Happy new year everyone!
Here's the next chapter of my story. I hope you leave me a review and tell me what you think.
Enjoy!
Chapter 38
They appeared in front of a heavy iron door and Harry changed back to human. Hermione shuddered next to him and he knew why. A really strange feeling crept into his gut. He wished some new beads of sweat from his face and frowned slightly.
Then he sighed before turning around. "You're sure that you don't want to go back?"
Draco rolled his eyes and took his wand out. "Definitely. And don't ask that question again or Death Eaters will be the last of your worries!"
Harry chuckled and slowly opened the door. "I don't know everything that's in there… but be careful."
They nodded and one after another entered. Harry followed Hermione and then came Draco.
"I think it's better to close the door…" whispered Hermione when the lights at every door flashed on and they had to blink.
He shook his head. "Open another door at first… in my vision I just ran straight forward."
They nodded and while they were running through a room full of time-turners, Harry turned to Ron. "Can you transform and fly to row number ninety-seven when we enter the next room? The prophecy must be somewhere there. Tell us if you see Death Eaters. And don't let them see you if they're there."
Ron changed with a small flash. 'Be careful,' added Harry telepathically while they entered the cathedral-sized room and Ron flew high in the air, until he wasn't seen anymore because of the dim light.
They cautiously hurried along the many rows and Harry slowed his steps when they turned into the aisle between row ninety-six and ninety-seven. He didn't like that no Death Eater had been in their way so far. Had Voldemort expected them to take longer until they were here? Or did the monster already know? He heard Hermione's and Neville's slightly faster breathing on either side of him and shortly turned to look at Draco, who was every so often looking over his shoulder.
Checking his shields, he stopped and stared up at a small glass ball. His and Voldemort's name was written underneath it. "So much trouble for a small thing like that…" he whispered.
Draco scratched his nose. "So that's the blasted thing. And now? Should we destroy it?"
'Hey guys!' sounded Ron's voice suddenly in all of their heads. 'I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think I just saw a rat crawling around two rows away from you.'
"Pettigrew!" spat Harry with a growl and turned to his friends.
Hermione and Neville were both slightly shaking, while Draco looked as if he had eaten something bad. "They're coming. Get ready and… be careful, yes?"
"What's the plan?" asked Hermione quietly.
Harry reached up and took the prophecy. He looked deep into her eyes. "As crazy as it may sound, but the plan's to get out of here alive – preferably while making such a ruckus, that the wards here in the Ministry will go off and alert the Minister and the rest of his incompetent idiots."
He stared down at the small misty ball in his hands. "They'll be after this thing here, so their focus will be on me."
'They're here!' exclaimed Ron in their heads. 'Sorry I was following the rat and didn't see them coming. They're right behind you!'
Hermione inhaled sharply and pointed behind Harry, while Draco and Neville raised their wands. 'So much for a plan…' thought Harry.
"Turn around nice and slowly," drawled a familiar voice behind Harry.
Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, five lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts… but they all stood calmly.
"To me, Potter," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up.
"To me," said Malfoy yet again when Harry didn't respond.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry said suddenly, pretending that he believed his godfather really had been captured and he was here because of him. He needed time to come up with a plan…
Several of the Death Eaters laughed; a harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry's left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!"
"Always," echoed Malfoy softly. "Now, give me the prophecy Potter."
"I want to know where Sirius is!"
"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimicked the woman to his left and Harry's stomach twisted at her voice. She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Harry and the others, the light from their wands dazzling Harry's eyes.
"Oh, shut up banshee!" snapped Harry, coming up with a small plan in his head "He's here. I know he is."
"The little baby woke up frightened and thought what it dreamed was true," said the woman in a horrible, mock baby voice.
Harry felt Neville stir behind him.
"Don't do anything," Harry muttered. "Not yet-"
Bellatrix Lestrange let out a mad cackle and had to support herself on Lucius's arm.
