Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the idea of Harry Potter or any of the money making forms of it.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews ^^ Finals are coming and classes are really busy at the moment, but I managed to write this (in the attempt to keep my sanity). Enjoy :)


- - - Book 3 — Part 12: Comrades in Arms

[Chamber]

"We should get to our common rooms or to the Great Hall. Everyone will be wondering where we are," Neville said.

"Hmm, no. I think you should take a glamour pill and Viper will stay gone for now, since from everyone else's point of view, Harry and you have been taken by me."

"Alright, I suppose it's time for Thorn, a member of the Custosae, to make an appearance. I can take you to the Great Hall before I find Harry, I mean . . . Mage."

"Part of me wonders if we should wait until Harry contacts us, or maybe we should try to contact Hermione and arrange a way for me and her to return as ourselves again," Draco said, before muttering the deactivation word for the polyjuice-glamour pill. "So we only need to worry about covering for you and Harry, which should be a little bit easier, since I essentially took both of you."

"I agree, and I think I have an idea," Neville asked.

"Good, because I think Thorn should talk to Hermit," Draco said, hinting at Neville's Custosae kit.

"Okay," Neville said, taking a pill and swallowing.

Closing his eyes, he felt himself change, aging and growing into a man of roughly twenty five years of age, his clothing changing with him. He had black hair and a trimmed but thick beard. His robes were dark and tightly layered. He looked quite sharp and was clearly someone who should not be messed with.

"Nice," Draco said as Teddy gaped at Neville's transformation.

"How do I look?" Thorn asked, his voice quite deep and low. He certainly wouldn't be singing tenor any time soon.

"Like a bodyguard," Draco stated, just as impressed as Teddy.

"Actually, I think that's what I'll be — Mage's bodyguard. That way I don't need to talk a great deal."

"Good plan. Well, Teddy and I will stay quiet, since we don't know who will be around Hermit right now."

"Yeah." Neville (or Thorn, rather) took out his mirror after waving his wand behind him to make it hazy, in case someone else caught a glimpse of the mirror besides Hermione. Draco and Teddy stayed out of sight. "Hermit."

The mirror wavered for a second, as if Hermione was hesitating, but then it came into focus.

"As One we will march against our Foes, the Enemies of Light. This is Thorn. Are you alright, Hermit?" Thorn asked, Hermit quickly coming to the conclusion of who Thorn was, since they had determined (for a small number of them) their 'official' Custosae codenames some time ago.

"I am in Hogsmeade and heading to Hogwarts with a number of others, including Grim's (Sirius's) team. Hogsmeade is being secured by Iron Man's (Kingsley's) team. And the goblins are apparently waiting for Mage's signal. I assume Viper arrived there with Potter and Longbottom? Are they alright?" Hermit asked, now clearly on her way out of the village.

"They're alright. I'm preparing to arrive there soon, and I'll be bringing two other students back with me. Malfoy and Granger," he said, barely changing his tone with 'Granger'. "I believe it would be best if you come back to base when I arrive, clear?"

"I understand. I'll mirror you when it has calmed enough for you to arrive with them, 'kay?"

"Understood," Thorn answered.

"Where's Mage?" she asked, already having the attention of Flitwick and Somac, who were moving alongside her.

"He went to help at Hogwarts. Do you see anything from whe—?" Thorn instantly cut himself off when Hermit's eyes snapped to the direction of Hogwarts.

"What are you seeing?"

"Mage and Vol—GOOD MERLIN!!!"

Sounds of combat suddenly came through the mirror, yells and curses of countless individuals, and battle cries that could only belong to one species: goblins.

Hermit, understandably, ended the connection soon after that.

"Well, I think it would be a safe guess to say the goblins answered Mage's call," Draco said.

Teddy and Neville grinned. "Oh, I wish I could have seen Riddle's face, I bet—" Neville began, but stopped when Draco suddenly staggered.

"Draco!"

Draco fell to one knee, holding his chest as a flash of immense pain went through him before vanishing as quickly as it had come.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, immediately at his side, Teddy quickly going to Draco's other side.

"Is it Harry?!" Teddy asked.

"I don't know, but it's gone now," Draco gasped out. "That hurt. A lot."

