— CHAPTER SEVEN —
Miranda Abercrombie had a boyfriend pick her up once she had clocked off at the Department Store and was likely to spend the night as his apartment. She had phoned her daughter to let her know, encouraging her to order Chinese and invite some friends over. Imogen didn't invite friends over (what friends? she wanted to bitterly reply) but did order Chinese and had promptly fallen asleep in front of the flickering television set without having removed her herbal facemask. A take-away container of cold chow mein teetered on her lap as she slept, moving gently with each exhalation.
At about three in the morning, there was a knock on her door. She didn't wake at first but the second knock—more of a bang—caused her to start. The take-away container tumbled to the floor and cold fried noodles slid onto the carpet. The face of her mother's Hello Kitty clock sitting on the side-table blinked the hour back at her. She grabbed her wand and turned towards the door, heart pounding. Perhaps it was her mother, deciding she wanted to come home after all. Maybe she had broken up with the boyfriend and was returning tipsy and teary at the small hours of the morning. Imogen seemed to always be the one acting like the parent, the one who checked and double-checked that the stove was off and the door bolted.
She froze as she watched the key turn in the lock of its own accord. It swung open.
For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. Albus Potter was standing in the doorway, shoving his wand back into his pocket. In his left hand—and she had to blink hard to make sure she wasn't imagining this—he was holding the Sword of Gryffindor. He looked at her for a second before asking, without any greeting, "What's on your face?"
She touched the cracked honey mask on her face and then lowered her hand. "Why are you in my apartment?"
"It's a long story. Can we come in?"
He had already crossed the threshold. Behind him, Rose Weasley stood with one leg heavily bandaged and an arm draped around Scorpius Malfoy's shoulders. They both looked worse for wear—beside her injured leg, Rose seemed damp, as if she had been caught in the rain, and Scorpius was uncharacteristically filthy.
"Er, I suppose it's too late to say no. There's left over Chinese food in the fridge. Give me a moment, will you?"
She locked the door and briskly went to her bathroom, where she scrubbed off the mask and assessed herself in the mirror. The pink bathtub and daisy shower curtains behind her were so painfully Muggle that she couldn't quite fathom that fellow wizards and witches were sitting in her living room. It had seemed like forever since she had had any contact with the magical world. She tied her long, ash blonde hair into a bun and joined them in the sitting room.
Rose had stretched herself out on the sofa, unwinding the bandages on her leg. Underneath was fresh, pink skin. She touched it gingerly. Scorpius was cleaning up the noodles that had fallen onto the carpet and Albus was carefully placing the Sword of Gryffindor on the coffee table. She realised with a start that his right hand was completely covered in cracked blood, as if he were wearing a gruesome glove.
"Let me look at that," she said, siting down beside him.
"It's fine," he replied, taking out his wand again and switching it to his left hand. "I can heal it myself."
"Do you still have your school Cauldron?" Scorpius asked.
Imogen stared at them all. She nodded slowly, pointing to a linen cupboard in the hall where she had stored all her school things. She hadn't looked at it since the day she had returned home from the end of sixth-year.
"Would you mind explaining what's happened?" she asked, annoyed that she even had to.
Rose sighed heavily, brushing her short hair from her face. It was definitely much shorter than Imogen remembered it. She looked very different, very drawn but strong, her eyes bright and hard as marbles. The last time Imogen had seen her, she had been a mess. She plonked her foot onto the floor and shared a look with the boys.
"Where do we begin?"
Some several hours earlier, just before midnight, five wizards and witches materialised with a pop into the long swaying grass at the base of Mount Bowfell. It was a moonless night, making the mountain more menacing in its black silhouette. Five wands burst with beams of gold light. A fox froze, sat still watching them, and then darted away.
Harry extracted a phial from his pocket. A small phial, with only a few drops of scarlet blood at the very bottom, voluntarily given by Orlick.
They moved forward, finding the rock that hid the entrance to the mountain's tunnel. Harry kneeled down, unstoppering the phial and dripping the blood onto the rock. It moved down into the earth, opening up the tunnel.
Charlie, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stood behind Harry, peering into the circular tunnel. It was empty. It was too easy.
It was around the same time that a wizard and witch arrived in Romania to find it utterly unchanged. Fields of tall grass swayed like the ocean's waves in the breeze. With the time difference factored in, it was almost two in the morning. Everything was shut up tight. Stray cats were curled up around rubbish bins. Teddy and Victoire were surprised by how far removed everything was from all that had happened on the steps of Gringotts.
Stars were already twinkling. There was no moon.
The Sanctuary was less sleepy than the town. They arrived to find Krishna and Adam rushing to meet them at the front archway, their feet kicking up dust as they ran.
"What happened?" Krishna called, skidding to a halt before them. "Rolf arrived a couple hours ago and is being very cryptic!"
"Rolf?" Victoire frowned.
"Scamander," Adam supplied, having also arrived as the second member of their welcoming party. "I'd hardly call him cryptic, Krish. He's just too distracted by the dragons to talk to us."
"The Order sent him ahead," Krishna explained, seeing Victoire's quizzical look. "Thought we'd need the extra hands without Charlie."
Charlie was the expert at culling dragons, something that even Rolf Scamander would not be equipped to do. While Rolf was a magizoologist and Luna a naturalist, both were in the field of studying and protecting beasts, not killing them. Luna and Rolf always seemed to travel in a pair, inseparable in their work. It was odd to hear that Rolf had arrived alone this time.
As they entered the grounds, walking through the dragon enclosures, they explained that Hogsmeade had been won back, that Gringotts had also fallen to the Order. They were getting quite animated in their recount, Teddy going through the experience blow by blow, morphing his face to look like each person in their re-enactment as he explained their journey into the deep bowls of the Wizarding Bank.
"Oh, they are back," Sylvia called, joining them. Teddy quickly returned his features so that he no longer resembled Hermione Granger. Sylvia was lighting the sanctuary's lanterns, her wand aloft. "Just in time," she added, giving them both a simultaneous hug.
"In time for what?" Victoire frowned.
"Selima's been alright?" Teddy asked over them, directing the question to Adam.
"She's been doing better," he said. "She's been helping out around the grounds. Looking after the goats and chickens."
"In time for what?" Victoire asked loudly.
Sylvia extinguished her wand.
"The goblin and your visitor are dressing our Opaleye in the armour he made."
"He's what?"
Victoire began her march towards their newest enclosure. Teddy sighed and the rest of the handlers followed her, struggling to keep up. Sylvia returned to lighting the Sanctuary lanterns with small balls of blue fire.
"He's been missing you," Krishna added, trying to placate her friend. "Whining a lot. I think Jem noticed you haven't been around with any goat liver treats."
But Victoire was bristling like a dragon herself. She came to a halt in front of the enclosure, where Dragomir, Venn and Rolf were all standing, the goblin securing the last of the armour to the dragon's belly.
"What is going on here?" she demanded.
The three turned. Rolf beamed in that brash way of his, completely missing the tone of Victoire's question. He gestured at the tame Opaleye pleasantly.
