Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
I'm a horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible person! I haven't updated since who knows when and now probably nobody will want to read when I do update. I have 4 days off from school (actually 2 weeks but I went to Paris for a while woot woot) and I'm going to spend my time updating and writing, writing and updating so that I at least update every story once. I'm soooo sorry please do still read my stuff!
The next day Hermione, Ron, and Harry woke up to sunlight pouring through their windows. After breakfast they decided to go to the magical animal show in Wales.
"Maybe I'll be able to get an owl," Ron said. He had sold his previous owl when he needed money. Hermione nodded and said,
"We should invite Hagrid. He'll love the show." They trouped down to Hagrid's cabin, and Harry knocked on the door. Another storm had started, but luckily it wasn't as bad as the previous day.
"Come in," boomed Hagrid. They heaved open the door and walked inside. "Oh, 'ello!" the half giant greeted them. "Would you like a cup o' tea?"
"No thanks Hagrid. We were wondering if you wanted to go to the magical animal show with us," Harry said.
"Really? I'd be deligh'ed!" Hagrid said and rushed off to find his moleskin coat. Once he was dressed they made their way back outside, and were suddenly faced with the problem of transportation as Hagrid couldn't apparate.
"We could go on brooms," Ron offered.
"No, it'd be too hard to fly in this weather," Hermione said.
"I've got it!" Harry exclaimed. "The thestrals!" Hagrid nodded.
"Good idea. Be righ' back." He disappeared inside his cabin for a minute, and then reappeared with some huge chunks of raw meat. They went inside the forest, and soon a couple of the thestrals were following them. Hagrid gave them the meat, and once they were finished, the four friends climbed on thestrals' backs and flew away.
Soon they were in the place where the show was being held, and Hagrid tied up the thestrals and walked away with the three young aurors. The first creature they saw was a baby dragon.
"Aww, isn' he cute?" Hagrid cooed, scratching the dragon's chin. He was being sold for fifty galleons.
"Hagrid," Hermione said nervously. "Remember the last time you had a dragon?" He nodded sadly.
"Yeh. All righ' let's go." They walked on for a while, looking at various creatures. There were some unicorns, and nifflers (a/n: is that the right word? I'm talking about the things that find shiny objects) and hippogriffs. Harry couldn't look at those; they reminded him of Sirius. When Hagrid went to look at them, Harry left to look at whatever was in the pen across from the hippogriffs'. It turned out to be thestrals, which included baby thestrals. The little ones were just like the older ones, except for their size.
"Harry!" Ron called. Harry looked over and saw that they were moving on to the owls, and Hagrid had a hippogriff following him.
"Hagrid, you got a hippogriff?" he asked incredulously, catching up to them.
"Er, yeah to replace Buckbeak, yeh know, I've been wantin' to fer a while, jus' never go' the chance…" Hagrid trailed off seeing Harry's face.
"What happened to Buckbeak?" he asked the huge man.
"Oh, well, I se' him free, after…yeh know." After Sirius' death. Harry nodded.
"What did you name this one?"
"I'm not sure yet." Harry nodded again and walked towards an owl sitting on a perch. It was familiar and had a letter tied on its leg for some reason.
"Hedwig?" She hooted and stuck out her leg. Harry took the letter and gave her some owl treats. He looked outside (the show was inside) and decided she should just stay with him. He put his arm near her and she hopped on. Then Harry unfolded the letter. It said:
Beware.
There was no signature or anything.
"What's that?" Hermione asked. Harry showed them the letter and they were just as confused as he was.
"This is weird. Well, we just have to be on our guard, that's all. Like Dumbledore said."
"C'mon let's go get my owl then," Ron said trying to change the subject, and raced over to a beautiful great horned owl. "Seventeen galleons," he murmured. "What do you think, should I get it?" he asked Harry.
"Yeah, it's a great owl," his friend said. Ron nodded and paid for the bird. When he came back carrying the cage he said,
"I've named it Charlie."
"After your brother?" Hermione asked, amused.
"No, I just like the name. I think it suits him." Harry studied the owl for a moment.
"You know, you're right. It does suit him," he agreed. They walked on, passing pens after pens full of animals, and finally decided to get something to eat. When Hagrid came back from tying up his new hippogriff, they went to the cafeteria. Ron let Charlie out so he could fly around, but Hedwig decided to stay where she was, occasionally pecking at Harry's food.
