Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.
The Second Darkness
Chapter 13: The Assault
Harry stood still in shock when he realised how many people were staring at him. Gone were the doubts of the Aurors that this boy couldn't lead them. Harry fought down a blush as he walked back to the DA, they grinned broadly at him as he approached and he smiled weakly back. Dumbledore stepped forward,
"It is time for us to leave, we will be using portkeys to get there as this is the one time we don't want anyone to splinch themselves. After Harry's excellent speech," Harry blushed even more and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "All that is left to say is good luck and fight well." Dumbledore waved his wand and hundreds of portkeys appeared in front of them. Everyone managed to get a finger to them and after a few seconds of waiting with bated breath they felt the familiar tugging around their navels and then a few seconds later they appeared in the forest.
The first thing that hit Harry was the darkness. It was pitch black. He could barely see his hand in front of his face. After a few minutes his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could things that were very close. The next thing that hit him was the silence. Apart from the breathing of thousands of witches and wizards that sounded like the wind he could hear nothing else, but through the occasional openings in the forest roof he could see flashes of lightning.
He could hear that everyone was beginning to move so he began to move as well; the undergrowth was thick and several times he stumbled over roots or thick shrubs and nearly fell. From the muttered curses from the people surrounding him it seemed that he was not the only one.
The silence and the darkness was unnerving, Harry jumped when he saw figures appearing in the darkness, he tightened his grip on his wand, convinced that it was Death Eaters preparing to ambush them. After a few seconds he remembered it was the Goblins and felt foolish. The darkness really played tricks on your mind. Slowly they began falling in amongst the Goblins, Harry wandered up and down calling Ragnok's name softly, eventually a gruff voice answered,
"Here." Harry walked over to him; he explained the plan to him, Ragnok nodded before turning to translate for his Goblins. Whilst walking back towards the DA Harry made a sudden decision.
"Ron." He hissed into the darkness. Nobody answered, "Ron!" He hissed again, suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he jumped about a foot into the air.
"What?" asked Ron in an amused tone but beneath the amusement there was a nervous tremor.
"Don't do that!" Harry hissed at him angrily, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"
"Sorry." Replied Ron, not sounding it at all. Harry dragged him away from the rest of the army.
"Listen, you need to tell Hermione how you feel about her." Ron groaned,
"Not now, Harry, this isn't the time to take the mickey."
"I'm not! Ron, this may be your last chance! You don't know what is going to happen to you or her tonight! You could die, she could die! How would you feel in your last moments knowing that you had never told her how you felt about her?" Even in the darkness Harry could see that Ron had paled.
"You're right."
"I know. Go find her." Ron nodded and walked off determinedly. He found Hermione and pulled her away.
"What?" she asked curiously. The worst thing happened to Ron, he came over all shy, he couldn't say a word. Hermione waited patiently. Suddenly an image flashed in Ron's mind of him holding Hermione's dead body and weeping as he thought about how he had never told her how much he loved her. He took a deep breath,
"Hermione, I'm not good with words like Harry is. I can't make people feel things like Harry can. But I just want to say this. I don't know what's going to happen to me tonight. But if anything does happen I just want you to know this. I love you. I love you so much. I can't bare the thought of dying and you not knowing that." To his surprise Hermione threw her arms around neck, she was crying as she said,
"Ron Weasley that was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard!" She pressed her lips against his. Happiness exploded inside him. He couldn't think straight. The only thing going through his mind was,
'She loves me.' He kissed her back and for a few precious moments, amongst all the hate, fear and terror of war they were in ecstasy.
"I love you too." She murmured as they broke apart. He smiled and kissed her again. A single pair of emerald eyes watched them through the darkness.
------------
Harry waited impatiently, they had been waiting in silence for half an hour. The wind was slowly beginning to weave it's way through the trees and the temperature had dropped dramatically. Harry shivered again and hugged himself in a vain attempt to try and stay warm. He cast another annoyed glance to the right,
"Come on, Dumbledore, what the hell's talking you so long!" Behind him Ron and Hermione hugged each other, not just for love. The sound of thunder overhead was loud and the pitter-patter of rain falling on the thick forest canopy began,
"Great, and now it's bloody raining." Harry muttered angrily to himself. He waited impatiently for a few more minutes, casting irritated looks right every couple of seconds. He was just about to send someone over to find out what was happening when he heard a sharp intake of breath, he looked to the right once again and his stomach gave a horrible lurch and adrenaline began to pump through him. Blue sparks were shimmering in the distance. A second later more appeared, Harry thrust his wand into the air,
"This is it, fight well." He said to those around him before casting emerald green sparks. The whole line began to move forward, crouching low, moving as silently as the terrain allowed them, though with the thunder they needn't have worried.
For all the darkness the edge of the forest was surprisingly close, and after half a minute they were out of it and the first few people were already scrambling up the slope. The moment Harry got out of the forest the noise of thunder hit him like a sledgehammer, momentarily disorientating him. A sharp shove in the back from Ron soon got him going.
The scramble up the slope was a nervous one; every second Harry expected the sweeping beams of light to land on one of them. Keeping low he half ran, half scrambled up the slope. The stones were loose and every so often one was dislodged and caused a minor landslide. After a few minutes Harry was soaked to the skin but didn't realise. He turned to see Ron beside him,
"Alright?" Harry asked him,
"Yeah, the adrenaline's kicked in." Harry grinned at his best friend and received a grin in return.
By now they were half way up, Harry was just about to turn and encourage them on when Ron slipped, he swore as he fell and kicked a large rock, sending it tumbling down the slope taking hundreds of other rocks with it, the sound of them crashing down the slope could be heard above the roar of the thunder. A shout went up from the wall,
"Who's there?" A beam of light swept dangerously close, Harry and those around him pressed themselves against the ground, hardly daring to breathe. After what seemed like eternity, but was only a few seconds the searchlight swept away and Harry leapt to his feet and resumed running up the slope.
The first few people had stopped about two hundred yards away from the wall. Harry led his troops up the slope and paused at the same distance. It happened without warning, nobody prompted them, one minute everything was still and only the crash of the thunder and the howling of the wind could be heard, the next minute a barrage of spells was flying towards the silhouetted figures on the wall.
