Chapter 23 by Kinsfire
A mere five minutes later, Dumbledore's office was crowded again. Most of the staff was there, and Harry had sent a
mental message to Hermione which resulted in her, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna packing themselves into the office
as well. Ginny and Professor McGonagall seemed to be taking the "the groom shall not see the bride on the wedding
day" tradition rather seriously, and conjured a screen, making Hermione stand behind it. Harry couldn't help but laugh
when he saw the partition. He could feel Hermione on the other side of it, giggling. "I'm going to go out to fight
Voldemort today, and you're worrying about me seeing Hermione before the wedding?" he said, shaking his head in
disbelief. "Nice to know where your priorities lie."
He heard another giggle in his mind and a Shush, you! He laughed out loud, albeit quietly.
The Floo flared green, and Amelia Bones, accompanied by Aurors Dawlish, Mopson, Tonks and Arbuthnot, spun into
the room, summoned by the urgency of Dumbledore's message. Harry, by this time, had spread the Marauder's Map
out on Dumbledore's desk, and the Headmaster used a projection spell to cast an image of it up on the wall so that
everyone could clearly see the crowd of dots that marked the invading force. There was silence for a moment before
Helen said, "Excuse me, but who invited the Death Eaters to this wedding? I distinctly remember telling someone that
I thought those white masks with those drab black robes were extremely gauche."
Harry laughed again as he watched everyone turn to Helen as if she'd lost her mind. He was pleased by her ability to
keep her head under circumstances such as this. He laughed louder as he heard Hermione answer her mother. "Mum?
We did. We invited the Death Eaters. Remember, that was the reason for setting this wedding date in the first place?
We wanted to draw Tom Riddle out before the date he thought the protections could be cemented over Harry and
myself?"
Harry slapped himself in the forehead. "I don't believe it!" he grumbled. "I was one of the ones involved in the
planning, and I forgot it!" This had the effect of drawing laughter from everyone and calming the entire meeting down.
"Okay," he said, when everyone had calmed, "we need to get to work. At the moment, they're milling around in the
forest, waiting for something."
"They're trying to bring down the wards, Harry," explained the Headmaster. "Quite frankly, it's been centuries since
Hogwarts has had to stand against a massed attack, and they think they can bring down the wards by sheer force of
numbers. They're wrong, of course, but we can let the wards weaken a bit to keep them focused, then drop them long
enough to draw the Death Eaters in when we're ready and bring them up again behind them." He spoke calmly, as if
organizing a daisy-picking party.
Harry nodded. "Okay, then. I'm expecting that they've managed to either subvert or chase off the worst of the creatures
in that area of the Forest. Centaurs and Acromantulas and the like don't show up on the Map, so it's anybody's guess
what else they may have on their side. If we see Acromantulas coming out of the forest, I don't care r11; we shoot to
kill." He looked at Hagrid. "I'm sorry, Professor. I know he's a friend."
"If 'e's gone over ter You Know Who, then there's no choice," the Magical Creatures professor grumbled. "Don' want
no one goin' after 'im if there's no need, though," he added tersely.
"I see no reason to," Harry said. "If he and his stay out of it, then I'm fine with them. In fact, if they don't get involved
on Tom's side, then I have no problems with them eating the escaping Death Eaters, as long as they try to leave us
enough to identify." He pursed his lips, looking at the Map. "As a matter of fact, once the Death Eaters are out on the
lawn and move past your hut, maybe you could Floo down there and sneak out the back door and go ask where they
stand. I really don't see Tommy's side wanting to have anything to do with them." Harry turned back to the rest,
finding their eyes wide, and ignored the unspoken question. "I know the members of last year's D.A. well enough to
know that they'll want to be involved in this fight. We should get all the students into the Great Hall along with a few
teachers to supervise. Hermione and Helen, I want you in charge of the fifth-year D.A. members to guard the Hall and
the corridors near it." Hermione began to object that she was perfectly capable of fighting, until Harry interrupted her.
"Yes, I know you're willing to risk your lives, but the babies haven't been asked. I want you two someplace safe, all
right? Okay. Ginny and Neville, you'll take the sixth-years up and take pot shots from the battlements. Seventh years
can choose between the wall or fighting with the Aurors and teachers."
"Where am I going to be?" asked Ron.
"You're with me, wherever I am. I'll need my best mate to watch my back, right?" He turned back to the map. "The
rest of us need to see where the heck we can be best used, but a lot of that is going to come down to where Tommy
boy decides he wants to fight. Fortunately he doesn't seem to be in a rush. I think that we should station a few people
in the Astronomy Tower to get a good view of the action. Luna, you take that detail. Use the owls to coordinate attacks
from the battlements."
Auror Mopson cut into Harry's planning. "Who made you leader of this fight, Mister Potter?" His tone was not overtly
insulting, but it held no possibility that he thought that Harry could be a good leader.
Harry answered by lifting his hair away from his scar. "Tom did, Mister Mopson. Fifteen years ago, he thought that I
was a threat, and tried to kill me. Today I prove him right, and kill him. He dies, and we go on with our lives. More
precisely, I go on with my life with the woman that I can't see on the other side of this barrier."
Amanda Vector spoke up. "As I understand it, part of it was to protect you from You Know Who. If he dies today,
then you could wait to get married, you know."
"No, for two reasons," Harry replied. "First, I've been looking forward to this for so long. Second, because of Draco
Malfoy's interference, if I don't marry her, the child she bears right now would be legally illegitimate. We were going
to wait, but Malfoy scotched that." He smiled. "The most important reason is the first one, though. I love her, and I'm
going to marry her."
