The countdown has begun. Many thanks to those who reviewed the last chapters, and prepare for those remaining few to come. We're heading into the thick of it now. Enjoy, and leave a review!
Chapter Thirteen
Issuing the Challenge
Bellatrix winced as the Dark Mark on her arm flared to a burning white intensity. The Dark Lord was infuriated beyond anything he had felt before, and Bellatrix was angered herself that she was unable to do anything to assist her Master at this time. She was still out of commission for combat, as much as Bella would want nothing more than to fight against Potter and Alatar, but the loss of her wand arm had been a devastating blow.
So, in compensation, Bellatrix had taken to tutoring the young Nott child in every form of Dark Magic that she knew, watching with pleasure as the boy grew more and more powerful. Even if her fighting days were to be over, Bellatrix's legacy would live on in every battle that young Theo would fight, and win, in.
It was almost unnatural, how quickly the little boy learned the powers of darkness, like a fish being introduced to water. Bellatrix suspected that it had something to do with the somewhat feminine crown that he wore constantly. The tarnished silver and sapphire item reminded her strongly of the cup that the Dark lord entrusted to her so long ago.
Several days after the blazing anger of the Dark Lord flared to life, Bellatrix was mentoring Nott through his use of several methods of illusion magic, when the boy spoke abruptly. "The Light will come for Hogwarts next…"
"What?" Bellatrix asked, affronted that the boy dare interrupt her.
"Hogwarts is the next battlefield," the boy repeated neutrally as thought it was fact and not his opinion. "There are things here that they want; things they think will turn the tide of this war. But they are fools, and will find only ruin in this school. Nevertheless… your safety is jeopardized, and our Lord would not be happy to lose you so easily."
Bellatrix was frozen in confused thoughtfulness, Hogwarts the next battlefield? It made sense that it would turn into a warzone, with both the Dark Lord and Potter placing such a high value on the illustrious school. And in her condition she would be nothing but a liability at the present time. However, that didn't mean that Bellatrix couldn't leave some farewell presents for the oncoming party of the Light.
And with Nott's help, she could make sure that her 'gifts' made it to the right individuals at the right times…
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Hermione eyed the innocent looking cup on the center plinth of Orthanc, shimmering slightly in the early dawn light. It seemed such a little thing, but Hermione knew better now than to take things like this cup at face value. She, Ron, Harry, Faykan and Draco were gathered here, discussing what was to be done about this Horcrux, and what plans would be taken to claim the final one from Hogwarts and destroy it as well.
"I think," Ron said after a short discussion, "that Hermione should have the honors of destroying this one."
When everyone looked at him in confusion, Ron's ears turned red slightly as he stammered out an explanation, "I… well, I mean, we've all destroyed one, it's only fair that Hermione get's a turn…"
Hermione wanted to slap the boy for his silly chivalry, but the others took his idea seriously, and after a moment Faykan nodded, "I agree, it seems fitting, after all, we're working together to destroy that monster, so why not make it literal after a fashion?"
Turning to Hermione, he offered the hilt of Glamdring, the blade glowing faintly in the presence of the cup. Accepting the weapon, Hermione was surprised to find that the sword was extremely light.
Looking back at the cup, Hermione war horrified to see a dark radiance pouring off the cup that looked so peaceful moments ago. Was it the power of the sword? Even as she stood there it seems that the darkness from the cup growing, reaching toward her menacingly. Glamdring burned slightly in her hand, giving her courage to act, and with a shriek of righteous fury, Hermione swung the blade with all her strength.
The enchanted elven blade impacted the cup, and a roar of rage exploded from the object, echoing around the tower, making the high windows rattle in their frames. The cup remained, a deep seam split through it from top to bottom. The cup was ruined, and the evil within purged forever.
"Only one left to destroy, and Voldemort will become mortal once more." Faykan said solemnly, accepting Glamdring back from Hermione. "We must gather the White Council, and plan our offensive for Hogwarts. Theodore Nott is clearly in possession of the final Horcrux, and unlike this previous one, it is awakened and acting through the boy."
