Chapter Thirty-One:
Aftermath
The screams still roared the ground several feet under the dragon's wings. Hiccup and Toothless flew over the Muggle army with dangerous proximity, the boy casting away any and every offense from the army with his protective charms, and Toothless blasting his scalding jets of fire down on the vehicles.
"Confringo!" Hiccup screamed when a missile flew in front of his eyes, and he only had a couple meters and his shield of advantage before the explosive went off.
Toothless gave a deadly howl as both dragon and rider spiralled down to the ground, dirt and grass raining on them as they crashed against a burned tank. Hiccup cried in pain as the dragon rolled over its back, putting itself back on its feet as they heard the muggle soldiers advancing in one line, surrounding them completely, shadows in the night distinguishable only by their black silhouettes against the burning forest.
"Fianto Duri!" Hiccup screamed before the bullets began hailing against him and Toothless. The dragon contorted and roared once, surrounding Hiccup protectively as both ducked under Hiccup's shield, which Hiccup could already feel that began to lose strength.
That was it, Hiccup thought. So much bravery and all that insanity trying to buy time for the Order and only to be killed by muggles, from every possible enemy…
A crack of a thunder exploded the sky. Above them, night had turned into day, white light glowing incandescently as everything froze, still.
Then an eruption of sound and fury rolled over the earth. The massive shockwave detonated the forest, blasting everything to the air, and Hiccup was thrown to the floor, unconscious.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky was on fire. Red lights shimmered over his irises as they reflected the burning shield. Scarlet flames fell in cascade on the grounds, sparks and soot sprinkling the air. Hiccup struggled to stand, the explosion had shaken his senses into oblivion, it seemed. With tremendous effort, he managed to get on his knees, and he took in the vision of his surroundings, the smoke spiralling in the air of the obliterated edge of the forest.
"You alright, bud?" He asked through coughs to the dragon, realising then of his damaged hearing; his voice sounded dimmer than usual, echoing faintly in the air as if travelling in the vacuum. His trembling hands patted Toothless' scales, but the hard texture was apparently unharmed against the explosion. Toothless gave out a deep growl in pain, but slowly turned his slender black body up, getting on his paws while shaking away the fog in his head.
Hiccup furrowed his brows as he tried to mount on Toothless, suddenly hyper aware of the deathly silence that had fallen on the atmosphere. Except for his shaky breath, he could hear nothing. No wind, no sparks. But he was sure he could hear the dragon's breath under him as they raised flight. The bristle of his clothes as he moved. But nothing beyond their own bodies. The world had fallen quiet.
Once again in the air, the dragon saw the levelled army that extended for miles on the edge of the Forest. The few remaining tanks and warfare vehicles that he had not destroyed with Toothless had been rendered dead with the magical explosion, although he could see some muggles crawling out of the useless machines.
"...all communications down…"
"...Not a word from the Minister…"
He heard the voices, but they felt removed from the atmosphere. It was the most bizarre experience. Some of the Muggles in the armada cried in terror when they saw the dragon, and tried to aim their hand weapons, but no bullets ever came out of their guns.
The bloodlust in Hiccup thirsted for him to burn them to ashes, and he could feel Toothless' deep and frightening rumble under him stating that the dragon wanted the same thing, but his hand on the dragon's head made him stop. The more rational side of his mind forced him to guide Toothless away, flying gracefully like an arrow over the army, and hovering towards the castle. Or what was left of the castle. The fire rose from the towers, shining red flames dancing in the night. A huge section of the seventh floor was destroyed, certainly the beginning explosion that had annihilated the entrance to the Room of Requirement. At the edge of the world, he could see the dawn slowly approaching in a hopelessly blue sunrise.
It was a lonely feeling, the loneliest he had felt in his life. And then five black figures levitated from between the castle's towers, shifting into a dark plume that disappeared in the clouds.
Hiccup tightened his grip on the dragon, petting its head as both gazed at the sky. "Steady, Toothless." He whispered, but against the silence, it felt like a scream. The horizon was glowing white when he reached the Entrance courtyard. He landed on the stone floors, walking slowly towards the main hall. Hearing no battle, he quickly shrank Toothless to his hidden size.
