Chapter Nine – Battle Grounds
Harry sat in the Great Hall, three days later, swearing blind that he had just downright failed his Divination exam, and feeling miserable, when Lucius Malfoy burst through the main doors, and marched right up to Dumbledore.
"Where's Potter?" His voice was so cold and hoarse, that Harry barely hear it.
"Excuse me?" Dumbledore replied, remaining calm.
"This Sam Potter, where is she?" Lucius Malfoy spat, staring at Dumbledore.
Harry looked up, it was only at this point, did he realised that his cousin wasn't in the Great Hall. This wasn't unusual but it did make Harry wonder where she was.
Lucius Malfoy was now on the verge of attacking Dumbledore, when the familiar tip, tapping sound of Sam's black high heeled shoes, walking along the stone floor of the Entrance Hall and through the doors to the Great Hall.
"Potter, how dare you?" Lucius Malfoy hissed down the Hall. Sam stopped walking, grinning.
"How dare I what?" She said in such a cocky voice that she made most of the Gryffindors giggle. Lucius Malfoy looked at though someone had died.
"How dare you kill by son's bird and destroy my son's property!"
Sam walked to do him, and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"And you hope to gain, what? out of this?" She hissed back at him, her voice not much warmer then this, walking round him.
"Your respect!" He scowled. Harry could see that Lucius Malfoy had his back to him, but what happened next was not what he expected.
"Fat chance!" Sam hissed so low and cold, that Harry barely reconised her voice, but she grabbed Lucius Malfoy throat and with one arm, force him to his knees. Lucius Malfoy was not a small man, the strength needed to force him to his knees, was disproportional to the Sam's build and size. She looked Lucius Malfoy straight in the eyes, and stared. But Lucius Malfoy must have seen something in her eyes, something so horrifying, that he screamed, overthrew Sam's grip on him and ran from the Great Hall in shear panic, and out of the castle. All the students, apart from the Slytherins, laughed as he left, Lucius Malfoy was very unpopular, but Harry was looking back at Sam, into her eyes and thought he saw something red in them, which vanished in less then a second later, leaving Harry unsure of what he saw. Sam also had a look of pure evil on her face, which also vanished equally as quickly, as she followed Lucius Malfoy down the Great Hall, leaving Harry feeling very confused.
But as soon as he left the Hall, Lucius Malfoy was back in the Hall, still screaming. Harry's confusion still continued until felt a extreme cold flow cover him, and he saw that Sam had stopped staring straight at the main doors of the Hall. She closed eyes and licked the cold air, with her tongue, which now flowed, at incredible speed, through the main doors. Harry felt a thick cloud cover his mind, and his eyes rolled back into head, as the long tables and food in the Hall, began to cover in ice. People screamed and the teachers were becoming concerned, as out of nowhere, an unusual large Dementor floated in through the Door and attacked Sam, holding her throat, with one of it's gray, mattered, bony, dead withered hand, icy cold. Harry could barely see this as he began he hear his parents death, as all the happiness was drained from him. He barely saw through his almost blinded green eyes, a his cousin was lifted from the ground, ten feet into the air and he felt the control he had over his powers fail.
Harry saw the Dementor, drag his cousin upwards, and loom over her, and bending it's head and lowering his hood, to perform the kiss, a soul removing punishment given to the prisoners of the most deadliest of crimes. Harry panicked, Sam was going to lose her soul, but something else happened. The Dementor sucked out all of the life-force out of his cousin, in the form of bright white silvery light, similar to the type of light that Harry produced when he zapped or moved from place to place around the castle, Sam screamed. Harry thought this was weird but didn't have the time to think as the Dementor drop his cousin, thin, pale white and out cold on the floor. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Dumbledore, and McGonagall raise their wand's, as people looked frozen at the Dementor, to perform the spell. But Harry beat them to it, raising his own wand at the Dementor, anger in his eyes, barely conscious.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry screamed the Dementor Patrous, the silver shied used to repel them. A large silver stag bust out the end of his wand, and it charged down the Dementor down, and out of the Great Hall, forcing Lucius Malfoy, to the ground and flat on his face.
"Sam!" Harry cried at he saw the stag disappear and ran round to between the two middle tables to where Sam had fell. He looked around, up and down the Great Hall, She was gone.
"Sam!" Harry called again, a note of panic in his voice, but with no reply. Everyone looked around, nobody saw her leave, not even the teachers, the confusion wrapping round Harry like a large python, suffocating him. He continued to look around.
