Chapter 37: A Dead Hogwarts and A Rogue Witch

A/N: What?! Another chapter?! So quickly?! I know. Don't get used to it. It probably won't happen again lol. Blanket statement warning for depictions of violence and general 'ewwwww's. Sorry. -Lux-


Luna took a deep breath to center herself. She had seen flashes of what would happen tonight in her prophetic dreams. There was no way of knowing if things would happen the same way in real time. She repositioned the cloak to cover her entirely -thank Merlin, she was much shorter than Harry!- and moved swiftly down the stairs toward the Trophy Room. There, she found a sight that would stay with her forever in the worst ways. Any being with the mind to create this ghastly scene didn't deserve to exist in any civilized society. A dozen unicorns of different sizes were tied up so they couldn't sit, lie, or even pace a little. They were emaciated, most of their manes and tails were missing, they had been ripped off by fistfuls, it appeared. Thick needles burrowed into their shoulders or thighs, draining their precious silvery, glistening, almost iridescent blood. Some of their backs were maybe broken as they curved unnaturally. Their hooves were so overgrown they curled upwards. The unicorn's eyes, which were always so bright and full of life and wisdom, were now dull and hopeless. Luna had never heard a unicorn squeal softly in pain. It was her least favorite sound on Earth now.

Twelve high-ranking Death Eaters lay in hospital beds, sucking on plastic tubes that delivered fresh unicorn blood into their mouths. They seemed to be in a different space, far from conscious thought. They looked… drugged. Disgustingly drugged. Their eyes were either closed or partially closed with heavy lids. Some had drool rolling down their chins. One seemed to be trying to discreetly relieve his… visible affliction through his pockets. Luna had to resist the violent urge to throw up. The unicorns let out feeble whines, and the older ones would nicker to the foals as if to tell them, 'I am still here. You are not alone.'

Before this gruesome discovery, Luna would have never thought that unicorns bruised like other creatures, mainly because she could never even fathom anyone wanting to hurt them to the point of them bruising. However, they did bruise. Horribly. Unicorn bruises were pitch black. As the rest of their body was an almost iridescent white, the bruises looked very painful. She could practically feel it. In her years at Hogwarts, Luna had spent hours walking about the forest, learning how the creatures there moved. She studied their patterns, their diets, and their temperaments. But she always did so because she genuinely wanted to understand them, not wanting to use them or profit from her knowledge. Unicorns were wise, patient beings. Luna had gotten lost more than once while she gathered magical plants for Potions to save her dad some money or while she foraged for berries, and many times, a unicorn would gently nudge her in the right direction or walk a few paces behind her until she was back where it was safe.

They had learned to trust her enough that the young ones would take treats, and she would sneak out from the kitchens. She would bring them apples or carrots. She would brush their manes with her fingers. She would exist in their presence, and they always made her feel better regardless of the bullies, the robbed possessions, the name-calling, the loneliness… They seemed to understand the profound effect losing her mother had on her. People rarely did. Luna supposed it was a good thing. She couldn't wish such unsurmountable loss and such hollowness on anyone… Well, she could wish it on the monsters greedily sucking unicorn blood. Their lives were so full of darkness that experiencing the feeling of pure light and goodness from the consumption of their blood gave them the high of their lives. This is the last time you ever hurt anyone, she thought. Luna had never been so appalled, so offended, so disgusted in her life… Nor had she ever been this angry and murderous. She felt her blood run several degrees colder. Her eyes turned dark, and her grip on her wand tightened. You will pay for this, Riddle!

Luna had gotten some special things from Dudley, the twins, and the soldiers she had befriended. She gave herself a bubble head charm, put on gloves, and made sure not one inch of skin was unprotected, just in case. Slowly, quietly, and wandlessly, she did a protective bubble around each unicorn. She waited. No one realized what she had done. Once she was protected, she accioed the wands that weren't in holsters. The Death Eaters were so high on the fresh blood that they didn't notice a thing. Their eyes were now closed. Luna took a container from the magic bag on her wrist, enlarged it, and took one of the twins' new deadly inventions. A muggle inhaler had been filled to the brim with Sarin gas.

Sarin was quite something. The soldiers had introduced her to it once when they asked her questions about the potions she was helping make. She began asking questions in return. They told her that there was a lethal weapon that would be easy to administer and impossible for people to protect from. They said sarin was a colorless, odorless liquid: a nerve agent. Exposure to sarin, they told her, was lethal even at very low concentrations. She had thought about putting it into altered dung bombs. But she needed a more direct, discreet approach to control what happened, when, where, and to whom. She didn't want any unnecessary casualties. Death could occur within one to ten minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose. But even those who absorbed a non-lethal dose and did not receive immediate medical treatment could suffer permanent neurological damage.

The soldiers cashed in some favors and managed to get some from a contact in the U.S. military that officially did not exist. There could be no paper trail, no evidence. Plausible deniability was vital. When she saw the briefcase containing the two medium metal canisters, she was a bit, well, underwhelmed. But after a demonstration that the soldiers did in which they placed an injured bird inside a glass case and administered a bit of the gas through a prepositioned needle receptacle, she saw the merits of the awful muggle invention. The bird died a horrible death, but it was quick. She had to turn away in the middle of it. She had felt so awful about the bird that she begged the soldiers to help her bury him. They had been perplexed at her request but agreed if they got rid of the gas within the case first, and she didn't touch the bird at all. They incinerated it on top of a stone and asked her to vanish the ashes.

If they could see her now, the soldiers wouldn't recognize her. Luna took the inhaler and got close to the first Death Eater she silenced. She petrified him and silenced him. She let him start panicking for a few seconds, knowing he could do nothing. Luna took the inhaler, uncapped it, and prying the man's mouth open and repositioning his lips to wrap around it, she administered a dose. Immediately, she pinched and glued his lips together. Luna did all this so efficiently that even Longwei would have been impressed. She aimed her disguised wand at his neck when he showed severe symptoms. "Alta Secat!" she mouthed [Deep cuts]. Any slight noise she made was not heard from the small animal sounds and the sucking and slurping noises of the monsters feeding.

Blood came out in such amounts and so quickly that Luna transfigured the man's shirt into a fluffy towel that absorbed it. She leaned over the dying man and opened the cloak a bit so that the last thing the man saw was the bright emerald eyes of who he thought was Harry Potter in absolute horror. Luna smirked and closed the cloak once more. She did a notice-me-not on the man and moved to the next bed. Luna was a Ravenclaw for a reason. She decided to come alone because, as a victim of bullying and a person who never wanted to draw attention to herself, she could move around without making any sound. She would often move from point A to point B without even trying to be quiet, and once she was spotted in point B, people would jump and gasp and say a variation of "You scared me, Loony!" "We need to put a bell around your neck, Loony!" or something along those lines.

Her stealth skills meant she could move long distances undetected. She could breathe soundlessly, even when agitated. She rarely wore things that made sounds like bangles or synthetic fabrics that sounded as they rubbed together. As she moved, she remembered she only had to leave one of them alive to tell the tale of the hand that chokes his enemies to death in the dark. "Harry Potter: You don't see him coming until it is too late." Whoever survived didn't have to be whole or healthy. By the time she left, there were 11 dead monsters and a traumatized, terrified Death Eater. She broke the last Death Eater's wand into three pieces and ordered her to tell his boss that Harry Potter left him a message, "Fuck around and find out." She learned that phrase from the soldiers and liked it more than she would be willing to admit in public. Once that last Death Eater was unconscious under a notice me not, and the doors were locked, Luna bowed deeply to what she perceived was the oldest of the unicorns and removed the bubble charms. The weakened creature bowed back slowly.

"Hello. Do you remember me? I am here to help," Luna offered, taking off her glove and reaching toward the horse's nose so he could smell her. "I can get you out of here and into Potter Castle. There's a beautiful forest, and no one would ever hurt you." She carefully removed the equipment and the ties from the creatures while apologizing and using some of her magic to heal the cuts where the thick needles were buried. The unicorns looked at her with gratitude and a bit of weariness. "I am not Harry Potter. But he is my friend, more like my brother, and he would never abuse or use you like this."

The older unicorn nodded. Then he tilted his head to ask how she could get them out.

"I have these bracelets. I know they don't look like much, but if you allow me to put one in one of your legs, I will activate it, and you will leave."

The unicorn seemed to frown.

"The wards are getting weak enough now for apparition. They just don't know that yet. The bracelets are tiny portkeys. I will make it look like Harry freed you, and you ran to the forest. Is that alright?"

The unicorns around her nodded.

She tapped her P.A. coin to send a message to Hermione. "I am sending 12 hurt unicorns to Potter Castle. Please ensure they are taken care of if I can't make it."

Luna pulled out many bracelets from her tactical bag, tied them on one of their unhurt legs, and caressed their manes gently.

