Harry and Sirius stood back to back, each casting an endless stream of fire out of their wands which killed every acromantula they touched. But even so the acromantulas kept coming. Harry realized that his earlier estimates that there were only hundreds or thousands of them had been way off, there were in fact tens of thousands of acromantulas. Closer to the castle Hagrid was attempting to convince Aragog to turn away, but with no success. Eventually the massive acromantula had attacked its former owner and now Hagrid was forced to fight back. Harry even thought he had seen Hagrid crying about the situation while he fought his former pet.

On the other side of the castle Professor Flitwick, Daniel Greengrass, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were at the top of the castle walls firing on the inferii below. The undead corpses had made it to the walls and were alternately trying to break through them and climb over them. Part of their plan was to hold back the majority of their forces until they could attack Voldemort and his Death Eaters in one massive attack. Mad Eye Moody and Professor Dumbledore watched the ongoing skirmishes from the window of Dumbledore's office and discussed when to send in more people.

"Hagrid needs help." Dumbledore said. "Send someone now."

"Right!" Moody agreed. "Tonks! Get down their and give Hagrid a hand."

"Aye, aye, captain." Tonks replied with a mocking salute. "Wish me luck." Secretly she was quite nervous about the battle, but she wasn't going to back out now. Not when so much was on the line. She hurried through the now empty hallways and out a side door that led to a parapet overlooking the ongoing battle with the acromantulas. Harry, she saw, had somehow created a magical golem made entirely of fire which was smashing its way through the giant spiders. It was an incredible piece of magic, she thought, and one she wasn't even close to being capable of. That thought made her smile, perhaps their chances were better than she had thought. Hagrid meanwhile was still struggling against the largest acromantula.

"Reducto!" Tonks yelled. The spell streaked from her wand and struck Aragog in one of his eight massive legs, breaking it off at the joint. The spider roared in pain before turning to face her, and once it found its target ran towards the castle and began attempting to climb the wall. Fully stretched out Aragog could almost reach Tonks' position and pull itself up, but it had ignored Hagrid in doing so and now the half giant was right behind Aragog holding an enormous club. With one powerful swipe Aragog's two back legs were knocked out from under it causing the magical spider to crash to the ground.

"Conjucto!" Tonks said. The Conjuctivitis curse hit Aragog in a couple of its eight eyes, causing them to swell painfully. But that did not seem to slow the acromantula down very much. Back on the ground Hagrid continued to pound Aragog with his club and was caught off guard when it powerfully kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. The other acromantulas, seeing that Hagrid was vulnerable rushed to attack him while he was still down. Tonks tried to pick them off before they could get to Hagrid but she couldn't stop all of them. Three of the creatures had crawled on Hagrid before he could get up and were viciously biting and clawing at him.

Luckily for Hagrid, Harry's fire golem picked that moment to attack Aragog. The magical figure was strong enough to wrestle Aragog to the ground, burning the acromantula where ever it touched. Aragog's children heard their parent's screams and quickly dropped what they were doing to come to help. Each acromantula that attacked the golem caught fire and died, but they kept attacking. Hagrid was finally able to make it back to his feet and check his wounds. He had been bitten numerous times but was certain he would be alright, acromantula venom did not effect half-giants as it did normal wizards.

Harry and Sirius, now free to focus on Aragog, began firing spell after spell at the giant beast. Despite its thick, magic resistant exoskeleton not even Aragog could withstand this attack and soon the great creature was dead. Its children, enraged by Aragog's death spread out and began attacking anyone and anything in sight. While Harry and the others battled the acromantulas a few of them managed to make it over the walls and into the castle. Harry decided not to follow them, there were after all plenty of people in the castle capable of dealing with them.