"What a beauty he is! I was so pleased to see how well fitted this armour is. Quite incredible, really."
"Charlie didn't ask you to come here to play dress ups," Victoire snapped. She ducked under the enclosure, moving over to Jem and pressing her palm to the little hide that was visible beneath the rippling chainmail. "I knewsending a Scamander here was a bad idea."
"Since when did you say it was a bad idea?" Teddy frowned.
"Oh, he's quite comfortable, Victoire. No need to get your wand in a knot," Rolf reassured her amicably.
But she was rounding on them now, having given up trying to get the large metal breastplate off of the dragon. She had that made look in her eyes, trembling with fury and nostrils flared. Jem looked positively harmless beside her.
"It was a mistake bringing him here too," she raged, pointing at Venn who started back in surprise. "He been a right royal pain from the very start. And I can't believe you two have been encouraging this—" she turned to Dragomir and Rolf. "—when you should both know better!"
"Alright," Teddy stepped between them, adopting the stern expression he only seemed to wear on exceptional occasions, like when he used to babysit the Potter children. He was already placing his hand on Venn's shoulder, guiding him out of the enclosure. "I'll have a word to Venn. I think it is best if Victoire makes sure everything is ready for us in Charlie's cabin. Leave this to me."
When Scorpius left the boys in their dormitory and crept to the communal boys' lavatory, he almost started in surprise to see Rose leaning—arms crossed—by the kitchen sink. She was calm now, her face set in an odd sort of way that made him think she had practiced the expression minutes before in the mirror. Scorpius slid the sack in his hands cautiously to the floor and paused.
"Would you mind sharing where you were?" she asked quietly.
He could see his reflection in the looking glass over the sinks—his silver hair was slick with sweat and flecked with small twigs, dirt and leaves. He had torn the bottom of his robes and his hands were covered in mud, even under his fingernails.
"Burying that bone," he said, moving to the entrance into the Chamber of Secrets. Rose watched him, her arms crossed and her face still set in that practiced patient expression. As he leaned down to hiss the password, Rose picked up his sack and swung it over her shoulder.
He climbed carefully down the ladder, lighting the fire beneath the cauldron as soon as his feet touched the damp stone floor. Rose was descending also, the sack dangling precariously from one hand. She jumped the last few rungs and landed loudly on her feet.
He extracted a few of Bellucci's failed stones. The rest of the potion ingredients were inside the bag. The silvery unicorn blood. The silken web taken from the Acromantula egg sac. A human tooth. Everything else he had on hand.
"You should go and run a few raids on the girls," he suggested, wondering if that would be enough to ensure his solitude.
But Rose shook her head. "I already did, while you and the boys were missing. They're all exhausted and in bed."
They stared at each other a moment longer in the low, flickering light of the fire. Rose took a few steps towards him and held out the small, canvas sack of ingredients. He hesitated, then reached out to take it, but Rose didn't release her grip right away.
"Thank you," she said, her face very serious. "For taking charge."
"I thought you deserved a break," he replied dryly. She released her grip and took a step back. The sound echoed through the chamber.
She was bristling to interrogate him, to probe him with questions about where he had been and what he had done and what he was planning to do. Yet, by some miracle of self-control, Rose did not say a word. She watched as Scorpius began divvying up his ingredients, measuring them against his thumb or forefinger. Then, she kneeled down beside him and took one of the Stone mockeries from the sack and turned it over in the light. It glistened and sparkled ruby red.
With her free hand, she reached forward and gently touched his hand. There was no longer urgency to her touch, but instead it was soft and telling. She trailed her fingertips over his palm and into the birdcage of his closed fingers, where he held the phial of unicorn blood—innocuously small and silver, tucked away like a secret.
"Scorpius," she said quietly, but then faltered. She froze, her ears pricked like a canine. He looked up too, his silver eyes glinting, and took his hand away to halt her with a simple gesture. They both paused, listening intently, for what had sounded like the echoing ghost of laughter.
Orlick smiled at the two brothers, the diamond reflecting refracted shards of light across his face. The underground chamber was cool and empty, their words carrying up to the high ceilings.
"I wanted to ask you about the Sword of Gryffindor," Albus said, nervously knotting his hands together. James was fidgeting beside him, and he found it distracting.
"What in particular would you like to know?" Orlick prompted kindly.
"Why is Romnuk so obsessed with the Sword?"
Orlick's smile no longer reached his eyes. He removed his glasses and folded them carefully, placing them beside the tools on his worktable.
"Did you know that the Goblin Rebellions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries began because the goblins wished to retrieve the Sword?"
Albus paused, trying in vain to recall anything Professor Binns had ever said on the subject and failing miserably. He shrugged non-committedly and felt that James gave a similar shake of the head.
"Revenge can be a dangerous thing," Orlick said sadly. "It has destroyed my kind."
"But it's the Kobold Könige who want the sword, not the Goblin King."
"In Goblin culture, the Crown is awarded to the greatest silversmith, and that is decided by a contest of who can produce the greatest weapon. I am sure, with the significance attached to that particular Sword, Romnuk is certain that he can use it to usurp his brother."
"His brother?" James asked, frowning.
"The current Goblin King. Romnuk the Rough is his younger brother."
Albus already knew this from their Order meetings. He was still thinking it over, trying to make sense of it.
"You see, the current King is no metalsmith," Orlick explained patiently. "He struck a deal with his brother. He would take the crown and rule the Kingdom. His brother could take the hammer his sister made and rule over the military. But that arrangement did not last for long, you see. The Sword of Ragnuk the First is the greatest weapon ever made. Romnuk believes that with it, he can usurp the throne and win the kingdom's approval."
"But he'll never get his hands on the Sword," James said, adamant.
Orlick frowned slightly. "We shall see."
It was now properly dark, forcing Teddy to ignite his wand as he pulled Venn into the storage barn. He sent a jet of flames into the fire pit to give them some light, and noticed that all of the equipment, tools and even metal candelabras handing from the ceiling has been stripped and melted down. The barn was almost completely bare. It seemed everything had been recycled to make the dragon armour. It was completely baffling.
"Venn,"Teddy said, much more calm than the interrogation that had taken place in the dragon's pen. He turned to face the goblin, gesturing at the empty walls. "Can you explain why you are doing this?"
"I must repay you,"Venn replied in his simple way. He smiled broadly at Teddy, the tattoos along his forehead creasing. "Welcome back! My rescuer."
Teddy had to stop himself from smiling. This was someone in the goblin King's inner circle. Surely there was a reason he was creating armour, exposing the secrets of his kind's knowledge on wizarding territory.
"Can you explain why you want to arm our dragons?"
Venn frowned at Teddy as if he were dense. He took hold of Teddy's arm, gripping it tightly.
"I told you! The dragons are weapons.The King has dragons, but so do the Kobold Könige."
"So they will fight each other?"
