One more chapter after this one and then Harry Potter and the Preparations of War will be completed. The sequel willed be called Harry Potter and the Sufferings of War and the first chapter will hopefully be published in the middle of July.
Chapter 29 Siege of Hogwarts
Harry had sent the signal of retreat into the air exactly one minute ago. In order to give enough time for the other Golden Knight teams to finish rounding up whatever townspeople they could and then dragging them all to Hogwarts, he had stayed behind to slow down the Death Eaters.
Using the debris and clothing of Gladrag's he had stalled the Death Eater assault by constantly banishing the objects at the Death Eater line. Hundreds of robes, shirts and trousers as well as wood and bricks flew at the Death Eaters.
"Zauberauw!" Harry's wand arm buckled as a large jet of light, five foot in diameter and a bright white and red in color, flew from his wand and towards the Death Eater line.
Shields were quickly erected by the Death Eaters but they all collapsed under the raw magic. Several Death Eaters were thrown into the air, other knocked over by the magic. The robes worn by the Death Eater that got hit with the brunt of the magic disintegrated.
Taking only a moment to survey the damage he had done to the Death Eater line, the now tired Harry turned around and ran as fast as he could down the street. Passing by Zonko's, he banished the nose-biting tea cups in the window display towards the Death Eaters before yelling "Aguamenti" and housing the whole inside of the store with water. He continued on running, ignoring the explosions of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start-No-Heat Fireworks.
A beam of green light flew over his shoulder, Harry feeling the darkness flowing off the spell. He conjured a brick wall behind him and continued on running as fast as he could. By the time he reached the Shrieking Shack the screams of the townspeople left in the town could be heard. He looked back to see Voldemort apparate right in the apparition zone. The self-claimed Dark Lord waved his wand and a large blue dome appeared in the air before shattering like glass.
Hundreds of more Death Eaters apparated into the town, more chaos ensuing. The people left in the town were running around in a panic. "Accio! Accio! Accio! Accio! Accio! Accio! Accio!" The townspeople he was summoning flew at him at alarming speeds.
A large mattress appeared in front of him as he waved his wand, a dull thump emitting from it as the seven townspeople collided with it. "Get into the Shrieking Shack, there is a passage to Hogwarts in the first room on your left in the floor. You'll come out under the Whomping Willow, when you see a large knot, press it and that should freeze the tree." They just stared at him blankly. "GO!" They all scrambled into the rundown house.
Harry looked up to see Voldemort walking towards him, his scar giving a painful throb. "Potter" Voldemort hissed.
"Riddle" Harry replied evenly. Voldemort threw a Killing Curse at him, which he ducked.
"My offer still stands, the one from your first year. Join me and the world would be ours in a heart beat. Think of the money, the power, the woman. You could be my heir, emperor of the Americas. You will be powerful, but what use is that power if you are killed before you even get it?" Voldemort asked.
"A wise, yet crazy old man with a long beard once told me that it is our choices that make us who we are. I choose to take the path that is right, not the path that is easy. And because of that, no matter how much magic you have, I will always be more powerful then you Tom" Harry replied.
"Crucio!" Voldemort yelled. Harry ducked the spell sending a stunner at the Dark Lord. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Avis!" the flock of birds intercepted the Killing Curse. "Inflatus!"
Voldemort waved his wand lazily and the beams of navy light dissipated. "Those spells may work on my Death Eaters, but you'll have to do better then that on me Potter" Voldemort taunted.
"Batoack!" Again the Dark Lord waved his wand to get rid of the spell. "Acuo!" The spell was battered aside. "Expello! Spiculumi Argentum!" None of his spells were penetrating the Dark Lord's defenses.
The Dark Lord waved his wand and Harry found himself jumping out of the way of the large shards of ice. He rolled to his feet, sending out several orbs of orange with precise flicks of his wrist. Several grey colored curses flew his way and he erected the strongest shield he knew, barely managing to hold it against the power of Voldemort's spells.
