Chapter Twenty-Nine: They shall rise again

Chapter Twenty-Nine: They shall rise again

25 – 26 May 1998

Harry turned from the window and looked at his two companions. "I should go out there. He's come. He's come for me."

"No, Harry Potter! The Headmistress tells Dobby, 'Harry stays here, Dobby, he stays here with you until I call for him,' and so Harry Potter must stay here! The witch-who-is-a-cat knows much that Harry Potter does not. Harry Potter must listen and stay here with Dobby!"

Harry looked over at his other minder. The Bloody Baron simply floated in a slight turn to look at him. Harry thought that if a ghost had breath to sigh, the Baron just had, deeply.

The self-styled lord had Apparated onto the grounds moments before, accompanied by dozens of his Death Eaters, and stood now several yards from the front of the castle. His voice, unamplified by any spell, carried to the Headmistress's Tower.

"I have come to claim my right!" Voldemort cast a spell aimed at the doors, but although there was a thundering boom, the doors did not open to him. "You will step aside! I will take my place."

There was no response from the castle. The Dark Wizard's anger throbbed in Harry's scar.

The doors were struck by another spell. Although the spell exploded with another resounding boom, it didn't send even a shiver through the castle's old bones.

"You must face me, witch! I know you are in there. I know that your lapdog could not kill you, but he still betrayed you in the end. He has given me Hogwarts and I will take it! And you will die!"

Professor McGonagall's voice now rang out from the castle. "I have no lapdog, Tom, and no one could give you what can never be yours."

"It would not disturb you, then, to learn that Snape is dead? Or that he betrayed you? Snape's soft spot for you did not protect you or prevent him from betraying you," Voldemort said. "I just came from him. He is making a fine meal right about now. I killed him for his weakness. Weakness will not be tolerated in the new wizarding world!"

He gave a signal, and a dozen more Death Eaters Apparated just behind him. They had with them a filthy pile of rags. The Dark Wizard laughed and flicked the tip of his wand. The rags moved, then rolled over, and some of the filth seemed to take the shape of a face.

"Do you recognise this one? Was he one of your lapdogs, too, or was it only his son who was your bitch?" Voldemort laughed. "There are rewards for the faithful and wise . . . and then there is this. Crucio!"

The wreck that was once the proud Lucius Malfoy convulsed under the spell.

"So, what will it be, McGonagall?" Voldemort asked, addressing the Headmistress by name for the first time. "What will be your reward?"

"Your defeat will be my reward, Tom Riddle."

"Come out and talk to me, Minerva. We are old schoolmates, after all. I am sure you can be reasonable. You need my strength. You know that you do."

"She needs nothing from you, Voldemort."

Harry frowned. Scrimgeour. Hadn't he just been saved from another assassination attempt? What was he doing at Hogwarts?

"You. You probably think you are clever, with your rat holes and hiding places. Are you the Gryffindor bitch's new wizard? You think that you can hold Hogwarts and the wizarding world, Scrimgeour?" Voldemort scoffed. "Come out and see reason. You are no match for the strength of the true wizarding world," he said, gesturing at the assembled Death Eaters. "And this is merely my entourage. There are more awaiting my command. So come out and speak with me."

To Harry's dismay, one of the great oak doors opened and Scrimgeour stepped out onto the steps and down to the lawn. Harry breathed only a slight sigh of relief when he saw that the Minister was followed by several others, most of them in Auror red. But then he saw that among them were members of the Order, Remus, Arthur, and Molly Weasley...and now Percy, Ron, and Luna were with them, too. Harry tried to open the window to shout down to them; when the window wouldn't budge, he turned to leave the office, but Dobby was there, his hands raised against him, and Harry shouted in frustration and spun back to look out the window.

"I have only one thing to say to you, Voldemort...or should I say, Mr Riddle?" Scrimgeour's voice was hard. "Leave. Leave Hogwarts, leave Britain, and leave the wizarding world. Tell your lackeys to return to their homes and families and a peaceful life. Give me your wand, and I will snap it now and let you go."

"Aaarrrr!" Voldemort raised his wand and cast, his fury inhabiting the magic that blazed toward the Minister.

Shacklebolt and Weasley raised a shield in front of the Minister, but the old Auror was still thrown back.

"I need no wand to hold the wizarding world in my hands!" This time, Voldemort cast a wandless spell, but at an unexpected target, turning suddenly and aiming at the witch standing unshielded to Arthur's left.

"Molly! No!" But Arthur was too slow, and Molly's body flew back and struck the castle wall.

Scrimgeour regained his feet and cast a hex at Voldemort, and suddenly, it was a melee. Scrimgeour was down again, then Ron was pulling Luna from the path of a spell, but too late, and she was hit. The group of defenders was far outnumbered, then relief came as the doors behind them opened again. Harry could not see what was happening or who was at the doors now, but the Hogwarts contingent withdrew back into the castle, dragging their fallen with them.

Voldemort was not displeased by the retreat, and his eyes appeared to glow with crazed glee.

"So, McGonagall, you can still hold your wand," he said with a short laugh. "I may let you keep it. Give me Harry Potter and give me Hogwarts. Do that, and you may not spend the rest of your days praying for death."

"They are not mine to give you, and they are not yours to take," came the Headmistress's reply.

"You have until dawn. Give me Harry Potter. He will surrender to me as a token of your good will and compliance. Bring him to me. I will leave some of my faithful here to await you as you come to your senses. No one else must go beyond those steps, or they will die. If Potter comes to me by dawn, all of you will live. When you are ready, bring him out to join this maggot." Voldemort cast the Crucio on Malfoy once more.

"Excuse me, Tom," Minerva replied with exaggerated courtesy. "I must check the kitchen. It seems that someone left something unattended and it's now burning. I can smell the smoke."

Even from his distant vantage point, Harry could see Riddle's confusion. Off in the distance, though not very far from the Hogwarts gates, puffy clouds of smoke were rising. The Shrieking Shack was burning. It took a moment before Riddle realised that something was, indeed, on fire, and another moment before he saw that there was smoke coming from the direction of the Shrieking Shack, where he had left his beloved Nagini. But she was in good hands. He had left his most abject and sycophantic followers to care for her. They would save her before they worried about their own safety. Surely they would.

But the Shrieking Shack was on fire. And no one had come to notify him.

Something akin to panic entered Riddle's face. He gave very brief orders, then Disapparated with a half dozen Death Eaters. Another few dozen followed moments later. Those Death Eaters who remained moved further back from the main entrance to the castle, Malfoy dragging along behind them, not even accorded a Mobilicorpus to Levitate his battered body above the hard ground.

A tabby Patronus flew through the floor and immediately went to Harry. Harry turned his head and accepted the message.

"All right, Dobby. That was from 'the witch-who-is-a-cat,'" Harry said. "I'm to meet her in the Hospital Wing. You can come with me, if you like. Er, you, too, Mr Baron," Harry added awkwardly, unused to speaking with the Slytherin House Ghost and unsure why McGonagall would have sent him to watch with Dobby.

The Bloody Baron seemed to shimmer slightly, then he was gone.

---

"Scrimgeour knew that it was important to stall him," Minerva said quietly as she pulled the sheet up over his face. "So he did."

Harry felt frozen, his face, paralysed. He found his voice. "He did that for me."

"Yes, but not just for you." Minerva took Harry's arm and steered him away. "He knew we have specific plans. We didn't always get along, but we have known each other for years, decades, and he was always a brave Auror. He did what he had to."

"I saw Mrs Weasley. Is she all right?"

Minerva shook her head. "She's alive, but I will be honest with you," she replied, her voice a whisper as she brought Harry into the school matron's office and closed the door. "It is unlikely that she will survive the night. Arthur and her children are with her, the ones who are here."

"And Luna?" Harry asked in a strangled voice. He should have been with them. He, Ron, Luna, they had been a team, and he had abandoned him.

"She should recover, although she will need to remain in the infirmary."

Minerva looked out the window that faced the open infirmary ward. There was quiet, orderly activity. Poppy had set some of the underage sixth-years to work, members of Dumbledore's Army who had insisted on helping. Minerva and Neville had worked out this compromise for them weeks before, and Minerva was glad that she had anticipated it. One less thing to worry about. But there were other worries, unexpected ones.

"The students are in safety, the younger ones," Minerva said, almost to herself, "but I don't know where Aurora is. She was supposed to return after sequestering the Slytherins."

As if in response, Remus Lupin gave a brief rap on the door, then opened it. With him was Kevin Harper.

"Sorry, Minerva, but Mr Harper insisted on seeing you, and from the little he told me, I thought you would want to see him yourself."

Minerva looked at the Slytherin prefect, who was pale and trembling, and her alarm mounted. Still, she betrayed nothing. "Yes, Mr Harper? Why are you not with your House?"

"Please, ma'am, Zabini sent me." The skinny boy swallowed hard. "He said to tell you that he's holding them, with help, but they might still get out. One already did. Goyle, ma'am. And, um, Professor Sinistra . . . Professor . . ." The boy struggled against his tears.

