Chapter 32: The Battle For Hogwarts
At any point in time life can change in an instant, this was one of those moments. Everything had slowed down to a crawl and Harry could only hear his own intake of air and the blood pounding in his head as Julia shouted the advancement. He could see the Death Eaters shouting out spells and a spectrum of different colors came towards him. It wasn't until the silver shields came popping out of the ground that Harry was jarred back into real time. Julia had jumped behind the wall of shields at the last minute.
"Prepare the stun spell!" She shouted. The order was echoed down the line. "Now!"
"Stupefy!" the spelled rang out from Harry's side. Several Death Eaters were already down from getting their own spells bounced back at them. Another group went down from the stunning spell.
"Concentrate on getting those shields out of the ground!" Lucius shouted to his group.
"First row listen up!" Julia shouted safely behind a shield. "Once they get these out of the ground put up the shield charm," she turned to the second row. "Hit them with another round of the stun spell once our shields are up!"
As the ground assault began so did the battle in the air. Madam Hooch, Draco and Ginny all gave the signals and the air squadron began to attack the Death Eaters in the air. They would engage them at point blank range. The first wave of the air squadron which was now comprised of members of the Last Alliance went in to distract the Death Eaters. Draco led the group and just as the Death Eaters shouted their spells his group pulled up and out of the way. The second wave, led by Ginny was able to knock out many Death Eaters who weren't paying attention. But they weren't able to get out of the area with out losing a few of their own. It was now going to be a dog fight and witches and wizards started to go after individuals.
Back on the ground, the silver shields were final pulled out of the ground causing the first row to shield them selves while the second row continued to use the stunning spell. After several volleys Dumbledore finally gave the signal to charge. Holding the third row back to protect the castle and help support those in the air.
"Come on!" Julia shouted as she began to run at the Death Eaters.
"DIE POTTER!" Bellatrix screamed. "CRUCIO!"
"PROTEGO MAXIMUS!" Julia shouted. Her shield covered Harry's entire group. "STUPEFY MAXIMUS!" Julia started running towards Bellatrix. While Julia engaged with Bellatrix, Harry and his group began to throw up the signals for house elves to collect knocked out Death Eaters.
"Harry behind you!" Ron shouted. But it was too late Harry was wrapped up in ropes.
"Diffndo," Hermione called out, cutting Harry lose from the ropes. "Don't let them surround us!" She shouted. The three friends and their groups came together as they were the spearhead of the charge. Defending and attacking, they worked together to keep each other safe.
"If any one tries to use the killing curse hit them with the silencing charm before they can finish," came the voice of McGonagall over the medallions.
"Hermione watch out," Neville knocked Hermione out of the way of a jelly leg jinx.
"Expelliarmus!" She shouted.
"Stupefy!" Neville followed. The Death Eater was rendered unconscious. Hermione sent up sparks and a house elf appeared and collected the body.
"Harry" Ron shouted as he pointed to several people falling from the ski.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry shouted, several members echoed the spell helping stop the bodies from crashing to the ground.
"The house elves have the bodies Harry protect your group," Dumbledore communicated.
"CRUCIO!" The spell came out of no where and hit Luna right in the chest, causing her to scream out in pain.
"CRUCIO!" Ron roared at the Death Eater who cast the spell.
"Incarcerous," Hermione said as the effects of Ron's spell wore off the Death Eater. Just then out of the corner of Harry's eye he saw Bellatrix take aim for Hermione.
"Expelliarmus," Harry shouted. Bellatrix called her wand back, but before she could try anything again. Julia jumped back in front of her.
"What's the matter Bella, afraid to face me?" Julia taunted. The two witches continued to fight. Near by two fathers continued to dual each other.
"Look what you're doing Lucius!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "You're fighting children."
"I did not want this to happen, Weasley!" Lucius slowly regretting what they were doing.
"How was it suppose to happen!" Weasley shouted. Mr. Weasley ducked out of the way of one spell as did Lucius.
