General Slughorn

"Alice got the barriers up! Hogwarts is ours, General Walden!" Slughorn grimaced as Viktor communicated the intelligence intercepts from Grindelwald's camp. The madman wasn't directing his operations at a tactical level. Apparently, Walden had escaped his wrath while the Grandmaster hadn't. Slughorn had to hand it to the man, he had outplayed much of their defenses in a masterful way. None had expected them to intercept from deep below Hogwarts.

Slughorn idly waved his wand, and the ghost of the Bloody Baron appeared next to him, appearing as sullen as always.

"Scout out the area around the astronomy tower, tell me what the fuss is about those barriers," Slughorn ordered, and the ghost disappeared through the ground. The portraits moved rapidly through their frames bringing frequent updates on the performance of individual units.

Armando Dippet appeared in his frame, looking worse for wear, "General! Charlus Potter's team has been ambushed near the girl's bathroom! I don't think they will be able to unleash Salazar's monster in time!"

Slughorn bitterly grimaced at the cursed day. He had two choices now, withdraw troops from much of the battlements around Hogwarts back to counterattack the streaming tide or let the situation stay as is. However, there were problems with the counterattack as logically sound as it appeared.

"General Slughorn, with due respect, withdrawing troops to counterattack is a terrible idea. Somehow, Grindelwald is counteracting our wards while fighting Morrigan - all at once. While our normal wards are utilizing active energy, the support staff needs to rely on troops' magic to power their efforts." Dorea said, "Without the energy, Grindelwald will shatter our wards!"

Slughorn said nothing except slowly nod at her words and stared at the scrying mirrors.

"General, if we don't counterattack, the Germans will overrun Hogwarts in a short manner. Who knows if the next portal they launch will summon the abominations directly into Hogwarts? I need not speak further of what will happen when that happens." Cassiopeia Black said. Both the Black cousins shot each other an annoyed look for their contrasting ideas. Neither wanted to admit it out loud that the other could've been true.

The Bloody Baron popped up again, "General, the Germans have somehow summoned barriers around the upper levels that prevent reinforcements from attacking. Repeated spell fire at the barriers has yielded next to no results."

Slughorn's aides were now divided into camps as they shouted over each other, supporting either Dorea or Cassiopeia. Slughorn gripped the arms of his chair, nails pushing deep into the mahogany wood of the Hogwarts headmaster's ancient throne. This was too much for the old man to handle….

A voice of reason spoke up amongst the braying of the sheep. The silky voice of the young Malfoy lord cut through the clutter, "General Slughorn."

Slughorn's weary eyes locked in with that of Abraxas Malfoy and he nodded affirmatively at him. "Concentrated fire at one side of the shield briefly overwhelms it. Just long enough to sneak in certain wizards and witches through the barrier. However, doing so would probably alert the Germans as well."

"What do you propose Abraxas?" Slughorn asked.

"We will overwhelm the shields from multiple areas and entry points to draw out the Germans. However, through one barrier, a squad of special forces can sneak in to try and destroy the portal. One of my captains, Weasley, was posted near the astronomy towers when the barriers went up. He will have a better idea of the German layup." Abraxas said, "If the special forces can either link up with them or operate solo, we have a great shot at turning the tide."

Viktor nodded enthusiastically at the idea, "Not only that, Lord Black and Mortimer Lestrange are too somewhere near the upper levels. Neither the ghosts nor the portraits can find them. Perhaps the special forces could locate them too?"

"One thing at a time, Viktor." Slughorn irritably muttered. "One of Petrov's people, Sebastian, got cut off when the ambush was spring. Send him in."

Abraxas coughed politely and everyone turned to him again, "Perhaps Lady Black's company can go and relieve Charlus Potter as well?"

Slughorn turned to Abraxas, "Well played, Abraxas. Cassie! Do as he says. Abraxas, monitor the situation and keep me alerted."

"Always, General," Abraxas said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Do we have the spell ready to counter the portal?" Slughorn demanded.

