FS

by Galagar-of-Ni

FS

34. 34

Author's Note: I would like to thank the following filmmakers for the wonderful battle ideas I've shamelessly cribbed from and alternated a little: Ridley Scott, Mel Gibson, Peter Jackson, John McTiernan, Randall Wallace, Antoine Fuqua, Ronald Maxwell, Chris Columbus (for Home Alone, not necessarily HP's 1 and 2), George Lucas, and many others. I'm a movie nut and these directors and many others have inspired a lot of what I've done here. On another matter, a lot of stuff is happening during this chapter, at more than a couple of locations, and all in a compressed timeframe. I have done my best to keep it clear when stuff is happening, and to make everything plain so that it can be followed. If you want a visual reference, go to the Harry Potter Lexicon and use their maps of Hogwarts, that's directly where I'm taking my floor plans from for this chapter.

Monday, June 1st, 1997 (continued)

Harry's Trunk, Hogwarts

Late afternoon/early evening

Harry spent a split second praying that this was just a bad joke, but that was not to be. During that split second, Anthony asked the obvious:

"How many?"

"Hundreds……..and not just Death Eaters, they have trolls and giants." Harry was back into it now, and he whipped out his mirror (Lee had declared it a finished product the week before, with twenty mirrors on visual and thirty on audio, and Harry had distributed them accordingly. The mirrors could be addressed to individual people, or by saying 'Unicom', to all the mirrors at once)

"Unicom……….Heavy Incoming! Heavy Incoming! This is no drill! Implement Plan A….NOW!"

Heavy Incoming was the signal that the invasion was here, Plan A meant that they had at least a few minutes to prepare, rather than realize it as someone was knocking on the door.

Anthony sprung up and flooed to Luna's trunk where he would re-enter his Common Room.

"How long have we got before they get here?"

"We don't know, they might have sent some forces ahead, but they were just finishing up with Hogsmeade, the village is gone guys, and the Aurors are mostly dead, only about a dozen of them were alive when we left." Harry was already getting up and getting his gear ready: both wands, all three of his knives, and a couple of WWW swamps. Ron went into his trunk to get his gear, and Harry and the twins sprung up the ladder and were soon in the Common Room……..which was in something of a controlled chaos, as those with the mirrors were getting it ready. Harry ran into the room:

"QUIET! Voldemort is coming and we don't have much time to get ready. Second years and friends, go with your leaders and get ready!" Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender all left with the thirteen kids behind them, as they had quite a hike to the towers……where their equipment was already waiting for them. Seamus and Parvati had a mirror with them, as did Dean and Lavender. Ron came out of the dorm room, Harry's broom in one hand and a pair of Omnioculars in the other, with his Invisibility Cloak slung over his broom arm (Harry had given the two confiscated Invisibility Cloaks to Ron and Neville). This was not part of the plan, but Harry instantly knew what his best mate had in mind.

"Get out there and get back quickly Ron, and be bloody careful, don't try to attack them…….and come back via the front door, Michael and Stephen should still be there." With a nod, Ron forced the window open and took off. Notable was that no one was calling anyone on the mirrors, Harry had told them that he would never joke about Heavy Incoming, and that they should get ready the moment they heard that. He got on the mirror again himself though:

"Michael! Get the juice out there, I'll hold off the old man from locking down the place, but wait for Ron to come back from his scouting…..hurry!" He got a quick Ok from Michael Corner, and turned his attention back to his Housemates.

"Ok Gryffindors, listen up! All DA people report to Jack Sloper and Ginny Weasley, and do what they bloody tell you……..and stay calm, we have a plan here people, and it will work if we don't panic. This is our home, and we will defend it. First years, come with Neville and me……..now!" Harry and Neville took off at a run toward Dumbledore's office with the first years right behind them, Fred and George bringing up the rear.

A minute earlier in the Ravenclaw Common Room:

Anthony sprinted through Luna's room, praying that the anti-male alarms in there wouldn't nail him (they didn't). He ran into the Common Room to find much the same reaction that Harry had in his:

"It's true people, they're coming. Voldemort is destroying Hogsmeade as we speak, and he's coming here: We got this from the twins, they saw it. Every DA member, report to Lisa Turpin and Terry Boot. Second years, get going to the towers now (they left as quickly as they could), first years, come with me, now!"

Michael got his mirror call about the juice, and Stephen was already pointing to three third year boys:

"You three, come with me." They went up into the sixth year boy's room, where Michael and Stephen had stashed the juice, large canisters of it that were shrunk down to fit into three burlap sacks. Each third year grabbed a sack and followed their two elders out the Common Room door.

At this time, in the Hufflepuff Common Room:

Justin was the only one in the House that could really command his Housemates' attention (and only he and Susan had the mirrors), and he did his level best:

"Voldemort is coming, and it's only a matter of minutes! Second year archers, you know what to do (those in the archer brigade left immediately), DA members, report to Ernie MacMillan and Susan Bones. Those of you not in the DA………you can either join now and fight with us, or go hide in your dorm rooms, we will spare no one to protect you there. First years, come with me, now!"

The first ones with their wands drawn in the school would reside in the dungeons, as all four of the Exec Council members (Blaise, Daphne, Tracey, and Theo) had the mirrors and reacted instantly, pointing their wands at the twelve pro-Darks, all of whom were in the Common Room thank Merlin, getting ready to head for dinner (they felt that there was safety in numbers). The other Slytherins took their cues from Blaise and soon the entire room was about to explode as everyone had their weapons up. Blaise strode forward and addressed his friends and enemies alike:

"Voldemort is invading us, and it's going to happen any minute………you twelve will be much safer if you drop your wands right bloody now……..or the battle will kick off in here, and you'll lose very badly. Decide now." The seventh years, none of them hardcore, had no stomach for this fight and immediately laid down their wands, trusting Blaise not to harm them. They were soon joined by the three fifth year boys, who might have fought with better odds. Pansy and Millicent still had theirs up, even as Daphne and Tracey were collecting the other ten wands. They didn't have time for more of this crap, so Blaise looked at Theo and winked:

"Stupefy! Stupefy!" The two sixth year girls were knocked unconscious and slumped to the ground.

"Pick those two up and go into the seventh year boys' room, we're going to seal you inside and make sure that you can't harm anyone, once the battle is done, either way, you'll be let loose.………..oh yeah, archers get moving. DA members report to Daphne and Tracey, first years come with me, now!" With no other wands lowered, Tony Caldwell and Ramsey Porter led their compatriots, dragging Parkinson and Bulstrode behind them, up to their dorm room. Blaise trusted that his friends knew what to do, and took off for upstairs, with the first years closely behind him.

Harry and company got to Dumbledore's office first, and tried the only password that he knew (Whatchamacallit), which thankfully worked. He led them quickly up the stairs, yelling:

"Dumbledore!" They got into the main office and found the entire faculty (other than Firenze) around Dumbledore's desk, watching him speak with the floo head of Minister Fudge. Every head turned to look at Harry:

"Voldemort's coming, he's destroying Hogsmeade right now." The Headmaster had a pained expression on his face as he addressed the kids.

"He just sent a force to destroy the Ministry, and they killed over of the workers there, including most of the Aurors…………Percy was leading them." Harry briefly closed his eyes and thanked God that Ron wasn't here right now, and was glad that he could not see the rank hatred on the faces of George and Fred.

"The Order is now helping the Aurors in Hogsmeade, they're coming here next……..Now we have a plan ready to go, but I need all the cooperation I can get from you people." The staff all nodded their heads, except for Dumbledore……..who's reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Anthony and Justin, and their accompanying first years, who they just dropped off and sprinted back to their Common Rooms.

"I take it that it does not involve the wholesale evacuation of the students?"

"Not quite, just the first years. Minister Fudge if you don't mind, I need the floo for a few minutes to get these kids to safety…….Dobby! Winky!" Fudge quickly left the floo as Winky popped in.

"Dobby, Winky, go to The Burrow and make it ready for some guests, please hurry."

"Yes Harry, right now." They both popped away and Harry lined up the first years, which now included the Slytherins, in front of the floo.