"You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"
Harry rolled his eyes at this. The woman sure was insane, there was no questioning that. He would just love to blast the five Death Eaters out of the way, but he knew for sure, that there had to be others waiting just behind the rows.
"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," said Malfoy softly. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
"You must know what I'm capable of, Lucy… after all; you've got one manor less because of me, don't you?" Harry retorted smirking.
Some Death Eaters snickered while he could nearly feel the burning glare Malfoy sent him. Not waiting for a reply, Harry went back to his original topic and eyed the man. "I know Sirius is here."
The other four Death Eaters laughed again, this time on his expense, though Bellatrix laughed loudest of all.
"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," said Malfoy. "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."
"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height. As he did so, the three wands of Hermione, Neville and Draco started to emit small flashes.
"Why Lucius… isn't that your son?" asked Bellatrix astonished – her head turned towards Draco and Harry rolled his eyes. Had she only noticed that now?
"Hi Aunt Bella!" the blond chirped.
Malfoy glared at Draco with hatred and spat on the floor. "He is no son of mine. He forfeited that right when he betrayed the Dark Lord."
"A traitor!" cackled Bellatrix with glee and smiled insanely. "My, my Luc, you're sure that you're not one of the old fool's lapdogs? Your whole family seems to be on the light side! But traitors… they're the loudest to beg for mercy."
Malfoy grabbed Bellatrix at the collar of her black robes. "You forget that Narcissa is your sister! The Black family must've raised her wrong. And have you forgotten about that whore Andromeda?"
"Can't we just kill those brats already?" one of the other Death Eaters shouted.
"Go ahead," Malfoy sneered. "You can kill him, but wait a little moment…"
"Come on now," encouraged Harry, sounding bored. "We haven't got all night. Or are you afraid I'll do the same to the Ministry as I did to your manor?"
But the Death Eaters did not strike.
"Hand over the prophecy and no one needs to get hurt," said Malfoy coolly.
It was Harry's turn to laugh. That sentence was surely getting old. "Yeah, right!" he said. "I give you this prophecy and you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the Bellatrix shrieked: "Accio proph—"
Harry was just ready for her and had silently cast a shield. The prophecy didn't even move.
"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," she said, but sounding a little surprised, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood and raised her wand. "Very well, then -"
"I TOLD YOU, NO!" Lucius Malfoy roared at the woman. "If you smash it-!"
The woman stepped forward, away from her fellows, and pulled off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow.
"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well – take the girl," she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let him watch while we torture her."
Harry felt the other two close in around Hermione; he stepped sideways so that he was right in front of her, the prophecy held up to his chest.
"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," he told Bellatrix. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"
She did not move; she merely stared at him, the tip of her tongue moistening her thin mouth.
"So," said Harry, playing ignorant, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?"
He just had to wait a little bit. Neville's arm was pressed against his, and he could feel him shaking with what he guessed was rage; he could feel Hermione's slightly quickened breath at the back of his neck.
"What kind of prophecy?" repeated Bellatrix, the grin fading from her face. "You jest, Harry Potter."
"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater. "How come Voldemort wants it?"
Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.
"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.
Harry inwardly started to chuckle, but didn't answer her and instead concentrated on using their link to talk to his friends. 'I have a plan. Hermione, are you able to transfigure one of the small glass-balls into an exact copy of me? I know you've some runes prepared that will help you.'
'I… yes, but it won't act like you. It'll be a human-looking puppet, nothing more…'
Harry quickly changed his attention back to Malfoy and when he noticed, that he was still talking and not stopping anytime soon he continued. 'Is it controllable?'
'Yes… but they'll notice if I do.'
'Draco, can you cast a quick barrier so that they don't notice when the puppet takes my place?'
'Sure.'
He frowned when Malfoy started insulting his parents. 'Let me handle the rest. Is everything clear so far?'
'Crystal,' came Draco's answer. 'Be careful.'
