Chapter 35 Into the Breach
Severus made a point of being up and dressed before the others rose, not wanting to answer any awkward questions such as why he was wrapped bodily around Harry. Once dressed he settled a kettle of water to boil over the fire, the sound waking the others as they all got up to prepare for the day. It was still early, no light shining through the thin slit of a window as the winter sky would not lighten for several hours yet. But Severus had no doubt that the other occupants of the castle were already up and about, preparing for battle.
He fixed tea for all of them as the others dressed, and when Harry came to claim his cup, he noticed the distant look in the boy's eyes.
"You alright, Harry?" he asked, wondering what the boy was thinking. His question caught both Lupin's and Black's attention though they didn't say anything.
Harry frowned but nodded. "I'm fine," he assured them all. "I just had a strange dream."
Remembering the nightmare, Severus couldn't help the fear that settled in his heart. Harry was known for his 'dreams' about Voldemort. If the dark lord had caught wind of what was going on here today, then there was no way Severus was going to allow Harry to go out into that battle. It would be far too dangerous.
"About the battle today?" he demanded of the young man. "About Voldemort?"
"No," Harry shook his head quickly, sounding certain about that. "It wasn't a vision, just a dream. And it had nothing to do with today - there were no Dementors or Grendlings. It was just strange. You know how images sometimes get into your head and you can't shake them?" He shrugged as if dismissing it, but Severus wasn't so keen to let the subject drop.
"What was it about?"
Harry's eyes took on that distant look again as he once more got pulled into his images. "I was in a necropolis," he explained.
Alarmed, Severus remembered clearly the story of Voldemort's resurrection during the final trial of the Tri Wizard Tournament. "A graveyard?"
But again Harry shook his head. "No, a necropolis - a city filled with the dead, and there was this giant glowing spider web on the ground. But that wasn't really the strange part - it was the birds."
"Birds?" Severus glanced over at Lupin who looked equally perplexed by Harry's bizarre recollection. It wasn't like the past visions he had recounted to them. Those at least had recognizable forms and features to them, and made some sort of coherent sense. This sounded more like random images.
Harry nodded. "Two of them," he explained. "Ravens, I think. One perched on either of my shoulders. They were whispering to me, though I can't remember what they said."
Severus felt the blood draining from his face at the boy's words, and he didn't trust himself to speak. He could tell by the look Lupin threw him that he too understood the strange imagery.
"Are you certain they were ravens, Harry?" Lupin asked, and if Harry noticed the strain in the werewolf's voice, he didn't comment.
"Pretty certain," Harry nodded. "Could have been crows I suppose - rather hard to tell the difference." He laughed suddenly and looked over at Sirius who had been watching the proceedings silently. Black obviously did not catch the raven reference, but understood that something was going on between Remus and Severus. "Imagine me dreaming about Ravenclaw's symbols," Harry grinned at his godfather. "I mean lions and snakes I could understand."
"Next you'll be dreaming about badgers," Sirius agreed with a smile. "And then I'm afraid we'll have to revoke your Gryffindor badge for that. " The two of them laughed, then Sirius glanced rather pointedly at all of them. "We should go. They'll be waiting for us downstairs."
Nodding, they gathered their gear and headed down, Sirius and Harry going ahead which gave Remus and Severus a moment to talk. "Two ravens," Remus hissed to Severus, looking quite as upset as Severus himself felt. "Those are Odin's familiars, two ravens, Thought and Memory. Albus said the Eye of Odin had been destroyed."
"It was," Severus insisted, knowing full well what the two ravens represented. The god Odin was said to have two ravens named Thought and Memory who sat on either of his shoulders and whispered the secrets of the world into his ears. "The battle field was searched; there was no sign of it. And Harry was in the hospital for three weeks afterwards - someone would have noticed if he still had it."
"Still he touched it," Remus told him. "And we have no idea what powers it had, or what it might have done to him."
"The boy has spent the last two days surrounded by Viking images," Severus shook his head. "It's far more likely his subconscious is just dredging up images from old stories he's heard."
"This is Harry we're talking about," Remus reminded him. "The likely answer is never the right one."
