister, but as they would be prevented from returning, if they had more than one sibling, many were forced to journey to London with the rest of the school.

Harry looked down at the cage in his hand, ignoring the Aurors who had the station surrounded. It was empty. Hagrid had promised Harry that he would do everything he could to help Hedwig, but, as of yet, it seemed she was destined to remain almost feral. He would never trust the notes again: just because that last one had been helpful – even been helpful twice – didn't mean that they were going to work against Voldemort.

"She'll be okay, Harry." Ginny said quietly from his side.

Harry inhaled and nodded, and tried to put Hedwig out of his mind for now. "Hope so. Let's go; otherwise no-one will board the train."

The closer the students got to the train, the slower they seemed to get, as if boarding the train was itself a dangerous task. The four of them strode forwards to the closest carriage, soon outstripping the rest, Hermione and Ron levitating the trunks between them. There was absolute quiet, as if much of the student population expected the train to explode as Harry extended his hand to the door. He allowed the other three to enter before him, and refused to look backwards as he followed them in. He had a feeling that if they hadn't made the first move to the train, the teachers would have had to force the students on.

"Now we wait." Ron sighed, settling back on his seat as Neville and Luna entered the compartment.

Neville caught the comment, and Harry could see the nerves playing over his face.

"Want a hand, Nev?" He asked, forcing his voice to casualness.

"Thanks." He said quietly, taking one end of the trunk so that they could lift it up into storage, but still glancing around anxiously.

"I don't get it." Neville said eventually, breaking the silence that they had travelled in for the last half an hour. Harry had wanted to get a conversation going, primarily to take Neville's mind off what was to come – but they could all probably do with it. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything which would actually accomplish it.

"Get what?" Ron prompted, looking away from the window.

"Well, why are we going by the train?" Neville asked nervously. "I mean, like Harry said this morning, isn't it obvious that You-Know-Who is going to attack? Couldn't we have Portkeyed or something? I mean, everyone with Apparition licenses were allowed to Apparate from Hogsmeade, weren't they?"

Harry found himself glancing at the door before answering. He had got into the habit of doing that every so often, ever since he had realised that the images flying past the windows were illusions, in order to prevent anyone aboard the Hogwarts Express from letting Voldemort know where exactly they were. The flip side of that, was that if Death Eaters were somehow on board, the first they would know would be either from screams on the train, or their bursting through the door.

The pause allowed Ron to answer first. "We couldn't Portkey from Hogwarts. If there were any Death Eaters in the castle they might have put charms up to track how they got through the wards at both ends: Hogwarts and where we were going."

"Oh." Neville replied, and paused before continuing. "But surely we could have gone from Hogsmeade, right?"

"Still too big a risk." Harry answered with a shrug; they had debated it all last night, after everyone else had gone to bed. "I mean, Hogsmeade's been nearly abandoned since the last attack: it would be easy for Death Eaters to have the same kind of tracking spells there too. It's fine for people who Apparate, because their wards would recognise them, and let them in without having to do anything, but how many of us could make our own Portkeys? If Dumbledore had made them, he'd have had to put charms on to get them through the wards."

After a short pause, Harry continued. "Anyway, the charms around the Hogwarts Express and Platform Nine and Three Quarters are very powerful, so even if Voldemort knows where we are going, it's not exactly easy for him."

"But You-Know Who got past-"

"Hogwarts is far bigger," Luna said serenely, without looking up from the book she had been reading since she entered the compartment, "it is much easier to make a ward if it's only small. That's why Atlantis sank: they relied too much on the wards around it." She added as an afterthought.

Neville looked at her in surprise, and then at Harry for confirmation. The 'Luna's right' that had been on his lips had fled. He hadn't realised that Atlantis was also a Wizarding myth. If anything he had half expected Atlantis to have been something to do with the Wizarding world that really happened, if slightly differently. Neville's confusion seemed to suggest he wasn't being harsh on Luna, too.

"Ah… Yeah." He said at last. "Anyway, the reason the Hogwarts Express began in the first place was to keep Hogwarts and the students safe from enemies. There are charms on it to prevent tracking by anyone – well, unless they are meant to be going to or from Hogwarts, anyway; charms to prevent Muggles seeing it, like with the Knight Bus; charms to stop people boarding who shouldn't and that sort of thing."

That was about as far as he had read in 'Hogwarts: A History' in six years. Hermione had been keen to name each charm mentioned last night, but one incantation had run into another, and Harry was sure that there would be plenty of spells on the train not mentioned in the book anyway.

Hermione leapt into the discussion happily, to name them all once again, which allowed Harry to allow his mind to wander slightly. Chances were high that Ron or Ginny were doing something similar. Ron gave him a look and rolled his eyes, while Ginny watched the illusions which were flying past the window. She shivered slightly, and Harry wondered what she had thought of to cause it. Merlin knows there were enough things about the oncoming fight that might.

He glanced around the compartment again. They were all – with the exception of Luna – apt to make quick, jerky movements, and start at sudden sounds. His heart went out to the first years in the train, surely expecting a calamity at any moment, and knowing that they hadn't a chance of protecting themselves. It was hard enough for him, and regardless of whatever the Prophecy said, or any of the hype around him, he had fought Death Eaters, and not only survived, but wounded, captured, and even killed some of them. And, of course, he had faced Voldemort and not only lived, but hurt him too.

On the third pass of the compartment, his eyes fell upon his trunk, and he grinned as an idea came to him that might just help take Neville's mind off things.

"Pawn d3 takes c2, check."

When Harry suggested a game, Ron had quickly obliged, and Harry set his chess pieces to a Quidditch side, thinking that as interesting as the pieces' duels with wands could be, using them might negate the effort to push the coming confrontation into the background. It hadn't stopped him remaining alert however, and he was pretty sure Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were also rather more observant than usual.

Harry studied the board for a while, and then shook his head in disgust. "Whatever I do you take my queen, and the most I get is a bishop."

Ron grinned. "And if you do that, I mate you."

Ron had already beaten him once, and he rarely claimed a checkmate he didn't follow through with. Harry stared at the pieces, trying to work out what Ron was threatening next.

He shook his head. "I guess you probably will. Knight takes c2."

Martin Morrison, the Falmouth Falcons Keeper, took Ron's Bludger, ducking out of its way as it flew at him, and then pounding it downwards with his broom, where it made a small crater in the board, and then rolled once, before lying immobile. Morrison took out his wand, waved it, and the crater filled itself in.

"Okay, Bishop takes e3."

"You do realise that this is the only way the Chudley Cannons ever win anything!" Harry said in disgust as his queen (the Seeker) plummeted to the ground dramatically, and belatedly realising that after Ron's next move he'd be in check from too many places to stop it. "Okay! I resign. You've beaten me enough for one day."

The pieces took themselves back to their box, carrying the fallen with them, while Neville shook his head, as he had countless times before, in complete admiration.

"I can't get over the fact you and your brothers actually made this Ron. It's incredible!"

There was a huge grin on his face as he watched Harry's players levitate their injured team-mates into their correct places, and Harry took the opportunity to cast a tense glance at the door once more.

"Yup." Ron said unabashedly.

Harry and Ginny had never found out how much of the actual magic he had done, as opposed to features he had thought up. If Hermione knew she hadn't told them. Although, to be fair to him, the twins wouldn't have agreed to give him any of the profits once they began to roll them out commercially if he hadn't actually been a help in some way. Harry stood up to put the box back in storage while Ron continued.

"Fred and George are selling the Quidditch teams at Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes if you want one. They have Aurors and Death Eaters too, but that's more of a trick one, cos the Death Eaters always lose. The other ones – the ones where the pieces duel with wands – are still really expensive… we haven't figured out an easy way to mass produce them. Although they're still only doing mail order at the moment anyway, just while they rebuild the store."

"I'll ask Gran." Neville said eagerly, still beaming. "She might get it for me on my birthday."

"Well," Ron began, "I could s-"

BANG!