"Do you feel anything now?" Neville asked.

Draco shook his head slightly. "Just . . . peace."

O o O o O

[Front of Hogwarts]

"Mage, please tell me you can hear me," Dumbledore said, kneeling over Mage, the goblins swarming across the grounds in front of Hogwarts while half of the professors fell back, seeing the Headmaster dashing to Hogwart's main gate.

"L-Long Beard?"

Dumbledore heaved a huge sigh of relief, placing his other hand, which was still holding his wand, onto Mage's shoulder as his other gave Mage's hand another squeeze.

"It's me. What do you need me to do? Can you move? Are you still in pain?" Dumbledore asked.

Mage held back a groan when he tried to sit up.

"I need some help getting up," Mage said, deciding to stick with a straight to the point and tell it how it is approach as he had with Voldemort.

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose slightly but didn't hesitate to help him, putting his wand away so he could have both hands completely free.

"Headmaster," someone said. It took a moment for Harry to identify who the voice belonged to, which was probably not a good sign.

"Severus, could you help me get him inside?" Dumbledore asked, an understandably dazed Mage now sitting up.

"Tom certainly knows how to hit," Mage stated. "I think I'm going to be feeling this for a few days. And Phoenix said he might hit like a girl—pheh."

Phoenix was, of course, Ron's Custosae codename.

"Careful with my dagger. It has basilisk poison on it," Mage warned them as Snape knelt down on his other side, opposite Dumbledore. Mage tried picking up his hand to put the short blade back in the sheath hidden in his breast pocket, but stopped when he felt his hand begin to protest with a painful tremor.

"Let me help," Dumbledore said, carefully moving it where Mage was guiding it. "Charmed pocket sheath?" Dumbledore asked as the blade was pocketed.

Mage nodded, but then closed his eyes, quickly realizing cranium movement of any kind did not bring nice sensations.

"Mage!"

And neither did loud noises, apparently.

Mage opened his eyes to see Hermit running to him, somehow missing every obstacle on the battlefield, including a dead giant's arm, crumpled death eater carcasses, and charred vampire remains among stiff werewolves (still in their human forms).

"Madam Hermit, am I right?" Dumbledore asked, seeing Mage was trying to refrain from wincing too noticeably.

"Yes, but just 'Hermit' is fine," Hermit answered, though her eyes were on Mage as she moved beside Snape. "Mage, what were you thinking? Are you okay? You could have . . . ." She kept her voice low now, but it was clear how worried she was. "Promise me you won't ever do anything like that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I can't make such a promise, Hermit, but Nagini is dead now. I wasn't about to allow myself to pass off the opportunity to make Voldemort mortal," Mage whispered, the goblins and other Hogwarts defenders far beyond Hermit. Mage noticed Rook, Sirius and Remus organizing a perimeter and forming teams to gather the injured and begin the clean up. How long had he been in pain? "And now he is mortal, Herm, and he is going to be defeated permanently. I will make sure of it."

Dumbledore and Snape didn't know what to say after that, so Dumbledore decided to focus on the current situation, like getting Mage to the infirmary.

"Hermit, you are of course welcome to accompany us to the infirmary," Dumbledore said.

"I will need to return soon, but I will join you. Another Custosae will arrive when it is time for me to leave. I have other obligations; I'm sure you understand."

"Of course. Will Mage be going with you when you depart?" Dumbledore replied, before looking to Mage, who was looking a little better, but was in no condition to do anything real constructive at the moment.

"Perhaps," she said, looking to Mage for his thoughts on the matter as she picked up his wand and gave it to Mage.

"I believe I will be able to run any necessary Custosae business from the security of Hogwart's infirmary until I am able to comfortably leave on my own," Mage said, taking his wand with a slightly unsteady hand and placing it in his sleeve where his holster was.

Dumbledore nodded, privately pleased that he would have some more face-to-face time with Mage, despite the unhappy circumstances.

"I'm ready to face Relentless (Pomfrey) whenever you are, though I don't think my legs are up to the task of taking me there without help," Harry said, looking down at himself and focusing on his Mage persona, trying to lighten the current situation. "If you haven't noticed, everything is frankly a bit out of sorts."

