Disclaimer: I do not own HP, but JK Rowling does.
Emily – Well everything has to end, right? And as for me, I'm just glad that this story is finally finished up and done with...almost.
Dancerrdw – thanks!
Squigglius – Well at least you got to comment this time.
Hermione Jane – It's always funny to see the reactions of people who are on different chapters at different times.
Alright guys, here we go.
Chapter 49 – The Last Battle (Part 2)
After in-depth examinations of Ron and Woodbury's plans for retaliation against an attack, Hermione was impressed. Provided it was executed correctly, it gave them a much better shot at winning the battle then going into it unprepared. It allowed for everything that Voldemort could throw at them – dementors, giants, and other mystical creatures that only Woodbury, being an expert Auror, seemed to know about – as much as possibly could be allowed, and even pinpointed specific figures like Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy that could be taken down to demoralize the enemy. The focus of the battle, as Ron explained, was all about Harry and Voldemort. However, Hermione couldn't help but notice that Ron simultaneously looked incredibly uneasy as he went on about Harry and Voldemort – and thought she knew why. Ron knew he was intentionally putting a phenomenally large weight on Harry's shoulder at least a year earlier than anyone else had anticipated, but there was no way around it – that strategy simply gave them a much better chance than any other strategy could. Maybe not a good chance, per say, but a better one.
"Also," Ron finished up at length. "There are a couple inconsistencies."
"Riddle." Lupin said softly.
"Right," Ron said. "Riddle's a force to be reckoned with, likely almost as powerful as Voldemort himself. He needs to be immobilized as early in the battle as possible, but he likely won't be in the front lines until about the middle of the battle, when it's in full flow."
"I can take him out," Woodbury said, a vengeful fire flashing in his eyes over his many lost Aurors. "Once I come."
"What about the elections?" Hermione asked.
"I think this is more important," Woodbury responded shortly. "I'll be here as soon as the battle's starting – just use the Vibrating Spell."
Ron shook his head, obviously wondering how Woodbury would be able to escape an important political debate in front of the entire press, but left the subject alone.
"Also, early in the plan, we accounted for the fact that there would be an extremely limited number of people," Ron continued. "But it seems to me that the amount of reinforcements that are outlined here aren't the number we're going to get. We need more people."
"Students," Hermione said immediately. "I'm sure some of the older ones would come help if they knew."
Ron nodded in agreement. Woodbury, though, didn't seem so keen on the idea.
"Are you sure? Isn't it somewhat dangerous?"
"We can't take the chance anyway," a familiar voice growled.
"Moody!" Woodbury said. "Good thing you're here."
"Well, Dumbledore called me. Told me I should check out what plans are going over here," Moody said. Mundungus Fletcher also walked in behind him, and gave a wave to everybody before settling down in a large red chair.
"As I was saying," Moody went on. "We can't take the risk. And besides, they have a right to participate if they want to anyway."
"Right," Ron said. "We're all agreed then. That's about it, right?"
"What about Crabbe and Goyle?" Hermione asked. "If they really have that much strength, who'll be able to fight them?"
Ron fast avoided her eyes when he answered with a low mutter. "I can do it."
"What?" Hermione said, distressed. "But don't you need help?"
Ron shrugged, nonchalant. "If I do get help, they may hit me. The only way I can beat Crabbe and Goyle is to quickly move around them as much as possible. No," Ron said, shaking his head. "I'll have to take them alone. It'll be early on, since they'll be alone."
Hermione fell quiet. There was always a risk that one of them would die – but that didn't mean she wanted to acknowledge it. Silence stayed for a moment before Woodbury broke it.
"Well that's it then. I've got some work to do." And he left, moving off toward the kitchen. Lupin nodded towards Moody, Mundungus, Ron and Hermione before following him in that direction.
"Mark, got some political work to do?"
"Yeah, but I've got a question for you," Mark said before approaching him, a desperate look in his eyes. "Do you honestly think that this sixteen-year old, Potter, has a chance at destroying him?" Mark asked Remus, looking straight into his eyes.
Slowly, but surely, Remus Lupin nodded.
Harry woke up in a haze in his bed, the last rays of a red sunlight filtering through the Hospital Wing windows. His body ached slightly, but otherwise he felt fine – probably due to the effect of a couple of Madam Pomfrey's bandages or potions. He groaned and sat up, attracting the attention of the fussy nurse.
"Up now, are you? Well, here you go," she said hurried, thrusting a bottled red potion at him. Harry gave it an uncertain look – it had a somewhat odd smell around it. Harry shrugged and quickly downed it, discovering that it didn't actually taste all that bad in the process (for a medicine), and felt a warm sensation wash through him, soothing his aching muscles. Harry stretched and yawned, feeling tired from his long nap.