Cries of warning and fear went up from the Death Eaters and more of them appeared on the wall every second. The first few people began to fall.
It was clear from the beginning that the attacking forces were at a serious disadvantage. They were hitting few figures on the wall and many of them were hit by spells only to tumble down the slope to lie dead or unconscious at the bottom.
"Get closer!" Harry yelled above the noise of the battle and the thunder. He looked to his left to wave them on, one Goblin ran forward, caught one spell on his shield before another one hit him in the face causing a mass of blood to appear there, the Goblin slumped forward obviously dead.
Harry led his men onwards. They managed to close the distance to a hundred yards but not without losing over a hundred people in the process. A larger boulder lay to the right and Harry ordered a handful of Aurors to take cover behind it and try and pick off the Death Eaters.
It was fruitless, for every Death Eater that was put out of the battle another five came to fill his place. Harry fired off five stunners at a Death Eater who had hit a Goblin in the gut and sent it screaming to the floor and was firing stunning spells and dark spells at an Auror who was desperately blocking them but being forced back in the process. To Harry's surprise four of the stunners hit the wall but the fifth hit the Death Eater on the shoulder. The Death Eater toppled backwards. Harry attempted to follow it up with a slashing curse but it sailed over the heads of the figures on the wall.
The battle was picking up pace and more and more people were falling, An Auror appeared beside Harry, fired off a burn curse before being hit by a jet of green light and slumping to the ground lifeless. Lupin appeared on Harry's other side and Harry was reassured by his presence. Harry shot a slashing curse at a Death Eater who's head appeared over the top of the wall. It hit the Death Eater in the neck, blood poured out and the Death Eater swayed before falling over the wall to land in a heap at the bottom. A cheer went up and people pushed forward.
Jets of light were flying everywhere. A beam of green light narrowly missed Harry and hit a Goblin who was scrambling up behind him. A jet of red light hit the ground between Harry's feet and Harry leapt backwards as stones went flying everywhere.
The attacking forces were in disarray; they were running everywhere. Harry grabbed Lupin, Ron and Hermione,
"Try and get them back into line!" He yelled over the noise. They nodded and ran off, pushing people back into line. Once some order was restored people began to calm down and think straighter. Less of them fell and the Death Eaters began to take more casualties, but the attacking forces were still taking heavier casualties.
Lupin suddenly appeared by Harry's side,
"If we don't clear the walls of some of the Death Eaters soon, we're not going to win!" Harry nodded,
"I know, let me think!" it was hard to think amongst the screams of the wounded and the noise of the battle. Harry studied the walls; a minute later he clicked his fingers,
"I've got it, take a handful of men and run towards the walls but slightly to the left." Lupin nodded and a minute later he and a dozen others were sprinting towards the walls, the Death Eaters had to stand up fully to hit them, and when they did so the attacking forces took full advantage of it, barrages of stunners and slashing curses flew towards the Death Eaters and thirty of them fell down dead, wounded or unconscious. The rest ducked down behind the safety of the battlements.
The Death Eaters stuck their wands over the side of the wall and fired spells at Lupin and his group, two Aurors and a member of the Order fell down dead as jets of green light hit them.
"GET BACK!" Harry yelled to Lupin, waving him back. Lupin nodded and ran back to Harry, the DA and some of the Aurors covering their retreat. Lupin appeared by Harry. Harry clapped him on the shoulder,
"Good work!" A second later Ron appeared by his side panting heavily, there was a large gash on his side but he didn't seem to notice,
"Hannah Abbot's suffering from spell-shock, she's running everywhere, she's going to get herself killed!" Harry looked around and wasn't surprised. The jets of light seemed to have multiplied tenfold. Harry felt Ron push his head down as a beam of blue light soared overhead. A group of Aurors sprinted for a boulder but were cut down by jets of green light before they had gotten halfway. Another spell shot passed Harry, missing him by inches. He turned to Ron,
"Get her behind the lines for five minutes, that should calm her down." Ron nodded, ducked another jet of light and sprinted to where Dean and Colin were restraining a struggling Hannah Abbot. All thoughts of her were put out of his mind when a spell flew his way and he was forced to conjure an advanced shield charm to block.
The line was holding well, even though many of the attacking forces were falling every second. Harry watched in horror as a banishing charm hit an Auror, sending him flying through the air screaming before landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the slope. The well-organised ranks had broken down again as people fell or rushed to help wounded comrades,
Harry was snapped back to reality as a spell hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The DA instinctively crowded around to protect their leader. Ron bent down beside him,
"You alright?" Harry nodded and looked at his shoulder, a deep wound had appeared there,
"Yeah." Ron healed it an instant, he helped Harry to his feet. Harry quickly did a head count of the DA all of them were up and fighting but many were sporting cuts and burns. Hannah Abbot was back looking much calmer.
Harry cast a quick glance to his right, both Moody's and Dumbledore's troops seemed to be in pretty much the same situation as his own. He glanced to his left, searching out any places that needed reinforcing.
Lupin and fifty members of the Order were standing in front of the lines trying to land more hits the Death Eaters. So far it was looking successful but a few of them were falling every minute. Harry turned to Ron,
"Go and reinforce, Lupin, I'll be along with some Aurors after I have spoken to the Goblins." Ron nodded and led the DA towards Lupin.
The Goblins seemed to have detached themselves from the witches and wizards; most of them were standing in a large group to the left of the battle line. Harry sprinted towards them, ignoring the spells that were landing around his feet, he stumbled slightly when one hit him on the leg but did not stop running. He reached the Goblins and made straight for Ragnok.
"How are you doing?" Harry asked, panting slightly, Ragnok shrugged, he caught a spell on his shield and threw his heavy throwing axe at a Death Eater who had just killed a Goblin and was aiming at Ragnok. The throwing axes were useful, they flew towards the wall and even if they missed their target they chipped bits of stone out of the battlements and forced the Death Eaters to keep their heads down. Harry stepped out of the way slightly as the throwing axe flew back towards them having hit the Death Eater, obviously charmed to fly back to their owners,
"Ok, we lose many men, but so do you I think." Harry nodded; while they had been speaking another ten Goblins had fallen around them. Harry cast a glace over at the wizarding lines. A dozen Aurors fell before his eyes, one of them screaming terribly having received a slashing curse to his groin. Harry made a snap decision,
"Hold on for another half an hour." Ragnok looked faintly puzzled but nodded anyway. Harry clapped the Goblin on the shoulder and ran off. He grabbed twenty Aurors and led them over to where less then half of Lupin's men were still fighting and a few of the DA were lying on the floor, their comrades too hard pressed to help them, Harry fired stunners at the wall when he reached them before turning to Lupin.
