Slytherin Dormitories, Hogwarts, 6/21/1996, 17:39
Theodore Nott was preparing to place the replacement panel into the final section of the vanishing cabinet. He had spent the last week etching runes into the oak plank he was using to repair this centuries-old magical artefact.
Theo had been repairing this cabinet one panel at a time since his return from the Easter holidays. What he was attempting to do was well above N.E.W.T level and took a lot of trial and error to get right. He was using an old enchanters workbook that the dark lord had gifted him to perform the repairs. The book had been very useful as he had no experience in enchanting magical items but he still had to figure some things out himself as he went along.
The repair manual had a list of processes to perform repairs, potions recipes necessary for fabricating replacement parts, and most of the spells necessary to repair enchanted items made in the last five hundred years. The book even gave detailed explanations of how the different items worked to aid an enchanter in diagnosing and repairing problems.
According to the maker's mark carved in the back of the cabinet, this vanishing cabinet was built by a master enchanter by the name of Hyperion Peverell. That made the cabinet over three hundred years old and extremely valuable if someone owned the set.
The work was actually not as difficult as Theodore had expected but it was time-consuming.
Before he could begin etching the runes, he first had to carve the new plank so that it replicated the piece he was replacing, which meant he also had to learn woodworking spells. It took him a week to get the hang of the spell and he had ruined dozens of planks in the process. Carving the unique tongue and groove pattern into the edge of each piece was a very tedious process and took a lot of trial and error before he got the hang of it. Though after creating eight other replacement panels for the cabinet, he could make a plank that would pop into place on the first try now.
After the planks were shaped, they had to soak for three days in a solution that made the wood capable of channelling and absorbing magic. He had to brew the solution himself which was the most frustrating part of the process as he abhorred potion brewing and this particular potion was on the syllabus for the advanced potions class.
Then came the etching process which wasn't difficult just labour-intensive. He had to etch hundreds of tiny runes on each panel and they had to line up perfectly with the runes on the panels the new panel butted up against to ensure that the runic array ran uninterrupted throughout the inside of the cabinet.
The final step was to brew yet another potion that dissolved the original piece of wood from the cabinet into a viscous liquid. The replacement panel was then immersed in this solution for twenty-three hours, during this time it absorbed the solution, infusing the new plank with the magic that the original enchanter used to create the cabinet. This step was crucial or otherwise, the cabinets would not pair properly and there could be... accidents.
Theodore was on his hands and knees with his body halfway in the cabinet as he prepared to set the final panel. This plank was three inches wide by two and a half feet long and went horizontally across the back of the cabinet where the back wall met the floor. This piece carried the array up from the floor of the cabinet and was the start of the transportation sequence.
Once he applied the enchanter's glue to the back of the plank, Theodore lined the tongue on the top of the plank with the groove of the piece above it and began to tap it into place with a wooden mallet. It took a while as this piece was a tight fit and he had to carefully work it into place or risk damaging the piece.
Finally, with one last tap, the plank popped into place. Theodore took a minute to admire his work, the plank fit perfectly into place and the joints were so tight they looked almost seamless. Most importantly, the runic array lined up precisely with the array from the other boards around it.
Taking out his wand, Theodore touched the tip to the largest rune in the array. This was the power rune positioned in the centre of the cabinet's floor and worked like a switch to power up the array.
Taking a deep breath, Theo incanted, "harmonia nectere passus," in a crisp clear voice while channelling his magic into the rune.
Theodore knew he had completed the spell correctly when the thousands of tiny runes etched over every surface on the inside of the cabinet and the backside of the door began to light up in a soft lime-green colour as they began to draw in ambient magic from the castle. The runes flickered almost like a heartbeat casting the room in a soft greenish glow.
Standing up, Theo walked over to his trunk and dug out the rolls of acromantula silk liners that had originally lined the inside of the cabinet. Unrolling the liners on the floor in front of the cabinet, Theo cast a spell that lightly coated one side of the fabric in enchanter's glue and then cast a second spell to make them float into their original places. The liner covered every surface on the inside of the cabinet in the velvety black fabric and made the cabinet look almost... ordinary.
The liner was not necessary for the cabinet's function but it hid the glowing runes on the inside of the cabinet, making it look like a normal piece of furniture. He planned on hiding the cabinet in plain sight and didn't wish for anyone to start asking questions if they inadvertently stumbled onto it.
It would take a few hours for the cabinet to build up enough power to connect to the sister cabinet at Riddle Manor but his part in this was almost complete.
The only thing left to do was move the cabinet to the location the dark lord had instructed, but his elf could handle that task in seconds.
Deciding he might as well get it over with, Theodore called for his family house elf
"Noose."
