RELATIONS

Chapter XV

Saturday, December 7, 1996

The day of the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw Quidditch game dawned drizzly and chilly. By game-time, however, the rain had stopped, although it was still gray and cloudy. Harry attended the game with Luna, and Ron, Neville, and Ginny came along as well.

The game was closely matched, and the snitch was being elusive. Colin Creevy was having a difficult time announcing, as all the chasers were losing the quaffle fairly often to the aggressive play of the other team.

Shortly before the first hour passed, Cho brought her broom to a sudden halt, and dove for Madam Hooch, screaming for a time-out. After a brief exchange, Hooch rose on her broom to above stadium level, gave a squawk of surprise, and headed toward the teachers' stands, where Harry, and most of the other students, noticed the faculty present were not paying attention to Hooch -- they were talking to two elves, who presently disappeared.

After a brief conference with the faculty, Hooch started gathering the players near the center of the playing field, and McGonagall went to stand under them. Edward waited a moment, then performed the spell needed to make his voice carry over the stadium.

"Attention! Attention! Quiet down!" There was an urgency in his voice that actually made the crowd, even the rowdier or more panicked students, quiet down. "Everyone sit down!" Amazingly, every one did. "The castle is under attack by forces from the far end of the Forbidden Forest. All faculty report to the castle end of the enclosure, except Madam Hooch, Professor Sprout, and Professor Hagrid. Professors Snape and Lupin, split the faculty. Lupin, you lead the main force to face the invaders heading towards the main entrance, Snape will circle around into the back with the other half. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Quidditch players, meet at center field. Potter, Weasleys, Lovegood, Longbottom, Prefects and Head Boy, meet me there, too. All other students and visitors, stay in place!"

In little more than three minutes, Edward was barking orders at the center of the pitch. "Hagrid and Sprout, you're guarding the castle side of the enclosure. You," he pointed to the head boy, "and Zabini, split the fourth through seventh years who have their wands into three groups. And if they don't have wands, see if they can borrow them from First or Second Years. McCloud, take half the other prefects, you'll take your third out to Professor Sprout; Zabini, your third will look to defend the forest end from the inside; you other prefects, your third stays here and defends the youngsters. Professor McGonagall is in over-all command, Longbottom, you're her chief aide. If there are adult visitors you know and trust, send them out to Sprout; if you don't, Zabini, watch 'em. Go!"

He turned to that day's Quidditch players. "You lot, who has their wands?" Cho was the only player with her wand. "Right. You four, off your brooms." The five youngest players were dispossessed. "The rest of you, borrow wands from first years. Madam Hooch, use them to cover the area around the stadium. Report anything suspicious to McGonagall or Hagrid; he's tall enough to tell without getting too near the ground. Take off!"

That left Edward with McGonagall, Harry, Luna, and the two Weasleys. "Voldemort is attacking with what appear to be the zombies and other supporters. Snape has some potions that might stop them if they're regular zombies, but if they're the soulless kind we will have to blast them. Reducto, got it?"

All four students nodded.

McGonagall now turned to the students. "We also just got a report from Professor Dumbledore, via those elves, that there are Dementors coming through the Forest heading this way. They should appear in about fifteen minutes to twenty-five. Unless Dumbledore instructs them otherwise, the elves will gather the students in the castle in the great hall. There should be enough senior students to defend them there, while we take on the Dementors here."

"The Death Eaters, not to mention the zombies, shouldn't be able to get into the castle!" Sprout protested.

"It's not locked down," Edward reminded her.

"What does that mean?" Ron asked.

"It means anyone inside can let them in," Luna said simply.

"Malfoy!" Ron snared.

"Or someone like him," Harry agreed. "What are we going to do?"

Edward smiled. "We're going up to Gryffindor Tower and getting your guns and all the shells we can carry, plus some of your spare wands. Ginny, you'll get Hermione's for Luna. We'll defend from the inside. Make certain you don't hex, or especially shoot! any of the faculty or students. Okay?"