"Is she hurt?" Minerva asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Harper shook his head hard. "She's dead." Harper gulped, trying to regain control of himself.

"You did well, Harper. Where is Zabini?"

"In the lowest dungeon, where Pro– Pro– Professor Sinistra took us. He sh– sh– shut them in but Goyle got away."

"Remus, you, Kingsley, and Slughorn go down to the dungeons. Horace will get you past any Slytherin wards that might remain. Help Zabini, look for Goyle, and use your judgment about what to do with the students. Remember that they are still Hogwarts students, whatever else they may be." Minerva's eyes were hard, though, thinking of Aurora Sinistra. "If you can't find Goyle easily, come to me. I have something that will help you."

"Should I go, too?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry. Your role will come later. Time to muster our forces." Minerva sent off three Patronuses, then thought a moment and cast two more. "We will gather with the others in the Great Hall. You can come with me unless you would like to stay here with your friends for a while."

Harry looked out into the infirmary, then down at Kevin Harper.

"What about me?" Kevin asked, his face pale but his tears under control.

"You stick with me," Harry said. He looked up at Minerva. "Right, Professor?"

Minerva hesitated. At fifteen, Harper was not only a minor, he wasn't even a sixth-year. "Are you staying in the infirmary?" she asked Harry.

Harper interrupted. "We heard he killed Professor Snape. Did he? Is Professor Snape dead, too?"

"Tom Riddle, the one who calls himself Lord Voldemort, claims that Professor Snape is dead. But Riddle was always a liar, and he was always overconfident," Minerva replied.

"Let him stay with me, Professor. At least for a while. There's still time," Harry said. He looked down at Harper again. There was something about the short, skinny Slytherin that tugged at him.

A falcon Patronus flew to Minerva. She paused, then nodded. "That was Professor Flitwick. Everyone is waiting for us in the Great Hall. You, too, Mr Harper."

As she led the two young wizards out of the infirmary, Minerva overheard Harry whisper, "I think Professor Snape's too tough to kill, don't you? But if he is dead, then he died the greatest Slytherin hero in all of history, and he was your Head of House. Just think of that."

Minerva gritted her teeth and focussed on the tasks ahead of her. She hadn't heard from Albus, but she didn't expect to. The Shrieking Shack was burning, and she presumed that was a positive sign. She wished she would hear something from the Hog's Head, though, but Aberforth never was the chatty sort, and it wouldn't occur to him to contact her; Hermione would be preoccupied with Severus; and her mother...it had been an oversight not to teach her how to send a message using a Patronus. Minerva wondered what other things she had neglected to do and would later regret.

---

"No, ma'am, Professor," Zabini said politely but firmly. "We're all staying." He looked around at the other Slytherins behind him, then back at the Headmistress. "But if you think the youngest ones can be useful in the Hospital Wing, I'm sure they'll be happy to help. Cavanaugh," he said, addressing a tall, heavyset fourth-year, "bring all the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year students up to the infirmary. Any of the others who want to may join you. Do as you're told, stay out of the way of the Healers, and make sure that no Death Eaters invade the Hospital Wing."

Elizabeth Cavanaugh nodded and began to gather the younger students together, more than thirty of them. In addition to his select group of Slytherins, Zabini had brought with him all of the first- and second-years. Minerva supposed that was better than leaving them with older Slytherins of dubious intent, to say the least.

"Miss Cavanaugh, wait by the door. Professor Hagrid will accompany you up to the infirmary," Minerva directed. "Mr Zabini, you have shown yourself an exemplary member of your House. If it weren't entirely moot at this point, I would grant you more points than...than Potter here got during all six of his years at Hogwarts. But I cannot allow underage students to take part in Hogwarts defence."

"Ma'am, we are Snape's Slytherins, and we aren't going anywhere. We are here for him and for ourselves." The handsome young wizard pulled himself even straighter. "We will fight with you for Hogwarts, but we are here for Slytherin. The real Slytherin."

"Very well, Mr Zabini. But you will recognise my authority in all else, or I will clap you all in a storeroom somewhere...and don't think I can't do it," she said warningly.

"Yes, ma'am. You are the Headmistress." Blaise nodded.

Minerva looked at him for a long moment. "Good. Find a corner for yourselves, then. There are still some long hours before dawn. Eat some sandwiches and sleep if you can."

Minerva was turning to look for Hagrid when Lupin and Shacklebolt came through the doors. She met them halfway across the Great Hall.

"He was right where you said we'd find him," Lupin said softly. He looked to either side, then continued in a whisper, "Kingsley put him in restraints, and we locked him in the empty storeroom at the base of the North Tower, as you suggested. Dobby is there and will make sure that, um, nothing happens to him."

"Good. Where is Horace?"

"He returned to check on the welfare of the others in his House," Kingsley replied. "We ran into Amanda Teller returning from the kitchens, and she went with him. Another house-elf was with her. She said he had been Snape's elf."

"His name is Twiskett." Minerva restrained a sigh and wished for Headache Potion. The Muggle Studies teacher was not supposed to be wandering the dungeons with her former Head of House. "I told Teller to go to Sybill after checking on the house-elves in the kitchens. Did she say what changed her mind?"

Kingsley laughed, a deep, rich, and unexpected sound. "Sybill has locked her out. Said something about her 'Inner Eye' and told her to go away. Slughorn was happy to see her. I don't think he fancied checking on the Slytherins on his own, but he felt obligated to go back."

Minerva was just wondering whether she should be worried about the two when Twiskett appeared with a hollow pop.

"Hello, Twiskett. Are Professor Slughorn and Professor Teller all right?" she asked, aware by now that "yes-no" questions were best with Twiskett.

Twiskett nodded unblinkingly.

"Were you in the kitchens with Swelka?"

Twiskett nodded again.

"You didn't wish to remain there?"

Twiskett shivered slightly, then admitted his disobedience with a slight shake of his head.

"Perhaps you would like to help in the infirmary?" Minerva asked, very glad that she had increased the size of the Hospital Wing, and not only for the sake of any potential wounded. But a house-elf could always be useful in a busy infirmary, she imagined.

Twiskett shook his head again. The little grey elf seemed to shrink, then he looked across the room and saw Zabini and his group. He seemed to perk up. He pointed at them.

"I see," Minerva said softly. "You wish to be one of Snape's Slytherins? You know I won't order you to help defend the school."

Twiskett pointed again.

"Very well. You are one of Snape's Slytherins. You may join them."

Kingsley and Lupin both looked puzzled. "Snape's Slytherins?" Remus asked as Twiskett trotted toward the group of students.

"That's what they're calling themselves. Quite appropriately." Minerva looked away. She couldn't think about Severus at that moment. Or Sinistra or anyone else. There were still strategies to finalise, and she had to send Hagrid to accompany the youngest Slytherins to the Hospital Wing. She would think about it all later.

---

"You don't have to do it, you know, Harry," Minerva whispered, cupping the young man's stubbled jaw in her hand. "We can fight him, all of us. You do not have to do this."

Harry closed his eyes a moment, feeling the warmth of Professor McGonagall's gentle palm against his skin. He felt cold inside, cold and still, as though his heart had ceased beating. He opened his eyes again and looked into Professor McGonagall's eyes, and they warmed him.

"I do have to do it," he said softly. "You know that I do. If I don't, even if I . . . even if he dies, he won't really be completely dead. He could return. I have nightmares that he dies and then returns in me, that the bit of him that remains will take over and use me." He shook his head. "However it happened, it would happen, and he'd come back just as he came back this time. I have the ability to stop him from doing that, and I will. Too many people have died already. I don't want to see anyone else I love die without doing this. And Hermione said it would be okay." He quirked a slight grin. "Don't know where the girl got to, but that's the last thing she told me, and I believe her."

Minerva nodded. "Albus always believed that when it came to this, you would be safe, and I agree, but it is not guaranteed. We may be wrong, or Riddle may . . . he may not behave as we believe he will. He may not choose the Avada Kedavra."

"I know, but I have to do this." He looked beyond them, at the students, teachers, and Order members milling about the Great Hall. Their tension was palpable, but so was their resolve. Harry's own resolve solidified. "How can I not? I will do it for them and for everyone I love. Even for Snape. Do you think . . . was he lying, or is Snape really dead?"

"I don't know, Harry, but I hope he lives. It's what Hermione was sent to do."

Harry gave a short nod. "Will you walk with me? To the doors?"

Minerva placed her hand on his shoulder. "I will walk with you as far as I am able."

"Don't go out there, though. He wants you dead, too. He was very angry you aren't."

Minerva smiled. "I hope to disappoint him about that for at least a little while longer."

Harry looked back at the others again. "Don't let anyone stop me."

"I won't. And remember, I won't be the only one walking with you. You carry the others in your heart. Your mother, Lily, who loved you and gave you life and then gave her own life for you, your father...oh, he loved you so, Harry. He was so proud of you. He told me once that loving Lily made him try to be a better man and loving you helped him to succeed. And Sirius, he loved you fiercely, and there were so many others. And Albus loves you. He so wanted to protect you, but he couldn't protect you from everything, and he sometimes worried that he had chosen the wrong things to protect you from, but he loves you nonetheless."

