In His Memory
Part 13: Hogwarts Embattled
By WeasleyTwin2
I've spent too many nights lookin' over my shoulder
And the ways of the world make a heart grow colder
I got nowhere left to hide
The fight in me has died
So I must wait for the sunrise
Wait for the Sunrise
Richard Marx
Stillness
Darkness
Can't see a thing, says I
No reflection
Not a shadow
Not a glint of light
Meets the eye…
No Moon
From the musical: Titanic
Severus Snape walked down the darkened corridor, listening to the silence that was broken only by the faint sounds of chanting coming from behind the closed door of Professor McGonagall's office nearby. He knew he should be with the chanters who were fighting to call back the spirit of Harry Potter from the darkness and back to the light but Severus had felt restless and jumpy all day. He would join them later when his own spirit had settled down.
"Something is wrong…something is out of balance…" he thought as he restlessly paced the halls of Hogwarts.
Things had been growing stranger ever since the appearance of the army of Seth-Ra at the gates of Hogwarts three weeks past. Snape's mind wandered back to a year ago and another army that had surrounded the school then. His leg throbbed with remembered pain and he began to limp slightly. The wound he'd received in that battle still pained him even after all the time that had passed. He'd been too stubborn to get it healed until it was nearly too late to save the leg. He stopped his pacing, going into an empty classroom to sit down a moment while he massaged his leg along the deep and jagged scar that ran almost its entire length. He stretched the leg and rotated it for a moment, lost in though.
"Something is not right…Why attack now? Why one year to the day that Voldemort's army had appeared? Was it symbolic of something?"
Snape rose and left the classroom, still pondering these questions, questions he had no answers to. He walked down the hall and down several flights of stairs to the Great Hall, which had been set up as a war room by Professor McGonagall in the last several weeks. There was no one there at the moment and he needed some peace. All the others were either chanting the counter charm to the one holding Harry's spirit prisoner or else they were watching the army, which was milling outside the gates from the roof of the castle. Severus shivered, feeling Seth-Ra's presence very near even though it was not possible for him to be inside Hogwarts itself yet. Still the Dark Magic was calling to him once more as it had in the past. He could hear Seth-Ra's hissing voice just outside his shields and he felt Dark Magic beat against his now fragile shields he'd erected around himself since he'd left the services of Voldemort as a Death Eater.
Now that Voldemort was gone He'd thought there would be nothing more to fear so he had allowed his shields to weaken over the past months. He was only now beginning to realize how wrong this decision was. He could feel Seth-Ra calling to him, attempting to take him over with a curse stronger and more ancient then the Imperius curse he was familiar with. It was taking most of his energy and power just too fight off the curse yet he now knew that must use some of that power to strengthen his weakened shields before it was too late…before he would be forced to return to the Darkness from which he'd escaped. He sat down on the raised platform where the teacher sat at meals and closed his eyes, willing his heart to still its wild beating. He concentrated all of his will on his shields, on making them as strong as the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts. He felt the press of Seth-Ra's will lessen in an instant and he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He relaxed the muscles in his neck that he hadn't realized were stiff and began to feel calmer then he had in days.
Quite suddenly he felt as if someone was watching him. He left his eyes closed and listened carefully for the tell tale footfalls that would let him know who had disturbed his musings. There was the sound of footsteps out in the Entrance Hall but not a sound disturbed the quiet of the empty Great Hall. Then he felt something icy grip his shoulder and his eyes snapped open. Harry Potter's ghost floated before him, one ghostly hand on his shoulder, and a look of pure and utter malevolence on his face. It was an evil look that did not suit his face at all and one that he had never worn in his life. Harry began to drag Snape across the room to the door that lead to the Entrance Hall while Snape struggled to free himself from Harry's ghostly grasp.
"No…I will not join you…I. Will. Not!" thought Snape fiercely, as he struggled with Harry.