They nodded and all got on their borrowed brooms. "Let's go."

They kicked off and headed straight to the Tower, flying high. Harry and Ron thought that Hermione would have hated flying this high -- in fact, none of the four had flown this high on broomsticks until the past summer, in the protection of Potter Place. They could see the firefight starting near the great front doors of the castle -- the invaders were already nearly in the Castle and Remus' group would have to fight its way past them. They could also see the other group of faculty just entering the back entrances of the castle, while the Death Eaters and zombies had also just arrived.

Harry opened his dorm window, and all five flew in. Edward barked out orders. "Ginny, get your and Hermione's guns. Luna, go with her. Harry, bring me that case you're storing for me." Ron was already digging his equipment out and Harry was moving towards his locked trunk. "I'll be down in the common room seeing if anyone is near the entrance."

All four had stripped off their regular robes as soon as they landed -- none had their robes with the extra pockets. All but Luna were wearing the Muggle jeans and jumpers they'd had underneath; Luna was wearing sweats in Ravenclaw colors. The teens entered the Common room wearing the special belts, with holster, shells, and wand-holsters. They each had loose robes (again, Luna had Hermione's), with shells and extra wands tucked away.

"The House has been cleared, so we'll hope they're in the great hall. You know what the main purpose of this attack is, right?"

"To get Dumbledore," Harry answered.

"He-Who, err, Voldemort's here?" Ron demanded.

"I'm pretty sure," Harry said, touching his scar. "It's faint, but he's here."

Edward pulled out the pump-action shotgun from the bag Harry had handed him. "Right. This might be a serious attack on Dumbledore, or just an attack to prove he can get in, or an attack to get Dumbledore and Harry both. Either way, be careful -- don't hand the bastard any bonuses. Ginny and I will go check on the students in the great hall. You three go via the entrance to the dungeons. Be careful not to blast any of the faculty. Any questions?"

"No, but I'm fairly sure I recognized one of the attackers -- I think it was Barty Crouch Junior."

Edward looked at Harry. "You're sure?"

Harry nodded. Edward did some quick thinking. "Alright, that means a soulless zombie -- the worst kind, just like we feared. The head must be destroyed -- remember, reducto to the head or blast it off, just as we practiced! Change of plan. Ginny, you go with the others. If you don't meet up with anyone by the last entrance to the dungeons, you and Luna go down and let them know we were all right -- no reason to mess about with potions against that type of monster, in case they haven't figured it out already. Have them come to the great hall as well if they can. Let's go."

Edward split off on the main staircase. Four minutes later, the teens were passing the first entrances to the dungeons, so they stopped to listen. There were feint sounds of fighting coming up the stairs. They kept moving.

They came to the last entrance, and there they found their first body. It was Filch. "Is he dead?" Ginny asked.

"Heavily stunned," Harry said. He hit Filch with a slight restorative spell. "That should keep him alive." He kissed Luna lightly on the cheek. "Good luck."

"To you, too," Luna said.

Ginny looked at Ron. "Both of you be careful."

"We will," Ron said. Ginny and Luna ran softly down the stairs. Ron and Harry both set their jaws and went on towards Dumbledore's office.

As they made their next left turn, a hex exploded down the corridor, just missing Ron's shoulder. He rolled across the corridor down the side-hall.

"Did you see what it was?" Harry breathed.

"No."

"Reducto!" came a voice and then an inhuman scream. "Weasley, Potter, come out here," the stern voice commanded.

Harry peeked around the corner. There was a smoldering body and an angry-looking tall thin figure. "Professor Trelawney?"

"Yes. I presume you know we are under attack?"

Harry stepped around the corner, Ron still covering him. "Yes; Voldemort might be trying to get Professor Dumbledore."

She winced a little at the name, but carried on. "Then we shall do our best to try and stop him." She turned and started to stride away, very different than her usual glide-step. "Don't be idiots, boys. There are times when one must shake off the habits of one's normal life and defend the Light. Stay behind me, but hurry!"

