Harry Potter and the Angel of Justice

Chapter Thirty - Battle for Hogwarts Castle

As Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione staggered out of the cage, Padma explained how she, Luna, and Neville had escaped from Ravenclaw Tower with the help of the three first years that Ron and Ginny had delivered earlier in the day. Luna had known enough glyphs to be able to tell the door to open, but they had needed to get Flitwick away for a few minutes.

Mary--the sneakiest first year in history, to hear Hermione tell it--had overheard Luna, Padma, and Neville worrying over how to distract Flitwick, and she and Heather had approached them to offer a diversion. The two first year girls pretended to fight over Mark Evans in a far corner of the dormitory. They apparently put on a good show, because they were quickly surrounded by a crowd of students cheering them on, and that brought Flitwick charging over to break it up. Meanwhile, Luna opened the door and the three slipped out, closing the door behind them.

"But Heather and Mary had a price, Ginny. I'm sorry, but they made me swear I'd do it before they would help," said Padma apologetically.

"Do what?"

"I have to give you a message. Remember, it's not from me or Luna, but from those two brats."

Ginny looked confused. "Okay...what is it, then?"

"Oh no," squeaked Padma. "I could never say it in front of the boys." She leaned close to Ginny and whispered into her ear. Ginny's eyes grew wide as Padma relayed her message. When the Ravenclaw prefect had finished, Ginny was flicking her wand in anger.

"Oh, I can't believe those two! If I get through this alive, I will personally make sure that they don't!" Ginny snarled.

"What did they say?" asked Hermione and Ron.

Ginny looked at Ron and blushed. She then called Hermione over and whispered the message in her ear. Hermione looked as enraged as Ginny.

"The nerve! Who do they think they are?" Hermione demanded.

"What did they say?" asked Harry.

Ginny looked up at Harry for a second and quickly looked away again, blushing. "No, Harry, I'm sorry! I just can't tell you," she said.

"But where's Neville?" asked Ron.

Luna and Padma exchanged troubled looks. Padma explained that Neville had suggested going up to Gryffindor Tower to retrieve Harry's Marauder's Map. Harry had used the map in his fifth year to keep an eye out for teachers when he dismissed the members of Dumbledore's Army after meetings: the map showed a complete layout of Hogwarts and labeled every person's whereabouts within it.

"We needed it to find where you lot were," said Padma. "Once we saw that you were in the North Tower, we left your Common Room to find you, but ... but," said Padma, tears rolling down her face, "but a little while later we got attacked. Some crazy-looking Australian wizard hit Neville with a curse."

"No!" squeaked Hermione.

"He just keeled over. He wasn't moving; I couldn't see him breathing, but we had to run. There were five of them," Padma sniffed. "The carpet kept tripping them, and all the doors opened easily for me but closed in their faces, so it wasn't too hard to get away. But I feel so bad about leaving Neville." Padma choked back her tears and tried to put on a brave face.

"They would have tortured us to death if it hadn't been for you two and Neville," said Ginny, putting her arm around Padma.

"We can't stay here any longer, Harry," said Ron forcefully. "Voldemort is coming to this very room, remember?"

"Right," replied Harry. "But where do we go?"

"Mars' office," suggested Ginny. "I've heard him say it's the safest place in the Castle."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I heard Dumbledore say the same thing. Plus, it's got that fireplace that can get us anywhere else around here if we need to run," said Harry.

"But that's on the other side of the Castle," Hermione pointed out anxiously.

"That's okay," said Harry as he started for the door. "There's a secret passage in an old storeroom near the Owlery that leads to the hallway his office is in."

"Yes, that's a good idea," said Padma, recovering herself a bit. "Mars is sure to look for us there once he's returned."

Harry opened his mouth to tell Padma that Mars had fallen in combat, but a quick head shake from Hermione stayed his tongue. They retrieved their wands from the table and then looked at Malfoy and his thugs lying on the floor.

"What about these three idiots?" asked Ginny.

"I say toss 'em out the window," suggested Ron.

"I'm with that!" agreed Harry, and he bent down and grabbed Malfoy's feet.

"Wait! It's a seventy foot drop," said Hermione.

"That should be high enough, Hermione," said Ron as he picked up Malfoy's arms.

"Ron, that's murder!" said Hermione, aghast.

"No it's not, it's an execution. C'mon, Harry."

"NO! Executions require a trial, Ron."