He shook his head, refocusing on the matter at hand. "Students will do for the defence, but we'll need as many Aurors
as we can get for the main fighting. Director Bones, please get as many here as possible as quickly as possible. We
may have to open the Floo connection in the Hospital Wing; it's got the biggest fireplace and we can move people out
of it quickly."
Dumbledore nodded and activated his Floo, sticking his head through the flames for a minute before Ms. Bones took
her turn to call the Ministry. "The Floo and the Aurors should be ready within fifteen minutes."
"What sort of plan do you have, Potter?" Bones asked.
"I have a good idea what needs to be done, but I can't plan too much, ma'am. No plan survives first contact with the
enemy. I'm going to have to concentrate on Riddle, and the group with me will have to keep the Death Eaters off me
while I do that. Basically, we'll need to spread the rest of our forces around a bit, but in clumps instead of solitary
fighters. Is there any way of getting groups of people placed quickly on the grounds without lowering the Apparition
wards? And for groups to signal other groups if they need help for heavy fighting?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Targeted portkeys will serve the purpose. We give each team portkeys that will home in on
the others. Unusual, but quite effective." He smiled, eyes twinkling. "Also a great deal easier to create than normal
portkeys, but no one seems to make them for some reason."
"Well, we'll have to figure out how many groups there will be, and then we can make them. If possible, set them up to
flash a different colour, based on which group wants the help, and then portkey to that group. Those would be good
activation words, by the way - using the colour of the group to be the word."
Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped through the door as Harry finished. "Sounds like a good idea, Potter. We could only
bring another fifty Aurors, unfortunately. The others are downstairs," he said. "We're awaiting decisions as to
deployment."
Without thinking, Harry responded. "I want at least one group stationed in Hogsmeade, preferably more. I wouldn't put
it past Tom to send some of his goons down there to terrorize the villagers and burn down a few houses to try to divide
our attention. There are already people down there who can fight ... the rest of the Weasleys, Remus, Moody ..." He
didn't want to mention the Order in front of people who weren't part of it, but he knew Shacklebolt would know who
he was talking about. "Beyond that, you're more used to this sort of thing, Madame Bones, so I am definitely willing to
listen."
Amelia Bones looked at Harry in surprise, and her eyes slid around the room, finding only one person not considering
him the leader of this group. "Well, Mister Potter, given a school this size, it can be difficult to truly plan, especially
when we have so few to fight on our side, but your basic plans are sound. Let's start getting people into position."
"Most of the students are in the Great Hall for breakfast right now," said Dumbledore, consulting the Map. I believe
those of you who have contingents of the D.A. to lead should go down to collect them. Minerva, would you go make
the announcement, and stay to keep order? Let the students know what's happening and reassure them that everything
will be done to keep them safe. If some of the seventh years who aren't part of the D.A. want to fight too, send them to
the Entry Hall. The Aurors and the rest of us will be there and we can assign them to groups."
"Dawlish, you and Mopson go down too and arrange for the defence," said Bones. The room became much less
crowded as the two Aurors, Helen, Minerva, and four of the Ministry Crew headed off to follow their instructions.
Harry noted that dots were beginning to congregate in the Entry Hall, all labelled "Auror" with names appearing as the
Map identified them. "Director Bones, I think you and I and the rest of our group should go down and explain what's
happening to the Aurors. Professor, could you make seven color-coded portkeys r11; like a rainbow r11; and maybe a
gold one for the command group r11; that's us? Eight groups should be enough."
"Agreed," Albus responded. "Go on ahead. It will be easier for me to concentrate on the portkeys when my office is
clear. I'll be down with them shortly." He waited until everyone else had left the office, then stopped Harry by putting
a hand on his shoulder. "I don't have the right to feel this way, after my history with you, Harry, but I am proud of the
man you have become. And I know that your parents and Sirius would feel the same way."
Harry blinked at him. "Thank you, sir. It means more than you might think." With that, he followed Amelia Bones
downstairs to the Aurors.
It didn't take long to divide the Aurors into groups, supplemented by teachers and seventh-year students. While the
organization was going on, a stream of D.A. members poured out of the Great Hall and up the stairs (which were
staying put for once) to the battlements, Astronomy Tower, and the Owlery.
He was interrupted as he heard someone thundering down the hallway toward them. The person came to a stop, hands
on his knees, panting furiously. The hair looked a quite familiar red, and the style he'd last seen just a few days earlier.
"What are you doing here?" asked Ron, angrily. He stepped forward to challenge his older brother, but Harry put his
hand up to stop him.
"What's wrong, Percy?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," the tall man wheezed. "Just ... just wanted ... just wanted to throw in on ..." He stopped and took a moment
to gulp down a few breaths of air. "I want to fight with you. Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but ... I'm
still Gryffindor. I went to work for the Ministry to help. I was so sure that other people r11; that Fudge r11; was
working for the good ... I was stupid. People are people. Working for the government doesn't make you a saint. I was
wrong, and when I can, I'll tell my family that. Or you will, if I die today. If you let me stand with you. Please?" He
looked at Harry, and then over Harry's shoulder at Ron, and Harry could see the sincerity screaming out of the man.
His hand came out and clasped Percy's shoulder. "Welcome back, Percy. I'd be proud to have another Weasley at my
back when I face Tom."
Ron glowered uncertainly for a moment, then relented and offered his hand to his brother. "We'll talk later. For now,
we've got a Dark Lord to fight."
As Amelia Bones was finishing organizing her teams, Dumbledore came down the stairs, carrying eight brightly
coloured rings. "Muggle toy called a hula hoop," he said as he passed them out. "I have charmed them to flash when it
is activated, simply by tapping your wand to it and saying 'Activate'. All the others will flash in the colour of the team
that needs assistance. Fairly obvious what your colour is," he finished with a smile, pointing out that each hoop was
the colour of one shade of the rainbow. "To portkey to the team in need, simply tap your wand to your own hoop and
say the colour that your hoop is flashing."
