Death
As the students entered the Great Hall that evening a gentle murmur of surprise and confusion filled the air. If the fact that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny, Joseph, Eileen, Emric, Woodring, Onric, Rufus Scrimgeour and Madam Bones were sitting at the Head Table, essentially displacing all of the teachers who were sitting at the house tables, or the fact that the several large backpacks were lined up in front of the Head Table was not enough then the fact that walls were lined with several hundred elves, high elves and wood elves (all dressed in combat gear) mixing freely and equally with each other, was certainly enough to let everyone know that something was up.
As Orville Burs entered the dining hall Harry watched him glance around and heard him murmur a soft, "Uh oh."
When Mark entered a few minutes later he looked up at Harry, an expectant look on his face. Harry frowned slightly but nodded and motioned for Mark to come up to the Head Table.
As Mark approached Harry stood up from Albus' traditional place at the Head Table and walked around to meet Mark at the front of the stage. Picking up a small daypack from the collection of backpacks arrayed against the table he walked over and sat down on the top step and waited for Mark to reach him.
When Mark joined him on the steps Harry opened the pack and withdrew a small mirror set into an ornate wooden frame. "We finally got it to work. Your parents have the other one."
Mark reached out and gingerly accepted the gift, several tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you," he whispered.
Harry smiled and patted Mark on the shoulder. "No problem." Looking back into the pack Harry studied its contents for a few moments then pulled the drawstring tight. "The other mirror in here is a direct link to headquarters. If things go against us, even though Albus and Tonks will be with you, you are in charge of organizing the students and keeping them calm for the evacuation. You will have help from Albus, Tonks and a few house elves to help you but they will look to you for leadership because you are closer to their own age and will respond to you much more readily than they will anyone else."
Mark smiled.
"You have their respect, Mark" Harry cautioned, "but don't abuse your power because that is the fastest and easies way to turn your friends into enemies."
Mark looked at the mirror in his hands, turning it over several times as if studying it from every angle, then, after an indeterminable amount of time, looked back up at Harry and said, "Alright then. I won't let you down, Harry."
Looking down at the floor in front of himself for several seconds, gradually becoming aware that that the room was filling up and that a few people were watching him, Harry reached up and brushed the unexplainable tears from his eyes. Standing up he handed the daypack to Mark and, his laden thick with the emotions of what was about to happen, said a heartfelt, "Thank you."
As Mark left to rejoin his classmates Harry began pacing the length of the apron. When Mark was sitting between Albus and Remus he stopped at center stage and looked out at his audience. In his heart he knew that this would be the last time he would see many of them alive and it was slowly killing him but at the same time he knew that they were expecting him to be strong, to be their shining light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Planting his feet firmly on the stone dais Harry squared his shoulders and addressed his friends, colleagues and fellow students. "Ladies and gentlemen …" he began, "for you truly are ladies and gentlemen, for the past several months we have been training to fight a battle that will decide the future of our world, if not the entire world as we know it. If Tom Riddle and his followers were to have their way there would be no freedom. Many of you, and many of your friends, would be killed because, according to their twisted doctrines, you are unworthy. Your blood is not pure enough to be allowed to survive." Pausing briefly, Harry relaxed his shoulders and began slowly exploring his stage. "What most of you don't know is that their leader, Tom Riddle, is a half-blood. His mother was a witch and his father was a muggle. His blood is even less pure than my own because while my father was a pure blooded wizard, at least my mother was a muggle-born witch. But that is not the issue. We are fighting to uphold your rights to study and learn magic because you have the desire and ability to do so while they are fighting to take away those rights because many of you do not meet the artificially induced standards they have set. Their goal is to dominate and control. Our goal is to secure the rights of the people to choose so that we, the people, and our children and our children's children can be free to make our own decisions."
A gentle murmur rippled through the Great Hall as the stark, black-and-white differences between the two positions became clear to everyone in the auditorium.
"Most of you know what our enemy is capable of, some more than others. At nine o'clock tonight those of you who have been training to defend positions in Diagon Alley, Saint Mongo's and the Ministry of Magic will be taking portkeys to your staging grounds and those of us who have been training to defend Hogwarts and Hogsmeade will begin our preparations because at dawn tomorrow morning Tom Riddle and his followers have scheduled simultaneous attack at all four locations." Harry made eye contact with Pansy Parkinson as a murmur of dismay rippled through the crowd. "All first- through fourth-year students will report to the evacuation center, the entrance to which is located in the girls bathroom on the second floor. Professors Dumbledore and Tonks and a few of Hogwarts' house elves will be joining you to keep order and to help you settle in. If things start to go against us, arrangements have been made to evacuate all of you to a secure location in London."
Turning and making eye contact with a sixth-year Huffelpuff boy he said, "There is a very real possibility that we may meet any number of former classmates in this battle. Disarm and bind if you can. If you are unable you accomplish this through conventional means do not be afraid to hurt them. Don't kill them. Just disable them. We'll let our friends from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement sort thins out after the fighting is over."
Turning back to Pansy he said, "I had an opportunity to observe a few of my former classmates last summer and …" he hesitated. "I don't know how else to say this, but if you thought Draco Malfoy was a dangerous bully before he is ten times worse now. He must be stopped. Not killed but stopped. If you meet him in battle disarm and bind first, ask questions later."
Stepping back he picked up one of the backpacks. "These packs have been loaded with chest belts similar to those used last Christmas and a variety of medical supplies. You all know the procedure: Each will receive a belt. The egg-shaped objects are Fred and George's Weasley Whizbang Wetstart Fireworks. The red one's are for attacking and the green ones are for distraction. The boxes on the hip belts are specially modified Portable Swamps. Each of you will have four Distraction Grenades, four Attack Grenades and two Portable Swamps. Use them at you discretion but don't get carried away. The pouches on the hip belts are filled with Potter Charms. Each charm will last five minutes. Use them as a last resort, to protect yourself while changing positions or to assist in any evacuations. As before, each chest belt is fitted with a portkey for emergency evacuations. They will bring you straight here, to the Great Hall."
