Kingsley stepped forwards on the raised platform in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and addressed those students of age, teachers, and members of the Order of the Phoenix who had remained behind.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest Towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus," he indicated Lupin, "Arthur," he pointed towards Mr. Weasley, sitting at the Gryffindor table, "And I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school - "
"Sound like a job for us," called Fred, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nodded his approval.
"What about us?" a new voice called. Everyone in the hall turned and saw a new group of people, little over a dozen, entering, their purple robes billowing behind them.
"BELLA!"
"It's Isabella, it's her!"
"Bella, where did you come from?"
The dark-haired girl leading the band did not slow down, but advanced up the hall. The people behind her, who looked like older students, did not break step either, though a few glanced up at the magically enchanted ceiling and floating candles.
Making a motion with her hand, Isabella stopped all of her followers in their tracks. Isabella mounted the staircase and exchanged a few quiet words with Kingsley. Then she turned and looked down on the expectant group of purple-clad students.
"VIVA ITALIA!" she said, bringing her wand to her forehead, then sharply lowering it.
"VIVA!" they chorused, copying her salute. They fell into an at ease position, looking at Isabella and nowhere else.
"Where shall we take our stand?" Isabella asked Kingsley.
"What can they - "
"These are my duelers," she said proudly. "They fight and defend when necessary."
"I guess I'd better split them up among the other groups - "
"They do not speak your language," Isabella said.
"Well then, go up to the battlements and fight from there," Kingsley suggested, looking over the group. They possessed a military precision that both comforted and unnerved the other defenders of Hogwarts.
"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide into groups!" Kingsley shouted.
"Bella, where on earth did you come from?" Lupin asked her, looking amazed.
"Neville called me," she explained. "And I happened to be in the middle of a lesson. So I just brought them along." Her clipped, military style was abandoned and she smiled. Two bodies slammed into her, nearly knocking her off her feet.
"I missed you, too," Isabella wheezed, patting Fred and George on the back.
"BELLA!" someone shouted. Isabella's heart leapt to see Morgan plowing through the crowd, Alex just behind her.
"Morgan! Alex!" Isabella said, hugging the two of them fiercely.
"This is great!" Morgan squealed. "First Harry, then Luna, and now - "
"Luna's here?" Isabella demanded, searching the crowds. "Where - ?"
"Miss O'Reagan, we need to get started," Kingsley said, clearing his throat.
"Right," Isabella said, her voice changing once more to adopt a more authoritative tone. "I'll see you two later... and Luna!" She turned back to the group and leaders. As she did, Isabella caught sight of her Gloria-Manginatori standing stock still in a sea of people, still waiting for an order.
"Isabella, who are those students you brought?" Professor Flitwick asked. "Where do they come from?"
"They are the Glory-Eaters, self chosen defenders of Italy, students of the Academica de Italia," Isabella said. Suddenly she went very still and stared across the hall.
"What's...?" Lupin asked, following her gaze and seeing an empty doorway.
"Excuse me," she said abruptly, turning and leaping down the staircases.
Isabella followed the figure of Rowena, the ghost only she could see. The foundress had beckoned her off the dais, bidding her follow. The members of the VI stirred and called after her, but Isabella made no reply. She hurried down the hallway, following the swiftly advancing figure, who occasionally looked over her shoulder to make sure Isabella was following.
She rounded the corner, and ran smack into someone else.
"Scusilo!" she said, standing and peering down the hallway, but Rowena was gone.
"Bella?" the boy she had run into asked. He had also been knocked to the floor.
"Harry!" Isabella said, giving him a hand up and a brief hug. "Neville told me you were here, but I never..."
"Listen, Bella, I can't talk, I have to go find Ron and Hermione - " Harry said, already starting down the hallway, looking distracted.
"Wait! Harry, what do you know about Ravenclaw's diadem?" she had shouted it on an instinct. Or perhaps this was why Rowena had led her here, to tell Harry what she knew, but why would Harry care?
"What do you know?" Harry asked sharply, turing to look at her.
"I know where it's hidden," Isabella said. "In the Room of Hidden Things."
"Who told you - ?"
"Ravenclaw. Don't ask how, she just did," Isabella said, then she frowned. "Harry, it's been cursed, or something."
"I know!" Harry said, sprinting down the hallway. "Thanks, Bella!"
Isabella stared after him, confused. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and then a sound like a low keening scream.
"The boundaries," Isabella muttered, turning and running back towards the Great Hall. By the time she burst in from the corridor, the last people were hurrying out the doors. The VI still stood there.
"Isabella, what's going on? Where did you go? When are we going to fight?"
"Now!" Isabella told them, raising her wand above her head. "Will you follow me?"
"For Italy?"
"For Italy!"
With a roar, they poured out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. As they passed, some of the pictures called out encouragingly and one picture, a white haired man with a black cap and a long black cap jumped up and down in his frame, screaming, "Ottengali! Ottengali! Vanno, gli italiani, vanno!" A marble bust of an austere looking man turned as they passed and called, "In pro Roma et Hecate!"
The castle quaked beneath their feet as they ran and Isabella had the wild image of a snow globe being tossed about. Isabella hurtled around a corner and found Fred and a small knot of students, including Lee Jordan, Morgan, and Alex standing beside an empty plinth whose statue had concealed a secret passageway. Their wands were drawn and they were listening at the concealed hole.
