Disclaimer: See Chapter 32
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 34: O.W.L.s
As the O.W.L.s drew nearer by the day, the teachers stopped giving them homework, concentrating more on review questions and wand motions in class instead. During this time, the fifth year students were often found in the library or common room with stacks of books piled all around them.
"Your O.W.L.s will be spread along two weeks," Professor McGonagall had told them. "You'll have your theoretical exams in the morning and after lunch; your practical exams will take place. Your Astronomy O.W.L., of course, will be at night."
All of their O.W.L. exams were to be proctored by the Ministry of Magic instead of the professors; probably to ensure that no favouritism would take place.
After they had been nearly killed by the Baron in the tower, Harry spent several days in the library with Ron and Hermione (much to Hermione's surprise), trying to think of better ways to defeat a vampire. Vampires were incredibly quick as Harry had learned in his first duel against Sepet earlier in the year so if he had not been present; it was entirely possible that they would not have made it out of there alive.
Parvati was often seen around the castle looking very unsettled and showing signs of weakness; probably because her master had abandoned her and also because she hadn't had any blood to drink lately.
One evening, about a day before the fifth years would be taking their OWLs, Sepet summoned the trio to his chamber in the dungeons, very much to Hermione's annoyance because she was in the middle of memorizing all of her wand movements for transfiguration.
When they arrived at his office, Sepet was already waiting outside with Parvati.
"Please have a seat, this won't take long," Sepet said, opening the door to his office and ushering the four students in.
They sat down in three of the four chairs that had materialized out of thin air and Sepet, escorting Parvati personally to a seat and pushing her down into an empty chair in front of his desk, then began to walk around while explaining his reason for calling them down.
"No doubt that Miss Granger has already deduced the reason for you coming here," said Sepet, coming around to the other side of his desk and sitting down in a high red velvet chair that he apparently obtained since the last time they were there. "But please do keep your mouth shut Miss Granger. I'll explain everything - I don't need to hear you state the bloody obvious."
Ron began to laugh but stifled it as soon as he caught Hermione glaring at him. Sepet reached into his desk. He produced a small vial with a cork and a pointed needle sticking out of it, almost like a syringe.
"This should help you," said Sepet, handing it to Hermione who took it in her hands and began to examine it. "You just stick it into him and it will get all the blood you need. Mix it with some of hers and have her drink it."
Sepet then motioned for Parvati to come to him. She stood up from her chair, slowly and walked over to stand next to him. He then asked Hermione to stick the needle into Parvati's arm.
"Don't worry my dear," Sepet said comfortingly to Parvati. "You won't feel a thing."
Hermione walked around the desk as well and quickly shoved the needle into Parvati's arm. Moments later, they began to see blood trickle into the vial, filling it up ever so slowly.
"That should be enough," said Sepet and he slowly withdrew the now half filled vial from Parvati's arm. A drop of blood formed around the area where the needle had been and streamed down her arm, falling into Parvati's open hand right below her elbow. She then brought it back to her mouth and with a sipping sound, absorbed it back into her body. The wound itself closed up and no more blood was seen.
Sepet stood then released Parvati from his grasp and gave the vial back to Hermione. "Keep it safe. It should be enough to break the connection between Miss Patil and the baron."
"But how do we find him?" Hermione asked.
"That's simple, Parvati will lead you to him," Sepet replied.
There was a knock at the door and Ron got up to open it but when he got there, the door opened from the other side, nearly flattening him against the wall.
An Asian boy who none of them had seen before entered the room. He looked as if he couldn't be any older than sixteen or seventeen but the way he was dressed indicated that he was connected in some way to someone with a lot of money and more than likely, a lot of influence.
"My apologies for the interruption sir," the newcomer said respectfully to Sepet but upon seeing the four students seated before him, he looked to the Count for instructions.
"Wait a moment please, let me dismiss these students," Sepet interrupted the boy. "That will be all for today you four. Return to your studies please."
The four students proceeded to exit the Count's chamber, looking back in silence, pondering what Sepet could possibly have to do with the newcomer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the first day of the OWLs, a group of six witches and wizards arrived at the castle to administer the exams. The only thing out of place however, was that Percy was accompanying them with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
Professor McGonagall greeted them at the entrance to the Great Hall during breakfast and invited them to have a seat at the Professor's table, which was set to accommodate more guests. Harry noted that she seemed to look at Fudge with a bit of disdain.
The newcomers all headed over to the high table that overlooked the four house tables but to McGonagall's annoyance, Fudge took the seat where Dumbledore would normally have been sitting. McGonagall then had no choice but to give up her seat to Percy who apologized to her before sitting down.
Nevertheless, that wasn't the end of their surprises. Fudge then stood up and pointed his wand at his throat.
"SONORUS!" his voice boomed throughout the Hall, catching the attention of all of the students eating breakfast.
"Good morning to all of you," Fudge's voice carried throughout the Great Hall. "I trust that this year has been very pleasurable for you and for your professors and that your heads are a little fuller than they were before."
"Sir, your speech," Percy whispered to Fudge, handing him a piece of parchment with writing all over it.
"Yes, yes," Fudge snapped at him. "I was getting to it."
Fudge looked up again and began to read from the parchment in his hand. "As you all know, last year, a student here at school, Harry Potter, claimed to have seen You-Know-Who come back from the dead. It is the ministry's official statement that this is a lie."
Several gasps came from around the Hall though the Slytherin table applauded loudly. Harry and Ron began to stand up but Hermione and Ginny shoved them back down in their seats.
"Sit down," Hermione whispered harshly through clenched teeth. "It won't do any us any good if you cause a scene."
Fudge smiled at the Slytherins and motioned for decorum once again before continuing. "We believe that the former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, has fostered these lies in an attempt to gain more power. I assure you that he is the threat, not You-Know-Who. Anyone who has information on his current whereabouts is therefore encouraged to give us the information. I will personally award a thousand Galleons to anyone who can give us information leading to his capture."
Hermione, who still was gripping both of the boys, tightened her grip on them until they flinched from the pressure.
"Could you loosen your grip Hermione?" Ron told her, looking at her as if she'd gone mad. "We aren't the ones you want to hurt."
Hermione's hold loosened a bit but Harry could tell that she was as tense as everyone else around him.
"He's making Dumbledore out to be the villain and completely ignoring the warnings."
"You probably have also heard of some rumours of the Dark Mark appearing over certain households. We also tell you that this is merely the ministry's attempt to round up the remaining followers of You-Know-Who."
"Never mind that it was us who raided that house and killed all those Death Eaters," Harry muttered to himself.
"Finally, I would like to wish all of you good luck in your studies, especially the Fifth Year students who will be taking their OWLs starting today."
With that, Fudge took his seat again. Professor McGonagall looked very annoyed but Harry could tell that she was trying her best not to throw every curse she knew at Fudge.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After breakfast finished, the students were dismissed but the Fifth years were told to wait outside while they made changes for their exam.
It was during this time that Harry felt extremely awkward because now he was getting a lot of stares from the other students, many of whom were whispering amongst themselves as well.
"Ignore it," Hermione told him. "They're just trying to make you look bad. We'll just prove that You-Know-Who is back somehow and they'll all be behind you again."
"Uhh Hermione," Ron nudged her. "I think you'll get that chance only if you manage to defeat the Slytherins."
"What?" she asked, giving Ron a look of bafflement but she realized that the Slytherins had surrounded them and were closing on them. Malfoy was among them and he was addressing Harry.
"We know you know where Dumbledore is," Malfoy said. "We'll get that reward once we wring the secret out of you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked around to see if any of the Gryffindors were going to support them but it seemed that none of them were making a move.