After setting the backpack back down Harry turned back to his audience and said, "Your Team Leader will be in charge of your team's backpack until you reach your assigned posts and get everything set up. After that your team's Medical Officer will be in charge of its contents. There are bandages, wraps, potions and a variety of creams and salves in each pack. Those of you who are healers-in-training, your objective is to treat, stabilize and evacuate. If you have any questions ask your team's house elves to transport your patients back to Hogwarts.
"Your Field Commanders will be: For Diagon Alley, Ronald Weasley and Joseph; for Saint Mungo's, Luna Lovegood and Hermione Granger; for the Ministry of Magic, Madam Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour; for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, Neville Longbottom and myself. Ginny Weasley is in charge of defending the castle proper."
Harry was silent for several seconds as he screwed himself up for his final statements. If preparing his schoolmates for war had been hard, sending them into harms way was exponentially more difficult. He didn't like what he was about to say but he would not lie to them. Returning to center stage he closed his eyes and bowed his head, waiting for the whispering to die down. When it finally had he opened his eyes and looked up, making eye contact with Mt Filch who was standing beside one of the open doors. "I won't lie to you," he said softly. "Thus far we have been lucky, our casualties have been relatively light while those of our foes have been comparatively high. I know I really don't have to say this because most of you know the odds. Some of us may die tomorrow." A twisted grin flashed briefly across his face. "I … My goal is to stop Tom Riddle. I haven't been training with the rest of you as much as I probably should have. The reason for this is that I have been training to face Tom Riddle one last time. I honestly don't know if I will survive the encounter but I do know that even if I do die, I will take him down and you will all know when it happens."
Looking around the room, making eye contact whenever possible, Harry smiled softly and said, "And now I leave you to your thoughts. Enjoy your dinners and think it over. No one will hold anything against you if you should back out." After taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly and chewing on his lower lip for several seconds he concluded by saying, "That is all. For those of you who wish to fight we will be meeting back in here at eight-thirty."
The Great Hall was unusually silent that evening as the students contemplated their futures. Everyone, even some of the most rambunctious first-years seemed to recognize the gravity of the situation. There were many whispered conversations during dinner that evening but few dared speak openly.
Several of the students who had been at Hogwarts over the summer holidays looked up at Harry from time to time, a cautiously optimistic glint in their eyes. Whenever Harry caught one of them looking at him he was glad that they did not look away, but the look in their eyes disturbed him. It was almost as if they were asking themselves if he was really willing to sacrifice himself for their future.
As 8:30 approached Harry was both surprised and dismayed that everyone who had attended boot camp and survived the attack on the Hogwarts Express had returned to the Great Hall prepared to fight. Looking out at the sea of faces before him the unbidden tears returned and he found it hard to speak. Albus and Tonks were in the Chamber of Secrets with the first- through fourth-years. The house elves had moved all of the students' belongings into the storerooms in the chamber and most had reported to the Great Hall to accompany their assigned teams.
As the team leaders claimed their packs and the teams assembled Harry thanked each of them individually, shaking most of their hands in a heartfelt gesture and hugging a few. Millicent Bulstrode surprised him by pulling him into a gentle hug and whispering, "We talked it over, Harry, and if you are willing to die for us we are willing to die for you." As they parted he looked at her and she continued, "We are all going to fight like we are going to life to see our freedoms preserved; but if we die, we die with honor."
As Harry stepped back he had to blink back the tears. "Thank you," he whispered, his voice once again choked with emotion. As he looked around he noticed that almost everyone was smiling and giving him a thumbs up.
As nine o'clock approached and the students and elves assembled themselves along the long ropes that would serve as their portkeys Harry returned to the stage and looked out at this generation of heroes and heroines, many of whom would give their lives for the cause of freedom within the next 24 hours, and smiled, forcing his lips to convey a message of hope in spite of the grief that was already beginning to fill his heart. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "for most of the past year we have been training and fighting to defend our freedoms. Tonight we go on the offensive. In a few minutes your portkeys will activate and you will be met by your contacts in Diagon Alley, Saint Mongo's and the Ministry of Magic. You will have nine hours to prepare your battle stations."
After making eye contact with several members from each of the four houses as well as a number of high elves, wood elves and house elves he closed his eyes briefly, trying to memorize their faces so that he would not forget who he was fighting for, and then opened them again. Some of those standing closest to him stepped back slightly as a smoldering fire seemed to be reflected in his eyes. "From here on out you are fighting for your freedom, your childrens' freedom and your childrens' childrens' freedom. Good luck."
Moments before the portkeys activated a thundering cheer of "Remember Cedric!" filled the Great Hall.
As the echoes died away Harry looked around at the teachers, the remaining students and all of the elves who had volunteered to participate in the defense of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and who were willing to give their lives to put an end to Tom Riddle's reign of terror. "Alright people," he said, more forcefully than he had thought possible even moments earlier. "We have nine hours. Up until now everything has been planning and rehearsal because we couldn't take any chances. So let's get to it." With that he shouldered his own pack and jumped off the stage, calling for teams 'H' one through five to follow him, as Neville shouldered his pack and called for teams 'H' six through ten.
When Ron, Joseph and their ten assault teams landed on the street outside of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes a few stumbled but most remained on their feet, their knees slightly bent to absorb the impact. Moments later the store's lights came on and one of the twins opened the door. Ron immediately drew his wand and pointed it at the intruder. They had devised an intricate system of passwords to ensure that they were dealing with friendly forces and this was to be their first test. "Where are you from?" Ron demanded.
The twin smiled easily. "I am from somewhere north of south, south of north, east of west and west of east. Why, have the Chudly Cannons won a game?"
"Ron scowled at this jab at his favorite quidditch team but responded nonetheless. "Yes, I believe they beat the Holyhead Harpies in 1938." Apparently changing the subject Ron said, "Have you seen any bats lately?"
The twin appeared to be enjoying this way too much. "Only a few. Mostly those in your belfry."
Ron grumbled something about stupid passwords and moronic brothers.
