Chapter 180

The Final Battle Begins

Note from J.M. Jackson: Sorry for the delay, I tried to upload this yesterday but fanfiction wasn't having it for some reason.

As Lily stood in the entrance hall, she looked outside, seeing the shield light up as spell after spell struck it, trying to bring it down. "How long will it hold?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure," Minerva admitted. "We need to be ready. They'll be attacking from multiple sides, and as soon as the shield comes down, we need to launch our attack."

"Agreed," Lily said. "How many people do they have?"

"We're outnumbered at least ten to one," Crouch replied. "It's not going to be easy, but at least we know the war ends tonight."

"Well, she's confident about winning," Sirius said. "She doesn't care about the Horcruxes, and she's planning on finding a new way to live forever, but only after tonight. The trouble is, she actually believes in what she's doing."

"I… I'm sorry we can't save Nicollette, Fleur, I really am," Lily said. Fleur smiled sadly at her.

"I accepted she died some time ago. I hope when we kill Voldemort, we free my sister's soul," Fleur said.

"We will," Lily said, smiling. Her smile faded as she looked out at the shield, seeing the strikes on the shield, over and over. "It's holding for now. Can we lower a part of the shield?"

"Just a part?" Scrimgeour asked.

"If we can open a part of the shield, they'll come in, but we can bottleneck them," Lily suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Scrimgeour said, before speaking to a house elf, who then disapparated. "I summoned some help. Let's lower part of the shield ahead of us. We can take them down in the courtyard."

"They'll likely send in the Death Soldiers first," Ginny said. "Knowing Voldemort, anyway, even if she is different."

"Agreed," Lily said, as several more fighters arrived. Scrimgeour waved his wand, and Lily watched as part of the shield came down.

"Everyone ready?" Ron asked, as Death Soldiers came pouring into the courtyard.

"Oh yeah," Lily replied, her eyes glowing for a moment, which only Ginny noticed, as her eyes glowed as well. "Let's take these guys." Lily ran out into the courtyard first, firing several curses towards the Death Soldiers, and as several of them began to fire curses back at her, she leapt up into the air, with Ginny next to her. She felt powerful, like nothing could stop her or Ginny, and as they both landed, they spun around, each kicking one of the invaders, sending them flying back. Lily then spun around, drawing the Sword of Gryffindor, and slicing through the hands of one of the attackers, causing them to fall to the ground, screaming in pain, before she saw a red light speeding towards her.

Without thinking, she swung the sword, striking the curse, which sent it flying backwards at the man who fired at her, sending them flying backwards and into a brick wall. She waved her wand again, firing several curses towards her enemies, with Ginny moving perfectly in sync with her.

Loud gunshots were heard as several of the incoming Death Soldiers fell to the snipers, who were in the turrets above the Courtyard. Lily smiled as she ran at another attacker, who looked like he was in his twenties, and as the man went to wave his wand, Lily swung the sword, slicing through the wand, before kicking the man in the chest, hard, before Ginny landed from a leap, her foot making contact with his face, knocking him out.

"Nice move," Lily told her.

"Fight now, compliment later," Ron said, as he ran past them, launching several curses of his own, whilst also attacking one of the Death Soldiers with his fist. Clearly, the martial arts classes they had been taking were working, and whilst Ron's moves were a little clumsy, they were still working.

Lily and Ginny, however, were practically glowing as they fought side by side, turning in sync and attacking a fresh wave of intruders.

"Are you seeing this?" Minerva asked Sirius, as she sent several curses towards the attackers, whilst also seeing Lily and Ginny.

"I'm seeing it, but I'm not sure I'm believing it," Sirius replied, as Crouch joined them.

"This is their link. I think now they've destroyed the Horcrux parts within them, their bond has completed, and now they're achieving their full potential," Crouch said. "They are, right now, the very embodiment of the Hallows, and of the purest of magic. They've formed their bond, they both come from ancient bloodlines, and now that magic is giving them the strength they need."

"It's like they've been fighting like this all their lives," Remus said, watching as the two of them were untouchable, moving quickly, faster than anyone had seen them move. "I never imagined such a thing would be possible."

"There have always been rumours and myths of such powerful magic, but to see it in action… it's glorious," Crouch chuckled.

"That's one word for it," Minerva replied. "Are we even needed?"

"I don't think that shield's gonna be up much longer, so they'll need all the help they can get," Scrimgeour replied.

