Chapter Six... Storm
"As I live and breathe..." Madam Pomfrey gripped my bedside table to hold herself steady and the castle settled. I pulled off the covers and got out of bed, the icepack still held to my forehead.
"No! Harry, you have to stay put!" Cho grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to sit me back down, but I struggled against her. The ice pack slid off and the heat returned with full force. I screamed as I fell backwards against the bed, and Cho frantically reached for my hands. It felt as though white-hot needles were trying to tear a hole into my skull, but I managed to grab one of her hands and I pulled myself up.
"It's not safe here anymore," I told a frantic Cho, "She'll be inside soon, and we don't want to be here when she gets here."
"Harry!" I turned to see Dumbledore withdraw his wand from his robes, "I need you to get into my office and seal the door behind you. The password is 'Almond Hershey.' Go, now!"
Cho grabbed my hand and we dashed toward the doors. With a wave of my hand, they blew open and we raced down the corridor.
The castle was fighting back. It quaked and shuddered under her power, but it refused to give way. She knew that there were protections, enchantments older than the OLD MAN and more powerful than...
... THE BOY... the very thought of him burned behind her eyes, and the heat curled up and fought to be free. She raised the dark wand to face the castle, and a bolt of sizzling, shattered light struck like a thunderclap. The great, wooden doors crackled with the power, and a long, thin crack formed just left of the knocker. She smiled; it wouldn'tt take nearly as much power as she thought it would and there would be one less obstacle between her and THE BOY.
I could see the doorway at the end of the hall, the shimmering phoenix guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office. The sizzling on my forehead had subsided, but the heat was still there. A feeling of foreboding hung in my thoughts, oppressive and black. She couldn't be here, she just couldn't!
She's dead.
"What's wrong?" Cho's cheeks were flushed and her chest heaved with each gulp of air she took.
Whatever was in my belly turned foul and nausea clutched at my throat. Worms crawled beneath my flesh, eating the bone and marrow -
...and all at once, I was outside. The steps to the castle were cracked and chipped, and the mammoth wooden doors had been blown apart. I ascended the steps and ran through the doors. The hall was in shambles - rubble and slag were scattered throughout the corridor. The decorative ribbons and scrolls were ablaze and the hourglasses that indicated house points had been shattered... and the swath was headed in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Harry!" Cho grabbed my shoulders and was furiously shaking me, "What's wrong!"
"I can... feel her," I blinked my eyes to get them to focus, "She's headed to my Common Room, so we need to get there first."
"Dumbledore said to wait in his office!"
"Dumbledore doesn't know where she's going, and more than likely, he told the other houses to get to their Common Rooms too. She destroyed the castle doors, so my guess is that the Fat Lady wont be able hold her back."
"The kids," Cho's gaze fell as she began to understand my words, "The first-years."
I grabbed her hand and we took off toward the Gryffindor Common Room.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore ran down the hallway, his royal blue robes billowing out behind him. He was followed by Minerva McGonagall and Alastor Moody in a triad formation. Minerva's worry grew with each second Albus was silent, and the sound that Alastor's false eye made as it rolled in it's socket gnawed at her patience.
At least the other houses had been notified, she thought, and her pace quickened. Albus was quick to alert the other teachers, who immediately escorted the remaining students to their respective common rooms. Minerva herself had escorted the Gryffindor first-years to their common room and threatened detention until the end of the year if they were to leave. Just to be on the safe side, she told the Fat Lady not to let them out until she came to fetch them.
"Potter's on the move," Moody suddenly growled. Albus came to an abrupt stop and Minerva nearly toppled him over. She turned to face Alastor and saw that his false eye was completely white - it was looking behind him.
"Why?'' she said impatiently, "Did he not go at all?"
"Oh no, he got as far as the door to Albus' office, but he and the Chang girl just rabbited off in the opposite direction."
"I wonder..." Albus finally spoke, closing his eyes in thought, "Alastor, can you see what is attacking the castle?"
Alastor gave a dark chuckle, "She's already inside."
"Damn." Albus furrowed his brow, "Is it going after Harry."
"Give me a second," Moody slowly turned in place, his false eye literally shaking in its cradle, "I can't draw a bead on her anymore."