"Just say 'The Burrow' and get in there, it's under Fidelius and no one will find you there, Dobby and Winky will take care of you." One by one, the first years flooed off to safety, while they were doing this:

"Why not evacuate the students Harry? Are you willing to risk all their lives? Why?" Barely controlling his blinding rage that he had to explain himself to this man even now, Harry managed not to scream his reply:

"Because it has to end sometime, and now is as good a time as any. We have the castle as a defense, and a few nasty surprises in store for them……….and because we don't dare tuck tail and run and allow him to claim victory yet again, the line is bloody well going to be drawn here! No further!…….and it sounds like there is no one left to oppose him! Now we don't have any more seconds to lose here……..are you with us Headmaster?" Dumbledore knew that there was no other choice…….he sighed loudly, then proceeded to commit his life and the lives of 269 kids into the hands of Harry Potter:

"I'm with you Harry, what do you need us to do?"

"We have been gaming this out since the beginning of the school year, and we have a very detailed plan for castle defense, and you lot have been factored in. Professors Hill and Trelawney, go into the floo and protect the first years at The Burrow. Anyone who isn't in this room right now or has a red head that comes through that floo, attack them. Professors Shepherd and Sinistra, go to the Slytherin Common Room and report to Blaise Zabini, he will have your assignments. Likewise, Professors Flitwick, McDowell, and Vector, go to Anthony Goldstein in Ravenclaw; Professors McGonagall and Hagrid, go to Gryffindor and report to Ginny Weasley……..all of you, please leave now." The chosen teachers all left immediately, with Harry quickly praying that they did what they were told and didn't try to take over……..though it was really only McGonagall who might try. Soon there was just Sprout, Bliss, and Dumbledore in the room with Harry and his crew.

"How many Aurors are left alive and how soon can we count on them getting here?"

"The Minister said that there are about ten of them still alive and unhurt, your friend Travis Biller is one of them, they should be here any time now."

"OK then, where's Firenze?"

"We sent him to the Centaurs to warn them of a possible attack, he left about five minutes before you arrived."

"Will the centaurs assist us?"

"I would doubt it, even if they believe Firenze when he tells them, they will still prefer to remain aloof." Figures, thought Harry.

"Did you know about Hogsmeade before I told you?"

"No we didn't, nor did we know that they were coming here." Harry wondered at how much to believe that, but Bliss didn't seem to want to contradict him, so he bought it for now.

"Fair enough, now I have five guys outside right now making preparations near the front door, and Ron's in the air spying on what's going to be coming. Don't put the place into lockdown until they're all inside. Once they are, I want you three to go to Hufflepuff and help out there, they're by far the weakest House in Defense and they're going to need all the help they can get……………hang on a second………..Michael, how are you guys doing out there?"

Michael, Stephen, and their three pack mules were busy soaking the ground near the front doors with the juice……..which wasn't juice, but instead it was homemade napalm, a mixture of gasoline and detergent……all of which was camouflaged by a No-Smell charm, so that anyone who stepped on it would only know that the ground was wet. All it would need was some fire at the right time, and Presto!

"We're almost ready Harry, two more minutes tops……….and I can see Ron coming back, or someone on a broom anyway. Wands out guys, just in case!" It was Ron though, and he rocketed down on Harry's broom and came to a screeching halt right in front of the main doors. Michael's mirror was still in hand, and Ron grabbed it.

"It's bad Harry, I counted over 400 Death Eaters, plus a few dozen trolls and giants………..and I didn't see them fighting anyone."

Meanwhile, back in Hogsmeade:

Moody and his unit of thirteen ran to the Shrieking Shack, where they managed to get the drop on the Stephen Jugson led Death Eater unit (thirty people) that had Kingsley Shacklebolt and five other Aurors severely pinned down behind the Shack itself, which was laden with so many spells and wards that it was virtually indestructible (given that Remus had not torn it apart during his transformations years ago). Moody and his people did not have the 'get out of Azkaban free' card that Harry did, and thus could not use Avada Kedavra (aside from ex-Auror Moody)…….so they let fly with as many disabling curses that they could, not only stunners but cutting curses and even Reducto. They managed to cleave through two dozen Death Eaters before they were even noticed……but once they were noticed, reinforcements came in from other Death Eater units and half the Order members were killed in less than five minutes.

Individually, the Aurors and most Order members were more than a match for the Death Eaters………but they were outmanned fifteen to one, and the difference was soon evident. More Death Eaters than light wizards went down, some were even killed (Aurors had Avada Kedavra privileges by definition)……but after five more minutes the Aurors had collapsed under the weight of the attack, and only Kingsley remained alive, and he quickly Apparated away, presumably back to the Ministry. Moody was quickly losing his people too, and Fletcher and Diggle went down to killing curses, as well as seven other Order members.

Bill, along with Ashley and Tonks, led their unit to the Hogshead, but Bill's delay in instructing Fred and George cost them dearly, even if it couldn't be helped. By the time they got to the pub, all of the Aurors had succumbed to the sheer weight of numbers and were dead on the ground. Bill and company fought hard, but lost most of their troops inside a couple of minutes, as dozens of Avada Kedavras came their way. Soon it was just Bill, Ashley, and Tonks in one unit, and Moody, Charlie, and Peter Tyson in the other. Bill sent up red sparks into the air, and all six of them Disapparated back to Headquarters, eighty percent of their strength gone in only ten minutes of battle. What they didn't know, however, was that over seventy Death Eaters had fallen during the two missions, Hogsmeade and the Ministry, and that would be significant strength not hitting Hogwarts in the coming minutes.

Back to Ron:

"They're all on their way here, Hogsmeade is now completely gone, not a building is left standing, they even managed to destroy the Shrieking Shack. We've got fifteen minutes tops before the first wave gets here."

"Are Michael and his guys done yet?" Ron looked over, and the five boys were shoving the re-shrunk cans back into the bags.

"Any second now, any word from Bill?" The Ravenclaws dashed inside, Ron right behind them, and before Harry could respond:

"We're inside, go to lockdown!" That wouldn't happen for a few seconds though, as Dumbledore's floo was firing again, and the six surviving non-Hogwarts Order members came tumbling in. During this communication, Bliss and Sprout had left for Hufflepuff House, Dumbledore only remaining behind because it takes one of the three senior members of the faculty to put the castle into lockdown (Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwick). Dumbledore aged five years right in front of them just then:

"That's all of you that survived? Just six?" Moody, as usual, pulled no punches:

"Well there were over 400 of them Albus, we were a hair outnumbered…….and even my spells were just bouncing off the giants." Harry could sense Dumbledore's hesitation, and to an extent his shock at the Order being butchered so badly, however well that they had fought individually……and even he had trouble with the kind of numbers that the twins, Ron, and now Moody were talking about, but they had to get past that now.

"Put the castle into lockdown sir, please now, we can't afford to wait any longer for the Aurors to come, they'll have to hit Voldemort's rear flank."

"You have no more students outside?"

"None that aren't supposed to be, and they have a way back inside. I'm sure Ron would have mentioned any stragglers." Speak of the devil, in came Ron…….at a full run.

"They're coming right up the main road, I didn't see any going into the forest at all."

"No other kids are out there Mr. Weasley?"

"I didn't see any, and I was looking on my way back for any………why isn't the place in lockdown yet?" With everyone looking hard at him, the old man finally put his wand in a box lying on his desk and turned the wand several times:

Within two seconds, every window in the castle was magically sealed shut, the front doors were securely locked, as were the doors leading to the inner courtyard, all floo systems in the castle were immediately rendered useless, and unbreakable anti-portkey wards were put up. The only way inside now was a breaching of the front doors………Winky, in eight months of exploring the castle for her blueprints, had not once found another way in.

"Headmaster, please go to Hufflepuff now, they should be getting ready to deploy any minute now." Dumbledore nodded and left the room. Harry, in his plans, had counted on more Order members surviving than this, and on Auror help as well……..but the plans had to change it seemed. The Order and the Aurors had been counted on to attack the Death Eaters' rear flank once the castle was breached…….but now?

"OK, it's down to us now, and I doubt we'll get much help. The Ministry was attacked at the same time as Hogsmeade and most of the Aurors are dead, as well as a lot of other Ministry personnel………and the Ministry raid was led by Percy." Bill and Charlie reacted with nothing more than tightening of their facial expressions…….while Ron took the nearest foe glass and threw it into the wall, but that was all he did.