The truth was, he was beyond out of sorts. His fingers and toes were tingling unpleasantly; there was an annoying buzz in his right ear, a tremor in his hand which had been holding the knife, and, most of all, a dull thrumming ache where Voldemort's hands had struck.

"To Madam Pomfrey then," Dumbledore said, before looking to Snape. "On three."

Dumbledore and Snape pulled Mage up to his feet, causing him to stifle a painful gasp as his legs took on some of his weight. Hermit and the others winced, while at the same time wondering if having Mage try to support some of his own weight was wise.

"Are you sure you are up to walking in? We can levitate you, you know," Snape said.

"Oh, I know, but I prefer to do as much as I can on my own. I'm sure one such as yourself understands that," Mage answered, strength slowly coming back to his legs.

Snape didn't say anything to that as he and Dumbledore began helping him into Hogwarts, Hermit close behind.

O o O o O

"Are you okay now?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. I just hope Harry's okay."

"I'm sure if he wasn't, Hermit would have called," Neville said.

Draco nodded. "I suppose with whatever is going on up there, we're going to have to wait until Hermit calls."

"Hmm, but until then, I have an idea," Neville said, putting Teddy down and looking at him. "Would you mind staying in my pocket, shrunk?"

"That's a great idea!" Draco agreed.

"You mean . . . I'll be super tiny?" Teddy asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Just for a little while, and I'll make it have a deactivation phrase, so you can unshrink yourself if you need to," Neville said.

Teddy stood tall, his repaired arm sagging slightly.

"Shrink me!"

"Whoa, wait, your arm!" Neville exclaimed, quickly kneeling down and grasping Teddy's slowly detaching arm.

"Ah!!! It's falling off!" Teddy cried. "Why is this happening to me?!"

Neville took out his Custosae kit and transfigured a splinter from Draco's robes into a sewing needle.

"Hold still," Neville stated, somehow managing to thread the needle despite his large hands. "Glad Hermione added thread to the kit. . . ."

He had never been so thankful for his grandmother nit-picking his 'home pride' abilities. 'Old ways,' she called them, so when he returned from Hogwarts he would be more thankful to magic (that and "most charms can't compare to the results of pure hard work," she said).

Holding perfectly still and looking away, Teddy let Neville sew his arm back into place, since the reparo was deteriorating for some reason.

"That'll hold it until we can figure out how to permanently fix your arm," Neville said.

"Phew! I like my arm on! Arms should never fall off; it's not right," Teddy nodded in thanks and relief. "Ok, I'm ready to get small."

Thorn (Neville) aimed his wand at Teddy and muttered the charm. Teddy slowly shrank to the size of a gummybear.

"The cancel phrase is, 'don't eat me,'" Neville said.

"Good phrase," Draco said, hiding a grin as Neville gently picked Teddy up with his thumb and forefinger, Teddy's arm completely secure with unbreakable (not uncut-able) thread, and placed him in his breast pocket, which was open at the top.

"Comfortable?" Neville asked, looking down into the pocket.

"Yup!" a tiny voice called from his pocket.

"Hmm, hey, Teddy, you think you could pop us to the Hermione when she calls?" Draco asked thoughtfully.

"Maybe. I'll try to pop in here first," he said.

-pop-pop-

Thorn disappeared and then reappeared behind Draco.

"Wicked! You still okay in there?" Neville asked.

"Yup!"

"So now you can get anywhere, just like Mage and Viper," Draco said. "Thanks to Teddy."

"Wait till Harry learns about this," Neville said, grinning. "Teddy, the mini-teleporting bear extraordinaire!"

"Yeah," Draco said with a smile, before they sat down to wait for Hermit to call them, or one of the others to contact them, which they did.

O o O o O

Dumbledore, Snape, Mage, and Hermit were the first ones through the main entrance. Most everyone else was staying out on the grounds with the goblins who were now erecting medical tents about with the Amici and other professors. Salandra had stretched herself out to create a sort of barrier on one side, while a number of Noble Guard goblins secured the other side.

It didn't take long for Mage and the others to make it to the infirmary. Opening the door, they found Ollivander, Susan, and another student helping Pomfrey with half a dozen seriously injured people. Susan and Ollivander were working around one form while Pomfrey and another student were wrapping a woman's leg.