Prefects and teachers wandered through the corridors, lost. Their faces showing confusion and apprehension. Some of them were bleeding, but all of them were still alive. "What happened?" He asked no one in particular, and a strange taste seemed to invade his mouth when he spoke.
"We don't know!" They replied in ushered voices, fearing that the minor disturbance could set the world on fire. And then they ran off, disappearing in the halls. A strange taste brought Hiccup's attention. A stark combination of rust and metal, and he imagined if his mouth had started bleeding, but as he brought up two fingers to his mouth, he saw no red on his fingertips.
Hiccup ventured deeper into the castle, looking for Jack. The fire still burned brightly, and still all he could focus on was that horrible silence, which he knew would torment every last one of his nightmares from there on.
Jack lay face down, his head buzzed with a sickening ring. Strangely enough, he could feel the strange vibration that seemed to punch the stone floor under his fingers, but yet every sound was muffled, as if drowned in the water. As soon as he realised the silence, he also noticed how pain seemed to sear through every member in his body, as if every last one of his bones had been crushed repeatedly. Blood still ran from the open cut in his forearm, and suddenly he remembered Aster's burning body when Erebos had casted the Confringo curse.
Above him, the Order of the Seven was nowhere to be seen. They had evaporated into the opening on the roof of the cave, disappearing into the night. Jack struggled to his feet, half crawling and half stumbling towards the only thing his conscious mind still made sense of, sinking into the cold water as he struggled to swim towards Aster, who he found wielding his wand, scared beyond life, his eyes wide open as if the battle was still occurring. "Jack?" He called, also swimming towards the white haired boy.
That is when Jack had a good look at his friend: thorugh the torn clothes, he could see that there was this horrible red shade burning all the way from the boy's shoulders to his fingertips, as if bleeding ivies grew from inside his skin. "Aster, your arms…" He whispered, lost. And when Aster looked at his skin, confused, his nose started bleeding. Jack realised then of the strange metallic taste that invaded his mouth. "I'll take you back to the surface." He said.
All around them, the Order of the Phoenix screamed unintelligible words. The Sphere, or the Æther, had gone quiet, but this sinister feeling was swirling from inside it. "We can't stay here any longer," Professor Flitwick said. The red haired man from the Order stepped closer to the Æther, but he soon screamed back "Leave it there! We need to seal off this section of the Castle to stop the curse from spreading."
Jack had never seen his teacher with such a frightened look. "Curse? What curse-?"
"Take your friend and leave immediately, Mister Overland. Take him to the Hospital Wing and pray we all make it through the night."
Hiccup found Astrid, Azel and Merida descending the Astronomy tower staircase. "Where were you?!" Astrid cried, hurrying to the boy and pulling him into a crushing hug, which Hiccup received emotionlessly. He was as immovable as a rock, his face impassively hardened. "I was so scared!" She said, and soon, Merida and Azel also hugged the duo – and to that hug of the survivors, Hiccup felt crushed, unable to savour the same feeling of relief.
"I really thought we had it now! Where did that dragon come from?"
"Do any of you taste metal?" Astrid asked, and the others nodded.
"They entered the castle through the Room of Requirements," Azel began. "We were so stupid letting that passage open, they blew up the tower the moment they stepped in…"
"Have you seen Jack?" Hiccup asked finally the one thing lingering in his mind.
"He left right after you, I thought you two had gone together." Said Astrid.
"There's one more thing I did," Azel continued, now with tears welling up her eyes. "Someone broke into my common room… I ran over there to retrieve that horrible book… And it was missing. They stole the book, they stole the curses from Sotanath Grim."
The news sank in like a punch to the stomach. The shock and total horror of what that could mean never reached Hiccup, who's blood drained away from his face completely. Before anyone could say anything, he turned on his heels, first walking, and then running towards the Great Hall, the soundless steps taking in all the weight of the atmosphere.