Harry sat on one the long benches in the Hall next to Sirius while around him chaos reigned. Warriors from all over the Winter Lands were gearing up for battle, arming themselves with swords and axes, strapping on armor and shields. All of them were also carrying brooms - strange brooms unlike the ones he was familiar with. These were large, heavy poles with long bundles of reeds and straw at the end. He imagined they would be somewhat slow and unmaneuverable.
Severus had disappeared a few moments ago, heading off to talk to Alrik after giving Sirius and Remus orders to stay next to Harry. Both men had just glared at the Potions Master for ordering them to do what they already intended.
Remus, who stood next to the bench, noticed Harry eyeing the brooms curiously. "They're troop brooms, not Quidditch brooms," the werewolf explained. "They're not meant for speed. They're meant for transportation, nothing more." He pointed across the hall to a group of young men all wearing bows slung across their backs. Unlike the other men in the group these were smaller in size, less muscled - in fact Harry saw several women in their ranks. Each of them was also carrying a broom with a far more sleek design like the Quidditch brooms he was used to.
"Those are the ones who will be used for aerial attacks. Their brooms are a lot more maneuverable," Remus continued.
"Why didn't Alrik use brooms when he brought me here?" Harry asked, wondering what was the point in risking lives on the ground when everyone obviously had brooms.
"You can't fly across the North Sea," Remus informed him. "The winds are too strong. And Alrik informed me that this is the first time in decades that anyone felt comfortable using a broom outside the shadow of their Keeps. The Dementors can fly. They're counting on us to keep the Dementors away from them."
Harry shuddered at the memory his words engendered - if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's magic he would have died in third year when he fell from his broom during the Dementor attack at the Quidditch match. He supposed under those circumstances he could understand why they might fear using brooms.
The sound of barking dogs caught all their attention and they turned toward the open doors of the great hall. Several armed warriors entered surrounded by large dogs - they could hear more outside in the courtyard, barking in excitement. The dogs, enormous beasts bred to fight the Grendlings, were heavily muscled and covered with thick dark coats of fur that reminded Harry a bit of Padfoot.
"The dogs of war," Sirius exclaimed, sounding impressed. "I'd heard about them, but this is the first time I've seen them."
"Dogs of war?" Harry really wished he knew more about his world.
"They're bred to fight," Sirius explained. "In fact Padfoot is a similar breed. Some say they are the source of the legend of the Grim. Supposedly a pack of them can take down certain dragons." He pointed toward one of the warriors who was fitting thick harnesses around the dogs' heavy bodies. "They're trained to the harness so that they can be air-lifted by broom and dropped into the middle of a battle."
One or two dogs wandered too close to their table, teeth bared at anyone they neared. But Remus merely glared at them and they backed away as if sensing the wolf within the man. Sirius, Harry could see, was trying hard not to laugh.
Harry found his mind wandering, first to the strange dream he'd had, then to the things that had happened yesterday, then to fears about what was to come. His thoughts jumped chaotically about in his head, until surprisingly he found himself focusing on something that made him flush with confusing warmth. He'd awakened last night several times - once to find himself wrapped tightly in Severus' arms. Beyond a few hugs, he'd never been that physically close to another human being in his life - certainly not in contact that lasted more than a second or two. But Severus had been holding him quite tightly, and Harry had felt the heat of the man's body plastered along his entire backside. And the man's face had been buried against his neck, his warm breath sending shivers over his skin. And when the man had shifted in his sleep Harry had felt his lips touching the skin just below his ear. He'd been aware too of an unmistakable hardness pressing against him, the sensation making him at once nervous and oddly excited all at the same time.
In his sleep, Severus' hand had slipped down over his stomach and then lightly caressed Harry's hip, the touch hot and firm, and Harry had waited in breathless silence for the panic to set in. But it hadn't been anything like the time Julius had tried to touch him - for one thing Severus' hand had settled on his hip rather than straying to other places. And for another. . . . Harry found himself flushing with the memory. It had felt. . . .good. Not that he'd ever admit that out loud of course! But beyond feeling safe in Severus' arms, Harry had also felt the stirrings of something inside him that reminded him of his brief crush on Cho Chang, and he wasn't certain what to do with such emotions.
