14. Cry Havoc
Harry opened his eyes and unusually for him he was not instantly awake. He lay in a kind of half doze, his vision blurred so that the light that was starting to shine through the window gave everything a fuzzy halo. Then there was a movement in the bed and he felt the warmth and contact of someone lying by his side. He turned to look and because of her closeness, even without his glasses she was in focus, and she was beautiful.
Her bushy hair flowed down and over her shoulder, hiding her smooth and perfect skin. He would remember her like this, this vision and the fragrance of her perfume was permanently imprinted in his mind. He reached out to touch her and she opened her eyes and smiled at him.
Hermione had woken as he turned in the bed to face her, but she had kept her eyes closed. It was partly that she didn't want this day to start, but also that she didn't want the last night to end. She lay in the warmth of his love, drawing in and holding the sensations and the wonder of it all. She felt the tentative touch of his hand and opened her eyes.
Hermione gazed at him lying next to her, there wasn't any outward change, he was just the same, her Harry. His dark hair was as untidy as always, maybe a little more untidy, his strong features so familiar, and there the scar on his forehead that marked him for the wizarding world as Harry Potter, but for Hermione as the man she had fallen in love with, her soul mate. She, like Harry, was storing the feelings and images of a love so powerful that it was sealed in their minds forever and that no matter whatever happened it would never fade or die.
Hermione wanted to keep him here, she did not want to let him go, but she knew that today was the day that the rest of their lives would be decided. Lily had been right, Hermione's heart cried out to keep him close, but she would let him go, she had to.
It was still early when they stood facing each other by the back door of the white cottage. Harry had his broom and Hermione had the little bag with the pyramid tucked safely inside. The necklace Hermione usually hid under her robes was out; visible for all to see, it caught Harry's eye for within the jewel was a flicker of light which had never been there before.
He watched it for a few seconds, it was there all the time, a strange double pulse, as if there were two lights sometimes flashing in time with each other and sometimes out of step. Then he understood because one of those lights was pulsing in time with his own heart, and he knew that the other belonged to Hermione. He held the stone and felt the thrill of the powerful magic in it.
"I noticed it this morning," said Hermione, "do you think it means it approves?"
"I think it means it knew what was going on," said Harry, "if it will still protect you then I think we can assume it approves."
He smiled and kissed her on the lips. "Now, you, back to Hogwarts."
Hermione took a step back concentrated and with a 'CRACK' apparated away.
'Made it,' she thought to him seconds later. Her thoughts, always clear and precise, resounded in Harry's mind with an even greater intensity. 'Love you'.
'I love you too; I'll be with you soon,' then switching his thoughts to Solomon, 'Are you ready? I'm just about to go in'.
Solomon smiled as he received Harry's thoughts, 'Ahh, so we have finally grown up, there is no child left in that young man' he thought without transmitting. Then to Harry, 'Ready and waiting, just tell me when. Good hunting.'
Harry peragated to the little bridge he and Hermione had used before. He removed his glasses and cast an impervious charm on them. He reasoned that it would not be a good idea for his glasses to become steamed up when he demisted this time. Then he mounted his Firebolt and took to the skies. He flew as any wizard would trying to keep out of muggle sight, but not as if he was expecting to be attacked by other wizards, at least he hoped that was what he was doing.
When he sighted the mansion he approached it as if he owned the place, and since he did he felt that it was a reasonable course of action. He landed near to the front doors, tried to look as if he was unconcerned, and marched up the steps. The front door was locked; he leaned his broom against one of the door pillars, took out his wand and unlocked the door with an 'Alohomora'. Harry pushed it open and walked into the hall. It was a large room full of shadows and places to hide, it seemed as deserted as it should be. Then from the shadows he heard a sound, someone had tripped, the clatter that followed was a dropped wand.
"Hello, who's there?" he cried, trying to inject some fear into his voice, which to be honest wasn't that hard.
There was silence then the air around him turned cold. Harry spun around, he could still see nothing but he knew that Dementors were not far away. Then he saw a movement on the first floor landing.
