Hermione, Neville and Daphne walked through the crowd. Students and others looked at them alike. In the last three hours since they had seen her on the horizon they had told everyone the truth. The fact that McGonagall, Pomona and Flitwick were there backing the three made others understand the situation better.
The first three years and the children, women and old people who were unable to fight had been secured inside the chamber which Daphne had opened. She then used her own magic to further fortify the wards around the chamber.
On the horizon the black clouds darkened as they approached the castle. With wands in hands everyone stood in solidarity. They were the last line of defense. They knew that. They knew that they were the only ones who were still alive because she had let them. As humiliating as that was in its own they knew it was their last chance to stand and fight this. If they died they died. There was no going back from this.
Those who had their families 'secured' inside the chambers had reasons to fight. The others had lost everything and had nothing to lose for so they weren't bound to anything they needed to protect. So they felt a bit better that they could fight without worrying about others.
Luna was inside the room of requirement, a special room ranted to her by the soul of Hogwarts that allowed her the solidarity to stay in continuous contact with everyone within the wards of the castle. It did put some strain on her mind but she could bear that much if others were putting their lives on the line. "The rune sensors that we placed inside the forbidden forest estimates at least hundred thousand people in her army," she said telepathically to Hermione, Daphne, Neville and everyone.
"That seems a lot less than what she actually has," Daphne commented.
"That's because we are incinerating everyone who is crossing the limits we drew," Krillin's voice came through. "Vegeta's having the time of his life."
Hermione nearly chuckled at that when she heard Krillin's laugh. It was soon followed by Vegeta shouting angrily at him as he shut up immediately and cut the mental conversation. "They will buy us some time," Hermione told the faculties. As per Piccolo's request Luna had not connected them to others but only Harry, Daphne and Neville. Suddenly Luna's voice came through. It sounded like a whimper. "Luna, what happened?"
"The…the trees are gone," Luna said crying.
"That was unexpected!" they heard Yamcha's voice.
"Whoa! That was close!" Tien said.
"What is going on out there?" Daphne asked through the link.
"The ground sank," Piccolo said. "It crumbled from under us like a sinkhole and now more are coming."
"They are under us!" Luna said suddenly. "Everywhere!"
Everyone heard her as they looked around. Many were scared while many were confused when suddenly they felt the rumble. "I see it!" a man shouted pointing finger towards an open are in the school ground. Everyone saw as the ground formed a crack. It was very fine but then suddenly it expanded and crack open like a chasm. The grass turned grey as it decayed with the ground expanding. Everyone started stepping back as the crack formed between them and the castle. Those who were near the castle now felt a huge gap between themselves and the others. Hermione and others were on the other side of the gap – the side away from the castle.
"Get ready," Daphne said as she rose in the air. People watched in amazement as Hermione and Neville followed her, their wands pointed at the chasm that now emanated a low howling sound.
"They are here!" Luna's voice rang inside everyone's head as like a flood a huge number of zombified army erupted from inside the chasm and charged at them. A scream followed as people started running everywhere.
The faculties stood their guard as Hermione, Neville and Daphne started firing spells. In less than thirty seconds over ten thousand zombified army of Tenille had covered the school grounds and everyone had scattered. Cries and shouts were heard as they started targeting people. Some tried to fight back but they were no match for these zombies' speed and agility. Normal and piercing spells didn't work on them because they were all already dead. Bone breaking spells tend to have little effect but it did stop them if the spell was targeted on their joints. Some saw Daphne doing that so they, too, started doing that. Soon everyone knew what to do and they started taking down the zombies. Some even used fire and freezing spells. The fire worked as it incinerated them completely while the freezing spell slowed them down. Some people were also seen using the killing curse but in vain as the killing curse couldn't kill the dead. That meant the other two unforgivables wouldn't work either.
Neville used the slicing curse taking out a huge number of those zombies as they were closing in on a group of people. "Bone breaking, slicing and incineration!" he shouted. "Remember that they are dead! You might also see people you once knew but never forget that they no longer recognize you! What's in front of you is her army. She killed them and now she's sending their corpses to kill you. Don't let emotion cloud your judgment and decision! TAKE THEM DOWN!"
Everyone cried valiantly as it was seen when they started using fire, slicing and bone breaking charms. McGonagall was taking on twenty at a time. Even in that age she was a force to be reckoned with. Flitwick was with a group of his Ravenclaw students who were working in great unison to battle off the forces. Pomona had her plans – dangerous and deadly plans which she had brought with herself. Neville was by her side helping her while taking down armies of zombies himself.
