Chapter 25:

In the Forbidden Forest

Harry flew out the window and out over the Forbidden Forest in search of a sign of the Death Eaters that he knew must be inside the forest, planning their attack. He winged down into the trees and followed the trail that had obviously been left by the Death Eaters.

While he was doing this, Dumbledore had taken a Portkey to the Ministry and found it in utter chaos. The defenders were casting Patroni as fast as they could, and alternating this with trying to erect barriers to impede the Dementors progress. Dumbledore quickly attempted to organize the forces. He found Arthur Weasley and asked, "Have we lost anyone yet?"

Arthur shook his head, "No, so far we've been lucky and managed to stay together. I hate to ask this, but why didn't Harry come with you?"

Dumbledore said, "He's busy fighting Death Eaters by this point, I'm sure. He'll be here as soon as possible."

Arthur fired off another Patronus, while Dumbledore did the same. "What do you mean he's fighting Death Eaters?"

"Harry discovered that the attack on the Ministry was only going to be a diversion so that several Death Eaters could slip into the castle to take Ginny. Harry went to deal with them first." answered Dumbledore steadily as he erected a stone wall covering an archway to block the Dementors progress.

Moody limped over, "We need more manpower. We've got the damn things blocked off for the time being, but all we can do is play a waiting game. We need reinforcements."

Dumbledore nodded firmly, "Minerva is alerting the Aurors as fast as she can. I'm sure that they will be arriving as soon as she finds them."

"What about Potter?" growled Moody. "We could sure use his power."

"He'll be here, eventually. He's dealing with a Death Eater problem back at the castle." replied Dumbledore.

Moody growled again, "Great, just what we need, more problems."

While all this was happening, Ginny was shepherding a speechless Hermione back into the hospital wing with Ron and Madam Pomfrey. Once she finally got over her shock, Hermione asked, "Did Harry just turn into a phoenix?"

Ron gaped, but Ginny just answered mildly, "Of course."

"I thought that was impossible." said Ron.

Hermione shook her head, "No, Godric Gryffindor could transform into a Griffin. I'm sure other people have become magical animals over the centuries, the records have just been lost or never recorded to begin with. However, it is impossible for someone to have more than one form as an Animagus."

Ginny snorted, "Don't you get it yet, Hermione? Harry told you that the word can't doesn't apply to him. He meant that nothing was impossible."

Hermione smiled, "So, you're saying that Harry can beat Voldemort."

Ginny slapped Hermione, "Is that all you care about? Harry can save the world. Whoopee. Let's all celebrate. You still don't get it. Harry thinks that he is going to die fighting Voldemort." Ginny finished this statement to the utter consternation of the other two Gryffindors in the room, and then proceeded to burst into tears. Ron and Hermione attempted to comfort her as much as possible, but there was little that they could do to help the distraught girl.

Harry had finally caught up to the Death Eaters. He quickly transformed into his chameleon form and snuck up on them. He could hear their conversation clearly.

"Do you think that enough time has passed for Potter and Dumbledore to be out of the castle yet?" asked one that Harry recognized to be Macnair.

Another Death Eater shook his head, "No, we'll give it another fifteen minutes. Then, we'll move out. Crabbe, Goyle, the two of you go ahead towards the castle. You'll draw the attention of any guards that Dumbledore might have left, and the rest of us will go into the castle to find the Weasley girl." This one Harry recognized as Avery. That made four that he knew.

Crabbe and Goyle went off to do Avery's bidding, and Harry moved away from the group of Death Eaters to transform into his panther form. Harry stalked the two Death Eaters as they walked through the forest. Finally, he saw his opportunity. One of the two morons tripped over an exposed root. The other one turned to laugh at his companion. That laugh was the last sound he made, as a full grown panther landed on his back smashing his head into a rock on the ground. His neck snapped with a sharp crack and he was still. The other Death Eater didn't even have time to scream in panic as the panther leapt at him and shredded his face with its massive paws.