"Now, the initial deployments will be through the various hidden exits. Indigo team, you're for Hogsmeade and have
the longest trip so you'd better start now r11; the tunnel to Honeydukes is located-"
"Password to the humpbacked witch still dissendium?" asked a middle-aged Auror. Harry gaped and nodded. "Don't
be surprised, your generation wasn't the first to find that tunnel," the Auror said, grinning. "And it won't be the last.
Indigo team, let's go!"
Exits were assigned for the other teams. As they headed off, Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Okay, I think you can let
the wards down now to let the Death Eaters up on the lawn. Tommy finally got there, according to the Map," he said,
pointing at the dot labelled "T. Riddle". Then he looked up, with confusion on his face. "But why don't I feel him? My
head should be pounding right now."
"Isn't that a fortunate thing, though?" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "I was hoping that would be the case, but
of course I could not be sure."
Harry frowned in puzzlement, then suddenly his eyes widened with shock. Dumbledore merely nodded. "I see you
understand. Now run along, there will be Death Eaters at the door momentarily, and I'm sure you'll wish to greet them
properly."
Harry took the gold hoop and started to speak, but broke off in mid-sentence and stood straighter for a long moment
before settling back to his previous pose. His eyes were much harder, however. "Someone run to the Great Hall and
tell Mopson I need to speak to him," Harry said, his voice cold.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Amelia Bones asked. She had assigned herself to the yellow team, which was the only one
that hadn't left yet.
"Unimportant right now, really, in the scheme of things. Better get your people in position. If you run into Mopson,
though, I really need to talk to him."
She nodded, somewhat confused, and took off with the rest of her team. Harry and his team, which consisted of Ron,
Percy, Doug, Dumbledore, Tonks and Shacklebolt, waited silently in the hall. Harry watched the dots on the map
move, then carefully folded it and tucked it his robe pocket. He appeared perfectly calm and somewhat distant. Only
Ron, who knew him best, seemed to see the tension building behind his precise movements, but the redhead kept silent
as well.
A few moments later, Mopson arrived, somewhat out of breath. "They said you needed to see me?"
Harry exploded into motion. He grabbed the Auror by the throat and threw him against the wall as hard as he could.
"Yes, you little shit. How long have you been a Death Eater?"
"What are you talking about?" Mopson asked. He tried to pull away from the wall, but found himself stuck fast. "I'm
an Auror! How dare you accuse me!"
"Evanesco," Harry whispered, and suddenly Mopson was naked in front of himself and Dumbledore. The black Death
Eater tattoo was obvious on his arm. "Did you really think that the wards wouldn't tell us when Hermione and her
mother were portkeyed out of the building?" He turned to Dumbledore. "Would I be turning Dark if I decided to kill
this man for being a Death Eater and sending my wife, not to mention my mother-in-law, into mortal danger?"
Doug made an incoherent noise, and Ron grabbed his arm to stop him from going after Mopson.
"It depends, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "Were you going to torture him or simply cause him to cease living?"
"The latter, sir. As much as I'd like to torture him, Hermione and Helen would think less of me, and I won't do that."
"Then I see no problems with a simple execution. You might want to hurry it up, though. We do have guests on the
front lawn."
"Well, Mister Mopson, it seems that you should make peace with your gods, whoever they might be. If Albus
Dumbledore, one of the kindest and gentlest souls I know, says that it wouldn't be Dark to kill you, then I think I will.
Don't worry, I'll be quick about it." He raised his wand and pointed it at the Auror.
"Wait!" Mopson screamed. "I can give you information!"
"What possible information could you give me that would mean anything to me?" Harry asked. "Now hold still, this
won't hurt a bit ... I think ..."
"He's weak!" Mopson shrieked like a little girl scared of being left alone in a dark room with a hungry Acromantula.
"Ever since really early last Thursday afternoon, he's been incredibly weak! Something took his power. He's only been
keeping at his old level by draining everyone around him!" The Death Eater Auror was actually crying. "He doesn't
know what you did to him, and he wants to stop you from making it worse!"
"So he sent you to grab my wife?!"
"No, that was my own idea. I was just supposed to disrupt the defence from inside. But when I found myself alone
with them, I tricked them into touching my escape portkey and sent them to the Dark Lord. I thought he could use
them, make a trade ..."
"My life for theirs, huh? As if I'd listen to him for something like that. He's well known for reneging on deals. I wonder
if he knows that he's safer with them alive? If he kills them, I can't guarantee that they'll find anything of him large
enough to bury. And they definitely won't find enough of you."
Mopson looked at Harry for a long moment, and realised that he had chosen the wrong side. Before him was not a
mere wizard, but the very Spirit of Vengeance and Justice. He took the same action that Draco Malfoy had a week
earlier, only going a step further - he not only emptied his bladder, but voided his bowels as well.
"Coward," Harry chuckled. "Everybody get that?" he asked in a louder voice.
"Yes, Mister Potter. Excellent work, I might add." Dumbledore waved his wand quickly and the malodorous ex-
contents of the man's digestive system were whisked away to elsewhere.
Harry grinned. "Should I cast a Scourgify on him to get him cleaned up before we drop him in a cell?"
"Are you set on sand-blasting the man's privates, Harry?" the headmaster asked with a smile.
"Might make him think twice about being involved in something like this ever again."
"Assuming he survived the experience."
"You're right, sir. He's not worth it." Harry fought very hard to keep from laughing as he heard Mopson whisper,
"Thank Merlin!" Harry looked to Dumbledore and said, "Please give him a cell with a place to clean up, then."