"We're falling back slightly, we need to reform. Help the wounded quickly." Lupin nodded and set about getting the wounded healed; a minute later they were sprinting back towards friendly lines. Two screams from behind told him that people were still falling. An Auror running next to him fell to the floor silently as the killing curse hit him in the back.
They reached friendly lines. Harry surveyed the area in front of him. To his dismay there were a group seven or eight of Aurors pinned down behind a boulder unable to move. Harry waved at them to get back but they didn't move. He groaned before turning to the DA.
"I need a dozen volunteers to help me get those Aurors back." Everyone stepped forward. In the end Harry took Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ginny, Cho, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Colin, Terry and Anthony. He led them towards the Aurors aware of the rest of the army watching them with bated breath. Harry tried to ignore the spells that were landing all around him. A scream from behind told him that Dean had one down,
"Leave him!" he barked, "We'll get him on the way back." A jet of green light missed Harry by inches just before he got to the boulder. He grinned at the Aurors reassuringly,
"Hello boys, we're your rescuers." The Aurors looked relieved,
"Thank God you're here, sir. We've been pinned down for nearly twenty minutes!"
"Don't worry. Now you're Aurors aren't you." They nodded, "Then you're tough. Now, we're going to show the rest of the army and the Death Eaters what Aurors are made of. We're going to fight a fighting retreat" they Aurors looked calmer at Harry's reassuring, easy tone.
"Yes sir." Harry grinned at them,
"Excellent, now here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back one step at a time, always facing the Death Eaters, fire off every spell you know at them, don't worry about hitting them, just keep there heads down. Ready?" They nodded, "Then let's go." Harry stood up and the rest followed suite, they began stepping backwards one step at a time. Harry fired off stunners and slashing curses faster than he had ever done before. Nevertheless a lot of spells were still landing around them and every five stunners was punctuated with a shield charm. Harry kept breathing deeply and despite his pounding nerves stepped backwards slowly. The Aurors looked a lot more confident and were starting to pick off their targets.
They reached Dean and Cho paused momentarily to heal him. In a second he was back on his feet and firing spells along with the rest of them. They reached friendly lines and a great cheer went up at their safe return. Harry turned to the Aurors grinning,
"Well done, boys!" The Aurors grinned back.
"Thank you for getting us out of that, sir." One of them, evidently their spokesman, said.
"No problem." For a few more minutes an exchange of spells followed but there seemed to be a slight lull in the battle. Harry attempted to exploit it by ordering those around him to fire spells faster. It worked and a lot of Death Eaters fell to jets of red light and the silver light of a slashing curse.
Lupin appeared by Harry looking desperate,
"Casualties have reached critical, we've lost a quarter of our men, of we don't get inside now we will lose. For certain." Harry scanned the walls; there were fewer Death Eaters on them but not many less. Hermione turned to him,
"Dumbledore did say clear the walls." But she sounded doubtful. Harry thought for a minute,
"Sod that. We're breaching." Those around him gave aloud cheer. More cheers followed as word was passed along the line. Harry remembered the spell Moody taught him for this purpose. First he took out a vial of strength replenishing potion and drank it. He felt the familiar surge of energy rush through him. He drew his sword and held it in front of him,
"Get ready, we're breaching." He summoned up all his strength and pointed his wand at a section of wall where unsuspecting Death Eaters were still exchanging fire with the Aurors. The DA and the Order crowded behind Harry.
"Brechatus!" The jet of reddish brown light went unnoticed amongst the other spells. It struck the wall and a huge explosion tore through the air. They attacking forces near to the breach ducked as large stones and bits of human bodies flew through the air, over their heads and landed at the bottom of the slope.
Harry led the cheering troops towards the breach.
------------
Dumbledore paused, as did the rest of the forces, including the Death Eaters, there was a massive explosion followed by a huge cheer. Bits of rock were flying through the air in the distance. Harry Potter could be seen leading cheering troops towards a breach in the wall. Smiling slightly, Dumbledore began to lead his own troops towards the breach.
------------
Harry ignored the spells that were landing all around him. He kept running towards the breach, never pausing, never taking his eyes off it. The spells began to land closer as the breach got nearer.
Suddenly he was there. He clambered over the pile of debris where the wall had once stood. The rocks were stained red with the blood of the Death Eaters and bits of human remains could be seen poking out.
Harry clambered down and stabbed his sword into the gut of a Death Eater, he turned and fired a slashing curse at point-blank range into the face of a Death Eater who had his wand pointing at Harry and was opening his mouth. The Death Eater fell back yelling in pain and clutching his hands to his face.
The DA and the Order swarmed passed him screaming; their bloodlust was up. They had endured nearly two hours of hell as they saw their friends being cut down before their eyes and being unable to do anything about it. They wanted revenge. For the first few minutes it was a massacre. The attacking forces screamed spells as the ran, pushing the Death Eaters further and further back towards the keep, the Death Eaters seemed hesitant to fight back in the face of such fury.
The Death Eaters seemed to come to their wits after a hundred of them had fallen. A bloody battle ensued. Harry hammered the hilt of his sword into the face of one Death Eater whilst stunning another. He turned to block a spell flying at him and was hit in the back by a slashing curse. Another hit him in the side and one in the leg sending him flying to the ground. He rolled to the side as a Death Eater fired a stunner down at him. Harry prepared to block another when the Death Eater gave a horrible shudder and fell backwards, Lupin's sword in his side. Lupin healed Harry's wounds but was forced into another duel with a Death eater that had just killed an Auror and was running towards him.
Harry leapt to his feet. He stabbed a Death Eater in the chest before dashing towards Ron who was hard pressed fighting two Death Eaters. Ron blocked one spell but another caught him in the stomach. He fell to the floor. The Death Eater crowed triumphantly. Harry sprinted to take over Ron's duel. He hacked down a Death Eater that was in his way, one of the Death Eaters saw him coming. Harry blocked the stunning spells and retaliated with a barrage of slashing curses and burn curses. The first Death Eater fell to the floor screaming as six of the slashing curses and a great number of the burn curses struck him. The second Death Eater threw himself into the duel with relish.