Once he was sure that nothing had been heard, Harry transformed back into human form. He smiled to himself, "Two down. Five to go." Harry started back towards the other five Death Eaters, who by this point, Harry knew would have already started for the castle. He met two of them in a small clearing. One of them gasped in surprise, and took off running. Harry sent a quick stunning spell that dropped him in his tracks. The other one assumed a dueling stance. Harry raised his wand and smiled mirthlessly at the Death Eater. He asked, "Are you prepared?"

The Death Eater, who turned out to be MacNair answered, "Prepared for what, Potter?"

"Death, of course." Harry sprang into action and sent a hail of curses at the Death Eater. MacNair managed to dodge or block all of the curses, but he was left without any time to react to the enormous panther that Harry had become. Harry landed on him, crushing his rib cage with his powerful forepaws. MacNair gurgled once and then fell limp underneath Harry.

Harry transformed back into his human form just in time for three more Death Eaters to come running into the clearing. Harry immediately shouted, "Protego." as three Stunning Spells came sailing at him. They bounced off, and Harry countered with the Killing Curse. "Avada Kedavra." One of the Death Eaters fell lifeless.

The other two looked on in horror and shock. Avery spoke, "Potter, what are you doing? You killed.." He broke off as Harry smiled at him evilly. Harry sent two more Killing Curses at the remaining Death Eaters. They easily sidestepped the curse, but weren't remotely fast enough for the Stunning Spells that followed them. Both of the Death Eaters fell to the ground stunned.

Harry looked around at the havoc that he had just caused. He chuckled to himself quietly, "The centaurs won't like this."

"No, we do not, Potter." rang out a stern voice.

Harry looked over to find Bane and Magorian staring at him and the beaten Death Eaters in disgust and contempt. Harry shrugged, "I guess that you'll have to deal with it though."

Bane reared, "No, we will not, human. You will leave our forest and not return."

Harry snorted, "I will do as I please, Bane. There's nothing that you or any others of your kind can do to stop me."

Bane appeared as if he were about to attack, but Magorian held out his arm to restrain him, "Hold, Bane. You have read the signs. You know that he speaks the truth. Do you dare to unleash the wrath of the Promised One on our race? You are a fool."

Bane gestured at Harry, "How do we even know if the Potter boy is the Promised One?"

Magorian pointed to the Death Eaters lying crumpled on the ground, "You saw how easily he defeated them. Can their be any doubt?"

Another centaur came into view, "Magorian is right, Bane. Perhaps it is time that we centaur impart our knowledge onto the humans. Perhaps Firenze was right. We may have judged him too hastily."

Magorian nodded, "You warned us to hesitate in our judgment, Ronan. I wish that we had listened."

Harry waved a hand to regain the attention of the centaurs, "This is all very interesting, but I have work to attend to. So, are you going to attack me or not? If you are, hurry up and get it over with so that I can get back to Hogwarts. The Ministry is under attack by Dementors, and they probably need my help. If not, shut up and get out of the way."

The centaurs turned and rode off into the forest without another word. Harry pointed at the five bodies lying on the ground, and said, "Mobilicorpus." He led this group of bodies back to Crabbe and Goyle. "Mobilicorpus." The other two bodies joined the others floating behind him. Harry took off at a run, dragging the bodies along behind him as he headed for the castle.

When he ran in, McGonagall was waiting in the entrance hall with Professors Flitwick, Sinistra, and Trelawney. All of them had their wands drawn and were pointing them at the door. McGonagall gasped when she saw the bodies come zooming in after Harry. He stopped, slightly out of breath in front of her. "Professor McGonagall, the four of you can rest easy. I've dealt with the Death Eaters. There isn't going to be a raid on the castle anymore. Keep the bodies, until Professor Dumbledore and I return. I've got to get to the Ministry to help fight the Dementors."

Flitwick piped up, "Are they dead?"

