18. Battle of Azkaban

(June 1st, 1996)

Harry was chewing the last bit of an apple pie in a gloomy silence, his mind wandering somewhere very far. Hermione was watching him with anxiety, sighing every now and then. Ron was picking in pudding with his fork. No one was speaking. No one was smiling. Even the Weasley twins were strangely quiet.

Not only the Gryffindors were depressed. Unrest spread to everybody and the Great Hall was deadly silent. And everything started five days ago when Dumbledore informed the students that they must be prepared for the possibility of an attack on Hogwart. And though there were nobody who would believe that Voldemort could get to the school grounds, weariness and sorrow in the old wizard's eyes could rouse fear even in the most trustful heart. Some parents decided to take their children form the castle bur most believed that Hogwart is still the safest place on the world.

And so for several days the castle was a quiet place. The meals have never been passing in such a mournful silence. And if anybody wanted to take heart at the teachers' table, he wouldn't have chosen the best. Dumbledore was sitting lost in thoughts, every now and then casting the students with a sad gaze. Vega Starlight, if she came to the Hall at all, didn't take her eyes off the pile of papers that she put on the table. She was pale, had black-ringed eyes and evidently she hasn't slept for several days. Snape acted strangely. Harry noticed that sometimes his face twisted suddenly in the expression of mingled pain and rage. He clenched his hand on the chain hidden under his robe and looked darkly at Dumbledore.

Hagrid was despaired. The behemots' disappearance was a real shock for him. And he couldn't stop blaming himself for his credulity. He had no doubts that Magnus Devilson was behind that affair. And Hagrid felt betrayed and cheated by the man who he considered his friend.

Harry sighed heavily and threw a pork-chop to a large, black dog lying in the passage between the tables. The beast snapped its teeth and wagged its tail.

'Are we going?' asked Ron hopefully.

He had enough of a gloomy atmosphere of the Hall.

Suddenly the door opened with a bang and a young man with red hair run into the room.

'Bill!' called surprised Ron.

Bill Weasley didn't even look at his brother. He run to the stuff table and on it lent heavily.

'Azkaban...' he wheezed out 'The attacked... Azkaban...'

Vega sprang to her feet.

'How many of them?' she shouted 'What about Dementors.'

Bill opened his mouth but he couldn't emit a sound.

'Drink a glass of water,' said Dumbledore standing up 'And tell us everything by turns.

Bill emptied the goblet in a gulp and breathed.

'It started twenty minutes ago,' he said with effort 'The appeared suddenly, about thirty masked Death Eaters. They stood in front of the Azkaban gate and demanded to release the prisoners. They said they spoke in behalf of Lord Voldemort.'

Single screams of terror could be heard.

'There were only ten Aurors in our squad,' continued Bill 'But from behind the walls we could repel an attack of much more enemies. Beside, there were Dementors...' he paused and rubbed his eyes 'Edgar Higgs told the Death Eaters to get off. And they started to laugh. Then HE apparated,' fear twinkled in Bill's eyes 'You-Know-Who, reborn and powerful.'

Now most of the students were really scared. Harry seemed petrified.

'You-Know-Who spoke to Dementors,' said Bill in a gloomy voice 'He promised them power and thousands of captives. And they...' he shook his head 'turned against us.'

'I knew it would happen,' said Dumbledore heavily 'Fortunately we had a squad of Aurors in Azkaban.'

'That's right,' nodded Bill 'When it started I was sent here to let know to captain Starlight. Mary was to bring 'gamma' and 'alpha' and Tom went for 'delta''.

'OK. We go in five minutes.' said Vega.

She jumped over the table and ran from the Hall. Bill made after her. Snape followed them with gloomy eyes and looked at Dumbledore.

'I wish I could go with them' he whispered.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly.

'You know it's impossible, Severus,' he sighed 'You can't reveal yourself, not yet...'

'I know...' said Snape dully.

'Let's go.' Dumbledore put a hand on his arm 'We will catch them before they leave.'

And they quickly went out from the room. Near the marble stairs they met Bill who was pacing up and down the corridor.'

'Did you inform Moody?' asked Dumbledore.

'He will know' muttered Bill 'Arabella Figg was to let him know if anything had happened.

Steps rumbled on the stairs and Vega ran down, pulling on black glittering gloves with metal fittings.

'Let's go!' she waved at Bill who straightened up formally.

Vega approached Dumbledore.