The coin vibrated, "I've warned the elves. What's going on? Need backup?"

Luna replied, "No. The unicorns need tending. Tell my dad. He will know what to do." She turned to the unicorns. "I will activate your bracelets now…" The creatures raised their bracelet-wrapped legs toward her, "Property 2," she whispered repeatedly. When she reached the last one, the elder unicorn, he nuzzled her face, and she noticed with dismay that his horn had been cut off. She felt her heart squeeze painfully, "I can't believe they did this to you. I am so sorry. Not all humans are like this. We are trying to rid the world of evil humans like them. If I don't see you again, please trust Harry and Hermione. Please trust my father, Xenophilius. Property 2."

Once the unicorns were gone, Luna lifted her wand and threw a bombarda to the far-end wall. She saw a flash of an incoming attacker with her third eye and jumped to hide behind a column, but the slashing curse cut through skin and layers of muscle in her left bicep. She ground her teeth.

"Potter, I heard you were trespassing. Have some dignity and come out so I may deliver you to the Dark Lord. He will make you pay for costing him the last unicorns."

Luna tapped her wand to Harry's copycat glasses to ready them for the instant darkness powder so she could see. The twins had done some fantastic things in their time off. She plugged her nose with a spell as General Xu's voice echoed in her mind: Attack the senses.

"How does it feel to follow a monster willing to brutalize unicorns and curse all his closest soldiers to half a disgusting life?" she spoke in a low, angry Harry voice. She rolled several dung bombs with her wand arm. She opened the darkness powder, pulling on the pouch with her teeth. Her other arm hurt immensely, and her blood dripped down Harry's dragonhide-lined jacket sleeve. The Death Eater started coughing from the foul smells, and she did the spell to blow the powder out and toward him.

"What the fuck is this!?" The man yelled, trying different spells to remove the powder unsuccessfully. "I need backup!" he grunted.

No, you don't! Luna moved under the cloak and shot a strong "Apscido!" at the Dark-Mark-marred arm at the elbow before the man could touch it. The man screamed in agony as his severed arm fell. Luna took his wand and broke it. Then, she froze and tied the man to the other surviving Death Eater. "Tell Riddle I am not going anywhere until he's nothing but a bad memory!" Once she hastily applied a spell to stop her profuse bleeding, she kicked the man's groin three times as hard as she could. He had groped her hard enough to bruise while in transit to Malfoy Manor, the bastard. To her surprise, he yelled in agony, and Luna enjoyed his screams.

Luna looked at her watch and prayed her boys were okay. They were running out of time. She took a deep breath, made sure the cloak covered her, and threw a bombarda maxima over her shoulder as she left the room. She wondered if she should feel guilty. She had killed many people today but felt vindicated and lighter than she had for weeks instead of ashamed or sorry. She saw several Death Eaters running toward the explosion that once was the Trophy Room and barely managed to hide behind a statue. She felt goosebumps. Oh no! A couple of feet away from her was the werewolf she saw chained at Malfoy Manor, and he was smelling the air and advancing in her direction. She had vanished the blood, but he was too close and right about to lunge-

Peeves zoomed through the air, throwing dung bombs and fireworks, making the remaining statues collapse. Several of the ghosts who stayed along with the new ones swirled the air, cooling down the hallway while twirling through the fireworks exploding all over, covering the hallway with darkness powder. Myrtle floated next to the werewolf -who was trying to decide whether to use his senses or protect himself from the stench of the bombs- but before he realized Myrtle was there, the ghost let out the highest and loudest pitchiest screech she ever did right next to his ear. He fell to the ground in pain from the stench of the bombs burning his nose and the noise of all the other Death Eaters trying to scramble away in the dark while covering their ears. Luna did a tarantallegra to his legs so the werewolf couldn't escape. His ruptured eardrums bled down his neck.

Suddenly, Luna noticed something that further upset her. The werewolf was wearing Dennis Creevey's good luck amulet. It was the one he got from his brother, and that couldn't protect him from the claws that had severed his head as they evacuated Hogwarts. She had seen Neville's memories of the evacuation, and Dennis' awful death had made her cry. Without any thought of self-protection, she kicked the werewolf forward, making him fall on his face, and she immediately jumped onto his back, stabbing him several times with a Black dagger that Sirius had given her. She freaked out when she felt her blonde braid fall forward with the stabbing motion, announcing that she no longer looked like Harry. But that wasn't the worst part. Several hexes hit her, and she felt significant pain, but she had things to do. Peeves flew to her attackers. "Go, blondie! I'll hold them back!"

"Thank you, Peeves!" Luna grunted through her pain and stood on shaky legs. She pulled out a blood-replenishing potion, a pain-relieving potion, and an energizing vial, ensuring the cloak was back covering all of her. She took her last swig of Polyjuice and felt her body morph back into Harry's. With the rest of the group in different parts of the castle, she was sure Voldemort was about to lose the plot. She rushed toward Ravenclaw's Common Room with Myrtle wordlessly following her with a proud smile. She almost crashed against a troll, but once she was inside, she stopped and stared. Luna took a deep breath to try to settle down her stomach. The walls had blood and bits of hair in different colors. Their beautiful bookcases were broken, and their books burnt and ripped apart. The paintings were destroyed. The beautiful couches were slashed open. Tears fell down her face. She thought it wouldn't hurt to see the Common Room -where she was ignored and bullied- destroyed, but now that she saw it, it felt like torture.

She felt the room's temperature drop suddenly.

"You shouldn't be here, Harry Potter," the Grey Lady descended from the girls' dorms.

"It's Luna Lovegood, Helena."

"Luna? Oh no, my dear, why are you here? Please leave… if they find you… they will end you slowly and in the worst ways possible," Helena approached her.

"I know it's dangerous, but I can't leave yet. Do you know where the first stone of Hogwarts is?"

"The Lay Stone? The Core of Hogwarts?" Helena asked with a frown.

"Yes. I… I saw it die," Luna tapped where her third eye would be. "I just don't know if it happened yet," she added.

"It's happening slowly. I had hoped to find a way to preserve the spirit of Hogwarts… but it's in the headmaster's office under the stone top of the desk."

"Is there anything we could do to get Voldemort out of there quickly so I can sneak in?"

"No, but don't bother, dear… I feel it dying more and more. I think once it is gone, we will all vanish," Helena smiled sadly.

"What?! Why?!" Luna's eyes prickled with unshed tears.

"Our existence as ghosts is tied to the magic of this place. Once this castle loses its magic, we will all disappear…" Helena trailed off.

Luna hastily wiped away her tears, "I am so sorry to hear that…"

Helena shook her head, "Don't be… After everything we have had to witness since Riddle took residence here, we are all more than ready to go."

"Will we ever get the core back?" Luna felt physical pain at the prospect of no more Hogwarts.

"I don't know, dear. But please take the grimoires with you," Helena begged.

"The Founders' grimoires? I thought the Library was destroyed."

"Most of it was. We felt if someone from the good side would come for them, it would be Ms. Granger or Minerva. I am glad it's you. In any case, they are in the Gryffindor dorm under what used to be Harry's bed. All of us ghosts forced the Death Eaters to stay away from that dorm."

"How?"

"You don't want to know," Helena quipped with a small smile.

Luna nodded and frowned, "But, Helena, how can I get inside? I am not a Gryffindor and-"

"The password is haunted, dear," Helena smiled, amused. "And you being here makes you an honorary Gryffindor as far as Magic is concerned."

Luna nodded with a small smile, "Helena… if I don't see you again… Thank you for everything you did for me."

Helena looked down, "It was my pleasure, dear..." She gasped and looked down, "It's happening. We have about 15 minutes until it's completed."

Luna looked at the bottom half of the ghost. The long dress was vanishing.

"He will be in a lot of pain when the connection severs completely. He won't be able to move for a while. It would be best if you got out before he recovers. Gather your friends and go! Good luck, Luna!" Helena smiled.


Luna ran with tears in her eyes, holding onto the cloak, making sure it covered her whole. She had to run downstairs the fastest she ever did. She found a discarded broom in a closet and was happy to see it still worked. It was a Cleansweep, but it was much faster than running. She wasn't a big fan of flying on brooms, but she would do what she had to fulfill this mission. She disillusioned it and flew toward Gryffindor's Common Room as best as she could. A new portrait of a troll was on the entrance. He growled at what he couldn't see.

"Haunted!"

The painting moved, and she flew inside, dismounting the broom once in the mostly untouched Common Room. Inside was eerie and quiet until-

"Harry Potter! You are too late! Hogwarts is dying," She heard the Bloody Baron's chains rattling before she saw him.

"Sorry, not Harry. Luna Lovegood under Polyjuice potion, Baron… Helena gave me the password. I am Harry's friend. I am fighting by his side. I am here to take the founders' grimoires away before they are destroyed or used for dark purposes," Luna relayed. She was surprised at how well the training had helped her. Otherwise, she would be entirely out of breath now.

