Chapter 54 The Battle Joined

Harry apparated to an empty alcove of Gringotts' lobby. Looking around, Harry drank in the aura of normalcy about Gringotts: there was no apparent war training or preparations or hunkering down. He knew that this was only appearance. The goblins had been participating in patrolling Diagon Alley and repelling attacks along with the wizards of the area. They took the night shift and the deep shadowed areas since they could not tolerate sunlight. The goblins were always defense oriented anyway, since the trust people placed in a Gringotts account was based on the high degree of security the goblins provided. Their watchfulness had only been heightened since last year's attack, and he had learned from Melony that they had hired some of the wizards who had gathered in Diagon Alley in case some form of heliopath was again employed against them. But here in the lobby, everything appeared normal – all business.

Within seconds, Harry heard his name called in a deep gruff voice.

"Harry Potter!" called Grishnack. "We have been looking for you. It is time, then?"

"Yes, Grishnack. The attack is on."

Grishnack went to a small device on the wall not unlike a muggle fire alarm box. But when he smashed the glass on it, a voice rang out throughout the lobby and the underground of Gringotts, saying "Potter needs us." Immediately, the bank was a tumult as female goblins, who could defend their homes, including the bank under which their homes were excavated, but were ineffective away from them, apparated from the tunnels below and ran to substitute themselves for the goblin men, who sprang for the various places around the bank where they had stowed their spell-resistant hauberks and wicked-looking short sinuous swords in scabbards. They were all assembling in an enormous conference room just off from the lobby. The whole process took only a few minutes.

Harry was amazed as he walked to the room with Grishnack. Grishnack smiled, as much as a goblin can, and said proudly, "You are surprised, Potter? Why? Last year we said we would stand by you whenever you needed us. Every goblin here is thoroughly aware that we would be dead right now but for your courage and kindness. Goblins are not sentimental in the human sense, but we value the loyalty of those who show themselves to be friends and pay it back tenfold."

When all the goblin men old enough to fight had assembled, Grishnack addressed them.

"The day we have been preparing for has come. The enemy has committed himself, and attacks Potter and his friends. It is the same enemy that was ultimately behind the attempt to exterminate us all last year. It is the same enemy that exterminated all but one of a hullabaloo over two decades ago. Potter comes for our help.

"I know I need not, but I will remind you that we were all left powerless before the heliopaths last year until Potter and his friend Dobby, whom we now know as Gargamel, came and destroyed them. In the aftermath, Potter was attacked and suffered grievous wounds. Despite this, when my dear daughter Melony was mortally injured, he kept her alive with his tears and his touch until a goblin healer could restore her.

"He has shed blood in goblin halls to save goblin lives and shed tears for love of a goblin sister. We owe him our lives and he is a true goblin friend. He needs us and we will prove to him today the value of goblin friendship. Potter, what are we asked to do?"

Harry felt a bit abashed after such a stirring speech focused on him, but he cleared his throat and began, "The plans are in this envelope. I am to bring you, Grishnack, to the assembly point so that you can apparate there and conduct the operations described in the plans. There are reasons I have not been told what the plans are, but there is no time to explain. Hogwarts faces over 4000 sorcerers, a thousand dementors, and several hundred giants. I just want to encourage you to trust the directions. They were prepared by the same team that directed the Hogwarts' students in the Battle of Gringotts last year. You will recall that there was only one Hogwarts casualty in that battle, besides my own injuries, and no enemy escapes. May today bring the same success – to both sides."

"Show the enemy the same mercy he has shown to goblins!" shouted Grishnack.

Harry understood that, as did all present, to mean to be utterly ruthless. With that, Grishnack pounded his chest with the hilt of his sword and cried out "Let not your swords return to the scabbard unbloodied!" The entire assembly roared as one in response the goblin battle cry "Fight like mothers!"

Harry checked the parchment around the envelope as he handed the envelope to Grishnack.

"Ah, it's a map to the point. It's a cave. I scouted this cave out late last year. Now I know why. I remember this one. It's clean, dry and spacious, and it has three entrances into deep woods. You won't have any trouble with sunlight from here. Grishnack, are you ready?"

Grishnack extended his hand for Harry to take. "Grishnack has never let a wizard apparate him anywhere, but I will allow you to do so, Potter. The rest of you count to fifteen before following in groups of ten. I am ready, Potter."

And with that, Harry grasped his hand, and apparated the two of them to the cave, which was located on the far side of the woods from Hogwarts, toward the south. Knowing he had little time before the cave began to fill with goblins, Harry took his leave of Grishnack, again wishing the goblins well, and left the cave.