He banished some of the large boulders around them at the Dark Lord. Voldemort just flicked his wand and banished them back at him. Harry dove out of the way as the boulders rocketed pass where he previously stood.
"Harry!" Harry saw Sirius run out of the Shrieking Shack out of the corner of his eye.
"Black" Voldemort hissed. In his first reign of terror there was only one person Voldemort ever feared and that was Albus Dumbledore. However, though not many people knew this, but he also feared the combo of Sirius Black and James Potter. Both were powerful and both were extremely skilled duelers. Add to that Black's knowledge of the Dark Arts and Potter's skill with transfiguration and you had an extremely deadly pair. He had only faced them twice, once during their seventh year at school and once when they finished Auror training. The first time the duel had lasted an hour before he finally gained the upper hand, unfortunately Dumbledore had appeared to save them both. The second time the duel had also lasted an hour and though he would never admit it to anyone but himself, he knew he had been losing and if not for the interference of Bellatrix he would of lost.
"Praerod Lupus. Muskel Desido. Cuor Coniv. Confringo. Adflictati." Sirius yelled, waving his wand about. Voldemort threw up a shield to defend himself against the five curses.
"Spiculumi Argentum. Flavilla. Meharius." Harry yelled, adding his own spells to the onslaught.
Voldemort just smirked though. Not only was he more powerful then he was at the height of his power last reign but he also had six hundred Death Eaters in the town to back him up incase he actually did start losing, though it didn't seem likely.
"It has been a while Black, sixteen and a half years I believe?" Voldemort pondered.
"An eternity isn't long enough" Sirius growled out. "Circum Linngua!"
Voldemort twirled on the spot, disappearing with a near silent crack. Sirius and Harry both rolled from where they were standing, avoiding the green jets of light shot at them. They both turned to where Voldemort just disappeared from with another near silent crack.
This time, using his connection to the Dark Lord, Harry was ready. "Lugo. Pesante. Stupefy. Reducto." The look of shock on the Dark Lord's face as he appeared out of nowhere was quickly masked by the silver shield he erected to deflect the curses.
"Death Eaters are coming" Sirius warned.
"We should leave" Harry said.
"Adgluti Coniveo" Sirius shouted. The two black haired wizards moved slowly to the Shrieking Shack. Every color light imaginable flew from their wands, keeping the Dark Lord on the defense. Occasionally a spell would have to be dodged by either of the two. Voldemort tried to apparate behind them a couple of times but Harry was ready each time, sending dozens of spells at the area Voldemort was to appear at and forcing the Dark Lord to get out of there.
When they did finally reach the door to the Shrieking Shack Harry waved his wand and watched as a thick fog came floating out of its tip, engulfing the area and obscuring everyone's view. Sirius and Harry both bolted into the door of the broken down house.. The wall next to the door exploded in a shower of plaster as they ran down the hall. The door to the sitting room that held the trap door was hanging off its hinges and fell down when Harry bumped into in his haste to get in the room.
Three spells collided with the doorframe, creating large holes and sending splinters everywhere. Harry saw an angry Voldemort storm into the room as he closed the trapdoor above him. Sirius was already crawling away as fast as he could and Harry decided to join him.
He conjured objects behind him, incase Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters gave chase. Most likely a Death Eater because Voldemort didn't seem like the type to crawl through a dirt tunnel. In no time he found himself scrambling up the passageway, the Whomping Willow frozen. A Death Eater crawled out behind them, but by then the tree had returned to normal and belted the Death Eater, sending him flying into the Forbidden Forest.
"Reducto!" The ground shook a little and part of it sunk in as entranceway to the tunnel collapsed.
"Harry!" Dumbledore came running towards them from the gates of Hogwarts. There some of the guards hired for the school, six of the American Renegade Agents, were holding off the acromantulas as they tried getting through the gates.
"Voldemort is in the village and Death Eaters are everywhere. Close the gate and lock it, I doubt any townspeople will be getting to Hogwarts now. Me and Sirius will make sure the two passageways in the school are both blocked" Harry explained.
