It's been well over a month since the last time I posted a chapter. Sorry for the delay everyone! I was just feeling a bit lazy, feeling a little down with some personal issues and had a bit of writer's block to go with it.
But, that's all in the past now. I'm back with Chapter 72... Enjoy!
Within seconds of Dumbledore sending his message, Professor McGonagall and Professor White rushed to Dumbledore's office.
"Harry," exclaimed Professor McGonagall, surprised.
"Mr Potter," remarked White as he entered Dumbledore's office.
"Good evening, Professor McGonagall, Professor White," greeted Harry, with a low voice.
"Minerva... Benjamin!" greeted Dumbledore.
"Is this about Mr Potter's visions?" asked White, getting straight to the point. McGonagall glanced at Harry and sensed White was correct.
"Harry, have you had another vision?" she asked, looking concerned.
"No, Minerva... But he recognises the castle he saw in his last vision," replied Dumbledore, glancing at McGonagall. After a couple of seconds, his eyes moved towards White, and he added, "Nurmengard!"
"Nurmengard?" exclaimed White shocked.
"The prison?" asked McGonagall, distressed. And Dumbledore nodded in reply, portraying a distressed look as well.
"Are you certain, Mr Potter? That you saw the Nurmengard castle?" asked White looking at Harry.
"Yes, this was the one," replied Harry, and pointed to the cover of the magazine he was holding. White grabbed the magazine from Harry and flicked through the pages rapidly.
"Minerva, we need to inform everyone in the Order. We are expecting an attack on Halloween, we need to be prepared," remarked Dumbledore.
"Benjamin..." exclaimed Dumbledore. "I will discuss with the French and the Germans, we would need their help," he added.
"I will speak with my contacts," replied White.
"We have to keep this under wraps. Tom cannot find out that we know his plan," remarked Dumbledore.
"What are we going to do with Snape, then?" asked Harry and watched the 3 adults in the room turn their heads towards him. "He cannot know about any of this, right?" asked Harry, taken aback by their reaction.
"No, we cannot let him know our play," replied Dumbledore, calmly. Harry responded with a relieved look.
"But why would he go after Nurmengard?" asked Harry after a few seconds. Dumbledore, McGonagall and White stared at each other before White spoke up.
"Nurmengard castle means something to the wizarding world," replied White. "It was built by Gellert Grindelwald a long time back," he added. "However, when he lost the duel against Albus," continued White and glanced at Dumbledore, "... he was arrested and kept a prisoner in Nurmengard, the prison he had built," said White.
"And Nurmengard has hence housed a number of dangerous prisoners from all over Europe, some from beyond as well," continued Dumbledore. "If those prisoners were to escape, and if some of them were to join Tom... We need to try to prevent it from happening," finished Dumbledore.
"The Dark Lord wishes to destroy the castle and take its prisoners with him," gasped White, his face had gone white to match his name. There was silence in the room for a few seconds.
"Harry... It is time for you to go back. Thanks for letting us know," remarked McGonagall, breaking the silence.
"Professor Dumbledore... I would like to go along with all of you, to Nurmengard," remarked Harry. "Ron and Hermione should come with us as well," he added.
"Absolutely not," retorted McGonagall strongly.
"But we are members of the Order as well," protested Harry.
"You might have been part of a few meetings here and there, Mr Potter, but you're not going to accompany us to a battle," retorted McGonagall.
"Harry... I have to agree with Minerva. We cannot take you with us, you are just kids," added Dumbledore, cautiously.
"What have we been training for, if not for this?" asked Harry. "Professor White, you know how well I have progressed. You wouldn't have known about any of this if not for me," he added, upset.
"Mr Potter... I believe you're ready," remarked White and earned a stare from McGonagall and Dumbledore. "Sit this one out... you will get your chance," he added, calmly.
And with that, Harry stormed out of Dumbledore's office.
"Don't look at me like that," remarked White with a disgusted expression.
"They are little children. They haven't even given their OWLs," retorted McGonagall, angrily.
