Ministry of Magic

Every single able bodied Auror had been summoned. They stood in their ranks before General Longbottom and the Master Auror, Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody. The master Auror paced up and down their files, checking that their armour and kit were in order while the General and the head of DMLE, Madame Bones, looked on.

Frank asked Moody, "Master Auror, where is Auror Captain Sirius Black?"

Alastor left off flicking an imaginary spec of dust from one Auror's uniform to answer, "Sir, Auror Captain Black is on ten days leave with Auror Emmeline Vance-Black for their honeymoon. We attempted to reach them in Ireland, but there has been no response."

Frank scowled, "I suppose that Auror Tonks is absent for the same reason and Remus Lupin with her?"

Moody nodded grimly, "Yes Sir."

Frank shook his head exclaiming, "Merlin's beard! We cannot postpone the attack! That trigger has already been pulled. We need Sirius. He's the only one Lord Peverell will listen to. And we need Lupin to lead the werewolves." He paused to huff out a breath, "Fine. Finish reviewing the troops. I'll send my elf to fetch them. I just hope they can join us before it's too late for them to do any good."

After another ten minutes, every Auror had been inspected and accounted for. They stood at attention, every bit of equipment in its proper place, every eye facing front. At that moment, Alastor was nearly overcome with a deep sense of pride in these warriors, any of which he would be grateful to claim as his own son or daughter. He started addressing them, "Right then! Just look at yourselves."

He paused while the Aurors looked themselves over, "Less than a year ago, most of you hardly knew one end of your wand from the other when it came to dueling. You were weak, slow and might I add, not to bright, but we took you in anyway." There was some grumbling at that last remark, "But no more! Here, now, you are the best trained law enforcement officers on the planet. Today is the day we have been training for. Today we cross wands against those who call themselves death eaters. Today we fight for those who have faith in us. Today is the day that we raise our heads and defy those who threaten our freedom, our culture and our way of life. Today we fight for Wizarding Britain and for our future. That son-of-a-squib with delusions of grandeur and his band of psychopaths is trying to undo what we have achieved through the centuries. We are going to stop them. Today, we will prove that there is no force or power that can threaten us and hope to live. Make no mistake. This is blood war. There will be no prisoners. Your orders are to annihilate the enemy, nothing less."

At this, he paused briefly then said, "One more thing… Come back alive. There will be no posthumous Order of Merlin awards. We don't decorate people for being stupid. Is that understood!?" He slammed the heel of his staff on the polished floor for emphasis.

He looked on in approval at the fierce expressions on the faces of his Aurors. First one raised his wand to shower sparks out of the end. Then a few more joined in then another and another until they all had their wands shooting sparks as they stood at attention, saluting their teacher and leader. This was the man that inspired them to be the very best they could be. In his heart, Alastor hoped that would be good enough.

When Frank began to speak, they all doused their wands and listened, "You will all follow your captains and do as they bid you to. Remember, we duel to kill. Take no prisoner. Lord Peverell will be leading the battle. His commands shall hold as much weight as my words do. We have made special arrangements for transportation to the sight of the battle today. You will proceed by companies through the departure point. No dawdling around as space will be tight and you will be required to make room for those that will come after you. Now move out! Dismissed!"

The ranks of crimson robes made an impressive sight as each company followed their commander and each company followed upon the heels of the one before it.

While the Aurors marched from the assembly area, Moody turned to Frank, "General, any word on Black or Lupin?"

Frank shook his head, "No. I sent my elf to fetch them but he has not reported back yet. Hopefully they will be here soon. The portkey that Sirius took with him won't activate until tomorrow and the borders are closed. The only way they can get back in time to join us is by house elf. I just hope that Marty can find them."

Unexpected Help

While evacuation of the castle was underway, Harry walked up to Dumbledore, "Professor, when will the ministry be arriving?"

Dumbledore smiled and pointed to the vanishing cabinet kept in the corner of the Great Hall, "I am waiting for them to arrive, Harry. In fact, they should be here any moment now."

A few minutes later, the door of the vanishing cabinet opened and Frank stepped out, grinning, "Is it too late to join the party, Head Master?"

Dumbledore beamed at him, "Most welcome, General. We were awaiting your arrival."

Harry, Vikram and Dumbledore joined the General after having greeted Amelia and Alice. Soon, Aurors were stepping out of the cabinet, two at a time, as fast as the cabinet doors could shut and open again. The students' eyes spread in wonder. Column after column of Aurors formed up as each company arrived in the Great Hall. The students who had decided to fight remained. In the meanwhile Fred, George and others who were evacuating students had returned to the Great Hall.

When the Master Auror stepped from the cabinet and the doors closed for the last time, Harry turned to Frank, "General, where are Sirius and Remus?"

Frank's brow was creased in concentration, "Sirius's holidays aren't supposed to end until tomorrow. I suppose he didn't know that the battle is today. I have not been able to reach him in Ireland. The same goes for Bill and Fleur who are honeymooning in France."

Harry frowned, "I tried to reach them with the mirrors but somehow that hasn't worked either. I thought he would have kept you updated."

Frank shook his head, "No. I guess those four are going to miss this battle and so will the werewolves who are at the plantation."

"It will the day that hell will freeze over before I miss out on this battle, General", Sirius said as he strode through the main doors of the Great Hall, dressed in his crimson Auror robes with the basilisk hide armour that Harry had commissioned for him underneath, his hair tied back and a pair of heavy-duty dragon-hide boots on his feet. Striding beside him was Emmeline Vance in her uniform robes, dressed for war. Right behind them were Tonks similarly atttired and Lupin wearing a lighter shade with his armour, his hair cropped short, the feral grin of the hunting wolf on his face, beside her. Forming a neat double column behind them were the fighting werewolves of the plantation wearing the same uniform robes as Lupin, sporting the Peverell crest. As Tonks and Emmeline split off to join with their company, where Alastor was standing, Harry rushed Sirius and Lupin to sweep them up in a group hug.

He said, "I missed you two. I thought you might miss the battle."

Sirius patted him on the back, "There's no chance of that, pup. We have waited too long for our revenge."

Harry let go of them and then asked, "Why didn't you answer your mirror? I called you dozens of times."

Sirius pointed to Remus, "This idiot wolf sat on my mirror and shattered it into a million pieces. What's more, he left his mirror at the Rosier estate so that we could keep in touch with his werewolves. Fat lot of good that did."

Remus grumbled while rubbing his rump, "it still hurts. Those mirrors are coated with silver, you know."

While they were talking, people continued to file into the Great Hall. Behind the werewolves were the surviving members of The Order of the Phoenix with Bill and Fleur in the lead.

After the Order came the French Aurors and the Bulgarians, side by side with their leaders namely Monsieur Delacour and Madam Alexandrov.

Sirius looked around at the remaining students in the Great Hall. He turned to Harry, still dressed in his school robes and asked, "Don't you think that you and your friends should dress for the occasion, Pup?"

Harry realized that he was still dressed in his regular garb that he had worn to breakfast along with the rest of the Order of the Snow Leppard to keep them from being identified by unfriendly eyes. He addressed the students, "Alright, mates! Every one of you, get to your dorms, get into your battle gear and report back here on the double!"

As the students jogged out of the Great Hall and split off to their common rooms, Harry turned to Frank and asked, "How do our numbers look, General?"

Frank spread his arms, taking in the Great Hall and said, "Lord Peverell, what you see is what you get. I'm not expecting any more reinforcements to arrive."

Harry made a quick count, "Is there no one else we can call? I mean, these people know what they are about. I am confident we will carry the day, but if we could have more wands on our side, perhaps we will suffer fewer losses."

"Losses", he thought, "What a hollow word for the lives of his friends."

Frank answered, "I'm sorry, Harry. I appealed to every ministry of magic on the continent. I even tried the Americans and the Canadians. They were all very sympathetic of course, but they had things to look after at home an..."

He had to stop because suddenly they felt Albus go stiff and Harry turned to him, "Is something the matter, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore turned to him and Frank, "There are some guests at the outer gates who want admittance to the castle proper and the Aurors are stopping them."

Harry pulled out the Acacia wand and said , "Then let's go and see if they are friends or not, Professor."

Before they could, Vikram interrupted him, "Easy lad. I believe that these newcomers are friends."

Albus turned to him, "Friends?"

Vikram nodded, "Yes Albus. I give you my word for it. Allow them in and you will not rue it."

Albus sent a patronus and they waited. After about 10 minutes, a column of wizards started entering the Great Hall and Harry started to grin. The wizard in the lead was square jawed, his face marred by scars, his dark eyes were those of a man who had seen everything in the world. He raised his hands in salutation and said, "Harry Potter, Pradhan Acharya Shravya Vahan sends his regards."

Harry stepped forward and eagerly folded his hands before the other man, "Namaskar. Your timely arrival and aid was not looked for but thrice welcome. Thank-you for coming to Hogwarts in our hour of need. I thank Pradhan Acharya for sending you to us. I will repay you when the time comes."

At this, Markand laughed, "Prophesied one, there is nothing to repay. When your entire path is to serve others, there is no account kept."

Harry then turned to Dumbledore and Frank, "Allow me to introduce you both to Sarveshwar Markand, dueling master at Takshilla School of Magic."

Sarveshwar turned to Dumbledore, "It is an honour to have met you, Mr. Dumbledore. The tales of your brilliance crosses boundaries and can be heard even in Magical Bharat."

Dumbledore smiled genially, "I welcome you and your companions and their help and please convey my gratitude to your Headmaster, assuming it is him who sent you."

Sarveshwar then turned to Vikram, talking with him while Sirius again turned to Harry, "Pup, you are supposed to get ready. I will come with you."

"But why you?", asked Harry.

"Because you don't have a squire and I thought I could fill that role", said Sirius.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Alright, let's hasten though."

They raced out of the Great Hall at full speed and arrived in record time in the Gryffindor dormitory. Kreacher and Dobby were waiting for him there with his gear already laid out.

The first thing was to doff his school robes. The suit of armour he had retrieved from the family vault had been augmented with basilisk hide and Goblin workmanship. With very little effort, Sirius and Harry got it settled into place. It moved with him almost as a second skin, completely belying its weight and toughness. They then pulled on a pair of basilisk hide boots. These had similar enchantments to the armour. Next were the wand holsters, the double on the left arm for his sandalwood wand and the elder wand, one on the right arm for the acacia wand. When Sirius was satisfied that the holsters were secure, Harry charmed the wand holsters so that nobody else could see them. On his left hand, he wore the ring that had once been a horcrux along with the Lord rings for Peverell and Black. On his right hand, he wore the rest of the lord rings. When Sirius and the elves were satisfied that everything was properly fastened, Sirius fitted him with the battle robe which Vari had gifted to him on his birthday in India. These were bulkier than the dueling robes which Sirius had bought for him and these could take more curses before being damaged.

