Sixty-seven to thirty-three.
Harry smiled as he exited the Defense classroom. The score was etched on top of the metallic board at the front of the room. On the metallic board, nine blue zones surrounded one singular red zone to represent the two warring armies. News of the giant upset spread through Hogwarts like wildfire. Harry found himself being congratulated by people he had barely seen during his tenure at Hogwarts. Students, older and younger, occasionally gave him a high five or a slap on the back as he passed them in the hallways. All in all, the past week had looked kindly upon Harry Potter. Of course, as with all things in life, there was a catch.
"Harry!"
Nooooooooooooooooooooo.
"Hello Cho," Harry said as he turned around to address the pretty girl. She looked especially ravishing today; her hair done in little ringlets with a touch of eye shadow to complete the look.
"I heard how great you did last Friday," Cho gushed, "Looks like it's all because of my good luck."
"And I heard you did fantastic as well, great job," Harry responded cordially.
"Why thank you as well," Cho fake curtsied.
"So…" Harry rocked band and forth on his heels.
"So…I was thinking - tomorrow we could knick some food from the kitchens and have a celebratory lunch out by the lake. You know, just you and me," she suggested.
"That sounds…" Harry struggled to find an excuse.
"Well - I mean - if you want to that is," Cho fiddled with the hem of her robes and cast her eyes downwards.
"Who would not want to?" Harry rhetorically questioned.
"That's a yes then," Cho's face beamed.
"You set the time."
"Great, I'll owl you later about it," Cho bounced away without a proper goodbye.
Harry scratched his head, confused as to why he could defeat the Boy-Who-Lived but could not find a way to turn the best looking girl in her year down. Harry heard a giggle and saw Hermione leaning against a wall, holding her books to her chest.
"Out again with Cho are you?" Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.
"Looks like it. I'm so excited," Harry responded dryly as he approached Hermione and leaned against the same wall, "I thought I was the only one who eavesdrops on random conversations."
"I'm always looking to broaden my horizons."
"Is that so?" Harry asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. Hermione shook her head at him.
"So what's it going to be Harry? Do you like her or not?"
"I want to like her, but some things prevent me from doing so," Harry thought of her letters to Neville during the holidays.
"Like what things?"
She's not you.
"She has kind of a weird nose."
"Harry," Hermione admonished him, "She has a perfectly good nose. Don't go around insulting her like that."
"Alright, alright! I didn't know you were such a Cho-lover."
"Hardly," Hermione rolled her eyes, "She just goes hopping around to what ever guy suits her fancy."
"Oh so I don't get to be the guy who suits her fancy?"
"You can be. Just be careful. I don't want to see you getting hurt," Hermione reached out to off handedly fix his tie for him.
"Is it her hair? I still remember that conversation. Are you jealous of Cho's hair?" Harry teased.
"Please," Hermione scoffed, "I'm going to spend an hour on my hair just so you can see it for a total of thirty seconds. I am not jealous of her hair."
"Then what is it?"
"It's nothing!"
"Wait, Hermione Granger. Are you jealous of her because of - you know -" Harry pointed to himself as he continued to tease her mercilessly.
"Do not finish that sentence Harry Potter or else I'll shut your mouth faster than you can say Quidditch."
"Qui-"
"Shhh," Hermione shushed him by placing her finger on his lips, "Silence is golden."
"Hermione?" Neville called out as he turned the corner to find Hermione leaning towards Harry with her finger on his lips.
"Hello," she smiled at Neville and Ron. Harry smiled at them as well but was not surprised to see them respond negatively in kind.
"We need your help for some planning stuff," Ron said as he continued to fix Harry with a crazy eye.
"Always with the planning stuff," Hermione pushed herself off the wall, "If I would have known that this is what it takes to get you two to pay attention in class, I would have done it a long time ago."
"Well we can't all be Harry," Neville coolly said.
"And you shouldn't be. He's terribly indecisive and a chronic eavesdropper," Hermione winked at Harry as she grabbed Ron and Neville by the crooks of their arms to lead them away, not wanting a confrontation to break out between her friends.
"See you later, Harry," she called out as she led the two boys away. Behind her back, Ron drew his thumb across his throat in a cutting motion. Harry responded with his trademark two finger salute.
