Chapter 10 – The Battle
There were no classes that day. Instead, Dumbledore assembled the "Hogwarts Army" and gave them orders on what to do and where to go when the time came. The school was virtually silent all day. Most people spent the time with their closest friends or girlfriends, contemplating whether or not they would see tomorrow.
The day dragged on and on, but nothing seemed to be happening outside. Then, as dusk approached, Professor Sanderson, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, came running up to Dumbledore
"He's coming, he's arrived at Hogsmeade and he moving up towards the school. He's got about 130 supporters with him." And then he fainted. Dumbledore looked down at his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor sadly
"Why on earth did I hire him?" he wondered aloud, before ordering the Army to follow him. They marched through the empty halls and out the main doors
"How are they going to get in, Professor? I mean, won't the wards hold them?" asked Lily
"They've got help from the inside," said Dumbledore, grimly, "Someone is waiting to open the gates for them. The wards won't work if someone invites them in."
The army stood at the top of the stairs that led down into the grounds and waited. James turned to Lily
"I may not get a chance to say this, Lily. But I had to tell you that I lo- ,"
"There they are," cried a Hufflepuff fifth year, his voice jumping from one octave to another. Even though he was thoroughly pissed off, James turned his attention to the oncoming army. They were dressed entirely in black, and something about their presence made each of them look ten feet tall
"James, I'm scared," mumble Lily, taking his hand. So was he, but he did his best to reassure her
"Don't worry, Lils. I'll protect you. I promise." About one hundred metres away, the Death Eaters stopped. Then, Voldemort's high, cold voice boomed out from the crowd of his followers
"Hand over the school and no-one gets hurt, Dumbledore. Save your precious muggles, old man." Dumbledore didn't even reply. Instead he yelled to the Hogwarts Army
"ATTACK"
They charged towards the Death Eaters, dodging the various dark curses thrown their way and throwing their own back. James easily blocked the stunning spell aimed at him, and it rebounded hitting the Death Eater who sent the spell. He threw a stunning spell of his own at another Death Eater, who was caught unawares and crumpled to the floor. About ten minutes later, James found himself near to Sirius. He beat the Death Eater he was fighting and laughed
"That's four I've got already, Prongs," he yelled triumphantly
"Well, tell me when you get twelve, no wait," he threw an Impediment Jinx, "tell me when you get thirteen." Sirius looked as though he'd been slapped in the face. Enraged, he conjured a huge fireball and sent it towards a large crowd of Death Eaters, who didn't move out the way in time.
But as the battle wore on, the Death Eaters began to gain an advantage. Peter fell early when a stunning spell was deflected into him. Liz and Emma soon followed, with more and more Hogwarts' students suffering the same fate. However, they were no nearer to the castle than they had been at the start of the battle.
James was still fighting his way furiously through the hordes of Death Eaters. He had taken out nearly as many as Dumbledore. As he attacked again, a familiar voice taunted him
"Well, well, well. Isn't little Potter the hero of Hogwarts?" James recognised the voice from the regular functions he attended with his parents at the Ministry. He turned round and found himself face-to-face with Nefarius Malfoy, Lucius' father
"Malfoy," James spat contemptuously, "Shall I stun you now and get it over with, or do you want to duel for a while before I win?" Malfoy laughed
"I don't think you'll be doing anything. After all, I do have your precious girlfriend," he said, and two large Death Eaters brought out a struggling Lily. James' heart stopped. She almost got away from them, but one stamped hard on her ankle and James heard a sickening crack as it broke. Malfoy laughed
"Now, I was going to kill her straight away, but I wanted to have some fun first. I thought, why should I kill her, when it would be far more entertaining to watch you kill he? Imperio." James didn't expect the spell so couldn't try and block it. But he felt the most wonderful feeling in the world, as if he had no problems, or nothing to worry about. Then a cold voice entered his mind
"Kill her." Obediently, he pulled out his wand. But a new voice entered his head, much stronger than the first one
"WHAT? Kill Lily? Never,"
"Do it. Now!"