"We will find her!" Herimone said in her ear behind him, but they couldn't talk as everyone was looking at Harry, but they couldn't talk much as Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall was emptying the Great Hall. They went to the Gryffindor common room, among the chatter of the Dementor, and praising Harry on his spell, but he still had a final exam to revise for, it was Transfiguration, their hardest exam yet, still left to do. He knew that the teachers and the adults from the Ministry and the Order would deal with the Dementor, so there wasn't anything to worry about, he was alone. Harry decided to let the Gryffindors talk themselves out, and he went to his dormitory, retrieved his books and returned to the common room, getting angry at a few people, for stopping him revising. The exams in Harry's opinion hadn't gone to well, and he needed to pass this one, if he was going to pass the year, with any decent marks. But Transfiguration was proving difficult and as Harry decided to take a breather and to look out of the window onto the clear sky, moonlit grounds. Ron was also having difficulty, as well as the other Gryffindor sixth years, and was now arguing with Herimone.
"Herimone, what is the difference between a weasel and a stoat?" Ron was asking.
"Nothing, they are two species of the same animal, but Professor McGonagall want us to be that specific!" Herimone argued back. But she was right. The main reason why the Transfiguration exam was going to be so difficult was that marks would taken away, if the correct species and colour of animals, asked for, wasn't produced from various objects. Harry could do most of the spells, but even with his powers, it was still so difficult. Harry turned from Ron and Herimone, to continue staring outside when a movement near the forest caught his eye. Harry narrowed his green eyes, through his glasses, and the dark figure near the forest came into view. Harry could see a was a man in a cloak who wasn't alone, surrounded by other cloaked figured. Harry thought nothing of it, he thought it was the Ministry personnel coming from the forest having no luck from the Dementor.
But as Harry was just about to turn away, when a searing pain across his scar which almost brought his to his knees, told him otherwise. Harry grabbed the window slit to himself from going down and swung round to look out the window, the figures were coming towards the castle at speed. He knew that pain and he knew that it was impossible.
"Harry?" Herimone had asked.
Harry ignored her and saw through the window, under one of the dark figure, Harry, saw a glimpse of a pair of red, snake like, eyes. Harry felt fear like nothing else, he had found him. Harry saw the red eyes, black, cloaked figure raised his wand towards Gryffindor tower. Harry saw a bright red light blast straight towards him.
"Everyone get down!" Harry shout at he dived a metre from the window. A second later, a three metre hole was ripped out of the Gryffindor common room, threw people screaming, and the large bang. Harry, Ron, Herimone, Ginny, Dean, Neville, and several Gryffindor were pulled back through the hole and outside the castle, sixty feet about the ground. They were falling down to the Hogwarts grounds with no way of stopping. They all screaming, including Harry, but Ron grabbed on to him, and then grabbing Harry, shouted.
"Harry, use your powers!" Ron screamed. Harry eyes widened, but there was no time. But he closed his eyes, and tried to slow them down. He had never used his telekinetic powers to this degree before, for the he had only used it to move small objects about. But they slowing down, but not much, and before Harry realised it, they hit the ground, Harry breaking a leg. He screamed in pain but he looked up and around. All the other students had similar injuries, Ron, a bloody nose, Herimone had a broken arm, Ginny had cracked ribs, and Neville and the all the first years, were badly cut and bruised but alive. They are all injured, but alive and in large heaps on the floor. Herimone was in panic.
"This isn't possible, the castle can't be attacked, the magic around the it, protects it, it said in Hogwarts, a History!"
Harry got to his feet, best he could, angry with her. She was always quoting from that book, his leg was in pain, and screams could still be heard from the Gryffindor common room. Harry looked at Herimone.
"Does it say in that book, Herimone, what to do when Voldamort decided to attack Hogwarts?!" Everyone went silent as Harry fell to the ground, his severely broken leg, giving way under his weight.
"Harry!?" Ron called, panicking.
"I'm fine..." Harry said, as a cold chill down his spin, and a second pain across his scar, unbearable, forcing Harry to the ground, told him, that Voldamort had found where they had landed. Harry could hear panic screams from inside the castle walls.
"Harry!" He heard his name being called by Ron, Herimone and Ginny, who screamed when Voldamort and the Deatheaters approached. Voldamort was exactly as Harry remembered him, thin body, evil red eyes, which this time had a smile in them like never before. Harry scar burned like never before, like the cut had been reformed along the lightning shape, as blood began to trickle into his eyes and down his face. Harry was lying flat on his back, unable to see, his head splitting apart with agony, his whole body shivering with the pain.