Teddy was piecing together everything he had learned in the last few days. The KoboldKönige wanted the Sword of Gryffindor, which is why they were trying to break into Hogwarts. The Goblin King wanted a Philosopher's Stone, which may have been why he partnered with the Wizard Government in the first place.
But Venn's frustration was growing even still.
"The Kobold Könige will use the dragons to fight the wizards, until they get what they need."
Teddy could feel the colour draining from his face. He hadn't realised that the Kobold Könige still had dragons in their arsenal. If this was were the security measures for Base Bowfell, Charlie and the Order would be toast—literally.
One dragon, Charlie could handle on his own. But if it was a whole flight of dragons…
Base Bowfell was eerily silent. They encountered nobody in the thirty minutes it took to enter and search the tunnels leading to Romnuk's chambers. There were no goblins, no beasts, no booby-traps.
The silence was unsettling.
They moved in a tight group, eyes scanning all the crevices of the dark mountain. Still, nothing.
The deeper they went, the more Harry was convinced it was a trap.
"Let's go back," he said, deciding to trust his instincts. He broke into a run. "They're not here!"
The quiet drip of water and the crunch of vermin bones under his feet were punctuated by an echoing bark of laughter or the sound of clashing metal. It had half crossed Scorpius' mind that it was merely the Bloody Baron descending below the dungeons, performing his usual doleful wailing to frighten the Slytherins—but the Baron only moaned, never laughed, and somehow this laughter was more unnerving.
The mirror in Scorpius' pocket kept heating up against his leg. Rose was with him, so it must have been Albus. But whatever he had to say would have to wait.
He hit the end of the passage and came upon a circular grate, snakes decorating the metal bars, and had to pause to allow his eyes to adjust to what he was seeing in the chamber that the pipe ended in.
Soaring stone pillars intertwined with serpents sped up into the high ceiling. The half-flooded chamber was filled with an enormous snake skeleton; a giant skull and endless vertebrae twisted like a comb. And there, in the middle of the Chamber, was Romnuk the Rough with his mallet in hand.
This had all happened in a matter of seconds but it felt like time had somehow dragged to a halt. Scorpius almost felt faint. They were in the school. They must have found access through the school's plumbing. They had avoided digging through the enchantments Professor Longbottom had placed on the school's soil. There were at least twelve goblins, assembling their armour. Romnuk's gnarled fingers curled around the mallet. Scorpius' head was still turning when he felt Rose catch up behind him, leaning over his shoulder, the loud gasp that escaped her mouth.
Maybe it was her gasp, or maybe it was just their presence hovering—for they had only been at the grate for a few seconds—but all twelve goblins turned sharply toward them. Romnuk's mallet glinted. With a vicious snarl, he began to run towards them, the greenish water splashing beneath his boots.
Rose extracted her wand but Scorpius had already turned, pushing her back the way they had come.
"Run!" he barked, shoving her as hard as he could. There was no room to fight inside the narrow pipe and no spell would penetrate the goblin armour. They had to get out of the plumbing as quickly as possible. They had become fish in a barrel. Without anywhere to move but the way that Scorpius was shoving her, Rose turned and pelted her way back towards the entrance chamber below the boys' lavatories.
The metal grate would hardly slow their assailants down, but if they sealed the stone exit with Parseltongue, it would delay the goblins from following them. He could still feel the mirror burning against his leg. They needed to get the school evacuated. They needed to get word to the Headmaster.
They sealed the hidden entrance with the stone latrine and then stood for a moment, panting hard.
"Get all the students out of their beds," Scorpius said.
Rose didn't wait to confer. She was already sprinting out of the bathroom, the sack of ingredients he had procured over her shoulder. Scorpius pulled the mirror from his pocket, swiping it with trembling fingers.
"Finally!" Albus cried, his face contorted. "Orlick betrayed us—he's told the Kobold Könige how to get into the Castle!"
"They're already in the Castle," Scorpius said. His voice was steady, empty. His body was exhausted from everything that had already happened throughout the night. "You need to tell Professor Longbottom right now. They're in the pipes."
Albus was still processing the news that the goblins were in the castle. His face was bleached of colour, his eyes wide. He shook his head, mouthing soundlessly.
"Albus," Scorpius urged, "go now—go tell Professor Longbottom!"
"I-I'm already at his office," Albus shouted, his green eyes wild. "He isn't here. When you didn't answer I went to get him."
"He's not here?"
Scorpius was beginning to feel the panic dancing up his joints, making its way into his brain. He tried to keep it encumbered with a numb detachment but he was aware that they were running out of time. He could hear the sound of metal striking from behind the stone latrine. The goblins were experts at navigating underground—they would break into the Dungeons soon. Scorpius and Rose had inadvertently shown them the easiest way in.
He fled the bathroom, moving swiftly down the stone corridors, double-checking that the boys were already out of their beds. Not one was in sight.
"They're going to head for Gryffindor Common Room," Albus said, now just a blur in Scorpius' palm. "I have to go."
The mirror cooled and turned to regular glass. Scorpius shoved it into his pocket, dashing up the stairs that led to the common room. They were all assembled, a small army, boys and girls, men and women. Rose stood in front of them all, her face unusually stricken.
Scorpius felt his guts twist. They couldn't make them fight. Some of them were only thirteen.
"Go," he said, his voice hoarse. "I'll stay."
"No," Rose said, completely steady. "You're a hopeless dueller. I'll stay."
"No," Scorpius insisted, his obstinacy rearing. "You can't stay alone."
She had seen Romnuk. Rose was preparing to kill him. He could tell by the blaze in her eyes. She was a spectral presence in the dancing green light of the lanterns, almost terrifyingly calm. She wasn't going to budge, but after what had occurred in the forest, he was too frightened to leave her. Who would pull her back when she plunged in the deep dark of her soul? Who would stop her from drowning in it?
"Merlin," Alice shouted, throwing her arms in the air. "We'll all stay! Isn't that what we've been training for?"
Scorpius and Rose shared a look. Having seen the goblins in their armour and with their weapons, they did not want the Slytherin underlings fighting them—not when they had taken an Unbreakable Vow to do everything possible to protect them. They would need to take them somewhere safe, Scorpius was reasoning, probably to the Tree. The Centaurs would give them sanctuary if they knew goblins were on the grounds. But only their little trio knew the path, Rose was frowning back. Either Scorpius or Rose would have to lead them there if they were ever to find it in the pitch black of night. Rose should stay, he should go.
"We want to fight," Gloria Fink said, crossing her arms. "I thought that's what you were training us for."
This snapped them out of their silent conversation, shared only with scowls and furrowed brows. Rose turned sharply to something she heard coming from the stairwell leading to the dormitories. She readied her wand.
"Go," she insisted, looking at Scorpius. "I already have a plan."
He had to trust her, despite everything, because she was unstoppable. She was tipping her wand to her throat, drawing breath, then creating a perfectly round Bubble-Head Charm. He turned and ushered the students towards the stone exit, hurrying them out of the Common Room. Professor Longbottom must be somewhere, he reasoned. As soon as the students were out of the Dungeons, he would contact Albus on the mirror once more, tell him to pull himself together and suggest that he find Longbottom on that very clever map of his so that they could get the rest of the school evacuated.
