I am most pleased to present this chapter, as it was one of my personal favorite senses in the story thus far, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. R&R please!
Chapter Three
A Loss of Innocence
Dumbledore sighed, once again staring at a mountain of paperwork in his office, while wondering why he didn't bother delegating some, or all, of it to Minerva or Severus so he was free to engage with his other more important pursuits, like sleeping, this early in the morning.
His musing was interrupted, as it was so often these days, by the loud and quite grating sounds of several large crows cawing. Trying to ignore them, Albus focused on the note from other Order members, imploring his advice what to do since the deaths of Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance. Albus sighed, those two deaths had greatly helped Voldemort's side of the war. Amelia, because of her high standing position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Emmiline as an effective spy and informant of the movements of many Death Eaters, but alas…
The confounded squawking sounded again, jolting Albus from this line of thought as well. Frowning, Albus wondered momentarily if Alatar had sent them to just annoy him, and remembering that lead him to thinking of how both the old Istari and Harry would indeed be returning to Hogwarts this year, and both would clearly be attractive to that old collector Horace Slughorn. Indeed the man had only agreed to return from retirement to add Harry to his collection of students, but Albus knew that Alatar, in his disguise of Severus' apprentice, Will Stanton, would also be of keen appeal to the old potion's Master.
Another loud caw from his window finally irritated the aged Headmaster one step too far, "What is it?" he asked, throwing the window open and admitting entrance to not one, but five large ravens, which cawed madly as they soared around the study. Fawkes watched with mild curiosity as the other birds wheeled and spun through the room. Clearly they were distressed, but Albus did not have the skills to understand them as Alatar had.
"I'm sorry but I don't understand? Do you have a message from Lord Alatar?" Albus asked, hoping for the birds to settle enough to give him the parchment or whatever other means of communication that the ancient wizard had for him. He was startled when, instead of dropping a letter, one of the ravens landed directly on his shoulder, staring at him with one large black eye. Suddenly, Albus' mind was filled with the sight of many orcs, marching on a small city far to the southeast… Truro, Albus thought it was called, down in Cornwall of the West Country.
Realization dawned upon Albus. The birds weren't relaying a message; they were warning the closest ally of Alatar that Voldemort was attacking the muggles. Albus wasted no time, "Fawkes, it's an emergency, contact Arthur, Molly, Kingsley, Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Alastor, and Remus, have them use their Portkey's tied to me." The phoenix answered with a sharp cry before vanishing in a ball of fire.
Albus almost stormed out his office door, intent on finding Minerva and Hagrid before apparating to the battle site, when he stopped. Turning to the shelf where the sorting hat lay, Albus saw a gleaming silver handle protruding from the base of the ancient relic. Grasping the jeweled hilt, Albus drew out the sword of Godric Gryffindor, and ancient magic coursed through his body, strengthening him in what he knew was right. "Thank you Hogwarts…" Albus murmured, before turning and sprinting for the gate to Hogsmead, gathering both Minerva and Hagrid and explaining the dire situation, minus some details as to the identity of Lord Zemar of Germany.
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Bellatrix cackled as her severing curse torn another hapless muggle apart, spraying the filthy blood across the ground. Her Lord had been so forgiving for her failure, and had assigned her to guard Abdurahman as the Middle Eastern Necromancer replenished the forces lost in Germany. It so happened that doing so required them to kill mass amounts of muggles, one of Bella's favorite pastimes.
"Do try to keep the bodies intact Bellatrix," the dark skinned man said, "They make better inferi when they have all their limbs…"
Bellatrix huffed as she tagged another child with the Killing Curse; reveling in the screams of dead child's mother who had watched before she too was cut down by one of the many orcs they had taken with them to level the Muggle city. She watched in fascination as the Arab chanted the dark curse that brought back both child and mother, reuniting them in undeath, before they turned to slaughter more of their former friends and neighbors.
They were making swift progress, having only arrived around half an hour previous, and already a decent portion of the town had been destroyed. The giants they had brought were making good work of buildings, as well as forcing the muggles out into the open to be cut down by the orcs and Death Eaters.
