Chapter 30 Battle for Hogwarts
The Death Eaters had started the battle, sending hundreds of Killing Curses at the defenders of Hogwarts. The inexperienced members of the defense started to panic but luckily Dumbledore was a Transfiguration Grand Master. A simple brick wall was erected around their whole entire position. It was blasted apart by the Killing Curses but it served its purpose. The flying debris of bricks, instead of smashing into members of the defense, was banished at the Death Eaters by the smarter and faster defenders.
Giving the signal, the Knights all cast their most powerful spells at the Death Eaters before they all went into their roles as Attacker or Defender. Harry waved his wand, sending a spear of golden magic jetting towards the Death Eaters.
Dumbledore had taught him many spells, some ancient, some arcane and some so powerful only mages could cast them. Sirius had taught him many minor and middle Dark Arts, those that while useful, didn't come with the intoxicating power the stronger Dark Arts curses had. Harry had taken the two separate teachings like a fish to water, eagerly learning every spell he could. Although he didn't push himself to his limit he still practiced constantly and it showed.
Harry pulled out his second wand and twirled them both between his finger. After several seconds he stopped twirling his wands, crossed his arms in front of him and made slashing movements with both his wands. Two strands of maroon magic flipped in the air before colliding with several Death Eaters.
A teal shield jumped to life in front of him, absorbing a brown colored light. Harry recognized the shield as one that allowed spells to be cast from the inside of it to the outside, without destroying or being absorbed by the shield.
Harrymade an X in the air with his wand, and pushed the center of the floating orange letter. The orange X shot forward, passing through Padma's teal shield. It shattered a hastily erected Protego and tore through the Death Eater ranks, sending the Death Eaters it hit, tumbling and flying in different directions. The orange X was finally stopped by a silver shield, splashing against the silver dome harmlessly.
That was one of his Cogitatio Ter Defigos spells, a trio of silent spells he had created. One form of the spells was a blasting charm and orange in color. Another was a pain form, black in color and the last was a stunner form, white in color. Very effective judging by the chaos he had just reigned on the Death Eater lines.
The teal shield in front of him deflected several more curses before a Killing Curse shattered it. The said Killing Curse crashed into a sloppily conjured pillow, exploding it in a shower of feathers. Harry transfigured the feathers into rocks and sent them flying at the Death Eaters.
Another teal shield came up around him, deflecting sinister looking jets of light. "Inflatus. Expello. Flamen. Reducto. Batoack. Confringo." Harry didn't look to see if his spells hit their targets or not because something more important came up.
The twelve trolls came lumbering through the Death Eater lines, splitting the formation of the black robed figures with ease. They were working their ways towards the center, right between the Golden Knights and Renegade Agents.
Harry moved his right arm in a wide arc, intoning an incantation in Scottish Gaelic. A wave of pale green light flew from his wand tip, rushing across the empty distance between the two lines, and crashing into the first three trolls. Large gashes appeared where the green light had hit, the trolls roaring in pain and rage as blood seeped from the wounds. The three trolls hit all fell to the ground, losing blood and the energy to live fast.
A barrage of Reducto Curses slammed into the grouping of trolls behind the first three. Blood, flesh and organs flew all over the Death Eaters, coating the dark wizards in bits of troll. The remaining five trolls stomped over there falling comrades, closing in on the line of defenders. Another barrage of curses flew at the trolls, toppling all but one. The last troll standing, raised its club and slammed it down on an unlucky Renegade Agent. It then proceeded to swing its club in a low sweeping arc, hitting three more Renegade Agents and two Golden Knights.
A powerful Reducto destroyed the trolls head, and a Blasting Curse slammed into the decapitated trolls stomach, sending the dead body crashing into the Death Eater line, that had formed back up, over the carcasses of the other trolls.
"Lavender, get the wounded into the castle. Stabilize their wounds and bring them to the Chamber Entrance" Harry ordered. Madam Pomfrey and some of the braver healers had set up the girls bathroom on the second floor as a makeshift hospital. Since the entrance to where they would retreat to if the defenders fell was there, and they wanted to help tend to the wounded, it was decided they would set up there.
Lavender stepped out of the formation, performing quick healing spells on the wounded fighters before levitating them all and rushing off into the school. Harry turned his attention back to the fight.
For every casualty they suffered the Death Eaters seemed to suffer quadruple the amount. The Knights, Renegade Agents, Order of David members and Aurors, as well as most of the teachers, were all better then your average Death Eater.