Dumbledore and the others rightfully assumed they had already moved those with minor injuries to the Great Hall.

Pomfrey looked up when she heard the door open. Finding Dumbledore supporting a handsome, middle-aged man caused her to quickly focus upon them. Snape, it seemed, had only recently felt his assistance was no longer needed, though he was ready to give it again.

"Mr. Clay, can you finish here?" she asked.

At the sixth year's nod, Pomfrey hurried to her new patient, her wand already out and ready to help.

Taking in as much information as she could as she approached them, she noticed several things right off. One, the man would barely be standing if it were not for Dumbledore, and two, the man was in pain. That's all she needed to know as she immediately went to work.

Waving her wand over him with Dumbledore and Snape standing silently on either side of the man, she found some disturbing information.

"Albus! Why on earth did you bring this man in here this way?! He should be on a stretcher, not standing! What on earth happened to him?" she asked, already motioning and leading them to a bed to lay him down. Pomfrey was so focused, she didn't even notice Hermit. "I'm reading something similar to the Cruciatus, but it's different, concentrated," she said, waving her wand over him, slowing over his chest as she gasped. "How are you even still conscious?!"

Mage blinked up at her, unable to completely hide his amusement. He never noticed how entertaining Pomfrey could be as she rounded on Dumbledore again.

"Why you allowed this man to walk in here, under his own power or not, I can't understand! What possessed you?! I'm detecting dark magic all over his chest and nerve damage stretching into his extremities. Was he struck with a defective crucio along with a dozen or so solid ones?" she questioned, now about to begin removing Mage's outer robes.

Mage moved to stop her hands, not really liking the idea of being de-robed by anyone and in front of others no less. Pomfrey batted his hands away like a strict mother.

"Sir, I need to see the extent of the damage," she stated.

"Very well," he said grudgingly, "but do not try to remove my glamour. It won't work and would only upset me, to be frank," Mage stated flatly. Harry knew he could not be anything less than firm if he wished to keep his secret and authority.

He was confident in the glamour pill, but having anyone trying to poke at it wasn't something he wanted. The twins had told him how it worked and how even a Healer would be fooled. The glamour couldn't completely hide all previous injuries, such as internal ones, but a Healer would not be able to gather sufficient information to identify an individual to their true self. For example, because Harry was disguised as a middle-aged man, his old injuries would appear just as 'aged' as he was.

"Is there a reason you have a glamour on you, Mr . . . ?" Pomfrey asked suspiciously.

Dumbledore stepped up at that, almost as if he was about to really enjoy the following events.

"Madam Pomfrey, I would like to introduce you to Mage," Dumbledore said proudly. "He just prevented Voldemort from continuing his attack against us and killed his familiar, Nagini."

"M-Mage?" she asked, looking back and forth between Dumbledore and Mage.

"Yes, Poppy, but he took quite a hit to the chest by Voldemort," Dumbledore said, growing serious again.

Upon digesting that, Pomfrey doubled her efforts in examining Mage, to Mage's great displeasure. His outer robes were quickly banished by her wand onto an empty chair behind her, followed by his vest and undershirt, though his wand holster was still secured to his arm. Her probing hand moved over his chest, and he couldn't understand what she hoped to learn by doing so. Couldn't she see the damage?! What would poking at it find or solve?!

Somehow managing to seize her hands, her right still holding her wand, Mage made her stop. It was beginning to really hurt!

"Stop, please. I'm quite sore and just want to lie here," he said honestly, before slowly releasing her hands as Hermit came up beside Snape.

Pomfrey game him a slight break, allowing him to look down at himself. Hermit muffled a gasp.

"Brilliant. I have the hand prints of the most evil monster on the face of the planet stamped to my chest in the form of some sort of bizarre bruising," Mage stated, clearly irritated.

"Are you in any pain right now?" Dumbledore asked, looking over his half-mooned spectacles in concern with a touch of sternness that demanded to be told the truth.

"Not a whole lot, though I think I would have preferred being hit with an electrified sledge hammer," Mage said bluntly as he eased himself fully back onto the bed to allow Madam Pomfrey to begin clucking over him with her wand.

