Chapter 12
Moody had just finished talking Harry into buying the second round of the evening as they continued their discussion about the fighting strategies used at the wedding when the screaming started.
Moody used his magical eye to see that there were hundreds of dementors outside feasting on anyone unlucky enough to be on the street. Harry did three things while Moody was assessing the situation. He checked his wand holster as he opened the case containing the sword that he knew would see use in the coming minutes. He also hit the keys for Minister Abraxan on his cell phone and handed it to Alyx and told her, "Tell the Minister that we'll need some help and a lot of healers."
Most of the group got ready to burst out the back door of the pub casting their Patronus forms as Harry got ready to open the front door. He told Rosmerta to lock the door behind him, not to open it for anyone and ran out.
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Remus had had his group do almost the same thing a few streets away. Six of the people in his team managed to get a Patronus form cast. The forms, whether by plan or not, seemed to push the hideous creatures towards Harry.
Lavender and Ernie Macmillan made the mistake of going out the front door of the Hogs Head pub. Ernie was almost immediately lifted up by one of the creatures while Lavender ran flat out down the street screaming. Ten seconds later, the sated dementor put the soul-less teen down and went to find another victim.
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After contacting Abraxan, Alyx did an incredibly foolish thing. She ran out the door that Harry had gone out of a minute before. Harry had been able to slice a dozen of the dementors but was slowly being overwhelmed by the sound of his mother screaming.
Alyx cast her Patronus form and the horse galloped around momentarily driving the dementors away that were clutching at Harry with their deathly hands. It gave Harry the breather that he needed to continue with his work. Unfortunately the dementors immediately went after the Auror cadet. Harry returned the favor, and stabbed three of the twelve foot dementors who were forced to release Alyx before anything could happen. Her robes were badly torn as she fell revealing a stunningly beautiful young woman, but Harry didn't have the time to enjoy the magnificent view. A dementor had picked him up causing him to drop his sword.
Harry pulled his wand from his arm holster and focused every thought that he could muster. "Expecto Patronum." A large jet of silver vapor flew from his wand at the dementor causing the twelve-foot monster to drop him onto the ground.
Harry found his sword and stabbed at the beast before it could pick him up again.
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Behind the Three Broomsticks, Moody ran smack into Pettigrew. Moody cast several stunning spells and encased Pettigrew in an unbreakable container. Seconds later Mulciber hit Parvati with the killing curse. Dolohov sliced Aberforth with his purple flame-cutting spell before running down the street. Unlike the others, Dolohov remembered that their job was not to engage the villagers, rather to finish off the wounded.
A dozen dementors came at the embattled group and began reaching for them. Unable to cast a Patronus, Moody ignited a large branch that he'd been able to grab and waved it like a brandished sword, temporarily keeping the beasts away. While that was happening, Mulciber fired another curse at the group hitting a bystander before following Dolohov.
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Remus' group had made their way halfway to the Three Broomsticks and saw Alyx and Harry making a defensive stand against a dozen dementors. Mooney could see his young friend rapidly being overwhelmed and fired his Patronus directly at him. The silver wolf flew out of Lupin's wand and charged at the dementors. Harry and Alyx seemed to find strength from the forms and began fighting again.
Harry, again momentarily heartened by the happy feeling emitting from the Patronus form, held his hand out to help Alyx up. Unfortunately she was grabbed by two dementors who seemed intent on feasting on her. Harry ran his sword through one, pulled it from the mucky mess and rammed it into the other. Alyx screamed and Harry was certain that he'd cut her in the process.
Lupin called to his group to cast their Patronus forms on either side of the two. A silver cat and an eagle flew to the pair illuminating both of them in the growing darkness.
… --- …
While the Order members were fighting furiously at the north end of town, the hellish beasts were feasting on the southern half of the village. Snape and Lucius were blasting doors open followed by the beasts who devoured those unlucky enough to be inside. Within five minutes a hundred villagers had been kissed or murdered by the Death Eaters. Folgard's Wizarding Exchange had been emptied of a considerable amount of gold, though several of the Death Eaters seemed more interested in the currency trader's three daughters than any additional gold.
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Neville saw the jet of green light coming at him, took a step back and miraculously tripped on one of the empty cloaks falling backward, unconscious, but alive.