"Did you forget what he just did to you? Forget they were gonna torture and kill all of us until Padma and Luna came along?"

"No, I didn't, but you're a better man than him, Ron," said Hermione. She put her hands on his shoulders. "You don't kill people in cold blood, I know you better than that."

"Fine!" said Ron, dropping Malfoy's hands and letting Malfoy's head bounce hard off the stone floor. "But if I see him walking around again I'm taking him out, no warnings. Understand?"

Hermione nodded and hugged Ron fiercely, burying her head in his chest. Ron put his arms around her and shook his head at Harry. Harry knew Ron was thinking the same thing he was: "How did we just blow a chance to kill these three?"

When Hermione let go of Ron, she bent down and fished her hands through Malfoy's robes. When she finally stood, Harry saw that she was holding Mars' S.P.E.W. badge. She looked at it sadly for a second, then quickly pocketed it as Luna and Padma joined her.

Harry and Ginny led them out of the room and down the corridor toward the staircase that would take them to the Owlery. A few minutes later, Harry stopped.

"I don't believe it," he said crossly.

"What?"

"This staircase hasn't moved in three years, and today it's shifted."

"It must have something to do with the castle's defenses being activated," suggested Hermione.

"Probably, but now we have to go down two flights first and then use two different sets of stairs to get to the right level," said Harry gloomily as he turned 180 degrees and started walking back the way they came.

"This is the way that Voldemort will use, you know," said Ginny as they walked.

"I know, but it's the only way, with those stairs gone," he replied.

"Well then, Luna and I should scout ahead," said Ginny, and she called Luna up to the front. Harry was about to ask her why when both girls tapped their heads with their wands and said "Abscondo!" They slowly blended into the background from top to bottom.

"Don't worry Harry, I know the way. C'mon, Luna," said the blur that was Ginny. Both blurs moved quickly down the hall.

Harry led the remainder of his group after the blurs back to the stairs, where they went down two levels. They had started walking down the next hallway when a voice whispered, "Hold up." It was Luna.

"The way is clear until you get to the old ball room, the one with the balcony. We found a Death Eater there that was, well, not living. Ginny went ahead past the Divination classroom, and I came back to report."

Harry looked at Ron, who nodded, and then turned back to where he thought Luna was standing. "Any idea what killed him?"

"No, Nothing seemed amiss."

Harry shrugged and continued down the hall. They exited the corridor into a large room, where Harry could see the Death Eater Luna had referred to lying on the floor. To his right was a gigantic statue of the Ravenclaw eagle, in front of three large pillars that supported a balcony two floors above. He recognized this room as the one in which he and Ron had seen Mars confront his boggart; Harry fought hard to push the memory from his mind.

"Ron, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Nuthin'...I just hate this room," Ron answered glumly.

They crossed the ballroom carefully and entered the corridor leading to Professor Trelawney's classroom. Shortly they heard footsteps approaching rapidly, but saw no one. The group raised their wands and spread out from each other.

"Don't jinx! It's me," came Ginny's voice loudly.

"Ginny, keep your voice -"

"Harry, it's him!" said Ginny. Harry felt her clutch the front of his robes.

"Voldemort?"

"Yes, and he's got that awful Reynolds wizard with him. They're coming up the stairs. We can't go that way!" she said frantically.

Harry turned around and ordered, "Back to the ballroom!" They hurried back to the large room.

"We can't go back upstairs because there's no longer another way out, and of course that's where Voldemort's headed," said Harry. "This hallway over here doesn't go anywhere near where we want, but it's the only other way out of this blasted ballroom." He led them toward the corridor on the right wall.

As they hurried down the hall, Harry wracked his brain, trying to work out the best route to Mars' office. All of the paths seemed either too long or too vulnerable to discovery.

"Harry, I think something's moving up there," said the still near-invisible Ginny. He looked up and saw four masked Death Eaters ahead in the hallway. There were also six other wizards, without the foul masks, walking in front of them.

They were trapped! Harry thought. Any second now, those wizards would see them.

Suddenly, two suits of armor leaped in front of the oncoming wizards, each bludgeoning the lead wizard with a mace. Screams and curses echoed down the hallway.

While the enchanted armor had given them a brief respite, Harry knew their options were all bad. Every direction open to them was a path to death except ...

"The balcony!" he whispered. "Turn around!" he said to the rest as he quickly squeezed past them.

"But, Harry, he's going there--" Ginny protested.

