Disclaimer: Check first chapter for full disclaimer and other warnings.

Chapter 23 – Horrors

When the dark creatures arrived from the North, after running all that time, they weren't breathing heavily. They weren't breathing at all. They didn't need to breathe, in fact, so it was no surprise anyway. The Death Eaters apparated there quickly hereafter, and prepared the castle siege under the failing light of the setting sun. Voldemort himself came to supervise the assault, even if he didn't want to endanger his spirit state. For instance, he wouldn't lead his followers into the fray and subsequently die before everyone else. It wouldn't be good to pass to history as the first Dark Lord to do that. No, no. Voldemort, like most dark lords, would drive his forces from the back. Consequently, the first thing they did was taking hold of the Quidditch pitch as base camp and regroup there.

Dumbledore's spies on this side of the castle commented the move with distress in their voice. It wasn't every day that you saw Death Eaters take your favourite sport's terrain as base. The idea, however, would greatly amuse a certain pair of troublemakers when they would stumble upon it.

The outer ward, protecting the castle from malevolent creatures and wizards, had been weakened by Bill's attempts, but Dumbledore had steadily refuelled them with his own strength. When Voldemort arrived and stopped Bill's attempts to debrief with him, Dumbledore had felt that the wards' energy stopped leaking. His satisfaction was short-lived, though, as McGonagall barged in the room where he was working. Her distressed face showed enough.

They were there.

The aged professor, chief warlock and great mugwump, wanted to put as much power as possible in the wards before managing the battle itself, though. Free from the distraction caused by Bill's gnawing attempts, he concentrated and released a large surge of energy into the wards, causing him to fall on the ground, panting. Even if she wasn't quite ready for him to fall down, McGonagall caught him at the last moment, and she also had several potions with her, rightfully expecting a case of severe magical exhaustion. Taking the wizened head in her hands, she managed to slip a Pepper-up potion and another energy refilling draught, more exotic and more potent.

When they came back to the Battle Room, Filius Flitwick, Charms Professor and Head of the Ravenclaw House, had just finished casting a long and complicated spell that Madam Pince had found a short while ago. The result was breathtaking, as a ghost-like representation of Hogwarts graced the middle of the room. Several dots were present in it, each having one of several colours. Glancing at the different points, there wasn't much difficulty to guess which was which. Gryffindors were red, Slytherins green, Ravenclaw blue and Hufflepuff yellow. It also seemed that older student were lighter than the younger ones. Teachers were white and other people were grey, without a distinction between Aurors and town people. Hogwarts castle had only a limited sentience, after all, and it only recognized those who lived in it.

"There!" the diminutive professor, always cheerful, exclaimed. "I have to prepare myself for the downstairs action, so, if you will excuse me, I leave Madam Pince to explain the spell."

With these words, and a flourish, he disappeared in the circular stairs. The office door had been left open. The incredulous gazes turned from the stairway to the mousy librarian, who blushed, unused to the stares. Sensing that the Headmistress, a fellow in knowledge, was patting her back reassuringly, she explained the spell. Its casting was complicated, but once done, using it was easy. Anyone in the room could ask to zoom towards a given room by pointing at it with a wand. She demonstrated by zooming the Entrance Hall. Some gasped at the grim determination that emanated from the battle formations, but found their wits again when they noticed the white dot who had just joined the ranks. Flitwick, as a Charm expert full of happiness, was going to build a figurative wall of Patronus against the Dementors.

They went to the maximum zoom outwards, and noticed a cloud of black dots in the smoky shape that represented the Quidditch pitch. At that point, nobody had to ask what it meant. Still, in these, some where so intense that they seemed to radiate blackness.

They waited. And waited. As the Death Eaters seemed not to move, Dumbledore moved some of the defending teams on the side of the castle nearest the Quidditch pitch to be able to intercept them should they move soon. After half an hour of waiting, the sun was almost set, but the ghostly representation of the castle neatly showed a column of dots emerging from the Quidditch pitch and going for the nearest entrance, which was on the northwest side of the castle. A bit afterwards, reports from spies surveying that area came to indicate that Dementors and Death Eaters were heading toward the castle. The column got stopped by the magical barrier, though, and the Death Eaters seemed to regroup to discuss about the best way to bring them down. Seeing an opportunity, and knowing that the wards wouldn't prevent spells from the inside out, Dumbledore activated the communicator towards the proper teams and ordered fire.

A flurry of coloured beams erupted from the classroom windows, as several defenders, students and adults alike, sent their best spells toward the attacking army. Said army, however, was made of Death Eaters and Dementors. Most spells were useless against Dementors, and Death Eaters quickly recovered, shielded themselves, and retaliated. Stunned Death Eaters were revived and attacked the castle as well. The wards, however, were keeping the attacking spells at bay, and a few Death Eaters came back to the Quidditch pitch, presumably to converse with their master about this new development.

A while afterwards, Dumbledore paled when he saw what the invading army was doing. The worried reports confirmed that they were positioning themselves around the ward. Even when defenders increased their rate of fire, the attackers shielded themselves all the time. Some clever defenders made use of conjured items dropped on the attackers' heads, and others transfigured the soil into a thick mud, but it wasn't enough to prevent the strange battle formation.

When a hundred Dementors and fifty Death Eaters were positioned, they all acted at the same time. Death Eaters used their most powerful spell, which was the Killing curse for most of them, and the Dementors pressed their mouth forward until it met the ward itself. Said ward began to become visible because of the strain, and took a whiter and whiter colour as seconds ticked by. The barrage of curses and soul-sucking effect continued for a while, during which the defenders used their best spells to counteract the attacking force. Nine Death Eaters fell during that time, only to be brought back to be replaced by others. After a full five minutes of this, the magical shield couldn't take any more and exploded with an enormous popping sound and a magical backlash. Several Death Eaters were knocked out for good, and a few Dementors even fell on the ground due to the explosion.

The people in the Battle Room didn't need the reports to know that the ward had fallen, and everyone in the castle was warned too, because a loud alarm, like a large bell, resounded in the castle. Overjoyed about their imminent victory, the Death Eaters rushed to the entrance that had been their initial target, but got the surprise of finding it sealed shut. Even Explosion spells weren't going far in the thick slab of stone that had been conjured behind the doors. On top of that, people from above were still shooting spells at them. In the mad rush and the confusion that followed, the Death Eaters got hit by several other curses. For the most part, spells sent by the students were debilitating at most, but they served as distraction and the affected Death Eaters were an easier prey for the Aurors and teachers who could disable them.