A pair of sharp cracks caused Bellatrix to whirl, and she gaped as Albus Dumbledore charged into the fray, followed by Minerva McGonagall and the half-giant oaf of theirs. The orcs immediately sprang at them, but the hulkish man tossed them aside like nothing, while the Transfiguration Mistress conjured a whirling vortex of shrapnel to cut and tear at any foolish enough to approach her, meanwhile firing stunners and charms at her opponents.
Worst of all was Dumbledore himself, wielding a shining silver and ruby encrusted sword, cleaving through orcs and blasting powerful magic at all who dared accost the wizard. Bellatrix wasn't too terribly worried, they had achieved more than their quota, and before any of them could hope to reach her or the Necromancer, they would be long gone.
Soon the trio were joined by the majority of the Order of the Phoenix, and together the pesky witches and wizards started to make headway through the limitless ranks of orcs, joining up with small pockets of muggles that were managing to resist.
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Dumbledore grimaced as another muggle was cut down by the ranks of orcs before reaching the perimeter that the Order was forming, before needing to slash at another beast that leapt at him. The hideous creature dodged back, before being blasted away as one of the several armed muggles fired his large weapon. Albus nodded at the muggle in silent thanks, before cursing a small group of Death Eaters who were trying to burn down a house.
Albus knew that they could not drive away the Death Eaters without more assistance, and drew out the tiny stone that Lord Alatar had given him, focus his will to call for the aid of the Istari and whatever allies he could bring. The best they could, and would do, would be to hold off the inevitable until they were rescued.
A grim determination settled over Albus as he cast an anti-apparition ward, encircling the entirety of the battlefield, preventing easy escape from either side, or small pockets of reinforcements. Albus was certain that Alatar would not try apparition, but something better suited to move larger amounts of soldiers, like a mass portkey or something equally clever. As much as Albus did not like the almost reckless style of the ancient sorcerer, he trusted Alatar to fulfill whatever goal he set himself to.
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The sky was grey with a red sunrise as Harry was jolted awake by the blaring sound of Faykan's voice, magnified by a Sonorus charm, "Emergency, leaders of Rohan, and other important dignitaries report to the main throne chambers, this is an Emergency!"
In a daze, Harry dressed quickly, and half ran along the passage to the congested stairway, finding Draco, Ron and Hermione as he entered the main room of Orthanc. Faykan was already there, pacing and fully dressed, wand tapping against his thigh in impatience as the rest of the people milled into the room.
"Lord Alatar," King Ceolwulf asked in agitation, "Is it something to do with Voldemort?"
Faykan nodded gravely, "I've received news," he said, holding up a small flat stone with a red phoenix on it, "Lord Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix have engaged Voldemort's forces near Truro in Cornwall, and has called for our aid in battle."
The human king stood in silence for a few moments, before responding solemnly, "And Rohan will answer…" calling to Cælin, he added in a proud bark, "muster the Rohirrim! The horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in orcish ears once again! Bring my Armor!"
The Marshal bowed stiffly before sprinting out of the tower, yelling for warriors to prepare for war, followed by his King.
"We shall also join you, Lord Alatar," the dwarf king Borin said, stepping forward and pounding his broad chest with a fist.
"As will a small contingent of our warriors," added the goblin, Gornuk. The dwarf and goblin exchanged a cold glance, before departing to gather their own companions.
Faykan nodded, before pulling out another flat object Harry recognized as his token of the DA that he and Hermione had enchanted. Tapping it with his wand, he murmured, "Portus Congrego." The small coin glowed deep blue, and Faykan relayed his message, calling out to the other A.D.A. members scattered throughout Britain.
"Were coming too!" Hermione called impatiently, and Faykan turned back to her.