Meanwhile in the air Ginny was having a hard time shaking a Death Eater. As she weaved in and out of people in the air she sent up sparks for help. She saw Draco flying straight at her. Just before they would have collided Ginny barrel rolled to the right allowing Draco a perfect shot at the Death Eater. The couple smiled at each other for a moment, then continued on their separate ways.
The great hall was now transformed into a hospital. The Medical board was up and ten or so second year students were monitoring everybody. Calling out names to house elves and indicating what level of health they were at. If someone was brought in and could be completely heal with in several minutes they were sent back out. Mrs. Weasley would continually check her family who were all in one spot. After she checked on them her eyes would search the board for Harry, Hermione and Draco.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Padraig shouted as he ran into the great hall.
"What is it?" the old woman asked.
"Giants have entered the castle!"
Hagrid and Madam Maxine, who had arrived the night before, took their group of giants and headed towards wear Voldemort's group had breached the castle. They entered the court yard and saw as a patrol group of third years try to stun them. When one of the children was thrown against a wall Hagrid made his move and launched himself at the lead giant.
Back outside things were becoming more chaotic. To avoid being hit the witches and wizards in the air would dive towards the ground and fly between the people fighting. Dean Thomas was chasing a Death Eater who was now diving towards the fighting on the ground while at the same time Neville was sending sparks up for a house elf to collect another Death Eater. What happened next only took moments but Neville would never forget it. He looked up and saw Julia and Bellatrix continue to fight. Julia had the upper hand but Bellatrix would use other people as human shields. The words formed on Bellatrix lips.
"GET DOWN!" Julia shouted to everyone around.
"Avada Kedavra," Bellatrix screamed. At that moment Dean Thomas flew down to follow the Death Eater and was hit in the back with the Killing curse. Neville and he made eye contact just before the flicker of life in Dean faded. He quickly ran over to his friends limp body once it fell to the ground.
"Dean," Neville said nervously. Harry, Hermione and Ron ran over to him along with their group. "She killed him," Neville muttered. The word quickly spread that the first killing curse had been use on a child. Mr. Weasley and Lucius stopped dueling for a moment as they looked over and saw the growing number of children around the area. Arthur then heard the announcement over the medallion.
"Did you hear that Lucius! Bellatrix just killed a child! Get your men under control!" Mr. Weasley shouted.
"You there!" Lucius shouted to a near by Death Eater, who turned to face him. "I want the word given that no one is to kill any children!"
"But sir –"
"THAT'S AN ORDER!"
The mood in the great hall became somber as the first life sign went red.
"Madam Pomfrey," one of the students said. "We lost someone." Mrs. Weasley, Madam Pomfrey and Neville's grandmother came rushing over to the board.
"Who?" Mrs. Weasley said franticly.
"Dean Thomas," the student said. "He was in the green and suddenly went red."
"The killing curse," Neville's grandmother whispered.
"Dobby," Madam Pomfry said her voice unsteady. "Please go and collect Mr. Thomas's body."
The fighting in the air was halted for a moment as the air squadron collected themselves. Draco looked over at Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor's who were on the verge of tears or on the verge of using the killing curse themselves.
"Draco is it true?" Cho Chang asked.
"Yes." The group hung their heads for a moment. Then Madam Hooch noticed the Death Eaters were getting ready for another pass at them.
"Alright, let's form up," she said sadly. "Wands at the ready!" The flying squad pointed their wands at the charging Death Eaters.
"FOR DEAN!" Seamus shouted. The air squadron gave out a war cry that filled the night. The group on the ground looked up and saw their flying companions charge the Death Eaters with new veracity. Harry looked around and saw the Death Eaters on the ground were also collecting themselves.
"Form up!" Harry shouted. The first row, which was dramatically thinner, formed up along with the second row.
"Wands at the ready!" Ron shouted.
"Now!" Hermione shouted. The group charged again at the Death Eaters, who were surprised at how hard the students were now fighting.