'OK. Now, Hermione!'
Harry's body flickered for a split second when he vanished and was immediately replaced by a solid copy. He smirked. He wasn't far away. Just standing on of the high shelf, a strong invisibly charm protecting him from being seen.
"Animo Transfero," he whispered quietly and his copy started to move a little bit and he hoped it had worked and it would act like him now.
He looked down at Malfoy, who was arguing with his copy and titled his head, before shaking it and looking around from his spot. It was strange seeing himself and knowing that it was just a transfigured and animated glass-ball. He frowned. He saw five Death Eaters to his right… he looked to the left… five more, to the front… another five lurking behind the rows. Then he turned around… five more. His eyes fell back down to the five Death Eaters blow him.
Twenty-five Death Eaters in total. And that was just the Hall of Prophecies. He had no clue if more Death Eaters were waiting outside of the hall, his senses weren't as good as Draco's and he was a little bit too tense to sense magical energies right now.
'Ron?' he thought. 'Where are you, mate?'
'Two rows away from you,' the reply came after a short time. 'I'm standing on one of the shelves. I can hear you talking.'
Harry nodded and looked down at his copy. It was doing a good job in keeping the guys occupied.
'Ron, listen,' send Harry. 'I'm also standing on a shelf, right above Malfoy's head. The one you hear talking is a transfigured copy of myself. Try to get on the shelf just above the others. We're going to distract them.'
He waited a little bit and curiously followed the argument and the comments his illusion came up with. He would love to kiss Hermione for her perfect transfiguration-skills and Perenelle… for teaching him the spell which made the copy act like him!
"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over," the copy said, playing for time. Harry meanwhile checked out where exactly all the Death Eaters were trying to go, or if they were just waiting for orders.
'Harry, flashing doesn't work anymore! I just tried it. Someone must've raised the wards!' said Ron.
His eyes narrowed. 'There are so many people in here. I guess they strengthened themselves because of this unusual amount. They must be ancient, if they even hinder a phoenix from travelling…'
"Do not play games with us, Potter," said Malfoy from below him and Harry noted that all of the Death Eaters were slowly closing in around the group.
"I'm not playing games," retorted the copy.
"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar and what's hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Malfoy sneered.
"I - what?" said the copy. "What about my scar?"
Harry had to repress a groan. That copy surely was acting like an idiot at the moment! He repressed to urge to simply reveal himself to save him the embarrassment, but then tuned the talking out and saw a slight shimmer at the shelf in front of him.
'I'm in position Harry,' Ron's voice came, sounding a little bit worried. 'I guess we're keeping them from following the others?'
A tiny flash appeared not far away from him and Harry knew Ron had changed back to human and was now invisible, just like him.
'Exactly. We should be able to hold them back until we're out of here,' answered Harry. 'I don't like to admit it, but I don't think we can beat them.'
"Can this be?" said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; the other four Death Eaters were laughing again.
'Guys, when I say now, then run back to the circular room,' Harry thought to his friends and saw each of the three nodding slightly. 'We're outnumbered by far. We may be good, but fighting against twenty-five Death Eaters should prove to be a little difficult.'
"Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated and Harry sighed annoyed when his illusion made a face. The guy just couldn't hold his trap for five seconds. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter. But then again… the Dark Lord said he just occasionally could enter your mind."
"Could he?" said Harry's copy and Harry stood up straight on the shelf. Below him he saw Hermione's body tense slightly and the copy sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters. "So he wanted me to come and get the prophecy, did he? Why?"
"Why?" Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."
'Well then he should've moved his lazy ass over here to get it himself,' thought Harry sarcastically. 'Not that I'm complaining that he isn't here, but still…'
"NOW!" yelled Harry and the copy vanished - leaving the Death Eaters confused.
When Draco, Hermione and Neville started to run, Harry and Ron cast various curses at the blinking Death Eaters. Harry used the small chaos that had ensured, let Ron fire curses alone for a while and raised both of his hands.