The Order of the Phoenix stood defeated at the Entrance Courtyard – blood and bruises stamped on their faces as the teachers and students began shooting questions at them, but no one seemed to have the answers. They saw Jack carrying Aster by his shoulders in front of them. At their sight, Astrid nearly screamed in shock – Aster's face was covered in blood, and his blistening skin seemed to be peeling off. "Oh my God!" Astrid cried as she launched herself towards the boy, grabbing his face with her hands. "What happened?!" She asked Jack – which to Hiccup's relief seemed unharmed, if not a little bruised.
"Don't touch him, Astrid." Jack said, "He needs Madam Pomfrey."
"Jack…" Hiccup began, but Jack walked past him, dragging Aster's failing body next to his.
"Hiccup," Azel's voice called him. "Look at the Order…"
Behind them, Professor Flitwick had collapsed onto the floor; a huge puddle of blood beginning to form at the place his hands had hit the ground. For a moment they thought they were under attack again, until more cries began to escape the members of the Order. The red headed man called Weasley held his nose which began bleeding uncontrollably. Professor McGonagall apparently had all the colour wiped from her face, her skin ghostly white. Another lightningless thunder echoed in the air.
"Stay away from us, do you hear me?" She said, but her voice was a hundred times weaker than anyone ever remembered. "Don't attempt to help us…"
And then she fell onto the ground, her body shaking to the grip of the sinister curse.
A greyish light broke that dawn. The students carried the weakened bodies of the Order and the teachers into the Hospital Wing with levitating spells. Madam Pomfrey rushed from bed to bed as she tried to care for everyone, quickly expelling everyone from her wing. "This is bad, this is really bad…" She muttered as the doors closed. Hiccup could not exactly tell what it was, but he had a strange feeling towards the castle, like he was stepping on glass barefoot, or intently drinking poisonous juice.
It took half an hour before the door opened again. Madam Pomfrey had a look of complete and total devastation – and Jack's heart sank. "You may talk to them… But their wounds…" She could not go on before bursting into tears.
Jack was the first to enter the Hospital Wing.
The Members of the Order were awake, but their faces were screwed in pain. What began as bruises and cuts had now escalated into lengthy wounds, red shining flesh aching against the dim daylight. McGonagall refused to lay down, although her face was now completely void of colour.
"The dungeons are sealed..." She struggled. "Leave while there is time."
Hiccup stared in shock, unsure if he had heard correctly. On the next bed, the Weasley man had Potter and Granger on both sides of him, holding his hands while he released sharp breaths. The woman cried, bringing his hand to her cheeks, while Potter had this lost look in his eyes, the kind of dread that preceded death.
Aster had the worst appearance of all. He lay nearly naked on his bed. The skin on his arms seemed to have completely vanished, exposing the shining flesh that covered his muscles. His face had extensive wounds as well, blood escaping his nostrils in a continuous pace. Astrid gave a cry of terror by seeing him, but even in his bloody mess, she still went to his side, where she collapsed on her knees.
"Hey, ya." He whispered so weakly...
"Hi," She cried back, and for the first time that night, Hiccup had to fight back his own tears.
"...ya need to leave." He muttered painfully, raising his hand to reach hers. "Leave the Castle; while ya still okay." He said.
From the outside, a new sound coming from the grounds brought their attention: the wizards began disapparating from the grounds, loud snaps echoing throughout the castle as they left. The other students had gathered their broomsticks, joining two, sometimes three colleagues on a single broom – and then raising flight like migrating birds.
"They're leaving," Merida whispered in a broken sound.
"Ya have to go too." Aster said. "We lost this one."
"Aster…" Jack began, also crying. "I'm so sorry…" He reached for his friend's free hand, but the boy only shook his head.
"Don't… blame yourself for this, mate." He said. "Take them away, please… Don't look back."
"Don't... don't do this-" Astrid's sobs had escaped her control. "Don't talk as if you're…"
"I won't make it past this evenin', love,'' More blood escaped his pores. "I'm sorry we didn't have longer." Aster was too weak, but still pulled Astrid's hand to his lips, kissing her fingers.