The attackers didn't press their attack there, as their main goal was to enter. Leading the Dementors around the castle, the Death Eaters went for the only door that the defenders hadn't sealed: the main entrance. Their reasoning was that, judging by the sheer size of the doors, sealing these would have been difficult. On top of that, the defenders still needed to get out at one point.

When the last spell echoed in the classrooms that the defenders were using around the side entrance, the defenders looked around grimly. Of the six teams that had been dispatched there, three were covered in dust from fallen debris. Said debris had also hit some people, and Patricia Stimpson, a fourth-year Gryffindor, as well as Penelope Clearwater, a six-year Ravenclaw, had been buried under a fallen support beam and other debris. Percy Weasley, who had wanted to be in the same team, was in tears near the collapse. Emmeline Vance had seen this kind of setting time and time again due to her active participation in the Order of the Phoenix, and she sternly moved the crying young man on the side, her wand toward the rubble.

"Aedificium Leviosa."

The enhanced levitation spell was mostly used to build houses, as it enabled the caster to lift parts of buildings. The whole pile of rubble went slowly to the air, releasing the battered and unconscious shapes of the two girls. A notice to the Battle Room and two Mobilicorpus later, the team left their hideout towards the Hospital Wing. After putting the wounded in bed in the care of the healing staff, the rest of the team reported again, and got dispatched to the front side, where the battle raged. Thankfully, due to the preparation of the classroom for the battle, causing difficulties for the Death Eaters to aim inside, the two girls lying in the infirmary were the only wounded of the battle opening.

Hogwarts wasn't protected by a magical shield anymore, except the inner castle wards preventing Apparation and hiding the castle from Muggles. Knowing this, the attackers launched themselves onto the gates. Half of the Dementors turned around the castle, trying to distress the defenders by making them relive their worst memories. The other half was stationed around the main entrance, having the same effect on the people there. The defenders stopped fighting for a few seconds, trying to evade the cold feeling.

While the soul-sucking creatures turned around the castle, making the nearest defenders relive their saddest memories, the Death Eaters used the respite provided by the Dementors to concentrate on opening the great bronze doors. The Dementors couldn't unlock them, so the job was left to the dark wizards, and curse after curse were thrown on the gates. However, each and every curse was repelled by another magical shield, which kept the door impervious to break-in. Hogwarts' wards had multiple levels, and only the outer one had been breached yet. However, to the defenders' anguish, someone was with the Death Eaters. Someone who had red hair and who wasn't wearing the usual black robe and white mask. Someone who advanced towards the door, protected from curses by shields raised by the Death Eaters. Someone whose face was a mask of intense pain.

Albus Dumbledore had been warned by the strange colour of the dot on the ghostly three-dimensional map of Hogwarts. The dot was mostly black, but was sometimes blinking red. Alerted by the reports, he went to the window to see the happenstance with his own eyes. And once there, he couldn't believe said eyes. Molly Weasley, who was there too, and who had grasped her family name in the quick report, went to the window too, and fainted on the spot. There, apparently working for the enemy, and trying to lower the magic holding the door, was Bill Weasley. Dumbledore could only think of one way to reach through the multiple shields around the Curse Breaker. Three ways, actually, except that he wasn't fond to use any of them. Sighing, he reflected that it was a war situation and it justified the Unforgivable. He opened a window pane, aimed his wand on Bill, and whispered a single word.

"Imperio."

His plan was to take control of his target, but to make him appear like he was breaking the wards unsuccessfully so that he wouldn't be executed on the spot by his Death Eater guards. To his utter astonishment, he found that Bill's mind had been tampered with, and that he couldn't control him at all. That was a bad news in itself, but brought forth a slightly good one also: at least, the redhead wasn't there on his free will.

Sensing the shield on the door lowering, and notified by his spies that the Dementors were grouping on the castle front, he quickly ordered that the students and adults most proficient in the Patronus, and who weren't in the Entrance Hall yet, regroup there. They would need everything in their power to push the creatures back. They wouldn't stand forever, though, and he hoped that either Moody's team or Severus would find a way out of that mess. He then sat down and contemplated the numerous dots moving from their previous position into the Entrance Hall, while Minerva McGonagall reported sending Molly Weasley to the infirmary with a prescription of calming draughts. The General wasn't quite listening, though, as his attention had been caught by a red dot moving away from a classroom on the highest floor. They had decided to position the fighting groups no higher than the second floor, as it wouldn't be effective to hurl spells from too high, and the highest levels would be taken by the spying groups. Obviously, one of the spies had decided to disregard the orders to stay in place and to go... to the Entrance Hall.

A bit earlier, in one of the spying turrets...

Like every spy on the northwest side of the castle, Ginny Weasley noticed the arrival of the Death Eaters and Dementors. Watching them, she had also felt a little weird when one of the people among the Death Eaters wasn't wearing the usual attire of their dark activity. The man was holding his head high, and he was laughing. She had shaken herself, before staring, annoyed, at her assigned colleague, Colin Creevey. For sure, the boy was quite happy to be there with her, despite the circumstances, and he was talking endlessly. She had to shush him several time, and she was ready to do it again when something clicked in her head.

How could she hear the strange man laugh when he was down the Quidditch pitch, especially with Colin blabbering nearby?

She knew that laugh. She had heard it a whole year in her head.

She felt her cheeks lose all their blood, and was on the verge of losing consciousness, but took hold of the cold stone windowsill, and the contact jolted her awake. Voldemort was there! She took the brooch and pressed it urgently, while looking towards the pitch. What she saw, though, made her drop the transfigured ornament in fright before dropping on the floor, really unconscious this time.

Voldemort had been looking straight at her.

When Colin had succeeded in waking her, the fight had started already, and she could only look at him in wonder before remembering everything. Her eyes wide, she grasped him.

"Where is everyone?"

"They are all in the Entrance Hall. They are going to enter!"

It didn't need a genius to understand which persons were designated by each sentence, and Ginny took off. Voldemort was here, and she had to warn whoever was managing the defence about that.