Fred and George were using some of their pranking products to distract the zombies while other Gryffindors working with them took them down. Almost everyone was showing great teamwork but they all knew this was just the start. On the horizon an even bigger army awaited. An army at least a hundred times bigger than what they were fighting right now and they had already suffered a great blow.
"You know this is futile – fighting these creatures!" Dean said to Hermione. "Do you have any plans? You are the brightest one after all!"
"I am trying, Dean," Hermione said as she blew apart ten zombies in front of her and then followed with the next ten as they kept coming like endless rain.
"Also, how can you fly?" Dean asked next. "Is it something that comes with being the heir of the founders?"
"Training!" Hermione replied. "Live through this and you might learn that as well!"
"That would be awesome," Dean said. "Carrying a broom everywhere is a pain in the ass even though you can shrink them."
Hermione stopped for a moment as she realized something. "Luna, are you there?"
"I am," Luna said.
"I have something I think would help us greatly," she said.
Conjured bridges were constructed over the chasm so that people could pass it and provide help on the other side. As time passed more people died and even though each one of them destroyed at least fifty of the zombies there wasn't an end to their number. As they fought through the flood of the zombies some of them noticed that some students and some villagers were standing still. What was going on?
"Why aren't they fighting?" Neville asked.
"She has a plan," Daphne said looking towards Hermione who had a faint smile as she held onto the bridge which she had constructed. A group of people and students crossed the chasm using the bridge after which she created a barrier so that they could enter the castle. The others didn't know what was going on but seeing Hermione in action they covered those people she was shielding from the zombies.
"You have a plan?" Daphne asked as she floated beside her.
"We need eyes," she replied. "And there they are."
Daphne and everyone looked as one after another people and students who had gone inside the castle came out riding brooms. They were rickety and on the brink of breaking apart but they would have to do with them.
"Spread out! Target and protect others!" Hermione said through her mental link to those who now rode the brooms. "Use your imaginations, your ideas and take down as many of her army as you can. Protecting others is your priority and so is scouting!"
They spread out taking their spots in the sky as they looked around, firing spells on the zombies and the results showed after some time. With help from the sky the people fighting on the ground felt more confident and motivated. They now had someone guiding them through this horde as they started taking down more zombies than before with far less damage on their side than before.
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"There seems to be no end of them," Tien said as he breathed hard.
"You should conserve your powers, Tien," Piccolo said. "They are, from what I think, just the first wave of her army. From what I've seen this is just the start. She has a lot more dangerous creatures in her armies. These zombies are just pawns, blood to spare and take down the number on the opposite side."
"You think it will be enough?" Yamcha said who already had lost his hand once. As he swallowed the senzu bean the bleeding stopped and his wounds vanished but his blasted hand didn't grow back. That made sense. He had lost a limb already. "Where's Vegeta?"
"Don't know don't care," Tien said as he formed further copies of himself and spread over the forest firing his tri-beam from the sky. They were targeting the much stronger enemy armies right now as it seemed that all the zombies were apparently underground. Since they didn't know where exactly underground they had focused on other creatures.
Piccolo was more worried about the black cloud that was approaching them from the distance. He knew that cloud was a cloud of dementors and knew what affect they would have on them and on others. He wondered how many of them could take that blow. He wondered more about Vegeta. The saiyan prince definitely had seen a great deal of bad things in his life than others.
"What's bugging me more is that she hasn't showed up yet," Piccolo said.
"That Tenille girl you mentioned?" Krillin asked. "She's the one behind all of this, right?" Piccolo nodded when he realized something.
"Where is your wife?" he asked.
"Um, yeah, right there," Krillin said as he spotted 18 floating and firing off energy beans on a small group of mountain trolls. "What do you need from her?"
"Something very important," Piccolo said as he flew towards her. She might be the key to this – the dementors. If he understood her making she would be the perfect one against the dementors.
Krillin saw as Piccolo seemingly had a very deep and important conversation with his wife. He also saw them looking towards the huge dark cloud approaching them from time to time. What was he discussing with her? Once Piccolo was apparently done Krillin saw 18 flying high up towards the cloud. She approached it carefully as Piccolo kept looking at her. Krillin flew towards Piccolo.
"Hey, where's she going?" he asked.
"I have a theory," Piccolo said. "I just want to test it. If it works we will have a huge chance of winning it, maybe."