The Friar was behind the Baron, "Yes, dearie. Follow me quickly. We are not going to last a lot longer."

She ran upstairs to Harry's old room. She levitated the mattress, and Sir Nicholas came out, his head lolling to the side, "Harry Potter!"

"Please, Sir Nicholas, I need to keep the grimoires safe."

"Certainly. Get them out quickly, my dear sir!"

Luna saw the vast tomes. He didn't correct Sir Nicholas. There was no point. She tapped them with a minimizing spell, fearing it wouldn't work, but it did, so she placed the tomes inside her bag.

"Please make sure they are given to worthy representatives of each House," the Baron begged.

"I will do my best... I am sorry you are leaving. You will all be greatly missed," Luna smiled. "If I could hug you, I would."

"Don't be sad, dear. We have been here a long time. Go. Win. End him, please," Sir Nicholas asked. "Tell Harry Potter we stayed until the end to help him."

"I will. He will be very grateful. You are all so brave. Thank you for everything," she replied.

"It was our pleasure and our duty to the school," the ghosts bowed.

She nodded and focused on reaching out with her mind to see if she could feel Neville at all. No, the chamber won't let me. The twins? Yes! Got them! She ran outside, grabbed the broom, and flew to the Infirmary, dodging a few creatures that seemed to feel something was wrong with the castle. Maybe it smelled different. Perhaps it made pained sounds as it died that they could hear, and she couldn't. They looked to be panicking. Time was ticking.


Luna almost crash-landed next to Dudley's side. Augusta looked half-dead. The twins were sweaty and had several injuries that she could see. Dudley had a deep gash down his left cheek that was bleeding profusely.

"It's me," she replied in her own voice as she landed. She put her head out of the cloak.

"Luna! Thank God! Are you okay?" Dudley grabbed her forearms so she could dismount the broom.

"I will be. Episkey!" she closed Dudley's cut, but she could see it would scar. "Quick, stick her to George so we can fly her out."

Fred did the most potent sticking charm he knew, and George did a variation of the incarcerous to keep the woman's torso tight to his. "You sure about this, blondie?"

"No. But we don't have time. Fred, Dudley, protect George. George, make sure not to drop her. Listen carefully. The core of Hogwarts is dying. Once it does, we can apparate in and out before they erect new wards, but so can they!" Luna whisper shouted. "Accio brooms!"

The twins took one broom each, and Dudley climbed behind George, who said, "We fly high and toward the Shrieking Shack!"

"You see any enemy factions; you exsangue their asses!" Luna added as they took off. "I must warn the others! Don't wait for us!"

The friends nodded. Augusta barely opened her eyes to be shocked that she was now tied to yet another Harry Potter, but her head lolled to the side.

George and Fred shared a thought. "Whatever she did while she was gone, that's a different Luna than the one who came here."

Dudley lifted his hand to speak into the bracelet. "We have Augusta. Hogwarts' core is dying. Soon enough, anyone can apparate in and out of here. We are coming back."

No more than 5 minutes after they landed by the Shrieking Shack, they heard the core die, the horrible screams that followed, and felt an expansive wave of energy that was Hogwarts' last hurray. They touched their bracelets, and after a quick "Location 2!", they were gone.


Sirius had managed to stop his team's fall with a strong arresto momentum that took a significant amount of magic to slow them all down. They could barely roll out of the way before the stones and chunks of the tunnel that collapsed after them landed on their heads. Inside, several Death Eaters were working on something, no doubt nefarious, with people-sized cauldrons emitting dark smoke. Sirius, who had always been expecting an attack, released a large shield while the boys found their footing. As soon as they were up with wands at the ready, he turned to them and began throwing spells. The Death Eaters were shocked because they were not expecting one, let alone three, Harry Potters to waltz in (or crash into) the chamber. The fight escalated quickly, and Sirius was proud to see Draco and Neville bravely holding their own. Nobody was trying to scare their enemy anymore. They were sending deadly spells without a second thought. These were grown men fighting for their lives.

"Avada Kedavra!" Mulciber junior pointed at one of the Potters. He didn't expect one of the other Potters to transform into a large dog and topple the would-be dead Potter away from the line of fire. He began sending AKs toward the dog, but hitting a black dog in a darkened room was difficult, especially one that moved with such skill. Before he could do much else, Padfoot waved between spells and transfigured objects being thrown and lunged, biting through the man's throat, severing his trachea with his razor-sharp teeth. The blood tasted awful, and Padfoot wanted to hurl, but it was one less body to fight. Transforming to your animagus form while Polyjuiced to have a different body is painful and took a lot of magic, but hell would freeze over before Sirius allowed those boys to die on his watch.

Draco took a cruciatus for Neville while he bludgeoned another masked figure to the head so severely that nothing was left. Sirius rushed to Draco and stood over his seizing body protectively. He transformed back into Harry. His core protested loudly at this sudden change, but he did a protective charm on Draco and sent severing hexes to necks and knees alike. Neville was like a man possessed. He took the weapons that Jing had provided him during training and ensured they were dead-dead. They couldn't be fixable. They had to be gone. Four corpses lay before them now. Sirius gave Draco two of his own vials. The cruciatus sucked, and there wasn't much else they could do.

Sirius did Notice-me-nots on the bodies, and they left a message on the wall, "Harry Potter was here." Draco groaned, and Sirius took a tiny, indestructible vial and administered three drops of phoenix tears to the blonde's tongue. That would hold him over and lessen his agony for a while. The blonde took a deep breath and pointed at the cauldron. Whatever they were cooking needed to be destroyed. Neville, still shocked that Draco had taken a torture curse to protect him, peered into the cauldron and saw, to his horror, two human hearts and an arm floating there. He jumped back and whispered at them, "Evil harvest… This must be their strengthened Polyjuice."

Sirius grabbed an empty canteen from the minimized potion kit, enlarged it, and filled it with the liquid.

"W-What the fuck are you doing?" Draco grunted with a disgusted grimace.

"I am putting your arse of a godfather to use. He can reverse engineer this if the fucker didn't create it himself, and we need to know what's in it so it can be banned forever! No one can create something this foul again!" Sirius whisper shouted.

They heard a commotion deeper inside the tunnels, and Sirius quickly levitated chunks of wall and threw them into the cauldrons. The potions had to be ruined. He doused the fire, which was heating the grimy concoctions, with ice for good measure.

"Get behind me!" Sirius ordered. Neville went second as he was less hurt. Draco grimaced but used his memory of Daphne in agony and her screams to give himself the strength to power through his lingering pain and frayed nerve endings.


"Unicorns?!" Harry asked, blinking his shock.

"I fear they may have imprisoned them… for… sustenance, or maybe potions," Hermione grimaced.

Longwei groaned, pulling his hair back. "Bloody mother-fucking hell, that monster is vile!"

They ran downstairs and into the backyard. They all gasped as they saw the condition of the creatures. Both Harry and Longwei stopped right away as one of them stared at the humans in a warning. Unicorns famously disliked men in general. However, even Hermione stopped and seemed uncertain. After all they had been through, they'd be justified to run them through with their horns… Those that still had them, at least.

"Dobby?" Harry called.

"Yes, Master?" Dobby looked at the unicorns, and his eyes filled with tears. "Oh no! Horned horsies! Who did this to you?" Dobby went to the eldest and bowed deeply. He extended his bony hand, and the unicorn returned the bow and pressed his snout against the elf. Tendrils of magic burrowed from one creature to the other. Dobby started to cry in earnest. "M-Master Harry, it is m-most awful. T-They have been b-bled out with n-needles for w-weeks. The D-Death Eaters w-were consuming their blood."

"Were?" Hermione frowned.

"Missy Moon e-ended them," Dobby said in awe.

"Luna?! What?! How?!" Harry asked with trepidation.

"Dobby d-doesn't know, sir. But Mr. Unicorn r-respects Missy Moon a lot. He's g-grateful."

The unicorn nodded his acquiescence.

"Alright, then," Harry bowed deeply from where he was. "Um… Mr. Unicorn," he began lamely. "Welcome to Potter Castle. You and yours are welcome to stay in this forest for as long as you need."

Mr. Unicorn seemed suspicious of his words.

With her new Lady Potter knowledge, Hermione added, "We would like to help you heal and strengthen. If you would prefer to be somewhere more enclosed, we have stables, but they haven't been used in decades. If you want to use them, we will clean them and prepare them for you."

Harry blinked; he had no idea they had stables. But the unicorns looked scared and slightly offended, so he pivoted, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do here. It's just an option... There's a stream over there. There are several clearings where you can receive moon baths if that's something you do. I think there are some caves, but I am not sure as to where they are exactly. Eventually, an elven clan will live in the forest here, but it hasn't been formalized yet."