It was the Slytherins who were in the greatest immediate danger, down in the Dungeons, where the goblins would emerge. The others still had time. He would take care of them first.
Rose would be fine, he reassured himself. His reassurances weren't worth much.
They tore their way out of the Dunegons, the air no longer impeded by the thick stones and windowless corridors. The moment they had climbed to the top of the stairs, they knew something was instantly wrong.
Through the windows, despite the darkness of the hour, they could see a burning red light. And from behind the trembling glass, they could hear roars that shook the marrow of their bones.
No, Scorpius reasoned, they weren't the only ones in immediate danger.
Professor Longbottom was not in his office (Albus had checked), nor were any of the teachers in their offices, bedrooms or even in the staffroom. With the news that goblins were already in the school, Albus returned at a sprint to Gryffindor Tower. Speaking to Scorpius had restored his head. It only occurred to him after he had put his mirror away that he could search the Marauders Map to find the missing teachers.
But there was no need to search the Map at all. As he fell through the portrait hole into the circular Common Room, he could see a blazing red light burning through the windows. All of the Gryffindors were up, pressed against the glass and screaming out in shrill voices. Albus ran forward, grabbing Hugo by the shoulders.
"Dragons!" he said, pointing out the window. And sure enough, an enormous creature (bigger than anything Albus had ever seen) cast a shadow across the entire tower. He felt his heart leap into his throat.
Orlick has betrayed them. It still throbbed in his head, aching. They had all been so convinced that he was on their side. But Orlick had explained in an affable, apologetic voice—the Kobold Könige were their only hope in bringing down the tyrant King. He hated them, but they were the only alternative left.
"I cannot live like this anymore," Orlick had said, imploringly, looking into the two Potter boys' faces. "I cannot live above ground like a wand bearer. I live in exile. I made a choice—in the interest of my own Kingdom."
He leaned against the windows along with the others. The inferno outside was heating the glass so much it was like pressing his face against an oven door. There were more dragons than they could count, armoured, glistening like molten silver—twisting and turning in the air. While he did not have the best vantage point, what little of Hogsmeade he could see was blazing in an apocalyptic wave of red.
"They're coming for the Sword," he said. "We have to protect it."
The stone passage slammed shut behind Scorpius and Rose backed towards it, her wand sealing the Bubble Head Charm around her neck. Boots clashed up the stairwell. She could feel her blood pounding through every artery, throbbing in the fingers that clutched her wand. She had seen Romnuk down in the school's bowels. Their eyes had locked. He had recognised her. She would finally kill him, or die trying.
Then, he was there in front of her. Fully armoured. His visor up so she could still see the mangled grin that twisted his face. Mallet in hand. The very same that had broken Meredith's legs. Other goblins tumbled in after him, but she only had eyes for Romnuk.
She aimed her wand at the Common Room's large glass windows and yelled, "Bombarda Maxima!"
The force of the explosion took them all off their feet, but it was nothing compared to the ferocity of the water that shattered through the glass. It hit them like a wall of cold cement. Rose was prepared, creating a Shield Charm around her that stopped the furniture from crushing her. The goblins were completely taken by surprise.
Drowning was not the ideal way to kill him, she knew. She wanted to hurt him. But she had to be practical.
The water was gushing in as quickly as it was rushing down the stairs leading into the lower dormitories. Some goblins had managed to resurface. Rose duck-dived down, lighting her wand so she could see beneath the black. Goblins were trapped beneath upturned chesterfield sofas or tables. She spotted Romnuk by the flash of his mallet. He was beating it through the debris to get to her, or perhaps towards the door. He floundered, his armour dragging him down. She aimed her wand at him and used the Impediment Jinx to slow him down further. The longer she could keep him beneath the water, the better. His armour was heavy. It was already tiring him out.
She felt something seize her leg and yank her down. She yelped, the sound muted in her Bubble Head Charm, and aimed her wand at whatever was pulling her away from the door. A goblin had grasped her leg, his face purpling beneath his helmet, choking on the water. She tried to pull her leg free, kicking in slow motion, but with a sudden searing pain she couldn't move it at all. Blood was clouding the water visible around her wand before disappearing into the darkness. The pain in her leg was so intense she wondered if it has been sliced clean.
She pointed her wand at a waterlogged sofa nearby and summoned it towards the goblin where it pinned him. He would surely drown, never to resurface, but he had done enough damage.
There was no time to recover—Romnuk was upon her, his head now breaking the surface to catch breath. He had taken off his helmet and unclasped his armour so he was no longer weighed down. This would have made him the perfect target if Rose's leg wasn't preventing her from swimming. She needed to get out of the shipwrecked Common Room.
With a blast from her wand, she propelled herself towards the door. She clung to it now, the lake lapping up against the walls. Waterlogged books and chest pieces floated by as she undid her Bubble-Head Charm and choked out the password.
The stone passage opened. She was thrust out of the common room as if vomited out of the mouth of some antediluvian beast. Salt water was burning her throat and eyes and the gash on her leg. She clawed her way further down the corridor, her arms trembling as she did.
The passage was about to close when a metal hammer wedged itself between the stones. Rose looked up, immobile from the shock. Water continued to gush through the gap, pooling around her. Then, Romnuk pulled himself into the corridor.
He should have drowned. She was supposed to keep him there until he drowned.
He was only in his chainmail now and his weapon was keeping the passageway open, no doubt so the goblins that were not trapped could escape after him. He was defenceless, but Rose couldn't move. Her leg was throbbing and her head was filled with a low buzzing sound, like hornets had nested in her ears.
Romnuk seemed to be struggling from the shock as well. He wheezed, coughing up water.
"That's not very pretty," he finally grunted, nodding to her leg. She hadn't looked down at it yet. She was too afraid to. She finally mustered up the courage to spare a glance. It was a short but deep gash. Her skin yawned open on either side, like the smiling mouth of a stingray.
She tapped her wand to her leg and through shaky tears—this was not the time to cry, she reminded herself—and murmured "Ferula." Bandages sprung up around her leg, wrapping it tightly. She didn't know enough Healing Magic to do anything more. Water still gushed out of the gap in the passage door, pooling around her.
She wanted to lunge at him. He was sadistic. He was a murderer. He was everything she hated and feared, and she was at his mercy. Only ten feet away from him.
She could hear someone running down the corridor towards them, feet splashing against the wet stone. Hands clasped her tightly and pulled her up. The pain in her leg made her feel faint. She still raised her wand at Romnuk, wobbling against Scorpius' lean frame.
"I have him," she said, her voice almost guttural.
Another goblin was clambering through the stone passage, choking up water. He turned back to grasp the arms of another, pulling them through.
Romnuk smiled slowly. Rose couldn't form the words. She had him but she couldn't make her lips move.
