Companions of the White Warlock

Smoke Year VII - Companions of the White Warlock Chapter XXVIII Voldemort

Voldemort shrieked as Harry's positive feeling, carried by his power, surged through his blood, the blood he had stolen from the then-young teen.

These feelings were suddenly replaced by other feelings which Voldemort could not at first identify, for while they were not as painful as the love and affection Harry had assaulted him with, they were still immensely painful.

Then some hidden spark deep inside what was left of his soul identified them as righteousness and the desire for justice. Almost as annoying, there was now some damn tune pounding in his mind.

At that point, the entire castle shook, and it only took the feeling of triumph coming through the link to inform Voldemort that now was not a good time to challenge Harry Potter. Perhaps one-on-one he could destroy this pest, but his own allies had gone from yelling orders and trying to organize a defense to screaming in panic.

Voldemort apparated to his inner chambers. "Nagini!" he called out, "Come! We must leave!"

There was no answer. Voldemort frowned, where could his snake have gone? Then he remembered feeding it a new-born Companion which had not measured up to their standards.

Voldemort knew he needed to leave. He also knew he had to try and take the snake, off asleep and digesting the large meal, with him.

Hermione

Only two of the attack squads kept moving immediately after Harry had blasted down a quarter of the front of the north castle. This was because Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom had been the least surprised people in the assault teams. It wasn't that they hadn't been surprised, just that they were used to Harry doing stupendous things.

Under Hermione's orders, the two squads of six each advanced, casting hexes at the castle's defenders who had not been buried by the rubble. Hermione wanted very much to keep an eye on Harry, who was standing still, with an amazed and, well, amused looked on his face, but not all the defenders were retreating in a panic, although most were. She knew that they had to keep the pressure on, or else the defenders might regroup somewhere inside the castle.

Seeing the twelve attackers move forward, the other groups finally jerked into motion as well.

Harry

'Wow,' Harry thought, 'that went a lot better than I thought it could have.' Movement off to his left saw him that Hermione was pushing two of the squads onto the attack. Harry's eyes flicked upwards, and he could just make out Ginny's group tossing the various attack balls down at the interior courtyards of the castle.

Harry searched his mind, but he could not detect Riddle hiding there anywhere. "I guess we do this the hard way," Harry muttered. He looked around, and saw the other groups were moving as well. With that, Harry joined in the attack, sending stunners that cut through most of the shields they encountered. The other shields may have held, but the casters were shaken enough that they usually backed off at least a few steps, and they were certainly distracted enough to slow down their attacks on the squads moving towards them.

Harry risked another glance around. He could just see the earliest glimmers of dawn. Full light was likely at least twenty more minutes away, and that would put the defenders on an equal basis. With that, Harry shot off six more stunners, taking out three defenders, knocking two back, and just missing a sixth.

Every once in a while, one of the defenders sent off the Killing Curse. Harry had taught a number of people the physical metal shield which Dumbledore had used in the atrium of the Ministry. Anyone who could materialize such a shield was able to defend both themself and anyone near them, as long as the caster's power was not significantly greater than the shielder's. Since it took a fair amount of power to create such a shield, Harry was hoping that only Voldemort's Killing Curse should have much of a chance of crashing through anyone's shield.

Harry's stunners pushed the defenders back into the castle.

Draco

"Disturbing, aren't they?" Lucius asked, looking out over the hundreds of Inferi he had gathered using Voldemort's words of power. He would be controlling nearly half of the Inferi and launching the main attack. The Companion of Walpurgis would be controlling just over half, and would be launching the actual first attack. That should draw out the teachers and any other defenders and allow for Lucius' attack on the castle itself.

Draco would be controlling all of the remaining dead. His force would be coming out the Forest and driving in between the other two forces after Lucius' attack started. "They are only dead Muggles," Draco managed to say in a firm voice. They are tools, just as they should have been when fully alive."

"Very true," Lucius said. "You are ready? We need to be in position near the wards before light."

"I am, Father," Draco said.

"I am ready, Malfoy," the Companion answered as well.

"Then let's get in position."

Draco moved out, commanding the bodies to follow, trying not to look back. Those blank eyes . . . Draco allowed himself a slight shiver.

Voldemort

Voldemort frowned, having checked yet another possible hiding place and come up empty. He knew a lot about snakes, and also knew that there were dozens of places Nagini might have gone to sleep off her last meal. He was nowhere near being in a panic, but he knew he could not stay much longer -- it had been over an hour since the front of the castle had fallen. Soon, he would have to hope that Nagini would stay hidden should the castle fall. She could, given the Horcrux she had swallowed, survive in a hibernation for many years once she awakened from her meal and realize he was gone.

It was a risk Voldemort would prefer not to take, but he could.

Hearing the sounds of battle, Voldemort looked out into one of the inner courtyards. In the last forty-five minutes, the attackers had made their way well into the castle proper. He was very displeased to see that the attackers were able to conjure metal shields which protected them from the Killing Curse.