"Bella!" they all cried, smiling at her as the castle trembled violently.
"Where's the statue?" she panted.
"Gone. McGonagall's enchanted them to fight," Fred told her. "Where are you headed?"
"Battlements," she said, motioning for her people to follow once more. Morgan and Alex stepped forward as one.
"We're coming with you," they announced. Isabella smiled at them, thinking she had never felt so happy to be with them. Morgan fell into step beside Zala and Alex walked next to Mariano.
Sprinting up yet another staircase, Isabella felt its telltale shift beneath her feet. "Hold on!" she warned. All the VI members gripped the staircase as the staircase began to shift. Isabella remembered that Ravenclaw had designed the staircases and wondered it she was helping her even now. When the stairs came to a halt, Isabella continued up them and pulled open a small wooden door.
The night sky was spangled with stars and a chill breeze came in from the mountains. On the grounds below, flashes of light told her where the Death Eaters and defenders of Hogwarts were locked in combat. Up above, silvery and blue spells poured from the Gryffindor Tower, disappearing into the air. The force of these spells colliding with dark, bloody red spells was what was causing the quaking.
"Sparso fuori, fortifichi le pareti," Isabella told her group.
"Can you say that in English?" Morgan asked. Isabella smiled at her.
"Spread out and fortify the walls," she said. "Don't fire into the darkness, we might hit an ally."
"It's good to see you," Morgan said, hugging Isabella tightly. She hesitated, then returned to hug. "Don't go near the dark-haired one," Isabella whispered in Morgan's ear.
"Why, is he yours?" Morgan asked, curious green eyes alighting on Emiliano.
"No, he's just a prat."
Morgan giggled and passed Emiliano to stand next to Mariano. Isabella would have to find time later to tell her why that relationship wouldn't work out. Alex slung an arm around Isabella's shoulders and sighed.
"You've no idea how much I've missed you," she said happily.
"Don't I?" Isabella asked. "Don't tell Morgan the guy she's standing next to is gay."
"And ruin the fun?" Alex chuckled. "No way."
Isabella turned out and stood with her wand raised for a second. She breathed in the smell of the wind, of heather and wild mountain thyme. Then she cut her wand through the air in a whistling arch.
"Salvo hexia," she murmured. A glittering golden thread shot from her wand and fell to the foot of the castle. It hung, shimmering and suspended from the tip of her wand to the grounds below. She twirled her wand and the string adhered to the wall and melted out of sight. All around her, VI members copied her movements and the wall was lit briefly by the glowing strands.
"What's that?" Alex asked, pointing towards the Forbidden Forest, where a large dark mass of things was swarming onto the grounds and toward the castle.
"Acromantulas!" Caterina shouted.
"Arania Exumai!" Isabella shouted, pointing into the mass of hairy legs. There was a faint squeal, but the other giant spiders kept coming. They came to the base of the wall and began to crawl up. The members of the VI and Alex and Morgan began to blast the Acromantulas off the wall, sending them tumbling into their fellows below.
"Giants!" Emiliano shouted. Sure enough, two huge, hulking figures lumbered around the side of the castle. They wielded immense clubs and one of them raised his weapon and smashed it down onto a wall about forty feet away from where they stood.
"How do we kill them?" Caterina shrieked, her trembling wand pointed at the mammoth enemy. But Isabella had no answer, and the pair of giants got closer and closer.
"Argh!" one of the giants roared, pointing towards the small group of fighters on the battlements. The other one looked and roared as well, winging his club over his head.
"MOVE!" Isabella screamed, pushing her group away from the giants, but the force of the blow knocked them to the ground. Someone screamed and fell off the wall. Isabella ran forward to try and help, and she slipped on some blood.
Mariano groaned and rolled over, clutching his clearly broken arm. Isabella knelt beside him and her hands fluttered uselessly over him.
"Isabella, duck!" he warned, pulling her on top of him. The giant's club flew over her head, it's force creating a wind that tousled her hair. Mariano whimpered; she was lying on his arm.
A throbbing, wailing cry began somewhere in the night. Isabella rolled off Mariano and stood.
"Castro?" she asked, unbelieving. The augury called again and wheeled over the battlements. Behind him, like an immense feathery cloud, came all of the owls of the school. They wheeled together and, moving as one, attacked the giants, scratching at their eyes and driving them away.
"We have to get you out of here!" Isabella shouted in Mariano's ear. "Can you stand?"
"I think so," he said, gritting his teeth and allowing Isabella and Alex to help him up. They started towards the door, Mariano limping and clutching his hurt arm.
"Watch out!" Zala shouted, throwing herself sideways. Isabella grabbed Alex's arm and tugged her over as Caterina seized Mariano's unhurt arm and pulled him to safety. A fiery red spell hit the wall and the battlements exploded into a mass of flame. Isabella saw the faces of the Gloria-Manginatori lit up by the wild fire.
"MORGAN!" Alex screamed and launched herself into the flames.
"Alex, no!" Isabella shouted, jumping up and running after her, but Emiliano grabbed her waist and held her back.
Sound and time seemed to slow down. Alex ran into the flames, which engulfed her and hid her from view. The flickering fire leapt higher, hungrily eating up the stars above. Isabella was distantly aware that she was screaming.