"Can I leave then?" Harry asked the nurse, grinning. Despite her fussy attitude, Harry knew the nurse to possess a fairly kind and sympathetic demeanor – just well hidden. After all, perhaps no other student knew her as well as Harry – he had certainly seen her more often than anybody else.
"Well," she said, scanning him up and down. "I suppose so, but don't get involved in anything too physical – you'll have some aches and pains throughout the next week, unfortunately, due to some muscle tears and broken bones you had. Oh – and Miss Patil and Miss Weasley wanted to see you, but I told them they could see you as seen as you woke up."
Harry nodded as he got out of the bed. He waved goodbye at the nurse, who grudgingly acknowledged it with a nod, and smiled and walked out in search of Parvati.
Saturday…
Harry had been playing a rousing game of Exploding Snap with Seamus and Dean when suddenly Professor McGonagall came through the door.
"Potter? The Headmaster wishes to see you."
Harry nodded and followed McGonagall, who looked quite distressed, back to the gargoyle.
"Professor?" Harry asked McGonagall before he entered the staircase. She didn't seem to be following him. "Do you have any idea what he's going to talk to me about?"
McGonagall sighed but didn't answer him. "Move along then, Potter."
Harry nodded and entered the spiral staircase, which twirled up to the hallway leading to the Headmaster's office – soon to be the Headmistress's office, Harry was sadly reminded as he entered through the door. Dumbledore was sitting at his chair, studying in great detail an intricate set of plans that had two different sets of handwriting – one which Harry seemed to recognize vaguely as Ron's.
"Professor?" Harry asked tentatively, drawing Dumbledore's attention away from whatever was there. "Is there a problem?"
Dumbledore's piercingly bright blue eyes looked straight into Harry's hazel eyes.
"Yes."
Monday…
Harry couldn't concentrate on classes. He couldn't concentrate on anything. Sure, there was a chance Dumbledore was wrong, that there wasn't going to be an attack today, and that he wouldn't have to kill Voldemort today, but the odds weren't great. Besides, just to add to his premonition, his scar had been hurting more and more often lately, giving him constant headaches and making it even harder to concentrate.
Not to mention he was having trouble imagining having to kill Voldemort. Could he really do it? Did he have the heart to kill something outright? He remembered his vague memories of his parents, the huge photo album Hagrid had given to him at the end of the first year, all the pictures furiously waving at him from the oft-turned pages, but it was still tough to think of doing it. The spell. Not to mention the horrible likeliness that someone would die, and no matter what anybody ever said, he couldn't shake the feeling that it would automatically be his fault.
He remembered what Ron had said the last time he had met him – yesterday, two days before the predicted battle.
"No matter what happens Harry, I'm glad I became your friend."
Harry gazed at the shoe he was supposed to be transfiguring, disinterested. McGonagall walked by and looked at his tired expression and (as always) disheveled hair, and finally looked over at the shoe he was supposed to be changing. McGonagall's expression changed for a flash of a moment into sympathy, but her face quickly turned into a strict mask again before she moved on quickly, ignoring Harry's lack of effort.
At Godric's Hollow.
Ron stood tense, his back against the tree as it had been for the past hour, his left and right hands constantly clenching and unclenching. This wait was killing him. He knew the battle would be horrible, knew it would be terrible, but the fact was that he just couldn't stand waiting for something horrible to happen and knowing that you could do nothing about it that you hadn't already done. He scanned the positions of everybody. He was directly at the edge of the forest next to HQ, ready to be the first line of reinforcements if necessary. Hermione was several trees back, being much better off from the distance where she could pick spells fast and judge most accurately where they should be. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Fred, George, Mundungus, and Mrs. Weasley were all strategically placed in different houses of Godric's Hollow. Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, and Lupin had their backs against the back of HQ itself, ready along with Ron to be the closest fighters to the Death Eaters.
Ron turned and looked straight at Hermione. She gave him a weak, half-hearted smile and a wave. He smiled in an effort to cheer her up, but then gazed at her with a serious expression on his face. Ron knew that he really loved Hermione – he wouldn't be able to stand it if he lost her. Hermione seemed to understand what he was thinking and gave him a reassuring smile, clutching the edge of her pants in anticipation.
Suddenly a faint green circle of light started to appear out of nowhere, shimmering with gathering intensity at the exact spot where Ron knew Dumbledore's boundary to be. The circle seemed to be pulsing and moving with increasing power, stretching out and back and forth as it grew along the dome-like shape of Dumbledore's spell. Ron nodded to Moody, who gestured to his remaining team, all of them getting their wands out as one. Ron turned around and nodded to Hermione as well, who understood and got out her wand, quickly doing the Vibrating spell to Woodbury, then Dumbledore.