Dumbledore summoned a house elf, and a moment later, Mopson was gone.
"Well, Harry, since I happen to know that the wards told me no such thing, I can only assume that you felt Miss
Granger and her mother shift position."
"She's in my head, sir. That telepathic thing, you know. They're both all right at the moment, just being forced to listen
to a pureblood superiority rant. I'm getting the whole thing. They're coming up the main drive now."
His head shot up. "I'm sorry people, I need to get out there and set fire to Draco Malfoy's privates. Some other Aurors
who wear the Dark Mark set the male Malfoys free, and Draco is currently out fondling my wife's bits. Rather roughly,
I might add." He began to stalk purposefully toward the main entrance to the school, muttering something about the
Ministry's hiring standards being almost as lax as Dumbledore's. His teammates exchanged glances and fell in behind
him.
He was almost to the door when he stopped, giggling. "Oops. Hermione just did it for me. He's out there squealing 'Put
me out! Put me out!'" Then he sighed and all humour left his features again. "But now Daddy's decided to get involved
..." The doors slammed open without anyone touching them. "Oh, Lucius, you're not going to be happy after I get
through with you," he growled. Raising his voice and adding a Sonorus to the mixture, he shouted, "Lucius Malfoy,
you flobberworm-shagging bastard, strike my wife again and they'll be working for weeks to scrape up enough of you
to build a memory!"
He stopped abruptly, and behind him heard Ron gasp in dismay. However much they had expected this, seeing the row
of black-clad Death Eaters on the front lawn of the school was a shock. There were Dementors about, too. Not close,
Voldemort wouldn't want them so close that they would handicap the Death Eaters, but Harry could feel them, could
hear the faint screams in the back of his head. Hermione's warm touch in his mind helped him ignore them for the
moment.
Voldemort's voice hissed across the lawn, amplified by his own Sonorus. "Quite the bravado, Potter, when you know I
hold the lives of your Mudblood whore and her harlot mother in my hands. Especially when you're out here practically
all alone, facing the combined might of my forces."
Harry glanced to the side, suddenly realizing that the Auror squads were using Disillusionment charms and could not
be seen. And the D.A. members were hiding on the battlements so that all that could be seen above was a few owls.
Apparently Voldemort was really thick enough to believe that Harry would come out to meet him with only a few
supporters.
"At least I'm out here showing my face. You're hiding behind a wall of black robes and a couple of stolen women. If
you want to talk, come out here where I can see you. Otherwise I'm just going to go in and have breakfast, and you
can stay out here and keep sucking off your Death Eaters r11; and draining their power, too." Harry could actually hear
sudden intakes of breath from both sides at his blatant insult. "The longer you stay out here, the weaker you get. So
this is a no-lose situation for me."
"You would abandon your whore and her mother to me? So much for Gryffindor honour!"
"Tommy, you're smart enough to know that if you kill them, you lose your only bargaining chip. The only thing
keeping me from cutting through your entire so-called army is the concern that my wife and mother-in-law might get
hurt." He paused again. "But I never said I was going to have breakfast alone. You've taken two people dear to me,
Tom, and I'm going to get them back."
"You've been weakened as I have, Potter. Don't bluster when you haven't the power to back it up."
"Really, Tom?" He grinned out at the Death Eaters and whispered "Accio sexy woman." He was a little surprised to
find both Helen and Hermione flying toward him at high speed when he'd intended to get Hermione first and grab
Helen next.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a sickly green bolt of light flying at Hermione from somewhere in the midst of the
throng of Voldemort's followers, and his Seeker's ability to judge trajectories told him the beam would hit her before
she reached him. Acting on instinct, he did the only thing he could think of - he shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and
flicked his wand at the deadly spell, which deflected skyward.
The silence in both camps was sudden and palpable.
Harry had only a moment to slow down the hurtling women, bringing them to a gentle stop before him. "Thank you
for grabbing us both," Helen said as she hugged her husband. Hermione simply giggled.
"Shush, you," Harry said, his face blazing red. "We have things to deal with right now."
"Right," Hermione said. "Accio wands." Two spears of wood shot from the Death Eater camp, one of them lifting the
still injured Draco Malfoy off the ground quite a distance before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground as his
robes ripped. The wands slowed and fell gently into their owners' hands.
"NOW!" shouted Harry, and suddenly a barrage of spells shot from the Disillusioned groups of Aurors, who had been
able to work their way unseen into excellent vantage points. A second later, more spells came flying from the
battlements as the D.A. members popped up and began peppering anything in a black robe and white mask with a wild
variety of spells. The Death Eaters were not slow to return fire, and since Harry's group were the only ones visible,
they took the majority of the initial attack. Dumbledore had been prepared, and cast a massive Shield spell which was
probably the only thing that saved them, but the elderly wizard was able to do nothing else while he was maintaining it.
Spells impacting on it caused it to coruscate with brilliant colour.
The fight quickly became more a deadly brawl than anything resembling a controlled battle. Curses flew randomly and
violently, as the Death Eaters changed targets in an attempt to find the Auror groups. Voldemort's forces, however, did
not attempt to move forward, and the reason soon became apparent.
The air temperature seemed to drop suddenly and shadows covered the lawn. Harry glanced up briefly, to see that the
sun was still shining, but there seemed to be little light coming from it. The Death Eater line broke up to permit sinister
cloaked figures to glide through. There were muffled shrieks and screams from the battlements. The Dementors had
taken the field.
"Oh, fuck," said Harry, as Hermione clutched his arm. "That's more than there were third year."
"Third year they left some in Azkaban and some came here. This is probably all of them," said Hermione.