They swallowed their surprise and followed.

"I hope I am right in presuming that was some form of zombie I was forced to destroy."

"Voldemort. . . ."

"Dark Lord, please, Mister Potter."

Harry and Ron both rolled their eyes. "Right; at least some of the attackers are zombies made out of people Kissed by Dementors," Harry answered, "while many of the Dementors are attacking the Quidditch field."

Trelawney shuddered. "Disgusting! That evil boy!"

"Professor?"

"Yes, Mister Potter?"

"What year did you graduate from Hogwarts?"

She halted, her eyes taking on that distant stare they had been used to from class. "Yes, I was in Slytherin, class of Forty-six. I knew Tom Riddle, and liked him until the year after the death of my friend Myrtle. Inter-house friendships were more common back then, even for us Slytherins. I knew Hagrid was innocent, and some of us wondered about Tom. He was too obviously interested in Grindelwald his last two years. Now, enough ancient history. Go around that way, Potter, it's longer but less likely to have these creatures in it. Weasley, come along and keep that wand up! I trust you both know how to handle that other weapon!"

Harry moved swiftly through the corridors, meeting no one. In a few moments, however, he heard the sound of a duel. Harry drew the sawed-off shotgun with his left hand. The hardest thing to learn the previous weeks was shooting with his left hand, but that kept his wand in his right.

"You cannot defeat me any more than I can destroy you, Tom."

Harry put his wand away and pulled out his best reserve wand. "Don't call me that, Old Man! Tom is gone, in every way. Only the will of Voldemort lives!"

More spells were cast, ending with what sounded like nearly-deadly stunning spells. Harry heard two bodies hit the floor. He spun around the final corner, and saw them, lying there. He raised the sawed-off shotgun, his arm steady. Harry wondered what the slugs might do to Voldemort.

Voldemort started to get to his knees. "Stop right there, Riddle."

The Dark Lord stopped rising, but turned his shoulders to look. "Potter! With a Muggle pop gun! Do you think something like that could stop me?" He started to stand again, and without hesitation, Harry fired.

A normal bullet would have been deflected by the partial shield Voldemort was able to throw around him. Had the charmed shot hit the Voldemort's shield in the front, it also would have been deflected. As it was, the charmed hollow-point slug tore into Voldemort's right shoulder and exploded, and He screamed in agony. Harry shot Him again, but because of the writhing, the slug hit Voldemort square in the left leg, which smashed the bone and blew a third of the flesh away as well.

Before Harry could load another set of shells, Voldemort disappeared. He apparently had been carrying some sort of automatic port key, which had pulled him out of sight.

Harry stood there, reloaded shotgun again at the ready, for a few seconds, lowering it only when he heard Ron calling to him.

Ron came up to Harry, while Trelawney knelt by Dumbledore. "Sorry, we ran into six zombies along the way."

"Three zombies, three idiot would-be followers," Trelawney corrected. "What happened to the Dark Lord?"

"I shot him, but he port-keyed out," Harry said simply. "How is the Headmaster?"

"Mister Weasley, go for Madam Pomfrey! And be careful, just because the Dark Lord is gone does not mean it is safe."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ron's respect for Professor Trelawney had obviously gone way up.

"Potter! Guard us!" Trelawney started first aid. Harry nodded, and readied the reloaded shotgun. He also changed back to his main wand.

Hermione and the rest of the students in the library were alerted when an elf appeared and told the librarian what was happening. Madam Pince let out a shriek of alarm which drew everyone's attention. Still, in less than a minute, she had everyone moving towards the great hall. Hermione and Katie Bell brought up the rear.

There are only two real entrances into the great hall at Hogwarts (the other doors led to the small ante-chamber with no exit, and a staff room which only current staff members could enter from the outside). Professor Sinistra had been monitoring the hall, which many students used as a study area. When the alert had come to her, she had shut the great doors leading to the grounds and sealed them with a command. None save another teacher could open them.