Harry chuckled to himself as he made his way up the seven floors to the Gryffindor common room. Some first year asked for his autograph along the way; Harry amusedly complied by signing a set of his spare robes. Whistling "Harry Potter's fucking dynamite" to himself, Harry found himself on the seventh floor in no time. He bent down to tie his shoes for a second. As he stood, he was bewildered to find Luna standing in front of him once again.
"Luna!" Harry looked behind him and behind her, "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just appear like that, you have to teach me that trick."
"For whatever reason?"
"You know, maybe I could use it during the next skirmish."
"Skirmish?"
"Yes," Harry looked at her confusedly, "You know the skirmishes each year is having, right? When's yours or did it already happen?"
"I think it happened. It'll happen again soon," she said breathlessly.
Just talking to myself aren't I?
"What are you doing up here all the time anyways, Luna?" Harry asked with a quizzical look on his face.
Luna immediately sobered and Harry could see her lip quivering, "Just working on something."
"Potions can't be that bad. I'll help you," Harry tried to cheer her up.
"I wish you could," she whispered.
"I can! I happen to be pretty good at potions," Harry boasted, "We can meet later if you'd like?"
"Thanks," Luna collected herself into that dreamy state again, "But I'll have to respectfully decline. The jumping jingles around your feet bid you a good supper."
Luna disappeared around the corner, much to Harry's continuing confusion.
"Jumping jingles around - who says that?"
*******
"So what's the plan, Stan?" Seamus asked the next day.
The collective group were once again gathered in an abandoned classroom. Harry sat on the teacher's desk with his map in his hand while the rest of the group sat languidly in randomly scattered chairs around the room.
"I'm not Stan, Seamus."
"He's Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Defeated," Padma corrected.
"I kind of like the sound of that. Who came up with it?" Dean commented.
"Some second year."
"Really? That's -"
"Can we please get back on topic?" Harry interrupted.
"You're the boss," they simultaneously replied.
"Anyways," Harry tried to set some order to this meeting as he hopped off the desk, "We face a dilemma."
"No shit," spat Su Li.
Everyone looked at the usually quiet girl.
"I'm just trying to fit in," she looked quite embarrassed at her outburst, "Everyone else is being so macho around the hall."
"Don't ever do that again, Su Li. You're going to give me a heart attack," Seamus shook his head exaggeratedly.
"ANYWAYS," Harry raised his voice, "We have to figure out how we're going to contain their army within the hall."
"Well, that's pretty simple. Just split our army up in two and defend the two exits," Dean reasoned.
"Not that simple," Michael countered, "They could easily commit their forces to one side of the hall and overrun it."
"Touché."
"Do you think they'd risk doing that?" Harry asked.
"Well, they have to break out of there eventually. It might leave the Great Hall a little bit open, but they don't have a choice. They won't win if they stay in there," Padma concluded.
"So we attack them while they try to break free?" Su Li asked as she squinted at the zones on her map.
"They'll still outnumber us in the Great Hall," Michael sighed.
"Not necessarily," Harry bit his lip as a plan formulated itself in his head.
"Do I smell another great idea?" Seamus sniffed the air.
"Which side do you think they'd attack first?" Harry posed the question to everyone.
"The Slytherins," Dean answered confidently.
"Not necessarily," Padma tapped her nose thoughtfully, "They'd probably attack whichever side you're not on Harry."
"Padma makes a point," Michael agreed with his housemate.
"I will eventually get one of these right," Dean interjected.
"We all have faith in you," Seamus airily said as he tossed his toy Quaffle in the air.
"So what if we-" a double gong sounded, indicating the Third-year skirmish was over.
"Oh balls," Harry double checked his watch as he remembered his previous engagement, "We'll meet later, guys. I have somewhere to go."
"Where could you possibly be going, Harry? I thought this was important," Padma asked, a tad bit annoyed.
"I'm meeting someone. Can't blow it off," Harry apologized.
"Cho," Seamus and Dean said at the same time, topping it off with a fist bump.
"Sorry! Keep brainstorming!" Harry rushed out of the classroom.
"She's not that pretty. I don't see what all the fuss is about," Padma crossed her arms haughtily.
Seamus, Dean, and Michael looked at each other and shared amused grins.