'Pop'
"Yes, master Theo?" An elderly house elf croaked as soon as he appeared in the dorm.
"Please take this cabinet to the classroom next to the entrance hall and make sure that no one but I can enter the room," Theodore instructed.
"It be's ready, master?" Noose asked eagerly.
"It is, we are finally done with the infernal thing," Theo nodded, giving the old elf a nod.
"Master's father be pleased at the news, snakey man be's getting impatient," Noose exclaimed.
"I know, tell father it is done," Nott instructed.
"At once, Master Theo," Noose chirped before he placed his tiny hand on the cabinet.
Theo watched with no small amount of relief as the elf and cabinet disappeared from his dorm with a loud 'pop.'
He would have to send a living creature through the cabinet when it powered up but he had little doubt that the cabinet was repaired, otherwise, the runic array wouldn't have drawn in magic.
If that test was successful, he would send word through Cassius that the cabinet was ready, though Theo was pretty sure that the person checking the other cabinet would have informed the dark lord by then.
Theodore had really no interest in becoming a death eater but he had to do what was asked of him if for nothing else than to keep Tracy and her family safe.
The dark lord had granted his request last winter when Theodore had asked him for the Davis family to be spared. Truthfully the dark lord had seemed amused by their interaction but had assured him that the Davis' would be left alone.
Then last Easter, Theodore had been summoned to meet with the dark lord where he was given the task of repairing the broken vanishing cabinet. Theo knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter as he was already in the dark lord's debt and even if he wasn't, the dark lord would not allow him to refuse this mission.
So he had thrown himself into the task and was surprised to learn that he actually enjoyed the work (minus the potions aspect). He was actually thinking about pursuing a career in magical artefact restoration when he finished school. He seemed to have a bit of a knack for it and enjoyed crafting the pieces with his own hands
His father had not been pleased when he had learned his son was courting a lowly half-blood. This was what motivated Theodore to ask the dark lord to spare the Davis family, in the first place. Theodore knew that his father was not above killing Tracy to put an end to their relationship and had taken steps to ensure her safety. Once the dark lord had said they would be spared, no death eater could touch them including Cantankerus Nott.
His father had been furious when he found out about Theodore"s treachery and had cast the cruciatus curse on him in a fit of rage. By then it was too late for his father to do anything about it, Tracy and her family were untouchable.
Cantankerus was apoplectic that his son had gone over his head and spoken to the dark lord on behalf of a filthy half-blood, he had even threatened to disown his only heir. Theo wasn't concerned if he did, in the end, It was worth it and he had no regrets.
Theo's father hadn't spoken to him again until learning of the task the dark lord had entrusted him with. Theodore snorted at the memory of his father praising him and acting like nothing had happened once he learned of the honour bestowed on his heir. Theodore knew that if he was successful in his task, it would elevate his father's position with the dark lord and that was all the old bastard really cared about anyway.
Theo was actually a bit concerned that the dark lord would force him to take the mark this summer. Most of the seventh years had been branded over the break due to the heavy losses the death eaters were taking. He would take the mark if he had to but he would prefer to stay out of the war if at all possible.
Deciding to put those thoughts aside, for the time being, Theodore packed up his tools and made his way out of the dormitory. He had been confined to his dorm since returning from Easter break and he could do with some fresh air.
He had been neglecting Tracy of late, she had been a bit down since Daphne was pulled out of school and he had been too busy with this damn cabinet to comfort her.
It would be nice to spend some time with her, the exams were finally over so the pressure would be off of both of them and they could just enjoy each other's company.
It was just too bad Potter and that McDonald girl kept taking over that room on the seventh floor or he could take Tracy on a date in Paris.
'Maybe we can take a trip to the astronomy tower,' Theo thought to himself as he stepped into the common room and spotted Tracey reading in a chair by the fire.
Entrance Hall, Hogwarts, 6/21/1996, 22:39
Rodolphus opened the door to the classroom they had arrived in and peeked out into the entrance hall. Looking around and seeing the hall was deserted, he pulled his head back inside and turned to his eight-man team.
They had stepped through the passageway formed by the cabinet a few minutes ago, arriving in this classroom as planned. This classroom was usually used by the creatures class during cold weather but tonight it was a staging room for the two death eater teams about to lay waste to Hogwarts.
Rodolphus was a little impressed with the Nott boy. He had actually succeeded in fixing the cabinet. Even the dark lord had doubts the boy could pull it off but had wanted to give him a chance.
According to Warrington, the cabinet had been badly damaged in ninety-two but looking at it now, Rudolphus couldn't tell the difference between this one and the one they had stepped through at Riddle Manor.
"Well?" Rabastan demanded, pulling him from his thoughts.