"Let's get back to Gryffindor and meet up with the others, we don't have much time left." The eleven of them left the office and ran back to Gryffindor Tower, where Harry's special five archers were awaiting.

Meanwhile, on the front two towers:

Dean and Lavender took the left side, while Seamus and Parvati took the right. Dean had the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, while the other two Houses were with Seamus: seventeen archers each, plus the two sixth years, crowded towers to be sure, but bristling with weapons. Their equipment was already up there, as it was put back there after every practice. There were enough arrows to launch twenty salvos from each archer…….not that Seamus or Dean thought that they would have time enough for that many shots. The towers were high enough in theory that spells shouldn't be able to reach them. Harry himself had tried one night a couple weeks earlier and had barely come close to hitting something, but with Voldemort they had to be prepared for anything. They got around the lockdown by simply removing the door manually from its hinges before the lockdown occurred……..if any Death Eaters showed up on brooms that was just too darn bad.

Parvati and Lavender were already scanning the main road with the omnioculars on full far-sight mode, but all they saw for the first few minutes was a blur in the distance……but one that kept getting bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked on. The two older girls had both learned the rudiments of archery as well, and if worse came to worse, they could take up bows join the action. They kept special note of the 400 meter marker, the furthest one Harry had laid out, that would begin the countdown to firing, which would take place at the 100 meter mark.

The defense of the castle, in essence, was an overlapping series of ambushes, with planned retreats before the enemy got too close to the defensive positions. Harry, Ron, and Blaise, the main architects of the plan, were the students who knew the castle the best and had spent months going over little details. Unfortunately, it turned out that the twins had not had any success with duplicating the Marauders Map, and there was just the one…….and it was to held to by Harry, who would use the mirrors to direct his troops, while simultaneously doing his own large share of the fighting. The idea was to kill or disable enough Death Eaters to allow Harry an unfettered shot at Voldemort, after which the mopping up should be rather easier.

All DA students were being instructed by their leaders to use Reducto as their prime offensive curse, and to hide behind hallway corner and use other physical shields as best they could. They were told not to take any unnecessary risks with their safety and to look to their leaders, all of them executive council members. Each House was split up into three groups: A, B, and C. The A groups, of about twenty students each, were mostly made up of the best Defense and Charms students, but not all of them. They would be the front echelon, and meet the attackers in the front hall. The B groups (containing about one quarter of the best Defense students), of about fifteen students apiece, were stationed along the staircases and at set points leading away from the main hall. They would cover the first planned retreats, and deploy the slowdown measures that Harry, Ron, and the others had come up with. The C groups were the last lines of defense, and were positioned around the four dormitories. These were mostly the weakest students in terms of fighting ability and, in a real military battle, were the students that Harry would have put up front, as cannon fodder of sorts, to wear down the enemy without losing his best soldiers……..but Harry knew that with kids, every life was precious, and he didn't dare expose most of these students without the enemy being seriously winnowed down.

Harry and his group went directly to the front entrance hall, where the A groups were waiting, led by Ginny, Anthony, Justin, and Blaise. The teachers were all with the A groups as well, as the five units: Gryffindor A, Ravenclaw A, Hufflepuff A, Slytherin A, and Harry's own unit (the Trio, the male Weasleys, and the rest of the non-Hogwarts Order people). They took up their positions, with Gryffindor A by the Great Hall entrance; Hufflepuff A by the staircase leading to the kitchens and their own Common Room; Slytherin A next to the other staircase, the one that led to the dungeons; Ravenclaw A was next to the entrance that led to the classrooms; and Harry and company were smack in the middle, in front of and on the main staircase leading to the first floor.

"Parvati, what's their progress, how much time do we have?"

"They're just entering the front gates Harry……some creepy looking man is in front, it might be Voldemort. Here, you have a look." She put her mirror to the omnioculars and showed Harry the images……..it was him all right, striding right in between Narcissa and Peter Pettigrew, the only three people marching without Death Eater masks on…….even Draco and Percy must have had them on. He couldn't get an accurate count of the wizards, but saw the fighting trolls and giants flanking Voldemort in the front row, about three dozen of each it looked like.

"Ok Parvati, let me know when they get to the 400 meter mark." Harry thought about making a movie-like speech to his troops, but for the life of him he could not think of anything relevant to say. A couple of minutes passed, and Parvati was back on the mirror.

"They just passed the first marker Harry, 400 meters to go." He then did have something to say to his people, he activated his own mirror to say it to everyone listening.

"It's time folks, it's time to show Voldemort and his greedy morons that this is one place that they cannot run rampant! This is our home, and they are not bloody welcome here! Remember the plans, look to your leaders, and give the fight everything you can, and we will win!" This not being a movie, there was no mass cheering, just determined looks from both first years (archers Jones and Garcia) to old teachers (Flitwick and Dumbledore), and everyone in between.

"Three hundred meters."

"Dean, Seamus, are you guys ready?"

"Ready on the east tower Harry."

"We're set on the west mate."

"Two hundred meters." The Death Eaters were not seemingly in an hurry (nor should they have been really, with their main oppositions already taken care of at the Ministry…….or so they thought), so an agonizing thirty seconds passed by.

"One hundred meters."

"Archers, get ready to fire."

Thirty-four second years, plus Seamus and Dean fitted arrows to their bows and raised them in the air. Each of them had a quiver on their backs with nine more arrows, and a spare quiver right next to them. They were standing far enough back on the towers that they could not been seen from the ground below, only Parvati and Lavender were right up at the ramparts.

"Eighty meters."

"Sixty meters."

Harry counted to ten softly out loud, and then gave the command.

"Archers…….loose!" Thirty-six arrows twanged from their bows and flew majestically through the air……..and slammed into the first two rows of Voldmort's troops……..

WHAM!

………….who were packed so closely together that every single arrow found a target, as no less than twenty wizards and six giants were nailed (some of them more than once).

Chaos ensued as the bad guys had no idea of what just hit them, and their first instinct was to look at the front door………but it was still closed……….and just in time for the second salvo, which was delayed long enough for the girls to tell them that the aim was quite true. Dean had a pretty good idea of who Voldemort was now, and was specifically aiming for him.

WHAM!

More Death Eaters went down, and three of the giants that were already hit, got shafted again. There had been enough troops toward the back that were looking up, that the bad guys soon knew where the arrows were coming from, and they were screaming this to Voldemort up front, who saw the third salvo coming right for him and threw up a physical shield from his wand……..which did block two arrows from impaling him in the chest. He couldn't retreat easily because of the crush behind him, and the other wizards in the front two rows put up solid shields as well, as Pettigrew started screaming for everyone to back up. They finally did so, but not until two more barrages fell down on them……..though these two firings did less and less damage, as more of the targets were either conjuring shields like their boss was, or in the case of a few of them, using their dead comrades for cover. Voldemort collected his senses for a second and then looked around……..but he didn't see Narcissa anywhere.

There is a good reason for that, she was lying on the ground right in the middle of the kill zone, with one arrow through the throat, and one through her midsection……..right where her unborn child was. She had told Voldemort the happy news a few weeks ago, and the potions that she had taken confirmed that it was a s boy that she was carrying. She had insisted on coming along for the final victory, and Voldemort had not seen any harm in it, not anticipating that Hogwarts would put up much of a fight.

He saw her up ahead, and motioned for two of his soldiers to go retrieve her. They were now out of effective arrow range, and there was a lot of muttering in the ranks about what they were going to do. It really was up to Voldemort alone to make the decisions though…….Pettigrew may be the second in command and be able to argue with his Master when it was just the two of them…….but it simply would not do for the troops to see Voldemort, the great and powerful one, ask for advice.

No arrows came down as Narcissa was brought back to her husband. He bent down to check her, and confirmed what he had already suspected: she was dead. Even if she hadn't been arrowed through the belly, the baby was far too young to be delivered, so the quest for an heir would have to begin anew after today. He looked up to the towers where the arrows had been coming from, but didn't see anyone up there. He pondered the distance to the front door (100 meters), took stock of how many arrows there were in the ground and in bodies up ahead (there were over 150)……and without hinting at the rage he was feeling, gave the order:

"Crabbe, Goyle (the fathers of the would be assassins) take half the giants and trolls forward and breach that door as quickly as you can. The brats seem a bit more ready for us that we had thought. Go now."