"I…I know you're there, I can see you, come out!" Harry kept the panic in his voice, he hoped he was being convincing. He desperately wanted Voldemort to think he was nothing more than a frightened teenager. If Voldemort realised how powerful he had become he would try to destroy him on the spot, and he really wanted to keep his abilities as a surprise.
Then four wizards made themselves visible by stepping forward to the banister. Harry recognised them immediately; it was Avery, Macnair, Rookwood and Mulciber.
"YOU!" he cried and sent a stunner at Rookwood which as he intended missed him by inches.
His incompetence earned him a laugh from the four Death Eaters who returned his fire showering the floor around him with spells. They were obviously under orders not to hit Harry by mistake, as their aim was well wide of their supposed target. The cold feeling gripped Harry again and this time he could see them, they may have been the same four Dementors who had greeted Draco but Harry couldn't tell, for they all looked the same.
He backed away from them knowing he was getting closer to the door behind which Voldemort waited. He produced a weak and indistinct Patronus which pushed the Dementors away, but only temporarily. As they began to advance again, Harry really tried to apparate because he couldn't think of a way to fake trying.
"No point in trying to apparate boy," said Macnair's steely voice, "the wards on this house are far too strong for you."
Harry made to turn toward his broom leaning by the door. "REDUCTO!" bellowed Mulciber and the spell shot across the entrance hall and connected with Harry's broom. The Firebolt and most of the door on that side was reduced to sawdust. Harry felt a little pang of loss; that had been Sirius' present, the best broom he had ever had. He spun round looking for an avenue of escape, but there was none, then the doors to what had once been a magnificent ballroom creaked open.
Harry froze. It was not the sight of Voldemort that had done it this time, but the fact that the room was full of Dementors, a hundred or more. Their plans had assumed that the attack would be made primarily by wizards, not these foul creatures. His mind had gone blank, the plan evaporated from his thoughts. What was he supposed to do? It was all going to go wrong; fear and panic were a real presence now. Then Harry's emotion brooch worked its magic.
Suddenly Harry was aware of a fragrance that wiped the fear from him. So powerful were his memories that the perfume provoked, that he wondered if anyone else could see them as well, his senses returned and he instantly knew what to do. He formed a link to Hermione and transmitted his thoughts as hard as he could, 'Tell them all Dementors, lots of Dementors, be ready it will be soon'. He held the link not wanting to be alone but also to hear Hermione's reply which was just as well. The Dementors moved to either side, allowing passage through their ranks, and into Harry's field of vision walked Voldemort himself.
The Dark Lord flung his mind at Harry who felt the weight of it, but because of his active link to Hermione, it was repulsed. Solomon had been right, nothing not even Voldemort could penetrate his mind when he and Hermione were joined.
"Well Harry, you seem to have improved in some of the branches of magic," Voldemort's voice came out as a hiss, full of menace, "but not enough it would seem. You are trapped with nowhere to run."
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Draco Malfoy opened his eyes, the dim interior of the barn which had been his home for goodness knows how many days, swam back into focus. The first time he had regained consciousness he had found that he was unable to move, having lost control of both his legs and arms. He had been terrified, but his terror did not last long, as he lapsed back into darkness within a few minutes.
As the days passed his periods of consciousness increased in length and slowly he regained the use of his arms. This allowed him to drag himself over to the water trough that the magical creatures sometimes drank from. The water was stale but it kept him alive. He lost track of the days he spent in this misery, his legs still refusing to work properly. He ransacked one of Hagrid's equipment cupboards and found a pile of biscuits that Hagrid used for treats. They hadn't gone green so Draco ate them all in one go.
Then to his joy, over a period of four or five days the feeling began to return to his legs. First he could crawl, then yesterday he had been able to stand, today he had only managed a few shaky steps but his crawling had definitely improved.
The edge of the forest was his goal; it was only just light as he set off across the lawns on his hands and knees. It took him twenty minutes, but he was in much better shape at the end of it than he had thought he would be.