Severus returned a moment later, carrying with him a small bundle, which he set down on the table. "Gifts from Winter Land Lords," he informed them as he opened the leather bundle and pulled out a shining metal bracer. He took hold of Harry's right arm and began strapping the bracer around his forearm. Sirius took up the other bracer and started strapping it to Harry's left forearm.
Startled, one arm held by either man, Harry could only watch as they bound the armor to him. "Some of the best armor in the world comes from the Winter Lands," Severus informed him. "This metal is feather light, and will turn most blades or arrows. It will also deflect many minor hexes." He shot a glance at Sirius, and then motioned Harry to stand up.
Harry had swapped the jacket he'd been wearing with the heavy cloak Severus had brought for him, but now Severus urged him to remove the cloak entirely. Beneath he had only a long-sleeved cotton shirt and he shivered in the chill morning air. While Severus helped him pull on a padded undertunic, Sirius dropped to one knee in front of Harry and began strapping metal shin guards to his legs, tightening the straps around his boots.
Motioning Harry to lift his arms, Severus dropped a coat of scale mail over his head, letting it fall over his shoulders with a musical sound as the tiny links of metal whispered against each other. Though braced for the heavy weight, Harry was surprised when he felt almost nothing, the armor indeed feather-light. This too was strapped to his body and belted around his waist with a leather belt designed to carry a sword sheath though there were none in evidence.
Bemused, Harry couldn't help but think that these two men, Severus and Sirius, worked rather well together - cladding him in a full suit of armor in record time. Lastly Severus placed his cloak around his shoulders once more, fastening it in place before stepping back to look critically at him. Harry found himself flushing under the stares of all three men.
"You look like a young princeling," Sirius grinned at him, clapping him tightly on the shoulder. Harry felt his face heating up even more, and against his bidding he sought out Severus' gaze for confirmation of such a bold statement.
One dark eyebrow lifted in amusement. "Indeed, most attractive," Severus dead-panned, voice dripping with sarcasm. But nonetheless Harry saw approval in his eyes, and he couldn't help but remember the heat that had pressed against him last night.
"The point of the armor is to keep your skin intact, not indulge your vanity" Severus informed him. "When we get out there, you are to stay beside the three of us at all times. We will have to land in order for you to move the stone - you cannot lift something that heavy without being firmly planted on the ground. When we land we'll be vulnerable to the Grendlings. Our job is to deal with the Dementors first and the Grendlings second. There will be a group of warriors surrounding us who will keep the Grendlings off of us. Your job Harry is to move that stone as quickly as possible back over the Well. If we can, we'll force the Dementors back down the Well, but the most important thing is to get that Well closed. Let us handle everything else. Understand?"
Harry nodded, hearing what Severus was not saying - that under no circumstances was he to stray from their side and risk his life.
They spoke briefly then about various battle tactics and ways to use their Patronuses together to herd the Dementors. But all too soon a horn was sounded and the gathering warriors began moving out of the hall. Alrik approached the four of them, carrying with him brooms for each of them, which he distributed quickly. He nodded approvingly at the armor Harry was wearing and then explained where they would be in the troop formation.
It was a cold, windy morning, the sky just beginning to brighten as they moved outside, women and children crowding into the courtyard beside the warriors to wish them luck. Before too long Harry found himself mounted on the cumbersome broom, rising into the air alongside the others. Sirius moved to his left side, Severus to his right. Remus took up position before them. Alrik, Asgeir and a large troop of warriors spread out behind them. In the air they were all safe from Grendling attack - the Dementors the only threat. When they landed beside the Well, those warriors would move to surround the four of them, taking on the Grendlings while they directed their Patronuses. Harry knew that despite everything men would die - he could only pray he'd be able to do the task assigned to him.
The mounted troop moved out, fly across the Winter Lands and moving deeper over the snow-filled woods where Alrik claimed the Grendlings lived. There were mountains looming over them, caped with blinding white snow, though a mist was begin to gather at the peaks, threatening to blow down into the valley. But at the moment the air was crisp and clear, the weak winter sun shining brightly overhead.
They had about an hour's flight ahead of them, and Harry cast several warming charms on himself to keep his hands from freezing as they gripped his broom handle. This broom was hardly as comfortable as a Quidditch broom which had top-notch cushioning charms on them, but Harry supposed a sore back end was the least of his problems at the moment.
