23 Halloween Finale

Ron Weasley ran through the corridors of Hogwarts with tears streaming down his face. His skin was almost the same colour as his hair as the young boy was head to toe in the blood of others, he had watched one of his only friends Dean be decapitated by the Gryffindor House ghost. He watched as Nearly Headless Nick morphed into something much more disturbing than he had already been and nearly cut his hand across the air. Had he not fallen out of his seat when it happened he would've joined the row of students as their heads flew off their bodies and onto the table.

"Aaaah!!!" He screamed as he stumbled over an arm that had been detached from his owner, he fell to the ground splashing a pool of blood as he did. He was panting hard, something that was only made worse by his weeping, nothing had been going well since he came to Hogwarts. He had tried to help Harry by saving him from the mud blood but he wouldn't listen to him. 'Mum...' he thought to himself as he curled up into a ball on the floor. He didn't want to die, he had thought he did a few weeks ago but he didn't, he wanted to live, he didn't want to die like Dean or Seamus.

*Growl*

Ron looked up with horror etched across his face as he saw a fat round cursed spirit with small arms and legs but a large mouth crawling towards him. "No! No! No!" Ron shouted in terror as he drew his wand trying to fire any spell but his mind came up blank. He tried to stick the curse to the ground using his magical technique, but he felt his magic shatter as the curse overpowered his magic. He backed up on his hands and knees trying to get up and run but a roar from the curse made him fall again.

'I don't want to die here!'

'Please someone help me!'

Ron managed to stand up and dashed down the hallway as fast as he could, he poured as much magic as he could into keeping the Cursed Spirit in place but Ron wasn't a great wizard, he hadn't bothered training much like other Purebloods did before coming to Hogwarts. His magic would've struggled to contain a Grade 3 let alone the Grade 2 that was after him. After turning a corridor he barged into someone, letting out a shrill scream as he landed on the ground.

"Shut up... you're annoying."

Ron recognised that voice and looked up. It was the squib Neville Longbottom; he was also covered in blood but he didn't seem injured, in fact, he had the same careless expression he usually had. Ron looked down and saw a wooden club in his hands that also dripped with blood; bits of brain matter and flesh also seemed to be plastered to it, but with a quick shake Neville removed it —some of it splashing onto Ron.

Despite not being as smart as his siblings he could tell Neville would be able to protect him and so relief flooded his body. "There's a c-curse coming!" Ron stuttered out as he crawled on his hands and knees to him.

Neville looked down the corridor that Ron had just come down and saw the slow-moving Curse. "So there is," he said calmly before looking back at Rob with an uninterested expression.

"C-Can y-you kill it?!" He asked desperately, he tried to grasp the hem of his robes but Neville slapped his hand away in disgust.

"I could, but I'm not going to," Neville said as he walked past Ron.

The red-headed wizard fell over himself trying to chase after Neville "Please you have to help me!!!" He screamed.

Neville just looked back with a smile and laughed "Deal with it yourself, you have magic don't you?" After he said those words he jumped in the air landing on the ceiling before pushing himself back down and over the cursed spirit.

Ron stood there dumbfounded as he waited for the inevitable, his hand was shaky as he held up his wand but no spell came to his lips.

———————————————————-

*CRASH*

Professor Snape skilled off the stones of the courtyard and slammed through one of the stone pillars almost falling out of the castle entirely were it not for his conjuring of a rope that tied around another stone pillar. The Grey Lady was relentless in her attacks, it had only been twenty seconds and she had already blown past his defences and thrown him across the courtyard. Of course, he would've been able to put up a better fence and he not have been concerned for the two students' safety as well as the burnout of his technique.

"WHERE IS IT!" The Grey Lady screamed as she swiped her hand up summoning a cyclone of wind that tore its way towards snap.

The potions professor just breathed heavily as he considered the fact that he could've been in his office drinking if he had chosen to ignore those sounds. He channelled magic through his body before rushing away from the increasingly larger cyclone; he did seem to be lucky as the Special Grade was still settling into its new form and had little intelligence.

He flicked his wand gathering Tonks and Cedric who he had thrown clear of the Grey Lady's attack earlier. It made running away difficult, but he couldn't fight this Curse until his technique returned and he wasn't proficient enough in Magic Reversal to heal the part of his brain. 'This day...' he lamented as he shot an inversion curse at the Grey Lady.