"Aye, General," Helena reported.

"Fantastic," Slughorn said. "Transmit the knowledge to all possible units currently fighting."

A murmur went off among the present people as they scrambled to send out the orders.

Neither Cassie nor Dorea missed the conniving smirk Abraxas sent their way. Somebody had just leapfrogged over them to top places in Morrigan and Harry's good books. It might be a while before they catch up to Abraxas.

Hogwarts

Mortimer | Arcturus

Neither side gave any quarter nor showed mercy. There was nothing to give and everything to take. Either the Germans died, or the British did. Failure here meant that everything all sides had been fighting for until this point was worthless. This fact wasn't lost on one Mortimer Lestrange as he linked up with Arcturus Black.

Only the change in the tempo of their spell fire was a hint that they acknowledged each other. The younger, more aggressive Mortimer went on a bloody offensive laced with dark magic. The more tactical Arcturus covered him with shields, transfigurations, and counter-spells.

"Avada Kadevra!" Mortimer shouted at a kraut who tried to jump towards their cover and drop dead in midair. A slimy purple spell raced towards him only to disappear a short distance from him. Arcturus's wand shook with magical strain as he conjured a massive one-way bubble around them. It got pelted with a dozen spells and made ratting sounds as it withstood the onslaught.

Not wasting time, Arcturus conjured a massive fireball and threw it at a unit of German mages hiding behind charmed rock and furniture. Acturus's shield made a groaning sound as if it was the level of its endurance.

"Duck," Arcturus whispered, and Mortimer instantly dropped behind a collapsed pillar as the shield disappeared. Three spells immediately raced towards where he was previously, only to harmlessly splash against stones.

One of Arcturus's teammates got up to take his own shot and had his head blown apart by a bone breaker, showering them all in brainy guts.

"Thrice damned krauts." An enraged Arcturus whispered at the body of his lifeless squadmate and fired off two killing curses at the responsible krauts, instantly killing them. The Krauts had adapted to their tactics and too hid behind concentrated shields. Strangely enough, they weren't firing spells now. Arcturus cast several diagnostic and detection spells towards them in a bid to gauge their intention.

"Any guesses?" Mortimer inquired but Arcturus didn't reply instead narrowed his at the display. A glow seemed to be emanating from beneath the shields and the piles of German and British dead around them seemed to stir and their eyes snapped open.

"Necromancy!" Arcturus cursed as the corpses lumbered awake and immediately started to turn towards them.

"Defensive squads! Shields up! NOW!" Arcturus bellowed as the zombies charged them. The Germans too started spells at their location in a bid to weaken their defenses. Arcturus once again summoned the defensive bubble around them and turned to Mortimer, "Get us out of here!"

The rubble around them came to life and flew to cover their exits. A few spells fired at it bounced harmlessly. They were well and truly trapped here against overwhelming enemy numbers.

"Ignore the Germans. My shields will hold their spells. Aim at the undead!" Arcturus ordered. "Save your energy. Aim and cast only at the head! That is the only thing that will stop them!"

Meanwhile, Mortimer frantically paced the area to look for escape routes. No number of explosive spells fired at the rubble seemed to make an impact. In desperation, Mortimer ran towards a railing and glanced below. The infamous spiraling staircase of Hogwarts temptingly stared back at him.

The stairs rotated beneath them and in a split-second, Mortimer grabbed Arcturus by his shirt and jumped. With a painful thump, they crashed on the staircases. The flames bore down on them again, but luckily the stairs chose this moment to shift again. Even better, as the Germans leaned over the railing to aim at them again, Arcturus fired, "Accio!"

The entire row of soldiers was pulled over and Arcturus then again yelled, "Depulso!"

The entire squad plummeted to their deaths at great speeds, shattering their bones and killing them instantly.

"Bloody good wand work, Black," Mortimer whined aloud but Arcturus didn't respond and instead looked at their surroundings. Instead, he was busy incinerating all the zombies that were pouring at them with reckless abandon.