"This is Harry's war as much as it is ours, is it not? I can vouch for Harry, Ron and Hermione... just as I am sure you can too. They are good enough to be involved and we need as much as we can get," retorted White, equally angrily.
"We would be risking their lives," snapped McGonagall.
"I'm sure Mr Potter is aware of the risks," snapped back White.
"Enough..." lashed out Dumbledore, uncharacteristically.
"You've lost your head if you think we should have Harry, Ron and Hermione along with us," he remarked, staring at White. "We don't have time, let us get to work," he added.
The following morning, Harry found himself seated beside and opposite Ron when they heard the announcement.
"We don't have our combat class today?" remarked Ron. "But, where did Professor White go off to?" he wondered out loud, perplexed.
Harry sheepishly turned his head towards his food and was concentrating very hard on it.
And then to make matters worse, Ron received a note shortly.
"I had a session with Professor Dumbledore tomorrow," began Ron, with a shocked expression.
"Had?" interrupted Hermione.
"Yeah, it has been cancelled. Professor Dumbledore is not going to be there at Hogwarts for the next few days," replied Ron as he handed her his note.
"Both Professor White and Professor Dumbledore are not there at the castle?" retorted Hermione, confused. "Must be something important," she remarked.
"Do you know anything about this?" asked Ron, glancing towards Harry.
"What? No... No idea," replied Harry.
"You had your session with White tomorrow as well, didn't you?" asked Ron.
"I did... I suppose that's cancelled as well," replied Harry.
Meanwhile, far away, at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Number 12, Grimmauld Place, assembled the members.
"Nymphadora," exclaimed Remus with a smile.
"Tonks... It's Tonks," reiterated Tonks, annoyed, yet with a smile.
"Moody," exclaimed Sirius. "Welcome!" he added.
"Enough with the pleasantries... Shall we get going?" retorted Moody.
"Good Morning, Kingsley," greeted Arthur Weasley.
"Good Morning, Mr Weasley," greeted back Shacklebolt. "How is Molly doing? How are the kids?" he asked.
"Everybody is well," replied Arthur, with a smile.
"What do the healers have to say about Ginny?" asked Shacklebolt.
"They don't have much to say," replied Arthur, smiling, though there was a lot of hurt behind that smile.
"Our point of contact will be Monsieur Laurent from the French ministry and Herr Nielsen from the German ministry," announced Alastor Moody loudly as everyone there went silent.
"We have received intelligence that You-know-who plans to attack the Nurmengard Castle, sometime in the evening tomorrow," continued Moody. "We have to be there to stop him. We must protect the prisoners and ensure they don't escape. And we will have to capture You-know-who alive," added Moody and watched everyone around him shudder at the thought. "We will have limited assistance from our allies owing to secrecy. We have Benjamin White informing us from the Nurmengard castle that it is manned and ready to withstand any attack. We shall apparate to Nurmengard the moment we get confirmation. Dumbledore tells us that the confirmation will not arrive before the evening. So, we have time till then to prepare," finished Moody.
After a few minutes, the group dispersed into separate rooms. Sirius, Tonks and Remus found themselves together and discussing.
"So, how did we even find out about this attack?" asked Tonks, casually.
"Professor has his eyes and ears everywhere," sighed Remus, relieved.
"He has been a tough nut to crack, hasn't he?" remarked Sirius. Tonks and Remus stared at Sirius, perplexed. "I mean, You-know-who," specified Sirius.
"You think?" retorted Tonks, sarcastically.
"Well, especially since he has been back, his actions have been anything but predictable," replied Sirius.
"What are you suggesting?" asked Remus.
"Professor Dumbledore's sources must be really close to him, no? How else are they going to figure out his plans?" retorted Sirius.
"Does it matter?" retorted back Remus and Sirius shrugged in response.
"No... We are going to fight his death eaters tomorrow and that's what matters," chimed in Tonks, excitedly.
Remus smiled at Tonks' remark. "I have seen very few people who have been excited to face the death eaters and the monster himself," remarked Remus.