The trio began to reach into their pockets for their wands but fortunately they were saved the trouble of doing so because the door to the Great Hall had opened and Professor McGonagall stepped out with Professor Flitwick, Professor Vector and Professor Sprout behind her.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm very disappointed," McGonagall said with harshness. "What are you doing surrounding three Gryffindor students? Fifty points from Slytherin - Now, hurry up and make four lines according to your houses."
The students rushed to follow her instructions and once that was done, they slowly filed into the room, four at a time, each of them handing their wand to one of the teachers. However, Fudge's speech seemed to have some effect on them because even some of the Gryffindors were looking at Harry with suspicion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Instead of the four house tables, the Great Hall was now filled with desks lined up in neat rows; each one with a quill that no doubt had an anti- cheating charm placed on it. The house banners however were still flying overhead.
Harry took a seat immediately behind Ron while Hermione sat down in a chair to his right.
Once all of the students had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall, with a sweep of her wand, distributed all of the Charms exams to them.
"You have two hours - begin!" she said and flipped the large hourglass that was placed on the teacher's table.
Harry glanced down at the exam paper and picked up the quill on his desk.
Question 1: Give the incantation to make objects fly.
Harry merely smiled because memories of a large club falling on the skull of a troll in the girl's bathroom came to mind.
With that, he began to write his answer..
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After two hours, they were told to put down their quills and again with a sweep of her wand, McGonagall called all of the exams to her.
"That will be all for now," she announced, "You have two hours before the practical section of your OWL takes place. Report back here at that time."
There was a shuffle of feet and chairs as all of the students got up and began to walk out of the Great Hall, back to their dorms.
"I'm not so sure I got question four right," Hermione was saying to herself on the way out. "What did you guys put down?"
"If you want to know how we did, just ask us, stop beating around the bush," Ron huffed. "We know you got them all right, you always do."
Hermione looked a little hurt but by the time they got back up to the Gryffindor Common room, she had forgotten about it and went back to studying.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When it came time to take the Charms practical exam, all of the Fifth year students started going downstairs and lined up in the four lines again according to their houses, only this time they were given seats to sit in while they waited.
"You will be called in one at a time by one of the ministry officials, follow all of their instructions and good luck," Professor McGonagall told them when they had taken their seats.
With that, McGonagall entered the hall and moments later, the first of the students was called in; a Slytherin.
Each student probably took about thirty minutes before they came out, some of them in tears, others sighing in relief that the exam was over.
Eventually Hermione was called in and Harry glanced at Ron who was sitting to his left.
"It's almost our turn," Ron whispered to him as he glanced at his hands in his lap. "I'm not so sure I'll do well."
"I think we will - think of it as a test on all the things that we've done on our adventures," Harry encouraged him.
Ron looked up thoughtfully and nodded. "Come to think of it, you're right. That first question on the test was basically our encounter with that troll in the girls' bathroom."
Harry grinned. "See?"
"Yeah," Ron agreed, looking a lot more confident now. "I feel a lot better, thanks mate."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Soon, Hermione emerged looking very tense but a lot less worried.
"Harry Potter!" McGonagall called from the entrance.
"Good luck," Harry heard Ron tell him as he got up to enter the Great Hall.
"I'll wait for you when you get out," Hermione told him as he entered. "You'll do well, I know it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The doors closed behind him and McGonagall stood guard. Looking around, Harry saw that the Great Hall was completely empty except for a table with various objects on it and the ministry wizards who were now seated at the teachers' table.
"Welcome Harry Potter," one of them said as he stood up with a smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Don't worry too much about the exam. Just relax and follow what we tell you do to," the witch to the right told him.
"On the table in front of you, there is a silver plate, please levitate it to us."
Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the plate, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The plate rose into the air and with a simple wand motion, it flew towards the wizard in the middle and Harry set it down gently in front of him.
"Excellent!" he said delightfully.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the days went by, each of the exams followed through similarly as his Charms Exam, Transfiguration, Herbology and even Potions but what surprised Harry the most about his potions exam was the fact that he was a lot calmer about it. Perhaps because he didn't have Snape breathing down his neck and trying to take off house points for every little mistake he made.
Still, the amount of concentration it took to actually take these exams was incredible and Harry found himself exhausted by the time their last OWL, Defence Against the Dark Arts, came around. However if anyone deserved rest once this was over, it was Hermione. She had taken more OWLs than any of them but like him, she was relieved that it was almost over.
"I think we should take a nice long vacation once this is over, don't you?" Ron was suggesting as they stood outside the Great Hall to take their Dark Arts theoretical exam.
"That sounds good about now," Harry agreed. "I didn't think this would ever end."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As they were ushered into the Great Hall for their last OWL exam by Professor McGonagall, Harry saw that the sixth year prefects and the head boy and girl were standing around the room. He caught a glimpse of Cho who was talking with her counter-part but she threw him a smile when she saw that he was glancing at her.
Professor Flitwick was the one to distribute the exams this time but because of his height, he had to use a spell to flip the hourglass that was sitting on the teacher's table.
A ruffle of exam papers told Harry that it was time to start and so he took the Quill in his hand and glanced over the first few questions.
Question 1: What are Patronus charms used for?
Question 2: When do werewolves become human again?
*This should be fun * Harry thought to himself as he started to write down his answers. He would have to remind himself to thank Professor Lupin later.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the practical exams were over and the students were dismissed, Cho caught up with them outside the Great Hall.
"How was it?" she asked.
Harry merely grinned. "I loved it."
Ron threw Harry a look of surprise. "And I thought Hermione was the bookworm here."
"Give him some slack Ron," Hermione chided him. "It's his favourite subject."
"I only wish I could be so enthusiastic about the practical exam," Ron said gloomily. "With my skill, I don't think I'll make good marks on this one."
"You survived our adventures so far, it shouldn't be that hard," Hermione said.
Ron gave Hermione an awkward look. "You scare me sometimes."
"Afraid of your girlfriend already Ron?" Harry teased. "You'll need more courage than that if you ever want to get near her and you call yourself a Gryffindor."
Hermione and Cho merely laughed while Ron turned red in embarrassment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a decent lunch and a short nap, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the Great Hall for their Dark Arts practical exam.
The arrangement was the same as always but this time, the 6th year prefects came out to call them in one by one instead of Professor McGonagall.
"Hermione Granger," Cho called from the doorway, once they had all taken a seat outside.
Hermione got up and followed Cho inside along with the other Ravenclaw prefect. Two Slytherin prefects the shut the doors from the inside while the remaining prefects stood guard outside.
Ron pulled out Malfoy's sword from its sheath at his side while they were waiting outside and set it in his lap, shifting it back and forth from one side to the other by the hilt.
"Nervous?" Harry asked, noticing movement from his friend sitting beside him.
"Leaving Hermione in there with two Slytherin prefects, of course I'm nervous," Ron replied with a hint of frustration.
"Cho and another prefect are in there, along with the ministry officials," Harry said trying to put his friend at ease.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After about thirty minutes, the doors opened and one of the Slytherin prefects walked out with Hermione following closely behind looking rather peeved.
"Your turn Potter," she said disdainfully. "Hurry up else I'll start taking points off."
Harry glanced back at Ron who was starting to stand up but he merely shook his head and his friend slowly sat back down.
For her part, Hermione smiled dully at him and whispered a curt "good luck" to him as he entered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When he entered the Great Hall, he saw the ministry officials sitting at the high table where they were for his previous exams but this time Fudge and Percy were present as well.
The Slytherin prefects shut the door behind him and Harry's hand instinctively closed around his wand in his robe pocket while his other went to his sword. The first thing he noted though was that the ring he had gotten for Christmas was glowing a lot more brightly than it was before. On the bright side, if his ring was glowing, Hermione's would too and hopefully it wouldn't be too long before she came with help.
"Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you again," said Cornelius Fudge scornfully. "I will be running your exam this time not the officials."