Harry hustled down the grounds to find Cho already sitting underneath a tree with a blanket spread out underneath her. She was worriedly nibbling on a small piece of bread as she looked out to the sparkling lake. The weather was a bit on the chilly side, but the sun did much to alleviate the usual frostiness of this time of the year.
"Sorry about that, Cho, I was in the middle of something," Harry regained his breath as he took a seat next to the older girl.
"It's okay," she patted him on the thigh, "I haven't been here too long anyways."
"Mince pie, my favorite," Harry said cheekily as he took a bit out of one of them.
Cho laughed, tossing her hair back, "Glad you like it."
"How's your day been?" Harry asked.
"Going well, except Marietta insists in sitting in for these war meetings," she surrounded the word war with quotes.
"I know, people seem to be taking this way too seriously."
"I know!" Cho exclaimed, "I've never seen Marietta worked up about school. I think she wants to do well because Duncan is on our army and she's been trying to impress him for weeks."
"Duncan? Beater?" Harry asked as kept snatching food from the basket.
"Yeah, that Duncan. Except I think Duncan has a thing for Chambers and Chambers and Marietta don't quite get along."
"Mmhm."
"I don't know why though, Duncan's never been the type to go for blondes. I think Marietta just needs to let him go."
"Right."
"Besides, he can be a total jerk sometimes and he tends to take Quidditch way too seriously."
"Yeah."
Cho prattled on for the next five minutes as Harry continued to digest food and mumble one word responses. There was a combination of respect and disgust at how long she could simply talk to herself. Harry wondered if she ever felt bored with the amount of talking she could accomplish.
"-and so that's what I think about the whole situation with Michael Corner."
"What about Michael?" Harry genuinely asked.
"Harry! Haven't you been listening? I said that Michael's too hung up on Ginny."
"Well, I mean he has a right to, doesn't he? Ginny's a nice girl," Harry came to his friend's defense.
"I suppose you're right. I'm kind of jealous. I wish someone would like me that much," Cho leaned into him, her eyes hopeful.
"I suppose," Harry leaned back to avoid her.
Apparently, Cho took this move as an invitation for more. She laid her body sideways on top of Harry and looked down at him with a sweet look on her face. Harry was caught between trying not to crush the biscuit with his left hand and placing his right hand on her shoulder so she would not fall on the biscuit. All pretense of eating the biscuit left his mind as soon as she leaned down to kiss him.
Harry let go of the biscuit and melted into the kiss, circling his arms around her and pulling her more on top of him. It certainly did feel nice, the pressure of her body on top of his. His head move to and fro as he constantly adjusted to her pace of kissing.
So what if Neville's army attacks my side? Does that mean they'll try to take the zones that are - oh - that's tongue. What am I supposed to do with mine?
Harry awkwardly matched her tongue with his, not quite sure how this tango was supposed to work. Cho pressed down onto him as he was apparently succeeding in this task.
Do I put all the Slytherins on one side? They did say that they would probably attack the Slytherin side. Should I stay with the Slytherins? I've never seen Goyle even hit anyone with a Stunner. But I can't take Malfoy with me; they don't seem to like him and - oh - where are those hands going?
Cho's hands pulled at Harry's button down as she struggled to unstuck it from his pants. Harry shifted uncomfortably beneath her as he tried to make room for her hands. She laughed as he shifted and pressed down against him to continue kissing him.
I can take Neville on but where does that leave everyone else? I mean - oh that's my neck. That feels nice. It would be nice if we somehow kept them in the Great Hall though. Just have to make sure that Hermione doesn't try to - oh sod it all.
"Cho, Cho," Harry interrupted her necking as he tried to push her off. She looked a bit startled and sat up with worried eyes.
"What? Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"Cho, I can't do this," Harry sighed.
"Can't do what?" Cho raised her voice, looking quite upset at the mere thought of being rejected.
"This. I don't feel comfortable with it," Harry waved his arms around their space.
"We can take it slow if you really want," Cho said in a condescending tone.
"No," Harry growled, "I mean - I don't think I like you like that."
"You don't like me like that?" her voice was dead-panned.
"You send hot and cold signals, Cho. It's confusing."
"What are my cold signals? Please, tell me," Cho scoffed.
"I know you sent letters to Neville over the hols," Harry pointed out.
"Oh," Cho had the grace to blush at this revelation, "Well - well - I didn't know we were exclusive at that time!"
