Chapter 8 : The War of Hogsmeade

Over the course of a day, the ministry of magic gathered their army into position around Hogsmeade. As much as three hundred spread around the airspace. Many of the wizards who were chosen to fight fought in the last war against He-who-must-not-be-named, some still recovering from that war. The majority of them flew in on brooms, their wands were all drawn. They looked like a large flock of hawks, ready to dive at any enemy in sight. The small town was lit up with a cold blue glow. Large muggle lights were pointed into the sky, surveying the army of wizards.

Muggles lined the streets and aimed their weapons towards the sky. Their shoulders were tense as the cloudy sky got even darker from the broom riders. Taking over the village was easy for the army since they had the element of surprise on their hand. Every wizard, young and old, were put under and transported through the muggle's porthole.

Nymphadora Tonks flew around her fellow wizards, most of them were Aurors that she worked with time and time again. Seeing a wide range of reactions to the upturned village made her uneasy. Many glared at the muggle army below, a flame of anger sparking in their eyes. Others looked sad, almost as if they had given up hope already. Tonks came to a stop beside their leader, Rufus Scrimgeour.

"Everyone is in position." she tucked a lock of pink hair behind her ear, her gaze on the village. "They are ready to begin the attack at your command."

Rufus gave a quick nod. "Tell me, are you ready to cast the killing curse?"

The question took her aback. "Of course. It will be necessary since no other hex would work on their armour."

"No, I mean, do you have enough intent to kill to use that curse?"

She looked away, "I don't know yet. Self-defence for the wizards and witches would be the only intent I could think of."

Rufus sighed, "It just seems wrong. This is no beast or dark magic wielder, just a bunch of scared, impulsive muggles." He buttoned up his coat, "Although, what civilized person attacks children and the elderly?"

Tonks shook her head. "They deserve what is coming for them." She then hovered forward a bit. "Shall we?"

"Let's end this," said Rufus under his breath. With that, he raised his wand and shot a bright blue light above his head. The army of wizards and witches descended on the village.

With the large lights aimed at the sky, the muggles started to shoot at the broom riders. Another light ascended from Rufus's wand, green this time. On cue, half of the broom riders apparated right into the village and began casting killing spells on the unsuspecting muggles.

The muggle soldiers recovered quickly and began to tackle and shoot at the wand wielders. The armour that the muggles were wearing absorbed any hex or spell the wizards cast at them. One by one, wizards fell.

It was only a moment later that the broom riders swooped down on the battle. Waves of blue light came from the riders and they pushed the muggles back. They were not going to take chances with the killing spell since wizards on the ground could potentially get hit.

Hogsmeade's streets were narrow with the biggest street unable to have two-way traffic if there were cars. The muggles fired their weapons without the worry of hitting the other soldiers. The stun bullet only affected magical beings, which was a disadvantage to the wizards. Since spells and hexes could affect both muggles and wizards, the wand welders had to be more careful about where they pointed their wands.

Tonks was leading the airstrike, sending wave after wave of spells hoping they hit the right target. It was easy to dodge the bullets from the smaller guns in the air since there was plenty of room to escape if needed.

Her eyes widened when she saw large machine guns being rolled to just the edge of town.

"Scatter!" She shouted at the riders in formation behind her. Loud taps and pops filled the air around her with the cries of confirmed hits. One rider fell onto her broom from above her and her broom plummeted down from the added weight.

Rearing her broom upward, she desperately tried to prevent them from crashing. The wizard on her lap was out cold. They descended a bit south of the village and were a bit away from the battle.

The snowy ground came up fast and the two tumbled along the powdered ground until they came to a stop. Panting for breath, Tonks looked frantically around her for the unconscious wizard. She spotted his hand sticking out of a snow pile.

She reached in her pocket to find her wand but…

"Damn…" she cursed when she realized that her wand fell out of her hand when she was flying. Scampering towards the wizard, she pulled him out of the snow and began to drag him away from the battle.

Once she decided that they were at a safe distance, she laid him against a tree and collapsed down beside him. It was then that she realized her shoulder was throbbing with pain from the crash.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off into a shallow rest. Her only concern at the moment was getting the strength it takes to move.

The battle went on into the night with both sides losing pawns. The muggles kept coming though the well-guarded porthole as the wizard's numbers dwindled.

Back at Hogwarts, the students began to settle into their new accommodation around the great hall. With the help of the Weasleys, care was brought to all the hurt kids and the med-wing began to become less busy. Madam Pomfrey started to take breaks since all the emergencies were dealt with. Three children died from blood loss; a Ravenclaw and two Gryffindors. Word of their deaths travelled quickly and many of the students went into shock a second time since the pick-up. Harry helped Mr. Weasley hand out blankets and pillows to the kids who sat on the lines of beds.

Seeing that he was nearing Draco's group, he prepared himself for the usual sharp comment that Draco gave. He was surprised when Draco merely nodded in thanks as Harry handed him the bedding. He wore a cloak that covered his head and didn't look up. Rather, he stared off into the floor ahead of where he was sitting.

Odd thought Harry. He then noticed that Draco had a metal band on his head. Harry backed up and tried to get Draco's attention.

"Hello? Are you ok Malfoy?" Draco snapped out of his trance and glared at Harry.

"None of your business Potter!" He proceeded to pull the cloak further over his head. Harry sighed.

"I was only seeing if you were ok but it seems that you are so I'll leave."

"Good!" spat Draco. Harry pursed his mouth together in a thin line and turned to walk away from his nemesis.