"Sir?" the witch seated to the left of Fudge gave him a quizzical look.
"You heard me, just sit still," Fudge said in frustration.
Fudge turned his attention back to Harry. "Now - defend yourself."
The door near the teacher's high table opened and out stepped two aurors and six dementors. The two Slytherin prefects behind Harry had also drawn their wands and already had them pointed at him.
Moody would have been furious. He had turned his back on two potential opponents and in a few seconds, he would have at least eight more in front of him, assuming that the ministry officials would fight on Fudge's side.
The Great Hall seemed so cold all of a sudden but Harry figured that it was the effects of the dementors in the room. It was possible to defeat both groups - provided that the Slytherins joined in - but since the test was to defend himself, it would be more logical to attack the group in front and worry about the two prefects behind him.
Harry's wand darted up, pointed at the middle of the group in front of him. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A bright silver stag took form and charged towards the dementors who began to make haste to flee from the spell. Four of them did manage to get out of the line of fire but the two in the centre of the line were a little slow and were quickly cut down by Harry's stag.
The two dementors melted into the ground, leaving only their hooded robes behind as evidence that they were previously there. By then, the aurors had their wands raised and both fired different spells at Harry.
Harry cast an air shield in front of him just as the spells reached him and they were absorbed into the shield.
He then returned fire with a disarming spell at the same time both of them fired two different curses at him. One was absorbed into the shield but the other hit Harry well below the shield.
Harry's legs clamped together and he fell to the ground, apparently hit by a leg-locking curse. Still, the Auror who Harry had targeted was likewise hit and his wand flew out of his hand, landing on the floor, spinning as it did, next to Harry.
The Auror merely stared in surprise at Harry, which gave him the opportunity to stun him but his partner was not as slow. Now that Harry was on the ground, he wasn't protected by the shield but he hastily conjured up another one just in time to absorb the next spell that came to him.
Seeing that Harry's attention was completely absorbed by the two aurors, the two Slytherin prefects glanced at each other and grinned.
Wands aside, they charged at Harry while his attention was diverted and the first of the two kicked him hard in the side.
Harry let out of yelp of pain as his body spun around along the ground as the force of the kick sent him off to the side and his wand into the air.
In the meantime, the four remaining dementors had returned by then because with the lack of concentration, the silver stag had vanished. They proceeded to attack the nearest ministry officials.
Taken by complete surprise, four of them were seized by the Dementors who administered the Dementor's kiss to each of them. Moments later, their soulless bodies crumpled to the floor and the Dementors moved on to the remaining two officials. Oddly enough, neither Fudge nor Percy had moved nor were they affected at all by the Dementor's treachery - in fact, they looked rather pleased.
Harry made to get up but his legs were locked together and were pretty much useless but before he could even do that, the two Slytherin prefects pummelled their fists into his back, forcing him back down to the ground.
A hard kick to Harry's neck made him choke on his own saliva and another kick to the stomach area caused him to throw up blood and stomach acid. A hand grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head sideways into the stone floor, all the while; the two were full of glee at seeing their prey at their feet.
Harry groaned in pain and he crawled along the floor towards his wand but he never made it as the two prefects took it upon themselves to ensure that he would be out of action for a while. The pain was excruciating but as long as Harry kept the glowing ring on his hand in sight, he found some comfort in the fact that Hermione would come to his aid.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry came to, he found himself in a chamber, probably well below the dungeons and unheard of. Oddly enough, his captors had left his wand and sword in front of him but there was another object that he hadn't counted on; a stone sarcophagus.
There were no windows and the only light came from the torches placed along the wall and the candles on either side of the sarcophagus. It was a little frustrating to know that Percy had betrayed them all from the beginning. It was he who had alerted the Death Eaters to their presence on their first mission and it was probably Percy who had somehow used Malfoy to kill Karkaroff.
No doors appeared to be present but that usually meant that along the wall somewhere was a secret passage. Only one problem, he had taken quite a beating and could barely move around from the pain. He finally noticed the salty taste of blood in his mouth which had been there for a while. The taste of fresh blood mixed with the dried made him sick and caused him to throw up on the floor next to him.
Grabbing his wand with a free hand, he proceeded to heal himself of his bodily injuries.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took him several minutes to finish healing properly but once that was done, he sheathed his sword again and took a better look around the room. He didn't like the feeling the sarcophagus was giving him, the stench of a dead rotting body within was not something he wanted to smell but if his instinct was correct, the Baron would be sleeping within it.
He pointed his wand at the lid and used a levitation charm. A silver streak of light shot forth from his wand and hit the sarcophagus' lid. It began to rise, ever so slowly and move aside as Harry guided it along. He set it gently on the ground and approached the sarcophagus cautiously.
Sure enough, the foul odour of death filled his nostrils as he closed the distance, making Harry crinkle his nose in disgust. Peeking over the top, he saw that there was indeed the dead body of the Baron, lifeless but fully dressed with his arms crossed over his chest.
Harry had no idea what time it was but if his practical exam had taken place in the early afternoon, it would be very close to evening now and the Baron would be waking.
Taking his wand again, he pointed at the lid and began to levitate back into place. It was better that the Baron awoke with his surroundings undisturbed than to find that there was an intruder present. The problem was where to hide himself. The room offered little protection in this aspect but it dawned on him that he would have to be invisible.
He had nearly finished replacing the lid when he heard a tapping from the wall behind him. The tapping grew louder and louder as someone or something was trying to get through. There was only one problem with that because he never finished replacing the lid for a loud screech emitting from the sarcophagus indicated that the Baron was awake.
"Who dares disturb me?!" he hissed from within his place of slumber. Hearing no answer, a powerful fist shattered the sarcophagus lid into several stone pieces and with a swift motion of his hands, the Baron sprung up and stood before Harry, fully awake and with a gleam of bloodlust in his eyes.
"You again..," he said as his eyes settled on Harry. "Back again my prey, are you?"
Harry drew his sword with his free hand and cast a haste spell on himself but he was more surprised to find that the Baron was unarmed.
"Since you made the first move," the Baron said, "The next is mine."
He changed into the large bat and flew up into the air before diving on Harry who sidestepped to the left to avoid it so that instead of hitting Harry, the Baron was surprised to find that his fangs snapped at thin air.
In return, Harry fired ice bolts at point blank range into the Baron's back. The bolts pierced the Baron's back in between his wings until the points exited from his front.
The Baron's eyes filled with rage as he glided away from Harry to relieve himself of the bolts. He first changed back into his normal form and began to pull each of them out one by one. In doing so, he let the blood drip down the front of his outfit, down his legs and onto the floor.
What surprised Harry though was that despite his injuries, the Baron was mostly unaffected. In fact, as soon as the last bolt was removed, the gaping holes closed up rapidly so that, with the exception of the holes in his clothing, there was no indication that he had been hurt.
It was during this time that Harry noticed that the tapping noise earlier had ceased. Instead, a rumbling was heard from behind one of the walls, catching the attention of both combatants.
The wall suddenly exploded and out stepped an Earth Guardian followed closely by Percy, Ron Cho, Parvati and Hermione who was holding a piece of parchment. Each of them had their wands drawn.
"HARRY!" Hermione exclaimed as soon as she set her eyes upon her best friend. "The ring told me you were in trouble and Percy told us that you had been taken away so we used the marauder's map to find you."
"The ring is right Hermione," Percy said with a grin. "He is in trouble and so are you."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked suddenly confused by Percy's statement.
"He means that he's working for Voldemort!" Harry blurted out, turning to face Percy.
"Listen to Harry," Percy said, "he's caught on faster than you have."
Percy produced a sword from within his robe and used it to cut off the head of the Earth Guardian. Beheaded, the Guardian crumpled into a heap of dirt on the stone floor.
