Glad you guys liked that last chapter!
I hope anyone who hasn't caught up with season 9 isn't too confused, and I apologize for the spoilers.
Also, yes, I know Cedric was seventeen in fourth year, so technically he should have graduated by now. But I only realized this in this chapter. So he's staying and we're pretending he turned seventeen in sixth year.
Anyway, like I said! 49 is the lucky number, so to celebrate you guys holding up with my last couple chapters you get an extra-long one this time! I hope this explains why it took so long to upload.
I feel like the later bits turned out a little awkwardly, but that might just be me. In any case, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter
It took Gabriel a week or two to find the right Earth, much less Hogwarts, but by that time he'd made up for the time differences caused by interplanetary travel [lucky thing it hadn't been as long as the last time this had happened] and so no one missed his absence.
Michael might have suspected something - the double Gabriel had left behind had vanished and therefore 'skipped' half a day but Gabriel just waved off questions and said he'd been caught up in something urgent and besides, you'd better help me with this because Hermione might actually try and kill me if she thinks I've been skiving homework.
Hermione, as it turned out, had other things on her mind.
Like convincing Cedric Diggory to give an interview with Luna's dad's magazine.
"I don't think I really had a choice." Cedric had started attempting to hang out with Gabriel more, and Gabriel let him, because he was actually somewhat interesting. "Hermione can be pretty insistent when she wants to be."
"You haven't seen her yet when she finds out someone's been procrastinating." Gabriel smirked over his book at the Hufflepuff. "And if you're smart, you'll make sure that person is never you."
"...Got it."
The interview had gained Cedric even more attention than was usually paid to him, since his infamy from being involved in the Triwizard mess only went so far. Ackerly had immediately banned the magazine, but Michael had been the only one confused as to why this was a good thing.
"Oh, Michael, don't you see?" Hermione explained. "If there's one way to make sure absolutely everyone reads it, it's by banning it!"
Hermione, as usual, was absolutely right; people were quoting it everywhere, and Luna had excitedly told Gabriel over dinner about how a copy had never sold so quickly.
"We're having to reprint! Daddy's amazed, he says people seem more interested in this than even Crumple-Horned Snorcacks!"
Hermione had her own reasons as to the sudden interest in Cedric's side of the story. "People are starting to think that something's up," she told Gabriel. "The Ministry had the world's poorest excuse for the breakout from Azkaban, and people are nervous about so many Death Eaters out again - they're starting to think that maybe Dumbledore's right."
"And this occurred to no one earlier?"
"They didn't really have another side of the story earlier."
The drama with Trelawney had passed Gabriel by completely [he'd been busy trying to figure out if he could send Metatron a hex, but apparently spells didn't last across that much space, and he didn't dare go back until he was sure that whatever extra power source Metatron had was gone].
Still, everyone seemed to be chatting about it during the DA meeting. Gabriel cleared his throat pointedly and the two nearby Hufflepuffs looked over at him, startled. "I'm sure you're having fun, but have either of you tried the Patronus yet?"
"Right," One of them said quickly, lifting her wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
She managed to conjure a wisp of silver, disappointment crossing her features when no animal appeared.
"Try again," Gabriel said. "No one gets it on the first try."
He was moving through the crowd of students in the chamber, offering occasional advice and making sure they were actually trying to do the spell and not just talking. They were all doing pretty well, better than Gabriel had expected, although he had started to underestimate wizards a little bit.
"Harry!" Hermione appeared out of the crowd. "I've done it!" She waved her wand, excitement lighting up her features. "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver otter burst out of the tip, leaving a misty trail in its wake as it swam through the air. Gabriel leaned to the side as it darted past him and grinned. "Nice. An otter, huh?"
Before Hermione could answer, a noise echoed through the chamber.
Gabriel frowned, turning towards where the passage led back up to the school. Silver conjurations were blinking out as students looked around, and the noise echoed one more time.
A distant, hollow thud.
Someone was trying to get in.
Several people obviously had the same realization as Gabriel, conversation breaking out in loud, worried tones.
"Who's that?"
"How'd they know where to go?"
"Someone must have told them!"
"I bet it was the snake..." someone muttered, and Gabriel swung around to face them.
"Enough," he snapped, quickly finding Draco in the crowd and identifying the real missing member almost immediately. "Cho!" His call got everyone's attention, and the Ravenclaw looked back at him, her wand held tight in one hand. "Where's your friend? The redhead?"
He saw everyone come to the exact same realization when they realized that Marietta wasn't there. Cho froze, glancing around as if that would make the ginger girl pop up out of nowhere.
Gabriel made a quick decision and snapped his fingers.
Time froze.
Gabriel, who to his advantage existed outside of silly things like time, walked over to the opening of the pipe and glanced up at the top. It was hardly difficult to recognize the group standing at the closed entrance. Ackerly and her little gang of Slytherins. What a surprise.
Gabriel turned back to the frozen students and considered what to do. Making up his mind quickly, he snapped again, and all of the Gryffindors vanished back to their Tower. Same for the Ravenclaws, and Gabriel had to pause to draw the location of their dorm out of the mind of the nearest Hufflepuff before giving them the same treatment, remembering to make sure that everyone would just wake up in their beds in a few hours. Draco was the easiest to send off, as he didn't have any Housemates to go with him.
When only Michael and Hermione were left, he returned time to its normal speed and watched as they jumped at his sudden proximity, staring around wildly at the suddenly-empty chamber.
"Where'd everyone go?" Michael demanded.
"I took care of the situation." Gabriel put a hand to each of their heads and flew them all to a random classroom, staggering slightly at the protest his wings put up.
He hadn't expected the damage from the binding spell to be so long-lasting.
"Harry!" Hermione's alarmed voice made Gabriel realize he was leaning rather heavily on a nearby chair. He winced when Hermione grabbed his wrist.
"Christ - not there!"
