A/N I apologize for the long delay in getting this up but I had been working on my other story and then there were some personal issues that came up.
Warning: This will be character deaths in this chapter as well as the next one. Enjoy
Over a hundred Death Eaters apparated into Hogsmeade at the Northern most point. Several giants, trolls and fifty Dementors appeared as well. The entire force was being commanded by none other then Lucius Malfoy.
"You all have your orders. Our Lord is commanded that we destroy the village as proof that we cannot be stopped," Lucius drawled. "Now go and do our Master's bidding."
And with that the army began to spread out and enter the village. They immediately started striking down any who crossed their path.
Lucius hung back choosing to allow the army to attack. He didn't see any reason why he had to be in the lead. After all Voldemort trusted him to lead this battle and the troops would never question his orders.
He couldn't help, but smile evilly at what they were doing. Today would be a good day he told himself. It would be the day that the muggles loving fool Dumbledore would learn that there is no hope in standing against his Lord and Master.
Neville was wondering through the town lost in thought. He had found himself on the street leading to Madam Puddifoot's Café. He was thinking about how well the year had been so far, especially his classes.
Ever since last year when he had finally gotten a wand that melded with his magic he'd found his classes to be much easier then ever before. On top of that his once lacking self-confidence soon started to grow. And then with the D.A. and the battle in the Ministry had been the catalyst for his new found self-confidence.
And so today even though he was currently alone he no longer felt like an outcast. He'd learned to ignore the ridicule that the Slytherins had for him and just let it roll of his back like water. After all, he was good with magic, especially Herbology which was always his favorite class.
It was with his new found self-confidence and training with the D.A. that he's spotted the Death Eater skulking around between the Café and the small home which was known to Madam Puddifoot's. He could tell right away that it was a woman with the way she walked, taking smaller steps then men normally due. Pulling out his wand from one his front pockets, he moved over to the corner of the small shop.
He steeled himself for the possible encounter before glancing around the corner. He saw that she was skulking down to the other side, being careful that she wasn't seen. He knew by her actions she was trying to get to the Main Street where she would more then likely attack.
This thought gave way to the realization that made him give a gasp of shock. If this one was doing this, then there must be others. With grim determination he turned the corner, there was no way he would be anything other then victorious this time.
He raised his wand and shouted "Tarrantegella." To his misfortune she heard him and dove to the ground, the spell flying over her head.
Jumping back to her feet, she spun around with her wand now trained on Neville. "Well-well if it isn't our little fat, weakling, cry baby long bottom," she sneered. "I'm so pleased to see you. I got to torture your parents and that was so much fun. And now I get to play with you," she crackled now sounding completely insane.
"Bellatrix," Neville spit venom lacing the name.
As this encounter was taking form Dumbledore who had at the last minute decided to visit the village was just stepping out of Honeyduke's. He popped a fresh lemon drop in his mouth blissfully unaware that in other areas of his town Death Eaters were starting their attack.
Without warning he sensed danger and just looked up in time to step back as a spell went sailing by. He pulled his wand, dropping his bag of Lemon drops in the process and quickly cast a shield around himself to block most curses. He spotted several Death Eaters who were now coming down high Street and he started casting specials at them.
The aged wizard who always had a relaxed expression on his face except for the times when he had to be stern now looked angry. His face was bright red like a tomato even underneath his immaculate white mustache and beard. While his usual twinkling blue eyes now looked like two bright blue burning fires as he shot spell after spell and dodging the ones that were being sent his way.
If there was anything in the world that could truly piss off Albus Dumbledore that would be getting between him and his addiction to Lemon drops. And these foolish Death Eaters did just that and now would find out just why you didn't piss off the most powerful light wizard of them all.
He shot spell after spell from stupefy to blasting hexes. He was casting them so fast that the various colors were blending together and giving off the appearance of a rainbow except for the usual arc.
Dumbledore saw and heard what they cast and gave a quick look at the shop before muttering damn under his breath and diving to the side.
Honeyduke's gave a huge shudder as it crumbled down to the ground. Just like the Apothecary, smoke and dirt rose into the air. Leaving all those inside trapped and injured from the collapse.