Ron gave his brother a look of shock but that soon turned into a look of fury. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?"
"I'm sorry brother but I always thought that my family did not get the respect it deserved. This is my chance to rectify that."
"By joining HIM!?"
"Exactly Ronald, if you want, you could join us too. It would be very profitable."
In his rage, Ron drew his sword and began to attack the elder Weasley.
"My dear brother, I believe you are throwing a tantrum," Percy said pointedly.
Ron merely responded with several blows but they were easily deflected by Percy.
"I don't have time for this," Percy said in frustration after exchanging a few more blows with Ron. "I have a future to get a hold of. Radu, come, now!"
The Baron changed into his bat form again and flew towards his master before changing back, being sure to knock Ron aside first.
"Finish them please," Percy ordered, throwing him his sword. "Use my brother too; little does he realize that he will betray his friends."
"As you wish master," the Baron said respectfully as he grasped the sword in one of his hands and stood in front of Percy. "Go secure the prize for our lord."
Firing several curses at the five students in the room to get them to disperse, Percy bolted back up the entrance.
"Come on!" Cho shouted to get their attention again, "Let's beat this slimy git and get moving!"
The five students arrayed themselves in a line across from the Baron who was now guarding the only visible exit.
"Ready Ron?" Harry asked his friend standing next to him but received no response.
Glancing to the side, he saw that Ron's face had become a little pale and that he appeared to be suffering from a sudden illness since his breathing was now irregular.
"Are you ok Ron?" Hermione asked, sensing that something was wrong.
"He's just fine my dear," the Baron told them with a sinister cackle. "He's just reconsidering his sides."
Digesting this information, Harry reacted with superhuman speed a split second later, being sure to drag Hermione down to the ground with him just as Ron's sword came about.
"Imperius?" Hermione questioned as they both rolled out of the way to avoid a blow coming towards them.
"Perhaps but Percy didn't use his wand," Harry replied, standing up with his sword ready to block the next attack coming from the side but in doing so, he had knocked Hermione back down to the ground.
Seeing this, Cho quickly fired a stunning spell at Ron but the Baron got in the way and deflected the spell with a sweep of his sword.
"Kill the females, I'll deal with the boy," the Baron told his new underling.
Ron obeyed and began to attack Hermione who was trying to get up but was saved in time by a force field conjured by Harry. The field sizzled with energy was the sword made contact with it and this gave Hermione the chance to stun Ron.
In the meantime, Harry had engaged the Baron again but was trying to keep an eye on his friends as well to make sure they were all right. With the haste spell, Harry was able to easily match the Baron but unlike his previous match, he made sure to use his wand whenever possible so that the Baron would have something else to think about.
He spotted Cho helping Hermione up and Parvati was cowering in a corner, not sure what to do. Next to Hermione and Cho, he saw that Ron was out of action and this was a relief but because he was distracted, the Baron got the perfect opportunity to make his move.
Kicking Harry in one of his shins, the Baron then used his sword to knock Harry's out of his hand before following up with a powerful blow to his jaw with the hilt.
Harry went down quickly and his sword went flying very close to where Cho was with Hermione but his wand also flew out of his hand, landing several feet away. The Baron smiled slightly and was about to thrust the point into Harry's heart when a feminine cry was heard.
The Baron turned to see Cho running towards him brandishing Harry's sword in front of her.
"This should be amusing," the Baron growled. "Come, let's dance."
"CHO! WAIT!" Harry cried as he saw what Cho was trying to do. Trying to make a mad dash towards his wand so that he could help his girlfriend.
At that point, Hermione could only fire ice bolts at the Baron to get him to move out of the way but because of his incredible speed, not a single one hit their target.
To the Baron, Cho was standing still but like a child with a new toy, he merely toyed with his opponent. With a fury of attacks, he used his sword to make multiple cuts up and down Cho's legs. This caused Cho cry out in pain and she limped away slowly so that she could try to get some relief from the torturous assault.
There were no other swords around except for Malfoy's sword but that one was cursed and he had no intention of turning on his friends. He only had his wand and so he had to somehow prevent the Baron from sensing Cho's movements.
Suddenly remembering that not even Sepet knew where he was when invisible, Harry took the initiative to cast an invisibility spell on Cho.
The spell hit Cho in the chest but because she hadn't expected it, she let her guard down for a brief second. Sadly, it only took a second for the Baron to thrust his sword into Cho, piercing her stomach.
Harry's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him; Cho had just been run through.
The Baron grinned triumphantly as he let Cho's body slide off his sword onto the floor. Cho dropped Harry's sword onto the ground and clutched her abdomen, which was now bleeding profusely, not to mention that since her stomach lining had been pierced, stomach acid would also begin to seep out and begin to destroy more of her internal organs.
"HERMIONE! HELP CHO!" Harry yelled but he was relieved to find that his friend was already on her way.
At this point, Harry was worried for his girlfriend but he was also filled with another emotion: a thirst for vengeance.
Summoning his sword to him, Harry cast the same invisibility spell on himself and began to duel with the Baron again.
Because the Baron could only see the Harry's sword and wand in the air, he took haphazard guesses at where his rival could be. This only gave Harry the opportunity to play with the reckless vampire.
First he used his sword to attack the Baron who parried but when he did that, Harry used the ice bolts once again, this time aimed at the Baron's chest.
Ice shards shot forth from Harry's wand, causing him to become visible once again but each of the bolts hit their intended target. As the Baron staggered backwards from the force of the bolts in his chest, Harry swung at the Baron's neck with all his might.
The vampire reacted as expected and brought his sword up to block but because he had let his sword stay in Cho's body for too long, the stomach acid had corroded the blade, thus destroying its ability to block anything for long.
Instead, Harry's blade effectively shattered the Baron's sword but because of the force that he had put in his swing, his sword continued on its way, slicing cleanly into the Baron's neck, decapitating him.
Since it was no longer connected to a body, Radu's head immediately rolled forward onto the floor and cold blood spouted upward like a fountain from the stump, landing on the ground around the body and on Harry's robes as well.
The defeat of the Baron caught Parvati's attention who was now running towards the body of her former master with the vial full of her blood. Opening it when she got to him, she gulped down its contents and bit into the now dying vampire, absorbing what remaining blood was left.
Upon drinking what she needed, she released her hold on the vampire who slowly turned to dust which was blown away by the gust of air coming from the entrance that Hermione had made earlier with her Earth Guardian.
Seeing the Baron defeated, Harry rushed to Hermione's side who was trying her best to heal Cho's injuries.
"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione told him sadly when he reached her side. "Her injuries are too extensive and not even my healing spell will heal her completely."
Harry looked downcast but Cho managed to reach out a hand to him.
"Thank - you - Harry," Cho said, smiling weakly at him. "For bringing me happiness again."
With that, Cho's hand dropped back down to the ice-cold floor and she remained motionless.
Hermione turned her head away from her friend and stared at the stone wall off to the side.
"I'm sorry," was all that she could say softly over and over again as she shed tears for her friend. "I'm so sorry."
Harry stared at Cho's lifeless body for a few moments but in his mind, he felt that Percy should pay for his betrayal as well. Sheathing his sword, and taking his wand in his hand, he stood up and made to leave.
"Stay with her Hermione," Harry instructed the girl kneeling by him, "For me."
Hermione merely nodded her head as Harry began to walk through the hole in the chamber wall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: One more chapter to go b4 the end! For the sequel, I think I'll do a combination of Rowling's plot and mine. I'll probably add a few more characters, Luna will be one of them cuz she makes an interesting character (her personality will be unchanged from Rowling's Order of the Phoenix). H/Cho will be scrapped of course ^^. For those of you who are thinking about what happens with Percy, next chapter will tell you everything. Special thanks to Quis for beta-reading this chapter for me.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 34: O.W.L.s
As the O.W.L.s drew nearer by the day, the teachers stopped giving them homework, concentrating more on review questions and wand motions in class instead. During this time, the fifth year students were often found in the library or common room with stacks of books piled all around them.