"We're not! It's just confusing to a bloke is all! Combination of all things leads me to not really want any of this," Harry pointed his finger between Cho and himself.
Cho huffed as she straightened her robes and stood up, "I didn't know you could become clingy so fast, Harry."
"I'm not clingy," Harry stated incredulously.
Cho had already stomped off in anger, making sure she got the last word in as she walked away, "CLINGY!"
"I'M NOT CLINGY!" Harry yelled back, much to the amusement of some of the surrounding students.
"Great," Harry grumbled as he collected his biscuit, "Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Was-Clingy."
Harry grumbled as he walked back to the castle, declining two offers for autographs along the way. Making sure to
slam the portrait door behind him, Harry glared at some First-Year who came running up to him. The First-Year ran away.
Harry spotted Seamus and Dean playing a game of chess near the fireplace.
"Meeting in 20 minutes. Round everyone up," Harry barked.
"Yes, sir," Seamus exaggeratedly saluted as he took in Harry's angry form.
Harry continued his stomping all the way up to his room, where Ron and Neville were thankfully absent. He did not think he could put up with their sulkiness at this very moment. It was not so much that Harry was angry over their abrupt break-up (he had no idea what type of relationship they were in anyways), Harry was instead quite upset she had the gall to him clingy. He had never been anyone's boyfriend, much less be clingy to a girl.
"Stupid owl, what do you want?" Harry muttered as he opened the window for the annoying offender. Harry turned the letter over to discover it was from his father.
Harry,
Glad to see you take the initiative and form your own army! Neville's a good kid, but it doesn't hurt to have a little competition, doesn't it? As for any advice, the best thing I can tell you is to look out for the person besides you. Make sure everyone knows what they need to do and help them out as best as you can. I know you're the strongest out of all them, Harry. Trust me on this. If anyone can lead them to victory, it's you, no matter how much of an advantage Neville's army has.
Neville, Hermione, and Ron are still a formidable force. Keep them off balance if you want to win and most importantly keep them apart. They function well enough as separate parts but can be dangerous when they click together. Do everything you can to separate them. I know you can take them on. Remember what I taught you about telegraphing your moves. You'll have a great advantage over the rest of your mates since you don't take as long to hit someone with a spell.
Above all else, do NOT underestimate them. They've gotten through scraps together for a reason. How's that Cho girl by the way?
Love, Dad.
P.S. Your mother sends her regards and is quite upset she didn't get a letter.
"Underestimate? Underestimate? I'm fucking Harry Potter," Harry growled as he tossed the letter on his bed and marched out of the room to meet the rest of his army.
*************
The next skirmish was upon them quickly, with Harry in a brighter mood since they formulated their plan. Since Harry's army held a majority point advantage during their last skirmish, they had the opportunity to set up first without Neville's army seeing them.
As Sheppard led them to the zones they owned, Harry split the groups up; Crabbe, Goyle, and Su Li would occupy the Entrance Hall while everyone else would set up in the owlery courtyard. Su Li was instructed to stay back near the courtyard by the Divination tower in order to send the signal once the time arrived.
"Alright, Nott. Same plan as before. I'll leave Padma and Dean with you and I'll take Zabini, Bulstrode, and Greengrass with me. Padma's really good at the Herbivicus if anyone should get through though they really shouldn't. Once it's an all clear, leave two people behind and join us in the Great Hall," Harry instructed the Slytherin leader.
"Got it," Nott said as he distractedly counted the members who would stay behind with him.
"Everyone else set?" Harry asked the group that would lead the charge in the Great Hall, "Remember. We have to take them out quickly and set up the defenses so they can't get back in the Hall once they've discovered the sides are stacked."
Harry's plan hinged on Neville's army attacking the weaker side of Harry's surrounding forces. Since they would simply be overmatched if they attempted to keep them in the Great Hall, Harry's army would simply take the Great Hall and the defend the double doors to the Entrance Hall, thus keeping Neville's army enclosed in one side.
GONG.
Harry immediately marched up to the backdoor of the Great Hall and yelled, "Bombardo!"
A cloud of dust and gravel flew into the air as Harry announced his presence. A few harmless jinxes flew through the cloud of dust, but Harry deflected them easily. Behind him, Padma and the rest of the Slytherins were working hard to build up the back defenses. Seamus and the rest of the attacking group stood at the ready for the signal.