Krillin saw as 18 stopped a little far from the dark clouds when it dispersed and started surrounding her.
"What is that?" Krillin asked as he prepared to fly towards her when Piccolo stopped him.
"Don't," Piccolo said grabbing Krillin from the back. "Just wait and watch."
Krillin stopped as he looked from him to his wife. She was completely surrounded by the cloud and now Krillin could see that it wasn't a cloud but seemingly flying shadowy creatures. Suddenly a flash of light happened and those surrounding 18 were blasted into oblivion. She kept floating there for some time as she dusted off her clothes. She looked at Piccolo raising her thumb towards him. Piccolo nodded.
"What was that?" Yamcha asked.
"Creatures by the name of dementors," Piccolo said. "They feed off of one's bad memories and when you come near them you start reliving your worst nightmares. They also have the ability to suck your soul so unless you want that it would be wise to keep a distance from them."
"But…But if that's the case then why didn't they affect 18?" Yamcha asked.
"Because she isn't human," Krillin said understanding. "She doesn't have memories like us but digital data. Also she doesn't have a soul so the dementors can't affect her."
"As for them…" Piccolo said as he looked down. Everyone else followed his gaze and saw a horde of pale men running towards the castle. It was hard to miss their red eyes, pale skin and longer than normal canine teeth.
"Are those…?" Tien said as he looked at the horde.
"Vampires," Piccolo said. "Their weakness is sunlight. Since the dementors are covering the sky completely these vampires can run freely." He then looked at Tien who had already figured out what he needed to do as he recalled his copies for maximum effect.
"Alright, here goes," Tien said as he focused. Everyone else backed away as they recognized the move. "Solar flare!" he screamed as the entire sky reverberated with the bright light. The vampires stood no chance as those who had come forward were immediately burnt away. Since the attack focused and projected concentrated sunlight Tien knew it would work. The cries of the vampires fell on deaf ears as the Z warriors had more important things to focus on.
"And that's it," Piccolo said. "We can deal with the vampires and the dementors from a distance but for the remaining we will have to depend on close combat. Be wary of your surrounding and stay connected through the telepathic link. Can you fight, Yamcha?"
"I can," Yamcha said with a serious face. It was humiliating enough he had taken a blow but he was here to help save lives and not be a hindrance. Taking out a senzu bean he chewed and swallowed it before using some ki to burn his dismembered area to stop the bleeding. He only had one hand now but that would be enough, as he thought.
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He had curbed down his ki to the minimum, so low that he would merely appear as a normal human if someone tried to sense his ki. It was also because of this that he hadn't been found out by Piccolo and the others. The humiliation he felt that day was raging and he hadn't been himself since that day. Ever since he had come on this planet there were people and beings who were constantly surpassing him. He had been made a laughing stock – the proud saiyan prince was a laughing stock!
His movement stopped when he felt her behind him. Turning on his heels he wasn't in a hurry as he looked at the hooded figure staring back at him. She removed the hood, looked at him with those black infinite eyes. There was nothing in those eyes, nothing but infinite end. He could feel her presence all around himself and knew if things came close to fighting he wouldn't be able to stand against her. He had had a good taste of her power back on Mount Paozou.
"You are alone," she said with a smile. "Rather daring of you to take that move."
"Fight me," Vegeta said through gritted teeth as his voice shook. The determination on his face said otherwise. She smiled even more. He curled his palm into a tight fist and gritted his teeth even more. "Fight me. I want you to fight me. I want you to fight the prince of all saiyans and learn the lesson who is actually more powerful."
"Haven't you learned your lesson?" she asked calmly as she floated towards him and land gracefully on the ground, looking down at him. She was taller than he had imagined. How could he have missed that? Then he realized that she was taller than before. He looked down. No, her feet were on the ground. Then how come she had gained such an increase in her height? He decided to let go of that thought as he remembered he was facing a 'magical' being. It made sense to try and not make sense of anything he saw in this world of magic because it would only play with his mind in a not so entertaining manner.
He took his stance, crouched down a little with both his hands forward like the paws of a tiger ready to jump on its prey.
The entire forest radiated with the bright golden light followed by a strong gust of wind as Vegeta powered up to his strongest form – the ascended super saiyan. The smirk came on his face as he looked at her. "This time I won't hold back like before," he said as he charged at her.
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"Did you feel that?" Daphne asked.