Harry twitched a smile. "You speak about him like he's alive."

"Are any of our loved ones dead if we remember them and carry their love in our hearts, sharing it with others?" Minerva replied.

"I wish Professor Dumbledore had told me that I was . . . that I was one of them," Harry said, rubbing his scar. "He must have known for a long time."

"He suspected and then he knew, but the toe-rag...er, Riddle...did not know. But it wasn't only fear that somehow Riddle might learn of it through your knowledge, it was also . . . none of us wanted to tell you when we learned of it. If you had not come to the conclusion yourself, we would have, but . . . think of how you would have felt, Harry. What fears you may have had, what actions you may have taken. Your burden was great enough. Hermione knew that, which is why she agreed not to tell you. She fought the knowledge for a long time, not wanting to believe it herself. What would you have done if someone had told you two or three years ago?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know." His eyes glazed over for a moment. "I do not know how I could have lived with that knowledge for two or three years. I think . . . I think that after Sirius died . . . I might have tried to, to destroy the Horcrux," he said softly. "And later . . . I don't know." He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "It is time."

Minerva nodded and walked with him through the Great Hall, people moving out of their way as they approached the doors.

"No! No! Harry! Stop!" Ginny rushed forward from her hiding place in the shadowy corner. "You can't do this! Don't!"

Harry turned. "We already said good-bye, Gin," he said lightly. "Your mum wanted you up in the infirmary with the other underage sixth-years, and so do I." He pulled his arm from her grasp but leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. It will all be all right," he whispered.

Minerva took Harry's elbow, but they were stopped by a knot of people blocking the doors, Lupin at the front.

"Harry, you can't sacrifice yourself like this. You can't believe what he says," Remus said. "You can't go out there."

"You don't want to test me," Harry said, looking at them. "Come on, Remus, be a mate and step aside. Bring your friends with you. I'm going with Professor McGonagall. She'll take good care of me. It will be fine. Really."

Remus looked sceptical, but Alroy and Gareth had appeared on either side of Harry and Minerva, and so Remus stepped aside, the others behind him following his example. As soon as Harry and Minerva stepped through the doors, Harry turned quickly and used his wand to slam the doors shut. Minerva cast a Colloportus and the Hogwarts Headmistress's locking charm.

They ignored the pounding on the doors and the shouts of "Finite Incantatum!" and "Alohomora!" behind them. At the large oak doors, Harry turned and smiled at the Headmistress.

"Tell Hermione thanks for the advice," he said.

"I will if I see her before you do...but I do believe you will be fine, just as you told Remus and Ginny," Minerva said. "One other thing, Harry, if you manage it, could you let Malfoy know that his wife and son are alive and safe? Riddle told him that he tortured them to death. If you can. It would be a kindness."

Harry grimaced. He had no liking for the Malfoys, but that lump of flesh and bone out there, the horror of it made him ill. "I will try. I will say something if I have time."

"Thank you, Harry...for everything."

"Keep my wand for me?" Harry asked.

Minerva accepted the wand, nodding.

He reached for the door then paused, looking back at her. "Do you think it will hurt?"

"It might. But I don't think it will for long. Although . . . if he casts the Crucio first . . ."

"He's done it before," Harry said grimly. "Good bye, Professor."

"Good luck, Harry. And remember all of us who love you. I would do it for you if I could." For the first time in their conversation, tears rose in her eyes.

Harry grinned a typical Harry Potter grin. "I would rather do it for you and everybody else. Bye, Professor!"

Without another word, Harry opened one of the large oak doors and stepped out. He looked toward the east at the pale pre-dawn sky and wondered whether he would see the sun rise, then he began to walk toward the small knot of Death Eaters who had remained to wait and toward the huddled wreck that was Lucius Malfoy.

Voldemort would reappear soon, and the rest of his Death Eaters with him. Harry was not so naive to believe Voldemort's claim that everyone else in the castle would be spared if he surrendered himself. They certainly would not be spared if they resisted him, and Harry knew that they would fight, probably even harder after . . . after whatever happened to him happened. And Voldemort would kill any of those whom he believed to be future threats or against whom he had a particular grudge. He walked past the spot where Scrimgeour had fallen, but he did not look down and his steps did not falter.

Minerva waited until Harry was halfway to Lucius Malfoy, then she turned and silently lifted the locking spell. The Colloportus had already been broken. She flicked her wand again and opened the doors to the Great Hall.

The first thing she saw was Flitwick, Gareth, Pomona, and Alroy standing guard in front of the doors, all of them with their wands out and looking angry.

"What...?"

"They tried to convince Professor Flitwick to try to unlock the doors," Gareth said, his eyes flashing with anger. "When he wouldn't, someone in here tried to Stunned him."

"I am ashamed of you all!" Minerva said, her own wand out. "How will we defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters if we behave like this? Come, now...Harry needs your support...your silent support. If you can behave properly, you can come out and witness his valour from the steps or you may watch from the windows of the Great Hall. Harry does know what he is doing." She looked around and saw that Kingsley, Moody, and a few other Order members had apparently assisted Alroy and her nephew in controlling the crowd. "Kingsley, Alastor, if any of these try to interfere with Harry's mission, do take care of them. No one is to go beyond the steps."

With that, Minerva turned and strode quickly out to the front of the castle. Harry had stopped several feet from Malfoy. She couldn't hear very well, but she thought that Harry was saying something, and the pathetic heap twitched in response. Two of the other Death Eaters stepped forward, their wands out.

Minerva turned, searching for Rolanda, and found her, dwarfed by the crowd and holding the hand of a weeping Hagrid. As much as she wished to stay where she was and watch Harry, Minerva made her way back through the crowd. When she reached Hooch, she placed her hand on her shoulder and bent to whisper in her ear.

"As soon as Harry falls, be ready to activate the Protean Charm. But wait...wait until the attack is underway. Use your own judgment if things move quickly and we do not speak again."

Rolanda looked up at her, her eyes wide. "There's no secret plan to save him? I thought..."

"Do not be alarmed, Rolanda. There is more to this than meets the eye..." Before Minerva could finish what she was saying, there were several loud cracks, and Voldemort was there, his branded servants behind him, more arriving with loud bursts of Apparition.

Voldemort's laughter sent chills down her spine, but Harry stepped closer, now standing beside Malfoy. She wished she could hear what the toe-rag was saying to Harry, but then she saw Harry slowly raise his arms out to his side, as if to embrace someone, and Voldemort screamed, "Expelliarmus!"

This time, Harry laughed, a light, youthful sound, reminding her of his laughter when he caught the Snitch in some daring move. Then his voice came, ringing clearly across the grounds, though his back was to the castle.

"Do you think I need a wand to face you, Tom Riddle? You asked for me to come to you, and here I am, ready for you, you murdering scum." Harry laughed again. "Professor McGonagall calls you the toe-rag, you..."

Harry's words were cut off as he fell to the ground, a choking scream tearing from his throat as Voldemort cast a nonverbal Crucio. Minerva felt the crowd surge forward, and it was all she could do to stand in place herself, but Shacklebolt, Moody, Gareth, and MacAirt were in front and able to keep anyone from moving further from the safety of the castle steps, but then one small figure darted out, her wand in her hand.

"Ginny, no!"

Focussed entirely on Harry and his suffering, she did not heed the shout behind her, nor turn to look at her brother, who chased after her as she ran.

Voldemort raised his wand from his torture of Harry. With a lazy wave of his wand, he said, "Avada Kedavra! "

Percy shouted his sister's name once more, then he took a flying leap, tackling her, but too late, and the streaking curse reached them as they fell.

Minerva stood, frozen in horror as Gareth ran to the two fallen Weasleys, and Ron and the twins struggled through the crowd, trying to reach their sister and older brother. Moody and Shacklebolt raised a barrier, though, and none of the straining bodies could follow her nephew out onto the grounds. Minerva grasped her wand more tightly and swallowed past the dread in her throat as she watched Voldemort point his wand in Gareth's direction. Gareth was kneeling beside the two and reached over to touch Percy's head.

Voldemort stepped forward, his nearly lipless mouth forming a hideous sneer, and prepared to cast again. "Ava..."

A peculiar, hoarse sound interrupted the curse. The bloody bundle of rags rolled over, baring its filthy body to the skies. "Toe-rag!"

Malfoy's voice was scarcely recognisable, but he seemed to be laughing convulsively. Harry raised himself to his knees and looked down at the emaciated wizard, reaching out to him with one hand.

Malfoy was trying to push himself up on one arm. "Toe-rag!" he said again, his voice rasping hoarsely.

Voldemort, enraged, turned his wand and cast the Killing Curse at the pathetic wretch. Harry looked up at the contorted, inhuman face above them, and as he pushed Malfoy away with one arm, he thrust up with his legs, lurching between Voldemort and his target.

The green curse hit Harry in the centre of his chest just as Gareth lifted Ginny over one shoulder and began to stand. Ginny raised her head and screamed as Harry fell backward, landing on top of Malfoy's wrecked body, the curse seeming to explode above the two collapsed wizards.