"Signal's green!" Padma yelled out as she looked at the sky. Su Li would send green sparks if Neville took the "Goyle and Crabbe" bait and red sparks if he did not. The plan was working.
"Malfoy. Straight up the middle with me. Everyone else fan out," Harry barked as he pulled the hood over his head and checked his wand holster.
Harry stormed through the cloud of dust and immediately sent a Reducto at the table they had set up to block their move. The table flew backwards into the air, nearly taking out the student that was cowering behind it. Malfoy hit the student with a Stupefy to take him out.
Ron had predictably set up in the middle of the Great Hall with a similar shell fashion. Perhaps learning from the last skirmish, Ron had everyone at the ready for the attack. Harry ducked to avoid a telegraphed Stupefy as he and Malfoy quickly advanced to the shell group by zig zagging to avoid the spell fire. Seamus and Michael fanned out perfectly as they created a wide radius of attack for Ron's group.
As Harry ducked an amusing Bat-Bogey Hex, he counted only four students with Ron, all of them Hufflepuffs. Neville obviously committed most of his forces to the supposedly weaker Slytherin side. It would not take them long to capture all the zones on the other side of the Entrance Hall. Su Li's only job after her signal was to keep them distracted for as long as possible.
"Engorgio!"
Harry aimed the spell at the table in front of Ron and watched it swell to double it's size, effectively blocking their view. Harry and Malfoy raced towards the shell before Ron could come up with the counter-curse. Once again producing a ball of bright light, Harry tossed it in the group to incite confusion. Harry was surprised to see the ball of light bounce right back out and momentarily blind them.
"Son of a - Stupefy!" Harry yelled as he tried to shield his eyes from the bright light.
Harry heard the distinct sound of a body falling as he recovered from his momentarily blindness. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry watched Malfoy systematically circle around the shell to avoid incoming and outgoing spell fire and continually stun the shell's inhabitants. In no time, Malfoy had stunned everyone inside.
"Job done, Malfoy. Quickly, set up," Harry started waving his wand and moving the tables so that it blocked off the Entrance Hall.
"Fortify the defenses! We can't have them blowing it up on a whim!" Harry ordered as he cast several Strengthening charms on the table to make sure it did not explode due to a simple Reductor charm.
"Harry, should I get the rest?" Seamus asked.
"No, not yet," Harry deviated from the original plan, "Wait until we hit the first wave and see what we're up against. There's seven of us here, so we should be able to hold it off."
Seamus nodded and continued his spell work to build defenses. Harry ran around and inspected any weak spots as he braced for the oncoming fight. At least they were defending the Great Hall through a narrow point. It would be much easier to fight them this way. Once Harry was satisfied with the defenses, he crouched down on a raised platform to get a better vantage point on the entrance.
"Where are they?" Michael asked after a moment.
"Don't know," Harry muttered as he assessed the situation.
They should have attacked by now. Su Li can't hold them off for that long. It was only Ron and four Hufflepuffs here anyways.
Harry shifted his feet to avoid cramping and kept his eyes peered for any movement. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted the prone and stupefied bodies of Ron and the four Hufflepuffs.
Wait. Four HUFFLEPUFFS?
Harry felt the wave of magic before he even heard the spell. Quickly jumping from the platform, Harry raised his strongest shield to help protect some of his army as he did a complete one hundred eighty degree turn, "PROTEGO MAXIMA!"
Almost ten Stunners hit the shield and skewed off in several directions. Harry did his best to block his group, but Michael fell to one of the stray Stunners. The group did a complete turn as they defended themselves from the assailants. Harry struggled to flip the tables over to create new defenses as he fought off jinx after jinx. Once or twice, an Expelliarmus hit him and caused his wand to fly out of his hand, thus disrupting his spells. Harry could still not see the attackers.
Disillusionment Charms.
******
Padma settled into her makeshift trench as she checked the spacing of the rest of her group. Though Nott was technically in charge, Harry left her the de facto leader should anything happen. She could tolerate Nott's priggishness long enough until Harry had cleared the Great Hall. Double checking her defenses, Padma gave the thumbs up to Nott to indicate they were all settled.