The unicorn looked confused and a bit surprised but nodded all the same.

"Take all the sustenance you want, and if you need something that doesn't grow here, request it. Any of our elves can procure what you need. We have potions and potions ingredients, but we don't really know what could work. We want to help you, so don't hesitate," Hermione smiled.

"My daughter sent you, didn't she?" Xenophilius walked toward them after bowing deeply.

The unicorn nodded but took a step back.

"Dobby, honey, can you please bring Lavender and Chyou so they can help Mr. Lovegood care for the unicorns?"

Dobby's eyes glistened at being called 'honey,' "Yes, Mistress."

"We leave you in capable hands, Mr. Unicorn," Harry nodded respectfully.

"Potter!" General Xu called him from a balcony on the second floor. "Prime Minister Blair is on the satellite phone for you."

"Coming!"


"The threat hasn't been neutralized yet," Harry replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We feared you would say that, but we were expecting it," Blair replied. "Do we have any idea which could be the next target? That would be helpful."

"Yes, we have received some intel recently. We have a list of potential targets."

"Good. I need that list as soon as possible… Lord Potter, Her Majesty wants to offer you the UKSF."

"Pardon?" Harry frowned.

The general jumped and threw his arms up in silent celebration while he nodded profusely at Harry.

"The United Kingdom Special Forces, sir. After the attacks, Her Majesty has been placed in a secure location, but she has authorized your temporary command of the forces. They are at your disposal. Effective immediately, sir. She wants to minimize civilian and material losses. We cannot afford another terrorist attack though we fear more are coming, and without that list, we don't even know what to do to protect ourselves or even if it's possible..."

"General," Harry motioned for him to approach. "Prime Minister, with me is General Xu, my local general and advisor. Can the forces be under his command?"

"I thought you were leading this, Lord Potter," Blair sounded suspicious.

"I am. However, I also have a magical army to lead, and General Xu has ample military experience with non-magical armies."

"I am aware. They did send me his file. Impressive," Blair replied.

General Xu peered over Harry's shoulder to reply, "Thank you, sir."

"Who do you need to talk to first, General?" Blair asked.

"Special Reconnaissance and Special Air Service," the general replied immediately.

"I will have them call you straight away. Please keep this line available."

"Absolutely. Thank you, sir. Thank Her Majesty."

"I need to talk to the Head of the Wizards' Police."

"Of course, we will call him and let him know."

"He has a phone?"

"No, but we have… our ways to get in touch. He will come to see you."

"When?"

"ASAP."

"Right. Well, given the circumstances, I am moving around a lot. Will… Will he be able to find me?"

"Yes."

"I won't even ask how," Blair sighed. "Will I recognize him?"

Harry accioed one of the old Daily Prophets that the Grangers had been reading earlier and handed it to an elf who vanished. "We are sending you a photograph and the list. His name is Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"Got it. When can I expect the- Bloody hell!"

"He's harmless! Just there to give you the photo and the list."

"What is- Who is this?"

"I is a house elf, sir. My name is Tipti. I serve the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, sir," Tipti's squeaky voice could be heard.

"T-Thank you, sir," Blair sounded scared but was more polite than many purebloods.

"Please call if you need anything from us," Harry requested.

"I will. Godspeed, Lord Potter," Blair said, his eyes widening as the wrinkly creature vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye.

"And God Save the Queen!" General Xu added, feeling more hopeful that his plan would work.

"God Save the Queen indeed!" the prime minister replied.

"Harry?"

"Yes, love,"

"I just remembered… You banished Lady Longbottom," Hermione said, blinking slowly.

"What? Oh! Right. I had forgotten…." He took a deep breath and found his and the castle's magic. "In my authority as Lord Potter, I lift Augusta Longbottom's banishment from all Potter properties, so mote it be."


Fred and George had landed in Potter Castle's Hall with a grunt. Dudley fell on his bum. Immediately, Jing was next to them, asking all sorts of questions and helping Tonks provide first aid. They weren't happy at Luna going rogue in their mission, but whatever she did, she got out in one piece. Now, they had nothing to do but wait.

Harry ran into the hall and hugged Dudley hard. "I'm so glad you came back! Are you okay?"

"A bit roughed up, but I will survive, cous!" Dudley smiled. This felt like the hug of a brother.

Hermione, who came right after Harry, hugged the twins and then Dudley. Immediately, she was helping Tonks and Jing with first aid.

"Is she alive?" Dudley asked Tonks, noticing Augusta's head was dangling back where it wasn't stuck to the twin's body.

"Barely. Unstick her so we can see her in the Infirmary," Tonks told Fred.

Soon enough, everyone was in their own bed, getting assessed and healed.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, dreading their response.

"We don't know, Harry. Things went a bit differently than we had hoped. Luna… well, she went rogue and took off alone."

"She did what?!" Harry paled. "Is… Is this about the unicorns?"

"What unicorns?" the twins asked in unison.

"Explain," Hermione requested as she healed a couple of burns on George's left calf.

"Ask Dudley; he-" Harry cut George off.

"You were involved in this? What the hell?" Harry asked his cousin.

"Listen, don't go crazy on me. Luna approached me with a theory and asked me to translate magic into non-magic terms so the soldiers could provide her with a deadly weapon."

Harry gaped but motioned for him to continue.

"What deadly weapon?" Hermione asked, instantly scared.

"She had a… one of her episodes… predictions? I don't know… She talked to the soldiers for a long time. They were… sharing knowledge, I guess… and they gave her the Sarin and-" Dudley replied.

"SARIN GAS?!" Hermione exclaimed, horrified. This made both Jing and Longwei, who were talking in whispers with Mrs. Xu, stop and turn to them with alarmed expressions. "The soldiers gave our Luna SARIN GAS?! Do you know how bloody dangerous that is?! Of all the irresponsible-"

"Wait a minute! That's what she wanted us to make the inhaler for?!" Fred's eyes were wide as saucers.

"What inhaler?" Harry asked with trepidation.

Fred stared at George. Both had wide eyes, and after a few seconds, they chorused, "She played us like a violin!"

"Damn it! It's always the quiet ones!" Fred groaned.

"I can't believe Luna outmaneuvered us!" George rubbed his hands over his face. "Padfoot will rescind his invitation to become marauders!"

"One of you explain, now!" Harry massaged his temples. His head was pounding, and his patience was running thin.

"Okay, so Luna saw a soldier using his asthma inhaler after training once. She was curious and asked about it. She asked the soldier to let her have it once it was empty. He ran out and gave her the contraption at some point. She brought it to us and wanted us to turn the inhaler into… um… something else."

Hermione paled. The only reason Luna wasn't a Slytherin was her loving Zen nature. However, people like her, when they were defensive, they went nuclear, "Into what?"

"A close contact weapon," Fred grimaced and made himself small.

"AND YOU MADE IT?!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Without consulting the General or Jing?!" Harry asked aghast.

Both Mrs. Xu and Jing were staring at the twins, furious. One had her arms crossed; the other had his hands on his hips. "What do we have to do to make you understand that running headfirst is foolish?" Jing asked. "What is the bloody point of all the planning and strategizing if you are going to do something like that behind our backs?"

"Sir, we are very sorry. In our defense, it was a prototype! It was never meant to be used without proper testing!" Fred lifted his hands in a giving-up gesture. "We saw it as a challenge. We thought getting it into the tiny cylinder safely was impossible, but we managed."

Harry laughed nervously as he tried not to have a complete mental breakdown, "So, what you two are saying is that… Luna, sweet, innocent Luna, may or may not have f-forced Death Eaters to inhale Sarin gas!?" he pressed. Hermione's arm around him was the only thing grounding him.

"Look, Harry, we don't know… She left almost as soon as we got to the castle and came back looking like a badass and acting like one, too."

"Whatever she did, she came back ready to kick some more asses," George added.

"That is not helpful…" Hermione said between grunted teeth.

"My moon dreamt of Magicae Core," Xenophilius sighed, stopping all conversation. They hadn't heard him approach and jumped. Both Lovegoods had uncanny skills to move around without making a sound.

"Magicae Core? Magical Core, yes?" Hermione asked.

He nodded, "Indeed. She dreamt of Hogwarts' Core dying. She wanted to try and stop it. She wanted to save Hogwarts."

"Oh no!" Hermione sat down. She felt like throwing up. "No, no, no, no, no, no. This isn't just bad. This is the worst."

Harry felt her horror and turned to her, "Hermione… Where is the core of Hogwarts?!"

Hermione tried to speak but couldn't. Horror was overtaking her as she considered everything that could go wrong.

"Where?!"

"It is believed to be under the stone top of the Headmaster's Office desk," Xenophilius replied in a soft, concerned voice.

Harry felt panic flooding his veins. Trying even to approach that office was a suicide mission. "Ruki!"

"Yes, Master?"