"The hall is clear," Rodolphus grunted, shooting his younger brother a look of annoyance.'
'Woosh'
Rudolphus turned when he heard a sound that reminded him of floo travel a second before Thomas Avery stepped out of the vanishing cabinet. Avery had barely shut the cabinet door before he heard a second 'woosh' as another member of Avery's team came through.
"The little shit actually pulled it off," Avery muttered as he looked around the classroom in surprise.
"Yep, Nott Sr will shit himself," Rabastan guffawed as more death eaters stepped out of the cabinet.
"He did good work," Selwyn who was the last member of Avery's team muttered as he inspected the cabinet.
"Shut that fucking door, the dark lord will be coming through shortly!" Rudolphus snapped as he pulled on his mask.
"Keep your knickers on Rudy, I was just looking," Selwyn said as he slammed the cabinet door shut much harder than necessary.
"If you break that thing, you won't live to see the dawn," Avery warned his teammate.
"Heard anything yet, I'm starting to feel a bit crowded in here?" Rudolphus demanded as one of his teammates bumped into him.
The classroom was starting to get full now with eighteen death eaters standing around waiting for the word to begin the attack.
All around him, death eaters were pulling masks over their faces so the room was filled with black-robed men in bone-white skull masks.
"Aye, Rowle just sent the word, Rudy," Rabastan grunted as he read off f a piece of enchanted parchment that had just flashed a brilliant gold colour.
"Alright we have ten minutes before the master arrives," Avery muttered as he pulled his mask over his face.
"Malcolm, take the others to the Gryffindor Tower entrance and begin the attack, Rab and Mulciber, you're with me," Rudolphus ordered.
"Alright you lot, follow Smith he will lead us to the Hufflepuff's common room," Avery instructed and got nods in the affirmative from the eight members of his team.
"Let's move, the dark lord has his own business here tonight," Rudolphus ordered as he led his team out into the hallway.
Rodolphus' team had two objectives tonight First the LeStrange brothers, and Mulciber were going to hold Dumbledore up in the entrance hall. While they were doing this, the rest of his team was going to launch an attack on Gryffindor Tower.
When the group stepped out of the classroom they went in different directions. Rudolphus led his team across the entrance hall towards the grand staircase while Avery's team went in the opposite direction, heading down the stairs that led to the kitchens.
When they reached the foot of the grand staircase Rodolphus gave Malcolm Parkinson the nod and watched as Parkinson led the other five members of his team up the stairs.
"Alright boys, let's get Dumbledore's attention," Rodolphus roared as he cast a spell that blasted the massive doors wide open.
"Time to light up the night, brother," Rabastan cackled as he and Mulciber drew their wands.
"Try and send the flames out of the castle, Rab," Rodolphus warned before he bellowed the Incarnation, "FIEND FYRE!"
"FIEND FYRE!"
"FIEND FYRE!"
Rabastan and Mulciber copied him, all three of them shooting a bludger-sized sphere of brilliant orange flame out of the tips of their wands. The spell flew threw the air with an eerie high-pitched squeal before the balls of fire landed on the front lawn a hundred yards away from the castle doors.
Rodolphus watched on gleefully as the spheres of fire transformed into tiny little dragons composed of blinding orange flames that began consuming the grass around them. The semi-sentient creatures composed entirely of flame began to grow as they consumed more grass before they began to multiply and spread out consuming everything they touched.
Rodolphus watched on gleefully as serpents and chimaera made of blazing orange flame charged towards the greenhouses, leaving flaming footprints in the lawn. The flame from the burning footprints spawned flaming snakes and tiny dragons that grew in size as they consumed everything around them, starting the process over anew.
"Wait for Albus to arrive and then go assist the others," The voice of the dark lord instructed from behind him, making Rudolphus jump in surprise.
"Of course, my lord," Rodolphus answered at once.
"And if you come across the Davis girl, leave her be. Theodore fulfilled his end of our deal," Voldemort added, sounding pleased.
Rodolphus bowed his head as he watched the dark lord ascending the stairs.
They didn't have to wait very long before the entrance hall was lit up by a bright flash of light as Dumbledore appeared in the doorway of the castle a burst of phoenix fire.
Dumbledore seemed almost oblivious to the presence of three death eaters in the entrance hall. Rudolphus watched the headmaster wave his wand in a complex pattern as he stepped out of the castle doors and began to try and control the fiend fire creeping ever closer to the castle.
Rudolphus watched him for a moment before bumping Rabastan with his elbow.
"Let's go," Rudolphus whispered and got a nod in the affirmative from his comrades.
The walk through the castle was fairly quiet until they reached the fifth floor. That's when the sound of spellfire started echoing from overhead.