The Great Hall was filled with hundreds of wounded and dozens of dead. Two dozen Healers had been called from St. Mungo's to help Madam Pomfrey out. Pomfrey had also enlisted the aid of the students of her Healing Class. She tried getting Harry to help, but he had more important things to do, like making sure the castle was secured.
Hagrid sat weeping on the stairs leading to the first floor, moaning about the betrayal of Aragog and the acromantulas. Harry really felt sorry for his friend and placed a comforting hand on the half-giants shoulder as he passed.
The Golden Knights he met were a little beat up but most were in good condition. Besides the acromantulas, several Death Eaters had flooed into several of the main stores before the floo network was shut down, giving Beta and Delta Platoon problems of their own. Most had several cuts and bruises, the worst case being Su Li who had all the bones in her entire left arm broken. Madam Pomfrey would have to get rid of the bones altogether and giver her some Skele-gro.
"Ron!" Harry yelled as he approached the humped back witch. Ron and several other Knights lay panting against the wall, several black robed figures sprawled around them.
"Bastards followed us through before we could collapse the tunnel" Ron explained. "But we fought them off and managed to collapse it anyway. Think a couple of them were caught in the cave-in, judging by the yells"
"Good, we can make sure Dumbledore seals it properly later. Listen, go to our dorm and get the map and bring it to Dumbledore, he'll need it. The rest of you, go put those healing skills you've been taught to some use, there are hundreds of wounded who need it" Harry ordered. "And Ron, write a quick note to the centaurs explaining the situation with the castle, the Death Eaters and the acromantulas. Tell them it would be wise if they hid further in the forest"
"Got it" Ron replied as the others nodded their heads tiredly before walking off. Harry looked at the Death Eaters at his feet. He stunned them all, just to make sure and hog tied all of them, pocketing each of their wands and any spare wands he found.
No Death Eaters were by the passageway on the first floor behind the suit of armor with the crossbow in his hands, Harry collapsed it just to be sure. The one on the second floor, behind the door pretending to be a wall had several Death Eaters trying to make there way in. Luckily before they got over their surprised, Harry had collapsed the tunnel, crushing several of them and leaving the rest with only one way out, the way they came.
By the time he made it to the Entrance Hall again, Hagrid had trapped a blue-faced Ron Weasley in a bear hug as his giant body shook with sobs.
"Did you give the map to Dumbledore?" Harry asked. Ron barely managed to nod his head. "And the message to the Centaurs?" Again Ron nodded his head.
"Listen, Hagrid, I know that this is a bad time for you" Harry started, directing his attention to the emotionally distraught man. "But Death Eaters could be swarming us any minute now. Grawp is still in the forest and Fang is still trapped in your house. They need you" Harry said
Hagrid's sobs resided. "You right" the half-giant sniffed as he let loose his grip on Ron. The redhead took a big gulp of air as soon as he could. "I'm go'ng to get Fang an' Grawp and go into the mountains. It is the only place I know Grawp will be safe. And don't ya worry about meh, that's where I went when Umbridge came after meh"
Harry hugged his friend goodbye as the large man strode out of the front doors and onto the ground.
"I have to find Dumbledore" Ron followed him as he ran to the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle immediately sprang out of the way as soon as he approached. He sprinted up the stairs and ran through the already open door.
"This is a very handy map" Dumbledore said, looking down at the Marauder's greatest invention. "I just wish there was a way to establish friend from foe. Like this big group of names by this passageway that leads out of Hogwarts. Are they Death Eaters or townspeople? And is that passage sealed?"
"They are bound Death Eaters. And I know for a fact that four out of the seven passageways leading off the grounds have been collapsed. Sirius was checking on the others, so I don't know the status of them" Harry explained. Dumbledore was still closely examining the map.
