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BOOM!
The whole earth seemed to shake from the force of the Death Eaters trying to break the protective barrier.
This time, Harry was sent to his knees, still quite unsteady despite the potions he had drunk.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked, helping him to his feet.
"Yes, just great," Harry said sarcastically as the castle shook again. He clutched onto the wall and managed to stay up. They had to get to the Whomping Willow before the fighting got bad.
"We have to go. Now." Harry said firmly, turning to the other three.
"Harry," Hermione said cautiously, "We should wait a moment. You can barely walk still."
Didn't she get how important this was? Didn't any of them?
They had to go.
Now.
Instead of saying anything though, he took out the map and searched it for the Willow. He located it quickly and took off down the hall in the direction it was in.
His pace was slower than it would have been normally, but considering everything that had happened, it was a miracle he could even run. He heard footsteps and could tell the others were following close behind him.
He smirked but didn't say anything to them.
As they ran, he passed windows and saw the lawn below bursting with light. Harry stopped short and looked out the window just as the protection around the castle was hit with hundreds of spells.
They all watched in amazement as the shield burst apart, showering the grounds with sparks of blue light. The Death Eaters had broken through the barrier.
They were now on the Hogwarts grounds.
Harry's blood boiled as he watched them charge, striking down people as they went. They were gaining ground much too quickly.
Suddenly, Harry forgot about everything else. He had to go and help them fight. He had to make sure the Death Eaters did not win.
He had a debt to repay them, and he had waited much too long.
He wanted to fight for Draco, fight for his parents, fight for everything Voldemort took from him.
He turned quickly to Ginny and, pocketing the map, handed her his backpack.
"Listen, the only way to kill the snake is to stab it with the fang in there. Don't try for it unless it is completely unprotected and alone. Do not take any risks and stay together. I'll join you soon."
"What?" She asked, completely bewildered, but it was too late. Harry had taken off running in the opposite direction.
"Harry, come back here!" Hermione called, but Harry kept running.
"Find the snake!" He called as he rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.
He took out his wand and held it tight in his hand. He was ready for this. It was long overdue.
He ran down flights of stairs so fast that he appeared not even to be touching the ground.
The entrance hall was ablaze with activity. He noticed the walls were starting to crack even though the fight had not yet reached the castle.
"Harry!" He skidded to a halt, his wand ready. It was just Sirius.
"What?" Harry asked impatiently. Every second he stalled was another second he wasn't fighting.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.
"Fighting, of course. Shouldn't you be, too?"
"Remus decided I should stay here and take care of the castle. Don't forget yourself out there, Harry. Be careful!"
"Same goes for you!" Harry said quickly, "I'll see you later." Sirius grimaced as Harry turned and exited the castle.
He ran out into the grounds, and he knew immediately they were in trouble. The Death Eaters had advanced another ten feet since Harry had last seen them.
He needed to find a way to stop them, and he needed to find it quickly. He pointed his wand at the large group of fighters.
"MorsultraNonvadit!" He yelled. A blue wall erupted around the castle, and at first, it appeared to have no effect. However, as the Order of the Phoenix backed up another few feet, the Death Eaters found they could not pass through the blue light.
This stopped the ones who were further back; however, it did nothing to prevent the Death Eaters who were close to the castle. There were also giants who would, of course, not be affected by any of Harry's spells.
The Hogwarts fighters seemed to realize what was going on and jumped back behind the blue wall. They took their chance, as the Death Eaters were trying to break through the wall to try to take some of them down.
They started to fire spell after spell into the onslaught of evil, knocking a few down but missing most.
Harry shook his head in disgust. If he had known they were this bad at fighting, he would have suggested a completely different plan. If they did not get their act together, then they were going to lose.
The Death Eaters all had incredible accuracy and were not afraid to kill. He saw Lupin was dueling with Malcolm not far from him. Though Malcolm could not pass the line, his spells certainly could.
Harry had to give it to Lupin; he was quick, but it was clear that he was losing. Harry ran over to them and jumped in, firing spells at Malcolm. The Death Eater looked shocked to see him.
"Potter!" He hissed, deflecting one of Harry's spells.
"Miss me?" Harry smirked, sending another one flying towards him.
"No, can't say that I did." Malcolm fired a killing curse at Harry, but it flew high over his head.
"I told you to work on your aim!" Harry laughed, and with that, he sent a stunning spell at the man. It hit him directly in the middle of his chest, and he tumbled backward.
Harry had made a promise to himself that he would not kill anyone anymore. Seriously injuring someone, maybe, but he wouldn't kill again, no matter what.
It did surprise him, though, that Malcolm tried to kill him. Voldemort had given them instructions not to attempt to kill him, but it appeared as though they were disregarding that.