A radio was placed in the middle of the large room and a group of about 30 students were gathered around it. Ever since the attack on Hogsmeade, which started earlier that day, the Wizard Broadcasting System was reporting on how the battle was going.

As Harry walked past the radio, he heard an announcement that the names of the wizards who have gone missing in the battle will be broadcasted later that day. Hagrid sat with the group of kids, trying to cheer them up.

Over the course of the day, food was delivered to the children and McGonagall finally recovered from the rescue mission. She hovered over student after student, trying to tend to everyone's needs at once and surprisingly succeeding. The group that listened to the radio grew after everyone had their dinner. Among them was Draco and his group of Slytherins.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat close by, just in earshot of the radio. The room all went still as the announcement was made for the listing of missing wizards lost to the muggles. Names started being said with a silent pause between each name.

"... Arusha Ellsworth… Don Flurt…"

Name after name was spoken. Harry swore he heard the General Rufus' name, but the static mixed with how far he was from the radio made him unsure. Around him, many kids muttered when they heard a name they knew. Some ran out of the hall crying and McGonagle had to chase after them.

But at the sound of one name, or two as it was, shocked the whole crowd.

"... Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy…"

All eyes shot to Draco but all he did was stare blankly at the radio. Someone turned down the radio as Draco stood up abruptly. Tears started to form in his eyes. He turned to quickly exit but tripped and fell, his metal band around his head hit the floor with a loud clang.

The other students stepped back from the trembling form on the stone floor. Draco lifted his head and looked frantically at the kids around him. His chest rose and fell quickly and tears started to roll down his cheeks and drip off his chin. Mixed with the tears, drops of blood followed from the reopened scars from the headband.

Harry squeezed through the wall of stunned kids and knelt down beside Draco, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Draco pushed him away and stood up from pure adrenaline. His eyes darted around wildly as he took hold of the band around his head. Harry's eyes widened in realization.

"Draco! Stop!" yelled Harry as he lunged toward Draco. But he was too late.

Draco screamed as he pushed against the drilled in band. The blood began to drip on the floor faster with every effort. The kids began to turn away and most of them went running for a professor. All Harry could do was watch, he was frozen from seeing Draco in this state.

A loud sickening clunk followed by a ring of metal dropping to the floor burned into Harry's ears. Harry then realized that his eyes were shut. Slowly opening them, he regretted it instantly.

Covered with his own blood, Draco knelt on the floor, his blond hair was a dark red. The band that once was screwed into his head was in front of him on the floor, its screws were twisted and dripping with black blood. What scared Harry most was Draco's eyes. They stared off into an unseen distance dead of any emotion or feeling.

Mrs. Pomfrey rushed over to Draco and began to wrap a long cloth over his head. She pressed on his head and started talking to him softly. McGonagall rushed in after her and started guiding the students away. Dumbledore then walked up to Harry.

"What happened?" asked Dumbledore. As if a switch was flipped, Draco began to scream raspy 'no's and 'stops'. Mrs. Pomfrey pulled out her wand and sedated him. Mr. Weasley quickly picked Draco up and followed Mrs. Pomfrey to the med-wing. Harry stared at the floor in front of him.

"His parents are captured by the muggles. He found out and…" Harry fell silent, leaving Dumbledore to piece it together.

"These things were bound to happen. As gruesome as it may be, your friend Draco may have helped us get closer to finding the solution for taking the bands out."

Harry was taken aback, "Surely you don't mean that brute force…"

"No, of course not." Dumbledore bent down to pick up the silver band. "It's just so we can inspect the band further so we can find a spell to release it."

Harry nodded. From what he saw, taking the bands off would not be a painless job.

Night fell on Hogsmeade and the war started to die out from the lack of backup wizards. It was only a matter of who's side runs out of soldiers first and the muggles had the numbers. With every last ounce of energy, the wizards died out.

A roar of victory erupted from the last soldier that struck down the last remaining wizard. A chain of shouts and cheers followed shortly after. The small town of Hogsmeade was taken.

The rest of the night would consist of setting up a base within the town. Large amounts of supplies started to make its way through the porthole. The soldiers were a bit relaxed and failed to notice a dark figure lurking in the nearby forest.

Snape pressed himself behind a tree as another large crate came through the porthole. He waited for an opening then made a beeline towards the porthole. Since it was dark out, it was a bit hard to spot the cloaked figure along the shadowy rock wall. He made it to the other side and quickly dived behind the back of the large frame. He was shocked by the number of crates on the other side.

Taking a deep breath he whipped out his wand and began to destroy the porthole. Running around it, he took out the main portkey screws. At that point, a group of soldiers who were pushing the next crate saw him. They pulled out their weapons and called for help over their radios. Snape dodged the onslaught of bullets and took the final blow to the porthole. It crashed down in a large pile of scrap metal.

Smirking, Snape then pointed his wand to the control tower that stood in the middle of the courtyard. Unbeknownst to him, a group of the leading scientists were holding a victory party there; drinking to the onslaught they carried out. Pointing his wand he recoiled backward when a bullet hit him in the chest.

His mind went fuzzy and his power seemed to pour out of him at a fast pace. Kneeling on the ground, he mustered the strength to fire a lightning hex at the control tower. The red lightning hit it and sparks flew everywhere. It was clear that anyone inside was dead from that attack.

Three more bullets hit Snape in the back and he fell face down on the hard-packed ground. His black hair splayed around his head. Snape felt a soldier straddle him and his arms were pinned behind him. The soldier took his wand and cuffed him, muttering curses at the semi-conscious wizard.

The last thing Snape saw was the faraway blaze coming from the control tower. Dumbledore and his plan better be worth it, he thought as he gave into the lulling darkness.