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Chapter 33: Dying Time’s Here

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“I surely didn’t expect to see you, Harry,” said Lupin. “But I guess I really should have known you’d be here tonight. Damn me for getting sentimental too. I still miss her so much, and it’s all my fault she’s dead.”

“It’s not your fault, Professor, just because the two of you broke up. Something else might have happened.”

Lupin threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, damn it, Harry! Tonks and I never broke up. Haven’t you figured it out yet that everything last summer was staged for your benefit? You wouldn’t have accepted Tonks as a girlfriend and started sleeping with her if you thought she and I were still dating. I was living there with her in Grimmauld Place until the afternoon before your birthday, the bed that she laid you down in that night; she laid me down in it that afternoon, and for the same purpose. I’m surprised you didn’t notice that the mattress was still warm and sweaty.”

“I thought the wet dog smell was coming from Kreacher,” said a somewhat shocked Harry. “But how were you at fault for her death?”

“Because I’m the one who talked her into taking part in Moody’s scheme to get you ready to fight Voldemort, including having her give you sexual confidence. She liked you, but she didn’t want to deceive you for fear of hurting you, and because she didn’t want to be apart from me. I talked her into it, and got a flat nearby. Those times when she’d leave you with McGonagall or Moody, she was over at the flat with me. As soon as we got you safely back to Hogwarts the plan was that she and I were going to publicly get back together again. But while she was here, Moody wanted her to try and recruit a local informant to help the Order, we knew the Death Eaters already had their spies in here. She unwisely chose Phingarbang because he was willing to accept the only thing she had to buy his loyalty, sex. I nearly went crazy with grief when Moody told me she was dead.”

“Me too,” was all Harry could mutter as the sense of loss was reawakened. Tonks had only been fucking Phingarbang to get information, and he had been fucking her back to set her up to be murdered. What a hell of a town to call home. “But what have you been doing since then, where’ve you been?”

“After a bit I went back to work for the Order to follow you and protect you. Moody and McGonagall were worried about you; they knew you were slipping away from Grimmauld Place, probably to get laid. I was supposed to be your shadow, find out what was going on, and see if you were safe. I soon figured out that you now knew about your parent’s secret business and were going there; which meant you were perfectly safe. It also meant that maintaining your sexual confidence wasn’t going to be a problem. However, the others didn’t want to just take my word for it that you were all right. Harry, you don’t know how badly it scared them, and others, when they realized how close you really came to getting killed here with her.”

“You know!” exclaimed Harry. “You know about me owning the Golden Unicorn?”

“Harry, I was your dad’s best mate, next to Sirius. How could you think I didn’t know? Sirius and I must have shagged at least half the elves in the Unicorn for free back in those days. Sirius used to carry me into the basement near where your mum had her potion’s lab on the full moon nights so I could change there. Your mum was even trying to work up some potions to help me beat Lycanthropy when she was killed.”

“So you followed me here tonight, how?”

“Actually no, I came here to pay my respects to Tonks and your parents. I didn’t know you’d be here. McGonagall told me this afternoon that she thought you really were there at Hogwarts tonight; I stupidly figured it was safe to come here.”

“You …you’ve talked to McGonagall today, tonight?” Harry asked.

“Of course, I’m one of the few remaining members of the Order aren’t I? I tell you it’s been a busy job trying to keep up with you this year. Even I’ve had trouble telling if it was really you or one of those damned transforming elves of yours I was looking at.”

“So, does McGonagall know where I go on weekends?”

“No, Harry,” said Remus, “if McGonagall knew how you were leaving Hogwarts and where you were going don’t you think she’d have done something about it by now? James required Sirius and me to take a binding promise charm that we could never discuss the secret of the Golden Unicorn with anyone who didn’t already know it. That was because he knew that we’d probably get dead pissed some night and blab it out in a bar.”

“So she doesn’t know about any of this?” asked Harry.

“Well, she suspects plenty enough. She thinks you’re leaving the school by some means none of us can figure out, and go someplace she and Moody don’t know about. They know that I know more than I’m telling, so it was assigned to me to try and protect you. Since I can’t tell them about the elves they think you are using some kind of animated transfiguration spell to make a duplicate of yourself appear there while you’re really gone.”

“I bet it has left McGonagall scratching her tits and her arse at the same time trying to figure it out,” laughed Harry. “No wonder she’s been on the rag every time I got around her.”

”Oh, you have no idea, and it’s not just her; Moody tried tracking devices, and I’ve searched your rooms several times and I can’t find how you’re doing it.”

“You searched my rooms! How did you get in unnoticed?”

“I used polyjuice potion with a hair from Filch, no one notices Filch wandering around or asks him anything. It’s the perfect disguise, at least until Filch had his mysterious breakdown,” said Remus with a pointedly suspicious look at Harry. “But there was nothing in your room that was a portal or floo line, no way to disapparate.”

“So that was you I saw…,” Harry muttered to himself.

“You saw me …you could see me in the room?” Lupin asked. Lupin looked away for a few seconds as Harry belatedly realized that he should have kept his mouth shut. “The mirror, the bloody mirror IS the way in and out. You enchanted the mirror to teleport you in and out of the room to your parent’s old suite in the Golden Unicorn, and teleport an elf back in your place.

“Of course! James and Lily both had a way that they could teleport in to the Unicorn from just about anywhere. But I checked that mirror for portal spells at least three times and got nothing back, how did you pull off magic of that caliber? Teleport from inside Hogwarts? That’s like something only Dumbledore could do.”