Harry blocked his first spell and lunged with his sword, the Death Eater leapt backwards to avoid it. Harry managed to keep his balance but was unable to block the slashing spell that flew at him and caught him the chest. He gasped for breath and to by himself time he lashed out wildly with his sword. Once again the Death Eater leapt backwards and retaliated with another slashing curse. It hit Harry on the arm. Harry knew he was fighting an expert.
The Death Eater lunged forwards and smashed his fist into Harry's face knocking him to the ground. The Death Eater stood over Harry and pointed his wand at Harry's heart.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you."
"You should have stayed at home today." Harry gasped out. The Death Eater laughed. Harry's hand finally found the hilt of his sword and he rammed it upwards with a much force as he could. It went straight through the Death Eater and his blood spurted all over Harry. The Death Eater fell backwards nearly taking Harry's sword with him. Harry managed to hold onto it and he wrenched it out of the dead Death Eater. He stood up and walked shakily over to where Ron was lying unconscious.
He healed Ron's wounds and paused to fire a slashing spell at a Death Eater who was running towards him. It hit the Death Eater in the throat and he took a few more stumbling steps before falling to the ground.
Harry turned back to Ron,
"Enervate." Ron woke up and Harry pulled him to his feet. Ron looked at Harry who was covered from head to toe in blood, not all of it the Death Eater's.
"What happened to you?" Harry grinned at his best friend.
"I took over your duel." Harry opened his mouth to tell one something, but was interrupted as another swarm of Aurors and Goblins poured into the breach. Amongst them Dumbledore could be seen.
"Gather the DA, keep them together. I need to go and speak to Dumbledore when I get back I'll need you all to do something. Ron nodded and darted back towards the centre of the fray.
Harry turned and ran towards the breach. The battle was brutal. There were spells flying everywhere amongst the mass of duelling, shouting bodies. Unlike outside there was often no time to block them. Harry felt a spell hit him in the side and turned to duel with a Death Eater who was standing over the dead body of a Goblin.
Beams of light flew so fast from Harry's wand that the Death Eater had no time to block them and was soon lying dead beside the Goblin. Harry stabbed a Death Eater in the side and fired two stunners at two others at point blank range.
He came to three embattled members of the Order who were fighting five Death Eaters, one of the Order members fell and Harry darted to take his place. The first Death Eater didn't even see him coming and was soon lying dead on the floor, a deep stab wound to his heart. The second turned and was met by a hail of slashing spells he managed to block them and shout a warning to his friends.
Harry fell in alongside one of the Order members. He fired a stunner at a Death Eater, the Death Eater blocked it easily and Harry ducked to avoid it, as he ducked he shot a blinding spell at the Death Eater, unfortunately for the Death Eater as he prepared to block Harry's spell another curse hit him in the side. The Death Eater doubled over and Harry's spell hit him in the face, the Death Eater panicked and started yelling in fear but was quickly silenced by a slashing curse to the throat from Harry.
He watched another of the Death Eaters fall down dead and Harry and the other two Order members began a vicious fight with the surviving Death Eaters, on of the Order members fell when a spell flew over the Death Eater's heads and hit him in the throat. He tumbled backwards a look of intense surprise on his face. Harry distracted one of the Death Eaters with a barrage of stunners, the Death Eater blocked them and Harry stepped to the side to avoid them and with one sweep of his sword he beheaded the Death Eater. The Death Eater's headless body swayed for a full minute before falling to the floor.
The final Death fell a second later after a barrage of stunners and slashing curses from Harry and the surviving Order member overwhelmed him. The Order member nodded at Harry in thanks before running to help a group of Goblins fight off a larger group of Death Eaters. He had not gotten six paces before a jet of green light appeared out of nowhere and struck him in the face sending him toppling to the ground lifeless.
Harry could see Dumbledore leading a group of Aurors in a fight against a group of Death Eaters on the wall, ducking the spells that were flying everywhere and ignoring the ones that hit him Harry ran towards him.
He was halfway there when a spell hit him in the ankle sending him sprawling across the ground, a jet of green light flew over his head and another one struck the ground next to his right hand. Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, then the breath was knocked out of him when an Auror fell backwards on top of him, the Death Eater the Auror had been duelling with gave a triumphant cry and was about to kill the Auror when Harry lashed out with his sword and cut the Death Eater across the ankles. The Death Eater fell with a terrible scream, the Auror leapt off of Harry and killed the Death Eater with a slashing curse to throat. He held his hand out to Harry and pulled him to his feet,
"Thank you sir, I think you've just saved my life" Harry grinned at the Auror,
"No problem." Harry turned and ran towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned and smiled at him.
"Hello Harry." He had to shout above the noise of the battle and the screams and shouts. Dumbledore effortlessly blocked a spell that flew his way. Dumbledore was the only person who Harry had seen that was seemingly untouched by spells.
"How's it going?" Harry asked Dumbledore,
"Fine, better now that we are inside, they're taking as much casualties as we are. And you?"
"Good. We're inside so let's find that damn book." Said Harry forcefully, ducking two spells that flew his way.
A/N That is the first part of the assault. Like "A Candle in the Dark" this fic will fifteen chapters. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and it has lived up to your expectations.
Next chapter will be out on Thursday or Friday.
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.
Charmed-103 – Thanks for the review.
Colm – Thanks for the review.
Rocky235 – Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad I got you all fired up. I like the blood thirsty Harry too, if you are faced with a task like Harry's you will soon learn to become blood thirsty or you will fail. By the way, what boarding school were you at? I am currently at Repton School, Roald Dahl's and Jeremy Clarkson's old school.
The Enchantresses – Thanks for the review.
Rarr – In what way is Dumbledore OOC? I think Ginny being a bit of a flirt suits her as well. Thanks for the review.
OoXandiaoO – Thanks very much for the review, it was very encouraging.
Pixielax06 – Thanks very much for the review, I'm glad I inspired you.