The shelf he was standing on started to shake and some of the glass-spheres clanged and smashed to the ground – emitting white ghosts who all started to talk at once.
He noted a small flame and guessed that Ron had changed back into a Phoenix when the shelf he had been standing on also started to shake. His guess was confirmed when two barriers of soaring flames appeared four shelves to his right and blocked the path of five Death Eaters.
He also changed into his form and rose into the air. He gave a high-pitched trill and two shelves to his left, where five other Death Eaters stood, a dark cloud formed, hindering them from seeing.
"What is this madness?" screamed Malfoy when more spheres started to crash down on them and they started to run.
"LUC!" screeched Bellatrix when they started to run and Harry - for the first time as a Phoenix – snorted. "WE HAVE TO CATCH THEM!"
The shelves now started to shake more violently and when Harry rose high into the air they all at once broke down and crumbled to the floor with an ear-splitting crash.
'Come on Ron! Back to the exit!' sent Harry and flew over the still crumbling shelves to the door they had come through.
"TO THE EXIT!" he heard Lucius scream and cursed in his mind while flapping his wings and directing some shadows to the Death Eaters make them unable to see.
Harry dove down to the floor and the door to the room with the time-turners burst open when he was inches away from it.
He turned around and trilled when he saw Ron – with some lost feathers – flying down to him and soared past him into the room.
Harry followed him and changed back into a human halfway across the room. He touched the ground with his feet and Ron did the same.
"What was that?" asked Harry worriedly when he saw Ron's right arm was covered in angry looking bruises.
"They thought I was Dumbledore's Phoenix and fired on me," replied Ron while jumping over a bench that was in his way. "I didn't notice my invisibility charm wore off after I changed."
Harry sought his pockets and took a shrunken vial out of them. Enlarging it, he tossed it to Ron, after carefully looking at it. "Drink that. It's a little recipe Draco came up with, that heals bruises nearly completely."
"So the ferret is useful after all…" mumbled Ron and Harry rolled his eyes with a small smirk.
"Harry!" he heard Hermione's voice from the room ahead of him and looked at the redhead before quickening his run. "Where are you?"
They sprinted into the room and nearly fell down a stone bench because of their fast pace and stopped when they saw Draco, Neville and Hermione standing in the middle of the room, right beside a big archway. The room was big, and three other doors were in here.
"Colloportus!" said Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise shortly after they had entered.
Harry's eyes widened when he saw the veil that was hindering him from looking at Neville. "Get away from it!"
His friends jumped at his slightly panicky tone of voice and took some steps back.
"What's wrong?" asked Neville who sprouted a bloody nose. Harry raised his eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Got hit with a Reductor-Curse…"
"Episkey!" muttered Hermione without further ado and Neville gave a small yelp when his nose fixed itself. He gave Hermione a barely noticeable glare and wished the blood away from his face.
Harry meanwhile nodded affirmatively and looked at the veil. Quiet voices came out of it. "Don't get too close… this thing's dangerous when it's what Nick and Sirius told me about…"
"Is this… the Veil of Death?" asked Draco quietly and Harry nodded when the whispering grew louder and louder. Draco's eyes widened for a split second and then he shook his head.
"We should leave…"
"It's scary…" whispered Hermione and they went over to the door on the other side of the room, while Harry remained on the spot. They hadn't been in this room when they had entered the Hall of Prophecies, so where did they have to go now?
"The hell?" exclaimed Draco and stopped in his tracks.
He whirled around and stared at the Veil. Harry titled his head and looked at him, before looking also at the Veil.
Then he realized why Draco had stopped.
The voices had died down. Not a single noise was heard now. The veil fluttered softly in a nonexistent breeze, but this also happened without any noise.
"What the hell is going on here?" asked Ron uneasily and Harry looked over to them.