"So tell me," the twin said, "how many student bird watchers are at Hogwarts?"
"Six," Ron said. Five are in Gryffindor and one is in Ravenclaw. We do have one honorary bird watcher, though. He is in Gryffindor."
The twin stepped back into the light and opened the door wide. "Mr. Ollivander is in the back room."
Ron offered a quick nod. "Alright, then." Turning to Joseph he said, "Joseph, you have teams one through five. I suggest you secure Knockturn Alley first."
Joseph nodded.
"Good luck and be careful."
Joseph smiled softly, motioning for his assault teams to follow him down and across the narrow causeway.
As Mr. Ollivander appeared hurrying down an aisle in Fred and George's joke shop Ron turned to his assault teams. "Our first task is to transport all of Mr. Ollivander's stock to our safe house and replace his inventory with Fred and George's fake wands. We have three hours so let's go!"
For the next seven hours the ten Diagon Alley Assault Teams moved from shop to shop, securing irreplaceable and potentially dangerous merchandise, replacing it with a variety of Fred and George's prank items that had been disguised to look like the original products. The goal was to remove any products the death eaters might try to use as weapons while planting a few surprises for them in the process.
At five o'clock in the morning, with several Knockturn Alley lurkers stunned, bound, gagged, disarmed and in goblin custody, the 102 student and elf defenders sat down to a catered breakfast, courtesy of those house elves that had stayed behind to defend the castle and take care of its needs. At 5:30, after all of the chest and hip belts had been passed out, the assault teams secured their locations and settled in to wait. By 5:45 the street looked no different than it would any other morning before the shops opened. They were a little early but that was fine. It would give them a few extra minutes to settle their nerves and observe.
The plan was for the students to begin slowly blending in with the regular traffic beginning at around 7:00 and to be fully integrated into the local population by 8:30. Since they were expecting the most trouble to come from the residents of Knockturn Alley, Ron and Joseph and twenty of their best fighters would be patrolling that quarter, sticking to the shadows whenever possible. The death eaters were not supposed to begin their attack until 9:00, but if they could thin their numbers before the attack began then their three hours of waiting would have been well worth the effort.
When Hermione, Luna and their ten Assault teams arrived in the lobby of Saint Mungo's Francis Stone looked up from the reception desk and began the scripted conversation that would confirm their identities. This conversation, unlike the one used in Diagon Alley, had been scripted in such a way that, had anyone been in the waiting room when they arrived, it would not have sounded overly suspicious. Their sudden appearance and the fact that they were traveling with a number of elves might have raised a few eyebrows but that couldn't be helped. Fortunately, the waiting room had been empty when they arrived.
A sixth-year Huffelpuff boy coiled the rope while Hermione, Luna and Francis confirmed identities. When the confirmations were complete Francis stood up and walked around the desk. Looking around the rooms at the 102 people who were willing to put themselves in harms way to protect the healers and their patients Francis took in a long, slow and deep breath and let it out in a sigh. He had already worked on several of these students. He just hoped wouldn't be putting any of them together again tomorrow. But then again, he would rather work feverishly to heal a burn, broken bone or wound than prepare even one their bodies for burial at day's end.
For the past two months all of the Saint Mungo's team members had been studying pictures and biographies of all of the Saint Mungo's employees so that they would know who was and was not employed by the hospital. They had also been provided with pictures and personality sketches of all of their long-term care patients and their family members so that they would know what to expect on that front. The difficulty lay in the constantly changing short-term care and emergency room patient populations. There was no way of knowing who was and was not a legitimate patient or visitor.
The logistics involved with designing a defensive strategy for Saint Mungo's had been a nightmare. In the end it had been decided that most of the long-term spell damage patients, including Neville's parents and Gilderoy Lockhart, would be moved to the hospital wing Harry had included in his redesign of the Chamber of Secrets. These moves were being made, as in the cases of Frank and Alice Longbottom, to protect the patients. In the case of Gilderoy Lockhart, he was being moved to keep him out of the way.
Neville knew that his parents were being moved but he had not been told that they were being moved to Hogwarts. That would have been too much. Harry had no doubt that Neville could handle it but he didn't want him distracted by the thought that his parents were so close and that he would personally be defending their position. All Neville had been told was that they were being evacuated to an undisclosed location. Neville had not liked being kept in the dark about his parents' location but he had gradually accepted it.
The Hogwarts house elves would be transporting these patients to Hogwarts because they could apparate through the wards with minimal disturbance. These transfers would not begin until shortly after midnight because they wanted the patients to be asleep when they were moved. If all went well a few of the patients might notice a slight difference but would not be traumatized by the experience and would be back at Saint Mungo's 24 hours later.
As the assault teams secured their positions, at least one team per floor and covering all possible entrances and exits, they transfigured their robes to blend, placing an emblem in the collars of their uniforms so that they could be identified as friendly if any of them should go down. At 2:00 A.M., after all of the preparations had been made, the assault teams posted sentries and tried to get some sleep. Of all of the teams arrayed against the death eaters their tasks would be the most difficult. Not only would it be close-quarters combat – sometimes room-to-room, hallway-to-hallway and floor-to-floor – but they would also be defending employees and patients while doing everything in their power to take down the death eaters who, according to their intelligence, were only being tasked with causing as much death and destruction as possible.
Ron, Neville and Hermione had specifically included most of Emric's best archers in the Saint Mungo's Assault Teams, as well as Joseph's most accomplished martial artists, because most of them could, figuratively speaking, thread a needle with either an arrow or a throwing star at fifty paces. Luna and Ginny had worked with the house elves to establish an emergency evacuation protocol for shuttling patients, healers and nurses between Saint Mungo's and Hogwarts as soon as the fighting began. This was in addition the evacuation protocols that had been established for transporting patients from Diagon Alley, the Ministry of Magic and Hogsmeade. For his part, Harry had created a hospital wing in the Chamber of Secrets that was double the size of the main Hogwarts Hospital Wing and spent a lot of time and money stocking it with everything he, Poppy and Victor thought they would need.