"There's no time," Scorpius bellowed. He got in front of her, wrapping her arms around his neck and grabbing her legs. She shouldn't have looked at her leg. If she hadn't seen the gash the pain wouldn't have been so real. Now, all she could fathom was her screaming nerves. Scorpius was sprinting up the hall, away from the washed up gang. She twisted back to look at them. Other goblins were falling out into the corridor. How many had survived? Had it all been for nothing?
She sobbed into Scorpius' shoulder as he piggybacked her like a child. She hadn't been able to do it. She had failed, she had failed.
"Stop it," he said, his voice hard. "Stop it. You're going to be perfectly alright. We have bigger problems."
They sprinted into the Entrance Hall but didn't head towards the doors. Instead, Scorpius was moving towards the staircase. A burst of bright red light lit up the entire chamber. Something else was happening.
He was getting tired, she realised. He was slowing down on the stairs.
"They're not in the forest?" she choked out. Something was wrong.
"Everything's on fire," he panted. "They've unleashed dragons. All the teachers are out there trying to stop them."
Living, breathing killing machines. There was no way to kill a flock of armoured dragons.
"We need to get to the forest. We can Apparate if we get out of the school's boundaries—"
"No," Scorpius said, between breaths. "No. The forest is on fire too. Everything is burning."
It had been the perfect ambush. The most seasoned members of the Order were locked in an empty mountain. Weapons of utter destruction, beasts armed and released were ravaging the Castle. Meanwhile, the goblins had found their way into the Castle. Had Rose and Scorpius not been there by chance, they would have entered Hogwarts unknown to anyone. There had only been twelve members of the Kobold Könige left, but they knew how to destroy everything.
Scorpius paused at the top of the stairs, sliding Rose off his back. She gripped the banister to support herself. There was no way they could make it all the way to Gryffindor Tower in their condition, not with so many flights of stairs. Just as she was beginning to panic again, she saw her younger brother tearing down towards them. His brown curls bounced with each step.
"Is she alright?" he bellowed.
"I can't carry her alone."
"You're a wizard, Malfoy!" Hugo shouted, extracting his wand and pointing it at her sister. She felt herself become weightless, floating several inches off the ground.
They made it to the Gryffindor Common Room in record timing. The Fat Lady gave a squawk of fear as she let them in, clearly mortified by Rose's injured state and thriving on the drama of it. Once they had carefully got her through the portrait hole, Rose surveyed the room properly for the first time.
Albus was standing by the table in the centre of the room, the Marauder's Map unfurled—clearly it was no longer a secret to scheme. He was bending over it, trailing his finger across the map. The older students were gathered around him, analysing the parchment laid out before them.
It wasn't just the Gryffindors. All of the remaining students were in the tower. The Gryffindors, Slytherins, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws. The young ones were perched near the windows, staring down with wide-eyes.
"Oh, good," Caleb Macmillan sighed, clutching his chest where his ridiculous Head Boy badged was pinned. He moved away from Albus and his Map. "We're all accounted for."
"Your leg," Lily gasped.
Sure enough, the bandages had turned as deep a red as the ruby on Gryffindor's sword. Albus moved over to the sofa, throwing the pillows off and helping Rose recline. He began to unravel her bandages.
"Mary," he said, gesturing at a bookcase across the room, "can you bring me A Healer's Handbook. The purple book with gold text? I want to make sure I don't leave a scar."
She and Scorpius had been so intent on learning how to defend themselves that they had never bothered with Healing Magic. He wrapped her in a blanket and began to clean her wound. He was focused and calm, eyebrows pinched with concentration, not at all uneasy with the gash on her leg. Her own shock was beginning to retreat now. She was aware of how wet she was, that she was shivering under the blanket around her shoulders.
Rose was keenly aware of how many young faces were staring at her.
"Why are you all in here?" she demanded. "The goblins are trying to get intoGryffindor Tower! They want the sword."
"That's exactly why we're here," a Slytherin fifth-year piped up. "This is where we're needed most."
"We stayed to defend our school," Angus Finnigan said, rather boldly.
"We tried to talk them out of it," Caleb frowned. "They insisted."
Albus was instructing Mary to turn pages. His wand was hovering over the gash in her leg, no squirming in his expression. He began an incantation that almost sounded like song.
Suddenly, she was convinced that she would still have her chance to avenge Meredith—they just had to think smart.
"Alright," she said, looking around at all the faces staring back. Professor Longbottom was busy putting out fires. The goblins were left completely to them. "We have the high grounds. Lets make a game plan."
"Already ahead of you," Scorpius replied.
The message relayed was one of panic. Seven dragons had been unleashed onto Hogsmeade in the dead of night, completely armoured and indomitable. Hagrid was evacuating survivors into boats on the black lake, sailing them across to the school's boatsheds. Charred bodies remained in charred houses. But even greater panic returned through Neville's locket when Harry replied—Mount Bowfell was completely empty (and worse) all exists had sealed after they had entered. They couldn't get out and there were no goblins in sight.
They had been ambushed. They had been betrayed.
The dragons were the priority they decided. Charlie took the locket from Harry and spoke with authority. They needed to call on his cullers from the Sanctuary. They needed to kill as many of the dragons as they could. The only way to wrangle this many dragons was to fight fire with fire.
There was no time to get to the Romanian Ministry of Magic and organise an international Portkey. It would take them hours, especially when it was so late at night. Charlie gave him the name and address of an old hag who would organise an illegal Portkey. Get in touch with Rolf and get them to Hogwarts, he said, so Neville did.
They were all still trying to process what Teddy had told them when Sylvia joined them with news from Hogsmeade. The pieces had fall horribly into place. There were a few beats of silence where the only sound was the snorts and snores of the dragons.
"We go, we cull," Dragomir decided, shrugging. "We leave now."
"But maybe Venn is right," Teddy said quickly. "Maybe we doneed a dragon. Have any of you taken on seven dragons at once?"
Victoire swallowed hard. She turned to Rolf Scamander and tried to summon a look of amicability, as if she hadn't been fuming at him only minutes before. "Have you got that handy suitcase on you at the moment, Rolf?"
He blinked twice and then nodded, gesturing back towards the barn. "I do, actually, funny that you ask."
The Kobold Könige had a plan. They did not think it would be this hard. From the twelve that had first entered the Castle, only seven remained. The dungeons were rapidly flooding so there was no opportunity to turn back from armour. From Orlick's instructions, all they knew is that they had to move onwards and upwards.
The bargain that Romnuk had struck with Orlick—let the record show that he despised the traitor, the disgusting Morgana supporter—was that he would not hurt anyone in Hogwarts in his pursuit for the Sword. Considering the information he was going to be given, it was worth making this oath. Of course, Orlick had said nothing about hurting anyone outsideof Hogwarts. The village of Hogsmeade was fair game and it would soon be burned to ashes. It was the perfect distraction.