Harry wasn’t sure how to answer Lupin, fortunately, he didn’t have to, and unfortunately, it was because the situation got significantly worse. The sounds of explosions rent the air from the direction of the Hill. The shouts of joy turned to screams of fear. As he and Lupin looked towards the source of the commotion they saw a green flare sail into the sky, it exploded into the Dark Mark, bathing the Hill area in its green glowing light. Harry knew what was happening; he had seen it occur at the World Quidditch Cup finals a few years back. It was an attack by Voldemort.

All around Harry there was a quick popping sound like a string of small firecrackers, and Lupin suddenly went completely stiff as if frozen in place. Looking around him Harry saw a ring of elves in a defensive posture and two of them were binding Lupin in place. Poonanni stepped before Master and knelt before him, Harry could see that she was crying.

“Master, we is here to protect you, you is in danger from bad wizards.”

“What is going on, how do you know I’m in danger?”

“Poontang is dead, Master, she is dead, killed. She is my sister, we is linked and she is not there anymore. She sent me one last message that bad wizards had her, she would make them think she was you.”

Harry was stunned. If Voldemort had killed Poontang then he was inside Hogwarts, he had breached the castle walls. This was simply a diversion to draw the Aurors here instead of Hogwarts. He had to get back to the castle and warn everyone.

“Harry, if you please,” muttered Lupin against the bonds.

“Release Professor Lupin now,” he ordered, “and take the two of us to the Master suite immediately.”

“Yes, Master,” said Poonanni and in a moment Harry was inside his living room again. The door opened and the Delacours walked in.

“Are you all right, Harry?” Desiree asked. “Hello Remus, long time no see.”

“I’m all right,” said Harry. “But Voldemort is inside Hogwarts, he’s killed Poontang thinking she’s me. I’ve got to get back there and warn them.”

“Harry, if Hogwarts is under attack then the Ministry has already been informed. There are too many wards to cross not to have triggered at least one,” said Desiree. “If you try to go back you’ll land right in the middle of the fight, you might get killed before you can do anything to help.”

“But I have to do something, I was supposed to be training to fight the bastard but Moody said the problem was flushing Voldemort into the open, well he’s in the open now. I’ve got to at least try.”

“Harry, you’re not ready yet, we don’t have the sword, or the coven established,” said Fleur. “Merlin told you that was the only way to face him and win. Think about it, why would Voldemort attack Hogwarts, what is its strategic value to him? You. He wants to finish the job he started when he killed your dad. If Poontang is really dead then she died to make Voldemort think you were no longer a threat. That frees you to do what is necessary to defeat him without worrying about an attack.”

“Fleur, I know what you are saying is true, but I can’t abandon my friends. Look what he did at Azkaban to his captives, … to Bill. I can’t stand by and let my friends share that fate. You and the baby should stay here, that’s why we made a spare in the first place … remember. Besides I have to get the Sorting Hat, if Voldemort is there he’ll try to grab it because it was Godric’s.”

“Pardon me," said a bewildered Lupin, “but what are you two talking about?”

“It’s a long story, Remus,” said Desiree, “and we don’t have time to explain just right now. Harry is right Fleur, you two will need to go to your dad’s old office and get the Hat and sword if nothing else. Maybe Remus wants to go too to be lookout.”

“If they are going to Hogwarts then you’re bloody well right I want to go along, but how will we get in the castle, much less McGonagall’s office. And what do you mean by your dad’s office?”

“Remus, my real name is Fleur Dumbledore, and my daddy taught me a little trick for moving around that can get you anyplace you want to go undetected. I’m going to change; I’ll be ready in a moment.”

Fleur was right about his not being prepared for a fight, thought Harry. “Dobby come to Master,” he said, and was answered almost immediately with a small pop as Dobby appeared at his side.

“How may Dobby help his Master?” he asked.

“Dobby, go to Grimmauld Place, to the training lab in the basement. Bring me the wand in the decorated case you saw me using there, and waste no time, I must have it now.”

There was another pop as the house elf disapparated. In a few seconds, Fleur returned wearing more clothes than Harry had ever seen her wearing at one time before. She had on knee high lace up boots with heavy corduroy jeans tucked into the tops, a black silk blouse, and robes over that.

“You two stand back,” she said to Harry and Remus. As they stood amazed as Fleur took her wand and while muttering incantations neither of them had ever heard, she drew a black hole in the air before her. It was a black hole that just hung there like a curtain with no means of support. To their even greater amazement, Fleur stepped into the hole and disappeared inside it.

“Follow her in quickly,” said Desiree to Harry and Remus. “Poonanni, take a dozen of the elves with you to help defend Master.”

Harry watched as Remus gingerly stepped into the opening in thin air and disappeared, and then he remembered what Moody had told him a few months back about Dumbledore being able to travel in another dimension that he could open at his command. This is what Moody was talking about; Dumbledore had passed on the secret of the spell, but only to his daughter. At that moment, Dobby returned with the case from Grimmauld Place that contained the Black Wand within. If nothing else, this would give Harry an edge in the fight that might make the difference. Harry then entered the hole followed by Poonanni and the assembled group of elves.

“Gabrielle and I will manage matters here,” Desiree said to them from the outside. “We’ll close the Unicorn until further notice; the Ministry will probably order that done anyway. I’ll put the elves on guard duty here and at the villa. Be careful, baby.”

“All right, Mummy,” answered Fleur, “I’ll watch over them and get them back as soon as possible.” With a tap of her wand the black hole closed shut leaving the party in darkness.