Meanwhile the other group was having trouble keeping the inferii at bay. There were so many of them and so much of the castle to cover that it was nearly impossible for three people to guard it all. They all hoped that Dumbledore would send more people to help and were quite surprised when help finally did show up, but not in the form of Aurors or other members of the Order of the Phoenix. Instead the Weasley twins ran onto the castle wall carrying bags over their shoulders. They looked over the wall and actually looked happy with what they saw.

"What are you two doing here?" Shacklebolt yelled between spells. "Get back in the castle!"

"Sorry sir, but I thought you might like some help." George replied.

"What my genius brother is trying to say is that we might have something you can use." Fred explained.

"Sorry boys but canary creams and skiving snackboxes aren't going to help us here." Professor Flitwick replied. "Incendio!"

"You hear that, Fred?" George asked in an amazed tone. "Professor Flitwick actually knows our products. Always nice to meet a fan."

"Right-o George." Fred agreed. "But I think we're going to have to show him what we've done."

George nodded and they both reached into their bag and pulled out matching glass orbs. Inside the small spheres orange and clear liquid seemed to swirl around but never actually mix. Together they counted to three and hurled the orbs over the wall. When they hit the ground they exploded and covered everything within a fifteen foot radius in burning oil that the inferii tried but were unable to put out or rub off. Professor Flitwick stopped to watch in amazement as the Weasley twins threw another pair of the devices over the wall and into the crowd of inferii.

"We call them magical hand grenades!" George explained proudly. "Although that's really not the catchiest name we've ever come up with. We may have to change it."

"I told you I like Weasley's Balls of Fire!" Fred argued. "You'll come around. I know it!"

"Well done boys!" Professor Flitwick shouted. "Keep them coming!"

With the Weasley twins help they were able to keep the inferii off the walls and away from the castle. The battle so far had been a draw, but neither side had brought the bulk of their forces on to the battlefield. From the top of the castle Professor Dumbledore and Mad Eye Moody watched with small smiles on their faces. The addition of the Weasley twins and their wonderful inventions had been an unexpected surprise, but the results were certainly favorable. Dumbledore correctly assumed their participation was somehow due to Harry. He wondered what other surprised Harry might have in store for them.


Less than a mile away Lord Voldemort had assembled an enormous group of dark wizards who were waiting for their instructions. Of them, the foreign wizards were not truely loyal to him but were under the mistaken impression that supporting him here would be good for their own pureblood rebellions across the rest of Europe. They were fools, and would die in large numbers for their idiocy. But, if things went according to plan, they would take with them a large number of teachers, members of the Order of the Phoenix, and any Aurors that may be at the castle. All he really needed was time, and with their sacrifice he would have it. His Death Eaters had been warned to let their foreign counterparts handle the more dangerous parts of the battle, but he knew they too were itching to join in the fighting.

"My friends." Voldemort began. "Today will be a day that history will remember as the one in which the purebloods of Europe finally took back what was rightfully theirs. For too long our world has been polluted by mudbloods and other filth. They have even worked their way into our governments and set out to convince our society that they belong, but we know better. Britain will be but the first of many nations to overthrow their muggle loving rulers. Together we will retake our world, one nation at a time."

The assembled dark wizards cheered in response. Voldemort could not help but enjoy the fact that they were cheering for their own deaths. Oh yes, he planned on crushing other nations after he solidified his control over Great Britain, but it would not be for their benefit. Eventually they would realize this and he would be forced to destroy them as well.

"Make no mistake, Hogwarts is at all times well guarded. But without Albus Dumbledore the castle is more vulnerable than it has ever been." Voldemort continued. "Kill anyone who opposes you, however we do request that you refrain from slaughtering too many children. With Hogwarts in our possession the Ministry or Magic will fall within hours. By this time tomorrow our victory will be complete. You have all received your orders and know what to do. The attack begins... NOW!"

They cheered again before breaking off in to the pre-assigned groups. Each group had a different section of the castle it was tasked with taking, but he suspected that getting through the castle walls would be much easier than anyone suspected. That was because his spy, Severus Snape, would be opening the front door for them. And in the chaos he would be free to perform the ritual that would forever make him the most powerful wizard in the world.