Harry pulled harder and slapped Severus hard across the face, nearly knocking him out. Momentarily stunned, he felt himself being dragged across the floor as if he weighed nothing at all. Struggling to keep conscience, Snape attempted to once again pull free of Harry's grasp. Once more he failed and Harry continued to drag him across the room toward the door. Just as they had almost reached it Severus hit upon a different tactic.
"Harry…You don't want to do this," he said through gritted teeth, as a wave of sickening pain washed over him.
Harry's bright green eyes flashed behind his glasses and for a brief instant Snape was sure he saw the real Harry Potter trapped within the servant's eyes, struggling against the spell binding him to Seth-Ra's service.
"You don't want to do this…" he repeated, putting all the magical power he possessed at that moment into his words, willing the true Harry to come to the surface.
Harry's eyes narrowed and glowed with a red light for a moment and he began to drag Snape out the door. Snape knew he had only a few moments left before he too would disappear into Seth-Ra's Darkness. Desperately he tried one last time to call Harry's true self to the surface.
"You don't have to obey him." Severus' voice said softly, persuasively.
Harry stopped dragging him, standing half in the Great Hall and half in the hall outside the room. Snape seized his chance and pulled his arm free of Harry's grasp.
"Help…me…Free…me…" Harry spoke in a faint, desolate whisper. His hand was outstretched and he seemed to be asking for aid or comfort.
"We're doing all we can to free you…Hang on…" Severus said, looking into Harry's pleading eyes, full of pain and desperation and something that it took Snape a moment to identify…despair.
Harry nodded slightly and swayed on his feet. Snape saw him struggling to force the next words out.
"Seth-Ra…beware…friend…Greatest Evil…so near…warn…in castle…must fight…
Beware…Seth-Ra…is…"
But just as Harry was about to say who Seth-Ra was, he began to scream in pain as a white-hot fire surrounded him. Harry was still trying to say who Seth-Ra was but Snape who was busy trying to counter the spell only catch part of what Harry was trying to say. He couldn't make out all of it through the flames and the roaring noise of them made it impossible for Severus to hear what he'd said. There was a scream unlike any Snape had ever hear in his life and then Harry disappeared in a column of white-hot fire.
"No!!!" Snape stretched out his wand to call the ghost back but it was too late.
"No!"
He ran from the Great Hall as if Seth-Ra, himself, was after him and skidded around a corner, running into someone who was standing there alone. It was Bill Weasley, who looked at Snape with concern.
"Professor…what has happened…is everything okay?" Bill asked as he stuffed something under the neck of his robes.
Snape paused a moment to catch his breath and then said, "I need to get back to McGonagall's office is all…they sent me to the Great Hall for something and I stayed longer then I intended, resting this leg of mine. Must have dosed off…the others are waiting for me…excuse me.
Bill nodded in understanding, moved to let Snape pass and then continued walking toward the Great Hall. Severus continued on his way again to McGonagall's office but at a walk so as not to arouse farther questions. Almost immediately, he felt eyes watching him as he turned the corner. He shivered in the suddenly chilled air. The feeling of evil was back again and Severus thought he heard the Dark chant being spoken by someone quite close by. He began to walk faster still. Though he still would not run.
"I need to warn the others quickly…"
As soon as Snape rounded the corner he broke into a run again, a sense of urgency overcoming his sense of caution. He ran down the long corridor, the suits of armor flashing passed in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, through a hidden door and then up two flights of stairs. Ten minutes later he burst through the door to McGonagall's office and stood framed in it, panting for breath and holding his side were there was a stitch. Everyone in the circle before him was startled by his sudden entrance and had stopped chanting the spell. The looked up at him, puzzlement in their eyes.
"What is it Severus?" said McGonagall sternly, as if Snape was an unruly student.
"Leave him be for a moment, Minerva. Let him catch his breath first then he can tell us," said the quiet voice of Lily Potter, who was floating several feet off the floor.
Severus, who was still trying to catch his breath, gave her a look of gratitude and Lily smiled back. Professors Sinistra and Flitwick moved out of the circle to help Severus to a chair but he waved them away impatiently. After a few moments had passed he was at last able to speak.