"I don't know", replied Harry quietly and noted surprised that his breath came out of his mouth in form of little clouds.
"It's so cold…" whispered Hermione suddenly and pulled her cloak tighter around her body while Ron closed his eyes in concentration.
An uneasy feeling crept into Harry's body when his eyes alternately travelled from one door to the other. 'They can't be here,' he thought dreadfully. 'The Ministry has shields against Dementors.'
Harry once again looked around. The silence was just unnatural. It was impossible that a room was that silent – magical enchanted or not. Some small noises were always there. His eyes fell back on the veil and when he took a step closer he immediately noticed that it was getting colder.
'BAM!'
The noise broke through the silence like thunder and Harry's muscles tensed just as if he wanted to jump. Hermione gave a surprised shriek and from the corner of his eyes Harry saw Neville jumping in the air. He closed his eyes and waited for another bang, as a sign that the Death Eaters tried to break the doors open.
But it was silent once again. Harry's eyes went wide in sudden realization. That must have been the wards sealing the Department of Mysteries! He cursed quietly. They were trapped in here, until help arrived!
"Let's hope for the best, eh?" he asked his friends with a small grimace. "The DoM just sealed itself…"
No one said a word, but you could clearly see the tension in each of their faces and bodies.
Harry took in a deep breath. He still didn't like the silence one bit. He slowly went to the middle of the room, just beside the veil and looked over at his friends. They were looking at him from the other side of the room and then to the veil next to him. Harry frowned. Not a single noise despite the regular breaths of his friends and himself could be heard. No, that wasn't quite right. He now could hear his own heartbeat.
"Let's get as close to the exit as possible," he said then. "This way we notice if help arrives right away."
His friends nodded slowly and they walked over to the door that led to the circular room.
Harry walked behind all of them and with a dreaded feeling noted that Draco's body stiffened. He had the best senses from all of them, so it had to mean something.
"Stop", commanded Draco quietly. "Be ready... they-"
All four doors of the room suddenly burst open with an ear-splitting bang.
Curses rained down on them and Harry and Draco had just enough time to raise a shield, when twenty-five Death Eaters already stormed into the room.
Harry grabbed the person standing nearest to him – which luckily was Hermione – and positioned himself so, that their backs were covered by each other, their sides facing the Death Eaters.
"That's a little unfair, isn't it?" called Draco while he, Neville and Ron took on the same position "Five for each of us... and I thought you were adults!"
"Shut up you little blood-traitor!" sneered Malfoy and Draco threw him a cold look.
Harry meanwhile walked to the middle of the room, Hermione still by his side, right in front of the veil and looked around. All the Death Eaters were looking at Draco and Lucius for the moment, as if they were watching a very interesting news-report.
He smirked and took the sphere with the prophecy out of his pocket and looked down at it.
"So much trouble for a small ball…" he whispered to himself and looked at Hermione who looked back at him with a knowing look and searched her pockets. 'We've got to destroy it.'
'BANG!'
A cloud of smoke erupted when she threw two small red and gold balls in the air and the thick cloud covered them all in darkness. Harry turned around and saw the veil. Looking back at the prophecy, he simply threw it through the archway. He himself could hear a soft clink, but was sure that no one else had heard it. He could hear the Death Eaters hurrying around.
"You're going to stand around all day, or what?" asked Harry and then quickly grabbed Hermione's hand.
They hurried over to the door they had planned on going through earlier, but suddenly the smoke disappeared.
The Death Eaters all turned their gaze on him now and he gulped slightly before grinning. Some of Voldemort's followers were panting slightly. One was bleeding badly, others holding their arms, legs or other bruises with their hands and someone Harry recognized as Dolohov, was leering, his wand pointing straight at Harrys face. Harry took a look at Draco, Neville and Ron and gave them a thumbs-up when he saw their satisfied grins.
"Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy, who was still scowling at Draco.
He pulled off his half destroyed mask. "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy."