Harry's arms were in constant motion, light continuously streaming out of the tips of his wands. Occasionally he would throw up a defensive spell, deflecting a spell that got through his fireteams defenses. The battle was going extremely well, the sight of the mangled troll corpses, disheartening the enemy a little bit, especially those covered in troll blood and entrails.
The first sign of troubled appeared fifteen minutes into the battle. A barrage of Killing Curses had taken out a handful of the townspeople on the left flank, causing some of the remaining ones to start to panic. The Order of David members tried to real in their allies fear but the Death Eaters capitalized on it, sending many fatal curses at the panicking townspeople.
The D.A. members rushed to the spot from their position in the center, throwing up defenses to protect the townspeople and give them some time to recover from their fear. The remaining townspeople rallied themselves and jumped back into the fight, though not with the same ferocity they showed earlier.
Five minutes after that and the Death Eaters started to coordinate their attacks. They fired in volleys instead of firing on will, putting more pressure on shields at the same time, and giving the caster of said shields, no time to replenish their shield after each attack. The arrival of dozens of acromantulas didn't help things either.
Ten minutes later and about a dozen defenders lay on the ground, covered in spider filaments and unable to move. The Knights had suffered four more casualties, thinning their center some more. Harry didn't no how many casualties the rest of the groups suffered, but judging by the fact that Dumbledore had just called on the reinforcements to remove the casualties to the hospital wing before taking their places, Harry guessed it wasn't good.
Silver and gold sparks shot into the air, and Harry heard six loud roars. The golden griffins were nothing more then black blobs as they flew down from the towers. They landed on several Death Eaters, crushing them under their weight. The Death Eaters seemed shocked at the turn of events, and Harry was going to use that to their advantage.
"Press forward" he shouted. The Knights started to move forward, the Renegade Agents following their lead. The reinforcements filled in the gaps created as the center pushed itself outward, expanding the front. The flanks started to sweep their tails in, going from being diagonally positioned with the center to being in line with the center.
One of the golden griffins had been killed, and another one was limping on one of its paws but they were still reeking havoc in the Death Eaters. A group of acromantulas all jumped at one of the golden griffins, who scratched one, kicked another and bit a third before being overwhelmed by the giant spiders.
It started to rain when disaster struck. Harry felt it before anyone knew what kind of danger they were in. His scar throbbed painfully and Harry, his voice raspy after shouting so many incantations screamed out "Voldemort!"
And there he was, in all of his dark glory. He walked calmly forward, a large grouping of at least three hundred Death Eaters behind him. A golden griffin went to lunge at Voldemort, but a flick of the Dark Lord's wand sent the griffin flying into a tree. Voldemort waved his wand in the air, sending a gigantic jet of black magic soaring at the sky. The magic collided with a red dome that appeared out of no where and shattered it.
Dumbledore, Flitwick and Sirius all appeared at Harry's side. The Death Eaters ranks had been thinned by over two-thirds their number, leaving only about three hundred and forty Death Eaters still fighting out of the thousand that were camped outside, until Voldemort arrived with reinforcements of course.
The defenders had suffered casualties as well, though Harry wasn't sure of the exact numbers, he had to guess about two hundred, give or take a dozen.
"He destroyed the anti-portkey wards we had up." Dumbledore explained quickly. "Now come Harry. We must get to Voldemort before he causes our lines to falter and starts to slaughter our defenders."
"Knights spear-head formation. Snake Squad at point. We are going to break through the Death Eater center to get to the new reinforcements" The Death Eater line was currently seventy-five across, four deep, five in some areas. It would be easy to push through them but when they arrived, the fifty-four Knights, as well as Dumbledore, Flitwick and Sirius would be against three hundred more Death Eaters and Voldemort.
Dumbledore stepped in front of Snake Squad, Sirius and Flitwick at his sides. Harry was right behind Dumbledore, leading the Knights further into battle. The three over-aged wizards created a gap in the Death Eater line, which the Knights widened. People still remained in their roles as Attackers and Defenders because while some of the Knights would fire spells at the Death Eaters, others deflected spells from the Death Eaters.
As soon as they passed through the Death Eaters line, the Renegade Agents poured into the gap. Since most of the defenders out there were now townspeople and students, who weren't the greatest duelers, the ones out there that could duel had to make sure they drew most of the attention to themselves.
The Death Eaters around Voldemort ran at them, engaging the Golden Knights and the three older wizards, but leaving Harry alone. Voldemort wanted him all to himself, and Harry wouldn't disappoint.