Rudolphus knew instantly that something was wrong, these weren't the sounds of a one-sided attack, this was the sound of a battle.
"We have to hurry!" Rodolphus exclaimed seconds before the ceiling shook from a massive explosion two floors up.
As Rudolphus sprinted up the stairs, he couldn't help wondering if this was another one of those missions where everything was going to go tits up.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, Five Minutes Earlier
Harry and Tonks had just crawled into bed and were cuddled up getting close to falling into a peaceful sleep after a very relaxing evening. After dinner tonight they had forgone the usual defence practice in favour of snuggling up on the couch and listening to music. Harry felt Tonks drift off and couldn't help but lament the fact they couldn't be more intimate this evening due to her monthly visitor.
Harry imagined the party in Gryffindor Tower was just starting to get wild now that curfew it was after curfew.
Harry was pulled from his musings when he heard a soft 'pop' from somewhere in the room and sat bolt upright jarring Tonks in the process.
Harry scanned the room, surprised to find Dobby standing at the foot of the bed looking staring back at him with a fearful expression on his tiny face.
"Dobby, what's the matter?" Harry asked as he threw his legs off of the edge of the bed.
"There be's bad wizards inside the castle, they"'s be's going to the kitties' common room, Master Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby exclaimed in a rush.
"Kitties' common room?" Harry asked as he stood up and began pulling on his jeans.
"I think he means the Gryffindor common room," Tonks muttered sleepily as she scrambled out of bed and began to pull on her red auror robes.
"Damn it," Harry muttered as he pulled the D.A coin out of his pocket.
He had to take a second to calm himself before and touched the coin with his wand and sent a simple message to every coin in the D.A.
GRYFFINDOR UNDER ATTACK!
"Dobby, tell Dumbledore about the attack," Harry commanded as he pulled on his trainers.
"Professor Whiskers already be's knowing but he be's trying to put out nasty fire in the outsides," Dobby replied.
Harry didn't wait for a reply as he straightened up and ran towards the door not even bothering with a shirt.
Harry ran the distance to the door, he didn't have to slow down as the door opened on its own accord allowing him to continue tearing down the corridor.
"Wait up, Potter," Tonks called as she ran behind him, her heavy boots clacking on the stone floor with every step she took.
BOOOOOOM!
Harry heard a deafening explosion up ahead as they passed the grand staircase, neither of them noticing the disillusioned silhouette of a skeletally-thin man stepping off of the stairs as they ran past.
Harry knew with a sinking feeling in his stomach that he was too late and that Gryffindor Tower was already under attack.
"That was loud!" Harry heard Tonks exclaim as she finally caught him up so that they were running side-by-side.
Harry tried to listen for any hint as to what was happening up ahead, but all he could hear were the sound of his and Tonks' heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Harry remained silent, running as fast as his feet would carry him as fear gripped his chest, most of his friends were in the common room. He just hoped his warning reached them in time and that they weren't caught completely off guard. He thought he could hear screams in the distance but he wasn't sure if that was real or if it was his imagination
It wasn't until they neared the Gryffindor corridor that he knew that he wasn't imagining anything. The sounds of spellfire rang through the corridor followed seconds later by sounds of shattering stone. He could hear high-pitched female screams and unintelligible male voices yelling.
"We have to hurry!" Harry exclaimed as they turned down the hallway that led to the Fat Lady's portrait.
This corridor was really long and made two more right turns, they both sprinted towards the tower, the sounds of battle up ahead getting louder the closer they got.
Finally, they turned the corner onto a long straight hall lined with suits of armour and statues, about fifty feet down this hallway he saw the first signs of the confrontation and he and Tonks slowed down to assess the situation.
Harry could see a pitched battle taking place ahead of them in the widest part of the hallway near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The fat Lady's portrait and the wall around it had been blasted inward, creating a massive hole in the stone wall. Harry could see into the common room and saw members of the D.A returning a constant stream of spellfire at their attackers.
The death eaters were hiding behind statues and suits of armour on either side of the corridor. They would randomly pop up and cast red or green curses into the common room but were forced to duck back behind the cover.
Harry was proud of how well the D.A members were handling the attack. The Gryffindors were keeping the death eaters pinned down by an endless barrage of piercing and bludgeoning hexes, keeping them from advancing into the common room.
"Buggering hell!" Harry heard one of the death eaters bellow as the man beside him was struck in the chest by a piercing hex spraying his comrade in dark red blood before the man collapsed to the stone floor.
Harry was surprised to see Lavender Brown's head pop out of the gaping hole looking into the common room She raised her wand aiming at a statue two death eaters were hiding behind and shrieked," EXPLUSO MAXIMA!"