Ten minutes into the battle the street was littered with an unholy mixture of soul-less witches and wizards, cloaks and dead bodies.
… --- …
Moody's group was exhausted but unable to disengage from the dementors who had pinned them down. The dozen dementors and the half dozen wizards had about reached a standoff with the dementors edging ever closer to the exhausted witches and wizards. With so many dementors around, none of them could cast a Patronus.
They didn't have another five minutes to hold out. As Kingsley passed out from the effects of the dementors, Moody began counting down the last seconds of his life.
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Lupin's group finally reached Harry and Alyx. Harry was virtually in a daze, but heard Remus shout, "Where are the others?" as he shoved a hunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth. After a few seconds Lupin's words made sense to Harry and he muttered, "They went out the back of the Three Broomsticks. Cast your forms on that side of the building, and I'll go around the other side. Then do your best to get people safely inside."
Remus had no better plan and gave Harry a ten second head start and told his team, "Cast now. Expecto Patronum." A silver eagle, a cat and a wolf flew out of their wands along with a few jets of formless vapor. The forms reached the dementors that had been holding Moody and crew down. The forms charged the dementors chasing them into Harry who cut four of them before they floated by him.
Moments later Lupin met up with Moody, and stuffed chocolate into Fred and George and as Bill revived the others.
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Minutes earlier Abraxan had received the frantic call from the Auror cadet saying that the village of Hogsmede was under attack. Alyx hadn't pressed the END button before putting the cellular telephone back into her robe pocket.
Abraxan called for her aide to gather any Aurors in the Ministry building to go to Hogsmede. Unfortunately the Aurors had all left the building to respond to the attack at Diagon alley. They wouldn't be back for half an hour.
Moments later, Abraxan called to two other aides to get to St. Mungo's and immediately summon as many Mediwitches as possible to head to Hogsmede.
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Roberta Evans was a second year trainee at St. Mungo's. Most of the night staff was made up of the second and third year healer trainees and a few older supervisors. When Abraxan's aide dashed into the door and explained that Minister Abraxan had requested that all of the available Mediwitches apparate immediately to Hogsmede, Evans responded.
Thirty seconds later Evans and eight Mediwitches were ready. Carrying the wizarding version of crash carts with them, they left for Hogsmede unaware that they would be apparating into the middle of a firefight that was still raging.
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Hermione thought it was a bit irresponsible for the other groups to be out drinking under the pretext of holding a serious meeting. Professor Flitwick told the rest of the research group that he'd completed his search of the castle library. Diggle had made some discrete inquiries at the Beaubatons library in the last week, but had found nothing on the topic. He was currently investigating some vanishing stories. Hermione briefed the others about the concept of Horcruxes. Padma thought she sounded a bit like Binns, carrying on with seemingly endless detail.
Poppy began the battlefield healing section of the meeting when they were interrupted by Lavender who had run the entire way to the castle. "There's been an attack at Hogsmede…There's lots of wounded," she panted as she gasped for air. She had never run so fast in her life.
It was Poppy's turn to take control. "Lavender, what sort of attack?"
"Dementors… There were hundreds of them… And Death Eaters too, I think."
Before anyone could say anything else, Hermione was out the door, racing for the stairs. 'Not again! Please no, not again.' In the last attack she had lost one of her best friends, and Ron was in prison. Now Harry was all she had left in the magical world. She just couldn't bear to lose him too. She had not been able to shake the feeling that Ginny's death was partly her fault, and here she was at the castle, out of the fight, unable to do anything again.
Poppy went into command mode. "Stop her even if you have to stun her. Filius, charm the castle doors closed." Casting the Sonorus charm, she called, "Hermione, stop where you are!"
Never had she had such an authoritative look on her face. Catching up with the frustrated teen who, due to the locked doors, had nowhere to go. She said, "Hermione, you will not get killed on my watch. You are in charge of research, I am in charge of keeping my Mediwitch trainees alive in battlefield conditions. Have I made myself clear?"
Suddenly feeling like a first year again, she replied, "Yes Ma'am."