The curse put a small thin barrier around them which had the effect of backfiring any spell they tried to cast. The Grey Lady was too enraged to think clearly and was blown back by her Cursed Winds straight into the castle; Snape tried to use this as an opportunity to escape with the students but the curse let her magic explode out blasting them all back. Snape transfigured the ground to move with them and soften their landing but it didn't get rid of all the damage. The small cuts from the wind had started to accumulate and he could feel himself get weaker as time went on.

Surrounded by a sphere of wind the Grey Lady exited back out into the courtyard with rubble being thrown away from her. Snape levitated a piece of rubble the size of his body and blasted it towards the Curse.

'Engorgio'

The ruble grew ten times as large which drained a considerable amount of magic from the professor but it slammed straight into the Grey Lady. However, the smirk on Snape's face was soon wiped off as the curse wasn't moved back by the attack and instead, she carved through the stone using her sphere of rapid winds. "When's that old goat going to show up," Snape cursed as he got ready to attack once again.

"I hope you aren't talking about me."

Snape scowled it wasn't difficult to recognise the voice as he had become a constant headache for the school and himself. Turning around he saw a young 7th-year student with an infuriating smile on his face; The Grey Lady didn't seem too pleased at being ignored and decided to launch an attack. Snape cast a strong shield, but it seemed he didn't need to as the student leapt down in front of him, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up exposing intricate black tattoos that nearly covered the entirety of his arm.

The student slammed his hand on the ground and his tattoos glowed before a large wall of ice that was curved at the top was summoned blocking the intense gust and funnelling it out. Snape still kept the scowl on his face as he looked at the student before him, a problem ever since his first year at Hogwarts.

James Thorne younger brother of Jacob Thorne and perpetual thorn in the side. His and his brother's incessant search for the cursed vaults inside Hogwarts caused many problems that Snape himself had to help clear up. The boy was lucky Snape had concocted a rather unique potion otherwise he would've lost his arm in the Vault of Ice rather than gain those Tattoos.

The smirk he shot back at him only infuriated Snape more and he considered joining the Curse in attacking the boy. James tattoos stopped glowing and he transfigured the ice into water that he let shoot across the courtyard to the Grey Lady. "I was expecting a feast when I came back from assignment instead I get a bunch of Dark Wizards trying to kill me and the castle crawling with curses, mind telling me what's going on?" He asked Snape as he manipulated the water to surround the Grey Lady.

"Grindelwald has somehow managed to break through the wards of Hogwarts and has launched a full-scale attack, as for the curses they are all ghosts, the wards pacifying them must have failed," Snape explained as he waved his wand and cleaned himself. He couldn't use magic reversal to heal himself wandlessly, but he could generate enough light magic to cast a few healing spells on himself and the two unconscious students behind him.

"Are they okay?" James asked as he looked at the two students behind Snape with concern —Tonks especially.

"They will be fine Mr Thorne, now if you'll focus on the Special Grade Curse while I recover that would be appreciated," Snape said with gritted teeth as he conjured a chair and sat down resting his aching body. Despite not liking the boy his skill was undeniable, before he delved into the cursed vaults he was a promising student and after he was stronger than most of the Professors that taught at Hogwarts with the exception of the Heads of Houses and Bellatrix. With those runic tattoos imbuing him with ancient magic and his own Magical Technique he was by far the strongest student at Hogwarts. 

James looked at the curse as it released a huge amount of power blowing away the water he used to try and contain her. "I guess I'll need to get a little rough," he said before withdrawing his wand and rushing towards the curse. Large slashes of wind were sent towards him carving out the earth as they revealed, James easily avoided each slash and then stamped his foot on the ground, a tattoo that covered his leg glowed brown and the stones shot up forming a line of spikes that travelled towards the Grey Lady.

*SCREECH*

James covered his ears as the Grey Lady shattered the stone with the combination of her voice and raw magic. Snape inspected the Cursed Spirit and saw she was gaining more and more intelligence as time went on; the Grey Lady pressed her hands together pulling air into an incredibly small space. 'That's not good,' he thought to himself as the tattoos on his right arm began to glow purple.