"Just follow me, hurry!" he snapped, breaking into a run.

"IT'S POTTER! HE'S ESCAPED!!!"

Harry had hoped the armor would cover their flight from this group of wizards, but he didn't dwell on the bad luck. All his thoughts were now concentrated on reaching the pillars of that balcony before Voldemort entered the old ballroom.

He heard the footsteps of their pursuers behind them. He didn't dare look back to see how much of a lead they had. In the ballroom, Harry sprinted towards the eagle statue, risking a quick glance around. There was no sign of Reynolds or Voldemort yet. They stopped at the eagle statue in front of the pillars.

"That balcony," said Harry gasping for breath as he pointed upwards, "is the level we need to reach. I should have thought of it before."

"But how do we get up there?" asked Ron.

"Spider Climb charm. Luna, Ginny you, go first," said Harry as he turned around and positioned himself behind the base of the statue. Padma, Hermione and Ron took up similar stances behind the pillars while Luna and Ginny shinnied up the pillars with the help of the Spider Climb charm.

"Harry, we're up top!" came Ginny's voice from above a moment later.

"Look around, make sure it's clear. See if the staircase to the next level is still there," shouted Harry.

"Stupefy!" cried Ron.

Harry turned and saw that the the three of the wizards had just entered the ballroom. None were wearing the foul masks. Ron had stunned one of the three wizards, and Padma fired a stunner at the remaining two, but they managed to block it with a shield charm.

"Silencio!" cried Hermione, popping out from behind her pillar.

The two wizards instantly pointed their wands at her and gestured, but no sound or spell was produced.

Harry yelled to his friends, "Climb now, before the rest come out! Stay on the backsides until you get to the railings."

"Araneus Scando!" he heard his friends say behind him as he turned back to the wizards. The two that Hermione had silenced were no longer visible, and curses were flying out of the hallway at Hermione as she climbed the center pillar. She was safely shielded at the moment, but when she got to the railing she would be in plain sight and a sitting duck. The wizards were too far back in the hallway for Harry to target them at his present angle, so he couldn't stop them from throwing curses at her. He could, however, grant her some cover.

When he saw that Hermione was a few feet from the top, Harry aimed his wand in front of the doorway and cried, "Fumio Tectum!"

Scores of tiny explosions started going off in front of the entrance of the far hallway. Smoke rose from the floor and quickly formed a dense wall, obscuring all visibility between the hall and the room.

Harry looked up and saw Ron lifting Hermione over the railing. He smiled to himself and was reaching for the nearest pillar when he heard a shout:

"Avada Kedavra!"

A green light flashed up at the balcony, hitting the railing right next to Hermione. Several feet of the rail exploded, sending debris raining thirty-five feet down to the stone floor. Hermione screamed, Ron roughly snatched her the rest of the way over the rails, and the two fell to the floor of the balcony above.

Harry looked back across the ballroom floor and saw that one of the Death Eaters had ventured through the wall of smoke.

"Stupefy!" cried Harry.

His red stunner zipped across the room, sending the Death Eater reeling to the floor. Six more people came out of the smoke behind him; all of them had their wands aimed at Harry. He quickly jumped back behind the base of the statue. A split second later, six stunning spells slammed into the statue, causing it to wobble dangerously.

Harry wasn't sure what to do. There simply wasn't time for him to climb the pillars, and Harry had never managed to go any higher than thirty feet with the jumping charm in class.

"Still," he thought, "I never had this kind of motivation before!"

Six more stunners slammed into the statue; parts of it flew off in all directions.

Harry gritted his teeth and gripped his wand tightly. He wanted a few extra seconds without interruption to make sure he could cast the best possible jumping spell. Again the statue wobbled as more stunners hit it. Harry knew the wizards were closing in on him. He also knew the spell that would give him the time he wanted. He was ready to it try right after their next volley.

*WHAM*

The spells hit; the statue split in two and fell to either side, leaving Harry completely out in the open.

If Harry was to survive, his next two spells would have to be the best of his life.

"Give me your hand!" demanded Ron.

Hermione stretched out her hand and he grabbed it. Quickly Ron hauled her to the top of the rail. Just as Hermione cleared the top, a green flash hit the railing right beside her and exploded.

"AAAaaaaieeeeeeee!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She felt Ron snatch her roughly over the last part, and the two of them landed hard on the balcony's floor.