The conversation continued as it ebbed and flowed in different directions.
After a while, Sirius asked, "do we know who all are going to be at the castle, waiting for You-know-who?"
"Did you not hear anything of what Moody announced?" remarked Tonks, chuckling.
"Remus?" asked Sirius turning his head deliberately away from Tonks.
"A few officials each from some of our neighbouring ministries, who have offered their gracious help," began Remus.
"More out of fear than graciousness," interrupted Tonks.
"And we have a few of our own as well," continued Remus, ignoring Tonks' jibe. "And of course, we have all of us... You and I, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, Arthur, Dumbledore and Benjamin White," added Remus. "And there will be some of White's force with us also," he finished.
"And we are going to take on You-know-who!" chuckled Sirius.
"Do you not think of us as capable of defeating him?" asked Tonks.
"Oh! I think we are more than capable of defeating him," replied Sirius.
"But?" retorted Tonks.
Sirius remained silent for a few seconds.
"He's worried about the cost," replied Remus as he patted Sirius' back. Tonks glanced at Sirius and realised that Remus was bang on.
After a continued silence, Sirius spoke up. "Where's Severus?" he asked, perplexed.
"I don't think he's joining us," replied Remus.
"Why not?" asked Sirius.
Remus had no answer to the question and decided to stay silent.
"I don't trust him one bit," remarked Sirius after a few seconds.
"Come off it now, will you?" retorted Remus, chuckling.
"This has nothing to do with the fact that I think he's worthless," replied Sirius.
"Dumbledore trusts him. What more do you want?" asked Remus.
"Just because he has managed to gain Dumbledore's trust, I'm to trust him as well? You know very well who his friends in school were. You know the company he roamed with after Hogwarts. Need I add more?" replied Sirius.
"Fine... All I know is that Severus is not going to be at the castle. I don't think it is a big deal. They have a school of students, right? Even Professor McGonagall is not going to join us. Molly is not going to be there. Bill, Charlie... none of them are going to be there at Nurmengard," remarked Remus, convincingly.
"Harry's not going to be there..." added Sirius.
"And rightly so," replied Remus.
"Harry's a kid," chimed in Tonks. "He's been through enough already," she added.
"He would have wanted to be there, with all of us," retorted Sirius, proudly.
"Hence, it becomes our responsibility to protect him from his wishes," replied Remus, calmly.
Sirius shook his head disapprovingly and that was that.
It was Halloween morning. Severus Snape walked down to the great hall suspiciously. There was a different air around the castle, he could feel it. Just the day before, he had found out that both Dumbledore and White has gone out of the castle for some important business. However, he had no idea, what important business warranted Dumbledore's disappearance without even informing him.
And it all changed during his class with the students of 5th year Gryffindor and Slytherin. Snape was conducting the class in his usual manner, in fact, he was enjoying his role as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The class was almost over when he felt it. The burn on his left forearm. Snape flinched momentarily, enough for a few students to notice, including Harry. Hiding his pain, Snape continued with class.
However, right when the class got over, Snape rushed out and away to his office. The moment he was in, he rolled up his sleeves and stared at his forearm. The dark mark was burning and the heat and pain were radiating all over his body. The pain was intense, he had never felt it this intensely, ever before, in all the times the dark lord had summoned him.
Unavoidably, Severus made his way out of his office and out of the castle.
"You are in trouble..." hissed Bellatrix, with a grin on her face, the moment Snape arrived.
There were a few whispers of, "traitor" as well as he walked through the crowd, towards his master.
"My lord!" bowed down Snape, worried and cautiously.
"Severus" bellowed Voldemort.
"Yes, my lord"
"Your friends are annoying me, Severus!" remarked Voldemort, coldly.
Snape stared back at Voldemort, confused.
"I don't quite understand..." began Snape but was cut short immediately.
"Don't pretend like you were oblivious, Severus," came Bellatrix's voice, from behind.
"Quiet!" yelled Voldemort and everything went silent.