“Wands out, lights on,” Fleur said as she, Harry and Remus lit the tips of their wands for light. Inside the black hole it was truly black, there was nothing to indicate direction, distance, or even the passage of time. Fleur was the only one who seemed to instinctively know where she was heading and how to get there. The little rescue party grouped up closely behind her and set off for Hogwarts.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“Fuck this bullshit!” thought Horace Slughorn as he waddled through the halls of Hogwarts at maximum speed for his ponderous girth. He had known this would happen someday; Voldemort had finally made it inside the castle and was killing everyone in sight. Why he ever let Dumbledore talk him into coming back here he would never know, but if he survived tonight he was headed for Australia in the morning. Slughorn knew better than to try and fight against these people, that was sheer suicide. Running away and hiding was a much better solution to the problem. He heard another set of blasts echoing near the Hufflepuff Commons as he saw his objective come into sight.

Huffing and puffing like a locomotive from the sheer agonizing exertion of walking at more than a snail’s pace, the corpulent potions professor hurried into the library and headed for the reading area. Slughorn had a little trick up his sleeve; he had taught himself how to transfigure his own overstuffed body into an overstuffed armchair. The only problem is that if you want to hide a tree the best place is in the forest. A plush armchair would look out of place in the potions lab, and it was too obvious in his quarters, Dumbledore had taught him that. So it was to the library reading area which had a number of arm chairs for leisurely reading that he headed. Picking a likely spot against the wall he crouched over and began to concentrate, in a few seconds he began to feel the odd pull of the transformation start.

One floor up from the library ran a hunched over man. It was Argus Filch and he had no intention of making a fight either. Filch had witnessed the Headmistress’ death, and knew the Death Eaters weren’t taking prisoners. He was getting the fuck out of there. Over his many years at Hogwarts, Filch had learned most of the secret passages and tunnels that ran through the castle. Filch stayed in the shadows as he moved until he came to a statue of a voluptuous witch, behind which Filch knew there lay a tunnel entrance which led out of the castle towards the greenhouses. He had used it a number of times after hours to sneak out and spy on Sprout. Now he needed it to escape the castle.

Standing in front of the statue, Filch quickly rubbed the left breast several times, there was a giggle from the statue and a click as a panel in the wall opened. Ducking in, Filch closed the panel behind him and hurried through the dimly lit passage. At the other end, a rock shifted to allow him to exit onto the grounds. Before him lay the Forbidden Forest, but Filch would be damned if he’d go in there again. It would be a longer run in the open to the greenhouses, but safer in the end. Filch checked that everything was clear then he started running.

When he was only half way there he felt a stitch in his side, he had to stop and rest, but fear kept him going. He was nearly there when he felt them, everything turned cold and dark. Filch knew what was happening; Dementors were closing in on him. He panicked and ran as hard as he could, but his body just couldn’t do it. He fell to the ground less than 25 yards from the greenhouse doorway, he sucked in air desperately as he tried to get back on his feet. Looking up he saw them hovering over him, he tried to scream, but his jaw only wagged silently as the terror of what awaited him paralyzed his muscles. Slowly the Dementors lowered their hoods and fell upon him.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Inside his office in the Ministry of Magic Building, Kingsley Shacklebolt knew that something terrible was going on. Mere minutes after midnight there had been a number of incidents across the country. The Dark Mark had appeared over several areas intended to cause panic, including Diagon Alley and Godric’s Hollow. The strangest of all had been Hogwarts, the alarms there had gone off indicating trouble, and then after a few minutes they had ceased. Had it been a false alarm, or a feint to draw the Ministry forces there?

Kingsley only had a limited amount of reserves to put in the field, he knew this was an attempt to spread his forces so thin they couldn’t be effective anywhere. He knew that the Minister of Magic would soon be screaming at him wanting to know what his response was. So far, Kingsley had done nothing except what he and Moody had agreed was the best response for the moment, to wait. Obviously, there was a main attack under way somewhere, but where? If Kingsley could keep his reserves together then once he knew the point of battle he could respond in force.

Moody was already traveling the floo network trying to find out what was happening in these different places, but precious minutes were being wasted. There was a knock at his door, he hadn’t had time to respond before the door opened and Erinyes Bartleby walked in. The last thing Kingsley needed right now was for the Dragon to start breathing down his neck too.

“Kingsley,” she said, “I just got a message from Hooch in Hogsmeade. The target is Hogwarts, there is already a Dark Mark floating directly over the school; that means it had to have come from the inside. There are also groups of Death Eaters moving on Hogsmeade.”

“How can you be sure, Erinyes? It might be some conjuring spell, something to draw us to the wrong target. Maybe the real target hasn’t even been hit yet. I wouldn’t put it past the bastard to attack the Ministry building itself once we’ve dispersed our people all over the country.”

“I can’t be totally sure, Kingsley, but there is something I know that you don’t. Sixteen years ago this night, Voldemort attacked the Potter’s because of Trelawney’s prophecy. But there was more to it, he had checked bloodlines and found that the Potter’s are the last descendents of Merlin. That’s why he was determined to kill James and Harry back then. I think he wants to finish the job he started in 1981, he’s after Harry, and Harry is at Hogwarts.”

“So you want me to commit all my Aurors out to Hogwarts?”

“NO — I want you to stand ready. I have my own security forces dispatched to the area to support Hooch in completing her investigation of the situation.”

“You were authorized those forces for defensive purposes only,” said Kingsley. “Assault forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law Enforcement.”

“Oh, but these are just defensive forces, dear colleague,” said Erinyes with a grin and a wink. “And, of course, we all know what the best defense is. I have two twelve magi teams going in. One is apparating about three hundred yards from Hogsmeade and moving in to the village. The second will arrive about the same distance from the gates of Hogwarts and move to the castle. Have your reserves ready to support us if we find that this is the primary target of the attack and need backup. If Voldemort is there then we’ll need every wand you can get us as fast as possible.”

