Harry and Hannah were both arguing with each other while walking down the corridor on their way to get some lunch in the Great Hall. Despite how close they have gotten recently it didn't stop them from bickering like an old married couple. Hannah was trying to convince Harry to tell his other friends the truth about himself, but Harry was reluctant to. "I just don't want them to look at me with pity, that would be annoying," Harry said as he he walked with his hands in his pockets.
Hannah signed "For someone so smart you can be such an idiot you know, there is a difference between pity and sympathy, they are your friends, Harry, you should place your trust in them the same way they have with you," she explained.
Harry sighed "Maybe you're right, but I think that stuff can wait till after the feast tonight," he said as he waved it off.
Hannah didn't look happy but nodded nonetheless, it was better than nothing. "You excited for the feast tonight?" Harry asked with a grin on his face.
"I heard the Halloween feasts are always the best ones," he said as he thought about all the great food they'd been having so far. He didn't know how it could possibly get any better than what they had so far.
"It should be nice, are you sure you'll be okay? Didn't your parents... you know on Halloween?" Hannah tried to ask delicately.
Harry shrugged it off and gave her a genuine smile "I'm sad every day that I'll never get to know the people who gave their lives for mine, Halloween is nothing special, though the food is pretty good," he ended with a grin.
Hannah snorts and shoves him "You're such a glutton," she said while shaking her head.
"Says the girl who tried to eat me on our first date," he said while rolling his eyes.
"Never touch a girl's food, I'd say you got off easily," Hannah said with a shrug. They continued to talk to each other as they made their way through the corridors of Hogwarts. Hannah's body was aching from the sparring that Harry had been putting her through; she knew she was taking advantage by getting Harry to teach her some advanced spells but she also thought she'd be an idiot not to ask. He was able to learn spells very quickly and was very good at explaining how they should be done, though sometimes he was a bit confusing when he described how non-verbal spells worked, Hannah didn't feel her magic the same way Harry seemed to so she'd made hardly any progress with her non-verbal spells. Hannah despite being a half-blood was from a pureblood family and so her education in magic like other scions from members of ancient houses began early. By the time she had come to Hogwarts, she had managed to become proficient in a few offensive and defensive spells as well as her innate magical technique.
Susan however had always been better than her when it came to duelling despite her shy and reserved personality. Her innate magical technique made it really hard to fight her, which was why she was willing to ask Harry for help. She knew most teachers would be unwilling to teach magic beyond a student's current year. "You aching?" Harry asked, which snapped Hannah out of her thoughts.
Hannah nodded "It's good, it means I'm getting better, I hope at least," she said with a nervous chuckle.
"You sure you don't want a massage," Harry said as he started wiggling his fingers inching them closer to her.
A look of disgust formed on Hannah's face and she was close to bringing out her wand. "Wow you don't need to look at me like that," Harry said as he stopped wiggling his fingers.
Hannah rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm and dragging him at a faster speed "Come on I want to eat already," she said as they walked down the stairs and through another series of corridors.
Susan, Cedric and Tonks were already at the table waiting for the Halloween feast to begin. "Finally, took them long enough," Tonks said as she saw Hannah and Harry walk into the great hall.
Cedric looked up from his textbook and raised an eyebrow "They said they weren't together right?" He said as he saw the blonde Hufflepuff dragging her white-haired housemate to their table. He saw them struggle a bit to get to the table as the Great Hall was packed full of students and teachers; Cedric thought there might be over a thousand people in this room alone. 'It's a good thing the walls are charmed to expand,' he thought to himself as he watched his friends getting closer.
"They could've been lying,' Tonks commented as she narrowed her eyes against both her younger housemates.
Susan shook her head "Hannah wouldn't lie about that, though something must've happened for them to get so close," she commented.
"I don't know Susie, she's been coming back from her secret meetings with Harry all sweaty and red," Tonks said with a smirk as she leaned over the table using her ability to make her face blush and sweaty. Cedric just sighed before looking back down at his book, he had been studying hard as of late, both in theory and practical. All because of Harry, he had seen how much of a prodigy he was and felt inadequate. He liked Harry a lot but he didn't want to be left behind if his friend suddenly decided to start applying himself.
Susan felt her cheeks start to redden, she knew Tonks was just teasing her so she hated how much her body reacted to anything Harry-related.