"Inside, inside, everyone!" Minerva commanded.

Shacklebolt, Moody, and MacAirt repeated the command, and the crowd began to shuffle backwards.

"Look! Look!" One of the twins, Minerva couldn't tell which one, began to shout and point. "A phoenix! It's Fawkes!"

Minerva held her breath as the phoenix landed on Harry. Oh, gods, Voldemort was raising his wand again, and so were the Death Eaters around him! Please, please, please . . . she did not know with whom she was pleading, but then there was another shouted curse, this one from her nephew, who had turned, still with Ginny over his shoulder.

"TERRAQUATERE!" Gareth roared.

A bronze-coloured spell issued from his wand, spreading out and flowing toward the Death Eaters. McGonagall stood facing Voldemort, the spell continuing to course from his wand. The ground began to tremble and a fissure opened up at Voldemort's feet. The earth heaved and threw the Death Eaters to the ground, Voldemort himself losing his footing, stepping back, and then landing hard on his arse. Even as the earth cracked open, the phoenix rose into the air, singing loudly, almost trumpeting, Harry's limp body held by one arm. Voldemort tried to follow the bird and the boy with his wand, but cried out in frustration when they seemed to vanish without a sound, the phoenix call abruptly ending. Voldemort took to the air himself, rising straight up, seeking his prey, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Gareth struggled to the steps, Ginny pounding her fists on his back, and he was grateful when her brothers took her from him. He tottered on his feet. Neville grabbed him under one shoulder, but when Gareth merely collapsed against him, almost dragging him to the stone steps with his weight, the younger wizard flicked his wand and raised him up with a Mobilicorpus.

Shaken from their amazement by Shacklebolt and Moody and their repeated commands to get inside, the group turned to go back into the castle, but their way was blocked by those who had been watching from the windows and who now wanted to go out onto the grounds. Minerva raised her wand and a small explosion issued from it.

"Back, back inside! Inside the Hall! Now!" Minerva said in her most stern Headmistress voice. Harry was safe now, and it was time for them all to carry on with the rest of the plan...as far as they were able.

---

Gareth took the square of chocolate from Remus and leaned back against the doorframe, half-perched on the ornate moulding. "Thanks, mate. D'you see where Ginny went? I have her wand."

"Fred and George brought her up to the Hospital Wing, where she should have been in the first place," Minerva replied. "Arthur will be upset. His wife, two of his children . . ."

"I think Ginny's okay," Gareth said. "It only hit her brother. We should try to get his body inside once the door opens again."

"Right now, I'm more concerned about the living," Minerva said, "and keeping them alive."

"Molly died," Remus whispered. "I just heard someone telling Ron."

"I'm sorry," Minerva said. It hadn't looked good for the Weasley matriarch, so she was not surprised, but it was still a difficult truth to swallow. She would wait and think about it later, about her and all the others; then she could grieve.

"So am I," Gareth said softly. "I didn't really know her, but I know she loved her family. And if Percy's any indication, she raised her children well."

Remus and Minerva looked at each other, both of them aware of the irony of Gareth's observation and of Percy's final act, yet the truth of the statement, as well.

"What did you think you were doing, Gareth? Not that I'm not glad you did something, but that hole in the ground," Minerva said, shaking her head but looking toward her cousin, Caroline Mayfield, who was working with Filius and Shacklebolt to reinforce the huge windows of the Great Hall to the strength of thick stone walls. They were already opaque from the outside so that the defenders could see out but the Death Eaters could not see in.

"I just thought that since the wards were lifted, I would try that. I thought it would disrupt them all. Couldn't let even one of them get off a curse," Gareth replied around the chocolate melting in his mouth.

"You silly boy," Minerva said, ruffling his hair as she used to when he was a child. "It's the Anti-Apparition wards that we took down, not all of the wards, and certainly not the ones helping to maintain the integrity of the castle and grounds. And I recast the Anti-Apparition wards protecting the interior of the castle...not that Riddle knows any of that, of course. He really hasn't a clue."

"Oh." Gareth swallowed his chocolate and shrugged. "No wonder that was so hard." He looked up at his aunt and grinned. "Sorry about the damage."

"Hmmph. With any luck, maybe a few Death Eaters will trip over their shoelaces and fall in," she replied.

Remus tried to smile at Minerva's joke. "It was unexpected. I'd never seen anyone use an earthquake spell before."

"It was one of my dad's," Gareth said. "He could cast it nonverbally, with either hand, and even do a modified wandless version of it. I'm just glad I could do it at all and knock that pretender on his arse."

"Voldemort didn't look pleased," Lupin said.

"I wish I had seen his expression," a voice said from the open doorway.

Remus dropped his chocolate. Gareth caught it with an Arresto Momentum and flicked it into his hand.

"Some chocolate, Harry?" Gareth asked, holding it out to him.

Harry nodded and took the foil-wrapped Honeydukes. "Thanks. I stopped by the infirmary on the way down. Thanks for getting Ginny, sir."

"It's 'Gareth,'" the older wizard replied.

"Harry?!" Remus regained his power of speech. "Harry! Harry!"

Remus grabbed Harry with both hands, then he picked him up and swung him around, crying and shouting. Gareth caught the chocolate again when Harry lost his hold on it, then he leaned forward and rested his head on his aunt's shoulder from behind, one arm around her, as they watched the Great Hall erupt with shrieks and shouts. He pulled her back out of the human tidal wave that surged toward them.

"I thought he was supposed to stay hidden until we were ready for Voldemort to see him," Gareth murmured.

"I guess that plan changed," Minerva said, sounding resigned but not entirely pleased.

"Where is my uncle, do you think?" Gareth asked quietly.

"Possibly in my office, perhaps still in the come and go room. He will be here." Her gaze went unfocussed and Gareth felt her stiffen. "He is here. Very near. In the front hall behind everyone, I think, but I can feel him."

Gareth grinned. "Good. Then with him, Harry Potter, and you, we have that little toe-rag beat already."

Minerva laughed.

---

"He's back." Shacklebolt's deep voice rang through the Great Hall above the commotion. "Voldemort is back and he's coming this way."

"Filius, Pomona, Alroy, you know what to do," Minerva said. "Everyone, follow your Heads of House...adults, too...unless you're flying with Hooch's squadron. We are prepared. Ravenclaws, all to the Towers and battlements; follow Flitwick's orders. Hufflepuffs, follow Professor Sprout down to the exit at the base of the North Tower...it should still be clear. If not, Pomona, you know where to go. Hagrid, go with Sprout; get to the paddock and loose the Thestrals. Firenze will meet you there. Gryffindors, you all wait here with Professor MacAirt...you will defend from the front of the castle. Teller, go to the infirmary; you will work with Pomfrey and O'Donald. Harry, you stay here with me. Remus, send the signal to Charlie. Hooch, you take your flyers to the Astronomy Tower. Wait until the first hex has been cast, then activate the Protean Charm and follow your battleplan. Don't just stand there! Go! Go!" Minerva clapped her hands.

"Did you intend me to follow Flitwick?" Shacklebolt asked, surprised.

"They could use you, Kingsley, but if you would prefer to stay down here..."

The tall, assertive Auror appeared torn for a moment, but then he bowed his head quickly and turned to follow his fellow Ravenclaws up to the roofs.

"Kingsley?" Minerva called.

He turned his head.

"Stop in the infirmary. If Arthur is able, send him down here. Have the twins go join Hooch," Minerva said. "And tell Poppy to expect more casualties."

"Shacklebolt!" Gareth tossed Ginny's wand to the Auror, who caught it neatly then hurried from the room.

"What about us?" Blaise asked as the last of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws streamed from the Great Hall.

"Ah, you, my sweet Slytherins," Minerva said turning to Snape's Slytherins, "you will have your role and make your Head of House proud." She looked over at Slughorn, who had been watching from the corner. "Horace, would you like to join Snape's Slytherins? Serve as their temporary Head of House?"

"I would be honoured," Slughorn said.

"Good." Minerva nodded briskly. "MacAirt will lead the Gryffindors in an assault, then we will follow...Harry, Snape's Slytherins, I, and one other, who will be joining us just before we leave the castle. You'll be with us, Caroline?" she asked her cousin, wondering whether the Slytherin glass-charmer might not prefer to join her old friend Filius.

"Of course," Caroline replied.

A lynx Patronus emerged from the ceiling and entered Minerva's ear, bearing Kingsley's message. She nodded.

"Arthur's on his way down. As soon as he gets here, we open the doors. He will speak for us. And then we attack."

"All of us through the front doors?" Remus asked, looking around him. Even with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws gone, there were a good number of people there, and he thought they would be too much of a target if they all walked out at once.

"No. Do you forget that I am the Headmistress? I will open another door for you here...or one of these windows, actually. Half will leave through the main doors, and the others, through a door at the far end of the Hall. Not perfect, but you will have covering fire from above. The Ravenclaws should all be in pos..." A loud bang interrupted Minerva.