The Dementors converged rapidly on Harry's command group, undeterred by the barrage of spells focused on them.
Suddenly, they seemed to collide with an invisible wall r11; Dumbledore's shield spell. Piling up in a mass of grey-
cloaks and withered flesh, they slowly began to push the wall back. "Harry," said Dumbledore in a strained voice, "if
you have a plan for dealing with these ... now would be a good time."
"I think we're back to basics on these." Harry kicked his Sonorus back in. "Everybody that can ... EXPECTO
PATRONUM!" As Dumbledore's shield finally went down, Harry's stag and Hermione's otter came bursting out of the
ends of their wands, glowing silver in the half-light. Followed by another. And another. And another.
By the time half a dozen stags and a like number of otters had surrounded the Dementors, a flock of other silver
animals had joined them, starting with Cho's swan sailing majestically down from the battlements. The Auror groups
and D.A. members on the walls produced an assortment of animals ranging from hedgehogs to elephants, including a
multiwinged thing that had to be one of Ginny's Bat-Bogies. Doug managed to produce a thick cloud of silver mist,
while Helen's wand projected a baby tiger cub.
Percy Weasley goggled at the tiger. "A baby Patronus?"
She shrugged. "Hey, it was my first try. Go get 'em, tiger!" The tiger cub blinked adorably and scampered off to worry
the edge of a Dementor's cloak.
Percy groaned. "Tell me you did not just say that!" He thought of the happiest day of his own life r11; the day he
received the Head Boy badge for seventh year. "Expecto patronum!" A huge cloud of silver mist resolved itself into a
magnificently maned lion, which roared happily and bounded into the fray.
Well, if Percy can do it, I can do it, thought Ron. Concentrating on his own memory of winning last year's Quidditch
cup, he summoned forth a silver border collie that started joyfully herding up a few Dementors which were making a
break for it.
Led by the stags, the assembly of patroni herded the Dementors into a smaller and smaller area, forcing them to pile up
on each other, packing them tighter and tighter. The animals ran widdershins around the Dementors, moving so fast
they formed a band of silver with an occasional flash of paw or horn or tail or wing, ever tightening on the black blot
of embodied despair in the centre. The Dementors likewise lost their individual shape, merging into a single seething
blob which shrank in upon itself until suddenly, in between one breath and the next, it was gone. With it went the
preternatural cold and shadow, and the morning sunlight once more fell golden across the grounds. The circle of silver
animals faded away, all but one stag, which trotted up to Harry and bowed its antlered head before dissolving.
Despite the spectacular conflict of Dementor versus Patronus in the centre of the lawn, the general combat continued.
Dumbledore, exhausted, was on his hands and knees behind the command group, now being protected by a shifting
patchwork of smaller shields cast by the students and Percy. Once it was obvious that the Headmaster's shield would
not be coming back up, curses once again began to converge on the command group. One grazed Hermione's arm,
causing her to flinch in pain, and a moment later, blood and gore spouted skyward as someone within the ranks of the
Death Eaters literally exploded. "Sorry love," Harry murmured.
"S'okay, Harry. Just rein it in, okay? That was disgusting."
"Gotcha. No exploding the Nibblers. Even if they do mar that perfect body of yours." Harry fired off several random
curses, and shrieks were heard from the Death Eaters.
"Harry, my body is anything but perfect," she replied, firing a handful of Cutting Curses. Grinning evilly, she targeted
Antonin Dolohov with one of them, and smiled as she saw him start to bleed profusely. Harry, on the other hand, could
feel the deep horror she truly felt.
"Hush, woman, and leave my fantasies alone!" he said melodramatically. It's all right, love. As long as your whole life
isn't aimed at getting revenge on various people, you're not going Dark. A very wise and beautiful woman taught me
that, and would do well to take her own advice.
Thank you, Harry. It just bothers me.
"I know it does." He fired off another curse at random, and was very surprised when three Death Eaters turned into a
hippopotamus, a giraffe, and an aardvark. "What the hell did I just cast?" he wondered out loud. "I think it's past time
to end this. Helen, get the Headmaster to safety, and stay there with him. We're going to take the battle to Tommy
boy." He began to walk toward the greatest clumping of Death Eaters, who were obviously protecting their Lord and
Master.
The four with him fell into step around him, Doug taking point, Ron and Hermione to either side, and Percy taking the
comment about a Weasley at his back quite seriously. Hermione was in charge of shielding, while Doug and Ron were
firing off curses and Stunners. Percy, when Harry spared him a quick look, was attempting to look in every direction at
once in an effort to keep his commanding officer as safe as possible.
Suddenly an odd electric blue spell came tearing through Hermione's shield. Before anyone else could react, Percy
intercepted it with his body, blood spraying with the impact. Before he had hit the ground, Harry had already cast the
most powerful stasis he could conceive of, and then spun in the direction of the caster, who was currently looking
smug. Harry snarled, and suddenly the caster's chest literally exploded outward, meat and bone flying everywhere.
"No one hurts my family," was all he said as he spared a look at Percy. It was obvious that Percy was still alive at the
moment, but since Harry had no idea what had struck him, he couldn't guarantee how long that would remain the case
- only the stasis was protecting him now. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see clouds of smoke rising from
happening in the direction of Hogsmeade, and prayed that there were enough people in the town to keep the place safe.
He couldn't help them. He had a job to do.
---
Down in Hogsmeade, the Weasleys were in the forefront of the fighting. Curses were flying left and right, and more
often than not, they were striking Death Eaters and bringing them to their knees. The townsfolk had rallied the moment
they saw the Weasley clan exit The Three Broomsticks like a Celtic clan of old, and the thirty or so novice Death
Eaters who had been sent to attack the town were beginning to wonder if perhaps this might not have been a bad idea.