The ancient spell shielding the gates, which had never been renewed in half a millennium, and upon which all hopes now stood, broke down not long afterwards afterwards, and the Death Eaters began to cast every destruction spell they knew on the gigantic bronze doors. Said doors were broken down instantly under the intense spell storm. A part of it was vaporized under the pressure, another exploded inwards, thankfully only grazing a few defenders on the way, and showering all of them in splinters and dust. A slab of bronze even melted to the ground, revealing the previously strong oaken structure of the door. When the defenders were able to defend themselves again, the entrance was open and Dementors were charging.

There were many people around the hall, though, standing in different areas. The younger defenders had even been levitated to a high hiding place. At least, they wouldn't be reached easily by the Dementors. Everyone had also been given chocolate and a vial of potion, to counter the distressing effect of the soul-sucking creatures. Fawkes was still there, perched high and ready to sing to invigorate the defenders against the damned creatures. On the first ranks, there were some people from the town, who had insisted to partake in the defence. Apart their job, they didn't have a great knowledge of spells, but they had come with their weapons of choice. The couple owning Honeyduke's was there with a claymore each, and the teller of the post office was waving his mace around. To rouse their neighbours spirits, and their own too, they had boasted about the weapons being magically-charged heirlooms, perfectly able to slice anything, even if its name began with 'D' and ended with 'ementor'.

The first Dementors' charge, somewhat slowed by the damaged entrance threshold, was met by an volley of Patronus charms so intense that the whole Entrance Hall looked like the moon had risen in it. Just afterwards, miscellaneous silvery animals could be seen charging into the fray outside, driving the Dementors' stampede away for a while. However, as soon as the way was clear, a shower of curses from the forgotten Death Eaters passed through the destroyed doorway, and several defenders fell, a few lifeless and some bleeding heavily.

The fighting defenders took aim and removed some Death Eaters, but the damage had begun, and there were fewer and fewer Patronuses as the people defending the foyer were more and more tired, distressed, wounded, or plain dead.

After another hour of constant battling, the Dementors succeeded in invading the entrance, barely pushed away by the Patronuses that the remaining defenders sent their way. The damned creatures used their infamous ability of sucking soul to remove permanently some of the most resisting defenders.

Some of these strong defenders were students. A group of students had been particularly efficient in casting their Patronus charms, and had driven away several waves of Dementors. Neville Longbottom and Parvati Patil, hand in hand, were some of the most proficient of the lot. But, when Parvati got ripped from the group by the wretched creatures and Kissed to death, they quickly lost their drive. Neville felt crushed, and wanted to follow his young love.

To everyone's astonishment, he jumped on the Dementor that had just killed his beloved, and, removing the creature's hood, tried to get himself Kissed. However, to everyone's further amazement, the creature recoiled, refusing it.

Not understanding the situation, and angry at the creatures, Neville tried again with another Dementor, to no avail. He started to become furious and, oblivious to the unnatural creatures' reaction, started to bodily attack the creatures. Surprisingly, none of the Dementors was willing to approach him, and he successfully drove a few of them away, before being hit by an explosion curse from a Death Eater. He slumped to the ground, unconscious from the concussion, and was quickly forgotten in the surrounding fight.

In the Headmistress office, a distressed old man was trying to manage a battle he was sure to lose, when two events suddenly happened, at the same time. The office's chimney came to life, and a bizarre-looking item on the desk shrilled.

Snape's house, a little earlier...

"What does the Helm look like?"

"A... helmet."

"How does one use it?"

"Wear... and... think."

"Where is it exactly?"

"Deepest... level... twenty... floors... down."

"Another thing: how can we destroy you?"

"Air... and... fire."

"Air and fire? What does that mean?"

"Attack... with... air... and... fire."

The conversation was going nowhere, and the man had to inform his old colleague of the new developments. He took a Peppering potion vial in his hand, but didn't drink it, as he suddenly remembered the consumption limit of these. He had been awake for a long time already, using those, and couldn't risk magical internal wounds. Motioning to Hermione, he recounted the conversation to her, and shared his conclusions. While he went to sleep, she stepped through the fireplace and used Floo powder to travel to Hogwarts.

In Gabriel's Hideaway, earlier...

Tamara was frightened. She had been running in a school corridor when two strong young men had captured her. She had been laid on the floor and asked senseless questions. When she couldn't answer them, her clothes had been ripped, and she had been threatened of the worst. As she still couldn't respond to their questions, they had kicked her unconscious and she was sure that her last seconds of sanity, or even life, had arrived. That's why, when she woke up completely after a long sleep in which she thought she had had a nightmare in which she fell from a skyscraper, she was startled to notice a strange person still sleeping alongside her in a strange room.

That person, undoubtedly male, had a yellow fur on his whole body, and wings protruding from his back.

The events of the previous day still unclear in her mind, and not recognizing the alien, she panicked and started to push him off the bed. Waking slowly, the creature blinked owlishly at her, and she started to push him harder, also using her fire mastery to burn him. That person was Gabriel, though, and he was quite distraught to see her in that state. The memories of what had happened on the roof came back to his memory, and he was feeling strange himself. Not succeeding in reasoning her, he decided to use his ring to flee her. She had been in the rooms already, he reflected, so she wouldn't be lost anyways. She would calm herself.

He couldn't go back where he came from, though, as it was mid-air from falling. The only location that came to his mind at that point was one he had vowed not to use again, but he uttered the command word nonetheless.

"Hogliewarts."

He arrived in the office, and was surprised again. This time, it was spotless, although no one was using it. However, he didn't have time to reflect about that, as a recently-installed trap came to life, and wooden bars appeared around him. Nervous about that, he quickly reflected that he wouldn't have any problem to break them if he was in his lion form. As he was already partly transformed, the change took a mere second, and he broke the cage in two powerful pushes.

He then remarked the partly open door and the shouting sounds coming from downstairs. Wary that someone could come to check upon the trap, he quietly exited the office, his paws eliciting no sound from the stone floor.

Once outside, looking over a railing, he stopped abruptly.