"What's taking Harry so long?" Dean asked from a nearby dig.
"Shouldn't Potter have cleared it out by now?" Pansy asked in an annoyed tone.
"Harry will give the go when he's ready," Padma replied in a clipped voice.
"Let me check the area trigger spells one more time," Dean leaped out of his foxhole to make sure the area triggers were working.
Before he could reach the area, however, a blue Stunner hit him square in the chest. Padma looked at Dean incredulously before she was forced to duck in order to avoid a rather potent Blasting curse.
"What the hell?" yelled Nott as he returned sporadic fire.
"Nott! Make sure to keep the spacing! Don't let them get around the plants. Parkinson, keep your fire concentrated and flush them to the area triggers!" Padma ordered as she struggled to keep her cool.
Nott ordered his fellow Slytherins to keep their spacing as he exchanged more wand fire. Pansy shrieked and fired blindly over the trenches, obviously caught out of her element. Padma aimed a Bombardo near the door to buy them some time.
"Pansy! Snap out of it," Padma shook the girl by her shoulders, "I need you to focus there."
Padma pointed out the target and after a moment, Pansy collected herself and shrugged the girl's hands
off.
"I got it," she snapped as she started firing spells in a more controlled manner.
"Good," Padma grunted, "Where are you Harry?"
*******
"Fuck it all."
Harry cursed as Bulstrode got hit by another Stunner. The situations had been reversed as Harry's group were now set up in a shell in the middle of the Great Hall. The Disillusioned attackers took them by surprise and Harry's group attempted to hop over the other side of their defenses to counter them. Unfortunately, the remaining attackers from the Entrance Hall descended upon them at the same point. That left Harry's group back to back as they tried to fight off Neville's army.
"Harry! I still can't see them!" Seamus was simply firing back spells to nowhere.
"Homenum Revelio!" yelled Malfoy. Instantly, Harry saw Neville and the rest of his army taking cover from the High Table. The bastard had used Harry's own trick against him.
'Seamus! Zabini! Shift your fire to the Entrance Hall group. Malfoy! Grengrass! Focus your fire at the High Table," Harry ordered as he struggled to clear his head to formulate another plan. There was no Plan B to this situation.
They exchanged fire for a minute or so as Harry's group collected itself and started to push back the suppression. Harry shielded his face as a Reducto obliterated a chunk of the table's hardened defenses.
"Malfoy, bolster the defenses for a moment, I'll take over your fire!"
Malfoy nodded and started to wave his wand to raise a series of bricks that would absorb the spell fire for a moment. Harry took his spot on the wall and aimed a couple of Stunners at the High Table group. They were well fortified and equally spaced, making it difficult to pick out one target.
"Reducto! Bombardo!"
Harry attempted to destroy a part of their defenses but could only watch as his curses were deflected by various obstacles levitated in their way. Harry knew that was Hermione's handiwork.
"What the fuck happened, Potter?" Zabini yelled as a Cutting curse grazed his shoulder.
"Ron," Harry fired another Stunner, "Sacrificed himself to lure us into the Hall. Neville's army was just sitting in here, Disillusioned. Sacrifice the pawn; I always did lose to Ron at chess."
"Well you better figure out something quick," Greengrass said as she took a second to gather herself, "We can't hold here forever."
Harry peeked through a hole in the table to see Hermione and a couple of other people moving towards the backdoor of the Great Hall.
"Shit," Harry muttered, "They're cutting us off."
******
"Protego!"
Padma brought up a shield to stop a vicious Flipendo but could only block some of the curse's effects. Padma howled in pain as her body was hurled backwards into the trench. She felt her ankle tweak as she tried to stand up again.
"Patil, they're behind the pillars! They know about the area triggers. Someone keeps setting them off!" Pansy yelled in a panicked voice.
"It's stupid Granger," Padma growled as she finally hit someone with an Impedimenta. As she performed the necessary movements for another Stunner, someone had already cast a finite on the person and saved them from being hit.
"Graaaaah," Padma yelled nonsense in frustration.
More fires were being lit around them as they systematically destroyed Padma's overgrowth. The plants could not shield them for long and it was only a matter of time before they started to advance on them. Luckily for Padma and Pansy, they had enough time to build deep trenches so they could systematically fall back until they hit the zones.