He was lucky that he'd been able to dive behind two large crates that stood outside the jewelry shop. He gingerly got into a crouching position. He was about to send another curse flying when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His instincts immediately told him that it was professor McGonagall.
"Albus are you alright," she asked him sounding extremely concerned. After all, she had witnessed his death defying dive and had been worried that he would be severely injured.
"I'm fine Minerva. Just a few cuts and bruises, that's all," he assured the woman. And then he sent another stupefy which hit one of the Death Eaters.
"What are we going to do Albus?" All of the children are unprotected and we don't have enough help to fight all of them," she asked him before sending her own stupefy.
"I need you to get back to Hogwarts," he stated. Minerva was about to protest when a spell came toward them. Luckily, Albus was able to deflect it.
"You need to contact the rest of the order as well as the ministry. I do not know if anyone has been able to do that yet. You also need to inform Poppy of what is transpiring and that when we get control of this; we will be sending the injured up to her."
She still wanted to protest believing she was needed here where she could be of assistance; however, she was fully aware that as usual Dumbledore was right. "Alright Albus I'm going, but be careful," she told the Headmaster her words laced with concern. "I'll be back as soon as I am able," and with that she stood up and headed around the side of the shop.
Dumbledore stood up and was about to cast another spell when he heard a voice shout Expelliarmus and his wand went flying in the air. He looked mildly surprised at this sudden change of events, his blue eyes twinkling ever so slightly.
"This truly is my lucky day," a death eater drawled as he stepped out of the shadows. His wand pointed directly at Dumbledore's heart. "My master will be quite pleased and will reward me handsomely for having killed one of his enemies," the man sneered.
"Lucius," Dumbledore stated in an even tone.
"Yes Headmaster it is I, the Great Lucius Malfoy," he said now sounding pompous.
"So you are going to kill an unarmed man. Is that not the coward's way of doing things," Dumbledore asked his eyes now twinkling like mad.
"I am no coward blood traitor," Lucius spat. "Now you will die old man. No longer will you stand in our way."
Lucius was just about to cast the killing curse when he suddenly found himself without his wand. Before he could process what had happened, he found himself flying through the air completely helpless as his arms and legs flailed about.
Lucius' body slammed into the middle of the former Honeyduke's which was now completely engulfed in flames. His black robes turned to ashes as his skin melted from their bones, leaving no trace of the once politically powerful and feared death eater.
"Thank you Harry, but how on earth were you able to do that with your wandless magic," Dumbledore asked the boy who now was standing next to him.
"Not quite sure sir, but I'm not going to worry about it now. Are you all right," Harry asked his mentor.
"Oh yes I'm fine dear boy, but I'm afraid there are many more death eaters," Dumbledore said changing the topic. He then said "Accio wand" and Lucius' wand came flying towards him from where it had dropped.
Harry quickly told him that he was going further up the street to try and help those who were probably battling more of Voldemort's minions. Dumbledore gave him a nod before telling him to be careful.
Dumbledore would have tried to keep Harry near him in this battle if it would have done any good. But for as long as he'd known Harry, the boy would probably not have listened to him. And so all he could do was continue the battle where he was and just hope that Harry would stay safe.
The battle had just started when Ron and Ginny who had been unceremoniously thrown out of Hog's Head for being underage. Ron was ranting about the stupid git of a bar keeper to Ginny as they walked down the street towards High Street. Neither one truly wanted to go to The Three Broomsticks afraid that Harry and Hermione would still be there. But there wasn't much else that they wanted to do except for having a Butter beer.
After a brief discussion they decided to head there regardless if the others were. They got halfway down the street when they saw the smoke billowing from High Street and a few stray death eaters.
They looked at one another briefly before pulling out there wands and casting the stupefy spell at two of the unsuspecting death eaters. Then they did the same to their two companions before they had a chance to get any curses off.
They ran up to the four now unconscious death eaters and quickly cast the Incarcerous spell on each making sure that they were bound with tight ropes. Ron then reached down and grabbed their wands and pocketed them.
