A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy:))

Chapter 131: Old friend

Harry's lessons with Dumbledore were, while admittedly sparse, quite revealing. He had found out, and told us about the Horcruxes; well, most of them. The headmaster didn't really seem willing to tell my brother about the two of us and Voldemort's soul, even though I had a hunch that Harry already suspected something. That had to be dealt with at some point, but not now. Now we had more pressing matters at hand; or at least we were going to have.

Dumbledore's health was going downhill and it seemed as though there was nothing to do to help him; even if there was, I couldn't know, as he always kept his dome up around me because apparently, the loss of some of my powers didn't make the dark magic related nausea go away as well. Still, as I was saying, things were going, for the most part, suspiciously well at Hogwarts. But we started relaxing, finally calming our always alert minds. And that ended up badly.

The moment we thought everything was fine, we were proven wrong. One month before the end of school, we were woken up in the middle of the night by loud bangs. At first, I thought that maybe they were in my head, or that they would stop soon. But they didn't, and, unfortunately, the dizziness that I felt told me exactly what they were: dark magic, with the sole purpose of destruction. But what was it trying to destroy, and why was there so much noise? Opening my eyes, I got up and looked around, noticing that everyone was probably just as confused as I was; we all headed for the window and the sight left us breathless.

The big, magical protecting dome around the school, the one that was usually not visible to the naked eye, now shined with a purple light for the most part, engulfing the castle and grounds in its magic; but there was, next to the gate, a shapeless patch of muddy darkness, that kept appearing and disappearing. It was too dark to see who was responsible for it, but what was happening was more than obvious: someone was trying to break through the wards; and someone powerful by the look of it, or they wouldn't have been able to challenge the old magic in the first place.

"What's that?" Lavender asked Hermione, terrified, half hiding behind her.

"I think those are the school's protection wards."

"Yep, they are. And I hope they'll hold. That is very dark magic there. Who knows what those people may want once they get to the castle?"

"Oooh, I think you know exactly what I want, you foolish girl. You and your brother will not stop me this time."

"Ahhh!" I scrunched my face and my hand shot towards my birthmark.

"Harry. Let's go get Harry."

The three of us (because Parvati was home and Lavender was afraid to remain in the dorm all by herself) walked down the stairs to the common room and then up to the fifth year boys' one, knocking slightly and opening the door without waiting for any kind of answer. They were in a similar position as we had been a few minutes earlier, all five in front of the window, Harry already half on the floor, pressing his forehead with his palm, Ron trying to get him to say what was happening. I rushed over to him and pulled him in my arms, kneeling on the floor.

"It's okay, we'll be fine. But we should wake the others up. Alert the teachers and prepare the students for an eventual hurried escape. Mione, help me send patronus messages."

"But I don't know h-"

"It's easy, just like this" I told my friend, getting up and uselessly straightening my pyjamas, conjuring my Occamy and speaking clearly into the pointy end of my wand:

"Alert state, unidentified powerful dark wizard indenting to breach the wards. Most probably in the company of Voldemort. Strengthen the protection spells and keep young students safe." And then the flash of silvery light flew off to Minnie and the other teachers.

"Your patronus is an Occamy? Do you know how rare magical animals are as Patronuses???"

"I know Mione, and I promise I'll let you geek over this later, but please, can we focus on the matter at hand?"

"Of course." She shook her head, regaining composure and conjured her otter, doing as I had shown her and sending it to the prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl.

"Now what?" they all turned to me.

"Now we wake the other Gryffindors up and gather the DA. They take the young students to the Room of Requirement and stay with them until all of this is over. Hopefully they won't breach the wards, but if they do, we have to keep the small ones safe. Although I'm in no way entitled to tell any of you what to do."

"Maybe, but you know the castle far better than us, and you're the only one who can feel the dark magic." Hermione stated, while we were heading for the common room again.

"What? How do you know about that?"

"It's called research. Besides, I'm not blind."

We split up and put the plan in action; fifteen minutes later, everyone from fourth to seventh year, the teachers and the ghosts were gathered in the Great Hall, waiting for Dumbledore to tell us what we could do.

The headmaster was looking worse than ever, the blackness of his right hand now tainting the side of his neck as well, and deep dark circles were visible under his eyes. Even the usual twinkle was almost gone from the ocean blue orbs.

"Students, teachers and ghosts, as you probably know by now, the school is under attack. We do not know for certain how grave the danger is, but best be safe than sorry. It has been brought to my attention that the younger children have been taken to a safe location along with some trained students. I would like the rest of you to stay here while Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick and I find out what the situation is outside more exactly.

"Dumbledore, I'm not sure you should-"

"Hush Severus, I'm fine."

"Sure, just peachy."

"The cold air wont kill me. I think I can survive a trip outside."

But he didn't. Merely a few minutes after the door closed behind them, the entire castle shook from the foundation...

"Those would be the wards."

...followed by shouting and finally, a couple of blinding green lights, one a few moments apart, shining in front of the high windows. Silence fell over the Great Hall, no one daring to even breath, until, eventually, three of the four teachers that left barged in, disheveled and out of breath, haunted and confused looks sculpted into their features.

"It was Grindelwald. Voldemort brought Grindelwald. And then killed him as soon as Dumbledore was dead." Severus told us, a disbelieving look on his face.