'The DADS should resist,' she said quickly 'Now it can be controlled only from the matrix. Here you are,' she handed a black plate to the Headmaster 'If something happen to me you know how it works. See you later...maybe' she smiled gloomily and moved towards the door.

'Wait!' Severus grabbed her arm.

The Auror turned round and fixed her steely-grey eyes at him.

'Vega,' said Snape silently 'Be careful. And anything happens...remember that I will never turn against you.'

The witch was looking at him for a while. Finally she nodded and ran after Bill who was just mounting his broom. She transformed and a black goshawk shot into the night sky.
. . .

They apparated on a sandy slope and at once reached their ears a deafening roar that made the ground shaking.

'What's that?!' cried Vega.

Bill shook his head. The Auror ran to the edge of the slope and looked down. At the bottom of a shallow valley loomed high, thick walls of the most tremendous fortress. Azkaban, cursed and terrifying, full of despair and hopelessness.

'What the hell...?!' muttered Vega staring intently at the valley's bottom.

There was unceasing movement round the Azkaban's walls. All along them enormous grey monsters were raving widely and they were the ones who were roaring so sharply. There were a dozen or so of them.

'Behemots,' whispered Vega 'Damned Devilson! So that's why he needed them. Bill!' she turned to the young wizard 'Wait here for the Special Forces. I will look around.'

She transformed and like an arrow she flew towards Azkaban.

. . .

Several dozens of people gathered on the slope. They were lying in ambush in the darkness, noiseless, waiting for an order to attack.

Vega called the captains.

'It's not good,' she said silently 'They have behemots controlled by nobody else but our dear Magnus. Their roar is destroying the walls better than the best Muggle bombs. If it goes longer Azkaban will be completely ruined in one hour.'

'How did they get them?!' Rupert Rail was wondering feverishly.

'Teleports.' said Vega courtly 'They had to transfer the behemots from Tibet using the power of the connected megaports. It would explain why there were problems with them a few days ago.'

'How can we stop them?' asked soberly Arabella Figg 'Behemots are resistant to magic.'

'It's not our biggest problem' said Vega gloomily 'I saw about fifty Death Eaters. Voldemort is not with them, he must supervise the battle from the distance. But all Dementors joined the attackers. Edgar's squad has been encircled on the western tower. And they cannot disapparate from Azkaban...'

'Bloody hell!' swore Moody 'There are mainly apprentices in his squad.'

'Exactly,' muttered Vega ' We have to attack immediately. We cannot allow a single prisoner to get out of Azkaban.'

'And what about the behemots?' insisted Arabella.

Vega smiled sinisterly.

'We will invent something.'
. . .

The Aurors attacked unexpectedly like ominous angels of death. The Death Eaters, too absorbed of the behemots work, allowed to surprise them and the first stroke repelled them under the wall of the fortress. Encircled between the frantic creatures and the Aurors, they were trying desperately to stop the attack of the Special Forces.

Vega repelled an icy ray that someone shot at her and yelled: 'Unda Mortis !' A powerful wave of pressure swooped towards the Death Eaters. It beat into the ground the ones who didn't manage to dodge it, passed the behemots not even hurting then and scattered on the Azkaban walls with a blinding flash. Several bricks fell to the ground.

''Delta' towards the gate!' Vega waved a hand trying to outshout the wild roar of the shaggy creatures.

Fifteen Aurors broke off from the formation and ran towards the gate, casting the Striking Spells right and left. In the same moment the other squads attacked furiously the Death Eaters trying to push them from the way of 'delta'.

It wasn't easy, however. Now when the first shock has passed, the Death Eaters showed that Lord Voldemort trained his soldiers perfectly well. They were using very powerful curses and were fighting bravely and passionately. And they were not going to lose.

A bright ray shot towards 'delta' and reached a young witch who too late called an incantation of the Cover. White jest of lights shot from her convulsively twitching body and swooped with a hiss on the whole squad.

'Shields! Hurry!' roared Arabella Figg.

Subtle glimmers gleamed around the wizards. The jets reflected from them and shot into the sky. It seemed that everybody was safe but suddenly one of the wizards slumped on his knees, wheezing and spitting with blood that was streaming also from his ripped throat.

'Damned it!' swore Arabella bending over the Auror, her face twisted painfully 'We retreat!' she commanded.

'We can't leave him!' moaned a young fair-haired wizard, kneeling down next to his comrade and looking in disbelief at his blood-stained body.

'Leave him!' cried Arabella pulling his arm 'You will not help him!'

'Delta' closed the ranks and started to retreat hastily towards the other Aurors.