"He's outside, just yards away!" Colin shouted from his spot by the reinforced windows. Minerva had no time to wonder how he had escaped from the Hospital Wing.

There was another loud bang as a hex hit one of the castle walls.

"Too late now...Alroy, you'll have to..."

Arthur huffed into the doorway. "I am here, I am ready, and I will speak to him as we planned." He was pale and his eyes were blood-shot, but he stood straight, his wand ready. "I will stall him as long as possible, then strike the first blow."

"Very good!" Minerva said. "Longbottom and Dumbledore's Army, you follow Weasley. You, too, Moody. Wait in the Entrance Hall for Weasley's signal. The rest of you, stay in here with MacAirt and be prepared to leave through the windows at the end of the Great Hall. Alroy, watch for the Ravenclaws, then choose your moment. Nick? Binns?" The two ghosts flew to her. "You know what to do...as soon as the Gryffindors are on the grounds, join them."

Minerva turned from the ghosts and waved her wand, and the broad, high windows at the far end of the Great Hall shimmered for a moment. Alroy led the remaining Gryffindors to that end of the room. He waved his own wand and created two steps up to the windowsill. Ron watched the Gryffindors gather, and when the Headmistress said nothing to him, he moved closer to the group of Slytherins. He was not leaving Harry again.

They could hear Arthur, his voice amplified by the Sonorous Charm, speaking with Voldemort, claiming that the Headmistress had been overcome by nervous exhaustion and that he was there to speak for all those remaining in the castle.

"This is no parlay, Weasley. You will drop your wand and stand aside. You will allow us entry and tell the children to offer no foolish resistance. We will kill any who draw a wand against us. There is no more Ministry. You saw Scrimgeour fall. I am the Ministry. I am the wizarding world. Your fate is in my hands. If you do not wish to die where you stand, you will tell everyone to surrender. I will take Hogwarts as my seat and rule from here. You and what's left of your yammering redheaded brood may live if you cooperate."

As Voldemort spoke, Minerva drew Blaise, Slughorn, and the other Slytherins near to her, Twiskett standing close beside Kevin Harper, trying to avoid being stepped upon in the huddle. Minerva nodded to Ron, acknowledging his presence among the Slytherins.

"After the Gryffindors are out, the Hufflepuffs have joined them, and all are engaged, we will follow. We will all accompany Harry...will you do that, Zabini?" Minerva asked.

The Slytherin nodded.

"Good. Help him get as close as he can to Riddle...that's Voldemort. I will be with you, as will one other. Harry and the other wizard will remain concealed until we are close enough to confront Riddle. Ronald, you may join Snape's Slytherins, but I would like you particularly to cover us from behind." She looked over at Gareth. "Since you did not follow your Head of House, Gareth, see if you can find your uncle. Stay with him. You may join us as we leave."

Gareth nodded and was gone in a moment.

"So, Snape's Slytherins will make their stand with Harry Potter." Minerva looked from Blaise to Harry. "Agreed?"

Harry glanced at Blaise, and the two nodded, then there was a shout as Arthur answered Voldemort's final ultimatum with a curse, and then there was another sharp yell. They could hear the great oak doors slam closed. Hexes began to strike the heavy doors, but then shouts and screams began coming from the Death Eaters as the Ravenclaws attacked from the roof and the towers.

Minerva walked over to the reinforced windows and looked out. The Death Eaters who had followed Voldemort to within yards of the front entrance were backing up, some turning and running. Charmed iron spheres the size of cricket balls were landing among them, creating large pocks in the earth where they hit the ground, or great gaping wounds where they struck flesh. Other peculiar golden projectiles seemed to explode on contact with a human body, causing no obvious injury, but the Death Eaters hit by them began to tear at their clothes then roll on the ground.

An iron ball glanced off Voldemort's left shoulder, but he seemed scarcely to notice it, though he ceased casting spells at the castle and began backing up and shouting orders at his followers. In that moment, the doors opened again, and Arthur, Moody, and the Gryffindors in Dumbledore's Army emerged, Arthur and Moody at the front, Moody casting curses as Arthur raised a shield charm. The Gryffindors followed fast in twos, staggered, but behind the two older wizards until they could break off to the left or right, running full-tilt toward the Death Eaters who were trying to back away from the onslaught from the Ravenclaws above. Minerva felt chills run through her as she saw a few of the Death Eaters fall to Gryffindor curses before they had a moment to cast any spells themselves. And now, scarcely seconds later, the heavy oak doors slammed shut again, and Arthur and Moody were duelling Voldemort as Neville and Dean stood back to back a few feet apart and fended off the Death Eaters who would come to their master's assistance.

MacAirt opened the windows and led his Gryffindors out onto the grounds. As soon as they were gone, Minerva closed the Charmed windows again, sealing them. The Gryffindors were duelling with Death Eaters as hexes and projectiles still rained down from above. Minerva could have sworn that crystal balls were landing among the Death Eaters, as well, and many hitting their marks. There were three suits of armour swinging swords and axes that had followed MacAirt out the window, but they were quickly blasted into bits by the harassed Death Eaters. The group of Hufflepuffs led by Sprout now rounded the castle, coming into view and entering the fray. Nearly-Headless Nick swooped down to her, speaking rapidly and pointing. Pomona nodded and sent four of her group off in the direction the ghost had indicated, three students and one Auror.

Dean and Neville had engaged two Death Eaters, Yaxley and Macnair, Minerva believed. It was an uneven match and she feared for the two students, yet she was proud of how well they defended themselves against the older and more experienced wizards, and not simply defending, but attacking. Minerva gasped when Neville, duelling with Macnair, cast a dark red curse and Macnair's head flew off, separated from his body, and then rolled blinking toward where they all stood watching at the window.

"The Thestrals!" Daphne shrieked.

Minerva looked up to see several Thestrals, their sharp hooves slashing the air, diving into the Death Eaters at the rear. Buckbeak had joined them and had torn off someone's arm. He tossed it into the air. She could see Peeves darting among the Death Eaters, apparently throwing mud in their eyes. Or perhaps it was some of Pomona's dragon dung fertiliser. Then there were five loud explosions almost simultaneously, and Bill Weasley, Ritchie Connolly, Oliver Wood, and Viktor Krum appeared on their brooms, and flying beside Viktor, Helena Benetti. The five had Apparated in from the cardinal directions and immediately began aiming and casting curses from above. Without delay, Hooch and her flyers joined them from the roofs, then Minerva spotted several more riders on broomstick soaring in from the direction of Hogsmeade.

Minerva let out a barely audible expletive when she saw Fawkes flare onto the grounds, a witch holding onto his tail feathers with her left hand before letting go and drawing her wand. Fawkes circled the field, but Minerva's gaze remained on the one-armed witch, who, somewhat incongruously, stood amongst the centaurs at the edge of the fray and was already engaged in a duel with a very tall Death Eater. The Death Eater went down, and the witch stepped over his body, running toward the castle, right into the mass of Death Eaters. The centaurs' arrows flew around her, and it seemed that it was only some kind of divine grace that kept them from striking the grey-haired witch as she raced forward, casting hexes as she ran. Minerva hoped that Gareth had not seen her arrive.

"Who is that one-armed witch?" Ron asked.

"My nephew Gareth's mother," Minerva replied, her voice tight.

"Look, look at Hagrid!" Harry shouted.

"Where?" Pansy asked, craning her neck. It was a confused melee, and she couldn't tell anything except that the Death Eaters were almost completely surrounded.

"There, near the centaurs," Harry said, pointing, then doing a double-take as he realised that Pansy was among Snape's Slytherins. What had led to that allegiance, he couldn't begin to imagine.

Pansy scarcely had time to register that Hagrid was hurling projectiles at the Death Eaters using some kind of slingshot when Minerva said, "Right, the centaurs have arrived. Time for us to go, too."

The Headmistress turned to the Slytherins behind her, a fierce gleam in her eyes. "Ready to avenge Severus Snape? Good!" Minerva began to lead them to the doors. "Oh, and you may find yourself surprised in a moment. Don't let that distract you! Remember that our goal is to get Harry to Riddle." If they were true Slytherins, she thought, they would only be startled briefly, and they would not be distracted.

Sure enough, when they walked into the Entrance Hall and saw Gareth and his companion, Ron looked gob-smacked, but although the Slytherins reacted with gasps and various colourfully imaginative expletives, they didn't fly into a tizzy. Minerva only hoped that Albus's appearance with Harry would distract Riddle and the Death Eaters but not the Hogwarts defenders.

"We are ready, my dear?" the older wizard asked.

"We are. Gareth, I want you and Twiskett to try to get to Malfoy. If he's still alive, bring him to the Hospital Wing," she said, adding, "Poppy will be sending house-elves down to the Entrance Hall to Apparate the injured up to the infirmary, but I'd like you and Twiskett to bring Malfoy directly there yourselves...I have raised the Anti-Apparition wards over the entire grounds again, so if he must be Apparated, Twiskett will have to do it on his own."

Gareth grinned at the house-elf. "We're a team, eh, Twiskett?"