"Hiya Harry, where have you and Hannah come from," Tonks said with a smirk on her face.
"Found the stash of Honeydukes in your room and decided to have a snack," Harry responded with a deadpan expression.
Tonk's smile melted off her face "You better be joking Firstie, wouldn't want to be sent to Madame Pomfrey so early in the year," she said while growing the muscles of her body evict making Cedric snort.
Harry and Hannah sat down on either side of Susan. "Anytime anyplace," Harry replied with a wink. Before Tonks could reply Dumbledore stood up at the front of the hall tapping his spoon against his glass and making a clinking sound.
"Greetings Students and teachers, it gladdens me that you've been able to join us on this most auspicious occasion, for it was twelve years ago today that we found our nation emerging from the darkness of a war most terrible!" He boomed out as he used a wandless sonorous to amplify his voice.
"Some of you will have family that fought in the war and sadly some of you will have family that didn't survive," Dumbledore said as his eyes glazed across Harry and Neville.
"So what I say to you all on this day is remember and celebrate the lives of the people who couldn't join us today and be joyful that their sacrifices let us live a life of relative peace," he continued.
"Now before we begin one of the biggest feasts of the year there are a few announcements to be made, the listings for the U18 Duelling have been released, and Professor Black will be the one deciding who should represent Hogwarts. Two games will be played, Single round elimination tournament and a doubles battle royale," Dumbledore announced which caused all the students to murmur and whisper in excitement.
"Of course, I have not forgotten about the Maegi Ball tournament, but unfortunately we will not be able to have it had the winter feast and it shall be postponed until later in the year," he added much to the student's disappointment.
"But! As compensation for such disappointment the prizes will be much more exciting," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
He waved his hand next to him and what appeared was a large barrel with a tap on it "The house prize will be this fine piece of magical enchanting," he conjured a cup and placed it underneath the tap and poured out a pint of a liquid all the students recognised.
"No way!" Tonks nearly shouted.
"Is that butterbeer!" Hannah said with excitement.
Dumbledore brought the cup to his lips and took a sip from it "As I'm sure you've guessed this barrel is full of butterbeer and it will never empty," he explained. The excitement of the prize caused the whole hall to start talking and cheering in excitement until Dumbledore raised his hand again.
"The prize for the champion will be something I find to be a little more precious, though I admit I have a little bias when it comes to this," He said with a grin before removing an old tattered book from his sleeve and holding it up.
"These are my old notes that I took for my NEWTs in Transfiguration, I'm sure they'll be of help to those wishing to do a mastery in the subject as I was way beyond my class," he said with a smug smirk.
Tonks's eyes couldn't have been wider if she tried, she reached over the table and grabbed Harry by the collar "You better win that tournament! Unlimited butterbeer and Dumbledore's personal notes!" She said with an almost manic expression on her face. Hannah nodded her head as she squeezed his shoulder the same expression on her face.
"Unlimited Butterbeer does sound pretty good," Harry admitted.
"I'd honestly be happy with just the notes," Cedric said, he did like Butterbeer but he was fascinated with the prospect of learning from the Strongest Wizard of Today.
"Now that the announcements are over with, the feast can begin! Enjoy the food and drink, and enjoy the moments you spend with your friends as they are often too few in our lives," Dumbledore finished, when he did food started to appear on the tables exciting all the students. Dumbledore stepped down from the podium where he was signalled by Professor McGonagall.
"Is everything well Minerva?" He asked.
"You have a Floo call Albus, I've been told it's from the Ministry regarding Sirius Black," she whispered to him which made the easy-going smile on his face disappear.
"It seems I must miss out on this feast Minerva, I'm sure you can handle things from here," Dumbledore said to which promptly nodded with a look of understanding on her face.
Dumbledore walked out of the hall through one of the side entrances. His merry mood was now a thing of the past as it was any time Sirius Black's name was mentioned. For twelve years he had been trying to get his old friend out of Azkaban but for twelve years he had constantly been blocked and impeded. It was common knowledge that Sirius Black was the Potter family's secret keeper, but Dumbledore knew the man since he was a student in these halls, there would've been no torture he wouldn't have subjected himself to in order to keep the potters safe. He hadn't believed he had betrayed the Potters then and he had made it known as such after discovering that Barty Crouch had thrown him in Azkaban without a trial.