Finally the green light surged forth blindingly bright and flashed out like a lightbulb. Ron's heart broke as he saw the odds against them. Voldemort had brought a veritable small Army, bringing all his Death Eaters as well as giants and trolls that Ron could see in the distance. Thankfully, as Ron and Woodbury had predicted, there were no dementors, as they would have a demoralizing effect on Voldemort's own wizards and witches.
Riddle, Crabbe, and Goyle were at the head of the army. Ron could dimly see Riddle giving whispered instructions to Crabbe and Goyle and gesturing to each place where there was a Fidelius Charm, easily breaking that Charm as he did so. Crabbe and Goyle nodded. Riddle pointed obviously and clearly at HQ as a target before dashing off to the back line. Crabbe and Goyle gestured to all the Death Eaters behind them. The army moved as one towards the HQ.
Alright…any second now…
And several things happened at once.
Nine or ten earth-shattering blasts were heard everywhere as Death Eaters went flying into the air thanks to Fred and George's wizard contraptions. Several hissing sounds were heard and an all-encompassing and putrid-smelling black smoke encompassed large portions of the Death Eater army. Many other effects could be seen as well – Death Eaters were sinking into the ground, flying into the air, screaming, yelling, and altogether being very confused and disorganized.
Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom had been tossed unceremoniously into the air and landed hard back into the floor, got back up, rubbing their backs, and looked menacingly in every direction. They roared angrily before leading an all-out charge to HQ, oblivious of what it was costing them in men as tens of traps were set off at once.
Ron smiled grimly as he started to gather strength in his silver hand. He gave a hand signal to Moody to show that he was going now. Moody nodded in agreement and his group started to move towards the army clandestinely. Ron gathered all his strength to every limb through wandless magic, hoping beyond hope his plan would work. Until the necessary reinforcements arrived, the plan was simply to confuse them as much as possible. This also included Ron taking out Crabbe and Goyle as quickly as possible, as they were two of the most important figure-heads.
Ron launched himself forward with lightning speed, hoping that his calculations were right. He sped up as he quickly saw that he might not make it. However, he did, sending Crabbe and Goyle flying as he knocked them in a completely different direction from where they were heading. The army continued blindly, generally going towards the Headquarters. Ron moved quickly towards Crabbe and Goyle, hoping to hit them both while they were down. He reached them before they got up, pummeling Goyle into the ground with his silver hand while furiously kicking Crabbe away. Goyle stopped in recognition before grinning wickedly. He grabbed Ron's leg and tossed him way up, sending him flying before he landed hard onto the pavement. Grimacing, Ron stood up, slowly preparing for Crabbe and Goyle's advance. They moved slowly towards him, obviously in no rush. Ron started to make a furious dance around them, catching Goyle in the face with a nasty kick and tripping Crabbe. He flipped over Goyle, avoiding a punch, and powered up his silver hand, hitting him in the small of the back and sending him yards away. Unfortunately, he felt Crabbe's strong hand wrap around his ankle before twisting him around, flipping him around in the air and landing hard on his back on the pavement. Ron tasted blood in his mouth. Crabbe started to menace over him before Ron kicked him in the gut, flooring him again. Ron rolled over and tripped Goyle with his leg. He hit Goyle in the head with his silver hand as hard as possible as Goyle fell down. Flipping up, he brought out his wand. Just as Crabbe was about to punch him, he fired a Jelly-Legs spell off – but it was really only a diversion. Ron quickly hit Crabbe with a Stunning Spell. Goyle lay unconscious on the floor. Ron winced, in intense pain, as he bewitched Goyle and Crabbe to be feather-light and sprinted them off to another house, throwing them unceremoniously into a closet and covering them with an Invisibility Cloak.
Outside, the battle was faring as expected. With the reinforcements and the extra punch of Fred and George's traps, as well as the focus on the leaders of the Death Eaters, the Order had managed to start driving back the Death Eaters.
That was all until the giants and trolls came.
They came, smashing through trees or picking them up and using them as clubs, swinging them around haphazardly, destroying everything in sight. Ron could see Park dashing around, nimbly avoiding a giant's errant tree, could see Hagrid recklessly take a smaller giant in one-on-one, and saw Fred and George high-five each other as they stepped over the body of a dead troll, but they were still losing too many people to the giants. Moody led a slow retreat back down, taking out the giants with concentrated numbers of spells, but soon that very retreat would simply grant Voldemort one victory anyway – the destruction of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Ron rushed in to help, leaping desperately onto a giant's back (dimly remembering what Harry did in first year to a troll) and knocking him out strong with a silver hand, leaping from back to back while narrowly avoiding many obstacles taking out more than anybody else. He saw Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Parvati in the distance along with Moody, furiously casting group spells at the trolls, even using levitation spells on troll's clubs like first year again. Ron was confused when he saw two giants fighting each other before he realized that one was Grawp, who was thankfully winning.