"Only four of them. Three of them are just stunned. Dumbledore and I will deal with them when we get back." answered Harry quickly. He looked around, "I need something to turn into a Portkey." He ripped the Hogwart's insignia patch off of his robes, and pointed his wand at it, "Portus." He grinned at the Professor's, "See you in a bit." He tapped the patch and instantly disappeared.

Flitwick turned to look at McGonagall, "Minerva, did he just create his own Portkey?"

McGonagall nodded her head, "Yes, Filius, he most certainly did."

Sinistra spoke up, "Is there no end to what that boy can do?"

McGonagall shook her head, "Apparently not. I would have never dreamed that any child could obtain the power that he has. I don't think that even Albus could handle him if he ever decided that he wanted to do something."

Harry appeared in the middle of a battle zone. He spotted Dumbledore, Moody, and Arthur. He loped over to them quickly and asked, "What's the situation?"

Dawlish walked over, "Not good, Potter. Around a hundred Dementors have us surrounded. There are obviously some Death Eaters out there as well since they have bound the entire place with an Anti-Dissapparation Jinx. How did you get in here?"

Harry answered simply, "Portkey." He leaned over a barrier and shouted, "Expecto Patronum." Three silver stags shot out the end of his wand and began battling a group of dementors. "That ought to help for a minute."

Dumbledore took over, "The problem is that since we can't Apparate out, we're stuck here. I don't have the energy to make enough Portkeys for everyone, and most everyone is so exhausted from being around the Dementors that they can't make their own."

Harry sighed, "Well, I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but I guess we don't have a choice."

Arthur looked concerned, "Come to what, Harry? What are you planning?"

"I know a spell that will get rid of the Dementors, but it takes quite a bit of power to cast. I'm not for sure if my body is going to stand the magical strain. Especially after fighting those Death Eaters, earlier."

Moody broke in, "How many were there? Did you beat them?"

"Seven. We'll discuss that later. Be ready to get me out of here, and back to Madam Pomfrey when I finish casting this spell, Albus. I'll probably need some regenerative potions as quickly as possible after casting it."

Albus nodded, "Where did you find this spell, Harry? What is it?"

Harry grinned, "Restricted Section of the library. I found the original spell that Merlin used to combat Dementors that the Patronus Charm was a later derivative of. It's a whole lot more powerful. Let's see what Voldemort's new and improved Dementors do about it." Harry stood up and climbed on top of one of the barricades that had been erected. Several of the defenders recognized Harry and made way for him. They were eager to see what the Boy-Who-Lived had in store. Maybe he would save the day once again. Harry pointed his wand at the attacking Dementors and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Expectus Patroni Aurum Solidid Obliterate." A wave of solid gold Patroni in the form of a stag erupted from Harry's wand. There were dozens of them. They tore into the ranks of Dementors and began shredding them to pieces. The Dementors that managed to escape the fury of the Patronus assault fled from the Ministry just as fast as they could glide.

As soon as the Dementors were out of sight, Harry collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Dumbledore ran over with Arthur and Moody. He quickly created a Portkey. Arthur grabbed Harry up, and placed his finger on the Portkey along with Moody and Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned to Dawlish, "You're in charge. We'll send you an update on Harry's condition as soon as we know. Get the St. Mungo's staff in here. They'll be needed."

Dumbledore tapped the Portkey with his wand and the four wizards disappeared from the Ministry and reappeared in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Hermione screamed when they appeared right beside her. Ron drew his wand, while Ginny jumped up from the bed where she had been sleeping. Ginny cried out when she saw Harry in Arthur's arms, "What happened? Is he alright?"

Dumbledore was already in action, "Poppy, we're going to need some Restorative Potion at the very least."

Arthur laid Harry down on the nearest bed, while Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a potion in hand. Arthur restrained Ginny, who was trying desperately to get to Harry, "Ginny, we'll explain what happened in just a minute. We have to make sure he's okay first. We're not for sure."