"There, by the Quidditch pitch. Two fourth year Ravenclaws students, not allowed to go to Hogsmeade as punishment for skipping Potions yesterday. One of them is a member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, practicing no doubt and neither has any idea of the danger they are in. Get them and bring them into the castle so I can activate the magical lockdown. Try to hurry, before the acromantulas make there way around Hogwarts' wall and come from the north or east" Dumbledore ordered.
"Accio Firebolt!" Harry yelled. Dumbledore nodded at him before leaving the office and walking down the stairs.
"I'll go help with the wounded" Ron mumbled.
"I have something more important then that. Get some other Knights if you can, and go start rounding up all suspected Death Eaters in this school and coral them into the room behind Sir Cadogan we found last year. Tell him not to open for anyone except those wearing gold armor and Dumbledore" Harry commanded.
"Some people won't go lightly." Ron muttered.
"Stun them if you have to. Also, get Terry, Hermione and Kevin into forming a list of all those accused of Death Eater activities, whether they were acquitted or not, even those that were suspected. I want to take no chances with one of these townspeople handing us over"
Ron blinked at all the information he had to tell to Hermione, Terry and Kevin. "Got it" Ron answered, walking away and shaking his head.
Harry turned back towards the window where his firebolt was currently flying through. He grabbed the shaft of the broom and swung his leg over it. He made sure he was comfortable before steadily floating out of the window. Once he was out of the Headmaster's office, he rocketed towards the quidditch pitch. The two students were in the air, tossing a Quaffle back and forth.
He reached them in six point six seconds, a new record, well the only record from the headmasters office to the quidditch pitch, but still most likely the fastest his broom has ever traveled.
"Get to the school now!" he shouted at them. "Hogwarts is under attack and you two idiots are having a game of catch?" The two Ravenclaws looked confused for a second, then scared. They both went to land their brooms. "Fly there you dolts! You'll get there quicker" They nodded their heads before soaring off to the castle. Harry tracked them with his eye and once they were in side he rocketed towards the thirteen figures at the gate.
The few acromantulas left weren't really putting up much of a fight. Dozens of charred spider bodies littered the area in front of the gate. There was a large object covered in spider filament, judging by the fact that one of the Hit Wizards were trying to cut off the filament, it was probably a human.
"There in Dumbledore. We can lockdown the school" Harry proclaimed.
Dumbledore looked at him before nodding his head. "You heard him gentlemen. Alert your teammates to retreat as quickly as possible"
"Harry all those people? Is it really necessary?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at the one hundred and ninety-four names on the parchment.
"They all are suspected or have been suspected of being a Death Eater or associating with Death Eaters. That means they are all possible threats, who need to be cleared. There are a thousand Death Eaters camped outside this school Dumbledore. One person can deactivate our only hope of keeping them out and send us all to our deaths." Harry stated. "We have to find out their loyalty somehow. I don't care how, just do it. I would also advise you to not let Snape anywhere near your office if you can help it. You may trust him, but you're the only one. "
Dumbledore sighed tiredly before changing the subject. "Has Sirius been staying in his rooms like he is suppose to?" Dumbledore asked.
"He walks around in dog form every now and then. You know how Sirius is. Can't keep him locked up for long" Harry answered.
"If he is found out with all these Aurors and Hit Wizards here he will most likely be killed on the spot." Dumbledore said solemnly.
"That's Sirius for you. The more risk, the more fun" Harry replied, shaking his head at the thought of his godfather.
"And what of these Golden Knights of yours Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Two days after the attack on Hogsmeade and the lockdown of Hogwarts, when the chaos had finally settled down, Dumbledore had called Harry to his office. There they discussed everything about the last two days, and Dumbledore had brought up the Golden Knights. Harry had explained everything he could to the aging Headmaster.
"We train lightly, so as not to tire ourselves out in case we are needed to do battle. I don't like the fact that we took five casualties in thirty minutes. Especially from regular Death Eaters. I've been focusing more on their defensive skills, then offensive, but they are eager to learn, eager to defend Hogwarts" Harry responded. "How is the training of the townspeople going?"