"Your O.W.L.s will be spread along two weeks," Professor McGonagall had told them. "You'll have your theoretical exams in the morning and after lunch; your practical exams will take place. Your Astronomy O.W.L., of course, will be at night."
All of their O.W.L. exams were to be proctored by the Ministry of Magic instead of the professors; probably to ensure that no favouritism would take place.
After they had been nearly killed by the Baron in the tower, Harry spent several days in the library with Ron and Hermione (much to Hermione's surprise), trying to think of better ways to defeat a vampire. Vampires were incredibly quick as Harry had learned in his first duel against Sepet earlier in the year so if he had not been present; it was entirely possible that they would not have made it out of there alive.
Parvati was often seen around the castle looking very unsettled and showing signs of weakness; probably because her master had abandoned her and also because she hadn't had any blood to drink lately.
One evening, about a day before the fifth years would be taking their OWLs, Sepet summoned the trio to his chamber in the dungeons, very much to Hermione's annoyance because she was in the middle of memorizing all of her wand movements for transfiguration.
When they arrived at his office, Sepet was already waiting outside with Parvati.
"Please have a seat, this won't take long," Sepet said, opening the door to his office and ushering the four students in.
They sat down in three of the four chairs that had materialized out of thin air and Sepet, escorting Parvati personally to a seat and pushing her down into an empty chair in front of his desk, then began to walk around while explaining his reason for calling them down.
"No doubt that Miss Granger has already deduced the reason for you coming here," said Sepet, coming around to the other side of his desk and sitting down in a high red velvet chair that he apparently obtained since the last time they were there. "But please do keep your mouth shut Miss Granger. I'll explain everything - I don't need to hear you state the bloody obvious."
Ron began to laugh but stifled it as soon as he caught Hermione glaring at him. Sepet reached into his desk. He produced a small vial with a cork and a pointed needle sticking out of it, almost like a syringe.
"This should help you," said Sepet, handing it to Hermione who took it in her hands and began to examine it. "You just stick it into him and it will get all the blood you need. Mix it with some of hers and have her drink it."
Sepet then motioned for Parvati to come to him. She stood up from her chair, slowly and walked over to stand next to him. He then asked Hermione to stick the needle into Parvati's arm.
"Don't worry my dear," Sepet said comfortingly to Parvati. "You won't feel a thing."
Hermione walked around the desk as well and quickly shoved the needle into Parvati's arm. Moments later, they began to see blood trickle into the vial, filling it up ever so slowly.
"That should be enough," said Sepet and he slowly withdrew the now half filled vial from Parvati's arm. A drop of blood formed around the area where the needle had been and streamed down her arm, falling into Parvati's open hand right below her elbow. She then brought it back to her mouth and with a sipping sound, absorbed it back into her body. The wound itself closed up and no more blood was seen.
Sepet stood then released Parvati from his grasp and gave the vial back to Hermione. "Keep it safe. It should be enough to break the connection between Miss Patil and the baron."
"But how do we find him?" Hermione asked.
"That's simple, Parvati will lead you to him," Sepet replied.
There was a knock at the door and Ron got up to open it but when he got there, the door opened from the other side, nearly flattening him against the wall.
An Asian boy who none of them had seen before entered the room. He looked as if he couldn't be any older than sixteen or seventeen but the way he was dressed indicated that he was connected in some way to someone with a lot of money and more than likely, a lot of influence.
"My apologies for the interruption sir," the newcomer said respectfully to Sepet but upon seeing the four students seated before him, he looked to the Count for instructions.
"Wait a moment please, let me dismiss these students," Sepet interrupted the boy. "That will be all for today you four. Return to your studies please."
The four students proceeded to exit the Count's chamber, looking back in silence, pondering what Sepet could possibly have to do with the newcomer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the first day of the OWLs, a group of six witches and wizards arrived at the castle to administer the exams. The only thing out of place however, was that Percy was accompanying them with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
Professor McGonagall greeted them at the entrance to the Great Hall during breakfast and invited them to have a seat at the Professor's table, which was set to accommodate more guests. Harry noted that she seemed to look at Fudge with a bit of disdain.
The newcomers all headed over to the high table that overlooked the four house tables but to McGonagall's annoyance, Fudge took the seat where Dumbledore would normally have been sitting. McGonagall then had no choice but to give up her seat to Percy who apologized to her before sitting down.
Nevertheless, that wasn't the end of their surprises. Fudge then stood up and pointed his wand at his throat.
"SONORUS!" his voice boomed throughout the Hall, catching the attention of all of the students eating breakfast.
"Good morning to all of you," Fudge's voice carried throughout the Great Hall. "I trust that this year has been very pleasurable for you and for your professors and that your heads are a little fuller than they were before."
"Sir, your speech," Percy whispered to Fudge, handing him a piece of parchment with writing all over it.
"Yes, yes," Fudge snapped at him. "I was getting to it."
Fudge looked up again and began to read from the parchment in his hand. "As you all know, last year, a student here at school, Harry Potter, claimed to have seen You-Know-Who come back from the dead. It is the ministry's official statement that this is a lie."
Several gasps came from around the Hall though the Slytherin table applauded loudly. Harry and Ron began to stand up but Hermione and Ginny shoved them back down in their seats.
"Sit down," Hermione whispered harshly through clenched teeth. "It won't do any us any good if you cause a scene."
Fudge smiled at the Slytherins and motioned for decorum once again before continuing. "We believe that the former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, has fostered these lies in an attempt to gain more power. I assure you that he is the threat, not You-Know-Who. Anyone who has information on his current whereabouts is therefore encouraged to give us the information. I will personally award a thousand Galleons to anyone who can give us information leading to his capture."
Hermione, who still was gripping both of the boys, tightened her grip on them until they flinched from the pressure.
"Could you loosen your grip Hermione?" Ron told her, looking at her as if she'd gone mad. "We aren't the ones you want to hurt."
Hermione's hold loosened a bit but Harry could tell that she was as tense as everyone else around him.
"He's making Dumbledore out to be the villain and completely ignoring the warnings."
"You probably have also heard of some rumours of the Dark Mark appearing over certain households. We also tell you that this is merely the ministry's attempt to round up the remaining followers of You-Know-Who."
"Never mind that it was us who raided that house and killed all those Death Eaters," Harry muttered to himself.
"Finally, I would like to wish all of you good luck in your studies, especially the Fifth Year students who will be taking their OWLs starting today."
With that, Fudge took his seat again. Professor McGonagall looked very annoyed but Harry could tell that she was trying her best not to throw every curse she knew at Fudge.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After breakfast finished, the students were dismissed but the Fifth years were told to wait outside while they made changes for their exam.
It was during this time that Harry felt extremely awkward because now he was getting a lot of stares from the other students, many of whom were whispering amongst themselves as well.
"Ignore it," Hermione told him. "They're just trying to make you look bad. We'll just prove that You-Know-Who is back somehow and they'll all be behind you again."
"Uhh Hermione," Ron nudged her. "I think you'll get that chance only if you manage to defeat the Slytherins."
"What?" she asked, giving Ron a look of bafflement but she realized that the Slytherins had surrounded them and were closing on them. Malfoy was among them and he was addressing Harry.
"We know you know where Dumbledore is," Malfoy said. "We'll get that reward once we wring the secret out of you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked around to see if any of the Gryffindors were going to support them but it seemed that none of them were making a move.