On the level below, a few yards under him, people were fighting. More exactly, people were fighting against strange creatures, and seemed to lose. He didn't know where he was, and couldn't really take side in an unknown battle. Therefore, he prepared to turn around to search for another exit when a sudden scream came from the battle. He sought the scream source, his two eyes being an invaluable help, and he stopped breathing.

There, fighting against the wretched creatures, and already bleeding from the battle, was a redhead he knew.

He couldn't leave, now. Not when he just found her again. He put his front paws on the stone railing and extended his wings, ready to drop into the fray. Before doing so, he roared his warning to the people below. No one was to hurt her!

The roar caused a pause in the fighting, and he jumped over the balustrade.

Azkaban...

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was a legend in the whole Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he had no problems passing the numerous barrages of Aurors in the prison. The heterogeneous group, made of a set of redheads and two other Aurors besides Moody, was descending the stairs, searching for their target, when a bird appeared in front of them in a flash of flames.

Fawkes delivered his message to Moody, before going back to Hogwarts immediately. Judging from the bird's agitated state, they all understood that the castle was already under siege, and, after having learned the last update of Snape's conversation from the message, they hurried down, in the corridors barely lit by everlasting torches.

At first, they had passed cells that contained recently arrived prisoners, but found older and older ones each time they descended a flight of stairs. The prison had been built to facilitate the Dementor rounds, and the six intruders had to pass near each and every cell on their way down.

They found the first dead at the tenth underground level. Actually, they may have seen dead prisoners before, but the state of that one was clear enough, the stench emanating from the cell was one of a decomposing body. After this, they pressed on even more. Sometimes, they found oddities in prisoners. On the seventh level, they had seen a whimpering wolf, and on the twelfth, a young man who looked at them intently, fangs showing and hunger etched on his face. The complete silence, which had started at level nine, was foreboding at best. After level fifteen, almost all cells contained only remains, and the smell became less charged with decay, only dust.

They reached the nineteenth level easily, and stopped there. The opposing stairs were going up, not down. Knowing that his real job had just started, Moody began to inspect each and every cell with his magical eye, and stopped on one. The others had been in front of it already, gawking at the sight.

In front of them was a very old man, the oldest they could have met, judging by the length and snowy nature of his facial hair. He was emaciated, and he was lying in his straw bed, barely breathing but alive.

Not having time for idle chit-chat, and judging the man too frail to move anyway, they continued to inspect the cells, not noticing that Ron was still looking at the man with his jaw hanging. Nothing out of the ordinary could be found, even with Moody's magical eye. They were ready to go up to check if they had forgotten a passageway, when they noticed that Ron was still looking at the cells. The teenager had moved, and wasn't staring the old man anymore. He was now looking pointedly at the cell on the left of the old man's.

Having been briefed about his possible usefulness in the mission, his twin brothers went to him.

"Ron?"

"Hmmm?" he answered, without looking at them.

"What are you looking at?"

He didn't answer, and they looked at the cell, trying to understand what held him. All the prison cells were made in the same way: they were all closed by three dank stone walls and bars on the fourth. In some cells, the prisoners had decorated the walls, but that was rare, because of the distressing effect of the Azkaban prison wardens. In each cell, there was a straw bed, a stone basin in the wall which always contained water, and a hole in the floor. This cell wasn't different. The only strange thing about it was its size. Similar to the old man's one, it was a bit smaller than most other cells, but they had already seen cells this small in the prison, so it hadn't come to their mind.

Still not understanding their brother, they tried to follow his line of sight. He was looking at the straw bed, where a skeleton laid, its bones neatly cleaned by the prison rats. The skeleton wasn't different from the other ones either. While Fred continued to look around the cell to try to find how Ron could be interested in it, George went to Moody, who was still discussing the mission with the two Aurors.

"Sir?" Fred asked politely. After all, Alastor Moody was an impressive sight for a teenager, and even with their mischievous nature, the twins knew that the mission was serious.

"Yes, son?"

"Ron is looking at something but we can't see why."

"I'll be right there."

They went to the other two, and Fred pointed at the bed. Using his eye again, Moody stared at the skeleton and the bed itself, and emitted a sharp laugh, more resembling a bark.

The other ones were first unnerved by the sound, but recovered soon enough to ask the same question. "What is it?"

Moody shook his head, muttering "I should have known." He looked at them and explained.

"When I looked the cells earlier, I was looking for passages through the walls, like on the train stations where we mingle with muggles." At the twins' wondering look, he elaborated. "Platform 9¾. I wasn't ready for that. It's a hidden trapdoor."

He magically opened the cell door, and banished the skeleton and the bed in the other side of the cell. Using his magical eye to discern the invisible trapdoor handle, he opened it, revealing a set of stairs. Nymphadora Tonks was left in the cell to guard the way, and the others followed Moody. They descended the stairs, and found themselves in a dark corridor, barely lit by phosphorescent lichen on the walls.

"Lumos."

The raspy voice of Moody had almost whispered the spell, but the sound was echoed endlessly in the empty corridor. Even now that they had light, they could only see farther, but the sight was the same. On each side of the passage, numerous dark alcoves were displaying the same strange device. It looked like a spiked cloth hanger, with a hose attached on top of it. The hosepipes were attached to a tube which lined the main corridor, which end was still plunged into darkness. The alcoves were approximately three feet wide for eight feet high, almost the same height as the corridor itself. If they had doors, one could have thought of them as torture cells.

Wary of the setting, they advanced cautiously. After two hundred yards of walking, they saw the end of the corridor, which was closed by a double door, decorated with two serpents. They tried to open it, but the door resisted even their best magical attempts.

They prepared to go back, when Ron surprised them all by walking to the door and speaking like no one ever heard him speak before.

"SshaSshen."

The word echoed in the empty corridor, but nothing happened. The twins went to grab him, but Moody beat them to it.

"What are you doing, lad?"

His answer, though, surprised them. "I may not have the proper accent, but I heard it before. I can do it. Sshaishensh!"

They still didn't understand what he meant, and he spent two more tries before the twins' eyes lit with remembrance. Gathering the others away from their little brother, they explained about Harry's parselmouth ability and Ron's presence at almost each of its manifestation. While they were doing so, Ron shouted the word a last time, and it echoed in the whole corridor before a click could be heard behind the doors. The serpents guarding the doors spoke something unrecognisable in return, and the passage opened.