“All right then,” replied Kingsley, “I’ll hold back as long as I can. Please keep me informed of what is going on out there, will you, please.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Hermione Granger just sat there staring at the corpse of Ron Weasley as the painful throbbing in her arm was forgotten. Less than an hour earlier he had asked her to be his wife and she had accepted, now her fiancé lay dead at her side. Around her the Death Eaters gathered to laugh at the pitiful little mudblood witch one last time before she died too.

“Don’t cry, sweetness,” mocked Lucius Malfoy. “You’ll be back in the arms of your precious little blood traitor boyfriend in just a moment. Oh, and you can tell that stupid Weasley twit for me that he gave his life for nothing, just like his equally stupid brother did.”

Sheer rage such as she had never known filled Hermione, but rage alone was not enough. She tried to bring her wand to bear to at least kill Malfoy for what he had done to Ron. Malfoy only laughed at her attempt. He easily stepped up and kicked her left side where her shattered left arm hung. The pain she felt was as bad as the Cruciatus curse, and she dropped her wand.

“Dying time’s here,” Lucius said in a very cold matter-of-fact way. “It’s too bad that love can’t save you…”

As Lucius Malfoy set himself to cast the killing curse upon Hermione, it was Severus Snape who suddenly realized what the idiotic Weasley brat had really done. He could have escaped, but he stayed and tried to save her out of love, and died for it. It was the same thing that Potter’s mother had done all those years ago for him … the same thing!

“AVADA…,” began Malfoy.

“NOOOOOO! Stop…” screamed Snape, but he saw it was too late; turning quickly, he dived through the opening in the wall back into the castle hallway. Standing next to Snape was Bellatrix. She wanted to see the filthy mudblood die for having killed her husband, but when she saw Snape dive through the opening out of there she knew something bad was about to happen and was hot on his heels out of the commons.

“… KADAVARA,” said Malfoy as a beam of green light left his wand and struck Hermione in the left breast. But instead of seeing Hermione fall over dead, the Death Eater’s macabre anticipation turned to horror as the killing curse rebounded from her and showered the room in deadly green light. One by one, starting with Lucius Malfoy, the entire group of Death Eaters fell screaming in pain to the floor from the effect of the reflected curse and went into their own death throes.

In the hallway outside, Bellatrix looked up from the floor at the deadly green light flowing out from the opening through which she had just barely escaped. “What just happened in there?” she screamed at Snape who lay on the floor beside her.

“The Weasley git repeated what Potter’s mother did to the Dark Lord, he sacrificed himself for her as an act of love. Granger has residual protection from that sacrifice; any curse we send to her will be thrown back into our faces.”

“But what about the rest of them that were left in there?” Bella asked.

“They are all dead, anyone who meant her harm is gone, we are all that’s left, we’ve failed," said Snape rolling onto his side to look back into the opening. “Damn it! I should have killed you and Lucius myself when I had the chance, anything you two take part in goes fuck all from the word go.”

In a fit of frustrated rage, Bellatrix swung at boot at Snape’s groin. The position was awkward and she couldn’t get the force behind it she wanted, but she connected with enough force to double him up in agony. She scrambled to her feet and managed to land a few more brutal body kicks before Snape grabbed her leg and pulled her down hard on the floor. Snape’s own anger rose to the fore now as he planted a knee in her belly and grabbed a handful of black hair. Holding her by the hair, Snape hit Bella’s face with his fist and was quite gratified to feel her nose go flat beneath his knuckles as blood showered the floor. Another hard punch in the face left Bella semiconscious, standing up over her Snape aimed and landed a kick at Bella breasts that left her screaming from the pain while spitting out a spray of blood from her battered nose and lips.

“How do you like it, bitch?” Snape raved as he delivered more kicks to the body as Bella convulsed beneath him. After a final blow with his fist to her head, Bella lay still on the stone floor. Snape picked up his wand and pointed it at the still form on the floor. It would be so easy to just kill the crazy bitch here and now, and he was exceedingly tempted to do it now. The problem was that she was still a favorite of the Dark Lord. Killing with magic left an imprint in the mind, something difficult to hide from a mind probe from a powerful wizard such as the Dark Lord. Anyway, there was a better option, leave her here, let the Aurors nick her and give her over to the Inquisition for torture, whatever was left could be fed to the damned Dementors. Checking that there were no witnesses around, he limped away towards the main hall, the pain in his groin causing him to gasp with every step.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Only one wizard had ever shown Rubeus Hagrid any real kindness as a boy. Everyone else had made fun of him, and looked down their noses at him, but not Albus Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore had believed in him when he had been falsely accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets, he had given him a job of honor and position at the school when all others had wanted him banished to the wilderness to live like an animal.

Professor Dumbledore had given his life only a short time ago to save this school, and now those who had killed him were approaching to finish the job. He heard the yells as orders were being given to surround the school buildings, to kill all who tried to flee. Hagrid knew he wasn’t very smart, but Professor Dumbledore had been a smart man, the smartest. He knew Hogwarts was worth fighting for, and if need be, dying for, and that was good enough for Rubeus Hagrid.

As he made out the outlines of the approaching Death Eaters, Hagrid knew that something had gone terribly wrong. The protective wards had failed, and the castle itself seemed like it was dying. The old magic that had sustained it was being drained away. No matter, he knew his duty. He looked at Fang who was stretching himself out, getting limber. Good old Fang, he thought as he gave him a pat on the back.

As the Death Eaters neared the main doors they began to spread out, and there were Dementors out there amongst them too. Hagrid grinned, they were over confident, sure of themselves, sure of their numbers. They had a bit of a surprise coming in a very short time, just a bit closer and they’d be in range. Hagrid thought back to the day that Professor Dumbledore had made him the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. He had personally given him three items to carry out the duties of his office with, the crossbow, the umbrella, and old Fang.