*CRACK*

The compressed shot of air launched from her hand breaking the sound barrier as it did seemingly piercing James through his chest before breaking a stone wall in the courtyard. Snape stood ready to intervene only to sigh and sit back down again; the Grey Lady looked at the dead body of James fall to the ground only before disappearing.

*Thwip*

She sensed the disturbance in the air too late and was punched in the face by a stone-enhanced fist from James. He had used the Tattoo he acquired from the Vault of Fear to summon an illusion of himself, he then used his Magical Technique to get away and launch a surprise attack. "Quite a genius plan," he said to himself before raising his wand and causing a powerful Reducto that caught the Grey Lady's arm reducing it to dust.

*SCREECH*

The Grey Lady screamed forcing James back by the sheer force of her magic. She sent incredibly fast slashes of wind towards him that would've been impossible to dodge, but to the Curse's surprise, he appeared at a different side of the courtyard. "I bet you're confused," James said with a grin on his face.

"My magic technique 'Retrace' lets me mark my footsteps, I can only mark ten of them at the moment before the first one disappears but when I've marked them I can teleport back to that space," He explained. He felt his technique strengthen after explaining how it worked which increased its range and decreased the time it took to activate. After he explained the Grey Lady could see various footprints light up blue around the courtyard.

The Grey Lady stood unamused, the rage running through her had started to cool off and very quickly her intelligence grew to where she no longer was rampaging and tossing her magic around. Her arm reformed quickly before she reached her hand out and started to clench her fists; James felt a sudden pull on his body and quickly deduced she was compressing the air near him to the point it would implode.

*Thwip*

James teleported again before rushing towards the Grey Lady who swiped her hand in his direction summoning a virtual hurricane. James placed a mark where he was before teleporting out of the way and then right back after the attack went past him. He flicked his wand in an intricate pattern before sending a Bombarda Maxima at the cursed spirit's feet which gave him a bit of cover. However, he wasn't finished as he transfigured the rubble into birds that attacked her.

The distraction worked well as he managed to place various marks around her. 'Time for the fun part.' He channelled light magic through his fist and slammed it into the Grey Lady's face.

*SCREECH*

She screamed in pain as the light magic tore through her body, she clawed the air in front of her sending for horizontal slashes, but James was already gone.

*Thwip*

He was behind her flipping into a sidekick that sent her stumbling forward. She was lucky that James had only recently been able to use Light magic and the amount he could produce was relatively small. Had a true practitioner been able to hit her, then only five direct blows would be enough to cripple her. James was relentless in his assault as he teleported around her sending blow after blow at her, she was unable to move or even react as the light magic reacted badly with her.

*Thwip*

*Thud*

*Thwip*

*Thud*

*Thwip*

Delivering a powerful uppercut he sent the Grey Lady flying across the courtyard, but he wasn't finished as he teleported under her slamming his hands down on the ground and launching large ice spikes which impaled the curses body. The Grey Lady didn't scream as she was impaled and instead lay limp with her head leaning back. She was the daughter of the smartest witch to ever exist and despite not being near her mother in terms of intelligence she was still fiercely intelligent. She hadn't had these wind abilities when she was alive and so it had taken a while for her to understand them as she gained her sanity back. Living as a ghost effectively turned them into vegetables, they were just echoes of their previous selves.

She used her ability to push her off the spike and looked down at the people below her. She hated them with a passion that she couldn't quite explain, but that didn't matter. She understood now.

*CRACK*

The entirety of James' ice pillar shattered as The Grey Lady removed the air in the space creating a vacuum that sucked everything in. Luckily James had already teleported to a safe distance the moment she moved her hand. "You breathe... don't you," a wispy voice echoed out through the courtyard as she raised her hand.

Teleporting didn't do James any good as the Grey Lady took hold of the air in his lungs. James grabbed a hold of his throat as he felt himself unable to breathe, he fell to his knees looking up in disbelief. Snape who had been content to sit down and watch intervened as he sent a large gout of fire at the Grey Lady. The curse let go of James before meeting the Professor's flames with her wind and extinguishing it.