"They are pushing us back," Arcturus said. "We are on the 8th floor. We have lost the entire upper wings. Disgraceful!"

Mortimer didn't respond but tended to his wounds.

"Get up, Lestrange. We need to head back." Arcturus demanded and Mortimer whined, "I think my ribs are broken."

Rolling his eyes at the display, Arcturus barked out, "Rowling! Get the healers and get him up and ready in 5 minutes. I will be damned if we lose the castle before even fighting the abominations."

The healers came and forced a series of tonic down his throat before Mortimer fully came to his senses. Arcturus looked down at him in lordly disdain before saying, "The Germans are pouring down. We need to fight! On your feet damn you!"

Mortimer glared at him as the potions kicked in and the hazy pain slowly washed away. "We need more soldiers."

And at that, Arcturus nodded in agreement before saying, "Ahead of you on that, Slughorn says Abraxas and Cassiopeia's units are coming to provide relief."

Mortimer nodded before grunting in pain as he got up. "Well then, let's get them again."

Before they could do anything else, a hysterical voice shrieked over the furious spell exchange. "Trolls! Trolls! The bastards have brought in Trolls!"

"Diamond formation! Doesn't matter which unit you are in, right now the special forces are taking over." Arcturus turned to Mortimer for confirmation, and he nodded grimly. "Right then, move!"

Mortimer's 2nd wand division and Arcturus's special forces squad merged into one. The rear conjured shields and the front leveled their wand in a loose stance and marched forward. The squad was at a disadvantage, the Germans had higher ground and a better angle for lobbing spells at them. Mortimer assumed the lead as Arcturus desperately spoke with General Slughorn on his communication mirror.

The enemy had wizened to their tactics and too shielded themselves whenever they were near to railing. Worse all, instead of trying to attack them, the Germans shifted their tactics and started blowing the staircase they were on.

"Run!" Arcturus shouted and their shields lost cohesion in favor of reaching the upper floor.

"They are trapping us in a kill zone!" Mortimer yelled.

"Be prepared to kill them instead!" Arcturus yelled back.

And it was as Mortimer had predicted, as soon as they reached the top floor, a massive hail of spell fire collided with their haphazard shields, and they evaporated under the pressure. Seeing no respite, Arcturus leveled his wand and shouted, "Fiendfyre!"

A fiery serpent rushed forward, evaporating all humans, mages, and hostile spells under its intense heat without discrimination. With a sickening crackle, it enveloped the enemy. Mortimer tried to shout above their screams, "Dispel it Arcturus! You will bring down the entire floor!"

But Arcturus was too focused on burning his enemies alive. The Germans, ever pragmatic, started to run away instead of countering Arcturus's wrath. Making the best of the worst possible situation, Mortimer ordered his team to pursue as two German witches tried to counter Arcturus.

Ashley Redwood crawled across an upper walkway; the inferno's hot air had blown away her invisibility cloak, but she didn't relent. Quietly aiming her wand at a preoccupied Arcturus she whispered, "Avada Kadevra!"

Arcturus saw the green light approaching but his limbs were too stiff from the fiendfyre's exertion. Seeing his inevitable end, he closed his eyes as the curse struck him true. He was dead before he reached the floor.

"Captain!" Arcturus's squad yelled but Mortimer reigned them in, the enemy witches had somehow wrestled control of the fiendfyre from the dead Arcturus and threw it at them. Seeing no respite, the team once again threw themselves from atop the railings onto the cold hard floor below. The last thing Mortimer remembered was someone grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling hard before he became unconscious.

"We have Lestrange!" An unknown voice yelled over the chaos.

Hogwarts

Captain Weasley

Torrents of icy cold water collided with torrents of blazing fire, the resulting steam obstructing everyone's vision. Despite all their advancement in either technology or spellcraft, the problem of obstructed vision during battle still plagued mankind from the time the first tribe battled another with primitive weapons in the African Savannah and the fertile plains of India.