FSI – Thanks for the review, Cho and Harry are in love but you will see more of that in the next fic.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing,
Fireboy
The Second Darkness
Chapter 13: The Assault
Harry stood still in shock when he realised how many people were staring at him. Gone were the doubts of the Aurors that this boy couldn't lead them. Harry fought down a blush as he walked back to the DA, they grinned broadly at him as he approached and he smiled weakly back. Dumbledore stepped forward,
"It is time for us to leave, we will be using portkeys to get there as this is the one time we don't want anyone to splinch themselves. After Harry's excellent speech," Harry blushed even more and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "All that is left to say is good luck and fight well." Dumbledore waved his wand and hundreds of portkeys appeared in front of them. Everyone managed to get a finger to them and after a few seconds of waiting with bated breath they felt the familiar tugging around their navels and then a few seconds later they appeared in the forest.
The first thing that hit Harry was the darkness. It was pitch black. He could barely see his hand in front of his face. After a few minutes his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could things that were very close. The next thing that hit him was the silence. Apart from the breathing of thousands of witches and wizards that sounded like the wind he could hear nothing else, but through the occasional openings in the forest roof he could see flashes of lightning.
He could hear that everyone was beginning to move so he began to move as well; the undergrowth was thick and several times he stumbled over roots or thick shrubs and nearly fell. From the muttered curses from the people surrounding him it seemed that he was not the only one.
The silence and the darkness was unnerving, Harry jumped when he saw figures appearing in the darkness, he tightened his grip on his wand, convinced that it was Death Eaters preparing to ambush them. After a few seconds he remembered it was the Goblins and felt foolish. The darkness really played tricks on your mind. Slowly they began falling in amongst the Goblins, Harry wandered up and down calling Ragnok's name softly, eventually a gruff voice answered,
"Here." Harry walked over to him; he explained the plan to him, Ragnok nodded before turning to translate for his Goblins. Whilst walking back towards the DA Harry made a sudden decision.
"Ron." He hissed into the darkness. Nobody answered, "Ron!" He hissed again, suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he jumped about a foot into the air.
"What?" asked Ron in an amused tone but beneath the amusement there was a nervous tremor.
"Don't do that!" Harry hissed at him angrily, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"
"Sorry." Replied Ron, not sounding it at all. Harry dragged him away from the rest of the army.
"Listen, you need to tell Hermione how you feel about her." Ron groaned,
"Not now, Harry, this isn't the time to take the mickey."
"I'm not! Ron, this may be your last chance! You don't know what is going to happen to you or her tonight! You could die, she could die! How would you feel in your last moments knowing that you had never told her how you felt about her?" Even in the darkness Harry could see that Ron had paled.
"You're right."
"I know. Go find her." Ron nodded and walked off determinedly. He found Hermione and pulled her away.
"What?" she asked curiously. The worst thing happened to Ron, he came over all shy, he couldn't say a word. Hermione waited patiently. Suddenly an image flashed in Ron's mind of him holding Hermione's dead body and weeping as he thought about how he had never told her how much he loved her. He took a deep breath,
"Hermione, I'm not good with words like Harry is. I can't make people feel things like Harry can. But I just want to say this. I don't know what's going to happen to me tonight. But if anything does happen I just want you to know this. I love you. I love you so much. I can't bare the thought of dying and you not knowing that." To his surprise Hermione threw her arms around neck, she was crying as she said,
"Ron Weasley that was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard!" She pressed her lips against his. Happiness exploded inside him. He couldn't think straight. The only thing going through his mind was,
'She loves me.' He kissed her back and for a few precious moments, amongst all the hate, fear and terror of war they were in ecstasy.
"I love you too." She murmured as they broke apart. He smiled and kissed her again. A single pair of emerald eyes watched them through the darkness.
------------
Harry waited impatiently, they had been waiting in silence for half an hour. The wind was slowly beginning to weave it's way through the trees and the temperature had dropped dramatically. Harry shivered again and hugged himself in a vain attempt to try and stay warm. He cast another annoyed glance to the right,
"Come on, Dumbledore, what the hell's talking you so long!" Behind him Ron and Hermione hugged each other, not just for love. The sound of thunder overhead was loud and the pitter-patter of rain falling on the thick forest canopy began,
"Great, and now it's bloody raining." Harry muttered angrily to himself. He waited impatiently for a few more minutes, casting irritated looks right every couple of seconds. He was just about to send someone over to find out what was happening when he heard a sharp intake of breath, he looked to the right once again and his stomach gave a horrible lurch and adrenaline began to pump through him. Blue sparks were shimmering in the distance. A second later more appeared, Harry thrust his wand into the air,
"This is it, fight well." He said to those around him before casting emerald green sparks. The whole line began to move forward, crouching low, moving as silently as the terrain allowed them, though with the thunder they needn't have worried.
For all the darkness the edge of the forest was surprisingly close, and after half a minute they were out of it and the first few people were already scrambling up the slope. The moment Harry got out of the forest the noise of thunder hit him like a sledgehammer, momentarily disorientating him. A sharp shove in the back from Ron soon got him going.
The scramble up the slope was a nervous one; every second Harry expected the sweeping beams of light to land on one of them. Keeping low he half ran, half scrambled up the slope. The stones were loose and every so often one was dislodged and caused a minor landslide. After a few minutes Harry was soaked to the skin but didn't realise. He turned to see Ron beside him,
"Alright?" Harry asked him,
"Yeah, the adrenaline's kicked in." Harry grinned at his best friend and received a grin in return.
By now they were half way up, Harry was just about to turn and encourage them on when Ron slipped, he swore as he fell and kicked a large rock, sending it tumbling down the slope taking hundreds of other rocks with it, the sound of them crashing down the slope could be heard above the roar of the thunder. A shout went up from the wall,
"Who's there?" A beam of light swept dangerously close, Harry and those around him pressed themselves against the ground, hardly daring to breathe. After what seemed like eternity, but was only a few seconds the searchlight swept away and Harry leapt to his feet and resumed running up the slope.
The first few people had stopped about two hundred yards away from the wall. Harry led his troops up the slope and paused at the same distance. It happened without warning, nobody prompted them, one minute everything was still and only the crash of the thunder and the howling of the wind could be heard, the next minute a barrage of spells was flying towards the silhouetted figures on the wall.