The two large men started moving quickly forward, running this time, as the chosen giants and trolls followed as quickly as they could. They avoided most of barrage six, with only two trolls getting hit, and were soon at the front doors.

Up top, Dean and Seamus had loosed barrage six in the vain hope of nailing someone, but their kids weren't so well trained that they could hit people who were moving quickly, so the two hits they got (on an arm and a leg on two different trolls), were just lucky. Dean got on the mirror and put it on unicom

"Harry, the main force of Death Eaters has retreated beyond arrow range, but they just sent a force of about forty giants and trolls to the front door……maybe you can hear them."

They could hear them, as Crabbe and Goyle Srs were using their wands as powerfully as they could, while their larger allies were beating at the doors with clubs and axes. Now the front doors were magically enhanced to withstand this kind of attack……..but only to a point. Harry now had the unenviable task of trying to decide whether to fire the juice now or not, or to wait until there were wizards up there.

"Can you guys hit them from there with the arrows?"

"Not really, the angle isn't too good from here, and it would totally expose us to counterfire. Lavender says she can see Voldemort eying us from where he's standing. I tried to hit him mate, and I did nail his shield twice…….but we did hit a blond woman that might have been Draco's mother." Harry smiled faintly at hearing that, rumor had gotten to him about the Voldemort/Narcissa marriage.

"How many dead do they have out there?"

"About fifty I would say, that's how many bodies are lying out there anyway. I have to assume that they left the dead ones behind, though they did go get Draco's mom after she was hit." That would leave 350 or so Death Eaters………which would just about make the odds much closer to even than they were, with 245 students, a dozen professors, and six Order members. He put the mirror aside for a moment and looked at Ron, who asked the obvious.

"Do we fire the juice Harry?" He thought for a second as the hammering got louder.

"Dean, Seamus…….are you guys positive you can fire the juice if we wait for the main force of Death Eaters to get there? We can't afford to have it go to waste if you can't."

"We can do it Harry, I have a couple of arrows all set up to be done with Incendio…….all it needs is the Ravenclaw guys to have placed the juice correctly." Harry raised his eyebrow at Michael Corner (Stephen Cornfoot was with Ravenclaw B), who said:

"It was done just like we planned, it's right there…..the giants and trolls at the door now should have wet feet." Which gave Harry an idea that he whispered to Charlie and Moody, who nodded in agreement. He got on the mirror and Unicom.

"Don't fire the juice then, wait until the main force of Death Eaters gets there, then do it…….use your judgment as to when, I trust you." Plus he would be a hair busy.

"When the enemy comes through that door, as powerful a Reducto as you can yell. Ron, Neville, Bill and I have permission to use Avada Kedavra, so don't be alarmed if you hear it from our side. Gryffindors and Slytherins fire first, then Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, we want a continual stream of fire going right at them." Dumbledore aged another five years at hearing that piece of factoid (about the Avada Kedavra), but he knew instinctively that Harry was telling the truth, and now did not seem the proper time for a morality speech. The Headmaster had been remarkably quiet so far during the buildup, allowing Justin to place him without comment. He looked around at his faculty, who aside from Hill, Trelawney, and Firenze, were all there waiting……doing the bidding of Harry Potter and his trusted allies…….not one of whom was a teacher (he still didn't know about Shepherd and Bliss). The pounding got louder and louder, and some splintering could be heard.

Crabbe and Goyle, who were not even as smart as their sons, did not seem the least perplexed about being left alone to do their business, and join their large allies in attacking the doors furiously. After about five minutes the doors began to give way, and they could see only smoke through the door holes that they were making……….courtesy of some fireworks that Ginny (closest to the door) had laid down. Once the holes started appearing, the demolition job got much easier, and within three more minutes the doors were completely battered to pieces, and the first of the enemy came into the castle.

REDUCTO!………only fifty of them hit the first wave of the enemy…….and so much power being generated instantly killed every troll that came through the door, as well as Crabbe and Goyle, who were only human and never stood a chance when pummeled by a dozen Reductos all at once. The giants and trolls behind them pushed their way inside, and were slaughtered just as easily, there were so many defenders. Within seconds it seemed, all of the door breachers were laying dead on the ground. Harry grabbed Ron and they ran forward, quickly donning the robes and masks of the two dead Death Eaters, and at Harry's signal, walked outside and waved to the main Death Eater force to come forward, while inside, Bill and Moody collected the two wands on the ground, and House Elves were called on to collect the bodies (the House Elves would/could not fight, but they had volunteered for any other duties).

From the safe point, Voldemort could only see that there was no interference from above as his minions did their work on the door, even though it took an agonizingly long ten minutes to accomplish. Once the door was opened, he readied his troops for the charge.

"Go through the killing zone as fast as you can, do not think about being hit by one of those infernal arrows! We knew Potter was smart, and this is just confirmation of that. The old man won't allow Potter to direct the defenses inside the castle, and that fool has no imagination. Once we're inside, we will take over the castle in a matter of minutes." He saw Crabbe and Goyle waving for them to come forward.

"Now move!" They began to march again, and soon began running. Parvati was immediately on the horn:

"Harry, they're coming again! They're running this time."

"Fire at will archers, fire at will! Dean, Seamus, once they pass twenty meters, fire the juice! All of you inside, get ready to be hot!"

This did not take long, a matter of seconds only, as the archers only got one round off before stuff started to happen. Dean and Seamus each had an arrow soaked in the juice itself ready to go, and they got an assist with Incendio from their respective girlfriends………..and then they each fired a short shot with their flaming arrows, right into the ground below……thankfully missing any human targets this time………..

WHOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ground around the front doors exploded into flame as the first wave of Death Eaters, giants, and trolls (all of the latter two groups that were left were up front) were incinerated instantly. The flames were twenty meters high, and were enough to make the archers all break out in a sweat, not to mention the invaders closest to the flames, as well as the defenders inside the castle. To his credit, Voldemort acted almost instantly, he used a spell to collect some of the fire…….and shot it right at the east tower.

Seamus and Parvati saw the fireballs coming and simultaneously screamed at their second years:

"Incoming!! Get back inside!" The archers were near what was formerly the door anyway, and quickly scrambled inside and on to the staircase, with the two sixth years right behind them, shooting the fire hose spell out of there wands over their shoulders as they got inside unharmed, except for feeling some extreme heat. Dean and Lavender did the same things with their group, which was wise as fireballs soon impacted their positions as well……..this was something they had vaguely planned for, or at least thought about, when Harry had told them about the idea for the juice.

Voldemort then instructed his front line Death Eaters to join him in a little wind spell:

WINDARIO!………only to be met with a competing one led by Harry and Dumbledore. The flames strayed closer to the defenders than the attackers, and were quickly weakening the foundation around what were formerly the front doors…….and they began to crumble a little bit under the heat. After a few minutes of this the fire began to dissipate, but not before it opened up a wider hole for the invaders to come through…….and the first ones did, only to met be met with a withering fire of Reducto, and five more arrows in an unpleasant surprise, which took out the brothers Lestrange, who were leading the first group inside.

Voldemort again adjusted, as some of his men again used dead bodies as shields with which to hide behind, and they began using the killing curse right away. Voldemort and Pettigrew began leveling the surrounding walls even more, to widen the breach and allow a breakup of the bottleneck that Potter had now trapped them in. They, along with some others, widen it again, this time five meters on each side………and now the tide had turned, numbers-wise.

AVADA KEDAVRA!

Most of this volley was aimed a bit high, and sent quite a bit of the ceiling crashing toward the defenders, showering them with stone dust and little rocks, and killing eight students and two professors right away (Sprout and Vector). The light returned the salvo, but their Reductos and four Avada Kedavras only did minimal damage, killing just two and wounding ten more, as the Death Eaters had both powerful shields at their disposal, and now even more dead bodies to use as barricades.