Things had not gone completely to plan. They had never truly learned how to use their wands and the weapons didn't really seem to work for them. Sometimes, they functioned as they should, and in other instances they seemed to backfire. It didn't matter—Romnuk had decided he hated being among the ranks of the wandbearers. As for killing all wizards and witches in authority, this too had fallen short. They had killed both the current and former Ministers for Magic, this was true, but Harry Potter remained. Still, Romnuk had decided to prioritise the Sword above his wishes to see the Wizarding World burn. They had done enough damage. It was now time to return home and take the throne.
Even now, the plan was going amiss. They were supposed to sneak into the school unnoticed while the teachers attempted to restrain the dragons and the Order of the Phoenix was trapped in Mount Bowfell. It was supposed to be simple and easy. He was not supposed to have lost five of his followers, all because of that stupid, meddling girl.
Rose Weasley had been a thorn in his side from the moment they laid eyes on each other. She was unlike the others. He could not break her. She had disrupted their siege, she had stolen their armour and weapons, she had made his purpose very difficult. She and the other Potter children were more trouble than their parents.
This seemed to even be the case now, when things ought to be going smoothly. The staircases up to Gryffindor Tower had turned to slides, impossible to climb. There was no choice but to climb the banisters dangerously, made all the more difficult by the constant shifting of the staircases. As the first couple of goblins had made it up the first flight a hailstorm of spells rained down on them. With so little armour, they were forced to duck for cover. Romnuk squinted upwards. He could see them—students, young witches and wizards—on the higher floors with their wands poised from the landings above. His head was throbbing.
"Get up there and get their wands off them!" he didn't care if they killed anyone anymore. But it was already looking impossible to get up the stairwells. He retreated backwards towards the Entrance Hall. He was refusing to leave without the Sword.
For the Hogsmeade residents who had escaped the burning debris of their village—and they were few in number—they watched from the Hogwarts' boatsheds as cinders spun in the air like swarms of fireflies. Dragons swooped and burned everything in sight. The Order members were hardly able to contain the spreading flames, let alone the apoplectic dragons.
The entire scene was nightmarishly phantasmagorical. Soon, several dragons swooped over the forest connecting the border of the village to the school grounds. Cinders were finding destructive homes among the treetops. The Forbidden Forest was beginning to blaze. They saw this only from the corners of their red-rimmed eyes. Their attention was turned to the wounded.
Seven more figures appear by the village's boundaries all in fire protective gear. A dragon clambered from an oddly disproportionately sized suitcase, flanked in armour, a woman with silvery hair on its back. From a distance, the Hogsmeade survivors did not see any of this. They were busy tending to those with the worst burns to notice this very strange sight.
However, the Order was quick to spot the dragon handlers and Apparate over to them.
Victoire was fastening her boots into the stirrups of her harness. Jem the Antipodean Opaleye was gazing upward with glittering eyes, mesmerised, by the fountains of fire being emitted by the wild beasts above. Neville and Luna reached them with the Hogwarts' herd of thestrals trailing behind them.
"Oh dear," Luna frowned. Her face was covered in soot, making her pale blue eyes seem even wider. "Is bringing another dragon into this situation really the best idea?"
"Victoire seems to have a good relationship with this dragon, dear," Rolf replied, taking the thestrals and helping the handlers who could not see them mount them.
"I'm not sure if killing the dragons is the best way to proceed," Luna pleaded.
Both Krishna and Adam began muttering under their breath. Sylvia and Dragomir pretended they could not hear Luna's opposition.
Teddy turned to Luna and Rolf, looking pained at the prospect of killing the dragons as well. "Isn't there a way to capture them without harming them?"
"They've been trained as killing machines," Victoire snapped. "This isn't time for a humanitarian take, Teddy. They're all in armour. We have to aim to kill them."
"We have never culled dragons wearing armour before," Adam added. "This'll be hard as it is."
The blaze of the fire now spreading through the forest was singing the air, making it almost too hot to stand nearby. At Neville's suggestion, they all performed Bubble-Head Charms so as to tolerate the thick plumes of smoke. Teddy took his wand and nodded for Rolf and Luna to follow him.
"Let's leave the dragons to the cullers," he decided. "We need to try and contain the fire."
Reluctantly, they agreed to divide in this way. The handlers all fixed themselves into the saddles of their thestrals. Jem began to whine, his nostrils flaring as the dragons above roared. He was not the most aggressive of dragons.
"Vic," Teddy said, clasping her hand. She looked down at him, her face obscured by her thick goggled and the warmed Bubble-Head Charm. He squeezed her hand tightly, feeling his wedding ring dig into his finger. "Please, be careful. I love you."
"Love you more," she said, her face grim.
The thestrals launched off the ground in a flurry of black wings and with an earth-shuddering flap of his wings, Jem hurled himself after them. Teddy could feel his throat closing up, but it wasn't the smoke. He turned instead towards the blazing forest, producing an enormous jet of water from his wand. Luna and Rolf were thrusting water from the lake over the trees, dousing them in a downpour. The dragon's roars split the air, louder than thunder. He was too scared to look back and see what was happening over the village.
"They're doing well holding them back," Scorpius murmured, gazing at the Map. He was watching the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, stationed along the staircases on the fourth floor. The goblins were struggling to get up the staircases. He then trailed his finger along the path to check that the Gyrffindors and Slytherins had barred the other entrances to the seventh floor, which three goblins seemed to be making their way towards now.
They watched the fray unfold on parchment, the students outnumbering the goblins and doing a good job at keeping them at bay. They were not unprepared like last time. Rose watched a Hufflepuff girl's dot—Tallulah, she could picture her face—advance along the bannisters of the sixth floor staircase, and then nodded as two more goblins slid down to the floor below.
It was only the three of them left in the common room. Rose's leg was still being mended by Albus, his sing-song enchantment having a soporific effect. The sword had cut through tendons, which was why the spell was taking so long to work. Albus had insisted they stay to keep an eye on the Sword and watch the battle unfold on the Map. Should any of the houses need back up, the boys would be there in a flash.
Truthfully, Rose knew they were too afraid to leave her alone when she was too injured to defend herself.
"The chances of them getting into the common room are slim to none," Scorpius decided, still watching the Map. "The goblins aren't advancing at all. The main staircases are impossible and I think the Slytherins successfully barricaded the North Wing because the three goblins there aren't moving forward. In fact, if we hold them off long enough…"
Scorpius fell silent, his eyes hardening as they focused. He continued to squint at the Map. Albus looked up from Rose's leg, curious about the sudden blanching. As he lost his concentration, the healing enchantment ceased. Rose suddenly felt much more awake, and also much more in pain.
"What?" Albus frowned, studying Scorpius' rattled expression. "What?"
"I can't find Romnuk," he muttered.
Albus stood quickly, moving to lean against the table beside Scorpius. His eyes scanned the Map. Both of them bristled nervously, scanning as if to find a needle in a haystack. Albus tapped his wand on the parchment so he could examine a different Wing of the Castle. He did this again and again, and each time his wand hit the parchment, Rose's anxiety jumped. How had they lost Romnuk?
"There!" Scorpius said, planting his forefinger on the parchment. "He's down near the Quidditch Pitch."