"Never." And with that, the two voices left his mind and James returned to reality. He stunned Malfoy, then the two people who were holding Lily. He scrambled across to her
"Lils, are you alright?" he asked frantically
"Yes, James. I'm fine. Come on; let's get back to the battle,"
"No way, Lils. You'll get yourself killed with that ankle. You won't be able to move fast enough,"
"Of course I will. It won't make any difference." She winced as she got up, but she tried to hide it, and she progressed back to the main area of the battle. However, she moved extremely slowly. One Death Eater saw this. He took out his wand and pointed it at Lily
"Avada Kedavra"
Lily saw the jet of bright green light flying towards her. She didn't even have time to scream, but thoughts and feelings long forgotten flashed through her mind. But just before the light hit her, she felt a heavy body tackle her to the floor and the spell missed her by inches. She looked up to see James pull his wand out and stun the Death Eater who had sent the spell
"Come on, Lils. Get back up to the castle. Please," he begged her
"I don't want to leave you," she told him
"You have to. You get yourself safe." They moved together up towards the castle, James ensuring that no one harmed Lily. When she was safe, James turned to go back to the battle, but Lily called him back
"James, wait! Stay here, please." James shook his head determinedly
"No way, Lils. There's still more to do,"
"Stay with me, James. You've got to stay alive." James looked her straight in the eye "Lils, I'm coming back," he told her firmly, before charging back of to the battle. Lily watched him go, tears brimming in her eyes.
With James' return to the battle, came a change in Hogwarts' fortunes. Dumbledore was taking out Death Eater after Death Eater, followed closely by the remaining Marauders. Rachel was hit with a disarming spell, which sent her flying 30 metres backwards, but Remus took swift revenge. It soon became clear that the Hogwarts army would win the battle, so Voldemort began to pull his Death Eaters back. However, James was right in the middle of most of the Death Eaters. Eventually, an impediment jinx from Voldemort himself stopped him in his tracks. He was carried by one Death Eater, and placed in front of Voldemort. The other Death Eaters formed a circle around them, but they were facing outwards in order to repel any attack. Voldemort turned to James, smiled his sick twisted smile
"So, James Potter, we meet at last. You may not know it, but I know an awful lot about you. I know what subjects you take, I know who your friends and family are. Hell, I even know what position you play in Quidditch. I also happen to know that if it wasn't for you, Hogwarts would be mine right now." James grinned triumphantly. Voldemort saw this and continued
"You have huge potential. You could be powerful. You could be great. You could have anything you want. All you have to do – is join me," he finished. James didn't even think about it
"What the fuck do you take me for? I would never join you. Weak people like you turn to the Dark Side because they can't get what they want by normal means. Did you really think I would ever join you?" The smile was gone from Voldemort's face
"No, I didn't. Perhaps you need a little persuasion. Crucio."
XXXXX
Outside the battle, up towards the castle, Lily was watching desperately. She had seen James being taken in to the circle by the Death Eaters and somehow restrained herself. But now, she heard James' screams echoing throughout the battlefield. She had never heard anything so terrible in all her life. Every painful scream was like a knife in her heart. But whatever she was feeling, she didn't how many times worse it was for James. She tried to run back onto the battlefield to help him, but was pulled back by her fellow students.
Two other people on the battlefield heard James' screams and decided to try and help. Sirius and Remus broke through the crowds of people and flew at the circle of Death Eaters, firing every spell they knew. Sirius even tried an unsuccessful Avada Kedavra curse. Before they could reach the circle however, they were both blasted backwards by stunning spells from Death Eaters.
Inspired by Remus and Sirius, Dumbledore and the remaining Hogwarts' Army tried to break through the line of Death Eaters and save James. They had almost reached them, when Voldemort took James and all the Death Eaters who weren't stunned, immobilised or captured, and disappeared from the Hogwarts' grounds.
