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Harry spotted the tell tale robes of the Aurors as he descended from the sky. He only just started his descent when the purple laser of the Flipendo spell almost hit his Firebolt.
"Hey!" Harry yelled, shaking his fist at them.
His shouts did nothing to stop the Aurors from firing at him again. Harry rolled and pushed his broom down, angry that the Aurors could not identify a target from the sky. Did he look like a Death Eater?
Swooping in low and fast, Harry dodged another spell and literally grabbed the wand from the hand of the Auror. Glaring menacingly at the supposed protectors of the public, Harry tossed the wand on the ground before leaping off his broom and marching to the group angrily.
"Good in the air that one," said a grizzly voice from behind him.
Harry turned around to see the real Mad-Eye Moody staring at him with a grim smile on his face. The ex-Auror did not wear the black robes of the Aurors but instead wore the green and grey garb most related to what the Ministry's Army wore.
"General Moody," the man with the magical eye stuck out his hand.
"Harry Potter. Student," Harry replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Let me go! I will break you in two! I don't care if you're an Auror!" Lily Potter shrieked as she fought through the Aurors to reach her son.
"Mum!" Harry yelled as he ran halfway to meet his mother in a bone crushing hug.
She was holding him tightly, murmuring something intelligible in his hair. Harry did not care if everyone saw him clutching his mother like he was still a baby. He held onto her, clutching her tightly. It was not long ago that he was stuck in Hogwarts with no way out. Another body smothered them tightly and Harry could feel the familiar arms of his father wrapping around both of them.
"You're alright, you're okay," James whispered.
The three Potters held onto each other tightly, not wishing to let go. The Aurors let them have their moment but itched to interrogate Harry. Harry continued to hold on to both his mother and his father as he took deep breathes to steady himself. He smiled at them as he pulled back, wiping small tears from his eyes as he took in the sight of his parents.
His mother still looked as beautiful when he left them after the break. Harry was delighted to see she was still wearing the earrings he bought her for Christmas. There were deep bags under her eyes as if she had not slept in quite a long time. Nevertheless, her vivid, green eyes were bright with happiness at the sight of her living son.
His father, on the other hand, looked terrible. His skin was pale and even though he was holding onto Harry, the shakes were visible in his hands. There were no bags under his eyes; instead his eyes looked to be literally sunken in his sockets, making them look even deeper set in his skull. His brown eyes looked dead and his breath was raspy even when he was standing still.
"Dad, are you okay?" Harry asked in concern.
"Me?! Harry, I'm fine. Are you okay? How are you? Are you hurt?" the flurry of questions came from both parents as they both started to fuss over Harry's well-being.
"Harry, you're hurt!" Lily peeled back a tear of his robes on Harry's shoulder to inspect the wound.
Apparently, Lily's statement spurred the Aurors into action as they closed in around the family and immediately started clamoring for Harry to receive medical attention. Harry pushed them off, though the wound did sting a bit, not wanting the fuss of the Aurors that tried to shoot him down from the sky. Eventually, even Lily allowed them to look at the wound for her son's own health. As the mediwizard went to work on Harry's wound, applying several salves and balms, the Aurors started to quiz Harry.
"Wait!" Harry yelled amidst all the questions, "The Honeydukes cellar! That's where they're all going. You have to go there!"
"Owen, take the group and go get them," Moody barked. One of the soldiers immediately turned about and started towards Honeydukes. The Aurors looked slightly put out that they were being excluded from this operation.
Harry smiled at his parents, excitedly telling them the exact plan of their escape from Hogwarts. As Owen and the other soldiers returned though, the smile was wiped off of Harry's face as he spotted only ten of his classmates with them. He jumped up, the mediwizard complaining all the while, and ran towards the other students.
"Su Li, what happened!?" Harry asked the Ravenclaw girl.
"I don't know," she said sadly, "One minute we're all climbing through. The next minute the passage closed behind us, buried in rubble! Poor Justin got hit by one of the rocks and we had to levitate him all the way here."