Harry took the time to retrieve his Firebolt and invisibility cloak from his school robes. Without restoring them to their proper size, he stashed the racing broom and the ancient cloak in secure pockets in his battle robes. Over the robes, Sirius helped him secure the back-scabbard with the Goblin wrought bastard sword in it. To top off the kit, Harry donned his battle mask and pulled the hood of his robes over his head. The sight made even his friends flinch away from him for a second.

Neville, who had just finished putting on his own gear, exclaimed, "Blimey mate! That mask inspired fear in me too, even if just for a second."

Unseen behind the mask, Harry grinned, "That is the idea, mate."

The bandolier of daggers was slung cross-ways to the sword scabbard and taking together, he looked formidable indeed.

Ron looked quite dire himself, decked out in basilisk hide armour with battle robes and dragon hide boots. He had his silver alloy sword strapped to his left hip. Although this sword was not Goblin wrought, it was toughened with the best enchantments Hermione and Harry could come up with. It could easily take the weight of a full-grown dragon without breaking and just as easily pierce its hide. Neville was dressed in similar fashion, his ancient Goblin wrought Carolingian sword strapped to his left hip and the even more ancient battle-axe with its head covered and strapped to his back.

Observing the three of them, Sirius said, "Looks like you young ones are ready to go."

The master of Death

When they came down to the Great Hall, they found that the men were organized into squads and Alastor was talking to Frank, looking concerned.

Harry walked up to them and asked, "What happened, General?"

"Harry, the death eaters have launched an attack on some muggle university in the town of Bangor in Wales. We're going to have to detach an entire company of Aurors to deal with it."

Harry looked to Vikram and asked, "Can't the Mystics deal with it?"

Vikram shook his head, "It is their report that we are acting upon. There are 30 death eaters and 100 dementors. We do not have so many here."

Harry growled, "It's a lousy diversion. They're trying to divide our forces." He asked, "That's pretty close to Cardiff isn't it?"

Frank shook his head as he pointed to two places that were separated by some distance in the South—West of England on the map that he and moody were studying before Harry interrupted them, "Not really, they are about 120 miles apart as the hippogriff flies. Why do you ask?"

Harry got a clear picture of where he needed to go in his mind. He had already worked out a solution. He asked Vikram, "Using your… type of travel, is it possible to take a hippogriff along for the trip?"

Vikram's eyes widened at the thought, "Only in legend has such a thing ever been tried. But, in that instance, the hippogriff was also the familiar of the Mystic. The legend says that it was done."

Harry grinned fiercely, "That is all I need to know." Turning to Frank he said, "I'll look after this. If I'm not back in half an hour, you can start the party without me."

Before Frank or anyone else could object, Harry turned to sprint from the Great Hall.

Frank called after him, "But Harry, you are our leader. You can't go personally. How can you deal with them alone?"

Harry turned back to show Frank the ring that had been a horcrux, the Elder wand in his right hand and the invisibility cloak in his left, a feral grin on his face, saying, "General, I am the war mage of Britain. What's more, I am also the Master of Death. They will regret wasting so many men."

That said, Harry sprinted to the main doors of the castle as he tugged on his bond with Blackstorm to meet him there.

Moody asked Frank, "What did he mean?"

Frank said wryly, "The Longbottom Vikings were only defeated by the Potter Alliance because Lord Hardwin Potter was the master of death. It refers to someone who holds the three hallows at the same time. I guess young Harry succeeded in uniting the three again. I pity those death eaters he is going to face."

No sooner did Harry see the light of day through the front doors of the castle than the shadow of the great hippogriff flaring his mighty wings to land blocked it out again.

Harry wasted little time exchanging bows with his familiar. With a gesture from his wand, he cast a disillusionment charm on Blackstorm. He donned the invisibility cloak over his battle robes and mounted Blackstorm. Through his bond, he communicated his intentions. The hippogriff seemed intrigued by the idea. Then Harry carefully concentrated on the air high over Bangor. As he and his steed became one with the elements, he realized that size is not important. To his surprise, the translocation was even easier bringing Blackstorm with him. The next moment, the front doors of the castle were gone, replaced by the cold air, high over a small town that boasted a cathedral and a university campus. He had aimed for a place high in the air to be sure that there would be no entanglements with trees, buildings or terrain. He also wanted a commanding view of the attack in progress before he swooped in to do his damage.

With Harry laid tight against his back, Blackstorm dove toward the chaos below. It was plain that there were dementors everywhere, attacking the muggles that couldn't even see them. With two quick jabs from the Elder wand, Harry sent two snow leopard patroni diving ahead of him. To the sight of the death eaters and dementors below, the brilliant apparitions seemed to erupt from thin air and charge at them. As the gray slimy cloaked things fled, the death eaters looked for the source of those powerful charms. They were all conveniently grouped up in a wedge formation, using their wands to inflict damage on people and property as they went.

Harry drew one of the grenades that the twins had made from his robe, pulled the pin and tossed it into the middle of their formation as he told Blackstorm to pull up.

Most of the death eaters had the presence of mind to dive away from the rapidly expanding cloud of gas, but ten of them died as they took their next breath. With the dementors gone and fully a third of their attack force already dead, the death eaters were off-balance, disoriented and were certain that a small army was attacking them.

While they searched for the cause of their sudden turn of fortune, Harry landed Blackstorm on a nearby roof. He lightly leapt the 15 feet to the ground and casually strode over to face the remaining death eaters, wielding the elder wand in his right hand with the sandalwood wand in his left. Although he was still wearing the invisibility cloak and his mask, they perceived him as a black cloud with the wands protruding from it. As one, the death eaters sent a wall of curses at the dark apparition.

Harry hissed in parsel tongue and earth rose to form a wall and block the barrage. The death eaters pummeled the earth wall with every curse they could imagine to break it down. While the death eaters wasted their strength, Harry raised both of his wands toward heaven and began chanting.

When at last the earth wall yielded before the combined might of the 20 death eaters, they were rewarded with the sight of a being entirely engulfed in flames, dancing as he chanted. Even from over 30 feet away, the heat was enough to make them sweat. As they gawked at the awful sight, fire began to rain down from the sky, burning everyone it touched.

These death eaters had been trained by the Germans. Most of them raised shields or conjured items to protect them. As soon as Harry realized that the fire from the sky wasn't going to do any more damage, he stopped the chanting. But four more death eaters would never curse anyone again.

With the odds down to 16 to one, Harry let the flames engulfing him continue to burn as he began the dance of death. In vain, the death eaters tried to destroy him, but none of their spells ever found their mark. At a speed too quick for the eye to follow, his wands disgorged one deadly curse after another. The death eaters' shields crumbled, rapidly followed by their heads parting company with their necks or important parts of their bodies rapidly expanding in a cloud of vapor.

In less time than it takes most people to tie their shoe-laces, no death eater remained alive.

The flame thing was a part of his heritage due to his being the Master of Death. Master of Death was used to refer to a person who had all three of the hallows. It was essential that not only one held the three hallows but that he was their master. The wand was returned to him by Dumbledore and by the forfeiture, the wand's allegiance had been turned to him. The stone had returned to him after the horcrux had been exorcised from it and the cloak had been in his family for generations ever since it was created. The master of death didn't mean that he was invulnerable or he couldn't be killed but it meant that he got to choose the mode of his death and everything else. Being the master of the hallows gave him a life longer than others and entrusted upon him a duty that no one else could do. He would become an enforcer for death killing those who cheated its ways. The first duty that he had in that role was to kill Voldemort and everyone who supported him. He would remain the master of death till he chose to give away those heirlooms and it was never considered safe to leave them with a single person lest they turned out to be an unscrupulous individual who had no morals or who intended to use the hallows for selfish gain or to wreck havoc on the world.

Harry took a moment to survey the scene and nodded to himself in grim satisfaction at the job that he had done. He had felt no vindictive pleasure as he killed those men but for the first time, the intensity of his actions sank in. He had single handedly killed all those death eaters and felt no emotion at all. For a second he thought he was going evil but discarded the notion when he felt the pang of remorse for having taken those lives. It was what kept him human and different from death eaters. They killed casually and often without reason or any remorse for all the lives they took but Harry knew that the sight of charred and mangled bodies about him would haunt his dreams for years to come.

The two mystics that had been observing the battle came out of hiding and began to clean the area. There would be a lot of obliviating today.

Harry tugged on his connection with the Hippogriff and Black Storm landed before him gracefully. He mounted up and together they translocated to the sky over Hogwarts.

Although they had not been gone long, when they flew over the castle, he found that the wards had been breached and the death eaters were entering the grounds of Hogwarts. The battle of Hogwarts had begun.

Hogsmead

When the death eaters started appearing with the popping of displaced air around the outskirts of the wizarding village, everything was deathly quiet. It looked like even the air was holding its breath, collectively waiting for something that would break the quiet of the atmosphere.

A column of death eaters was in the lead commanded by Lucius Malfoy who proceeded cautiously. He sent men to surround the village, erect anti-disapparation wards and anti-portkey wards so the residents would have no chance to retreat or run and inform the ministry about them.

Soon, everyone was in position when the last death eater apparated to his place around the outside of the village. As the death eaters who had surrounded the village started moving towards the perimeter, one of them tripped the caterwauling charm. The charm went off sending loud bursts of horse neighing through the surrounding area. The handful of Aurors who were in the village heard the alarm and tried to disapparate to the doors of Hogwarts. When that failed, they mounted brooms and blasted their way through the perimeter in a flying wedge formation. It was time for battle.

The death eaters methodically went through every house and shop in the village but found no one. The entire village was deserted. Pieces of the puzzle started to fit in for Voldemort. The ministry had prepared for their arrival and waited for them. Very probable that the ministry had laid this elaborate trap for them and waited with everything in its arsenal.

Well there was nothing for it now. The horcruxes were there and that could not wait anymore. If he waited, the old fool would destroy them all.

Suddenly, Voldemort felt his world spinning again and his knees weakened. He had to hold on to a tree to keep himself from falling down and crumpling like a sack of potatoes. Wagner noticed this and averted his eyes. An inferior is never supposed to see his superior in a weakened condition.

Voldemort's mind was racing. He thought, "Two! That's two of my tethers just this morning. And then that unexplained fainting last summer. The ring, the locket and the cup… They must be all gone. That means that only Nagini and the diadem are left to me." For a brief moment, he felt mortal terror, but that was quickly surpassed by rage, "These mere mortals that seek to slay me… First they shall know fear. Then they shall know despair. And finally, only death."

Wagner called him back from his musings, "What are your orders, my Lord?"

With an act of will, Voldemort pulled his mind back from contemplating the demise of those that presume to threaten him. He turned to Wagner, "Assemble our forces, Emmett. We go to challenge those who call themselves the defenders of the light."