"I saw Harry…in the castle…He tried to take me…" Snape paused to take another breath before continuing. "I was able to persuade him to release me. It seems that our counter curse is working."
Snape paused again as the others grinned at each other. He wished he didn't have to tell them what had happened after the curse seemed lifted. He saw Lily's eyes shining with happiness and he shook his head sadly.
"Why…? Why must it always be me that must be the bearer of so much bad news?" he thought to himself as he sighed heavily and began to tell them what had happened.
Everyone's faces went white and Lily let out a small scream and lend against James for comfort. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"It will be alright…" he murmured to her as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Before he disappeared he was trying to warn me about Seth-Ra," continued Severus. " He was trying to say who it was even as I watched the flames consume him. I didn't catch the name though…not enough to help us in finding this "friend".
"That would be just like him…striving to warn you of dangers even at the cost of his own life," James said solemnly.
Snape thought back to Harry's fifth year and how he'd been captured and tortured by Death Eaters. He'd barely survived that time and had almost died giving Dumbledore vital information about their plans and stronghold.
"Harry told me that Seth-Ra may have infiltrated Hogwarts already and that he may be wearing the guise of a friend."
Everyone looked at one another and McGonagall nodded as if she knew something the others didn't.
"How are we to find this 'friend'?"
"He didn't say…Harry only said that Seth-Ra was here and I have felt a dark presence in this castle for some time now…even before Seth-Ra's army arrived here. He is calling to me, trying to draw back into the Darkness. I've been fighting it and have only just managed to resist the call. It…is much stronger than Voldemort's Mark."
The others nodded in understanding.
"He must be within these walls but I'm not sure where and we have very little time to search the few clues we have." Snape held each of their eyes.
"The others may bring more help…if they can find the…" began James.
"I wouldn't count on that…if they don't hurry then all may already be lost…The enemy has just drawn his noose tighter around us."
Everyone turned at the sound of the tired voice behind them and turned to see one of the seventh year students, a fair-haired blue eyed girl, who'd stayed behind to keep watch on Seth-Ra's army.
"Seth-Ra has made his move then, Allison?" McGonagall's voice trembled slightly but her face remained calm.
"Yes, Professor. He has finally broken through the enchantment on the front gate with his army. They are laying siege to the castle now. We have called everyone inside the walls and sealed all entrances. That will hold them for a time but not forever…they will break through eventually."
"Thank you, Allison…You have been relieved then?"
"Yes, Terry just took over the watch…" Allison yawned and turned to leave the room.
"Try and get some rest…"
She turned to face the ghost of James Potter and replied, "I will try Mr. Potter, sir…but…"
The other's nodded in understanding. As she left the room, those left behind were thinking about another battle and they were sure that she was too.
"Thank God…the younger children were all sent home before Seth-Ra made his move," Severus thought and he could see by the looks in everyone's eyes that they were thinking the same thing.
"It looks like we've run out of choices," said McGonagall as a wave of fear swept through her. "We can only fight now…even without the Weapons and the Key of Joining…we can still hold out some days. Let's hope they have found it and are making their way here."
The others nodded looking solemnly at each other.
"James and I will continue to cast the counter curse to the one still holding Harry…" began Lily.
"I will help you…I'm sure we can free him from Seth-Ra's control and bring him back to us." Snape said, interrupting Lily.
Lily smiled at him again and James looked between them then slowly James held out his hand, which Snape took briefly. He was surprised to find that it wasn't cold but warm.
"You three work on that counter to the spell and we will gather the others. Let us hope that Sirius and the others return soon and safely and that they have found the Key that will allow us to defeat Seth-Ra."
McGonagall and the others swept from the room, leaving the three of them together.
A/N : As always…I own nothing in this story but the plot and the Dark Wizard Seth-Ra. Hope you enjoyed this part. The next part will be called…Horus's Flight…So keep an eye out for it. Thanks for reading. J WeasleyTwin2