Hermione let go very quickly. Michael's hand had somehow found its way to Gabriel's shoulder, and ne looked like ne was ready for Gabriel to faint or something. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Mate, you looked like you were about to fall over." Michael's voice was worried. "That's not 'nothing'."
"It's nothing for you to worry about."
"Oh, would you stop it!" Hermione burst out. "You keep telling us not to worry about stuff! We're your friends, Gabriel, you can trust us!"
She had called him Gabriel again.
Gabriel shook Michael's hand off his shoulder and sat down in the chair he'd been leaning on, reclining as far as he could against it. "Not right now," he said eventually. "I promise, I'll explain it, just...not right now."
"When, then?" Hermione asked in an only marginally softer voice.
"Later."
"When?"
"Tomorrow, alright?" Gabriel threw his hands up in frustration, which turned out to be a bad idea as it made his sleeves pull away from his wrists.
Hermione and Michael were both staring in horror at the burned skin, and Gabriel quickly pulled his sleeves back up.
"You're hurt!" Michael looked even more upset now. "You said it was nothing! That looks horrible!"
"It'll heal."
"You should have gone to someone!" Hermione's hands had jumped to her mouth. "Harry, that looks really bad, and if it hurt just from me grabbing it-"
"It's fine!" Gabriel snapped, and he immediately regretted it - both Michael and Hermione had jumped slightly from the power he'd unconsciously put in the words.
Gabriel put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. "Just...it's late. Can you let it go for a few hours?"
"Let it go?" Hermione looked aghast, but Michael held out a hand. Ne stared at Gabriel seriously.
"Tomorrow," he said. "Then you're explaining everything."
"Alright."
They had to sneak back to their respective dorms, because when Gabriel offered to just fly them back Hermione glared and said if it hurt that much just to bring them up here then he was not doing any more flying. Gabriel went with it because sometimes it was better to just agree with Hermione.
The next day was Saturday, which meant that Michael was waiting down in the common room to make sure Gabriel didn't try and skive on his promise.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Yeah, but it's you. You never know."
Michael and Hermione had obviously talked about this at some point, because Michael walked out to the lake confidently.
"We thought it might be better to go somewhere it'd be less likely to be overheard," Ne explained when Gabriel asked. "I mean, it would be kind of weird if someone walked in on us."
Smart thinking, and the chill left over from winter was numbing the burns a little, even if it didn't usually affect Gabriel.
Hermione was out nearly as quickly as them, and for some reason she was carrying what looked like a first-aid kit.
"What on Earth-" Gabriel's incredulous response was cut off as he hurried to catch the kit that had been tossed up so that Hermione's hands were free for climbing up onto the rock that he and Michael were already perched on.
"It's for you," She huffed as she pulled herself up. "I figured you wouldn't go to Madam Pomfrey so I managed to get one from the hospital wing without her noticing."
"That's-" Hermione's glare made Gabriel stop midsentence. He sighed. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"No." Hermione sat down and pulled the kit away. "Give me your wrist."
"And you promise you'd explain," Michael reminded him.
"Yes I know, Michael, I was there." Gabriel extended both his wrists towards Hermione, who gave him a look but didn't say anything about not knowing that it was both that were hurt.
Hermione carefully pulled back his sleeves and squeezed her eyes shut as the thick burns came into view.
"I can do it-"
"No, I'm fine." Hermione took a deep breath and opened the kit.
"You sure you know what you're doing?"
"I looked it up this morning." She took a small jar out of the kit and began twisting the lid off.
"That's not going to help."
Hermione shot a look at him. "How do you know?"
"These are holy fire burns. Magic isn't going to do shit for them."
Hermione frowned, but put the tin away and instead pulled out a roll of bandages. "What's holy fire?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Gabriel let his hands rest in Hermione's lap. "It's also one of the only things that can hurt angels."
"So what happened?" Michael shifted closer. "You said you had to go somewhere, and then just vanished."
"Yeah." Gabriel considered his reply. "Well, I should probably start off by explaining the whole idea behind alternate worlds or this discussion is going to go nowhere."
Hermione gaped at him. "You went to an alternate universe?"
"More like alternate planet, but yes, basically."
Hermione tried to say something, faltered, and then shook her head. "Okay, you can explain that later. Why leave, though?"
"There's something of mine called the Horn of Gabriel - it's an old angelic weapon, basically. Something was drawing off its power, and I went to see what was up."
"That's it?" Michael's eyes seemed to be drawn to Gabriel's injury.
"Not exactly. Thing is, my siblings are kind of in this gigantic spat, and one of them is in the center of it all. He's the one who was drawing off my Horn's power, and he was expecting me to show up." Gabriel inclined his head towards his half-bandaged wrists. "And if you put an angel in a circle of holy fire, they can't leave."
"That's what this is from?" Hermione looked upset. "One of your brothers?"
"Yeah. He had me in the circle, and then basically tied me up in more holy fire to make sure I couldn't do anything."
"That seems like overkill." Michael muttered, and then looked up sharply. "I mean-"
"No offense taken." Gabriel grinned halfheartedly. "It was, really, but he was just watching out for himself, 'cause if I'd managed to get out of the holy fire I would have kicked his ass."
Hermione was quiet. "I get what you mean when you said you didn't get along."
"Nah, I'm not like that with most of them, but most of them haven't trapped me in holy fire."
"What about that other guy? The one at your house," Michael clarified. "He called you 'brother'."
"You mean Balthazar?" Gabriel shrugged. "He's cool with me. Also I helped him fake his death, so he sort of owes me."
Hermione was biting her lip, frowning fiercely at the bandages around Gabriel's wrists. He carefully pulled his hands away. "Thanks."
"You mentioned," she said slowly, "that your siblings were in a big fight. What happened then?"