The other entrance opened into a regular corridor. Sinistra couldn't really close that down -- one end held the only rest rooms, which might be needed if they were there long. Students were also to report to the great hall, and so would have to be let in via that door. Only the door at the other end separated that corridor and the main entrance corridor. That Sinistra also commanded close, but it was a more vulnerable entrance than the great doors.

There were a number of Sixth and Seventh year students, although a few of them (some of the Slytherins) were considered slightly suspect. Madam Pince brought the students from the library a few minutes later, which still included Hermione. The two staff women set Hermione at interior end of the corridor, with some reliable students, while they kept watch outside the other.

A group of Fourth and Fifth year Gryffindors, sheparding the younger students from their Common Room, came next. All the Hufflepuffs and all of the Ravenclaws (except for two Seventh years and a Fifth, who would not let a mere Quidditch match distract them from their studies) were at the match. Within twelve minutes from the first alarm, only nine Slytherin students were missing from either the great hall or Quidditch pitch. All the other students were accounted for.

Ginny and Luna approached the sound of battle, Luna with her wand ready, Ginny with her own shotgun at the ready. Suddenly, the noise stopped. As everyone discovered later, upon comparing time lines, as soon as Voldemort had been port-keyed out, so had the zombies and Death Eaters. The Dementors had barely broken from the woods, before they also disappeared.

A number of zombies and three Death Eaters had been killed (all three had been killed by Trelawney, much to the shock of the faculty and students). The only serious injury on the Dark Side was Voldemort Himself. Three of the new guards and three of the new caretakers were killed, while Filch was the only survivor on the Hogwarts side seriously injured.

"It was a set-up!" Snape stated in surprise the next morning. All the faculty, and nine members of the Order and six Aurors, were in the Staff Room. Dumbledore, although tired and sore from his fight, was firmly back in control of Hogwarts.

"Explain," Dumbledore demanded.

"For months, since early last spring, in fact, I was aware there was something different about the Dark Lord's forces this time. This past July, I learned there were a number of cells I had been unaware of until then. Voldemort had also taken on . . . an associate."

This was news to most of the faculty and the six Aurors who were not members of the Order.

"Apparently, over the last ten years, a new Dark Wizard was rising without anyone noticing, working in eastern North America as well as in Western Europe. When the Dark Lord was reborn, they made an alliance, with the Associate -- I can't even get a name or a set title for him! -- as the new number two."

"Apparently, the Associate, and many of the old Death Eaters, thought that the Dark Lord was too obsessed by Potter and the Headmaster. So, yesterday was planned. They would help the Dark Lord gain entrance to the castle, and the Dark Lord would have his chance at both of them. If the Dark Lord had succeeded against either, they would have been his to command."

"But Voldemort failed," Edward pointed out.

"But He failed," Snape agreed. "His position was also undermined by Potter's claim that the Dark Lord was of mixed-blood, something I managed to encourage during the last few weeks I was active, and which Wormtail confirmed to several Death Eaters. The failure of the attack yesterday has ruined, at least for the moment, the Dark Lord's position and it exposed six Slytherin students as moles, who left with the Death Eaters. It did not expose my agents still with the Dark Lord."

"But it did not expose Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, or Parkinson's little brother," Remus pointed out. "If they helped let anyone in, they weren't caught."

"Exactly," Snape agreed. "They claim they hid in Malfoy's room, and we cannot disprove it. More importantly, three-quarters the Movement -- that's what the associate's forces called themselves, the Movement of Pure Blood or variations on that, and the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters have adopted the jargon -- belonged to the Associate before the Dark Lord's rebirth. They are all following him now. So are nearly all the new recruits made over the last year that aren't from loyal old Death Eater families. Over half the old Death Eaters are following him, too -- they won't forgive the Dark Lord's parentage. The Lestranges are heading that group. Lucius Malfoy controls most of the others, and seem to be waiting to see what happens. No one is purely supporting the Dark Lord today, so far as my spies can find out."