"At least my Technique is back," Snape said to himself as he prepared to fight the special grade. Though to call it a Special Grade would be quite disingenuous, he had faced special grades before and none were like this. This curse had magic practically rolling off her and he did not doubt if he wasn't careful he'd be killed. "Mr Thorne, take Miss Tonks and Mr Diggory away from here, as it is you'll just all get in my way," He said bluntly.

James wanted to argue but the overwhelming pressure that the Grey Lady had exerted on him was enough to make him realise Snape was right. He quickly went over to the other students and carried them off before disappearing into the Castle.

———————————————————-

"It is quite sad to see Hogwarts in such a state, it's hard to imagine the castle ever falling into such disarray," Grindelwald said as he watched the castle from upon his hill.

"Tell me Lyra, do you regret never having the opportunity to attend?" He asked the teenage girl standing beside him.

"The education you gave me was undoubtedly superior to what I could've gotten here," She replied respectfully.

"Perhaps, but power isn't everything Lyra, and even the strongest of men can fail," he stated.

"Look at my rival, stuck in his office unable to do anything but watch as his students are slaughtered and Dark wizards roam his halls, power blinded him, his confidence in his own abilities made him think none could challenge him and yet we adapted."

Lyra wasn't quite sure what he meant and wasn't sure what to say in return so she decided to ask about the reason they were here "Why have we done all this just to recruit the Potter heir?" She asked.

"Did you not discover the ritual that would allow you to use his eyes?" She continued.

Grindelwald nodded "I did, but I soon discovered I'd never have the same proficiency that a natural user would nor would I gain the Limitless Technique, it is much better to bring him over to our side when we do we will have someone capable of challenging Dumbledore head on."

Before she could ask another question he held his hand up and then disappeared in a burst of blue flames. A moment later he reappeared holding Abernathy who looked incredibly injured "Have a little trouble, my friend?" Grindelwald asked.

"Thank you My Lord for saving me, the fall would've killed me had you not intervened," he said trying to bow but falling on his face as he did.

"The Potter boy was strong but I handled him easy, at least until he hit me with a black flash," Abernathy explained.

Lyra's eyes widened at the news, to manage to use a black flash was a rare occurrence even among adult wizards. "I see the awakening he must've received seemed to bridge the gap between you," Grindelwald speculated.

Grindelwald opened his palm and blue flames washed over Abernathy healing nearly all of his injuries. Though his arm still hung limp at his side something that they both noticed was "A binding vow?" Grindelwald asked.

Abernathy nodded, shame apparent on his face. "I am sorry for my failure my Lord," he said with his head low.

"I expected him to put up a resistance, but to go so far as to defeat you is quite a surprise," Grindelwald said as she stroked his chin.

"I suppose it's time I get involved," he said grabbing Lyra by the shoulder and flaming them into one of Hogwarts courtyards only this one was broken and in disarray. A teacher, one Lyra recognised as Professor Snape battled a cursed spirit that was doing well in pushing him back. "Come Lyra let's go," Grindelwald said as they moved into the castle.

———————————————————

James rushed through the corridors as fast as he could, he'd have to get Tonks and Cedric to the medical wing, magical exhaustion was no joke and it was well fortified with only one way in and out. As he rushed through the corridors he nearly bumped into another person who nearly ran into him, it was only by teleporting back a few steps he managed to avoid crashing into him.

"Watch where you're walking!" The kid said angrily to him. James just raised an eyebrow as he inspected him, he was covered in blood and had what seemed to be an enchanted club in his hand. 'Looks like a first year,' James thought to himself.

"You should come with me firstie, the corridors aren't safe at the moment," James said, but the first year just snickered at him before rushing off at a speed much faster than he thought possible for someone his age. Unfortunately, James didn't have time to go chasing after someone who didn't want any help and so he just kept on going. He withdrew his wand shooting a powerful Reducto at a curse that was blocking his way; in a flash of light, it was reduced to nothing. 'Another First year?' James thought with slight exasperation as he saw the young red-headed boy.

"I-I-I...N-Need-"

"Yeah yeah, shut up and let's go," James said flicking his wand and lifting the boy before continuing on his journey to the medical wing. It didn't take too long for him to get there, though nothing could've prepared him for what he was about to see. All the beds were full, and most of the floor had been taken up as well; all of them students who had been injured.