The force that approached the main gate of the castle wall appeared to be all the minions of Voldemort. The dark lord himself was at their head. Lucius Malfoy lead the troops. When they were within hailing distance of the gates, with a gesture from Voldemort, they came to a halt. The dark lord took a few more steps toward the gates before he put his wand to his throat to amplify his voice. He could feel the formidable war wards of Hogwarts forbidding him to advance any further.

He expected to see defenders on the walls and in the gate towers, but there seemed to be nobody in sight. How could this be? Surely they knew he was coming. Were they so arrogant that they believed the war wards alone could stop him? Were they cowards, evacuating the castle rather than facing him?

From the calculations that Wagner had made, he had surmised that Voldemort had the superiority in numbers. The ministry had kept killing his death eaters yet he had more in reserve and now at the final hour, his numbers were bigger than the ministry. The Ministry must know that too. Perhaps they had chosen to concede this battle to live and fight another day. Very well, if that was the case, Voldemort would be retrieving the diadem and be on his way… leaving the castle in ruins, of course.

His voice boomed out, "Harold Peverell, I know you are in there. I stand here at the gates of Hogwarts with my men to wage a war if that must be so. However Lord Voldemort is merciful and values magical blood. I invite you to parley with me here at the gates of Hogwarts in good faith and decide the fate of the wizarding world. If you and your allies will bend your knee, I will let go of all the insults, hurts and injuries that you have caused me and let you and your allies leave. Come while there is time so we can decide the matter without bloodshed."

Harry had only left seconds ago. Since he did not fly over the walls or leave through the gates, he had not seen Tom's forces marching up to the main gates. That left Frank Longbottom and Albus Dumbledore to address the challenger. They had no expectation that Harry would return for at least half an hour. Frank asked Dumbledore, "What do you think, Albus? Shall we talk with him?"

Albus nodded, "We may as well. It will pass the time until Harry can return to speak for himself. Besides, our forces can use the time to get into position."

While they spoke, some brooms under disillusionment charms took to the air. Some flew out to crew the catapults while others took up position high over the castle. The guards in the gate towers remained out of sight as did the defenders on the walls. Students, Aurors, French and Bulgarian units took up their stations in and around the castle. The herbology students took up their places along the lines of deadly plants between the green houses and the black lake. From the outside, the castle just looked deserted. There orders were to stay out of sight and keep silent unless attacked until they received further orders.

Dumbledore and Frank went ahead to meet Voldemort at the gates. When Voldemort saw them, the corners of his mouth curled upwards, "Dumbledore, you have come to negotiate in his stead? How very wonderful. You are wiser than him and you understand the risks. And you have brought your General with you. Where is the boy?"

At this, the General smiled, "You presume much, Mr. Riddle. Lord Peverell Has better things to do than listen to the rantings of a mad man. So, he sent us down here to listen to your demands."

The snake faced man was no longer even pretending to smile. He said, "Such insolence! Is that what you teach your students in the castle now, Dumbledore. Alright, let's deal with it like adults."

Dumbledore took a lemon drop from his pocket, popped it in his mouth, savoring the taste of the citrusy delicacy on his tongue taking his time to reply while Voldemort fumed, "Tom, you do get the news paper where you've been hiding out I trust? You see, this is the way of it… After the attack on Hogsmead in which some of my students were murdered or permanently disfigured by people under your direct command, Lord Peverell declared a blood war. The lives of you and all your followers for that matter, are forfeit. The General and I have pledged ourselves to his cause. It may seem a little upside-down, but we answer to Harry in this matter. Now, won't you state your demands so that we may take them to our commander?"

Frank was standing stoically beside Dumbledore eyeing the serpent slithering around Voldemort's shoulders. He longed to pull out his wand and blast the snake to smithereens but he was sure that Voldemort must have taken precautions to protect her.

"Make that child see reason, Dumbledore. There is no need for so much precious magical blood to be spilt. You and everyone else have to bend the knee and accept my suzerainty. I will spare every one of you and I want some artefacts of mine that I believe are in your care."

Frank said, "You are too presumptuous. We will take your demands back to Lord Peverell as we have said. No more than that. If you think we can make him agree to anything or even that we will attempt to persuade him on your behalf, you are very much mistaken. And for the record, your actions show that you care very little for precious magical blood when you have wiped out one pure-blood family after another in your pursuit of power." He looked at the forces arrayed behind the pretender and said, "Today you and your followers shall account for the lives you have taken, the blood lines you have ended."

Voldemort hissed, "Brave words, Longbottom. I will make you eat them before I make you beg for death. The rules of parley protect you now, but when next we meet…"

Dumbledore, the corners of his beard twitching and eyes sparkling, gave out a whistle. Fawkes appeared over the heads of Dumbledore and Frank, hovering in place. They both reached up to take the phoenix by the tail and the trio vanished in a burst of flames.

Voldemort roared in rage with his amplified voice, "10 minutes is all you have and then you will face the wrath of Lord Voldemort."

As they reappeared in the Great Hall, Dumbledore beckoned Neville forward, "Is everyone in position, young Neville?"

"Yes Headmaster. Ernie has seen to the Greenhouses side. Another team with Rupert is by the lakeshore. There are students on the Astronomy tower in their positions. There are people ready waiting in ambush in the Transfiguration courtyard. Seamus has been sent to the bridge to demolish it. Hermione is with a team just inside the double doors. Susan is on the Astronomy Tower with others as she feels that it's there that Harry will arrive. Hagrid and a herd of hippogriffs are lying in wait on the edges of the Forbidden Forest. He has also mustered a great many creatures who are ready to help him. And finally, we have a few under disillusionment spells, on brooms, in the air as scouts."

Dumbledore nodded, "We have 10 minutes until they begin the attack. I guess he is just waiting for his forces to get into position."

Neville nodded, "Yes Headmaster. We are ready."

Dumbledore nodded, "Then it is time."

He turned to Minerva, "You know what to do, Minerva. I in my authority as Headmaster authorize you to perform the spell."

Neville turned to McGonagall, "What spell?"

She grinned, "Wait and watch." She raised her wand and intoned loudly, 'Piertotum locomotor'."

Neville watched in fascination as all the suits of armour and statues in every nook and cranny of the Great Hall and the ground floor came to life. They started creaking their joints and standing, brandishing their weapons of stone or steel. Neville could hear a similar commotion from the upper floors and could feel that the statues and the suits of armour had come to life all around the castle.

McGonagall was directing them, "Hogwarts is threatened. Man the boundaries. Do your duty to our school. Help us in thwarting the attack."

The statues started moving out in formation and spilled out of the double doors to the boundaries. The students watched them leaving in awe. The animated army readied itself just on the inside of the double doors then posed there, weapons raised, as still and silent as statues. They formed double rows on both sides of the passageway, leaving very little room to pass down the centre.

As the ten minutes crept by, the door to the vanishing cabinet in the Great Hall opened again. By the time the foot clad in a dragon hide combat boot hit the floor, about 50 wands were already pointed at it. The foot was quickly followed by the rest of the compact, well-muscled form of Oliver Wood, with his team branded Firebolt in hand. He was grinning like a maniac as he asked, "Is it too late to join the party?"

Wood's old quidditch team mobbed him while a number of wizards emerged from the cabinet, two by two as fast as the door could cycle. They were a wild assortment of witches and wizards from the muggle-born network and former students that had come running when they heard that there was going to be a battle.

When Mr. O'Neal emerged from the cabinet, Frank greeted him warmly, "O'Neal! I can't say how good it is to see you! I can't thank you and your people enough for the work you've already done."

Mr. O'Neal smiled broadly in response, "General, My men are yours to command."

Without a moment's hesitation, he responded, "Right then. Send six of your best pairs of eyes to the top of the Astronomy tower and relieve the students there. Have the rest report to Heiress Greengrass for assignment."

O'Neal looked narrowly upon the General as he asked, "We came to fight. What are these assignments?"

Frank said as gently as he could, "No insult intended, my friend. Everyone you see here has been drilling in combat for nearly a year straight. They know their duties. I do not want to put your people in harm's way if I can avoid it. Besides, no matter what I do, some of your people may end up fighting anyway. In that case, Merlin help you."

O'Neal gave the assembled forces a second look. Every single one of them was trim, fit and armoured. He conceded the point, "Yes sir. I'll let them know right away."

Frank looked to the vanishing cabinet again and it occurred to him to ask, "How did you get here anyway?"

At this, O'Neal chuckled, "It was our mutual friend downstairs at the ministry. When your forces mobilized earlier today, he let me know. Of course, we have kept track of potential combatants who were former students here and Oliver just happened to be taking brunch when the word came in. He was most eager to join us. Well, we all formed up, flooed to the Ministry and were quickly conducted to the vanishing cabinet in the staging area. And here we are. A few more may trickle in, those who were not able to assemble in time to join the main body."

The battle begins

As Dumbledore and Frank had supposed, the pretender had not granted ten minutes as a boon, but to allow time for his forces to get into their positions. A handful of students arrived in the Great Hall as the members of the Muggle Born Network had replaced them on the top of the Astronomy tower. Susan was not with them as she had chosen to remain on look-out. The forces at the front gate seemed to account for all of Voldemort's forces, but Dumbledore knew this was a deception. The brooms high overhead had spotted movement in the Forbidden Forest and along the far shore of the Black Lake. The Giants had yet to be spotted.

The minutes ticked by as everyone waited for the death eater attack to begin. They expected that it would be hard to nearly impossible to bring down the wards so they hoped that the invading force would exhaust themselves in the effort.

The death eater army was on the edges of the wards. Wagner had already stationed them at every access point. He had even arranged for boats to cross the Black Lake. On his signal, the wards would be assailed from every angle at once and the forces of light would find themselves surrounded with no magical defense. That is, if the ward breakers had earned their gold. The giants had come over the mountains at the back of the castle. They were itching to go and crush the wizards. They remained out of sight, behind the last rank of foothills. Where their bloodlust made them restless as they waited for their turn to attack.

The last forces to get into position WERE the main attack body under Corbin Yaxley. They were positioned along the ward line in the Forbidden Forest. When they were ready, he signaled Voldemort by pressing his wand to his dark mark.

Like a conductor signaling his orchestra, Voldemort raised his wand, his death eaters following the gesture. He took a single step forward and unleashed a Bombarda Maxima. As the spell left his wand, his followers did the same, the wave of spells receding into the distance faster than the speed of sound. By the time the ripple reached the Forbidden Forest, the mighty war wards of Hogwarts were already beginning to crumble, the roll of thunder pealing through the air. The ward breakers had earned their pay indeed.

