PRELUDE TO WAR
The Eiffel Tower
Paris, France
November 13th
2022 A.D.
The sun was setting and the night was going to be a cold one.
Albus was simply sitting on the same bench, staring into the distance, waiting for a call or a sign of where he wanted to meet. He could almost see what was going to happen once he did and that's what really worried him. He knew he'd loose control. He'd give into his dark side and would care more about ripping him apart than saving his sister.
People looked at him in amazement as they walked past, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Some even came over to ask for his autograph. Of course, they'd probably run for their lives if they knew what kind of person he really was.
Athena had spelled it out pretty clearly. He was a monster and she actually wanted to be a monster with him.
His phone started to buzz. Slowly he took it out of his pocket and held it to his ear.
"Yeah?"
"Albus!" Wells voice sounded panicked.
"Wells?"
"You need to get to Hogwarts right now!"
"What? Why?"
"Because it's about to be attacked by the military!"
"What?!" Albus jumped off his seat.
"Whoever tried to crash our economy, just succeeded in crashing the Americans! They think it's Athena and they think she's at Hogwarts! They're moving in with a full military incursion!"
"It wasn't her! It couldn't have been!" he yelled, while simultaneously wondering if she was actually capable of something like that. "They're making a mistake, you have to stop this!"
"I can't! This comes straight from the President and the Prime Minister! It's a joint task force! They're already moving their troops into position!"
Albus didn't know what to. Stay and save Lily or leave her and save Hogwarts. Panic started to take over.
"I'll do what I can!" he hung up the phone and quickly dialed Aurora.
She picked up.
"Aurora! Where are you?"
"We're just heading to the Ministry now, why? What's wrong?" her voice asked.
"Hogwarts is about to be attacked by the muggle military! You have to stay away from the school!"
"What?! Why?!"
"They think Athena is responsible for attacking the U.S. Infrastructure. They also think that she is hiding at Hogwarts!"
"Jesus! What can we do?!"
"Stay away from Hogwarts!"
"What about everyone that's still there?" she asked gravely.
"Contact Tannis...maybe he can get them out..."
"It'll take hours to organize an evacuation of the school!"
"I know! But...I..."
"You can't leave her Albus! We'll hold the school until you get there!"
"NO! Aurora, I don't want you anywhere near that school!"
Charring Cross
London, England
November 13th
2022 A.D.
"Sorry Albus. This is why you wanted an army." she hung up the phone before he could argue again.
"What the hell is going on?" Lincoln asked instantly.
"The Muggles are about to attack Hogwarts. We have to stop them!"
"Whoa! Us against the muggle military?! They'll tear us apart!" Hugo blurted.
"Al is gonna find Lily, we just need to hold them long enough until he can get back!" she said quickly as her phone started to vibrate again. It was obviously Albus trying to convince her to stay away again. She ignored it. "Amelia, we need a portkey!"
The Vampire nodded and started looking around for anything she could use.
"Hogwarts has it's own defenses. We won't be fighting alone." Aurora said quickly. She pulled out her wand and pointed it in the air but stopped before casting any spells. "Harry, you better send the message to the Ministry. No one will believe it if it's from me."
Amazingly it actually took Harry three attempts before his ghostly white stag appeared and bolted away towards the Ministry. Then again, given recent events, it was a wonder that he managed to do it at all.
Amelia returned with a car number plate that she had probably ripped off a nearby vehicle.
Portus!
The number plate began to glow with blue light. "Grab it!"
They all took hold of the plate where ever they could. Suddenly London was replaced by a torrent of light and noise as the group vanished into thin air. One person remained. She had other plans.
Athena raised her hand to dark and cloudy sky calling down a lightning bolt. She was snatched up by the stream of electricity and carried into the sky.
Hogwarts
Scotland, U.K.
November 13th
2022 A.D.
The group appeared in mid air just above the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. They crashed down on top causing the students sat around it to yelp and jump out of their seats. It was dinner time at Hogwarts with all of the students sat around their tables and the teachers feasting at the end.
