Chapter 44—You can't get them all
Neville Longbottom was bored. Even though Umbridge was no longer at Hogwarts he was happy to stay out of the media, SS squad and her clutches. This was a lonely life stuck here at his Manor with his strict grandmother. The only break was his tutors. They only torchered him four hours a day teaching him things he felt he would never use. While he had his greenhouses he missed his friends. So he sent out an owl to Harry and Hermione asking if they wanted to go out on the town one day. He was surprised when Hedwick showed the same day. Harry had a meeting that Saturday so times and dates were suggested. Neville was quick to 'floe' Hannah for a date that day. Harry had suggested that after his meeting they could take in a movie, dinner and a disco. A venture into Muggle town would decently break up the monotony.
/Scene Break/
We arrived at the Leakey Cauldron for our appointment with our mystery person. Hermione and I were directed by Tom to room three, upon entering there sat Snape with his signature sneer and a wand sitting on the far end of the table where he sat.
"Not here for trouble Potter's but I want to talk." Snape stated without emotion.
"Homenum Revelio" Hemione cast but it only showed us and Snape in the room.
"Err, I am at a loss as to why you called this meeting but its your show." I stated as I cast a silencing charm around the room and rolled his wand to him.
"Your not afraid I'll curse you for the Dark Lord?" Snape asked.
"Your good but not that good, lets get to the point of this meeting." I asserted.
"You and I Potter have never gotten along, but I find myself having to ask for your help. This I am going to explain but I do have some valuable information if you accept."
"We are listening Professor." Hermione added.
"It's a long store but I was a fool to take the mark and I want out. You two seem to have charmed lives and being my last hope I am willing to give information if you help in the end. That help is keeping me out of Azkaban after this is all over."
"You are indicating that I am going to win this fight, but if I do then yes if your information helps then I will do everything possible to keep you out of Azkaban. Again you seem to be putting a lot of trust in my abilities." I just hope he was right that we could win.
"When you defeated the Dark Lord the first time the dark mark on my arm virtually disappeared. I then slowly came back until after the TriWizard tournament when it returned but not a strong. When your wife said off with his head he did come back but the mark was even fainter. This tells me he is back but nowhere as strong as he was originally. So yes I think you can take him when he shows up, I think he knows as well. Now he has been opening a door or portal and that is where the giant and the three-headed dog came from but again I think that this is a power draining activity so he can't do it every day."
"Well this is nice background information but…" Hermione was cut off by Snape.
"I'm just getting to the good parts."
"Oh shit." Slipped out of my mouth.
"Yes you could say that. I have been assigned to Hogwarts and I am not to leave until Hogwarts is taken by the Dark Lord. This is to be the day before Christmas break, he want all the nice children to be in a jolly mood when he starts his terror."
"But he can't just walk into Hogwarts and the last time he…" Snape again cut off Hermione.
"Did you not notice that Draco Malfoy did not have the Dark Mark on his arm? He was left unmarked and I am to oversee his well being until he has the vanishing cabinet repaired and in place."
"Double OH SHIT, they just walk in and say surprise, guess who!" I moaned.
"What's a vanishing cabinet?" Foxy asked.
"Let me guess Voldemort has the one from Borgin & Burkes?" I groaned.
"Yes Potter you are correct and Mrs. Potter a vanishing cabinet is instant transport cabinet to cabinet between two places." Snape supplied.
"Well we are just going to destroy that…" Again Snape cut off Hermione who looked like she was about to growl.
"And where do you think the cabinet is and who else does the Dark Lord have protecting it or Draco? I have my limited direct orders most of what I gave you was from ease dropping so we have work to do."
The whole thing looked impossible, find the cabinet, and destroy it sounded easy but where to start?
"Did Draco say anything as to where or about the place the cabinet is in?" I asked.
"It was all confusing information, the Dark Lord was happy that Draco had found the cabinet but I had to leave the area. All I heard was the Dark Lords confusion about a room of lost items." Snape was now confused as Hermione and I jumped up whooping.
/Scene Break/
"Neville its great to see you and the beautiful Hannah, how are you this bright day?" I asked.
"You sure sound chipper this afternoon, so what are we..." Neville stopped talking as he saw Snape Slytering by to use the 'floe'.
"Your favorite teacher had some information for us..." It was now my time to be shocked. Deatheaters were pouring from the 'floe', Diagon Alley and it seemed from everywhere. We had no choice but to flee and the only exit was Charring Cross Road. The still standing customers charged out of the Leaky Cauldron into Charing Cross Road.
~Get to the call box and let our friends know that Charring Cross Road is going to turn into a battle grounds very quickly. I'll get Neville and Hannah to follow."
The Muggles on the very busy street stopped to gawk at the strangely dressed people coming out of nowhere but soon panicked as 'Avada Kedavra' green filled the street.
To start with Neville, Hannah and myself held the increasing number of Deatheaters back but soon we were outnumbered and it would be fatal to stay. I transformed into my phoenix form and grabbed Neville and Hannah and flamed. We got to see the backs of strange group of people from our spot in the alley. Aurors mixed in with British military carrying rifles charging after the Deatheaters. This battle from this side of the Leaky Cauldron was definitely won by our side so we relaxed.