"Harry! Lavender and Padma are still in there! They're all still in there!" Parvati shrieked, tears streaming down her face.
Harry was at a loss as he turned back to the castle, knowing that Neville, Hermione, and all of his friends were stuck in the castle. Behind him, he heard more voices pipe up.
"Potter!" Pansy yelled, trying to break through the crowd, "Potter! I think I know what happened."
"Parkinson?" Moody growled.
"She's okay," Harry hushed the General, much to the General's surprise.
"What - what happened?"
"Well," Pansy suddenly halted but continued, "As I was climbing through, I noticed these symbols next to the statue. I was caught up in trying to escape at the time, but it occurred to me that I've seen those symbols before."
"What were those symbols missy?" Moody interrogated her, his eye whizzing around his head.
"They're four red triangles," Pansy gulped.
"Blast! Common Death Eater trap. They can be triggered at any time and cause some big explosions. The nastier ones leave permanent damage. That's how I got my leg," Moody patted his wooden leg.
"And you knew!" Harry accused her.
"I didn't know at the time!" Pansy defended herself.. She looked genuinely upset, an expression Harry had never seen on her.
"All of my friends are stuck in there too! What do you think the Dark Lord will do when he finds out we were shacking up with you lot the whole time!" Pansy yelled at him.
Harry froze, realizing that all of the Slytherin students would most certainly feel the wrath of You-Know-Who. A chill ran down his spine as he finally grasped the direness of the situation. His throat was parched as he turned to his parents, looking at them desperately.
"Wait!" Harry suddenly thrust his hand into his jacket and pulled out the Marauder's Map. James gasped aloud as he saw it, immediately recognizing it. Though Harry had many questions for James, he held it back as he scanned the Map. He gasped when he found his target.
Almost all of the dots were located in the Great Hall.
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Hermione was shaking, that much was for certain. All of the students were kneeling in front of the High Table, the Death Eaters behind them with their wands trained on their heads. One of the Death Eaters off to the side, MacNair she thought, was holding all of their wands in a bag. Voldemort was regarding them silently as if he were choosing a target. Hermione was fidgeting with her robes, hoping that the Death Eaters mistook her slight movement as anxiety.
"Peter," Voldemort said softly.
Peter Pettigrew stood and walked over to Voldemort. He retrieved something that Hermione could not see from Voldemort's side. Pettigrew walked down the line of students until he reached Neville. Neville looked up at him defiantly, singes burning the ends of his hair as he dared the former Gryffindor to attack him. Pettigrew shakily jammed the Sorting Hat on Neville's head.
Hermione looked at Pettigrew in confusion. Why would Voldemort order Peter to put the Sorting Hat on Neville's head? It made no sense. Hermione wracked her brain for the possible reasons as she kept fidgeting with her robes. The Hall was deathly silent as all eyes were glued to Neville Longbottom. The Hat seemed to take its time on his head but after an undetermined amount of time, Voldemort impatiently signaled Peter to take the Hat off his head.
It occurred to Hermione what Voldemort wanted from Neville. He wanted the sword. But why? Voldemort walked up to Neville and leaned down so he was eye to eye with the boy. Neville did not flinch, meeting Voldemort's red eyes evenly.
"What did the Hat tell you, Longbottom?"
Neville did not answer, his lip shaking as he kept his chin up defiantly.
"No?" Voldemort whispered after Neville continued to remain silent.
"Crucio."
Hermione involuntarily yelled as Voldemort hit Neville with the Unforgivable. Neville twisted and turned, moaning out loud as waves pain pulsed through his body. After a couple of seconds, Voldemort lifted the spell. Neville was panting but pushed his body off the ground and raised his chin again in defiance.
"Of course," Voldemort seemed to have expected Neville's obtrusiveness.