What came to their eyes, though, wasn't what they initially envisioned. They had thought of another prison cell, or a room with the sought after helmet on a pedestal. On the twentieth level underground, they had never imagined finding a room with a window lit by moonlight, nor the room appearing to contain everything one could need to live and study. Numerous books and items lined the wall-mounted shelves. They looked around in search for a helmet, when Moody remembered the message from Dumbledore. Closing his real eye again, he inspected the room. He wasn't surprised to notice that the window was an illusion, although a very advanced and powerful one. He turned around and finally noticed the helmet high on a shelf. Focusing on it with his real eye, he chuckled upon finding that it was disguised as a wig.

During his search, the twins were looking around as if they had entered the vault of the infamous Marauders, their idols. They started to touch to everything while Moody was looking elsewhere, the other Auror assisting him, and Ron oblivious again.

Crash!

The sound wasn't one you should expect, nor welcome, in a wizard's private study.

Whirling around, wands drawn, the two Aurors were surprised to notice that Fred was holding two books while George had several potions in his hands. Unfortunately, he had wanted to grasp one too many and one of them had crashed on the floor, splashing his feet. The Aurors cleaned him frantically, in case it was something acid or equally damaging, but it wasn't.

The mission was urgent, so they were to return to Hogwarts as soon as the helmet was found. However, the room was full of possibly interesting items and books, and, with the threat of Voldemort coming there, they couldn't leave them there. Alastor Moody, after scolding the clumsy twins, took his decision. He gave the helmet and the return portkey to Ron and them, telling them to go back swiftly, without dallying. They nodded, and, grasping the item, spoke the activation word.

Once they were gone, Moody took his reduced trunk out of his pocked, and enlarged it. With the other Auror, they then stored everything they could take a hold of inside, books and items alike, but separating the dark ones from the others using one of the old Auror's dark detectors. While doing so, Moody explained to the other man that they were to come back with a portkey too, although through multiple steps, as they couldn't make a portkey to Hogwarts themselves. In that way, they wouldn't have to encounter any dark wizard.

One of the interesting items looked like a pensieve, but was way bigger than a regular one, equalling in size a barrel. It also wasn't made of stone but of a black and unknown material, and its content wasn't silvery but ashen. When removing the heavy object from the floor, they noticed the flexible pipe loosely attached to it, and followed its path with their eyes. They then remarked that it was connected to the pipe from the corridor.

The pensieve-like furniture item also didn't have a lid. Thankfully, Moody's trunk, like most enlarged trunks, had its own magical equivalent of a gravity field, and everything put inside was safe against the trunk's rough handling. After all, the man had been an Auror, and such feature could be the only difference between a mission's success and failure.

After storing everything manageable in the trunk, Moody reduced it again and they left the room. What stayed behind was mostly the furniture and paintings.

And a splash of unknown potion on the floor.

The two Aurors went through the corridor, and arrived in the cell...

...where they got a little surprise.

Tonks was outside of the cell, slumped against the stump of the wall separating the cell with the trapdoor and the old man's. She was apparently asleep. After closing the trapdoor, moving the bed on it, and closing the cell door again, they proceeded to wake her. Once awake, she told them that she had just felt the need to take a nap, and, despite being wrong to do that while on a guard duty, they didn't say anything more. Telling her that the others left in advance, Moody produced one of his own portkeys, and they grasped it. After being pulled through space into the Auror Headquarters, they would be able to reach Hogwarts through a secure Floo connection.

When the three Aurors were gone, the lying old man opened his eyes. He sat and stirred, his old bones creaking, before taking something from the straw mattress he had been lying on. Bringing the item in front of his eyes, he smiled. There, in his right hand, he was grasping a wand.

Hogwarts, yet again...

To say that the defenders were outnumbered was an understatement. To say that they had been surprised by the roar was an understatement. But, to say that they had been inspired to see the regal beast unceremoniously landing in their midst and joining their ranks was the understatement of the year. The Patronus charms flared again and contributed to push the Dementors back towards the grounds, while the winged lion was tearing through their ranks as if it was butter. His only goal was Ginny Weasley, but she had been far from him from the start. He didn't acknowledge his impact on the Dementors, though, nor their lack of effect on him. After all, he knew next to nothing from these beasts, even if he was now close enough to register their non-human appearance. He also didn't see the reactions of the witnesses, especially from one bearded old man who arrived after him, intending to verify what his observers were telling him.

Gabriel was feeling happier than ever to have found her again, and the wretched creatures couldn't distress him fast enough so that he'd forget that. His massive paws had their claws out, and each time he touched a Dementor, he unconsciously released a blast of lightning. Each time, the creature shrieked horribly before collapsing. From the lipless mouth of some of the fallen Dementors, a white mist could be witnessed, taking one or several little humanoid forms. Some of these ghost-like apparitions dissipated, while some others left the place quickly, most of those heading south. Most of the spirits, though, stayed there, floating around while seeming to search for something. The result was understood rapidly, as these spirits swiftly joined the body of the Kissed defenders. These defenders whose soul had been sucked away found it back, and rose from their catatonic form, before joining the fray again. From his bleeding state on top of the stairs leading to the hospital wing, Neville yelled in happiness at seeing Parvati sitting up again, and his Patronus flared to life again, helping the others in driving the accursed creatures away.

Upon reaching his target, Gabriel noticed that a Dementor was letting her slide on the floor, lifeless like a dropped puppet, and a wave of fury came upon him. How could these abominations do that to her? He lifted his massive head to the ceiling, and roared so loudly that the nearest humans brought their hands to their ears. Unconsciously, in his seething state, he also released a shockwave large enough to encompass the whole foyer.

People near him were shocked unconscious, while others farther were merely dazed from the wave. The Dementors, though, didn't have the same reaction. The three ranks of Dementors nearest to him flopped on the ground at the same time, and began to release the misty spirits like their already fallen comrades had done before.

Unbeknownst to everybody, the roar also made several creatures nearby raise their head and start to attack the lock of their cage frantically. Once opened, they went outside, stirred their powerful body, and extended their wings. The next moment, they were in the air.

