~ Chapter 47: A Dark Samhain ~


Thursday, 25th October. In the Great Hall…

Nearly a month had passed quickly, with the School growing stronger from within. Deep-set enmities that had been cultivated for decades between the Slytherins and the other three Houses were weakening with each passing second. Though there was little to laugh about these days, the students find themselves laughing every so often with the new products by the Weasley twins.

A few things had happened during the one month, which included the silent engagement between the two Defence teachers. It was supposed to be a secret but either someone had managed to be at the wrong place at the right time, or Ginny had slowly passed the rumor through the students' ranks. That particular rumor slowly drifted up toward the staff level and McGonagall and Flitwick had cornered the Potions Master to interrogate him-- if you could say that he had been interrogated when he had cheerfully acknowledged that he had been a witness. Occasional darkness had also occurred during that time span.

Several attacks had been attempted on the Ministry of Magic but due to their good intelligence network, the Ministry had ample time to prepare themselves for the attack. As a result, several Death Eaters and some Muggles that were working for the notorious company had been apprehended, only to have the Death Eaters escape again with the help of Dementors. Madam Bones had personally told Dumbledore the Death Eaters was trouble than what they worth. She had said angrily, "Every single time we capture them, the Muggles are always with them too! Why can't they also take the Muggles with them when they escape?" She had also said that the Ministry was actually considering exterminating the Death Eaters on the spot the next time they visit the Ministry. It seemed that the Ministry was getting tired with the constant attention the Dark Lord was giving them, since they were determined enough to lose their chance of interrogating a Death Eater for information about the Dark Lord's movement.

Hogwarts seemed to be so filled with energy and that made the house-elves feel more energized than ever and had demanded the Headmaster to give them something important to do too. Dumbledore relented and considering the words of the Fire Master and his overly cautious elder brother, he had given the house-elves the responsibility of seeing to the necessary preparations, should a siege occur.

For the particular moment however, students and staff alike were undergoing a training session that was coordinated by Fenix, Moody, Aberforth and the Headmaster in the Hall. Unlike the past week, when the School was concentrating mainly on their defence, they were now practicing their movements as an army, primarily on their attacks. Fenix was solely acting as their enemy and was now flinging several dozen blunt projectiles toward the army. Her fiancé led the Defenders to build up a physical shield that caused the projectiles to blow up into tiny fragments and the Fire Master had to protect herself from the needle-like splinters. In the meantime, when Fenix had to halt her attacks, the Main was getting ready to destroy some of Fenix's 'troops' by setting the Bluebell flames on the wooden posts that had been set up earlier.

The Fire Master quickly whipped out her wand and hit one side of the Main with a Stunning Spell, capturing Parvati, Lavender, and the Creevey brothers. Sirius gave an indignant exclamation. Not a single one of them was expecting her to use her wand in that manner and he quickly formulated a silent plan with his comrade and Remus to rescue the Stupefied officers. Fenix was hacking away at the Main and that left McGonagall's people to temporarily halt off their advancement to shield themselves as the Assailants and Defenders split up for the rescue mission. Harry's group, which was left with the Main, quickly threw several hexes on her at once but impacted harmlessly on her shield. Fenix ducked behind a barricade just in time when Harry hit her shield with a spell that he had created with her help, and the shield disintegrated within seconds. Harry's Tickling Charm zinged past her.

Harry had experimented with the new spell for two weeks in a row, and had found out that the spell could also break the charms that sealed a room, purely by accident. So, he frequently practiced by opening Snape's, Sirius's, and Remus's office-- when they were around of course. That surprised Dumbledore, and he pulled the Fire Master to one side and advised her that it would not be a good idea if Harry was able to unlock his office. Fenix gave an airy laugh and reassured the Headmaster that no one had yet broken into her office and taught Dumbledore the new way of locking their offices. The shield-breaking idea had suddenly sprung up when she had encouraged Harry to build his own expanding shield, and did it admirably. She had told him of the shield the Death Eaters had built sometime when she was on her patrol with the Potions Master, and both decided that something must be done to find out ways to break the shield. It would practically be impossible if not for the help of the Elementals and the Dumbledore brothers.

Back to the current training session, Fenix quickly wove a layer upon layer of shields to protect her as she focused her attention to the rescue team. Draco penetrated her physical shield holding the 'hostages' easily-- Fenix had yet to find ways to block the boy from any kind of shields, and the rescue mission would have been a complete success if Fenix had not thought of surprises for the rescue team. Three Dementors lookalike suddenly appeared and paralyzed the Slytherin. Sirius quickly applied the new shield-breaking spell and called out his Patronus, which was a huge eagle. Its talons went for the face of the impostor and broke the eye contact with the Slytherin. Draco immediate recovered and ducked, rolling skillfully on the ground, calling his Patronus as he did so. A silver mane-less lion sprang up and charged toward the remaining 'Dementors'.

The Rearguard and Paramedics had already begun to move; quickly replacing the shields Fenix had broken and moved in to aid the Stupefied victims. Alamanda and Madam Pomfrey moved briskly between the Stupefied students and muttered "Ennervate." The army was back to its full strength and hammered at their enemy's defenses until the Fire Master had nothing left to defend. She shot a flash of white light to signal to them that she was yielding.

**********

Dinner at the Hall…

"Uh…guys…" Fenix looked at her company who was hungrily devouring their dinner at an alarmingly fast rate. Like Snape, Draco, Warrington and Montague had taken to having meals with Harry's group.

: Aren't you hungry? : Sirius asked her curiously. The adults were no exception to their hunger.