~"Foxy I've got everybody in the alley between the Magical Instruments shop and Eeylops Owl Emporium get your buns over here."
Hermione flamed in ready to give me hell but soon started casting healing charms on the three of us. The three of us had gotten stone chips from a blasting curse hitting the street, Neville had a cut on his cheek from a near miss and Hannah was nursing a bruised arm from a blasting curse that now had me limping. The three of us looked like we had survived a war scene from a movie. As Hermione was patching us up with the aid of Hannah, Neville got us to chuckling,
"Well I guess that ruins the evening's entertainment, next time you invite us out we will bring our dragon hide vests. So want to do this again tomorrow evening?"
Neville spotted Amelia which was Hannah's girlfriend Aunt and a close acquaintance. Neville and Hannah just wandered out of the alley to have a word but that was a mistake. I would have joined them but Foxy was giving me a piece of her mind so I was a little slow in stopping them. The were attacked the minute they hit Diagon Alley's main street by a horde of reporters. Better him then me.
Hermione made me flash into see Madam Pomfrey for a medical checkup. I called Hedwick and sent her off with a note to Amelia for a time for a statement if she needed one from us. The next morning's Dailey Profit was quite informative as neither Foxy or myself knew all that had happened.
The ministry was the one that took the brunt of the work cleaning up the destruction and Obliviating muggles. From the pictures and description in the Dailey Profit it was clear that one large fight had taken place. The theme was "The Deadly Twin Rides Again". Voldemort lost a few of his faithful yesterday as the Aurors pushed from behind as the Mundane Military pushed in from Charing Cross Road. It appeared that the Queen kept a detachment of squibs ready for action in a couple of places in England just in case of troubles. The detachment from RAF Northolt arrived via helicopters which dropped armed troops on either side of Charring Cross. Unlike the Aurors the English Military had a shoot to kill authorization. They were still counting the dead on all sides.
~"Paws? Do you think Snape set us up and is his information trustworthy?"
~"No they only had to wait untill we arrived in that room with a couple of Deatheaters to attempt to do us harm. No, I think Snape is clear on this one, there was no need to send thirty Deatheaters to do what ten could carry out."
~"What to invite Neville for a double date next weekend?" Foxy joked.
~"I think Neville would be game but you better ask Hannah the next time you girls get together. Neville knows the trouble I get into but Hannah may have a higher survival instinct."
/Scene Break/
Like MadEye I became either a respected or hated teacher. Those duels were nasty on unprepared students but it was for their own good. I showed them how to do a shield and gave them homework to look up about shields but practice time was limited in the class room. That meant the student either practiced on their own spare time or got stinging hex's to their bums or other body parts. With the simple spells I just had two go at each other, one shielding and the other doing third year spells like 'incarcerous' or 'impedimenta' and then reversing the rolls. The more dangerous spells got practiced on practice dummies. Those that studied got practice time in the class, those that didn't usually got the spelled, the question was were in the body. The first three years I could follow the standard curriculum, fourth year and above well they have work to do.
/Scene Break/
We held our strategy meetings in the headmistress office over Voldemorts schedualed attack. The meeting was limited to McGonagall, Snape, Hermione, Amelia, Shacklebolt and I. Everyone had a solution which left Voldemort and his thugs either alive or awaiting release from Azkaban. I had the answer but I would not release it until the last moment. The only one who could stop me was Foxy and I thought that in the end she would just look the other way. Right now I had to visit Hagrid for some of his rock cakes and for him to deliver a message.
/Scene Break/
My two trouble makers Ron and Draco were quiet and I hoped that they just graduated this year and never showed their face in my life again. Draco of course would be leaving at Christmas in Shacklebolt's hands I just hoped about Ron. You could tell when Ron was in my class that he was pissed by his red ears but to date he had kept quiet. One thing that you could say about Ron was he was a slacker and if someone else did not do his work it never got done. That was a bad combination because today I could not put off pairing him with someone else because he was to have learned a newer and better shield. At the first hex to his arm Ron lost it.
"Confringo, Defodio, Sectumsempra" Ron shouted his curses. I was shocked almost to inaction. First he can't do a simple shielding charm but can fire off three deadly curses in a room full of young people? This is in violation of class and school rules. The major problem is if I shield the curses they will bounce off the shield and into what? The students? There was only one answer, "Clypeum revertere".
I had been working on that for awhile as it was a top level shield that sent the curses back to the sender. The shield worked but Ron had picked a spell invented by Snape and only Snape knew the reversal spell, Ron bleed out before Madam Pomfrey's could get to him. That of course brought the School Board, Amelia of the Ministry, Shacklebolt of the DMLE. Unfortunately for the ones that wanted Potter in trouble, like Malfoy, I had a class full of witnesses. Anyone of the spells cast could kill, but only the 'Sectumsempra' was strong enough to kill Ron with his weak casting abilities.