Arthur and Percy Weasley met Madam Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour and their assault teams in the Ministry's atrium. Their confirmation conversation was brief and to the point. As soon as their identities had been confirmed Arthur and Rufus shook hands as did Percy and Madam Bones. This was the final confirmation and a signal to the ministry's aurors that all was as it should be.
A few minutes later 100 students and elves were sitting in an auditorium with 250 aurors and hit wizards going over the joint operations plan that had been hammered out over the past several months. Some of the veteran aurors were eyeing the students and elves warily and shifting uncomfortably in their seats. They had met their Hogwarts and elven counterparts several times over the past year and knew that they were more than capable. What made them nervous was the fact that most of these teenagers and their friends were more battle hardened and better trained than most of them.
The plan was for the students and elves to do most of the fighting while the aurors and hit wizards defended the ministry's assets. Some had objected to the plan of including the students but after watching them in action, while defending the Hogwarts Express, had changed their minds. The aurors and hit wizards would defend the ministry's assets and stay out of the students' way. When it was over they would apparate to the various battlefields and take charge of any survivors, if there were survivors.
In times of war certain actions and deeds must be forgiven those fighting for the restoration of freedom. Under Amelia Bones' administration the ministry had passed a number of resolutions exonerating those fighting against Tom Riddle and his Death Eaters of a number of very specific crimes. These laws had been designed to forgive those fighting to defend the lives, liberties, rights, freedoms and physical possessions of those either directly or indirectly affected by the war of a number of very specific crimes. Death was an inevitable outcome of war. The use of any of the unforgivable curses and intentionally injuring people so that they would die of their injuries, however, were not.
Many of the aurors and hit wizards who had observed the air battle at Wizard's Gulch had cringed at the brutality of some of the tactics used to defend the Hogwarts Express but could not, in all honesty, think of anything they would have done differently. These students were actually very frightening in combat situations. And if their elven fiends were even half as motivated as these teenagers then most of the aurors and hit wizards actually felt sorry for the death eaters because they knew that very few would survive; and those that did would need major medical attention if they were to live. The one thing a few of the most senior members of the Magical Law Enforcement Community were glad about was the fact that the Weasley brothers and the Granger girl had been separated for this battle. It had taken weeks to undo some of the combined curses they had used last Christmas and they were not looking forward to unlocking any more of those combinations any time soon.
When their briefing ended at 11:30 the assault teams and defenders left the auditorium to secure their positions and get some sleep. The goal was to keep as much of the fighting as possible confined to the atrium but the possibility did exist that they would be involved in quite a bit of close-quarters, room-to-room combat so they prepped their areas an took turns sleeping.
Bill, Charley, Mrs. Weasley and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix met Harry and Neville and the Hogsmeade Assault Teams at the edge of the school's apparation wards. After their brief confirmation conversation the non-student members of the Order of the Phoenix continued on to help Ginny and the teachers reestablish the school's defenses and assist in the evacuation of patients from Saint Mungo's.
The planning for Hogsmeade had actually begun as soon as they had decided to rebuild after the attack in June. All of the building materials had been charmed to withstand just about anything any witch or wizard or muggle could throw at them. They didn't know if it could withstand a nuclear attack but at least a few of the muggle-born students were of the opinion that there were enough layers of magical protection on both the buildings and their materials that it would be close.
The difficulties involved with defending Hogsmeade lay in the fact that it was a freestanding village with multiple entrances and exits. They had already reinforced all of the tunnels and warded them against anyone wearing the dark mark. This made the first project of the evening the rather arduous task of establishing anti-apparation wards around the entire village and linking them to Hogwarts' wards to make them stronger and to make it more difficult for anyone to sneak up on them. They wanted most of the fighting to take place in Hogsmeade, which would spare Hogwarts for the finale. The hard part, if everything went according to plan, would be luring Tom onto the castle grounds and, potentially, into at least the Entrance Hall.
As midnight approached, while Harry, Neville, Aberforth and a few others were still working on the anti-apparation wards, most of Hogsmeade, pets included, was evacuated to Hogwarts and the Chamber of Secrets. By 3:00 A.M. the wards were finished and most of the traps had been set. The wood elves, centaurs and acromantulas began patrolling the Forbidden Forest and surrounding woodlands at 4:00 A.M. and the high elves posted additional sentries at strategic locations on the hills surrounding Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. By 5:00 A.M. everything was set and the Hogsmeade Assault Teams settled in to wait.
After almost an hour of waiting Harry approached Neville and cast a privacy charm. When Neville looked up, a curious expression on his face, Harry took off his cloak and began unfastening the buckles holding Gryffindor's sword in place on his back. "Neville," he said, "I want you to wear this." Neville opened his mouth to protest but Harry cut him off. "The blade has been treated with basilisk venom because that is one of the few ways a horcrux can be destroyed." Neville's eyes widened. "Tom created six horcruxes. I've already destroyed five of them. The last one is his snake, Nagini. Tom is keeping Nagini with him at all times. As you know, we have some of our best archers stationed around both Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. They will, of course, be helping in the fighting but they have also been given the order to, if given the chance, separate Tom and Nagini. I'm going to be busy dueling Tom. I need you to kill that snake, cut its head off with the sword. It has to be done before I can cast the purgatory charm. If Nagini isn't destroyed before I cast the charm there is a very real possibility that he will escape death and haunt this world as a malevolent presence, capable of possessing the unsuspecting, for an eternity and more."
Neville took the sword and, drawing it from its scabbard, inspected the length of its blade. He had excelled in sword fighting over the summer and could hold his own (for a few minutes only) against some of Joseph's most capable warriors. He knew what a good blade looked and felt like and Gryffindor's sword was a work of art. After taking a few practice swipes Neville carefully slid the sword back into its scabbard. "Very nice," he said. "Who made this sword anyway?"
Harry smiled at Neville's interest in sword fighting. "It's goblin made'" he said, "which brings me to my other request."
Neville finished buckling the shoulder strap then stopped and looked at Harry expectantly. "If I die, Neville," Harry said softly, "I need you to make sure Ragnok, the head goblin at Grongotts, get it."
