Harry Potter and the Shadows of the Watchgate

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-*~| CHAPTER 4 - Platform under Siege |~*-
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It was a scene of large scale pandemonium. Everyone was running hither and thither, and there were three Dark Marks in the air above the scarlet Hogwarts Express. In the frenzy of confusion, Harry could make out about fifteen to twenty Death Eaters, all of whom had their wands out and were either cursing Unforgivables or stunning people all over the place.

Lupin and Moody had Harry covered for the moment, but almost ten of the Death Eaters were heading in his direction. He couldn't see Ron, Hermione or Ginny from where he was, but all the others were fighting the Death Eaters very bravely. Because of their masks, Harry didn't recognize any of the Death Eaters.

He was just craning his neck to see the other side of the platform when Moody growled, "Get down boy!" in a manner not unlike Uncle Vernon, while a Binding Spell shot past him.

He could hear people scream over the melee and something inside him came alive. He didn't want to hide behind anyone anymore. He closed his eyes in resolve as he was again made to crouch beside Lupin.

"No," said Harry.

"Did you say something, Harry?" Lupin inquired, yelling over the hubbub.

"I said: No!" He had had enough, period.

Drawing his wand out, Harry stood up, ready for anything unexpected, while the ten Death Eaters coming in their direction occupied Lupin's and Moody's full attention. One of them tried to hex Lupin from behind, but Harry bellowed, "Expelliarmus!"

The Death Eater's wand was still in the air when Harry yelled, "Stupefy!"

After that there was no looking back. Harry recalled everything from DA classes and got to work. Any enemy who came across his path was blasted out of the way. A feeling of utter loathing was sweeping through his body, and his wand was almost quivering with the urge to wipe out the creatures behind the swishing black cloaks and grotesque masks.

He was amazed that he wasn't the main target, as the majority of the Death Eaters were assaulting Hogwarts students and their parents.

Harry had just Confounded a Death Eater when all the action halted abruptly.

There was a sudden commotion at the right side of the platform. Wind started swirling like a vortex and a portal opened with such force that it sucked the surrounding benches into its core.

Even the Death Eaters stopped to see what was happening. The portal was growing into a huge black hole, sucking in everything from trunks to paper to benches. One of the nearest Death Eaters was sucked into it and his screams of terror made people more frantic. In an instant, all the remaining Death Eaters chickened out and ran through the barrier. When a wizard near the barrier tried the same, he crashed against the wall.

The Death Eaters must have sealed the barrier, Harry thought warily.

The panic was on fever pitch as the magical folk scrambled together for finding a shelter of any kind. They helped each other along as best as they could, even though it was quite difficult to move. The wind around them was swirling like a hurricane and everybody was hanging on to something for support. Harry was gripping the nearest pole and his eyes were barely open, because of the wind but his scar was searing with pain and he couldn't hold on to the pole much longer.

In a blurry haze, he saw a golden light spark and had to force his eyes open against the gust to see Dumbledore materializing on the platform with Fawkes.

Dumbledore was chanting a strange incantation and swirling his wand in a complicated movement. The gaping mouth of the portal closed as suddenly as it had opened and everybody thudded to the ground.

Lupin steadied Harry and rearranged his glasses, which were askew. Harry glanced around and saw to his horror that many students and their relatives were injured. Some of the bodies were totally motionless. His heart and scar gave an alarming throb as he hurried off to find his friends.

He expected the worst, not because he was a pessimist, but because sudden death was not new to him. It had just been a few seconds and Sirius was gone. It had probably taken less than a minute for Peter Pettigrew to betray his parents to their deaths. Death didn't walk around with a count-down sign. It didn't stop for anyone, and Harry seemed to have a knack for losing those close to him.

So it was with utter dread in his heart that he scanned the battered faces of the wizards and witches surrounding him. He met a very bloody-nosed Seamus who pointed towards his left and Harry felt relief shower over him when he saw Ron and Hermione being led to a bench by Fred and George.

"Are you guys all right?" he asked, panic still streaking his voice.

"Bloody fine, mate," said Ron in a funny voice, spitting out a tooth. George handed him a handkerchief to wipe his bleeding lip.

Hermione had tried to stand up but with a stifled scream she sat right back down, looking at Harry with pained eyes. Harry knew that the expression in her eyes was not because of her sprained ankle, but because she was feeling the same spell of helplessness as he was.

Harry moved on to find Ginny with Mr. Weasley, who was supporting her right arm; the odd angle of the hand made him guess that it was broken. He saw Luna jostling a dazed Neville, Mrs. Weasley was tending to Tonks, and Moody was wiping his magical eye. Harry was relieved beyond words to see them all well.

Healers and many other officials bearing the sign of Ministry on their cloaks started appearing on the platform in groups, holding Portkeys. Seriously injured people were given Portkeys to St. Mungo's and small injuries were mended by the Healers on the spot.

Harry went to Dumbledore, but was grabbed by Lupin in midway. "Talk to him later, he's busy."

