Chapter 20
Hogwarts castle was under invasion. Throughout the castle there were dozens of individual battles raging. After finishing the network of traps on the upper floors designed to keep the dormitories safe, Fred and George Weasley had been stationed with Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin on the second floor. Minerva McGonagall wanted them there to act as a buffer between the less experienced and, to a lesser extent, to prevent any Death Eaters from entering the Chamber of Secrets.
The sounds of witches and wizards fighting for their lives echoed through the hall weighing down on the Weasley twins and their companions. McGonagall had ordered the twins to stay on the second floor in order to force the Death Eaters to fight a war of attrition against the Hogwarts defenders instead of merely overwhelming them in one place. Fred and George understood why the Transfiguration Professor had wanted them to stay on that floor, but the sounds coming from below them indicated that there was a huge Death Eater force attempting to make their way past Harry, Hermione, Ron and the group that had been stationed on the first floor.
Fred had started to pace in order to deal with the anxious feeling that was threatening to overcome him. The Weasley family was incredibly vested in this conflict; every Weasley capable of raising a wand had heeded the call to protect Hogwarts. Fred was not surprised when Ginny had joined the defenders in the Room of Requirement. This battle would decide the fate of the Weasley family and Fred would make sure that the Weasley-line survived.
"We have to go help them," Fred exclaimed. "I know what McGonagall said but we pledged to protect those in the castle. We should start with those in battle below us!"
"Minerva's reasoning for having us here is sound," replied Remus. "If we leave then the whole plan could unravel."
"This is a battle for the future; if we just stand around, while all of our friends are killed, then what kind of future will it be?" demands Fred. "It's not fair that people are fighting and dying while we stand around and do nothing."
"I have never been one for following the rules. We did our part to slow down the Death Eaters if they reach the higher levels of the castle. Now it is time for us to take a more direct role in the protection of the castle," agrees George.
"I know that there are no secret passages into or out of the castle on this floor. Harry told me that eventually my map found its way into your hands. With that being the case, it is time for this old Marauder's last ride," declares Remus.
"It looks like the decision has already been made but, for what it's worth, I think that we should have been helping them since the invasion started instead of staying holed up on the second floor," adds Tonks.
"All right, let's go show those Death Munchers what four more wands can do!" Fred yells over his shoulder as he sprints toward the staircase that will take them to the first floor. The others ran after him in order to make sure that they didn't get left behind.
On the first floor the situation was dire. Since they heard the Death Eaters rushing up the stairs Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Cho, and Ron had been faced with a seemingly endless stream of opponents. Each defender was holding out very well against those who challenged them, but the group was beginning to show the signs of fatigue.
Harry had been alternating between the Reducto, Expulso, and Difindo spells and was the main reason that the group had not yet been overwhelmed. However, his spells were visibly smaller than when the combat had begun. He would never voice his concerns aloud but Harry was becoming worried; he didn't know how long he would be able to maintain his monumental effort. Harry bolstered himself by reminding himself how his actions were protecting his friends and those closest to him. Dipping into reserves of strength that he was unaware of, Harry redoubled his efforts and resumed his spell casting.
Hermione had the largest spell inventory off the group. This allowed her to get around the defenses that the Death Eaters raised to protect themselves from Harry's barrage. Of all the spells that she knew of none would do what she sought. She delved ever deeper into the occult magic that she had read about, casting spells that hadn't been seen for many ages as she stood against the attacking Death Eaters. As long as Harry stood by her side she would not allow herself to fail.
Luna was perpetually underestimated because of her petite frame and small stature. The Death Eaters were so focused on Harry and Hermione that many lost consciousness before they even realized that they were facing three adversaries instead of two. This allowed Luna to pick off any Death Eaters who managed to survive Harry and Hermione's combined assault. Combined with her uncanny ability to predict where the Death Eaters movements would take them made Luna a force to be reckoned with.
On the other side of the hallway Neville, Cho, and Ron faced off against the Death Eaters who sought to use the side stairway to gain access to the upper floors.
Neville had adopted an attack pattern very similar to Harry's; he was the group's firepower. His magical reserves were not quite as deep as Harry's but the Longbottom scion had effectively stalled the Death Eater advance. His determination to prove himself and redeem the Longbottom name had kept him going during the first waves of the battle. As the battle continued Neville found himself casting spell after spell not because he felt the need to prove himself but because he would not allow himself to be the weak link that allowed the Death Eaters to torture and kill his friends the way they had tortured and killed so many in the past. Reaching deeper than he ever had before, Neville found the strength to continue against the seemingly endless Death Eater army.