The pale little elf nodded solemnly and went to stand by him, taking hold of the edge of his kilt like a child afraid of becoming lost in a crowd.

"Harry? Your Invisibility Cloak?" Minerva said.

"Oi, Ron! My Cloak!"

"Oh, um, yeah." Ronald, still looking dazed, pulled up his jumper and tugged the front of his shirt from his trousers, then he reached under his shirt and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak. "Sorry if it's all sweaty."

Harry just shrugged. That sort of thing never seemed to affect the Cloak.

"I will take the leading edge with Zabini at my right," Minerva said. "The rest of you, form a wedge behind us, flaring outward. Ron, you, Harper, Caroline, and Gareth close the V behind Harry. Gareth, when we clear the steps, you and Twiskett break off and find Malfoy. Horace, you're behind me and to my left."

Blaise stood beside Minerva and looked over at her. She smiled. "Ready then? For Snape!"

"For Snape!" everyone echoed, even the young wizard beneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Minerva pointed her wand and the doors flew open. She immediately shielded against stray hexes and strode forward.

---

Gareth looked up as he stepped from the castle. Fuck. Dementors. Casting the Patronus would distract the Hogwarts defenders from the battle, leaving them open to the Death Eaters. Then he grinned. The Ravenclaw contingent had ceased attacking those on the ground...good thing, too, since it would now be harder to avoid hitting those on their own side...and they were now casting Patronuses, as were many of those on broomstick. The Dementors were being driven off, but Gareth saw with alarm one of the broomstick squad being chased along the perimeter of the battlefield. The dark-haired wizard seemed barely able to hold onto his broom, the effect of the Dementor was so great. Gareth raised his own wand to cast his Patronus, but then a Death Eater cast a curse at him, and Gareth's attention was pulled back to the battle on the ground.

Gareth was too late to cast any shield charm, and if he ducked, the curse would hit one of the two invisible wizards behind him. He steeled himself, ready for the unknown hex to hit and hoping it was something his Graphornhide tunic could deflect, or at least partially absorb, but it never struck. Twiskett's wandless house-elf magic repulsed the spell, sending it back on the Death Eater who had cast it, and the Death Eater fell to the ground, Stunned by his own spell. Gareth grinned. His smile quickly disappeared when he saw someone falling from the air. He cast an Arresto Momentum, slowing the fall, but the person landed too far away for Gareth to get to him. He also had his own assignment: find Lucius Malfoy.

Gareth had no hope that the wretch still lived, but it was Minerva's wish, and he knew that Malfoy had occasionally assisted Snape when he needed it. He'd find him and see if he was breathing, then get him to safety if he was.

"Come on, Twiskett, time to find Malfoy."

Twiskett tugged on his kilt, indicating the direction they should go. Gareth followed the little elf, casting the occasional Slicing Hex or Shield Charm, but not allowing himself to become engaged with any opponent. One Death Eater, however, turned from the Hufflepuff whom he had dropped with something nasty, and cast a strong Petrificus. Twiskett shielded Gareth as Gareth cast a Stunner. The slim Death Eater avoided the hex and cast another of his own. Gareth cast a quick Percido, and the punching hex caused the Death Eater to stumble backward.

Impatient, Gareth cast another punching hex as he reached down and pulled his sgian dubh from its sheath in his left sock. The small dagger was not meant for throwing, but Gareth had charmed his, and it would fly according to his will and then return to him, handle first. Gareth cast one more Percido as Twiskett shielded him again, and then he let his sgian dubh fly from his hand. The Death Eater looked down at his chest, shocked, but the short knife was already returning to its wizard. Gareth did not see the Death Eater first crumble to his knees and then collapse; he was already turned away, looking for Malfoy.

He kept his dagger ready in his left hand, not caring about the bright blood dripping from it. Wizards rarely expected anything that mundane and physical in a fight, and although he had only had the very rare opportunity to use it in a real fight, and never by throwing it, Gareth had practised with it during long, bored hours on the island over the last year. He was glad now that he had.

Twiskett tugged at the hem of his kilt again, and Gareth almost tripped over the body. Too foul and ragged to be anyone but Malfoy.

Trusting that Twiskett would shield him, Gareth knelt beside the corpse. This man had to be dead. Still, Gareth was gentle as he rolled the body toward him. There was no resistance, nothing that would indicate that this limp assemblage of bone and skin was alive. Gareth was only vaguely aware of someone casting a hex that Twiskett deflected. Gareth returned his sgian dubh to its sheath, and in a vain attempt to clean away some filth and reveal any remaining humanity, he wiped his hand over the man's livid face. There was no reaction. Gareth moved his hand down to the wizard's neck, fingers seeking the carotid artery and not finding it. He rested his ear against his chest, ignoring the stench of the body and the sounds of the battle around him. He sat up and shook his head. He thought he had heard a flutter of a heart.

Gareth paused a moment and focussed, then he cast a diagnostic spell, one he had seen many times but had never cast himself. He was surprised. This body had a pulse.

Gareth raised his wand and distractedly Petrified the Death Eater who had been duelling with Twiskett and a skinny girl with short brown hair. As the wizard tumbled several feet into the crack in the earth, Gareth turned to the house-elf.

"Time to get him to the infirmary. You take him. I'm afraid if we tried to Levitate him, it would kill him."

The solemn elf nodded and took Lucius's head between two long-fingered hands. As he and the moribund wizard vanished with a loud crack, Gareth wondered whether Snape's house-elf was mute or if he simply preferred not to speak.

Gareth stood and turned in a circle, searching for Minerva and Snape's Slytherins. Where were they? Now he saw. The Death Eaters had noted the odd formation of attacking students led by the Headmistress. It seemed they were surrounded, but they still moved steadily forward, bodies occasionally literally flung out of their way. Gareth fought his way toward them, reaching them his only goal. He had no compunction about striking a Death Eater in the back. He had no intention of engaging any of them in a duel. They were obstacles to be rid of. The Death Eaters themselves seemed to have no particular strategy other than to disable or kill the Hogwarts defenders.

An exhausted Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot looked at Gareth in relief and gratitude when the Death Eater they had been duelling tipped over, Petrified by Gareth, but Gareth did not see them; he simply moved on to the next target in his path, an ugly, squat Death Eater who had lost his hat and his mask and who had just Stupefied Terry Boot and was now duelling Anthony Goldstein. Noting abstractly that Flitwick must have sent at least some of the Ravenclaws down from the Towers, Gareth cast another Petrificus, but the Death Eater countered it. Goldstein cast a Slicing Hex as the ugly wizard cast a Stunner at Gareth. Gareth gritted his teeth, hoped for the best, and cast a Jelly Legs Jinx just before the hex struck him.

The Stunner knocked him backward, and Gareth landed hard, feeling the curse seeming to crawl over his body like a prickly wave of hot needles, most of it absorbed by the Graphornhide tunic. Gareth rolled quickly to one side, just avoiding another hex from a different direction. He cast a Massuelius at the attacking wizard's head, flinching and looking away as his opponent's skull exploded. Wiping blood and brain from his face with his shirt sleeve as he stood, Gareth discovered he was now just feet from young Malcolm Baddock, one of Snape's Slytherins and far too young to be on this or any battlefield. The boy was pale, but standing. At least three of the Slytherins had been lost in the few minutes since he had left them, but Twiskett had rejoined them and was repelling Death Eater spells. Slughorn was still there, battling Fenrir Greyback with Daphne, and Gareth could see Minerva and Blaise engaged with the Lestrange witch and Dolohov. The Weasley boy and one of the Slytherin girls were fighting off an older masked witch.

Blaise and Dolohov were closest. Gareth sent a cudgel hex at Dolohov, but the wizard moved and it scarcely missed hitting Blaise. The grass was slippery with blood, and Gareth almost tripped over someone's head in his attempt to get closer to Minerva and Blaise. He looked down. Someone's head. No body. He looked away, toward the living who were battling around him. A very tall, broad-shouldered wizard in Death Eater's robes turned from the student he had just killed, saw Gareth, and smiled cruelly as he raised his wand, no doubt anticipating another kill. But then Kevin Harper, the short, skinny, blue-eyed Slytherin who had let Twiskett hold on to him, stepped forward and shouted a Stupefy. The Death Eater flicked his wand as if at an annoying insect and blocked the Stunner. Gareth quickly cast a Percido, not a particularly powerful hex, but easily cast. The punching spell landed on the wizard's jaw, but he didn't seem to notice it. Gareth cast another one as he bent and pulled his Charmed dagger from its sheath.

The tall Death Eater cast a Petrificus as Gareth countered with a Protego. The other wizard raised his wand to cast again, and Gareth let his dagger fly. It stabbed the large man in the throat, right through his trachea. The sgian dubh flew back into Gareth's hand as he cast a Stupefy at the wizard, who crumpled to the earth, one hand on his throat, blood leaking through limp fingers.

Gareth was about to turn to assist Blaise with Dolohov when he saw him. Voldemort. The toe-rag, his aunt called him. Ugly as sin. Gareth let out an involuntary cry as he saw Voldemort curse a blond Hufflepuff before cutting down a middle-aged witch in Auror's robes with the Avada Kedavra. Pomona Sprout leapt forward and cast a nonverbal curse, but it seemed to simply bounce off of Voldemort and he ignored it.

