Disclaimer: I do not own any of the worlds of this story namely Forgotten Realms and the Harry Potter setting, just the story line and some of the O/C later in it.
A/N: Hi and welcome to my first fight or major battle now then people I must say this was a fun chapter to write and I am hopping that you well all fins it in your hearts and minds to hit that button down the bottom that has review next to it and let me know what you think.
Chapter 25: The Fight for Hogwarts.
Harry and Hermione were engaged in combat with no less than 10 of the skeletons, while the rest of the defenders were taking on what was left of the attack force. The Professors hit the charging monsters with an assortment of charms and curses, taking out around 50 of them in their combined assault.
Drizzt was on the far side of the enemy line and furiously attacking one of the giants while the other one was starting to throw boulders at the castle.
Ron and Lavender were fighting back to back. Lavender's short sword working as fast as she could and Ron had his axe going just as fast.
The Dementors and Death Eaters had yet to get involved in the fight, no doubt waiting for the defenders resilience to wear down and then come in for the kill.
"Harry, we can not keep fighting like this! Those Dementors will move soon and the Professors can not fight off that many and keep the students safe at the same time." Hermione called to Harry as with a flurry of blows with her quarterstaff she took the back out of one of the skeletons she was fighting.
Harry just nodded and kept fighting the five undead monsters he was trying to take out. His hands were a blur of movement trying to keep up with this many attacks at one time.
Just then the latest boulder thrown by the giant hit one of the towers within the walls of the castle a thundering impact. With a sharp crack of stone on stone the tower seemed to move to one side, cracks appeared in the stones of the tower but it still stood and everyone knew that it would not take another blow from the giant.
Catherine was in this fight but she was trying to get to the Death Eaters, her sword smashing skeleton's heads as she worked her way toward the hooded, masked forms.
'I know you are there Father. You betrayed your own family to join this Dark Lord. Our family has done nothing other than fight Dark Lords since Merlin nearly 2000 years again. It is a betrayal and insult that we will not suffer. You are to be killed by one of your own blood as is written by our blood founder, Myr...'
She ducked an attack by a skeleton and slashed with her family's sword in retaliation. Her mother had sent the weapon to her when she joined the Twin Sword group. It was a beautiful thing of silver with a gold hilt and royal blue leather on the hand rest. Small runes which ran a foot up the blade's length were glowing with a pale blue light as she got closer to the man that she use to call her father.
Liriel came out of the castle with some of the 7th year students who were best at the healing arts and instructed them to start getting the wounded out of the fight and to begin to treat them. Then she started to chant one of her most powerful spells her hand moving as fast as she would dare with this spell. She needed to cast the spell quickly but dared not make an error in the casting of it.
Drizzt in the mean time was having the time of his life battling the giant he was fronting, already having hamstrung the creature, making it fall to one knee with a mighty bellow of pain and rage. He was now starting to work his way up the flailing creature to reach it's neck and try to get to its throat with his flashing scimitars.
Harry and Hermione had taken out the last of the skeletons they had been fighting and were now helping some of the 3rd year students who had come out of the castle to help fight for the school.
Liriel finished her casting of the complex spell and aimed it carefully to one side of the battle, so that it would not hit the students in that area. Aim was all important and in response to her casting a shower of golf ball sized meteors started to fall into the mass of skeletons that were rushing to attack the defenders, taking the creatures out in a hail of flaming rocks, bones and skulls.
Ron and Lavender were both struggling to get out of the main body of the fight. Ron had taken a serious hit in the back and slightly to the left of his spine and was now running on adrenalin, trying to reach Madam Pomfrey before he bled to death, Lavender lending him all the support that she could.
============================================================================
Catherine had by then reached a Death Eater with hair the same colour as her own and his eyes were a dark brown. "Father this ends here! For what you have done to our family there is no excuse!" she whispered when she reached him.
"My dearest daughter, this will end when the Potter boy fights my master and not before. Now give to me what is mine, child." He said looking at Catherine, his voice husky with the suppressed power of the bloodline of Myrtthin.
"This sword belongs to a true Emrys, not to you! Now I must do what the family law dictates." she snarled in response, then began the attack on her father with the Emrys family sword firmly in hand.
Matthew Emrys pulled his wand from his robes and created a sword from black magic with which to block the attack.
============================================================================
Harry had just taken out another skeleton when a shudder of utter bone chilling cold ran through his body and from the gasps from around him he knew that some of the other defenders as well had experienced the deep chill. Looking up he saw that the Dementors had finally joined in the fight and were now heading for the group that included himself and Hermione.