Neville was silent as he buckled hip belt then looked up. "Why?"
Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "This sword is worth a great deal in the goblin world and I took a blood oath to ensure it is delivered into Ragnok's hands after the war in exchange for his assistance in destroying two of the horcruxes."
Even though the sun was not yet up Harry could see the blood drain from Neville's face. "A blood oath?" Neville whispered, his voice a mixture of fear, uncertainty and disbelief. Then, as the first rays of light began to make their presence known in the upper reaches of the atmosphere a glint of determination came into Neville's eyes. "I won't let you down, Harry," he said with a resolute nod, "on either request."
Harry smiled. He and Neville really had bonded since the end of their fifth year and he knew that if there was anyone he could trust with these tasks it was Neville. Pulling Neville into a manly hug he said, "Thanks."
Neville, apparently not quite sure how he should respond, tentatively patted Harry on the back and said, "Sure, no problem."
Most of the Diagon Alley Team members had gotten less than two hours of sleep n the last 24 when the first silent alarms – charms designed to let the casters know when someone wearing the dark mark entered their territory – went off, but their training had conditioned them to be wide awake and alert at the first signs of danger. Even Ron, who normally enjoyed getting as much sleep as possible, was on his feet within seconds of the first alarms going off.
Over the course of the next hour The Diagon Alley Teams slowly blended in with shoppers and their spouses and children as they went about their business. They carefully observed everyone, both on the street and in the shops, mentally placing each of them into one of three categories based upon their mannerisms and activities. They were either innocent bystanders, unknowns or hostile forces.
The innocent bystanders were those who went about their business as if it was just another day. The unknowns were the window shoppers who did nothing but look. They went from store to store and browsed the shelves and racks but didn't buy anything. Those they identified as hostile forces were acting suspiciously. Some of them were continually checking their watches while others kept glancing at each other or were a little to obvious as they attempted to blend in.
While the students blended in as best they could on the streets and in the shops most of the elves kept their hoods up, for obvious reasons. Their slightly tapered ears would have given them away and the death eaters, as well as everyone else, would have would have known that something was not as it seemed. A few of the better archers were perched on rooftops, under disillusionment charms, poised to disarm or, if necessary, kill as many death eaters as possible.
By 8:59 the students and elves had established 25 definite targets with an additional 46 possible death eaters. The problems lay in protecting the civilians and the unknown numbers of enemy combatants that might still be lurking in Knockturn Alley.
At 8:59 and 30 seconds Ron opened the door to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and stepped out into Diagon Alley. Glancing casually first to his left and then to his right he checked his teams' positions and, through an intricate series of hand signals, nods and eye blinks learned the positions of the five closest death eaters. Thirty seconds later Ron, having intentionally walked to the center of the street in hopes of drawing fire away from any nearby pedestrians, dived and rolled as the first curses began flying and Diagon Alley exploded into a war zone. Fortunately no one was injured in that first volley but the unfortunate death eaters who cast those spells would never cast another spell as bolts and arrows plunged through the backs of their hands, shattering bones and severing nerves. As the civilians panicked and ran screaming towards any shelters they could find these unfortunate death eaters went down in screams of agony. The final battle had begun and Ron was not in the mood to take any prisoners. He would not intentionally kill anyone but if they died of their injuries - injuries incurred as a result stopping them from carrying out their plans – he would let them die.
The first few minutes of the Battle for Diagon Alley were the most confusing of the entire day. Not only were they fighting to defeat Tom's forces but they had to defend themselves while protecting the innocent bystanders and getting then to safety. The real problems, death eaters aside, came in the form of untrained witches and wizards whose egos would not let them back down from a fight, even if they were monumentally outclassed. A few of these wannabe heroes received life-threatening injuries and were immediately evacuated to Hogwarts. For the most part, however, they were stunned and unceremoniously dumped just inside the door of the nearest safe house – one of the seven shops in the alley that had been designated as on-site evacuation shelters – where the shop keepers and attendant elves would revive them, tend to their injuries, escort them each shop's back room where portkeys were waiting to whisk them away if the battle should go against the students and explain, as gently as possible, to these would-be defenders that they were untrained and would only get in the way, and possibly killed, if they attempted to rejoin the fight. Some people's feelings were hurt but when they peeked out at the carnage that was taking place just beyond the reinforced shop windows most were quick to agree that the fighting was best left to the professionals.
As the battle moved into its second phase – after all of the non-combatants had been evacuated from the battlefield – Ron and Joseph and their troops could focus on the Death Eaters and their spell work. There was no doubt about it, their spells were much more powerful than they should have been. For example, it should have taken several dozen blasting curses to even crack the marble pillars supporting the portico in front of Gringotts but one of the Death Eaters had shattered both of them with a single curse. Several of the students' eyes had widened when this happened but then their training kicked in and they began using their brains to beat back the Death Eaters' brawn.
The street fighting went on for hours. There were several deaths on both sides and more than enough blood spilled to paint every store in the shopping district with several coats of the warm, crimson liquid. During a lull in the fighting a five-year-old little girl raced out of the store across from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to rescue the doll she had dropped when she had been evacuated from the street. One of Joseph's men was restraining her mother behind the closed door. Fred, who was stationed just inside the door of their shop with George to help any injured students or elves to safety threw the door open when he saw the little girl run into the street. His original intent had been to run out, scoop her up into his arms and continue on to reunite her with her mother. As he began running, however, a particularly evil looking Death Eater pointed his wand at the little girl and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"
Fred, running on instinct alone, yelled, "Noooooooo!" and dived in front of the curse.
Time slowed for George as Fred flew through the air. Fred passed in front of the girl just in time for the curse to strike his side. His lifeless body continued on in its trajectory, crashing to the ground just beyond the little girl.