It had started in The Three Broomsticks with five black robed people coming through the door. The majority of the
Weasleys, along with Remus, Moody, and a teenaged waitress, were gathered downstairs for breakfast, waiting only
for Bill to make it down the stairs to join them. Rosmerta was behind the bar stocking for the day. "No one move," a
Death Eater said in a tone of quiet menace.
He was answered by a chair flying across the room at him, which knocked him back into a wall, cracked his mask, and
left him foolishly holding his broken nose. The other four Death Eaters looked at him in surprise. This wasn't the way
things were supposed to go. "Sorry, Rosmerta" Charlie said, "but we need to teach these fools a lesson." He flicked his
wand at the door and it sealed itself with a squelch.
"Fine by me,"" she laughed, flinging a bottle of Ogden's at the Death Eaters, who had figured out that they were in
trouble, but had not the foggiest idea what to do about it. A spell shot out before the bottle could reach them, and it
shattered, spraying them all with whiskey. Arthur grinned evilly and said, "Incendio!"
Two minutes later, there were five singed and unconscious Death Eaters tied up rather thoroughly and locked in
Madame Rosmerta's storeroom, and the waitress had taken refuge in the kitchen.
Charlie unstuck the door and was about to open it when he heard a sickening crunch from outside followed by a
number of people shouting variations on "Where in hell did he come from?" He flung open the door quickly to reveal
Bill getting to his feet, using the body of the Death Eater he had landed on as a shield. "Mum! Dad!" he said brightly.
"Fancy meeting you here!"
"William, did you land on that man?" Molly said with some consternation.
"Yes, Mum, I did."
"Did you at least land properly?"
"Yes, Mum. I waited until he was right in position under my window. He made an excellent cushion."
"At least you took proper precautions," she replied. She seemed ready to fight, but everyone in the family knew that
she'd likely schedule a small nervous breakdown for after the fight.
"Can we talk about this later?" Arthur asked calmly as he fired a stunner into the crowd of Death Eaters. "We have
other things to do right now."
"Of course, Dad," Bill answered, shoving the dead man forward into the nearest living Death Eater, and the fray was
joined.
The battle was surprisingly brutal, and utterly unfair. For the Death Eaters. With the Order members leading the fight,
the rest of the townsfolk came out in force, and soon the attackers were surrounded. Although the villagers generally
knew only schoolboy hexes and jinxes, the majority of the Death Eaters seemed to be inexperienced and fought poorly.
The curses they threw were weak, spaced well apart. They seemed to think that the villagers would roll over in terror at
the very sight of them, and were totally unprepared for resistance.
They were even less prepared for Fred and George Weasley. While Bill and Molly had bantered in the street, the two
of them slipped out the back of The Three Broomsticks and ran down the back alley to their favourite haunt of old,
Zonko's Joke Shop. They pounded on the back door to attract the attention of Zonko's son, who had been opening the
shop for the day when the Death Eaters arrived. "Let us in, Zeb! We need ammunition!" Zeb opened the door and the
two of them headed directly for the lime-green store display of the latest Wizard Wheezes. "Good thing you keep fully
stocked on our stuff!"
"Those are Death Eaters out there," quailed Zeb. "What are you going to do, prank them?"
"For a man who runs a joke shop-," said Fred as he ripped open a box of Portable Swamps.
"-You have a surprising lack of imagination," finished George, stuffing his pockets with fireworks.
"These things all have safety charms." Fred shoved an armload of cans of Silly String r11; something the Muggles had
almost got right, and of course the Weasleys had been able to improve on it r11; into Zeb's arms.
"But we, of course, know how to take them off!" George brandished a double handful of fake wands. "Come on! We
don't want the Death Eaters all used up before we get there!"
That end of the street was a melee of Death Eaters versus shopkeepers. Though outnumbered, the Death Eaters were
not slow to use the Cruciatus Curse and other nasties which the shopkeepers couldn't counter; on the other hand, a
good Jelly-Legs Jinx, though basic, could keep a Death Eater down long enough that he could be kicked in the head.
Fred started the show by sailing the black disks which were the packaged form of the Portable Swamps out into the
street. He'd been practising, and they flew quite well. Where they hit, they expanded into large patches of mud, muck
and slime, and anyone standing there sank up to their knees. One Death Eater disappeared entirely into a patch of
quicksand.
This was followed by a round of Catherine wheels and other Weasley Wildfire Whiz-bangs, which shot to and fro
throughout the battle, singeing and exploding various Death Eaters and carefully avoiding local citizenry. Meanwhile,
George was tapping all of his fake wands against the street, which turned them into rubber chickens. The chickens
promptly animated and ran about pecking at Death Eaters and administering Shocking Charms each time they hit.
Finally, the twins joyfully grabbed a can of Silly String in each hand and darted into the confusion, spraying anybody
wearing a black robe and a white mask with strings of the brightly coloured goo, which immediately wrapped around
their targets and then hardened up into unbreakable bindings. Zeb looked doubtfully at the cans he had left, then
shrugged and jumped into the fight to do his own share of Stringing.
In the middle of the street, a team of Aurors erupted from Honeyduke's, and the villagers there thankfully yielded the
combat to the more experienced fighters, only grabbing Death Eaters and throwing them back into play if they tried to
crawl off.