Gabriel almost refused to tell them, but thought the better of it. They had been right - they were his friends, and maybe he trusted them a little more than he'd thought. "Do you remember," he said eventually, "When you talked to me before the third task last year and demanded to know why I'd been acting off?"
Michael frowned. "Yeah," Ne answered. "You said everyone had been cut off or something."
"More than something." Gabriel leaned forward. "It's - it's a long story. Bascially, the brother that I mentioned earlier - the one who trapped me - his name is Metatron. And last year, he made some sort of spell which basically kicked everyone out of Heaven." Gabriel spread his hands. "Every single angel - except for me and anyone else who wasn't in Heaven at the time - Falling at once. Most of us lost our wings. And everyone's trying to figure out what the hell to do and teaming up against each other."
Michael was staring at Gabriel. "No wonder you were acting so weird."
"Yeah." Gabriel blew out a breath. "It's basically the most fucked-up things could have possibly gotten."
"You said that...some angels lost their wings." Hermione changed the topic. "But...you can still fly. That's what that teleporting thing you do is, right?"
"Yeah." Gabriel absentmindedly put a hand to his back. "I was lucky - I wasn't in Heaven when all this went down, so I avoided the worst of it. But... my wings still got kind of fucked up. I lost the third pair."
"The what?"
"Come on, Michael, I'm an archangel. You think I'm going to be down with just two wings?" Gabriel smirked, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Nah. I've still got the other four, it's just a little harder to get places."
"You shouldn't fly, then," Hermione said severely. "If it hurts, then you're probably just making it worse."
"Who are you, Madam Pomfrey?"
"Harry, just promise me!"
"Okay, okay!" Gabriel held up his hands in surrender. "I promise."
"Good. So...what were you saying about alternate universes again?"
They were out by the lake almost all day, until Michael and Hermione [human as they were] started shivering and they had to retreat back into the castle. The members of the DA who were unfortunate enough to not be in on the secret were probably in a ridiculous amount of confusion - though Ron had probably guessed that Gabriel had something to do with it - and yet no one managed to find the three of them to ask the questions that everyone would no doubt be dying to.
Gabriel was keeping a close ear on angel radio, but nothing interesting was happening - nothing, at least, that angels were willing to share over a wavelength so easily eavesdropped on as long as you were an angel.
Ackerly was fuming at the head table the next time Gabriel bothered to take a glance over at her, but nothing else happened - and why should there have been any fallout? Even if, by some miracle, she and a bunch of underage wizards had managed to get past the warding Gabriel put on the pipe down to the chamber, there would have been no secret club to find, much less any members.
The only real result was that Filch was constantly lurking around the second-floor bathroom now, and while Gabriel could have walked right past him without the caretaker noticing he doubted any of the other members could be nearly that sneaky.
Luckily, Gabriel had the perfect idea of where to have the club instead.
That room on the seventh floor, if it could still change its dimensions, would do nicely.
The coins had to be drastically [and temporarily, Gabriel assured Hermione] altered so that everyone knew that yes, the meetings were still ongoing, and where to go for the next one instead of coming up to Gabriel to 'discreetly' find out via word of mouth.
The room had changed itself yet again when Gabriel arrived, but at least this time he'd figured out that you had to walk in front of it a few times before the door would appear. This time, it was a large spacious room covered in bookshelves and with [for some reason] large cushions in a pile at one end.
Gabriel whistled. "Wow. This place keeps outdoing my expectations."
Hermione's mouth had dropped open. "Why weren't we in here before?"
"Long story short, I kind of forgot the place existed."
"How?"
"I said it was a long story."
The rest of the members were equally thrilled with the new meeting room, and Gabriel had to admit it was much more convenient to meet in a room that could make almost anything you needed magically appear.
"Alright!" Gabriel's yell echoed through the room, bringing a sudden silence. "Yeah, I know we got discovered, but since Marietta has been officially removed from the list and no one's seen her since then I'm going to assume that none of you are going to sell us out."
"Hell no!" Someone yelled, and there were scattered agreements and solemn nods. Gabriel gestured for quiet again.
"Anyway," He continued, "We're gonna use this room from now on unless something else comes up, and Hermione's already asked why we weren't in here before so I'll save you guys the trouble of asking; I forgot about it."
Gabriel got several incredulous looks for that, but he kept going.
"So! Patronuses! I really doubt everyone's got theirs yet and unless you can all give me concrete proof, we're gonna keep going." Gabriel hopped down from the small, stagelike thing that had manifested itself earlier when Gabriel had realized that he'd need to be taller to talk to everyone properly. "Keep going from wherever you left off."
People scattered into smaller knots, talking to each other at a fever pitch. The subject of how they'd all gotten back into their dorms from the chamber was suspiciously absent from any conversation, but if Gabriel had done a little tweaking to persuade everyone that nothing unusual had happened, then who would blame him?
What was he supposed to do, tell them the truth?
As if.
Finals week rushed upon them with the force of a small tropical storm, and just like if there had been a real hurricane over Hogwarts, Gabriel was completely unbothered by it.
Hermione, however, was not an archangel in a hurricane and let herself be nearly swept away in sleepless fits of revision until Gabriel threatened to stage another intervention like he had in third year and she reluctantly came out to the lake with them again - 'them' being Gabriel and Michael, this time accompanied by Luna.
"It's not good to study for too long," Luna said cheerfully as she helped pull Hermione outside. "You've got to take breaks, otherwise you start attracting Dexflies."
"There's no such-"
"Hermione, give it a rest already." Gabriel rolled his eyes and let go of Hermione's arm as they reached the side of the lake. "Finals are half over already, how long will it take you to stop worrying?"
"These are you OWLs!" Hermione snapped. "You may not have to worry as much, but these define practically the rest of our career!"
"Do you see anyone else panicking, Hermione?" Gabriel gestured widely. "They-" He stopped suddenly, seeing a shape running - sprinting, more like - out of the castle.