When the day-shift healers, nurses and employees began arriving at Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries at 6:00 A.M. they were met by an intense screening process which included several layers of identity verification. After they had successfully passed through the screening process each of them was escorted to their regular shift report where they were briefed on the reasons behind the heightened security and the procedures for the day. The Saint Mungo's Assault Teams would stay out of their way as much as possible so that they could go about their business as usual. When the fighting started they were told to find a room, close and lock the doors and protect the patients. Under no circumstances were they to venture out into any of the hallways or corridors until the fighting was over and someone had come to get them. The Long-term Spell Damage Ward nurses were evacuated to Hogwarts so that they could care for their patients in relative safety.
As the morning progressed Hermione, Luna, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass and Orville Burns rotated through the waiting room to observe the day's patients and take notes. As they rotated out of the waiting room they passed their notes along to the various assault teams so that they would have a better idea as to which patients could pose a threat. Again, it was an exercise in profiling. Hermione and Luna were two of the best observers but Pansy and Daphne weren't far behind and, despite his best efforts to deny it, Orville really was a fairly adept profiler.
At 8:52 several suspicious looking witches and wizards entered the lobby from the street and Luna, who had just begun her most recent rotation, reached into her pocket and activated the silent alarm that she and Hermoine had layered onto the fake galleons they had used two years earlier.
Hermione was on the fifth floor at the time and when she felt the galleon's alarm go off. Quickly pulling her galleon from one of the inside pockets of her robes she saw that Luna had activated the charm. A split second later she realized that Luna was in the lobby and, as defenders went, alone. Raising her wand she shot a stream of bright red sparks down the corridor. As the sparks split and turned down the different corridors Hermione turned and ran down the stairs. Pansy and Daphne joined her on the fourth floor landing, but they split up on the third floor as they ran towards their respective battle stations.
Hermione could hear doors slamming shut as she ran down the halls. She even heard a few scuffles as suspected Death Eaters were subdued. She stopped running when she reached the second floor landing because she didn't want to make too much noise, thus alerting any of the Death Eaters to her presence. When she reached the ground floor she glanced through opening and made eye contact with the receptionist who, in turn, made eye contact with Luna. Moments later the receptionist looked back at Hermione and gave a barely perceptible nod to indicate to her that Luna was aware of her presence.
At 8:58 Orville walked into the lobby from the street and approached the receptionist. "Could I help you, sir," she asked, visibly relieved that the fifth human member of the team that would be guarding the lobby had arrived.
"Yes," Orville said loudly enough for Hermione and Luna to hear his response but not so loudly as to be obvious that he was confirming his identity. "Healer McCartney worked on my knee last summer and asked me to come in for a checkup. He wants to see how I am progressing."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Orville's job, at her signal, had been to check around the perimeter of Saint Mungo's to get an estimate of how many Death Eaters were waiting to attack the building from the outside. As the receptionist checked her schedule Orville used the tip of his wand to, using muggle mores code, tap out 60. Hermione's eyes widened slightly at this news but, with a glint of determination in her eyes, squared her shoulders and prepared herself for battle.
When the receptionist pretended to find Orville's name in her appointment book she said, "Ah, yes, here you are, Mr. Burns. You have a 9:15 appointment with Healer McCartney. If you will have a seat I will call you when she is ready for you."
Orville nodded and stood up. Suddenly spinning around he expertly disarmed two of the seven suspected Death Eaters that were already in the waiting room. Pansy, Hermione and Daphne quickly entered the fray while Luna shielded the legitimate patients. The receptionist ducked behind her desk as three high elves and two wood elves emerged from the shadows and joined the battle.
Again, the battle at Saint Mungo's raged for hours. The additional challenge that all of the Saint Mungo's Assault Teams had trained for, but consciously forgotten, was keeping as much of the fighting as possible contained within the walls of Saint Mungo's. Since it was located in the heart of London they did not want any spells leaving the building because the cleanup would have been a nightmare. This was why the teams had spent hours reinforcing all of the doors and windows. But with the new power-sharing properties of the Dark Mark no one knew how long they would hold.
Two hours into the fight Orville and Daphne, natural dueling partners, were holding three Death Eaters at bay when one of them got a cutting hex through that hit him in the knee. The result was a particularly bloody traumatic amputation of his left leg at the knee. As he went down he sent a particularly powerful blasting hex at the man. The hex hit him square in the face. The resulting shower of blood, brains and bone was enough to repulse even the most determined Death Eater.
When Daphne saw Orville go down she ignored the repulsive rain and screamed, "LUNA! Orville, Now!"
Luna's head jerked up. When she saw Orville she yelled, "Cover Me!"
If the Death Eaters had thought the fighting was ferocious before, it was nothing compared to what they experienced for the next hour.
Luna dove out from behind the remains of a couch and vaulted then rolled to Orville's side. Orville was in shock. His eyes were glassy; the blood had drained from his face and he was drenched in a cold sweat.
Luna's first order of business was to stop the bleeding, which she did with a quick wave of her wand. The next order of business was to treat him for shock. This was a little more difficult given the situation but she accomplished it in a few minutes. After that she summoned his severed leg and quick-froze it so that the healers could reattach it if it was not too damaged. As soon as he was stable she summoned their team's house elves and had him transported directly to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing with instructions to push the fluids. After that she rejoined the battle and fought at least as ferociously as Daphne, Hermione, Pansy and their elven counterparts. If any of these Death Eaters survived it would pure chance. All of the teams had been training together for the past two months and what they were discovering was that each of them was fiercely protective of their teammates. If one member of any of the teams went down the others would pull out all the stops to avenge his or her death or injury.
The ministry employees began arriving at 6:30. Arthur and Percy Weasley, Rufus Scrimgeour, Madam Bones and most of the Aurors and Hit Wizards had spent the night in their offices so they were already there but for those who had not it was an intimidating scene that greeted them as they entered the atrium. For those who were accustomed to being among the first to arrive it was somewhat more than disconcerting to see several small knots of people using the atrium as a gymnasium. Some were running laps while others were performing a variety of stretches or running through their exercise routines. The most intimidating displays, however, were those pairs who were locked in what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be duels to the death. Some were battling with traditional wands but others were doing battle with swords or staffs while still others were throwing each other around and delivering punishing kicks and blows that would stagger, if not incapacitate a normal man. What really set some of the early arrivals back were their weapons. Carefully arranged in two rows along the centerline of the atrium were a variety of weapons, ranging from longbows and quivers of arrows to broadswords and throwing stars with the occasional wand thrown in for good measure. It was a truly intimidating site.