"What ought we to do about Nott?" Draco asked, and Hermione could sense the concern that Draco was feeling over his former house-mate. Draco had expressed once that he and Theodore had once been friends, when they were very young, but after Nott Sr. started acting strangely during the first war, and became somewhat of a hermit, they hadn't met again until Hogwarts, and by the Nott had changed greatly.
"I regret what may have to happen," Harry replied, closing his eyes in concentration, "I would prefer if we could save Nott from Voldemort's influence, but should it come down to it, we may have to use force to take the Diadem from him."
"I will summon the Council then," Faykan said, and strode off to send out the calls to the various leaders of the free peoples of the world.
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Draco hurried to throw on his regal attire of the heir of Gondor and rush down the stairs to the main floor of Orthanc. It was the day of the meeting of the White Council, and he had unfortunately overslept the night before, and if he wasn't quick enough, the meeting would start without him. Despite everything else the Lucius did, he had made sure to teach his son the importance of punctuality.
Skidding down the last few steps in front of the side door from the stairway, Draco eased the door open a small crack, sighing in relief as he saw people standing and milling about. He had just barely made it before the meeting started. Sliding inside, hoping his tardiness went unnoticed, and started to make his way to the small chair to Faykan's left, opposite the Istari from Harry and beside where Madam Zabini was to sit.
He wasn't a moment too soon in that either, as soon as he took his seat, Harry tapped his large staff on the ground, calling the group to order. Every member made their way to their seats, only the centaur and being the last left standing, in the spot vacated especially for them to stand in the circle.
As Faykan started to speak, giving a very similar and quite formal introduction to the meeting as he had before, Draco glanced around the room. There were a fair few more here than previously. In addition to Firenze, two other centaurs stood with him in the circle, and Draco recognized them as Magorian and Bane, the two co-leaders of the Hogwarts herd that had previously been highly resistant to Faykan's summons.
Further along was Borin, Lord of Aglarond, in the company of his cousins, King Thráin and Fundin, Lord of Moria. Ragnok, King of Gringotts was in attendance, along with Gornuk who was still acting in his role as the Goblin's official representative.
All round the room the situation was the same, kings and leaders here in person along with their usual representatives, all waiting expectantly. Draco knew that this was the way that Faykan had wanted it, each race's leader had to make the decision about how they were to end this war. The death of Voldemort would disrupt the forces of darkness utterly, and it was clear that all here felt the same as those of the Istari's company.
As Faykan, and later Harry spoke, listing off the accomplishments of the Light during the course of their three year war with Voldemort, Draco started when Madam Zabini leaned toward him. With his and nearly every other Slytherin being rather distant from Blaise, Draco had never had the privilege of meeting, let alone speaking with the boy's mother, but she spoke as though he was a trusted friend.
"Alatar certainly likes to lay the aura of suspense on thickly…" she commented, smiling slightly.
Draco nodded in agreement; Fay certainly had a small flare for dramatics from time to time. "My son has spoken quite often about you, Draco Telcontar," she continued, while still watching Faykan's every move intently, "and I am pleased that he has such people as you and your friends that he looks up to as examples of honor and loyalty."
Draco didn't know how to respond to that. It wasn't as though he had ever been particularly close with Blaise. Although, true, Draco had specifically invited him as the only other Slytherin in Dumbledore's Army, and everyone had gone slightly out of their way to make sure he was accepted into their ranks, but beyond that…
"The time has come, members of the White Council of the West," Faykan said, breaking off Draco's line of thought. "The pathway of this war is laid clear to us, and victory is in sight. A hard, final push is needed to secure the means to defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort once, and indeed, for all."
Faykan let that message sink in for a moment before continuing, "Hogwarts is the key to our victory. Not only does the castle contain at this moment something precious to the monster, a thing if we acquire will end his supposed immortality at last, but the castle itself is the one thing that the man holds dearer than all his power and vain ambition. If we capture the castle, he will come out, in person, to give battle to us. And it is there that we are at our strongest."