"Hermione, If there are indeed hundreds of dementors out there, your running smack into them and getting yourself kissed will not help. I broke Molly and Arthur's heart making the final arrangements for Ginny and Percy. I refuse to have to have such a horrible conversation with your parents if I can help it. Do I have your word that you won't try and leave?"
"Yes Ma'am. I'm sorry." In spite of her frustration, Hermione knew that the Master Healer was right.
Poppy's face softened, and she said, "OK. I'm certain that they'll come back soon. I need your help now. OK?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"OK then, Filius floo the Ministry and let them know that there has been a large attack. Hermione, Luna, Tom, Molly, Lavender and Padma wait by the door to stretcher anyone who arrives up to the hospital wing. The rest of you follow me up to the wing. We'll need blood restorative, pain potion…" It was obvious why she had been awarded the rank of Master Healer.
At the doors to the castle, they hurried up and waited.
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Natasha Abraxan knew that it would be irresponsible for her to leave the safety of her office. Scrimgeour had added adequate safety features so that she could truly lock herself in. She listened in morbid fascination as Cadet Alyx went into the street. Abraxan could hear the screams of the villagers through the still-active cellular telephone. She could hear the shouting and chaos as well as the unholy sounds of the slain dementors as they let out their last breath.
She bit her lip as she heard the frantic screams of Alyx getting picked up by the dementors only to be dropped moments later. Abraxan was greatly relieved to hear the young cadet being helped up a moment later and thank someone. She heard Alyx cast a Patronus charm and could also hear Harry Potter in the background fighting.
For a minute there was silence, then sobbing.
Fearing the worst, but hoping for the best, the High Priestess prayed and waited.
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Tonks dashed down the street after one of the Death Eaters only to find herself with McNair and two dementors swooping up to her from the rear. McNair said, "Stupid girl. Take in your last breath."
Apparently the spirited Auror wanted a victory more than the ex-Ministry employee. As he cast Dolohov's trademark fire slashing spell, Tonks sidestepped it in an amazing display of grace and cast Reducto, hitting McNair on the side of the face. The blast shattered his jaw and left his right ear on the street.
Rather than fight an unwinnable battle, the badly wounded Death Eater apparated away. As Tonks watched McNair disappear, she was grabbed by a large rotting hand.
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While the others were fighting as they knew best, Minerva was transfiguring barricades for the wounded to hide behind. Unfortunately it had been a warm evening and it seemed like most of the village had been outdoors when the attack started.
From a relatively safe position she watched as Potter and a few of the others risked their lives over and over to help someone or fight off the dementors. A lifetime of folklore regarding the invincibility of dementors was vanishing before her eyes as she saw cloak after cloak littering the street.
Suddenly she felt herself being lifted by one of the long, rotting hands. She screamed and a second later was on the ground with an empty cloak by her side.
"Be careful there, Professor," panted Potter, not wanting to lose anyone else.
"Ten thousand points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall helping herself up to her feet as Potter had already ran off.
Thirty yards to her right, Sturgis Podmore was not so lucky. Ten seconds after being grabbed, the dementor set him down with an expressionless look on his face.
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Fred and George ran to Alberforth's side. Neither knew a thing about first aid, but did what they could to keep the old saloonkeeper alive. They both felt indebted to the Headmaster's brother for continually forgetting to check IDs when they had begun going to Hogsmede beginning when they were thirteen. He had lost a lot of blood from a large gash on his leg. Fred did his best to close the wound and bind it up with a filthy bar rag that Aberforth had in his bartender apron.
Fred held the old wizard while George fired stunners at anyone who got close. George had noticed Moody fending the dementors off with a flaming branch. He summoned a bottle of Ogden's from the Hogs Head as he transfigured a twig into an eight foot 2x4. Pouring half of the liquor on the end of the lumber, George looked to the grey face of Aberforth and said, "I know. 4 Galleons. On my tab." He lit the end of the board and used it to wave the dementors away.
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It was the Mediwitches' practice to come in immediately after a fight had ended. In the past the call had come from Amelia Bones or Connie Hammer. The Mediwitches had no means of defending themselves.
As such they were highly surprised to have apparated into a full-bore firefight at Hogsmede, and terrified to realize that they were smack in the middle of it. Moments after the nine witches had arrived, three had been grabbed by the rotting hands of the dementors.