"Gin, we've got to get up there. It looks like Voldemort has sent a strong force in and we need to join the defenders," Ron said sounding a little to excited about the raging battle. "Are you crazy Ron? We have no idea how bad it is and it's nothing to get excited about," she scolded her brother.
"Look I'm not crazy and I'm not excited about the battle itself," he told her now sounding annoyed. "What I'm going to do is show up the Great Harry Potter. I'll show everyone that he isn't the so-called savior. There is nothing that git can do that I can't. And for once I will finally be able to take him down a peg or two. Not even Malfoy's been able to do that," Ron sneered, a nasty smirk on his face.
"Ron, Harry has already taken on Voldemort five times and is still alive. Besides, he has taken on his supporters as well. He is the only one other then Dumbledore who has done anything like that and can talk about it," she told him, her annoyance at his sudden inspiration of idiocy clearly ringing in her tone of voice.
"Bloody hell, he didn't do any of that alone and you know it. I was there each time and stood by him only he got all of the credit. Hell if it hadn't been for me, Harry would've died his first year. You forget that he wasn't raised in a Wizarding home like us. We are just as good as he is and I'm going to prove that," he said his voice resonating his anger and jealousy he has towards his former best friend.
Ginny was about to argue some more, but he didn't give her the chance as he sprinted towards High Street. She tried to shout at him, but either he didn't hear her or he just ignored her shouts to come back.
She stood there fuming at her idiotic brother's attitude. She knew what she had said about Harry was the truth, yet, some of what Ron had said was also the truth. That's when she got an idea; one that would also help her in her quest.
"If each time when Harry had faced off with Voldemort he wasn't alone in the battle then he would once again need help. And she would be that someone," she told herself a grim look of determination spreading over her face. There's no way she will let him die not until after she got what she wanted and with that final thought she took off after Ron.
Remus and Tonks had been standing outside of the Shrieking Shack discussing the latest news from the last order meeting. They had been already done a sweep of the entrance to Hogsmeade and the train station a few minutes ago. Seeing as how everything was fine and quite normal they'd come back here to talk.
The two had only been talking for about ten minutes when a dozen death eaters appeared and started casting curses at them. They instinctively dove over the small fence and down the hill, while whipping out their wands in order to defend themselves.
They rolled in opposite directions down the hill seeking some form of cover from the curses. Remus had been lucky enough to scramble up to his feet and dive behind a nearby tree, barely missing a blasting hex. Once there, he began shouting curses and hexes at the death eaters.
Tonks on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Like Remus she tried to scramble to her feet only to find herself face first in the dirt since she had tripped over her own feet as she was known to do. Her Auror training kicked in fully just then and she began rolling herself toward a large boulder a few feet away.
She was quite lucky to get to the boulder seeing as several curses had hit various spots on the ground where she had just been. Diving behind the boulder she began firing her curses intent on taking the death eaters down as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, Neville was in a desperate battle for his life with the most evil woman there was. He was trying to dodge her curses as best as he could while casting his own. He could begin to feel himself grow weary, but knew had to continue not only for his life but for his parents too.
"Ah poor baby can't even hit me with your weak little spells you truly are just like your parents, worthless and pathetic," she cackled at the now sweating boy.
Suddenly, Neville could feel all of the anger he had built up over the years for this woman, this woman who had taken his parents away from him begin to grow inside. He could feel the hate growing to unbearable proportions. At the top of his lungs he screamed, "Finite Incantatem."
The light flew out of his wand like a speeding meteor, slamming into her shield and shattering it to pieces. He followed it up with Impedimenta and again it flew like a meteor.
Bellatrix staggered backwards shocked at what just happened. But she wasn't a death eater for nothing and cast the removal spell on herself. "Is that the best you can do," she taunted him.
She was about to cast the killing curse when she heard Neville shout, "Locomotor Mortis." She tried to dodge it, but wasn't fast enough.
She quickly found her legs pulled together and look as she began falling towards the ground. Just as she hit the ground she shouted, Diffindo."
Neville's eyes grew wide in shock and fear as the spell came whizzing toward him. "Oh shit," he exclaimed as he dove to his left to avoid the oncoming hex. Unfortunately for Neville, he was a spilt second to late as the spell hit his right foot, ripping it apart.
