Someone was shouting from the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson of all people. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" There was indeed a collective movement, but it wasn't to grab Harry. Instead, all of Gryffindor and the DA, as well as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, moved to stand in front of him and turned their wands on Pansy, who squeaked and looked alarmed to have so many wands aimed at her.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." McGonagall spoke with a calm clarity, as if completely unconcerned for the fact that Voldemort had just contacted us all and once more assumed command over the masses. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow." The younger students all left, house by house, though a number of the older students stayed in order to help fight, and I had to admire their courage. Kingsley tapped me on the shoulder and had me follow him to the raised platform where McGonagall gave me a curt nod of her head and a quick tilt of her lips into a faint smile as Kingsley then addressed those who remained.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers – Ravenclaw, Astronomy and Gryffindor – where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus, Arthur and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways into the school…"
"Sounds like a job for us." Fred called up, clapping a hand on George's shoulder so I nodded my head in agreement before Kingsley then nudged me, signalling I should also take the lead.
"Voldemort will be summoning everyone under his command, which means Death Eaters, werewolves, snatchers, dementors and the likes. Members of the DA, over here." I pointed and everyone rushed to move as I naturally began to formulate plans in my head in order to combat what was coming for us, intending to maximise our effectiveness. "Alright. Luna, Cho, Ernie and Seamus, I remember you all were brilliant with your patronuses. You take dementor duty. Neville, I presume Professor Sprout will have a great arsenal of plants that will be effective in combatting the enemy, take anyone who is proficient with herbology to help you set up, I want you all manning as many staircases as you can. If you're spread too thin, set traps. Now, for the werewolves, my dad – Sirius Black – will focus on them, but I'll need volunteers to help us keep them under control." Hands shot up in the air and I quickly selected a few of them before laying out my own plans.
Since dad and I, as animagi, would be less effected by werewolf venom, it was safest for us to fight them. Dad would lead the team, drawing them into a trap which I would set up for them whilst the others stunned them from above. Kingsley was continually nodding his head in approval as I then divided up the remaining members of the Order, which included a number of ex-aurors such as Moody, with groups of students who would man certain points of the castle. I noted that those paired with Moody looked rather relieved, knowing from his reputation to be one of the very best.
Just as I was concluding my plan, I noticed several more people that I hadn't seen before. Percy was there with his family, so once I was done I ran down to them and tackled him with a hug. "You understood the message then?" I asked him after letting him go, his ears slightly pink the way most of the Weasley boys' did whenever they were embarrassed or happy. Fixing his glasses, Percy managed a rather nervous smile.
"Yes I did. It was time I came home to my family." Smiling, I punched him on the shoulder and told him he was a prat for taking so long to figure it out. Meanwhile, Fred and George were gaping at me.
"Message? What message? Why were you and Percy sharing messages?"
"Because dung-brains, Percy was one of my informants in the ministry. He's been spilling secrets for months now." Molly gave a gasping sob then hugged her son again, clutching him close as Arthur looked completely stunned yet proud at the same time. "Besides, don't you two have jobs to do?"
"Right, better get to it George." They dashed off and, turning around, I came face to face with Cedric. I choked on some weird noise made from gladness, relief and a little concern as his handsome face was rather bruised. My arms flew about his neck and he caught me around the middle, squeezing me securely as we gripped onto one another tightly. Over his shoulder, I saw Amos Diggory and his wife – Ced's mother – as well as a great number of Ministry workers who had followed him and Percy here, all of them with their wands at the ready and receiving orders from teachers and the Order.
"So this is it." Cedric said to me, grey eyes boring into mine. "Just so you know, I'm glad I joined the fight, and I'm grateful you pulled me into it."
"Don't talk like that." I groaned, placing my hands on his shoulders almost naturally as his hands remained at my waist. "You make it sound like it'll be my fault if you got hurt. In any case, what happened to your pretty face? Chances are if it was a Death Eater, we'll see them again tonight, so point them out and I'll get revenge for you." He laughed at that, his bright grey eyes dancing and I noted how completely unmarred they were despite the heavy bruising around them.
"Some of them caught on what was happening at the Ministry. A lot of people are forced to work late these days, but when the message got shared around what was happening at Hogwarts, people started to leave. I went to go get dad, make sure he got out alright so he could go into hiding or something, but he announced he was going to fight too. This," waving a hand at the bruises, I listened with my full and undivided attention. "This was from one of the spells exploding the fireplace we were trying to get through. Yaxley, I think."
"I'll get him." I promised before I had to let him go as I had so much I needed to do, and so little time to do it. There were traps to be set, more people to call, creatures to summon, and those further afield needed to be made aware of what was going on. I only hope Fawkes reaches them in time and they can get here quickly. As I ran, I fired off spells in every direction. At the floors, the walls, the windows, the statues and columns, and into the air. I transfigured everything I passed, turning them into something useful. I created a pride of lions out of tables and chairs in a classroom and had them guard the corridor, I had giant birds swooping overhead and when Orion returned, I sent him to the owlery in order to rustle up the owls there. They were smart, intelligent, and Orion could lead them. We were so desperate for people, we needed everyone we could get. Including the Hogwarts owls.
I saw Grawp running across the grounds with Hagrid riding on his shoulder, making me smile briefly before I continued with making my traps on as many floors as I could reach, whilst also keeping an eye out for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hurtling around a corner, I had just slashed my wand outwards to charm a waterfall out of the wall to start flooding the corridor and stairs to be used as a deterrent to keep the Death Eaters from wanting to come up here, when I came face to face with someone I did not expect to ever see again. I shrieked. "Pettigrew!"