424 The Battle of Hogwarts Pt. 1

A long time ago, Colin once asked his friends if they trusted each other with their lives. Even though they laughed at his question at that time, they knew they did. Chris, Ginny, Luna, and Colin did trust each other with their lives.

So when Ginny warned Chris, without hesitation, Chris dropped down and she wasn't exactly surprised to see a green jet of light fly over her head. Luckily, nobody was behind Chris, so the killing curse just collided with the wall.

Mrs. Weasley screamed in horror and the others also pointed their wand towards the attacker, but Ginny was already running. Chris turned around to find a tall, muscular brut wizard dueling Ginny. Chris stood up quickly pointing her wand at the attacker but like everyone else, she couldn't join the fight either. The attacker was not holding back and neither was Ginny, they were dueling so fast that their wands turned to blur. There were many more green, red, and different color lights sparking from their wand, but neither backed down nor gave the other any chance. Chris felt Ginny was taking out her frustration on this attacker even though they clearly had no idea, who it was. Her spells were equally powerful to the attacker and getting more and more dangerous by any second.

"Ginny! Bill, Arthur, do something!" Mrs. Weasley cried in fear but most of them were standing shell-shocked and astounded by Ginny's fighting skills.

After what felt like just a few moments, one of Ginny's spells touched the wizard's cloak and it caught fire. Surprised, the wizard tried to put it out, and Ginny knocked him down with another spell. His wand flew out of his hand and he had to put the fire out of his coat with his hands. 

"You little redhead bitch!" The attacker cursed, clearly not expecting to get knocked down by a teenage girl. 

However, the word "Bitch" had all of Ginny's brothers growling, they raised their wands almost in unison with Chris and Colin. Spells flew from their wand but someone was surprisingly faster than them.

"Crucio!" Draco's Cruciaties Curse hit the Wizard on his chest and he withered above the ground painfully before suddenly dropping down.

Everyone turned to stare at him as he stood beside Ginny, but Draco was only staring at the attacker with a burning hatred. Seeing him like that, made Ginny more mad and she watched the wizard whimpering with pain for just about a minute. However, before anyone could come out of shock, the wizard steered again, trying to get up. He looked like he was used to terrible tortures. Within a split second Ginny sent two flying curses at him and he went still, unconscious. The next moment, two silvery ropes encircled him binding him tightly. Ginny lowered her wand and turned to her family, her eyes blazing.

"I am one of the best witches not only in my year but in Hogwarts. Believe it or not Mom, I am stronger than all of my brothers. I have more knowledge about the situation and magic than anyone of you. I knew and prepared for this day more than anyone else. I can handle myself. I am capable of that. I can fight, Mom. I will fight."

The room went very quiet followed by Ginny's declaration. Judging by the looks of it nobody had any idea what to say. Chris could see Fred, George, Ron, and even Percy looking proud of their sister, but on Bill, Mr. Wesaley's face, the proud look was mixed with worry. Mrs. Weasley, however, looked angrier and verge of crying.

"You are my only daughter!" Mrs. Wesaley thundered before breaking down. 

Mr. Weasley held her immediately and spoke very quietly.

"But we raised her no less than our sons, Molly. In fact, we have favored her more as our only daughter. But we taught them the same thing. To fight for what they believe in," Mr. Weasley calmly looked at his wife. "And this is what all of them believe in. Look."

Mr. Weasley made Mrs. Weasley look at their children all standing together and he beamed with pride.

"They are fighting for the right side, Molly. Just like your and my ancestors."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes brimmed with fresh tears, looking at her children, but this time she didn't look angry. She opened her arms and all of her six children piled in for a hug. Chris felt tears in her own eyes watching them but she quickly wiped them away. 

"I just want to say, I'm so proud of all of you. Just be safe out there, please," Mrs. Weasley mumbled.

"You all as well," Aurelia suddenly said coming behind Chris and Colin and patting them on the back. "You all stay safe out there."

"Whatever happens today, you all should know, we love you," Sirius said hugging Harry and then turning to Chris, Colin, Luna, and Hermione. "All of you."

"I will tell Charlie, he missed this monumental moment," Fred joked breaking the hug. "Now can we go or are we waiting for Voldemort to send us an owl?"

