Title: War Within a Breath
Author: Muddgutts
Rating: R
Ships: H/Hr
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Chapter 8
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Wizarding Wireless Network Broadcast 8:34 pm
"We interrupt your normal broadcast this evening for a special report from the Ministry of Magic. All witches and wizards are asked to leave the area of Diagon Alley immediately. A state of emergency has been declared and Diagon Alley is being sealed off from the public as we speak. It is unknown at this time as to the reason why, and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has yet to comment on the present crisis, but we have had mixed reports from civilians fleeing the area. Some have stated that a giant is on the loose in the area, while others claim this could be the latest attack by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and his Death Eater minions. The Floo Network has been closed in and out of the area, and no one is being allowed to return once they have left. That much we know for sure. Stay tuned to this station for more up to the minute reports from the field here on WWN."
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"Move, MOVE-come on faster! He's coming back this way!" Kingsley yelled to Tonks as they apparated from rooftop to rooftop down the south end of Diagon Alley. With a loud crack Tonks apparated ahead of Kingsley then dropped down on one knee, taking a quick look down between the stores below.
"Clear!" she yelled and disappeared over to the next roof.
Kingsley popped in next to her and scanned the area, "Nothing! No one in sight, where the hell are these bastards hiding?" Kingsley was starting to reach his breaking point. "I swear on Dumbledore's beard that if I find the scum controlling this giant I'll break him in two!" The rapid sound of spells exploding in the air caught his attention from the north. Three Aurors on high speed brooms cut through the night sky on attack runs against the lumbering giant as he smashed his way through Diagon Alley. Their spells ignited the air around the giant in glowing balls of red flame that sucked all oxygen from the air. The giant swatted at the flying Aurors like flies, but he was much too slow.
"Unbelievable, look at that," Tonks said slowly.
Kingsley furrowed his brow and looked at Tonks questioningly. "Look at what? You've seen airburst spells before. What's the big deal?"
Tonks shook her head and spun Kingsley around so he was facing Knockturn Alley, then pointed off to the horizon. "Not that, you melon head. There just above the fire, look! It's an owl." Kingsley looked closer to where Tonks was pointing and just above the flames coming from west was a barn owl trying to go down into the flames.
"Hmm, wonder where he's . . ." Kingsley was cut off suddenly when Tonks grabbed his arm and Apparated them both closer to Knockturn Alley. Kingsley shook violently for a second from the shock and he almost bit his tongue. "Damn it! Don't do that when I'm talking. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Shh," she whispered to Kingsley and patted his arm. "Sorry about that, but I don't want to lose track of the owl."
Raising an eyebrow Kingsley smirked at Tonks. "Got a hunch about this one, huh?" Tonks nodded as she watched the owl circle once then drop down towards one of the few building that wasn't on fire, Borgin & Burkes. "You know the last time you had a hunch about something I ended up in St. Mungo's for a week."
Tonks gave him a winning smile. "And the nurses haven't stopped talking about you since. You should be thanking me not criticizing."
A sudden coughing fit overcame Kingsley as he blushed and said, "Right, come on then your going to lose the bloody bird already. Let's go." Tonks smiled from ear to ear and Apparated away towards Borgin & Burkes.
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Moody desperately tried to pull his wooden leg free from its stone prison. His leg had sunk into the brick walkway when Nott cast a stone-to-mud spell on it, changing the surface long enough to trap Moody in place. Nott laughed loudly as he apparated from one location to the next, peppering Moody with spells.
With his plan of attack ruined, Moody was left with very few options but to defend against wave after wave of incoming spells blasts. His magical eye followed Nott's movements and he countered every spell Nott sent at him. Moody's protection charm was much stronger then any of Nott's hexes or charms, so Moody started to take aim with the spells he deflected towards Nott. His last sleep charm rebounded back just over his head and slammed into the roof of number twelve Grimmauld Place. Loose roofing tiles came crashing down into the yard around them both.
"You're still pretty fast, old man." Nott said, covering his head. Catching sight of the remaining hobgoblins breaking in the back door, he smirked at Moody, "Just not fast enough." With a flash he apparated over to the back door of the house and pushed the hobgoblins out of the way so he could get in.
The back of the house was enveloped in a wash of green light shining from Moody's wand. All over the back of the house, a wall of thick pointy thorns erupted from the ground. Nott jumped back just in time, but the hobgoblins were not fast enough to escape. Thorns pierced their armored bodies, impaling them to the side of the house. The sound of their screams was drowned by the sound of breaking stone. Nott spun around fast and dove for cover behind the old tree in the backyard.