After about twenty minutes, Madam Pomfrey smiled, which was an odd thing for her to do in any case. "He's going to be fine. As best I can tell, there is nothing wrong with him other than complete and utter exhaustion. He's probably going to sleep for at least a day, but after that I say that he should be just fine. He may be a little weak for a while, but not more than four or five days."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Moody growled, "If he's going to be asleep for a day, how are we going to find out what happened with those damn Death Eaters?"

Dumbledore shrugged, "We'll just have to wait for him to wake up, I suppose."

Ginny had made her way past the adults and sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. She took his hand in hers and asked, "So, now are you going to tell us what happened?"

Arthur nodded, "Well, Harry obviously fought some Death Eaters before he came to the Ministry to help us."

Ron broke in, "Why was Harry fighting Death Eaters by himself? Why wasn't he at the Ministry to begin with?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "The attack on the Ministry by the Dementors was merely meant to be a diversion. Voldemort had planned for coordinated strikes. He was going to send a team of Death Eaters into the castle while Harry and I were gone to deal with the Dementors. They were supposed to attempt to take Miss Weasley. However, Harry discovered the plan, and as soon as the attack began, he headed out to find the Death Eaters that he knew would be on the grounds. I, and the other teachers left to deal with the Dementors."

Hermione asked stunned, "You left Harry to fight Death Eaters by himself? How many?"

Ginny snorted, "Death Eaters are no match for Harry. I don't care how many that maniac sends."

Moody chuckled, "After what I saw tonight, I'm inclined to agree with you. Potter is amazing."

Arthur smiled, "I'm going to be proud to call that young man my son-in-law one of these days."

Ginny blushed scarlet, "Dad."

The adults in the room chuckled at her embarrassment. Hermione, who was not to be dissuaded, now that she was actually getting information asked, "What happened at the Ministry? How many Dementors attacked?"

Arthur shuddered at the memory, "At least a hundred."

Ron shrugged, "That shouldn't have been that much of a problem for the Aurors to defeat with Patroni."

Hermione snorted, "It would if they were like the ones that we had to fight in Hogsmeade. Were they?"

Moody growled, "If anything, I would say that Voldemort has enhanced them even more than he had. A regular Patronus is almost useless against the things."

Ron looked bewildered, "Then, how did you beat them?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "We didn't." He pointed at Harry, "He did."

Ginny glanced up from where she had been gazing adoringly at Harry and asked in surprise, "All of them?"

Dumbledore nodded, "All of them. He cast a more advanced Patronus spell that he discovered in the restricted section of the library. The Patroni that he summoned were gold and could do actual damage to Dementors instead of just forcing them to run away. They shredded several of them before the rest fled. Now, I must go and meet with the rest of the staff." Dumbledore walked out of the room.

Moody slapped Arthur on the shoulder, "You make sure that daughter of yours holds onto that one, Arthur. He may not have red hair, but he's definitely a keeper." He laughed gruffly as he followed Dumbledore out the door.

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances as the two of them stared at Harry in awe, considering what they had just heard. Ginny laid down on the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him. Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise at his daughter, but didn't say anything. Then, he grinned and walked out of the room after the other two adult wizards.

Albus went downstairs from the hospital wing to find several of the professors waiting for him in the entrance hall. He saw the bodies laid out on the floor, and muttered under his breath, "Oh dear, what has Harry done?"

Minerva was the first to catch sight of Dumbledore on the stairs, "Albus, thank goodness that you're here. I've been at a loss as to what to do about this." She motioned with her hand at the Death Eaters lying on the floor. All but one had their masks removed and were laid out in a row.

Dumbledore asked quietly, "Are they all dead?"

McGonagall shook her head, "No. Four of them are. The other three are stunned."

"Have you identified them?" asked Moody, who had walked up behind Dumbledore.

Snape answered him, "Yes, we have. MacNair, Crabbe, Goyle, and Bridges are the dead ones. Avery, Nott, and Delacroix are the ones that are stunned."

Moody growled, "So, he didn't send any of his higher ranking Death Eaters. He expected this rabble to be a match for Potter. He must be losing his touch."