"I could just invade your mind as easily as I usually do, Longbottom. But I suspect the Hat told you nothing. But what if…"
Voldemort started to walk down the line. Hermione shivered as he passed by her. She kept her head down, not daring to meet the master Legillemens eyes. She could hear Voldemort settle on a person to her right. Twisting her head sideways, Hermione felt a chill of fear run through her as Voldemort eyed Ron. Ron kept his head down and his jaw tight as he refused to acknowledge the terror known as Voldemort.
"Crucio."
Ron screamed, his voice echoing through the halls as Voldemort applied the torture curse on Neville's best friend. Hermione could dimly hear Neville yelling for Voldemort to stop. Hermione kept fidgeting, hoping the Death Eaters did not notice her movement as she attempted to block out Ron's hoarse screams. Finally, she was able to maneuver the Mirror inside her robes so that it dropped quietly near her knee. Shielded by her robes, the Mirror faced Hermione's head and could hopefully transmit and receive this entire encounter.
She could only hope that Ginny or someone else was on the other end.
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"We have to go back!"
Harry was jumping up and down anxiously once he realized all of his friends were inside the castle with You-Know-Who. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had come to ruin Harry's hopes.
"We can't break through the defenses of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said sadly.
"What's up in your office, Professor? You have to be able to do something about it!" Harry implored.
"I'm afraid, I can't. I checked once I received word that Tom entered the castle. It seems as if he has changed the ruins to not allow anyone inside the castle defenses," Dumbledore continued.
"There has to be something you can do! Can't you just break down the defenses? You've been Headmaster forever," Harry was practically begging on his knees at this point.
"The Founders' magic is stronger than mines, Harry. We have to think of something else," Dumbledore tried to empathize with the boy, but Harry was having none of it.
"I can get back in! If I get out, I can back in!"
Dumbledore sighed, "That's not how it works, Mr. Potter."
"Damn it, you can't just STAND HERE!"
The window glass from a nearby store exploded as Harry raged at the Headmaster. The Aurors had their wands out but found no one to hex or curse. Lily seemed to realize that Harry was quickly losing control and placed a calming hand on her son's shoulder.
"Harry, we're going to do something about it."
Harry turned to his mother. Tears were stinging his eyes but he was not actually crying. It was simply pure emotion.
"We have to get back, Mum. You don't understand, we have to get back," Harry insisted.
"I know, I know," Lily stroked his hair softly.
"Dumbledore," James said softly, "Maybe Harry is right."
"I'm not following, James," Dumbledore frowned.
"Do you know exactly which runes Riddle changed? Perhaps the castle would recognize Harry's magic since he was in there when the runes changed. Perhaps Harry can re-enter through the defenses and destroy the necessary runes to allow us access," James offered.
"I'll do it," Harry looked thankfully at James, "Anything, I'll do it."
"It's not that simple, Harry. If your father is wrong," Dumbledore looked disappointedly at James, "You could be killed if the defenses are still standing."
"Well, I'd rather die trying than just wait around and let my friends die in there with fucking You-Know-Who!"
Another glass window shattered as waves of magic poured off Harry. No one admonished the boy for cursing at the Headmaster as the Aurors suddenly had their wands trained on him. James noticed this action and immediately stood in front of Harry, spreading his arms out to block any attacks.
"Put your wands down! You're aiming at the wrong person," James ordered.
"Put it down, lads. The boy ain't gonna hurt ya," Moody ordered, looking intriguingly at Harry.
"Harry we can't just -"
Dumbledore started but was interrupted by one of Moody's soldiers running towards the group with a package in his hand, yelling for Moody all the while.
"Settle yourself, boy! What's this about?" Moody barked.
"It's from the - Weasley girl - important - package," the soldier wheezed out in between gasps.
"The mirror! Why doesn't Ginny have it?" Harry immediately tore off the brown package wrapping.
"She was trying to raise you but all she could hear was spell fire. She sent it over here since her region is under attack," the delivery boy said.
Harry could barely spare a second's thought for Ginny's safety as he opened the package to find Hermione's face reflecting in the mirror. She was staring slightly off into the distance, her expression pained and fearful. Harry looked at her, his hand tracing her face on the mirror.