"Wait, what? Why?" Albus was shaking his head. "Why on earth would—"
They were interrupted by a sudden hissing and spitting from the fireplace. Rose almost jumped out of her chair but her throbbing leg kept her rooted into the soft sofa cushions. Both boys swung around towards the fireplace, where a head was suddenly taking shape between the flames.
"Teddy?" Albus blinked.
Sure enough, it was Teddy's head sitting on the logs and coals, his blue hair darker than usual. His face was very drawn.
"Oh, good. You're here. I was hoping at least a few of you would be in the Tower. Look, we know what's happening. We're all on our way from Romania."
"How are you Flooing us?" Albus asked. "Could we Floo out of here?"
"Sorry, buddy, no chance. Charlie told me the Gryffindor fireplace was tampered with yearsago so I thought this would be the best way for me to get in touch. I can't do a fully body transfer through the flames though. Anyway, I've had to hook this hag's fireplace up to the International Network to speak with you and that's already going to get us in deep shit if we're caugh—"
"Lupin," Scorpius barked impatiently, "focus please!"
"Er, sorry—I'm doing that thing where I'm panicky so I run my mouth off. Look, Harry and the others are stuck in Base Bowfell. The exits have sealed and they're trying to dig their way out. Who knows how long they'll be trapped. The rest of us are coming to take care of the dragons. But Neville contacted me and said you sent James down to tell him there are goblins in the school already—is that true?"
"Yes," Scorpius replied shortly.
"Well, shit. Alright. Is anyone hurt?"
"As far as we're aware, no one except for Rose. She's cut her leg but we're handling it," Albus explained.
Teddy was nodding. "Good. I have to go, our Portkey is ready. Look, they're trying to get the Sword—"
"We know," the three of them said in unison.
"Cool. Just remember, the dragons are more dangerous than the goblins at this point. Don'tgo outside. Once the Dragon Handlers gets to Hogwarts, we'll send the teachers in to help with the goblins. Stay safe."
For a moment, they all stared at the fireplace as the flames returned to their usual colour and height. Rose swallowed loudly.
"Er, the quicker my leg is mended, the quicker I can help," he said.
Albus made his way back to the sofa. Scorpius returned to the Map.
"Can you check that James is alright?" Albus asked, an edge in his voice.
Scorpius took a moment to scan the parchment, presumably down where the school walls bordered the village road. He nodded. "He's with the Scamander twins and a few of the teachers down by the Lake. They must be evacuating survivors from the village."
Albus was mending Rose's leg with a new charm now, one that didn't require an enchantment. She could feel her skin knitting itself back together. He was almost done.
"And Romnuk?" he asked.
Scorpius was silent again, his eyes scanning the Map. Albus looked up at him, flourishing bandages around Rose's leg. "Scorpius? Where's Romnuk?"
"He's…it's like he's moving up from the floors below us. But I don't see how, there's no staircase there."
Albus huffed once more, leaving Rose to return to the Map. She was itching to get up and follow after him, to get her hands on the Map and start calling shots. She swung her leg gingerly off the sofa and planted her foot on the ground. Her newly mended tendons still twinged with pain.
"That's odd. How's he doing it?"
Rose pulled herself up, moving towards the circular walls of the tower. She gripped a chair for support, furious that she was still injured.
"Guys."
"It's like he's gliding through the floors as if he's a ghost. It's so—"
"Guys!"
They both turned to her. She had worked it out of course. It explained why he had left the other goblins and gone to the pitch. He wasn't inside the tower, he was right outside the tower's walls. And as if to illustrate the point, he appeared behind the window Rose was already gesturing towards, gripping a broomstick handle with his left hand and his hammer with the right. Rose had the sense to turn her face away before the glass smashed into fine, clear splinters under the force of his hammer. Romnuk climbed through the window, the broom clattering down to the ground as he found his footing.
"We both have an knack for smashing windows, don't we, Weasley?"
He had filched armour presumable from one of the suits of armour that lined the halls of the Castle, for it was too big for his stature. Still, he was no longer exposed. Rose was furious. She aimed her wand at him and sent a chair clattering against him. He swung his hammer to meet the obstacle and broke it on impact.
His eyes found the Sword glittering in its case, mounted on the wall. He slapped his mallet against the palm of his gnarled hand. Albus moved towards the case. Scorpius moved towards Rose.
"I am not here to hurt you," he said, his guttural voice grounding out the words the way a pestle pounds morsels to powder. There was a diminishing note to his tone, a sour effort to placate them. "I just want the Sword."
"And I just want your head to roll on the carpet," Rose replied coolly.
Romnuk was inching towards the case and Albus was doing the same. Rose hated that she could hardly stand straight. She wanted to lunge at him. His twisted face was breaking into a grin, his mouth like the slash of a knife sliding into a smile.
"We have wiped out your pathetic gang members," Rose spat. "It's just you left.
"You think killing me will end your misery," he growled, "but it will not."
Rose looked into his beady black eyes. He had hurt children as if they had meant nothing. He had tortured them. He had brought anarchy upon the world she knew and loved. He was her misery. He was the pulse she felt for retribution.
"Revenge makes the world go around," Romnuk growled, still sidling closer to the case.
"You won't be able to take the Sword," Scorpius said sharply, attempting to interrupt the standoff between Rose and Romnuk. Neither even looked at him. He went on imploringly, "it was enchanted by Dumbledore himself. Blunt force can't break the glass. The case cannot be opened by magic either. The Sword only presents itself to a Gryffindor who is worthy of it."
Romnuk was still staring at Rose only, his eyes not leaving her, as if Scorpius was nothing but a fly buzzing near his ear. "You see, Weasley, I want revenge too. I want to see my brother fall. I deserved the throne, not him. I was the better metal-smith of the two of us."
"Then why are you using your sister's hammer?" she said bluntly. "Why do you need the Sword of Gryffindor? Make your own weapon."
"Who told you that this was my sisters?" he snarled, suddenly furious. "Orlick, I suppose. The traitor. My sister is our family's property. What she forges is my property."
"You won't be able to take the Sword," Scorpius insisted.
"Revenge really does make the world go round," Rose said, sizing him up now. "You think if you avenge the Goblin Kingdom by returning them the Sword, you will be crowned the new King. It's why you were hell-bent on destroying us, wasn't it? Revenge for Ragnuk the First."
Romnuk let out a rasping snarl and lunged at the case. Albus cried and fired a hex that only rebounded off his armour. Romnuk's hammer hit the glass and then bounced off, sending him springing backwards. The glass remained unmoved, like the expression of an unimpressed child waiting for a magic trick. The case had not even cracked. Romnuk looked stunned. He glanced down at the mallet. It clearly had never failed him before. Albus grinned, moving closer to the case now so he was almost in front of it.
"You are daft, aren't you?" he said. "Scorpius told you that you can't crack the glass."
But Romnuk was not deterred. His eyes were moving rapidly over the case then over their faces, bouncing back and forth again.
"How about I put a deal to you," he said.