"I had no inclinations to the otherwise, actually I'm surprised you all aren't getting ready, we have a battle to win after all," he responded, motioning at their sate of partial dress and lack of weapons. The four students scattered, dashing back to the respective rooms. Harry grabbed his wand, heavy robes and Hadhafang. He was about to return to Faykan, when an impression came to him, and he returned, snatching up his Firebolt and the Phial of Galadriel, just in case.
When Harry returned, he found Faykan chatting with the rest of the members of the A.D.A.: Cedric Diggory, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini, Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Fred, George and finally Ginny, all dressed and being equipped by Faykan's house elves.
"Mum's going to freak when she finds everyone gone," Ron said, as he joined his siblings, but Ginny shook her head, "No she won't, but she'll be furious when we show up at the battle she's already at, with dad too and…" but Ginny stopped, staring past Ron and Harry up the passage to the staircase. Harry turned to see Draco, wearing a black tabard, surmounted with a white tree, seven stars and a winged helm. Harry recognized it at the symbol of the Reunited Kingdom. At his side swung the sword Andúril, and over his armored shoulders he held his one of the many custom brooms that Faykan had in Orthanc.
"Let's go you lot, there's no time to lose!" Faykan called, and they followed swiftly out to meet the rest of their army. And an army it was indeed, as they found lines upon lines of mounted horsemen, along with a small company of dwarves and goblins respectively. King Ceolwulf rode up to Faykan, his white horse pawing the ground as if sensing the impending conflict.
"Six hundred spears my Lord." The Rohirric King stated flatly, as if he had expected more.
"We do not face an army as big as the lines of Mordor, and not that larger a force broke them utterly." Faykan replied comfortingly, before whistling and summoning several horses from Fanghorn's depths. Spreading them out to those of the ADA who lacked the skill to fly, Faykan gave them orders to stay with the Riders of Rohan, and that they would be safe.
Turning to Harry, Ron, Draco, Fred, George, Ginny and Cedric, Faykan handed out five more of his custom brooms before speaking, "You lot will lead our aerial division, and we have two hundred wizards and witches who'll follow you to bombard the enemy line with anything you can throw at them, follow the orders of King Ceolwulf, and watch for my signals, just as we practiced."
They nodded, and turned to find their group of broom wielding wizards, the forefront was headed by none other than Victor Krum. They had little time to chat, as soon the leaders were calling for them to form up and prepare to move out, and Harry wondered how they were going to get to England with all their forces. Faykan did not disappoint, raising his staff and tearing a hole in midair before them, opening what Harry could only describe as a portal, widening and enlarging it to fit twelve mounted riders across, with lots of room overhead for flyers.
Ceolwulf was shouting to his soldiers, and Harry listened eagerly to the king as he rallied their troops, "Arise! Arise riders of Rohan! Fell deeds awake… now for wrath… now for ruin, and the red dawn. Forth, Eorlingas!" The King raised an ancient looking horn to his lips and blew a deep bellowing note, and the men and women cried out together a cry of death and ruin, and Harry could not help but join them in their cry.
The King turned to face the portal, and slashed his drawn sword downward, and surged forward as he cried, "Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!" Harry mounted his broom as the over two hundred flyers around him took off soared over the charging cavalry of Germany and together the army poured through the portal, the sound of many horns blaring around them.
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Dumbledore saw another set of muggles go down, cleaved by orcish weaponry. The Order had been holding out for almost an hour of nonstop fighting, and the enemy waves seemed endless. The Order members were tiring, and Albus himself was starting to feel the effects of fatigue. But the burning of the stone in his pocket assured him that reinforcements were on their way, so he continued to rally his fellow witches and wizards and push back against the tide of orcs.
As he was cutting down another grisly orc in front of him, he felt more than heard a warning, and dodged to the side just as a deadly green jet of light soared past him. Cackling in her mad way, Bellatrix Lestrange advanced to contend with Albus directly, sending more Unforgivable curses and other Dark Arts at the weary wizard. If not for the Elder Wand in his hand, Albus knew that Bellatrix would have had the upper hand, but the ancient weapon would not fail him, blocking or redirecting everything she sent at him, while he dodged her Killing Curses as fast as they came.
