Chapter Seventeen: The Battle of Hogwarts
Finally, the day had come. Voldemort had been planning it for years. All of his followers were moving into position around Hogwarts. It was going to be Harish's first (and hopefully only) real battle. The young man was extremely excited.
Harish got out his set of green robes and put them on along with his black cloak. Then he secured his wand in a holster on his arm, and a back-up on his leg. He secured a belt with magically expanded compartments around his waist; it was full of all of the joke products they had invented, plus a few potions Snape had made for them.
At dusk, when the visibility was low, Harish, his friends, Voldemort, and Voldemort's Inner Circle moved out. They Apparated to the mountains just outside of Hogsmeade.
They marched through the village, sneering at the buildings. As they were spotted by the villagers, people dashed inside their homes and various nearby shops. Voldemort held back from setting the buildings on fire. They were not what he was there for.
They marched straight up to Hogwarts's front gates. Harish picked up a rock off of the ground and threw it into the air. It sailed up, just above the gates, but struck an invisible barrier and fell to the ground.
"He has powerful wards set up," Voldemort said. Harish nodded. All of the invading party spread out, drew their wands, and began chanting.
A deep murmuring rose up all around the edge of the grounds as all the rest if Voldemort's followers joined in. From inside the castle, Neville looked out the window. He could just make out the little black figures in the light that was rapidly diminishing. He clutched what appeared to be a galleon, rubbing it between his fingers and fiddling with it absentmindedly.
Jets of purple light shot out of their wands and met the wards, causing them to appear with a glimmer of violet. It was like a large bubble, bending and warping as the Death Eaters broke it down. Neville turned to see the Order of the Phoenix walking out the front door. They began chanting as well, shooting out their own jets (this time blue in colour).
"They're trying to fix the wards!" Harish exclaimed. He was standing to the right of his father.
Voldemort turned to him briefly and commanded, "Stop them."
Harish pulled out his own coin—identical to Neville's—and thought his command. Then he returned to breaking down the wards.
Each member of the DA felt their coins heat up in their pockets. They each dashed to a window and tossed some Instant Darkness powder into the courtyard below.
The blue lights disappeared and the bubble stretched and bent, before finally falling apart in little golden flakes. Voldemort took a short step forward. When he confirmed the wards were gone, he opened the gate. Harish and the others followed him.
Harish banished the powder to reveal an empty courtyard. All of the teachers were inside, each setting up their own defences. The Order of the Phoenix were lined up, waiting to fire. There was a moment of tense silence, which was broken by George.
"So Dumbledore's a no show, then?"
Harish looked around. The old man was nowhere in sight.
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Dumbledore was sitting in his office when the wards fell. Instantly alarms went off. Dumbledore jumped up and looked out the nearest window. He could see the wards crumbling as Voldemort and his followers advanced. So the Order didn't hold the wards. That was disappointing.
As he made his way to his desk in his office, he heard, "SO YOU SEND YOUR MINIONS TO FIGHT WHILE YOU HIDE IN YOUR OFFICE?"
It was Voldemort's voice, echoing through the castle. It was greatly magnified, booming and loud. Dumbledore gripped the edge of his desk, anger coursing through him.
"FACE ME, OLD MAN, AND I WILL SPARE THE STUDENTS. IF YOU DO NOT, I WILL SLAUGHTER EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD WHO STANDS IN MY WAY. YOU HAVE ONE HOUR."
"Quietus," Voldemort said.
"You're giving them time to prepare?" Harish asked, confused. "Why don't we just blast the castle apart and be done with it?"
Voldemort did not answer. Instead, he turned to his forces, which had gathered behind him.
"Prepare for battle," he said. "In one hour, we attack."
LINE-BREAK
Dumbledore called all of the teachers together not long afterward.
"We need to evacuate all of the students that are younger than seventeen," he said.
"Are yeh not goin' down there?" Hagrid asked.
"I am," Dumbledore replied, "but if he were to kill me, I have no doubt that he would proceed to kill every student that remains."
The entire staff gasped.
"You don't believe he would?" McGonagall gulped.
"I am certain of it."
"How are we supposed to get them out?" Professor Sinistra asked.
Neville, who was standing nearby and looking out a window, turned to look at them. Even though he was no longer in allegiance with Dumbledore, he didn't want innocent children to die.
"I know the perfect place," he said.
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Voldemort checked his watch impatiently. There were still twenty minutes left in the hour. The courtyard was still empty other than the Death Eaters. Occasionally they could see a head of two peek out a window.
Neville had led the staff into the Room of Requirement. They were all amazed (including Neville) to find that the room had created a passageway that came out in the Hog's Head. Then they came back out and Dumbledore called everyone to the Great Hall.
"As you can see," he said. "Lord Voldemort is at our door. In order to protect you, I need all prefects to gather everyone and take them to a room on the fifth floor. Those of you who are above seventeen and wish to remain here and fight, may do so. I will have Professor McGonagall show you to the passageway. Everyone else, prepare for battle."
McGonagall hurried off and showed the prefects the way out of the castle. She returned after everyone had left the Hall, minus all seventh years and the Order of the Phoenix. Then Dumbledore marched out of the Great Hall. The staff and the Order hurried out after him.
"We cannot let you go out there alone," McGonagall said.