Suddenly, the pounding of hooves was heard. Cresting right over the hill with the sun's last beams illuminating him magnificently, Draco was riding Firenze along with a group of centaurs, all equipped with bows and arrows.
"Giants!" Firenze yelled to his fellow centaurs. "You know what to do!"
The centaurs pounded down the wizard street and met the giants in a rush (most of the other wizards of the Order had moved out of the way) of arrows, a storm flying. Ron dived out of the way to the side, nearly crashing into Harry and Hermione while doing so.
"Alright Harry?" Ron yelled as they cast spells, helping the centaurs take down the giants.
"Doing alright," Harry shouted back, grinning, assuming a care-free attitude entirely inappropriate for the situation. Parvati and Ginny joined them suddenly, along with a shaken Angelina.
"Where were you?"
"Looking for Angelina!" Ginny yelled. "But we found her."
Harry saw another group cutting a swath through the giants as well, largely composed of a mix of Hogwarts students and experienced (or retired, in Moody's case) Aurors.
"We're pushing them back!"
Draco dismounted Firenze.
"Thanks, Firenze."
"I do what I must," Firenze said quietly. "My brethren and I must continue." The centaurs galloped on, continuously nocking arrows to their bows as they trampled through the army.
Draco's wand flew to his hand of its own will as he faced his father.
"I should've known you were betraying me!" Lucius screamed. "You will die for your insolence…but first you will suffer! Crucio!"
Draco dodged the spell extremely narrowly but didn't cast a spell at his father. His father's face contorted with rage before he cast another spell. A jet of red light shot out at Draco.
"Protego!" Draco yelled and blocked the charm. His father sent a series of arrows shooting out of his wand at him and he hit the ground, desperately avoiding them. Finally all his rage was released. He used a Banishing Charm on his father and sent him flying onto the ground. Lucius sent a series of magical binding chains at him. Draco felt the chains wrap around him before he cut them. Draco desperately used a Conjunctivitis Curse on his father. Lucius dropped his wand as his eyes burned desperately. Draco stunned his father, sending him to the ground. He gazed at the unconscious body for a minute before moving on to the rest of the battle.
Everybody regrouped in front of Hogwarts before starting to push up the hill. Ron, Parvati, Padma Patil, Seamus, and Harry proved particularly useful in the fight, cutting a whirling swath through Death Eaters using wandless magic. Still, after a while, they began to be pushed back again – thanks to Riddle, who was now having a spectacular duel with Woodbury, and Voldemort, who had come to the front line personally, and was proving his power effectively.
Harry's eyes widened as he saw what was happening. He punched a final Death Eater, sending him flying, before hurtling up the hill towards Voldemort to meet him in a combat, Ron and Hermione close behind, yelling at Harry to stop.
"Albus!" Moody roared loudly, attracting Dumbledore's attention. Dumbledore saw what Harry was doing and sprinted up the hill following him.
Harry got there first.
"Ah, Potter," Voldemort said joyfully, his snake-eyes glinting maliciously. "So you think you can defeat me."
"This has been put off far too long," Harry muttered under his breath. He put away his wand. Voldemort's eyes shined as he too did the same thing. Harry leapt into the air, his fist coming down towards Voldemort's head with terrific force. Voldemort dodged and kicked him down, slamming Harry into the ground. Harry dodged Voldemort's next kick, trying to trip him. Voldemort flipped up, bringing out his wand.
"Cruc-" But he was stopped when a jet of white light hit him, knocking him into the ground. Dumbledore stood.
"Dumbledore, you fool!" Voldemort hissed with hatred. Harry dimly saw a series of flashing wands and lights as Dumbledore and Voldemort fought furiously, slightly losing his consciousness. A sparkling red flash was released and Harry could barely see Dumbledore on the ground, his eyes barely, open, Voldemort standing menacingly over him.
"Avada -" Voldemort started, but a piercing scream was suddenly heard. Woodbury had successfully beaten down Tom Riddle.
Voldemort, in rage, looked straight down at Dumbledore. Harry, still on the ground, could see Remus running towards them, tears streaming down his face. Harry saw a jet of green light hit Dumbledore and then heard a loud crack, and Voldemort was gone.