"But what of the students?" called one of the members of the council. Draco craned his neck to see the man, but it was lost as voices of concerned murmuring floated all around and the man retook his seat.
For his part, Faykan just smiled, "We know on good authority that the students of the school, on the whole, are rebelling against the Dark Lord's tyranny already. Liberating the castle would only swell our ranks with those who are of age and willing to fight. The rest we can seclude away from the combat that will inevitably break out, whether in the bowels of the castle or removing them by portkey or Floo it wouldn't matter. We will do all it takes to protect those innocents during this final confrontation."
"What is this weapon that will defeat the Dark Lord?" Madam Zabini asked pointedly. And Draco saw Harry wince slightly as Faykan turned to meet her gaze. "That, is a long and complicated story War-queen Zabini… but suffice it to say that the Dark Lord made Horcruxes, in the plural."
There was an effective gasp all around the room, each member that understood the word shaking their heads in revulsion and fear. "We have personally hunted down and destroyed them all, except for this last one. We know its location, and the Dark Lord is blissfully unaware that the rest are all destroyed. He will not expect us to have discovered his deepest and most prized secret."
That seemed to satisfy Madam Zabini, and she nodded in acceptance. Faykan continued on with logistics, laying out who was to join in the initial raid to take the castle, and who would follow behind to fortify the stronghold against Voldemort's counterattack.
Glancing around the room as Faykan indicated each race of peoples and their part of the battle plan; Draco couldn't help but stop at the stern, uncomfortable look on King Ceolwulf of Rohan. Somehow, it wasn't something Draco couldn't say he was surprised about. The warriors of Rohan had suffered much throughout the war thus far, taking the brunt of the enemy's attacks and spearheading almost every offensive counter.
Their warriors, which had initially numbered in the several hundred, had been significantly reduced, being cut down to a third of their original strength. None had complained, as they were fighting for their lives, but Draco could see that the deaths had hung heavily on King Ceolwulf. This was probably what led to the man resisting many of the combative fronts of the last few battles, which both Faykan and Harry had respected and adjusted accordingly, until now.
Mercifully, Faykan made the part of Rohan significantly smaller than the other peoples, only having them appear as part of the fortification after the castle was liberated. Their position was to be just inside the Entrance Hall, ready to charge at a moment notice if the front doors were broken in.
Meanwhile, the centaur would be rallying the denizens of the forest, the unicorns and Quickbeam in particular, and preparing to catch the dark army between the forest and the castle when they pierced into the grounds. The dwarves had their own method of entering the castle grounds as well, but they were refusing to share the secret as of yet.
The goblins, grateful for the extensive work in freeing their kingdom from the stranglehold of the Death Eaters, wanted to be part of the initial attack force, and would be working to assassinate all orcs in Hogwarts, allowing the wizards to focus on eliminating the Death Eaters, and more importantly, capturing Nott and the Horcrux.
Finally, Madam Zabini regretfully informed the council that Voldemort had all but demanded her warriors to fight on side of the war several times, and until this point she had respectfully deflected the demands and remained neutral as to the fighting.
"However, such a ploy will no longer work if the threat to the Dark Lord is this great. If I were to refuse again now, he would surely crush my people before turning on Hogwarts. I have no choice to attend the field under his banner…" she said apologetically.
"That can work to our favor as well," Faykan countered, "If Voldemort thinks that he can bully the Haradrim into fighting for evil once again, and then he has not paid any attention to the history of your people and me, which gives us an unexpected advantage. We not only have a spy into his battle plan, but an entire sub army in the midst of our enemies, ready to strike when the time is right."
"Those were my thoughts exactly, Lord Alatar…" Madam Zabini affirmed, nodding wisely as she sat back down.
Faykan was silent a moment as he digested all the information from around the room, and finally he spoke again to the assembled council as a whole. "We have much left to do, but if all the pieces fall together we can ensure victory for not only ourselves, but the whole of the world as well."