Harry approached the Dark Lord, both wands held tightly in his hands. Voldemort withdrew his own yew wand, twirling it in his hands.
"You might as well put away my wand's brother Harry. It would be useless to use it against my wand. We both know the result" Voldemort stated. Harry hesitated before placing in holly wand into its holster at his forearm. "Now bow Harry, remember, just like at the graveyard. Bow to your opponent, bow to your death" Voldemort instructed.
Again Harry didn't bow to Voldemort, though the Dark Lord tried to make him, using the same curse as the one at the graveyard. But Harry was ready, blocking the spells effects from working on his body.
When Voldemort saw his spell fail, he lost some of his arrogance. They regarded each other silently, the most powerful Dark Lord since the wayward Salazar Slytherin, and his chosen defeater.
"Meharius." Harry finally intoned. He sent a lance of blue magic at the Dark Lord as well. Voldemort swatted the first spell away, and side stepped the second one, sending an onslaught of spells of his own at Harry.
Harry batted away and dodged the series of spells thrown at him, using his physical and magical prowess to avoid being hit by the deadly spells. As he ducked a Killing Curse he sent his own series of spells at the Dark Lord.
Voldemort threw up a shield to block the pink spiraling jet of magic that started the barrage. The shield absorbed two more jets of magic before finally cracking under a wave of blue, caused by Leve Escudos, this shield destroyer . Harry waved his wand in an arc and a wave of pale green magic, just like the one that had killed three trolls, rushed at the Dark Lord.
Riddle flicked his wand upward, and the wave of pale green magic split into two, passing on either side of the Dark Lord, but not hitting him. Voldemort flicked his wand several times, sending long, curved strands of magic careening towards the black-haired teen.
Harry ducked one, but had to jump into the air and flip backwards to avoid the rest. Harry moved his wand to the left, catching the dark grey Bone Shattering Curse with the tip of his wand. He slashed upward with his wand, releasing the dark grey jet of light back at the Dark Lord, who swatted the spell away.
A noise at the gate caught both his and Voldemort's attention. Three hundred Aurors and one hundred Order members had arrived to aid in the battle. The new arrivals rushed into the grouping of Death Eaters that were engaged in a fierce battle with the Golden Knights, Flitwick, Dumbledore and Sirius. It was a good thing too, because to Harry it looked like half of the Golden Knights were knocked out of the fight.
Harry returned his attention back to his duel with Voldemort, just in time too as he deflected a curse that would cut out his tongue. Again Harry was forced to dodge another series of spells. He side stepped a Killing Curse, only to get nailed in the side of his right thigh with a Slashing Hex. The hex missed his cuisse by a fraction and instead cut into the basilisk hide, and though the hide took the brunt of the spell, a medium size gash appeared in Harry's thigh. Harry stumbled a bit, but managed to send a golden spear of magic at Voldemort.
He deflected the Eye Popping Curse with a strong shield, and dodged the Cruciatus Curse. Harry made a black X in the air and pressed it forward with his wand. The black X flew at the Dark Lord, who dodged the unknown, at least to him, form of magic.
"You've gotten better" Voldemort stated. "But it still isn't enough" A curse hit the ground in front of Harry, causing an explosion. Harry was thrown off his feet as a large crater appeared in the ground, dirt flying everywhere.
Harry lay panting on the ground, the rain picking up and coming down heavier then before. Voldemort walked over to him, slowly, assured of his victory. The Dark Lord kicked away the wand that lay by Harry's hand. Small cuts littered Harry's face, where they were cut from flying pebbles. His let arm hung out of its socket, from when he landed on it.
Harry felt a tell tale tingling in the air. Something he was use to while working on his training. He fought to keep the smirk from rising on his face, though he couldn't keep the relief from his eyes. Luckily, Voldemort didn't look closely into his eyes.
"And so ends the life of Harry Potter" Voldemort raised his wand, as Harry raised his right arm into the air. "Avada..."
Voldemort was cut off as a bolt of lightning flew from the clouds and hit Harry's outstretched hand. Sparks jumped from Harry's arm as he gathered the electricity that just entered his body to his hand. Voldemort was clearly not expecting that, because he just stared, stunned at the teen that lay at his feet.
"Lick my balls" Harry rasped out. The bolt of electricity flew from his palm and hit Voldemort into the chest. The Dark Lord flew backwards, landing heavily at the edge of the crater he created barely a minute earlier. Wisp of smoke rose from the white skinned mans body and robes.
