The Last Battle
When the battle of Hogsmeade ended, with more dead and wounded then all the previous battles combined, the adults of the wizarding world lost all hope. Actually, it wasn't until the very end. The end, when Hogwarts, the only fortress remaining against Voldemort's army, was destroyed. It wasn't supposed to be. He had meant to capture it, use it for his own. It was the strongest magical or Muggle fortress left in all of Europe. But all his soldiers who could still walk could not be stopped. They blasted apart anything and everything that stood in their way, and even the defenses of Hogwarts couldn't withstand an army of thousands. And with Hogwarts gone, there was nothing left for the opposition, and Voldemort won.
The two previous years had been times of increasing darkness, with the shadow growing and spreading throughout the land. The schools had continued to dwindle, as more and more frightened parents kept their children home, so at least they'd know where they were. At the beginning of the summer, when Voldemort's supporters destroyed Godric's Hollow, after the first battle was lost for the side of good, when the Ministry of Magic finally gave in and publically stated that Voldemort had returned, it was too late. The few who hadn't known or refused to believe earlier had been forced to see, and all had been forced to pick sides. All able-bodied wizards old enough to have graduated were called to fight, and many witches as well. Any trained healers were forced into service, and many of the students snuck into the fights.
All the students who had not been drawn home had their own reasons. Many of the parents realized that their children would be safer there, even if it was attacked. Many realized that they would be better trained to help if they stayed a little while longer. And more still stayed because there was no home, no family to go home to. Dumbledore had opened up the school as soon as he became convinced of the trouble, after Voldemort's resurrection. The spaces left empty by students were soon filled by those in need of protection, and the students that remained were all doing their parts to help in the war. They made healing potions, built up as many protection charms as they could, helped nurse the wounded, and most of all trained themselves for the inevitable battles once they were forced to leave.
And that was why it was so much worse when it was destroyed. Normally at the end of the summer there were less than twenty people remaining at the school, and the creatures and the house elves. But there had been hundreds there, and still they could not protect themselves. And so the castle fell, with a noise that could be heard for hundreds of miles all around, even by the Muggles. And there was a silence, great and terrible, and in that silence died the hope of the wizarding world.
A/N: I'm doing my disclaimer and notes down here because I really needed the dramatic beginning to this, and couldn't bear to mess it up with junk. I may do all my author's notes for this story at the bottom, so be prepared for them. This story is dedicated to my friends, St. Louis Boy and
Marienkäfer, who were part of the original creation of it. They aren't on ff.net, don't attempt to find them.
Disclaimer: All things recognized from the Harry Potter books belong to someone else (namely J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Bloomsbury).
Claimer: All things not recognized from those sources mentioned above belong to me. Ask (and wait for me to grant permission) before borrowing.