Harry looked over at the headmaster and saw that he was talking to a tall, foreign-looking wizard with a thick mop of short black hair and a neat beard. His face was set in a grim expression and the way he was talking to Dumbledore, Harry guessed that he knew him well. Harry looked for a Ministry emblem but found none on his dark brown traveling cloak.

"What was all that?" asked Fred, looking disheveled, and voicing Harry's own thoughts.

"I don't know, looked like the work of Death Eaters, but that gateway.... I couldn't understand...." said Lupin worriedly, while Harry and Fred shared dark looks.

Harry's attention was diverted by the sound of a woman crying; she was clutching a young girl and was weeping all over her.

"Lupin... is that girl d- dead?" Harry stuttered, looking at Lupin and hoping he'd say no. Lupin just nodded.

That girl was not the only one, there were more casualties. The whole platform was cluttered with strewn luggage, books, wooden shards and animal feathers. Owls were hooting indignantly, cats of all sizes and colors were cowering in available corners, and some occasional frogs were jumping and croaking timidly. Some animals were even injured because of their cages, which had toppled off during the brief whirlwind.

Harry was looking for Hedwig, when she flew over to him, sat on his shoulder, and gave him an affectionate nip on the ear. He gladly accepted the warm, feathery comfort against his face.

It was half-past eleven, and this was probably the first time in history that the Hogwarts Express didn't leave the platform at eleven o'clock sharp.

Harry was still surveying the whole scene, shocked, when Ron, Hermione and Ginny caught up with him after getting patched up by the Healers.

Hermione said in a very shaky voice, "Did you see her? She was sorted last year in front of us, and now...."

Innocent people got killed because Voldemort thought it was much fun? Harry was now able to discern a little, the terror of the days when Voldemort was in power last time.

But killing school children? What was the use of that? What could he think to gain from murdering small children?

Ginny was unnerved too. She said, glancing around, "Let's help people who are injured, give the Healers a hand...." They all nodded in unison and went to work.

Lupin, Moody and Mrs. Weasley headed towards the Ministry officials and Mr. Weasley joined the foreign-looking wizard.

A small boy went running past them crying, "Mum, mummy!"

Hermione calmed him down and asked him, "where his mummy was", and he answered that he got lost. Hermione was tending him when a haggard-looking wizard came running for him and thanked all of them for taking care of his child.

Harry remembered his parent's sacrifice, his mother's cry of pain ("not Harry..."), then Cedric, falling to the ground without a clue why he was being killed... and Sirius, mocking Bellatrix in the Death Chamber... He was young again in that moment, not the wary, escaped criminal from Azkaban, but a man full of youth, like he was in the picture of his parent's wedding: smiling, laughing--replaced by shock in the moment when he disappeared behind the veil....

Harry could almost see it again, hear his mother's voice in his head, the cold voice of Voldemort saying, "Kill the spare."

Eyes glazed, Harry began unconsciously trembling with rage. Why? Why, why, why? How could anyone want this? What did anybody do to deserve such treatment? What could drive Voldemort to do this? There was no call for it!

The platform was stained with innocent blood and Harry couldn't do anything about it. His hatred for Voldemort solidified. He couldn't let these deaths go unpunished, unchallenged, un-repaid. The creature who was responsible should suffer, and Harry would see to it himself!

"Harry, what's the matter?" Hermione asked in a terrified voice.

"What," Harry said vaguely. "What?!" he repeated, jerking out of his reverie to see his friends looking at him concernedly.

"You were giving off a golden glow just now," said Ginny in a worried voice.

"I was? I... I was?" finished Harry, rather surprised.

"May I have your attention please?" said the quietly authoritative voice of Dumbledore. Everyone fell silent.

"Today's incident was, though not predictable, inevitable. We all know its origin and I'm afraid to say that this will not be the last event of this nature. We have lost innocent lives today, and I am most aggrieved. But it will not go wasted, because evil cannot prevail. We have to be watchful and cautious in everything we do, because the Death Eaters have infiltrated everything." Dumbledore paused for the news to sink in.

"We have to look beyond our differences and unite under the flag of peace." He glared at everybody at this point and Harry again felt the same intense power emanating from Dumbledore that made it understandable to all present that he was the only wizard Voldemort would fear.

"The Hogwarts Express will leave at two o'clock sharp. For the time being, the platform has been enlarged and a makeshift camp has been erected on the left side of the platform. Rest there till two, so that the Ministry officials from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes can clear the platform and take care of the students who have been injured. Hopefully, they will be able to join all the others on the journey to Hogwarts."

Harry noticed a photographer clicking away pictures of the scene and some reporters were preparing to question the people present. It seemed that Dumbledore had just noticed them too, because he magnified his voice again and said, "I would request that the reporters not to harass the parents, as well the students. You will all get your questions answered in a peaceful manner at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

According to Harry, that was a very polite way of saying, 'Clear off!'

They went on with their work. Fred, George, Luna, Neville, Dean and Seamus also joined them in assisting the Ministry workers in clearing up the platform.

Neville asked, "Did you all use magic when the Death Eaters were here?"

They all nodded in assent. "Codswallop! I thought I was going to get in trouble--Gran would have had me," said Neville nervously.