/Scene Break/
The school's plan was to have everyone in the Great Hall for the Christmas going away party locked in with six Aurors. Another couple were to grab Draco at the last-minute and have a handful or Aurors ready to curse anybody that came through the door of the Room of Lost Things. I convince them to have a group of Aurors in Hogsmeade Village should Voldemort try for the main gate.
There was a general or someone who said something like this, "When you fire the first shot all your carefully laid plans just went up in smoke".
I decided that as they all ran around making everything as per their prearranged plans I would be the big monkey wrench in everyone's plans. I got to the seventh floor early and first and asked for the Room of Lost Things. I also asked that I would be the only one to enter though the door until I left the room. When the door closed and locked behind me I headed straight for the cabinet and began my work. I guess even the room is not incapable of messing up plans, Foxy flashed in and onto a rafter high above the cabinet where I was watching from as a Phoenix and proceeded to give me what for.
~"What the hell are you doing? You are going to louse up all our plans! How dare you interfere…?" I gave her neck to neck rub and that slowed her down so I could explain.
~"Keep talking mind to mind as I don't want to scare them away. This is going to be boring but I think we will hear if and when this works."
Hermione finally looked down and saw my handy work and gasped.
~"You're going to kill them!"
~"Of course my dear Foxy, why let them plead mind control in court or escape from Azkaban, they wanted in, I want them out of Hogwarts."
Meanwhile back in Hogwarts Great Hall they realized that many students did not show up for the feast so Aurors were sent student hunting. Draco bolted and got away from his Aurors and was caught banging his fists on the door to the room of hidden things. Voldemort decided to have a little killing party with fifty Deatheaters in Hogsmeade before he marched through the gates of Hogwarts. The gates of course would be open as his Deatheaters would have opened them from the insides. Ah, more loused up plans.
What Foxy saw was I had moved the vanishing cabinet to a window I had enlarged to fit the cabinet. The cabinet now fit snugly into the open window. With a silencing charm on the outside of the cabinet and an obscuring charm anyone leaving the cabinet could not see or hear anything. So if one was to slowly step out of the cabinet it would be seven floors until the next step of rocks. I figured they would be rushing out as fast as they could. I was right as thirty Deatheater took their first step at leaving Hogwarts. Their next move would be Hagid's pet Aragog and his Acromantula children, but then again I don't think the Deatheaters, after a seven floor fall, would mind that I invited them to a free meal.
We flamed out of the room of hidden things just in time for a runner to say Voldemort was in town. At the same time an elf reported to McGonagall that it was raining Deatheaters from the seventh floor. Amelia, Shacklebolt and a few Aurors grabbed on to Foxy and me and we flamed to town. While the Aurors we brought charge into help the Aurors already in town. Hermione and I made a quick trip to an alley and Paws and Foxy sped to outflank the Deatheaters. By now we figured everyone knew we were Phoenix animagus but Paws and Foxy was still fairly secret. We had just transformed back to ourselves and raced out of the alley right into Voldemort.
"Ah Mr. Potter come to face death at last?"
"Sorry just out for a stroll we had no idea that the circus clowns were in town." That got me a 'Crucio'.
'Clypeum revertere' was my reply, sending the 'Crucio' back to Voldemort. He batted the curse away with his free hand but winced as he did so.
I followed up with a 'Confringo' which surprised me it took off his left arm; I followed up with a 'Diffindo' that almost cut him in half. Foxy veered off as she was making a fire bird run at him, as he just crumpled to the ground. I would have just stayed there with my mouth open but a 'Avada Kedava' buzzed by me bringing the world back and my hair on end.
We charged into the fight which ended by the Deatheaters port-keying out, when we turned around Voldemort's pieces were gone.
/Scene Break/
After all the smoke and shouting ended we left the Aurors in Hogsmeade and flame to the castle. Again after the questions and yelling stopped I was just about to take a long drink of orange juice when a special edition or the Dailey Profit came in and made my day. What's with these reporters? There on the front page is me and Volde dueling, and him getting sliced apart. That's starts the students and a lot of the teachers, questions, praise and more dumb questions. Foxy and I retired for the evening.
/Scene Break/
Breakfast brought some piece but as I looked over at the Slytherin table I saw Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. I laughed in my head to start with, they didn't get caught with the Dark Mark but now that Draco was gone they looked like lost sheep. Then I sobered up, it could mean nothing or they could be the next to try to get a Potter. I just shook my head and found a quiet place to flame from and into the Room of Lost Things as I needed to destroy the cabinet and unlock the room. When I arrived I had nothing to do, the cabinet and half the room was burnt into nothing. Another mystery for another time, I unlocked the door and left to await the arrival of my next class.
Unbeknownst to Harry, Ravenclaw's Tiara sat among the ashes, that tiara started the fire as that piece of Voldemort had returned to him, to start the living body he needed.
/Scene Break/
Christmas was spent with family and a lot of present giving and good cheer.
Severus Snape was sitting alone with a glass of whiskey contemplating his burning Dark Mark. Did he answer the call? The mark was quite pale and a decision needed to be made.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners i.e. J.K. Rawlings, etc. The original characters and plot are the property of the author i.e. J.K. Rawlings, etc. This work is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Not for sale or profit but I am having fun.