There were no classes that day. Instead, Dumbledore assembled the "Hogwarts Army" and gave them orders on what to do and where to go when the time came. The school was virtually silent all day. Most people spent the time with their closest friends or girlfriends, contemplating whether or not they would see tomorrow.
The day dragged on and on, but nothing seemed to be happening outside. Then, as dusk approached, Professor Sanderson, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, came running up to Dumbledore
"He's coming, he's arrived at Hogsmeade and he moving up towards the school. He's got about 130 supporters with him." And then he fainted. Dumbledore looked down at his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor sadly
"Why on earth did I hire him?" he wondered aloud, before ordering the Army to follow him. They marched through the empty halls and out the main doors
"How are they going to get in, Professor? I mean, won't the wards hold them?" asked Lily
"They've got help from the inside," said Dumbledore, grimly, "Someone is waiting to open the gates for them. The wards won't work if someone invites them in."
The army stood at the top of the stairs that led down into the grounds and waited. James turned to Lily
"I may not get a chance to say this, Lily. But I had to tell you that I lo- ,"
"There they are," cried a Hufflepuff fifth year, his voice jumping from one octave to another. Even though he was thoroughly pissed off, James turned his attention to the oncoming army. They were dressed entirely in black, and something about their presence made each of them look ten feet tall
"James, I'm scared," mumble Lily, taking his hand. So was he, but he did his best to reassure her
"Don't worry, Lils. I'll protect you. I promise." About one hundred metres away, the Death Eaters stopped. Then, Voldemort's high, cold voice boomed out from the crowd of his followers
"Hand over the school and no-one gets hurt, Dumbledore. Save your precious muggles, old man." Dumbledore didn't even reply. Instead he yelled to the Hogwarts Army
"ATTACK"
They charged towards the Death Eaters, dodging the various dark curses thrown their way and throwing their own back. James easily blocked the stunning spell aimed at him, and it rebounded hitting the Death Eater who sent the spell. He threw a stunning spell of his own at another Death Eater, who was caught unawares and crumpled to the floor. About ten minutes later, James found himself near to Sirius. He beat the Death Eater he was fighting and laughed
"That's four I've got already, Prongs," he yelled triumphantly
"Well, tell me when you get twelve, no wait," he threw an Impediment Jinx, "tell me when you get thirteen." Sirius looked as though he'd been slapped in the face. Enraged, he conjured a huge fireball and sent it towards a large crowd of Death Eaters, who didn't move out the way in time.
But as the battle wore on, the Death Eaters began to gain an advantage. Peter fell early when a stunning spell was deflected into him. Liz and Emma soon followed, with more and more Hogwarts' students suffering the same fate. However, they were no nearer to the castle than they had been at the start of the battle.
James was still fighting his way furiously through the hordes of Death Eaters. He had taken out nearly as many as Dumbledore. As he attacked again, a familiar voice taunted him
"Well, well, well. Isn't little Potter the hero of Hogwarts?" James recognised the voice from the regular functions he attended with his parents at the Ministry. He turned round and found himself face-to-face with Nefarius Malfoy, Lucius' father
"Malfoy," James spat contemptuously, "Shall I stun you now and get it over with, or do you want to duel for a while before I win?" Malfoy laughed
"I don't think you'll be doing anything. After all, I do have your precious girlfriend," he said, and two large Death Eaters brought out a struggling Lily. James' heart stopped. She almost got away from them, but one stamped hard on her ankle and James heard a sickening crack as it broke. Malfoy laughed
"Now, I was going to kill her straight away, but I wanted to have some fun first. I thought, why should I kill her, when it would be far more entertaining to watch you kill he? Imperio." James didn't expect the spell so couldn't try and block it. But he felt the most wonderful feeling in the world, as if he had no problems, or nothing to worry about. Then a cold voice entered his mind
"Kill her." Obediently, he pulled out his wand. But a new voice entered his head, much stronger than the first one
"WHAT? Kill Lily? Never,"
"Do it. Now!"