Neither side made any efforts to dispel the steam for it would have been in vain. The Germans fought with devastating fire spells, intent on burning their way through Hogwarts. The defenders retaliated with spikes of piercing ice from their wands that on ordinary days would've been sufficient to cut through metal, much less flesh. The entire battle area had been converted into a freezing tundra by them. The Germans were finding it very difficult to conjure and maintain their devastating fires. Consequently, a few squads had grounded the entire German war machine in its tracks.

"Spell chain!" shouted a man near Weasley and two mages got up and conjured conjoined shields, "Portego!"

The stream of spells collided against the shield with the sound of a massive gong. Weasley conjured a mirror to scout from his cover.

"We can take this!" Weasley shouted to his men. "We need to flank the bastard, but we can take this!"

"They won't let us, Captain!" Shouted another as he fired back with his own spell chain to pin down the enemy. "The upfront resistance is too strong."

"Where the fuck are the special forces?" Weasley demanded. "They were supposed to have attacked them from the back by now!"

"Most likely overran at the astronomy tower, sir!" The man replied.

"Damn it!" Weasley scowled and took out his communication mirror.

"Malfoy, sir!" Weasley said. "We need immediate reinforcements! We are being overrun here!"

The clouded face of Abraxas Malfoy appeared in the mirror and his voice was very distorted. Weasley couldn't make out his response at all. "Damned bastards are clouding our communications!"

Weasley threw the mirror in his backpack and glanced about the area. He spotted a tall man running from behind their area, absolutely casting the vilest of curses at any Kraut who stood in his way. A kraut near him tried to tackle him to the ground and was rewarded by a knee to the groin and falx separating the head from his body. Two of the kraut's enraged friends moved to engage him but the man banished their friend's dead body at them. One of the Krauts managed to dodge, and the other was knocked down by the carcass's momentum.

Weasley mentally gave him aura points for such a creative move.

"Crucio!" The standing Kraut shouted but the man dodged instead of deflecting and shot back without missing a beat, "Imperio!"

With the Kraut under his control, the two dueled, and in an utter show of domination, the man fired "Locomotor Mortis!"

The German's legs betrayed him, and he shouted at his friend to fight the Imperio to no avail. A friend cut down a friend with a sickening Falx before the spec ops soldier ordered him to toss himself from the top of the staircase. He then spotted Weasley before dashing towards his location and sliding alongside him in their cover.

"Sebastian Prewett." The man introduced himself. "Special Forces."

"You're one sick son of a bitch." Weasley said with a mix of awe and apprehension.

"Thank you," Sebastian said and squinted his eye at the name tag, "Weasley."

Thankfully, Weasley regained his composure and entered captain mode. "Where in the blazes were you people? We are waiting for you boys to attack these bloody krauts from their rears!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting, son. But those Krauts have got some sort of energy field on the lower levels where our forces are present. We have tried every spell in the book against it, but it just wouldn't budge. Colonel Malfoy was able to figure out how to disrupt it for long enough just to sneak in a few special forces" Sebastian said. "Trust me, ol' lady, Black down there is madder than Morgana right now waiting for the barriers to go down."

"Wait- Special forces?" Weasley said and Sebastian nodded. "Any chance you fought alongside THE Harry Petrov?"

Sebastian grinned at the boy's reverence. "Not the time to exchange war stories, brother. We have a job to do here. Any ideas?"

The urgency of the matter was punctuated when a stray bombarda fired from the other end, crashed near their cover location.

"Right. We have successfully halted the Krauts here, sir. The frozen tundra around is our doing. We keep shifting the snow to keep the Krauts from settling." Weasley said and pulled out a pocket map with a view of Hogwarts. "But the thing is, there were two squads up ahead near the astronomy tower. One wand division and one special forces unit that was supposed to reinforce us from the opposite end."

