AN: Sorry about the last chapter being so short! This one is pretty long though! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it.
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Chapter 17: Loss
Harry awoke on a fine Saturday in April, feeling contented. Hurriedly, he put his quidditch robes on as he made his way outside for their practice. The game against Hufflepuff was coming up soon, a matter that Angelina did not want her team to take lightly. Harry's first thought when he walked outside was what a beautiful day it was. The sky was clear blue with a few puffy clouds dotting it here and there. There was a small breeze that ruffled his hair, making it stand on end even more than usual.
A few minutes into the practice and Ron and Hermione came down to sit in the stands. Harry was just warming up on his Firebolt when he heard shouts on the grounds. Curious, he turned to his team members who shrugged. "Where is he?" A cold voice hissed. Harry's head snapped up. He knew that voice. Quickly, he landed, abandoned his Firebolt, and with Ron and Hermione at his heels, ran out onto the grounds as quickly as his feet would take him there.
What he saw made him want to throw up. It was Voldemort. Tall and menacing, with slits for eyes and a serpent face that could never fail to be recognized. Behind him, like a small army, stood at least two-dozen Death Eaters. Harry gulped. Voldemort was terrorizing a pair of fourth years who had been outside enjoying the sunshine. He had not spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione yet. "Where is your headmaster!" He shouted in the face of one of the younger students. The student trembled with fear.
Harry turned towards the castle. He had heard rapid footsteps. Attracted by the booming shouts, no doubt, the teachers had come running onto the scene, Dumbledore in the lead. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what had caused the disturbance. Oddly enough, he did not look alarmed, rather confident actually.
"Tom. We meet again." Dumbledore spoke quietly, yet firmly. "What brings you here?"
Voldemort laughed. It was a cruel, mirthless cackle that turned Harry's blood to ice. "You think you can keep me out of Hogwarts? Do you think I fear you? Lord Voldemort fears no one! It was so easy to get inside this castle, especially with a member of your staff on my side. You might want to try harder to protect your students."
Harry froze. Someone in Hogwarts was helping Voldemort? He sized up the teachers and the other faculty members who had surrounded Dumbledore. Which one of them was a traitor?
"Argus, come forward." Argus Filch stepped out of the crowd of Hogwarts staff, looking horrified. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked on in disbelief. "You see as useless as this pathetic squib is in the ways of magic, he does make an excellent informant. At first, he was not too eager to join my ranks, so I used the Imperius Curse. Once he found out how powerful I was, he came along rather peacefully and I no longer had to keep him under the Curse." Voldemort laughed again, his eyes on Filch. "He was only too happy to point on the castle's weakest defense points. And the two cursebuilders that came along, rather unwillingly of course, pointed out the spells used to provide Hogwart's protection. After some research, it wasn't hard to find which curses would destroy the defenses. I'm afraid you left yourself rather vulnerable, Dumbledore. You trusted where you shouldn't have, you meddling fool."
"DON"T INSULT HIM!" Hagrid shouted. He stepped in front of Dumbledore, blocking him from view. "DEAL WITH ME FIRST!" Not bothering with a wand or magic, Hagrid lunged and reached his arms out, perhaps to strangle Voldemort. Voldemort's face wore a cruel smile.
"Perhaps I should take care of the half-wit, first." He said tauntingly, as he stepped out of Hagrid's reach. "Avada Kedavra!" A burst of green light shot from Voldemort's wand and Hagrid fell to the ground, eyes wide open, but body still.
Harry gasped as he looked at the fallen body of his friend. This was Hagrid. No one could hurt him. On impulse, he ran towards the lifeless body. He bent down. "Hagrid? Hagrid? Hagrid, come on. Please? Please, Hagrid? Answer me." Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled over his cheeks. Ron and Hermione had come over too. "He's dead." Harry whispered disbelievingly. Ron and Hermione stood in shock, not knowing what to say.
"Harry Potter!" Voldemort had shouted. Harry had almost forgotten he was there. Hagrid….dead. But when he had rushed to the body, he had revealed himself to the enemy. Harry looked up to the face that had caused him more pain than he had ever thought possible. "We meet again. Tell me? Who is the sacrifice of the day, hm? Was it the half-giant? Who else has to die for Harry Potter to live?"
Harry gulped, determined not to let it show that Voldemort's words had hit home. "Why don't you leave the boy alone? He has nothing to do with this!" A voice had called out. It was Arabella Figg.
"On the contrary," Voldemort retorted. "He has everything to do with this. This boy. My downfall so many times and yet I can overpower him quite easily. Crucio!"