The picked them selves off the table and looked around at the startled students.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Professor Arken demanded.
Aurora didn't have time to be subtle or baby the students.
"EVERYONE PREPARE TO EVACUATE THE SCHOOL!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Aurora, what are you tal -" Tannis was cut off.
"The Muggle Military is preparing to assault the castle, we have to get as many people out of here as we can!" Lincoln explained quickly.
The students around the hall sprang to life. Some were muttering about how ridiculous the idea that the muggles would attack them was while others were looking very worried. The teachers at the end all seemed to to Lincoln and Aurora at their word.
"What?! Why?!"
"We don't have time to go through this! They're already on their way!"
Tannis thought for a second but as he did, he noticed something odd. "Where's Athena?!" he suddenly blurted.
They all looked around but she wasn't there. It quickly dawned on them what she had done.
"Oh bollocks! She didn't!" James sighed.
"Yes, she did!" Aurora hissed. "I swear I will kill that girl if she's ever stupid enough to come back!"
"But, they can't attack us if she's not here!"
There was a mad roaring sound from above that shook the entire Hall. A pair of fighter jets had just made a low level flyby of the school. Now all the students were frightened.
"Shit!" Lincoln rushed over to the nearest window and looked out. She spotted the fiery jet trails left behind by their engines.
"F-22's?" Amelia asked.
"No, worse...Typhoons!"
"Oh shit! They aren't taking any chances!"
"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked.
"British Typhoons fighter jets are fitted with Enhanced Paveway bombs. Bunker busters; enough firepower to level the entire castle!" Lincoln said quickly as he watched the two jets bank left for another pass over the school.
Hugo, along with many others went pale.
"They'll be taking Thermal Snapshots as well, mapping the terrain!"
"That means we can't you the secret passageways!" Amelia sighed worryingly.
"Ground troops will be hear any minute! We have to get these people out now!" Lincoln stressed.
The students were starting to panic.
"All right! Prefects, please lead your houses to their common room while the teachers and I activate the Floo connections. Please move calmly and quietly out of the Hall, there is no need to panic." They didn't seem very convinced.
Neville and Arken left the main hall to active the Floo points while Tannis, Parkinson, Laura Pomfrey and the other teachers walked over to Aurora and the others. Hagrid started to head for the exit.
"Hagrid, we need you here!" Tannis said quickly.
"But Grawp's all alone in the Forest!"
"Muggles won't enter the Forest. They know better than that!" Amelia said.
He grudgingly walked back over to the group looking nervously back towards the entrance.
"Aurora, you should go with the students." Harry said and received a cold glare for his troubles. Even though he looked ill and somehow weakened by being forced to leave the rescue of his daughter to someone else, for a second he was a lot more like his son than ever before.
"Not a chance!" she growled, moving aside of the mass of students.
"Aurora, he's right! You're pregnant! It's not safe for you here!" Ron, quite surprisingly agreed.
"We don't have time to argue about this! I'm staying!"
"Amelia! Get to a vantage point and relay what you see!" Lincoln ordered quickly. The Vampire darted out of the room much quicker than most expected. "Alex, you got a map of Hogwarts?"
Tannis pulled out his wand and made a few complex movements with it. Strange neon-like streams of light were projected in front of them.
"Where's Sophia?" Aurora asked as he worked.
"She went down to Hogsmead to see if Athena had turned up."
"We need to warn her!" said Violet.
"No! Don't. She'll be able to blend in with the people down there and slip away."
"You're sure?" Tannis asked, still waving his wand.
"Sophia's a surviver, she knows how to act in a crisis." Lincoln assured.
After a few seconds, a large 3D scale model of Hogwarts was floating over the table.
"It's not the Marauders Map but it'll have to do." he said.
"The schools defenses will kick in as soon as we order them to but I'm not sure how long they'll last." Professor Parkinson remarked. She seemed more than up for a fight but then she still didn't like muggles very much. "They weren't very effective against the Dark Lord."
"These guys are more dangerous than Death Eaters." Lynx said quietly.