Sirius was a dear friend who had lost a lot and when he learned of the news for the first time in a long time Dumbledore considered flexing his power on the ministry. He could tear Azkaban down to its foundations and punish Barty Crouch for what he did. Of course, he didn't do that, people as powerful as himself had to be careful with how they used their power lest they turn into a Dark Lord trying to do what they perceived to be right.
Dumbledore had made little progress in attempting to free Sirius, but he wouldn't rest until the man was freed. Unfortunately, the current minister of magic was a natural-born politician and had been able to undo much of what Dumbledore had achieved. 'Politics will kill me long before any Dark wizard does,' he thought to himself with a sigh. The Gargoyle in front of his office recognised his presence and the door to his office opened immediately.
He walked up the stairs and ignored the rambling of his portrait. They had gotten into a heated argument about the morality of student-teacher relationships earlier in the day and the man had not stopped complaining. He walked over to his fireplace and threw the white powder into it. "You wished to speak to me about Sirius Black," he said.
Instead of the face of the minister or a ministry employee, he was instead greeted by the face of his best friend. "Gellert, I did not expect to receive a call from you today," he said in a cautious tone.
"Today is a special day Albus, it wouldn't be right not to call you," Gellert replied.
"There would've been other ways to speak to me rather than luring me here with news of Sirius," Dumbledore said with a little annoyance.
"I could've but I needed you to come to your office," Gellert stated.
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at his oldest friend "What have you done Gellert?" He asked.
"What I have to... for the good of our kind."
...
Voldemort stood in the room containing the wardstone, he had a malevolent smile on his face as he activated the war wards surrounding Dumbledore's office. No matter how powerful the man was he wouldn't be able to undo some of the most powerful runes ever carved. He disabled the anti-apparition barriers as well as the harmful intent runes.
Now Grindalwald and his forces could enter Hogwarts and take Harry Potter. Voldemort would've preferred to kill the boy himself, but that could wait until his form and power were restored. He couldn't stand up to Grindelwald until then.
Grindelwald had told him he wanted to keep student casualties to a minimum, but Voldemort wouldn't be listening to that request. He wanted Dumbledore to suffer and realise he failed to protect his students. There was a very specific rune Voldemort had been excited to destroy and now that the plan was underway he could do it.
Channeling his technique through his hand he touched the edge of the rune. It wouldn't destroy it immediately, but it would slowly decay until it stopped working. 'That should give him ample time to get the boy,' Voldemort thought to himself.
...
Dumbledore paled, his connection to Hogwarts wards had just been severed. Stretching his senses out he could tell what had just happened "You locked me in my office," Albus said aloud.
"Your power has made you too lax Albus, you thought I'd simply approach Harry, but my ambitions are far grander than that," Grindelwald stated.
"You may have outmanoeuvred me but you shouldn't underestimate the rest of the Hogwarts staff," Dumbledore said before he started to release the magic from his body.
"These walls won't hold me, you must know that," Dumbledore stated.
"They'll hold you for long enough," Grindelwald replied.
...
Harry was enjoying the food as well as the conversation he was having with his friends.
'Friends.'
It seemed like such a foreign concept to him but that's exactly what they were. They were all his friends, he knew Hannah was right he should trust them more 'I'll talk to them tomorrow,' he thought it himself. For now, he would just enjoy the night, though he wished Hermione could sit with them.
He turned to face the Gryffindor table and saw Hermione wasn't really talking to her housemates. What made him frown was when Ron started to tell her, he could tell whatever he said wasn't good as Hermione started to tear up; she then abruptly stood up and walked away from her table walking out of the hall.
Harry went to follow her but Hannah put a hand on his shoulder "It's best I go and get her, she'll probably be going to the girl's bathroom," she said as he got up from the table. Harry wasn't really happy with that but nodded nonetheless.
"Maybe we can talk to Dumbledore about getting her house changed, I'm sure she'd be much happier in our house or maybe Ravenclaw," Tonks said reassuringly.
"Has it ever happened before?" Harry' asked and Tonks nodded.
"Once a Muggleborn was sorted into Slytherin, the bullying got so bad that she was going to stop coming next year, that's when Dumbledore stepped in and changed her House," Tonks explained.