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Severus was impressed with the news that Phineas Nigellus brought to him about the meeting of the White Council. Their plan to draw out Voldemort to battle was bold, almost frighteningly so, but for his part he would have an easy time forwarding the positioning and strength of Hogwart's current defenses.
As he strolled through the corridors, calculating the different batches of hidden orcs that were scattered through the grounds and the Slytherins that were heavily pro-Voldemort, he didn't notice when someone purposely stepped into his way, sidestepping almost out of reflex.
"Something on your mind, Headmaster?" said the younger voice sarcastically.
Refocusing on the person in front of him, Severus stiffened when he recognized the imperious look in Theodore Nott's face. The boy had been strutting around as though he owned the castle, unopposed by any of the professors for fear of the Death Eaters. It had led to a horrible situation where the boy would torment younger students at his whim, as well as spending copious amounts of time in the dungeons where Bellatrix was hidden away.
"Nothing that is of any concern to you, Mr. Nott… move along now…" he said, continuing past the boy as though nothing of importance had occurred.
"As you wish, Headmaster…" the boy replied, still watching Severus as he passed. It was unnerving; the glint in the teenager's eyes, as though he already knew what Severus had been up to, but that was highly unlikely. Severus was certain that he had played all his cards close to the chest, and had made no mistakes thus far in hiding his true allegiance.
Still, things had to be done carefully from this point on, or all could easily be lost. If even one word of the impending attack made its way to Voldemort, all was lost.
At the same time however, they had this one chance to undo everything that the monster had wrought, and had to seize the opportunity to stop the Dark Lord for good.
Severus quickly finished the rounds, making special note to tally each position of orcs, even those that had been placed supposedly without his knowledge, which was disturbing that he wasn't informed about previously, and returned to the Headmaster's tower to report to the White Council. He made special note to mention that Bellatrix was at the school, injured and effectively unprotected.
He wasn't sure what effect that information would have with Faykan and the others, but he was obligated to make certain that they knew all the facts for preparing their liberation of the castle, and Severus would keep his oaths to friends.
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Harry could feel the growing tension as the day of their initial strike grew nigh. Everyone could innately sense that this battle would be quite unlike any that they had fought before, and even as the made final preparations for moving their warriors through the portals Harry and Faykan would open when the castle was liberated, he could sense that nerves were on edge, which almost lead to some unfortunate fights breaking out.
Luckily Hermione was well attuned to the goings on of the many people that lived around the tower and was able to intervene and prevent any disastrous conflicts from emerging on the brink of the siege of Hogwarts.
At last, the morn of their day of battle came. Harry arose with the sun, ticking off the hours until what he hoped was the final battle would commence. Standing atop Orthanc, he stared into the west, thinking of those in the school, how bold and courageous they had been up to this point, to believe so strongly in him that they would risk themselves to fight back against the servants of Voldemort.
"You sense it as well, then…" Faykan said as he appeared from below.
"The deep calm before the final clash," Harry affirmed, nodding slightly. "It is both great and terrible to know that this will end the war, one way or another… Fay…"
"Yes, Kentano?"
"Can Voldemort truly win?" Harry asked, intently curious what his close friend and mentor would say.
Faykan was silent for a long time, watching the horizon over the forest surrounding them. "Evil can never truly win… shadows may darken the sky for long periods of time, but inevitably the sun will rise, bright and glorious as ever before. Such is the way of things; light will banish the darkness, then fade away, only to return again."
"A never ending cycle…" Harry surmised, frowning at the seeming uselessness of it all.
"For what we must be concerned with, yes, but simply because the cycle itself never ends does not mean that the course it runs has no limit. We must make sure when that final end comes, that Light is in power, or all would be lost." Faykan explained.
"I think I am beginning to understand what you mean…" Harry said, pondering the eternal course of the world they lived in, within its own limited lifespan.
Faykan smiled at him, "Philosophical discourse aside, we have much that needs to be done in the here and now, and the future can take care of itself."