Hermione was the first of the group to come within range of the terrifying creatures and she swung her staff as hard as she could, hoping that the holy enchantment placed upon the weapon would work on this being from a nightmare.
The enchanted staff hit the Dementor in the side and for an instant Hermione thought that time had stopped. Then, with a body-chilling cry of pain the Dementor shuddered and the area that had been hit disintegrated into a white powder then the fell creature slumped to the ground and Hermione was quick to finished it off with a blow to the head.
Harry flashed a triumphant grin at this proof that the enchanted weapons were capable of hurting the Dementors. With a wild cry to spur himself on he leapt to attack another Dementor that had closed on his position and managed to thrust his sword through its head. The creature screamed as it's body turn into white powder.
The other Dementors uttered wailing cries on seeing two of their supposedly immortal brothers killed and fell back from the battle, waiting until those weapons and their wielders had been taken care of.
The Death Eaters on witnessing the death of the Dementors and the retreat of the survivors started to surge forward to attack the defenders, trying to take the enchanted weapons away from them to bring the Dementors back into the attack again.
A loud cry of pain was heared over the general roar of the battle and everyone spared a moment to look at the screaming giant. Drizzt was falling away from the giant he had been fighting in a controlled fall, tucking himself into a somersault and he rolled to his feet. The giant's throat was cut from ear to ear and the cuts trailed over the upper chest of the creature to form an X. Blood was streaming down the monsters chest in a crimson flood and the creature crashed to the ground. Drizzt almost bounced with a manic grin on his dark face and started to run for the remaining giant that was still hurling boulders at the school.
"Next!" he screamed.
Ron and Lavender had managed to reach Madam Pomfrey by then and Ron passed out in Lavender's arms from blood loss. She placed him on one of the beds that had been brought out of the castle for the wounded and Lavender sat down next to him. Taking his hand in hers as one of the 7th years hurried over to them and started to work the healing charm needed for him she watched him anxiously.
Liriel showed up next to Harry and with her was Professor Lupin and Tonks, both casting charms and jinxes at any of the undead or Death Eaters near them. "Hey little brother. I see that Holy enchantment worked on the Dementors." Liriel said with a wide grin when she stopped next to Harry.
"Yeah and now all we have to do is get to them without those Death Eaters getting to us first" Harry replied as he took another skeleton out.
"That is where we come in!" Tonks shouted and Lupin nodded behind her in agreement.
Harry flashed a grim smile as he, with Hermione and Liriel flanking him started to work his way through the enemy ranks and toward the 23 Dementors that were holding back. He was determined to reach the horrifying creatures and destroy them.
The remaining giant, seeing its fellow go down under the flashing scimitars of the dark skinned warrior dropped its boulder and grasped its massive wooden club, swinging it in a mighty arc at the oncoming fighter. Drizzt dodged the first and second swings then went flying back from the giant with a grunt of pain at the broken ribs he earned when he failed to cleanly dodge the next swing.
"Well, you have some brains it seems. Let us see what you make of this!" Drizzt grunted as he gave his concentration to the casting of a spell. The chant was quick, a lyrically flowing chant of words that held a compelling cadence and promise of power.
Harry with Liriel and the others had managed to break through the ranks of skeletons and reach the Dementors by this time. Lupin and Tonks were working over time to keep up with the spells of the Death Eaters that were trying to separate Harry and Hermione from their weapons.
Liriel danced forward and into a roll, coming out of the tumble right in front of one of the Dementors. Her short sword, enchanted with Holy, speared the creature through its chest and that wailing scream undulated over the battle field again and the Dementor crumbled into white powder.
The Dementors, not used to being faced without fear and with weapons capable of killing them started to work their way away from Liriel unwilling to lose more of their numbers to these people.
Drizzt completed the casting of his spell and felt the energising rush of the magic through his body. He completed the spell with a throwing motioned aimed at the giant's massive chest and cheekily grinned at the monster. An orb of ice materialised before him and shot with blinding speed through the air to hit the giant in the centre of his chest and the creature stopped dead in its tracks. A cry of rage and pain rang out over the battlefield, drowning out the roar of combat at that first moment of intense pain that changed quickly to a frightening numb sensation. Drizzt did not pause but started to cast another spell, drawing deep on the magical energy he had so painstakingly learned to control.