"Armor up. Go to Hogwarts with Kreacher. They will need stealthy backup. Please take care of Luna."

"Yes, Master," Ruki vanished.

"What unicorns were you talking about, Harry?" Fred asked.

"Luna rescued several hurt unicorns and sent them here," Harry replied, taking deep breaths.

"Wait, you are telling us she did all that and some ass-kicking while she was gone? Damn!"

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. The thought of Luna being kidnapped again was making his stomach churn.

"About that, Harry," Xenophilius said. "I have made sure they are all eating, and I have bandaged their injuries." Xeno pulled his shirt up. Two hoof-shaped bruises were quickly forming. "Lavender and Chyou were very helpful. Whatever those monsters did to the poor souls, it was mostly done by men. They are extremely wary. I will let everyone know to stay away."

"Thank you, sir."

"No, Harry. Thank you for sending help to my daughter. She didn't tell me to come with her. I think she never truly forgave me."

"Forgive you?"

"For not stopping her mother from committing suicide," Xeno replied somberly and walked away. "I will be making tea for everyone."

Harry and Hermione held hands and squeezed.

Let's hope she's okay.

She must be.


The sounds of blows, grunts, crying, and screaming made them run faster to the slightly ajar round metal door.

"NO! Pet! Stop it! Fight me!" Vernon screamed.

A giant turned to Vernon, unceremoniously dropping a bloodied Petunia, who landed with a sickening crunch.

"Draco, the feet! Nev, the belly! I'll go for the eyes!"

The giant grabbed Vernon from under his armpits and ripped him off the chains that held him to the wall, breaking his wrists and spraining his ankles. The man screamed in pain that turned into a grunt when Draco successfully bound the giant's feet with chains, and he was dropped. Neville jumped with a strong "Repellendum!" which hit the giant straight on his stomach, pushing him back and keeping him from collapsing on Vernon. Draco ran to Petunia. She was coughing up blood, and her right hip was so broken it was sunken. He hastily did a few healing spells to stabilize her and raised the strongest shield he could muster after being so recently exposed to the cruciatus. She stared at what she thought was her nephew's face in absolute shock. Sirius and Neville were fighting the giant still.

Sirius had managed to blind him with an "Avis excaecant oculos!" Birds sprouted out of thin air and attacked the giant's eyes mercilessly in a gory scene of plucked tissue and blood. Sirius felt the hair on his body stand up. His nose alerted him of a larger canine. He smelled Greyback's familiar, off-putting scent and that of his pack as they approached rapidly. "Draco, Neville, the brooms! Get out of here, NOW! Exsangue maxima!" Sirius pointed his wand at the giant, who expelled his blood from every orifice. Sirius turned away, but his whole body was still covered in giant blood. He turned back into a dog and ran toward the incoming pack, growling. He could feel death breathing down his neck. There were too many werewolves. And his fur was covered in blood now. Were giants tasty to werewolves? Fuck!

Draco and Neville summoned their brooms from the expansible battle bags that Lavender had somehow procured for them. Neville took a deep breath and mounted the broom. He then did spells to secure the unconscious Petunia to Draco. As they were about to try and get Vernon strapped to Neville, a werewolf jumped toward Draco and Petunia. He probably recognized Draco's smell because it seemed to roar 'Traitor!' Draco seemed to recognize him as well because he looked horrified. As Draco had turned to kick off and fly, it would be Petunia, strapped to his back, whom the claws would tear apart. Except, with a strength that no one would have thought he had left, Vernon Dursley jumped up on his sprained ankles and launched his much leaner body to protect his wife, stretching himself as much as possible. The subsequent growls quietened the sounds of claws tearing through skin, muscle, and bone, screams, and sounds of battle.

Sirius was valiantly keeping two werewolves at bay while Neville mercilessly attacked the werewolf that jumped at Draco, but it was too late. Vernon Dursley fell dead, torn apart by the territorial creature. Neville valiantly and recklessly tackled an incoming werewolf trying to jump toward Draco's broom. Neville buried his double swords in the beast's midsection and twisted them with a grunt. Blood spurted out, covering his hands. Fortunately, his dragonhide kept his back from getting cut deeply, although it was definitely ruined. Tackling a werewolf was like trying to move a wall. He could feel his clavicle snap before he heard the resounding crack. He still had hopes of leaving alive, except he heard Padfoot whimpering from being thrown against a snake statue. Draco hovered high enough not to be within the werewolves' reach. He wanted to dive for Padfoot, but if he did, Neville would be eviscerated by another werewolf, so he kept pushing them with banishing spells from the broom.

Despite his injuries, Padfoot tried to lunge back, even knowing that he could be split in half, but before sharp claws cut him, another werewolf jumped in front of him protectively before he did. He smelled the air and felt relief flooding his veins. Moony! A few meters to his right, he inhaled the familiar scent of Bill Weasley as he shoved the werewolf that was about to rip Neville apart or, at the very least, severely maim him. Moony burrowed his hands into the werewolf that attacked Sirius and ripped out his insides. His nose had instantly informed him of which 'Prongslet' was, in fact, his Padfoot. Bill grabbed Neville and put the broom back between his legs, throwing him up to help the slow Cleansweep, that had seen better days. He roared a barely understandable "GO!"

Neville nodded and flew after Draco, who had just demolished a wall section so they could leave. They hovered and saw with horror how a Sirius back in his proper human form was grabbed by a younger werewolf that had just run in and thrown toward a broken sculpture while Remus grappled with another one. Draco and Neville instantly understood that the animagus transformations had thrown off the Polyjuice effect earlier than planned. Both dived toward Sirius, but long before they could reach him, with a flash of a glinting sword, a battle geared Kreacher cut that werewolf's head clean off.

"Hands off my Master!" Kreacher yelled as he lowered the sword.

The last standing werewolf's cut head rolled on the floor with a shocked expression. Sirius could have built Kreacher a monument right then and there, but he was still airborne. He prepared for the crash, but another elf stopped Sirius' path midflight and lowered him gently to the ground.

"K-Kreacher? R-Ruki?" Sirius asked, fighting unconsciousness.

Simultaneously, the elves replied: "No one hurts Lord Black in Kreacher's watch!" "No one gets to punish Master Black but Ruki!"

"T-T-Thank you," Sirius kept trying not to give in and close his eyes. Ruki pushed a vial into his mouth. One blood-replenishing potion wouldn't cut it, but it was better than the alternative.

Remus and Bill had managed to subdue the rest of the werewolves in the area. They were considerably injured, but Neville still flew down over the enemy creatures, throwing the silver necklaces that Mrs. Granger had given him. He would have to get her new ones, but he saw with gratitude how they struggled to breathe when the necklaces landed around their necks. Draco began tying them up with strong incarcerous as he tried not to fall off the broom while feeling Petunia's warm blood seeping over him, "Longbottom! Let's go!"

"We can't leave them here!" Neville pointed at the Moony and Bill with his head.

"Fine, let's move the chunks of the building and try to close the entry, then!" Draco replied.

Draco and Neville began moving the chunks from their brooms.

Remus jumped toward Sirius and lengthened his claws at Ruki menacingly. "Moony, d-don't. She's our f-friend. Focus, love. It's Ruki. She saved my life."

Moony shook his head, and his predatory eyes focused and softened, recognizing the elf. He nodded, "T-Tonks?" he struggled to speak.

"She and the baby are doing well. You must go back, love. Ruki will bring me to Potter Castle. I will see you there once the moon is over."

"NO!" Remus roared as Ruki's fingers prepared to snap them away.

"Remus? W-What's wrong?" Sirius' head kept lolling as he fought not to close his eyes.

"You. M-M-Mate," he growled. "H-Hurt. I f-fix…"

Sirius' eyes widened. Everything made sense now... Even though he never received Scamander's reply, his research had also brought him to this conclusion prematurely. Somehow, somewhere, sometime, for some reason, Remus' werewolf side had decided Padfoot was his mate. Moony knelt before his mate, fighting his baser urges to bite him as all the blood covering Sirius (human, giant, and that of other werewolves) was very tempting to his senses. He placed his clawed hands gently on Sirius' chest. Moony closed his eyes, and Sirius felt a strange suction sensation that made his chest stick to Moony's hands. With the sensation, much of his pain left his body as Moony winced slightly once he absorbed it. Something clicked to his animal side that his human side could not get. What the hell is happening? How the hell-?

Bill half-growled, half-barked to get Remus' attention, "Back!"

"NO!" Remus pushed Bill's clawed hand off his shoulder.

Bill groaned in annoyance and turned to incinerate Vernon Dursley. He got as much of his ashes as possible in a special bag Hermione had given him before the full moon. "Just in case, but I hope you won't use it," she had said.