"Most are willing and motivated, but they lack the power, the coordination and the natural talent. I say out of the six hundred of them, only forty will be at least reasonably well or better" Dumbledore answered. "Harry, I was wondering if you would like to be trained by me? If you are to defeat Voldemort you will have to learn much more then you already know"
"I would love too" Harry said, enthusiastically.
"Wonderful, we can begin tomorrow then!" Dumbledore proclaimed.
"It is too bad our defensive plan failed and the wards weren't properly put up yet" Harry stated quietly.
"I should of realized that a Hogsmeade weekend would be a perfect opportunity to attack. And the delay in the wards should have been corrected. Lately it seems I have been making too many mistakes" Dumbledore sighed.
They sat in silence for a little bit before Dumbledore spoke up again. "Harry, I would like to show you something." Dumbledore led Harry to the third floor corridor that was forbidden in his first year, the one where the Fluffy resided.
Dumbledore opened the door and Harry gasped at what was inside. Six golden griffins sat their contentedly, chewing on large pieces of meat and laying on large cushions. Their wings were folded against their bodies, and their tails swished from side to side.
"I picked them up while most of the school was at Hogsmeade and brought them here, right before the Death Eaters attacked. My brothers friend bred them and trained them to attack Death Eaters. They are extremely intelligent creatures and I believe they are capable of distinguishing good from bad without the training" Dumbledore explained.
"I just hope their views of good and bad coincide with our own" Harry gulped.
"I'm hungry" Ron moaned loudly. It had been one month since Hogwarts had come under siege and the food supply had gone low, meals being only a fraction of what they once were. The house-elves themselves were becoming very frustrated because they couldn't pop around the school like they use to, the magical lockdown preventing any form of magical traveling from working, even those forms not human.
If for some reason, a battle did break out, Dumbledore had already assigned people to their positions. Sixty Golden Knights, forty-seven Aurors, thirty Order of David members, sixty American Renegade Agents (Hit Wizards), twenty-three D.A. members who were loyal, above fourth year and not in the Golden Knights, nine professors who could actually fight and forty-two townspeople deemed good enough to actually fight, were going to be the main line of defense. Oh, and Sirius. Where ever the battle took place, they, all 272 of them, would be at the front lines.
The eleven fourth year D.A. members, the loyal fifth, sixth and seventh years not in the D.A. and willing to fight which numbered around thirty-three and the other townspeople willing to fight, which numbered around five hundred and twenty eight would be the back up, incase the first line fell. The 572 of them would be positioned in the school, where they would be positioned depending on where the battle was taking place.
The remaining townspeople and students as well as the house-elves would be herded to the Chamber of Secrets, where Dumbledore, Flitwick and McGonagall had been creating a serious of powerful and complex wards. Not to mention Harry had managed to change the password leading down there to 'Tom Riddle can go lick a house-elves ass because Harry Potter is going to castrate him' Strong charms put there by Slytherin himself prevented the entrance from being blown up.
Harry had learned many new dueling tricks and powerful spells from Dumbledore. Though he still wouldn't be able to beat Voldemort he could last a long time in a duel with the Dark Lord. Sirius had even taught him several dark art curses to up his arsenal.
"It looks like a storm is coming" Hermione said, looking out the common room window. "Judging by the clouds, I'd say some heavy rain, probably lightning"
Harry looked up at that, it hadn't even drizzled in the last two months, which in its self was odd in Britain. Now suddenly a huge storm would be settling over them. It couldn't have been coincidence. He quickly rushed out of the common room, looking to find Dumbledore.
The first place he went was the headmaster's office. When the gargoyle jumped aside at his approach he knew Dumbledore was in his office, looking at the improved Marauder's map. Improved because Sirius and Flitwick had made it so that the dots were different colors. Teachers were purple, Gryffindors red, Slytherins green, Hufflepuffs yellow, Ravenclaws green, Ministry personnel orange and everyone else was black. If the person had the dark mark then a green outline would appear around their name, or in the case of Slytherins a black outline.
"Good morning Harry. What can I do for you?" Dumbledore asked.