"We did," Neville answered as they looked at the forest which still radiated from the golden light at its center.
"I think it is safe to assume that she is there," Daphne said. "The only problem is we can't even fathom enough to face her. So knowing her location helps us in no way."
"Did you also see the bright explosion in the sky?" Neville asked. "I was looking at it and saw it as best as I could. Piccolo and others might've a way to destroy those dementors."
That grabbed Daphne and Hermione's attention who then immediately contacted Piccolo through their telepathic link. Piccolo answered although it appeared as if his breathing was hard and labored. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Piccolo was currently taking on an army of mountain trolls. Amazingly enough their skins were rather hard to penetrate and so was their resistance to physical blows. The Z warriors were having some difficulty in facing those giant mountain trolls and they hadn't even begin taking down the giants. The hell hounds were all dealt with though and Piccolo made sure to tell Hermione that. He also gave her an estimation of how much of her army was still left and it looked like they had hardly made a dent in that category.
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"What is Vegeta doing?" Yamcha asked as he dodged another blow from the troll, jumped high up in the air, landed on its shoulder and fired off an energy blast straight into its mouth making the troll implode. It was nasty but they had realized that destroying these creatures was their best shot.
"Trying to redeem his lost pride," Piccolo said. He wondered if Vegeta could actually pull this off. He had trained enough in these years so as to ascend just like Gohan and Piccolo had felt it long ago. Vegeta had started training as soon as Gohan had defeated Cell. It had taken him a mere month's time to catch up with Gohan's power level. But he hadn't stopped there. He trained and trained. He had even trained two more times in the hyperbolic time chamber all alone by himself and when he had come out Piccolo and Dende could feel it.
Vegeta had apparently surpassed the strengths of an ascended super saiyan. Piccolo didn't know who else to compare his powers with because there was no one stronger than Vegeta on the planet and probably in the whole universe at the moment so he let it be. He had checked Vegeta's feelings and emotions and his only focus was to surpass Goku and Gohan. Since Goku had died it no longer served to Vegeta's purpose so he had kept training. However he now put a bit less effort than before probably because he knew he'd have surpassed Goku if he was still alive.
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The entire forest shook with the explosions from Vegeta's energy blasts and punches as she dodged and moved swiftly amongst the trees avoiding each of his attack with ease. The smile never left her face though as she looked at him and his smirk-filled face. "You sure got me there," she said. "I made a mistake not to get a hold of your true power, Vegeta."
"I didn't think you were worthy enough to witness the real me," he replied. "But now I see that I was wrong and that mistake was eating me alive so here I am." He blasted towards her and hit her with a punch. She caught it mid-way making Vegeta stop in his path as he tried to push her with every fiber in his body. No, she was strong, much stronger than he had anticipated. But the fact that even this much wasn't enough made Vegeta worry a little. What was her limit? What was her true power? From what he had experienced he knew that whatever power she had shown him that day on Mount Paozou wasn't her real power. Yes, it was a considerable amount of power that he had felt from her that day but it wasn't her true power. No, she was much stronger.
He stopped, flew back and made some distance between himself and her as he thought of something that would help him. He had seen Piccolo and others had figured out ways to defeat two of her largest armies – the vampires and dementors and she did look a bit worried about that but even then she had a lot more in her army to easy stomp down that castle. Now he didn't have anything to do with saving those who were in that castle but if she wasn't stopped here then she would come for others and that meant coming after his Bulma and Trunks. He couldn't have that. So much for a proud prince of a proud warrior race if he couldn't even save his own family from her. No, he needed to be careful around her.
"You don't thinking?" she asked.
He smiled before vanishing using lightning speed. He wished he had the ability like Goku to actually teleport but he didn't so he had to rely on his speed.
To say Piccolo was surprised when he saw Vegeta join them in battling the army would've been an understatement. "Nice of you to join us," he said. Vegeta didn't reply as he blasted off a good number of her armies. 18 was busy dealing with the dementors. Krillin was protecting her from any attacks that were thrown towards her. She was their best chance of battling those ghostly creatures of hell so she couldn't be compromised. Her presence and safety was paramount. If she was done for then those dementors would charge towards the castle sucking the souls of anyone who were in their way.
Vegeta was fighting off a good number of Tenille's army by maintaining a distance with the rest of the Z Warriors. Everyone knew it was best to let him be or else they might be the target of his rage. With him 'coming back' into the team their chances of battling her army increased tenfold.