"I'll have to talk to him," Harry said.
*BOOM*
The whole castle shook rattling all the food on the tables and causing students to shout in panic. Students started to stand up as the rumbling of the castle didn't stop, even the ghosts were confused as to what was going on. Casting a sonorous charm Professor McGonagall stood up in front of the podium "Calm yourselves! You are students of Hogwarts and you will compose yourselves as such!" She said sternly.
The students started to quieten as they looked to the front where the professors were standing up from their tables and drawing their wands. "Prefects! Escort the students to their dorms and keep them there until the professors have finished investigating the castle," she instructed.
The prefects all stood up and formed around the students of their houses. They would leave one house at a time as the doors were only so big, luckily Hufflepuff was the first to leave. Harry rushed out of the doors following the other Hufflepuffs, though he had no intention of following his housemates to the dorm.
"Harry!" Tonks yelled at him as she grabbed him by the arm.
"I won't be long, I'll grab them and be back soon," Harry said as he twisted his arm out of her grasp.
"That's a prefects job," Tonks said sternly.
"Focus on getting everyone else back to the form I'll be fine," Harry assured her. Tonks sighed but nodded and joined the Hufflepuffs that were still filing out of the hall.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" A blood-curdling scream came out from the hall which scared the first years enough to start panicking. They started to run and push past each other the get out of the hall.
Inside the hall, the professors were concerned as the screams were coming from the ghosts inside. "Sir Nicholas what's wrong?!" Professor McGonagall asked as she approached the ghost that was screaming. A pit formed in her stomach as she watched all the ghost's forms start to distort and change.
"EVERYONE OUT NOW!"
———————————————————-
Grindelwald stood on a hill overlooking Hogwarts, he watched as his men launched high-powered spells against the castle. "Abernathy," He said in a low tone.
"Yes, my Lord?" His trusted acolyte said as he bowed his head.
"Here is a list of names our associate gave us of students with interesting innate magic, I want them taken alive, don't let anyone get in your way," He commanded.
"Yes my Lord," Abernathy said with another bow.
Grindelwald turned around to look at the large group of men behind him "It was often said that an enemy of Hogwarts has never walked through its halls, let us change history!" He shouted and his men raised their wands and cheered for him.
*CRACK*
The sounds of snapping could be heard as his men started apparating into Hogwarts. Grindelwald looked at his Acolytes with a serious expression "Make sure to distract any B Class Wizards and above, we don't want to lose too many men tonight," he commanded.
"Yes Lord Grindelwald," They all said before they quickly followed the others.
———————————————————-
Neville was one of the few people who had avoided the Halloween feast, he preferred to just wander the halls and think about his parents. He often wondered if they would treat him the same way that his Grandmother had, he liked to think they wouldn't. He wished he was allowed to visit them in St Mungo's, but he was never allowed to. 'Things will change once that old cow dies,' he thought to himself.
With his enhanced senses, he could hear the screaming that was coming from the main hall, but when he strained it he noticed it wasn't just there but all over the castle. There were also multiple cracks that were sounding out across the castle.
He turned when he saw the crack of an apparition behind him. Standing before him was a man he'd never seen before, he already had his wand out and he had a scowl on his face. Before he could even lift his wand Neville flicked a pebble that went straight to his face, crushing his nose inwards. He then rushed towards the stranger and slammed his fist into his stomach making him keel over. He then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet "Who are you?" He asked emotionlessly.
"Gaahh, Gaaak... Fuc-"
*Snap*
Neville snapped his neck before he could finish. It was clear that he wouldn't be answering anything. He looked down at the corpse of the wizard, he had never killed anyone before; he often wondered how he'd feel when he did it for the first time, but surprisingly he didn't feel what he had been expecting. Instead, he felt satisfied, he had been laughed at and tortured for having no magic and yet this man who had magic didn't stand a chance against him. The reason he came here was to prove that he could stand above every wizard and witch despite having no magic. He decided he liked this feeling.
His fists clenched and a smile stretched across his face as he heard the cracks of more wizards apparating.
(AN: So Part 1 of Halloween is finished, this will be fairly long, maybe 3 or 4 parts. You'll see a lot of fights and a lot of different abilities, I've done my best to try and make everything original and unique. After this canon diverges a lot. I hope you enjoy the chapter.)
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