"Retreat to position two, all groups retreat to position two!" The rear students in the A groups began to fall back, as the dodging skills of the front students and adults were getting quite the workout, though two more were hit with the killing curse before they could all get away. The defenders retreated to their pre-planned positions, and were met by the leaders of the B groups (Stephen Cornfoot, Tracey Davis, Hannah Abbot, and Jack Sloper). Harry quickly took stock of who he had lost, and was saddened to see on the Map the names of, among others: Vector, Sprout, Morag MacDougall, and Scott Rosenberg (he of the saving Bliss in Hogsmeade notoriety). No one with a mirror had fallen, and everyone was under strict orders to Accio any mirror that was about to be left behind on a retreat, or otherwise captured.

Voldemort paused for a moment to regroup, and had noticed that there were five retreating groups………

THWANG!

Using more courage than common sense, Xavier Jones and Daniel Garcia had snuck away from Harry and taken a quick potshot with their bows…….nailing two more Death Eaters, and missing Voldemort by not a whole lot. Jones and Garcia quickly ran back to Harry's position on the second floor, only to find that he hadn't even noticed that they had left……and they chose wisely not to bring it up.

The bad man quickly split his team up into five groups, though interestingly enough, he chose not to go after Harry himself, instead following the Hufflepuff group……..which he had noticed included one Albus Dumbledore……..first things first, score settling-wise. Within five minutes, the groups were on their way.

Meanwhile, up on the towers, Dean and Seamus noticed that the invaders were now inside, and the main job of the archer brigade was now complete. Each of them turned to his charges, and in more or less the same words, said the following.

"Ok guys, there's nothing more we can do out here now……and you guys kicked some serious butt today, we are so proud of everyone of you. Now Parvati/Lavender and I have to get back down to the fighting. You know the escape route, get on your brooms and head for Hogsmeade, then use the portkeys we gave you and go the Weasley's house and join the first years." This was done without complaint or question, and all of the second years left, except for Sarah Owen and Audrey Wells (a second year Ravenclaw), who had already been designated to stay behind as lookouts, just in case. The four sixth years ran as fast as they could back downstairs, and Parvati and Seamus joined Gryffindor C (led by Colin until Seamus got there), and Dean and Lavender hooked up with Ravenclaw C (led by Mandy Brocklehurst).

The Voldemort led group quickly made up a lot of the ground on Hufflepuff A, and soon had it in full retreat, the students scrambling back to the ambush position that Hufflepuff B had prepared. Hufflepuff A was made up entirely of the best Defense students, other than the B and C leaders, but they were still much weaker than the other groups….and facing the strongest opposition with Voldemort and Pettigrew. Dumbledore and Bliss did their best to fight the rearguard, but it was difficult against opponents who were only using killing curses, nothing that could be blocked. Dumbledore did not use Avada Kedavra as a matter of principle, and while Bliss had special dispensation to use it in self-defense (as did all former Aurors who left the service in good standing), she was just one killing curse user against sixty………and it cost her everything eventually. She was almost to the corner of the hallway when she was hit by Voldemort and Pettigrew simultaneously, both shots in the chest as she was taking aim at Voldemort herself. Dumbledore had made it around the corner, and then he heard a soft grunt come from his Defense teacher……..well, former Defense teacher now. Justin and Ernie were right there too, and Justin had the presence of mind to summon her body to them, and to grab her mirror, tossing it to Dumbledore. They retreated another ten meters to another corner, and Justin activated the portable swamp he had placed in the corridor, effectively blocking it and giving them more time.

The other four Death Eater groups were not having such an easy time of it, with Gryffindor A and Ravenclaw A pinning their opponents down in the now cramped hallways………well cramped when you have sixty people attacking in such a relatively narrow space. They also made effective use of the portable swamps, and things were looking up in those directions. They lost no students or teachers, and managed to kill or disable ten of the attackers in each group, while losing little ground.

The hardest fight was between the Slytherins and the Death Eaters, who cliché as it was, were mostly former Slytherins themselves, and they fought very hard against kids they deemed to be traitors. Blaise and Theo led their troops well (Daphne was in charge of Slytherin C), and the result was a stalemate, during which the students did very well, killing or totally disabling eleven Death Eaters, at the cost of only two themselves…..but they were slowly being pushed back, and there was only so much more territory to go until they ran out. This was the problem for the student groups, in that they held the cost of their comrades lives so much higher than a normal military unit, and were loathe to lose even one student if retreating would buy them more time.

In theory, Harry's group should have been the most hard pressed, since there was no Harry B or Harry C to fall back on, there was just Harry, Neville, Tonks, Moody, Peter Tyson, and Bill, Ron, Charlie, George, Fred, and Ashley (Reynolds) Weasley, as well as the five archers………fifteen against sixty, and the sixty were led by Bellatrix Lestrange and a masked figure that was in fact Draco Malfoy. But Harry's group made liberal use of Avada Kedavra by those legally able to fire it, and soon cleaved fifteen off of the Death Eater total, while losing none of their own.

"This is a special bulletin from the Wizarding Wireless Network! He Who Must Not Be Named has attacked three different targets within Great Britain during the last hour. The Ministry of Magic has been gutted, though Minister Fudge, Senior Undersecretary Diggory, and DMLE Head Bones are all reported to be safe. Hogsmeade has been completely leveled, all the buildings have been destroyed, and many of the people within the village have been killed. And now we have just gotten word that Hogwarts itself is now under assault by He Who Must Not Be Named and a very large force of Death Eaters, trolls, and giants. Word also has come to us from a Ministry source that Harry Potter himself, the Boy Who Lived, is leading the defense of the castle. We at the Wizarding Wireless Network will keep you apprised of events as they happen."

Manuel Zabini was in his office at Zabini Enterprises when he heard this on his WWN set. He leaned back in his swivel chair and contemplated the ceiling for a second as his nineteen year old twin sons Henri and Pascal came running into the room, they had heard the same bulletin. Manuel gathered himself up inside and stood up.

"That's your brother in that castle and he's going to need our help…….and by Merlin he's going to get it too, let's go." The three Zabinis left the room and soon Apparated to the outer edge of Hogwarts, the closest point to the castle that one could Apparate to.

In the offices of The Quibbler, at roughly the same time, Joseph Lovegood had his WWN wireless on as well and heard the report. He left the building and did not tell anyone where he was going.

Similar scenes happened at about fifteen or so magical homes all over Great Britain, with wizards and witches, to a person all of them parents of Hogwarts students, deciding that their children needed them now more than ever………all of them wizards except one family.

In the CEO's office of Gringotts, Traimax was poring over parchments that detailed projections for the summer months, when his son Freygang walked into the room. Freygang waited patiently by his father's desk until Traimax looked up and inquired as to what his son needed.

"It has begun father, the final battle amongst the wizards is now going on."

"Where?"

"Voldemort is now at the front doors of Hogwarts as we speak, he should be breaching them any second now." There had been much talk in goblin circles recently about Voldemort, and rumor had even reached them of his plans to assault Gringotts once Potter and Dumbledore were taken care of……..rumors that caused much mirth when talked about by most goblins, but Traimax was one of the few who took them seriously. The move he was about to make was not one that was sanctioned by the highest goblin councils (of which he was one of the most prominent members), and he knew that if it did not work out his life wouldn't be worth a Knut………goblins accepted gambles only when they won.

"Are you and your troops prepared?"

"They are assembled and ready to depart on your order."

"Go then……..protect that boy Freygang, if Voldemort wins the entire magical world will fall into chaos, it will spread all over the world until we're all at each others throats……….and we cannot risk that, the muggles will eventually be brought in and will wipe us out………protect that boy my son, he's the only one who can take out that lunatic."

"I will father." With that, Freygang went back to his own office and collected his own weaponry. He met his nineteen goblin security force in the main conference room, the best security goblins that Gringotts had on the payroll. They portkeyed away and found themselves at the outer gates of Hogwarts as planned……..but they were not alone.

By fortuitous chance, there were three groups of vastly disparate rescuers converging on Hogwarts, and they all met at the main gates:

The Aurors, what was left of them., had finally arrived. There were only nine of them there, and they did include Kingsley and Travis, and Travis' crew of Rob Graham and Sarah Westbrook. The other two living Aurors were involved in the cleanup at the Ministry, and were dealing with the dead bodies of over forty Ministry workers, as well as the dead Death Eaters. Whatever happened this day, the Ministry would be changed forever, and there would be a lot of new blood involved.