In the literally shocked pause that followed the lion's outburst, most of the released spirits went to the Kissed defenders, but Gabriel didn't know that. He hadn't noticed what had happened before, and didn't see that one of these spirits went to Ginny. He didn't see the awestruck expressions around him. He only knew about his pain about her. After licking her face, he rose and charged madly in the remaining Dementors, bodily pushing a few of them outside...

...where the Death Eaters were stationed, asking themselves what had caused the ruckus and the roars. Upon seeing the massive winged beast running towards them at full speed, though, they could barely react in time and a few of them got butchered by the massive paws and jaws. At the same time, a bird cry sounded from above them.

They ignored it. Death Eaters aren't generally concerned with bird cries.

Wrong move.

The four hippogriffs that Hagrid had obtained for his Care of Magical Creatures course had freed themselves upon hearing the angry shout of their cousin. Almost every magical creature with feathery wings originated from the mighty primeval eagles, thus the griffin, golden griffin, and hippogriff were cousin. The hippogriffs didn't have claws, though, but their hind hooves and talons were more than enough to inflict severe damage to the ranks of Death Eaters. Of the fifty-odd dark wizards, eight died and four more were wounded in the first seconds of the winged creatures' assault.

After the initial shock, though, the wizards fought for their lives, and released a volley of damaging spells towards the creatures. Most of them were aimed toward the golden griffin, who took the brunt force of three explosions and four cutting curses. The regal animal roared again, and only got the opportunity to slash at two of them before falling unconscious due to the number of curses withstood.

When he subsequently disappeared, the Death Eaters weren't quite happy, as they suspected more magic at work, and they didn't want to face the beast again. They couldn't do anything about it, though, and still had to defend against the other winged creatures. The hippogriffs, though, quite wounded too, weren't in the need of a death fight. Once the golden griffin had disappeared, they disengaged from the fight, and took off, barely escaping a last volley of curses.

Albus Dumbledore had watched the scene in fascination, as, even in his longer-than-most life, he had never witnessed something like that. If his instruments had been true, the legendary winged animal had arrived in the castle at the same place that the boy that he had already sensed, and could very well be the same. The way the lion had moved towards Miss Weasley, and reacted at her fall, was also a clear indication about his feelings for her. However, when the lion charged outside and was targeted by several spells, he could only wince in frustration that he couldn't help it apart from a few spells here and there.

Upon seeing the lion disappear, though, he understood that he had had a rescue plan already prepared, and was certainly 'licking his wounds' somewhere safe. The hippogriffs had been useful too, he thought. He also hoped that they will be fine afterwards, as he wanted to thank the fierce beasts himself. Beside him, the large form of Hagrid relaxed. The half-giant had been awed by the winged lion as well, and had been fidgety during the fight with the animals, moaning about those dark wizards harming his 'gentle' creatures.

Dumbledore rolled his eyes, before reflecting about the ever-elusive boy again. He still had no confirmation about his identity, but had a really good insight about it now. If only he could find him!

He had more urgent matters at hand, though, as the remaining Dementors were regrouping outside of the gates, preparing for another charge. Like all other defenders, he prepared himself to cast a Patronus, while others, looking at the Death Eaters for any attacking sign, prepared themselves to cast magical shields around the defenders.

It was then that he got a message from Professor McGonagall, who had stayed in the Headmistress' office to gather intelligence. The expedition from Azkaban was back, and they were successful.

He decided to cast his best shield around the bigger group of people, before going back to the Battle Room, closely followed by Hermione. Even if the girl was knowledgeable enough to do her task in a battle, her current interest was to follow the aged wizard to verify her research theories about Dementors, especially after having told the old wizard about Snape's conclusion while running down here. She had already verified Severus' previous information, thanks to the winged lion, that the creatures were wary of electricity, but she didn't know how to bring electricity in the magic-filled castle. Her favourite book had repeated, once and again, that modern muggle appliances couldn't function in there. She was reflecting about bringing a generator on the grounds, when they entered the office.

The three redheads from the Azkaban mission group were there, and Fred had a wig in his hand. George was trying to calm Ron, who was bouncing up and down, asking the same question over and over.

"Where is he? I know he was in the castle, so, where is he?"

Hermione extrapolated that, and, remembering the alley episode, understood that the agitated teenager wasn't speaking about any teacher or student. To the astonishment of people around them, she addressed Ron, trying to calm him.

"He was here, Ron. He helped us. Ginny fell," seeing the worried faces of the three Weasleys, she quickly added "but she's fine now. He saw that and destroyed many Dementors in one go, before charging outside. After being hit by several curses, he fell on the ground and disappeared."

Ron was a bit calmer now. "Good. So his escape route is working again. I wish..." he continued by mumbling something, before falling into silence again.

During the exchange, Fred and Dumbledore had gone into a short discussion about the wig and the other artefacts in the room, and the fact that Moody was to come later with them in tow. The old man then took the wig, sat on his favourite armchair, and put it on.

Having nothing to do, the twins ask the Headmistress to tell them about the battle, and Hermione listens while the old teacher recounts that the Death Eaters had taken the Quidditch pitch and were now attacking the Entrance Hall with Dementors.

Upon hearing that the terrain where they play their favourite sport was held by Death Eaters, the twins looked at each other in their unnerving wordless way, before smiling. They then left the room, while the Headmistress merely nodded, taken by the representation of another Dementor charge in the Entrance Hall. Hermione was looking at the pale face of Dumbledore, and Ron was at the window, so nobody took real notice of their leave.

The shower of spells that had struck the foyer a short time after Dumbledore's leaving was unlike the previous ones. Up to that time, the whole bunch of Death Eaters had sent explosions and cutting curses, intending to do much visual damage to lower the defenders' ability to cast the Patronus charm. Now, though, after having noticed the drop in the Dementor numbers and the loss in their own ranks due to the winged lion charge, they went for the killing.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Not all of them could cast the infamous spell, though, so it was around a dozen green lights which went into the foyer, haphazardly targeting groups of defenders. Unfortunately, no shield was able to block it, so four defenders fell on the ground, already lifeless. The other targets had either conjured an item in the spell way, had dodged it, or it had simply been badly aimed.

Seeing this, the defenders tried to find cover from the onslaught, but the scramble was such that two other volleys of the death spell found targets more easily. A dozen defenders fell again, students as well as some teachers. In this mess however, something happened that only a few observers noticed.