Cries of warning and fear went up from the Death Eaters and more of them appeared on the wall every second. The first few people began to fall.
It was clear from the beginning that the attacking forces were at a serious disadvantage. They were hitting few figures on the wall and many of them were hit by spells only to tumble down the slope to lie dead or unconscious at the bottom.
"Get closer!" Harry yelled above the noise of the battle and the thunder. He looked to his left to wave them on, one Goblin ran forward, caught one spell on his shield before another one hit him in the face causing a mass of blood to appear there, the Goblin slumped forward obviously dead.
Harry led his men onwards. They managed to close the distance to a hundred yards but not without losing over a hundred people in the process. A larger boulder lay to the right and Harry ordered a handful of Aurors to take cover behind it and try and pick off the Death Eaters.
It was fruitless, for every Death Eater that was put out of the battle another five came to fill his place. Harry fired off five stunners at a Death Eater who had hit a Goblin in the gut and sent it screaming to the floor and was firing stunning spells and dark spells at an Auror who was desperately blocking them but being forced back in the process. To Harry's surprise four of the stunners hit the wall but the fifth hit the Death Eater on the shoulder. The Death Eater toppled backwards. Harry attempted to follow it up with a slashing curse but it sailed over the heads of the figures on the wall.
The battle was picking up pace and more and more people were falling, An Auror appeared beside Harry, fired off a burn curse before being hit by a jet of green light and slumping to the ground lifeless. Lupin appeared on Harry's other side and Harry was reassured by his presence. Harry shot a slashing curse at a Death Eater who's head appeared over the top of the wall. It hit the Death Eater in the neck, blood poured out and the Death Eater swayed before falling over the wall to land in a heap at the bottom. A cheer went up and people pushed forward.
Jets of light were flying everywhere. A beam of green light narrowly missed Harry and hit a Goblin who was scrambling up behind him. A jet of red light hit the ground between Harry's feet and Harry leapt backwards as stones went flying everywhere.
The attacking forces were in disarray; they were running everywhere. Harry grabbed Lupin, Ron and Hermione,
"Try and get them back into line!" He yelled over the noise. They nodded and ran off, pushing people back into line. Once some order was restored people began to calm down and think straighter. Less of them fell and the Death Eaters began to take more casualties, but the attacking forces were still taking heavier casualties.
Lupin suddenly appeared by Harry's side,
"If we don't clear the walls of some of the Death Eaters soon, we're not going to win!" Harry nodded,
"I know, let me think!" it was hard to think amongst the screams of the wounded and the noise of the battle. Harry studied the walls; a minute later he clicked his fingers,
"I've got it, take a handful of men and run towards the walls but slightly to the left." Lupin nodded and a minute later he and a dozen others were sprinting towards the walls, the Death Eaters had to stand up fully to hit them, and when they did so the attacking forces took full advantage of it, barrages of stunners and slashing curses flew towards the Death Eaters and thirty of them fell down dead, wounded or unconscious. The rest ducked down behind the safety of the battlements.
The Death Eaters stuck their wands over the side of the wall and fired spells at Lupin and his group, two Aurors and a member of the Order fell down dead as jets of green light hit them.
"GET BACK!" Harry yelled to Lupin, waving him back. Lupin nodded and ran back to Harry, the DA and some of the Aurors covering their retreat. Lupin appeared by Harry. Harry clapped him on the shoulder,
"Good work!" A second later Ron appeared by his side panting heavily, there was a large gash on his side but he didn't seem to notice,
"Hannah Abbot's suffering from spell-shock, she's running everywhere, she's going to get herself killed!" Harry looked around and wasn't surprised. The jets of light seemed to have multiplied tenfold. Harry felt Ron push his head down as a beam of blue light soared overhead. A group of Aurors sprinted for a boulder but were cut down by jets of green light before they had gotten halfway. Another spell shot passed Harry, missing him by inches. He turned to Ron,
"Get her behind the lines for five minutes, that should calm her down." Ron nodded, ducked another jet of light and sprinted to where Dean and Colin were restraining a struggling Hannah Abbot. All thoughts of her were put out of his mind when a spell flew his way and he was forced to conjure an advanced shield charm to block.
The line was holding well, even though many of the attacking forces were falling every second. Harry watched in horror as a banishing charm hit an Auror, sending him flying through the air screaming before landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the slope. The well-organised ranks had broken down again as people fell or rushed to help wounded comrades,
Harry was snapped back to reality as a spell hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The DA instinctively crowded around to protect their leader. Ron bent down beside him,
"You alright?" Harry nodded and looked at his shoulder, a deep wound had appeared there,
"Yeah." Ron healed it an instant, he helped Harry to his feet. Harry quickly did a head count of the DA all of them were up and fighting but many were sporting cuts and burns. Hannah Abbot was back looking much calmer.
Harry cast a quick glance to his right, both Moody's and Dumbledore's troops seemed to be in pretty much the same situation as his own. He glanced to his left, searching out any places that needed reinforcing.
Lupin and fifty members of the Order were standing in front of the lines trying to land more hits the Death Eaters. So far it was looking successful but a few of them were falling every minute. Harry turned to Ron,
"Go and reinforce, Lupin, I'll be along with some Aurors after I have spoken to the Goblins." Ron nodded and led the DA towards Lupin.
The Goblins seemed to have detached themselves from the witches and wizards; most of them were standing in a large group to the left of the battle line. Harry sprinted towards them, ignoring the spells that were landing around his feet, he stumbled slightly when one hit him on the leg but did not stop running. He reached the Goblins and made straight for Ragnok.
"How are you doing?" Harry asked, panting slightly, Ragnok shrugged, he caught a spell on his shield and threw his heavy throwing axe at a Death Eater who had just killed a Goblin and was aiming at Ragnok. The throwing axes were useful, they flew towards the wall and even if they missed their target they chipped bits of stone out of the battlements and forced the Death Eaters to keep their heads down. Harry stepped out of the way slightly as the throwing axe flew back towards them having hit the Death Eater, obviously charmed to fly back to their owners,
"Ok, we lose many men, but so do you I think." Harry nodded; while they had been speaking another ten Goblins had fallen around them. Harry cast a glace over at the wizarding lines. A dozen Aurors fell before his eyes, one of them screaming terribly having received a slashing curse to his groin. Harry made a snap decision,
"Hold on for another half an hour." Ragnok looked faintly puzzled but nodded anyway. Harry clapped the Goblin on the shoulder and ran off. He grabbed twenty Aurors and led them over to where less then half of Lupin's men were still fighting and a few of the DA were lying on the floor, their comrades too hard pressed to help them, Harry fired stunners at the wall when he reached them before turning to Lupin.