Michael frowned. "Is that Ackerly?"
"It is." Gabriel kept his eyes on the figure as she moved quickly towards the gates, where a carriage already waited.
"But she never leaves the school, practically." Hermione objected. She and Luna, by now, were also staring after their Defense teacher - if she could be called that. "She doesn't even go to Hogsmeade."
"It's not the Nargles," Luna said calmly. "There must be an emergency."
"At the Ministry?" Gabriel frowned thoughtfully. "Only thing I can think of that would make her run like that."
Hermione sat bolt upright. "Something wrong at the Ministry? But what?"
Gabriel let a grin spread over his face. "Why don't we go find out?"
"Harry!"
"What?"
Hermione slapped his arm. "We've just broken into the Ministry!"
"So?" Gabriel shrugged, then glanced behind him at Luna. "You alright?"
"Just a little surprised." She said, standing up. "That was much more uncomfortable than I thought it would be."
"Tell me about it," Gabriel muttered, and then pretended he hadn't said anything when Michael looked at him sharply. "Does anyone else hear screaming?"
The four of them went silent, and it was true - there were vague yells reverberating through the building, as well as ominous noises that sounded almost like parts of the building were being knocked down.
"I don't like the sound of that," Hermione said nervously.
"Nah, I heard stuff like this happens in the Ministry all the time," Michael said. "Department of Mysteries alone could probably-"
"That's right!" Gabriel perked up. "I meant to check that out a while ago - what do you say we go take a look at what's in there?"
"In the Department of Mysteries? I'm not sure that's a-" Gabriel had already vanished to go find it, and after taking a quick break to rest his wings in a room which contained only an ominous-looking aquarium full of...something...which he'd resolved to leave alone, Gabriel darted back to bring the other three with him.
"-Good idea," Finished Hermione, sighing as she looked around at the room full of doors. "Am I the only sensible one?"
"Probably," Gabriel said absentmindedly as he pulled at the handle of the nearest door. "Huh. Locked. Wish I could say I was surprised."
Luna was looking around curiously. "I didn't expect the Department to look like this." She sounded disappointed. "I'll have to tell Daddy he was wrong, then."
Gabriel decided to ignore the comment and managed to unlock the door, which swung open to reveal a room that, at first, looked like it was full of glitter.
"Oh, this is much better," Luna said happily.
The room, on second look, was actually full of clocks.
"What the fuck?"
The misconception about the glitter was due to the fact that there was light gleaming off of nearly every surface in the room, which was indeed full of every kind of clock there could possibly be - and if there were more, Gabriel was going to have to ask some serious questions about humanity and what made them feel the need to invent so many kinds of timepieces.
"Whoa." Michael looked around the room in surprise. "This is what the department spends their time on?"
Gabriel's attention was drawn to a tall glass dome standing on a cart, full of a substance which resembled glitter much more closely and an egg which, in front of his friend's amazed eyes, fell to the bottom of the jar and rose back up while simultaneously hatching, becoming a full-grown bird, and doing the opposite in reverse so that by the time it had reached the top of the jar it was an egg again.
Gabriel heard Hermione suck in a breath. "Oh, Merlin," she said, coming to the same realization that he had. "Time."
Luna was staring at the jar. "Intangible concepts," she said, not nearly as dreamy-voiced as usual. "Mysteries. So that's where the department gets its name."
"Wizards can't do this." Gabriel didn't realize how close he was to the jar until he noticed his reflection staring back at him.
"Obviously, they have." Hermione stated, as if it should have been obvious.
"No, I mean they cannot. Hermione, there is a reason humans were never given power over time." Gabriel realized he was staring to glare at the jar, and backed away slightly. "Unfortunately, I can't break this because it's magic and I don't know what might happen."
"You don't know?" Luna asked in surprise.
"Luna, I was introduced to the magical world about the same time Hermione was. I have had better things to do than mess with a tiny community of humans with weird powers who are stupid enough to think that trying to play with time is a good idea."
Hermione didn't appear to have a reply, and neither did Luna. Michael's attention had wandered, and ne was now staring past a veritable wall of clocks. "Where does that door lead, do you think?"
There was another door on the other side of the room, and Gabriel strode over to it, sending a warning glance at Luna when she moved towards the jar of time.
The second door led into a dark, dusty room, one full of tall shelves full of white orbs that had a strange, ghostly magic seared into them, though Gabriel doubted any of his friends noticed.
"This looks a lot more mysterious than the last room, honestly," Michael said as Hermione closed the door behind them.
"Depends on your definition of mysterious." Gabriel had to agree - the complete lack of light contrasted with the pale orbs to create an almost spooky air.
Something crashed in the distance.
Unfortunately for them, it wasn't so far away that only Gabriel could make it out.
All four of them swiveled to look in the direction the noise had come from. "D'you think that's one of the Unspeakables?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Possibly," said Gabriel. "Let's not go see, how about?"
"Yeah," Michael agreed, relief clear on nir face. None of the three seemed particularly interested by the idea of being caught breaking into the Department of Mysteries.
Luna had drifted off down one of the aisles, and Gabriel walked after her. "See something interesting?"
"These are very bright," Luna commented, trailing a hand along one of the shelves and dislodging a number of tags. Hermione turned one over curiously.
"Celeste Traiman to Eliot Jones," she read. "The state of the stock market...this doesn't make any sense."
Gabriel shrugged. "Lots of things don't unless you have the full story." Something else made a noise, this time more like a rustle and swiftly moving feet, in the darkness.
All four of them looked around again.
"Do you ever get the feeling," Michael began, "That you've messed up, but you're not entirely sure how?"
"Oh, believe me," A voice said from the darkness, "You're about to understand exactly how badly."
They all whipped around at the same moment and before the other three could so much as draw their wands Gabriel's arm had snapped out and the man who had spoken [and he'd only gotten so close because Gabriel hadn't been paying attention] went sailing back into one of the shelves, crashing into it and nearly knocking it over. The man slid to the floor, out cold, and Gabriel was already bending over him and yanking up his sleeves.
