"INCOMING!"
Dean's yell caused everyone to look upwards, focusing on the growing number of small, black dots approaching the train. They grew in size as they streaked across the air, their numbers easily reaching in the hundreds.
"All spells are a go," Harry rolled up the sleeves of his robes in preparation for the oncoming bevy of attackers, "Padma, tell everyone that the signal's green."
Padma nodded and tapped the intercom system of the train, "SIGNAL'S GREEN."
"Take them out as quickly as you can, try to prevent them from getting on the train. Fight them off once they're on top. Whatever you do, don't let them get inside," Harry dished out his last minute orders.
At his last behest, Harry wrenched open the window and swiped his wand in a horizontal arc. Seven or eight red balls of light erupted from his wand and sped off in the direction of the incoming Death Eaters. The red balls of light flew at an astonishing speed towards them before simultaneously exploding, catching some of the Death Eaters in the process and forcing the others to maneuver out of the way.
"That's pretty cool," Seamus commented.
"Showing our hand a little early, Potter?" Malfoy asked after he shot off a few speculative spells.
"There's a lot more than I expected," Harry answered grimly, "No time to play games. Take down as many as possible."
No one moved at his order.
"NOW!" Harry yelled.
His bellow seemed to spur them into action and at once, they all fired different spells at the Death Eaters. They could see other spells being fired from different parts of the train as they seemed to follow his lead as well. Most of the spells were off target since the incoming attack was still a reasonable distance away, but it was only a matter of time before they were surrounded by a swarm of Death Eaters.
---------------------------------------------
Samson leaned back as he watched a couple balls of light explode in a fiery blaze and ensnare a handful of Death Eaters in the process.
Whistling lowly, Samson turned to Moody and told the wizard, "Hell of an opening volley."
"Must've been Potter. The rest of them wouldn't fire first without him," Moody grumbled as his eye focused and unfocused.
"What are you doing?" Samson had a puzzled look on his face as he watched Moody's magical eye.
"Me eye," Moody tapped the glass eye, causing Samson to cringe, "It can zoom in."
"Sometimes I wish I had some of these things," Samson sighed.
"Dead useful," Moody agreed, "The numbers are bigger than expected for their first wave. Something must've tipped them off."
"Inside job?"
"No," Moody shook his head to reinforce his belief, "I think he knows Longbottom's on the train."
"Is the boy really that necessary?" Samson asked, still unsure as to the validity of placing their faith in one teenage boy.
"A necessity that we must carry."
Moody limped over to a chest lying in the corner of the carriage and wrenched it open. He hefted something heavy out of it and tossed it to Samson, who caught it with a grunt.
"I believe that's yours," Moody said.
Samson turned over the shotgun in his hand and cocked it, "Aye, it is."
----------------------------------------
"I think it's starting," Hermione was looking around aimlessly, but it was her ears that were doing all the recording.
Something large smashed against their compartment, rattling the walls. Hermione jumped up to her feet, her wand already raised with Neville not far behind her. Ron had fallen over in surprise but eventually scrambled to his feet as well.
"You think?" Ron grumbled.
"They won't be able to get in here," Hermione assured them but her posture was still alert.
The only lights inside their makeshift safe house was a light bulb hanging from the ceiling and the light Hermione conjured from her wand to read her notes. Unable to see what was happening, they could only rely on the staccato sounds of spells being fired and a distant roar of undistinguishable voices.
Sighing, Hermione gingerly sat down, feeling useless, "Nothing we can really do except wait this one out."
"Ruddy lot of good we are," Ron plopped down unceremoniously.
Ron kept shifting for a comfortable spot for his sore bottom but was interrupted in his search by Hermione lightly tapping his leg. Surprised she was this close to him, Ron looked up questioningly at her. Hermione didn't say anything but pointed at Neville.
Neville had his back turned to them and was facing the far wall, standing there with his wand at his side. Ron and Hermione waited a few seconds for Neville to move, but he was stationary, only swaying with the direction of the train every few seconds. Hermione looked at Ron and raised her eyebrows. Ron shrugged back and called out, "Hey, Neville?"
Neville didn't answer.
Hermione tightened her grip on her wand, an eerie feeling creeping up along her spine, making the fine hairs along her neck stand up on end. Ron noticed her tenseness and did the same, slowly climbing to his feet with wand in hand.
"Neville?" Ron tried again.
Neville remained unmoved.
Hermione and Ron looked back and forth at each other, helpless as to what to do. Hermione already had a few pre-prepared spells in mind should Neville be under the influence of Voldemort, but there was no way to know for sure yet.
"One last time and then we knock him out as a precaution," Hermione whispered as quietly as she could, hoping the sound wouldn't reach Neville's ears.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Neville suddenly responded.
Hermione's blood ran cold at the sound of his voice.
--------------------------------------
"To the left!"
