The Final Battle

Anna walked in line with McGonagall as they made their way back to headmaster office. Anna only explained why she was out so late and did not speak after that; she constantly bit her lip from speaking. Somewhere in Anna's head, it kept saying to tell McGonagall what was going on beyond the walls-but that would be a terrible idea.

"Peeves!" McGonagall shouted and turned abruptly.

A suit of armor was now knocked over and smashed around the corner of the corridor that they walked by. McGonagall clacked her heels against the stone flooring as she went to pick up the suit of armor and repair it. Anna stood stationary waiting for her headmaster to come back to direct her to the tower; Anna waited till she felt someone behind her. Anna didn't want to move, she assured herself it was Peeves. Anna hoped that McGonagall would have a change of heart and let her go. It even crossed her mind to turn and run to find Basil. So Anna breathed in as much air she could and she turned, and miraculously saw none other than Arnold Sweets.

"Grandpa Sweets? What are you doing here? I thought you were sick." Anna asked in a hopeful tone.

Arnold did not reply, he merely stared at her and swiped his wand out with an eerie smile appearing on his chapped lips. His wand began to glow an odd shade of green then to black while his lips moved slowly. All the evidence fell into place into a matter of seconds when Anna realized what he was saying.

"Carmine sax-"

"Flipendo!" Anna shot back and Arnold flew backwards.

McGonagall appeared from the corner and gasped at the scene. Before the headmaster could move or do any more, Arnold shot a stunning spell that made her collapse to the floor. Anna shrieked and darted away from the vigilante that was shooting stunning spells; Anna didn't know any protective spells in this instance and hid behind anything that covered her from the bouncing jinxes. Anna, distracted, did not notice that she was heading straight for the Great Hall, almost a dead end.

"Foolish girl, you're trapped now. Carmine saxum!"

"Protego!" Anna successfully deflected the spell and it bounced and hit a house table.

One of the house tables flipped over and served as a shield for Anna to hide behind when Sweets threw another stunning spell. Once Arnold tried throwing jinxes, Anna deflected them onto other objects; this made the room a mess. It seemed like Anna's spell were becoming weaker and weaker as Arnold became stronger and used more complex spells and his accuracy became almost perfect. This worried the young girl and she prayed for anyone to save her at any moment.

"Anna Winchester, I had so many high hopes for you. You could've been Minister or head of council. It's sad that I must end you." Sweets cackled and began the spell again.

Right in front of his eyes, Anna disappeared without even muttering a spell. Sweets knew this must be an invisibility cloak of some sort and scanned the room for any movement that signaled Anna escaping his grasps. Fury burned through the old man's blood as he searched endlessly for the powerful young witch.

Anna was currently thrown under the invisibility cloak and held quiet by Albus with Scorpius right behind him. They reached the outer corner of the room and watched as Basil snuck in behind Sweets and was ready to attack. Anna felt relief as she her body finally relaxed.

"You're my hero." Anna whispered to Albus and leaned backwards into the boy.

"I'm here too." Scorpius reminded and looked through the cloak at Basil. His snide comment wasn't retaliated by neither Albus or Anna.

Basil snuck into the Great Hall with cat-like feet, yet her body wouldn't stop shaking. Of all the body parts, the only thing that would operate was her brain; you're going to die. Your grandfather is going to kill you. Why are you doing this? She questioned herself as she stepped closer and closer. The nerves seemed to melt away once the thought of Anna, Rose, Derek, Kristina, and Tia dying floated through her brain. In that moment, Basil knew what she had to do. Basil positioned behind Sweets and flicked her wrist; the spell toppled Arnold over and threw him several feet away. Arnold rebounded and shot a stunning spell that missed by mere inches; Basil threw a shield charm and backed away a few feet.

"Oh little Basil finally found her strength. Too bad that I can defeat you." Arnold cackled and threw another spell that Basil deflected. He looked like a ravage dog snarling at its prey.

"Says the one who can't aim! I can't believe you're my Grandpa." Basil sneered and hit him with a spell that did nothing.

"Haven't you seen the way your father acts around me? He hates me. Your mother hates me. I thought you would have caught on that I'm not innocent. They knew I committed though murders even though I tried to convince them." Arnold hissed and stood still as stone.

"You don't have to do this anymore! You can free the kids from the spell and serve time in Azkaban and be free. Stop this!" Basil insisted and dropped her wand down.

Scorpius swore and moved Anna and Albus closer to the battle; they were close enough to listen but far away so they would not be hit. They hid behind the turned over house table and stayed under the cloak for protection. Scorpius became irate that Basil would try to reason with that madman.

"I can't you dumb girl! You'll never understand. You're only eleven; you know nothing like I do. "Arnold argued and dropped his wand to his side also.

"You don't have to do this. Stop it; you'll be better off when you forget about the Ministry. Just disappear and never come back!" Basil insisted and became relaxed at once.

There was a long pause from both ends of the fight. Arnold looked upwards and showed pity in his eyes as he said, "You're right…"Arnold sighed and stepped closer to his granddaughter.

Basil smiled joyfully and stayed stationary at her spot, watching for her grandfather to come towards her. Scorpius watched perplexed, he didn't understand why Arnold would give up so quickly and for something Basil just screamed at him; that's when Scorpius saw it. Arnold had his wand glowing yet again and he was mouthing the words of the Medusa's Curse.

"Basil! Stop!" Scorpius cried and jumped from the cloak.

Everything seemed to slow down for Basil; Scorpius was moving in slow motion and Arnold's spell seemed to be stunned and moved leisurely. It wasn't till Scorpius was struck in the chest right in front of her that she snapped from the trance. Basil instantly grabbed Scorpius's stone body before it hit the ground, but his face landed and a small crack appeared on the side of his face. All the pent up frustration, depression, and anxiety overwhelmed Basil almost immediately when the crack appeared.

"No! What have you done?" Basil cried and held Scorpius to a standing position. Her arms wrapped around him protectively.

"See what you did! You'll never learn! You don't deserve the magic that runs through your veins. You're a dirty mudblood!" Arnold spat and began laughing manically.

Basil swung out her wand and something strange happened; there was a never ending line of magic flowing through her wand to Arnold. Arnold held up his wand at the same instant and their wands were battling against each other. Basil didn't even say a word, there was just the magic running endlessly for what seemed like years; she felt weak and brittle as it seemed like all her energy and soul was being ripped from her body. Albus and Anna watched, horrified, as the battle continued; Scorpius's statue was standing on its own as if he was watching.

"Basil, stop!" Anna pleaded and rushed away from the cloak.

Basil couldn't disconnect herself from the battle between the two wands. Don't let go. Do it for Kristina, Tia, Rose, Derek, and Scorpius. Defeat him! The voice in the back of her head screamed over and over. Everything seemed blurry and there was a loud explosion that came directly in front of her; Basil collapsed to her knees and saw Arnold was thrown against the Great Hall wall across the room.

"There he is!" A familiar voice of Harry Potter yelled behind her.

A group of Aurors raced to detain Arnold and used a spell to cuff him and stun him. Basil felt Anna and Albus hug her and there was sound of speaking but Basil couldn't translate it. They were both crying and blubbering about something. Basil focused her sight on the stone figure of Scorpius, her heart clenched and her breathing ended. There was a bright light and Basil felt her head hit the ground then everything went black.