Harry nodded, and together the pair of Istari descended the tower. It was still early in the morning, but the others were already awake and gathering their final things for the mission. They intended to leave as soon as the goblins arrived, so that they were in position to take the castle by sundown.
By the time all five of them assembled out on the wide lawns before Orthanc, King Ragnok could be seen, along with his warriors, marching toward them from the far side of the sea of tents.
"Wait for me!" came another voice from the tower just then. They all turned to see Neville running down the steps after them. "You're not going to free Hogwarts without me." He added, stopping before them just as the goblins arrived.
Harry shared a short look with Faykan, both of them knowing that this would probably happen, and they smiled. "Of course we wouldn't go without you, dear Neville…" Harry said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Turning to face the goblins, Harry nodded.
"It is time," Faykan announced, and he raised his staff.
The spear shaped sapphire atop the silver staff flared to life, throw a small gust around their ankles as Faykan's power poured through the focus, finding the folds in space and time, and bending them back, peeling open a portal to the center of the dark forest, where the spiders of Aragog were defeated over a year ago.
The trees of the forest were silent, yet the air was thick and hung like a dark cloud over the leaf strewn ground as their band marched through the dimensional gateway. Though they could not see it through the thickness of the trees, Harry could sense Hogwarts castle just beyond them, looming in magical strength but smelling of the taint of darkness.
Harry frowned. The darkness must be purged from this place. It was an unnatural sensation for his first home, the place he once felt safe, and it angered him as they began the march toward the castle. The sun began its decent as they trekked through to the edge of the forest, casting deep shadows across the lawns of the castle, which looked poorly cared for and overgrown.
Harry had expected this, as it was highly unlikely that the known Order member and longtime advocate of Dumbledore, Hagrid, wouldn't have been permitted to stay on at the school when control transferred to Voldemort.
Once the sun touched the horizon, Faykan turned to the goblin attack force that had joined them, "You know what to do, and we'll meet you inside when we liberate the school from the Death Eaters."
Ragnok nodded, and his warriors immediately split off in many different directions, sticking to the shadows and moving silently to where Headmaster Snape had told them the hidden knots of orcish warriors lay hidden to defend the school.
Meanwhile, Harry, Faykan and the others cast disillusionment charms over themselves, sprinting across the lawns to the greenhouses, circling around the castle almost to the edge of the cliffs it was founded upon, and reaching a small crevasse just out of sight of the grounds. Harry wondered how many years it had been since someone had even come to this side of the castle.
From the air this section of the castle walls would look unremarkable, but close up Harry could tell instantly that this was a somewhat different layer of stonework. "This has been here since the beginning of Hogwarts," Faykan explained, sliding his hands over the stone, "a quickly forgotten secret passage because it leads to the Great Hall. Ironic really, that its one of the few secrets that Tom never discovered…"
With a minor shove, Faykan caused the section of wall to swing inward, revealing a tunnel into the castle. Staring into the darkness of the secret passage, Harry knew that this was the point of no return. Knowing that his friends were with him, Harry started into the castle, his robes sweeping up small cloud of dust from the passage's long neglect.
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Bellatrix awoke with a start, sensing something not right in the castle. Unbeknownst to Headmaster Snape, she had slowly immersed her magic into the wards, adding a layer of monitoring to the defenses of the castle. Wanded magic was still a struggle for her, so she had to utilize a mix of runes and blood magic to achieve the effect, but even as Nott scampered into the room, Bellatrix had already gathered what things she needed, and was ready to depart to safer places.
"The attack has begun," the boy said simply, and Bellatrix turned to look at him.
"Yes, I know. We need to make it to the ward boundaries to warn the Master," she responded, stepping past Nott and out into the dungeon corridor. It had been a long while since she had left these passages, and it felt wonderful to think of finally leaving and feeling the fresh air outside again.
"The main door would be quickest I think," Nott said as he hurried to catch up to her longer strides, "The Light would be seeking some alternative means to enter, undetected as they believe."