"My lord! My loyalties lie with you as they have always been," pleaded Severus.
"I am not doubting your loyalties, Severus," retorted Voldemort, calmly. After a few seconds, he continued. "Just how much you are worth to me," he added coldly.
"My lord?"
"Severus... The order knows about my plans for Nurmengard. Did you know about it too?" asked Voldemort.
"What? How? That's not possible!" gasped Severus.
"And yet here we are. If you didn't tell them, who did?" asked Voldemort.
"I don't know, my lord. But it wasn't me," replied Severus.
"I'm aware of how Dumbledore thinks about you. He knows you and doesn't trust you with his secrets, Severus. What good are you to me? Tell me," sneered Voldemort.
Snape's mind had gone numb, his mouth had gone dry. "The order knows about the attack on Nurmengard? How could they have found out? And why didn't Dumbledore tell me about it? Is this why Dumbledore was gone from Hogwarts? He trusted Benjamin White and not me! Why would he do that?"
Snape was left speechless.
"My lord... The order did not find out about our plans from me. I'm not quite certain how they did and why they kept me away from the information. But, I'm your best chance at finding out the truth. I ask for another chance," replied Snape after a few seconds of thought. His voice trembled and sounded apologetic.
"My lord! He's lying. This is just another ruse for him. You cannot trust his words," pleaded Bellatrix.
"Bella! I don't want to hear another word from you!" retorted Voldemort angrily.
"Severus! Things have changed since Dumbledore brought Benjamin White into Hogwarts," began Voldemort as he glanced back at Snape.
Snape bowed back down at Voldemort and listened quietly.
"Tonight, we go into war..." he added, loudly, for everyone to hear.
"But, tomorrow? Severus, I want you to take your place back," ordered Voldemort.
"I will, my lord. I will find out the truth for you and bring him..." Snape glanced at Bellatrix momentarily. "Or her... in front of you to answer for their actions," replied Snape firmly.
After a few seconds, Severus spoke up. "My lord," he exclaimed. "Is it a good idea to walk into the traps that the order would have laid for you?" he asked, cautiously.
"Do you think he's a coward, Severus? To run away, just because a few of his enemies decided to grow a spine and face him on the battlefield!" retorted Bellatrix, angrily.
"Caution is a virtue that you obviously do not possess, Bellatrix. It'd be foolish to underestimate Dumbledore," retorted back Snape, confidently.
"It's the order that has to be cautious, Severus. Not us..." remarked Voldemort. "Besides, everything is in place... and I'm long due a proper duel," he finished.
"They're here..." came the voice of a young French man, as he dashed towards Benjamin White.
White nodded calmly in response. "Get the shields up," he remarked and the young boy went running back.
And then after a few seconds, White turned to the Aurors in front of him. "Shields up, everyone!" he commanded and instantly the Aurors departed from sight.
"What are the odds he doesn't know about us already?" asked White, sceptically, glancing at Dumbledore.
"Very little," sighed Dumbledore.
"Protego Maxima"
"Fianto Duri"
"Repello Inimicum"
Slowly, with the efforts of the Aurors, a barrier of protection conjured up, around the castle. And then the wait began, as everyone watched with bated breath. Almost immediately, as if the death eaters were expecting to encounter this, spells started flying at the barrier, trying to bring it down. Voldemort gestured at his troops and instantly, they started dispersing around the castle. Within no time, Voldemort's army seemed to have had the Order and everyone inside the castle completely surrounded. The only things separating the two were the walls and shields. The death eaters started chipping away at the shields, but they were a little too powerful for them to bring them down. Some time passed by, but the death eaters did not seem to have made much progress.
And then something.
The Aurors that had the shields up against the death eaters, all felt something. White, who was monitoring them all closely, noticed it as well.
"Fortify your minds, Aurors," yelled White, instantly. "Keep the shields up, don't fall for his tricks," he added, hastily. But, it was of no success as Voldemort had accomplished what he had set out to.
In an instant, the death eaters broke through the shields and started storming the castle.