By seven o'clock small crowds of employees had gathered around some of the more spectacular displays and were watching, slack jawed, as humans, wood elves and high elves sparred. Most had never seen either a wood elf or a high elf so were slightly confused by the tapered ears.
At 7:05 Madam Bones voice broke the trancelike states the new arrivals had slipped into. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," she said. "Today we have the honor of hosting a small demonstration of both armed and unarmed combat that is being put on by a few of the students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as some of their elven friends – yes, ladies and gentlemen, those are high elves and wood elves. The formal demonstration will not take place until this afternoon but, at their request, I have granted them permission to familiarize themselves with the layout of our building so that they can provide us with a more meaningful overview of their abilities within a closed environment. Please do not let their presence distract you from your regular duties."
By 7:30 all of the Ministry of Magic Assault Teams had completed their morning exercises, gathered together their weapons of war and, for all intents and purposes, vanished into the woodwork. What the ministry employees didn't know was that each and every one of them, as well as every possible entrance or exit was being monitored by either a student, an elf, an auror or a hit wizard.
By 8:45 it was business as usual throughout the Ministry of Magic. Several potential Death Eaters had been identified and were being closely monitored. The problem was that they were scattered throughout the building. Neutralizing the threat they posed would not be difficult; the difficulty would, once again, lie in protecting the innocents and making sure none of the fighting spilled out into the streets. Even though the ministry was below ground the possibility did exist that one or two Death Eaters might escape and try to take the battle into the streets of London.
As expected, all of the fireplaces in the atrium as well as several of the offices flared green at precisely nine o'clock. The attackers were given time to exit the floo stations and make their way into the atrium proper, providing them with a false sense of security and allowing them to suffer under the delusion that their takeover of the ministry would go unopposed, before all hell broke loose. When the fireplaces grew silent the students and elves who had been patiently awaiting the Death Eaters' arrival lifted their disillusionment charms and stepped out of the shadows. A few of the more experienced duelers could fight while disillusioned but none of the Ministry Assault Team members had received that training. They were good but not that good.
For the next several hours the Battle for the Ministry of Magic raged on every floor and in almost every department. The fountain in the atrium was completely destroyed by the end of the second hour and the atrium resembled a small, corpse-ridden lake half an hour later.
At 11:47 Colin Creevey was dueling a Death Eater near the far end of the atrium when his foot caught on the floating arm of one of Emric's men. As he stumbled back the Death Eater he had been dueling took the opportunity to cast the killing curse. Moments later Colin's body was flying through the air. His head struck the lintel of one of the fireplaces which, to add insult to injury, crushed the back of his skull and broke his neck.
As the Death Eater took a moment to relish the thought that he had bested a sixteen-year-old boy the tip of a sword, followed by at least two feet of its shaft, erupted from his chest. It took him a moment to realize what had happened then, as blood started gurgling out of his mouth, he felt someone's foot pushing from the back.
When the Death Eater fell from his blade Parvati looked down at the man who had just killed her dueling partner and growled, "Don't. Mess. With. My. Family!"
To keep up appearances several of the Hogsmeade Teams had sent a few members back up to Hogwarts just before dawn so that they could walk into town after breakfast as though it was an ordinary Hogsmeade Weekend. When they had made these plans Mad-eye had insisted upon escorting the students into town. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had all tried to talk him out of it but nothing they said could dissuade him. He wanted to be in the thick of the fighting and nothing anyone said could change his mind. And so it was that after breakfast on 31 October, 1997 Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody and forty students and elves walked into Hogsmeade, arriving with less than 30 minutes to spare.
Harry sighed when he saw Mad-eye stumping along the village's main street. He knew that Moody was a fighter and that he really couldn't stand not being where the fighting was the heaviest, but Harry feared for his friend. He was not as nimble or as fast as he had been in his youth and no matter how good he was as a competition dueler he was no match for a young, frenzied Death Eater who was willing to kill for an insane master and who would count it a high honor to be the one to kill the legendary Mad-eye Moody.
Even though they were both under exceptionally powerful disillusionment charms Moody walked over to where Harry and Neville were lurking in the shadows and, smiling broadly, growled, "You ready for this boys?"
Harry wanted to stun the man for his own safety but held back. Instead Neville asked, "Are you sure you want to be here, sir?"
"Last chance to back out; is that it, Longottom?"
Neville nodded, his eyes lock on the far end of the street in front of him.
"That's what I thought. Save your breath, lad. If I'm going to die I'm going to go down fighting."
At 8:45 the anti-apparation wards began activating. "Where are they going?" Moody asked a few minutes later.
"The wards give us a quarter mile buffer zone around town," Harry said matter of factly. "They are being deposited at this zone's nearest edge."
"Do you think any of them have met Hagrid's pets yet?"
"Let's just say that I don't think either Aragog or his children will go hungry today."
Moments later the first screams could be heard coming from the Forbidden Forest."
"Yeah," Moody said, a satisfied smile playing across his deeply scarred face, "I don't suppose they will go hungry today will they."
Twenty minutes later, as the first Death Eaters – or at least those who had survived the initial onslaught – entered Hogsmeade, the battle began in earnest. Harry and Neville rolled out into the main street and began attacking with the goal of disarming their opponents but knew, from experience, that many would inadvertently die of their injuries.
For a time, Moody hung back, lurking in the shadows, and observed, getting a feel for what he would be up against when he finally joined his comrades in arms and added his voice to those of his students. Almost an hour into the fighting Moody cast a disillusionment charm on himself and stepped out into the street. Unlike most of his students who used violence as a last resort, Alastor held nothing back. If he was going to fight he was going to make sure he came out on top. His battle strategy was simple: "Hurt them BEFORE they can hurt you."