Being outside refreshed his spirits; he sat concealed in the bushes and considered his options. He examined his legs, still weak from the effects of the potion, but improving, perhaps there was something he could do to help them. His impending freedom gave him courage and he felt brave enough to try enervating his legs with a spell. To his surprise it worked, he guessed it wouldn't last all that long, but at least he was reasonably mobile again. He was about to disappear into the forest to get out of the school grounds so he could apparate, when he heard the unmistakable sound of Hogwarts locking down.
The crashing of the doors and the rumble of the locking mechanism rolled across the lawns to where he was hiding. His curiosity got the better of him; he turned his gaze to the castle steps. There were five students standing there. He recognised the long bushy hair of Granger, and the tall red headed figure made Weasley easy to pick out, he assumed that the rest of Potter's gang was there as well. Then Draco's eyes were drawn by a movement, he could see a running figure, a first or second year by the size of him, who headed across the lawns and scampered off in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Draco recognised him as well, it was Dibble.
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Hermione had been helping Ron and the others prepare the school. Dean, Hannah, Seamus and Justin along with Professors Flitwick and Vector were ready to man the inside of the front door. AH had wanted to help, so Hermione had allowed him to act as a runner to bring the information that all the other students were safely in their houses with the members of the old DA and such teachers that remained for protection.
Hermione knew that McGonagall was with the Headmaster and that he was planning something but she didn't know what. AH reappeared to tell her that Hufflepuff was all secured, and she was just about to send him on his way, back to Gryffindor Tower, when she received the message from Harry. 'Tell them all Dementors, lots of Dementors, be ready it will be soon'. Hermione stopped in her tracks. She was sending to Harry when she felt the weight of Voldemort's attack on Harry's mind.
Gasping she turned to Ron. "Harry's just told me, Dementors coming, lots of them. Tell everyone."
"Bloody Hell we need to let those in Hagrid's hut know what's happening." He looked around for someone to send then he heard a young voice speak.
"OK I'll go. I'll stay with Hagrid. I'll be fine." His words rushed out, and before anyone could stop him, AH was off, running down the steps, and across the lawns.
Hermione was busy sending to Solomon and did not see him go, and at that moment the School began to lock down and Ron's attention was taken by other matters.
AH ran as fast as he could down the path to Hagrid's hut, and hardly pausing to knock on the door, burst in. Besides the half-giant himself there were half a dozen other faces staring at him and AH found he was on the business ends of as many wands. He recognised the pink haired witch and it was to her he gave his message. There was a quick conversation in low tones, and then all but Hagrid left to take up new positions.
"You say wi' me Austin 'enry. S'all we get to do today is watch." Hagrid was not happy with his roll, AH could tell, but Hagrid would do as he was asked. So AH climbed up next to him and peered out of the window.
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Solomon was standing on the top of the Tor waiting; although he hated flying he had borrowed an old school broom which he had with him. It would be the quickest way for him to get down to the village, if the nimbus limen failed and Voldemort's troops gained access to Avalon.
He was mulling over his observations about Harry's sudden acquisition of maturity when Hermione's thought came through 'Solomon, Harry says Dementors, lots of Dementors, be ready it will be soon' he sent back 'OK will be with you as soon as I can'. Then he realised that Hermione's thought had been as clear as Harry's, for the both of them all the fuzziness that was common in children's mental communication was gone.
"Well, well" he said to no one in particular other than himself, then smiled "Wonders will never cease."
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Harry was staring at Voldemort and he was staring back, there seemed to be a bit of a hiatus. Harry knew that if Voldemort hadn't been waiting for him to activate the nimbus limen he would have tried to kill him by now. As it was, Harry realised for him to escape with his life, his timing had to be perfect. All the players were assembled, there were maybe twenty or thirty wizards ranged in front of him, all wearing the robes of the Death Eaters. There were none of Voldemort's second string here, these were the best he had, with them and the Dementors, Ron was going to have a hard time.
