Harry
Potter and the Rising War
***
Chapter 17: Goodbye Hermione or Ron?
"What's up with you?" Ginny asked her boyfriend, Dean Thomas. He had had
a large grin on his face all day, as though Christmas had come early or
something.
"Aren't I just allowed to be happy?" he asked
innocently.
"Of course you are, but there must be a reason for your happiness; care to
share?" she asked him.
"I have a good feeling about today, that's all," was his cryptic answer.
Ginny decided to just let it drop, knowing that she was going to get nothing
more out of him. She began a conversation with Hermione across the table
from her. The new trio, as they were now called (now that Harry was no
longer around) and Dean were all sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating lunch.
Suddenly there was a shaking that felt like a massive earthquake to the
occupants of Hogwarts.
"What was that?" Ron asked, as he looked around the Great Hall for any sign of
danger.
"It felt like an earthquake, but I didn't think we got those here," Hermione
responded.
"So if we don't get earthquakes around here, and yet there was one, then…"
Ginny was cut off as another quake shook the ground, and the sky began to
darken.
"What's happening?" Hermione cried.
"You don't know?" Ron almost shouted at her.
"I don't know everything, you know!" she screamed at him. While the
Gryffindor Trio had been having that particular conversation, the other houses
began to panic – even including Slytherin, though to a lesser extent.
"Students, calm down! There is nothing to worry about while you are
within the walls of Hogwarts; you are all perfectly safe!" the Minister of
Magic and headmaster of Hogwarts shouted, or rather tried to shout over the
great panic that was overtaking all senses of the student body.
"It must be an attack!" Ginny declared, after faintly hearing the minister try
to regain some semblance of control over the students.
"Then why bother with all of the earthquakes?" Ron, ever the dense one, asked.
"They aren't earthquakes!" Hermione exclaimed,
glancing up at the minister as another quake rocked the school. It
appeared that the headmaster was struggling against some force – against
Voldemort's force.
"It's You-Know-Who, he's attacking the wards! He must have gotten
information about the school being vulnerable now that Dumbledore and Harry
aren't here. But I don't understand why he's attacking now. For all
he knows, Harry and Dumbledore could be hiding out in the Forbidden Forest!" Hermione explained,
as each head of house took to their duties of rounding up the younger students
and moving them to a more secure region of the school.
"But what if he knows that they are far away enough for him to mount a
successful attack? What if he sent others after them to delay or even
kill them?" Ron theorized. Before anyone could respond, McGonagall,
having moved the younger students off, had arrived back into the Great Hall,
and began to round up the rest of her house to hide them in Gryffindor tower.
"Hey, where has Dean gone?" Ginny queried on their way up to the tower.
"I don't know, I don't remember seeing him leave; but then I wasn't paying much
attention to what Dean was doing," Hermione answered; and then added, "You had
better tell McGonagall that he's missing."
"Professor, Professor McGonagall!" Ginny called up to her head of house, who
was leading the group of 5th to 7th years up the stairs towards the portrait of
the Fat Lady.
"What is it, Miss Weasley? We don't have time to dally," she said in her
stern voice.
"I can't see Dean Thomas here! He was with us before we left," Ginny
replied with a little worry showing on her otherwise perfect features.
"Are you sure?" she asked; but before she had a chance to reply, a voice called
out from the back of the group.
"I'm here, sorry; I got nudged to the back of the group when I dropped my – er
– my wand," Dean said, though he sounded slightly out of breath. But
Ginny didn't notice this; she was just relieved that he was safe, and
apparently so were the others.
"Well now we have that sorted, may we be on our way?" the strict
Transfiguration professor asked. Ginny gave her an embarrassed
nod, and blushed deeply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the students reached the common room, everyone rushed for a window
to see what was going on outside. The view that met them was, to put it
bluntly, a nightmare.
Everywhere one looked was utter carnage. Apparently the centaurs had put
up a fight, but they didn't last long against the Dead Army of thousands that
Voldemort himself was controlling, or the considerably smaller but just as
deadly army of Death Eaters. The wards had unsurprisingly fallen, and the
Army of Death was approaching the school, with a line of Death Eaters at the
front. All hope seemed to be lost until, several seconds later, when the
army had gotten completely onto the grounds and was a mere 100 feet away from
the school itself, a succession of pops were heard as members from the Order of
the Phoenix apparated onto the grounds. Within
two minutes of the first ones' arrival, literally hundreds of wizards and
witches had appeared.
"There are hundreds of them!" Hermione gasped.
"I knew they had been focusing on recruiting, but I didn't think that they
would find so many willing to fight, not yet at least," Ron said in awe.
Within seconds of the first lot of Phoenix members arriving, they
started firing curses – mainly focusing on the front line of Death
Eaters. The line of Death Eaters were destroyed
in a matter of seconds, due in large part to the Dead Army that was still
approaching behind them. The light wizards would stun or banish the dark
wizards, causing them to be touched in one way or another by the Army of
Dead. But they still were left with the larger task of finding an
effective way to slow (if not stop) that army from reaching the castle.