A skull and snake tattoo glared up at them from his left arm.
"We need to leave," Gabriel said tightly, rounding on the other three, who all had their wands out. "Now."
Hermione's wand was trained on the unconscious man. "Then let's go!"
Gabriel tried, but his wings strained to pass a strange barrier as soon as he got past a certain distance, and the ripple of pain it sent through them sent him - and his three passengers - sprawling to the ground in the exact same place.
"What the hell was that?" Hermione was unusually frazzled.
"Something's up," Gabriel muttered, leaning heavily on a shelf. "There's some sort of ward - damnit! I knew I should have done something about this department before."
"So we can't leave?" Michael demanded.
"If I was at full power and didn't have to bring anyone with me, maybe!" Gabriel snapped, and then took a breath, but before he could apologize more feet sounded and Gabriel yanked the other three down the nearest corridor and out of sight.
"Run," he hissed, and they took off, feet pounding loudly on the floor in the black and quiet.
"There's someone there! Macnair!" The man on the floor had obviously been found, and Gabriel didn't want to know who else might be out there.
Another set of footsteps joined theirs, and Gabriel darted down another side aisle, trusting the other three to follow.
"Why are we heading away from the door?"
"I'm sorry, do you have a map of this place? Because I don't!"
Someone darted past their row and stopped dead, staring at them and Gabriel cursed himself for forgetting that he could have turned them all invisible with a thought.
"Hey!" His call somehow conjured two more, who appeared with twin cracks. The two groups were at a stalemate, wands pointed at each other and even though they outnumbered the three death eaters by an archangel Gabriel didn't want to think about what might happen to Michael or Hermione or Luna.
"Don't move," One of the masked men ordered.
"Or what?" Gabriel asked, wand in one hand and angel blade waiting to drop into the other.
"Or we'll hex you," Another one threatened.
"Hm. Here's a counteroffer." Gabriel gestured to his friends. "Hurt any of them...and I'll kill you."
The third man laughed. "Yeah, right. You, kill us? How? I bet this girl could barely Stun someone if she tried."
Hermione looked breathless with terror while the death eaters laughed.
"Warning number one." Gabriel leveled his wand at the lead death eater. "Try that again and it's one more strike before you're a goner."
The second one scoffed. "As if. You're just stalling."
"Am I?"
The one who has spoken paused, and their leader spoke again. "Enough! Rookwood - take their wands."
"Should we give the girl to Fenrir?"
Gabriel stiffened at the insult - one of them dared to take his son's name? - and Hermione froze again, Michael drawing protectively back towards her.
"Why not." The leader shrugged.
"Strike three," Gabriel said, and the only warning the leader had before the former's angel blade was buried in his head was a flash of silver when Gabriel threw it.
"Shit!" The other two lashed out with spells, but Gabriel was already in front of the second and bodily tossing him against the nearest shelf, much harder than he had Macnair, and several of the orbs fell and smashed against the floor. Gabriel smacked their offending magic away, as it only clouded his senses, and turned to Rookwood with a deep scowl. He took a moment to appreciate the man's terrified face as he ripped his mask off.
"Close your eyes!"
Gabriel flattened his hand on Rookwood's forehead and his Grace flashed out, illuminating their surroundings to the point where it was impossible to see anything but white. When it died down, Gabriel let Rookwood drop and whirled around to make sure no one had been blinded.
"Holy shit!"
"Come on, I don't think anyone else in here is just going to ignore that!"
More running, past what looked like endless shelves full of endless white orbs, wands shaking in the hands of three teenagers, when they ran straight into several familiar faces.
Kingsley grabbed Luna by the shoulder as they ran past, bringing her and therefore the whole group to a halt. "What are you doing here?"
"Long story, got bored, didn't know there were death eaters," Gabriel explained quickly. "I'm taking a wild guess and assuming the Order got wind of things."
"Yeah, but - get down!" Tonks shouted, sending a spell straight over Gabriel's head and into the face of another death eater.
Spells flew randomly between the two groups but there were only two death eaters and Gabriel quickly disposed of the second once the first had been shot down by a bright red spell, knocking him out with a touch.
He wasn't quite as bad as the others.
That didn't mean he'd be waking up anytime soon.
"Come on!" The third member, who Gabriel realized was Lupin, tugged at Luna's arm. "We're getting you out of here."
"We're in total agreement there." Gabriel saw that all three of the Order members were looking at his bloodstained angel blade warily. "What? They didn't believe me when I threatened them."
"Let's just go," Tonks said hurriedly, and they set off back the way the trio had come. "Look, you three, as soon as we get out of here you're apparating out with me, alright?"
"I could take all of them faster." Gabriel argued.
"Harry, no!" Hermione exclaimed, and then looked around nervously in case she'd been too loud and advertised their location to anyone who might be lurking. She continued at a much lower volume. "You said your wings were already hurt-"
"What?" Lupin looked behind him, back towards Gabriel.
"They work well enough to get you guys out of here, and I think the Death Eaters will have put up wards to keep you guys from using your teleport thing - if they're smart enough, which I'm beginning to doubt."
"You shouldn't aggravate a wound-" Kingsley began.
"Oh, enough already! I'm an archangel, I think I can tell when not to do something! What are the death eaters doing here anyway?"
"Hold on, don't go changing the topic," Michael interrupted Tonks' response angrily. "What if we don't want to leave?"
"You're fifteen and underage, you're leaving," Lupin said firmly.
"We've been learning to defend ourselves all year!" Michael protested, quieting suddenly when something crashed in the distance. The entire group froze for a moment, but when nothing else made itself apparent out of the depths of the department, they kept going.
"You are not staying, you won't be able to handle yourselves against the death eaters-"
"Excuse me?" Hermione said indignantly.