A Death Eater rushed to their master's side. The Dark Lord weakly raised his hand, grasping onto his servants robe before they both disappeared. With their Lord defeated, the Death Eaters that were able to activated their portkeys, some grabbing fallen comrades as they disappeared.
The groans of the wounded replaced the shouts of battle. Those that could rushed to the fallen's sides. Dumbledore rushed back into the school, no doubt to tell Madam Pomfrey and the healers that the castle was safe and that their were hundreds of wounded who needed attention.
Sirius appeared at the Boy-Who-Lived's side in a heartbeat. "That was some trick you did their pup" Sirius said, concern in his voice. "I'm just glad you survived" A tear, mixed with the blood from a cut on his godfather's face, landed on Harry's cheek.
Harry didn't have to stay in the hospital wing, probably because out of all the wounded, his injuries were nothing. They just sealed the gash in his thigh, popped his shoulder back into its socket, put a salve on his face so the smaller cuts wouldn't scar and gave him a strong dose of the Invigoration Draught to get over the effects of being struck by lightning, even if it was intentional and he could handle it a lot better then your average person.
Seventy three townspeople had died, six students, one of them from the D.A. had died as well. The Aurors suffered thirty-two deaths, from both the reinforcements and the ones that were trapped in Hogwarts. The Renegade Agents had suffered eleven dead and the Order of David members had lost eight. They would all be honored the next day. Professor Sprout's funeral would be held two days from now on the schools ground.
Harry was glad to hear that none of his Knights died. That didn't mean he was not upset over the lost of the others, because he was. However, it was only natural that he was happy that people he was closer to had survived. Though Lancelot Feste and Pierre Tayte did have broken ribs after being hit with that troll club.
Their was talk that a monument would be held for the one hundred and thirty people that had died in the defense of Hogwarts. Sirius was discovered by the reinforcement Aurors after the battle, and would of been arrested and thrown back into Azkaban right there if it wasn't for the fact that all the defenders had seen him take down, and even mortally wound, dozens of Death Eaters and had stood up for him. Instead, Sirius would remain under Auror watch in a room at Hogwarts until a trial could be arranged to determine his innocence over his supposed crimes fifteen years ago.
Harry had bumped into Ginny, one of the few people who had suffered no injuries during the battle. She seemed distracted and when Harry tried engaging her in coversation, she brushed him off, saying she had something important to do. Harry thought it might have something to do with the fact that Charlie was in the hospital wing with a concussion.
He made his way outside, where he found Neville sitting by the lake. Harry joined his dorm mate, sitting down next to the once chubby boy. It had stopped raining over an hour ago, but theground was still wet.
"It has just begun hasn't it, the war I mean?" Neville asked.
Harry sighed heavily, he had thought the same thing. "Most likely"
"I figured" Neville said bitterly.
"When it ends, I think I could use a nice long vacation, maybe visit the continent and pick up some girls." Harry said.
"That would be bloody brilliant" Neville said agreeing. "Maybe do it the muggle way, get away from the magical world for a little bit" Harry nodded his head, it sounded like a good idea.
"Harry!" The two teens looked up to see Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle running across the ground, dragging something in between them. "What are they doing loose?" Harry asked, springing to his feet. "They were suppose to be locked up behind Sir Cadogan"
Harry saw a flash of red hair and immediately knew that between the junior Death Eaters was a struggling Ginny Weasley. Ginny screamed as she was dragged by Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy into the Forbidden Forest. Harry turned towards Neville.
"Get the others Neville. I'm going in after them" Harry ordered.
"I'll come with you" Neville said, stepping forward.
"Someone has to alert Dumbledore and someone has to slow them down so they don't get to far" Harry replied. "If neither of us alert Dumbledore, then no back up will come, and if both of us alert them, then Malfoy and his goons could get away with Ginny" Harry explained. "Please, get Dumbledore"
Neville nodded before rushing of into the castle. Harry turned towards the forest and set off at a run, his feet pounding on the moist grass before running right into the thick foliage of the trees. Using the skills given to him by the African manticore hunter, he tracked the path Malfoy had taken Ginny.
He finally came upon them, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle standing around Ginny, who was lying in the middle of them, with her Golden Knight armor off. All she had on was a pair of workout shorts and a small t-shirt, provided to her by Harry in order to make wearing the Golden Knight armor more comfortable.