"Patil. Pansy. Keep them distracted; we're going to try something," Nott had rushed over from his spot in the trenches to inform them of his plan.
"What are you doing? We're supposed to hold it off!" Padma asked.
"Just keep them distracted," Nott said as he scampered away.
"Distraction," Pansy grumbled, "Might as well take off our shirts at this rate."
"That won't distract Granger," Padma said darkly.
"Aguamenti!"
Padma fired a stream of water high into the air in an attempt to at least confuse Hermione's group.
"Duro!"
The spell came from Hermione and Padma watched as the water immediately transfigured into rocks. The rocks came hurtling down in the trenches much to their dismay. Padma and Pansy shrieked as they hopped around to avoid the sudden boulder shower. Padma was unfortunately hit in the ankle again and groaned as she collapsed on the ground.
"Patil, get up! I can't hold them off by myself!" Pansy tried to pull the other girl to her feet.
"I'm trying," Padma said through gritted teeth.
Out of the corner of her eye, Padma watched as Nott hopped out of the trenches with two other female Slytherins and sprint towards the pillars. He showed considerable agility in avoiding some of the spells and surprised the contingent by hopping over the low wall and engaging them head on.
A bright flurry of spells lit up that side of the courtyard as Padma and Pansy were given a momentary reprieve from the endless spell fire. Padma watched in awe as Nott took down three other students before encountering Hermione. The two other Slytherins were already downed which left Nott by himself. There were a flash of lights as the duo engaged for approximately thirty seconds before Nott was flipped backwards into the air. He landed with a dull thud.
"Fall back Pansy," Padma whispered as she noticed they were the only ones left, "Just fall back."
********
"Stupefy!"
Harry finally made contact with someone as he watched the student fall with grim satisfaction. Their defenses were slowly being reduced and Harry was forced to lie backwards and sit up to fire a spell as the walls were getting lower and lower.
Keep them separated.
The advice rang in his head as Harry tried to formulate a plan. Hermione had left a little while ago to attack the courtyard. Did that mean the High Table defenses were weakened? Harry decided to test out his theory.
"Reducto!"
The spell splintered apart part of the defenses without encountering any obstacles. It was not enough to cause major damage, however, as Neville quickly repaired it. Harry then spotted the beams supporting the High Table as he lay on the ground.
"I have an idea," Harry whispered to the other four people.
"Charming," Seamus grunted as he rolled to avoid debris.
"Malfoy. Can you take out those support beams if we cover you?" Harry asked. Malfoy rolled onto his back and took a peek at said beams. He looked back at Harry and held up ten fingers.
"What's that mean? Ten seconds?"
Malfoy nodded.
"Okay," Harry sighed, "Ten seconds. You need ten seconds."
Harry lifted his head to see Neville rearranging their line, their spells coming at Harry in sporadic bursts. The distance from where they lay to the support beams was about twenty yards. Malfoy would need to get close enough to ensure the support beams were crushed. He could not destroy them from his position. Harry spotted an untouched table near the empty side of the Great Hall.
"Okay, listen up," Harry shimmied over so he could see Neville.
"Everyone focus their spells at the High Table. Malfoy, get there as quickly as possible and take it down. I'll distract them."
"You'll distract them?" Zabini asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Harry bit his lip, "Go on my mark."
"What'll be your mark?" questioned Greengrass.
Harry immediately leapt up from his prone position and sprinted towards the untouched table.
"He tends to do that," Seamus explained as he started firing Stunners at the High Table.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Malfoy sprint towards the High Table. Time seemed to slow down for Harry as he eyed the spare table at the other side of the Great Hall. He would never make it there unscathed.
Harry turned to assess the spell fire headed his way.
Reductor. Stupefy. Expelliarmus. Impedimenta.
Harry could see the four students telegraphing their spells as they aimed at him. Harry formulated a quick plan inside his head to counter the spells.
Summon the flag into the Reductor's way. Protego the Stunner. Absorb the Disarming charm. Roll to avoid the Impedimenta.
Only four tenths of a second had passed as Harry planned out his route to the empty table. Time seemed to catch up to Harry as he was pressed into action. Harry immediately summoned a nearby fallen flag to block the Reductor. Next, he threw up a shield to block the Stunner as he spun to avoid a stray jinx. Finally, Harry felt the Disarming charm hit him and the resulting force to jar his wand from his hands. Snatching the wand back quickly, Harry rolled to avoid the last spell as he skidded behind the table.