Snape shook his head, "He expected Potter to go charging off to play the hero at the Ministry. He wasn't supposed to be here when the Death Eaters attacked."

Moody snorted, "Potter did one better. He stopped the raid on Hogwarts and still managed to charge off to the Ministry to play the hero. He saved a lot of lives tonight, Severus. Including your own. You would do well to remember that."

Snape's eyes burned with fury, but he didn't reply to Moody as he turned to the Headmaster. "How is Potter?"

The other professors immediately turned their attention to Dumbledore. He smiled, "Harry is going to be fine. He's just really tired."

All of the professors breathed sighs of relief, even Snape. McGonagall spoke up, "Well, Albus, what are we going to do about this?"

Dumbledore shrugged, "There isn't much that we can do at the moment. The Ministry is in chaos right now. Half the Aurors are wounded, and many of the other Ministry officials are suffering from overexposure to Dementors. Voldemort could walk in and take over right now if he knew that Harry was out of commission for the next twenty-four hours."

Moody growled, "We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't find out. I don't expect that the Dementors are going to be eager to attack after the pounding that they just took."

Dumbledore nodded, "True. However, we must determine how each of these Death Eaters were killed."

Professor Flitwick stepped forward and replied, "I have already determined that, Albus. One of them has a broken neck. Another has a crushed rib cage. The third one is a bit gruesome. His face is in tatters. That's why we put a mask on him. The fourth one was obviously killed by the Killing Curse since there isn't a mark on his body."

Albus shook his head, "I was afraid of that. I was hoping that none of them had died from the curse. This is going to complicate things if Cornelius finds out. We need to try and keep this information within the Auror department." He turned to Arthur and Moody. "The two of you must return to the Ministry. We will call a meeting of the Order as soon as Harry regains consciousness. Try to get Dawlish to come and take the Death Eaters. He should keep things quiet."

Moody and Arthur nodded before running out the door to head to Hogsmeade, so that they could Apparate back to the Ministry.

The next afternoon, Harry awoke to find himself in the hospital wing with Ginny sitting beside him. He smiled up at her and asked weakly, "Why aren't you in class?"

"I told Professor Dumbledore that I had no intention of leaving you until you woke up. He excused me from classes for the day instead of trying to argue with me."

Harry chuckled lightly, "I can imagine that he had no desire to argue with you. I know I don't like being on the bad end of your temper. Could you go and let him know that I'm awake. The password to his office is Cauldron Cakes. I need to speak with him."

Ginny leaned down and kissed Harry on the lips and then said, "Alright. I'll be back in a minute."

Harry watched Ginny as she sauntered from the room. He smiled at the thought that she had waited with him all night. It was comforting to know that someone cared about him that much.

Ginny returned with Dumbledore several minutes later, and Harry could immediately tell that Dumbledore was upset. There was no smile on his face, no twinkle in his eyes, and the firm set of his jaw told of great tension. "I'm glad to see that you're awake, Harry."

Harry nodded, "It's good to be awake, sir. So, what's the problem?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Cornelius has found out that one of the four Death Eaters that you killed was finished with the Killing Curse. He is pressing formal charges against you. Until further notice you are suspended and are to remain in the hospital wing under house arrest. There are Aurors standing guard outside the door. I must ask you not to violate this, Harry. The consequences would be severe."

Harry snorted, "That's a laugh, Professor. Cornelius thinks that two Aurors can keep me imprisoned. I just fought seven Death Eaters and a hundred Dementors, and he thinks that a couple of Aurors is a force to be reckoned with. That man is such an unconsummated fool it is pathetic."

Dumbledore raised his hands, "Harry, try to understand. I know that you could easily handle the Aurors, but if you violate the orders placed on you by the ministry, you will become a fugitive. All of the Aurors would begin hunting you."

Harry laughed even harder. Ginny burst out, "Harry, this isn't funny. You could be thrown into Azkaban for this."