"Harry, what is it?" Lily asked.
"Shhhhhh…" Harry tucked the Mirror in his jacket, hoping that his Mom's voice did not reach to the Mirror.
He quietly whispered to everyone, "Hermione has the other end of the two-way mirror. We can't speak too loud or else they'll hear us on the other side."
"The two-way…" James muttered, his eyes sliding off into the distance, a distant memory echoing in his head.
"Wasn't it yours, Dad?"
"What? Oh - yes - me and Sirius used it…" James trailed off.
"Wait. Everyone quiet," Harry put a hand to his lips as he lifted to he Mirror to his ear, "I hear something on the other side."
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Hermione winced as Voldemort finally lifted the curse on Ron. Ron underwent the Crucio two more times before finally passing out from the pain. She hoped that Ron was alright and not permanently damaged in any way. Voldemort looked thoughtfully at Ron and then stared back at a mutinous Neville.
"No? You train your friends well, Longbottom. We're not so different, you and I."
"I'm nothing like you," Neville hissed.
"No, no, you're really not. Quite pathetic actually," Voldemort walked back towards Neville and pushed his finger against Neville's scar.
"How can an insolent boy like you be predicted to defeat me? I can enter your mind as I please. You will never be able to defeat me," Voldemort made a show of tracing Neville's scar.
"Predicted?" Neville grit his teeth.
"Oh so you don't know? You don't know, indeed," Voldemort looked delighted, "The old fool has always like to meddle."
Hermione was still considering what Voldemort said when a Death Eater dragged an unconscious Lucius Malfoy into the Great Hall.
"We found him near the triggered passageway," the masked Death Eater said as he tossed Lucius to the ground.
"Excellent. We can put on a bit of a show for the kids," Voldemort tapped his wand on Lucius' head and awoke the man. Lucius looked groggy from being hit by several Stunners but wobbled to his feet nonetheless.
"Don't worry, Lucius. I gave you my own version of a Pepper-Up charm. You'll be able to do this," Voldemort mocked him.
"Let us reunite the father with his son," Voldemort nodded to a masked Death Eater.
The Death Eater dragged Draco to his feet and frog marched the boy so that he kneeled in front of Voldemort. Voldemort looked down at him and then back at a sickly looking Lucius.
"You really do look astonishingly alike. If only I had the other set of father/son twins here…" Voldemort trailed off.
Hermione froze as she realized who Voldemort was talking about. She hesitantly looked down at the mirror and barely held her happiness to herself when she saw Harry's face looking at her. As discretely as she could, Hermione looked down at the mirror and slowly shook her head back and forth. After a few of these head shakes, Hermione stopped, hoping none of the Death Eaters noticed.
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"Why'd she shake her head? I missed what You-Know-Who said. I couldn't hear him," Harry told his parents, Dumbledore, and the Aurors.
"It could indicate anything," Moody hypothesized, "Maybe she's telling us it isn't safe? She could also be responding to something Voldemort said. She could also be trying to inform us that the defenses are still up. There's a myriad of things it could be."
"Parchment! Quill!" James summoned the two bits of equipment as an idea struck him.
"Harry, draw out yes or no questions. Get Hermione to answer them!" James ordered him.
"Brilliant, Dad," Harry said as he jotted down his first question.
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Is everyone okay?
Hermione slowly nodded, keeping an eye out for any wary Death Eaters while she kept one ear tuned into Voldemort's monologue.
"Lucius Malfoy. As punishment for failing to kill your wife, you must complete the task by killing her son. Do you accept this punishment?" Voldemort asked, his voice making it clear there was only one answer. Voldemort wished to make an example out of Lucius.
Is You-Know-Who keeping all of you in the Great Hall?
Hermione discretely nodded again.
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius said in a shaky voice. Several of the other Death Eaters snickered at the waver in Malfoy's voice.
"Settle," Voldemort smiled as he shushed the Death Eaters, "Let's have it then Lucius."