"You expect something along the lines of 'Let the other's go and you'll get it', don't you?" said Harry sarcastically. "Well guys, forget it!"
A few of the Death Eaters growled.
"You are not in a position to joke," said Lucius Malfoy, his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there are twenty-five of us and only five of you… or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"
Harry scoffed and looked around the room to see ten wands pointed at him and Hermione. Every one of his friends also stood face to face with five Death Eaters. He narrowed his eyes when he saw one creeping up behind Neville who was standing a little away from the other two.
Harry wanted to shout out a warning when suddenly curses were fired, which he blocked, as they would have hit Hermione had he avoided them. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw two Death Eaters grab Neville from behind and cursed mentally.
"Wow…," Harry heard Malfoy suddenly sneer. "They also brought a Longbottom along."
Harry looked at him and saw Bellatrix standing right next to him. He also noted that Neville was being held down by the Death Eater that had been creeping up to him.
He shortly looked at his girlfriend. 'Don't you dare to leave my side!'
She didn't answer and only gave a determined nod in response, while her eyes scanned all five of their attackers who were once again just standing there and glaring at them.
"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy,"
"I KNOW YOU HAVE!" roared Neville and he fought so hard against his captors encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone stun him!"
"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked transported, alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry, then back at Neville. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents… unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."
"DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM!" roared Neville kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. "Or else everything would have been for nothing!"
Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"
Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, but no other scream came out of his throat and Harry smiled proudly.
"That was just a taster!" said Bellatrix, raising her wand so that Neville's body stopped to twitch slightly. She turned and gazed up at Harry. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"
'Guys, we've got a problem here. The only option is to fight and hope that the wards around us really alerted someone.'
And with that, all hell broke loose. Harry and his friends started to take on the twenty-five Death Eaters, surprising them shortly, before they fought back.
Harry barely registered that there were three other battles going on around him and Hermione – who he always kept one eye on - when a small rat hurried along a stone bench. Harry did not have to think twice and raised his wand.
"Stupefy!" he roared and the rat stopped in its tracks and toppled down a stone bench.
Some random Death Eaters laughed. "Oh, attacking harmless rats now, Potter? Pathetic. Crucio!"
Harry flinched slightly as the curse hit him and clenched his teeth and fists, waiting for the pain to stop. He didn't have to wait long, when the Death Eater flew backwards with a loud screech of pain and rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach in agony.
Looking at Hermione, Harry smiled encouragingly when he saw her troubled expression.
"Give me the prophecy," demanded Malfoy, appearing in front of him and Harry brought a hand behind his back while conjuring a small glass-ball that looked just like the prophecy and then held it out to him.
Malfoy jumped forwards to take it.
He just wanted to kick the man into next year, when high above them, two more doors burst open and more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Remus, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley, shortly followed by McGonagall, Flitwick, Narcissa and Fleur.
Malfoy turned, and raised his wand, but McGonagall had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him.
Harry did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but dove out of the way.
The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order, who were now raining spells down upon them as they jumped from step to step towards the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, Harry could see his friends hurrying trough the room and one by one disappearing trough one of the many doors with two Death Eaters each hot on their heels.
He urged Hermione forwards. "Get out of here and try to catch up with the others!"
She also disappeared and Harry dodged another jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach Neville who was still in the room, his face sprouting a grimace.
"Are you okay?" he asked, as another spell soared inches over their heads.
"Yes," said Neville, pulling himself up from his knees. "All the training against the curse was good for something after all."
Harry chuckled. "That was the reason for doing that. Resisting the curse is not easy, but can give you a big advantage."
"Yeah," answered Neville and they hurried along the stone benches while firing curses at the Death Eaters. "Whoa! Down Harry!"
The stone floor between them exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Harry's foot had been only seconds before; both scrambled away from the spot, and then a thick arm came out of nowhere, seized Harry around the neck and pulled him upright, so that his toes were barely touching the floor.
