Harry Potter and Gaining Momentum

Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were all sitting inside the Three Broomsticks going over the lesson plan with Harry for the next DA meeting. It was now the weekend before Halloween and a Hogsmeade weekend. Harry had asked them all to gather around to help him plan because all save Draco had been members of the DA before the new recruits were brought in. He had made them all assistant instructors so that the now much larger group of students would be prepared for what was coming in November. They had all spent the last three weeks catching the new members up to date on the spells that they'd learned the last year, and were now discussing the students' progress and whether everyone was ready to continue on with the Patronus spell.

"So you've permission from Professor Dumbledore to teach it to all of us?" Luna asked in her dreamy fashion.

"He thinks it's safe, so we'll be doing it in the next lesson if you lot think they're ready. I know the new and old seventh year members are," Harry said.

"The third years are. I'm rather surprised at how fast they caught on to the spells we've already taught them," Hermione said. Harry grinned. He knew if anyone could catch a third year up on such subject matter, it was defiantly Hermione.

"Fourth years are definitely ready. I've been working with some of them out of class while you guys were working on your material for Spell Invention. They're coming along quite nicely if I do say so myself," Ron said, beaming with pride; Hermione slipped an arm around his waist.

"I only had to catch up about six fifth years, so they're fine. I believe they would be ready to start on the Patronus Charm," Neville said.

"I've been watching you with the others, Nev. You should really look into a job as a teacher after school," Ginny commented, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Neville murmured, embarrassed.

"How about the sixth years, are they ready?" Harry asked Ginny and Luna, who had teamed up to work with the largest group of the lot.

"As far as I can tell, they're ready. A few of them didn't like the fact that they had to review things they'd already learned, but after we told them that they were doing it wrong anyway, they wised up and decided to stop questioning us," Ginny said mischievously.

"Especially after the Bat-Bogey hex you put Zabini under," Luna said with the same glint.

"So we're all agreed that the next lesson shouldn't be pushed back any further?" Harry asked as Hermione kept an eye on her Quick-Quotes Quill to make sure everything was written down in detail. All the others nodded in unison. "Great! We have a lot of Boggarts left over after from finishing the Dementor Binder, so we should have enough to practice on for the time being," he finished taking a swig of his Butterbeer.

"Have we had any more reactions from the parchment yet?" Ron asked. Hermione shook her head no.

Hermione had cursed the new parchment to highlight the name of any person that reviled the nature of the meetings, or that went against the alliance of Dumbledore's Army. Only one person in the past month had been caught, but as it turned out, it was good for the group. Sally-Anne was apparently a proud pureblood witch, as were her parents. Though her parents, specifically her father, were overly proud and agreed with the Dark Lord. As it turns out, Sally-Anne had a Death Eater for a father and was insistent on carrying on the charade that she too was going to follow in his esteemed footsteps, though she had no reason to do so. So, instead, she acted as Snape did. She passed on bits of true information to keep everyone happy and so that her account was concurrent with the other reports from Hogwarts, but for the better part, she told her father that due to being in Hufflepuff, she was usually overlooked when it came to popularity or social status.

Of course none of this was figured out until she had breached the contract of the DA. She had told her father that, yes, it had been reformed, but that she was not part of the inner circle so she wasn't given any information about what was happening behind the scenes. She was asked about what had happened to the Dementors, and she told them that she wasn't aware of any Dementor attack. This seemed to infuriate her father, who brooded constantly on the possible reasons Dumbledore could have to keep the whole thing hush-hush.

Hermione was, of course, the first one aware that the contract had been breached and by whom and immediately took action. She, Ron, and Harry had all made a trip to the Hufflepuff common room after locating Sally-Anne on the Marauder's Map. After they had spoken to Hannah at the entrance, she whisked them away inside to take care of the situation. Harry was taken slightly aback at how furious she was at the betrayal. It seemed as though she was personally insulted by the breach. Though, Harry reasoned, she was a Hufflepuff, which House was known for its fierce loyalty.

At seeing the trio enter the common room Sally-Anne cut off the Floo to her father with a hiss and stood up to greet them guiltily, knowing full well that she had been caught. Hermione, being always the voice of reason, allowed her to plead her case before they booted her from the DA and let Harry perform the memory charm on her that would wipe her memory of the meetings as if she'd never been to one. They all stood shocked as she revealed that her father was a Death Eater and that she did, in fact, give him information about the DA. She immediately followed the confession with her small tidbit of information and asked that she be allowed to remain. The three spoke briefly alone to contemplate the seriousness of the event before Harry came to the conclusion of using her as a small spy to get information on any attacks that would happen in or around the school. She agreed whole-heartedly before letting Harry view the conversation via Legilimency and affirm her story. The DA now had a spy.