Harry's body was on fire. Every nerve, every muscle, every bone, burning. Pain like a dagger ripping him open, tearing his flesh, disemboweling him. With the distraction of pain, Harry barely noticed that the two sides had begun fighting. Pain was all that he felt. And then it stopped.
Feeling shattered, Harry stood up weakly and assessed the situation quickly. The Death Eaters and teachers were throwing curses at each other. Some students had joined in the fighting. Forgetting the pain that had overpowered him only moments ago, Harry felt adrenaline surge through him and ran to join the fight.
"Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled at the nearest Death Eater. His body froze up and he collapsed to the ground.
Harry scanned the battle, looking for Ron and Hermione. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Ron, body twitching as Wormtail put the Cruciatus Curse on him. Harry raised his wand to free Ron from Wormtail, but someone beat him to it.
"Stupefy!" Hermione called out. Wormtail collapsed and Harry watched Hermione run to Ron to make sure he was okay.
Harry hurried over to Professor McGonagall who was doing her best to deal with three Death Eaters who had come at her all at once. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She shouted and levitated one of them all the way over to the lake and dropped him in. Harry stood in awe at her skill and power for a second before assisting her.
"Stupefy!" He yelled at the Death Eater who had been raising his wand. He collapsed and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall stated calmly, still dealing with the third Death Eater.
Harry heard running, lots of people running. He looked up from the battle for a moment to see a wave of students joining in the fight. However, not all of them were on their side. Harry saw a seventh year Slytherin student hit Dean Thomas with "Rictusempra!" causing Dean to double over wheezing.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry heard a voice call out. The seventh year student froze and dropped like a ton of bricks. Harry looked over to see Ron, with his wand still pointed at the Slytherin.
Though, a lot of people were dropping from both sides, it seemed clear to Harry that they were winning. Some Death Eaters had even begun venturing away from Hogwarts, so they could get to a point where they could Apparate away. Harry thought this kind of odd, that Voldemort and his Death Eaters would show up and then run away, but perhaps that had been the purpose. Maybe he had just wanted to frighten them.
"Crucio!" Harry heard Voldemort's voice yell. For once it was not aimed at him. Harry watched, horrified, as tiny Professor Flitwick began to shake and twitch. He was too shocked to even react and try to help, but someone else had the sense to do something.
"Impedimenta!" Ron shouted. Voldemort dodged the curse, but it broke his concentration and Flitwick was relieved from the pain.
Harry heard Hermione shout out some spell he had never heard before and saw her aiding another student, whom Harry recognized as a Sixth year boy from Ravenclaw.
Though some of Voldemort's people had run away, it seemed that the fight was far from over.
Harry dropped to his knees to avoid getting stupefied himself, and then did a sort of roll to avoid further curses. "Stupefy!" Lavender Brown yelled, taking out the student who had been after Harry.
Harry grinned at her as she helped him up. "Thanks."
She smiled. "No problem." And then noticing Parvati being tied up with a Death Eater, she hurried off to help.
Harry looked around for a sign of his friends. Ron was helping Dumbledore, who was surrounded by Death Eaters. Hermione was assisting Seamus. Where was Ginny? He thought frantically. She had been out here…but he hadn't even seen her since quidditch practice.
And then he saw a flash of red. Her hair! She was laying on the ground, eyes shut and body still. He ran to her praying with all his might that she was still alive. "Ginny, Ginny!" He whispered anxiously. He felt a cool hand on his shoulder and gasped. He looked up and saw Professor Figg. He sighed with relief. "Oh, its you, you scared me."
"Don't worry, Potter. She is only stunned. I will take her to the hospital wing." Harry nodded, gratefully. He felt so relieved.
He stood up, ready to get back into battle when he saw that most of it was broken up. All of the conscious Death Eaters had fled and Voldemort himself was nowhere in sight.
Harry looked around once again feeling pangs of worry as he scanned the area for Ron and Hermione. Finally, he found what he was looking for. Weasley red, he thought to himself. They were locked into a tight embrace. Both looked weary and frightened. Harry wondered for a moment if he should join them, and then decided that he had too. If he didn't go to them, he would probably burst inside from fear, anger and frustration. He had thought for a minute that he might lose his best friends. At that instant when the fighting had begun, he had thought that everyone around him would die. Of course, he shouldn't be thinking about it as though everyone had come out of it unscathed. He had lost one of his dearest friends, the person that had rescued him from a horrible life and showed him how a better path.
Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione. And the three embraced. All of them had tears running down their faces as they mourned for the loss of Hagrid.
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