The spell fire shifted a bit as they focused on a contingent of Death Eaters trying to land near the front of the train. The Death Eaters were swarming around the train like flies around a carcass, but thankfully, due to the speed of the train, they were unable to make an easy landing as they avoided a multitude of offensive spells.
Harry expertly shot down another one, the body falling from the sky and crashing against the roof of the compartment. The train was moving too fast for the Death Eaters to pick out their targets as Harry and company efficiently picked them off out of the sky. Padma sat still near the intercom system, relaying all the information from the other parts of the train.
"Nothing from the other compartments yet, Harry!" Padma yelled over the sound of spells being cast, "They're holding them off so far."
"Won't last long," Harry grunted as he twisted his body awkwardly to avoid a spell that managed to sneak through the window.
At this velocity, the Death Eaters had no chance of landing sure hits unless they flew directly alongside the train. That movement, though, would be akin to suicide as it would present the well covered forces of the Minister's Army an easy target. The only way they would be able to attack them was to land on the train and somehow infiltrate it. It was only a matter of time before someone figured this out.
"Keep holding them off," Harry ordered as he walked towards Malfoy.
"Malfoy. I want you to take Seamus and Dean once they try to board. Hold them off as long as you can."
Malfoy only nodded, his mask bobbing ever so slightly as he kept his concentration on blasting as many Death Eaters out of the sky as possible. Harry walked over to Padma and relayed similar instructions only with different names for the different compartments.
BOOM.
A blast rocked their compartment, knocking Harry temporarily off his feet. Groaning, Seamus slowly barrel rolled and pushed himself up with his hands.
"Bunch of bastards," he bemoaned as he returned to his post.
"Death Eater must've tried blasting the train apart. The shields absorbed the hit but let's hope we don't have to take too many of those," Su Li concluded as she knocked down a Death Eater from their broom.
"I think we'll have to worry about other things at this rate," Dean countered as they heard the sound of heavy thuds landing on the top of the train.
Harry's eyes widened as he realized the Death Eaters had landed, "Cut them off before they can get to Ernie!"
"Finnegan! Thomas! Let's go!" Malfoy barked as he climbed out the window and pulled himself up above.
"Up we go," Seamus grinned and winked at Harry as he and Dean did the same.
"Psychotic," Padma mumbled, "They're psychotic."
"Padma, relay the message to everyone else. Tell them…prepare to be boarded."
--------------------------------------------
Hermione froze once she heard the chill in Neville's voice. It was the same voice that haunted her occasional nightmare. The same voice she heard when Neville attacked her so many nights ago. Ron automatically placed himself in front of Hermione in a protective fashion, his wand pointed at his former roommate.
"Neville!" Ron yelled, "Don't make a move!"
Neville only turned his head a bit, the light just barely catching his cheeks. His back was still turned to them as he said, "Don't make me laugh, Weasley. You wouldn't be able to fend me off."
Ron gulped, not knowing he who exactly he was talking to but pushed on nonetheless, "I'm warning you, Neville. Just stay over there."
Neville snorted, "It's not you I'm after, Weasley."
Hermione couldn't stop the small gasp from escaping her as she realized what Neville was implicating. Ron placed himself even more in front of Hermione as if he were trying to shield her from Neville's view.
Before Ron could stop her, Hermione called out in a shaky voice, "What do you want, Neville?"
Neville didn't answer but his head suddenly twitched awkwardly, his body quivering ever so slightly. Still not turning around, Neville spoke in a ragged breath this time, quite unlike his previous sentence, "Ron…Hermione…he knows."
Sensing that Neville was fighting off Voldemort inside his head, Hermione pressed the issue, "Neville, you can fight him off! Don't let him inside."
Neville twitched again, his hands clenching and unclenching. He was an unnerving sight as two minds fought for control of his body. Hermione was more confident now that she knew what exactly was going on.
"You can do this, Neville. Just clear your mind. You're stronger than him," she encouraged him despite her fear.
Ron kept his wand firmly trained on him, letting Hermione do all the talking, "He's feeding off your negativity but he won't be able to do that soon. Don't let him in, Neville. We're so close. So, so close."
A long moan escaped Neville's lips, a tortured moan that rattled Hermione's ears. Neville's voice cracked as he continued moaning, a sound that didn't quite seem human.
"Neville, are you okay?" Hermione asked in a rush.
Neville suddenly stopped moaning and his shoulders sagged. It was quiet, the only sound being the dull murmur of voices from the other parts of the train. Hermione took a step towards the boy, stepping out from behind Ron. Ron grabbed her shoulder, looking at her questioningly. Hermione shook her head at him and shrugged off his hand as she took another tentative step towards Neville.
"Neville?"
No answer.
"Neville, please."
Again, no answer.