And so it went. For the next hour and a half Alastor Moody defended his corner. He was so good, in fact, that he became the unofficial evacuation point for the injured. Then, as a high pitched, nails-on-glass, keening wail filled the air, he was distracted for the briefest of moments. Tom Riddle, in the flying persona of Lord Voldemort, had arrived.
Lavender Brown had been fighting next to him at the time, while her regular dueling partner was being stabilized and transported to Hogwarts. She, too, was momentarily distracted by Tom's arrival but, fortunately for her, she was not the Death Eaters' main target. In that moment of hesitation three cutting hexes and a blasting curse slipped through. With the additional power the Dark Mark provided Alastor didn't have a chance. The blasting curse hit him in the chests, crushing all of his ribs and reducing his heart and lungs to so much mush. One of the cutting hexes connected with his mouth, essentially decapitating him from the lower jaw up. The other two cutting hexes caught him in the wand arm, severing it from his body at a point just above the elbow, and in the abdomen, spilling all of his internal organs out onto the street.
It was a sight that would haunt Lavender for the rest of her life. Perhaps unfortunately, however, she did not have time to either dwell on it or grieve because she was too busy covering her partner and their team's medical officer to even think about what she had just witnessed. There would be time for that later. Right now all she wanted to do was live to see the tomorrow.
When Harry heard Tom's keening wail he quickly dispatched the five Death Eaters he and Neville were dueling and turned around to face his enemy. "Come to papa," he muttered under his breath then said, "You ready for this, Neville?"
Neville reached over his shoulder and drew Gryffindor's sword. Expertly balancing the sword in his right hand while skillfully wielding his left he said, "Let's do it."
Grabbing Neville's arm Harry teleported the two of them several hundred feet further up the road, closing the distance between themselves and Hogwarts. Tom followed. For the next several seconds Harry teleported Neville and himself and pulled Tom onto the Hogwarts grounds and into the Entrance Hall.
As they entered the castle several of the teachers gasped. "Stand back!" Harry commanded. "This is between me and Tom!"
"HOW DARE YOU USE THAT NAME!" Tom screeched. "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT!"
Harry pretended to roll his eyes. In actuality it was a signal to the archers hidden in the eaves to shoot the snake off of Tom's shoulders so that Neville could kill it. Moments later a dozen arrows pierced Nagini's hide. Writhing in pain the snake toppled from Tom's shoulders. Before she hit the floor Neville lashed out and beheaded the great snake. As Tom's sixth intentional horcrux was destroyed Harry could feel him reaching out to draw more energy from his servants.
Reaching out to the castle Harry asked it to begin building up his own energy levels. "Getting a little weak are we, Tom?" Harry tormented. "Let me guess, these feelings began sometime around July thirty-first. In fact, if I'm not mistaken – as a good friend of mine likes to say – these feelings have only been growing worse over the past few months. Would you like to know what has been causing feelings, Tom?"
Voldemort's eyes widened slightly as the two men began circling each other. Voldemort's eyes were glowing red and hot, almost as if two glowing embers from the fiery depths of hell had been placed in their sockets. Harry's eyes were glowing a bright green. Under different circumstances the spectators might have said that they were reminded of the dew-covered grasses of a peaceful meadow at dawn but today they resembled fiery green orbs that could bore a hole through six inches of casehardened steele.
"As you know, I destroyed the diary at the end of my second year, Tom. That's how I know your name: Tom Marvolo Riddle."
Voldemort seethed. "I am Lord Voldemort!"
"Yes, yes," Harry said calmly, pushing as many of Tom's buttons as he could while waiting for the connection between himself and the castle to solidify. Today his body would be the wand and his mind would be the caster. The power would come, through Hogwarts, from the planet and, ultimately, Creation itself. "I know all about your little anagram, Tom. If you rearrange the letters in your given name you get 'I an Lord Voldemort.' But I'm curious, Tom, why did you create a new name for yourself from the letters in your given name? It seems to me that it would serve as a constant reminder of who you really are."
Voldemort's eyes grew brighter and Harry could feel him drawing more and more energy from his followers.
"The Gaunt Family Ring was an interesting choice, Tom. While it was a part of the magical world, the stone was actual one of the gifts Death gave the three brothers, it had to be destroyed." From the amount of energy Tom was drawing Harry knew that the fighting was just about over. A few more minutes and the links between Tom and his followers and Harry and the castle would be complete.
"Helga's cup and Salizar's locket were a bit tricky but they, too, have been destroyed."
To Harry's amazement the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw was standing off to the side, watching this battle of wills between the forces of light and dark. "And then there was the lost diadem that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. Unfortunately its destruction did not release Helena from this world because I know her mother would like to see her, but that was destroyed as well."
Out of the corner of his eye Harry thought he saw The Bloody Baron float over to stand beside Helena.
"And now Nagini, your last horcrux, has died."
The links were now complete and Harry knew that all fighting had stopped. As Tom raised up to cast the Killing Curse Harry felt an unworldly calm wash over him as the subliminal programming took over and the Purgatory Charm became active.
"Avada Kedavra!" Tom screamed, his wand pointing directly at Harry's heart.
As the curse struck his chest, with the amount of energy that was flowing through his system, it felt as if every cell in his body was on fire. Focusing on the Purgatory Charm Harry drove it into the two remaining fragments of Tom's soul. One fragment – the one that had been sharing Harry's body – was destroyed. The other experience a complete life review, from its birth at the orphanage to its final act in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It seemed to take longer than it really did but, though it all, Harry was focused on the charm. In the end Tom chose death. He could not live with the knowledge that everything he had worked so hard to create was wrong. He had believed so fervently in what he had been doing that he could not accept the possibility that he had been mistaken in any of his judgments.
It pained Harry to think that there were people in his world who refused to consider the possibility that they might be wrong but there was nothing he could do about it. He watched as Tom went through the life review and, for the briefest of moments, felt the effects the charm were having on Tom. Then he felt Tom's choice. After that there was nothing, nothing more than darkness.