Harry felt his heart drop as a death eater hiding behind a suit of armour popped up and cast a killing curse at her exposed head.
Harry let out a sigh of relief as she ducked back inside a millisecond before she would have been hit by the jet of green light. Unfortunately for the death eaters cowering behind the lion statue, she had barely ducked back into the common room when her spell hit its mark.
'BOOOOOOOOOOM!'
The niche that two death eaters had been hiding behind exploded violently, sending both men flying through the air before they landed in a mangled heap on the other side of the hallway.
Harry and Tonks had crept close enough to cast a spell at the last three death eaters, coming up on their exposed flanks.
"Exploding hexes, you go right and I'll go left" Tonks ordered and Harry didn't question her as he aimed at the two men taking cover behind a stone statue of an elderly witch in a tutu.
With a violent jab of his wand, he bellowed, "EXPLUSO!" at the same time Tonks cast her own explosion hex.
Harry felt his arm jerk upward as the violent orange beam of light flew from his wand tip, the two spells detonating a split-second apart causing the whole hall to shake as a deafening explosion rang in his ears and he was forced to cast a shield as rock and chunks of stone were blasted back at him.
The two robed men Harry's spell hit were hurled vertically and slammed into the ceiling with bone-shattering force before their broken lifeless bodies landed on top of the rubble of the statue with a wet 'thump.'
Neville joined him in the corridor as Tonks blasted a suit of armour, sending shards of metal into the death eater hiding behind it and spraying the niche it was set in crimson.
As the last death eater fell, all three of them scanned the hall for any other threats.
"Thanks for the warning," Neville said, giving him a grateful smile.
"It looks like you lot had this in hand, is anyone hurt?" Harry asked as he turned to look the other boy in the eye.
"Yeah, Cormac took a-
"POTTER!"
Neville was cut off as a gruff male voice bellowed from behind them.
Harry was barely able to avoid an incoming cutting curse sent at his back but it still grazed his chest as he spun around to face the new arrival.
As Harry turned to look at the man who had tried to curse him, he saw Tonks casting a patronus charm out of the corner of his eye.
"Do I know you?" Harry asked as he looked at the three men standing at the other end of the corridor.
"You should know me, you killed my wife," the man hissed in fury.
"She had it coming," Harry said before sending a trio of piercing hexes that the man easily dodged.
"Rodolphus Lestrange!" Neville hissed from his right as he began throwing curses at LeStrange.
"Longbottom is it?" The man chuckled darkly.
"Yes, I've waited a long time to-
Neville was cut off as a piercing hex was cast at him by one of the men Harry had just blasted to the ground.
At the same time, one of the other two death eaters attempted to cast a fire spell at the opening into the common room that Harry was narrowly able to deflect back at them while Tonks took over fighting Rodolphus.
Harry realised he needed a way to keep the Gryffindor common room safe from attack, otherwise, they would keep trying to set it on fire.
Getting an idea Harry parried the dark-cutting curse the death eater he was fighting had just cast and jabbed his wand at the ceiling over the three death eaters' heads.
'BOOOOOOM!'
The exploding hex blasted through the roof of the castle before raining down tons of stone on his opponents, forcing the three death eaters to cast hasty shield charms.
Harry waved his wand so the debris from the ceiling he had just destroyed flew through the air and formed a wall over the hole leading into the Gryffindor common room.
"Neville, finish off the ones on the floor," Harry ordered as he dodge a killing curse from one of the injured death eaters.
Harry and Tonks began to attack the three death eaters still standing he took the man on the left while she took the man on the right. Neville had quickly dispatched the man who had been taking potshots at them and was now duelling furiously with Rudolphus.
"You fight like your mother boy," Rudolphus taunted.
"You'll soon be joining your wife, LeStrange," Neville hissed in fury as he cast a blood-boiling hex at Rudolphus that he was barely able to avoid.
"We just have to hold them off, I sent word to the aurors," Tonks muttered as she parried a spell coming at her.
Harry parried a nasty slashing curse back toward his opponent and hit him right in the stomach, catching the man off guard. Harry saw blood spray onto the wall behind him before the man collapsed in a heap, letting out a bloodcurdling howl as his intestines slid out of the gash and flowed onto the hallway floor.
"Damn it, Mulciber get up!" The man that Tonks was fighting ordered and got no response.
Neville was still fighting Rudolphus and Harry did not want to interfere in the duel and risk distracting his classmate.
LeStrange wasn't a very skilled fighter and seemed to rely on simple brute force spells. He was also lazy and seemed to prefer to use a shield charm as opposed to dodging.