Hermione looked at Ron helplessly as Neville continued to remain mute. Ron shook his head, indicating that he thought it was a bad idea to approach him. Hermione took a brave step nonetheless, intent on keeping Voldemort out of Neville's head.
"Neville," she tried one more time.
Hermione stopped in her tracks as Neville spoke again, "Run, Hermione. Get out of here."
Hermione back-pedaled at the desperateness in Neville's voice. Ron grabbed her arm as soon as she was within range and pulled her backwards. They backed up until they were pressed against the other wall, fear yanking at their hearts.
"Ron. Hermione. RUN!" Neville yelled one last time.
But Ron and Hermione faced a quandary. The only they could leave the compartment was for Harry to let them out from the outside. Seeing as how they were nowhere near King's Cross, Harry wouldn't be coming for them anytime soon. Sensing there was no other option, Hermione raised her wand and pointed it at Neville.
"Stupefy!"
----------------------------------------
Harry clambered on top of the train as more and more Death Eaters flew from the tower. Harry didn't quite know how Voldemort managed to find all of these Death Eaters but they were in the hundreds as they kept attacking the train, poking and prodding their way inside.
On top of the train, a fierce firefight was already in process as Malfoy, Seamus, and Dean fought against seven or eight Death Eaters in tandem. Catching them off-guard, Harry quickly dispatched three of the poor saps before his comrades even noticed him. Facing fire from better wizards in different directions, the remaining Death Eaters quickly perished in a few seconds.
Looking towards the back of the train, Harry could see some of the other units struggling with the Death Eaters. He turned towards the remaining three and ordered, "Don't let them get to Ernie. They're going to try to stop the train soon, I reckon, so be prepared."
"Got it!" Seamus yelled back over the tornado of wind that encircled them.
Nodding, Harry hopped over from one compartment to the next and blasted a Death Eater clear off his feet. Seamus watched the man tumble over the edge and smash against the ground as Harry rampaged his way through the collection of enemies that were attempting to infiltrate the train.
"I think it would be a terrible idea to ever get him angry!" Seamus yelled towards Dean.
"You think?!" Dean asked incredulously as he watched Harry slide underneath a Death Eater, punch him in the testicular, and resoundingly blast him off the train.
"If you two incompetents are done licking Potter's balls, there's more on the way," Malfoy gruffly informed them as he pointed to a new set of Death Eaters attempting to land on the train.
BOOM.
Another explosion rocked the train and the three wizards had to crouch against the train to prevent themselves from being thrown off. Looking towards the rear of the train, Seamus spotted a plume of smoke rising from one of the cars in the back. He couldn't quite see which car it was, but he hoped they had it under control. The slight distraction allowed the troupe of Death Eaters to land unopposed on the train car behind them. There were four Death Eaters with one of them looming clear above the others. As Seamus adjusted himself to face them properly, he let out a cry of surprise as he spotted who the giant Death Eater was.
Bates.
Seamus could almost hear Malfoy growling next to him as he spotted the killer of his parents. Knowing the history between the two, Seamus gulped, expecting the worst. As he turned to spare a glance at Malfoy though, he was struck with a sudden thought. Bates didn't know it was Malfoy! The mask concealed him.
Seamus had no more time to dwell on the history between the Death Eater and the son of a Death Eater as the current Death Eaters opened fire on them. Conjuring a shield and crouching to minimize his size, Seamus easily deflected the first few curses thrown his way.
"Stupefy!"
"Expendo!"
All of the wizards were unable to use environmental curses since they couldn't do anything to damage the train. Short of the Death Eaters performing kamikaze attacks to take out the train, they were forced to rely on directly offensive attacks. Fortunately, for the Death Eaters, they were well versed in this regard.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Seamus twisted and narrowly avoided the deathly green beam. They were limited in their movements since they couldn't disembark from the train and it created a natural tunnel for the spells. Since that particular curse couldn't be blocked, Seamus knew that a lucky shot could easily kill him.
Seamus conjured a few arrows and shot them at the Death Eater closest to him. Already holding a shield against Dean, the Death Eater ducked to avoid the spell. Unfortunately, his compatriot was right behind him and the arrow struck him in the throat. Seamus pressed his advantage and shot a few Stunners at the initial target, pinning him backwards.
As the arrow-stricken wizard careened off the train, Seamus ducked to narrowly avoid another Killing Curse. Dean managed to take out one of the other Death Eaters but was sporting a nasty cut on his arm. Blood soaked his robes and he was visibly wincing as he prepared more spells to defeat Bates and the spare.
Malfoy launched a ferocious attack on Bates, not even speaking words as he waved his wand about in an attempt to overwhelm the vile man. Bates easily parried him without moving his metal, prosthetic leg and flicked his wand in Malfoy's direction. Malfoy's robe caught fire, but he quickly extinguished it and yelled, "Carpe Retractum!"
