Escape from the Darkness: Chapter 14
With Hermione and Draco behind him, Severus Flooed to the Headmaster's office. Draco had explained that his father had said that it would take place soon, in a matter of minutes. He could see the fear on the faces of the two students, and knew that it matched his own. He had been expecting Draco to make derogatory comments about Hermione, or at least to inquire why she had been in his quarters. He had not; rather, he stayed silent, a pallid appearance to his face.
"Severus! Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Albus asked with a twinkle in his eyes as the three of them tumbled out of his fireplace, one after the other. However, his cheerful countenance disappeared once Severus began to explain what Draco had told him. It appeared that Lucius had underestimated his son, assuming that he would be more than willing to follow in his father's footsteps. That mistake would cost him dearly.
Albus took a handful of a special type of Floo powder, so that his head would appear in every fireplace in Hogwarts. He threw it into the fire and ordered a mandatory meeting in his office immediately for all prefects and teachers. Then he immediately contacted the Ministry of Magic to send aurors to Hogwarts.
Among the first to arrive were Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, who was clutching his head.
"Harry!" Hermione said, rushing over to him.
"Professor Dumbledore, what's happening?" Potter asked. He could barely walk by himself and was only standing with Weasley's help. "My scar is burning…" He squeezed his eyes closed, as if trying to block out the pain. Filius Flitwick, one of the few teachers already present, began murmuring a few incantations whilst he pointed his wand at Harry Potter's scar.
"How long has it been hurting?" Albus asked as he ushered Potter to a chair, then conjured others for the various prefects and professors who were coming up.
"All day… but it got really bad about ten minutes ago." Albus didn't say anything in response, just began stroking his beard thoughtfully. Within a minute, all of the professors and prefects had arrived and Potter seemed to be in less pain than he had been in before. The entire room was buzzing with conversation as teachers and students alike wondered what they had been called for. They were silenced with a wave of the Headmaster's hand.
"Thank you all for coming as quickly as you did. I will not beat around the bush, nor will I sugarcoat what I have to tell all of you, for time is of the essence right now. It has come to my attention that Voldemort—" A few people flinched at the name, "—is planning an attack for tonight, which will take place at Hogwarts." At that, the room erupted in a flurry of terrified comments. The Headmaster had to raise his voice to quiet them.
"As you know, Hogwarts is heavily warded and it is close to impossible for intruders to pass by our boundaries. However, nothing is infallible, and I will therefore not take the possibility of an attack lightly.
"The four Heads of House and I have been plotting for this scenario for quite some time. We deemed it necessary to prepare for the unlikely event of an attack. In our plans, we were expecting to be surprised; however, we are fortunate in that we already know that Death Eaters may strike tonight."
He went on to outline the plan that Severus and the others had thought up, which was now somewhat revised because they had prior knowledge of the attack. The sixth and seventh years were to help defend the school if they chose to do so. Otherwise, they would hide out with the first to fifth-year students in the Slytherin dormitories. If the invaders made their way into that portion of the castle, a passageway that extended from the Slytherin common room to Hogsmeade would be activated and they would be able to escape.
Once Albus finished, he called Harry Potter back as everybody else scattered to their respective common rooms to warn the other students of the attacks and to hurry to get the younger ones to safety. It had been less than ten minutes since Draco had initially told Severus about his father's warning, yet it was possible that Death Eaters might already be permeating the walls of Hogwarts.
Right as Severus was about to leave the Headmaster's office, a hand grabbed his arm. He found himself facing Hermione. "I need to speak with you for a moment." Her face looked urgent, so he led her into a small room off the side of the office. Not a single other person in the office noticed them going into it; everybody else was anxious to Floo back to the students of their Houses. They all seemed to be in a state of panic. For good reason…
"Severus…" Her eyes focused on his face and his expression softened. "I never gave you my answer earlier. I love you, Severus. When this is all over, I would like to marry you."
He kissed her forehead. "I love you so much, Hermione. But I might not be alive when this is finished."
