Chapter IV
Dumbledore never mentioned what experiencing appropinquo defluo would be like. I recall standing in his office and performing the spell, and feeling weightless for only a second before blacking out. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but I do recall dreaming while I was out. I dreamed of what had occurred less than a day before. When I lost Hermione. When I defeated Voldemort.
We knew he had been planning an attack on the school. All magical wards and seals had been checked and rechecked, and the entire student body was gathering to perform a united strengthening spell. We were all gathered on the edge of the quidditch pitch, the field stretching out to one side, and Hogwarts up the hill on the other. I remember staring up at the sky while the students were being organized, a horrible feeling growing in my stomach. It was sunny, with only a few clouds scattered across the brilliant blue sky. All of the students above 3rd year were gathered in a circle, with the lower years being held in their houses. It was unmistakable that there was a strong concentration of teachers near the Slytherin section, and I blindly hoped that for once they would choose to not cause any trouble. I was between Ron and Hermione among the Gryffindors, We had all been given the words of the spell a few hours earlier, and had been preparing since then. We all knew the seriousness of the situation, and how important our full attention was.
The ceremony went without problem. We all held our wands in our right hand and pointed it toward the person at our right, who wrapped their left hand around the tip, and repeated the action. The entire group was joined by wand and hand, and we all began slowly reciting the words.
"May these grounds, found by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin remain as they always have. One this hill it shall forever stay. No one shall now venture onto its grounds, as no one shall now venture out. Defendo insquequo infractus."
With those final words, light sprung from everyone's wand and through the person next to them, until the entire circle was glowing. Everyone's faces were lit up brilliantly by the pure magic flowing through them, and soon the inside of the circle began to fill with the mysterious light as well. "Don't waiver!" I heard Snape yell from somewhere, as the effects of the spell began to take its toll. It was immensely draining, and I saw some younger years begin to sway as if they were about to fall over. I looked across the circle for only a second more before the light in the center became blinding and shot up into the sky, then scattered and fell to the ground, as if rolling down the sides of an upside down bowl. I turned away from it, closing my eyes tightly and turning away from it, yet never losing my grip on my wand or Ron's. I heard Hermione gasp next to me and my eyes flew open and I looked to my right. She too was turned away from the light, towards me, and was gazing up at the sky. The light enclosed the quidditch pitch, the lake, and Hogwarts into it, illuminating all within its boundaries in the most amazing brilliance I had ever seen. And then, as quickly as it came, it faded, leaving only a slight sparkle in the sky above us. We had succeeded. We had just created a barrier that no one could enter. This was hard to take comfort in though, as we had also just sealed ourselves in.
The field fell silent and remained that way, an eerie feeling overcoming us at the realization that we had just locked ourselves in. We all stood in place while the teachers began testing the barrier, firing numerous, nameless curses at it. Ginny was on the other side of Ron, and every few seconds we would hear a loud, nervous hiccup from her. We would all turn to her and smile as much as we could, which was barely at all, before looking away again, knowing it was hopeless. Eventually her nerves got to her and she was suddenly sniffling and wiping away tears. Ron turned to her and immediately took her into his arms, and they held onto each other tightly. I couldn't help but watch, transfixed by the sudden rush of brotherly emotion from Ron, when I felt a slight squeeze of my hand. I turned away from them and towards Hermione. She had taken my hand tightly in hers, and gave me an unsure smile.
"Harry…" she said, suddenly looking nervous as she bit her lip slightly.
"What is it?" I asked her, worry flooding through me. She smiled at me again, a little more sure of herself.
"I just wanted to tell you…" she started before trailing off and looking away into the distance.
"What Hermione? You can tell me anything, you know that."
"I know," she replied, looking back to me. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm here with you now. And I always will be."
What she had been speaking about wasn't about this simple spell casting. She meant everything, up to the very end, whatever that end might be. I felt a sudden rush of gratitude towards her loyalty, the back of my mind nagging at me that Ron had never said such a thing. Before I knew what I was doing, I had pulled her into a fierce hug, her gripping me as tightly as I was gripping her. She had always been my rock. I knew I was nothing without her.
Unfortunately, Voldemort knew that as well.