A rope flew out of Malfoy's wand and wrapped itself around the spare Death Eater's waist. With a quick yank, Malfoy sent the Death Eater hurtling into the air above them. Seamus and Dean took aim and attempted to strike the Death Eater down, but the train suddenly swayed and their spells missed. The Death Eater missed the train on the way down, Malfoy still attached to him.
The masked man was yanked off his feet as the Death Eater unintentionally dragged him down. Dean yelled and grabbed Malfoy just as he was about to fall from the edge of the train. Seamus recognized the potential weakness in their situation and jumped to their defense to ward off Bates for a moment.
Bates anticipated this moment, however, and aimed an impossibly strong Blasting curse at Seamus. Seamus brought up his shield, but couldn't block the full effects of the curse. The spell lifted him off his feet as the Sticking Charm on his boots failed him. Tumbling in mid-air, all Seamus could do was reach his hand out to grab on something…anything.
His savior came in the form of Dean's other hand. Dean dropped his wand, the object being crushed beneath the train's gears below, and grabbed onto his friend's forearm before he fell to his doom. Dean held onto both of them, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull them up with his own strength. Over Dean's shoulder though, Seamus could spot Bates preparing to finish them off as they had no defense.
Seamus winced internally, cursing himself for not fending off one simple attack from Bates. He could see the spell forming on the Death Eater's lips. All he would have to do was to take out Dean and they would all be crushed underneath the train or die from impact at the high velocity they were traveling. Malfoy had cut the rope loose but was in no position to defend Dean against Bates.
They should have died.
As Bates was forming the second word of his curse, however, he suddenly tipped forward as if he had been hit from behind. Indeed, he was caught unaware as a Stunner struck him and knocked him off-balance. As Dean was pulling them up, Seamus looked and saw their savior. A raging Ginny Weasley was pointing her wand at Bates, preparing another spell to hopefully take out the menacing Death Eater.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Apparently Ginny wasn't under the same orders as the rest of them.
The Killing Curse sped towards Bates but a small object flew in it's path and absorbed the blow, crushing the object to smithereens. Ginny was astonished and looked up to see Malfoy's face, unobstructed by his mask. Malfoy had thrown his mask in the way to prevent her from killing Bates.
Malfoy's half deformed face twisted as he roared, "He's MINE!"
Ginny, incredulous that Malfoy would do something so unabashedly stupid, prepared another Killing Curse, but Bates had already risen to his feet and returned back to his battling pose as he tried to face off against the three wizards and the one witch.
Ginny was the first to fire but it sailed over all their heads. Ginny yelled something at Seamus and Dean, but they couldn't hear her over the roar of the train and the wind whipping around them. She aimed again and shot another spell that sped right between Dean and Seamus. Furious that Ginny seemed to be trying to take them out, Seamus turned around just in time to see four more Death Eaters landing on the train.
"Oh."
"Take them," Malfoy ordered him, "I have Bates."
Seeing as Malfoy wasn't really going to take no for an answer, Seamus and Dean turned around to engage the newly boarded Death Eaters. Dean assumed his battle stance just as the Death Eaters touched down, prepared to duel against them. Seamus looked at him incredulously, waiting for his friend to remember what just transpired.
"Dean?"
"Seamus, I'll take the two on the right. You take the two on the left," Dean ordered him.
"Dean…"
"We have to stop them from getting to Ernie."
"Dean!" Seamus finally yelled.
"What?!" Dean snapped back.
"You don't have a wand," Seamus explained as if Dean were a petulant child.
Dean frowned and look at his wand hand and realized that while he was holding his hand out in a dueling position, there was no actual wand in his hand. His wand was scattered in bits and pieces underneath the train.
Dean groaned, "Oh, son of a…"
---------------------------------------------------
A flash of lights engulfed the compartment as Neville immediately traded spells with Hermione. Ron threw himself to the ground to avoid the initial exchange but quickly rolled and produced his wand to assist Hermione.
"Confringo!" Neville yelled.
Hermione screamed as the wall behind her splintered. Shouting random spells, she maneuvered a bit to the left as she tried to regain her bearings. Ron fired a few Stunners and Disarming hexes, but Neville waved them off easily and focused his attacks on Hermione.
"Neville, stop it!" Hermione yelled in vain.
"Give it to me," Neville growled, his eyes burning red.
Ron tried another Stunner against him, but Neville dissipated the red light with a wave of his left hand. Ignoring Ron as if he wasn't there, Neville advanced on Hermione with a threatening march.
"Expulso!"
Neville purposely aimed at Hermione's feet and threw her off balance, covering her in a brilliant shower of splinters in the process. Hermione waved her wand and charmed the splinters to about face and speed towards Neville. Too close to Hermione to produce a sufficient shield, Neville tucked his face into the crook of his elbow to shield himself from the miniature pieces of wood. There was a muffled groan as the rest of his body absorbed the small cuts.