Weasley then levitated a mirror above their cover and Sebastian laid by side to see the view, "See the witch kneeling in the middle surrounded by all those fanatic zealots defending her?" Sebastian nodded affirmatively.

"Yeah, that's probably your suspect. She too has a barrier around her." Weasley said.

"Yeah, but it feels weaker than the one below. I reckon we can take it." Sebastian said and looked at Weasley. "Any ideas?"

Weasley looked at him and then at the map again and then at the building around him. "I take it the shimmering over there are your men in hiding?"

"Smart man," Sebastian said and held up his bracelet. "Invisibility tags. Let's us get up nice and easy with them."

Sebastian could literally hear the kettle boil to full steam in Weasley's head as he smiled wickedly. He brought his bag near them showed Sebastian small black boxes and said, "Anti-mage explosives."

"Your point here captain?" Sebastian said. "Just throw the whole bunch right now!"

Weasley nodded in negative. "Nah, that won't work. Their shields and wards are too strong, the explosives might make a dent, but they won't kill them. However, when taking damage, the shield priorities high-intensity spell fire at the expense of exposing flanks to channel mana."

"The point here captain?" Sebastian asked.

"We are looking at this battle all wrong. This is a three-dimensional space where we all are fighting in only one dimension." Weasley said and pointed to the various terraces and balconies around the building. "We can fly on broomsticks and get on other floors easily."

Sebastian looked at him cluelessly before Weasley sighed, "Fast mobility sir. We must be agile and strike at the Krauts from all directions."

Sebastian still looked skeptical, "What can we do, Captain?"

"Go invisible and on your brooms fly up to the Ravenclaw common room and go straight to the 9th floor. That should put you behind these Krauts. Drop down again to our 8th floor and attack from their rears." Weasley said.

"They have detection wards; somebody might see us even if we are using stealth. We will need a distraction." Sebastian asked and Weasley merely pointed above to a ghostly apparition that was watching the battle below and having the time of his life.

"Peeves," Weasley said, and Sebastian made an annoyed face at that.

"I have grenades, courtesy of the good people at MystiTech ventures," Weasley said. "Peeves won't be hit by spell fire but can lob the grenades."

"He can be banished away," Sebastian added.

"A net positive the way I see it," Weasley replied, and Sebastian barked in laughter at that.

"That brat's never listened to anyone but Dumbledore. How will you convince him?" Sebastian asked and Weasley replied, "Leave that to me. Meanwhile, take the anti-mage device and plant it at their rears for maximum damage."

Sebastian nodded at that and asked the air, "Rho. Cho. You got all of that?"

"Affirmative Lion," Cho said. "Ready for action," Rho said.

"Great ladies," Sebastian said and was interrupted by Nearly Headless Nick popping out from under them and whispering something in Sebastian's ear. Sebastian paled at the message before replying, "Get to Slughorn ASAP."

Sebastian then twisted his own bracelet and became invisible. The sound of a jump was the only indication that he had left. Weasley followed their initiative and dashed under cover towards Peeves who was pretending to sip tea.

"Peeves!" Weasley said but the poltergeist didn't acknowledge him. Weasley tried several times over, but he still didn't reply.

"Oi, you bloody wanker! Hear me out or I will banish yer straight back to Tartarus!" Weasley bellowed at his peak lung capacity at the Poltergeist. Peeves simply looked at him in annoyance and said, "What?"

"I need you to do me a favor. A proper one." Weasley said, "See those boys over there in blue robes? I need you to take all these explosives and throw them at them."

Peeves smiled impishly at the prospect of tossing explosives at human beings before crossing his arms in petulant disinterest. "And what's in it for old peeves?"

"Not getting exorcised by the Germans?" Weasley said but Peeves merely shook his shoulders.

"Old Dumbles couldn't get rid of me, what choice do these fools have?" Peeves said.

"How about the chance to prank my brother-in-law, Abraxas Malfoy? Just imagine it, long picture-perfect hair – all ruined" Weasley said and at that moment his hair comically stood up as if magnetized. He turned to Weasley and asked, "What do you want done?"