"Stupefy!" an unknown female voice screeched from ahead of them.

Hermione rolled over onto her stomach and saw Padma dueling a witch in the room that connected to the balcony. The witch's stunner hit a shining silver shield that shimmered in front of her friend. The collision produced a deep, resonating gong that echoed off the walls of the room.

Hermione pushed herself to her feet and started running after Ron, who was already sprinting in front of her. They charged into the room to get a clearer shot at the witch. Padma's shield was keeping the witch's hexes off, but the witch was a faster spell-caster and easily blocked Padma's attacks.

"You're not Potter, nor a Weasley!" snarled the witch. She jabbed her wand at Padma and cried, "Avada Kedavra!"

The green flash shattered Padma's shield, but Padma had already hit the floor when she heard the incantation, and so was spared.

"Stupefy!" cried Ron, who now had a clear shot at the witch.

With amazing deftness, the witch blocked the charm and snapped a retaliatory stunner back at Ron. The counterattack had been so quick that he had no time to produce his own shield, and he was thrown backwards by the spell--right into Hermione. Ron knocked Hermione back with him to the floor.

The witch's malevolent eyes flicked back and forth between the two girls, then she pointed her wand at Padma. Padma was on her knees, about to cast another shield charm, when a voice rang out - "Petrificus Totalus!"

The witch froze suddenly and then teetered a bit, falling backwards to the floor with her arm and wand sticking straight up.

"Hermione! Is Ron okay?" cried Ginny's voice.

"Just stunned, Ginny," Hermione replied as she stood shakily. Hermione heard Ginny say "Ennervate!" Ron then moaned a bit as he moved.

"Padma, are you all right?" Hermione asked. The Ravenclaw, now standing, nodded at her.

"Ron, get up! I know you're woozy, but we have no time," said Ginny's disembodied voice. Ron's left arm raised stiffly in the air, and his head and shoulders bobbed up and down. "C'mon, Ron!"

"Okay, okay, I'm getting up," said Ron irritably as he stood with Ginny's help.

"The way is clear," said Ginny excitedly. "I think Luna is already in the room with the secret passage Harry told us about. There's just one spot we have to secure up ahead."

"But Ginny, Harry's still down in the ballroom," said Hermione.

"I know," said Ginny worriedly. "But if we don't get someone watching this corridor, they could come up right behind us."

"W'EVE FOUND THEM!"

Hermione looked up. Two masked wizards had entered the room; both immediately pointed their wands at Ron. "Impedementia!" they cried.

Even though both hexes were aimed right at Ron, he seemed unaffected. After a split-second's shocked delay, Ron flicked his wand at the wizards, shouting,"Stupefy!" Ron's red stunner was joined by two larger rays from the wands of Padma and Hermione. One of the Death Eaters managed a hasty shield charm, but it was overwhelmed by the three spells, and both wizards were knocked to the floor.

"Ginny must be right about that hallway. I'll go watch it while you two check on Harry," said Ron, stepping toward the door.

On Ron's second step he tripped over something and tumbled to the floor.

"Ron!" squealed Hermione. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah...I think I tripped over Ginny."

Hermione looked at the floor carefully and tried to detect where the disillusioned Ginny was lying. She thought the floor looked a bit discolored a few feet behind Ron. Hermione was working her way carefully to the spot when Padma screamed.

Hermione raised her wand, turning toward Padma, but her vision suddenly went black. Padma's screaming and the curses from the battle raging below faded to silence. The only sound she could hear was a foul rattling somewhere in the cloud of darkness that surrounded her.

Her wand trembled in her hand and an iciness built up in her lungs. Breathing was no longer natural; she had to consciously force the air in and out of her chest. Mist formed from her breath. Hermione forced herself to look around for any sign of the horror she knew lurked nearby: a dementor of Azkaban.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" roared Ron, and a brilliant white-silver light flashed out.

Ron was now visible to her as a silhouette, lit by his gleaming charm. He had not conjured a corporeal patronus, but his powerful silvery ray was forcing away the dementor in front of him. Hermione saw Ron's jaw clench, and his charm grew brighter. The power and glow of the spell rekindled what little hope was left in her heart. Her fear began to recede, until she saw another dementor behind Ron - its ghoulish arm reached out of its cloak to grab his wand arm. Ron screamed in utter terror, and the light of his patronus fizzled, out plunging Hermione back into darkness.

"RON!" she shrieked hysterically.