"Very good…" Bellatrix said, turning to him as they reached the stairs leading up to the Entrance Hall, "You must warn the Carrows, have them put up some kind of fight to buy time for the Dark Lord to arrive. Go now!" she said, and the boy dashed up the stairs and out of sight.
The Dark Lord's most faithful was about to turn away from the front doors herself, when the large doors to the Great Hall banged open, and she caught only a glance of light and steel betraying the appearance of Alatar and his warriors. Luckily they missed her as she slipped into the shadows of the grounds.
As she snuck across the grounds toward the front gates, Bellatrix spotted several bands of Goblin assassins systematically eliminating the orcish garrison stationed all around the castle. As she passed the gates, the first sounds of battle erupted from the castle.
Looking back at the Dark Lord's prized fortress, Bellatrix knew that he was not going to be pleased when he learned of the situation happening here.
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Hermione thought she spotted a flash of movement as they entered the Entrance Hall, but Neville, Ron, Draco, Harry and Faykan all started moving in the opposite direction, and she had no time to investigate. They had already set to split into three teams; she and Ron were to head up to Professor McGonagall's office and send out the warning to the teachers, while Neville and Draco went to Gryffindor Tower and rallied the students. Finally, Faykan and Harry were to head off Nott, where ever he may be according to the Marauder's map and claim the last Horcrux.
It would be tricky, but if they could pull off the different portions as close to each other as possible, they may be able to defeat the Carrows and other Death Eaters before they realized what was happening.
Just then, as they were mounting the grand staircase to split off in their different directions, a voice, magically amplified rang throughout the castle. "Intruders in the castle, all students are to remain in their dormitories; all security forces converge on the grand staircases and eliminate the intruders!"
"Well, so much for the element of surprise," Harry said sarcastically.
"Everyone, take the secret passages, go!" Faykan ordered, and Hermione and Ron split off and dashed behind a tapestry that lead up to the third floor, as close to the Transfiguration corridor as they could get from their current position. There was little chance that the Death Eaters knew much if anything about the passages from back when they attended the school.
Peering out from an alcove behind a suit of armor, Ron snickered as several black robed men ran past along the corridor. "Seems good help is so hard to find these days…" he joked, and Hermione had to suppress the giggle that threatened to give away their location.
Once the coast was clear, they quickly dashed across the corridor, running as quietly as they dared, and arrived outside Professor McGonagall's office. Only the barest of knocking was required to rouse the Transfiguration Mistress, who appeared in a long nightgown and her hair in curlers. She gasped on seeing the pair of them, and quickly ushered them inside her office.
"Granger, Weasley, explain how and why you're here in the castle." She said briskly, and Hermione hurried to explain the current takeover, as well as their plans for protecting the students as they lured Voldemort to attack the castle and finish him off for good.
Whatever Professor McGonagall was expecting, this was anything but. "I knew Potter and Undol were insane at times before, but I believe this act takes the preverbal cake…" she said, holding a hand to her head as though to stave off a migraine. "Alright, I'll gather the teachers, and we will begin evacuating the students as soon as we can."
With a flourish of her wand, the Professor transfigured her clothing into her usual green robe and pointed black hat. "Let's go!" she commanded, throwing her door open, just as a large explosion rocked the upper level of the school.
"What on earth!?" McGonagall cried, but Hermione had a sinking fear. Harry and Faykan had found Nott.
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Draco and Neville had slipped into an alcove when the command to separate was given, and took a small detour along the ground floor to a passage that would take them up to the fifth floor. From there they double backed along the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor, and up a side staircase to the seventh floor, emerging somewhere near to the Room of Requirement. With no Death Eaters in sight, the pair sprinted the last few turns to Gryffindor Tower.
"What on earth are you lot doing here?" demanded the Fat Lady, putting her hands on her hips as she stared down at them.
"The school is in danger," Draco said quickly, pleading for the woman to open up, "we need to rally those students that can help drive out the Death Eaters, please open! You know we're Gryffindor…"
"I'm sorry, but the rule is that only Professor can enter without the password…" the painting said, looking truly apologetic.