"Don't say that!" She put her hand on his cheek. He grasped it in his own hand. "Just think of our future together. It will give you something to hope for." Giving him one last kiss on the lips, she left. He watched her for a few seconds before he left for the dungeons. It occurred to him that throughout his entire time as a spy, he had only gone on because of the need to redeem himself. For the first time in his life, he had a different purpose, finally a reason to live. Hermione.
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Hermione caught up with the other Gryffindors in the tower. All of them were so anxious about the possibility of a battle that they hadn't even noticed that she was missing. Well, Harry was also missing, but that was because he was with Dumbledore. For safety reasons, the entire house of Gryffindor was to go together to the main floor, where the sixth and seventh-years would meet in the Great Hall, and the fifth-years and below would head to the Slytherin dungeons. They rushed as fast as possible to beat their attackers
However, before they reached the Great Hall, there were already Death Eaters in the building. Her heart sunk and she felt ready to be sick. How had they gotten past the wards so easily? Hogwarts was her sanctuary, the one place she always felt safe. But
McGonagall quickly pointed her wand screamed "Protego!" to deflect the yellow light that was coming in their direction from a masked Death Eater. It was amazing how quick her reflexes were. She ordered the fifth year prefects, in addition to several teachers who were to stay with the younger students for protection, to use a back staircase. They obeyed without question.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione yelled, as several other Gryffindors said similar spells, causing the Death Eater to fall over, unconscious on the ground.
All of them raced to the Great Hall to join the rest of their comrades.
When Hermione arrived at the Great Hall, she was in awe of the sheer number of people there. How come there were so many people on the side of the Dark? The experience was completely surreal.
She continued fighting, ducking in time to avoid getting hit by a curse. Out of the corner of her eye, she was surprised to see how many students were actually willing to fight to protect Hogwarts. Even the Slytherins, led by Draco Malfoy, were fighting as hard as everybody else. She would have thought that Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and the rest of them would follow their parents and avoid actively participating in the fight against Voldemort. But they were not. Of course, a few hours earlier, she would have never expected Malfoy to side with Dumbledore. He had always called her a mudblood, which had given her the idea that he was—like his father—a true supporter of Voldemort.
Anybody overlooking the Great Hall would have been amazed at the sight beneath them. The floor was crowded with students, professors, and Death Eaters, tossing spells at each other. A few people had already fallen. Hermione could feel herself desperately hoping that all of her friends were okay. She swallowed back a cry as she thought about Severus, who had mentioned the possibility of being killed. She had thought that he was being overly pessimistic. But it was, in fact, entirely possible. It wasn't as though only Death Eaters would die while those on the side of the Light remained unscathed.
"Stupefy!" she said pointing her wand at the Death Eater in front of her. She was happy to see that he fell. However, she didn't see the one behind her.
"Impedimenta!" his voice said. Hermione turned around, seeing the curse coming at her, unable to stop it.
"Protego!" a different person yelled, averting the spell, and pulling her nearer to him. Severus. She almost began crying out of happiness. He was still alive.
The Death Eater dodged the spell. "A Mudblood, Severus? Pathetic!" he spat.
Hermione suddenly realized who it was… Lucius Malfoy. A purple light shot out of Severus's wand, but Malfoy managed to block it. Then a cruel smile formed on his face.
"Crucio!" It wasn't until she was hit with it that it actually registered who the curse was directed at. It was so unexpected that she didn't have time to prepare, or even to attempt to stop it from striking her.
It was more painful than anything she had ever experienced. Her body felt like it was on fire. Now she knew how Harry felt. Hermione knew that she was dying, slowly and torturously, but there was nothing that she could do to stop it. She could feel herself sinking further in.
"Avada Kedavra!" A green light shot by her and Malfoy fell. As the hold the Cruciatus Curse had on her subsided, she attempted to go to Severus. However, her legs wouldn't support her, and she could instead feel him lifting her, cradling her in his arms. The last thought that she had before falling into blackness was that Severus had just used the Killing Curse.