The explosion shook the train, which swayed violently, slamming Harry into the side of the train, where he hit Ginny – who yelped with pain – and rolled off to hit the carriage wall; the chess box flew out of his hands, sending the chess pieces everywhere, and the lights flickered off. Ron swore colourfully, and three balls of light came on as one as Hermione, Neville, and Luna rose from their seats and lit the tips of their wand.

Harry sprang to his feet, feeling the unaccustomed weight of the Graphorn hide vest he had on beneath his Muggle clothes, but ignoring it, and looked around, as Ron and Ginny also stood, wands in a ready position. He felt a stab of pride as he took in the calm and collected DA members, whilst all around them they could hear screams and yells from other compartments, and other students. He felt sure that Neville more than anyone in the DA wouldn't have had such a focused look in his eyes before fifth year. He withdrew his wand quickly, levelling it at the door.

He forced his breathing to slow, and his body to relax slightly, as the speed of his senses, and the beating of his heart were caught up by his cognitive functions. "We wouldn't still be moving if we were in trouble. Whatever Voldemort tried, if he tried anything, it didn't work."

Neville nodded, and sat back down on the edge of his seat, willing to trust Harry's judgement implicitly. The other four people in the carriage exchanged looks with each other and Harry, and then sat more slowly as Harry put his wand away once more.

"Pack." Harry muttered quietly, before retaking his seat. "We're okay for the moment anyway." He added.

The scattered chess pieces once more picked themselves up, and made their way back into the box.

McGonagall's voice sounded above them, attempting to calm the train down, and reassure the students, although even her magnified voice was difficult to make out.

Harry thought quickly. There were three likely possibilities raised by any attempted attack on the Hogwarts Express. Voldemort may have defeated some of the enchantments that Hermione had named earlier, and found whereabouts in the country they were now travelling. The second choice was that someone who had been involved in creating whatever defensive plans had been made to deal with an attack was either a Death Eater, or had been persuaded one way or another to talk. The third possibility, of course, was that either a student or a teacher had pierced the illusions which Ginny was now watching again, and had let Voldemort know where they were. And if any of these hit the nail on the head, the failed attack was only the beginning.

Harry stood up, feeling a little restless, and wanting to get rid of some of the nervous energy he was trying to hide. "I'm just going to have a look around." Ron nodded at him. "Maybe if I see one of the teachers I can find out what just happened and maybe how much longer until we arrive." He paused before opening the door. "If anyone comes in, try and keep them calm, the last thing we need is for everybody to panic throughout the train. If you see any of the DA, get them to do the same too."

As Harry opened the door, sounds of pandemonium blasted through. He gave his friends another nod, and stepped through. Either side of him people were yelling, and trying to push themselves forward towards the Prefects car, which the teachers had commandeered. Two people pushed past him before he had a chance to even see who they were, and the third bodily fell into him, bouncing back.

Harry turned to the first year, and offered him a hand up, shaking his head. The boys lips moved, but Harry couldn't hear a word. Harry shook his head once more in disgust. Until someone could shut this crowd up, the bedlam would continue.

"Quiet!" He roared, as loudly as he could.

Gradually the noise diminished, as the first person heard him, and turned, then, seeing who it was, elbowed the people next to them. It finished in a rush as people suddenly realised that the only screams and yells they could hear came from other carriages.

"Thank you." Harry said, trying to quell any irritation in his voice. He had been surprised just how quickly everyone had, in fact, shut up. The wonder of being a sixth year Harry Potter, as opposed to a first, second, third or fourth, he supposed.

"Look." He began, firmly. "We are in no danger at the moment. The train is still moving: that means that it isn't damaged, and that there aren't any Death Eaters, or Dementors, or any other creature that helps Voldemort anywhere near us." He suddenly noticed that Professor McGonagall's magnified voice had stopped, and looked to his other side, where more quietened people stood shoulder to shoulder in a packed aisle. "I'm sure teachers or prefects will be coming around to make sure everyone is alright soon, that is probably what Professor McGonagall has been trying to say."

He inwardly shook his head, as a few of the students, mainly first to third years, with the occasional fourth, looked rather bewildered, as if they had not even been aware that McGonagall had been saying anything in a magically amplified voice.

"Trust me," He continued, "we're fine for the moment. Go back to your carriages and wait for the teachers." No-one moved. Harry cast around for something to say which might quell the frightened faces. "Do you remember what Professor Aravenne has taught us about dangerous situations?" A few of the faces he scanned nodded, but most had a distinct lack of comprehension. "'The one thing that makes a dangerous situation even more dangerous, is panic.'" Harry paraphrased horribly from a very early class. "Think about it, if everyone is yelling, or screaming, and running around the place, then no-one knows where anyone else is, or where any danger might be, or can do anything to help defend themselves."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a door at the end of the carriage open, and breathed a sigh of relief. Professor McGonagall walked through it.

He caught a look of surprise on her face at the relative quiet, which she quickly disguised, before barking: "I want everyone back to their compartments. All is perfectly safe at the moment. I will explain what is happening to each compartment separately."

There was a collective jump from the students as they heard her voice, and Harry worked hard to prevent a grin, as they looked around, glancing at him once more, and slowly filed away.

"And what exactly had you to say, Mr Potter?" She began, watching him from the doorway she had just walked through.

Harry was slightly surprised at the strict tone in her voice, and shrugged, shaking his head as he moved forwards to meet her. "I just told them that if we were in danger we wouldn't still be moving, and tried to get them to stop panicking. I think I said something like: a teacher would probably be coming round to make sure everyone was fine."

McGonagall's narrowed eyes relaxed slightly as he came to a halt in front of her, and she nodded. "Very well, thank you Potter."

Before she could move on, Harry asked the question. "What did happen, Professor?"

McGonagall studied him, and picked her words carefully. "There was an attempt to… sabotage… the track. The Hogwarts Express' charms defeated it." She saw Harry open his mouth once more, and spoke in a suddenly sharp voice, "Mr Potter, you are well aware that we may be in danger in the coming few hours. You are a senior member of my house, and as such, I expect you to behave impeccably, following any instructions given to you from anybody in a position of authority. Is that clear?"

"The Ministry are going to be there then?" Harry asked immediately, "But how do we know that Voldemort hasn't got spies there?"

McGonagall winced at the sound of Voldemort's name, and closed her eyes briefly as if searching for patience. "I said is that clear, Mr Potter?"

Harry hesitated slightly, and glanced away, at the illusions passing the window beside the area that was meant to be used for baggage, and that yet never was. It still got under his skin that he was expected to mindlessly follow orders when he had such a huge part to play in the war against Voldemort.

"It is Ma'am." He said hastily, as he caught the expression on McGonagall's face as he looked back. "But" he continued immediately, "some of us will want to help, Professor. It's our lives and our friends' lives at risk as much as anyone else's."

"This is why, Mr Potter," McGonagall said slowly, temper barely hidden by the controlled words, and voice rising slightly to allow for a tapping noise which had just started up, "I expect you to follow any orders given to you. I can assure you that the first objective of those of us here to safeguard the safety of Hogwarts' students, is to do just that."

Harry bit his tongue. Everyone would be affected by the prospect of what was to come, not just the students. He should have recognised that immediately he had seen McGonagall tense at the fact the younger years had listened to him. It was too easy to see the Hogwarts Professors as in constant control, because that was how they always had to appear in front of the students. Although he had certainly seen Aravenne lose control once.

The tapping noise began to grow more insistent, into more of a knock, and Harry looked to the side to see where it was coming from. The illusions of fields and trees continued to pass the window, but there was no doubt that the sound was coming from there.

His wand was in his hand before he had even thought.

"Stand back, Potter." McGonagall said quietly. He noticed that she also had her wand out.

She said a few words under her breath, and Harry felt the rise in electricity he had come to associate with strong magic being used. The sound of doors locking boomed out as one voice, causing Harry to start, until a glance at the Gryffindor Head of House showed that she had been the one responsible for it. Either none of the compartments' inhabitants had realised what had happened, or else all sound was also blocked from entering the passageway.