"Hermione, Hagrids group needs help by the side entrance of the castle," Dumbledore's voice came over the medallion. Hermione looked around and realized that it would take too long to head back up to the castle. The screech of an animal caught her attention. Hermione saw Buckbeak and four other hippogriffs in a paddock by Hagrids house.
"Come on!" she shouted to several students
"I'm coming with you," Lupin said as he ran over to her.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted. They looked at each other.
"I'll come back," she said as she turned to run towards the creatures. She bowed quickly then mounted Buckbeak. The group took to the air and flew low in order to avoid the battle in the air. Harry watched as they disappeared into the night sky.
"Watch out!" Mad-Eye shouted. Instinctively Harry dove to the group and looked up to see Bella and Julia continuing their ongoing battle. Julia did a back flip to avoid a spell from Bellatrix but she landed awkwardly and lost her wand. Bellatrix took aim at his aunt.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted at the witch, this bought Julia enough time to call her wand back. Bellatrix starred at Harry for a moment.
"When I'm done with your Aunt you'll be next baby Potter!" she spat.
"Not if I have anything to say about it! STUPEFY MAXIMUS!" Julia shouted as she jumped in front of Harry.
On the astronomy tower Rosie was flying back and forth keeping Dumbledore and McGonagall safe from any loose spells that might find their way over to them. The old witch and wizard continued to watch the fighting from above. They were winning in both the air and ground but students were still getting hurt. There had only been a few other fatalities but they were Aurors and members of the Last Alliance.
"Albus why hasn't he shown himself?" McGonagall said as she continued to watch the battle in the air.
"He's waiting Minerva," The headmaster said as he looked to the forest. "Waiting until absolutely necessary."
"Headmaster. Hermione's group is engaging the giants!" squeaked Winky. Dumbledore turned his attention to the new battle to the side of the castle.
"Stay on your hippogriffs!" Hermione shouted.
"Stun them and if they throw any objects stop them from hitting Hagrid and his group." Lupin instructed. Hagrid had several cuts and bruises on his face and body but was still fighting hard.
Draco and Ginny had their hands full with several Death Eaters who were going after them. They both shot up straight in the air and took the Death Eaters into the few clouds that filled the night. The split up and started going in opposite directions once the Death Eaters had split to follow them Ginny and Draco turned back around and started to fly straight at each other. And just before they made contact Draco dove to the ground and Ginny shot higher into the night, causing almost all of the Death Eaters to have a mid air collision. Ginny stopped and gave a victory shout, but clouds obscured her view of Draco who had been knocked off his broom by a Death Eater and was plummeting towards earth. At that very moment Hermione had started to fly high into the air to get a better shot at a giant and as she climbed she noticed some one's body falling towards her.
"Up!" she shouted to the creature and Hermione started to head towards Draco's falling body. The wind kept pushing him one way then another. And as Buckbeak flew underneath him his body was carried just a little bit behind Hermione. "Draco! Grab on!" Draco twisted his body so he landed behind Hermione on the animal but bounced off. Hermione reached out and grabbed Draco's hand right before he completely fell.
"Land Granger!" Draco pleaded. Hermione started to guided Buckbeak to head downward but with the awkward weight on one side it was hard for the creature to maneuver. Hermione was quickly losing her grip on the young man. Ginny started to come down from up in the air when she saw Hermione barley hanging on to Draco. She pushed her broom towards them.
"I can't hang on Draco," Hermione cried.
"Get underneath the trees. They'll break my fall," Draco said as his grip continued to slowly slip.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said as she looked down at Draco. Draco looked up at her and gave her a smile.
"So I get a couple of broken legs," Draco smirked. "Better then being dead." Draco then gave Hermione a nod as his feet began to touch the tops of the trees. Ginny was and arm reach away from grabbing Draco as Hermione let go.
"NOOOOOO!" Ginny shouted. Hermione looked up to see Ginny dive after Draco who was now falling through the trees. His body never made it to the ground. A large branch broke his fall. Once Ginny found him she slung him over her broom and slowly flew up. Hermione waited to see what happened, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ginny flying with him
"If he dies it will be on your head!" Ginny screamed at Hermione.