Barrage after barrage of spells hit the wards that continued to shake and crumble with each impact. Voldemort waited for the fifth volley to strike before he lifted his wand. He put all of his force into a single spell that struck the wards like a gong. With a terrible sound like rending steel and shattered stone, the last vestige of the wards yielded.

Gleefully, Voldemort raised his wand and shouted, "Charge".

Back in the Great Hall, Dumbledore staggered from the backlash and would have crumpled had Neville not caught him. He loudly exclaimed to Frank, "The wards are down!"

Frank frowned, "How can the wards be down? They should have stood up to that attack for hours at least."

"I don't know General but the wards are down. Take charge of the battle until Harry arrives."

Frank wasted no time arguing. Putting his wand to his throat, his voice carried throughout the castle and the grounds, "The wards are down. Brace yourselves."

Albus thought to himself, "If the wards are down, it has likely dispelled every bit of Fidelius magic that was contained within the wards. We must secure the catapults."

If he was able to talk to Alastor about the location of the catapults, that would confirm it.

He gestured to the Master Auror who came trotting over, "Aye, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore said, "Assign a company of Aurors to guard the catapults and their crew on the ramparts." That confirmed it, the Fidelius charm was gone!

To his credit, Moody didn't even blink. He just grabbed the nearest Auror and relayed the order.

Everywhere the leaders of the squads barked orders to their charges while the students grimly held their ground.

The first line of defense was the statues and behind them were the students just beyond the doors of the Great Hall. The defenders waited for the death eater army to come running through the grounds with their wands gripped tight.

It was not long before they could hear the jubilant, triumphant voices of the death eaters as they spilled through the main gates and into the grounds. A couple of death eaters over took Lucius and entered the double door at a run which had been left open a few inches to tempt them to try and storm the castle.

The death eaters were still several yards away from the double doors when suddenly every window and balcony on the front of the castle was filled with students and Aurors firing curses and hexes at the death eaters as they ran for the castle. Several went down under the first volley before the rest of them raised shields and started dodging. To the credit of the Germans that had trained them, most of the death eaters managed to reach the main doors.

The two that had run ahead of Lucius quickly discovered that being first wasn't always the best. Their magical shields were ineffective against the melee weapons of the animated statues and suits of armour. The first one went down when a Morningstar mace stove in his skull. They were quickly reduced to rapidly cooling pulverized masses.

Lucius, seeing the way things were going, restored his broom to its proper size and threaded the needle between the reach of the animated army and the top of the main doors. The death eaters behind him quickly followed his course of action. The death eaters that had not brought their brooms were repulsed when the suits of armour locked their shields together, forming a shield wall and drove them back out through the double doors. The shield wall kept driving them until they came under fire from the students and Aurors above them again. They had no choice but to retreat back to the main gates. They could not defend from the animated army and the spell fire from above at the same time.

Lucius who had stopped to see what was happening was surprised to see this strange force. He knew that he could not go back or the Dark Lord would have him killed. Lucius had decided that if he was going to die, it may as well be in the service of his lord but he wasn't going to get killed by some stupid piece of stone. He started blasting away at the animated forces to clear the way for the other death eaters. Those who were with him started doing the same.

Suddenly, he had to dodge a banishing spell that would have knocked him clean off his broom and into the murderous mass. When he looked up, he saw that the doors to the Great Hall were open and a force of mere students were blasting away at them, doing their best to repel the invaders.

He started firing curses back at them when suddenly he felt a stab of pain. He looked down to see that a statue had succeeded in impaling his foot with its spear. As Lucius blasted the statue into rubble with a reductor curse, something hit the broom and he fell to the floor. As he quickly rolled away from the statues and back onto his feet, he found himself face to face with the mudblood Granger.

He sneered, "Stand aside, you filthy little mudblood. You are no match for me."

Hermione stood calmly, her wand at the ready, neither the insult nor the threat had any impact on her. She simply replied, "you will have to prove that."

As an indicator of his arrogance, Malfoy opened with a killing curse. Hermione didn't even bother to block it. The statue that was about to stave in the death eater's head leapt into the path and was blasted into rubble. Through the cloud of dust, Hermione started firing curses of every colour at Malfoy. Her choices were inventive, fast and entirely non-verbal. The Malfoy lord was forced to continually renew his shield and dance as he was not able to identify more than half the curses coming his way. With a look of intense concentration, Hermione stood her ground and kept him on the defensive.

The other death eaters overhead were all gone. A few were on the ground, fighting groups of students. The rest were either dead or driven out. The floor was littered with bodies, but there were many more fallen statues and bits of armour scattered about.

There was a brief pause in the mud-blood's casting. Malfoy thought that the foolish girl had exhausted herself. He stopped dancing long enough to try cursing her again. As Hermione neatly side-stepped the curse, he was rewarded for his efforts with a spell chain that first shattered his shield, then bound his legs, finishing up with a Flipendo that sent him sprawling into the rubble. As he freed his legs, he could see that Hermione was not the least bit tired. She had been carefully conserving her strength. That barrage of spells had been a ploy, weaker spells that required very little energy. And now she was waiting for him to make the next move. The other remaining death eaters were each fighting groups of four students, but the mud blood was taking him on by herself.

Covered with dust, his foot still bleeding, Malfoy conjured a shield of ice and rolled back to his feet. He threw dark curses into the squads of students that were engaged with the other death eaters as Hermione frantically defended them. Nothing that she tried in the moments between stopping those curses seemed to have any effect on the shield of ice.

A Gryffindor broke off from one of the other groups and ran over to help Hermione, but without the protection of his fellows, a dark curse hit him in the chest and he fell sprawling near Hermione's feet. She could see that he was still alive, but maybe not for much longer if he didn't get help soon.

Malfoy took advantage of the distraction to fire a stream of dark curses at his bushy headed nemesis. Meanwhile, a few more death eaters had managed to make it past the statues while others continued to fight their way through.

Hermione continued to defend ably against every contrivance Malfoy could come up with. She even fired off a few spells to help the other students, but she was on the defensive now. To her horror, a death eater was advancing upon the student that had fallen near her when suddenly the death eater was thrown back and Mad Eye Moody came running out of the Great Hall with Kingsley on his tail. The tall black Auror immediately engaged two death eaters in mortal combat while Moody tried to intervene.

Lucius, sensing that the tables would turn if Moody joined Hermione, taunted her, "the little mudblood can't fight by herself?"

Before Moody could retort, Hermione shouted determinedly to Alastor, "Stay out of it, Master Auror. I will deal with him myself."

Moody realized that it was Hermione's moment to stand her ground. If he rushed in to help her now, even as she forbade it, that would be an insult to her. He engaged another death eater as Lucius roared, "Avada Kedavra". The emerald green jet rushed at Hermione as she lazily conjured a flock of canaries in the path of the spell rendering it ineffective.

She growled, "Malfoy. If you have any honour at all, you will duel me one-on-one. Tell your people to stay out of this… Or do you think you are no match for a single mud blood girl?"

Filthy, disheveled, bleeding, the colour mounting in his face, Lucius had no choice left to him. He called out, "This is between me and Granger! The rest of you lot, stay out of it."

With some satisfaction, Hermione bowed and waited. As if Malfoy were made out of granite as old as the Earth herself, he returned only the barest nod.

There was a lull in the general chaos as Alastor, Kingsley and the rest of the students took down the last of the death eaters in the entry hall.

As she raised her wand, Hermione said, "You brainless ponce. You will join your men shortly."

His face purple with rage, Malfoy fired off a long stream of vermillion, argent and crimson hexes. As if fighting with practice dummies, Hermione neatly shielded, side-stepped or blocked each curse as it came at her. Now that it was one-on-one, this was hardly a challenge.

Between bursts of Malfoy's spell-fire that lit up the entry hall, Hermione fired imaginative and nasty low-powered spell chains that bloodied, pounded and humiliated the death eater.

As the battle went on, Malfoy was breathing hard and drenched in sweat, the dust clumping on him.

Then the man stumbled over a bit of rubble on the floor. He threw out his wand -arm to catch his balance. Hermione fired a Bombarda at his chest. Malfoy swung his wand around to cast a shield, but it was already too late. The half-formed incantation died on his lips as his chest exploded.

Hermione stood by his rabidly cooling body, her head raised and said, "I am a half-blood and proud of it."

She then turned to find that the battle had moved away from her. About 20 death eaters had been able to make it past the statues but they were all lying dead or not moving. The Gryffindor was also there, where he had fallen and still alive. She advanced on the boy and at the same moment. Daphne reached him, "Let me take him to the infirmary, Hermione."

Suddenly, they heard a great commotion as the remaining statues pushed the oncoming death eaters back out of the double doors. A shout went up from the upper floors which made it to their ears like melody, "HARRY HAS RETURNED!"

Death Eater Camp

Emmett Wagner had been watching the battle from a distance. He saw the Aurors and students on the windows and balconies and realized just how much of a disadvantage they had. They had to cover an open distance of 300 yards or more before they could reach the double doors. In the open ground they were easy targets. He had stopped others from following the death eaters that had already gone in. After several tense moments, he saw the death eaters retreating but only 3 of them made it back alive. Those who had been ejected from the castle had been easy pickings for the Aurors and students shooting from the balconies and windows or for the boy who was flying on a hippogriff.

One of the three survivors made a report to him, "They have an army of statues just inside those bloody doors and the statues just won't die. Many of us fell to them."

Voldemort asked him, "And what of Lucius?"

"My lord, he fell at the hands of Hermione Granger, the mudblood."

Voldemort turned to Wagner, "Prepare the second wave Wagner. Signal our other forces to launch their attacks simultaneously. We will divide their attention and their strength. We will succeed where the others failed."

Wagner nodded, "yes my lord. The Giants have been itching to have a go for while now. I will ask them to attack first."

Fall of the Artillery

Seamus was getting restless. He had his orders to stay put until the giants attacked, but not one of them had shown up yet. Where were they? Did they defect or was there something else going on?

He had sent his team to the ramparts of the castle. The catapults were crewed. But as the resident expert at destroying things, it was his task to blow the bridge, denying the death eaters that access to the castle.

With a whole back-pack full of explosives, he was jogging toward the bridge when he heard Lavender Brown running up behind him, "Seamus! Wait up."

Seamus turned to face her, "What is it, Lavender? What do you want?"

"Seamus, I ha… have been m… meaning to tell you something from days", she said nervously and bit her lower lip as she spoke, "I. I. I started having feelings for you..."

Seamus rolled his eyes, "What? Now? I've been hounding you all year, trying to get you to come with me on a date, woman. You pull this on me as a death eater army stands at the door? If you are serious then tell me again after the battle is over."

She refused to be deterred, "I am not going to abandon you. I am coming with you."

Seamus didn't have time to argue with her because he had a bridge to blow and they were running on a tight schedule. He shrugged, "Alright then, you can watch my back while I set these charges. Let's go."