Harry was engaged with fighting another Skeleton when he felt a sharp pain pierce his lower back and he gasped, knowing immediately that it was not he who had been wounded. With a loud cry of rage he spun, weapon sweeping wide to take the skeleton's head on the way through he saw Hermione lying on the ground. Blood seeped from a wound on her lower back and Draco Malfoy was standing over her, his Katana in hand dripping fresh blood and a smirk on his face at his betrayal.
Harry screamed with rage and started to work his way toward Draco and the fallen Hermione. He knew that she was still alive by their link but he could not let Draco find out before he got there.
Liriel looked up from her latest kill at Harry's scream of anger to see his eyes a blaze of green fire. With a quick look around the battlefield she spotted Hermione lying on the ground and she knew when she saw Malfoy that all of the anger she had heard in that scream was aimed at him. Malfoy was glaring at Harry with a smile on his face that declared that he considered himself superior, a goad for Harry to come and fight him. Liriel started to work her way to Draco for two reasons, first to save Hermione's life and second to stop Harry from making a tragic mistake and becoming what Voldemort was, a killer of men.
Drizzt completed the casting of his spell and felt the ecstasy of the magic swell within him and he flung a hand toward the Giant, releasing the magic. A blast of jagged ice shards and fist sized hail stones and super chilled air hit the giant, bringing it to the ground with a bellow that choked off as the super cold froze thea air in its longs. The ground shook as the creature crashed onto its side, the shaking of the earth drawing shocked silence from the massed combatants. With a satisfied grunt the Drow Ranger who wielded a wizard's magic turned to the Dementors that had fallen back from the attacks that decimated their ranks and had placed themselves so conveniently close to his glowing blade. With a smile Drizzt charged into the fray, Icing Death slashing and blocking while he worked Twinkle as fast as he could, the softly glowing blade leading the way as of his two weapons it alone was enchanted with Holy.
============================================================================Catherine and her father were at each other's throats, swords blocking and thrusting in a masterful rhythm as they vied for superiority. Mathew battled his daughter as his blood fired with a lust to wield the heirloom sword of his family sword and Catherine equally determined to fight because the family honour demand that this man whom was her father die. None of their blood could be permitted to survive who had turned to the Darkness.
"You are good. Very good, my darling daughter. You do so remind me of your mother, the same fire in the soul, but I will win this battle and I will take what should be mine." Mathew said after dodging one of her attacks.
"I will never allow you to gain this blade of good, you bastard!" She spat back at him, gathering her rage into a cold anger that added speed to her attack but a cold clarity to her eyes as she threw herself into the next attack routine. Her anger crystallised within her into a frightening clarity that left no room for mistakes to be made and lent her arm strength.
============================================================================
Harry had just started to get to Malfoy when a Death Eater thrust himself in front of him, his wand raised at the ready and a killing curse on his lips. With a snarl Harry did not even pause, raising his sword in font of him and shouted a binding charm at the man. The focused magic in the wand passed through the sword and flared from its tip, knocking Harry's opponent off his feet and taking him out of the fight. With a snarl Harry nodded and sped on his way to meet the waiting Draco.
Liriel thrust her way through the combat, taking as little time as possible to dispose of any who dared stand in her way and she managed to reach Draco's side just before Harry reached him with bloody sword in hand, raised to leap immediately into the battle. Liriel pushed herself forward and was between Draco and Harry before they crossed swords, screaming at Harry in an effort to stop him from allowing his rage to control him.
"Harry do not! You must not become what you hate the most. My brother, do not become another Voldemort. It is not worth the price of blackening your soul, Harry, believe me for I know what power and murder can do to a person. Don't, Harry. Don't become what I was so long ago."
Harry staggered as someone nearby jostled him and then they were all in an island of calm in the midst of the battle. He looked from Liriel to Draco who was looking in stunned amazement at Liriel for stepping in the way of his fight with Harry and he was furious.
"Get out of the way, Freak! This is Potter's fight not your's!" Malfoy spat at Liriel.
In a blinding swirl of silver hair Liriel spun around from Harry to front Malfoy and thrust her hand at him, her eyes blazing with the anger she felt and the magic granted to her by her Godess. With a sharp gesture and quietly uttered single word spoken in her home language she glared at Draco, releasing the magic from her and with what sounded like a strangled squeak Draco frozen in place, unable to move.
In a flurry of shimmering hair Liriel threw herself into Harry's embrace. "Harry have I gotten through to you? You must fight the rage that fills you and not allow it to take you over. I have already lost one family to the insanity of such rage and I will not lose another! Do you hear me, Brother? I will not allow you to kill anyone, Harry. No one but Voldemort and know that even then it will be I who will be the one to take his life, not you. You are just to good to sink to his level, Harry."