The fighting at the head end of the street was just as furious, although considerably less entertaining than down by
Zonko's. The leader of the invaders was a different story from the green fighters she led, and she fought like a dervish,
keeping both Moody and Remus busy. She launched an Incendio at them, which both of them ducked, and it flew into
The Three Broomsticks behind them. A moment later, Madame Rosmerta jumped out right through the front window,
and less than a second after that, every bottle of Firewhiskey in the place went up with a roar. Remus rolled away from
the explosion, but Moody was less agile, and a well-placed Expelliarmus threw him backwards into the flames. He did
not come out.
Remus growled and climbed to his feet as the Death Eater removed her mask and threw it at him contemptuously.
"Is the ickle wolfie mad?" taunted Bellatrix LeStrange as the smoke billowed through the street. "His wittle playmate
went bye-bye. Now he can go, too." She raised her wand. "AVADA r11;"
Remus' eyes glowed yellow with anger. He moved faster than anyone had ever seen before, and punched her hard in
the face before she could react. She screeched in pain and spun to face him. "How dare you, you foul mutt?! No one
touches me and lives!"
"Ah, that explains your husband," Remus replied. "Took one look at you and died of the shock." He spun out of the
way of a blast of pure magic from her, jumping in to hit her again, even harder than before. Nearby fighters could hear
bones breaking. From the way the two combatants landed, it was obvious that none of the broken bones belonged to
Remus.
Bellatrix got to her feet painfully, but before she could steady herself, he was behind her back. Quickly putting his
arms around her, he gripped her right shoulder with his left hand, and her left cheek with his right hand. The twisting
motion and the resulting crunch sickened a few people, but far more simply began to cheer at the death of one of
Voldemort's most feared lieutenants. By this time, most of the Death Eaters had been caught between indigo team and
a line of impassable swamps (complete with alligators), and fighting was beginning to die down as their numbers
decreased.
Remus walked toward the surrounded Death Eaters. "Well, that was a nice warm-up. Any other Death Eaters want to
play with the werewolf?" An aura of menace surrounded him, reminding everyone that no matter how mild-mannered
he was, the wolf was only lightly chained within him. Wands clattered to the ground as the remaining Death Eaters
surrendered. As the Aurors collected the wands, Remus said, "Thank you. If you don't mind, I'm going to go be sick."
He found a clump of bulrushes on the edge of the swamp and was violently ill behind it, while Molly rubbed his
shoulders and crooned something comforting. Behind him, there was an explosion in The Three Broomsticks and the
roof collapsed inwards. A plume of black smoke rose into the sky.
---
Harry was making progress, cutting through the thickest press of the Death Eaters, when he suddenly felt a cold and
metallic hand at his throat. "Wormtail. Wondered when you'd make an appearance."
"You can die right now, you know. All I have to do is close this hand that Voldemort gave me, and I will be exalted
above all other Death Eaters."
Shit! '...either must die at the hand of the other ...' Harry thought. That's Voldemort's hand! Shit, fuck, and all the other
four-letter words! He made no effort to move a muscle. "You've got me, Pettigrew. I think you misunderstand
Tommy's point of view, though. I have the distinct feeling that if you took away the pleasure of killing me from him,
he'd make you regret it for a long, long time."
He could feel Pettigrew's indecision, so he continued. "Do you really want to end up on the same ward as Lockhart and
the Longbottoms? I think he'd take no end of pleasure turning you into even more of a gibbering fool than you already
are, Pettigrew."
The hand tightened slightly. "I can hurt you badly in the meantime, Harry. I'd watch the insults. You can be as stupid
as Sirius when it comes to that sort of thing." The hand relaxed slightly. "I miss the damned fool hound. Why did he
have to get involved? Why couldn't he have just sat back? He'd still be alive today."
"Because he understood something that you never will, Peter. There are things worth dying for. Your boss isn't one of
them. But saving the life of a friend, rather than turning friends over to be murdered - that's worth dying for. You were
never a real Marauder, you worthless piece of shit. In the name of the three spirit Marauders, I cast you out." He could
feel the pulse of magic burst from him, and heard the gasp from his attacker. In that moment, he saw Doug's wand
come down, and he felt a small trickling of blood as the cutting curse that Doug used removed the silver appendage.
Harry quickly cast a spell to staunch the flow of blood from both himself and Pettigrew, and then reached up and
removed the hand from his throat, Banishing it quickly. "Thanks, Doug. I see you got why I was trying to piss off the
rat." He quickly threw another stasis over the whimpering Animagus.
"Took me a few seconds. I'm not as smart as my wife and daughter."
Harry laughed. "You were smart enough to marry Helen."
"True."
They all turned to face the crowd of Death Eaters surrounding their foe, and Harry simply put his hands together and
then yanked them apart as if pulling open a rather heavy curtain. Masked wizards went flying pell-mell, leaving just
the inhuman looking Dark Lord standing alone.
"Avada Kedavra!" Tom shouted before anyone could react.
No! Harry screamed in Hermione's mind. He tried to reach out to stop the spell, but they were too close. He felt the
curse strike her, and cringed in preparation of feeling her wonderful light going out forever.
Instead, both he and Hermione we astonished to feel a third presence announce itself and take hold of the magic,
twisting it and shaping it as one would manipulate soft clay. Suddenly, the power was released again, back at
Voldemort, only it was a brilliant white light that coruscated around him for a long moment, making him shriek in
agony. Finally it disappeared, and he stood before them, barely able to keep upright.
Harry faced the so-called Dark Lord. "Tom, your reign of terror is over. You've been draining my power my entire
life, but when Snivellus cut the bonds on me, he cut all the bonds, including the one between you and me as well. I
didn't weaken, Tom - I kept the power you used to drain away from me. Now you have only the link to the Death
Eaters still standing."