Within minutes the groups began making their way to the castle. However one fact they were not aware of was that Albus Dumbledore was completely healthy and knew they were coming. From the window of his office he saw movement in the distance which he recognized as Lord Voldemort's main attack. It was almost time for his own forces to show themselves.

"Attention everyone!" Dumbledore announced. "Move into position. The time to fight is here."


Harry, Hagrid, Tonks, and Sirius had finally managed to kill every acromantula in sight and had been able to do so without any major harm coming to them. Even so it was obvious to Harry that the effort had tired the others much more than it had him. He supposed it was because his brutal training over the past few months had prepared him for this.

"What now, Harry?" Tonks asked, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"We move to the main entrance." Harry said. "And we wait for Voldemort to show up."

Together the four of them began the walk to the front entrance of Hogwarts, the one that they knew Voldemort expected Snape to open for them. When Hogwarts was built the four founders knew that it one day might come under attack and designed it to be able to repel one. One such feature was the ability of the Headmaster to magically seal all doors. No one was sure what it would take to open the doors once they were sealed and not even Voldemort wanted to have to find out. Snape, however, had been able to convince him that in his declining health Professor Dumbledore had put him in charge of the castle's defenses. A very fortunate event, or so Voldemort believed.

Harry and his friends stood in front of the door and waited. In the distance they could hear large groups of people getting closer and closer to the castle. Voldemort's forces were making no effort to be quiet or hide their numbers, in fact they believed that the size of there group would intimidate Hogwarts defenders and perhaps even cause them to flee. Soon Harry could not just hear them, but see them as well. There were, as expected, well over a hundred dark wizards in groups of about ten headed towards the castle with the bulk of them headed right towards them. The sight made even him feel nervous and he knew that his companions weren't feeling much better about it.

"Just hold still guys, you know the plan." Harry commanded. The others murmured their agreement and continued to watch their enemy's approach. Harry continued to scan the horizon until he saw a figure gliding above the others. Even from this distance there was no mistaking, Lord Voldemort was leading his army to Hogwarts. The Dark Lord had no need of a broom to achieve flight, a fact that he used to awe his enemies and supporters alike. As they neared the castle Voldemort's men did not attack but instead stopped and waited for their master to give them the signal to begin.

"Harry Potter, somehow I knew you'd be here." Voldemort said as he landed at the front of his army, nearest to Harry and the others. "And you brought with you not one, not two, but three others to help you. A worthless witch, a man who has truthfully never been the same after spending a decade in Azkaban, and a half-giant who was a poor wizard even before he got kicked out school. Really, I thought you could do better than this Harry."

"We could settle this one on one then." Harry offered. "It's going to come down to you versus me anyway, we both know it. Why not just skip to the end?"

"Because it's the journey that matters, Potter." Voldemort retorted. "Besides, you shouldn't be in such a rush to die."

"You won't get past me, Riddle." Harry promised. "None of you are going to get inside the castle."

"Ah, I can see why you might think that." Voldemort replied. "But I think I know something you don't. OPEN THE DOORS!"

On his command, the main entrance door opened and Severus Snape walked outside. What Voldemort wasn't aware of was that Harry expected this as well. Snape stepped past Harry and the others who did nothing to get in his way, but simply watched as the scene played out in front of them.

"Well done, Severus." Voldemort said. "Now, I believe you were saying that we would never make it inside weren't you Potter? Snape is, and always has been, loyal to me. You and Dumbledore were such fools to trust him."

"Actually Tom, you are the one who was mistaken." Professor Dumbledore announced as he walked out of the door and stood next to Snape and the others. Dumbledore was followed by dozens of Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. Meanwhile the rest of their forces made their way onto the castle walls where they would be able to control the higher ground and strike from above.