Liriel clung to Harry, her arms holding him tight to her as she wept on his shoulder, her face buried against his neck as the surging memories of her life in the deep hidden city of Menzoberranzan, home of the Drow. She had too many bitter memories of the society where betrayal and murder was an every day occurrence and looked on as the norm. She had been a part of that world and had accepted it as normal until she had learned another way.
Harry shuddered as his rage seemed to drain from him and he looked down at Liriel and his arms came around her and with a ragged sigh he nodded against her silver hair. "I will not. I will not go down into that darkness, My Sister. Thank you for stopping me, for making me sane again, but Liriel, you must make sure that he does not get away. Make certain that he does not rejoin this battle and that he does not escape. Help Hermione while I finish this."
With a cold glare at the seemingly stiff Malfoy, who had not so much as blinked an eye since being hit by Liriel's spell, Harry turned and started to attack the remaining skeletons who had regrouped and were now charging toward him and Liriel. Liriel knelt beside Hermione and started to work on the wound in her back, calling on the divine Healing magic of her Goddess and Malfoy remained motionless, held in place by the Hold Person spell Liriel had cast on him.
Drizzt danced through the ranks of the Dementors, slashing and piercing the frightening creatures with his weaving scimitars and had succeeded in taking out three of the creatures before they could escape him. The magical creatures learned that by dodging the glowing blade and by rising quickly above the heads of the attackers wielding the Holy enchanted weapons they could escape the fate of their fellows who had been disintegrated.
"You know you guy's are really starting to upset me." The Drow warrior glared with fiery violet orbs at the swirling robes of the Dementors who flew just out of reach of the defenders. "Now come here!"
With a flurry of movement Drizzt raced to the nearest Giant and taking a flying leap from the behemoths corpse he leapt into the ranks of the flying Dementers, Twinkle slashing and another Dementor wailed its death scream over the battle field. Seeing another of their number explode in a flurry of white dust over the battlefield the remaining Dementers gathered together and flew from the site of the battle, fleeing from the impossible, terrible weapons that could not only hurt them but slay them.
With the departure from the melee of the Dementors the remaining Death Eaters looked about the field of combat, assessing the remaining numbers. The Hunters, students and Professors who so ably defended Hogwarts were surging forward, taking heart from the flight of the Dementors, the most feared creatures who had battled here this day. With snarls of rage five of the six remaining Death Eaters grasped their Port Keys firmly in hand and fled the fight.
============================================================================
Catherine tried valiantly to reach her father, putting all of her strength and speed into each powerful sword stroke but the sole remaining Death Eater met each strike with skill and strength. Seeing the desertion of the Dementors and his fellows he leapt back from her attack and pulled an old ring from one of his pockets.
"I told you when we began our fight that we will not finish this until my Master and Potter meet face to face. That time is not now, so until next time, my little angle, good bye!" He uttered the key word for the port key to trigger and vanished, the ring falling to the ground where he had stood a second before.
Catherine stared at the ring lying in the grass and shook her head in despair, recognising the simple golden band as her mother's wedding ring. There was only one way that her father could have come by that ring she knew, for her mother would never remove it, even with the disgrace that he had brought to the family. In rage and pain she cried out, lifting her face to the sky as she wept and such was the look on her face that her friend who had been heading for her stopped and walked the other way, giving Catherine time to face the truth. The last of the bloodline that alone could claim direct descent from Myrtthin Emrys, or as history knew him, Merlin Ambrosius, sank to her knees in the grass and wept for the murder of her mother.
============================================================================
Harry was focused on taking out the last of the skeletons that had been left behind by the Death Eaters and as the last of the creatures fell to his blade he turned to look at the damage that had been done. Panting for breath he turned to see that over 50 beds had been brought outside and positioned next to the gate, all of them had wounded people on them. The Auror's who had show up during the battle had already secured the four Death Eaters who had been caught under the effects of holding spells and were getting ready to take them back to the Ministry for holding and questioning.
Liriel was standing by Hermione's side and followed the young woman as she started to stager towards Harry, using her staff as a walking stick.
"Harry! How do you feel? Are you hurt?" Hermione embraced him gently, uncertain if he was wounded and unwilling to cause him or herself pain. Liriel stood behind them, watching and smiling as they embraced.
"I'm... I'm fine. Thank you Liriel, for stopping me from killing Draco back there. Could you take him over to the Auror's and tell them everything that we know about him and what he has been doing to everyone, please."