"So, Sally hasn't come to you with any recent information?" Ginny asked.

"No, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there's nothing happening, after all, this is Tom we're talking about," Draco said sarcastically.

It was then that Harry felt a twinge in his scar. He rubbed it for a moment, brow furrowed.

"Harry?" Ron said cautiously. Harry looked at him. "Is it hurting?" he asked lowering his voice.

"Just a slight prickle," Harry said reassuringly.

"Harry, that doesn't mean anything!" Hermione hissed, "You know how well your mental walls are built, there's no reason you should feel anything unless---," she trailed off, looking at Harry and paling.

"Unless what?" Luna asked, confused.

"Unless he's nearby," Harry said, standing up. The crowd in the pub was so loud that even with the voice amplifier spell he'd never be able to warn everyone. The others had stood along with him and were looking at him expectantly for instructions.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Neville said determinedly. Harry heaved a heavy sigh, there was only one way to protect everyone indoors.

"If you don't want to participate, stay here. If you want to help with a grand scale bit of spell work, follow me," he said gravely as he made his way around the people and out the front doors.

"What are we doing, Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"The only thing we can do, we're shielding all of the people inside the shops and such. Then we'll put up a ward until they can all Floo out," he said shaking his head.

"Harry, we don't have staves yet, we can't do that kind of magic," Ron said stating the obvious.

"You may not have your staves, but I do. You'll just have to give me a little power because if I try to do this myself, there's a chance that my dam could break - and then I'd flatten the place and save Voldemort the effort and time," he said.

"Right, so how do you want to go about this?" Neville said again in a determined voice. Harry waved his hand, revealing his staff. He made a quick motion and shoved the butt end of the staff into the ground, then grasped Ron and Draco's hand.

"Form a circle around the staff," he instructed them. They all complied. "You're going to feed a bit of Will magic to me, so you'll definitely feel drained after this," he warned them. They nodded their understanding. "I just want you to think of giving me power. Close your eyes and imagine that you're letting your magic pour around the circle and into me; I'll shape it and direct it towards the staff so it is amplified and cast," he said, then he closed his eyes.

Draco seemed to be grasping his hand overly tight, but Harry hardly noticed as he was concentrating on shaping the magic. At first Harry was aware that the only magic he was using was his own, that is until he got a burst of someone else's. He wasn't sure whose it was, but it did have a magical signature. That one single burst seemed to clear a path on Harry's right side so he suspected that it was Ginny or Luna who had sent it because as soon as it hit him, he started getting three more signatures mixed in with it. He now knew that Draco, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny were all giving him power. Then the second burst hit him and this time he was almost delirious with the magic that was coursing though his veins. It burned like his whole body was on fire, but he didn't break the circle, instead he started directing the magic towards his staff hoping that his plan of using Will magic through the staff would be amplified due to the virtues of the emerald. The light that was pouring out of Harry was white hot and brighter than any he'd ever seen. He was the only one with his eyes open as the others continued to pour the magic into him. The emerald atop the staff was now glowing brilliantly as it built up the magic needed. It was at this point that Harry heard several gasps come from around their small group, but not one of his friends gave the slightest sign they'd heard anything.

Harry made a slight nod at the staff and the brilliant surge of magic burst into the sky and bathed the whole main street of Hogsmeade in brilliant white light. This seemed a bit odd to Harry - his Will magic had always been gold, not white. He was dimly aware, as he was still shaping and conducting magic, that people were being pushed back into the shops and pubs before they were sealed off with an impenetrable green barrier. People were now panicking and banging on the walls of the barriers, only to receive a bruised hand for their efforts. After about five minutes, Harry couldn't take it anymore and collapsed to the ground as the last bit of magic was pushed into the staff. The whole of the High Street and probably a bit further was safe, which included the majority of the students and that was enough for Harry.

The others seemed to slip out of their dazes also and it seemed that Ron was the only one able to stand without trembling.

"Harry, mate, are you alright?" Ron asked panting with his hands on his knees. Harry nodded feebly before he stood upright again, though slightly slumped.

"We should get him back, everyone's safe for now," Hermione, who was on one knee gasped out. Harry shook his head at her, waiting for the burning to stop.

"Don't argue with us Harry, this is not your battle alone! You've already set up all these barriers, let Dumbledore finish this!" Ginny exclaimed trying to gain her footing once more. Harry suddenly felt his scar again, this time though; it was stronger, though it didn't quite hurt yet.

