Chapter 23: The Battle

*****

            Alinora swam quickly through the murky, lake water, her transfigured legs propelling her faster than her human legs ever could have.  Though she could've made it to the Merpeople's community with her eyes closed, she determinedly focused on her path to distract her mind from dwelling on what might be going on back at the school or what might have already happened ahead of her while she had been trying to figure out what was going on.  Staring out the window earlier, she hadn't been able to put all the pieces together until she'd noticed the lake's resident giant squid suddenly disappear from where it had been sunning itself.

            That, and the pain that had hit her as the full attack had begun, finally caused the pieces to fall into place.  She'd bound herself to the lake's wards the previous year- driven by a sense of need that had begun upon her discovering the thriving Mer village after the second challenge in last year's Triwizard Tournament.  Until then, it hadn't occurred to her that Merfolk even lived in lakes- all she had ever known lived in the ocean; but when she heard about the ward and that they were there as one of it's guardians…  Knowing that they held no magical abilities of their own, she had decided that it was her responsibility to add what magic she could- to both help protect the school and to try to make sure that, should anything happen, the Mer were protected as well.  Her headaches had been caused by the testing of the wards in what was obviously preparation for this attack.  Had she figured it out sooner, she might have saved herself weeks of pain.  But it was way too late to worry about that now.

            By her link to the lake's protections, she could tell that the wards were still holding, but that they were taking a major beating.  Luckily, as she was no longer fighting the bond, her head didn't ache from it.

            From her surroundings, Ali could tell she was getting close and decided to start her final preparations.  As she'd spent the past year and a half hiding her background from her friends and classmates, she had decided that disguising who and what she was now would be a good thing as well.  To that end, she put into place a few final illusion charms she'd worked out.  To better match the appearance of the locals, she darkened her skin to a shade of gray and her hair to a dark green.  Her eyes she left alone, though the blue green shade was vastly different than the yellow they should be to truly fit in, since the charm often made her eyes itchy.  The last thing she did before reaching the village was to safely entangle her wand within her hair- no Merperson could use a wand and it would be a dead give away that she wasn't what she appeared to be- on the off chance that whoever was attacking them wasn't clued in completely by the magic she was about to be performing…

            Swimming swiftly through the village now, she noticed that the normally busy area was eerily empty.  Based on previous reconnaissance, Alinora knew that the most obvious place to stage an attack was from one of the underwater caves.  There were a few that had formed in such a way that instead of being filled with water, they were dry and accessible by those who couldn't breath underwater.  She'd used some of them herself when she came to visit and didn't want to waste her energy keeping up the charm that allowed her to breathe as the Merpeople do.  One such cave passed right above one boundary of the ward- it ran just below the water's surface in the cave.  That was where she headed, and in that vicinity is where she finally found a familiar face- the Merchieftainess.

            "How are things going?  Is anyone hurt?  Do we know how many are in on the attack?  I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner!" Ali was almost stumbling over the words in her haste to ask her questions.

            Murcus' face was quite expressionless in response, "We've had a few injuries, but nothing serious yet.  There appear to be only three in the chamber, but there may be more in the tunnels that we can't see yet.  We have not been able to contact Albus to inform him of the attack.  What's happening on land?"

            Alinora quickly explained about the two pronged attack on the school and that Dumbledore would be helping with the wards once he was freed from the land defense.

            "Then, we will hold until that point."

            "I want your people to pull back once I'm in position.  I have a new spell that I think will buy us some time.  It's purely defensive, but has been quite effective during testing."  On land, she added silently to herself, refusing to consider that it may not be quite as effective here and in her current form.

            With a short nod, the Merchieftainess was off, gathering his people to him to spread the word.  Ali headed off to the cave.  Upon arrival, she threw up a shield charm to protect herself while she got into position and was able to start the spell.  She watched the Merpeople, armed only with long spears; fade back as she came into view.

            Looking up through the murky water, before she came into sight of those above, she could see the three men Murcus had mentioned.  She recognized none of them, though the blonde man in front was vaguely familiar- as if she'd seen him before somewhere.  He wore a strange pin on his cloak that looked vaguely like an eye with a black design inside it, though she couldn't see it clearly enough to tell exactly what it was.  Shaking her head to clear it of distracting thoughts, Ali surfaced.

            Now, what exactly is the best way to get the attention of three, evil Death Eater's who are determined to invade a school used to train young witches and wizards?  Well… since it worked so well earlier in the common room… Alinora screamed.  In the common room, channeling through her bond with the Merpeople, she'd unconsciously switched to their language in her pain.  Now, she did it to catch their attention; and it worked quite successfully.  The piercing scream echoed throughout the cavern causing the men to break off their current spells and cover their ears in pain.  Too late Ali realized that a disarming charm might have been a better choice, though perhaps less satisfying in the short term- they'd caused her quite a lot of pain recently and she was quite happy to share now.

            "Now that I have gotten your attention, what do you think you're doing here?  You do not belong in this place.  You should leave immediately, before you try to take things far enough that we are forced to end it for you.  I am Guardian of this ward, and you shall not pass."  Alinora had surfaced in the middle of the opening, and was glaring angrily around at the men, finally focusing on the blonde, who appeared to be in charge.