The others were powerless to help as three of their number faced death with bulging eyes and flailing arms as the foul beasts lowered their hoods. Roberta fell five feet upon being released by a dementor. She landed badly and broke an ankle, then was surrounded in blackness as her attacker's cloak fell on top of her.
Harry had rushed the dementors, swinging his sword in broad cutting strokes. Within seconds four of the foul creatures had disappeared and the other six Mediwitches scurried to safety not realizing that Roberta was missing.
… --- …
Lucius and Draco were in different buildings at the south end of town. The older Malfoy had come and gone several times transporting large sacks of gold back to the dark Lord's headquarters. After the third trip back, Lucius called to Draco and Snape to gather what they could and leave. Their objective was a robbery. The others could murder and pillage as they chose to.
The older Malfoy and the former spy were seconds ahead of Draco. Snape had gathered up four large sacks of gold and disappeared. Lucius took two more and left.
As Draco was leaving, Lupin hit him with a Reducto charm, blasting the arrogant wanker's manhood half way to Honeydukes. There would be no heirs to the Malfoy line. Unfortunately, Draco managed to apparate away, before Lupin could grab him.
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Vincent Crabbe and Greg Goyle did not fare as well. Acting with their usual level of finesse, they had just finished attacking two of Folgard's daughters, and were cleaning themselves up before walking out the door. Their last thoughts leaked down their robes as the teenaged girls' eleven-year-old sister blasted them with a shotgun that the trader had kept in their home.
The little girl ran to her sisters and they huddled together, as shock set in.
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As she was being picked up, Tonks summoned all of the love that she felt for Remus, called the charm and a two-foot chameleon flew from her wand crawling on the dementor. The anguished dementor let her drop and floated off.
Tonks hit her head on the pavement, and began bleeding badly. She cast a sealing charm, but was too weak to get on her feet. She lay there hoping that no one else would attack her and that the battle would end soon.
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Harry knew that the battle would end within minutes and dashed off like a man possessed. He began slashing every dementor that he could reach, screaming, "Go back to Azkaban, or I'll kill you all." He took another swing and hit two more of the hellish beasts and chased after another until nearly blind Ernie Prang dropped him with a stunner to the head, mistaking him for a Death Eater. In the last two minutes Harry had managed to send another 18 dementors back to the hell where they had been spawned.
The last dementor turned back as Harry fell to the ground. If that cursed swordbearer could be kissed, the threat to his brethren might be eliminated. It silently glided up to the unconscious youth and lowered its hood.
"Expecto Patronum!" A silver pit bull flew at the dementor, driving it away. Its chance lost, it drifted away after its fellows.
"Potter! Are you all right?" It was Moody limping up to him. "I saw Prang hit you by mistake. If he can't see twenty feet, how the hell does he drive that stupid bus?"
"Dunno. Thanks."
"Yea. No worries. Be more careful next time, and thanks. You're a good man, Potter." It had been many years since Moody was that generous with his praise.
"So are you Moody, so are you."
… --- …
For a moment there was silence, before everyone realized that the fighting had ended. The next phase, which would be equally gruesome, was that of trying to save the lives of the badly wounded. The remaining healers and Mediwitches gathered those kissed and the wounded together. They soon realized that there were far too many who had been kissed and far too few who were merely wounded. Fortunately a breeze came up which blew the disgusting stench of the slain dementors away.
Within an hour, there were nearly a hundred Ministry personnel on site. Based on the preliminary findings nearly 200 villagers had been kissed, 25 murdered, and about 80 were wounded or had injured themselves.
Another 56 of the dementors had been destroyed. 4 Death Eaters lay dead in the street and 4 had been sent to the holding cells.
The remaining dementors were on their way back to Azkaban Island to await their fate. The ancient band had lost a third of their number in the last week, and had no desire to be eliminated from the Earth by the one wielding the fabled sword.
… --- …
As the Aurors were gathering the cloaks of the dementors they were amazed to find Roberta hidden under one, badly bruised and unable to walk. Shacklebolt yelled, "We need a mediwitch here. We've got a live one."
Roberta was happy beyond words at being be reunited with her colleagues. She was so grateful to be alive that she refused to be embarrassed about being stretchered in by her sister Mediwitches.
On the way in, she asked, "What happened?"