Gareth rushed forward as Pomona cast again, this time sending out a streaking yellow spell toward the vile wizard. It struck, charring a hole in his robes. Voldemort turned toward her this time, a lipless snarl on his face. Gareth stood beside Pomona and cast a nonverbal Parlakkalkan, deflecting Voldemort's purple curse in an explosion of pale green shards of light.

But now Minerva was there, the steadfast black Slytherin still at her side, and Voldemort cared no more for the Hufflepuff Head of House and her curly-haired defender in a kilt.

"So, the Headmistress of Hogwarts is not suffering from nervous exhaustion any longer," he hissed, his voice unnaturally loud and echoing. The sounds of battle faded away as everyone, Death Eater and defender alike, stopped to hear Voldemort's words.

"You think you can challenge me?" he continued, his slitted eyes narrowing as he appraised Minerva's appearance. "I remember you as a girl. A prim, rule-bound little chit, always basking in others' light."

"No, Tom, you never knew me. I knew you, though, nasty, chicken-hearted little toe-rag that you were," Minerva replied.

Riddle seemed prepared for such a speech now, and he allowed himself a hissed laugh but did not lose control of his temper.

"Be a good witch, McGonagall. Turn yourself and the castle over to me and I will be merciful. I will give you new rules to follow. You should not find it too onerous. Don't let more of your little cubs die for nothing."

"Not for nothing, Tom, and not only cubs," Minerva declared.

Zabini stepped forward.

"Misguided little Slytherins, no doubt suffering from having such a pathetic Head of House for so many years. First the old charlatan's lapdog and then yours." Voldemort looked at Zabini. "Come to me and share the power of Slytherin. I will welcome and reward you."

"Like you rewarded Professor Snape? Or Mr Malfoy?" Blaise asked, continuing boldly, "We are the true Slytherins. We are Snape's Slytherins."

The other Slytherins behind him each took a step forward, and Gareth was impressed by their courage and the looks of determination on their faces. He wished that Snape were there to see them, to hear the pride with which they used his name.

"We fight for ourselves and for Professor Snape. We are Slytherin," Blaise declared unflinchingly.

Gareth could feel Voldemort's anger rolling off of him and a movement of his arm betrayed his intent to cast a curse.

"Patricide! Murderer! You're a petty thief, Riddle!" Gareth shouted, remembering Malfoy's earlier distraction. "Not even a wizard! Something half human! A pathetic, nasty, thieving..."

Gareth's taunts were cut off as Bellatrix cast a Crucio. Everything was pain. His vision was filled with the red of blood and fire. He could not even scream, only let out a harsh, rasping breath. Then it ended and he rolled over to look at the sky, a few brooms still in the air, circling above, a Hippogriff with them.

"Do not prolong this, McGonagall," Gareth heard Voldemort say, and he was confused for a moment until he realised the Dark Wizard was addressing his aunt. "You cannot win."

"Maybe she can't win alone, but she isn't alone," a strong, youthful voice said.

Gareth rose to his knees to see Harry shedding his Invisibility Cloak and stepping up beside Minerva.

"You! You are dead! I killed you!" Voldemort roared.

"Guess you aren't so strong, after all," Harry said cheekily. "Second time, too!"

Albus now appeared on Harry's other side.

"Hello, Tom. I'm afraid that I must add my objections to your requests," Albus said. "We simply cannot permit it, you see." Albus looked around him. "And you are out-numbered quite easily. You give up to us now, and you and your followers will be treated as prisoners in the custody of the British Ministry. No more need die this day."

"You aren't him. You can't be! I know that old fool is dead," Voldemort hissed.

"Oh, Tom, Tom," Albus chuckled. "You needn't have a Horcrux to defeat death, you know; you don't need to destroy your soul. Sometimes love and a little modern wizarding science is all you need. But then, you have to have someone who loves you and you have to be able to fully trust yourself to someone else, give yourself over, lose all control. You are incapable of that, I am afraid. I am indeed the wizard who met you all those years ago in that Muggle orphanage, the one who was your Transfiguration teacher, the Headmaster of Hogwarts who refused you a teaching position. I am the Albus Dumbledore who died. And I do beg the forgiveness of all those who mourned me aforetime, but as you see, I am now quite alive!"

Voldemort backed up slightly, coming even to where Gareth still knelt in the trampled, dark-stained grass. The Dark Wizard's breath was coming faster, and despite the twisted wizard's inhuman features, Gareth believed he saw fear on his face.

And now he felt fear clench his own heart. His mother! What the fuck was she doing there? Wilspy and Gluffy were supposed to keep her on the island!

Gertrude Gamp silently stepped up beside Zabini on the other side of Minerva.

"What is this? A convention of the dead?" Voldemort cried, seeing Gertrude. "Or was Snape a traitor even then?"

Gertrude did not answer. She simply stared at him with cold grey eyes, her wand held ready in her left hand.

"You never managed to entirely twist Severus Snape," Minerva said. "He never completely belonged to you, and you never could have held his loyalty. And these Slytherins with us are an example of the finest of that House, and you will not have them or any others!" Minerva's voice had grown louder and more angry as she spoke, and as she finished, her wand whipped through the air and a curse rocked the Dark Wizard, though it did not seem to harm him otherwise.

Voldemort bared his teeth and began to point his wand at Minerva, but Harry quickly stepped forward, casting an Expelliarmus, and in the same moment, Albus cast a nonverbal Stunner and Gareth let his sgian dubh fly. Although his wand remained firmly within his grasp and he did not fall, Voldemort's wand arm was jerked up and back, and he staggered as he defended against the force of the Stunner. The short dagger buried itself to the hilt in his right side, and the Dark Wizard let out a cry like the squeal of a pig. Gareth pushed to his feet as he caught his returning knife with his left hand. He had anticipated the onslaught of spells, and he had already raised a Protego as Pomona, Zabini, and Harper began to fight off angered Death Eaters on his behalf.

Gareth had expected Voldemort himself to turn to him and strike him dead for his daring, but the Dark Wizard now seemed to be engaged in a battle of pure intentional magic with Potter, perhaps something that had begun as Expelliarmus but was now something beyond any verbal spell. Albus and Minerva on either side of Harry had raised a shield in front of him and themselves, not even a Protego connex, but something stronger still, yet it did not disrupt the stream of magic that seemed to join Potter and the fraudulent lord.

Blood oozed from Riddle's side, and Gareth thought he detected some weakening of this Heir of Slytherin. Potter merely looked determined, focussed only on his opponent. There was no anger, fear, or joy in his face, merely an ageless concentration. Finally, there was a burst of golden light, and the connection between the two wizards was broken and Riddle stumbled back.

"You have something of mine, Tom Riddle," Harry said, his voice hard and even. "You have something of mine; you took it and I want it back. I returned what was yours and you destroyed it, and now you will return what was mine!" Harry slashed his wand through the air, his gaze fixed unblinking on the near-reptilian creature before him.

"Mine!" Harry shouted again, and Gareth saw now that the blood running from Riddle's chest was no longer trickling down his side, but was flowing faster and beginning to gather and course toward Harry, seeming to be drawn toward his wand.

"No!" Voldemort screamed, but his flesh seemed to shrink as his blood flowed from him.

The stream of blood hit Albus and Minerva's shield, and as it did, it dissipated in a shower of gentle white light and shards of gleaming obsidian black, then simply vanished in the early morning light. Riddle stepped back, terror on his face, and Gertrude Gamp raised her one arm and cast an Expelliarmus. The Dark Wizard's wand was almost tugged from his grasp this time, and he fell backward, but he struggled to his knees and made one more effort to attack, to defend, to live, and he raised his wand against Minerva, intent on breaking the shield that was destroying him while it protected Potter. Whether he had not enough energy to cast an Avada Kedavra or he was simply preserving what energy remained him, Riddle cast the Crucio, a spell that was as easy for him as an Accio for any other witch or wizard.

The shield that Albus and Minerva had raised in front of Harry didn't protect only him, though, and the Crucio scattered in a burst of muddy yellow light. Gareth could see rivulets of sweat on Minerva's face, and Harry was breathing hard even as he repeated, mine, to me, mine, to me, and the young wizard's arm was trembling.

Gareth stood and threw his knife again, but it was turned from its path by a spell from Bella, who had been struggling to reach her master. She was being held at bay by Slughorn, Pomona, and two of Snape's Slytherins, the Parkinson girl and Harper. Other nearby Death Eaters were in similar conflicts with a motley assortment of Ministry Aurors, Hogwarts teachers, and students, some of whom looked much too young to be on the battlefield. Gareth was unsurprised to see that some Death Eaters, however, were beginning to edge away, preparing to flee.

Gareth jabbed his wand at Voldemort, casting a powerful Frangere, hoping it would weaken him more. The Dark Wizard fell over, then he made one last effort, attempting to Disapparate, but Minerva had raised the Anti-Apparition wards again, and nothing happened.