The trio began to reach into their pockets for their wands but fortunately they were saved the trouble of doing so because the door to the Great Hall had opened and Professor McGonagall stepped out with Professor Flitwick, Professor Vector and Professor Sprout behind her.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm very disappointed," McGonagall said with harshness. "What are you doing surrounding three Gryffindor students? Fifty points from Slytherin - Now, hurry up and make four lines according to your houses."
The students rushed to follow her instructions and once that was done, they slowly filed into the room, four at a time, each of them handing their wand to one of the teachers. However, Fudge's speech seemed to have some effect on them because even some of the Gryffindors were looking at Harry with suspicion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Instead of the four house tables, the Great Hall was now filled with desks lined up in neat rows; each one with a quill that no doubt had an anti- cheating charm placed on it. The house banners however were still flying overhead.
Harry took a seat immediately behind Ron while Hermione sat down in a chair to his right.
Once all of the students had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall, with a sweep of her wand, distributed all of the Charms exams to them.
"You have two hours - begin!" she said and flipped the large hourglass that was placed on the teacher's table.
Harry glanced down at the exam paper and picked up the quill on his desk.
Question 1: Give the incantation to make objects fly.
Harry merely smiled because memories of a large club falling on the skull of a troll in the girl's bathroom came to mind.
With that, he began to write his answer..
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After two hours, they were told to put down their quills and again with a sweep of her wand, McGonagall called all of the exams to her.
"That will be all for now," she announced, "You have two hours before the practical section of your OWL takes place. Report back here at that time."
There was a shuffle of feet and chairs as all of the students got up and began to walk out of the Great Hall, back to their dorms.
"I'm not so sure I got question four right," Hermione was saying to herself on the way out. "What did you guys put down?"
"If you want to know how we did, just ask us, stop beating around the bush," Ron huffed. "We know you got them all right, you always do."
Hermione looked a little hurt but by the time they got back up to the Gryffindor Common room, she had forgotten about it and went back to studying.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When it came time to take the Charms practical exam, all of the Fifth year students started going downstairs and lined up in the four lines again according to their houses, only this time they were given seats to sit in while they waited.
"You will be called in one at a time by one of the ministry officials, follow all of their instructions and good luck," Professor McGonagall told them when they had taken their seats.
With that, McGonagall entered the hall and moments later, the first of the students was called in; a Slytherin.
Each student probably took about thirty minutes before they came out, some of them in tears, others sighing in relief that the exam was over.
Eventually Hermione was called in and Harry glanced at Ron who was sitting to his left.
"It's almost our turn," Ron whispered to him as he glanced at his hands in his lap. "I'm not so sure I'll do well."
"I think we will - think of it as a test on all the things that we've done on our adventures," Harry encouraged him.
Ron looked up thoughtfully and nodded. "Come to think of it, you're right. That first question on the test was basically our encounter with that troll in the girls' bathroom."
Harry grinned. "See?"
"Yeah," Ron agreed, looking a lot more confident now. "I feel a lot better, thanks mate."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Soon, Hermione emerged looking very tense but a lot less worried.
"Harry Potter!" McGonagall called from the entrance.
"Good luck," Harry heard Ron tell him as he got up to enter the Great Hall.
"I'll wait for you when you get out," Hermione told him as he entered. "You'll do well, I know it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The doors closed behind him and McGonagall stood guard. Looking around, Harry saw that the Great Hall was completely empty except for a table with various objects on it and the ministry wizards who were now seated at the teachers' table.
"Welcome Harry Potter," one of them said as he stood up with a smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Don't worry too much about the exam. Just relax and follow what we tell you do to," the witch to the right told him.
"On the table in front of you, there is a silver plate, please levitate it to us."
Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the plate, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The plate rose into the air and with a simple wand motion, it flew towards the wizard in the middle and Harry set it down gently in front of him.
"Excellent!" he said delightfully.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the days went by, each of the exams followed through similarly as his Charms Exam, Transfiguration, Herbology and even Potions but what surprised Harry the most about his potions exam was the fact that he was a lot calmer about it. Perhaps because he didn't have Snape breathing down his neck and trying to take off house points for every little mistake he made.
Still, the amount of concentration it took to actually take these exams was incredible and Harry found himself exhausted by the time their last OWL, Defence Against the Dark Arts, came around. However if anyone deserved rest once this was over, it was Hermione. She had taken more OWLs than any of them but like him, she was relieved that it was almost over.
"I think we should take a nice long vacation once this is over, don't you?" Ron was suggesting as they stood outside the Great Hall to take their Dark Arts theoretical exam.
"That sounds good about now," Harry agreed. "I didn't think this would ever end."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As they were ushered into the Great Hall for their last OWL exam by Professor McGonagall, Harry saw that the sixth year prefects and the head boy and girl were standing around the room. He caught a glimpse of Cho who was talking with her counter-part but she threw him a smile when she saw that he was glancing at her.
Professor Flitwick was the one to distribute the exams this time but because of his height, he had to use a spell to flip the hourglass that was sitting on the teacher's table.
A ruffle of exam papers told Harry that it was time to start and so he took the Quill in his hand and glanced over the first few questions.
Question 1: What are Patronus charms used for?
Question 2: When do werewolves become human again?
*This should be fun * Harry thought to himself as he started to write down his answers. He would have to remind himself to thank Professor Lupin later.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the practical exams were over and the students were dismissed, Cho caught up with them outside the Great Hall.
"How was it?" she asked.
Harry merely grinned. "I loved it."
Ron threw Harry a look of surprise. "And I thought Hermione was the bookworm here."
"Give him some slack Ron," Hermione chided him. "It's his favourite subject."
"I only wish I could be so enthusiastic about the practical exam," Ron said gloomily. "With my skill, I don't think I'll make good marks on this one."
"You survived our adventures so far, it shouldn't be that hard," Hermione said.
Ron gave Hermione an awkward look. "You scare me sometimes."
"Afraid of your girlfriend already Ron?" Harry teased. "You'll need more courage than that if you ever want to get near her and you call yourself a Gryffindor."
Hermione and Cho merely laughed while Ron turned red in embarrassment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a decent lunch and a short nap, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the Great Hall for their Dark Arts practical exam.
The arrangement was the same as always but this time, the 6th year prefects came out to call them in one by one instead of Professor McGonagall.
"Hermione Granger," Cho called from the doorway, once they had all taken a seat outside.
Hermione got up and followed Cho inside along with the other Ravenclaw prefect. Two Slytherin prefects the shut the doors from the inside while the remaining prefects stood guard outside.
Ron pulled out Malfoy's sword from its sheath at his side while they were waiting outside and set it in his lap, shifting it back and forth from one side to the other by the hilt.
"Nervous?" Harry asked, noticing movement from his friend sitting beside him.
"Leaving Hermione in there with two Slytherin prefects, of course I'm nervous," Ron replied with a hint of frustration.
"Cho and another prefect are in there, along with the ministry officials," Harry said trying to put his friend at ease.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After about thirty minutes, the doors opened and one of the Slytherin prefects walked out with Hermione following closely behind looking rather peeved.
"Your turn Potter," she said disdainfully. "Hurry up else I'll start taking points off."
Harry glanced back at Ron who was starting to stand up but he merely shook his head and his friend slowly sat back down.
For her part, Hermione smiled dully at him and whispered a curt "good luck" to him as he entered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When he entered the Great Hall, he saw the ministry officials sitting at the high table where they were for his previous exams but this time Fudge and Percy were present as well.
The Slytherin prefects shut the door behind him and Harry's hand instinctively closed around his wand in his robe pocket while his other went to his sword. The first thing he noted though was that the ring he had gotten for Christmas was glowing a lot more brightly than it was before. On the bright side, if his ring was glowing, Hermione's would too and hopefully it wouldn't be too long before she came with help.
"Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you again," said Cornelius Fudge scornfully. "I will be running your exam this time not the officials."