"So what happens now?" Flitwick demanded. "Are we fighting two wars or one? Is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named even still a factor?"

"Right now, still a factor, but the different leaders are supposed to be meeting tonight," Snape said. "Like I said, I have spies within the Movement even now. I knew from the time of His return it wouldn't be long before my own position was found out; I'm just lucky to have survived it. The Dark Lord now claims his original transformations overcame his birth. Since he had to use the bone of his Muggle father and Harry Potter's mixed blood to come back, none of the others admit to being convinced. No one wants the Dark Lord banished from the Movement, or at least they aren't saying that openly, but his place is uncertain. Those charmed slugs really damaged him badly. I doubt if he'll be active for many weeks, maybe even two or three months, even if he's given medical aid."

"But who is this 'Associate'?" McGonagall worried.

Snape shrugged. "I don't know. I only met him once, and he was masked. His voice sounded familiar, but that's just an impression. He also liked hiding behind titles, but most of all, he was just called the Associate when speaking to those Death Eaters he hadn't fully influenced, such as myself. I do now know he was the one behind the zombies, and the one who orchestrated the Lestranges' release and the Dementors joining the Pure-Bloods, even though he originally opposed using them. The Dark Lord's efforts, or rather his agents', were the attempts to get the giants involved, which failed, and the attempts to get the Prophecy and the associated attack on the Ministry, which also failed."

"The Dark Lord is a much more powerful wizard than the Associate," Snape concluded. "We must never forget the raw power of the Dark Lord. However, the Associate is a much better organizer and campaigner. We must hope they fight, because that alone will give us time to figure out what to do next."

Monday, December 9, 1996

The Sunday news reports had, mostly, made Harry once again a hero. Even then, however, there had been a few discordant criticisms, of both Harry and the Hogwarts faculty. The Daily Prophet Monday morning exploded with outrage.

The reason was simple: Harry had used an enchanted Muggle weapon. Harry had of course known that enchanting Muggle-items was illegal when there was any chance of those items being used or clearly seen by Muggles. After all, it was Arthur Weasley's main job to look out and correct such occurrences.

What Harry had not noticed was the revulsion even many of his fellow students had had towards the shotguns. They hadn't just not really understood how the weapons worked; they viewed Muggle weapons as mindless abominations. A few had stated that as early as Saturday evening, and over a quarter of the DA had not come to the Sunday meeting. Nearly a third came primarily to let Harry know up upset they were with his choice of weapon.

That left some surprising supporters. To Blaise Zabini and two of the other Slytherins, Harry had been justified in using the best weapon at hand. Justin Flinch-Fletchley came from a county family that still rode to the foxes, as did two other students (one other Hufflepuff and a Fourth year Gryffindor), and they had no problems with the idea of using shotguns (although two hadn't been successful with the sawed-off models). Neville, Dean, and Seamus had decided the year before to stay with Harry, Seamus after some considerable struggle, and would not change now. Colin and Denis Creevy would brook no opposition to Harry.

Hermione didn't like guns, but didn't feel the hatred towards them that many felt, and so wound up agreeing with both Blaise and the hunting Muggles. Luna and Ginny supported Harry whole-heartedly.

Ron agreed with Harry publicly, but privately he wondered if some of the criticism in the press wasn't fair. Using the weapons against zombies was one thing; against a wizard, even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, it was at least approaching a taboo zone.

That, indeed, was the prime criticism. Wizards had, throughout most of history, had the upper-hand when dealing with the numerically-superior Muggles. Firearms had tipped the power balance in favor of Muggles -- most wizards did not have powerful enough shield or blocking spells to protect them. The gun had become the ultimate symbol of both Muggle power and culture to many wizards. To use any kind of gun, with charmed bullets no less, against any wizard other than Voldemort would no doubt had caused yet another hearing at the Ministry.

As it was, the Ministry had withdrawn permission for the use of the charmed bullets, and for the DA to use the weapons. The faculty and the security guards could use them against the zombies, but no one else could handle them.