"Never." And with that, the two voices left his mind and James returned to reality. He stunned Malfoy, then the two people who were holding Lily. He scrambled across to her
"Lils, are you alright?" he asked frantically
"Yes, James. I'm fine. Come on; let's get back to the battle,"
"No way, Lils. You'll get yourself killed with that ankle. You won't be able to move fast enough,"
"Of course I will. It won't make any difference." She winced as she got up, but she tried to hide it, and she progressed back to the main area of the battle. However, she moved extremely slowly. One Death Eater saw this. He took out his wand and pointed it at Lily
"Avada Kedavra"
Lily saw the jet of bright green light flying towards her. She didn't even have time to scream, but thoughts and feelings long forgotten flashed through her mind. But just before the light hit her, she felt a heavy body tackle her to the floor and the spell missed her by inches. She looked up to see James pull his wand out and stun the Death Eater who had sent the spell
"Come on, Lils. Get back up to the castle. Please," he begged her
"I don't want to leave you," she told him
"You have to. You get yourself safe." They moved together up towards the castle, James ensuring that no one harmed Lily. When she was safe, James turned to go back to the battle, but Lily called him back
"James, wait! Stay here, please." James shook his head determinedly
"No way, Lils. There's still more to do,"
"Stay with me, James. You've got to stay alive." James looked her straight in the eye "Lils, I'm coming back," he told her firmly, before charging back of to the battle. Lily watched him go, tears brimming in her eyes.
With James' return to the battle, came a change in Hogwarts' fortunes. Dumbledore was taking out Death Eater after Death Eater, followed closely by the remaining Marauders. Rachel was hit with a disarming spell, which sent her flying 30 metres backwards, but Remus took swift revenge. It soon became clear that the Hogwarts army would win the battle, so Voldemort began to pull his Death Eaters back. However, James was right in the middle of most of the Death Eaters. Eventually, an impediment jinx from Voldemort himself stopped him in his tracks. He was carried by one Death Eater, and placed in front of Voldemort. The other Death Eaters formed a circle around them, but they were facing outwards in order to repel any attack. Voldemort turned to James, smiled his sick twisted smile
"So, James Potter, we meet at last. You may not know it, but I know an awful lot about you. I know what subjects you take, I know who your friends and family are. Hell, I even know what position you play in Quidditch. I also happen to know that if it wasn't for you, Hogwarts would be mine right now." James grinned triumphantly. Voldemort saw this and continued
"You have huge potential. You could be powerful. You could be great. You could have anything you want. All you have to do – is join me," he finished. James didn't even think about it
"What the fuck do you take me for? I would never join you. Weak people like you turn to the Dark Side because they can't get what they want by normal means. Did you really think I would ever join you?" The smile was gone from Voldemort's face
"No, I didn't. Perhaps you need a little persuasion. Crucio."
XXXXX
Outside the battle, up towards the castle, Lily was watching desperately. She had seen James being taken in to the circle by the Death Eaters and somehow restrained herself. But now, she heard James' screams echoing throughout the battlefield. She had never heard anything so terrible in all her life. Every painful scream was like a knife in her heart. But whatever she was feeling, she didn't how many times worse it was for James. She tried to run back onto the battlefield to help him, but was pulled back by her fellow students.
Two other people on the battlefield heard James' screams and decided to try and help. Sirius and Remus broke through the crowds of people and flew at the circle of Death Eaters, firing every spell they knew. Sirius even tried an unsuccessful Avada Kedavra curse. Before they could reach the circle however, they were both blasted backwards by stunning spells from Death Eaters.
Inspired by Remus and Sirius, Dumbledore and the remaining Hogwarts' Army tried to break through the line of Death Eaters and save James. They had almost reached them, when Voldemort took James and all the Death Eaters who weren't stunned, immobilised or captured, and disappeared from the Hogwarts' grounds.