Unfortunately, he ended up slipping on some poor muggle's corpse, stumbling just as the lunatic witch shot another green beam of death. Dumbledore made a split second decision, and copied a technique he had seen only Alatar perform, and slashed at the death curse with Godric's sword. The curse rebounded, but the force of it wrenched the sword from Albus' hand, sending it flying over the heads of several other fighters.
Bellatrix laughed again, "Now you will fall Albus Dumbledore, Avada…" she stopped, turning to the northeastern hills, just as Albus himself heard the noise that had distracted her, and indeed most of the other combatants.
It was the sound of horns… many horns… wildly blowing, sending their notes bellowing down into the valley. From past the line of hills a single horseman mounted the raised terrain, clad in deep blue robes, carrying a staff and a sword at his side. "Alatar…" Albus half whispered, both in joy and relief. The staff raised, and behind the Istari a huge line of horsemen appeared and started charging down the hill, weapons raised and a great battle cry severing the momentary silence.
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Hermione followed the lines of horsemen, Luna beside her on another mount given her by Faykan, bows loaded and awaiting them to reach accurate range. The lines of the riders of Rohan surged forth, galloping down the hill with spear and sword pointed at the mob of orcs attempting to demolish the muggle town. It was exhilaration beyond anything Hermione had ever known, the freezing feeling just before battle was engaged. The orcs were mobilizing as well, trying to form a line of pikes to stop the thunderous charge, with archers of their own behind.
But Faykan, charging ahead of the rest with king Ceolwulf, raised his staff as a preassigned signal, and Harry, Ron, Draco and the other two hundred plus fliers sped past the mass of cavalry, spearheading the charge. The return counter was obvious when Hermione felt another, newer cold dread start to creep up her skin. Hundreds of Dementors soared down from the clouds, clawed hands reaching to seize the broom riders.
Faykan thrust out his staff to the sky again, and many other of the witches and wizards among the surging attack raised their own wands, and mid charge the unified shouts of "Expecto Patronum!" filled the air over the sounds of galloping hooves. An army of silvery animals bust forth, crashing into and driving away the Dementors and allowing the fliers to slip past. The moment the lead flyer, Hermione could only guess that it might be Harry by the short black hair, had sailed over the front line of orcs, jets of light sailed downward, as the many blasting hexes detonated on the wall of spears, shattering the orc line just as the Rohirrim collided with them.
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Bellatrix sneered at Dumbledore as the army of horsemen surged into the rear lines of orcs. The old man merely smiled at her, before raising his wand, ready to continue their duel. But Bellatrix hadn't the time; she had to get back to Abdurahman and be ready to portkey them out at a moment's notice. Dodging the old man's final few stunners, Bella danced through the lines of advancing orcs, struggling to reach the old Necromancer before the horsemen did.
That was, until she saw who was at the head of the line, blazing like a sun at noonday. It was Alatar, the Light Lord who had defeated her last year and who fought her Master to a standstill with Dumbledore. Taking aim, she smirked as she intoned the Killing Curse one more time, and laughed at it hit the pure white horse the Lord was riding, throwing the foolish wizard as the beast died instantly and collapsed.
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Draco, from his vantage point in the air, saw instantly when Faykan's mount was killed, and threw him from itself into a mass of orcs. Harry, flying to his left, screamed Faykan's name, but the astounding wizard managed a full frontal flip and relaunched himself off the head of an unsuspecting orc, redirecting himself fluidly to dive feet first into a different mob of creatures, landing on another with a flying kick. Moments later said group of orcs went flying in all directions at the vicious strikes from both sword and staff as Faykan went, from what Draco could tell, absolutely berserk. Glamdring blazed with blue fire and Faykan's robes flew about him as he twisted and turned to slash, stab and bash anything that approached him.