'They failed!' growled Moddy looking intently at the approaching squad 'Bloody hell! Higgs will not sustain long.'

In fact, a situation of the 'beta' on the tower wasn't good. Six of the nine wizards in the squad were apprentices who had already finished the schooling but didn't have experience in the real fight. And they had to measure their strengths with Dementors.

Edgar Higss mopped his forehead and over the misty shadows of Patronuses he looked at the field below the Azkaban walls.

'If they will not dig the way' he whispered to himself 'We will be in troubles...'

Vega thought the same. She knew that if they wanted to save 'delta' and not allow to release the prisoners of Azkaban, they had to stake all on a chance.

'Forward!' she cried giving sign to attack.

The Aurors moved.

'Eruptio!' yelled somebody behind.

Vega reflexively protected herself with a shield but Bill Weasley, who was running before her, staggered and fell down. Convulsions shook his body and suddenly a powerful explosion tore him into pieces. In the same moment the Fire Wall rolled over several other Aurors leaving a grey ash on the place when they had been.

Vega stood petrified, wiping Bill's blood from her face. She clenched her fists and slowly, as if fighting with an invisible force, she turned round. Several steps in front of her Rupert Rail was standing. He had a wand in his risen hand and was laughing madly. Some people from his squad were still attacking the shocked Aurors.

'TRAITOR !' shrieked Vega pointing her wand at Rail who in the same moment called:

'Eruptio!'

But the witch was too fast for him.

'Cancellio!' she roared.

Rail's curse disappeared and before he could understand what happened, Vega called 'Immobilarius!'. Rupert stood motionless. The only moving part of his body were eyes, now widened and fixed on approaching Vega with an expression of a growing panic.

The Auror reached Rail and her pale face twisted in hatred and contempt.

'Why?!' she hissed ominously not taking her eyes off the green eyes of her former friend.

Rupert blinked that he want to speak. Vega reduced a bit a power of the curse.

'He forced me!' whispered Rail in a shrill voice 'I swear! He forced me! He threatened he would kill my family!'

There were no sign of compassion in Vega's eyes.

'You had a very good fun as for someone who was forced to perfidious attack on his own mates' she said icily.

Rupert turned pail.

'No...' he mumbled, avoiding Vega's eyes 'It's not true... I didn't want...'

'You lie!' yelled the Auror 'You are a Death Eater ! And you will die like all of them. Avada Kedavra !'

A green jet of light shot from the tip of her wand and passed through Rail who fell inertly on the ground. Vega looked at him with loathing, her grey eyes were cold and ruthless.

'All right?!' called Moody approaching in a quick pace 'Lousy traitor!' he growled at the sight of the dead wizard 'The sixth one. And I suppose that he was the leader.'

Vega nodded gloomily.

'The attack has broken down,' added Moody hastily 'Thanks to that son of the bitch we lost the only possibility. Now we will not dig the way to Edgar...'

A horrible crash could be heard, as if a battle of thunders has just begun over Azkaban. The ground was shaking. Vega looked at the fortress. The western tower collapsed raising a thick cloud of dust. The pieces of stones were falling behind the walls, creating a panic among the behemots.

'Edgar...' whispered Vega.

After the roaring of the silver creatures the jolt was too much for the fortress. The walls shook and fell down. The Death Eaters yelled triumphantly. They knew that they had won.

No more than a minute had passed when the other shouts could be heard near the gate. Dementors were leading the released prisoners. Most of them were Death Eaters who landed in Azkaban after Voldemort's downfall. Now there were coming back to the world they hadn't hoped to see again. There were greedy of revenge and blood, ready to do everything at the order of the Dark Lord.

The Aurors were looking at that with a helpless fury. They couldn't prevent it. But they were not going to give up. Meanwhile the released Death Eaters couldn't be much helpful. And though the Special Forces have been very decimated after the Rail's betrayal and death of the Higgs' squad, they knew they had to fight.

Vega gave 'gamma' and 'beta' under Moody's command and the Aurors took the last offensive. The Striking Spells shot towards the Death Eaters. Arabella's subordinates connected their wands and cried in unison: 'Evaporate !' A liquid, transparent ball materialised over their heads whirling madly, and suddenly it shot towards the enemies. The ones it had touched started to howl with pain while every cubic centimetre of water was evaporating from their bodies. After several seconds only dried corpses remained of them that crumbled into dust at the slightest hit.