We parted after hearing a girl scream, and we looked up to see her pointing across the quidditch pitch. Hermione and I turned and saw numerous figures in dark cloaks at the opposite end of the field, and watched as more appeared, seemingly from thin air.
"Death eaters," she breathed, but her realization was no surprise to me, as my scar had erupted into head splitting pain just a second before. I winced but kept my eyes trained on the Death Eaters.
Invisibility cloaks, my mind screamed at me. They're all under cloaks.
"Orior!" Dumbledore shouted loudly, and sent a spell flying in their direction. It exploded and swept swiftly across the field, revealing all the Death Eaters from under their cloaks. My stomach leapt into my throat at the final count - at least thirty.
Screams erupted from the students, which all instinctively began to flee toward the school. I immediately turned to Hermione. I had always known this would happen. And I had always prepared for it.
"Listen to me Hermione," I told her, grabbing her forcefully by the shoulders. She stared up at me with wide, scared eyes.
"I need you to go back to the school. Please, Hermione. I couldn't hand it if something were to happen to you," I blurted out quickly, just as I had imagined.
"But Harry!" she began to protest, just as I had imagined.
"Please Hermione. I love you!" I shouted over her protests. Her mouth fell open, and she stared at me in shock, just as I had imagined. Suddenly she leapt up into my arms, and squeezed me as tightly as she could. I had barely a second to cherish it before she left me and turned and began running, with only one fleeting look back at me, tears running down her face. I watched for only a second before my hands flew up to my cloak buttons and I began pulling them apart. I quickly pulled it off and turned it inside out while chaos erupted around me.
At least Hermione is safe, I told myself. It will all be alright.
No one except for Dumbeldore knew about the modifications on my cloak. A week earlier we had taken my invisibility cloak and sewn it to the inside of my school cloak, so when reversed it would be invisible. I quickly pulled it on and drew my wand. I knew he was here; the pain in my head was so intense. I looked around frantically for a discernable leader among the death eaters as they dueled the teachers and the D.A. members that had stayed to fight. I ran around the edge of the group and looked out over everyone. Finally, I spotted Dumbledore a way off from the group, wand point to wand point with a masked Death Eater at the base of a hill. I ran frantically toward them, making sure my cloak was trailing on the ground and fully covering me, and I reached them in only a few seconds. I knew it was Voldemort. The pain was so severe, he couldn't possibly not be the man that now stood only 10 feet from me. Then to my horror, he realized the same.
He raised his hooded head suddenly, and ceased talking with Dumbledore. He seemed to completely lose interest the headmaster standing in front of him, and slowly began to turn his head towards me, as if he could smell me. My breathing quickened as I slowly raised my wand, trying to aim it at him without letting myself be seen. Then a familiar voice rang in my ears.
"Attero!"
Hermione.
I watched as he turned his head suddenly away from me and Dumbledore and looked up the hill. Hermione stood near a tree, wand poised, a large blue hex flying quickly away from her wand towards Voldemort.
"Defluo oblivio!" he uttered quickly, sending a black ball of flame heading straight for Hermione.
"Accio wand!" Dumbledore shouted less than a second later. Voldemort's wand flew from his hand and into the Headmaster's, and Voldemort turned just in time to see him break his wand cleanly into two.
"Avada Kedavra!" I screamed, parting my cloak and aiming point blank at Voldemort. He turned towards me quickly, and for only a second I saw his red eyes from under his hood before the curse hit him. That horrible green light that had haunted my dreams for the last 17 years had left my own wand and struck down the worst wizard to ever walk the earth. I didn't waste time to watch his body fall before my eyes flew back up the hill. My eyes met Hermione's for only a second before she finally noticed the curse he had sent flying at her. She turned to run, her hair spinning through the air around her.
"Hermione!" I screamed, taking off up the hill after her. She turned her head back to look over her shoulder, and I watched in horror as the curse hit her directly the face. She staggered to a stop, and she looked as if she was fighting to remain conscious. I scrambled frantically towards her, clawing at the grass as I hurried up the hill. She was only a few feet away from me when her knees gave out and she began to fall. I fell to my knees, reaching my hands out under her, prepared to catch her in my lap. I felt her hair lightly brush my fingertips, yet she never landed in my outstretched arms. She had vanished.