"Stand back, Mr Potter." McGonagall repeated, rather urgently.

Rather than argue, he took a couple of paces backwards, so that his back was nearly against the other side of the train. The illusions dropped, revealing a tall, rocky cliff-face but nothing out of the ordinary.

The knocking sound came again, with no movement to suggest what was making the noise, much louder than before, as though the illusory charms had deadened the sound somehow.

Light shot out from Professor McGonagall's wand, and struck the window pane, ripples of blue playing across the surface, and vanishing as the waves struck the metallic insides of the train itself. A second beam of light, and a third hit the glass, but the knocking sound didn't stop. If anything, it was louder.

"Should… Should I open it, Professor?" Harry asked quietly, fighting the tension in his voice.

"No." His teacher replied slowly, after a slight pause.

"But if it were Voldemort, he'd hardly be knocking, would he?" The words burst out of Harry's mouth before he'd completely made up his mind to say them.

He bit his tongue immediately, and chanced a glance to the side, to see how McGonagall had taken his impertinence. If possible, she had tensed even more, and her facial features were as hard as stone. As her nostrils flared, he began to fear the worst, but she made no reply as the knocking reached an uncomfortably loud level. Instead, after a couple of careful breaths, she shifted her body position slightly, wand held in a tighter grip, and spoke in a quiet voice, which she was obviously making an effort to control.

"Very well. Open it, Potter." Harry took a couple of steps forward, but before he could slide it open, McGonagall stopped him. "From the side."

Harry fiddled with the catch, and forced it upwards, sliding it with his hand, and keeping the rest of his body out of McGonagall's line of fire.

A crumpled up piece of paper flew through the open window, and the knocking abruptly stopped, as if a switch had been pressed. A few seconds later, Harry slammed the window shut with a loud bang.

"Do not touch it!" McGonagall's voice rang out sharply.

Harry said nothing, but merely stared at the piece of paper, feeling slightly sick as he did so.

"There are only five people who should be capable of piercing the spells around this train, Potter, and none of them would have a need to breach them like this. Now, I am going to perform some protective charms before either of us even considers approaching it. Is that understood?"

Harry nodded.

The seconds ticked by agonisingly as Gryffindor's Head of House performed her spells. The nauseating feeling caused by what Harry suspected the paper to be, and what it might say, was joined by a constricting sense of tension, and the feeling of his own pulse beating rhythmically in his chest.

"Very slowly, I want you to bend down, and pick up the note." Harry glanced at the Professor, whose wand remained pointing directly at the ball of crumpled paper, and who nodded slowly.

Harry did so gradually, shooting looks at her as he did. His fingers dug into the crumpled ball, and flattened it out. As he noticed the typewritten letters, he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat.

"Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, "Are you alright?"

To his annoyance, Harry noticed his hand was trembling slightly. It stopped immediately. "It's another one of the notes." He replied quietly.

His aim is the Scrivenings.

"I think I had better take that note, Mr Potter. Albus must see it." McGonagall said gently.

"I'll take it." Harry replied immediately. "If it's another of these notes that have been sent to me-"

"You will not." The words came out sharply, and Professor McGonagall seemed as surprised by it as Harry. She took a deep breath, and spoke more kindly. "If you were to come too close to the carriages the staff are travelling in, you would be marked by the wards. We cannot risk you being impacted by some of the spells there, do you understand?"

Harry knew his confused face would show that he didn't.

Professor McGonagall gave a slight exhalation, and then continued gently, "Some of the spells may affect your reflexes, your balance, and even your cognitive functions. If this happened, you would be disadvantaged in any situation you were forced to duel in. That is too high a risk, do you understand?"

"Oh." Harry said, and paused for a few seconds. He shook his head to clear it, and then nodded and muttered the reply, the nasty feeling in his stomach settling like a lead weight. "Yeah."

So is the writer helping, or not?

"Thank you, Potter." McGonagall said, sounding quite like her normal self. "If Albus wishes to inform you of his thoughts, he will."

Her face contorted in concentration, and Harry felt the electricity in the air for the second time. His ears popped, and suddenly the same illusions were passing the window once more.

"Very well." Harry's Head of House said, "I trust you will remember what I said." She walked back through the door, either forgetting about the students she had promised to inform of the situation, or else willing to delegate that responsibility to another teacher.

"You've been a while." Ron said, as Harry opened the door back to the compartment; it was clear that they were oblivious to whatever had happened, which made Harry suppose that the charm had only been lowered around the area where he and Professor McGonagall had been.

Harry looked at the five enquiring faces, and cursed internally. How exactly could he tell Ron, Hermione, and Ginny what had just happened?

"Um." Harry said, playing for time. "Ah – I was asked to pass a message on to a teacher."

Neville looked confused, and Harry couldn't read the expression on Luna's face, but each of the other three had successfully deciphered what he had said.

"Hogwarts students over here please!" It was a loud, reedy voice, which, thanks to the Sonorus charm, was a little painful on the ears.

Harry glanced around. The man speaking was tall and rather spindly, with a pair of glasses that made him look a little like a confused owl. Behind him was Rufus Scrimgeour himself, along with an entourage of fellow Ministry officials. The Head of Aurors, Arum Parson, was wandering the platform, critically examining the large group of Aurors that had been assigned for the students' safety, and whatever charms had been put in place. There was a spattering of people present with the balaclavas Harry and the others had worn that night they had gone to Hogsmeade with Dumbledore and Snape; other Order members, like Mad-Eye, were so well known as being associates of Dumbledore that they didn't bother with the disguise. As if Mad-Eye could have hidden the wooden leg, anyway.

"Hogwarts students over here please!" The man repeated. "I have an announcement to make regarding the procedures that have been put in place for you to go home safely!"

"Are we going, then?" Neville asked from his side.

Harry wished that Neville and Luna would go, and give him a chance to explain his earlier comment to his three closest friends. Ron, rather surprisingly, was shooting him rather less worried glances than the others, but he couldn't help but feel that the way Hermione and Ginny kept looking at him was screaming out to Neville and Luna that something was going on.

Harry shrugged. "I guess so."

He glanced around again as he slowly led the way to the Ministry employee. Dumbledore, and the four Heads of Houses were making their way towards Scrimgeour, and Harry noticed a lot of the Aurors turning to make respectful gestures to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Scrimgeour seemed to deal with it better than Fudge had however; he didn't appear bothered in the slightest. Most of the Aurors were based around the archway to Muggle King's Cross, but yet a respectful distance away. The wizened old guard who usually made sure that the witches and wizards went through to Muggle London without creating a scene was nowhere to be seen. Harry imagined that there were many Aurors the other side of the magical passageway too. In front of the Aurors however, were two men in casual clothing. One of them, rather short, and bald, was in jeans and a magical jacket which had a sentence moving across it from left to right which Harry couldn't read from that distance. The other man was tall, with tightly cropped flaming red hair, and a dragon hide leather jacket which Harry recognised immediately.

"What's Bill doing here?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"The Board of Governors must be paying Gringotts to put protective wards up." Hermione surmised.

"But I thought Harry said that it was because of Malfoy's dad that the school was closed." Neville said in surprise.

"Well," Harry answered immediately, "all I meant was that Voldemort got someone to push it through. It doesn't mean some of the Board of Governors don't think they're doing the right thing, or don't want to keep us safe. Of course, they probably think that they'd be blamed if anyone else died at Hogwarts."

"If I could have your attention please!" No-one was really talking in anything more than a nervous whisper, but the Ministry employee was obviously just as jumpy as anyone else. "My name is ah-" he coughed, and tried again, "My name is Matthias Brown, and I am the deputy head of the Ministry's Department of Magical Transport. As the Ministry are supremely concerned with the welfare of its youth-"

"Oh get on with it." Harry muttered in irritation; hand closed tightly on his wand, and continuing to glance around.