"TRAITOR!" Voldemort roared angrily. "No matter, you will all die today. I still hold the advantage. And I have my own surprises bring to the party."

There was a loud shriek in the distance as he finished the statement, one that seemed to surprise everyone but Voldemort. People on both sides began to look around for its source. Harry heard Hagrid mutter "Uh oh..." after the noise which was definitely never a good sign. Then people began pointing up in the air. Harry looked as well and saw three large dragons flying towards the castle. Voldemort, after seeing how Harry won the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, realized that he could use his own Parseltongue abilities to convince dragons to do his bidding. All three of the dragons headed towards Hogwarts believed that their children were being held inside the castle when in fact they had been stolen by Voldemort so he could attempt to train them. As a result they were all very angry and willing to do whatever it took to break through the castle and recover their young.

"And... BEGIN." Voldemort laughed. At his signal his wizards began firing at the castle's defenders who responded with their own volley of spells. The scene quickly descended into chaos. Wizarding battles were almost never fought this way, and for good reason. It was simply impossible to be aware of what every opponent was doing and even the best wizards were vulnerable to an unseen attack. Harry and Dumbledore were forced to rally their troops and remind them of the plan and thankfully their efforts works. Within moments the Aurors and Order of the Phoenix were able to conjure a long stone wall that would protect them from most spells fired at their bodies. Their allies on top of the wall, meanwhile, were able to continue their attacks even when the Death Eaters copied the idea.

After a few half hearted attacks Voldemort left the battlefield flanked by a group of his best Death Eaters. Their destination was the Quidditch pitch, a nice clear area close enough for the ritual to work but far enough away that they would hopefully not be disturbed. Seeing this, Harry smiled, Voldemort had picked the spot they expected him to. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, his presence was still needed on the battlefield.

"Harry!" Dumbledore shouted. "You have to take charge here. I will attempt to deal with the dragons."

"Get Hermione!" Harry advised. "I bet there is something she can do to help."

"A good suggestion." Dumbledore nodded. "Good luck, Harry."

Harry nodded and watched as Dumbledore apparated away, something that only the Headmaster of the school was capable of. When he was gone Harry turned back towards the fight which had somehow descended into trench warfare. This needed to end soon, he knew, so that he could stop Voldemort from beginning the ritual. Harry hoped an idea would come to him, but decided to fire everything he had at the enemy while he thought about it.


Lucius Malfoy had quietly slipped away from the battle shortly after it began and hopped on a broom he brought with him. Assuming his son listened to the instructions contained in the letter he had sent this morning, Draco should be waiting for him in the astronomy tower. There was some chance he would be spotted, Lucius knew, and to combat that he first flew away from the castle and then very high into the air. His goal was come at the astronomy tower from above instead of flying horizontally towards it.

Draco, as commanded, was indeed waiting in the astronomy tower. From this vantage point he could see almost all of the fighting going on below him. Even so it was not clear which side held the advantage this early into the battle. He did, however, know who he hoped would win and how he would help that to happen.

As he descended on his target Lucius's glance strayed towards the ongoing battle. So far the ones dying on both sides were those foolish enough not to take cover and let themselves be caught in a vulnerable position. They, he thought, deserved to die for their idiocy. With his focus elsewhere, Lucius never saw where the spell that hit his broom came from. The spell, whatever it had been, completely disabled the broom he was riding and sent him into a free fall. Luckily he was close to the astronomy tower and therefore the impact when he hit it did not kill him, but he did bounce off the roof and fell past where Draco was waiting for him.

Draco saw his father fall right in front of him and ran towards the edge of the tower to see where his fall had ended and if he was still ok. He saw that somehow Lucius had managed to catch himself on a ledge and was now hanging on to a pole for dear life. Looking up, Lucius sighed in relief when he saw his son's head appear above him.

"Draco!" Lucius called. "Help me. I'm hurt and I dropped my wand in the fall. Throw down a rope or something."