Taking advantage of the situation, Hermione jammed her wand straight into his chest and screamed, "Stupefy!"
Neville flew off his feet and smashed against the opposing wall, slumping to the ground with his shoulders hunched and his chin touching his chest. Breathing hard, Hermione fell to the ground on her knees as she recollected herself. Ron looked towards her and nodded his head, asking her if she was okay. Hermione gave the barest of nods back.
"You think he's knocked out?" Ron asked as he slowly pulled himself to his feet.
"Maybe," Hermione muttered as she kept a wary eye on Neville, "We should bind him just to make sure."
After a few restrictive spells were placed on the unconscious boy, Hermione turned to Ron and looked around the box they were trapped inside. Sighing, Hermione said, "We need to find a way out of here."
"That's a bit against what Harry was saying, isn't it?" Ron scratched his head.
"A little counter-intuitive, yes, but I don't feel safe with Neville right now," Hermione unconsciously shivered.
"But there's no way out."
"Yes. A flaw in Harry's plan that I should've corrected," Hermione frowned as she kept looking around aimlessly.
Noticing the trail of her gaze, Ron asked, "What are you looking for?"
"The runes are magically hidden on the outside of the compartment," Hermione started, "Only Harry's unit know the code for the runes and only Harry has the key. Of course, we could always blow the roof off this train."
"Much as I'd like to just get away, don't we still have to get Neville to the tower?" Ron turned to look at the still slumped boy.
Exhaling loudly and tying her hair back in a ponytail, Hermione responded, "Yes. Hence our conundrum."
"Can't we just keep him stunned?"
"For the time being. The more times we stun him, the harder it will be for him to recover once we reach King's Cross. The longer it takes for him to recover, the slower we'll be in reaching the tower."
"Seems like an easy trade considering You-Know-Who gets out of Neville's head."
"But who will it really be when Neville wakes up again?" Hermione worriedly chewed her lip.
The pair abruptly stopped their conversation as they heard heavy clunks above them. Hermione's heart hammered in her chest even though she knew Harry was the only one who had the key to unlock the door. More thumps were heard overhead. Hermione could only assume that the heavy footsteps were Death Eaters.
"What are they doing on top of our compartment?" Ron wondered aloud as he looked at the ceiling.
"Hopefully just passing by."
"Hopefully not," Ron corrected her, "If they're passing by, that means they're going to reach the front of the train."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Seamus ducked as a stray curse spiraled over his head. Dean went fully prone to avoid a flurry of hexes. Twisting his body, Seamus avoided another spell but finally struck back with a few jinxes to buy them some time. As the Death Eaters avoided a nasty flurry of bees, Dean hauled himself to his feet.
"I'm useless without a wand!"
"Then find one!" Seamus yelled back without breaking concentration. Producing a shield, Seamus managed to deflect a few more curses, but he was always going to be at a disadvantage against four other wizards.
"No need," Ginny's voice said from behind him as she engaged the other Death Eaters, "Excelsiosempra!"
One of the Death Eaters careened into the air, off the train, and disappeared below the bridge they were crossing as Ginny caught them off guard. Spurned by the sudden reinforcement, Seamus stepped forward and disarmed one of the Death Eaters, dispatching him easily.
"What about Bates?" Seamus said out of the corner of his mouth.
"Looked like you two needed a little more help at the moment," Ginny grunted as she moved her wand to and fro, slicing and dicing through the Death Eaters.
Dean took a moment to marvel her talents, "Why weren't you with us all this time?"
"Take that up with Harry!" Ginny finished off another Death Eater with a sweep of her wand.
The Death Eater's legs suddenly turned to mush and his hands clawed helplessly at the metal of the train before he fell off as well. The last Death Eater was walking backwards as he continued to fight them off, slowly disappearing behind the plume of smoke disgorged from the engine.
"Where'd he go?" Seamus wondered as he lost sight of him. There was a nagging feeling that he had seen this particular Death Eater before.
"He's going after Ernie," Ginny urgently pressed on as she disappeared into the smoke.
Dean and Seamus exchanged a glance. Seamus shrugged his shoulders and sprinted off after her.
"I'll catch up with you guys!" Dean yelled as he swung down below to hopefully retrieve a spare wand.
--------------------------------------------
"Little Malfoy. So you're the masked tormenter?" Bates smiled as he finally saw the man behind the mask.
Malfoy didn't answer and instead threw a strong hex towards Bates, the air cackling around them. Bates yanked his wand, dispelling the spell into thin air as he hobbled around on his steel prosthetic.
"I shouldn't be surprised really," Bates continued, "Malfoys were always cowards. It would make sense for you to hide behind a mask."