The parents, though not grouping up by design, had all arrived after quick decisions to help their children in the fight. They had all had their wands on them anyway, and it was simple to Apparate to Hogwarts. Their numbers were about thirty, and would help make up for the lack of Auror support.

The last group was the one that made the other two nervous: Freygang and his force of security goblins. Freygang was the head of security at Gringotts, and his procedures were many of the reasons that there had never been a successful robbery of the bank……..though heads had rolled, literally, when the vault that had held Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone had been penetrated. He saw the nervous looks, but was beyond caring what any human thought of him and his kind.

Once all of them got their bearings from the journey, there were gasps from all of the humans as they saw the smoke coming from the front of the school, some of the fires were still going on, and it was enough to make the Aurors wonder out loud if the Muggle Repelling Charms would hide such smoke.

Freygang walked up to Kingsley, who he had dealings with from time to time.

"Well Shacklebolt, we meet again. We are here to help the Potter lad in any way we can."

"So the goblins are taking a side? I thought you didn't do that."

"We represent Gringotts in this matter, not the goblin race as a whole…………but there will be time to debate this later…….those kids will be needing us now."

There was general agreement about this, needless to say, and the fifty-nine 'being' group made the walk through the gates, and some of the parents were hard pressed not to run up to the doors……..but did not after a warning from Biller, who of course knew all about the archers.

"Careful folks, keep in formation here, we don't know what kind of rearguard Voldemort left behind, and we don't know if Harry has any booby-traps out here that weren't set off……..and he also had people on the towers, as you're about to find out."

Once they curled around the lake and came within sight of the front doors, they certainly did find out. They first noticed that there was no rearguard………and then they saw the dead bodies strewn all over the ground in the arrow kill zone, with said arrows still sticking out of their bodies. The masks, for the most part, were still on the bodies…….and no one there had much inclination to remove them. They counted about seventy bodies and Travis instinctively looked up to the towers, where he thought he saw a movement on one of them, maybe Harry had left someone behind as a watcher. Kingsley knelt by the body of Narcissa Black Riddle and confirmed that she was dead.

"What the hell was this?"

"The archers, Harry's had them training for a few months now. They were on the front two towers……..second year kids who he didn't want to put into the main battle." This brought Kingsley up short, he hadn't known about the archer plan, as Bill and Moody had kept that between themselves (and the other Weasleys of course). While they were talking about this, Freygang and his goblins were methodically beheading every dead Death Eater, after first checking to make sure it was actually an adult in the mask. The parents were all staring aghast at this, while the Aurors all thought this made perfect sense and were collecting any stray wands that were laying around. Freygang looked contemptuously on the parents:

"Just making sure, we don't want any surprises coming back on us." Biller nodded at him, and resumed his watch of the towers, waving his arms around trying to get some attention.

Up on the east tower, Sarah Owen was using her mirror to contact a very busy Boy Who Lived:

"Harry, we've got a large force approaching the castle………some are wearing Auror robes, and there are some goblins as well. One of the Aurors is waving his arms around at me, should I check it out?"

"Point your mirror that way Sarah, let me have a look." She put her omnioculars up to the mirror and showed Harry what she was talking about. He saw his mentor immediately, and Kingsley too.

"They're on our side Sarah, get down to them and let me talk to them, give your mirror to Travis Biller." She hopped on her broom and flew down to the newcomers……..all of whom had their wands out (except the goblins), but put them down once they saw it was a thirteen year old girl approaching them.

"Which one of you is Travis Biller?"

"I am."

"I'm to give you this." She handed the mirror to Travis (who did have one to communicate with to Harry, but it had been destroyed in the Battle of the Ministry).

"Harry, what's going on?"

"We're split up into our five groups as planned, we've sustained some losses, but we're hurting them a lot more……how many people do you have with you?"

"Nine Aurors, thirty or so Hogwarts parents…….and twenty goblins."

"What!? Goblins? I thought they were neutral in all this?"

Freygang took the mirror from Biller and addressed Harry, whom he had seen many times, but never met.

"I am Freygang, son of Traimax, I have twenty security goblins at your command, tell us where you wish us to deploy." Hearing that this goblin was Traimax's son certainly got people's attention, as all the parents looked on the goblins with a new respect.

"Travis, take half the humans and half the goblins and move them toward Hufflepuff's Common Room, they're almost in full retreat and we've already lost Sprout and Bliss from there, and that's where Voldemort is………bugger, they're coming forward again, Ron, Neville…….AVADA KEDAVRA! Slytherin A and B, they're making another run at you, retreat to position three!"

The parents and Aurors alike listened to this with a kind of horrified fascination, yet at the same time with a sense of relief in that Harry seemed to at least have a plan.

"Freygang, you take the rest of them and go toward the dungeons, the Slytherins are stalemated for the most part, but they're being pushed back and they have less room to retreat to than the others."

"It will be as you say Harry Potter." Freygang spoke some Gobbledeygook to half his force, and those ten moved over to Travis, who looked toward Sarah Owen.

"You mind if I keep this?"

"No problem, I'll just go to the other tower and keep watch there, we have another girl up there." With that, the young Gryffindor got back on her broom and flew to the west tower to join Audrey. Travis arbitrarily separated half the humans and Aurors, and set off toward Hufflepuff with them. The others, who included Joe Lovegood and all three Zabinis, looked toward Freygang, who also moved inside……..but not before detailing two more goblins to remain behind to 'take care' of the bodies.

Ravenclaw was still doing the best of the five groups, due mainly to having the least of the competition, facing the Death Eater units that would have been led by the Lestrange brothers had they not been perforated. Soon enough they had the Death Eaters down to thirty who were uninjured, and five more who were lying on the ground with various leg injuries (some of the Ravenclaws were aiming a bit low). Anthony, not Luna, was in charge, and he chose a daring strategy…….though less daring now that they had numerical advantage over their attackers:

"Stop firing, let them come a bit closer and we can take more of them out at one time………Ravenclaw C, come forward and join us, move." The C unit, which had fifteen kids in it, moved down from the area around their Common Room and joined the others, putting their numbers at an even fifty……….and who hadn't fired a spell since Anthony's order. The Death Eaters, now led by Stephen Jugson, assumed that there was another retreat being planned, and began moving forward slowly up the staircase, leaving their wounded behind to guard their own rear. They got up the stairs and eased around the corner, only to see it be empty, the kids must have retreated even further…….maybe they were doing more damage to the brat than they had thought………..though not really, as the found out when the bulk of their force was in the hallway………

Anthony, Luna, and eight other were under Disillusionment Spells and removed them by firing ten very close range Reducto spells, all at heads and all making perfect contact……and taking out Jugson as well in the bargain. The remaining Death Eaters reacted as best they could, but didn't manage to kill any of the ten students before they retreated behind the next corner. The bad guys knew that retreating was not an option for them, and they thought that one more good push might break these kids……….so they charged around the corner………..to be met by another swamp being activated under them, sticking a dozen of them in place long enough to be killed.

Now Anthony was ready to go on the offensive, but first he sent Luna and four others under more Disillusionment Charms to get behind the eight remaining Death Eaters……..which they successfully did, going back down the stairs very quietly, and quickly dispatching the wounded Death Eaters who had remained behind. They doubled back upstairs……but it was too late for them to do anything, as Anthony had gotten a bit impatient and rushed the last eight of the enemy, killing all eight while losing just one of his own.

Anthony desperately wanted to give his people a rest, but knew that the other groups would need their strength.

"Harry, this is Ravenclaw A, B, and C, our opposition is gone, we've taken them all out with no prisoners, what do you want us to do?"

"Send a third of them down to Hufflepuff under Luna, take the rest to Gryffindor yourself and relieve the pressure on Ginny, they're getting bogged down."

Luna and her group were already on the move, and Anthony followed down with the rest.

In the dungeons, the Frederick Nott led Death Eaters had pushed back his son and friends all the way to the Potions classroom, though at a terrible cost, losing half his strength……..which was soon reduced even more by the following two occurrences:

Blaise was one of the ones who had helped make up the juice (they acquired the detergent through him), and he had sequestered a couple of canisters of it for himself without Harry knowing. He sent one of the third years back into the Common Room to get it (perversely he hid it right next to the fireplace, which due to the warm weather was not in use), and they soaked one of the corridors with the juice……..and waited for the enemy to round the corner. They did, assuming that the wet floor was from blood, and a dozen of them got into the hallway when Blaise lit up:

Incendio!