"Hermione, these people are ruthless, they will stop at nothing and will not hesitate to kill!" Lupin was starting to look a bit frazzled. "If you think you can hold your own against that-"
Something else moved in the darkness and they all froze again, but Gabriel frowned, staring at a patch of shadow cast by one shelf which appeared to be missing half its orbs on the side closest to them. "Hold on, that wasn't a death eater."
"What?" Everyone else looked at Gabriel. "How can you tell?" Kingsley questioned.
"Because-" The noise came again, interrupting Gabriel and drawing the group's collective attention back to the patch of shadow, which was twisting and moving in ways that shadows were definitely not meant to and forming a definitely human shape.
Hel stepped out.
She looked around, and then at Gabriel.
"Well," she said. "No wonder I had so much trouble getting here."
"Who in Merlin's name-" Lupin was interrupted by Gabriel.
"Hel, what on Earth are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," she said, while everyone who had not already met Hel stared at Gabriel in surprise. "I couldn't find you at your school, so..."
"What, did you use a locating ritual?"
"Something like that."
"What was so urgent - nevermind," Gabriel hissed. "Hel, we're kind of in the middle of a battle right now. You need to-" He cut himself off with a swear. "No, that won't work, if I can't leave then you won't be able to."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing against you, Hel, but this place has some serious wards."
"I got in."
"Yeah, so did I."
"Enough," Kingsley broke in. "She can come with us - and who is this, again?"
"His daughter," Hermione explained as Gabriel spun away from the group, scowling.
"Excuse me?"
"What if I don't want to leave?"
"Hel, you have not been in a single battle in your entire life."
"I know how to fight," Hel said, sounding injured. She had traded her old outfit for her traditional armor, which had garnered some stares from the wizards [and witches] when it had suddenly appeared on her.
"Yes, you do, I taught you, but you have never actually been in a fight."
"Dad-"
"Have you?"
Hel heaved a sigh. "No, but that doesn't mean-"
"Then you're leaving with them."
"Dad! I think I can take care of myself better than a bunch of fifteen-year-olds!"
"How old are you?" Tonks stood her ground when both Hel and Gabriel swung around to look at her. "I mean, she looks like she's old enough to make her own decisions, legal adult and all that...if you are," she added hastily.
Hel looked at Gabriel with a raised eyebrow, as if to say see? I'd like to see you argue against that.
"You're taking her side, really?" Gabriel asked Tonks rhetorically.
"She has a point." Hel murmured.
"Of course you would say that!" Gabriel had raised his voice to a yell, but he honestly didn't care if someone else heard.
"I'm seven hundred and six, I can make my own decisions!" Hel shouted back.
"Is this really the time?" Lupin asked hurriedly. "Shouting isn't the best idea."
Gabriel and Hel had a brief, intense staring contest, and then Gabriel threw his hands up. "Fine!"
Hel smugly drew her staff from thin air, the curved end almost whacking Michael in the head. "Whoops. Sorry."
"It's fine." Michael was staring at her. "Are you seriously over seven hundred?"
"Oh, for my Father's sake, Michael, is that really what you want to talk about right now?" Gabriel yelled behind him, having walked slightly ahead of everyone else to express his distaste at not being able to insist that Hel leave. "This is practically a battlefield!"
"Yes, it is."
Gabriel whipped around to look at the man in front of him properly, and he saw now that the death eaters must have borrowed whatever soul-cloak the Unspeakable from earlier in the year had used, because how else would they have been able to get so close so quickly without him noticing?
Lucius Malfoy was standing there, calm as you please, and eyeing the group disdainfully. "Well," he said, voice smooth and thick with smugness. "Hardly a challenge, are you?"
"Depends on your definition of challenge," Gabriel replied, tightening his grip on his angel blade and wondering how much the man had overheard. Malfoy's eyes snapped to him.
"Ah, yes," He said, and something in his expression had changed to wariness. "The Boy who Lived...except you're not, are you?"
"Smart thinking," Gabriel deadpanned. "Took you a few years, but you got to the answer in the end, obviously."
"Indeed." Malfoy drew himself up, as if preparing for something. "I name you...Loki."
Absolute silence.
"Seriously?" Gabriel finally asked. "You're going to try and Name me? That was the worst attempt I've ever seen." Naming someone, especially trying to Name someone who was infinitely more powerful than yourself, was a tricky bit of magic that the pagans had mostly utilized to gain control over their enemies. Gabriel should have guessed that some idiot would try it eventually when his pagan identity came out.
Malfoy looked startled, as well as slightly nervous. Good. He should be.
"I mean-" Gabriel spread his hands. "Kudos for at least managing to get the name right-" Michael and Hermione shot him sharp looks at that, while the rest of them just looked surprised, and Luna's expression didn't change at all. "-But seriously? Do you even know what you're doing?"
Malfoy took a step backwards, subtly, like he was trying not to show his nervousness, and his robes had hidden most of the movement. "But you are Loki," he said, as if reassuring himself. "A God of the old religions, the Trickster, the Mischief-Maker."
"Yes." Among other things, but it wasn't necessary for Malfoy to know that, and if it kept Voldemort under the delusion that Gabriel was far less than he really was then that was no skin off Gabriel's nose. "Let me guess," Gabriel mused, propping one arm up so he could hold his chin thoughtfully. "You thought that naming me would put me under your control." What a laughable idea.
Malfoy didn't reply, but Gabriel could tell that he'd suddenly gone still.
"Thought you could, huh?" Gabriel extended his hand. "How about a demonstration of the right way to do things?" His true voice would be too dangerous to use in this scenario, since Michael, Hermione, and Luna were standing right behind him, but Gabriel could put a fair amount of power behind the words anyway? "I Name you, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."
Malfoy crumpled to the ground, clutching at his chest, and behind Gabriel Kingsley started at the movement. Gabriel stayed where he was, his hand having followed Malfoy down.
