Harry swung his broom low over the forest canopy desperately trying to lose the deatheaters racing behind him in the dark wildly loosing their spells in his general direction, pushing his firebolt harder than he could ever remember he darted left and right doing his utmost to avoid the treetops as he went lower in a desperate attempt to lose his pursuers hoping he was the better flyer as he jinked back and forth through the shadows with the spindly upper most branches whipping his legs hoping that his luck would hold out until he reached the castle and hopefully safety.
Suddenly he was out of the trees and vast stretch of black nothingness stretched out in front of him and he realised he had reached the lake the castle overlooked, snapping his head up he saw the dark silhouette of Hogwarts looming over the far side of the lake, dark and foreboding against the moonless night sky but it was the only sanctuary he could think of.
Pulling himself flat against his broom he angled down to the calm flat surface of the lake he willed ever last fibre of his being into moving his broom faster still and darted forwards towards his last hope of safety.
As he passed the small spit of land halfway across the lake he dared a glance behind and his heart froze at the sight of cluster of dark shadows darting across the lake behind him, they had stopped casting spells now and seemed to be putting their minds to catching him before he reached the walls of Hogwarts.
Bringing his head back around he realised he had almost reached his target as the walls of the castle loomed above him and pulled up flying almost vertically in an attempt to keep his speed while trying to make it over the wall, barely making it as his feet skimmed the craggy old stone between two of the crenulations.
Steering his broom towards the body of the castle his hopes faded as he took in darkness that enveloped the castle as there was no light emanating from any part of the castle not a flicker in any of the windows to light his way to safety.
Not daring to think of his fate if there was no one here to help him he ducked into a covered walkway which wound its way between the buildings and entered its shadowy embrace hoping to hide from his pursuers while desperately trying to find a light from the castles dark interior.
Knowing he had nowhere else to go he flew to a window large enough to pass through and kicked the small panes from their frames and clambered inside and dropped onto a bench beneath the sill and looked about empty classroom before jumping to the floor and running over to pull open the door and pass into the corridor beyond.
Pounding down the hallways of Hogwarts he fought down a growing panic as he passed offices and the teachers lounge each dark and empty room aiding his growing panic he felt in his chest, running out of places to search on his route he headed to his last and only remaing hope.
Almost collapsing he reached the guardian to the headmaster's office he took long gulps of air before rattling off any and all sweets he could think of before hitting the right one and the old stone figure ground to the side allowing him to mount the steps as he forced his flagging legs to obey.
With a push he heaved the heavy door of the office open and stumbled in and fell to his knees onto the deeply rugged floor, looking up the last of his hope died as he surveyed the empty cold room, there was nothing here but the deep shadows and bric-a-brac cluttering the shelves and old ashes in the fireplace.
Not knowing what else to do he collapsed back onto the floor and tried to clear his tired and confused mind enough to work out what to do but he heard the grate of stone against stone and realised the statue was moving again but he knew certainly it was not a friend, forcing himself up he pushed the door closed and turned the old heavy iron key until it clicked home and he stumbled over to the large desk and dropped into the headmasters chair and dug out his wand and pointed it with a shaking hand at the door.
Suddenly there was a loud crash on the door followed by a second and a third that splintered the wood around the lock as the door buckled inwards and Harry knew the end had come.