"Everyone grab on to me," he said to the others. They all looked at each other oddly before Luna and Neville crawled over to him. Ron helped Hermione up and Ginny walked over to him on her own accord. Harry held out a slightly limp arm as Draco, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville all grabbed hold. There was suddenly a flash of flames and everyone was standing in the Headmaster's office.

"It's nice to see you've gotten a good hold of your new powers, Harry," Dumbledore said as he stood, amused. Then suddenly his face turned grave as he saw Harry's exhausted form. "What is it, what's happened?" he asked urgently.

"Harry felt pain in his scar and suggested we set up some quick precautions before Tom made it into Hogsmeade. Harry instructed us to form a circle and he used his and our power to cast barriers on the shops and pubs with Will magic. It worked, but he conveniently forgot to mention it was going to cripple him," Draco said acidly.

"Harry! You had foreign magic in you? That can kill you, you should know that!" Albus exclaimed as he walked quickly to his Floo and threw in some powder. "Severus!" he yelled into the grate.

"Headmaster?" came the reply of everyone's favorite Potions Master.

"I need a magic purifying potion and your presence in my office as soon as possible," he said ending the call with no other instructions or good-byes. He continued to do this until he had contacted all the professors and had them all in his office. He even went as far as to contact Madam Pomfrey to get a Pepper-Up potion for Harry and the others.

It was no time before all the professors were in the office and wondering what was going on. Albus filled them in quickly and they all watched in awe as Dumbledore explained.

"I hate to say this Harry, but you're going to have to try to take us all back there. If the barriers have held, then there's no way to get out of the shops if we Floo there and we won't get off the grounds in time to make it," he said. Harry was feeling about sixty percent better after the purifying potion, and the Pepper-up seemed to take care of the rest. He nodded with a new found determinedness and walked to the middle of the room.

"Everyone grab a hold, it may be a rough ride. I've never carried this many people before," Harry warned, but he didn't let the thought deter him. He stuck out both arms as if getting ready for flight as all the professors took hold. Harry glanced at the somewhat hesitant Potions Master and as soon as he had taken hold of Harry's right elbow Harry closed his eyes. The flames were so intense that his friends, who he'd left behind, had to jump behind the chairs to avoid being scorched. Hermione, Ginny, and Draco immediately began casting dousing spells on the carpet to put out the smoke that lingered.

Just as they disappeared, the group of professors, and one very cautious Headmaster reappeared in a rush of flames connected to one Harry Potter. Albus and Snape, ever-graceful, landed firmly upon their feet while Sprout and Vector landed harshly on their backsides. Everyone else seemed to stumble, but nonetheless got bearings rather quickly. Harry automatically looked around for danger as soon as he opened his eyes, but was suddenly overcome with the pain in his scar that only meant one thing; Voldemort was near, too near. Seeing Harry grasp his scar, Albus, with the reflexes of a cat, cast a very strong pain shield on Harry and inquired on its proficiency.

"It worked, thanks," Harry said slightly panting. This was another spell he was gong to have to work on in the future. He needed to mix it with a glamour charm so he could have it constantly in place. Over the last couple months, unknown to his friends and even Draco and Dumbledore, Harry had been working on a variety of spells that he intended to use in the final battle with Voldemort.

"Harry, do you feel you need to return?" Albus asked, concerned.

"No, I need to see this, even if I can't participate. I need technique," Harry said bluntly. Albus just nodded at him.

"So be it, but please don't get involved unless it is absolutely necessary, understand?" the Headmaster said sternly casting a cautious look around. Harry nodded in confirmation. "Minerva, Severus, Scythia, Samantha, you take the left side of the street while Harry, Filius, and myself take the right side. Do NOT go out of my sight for any reason," he stressed as they split up.

With Professor Dumbledore in the lead, Harry walked in his shadow up the right side of the street. Harry had landed them at the bottom of the High Street where the Shrieking Shack was located. From up ahead Harry could hear a few minor explosions.

"They're trying to take down the wards," Harry whispered unnecessarily to the Headmaster who just nodded that he heard.

"Are you sure they can't get through?" Snape asked narrowing his eyes at Harry. Harry rolled his at Snape.

"If I was so certain, I wouldn't have been so worried about getting help, they could have all just Flooed away," he said.

"Don't give me lip Potter, it was a simple question," he hissed back at Harry.

"Enough!" Dumbledore whispered harshly before turning back around and increasing his speed to the main drag of shops and the like.