The dozen Death Eaters became instant candles, as Blaise and several others came around the corner and fired off more:

Incendio! Incendio! Incendio! Incendio! Incendio!

Which negated the effect of the hose charms that the elder Nott and the rest of his bad people were using, water not working as well in a gasoline fire as on regular flames. Their difficulty was compounded by Freygang and the Zabinis, who led their group at a run and cut down everyone else with a brace of stunners and some nifty knife work by the goblins. Soon the enemy was done, seven of them left alive, including Frederick Nott, who was bleeding profusely from both legs and his chest (knife wounds), but was still alive long enough to see his son come up to him.

"Do you still think I chose the wrong side father?"

"This is not over, our Master will still be triumphant."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry father, you've lived your life for the wrong purpose. I'm on the right side……..and the winning side……..I don't really think that's a coincidence." The elder Nott turned his head away.

"Let me die in peace you ungrateful brat, just go." Theo still had a slight bit of conscience for his father:

Stupefy

Frederick Nott drew his last breath a couple of minutes later, as no medical attention was given to the Death Eaters who were injured……….though they weren't injured for long, as the goblins again secured the rear by making sure that there was no one alive to come back at them. The severed heads would make nice trophies for their collections.

"Harry, this is Slytherins A, B, and C………and friends. The Death Eaters down here have all been wiped out, we lost seven kids and Professor Sinistra in the defense……..what do you want us to do?"

"Come up here and help my unit, the Death Eaters aren't attacking anymore, and I don't have enough people to make a full assault on them yet. Come up behind them and distract them long enough for us to make a push. We're next to the Headmaster's Office now, and I doubt we'll need to retreat anymore.

Meanwhile, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin were attending to business, Hufflepuff had fallen all the way back to its Common Room, and had already lost fourteen kids from the Death Eater onslaught, and most of their best fighters. Wayne Hopkins and Kevin Whitby were cut down by Voldemort himself, and Megan Jones had been badly injured by a piece of wall that fell on her left hip…………then the parents and goblins crashed into Voldemort's rear, and the fight took a turn. Voldemort had not had to exert himself like this in many a year, and when he had time to think about it, gained even more respect for Potter, who had clearly been thinking about this for quite awhile, probably even longer than Voldemort himself had. He did not have the luxury of the mirrors, or rather the foresight, so he had no clue about how his other troops were doing. In an ideal battle, he would have kept them all in one large group and picked off the five Hogwarts groups in place, but the nature of the castle rendered that idea impractical. The Death Eaters still gave much better than they got, the only Dark unit that could say that.

Voldemort was feeling the most pressure on his rear flank, and he directed his troops to collapse the ceiling above them and block the hallway, which they did in spectacular fashion, cutting off the parents and goblins behind them, who immediately began trying to reduce the rubble in front of them, as Voldemort advanced forward.

"Dumbledore! Show yourself and duel me and I will not harm any more of your precious students………refuse and they will all die today, I will show them no mercy!"

This was done without Sonorus, but Dumbledore heard every word and started to walk toward his old foe. Justin quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going Headmaster?"

"To stop this Justin, we've lost too many students already."

"Are you out of your bloody mind? We're slaughtering them everywhere else in the castle in case you haven't noticed……….and do you really think that Voldemort will just stop killing today if he gets you? Are you that naïve?" Dumbledore ignored the disrespectful tone and the implied insults, and just smiled at his student.

"You are a very brave young man, a credit to Hufflepuff House. Let go Justin, we all do what we must." Justin gave up and let go of the old man's robes, after first snatching the mirror back. Dumbledore strode out into the hallway, and the Death Eaters let him come out unmolested………..though there were two that were invisible to Dumbledore's eyes.

"I'm here Tom, for our final time together." Voldemort walked up to him and looked his ancient enemy over.

"You look haggard Dumbledore, I guess war doesn't agree with you so much. I wonder where your erstwhile protégé Potter might be right now? Probably too far away to save your sorry skin."

"From what I gather, he's too busy killing your Death Eaters, you're losing badly all over the castle. Surrender Tom, you can't win here."

"Once I kill Potter, the defenses will collapse, and at the very least I'll be able to make my escape……and with you and Potter both gone, the light side will fall into shadow."

"You will have a hard enough time killing me Tom, I will make sure that you have little left to fight Harry with."

"I don't think so old man, killing you won't tax me in the slightest." That was their cue, and Pettigrew and Percy removed the Disillusionment Charms from themselves and attacked Albus Dumbledore from behind.

Reducto! Percussio!

Full in the back from one meter away, shattering every vertebrae inside the spine of Dumbledore, paralyzing him.

"You see Albus, I need to save my energy for Potter, like you said………but I wasn't the one stupid enough to walk out here alone was I? Goodbye Albus, for what it's worth you were a great Transfiguration Professor." He then used Reducto on Dumbledore's throat, breaking his windpipe. Dumbledore died within seconds as he choked to death, a living legend who was now just a legend.

On the other side of the castle, McGonagall felt a surge into her body, as the castle acknowledged her as the new Headmistress, and added to her magical power thus. She knew what this feeling represented, Dumbledore had explained it to her, and it saddened her greatly, so much so that she left the front line of the Gryffindor attack and walked to the rear to collect herself. Her feeling was confirmed a few seconds later when Justin got on the horn.

"Dumbledore's dead folks, Voldemort killed him just now." He didn't give any details over the mirrors, not wanting any of the kids to hear any gory details. Voldemort was now regrouping for a time, and had more of his troops take down more of the ceiling on the other side, while he and a few others spent some time sealing up the Hufflepuff Common Room, trapping the students inside there (all the teachers assigned to them had by now been killed). He could hear the re-enforcements breaking through his rubble barrier, and got his troops ready.

By now, Gryffindor, with the help of the Anthony led Ravenclaws, had managed to wipe out their opponents, who had been led by Anton Dolohov and Walden MacNair, though the Death Eaters had put up a hard fight. The Gryffiindors, who person for person were the best fighters in the school, had only lost two students in total, though they were two students more than anyone had wanted have killed of course. Harry had them deploy to Hufflepuff as well, he knew that that's where it would come to eventually.

For now though, he had his own unit to worry about. He took stock of his own situation, he had not lost anyone just yet, and he estimated that Bella's force was down to thirty-three. After an interminable wait (which in reality was only a couple of minutes), Blaise was back on the mirror.

"We're in position Harry, we're close to their rearguard position, and they know that we're here."

"Freygang, how close can your guys get to them without getting nailed?"

"Close enough to take out a few of them before they know we're there, but nothing too sustained, I only have ten of us here, the rest are with your friend Biller."

"That is just what I want, get up there and kill at least three or four of them, then quick retreat……..and then taunt them a little bit. Bellatrix Lestrange is in charge over there, and she might respond to something like that…….all we need is a diversion, and we'll attack from our side."

Freygang motioned for his goblins to follow him, and they snuck around the corner…….and beheaded five Death Eaters that were not paying close enough attention to their rear duties. They retreated behind the corner, satisfied smiles on their faces. Biller appreciated this skillful demonstration, and added his own personal touch to the festivities, as he and a few others came up to the corner, and levitated the heads……….and then banished them straight at Bella and Draco (who had by now removed his hood and mask). To say that the two evil folk were surprised…………well let's just say that they didn't appreciate the gesture. Bella sent half a dozen Death Eaters back to recon and see what was behind them……..their screams could soon be heard all over this part of the castle as the goblins did some experimenting on them. The Death Eaters had just lost 1/3 of their force in just a couple minutes time.