            "Silly fish-girl.  We shall pass if we want to.  Nothing you puny Mer creatures can do will stop us.  You're only causing yourselves pain in the foolish defense of a human school, run by a meddlesome old fool.  Now, stand aside or you will not survive long enough to see just how stupid your pathetic attempts at bravery actually are!"  At that, the wizard raised his wand threateningly in her direction.

            Alinora shook her head slightly in response.  "So you really want to do this the hard way…?" she murmured softly.  In a slightly louder voice, she answered back, "I have offered fair warning.  On your heads' it be.  The responsibility for your fate is yours and you have chosen this path of your own free will.  So be it."  The words felt like an oath, she had no idea where they were coming from, but they felt right.  The blonde's eyes widened slightly at her proclamation, and then narrowed again in anger.  Ali took that moment of distraction to dive under the surface and into the area of water that flowed through the ward.

            Praying to whatever benevolent deity might be listening, Ali began her defense spell.  Though afraid that it wouldn't work as well here as it had during practice, as soon as she began to sing she realized that those fears were groundless.  The spell worked even better here, in the environment that had always felt so comfortable to her.  Her joy in the song and the energy it produced flowed through her, strengthening her defense and spreading through the woven strands of the ward to form a solid barrier to the spells being cast from above.  Giving herself over to the music and her natural instincts, Alinora sang on.

*****

            Alinora had no idea how long she'd been singing when she was distracted by the actions above her in the cavern.  She'd been aware for a while that the three above were beginning to get rather frustrated at not being able to break through her defense.  She figured they knew by now that she wasn't a normal Merperson, but as her spell was so completely different from anything any human witch or wizard had ever come in contact with, they weren't being very successful in unraveling it, or stopping her from continuing it.  Unfortunately she had a feeling that they were going to soon resort to the Unforgivable Curses; and she wasn't sure how well things would hold against spells of that nature and power.  She could feel the beginnings of tiredness pushing at the back of her mind, but she ignored it and continued on.

            Above her, she could see that one of the men in the back of the room had become distracted.  He was looking around him nervously, staring above him at the rocky ceiling and behind him into the dark tunnel leading from the cavern.  Alinora couldn't tell what had startled him, but the second man was suddenly distracted as well.  She was desperate to know what was going on, but couldn't afford to stop enough to take a closer look.

            Suddenly, she noticed a slight trickle of water start down the far wall of the cavern.  She was surprised, wondering what was going on, but decided that a distraction of her own might be in order.  Thinking quickly, she decided simple and easy was the way to go, and the first thing to come to mind were Fred and George's magical paintballs.  It wasn't easy to incorporate into a purely defensive spell, but she somehow managed and suddenly there were flying balls shooting out of the water to splatter harmlessly on the men within.  They didn't do any real harm, but the distraction was enough.

            The trickle down the far wall suddenly got heavier and, even under the water, Alinora could hear a strange creaking and rumbling noise.  Startled, she chanced moving up to the surface, still continuing the spell to deflect anything coming in her direction, so she could get a better look.  The rumbling was coming from the tunnel leading into the cavern.  As Ali watched, chunks of rock started falling from the ceiling, hurling down towards the men inside.  She realized her own danger when a large chunk of stone splashed down near by.  Losing control of her spell, she ducked back under the surface of the water, and watched as the men attempted to get out of the cavern, but it was obvious that the tunnel had been collapsed first and they were trapped.  They were still enough on Hogwart's grounds that Apparating didn't work either…  Before they could think to try escaping via the lake, the entire ceiling collapsed down, showering them with rocks and rushing water.

            Alinora was caught in the rushing current and swept about uncontrollably.  Glancing up in trepidation, she saw a chunk of rock falling towards her.  Unable to move out of the way in time, it hit her in a glancing blow to the side of her head.  Oh bloody hell, not again… was all she had time to think before she drifted to the lake's bottom, unconscious.

*****

            Up on land, things were no less chaotic, but a lot drier.  The battle there was being waged between a couple dozen hooded Death Eaters and most of the Professors and older students of Hogwarts.  Luckily, the wards were holding which protected the school's defenders from most of the worst spells being flung at them, though not all.  A few students had already been removed from the scene to be taken up to Madam Pomfrey and the defenders had managed to knock out a few of the Death Eaters as well.

            When the wards didn't go down after the battle had been raging for a while, the mood on the attackers' side grew slightly more desperate.  Dumbledore simply smiled- Alinora had said that she would hold the wards together on her side and she seemed to be following through with her end of the bargain.  It was time for him to finish up with this so he could do the same.  Turning, he caught the eye of George Weasley.  Dumbledore inclined his head slightly at which George nodded in response before turning to grab the attention of Fred, Katie and Ginny.

            "It's time.  Ready?  Dumbledore requires a distraction- I think we're incredibly qualified to give it to him."

            "Yeah, we have so much experience at this type of job, I almost feel sorry for those guys." Fred added shooting an angry glare at the hooded figures just outside the gates to the school.