In the shade of the deep forest, Harry opened the last envelope. He was surprised by the message: "Apparate to the south side of the lake and look for flares. You are the only student who can evacuate the wounded and captured by apparation, and we cannot spare fighters from the lines. Apparation will allow you to do the evacuation work of 100 students. They are marked by magical flares color-coded as follows: red sparks for friendlies, green sparks for enemy, and injuries are marked yellow sparks for lightly hurt or unhurt, blue sparks for badly hurt, but able to recover or be restored, and purple sparks for the dead or nearly so. Take away their wands, if they still have them, and apparate them back to the front steps of the castle, where we will have teams of healers, helpers and guards to take care of patients, prisoners and wands. Keep an eye on the battlefield; help if needed, but only if it's out of control. Remember that the platoons and squadrons have learned to fight as teams and they are more powerful working together than any one wizard on his own, and your presence in the battle may actually hinder our forces. Rescue and evacuation are critical and we are prepared for the fight. You can use your mirror to communicate with Remus Lupin who will be at the north battlefield, but who will be in touch with Ernie as well as Ron."

Harry went where he was told and started walking stealthily into the forest, looking for magical flares. Apparently, Voldemort's army had sent some scouts out ahead of the main group, as Harry soon saw several green and yellow magical flares near each other. Approaching he found witches and wizards disabled and bound. They were being overseen by Hugh Douglas, a Scots first year in Hufflepuff who had a severe limp when he came to Hogwarts. Gathering and guarding the injured and captured was a critical job he could do despite moving slower than others. In one hand he held a broom: he was one of the very few first years allowed a broom, so he could keep up with others with his damaged leg. He held the prisoners' wands so they could not be used should the prisoners revive before being evacuated.

"Hugh!" called Harry. "How goes the battle so far?"

"Only enemy prisoners so far as I know. Got twenty o' them here, Coach. The few students hit so far we were able to unhex right away. I was hearin' some fiercer fighting a few minutes ago o'er there to the southeast. Now that you're here to take this lot, I'll work m'way over there and start gatherin' together more. This is the north end of this part o' the battle; you'll probably find someone else guarding others on the far south."

"You're out here without anyone who can do a Patronus," observed Harry.

"The dementors're all being steered toward the center of the line, where your mate Dean Thomas has been handling 'em with some sort of special wand. Han't seen it m'self, but m'captain, Susan Bones, told me 'bout it afore she assigned me here. Here're the wands, Harry. I need to get to work – I mean to pull m' weight. See ya in a few."

And with that, Hugh set off on his broom toward the southeast, keeping low, looking for sparks and levitating prisoners to a central location. Harry placed the wands in a spare pocket of his robe and grabbed a hand each of two bound captives. It was no surprise that these were not people he recognized – the Death Eaters would not be at the very front. He apparated as close to the castle steps as the permanent charms would allow.

He found a well-organized operation there. The prisoners were quickly checked for injuries and disabling spells, unhexed if need be for mutual safety and levitated into the castle. Harry assumed they were taken either to secure facilities in the dungeons or to the Ministry by Floo Network.

Professor McGonagall was there and greeted him. "Excellent, Potter, you didn't tarry. Are there many more?"

"Eighteen more in the first group, and more groups being assembled. I haven't seen any student casualties yet," he replied and then disapparated before she could even respond. He appeared back again in seconds with a couple of witches, and repeated the process 8 more times. As he went back and forth he began to understand the importance of his job: a first or second year could only take one prisoner at a time and it was a fifteen minute walk with a levitated body from the battlefield to the castle. Harry had done in less than 2 minutes the job that would have taken a half hour for twenty students. Certainly at this point of the battle, they needed competent bodies on the line more than they needed a single fighter, no matter how capable.

Harry's involvement in the battle went on like this for well over an hour and a half. It took longer to find each group of prisoners as they were found deeper and deeper in the forest. Increasingly he found injured students among the captured and injured enemies. He gradually got the picture of the battle formation: a wide 'V' which connected to the lake and surrounded the south end of the forest from the west, while the goblins attacked in a line from the east driving the enemy toward the center.

Harry found that the DA had made preparations for the battle in the times he had been away – there were hidden entrenchments and other prepared battle positions, allowing the students safe positions to pin the enemy down as others advanced. He also found evidence of a number of booby-traps: some like Hermione's explosion, others less dramatic but still effective. He even found the remains of several of Fred and George's portable swamps modified into portable quicksands: one still had a hand extending from it.

The pattern of injuries confirmed that they had eliminated the least dangerous sorcerers and were coming across better and better fighters. Still he was removing many more enemies than students. It wrenched at him to see that the students had been hit with life-threatening injurious spells, though the prisoners were almost entirely disabled with removable disabling hexes. Harry focused on removing those with the greatest need for healer attention first. It pleased him to think that in the midst of all this fighting, he was helping to save lives.