When Harry arrived back at Hogwarts, he was expecting carnage, but not what he was confronted with. It was as if the world had turned to flames. The Forbidden Forest blazed. The village was a smouldering, charred mess. Three enormous dragons lay slain in the debris, blood pooling into the streets. Above them was a sound that echoed merpeople shrieks above water, a horrible screeching as dragons has their eyes gouged with spells or their wings cut along the length. The rest of their bodies were dented silver.
Charlie didn't wait to organise a plan with them, but was already sprinting towards the village with his wand drawn.
Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione turned to the burning school grounds. Pelting towards them, bows already raised to the sky, were at least forty Centaurs. They rushed out of the forest with their bows raised, a volley of arrows shooting up at the dragons and glancing off their armour.
Hermione held her wand above her head and began an incantation. Storm clouds began to whirl high above her wand, trembling and black. There was a crack of thunder and rain began to fall, thick buckets of water rushing over the burning trees.
"Go into the school," she advised them. "Neville said there are goblins in the school."
"Alright," Harry, Ginny and Ron agreed. They left Hermione with her weather charms and began their ascent to the school. Harry could not shift the magnanimous guilt that this was his fault. Had only they been here, they could have managed this all so much better.
"That damn goblin," Ron muttered as they ran up the sloping grounds to the school's entrance. "Remind me to never trust a goblin as long as I live."
"If any of the students are hurt I will personally hunt him down and kill him," Ginny seethed.
Harry had been here before, over the Sword. He had been betrayed. But this time, it had seemed that a mutual motive would have been enough to maintain Orlick's loyalty. He could not understand why Orlick would betray them when he was loathed by his fellow goblins. He was a Morgana supporter. They were supposed to share the same enemy. He could feel his mouth burning with an acrid taste. He was too trusting. This had been his fault.
"This can all end with me," Romnuk growled, his eyes still on Rose. "Once I take my brother's throne, I will never return to the Wizarding World. You will all be free."
"You have destroyed our world," Albus bit back. "What makes you think we'll strike a deal with you?"
"I was just the hammer that fell, not the one wielding it. Do you know who destroyed your world? My brother and your old Prime Minister. All I did was bring them down."
"You're not a true anarchist," Albus said calmly, her wand on the goblin gang leader. "You're a narcissistic. You'll do whatever it takes to get yourself to the throne."
Rose heaved her self-upright now, clutching the sofa for support. Both of the boys glanced at her nervously.
"How about you let us consider this offer?" she suggested calmly. "We will meet you once we have talked it through."
All of them were staring at her now as if she were crazed. Even Romnuk was in a state of disbelief that his desperate gamble had worked on her. She could feel her stomach rolling with her odium for Romnuk, but kept it at bay. Her head felt strangely detached.
"You aren't in a position to challenge us," she added. She shuffled awkwardly towards the table and studied the Map. She was silent for a moment as she read the parchment. "Your goblins are all dead. The Order is on their way here and they will certainly be able to overpower you."
Scorpius and Albus stared at Rose. She willed them to just play along.
"We will meet you in the Forbidden Forest tomorrow, at midnight," she decided. "We will bring the Sword if you decide to agree on our terms."
"And how can I trust that you will not ambush me, or I you?"
"There is a tree in the forest by the Centaur glade that glows by night. If you take a broomstick, you will find it easily from above. No one can do any harm if they are under that tree's foliage. That's where we will meet you."
Romnuk was unsettled by these terms. He was scowling, stroking the hammer in his hand thoughtfully. She could see on the Map that their parents were approaching.
"Or we could just kill you now," she shrugged, gesturing to Albus.
Deciding that she was bluffing, Romnuk lunged at Rose with his hammer arcing back. Scorpius used his wand to Summon her to him, avoiding the swing of the mallet. Albus pulled back his fist and smashed the glass case containing the Sword. It shattered easily, just like normal glass, tinkering shards clattering to the ground. He grasped the hilt of the sword and wielded it easily. In one smooth sweep, he cut off the hand that gripped Romnuk's hammer.
The hammer fell to the floor with a heavy thunk, the severed hand still closed in a gnarled vice around it. Romnuk howled, clutching his bleeding arm.
"Up to you, Romnuk," Rose said, smiling slowly. "We can kill you now or you can consider working with us later."
"Fine," he hissed.
"Oh, you better hurry then," Rose said soothingly. "The Order is on their way up. I suggest you leave the way you came in."
He snatched up his hammer with his left hand but he was in no condition to fight. They backed him against the window. He was bleeding profusely now, his entire arm slick with blood. He struggled to get onto the broom while clutching the hammer.
"Leave it," Rose said gently.
"No," he heaved.
"You won't survive if you try to fly carrying that thing one handed."
Romnuk's face was twisted in fury but there was no time for his protest. The portrait hole was opening behind them. With a panicked look, he dropped the hammer and charged out of the window.
The boys turned to Rose, stunned. "Why didn't you just kill him?"
"The timing isn't quite right," she said.
Their parents were in the common room now, wands still drawn. They turned to Harry, Ginny and Ron in their dishevelled state. The hammer sat by the window. The chopped off hand curled on the floor behind a trail of blood. Albus still clutched the Sword.
"Are you three—" Ginny began.
"We're fine!" Albus cried, gesturing to the window. "Romnuk escaped on a broom! You have to go after him."
They hesitated, their faces pained and white.
"We're safe. Go!Before we lose him," Scorpius urged.
They turned and left out of the portrait hole. Rose, Scorpius and Albus stood there once more, panting.
"What's the plan?" Scorpius asked calmly, turning back to Rose.
She gestured for Scorpius to retrieve the hammer.
"We need to get out of here," she said. "Al, you're the most adept at Apparition. If we get to the school's boundaries, do you think we could side-along Apparate somewhere safe? We can't be found by Wizards or goblins."
"I have somewhere in mind."
Imogen sat with her knees tucked up under her, watching as Scorpius hovered over a boiling cauldron on her kitchen's stovetop. Albus had just finished explaining the entire debacle, carefully healing the remaining cuts on his knuckles. There was a long pause when he had finished speaking.
"So Hogwarts is completely wrecked?" Imogen repeated slowly.
"And the village razed to the ground," Rose went on. "When we Apparated, there was still two dragons fighting mid-air. It took a whole army of wizards and witches to bring them down."
"It's really just Romnuk left," Imogen went on, her face glowing in the light of the Hello Kitty clock.
"That's the thing," Rose said, turning back to look at the boys. "That's why I couldn't bring myself to kill him. The only way to end this is to cut the snake's head off. We need to get into the Goblin Kingdom and kill his brother."
"You're talking regicide here," Scorpius said quietly, looking up from his potion ingredients.
Rose shrugged, standing up and testing out her healing leg.
Albus' face was set in a firm frown. "She's talking about ending this for good."
A/N: I am all out of sorts. Work has been a crazy mess, which probably reflects in my writing. Thanks for sticking with this despite the long breaks between chapters. Xx