            Each had previously stashed their broom near by, which they now retrieved.  As they climbed on, each tucked away their wands- they wouldn't need them for this.  Taking to the air they were careful to fly high enough that they wouldn't be too obvious to those on the ground, as they were now outside the protection of the wards.  At a nod from Ginny, signifying that all were in position, they each began flinging spells down upon the invaders.  They mainly stuck to their standard of magic paintballs, though the twins were quick to start improvising with other effects they'd previously used successfully in other venues.  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Katie and Ginny found it difficult not to laugh when they observed one attacker suddenly sprout yellow feathers.

            Though they were fairly high up in the sky and traveling swiftly, it was only a matter of time before someone on the ground noticed them and started trying to return the favor.  The four were finally forced to start dodging a few random hexes that managed to make it up to them.  Before things could get too difficult though, they spotted a group approaching from the direction of Hogsmeade.

            A couple of the Death Eaters also spotted the group of Aurors, which Dumbledore had contacted earlier, approaching them from behind.  In their typical fashion, they didn't warn their fellows, but simply Apparated away from the scene.  The rest were conveniently surprised and most were apprehended.

            After speaking briefly to the Auror in charge, Dumbledore excused himself so he could return to his office to check on the state of the lake's wards.  George and Katie were right behind him, followed by a slightly confused Fred and Ginny.  Upon reaching his office, Dumbledore went to stand in front of a rather garishly designed wall tapestry.  Waving his hand across the surface, the image shifted until it showed a detailed map of Hogwarts and the surrounding areas.

            "Wards." Dumbledore said firmly, at which the image shifted again to show a multitude of glowing lines weaving their way around the school.  "Lake." he clarified as the image shifted to focus on that area of the map.  One section, deep on the far edge of the lake, was slightly frayed though glowing as strongly as the others.  It was not too badly damaged, but obviously had seen some wear.  As they watched though, the line darkened and filled in until it was as unbroken as those in other areas of the lake.

            "Humm, it would seem that she is not in need of my help with the wards."  Stroking his beard consideringly, Dumbledore studied the map while the others stared at him in mounting frustration.  Finally, Katie broke the silence.

            "Yes, well that's all well and good, but how is Alinora?  Is she on her way back?  Is she okay??"

            He smiled reassuringly at the angry blonde and then at the rest.  "I'm sure she'll be on her way back to the school soon.  I'll attempt to contact Murcus to double check, but I'm sure she's fine.  I suggest you all go get something to eat.  I have a feeling that once your body recovers from the recent events you'll notice that you're quite hungry.  There should be food set up in the Great Hall by now.  Go along, I'll be sure to tell you when I hear something.  I'm quite sure she's fine!" he stated emphatically again at their looks of doubt.  Reluctantly they left the room and made their way back down to the Great Hall.

            As the afternoon stretched on, there was still no sign of Ali.  George had taken to pacing the length of the common room.  Katie had disappeared for a while to help out in the Hospital Wing, but was back soon enough to join them in waiting.  As darkness began to fall, George slipped out of the school and headed down to the shore of the lake.  Wrapping his cloak around himself, he settled down to wait.  Just before full dark, someone settled down beside him.  Glancing over, he saw Katie.

            "I made the others promise to wait in the tower.  All of us disappearing would be too obvious.  Though, I doubt Dumbledore will have any doubts as to where we are if he comes looking."

            George shrugged resignedly before turning back to stare out over the dark lake.

*****

            They'd been staring out over the lake for hours it seemed, nudging each other every once and a while when one or the other thought they'd seen something.  Each time, they found they were mistaken.  Finally, they began to hear a faint splashing from out over the lake.

            "Lumos" Katie whispered as they both got quickly to their feet.  They made their way down as close to the water as they could, straining to see far enough out to identify what had made the noise.  In the distance they could make out a dark form heading towards them.  As they watched, the form came closer and became three separate forms.  Finally they could see that it was two of the lake's Merpeople and they were supporting the limp figure of Alinora between them.  They could see a bandage wrapped around her head.

            George waded out into the lake, ignoring the cold water that quickly soaked though his clothing.  "Ali?  Is she okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice, as he turned to the two carrying her and moved forward to take her from them.

            They looked at each other, but didn't respond.  From behind them surfaced a slightly more familiar person- the Merchieftainess.  Swimming closer, he replied to George's question in halting English.  "She has been hurt- hit in the head.  She woke briefly, but was soon unconscious again.  We bring her back for healing."

            "Thank you." George replied as he gathered Ali into his arms.

            The three Merpeople nodded and slipped back into the lake and disappeared.  George clumsily made his way back to shore where Katie was waiting.

            "We need to get her to Madam Pomfrey now.  I have no idea how long she's been unconscious, but it's not a good sign.  She needs to be warm and dry- I can at least do something about that."  Katie pulled off her cloak, cast a drying spell on Ali and George, and then securely wrapped the cloak around Alinora.  "Okay, now let's get her inside." she said, hurrying George along the lawn and up to the entrance to the school.