Many defensive positions had been constructed on the platform, all pointing towards the entrance to Muggle London, and all looking as if they had merely grown from the ground of the platform. They were semi circular in nature, so that whoever was the trainwards side had shelter from both front and sides, and yet anyone the other side would be vulnerable to fire from both the left and right. Harry's sweep of the platform stopped as he noticed the Auror named Dawlish in deep conversation with Arum Parsons about something. Harry was painfully reminded of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had come to Hogwarts with Dawlish when Fudge had attempted to arrest Dumbledore. They would never see Kingsley again.

"-will call out the name of each student to pass through to the Muggle side in each group, starting with the youngest years, and their siblings."

"And where's the protection the other side?" Someone gasped from beside Harry, and he shook his head to clear it. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on people who weren't here. After the fight, yes, but not when Voldemort might attack at any time.

"Surely they're just asking for Voldemort to attack on the other side!" Neville hissed in shock, looking, as always, towards Harry for an answer.

Hermione was looking pale.

It was Ron who answered in a quiet voice. "The Minister's calling You-Know-Who's bluff about attacking in Muggle areas."

"Voldemort doesn't often bluff, Ron." Hermione said in a slightly strangled voice.

"Think about it." Ron reasoned. "If he were to launch an attack of that scale in an area with so many Muggles, then he's basically just told them that Magic exists, which Witches and Wizards have spent the last how many centuries trying to stop. Every Wizarding country would be at risk: he'd have the whole world after him."

"And if Voldemort does attack…" Hermione trailed off, looking pale.

"He won't attack the Muggles, Hermione." Ron said, in a reassuring tone. "You-Know-Who's a maniac, but that would just be thick."

"…Methuselah and Zacharias Smith, Alan, Marie and Alumyna Terry, if you could follow the two Aurors beside me please to the exit." The Ministry employee's voice rose even higher to override the muttering of voices that had begun as the first names were called out, and a group of first years and siblings slowly moved forward to join their escorts.

Zacharias Smith was looking around frantically, as though trying to make sure that Harry knew he had been asked to go, rather than refusing to stay to fight. It surprised Harry slightly, for he had assumed – obviously harshly – that Zacharias would have been more than happy to put himself out of the firing line. He watched him draw his wand, in a slightly trembling hand, and noted that neither of the Aurors, or any other Ministry official moved to stop him. It seemed everyone knew what was coming.

Harry found himself moving his own wand to plain view; it was silly to keep it hidden when he might need it at any time. The action was mirrored, not only by the five people standing with him, but also by most of the rest of the students – and all of the DA. At the back of the group, Susan Bones was reassuring a young second year, and Harry spotted Ernie MacMillan in deep discussion with some of the other Hufflepuff prefects. Dean looked almost frighteningly intense, and he brushed Seamus' hand off his shoulder. Harry felt an unpleasant stab of foreboding.

A nudge from Ginny made him look away. Tonks was walking towards them with an attempt at a serious expression upon her face, but Harry knew her too well by now to miss the irrepressible humour that was trying to make its way to the surface, even in the current climate of nerves. Ginny opened her mouth to greet her, but Tonks pre-empted her.

"Mr Potter?" She began formally. "I'm Auror Tonks. Could you, Miss Granger, and Mr and Miss Weasley come with me please? It will only take a moment or two of your time."

Neville shot Harry a nervous glance, and Harry gave him a slight shrug before answering. "Sure, Auror. Um. Neville, Luna, I guess we'll be back in a bit. Be careful, okay."

"You too, Harry." Neville said quietly.

"Come on Neville," Luna began brightly, "we'll give you time to talk to your friend, Harry."

The five of them shared looks as Luna led Neville away.

"I thought we'd managed that quite well." Tonks said ruefully.

"That's just Luna," Ron said, "no-one has a clue what she's on about most of the time-"

"But sometimes she seems to notice things others don't." Harry interrupted. "What's up, Tonks?"

"I have a message from Dumbledore. He says that there is no need to worry thus far." She looked around. "I take it he must be talking about something other than this however. Fred and George want a word with you four too. They didn't tell me why, and I didn't ask. 'Course, I guess if I had, then I probably shouldn't be telling you to go see them." She grinned. "Come on."

She led them past a couple of Aurors who didn't look at them twice, to where two identically black robed men with blurred features were waiting for them.

"See you later, Tonks." Ginny said, as she turned around.

"Roger. See you in an hour or two when the paperwork's done." Tonks grinned.

"What's up?" Harry asked without preamble.

"Got something for you." George's serious voice replied.

"Here." Fred said quietly, holding out his hand.

In his palm was a small plastic-like black coin. Harry looked at it, and then back at the two blurred faces.

"And that is?" Ron asked.

"This," George resumed, picking up the coin like shape, "is one of our Whispering Wires. To use it, just tap it with your wand, and put it in your ear. It'll automatically fit in properly, and connect to who's listening in to them all at home."

"Only – er – don't use it unless you really have to." Fred told them earnestly. "We're not exactly meant to give them out at all without Dumbledore's permission."

"Yeah, it was a real pain having to find a way around all of our protective charms."

"Sometimes our brilliance surprises even us." Fred said, and Harry could hear the grin in his voice, even if he couldn't see it.

"Besides, Mum is one of the ones doing the listening, so you probably don't want to do it anyway." George told them.

"But look," Fred told Harry, pressing it into his hand, "take it, and good luck."

"And we'll see you later." George added. "We'd better go."

Harry and the others retook their places at the rear of the diminishing group, which had lost all of its first years, half of its second, and all of their siblings.

A clap of thunder split the air, and everyone apart from a couple of Aurors, and both the cursebreakers, looked up reflexively. The man calling out the names of the students stopped mid-name, and, after five seconds of silence, a man appeared in the centre of the platform.

Ignoring the hundreds of wands pointed in his direction, he hurried over to Rufus Scrimgeour, speaking earnestly as soon as the Minister could hear him. Scrimgeour's eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed, before barking curt questions to the messenger. He turned towards Dumbledore and instigated a lightning fast exchange which obviously didn't go the way he wanted it to, for after a furious gesture he withdrew something from his pocket. Dumbledore, however, caught the Minister's arm. Arum Parsons, who had made his way back to the Minister's side when the Messenger had arrived, obviously agreed with Dumbledore, for after a few quick words he, himself, withdrew something from his pocket and disappeared.

"What do you think has happened?" Hermione asked pensively.

"Something serious, anyway." Harry muttered.

"D'you think it's because of whatever that noise was?" Ron asked. "Or something else?"

"Something else, probably." Harry answered, remembering his conversation with Hermione after the Dementor attack. "Voldemort hardly ever does just one thing."

A second rumble split the air.

"Continue!" Scrimgeour's voice echoed sharply, and after a further moment's hesitation, the man directing the students resumed naming names.

The third crashing, booming, noise sounded as a group of third years were going through the gateway between the Magical and Muggle worlds. There was probably not one man, woman, or student who did not jump. One of the Aurors pushed the last student through the gateway, and before they had even turned around, Scrimgeour was shouting 'Next!'

Harry found himself automatically slowing his breathing in order to control his pounding heart. Without realising it, he cast his eyes over the platform once more, subconsciously looking for anything that might suggest something was wrong. At the gateway, the cursebreaker beside Bill was now shaking, and Harry raised his wand to the ready position as he made the connection that whatever the man was doing had suddenly become a lot harder. The last group of third years made their cautious way towards the exit, flanked by the two Aurors.

When the fourth sound of thunder sounded, the whole Platform began to shake, sending student, teacher, and Auror alike to the ground. Yells and scream filled the air, but unintelligibly. Ten seconds later, everything stopped. The shaking subsided. The rolling roars of primal noise abated. Even the panicky voices faded away to nothing. Everyone could have been holding their breath, waiting for what would happen next. The two Aurors with the students by the Archway were the rare exceptions, as they began to bodily push students through it.

Harry watched the students disappear with a kind of morbid fascination. Something was telling him to look away, not to watch, because something awful was about to happen, but at the same time he couldn't not look. Five were left to go through. Four. A fifth year Hufflepuff grabbed his brother, and pulled him through without assistance. An Auror pushed a Slytherin girl, and she disappeared safely.