If circumstances had been different, he might have laughed, but just seeing exactly what Voldemort had done to him, he didn't feel that cheery . . . though, he did just make Voldemort mortal. He supposed this was a small price to pay to equal the playing field so to speak.

Voldemort had entered the fight that day immortal, but did not leave as one.

Mage smiled with renewed satisfaction. The others noticed but didn't have the courage or nerve to ask him about it.

"'Electrified?'" Pomfrey asked. "Isn't that some sort of muggle term?"

"It is," Mage answered. "In simple terms, Muggles are able to control and produce a form of lightning. And in fact, I have some people working on something with 'electricity'," he said with a smile. "Peanut Butter and Jelly (the Twins)."

"I see," Pomfrey said, confused by the mention of condiments.

"Are your eyes dark green?" Dumbledore suddenly asked.

Mage failed to completely hide his surprise as he looked up at Dumbledore, Pomfrey now busy with some foul tasting potions. "What?"

"Your true eye color, is it dark green? The reason I ask is because I saw your eyes change to dark green for a second, and I need to make sure it was due to your glamour flickering rather than it being part of whatever Voldemort did curse-wise," Dumbledore explained.

"Yes," Mage answered, trying to hide his sudden unease.

Dumbledore nodded lightly.

"Er—excuse me," Hermit said, stepping forward and giving Pomfrey a start. Dumbledore stepped aside, rightfully assuming she wished to talk to Mage. "Mage, Thorn will be replacing me soon, once I contact him, and he will be bringing two students back with him."

"Very good," Mage said, easily following what was going on. "Do you know what's been going on elsewhere? I know Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were not the only targets."

"Not a whole lot, but Thorn might know more," Hermit answered.

"Send word to Thorn to come whenever you wish," Mage said.

"I think I will now, if that will not be a problem," Hermit said, looking to Pomfrey and Dumbledore. They nodded. "May I use your office?"

"Of course," Pomfrey said gracefully.

Hermit smiled in thanks. "Oh, I will probably leave immediately after speaking with Thorn, so I bid you farewell right now. If you need to contact me, well . . . I'm sure you know Mage can help you out there," she said.

Dumbledore gave a slight nod in understanding, though he was privately confused with how she expected to leave from Pomfrey's office. "Thank you, Hermit, and thank you for your help today."

With that, Hermit entered the Healer's office, cast a number of spells, and shut the door.

"How many so far?" Mage asked, taking that moment to glance around them. He found Ron sleeping on one of the beds, but couldn't clearly see who were in the other beds. He knew two of them were adults though.

Ollivander, Susan, and the other student, Mr. Clay, continued working, though it didn't seem there was much for them to do.

"I've seen nearly fifty, most with minor injuries. I've sent those to the Great Hall or to their common rooms after their injuries were taken care of," Pomfrey said as she handed Mage a potion to drink. "It counters the Cruciatus."

Mage eyed it before taking it, wouldn't do to appear completely trusting. Giving it a quick sniff to keep up appearances, he also proved to himself it was what she said it was (not that he really needed to, obviously). After that, he chugged it down.

As he did that, Pomfrey looked up to Dumbledore, her expression suddenly very soft. Harry got a bad feeling as Dumbledore met her eyes. "Albus," she said gently as Mage lowered the now empty potion bottle. "Your brother was one of the first brought in."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose slightly, before he turned his head and scanned the beds, already leaving Mage's side. He, of course, spotted his brother soon after. He was in the bed Susan was standing beside.

"Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, clearly now a bit off center as he stopped at the foot of his brother's bed.

"Hermit and a man named Viper brought him in with Mr. Weasley not long after lockdown had been initiated," she said. "Mr. Weasley was unconscious and had suffered some burns and a head wound."

"And my brother?"

"His leg was broken in several places, and his chest suffered serious damage. I don't know if I would have been able to save him had it not been for Viper and Hermit bringing him so quickly."

"So he will be alright?" Dumbledore asked.