Tonks' opponent was much wirier and relied mainly on dodging through his spell repertoire was rather limited. He seemed to prefer casting the cruciatus curse, though that could be because of the short incantation.
Harry's attention was brought back to Neville's fight when he heard Rodolphus scream in agony.
Rodolphus was too slow to dodge Neville's next bludgeoning hex, the spell slammed into the death eater's shoulder and was followed by the sickening sound of his shattering collarbone. The force of the spell sent Rodolphus flying through the air before he crashed to the floor ten feet away, his wand slipping from his grip to clatter across the stone floor.
Harry didn't hesitate and cast a chain of piercing hexes at his prone form, causing Rudolphus' chest to literally explode in a spray of blood and bone as he was struck by half-a-dozen hexes.
RUDOLPHUS NO!" The death eater Tonks was fighting screamed in fury.
'Two down, one to go,' Harry thought to himself as he joined Tonks in fighting their last opponent.
Room of Hidden Things, Same Time
Voldemort was still wondering if he shouldn't have killed Potter as he ran by him a moment ago. If this task wasn't so important he would have given in to the urge and killed the little whelp as well as the pink-haired auror running behind him.
As it was, he had to retrieve his diadem and his men had to kill a few of the mudbloods in the house of the lions. Rowle's men should be keeping the aurors in Hogsmeade occupied for a few more minutes at least.
Voldemort stared around the familiar room, the room was cavernous and only lit by shafts of moonlight shining in from the high windows. It was filled almost completely with junk and treasures amassed over the centuries. He recognized old landmarks like the stuffed troll and the pile of winged catapults, the place hadn't changed very much since he had been here last.
He ducked his head on reflex to avoid being hit with a fanged frisbee and he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
'Well perhaps there are a few more trinkets,' thought to himself as he walked deeper into the room.
Voldemort made his way down the familiar pathway through the mountains of hidden objects.
One thing that was giving him pause the closer he got to his quarry was the fresh footprints on the dusty floor.
They seemed to be leading him to where he remembered hiding the diadem decades ago. Voldemort felt his stomach twist when he got close to the old potions cabinet and still did not feel the pull from his anchor. He knew before he even got there that it was gone, somebody had discovered it!
Voldemort searched just to be sure but quickly came to the realisation that his first assumption was correct, the horcrux was gone!
He ran the horcrux detection spell just to be certain but when the spell came up negative he was not surprised. He felt his rage building to levels he hadn't felt since he was a boy and the older kids had bullied him.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Voldemort shrieked in fury and a wave of uncontrolled wild magic exploded outward from his body.
The magic he released caused everything within thirty feet of him to be blasted back and topple over. Many of the teetering piles around him. Voldemort stood in a tiny clearing surrounded by toppled piles of junk as he seethed in fury. as he pointed his wand
"DUMBLEDORE!" Voldemort bellowed into the empty room before jabbing his wand at the pile of junk.
"FIEND FYRE!" Voldemort hissed in fury before taking flight in his ghostlike form.
Voldemort flew across the room and zoomed out of the open door as the cursed fire began to consume the contents of the room. He rematerialized in the empty hallway, feeling angrier than he had ever felt in his life.
Deciding that killing a few mudblood children would help him feel better, Voldemort stalked back the way he came from. He knew where the Gryffindor common room was and if all had gone to plan, his men were torturing the little blood traitors already.
He had just passed the grand staircase and was making his way down the corridor when he heard someone scream in agony. He had barely taken two more steps before he heard Rabastan LeStrange's voice echoing down the corridor.
"RUDOLPHUS NO!
Voldemort heard another explosion and began stalking his way toward the sound of spellfire. When he turned the corner he was enraged to see only one of his men still standing. Potter and the pink-haired woman were quickly overpowering Rabastan while another boy fired a chain of piercing hexes at Rabastan, further distracting him form the fight.
Voldemort raised his wand as he saw Rabastan take a cutting curse to the shoulder spraying the floor in droplets of blood.
Voldemort pointed his wand at the pink-haired woman and exclaimed, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harry and Neville had joined Tonks in fighting the last death eater keeping the man constantly on the defensive. Harry was suddenly sprayed with a wave of blood the man was hot with a nasty cutting hex to the shoulder.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he heard a familiar voice cast the killing curse.
Without thinking about it, Harry shoved Tonks hard to the right as he saw the jet of light flying towards her.
Tonks was caught off guard and stumbled to the right, narrowly avoiding the jet of green light. Unfortunately, she stepped right into the path of a bludgeoning hex cast by the death eater they were fighting.
Harry felt his heart clench as she was hurled down the hallway and slammed into a suit of armour with a deafening 'CRASH' before she landed in a heap on the floor.
