Four: The Finding of Swyn Llyfr
The walls of the castle shook as we approached the Entrance Hall, which were smattered with shoes and pieces of cloth in the crowds' harried escape from the creatures. Streaks and bursts of light erupted from the Great Hall and above the grand staircase, along with terrified screams that chilled my heart.
"Why aren't the Aurors here, or anyone from the Ministry?" Peter yelled over the din, following us further inside.
"Probably busy shining their shoes," Remus retorted, holding his lit wand aloft into the darkness of the Entrance Hall.
"It's because the communication is broken, floo networks included," Sir Nicholas announced, startling the group. "Some students tried it already, to flee - "
"Geez, don't do that!" Sirius snapped, lowering his wand and facing the ghost, who was floating mid-air behind them. "I don't want to end up like you, thanks."
"Excuse me -"
"Oh, shut it," James commanded, his own lit wand lighting up his frustrated face. "We don't have time for this. We've got to find a way to alert the Ministry while Dumbledore and the rest of the professors try to protect everyone else. That was the plan, remember?"
Sir Nicholas gave Sirius a last glare and straightened his ruffles around his collar with dignity. "Well, like I said, the floo network isn't working properly. It seems these things thought of everything before they attacked."
"Owls won't get there quick enough," Frank murmured.
"And if they've cut off the floo networks, then that means we probably won't be able to leave the grounds at all," I added, running a hand over my face.
Sirius slammed a fist against his palm. "They've caged us in!"
"All right, then we've got to find a way around this," said Lily, forcing herself not to cringe as the screaming heightened with another glaring burst of spells in the Great Hall. "But we've got to get out of range first!"
Just then a ray of red light zoomed just above their heads and crashed into the stairwell, breaking off the entire left banister - which started began to tumble down on them -
"WATCH OUT!" Sir Nicholas bellowed.
"RUN!" Remus shouted, sprinting into a side corridor. Everyone else followed, along with some wizards and witches who had been hiding under the staircase. The crash thundered against the stone walls, dust settling in thick clouds while the screams and flashes of light continued.
"Lucy! We left her behind!" a witch sobbed, holding on to what looked to be her husband. "We have to go get her!"
The wizard wrapped her in his arms, while the rest murmured in anxiety and fear. I followed the others further into the dark corridor, my stomach tightening as I wondered whether "Lucy" had been Lucy Patrikis - my roommate.
"We've got to get out of here," Sirius repeated, crossing and uncrossing his arms as he shook off the dust from his shaggy hair. "I'm not letting some things without visible legs and arms to get the best of me, thanks."
Leaning against the wall, James shut his eyes. "We've got to split up."
"What?" I shook my head fervently. "No, that's how you all d-" But I caught myself from saying anything further.
"That's how we all what?" Frank prompted.
"Never mind," I muttered, turning away. I didn't think telling my friends that they could die anytime soon would liven their hopes.
"So what do you mean by splitting up, James?" asked Remus.
"I don't think splitting up is such a good idea," Peter interrupted, wiping his sweaty hands on his robes as he sunk down to the dirty floor. "Isn't that like splitting up our forces?"
"Do you have any better suggestions?" James retorted, lifting up his hands in defeat. "I know it's not the smartest idea, and you'll think I'm crazy, but…"
"Just tell us," Lily said quietly, taking his hand in hers. "You're not crazy."
"Well," James began, calming down a bit, "I look at this like a Quidditch match, you know? If we split our team while staying together, we can carry out our goal. First, we've got to alert the Ministry. Second," he continued as he glanced over at the sobbing witch, who was clinging to her husband and murmuring their daughter's name, "We've got to gather as many people as we can. They're scared stiff."
"I'm already scared stiff, don't think I can be of much help," said Sirius, tapping his wand against his leg and pacing the narrow corridor once again.
"If we're splitting up," Frank said, biting his lower lip, "Then I'll be in the group that rounds up everyone. I'm scared, too, but somehow I think I'll forget the urge to jump out of my skin if I'm doing something."
"I'm with Frankie," Sirius said, nodding. "And I'll go with him. I know how to get into the Room of Requirement - perfect place to hide."
"I'll go, too," Lily added, taking out her wand. "We can use the Head Boy and Girl's rooms."
"Don't think passwords will keep these things out," Remus pointed out.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I didn't say so - but the Head Girl's room is crammed with protection spells. I made sure of it, to keep James out."
"All right then. We'll meet you soon - hopefully," James said, squeezing Lily's hand.
"We'll all be fine," Lily said firmly.
"Let's go!" Sirius said, sprinting into the Entrance Hall just as another bang erupted from somewhere above them. Frank and Lily ran after him, while Peter jumped up from the floor and darted in their direction, yelling for them to wait up.