While Bill did that, Moony's large furry hands held Sirius' face so gently that he felt treasured above and beyond anything he had ever experienced, "OK?" Moony's amber eyes seemed to glow in the darkened room. The emotion within touched Sirius to his very core. He promised to always be there for his mate no matter the cost, and his core responded happily. Amelia's face flashed in his mind, but it dissipated quickly. He knew she would never accept this, and he would never let anyone separate him from his Moony.

"M-More than okay. How-?"

"Master! More creatures incoming! We must go!" Kreacher alerted him. He paled when Moony bared his teeth at him.

Ruki helped Sirius up, and he held onto Remus' neck with his unbroken arm. Anyone else would have been terrified at being so close to a werewolf's teeth while bleeding, "R-Remy, love… Please, this is no time to be s-s-stubborn. I am and always will be your mate. I love you. I am yours. You k-know that. I will be waiting for you home, but I lost a lot of blood, and if the elves don't bring me home, I am toast."

Remus placed his forehead against Sirius' and repeated, "H-Home."

"Yes, home… Go back. T-Tonks, the baby, and I will be waiting. Go with Bill now," Sirius pleaded. He had no idea how on Earth he would explain things to Tonks, but they would have to find a way past this or through it. He feared they would lose Remus forever if they didn't.

Bill grabbed Remus and, pulling out his special runic bracelet, tapped it three times, looking around in concern. They didn't vanish. They looked at the humans in a panic. The elves frowned but felt they couldn't pop away for some reason. The magic around them was unstable, and then… it felt gone.

A few seconds of silent, abject terror and Riddle's deafening screams of pain and rage echoed throughout Hogwarts as the whole building screeched horribly. The floor shook, making them fall. All forms of light darkened. The torches died down. The skies darkened further, and the castle, or what was left of it with several ruined walls and no more windows, grew icy cold with strong winds. Moony jumped toward Sirius to protect him and the elves from falling debris.

Suddenly, a light blue t-shirt-wearing Harry, meaning Harry-Luna, zoomed inside the hole Draco created with a muggle flashlight strapped to her broom. "Hogwarts' core is dead! Riddle can't move for a few minutes! We can all apparate away from outside! The castle may collapse or cave in any time! Let's go! NOW!"

"LUNA!?" Neville almost fell off his broom.

"I'm fine, love! GO!" Luna motioned, still looking like Harry from her second dose.

Bill handed Sirius the bag of ashes, wrapped his arm around Remus, and tapped the bracelet thrice. They were gone. Ruki passed Sirius to Kreacher, who vanished with him and raised her arm, calling for Luna. Ruki had strict orders from Harry to protect Luna. The girl flew and grabbed Ruki's arm, pulling her up and sitting her in front of her so the elf could hold on to the broom and guide it in case Luna needed to do some casting. She quickly caught up to the others, "The Quidditch pitch boys! Fly low! Go! Go! Go!"

They flew as fast as they could in the current conditions. Neville's and Draco's Polyjuice had finally worn off. They landed with a soft sound on the muddy ground. Luna dismounted and minimized the broom. She turned to Neville.

"The twins have Augusta. She's alive. They have already left. She's very hurt, but I think she'll-"

Neville cut Harry-Luna off by kissing him-her so intensely that his-her feet left the ground and his-her legs wrapped around Neville's waist. While they kissed, Luna went through Neville's recent memories to see what had happened.

"Don't you ever do anything like this to me again!" He grunted, kissing her forehead. He did a Longbottom grimoire healing spell and felt his knees buckle from the power it took to patch her up. She caught him, "How were you even standing, Lu?"

"Meditation and compartmentalization. I have better control over my pain than most," Luna shrugged. Do we have everything we need?"


[Simultaneously]

Draco unglued Petunia and levitated her down. He handed Ruki several potions with extremely shaky hands. He was trying not to fall over from pain. Any direct contact after the cruciatus was excruciating.

"Where's Vernon?" Ruki asked.

Draco grimaced as he held onto the broom to avoid falling over. "He d-didn't make it."

"Thank you for bringing her," Ruki nodded. She saw from the corner of her eye how Neville kissed Luna or rather… Harry. Luna still looked like her master Harry, and the scene was strange to her eyes. Not because a wizard-on-wizard love story would be ground-breaking (ahem, Grindelwald, Dumbledork, Ollivander, Gregorovitch, and many others, she tried not to chuckle as her mind added Padfoot and Moony), not at all, but because her Master was bonded to her Mistress. Ruki thought Lady Potter would not like the scene at all. Lady Potters were, historically, very… um… territorial over their men. Luckily, the girl hadn't drunk much of the potion recently, apparently, as she quickly morphed back to her normal body, which looked comically small, wearing Harry's battle clothes.

Ruki placed her hands hovering over Draco's core. She pushed elven pain-relieving magic, and the young man looked less pale. He nodded his head respectfully, "Thank you, Ruki," Draco saw the kissing still going on behind Ruki with wide eyes. Never in his life did he ever think he would see 'Potter' and Longbottom lip-locked. Thankfully, Luna went back to her usual physique quickly. "Oi! Hands off my sister!"

"Sod off!" Neville replied in between kisses.

"You realize you just snogged the living daylights out of Potter, don't you?" Draco was very amused despite the pain.

"Merlin!" Neville paled as he hadn't realized.

"Jealous?" Luna asked with a grin.

"HELL NO!" Draco grimaced.

"LU!"

"You could do worse," Luna quipped with mirth in her eyes. "We need to go now. Bracelets, everyone."

"HARRY POTTER!" A voice yelled inside their heads. The voice felt violent, ravaging the confines of their brains. It was painful. It was intrusive. They all grimaced, suddenly feeling dirty. "I will end you!" the voice bellowed.

Luna took a deep breath, massaged her metaphorical third eye with both hands and focused. Closing her eyes and summoning magic from a place she didn't even understand, as she couldn't connect to the magic of the castle anymore, she connected to Riddle's mind only, and in her best Harry voice, she replied: "I have rescued the Dursleys and Lady Longbottom. I have also freed the unicorns you abused. I have killed several of your minions. I have ruined your disgusting potions. I also have all the founders' grimoires. It was a mistake tempting me to come, Riddle. Veni, vidi, vici [I came, I saw, I conquered]. Our resistance is a legion. All of them are me, and I am all of them. We are many, and we will destroy you. Surrender or die the worst of all deaths."

"I will see Granger's life drain from her eyes drop by drop while she writhes in exquisite pain, and I will make sure you watch her -and everyone you love- die before I kill you!"

"Like hell, you will!" Luna snapped and shut the connection angrily. She could feel the mother of all migraines coming.

"Like hell, you will what?" Neville asked her, confused.

"Nothing. I just answered Riddle in Harry's stead. He's probably coming here as we speak. We have to go NOW."

Everyone touched their bracelets and said, "Location 2!"


Harry ran to Sirius, fearing the worst. There was too much blood all over him, and he lost consciousness in transit. Kreacher wrung his hands in fright.

"He's lost a lot of blood! Blood replenishing potions! Now!" Harry ordered the elves, who placed a potion IV on the man's arm immediately and began administering the strengthened version of the potion. Harry could hear his heart beating fast in his ears as he tapped Sirius' cheeks. "Padfoot! Come on! Open your eyes! Don't do this to me!"

Sirius' head kept moving on the pillow, but he wasn't waking up. Harry summoned shears and cut off Sirius' shirt. How is he still alive?! Sirius was covered in nasty bruises and gashes. One side of his ribs looked slightly caved in. Andromeda ran to them to run a diagnostic. She paled. "Harry, I need you to let go of him. Please go wait outside."

"Andi, please save him-"

"I will do my best, honey. Go."

Harry welcomed Hermione's hug. "He's in capable hands, love."

"I know… I just… He looked dead, and I… I remembered the veil and-"

"I understand. But it's different this time, we-"

Several cracks of apparition resounded in the hall.


Hermione ran to Draco, who she could barely catch before he landed face-first on the stone floor.

"Cruciatus," he grunted. The phoenix tears' effects had passed.

"Fuck me!" Hermione let him go immediately.

"Maybe later, doll," Draco tried to joke.

"Draco!" Hermione levitated him onto a stretcher, and two elves rolled him away. Narcissa caught up to them and began healing her son, who seemed surprised at this but happy that she cared at all.

Harry felt alarmed before he heard a siren blaring. He began looking around for Hermione but froze mid-motion. His eyes filled with tears that he wouldn't shed. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't feel anything but fear and blinding rage. He couldn't see anything but his battered tormentor, who was alive a few feet away. She was to blame for Sirius being hurt. And Draco, and the twins, and everyone else. His blood felt like it was boiling in his veins. The castle's various armors jumped to life from their positions in the long hallway and began marching toward the threat, ready to kill to protect the Lord of the House. Harry started to get flashes of Petunia's role as his torturer.