Malfoy continued to remain mute and conjured a large, black sheet and threw it toward Bates. Bates easily transfigured the sheet into sand, but Malfoy anticipated this action and transfigured the particles of sand into large daggers in mid-air. Bates roared and managed to banish a few of the daggers but one of them hit his left pectoral, striking deep.
Bates yanked the makeshift dagger out of his chest and hurled it back at the blonde. The dagger suddenly exploded in a fiery blaze and Malfoy only just managed to produce a shield as the flames licked away the edge of his robes.
Bates laughed loudly as Malfoy stood up, "What were you hiding from Malfoy? The Dark Lord? The Mudbloods? Me?"
Bates enunciated his last word with a jab of his wand and Malfoy winced as a gust of wind seemed to punch him in the stomach. Quick to recover, Malfoy slashed his wand downwards and sent a purple arc flying through the air. Bates twirled the arc around his wand and sent it back towards the former Slytherin. Malfoy dodged to the left and avoided the returned curse, but the heels of his feet were dangling precariously off the train. Regaining his balance, Malfoy squared himself in the center of the platform and continued to battle Bates.
"We don't look so different you and I," Bates said as he tapped his swollen eyelid.
His face was still marred by Malfoy's curses so long ago. Half of Malfoy's face was equally as grotesque and the position they faced each other caused their disfigurations to be asymmetrical.
"We aren't so different," Malfoy corrected him.
"He speaks!" Bates threw his arms in the air, gesturing to the invisible crowd.
Behind him, the fight for the train raged on as several witches and wizards exchanged fire and tumbled off the train in return. Malfoy could see Potter's tell-tale wake of destruction plowing through Death Eaters two at a time in the background. But Potter had yet to notice the activity at the front of the train.
"You killed my mother, Bates! My father!" Malfoy bellowed.
""I didn't kill them! YOU DID!" Bates roared back as he spun his wand in the air and pointed it at Malfoy.
A dark, yellow curse sped towards Malfoy, the beam treacherously wide and impossible to avoid. Summoning his strongest shield, Malfoy crouched but couldn't deflect the full blow of the unknown curse. A searing pain struck his shoulder as the curse just nicked him. Black blood dripped from his shoulder, blackening his already considerably dark robes.
"You killed them when you failed to defend your mother! You killed your father when you didn't have the guts to kill me, you little shit!" Bates lectured as he continued to advance on Malfoy, "That's why you hid behind that mask. You're afraid of your own mistakes. Afraid to look yourself in the mirror knowing you caused the death of your parents."
"I DID NOT!" Malfoy screamed as he lashed out uncontrollably, firing curse upon curse on Bates.
Bates parried and deflected a majority of the curses but such was Malfoy's rage that even Bates had to slowly backped away from the furious boy. Laughing gleefully, Bates continued to defend and absorb the blows, slowly witling down Malfoy.
"That's it! Feed off your anger. Maybe if you had reached this point earlier in your life, you could have done something about the two shits you call your parents."
Malfoy's grey eyes flashed, the pupils growing dark with emotion as he double timed the frequency of his curses. His wand hand was a blur and all anyone could see if they bothered to look was a cage of lights surrounding the two wizards. The wind rushed over the magical bubble, not daring to enter the unnatural sphere of energy. The air stilled around them as Malfoy continued to cast more wordless hexes, raining every curse he could upon Bates.
Bates never faltered and matched Malfoy hex for hex, showing his years of experience. His devilish smile grew wider and wider, his face illuminated by the spectrum of lights refracting from the spells. They were barely five feet apart as Malfoy continued to attack Bates. The Death Eater latched onto a particular curse Malfoy launched and spun his wand about as if he were yanking yarn. Whipping his wand in Malfoy's direction, a small explosion rocked them both off their feet, sending Malfoy hurtling over the chasm onto the another train compartment. Bates' metal leg kept him on his feet and his knowledge of the curse allowed him to expect the sudden explosion.
Malfoy was groaning, rocking slowly on his back. The concussion from the blast knocked him off his feet and the resulting landing caused him to slam his head against the sterling metal roof of the train. A stabbing pain was slowly making its way towards the front of his head, not letting him get to his feet. He looked and saw Bates still standing but his vision of the man who killed his parents was blurry at best.
"And you've failed to protect yourself this time, Malfoy. The last of the Malfoys," Bates chuckled as he hopped over more nimbly than possible across the gap between the train compartments.
Standing over Malfoy, Bates grinned, the motion looking awkward as half of his mouth twisted and crusted with his dilapidated skin. He picked up his metal leg and pressed it on Malfoy's shoulder wound.
Malfoy screamed, the pain being ten times than he could imagine as the steel leg pressed down harder and harder on his open wound. Blood gushed forth, running in rivulets down the sides of the train.
"Born to a whore," Bates pointed his wand right between Malfoy's eyes, "Son of a coward."