She took a slow breath. "I'm optimistic, but . . . I can't honestly say," she said, not wanting to give any inaccurate information and possibly give false hope that would only be painfully crushed later if things went down hill. "I was able to heal his leg, though he'll need to drink strengthening potions for it when he recovers enough to leave his bed. His chest, however, will need further assistance with support charms, due to healing ribs, but because of his age, I'm hesitant to cast any serious charms to aid in his muscle regeneration. His heart took some trauma, and until I'm sure his heart is stable, I won't risk complicating recovery."

"What happened?"

"From what I have been able to deduce, several heavy objects fell on him, possibly support beams. I don't honestly know, since Hermit and Viper didn't tell me, and I don't know if they were there when it happened anyway."

"If you wish to know, I'll ask them later, since I'm certain Hermit has already left," Mage gently provided.

"From inside Poppy's office?" Dumbledore asked, unable to stop his curiosity. "Just as she and Viper had entered here despite Hogwarts being in lockdown?"

"A few of us have a mode of transportation different than usual wizard means," Mage answered evasively.

Dumbledore didn't question Mage further on the subject, but looked back at his brother, taking in the bandages and slightly heavy breathing. His thoughts clearly shifted elsewhere before he turned back to Mage sincerely. "Thank you, Mage. You and your people have fought valiantly and have prevented several deaths today," he said softly. "Including my brother's life," he added, clearly not allowing himself to consider different possibilities concerning his brother. "I am in your debt, and in more ways than one."

"We have both saved lives; you have even saved my life before, so let there be no talk of debts. There are no debts between the likes of us, Albus, for we are comrades in arms," Mage replied, for whatever reason at ease with calling Dumbledore by his first name.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "That we are."

O o O o O

"Alright, I'm ready when you are, Thorn," Hermione said over the mirror, ready to cancel her glamour-pill.

"Okay," Thorn said. "Draco?"

-Pop-

Hermit's form shifted back to Hermione as two forms appeared on either side of her. A large body-guard sort and a small blond headed one.

"Ok, I think we should go ahead and pop into the infirmary directly," Hermione said setting her wards and protections around the room to cancel in ten seconds. Draco nodded, Teddy (in Thorn's pocket) concentrating.

-Pop-

O o O o O

Hermione, Draco, and Thorn appeared in the middle of the infirmary with a very soft pop (Draco and Hermione wondered if it was due to Teddy's tiny size and short distance), quickly finding themselves right in front of Dumbledore and Mage in a bed behind them.

Poor Pomfrey jumped and Mr. Clay startled; Ollivander and Susan were impressed. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose a fraction, but his eyes were twinkling like mad.

"Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"Hello, Headmaster," Draco said, Hermione greeting him as well before Dumbledore's eyes came to rest on Thorn.

Dumbledore knew Thorn wasn't a giant, just by the feel of magic coming off the man, and from what Hogwarts was sharing with him, but he couldn't help but feel a little dwarfed physically.

Thorn wasn't exactly a miniature Hagrid, but his broad shoulders and barrel chest would make Kingsley look like a frail teenager beside him. His impressive appearance was enhanced by the way the black haired man stood. He very well could have been a Spartan in robes for all Dumbledore knew. His sharply trimmed beard and dark layered clothing also didn't hurt his 'don't mess with me and I'll let you live' sort of aura.

Dumbledore took a step forward, he was Albus Dumbledore after all and would not be intimidated (visibly anyway) and held out his hand. "Thorn, I take it?"

"Correct, Headmaster. I am Mage's personal bodyguard for the remainder of his stay here, if that would be agreeable with you?" Thorn asked, his low voice almost making Pomfrey melt.

She was glad she was behind Thorn.

"Of course, Thorn. You are welcome to stay as long as you and Mage need and desire," Dumbledore said.

Hermione and Draco moved to Susan, who had moved away from Aberforth. A few moments later, Dumbledore kindly dismissed them to their common rooms after Pomfrey informed them Ron would be fine after a few days of observation. Ollivander dismissed himself to the Great Hall, volunteering himself to begin directing students back to their common rooms and beginning a serious head count.

Thorn moved smoothly to the head of Mage's bed and didn't need to say anything to cause Snape to back away.

"Any word from the others?" Mage asked, taking the bruise healing-paste from Pomfrey and carefully applying some to himself.