The Ravenclaw third year who was left slammed into an invisible barrier.

As she crashed into mid-air, the whole of the platform began to shake once more. A loud – CRACK! – split the sounds of the students' screams, and part of the roof separated from itself, and fell, striking an invisible barrier above the heads of Hogwarts' pupils, breaking up into smaller pieces, and then sliding down the protective dome, to come to rest upon the platform. Bright sunshine streamed through the hole, casting a merry light upon the carnage.

The man beside Bill crumpled to the ground, and, simultaneously, Bill came out of his meditative state looking around in confusion. Beside him, the two Aurors who had been escorting the students at last came to life once more. One of them grabbed the rather dazed third year who had completely frozen in shock, unable to even scream. The other reached for the unconscious cursebreaker, simultaneously saying something to Bill.

Harry shook his head, realising he had fallen into the trap of just watching, and not doing.

"Look, maybe we should split up." He suggested quietly. "Each of us take a side, and make sure the rest of the DA are organised, and don't do anything stupid."

"We're not leaving you Harry." Ron said firmly. "Not a chance in hell of that."

Harry hesitated for only a fraction of a second. "Okay," He nodded, catching Hermione as she stumbled, "come on."

The reverberations stopped, and the first loud snaps of apparition began, drowning out Hermione's thanks.

"Students stay where you are!" Scrimgeour bellowed, as the first Death Eaters appeared, all between the archway to King's Cross station, and the Aurors and the students. All between Bill, and the rest of the Order and the Ministry.

Initial curses flew out of the wands, causing a fireworks display of colours as spells hit shields. The Auror hurrying the third year back towards the students was hit in the back, a curse hitting, and piercing, a borrowed shield, and falling on top of the girl as he slumped to the ground. Neither of them moved. The other Auror was hit by green light, hand letting go of the unconscious Gringotts' employee, and crashing to the ground like a boneless pile of jelly.

Harry led the others towards the right hand side of the group of students. Past Terry Boot and Cho Chang, who were busy constructing a ward, and past Lavender, whose wand hand shook slightly as it pointed towards the fight. He paused as they reached Dean and Seamus, and with a quiet word, which neither probably heard, put a hand on Seamus' shoulder. Both Gryffindors swung around, wands raised, and, quite possibly, with curses on their lips.

"Guys." Harry repeated. "Can you two make sure no-one does anything stupid?" He asked slightly edgily.

Dean looked completely thrown, but Seamus nodded in reply.

"You can count on us, Harry."

"I know we can." Harry replied, forcing a small smile, and moving forward again.

The rumbling began once more, stopping them in their tracks. Directly overhead of them came an alarming creaking, and a few seconds later, the roof began to split once more.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron barked, and as a piece of concrete began to fall, the spell caught it in mid-air and lowered it carefully to the ground.

Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he could see Dumbledore muttering quietly, and continuously, in an effort to counter either the earthquake like spell, or the apparition that was still continuing. The Death Eaters who had led the initial wave had by now either been disabled, or else had found a measure of cover. As one, curses shot out from them towards the ceiling, just as the rumbling stopped.

The ceiling fell. Purely on instinct, Harry had already half turned back towards his friends, bellowing the incantation, and half way through the wand movement.

"Protego Corporis!"

Harry slammed forwards towards the ground, agony shooting through his temples, hands only half breaking the fall, and his glasses sliding off, and breaking as his face met concrete. He desperately tried to hang on to the thread of concentration linking him to the shield. When blackness hit, it was as sudden as the blowing out of a candle.

"Harry." The voice was insistent. "Harry. Harry, wake up!"

"Give him a second, Gin." A voice Harry distantly recognised as Ron's, spoke a little foggily, sounding like Uncle Vernon's favourite radio station as it faded in and out as they went through tunnels in his company car. "Reducto!"

As Harry's mind recognised the spell, the situation flooded back to him. He sat, forcing himself upright by his hands, and promptly lurched to the side as his head swam. He scrunched up his eyes against the pain, vaguely realising he was missing his glasses. As he opened them once more, figures morphed in to each other, and he shook his head, blinking repeatedly. A hand reached out and steadied him, the other hand handing him his repaired glasses.

"Thanks." He muttered, scrambling to his feet with the aid of Ginny's arm. "What the hell happened?"

As he took his wand from Ginny's hand, he noticed the huge mix of concrete and iron beside them which was shielding him from most of the ongoing fight. He winced again, trying to ignore the throbbing in his head.

"Effringo." Hermione said calmly.

Harry glanced up to see people in Death Eater robes and masks standing on top of the roof, staring down onto the platform below. Hermione's spell had just dissolved an incoming curse from one of them. He pushed himself back against the wreckage, and the cover it gave.

"The roof collapsed." Ron told him succinctly, ducking behind the piece of roof himself.

"Yeah I gathered. But my shield worked, right?"

"Well, yeah, but to tell you the truth, there's a huge dome around us which the roof slid off, and then bounced past us. It just kind of nicked your shield on the way down. It wasn't actually going to hit us."

"Urgh." Harry said, shaking his head once more. "You could have left me with the illusion that my headache had actually accomplished something."

Ron gave him a quick grin, and then peeked out of cover once more. "Farcio!"

Harry looked around again, trying to take in exactly where everyone was. The students had huddled together into a tighter group, and around its edges stood the DA members, firing curses up towards the roof. Dean, Seamus, and Neville in particular were still quite close to them, hurling vicious curse after vicious curse towards the men and women in robes above them.

Between Harry and the Death Eaters who had first apparated into Platform Nine and Three Quarters were Dumbledore and a number of teachers and Aurors. Behind them was the slumping body of Bill. Harry glanced quickly at Ron and Ginny, and could read the extra tension on their faces, as if they were open books. Whatever had happened, Bill was in trouble.

He ducked out from cover and levelled his wand. "Falxiardor."

His target – a hooded shape on top of the roof – merely ducked out of the way.

"We're too far to actually do anything," Ginny shrugged, "but we figured it would at least give them something else to think about."

Harry nodded, wincing once more. The platform was littered with casualties from both sides lying motionless on the floor, and pieces of fallen ceiling spread about the place, but only the Aurors and Order members had been hit by the debris. The demolition of the roof had felled a number of fighters, especially on the right hand side of the platform – co-incidentally, the area Harry and the others were nearest to. Harry ducked back behind cover once more.

A whining sound – almost imperceptible – started up, gradually getting louder and louder. If it weren't for the fact Harry's head was aching, he might not even have noticed it. Another stolen look showed Dumbledore – elegantly dancing around curse after curse – suddenly set his feet, and gesture towards the sky with his wand. The whining noise increased, piercing Harry's aching temples, and forcing him to push himself against the rubble, and screw up his eyes. A flash of blue lit up the air, visible even through his closed eyelids. When he opened them once more, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were all rubbing theirs from a position on their backs on the ground.

Shaking his head yet again, he popped it out once more, wand pointing upwards, incantation on his lips, but stopped himself. A vaguely cyan, near transparent, barrier had filled the hole in the roof. Everyone on the platform – apart from Dumbledore and Harry himself – looked to have been flung either to the ground, or the top of the roof, where a number of Death Eaters were motionless. As Harry watched, the first Death Eaters above began to respond, and cast spells towards the blue barrier, which did not give an inch.

Back on the ground, Rufus Scrimgeour and an Auror were arguing violently. Scrimgeour angrily shrugged off a hand, and cast a spell at a Death Eater near Bill who was struggling to rise. The spell hit him, and surrounded the Death Eater in a green shell of a prison, which constricted until the Death Eater fell to the ground unconscious. Scrimgeour ducked an incoming spell, and then aimed at another target, but the Auror's hand took hold of his arm once more, and they both disappeared.

"Dean!" Harry heard Ginny's gasp, withdrew his head back into cover, and saw what she had seen. "What are they doing!"

Dean and Seamus were half running, half crouching alongside the Hogwarts Express, safe only because of the ring of Aurors surrounding them which meant no Death Eaters were in a position to target them with spells.