"Yes," Sprout added. "We fight together, or not at all."
"Hear, hear!" Flitwick squeaked.
LINE-BREAK
Harish scrambled to his feet as the front doors of the castle opened. It was five minutes to midnight. Dumbledore marched out and stood, gazing at them all. The Death Eaters hissed at him. Then, to all their surprise, nearly a hundred people gathered behind him, adult and student alike, together and side by side. Harish noticed that all of the DA were there.
There was a moment of silence in which everyone waited apprehensively for someone to make the first move.
"You should not have come here, Tom," Dumbledore said, drawing his wand.
Voldemort drew his own wand.
"You will die here, old man," he retorted. Both sides waited, ready to fire. Then Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"
One of the winged boars came to life, flying in front of Dumbledore to take the blast. Then, the old man disappeared with a whirl of his cloak, reappearing behind Voldemort within the next second. Around them, both sides sprung to life, coming at each other.
Voldemort quickly shot off another Killing Curse, causing Dumbledore to back away slightly, but missed and hit a pillar on the far wall of the courtyard, taking a chunk of stone with it. Dumbledore flicked his own wand. The force of the spell that emanated from it was so strong that all combatants around them were pushed away at least five feet. This time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, did not visibly damage the shield, but a deep, gonglike sound reverberated from it, an oddly chilling sound…
"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" Voldemort called mockingly, his crystal blue eyes narrowing above the top of his shield. "Above such brutality, are you?"
"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore replied calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit—"
"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" Voldemort snarled.
"I could think of other things," Dumbledore said, his eyes flitting to where Harish was dueling a member of the Order, "but if that is what you want—"
Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time, what was left of the nearby shattered pillar took the blow, shattering to a million pieces. Before they even reached the ground, Dumbledore had drawn his wand and brandished it like waving a whip. A long thing flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed as though Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold upon Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore.
Voldemort vanished. The snake reared from the floor, ready to strike—
There was a burst of flame in mid-air above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing behind Dumbledore. Another jet of green light flew at Dumbledore just as the snake struck—
Fawkes appeared in front of Dumbledore in a flash of flame, opened his beak wide, and swallowed the jet of green light whole. He burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled, and flightless. At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one, long, fluid movement the snake, which had been and instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; water materialized out of the air and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass—
For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct in the air, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass—
Then the water dropped and he slammed into the ground. Sopping wet and seething, Voldemort stood with a cough, choke, and another cough. Quickly, he glanced to his left, locating Harish, before moving to block him from view and began dueling again.
Around the two of them, courtyard was a scene of chaos. Harish was battling Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mrs. Weasley was dueling Bellatrix. The twins were taking on Mad-Eye Moody together. Above, Lavender Brown and Professor Trelawney were dropping glass orbs onto unsuspecting Death Eaters. The DA had started fighting on Voldemort's side.
And in the centre of it all, Voldemort and Dumbledore were still dueling, not far from Harish. Harish gave one last wave of his wand, and stunned Shacklebolt. Just as he lowered his wand, hair flying, triumph on his face, Voldemort stepped to the side and Dumbledore saw Harish.
"Nice one, Harry!" Sirius called, feet away.
Just then, Dumbledore realized who Harish really was. His hair was messy, resembling James's. His eyes, which were shaped like Lily's, were narrowed in triumph. And on the young man's face was a grin that was identical to James's own cheeky smirk. Harish Blake was none other than Harry Potter.
Dumbledore's eyes lit with fury and his entire being seethed with rage. As if in slow motion, Harish turned to see Dumbledore take a gradual step toward him. The old man raised his wand and Harish's eyes widened as he roared, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harish reached for his wand, but it was too late, Just as the jet of green light reached him, a black blur sped in front of him, took the blast, and crumpled at his feet.
It seemed as though the entire battle had stopped as Harish crouched down beside the limp form. Bangs and shouts echoed about the courtyard but they sounded distant, far away. Harish kneeled down, put his hand on the man's shoulder, and rolled him over so he could see his face.
Harish let out a scream, scrambling backwards as his own father's lifeless eyes stared back at him. Tears streamed down Harish's face as he sat there in shock. Then, his eyes flashed a brilliant, emerald green as he slowly lifted his face to Dumbledore.
Slowly he stood, shaking with fury and grief. Tears were pouring down his face, falling onto his robes, and splashing on the cobblestone beneath their feet.
The young man took a step forward as Dumbledore took a step back.
"Diffindo!" Harish exclaimed.
Dumbledore flicked the spell away like a hippogriff flicking a fly off its back.
"Sectemsempra!" Harish shouted.
Again, Dumbledore blocked the spell and took a step back. Nearby, other combatants stopped to watch.
"Expulsis Aruspice!" Harish cried.
The twins joined in as well, but their spells were nowhere near as deadly as Harish's. Dumbledore was forced to conjure a shield as three spells pushed him back. They held their spells.
Then, as soon as Dumbledore's shield broke, Harish roared, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Everyone stopped and watched in shock as the old man fell to the ground. All power was gone from his now frail body. Harish turned toward the gates. Behind him lay Dumbledore and before him was his father. The young man bowed his head. Victory had not been achieved how he had expected.
"We won," he said despondently.