"They're coming through," came a scream from somewhere in the front of the castle.
"Stick to your groups, Aurors," exclaimed White and glanced at Dumbledore. "I'm going to the cells," he announced and walked away furiously.
Sirius, Remus and Arthur stuck together and dashed towards the front of the castle, while Moody, Shacklebolt and Tonks made their way towards the back. Within minutes, the death eaters had barged in, from both ends of the castle. As rehearsed with White, the backup of Aurors from France, Germany and other neighbouring nations took their positions at strategic hideout points in the castle. The moment the death eaters barged in, the Aurors began a barrage of offensive spells, taking out a few death eaters immediately.
However, their offence only lasted a few minutes, for the number of death eaters they were up against was much more than their own count.
"Retreat," exclaimed Arthur, authoritatively, and instantly, everyone around him took a few steps backwards.
"Shields," exclaimed Arthur, once they had all retreated, and like ordered, everyone had their shields up.
The death eaters seemed to gain in confidence with the Aurors' retreat. But, just as the death eaters began accumulating closer and closer towards the Aurors, Arthur exclaimed once again.
"Moony, Now!" exclaimed Arthur.
Instantly, Remus had his wand pointed towards the ceiling, while Arthur followed suit a moment later.
Both the wizards exclaimed, "Descendo," together and the false wall above them collapsed downwards in full force, bringing flammable liquid with it.
"Incendio Maxima," yelled Sirius, instantly and the liquid turned into a massive wildfire.
In a coordinated effort, Arthur, Remus and Sirius controlled the fire and lashed out at the approaching death eaters, lighting many on fire in the process.
The battle had genuinely commenced as attacks flew in from both sides.
While the battle had heated up on the front, the back of the castle wasn't doing so well in comparison. Voldemort's army included werewolves, giants and a swarm of dark creatures that scampered towards the defence fiercely. And the Aurors, along with the likes of Moody and Shacklebolt were already struggling to hold them off.
Some time went by. White was anxiously waiting in front of the prison cell block. He had taken just one wizard with him to guard the prisoners. The rest of them were on the front lines, fighting hard to prevent the death eaters from penetrating. It had been a while since the battle had commenced. And fortunately, a wizard was yet to come through to the prison block. All of that changed when White spotted a group of three death eaters appear some twenty feet away.
Almost immediately the 3 death eaters fired away at White and the young wizard with him. White walked in front of the wizard and blocked the spells easily.
"Stand back," he whispered to the wizard accompanying him and walked forward towards the death eaters confidently.
His walk towards them infuriated the death eaters and they proceeded to fire away at White with even more rigour.
White defended away the attacks easily, while a victorious smile appeared on his face.
"What are you laughing at?" snapped one of the death eaters, furiously.
"It's my turn," replied White, calmly.
White sparks flew out of White's wand and at the three death eaters. While two of them seemed to be prepared for it, the third one wasn't and hence fell back with a thud. White's barrage had just begun as within seconds, he repeatedly hit the 2 standing wizards with stunners, which both of them seemed to block. A ball of fire erupted out of White's wand a moment later and knocked the death eaters out of their footing momentarily. Meanwhile, the 3rd death eater who took a hit earlier got up to his feet.
And just then, a small beam of red light swept past White from behind him, towards one of the death eaters. However, the death eater blocked it easily.
White turned around to look at his accompanying wizard. "A little too excited, are we?" he asked, with a chuckle.
"I'm... I'm sorry... I thought I should be of... help," he finished with a stutter, in reply. Almost instantly, he continued, in panic. "Behind you," he shrieked.
White, however, already had his shield up and the spells targetted at him bounced away. White turned forward once again and began his attack once more. This time, White finished off what he started for the death eaters were no match to his attacks. One by one, the death eaters fell.
The last one was standing, barely... Just then, White and the young wizard with him heard a bunch of footsteps. And the next moment, they witnessed a few more death eaters approaching them.
"Avada Kedavra," muttered White casually and the third death eater from the first group fell dead, face first, with a thud.