For the next twenty minutes, the group of light wizards fired off all of the
hexes, curses and jinxes they knew, in the hope of finding something
effective. But nothing seemed to slow them for long; and slowly but surely,
the light wizards began to tire.
Voldemort saw that now was his opportunity to take what he believed was rightly
his; so he commanded the army to open up a path and let him through.
"Oh no, He's coming!" a fifth year screamed.
"Look at him, he looks like a demon! We're all doomed!" shouted a 7th
year.
"Look out!" screeched a group of 7th years, as a herd of dead dragons came into
view and flew unwaveringly and at unthinkable speeds towards the tower, showing
no sign of slowing down.
"We have to get out!" Ron yelled. He grabbed hold of Hermione and Ginny
and made for the door; but it was a messy business, as all the other
Gryffindors from 5th year and up had the same idea.
"The fireplace!" Hermione gasped out, as she was
squashed in between the wall and a particularly large 5th year.
"You first, Ginny," Ron said as he grabbed the floo powder that was always kept
on the mantle of the fireplace since the start of the year.
"Where am I going?" she asked in a panicked voice.
"Harry said there was a room off to the side of the Great Hall where he and the
other champions went; I think he said there was a fireplace there. Try
saying 'The Great Hall,'" Hermione said breathlessly, still suffering from the
squashing she had been subjected to.
Ginny nodded her head, then threw the powder into the fireplace and screamed,
"The Great Hall," and in a whoosh of emerald green flames, she was gone.
"It worked, excellent! Hermione, you next; then you, Dean," Ron said, but
before he even got halfway through, he noticed that Dean wasn't around
again. Searching around the common room, he spotted Dean in the
fireplace, just before he disappeared in the same fashion as Ginny had.
"Why that little..."
"Ron, we don't have time for that! Come on, we'll have to go together.
Hold on to me," Hermione said, regaining her senses.
"Fine," Ron relented; and they both stepped into the fireplace, called out "The
Great Hall," and were gone also. Moments after they were gone there was a
mighty crash, and Gryffindor tower was no more – and neither were the few
students that hadn't made it out in time. Those that survived the impact
were lost to the touch of the dead dragon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, shit!" Remus Lupin cursed, as he saw the Dead Soldiers separate and a lone
figure step forward, clad in black robes, hood covering his head and shadows
hiding his face. But within the shadows he could see the red eyes that
glowed with unsuppressed, unspeakable and unfathomable power.
"Yes indeed, Werewolf!" it said with a hiss of a voice, for this being in front
of Lupin was no longer human. It had no human remorse for what it did, no
human love; it just barely still had a human shape.
"So, this is what your puny life has led up to! A fight against the
winning side, against the powerful side, just so you can satisfy your – What do
you call it? … ah yes, conscience. Pathetic."
"Avada Kedavra!" one particularly bold wizard yelled. Voldemort
merely looked on as the green light raced towards him; and when it was only
inches away, flung his arms out to expose himself to the curse. To
everyone's surprise, it was harmlessly absorbed into his body with no further
effect.
"You see?" it yelled, its snake-like voice thick with insanity and
excitement. "I cannot be killed! You all signed your lives away
when you joined the so-called Light! Pathetic.
Look at what darkness has given me; LOOK AT ALL I AM!" it yelled with glee, as
it pulled the hood back to reveal the most grotesquely disfigured thing to
exist on earth.
"He did it! … He did it." That was the single sentence whispered from the
mouth of some unknown wizard, carried by the wind and heard all across the
battleground. Voldemort had attained immortality.
"And where are your saviours? Where are Albus Dumbledore and Harry
Potter? Gone! Right this minute, they are being finished off by my
apprentice, with an Army of Dead and Death Eaters. There is no one left
to save you now!" Voldemort screamed with glee.
"There will always be someone left, Tom" a single, high pitched voice carried
over the general noise being made. No one had noticed the doors to
Hogwarts open slightly and a small figure scurry out.
"It has been a long time, has it not?" the voice asked as it came into view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He was my student, Minerva; I feel a responsibility to stop him, or at least
slow him down. After all, I was the one who taught him how to duel,"
squeaked the small charms teacher, Professor Flitwick.
"Regardless of that fact, we need you here to keep the students safe, should
the Order fall," Minerva McGonagall replied. She had taken over the reins
of the castle, and assumed the role of head when the minister had collapsed,
due to the battering the wards were taking.
"What can I do here? Should the Order fail, then a few Hogwarts
professors will be little more than bugs to him. Have you never heard of
the muggle saying, 'United we stand, divided we fall?' I could make a
difference out there. If I kept him busy, then the Order could hold off
that unholy army. It's our only hope, until Albus gets here," the tiny
professor said, in a tone of voice that clearly meant business.