Harry too was astonished that nobody got an owl from the Ministry. They would have loved to expel Harry from Hogwarts last year, but he supposed that now the situation was different. Now the Ministry believed him and he was 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' again, he contemplated scornfully.

At half-past one, the platform was back to normal again except for the makeshift camp where people were resting. Their luggage was repaired and arranged in a line. Harry saw an extra-clean cage of Hedwig beside his trunk. Some students were coming back from St. Mungo's and everyone was saying hi to everyone else.

It was like a grand family gathering, where everyone was meeting each other after a long time--except the Slytherins. They were huddled around Draco Malfoy. Harry was sorely tempted to let out some of his anger on Malfoy, but he knew better than to do anything with so many people around; he'd only get into trouble. But Draco could wait, and so could Harry.

Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Mrs. Weasley came to see them off. Mr. Weasley informed them that they'd soon get news about the day's events. "As if we need it," muttered Ron.

Lupin instructed Harry to use the mirror whenever he felt like it.

Lupin was looking very strained, and it was not just him. They were all looking worried; Moody in particular, advised him to keep his nose clean and not to do anything rash. Harry could only grimace at Moody's choice of words.

After they got their last hugs from Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, they all filed inside the Hogwarts Express and sat in the same compartment with Luna, Neville, Dean and Seamus.

Ron was the first one to speak his mind. "Did anybody else notice that all the Slytherins are unharmed? They were all hiding inside the Express when the gateway opened. The Slytherins should be chucked out of Hogwarts and sent to that Durmstrang lot," he finished angrily. Harry was expecting some retaliation from Hermione, but she didn't say anything. She just sat there with a distant expression on her face.

Then Dean very hesitantly asked, "Do you blokes know how many people died?"

"No idea, but I saw a seventh year Ravenclaw on a stretcher to St. Mungo's," said Luna in a very dreamy voice, but there was no Quibbler in her hand for company and she looked quite sad. Harry could understand--looking death in the eyes was not very pleasant, even if it wasn't for the first time.

"And what about that hole that opened up?" Seamus wondered aloud.

"Seemed like a chade to me," Luna said gloomily.

"A what?" Hermione raised her eyebrow while the rest of them tuned in with mild interest.

"Well, you know, a bottomless pit that sucks everything to its core and sends them off in another dimension and time."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth but didn't say anything, while Luna, with unperturbed ease, continued. "There have been reports that people happen upon such portals and come back to their time after years and find their relatives either awfully old or even dead."

"And you read this in Quibbler?" asked Hermione.

"Of course," said Luna serenely, while Hermione stared around the group as if proving her point.

Harry knew that Hermione never believed in whatever Luna said and he admitted that half of the things that Luna had told them turned out to be over-exaggerations but some of the things that she had said last year sure rang a bell, including seeing the Thestrals. Harry clearly remembered his last conversation with Luna before the end of last term.

"Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil...In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them..."

He had thought about these words a thousand times during these particular holidays. He had contemplated millions of ways for his godfather's return. Harry would have given anything to have Sirius back, but he somehow knew that his godfather was in a place from where he couldn't return. But maybe there was a clue in--

His thoughts were abruptly disturbed by the entry of Draco Malfoy. Before Harry had a chance to move, half of the compartment had their wands out and were glaring challengingly at the intruder.

"Ho hum," Draco murmured annoyingly at them, his pristine smirk in place.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" said Harry fiercely.

"Your head on a silver platter, Potter," Draco replied nattily.

"Make one more move and you wouldn't grin all your life, Malfoy," Ron said aggressively, taking out a Hydra from his bag so swiftly that if Hermione hadn't grabbed his arm, he would have slung it pell-mell towards Malfoy.

"No need to be so hostile, Weasley. I was just here to tell you about the Prefect's Meeting," said Malfoy, with faint solemnity.

Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously and Ron gave him an oblivious look.

Harry wasn't sure what his nemesis was trying to pull, when he perfectly knew his intentions of ridding the world of his existence--what he had already so eloquently expressed in a dark alleyway of Diagon Alley.

"Chaperon are you now, Malfoy?" Harry inquired skeptically.

"I would die before chaperoning a Mudblood and a Weasel!" Malfoy sneered and quickly made for the compartment door before anybody could hex him.

"What was all that about?" Neville asked, bewildered.

"Why was he even here?" said Ron, using the same tone of bewilderment.

"Maybe he was just here to see if any of us got really injured or something, as he was hiding in the train when all that happened. He would have loved it if you dropped dead," said Ginny matter-of-factly, looking straight at Harry.

There were murmurs of agreement and knowing smiles around the group.

Ron and Hermione soon excused themselves to the Prefects compartment and promised to return as early as possible.

Nobody had the nerve to check to see who was missing. They all just sat there, lost in their own thoughts, paying a silent tribute to the lives lost.

When Ron and Hermione came back in an hour they were looking more glum than usual, as if they were trying to hide something but couldn't. Harry didn't press--he didn't want to start a mass panic.

Was this the way it all began? Striking when nobody was expecting it? Frightening everybody, killing the innocent, having the upper hand? It all seemed so hopeless. But then he remembered Dumbledore's words... "Evil cannot prevail!"

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