"What do you think the note meant?" Hermione asked, sipping her pumpkin juice.
"I don't know," Harry said, taking it out after giving his owl the rest of his meat pie. "It looks like the person had difficulty writing it. I don't know what Hedwig was doing wherever they were."
"It is strange," Hagrid said, studying the piece of parchment. Then he looked at the clock. "We should ge' goin'." The others nodded, and left the building. Outside the snow was thickening, and the wind was howling. They trudged over to the thestrals and the hippogriff (which Hagrid had decided to name Clawfoot). Charlie was back in his cage and he and Hedwig were having trouble keeping their balance. Harry put his arms around Hedwig, because she almost fell off her perch.
They climbed with difficulty onto the thestrals, who didn't seem to notice the snow, and Hagrid held tightly onto the rope tied around Clawfoot's neck. Once they were in the air they let their mounts lead the way. When they were flying above Hogsmeade they heard screaming. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks and told the thestrals to go down. They landed at the gates of the village, and the thestrals flew away. Hagrid was behind them, but they told him to leave. He did reluctantly, and took the owls with him. The three pulled out their wands and cautiously pushed open the gates.
They could still hear shouts of people, but in the place they were there were no other sounds. All the lights were on and in the Three Broomsticks there were still mugs of butterbeer on the tables. Some of the tables were overturned, though, and a couple of cloaks lay on the floor.
As they drew nearer, the screaming got louder. Soon it was right around the corner. Harry was the first to step forward, and his eyes widened in horror. Death Eaters war running around shooting jets of green and yellow. One of the yellow lights hit a young witch and she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. A green light hit her companion and he fell down and lay there motionless.
"Come on," Harry whispered, and Hermione and Ron followed him. They crept forward to the nearest person on the ground. She was dead with her eyes wide open in fear.
"Well, well, well," said a voice a couple of feet away. "Look who's here." Harry looked up and pointed his wand.
"Stupefy!" he yelled, and the Death Eater fell over. Harry tied him up and took off his hood. None of them recognized him so they moved on.
"Crucio!" someone yelled behind them. A jet of yellow came out of their wand and hit Hermione in the back.
"Silencio!" Ron yelled at the Death Eater and went to help Hermione.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry said, and the Death Eater's wand flew towards him. He broke it in half and stunned the hooded person before they ran away. Then he moved their hood aside and saw that it was a woman. He bound her up and walked over to Hermione and Ron. "Hermione, are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Let's keep going." They kept stunning and tying up their enemies, and sometimes stopping to see if the people on the ground were dead or not. After about ten minutes they found the real battle. Villagers were fighting Death Eaters and people from both sides were lying on the ground. Harry and Ron joined the fight, while Hermione told the villagers about the defense for the killing curse. The Death Eaters suddenly huddled together and yelled,
"Avada Kedavra!" The others responded quickly.
"Amoris Patronum!" they shouted. Only about ten Death Eaters were left standing afterwards. They were quickly stunned and bound, as nobody wanted to use an Unforgivable. Harry was standing at the back of the group, waiting for the Ministry Officials to arrive. Suddenly he felt stiff, and when he tried to move his arms he wasn't able to. He was in a full body bind and couldn't make a sound. He felt himself being dragged off like a board, and the falling snow was covering up his attackers' tracks. He was taken a little way away from the village. He could still hear his name being shouted.
Hermione and Ron were helping tighten the ropes around the Death Eaters.
"Harry, could you come and help us?" Hermione called but there was no answer. She tried again, but still not a sound from his direction. Finally she turned around and looked for him. She couldn't find the mop of black hair anywhere. "Ron," she said. He stood up.
"What?"
"Where's Harry?" she asked. He looked around.
"I dunno, he was at the back of the crowd a minute ago," he said.
"I can't find him and he wouldn't just leave without saying anything."
"I know. Harry!" Ron bellowed. No answer came. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and made sure nobody was looking at them. Then they transformed and flew away.
When Harry was released he was able to move his head. He saw that there was a couple of Death Eaters standing around him. He was still holding his wand and they were pointing theirs at him.
"So, why am I here?" he asked.
"Guess, little Potter," the nearest one sneered. He recognized her voice.