Tenille was surprised by this move of Vegeta but not for long. But that didn't hold her back for long. She had realized that if let be then these Z warriors will vanquish her army in time. While that would affect her in no way she rejoiced showing her might by the form of an army.
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"What's the damage?" Daphne asked.
"About fifty people have fallen on our side," Luna said. They all knew what 'fallen' meant but they had no time to mourn the people whom they had all lost. The ground was covered with the army of the dead and the villagers and some students. The group flying high up in the air was keeping a watch around the edges of the wards, connected telepathically to everyone else on the ground. Luna was channeling Hogwarts' remaining powers into the telepathic link as there were quite so many people on the ground fighting. They needed the communication link so that they could plan and fight with as less loss as possible.
"Piccolo and others are delaying her but it doesn't seem to have much of an effect," Luna said. "She's coming."
Suddenly the air turned cold and the clouds darkened. The zombies all stopped and the flyers in the air came down. The look on their faces said everything. They had seen something horrible.
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When Yamcha vanished all of a sudden everyone got worried. Tien had felt it first and he immediately worried about his best friend. When his ki vanished Tien got worried. He was soon followed by Krillin and then 18. They both got caught in it in an instant. All those left were Piccolo and Tien when they saw her come out of the forest with a mutilated and dry body of Vegeta and a horde of dementors who immediately had their effects on the two remaining Z warriors.
"What just…happened?" Tien asked before he felt himself fall as if he was being pushed down by an infinite amount of force. He felt his organs would come out and they did when he impacted with the ground. His face took the impact first and his head exploded from the back followed by his abdomen spraying the entire ground underneath him red from his blood and organs. He couldn't even cry as he died the first moment his head impacted with the ground.
Piccolo looked at her angrily as she raised a finger causing Piccolo's limbs to tear apart. He screamed in excruciating pain but then was surprised when he realized they grew back the next moment. He couldn't regenerate that fast nor could all the limbs at the same time. He then realized she was the cause of this. It shocked him to the core that she could control his body from the inside. He looked at her, a sadistic smile on her face as she moved her finger once more causing all of the regenerated limbs of Piccolo to tear apart once more. He screamed, more than before as he felt his limbs separate from his body but then they grew back once more. With every regeneration a good amount of his energy was gone, too. After the second regeneration he could feel the drain in his power.
"I wonder if you would be able to fight even a kid now, isn't that right, Piccolo?" she said as she picked up his mutilated leg, took a lage bite as she tore off a good portion of his calf and ate it in front of him. She then sucked the blue blood oozing out of his leg when he realized his energy started to drain faster. "A saiyan is a great meal for me, I have to admit it," she said as she let go of Vegeta who fell lifeless on the ground. "But then I've always wanted to know what a blue blood tastes like, you know?"
"You…monster!" Piccolo grunted. She only smiled more.
"Depending on the facial look I'd say you deserve that title more than myself," she said as she was inches away from him the next second. Piccolo didn't anticipate this but there was something even more wrong than her being only an inch away from his face. He looked down and saw her hand going through his abdomen, covered and dripping in blue blood as he held it and tried to remove it with every single fiber of his body but failed. He then looked at her, the smile never fading away as she looked at him lovingly before planting a kiss on his lips, biting and tearing it off the next second as he screamed in pre agony. "Do you feel that?" she said. "That's one of the nastiest curse known to the magical world of today. It's called the cruciatus curse or the torture curse in our mundane language. But the thing is in my time there used to be a curse much more effective than this one. Let me show it to you."
The next moment Piccolo felt as if he had died and brought back to life multiple times as he lost his senses and his mind snapped. His eyes rolled back and his torn face started throwing out blood from ears, eyes and nose. She smiled before tearing his entire body in half and crushing his head in between her hands.
"You were a fun company, Namekian," she said when she felt a spell pass her narrowly. It was a killing curse. She looked down and saw Neville. She let go as Piccolo fell towards the ground when he suddenly stopped and landed slowly. Hermione had caught him with the floating spell. Daphne was immediately casting basic healing spells on him but since he was a Namekian those healing spell didn't work much.
Tenille smiled as she landed on the ground, walking towards the three who stood in a defensive position between her and Piccolo. Flitwick apparated at that moment grabbed Piccolo and vanished again. "The heirs," she said as she walked towards them. "It's finally nice to meet you."
"What did you do with them?" Neville asked, talking about the Z warriors.