Madame Pomfrey was doing her best to stabilise the worst of the injured, but she only had access to a few students who could help. Using Light magic was difficult, using it on someone other than yourself was a step beyond that. "Madame Pomfrey! He won't stop bleeding!" One of the upper years shouted.

"If you can't stop the bleeding cauterise the wound, we can fix the damage later!" She shouted back as she did her best to reattach a first-year's arm. Her attention was split as with her other hand she was constantly pumping light magic into a boy with a chest wound, he wasn't as critical as the other but would die if left unattended.

James found a space and dropped his charges leaning then against the wall. "Where did all of these students come from?" He asked one of the upper-year students.

"The main hall..." the student replied while shaking, he was pouring a potion onto one of the younger students who was crying out in pain. James looked at the wound and saw dark veins spreading outwards, like a type of infection. "I don't understand! He has magic he shouldn't be susceptible to a curse's corruption!" The upper year shouted in frustration. The younger student's screaming increased as the black veins spread out and soon he started to seize. James could only watch in horror as they foamed from the mouth. "Madame Pomfrey!!!" The upper year shouted, he didn't know what to do all he could do was hold him down so he wouldn't fall off the bed.

James looked over to see Madame Pomfrey breathing heavily as she concentrated on saving the two students she was treating. Everyone else who could help was equally as occupied, there was no hope for the first year. "Stupefy," James chanted as he shot the spell at the patient. The upper year looked at him in horror before trying to reach for his wand; before he could James grabbed his arm. "Why did you do that!" He asked.

"Mercy," James replied almost emotionlessly before letting go of his arm and heading out of the medical wing. He'd need to check on everyone in the main hall, hopefully, he wasn't too late.

———————————————————-

Macduff cursed as he shot an entrail-expelling curse at Hannah, it managed to connect with her making blood shoot out of her mouth as she ran with Hermione, but it only made her stumble slightly before her light magic healed her body. "Incendio!" She shouted as she pointed her wand to the acolyte, but instead of flames gushing out the end of her wand, it was large amounts of water. She wasn't good at control yet and so she relied on its high pressure and large volume to push him back. Macduff conjured a shield splitting the water around him as he continued to walk towards them.

"Hermione run now we aren't too far from the back entrance, we can run for Hagrid's hut!" She shouted at her, but the distraction of talking to Hermione made her lose concentration and the spell dissolved.

"Avada Kerdavra!"

Hannah dived on Hermione pushing the girl down to the ground as the sickly green light flew above them. "Wingardiam Leviosa!" Hannah shouted as she poured a decent chunk of power into the spell. Macduff laughed, but the laugh was soon wiped off his face as he was slammed to the ground, it felt like a horse was on his back. "You fucking bitch!" He growled out, he watched as both girls got up; his quarry ran away while the blonde-haired girl backed away slowly keeping him on the ground.

Macduff aimed his wand at her and shot a powerful Bombarda that impacted her stomach sending her flying down the hallway. Hermione screamed when she saw Hannah on the ground with a large hole in her stomach, but she calmed down when she saw the flesh grow and the skin seal back over the wound.

"I was going to give you a quick death lass, but you've managed to piss me right off, so I'll be making this as painful as I can," Macduff said with a vicious grin as he stood up from the ground again.

'Sacrificial Summoning: Left Arm'

Macduff sliced his wand across his left arm and watched it fall to the ground as it did it was consumed in darkness before it started to grow larger. Soon where his arm once was stood a troll, muscled and fat with a club in its hand. Macduffs magic technique allowed him to sacrifice parts of his body to summon magical creatures, what magical creatures he summons depends on what part of the body he sacrifices. When he dismisses the summon his body part will return to the host, but it will sustain any damage that the magical creature took.

Hannah pushed herself against the wall as she stood up. Hermione helped her, and they both felt the earth shake as the lumbering troll ran down the hallway towards them. Both girls ran away, but it was clear that with the longer stride of the troll, they would soon be caught. "Lumos Maxima!" Hannah shouted pointing her wand at the troll, however instead of a bright light the troll's head was instead engulfed in darkness.