Hagrid had been sworn to secrecy about these three items. Professor Dumbledore had told him to let the world think him a buffoon, the two of them knew better. They both knew that things weren’t always what they seemed to be at Hogwarts. Hagrid opened his umbrella and placed it in front of him. To the casual viewer the worn looking fabric might appear barely able to stop a raindrop, but it had been enchanted by Dumbledore himself to be virtually impenetrable to any spell intended to harm its owner. In its open state it formed a shield against the oncoming Death Eaters. The crossbow was laid across the stone parapet that Hagrid had constructed. It looked like a simple toy, but it too was enchanted. When its owner needed it to, it could fire an endless stream of bolts all carrying magical tips that made them damn neigh impossible to deflect or block with a wand.

Many had wondered a year or so back how Professor Dumbledore had convinced the Centaur herd to release Madam Umbridge. It was actually quite simple, he’d told them that if they didn’t give her up he’d send in Hagrid and Fang to hunt every one of them down. That had ended the hostage situation right quick.

The Centaurs knew what Hagrid could do, and they knew the truth about Fang too. Everyone demeaned poor old Fang almost much as they did Hagrid, but only because they hadn’t seen old Fang in all his glory. Yes, appearances were deceiving at Hogwarts and you shouldn’t blindly trust what you see. Fang wasn’t just a big stupid dog; he was a true Hell Hound, a guardian demon in dog form who had protected the school grounds since the days of the founders. In another form, in a long past lifetime, Fang had guarded the temple of Anubis. Later, he had served Queen Mab in her personal pack of avenging spirits. Once he had the scent he was relentless and could literally track a victim through hell itself. To know Fang in his true form, and angry, was to know true terror. By some roundabout deal, Mab had given Fang to Merlin, and Fang had been here ever since.

When the approaching group came within range, Hagrid gripped the handle of the umbrella and flicked it three times in their direction. Three red balls of fire erupted from the tip and went into the night sky where they exploded into flares that lit up the advancing line of Death Eaters. The glare from the flares blinded them to Hagrid’s position, but merely made them a perfect target for his crossbow.

Leading the Death Eater advance on the school grounds was Gregory Goyle, Senior. It was a proud moment for him. The Dark Lord’s moment of victory was at hand. Goyle had supported Voldemort because he liked the ideas espoused by him; that purebloods such as himself were the natural masters of the magi by blood right alone. He would have the last laugh on the half bloods and mudbloods who had mocked him at school as slow-witted and without real talent. They shouldn’t have even been allowed there in the first place. They would see, yes, they’d all see now. After tonight they would be licking his boots asking for mercy.

He looked to his right and saw his wife there beside him. God how fat and ugly she was. He had only married her because his family had arranged it with her bloody lot so he’d be married to a pureblood wife. A pureblubber wife was more like it, he thought. He secretly hoped that when the fighting started he’d have an opportunity to get a clear shot at her back. It would make him look better in the Dark Lord’s eyes tonight if he lost his ‘beloved’ wife in the Dark Lord’s service. When he became a Lord in his own right he planned to have a harem of cute muggle mistresses to service his lust day and night.

The burst of the flares overhead caught them by surprise, was it a signal from the Dark Lord? It must be … the Dark Lord had promised them that there would be little or no resistance from the staff. Goyle shielded his eyes in the glare of the light and could now see the source ahead. Hagrid, that great stupid half-breed oaf, had placed himself across the entrance with his stupid crossbow. The great idiot was too stupid to even know when to run for his life. Taking care of him should provide a spot of entertaining sport for them.

As they approached within about 50 yards of the front door the Death Eaters heard a strange ‘twanging’ sound coming from the barricade. In seconds the leading edge of the attackers heard a whistling sound through their ranks, followed immediately by high-pitched screams of pain and terror as Hagrid's stream of bolts struck home among them.

Goyle looked over at his wife as he heard her familiar scream. Usually her scream was one of anger over some trivial thing she was put off about, but this time it was different. She was on her knees with two shafts protruding from her chest, one from each ponderous sagging breast. She was screaming in pain and fear as she tugged on the shafts trying to pull them out, but to no avail. Goyle could do nothing but laugh, he had hoped to get the opportunity to kill the bitch himself, but that idiot Hagrid had done the deed for him. What luck, he thought.

As he stood there laughing at his dying wife, Goyle felt something punch him in the side of the neck. His laughter was cut short, as was his ability to breathe. His body started retching; Goyle put his hands to his mouth. They came away wet and slick, looking down Goyle saw they were covered in blood. A great weakness filled his body and he found himself falling to his own knees. As his own strength ebbed, Goyle discovered the source of his mysterious symptoms, there was a crossbow bolt through his neck. His throat was blocked, and the arteries had been severed. Goyle looked to his wife one last time; she lay there before him wide eyed in death. Only then did it finally strike Goyle that he was about to join her. This wasn’t what the Dark Lord had promised at all.

Hagrid felt a grim satisfaction as he saw the pack of Death Eaters in front of him fall to his barrage of bolts. It was a partial payback for what they had done to Professor Dumbledore, and he felt no sympathy for the score or more he had left dead or dying on the ground. They’d asked for it. The rest quickly had a belly-full and retreated back towards the main gate, some of them hobbling or being helped away. Hagrid knew they would be back.

Within minutes the assault resumed but in a different form. Now the Dementors were leading the attack and rushing the two flanks simultaneously. Hagrid felt them coming before he could see them and turned to meet the attack on his side, while he felt Fang stand and prepare to cover the opposite flank.