He let out a howl of pain as his shoulder slammed into the ground, his wand flying out of his hand. He could feel his shoulder shatter from the impact. But he had no time to worry about that at the present time.
He began dragging himself backwards around the corner of the building. He could see a trail of blood that he was leaving in his place as a small pool had formed where he landed previously. He began to wonder if this was truly it for him.
Professor McGonagall when she found she had been unable to apparate to the outside gates of Hogwarts she started to run , but soon found out that she had to transform into her tabby cat self in order to get there quickly.
Once reaching the school she quickly transformed and burst into the school startling several younger students in the process. She ran down the hall towards the infirmary, her legs pumping as fast as pistons in an engine. Her chest heaving as her arms were swinging wildly as she ran.
She come to a sliding stop in front of the doors and without a second of hesitation she ran pell mell into the wing yelling for Madam Pomfrey at the top of her lungs.
"Minerva what's the matter," Madam Pomfrey asked coming out in a hurry from her office at the back of the infirmary.
"Hogsmeade…is…under attack," Minerva told the woman, trying to catch her breath.
"Oh dear, you better warn Albus."
"He is already aware Poppy. In fact he was there when they attacked. You better get everything prepared since we will have to transport the injured here, especially the children. Now I've got to go, Albus wants me to contact the rest of the order and the ministry," with that said she turned on her heel and ran out toward the Gargoyle statue.
Poppy could only stand there looking flabbergasted at hearing the Headmaster had been there when the attack started. Shaking it off, she turned and headed for her office. She was going to fire call St. Mungo's and get more healers here immediately and let them know to be on high alert for victims to be coming there as well.
The center of Hogsmeade the most vicious of the battle was in full swing. Many of the residents and students were in a desperate struggle to survive the onslaught.
The ground itself was covered in blood from victims of the curses. The air was thick with smoke; suffocating everyone and blinding them from clearly being able to hit their targets. Bodies were beginning to pile up on the ground while screams were ringing out all around. Many of the buildings were now lying in ruin as they burned from the fires.
Many of the students were trying to keep shields up around the group while others were in duels. Two of those who were dueling were Terry Boot and Justin Finch-Finley who were furiously casting spells. Lavender, Pavati and Padma were also casting spells. Having seen members of the D.A. they had learned quite a bit and were using that to their advantage.
But unlike the practice duels, this one was the real thing. And many people were falling around them injured or dead. They all were aware that they couldn't think about that if they themselves were to survive.
Lavender had just cast an Imboilus spell on a Death eater when she felt a searing pain in her body from a Cruciatus spell that another one had sent. She fell top her knees, her wand falling from her hand and rolling a few meters a way. Her body was wracked with such pain like she had never felt before as she screamed out in pain.
Terry having seen this sent a Reducto at the man's feet hoping to break his concentration. Not only did it do the trick but he saw the man go flying backwards several meters a way. Not wasting time he ran over to her side and knelt down to check on her. She gave him a small nod to acknowledge that she would be fine. Assured of this he began to get back to his feet when he saw a green light speeding toward him.
His eyes widened and he dove to his left, but he was a split second too late. The killing curse hit him in the chest as he fell to the ground. There was no longer any life in his eyes as the shocked expression he had previously was now frozen as he lay next to Lavender.
Justin and the Patil twins had seen this entire event unfold as they were fighting with other Death eaters. The three wanted to race over to their fallen comrades but were unable to as they fought on. With a new vigor however they sent three Reductos at the Death eaters. Now more determined then ever to stop the evil, vile, inhumane people they sent curse after curse trying to take as many down as possible.
Justin sent another Reducto just as a Death eater cast the killing curse at him. His reaction was much slower then Terry's had been when the curse slammed into the center of his chest, sending him backwards in a heap on the ground, his young life vanishing with a blink of an eye, leaving only a shell of a body behind.
Many more people were falling from the many killing curses that were being cast. Many of those who were still fighting were beginning to get tired and started to believe that this would be the day that they died. And their death would be at the hands of the Dark Lord's minions something that they had hoped would never happen.