He saw the first time she hit him with a spatula. He had dropped the eggs. He was three. She had then moved to pans. Sometimes, they were piping hot. He saw her shaving his head and creating cuts on his scalp out of spite, so they would sting every time he would shower. He saw her breaking a wooden spoon on his head for not adding enough salt to a dish. He saw her hosing him down in the snow-covered backyard, in the height of winter, because he had a nightmare and lost control of his bladder. He saw himself as a four-year-old asking for a blanket because he was cold and getting an old, tattered beach towel instead. He saw himself barring the space under the door with newspaper scraps to try to make the cupboard warmer. He saw himself alone, crying from hunger many nights. He saw himself wishing he was strong enough to fight back.

He remembered all the times he wished so hard that anyone cared enough to come and take him away somewhere he could be safe, eat, or sleep without freezing. Harry wouldn't have minded working instead of attending school for years if they treated him kindly. He remembered all the times he hugged himself as well as he could and wondered what it would be like to be kissed or hugged. He yearned so much to be touched with something other than anger and disgust. He wished for any touch that wasn't violent. He would see with envy how parents would drop their kids at school and kiss them or hug them. It would be so nice for someone to love him… or even like him. But for eleven years, he wouldn't get any such privileges. A flash of Hermione hugging him tried to cut through the dark memories, but it vanished as Harry remembered the time Vernon beat him so severely that he couldn't go to school for two weeks. All Petunia did was watch with perverse fascination and scoff or roll her eyes at his crying and begging the man to stop.

Harry's body began to shake. He wanted to wrap his hands around her neck. He wanted to see her struggle. He wanted her to cry and be terrified and beg. He wanted to see life escape her eyes. Harry saw her mocking him, throwing all his Mother's Day cards into the trash. After the third one, he would throw them away on his way back from school to Privet Drive. He heard her cackles as she burnt him with her cigarettes, and he could smell the burning flesh. Then, he could smell his own vomit from when she shut the oven's door over his hand with such fury that the resulting pain made him throw up all over her. He remembered the three days without food or water that followed. Her eyes looked so crazed and satisfied every time he grimaced and cried silently. She enjoyed his pain, his loneliness, his sadness, his hopelessness.

Mrs. Granger, who was helping elves and healers, moving people, supplies, and bandages, stopped in front of Harry. Different people called him about the alarm, but he seemed frozen. She frowned with concern as she saw him start to hyperventilate. His eyes widened, and his face contorted in fear. Tears fell rapidly from his green eyes, and he wasn't even blinking.

"Harry?" Emma waved her hand in front of his face.

He didn't react at all. It was like he was looking through her. He didn't even blink at her calling him, nor from how close the fingers were to his face.

"HARRY!" Emma snapped her fingers before his eyes, and he reacted explosively. In under two seconds, he had her pressed against the wall. His forearm supported her whole weight as he pushed her neck against the white surface. His knife pressed against her waist. His eyes, though, weren't on her. His pupils were blown out, and he seemed to be entirely elsewhere.

Daniel ran to Harry, but Hagrid, who had been moving injured soldiers to bedrooms, was closer and bear-hugged him from behind. One arm went around his shoulders and another around his waist. He ripped him away from Mrs. Granger and didn't budge much when Harry began kicking and struggling to reach the half-giant's head to get him to let go. Hermione, who had just felt her husband's panic and fury, turned and summoned the knife from him before he stabbed Hagrid or anyone else. Daniel caught his wife and held her up as she coughed violently. Hermione looked around for threats, feeling her own pulse quicken with Harry's, and noticing the alarms, she ran to Dudley, carrying his mother in his arms. Of course, this bitch triggered the alarm!

"Dudley! Your mom needs to swear allegiance to Harry! Now!"

Dudley paled further, seeing his cousin struggling against Hagrid, "She can't even speak, Hermione… I don't know what to do!"

"She can't stay here, then. Take her to the Island. Harry needs peace and quiet as he prepares for battle. Tell Lady Greengrass we need her well enough to swear. If that doesn't happen in the next few hours, take her to a private muggle hospital in San Juan, and we will take care of the bill, but she needs to go now. Alright?"

Dudley nodded. However, he was torn between his wish to check on Harry, clearly having a panic attack, and his desire to give his mom a fighting chance. Luna, who had insisted on checking on the unicorns first, came in dragging one of her legs, and Neville took her to Harry immediately. She disabled his magic the sudden way with three touches. His eyes looked shocked and angry for a minute, but then he collapsed against the pillow. Disabling magic like this was akin to a nightmare in which you feel as if you are free-falling and wake up with a start, terrified, but in reverse. She hated doing that, and she knew Harry would be upset at her after, but he was dangerous when unstable, and they needed Potter Castle and everyone within safe.

"Thank you, Luna," Hagrid didn't understand what she had done, but he was very glad Harry was limp in his hold. He lay him down on a nearby bed, kissed his head, and went back to work.

"Thank you, Luna. Are you guys alright?" Hermione went over to give them a quick and gentle hug.

"We will be fine. I have a horrible migraine, though. Can we turn that off?" Luna motioned around her at the siren.

"Thank Merlin, you are home. I'm working on it. Maki!" Hermione called.

"Yes, Mistress?" the elf bowed. She had a giant pink bow on her head.

"I need you to do something for me, please," Hermione crouched before the excited elf.

"Maki gets a new assignment?!" Maki looked over the moon. Hermione had only asked her to take care of Ginny.

"Yes, you do. This is Dudley's mother. She is hurt and needs healing. However, we need her restrained and far away. Please take her to the island, let her get healed, but do not let her try to leave. Alright?"

"Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress," Maki waited to be told how to carry the battered woman.

"Dudley," Hermione turned to him and placed her hand on his forearm.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" she looked him over with a frown.

"My mom is alive. I am so grateful. I will be fine…"

"Good. I assume you want to go back to the island with her-"

"No."

"You don't?" Hermione frowned.

"The fight isn't over. I am fighting. I can't heal her, but I can fight... My father is d-dead."

Hermione was sure that was the case before he said anything, but still, regardless of how little empathy Vernon deserved, losing a father was never easy. "I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you. Can I write Mum a note? So that she can read it when she's conscious again?"

"Of course. Maki, please take three more elves with you so the bed moves as little as possible in transit," Hermione said.

The animated armors had their weapons pointed at Petunia.

"Mistress?" Maki looked scared, but she didn't move.

"Potter Armors," Hermione spoke with authority. "I am having the threat moved away where she will not trouble us."

The armors put their weapons back.

"Please return to your posts. I appreciate your protectiveness and willingness to help," Hermione bowed slightly and was surprised when they returned the gesture and marched back. "Go ahead."

Maki and the other elves vanished with Dudley's short note and the unwanted patient.

Dudley dragged himself to wait for medical attention.

Hermione walked toward her husband and gave him a light peck. He smiled a bit while unconscious. They had been practicing keeping their minds private for the most part for battle. She thought that was probably why she felt his anger and panic a bit later. Hermione placed her hand above his heart and gently pushed her thoughts into his mind. I am here, love. Luna turned off your magic before the house started to shake. Petunia will be gone when you wake up. You scared us all, but we love you.

Emma paced next to Harry's bed, rubbing her neck.

"Are you alright, mum?"

Emma nodded, "I am fine… I was just shocked and worried about him. Honey, I don't want to overstep…"

"You are my mum. You could never overstep."

"He will need a lot of help for a very long time. A therapist would be good, but he will likely need a psychiatrist… Perhaps medication can help. I don't know if magic medicine heals brains, but-"

Hermione nodded, "There are mind healers, although I would rather go muggle for this. Muggle medicine is more advanced in this area, Mom. The war is taking a toll on him. For me, the war started properly in Fourth Year when Riddle got his body back. For Harry, the war began when his parents were murdered, and it never stopped… Sometimes, I fear it will never stop… Even after Riddle is dead."

Mr. Granger was sitting on the bed and moved Harry's fringe away from his closed eyes, marveling at how perfectly content and vulnerable he looked now that his magic was off. Even Daniel, with his many years of military service, had felt cold panic when Harry grabbed Emma. Now that he had seen the young man's anger could change the weather and destroy the geography of a place… he appreciated much more how Harry managed to be so controlled, gentle, and caring. That was the biggest problem.

"He cares too much," Daniel sighed.

"Daddy?" Hermione frowned.

"If his caring nature cannot be tempered, he will get himself killed," Daniel crossed his arms.

"Daniel, please," Emma said in a warning tone.

"I am not criticizing him, love. I am sitting here in awe at his powers, but I am also terrified that he will get himself killed, and that will mean we lose you too, Hermione…" Daniel trailed off.

She sighed, "Daddy, I will not say that won't happen. There are no guarantees. You know that. But we have trained hard. We have a good army. We are almost done. And that reminds me… I have a snake to behead."

"No, you don't. I do," Dudley said, wincing as an elf applied a healing balm to his injuries. "Harry needs you here. If he wakes up with you gone, he will freak out further. We can't afford that. Where is it?"