"Sir?" the witch seated to the left of Fudge gave him a quizzical look.
"You heard me, just sit still," Fudge said in frustration.
Fudge turned his attention back to Harry. "Now - defend yourself."
The door near the teacher's high table opened and out stepped two aurors and six dementors. The two Slytherin prefects behind Harry had also drawn their wands and already had them pointed at him.
Moody would have been furious. He had turned his back on two potential opponents and in a few seconds, he would have at least eight more in front of him, assuming that the ministry officials would fight on Fudge's side.
The Great Hall seemed so cold all of a sudden but Harry figured that it was the effects of the dementors in the room. It was possible to defeat both groups - provided that the Slytherins joined in - but since the test was to defend himself, it would be more logical to attack the group in front and worry about the two prefects behind him.
Harry's wand darted up, pointed at the middle of the group in front of him. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A bright silver stag took form and charged towards the dementors who began to make haste to flee from the spell. Four of them did manage to get out of the line of fire but the two in the centre of the line were a little slow and were quickly cut down by Harry's stag.
The two dementors melted into the ground, leaving only their hooded robes behind as evidence that they were previously there. By then, the aurors had their wands raised and both fired different spells at Harry.
Harry cast an air shield in front of him just as the spells reached him and they were absorbed into the shield.
He then returned fire with a disarming spell at the same time both of them fired two different curses at him. One was absorbed into the shield but the other hit Harry well below the shield.
Harry's legs clamped together and he fell to the ground, apparently hit by a leg-locking curse. Still, the Auror who Harry had targeted was likewise hit and his wand flew out of his hand, landing on the floor, spinning as it did, next to Harry.
The Auror merely stared in surprise at Harry, which gave him the opportunity to stun him but his partner was not as slow. Now that Harry was on the ground, he wasn't protected by the shield but he hastily conjured up another one just in time to absorb the next spell that came to him.
Seeing that Harry's attention was completely absorbed by the two aurors, the two Slytherin prefects glanced at each other and grinned.
Wands aside, they charged at Harry while his attention was diverted and the first of the two kicked him hard in the side.
Harry let out of yelp of pain as his body spun around along the ground as the force of the kick sent him off to the side and his wand into the air.
In the meantime, the four remaining dementors had returned by then because with the lack of concentration, the silver stag had vanished. They proceeded to attack the nearest ministry officials.
Taken by complete surprise, four of them were seized by the Dementors who administered the Dementor's kiss to each of them. Moments later, their soulless bodies crumpled to the floor and the Dementors moved on to the remaining two officials. Oddly enough, neither Fudge nor Percy had moved nor were they affected at all by the Dementor's treachery - in fact, they looked rather pleased.
Harry made to get up but his legs were locked together and were pretty much useless but before he could even do that, the two Slytherin prefects pummelled their fists into his back, forcing him back down to the ground.
A hard kick to Harry's neck made him choke on his own saliva and another kick to the stomach area caused him to throw up blood and stomach acid. A hand grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head sideways into the stone floor, all the while; the two were full of glee at seeing their prey at their feet.
Harry groaned in pain and he crawled along the floor towards his wand but he never made it as the two prefects took it upon themselves to ensure that he would be out of action for a while. The pain was excruciating but as long as Harry kept the glowing ring on his hand in sight, he found some comfort in the fact that Hermione would come to his aid.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry came to, he found himself in a chamber, probably well below the dungeons and unheard of. Oddly enough, his captors had left his wand and sword in front of him but there was another object that he hadn't counted on; a stone sarcophagus.
There were no windows and the only light came from the torches placed along the wall and the candles on either side of the sarcophagus. It was a little frustrating to know that Percy had betrayed them all from the beginning. It was he who had alerted the Death Eaters to their presence on their first mission and it was probably Percy who had somehow used Malfoy to kill Karkaroff.
No doors appeared to be present but that usually meant that along the wall somewhere was a secret passage. Only one problem, he had taken quite a beating and could barely move around from the pain. He finally noticed the salty taste of blood in his mouth which had been there for a while. The taste of fresh blood mixed with the dried made him sick and caused him to throw up on the floor next to him.
Grabbing his wand with a free hand, he proceeded to heal himself of his bodily injuries.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took him several minutes to finish healing properly but once that was done, he sheathed his sword again and took a better look around the room. He didn't like the feeling the sarcophagus was giving him, the stench of a dead rotting body within was not something he wanted to smell but if his instinct was correct, the Baron would be sleeping within it.
He pointed his wand at the lid and used a levitation charm. A silver streak of light shot forth from his wand and hit the sarcophagus' lid. It began to rise, ever so slowly and move aside as Harry guided it along. He set it gently on the ground and approached the sarcophagus cautiously.
Sure enough, the foul odour of death filled his nostrils as he closed the distance, making Harry crinkle his nose in disgust. Peeking over the top, he saw that there was indeed the dead body of the Baron, lifeless but fully dressed with his arms crossed over his chest.
Harry had no idea what time it was but if his practical exam had taken place in the early afternoon, it would be very close to evening now and the Baron would be waking.
Taking his wand again, he pointed at the lid and began to levitate back into place. It was better that the Baron awoke with his surroundings undisturbed than to find that there was an intruder present. The problem was where to hide himself. The room offered little protection in this aspect but it dawned on him that he would have to be invisible.
He had nearly finished replacing the lid when he heard a tapping from the wall behind him. The tapping grew louder and louder as someone or something was trying to get through. There was only one problem with that because he never finished replacing the lid for a loud screech emitting from the sarcophagus indicated that the Baron was awake.
"Who dares disturb me?!" he hissed from within his place of slumber. Hearing no answer, a powerful fist shattered the sarcophagus lid into several stone pieces and with a swift motion of his hands, the Baron sprung up and stood before Harry, fully awake and with a gleam of bloodlust in his eyes.
"You again..," he said as his eyes settled on Harry. "Back again my prey, are you?"
Harry drew his sword with his free hand and cast a haste spell on himself but he was more surprised to find that the Baron was unarmed.
"Since you made the first move," the Baron said, "The next is mine."
He changed into the large bat and flew up into the air before diving on Harry who sidestepped to the left to avoid it so that instead of hitting Harry, the Baron was surprised to find that his fangs snapped at thin air.
In return, Harry fired ice bolts at point blank range into the Baron's back. The bolts pierced the Baron's back in between his wings until the points exited from his front.
The Baron's eyes filled with rage as he glided away from Harry to relieve himself of the bolts. He first changed back into his normal form and began to pull each of them out one by one. In doing so, he let the blood drip down the front of his outfit, down his legs and onto the floor.
What surprised Harry though was that despite his injuries, the Baron was mostly unaffected. In fact, as soon as the last bolt was removed, the gaping holes closed up rapidly so that, with the exception of the holes in his clothing, there was no indication that he had been hurt.
It was during this time that Harry noticed that the tapping noise earlier had ceased. Instead, a rumbling was heard from behind one of the walls, catching the attention of both combatants.
The wall suddenly exploded and out stepped an Earth Guardian followed closely by Percy, Ron Cho, Parvati and Hermione who was holding a piece of parchment. Each of them had their wands drawn.
"HARRY!" Hermione exclaimed as soon as she set her eyes upon her best friend. "The ring told me you were in trouble and Percy told us that you had been taken away so we used the marauder's map to find you."
"The ring is right Hermione," Percy said with a grin. "He is in trouble and so are you."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked suddenly confused by Percy's statement.
"He means that he's working for Voldemort!" Harry blurted out, turning to face Percy.
"Listen to Harry," Percy said, "he's caught on faster than you have."
Percy produced a sword from within his robe and used it to cut off the head of the Earth Guardian. Beheaded, the Guardian crumpled into a heap of dirt on the stone floor.