"A deserving death."
Malfoy could see the verbalization of the deadly incantation. He watched as the man's upper teeth hit his lower lip to form the 'v' sound. He could see the tongue click the roof of the mouth to form the dreaded 'd.'
But as Bates began to form the second word of the Killing Curse, an explosion ripped upwards from underneath them, causing Bates to topple over as he lost his balance. Malfoy could see a giant hole about two feet behind Bates, the edges of the metal melting and twisting as the fire extinguished. In the back of his head, Malfoy registered that the current compartment he was standing on was indeed Longbottom's secret room.
However, the only thing on his mind was revenge as he stood up and faced the man who killed his parents once more.
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"How far out do you think we are?" Ron asked.
"Not long. The Death Eaters would have engaged us somewhere outside of the city circle. From there, it's not too long until we reach King's Cross…or what ever is left of it."
"Let's hope so," Ron frowned, "All of this unseen fighting is making me anxious."
"Feeling is mutual," Hermione leaned against the wall, pressing her shoulder on it to alleviate the stiffness in her legs.
Neville remained unconscious in the corner, bound by various ropes and charms to hopefully keep him at bay should Voldemort return to his mind. The footsteps had disappeared from the top of the train, but seeing as how they were still moving, Hermione assumed that the Death Eaters were stopped before they could reach Ernie. A groan from Neville interrupted her thoughts and Hermione immediately snapped to attention, her wand fixed at the boy.
"Ron? Hermione?" Neville moaned, his head still lolling and tucked into his chest.
"Neville? Is that you?" Hermione cautiously asked.
"Yeah, it's me," Neville cracked his neck, his eyes fixed shut in agony and pain, "What happened?"
"You-Know-Who got in my head again," Ron blurted out.
"Ah fuck," Neville cursed, "Are we there?" Neville asked as he hung his head and exhaled loudly.
"We're close," Hermione said slowly as she took a step towards him, "Neville, tell me something only I would know."
Ron shot her a worried look, but Hermione waved him off.
His head still bowed down, Neville started slowly, his voice scratchy from the yelling and the groaning, "I once asked you if we could be together if there was no Harry."
Ron raised his eyebrows at this admission and he could even spot Hermione's slight blush in the dim light of the cabin.
"Is that good enough for you?" Neville spitefully spat out.
"Yes," Hermione softly replied, lowering her wand.
"Good," Neville tiredly responded. He pushed outwards against his binds and coughed loudly, "If I could?"
"Sorry, mate," Ron apologized as he lifted the spell for the ropes.
The ropes fell off Neville and he stood up, rubbing his wrists to restart the circulation. To Hermione and Ron's surprise, he started chuckling. It started off as a slight snicker, but his shoulders started to shake in mirth.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked, his tone annoyed.
"It's amusing how simply you are swayed," Neville looked up and for the first time, they both could see his eyes were still red.
Neville waved his wand in Ron's direction and hurled him off his feet. Ron smashed against the wall with a bone crunching thud. Hermione fumbled with her wand, entranced and frightened by the crimson in his eyes. Neville took two long strides and reached out to grab Hermione by the throat, lifting her with an inhuman strength.
Hermione dropped her wand in panic and clawed at Neville's forearm, embedding his skin with deep scratches from her nails. But Neville refused to let go, his grip only growing tighter as he held her above the ground. Hermione's eyes were glued to his as she desperately tried to form words to persuade him to let her down. The fury in Neville's eyes was unmistakable as he choked the life out of her.
Her lungs burned for air as she kept swinging her legs and pounding against Neville's arm and wrist, but he seemed to have acquired an ethereal strength as he held her aloft, refusing to let go or say anything. Hermione's legs stopped kicking as the lack of oxygen finally kicked in, the bright spots in her eyes slowly blocking her view of life. She kept pounding her fist against his wrist, the frequency slowing as her muscles started to fatigue from the lack of oxygen. She pounded one more time, praying to Merlin that he would let go.
As her fist connected against his wrist, Hermione felt the air rush back into her lungs and her feet touch the floor. Gasping for breathe, Hermione was shocked to see that Neville's hand was still gripping her throat. As she backed away, she realized that it was only Neville's appendage that held onto her neck as his hand had been severed from his body.
The sudden shock of losing his hand must have banished Voldemort from his mind as Neville's eye color returned to normal. He stared amazedly at the stump on his arm, the blood pouring forth in gallons. Ron stood to the side, breathing heavily with his wand raised right where Neville's hand used to be. His eyes were wide as saucers as he looked back and forth between the hand still around Hermione's throat and Neville's stump.
It took just one more second before Neville started screaming bloody murder, falling to the ground clutching his arm. Hermione shakily wrenched the fingers of Neville's hand. As much as she wanted to throw it in the corner, she knew she had to preserve it if they had any hoping of saving Neville's hand. Withholding the urge to wretch, Hermione slid to her knees in front of Neville, confident it was not Voldemort inside his head anymore.