"Then let's stop talking and help them," Sirius said, chuckling as he ran outside, launching his own attacks.

As Lily leapt into the air again, she brought the sword down, slicing through a werewolf that was about to leap at Lavender, slicing through it as if it were nothing but melting butter. She then spun around, and launched an attack as she saw Fenrir Greyback smirking, and running at her. What surprised Lily was how he was able to change into his werewolf form, even though it wasn't a full moon, though she figured that Voldemort had figured that one out, well, one of them had.

As Greyback leapt at Lily, she leapt backwards, avoiding being struck, and throwing the sword towards Ginny, who swung it at Greyback, who let out a howl of pain, before he ran backwards.

Lily ran towards Greyback, who was changing back into his human form, so she leapt up and kicked him in the face, hard, just as Ginny did the same thing. They then leapt backwards, and landed perfectly, looking at each other.

"You know you're glowing, right?" Ginny asked.

"So are you," Lily pointed out. "We can figure that out later."

"Agreed," Ginny smiled, as the two of them launched curses towards Greyback, who managed to dodge them, shifting back into his wolf form.

"Neat trick, Dog Breath," Lily taunted. Greyback snapped his fangs at her, but she leapt up, twirling as she did, just as Ginny tossed the sword towards her. As Lily landed, she brought the sword through Greyback's tail, slicing it cleanly off, causing him to let out a howl of both pain and anger.

Ginny followed up the attack by striking Greyback with a curse, sending him into a wall, hard, with Lily then sending another curse at him.

Before Lily and Ginny could launch a new attack, several werewolves came racing towards them, all snapping their fangs. They all leapt towards Lily and Ginny, but were stopped as they smashed into a forcefield, with Fleur and Hermione smirking.

"Down, bad doggies," Hermione snapped angrily, as Fleur struck two of them with curses.

"Zis is why I prefer cats, though I mean no offence to Remus," Fleur said.

"None taken," Remus said, as he reached them. "How the hell can they change at will?"

"Not the time to worry about that, Moony," Sirius said, as he launched an attack, and creating a shield between them at the attackers. "You two are bloody amazing."

"We know," Lily and Ginny chuckled as the same time, just as Greyback leapt towards them. Before he could reach them, however, he seemed to be pulled back, with Madame Maxime having just appeared.

"Okay, how?" Sirius asked, as Madam Maxime threw Greyback into a wall, hard.

"Portkey," Madam Maxime explained, smiling as Hagrid punched a Death Soldier, knocking them to the ground, and knocking them out.

"Sorry we're late, Lily," Hagrid said.

"Timing's great," Lily smiled. As a group, they all turned, sending curses towards the attacking Death Soldiers, sending them flying. Lily noticed that no more were coming through the courtyard.

"That can't be all of them," Fleur said.

"No, Fawkes is flying above. They just started pulling back. I think Voldemort's about to launch a new attack at the Shield," Ginny replied. "And more creatures have arrived. Hagrid, you're not gonna like it."

"Why not?" Hagrid asked, frowning. His question was answered, however, a second later as the roars of several Dragons could be heard, with the creatures hovering above the shield. "Bloody hell, they're gonna get those beautiful creatures killed!"

"Like I said, not gonna like it," Ginny said.

"I'll handle them," Hagrid growled. "I've got a few surprises of my own."

"A few…" Lily started, then looked at Madame Maxime. "How many did you give him?" Lily asked, realising what he meant.

"Ve have several at the school, as guardians," Madame Maxime replied.

"Did you bring them all?" Fleur asked.

"Zey will be here in moments, all with ze riders," Madame Maxime answered proudly.

"What will?" Minerva asked.

"Dragons. Catalonian Fireballs, to be precise," Fleur replied, smiling.

"I knew zey would be needed, since You-Know-Who used them in ze last war," Madam Maxime explained.

"Well, it is a war, so all the rules are out of the window now," Scrimgeour rolled his eyes, as the dragons in the air were sending streams of fire at the shield. "Hope your dragons get here quickly."

"Zey are minutes away," Madam Maxime said.

"I vill help ze riders," Fleur said. "I trained on them."

"Wait, what?" Hermione asked. Fleur took her hand.

"Don't worry, I was ze champion rider," Fleur smiled, kissing her. She then looked at the sky. "They shouldn't be long."

"Let's hope the shield holds that long," Lily said. "We've got a brief reprieve, so we need to make the most of it."

