Chapter XVIII: Avada Kedavra
"What is that?" Hagrid asked himself, watching a small figure fly from out the same arched window that the Orb had emerged from.
Dumbledore, glaring at the leader Centaur, turned his head slightly with his face still resembling that of Theodore McGonagall. With increasing speed, the figure tumbled downward toward two injured Centaurs who desperately now tried to get up in order to save the boy. However, their broken legs prevented them from doing just that.
Instead of being concerned like the wise old Dumbledore would be, he laughed and smirked at the thought of Ron being killed. His blood lust grew with every passing second, waiting for Ron to just fall into the earth below, crushed and no longer repairable. However, he would not see that. A giant from the corner of the field emerged, his arms flailing forward in an attempt to catch the fallen Ron.
"No! Let him die!" Dumbledore shouted, too excited to see the boy crushed.
But the Giant did not listen. Rather, his speed increased and before the boy could hit the ground, the Giant's large palms slide underneath him. Ron, unconscious from hitting the hand, was not dead; unfortunately, the Giant who saved him could not be so lucky.
"You traitor! Avada Kedavra!"
And with Dumbledore's shouting of the Killing Curse, a ray of spectacular light flew from out his wand. It was so blinding that no creature could look directly in it. At full blast, it struck the Giant who tried to shield Ron, clutching him near his breast like a mother feeding her young. After a few seconds, the light dimmed and a frozen Giant stood high in the air.
"Grawp! No!" Hagrid shouted, watching his dear little brother fall forward, shaking the very earth beneath in one loud 'thump.'
"You there, retrieve the fallen boy," Dumbledore ordered another Giant who stared back at him blankly. "What's the matter with you? Get that boy back!"
"You kille my friend!" the Giant growled back, his stance fierce.
Dumbledore's face grew pale. Three angry Giants approached him from the front side and two more from the back, all of which pounded their fists into the other. A domino effect of hatred entered each Giant's mind, as they felt betrayed by their master. Surely, they would crush Dumbledore's body within minutes if he could not defend himself. With his shaking hand, Dumbledore raised his wand, ready to shout another Killing Curse.
"No! Don't hurt him!" Hagrid yelled, racing forward toward Dumbledore and his flickering Orb. "If yeh kill him, the real Dumbledore cannot come back!"
"Yes, yes! You heard him!" Dumbledore agreed.
"But he kille your brother," the Giant remarked to Hagrid.
Hagrid's nose prickled, as if pins were striking it. His eyes became teary along the edges, but he could not mourn now—it was not the time for that—saving Hogwarts was more important. With his eyes wiped of their tears, Hagrid stepped in front of Dumbledore and glared into each Centaur and Giant's eye.
"Destroyin' Dumbledore will rid the world of the greatest, most kind wizard ever. He is not the one to kill. The one who has taken control of him is the one that must be destroyed."
"Who be that?" the Giant asked.
"I saw a glimmer of a strange man for a second in his face," Hagrid said, pointing backwards to Dumbledore. "He will tell us who is his master."
"What makes you think I would tell you anything," Dumbledore said.
"Whose the one with over a hundred magical creatures ready to tear his limbs apart?"
"Right…"
"Yeh, the leader of these Centaurs." Hagrid pointed forward. "Get that info'mation out of him. I must see to something."
And with that, Hagrid turned around and looked over at Grawp's body, singed and burnt into the ground. Hagrid tried ever so hard to keep in his tears, but seeing his brother, dead, was not something one could forget. As he approached the body, Hagrid's eyes had become puffed, reddened and barely open. His cheeks matched in puffiness, now soaked in water, and his nose stung with mucus flowing. Still clutched in his hand, Hagrid spotted Ron, curled up into a ball.
"Oh, no. No," Hagrid muttered over and over as he hurried to his limp body. Hagrid pulled over Grawp's dead, heavy thumb which trapped Ron within his grip. There lay a fragile, motionless boy, half of his red hair burnt away and replaced with a pink scalp. His pale skin was sprinkled with black dust and dirt, his clothes ripped and soiled as well.
"I can't lose yeh both," Hagrid moaned now trying to lift Ron's body from out of Grawp's deadly grip. "Ron?"