The troll roared before it began wildly swinging its club, Hannah and Hermione rushed further down the corridor; when they finally saw the exit they were overjoyed. But that joy soon evaporated when Hannah turned and saw the troll behind them with its club already swinging. She pushed Hermione out of the way before taking the hit, she felt her arms and ribs shatter; like shrapnel, her bones pierced her inner organs and shot out the other side of her body. She was sent rag-dolling across the courtyard, Hermione didn't scream this time she only ran after her friend avoiding the meaty grip of the troll behind her.

"Wha's going on 'ere," a loud voice echoed out in the courtyard. Hermione who knelt by Hannah's side almost jumped when she saw the huge form of Hagrid walking up the steps to the courtyard.

"Is everythin' okay 'ere?" He asked Hermione who just looked at him with a stupefied expression.

Hagrid then looked at the troll whose gaze seemed to be fixed on the girls. 'Mmmm tha's no' regular ol' troll,' he thought. Trolls were pretty docile unless angered, to have one attacking students would mean it was either a summon or someone had tamed one. I'm either case Hagrid stepped in front of the girls stopping the troll's advance. The creature just roared at him before it drew back its club trying to hit the half-giant.

Hagrid may not have a wand but he was still a natural in body enhancement due to his parentage. He grabbed the troll's outstretched arm and pushed the creature back on his feet, it roared before trying to head but him; even when it did Hagrid remained unfazed and he slammed the creature down on its back. Macduff who had come out to see this just scowled at the groundskeeper "Creature..." he said before aiming his wand at the man.

"Avada Kerdavra."

Hagrids eyes widened as the spell formed on his wand however a kick to his wand arm made the spell fly wide. Macduff regained his footing before looking at the one who dared to attack him "I hope we can make this quick it's been a long night," Harry said with a smirk. He had made a beeline for Hannah as soon as he could, his eyes ached and they weren't as good under the blindfold but he did manage to find them.

"You're the one our Lord wants, he will reward me greatly if I capture you," Macduff said with a smile on his face.

"That's a big if, you're outnumbered," Harry said. He looked over to the troll who was pinned underneath Hagrid, he was impressed with how strong the groundskeeper was.

However, the troll disappeared and Macduffs arm reformed though it was full of bruises. "I am a chosen of Grindelwald, I won't lose to a child and a creature," he said as he got ready. Harry wanted to deal with this quickly, he could see Hannah was still alive, but she was injured and he needed to get her to the medical ward.

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

Dark wizards Apparated around the courtyard surrounding them all, they all had their wands out and pointed at them. Macduff looked as surprised as he did when they started coming in, but that surprise soon turned to anger as he clenched his fist around his wand. "I apologise, my friend, I would've allowed your little duel but we are running out of time," Grindelwalds voice echoed as he walked out into the courtyard with Lyra by his side.

"My lord..." Macduff said with reverence, but it was clear he wasn't happy about what happened.

Harry kept his hand gripped around his wand as he tried to think about solutions. 'I could try and Apparate? I've seen people do it, but I could end up killing us,' he thought to himself. Then he looked at Hagrid, he knew that the man would be resistant to spells to a certain point. His priority at the moment was getting his friends out of harm's way, but every plan he thought of was too risky.

"Harry it is good that we finally meet," Grindelwald said as he approached him. Harry held up his wand which resulted in every other wizard doing the same, it wasn't until Grindelwald held his hand up that they all halted.

"I've waited so long to meet you, there is so much we need to talk about," He added.

Harry snickered "Why would I want to talk with you about anything," he said.

"Do you not see all of this? It's for you, we are all here for you, to save you from Dumbledore's machinations," Grindelwald said making Hagrid almost burst out in rage.

"Dumbledore is a great man!!!" The half-giant boomed making some of the dark wizards step back.

"Dumbledore is a coward!" Grindelwald replied.

Harry backed up to Hagrid and put his hand on his arm to calm him. "Hagrid, I'm going to cause a distraction, when I do I need you to take the girls and run, don't reply, just do it," Harry whispered while Grindelwald kept speaking. Hagrid looked uneasy but nodded slightly in understanding.

Hannah who had healed enough to push herself up on her knees watched in worry. She wanted to help Harry, but she didn't know how, she cursed herself for her weakness. 'I won't let this happen again,' she promised herself.

"Fine I'll come and talk with you, but your servants are making me a little uneasy," Harry said with a chuckle. Grindelwald signalled them and they all pointed their wands back down "Come then, take my hand," he said to Harry.