"Yes. They are all safe, and have secured the areas impacted by the recent attacks, save Azkaban. We don't yet know the number of casualties anywhere," Thorn stated, conscious of the fact Dumbledore and Snape were listening to every word as well. "However, we do know Azkaban has been utterly lost. The dementors have defected, as we knew they would, and the majority of the prisoners left, presumably to aid in the other attacks. The rest were killed, probably having refused to join Voldemort."

"Do we have numbers?" Mage asked.

"Easily five hundred convicts, though a number of them were killed not long after entering the battles. For most of them, the years in Azkaban affected their combat abilities, though Peg and a few others believe they must have received some potions before being portkeyed to Diagon Alley and other places, which would make sense since they also had wands and masks," Thorn answered.

"And the dementors?" Mage asked.

"They were driven back from Hogsmeade before you arrived on Hogwarts' grounds. The surviving dementors are heading to the coast as far as we can tell," he said, before moving on. "The goblins have set up tents on the grounds, taking care of the injured there. Salandra has taken up acting as sentry against the border of the forest, aiding the centaurs in that. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade have a number of Amici as well as Aurors patrolling now. The injured have been taken to St. Mungo's. Clean up has also begun in those locations."

"Very good," Mage said, the bruises now nothing more than faint outlines. Hopefully they would diminish in time.

"Pardon me, but when you said, 'surviving dementors', what did you mean by that?" Dumbledore asked.

Thorn smiled. "Well, evidently Mr. Potter's patronus, or rather, patronuses, have the ability to kill the horrid monsters."

"'Patronuses'?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes widening.

"Oh, yes. Viper was quite impressed when he saw them, before he brought Longbottom and Potter back with him."

"'Back'?" Why was he stuck repeating everything? he wondered.

"I assure you, Headmaster, your students are safe where they are. And, considering the circumstances, they should remain there until it is deemed time for them to return," Thorn said.

"I knew of these arrangements before confronting Voldemort," Mage said. "Please trust me when I say they are in good hands."

"I believe you," Dumbledore said as Ollivander reentered the infirmary.

"Albus, all students and professors have been accounted for save—"

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore answered, looking quite calm, especially when compared to Ollivander.

"Hmm. Well, since you know that already, I'll just let you know Minerva is in the Great Hall, keeping order and allowing students to return to their common rooms in organized groups. She also told me to ask you if there was anything specific you needed her to do," Ollivander said, suddenly at ease. His shift from near panic to completely collected was a bit odd.

"Not at the moment, thank you, Xanimaous," Dumbledore said. "Once I'm finished here, I will join her, although, I might need to speak to a certain Minister first."

"Ah, that reminds me," Ollivander said, looking oddly amused. "Evidently, a certain reporter and her photographer were present when a number of fighters arrived from Hogsmeade when Mage appeared and . . . disposed of the snake."

Dumbledore and Mage closed their eyes practically at the same time.

"Ms. Rita Skeeter?" Dumbledore asked.

"The one and the same."

"I'll make a comment if I must, but I'm not holding a press conference," Mage stated.

"I'm certain that won't be necessary," Dumbledore said. "This may work in our favor, actually. . . ."

Mage took comfort in Dumbledore's tone and bright eyes.

"Alright, if you all are finished discussing recent events, my patients need to sleep," Pomfrey said, before rounding on Mage, avoiding eye contact with Thorn. "That includes you, Mr. Mage. As Dumbledore can attest to, I don't care who you are! If you're in my ward, you are in my domain, understood?"

Thorn blinked and Mage actually smiled.

"Yes, Ma'am," Mage said, tucking himself in as Dumbledore, Snape, and Ollivander began heading to the door. Thorn pulled up a chair. "If you need me, you know where to find me," Mage called after them.

"Of course, Mage," Dumbledore answered as Pomfrey shooed them out, though she did pause for a moment and nod in reply to something Dumbledore had asked before firmly shutting the door behind him.

O o O o O


Next part: Heart

A/N: Don't worry, the next part will cover what's going on elsewhere, I just had to take care of a few things here. Please note that the events in the infirmary occured in less than an hour. Anyway, hopefully the insanity of classes haven't thrown off my writing style too much.