'Or do they just protect them from these Knights' Killing Curses?' Voldemort wondered. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" His Killing Curse struck one of the metal shields, which exploded. The Curse went on to kill the witch who had been generating it, and the exploding shield injured five of the attackers around her.

Voldemort took careful aim. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Careful aim again. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" And again. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" He could not spend the time to take out many of the attackers, but this should delay the takeover of the castle. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Then he caught a flash of bushy brown hair. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Voldemort turned to sweep into the next possible hiding place, calling for his snake. An angry scream he recognized drew his attention back, and he saw the Boy.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry

Harry was running through the upper rooms in the front of the castle, looking for any clue where Voldemort might be. Suddenly, "Hermione is down!" cried Marcia through the link to Harry. "I do not know if she is dead or unconscious."

Harry instantly apparated to where the link directed him, and he appeared astride over Hermione's body. Harry saw she was down, but bleeding badly. She was injured but not yet dead -- her shield had shattered but kept her alive. He screamed in frustration but looked up, knowing he had to raise his shield to protect himself and Hermione and the other injured attackers.

He saw Voldemort on a balcony above them, already with his wand in motion. Harry conjured his metal shield, but imagined it highly polished.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry's shield rang from the impact, but it held. A crushing sound above indicated that his mirrored metal shield had indeed reflected the Killing Curse. "Keep those hexes going and get these wounded out of here!" Harry commanded. He dropped his shield and apparated up on the balcony.

Voldemort was already gone. Harry apparated to the opposite side, so that Voldemort could not easily get the drop on him, and quickly picked off six of the defenders below. The remaining defenders in the courtyard quickly withdrew.

Harry sighed. He apparated back to the courtyard, gathered Hermione and nine others together, and transported them and himself to the aid station. In less than twenty seconds, he was back on the balcony, beginning the hunt again.

Neville

Neville had been working out hard since the previous July. He had trained far past anything he had thought possible for himself. As Harry commanded the attackers to go back on the offensive, though, Neville thought his heart and chest were going to burst from exertion.

The fact that he had no certain idea if Hermione was alive or dead did not help. The fact that a little piece of his brain wanted so much to know how Ginny was did not help.

The fact that he was scared, but still fighting, did not help, either.

Neville decided that none of that mattered at the moment.

Neville stood up wearily and took a deep breath. "We're only a third of the way through this place," he managed to say in a strong voice. "We've had enough of a break. Let's take 'em out!"

"We're right behind you!" a voice called out. And with that, the left flank of the attack carried on.

Harry

Harry and Voldemort suddenly appeared in the same room, some twenty yards apart from each other. Harry's scar again burst into horrendous pain. Voldemort smiled and raised his wand. His blood was also radiating pain into his body, but he was just managing to work his way through it.

Suddenly, 27 phoenixes appeared above Harry, singing. Voldemort collapsed, and an emergency portkey whisked him away.

"Is he gone from the valley?" Harry managed to ask.

Fawkes considered this, and quickly trilled what Harry felt was an affirmative.

"Can you bring me anywhere near him?"

This took longer, as the entire flock seemed to consider the question. This time, however, the answer was a negative. The flock watched Harry consider this.

Harry simply said, "Then ending this will have to wait. I need to help the others still fighting. Thank you all for your help."

This was the correct response, and the flock trilled a question, which Harry interpreted as 'What next?'

"If you could help those you believe deserve help, we would all be grateful," Harry answered.

Again, the correct response, as he had asked, and not ordered, and had not even asked for special treatment for his side, let alone for Hermione, although the flock knew Harry wanted to ask for both. Still, he was deferring to their judgement.

The flock sang a joyful chord, and then 26 of the phoenixes disappeared. Harry knew they were off to help the injured. Fawkes then sang a short snatch of song before disappearing as well, and Harry knew he was off to see to Hermione.

Harry went off to continue the battle.

Voldemort

Voldemort arrived at his most secret lair. It was in the Pyrenees, an area no one associated with him, or with Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort cursed the darkness of his lair, but finally stumbled over a chair. He was too tired to do more. He sat down and tried to think.

It was very probable that he was down to just two Horcurxes. How could that be possible? Could he possibly create four more, so that he would have the magic seven pieces, or could he split his essence into a too small segment? In all his research, most of the references claimed only one Horcrux was possible, while others suggested up to six could be created. He had created five. Two more might be possible for such a wizard as himself. . . .

'Not yet, though,' he thought. The problem needed more study and the Knights and Companions may or may not lose the battle that day, but even if it were lost they should quickly regain their Valley. Hopefully, Nagini would stay safely hidden until he could return and summon her, which should work once her meal was digested and she entered into her magical hibernation.

Was the Hufflepuff Horcrux safe, though? That dratted Boy and his advisors had been through the outside entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, discovering things even he had not found. Could they have discovered the Cup?

Could they have laid a trap for him, over the magic of Salazar Slytherin himself?

"Unlikely," he muttered. He made a decision, knowing that the Hogwarts people be busy soon enough. Until then, he should rest.