He stared for a long moment at his long-time nemesis. "I think it's time we reverse that spell that you cast after the Tri-
Wizard Tournament. You still have something of mine, Tom. My blood. The blood of the enemy, forcibly taken. I
want it back! Accio blood!" He felt his stomach turn as Riddle screamed. Reddish-black blisters bubbled up under the
Dark Lord's skin and broke. The foul-smelling liquid ran down his body to the ground and flowed across the
intervening space between Riddle and Harry. It formed a noisome puddle at Harry's feet. He could hear the sound of
people nearby retching at the horrifying sight, and even the Death Eaters recoiled in horror.
Finally, it was finished, and a much looser skin hung on the Dark Lord's frame. He looked vaguely like a mummy, his
flesh dark and wrinkled and desiccated. He was somehow still alive, if one could call that life. Hermione picked up the
refrain. "Flesh of the servant, willingly given," her clear voice called across the field. She pointed at Pettigrew and
grinned as she said, "Reparo!"
This was a much faster reaction, as all the skin and muscle simply dissolved from Riddle's frame, and Pettigrew
developed a proper hand again. All that remained of Riddle was a skeleton, glistening wetly in the light where the
hands and skull protruded from its robe. Helen spoke up. "To hell with finishing the chant of the previous spell!" she
snarled, casting the Bone-breaking Curse. The skeleton shuddered and crumbled, and a fine powder settled to the
ground.
From the pile of bone dust and black fabric, a wispy form slid skyward. It looked vaguely like a ghost, but it had red
eyes that glowed evilly even in the sunlight. Harry could hear a feathery soft voice whispering, "I can't be destroyed,
Potter. Haven't you learned that by now? I'll simply find a new body and keep going. I am immortal, Potter, and you
will simply die."
"Sorry Tom, but you've been misinformed. You go on to your next life today, and you even have your own traitor to
thank. The only thing holding you here now is your ties to the Death Eaters, and I know what to do about that." Harry
looked carefully at the gliding ghost and whispered, "Trennen Sie Bindung."
The crowd gasped as they heard Harry's spell cast, and watched as the spirit form before them simply ... vanished,
leaving only the ghostly strains of "No!" fading in the air. Those Death Eaters still standing on the field shrieked for a
moment and then fell as if Stunned. All but Draco Malfoy, who stood alone amongst the field of crumpled forms. His
robes were still smouldering in the area of his groin, and he was looking more than a little spell-burned in other ways
as well.
"Well, Draco," Harry said conversationally, "you were smart enough not to take the mark, but dumb enough to fight
with them. You've no money, no home, and no sense. And Doug Granger still has the right, I think, to deal with you in
a more permanent manner." Harry turned. "Dad?"
"Well, if there are any trustworthy Aurors still standing, I say that he should just be taken back into custody."
Looking around at the ground full of masked people, Harry replied, "I think any Aurors still standing are trustworthy.
Let's get a few of them." He turned back to Draco. "Oh, Draco? I have something I've really wanted to say to you for
the last five years, and the feeling got that much stronger when you tried to rape my wife."
"W-what's that, Potter?" the blond ex-student asked. Being the last one standing on the Dark side was, he was
realizing, not an enviable position to be in.
Harry answered by swinging out with a violent uppercut thrust directly into Draco's stomach, hard enough to lift him
from the lawn by roughly a foot. "Barbaric, I know, but quite satisfying," he finished, turning his back on the now
vomiting Draco as two Aurors came over and took him back into custody.
Harry simply stood still for a moment, staring across the lawn, seeing but not registering the piles of black fabric that
marked where the Death Eaters lay, the groups of Aurors and students moving among them, piling the dead in heaps
and taking the still living into custody. The dark plume of smoke rising above the forest in the direction of Hogsmeade
was now interspersed with brightly coloured magical sparks and fireworks that spelled out things like, "WE WON!"
and "TAKE THAT, MOLDIESHORTS!" He began to shake, his hands becoming so numb he almost dropped his
wand before Doug took it out of his hand. "Hermione, Ron, get him to sit down before he falls down," the older man
said quietly. "He's going to have one hell of an adrenaline crash in the next few minutes." Doug used the gold hula
hoop to summon a medical team for Percy while Ron and Hermione dragged Harry back to the front steps of the castle
and eased him down to sit at the base of one of the guardian statues.
The doors of Hogwarts stood open now, and the D.A. members who had been on the battlements came pouring out
now, to help with the mop-up on the ground. Aurors and seventh-year students who had been fighting stumbled
exhausted back up into the Entry Hall. Many of them saluted Harry as they went by, but he barely noticed who they
were. Ron was a little more alert, though, and cried out, "Oi! Bulstrode! What are you doing down here?"
The Slytherin girl, her robe torn and blood-stained, stopped briefly to answer. "I was fighting, Weasley, as if you
couldn't guess. It wasn't only Gryffindors who didn't want him," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder to
indicate where the Dark Lord had fallen, "in charge of things."
"Only seventh-years were supposed to be out here!" said Hermione, indignantly.
"Well, nobody was exactly checking ages when I joined up with Orange Group," laughed Millicent. "And we
Slytherins aren't exactly noted for following the rules. See you inside once we're all cleaned up. Maybe we can talk
r11; really have a conversation r11; then. I think things will be changing now." She waved and staggered off up the
stairs.
Ron and Hermione sank down on either side of Harry, all three of them experiencing the let-down now. Hermione
wrapped her arms around her beloved, and he responded in kind, both of them shaking and trying to hold back tears.
Ron hesitated a moment, then joined in the embrace, laying one arm along Harry's shoulders and reaching around with
his other hand to grasp Hermione's arm firm. "I guess it's all over, then?" Harry whispered, as if needing to reassure
himself and them. "This is the end of it?"
"No, Harry," murmured Hermione, "this is the beginning."