"Looks like you won't be going in that way," Moody said, shaking the remaining particles of rock from his leg. "Ah, that's better." He walked slowly over towards the big tree with his wand leveled at Nott. "So where's your boss, the Dark Lord? Not up to a real fight I bet."
"What would you know about it, you old fart?" Nott said as he slashed his wand towards Moody. A circle of fire sprung up around him blocking Moody's path.
Only the sound of Moody screaming could be heard as the flame consumed him. Nott smiled as he tipped his head towards the flames, "Nice knowing you, you crazy old bastard." He turned and started off around the house. As he tried to break into a run his knees locked together and he fell to the ground face first, cracking his Death Eater mask in two. As he looked back towards the flames, Moody walked out of the fire unharmed.
"You didn't think I would fall for some amateur trick like that did you?" he said dusting off his overcoat. He stared at Nott intensely and his magical eye stopped spinning and focused on the other man. "I'm still waiting to be impressed. I know girls that can duel better then you."
With one twist of his wand hand Nott broke the Leg Lock jinx and jumped to his feet. "Let's see if any girl you know can do this! Avada Kedavra!"
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Inside the boys' room of Grimmauld Place the teens worked franticly moving the beds and dresser over into the corner of the room. They stacked the beds next to wall around them and Luna cast a freezing charm to hold them in place. Neville stood with his wand pointed at the door ready to cast at the first person who entered. His hand jerked every time the hobgoblins slammed against the door, but he held strong to the belief that someone would come and rescue them before the hobgoblins got inside the room.
Luna watched the door calmly with her wand ready to fight. The banging increased in speed and the leader's voice echoed down the stairway as he commanded the hobgoblins to go faster. With each hit on the old oak door Ginny whimpered a little more. When Neville looked down towards the corner Ginny was curled into a ball trembling with fear. He kneeled down to her and took her hand. "Ginny, come on stand up."
"I-I can't . . . hate goblins. Fred and George scared me to death in Gringotts when I was small." she stuttered. She looked Neville right in the eyes. "We're going to die here."
Neville pulled her to her feet and faced her towards the door, placing her wand in her hand. "You can do it. I know you can." Neville placed his hand on her cheek and she looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "We are not going to die," he insisted. "Do you understand? We're not going to die. Say it."
The door gave a mighty crack as the wood started to split along the sides. Ginny's eyes closed tightly and her voice shook. "We're-not-going-to-die." The door gave another loud groan and split in two as the hobgoblins started pushing through the crumbling doorway.
"Here they come!" Luna yelled, bracing herself between the wall and the dresser.
Neville didn't remove his hand from Ginny's cheek as he turned sideways and sent the a Severing charm at the first hobgoblin through the door. "Try to keep them in the hallway as long as possible!" The charm cut the first hobgoblin's arm clean off as he pushed through the door. He screamed and fell to the floor, clutching his bloody shoulder as others pushed him aside and jumped over him
Two hobgoblins slipped in and moved to the side of the room, loading their crossbows with arrows. "Conjunctiva!" Luna made a quick slash with her wand, blinding them. One hobgoblin dropped his crossbow and started pulling off his helmet, clutching his eyes. The other shot his arrow blindly across the room, missing them completely.
Ginny couldn't pull her eyes off of the severed arm on the floor. She didn't even notice as a hobgoblin charged their makeshift defense and dove over the top knocking her to the ground. She screamed in terror as he pinned her to the ground with his knee and drew back his sword to stab her.
"Ginny! Cover your face!" Neville screamed, pointing his wand at the back of the hobgoblins head. Just as Ginny pulled her arm up to shield herself she watched as the Neville spoke the words of his spell.
"DIFFINDO!" Neville screamed and the hobgoblin's head exploded like a melon. Thick black blood ran down his body as it twitched and flopped around. Ginny screamed and pushed him over to the side as she stood up. Quickly Neville pushed her into the corner as another hobgoblin tried coming at them over the top of the barricade. Just as the hobgoblin jumped Luna hit him with a banishing charm, throwing him back over the side. Neville kicked the dead body out of the way and yelled at Ginny, "Snap out of it and help us!" A large spear pierced through the bed and grazed Neville's leg, drawing blood. "Damn!" he cursed pulling back towards the wall.
"Neville!" Ginny cried pulling him away from the spear. The spear continued to move as the owner tried to pull it back out of the bed. Ginny moved alongside of it and stomped down hard on the shaft breaking off the tip.