Draco

Draco moved behind a tree for the third time since that morning. He was not certain why he was shy around the Inferi. There was really no reason to be modest around dead bodies. Draco finished urinating, buttoned up his trousers and walked around his 'troops' yet again. Some of the Inferi looked human only in that they had a general appearance of the humanoid. Others looked freshly dead.

'No,' he thought, 'there's no reason to be modest with these.' He ordered six of the Inferi, who had once been young women and older children, to strip. Draco undid his buttons again.

Tonks

The battle though the north castle had lasted over five hours. The defenders had, seemingly, been driven out. Only 5% of the attackers had been killed, most of them Voldemort's remaining supporters. Over half of the remaining attackers had been injured, with various degrees of seriousness. Unfortunately, most of those were already recovered at least to the point where they could defend themselves and they were lurking near the castle.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked Tonks.

She looked up, exhausted. "What do you mean?"

"We have to secure this castle, and that could take days," Remus said, limping over. "The battle is still raging in the southern castle, although we seem to be winning, and then there's the rest of the valley to take. Then, of course, we have to hold it."

"You don't think we thought of those things?" Tonks asked. "We'll have five hundred new people in here from the other European, Central Asian, and North African Ministries once the valley is secure, plus the North Americans are sending in fifty people to work with the Muggles, and the Romanians have two dozen to take command of that. Most of the North Americans who were in on the attack will stay for three months as well. I want to leave you and Hermione here in charge of the castle and take twenty-eight of the best-rested fighters and the flyers with me to the south castle."

"Hermione's recovered?"

"She's certainly well enough to cover this," Tonks answered.

Harry thought about the rest of what Tonks had said. "So you and twenty-eight others? That's an odd number," Harry said.

"I was talking to Remus then. I'm hoping you and your ensemble will be coming along," Tonks said drily.

Harry whistled a question, and the flock of phoenixes appeared. "I know that you all know what we're asking," Harry told them. "Will you come with us and help?"

The phoenixes looked at each other, and began a complicated conversation of twitters, coos, and other noises, accompanying various head and neck movements. Finally Fawkes trilled out something to Harry, and pecked at Harry's small supply bag with his beak.

"I think he means we should eat and drink a bit before going, and they'll come with us." Fawkes made an affirmitive noise.

"Twenty-five minutes," Tonks said.

"I'll pass the word," Remus told her.

Lucius

Lucius looked at his time piece. It was time, if the Companion followed orders.

A few seconds later, Lucius heard a slight noise coming from the directions of Hogwarts.

Ron

Ron, Luna, and the ghost of John Russell hurried into the Headmistresses office. "What's that alarm?" Ron asked.

"There are Inferi at the ward boundaries," McGonagall answered. "I will order the lockdown starting five minutes. All students not involved will meet in the library. Miss Lovegood, you are in charge of them." Luna nodded.

"Some of the students and staff will be prepared to help you defend the students, should things go badly."

"They shan't, but it is good to be prepared," Luna answered.

"John, you will rally the ghosts to patrol the corridors?"

"I'm ready as soon as you give the word," Russell replied.

"Mister Weasley, put out the call to the flyers."

"Yes, Professor," Ron agreed. He had never thought he would fly in anything like combat again. He hoped his adrenalin would overcome his physical limitations for however long was needed.

"Professors Flitwick, Sinistra, Vector and I will be with the other Proctors in the entrance hall. The security squad will be outside." Her eyes flicked over the group. "Shall we do our duty?"

The group nodded.

"Then let us go."

Ron looked over the eight other flyers on the roof of the great hall. "You each have the rocket cylinder loaded with eleven of the anti-Inferi missiles and one of the anti-personnel ones?" They all nodded.

One Fifth year Hufflepuff asked, "Why the one anti-personnel one?"

"Someone has to be controlling the things," Ron replied, "probably more than one. With that in mind, take two sacks of the black spheres." Each flyer nodded. None of the others would be effective against the Inferi.

"Remember," Ron said, "some of the Inferi will look pretty human. Even if it was just made from some newly killed person, there is no way to put the soul back. It's just a blank, mindless piece of meat, operating on instructions. They can't be reasoned with, they can only be destroyed, burnt, or disenchanted. The anti-Inferi missiles will splash a mist of the disenchanting potion. If you run out of missiles and spheres, you have to hit them with a fire spell. It's a slow, disgusting thing to have to do, but no one under Third year would have any chance of defending themselves, and who knows how well the students who haven't had DA training would do?"

"Hufflepuffs are well-prepared to do the dirty jobs," a Hufflepuff stated.

"And we have the know-how," said a Ravenclaw.

"And we're always ready for a fight," said a Gryffindor.

"And I am not going to be left behind," said the sole Slytherin. He was going to be certain this day figured high on his resume.

"Then let's go," Ron said. He stiffly mounted his broom. "Joe? You, Frank, and I will head towards the known location. You three circle to the left, you three to the right. It's more important to guard those areas than it is to help us. They can't just be attacking on one flank. If there are Death Eaters or large numbers of other wizards, retreat back here and recharge the cylinders. Does everyone understand?"

The eight students nodded.

"Then let's go."