Professor Parkinson snorted at that idea.
"She's right you know," Lincoln warned. "these aren't some kill-crazy dark wizards! These are professional soldiers, trained to protect each other while attacking the enemy and they're packing enough firepower to kill everyone in this castle. Twice!"
Parkinson seemed to shrink slightly.
A ghostly white Falcon suddenly shot through the double doors and came to rest on the table in front of them. It's beak opened and Amelia's voice sounded out.
"I'm up at the Astronomy Tower. They've set up a parameter around the entire school. Stay away from the windows!"
The bird dissolved into nothingness.
"What does mean?" James asked.
"Snipers." Lincoln said gravely.
The Eiffel Tower
Paris, France
November 13th
2022 A.D.
Albus had lost count of how many times he'd tried dialing her number. Now he was only getting a 'no service' message. Even though the wards had been dropped, you'd still need a EM shielded phone to get a signal inside Hogwarts.
He paced frantically in desperation. He couldn't leave Aurora and his baby to be attacked by Muggle military forces but he couldn't leave his sister to the whim of some crazed Anomaly either. Which was more important to him?
How could he weigh the lives of his own family?
The door flashed inside his mind, almost begging him to leave, to save Aurora.
He had to. He had to sacrifice Lily to save his own family. Lily knew that Aurora was pregnant and if she thought she was in danger, she would be the first to tell Albus to leave her. At least, that's what he told himself. In his heart he knew it probably wasn't true. The truth was that Lily, wherever she was, was terrified.
Suddenly the image of his baby sisters charcoal burned corpse entered his mind and a new wave of fear washed over him.
Suddenly, the sky in the distance lit up like one of Georges fireworks. A giant ball of fire engulfed the air about a mile away. That was the signal he'd been waiting for.
Albus knew he had one chance. Find him, kill him and get to Hogwarts as fast as possible. He blasted himself into the sky, heading towards the dissipating flames.
Hogwarts
Scotland, U.K.
November 13th
2022 A.D.
The heavy rumbling roar signaled another flyby of the jets above. But the noise didn't fully disappear this time, instead it was replaced by another more constant sound. Lincoln again stood up and checked the window, since he was the only one that could survive a snipers bullet to the head.
In the distance, a barrage of blinding spot lights were hovering over Hogsmead. Helicopters, a dozen of them. The ground troops were arriving and they'd no doubt eventually be backed up by heavy armor and artillery. He watched the helicopters drop ropes off their sides followed by soldiers sliding down them.
"Choppers are comin' in." Lincoln said coming back to the table. "they've secured Hogsmead."
"We're running out of time." Aurora said gravely.
A second Falcon Patronus flew into the great hall and landed on the table.
"They're bringing up Humvee's and Tanks to the east and have more on the way from the south west. Soldiers have control of Hogsmead and the Jets are covering the north and the west. Two full battalions of mixed infantry are moving into Hogsmead. American and British." The Falcon dissipated again.
"Jesus!" Aurora breathed.
"That's three thousand plus troops!" Hugo's voice shook.
"They'll completely overwhelm us!" James threated.
"We don't have to beat them, we just have to hold them!" Lincoln said quickly. He was probably the only person that didn't sound terrified. "They'll back off once Albus arrives!"
"What makes you so sure?!" Parkinson barked.
"Because unlike us, he's bulletproof! They have no defense against him!"
"Albus won't leave Paris until he has Lily!" Harry said quickly. He seemed to almost shudder at the mention of her name. He'd never been forced to simply deal with something else while another person was put in charge of saving the people he loved. Of course, if it were another other than Albus, he would have never agreed to leave.
"What about Athena! We have to tell them that she's not here!" Ron said franitcally. "If she's not here, then there's no reason to attack the castle!"
"You think they'll believes us, Dad? And even if they do, should we actually tell them where we think she is?" Hugo pipped up.
"That's got my vote!" Aurora mumbled.
The door at the back of the Hall burst open and Neville and Arken came walking out.