But Draco was torn from the awe inspiring sight by another scream, this time closer to the group of defenders trying to protect a large contingent of muggles. Molly Weasley had been hit, falling as her wand arm and torso was drenched in her own blood. Draco acted purely on instinct and dove toward her; urging the broom to go faster than it was designed to, desperate to reach the Weasley matriarch before it was too late. Only as he landed and threw the broom aside did he register Ron, Fred, George and Ginny following. Andúril flashed as he drew it, hacking down the orc attempting to finish off the aged woman, and Draco knelt beside her, "Hold still Mrs. Weasley," he said in a rush, fumbling in his pouch for fresh Athelas leaves from Fanghorn, grinding them into a dry kind of paste with one hand and pressing it to part of the long wound, acting before he even realized what was going on.
From inside his mind, the ghostly voice of Eldarion spoke from the sword in his hand, "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer..."
The Weasley children arrived, crowding around their mother, and Draco directed them to bandage the leaves to the wound and get Molly to safety, before he stood, leaping into the nearest orc, Andúril carving through the monster as the Mage-King's spirit guided Draco, warning him of attacking foes and directing his own strikes. Through his and the Weasley children's efforts, they returned Molly within the circle of Order Members, and Draco went immediately to treat anyone, muggle or wizard-kind, of injury, treating as many of the wounded as he could before returning to the battlefield himself.
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Dumbledore felt the wave of power that surged from Lord Alatar when the Istari took to the field. It flared from the moment he was dismounted, and burned like the blazing sun in the sky. But even with all that power, the wizard was still outnumbered and surrounded. Having retrieved Gryffindor's sword when Bellatrix fled, Albus started cutting a path toward the Istari, striving to open the way back to the defenders. Albus almost felt drawn to the radiating power as the hacked and slashed at orc after orc, and he felt the tiredness melt from his body. Even his cursed hand, which had been aching painfully at being used, was quickly soothed by the pure magic that wafted in the air.
He arrived just as Alatar felled a large hulking monster with grotesque fangs, and was met by the burning eyes of a warrior. "Let this be the hour," Alatar said, breathing heavily, "when we draw swords together."
Albus nodded, and together they danced the dance of death, sword, wand and staff singing through the air as they widened a circle of carnage, filled with the black blood of the orcs. Lightning crackled and fire spewed force from spells of both great wizards, and slowly, the pair of them made their way back through the melee to the rest of the defenders.
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Harry led another pass of the aerial fighters as they sought to cut off the orcish onslaught, using bombarda and confringo to great effect. With the combined might of the Rohirrim and the Order of the Phoenix, they were managing to push the line of the creatures of Voldemort back. Indeed many of the orcs and Death Eaters were starting to retreat, trying to escape the anti-apparition ward set up before they Harry had arrived.
But the battle was far from over, and Harry felt the tides starting to shift back in favor of the dark forces, as a large bellowing roar sounded from the far lines of orcs. Several hulking figures were wading through the sea of dark creature, lumbering along with massive weapons on their shoulders.
Giants were quickly approaching through the lines to the forefront. The King of Rohan must have seen this as well, as Harry heard him cry out to his nearby forces. "Reform the line! Reform the line!" The riders formed up almost instantly, creating a solid wall of man and horse. "Sound the charge," Ceolwulf cried, and horns blared once again as his mount lunged forward, "take them head on! Charge!"
Once again the lines of Rohan surged into the mass of dark creatures, approaching the giants rapidly. The lead giant, a muscular brute with a heavy under bite, snarled out another roar and swung his massive club, connecting sharply with an oncoming warrior, sending both horse and rider flying with a scream of agony.
The horsemen only reached waist height to the giants, and Harry knew that the cavalry would need support to content with the giants. Sending up golden sparks with his wand, Harry rallied the aerial forces and sped toward the giants.
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Hermione shuddered as she the ground started to shake, felt over the jerking of her galloping steed. The massive footfalls of the giants crashed through the wall of riders, sending them parting to avoid the crushing weight of their legs. Hermione glanced to her left, seeing Luna with a small knot of other mounted archers, attempting to pepper a giant with around the torso as they rode around in wide circles, ducking to avoid the swinging club.