White swished his wand at the oncoming group of death eaters and created a shield to stop them in their tracks.
Voldemort arrived at the battlefield in style as he took out a group of Aurors, all on his own. However, the moment he stepped onto the field, his eyes fell on a tall, thin, bearded old man, standing with his wand a few feet away, behind the crowd.
"Professor Dumbledore!" exclaimed Voldemort. "Where were you all this time?" he sniggered. "Saving yourself, all for me? While your army fell embarrassingly..." he added with a nasty grin.
By then, the army defending the castle had been reduced to half, while some of the Order members were carrying knocks and injuries of their own as well. Arthur had been taken out of the battle, for he had received severe lacerations on his chest and abdominal regions. Tonks and Moody also incurred severe injuries in the course of the battle. Both, the French and German representatives, Monsieur Laurent and Herr Nielsen and succumbed to death, leaving their respective troops a bit aimless.
"You're waging a losing war, Tom... And you are way too obsessed to see it," remarked Dumbledore, calmly.
"Avada Kedavra," and a jet of green light escaped Voldemort's wands, towards Dumbledore. But almost instantly, Dumbledore apparated into thin air.
Dumbledore reappeared behind Voldemort and immediately pointed his wand at the remnants of the damaged castle structure. Instantly, the debris sprang into life and turned into mobile statues that made their way towards Voldemort.
Voldemort raised his wand and began vanquishing the statues one by one. This gave Dumbledore time to evacuate some of the alive and injured Aurors away from the battlefield.
Within no time, Dumbledore was back and had pointed his wand at Voldemort. A thin flame flew out of his wand and wrapped itself around Voldemort.
"You shouldn't have come here today, Tom," remarked Dumbledore, calmly.
Voldemort struggled to get out of the grasp the flame had around him, but managed to do so within seconds. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had tightened his shackles around Voldemort, with magical ropes that went around Voldemort in multiple loops.
Voldemort, with a swish of his wand, escaped the restraints and furiously let out another killing curse at Dumbledore. Quick on his feet, he disapparated out of sight and apparated back into sight, instantly.
Voldemort, anticipating Dumbledore's move, had dark flames conjured out of his wand ready to engulf Dumbledore. The serpent-like flames burst out of his wand and made their way towards Dumbledore.
Dumbledore swished his wand around and a ball of water engulfed him, protecting him from the flames.
Just as Voldemort increased the pressure on Dumbledore with his flames doing his work for him, something happened that broke his concentration.
The scenery around him changed.
Every death eater that stood beside him and was fighting for him had disappeared into thin air. Dumbledore, fighting against the flames was the only thing that Voldemort could see. The hair on his forearm was standing up, still. There was a buzzing sound in his ear and the air around him started to feel different.
"Protego Maxima," screamed Voldemort, angrily and instantly, everything was back to normal. However, he could see his death eaters, still struggling to come out of the illusion they were put under.
"She's here," muttered Voldemort with a grin on his face.
Dumbledore looked around and realised instantly what had happened. The illusion that had captured the death eaters' minds had not affected any of the Order members, or the Aurors that had accompanied them.
White and the young wizard were struggling to keep the death eaters away from the prison cells. The second, third and fourth groups of death eaters, all stormed into the prison block one by one, despite White's best efforts. It was a miracle, the young wizard thought to himself, that both of them were still alive.
He had witnessed some of the best wandwork of his entire life right there, on that Halloween evening, from the wand of Benjamin White. After killing the first 3 death eaters, White had single-handedly managed to keep the following 5 death eaters away from the prison cells, along with shielding the young wizard from any harm. The young wizard repaid the protection he had received by lightening the load on White, as much as he could, by stunning a few death eaters. But the task of holding the prison cells proved to be impossible when the death eaters began swarming the prison block. Within one attack, White managed to hurt a group of a few death eaters, but it seemed that the more he put down, the more death eaters swarmed the cell block.
Within minutes, some of the death eaters had managed to escape White's attacks and had made their way to the cells. And just like the Order had feared, the prison was open and the prisoners were free to move.