"I - I - I didn't mean to…" Ron stammered, his wand still held up.
"I can't fix this," Hermione looked helplessly between Neville's arm and his severed hand, "I can't - I can't do this."
Looking up, Hermione pointed to the roof of the compartment and squeezed her eyes shut, "Reducto!"
The roof exploded in a fiery blaze and Hermione looked up to see sunlight streaming in through a decent sized hole in the roof.
"We have to find a Healer," Hermione panted as she looked at Ron.
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Godric Gryffindor sighed heavily as he looked at the mirror. He hung his head, ashamed at what had become of his beloved tower.
At the base of the tower, a riot raged between the wizards and the Muggles, a war brewing dangerously on the horizon should conflicts continue. The Muggles were cautious at first, but eventually approached the raised tower. Godric, himself, walked out to introduce himself and the wizarding world in general.
At first, the Muggles were skeptic but with the help of Helga, Godric managed to convince the Muggles of its existence. The Muggles were in awe of his magic and predictably treated him like some sort of god. Godric did his best to dispel the notion and invited what he had hoped to be the first of many Muggles to use the all-powerful mirror.
Fueled by the Founder's magic and the celestial arrangement of the sky, the magic stood above ten feet and shimmered slightly, an invitation of what it could bring. Godric selected an upstanding Muggle, a knight of his kind that all men respected. He was of pure of heart and more than worthy to use the mirror.
Each of the Founder's poured some of their magic into the mirror. Helga would only allow those persistent enough to keep to the task access to the mirror. She enchanted the mirror to show the user false dreams and visions and should the user fight through the illusion, Helga granted her approval. Rowena only allowed those who were strong of mind to use the mirror. The mirror had it's own form of Legilemency that attacked the person's mind and ensured that only those of strong will would survive the attack.
Salazar designated the mirror to demand a sacrifice. Of what kind, Godric didn't know, but he found out that all that was needed was spilled blood, even from the person who wished to use the mirror. Godric simply requested the user in question to drive his sword through the little engraving at the base of the mirror, completing the process.
The kKight stepped forward for the task.
First, he saw images of his parents calling for him and begging for him to come back, asking him to forgo this quest. He resisted their fake advances and took another step towards the mirror. The Knight then fell to the ground, clutching his head and moaning of demons and devils. But again, he prevailed and pushed onwards. Using Godric's sword, the Knight cut his hand and spilled blood in the ritual circle, allowing him to take one last step towards the mirror. Raising the sword high, he plunged it in the necessary place and stepped back.
The rest of the Founders watched with keen amazement as something appeared to the Knight that they couldn't see. The Knight then requested what he desired the most in the world: his deceased wife.
Godric distinctly remembered the rustling of wind and the bright flash as a beautiful woman suddenly appeared in front of the mirror. At first, Godric thought it was a corporeal ghost, but the Knight stepped forward and gathered her in his arms. The mirror worked!
News of the Mirror flew throughout the towns and villages, the remarkable piece of magic fully supporting the Muggles' belief in the tower. But it was as Slytherin predicted; the Muggles were too greedy. Soon, those who thought they were noble enough but in fact were not clamored for use of the mirror.
Godric sat atop of the tower, wondering where it had gone wrong. He thought the Muggles would understand. He thought his compulsion charm built within the tower would be enough to rid any of those who were of malevolent nature. All the Muggles wanted the mirror, however, and they had taken to futile action against the wizards to access it.
They would not succeed, but the blood shed would be great.
Godric looked into the mirror, seeing his own reflection. It was agreed that none of the Founders would ever be able to use the mirror for their own benefit and to them, it was just a normal mirror. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he continued to gaze upon his reflection.
"Are you satisfied?" Salazar said from behind Godric.
"No," Godric said after a pause, "I am not."
Refusing to turn around, Godric continued to speak, "You were right, Salazar. We can't bring them together. Not just yet."
"Never," Salazar immediately corrected him.
Godric didn't reply, knowing any such response would fall upon deaf ears.
"We must bury the tower," Salazar requested, "No one can ever raise it."
"No," Godric twirled the sword in his hand, eyeing it curiously, "It can't be raised."
As Salazar left the room, Godric cast one last spell at the top of the tower. Plunging the sword into the floor, Godric twisted and felt the ground beneath his feet rumble as the tower slowly descended underneath the ground, deep within the layers of the Earth. Wrenching his sword out of the ground, Godric sighed deeply.
"One day…"
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A/N: One more part to this little section as Harry and co. fight to reach King's Cross. From there, only a few more chapters until the end. There will be no sequel as some of you have asked. Thank you for all the great reviews and leave another one if you could.