Madam Pomfrey suddenly returned through the doors, her composure somewhat regained. "They're all leaving," There was a tone of resignation to her voice. "You can't stay no more. There's a portkey in the shape of a teaspoon on my desk, it should bring you back to London." She said. "Don't take any chances, leave the country if you can."
"You should… go too, Madam" Professor Flitwick said from his bed, his face's consistency now horribly reminding Hiccup of melting wax. Madam Pomfrey only shook her head.
"I'm not leaving… I might as well be as contaminated as you all." She said stubbornly, adjusting her apron. "I've also been exposed to the curse, I should use whatever time I've got left to seal the rest of the school. These are wounds I cannot fix… Cursed wounds."
It still had not dawned on any person in that room what had just happened; the magnitude of what they had lived through. Of what was yet to happen.
"What about the rest of the school?" Azel asked, and for a moment, Jack felt anger at her question, as if the girl still hoped that there would be regular classes the next morning and they'd still do their O.W.L.s exams. Madam Pomfrey stared at her shoes. Professor Flitwick struggled to speak again:
"We had to shut down the dungeons and we've sealed the corridors, but these curses are meant to penetrate further than walls and stones. Most of us who have been in the chamber will be dead by dusk. In a few weeks, some of you might show signs of the curse as well… that's why you need to hurry. By then, the magic will have spread further from Hogwarts to the rest of the country… and if we are lucky, we'll have nearly a year until the continent is cursed... Until then, Madam Pomfrey will seal the rest of the entrances for now, give you a chance to flee… And that will be it, there will be no more school... Hogwarts will end."
#
"Abandon your things…" Flitwick's final instructions would haunt them like ghosts. Jack would never walk up the staircases to the Gryffindor Tower again. "Use the Portkey..." Merida and Azel were the only ones who followed this instruction, both Hiccup and Jack merely stared as the tea spoon began counting down its final seconds, the girls hugging both of them hurriedly, with a grieving goodbye, before the Portkey glowed and shook, and the girls grabbed it right before it disappeared with a deafening crack, evaporating into spacetime. It took Hiccup a moment of staring into the void where the girls had just been, and when he looked up for Jack's eyes, he instead found the boy walking down the corridor, the windows broken and the shatters cracking under his feet.
"Where are you going?" He asked, his voice echoing in the corridors in a way he had never heard before. Jack stopped walking, but didn't turn to look at him.
"I don't know." Said the boy, and Hiccup admired his form, framed by the greyish sunlight that pierced the broken windows. It was a horribly beautiful image, something out of a dream; hauntingly sad.
There was a long silence. "You're not staying, are you?"
"No," He said, for a moment considering to look back at Hiccup… he wanted so badly to tell him everything that had happened, the truth about himself, in the possibility that neither would survive the fate he found himself guilty of setting, and maybe to kiss him goodbye, but he wasn't strong enough for that. So he resumed his walk, disappearing at the corridor's turn, leaving Hiccup and every last promise behind.
"We will lock down the school… Hold back the curse's wave… Then stay the far away as possible from here. Never return."
Hiccup walked out to the Entrance Courtyard, and he tried to feel the chilling breeze gracing his face with icy fingers, almost imagining it, but there was no wind. On the horizon, he saw the smoke from the army he had levelled with Toothless; and the black clouds twirled ever upwards, not wavering north nor south. Two of the castle's towers had collapsed from the attack. The sky was a phantom shade of grey. It was a horrible view, so familiar yet so strange, the painting of a nightmare.
"Mister Haddock," A voice called him from inside the doors. He looked back to see Madam Pomfrey holding the wooden door, and he saw how her own skin was growing pale. "This is the last door." She warned, and the world was so quiet she needed only to whisper. "Leave now, while you still have time."
He nodded once, and they locked eyes while she closed the door, forever bathing the school into darkness, and the boy had the strange realisation that he was the last person ever to walk out through that entrance. Then he took Toothless out of his pocket, casting the magnifying spell on the dragon. Toothless had both ears twisted up, trying desperately to hear anything. Hiccup palmed his scales soothingly, and the dragon bowed its neck, allowing him to climb over his back, and he gave the castle no last looks before Toothless opened his wings, flying away into the vast unknown.