Ron gave his brother a look of shock but that soon turned into a look of fury. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?"
"I'm sorry brother but I always thought that my family did not get the respect it deserved. This is my chance to rectify that."
"By joining HIM!?"
"Exactly Ronald, if you want, you could join us too. It would be very profitable."
In his rage, Ron drew his sword and began to attack the elder Weasley.
"My dear brother, I believe you are throwing a tantrum," Percy said pointedly.
Ron merely responded with several blows but they were easily deflected by Percy.
"I don't have time for this," Percy said in frustration after exchanging a few more blows with Ron. "I have a future to get a hold of. Radu, come, now!"
The Baron changed into his bat form again and flew towards his master before changing back, being sure to knock Ron aside first.
"Finish them please," Percy ordered, throwing him his sword. "Use my brother too; little does he realize that he will betray his friends."
"As you wish master," the Baron said respectfully as he grasped the sword in one of his hands and stood in front of Percy. "Go secure the prize for our lord."
Firing several curses at the five students in the room to get them to disperse, Percy bolted back up the entrance.
"Come on!" Cho shouted to get their attention again, "Let's beat this slimy git and get moving!"
The five students arrayed themselves in a line across from the Baron who was now guarding the only visible exit.
"Ready Ron?" Harry asked his friend standing next to him but received no response.
Glancing to the side, he saw that Ron's face had become a little pale and that he appeared to be suffering from a sudden illness since his breathing was now irregular.
"Are you ok Ron?" Hermione asked, sensing that something was wrong.
"He's just fine my dear," the Baron told them with a sinister cackle. "He's just reconsidering his sides."
Digesting this information, Harry reacted with superhuman speed a split second later, being sure to drag Hermione down to the ground with him just as Ron's sword came about.
"Imperius?" Hermione questioned as they both rolled out of the way to avoid a blow coming towards them.
"Perhaps but Percy didn't use his wand," Harry replied, standing up with his sword ready to block the next attack coming from the side but in doing so, he had knocked Hermione back down to the ground.
Seeing this, Cho quickly fired a stunning spell at Ron but the Baron got in the way and deflected the spell with a sweep of his sword.
"Kill the females, I'll deal with the boy," the Baron told his new underling.
Ron obeyed and began to attack Hermione who was trying to get up but was saved in time by a force field conjured by Harry. The field sizzled with energy was the sword made contact with it and this gave Hermione the chance to stun Ron.
In the meantime, Harry had engaged the Baron again but was trying to keep an eye on his friends as well to make sure they were all right. With the haste spell, Harry was able to easily match the Baron but unlike his previous match, he made sure to use his wand whenever possible so that the Baron would have something else to think about.
He spotted Cho helping Hermione up and Parvati was cowering in a corner, not sure what to do. Next to Hermione and Cho, he saw that Ron was out of action and this was a relief but because he was distracted, the Baron got the perfect opportunity to make his move.
Kicking Harry in one of his shins, the Baron then used his sword to knock Harry's out of his hand before following up with a powerful blow to his jaw with the hilt.
Harry went down quickly and his sword went flying very close to where Cho was with Hermione but his wand also flew out of his hand, landing several feet away. The Baron smiled slightly and was about to thrust the point into Harry's heart when a feminine cry was heard.
The Baron turned to see Cho running towards him brandishing Harry's sword in front of her.
"This should be amusing," the Baron growled. "Come, let's dance."
"CHO! WAIT!" Harry cried as he saw what Cho was trying to do. Trying to make a mad dash towards his wand so that he could help his girlfriend.
At that point, Hermione could only fire ice bolts at the Baron to get him to move out of the way but because of his incredible speed, not a single one hit their target.
To the Baron, Cho was standing still but like a child with a new toy, he merely toyed with his opponent. With a fury of attacks, he used his sword to make multiple cuts up and down Cho's legs. This caused Cho cry out in pain and she limped away slowly so that she could try to get some relief from the torturous assault.
There were no other swords around except for Malfoy's sword but that one was cursed and he had no intention of turning on his friends. He only had his wand and so he had to somehow prevent the Baron from sensing Cho's movements.
Suddenly remembering that not even Sepet knew where he was when invisible, Harry took the initiative to cast an invisibility spell on Cho.
The spell hit Cho in the chest but because she hadn't expected it, she let her guard down for a brief second. Sadly, it only took a second for the Baron to thrust his sword into Cho, piercing her stomach.
Harry's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him; Cho had just been run through.
The Baron grinned triumphantly as he let Cho's body slide off his sword onto the floor. Cho dropped Harry's sword onto the ground and clutched her abdomen, which was now bleeding profusely, not to mention that since her stomach lining had been pierced, stomach acid would also begin to seep out and begin to destroy more of her internal organs.
"HERMIONE! HELP CHO!" Harry yelled but he was relieved to find that his friend was already on her way.
At this point, Harry was worried for his girlfriend but he was also filled with another emotion: a thirst for vengeance.
Summoning his sword to him, Harry cast the same invisibility spell on himself and began to duel with the Baron again.
Because the Baron could only see the Harry's sword and wand in the air, he took haphazard guesses at where his rival could be. This only gave Harry the opportunity to play with the reckless vampire.
First he used his sword to attack the Baron who parried but when he did that, Harry used the ice bolts once again, this time aimed at the Baron's chest.
Ice shards shot forth from Harry's wand, causing him to become visible once again but each of the bolts hit their intended target. As the Baron staggered backwards from the force of the bolts in his chest, Harry swung at the Baron's neck with all his might.
The vampire reacted as expected and brought his sword up to block but because he had let his sword stay in Cho's body for too long, the stomach acid had corroded the blade, thus destroying its ability to block anything for long.
Instead, Harry's blade effectively shattered the Baron's sword but because of the force that he had put in his swing, his sword continued on its way, slicing cleanly into the Baron's neck, decapitating him.
Since it was no longer connected to a body, Radu's head immediately rolled forward onto the floor and cold blood spouted upward like a fountain from the stump, landing on the ground around the body and on Harry's robes as well.
The defeat of the Baron caught Parvati's attention who was now running towards the body of her former master with the vial full of her blood. Opening it when she got to him, she gulped down its contents and bit into the now dying vampire, absorbing what remaining blood was left.
Upon drinking what she needed, she released her hold on the vampire who slowly turned to dust which was blown away by the gust of air coming from the entrance that Hermione had made earlier with her Earth Guardian.
Seeing the Baron defeated, Harry rushed to Hermione's side who was trying her best to heal Cho's injuries.
"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione told him sadly when he reached her side. "Her injuries are too extensive and not even my healing spell will heal her completely."
Harry looked downcast but Cho managed to reach out a hand to him.
"Thank - you - Harry," Cho said, smiling weakly at him. "For bringing me happiness again."
With that, Cho's hand dropped back down to the ice-cold floor and she remained motionless.
Hermione turned her head away from her friend and stared at the stone wall off to the side.
"I'm sorry," was all that she could say softly over and over again as she shed tears for her friend. "I'm so sorry."
Harry stared at Cho's lifeless body for a few moments but in his mind, he felt that Percy should pay for his betrayal as well. Sheathing his sword, and taking his wand in his hand, he stood up and made to leave.
"Stay with her Hermione," Harry instructed the girl kneeling by him, "For me."
Hermione merely nodded her head as Harry began to walk through the hole in the chamber wall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: One more chapter to go b4 the end! For the sequel, I think I'll do a combination of Rowling's plot and mine. I'll probably add a few more characters, Luna will be one of them cuz she makes an interesting character (her personality will be unchanged from Rowling's Order of the Phoenix). H/Cho will be scrapped of course ^^. For those of you who are thinking about what happens with Percy, next chapter will tell you everything. Special thanks to Quis for beta-reading this chapter for me.