"It's not Dean and Seamus." Ron said, in a hushed voice. "It's Neville. Why the hell is-?"

Harry followed his gaze, not listening to Ron finish his sentence. Neville, who was now just in front of the Hogwarts Express' engine, had just entered one of the empty semicircular defensive structures just behind the fighting Aurors, presumably placed there for Aurors to retreat to if necessary. As Harry watched, he stood up fully, ignoring cover, and began firing spells towards the masked shapes. Harry followed the direction of the spells, and cursed as everything made sense.

The maskless face of Bellatrix Lestrange was directing the Death Eaters.

"C'mon." He said shortly, glancing around the debris providing such good cover, to make sure no Death Eaters were looking their way.

"Where?" Ron asked, warily, as if he knew exactly where Harry meant, and didn't agree with it. "Not to Neville! Dean and Seamus can handle it."

"Not unless they stun him." Harry replied shortly. "Well I'm going."

He sprinted directly towards the Hogwarts Express, or rather, towards the defensive cover the Aurors had made that was in the same direction. He ducked as he entered, and turned, raising his wand back towards the others. It didn't appear he had attracted any attention whatsoever, apart from some of the students still huddled to his left, so he beckoned Ron, Hermione, and Ginny towards him. After an exchange of glances, Ginny followed.

"Why is Neville-?" She began, and Harry interrupted with the answer.

"Lestrange is there. You know what she did to his parents. If he's gone that far to cast spells at her, he'll get closer."

He chanced a glance at Ginny, who swallowed, and nodded.

Dean and Seamus had just joined Neville, and Seamus pulled him down roughly out of view. But without either of them knowing why Neville was doing what he was, Harry doubted they'd be able to talk any sense into him. He doubted he'd be able to either, but at least he had more of a chance.

"Harry – I don't think-" Hermione was speaking even before she settled herself into cover.

"It's Lestrange!" Harry interrupted again, trying not to get angry. "Look, we get to Neville, we stop him, we get back here, okay?"

Harry glanced sideways again. For the moment Seamus and Dean were keeping Neville out of sight, but Neville was struggling fiercely.

"Come with me Ginny, two at a time." He set himself to run, glanced to check that Ginny was ready, and then sprinted towards the next structure.

As Harry slid behind the next piece of cover, only ten yards to the side of his fellow Gryffindor sixth years now, he glanced back out into the fight going on in front of them. The Aurors were putting up a good fight, and on the other side of the battlefield, they looked to be getting the upper hand. Unfortunately, they were quickly losing ground on their side. While the Aurors directly alongside Dean, Seamus, and Neville were holding fast, a big bite had been taken out of the semi circle, and Aurors were quickly retreating back towards the Hogwarts Express. If he couldn't get his three classmates out of there, they would soon be exchanging curses with Death Eaters that vastly outnumbered them.

"Duck!" Ginny yelled abruptly.

Harry did so, and a curse shot over his head. He glanced back towards Ron and Hermione, who were just about to set off.

"Thanks."

"They weren't aiming at us, they just missed an Auror." Ginny reassured him.

Harry looked back towards Neville, and swore. As he watched, Neville squirmed out of Dean's grip, pushed him into Seamus, causing both to fall to the ground, and sprung sideways into the open, raising his wand towards Bellatrix in the distance.

"Mutucutus!" Harry bellowed, and his shield was immediately called into effect as it blocked a spell heading towards Neville. He glanced at Ginny. "Can you try to shield me from spells?"

"Where a-"

But Harry had already set off, ducking out of the way of another stray spell as he left the shelter. A second spell hit his shield in front of Neville, and although the spell didn't get through to Neville, it destroyed the shield. Neville didn't seem to notice. Harry glanced to his side, and flung himself forward to avoid a curse.

As Harry pushed himself up with his hands to begin running again, a curse hit Neville, pushing itself through a shield belonging to either Dean or Seamus, and striking Neville on the middle of his torso. He crumpled to the ground.

"Bullatueor!" Harry cried, pushing himself forwards, and scrambling to Neville's side.

Spells hit Harry's shield, but none made an impact, and he quickly cast a second one: "Sæptus."

He looked down at Neville, whose chest was barely contracting and expanding, but was doing so none the less – albeit slowly. He glanced to the side, where Dean and Seamus were shooting spells towards those who were attacking him.

"Need a hand!" He yelled, grasping one of Neville's arms, in order to pull him to safety.

"Got him, Harry." Ron's voice came from behind him, panting slightly.

The red head grabbed Neville's other arm, and they pulled as one, dragging him the scant distance to where Dean and Seamus were casting spell after spell – going for quantity rather than accuracy.

"How is he?" Dean shouted.

"No idea. He's still breathing." Harry panted back. "Can you guys take him back?"

"And you?" Seamus asked.

"We'll be right behind you." Ron told him firmly, as if daring Harry to disagree.

As it happened, Harry agreed with him wholeheartedly. Apart from anything else, if they were here, then the Aurors in front and to the side wouldn't be able to retreat.

"Staying here would be suicide." He told them.

"Is he okay?" Ginny asked nervously, ducking in to join them, and it became even more crowded as Hermione followed.

Harry inwardly cursed. "He's alive and not bleeding, but we aren't healers. I've no idea what to do to see if he's okay. Look, Dean, Seamus, carry him back to everyone else, we'll shield you until you're out of range, and then we'll follow. Okay?"

They nodded. Harry turned, and raised his wand towards the Death Eaters – not risking an offensive spell in case it drew attention.

"Two of you watch them, the other keep guard with me." He said, in what sounded a surprisingly calm voice, even to him.

The seconds ticked by, and Harry didn't dare take his eyes off the battle in front of him, as one of the Death Eaters slumped to the ground, to be caught by a second curse which tied him up as he fell, while an Auror was sent flying out of cover, and stared at Harry for a second, before forcing herself to her feet, and crouching back in her position. She turned back as she got out of the line of fire, and waved for them to retreat. Harry nodded – he hadn't wanted to be there in the first place. One of the Death Eaters was sent flying by a curse, down onto the train tracks themselves, where he twitched as he landed, and another curse struck an Auror, who slumped to the ground, blood oozing through his robes.

"When they're safe, then sa-"

BOOM!

Harry's sentence died on his lips, and he twisted to the side, in the direction of the sound. Pieces of debris hammered a shield just before it could strike any of the four of them. An explosion had not only thrown the Aurors yards away from the position they had been firing curses from, but also demolished the structure that they had been behind. As the smoke and dust disappeared, and Harry heard Ginny slump to the ground, panting from exhaustion, curses shot out towards the bloody, battered men and women who had been tossed like rag dolls. They didn't move.

Harry and Ron swore as one.

"Okay, let's hold them off." Harry yelled. "Don't let them get any closer, the further they are away, the easier it will be to shield their spells."

He raised his wand, and aimed at the closest of the four Death Eaters: "Stupefy!"

"Imperio!" Someone else's voice rang out at the same moment as Harry's.

Not waiting to see whether he had hit or missed, Harry ducked, scuttling sideways into cover, and twisting to see who had cast the spell. It was the Death Eater who had been flung onto the train tracks, now standing on the edge of the platform. Harry raised his wand.

A gravelly voice chuckled slightly disconcertingly from behind the mask. "I wouldn't."

Harry hesitated fractionally, and before he knew it, Ginny pushed herself to her feet, and moved to stand in front of him, facing the Death Eater, with her back to the rest of the fight behind them, and making herself a target both to them, and to others if the Aurors ten yards to their right were to fall.

"Ginny! What are y-" He stopped, putting two and two together. The Imperius curse.

"Gin-" Ron began, twisting his head.

"Don't stop! Shield everything!" Harry said desperately.

"Protego." The gravelly voice said with a twisted sound of amusement.

A curse shot over Harry's head, and bounced off a shield which appeared just in time to protect Ginny's back.

"What the-?" Harry burst out in confusion as Ginny took a couple of steps towards the Death Eater.

"Oh, I've got plans for your little friend, Potter, don't worry."