"Harry Potter," a high cold voice hissed and a figure seemed to materialize out of thin air behind the death eater that had just cursed Tonks.
"Voldemort!" Harry growled as he heard Tonks shriek in pain from somewhere behind him.
"You have been most troublesome of late," Voldemort said in his coldest tone.
"Why are you here?" Harry demanded as he watched the last death eater move to stand behind his master his left hand coming up to stem the blood flowing out of his shoulder.
"I love this school Harry but it is being filled with the filth of our society, I am here to correct this," Voldemort smirked.
"I helped you out then, there is the trash you sent all over the hallway," Harry shot back as he gestured to the bodies littering the corridor.
"Yes, I believe it's time we finished what we started last summer," Voldemort hissed before he cast a killing curse at blinding speed.
Harry just barely levitated the body of Rudolphus in time to intercept the spell and fired three overpowered piercing hexes through the corpse. Voldemort was forced to sidestep them as Harry let the body fall to the floor.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" The last death eater roared as he was sprayed with bits and pieces of his brother.
Harry ignored him and continued to cast a chain of spells at his opponent though he quickly realized his usual strategy wouldn't work with Voldemort.
"Very impressive, you have certainly improved since lady summer," Voldemort said mockingly as he flicked Harry's spells away from him and Rabastan.
'BOOOOOOOOM!'
Harry heard a massive explosion from under his feet and realized that there were more death eaters inside the castle tonight.
"Rabastan, get back to the entrance hall and assist the others," Voldemort ordered as he continued to redirect Harry's spellfire away from the two of them.
Harry was just about to fire at Rabastan's retreating back when Voldemort cast a nasty black curse that forced him to jump to the side and he was only narrowly able to avoid it.
Harry watched the spell impact the wall spraying it in a greenish-black liquid, the liquid (which Harry was pretty sure was some type of acid) ate through the stone with ease. Droplets fell onto the floor and slowly began to sizzle as the acid burnt its way through the floor as well. Harry couldn't imagine being struck by a spell like that and wondered what it would do to flesh and bone. He was pulled from those thoughts when Voldemort spoke in a silky hiss, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
"You've killed enough of my servants tonight. Now, I believe it is time for you to die, Harry Potter."
Harry readied himself to avoid Voldemort's next spell and he was caught by surprise when his spell didn't fly at him as he was expecting. Harry continued to fire piercing hexes though Voldemort easily moved from their path all the while continuing to cast the strange spell.
Harry watched as a purple mist poured from Voldemort's wand, the mist continued to flow outward and hover like a cloud as it slowly began to take the shape of a semi-transparent purple funnel. The point of the funnel was still attached to Voldemort's wand but the wide open mouth of the funnel continued to expand so that it quickly took up the entire hallway.
Inside the funnel was a series of blue arcs of magic that rotated and swirled inside the magical construct, putting him in mind of the inside of a sink garbage disposal... or a flushing toilet.
The funnel of magic started pulling things into it as it closed the twenty or so feet between Harry and Voldemort. Harry watched as a wand from one of the death eaters was sucked into the portals was shredded to pieces.
"Run if you like, Potter but I am going to direct this spell into your common room," Voldemort taunted as the corpse of Rodolphus LeStrange was sucked forward and Harry watched as the body was torn to pieces before the pieces were incinerated by the blue beams of magic. the acrid smell of burnt flesh filled the making Harry want to retch.
Harry backed up as the purple vortex continued to creep towards him and he started casting spell after spell at the construct to no effect, they seem to just get sucked into the vortex.
"What the hell is that?" Neville exclaimed In horror as he came to stand beside Harry.
"Not a clue," Harry muttered as they backed further down the corridor, the spell sucking up two more death eaters laying on the floor.
Harry stepped back further and his foot bumped into Tonks who groaned pitifully.
"What are we going to do?" Neville asked, and there was no mistaking the terror in his voice.
"Harry saw the spell getting closer to the three of them it seemed to suck in the corpses on the floor as all but one of the death eaters had been sucked into the vortex but now Harry could feel the spell trying to pull him into it and he couldn't run not with everyone still in the common room.
" Harry-
Harry panicked and cast the only spell he could think of knowing that the vortex way very well consume him but he was going to take Voldemort with him.
"INFERNUS INCENDUS HORRIBILIUS!" Harry bellowed and watched a thin jet of pitch-black fire fly into the funnel.
Harry and Voldemort were both taken aback as the purple vortex began to darken and its very composition began to change from a semi-transparent purple to the pitch black of the hellfire. The blue beams of magic inside of the vortex were consumed by the hellfire before Voldemort shrieked in surprise and a considerable amount of pain as the beam of magic that had connected his wand to the spell turned to hellfire and burnt his yew wand to ash.