When they arrived at the bridge, they could see the death eater forces arrayed just past the far side of the bridge. As they watched, one of the death eaters saw them coming and with his wand out, charged at them. Right before their eyes, the man made contact with the wards and simply vanished. There was no poof or pop. The man simply dissolved as if he had never been there.

It was tempting to dance, make faces and taunt them, but Seamus had work to do and there was no telling how long the wards would last once they were attacked in earnest. He set about his work with grim determination, setting the charges to destroy the keystones of the arches that made up the structural supports of the bridge. He also planted charges where the road surface of the bridge met the piers that supported the ends. Just as he was clearing off the bridge with the fine mesh wire made of silver spooling out behind him, the death eaters began blasting away at the wards. By the time they fired their fourth volley, he had the fuse set.

Then the unthinkable happened. The fifth volley struck the wards and the air was filled with the sound of tearing metal and crumbling stone. The wards defending Hogwarts shimmered and died. From every direction, the air was filled with the sound of death eaters yelling, "CHARGE!"

The bridge filled with wand wielding maniacs, intent on running over Seamus as if he were inconsequential on their way to conquer Hogwarts.

Seamus timed it carefully, watching the face of the lead death eater, until a tiny split second before the perfect moment. He ignited the fuse and watched as it burned down toward the mesh wire. There was an explosion as the wire blew up along its length faster than the speed of sound. That lead death eater had just long enough to realize that he was in a very bad position before the main charges exploded. The reports from the bomb blasts were just a fraction of a second apart so that it sounded like one long, massive, "WADOOM!".

What had been a bridge and several death eaters just a moment ago was now a rapidly falling cloud of debris. The few death eaters that had survived the explosion lived just long enough to tumble into the chasm with the rest of the wreckage.

That was ten death eaters dead outright. There were several more who were close enough for injuries from flying shards of stone and hearing loss. In any event, they were all stranded on the other side of the chasm.

Seamus made some rude gesture to them, "Is that all ya got?"

One of the death eaters pulled out a broom and mounting it, he started flying straight at Seamus. Momentarily forgetting his training, Seamus freaked out and started to run away before he realized that he would never be able to out-run a wizard on a flying broom. As he made a neat button-hook to turn and bring his wand to bear, he hollered at Lavender, "Get yourself to the castle! Tell them they have brooms! Bring help!"

From behind the massive boulder where she had taken cover to watch the destruction of the bridge, she was already aiming her wand at the flying death eater. She defiantly said, "No way. I will not leave you to fight them alone." She let fly with a Bombarda that forced the death eater to dodge.

Seamus growled, "You will be the death of me, woman. You need to go and alert them."

She whispered, "Expecto Patronum!", as her patronus erupted from her wand and galloped off toward the castle. She said, "They will know soon enough" and fired off a wide-area stunner at the death eater.

Seamus had to stop paying attention to her as he realized that the death eater was almost upon them. The broom rider had raised a shield to block Lavender's stunner. Whipping his wand around, Seamus fired off a shield breaker, stinger and black fog spell chain. As if he had anticipated the spells, the flyer pulled up sharply and the spell chain passed harmlessly beneath him. Lavender kept him honest by firing another stunner straight up as he passed overhead but it went wide and missed him.

As they dashed around to the other side of the boulder, the death eater wheeled around for another pass. Seamus whispered a plan to Lavender and she disillusioned herself.

When the death eater finished his turn, he taunted, "What's the matter, boy? Afraid to face the big, scary death eater? Come on out and play."

Seamus remained silent until the voice of Lavender came from behind the death eater, "Incendio!"

The bristles of the death eater's broom burst into flames. The broom bucked and fell toward the ground as the death eater frantically tried to conjure water and put out the fire. Meanwhile, the huge boulder that Seamus had been hiding behind rose into the air and squashed the death eater flat.

Lavender ran towards him, ecstatic and jubilant, her arms spread to embrace the idiot boy that she had come to love when Seamus ran towards her, catching her in a hug, they rolled to the ground narrowly avoiding the curses from the death eaters who had found brooms to cross the chasm. Soon they were up, fighting back to back and casting spells at the death eaters who were circling them like hungry sharks. They were two against 5 but they were undeterred and knew what to do. Harry had taught them well.

While they were watching their opponents, they were also making plans. Suddenly, they both turned around and sent blasting hexes in directions opposite to which they had been aiming. The death eaters, who had not even a chance to blink, were dead before they even realized that the spells had blasted their chests apart. The duo however had not stopped to appreciate their handiwork but had fired curses on the two still flying. The one who was facing Lavender Brown did not live with the piercing hex that found his right eye socket underneath the mask. The other one however had been able to jig aside to avoid the curse. The third flying death eater had taken advantage of the situation and fired a nasty looking black curse with a yellow glow which was meant for Lavender but at that moment, Seamus and Lavender had changed their positions and it was Seamus who took the full impact of the curse on his face and crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Lavender felt Seamus falling to the ground and threw herself on his body in agony. She forgot that there was a war going on, that there were two death eaters still flying around and that she could be dead in the next moment. She wept and wept, clinging to Seamus's body desperately hoping for some miracle but knowing that he was gone.

The death eaters circled menacingly around the girl who was crying for the boy, smirking in pleasure at the pain they had caused when they went down to a volley of curses. Viktor Krum was there with a contingent of Bulgarian Aurors and they were running towards where Seamus had fallen. When they reached him, Viktor had to pull Lavender away so that the Aurors could see if there was some hope yet. The Auror however shook his head at Viktor who hung his head in silence for a moment. A warrior had fallen!

The forbidden forest

The forest was full of death eaters rampaging through the trees toward the castle. They were killing every creature that they came across. The centaurs fumed as they watched. They had told Hagrid that they would not interfere in the war between wizards but these wizards had no respect for the forest or the creatures that lived in it. They were destroying the very home that the centaurs lived in.

The death eaters had not yet spotted any of the centaurs because they were camouflaged among the trees as they watched the march of death eaters go by. Their leader, Bane, decided to attack against his better judgment and whistled loudly. The whistle echoed among the trees and was heard by every centaur. This was the clarion call of the centaurs. The call to arms!

As the sound reached their ears, each centaur strung their bow, nocked their arrow and picked out a death eater at which to aim. Of course, the death eaters heard the whistle too, but had no idea what it meant.

Without preamble, the fusillade flew whirring through the air, felling a number of the invaders. A number of the arrows only inflicted minor wounds having been deflected by bone or armour. Some arrows were embedded deep into muscle. A few had cut arteries and those death eaters would bleed out in minutes without medical aid. And there were just a few that hit necks or hearts and those death eaters had eaten their fill. As the centaurs readied a second volley, the death eaters scrambled for cover. A magic shield was ineffective against mundane arrows. There were a few things, like a mage shield or the Malfoy's ice shield that would stop mundane attacks, but that was out of reach for most wizards.

The second volley did not do much. Most of the arrows spent their killing force against trees, underbrush or thudded harmlessly into the ground. Only one unfortunate death eater took one in the back and fell to the ground gasping for breath.

While the rest of the death eaters were trying to figure out where the centaurs were hiding, there was the sound like the hooting of an owl. The centaurs un strung their bows to take up rocks and clubs in response. The hiding places of the centaurs did not remain a mystery for long. Ronan, another of the centaurs raised his fist and yelled, "Charge!"

The centaurs stampeded from the trees, rocks and clubs in hand, their manes flying in the breeze. As they charged through the hiding places of the death eaters, they let fly with the rocks they carried or brained the nearest death eaters with their clubs and trampled anyone that still moved.

In response, the death eaters tried to break the charge by firing curses back, but the centaurs were quite agile, side-stepping the nasty curses as they galloped. In a few cases, the spells singed the hardwood armour they were wearing. The initial charge left 25 more death eaters dead. When Corbin Yaxley saw what was happening, he fired a killing curse at a white palfrey that would have trampled him in the next second. She fell thudding to the ground. Yaxley was immediately fletched in the leg for his trouble by an Arabic stallion.

Yaxley screamed out in pain, "Filthy half-breeds! I'll see you all dead!" But he could plainly see that the centaurs had his forces outmatched. If he wanted to make good on his threat, he had to live. The centaurs did not take his insult lightly either. As he disapparated, a few more arrows and rocks flew through the space he had just left. The other four remaining death eaters followed their brave leaders example and likewise disapparated.

At the end of the skirmish, even Bane agreed that they would make a greater effort to help the Ministry with this battle.

Hogwarts

Harry saw the Statues and suits of armour eject the last of the death eaters through the front doors of the castle. They raised shields over their heads and ran for their lives as they came under fire from the windows and balconies again. From his seat astride Blackstorm, he used both his wands to fire shield breaker, piercing hex spell chains at them as they ran. This used the least energy possible to slay two death eaters at a time.

That was when he realized that he had seen this moment before. He had seen this when he gazed into the eyes of the Parivikarna Owl. Another of those flashes was coming true.

He was going to finish off the last three death eaters before they could flee back outside the main gate, but wand sparks from the Astronomy tower caught his attention. As he wheeled Blackstorm about, he could see that it was Susan signaling to him.

Moments later, as Blackstorm alighted upon the top of the Astronomy tower, Harry leapt from his back and greeted Susan with a smile, "It's good to see you. Now, please give me a brief report."

From the top of the tower, aided by their telescopes, the observers had been able to see all the skirmishes that had happened so far. With the telling of each event, Harry's aura grew darker and his eyes blazed greener. He took the death of Seamus hard. By the time Susan was done, Harry was ready to chew iron and spit nails.

He calmed himself just enough to give orders to Susan, but there was no mistaking them for a polite request, "Alright, Susan. You are to remain here, on the tower and coordinate the forces. See to it that the death eaters are not able to attack from the air again."

It was all Susan could do to keep herself from snapping off a salute and saying, "Sir! Yes sir!." Instead she nodded and said, "I'll see to it."

Harry could see the statues and suits of armour marching out of the front doors to take up position around the borders of the castle. Without another word, he disapparated to appear in the Great Hall. The moment he appeared, Hermione spotted him and came charging over, "Harry!" But she pulled up short when she realized the mood he was in. There were already five bodies under shrouds off to one side. Harry already knew that one of them was his room-mate of the last five years. It would be up to Dean to manage the catapults now. Time enough to grieve later.

General Longbottom rose from his seat and asked Harry, "Lord Peverell, how did it go?"

To Harry, Bangor seemed almost a life-time ago already. He answered flatly, "Those death eaters are all dead, general. The muggles are safe."