Ginny turned around slowly, and raised her wand, pointing it directly at Harry's heart.

"Impedimenta!" Harry cried, aiming around Ginny at the Death Eater, who sidestepped.

"People who try to kill you seem to have bad things happen to them, so let's see what happens if it's one of your friends, shall we?" The Death Eater chuckled again.

"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Petrificus Totalus!"

Harry's spells bounced off the Death Eater's shield, not reaching Ginny's unnervingly motionless body. His mind froze – he couldn't think of anything he could do that wouldn't risk hurting Ginny.

All he could do was talk.

"Ginny." He said, looking her squarely in the eyes. "I know you can hear me. You can fight him. There's a voice in your mind telling you to do things."

The man continued to gloat, revelling in the moment. "The Dark Lord promises that whatever protection you have will be gone by the end of tonight, but think how I will gain his favour when I kill you with it still there."

Harry ignored him, glad for the extra time. "Ask yourself if listening to it is what you want to do. Because you don't want to do this. I know you don't, Ginny. Look at me."

"Enough! Kill him, child!"

"Falx-" Ginny's voice was weak, and didn't finish.

"You can do it, Ginny! Fight him!"

"Imperio!" The Death Eater shouted again, worry creeping into his voice.

Her pupils moved slightly, and her eyes screwed up just a fraction.

"You can do it, Ginny…" Harry breathed again. "Fight him."

Her head twitched slightly, and two things happened in quick succession: she turned towards the Death Eater, and three voices rang out as one.

"Falxia!"

"Quassossis!"

"Sæptus!"

Harry's shield stopped the bone shattering curse from hitting Ginny. Ginny's scything curse hit the Death Eater across the neck. He slumped to the ground soundlessly.

Ginny staggered slightly, taking half a step backwards, and then stopping, staring at the body.

"Harry, our right!" Ron shouted.

"Ginny!" Harry said urgently, and then yelled. "GINNY! Get back to cover!"

He twisted to the side, to see the Aurors motionless on the ground, Death Eaters advancing, and behind them, in the open, the mask-less woman in Death Eaters robes moving towards them, as if she was not bothered about the possible threat of Auror spells, knowing they were too busy with others of Voldemort's minions.

Bellatrix Lestrange's lips wrapped lovingly around the curse. "Pulmelido!"

"Effringo!" Harry bellowed, spell bulleting towards Lestrange's.

They met in mid-air, Bellatrix's spell burrowing into Harry's dispersing charm, turning into a paler yellow, and shrinking, but emerging the other side, destroying Harry's spell, and continuing towards its target. It struck Ginny, who fell to her knees.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry bellowed, springing to his feet, and aiming directly at Lestrange's chest.

She threw herself to the side, and the curse flew on to crash against the far wall, removing a large chunk of it as it hit. Before she had got to her feet again, Harry was kneeling beside Ginny, who was struggling for air.

"Come on Ginny. Please…" He moaned.

She coughed, and spat out blood, but the wheezing sound of inhalation that followed was arguably as sweet a sound as Harry had every heard. With every ounce of mental strength he could muster, he forced himself to look away from the crouching form of Ginny, and turn to face Lestrange. Her painful gasps echoed in his ears as he sprung upright in order to stand erect between Ginny and the woman who had killed Sirius.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione's voice rang out over the sounds of fighting.

A curse sprung from Lestrange's wand, and Harry cast a large bell shield which absorbed it. She shouted something, and the Death Eaters between them looked back, before moving towards the Aurors and Order members, and away from Harry and the others, leaving the path between Lestrange and Harry clear. Harry walked forwards calmly, without taking his eyes off her.

"Help Ginny." He ordered Hermione in a steady, raised voice.

Lestrange stood stationary and motioned with her hand, inviting Harry to walk forwards further to a duelling distance. He did so, walking past the defensive structure that the fallen Aurors had been behind, and the Death Eaters had just vacated, in order to face her in the open. It was better than allowing her to try to kill Ginny again.

She cocked her head ever so slightly, smirking. "I heard ickle Hawwy was pwacticing his Unfawgiwables. Dumbledore must be so pwoud."

Stupefy!

Harry's wordless spell was deflected by the still sneering Bellatrix Lestrange.

"What's da matter?" She continued in the sing-song voice she had used a year ago. "Don't feel like twying a Cwucio?"

"You think I won't?" Harry answered coldly. "I told you I'd avenge Sirius. Well, I will."

Falxia. Reducto.

The first spell must have taken the woman by surprise, for it pierced her hastily erected shield, although it just caught her on the arm, and no signs of blood were immediately evident. The shield absorbed Harry's second spell.

She glanced behind Harry for a second, and he resisted the urge to turn and check how Ron, Hermione and Ginny were, but rather returned his wand to the ready position, wondering how best to catch Lestrange off guard, and open the way for a deadly curse.

"But I have some catching up to do, Potter." She snarled, abruptly changing her manner of speech. "You killed my husband and my brother-in-law. How about we even up the scores, by getting rid of one of your friends, shall we?"

"You won't get a chance." Harry spat, glaring at her murderously.

Her spells came quickly, and wordlessly. Harry's shield absorbed the first easily, but he was physically pushed back a step as the second struck, and, rather than risking the third, he jumped sideways, missing it by inches.

"Farcio! Stupefy!" Quassossis.

He added the third spell nonverbally, but Bellatrix was not caught out, casting a separate shield after her 'Protego!' had deflected his first two spells, which clanged noisily as it started to split, but still held.

They held each other's gaze for a few moments, Harry refusing to look in the least bit cowed.

"I'm still waiting to see if you can cast a working Unforgivable, Potter."

"I hope the suspense kills you," Harry ground out between his teeth, refusing to let anything she said affect him, or to give credence to any of her glances over his shoulder, "if not, then I will."

He was not afraid of Bellatrix Lestrange. He despised her, he knew she was ruthless, unscrupulous, and had more magical knowledge than he did, not to mention more experience fighting, but he knew he could beat her. He knew he could kill her. Blood was now appearing on the sleeve covering the arm Harry had struck at the start of the fight, and it gave Harry a slight feeling of grim satisfaction.

"I heard you've got a taste for killing." It sounded as if Lestrange was going for an airy tone, but her voice was too cold to get the desired effect. "Do you keep count? You do? Don't worry, I used to, you know, but it soon becomes impossible to keep track. How many are you at so far? Apart from my family, of course." Her voice warped into hatred once more as she spoke the last sentence, and added just one more word.

"Crucio!"

"Farcio!" Harry snarled, a moment later.

Lestrange's Unforgivable struck him square on the chest, and he collapsed to the ground, a scream on his lips, when it stopped abruptly. Harry's spell had sent her flying backwards into the wall, disrupting the curse.

He pushed himself to his feet once more, wincing, and breathing heavily. As short a time as the curse had been applied, and despite his vest, it still hurt like hell. Lestrange stumbled forwards, back towards Harry, falling to her knees from the impact against the concrete. She pointed her wand at herself, and then also found her feet. She strode forward angrily.

"Falxiardor."

Bellatrix's shield absorbed the spell, and she returned a riposte of her own, which Harry adroitly avoided.

"I notice you haven't tried to kill me with an Unforgivable yet either. Scared?"

"Before the end of the night, the Dark Lord will have destroyed whatever protection you have Potter, and I will present you to him to kill, the moment he has done so. But I'll kill one of your friends first, of course. We have to make our tallies even, after all. Of course, your killing spree will also end tonight." She smiled nastily. "How many is that again? You never answered my question."

"Four," Harry said through his teeth, "I've killed four. Although I didn't kill Rabastan Lestrange, so you can leave my friends out of it."

"Don't lie, Potter. I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't approve."

"But he isn't lying." A voice said from the side, causing both combatants to swivel their heads. "I killed him."

Aravenne was standing on the edge of the platform, empty train tracks running behind and below him, his left hand pointing his wand firmly in Bellatrix Lestrange's direction.