Harry could now see a crowd of black robed figures running here and there, wands in hand, randomly shooting spells at the shop wards. Amidst the swishing of dark cloaks he could see shrouded figures that seemed to glide over the ground: Dementors. Apparently Voldemort didn't realize he had lost some, or he might have kept them for a larger battle where they would be more effective in the pandemonium. Amongst them all, standing in the middle of the street, was the Dark Lord himself who was standing with his back to the group and looking about in a superior way. Suddenly though, his exterior cracked and he let out a roar of high-pitch rage and frustration. He shoved several cloaked figures out of the way and drew himself up to an awesome height before bellowing the Killing Curse.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" his voice rang though the midday air. The ward visibly weakened but stayed erect. Dumbledore again picked up his pace. As they approached closer, and seeing that they were not going to have the element of surprise much longer, Albus broke the Dark Lord's second screech with his own voice which seemed to be amplified.

"TOM! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" he bellowed at Voldemort. Every cloaked figure present spun around to see the small entourage coming toward them. The other professors wasted no time beginning their defense as a plethora of spells, jinxes, and curses flew through the air and rained down upon the gathered opposition. Harry had never seen the professors in this light. They were almost reckless. He noticed that they didn't even look to see if their target was hit, they just simply kept casting curses making sure to move their wands an inch this way or that - only aiming at crowds, not at individuals. The spells were also coming in rapid succession. As soon as the previous one was off their lips they began the next.

Harry was very surprised to witness McGonagall in such a light. She truly was pissed and it showed. Her hair was beginning to fall from its tight bun as she became frazzled from her vigor. She was shouting with such intensity that Harry now understood why she was the Deputy Headmistress---she was fierce. Harry made a note to himself right then and there that when he started dueling practice, he was defiantly going to ask the Professor to help by playing as his opponent.

Filius, the ever squeaky dwarf-like wizard, was too showing great strife as he fired off curses and charms at random groups. Harry could see a vein in his temple bulging out as his yelled more and more. The power behind his spells was not to be fathomed because it could be seen. It was hard for Harry to believe that the small man was even actually producing the spells. They seemed to rip through the Death Eaters like a razor sharp knife.

As the professors began their onslaught, some of the Death Eaters just stood there stupidly as if they couldn't believe that these small groups of people were supposed to be a hitch in their plans. Of course Dumbledore always had been, but they knew that it would be a beef between him and the Dark Lord. So, instead of panicking and running for shelter, they just began casting back but soon saw their efforts weren't nearly as effective as their opponents. The professors were a small group and had more room to move about and dodge whereas there was too many Death Eaters to be able to have that much agility in such close proximity.

Harry too was helping, not that anyone would really notice. With a discreet flip of the finger or twitch of the hand he was knocking people off their feet or sending simple tripping jinxes out into the large crowd. When they began to get closer, he used a more appropriate talent and began to make the spells swerve to the side so as to miss the professors. Some of them looked shocked at the sudden turn of a spell heading for them, but just shrugged it off and fired back. Harry loved every minute of this, that is, until Dumbledore finally fired the first spell of his own.

Totally ignored by all the others, Death Eaters and Professors alike, the Headmaster casually walked toward Voldemort like he was about to embrace an old friend. But only twenty feet away he yelled the first spell between their own massive duel.

"Captivitas!" he yelled out loud, which in itself caught Harry off guard. He couldn't remember Albus ever actually verbalizing his spells the previous year at the ministry. Well, if he was verbalizing them, no one heard them.

"Alternus Serpentigena," growled Tom turning the ropes into snakes and hissing at them. Harry only caught the first word, but it was enough to make him feel concerned---'KILL'. Dumbledore gave a casual wave of his wand and banished the two eight-foot snakes.

"Leave or give up Tom, you will gain nothing here," Dumbledore said calmly.

"You old fool! You would think that. This is the last time we meet, old man. It ends today! I will not have you foil my plans any longer, Avada Kedavra!" he yelled for the second time since they had arrived. With the rush of wind and a streak of green the curse flew at Dumbledore. The Headmaster looked totally unperturbed by this and simply flicked his wand and brought a milk crate that was sitting on the cobblestone sidewalk up to meet the curse. Dumbledore was right, Harry thought, he would never fall with his wand in hand.

While his headmaster was dueling and seemed totally out of contact with the rest of the battle, Harry noticed for the first time that while the Death Eaters were dwindling, the Dementors remained totally unaffected. He brought out his wand and pointed straight at a Dementor.

