Chapter 7 : Entering into Magic
Three days have past and Sergeant Sharp's uneasy feeling didn't go away. The army he was assigned to lead was ready to march out but it would be nothing these men have ever experienced in the field. They were lined up in one of the largest army bases in the UK. In front of them was a large metal frame the size of a three-story building. Sharp knew it was big enough for them to drive some tanks in there, but that was out of the question.
"These wizards are going to be tough." A voice behind him pulled him from his thoughts. William strode up beside him and gave him a rough pat on his large shoulder. "Your men are ready for this?"
"Yes sir," said Sharp as he grazed his hand on his weapon. "As long as this machinery of yours holds up, we will fight to the death."
William gave him a curt nod.
"Good man. I assure you that this army is equipped with the highest tech gear. Now," William turned to the large frame, "Shall we begin."
Sharp nodded and Willaim walked towards the control tower in the middle of the large courtyard. Sharp turned around to look at his army of over two thousand soldiers. There were more that were on stand by if needed.
"Attention!" He shouted and the whole army stomped their right foot. Dust floated around their knees. Turning around at the gateway, Sharp stared in amazement as the medal started to glow. In an instant, the inside of the frame became blurry and glimmers of light rippled across like waves.
What are we doing? Sharp questioned but then pushed that thought away quickly. Over a loudspeaker, he heard the voice of one of the female scientists.
"Scouts, disband." A group of poorly dressed men ran towards the frame. They stopped in front of it and one of them cautiously reached a hand through. It disappeared and the scout decided to step right through the frame. The other scouts followed after that.
After a few minutes the scouts returned through the frame giving a thumbs up to the control tower. Sharp let out a deep breath. It was going to start.
"Soldiers take your positions!" Another rumbling thud of boots slammed against the ground. Sharp looked over to the control tower where he saw William sitting in a chair with his feet against the dashboard that was in front of him.
"Forward, March!" Shouted Sharp as he drew his weapon and started a steady march towards the glossy frame. The familiar thundering sound of boots behind him brought him back to the first war he fought. However, this felt different, not right.
Yet, he kept marching. It was only a few seconds until he disappeared into the porthole.
Snow.
Sharp found himself in a large barren field. Behind him was a large rock side with four screw-like things striking out of the rock face in the shape of a square. It was hazy in the middle of the large frame-like shape and Sharp knew it was a porthole for the way back to the base.
He kept walking as line after line of soldiers appeared into the snowy field. None of them grumbled or complained; they were trained for this.
Across the field was a town that had sparkling lights that lit up the small houses and compressed buildings.
That was the place, the place where the humans could start their gain.
After scouting for a few days in the muggle world, Snape and Moody returned to Hogwarts to tell the others what they found, which wasn't much. The risk of being caught was too high so breaking into another facility wasn't worth it. Appariting outside the school gates, they were greeted by a group of children sitting on the front stairs. A few of them jumped up when they saw the professors appear.
"They're back!" exclaimed one of the older students. One of the kids ran inside to alert the others, his muggle jeans restricting him to a slow jog. Snape and Moody nodded at the children and moved quickly inside. They were greeted by Hagrid who had his arm in a sling.
"By Merlin! You made it back alive!" exclaimed the half-giant as he patted Snape on the shoulder. Snape scowled.
"Obviously," stated Snape. Hagrid motioned the two to follow him into the hall. Inside the hall, children were everywhere; lying on cots and talking to each other in small groups. It was loud but the usual excitement that the hall once had was gone. The noise the children scattered had an underlying fear to it. Most of the students were resting, the metal bands that lay around their heads depleted any energy they had. McGonagall lied on a cot in the back of the hall, her face was white. Snape rushed to her side.
"Minerva! What happened to you?" Snape asked, studying her pale face.
"Nothing that won't kill me, Severus." She shooed him away, "First off, go see Albus. He would probably like to see you two." She glanced over at Moody.
Hagrid cleared his throat, "Professor Dumbledore is in the med wing. I'll take you two there if ya want."
"We will be perfectly fine, thank you," stated Moody as they started to make their way out of the hall and towards the med-wing.
The med-wing was full of students on stretchers and cots. Mrs. Pomfrey was rushing from each bedside to the next, clearly flustered. The main problem was with the headbands that were drilled into their heads. Re-opened blood clots were seen to be the majority of the injuries. Snape rushed over to a bed where a young boy was dripping with blood. He quickly mixed two potions and dropped it onto the child's head, closing the wound. Mrs. Pomfrey glanced over at the two new arrivals.
"Thank you! I could use the help but I suspect that you two are looking for the headmaster," said Pomfrey. Moody nodded as Snape turned his attention away from the healing child. "He is behind the fourth curtain."
Dumbledore walked out before the two could call out for him. His hands had blood on them and he was holding a healing flask in his hand.
"Ah! Good to see you two have returned!" exclaimed Dumbledore as he cleaned the blood off his hands.
"We just hope all the students made it back alive," said Moody.
"Of course, thanks to you two! Some of them are in critical condition but no deaths." Albus glanced over to Pomfrey who was tending to one of the children. "All thanks to Madam Pomfrey."
Overhearing the conversation, she smiled to herself. Dumbledore turned to Moody.
"I would like to talk to professor Snape alone for a minute."