The way he threw it out there so casually chilled everyone to their bones. To hear him talk about how he had killed 30 people single handedly put things in a new perspective for them. They knew he was powerful but they had no idea how powerful. If he could single handedly kill 30 death eaters why did he even need an army? Of the people in the Great Hall, Moody, Dumbledore and Sarweshwar knew better. It was one thing for a war mage to fight alone against 30 foes and kill them all but it was another when he had to save friends and fight at the same time. In that moment, anything could go wrong. After all, it only took one shot to bring down a wizard.

After his briefing, Dumbledore was telling them about the status of the battle when there was a mighty roar. An Auror came in running and told Frank, "Minister the giants have arrived!"

Harry said dismissively, "Don't worry about them. Seamus and his crew are efficient."

For a moment, Harry had forgotten that Seamus would not be in charge of anything ever again. The people around him looked away awkwardly before he said, "Er, I mean Dean and his crew."

Dumbledore's beard was turned down at the corners, "I'm sorry, Harry."

Harry nodded, "We will all miss him. Susan told me all about it. How did they cross the chasm anyway?"

"They brought brooms, lad", said Moody gruffly.

"Brooms!", Harry exclaimed.

Then suddenly a horror thought struck him and he turned to Alastor, "How many Aurors are on the ramparts of the castle, Master Auror?"

"I have placed 10 very capable Aurors up there", replied Moody.

Harry ran out of the double doors, momentarily assured of their safety. As he ran, he tugged on his connection with Blackstorm. The hippogriff soared down to meet him as he came out into the sunlight. He jumped on the hippogriff's back and they took off immediately.

When they were at eye level to the ramparts, Harry could see that the siege engines were loaded and ready. Since they expected the Giants to attack from the hills and through the Forbidden Forest, they were all aimed in that direction. Harry flew around to get out of their line of fire.

Michael Corner shouted at him from the ramparts, "Harry, where is Finnigan?"

Harry decided not to demoralize the entire unit just as they were swinging into action. He fudged the truth, "Seamus is not available. Dean, you're in-charge for now."

Dean was no idiot. He knew Seamus would not miss pelting giants with massive boulders for anything. Instead of arguing, he answered, "OK Harry." He immediately started shouting out orders to the team.

Blackstorm started squawking. Harry followed the eagle gaze of his mount and saw ten death eaters approaching on brooms at high speed. They were so bold that they didn't even bother to try to hide themselves. To the Aurors he said, "They may be a diversion. Watch out for a disillusioned force trying to sneak up on you. I'll take care of these jokers."

These death eaters, being the first Harry encountered since Susan had reported to him, were going to have a really bad day.

Blackstorm wheeled around and charged at the death eater formation, his wings flapping furiously. The death eaters, seeing their doom approaching, fired off a volley of curses. Without even raising his wand, Harry conjured a hemisphere of protection. The spells fizzled and died as they impacted on the shield. As Harry stood up on Blackstorm's back the hippogriff dove and twisted away, leaving Harry flying toward the broom mounted wizards. He allowed the shield to dissipate and in the next moment he chanted and was engulfed in flame, obscuring his movements.

The death eaters waited for Harry to fall to his death or die in the flames. Surely no man could survive a fall of more than 300 feet. Then he flew straight at their formation. The flame was no illusion. It burned them as he approached.

Harry had learned these things but had kept them secret because he wanted to show them when it mattered most. Being the master of death had given him many powers that other mortals did not possess. There was a reason that the hallows were kept separate. Giving too much power to a single person was like giving a razor to a monkey.

Although he could not fly as fast as he could on his Firebolt, the thought of fleeing for their lives had not yet occurred to the death eaters. They were still trying to figure out why Harry had not burned to a crisp when they began to scatter as the heat from Harry's fire was too much for them. With a stroke from his bastard sword too fast for the eye to follow, the head of their leader parted company from his body, the cauterized body and head tumbled to the ground.

While the death eaters fired another volley of curses at the empty space where Harry had just been, he kicked another death eater off of his broom, hopped onto the vacant broom and doused his fire. The death eater fell screaming to his death. That was when the remaining eight saw that he was wielding a gleaming silver sword.

He flew through their formation again, swinging the sword with practiced ease. Body parts rained down as he hacked their forces to bits. A few of the death eater curses managed to hit him, but they were absorbed by the armour. A few spells were taken on the sword which hummed and glowed as it absorbed the powers. A few more spells, Harry caught on the sword and flung them back with eye searing violet energy. The unlucky death eaters who took those hits vanished in a cloud of ash.

Still mounted on the death eater's broom, he heard a commotion at the far side of the castle and flew there to investigate. He found the twins and a few of the Aurors there on the ramparts. They had sighted five giants incoming. They were a terrible sight, 25 feet tall and thundering toward the castle. The ground shook as they walked, wielding uprooted trees in each hand, swatting aside anything that was in their way.

Harry cursed himself. The death eaters must have known where the catapults were stationed. There was no way for the artillery to hit the giants here because the castle shielded them. He would have to find a way to drive them into the open or take care of them himself. This was harder than it was supposed to be. He sent a message to Dean over the holster advising him to aim the catapults to either side of the castle and fire as the giants showed themselves. At least, Harry knew, the giants weren't too bright. If he got them mad enough, they would forget all about hiding behind the castle.

He yelled down to the twins, "You can't kill them with magic. But maybe you can drive them that way." He pointed toward the front of the castle.

At that moment, a message came from Susan. It read, "Only five giants. They must be holding the rest in reserve."

Harry replied, "Keep Dean updated regarding their positions."

As it occurred to Harry that Lightning might be quite effective against targets that size, he spotted a contingent of Aurors rushing out to attack the giants. Harry yelled at them, "NO! RETREAT! THEY'LL KILL YOU!"

The Aurors charged on as if they had not heard him. Harry drew the sandalwood wand and began chanting. Below him, the Aurors emerged from the sortie gate just before the giants arrived. As the sky filled with massive, brooding thunderheads, the Aurors let loose with a volley of deadly curses. The spells went crackling through the air but just fizzled when they hit the magically resistant hides of the giants.

The moment the giants closed within melee range, the Aurors disapparated and appeared again, several yards closer to the main gates. The spells had done no damage, but the giants were annoyed that the wizards had tried. They turned and strode toward the Aurors as fast as their tree-trunk like legs would carry them.

While the clouds curdled darkly overhead, the Aurors kept up their harassment of the giants. One of them was just a bit too slow with the dissapparation and the giant nearest him managed a hit with the tree he was wielding. There was the whoosh as the giant swung the tree, a sickening crunch and then the Auror's body hurtling through the air.

By this time, Harry had managed to get the first stroke of lightning ready to go. The giant's moss like hair stood straight up for a split second and then the sky split in two as the searing bolt struck him full on the head. There was a moment of surprise in his dull eyes and then his skull exploded.

Giants may be a little slow witted, but only the ones that learn what lightning can do ever get to grow up. The remaining four giants turned in time to see the body of their headless companion topple to the ground with a massive thud. They ignored the pesky little wizards and ran away from the ominous storm clouds as fast as they could. Harry only managed to summon the lightning once more before they were out of range. The second strike had similar results. Using that much power would have exhausted any ordinary wizard, but Harry had been drilling for a year now. His natural ability and all that work had paid off. He produced a vial of rejuvenation draught from his robe and quaffed it. That restored his energy.

As the giants came under the arc of fire from the catapults, the first volley took two of them down. The second volley, all concentrated on the one survivor finished the job. The giants never even saw where the flying boulders came from. Harry could see that three of the giants might recover. He was preparing to summon lightning again when he heard the familiar screech of Blackstorm. His faithful hippogriff was carrying a heavy boulder in his talons and leading all the other hippogriffs of Hogwarts doing the same thing. They dove on the giants, releasing the boulders and sweeping away on their mighty wings. Harry relaxed as the giants were pulverized. Their magic resistant hide was no defense against stone.

Most of the Aurors survived, but one of them would never fight again. They carried the body of their fallen comrade as Ron directed them back through the sally port.

Harry was reassured to know that hiding behind the castle would never protect the giants again. Then he realized, only five. The most recent intelligence report put the giants numbers at 30. Where were the rest of them? He put the broom to good use as he gained altitude to get a better view of the battle.

He barked orders to the twins, "Fred and George, take a team and fly to the forbidden forest. Try to find the rest of the giants there."

To Justin, he said, "Take a few of your men and go to the lake to see if there is something amiss."

After he had dispatched them to check, he flew towards the ramparts where the catapults were. He dismounted and turned to Dean, "I want you to turn one catapult towards the forest, one towards the back where the hills are, one in the direction of the Quidditch pitch and the lake and keep the last one trained on the gates. I think they are going to send the Giants when we are otherwise occupied. Neither you nor anyone else who is here is allowed to move from here."

Harry knew he was still missing something crucial but could not put his finger on it. His attention right now was on the death eaters who had found a way to get into the grounds without falling prey to the spells coming from the balconies or the windows.

The death eaters had taken big heavy planks of wood to raise as shields on their heads. They were advancing towards the gates. Minerva McGonagall was in the grounds, directing the statues and suits of armour with her wand like a baton, telling them which way to go and how many to deploy.

The statues were now advancing all around the castle. Some even went to the side from which the Giants had charged. He knew that the death eaters would have a hard time getting through the line of the army of statues.

Death Eater Camp

"What is the report, Wagner?", Voldemort asked of the German.

"My lord, they were ready for us", replied Wagner. They have an army of statues and suits of armour that repelled and killed many of our death eaters. Lucius Malfoy has been killed in the castle. We lost a handful of them when the bridge was blown up. We lost most of the men who were in the forest with Corbin Yaxley. We have also lost five giants."

"What about the boy, Wagner? Where is he?"

"My lord, from what I have heard, the boy is practically untouchable. He is powerful and he can perform feats that we can't. He can fly without a wand, can burst into fire, can fight airborne warriors and he is able to summon lightning."

"And what of our diversion in Bangor? The forces in the castle seem undiminished", he said, his eyes glowing dangerously red.

Wagner shook his head, "I have no news, Dark Lord. They have not reported in."

The veins in Voldemort's temples throbbed furiously but he kept his cool, "What about Severus Snape? Did anyone find him?"

"Last he was seen firing curses on death eaters from the big window on the 3rd floor, My lord", he replied.

"I wonder how the boy will react when he learns that Snape is the reason that he doesn't have his parents", muttered Voldemort.

"What are my orders?", asked Wagner.

"Send in the animations, Wagner. Let's see what is their end game", said Voldemort before he departed to make a proclamation.

Voldemort knew that such a proclamation would not only give Snape his just desserts for betraying him, it would also unbalance the boy. It may be just the thing they needed to make the war go sideways for the light. He might win this thing yet.