While they were so distracted, Harry did his own sneaking up, in Ron's Invisibility Cloak (he hadn't carried his own with him), and soon the place was exploding with fireworks, blinding everyone but Harry, who finally got to use his knives as he hacked and slashed away, not waiting for Ron and the others to come up and join him…….though they did within seconds, and found that Harry had sliced and diced his way to eight Death Eater fatalities. They couldn't use Avada Kedavra or Reducto with Harry in there like a whirling dervish, so Stupefy was the order from Ron, and the entire unit slammed into the front of Bella's Death Eaters, with Harry in the middle and the goblins and friends in the rear. It was a rout, as Bella was too busy dodging to properly aim a spell……..though Draco managed to, killing Moody before being overcome with stunners from the twins. Harry himself had been grazed by two stunners, and was lying the ground exhausted, blood dripping from his two fighting knives (he had a spare in his robes as well), and the battle was over quickly, with ten prisoners this time, including Bella and her favorite nephew.

Freygang walked up to Harry and lifted him rather easily to his feet.

"Father was not kidding about you Harry Potter, that was some very impressive knife work……your muggle teacher would be very proud of you right now." Harry had long since given up wondering how the goblins knew everything about him, even something as secret as this, and he took the compliment as face value.

"Your help was invaluable Freygang, thank you."

"It was our pleasure." The bloodthirsty smile on the goblin's face gave truth to that statement. Harry looked at Bill:

"Are we taking prisoners today? None of the other groups seem to be doing it."

"They wouldn't be so kind to us Harry, I say we let Freygang and his boys have some trophies……..or would that be some 'more' trophies, eh Freygang?" Bill knew the goblin quite well from his own work at Gringotts.

"We can never have too many trophies, Bill Weasley. I will leave Lestrange and Malfoy to your good offices, while we take our prizes from the rest." And they did just that, leaving Harry and Bill to deal with the two leaders. Harry knew that they had to hurry a bit, Merlin only knew what Voldemort was doing right now at Hufflepuff…….but he had a sense that the castle defense could now be called a success, with only one Death Eater group still to be dealt with.

"Justin, what's the situation up there?"

"Voldemort has sealed us in the Common Room, I have most of my kids ready to go, but we can't get out of the room." This was a problem, but nothing could be done about it until he got there.

"I'll figure something out when I get there, Voldemort and his pocket are the only Death Eaters left. I'll call you when we reach you, just be ready." He had a thought and found where Neville was standing.

"Neville, could you come over here please?" He motioned for Neville to come and talk with him and Bill privately.

Neville walked over and saw Bella lying there, still unconscious. He had told Harry on Snape night that no small part of him wished that it could be a Lestrange being tortured instead of the grease ball that they were working on, and Harry could fully sympathize……..which is why he did this:

"Neville, if you want some private time with her…….." Neville looked like he had just found an extra Christmas present under the tree.

"Do we have time for that?"

"No, we'll stash her in Dumbledore's office and you'll retrieve her when the lockdown is finished, put her in a trunk or something, we'll figure it out."

"I want this Harry, yes. Thank you."

"You've earned it……and your parents earned it. I'm only sorry that the brothers Lestrange were skewered before, they could join her. Now get her in there and get back here quick, we need to go." Neville did just that, using Mobilicorpus and transporting her into Dumbledore's office, where he laid her right down on the desk………after making sure he had her wand and securing her with what seemed to be a kilometer of magical rope…….and a couple more stunners for good measure. He came back down to see Ron and Harry having a chat with a now conscious Draco.

"Hi there Draco, you remember us? Pothead and the Weasel I believe were your nicknames for us."

Draco responded with a string of expletives that are unfit for most readers to have to use their eyes on.

"Now, now, that was not nice Draco. Now we would love to stay and chat with you ferret, and find out especially what it was like to be Voldemort's stepson……..but we have to go kill your other dad, just like our archers killed your mother." Ron loved the look that this last comment got, and it wasn't something he would have said to anyone else.

"At least she lived longer than your pathetic mother Weasel!"

"And we will live longer than you will Drackie………well enough is enough. Xavier, Daniel, let Ron and me borrow your bows for a second." The two first years handed over the equipment, and their leaders drew back their arrows (Ron had seen enough movies to figure it out quickly enough).

"Goodbye Draco, say hi to your mom and dad for us." Harry and Ron fired their arrows at the same time, and from a distance of just a meter, killing him in a flash. Everyone was looking at them with stony expressions, there had been so much killing that no one could really take any satisfaction it any longer. They handed the bows back, and Harry addressed them all:

"All right folks, the entertainment is over, on to Hufflepuff so that we can finish this thing." He led the way down the stairs, toward the end of it all.

Luna and Anthony had begun to make progress in getting rid of the rubble that was separating them and Voldemort's last group, but they were slowed considerably by the Death Eaters sticking their wands through any holes and firing off killing curses, which did hit two people before the they wised up and started dismantling from afar……….which drew it out, and allowed Voldemort some peace and quiet with which to draw up a plan.

He knew that Potter was coming soon, and the lack of help that he himself was getting gave truth the Dumbledore's words that his people were likely losing pretty badly. He had to admire the plan that Harry came up with, but couldn't get past his feeling that with Potter gone, everything else would fall into place…….and he knew that he could win a duel with Potter, who if he had been as busy killing as Dumbledore had claimed, would be pretty tired……plus Voldemort knew that he had his ace-in-the-hole right in his right pocket. What he had to do was demoralize the lad some more, break his spirit………and the solution was right there on the other side of the rubble. He went up to the men he had stationed there, who were randomly firing at the other side.

"Cease firing now, and when the pile is gone, make sure you herd Lovegood to me, I want to deal with her myself." The Death Eaters thinking was that this was a bit harebrained, didn't they want to kill everyone they could ahead of time?………they didn't say this though of course, and they did obey. Ruptures in the pile began to appear, done by the long distance Reducto spells used from the other side, mostly on the top. Once the pile was down to just under two meters, Voldemort stationed his troops right in front, and stood up there himself.

"Only fire on my command, let them get closer."

"Yes Master."

The Hogwarts people had noted the lack of firing now, and moved closer to the rubble pile………and this was a key place where another copy of the Map would have come in handy……they would have noticed that Voldemort was directly on the other side, and he was carefully moving the rubble in front of him.

Luna and Anthony led the mass of students behind them, and got within three meters of the pile when it came………the Death Eaters on each side of their Master pushed the rocks down and Voldemort targeted his prize:

Accio Luna Lovegood!

Luna found herself flying over the rubble, and as soon as she landed was hit with the most pain she had ever experienced, courtesy of Cruciatus……….from Pettigrew and Percy, who were soon joined by their boss as they tortured Luna harshly. The other Death Eaters opened up on the rest, killing Terry Boot and Stephen Cornfoot right away, and killing Liz Mullane and Marietta Edgecombe in the second volley. The Ravenclaws were forced to retreat again, but eventually got the rubble down to where it didn't act as a protective wall for the Death Eaters……….this did not help Luna at all though. She was put under Cruciatus for five minutes, by three people, before Voldemort decided to save his energy again, and that of his two lieutenants. Luna was unconscious, but he spoke to her anyway:

"Don't worry Lovegood, Potter will be joining you soon enough." With that, he lazily drew his wand back:

Avada Kedavra!

Luna stopped twitching, and was now dead.

The reinforcements arrived just two minutes later, and Anthony was forced to tell Harry and Joe that Luna had been taken (Harry had not been paying too close of attention to the Map on the journey over). Harry looked up only to hear Voldemort's Sonorus voice taunting him from around the corner:

"Oh Potter! I have just had the pleasure of killing another one that you love…….are there any left? Or shall we just deal with each other now?" Ron and Neville reacted first, and whipped around the corner firing killing curses, catching the Death Eaters somewhat off guard. They were followed immediately by the rest of Harry's unit and soon the air was filled again with killing curses and Reductos……..and the light side forces gave into their hate and let it pour out of them. Harry briefly squeezed the shoulder of a weeping Joe Lovegood as he joined his friends

The Death Eaters had no choice but to fall back as they lost half their numbers in less than a minute, and Harry was at the front as he killed as many of them as he could………..indeed the Hogwarts people had so many spells in the air that none of the Death Eaters got any more kills…….and some spells even collided in mid-air, which did injure Ginny and Katie slightly. Once they climbed over what was left of the ceiling, they found only ten Death Eaters left……….three of whom included Percy, Pettigrew, and He Who Must Not Be Named.

Harry looked at the body of Luna lying on the ground and without thinking, rocketed forward, his wand out…………but so was Voldemort's, and at the same time they both screamed:

AVADA KEDAVRA!

End chapter