"We're falling back slightly, we need to reform. Help the wounded quickly." Lupin nodded and set about getting the wounded healed; a minute later they were sprinting back towards friendly lines. Two screams from behind told him that people were still falling. An Auror running next to him fell to the floor silently as the killing curse hit him in the back.
They reached friendly lines. Harry surveyed the area in front of him. To his dismay there were a group seven or eight of Aurors pinned down behind a boulder unable to move. Harry waved at them to get back but they didn't move. He groaned before turning to the DA.
"I need a dozen volunteers to help me get those Aurors back." Everyone stepped forward. In the end Harry took Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ginny, Cho, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Colin, Terry and Anthony. He led them towards the Aurors aware of the rest of the army watching them with bated breath. Harry tried to ignore the spells that were landing all around him. A scream from behind told him that Dean had one down,
"Leave him!" he barked, "We'll get him on the way back." A jet of green light missed Harry by inches just before he got to the boulder. He grinned at the Aurors reassuringly,
"Hello boys, we're your rescuers." The Aurors looked relieved,
"Thank God you're here, sir. We've been pinned down for nearly twenty minutes!"
"Don't worry. Now you're Aurors aren't you." They nodded, "Then you're tough. Now, we're going to show the rest of the army and the Death Eaters what Aurors are made of. We're going to fight a fighting retreat" they Aurors looked calmer at Harry's reassuring, easy tone.
"Yes sir." Harry grinned at them,
"Excellent, now here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back one step at a time, always facing the Death Eaters, fire off every spell you know at them, don't worry about hitting them, just keep there heads down. Ready?" They nodded, "Then let's go." Harry stood up and the rest followed suite, they began stepping backwards one step at a time. Harry fired off stunners and slashing curses faster than he had ever done before. Nevertheless a lot of spells were still landing around them and every five stunners was punctuated with a shield charm. Harry kept breathing deeply and despite his pounding nerves stepped backwards slowly. The Aurors looked a lot more confident and were starting to pick off their targets.
They reached Dean and Cho paused momentarily to heal him. In a second he was back on his feet and firing spells along with the rest of them. They reached friendly lines and a great cheer went up at their safe return. Harry turned to the Aurors grinning,
"Well done, boys!" The Aurors grinned back.
"Thank you for getting us out of that, sir." One of them, evidently their spokesman, said.
"No problem." For a few more minutes an exchange of spells followed but there seemed to be a slight lull in the battle. Harry attempted to exploit it by ordering those around him to fire spells faster. It worked and a lot of Death Eaters fell to jets of red light and the silver light of a slashing curse.
Lupin appeared by Harry looking desperate,
"Casualties have reached critical, we've lost a quarter of our men, of we don't get inside now we will lose. For certain." Harry scanned the walls; there were fewer Death Eaters on them but not many less. Hermione turned to him,
"Dumbledore did say clear the walls." But she sounded doubtful. Harry thought for a minute,
"Sod that. We're breaching." Those around him gave aloud cheer. More cheers followed as word was passed along the line. Harry remembered the spell Moody taught him for this purpose. First he took out a vial of strength replenishing potion and drank it. He felt the familiar surge of energy rush through him. He drew his sword and held it in front of him,
"Get ready, we're breaching." He summoned up all his strength and pointed his wand at a section of wall where unsuspecting Death Eaters were still exchanging fire with the Aurors. The DA and the Order crowded behind Harry.
"Brechatus!" The jet of reddish brown light went unnoticed amongst the other spells. It struck the wall and a huge explosion tore through the air. They attacking forces near to the breach ducked as large stones and bits of human bodies flew through the air, over their heads and landed at the bottom of the slope.
Harry led the cheering troops towards the breach.
------------
Dumbledore paused, as did the rest of the forces, including the Death Eaters, there was a massive explosion followed by a huge cheer. Bits of rock were flying through the air in the distance. Harry Potter could be seen leading cheering troops towards a breach in the wall. Smiling slightly, Dumbledore began to lead his own troops towards the breach.
------------
Harry ignored the spells that were landing all around him. He kept running towards the breach, never pausing, never taking his eyes off it. The spells began to land closer as the breach got nearer.
Suddenly he was there. He clambered over the pile of debris where the wall had once stood. The rocks were stained red with the blood of the Death Eaters and bits of human remains could be seen poking out.
Harry clambered down and stabbed his sword into the gut of a Death Eater, he turned and fired a slashing curse at point-blank range into the face of a Death Eater who had his wand pointing at Harry and was opening his mouth. The Death Eater fell back yelling in pain and clutching his hands to his face.
The DA and the Order swarmed passed him screaming; their bloodlust was up. They had endured nearly two hours of hell as they saw their friends being cut down before their eyes and being unable to do anything about it. They wanted revenge. For the first few minutes it was a massacre. The attacking forces screamed spells as the ran, pushing the Death Eaters further and further back towards the keep, the Death Eaters seemed hesitant to fight back in the face of such fury.
The Death Eaters seemed to come to their wits after a hundred of them had fallen. A bloody battle ensued. Harry hammered the hilt of his sword into the face of one Death Eater whilst stunning another. He turned to block a spell flying at him and was hit in the back by a slashing curse. Another hit him in the side and one in the leg sending him flying to the ground. He rolled to the side as a Death Eater fired a stunner down at him. Harry prepared to block another when the Death Eater gave a horrible shudder and fell backwards, Lupin's sword in his side. Lupin healed Harry's wounds but was forced into another duel with a Death eater that had just killed an Auror and was running towards him.
Harry leapt to his feet. He stabbed a Death Eater in the chest before dashing towards Ron who was hard pressed fighting two Death Eaters. Ron blocked one spell but another caught him in the stomach. He fell to the floor. The Death Eater crowed triumphantly. Harry sprinted to take over Ron's duel. He hacked down a Death Eater that was in his way, one of the Death Eaters saw him coming. Harry blocked the stunning spells and retaliated with a barrage of slashing curses and burn curses. The first Death Eater fell to the floor screaming as six of the slashing curses and a great number of the burn curses struck him. The second Death Eater threw himself into the duel with relish.