"You know what she did," Hermione said in a barely controlled tone as her voice shook a bit while she glared death towards Tenille. "If we let you kill us three, will you promise to let everyone else go?"
"I will," she replied.
"Liar," Daphne said with a smirk of her own.
"You do read through people," Tenille said looking at Daphne. "Rather deserving for Salazar's heir. He wouldn't be disappointed at least. As for you two," she said looking at Hermione and Neville, "I was promised."
"You were told, not promised," Daphne said.
"Still, you have no idea how much I had to sacrifice while waiting for this day," Tenille said. Suddenly an explosion was heard. Their faces paled as Hermione, Neville and Daphne turned around and saw Hogwarts' wards shatter like glass. The shockwave killed those who stood near it, near the limits of the wards. Neville screamed as his body crackled with raw magical energy as he pointed his wand towards her and a thick beam of lightning fired from it. it hit her point blank but she just stood there, taking it like it was nothing. "You do have promising powers for a wizard," she said as she waved her hand and the attack stopped followed by Neville's wand being snapped as he held it. He was then thrown away by an invisible force as Hermione and Daphne felt it.
Neville lost consciousness as he hit the ground with a cracked skull. He was still alive as Luna informed Hermione and Daphne. Daphne mentally asked Luna about everyone else's condition and the reply wasn't good. She could also feel it as a horde of dementors surrounded the entire landscape covering the sun's light completely making it look like it was night time as the air temperature dropped immediately and all the flora froze in the sub-zero temperature.
A couple floated over Neville devouring on his bad memories as the boy mumbled in his unconsciousness. Hermione fired off a patronus charm but it was hardly affective. She was battling her own nightmares as she stood there. She felt drained to the extent that her feet started to shake. Daphne looked at her with real concern in her eyes. "Stay strong, Hermione," she said. "I can't do this alone."
"No, you can't," Tenille said as she disappeared from in front of them. The two wondered where she had gone when they heard screams. Turning around their eyes widened in fear and shock as they saw Hogwarts completely surrounded by her army. How did they miss it?
Daphne wasted no time as she summoned Neville towards her, grabbed a hold of him and Hermione before apparating inside the infirmary. It was already full and Pomfrey was having difficulty dealing with everything on her own. A few of the students were helping her and so was Snape with his knowledge of potions but it was still not up to the requirement.
To say the medi-witch was surprised to see three students apparate inside the infirmary was an understatement but things weren't actually going great. Snape had informed her that the wards around the castle had been broken so that would mean anyone could apparate in and out of the castle. She soon shoved those thoughts aside as she saw Neville's condition. Snape immediately conjured up a bed wide enough for Neville to comfortably lie in as Pomfrey walked towards them.
She said nothing and didn't even look at Hermione or Daphne but rather began working on Neville. Fortunately it was just a broken skull with a bit of blood loss…a lot of blood loss but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She cast some charms, diagnosing Neville for anything else before opening his mouth and pouring in a few vials of different colored potions and herbs. She then conjured a bandage, wrapping it around his head tightly before heading to tend others.
"What is going on?" Snape asked, obviously looking at Daphne.
"She has broken through," she replied. "We need to go." He nodded as the two girls apparated away.
The apparated on the school grounds to witness havoc and chaos. People they recognized from the village lay dead while a handful ran away as Tenille's army had fun with their prey. Their classmates and schoolmates – a considerable number of them lay dead, mutilated, soul and life sucked out of them. Hermione's stomach clenched as she tried not to give in to the situation when she witnessed Tenille a few meters ahead of them looking at the carnage from a few meters above in the air.
She walked towards her. Daphne followed close. Tenille raised her hand and her army stopped. Cries of shock, pain and loss could be heard everywhere as Hermione did her best to ignore them as she came to a stop, looked up at Tenille and placed her wand back in her holster. Daphne looked at her a bit wide-eyed but didn't say anything. She then recognized a look in her eyes she had seen before.
"You can have a little amount of shame, you know, heir of Ravenclaw," Tenille said as the Ravenclaw tower crumbled down in the distance. People turned to look at it in horror. Hermione didn't and so did Daphne.
Fred saw the two then he looked at George lying dead next to him. His eyes were red with pain and anger but he knew he couldn't do anything in this situation. It only made him angrier. He didn't know where his other siblings were. The two had lost them in all of this. He only hoped they were alright as he wondered what might've happened to their parents.