"How is that possible?" Minerva demanded, "And why do you keep calling it she!"
"How the bloody hell should I know! Whatever this is, it isn't what attacked the castle... not entirely anyway."
"Could you kindly elaborate on that, Alastor?" Albus seemed to have noticed Minerva's faltering patience.
Alastor wiped the sweat from his forehead before continuing, "I was already heading out after the first strike. But the second I left my office, I could see her - and believe me Minerva, it is a her. There is no mistaking who it is."
Minervas face fell, "It's true?"
Her voice was begging, pleading to Albus, but the fear was confirmed when Albus turned away.
"It's true," Moody said in his own stolid tone, "And she isn't alone."
"Where is she going, Alastor?" Albus placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder. Her face was unreadable, but Albus detected a squared glint in her eyes.
Alastor's false eye rolled into its natural position, "If I'm not mistaken, she's going to the Gryffindor Common Room. She's almost there."
I dashed upstairs as quickly as I could, Cho following alongside. She had ditched her heels a few floors back to keep up with me... that meant that she knew the urgency behind the task at hand.
"We're almost there," I said as we got off the stairwell and turned into the next hallway. Color draped every inch of the walls in the form of paintings and portraits. I could feel eyes and voices following us, chiding us for being up so late, but there was only one voice I listened for - one painting in particular that my eyes scanned for. I smiled as I saw her, tucked away two paintings from the rear wall. The Fat Lady hummed a mournful tune as she lazily thumbed through a thick, leather-bound tome.
"Gobbledy-Gook." I managed to say before I clutched at the wall to catch my breath. I noticed Cho doing the same thing.
"Sorry, Dearie,'' The Fat Lady drawled as she turned another page.
It took a moment to register, "What!"
"I am sorry," she mused as she popped a chocolate into her mouth, "but only Minerva McGonagall can open this door. I can't let you in."
"But the kids aren't safe in there!" I screamed. The Fat Lady jumped at my voice and her book went flying, "I'm going to take them to Dumbledore's office with me, now let me in!"
She straightened out her hair and glared indignantly, "Go ahead!"
The painting swung open, and I ran inside. Cho and I walked through the short tunnel and were finally greeted by the warmth of the fire and two very nervous looking first-years sitting on the couches. The drapery was as grand as ever and the high stained-glass windows shimmered gloriously despite the fact that the moon was smothered in cloud cover. They immediately sat up as I approached them.
"H-harry!'' one of them chirped and the other's eyes widened.
"Look," I said in as soft a voice as I could muster, ''You two have to come with me, we are going to Dumbledore's office to wait for awhile."
"We dont want to wait anymore!" The other one said, "We can help!"
"You can't, I mean... not now." I sighed, trying to think of something to tell them, "We need to wait for Dumbledore to tell us that it's okay."
"But-!"
"I know you want to help," Cho interjected, "but right now its best for us to go to Dumbledore's office. He has other things he has to do, so we need to watch his office until he gets back."
It was a bit patronizing, but her voice was so soothing that it even placated my fears, however briefly. The first-years nodded in unison, and Cho stood up, her eyes reflecting the fireplace's warm glow.
A scream pierced the silence, and an earth-shattering boom quaked through the walls. I caught myself on the armrest of one of the sofas, but Cho and the kids fell to the floor. I rushed over to help Cho to her feet.
"What was that?" She asked, pulling the hair out of her face. She helped one of the kids to their feet.
"No!" I screamed, pulling the other kid up and taking him to Cho, "Cho, I need you to take them up the stairs to the right and into the third door. That's my room. Hedwig should be in there. Owl someone... anyone, but get them out of here fast."
There was another blast, and the painting blew in. Shards of wood flew out from the tunnel, and dust trickled down from the rafters. I heard soft, padding steps, and I stood in front of Cho. A figure emerged from the darkness of the tunnel, soaking wet and pale as bone. It was naked except for the rags that hung loosely from its legs and shoulders, and the mud that caked her hands and feet. Its hair was blood red that hung in streaky threads across her face, and blood dripped from her fingertips. In her left hand was a dark rod that bore a thin, brown crack... my wand. My wand. It looked at me from behind its dead, brown eyes, and it grinned. I couldn't move, but my voice never wavered.
"Hello, Ginny."