"Very well then, but on your own head be it," McGonagall said in her usual
stern, clipped voice; but then added in a softer voice, "Be careful, Filius,
and good luck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Professor, come to punish the naughty student for misusing your
teachings?" it taunted. To everyone's surprise, Professor Flitwick came
into view.
"I am here to deliver punishment, yes; but also revenge. Too many have
suffered for too long. We finish this now!" the tiny professor said, his
voice as hard as nails. In the blink of an eye, the Hogwarts charms
professor was engulfed in a bright aura of yellow, with the occasional
scattering of silver. This move earned many gasps from the collected
witches and wizards. For many had heard tales of the charms professor:
that he was once a duelling champion, that he had a power that was only second
to Dumbledore's. But many had dispelled the tales as only rumours.
Now they could see they were wrong.
"Very good, Filius; impressive for a wizard, I'll give you that; but it is
nothing compared to a Sorcerer!" Voldemort said in his serpentine voice, ending
in a scream, as he pushed out his aura of blood red, with many flecks of black
swirling within it. The amount of blackness could have easily taken up
half of the aura, had it not been scattered around. The difference in
size was easily visible, but Flitwick did not seem bothered by such a thing.
"Power is not everything, Tom," he commented, and then readied himself.
"We shall see," was the easy reply, before a barrage of hexes and curses,
mostly from the Dark Arts, were hurled at Flitwick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where is he now?" Ginny almost screamed in frustration, as Dean was again
nowhere to be found.
"Ginny, it's okay! I think he went to a
different grate; maybe he didn't hear where I said to go," Ron tried to
reassure his sister. The entire student body (that was still alive) was
now gathered in the Great Hall. Apparently all of the houses had been
attacked, as well as the safe place for the lower years. The survivors
had all made their way back to the Great Hall, and were now all currently waiting
for some news about what was going on. Flitwick had left the Entrance
Hall not two minutes after the trio had arrived; and since then there had been
nothing but loud explosions and the sickly smell of rotting flesh and decayed
corpses (both from Dark Arts curses used on the light wizards when they apparated in, and from the Army of the Dead).
"I just wish I knew what was going on!" Hermione exclaimed, and as if on cue to
her wish, the doors were blasted open, and a full-fledged Wizard's Duel came
into view. It was between the small charms professor and the most feared
dark lord in a century, if not ever before!
"What does he think he can achieve? He won't last five minutes!" Ron
almost bellowed.
"I guess he's lasted since he went out, and that was… over five minutes ago,"
Hermione said as she checked her watch. When the two duellists had
entered the Hall, there was once again a massive rush – but this time not for
the exit door, but for the furthest wall away from the door.
"Descendo"
"Absrenchium"
"Aquarium solararum!"
the two were swapping curses faster than some people
could blink; but the last curse caught the charms professor before he could apparate away. He was impaled by a large icicle in
his left lung, and collapsed to the floor breathing hard.
"No!" a few of the students gasped, earning them the full attention of
Voldemort.
"Well well well, how the
mighty have fallen! As I speak, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter are
probably being tortured until they plead for their deaths; an Army of Death is
waiting for my call to purge the school; and the Minister of Magic is lying at
death's door," he said, sparing a quick glance at the weakened minister laying
on a table in the entrance hall.
"And all of this has come about, thanks to one of my most loyal spies.
Come forward, young one," Voldemort announced, and then beckoned one of the
many cloaked figures forward.
"My lord," he said, as he knelt at Voldemort's feet.
"Reveal yourself, and then kill the mudblood friend of Potter's," it commanded.
"Yes, my lord," the spy said, as he got to his feet and pulled back his hood to
reveal the smirking face of Dean Thomas.
"Noooooo!" Ginny screamed, and collapsed to the floor
in tears, while Ron seethed with rage.
"You little… I'm gonna… You better… Pain!" he ground out
between clenched teeth, so overwhelmed by anger that he could not string
together a coherent thought.
"Now now, Ron, be good, and my lord might just spare
you," Dean said with a boyish grin on his face.
"Now we end this pitiful era and start afresh, the way it should have been, the
way the great Salazar Slytherin wanted it. KILL THE MUDBLOOD!" Voldemort
roared.
"Avada Kedavra!" Dean screamed, as he pointed his wand at Hermione. The
blast of green light shot out and headed straight for where she would have
been, had Ron not pushed her out of the way.
"Oh shit!" was Ron's last thought, as he scrunched up his eyes to wait for the
inevitable.
*******************************************
A/N: Look at that! Another chapter done, and the day
after the last. I told you I had my drive back. Sorry about
the shortness of this chapter, but I find it harder to write action
scenes. Hope this suffices; if not, all suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for all the reviews.
[last edited March 17, 2004, David305] As always thanks to my Beta,
David305
Until next time.
GG