"And that's just with your name," he said cheerfully. "Imagine what I could do with your true one." All the wizards within range stiffened at that implication, and magic was turning out to have far more branches and little pockets or arcane knowledge than Gabriel had expected. "Oh, so you do know about that? I could find it, you know, if I felt like taking a rummage through your soul." Gabriel leaned over Malfoy, who was shaking slightly, but still clearly conscious. Gabriel doubted that the shaking was from pain.
"I may be Loki," he said quietly, but even those words echoed slightly in the dim chamber. "But you presume much to think that you could overpower me."
He stood up, glancing back at the group and seeing Hel staring intently at the Malfoy patriarch. "What, are you taking notes?"
"Of course not. Just interested."
Gabriel smiled and snapped his fingers, and the other black-robed figures who he had kept frozen in their positions this whole time vanished, following the Auror from earlier in the year to the Antarctic, or perhaps somewhere in between. Gabriel wasn't fussed about making sure all of them made it. "Let's go. I thought we were getting out of here."
Without looking behind him to see if any of them were following, Gabriel started walking again, stepping carelessly over Malfoy, who was still sprawled on the floor.
They ended up in a strange room with an even stranger arch in the center.
"I could have sworn that this was the exit," Lupin said, puzzled, but Gabriel was staring at the arch in the center.
"Will humans ever stop meddling in things like this?" Gabriel huffed, stepping down the narrow staircase. The sides of the room were quite a bit higher than the floor, due to circular rows of seats surrounding the arch and sloping up steeply.
"What-" Kingsley stared as well, or at least Gabriel thought he did - he wasn't looking behind him at the man. "That's the death arch."
"Exactly." Gabriel put as much irritation into the single word as he could. "You are not meant to take death this casually - making an arch that kills people. I don't believe the audacity of humans sometimes."
"Harry, we should be leaving," Kingsley said slowly. "We don't know if there are still death eaters around-"
"Can you tell?" Tonks asked curiously.
"Normally, yes. But they must have borrowed something that the department members used, because I can't tell where they are anymore." Gabriel paused on the floor, looked up at the arch without really seeing it. "I could try, but it would take time to break through whatever spells they've got."
Hel had joined Gabriel, and was staring up at the arch as well, but in a thoughtful manner instead of an absentminded one. "It feels a bit like Nifleheim," she muttered.
"Really?" Gabriel spared a more direct glance at the magical creation. "I didn't think it led anywhere in particular."
"No, just that sort of...tang of magic." Hel stepped up onto the arch's pedestal to examine it closer, just as a door banged open on the other side of the room.
Gabriel whipped around to look, but already black figures were appearing all over the room - opening the door must have broken whatever enchantment had kept them from using their teleportation, if there had been any in the first place.
Michael and Hermione drew closer to Gabriel, forming a circle which they were all facing out from. Tonks moved towards Luna, as if meaning to grab her and get out, but one death eater darted in between them with a crack and seized Luna around the neck.
"I wouldn't do that."
Gabriel's deathly calm voice had the effect of stilling everyone in the room. The death eater holding Luna - whose panic was now showing clearly on her face - turned to face him, a blank silver mask hiding their face.
"Why?" They asked spitefully. "What could you do?"
"A lot of things." Gabriel raised his angel blade, which was still stained with red. "You could chose not to believe me, of course, but..." He wiggled the blade to draw attention to it. "I don't think you want to repeat your buddy's mistake."
The mask prevented him from seeing the death eater's face, and whatever soul-cloak they had borrowed stopped Gabriel using any other method to tell what they were feeling, but the man [and judging by the voice, it was a man] didn't let go of Luna.
"Have it your way," Gabriel said, and as he leaped across the room at the death eater the door burst open for the second time and the room exploded into chaos.
Luna flinched as Gabriel stabbed the death eater. He quickly pulled her away.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes." Luna's grip around her wand was white-knuckled. She fired a spell straight past Gabriel's head and hit a death eater which had been right behind them. "We should help."
"We should." Gabriel put out a hand almost absentmindedly and snapped, stopping several nasty-feeling spells in their tracks before they could hit their intended victim.
"Couldn't you do more?"
"I could, but honestly, this is the most interesting thing that's happened all year."
They stopped speaking at that point and descended into the melee.
"Reducto!" The rock Luna had flicked her wand at turned to dust with an explosive burst of air, sending the death eaters standing on it flying.
"Nice one!" Gabriel was making his way across the room slowly, trying to see where Hel had gone in all the commotion. "Hel!"
No one answered. Of course they wouldn't, to everyone else it would just seem like Gabriel was swearing. He cursed - for real this time - and took another look around. Where could she have gone?
"Stupefy!" Gabriel swatted the spell aside easily. He flicked his hand at the death eater and the man flew backwards, smacking into the wall with a thud.
A screech of what sounded almost like feedback sounded through Gabriel's head and he stumbled, gritting his teeth in irritation. What was going on now? Angel radio had suddenly gone completely silent, and not in a no-one's-talking way - in a something's-up way.
Hello? This is Metatron. There was another fingernails-on-a-chalkboard whine of reverb, and Gabriel had to fight to keep his attention of his surroundings. Could Metatron possibly have worse timing?
I'd like to take a moment to welcome you all back. Gabriel snapped a death eater's wand and kneed the man in the crotch while he was staring at the piece of wood. I want you to know how moved I am that you've accepted me as your new God. My heart is, as they say, full, which is why I want to share some wonderful news with you.
Aaand Metatron was officially even crazier than Gabriel had first realized. A gap in the crowd of fighting wizards opened up and Gabriel frowned as he saw Michael leaning against a rock, distractedly trying to defend nemself while holding a hand to nir head. Hermione was standing in front of him, wand blazing. What had happened to Michael?