Moody nodded, glanced at Snape, then left the med-wing. Snape studied the headmaster's face as they waited for Moody to leave. Albus then motioned him to follow him out of earshot.
"I would like to disuse your next mission, Severus."
"What will you have me do?" asked Snape cautiously. He didn't like the solemn tone Albus spook in.
"It will be taxing, but you must be captured by the muggles."
"Beg your pardon?" Snape didn't think he heard correctly.
"You need to be taken in by the muggles. Don't worry, you will have a portkey with you."
"But why? Am I not more needed here? I can assist Madam Pomfrey with the healing potions and…" He was cut off by the headmaster.
"You will be an asset to the wizards behind bars, Severus. You will bring in a portkey that will be embedded in your arm. It will be timed to activate a few days into your stay there. It will bring you and the others back here. In that time, try and find who the muggle in charge is and what his motives are." As Dumbledore spoke, Snape hung his head.
"But… what if they find the portkey? What if we can't make it out?"
"I trust you, Severus. With your spy background, you are the only wizard I know that can pull this off."
Dumbledore patted Snape's shoulder. Snape flinched away causing the headmaster to look at him sadly. The door of the med-wing flew open and Rolanda Hooch flew in on her broom. Hovering above the floor, she slowly floated towards Dumbledore.
"The Wesleys have arrived. They also have Potter, Granger, and Lovegood with them." Her face turned dark, "They are saying that Hogsmead is under attack by the muggles."
Dumbledore glanced at Snape and both of them started to rush towards the hall. Hogsmeade was a town close to the school and it was about time that this "wizard army", that the ministry bragged about, was called.
Entering the school was different than all the times before. Some of Harry's classmates lingered outside the hall and started to walk over when they saw Harry. Neville was among them.
"Harry! We thought you were caught or something," exclaimed Neville. Harry nodded in thanks as Neville took one of the bags he was carrying. Mr. Weasley plopped down two big bags and opened the hall's doors. Taken aback by the state the hall was in, the new arrivals shuffled inside.
When they put their bags into a corner, Hagrid hobbled towards them. Harry was shocked at the state he was in.
"Hagrid! Your arm!" Harry observed the oversized sling that was worn by his favourite professor and friend.
"Aye, a bit of an accident, that was. Hit by a muggle bullet," said Hagrid. Hermione laid a gentle hand on the arm.
"I hope Mrs. Pomfrey took a look at it."
"She did. Although, we got to save the potions for the ones who need it more." Hagrid wrinkled his nose as he tried to adjust his arm in the sling. At that moment, Dumbledore glided in and quickly made his way over to the newcomers.
"Weasleys, Hermione, Luna, and Harry! I am grateful that you have made it here safely." Dumbledore patted Harry on the shoulder. "Now what is this I am hearing about Hogsmead?"
Mr. Wealey spoke, "The town is stormed with muggle soldiers. As we flew over, they started to shoot at us as well. I saw the light of hexes and spells being cast by the few wizards that were still standing." He stopped and swallowed, "They… they were gathering bodies into a field north of the village. I couldn't tell if they were dead or unconscious."
Mrs. Wealey was hugging Ginny who was clearly traumatized by the sight they just witnessed. The twins were holding up the barely standing Luna. Her face was pale from the amount of blood loss from the journey; her cut reopened often. Hagrid noticed this and took her from the twins.
"Luna doesn't look so good. I'll bring her to the med-wing and see if there is any room for her." The twins looked after Hagrid with concern as he carried Luna off with his one good arm.
Harry was too busy taking in the room around him. His classmates, kids he knew, were lying on cots that made up most of the ground. The four rows of tables were gone and the head table was replaced by a bunch of cots. There he saw the familiar green cloak of professor McGonaglle lying on one of the cots. An older sixth-year was bent over her, giving her something to drink. Many of the children were first years, faces Harry never met or recognized.
Harry darted his eyes over to a familiar dark-cloaked person who entered the hall. Snape just entered and started to talk in hushed tones to the headmaster. If the state of the hall didn't shock Harry enough, the fear that emitted from his previously emotionless potions professor's eyes did.
What would cause him to be on edge like this? Harry thought. Glancing over at Harry, Snape's fear dissolved and the familiar scowl crossed his face.
"Glad to see you are still capable of eavesdropping, Potter." snapped Snape.
"I.. I wasn't…" Harry tried to explain that he didn't hear a thing but Dumbledore cut him off.
"The boy is probably too tired to listen to whatever unimportant thing you had to say, Severus." Dumbledore's comment hurt Snape but it was quickly brushed off. "We have more important things to attend to. An owl has already been sent to the ministry and all we can do is wait."
Nodding at both Harry and Snape, the headmaster glided out of the hall. Snape's eyes bore into Harry who just shrugged and started to walk away, hoping his teacher wouldn't stop him. Rolling his eyes, Snape made his way over to McGonagle, clearly done with Harry.
Watching from a distance, he saw Snape sit beside her and start talking to her. Harry could only dream of receiving the same level of concern from Snape. He always wondered why the git never liked him. He always thought it to be because he was a Griffindor and Snape was a Slytherin.
Yet McGonagle is a Gryffindor. Harry was truly puzzled. All that aside, Harry began to walk around the room and see if any of his classmates needed help with anything. Flashbacks of seeing Hogmead played in his head. The bodies, the firefight.
Reassuring himself that the ministry has got a plan, Harry put those thoughts aside.