"Bombardo!"
Harry aimed at the support beam located at the corner of the High Table and watched it crumble. Malfoy did his job at the same time and Harry watched as the platform suddenly collapsed. There was a loud creak as the platform collapsed from the middle, the ground shuddering from the resulting rubble.
Harry leapt over the table and started Stunning all the disoriented students. He hit as many of them as he could while the rest of his group got into the action as well. As he made his way through the rubble, Harry spotted Neville and fired a Stunner his way. Harry watched in bewildered fascination as the spell actually bended out of the way.
Smarmy prick is using his magic to deflect curses now?
Neville threw up a shield as Harry hurled a Cutting curse his way. He did not mean to harm the boy, just distract him long enough to hold his attention. Harry and Neville exchanged spells, the resulting residue of the magic creating a shield around them.
"Stupefy!" they both yelled at the same time.
The spells knocked against each other and lifted the pair off their feet. There was a loud ringing in Harry's ears as he struggled to stand before firing another spell at Neville. It missed Neville yet again, but to Harry's surprise Neville did not fire back. Looking around, Harry saw that everyone had lowered their wands.
"Double gong sounded," Seamus said tiredly, leaning over to place his hands on his knees.
Harry's ears were still ringing as he nodded dumbly. He could, however, hear a distinct clapping from behind him. Turning around, Harry spotted Dumbledore applauding them amusedly.
"I've always wanted to obliterate the High Table," he said wistfully.
*****
Neville's army - 67 points
Harry's army - 33 points
During the resulting chaos after Malfoy brought down the High Table, Seamus managed to keep his wits about him and capture the Great Hall flag. Unfortunately for Harry's army, Pansy and Padma had been overrun in a manner of minutes after they retreated. The roles were successfully reversed for the next skirmish.
"It's alright, Harry, we'll get them next time," Seamus clapped him on the back the next morning at breakfast.
"Didn't think it through," said Harry as he stabbed his meal, "Used my own trick against me."
"It was clever," Dean said.
"Too overconfident," Harry concluded, "Didn't see all the angles."
"You can't always do everything," Seamus tried to reason with him, "We'll get them next time; don't beat yourself up over it."
Harry still glumly sat over his breakfast, replaying the skirmish in his head. There were so many flaws to his plan that Harry began to feel disgusted. He was about to excuse himself from the table, but an owl dropped the Daily Prophet in his lap. Harry did not particularly care to read the whole paper but took a peek at the headline anyways.
Break-In at the Department of Mysteries!
The article went on to detail an apparent break-in at the Department of Mysteries. Details were kept to a minimum for security reasons, but they revealed that nothing was apparently taken.
"What do you reckon that's about?" Dean asked.
Harry looked up to see Neville, Hermione, and Ron huddled over the Prophet, "Don't know Dean. I gotta go though, see you in class."
Harry walked away, still puzzled over the meaning of You-Know-Who's attack.
**********
"Excellent, Rookwood," Voldemort hissed as he sat in his chair.
"As for you, Avada Kedavra," Voldemort killed yet another Death Eater who had failed to secure the perimeter during their raid of the Ministry.
"Everyone else out," Voldemort ordered without raising his voice, "Bella, stay."
The Death Eaters filed out quickly, not wanting to be on the ends of another Killing curse.
"Any progress from our person in Hogwarts?" Voldemort asked as he toyed with his wand.
"We're about a week away, my Lord," Bella informed him.
"Excellent."
"My Lord," Bella paused as she gauged his reaction, "Permission to speak freely."
Voldemort waved his pale hand to indicate a yes.
"Though I feel their punishment is appropriate, the others are growing restless from our in-house execution," Bella said slowly.
"I know," Voldemort simply replied.
"I just wished to inform you of that."
"Dully noted, Bella, but it won't matter soon," Voldemort smiled.
"It won't?"
"Now that I know the Prophecy, it has become clear to me what must happen once we extract the object from Hogwarts," Voldemort explained.
"I see," Bella said, not quite understanding her master's plans.
"All in due time," Voldemort said as he read his most trusted advisor's mind, "All in due time."