Harry blocked his first spell and lunged with his sword, the Death Eater leapt backwards to avoid it. Harry managed to keep his balance but was unable to block the slashing spell that flew at him and caught him the chest. He gasped for breath and to by himself time he lashed out wildly with his sword. Once again the Death Eater leapt backwards and retaliated with another slashing curse. It hit Harry on the arm. Harry knew he was fighting an expert.
The Death Eater lunged forwards and smashed his fist into Harry's face knocking him to the ground. The Death Eater stood over Harry and pointed his wand at Harry's heart.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you."
"You should have stayed at home today." Harry gasped out. The Death Eater laughed. Harry's hand finally found the hilt of his sword and he rammed it upwards with a much force as he could. It went straight through the Death Eater and his blood spurted all over Harry. The Death Eater fell backwards nearly taking Harry's sword with him. Harry managed to hold onto it and he wrenched it out of the dead Death Eater. He stood up and walked shakily over to where Ron was lying unconscious.
He healed Ron's wounds and paused to fire a slashing spell at a Death Eater who was running towards him. It hit the Death Eater in the throat and he took a few more stumbling steps before falling to the ground.
Harry turned back to Ron,
"Enervate." Ron woke up and Harry pulled him to his feet. Ron looked at Harry who was covered from head to toe in blood, not all of it the Death Eater's.
"What happened to you?" Harry grinned at his best friend.
"I took over your duel." Harry opened his mouth to tell one something, but was interrupted as another swarm of Aurors and Goblins poured into the breach. Amongst them Dumbledore could be seen.
"Gather the DA, keep them together. I need to go and speak to Dumbledore when I get back I'll need you all to do something. Ron nodded and darted back towards the centre of the fray.
Harry turned and ran towards the breach. The battle was brutal. There were spells flying everywhere amongst the mass of duelling, shouting bodies. Unlike outside there was often no time to block them. Harry felt a spell hit him in the side and turned to duel with a Death Eater who was standing over the dead body of a Goblin.
Beams of light flew so fast from Harry's wand that the Death Eater had no time to block them and was soon lying dead beside the Goblin. Harry stabbed a Death Eater in the side and fired two stunners at two others at point blank range.
He came to three embattled members of the Order who were fighting five Death Eaters, one of the Order members fell and Harry darted to take his place. The first Death Eater didn't even see him coming and was soon lying dead on the floor, a deep stab wound to his heart. The second turned and was met by a hail of slashing spells he managed to block them and shout a warning to his friends.
Harry fell in alongside one of the Order members. He fired a stunner at a Death Eater, the Death Eater blocked it easily and Harry ducked to avoid it, as he ducked he shot a blinding spell at the Death Eater, unfortunately for the Death Eater as he prepared to block Harry's spell another curse hit him in the side. The Death Eater doubled over and Harry's spell hit him in the face, the Death Eater panicked and started yelling in fear but was quickly silenced by a slashing curse to the throat from Harry.
He watched another of the Death Eaters fall down dead and Harry and the other two Order members began a vicious fight with the surviving Death Eaters, on of the Order members fell when a spell flew over the Death Eater's heads and hit him in the throat. He tumbled backwards a look of intense surprise on his face. Harry distracted one of the Death Eaters with a barrage of stunners, the Death Eater blocked them and Harry stepped to the side to avoid them and with one sweep of his sword he beheaded the Death Eater. The Death Eater's headless body swayed for a full minute before falling to the floor.
The final Death fell a second later after a barrage of stunners and slashing curses from Harry and the surviving Order member overwhelmed him. The Order member nodded at Harry in thanks before running to help a group of Goblins fight off a larger group of Death Eaters. He had not gotten six paces before a jet of green light appeared out of nowhere and struck him in the face sending him toppling to the ground lifeless.
Harry could see Dumbledore leading a group of Aurors in a fight against a group of Death Eaters on the wall, ducking the spells that were flying everywhere and ignoring the ones that hit him Harry ran towards him.
He was halfway there when a spell hit him in the ankle sending him sprawling across the ground, a jet of green light flew over his head and another one struck the ground next to his right hand. Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, then the breath was knocked out of him when an Auror fell backwards on top of him, the Death Eater the Auror had been duelling with gave a triumphant cry and was about to kill the Auror when Harry lashed out with his sword and cut the Death Eater across the ankles. The Death Eater fell with a terrible scream, the Auror leapt off of Harry and killed the Death Eater with a slashing curse to throat. He held his hand out to Harry and pulled him to his feet,
"Thank you sir, I think you've just saved my life" Harry grinned at the Auror,
"No problem." Harry turned and ran towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned and smiled at him.
"Hello Harry." He had to shout above the noise of the battle and the screams and shouts. Dumbledore effortlessly blocked a spell that flew his way. Dumbledore was the only person who Harry had seen that was seemingly untouched by spells.
"How's it going?" Harry asked Dumbledore,
"Fine, better now that we are inside, they're taking as much casualties as we are. And you?"
"Good. We're inside so let's find that damn book." Said Harry forcefully, ducking two spells that flew his way.
A/N That is the first part of the assault. Like "A Candle in the Dark" this fic will fifteen chapters. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and it has lived up to your expectations.
Next chapter will be out on Thursday or Friday.
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.
Charmed-103 – Thanks for the review.
Colm – Thanks for the review.
Rocky235 – Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad I got you all fired up. I like the blood thirsty Harry too, if you are faced with a task like Harry's you will soon learn to become blood thirsty or you will fail. By the way, what boarding school were you at? I am currently at Repton School, Roald Dahl's and Jeremy Clarkson's old school.
The Enchantresses – Thanks for the review.
Rarr – In what way is Dumbledore OOC? I think Ginny being a bit of a flirt suits her as well. Thanks for the review.
OoXandiaoO – Thanks very much for the review, it was very encouraging.
Pixielax06 – Thanks very much for the review, I'm glad I inspired you.
FSI – Thanks for the review, Cho and Harry are in love but you will see more of that in the next fic.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing,
Fireboy