Cho had never been the strongest spell caster but she prided herself on her Transfiguration abilities. It was one of her deepest desires to become a Transfiguration professor in the future. She had seen how great professors could affect their students and, conversely, how poor professors could be detrimental to their students learning. She had witnessed the passion that teaching had ignited in Harry when he was leading the D.A. and she had known then that her calling was to become a teacher. In order to become a Hogwarts professor she would have to make sure that Hogwarts was still standing when the battle was over. Like Neville her reasoning had changed over the course of the battle; when she had fought the first Death Eater who challenged her she was fighting the prejudices and ideals that the Death Eaters advocated. Now she was fighting for the future.
Ron was fighting for redemption. He had left his friends when times were bleak; he would not fail them again. He had been hurt by their reception and the fact that they chose to have Luna stand by them in this battle instead of him but he did not argue. He understood why they had made that decision and now would do all he could to make sure that they were not overrun by the Death Eaters that would flank them, if they made it by Neville, Cho, and himself. Ron's academic career had been unimpressive to say the least. He had not applied himself in class and had always sought to do the minimum instead of striving for excellence. Accordingly, his spell inventory was comparatively underdeveloped. Instead of letting this short-coming hinder him Ron applied the spells he knew in innovative ways that made him very hard to defend against.
The six teenagers were fighting valiantly, but the Death Eaters kept coming and both groups found themselves losing ground as they were forced to abandon their offensive tactics in order to protect themselves and their companions. Eventually the groups found themselves standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the stairway. There would be no more retreating, the group would make their stand in this hallway where the corridor negated the Death Eater numbers.
Harry and Neville were in the center position. Together they routed the Death Eaters with powerful blasting Confringo spells. The resulting blast unleashed a concussive blast that knocked the first few rows of Death Eaters from their feet and severely disoriented the next couple of rows. This provided the other group members with an opportunity to take the offensive. Cho began Transfiguring the fallen Death Eaters into bags of sand to prevent them from awakening and resuming their attack. Hermione and Luna saw what she was doing and assisted her in Transfiguring the downed Death Eaters. Ron used the Leviosa charm to stack the newly formed bags of sand to create a wall that would protect the group from the next waves of Death Eaters. Harry and Neville were both panting as they took a moment to give each other a nod in acknowledgement while they caught their breath. The whole process took less than a minute; Neville and Harry had not quite caught their breath when the next group of Death Eaters arrived.
In the Great Hall Minerva McGonagall's Transfigured maze had been decimated. She had lost count of how many Death Eaters had passed through the doors to the Great Hall in an attempt to claim the Headmaster's seat as a throne for their master. Her heart shattered with every colleague that fell. Filius Flitwick was the first to fall. Rolanda Hooch was the second as she had ventured into the maze to intercept a wave of Death Eaters in the beginning of the battle. Aurora Sinestra had been the third to fall as her knowledge of Astronomy wasn't very well suited for battle. Of the teachers who had stood with Minerva in the Great Hall at the start of the battle only Pomona Sprout, Septima Vector, and Irma Pince remained. Minerva could not help wondering where Severus could be but she thought it better that she did not know, especially if he had elected to stand behind the Dark Lord Voldemort in his attempt to take the castle.
Minerva was brought back to the battle as she heard Kingsley Shacklebolt yell that another wave was coming. Minerva was deeply impressed by the wizard's abilities with a wand; she thought that they bordered on prodigious. The other Order members who had joined her in defending the hall had also been very impressive. Hestia Jones had come into her own as a witch since the time that the young raven-haired witch had left Hogwarts. Her charm work would have made Filius very proud; she had always been one of the small wizard's favorite students. Sturgis Podmore and Emmeline Vance had been invaluable and had banded together to create a formidable resistance before they were overwhelmed and fell victim to the killing curse. The members of the Weasley family in the room, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, and Charlie were holding the area nearest to the door forcing the Death Eaters who did not fall under their combined spell work onto the defensive as they entered the room. Charlie had been hit with a cutting curse and was in bad shape as Hogwarts defenders let out a collective sigh as they readied themselves for the next bout of combat.
AN: I contemplated ending this chapter with the battle that is going to unfold in the Great Hall but realized that would make the chapter abnormally long. So instead it will be included in the next chapter as I try to close up this story arc. As always, review would be appreciated. I'd really like to hit 50 by the time that Harry and Voldemort have their final confrontation. Please take a minute and help me get there.