Neither Harry nor Bellatrix spoke for a moment, and Aravenne continued calmly. "Harry, get back to safety."

"I'm not letting her escape." Harry replied angrily.

"I've no intention of letting her leave this place alive, Harry, now go. Your friends need you."

Harry finally gave into temptation, and glanced around. Hermione and Ron were back where he had left them, fighting three Death Eaters, defensive spells looking dangerously weak.

"Go!" Aravenne repeated.

Harry backed away a pace or two. If his friends needed his help, then he would leave Bellatrix to Aravenne. As Aravenne launched into an attack, Harry turned, suddenly aware of just how in the open he was if anyone were to attack him as he left the fight. He slipped into the defensive position he had passed as he had approached her, trying to avoid the dead Aurors – who lay there, eyes open, and blood pooling around them – ducking into the cover and sneaking a glance backwards. His gaze lingered slightly as he saw a spell of Aravenne's breach a shield, and its target convulse in pain, and then returned back towards his friends.

Without further hesitation, he raised his wand, and aimed it carefully at one of the Death Eaters attacking Ron and Hermione, concentrating intently. Falxiardor!

His target never saw the spell coming; the curse scythed through some kind of shield, and struck them. A woman's voice shrieked in pain, and then fell silent, collapsing to the ground, flames licking the body.

Five. The uncomfortable number floated to the surface with a stab of fear, which he stamped on immediately. He was not Bellatrix. He didn't enjoy killing, or go out of his way to do so. He slipped back into cover, and out of sight.

"Stupefy." Ron's voice was difficult to make out over the sounds of fighting, but Harry could still just about do it.

He looked over the lip of the stone structure once more, in time to see the last Death Eater raise his wand in his direction as he was spotted, and then be struck by another stunning spell from Ron. After a quick glance to check that there were no more Death Eaters nearby, he returned his attention to Lestrange and Aravenne. They were both getting to their feet, and Bellatrix, Harry was pleased to see, had a pronounced limp.

"Who are you?" Harry could just about hear the wariness in Lestrange's voice; obviously Aravenne was a very good duellist, but Harry didn't find the confirmation much of a surprise.

"Don't you recognise me?" Aravenne asked, possibly mockingly, Harry couldn't tell from the distance.

"Thanks mate." Ron said in his ear. "Ginny's having trouble breathing, but Hermione says she'll be okay. C'mon, let's get her back to the others – I think Dumbledore and the Ministry are winning."

Harry had jumped slightly when Ron approached; he had been so intent on the confrontation in front of them. They exchanged spells once more, the circle of green fire Lestrange surrounded Aravenne with spluttering into nothingness.

"We can't," He told Ron quietly, "Aravenne would have no-one to help him. They could surround him."

Ron didn't reply immediately, and Harry turned to look at him. He had gone as white as Nearly Headless Nick.

"What?" He hissed urgently.

Ron raised a shaking finger. "Y- Y- You-Know-Wh –Who."

Harry followed his digit. Walking slowly, but purposefully towards the two combatants from behind Lestrange was Voldemort.

"Voldemort." Harry stated in horrified acknowledgement.

"I can't bloody say it, Harry, okay?" Ron said in a mixture of anger and anguish.

Harry shook his head slightly in confusion. "Get back to Hermione and Ginny. Quickly. Don't let any Death Eaters see you."

"Come with me. You can't face him now."

"I'll go when you're in safety, we can't both run away, letting him curse our backs."

"If you don't, I'm coming back." Ron said in a shaking voice, still looking pale.

"Go!" Harry barked, and a moment later he heard Ron leave.

"Why should I recognise you?" Lestrange's out of breath voice asked in the distance.

"You killed my brother." Aravenne said in a clear, furious voice. "Avada Kedavra!"

The Death Eater threw herself aside, away from the curse, and it sailed past. Aravenne froze as he saw the Dark Lord behind her, and stared at him in what Harry imagined was probably horror. Voldemort stopped dead as their eyes met. Aravenne managed to wrench his head away, and to the side.

"You don't recognise your cousin, Bella?" Voldemort's voice was as clear, and dead of positive emotion as Harry could remember. Somehow he knew that Voldemort was as angry as Harry had seen him.

In contrast, Bellatrix's face split into a wide, warped grin as she heard her master's voice.

"Should I, my Lord?" She asked, in a voice both ingratiating and confident at the same time.

"Yes, Bella," Voldemort said, striding to take up a position beside her, his voice dangerous, "your husband swore to me that he was dead. Rodolphus is lucky he is no longer with us. You shall have to take some of his punishment for him."

"M- My Lord!" Lestrange stammered.

"Go, take over from Lucius, and you had better hope that you please me or your nights will be particularly long and painful."

Aravenne finally moved for the first time since he had seen Voldemort appear. He took a step backwards, back towards the railway track.

Lestrange's mouth opened, but she shut it immediately, and hastily reached into her robes, and disappeared. Portkeys obviously worked again.

The intensity in Voldemort's voice was frightening, as he spoke again. "So, Regulus, you are alive."

Regulus? Regulus Black? Sirius' brother? But he was dead!

Harry glanced behind, Ron was looking anxiously towards him, and as he beckoned to Harry to come, Hermione popped up a frantic head. Behind them and to the side, Aurors were approaching, as was Dumbledore, forcing an ever decreasing amount of Death Eaters to retreat, none of them having seen the students, but some of them heading directly towards his crouching friends. Harry nodded to his friends and pointed behind them, before he turned back towards Voldemort, torn. Aravenne had frozen. If Harry retreated now, he, Ron, Hermione, and hopefully Ginny, would all be okay, but Aravenne would be dead, if he stayed his friends would be in even more danger.

Voldemort raised his wand.

Make that if I don't act now, Aravenne's dead. Regulus?

The robes on Aravenne's right arm split open, and a bandage fell away, revealing the flesh underneath, but Harry was too far away to see anything.

"Where is it?" Voldemort snarled. "What did you do?"

Aravenne didn't answer.

Harry had to act. He had to stop Voldemort. But how could he stop him, get himself and his friends to safety, and stop him getting hold of the Scrivenings? His own words echoed back to him:

"…but sometimes there is nothing you can do…"

"Scared that some people will want to get rid of theirs too, if they find out how, V-V- Voldemort?" Aravenne had found his voice, but Harry could tell by its half heartedness that it was the last courage of a man who knew he was about to die.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's wand hand trembled as it rose to point towards Voldemort.

Think! Harry told himself. There's always another way. Always! Save Aravenne. Escape. Find the Scrivenings. Think!

A weight settled over his neck, as a pendant appeared.

"If you are going to fight me, then at least look me in the eyes, Black, or does your bravery not stretch that far?" Voldemort said, goading.

Harry made up his mind, seeing some of the retreating Death Eaters beginning to close in on their master and Aravenne, and got to his feet. If he waited any longer, then he definitely couldn't do anything.

"Falxiardor!" He yelled as loudly as he could.

Voldemort turned towards him, batted away the curse, and then locked eyes with Harry for a moment. Harry turned, leapfrogged the barrier the other side, and sprinted at a slight angle towards his friends a short distance away. Behind them, a retreating Death Eater had turned and seen him. More turned, and Harry knew their wands would soon be raised.

"Take that man and leave!" Voldemort shouted behind Harry, who didn't look back. "I want to question him."

Halfway there, a spell whizzed over his right shoulder, and Hermione gasped.

Not even considering turning, he yelled at Ron and Hermione. "Grab Ginny, and then grab me. Hold on tight. Trust me!"

He rounded the barrier and slid behind it, turning to look over the lip at the approaching Voldemort. He raised his wand, but had to duck to avoid a green curse. A hand gripped his arm tightly, and another his leg, and Harry exhaled, steeling himself.

"Got Ginny?"

"YES!" Ron shouted back, as a spell shot over their heads from the other direction.

He looked over the lip again to see the advancing Voldemort level his wand once more. Harry raised his towards the pendant hanging around his neck with a phoenix emblazoned upon it.

As he tapped it, he spoke a single word: "Fawkes."