Harry snorted, "You have got to be kidding me. Those idiots at the Ministry have pulled some stupid stuff in the past, but very few of them are dumb enough to try to put me away. I will be exonerated easily."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I don't know about that, Harry. Cornelius has many friends on the Wizengamot. If he put pressure in the right places, he could force a conviction. They ousted me after all."

"There's just a bit of difference between you and I, Professor. They knew that you weren't truly dangerous. Some of them feared that you would try to take power maybe, but they didn't think that you would really try to hurt them. On the other hand, you have me. I've killed seven Death Eaters thus far, and I've always shown a certain disregard for the rules to quote you. They aren't going to take the chance of alienating me, and forcing me to go over to Voldemort's side as long as I'm only killing Death Eaters. Cornelius just wants to make as much of a fuss about this as possible, so that after Voldemort is defeated people see me as overbearing like they saw Barty Crouch after the last time. He doesn't want me to challenge his political power later on. That's what he's after."

Ginny asked meekly, "Harry, would you really go over to Voldemort's side?"

Harry snorted in contempt, "Of course not. Those idiots on the Wizengamot don't know that though. And as the saying goes, what they don't know won't hurt them."

Dumbledore nodded, "Well, Harry, your trial is going to be on Tuesday. Until then, I'm afraid that you must remain in the hospital wing. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Mr. Longbottom, and Miss Lovegood have all expressed concern. I have made arrangements for them to be allowed to visit you. As I'm sure you know, it would take an army to stop Miss Weasley from coming to see you."

Harry grinned, "Yes, I know."

A/N: I would like to thank everyone that has read Harry Potter and the Year of Discovery. I would especially like to thank all those that have taken the time to review. We are entering the last leg of the book. At the current posting schedule it will all be up a week from this coming Sunday. Then, we will be on to the sequel.

Jouve25: Hopefully, I can continue to improve. Thanks for the review.

MatureImmaturity: Get some sleep. Thanks for the review.

Athenakitty: Yes, Ron and Hermione will grow up. Thanks for the review.

Louurdes: All the pieces are about to come together. Thanks for the review.

Gilly Loves Smut: How would you feel if your best friend told you that he had to kill someone or die trying. That would emotionally scar anyone. Thanks for the review.

DustinCoons: I try my best to keep you guessing. Thanks for the review.

Captuniv: This was only the first battle of many. Thanks for the review.

Harryp123: I hope you enjoyed the battle. Thanks for the review.

ABigPopTart: Once an hour? That is definitely a tall order. Yes, Luna and Neville are going out. I haven't really concentrated on their relationship that much, because I am a major Harry/Ginny fan and I like to keep them in the center of things. Thanks for the review.

Capt Kidd: Thanks for the review.

Lord Tarturus: Define unhurt. Thanks for the review.

Kda: Yes, the fighting amongst the trio is over. Thanks for the review.

Jeangab057: She's not really shallow, she's just frustrated because she wants to help and Harry won't let her. She's getting a taste of how Harry felt in Book Five. Thanks for the review.

Maria: You didn't wait long. Thanks for the review.

Dragonclawz: You won't see much of Ginny's Animagus form until the others start training to be Animagi in the next book. Thanks for the review.

Blip-dragon: As always, another chapter presents itself. Thanks for the review.

Immortalwizardelf-fan: I'm happy to say that things are going to sail smoothly between Ron, Hermione and Harry for awhile. Thanks for the review.

Cur03: I think this is the last slap that I have planned for Hermione and Ron. At least from Ginny, anyway. Thanks for the review.

TopQuark: Thanks for the review.

Fair-Faye-Kahlan: Here is more. Thanks for the review.

John: Thanks for the review.

Jeconais: This is without a shadow of a doubt the longest review that I have ever received. Arthur will have a slightly larger role than he has had up to this point, but not much. I try to keep everything circulating around Harry's point of view, but I have to stray from it occasionally. This makes it difficult to give some characters much of a role since they are not around Harry that often. Thanks for the review.