Harry gave his wand a twist and the fire closed in on itself so it was a ball of flame the size of a beach ball and sent it careening at Voldemort, forcing him to dive to the floor before it hit a magical forcefield and stopped in midair.
"Well done, Harry but I can't have this fire running loose in my school, the fire in the entrance hall was enough to be getting on with," Harry heard a familiar voice say from directly behind him.
"Dumbledore!" Voldemort hissed in fury as he wandlessly summoned a black wand from the hand of the only death eater corpse still littering the corridor floor.
"Tom, it was very foolish of you to come here tonight," Dumbledore said as he stepped past Harry and Neville.
"You have been stealing my things, Albus," Voldemort hissed in fury, his red eyes boring into his former teacher's as he rose to his feet.
"One could argue that you stole them from their original owners and desecrated irreplaceable relics of the school founders. It pained me greatly to have to destroy them," Dumbledore said as he came to stand in front of his former student.
Harry felt some pride in the fact that Voldemort's right arm was very badly burned and was chared soot-black colour. Voldemort was holding the borrowed wand in his offhand and looked to be in considerable pain.
"You will die painfully, Abus," Voldemort hissed, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Tom, you can't beat me fully healed and with your own wand, challenging me to a duel right now would be arrogant to the point of foolishness. But if you wish to fight I will gladly indulge you," Albus said in a matter-of-fact tone as his blue eyes bored right back into Voldemort's red ones.
Voldemort simply stared into his opponent's eyes as if pondering something before he shot Dumbledore a look of pure hatred.
"Enjoy your last days Harry Potter, you're living on borrowed time," Voldemort hissed before he seemed to burst into dense black smoke.
Harry watched as Voldemort transformed into an ethereal black ghostlike form and shot down the hallway like some kind of black ghost with a smokelike vapour trailing behind him.
"Why the hell did you let him leave!?" Harry demanded angrily as he knelt down beside Tonks, noticing that she had lost consciousness.
"He cannot be captured and to even attempt it would be an exercise in futility. The death eaters downstairs will follow him out, though I doubt many survived the assault on the Hufflepuff common room," Dumbledore said as he inspected the wall Harry had created over the Gryffindor entrance.
"Hufflepuff?" Neville asked in alarm.
"Yes, Minerva and Filius are helping them now," Dumbledore said before he turned to look at Harry.
"Where are the aurors?" Harry asked as he gently cast a spell to bandage a nasty gash on the side of Tonks' head.
"The aurors in the village are repelling multiple attacks, there is also another attack in Diagon Alley," Dumbledore explained as he conjured a white sheet over the mangled death eater lying on the floor.
"This is all on you, you let Nott fix that damn cabinet!" Harry hissed angrily as he glared up at the headmaster.
"Believe me, I know of my many faults, Harry. We can pick this conversation up later but I must go and check on the Hufflepuffs," Dumbledore said calmly though there was no mistaking the worried look on his face.
"What about Voldemort?!" Harry asked as he checked Tonks for any other injuries.
"He has just crossed the school wards. Take Nymphadora to the hospital wing, I will meet you there shortly. Mr Longbottom, please move the injured to the infirmary as well, Poppy will be expecting you," Dumbledore instructed before sweeping down the hallway.
"Fucking bastard!" Harry hissed as he conjured a stretcher under Tonks before casting a spell to gently levitate her off of the floor.
Before Neville could ask, they heard a scream issue through the stone wall covering the portrait hole.
"HELP WE NEED A HEALER IN HERE NOW!"
"HERMIONE?! Harry and Nevile exclaimed, recognising the voice immediately.
"Get her to the infirmary, I'll help Hermione," Neville said as he drew his wand.
"Can you reverse the Transfiguration?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Neville nodded as he cast the spell to reverse the Transfiguration.
Harry watched as the section of wall over the portrait hole he had transfigured from loose debris was changed back into loose broken pieces of stone and slumped into the hallway like a snowdrift.
Harry wanted to help the others but Tonks looked pretty bad, there was a nasty gash on her head and her breathing was laboured. Hermione sounded worried but otherwise okay so he decided to take care of Tonks and then come back to help the others.
"Alright, I'll come back and give you a hand after I get her to Pomfrey," Harry promised before he began levitating Tonks down the hallway.
"You probably won't need to," Neville called after him before he disappeared into the common room.
As Harry walked down the hall he wondered how bad things were going to be when the smoke cleared. It was bad enough that Gryffindor was attacked but now he knew Hufflepuff was under attack as well.
'I hope everyone makes it out of this alive,' Harry thought anxiously as he guided Tonks' stretcher toward the grand staircase.