Harry was in the Great Hall in conference with Dumbledore and Frank when Voldemort' cold voice came booming as if piercing their ear drums, "Harry Potter, you and your men have fought well. I know neither of us can win without killing the other but that would lead to unnecessary bloodshed. If you surrender now, I will remain merciful to you. I will only need two things from you- my artefacts and Severus Snape. Did he ever tell you that he was the one who brought the prophecy to me? He is the architect of your miseries and mine. Would you shield a traitor? The sniveling worm wanted me to spare your mudblood mother but not your father or you because he fancied her. Is that the man that you are protecting? You have 10 minutes to decide."

Dumbledore, as he heard Voldemort mention Snape, knew what was coming. He stood between Snape and everyone else because he knew every wand in the Great Hall would be pointed at Snape in the next moment.

True to his prediction, Harry went into a rage as they could feel sparks coming from him. Sirius and Remus too had their wands out and were looking for the hook nosed, greasy haired Dungeon bat. To his credit, Snape was not afraid but looked defiant.

Harry's wands were both out, his eyes burning with rage, his aura was so dark that it made Dumbledore shiver with fright. All around the hall, everyone had pulled out their wands, ready to cast and pointed to where Snape was standing.

Harry roared, "Step aside, Headmaster."

Dumbledore, who had shivered a bit with the show of rage, said casually, "Harry, Professor Snape has since atoned for his…"

Harry cut in, "Why is it you never told me?"

"My boy, Severus was repent…" Dumbledore tried to speak again.

Sirius cut him off, "Shut up Albus. You have protected him for years just because he was feeling sorry?"

Remus added, "We will deal with Voldemort later. First we will deal with him."

Dumbledore was caught between a rock and a hard place. He could fend off three or four but not so many. If Harry ordered the students and his vassals to seize Severus Snape, there was no way that he could save him.

To his woe, even McGonagall who had come into the Great Hall, said, "Why Albus! Why did you save him? He should have been punished for James and Lilly's deaths."

"Minerva…" he tried to speak again.

"Save your excuses, headmaster. Step aside or suffer his fate."

Albus turned to Frank, "Please General…"

Frank however was having none of it, "I can't even believe that you would do this, headmaster. Why did you let him get away with this? He is the reason that so many children had to die. He is the reason that Alice and I had to spend years in a hospital out of our minds and you still shield him."

"But he showed genuine remorse and he has been atoning for his sins", said Dumbledore trying to make them see reason.

"More like trying to stay in your good books", growled Alastor Moody, "I have been telling you that you are too trusting, old man."

By then most of the major players had arrived and they all had their wands pointed at Snape. Harry was rearing to fly at Snape but it was only out of his respect for Dumbledore that he held back, "Headmaster, this is the final warning. Now step aside and don't make me declare blood feud against you."

Dumbledore smiled, "You are free to do what you will, Lord Peverell."

Harry recognized that smile. It came over Dumbledore's face when he was going to pull a fast one.

Harry raised his wand and shot a very powerful banishing charm at Dumbledore who pulled out his wand and started trading spells with him. As the headmaster was occupied with Harry, Sirius and Remus started attacking Snape.

Everyone else stood motionless and waited for the conclusion to this battle. Harry was casting with a speed that made things blurred. Dumbledore was showing why he was called the victor of Bavaria. He would often transfigure one thing into another to take the brunt of any spell or he would swat aside his curses. Harry for his part was attacking Dumbledore with everything in his arsenal that he knew would not injure Dumbledore but temporarily move him out of the way.

At one time, Harry sent a curse at him which he sent back at Harry which he had to dodge against. He started running in a circle around Dumbledore, casting at a speed which was dizzying but the old headmaster held his ground. No one knew how long the duel would go on until a thundering voice boomed out over the noise of battle, "ENOUGH HAROLD! STAND DOWN. I COMMAND YOU IN THE NAME OF MOTHER MAGIC AND THE TRIBE."

Those words made him halt and in fact, all the battles around the great hall ceased. Everyone turned to see one furious looking Vikram Rana, holding a wand which was sending red angry sparks as his eyes smoked, "Stand down everyone. The enemy is at the door and leaving him, you are fighting among yourselves? Is that how you are going to win this war?"

"But master, he betray…"

"Is that your biggest concern now, Harry?", Vikram thundered, "Your parents died 14 years ago and you have waited so long to take revenge for them. Yes, Severus may have been responsible for telling the prophecy to Voldemort but he was not the one who slew your parents. That villain is at the gate. You can save your fight with him for later. What has waited for years can wait for a few more hours. Go and lead the battle now. I will keep him in captivity."

"But…"

"That's an order, initiate", growled Vikram, "Disobey this order once and I will send the entire might of the tribe against you."

Just then, Elsa entered the Great Hall, "they are sending their army through the gates. We need to repel them."

Harry sped off quickly to the double doors while Vikram turned to Snape, "What a pity that it had to turn out this way, Severus Snape. I was actually beginning to like you."

Snape said nothing while the mystic bound him with the incarcerous charm.

Harry, when he surveyed the death eater army, realized that the army was massive and it was time to employ some drastic measures. He turned to the Auror nearest him, "Send the broom borne Aurors and students to attack them."

Within 5 minutes, 10 fighters took off from the Astronomy tower led by Oliver Wood who had arrived with the Muggle Born Network. They flew straight out to the invading force and started raining curses and hexes down on them from the air and then they realized that they had shown their hand too early. It was not a proper army but animations who were coming to attack them. All the animations were destroyed easily but Harry's heart was stricken with some untold horror which he could feel was about to come.

It was broad daylight, so the distortions around the disillusionment charms cast by Wood and others were visible. Pretty soon, death eaters on brooms were flying towards those distortions. Harry realized what was happening and took flight at once but he was too slow. Before he could do anything, two of the defenders had been hit and were falling to the ground. Harry didn't know if they were alive or not.

When he joined the melee, he pulled out both wands, cast the black penumbra around himself and started attacking the death eaters while he shouted for the defenders, "Retreat! Retreat!"

The duel lasted merely minutes because the combination of his Firebolt and skill were unmatched. He maneuvered his broom between them, let them fire and then did a nosedive, resulting in the spell missing him and hitting their comrades instead. This way, he was able to thin their numbers within a few minutes while casting very few spells himself. As they retreated, he did not chase them down. Below on the ground, the statues were fighting it out with the animations. Though the statues were winning, they had lost a significant number of their own. He knew it was about time for the rear guard of the death eater army to come through.

As if someone had been waiting for him to wish, he heard roars and shouts from the lake, the forbidden forest and the path that went to Hogsmead.

The Forbidden Forest

The centaurs were hunting down and picking off any death eater they could find but they had retreated from that part of the forest. They had learned to be wary of the half equine creatures. They knew that they would have to neutralize them if they wanted a chance at going through the forest that way. A squad of the Germans was sent to neutralize them and nothing had been heard from them since. That had been an hour ago.

The Germans were carefully looking for the centaurs when they came upon them in that part of the forest where they had mobilized. The Germans were clear about what they were supposed to do. As they got in sight of the centaurs, they all spread into a vast circle around and at a signal, they all cast, "Fiendfyre"

The hellish cursed fire started to burn through everything. The centaurs had no way to run and break through. The Germans had them surrounded. The fire was advancing rapidly upon them and they knew they could not win against the wand wielding wizards. The wizards in their turn, were laughing at the ghastly act that they were performing in the service of Voldemort.

"Gaah!", came a roar from nearby. Running out of the ring of trees, came a giant with Hagrid right behind him. Grawp did not waste a moment in putting his massive boulder sized foot on one of the Germans and squashing him flat.

Hagrid put his cross bow to work putting a bolt through the heart of another death eater who keeled over immediately. With the tree he was wielding, Grawp swatted the Germans this way and that. Essentially he had saved the centaurs.

The Germans concentrated their efforts on the Giant and the cross bow bearing half giant who had already killed three of their men. None of them realized that the fiendfyre that the Germans had cast was getting out of control. The fourth one, who faced Hagrid was fumbling with his wand out of sheer terror. Hagrid, in his fury picked up the man and broke him over his knee. A sickening sound of bones breaking was heard and the German was dead.

The rest knew they could not win against these two and the Centaurs who had begun to recover. Three centaurs had died and 5 more were out of commission but the rest were ready to stamp the Germans out of existence under their hoofs.

The surviving Germans did the only reasonable thing and disapparated. Hagrid put his pink umbrella to work and tried to extinguish the Fiendfyre as quickly as he could. The feat was clearly beyond his skill, but this was his forest and he would rather die than allow any of it to come to harm. Although it seemed like an eternity to him, it was only a couple of minutes before the Headmaster and several other wizards apparated in and pitched in to help. When the last flame demon met its end, Dumbledore and the other wizards disapparated back to the castle, taking the wounded centaurs with them.

When the others left, Hagrid, leaning on a tree, exhausted, turned to Bane, "Are yeh okay?"

"Many thanks to you, Hagrid and you, Giant. We are indebted to you for life", replied the centaur, "we have lost many of our kin today but we will not stop resisting them."

Aragog's lair

Aragog's gravelly voice sounded over the gathering of his children, "You will follow my orders. We will oppose the death eaters.".

"Why should we?", asked his eldest born, "You know the wizards loathe and fear us. Why should we ever aid them?"

"Because Hagrid has asked me", replied Aragog, "and he has ever been my friend."

"He is not our friend", replied his eldest born, "I say we sit out of this and eat whatever we find. Human flesh is after all flesh. That is all we should care about."

Aragog clacked his pincers menacingly, "You will do as I say or you will be punished."

The eldest born hissed in response, "You are not our leader anymore. You have grown old, frail and we know you will die soon. We have decided to hunt the humans no matter what side they are on."

Aragog could only stomp in frustration. He knew that his children were bent on following after his eldest's words. His world as he knew it would end if he did not act promptly. That was not happening until he made his progeny see the error of their ways.

So it was that a hunting pack of Acromantulas attacked a group of Austrians who were looking for holes to get through to the castle. When the group came around near the borders of the Acromantula dwelling, the arachnids attacked them.

The wizards scattered in all directions but one was not so lucky. He was impaled on the pincers of one of the beasts and immediately died. The wizards knew they would have to deal with this threat if they were to launch an invasion successfully.

Five of them stood together facing the spiders as the rest stood around them and they incanted together, "Avada Kedavra".

Hagrid had warned them about the killing curse, but the spiders were huge. As they attempted to jump and dodge, many of the emerald green jets found their marks. In response, the giant spiders took to the trees.

The second volley of killing curses were not so effective. A couple more of Aragog's children fell from the trees. As the Austrians moved about, trying to get better angles, webbing began falling from the trees. Anyone it touched was immediately entangled and hauled up out of sight where they were bitten and left to eat later.