"But Ginny he told me," but it was too late. Ginny was already heading to the castle.
Lucious and Mr. Weasley were still fighting with each other only now they just shouted instead of throwing spells at one another. As they fought Mr. Weasley saw a shadowy figure emerge from the forest. It was Voldemort and he was taking aim for Mad-Eye.
"No," Mr. Weasley muttered. He started to run towards Alastor to warn him. "Alastor! Behind You!" But Moody couldn't hear Arthur over the other shouting that was going on.
"Weasley no!" Lucius shouted as he began to follow Mr. Weasley.
"At last the great Alastor Moody will fall tonight," Voldemort hissed as he took aim at Moody. Mad-Eye realized he had let his guard down and slowly turned to face the Dark Lord.
"I wont be the only one to fall tonight Tom," Moody growled. Only two people dared to call the Dark Lord by his muggle name and one was about to die.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort screamed. Moody braced himself for the end but all he felt was someone shoving him to the ground. Alastor looked up to see Arthur Weasley's body falling to the ground. Before Moody could get up a body fell on top of him knocking him out and pinning him to the ground. Lucius watched in terror as Arthur took the spell in the chest. Sure Lucius and Arthur had their disagreements on wizards but deep down Lucius knew Arthur was a good man and had a family to support. He didn't deserve to be cut down like an animal. Lucius' thoughts then went to Draco and how much he had failed his son, he failed to protect his wife he couldn't do the same to his son. The instincts to survive took over and Lucius realized what he had to do. Once Voldemort had moved away from Arthur he quickly ran over and collected his body and headed for the castle. As he got closer students realized who he was and guarded the door.
"Stop Death Eater!" A fourth year shouted.
"Please let me through, he's been hurt," Lucius shouted. The students recognized the red hair and quickly nodded their head and opened the door for Lucius. The man franticly ran to the hospital wing and ran through the doors. He looked around for someone to help him.
"Lucius!" Snape called out from giving a student a potion.
"Severus help please," He laid Arthur on a bed. "Can you save him?" Snape immediately recognized Arthur and started to examine him. It didn't take long for Snape to see that Arthur was dead.
"Was he hit with the killing curse?" Snape softly asked.
"Yes Voldemort was trying to hit Alastor Moody but Arthur pushed him out of the way," Lucius huffed.
"There's nothing I can do Lucius," Snape sad sadly. A blood-curtailing scream came from the other end of the hall as Mrs. Weasley saw Arthur's body on the bed.
"Dad?" a girls voice from several beds away asked. Lucius looked up to see Ginny Weasley holding Draco's hand.
"Draco!" Lucius breathed. He ran over towards his bed just as Ginny got up and looked over at her dad.
"What did you do to him!" Ginny said between gritted teeth. Lucius stopped short and look at the young girl.
"I didn't do anything," Lucius whispered. "Your father saved Moody's life."
"How?" Ginny asked on the verge of tears.
"By giving up his own," Lucius too was beginning to feel overwhelmed, as he looked around at all those who were hurt and fighting to live. His eyes returned to Ginny, she was trying to fight the tears that wanted to take over.
"How's Draco?" Lucius asked.
"He's gonna make it," Ginny chocked as she slowly headed over to her father. Mrs. Wealsey finally made it to her husband's body and began to sob as Ginny tried to comfort her.
"Was it worth all this Lucius," Snape asked. "Was following him worth losing your whole family over?"
"Nothing is worth that Severus," Lucius chocked back tears.
"Voldemort's been spotted on the battle field!" A student shouted.
"Let us hope Potter is the savior we all hope he is," Snape said as he looked over to the four names, which were now being moved to the top of the board. It now read. Granger, Hermione; Potter, Harry; Potter, Julia; Weasley, Ron.
"Let us hope."
A/N - Ok I'm sorry this took a little longer then a week but work was very busy. I'm not gonna make any promises on the date for the next chapter but just know I'm going as fast as possible. You guys are great thanks for the reviews!