"Then open for me, dear lady…" said a smooth voice behind the pair of them. Draco and Neville whirled, relaxing only when Professor Snape emerged from the shadows. "I figured you were to come here and rally the main contingent of the D.A., so I waited here."
Turning back to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Severus raised a single eyebrow.
"Oh, yes, of course I'll open for you, Headmaster…" she stammered, swinging open immediately. The three of them entered, and Professor Snape raised his wand, causing a flurry of small fireworks to fly up the staircases, exploding at every level and awakening the entire tower.
The students flew down the stairs in a panic, most with wands drawn, only some wearing their robes. "Headmaster," one of the prefects, a student Draco didn't recognize, said hurriedly, "what's the matter?"
Instead of answering, Severus stepped aside, revealing Draco and Neville to the gathered students, whose confused faces brightened with excitement and in some cases of the older students, worry. "Draco!" cried a voice from the girl's stairwell, and he had only moments to prepare for when Ginny slammed full force into him, embracing him.
This was the breaking point for the other Gryffindors, who swarmed around the pair of them, talking excitedly and bombarding them with questions. Over Ginny's head, Draco saw Neville quickly explaining everything that had happened since he left Hogwarts, and about the impending attack. Several of the most studious of the D.A. immediately ran for their coins to warn the other houses, and several more dashed to the portrait hole, intent of readying the Room of Requirement for a full meeting of the D.A. as well as the gathering of weapons.
The others escorted Professor Snape, Draco, Ginny and Neville after these scouts, assembling in the Room even as the other houses started flooding in from their own common rooms.
It had seemed that even despite Harry and their absence from the school, the student organization had only gained momentum, even gaining a substantial following from Slytherin, comprising those who had been affect the most by Draco's switch of house, among other things.
It didn't take long to repeat the basic information for the other three houses, and teams were quickly organized to return the younger years to the dorms, as well as the sixth and seventh years gathering weapons to drive out the Death Eaters from the castle.
Even as the students started mobilizing, Professor Snape started back to the Headmaster's Tower, so that he had plausible deniability in case he was called upon to help the Death Eaters.
As they started to emerge from the Room, weapons and wands at the ready, the floor rumbled as below them something exploded. "That's the signal," Draco said, hefting Andúril, and darting forward, Ginny at his side and a large group of other students at his back. Harry and Faykan had engaged Nott, and it was their job to flank the Death Eaters from above as the teachers arrived from all directions.
Sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them, they hurried across to the Grand staircase. Below, on the fourth and fifth floors, fighting had broken out. "Come on!" Draco shouted, leading the resistant group of students as they nearly flew down the stairs. At the fifth floor, Draco caught a flash of spell work as a burst of shining light, which was a good indicator that that was where Faykan, Harry and Nott were battling, meaning that they needed to advance to the fourth floor.
Leading his group past the Istari's battle over the Horcrux, Draco scrambled down to the floor below, and turned sharply into the Defense Against the Dark Art's corridor. The Death Eaters, including the two Carrow siblings who had been made teachers, were backpedaling away from the rest of the professors, as McGonagall and Flitwick spearheaded a powerful duel between the two groups.
Drawing Andúril forth, Draco screamed his war cry, "Elendil!" surprising the Death Eaters and charging their flank, bull rushing over the first that crossed his path and cutting down a second that was trying to line up a curse on Ginny. The other students, embolden by the presence of the teachers fighting the same fight, roared in answer, and the air quickly became thick with spells, covering the charge of those who had trained more intensively with martial weaponry.
Trapped on two fronts, the Death Eaters were quickly pushed to their limits, but even as Headmaster Snape arrived, they cheered, thinking themselves saved from the wrath of the school.
"Draco," Severus said quickly, "Where is Nott?"
Before Draco could even answer, a shattering explosion from directly above them drew the attention of all present. Professor Snape blanched white, and dashed for the staircase, taking all the hope of the Death Eaters with him. These were quickly deprived of the wands and escorted by the teachers and seventh years to the dungeons for safe keeping.