"Give it up Malfoy, and I won't kill you" Harry stated. "Let Ginny go now"
"You just don't get it Harry." Ginny stood up from where she was laying on the ground. "Malfoy didn't kidnap me. I let Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle out of the room. I pretended they were taken me forcefully so you would try to rescue me. I helped organize this trap and I have been working for Voldemort ever since we got back from Grimoire Realm" Ginny said, smirking smugly at him. "All the while under your nose" Out of nowhere a pair of strong arms grabbed him from behind, another one grabbing hold of his feet. Harry dropped the wand that resided in his hand. He struggled, thrashing about and trying to break free from the hold.
Malfoy walked forward and took his wand from the ground, and even grabbed the other one that resided in his ankle holster, staring at him smugly. "You can release him. He isn't capable of taking on all of us by himself, especially without a wand" Ginny stated. The two Death Eaters that held him released him, both circling around him and moving towards the four junior Death Eaters. Harry looked around him and saw acromantulas hanging from the trees and crawling around on the ground.
Harry stared at Ginny with some surprise on his face. "You know, I kind of expected this." Harry said, slowly. "You were never around during the beginning of the year and we always had to track you down for meetings. And for the Veritaserum testing, you passed it because you don't believe in what Voldemort is doing, you don't support any of Voldemort's views and at the time you weren't working for Voldemort. You don't hate muggleborns, or want to cause death and destruction. Tell me Ginny why did you joining Voldemort?"
"That isn't the point Harry" the redhead said. "But I do have an offer for you. Join Voldemort Harry, you don't have to die" Harry was surprised to note that there was a hint of genuine concern in Ginny's voice. "He's too strong for you to defeat. You'll just die, and cause the deaths of others in the process. And it isn't like you'd go without being rewarded if you joined him"
"And what could Voldemort offer me that I'd want?" Harry asked, his voice hard.
Ginny approached him and looked him right in the eye. "Me" she stated. She pulled him towards her, smashing his lips against hers. Despite himself, Harry found himself responding. He opened his lips slightly as Ginny slipped her tongue into his mouth. She grabbed his hands, slid them up her shirt and placed them on her bare breast. They stayed like that for several seconds, tongue wrestling, while Harry fondled her double-d size boobs and Ginny moaning into his mouth.
A loud screech broke Harry out of his stupor, and he pushed himself away from Ginny. He stumbled backwards, landing on the ground panting heavily. Ginny fell to the ground too, her lips swollen, as she took deep breaths.
The Centaurs, who Harry had thought either didn't get the message, or just ignored it, had finally arrived. Though they arrived to late to participate in the battle that had taken place, they were just in time to save his sorry ass.
Harry saw Firenze stab a acromantula in the eye with a spear, and slam his hind legs into another giant spider as it tried attacking the former Divination professor from behind. The Death Eaters tried raising their wands to fight the Centaurs but a series of arrows flew from the trees. Malfoy, who was hiding behind Goyle, and Ginny who was on the ground, were the only Death Eaters not caught in the barrage of arrows.
As his now dead human shield fell to the ground, Malfoy stumbled towards Ginny. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and raced towards the two teens. He lunged at them both, but hit nothing but air, as Malfoy portkeyed them both away.
Crashing through the foliage soared a particularly large spider, Dumbledore running right behind it. "Harry, my boy are you ok?" he asked.
Harry nodded his head. Ron, Fred and George all came crashing through the foliage next.
"Where's Ginny?" Ron demanded.
"She's gone" Harry replied.
"You let Malfoy get her?" Ron asked, shocked and furious.
"Malfoy didn't get her Ron." Harry replied, his head hanging low.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"No" Fred whispered, understanding what Harry had meant.
"Not Ginny" George said, agreeing with Fred.
"It's true." Harry stated, not looking either of the brothers in the face. A look of dawning horror appeared on Ron's face.
"Your lying" Ron said, his voice filled with anguish. "Not Ginny. Not my sister"
Harry turned away from the three Weasley brothers.
"Harry" Dumbledore said quietly, approaching him. "I believe these belong to you" Dumbledore held out Ginny's Golden Knight armor and Harry's two wands, which Malfoy must of dropped as he scrambled to reach Ginny in order to portkey out of here.
Ginny is a Death Eater! The horrors, the pure horror! I know, I gave you no idea that was going to happen. This story hasn't had a side plot at all, something I hope to change in the sequel. It was just focused on the war, and I was thinking of adding suspicion of Ginny as a side plot, but I think I just wanted to get this story done with so I can get going with some of the ideas I've had brewing in my head about this war. As for those of you who like the whole Ginny/Draco relationship, Merry Christmas!