The Dementors were like most bullies; inside they were nearly pure cowards. They were fierce because they knew that very few wizards or other creatures could actually do anything other than just drive them away. So their attack was bold, a head on confrontation. They knew that even if Hagrid could conjure a patronus, it wouldn’t be very powerful, or sustainable, and couldn’t protect him from all angles of approach.

The first wave came in three abreast, but they hadn’t counted on the enchantments Dumbledore had given the crossbow. The magical bolt heads were effective on spirit creatures too. In a spray of bolts the first three Dementors went down in a screeching heap of dissolving dust and rags. The remaining five hesitated in terror as they saw the near impossible happen before their eyes. The delay allowed Hagrid to kill two more before the rest fled the way they had come.

The half dozen or so Dementors on the opposite side also froze in place when they saw the first of their kind die. That had simply made them excellent targets for Fang. In a flash of spectral light he leaped into them, ripping the head from one and eviscerating two more with his claws. The remainder lost heart and fled. The Dark Lord would not be receiving reinforcements from this quarter any time soon.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The chilly night air blew upon their faces as Ripa crossed the street to stand opposite Roe. They moved towards the edge of the village facing the tree line where they saw the Death Eaters had gathered. The Death Eaters seemed a bit confused as if they hadn’t planned their attack very well, or as if something had gone wrong. That was probably it, thought Ripa, the alarm has been sounded, they had planned to take the town by surprise and the plan’s gone up. Now they are not sure what to do.

Marcellus Jugson had been placed in command of the attack on Hogsmeade by Lord Voldemort, his two chief lieutenants were Bole, & Derrick. Back in their school days they had been Slytherin Quidditch Teammates with Marcus Flint. Tonight they planned to get some payback from the Ministry for what had been done to their mate. The orders had been to await the signal from the castle that the advance attack force had taken control and the wards were down. The chiming of the clock and the appearance of the Dark Mark over the great hall had convinced most that the time to attack had arrived, but the village wards were still in place. They had exposed themselves to the village, but were unable to enter. The alarm also meant that Aurors were in route to the area.

Something was going wrong, and the more nervous among them were getting the jitters. Jugson and the others knew that the Ministry now meant business; if they were caught here then it was a date with the Dementors for sure. Then the clock stopped chiming and they all felt the protective wards collapse. That restored their confidence, the plan was working. Jugson looked over at his fellow Slytherins and gave the signal to attack the village. All appeared as expected to the Death Eaters, the streets were deserted, there was no defense in place, no alarms, surprise was complete.

The first order of business was to flush out the inhabitants into the kill zone; this would be done by burning the village down. Jugson watched as Bole took positions to set a house alight while Terence Higgs and Adrian Pucey prepared to torch the Three Broomsticks. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, Jugson saw a bolt of green light hit Bole in the chest. Bole fell heavily to the ground and didn’t move. A slight blur against Honey Dukes shop then produced a whip of blue light that snapped across both Higgs and Pucey’s necks, severing their heads, and spraying the Death Eaters behind them in a shower of steaming blood.

Jugson had no clue what was happening, but he and those around him sent a number of death curses into the areas from which the spells had seemed to come. The only response was two more bolts of green light and two more of the Death Eaters fell dead. Many of the lesser committed turned tail and ran back into the woods, while Jugson and others began to furiously cast a series of curses in a near panic to drive away whatever was attacking them. Behind him he felt the presence of the Dementors moving forward, they seemed to be able to see what was doing the killing. Jugson motioned to the lead Dementor to attack and yelled for the remaining Death Eaters to spread out, stay under cover, and resume the attack plan.

Roe Hooch had known that the cloaks were not effective against Dementors. So when she saw the Dementors advance she and Ripa had rejoined and retreated back into the village side streets. Dementors attacked in gangs and from all sides. Their only defense now was to face them back-to-back so they couldn’t get behind them; and capture the malicious spirits in the crystals.

The two took up a position in the alley besides Zonko’s joke shop, moments later the Dementors found them and began to surround them. In the background the two heard the sound of firestarter spells being cast in the air to set the village structures on fire. There was the sound of ‘plooping’ as the firestarters landed and began to ignite the structures of the village. There was no sound from the rest of the village, all doors and windows were closed. Ripa and Roe knew that the village would burn, there was only the two of them fighting back, and they couldn’t be everywhere.

The felt the initial attack of the Dementors first, the psychic wave of despair that always preceded the foul creatures gave them away. They attempted to attack from every available side, but the narrow alleyway limited them as Hooch had hoped it would. The first group of five hoped to draw the attention of both Ripa and Roe to that end of the alley, while a larger group hovered out of sight to swoop in from the other. The creatures often relied on their fearsome reputation to make the victim panic and commit a stupid error. Ripa and Roe knew better.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” shouted Hooch. The light from her wand dazzled and confused the oncoming rush of Dementors, breaking up their attack. With a few flicks of her wand, Roe Hooch captured two of the Dementors in the clear glass-like spheres from which they struggled desperately to escape. Roe knew that the spheres could only contain them a very short time, but if she stopped to collect them now she’d be defenseless against the others. When a third was encased in the spheres then the remainder screamed and fled.

While Roe struggled to draw the spheres into her crystal, the main force attacked Ripa. She used her own patronus to break up the rush and stun them for a short period, and then she began to take them. Ripa was a good bit more adept at the spirit capture enchantment and by the time the group of Dementors realized that the plan had failed four of there number were encased in the spheres. All but one of the remainder beat a hasty retreat, and it tried its best to rescue one of the captured Dementors. A touching display of loyalty, thought Ripa as she wondered if it were a best mate or lover. She hadn’t thought of Dementors as having that capability. The thought of two Dementor having intercourse was quite a troubling thought, but no matter, she quickly encased the lingering spirit. The two of them could die together, she thought, as she used her wand to reel them in to a crystal next to the one containing the other three. It wasn’t a good idea to put too many in the same crystal.