"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley chastised but all of them chuckled and finally left the Room of Requirement. Just to make sure, the unconscious wizard would not create any problems, Draco and Colin enchanted him out of the room and settled him on an -now- empty spot of a statue, close to the ceiling. 

"He will have a hard time getting down even if he wakes up," said Colin.

"Good," Ginny glared at the unconscious figure one last time before hurrying towards the Great Hall with the rest of them. "It was Bernard, wasn't he?"

"How do you know?" Chris asked surprised but realized the question was for Draco.

"Yes, the one Malgino's minion stationed here," Draco answered grimacing.  "He was in charge of maintaining discipline s among the students. The Carrows might be the ones torturing the students, but Bernard made sure it stayed that way without any interference from the other teachers. Unlike the Carrows he didn't wait to find out if something was suspicious, he will take care of those things on his own."

"He was the one, who tried to torture him to find his parents," Ginny whispered to Chris, and Chris understood the reason behind Ginny's anger. Draco also had suffered like everyone else this year.

"But he didn't look that smart to me," said Luna.

"Yeah, attacking Chris with so many Order members present was stupid," agreed Hermione. "What was he thinking that he will single-handedly defeat all of us?"

Hermione's words made Chris smile. She was angry but she still was her friend and she would fight to save Chris.

"Actually, I don't think he planned to attack Chris," Ginny informed. "I think he sneaked inside the Room of Requirement. I caught him and maybe that's why he attacked Chris. A proud wizard like him maybe didn't want to run away."

As they hurried through the corridors, Chris noticed Harry blinking his eyes repeatedly as he tried his best to walk straight.

"Harry?" Chris matched his pace as an idea occurred to her. "Do you want me to create a shield in my mind so that Riddle doesn't get in? You are looking pale again."

"That's because he is here," Harry said looking through the windows towards the darkness of the forbidden forest.

"He is?" Chris followed his gaze wondering if Malgino was with him and how far he can come within the Hogwarts boundaries. She immediately thought of Fergus to ask but he wasn't with her. She thought she told him to stay close but he was nowhere to be seen. Trying to remember where she had seen him last, Chris stepped into the Great Hall. The old familiar sight of the Hall made Chris feel safe. She was instantly reminded of the first time she entered this Hall almost six years ago.

The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and scattered with stars, and below it, the four long House tables were lined with disheveled students, some in traveling cloaks, others in dressing gowns. Here and there shone the pearly white figures of the school ghosts. Every eye, living and dead was fixed upon Professor McGonagall, who was speaking from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her stood the remaining teachers, including the palomino centaur, Firenze. The members of the Order of the Phoenix quickly joined her on the platform.

"...evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madame Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges in an orderly fashion to the evacuation point."

Many of the students looked petrified at Professor McGonagall's statement but Ernie Macmillan stood up at the Hufflepuff table and shouted; "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

There was a smattering of applause.

"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall.

"What about our things?" called a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl from the Slytherin table.

"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor McGonagall and a great cheer erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws.

Chris, Harry, Colin, Luna, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny stayed by the entrance to avoid the taking attention of Professor McGonagall's instructions, as the Weasley twins and Percy walked up to the Gryffindors, and Draco just stayed in a corner without joining his House. Despite the precaution, Chris and Harry were quickly noticed and a great deal of whispering broke out in every House. The students started to glance back at them and quickly the news reached up to the head of the line near the teachers. Harry tried his best to ignore it but a sigh escaped him. Chris slid her hand into his and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. She felt Harry relax a little bit. And just like that, with a simple touch, they didn't need any more words to explain what was going on inside their heads. 

"We have already placed protection around the castle," Professor McGonagall was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects -"

But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear. There was no telling from where it came. It seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had once commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

The silence swallowed them all again and Chris was surprised that there was no mention of her. 

Was Maligino not with Riddle? Or did they have another plan coming? Maligno definitely needed her to gain the keys then how -

Chris suddenly felt Harry going stiff and realized every head in the Great Hall was turned towards Harry, every eye in the place seemed to have found him, to hold him forever in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table and Chris recognized Pansy Parkinson as she raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!"

"I dare anyone to try and touch him!" Chris didn't shout or scream but her voice echoed in the silent Hall louder than Pansy's. Chris swiftly stood in front of Harry shielding him from Pansy Parkinson's accusing finger. Chris pinned Pansy with a glare. "And see what happens next."

[To be continued]