"So where do we start, captain?" Remus asked, smirking.
James shrugged. "No idea. Didn't think about that part yet."
"How about with floo powder?" I suggested, crossing my arms. "I know Sir Nicholas said it wasn't working, but maybe there's another way to communicate with it?"
"Do you want to construct a door with the floo powder?" Remus asked, arching his eyebrows.
"Remus, you're being sarcastic again," I sighed. "And you're not helping."
"Sorry."
"What about broomsticks?"
I peered into the thick blackness to see who had been the idiot to have such a suggestion, and was rather unsurprised to find James as the culprit. "Are you kidding me?"
"Think about it," James pushed, running a hand through his hair, his eyes lighting up at the thought. "We can't physically get out of the grounds….but protective spells like that always have limit breaks, which we may be able to fly over, right? And my Silver Arrow is the fastest broom to date."
"And we can always swipe the other Silver Arrows from the Quidditch supply closet," Remus added, thinking.
I stared at them. "I can't believe this. You two are mad. But no matter what, there is no way I am getting on a broom."
----
"This broom is poking my BUM!" I shouted, awkwardly adjusting myself on the ebony wood of a school Silver Arrow. I clutched my cloak tightly around my neck with one hand, while with the other I tried to guide the bloody broom. The icy night air bit at my exposed neck, arms, and legs as we three zoomed over the Hogwarts grounds, brushing against the leafy branches of the Forbidden Forest. The crescent moon shone silently overhead, its light peeking at us through dense gray clouds.
"Try to sit on the broom, Riona, not lie down on it!" said James, with what he thought were comforting words. He was flying his broom as easily as if he were flying on his own, his cloak fluttering behind him. My cloak, on the other hand, wrapped itself around my legs so that I almost fell into the Great Lake as we passed over it.
"So what are we gonna do once we get to the Ministry?" Remus yelled.
James was quiet, then said, "We'll think about that when we get there!"
----
"Okay, these things are really STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES!" Lily yelled, aiming a freezing spell at one of the creatures. It swiftly dodged it, and then scurried after a group of children who had taken advantage of its distraction to flee.
"Oh, no you don't," Frank muttered, picking up a broken chair and heaving it at the creature. It passed right through it, slamming against the opposite wall. But the chair had caught its attention, and it turned away from the children to face them.
"Run, run!" Sirius said under his breath, staring at the creature's gaping eyes, which started to glow red as it lifted its wand. He, Frank, Lily and Peter sprinted into a nearby classroom, just missing the flash of blue that exploded to their left. They all clapped their hands over their ears as the creature shrieked in anger.
"Sounds like a bloody banshee," said Frank, wiping the sweat off its face.
Peter peered over the edge of the doorway. "I think it's gone - or at least, it's disappeared…the children are safe, they're hiding in the classroom across from us."
"Good," Lily said, sinking onto the wooden floor. "We've got the first and second floors covered, at least. It seems like these creatures are trying to get upstairs."
"I wonder where Dumbledore is," Frank said quietly.
"We'll find him when we find all the creatures, I bet," said Sirius. "And I wanna be there, too - I want to see these things suffer for all they've done."
"I've lost count of the number of bodies we've passed," Peter murmured, tightening his cloak around himself.
"Cris Bryant…Roanoke Gilsbury…Omar Limkin…. even Professor Lunemein," Lily whispered, rubbing her eyes with her fists. "You'd think Lunemein would've figured out how to avoid his death, being the Divination professor…"
"Who's next?" Peter asked, shaking his head.
Frank shrugged. "What's next?"
"Well, we've got to get to the third floor," Sirius went on, swallowing and taking out his wand again. "If we think about what we're doing, we'll end up like Professor Lunemein."
----
"All right, let's get to my dad," James said hurriedly, racing out of the lift as soon as its gates clanged open. "I know he'll help."
As we made our way through the bustling wizards and witches in the cool and spotless Atrium, all arrayed in varied states of stiff Ministry robes, I wanted to roll my eyes at their inquisitive and disapproving looks. One stern witch actually tried to stop me by grabbing onto my robe as I tried to hurry away, except that Remus pulled my other arm so that I lunged in his direction and got away from the witch's flared nostrils.
But something was wrong. Everyone was acting as if nothing had happened - I had expected at least a flurry of worry - that our officials could at least be working on something to help the people who were dying by the second at Hogwarts. Yet, the Ministry officials chatted about the latest law on breeding magical creatures, on the latest case raised to the Wizengamot.
"Hey, Potter, what're you doing here?" a hefty wizard with a coarse beard greeted us at the entrance to the Ministry departments.
"You haven't heard?" James asked, surprised.
The guard raised an eyebrow. "Heard what?"