By the time they had secured their captives they could smell the smoke from the burning buildings, Hogsmeade was on fire. There were screams of panic as the inhabitants fled the inferno; it was soon obvious that a little water from a wand would not help douse the flames, so few even tried. As the people poured into the streets they were met with a hail of curses coming in from the surrounding area. The remaining Death Eaters were not so bold now as before, they circled the edges of the village, staying under cover, their wands flicking as individuals showed themselves. Ripa heard a scream as the girlfriend of a seventh year Hufflepuff knelt over his still body. Two more greenish beams flew at her and she fell to lay unmoving beside him.

Off to her right Ripa could make out the glow of Roe’s cloak moving to attack the Death Eaters in the treeline where most of the curses were coming from. In a moment of horror she saw a killing curse strike her from the side causing her to crumple to the ground. Ripa screamed in rage as she ran forward sending bursts of Sectrum Semptra curses in the direction of the Death Eaters. As she knelt by Roe’s side she felt for a pulse, it was there, but erratic, she had been saved by the cloak’s protection. Throwing a barrage of killing curses around her, she grabbed Roe’s cloak and started dragging her back to the cover of the smoking building.

The figure of Rosemerta came up to her through the smoke and helped her get Roe back beside the Three Broomsticks. “I’ll watch her,” she yelled over the din of the screams and crackling flames. “You go on; you’re saving a lot of lives.” Ripa nodded her thanks to Rosemerta and ran off into the smoke.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Hagrid was not in his hut when Neville and Ginny got there. He must have only just left judging by the way things appeared. As they stood there the great clock began to chime the alarm, they both quickly realized that something was wrong, but didn’t know whether to stay where they were, or to try to go somewhere safer. Soon they saw the dark mark hovering over the school and knew that Death Eaters were about. They doused the flames in the fireplace and closed the door.

They hoped that no one would notice them if they stayed very quiet, but after only a few minutes they could hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming up to the door. Somebody, or something, was about to walk in on them.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Antonin Dolohov had always been a brutal bastard, he truly enjoyed hurting others, the more helpless and undeserving the victim, the better he liked it. There weren’t many crimes he hadn’t committed, but rape, sodomy, torture, and murder were his favorites, especially if he could inflict them all on the same person, and even more if it were a child. His father had tried early on to ‘beat the meanness out of him.’ He might have succeeded if he hadn't ended up with an ax blade buried in the back of his skull. His mother had said that she didn’t know what to do with him, but he knew what to do with her. One night he left home; but only after he had raped and beaten her, then set the house afire with her still inside it. He wandered for several years in and out of trouble until he had met a fellow traveler named Tom Riddle. The two soon found their camaraderie to be mutually beneficial to each other’s self-interest. That was the closest thing to friendship that either of them had ever allowed.

Now was one of those mutually beneficial moments, Tom Riddle needed a lot of kids killed, and Dolohov wanted to kill a bunch of kids. The perfect win-win. Events had gotten off to a bad start though; his guide to the Ravenclaw commons had gotten lost and cost them valuable time trying to find the opening. Then the opening had been sealed off; there was a solid wall there now, not an opening. A couple of the worthless turds who claimed to be enchanters said they could open it by reversing the Ministry’s spell. He wasted more precious time while they accomplished fuck all. Finally, he had simply ordered the group to blast their way through. It was slow but effective. Now he and his group of Death Eaters were finally breaking through the enclosed wall enchantment into the Ravenclaw’s common room. Better late than never, Dolohov thought. Soon the fun would begin.

One final blast of Reducto spells and the way was opened enough for them to enter. The Death Eaters then sent a cluster of Crucio spells ahead of them to break up any resistance as Dolohov preferred his prey alive if possible. He welcomed the sounds of screams of pain from within, they had hit their quarry. As they moved forward though a stream of spells issued from inside, but they were low order spells, Stupefy and Expelliarmis. A wand or two went flying and a couple of Death Eaters fell to the floor with a groan, but these were not effective for long.

“So the little bastards want to play, eh,” said Dolohov. He knew a few tricks including a favorite spell of his own making. It was a flicked movement like a whip that disrupted the victim’s body functions internally. The initial shock of the curse was enough to put the victim down and leave them helpless. Then the victim died slowly from the internal injuries and without leaving an outward mess.

The principle benefit was that this left sufficient time to enjoy some quality time with the victim as they lay helpless, their body losing the struggle to live. For a male victim this meant torture, usually of the genitals. Dolohov was particularly fond of the gurgling scream that men made when their testicles were being slowly crushed. For females, the activity of choice was a hard jarring rape. Each thrust eliciting a scream of agony as the damaged organs were thrown about. Sheer nirvana for him was to stare in the terrified eyes of a young woman as he climaxed and see the light of life dim out in her. Sod all the Dark Lord’s ideals of pureblood versus mudblood politics; Dolohov was a Death Eater because it gave him free rein to be a sadistic psychopath.

More non-lethal spells came from the opening as Dolohov brought up his wand. “MORTLINGUS,” he shouted and a violet stream of energy flicked outward. From inside the Ravenclaw commons he heard a scream of pain. He’d hit something. The other Death Eaters now passed another round of Cruciatus curses through the opening and received a chorus of screams in answer. No answering spells came back.