"I can't believe you survived that!" Draco said, clearly shocked at what he had just seen.

"You can be surprised later." Lucius answered angrily. "Just help me up!"

"That's not going to happen." Draco replied. "You see, I was the one who shot you down."

"What?" Lucius said, thinking he must have misheard what his son said.

"I've thought about this a lot recently." Draco explained. "And I've come to the conclusion that you have to die."

"How dare you!" Lucius screamed. "I knew it was you that told Potter where Greengrass was being held. Even if you kill me the Dark Lord will crush you for what you've done!"

"I admit it, that was me too." Draco agreed. "But you're wrong on one thing: Harry Potter is going to defeat the Dark Lord. I know, I didn't want to admit it at first either. But I've seen for myself how powerful he's become. It's just a matter of time before he brings You-Know-Who down."

"So you're not just a traitor, you're insane as well." Lucius replied. "Potter stands no chance."

"We'll see." Draco said. "You, of all people, should understand why this happening. What did you spend my entire life teaching me? What lesson did you drill into my head over and over since the day I was born? It's this: a Malfoy bows to no one. But that's not true, now is it? You grovel at your master's feet like a house elf. He brands you like cattle and you thank him for it. No father, I will never allow that to happen to me."

"So instead of serving the Dark Lord you'll bow down to a half-blood who doesn't even like you?" Lucius laughed. "I thought I raised you to be smarter than that."

"I will never be Potter's servant, nor will I ever have to bow to him." Draco disagreed. "He considers me an ally, not a slave. And by helping rescue Daphne I began to build alliances with both him and the Greengrass family. And make no mistake, that will be very important once Potter beats the Dark Lord. And that's where you come in. If you live through this war and remain head of the Malfoy family the victors will take everything from us as punishment for what you did. But, on the other hand, if you're dead and the new head of the Malfoy family just happens to be a friend of the savior of the wizarding world... well then, I would imagine that no one will hold the family responsible for your actions."

Lucius looked up at his son in shock. It was impossible for him to argue with the logic of Draco's plan, although it did rely on the assumption that Harry Potter could defeat Lord Voldemort. Lucius, of course, did not believe that would ever happen.

"They'll never accept you, Draco." Lucius warned. "Not even after all this."

"You know I couldn't help but notice how attractive Astoria Greengrass is." Draco commented. "Can you imagine what people would say if Potter stayed with Daphne and I ended up with Astoria? Potter and I, brothers! Have you ever heard anything so unlikely? Well, that's just an idle thought for now."

"Your plans will crumble around you." Lucius predicted. "The filth you have chosen to ally yourself with will never trust you. They will turn on you and destroy you the first chance they get!"

"They're not filth, father. They're my friends." Draco replied with a smile. "Reducto!"

Draco's spell hit the pole his father had been hanging on to and that entire section of roof seemed to disappear in cloud of dust and splinters. Lucius Malfoy screamed as he fell the entire way to the ground. The screams ended abruptly when he smashed into the ground seconds later. Draco watched him fall and when he saw the impact knew his father was dead. With his mission accomplished, Draco walked out of the astronomy tower and headed back to the Slytherin dorms to wait for the end of the battle with the rest of the students.


Far too much time was passing, Harry knew, and although they were making progress it was not coming fast enough. He needed to do something that would change the tide of the battle once and for all. Finally the idea he had been waiting for came to him. It would be dangerous, but worth it if it worked.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, trying to catch the attention of those around him. "Don't fire in anywhere in front of where I am now!"

The others looked confused but nodded anyway and slowly changed where they were shooting their spells. Harry silently cast the invisibility spell Dumbledore had taught him on the very first day of their training together on himself, took one last deep breath, and jumped over the wall. He knew that he couldn't use a shield spell or it would give away his location, and even though there shouldn't be any spells heading towards him from the rear the Death Eaters were still shooting spells in his direction. His only option was to dodge the spells as the came his way, but with so many wizards fighting at the same time that was a very difficult prospect.