Lucius walked up to the High Table and stood over his son, pointing his wand at him. Voldemort watch, his face showing a rare amount of amusement at Lucius' predicament. Hermione noted that Voldemort seemed to enjoy the game.
"What are you waiting for, Lucius?" Voldemort continued to grow happier the longer Lucius delayed.
Are the defenses still up?
Hermione frowned, trying to indicate that she did not know the answer to the question. She saw Harry disappear and could see a brief glance of Dumbledore as the older wizard started writing on the parchment.
"Why the delay, Lucius?" Voldemort was now standing beside Lucius as they stared at Draco. Draco was strangely still, his head tucked against his chest. It looked as if he was not even acknowledge his father or the Dark Lord.
Are there glowing runes in the Entrance Hall?
Hermione recognized the neat scrawl of the Headmaster. There were runes in the Entrance Hall; the key word being 'were.' Hermione decided that 'no' would be the most appropriate answer since the runes were now gone. She slowly shook her head again.
"Kill your son, Lucius," Voldemort egged him on.
Harry had disappeared from the mirror and Hermione looked at it confusedly. Someone else was about to appear in the mirror, but Hermione could not wait around to find out as someone immediately hauled her to her feet. She yelped as the Death Eater squeezed her arm tightly and smashed his foot against the mirror. Hermione groaned, bemoaning the loss.
"Bates, what's the meaning of this?" Voldemort was interrupted from his little game.
"She had a two-way mirror, my Lord. She was communicating with someone," Bates was still holding Hermione tightly by her arm.
Voldemort looked mildly surprised as he appraised the Muggle-born witch. As he started to speak, another Death Eater cut him off. Hermione could recognize her as the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange. She was running into the Great Hall with an angry look on her face.
"My Lord! The runes can not be fixed! The defenses are down!" Bellatrix yelled.
Voldemort's demeanor immediately changed from tortuously playful to decidedly murderous.
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Harry was already running to his Firebolt once he realized that the defenses were down. He was almost there but was pulled back by someone's arm.
"Dad! Let go! I can get there faster than anyone else!" Harry tried to fight off James, but James held tight, even in his weakened state.
"Harry, wait for us to come with you. We're organizing a force and moving in right away," James tried to stop him.
"They might be dead by the time we get there. I need to leave now! Every second I waste is another second they might die!" Harry kept trying to tear himself away, but James held strong.
"Harry, you're not ready for this. Please listen to me," James implored.
"Dad, I'm ready. Please," Harry stared into James' eyes, trying to channel his emotions through just one look.
James met his stare for a moment and did not reply. He could only look into the vivid green eyes as if he were hypnotized by its glance. Harry frowned as James fell silent.
"Dad…please," Harry slowly pried his father's hands off of his upper arm.
James released him and looked at Harry, blinking back tears all the while. He nodded to Harry as tears fell from his eyes.
"Go, Harry."
Harry nodded thankfully at him before mounting his broom and flying off to Hogwarts. Lily ran up behind him, her voice shrill as she yelled at James.
"Why'd you let him go? Why didn't you stop him?" she yelled.
"He's ready," James simply replied.
"That's not for you to decide! James, we have to go after him!" Lily shed her regular robes in favor of a spare pair of Auror combat robes. She shook him on the shoulder, but James remained rooted to the spot, staring at the disappearing form of Harry.
"James, we have to go - ugggh - I'll get us a broom!" Lily ran off to retrieve a broom from the assembling team of Aurors and soldiers. All of the forces were moving in now that they knew the Hogwarts defenses were down. Dumbledore had already disappeared right after Harry. James was still lost in a world of his own as Lily returned with a broom.
"James, I have the broom. Are you healthy enough to do this?" Lily asked as she mounted the broom.
James nodded, mounting the broom behind her as he held on tight while they lifted off the ground.
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A thousand thoughts ran through Harry's mind as he flew over the Hogwarts lake. It was as if time were moving in slow motion. He could feel the ripple of the water at his feet as he glided over the unusually calm lake. The castle was growing bigger and bigger as Harry flew at maximum speed to Hogwarts, desperate to reach his friends before anything malicious happened to them.