Weasley conveyed the plan to the poltergeist who cackled as he took the bombs and floated to where the Kraut solider blob was gathered and lobbed them. Many wands turned upwards to fire at the poltergeist spinning like a ballerina through the air. With their foes distracted, Weasley ordered, "Up and over lads!"

The British mages strained themselves and fired a particularly nasty volley of bombarda& depulso to push the Germans back. With a roar, the British charged the makeshift German posts, and they retreated back. Several of Weasley's squad mates fell in the charge but they didn't relent. The Germans visibly snickered at the foolish display as they retreated behind their fortifications. Weasley spotted a lone hand giving him a thumbs up from way back before disappearing. An ominous black box was placed behind their lines.f

"Tetsudo!" Weasley ordered as hundreds of spells rained down at them. Hundreds of Germans flooded to where they were, hoping to finish off the measly suicidal charge in one blow.

BEEP!

The sound of a glass shattering reverberated throughout the entire area as the explosive ripped through the entire floor. The German shields were expecting spell fire, not compressed magic violently escaping its confines. Thus, they shattered easily and many soldiers perished under the strain. The Germans that survived were clutching at their eyes and ears as they tried to get over the charge. Weasley exchanged one sadistic grin with Sebastian on the other end as their respective squads leveled their wands and shouted, "Avada Kadevra!"

The deadly volley struck the helpless Krauts dead from either side as they failed to find cover or a chance to dodge. As the last of the German bodies dropped dead, an eerie silence filled the room as both Sebastian and Weasley realized the sheer scope of the carnage they had unleashed. Unfortunately, the earlier effort of maintaining the testudo had significantly drained him, and Weasley dropped unconscious.

The last thing he remembered was a pair of hands dragging him from his shoulders and yelling, "Up! Captain! Up!"

Weasley could only groggily respond before a woman's voice shrieked, "Trolls! The bastards are bringing in trolls!"

Hogwarts

Sebastian

The Germans, to their credit, were not without their ferocity. They were forced to fly through a barrage of spellfire and almost got knocked out by a few close calls. They landed behind the German lines as Weasley had recommended and crawled close enough to rig the explosives. Weasley was vindicated as the resulting explosion wiped off the entire German division on the upper floors in a single wave.

The poor fools really thought Weasley was charging them in a desperate last stand. Hundreds of Kraut bodies filled the floor.

Before Sebastian could gloat over their clean execution, a pungent smell hit his nose that damned near paralyzed him from nausea alone. He whirled around to see a horde of trolls emerge from the hall where Grindelwald's portal was set up. A call went off ahead of them about trolls and Sebastian chased after the scent with Rho and Cho following close up. He climbed the stairs to find Mortimer Lestrange's people occupied with fighting off a troll. Without hesitation, they lept into action and aimed for the trolls' tendons and groin. The trolls howled in pain before a green mist enveloped them, completely healing their wounds.

"Merlin's ball sack!" Sebastian exclaimed before turning to his mirror and screaming, "Noble! Where the fuck is that damned reptile! We are getting slaughtered out here!"

A few distorted sounds reached him before Charlus was able to connect, "We are fighting off an ambush here, Lion. The bastards knew where we were headed. It will take a while for us to unlock the cage. Hold on!"

Sebastian didn't have a chance to respond as a troll swiped at him with a large club. Sebastian was yanked away by an accio cast by Rho. Unfortunately, the troll sensed the magic's source and lept at her. She conjured a shield in vain hopes of stopping it, but it was of no use. The troll's weighty club easily punched through her shields and clobbered her.

"Rho!" Sebastian and Cho roared as they saw the girl lie unmoving, none needed to be told that she was dead. Cho was out of her mind in grief and screamed a primal scream of pain at the loss of her sister. She leveled her wand at the troll before firing indiscriminately. Whatever Grindelwald had done to them seemed to be holding up very well under the barrage of spellfire. Even the unforgivable seemed to be bouncing off. Summoning every ounce of her hatred, Cho leveled her wand at the trolls and screamed, "AVADA KADEVRA!"