Remus gave an annoyed sigh and handed over his wand. "Look, we need to get through - to see Mr. Potter. It's an emergency, so hurry it up, will you?"
"Aren't we crabby today?" the wizard grumbled, clearing Remus's wand and broom and then doing the same when James and I handed over our wands and brooms as well.
"I can't believe no one knows about what's happened!" I snapped, slamming the gate shut as we ran toward the lift as soon as we escaped from the guard's chuckles. "Isn't Hogwarts supposed to be a prestigious magic school? Don't this bloody guard's kids go to Hogwarts?"
"All the underclassmen left Hogwarts already," James replied, his face pale. "And Hogwarts is cut off from the magical world right now…"
"Well, what did you expect?" Remus asked, furrowing his eyebrows as the lift's gates clanked shut in front of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, its water tinkling cheerfully into the air and back into the pool. "The Ministry has never been quite clever, has it?"
"What do you have against the Ministry, Remus?" I asked, glancing at him as the lift rose past Department of International Magical Cooperation.
He and James exchanged a look. "I just…don't like how they're running things," Remus answered, shrugging.
Before I could respond, we arrived at the second level. The gates cranked open to spill us in front of the glass double doors of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Although it was well past eight, the office was busy with activity - wizards and witches hurried in and out, reading stacks of parchment or carrying boxes of miscellany from singing tea pots to severed hands that were snapping their fingers menacingly. James pushed past them all and led us into a warm office filled with wooden desks and chairs and masses of more parchments and boxes.
"Hey, James," a wizard greeted him, his glasses on top of his head as he faced a pile of folders on his desk. His nametag read "Prewett," in scraggly letters. "What brings you here so late? Going home with Frederick? Wish I could go home - being an assistant here is a major pain -"
"Sorry, Fabian, I don't have time to talk now," James interrupted. "I need to see my dad, it's an emergency - do you know where he is?"
"'Fraid he's kind of busy," Fabian said, looking apologetic. "The Ministry got an alert of something happening up north, something about dark creatures and a stronghold of magical activity. They called for all the help they could get from the senior officials, so your dad went."
"All right, we have to count on you," James said, as Fabian peered at our flushed faces in concern. "Hogwarts is under attack. Our communication has been cut off by these creatures -"
"Dark creatures," Remus added, "That are trying to kill everyone -"
"And are looking for some kind of artifact," I went on, and then paused. Remus glanced at me curiously, his eyes asking the same question that had made me hesitate. How did I know that Swyn Llyfr was an artifact?
Fabian stared at us. "You're taking the mickey out of me, right?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Do you want us to bring the chopped off heads and legs that are strewn all over Hogwarts?"
"We were supposed to graduate today!" Remus exclaimed, lifting up his hands. "Graduate, not try to save our school. Why would be here otherwise?"
"So…you want me to alert the Minister of Magic?" Fabian said slowly, taking in our anxious faces. "You want me to tell her that the most impenetrable school in the magical world is being attacked?"
"If you won't, then I will," James snapped, taking out his wand. "And trust me Fabian, once the Minister finds out that we are in fact telling the truth, I'll make sure to tell him that you wouldn't try to help us in the first place."
Fabian clenched his jaw and jumped up from his desk and grabbed his cloak, nodding. "All right, all right, I get your point. Follow me."
-----
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Dumbledore yelled to us, aiming his wand at two of the creatures that were slithering across the cracked wooden floors of the sixth floor. A luminous sphere captured them in place - for moments, at least. With that the Headmaster turned his wizened head to the group of wizards and witches that the creatures had been trying to attack.
"Go on, follow Professor Flitwick," he said, exhaustion etching in the corners of his face. Flitwick gestured to the abandoned Necromancy classroom, and the people followed him, in varied states of fear, pain, and despair.
"Thank you, Dumbledore," a wizard murmured, placing a tired hand on the professor's shoulder.
"You think that'll contain them?" Sirius asked Lily, Frank, and Peter while they stared at the frozen creatures, their disheveled robes hanging loosely over their skeletal frames.
"No," was Dumbledore's simple reply, carefully walking over the corpse of two students. He waved his wand over their bodies, and they gently floated to another classroom that had not been completely demolished. "These Kakev are smart creatures - the more they are exposed to a certain spell, the more able they are to fight against it. Professors McGonagall and Sprout saw them break through three immobilization spells… "
"So that's their name," Frank said. "What are they after?"
"Swyn Llyfr, whatever that is," Peter answered. "That's what they were chanting on the grounds, remember?"
Lily examined Dumbledore's troubled face. "Do you know what Sywn Llyfr is, professor?"
Dumbledore's eyes clouded as he shook his head. "Very little…but the little I know is no good news…speaking of news, have the others succeeded in establishing communication?"