Liriel nodded and walked over to where Malfoy still stood in a rigid frozen stance and said a counter spell, catching him when he staggered and then started to force him over to the Auror's.
"How do you fell, my love?" Harry embraced Hermione after Liriel left them, holding her close.
"I feel like I had a sword in my back but other wise I'm fine. I am glad that Liriel stopped you for kill him, Harry, even if he is a bastard." Hermione replied to his question, watching as Liriel freed Malfoy.
Harry nodded and with his arm draped around her shoulder started to walk to the main hall to see who had been injured in this minor fight in a much lager war this day.
After handing Malfoy over to the Auror's, Liriel was walking up and down the rows of wounded students and Professors. She noted who was a student, who was a Hunter and Auror in the mix and she felt proud of them all. Her healing arts were pushed to the limit to aid in fixing broken bones and healing deep cuts on others. She even succeeded in bringing back one of the students that had been hit by the kill curse with one of her most powerful spells.
Drizzt was sitting back out of the way in a patch of warm sunshine with a dark blue potion bottle in hand, drinking it in small sips, his armour laid to one side with his weapons. Those who were watching him were treated to the sight of the wounds on his arms and chest closing as the potions healing effects began.
Dumbledore and some of the other Professors stood together gathered around the giant's bodies and were having a discussion what they were to do with them while Madam Pomfrey and the other Professors attended the injured.
Hermione and Harry found Ron amid the wounded and both settled to rest on one of the beds next to Ron who was sitting up and looking around him while drinking a little water. In seconds Harry was asleep and resting comfortably and Hermione volunteered to keep an eye on him and Ron while Lavender went for more water for them.
Liriel finished what she could, her healing talents exhausted for the moment and came to sit next to Harry and his friends. "Well, that's me done. I'm out of healing spells until the next full moon."
Hermione nodded and rested her head carefully on Harry's chest, looking over some of the wounds he had suffered during the fight. He had removed his armour before they had found Ron and Lavender and she placed a hand on one wound wishing that she could heal him. To her shock her hand started to glow with a soft blue light and the wound closed under her touch, not all the way but it no longer looked painful.
Hermione looked at Liriel who was watching her with a smile. "Well now, I was wondering if you had gotten anything from those dances under the full moon. By the look of things you can heal wounds in a like fashion to Aerie and myself. Use it well." With that she layed down on the mat spread next to them and fell into a deep sleep for the first time in front of someone other than Drizzt.
Hermione looked at her hand, a slow smile tilting her lips and then tried another wound on Harry, thinking of healing the slowly bleeding slash and it to closed under her light touch. She looked up at Ron to see him watching her with a look of surprise and happiness on his face at her new ability. Just then Lavender returned with a try with four glasses of water and handed them all one and placed Harry's next to his bed and Liriel's beside her.
============================================================================
Catherine had walked from the battlefield a little later than the others and headed straight to the Slytherin common room. Her mothers wedding ring was clasped firmly in her hand and the look on her face ensured that all of the Slytherin's stayed out of her way. She walked to the Head Girls room in the Slytherin dungeon and locked the door with the most powerful locking charm that she knew. The rage within her finally broke free and she threw the ring across the room and screamed her lungs out. How could it be that the man who was a black smear on her family name was still alive after that fight and without a scratch on him to mark their battle and her mother was very dead by the looks of it. She knew that her mother would not give up that ring.
The people who were sitting in the Slytherin Common Room listened to her yelling for a while before quietly leaving the room for the more quiet halls of Hogwarts.
Catherine calmed down a little later and made her way to her bed, lying there to think. 'I must finished what I started today, for the honour of my family, but now he will keep running until Harry meets Voldemort face to face. How will I find him?' She was brought out of her thoughts by an owl flying into her room from out of a wall and the bird left just as fast after leaving a letter on her desk.
Curious of both by the letter and the magical means by which it had arrived Catherine walked over to the desk and the letter and looked at it. It was sealed with black wax and the imprinted crest of a full moon with two scimitars beneath and over a wolf's head raised and howling at the moon. With a gasp Catherine opened the letter.
You are offered a chance to attack Death Eaters and other dark wizards of this world who would destroy the peace. If you would like to know more come to the seventh floor tonight at 11:00 and wait for someone to meet you.
The Hunters
Catherine looked at the letter then at her family sword resting next to her bed and smiled. "Very well. I'll be there and find out if it is worth it."