For the most part they flew unchallenged, though far below in the trees of the forest they could see dark shapes loping after their moving shadows. The Grendlings were aware of their flight and were tracking them through the woods, no doubt noticing that the men were heading in the direction of their mating grounds.
All too soon the cold icy touch of despair washed over them, chilling them all despite the warming charms as dark shadows began following them through the air. The Dementors were moving to surround them, many looming above for an aerial attack. Remus and Sirius both fanned out to the sides, moving toward the edge of the formation while Severus and Harry took up positions near the front. They would not cast the Patronus charm until they absolutely had to - the hope was they could gather as many of the Dementors as possible in one place and then force them back down into the Well. They could not risk driving them off too quickly.
Still it was a horrifying experience to fly with them so near, knowing that at any moment one of them might swoop in and overwhelm the troop with their dark sensations. As it was they kept their distance, as if uncertain what to make of so large a gathering of men. Dementors had only an average intelligence and were unlikely to reason out too soon what they were planning.
As they approached the foothills of the mountains, the ground giving way to rocky outcrops and sparse trees, a shout went up from the troop leaders, indicating that the Well had been sighted. A great waterfall fell from high in the mountains down into a large lake that was surrounded by tall pines. Enormous rocks had slid down from the mountains and dotted the shore of the lake, grown over with moss and lichens. And amid the crevasse and caves formed by the rocks came the dark furry shapes of Grendlings, hundreds of them swarming out to meet their pack members returning from the woods and to face the humans approaching from the air.
And deep in the center of this great valley, beyond the shore of the lake, was an enormous patch of ground that looked utterly dead and black, all the living plants that thrived at the lakeside dead and gone in this area. At the heart of it was an enormous hole perhaps fifteen feet in diameter that lead down into pitch-blackness. Even the Grendlings steered clear of the black and dead ground and the horrible hole that lead down into the center of the earth.
The men overhead circled the great hole, keeping out of its circumference naturally for there was a coldness emanating from it that had nothing to do with Winter. Harry could feel it deep down in his soul where the screams of the dead and dying awaited him.
"The Dementors are coming!" someone shouted - Harry's cue to veer away from Severus who still flew at his side. Remus and Sirius who held flanking positions now shot away from the group in either directions while both Harry and Severus veered upward into the path of the Dementors who were approaching from above.
Harry waited until he could see the black shapes of the Dementors bearing down on him, their horrible darkness threatening to swallow him, before raising his wand in his right hand and shouting, "Expecto Patronum!"
Prongs sprang forth from the tip of his wand, blinding and brilliant, shooting straight ahead along Harry's flight path and cutting directly through the wall of darkness bearing down on him. Harry shot up, through the cloud of Dementors, moving out on top of them as they veered to the sides and downward to get away from the white light of the Patronus Stag.
Not far away Severus' Patronus, a brilliant, fiery phoenix, was doing the same - driving the Dementors to either side and downward. And on the edge of the company of men two more Patronus shapes appeared - a great dog like a Silvery Grim that sprang from Remus Lupin's wand, and to Harry's delight an enormous Silvery Werewolf that came from the wand of Sirius Black. Those two Patronus met the Dementors that Severus and Harry had driven downward and cut them off driving them toward the center of the circling mass of men. The men fanned out - moving away from the swirling darkness as the four Patronus raced around in a great circle, gathering up the shadowy Dementors and driving them downward toward the opening of the Well.
As Harry directed Prongs in his dance, herding the Dementors down toward the Well, he found himself scanning the ground for the capstone. On his fifth pass he finally saw it - an enormous round stone twenty feet in diameter, carved with great swirling knots and runes. Snarling Grendlings, who were gazing hungrily overhead at the circling humans, red eyes flashing in the pale morning light, surrounded the stone.
Harry found himself seeking out Severus as he hovered high over the capstone - he hadn't expected to have to fight his way through the Grendlings to get to the stone. But the Grendlings were now climbing on top of the capstone as if knowing it was somehow luring the humans closer.
Severus, seeing Harry's dilemma, raced to his side on the heavy broom, all the while keeping his Phoenix Patronus circling overhead to drive the Dementors downward.
"Alrik!" Severus shouted. "Take your men and attack now!"