I'm going on a short trip. Gabriel's insides froze as Michael winced again and held his forehead tighter the minute Metatron started speaking again. Heaven's door will be temporarily closed, pending my return, but rest assured all will be explained. There was a short pause, and Gabriel hoped that what he'd seen had been just a coincidence, but the minute Metatron's message resumed Michael squeezed nir eyes shut and Gabriel was almost hit with several spells at once as he stared incredulously at nir.
And it will be...glorious.
The regular babble of angels resumed. Gabriel was distracted momentarily from his surprise by a sudden shout.
"Forvise!" Only one person would be using a Norse spell. Gabriel whirled around and saw Hel standing next to the arch, facing a death eater with wild hair. The death eater skidded backwards, but caught herself before she fell off the edge. In the process, she turned around, and Gabriel recognized Bellatrix Lestrange from her picture in the Prophet.
"Hel-"
"Little girlie wants to play, then? Stupefy!" Hel dodged, but the move took her closer to the arch. Gabriel darted towards the pedestal, cursing the fact that his wings were basically useless.
"Sår!" Hel's offensive spell left a gash on Bellatrix's arm which made her screech in anger, clapping her other arm to the wound.
"How dare you!" Bellatrix screamed, sending a flurry of spells at Hel.
"Beskytte!" Hel had brought up a shield out of instinct.
"What do you think you are doing?" Gabriel's hand flew out and he stopped the spells in their tracks. Lightning crackled back towards Bellatrix from the recoil of magic being cut off so abruptly. She brandished her wand forcefully, and the wild magic struck at Hel's shield before Gabriel could do anything. The pressure forced Hel backwards again.
"Hel!"
"Stupefy!"
Hel's left side went through the arch and came out the other side. Her mask clattered as it hit the ground - the stunning spell had hit her helmet and knocked it off.
Belltrix stared in complete disbelief - and slight fear - at the scene presented to her.
Hel whipped her head forward and glared, and Bellatrix actually leaped backwards at the sight, as well as everyone else who noticed save Gabriel.
Because where the left side of Hel's face should have been, there was simply a mummified, dead body.
"You want to kill someone," Hel said, voice trembling with anger and something unidentifiable. "Try not making your first target a goddess of the dead."
"Or," Gabriel spoke up, making Bellatrix look over at him with an incredulous expression, "Maybe you should have thought about the consequences of attacking my daughter."
Bellatrix barely had time to look terrified before Gabriel had whipped out his arm. She followed its trajectory, slamming into the wall so hard that the stone cracked under the force.
There was absolute silence as Bellatrix slumped to the floor, and the other unmasked death eaters looked scared out of their wits, trying to back away from Gabriel as subtly as they could.
Gabriel clicked his fingers once, and they all slumped to the floor, leaving only the bewildered Order members standing.
"Maybe this time," Gabriel said, "You lot can actually lock them up."
He turned to face Hel, who had turned her face away so that as little of the left side of it as possible was showing. Gabriel leaned down and picked up her helmet, stepping onto the pedestal in the same movement. He wordlessly offered it to Hel, and she slipped it on quickly, arranging her hair so that it looked like it was coming off of both sides of her head.
Dumbledore was staring in amazement - Gabriel hadn't noticed his arrival, but the latter's glare was enough to make Dumbledore realize what he was doing.
"I didn't know you had the ability to survive magical means of...killing," He said carefully, blue eyes switching to Gabriel.
Hel responded quietly before Gabriel could. "It is difficult to kill something which is already dead."
No one seemed quite sure how to respond to that. Hel turned to Gabriel. "Which was leads out of this department?"
"Hel," Gabriel sighed, but he couldn't find the words to continue the sentence.
"The edge of the wards is over there," He said after a moment. "You should be able to leave once you get past them."
Hel nodded and swept past him. The Order members parted, leaving a path for Hel to leave through, and most seemed torn between slight horror and pity.
Tonks, who was closest to Gabriel, looked at something behind him. "You guys alright?"
Gabriel turned around. Michael and Hermione were there, the former leaning slightly on the latter, and Luna was standing slightly apart from them. She was glancing between Michael and Gabriel, head cocked slightly, as if trying to figure out a particularly troublesome puzzle.
Michael was squinting slightly, as if dealing with a headache. "That was weird," Ne said, rubbing nir head.
"What was?" Moody asked sharply, thumping up on the other side of Tonks. "Did you get hit with something?"
"I don't know," Michael muttered, and he glanced at Gabriel as if for an answer. Gabriel, who had been suddenly reminded of what had happened only minutes earlier, realized he was staring back with an expression that could probably be taken the wrong way, and abruptly looked away.
"What happened?" Kingsley asked. "We might be able to identify the spell."
Michael shook nir head. "I don't know," Ne repeated. "I just...heard something really weird, and it - I feel like there's a bunch of people talking somewhere really close, but I can't understand them."
Several glances were exchanged, and now the Order as a whole looked rather worried. Moody looked sharply at Gabriel. "You know what's going on, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Gabriel said sharply as everyone turned to look at him.
"Why were you looking at him like that, then?" Tonks asked, looking determined.
Gabriel glanced at Michael, and the confusion on his friend's face - and damnit, ne was still his friend, right now at least - nearly did him in.
"You're doing it no-"
"Yes, alright?" Gabriel snapped. "I know what happened. It's not a spell."
"What is it, then?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
Gabriel took a deep breath and avoided looking at Michael again.
"I've got to go check something."
For those wondering about Hel, in Norse mythology she was the ruler of Helheim, which was the realm of the dishonored dead. Those wondering how she ended up there should go read my one-shot 'Second Chances and Endings' for a proper account. As for her being dead, technically she's only half dead - exactly half, right down the middle, again according to Norse mythology.
As for Michael...
*laughs evilly as I descend into Hell* I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHO I'M GOING DOWN HERE TO GET.
Read and review!