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Harry looked around, feeling a twinge of hope springing up inside of him. It seemed as though all of the Death Eaters had fallen. They had been outnumbered by Hogwarts students and teachers, which he was grateful for. It was nice to know that more people supported good than evil.
Ron was unconscious on the ground next to him. Harry was worried, but knew that Ron would live, which was the most important thing. He had been pleased to see Neville take down Bellatrix Lestrange. All of the Dumbledore's Army members who were still at Hogwarts seemed to be more or less alright. They had fought alongside the Slytherins, who were on Dumbledore's side, much to the surprise of everybody. It had to be tough for some of them, to be fighting against their parents. Harry had always hated Malfoy, and there was little that could change that; however, he was beginning to have a newfound respect for him.
But, as he reflected on all of this, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling that was growing inside of him. Voldemort was still alive.
"Avada Kedavra!" a voice behind him said. He stared at the green light, heading towards him. He couldn't see or hear anything else, only the light. And there was nothing that he could do to stop it. No spells blocked the Killing Curse. He had survived it before, but he had a feeling that he wouldn't be that lucky twice.
Suddenly Harry felt himself being pushed out of the way. Horrified, he watched the light strike Albus Dumbledore. An overwhelming number of heartbreaking emotions overtook him. The most powerful wizard in the world had just sacrificed himself to save him.
He was done for, as was the entire world as he knew it. Not that he would be alive much longer to see that. If Dumbledore couldn't defeat Voldemort, certainly Harry didn't have a chance. He wanted to give up, to collapse on the ground in the hope that Voldemort would kill him quickly with Avada Kedavra, rather than using one of the more torturous methods. That was the only way out of this.
Suddenly, the words of Sibyll Trelawney ran through his mind.
Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…
The prophecy… Harry swallowed and faced the Dark Lord. That had been why Dumbledore had chosen Harry's life over his own. But how would he kill Voldemort without Dumbledore to help him? Harry's chest ached as he attempted to hold back sobs.
However, he had to be strong, to do what was expected of him. Dumbledore's death would have been in vain if Harry didn't do his best to fulfill the prophecy. He was a Gryffindor and he would fight his hardest. That was the least he could do.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand shot out of his hand, out of his reach. The Dark Lord grinned malevolently, advancing on Harry. "Potter, you're making this too easy for me." Before he could react, Voldemort yelled, "Crucio!" It threw him back a few feet, but Voldemort didn't hold him under it for very long. Funny, it hurt less than it had the last time he had been hit with the Cruciatus Curse.
"This seems familiar… oh yes… I'm reminded of the time I murdered your mudblood mother," Voldemort said in a taunting and malicious tone. "She didn't have her wand either…"
Harry glared back at him in sheer revulsion and hatred. In one swift motion, he pulled a spare wand out of his pocket. Dumbledore had given it to him earlier just in case. "Petrificus Totalus!" It was the first incantation that had come to mind. Although any second-year student could do it, it was still effective. For now. The Dark Lord's body froze and fell to the ground, his reaction time too slow to avoid the spell.
"Harry, you have to kill him," McGonagall told him urgently. "It's the only way…" Harry glanced at her for a few seconds. She seemed distraught, her usually meticulous appearance haggard. He briefly wondered if she knew about the prophecy. It was a possibility, for she was one of the people that Dumbledore trusted most.
Harry stared at Voldemort, who could awaken at any time. He had never used the Killing Curse, but had certainly wondered if he had the capability within him to do it. Almost immediately, his mind was flooded with thoughts of his parents, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, and everybody else who had died at the hands of Voldemort and his followers. And the people who would be killed in the future if Voldemort was still alive. Yes, Harry would be able to do it. "Avada Kedavra!"
The green light shot out of his wand, striking Voldemort's body. He hoped that he would never have to use Avada Kedavra again; there was no way he could handle it.
His hand shook briefly as he summoned his original wand back to him. He stared at the corpse of the Dark Lord. It was finally over.