They were all going to be aiming to kill their old commander.
Suddenly, Harry's arm was pulled sharply down. He fell to his knees and landed behind a large rock, Lupin, next to him.
"Harry, shouldn't you be looking for something?" He asked concerned. He had a cut on his cheek, and his arms were scraped up, but other than that, he looked okay.
"Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are doing it. I thought it would be better if I came to fight." Harry looked at the battle raging around them, wondering where he should go next.
"It is extremely dangerous for you to be here." Lupin cautioned. "They are going to try to kill you."
"I know," Harry said, "But I have to help. I can't stand watching while they kill more people."
"Just be careful, Harry. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I don't want anything to happen to you either." Harry said after a slight pause. That was nice of Lupin to say. "Watch your back."
"I will. See you soon, Harry." Harry hesitated for a moment and then gave Lupin a quick hug before standing to rejoin the battle.
Harry glanced around, and his eyes fell on a group of kids who were all much too young to be fighting. Nevertheless, they were fighting three Death Eaters: Travers, Williams, andNott.
Harry bolted over to them. "Get out of it." He yelled, joining their fight.
"But there's three of them!" A small girl to his right said.
"Get out!" Harry insisted, sending spell after spell at the three Death Eaters, all of whom were smirking at him.
Harry would have been able to defeat the Death Eaters easily, if he was not worried about protecting the children. The kids still didn't listen, though. Instead, they continued to try to fight the three Death Eaters.
Then, Travers sent a killing curse at Harry. It missed him and hit one of the kids instead.
That was the final straw.
Harry had to get the rest of the kids out of there. He glanced at the kids and, still showering the Death Eaters with spells, he used wandless magic to push them behind a piece of a crumbled wall. It took much more out of him than he had anticipated.
He shot a spell toward the three Death Eaters, and Williams crumpled to the ground.
"You've gotten weak, Potter!"Nottcalled to Harry, sending another spell his way. "No more killing for you, I see. What, you scared?"
Harry smirked at him and then sent another spell, which hit into his leg. Two down, only one more to go. Travers sent another killing curse at him, but again, it missed, brushing his cheek.
"They'll be no more of that, Travers!" Harry spat at the man. His stunning spell hit the man in the chest, causing him to be blasted back a few feet.
Harry was breathing hard, but he had no time to catch his breath. He walked past the blue barrier and bent over the three unconscious Death Eaters.
He used his wand to tie them up as tight as he could and then levitated them so that they were hidden behind a fallen pillar. No one would be saving them.
Harry quickly scanned the battle and then tried to walk past the blue shield to get to those kids. He had to get them to safety.
He slammed into the wall, but it did not let him through. It stayed solid, locking him with the Death Eaters.
He had forgotten about the special Dark Mark decorating his forearm. Even though he was no longer a Death Eater, he was still branded as one of their own.
There was nothing he could do about it now. He was stuck on this side until the shield was taken down, and he was definitely not taking down the shield.
Now, he could do what he really wanted to do, what had been his real reason for joining the battle. Now, he could go after Bellatrix.
Where would she be, though? He looked around and saw most of the fighting was going on to his left. He figured that was where she would be.
He decided now was the time to go invisible. It would be much easier to find her that way, and he wouldn't have to worry about being killed every few steps.
He pointed his wand at his chest and sent a jet of light at himself. Once he was completely hidden from view, he stood up and ran back into the battle.
All around him were blasts of light and people falling, either unconscious or dead. He dodged spells and people as he ran through the battle, set on finding Bella.
All of a sudden, he was distracted by a terrified scream. He turned sharply and saw Lavender Brown, one of the girls he had been introduced to, on the ground. Greyback was lurking over her, about to sink his teeth into her neck.
"No!" Harry yelled, and his blast of light hit Greyback, sending him flying backward. Lavender looked around for her savior, but she could not see Harry. He ran over to her and lifted her into the air.
"Ah!" she shrieked, trying to throw him off, but he was much stronger than she was.
He brought her back over to the shield and pushed her through it as much as he was able to. She looked completely perplexed, but Harry couldn't care less. She was safer now.
He stood up and turned back to the battle. He dove out of the way as a spell cracked the ground at his feet. He had helped Lavender, but he had given away his position.
He shot a spell toward the Death Eater as he jumped to his feet, not seeing if it hit them or not. Another spell flew at him, and he started to run in the opposite direction.
He was not watching where he was going, though, and he ran straight into another Death Eater. He couldn't tell who the Death Eater was through all of the smoke in the air, but he had a bigger problem than the identity of his attacker. He had dropped his wand when he had run into the Death Eater.