McGonagall was barely able to stand as she held her left shoulder with her right hand. She didn't care to look or feel anymore as Pomona's numbing potion was doing its work. She did, however, glanced a look at the werewolf who had torn off her left hand completely. It lay dead with its insides scattered everywhere underneath him. Whoever this Tenille was she had the ability to turn the werewolves into the monsters without a full moon's presence. As she looked around she saw many of the mythological monsters and creatures she thought were only myths. Seeing them all around the castle only made her feel the gravity of the situation.
Then her eyes fell on the two of them. She didn't see Neville with them. Was he? No. She shook her head denying that ridiculous thought as she looked at the two of them again. Hermione had placed her wand back in her holster. What was she thinking? Daphne was on the defensive but didn't look much sure herself. It couldn't be blamed. She then heard something and turned around. It was Luna Lovegood. She looked badly beaten and completely covered in blood and wounds. She saw Flitwick run towards his student, catching her before she fell on the ground. What had happened to her? From what McGonagall knew none of Tenille's army had infiltrated the castle. They were all outside. So how was Luna like this?
"You did well," Flitwick said.
"I failed," Luna said with a sad smile. "I failed to protect her, professor. She's very weak and vulnerable right now. One more attack and we will lose her forever and then all that will remain will be these bricks and mortar. Hogwarts will be a lifeless castle."
"We will protect her together, Luna," Flitwick said.
"Did I tell you that you were my favorite professor?" she said as she breath in a slow a and deep breath.
"Did I tell you that you are my favorite student?" he said as a tear rolled down his eye. "Just hang on a bit more."
She smiled. "It doesn't matter," she said as her breath hitched. "None of this matters anymore. I wanted to tell you…professor…you were one of the very few things that happened to me in Hogwarts."
Flitwick cried silently as he laid his head on her chest when she said those words. A few moments later he felt her go completely calm. He let out a crying sigh as he looked up at her. Those closed eyes and that small smile made it look like she was in comfort as he held her tightly, unable to let go. Pomona came and stood beside him as did some of the Ravenclaw students. Their eyes wet as they saw the two on the ground.
"And there goes your communicator," Tenille said but she didn't have an expression on her face this time. "The sacrifices you people are making," she said as she started rising up in the air, "is a foolish, worthless effort in trying to stop what is coming. She raised her hand as a ball of energy started to form over the tip of her finger. "Time and time again you forget your place, your position, your actual limits and jump on any chance of doing stupid things you can't do. Surely you came all this way but that was only because of a mistake…a mistake he did when he took in some children and started teaching them this so called magic. It is only a matter of time before this all came to an end."
The ball of energy she had above her started to descend down towards the castle clearing out any and all clouds from its path as everyone looked on in Horror. Daphne looked on from the ball of energy to Hermione and noticed her expression. That light in her eyes…that confident yet shaky smirk on the corner of her lips. She looked back at her and Daphne saw the wetness in her eyes that said the words 'finally'.
Filius felt it as he looked up and saw Luna's breath hitch before she started to breathe again as the entire ground shook from the impact of the energy Tenille threw towards them.
The heat, the intensity and the power of that attack was felt by everyone as they closed their eyes but more than that they felt the warmth, the comfort and the secureness when a loud bang echoed throughout the entire landscape shaking the very soul of everyone who was present there.
"When?" Daphne asked.
"About a moment ago," was all Hermione replied as the smoke settled and everyone saw the shimmer around them…around the castle. "You made it," Hermione said looking in front of her, looking at the back of his as he stood, looking a lot older and stronger.
"We will take it from here," he said as the aura shimmered around him.
Tenille smiled when she saw him in front of her down on the ground looking right up at her. She looked at the restored ward around the castle and then smirked when the other one appeared behind her floating in the air. "About time, it was," she said in content. She ignored when her entire horde of dementors were incinerated away by a powerful patronus charm. People on the ground looked on in shock and awe, the students recognizing the two newcomers instantly.
Neville apparated beside Hermione who looked at him in surprise. He handed her the senzu bean pouch as she looked behind herself. The wounded were getting up, apparently healed. She smiled. They'd brought enough beans for everyone.
Harry apparated beside Daphne looking at her with a small smile. Gohan appeared standing tall and strong in the front. Behind him were the four heirs followed by the students and villagers who were slowly standing back up.
"You really like making an entrance," Tenille said as she flicked her tongue as if there was a delicacy in front of her. "Well, it was worth the wait, though. Shall we begin?"
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A/N: Thanks for reading…