Realizing that this tactic wasn't going to be effective, Hermione thought quickly. Most of the giants had some sort of this hide or crude armor on their bodies, but only a sparse few had any sort of helmet on them. Acting, she withdrew the elven bow from her back, and concentrating hard, she drew back the string and formed an arrow of pure lightning. Taking great care with her aim as her mount raced near another giant, she cried out "aim for the heads!" as she let her arrow fly.
The lightning crackled through the air, striking the giant between the eyes, burning a large hole into the thick skull. The great warclub fell to the earth, followed quickly by its former owner, never to rise again.
Hermione had no time to pause and realize that she had just committed her first murder, as she turned and spurred her mount toward another hulking brute, who was causing a great deal of havoc as it attempted to crush or bash nearby riders. Knots of nearby mounted archers were peppering its face with arrows, but the beast was smart enough to throw an arm in front of its eyes, shielding itself from the barrage.
Then Hermione saw a smaller group of dwarves and goblins surge past the many horses, each group in turn cutting down any straggler orcs they came across. What was odd was what Hermione heard each of them calling out as they felled a foe. It sounded as though they were counting their kills, each group collectively, Dwarves versus Goblins… this continued until they approached the giant, when one of the nimble Goblins sank a bone tipped dagger into the budging shins, causing the hulking giants to howl in agony, and sink to its knees.
The goblin wasted no time, scrambling up the huge body, using its own daggers as climbing tools, until the tiny Goblin leapted the last few feet, and sank its pair of daggers into the back of the giant's neck. It screamed a death cry, falling face first and dropping the goblin neatly in front of the dwarves, who stared grumpily.
"That still only counts as one!" their leader cried in outrage, before the group turned to resume hacking apart orcs that came too near.
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Bellatrix snarled as she saw the giants starting to fall back, blundering in the beginnings of full blown panic. Soon the British Aurors would arrive, and their defeat would be assured then. Luckily many of the remaining Death Eaters had already fled, and all Bella had to do was get back to Abdurahman and portkey back to her master, where the majority of the undead they had created were now assembled.
But she was forced to stop from perusing the Arab when a loud voice boomed over the din of war, "BELLATRIX!"
She turned, firing a curse before even seeing who had yelled at her, but had to dodge when the green light was redirected by the fiery sword of Lord Alatar. She snarled, gathering her magic around her like a cloak, and preparing her defenses. She knew she stood little chance against the powerful wizard, but if she could just delay him long enough to reach Abdurahman, she could escape. The staff of power in the Light Lord's hand spun madly as he fired spell after spell, seeking to simply overwhelm Bellatrix with pure magical might. She ducked, dodged and blocked everything she could, barely managing to keep ahead of the bombardment of attacks.
Occasionally orc would leap in to try and cut down the powerful wizard, but he was moving far too fast, and stabbed or swatted each in turn with his deadly weapons, still keeping up a steady barrage of spells at Bella. Her strength waning, Bellatrix looked around wildly for some escape. She was only a few yards from the Necromancer, now surrounded by a protecting phalanx of orcs and inferi, but something else caught her eye.
Draco, her blood traitor nephew, was cutting his way toward the fighting wizards through the remnants of the orcs. Blocking another spell, Bella smirked as she leveled her wand at the boy, "Avada Kedavera!" she cried. The green jet hit home, striking the boy in the chest and hurtling him backwards into the mud.
Alatar watched in horror, and Bella turned to gloat, but stopped, wide eyed at the sight of the wizard's fury. Waves of pure magical energy, at a level Bella had never before sensed, not even from her Lord, was pulsing from Alatar. Wind was kicked up by magical means and the burning azure eyes, boring into Bella, turned into a blinding white radiance.
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Harry felt the anger burn through like a molten river him as Bellatrix killed Draco. His head was throbbing with the cold fury, but it was little compared to what he felt from Faykan. The other boy was burning white hot, and seemed to shine like a freshly born star. The nearby orcs shrieked and fell away, several burning as the white light struck them.