Dumbledore's teams of spies from the younger years were always at their post, undetected by the attackers because of their apparent but ordered lack of response. Even if nobody in the entrance hall was able to look outside, they could. And they noticed that the tall redhead there, who had successfully brought the castle wards down, and who had been hidden in the group of black robes since then, had advanced towards the castle with his wand raised, before turning towards the Death Eaters. Only the black-robed wizards could notice Bill Weasley's face, and some tried to take cover, knowing that the man knew many dangerous spells. The pain brought by his disobedience thwarted his spellcasting, though, and he fell on all fours, panting. Behind their masks, the Death Eaters smirked, satisfied of their master's hold on the man, and they went into position to continue their casting of the deadly Unforgivable.

Looking back in the castle, Bill saw his sister, running to take cover like the other defenders. His mind, torn between two outcomes, snapped free at that moment, and he could only jerk his face towards the Death Eaters, who had just uttered the last syllable of the incantation. Taking the only available decision, Bill mobilized all his strength, and jumped in the way of the menacing green lights.

The action saved most of the intended targets, as he caught eight of the green rays, the other four being so badly aimed that they struck at the castle structure. The action hadn't been lost to the defenders, though, and Ron, looking from the Headmistress' office windows, saw his fallen brother. His few words, though, mumbled as they were, weren't noticed by the room occupants, even if some powers took note of them.

"We did not have time to speak lately, brother mine, and I know we could have sought after you better. I hope that you will find solace in your last home. Go in peace, now, you are forgiven."

After Bill's sacrifice, some of the most talented wizards among the defenders tried to retaliate, sending their own spells towards the Death Eaters from behind their cover. Some dark wizards fell to the ground, and some got badly cut. Some got a working shield up before the spell hit them, and some others merely dodged the incoming spell.

Having joined the fray, Minerva McGonagall, as a Transfiguration expert, transformed a pile of rumble into a large feline in the form of the winged lion previously seen, before animating it to go against the dark wizards. The idea got into the mind of some of her best students, and soon, some running stone animals could be seen charging the ranks of the black-robed wizards outside. That action required concentration, though, as, even if they animated the stone, they couldn't give it free will.

The Death Eaters, afraid at first of the newly appeared winged lion, began to retreat, casting spells at the animated creature. Seeing that their spells had no more effect than denting the stone, they ran away, to be quickly replaced, in front of the entrance, by the Dementors. That move disrupted the concentration of the creators of the animated stone animals, and said animals stopped to move.

Even if the Dementors had lost a few of them because of the golden griffin, they were still a group of one hundred and sixty soul-sucking creatures, and that brought some fear to the defenders. Courage and bravery soon replaced the fear, as the Gryffindors intoned the hymn of Hogwarts, seconded by all the other defenders.

As the Dementors began to charge, numerous silvery animals erupted from the defenders wands. Even if they were fewer than before, they were brighter, and pushed the attack back to the grounds. But the dark creatures were relentless, and, after a few charges, the Patronus began to falter. The Death Eaters had regrouped also, and even the few curses directed their way from the defenders weren't strong enough to push them away. Even if the defenders clung to their happy memories to maintain their Patronus charms active, they felt that their last hour had just begun. Even the new defenders arriving from the Headmistress' office weren't much against the attacking force. On top of that, when Tonks tried to cast a Patronus, nothing happened. Dumbfounded, she tried again, unsuccessfully again, and was going to be targeted by several spells when her colleague pushed her on the ground, before retreating somewhat.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know! Lumos!"

Nothing happened, and she looked at him in doubt. "Lend me your wand for a second."

He complied, looking warily around and ducking debris falling from an explosion curse. Using his wand, she cast the Light spell again, this time successfully. Her eyes went wide, and she looked at her own wand in surprise. He pushed her out of the way of some other debris, and she shook herself awake. No need to ponder uselessly while on a battlefield. She returned his wand, and, storing hers in her holster, she did something that many Aurors had to do due to their profession. She drew her secondary wand. After testing it successfully with a Light spell again, she joined the fray once more, quickly followed by her colleague.

Fred and George ran in the now desert corridors, an unusually serious expression on their face. The only witness of their run was one of the inner spy groups, made of first year Hufflepuffs. Noticing the twins' look, they thought that the infamous duo had been dispatched for a mission, and thus didn't disturb the Battle Room with information about them.

When they started Hogwarts, the Weasley twins had had inner information from their older brothers, and had taken upon themselves to explore the castle thoroughly. Only afterwards did they find the Marauders' map. That's how they could navigate the corridors until they reached a seemingly blank panel between two Quidditch trophy showcases.

"Fair play."

The password for the flying instructor and Quidditch referee was always the same, and the twins entered the rooms warily. They weren't sure that the teacher hadn't booby-trapped the room since their last visit.

Seeing that nothing untoward had happened, they headed for the Quidditch additional supplies, an evil gleam in their eyes.

Tom Marvolo Riddle wasn't happy. It was such a common occurrence nowadays that, were he actually living in his own body, he would have ulcer problems. His attack plan had been thrown back time and again. Firstly, the wards hadn't been really down when they had arrived. Secondly, the castle defenders were numerous, and he suspected Dumbledore to have recruited students. Thirdly, the Dementors have been pushed back again and again, as if there was an endless supply of Patronuses. And lastly...

He couldn't even wrap his mind around it. A golden griffin? He had already tortured to unconsciousness the follower who had brought him the bad news, and, although he wanted to vent his fury by killing him, he knew that he couldn't do that unless he wanted to have one less follower. And his number of followers was going to be his first problem soon. Again.

The Dark Lord knew that the Dementors were pounding the entrance, but they didn't go as fast as he had wanted them. He was thinking about how to strike quick and hard, when he was struck himself. Quick and hard. He possessed someone's body, which meant that he couldn't feel the pain, but he had distinctly heard the sound of bones cracking in his arm. Looking around, he couldn't see much in the surrounding darkness, which made the next near-invisible Bludger strike home again, breaking some ribs and sending him on the muddy ground.