"We should get out of here," whispered White to the young wizard beside him.
"Sir... But, what about the prisoners?" asked the young wizard in return.
"We have to get ourselves away from here first," replied White and made a move towards the main castle block.
Just then, something happened that made both White and the young wizard beside him, stop.
White sensed a change in the surrounding, though everything seemed as it was. However, the next moment, he noticed the death eaters and the prisoners behind them. Instantly, he realised that they were no longer at their full capacity. Something had happened to them, and all of them seemed to be agitated and lost.
"Sir! What happened? Why are you still?" asked the young wizard. White seemed to be still. Whatever had happened to the death eaters, making them lose a sense of themselves seemed to have brought White to a standstill. There was no better opportunity that could present itself than the one that was unfolding in front of him right now, to kill the death eaters that were present in the prison block. But, the only way White could think of killing all the death eaters, involved killing all the prisoners that had gotten out as well.
"For the greater good!" muttered White under his breath. And reluctantly, he took out his wand and pointed it at the crowd of death eaters and prisoners. And instantly, jets of red flames burst out of White's wand and made their way towards the crowd. The young wizard watched in awe as the death eaters and prisoners burned alive, helplessly.
After a moment, White glanced towards the young wizard. "Let's get out of here," he muttered in a laboured and strained tone.
Sirius and Remus were struggling to hold off the death eaters. They were now severely outnumbered and they had no backup apart from the few Aurors that they had fighting beside them. The fight was no longer divided into the front part of the castle and the back end of the castle. Just as in the beginning Voldemort's army had the defence surrounded from every side, it had now surrounded the remaining Aurors, centred into the middle of the castle.
Sirius, Remus and Kingsley, were all thinking the same thing. Three of the Order members were severely injured and needed immediate medical attention, while there were countless injured amongst the Aurors as well. And they needed to do something immediately, otherwise, they were as good as dead as well.
Just then, they all heard a cracking sound. And almost immediately, they watched the air around them shift and the death eaters began moving aimlessly.
"Sirius! Remus!" exclaimed Jane, hastily. "Come on... Get out of here... We don't have much time. I can't keep them all disillusioned for long," she added.
"Jane," exclaimed Sirius, shocked. "What are you... How did you..." he began but lost his trail of words.
"Dumbledore called for me... Sorry, I'm late," replied Jane as she ferociously began helping Arthur and Tonks onto their feet.
One by one, the injured wizards began taking their leave from Nurmengard, with the help of the ones who still had all their limbs and wits.
Just as the evacuation was in progress, Jane realised that her illusion was about to fade off. And right then, White arrived back to join the group along with the young wizard.
"Was that you?" asked White, with a shocked expression. Jane nodded in response, while all her focus was on the recovering death eaters. Her illusion was wearing off.
"We don't have time," whispered Jane as Sirius and Remus sped up the evacuation of the injured.
White glanced at the struggling wizards beside him and then at the death eaters who had just begun a fresh round of attacks. Jane had conjured a shield around themselves to buy everyone some more time.
After careful thought, White remarked. "We need reinforcement," he said. Though, everybody around him was too busy to acknowledge his remark.
White stepped in front of the Aurors and the Order members. He brought his wand closer to himself, and had it right in front of his heart, pointed upwards. White began muttering something under his breath and after a few seconds, he stretched out his arms and gestured something. Sirius and Jane had their focus distracted and were looking at White curiously. He seemed to be raising his arms slowly as if gesturing for everyone around him to get up.
White continued muttering under his breath and then something happened. Jane and Sirius heard something behind them and they turned around instantly.
"What is that?" exclaimed Sirius, shocked.
"What are those?" exclaimed Jane, stunned, almost simultaneously.
"Backup," whispered White in reply, as he turned around to face the army he had just summoned.
One by one, disfigured, lacerated, injured and dead bodies started strolling together towards White.
Jane stared at White, shocked for words. "You... you are... you are a necromancer?" she asked, stuttering.