A green spell, more vivid than Sebastian had ever witnessed, collided with the troll's skin and did nothing. The spell simply bounced off the troll and Cho collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. She was spent.

"Cho!" Sebastian roared as he tried to get to her aid, but his wand was ripped outside of his hand as German reinforcements poured through the portal. The last thing Sebastian saw was Cho getting crushed under the troll's foot. This was turning catastrophic.

Holding back tears, Sebastian once again activated his bracelet and went invisible. The bracelet too was near its limit and would soon expire. However, it would last long enough for Sebastian to do his duty. Every urge inside him roared to unleash hell on the trolls but he controlled himself. Sebastian knew he was the nearest to the damned portal. The entire Hogwarts campaign hinged on his success here. If he failed, the trolls would kill Weasley's men next.

Sebastian sneaked through the chaos of the battle. Mortimer's men held out to stem the tide, buying him precious time. He turned a corner and came up to the final staircase that led directly up to the astronomy tower. A continuous stream of soldiers poured down from the stairs in a never-ending tide. Curiously enough, the new entrants were wearing differently colored robes to the blue and grey the Germans usually adorned themselves with.

Sebastian shook his head, this was irrelevant now, a portal awaited him. When the stream had cleared, Sebastian snuck up and saw the portal glowing a hellish purple. No further troops were coming through. This was probably due to it regaining its strength. Guards stood all around, in the purple-colored robe that the new entrants were wearing.

"We have an intruder!" One of them yelled and Sebastian's blood ran cold.

"Homenum Revelio!" The cast several times and Sebastian's bracelet started to grow hot as it tried to combat the spells, but the onslaught was too severe. Sebastian aimed his wand at the portal and muttered the counter-curse. The portal vanished without even leaving so much as smoke. It was as if it hadn't even existed. Unfortunately, the spell-casting broke Sebastian's invisibility.

"Crucio!" The new Kraut yelled, and Sebastian fell screaming on the floor. With fire burning behind his eyes, the Kraut shouted "Avada Kadevra!"

Sebastian perished on the spot and joined his comrades in the great beyond, but the fury of the now-trapped German soldiers was palpable. One of them grabbed his wand and snapped it in two. They tossed it on his corpse as a sign of disrespect. One of them pulled out a wand with the aim of disfiguring his body. Unfortunately, he lost his hand for the offense and stared at the bleeding stump for a moment before shock set in. He turned to see the British counterattack now surging through Hogwarts as the enemy forces were now free to navigate the castle.

He turned to see a blonde man leading a column of soldiers now taking the fight to the Germans.

Panic seeped in as they realized the true scope of the disaster: they were now trapped inside Hogwarts without any escape.

A series of lethal spells struck the disorientated Germans, ripping them to shreds in a matter of seconds.

"Soldiers! The portal is closed! Give no quarter. Kill them all!" Abraxas announced as he led his company out from the hallway and into the lower depths below to hunt for the errant trolls. The room, which was just moments ago the sight of such vicious conflict, became silent and empty.

Only the corpses of young men and women from either side remained behind. Their faces locked in silent anguish. It looked like they were screaming to the universe above.

What deed did they commit to merit such a fate?

Of course, they would receive the same reply that a million others who had asked the same question received, a deafening silence.

FIN

Author Notes: This was very tough to write. I had really begun to love some of my own creations, lol. I rewrote this chapter multiple times over. Many such grand battles in other fics focus on either Harry, Dumbledore, or Golden Trio. I wanted to feature the vital contribution of side characters to a WORLD war. Not just a golden trio war.

Lastly, I felt that a lot of the focus was on the female characters and wanted to highlight some of the male characters.

Next Up, "Battle for Britain: Counter Attack!"