The Austrians wanted no part of that. Taking careful aim, they targeted the trees the giant spiders were occupying and incanted, "Fiendfyre!". Immediately, the demon flames engulfed the trees and the spiders in them. Their screams as they died rent the air. Three more died that way, including Aragog's eldest and most rebellious son. The rest of the spiders ran for their lives.

With the spiders driven off, the Austrians dispelled their Fiendfyre before it devoured them too. They took the time to milk the seven dead acromantula corpses for their venom and burn the body of their fallen comrades before they moved on.

The remaining spiders scuttled back to Aragog's lair as fast as their legs could carry them. The Austrians had taught them that wizards are not to be trifled with. As their leader came within hailing range of their father he pleaded, "Aragog, save us. The wizards have slain so many with their green lights and their unquenchable fire. We cannot fight them."

Aragog looked at what remained of what had been his flourishing family and sighed. A single strike had destroyed so many of his children. Raising his voice, he said, "Follow me. We will have to leave if we want to survive. Harm no one on your way and let's hope we will be ignored."

It would be years before the Acromantulas returned to that part of the forest.

The third group of death eaters were to attack from the side of the Greenhouses. They passed through another part of the Forbidden Forest. They had managed to avoid contact with the acromantulas or the centaurs. Rawl and Gibbons, two of the members of the inner circle had been tasked with breaching the defenses in that direction and invade the castle.

When they were positioned, Gibbons barked to his men, "Go cautiously. If you see anything moving, kill it. We have to enter the castle for the Dark lord and win it at any cost."

As they emerged from the forest proper, they encountered a wall of vines, thorns and bushes. The first thing was a hedge which looked innocuous enough. None of them had any idea what it was. A vanguard of some over eager death eaters rushed into those bushes and immediately their arms were paralyzed, venom coursing up their veins slowly working its way through their systems. The entire wall of vines was poised to strike them again should they touch it. The death eaters retreated back in fear not knowing what to do. When they were at a distance, Rawl and Gibbons brainstormed over the entire idea and then decided to use blasting hexes on the hedge to make a way through it because using fiendfyre was a risky business.

As decided, they let loose a fierce barrage of bombarda which annihilated most of the plants. As the cloud of vapor and debris from the dead plants spread and settled, any death eater that was too close choked to death on the venomous cloud. They lost about 10 of their men there. Next they encountered plants which were barely up to their waist, but they were wary now. These plants looked like Devil's snare with very dense foliage. One of the Germans pointed out that Devil's snare would not be effective in daylight. It was unlikely that it was devil's snare. Still not sure, they decided to send some of their men before touching it themselves. The men who shot a incendio at them did not even get a chance to yell before thorny vines whipped out from the plants and strangled them to death. This time, they decided that they would not risk it. collectively, they destroyed a section of the plants which would open a passage for them without being in too close contact with them. Having learned from their previous lesson, they all cast bubble-head charms before moving through the gap.

By this time, having been mauled by the centaurs, assaulted by poison plants and finally strangled by other plants, the death eaters were looking for new threats from every direction. As they moved cautiously through the gap, they feared that even the very grass underfoot may attack them next. When the fifth death eater emerged through the gap in the low stranglers, a barrage of piercing hexes, dark cutters and bombarda swatted them like flies as the herbology students unleashed their fury on them. Before the death eaters could react, the students retreated to safety.

As the death eaters walked forward, Gibbons who was at the back, growled, "Why are you all dancing? Stop it. STOP…"

He realized that he too had started to sway to the music which felt like a hypnotic melody to his ears. The same was happening with Rawl and others. Thinking on his feet, he slashed his palm and the pain awakened his mind. He cast wide area bludgeoners and pelted his men with it. The pain they felt was enough to break them out of their stupor but not before 5 had fallen asleep. Even the enervate charm could not wake them up.

He and the others hastily retreated and he growled, "They have bloody well planted something that makes you want to sleep. Cunning!"

Rawl suggested, "Let's do one thing. Let's slash our palms like you have done and then we can walk through that area. I guess those little trees are making the music."

Everyone appreciated the idea but they were wondering exactly where they had got these plants. To their woe, they found that the plants they had destroyed on their way in had been re-grown closing off their retreat.

The next row of plants proved quite deadly to them. As they were crossing the grounds, students started banishing potted plants at them from a distance. When the pots shattered, they exposed Mandrakes. Their screams killed anyone that was close enough to them without any hearing protection. The ten survivors managed to cover their ears and rush forward before they were overcome.

The next obstacle made them reconsider. The final approach to the back of the castle was lined on either side by trees. The five in front fell asleep on the path. As the remaining five looked on, tentacles extended from the root bowls of the trees and drew them into hideous maws to be consumed.

Battered, defeated, most of their men already dead, the last few survivors decided to retreat. With a couple blasts of Fiendfyre, they could make their way back through the deadly plants and report what they had found. As they turned to flee, they found Ernie Macmillan standing in front of them with Auror Bartley Higgins.

Without a word, they started lashing out at the student and the Auror. Ernie was ready for them. He ducked out of the way of the blasting hex Gibbons fired at him shooting a piercing hex back. Gibbons did not see the curse coming at him before it pierced his family jewels making him keel over, groaning in agony and bleeding profusely.

Ernie turned to give his full attention to Rawle who was coming at him hard with an unending barrage of lethal curses. For a moment Ernie felt that he was in The Chamber of Secrets, dodging the fire from four practice dummies at once. His dodging looked almost like dancing while he waited for an opening. He consistently shielded blocked or dodged each incoming curse according to its nature. Nobody was ever going to take a spell for him again! The moment Rawle let up, Ernie let rip with a spell chain of stinger, shield breaker, bone breaker. As the stinger landed, Rawle shielded. The shield shattered and the bone breaker hit his ribs.

Rawle hissed in pain and spat out a curse. Bartley and his squad were handling the last few survivors. This was a duel between him and the student. And the boy was surprisingly good. Rawle had to remember how to dance as Ernie treated him to a wide variety of imaginative spell chains. The curses included bone breakers, bone splinterers, bone exploders, bombarda, stunners and just to be annoying, stingers. Rawle was crafty with long experience, but Ernie was well trained, younger and uninjured. The man knew enough to dodge what he could, shield or block the rest. Two things Ernie did that were really annoying him were knocking down his shield the moment he raised it and firing stingers every time he got too confident. The fast moving, light spells hit him faster than the big man could dodge.

As the duel wore on, they both gave as good as they got. Rawle was tiring. His broken rib made breathing difficult and he was getting winded. Ernie was sheathed in sweat but just seemed to be getting warmed up.

After Ernie destroyed Rawle's shield for what seemed like the hundredth time, he realized that the duel had been going on too long. He got creative. The next spell chain was a Vermidillious, bludgeoner, bone splinterer. The brilliant green sparks temporarily dazzled and blinded the death eater. The bludgeoner broke his nose, knocking the giant man backwards and the bone splinterer mangled his right leg.

The man spat out blood and tried to get back to his feet, but the splintered leg could not support him. He cursed, "You filthy mongrel!"

But it was all over. In the next moment, the stream of curses Ernie fired at the wretch pulverized his body into an Unrecognizable puddle of goo. But Ernie's fury was not spent. They had killed Lilith! They would all pay!

Bartley looking on was afraid that the boy had gone berserk. He called out, "Ernie! Save it! The man is dead. Save it to take on more of his kind."

Ernie was able to stop himself, but only with the greatest difficulty. He knew that Bartley was right. There would be other death eater scum to cut down.

The Black Lake

The boats the death eaters had commandeered for themselves were good. They were built for speed and each could seat about 20. 3 boats had been sufficient for the death eaters who were now crossing the lake. Two of them were full of wizards. The third boat was full of werewolves. They had expected no resistance here. The lake was only full of merpeople and the Giant Squid that everyone called Jack. Jack, although a formidable and dangerous creature, would never harm a student or teacher. The merpeople could be a problem if they ever got it into their heads that they had to interfere in the affairs of wizards. Just in case, the death eaters were ready for them too.

The German had come up with this idea to get them across the water and surprise the defenders of Hogwarts by entering that way. He expected them to be lax about someone attacking from the water and that would be their downfall.

As the boats travelled across the lake, they started to notice movement under water. They could see merpeople and the giant squid swimming past the boat just below the surface of the water. They were suspicious. The death eaters who were near the sides of the boats immediately got up wielding cold-forged iron tridents. These iron tridents were infused with curses which could cause death within seconds. As the merpeople got too close to the boats, one of the death eaters shouted, "Attack!"

In the next moments, the death eaters mercilessly stabbed at the merpeople over and over again. The waters became clouded, red with their blood. They struck back as well as they could, but the death eaters had the high-ground, stabbing from above. The merpeople quickly broke off their attack and scatterd. But those who were stabbed died within seconds. In exchange, only a handful of the death eaters had minor wounds from the merpeople's tridents. Those wounds would fester if not treated, but that was all.

When Jack saw what was going on, he tried to swim under the boats to upset them and dump their passengers into the lake, but the merpeople dragged him away with them to the safety of the depths of the Black lake.

As the first boat nosed into the shore, a company of 20 Aurors broke cover along with a platoon of students and opened fire on the hapless death eaters. The first volley swept the deck with deadly curses. The second volley finished off the survivors. The passengers in the second boat saw what happened and took to the air on their brooms. From that moment, the battle was more even. The death eaters having the advantage of height and mobility, the defenders with superior numbers and training. The Aurors and students formed up into pairs so that one could shield while the other cast. Against the fast flying broom formations, they were able to pivot, switch and stay covered while still keeping up a withering attack.

The death eaters had managed to take out three of the Aurors with their initial strafing run, but that was it. For their part, the defenders systematically targeted and shot down two of the death eaters with every pass. With the concentrated fire, no shield, no dodging was able to spare them.

While all this was going on, the third boat slipped away to disembark its passengers some distance away.

The defenders were wearing down the death eaters slowly, but they were getting tired. One mistake and someone was going to die. Suddenly, one of the students broke ranks and ran for it. The death eaters let him go. They thought the boy must have lost his nerve. As they made another strafing run, firing their dark curses as fast as they could, they were suddenly assailed by chunks of flying rock. The student that had run away was back, leading a bunch of students who were banishing rocks at them. The stone was hitting them with enough force to break bones and penetrate soft tissue. The rest of the flying death eaters died in the fusillade.

Soon only the Aurors and the students were left standing on the lake shore when the back-up plan of the death eaters came into action.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N- this has been a long and wonderful journey. I know you were expecting the story to end here but I found that I could not wrap it up like that without giving it a proper ending so the will be a chapter 34B for this. Thank you.

K, the anonymous reader who has been diligently reading my stories and giving his insightful reviews- Thank you. Your reviews have been very great and very encouraging. I loved reading them and I intend to finish all my ongoing stories here. It's been very refreshing to read your comment and know that someone loved reading these stories that I invested so much time in.