"I think its time Dumbledore" Harry answered. Although he was vague, Dumbledore automatically knew what he meant. "If we can get Fawkes out of the grounds we could use him to message the Centaurs, Aurors and the rest of the Order."
They both turned their attention to the scarlet and gold bird that sat preening itself on its perch. It looked up at them, eyeing them both curiously.
"Are you up to Fawkes?" Dumbledore asked. The bird cocked its head as if pondering the question. It let out a loud and musical trill. Harry had no clue what that meant, but apparently Dumbledore did. The old man sighed heavily, muttering about knowing this day would come, and took out three pieces of parchment, dipped a quill that was sitting on his desk in some ink and began writing. When he was finished Dumbledore folded the three pieces of parchment and sealed them with wax and the Hogwarts seal. "This one" Dumbledore held up one of the pieces of parchment "goes to the Centaurs. This one to the Ministry and this one to whoever is at Headquarters. Can you remember that?" Fawkes stuck its beak in the air, as if insulted at the question.
"It would be best if you flew over the lake, unless they have brooms, you'll be out of their range. And even if they did have brooms, I'm sure you could out fly them easily" Harry stated, flattering up the phoenix. Fawkes trilled happily as his ego was boosted by Harry's words.
"Be safe my friend" Dumbledore said, watching sadly as his familiar flew out his office window. "I will gather everyone" Harry nodded his head.
"Listen up Knights, its up to us and the Renegade Agents to make sure the center doesn't cave in. If the center caves, the flanks are exposed and can easily be crushed." Harry repeated. The Order of David members and the 42 townspeople would cover the left flank while the Aurors and teachers covered the right. The D.A. members would act as backup, ready to help out any part of the line that needed it. They would form up in front of the school, the center in a straight line and the two flanks angling off of it. The D.A. members would be in the middle of the formation. The rest of the reinforcements would be waiting in the entrance hall, ready to join the fight on Dumbledore's command. The golden griffins would be waiting on one of the school towers, to be released by the students handling them on Dumbledore's signal.
Everyone prayed that outside help would come, especially when the dozen trolls were discovered lumbering by the gates. The odds were grim, and many were wary of going into battle. However both Dumbledore and Harry were calm and collected, assured of their victory. Seeing their leaders in such a state, calmed the nerves of many of the fighters.
Dumbledore came walking back with Flitwick, Sprout, McGonagall and Snape, walking down the stairs from the first floor. "The rest of the inhabitants are secure" Dumbledore said.
"Right, Knights get in your fireteams" Harry ordered.
The lead Auror, who Harry learned was named Rufus Scrimgeour and actually the Head of the Aurors, finished getting his Aurors into pairs. "Proudfoot, switch with Williamson, good. I don't want two strong offensives together and two strong defensives together"
"It's time" Dumbledore said solemnly.
"Someone once said "all wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers." Yet if one brother punches another brother, then does that other brother not have the right to defend himself?" Harry asked. Some of the Golden Knights nodded at his words. "We do not want to make war. I'd rather be living the life of a normal teenager. Hanging out with my friends, snogging my girlfriend and skipping homework. Yet I am forced to fight, forced to suffer harm, forced to kill, forced to watch others die and forced to risk my life. We make war, so that we can make peace. Now, let us go to make peace!"
Dumbledore pressed his hands against the front doors and opened them. Harry led his Golden Knights out side of the doors, the others following them. They lined up in formation, the Death Eaters stopping what ever they were doing to stare at them. The sky was a pale grey and a small breeze blew across the ground. Impervius Charms had been casted upon everyone there, so when it rained, there vision wouldn't be impaired.
"Stay focused. Don't dodge the killing curses, get something in its path, because if you dodge it has a chance of hitting someone who isn't expecting it behind you. Stick to the simple yet effective spells. No use tiring yourself out quickly. Aim to take out of the fight permanently, being stunned means you can be revived" Harry rushed out as the Death Eaters approached them. "Good luck"