James and Lily recovered faster than Andromeda and Gideon did and took off toward the commotion. Andromeda's heart pounded her in her ears. She hadn't planned to do anything. She'd wanted to be a messenger, and nothing more. Yet something called her forward, like some sick, morbid curiosity of the darkness that lay ahead.
Screams echoed from the square as they approached it. Students and citizens raced away from the commotion, and Andromeda wondered if she should join them. Yet her feet kept carrying her forward, until she saw what everyone ran from, and froze.
In the center of the square were about a dozen figures, all wearing black cloaks and long hoods that almost completely obscured their faces. Where their faces could be seen were only pale, grotesque masks like corpses.
Their foreboding appearance would be enough to make anyone skittish, but that wasn't what caused the panic. The Witches and Wizards who stood closest to them had their hands to their throats as they gasped, but there was no escaping from a choking spell until its perpetrator released them.
One of the figures stood above the rest. "Hear me, children of Magic!" The voice said. Andromeda didn't recognize the voice, but it could easily be disguised.
"Your reckoning is at hand. You have allowed muggles and mudbloods to pollute our sacred race, and now they choke us out like weeds! You have been given the chance to save yourselves, and you have refused. Now you will feel the Dark Lord's wrath."
There could be no way of knowing for sure, but Andromeda was convinced the speaker was her elder sister. Bella had always been proud and bold and unafraid to speak her mind, though Andromeda had never imagined she would come to this.
The students and citizens continued to flee, but more and more were falling victim to the cloaked-ones curses.
"We need to distract them," Lily said, "That might get them to lift their curses, long enough for people to escape."
"We're a little outnumbered," Gideon said.
"If you want to sit this out, be my guest," James said, before he whipped out his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" His spell's aim was true, and it knocked the speaker's wand out of their hand
James' spell also attracted the attention of the others. They released their victims, choosing instead to bear down on those who resisted.
"Look out!" Andromeda shouted, pulling James out the way just as the curse came hurtling toward him. Gideon and Lily also dove out of the way of the curses that sailed toward them.
Gideon leapt up and aimed curse, but one of the dark-cloaked figures shouted, "Stupify!" The curse passed right through him and he sank down, stunned.
"Gideon!" Lily shrieked, and the cloaked figure turned on her, as did a couple others. She raised her wand, but she was outmatched.
Then Potter reached into his pockets and flung the itching powder into their faces. One of them managed to dodge, but the other two went down in fits of frantic itching. Lily seized the moment in the confusion and aimed her wand at the only remaining cloaked figure.
"Stupify!" she shouted. The spell hit the figure square in the chest, and he went down. Lily and James looked proud of the victory, but Andromeda bit her lip. That was all well and good, except, they were outnumbered by almost four to one, and they were running out of places to hide.
Then another voice said, "Stupify!" And yet another cloaked figure went down. From across the way Andromeda could see Sirius grinning at her, while Remus and Peter trailed behind him. More and more curses began popping out from around the crowd, as the muggle defenders rallied. The odds had been turned in their favor.
That is until one of the cloaked figures shouted, "Imperio!" And aimed their wand at Sirius. Remus pushed him out of the way, and the curse hit him instead. His eyes flashed white briefly, but then it seemed like nothing had happened.
Then, slowly, Remus turned on Sirius and Peter. Andromeda gasped. The Imperius curse was not only illegal, but extremely difficult to pull off. Only accomplished Wizards and Witches could master it. And yet, it seemed that was what the cloaked figures were. Remus raised his wand, and Sirius and Peter were forced to dive out of the way as Remus bore down on them.
"Imperio!" Another cloaked figure said, and suddenly Marlene Mckinnon bore down on Mary Mcdonald. Another Imperius curse rang out, and suddenly Alice Prewett was forced to defend herself from Frank Longbottom.
The rest of the muggleborn defenders backed away in confusion, unsure whether to attack the cloaked figures or their friends. With a few curses, the cloaked ones had managed to turn to the tide of the battle. Andromeda's hands started shaking as she glanced around at the chaos and violence around her. She'd known the dark lord and his acolytes had sinister intentions, but she'd never imagined they'd be this bold, or this bloodthirsty. It was like Rabastan had said, a storm.
And then, out of nowhere, red sparks sprang into the air. The cloaked figures and remaining bystanders looked over in shook at the perpetrator. Andromeda gasped as she recognized Barty Crouch Jr. He looked so proud and defiant as he gazed down on the cloaked figures, and he didn't even flinch when they turned their wands on him.
"Fun's over, mates," he said, "Unless you feel like sparing with Dumbledore himself."
Hisses echoed through the mention of Dumbledore's name, but the cloaked ones also shrank back. However bold they were, they knew they couldn't take Dumbledore. They grabbed their fallen comrades and began to apparate.
The one nearest her reached one of the fallen, and then hesitated. They glanced back at her. She stiffened as the horrible mask laid eyes on her, but the figure didn't do anything.
A powerful spell, like a bolt of lightning struck just above their heads. The figure cringed back as though afraid, then gripped their fallen comrade and apparated away. Andromeda glanced over to see Dumbledore along with a string of other teachers march their way into the square. Dumbledore immediately made his way to the Imperiused student. Andromeda didn't see what he did to them, but they all drifted toward the ground as they had decided to take a short nap.
"Get these students to the hospital wing," Dumbledore commanded. The teachers immediately obeyed his command. He then moved onto the students who had been choked and made sure they were all alright. Once he'd made sure they were on their way to the Hospital Wing, he turned to the remaining students.
"I regret to inform you that this Hogsmeade weekend must be ended early." His usual light voice was uncharacteristically grave, yet there was still some warmth in it as he gazed around at the students. "It's imperative that you all return to Hogwarts at once, where I assure you, you will be safe from all future harm."
Most of the students did what he said, but Barty Crouch, to her surprise, ran over to her. "Andromeda?" he asked, offering her a hand, which she accepted. "Are you all right?" he asked as he pulled her to her feet.
She nodded, though the action felt more automatic than anything.
"You weren't one of the ones crazy enough to fight them, were you?" Technically the answer was no, she hadn't launched a single curse of her own. All she'd really done was warn the others and pull Potter out of the way. Yet in her hesitation, Barty added, "That was foolish of you. Admirable, but foolish."
He offered her his arm, to her surprise she took it. Her body suddenly felt weak, and she wouldn't mind company back to the castle.
"It's insane that they attacked so close to Hogwarts, isn't it?" Barty said. "They must have known Dumbledore wouldn't let them get away with it for long. I suppose we're lucky this happened while we're all at school, aren't we?"
Luck was one word for it, Andromeda thought as she glanced around the chaos the cloaked figures had caused. James and Sirius fretted over Remus' unconscious body as they returned him to Hogwarts. Lily did the same as they carted Gideon away. Alice hung by Frank Longbottom, silent tears streaming down her face.
Dumbledore was right. They would be safe inside Hogwarts, but they couldn't remain inside Hogwarts forever. And she had a feeling the storm was only just beginning.