"The Floo network isn't responding!" Neville warned.
"What?!"
"How could the muggles cut off the Floo Network?!" James demanded.
"I don't know but they have!"
"They might have been able to sneak someone inside the Ministry." Scorpius theorized.
"They might have some kind of new technology that -" Rose added.
"It doesn't matter how they did it! That fact is that it's done!" Lincoln yelled above them all as they spewed out idea's about how it could have happened. "Professor Arken, move the Ravenclaw and Gryffindore students into the Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms, those towers are too exposed. Professor Longbottom, activate the schools defenses. Lock down the school."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Tannis asked. "we'll be cutting off our only means of escape!"
"They have the entire parameter covered, Alex. Something tells me that this kind of attack was planned along time ago. They know what they're doing!" Lincoln said gravely. "They've made sure that we can't get out...the only thing left is to make sure that they can't get in!"
Everyone was silent after he'd spoken. It suddenly dawned on them that they were indeed under attack from a far stronger enemy than they'd ever expected. Even in this day and age, a good portion of the wizarding world believed that the Muggles would never be a serious threat to the magical beings but that belief was being eroded away with every minute that passed.
"Professors...do as he says." Tannis sighed.
The halls double doors burst open suddenly. Everyone spun around with wands point only to breath a slight sigh of relief. Teddy Lupin and seven other Aurors entered the great hall.
"Teddy?" Harry looked slightly confused.
"We got your message. All the other Aurors are spread around the country and somethings wrong with the Floo network!" Teddy said quickly, walking over to them.
"We know. The muggles have found a way to take it down!" Ron added. "how did you get here?"
"Portkey."
"Then we can use Portkey's to get the students out!" Parkinson huffed.
"How many people here can make Portkeys?" Lincoln asked loudly.
"Aurora, Amelia and myself." Tannis answered.
"Three of you?! That's it?!" Lincoln looked towards Harry, Ron and Teddy.
"Don't look at me! Hermione made ours!" Teddy snapped.
"I've never even tried one." Ron said grimly.
"Never got one to work." Harry admitted.
"Unfortunately, Portkeys are one of the many spells that require not only determination, focus and skill but natural power as well." Tannis sighed.
"Not to mention that they're illegal..." Rose added quietly.
"Under the circumstances, I think they'd let us off sweetie." Scorpius said softly.
"Lynx?" Aurora asked. "We all know how powerful you are."
Lynx looked half embarrassed, half desperate. "I don't know...maybe...I've never tried!"
"Three, maybe four people making Portkeys for five hundred students? Not a chance! They'll breach before we get everyone out!" Lincoln spelled out the obvious.
"There might be one of avenue..." Tannis said, none to convincingly. "the wards of this school are still present but not active. If we can channel protections spells through them...we might be able to create a shield around the entire castle."
Everyone was silent for a second. Only the sound of distant helicopters and passing fighter jets could be heard.
"Has that ever been done?" Arken asked.
"No. But I think it's possible. Wards are just magical devices used to sustain a certain kind of spell. If we can manage it, it might hold them off long enough for Albus to get back."
"What if they bombard the shield?" Aurora asked.
Tannis grudgingly shook his head. "I don't think it'll hold."
Again everyone was silent. It seemed so impossible that they could be backed into this kind of corner so quickly by the muggles, but it was happening.
"Look," Harry said, raising his voice. "our goal here is to buy enough time for Albus to find Lily and get back here, right?" he looked around, seeing them nod. "so we use the shield for as long as we can, then...we fight them if we have to! Once Albus arrives, they'll have no choice but to retreat!"
Everyone seemed to nod in agreement.
"All right! Alex, take as many people as you need and start working on the wards. The rest of us will stay here and try to figure out a way to hold the school once the shield fails." Lincoln commanded.
"Dad..." Rose grabbed hold of her father. No one blamed her for showing her fear.
"I know baby. Don't worry. We'll be all right." Ron said, holding her tight.
"Look on the bright side, Rose," Hugo smiled. "should be one hell of a show."