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Summoning every ounce of his strength, Ron ran towards the kitchen door with the hobgoblins right on his heels. They tried to grab hold of him as he slammed through the door, but Ron was too quick for them. As soon as he was through he turned and swung the door shut, hitting two of his pursuers right in the face with the heavy wooden door. "Colloportus!" he yelled sealing the door, but he didn't know how long it would hold before they kicked it in. The only thing on his mind was that he had to get outside. He wasn't sure what Hermione saw outside that made Harry leave, but judging from the look on her face, it couldn't be good. Now she was out there alone trying to stop it.
When Ron reached the back door it wouldn't open. As he pulled back the small set of curtains covering the windows on the door, a very disturbing image stared back at him. Pressed against the glass was the face of a Hobgoblin with long pointed thorns piercing his face and neck. The sight sent a shiver down Ron's back. "Guess I'm not going out that way." Franticly searching the room for a way out, he spotted a window over the sink. He darted over to the window as the head of an axe cut through the door. Despite pushing as hard as he could, Ron couldn't open the window. It appeared to be painted closed so he backed up a bit and yelling "Reducto!" blasted it open with his wand. Again the tip of the axe broke through the door as the hobgoblins pressed their attack. Wasting no time Ron climbed through the window and tumbled out onto the lawn.
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As Hermione flew over the roof of Grimmauld Place on Buckbeak's back, the hippogriff made a little chirp when he saw Sirius in the street below. Harry was close now, only a few feet away from Sirius, and still looked as if he was in some kind of trance. Her fingers strained against Buckbeak's collar when he started to circle downward towards the street below. Hermione pulled herself closer to Buckbeak's head and tried to reason with him. "No, Buckbeak! That's not Sirius. Don't go down there, please."
Buckbeak thrashed his head to the side with a sharp squawk. He didn't believe her, and apparently neither did Harry. Hermione and Buckbeak continued to circle floating downward, but Sirius and Harry hadn't noticed them yet. Hermione's mind raced trying to think of what to do. Any second now Sirius was sure to spot them and she would lose any chance of proving that this was an imposter. As they circled only about ten feet above them now she could clearly see Sirius extend one hand out to Harry, but the other was holding a wand behind his back. That was all the proof she needed. Hermione held fast with her left hand to Buckbeak's collar and drew her wand. When Buckbeak started his landing descent, she leaned out past his head and called, "HARRY! Look out!"
At the sound of her voice, Sirius jerked his head in Hermione's direction but was too late. With a quick twirl of her wand Hermione sent a banishing charm right at Sirius. He tried to shield his face, but the spell sent him flying into the door of the old BMW. Buckbeak hovered in place for a second, his head cocked to the side, watching Sirius and Harry. Harry shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly as he took in his surroundings. "What the hell," he said as Sirius got to his feet, but when he turned toward Harry his face was shattered. The skin was cracked down the side like a piece of glass, and another face looked back at Harry from underneath. It was Bellatrix Lestrange.
All of his hate, all of his anger and grief from the loss of his godfather coursed through him. "You! I'll kill you!"
Moving quickly with her wand Bellatrix blasted Harry with her spell. "Petrificus Totalus!" The full body bind hit Harry as he drew his wand; his body became as stiff as a board and he fell onto his back.
"Stupid boy, did you think it would be that easy," Bellatrix snarled. She turned her wand on the flying Buckbeak and Hermione and shouted, "Toxicum Sagitto!" A volley of poison arrows flew from her wand towards them.
"Move! Buckbeak Go!" Hermione yelled trying to get Buckbeak to move out of the way, but it was too late. Three black-tipped arrows hit her in the back, while two hit Buckbeak under his wing.
Harry watched as they spiraled out of control and hit the ground behind some bushes a few houses down the street. He tried to scream to call out to her, but his mouth wouldn't move. Tears pooled in his eyes as the image of her face flashed in his mind.
A dark figure moved before him. It was Bellatrix, kneeling down before him with her face half Sirius' and half her own. The lower half that was still Sirius's smiled as her own eyes flashed maliciously at him.
"Looks like it's just you and me now, Harry."
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Spell notes
Severing Charm: This is the same spell used by Harry in GOF, but I simply tweaked it a bit. We don't know the full power of this spell so I took some liberties with it.
Protego: I'm not sure it can stop a physical attack, but hey what the hell right.
Arrow spell: I've read about it in QTTA, but again the full power of the spell is unknown.
Toxicum Sagitto: This is a Dark wizards version of the arrow spell that I made. It shots poison tipped arrow.
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AN: Well I hope you liked chapter 8. I think I was faster this time around then the last few chapters. The stories really heating up and we have only two, maybe three chapters left in the story. Thanks for reading and as always comments are always helpful. J