"Why, hello Bellatrix. Fancy seeing you here." She didn't say anything in response. They stood like that for about five minutes, nobody moving a muscle. Finally Harry had had enough. "Stupefy!" he shouted and five Death Eaters fell to the ground. He looked around. There was nobody else there. He was on some sort of dirt path which led to a mountain. Harry wanted to look away but found himself walking towards it. He climbed up until he found a cave. This was the cave Sirius had hid in. Harry walked inside, and sat down against the wall. "Why does everything remind me of him?" he asked himself angrily. "It's been so long, why can't I let it go?" He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. When he reopened them he saw something on the opposite wall.
He got up and walked towards it. Harry noticed it was some sort of writing. He looked closer and could make out the words.
The right hand corner on the veil. The prophecy is there. Find it Harry.
Harry was startled. He read it over and over again as if trying to make the meaning appear in the words. What prophecy? And how did the words get there, when they weren't there earlier? He figured Sirius had written it, because it was definitely Sirius' writing, and he just hadn't noticed when he entered. But what did it mean? Harry vaguely heard his name. He sighed and transformed into an eagle. He spread his wings and rose into the air, flying towards the exit. When he looked back, the words were gone.
Ron and Hermione flew towards the edge of Hogsmeade. They stopped when they found the bodies of five unconscious Death Eaters. When they were in human form again they looked around for Harry but couldn't find him.
"Harry!" Hermione called. Ron cried his friend's name too, but there was no response. They walked further down the path, towards a mountain and tried again. A bird flew to them from the mountain, and on the ground it transformed into Harry.
"Harry, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Ron exclaimed.
"Death Eaters took me from behind. Let's go back and help the injured people."
"But what were you doing in the mountain?" Hermione asked, nervously looking to where he had come from, as if expecting Death Eaters to come bursting out.
"I was…" Harry didn't want to tell them about where he had been and what he had seen. It felt like the cave and Sirius' words were the last of Sirius' things he would find, and he wanted to keep them his own. "I was just making sure no Death Eaters were hiding out there." The answer seemed to satisfy his friends because they nodded and transformed into birds. Harry did the same and they all flew towards Hogsmeade.
When they got there, people from the Ministry and Azkaban were already there and hauling away the Death Eaters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to help people. Harry came across a witch who was breathing heavily, and seemed barely conscious. He recognized her as Madam Rosmerta. He knelt down beside her.
"Rosmerta? Can you hear me?"
"Yes," she said weakly.
"I'm going to help you. Hang in there," he said, and picked her up. He made his way through the deep snow to the nearest shop and put her inside. He transfigured a couple of cabinets and shelves into beds and couches. Then he lit a fire, and placed the bartender on the couch in front of it. "Rosmerta, were there anymore Death Eaters here?" he asked. She gained a little strength after warming up.
"Yes but they left before the attacks began. I'm not sure where they went."
"Oh, how many were there?"
"About thirty or forty. I can't believe there are so many of them especially after 150 were caught."
"Yes, he has a lot of supporters. I'm going to leave you to rest. Someone should come get you soon," Harry said and she nodded. He left the store just as another person was being carried in by Ron. Harry waited for him, and when Ron had gotten the person settled he walked over to Harry. "Ron, I need to talk to you and Hermione. Do you know where she is?"
"No, we should go find her." They left the building and found Hermione quickly.
"Guys, Madam Rosmerta told me that there were more than these Death Eaters here but they left before the attacks began and she doesn't know where they went." Hermione's eyes widened.
"How many of them?" she asked.
"She said about thirty or forty," Harry replied.
"We should go tell Dumbledore. We have no idea how many more Death Eaters Voldemort has. He might just keep bringing out more," Ron said.
"No matter how many he brings out, we're going to defeat his army, and then him," Harry announced. "Now let's get to Hogwarts." The three of them ran towards the castle. In five minutes they were at the huge oak doors, and stopped to catch their breath. Then Ron pushed the doors open and they walked inside. Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked down a couple of corridors on their way to the headmaster's office. It was eerily quiet, and some torches were blown out although there were no open windows and the torches were lit day and night. They pulled out their wands and walked cautiously. There was no sign of life; everything was very still.