Electricity crackled from Faykan's fingers and along his weapons, and he began to slowly advance on Bellatrix, a cold detachment on what part of his face was visible over the shining whiteness. The Dark Witch turned and ran, sprinting in outright desperation toward the last knot of stragglers. Faykan leveled his staff at her, and the power seemed to reach a peak, as far as what Harry could feel. All the energy built up in his body seemed to drain into the staff, power pouring through it like a funnel, launching out toward the last group of orcs and Death Eaters.
Bellatrix had just reached them, pulling a Middle Eastern wizard to her and vanishing with a portkey before the energy struck. The ground shook as the light exploded, rocketing a massive blast of pure light high into the sky, and leaving nothing of the creatures that had been consumed by it. Ashes seemed to trickle down after the light dissipated, and those who had watched were struck in amazement and fear of the tremendous amount of magic that had just been used.
Dropping his staff and sword, Faykan ran to Draco's body, and Harry sped down from his high vantage point to meet him. "No, no… Draco…" Faykan murmured, gathering the fallen body to him, and starting to lift him from the ground. A large crowd had gathered, including the Dumbledore and his Order, as well as the Goblins, Dwarves and leaders of Rohan. They were all shocked, then, when with a huge gasp of air, Draco lurched, seeming to come back to life at Faykan's touch.
Harry stood there, dumbstruck. "I'm alright… I'm not hurt…" Draco panted, touching a tender spot on his chest where the Killing Curse had struck him.
"You should be dead…" Harry stammered, eyes threatening to fall from his face. "No one survives that curse."
"I believe there's more to Mr. Malfoy, than meets the eye…" Dumbledore said, more to himself than anyone else.
In response, and with minor assistance form Faykan, Draco pulled his shirt aside, revealing the shining silvery coat of rings that he wore under his clothing.
"Mithril…" Borin breathed, clearly impressed, "You are full of surprises Lord Telcontar."
Just then the cracks of apparition filled the air, as about three dozen Aurors arrived, looking ready for a fight, but lowering their wands as they observed the carnage around them.
"We must leave, quickly, before the Aurors start to ask questions." Faykan told Dumbledore quickly, before pulling Draco to his feet. "Tend to your wounded. I'll contact you at the nearest connivance Albus."
"Of course Lord Zemar…" Dumbledore said, nodding slightly before heading toward the Aurors, presumably Harry thought, to distract them until they managed to get away. By the time the massive portal was shutting behind them, Harry had caught only one small glimpse of the lead Auror starting to obliviate muggles as the cleanup squads and oblivators arrived.
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Lord Voldemort was pleased with the accomplishment of his most trusted servants. Not only had Bellatrix and the Necromancer managed to more than replace the forces lost at the battle, but they forced their enemies into the open, and now their Lord knew what he was up against. These armies of mere muggle and squibs would be no match for the Dark Lord of the Earth and his trusted Death Eaters.
"Do not underestimate the powers of men…" hissed the voice from his ring of power. Voldemort frowned, it wasn't often that he heard anything in advice from the ring anymore, but he was starting to feel something else growing within it, almost a storing up of power inside the ring itself. But no matter, it wasn't something he, a powerful Dark Wizard, needed to concern himself with. The ring served him, and no one else, therefore he had nothing to fear from the artifact.
All he needed to do was wait for his assassin to open the way for Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts, and fulfill his mission of eliminating Dumbledore, Alatar, or bring him Harry Potter, whichever of the three he could do. It was a difficult command, but the youth was eager to obey his Lord's will, if not fully ready yet. There was still needed some sort of plan to actually get troops into Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort knew that the old fool Dumbledore would do something to prevent outside forces from entering without his lofty permission, but there were always means to take to get around something like that.
Such as with this recent battle, although considered a loss, there was actually more behind the scenes to be won in the long run. Patience was not one of the Dark Lords most preferred strategies, but when called for, he could wait out an eternity if need be. Voldemort smirked at the thought. The wizarding world would be his, in the end. It was inevitable.
Portus Congrego : gathering door (Latin)