Harry began his sprint to the other side and at first was able to quite easily avoid the spells coming at him, but as he neared the other side the amount of time he had to recognize that a spell had been fired and to react to it continued to get shorter and shorter. He was forced to rely more and more on his ability to sense magical presences around him that he had worked on with Professor Shacklebolt for so long. By the time he was only a few feet from the other side Harry was reacting to spells almost before they even left their caster's wand by jumping and diving and ducking everything that came his way. At last he reached the wall constructed by the dark wizards and leapt over it and through an empty gap between to wizards he didn't recognize. Harry kept going to position himself behind them and at last was ready.

Deadly blasts of magic began streaming out of his wand as Harry cast as quickly as he could. A dozen wizards had been hit before the rest even realized they were under attack. In a moment all focus had turned towards Harry who was now visible, having ended the invisibility spell so he could launch his attack. Dozens of spells began flying his way and Harry was forced to begin defending himself with a variety of powerful shield and conjured barriers, but the move provided just the distraction the castle's defenders needed to press their own attack. The dark wizards found themselves trapped in the middle of two attacks and in a panic they began abandoning their positions and trying to flee the battlefield. The Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix gave chase, not wanting to give them the chance to regroup and launch a counter attack.

The scene was once again chaotic, but Harry knew that the tide of the battle had changed and the side of light now was winning. But it had taken far too long, he knew, and there was no telling how lose Voldemort was to starting the ritual. Harry towards the Quidditch pitch as fast as he could but as he neared it found something he was not expecting: Voldemort had erected some type of magical dome around himself to prevent anyone from interfering. Harry fired off some of his most powerful spells at it and while it did appear to weaken somewhat it did not break. It would take time to bring down the barrier, Harry realized, time he did not have to waste.

Inside the barrier saw Harry's attempts to reach him and laughed, the potion he was working on was almost done and after that there was nothing Harry could do to stop him. Only a few more steps were needed and then he could begin the ritual that would grant him greater power and anything the world had ever seen before.

Harry continued to blast the barrier with all of his strength but worried it wasn't falling fast enough. Then cracks began to appear in the magical shield and Harry knew he was close to breaking through. But Voldemort was just as close to finishing the potion. He had read the journal enough to know that Voldemort had very few steps left to complete.

Voldemort was shocked at how much damage Harry had been able to do to his barrier. In truth he didn't believe anyone but him could single-handedly destroy it in less than a half hour or so, and yet here again was the Boy-Who-Lived surprising him. Voldemort sneered at his enemy as he lifted his hand over the cauldron and took the ceremonial knife into the other. Potter's strength wasn't enough, with this addition the potion would be complete and he could begin the ritual. Voldemort sliced his palm open and blood began to drip into the cauldron. As it hit the potion the liquid began to turn red, bubble over the edges, and shoot sparks into the air. The potion then began shooting out of the cauldron like a fountain, causing Voldemort to smile in triumph. It was done, now it was time for the ritual to begin.

Harry screamed in horror when he saw the fountain of blood red liquid appear, knowing just as well as Voldemort that the point of no return had been reached. With one last massive blast Harry attacked the barrier with all his strength and this time it finally shattered and fell. With the last obstacle out of his way Harry ran towards Voldemort and sent a blasting curse at the cauldron, hoping he was in time to disrupt the ritual before it could start. But the spell seemed to just bounce harmlessly off of the cauldron and Harry saw that the potion had begun to spin like some sort of liquid tornado.

Voldemort's evil laugh could be heard by everyone in Hogwarts and all who heard it knew it could not be a good sign.

"NO!" Harry screamed, but it was no use. He was too late. Voldemort had begun the ritual and now only he could stop it.


Author's Note: I've known what Draco was going to do for a while, and even now I can't decide whether I think he is good or evil. Somewhere in the middle perhaps. What do you guys think?