"So we meet again, Harry, and I believe I have the upper hand this time!" Voldamort spoke with a voice of such malice and that Harry could barely hear it through the screaming of the fellow Gryffindor behind him. He gritted his teeth, wiping the blood from eyes and sat up, to look straight down Voldamort's wand. Harry could see the look of pleasure in Voldamort's eyes, reflected in the lights from the castle. Harry knew what Voldamort was thinking. He had him, after all the years that Harry had eluded Voldamort, the powerful and evil wizard had finally cornered the sixteen year old. But what happened next, Harry barely saw, as Voldamort raised his wand, to fire the fateful curse at Harry. With the looks of pleasure of the Deatheaters eyes, he heard Voldamort mutter those fatal words.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry barely had time to close his eyes as the bright green light, flew towards him. He screamed but not before someone, a girl, dive between him and Voldamort, taking the death curse straight in the chest, protecting Harry. She had dived from the right, obviously running from the direction of the main entrance doors of the castle. Harry spun round to see the girl lying dead, in the dark shadows of the castle and Harry noticed part of the long black coat and long red hair be partially illuminated by the windows. Harry was now in extreme shock, as he realised that this was the physic of someone was now knew very well. His cousin.
"Sam!" Harry cried as he silenced the Gryffindors behind him, Ron, Herimone and Ginny themselves just witnessing Sam's sacrifice, to save Harry. Voldamort and the Deatheaters laughed, when they saw Sam's tattered body and Harry still alive. Voldamort had two of the Deatheaters drag Sam's body fully into the light of the windows and dropped in front of Harry. Sam's clothes were matted, the coat was torn and she was very pale under her bright red hair, which, Harry saw, had even lost some of it's vibrant colour. Harry could see a burn hole in the black top, in the centre of her chest, where the Avada Kedavra had hit her but no mark left on the underlying flesh below. She wasn't breathing and her eyes were closed at the odd angle her head was lying proving that her neck was broken. Harry cried over the body of his cousin.
"How noble!" Voldamort spoke grinning, through the laughter of the Deatheaters and the raised his wand again.
"Another wasted life, Harry, exactly how many more people are willing to die for you, not many I should think!" Voldamort extremely cold voice slid straight down Harry spin and he felt himself go numb. He was defenseless, Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place for him, and he was going to die right outside the castle walls by the very person that tried to kill him the first place. Harry could hear Dumbledore's voice through the walls, as well and Snape's and Mad Eye Moody, all racing towards the castle entrance doors. Harry hoped they would hurry up as Voldamort raised his again to perform the curse again, knowing that time was against him, knowing his prize was in reach, to kill Harry.
Harry looked Voldamort in the eyes and braced himself for the inevitable, as the words were spoken. Harry saw the green light fly towards him, he braced himself starting to close his eyes. But the curse moved away from him as someone had forcefully moved Voldamort's wand upwards, sending it harmlessly into the air above him. Harry's eyes widened as he saw the owner of the pale white hand grasped onto Voldamort's wand, her blood red eyes glaring sideways at Voldamort, one eye on him, the other on Harry. She was breathing heavily, a deep growl under her voice, he long read hair, matted with blood, her black clothes torn. Voldamort backed away in fear, as he almost screamed, his eyes widening as Sam snatched the wand out of his hand and pointed it back at the owner. Harry hadn't seen his cousin rise from the dead nor saw how she had done it, but now watched her, in horror, confront her killer.
"How is this possible?" Voldamort's voice was in panic as the Deatheaters looked at each other.
"In this world, anything is possible!" Answered a man's voice who, appeared from nowhere, came from behind Voldamort, who grabbed him round the neck and reducing the evil wizard to his knees. Harry screamed as the unknown stranger wasn't a Deatheater, but a man that Harry had seen before, but only in a photograph, and was believe to be dead. He was a tall man, with long jet black hair and pale brown eyes, and as Voldamort tried to throw him off, Harry saw what was happening and screamed again, as did the other Gryffindors. The man had sunk the whole of his right arm into Voldamort's back but the Deatheaters attacked as Voldamort screamed with the pain. Sam roared like a tiger and attacked the oncoming Deatheaters with extreme violence, curses flying everywhere, her blood red eyes glaring.
Among the bloodshed, the man still had a tight hold on Voldamort let go, leaving a ball of bright white light in his hand, of which he had pulled from Voldamort back and which lit up the most of the castle wall. He ran towards the crouched Gryffindors, dodging two Deatheaters, of which Sam was close to devouring.