The Death Eaters paid them back with the same. Several Aurors has been horribly massacred by Implosis that left only wet, bloody stains of them. At Vega feet a witch fell with her face burned to the bones by a Fire Ball. An Icy Blade almost cut Arabella's head and Moody fell on the ground after an extremely powerful Striking Wave broke his Cover and threw him away nearly twenty meters.

Vega hesitated but she hadn't time to check if Mad-Eye is alive. She sliced two Death Eaters with a single wave of her wand and she was about to cast a Death Wave at the prisoners gathered next to the teleports, when a familiar, cold and full of hatred voice cried:

'Crucio !'

Vega dodged and the curse flew over her head. She jumped up immediately and fixed her burning eyes on devilishly smiled Lucius Malfoy.

'Only coward attack from behind!' she growled looking at him with utmost loathing.

Murderous twinkles were glinting in Lucius' bright eyes.

'We will finally measure our strengths, Starlight!' he drawled ominously 'I've been waiting for this moment for years. And finally it has come...' he was piercing her with his eyes 'Now we will see who is better. You will pay for everything.'

Vega was staring coldly at him, a cruel sneer slowly arose on her lips.

'As you wish,' she shrugged her shoulders 'If this is a death you've chosen...'

'Avada Kedavra !' roared Malfoy.

'Reflectio !' yelled Vega.

Inexpressible bewilderment appeared on Lucius' face. The last thing he saw was a blinding jet of a green light.

. . .

Somebody cast a Lighting Spell on the Death Eaters. Three wizards burst into flames. Howling with pain they were trying to tear off their burning robes but they had already stuck to their bodies and the fire started to eat into the skin and muscles. The Death Eaters were twitching in agony, uttering horrible groans.

One of them, a woman with long, fairy hair burning now like a great torch, sprang up from the ground and in madness, driven with pain and fear, she run straight among the behemots that Magnus tried to drive into the teleports. The fire immediately skipped on their thick, sliver fur. Behemots moved uneasily, sniffing the smoke. And suddenly they felt pain. Their fur was burning. The animal roared shrilly and franticly run in all directions, treading down everyone who stood on their way. Some of them ran towards the teleports, overturning them and trampling the prisoners. Only a dozen of released Death Eaters managed to escape.

Magnus, ghastly pale, was staring with a mad despair at the burning behemots. He felt their agony as his own, with every nerve of his body. He was the one who brought them here ! It was his fault they were suffering ! His heart was full of bitterness, rage and grief. Why did it happen to them ? They were innocent. They didn't deserve such a horrible end !

Tears shone in Magnus grey-blue eyes. He waved his wand. He knew who was responsible for that crime. They were, the Aurors and Death Eaters, who didn't care for behemots' lives.

Suddenly a silent squeal came from the ruined walls. Magnus turned round and fixed his eyes in darkness. Something moved, squealed again and a fawn, shaggy creature loomed from a shadow. It was a young behemot.

'Gunnar...' called Magnus in a melodious whisper 'Gunnar...It's me...come to me...'

The behemot moved his nostrils and pricked his small ears.

'Gunnar...come' Devilson was calling.

The young one moved hesitantly towards the wizard still sniffing and looking round restlessly. But finally he recognised Magnus, approached him without fear and stroke with its shaggy head.

'Gunnar' whispered Devilson scraping behemot's nose 'Come on, we will go home.'

He pulled a shaggy ear and behemot obediently tottered after him. Magnus was leading the animal towards the only remained teleport. They had to travel several hundreds meters but people were now fighting in the other part of the valley and nobody paid attention to them.

Behemot was walking quietly. Only when they were passing the charred remains of its cousins it got nervous and Magnus had to keep it with all his strengths. But he spoke to Gunnar and the sound of his voice tranquillized the animal.

Dozen or so meters were left to the teleport. Suddenly a group of the Death Eaters dashed from behind the corner, chased by the Aurors. Magnus forced Gunnar to trot. Escape was so close...

'Unda Mortis !' cried Arabella Figg.

A Death Wave wiped out the Voldemort's soldiers and was gliding towards the teleport. Magnus quickly estimated the distance. If he started to run he would manage to escape. He pulled behemot's ear but the small one couldn't walk faster.

'Gunnar!' cried the wizard 'Gunnar ! Come on!'

They were only five meters from the teleport. The Death Wave was very close by. Magnus knew that the behemot would not be fast enough. He looked at it with despair and suddenly he pulled out his wand.

'Reducto!' he screamed.

The spell tore behemot away from the ground and cast it into the teleport. Gunnar had disappeared a few seconds before the Death Wave rolled over the teleport and crushed Magnus Devilson.