Chapter 15

Vigilance and Fear

Harry was running down the hallway, he could still hear the clamor of death eaters and teachers behind him. The hall had been lit by torches hanging on the walls. He had yet to hear the voices of students or the booming one of Hagrid. He was holding two objects in his hands. One was his own wand, in his left hand. And the other was the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which he was holding in his right hand.

As his speed increased, Harry's mind began to race. Signora Aradia had just saved his life, and only minutes before, Harry had scene her lying dead. Was it really true? Was she a vampire?

But this subject was quickly pushed from his mind. As odd as it may be, that wasn't important right now. Right now, Hogwarts was being attacked. There was no doubt that Voldemort was behind it all. With Dumbledore gone, he knew that now would be the time to strike, and he did.

All of this was hitting Harry so hard, he was surprised that he hadn't just collapsed on the spot. He felt momentarily blind to everything that was going on. How could he allowed himself to have been so sidetracked? He should have done something before hand, but he didn't. And Signora Aradia knew that this was going to happen. Her position in all of this was the most confusing of all.

He began to hear the sound of voices ahead. As he turned the corner, he saw at the end of the hall an array of students gathered. They were moving forward at a steady pace. He rushed to meet them.

"Let me through," Harry ordered. He needed to get to the front to see Hagrid, so that he could tell him what had happened.

"Watch out," someone yelled, as Harry was very close to poking that persons eye out.

"Just let me through, alright," the volume in his voice was rising. He began pushing his way through the students, holding the sword above his head.

"Harry!" He felt his arm being tugged back, and turned around. "Where did you go?" It was Hermione, and Ron was standing by her side. She took notice of the sword in his hand.

"I'll tell you later, but now I have to get to the front," he told her.

"Well, let us come too," said Ron.

"Fine," Harry let them follow as he continued to push his way through. He felt like he'd made little progress so far. He didn't want to call for the moving to come to a stop, because he didn't know what type of progress the teachers were making in the Great Hall.

Harry was lucky that he was taller than the students around him, but he wasn't tall enough to see forward. "Ron can you see anything?" He yelled back.

"No, just moving heads," he shouted back.

"Don't think that you can cut, Potter," It was Malfoy, and he was pushing him back.

"You don't understand," Harry pushed his arm away. "I have to get through."

"I don't think so," Malfoy gave him another push, causing Harry to fall back onto the people behind him. He quickly regained his footing and stood up, holding the sword out in front of him, pointed at Malfoy's chest.

"I think it would be wise to let me through," Harry said, watching Malfoy eye the silver glint of the sword. He walked sideways and put the sword back atop his head.

"You better hope you don't get in trouble for that," he heard Ron tell him from behind.

"That's the east of my worries right now," said Harry. And just as he was about to declare this the longest line ever, Hagrid's back came into view. He began to pick up his pace, pushing his way a little more forcefully through the crowd.

"Hagrid," Harry yelled out. Hagrid spun around, and the students behind him stopped, letting Harry get to him a little more easily.

"Blimey, Harry, what do ya think you're doing?" Hagrid shot a quick glance at him and then at his sword. "Where did ya get that?"

"Signora Aradia gave it to me," Harry told him. "We need to keep moving, but I need to tell you something."

Hagrid began to walk again, and the mass of students behind him followed, some, including Hermione and Ron, began to listen intently at what Harry was saying.

"The knocks at the door were Death Eaters," Harry began. "They're were quite a number of them, they out numbered the teachers from what it looked like. And they-"

"Wait," said Hagrid. "First, tell me why ya didn't listen to what I told ya? I told ya not to stay behind. You coulda gotten yer self killed!"

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it one day, Harry," Hagrid gave him a disciplining eye.

"I know-"

Harry was cut off again, but this time it was by Hermione. "What's that?"

Harry looked ahead of them, and about a few yards away, a wall blocked their path. It wasn't an ordinary wall, but one made out of plants, it seemed. They walked a bit closer, and Harry eyed it's suspicious construction. What was it doing here?

"Dumbledore must of had it put here to stop anyone from gettin' in," said Hagrid.

"It looks like forza tectaculous," said Hermione from behind them.

"Of course," said Ron, he rolled his eyes. "You would know."

"How do we get past it?" Harry asked her.

"I'm not sure," Hermione continued. "I'm sure there is some type of spell you can use."

"Well then, go on," Ron stepped aside and pushed her forward.

"Well...I," Hermione pulled out her wand, but didn't do anything.

"Just use one of your spells," said Ron. "Or have you lost your genius touch."

She shot him an ugly look and then turned back toward the wall of plant. She held out her wand, and pointed it forward. "Chiarire!"

It was obvious, seconds later, that it didn't work. The plant began to yelp, and it shot out thorns in all direction. One of them hit Harry on his left shoulder.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled at her, he to had been hit on the arm.

"What?"

"Hermione if ya didn't know what to do, ya shouldn't have done anythin'," Hagrid looked at her, pulling a thorn out of his bushy black beard. He turned around "Is everyone alright?"

"No, let me through," said a voice, a very familiar one. Neville came bursting through the crowd. "You can't use a spell on forza tectaculous. It repels magic!"

"Obviously," said Ron, pulling the thorn from his arm. "I just hope these aren't poisonous."

"They're not," said Neville, he looked at the wall before them. "If we are going to get through, you'll have to figure out a way that doesn't include magic."

Harry was surprised at Neville's willingness to stand up. He sure had come a long way since their first year.

"Why don't you use the sword, Harry," said Ron. Harry looked down at the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. He shot a look at Neville.

"You can try it," he said. Harry took that as a go, and so he stepped closer to the plant. He placed the sword in its center, and pushed through. It cut cleanly, all the way to the other side. He pulled it back, and then threw it into the plant again. Pieces of it began to fall to the ground, and Harry began to hack at it with more force. Pretty soon, he could see trough to the other side.

Once he could fit, Harry jumped through the hole, and began hacking at it from the other side. He cleared a clean path, so that even Hagrid could fit through.

"Nice job, Harry," said Neville, as he stepped through.

"Not to bad yourself," he shot back.

"And who came up with the idea?" asked Ron, with a smug grin.

"Oh shut it," Hermione shot at him.

"You're just jealous," Ron said. "Looks like you've finally lost your touch."

"Don't start," said Hermione, falling back behind them, as the crowd began to move forward.

"Fine," said Ron, he looked at the sword in Harry's hand. "You said Signora Aradia gave that to you?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"But we all saw...she was-"

"I guess she wasn't," Harry cut him off.

"If you'd listen to me, you'd know what happened," said Hermione from behind.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"I told you, she is a vampire," she said, without whispering. "Immortal."

"Aradia is not a Vampire," Hagrid said, he was directly in front of them, which no one had noticed.

"Yes she is," said Hermione, being a little to persistent.

"Hermione," Hagrid turned his head to look at her. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"If she's not, than what is she?" She asked him.

"I'm not answering that," Hagrid said. "We need to keep moving forward." Hagrid went quiet, and began to pick up his pace.

"If he knows something, than the whole staff does," Hermione whispered to Ron and Harry.

"Hermione," Harry turned to look at her. "It's time that you back off of her."

She gave him a surprised look. "Harry-"

"I mean it," Harry said, before turning around. He continued to walk, without looking back at her.

Author's Note: I hope that you will continue to read, even once you've read the 6th book. Cause I do plan to continue this.

And please, don't count how many times I used the word 'through'. I know I must have broken a record, lol.