Hermione leaped towards Ron frantically, but something grabbed her by the hair and snapped her head painfully backwards. She was numb with fear as the hooded head of the dementor moved over her. Its rancid breath felt as cold as death itself as it blew over her face. She tried to raise her wand, but her arm wouldn't listen. A voice echoed in her head, a voice she had not heard since she was seven.

"Are you going to follow me around the entire day?"

The voice was not annoyed, but amused. He was standing chest deep in water, looking at a dark, curly haired young girl facing him on the beach.

"As long as you insist on being stupid, I will! They said on the telly that the rip tides are very dangerous today. You can swim tomorrow. Please come out," begged the young Hermione.

"I swear, you are about the naggiest little sister in England," the teenager smiled at the girl. "I'll just swim out to the buoy and back, then we can go get some ice cream. Will that do?"

The girl bit her lip and stared nervously at her brother. Still smiling, he shook his head and turned around. He disappeared quickly under the water. She never saw him alive again.

Hermione felt the cold foul breath on her face. The vision was gone; she saw the dementor slowly pull back its hood to reveal its awful face. It had empty scabbed-over sockets in place of eyes, and a gaping maw for a mouth that rattled horribly as it breathed in and out. Its head lowered. Hermione heard an eleven-year-old Ron say, "It's no wonder no one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly." His words repeated over and over as the dementor bent for the kiss.

"Expecto Patronum!" came a girl's voice from far away.

A silver light flashed in front of Hermione's face, and the dementor dropped her to the floor. The beam pushed the fiend away from her until it finally retreated and flew off. Hermione looked to see who had saved her, but no one appeared to be standing in the area the spell had come from.

"Expecto Patronum!" cried Luna's voice again. Hermione could now make out Luna's disillusioned form as another silver beam shot from her wand and into one of the two dementors that were bent over Ron, trying to pull Ron's hands from his face.

Hermione quickly located her wand on the floor and snatched it up. As she stood, she heard a woman cry, "Stupefy!" The witch Ginny had cursed had recovered and tried to stun Luna.

"Impedimentia!" shouted Luna from a different part of the room. The witch shifted her direction and blocked the curse.

Hermione left Luna to duel the witch on her own, because the second dementor had returned to Ron. The dementors had now managed to remove his hands and tilt his head back. One was dangerously close to performing its kiss.

Hermione cleared her mind of distractions and concentrated on her happiest thought. Twelve OWLs!

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" she cried, pointing her wand at Ron's attackers.

A silvery otter shot out the end of her wand and flew straight into the face of the dementor over Ron's face. The fiend flew backwards and then glided away in retreat. The otter patronus looped in the air and attacked the other dementor, pushing it away from Ron and routing it completely.

"Back here! Help Padma!" screamed Hermione, pointing with her wand. The patronus wheeled about and flew around Hermione.

This dementor was not trying to kiss Padma. Instead, it stood above her, sucking out her happiness as she sobbed on the floor. Hermione's patronus slammed into it, pushing it off the balcony. The fiend then skulked away like the others.

Hermione heard a popping noise and a squeal of pain from Luna. She forgot about her patronus and raised her wand to confront the witch, but the Death Eater was ready for her. Before Hermione even got the woman in her sight, she was hit with a disarming charm, and her wand flew from her hand.

"Ah, you're that mudblood friend of Potter's, aren't you?" sneered the witch. Hermione turned to face her.

"No need to keep you alive, is there?" said the witch, her wand pointed at Hermione's heart.

"This is it," Hermione thought. "No wand, too close to dodge and everyone else is down."

Her eyes drifted to Ron laying on the floor at her feet. His head moved a little, and his unfocused eyes stared up at her.

"Last chance," she thought.

"I love you Ron Weasley, you great prat," she said quietly and smiled at him.

"Very touching," said the witch, raising her wand. "Goodbye, mudblood,"

A cry of "DISPLACIO!" from below was followed by screams and crashes. Both Hermione and the witch jerked their heads to look over at the balcony. A loud noise from below seemed to be getting closer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" screamed Harry as he flew up like he had been shot from a cannon. He cleared the railing easily, landing catlike on his feet, facing Hermione and the witch.

"Harry Potter!" exclaimed the witch, staring dumbfounded at him.

Harry elected to skip the greeting and go directly to the jinx: his only response was, "Stupefy!" His red stunner streaked across the room and flattened the witch.