"Give it to me," growled a voice in his ear, "give me the prophecy -"
"Damn it! You guys are being ridiculous now!" growled Harry and with a swift kick of his leg the Death Eater howled in pain when Harry hit the most sensitive spot of every male.
He got down to his knees and Harry raised his wand, before throwing off the Death Eaters mask. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh… Avery Senior isn't it?" he asked in a fake friendly voice. "I bet your son has told you a lot about me."
"Shut up Potter!" growled Avery but winced in pain shortly after.
Harry adjusted the wand in his hand and took a deep breath. "Aufero Vita," he whispered and Avery's eyes widened for a split second before they grew dull and he started screaming. It only lasted five seconds, then he fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.
Another Death Eater stumbled back in shock when he saw his now unmoving comrade and his mask slipped off: it was Macnair, the one who had nearly killed the hypogriff Buckbeak in Harry's third year.
Harry just wanted to curse him as well but Neville was quicker than him and the Death Eater grabbed both of his legs in pain while crashing to the floor. Blood flowing out of two deep cuts on each leg.
"Thanks!" Harry said to Neville, pulling him aside as Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, dueling so fiercely that their wands were blurs; then Harry's foot made contact with something round and hard and he slipped. For a moment he thought he had dropped the fake prophecy, but then he saw Moody's magical eye spinning away across the floor and made a face.
Its owner was lying on his side, bleeding from the head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon Harry and Neville: Dolohov, his long pale face twisted with glee.
"Tarantallegra!" he shouted, his wand pointing at Neville, who jumped out of the way but stumbled across Moody's unmoving body and fell to the floor. "Now, Potter -"
He made a slashing movement with his wand just as Harry yelled, "Protego!"
Harry felt something streak across his face like a blunt knife; the force of it knocked him sideways and he nearly fell over Neville, but regained his balance quick enough to catch himself.
Dolohov raised his wand again. "Accio proph-"
Sirius had hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder and sent him flying out of the way. Harry sighed annoyed.
Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand-tips - Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on Harry.
Jumping up, Harry yelled, "Ardeo!"
Both arms of the Death Eaters started to burn with black flames and he screamed in agony while running away from them.
"Nice one, pup!" shouted Sirius, forcing Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards them. "Now I want you to get out of-"
They both ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray.
"Harry, take the prophecy, grab your friends and go back to Hogwarts!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Harry did not see what happened next: Kingsley swayed across his field of vision, battling with the pockmarked and no longer masked Rookwood; another jet of green light flew over Harry's head as he launched himself towards Neville
"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" snarled Lucius Malfoy's voice in his ear, and Harry felt the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between his ribs.
"You're getting on my nerves now!" shouted Harry and flung the fake-prophecy across the floor, Neville spun himself around and scooped the ball to his chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, "Impedimenta!"
Malfoy was blasted off his feet. As Harry scrambled up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now dueling, slipping into the land of unconsciousness.
"Potter, round up the others and GO!" came Moody's gruff voice from beside him.
Slightly surprised that the Auror was already up again, Harry once again sighed and just as he wanted to ask his friends if they were already safe, a spell hit the stone bench at Harry's heel; it crumbled away and he fell back to the step below.
"Ouch…" he muttered and rubbed his now sore sides.
"Dumbledore!" said Neville, his sweaty face suddenly grinning, staring over Harry's shoulder.
"What?"
"DUMBLEDORE!"
Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Exit, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body – this sure made the situation easier now. Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry, who looked at each other and then grinned.
Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line.
Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.
The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
Harry left Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais.
It seemed to take Sirius ages to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc before he slowly fell towards the veil...
"SIRIUS!" screamed Harry when he saw this and started to run.
Yeah, I know, that's a really bad cliffie, isn't it? But it was just the right place to end. Don't worry, I have nearly finished the next chapter and will post it next week!
Leave a review for me, yes?
Dark Phoenix of Slytherin