"You are trapped, Tom," Albus said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "You can go nowhere now but into the arms of death. Try to find some remorse in your soul, look for mercy!"

Voldemort, now barely a shell, collapsed completely, dying eyes turned toward Albus. Gareth thought he saw the Dark Wizard's mouth form the word, "never," and then the flow of blood became a trickle, his eyes went completely blank, and a peculiar sighing breath wheezed from his throat.

Harry began to lower his wand, but Albus stopped him, saying, "All of it, Harry."

Gareth was unable to continue watching to see the last drop drained from the body. Bella had managed to defeat three of her attackers, though he could not tell whether they were dead or not, and Pomona was now duelling her alone. He sprang into the breach to stand beside the Herbology teacher.

Bella was crazed, and Gareth ducked a hex, but he felt it grazing his cheek, opening it up, a sharp, burning pain. There was a wordless shout from behind him, and Longbottom was casting a Massuelius at Bella. It barely missed hitting Gareth on its way to its target, but it hit Bella's right arm, shattering her bones and causing her to drop her wand.

Longbottom was now beside Gareth, raising his wand again.

"Exen..."

Gareth pushed Neville's arm down. "No! Bind her." Gareth turned and saw the fury of battle in the young wizard's face. "Bind her!"

Neville turned back toward Bella, but Pomona had already Stunned her and was binding the unconscious witch with some kind of vines that were issuing from her wand.

"She deserves to suffer! She deserves to die!" Neville shouted.

Gareth looked into his eyes. "Perhaps. But you deserve better than to kill her as she lies helpless."

"She destroyed my parents!"

"Do not let her control you." Gareth gestured broadly. "Go. There are more of them out there!"

Gareth didn't wait for the young wizard's reaction, but turned and sought another target, another Death Eater who was still a threat. He found his target and cast a Stupefy, freeing two more of Dumbledore's Army to fight others.

Albus had been right: the Death Eaters were now far outnumbered, and their ability to flee, constricted. If only his father were here to see their triumph. Gareth wiped at the blood oozing from his cheek. He understood Neville's fury only too well. Too many were dead, lost, or forever wounded. With a roar, he raised his wand above his head and the driving wail of bagpipes and thunder of drums followed him as he leapt over the fissure and chased down two Death Eaters who were fleeing in the direction of the Quidditch stadium, hoping, no doubt, to scale the wall beyond and escape. They did not make it far, and they fell with fear in their eyes. Gareth cast ropes to hold them if they woke, though his Stunners were unlikely to wear off soon.

The remaining Death Eaters were fighting with increasing desperation, but trying now more to make their escape than to kill even in revenge. They could not flee into the Forbidden Forest without encountering Grawp, Hagrid, and the centaurs. Villagers and Aurors had arrived from Hogsmeade and were defending the gates, cutting off escape from that route. And now appeared a dragon in the air, two figures mounted on it, circling the perimeter of the battlefield, spitting fire and terrifying those below. One of the figures, a short witch, cast hexes from the peculiar mount, Stunning those who were attempting to flee...whether by running past the Quidditch stadium to the high wall at the edge of the grounds, or towards the Forest, willing to risk the centaurs' wrath in their desperation to escape...as the other rider, a red-haired wizard, probably a Weasley, attempted to control the flight of the untame beast.

Gareth turned and cast a powerful Dolo at a rabbity-looking Death Eater, knocking him over with a strong blow, but then he saw with alarm that some Death Eaters were running in the direction of the castle, perhaps hoping to find a tunnel that would lead them to freedom or to hostages whom they could hold and use to bargain for the same.

They could not be allowed entry to the castle, Gareth knew that. The vigorous piping still following him and feeding his energy, he hurtled back over the crevice and ran after them. More concerned with conserving energy and making it back to the castle than in disabling anyone, he cast only light hexes as he went, tripping jinxes and punching and cudgelling spells. He was right: there was now a small huddle of Death Eaters attempting to get up the stairs to the great oak doors.

Filius Flitwick, his size no indication of his magical gifts, was battling two of them at once. A handful of Ravenclaws stood with him, but the Death Eaters were both ruthless and desperate, and Gareth felt a scream of anguish in his heart as one of them cast a powerful slicing hex, felling one of the witches, a large bloody wound opened across her abdomen. Gareth's anger, stronger than ever, fuelled his Massuellius, which hit the responsible Death Eater square in the back. The Death Eater's arms flew up as he dropped his wand and fell forward. Gareth did not care whether the wizard was dead or alive as long as he was down and unable to hurt anyone else; Gareth cast again, this spell aimed at one of the Death Eaters duelling Flitwick. His Petrificus Totalus hit its target and the wizard tipped over.

Gareth grinned in triumph as another of his spells Stunned a Death Eater who had been duelling one of the Patil sisters. He winked at her before she turned to help Lisa Turpin. Alroy had come up from the other direction and joined him in obstructing the Death Eaters' access to the castle. The redheaded Gryffindor cast a Stunner at a wizard who had just managed to blast a small hole in one of the oak doors, but his Stupefy missed, and the unmasked Death Eater turned on him. It was one of the Lestranges, madness in his eyes, and he looked for the wizard who had attacked him.

Gareth heard others running up behind him; he whirled to confront them, but it was Albus, Minerva, and his mother, come to defend the castle against those last desperate Death Eaters. He turned to help Alroy battle Lestrange. His hand was shaking from fatigue, but he would fight until he fell or until every Death Eater was captured or dead.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gareth saw Rookwood casting a curse at Alroy's back as the latter still duelled Lestrange. Then time slowed as Gareth shouted, raising his wand, but too late to do anything but watch as his mother leapt in front of the curse meant for Alroy. She landed hard as Alroy turned and saw her fall. Rage in his eyes, MacAirt flung a Massuelius at Rookwood before the Death Eater knew what was happening. The curse hit him in the centre of his chest. His eyes widened, then he fell backward, dead before he hit the ground.

The pipes and drums ceased as Gareth dashed to his mother's side and fell to his knees beside her. His breath was fire in his throat as he reached to touch her. Just a few strides, and Alroy was there with him.

"What was it? What hit her?" Gareth asked.

Alroy shook his head. He didn't know. His fingers found a weak pulse. "She lives. I will get her to the infirmary."

Gareth looked toward the front doors. There were still several desperate Death Eaters fighting to reach them. "You'll have to get to another entrance, but I think they're all sealed. Do you have access?"

"I can do better," Alroy said.

With a shimmer and a pop, an Aethonan stood and pawed the ground impatiently. Gareth lifted his mother onto Alroy's back, then leapt up behind her to hold her securely. Alroy spread his wings and took to the air. Gareth hoped that any Death Eaters still fighting were too busy trying to save their skins to worry about cursing a flying horse.

Alroy reached the infirmary windows, and Gareth tried opening them, but his spells were ineffective. Finally, he cast several blasting hexes, which simply bounced off but made a lot of noise. Poppy appeared in the window, her wand raised threateningly; when she saw who it was, she grimaced and shook her head. Obviously, she couldn't open the windows, either. Poppy gestured with her wand, and Gareth nodded.

He leaned forward and said, "To the Astronomy Tower, Alroy."

There were already two house-elves, clad in bright blue tea-towels, there waiting for them when Alroy set down. Gareth watched them Disapparate with his mother, and was torn, but he remounted Alroy, who nodded and gave him a ride back down to the front of the castle.

He slid from Alroy's back and looked around him. There were only a few Death Eaters still fighting out on the lawn, and the grounds seemed littered with dead and wounded. There were several house-elves appearing among them and transporting them to the infirmary. Aurors and members of Dumbledore's Army were now binding the remaining, uninjured Death Eaters and moving them all to a spot closer to the castle. A small group of centaurs was marching several bedraggled-looking Death Eaters toward the castle, and Nick was diving amongst the bodies on the ground to find the wounded and direct the house-elves to them. Binns was nowhere to be seen, but Peeves was flying beside the tail of the dragon, having the time of his life.

Not far from the front steps, Albus was duelling with a Death Eater...an ugly, squat wizard who had lost his mask...but it was a short duel, and the other wizard was quickly disarmed then Stunned. Albus turned toward where Flitwick, Minerva, and a few others were still defending the front doors, and Gareth took a few steps forward to join him. Too late, he was aware that someone behind him was casting a spell. He made a move to turn, but the curse hit before he could. The last thing he saw as his body flew forward was a large chunk of masonry, part of a gargoyle, perhaps, falling from the castle and striking Minerva in the head. Then pain engulfed him, followed by blackness and peace.

---

Note: I forgot to mention in my notes at the end of the last chapter that the "mated wands" first appear in Resolving a Misunderstanding. If you've read RaM and want to refresh your memories, they are explained in "A Tale of Two Wands" and "Ever Green." The outlandish stories about them are in the chapter "Mates."

You may have noticed that the Muggle Studies teacher isn't the one from DH. That's because I cannot read her name without seeing in my mind the single disturbing scene she has. In the DD world, she is off raising prize roses and degnoming her gardens. ;-)

I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!