When they turned to another hallway, there was a strange smell coming from it. There were only about two torches lit here, so Harry and Hermione and Ron had to light their wands. They moved forward slowly. Suddenly Hermione held out a hand to stop her companions.
"Did you guys here that?" she whispered. They listened and heard some sort of sound up ahead. It sounded like something was on the stone floor but it wasn't human footsteps, or the swish of a cloak. Hermione tip toed further up the hallway, with Ron and Harry following her. Suddenly she screamed. She looked frozen to the spot. Harry and Ron moved ahead to see what was happening, and saw a huge snake rushing towards Hermione. It was letting off a terrible stench and Harry recognized it instantly. It was Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini.
"Sstop!" he hissed. Of course she didn't listen, so he pushed Hermione and stepped in front of Nagini. She stopped right away, because she knew her master needed him.
"What do you want, Potter? I am very hungry," she hissed angrily, eyeing Hermione.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, ignoring the snake's words.
"Leave me alone!" Nagini said, but Harry didn't move.
"Tell me what you're doing here!" Realizing she wouldn't get a meal here, Nagini smiled (A/n: can snakes do that? Just imagine it if they can't which I don't think they can).
"You'll sssee," she said and slithered away.
"Harry, what was that about? What did she say?" Ron asked.
"I asked her what she was doing here, and she said I'll see."
"That doesn't sound good," Hermione whispered.
"No, it doesn't," Harry shook his head. "Let's go find Dumbledore." They took off at a run and slowed down only when they got to the stone gargoyle.
"Chocolate covered candy wands," Ron gasped. The statue jumped aside and they stepped onto the escalating stairs. They didn't bother to knock, and burst into the room. The person standing there was not Dumbledore.
"Bellatrix?" Hermione exclaimed.
"The one and only," the other woman said, smirking.
"I thought I took care of you back when you tried to kidnap me today," Harry said coldly.
"You really think my master would let me be captured and given the dementor's kiss?" Bellatrix scoffed.
"One can only hope," Harry replied. The Death Eater sneered.
"That wasn't very nice."
"Neither is murdering innocent people," Ron retorted. Bellatrix ignored him.
"The last time we met," she began, looking at Harry. "Before today, I mean, was eight years ago, wasn't it? Yes, that's when we lost my dear cousin. What a tragic event." Harry gritted his teeth. Unfortunately, Sirius' cousin and murderer noticed him tense up. "Does mention of my cousin bring you pain? Oh, I'm so sorry." Then Harry lost it.
"Crucio!" he yelled. Unlike the other time he had tried that on her she fell to the ground shrieking. Harry lifted the curse after a bit.
"Learned how to use them, have you?" Bellatrix asked panting.
"So it would seem. The finny part is, I didn't practice," he said. "Stupefy!" After that was done, ropes shot out of his wand and wrapped themselves around the woman's body. Harry made sure she wouldn't be able to move. "Silencio" Now she wouldn't be able to make a sound. Once he was finished, Harry turned back to his friends. "We have to find someone, like Dumbledore or McGonagall. I bet Bellatrix was waiting for him here."
"Me too," Ron murmured.
"Let's go," Hermione said and lead the way out. They couldn't find anyone, teacher or Death Eater.
"Where are they all?" Ron asked.
"My guess is the Great Hall," Harry answered "But I mean the Death Eaters too."
"Not all Death Eaters are in the Great Hall," came a chilling voice behind them. They turned around and saw a thin man in Death Eater robes, and ugly black hair. Above his upper lip was a thin black mustache, and he was sneering unpleasantly. It was Macnair, the man who was supposed to kill Buckbeak all those years ago.
"Apparently not," Ron agreed. Macnair turned his attention to him.
"What are you doing here Weasley?"
"Guess," Ron said coolly. The Death Eater smiled sarcastically and turned to Hermione.
"You brought the mudblood along too. Pity," he said and raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" Hermione was ready, though.
"Amoris Patronum!" In a minute Macnair was on the ground, unconscious. They took away his wand and broke it in half, and then Ron tied him up and put him near the wall. They began walking again and soon they met Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva!" Harry called. She turned around and waved.
"Hello! Can I help you?" she said.
"There are Death Eaters in the castle!" Hermione told her. McGonagall looked at her.