The old mediwitch guiding her stretcher just smiled at her and said, "It will be a story you can tell your grandchildren, Roberta. You were saved from the very jaws of death by Mr. Harry Potter himself."
Suddenly a broken ankle and lacerations didn't seem so bad.
… --- …
As Lupin was trudging back up from the south end of the town, he spotted a shock of pink hair on the ground. Hurrying forward he found Tonks lying unconscious, blood caked to her head, but still alive. Nearly dizzy with relief, he picked her up and staggered to his feet, heading for the Mediwitches.
Moody and the others collected themselves outside the Three Broomsticks after the wounded had been all sent to the castle. They helped each other up to leave. As they were going, Madam Rosmerta handed them each a bottle to carry with them, saying, "I'm sorry that your evening was interrupted. Come back anytime on me." The old Auror cracked a genuine smile at these words as Bill helped him up. Moody was carrying Wormtail in a smaller unbreakable container after he had tried to sneak off in his rat form. Moody had no faith in the Ministry at the moment, and would deliver Pettigrew personally, clearing Black's name at the same time.
They limped back to the castle refusing any offers of assistance. Several people began clapping as they walked by. Soon others took up the cheer and their emotions soared as they slowly made their way back to the castle. The village had lost a fourth of its population, but the others knew that without the help that they'd received, they would all be among those mourned. By the time they made it to the doors, most of the bottles were nearly empty.
They were all glad that Minister Abraxan had arrived shortly after the end of the fighting and done a fantastic job keeping the reporters away from the militia. It grieved her to the bone that so many witches wizards and children had been lost, but she also realized that 700 people had been saved. She would try to meet with Potter and Moody the next day. The four Death Eaters who had been arrested had most likely eaten their last dinner. She would be swift with their justice.
Those that had been kissed would most likely be euthanized in the next day or so, after they were properly identified and their families had the opportunity to say their goodbyes. It was a lesser of evils in terms of fate for them, and there was no way to put a good spin on it.
Abraxan was torn up inside that so many families had been ripped apart. She renewed her vows to do everything within her power to put a quick stop to this madness.
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Hermione and the research team began shuttling the wounded to the hospital wing as fast as they could move them. Soon they were joined by the rest of the research team as the Mediwitches joined Poppy treat the patients. Minutes passed as more and more of the villagers were brought in, but she still hadn't seen anyone from the Order. Hermione grew more and more anxious as the minutes ticked by. "Where are they?" she said to no one in particular.
Hermione had been helping levitate patients up the stairs to the hospital wing, and hadn't seen any of the other Order members. She helped another injured person, this one in a Mediwitches uniform up to the hospital wing. She asked, "Did you see? Never mind." The Order wasn't wearing uniforms and describing them would be senseless.
She wasn't surprised to hear Roberta say, "Harry Potter saved me."
Hermione smiled at her as she helped Roberta into one of the few remaining beds. She simply replied, "He does that sort of thing."
She came back to the great oak doors to see Harry, Alyx and the others sitting on the floor, resting against the cool stone walls. Harry was talking with McGonagall. She raced down the rest of the steps and threw her arms around him. ""I'm so glad to see you. Are you hurt?
Harry hugged her back. "Hurting. The dementors got so many of the villagers. I couldn't get all of them."
She sat down next to Harry and turned her attention to Alyx. Susan came by a few minutes later and saw Hermione helping the cadet trying to mend her tattered clothing. Susan had a curious look on her face and said, "I'll help her Hermione. You can look after the others."
Other than Neville and Tonks, none of the others were really hurt, just exhausted. Hermione helped Harry to his feet last and remained by him, resting her head on his shoulder, both of them drawing comfort from each other. With one arm wrapped around her, he used the other to pick up the sword, disgusting black goo still wet on the blade, cleaned it off and returned it to its case. Susan helped Alyx up and said, "Why don't you come home with us tonight. It's late and there's plenty of room." There really wasn't anything else to do and none of them felt like answering questions or filling out paperwork.
Remus said. "I'll go up and check on Tonks. I'll probably stay here for the night."
After saying goodnight to the others, the four of them walked out of the oaken doors into the night air, activated the portkey that they'd been given and vanished.
It had been a long day.
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