"Who do we have here?" A man's voice asked. "It appears someone is invisible." He shot a spell towards the ground where he thought Harry was. Harry rolled quickly out of the way.
Where was his wand? It had to be close. Harry used wandless magic to try to stun the man, but it did nothing more than push him back.
The night's events had been too much for Harry.
Another spell shot at the ground and Harry rolled again. There was only one thing left to do. He carefully moved towards the guy and, when he was within range, punched him in the stomach.
"Oof," the guy buckled, but before Harry could do anything else, there was a flash of light, and the man tumbled to the ground unconscious. He looked around and saw Ron standing there, wand in hand.
"Harry, you there?" He called, ducking behind an uprooted tree.
"Yes," Harry said, "hold on."
He scrutinized the ground for his wand and finally found it lying a few feet away. He scooped it up quickly and ran back to where Ron was still crouched.
He reversed the invisibility charm and knelt as close to Ron as the barrier would permit him to.
"Thanks. How did you know I was there?" Harry asked.
"You are the only person who would be crazy enough to punch someone in the stomach during a fight with a Death Eater." Ron replied simply. Harry laughed grimly but didn't say anything.
"We confirmed Voldemort is in the Shrieking Shack, and the snake is with him. The problem is she is in a protective cage, so no one can get to her."
"Great." Harry nodded, "I should take a look at it. I would probably be able to break it."
"I can take you there now. Ginny and Hermione are waiting in the tunnel. I told them to stay safe while I looked for you."
"That's good." Harry said, "Let's go."
"This way," Ron said, pointing in the direction of the castle.
"There's only one problem with that." Harry said, sort of embarrassed.
"What?" Ron asked, looking confused.
"This shield, it's meant to keep out Death Eaters, and I- well- I still have my mark."
"There's no way to get through it?"
"Only if I took it down, but you can see why I wouldn't want to do that."
"Yeah," Ron paused and then said, "We can go around the castle, but it will be dangerous, especially for you."
"I know, but I have to see the snake. I need to know if I can destroy it." Harry said, thinking. "What if you go through the castle, and I'll meet you on the other side."
"Are you sure? I could come with you if you want." Ron offered.
"No, go through. I'll join you soon. Which way is the fastest?"
"That way," Ron pointed to the right, "But what if they kill you on the way there? That one almost did."
"I refuse to be killed in such a meaningless and demeaning way." Harry said with a smirk, "Don't worry, I don't plan on dying tonight. I'll go invisible."
"Okay…" Ron was clearly reluctant to let him go on his own. "Be safe."
"I will, don't worry. See you in a bit."
With that, Harry pointed his wand at himself and disappeared once again. Harry took off into the battle, more carefully this time. He wanted to ensure that he did not bump into anyone else.
Occasionally, he would spot someone who looked like they needed help and stop. He shot a spell, and it hit into a Death Eater. He fell to the ground, and his companions looked around to see what had happened. Harry did not linger.
Despite his effort, though, he passed many who were injured and many more who were hopefully just unconscious.
Harry ducked as a curse flew by his head and hit a Hogwarts student, killing them on the spot.
He turned and sent a spell so powerful that it not only blasted the Death Eater into the air but also emitted a bright flash of light, temporarily blinding everyone in the close vacuity.
In a second, ten spells all shot his way, but he dove to the ground, agilely dodging all of them. One grazed the back of his leg, stinging intensely, but he was alive, so that was all that mattered.
His distraction proved to be very helpful to the rest of the fighters, all of whom took the opportunity to fire the spells at the distracted Death Eaters.
Harry leapt to his feet again and hurried away from the spot. Harry sent a spell into the war at random, and he surprisingly hit someone.
He ducked as he ran through what seemed like endless enemies. He had to be getting close now. How far could this tree be?
Suddenly, he was on the ground. A sharp pain shot up his leg. He turned to see what had grabbed him.
It was a weed that the Death Eaters must have brought. Harry was sure Dumbledore would not be growing Devil's Snare on the Hogwarts grounds.
"Incendio!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the plant, which was now trying to curl up his leg. Fire shot out of his wand, engulfing the snare, and it quickly shrank back.
"Someone's there, invisible!" Someone shouted from behind him.
Harry jumped up to his feet as he heard them approaching. "Ah!" He fell back down, clutching his ankle. He had to have twisted it.
He rolled out of the way as two Death Eaters focused on where he had been. He struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain.
He could not stand there because of such a minor injury. If he did, he would get killed.
He started to run, his ankle sending a sickening pulse of pain up his leg with every step. Nevertheless, he didn't stop.
He had to get away from them. Another spell blasted the ground at his feet, but he kept going, not looking back.
Soon, the spells died out, and the air changed suddenly.
Though it was reasonably warm out, the air had turned ice cold.