Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army
By Nick Danforth
The Hogwarts Express pulled slowly into Platform 9 ¾ and came to a soft stop. Harry Potter, the proclaimed hero of the Wizarding world, sat in utter silence as his best friends prepared to exit the train.
Slamming his fist into the seat, his friends giving Harry nothing more than a glance as he worked out his fury within. For neither shall live while the other survives… It was hopeless. How could Harry fight and win against the most powerful wizard in the world next to Dumbledore?
But Dumbledore was dead. It was almost unconceivable, as if someone had played a rather cruel joke on the world. He was their savior, their first in command, and their leader; he couldn't die! The Order was now leaderless, the fight against Voldemort seemingly hopeless. Without Dumbledore they were finished, and he had died at the hands of none other than Severus Snape.
Blinking away tears that would never come, Harry stood, grabbed his trunk and pushed past his friends into the exit hall. He felt a soft pair of hands on his shoulder, but Harry pushed them away and jumped off the train.
Raising his head, his green eyes took in the view of Platform 9 ¾. Parents hurried along, in a constant state of fear, calling to their children to try and exit the Platform as soon as possible. How much had changed, Harry realized, from the bright days when he had first came to the Platform when it was full of lively students and bright rays of hope. Now, all that remained was a sense of foreboding, a warning of the war that had begun.
Scanning the platform he saw Neville Longbottom's Grandmother, a worried look overtaking her usually stern features, and Mrs. Weasley, rushing towards her son and daughter with tears in her eyes. And that's when he saw a face he shouldn't have... Lucius Malfoy.
Draco wasn't on the train, so why would his dad be on the Platform? And that's when it hit him.
"Dumbledore's Army to me!" Harry screamed as loud as he could, his wand flashing out of his pocket and into his hand. Ron and Ginny Weasley, along with Hermione looked at him as if he had gone insane, and the sadness echoing from Ginny's beautiful, brown eyes was the last thing Harry saw before Lucius Malfoy erupted from the crowd, wand blazing with green curses.
POP!
Death Eater's apparated all around Platform 9 ¾ and the screams started. Avada Kedavra! was heard from so many voices it seemed to echo, and the bodies started to fall. A girl, hardly out of her first year at Hogwarts arched gracefully down to the ground, the lifeless look of the Killing Curse having already overtaken her face. Seamus Finnigan jumped in front of the green light to save his mother, a Gryffindor concentration upon his face. Luna Lovegood had barely stepped off the train before her body joined the rest of the dead. All around Harry, people had fallen, never to smile again.
"Dumbledore's Army to me!" yelled Harry one last time before his eyes broke off of the lifeless eyes and threw himself into battle.
"REDUCTO! SECTUMSEMPRA! IMPEDIMENTA!" Harry launched himself through the helpless crowd, targeting Death Eaters left and right. Behind him he could hear other members of Hogwarts start throwing curses and joining the fight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Neville take down two Death Eaters in a flash of red light, his eyes blazing with a rage Harry could only compare to his own.
"HARRY!" someone screamed, and he whipped around in time to see Parvati take a killing curse to the chest. Tears filled his eyes as he screamed, "DIFFINDO!" and watched as the Death Eater was torn in two at the waist. Red blood splattered all over the wall as he crumpled and Harry quickly cursed another two Death Eater's advancing on a helpless Muggle family.
And then his scar began to burst in pain more intense than any Cruciatus Curse he had ever been inflicted with. Harry fell down to the ground, his hands clasped over his forehead. The battle taking place all around him was muted and the dull thud of bodies made no impact upon the conscience of Harry Potter. His head was bursting and all he could think of was to let it end. He opened his burning green eyes and the first thing he saw was the evil, sinister red eyes of Voldemort, advancing through the crowd towards him. Voldemort quickly reached him, grabbed Harry by the neck, and ripped him off his feet.
Looking straight into his eyes, Voldemort sneered. "Potter, you have irked me for far too long. Today, you will die," and with that Harry Potter was flung to the ground and Voldemort raised his wand.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" screamed Voldemort and the world seemed to stop as that familiar, cursed green light sped towards him, Harry's wand lost somewhere on the floor. Harry has one last thought, "I'll finally be with my parents and Sirius" before he closed his eyes. But instead of a green light enveloping his senses he felt something solid slam into his chest. Opening his eyes, his vision came across Ginny Weasley, sprawled across his lap, her lifeless eyes staring into his own.
And it was at that moment that the hero of the Wizarding World emerged, his green eyes filled with so much sadness and rage that a glowing green flame surrounded his body. Harry slowly moved Ginny Weasley's body aside, picked up his wand on the floor, and calmly stood to face the most despicable monster on the planet, the pain in his head having vanished suddenly. Voldemort's grin stretched from ear to ear as he looked from Ginny Weasley to Harry Potter, the snake-like slits of his eyes showing the evil that cursed in his veins.
"Tom," said Harry, "I believe it is customary to bow before beginning a duel."