"Expecto Patronum Exstinguo!" he yelled at it. His stag, mighty and fiercely tall, erupted from his wand and took form. It didn't even wait to be directed as it seemed to sense the Dementors ahead of it. It gave a rough grunt and ran at the creature with its head down ready for impact upon its antlers. He mentally kicked himself for not showing the professors how to perform the spell yet. They were supposed to meet with his DA meeting at the same time he taught it to the students. Flitwick, who was only meters away from him when the stag impaled the screeching creature, turned to him in surprise.

"Show me!" he said urgently. Harry first looked at him as if were crazy before ducking his head and running toward him. The small professor held out his wand and motioned for Harry to demonstrate. What a time for a lesson, Harry though. Flitwick was only a movement behind him the whole time and then they both bellowed the incantation together. Harry thought that since his Patronus was already out that he it would be like a dud spell for him, but much to his surprise a second form erupted from his wand.

This time, right next to the small professors lolling Labrador, a Grim-like shaggy dog took off at a Dementor. Harry stood there in shock for a second before a stunner shot past his ear and he finally came out of his stupor and cast the spell again. He was again shocked when a third form came out of his wand. This time a werewolf about four times the size of the actual creature came from his wand and joined his pack. Harry was floored. He looked at Flitwick who just shrugged and pointed ahead for him to do it again. This time they both cast. It was Harry's fourth repetition and Filius' second. The same form came out of the small professors' wand and joined the slaughtering while a great dragon came from Harry's. Had Harry actually put two and two together, he would have seen how much sense it made for these figures to come from his wand

He and the small professor cast the spell a total of eight more times before Harry felt that they had enough Patroni to take care of the Dementors. The other professors had never even batted an eye their way, occupied as they were with thinning the Death Eaters out. Harry hadn't really been paying much attention to their battle, but it didn't seem possible that they thinned out that fast. Sure the majority of the crowed seemed to be Dementors, but Death Eaters seemed much more efficient to Harry than the savage creatures were.

As he looked around now he saw that there were very few Dementors left and maybe a handful of Death Eaters that were hiding being random nearby objects - barrels seemed to be a particular favorite. No doubt they were afraid to Apparate away while their master was still dueling. Harry made a split-second decision and decided to join the duel with Dumbledore and Voldemort.

In a swirl of snowflakes Harry Apparated to Voldemort's other side.

"Solum Pavesco," Harry mumbled under his breath. The ground under Voldemort started to quake with fervor. It did not split or crumble but instead quivered with intensity. The Dark Lord spun around and shot an unheard spell at Harry. Harry simply faded from view for a second then reappeared as the spell passed by unhindered and hit the wall of the shop behind him. Voldemort was thrown from the slab of earth where he was standing by a spell fired off by Albus and Harry immediately followed it up with another one of his favorites.

"Oxosso Exterebro!" he yelled this time putting a mighty bit of power behind the curse. Voldemort screamed in agony and rage as he lay there on his back. The curse was barely legal and was only meant for medi-witches. It was the extraction of bones. It was supposed to be used to take a bone beyond repair out of the body so that the patient could be given Skele-Gro.

Several followers that had hung around to see the fall of the Great Albus Dumbledore were now panicking and yelling for instructions from their master, but he was in too much pain to answer. The longer he lay there, the more bones disappeared. Harry began to walk toward him but a curse thrown from behind caught his upper right arm and began to make its way down the limb. He sucked in a breath at the pain but tried to ignore it. He turned to see Lucius Malfoy, wand in hand, stalking right at him with rage clearly written on his face. Harry still felt well enough to give a satisfied smirk to the golden blonde man.

"You!" he yelled at Harry pointing his wand at Harry menacingly. What happened next happened so quickly that it would later take two other people's accounts of what happened to give him all the details.

A red stunner came from Harry's left with the power of a rocket and knocked Lucius off his feet and again into the wall behind him. It was Snape's Stunner. Yells could be heard from behind Dumbledore (where the professors were) who was still on the other side of Voldemort but not paying attention due to Harry's predicament. A streak of black fabric blazed across the street and hurled itself upon Voldemort and disappeared, but not before the green flash from it came hurtling toward Harry who stood in shock at what just happened.

A body threw itself in between Harry and the Killing Curse but in a last-second effort to move, Harry grabbed the man around his broad chest and slender waist, drawing him close, and 'popped' into a black phoenix that flew in place with red eyes gleaming. Opening his mouth, the creature gave a hard swallow when the curse entered it and the phoenix blew up in a puff of smoke. Ash fell to the ground.

With several more pops, the remainder of the Death Eaters Apparated away.