The twins' plan was to repeat Dobby's performance on Harry. The only difficulty was to charm the bronze balls without being able to direct them afterwards. Before launching them, they had noticed that a Death Eater was going from the Entrance Hall battlefield, supposedly to report to his master. The teens had smirked, knowing that they were going to strike home. Opening a window, they had released the two reserve Bludgers, charmed to hunt anything moving in the pitch.

Sprawled on the soil in an undignified heap for such a powerful being, Voldemort was seething, but couldn't concentrate on one opponent, as he distinctly heard several zooming sounds around him. He knew that staying there was going to be difficult, and he didn't want to be seen by his followers in this state, nor being targeted by the defenders while in this enfeebled state, so he took the only way out: he Apparated to his cottage.

When Fred and George, through a vision enhancing spell, noticed that the Bludgers stopped moving, they high-fived and left towards the Battle Room. Even if it had started as a prank, their action had proved successful, even if they didn't know the exact extent of it, and they had to report. Besides, they had to tell their side not to go in the pitch without disabling the Bludgers first.

The people in the Headmistress' office were in confusion. The ones managing the battle were at a loss about what to do now, and unsuccessfully hoped that the winged lion would appear again. The Weasley twins had left already, supposedly towards the battlefield, and Ron was slumped against the window.

Alastor Moody had arrived through the chimney, quickly followed by Tonks and the other Auror. On his signal, they had left towards the entrance hall, and he went to Dumbledore, ready to report.

The old professor, seconded by some teachers, with Hermione tagging along, was looking at the wig in disappointment and some anger. The helmet hidden under the illusion, supposed to be the Commanding Helm of the Dementors, wasn't working. Well... it was, to a point. Dumbledore was able to see the Dementors in his mind, but, trying to express his will through it hadn't worked at all, as the battle ruckus and fight reports from downstairs indicated it. There have been very few persons willing to put the wig-helmet on, as everyone was still unsure of the dark nature of the item, and nobody wanted the responsibility of immersing themselves in the Dark Arts. Most of the members of the Order present had tried it on, though, although for a shorter time than Dumbledore, and the result had been the same. Hermione, thinking about it, could come to two different conclusions: either the Dark Lord had forbidden the Dementors from obeying anyone from the Order of the Phoenix, or they just couldn't use the helmet. Looking at the wig, she felt the need to try it herself. After all, she had been the one with the original idea to communicate with the creatures, and she had pushed her research in that direction for the whole year. She had also helped Severus Snape with the actual discussion with the Dementor, and felt privy to something the others were not. She looked at the aged Professor, and addressed him tentatively.

"Sir?"

He turned towards her, still frowning. "Yes?"

"I have a suggestion, sir." She paused, unsure of the assembled people's possible reaction.

Dumbledore, though, recognized an inspired Hermione when he saw one, and smiled benignly to her. "Speak up, Hermione. Any idea is food for our mill."

She looked at him with a twinkle of her own in her eyes. "I think you are mixing metaphors, sir. Anyways... let's imagine we are Voldemort for a moment." At that, the others apart from Dumbledore looked uneasy, and the old man seemed plainly curious. He nodded at her to continue.

"I think that, all battle orders aside, the first thing he'd have ordered them is something to prevent you or anyone they know from the Order of the Phoenix from taking their control again." Seeing the light of understanding in the old Professor's eyes, she continued sheepishly. "If I may... I did the research and documented Professor Snape's discussions. Beside you, Professor, I think I'm the most indicated to get to them efficiently."

Albus Dumbledore sighed. He had never wanted to put his students at risk, but now, there was a fight going on downstairs, and many young lives were at stake. He reluctantly gave the item to Hermione, who received it in trembling hands. The old man could only give her short instructions before she put it on her head.

"Just order them off the battle, don't stay too long."

The feeling in the helmet was eerie, and she could have spent days exploring the tortuous global mind of the numerous creatures. However, she had a limited time, and tried to think of a few things first. The first and foremost one was to stop their attacks on the school. She sensed that, after having evaluated that she could be obeyed, they cooperated, and saw, in the global mind's eye, that most of the Dementors were now standing motionless, only moving on their own accord to flee the still active Patronus charms. Wanting to verify her success in ordering them, she removed the helmet, and met the curious gaze of Dumbledore. Before they could utter anything, though, the communication devices erupted in cheers about the new lack of aggressiveness from the Dementors. She nodded to Dumbledore and smiled in victory, before putting the helmet again. She had much to do.

At first, she had to launch the creatures on the still attacking Death Eaters. No need to lose anymore defenders. She shared the thought of attacking black-robed wizards with a white mask on sight, and sensed that the Dementors, apparently devoid of real free will, complied with any suggestion given to their global mind. Taking advantage of her direct link with the Dementor mind, she inspected the memories of recent orders given to them. She then saw, in the mind's eye, Severus Snape discussing with one, and an unknown woman ordering the Hogwarts attack. The woman seemed in pain, but her orders were clearer than those of Snape. Next to her, though, a man with a strange head seemed happy. She suspected that it was Voldemort himself, and shuddered internally.

Bracing herself, she planted orders in the mind to disregard any interaction with Voldemort, the woman, or any other black-robed wizard or witch. It seemed the most logical thing to do, as she didn't have memories of their individual faces. She smiled, thinking that Snape would have to change clothes before giving orders to them, now. In complete control of the mind, now, she also removed the order about disregarding Dumbledore, and went to remove the helmet, before stopping her movement. The mind was hers to explore, and it contained a long account of unwritten History! Even if it was limited by the Dementors' field of action, she sensed that she could learn many interesting things through it. She also sensed that the helmet protected her from the hideous aspect of their memories.

The Dementors were going against the Death Eaters, now, and she saw, through the mind's eye again, that the black robes, initially with a smug stance, quickly lost their wits as one, then two of them got Kissed. They fled the premises through portkeys, one of them having the presence of mind to grasp the fallen body of Bill Weasley before doing so. The other dead Death Eaters were already decaying on the spot. Voldemort, knowing that there were spells to make the dead speak, had long since forced each of his followers to drink a potion which made the body decomposition much faster. Even if he knew that Dumbledore wasn't going to go into Necromancy anytime soon, he didn't want to take a risk. That fact, at the origin of the first name of the Death Eaters, wasn't known by many, but that was to change as all the students and teachers could smell the unbearable stench permeating the air.

To be continued in next chapter: Fifth Column...

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