There was no point in putting it off, they had started it so they had to finish. Harry hated multitasking, but there was no choice. With his wand he shot a stunner at the wizard on the far right, in the fraction of a second that all attention turned away from him Harry activated the misty doorway to his left and yelled a thought at Solomon 'COMING NOW'. He flung himself forward into the rapidly forming cloud and continued running as he burst out on to the lawns of Hogwarts and raced towards the figures near the castle.
Solomon heard Harry's shout and with a wave of his hand and a mutter of words the forming exit of Harry's doorway was smoothly joined to the entrance of another.
Voldemort saw Harry fleeing into the nimbus limen, he was furious because he had let his attention waver, as had all the others. He had missed this chance to kill the boy; still he stepped forward and chanted the spell supplied by Snape to lock the door open. As he motioned his Death Eaters forward he activated the Death Eater's mark as a message to Lucius to start the other phase of the attack on Avalon.
Draco, sitting in the bushes bordering the Forbidden Forest, suddenly felt the mark on his arm burn with fire. Then he realised how long he had been in that barn, it must be the twenty fifth, Potter would die and Avalon be destroyed today.
But that didn't fit with the activity at the Castle, he was confused, it didn't make sense. Then he saw a misty patch form on the lawns, Potter rushed out of it and ran toward the castle. Seeing this, Draco knew that The Dark Lord's plans were about to go horribly wrong and he could do nothing to stop it.
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Ron was standing on the Castle steps nervously spinning his wand in his fingers. He was still very worried about Hermione, especially as she was now sitting cross-legged on the lawn to one side of the steps and about twenty yards out. Then he saw the mist forming and Harry burst out running to the Castle, the time for action had come and his nervousness vanished. Then another worry was wiped from his mind as Hermione was suddenly enveloped in a transparent sphere, and he knew she would be safe, probably safer than he was. Now he just had everyone else to worry about.
The four members of the Tyr activated their shields, their recent hard work now allowed them to hold the shields without their wands leaving them free to use them. This time the activation of their shields was complete. They stood as they had in Diagon Alley, but on this occasion the furiously spinning blood red edges of their shields would bring death or dismemberment to any who came too close.
Harry ran as if his life depended on it. It did. He reached the spot he had chosen to fight from and turned to face his enemies. He shot a thought to Hermione 'OK?' received 'Fine' in return, activated his shield with an "Aegis Maximus!" and waited.
The Death Eaters boiled out onto the lawns, firing as they came, several stunners reached Harry and the Tyr but they were harmlessly deflected. Then the attackers realised that they weren't in Avalon at all. Most of them recognised the castle in front of them and it wasn't supposed to be there. Some tried to turn and run back, but the flood of Dementors continued through doorway, blocking any escape.
Voldemort was the last through, expecting to find his forces rampaging through Avalon killing and destroying as they went. He did not expect to find them all standing in a group staring at the Castle in front of them. He evaluated the situation and turned to leave but the nimbus limen had gone.
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Solomon sensed Voldemort passing through the nimbus limen and as soon as he was clear shut down his side of the linked doorway. His half was not controlled by Voldemort's locking spell, and then as he turned his attention to Harry's doorway and closed that as well, it was clear that the locking spell had no effect there either. The spell had been a sham, nonsense words to give Voldemort the confidence to use the nimbus limen, to let him believe he was in control, but he wasn't.
Solomon was beginning to summon another doorway to take him back to the Castle steps when thoughts from Frank Puddy held him back.
Frank was one of the Avalon wizards who lived in the muggle town of Glastonbury; he was seeing something very disturbing that morning. In the grounds of the old Abbey he had seen Dementors, a lot of them, and with them wizards, two of them dressed in long robes hooded and masked. Death Eaters he was sure of it, and they appeared to be directing the Dementors to the muggle town.
Since the realisation that Avalon could not completely isolate itself from the fight with Voldemort, several more wizards had agreed to take temporary residence in Glastonbury itself. Frank had called for his nearest neighbour Josephine Sprog who had taken over a childrens clothes shop. Together they tried to set up a barrier to keep the Dementors at bay.