Hermione shared a quick look with a shirtless and bandaged Neville, who mouthed, "Tell him."

"Dudley, the snake… It's an animagus. Like Sirius transforms into a dog, Nagini is a woman who transforms into a snake."

"Oh…" Dudley looked pensive. "This Nagini is not a good person, right?"

"No. But it is very different to kill a snake than a human being. We cannot ask you to murder in cold blood."

"So, you will do it?" Dudley asked, scandalized. "Absolutely not. I'm sorry. I know you hate being told what to do, but there's no way. I deserve the trauma. You don't."

"Neither of you will do it. I will," Daniel stood. Emma frowned but nodded. Daniel's whole-body language was screaming, 'Better me than them.'

Kreacher popped next to him, "Master Granger will need this." The elf offered the sword of Gryffindor to the man.

"Kreacher, how did you get that?" Hermione asked with a gasp.

"Kreacher wanted to save his Master Black. Kreacher thinks Kreacher was brave enough for Magic to agree. Kreacher pulled the sword from Headmistress McGonagall's special hat," Kreacher shrugged.

"Professor!" Hermione waved the Scotswoman over.

"Yes, dear?" Minerva walked to her hurriedly.

"You managed to get the sorting hat out in the evacuation?!" Hermione asked with wide eyes.

"Ruki did. She thought we could need it," Minerva smiled a bit.

"And you pulled the sword out of it?" Hermione asked Kreacher to confirm.

Kreacher nodded, a bit scared at her reaction, "Yes, Mistress."

Hermione knelt before Kreacher and hugged him gently, "I am so, so, SO proud of you, Kreacher. Thank you! For your bravery and your help!"

"Mistress is most kind… Kreacher is doing his duty. Kreacher will go tend to Master Black," Kreacher bowed and left after handing the sword to Daniel.

"Daddy, don't."

"Someone has to do it. I have…" he took a deep breath, "I have done things like this before. I will be fine."

"Pardon me, but Snape should do it," George shrugged.

"Excuse me but… Accio Sarin inhaler!" Fred said.

"Ouch!" Luna complained as the inhaler tried to get out of the tactical bag. She downed a headache relief draught that Mrs. Weasley handed her.

"Finite," Fred canceled the spell but kept his hand out. Luna pulled it out and levitated it to his hand. "You are in a lot of trouble, Missy. You didn't tell us you were going to use this!"

"You should never use untested prototypes!" George told her off.

"What did you do, Luna?" Hermione asked with a slight frown.

Luna began to cry as she remembered, "They… They t-trapped the u-unicorns in the Trophy Room. They had t-thick needles inserted t-that the Death Eaters were using to b-bleed them out slowly…"

Horrified faces looked at her with wide eyes.

She forced herself to power through, "Thin t-tubes came out of the needles. The Death Eaters would s-suck the blood from the tubes as if they were s-s-straws. It was barbaric. A couple of unicorns had their b-backs broken; one had their h-h-horn amputated. They… They ripped out their manes and t-tails. They b-beat them. They were covered in black bruises."

The silence was deafening. Minerva walked to Luna's bed and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, squeezing gently.

Luna took a deep breath, "When I was bullied at Hogwarts, I found s-solace in the Forbidden Forest. The u-unicorns were always k-kind to me. They would k-keep me away from d-danger and h-help me find my way home if I wandered too deep. They a-ate from my hand as f-foals. They let me brush their m-manes. They were my f-f-friends. They didn't d-deserve this t-torture."

Minerva took a deep breath, "Luna… Did you… Pardon me for being indelicate, dear. Did you… kill all of them?"

"Yes."

Many gasps followed her revelation.

"All but one," she continued. "I needed someone to bear witness and tell Riddle."

"How many?" Hermione asked with a frown.

Luna looked down, "Does it m-matter? I don't need a-anyone judging me."

"It matters. We need to know how many soldiers he has lost," Longwei replied. "I don't think anyone here can judge you, Luna… I know I can't."

"Can you tell us more?" Minerva asked.

"I… I protected the unicorns and myself with bubble head charms as a precaution. Then, I went around petrifying, silencing, prying mouths open, then giving each Death Eater a puff of Sarin. I glued their lips back together."

"How many?" Hermione repeated.

"Eleven… The twelfth got a message for Riddle."

No one moved for a while. The twins were pale. Neville, who had been patched up and was coming back to check on his girlfriend, heard every word.

"You killed eleven people today?" Neville's jaw was hanging open.

"I did," Luna steeled her gaze. She wouldn't be made to feel embarrassed.

Neville looked scared and conflicted, "Why?"

"Those were monsters. Not people. Murderers. Rapists. Torturers."

"And that makes cold-blooded murder okay somehow?" Neville took a step back with a severe frown.

Luna's eyes flashed dangerously, "What the fuck did you just say to me?" She angrily wiped her tears away with her hands.

Everyone froze. Luna rarely ever cursed, and she was even more rarely angry.

Neville didn't back down, "You heard me… It's like I don't even know you."

Luna stared at him with such fury that he looked away, "Well, then. Nice to meet you, Heir Longbottom. Luna Lovegood: a serial killer and all-around terrible person… Is that what you think of me now? Tell me, oh pious one," Luna's voice dripped with venom and sarcasm, "Did you leave the castle without killing anyone?"

He sighed, "No…"

"I didn't think so. Two men I killed groped and hurt Chyou and me in transit to Malfoy Manor. I didn't need to go through a trial with the other ones. They were gladly slurping away the blood of innocents!"

"If we are killing like they would… how are we any different?" Neville frowned.

"Neville, Luna, please take a deep breath," Daniel said. "War is a shitty set of circumstances with impossible choices. What she did was quick and clean. No one saw her, right?"

Luna shook her head, "No. I had Polyjuice. They saw Harry. That was the whole point. To make Riddle paranoid that Harry could waltz into Hogwarts any time and undo months of work in under a couple of hours."

"I, for one, am very impressed with what you did. No one here condones murder per se. But Neville, she could have died today. She went with you as a supportive girlfriend to help you save your grandmother, who, if I was informed correctly, doesn't even like her very much," Longwei crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know. I just… Bloody hell."

Luna looked down at that and sighed, "Go, Neville."

"What?" he looked up at her.

"I know you better than you know you. Go. Think. Let me know if you want to end our relationship," Luna said resignedly.

This seemed to snap Neville out of his shock. "Never. I would still marry you right now. I'm sorry, Lu. I was entirely out of line," he looked at her as if asking permission.

She nodded, so he kissed her forehead. "I will go check on my grandmother."

"I will be with you soon if you want me to," Luna replied.

"Always," Neville gave her a small smile and walked away. "Professor, I need to ask you some questions about Hogwarts."

Minerva stood with a nod and followed him.

Hermione stood next to her bed and hugged the girl to her side.

"I am so sorry you had to do all that alone, Luna," she rubbed the girl's arm up and down.

Luna looked up at her, "Really? I thought you were condemning me, too."

"No, sweetie. I'm sorry if it came across that way. The men taking the blood… They were inner circle, yes?"

"Yes…"

"How can you tell?" Longwei asked.

"Riddle wouldn't waste such a resource on just anyone," Hermione said.

"There's another way to tell," Luna quipped.

"How?"

"The masks."

"Meaning?"

"The silver dots that decorate the forehead line are the number of kills they have. The black dots on the jawline are the number of rapes. I saw Riddle placing a new red dot on the masks of the monsters that raped Daphne. No one gets to wear a very decorated mask without committing many crimes. No one without such decoration was in the Trophy Room."

Longwei jumped up, "Shit. I need to tell the general this."

"I asked about the numbers so we could do some math and calculate how big of a blow it was to Riddle."

Longwei lingered. Numbers were important.

"I killed eleven Death Eaters. From what I saw in Neville's memories, Sirius, Draco, and Neville killed a giant and two werewolves."

Longwei stood before Luna and did a military salute, "You are terrifying and amazing, Luna."

"Thank you," She nodded, "Moony and Bill came too."

"They did?!"

"Yes. They killed three more werewolves. The castle dying destroyed all wards and spirits."

"What?"

"They are gone. The ghosts."

"Oh no."

"It died, then?"

"Yes. I can't believe I am even saying this, but… Hogwarts is dead."

Hermione felt tears escape her eyes.

"But we can get into it easier now, yes?" Longwei asked.

Luna nodded.

"General Xu!" Longwei ran out.

Luna covered her face with her hands as the actual weight of her actions began to fall on her shoulders.

"They deserved it, Luna… Sarin may have been too quick, actually."

"Thank you."

Hermione looked around with a frown "Daddy?"


A/N: Thank you for reading. This has been quite a ride to write and review. Sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for your comments, messages, well-wishes, and reviews. I hope you are safe and healthy wherever you are. -Lux