Harry made it look like he was about to take the offered hand, but stopped midway "Nah!" He said before channelling as much magic as he could through his body and into his wand. He felt his bones break and a few of his muscles exploded as he did, but he managed to point his wand down and shoot a bombarda at the ground. Everyone was blown back by the explosion, even Hagrid, but he was already up and he ran over to the girls who had been separated by the explosion. He grabbed one of them before turning and going for the other but before he could reach her he was hit by multiple spells, some of them almost hitting the girl. To save her he dived off the balcony and plummeted down a ravine.

Harry had been knocked out by the explosion for a few seconds but slowly came to. He tried pushing himself up but realised that one of his arms was missing; using his remaining arm he pushed himself to his knees. He let out a chuckle when he saw Grindelwald had gotten it even worse than him, the man was missing a leg, and an arm and the skin from the front of his body had been burnt off.

Blue flames washed over Grindelwald and in a second he was already standing up with no wounds at all "That was unpleasant," Grindelwald said as he touched his jaw. Blue flames rushed around the courtyard and healed his injured followers.

"A nice attempt at escape, but all in vain I'm afraid," Grindelwald said as he started to approach Harry with his hand reaching out.

"Diffindo!"

A spell made contact with Grindelwalds neck nearly severing it. The blue flames however healed him nearly instantly; Harry turned to the source of the spell and looked in horror, Hagrid had managed to only grab one of them. Standing on shaky feet at the opposite end of the courtyard was Hannah with her wand pointed at Grindelwald. Macduff scowled at the girl before raising his wand, Harry saw it and rushed towards her he made it a dozen feet before his foot snapped and bent at the wrong angle and he plummeted to the floor with several Dark wizards holding him down. "HANNAH!" He screamed as Macduff shot a piercing spell that hit her right in her chest making a large hole where her heart was.

She stumbled forward over to Harry before falling down. Hannah managed to look up at Harry, the explosion had blown off his blindfold and revealed his eyes. It was like looking at the sky being reflected off the ocean, "Beautiful..." Hannah said with a smile, even with a look of worry on his face.

Hannah wasn't scared as she felt herself drifting away, she couldn't move now, she couldn't feel her body. Only her eyes could move, but she didn't move them, she kept them fixed on her friend. The only worry she felt was for Harry, the look of pain and fear on his face, she tried to speak, but she couldn't any longer, the only sounds that came out of her mouth were choking. Luckily she didn't need to as Harry and she gazed into each other's eyes he could hear her thoughts. As a bearer of the Six Eyes, he was a natural Legilimens, and he could pick up her surface thoughts.

'I've never had so much fun before I met you, I wish I could've stayed with you longer...'

Harry watched the light die from her eyes and her breathing stopped. "Hannah..." Harry whispered. She was dead, he knew she was, even the magic that swirled inside her had left her body.

"Hannah!" He said a little more desperately as tears fell down his cheeks.

"HANNAH!"

Grindelwald watched the scene with a grim expression. He cursed Macduff for acting so recklessly, they were trying to get Harry to join them and this wouldn't help in the slightest. He just had to hope what he had planned would be enough. "We have run out of time, everyone leave now," Grindelwald said as he walked over to Harry. His men started to apparate away including his acolytes, he grabbed Harry's shoulders and in a burst of blue flame they disappeared.

...

*BOOM*

Only seconds after Grindelwald left an explosion rang throughout the castle. Moments later Dumbledore appeared a couple hundred metres above the castle floating as he looked down. A grim expression marred his face, but it soon disappeared as his companion Fawkes appeared next to him. "Seems I have my work cut out for me," he said before unsheathing his wand.

"Shining light."

"Eight Realms of Lotus."

"Beating Heart."

"Transcendence."

As he chanted a flame of pure white grew at the tip of his wand, it was so bright that it lit up the night sky like a second sun.

"Guiding light."

"Anima Ignis..."

He flicked his wand and like a tsunami the fire crashed down into the castle below. The flames entered the castle and turned everything that Dumbledore considered an enemy into ashes, the students and teachers were left unharmed. Some of the Special Grades had felt Dumbledore's power and had chosen to flee rather than face them. It was less than a minute before the curses and any remaining dark wizards had been killed.