Once Winnie Puddy had heard and seen what her husband was up to, she roused the other witches and wizards in Glastonbury and they effectively sealed off the town and kept the Dementors in the Abbey grounds. Frank was worried, he had no idea what was going on, he just hoped someone would tell him. This was a Saturday, soon there would be muggles arriving to visit the Abbey and climb the Tor, then they would have a disaster on their hands.
Then it seemed that the Dementors reluctantly turned away from their barrier and crowded around the cloister arch that led to the caves and then to Avalon. This was getting past a joke and he sent a thought to Solomon Aegis.
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Lucius Malfoy didn't like Dementors. When they had all arrived he had indicated that they could go into the town and search for muggles, but they drifted only as far as the Abbey wall, then milled about unwilling it seemed to cross the road, they moaned and wailed but it meant nothing to him, he didn't understand them at all.
The mark on his arm burned, that was the signal. The twenty or so wizards with him moved toward the entrance to Avalon, but it wasn't about to let them in. They stood about in confusion, Lucius swearing at the top of his voice, then the Dementors pushed past them and the wizards backed away. The Dementors moved under the arch and as they did so they wavered and vanished, they had found a way in.
About half of the Dementors had passed through and as each one disappeared Lucius could see the entrance to a cave, it flickered into existence then vanished again, only to repeat the cycle with the next Dementor as it moved under the arch. Lucius could see only one way to get in, although it repulsed him, he caught the cloak of the next Dementor and walked into the Crystal Caves, he was the last to enter.
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Solomon, on hearing Franks message, had used the old broom and flown from the Tor to the pathway that led from the Village to the caves. His mother Lady Niniane was waiting for him at the head of the path. She said nothing but inclined her head to him and offered up the staff of Avalon. Solomon drew a deep breath and took the staff from her.
"You can have this back later," he said, "I am not ready for it yet."
"I wasn't expecting you to keep it actually," she replied tersely, and then spoiled the effect by smiling, "be careful."
Solomon disappeared into the passageway and arrived in the caves seconds before Lucius. He raised the staff towards the invisible entranceway and shouted 'CADERE' the bolt of energy flashed over Lucius' head as he cleared the portal and should have struck the wall behind him, but it continued through as if it wasn't there, passed out into the muggle world, and hit the stone arch bringing it down. There was a rumble like thunder as stone crashed to the ground, it crushed some of the Death Eaters who had crowded around the entrance to follow Lucius Malfoy's example; the way into Avalon was closed.
Solomon now faced the Dementors and Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy he could cope with and he gave him no time to gather his wits. "Petrificus Totalus" and Draco's father was frozen in place and could now only be a silent witness to what was about to occur. The Dementors Solomon needed help with.
In all his long life Solomon had never needed to ask for help before, but now he needed it and was not too proud to ask.
"Father!" he called, the caves may have whispered back, but it may have been the movement of the Dementors robes.
Solomon raised the staff of Avalon and his voice resounded, echoing off the walls of the caves, "Ego imperare patronus paternus."
This time there was no mistaking the answer. The crystals lining the caves blazed out sending shafts of light streaming across the cavern. As each beam touched a Dementor there was a long drawn-out scream, an instance of flame, and the creature fell to ashes.
Solomon stood in the centre of all this, unharmed, with the staff held high. Any beam which passed close to him was attracted to the five pointed star at the staff's head and this energy flowed into the shaft making it glow brighter and brighter.
Lucius Malfoy, held fast by Solomon's spell, watched the destruction of the Dementors. If he could have moved he would have. If he could have cried out in fear and horror he would have. He never even had time to regret the actions in his life which had brought him to this place. Three of the beams struck him at the same time and he died in an instant, not knowing that on the other side of the portal his wife was lying dead, crushed under the key stone of the cloister arch.
The staff in Solomon's hands was incandescent, it was holding the power of his father and the crystal caves. That power was needed, but not here. It was needed to help defend an old castle against the most evil wizard in living memory. Solomon slammed the staff into the ground, there was a howl of wind and he was on his way back to Hogwarts.