“Boys, it’s time to have some fun,” said Dolohov with a cruel grin on his face, “lets go!”

Dolohov raced through the opening closely followed by the rest of the Death Eaters into the Ravenclaw commons. Inside the scene was one of terrified panic, the students scampered like rats for the upper levels to escape. The Death Eaters began to systematically take them down with various curses, including the killing curse. To Dolohov it was a shame to see so many young people die so quickly when there was so much fun that could have been had with them later. Still orders were orders, so many to kill, so little time, some sacrifices had to be made, but not all. Looking on the floor Dolohov saw the student who had been on the receiving end of his slow death curse. She lay there crying, her body convulsing from the pain. It was a smallish girl with long blonde hair down to her waist, pretty face, but not an outstanding beauty. However, she’d do for now.

“Does it hurt, sweetheart?” asked Dolohov as he rolled the crying girl onto her back. “Don’t you worry none, sugar, Uncle Tony is here and he knows what to do to make it feel all better.”

Dolohov pulled off the girl’s knickers and spread her legs apart, then he unbuckled his belt and started unzipping his trousers. As he pulled out his erect cock he leered down at the terrified girl, “Well, it always makes Uncle Tony feel all better, I’m not so sure about you.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

In the absolute darkness of the void it was quite simple to lose all sense of time, direction, and distance. The only one of the group that seemed to know what she was about was Fleur, she maintained a heading and all followed her.

“Harry,” she said, “I’m going by McGonagall’s office first and get the Sorting Hat, and then we’ll go to the Head Boy’s room and see about Poontang.”

“How the hell do you know where you’re going inside this thing?” asked Harry.

“Long story made short, I can leave magical markers that I know open to a certain place in the real world. I’ve been in Daddy’s old office a number of times to visit with him, and I was in your room just the other night. I have placed markers on both so I can find them quickly if I need to. We are almost to the office.”

They soon stopped and Fleur repeated the movement with the wand, only this time it was from the inside out. The black hole now opened into the Headmistress’ office. Fleur, Harry and Remus ventured out while Poonanni stood in the hole to keep it from shrinking closed. Fleur went to the large bookcase to get the Sorting Hat, then stopped, covered her mouth to stifle a scream and pointed at the wall. There next to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore was a portrait of Minerva McGonagall. It would only be there is she was dead. Harry and Remus immediately understood the significance of the portrait as well.

But the portraits on the wall were just that, still pictures, before they had been almost alive, now the magic force that had sustained then was gone. They all felt it as they stood there, Hogwarts was dying all around them.

“Hurry, Fleur,” said the Sorting Hat, “Merlin is no more. He has been destroyed by Voldemort. The castle’s life force is draining. Voldemort is probably on his way here next, you must take what is your birthright now or lose them forever.” Fleur immediately picked up the Sorting Hat. Going to the nearby case she retrieved the Sword of Gryffindor.

“I have a feeling I’m going to need both of you tonight,” she said.

“Use us as you need, Mistress,” the Hat whispered, “we serve you and your sister now that the magic of Merlin is gone from this place.”

As Harry watched, Fleur placed the hat upon her head and disappeared. “Fleur!” he said, “where did you go?”

“I’m still right here in front of you. The Hat has the power to make its owner invisible when they wear it, just like your cloak, but less bulky. Daddy used it to move around the castle unseen that way. He told me that he used it that night he found you looking into the mirror; he even told you that he didn’t need a cloak to be invisible. That’s one way he had of learning what was going on around here.”

Harry stood there for a few seconds taking in this new knowledge, and then the doorway to the room shook. Someone very powerful was trying to break through the remaining spells that guarded the office, without the magic of Merlin to maintain the wards it wouldn’t take them long to break through.

“It’s Voldemort,” said Harry as a certainty. “He wants in to rob the office. We can face him now, the three of us, and catch him off guard. We can end this now.”

“No, Harry,” said Fleur whose visibility returned as she took the Sorting Hat off. “We are not strong enough yet, and even if we do kill his new body he still has his Horcruxes to bring him back again. Do you want to spend another 14 years looking over your shoulder waiting for him to crawl back out of hell? Let’s go back into the void.”

“She’s right, Harry,” added Remus. “If he kills you then it ends now too. Better to fight another day of our choosing, on our terms. We have a safe path of retreat.”

“I’m not abandoning Hogwarts and my friends to save my own arse.”

“You are not running away, Harry,” said the Sorting Hat. “The alarm has been given; reinforcements are certainly on the way. You’re just redeploying to attack from another quarter. Voldemort almost certainly has his forces attacking the student houses and other faculty. If you want to save your friends then that’s the place to make your mark, not here.”

“Harry, this isn’t the time or the place to face him,” said Fleur. “Now let’s go before I stun you myself and carry you out of here.”

Reluctantly, Harry followed Lupin and Fleur into the void and sealed it up behind them. Seconds later, the magic in the office doors collapsed and Voldemort entered the office. He felt a strange presence of magic in the office that he couldn’t place, it bothered him, but he soon passed it off as just the residue of dying magic aura.

He began his search of the office looking for the damned Sorting Hat and the sword of Gryffindor. They had to be hidden around here somewhere. Voldemort ripped the office apart looking for them, but they were nowhere to be found. He searched for traces of concealing magic spells, but got nothing back. They were gone; they had been moved, or taken away from Hogwarts. He knew there was no time left to search for them. The Ministry response units would begin arriving soon, and then the real battle would begin. There was one last final objective he had left beyond decimating the Ministry’s ranks with the sacrifice of his followers, destroy Hogwarts. He would bring it down to a heap of smoldering rubble. By morning Hogwarts would be no more, it would be the end of a thousand year era.