: I am… but munch down your food carefully… : Fenix said laughingly, her face glowing in amusement. Conversation bloomed in the Hall half an hour later, with the students revitalized by their meal after the exhausting session. The topic of how they were to celebrate Hallowe'en came up toward the end of dinner. Without knowing why, they all turned to the Fire Master and asked her.

"Why me?" she asked in surprise then gave a sigh when Sirius just gave her a look to answer them immediately. "I don't know how you guys celebrate, but usually I and the elves that lived with me have dinner as usual, and we used to go into the Wood and contemplate," she answered them truthfully. "So, I plan to go on down to the lake, since going into the Forest to talk to the Trees can be quite dangerous."

Ron exchanged a look with Harry and Hermione and shrugged. "We might as well try something new."

"Are you sure you want to come along with me?" Fenix asked mischievously. "I'm bringing Remus, your Professor Lupin along, you know…" That earned her several baffled looks. "How unobservant of you… full moon will be on the thirty-first."

"Why not? Lupin has got it all under control, right?" Harry looked intently at the Defence teacher who just shook his head miserably. The table erupted with light laughter.

**********

Wednesday, 31st October. On Hallowe'en night.

A selected group had already had their dinner in Sirius's office in the early evening. Fenix had chosen a very safe time span for the werewolf to have dinner together and Remus made use of Sirius's bedroom to change into his form when the moon finally rose. Draco looked at the bedroom door apprehensively and his heart jumped in his throat when he heard a soft howl.

"Are you sure he will be all right?" Draco unconsciously whispered to Harry, who had been sitting next to him all evening. Luckily for him, the Slytherin did not ask if they would be all right or Harry might just get violent.

"If you want to know, Lupin's haven't been taking the Wolfsbane Potion ever since he met Fenix for the first time at The Burrow. And he's behaving much like Silver though he considers the real male wolf to be the pack leader," he said helpfully then turned his attention to the door when he heard a scratch. Fenix had already changed into her wolf form and nodded to Sirius who had locked the door from the outside.

Remus looked more like a wolf now, his eyes displaying his intelligence. : So, shall we go and greet the new year? Celtic way of course, : the werewolf asked, bobbing his head in greeting to the genuine wolves. Nods went round the table and they trooped out silently, with Sirius and Harry leading the group while Snape and Draco took the rear, with the four wolves in the middle. The group was met by a couple of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who were hanging out at the Entrance Hall. They looked curiously at the four wolves and stepped back suddenly when they realized just who was among the wolves. Remus gave a silent sigh as they trooped out of the castle onto the grounds.

They made their way to the shore of the lake, the water rippling gently with the soft breeze. The moon was up over their heads and two silent figures swept down from the night sky and swooped over the heads of their owners. Draco lifted his face to the dark night sky, dimly making out the outline of his eagle owl, Bootes. His bird carefully landed on his arm and cautiously moved up to his owner's shoulder. Hedwig landed gracefully on Harry's shoulder and gave an almost indignant hoot when Pig came blundering in excitedly, slamming against Ron's chest.

"Hopeless…" Ron shook his head mournfully.

The four wolves walked nearer to the water's edge and Fenix suppressed the urge to howl, although Silver was aware of her desire to do so, for he gave her a wolfish grin. She raised her muzzle to the dark sky, looking at the moon steadily.

Sirius looked out at the lake, feeling the smooth breeze twirling about him and looked down at his oathsister. Her lupine silver eyes seemed distant and he could see melancholy swirling deeply in her eyes. Hallowe'en… All Souls night…Honoring the dead… Sirius felt the warmth from the boy standing beside him, whose eyes were also going distant and then misted as Harry thought about his parents, and then to those who had lost their lives in Voldemort's meaningless war. Sirius had noticed something during their training session last Thursday. It had seemed to him that ever since the students were all working together, their spellcasting had improved to a high degree. He gave a silent sigh and wondered when Voldemort will be making his move.

Harry was shaking inside. Although he had acted bravely during the training sessions and seemed confident at what he was doing, he was shaking. He never thought that it would all lead down to this. For the past years, he thought that Voldemort was just after him but it all changed ever since he came back during his fourth year. The certainty that other people were involving themselves in this senseless cause of Voldemort's, and would also lead to their deaths, was making him feel a little desperate. No… I can't let this consume me. At least not yet… maybe later, when it's all over. The images of his parents flashed through his mind suddenly. I have to see through the end of this. For their sake, I have to make sure that I will accomplish what my parents had failed to do. He took a deep breath and removed his glasses, brushing his tears away. The grief that had threatened to swallow him whole, lessened and he felt a warm weight against his leg and saw Fenix looking at him. Her eyes were smiling, though they were also sad.

: You won't be alone, you know. We're all right behind you. No matter what, : she said gravely, her eyes growing mysterious under the moonlight. Harry nodded slightly, looking back at the reflection of the moon on the lake.

**********

Carved pumpkins were floating about the castle. The ghosts of Hogwarts were patrolling in and out of the corridors while Hagrid and Moody were out checking the grounds. The Dumbledore brothers were in the Headmaster's office, discussing on the latest details of Voldemort's plans. The students had long gone to bed since it was already an hour to midnight. Snape, Sirius and the four wolves were sound asleep on Sirius's bed after a tedious discussion about the meaning of Life.

Out in the cover of the black night, sleek darkness crept along the castle wall. Not even the Elementals were aware of what was happening. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, was feeling restless but was not able to explain why he was feeling that way to his owner and friend. Minutes passed by and Darkness had already covered every inch of the castle. It was slowly seeping through the cracks and through any point of entry. Yet the ghosts, or the house-elves, or the staff who was still awake, was unaware of the silent intrusion. Darkness was conquering the School, yet no one was aware of it. They had finally come for the School. They had finally arrived to make the life of Hogwarts dead. Their first battle had just begun.

***********