Dumbledore cricked his neck and rolled his shoulders "Been a while since I've had to exert myself like that," he said with a small chuckle. He then apparated into the castle to assess the damage.

———————————————————

Harry was thrown to the ground after Grindelwald had flamed them away. He looked down and saw that his hand had been healed and so were the rest of his wounds on his body, however before he could attack the man a body binding spell hit him and he slumped to the ground.

"It's a shame our meeting has taken such a turn, I had hoped the moment you joined us would be happy," Grindelwald said as he walked past him.

The air was humid and it looked like they were in a forest of some kind, Harry shrugged against the binding spell pushing his magic against it but it was no use. "Why would I ever join you!" He spat out, the pain from losing Hannah still fresh on his mind.

"I am not the Dark Lord people make me out to be, all I want is for our kind to prosper, I want a lasting peace," Grindelwald said wistfully.

"There was peace before you came!" Harry shouted back. The war had been over for twelve years, there had been peace for so long.

Grindelwald started to chuckle "You think there is peace? I don't blame you, but not everyone is lucky enough to have a wizard-like Dumbledore shielding them from the horror of reality."

"What shit are you spouting!" Harry said as he started wiggling. If he could just keep trying then maybe he could summon Aries.

"Voldemort's little uprising wasn't even considered a war, merely a rebellion of sorts, nothing to be taken seriously."

"But war wages on throughout the world, but Dumbledore shields Britain from it, he is a big enough deterrent that no one would ever consider attacking, and he turns a blind eye to the slaughtering of his kind while he plays professor!" Grindelwald said, shouting the last part.

"You're lying! Why would he do that!" Harry shouted, 'Just a little more...' he thought as he tried to destroy the binding.

"Because he's a coward, he's afraid of what he would become if he used his power to assert himself, he'd rather let thousands of his kind die needlessly than risk corrupting himself," Grindelwald chuckled bitterly.

Harry broke through the bindings but Grindelwald had already sent a Wandless binding charm at him which subdued him again. "I will ask you Harry, join me and help me craft a new world where Wizards stand at the pinnacle," Grindelwald asked.

"I'm going to kill all of you!" He spat out as he bared his teeth at him.

Grindelwald chuckled and shook his head "You can't make the right decision cause you don't understand the truth."

"It seems I must educate you."

He flicked his wand and conjured a black cloth that wrapped itself around Harry's eyes. He then cast an intricate pattern that sealed it to his face making it almost impossible to remove. "Let me introduce you to one of the things Dumbledore chooses to ignore," he said as he lifted him up and flamed him away.

They appeared in front of a dirt road of some kind. Harry noticed the spell was no longer affecting him and tried to use his magic, but he felt his control vanish when Grindelwald clamped a metal collar around his neck. "What have you done!" Harry growled as he tried punching the man only for him to receive a blasting hex to the chest.

"Those collars are quite common where we are, they prevent the use of magic, with it you're no different than a muggle," Grindelwald replied.

All of a sudden spotlights turned on and shined on the two of them and the sounds of footsteps against the ground echoed out. "Harry, let me introduce you to your new home," Grindelwald said with a smile on his face.

"Treatment Camp #15 is a place to cure wizards of their affliction which they call magic."

"You may have heard of your hosts before, they do date rather far back."

"I'm sure you'll love the Knights Templar," Grindelwald said before flaming away.

Harry tried to get up and go after him but he was hit in the back of the head by someone and he collapsed to the ground.

"Captain we have a runaway," A man dressed in white with a large Red Cross plastered on the front.

"Put him in the pit," the Captain replied from over the radio.

(AN: For those who aren't aware James Thorne isn't an OC his name is made up but he's the MC of Hogwarts a Mystery.)

(AN: So we have Halloween over, Canon diverges and Hannah is dead. If anyone is wondering what happened to Bellatrix she was in the mainhall, I considered doing a scene but it was already getting long and I wanted to move on. Now you've been introduced to The Knights Templar, a group of people intent on exterminating magic. Treatment camp is a place where they experiment on them and make them work, not a nice place. Anyway they aren't the main villains of book 1 they will be properly introduced in book 3. This is just a little preview. I hope you enjoyed the chapter I know it's been slow up until now but thanks for everyone who stuck around.

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