Could he stop Bates in time? He already knew the tattooed man was as savage as any Death Eater could possibly be. It sickened him that the lunatic's hands were on Hermione. It sickened him that this sick bastard held Hermione hostage. Anger fueled through him as he felt his own magic radiating from him.
It seemed as if the adrenaline had forced all of his magic to the surface. Harry felt stronger; he could feel the magic rippling through his body. Though he knew he was nowhere near strong enough to take out the entire Death Eater forces, he could at least provide enough of a distraction until the cavalry came. With the defenses down, they would not be long after Harry.
The flight to the castle seemed to take forever in Harry's mind even though it lasted only about thirty seconds. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he attempted to formulate a basic plan in his head. He needed to distract them long enough for the rest of the forces to reach Hogwarts. None of them had a broom as fast as the Firebolt so they would definitely be just a couple of minutes behind him. Damn the 'No Apparation in Hogwarts' rule.
There was only one option; straight through the Great Hall windows.
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"My Lord, we must leave! The Aurors and Dumbledore are on the way!" Bellatrix implored for her Master to leave Hogwarts.
"No," Voldemort hissed, "We must return with the sword. To return without it would be catastrophic."
"But if Longbottom can't summon the sword from the hat, who can?"
"Longbottom's mind has been scarred from my invasions. The Hat will no longer recognize him as a true Gryffindor. From my research, there is only one other person that can summon the sword from the hat," Voldemort ordered several Death Eaters to take defensive positions along the castle as he explained the situation to Bellatrix.
"Who?"
"The Potter boy."
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Harry hurtled through the air as he approached the castle. He saw some Death Eaters moving to engage him, but Harry was moving too quickly for them to catch him. He pointed his wand at the glass windows along the top of the Great Hall.
"Reducto!"
The windows broke apart as Harry turned his body so he could fit within the narrow window. Looking down, Harry could see the Death Eaters and the rest of the students looking up at him in surprise. Slightly startled, Harry started to aim spells at all of the Death Eaters, flying in a scattered, random pattern all the while.
"Alive! I need him alive!" Voldemort yelled as he watched the Potter boy weave and dodge various spells.
The restrictions bottled the Death Eaters from using their more effective Dark curses. Potter was avoiding them admirably and even Voldemort was slightly surprised at the ease of which the boy avoided the curses. Voldemort aimed his wand at him and a large engulfing net flew up into the air where the boy's trajectory would take him.
Harry saw the net one second too late and sent a cutting spell towards it to try to break it apart. He cut off a part of the net but could only severe a part of it. The net caught him and the Firebolt, stopping his momentum and forcing him to tumble out of the air.
"Arresto Momentum."
Voldemort, himself, performed the spell to stop Harry from hitting the ground. Harry was still wrestling within the net but the net seemed to close tighter and tighter around him. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Peter Pettigrew approaching him with the Sorting Hat in his hand. For a moment, confusion struck him as he regarded the Hat weirdly.
Peter tore off the constricting net with his silver hand and hauled Harry to his feet, keeping a tight grip around his neck. Pettigrew barely hesitated as he smashed the Hat on top of Harry's head. Harry struggled, but Pettigrew's silver hand was too strong.
"Harry, don't -" Hermione yelled at him, but Bates immediately slapped her in the face.
"Let her go!" Harry yelled, his vision obstructed by the Hat.
Need to get free. Need to help them.
The thoughts ran through Harry's head as he continued to struggle with Pettigrew. Harry suddenly felt something heavy fall on the top of his head. Pettigrew must have felt the weight difference as well as his hand slightly slipped around Harry's throat. Harry used the slight slip to his advantage as he pulled the Hat off his head to find a sword in his hand. In one movement he used the sword to cut off the silver arm that Peter was using to hold him. Peter shrieked in agony as he lost yet another offending limb.
Harry looked up to see Voldemort smiling at him.