"We don't have much time," replied White, coldly.
The evacuations resumed at a vigorous pace as White's undead army marched forward against the death eaters. Jane kept the shields up, protecting the Aurors from any attacks.
"Take the passage from exit 3," exclaimed White looking at the Aurors.
"Are you not coming with us?" asked Remus.
"Take the exit... and leave," replied White as he disappeared away.
"I have some unfinished business as well... Go," remarked Jane, glancing at Remus and Sirius.
"Jane... don't," began Sirius, but before he could say anything, Jane left as well.
When White and Jane arrived at the front of the castle, Dumbledore and Voldemort were engaged in an intense battle. There were still some Aurors alive and fighting on Dumbledore's side while Voldemort had his army of death eaters as well.
And then suddenly, Voldemort exclaimed, "Jane Smith!"
Jane stared at Voldemort, the rage inside her bubbling up.
"How have you been... without your brother at your side?" sniggered Voldemort.
A jet of white sparks flew from Jane's wand at Voldemort, and he defended them with ease.
"Looks like someone's angry... Feels terrible to lose something close to you, doesn't it?" he remarked, with a sinister laugh. "He begged me to let him live," began Voldemort. "Did you know?" he asked as he began laughing. "He begged... And you weren't there to protect your brother, were you? You let him die in my hands..." continued Voldemort, laughing.
That was the last straw. Jane was overwhelmed with rage. Screaming with anger, Jane dashed towards Voldemort and began a barrage of spells aimed at the dark lord.
Dumbledore, who had been fearing such a response, glanced around at the death eaters. Some of them had turned their attention towards Jane. In an instant, Dumbledore pointed his wand at the death eaters and blasted them away from their footing. But, soon, there were more that had their attention turned towards Jane.
Jane was consumed by anger too much to think clearly.
"Protect her," exclaimed Dumbledore glancing at White. And instantly, both of them had their shields up, around Jane, deflecting every attack that came at her.
"Let me go," shrieked Jane, glancing at Dumbledore. "I'm going to wipe the smirk off his face..." she yelled, in anguish.
"You are going to get yourself killed... Stay back," exclaimed Dumbledore.
Just then, White revived and added to his undead army and directed them towards Voldemort and his death eaters.
"White... We have to leave," remarked Dumbledore, turning his attention towards White.
"We can't lose..." replied White as he began a fresh round of attack at Voldemort and the death eaters.
"We've lost Nurmengard... There's nothing to be done here," remarked Dumbledore.
Reluctantly, White paused and glanced back at Dumbledore. The next moment, Dumbledore, Jane and White along with the few Aurors that were still alive and fighting disapparated from the castle of Nurmengard.
"My Lord? Why did you let them leave?" asked Bellatrix.
"It's alright, Bella... We have what we came for," replied Voldemort, with a cunning grin. But, there was another thing on his mind. He had just seen Benjamin White in action for the first time.
"I can't believe you did that," yelled Jane at Dumbledore, the moment they apparated in front of 12, Grimmauld Place.
"How dare you talk that way in front of him!" exclaimed White, angrily.
"Back away... You have no idea what I'm capable of," retorted Jane, angrily.
White began chuckling. "Relax kid... You are out of your depth," retorted back White.
"Benjamin..." exclaimed Dumbledore calmly.
And just then, there came a voice from behind them. It was one of the Aurors.
"You... you are the... you are the one that hurt the kids..." he remarked as he got up.
"I don't believe this..." chuckled Jane. "You are welcome, by the way," she replied. "I just saved your life... all your lives..." she added.
"Don't you dare come in my way ever again..." remarked Jane, angrily as she glanced back at Dumbledore. And without waiting for any response, Jane apparated away.
"You let her speak that way?" asked White, looking stunned.
"Let it go," replied Dumbledore, calmly.
So, how did you like the chapter? That was the battle of Nurmengard!
PS - I hope to be back on my writing form. And hence, I hope to publish chapter 73 soon. So, stay tuned! Ciao!