Neville looked at the sky, then at the Death Soldiers and Death Eaters who were waiting outside the shield, smirking. "Still can't get through? Not exactly impressive, are you?" Neville taunted.

"Keep talking, brat. I'll make sure to kill you first," the lead Death Eater, one who Neville didn't recognise, glowered.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Neville replied, smirking. "You think you'll be able to get past us? Your army isn't that impressive."

"Your shield is coming down in moments," the Death Eater replied, smirking. Neville laughed as he walked onto the bridgeway, standing there, looking almost bored. In truth, he was terrified, but the last year at the school had taught him how to hide his fear and emotions.

"Sure, and when it does, you're all going to hell," Neville replied, laughing.

Fred and George laughed as they were standing by another entrance that led from the greenhouses, where a group of Death Soldiers and Death Eaters were waiting.

"You think we need your help," George began.

"To survive this?" Fred finished the question. "Do you even know who your boss is?"

"The Dark Lady is the queen the world needs!" the Death Soldiers proclaimed.

"Sure, he doesn't sound brainwashed at all, does he?" Fred asked.

"No, not at all Fred. He's definitely clear in his mind," George taunted with his brother.

"Will you two stop taunting the maniacs?" Bill asked, standing near them, "And get back into formation."

"Just trying to ease the tension," Fred replied, as he and George stepped back, getting into the position they had been in before.

"Shield's coming down in a minute or so, I figure," Charlie commented. He frowned as he heard a roar. "Oh, crap."

"What?" Bill asked.

"They've got Dragons. From the sounds of it, a Chinese Fireball, a Norwegian Ridgeback, and a Romanian Longhorn, among others," Charlie said.

"You've definitely worked with them for too long if you can identify them by their roars," Percy chuckled.

"They're not that bad, once you get used to them and get to know them," Charlie said. He was twirling a dagger in his hand, a gift from Griphook's brother, which would help in battle. He was also wearing shield gloves, as was everyone in the group.

"Fred, these gloves will work, right?" Percy whispered.

"None of these guys are Death Eaters, just Death Soldiers. They'll never be powerful enough to break through the shields," Fred whispered back.

"Just checking," Percy replied, smiling, just as the sky filled with a loud crash of thunder, and rain began to pour down.

"Great, on top of everything, now it's raining," Bill rolled his eyes. "I'd have preferred a clear sky, but never mind."

"Heads up," Charlie said, pointing off in the distance, where more Dragons were starting to come into view.

"Suggestions?" Bill asked.

"Conjunctivitis curse blinds them, flame freezing makes their flames harmless, then whatever powerful spell you can use, but you need to hit their underside," Charlie replied, as he prepared for the fight against the dragons.

"My Lady, they've bottlenecked our forces in," Rudolphus said, as he stood next to Lady Voldemort.

"I suspected they would, but that's okay. Right now, they have a sense of hope, but we will bring that hope crashing down," Lady Voldemort said, twirling the Elder Wand in her fingers. She smiled as she looked at the shield, which was starting to break in places under the constant barrage of spells.

"We are ready, my Lady," Bellatrix said, standing on the other side of the younger woman.

"Good. Rudolphus, lead the next wave down; I will bring the shield down," Lady Voldemort said. Rudolphus nodded, bowed, and left, going from the overlook that they were standing on.

"Do you want me down there?" Bellatrix asked.

"No, Bella, I want you by my side. You are my trusted second in command, and you and I will always be side by side," Lady Voldemort promised, smiling at her. Bellatrix nodded happily as Lady Voldemort turned and faced the shield. She thought of the spell, and immediately aimed her wand at the shield, with a bright light shooting out and hitting the shield.

She immediately felt dizzy, which she didn't like, as she watched the shield around Hogwarts shatter into pieces, raining down like glass, as she gasped for breath.

"My Lady!" Bellatrix exclaimed, holding her before she could fall to her knees. Lady Voldemort looked at the wand, confused.

"This… it cannot be," Lady Voldemort said, her voice a little weaker. "No… this is… I overlooked something."

"What?" Bellatrix asked, worried.

"The wand… I took it from Dumbledore… but I didn't kill him. It doesn't answer to me, not really," Lady Voldemort said. "We must enter the field of battle, but carefully. I am powerful, yes, more than anyone else, but this wand… no, I must be the rightful owner."

"So you know where we need to go?" Bellatrix asked. Lady Voldemort nodded.

"I do," she confirmed. "We must find and kill that traitor, Severus Snape!"