A young brunette was currently hiding behind a large tree a fair distance away from the battle. His amber eyes watched intently as one after another fell from the curses that were being shouted. His normally dark complexion was now taking on a pale tinge and his entire body shook from the sheer gruesomeness of the battle.
Blaise Zabini is a proud Slytherin and the son of a Death eater who was raised believing that his purity was better then those who weren't however now he wasn't so sure. His emotions were conflicted and had been for sometime when it came to following the Dark Lord. Granted he agreed with his family and many of the purebloods when it came to half bloods and muggleborns contaminating their magic and way of life and he was fully aware that in time there would no longer be any purebloods. Yet at the same time he was never one for killing and believed that there had to be some possible way that they could insure their very existence without the senseless killing.
Blaise never had a taste for killing nor the desire to inflict intentional harm on another person. To him the whole idea was nothing more then barbaric, like that of muggles raging war because they had some twisted belief. He believed that if they were truly pureblooded, then they should be above this, taking pride in which they were instead of lowering themselves to muggles.
He wanted to do something as this dilemma raged in his mind while watching the battle play out in front of his eyes. A part of his mind was telling him that he needed to fight along side the Death eaters and rid themselves of the blood traitors and infernal weaklings. Then another part of is brain was telling him that it was wrong and that there were better ways, more humane ways of going about doing this.
He battled with himself trying to decide what to do when a sudden flash of inspiration and brilliance hit him. A wide smirk appeared on his face as he finished his making his plan in his brain. He quickly made sure that he wouldn't be seen before dashing behind the closest shop. What he needed to do was back at Hogwarts and seeing as he was a Slytherin he was going to do it.
Harry had now reached Scrivenshaft's his blood was boiling and it looked like smoke was coming out of his ears. He'd had to fight at least a half a dozen Death eaters in the tow and a half block distance from Honeyduke's. The entire time he had watched as young children and their parents fell to the all ready blood soaked ground motionless from having been hit by the killing curse. He also had seen others fall from various cutting hexes and other dark curses. Many of the shops were crumbling around him as he had dueled knowing that people were inside trying to escape the battle.
Now that he was here at Scrivenshaft's he was ready to start using his elemental abilities on every Death eater that he saw. To hell with keeping it a secret he raged to himself. He no longer felt any compassion for them and that included those who might be under the Imperio curse or had been forced into servitude. To him if they couldn't show an ounce of compassion, especially for children then why should he show any to them?
Out of the corner of his eye he saw three Death eaters torturing a young girl who was writhing on the ground in obvious pain. Upon seeing this he saw red and quickly fired three Tarantallegra's in their direction and catching them off guard. Satisfied that their attention was now on him, he sent an Incarcerous spell at each one, sending ropes out to bind them. Then he sent another curse that sent them flying backwards. With a satisfied smirk he rushed over to check on the girl.
He bent down and saw that the girl was no more then eight or nine, her skin was deathly pale as tears streamed down her face and her entire body seem to convulse from severe pain. It was obvious now that they had been casting the Cruciatus on her, which only fueled his anger even more. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the chocolate frogs that he had and changed it into a portkey. Placing it gently on the girl's side, he watched as the girl suddenly vanished knowing that she would reappear in the infirmary at Hogwarts. He just fervently hoped that Madam Pomfrey was aware of the battle and prepared to take in victims.
He was just getting back to his feet when he suddenly felt the air around him begin to freeze. A strong coldness filled the air as it began to seep into his very being all the way to his very soul. He frantically looked around and saw that everyone else beginning to be affected by the sudden coldness and the depressing feeling that was permeating the air.
"Damn," he cried aloud. He looked up the street and saw them floating towards him. This was all he needed he thought as the Dementors drew closer.
A/N I know I know another cliffie. Now before anyone kills me about this, I have a very logical reason. This battle is extremely long and hopefully quite detailed. I thought that this was the best place to end the chapter. I will try and get the rest up next week for you.
Also I have had a few wanting me to get Harry and Hermione together now; all I can say is that this is a very long story. I will say that there will be only one more chapter before they finally get together. The two have emotional baggage that they are working through and neither one wants to rush into this. However, due to the battle this will all change.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and tell me how you like the battle so far.