"Don't be ridiculous, there are no Death Eaters in Hogwarts. Go back to what you were doing before you started making up stories." Ron and Harry were shocked. McGonagall's voice sounded so cheerful and carefree; it was usually stern and sharp. Hermione just sighed and when McGonagall started to walk away, she pointed her wand at her former teacher's back.
"Finite Incantatem" McGonagall's body gave a jerk, and she fell backward.
"What happened?" she asked looking around.
"You were under the Advertum charm," Hermione explained. Harry and Ron remembered vaguely that the charm would make a person act the complete opposite of themselves, and if they saw something going on, they would pretend it wasn't happening when someone else would mention it. The Advertum charm was a good weapon for Death Eaters, but it had its weaknesses. For example, Hermione had just been able to tell that McGonagall was under the charm right away.
"Oh, dear."
"Yes, but Minerva, there are Death Eaters in the castle!" Hermione said.
"How could they have gotten in?"
"We don't know, and we also don't know how many of them there are," Ron told her.
"We're thinking about thirty or forty.," Harry said. "The ones who left before the attack on Hogsmeade."
"There was an attack in Hogsmeade?"
"Yes, and all of the Death Eaters were caught but we know Bellatrix Lestrange escaped; she was in Albus' office." McGonagall gasped. "And some others might have escaped as well, but we only know about Bellatrix. And she's in Albus' office right now, tied up and silenced," Harry said.
"I will go look for Albus immediately." She sped off.
"Ok, let's go see how many Death Eaters are in the Great Hall," Ron offered and they moved forward again. After five minutes they heard something up ahead. This time it didn't sound like slithering; it sounded like footsteps. When the trio got closer they saw that it was the rest of the Death Eaters Voldemort had, and they were heading their way.
"Split up, and meet up at the back of them!" Harry whispered and they all took a different corridor to get around the crowd. When they were all at the back, they started stunning those nearest them and levitating them before they fell on their companions.
They might have gotten the better part of the Death Eaters stunned and bound if one of Voldemort's servants hadn't turned around.
"There he is! It's Potter!" she shrieked. About twenty stunning spells were sent towards Harry and his friends but they deflected them. The shields were hard to keep up since there were so many spells to be saved from. Next the mob tried to get ropes around Harry, Ron, and Hermione and hit Ron. He was pulled forward and the Death Eaters smiled.
"Come on Harry Potter. Save your friend." Harry gritted his teeth. They thought he wouldn't send a spell at them because they were using his friend for a shield.
"Stupefy!" As he had predicted they pulled Ron in front of them and he got hit. Harry was hoping this would happen. "Stupefy!" he shouted again and, since there was no Ron to use as a shield, one of the Death Eaters got hit. She fell down silently. Enraged, the Death Eaters raised their wands.
"Avada Kedavra!" they screamed.
"Amoris Patronum!" Harry and Hermione bellowed. Their spell knocked half of the crowd unconscious. There were about ten of them left. They sneered.
"You'll meet your match yet, Potter. Let's go find Dumbledore," the man at the front of the flock said and they followed him away. Hermione and Harry caught their breath (it was hard to deflect so many spells with only two people) and went over to Ron.
"Ennervate," Harry whispered. Ron jolted to life.
"Are they gone?" he asked.
"Yeah, sorry about stunning you; it was the only way we could do anything" Harry said.
"It's ok; I would have done the same thing," Ron said. Hermione and Harry helped him up.
"We should check the Great Hall; there won't be any Death Eaters left, we just saw them all," Hermione suggested. They took all the stunned Death Eaters' (who had been left behind by their group) wands, and tied them up and put them into a pile. Then they headed to the Great Hall.
They quietly pushed open the doors. All the candles that were usually floating around were extinguished, and the only light came from the doorway. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked farther into the Hall.
Suddenly all the candles were topped with flames. The hall was full of light now, and the three friends could see that all of the chairs were knocked over. The Christmas trees were on the ground, and pine needles littered the floor around them. All the ornaments and decorations were shattered, and the portraits were burned. All of the tables had been overturned too, all of them except the Head Table, at the foot of which Nagini was lying, staring. On top of the table was a tall and thin figure, in a long black cloak. His face was white and pointed; he had snake like slits for nostrils. His scarlet eyes were gleaming with triumph, and his thin lips were formed in a smug smile. It was Lord Voldemort.