Hagrid placed his ear next to the flattened chest, terrified to hear the silence. But it was not silence he heard. The faintest pitter-patter of his heart echoed out, a slow but sure rhythm, pumping blood throughout his veins. Hagrid sniffled and moved back, staring at the motionless boy; he did not move, but he was not dead.
***
"Did you hear that thump?" Hermione asked to Draco who now flew right beside her.
"It came from outside, along with all that other racquet. What do you suppose is happening out there?"
"Chaos, misery and death," Hermione solemnly replied.
"You look terrible with that frown," Draco said. "Your nose gets all funny looking, and you get wrinkles in your forehead. Not very pretty."
"Well, so sorry I don't live up to your standards, all mighty Malfoy; I should have straightened my hair and put on layers of make-up before going into battle!"
Draco snickered. "There, you're smiling now. An angry smile at best, but still a smile."
"I don't understand you, Malfoy," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes. "One minute you're decent, and the next, you're your pig-headed self again!"
They turned another corner and faced the large glass doors revealing the outside world. Both stopped their brooms short, gawking at the chaos before them. Fields of littered bodies, blackness and smoke now shielded their view. As the other students approached the window, they too gasped and gulped, especially the Slytherins who had not seen any of it like the Gryffindors did through their Tower window.
"I'm just a guy, Hermione," Draco whispered, "Don't expect too much from us when it comes to those matters… But when it comes to battling, I will be your knight in shining armor."
"I don't need your help," Hermione hissed and flew forward a bit. She turned her broomstick around to face the students hovered around her. "Gryffindors, stay with me. Do not use your magic unless threatened or provoked. We don't need to start any more conflicts. If you are injured, give a fellow wizard or witch a signal so that they may help you. You are all ready?"
A swarm of confident nods was seen. Hermione turned her broom around once more to face the glass doors and took out her wand. She cleared her throat and was ready to shout a spell to remove the glass when the Slytherins flew forward, shattering the glass with their own bodies. Hermione spun around to Draco who just shrugged his shoulders and gave a funny smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed the pack of Slytherins to the outside world. And for a brief second, she felt bad about yelling at Draco; she did not know why she suddenly felt this way, but those feelings were certainly there.
Immediately, she shook them off, focusing her mind back to the battlefields before her. Squinting her eyes she could see a bluish Orb and a huddle of Giants and Centaurs around it. However, they were not fighting each other. Instead, they seemed to be working together! But Hermione was sure that she heard battle cries from outside the Gryffindor Tower; how did they suddenly stop fighting?
Interrupting her thoughts was a shout from Draco. "Isn't that your little boyfriend there?"
In Hermione's mind, she pictured Harry. Her face lit up but as she turned to see where Draco was pointing at, she did not see her Harry. Instead, Hagrid's arms held a red haired, lifeless body. He stood a few yards away from the body of a dead Giant, one that could not be recognized anymore.
"Ron!" Hermione screamed and darted forward with her broomstick. She did not care that she was leaving behind her students. Draco could take care of them. Her mind now blocked out the field of Giants and Centaurs and other various creatures scattered about; her focus was set on Ron and if he had died.
"Hermione?" the raspy voice of Hagrid asked.
"Oh, Hagrid, is he…" Hermione began to ask, looking at the horrid body of Ron. Hagrid's cheeks were drenched, eyes puffed, and he was short of breath. "He's dead?" Hermione cried out, studying Hagrid's remorseful face.
"His heart is alive," Hagrid said.
"Alive… Alive? But, you seem so upset, you seem as if someone died."
But Hagrid did not have to respond. Hermione peered beside Hagrid's body to look at the fallen Giant, it back resembling something she had seen before. Abruptly, she realized who that Giant was and why Hagrid was so distressed.
"Grawp," Hermione whispered to herself.
Hagrid then let out a groan that sent chills down Hermione's body; he fell to his knees, letting Ron's body slip to the ground. Both of his dirt and blood covered hands cupped his swollen eyes, as his breath grew shorter and shorter. Although Hermione did share some of that pain, she was more relieved that Ron was alive. She felt foolish and guilty; she should have been comforting Hagrid, but she could not. All she thought about was if Ron had died. She had been so selfish, thinking only about other boys like Harry or even now Draco; never did she once see Ron as more than just a friend, and now, with his body lying so lifeless, she wish she had.