"They're trying," said Sirius, looking across several unmoving bodies strewn across the waxed floor. "We don't know what they're exactly doing, but -"
"Get back," Dumbledore commanded quietly, lifting his wand. They obeyed, uneasily looking around to see what was happening.
The creatures had stirred in the immobilization charm, their gaunt bodies stretching against their jail of light. As soon as they broke free, shattering the sphere into dozens of pieces, Dumbledore yelled, "Run! Get to the seventh floor!"
Lily started to lead the way up a side staircase, until Frank grabbed the edge of her robe and pointed at Sirius, who was still standing behind Dumbledore.
"Sirius, get a move on! We have to get our of here!" Peter bellowed.
"Not this time!" Sirius shouted, aiming an elemental fire spell at the creatures' robes, which promptly ignited.
"Foolish boy," the creature hissed, letting out a shriek of laughter as it gathered the fire into its hand and flung it in Sirius's direction. A jet of water splashed over Sirius just as the fireball began to burn him - and as Sirius turned around to see the water spell's source, he saw Lily lowering her wand and urging him to follow upstairs.
"Swyn Llyfr!" the Kakev cried. "We need it…we want it…it is ours by right…"
"What do you want with Sywn Llyfr?" Dumbledore demanded, his severe voice tinged with perplexity. "What would you do with it? It is of no value to things like you…."
"You are wrong," one of them whispered, its tone menacing. "Swyn Llyfr was created for us, and its power is the solution to the imbalance of power. Give it to us…and we may spare your lives…"
"What does it hold for you?" Dumbledore pushed, drawing closer. "How can it solve an imbalance of power if it will only increase your power so that you can lose it afterwards?"
"We know how to work its wonders," the Kakev said in unison. "It can turn to work for darkness once more, in its deserved place."
"No one can open it," Dumbledore interjected, his eyes flashing. "It requires a key, one that you are not able to attain. No one would trust you enough to give it to you."
"There is one who will," the Kakev replied, their laughter resembling the screeching of dying animals.
Dumbledore hesitated, stopping in mid-step. "Is Tom behind you, then? Did he tell you to take Swyn Llyfr?"
"You are boring us, wizard," one of the Kakev croaked, lifting a skeletal arm. "We will find the Swyn Llyfr for ourselves." It swung its arm, and Dumbledore flew across the hallway and slammed against the stone wall. They lunged for him once more, until they heard yelling to their right.
"Hey! Here's the Swyn Llyfr! Over here!" Lily shouted, waving her arms. Her eyes widened as the Kakev flew towards them, and she added to Sirius, Peter, and Frank, "Go! Go! Go!"
The Kakev suddenly paused. They began to sniff the air - almost tenderly. A soft hiss emitted from them as they scurried to a staircase leading into the Northern Tower.
-----
"We hope that you are right, children," Emmeline Vance, a director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, said with a frown. "I would think that you are old enough not to make practical jokes. The Aurors are on high call now after these alerts from the north, where dark creatures are massacring Muggles." She dusted off her navy blue uniform robes as she, the dozen Aurors under her command, and James, Remus and I Apparated at the far end of the Forbidden Forest, just outside of the school grounds.
"I do not see anything," Ms. Vance said slowly, narrowing her eyes and examining the thickets.
"Will you stop with the doubting?" I snapped.
"Just get to the castle, and you'll see," James urged her.
"Not at this pace," said Ms. Vance, and took out her wand, nodding at the rest of the Aurors to do the same. She tapped her head with her wand, as did they, and I soon caught on. The hastening charm worked at once, and as the Auror squad walked forward, their steps were hastened by five times their speed. The result was that they left us behind as we hurried to cast the same spell.
Soon we caught up to them, and we saw what they saw as Hogwarts castle arose out of the midnight mist: smoke billowing from the topmost towers, light exploding from inside - and we could still hear the screaming.
"Goodness gracious," Ms. Vance murmured under her breath - then quickly turned to her squad, who were whispering amongst themselves. "All right, I need half of you to go to the highest point of the castle, and the rest of you to the lowest. Meet in the middle, and capture everything and everyone you see. Go!"
"Wait, what's that?" Remus exclaimed, pointing to the Northern Tower. Something had begun to glow from the tower's windows, emitting a light that turned the castle, grounds, and night sky a sickly green.
The Aurors exchanged glances before they began to sprint into the castle. But before James, Remus and I could follow them, the Northern Tower exploded, bricks and stone falling down like hail over us. Screeches of triumph echoed over the grounds, and far away I could see the five dark creatures soaring out of the castle - carrying something between them - and flying towards us, their ragged cloaks fluttering like wings. We quickly bent low, but the creatures flew overhead and back into the Forbidden Forest, laughing.
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