The Road Less Traveled

Chapter 4: No Man Lives Forever, Dead Men Rise Up Never

"Luck is my middle name," said Rincewind, indistinctly. "Mind you, my first name is Bad."

-Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog

Adder's fork and blindworm's sting

Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Shakespeare, Macbeth: Act 4

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

Old time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.

-Robert Herrick, To the Virgins to Make Much of Time

Sakura bolted down her breakfast, still too tired to take in what she was eating. Orenda, being the incredibly thoughtful Rithlan that she was, had awakened her at the end of breakfast when students were also bolting down their food and rushing off to get to class. She was still frazzled from her late night rendezvous and not at all pleased that she'd forgotten to tell Eriol and Syaoran about the cell phone.

She'd thrown on the top set of clothes in her suitcase, too tired to be nervous about what Tomoyo could possibly have packed, and sported a black sweater, black leggings, and her old tennis shoes. It was surprisingly inconspicuous, and Sakura wondered what exactly she was going to be wearing toward the end of the week.

With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair and winced as the only piece of jewelry she wore got caught in her brown tresses. She muttered a curse as she untangled her silver bracelet. It had been a birthday present from Eriol and Tomoyo. The bracelet was a plain silver band about a quarter of an inch thick with small bells spaced evenly around it. A silver chain attached the bracelet to a ring decorated with a sun, moon, and stars. Eriol had assured her that the bells could be heard only by spirits who wished her ill luck. The bells were enchanted by Eriol to ward off bad luck. She'd only brought it because she had a feeling that she'd need all the luck she could get on this venture.

Once the bracelet was free Sakura pushed back her chair and stood, reaching for a last minute drink before sitting in on the various classes.

Unfortunately, she didn't look to see what sort of liquid resided inside the cup. If she had she would have seen an orangey-brown substance, with the consistency of a watery smoothie.

As it was, only her good manners prevented her from spitting her first mouthful out. Sakura began hacking and coughing, eyes watering.

Was that pumpkin juice? Sakura thought incredulously. Why in the world would one drink pumpkin juice? I wasn't even aware that pumpkins had juice!

Sakura sensed someone come up to her and was surprised when that person pounded her back in an effort to help her stop hacking.

Apparently she'd forgotten to cast the notice-me-not spell. Wonderful.

"You okay?" asked the girl.

"Fine," Sakura wheezed.

The girl looked embarrassed and bit her lip before saying, "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name. Mine is Ginny Weasley."

"Sa - um, nice to meet you," Sakura replied, stalling for time. Her given name wouldn't do. Why hadn't she thought of an alias?

Car? No, no, that's a kuruma. Kestrel . . . That's a bird, isn't it. Is it an English name?

"My name is . . ."

A common name. A common English name. I know them, I've heard so many. Why am I freezing in a tight situation? Okay.

"Alex. Alex . . . Smith," Sakura said brightly, barely remembering to shake hands instead of bowing.

"Short for Alexandra, I'm assuming? Or were your parents just cruel?" Ginny smiled to show that she was just joking.

Shit. That was a boy's name.

"Short for Alexandra," Sakura replied, grateful for having been given a way out.

"Where are you from? I don't recognize your accent, but it's nice," Ginny remarked.

"I lived in Japan before I came to England," Sakura replied, which was more or less the truth.

Ginny glanced down at her watch and suddenly became agitated. "I'd love to stay and talk, but I have Charms in ten minutes, and I'm sure you have class to get to as well."

"Yeah. See you later, maybe."

"See ya," Ginny said with a wave, nearly running out the door and down the hall to get to class on time.

"I can't make so many mistakes," Sakura muttered, casting the notice-me-not spell on herself. "Especially if I live among some of the most powerful witches and wizards of the time. They're bound to notice something off eventually, and with the war going on, I've no doubt they'll be trigger-happy."

She brightened and trotted down the hall. Now she would finally get to see a real wizardry and witchcraft class. It was rather exciting.

It occurred to her that it would probably be easier had she arrived at the beginning of the school year so she knew what the classes were called and who taught them. Also, they would either be starting the basics or reviewing from the previous year. This wasn't going to be as easy as she thought... Well, not as easy as Eriol thought. Sakura thought this would be one of the hardest things she'd done, and that included taking the position of most powerful sorceress in the world.

She paused on the way out, feeling that something was subtley different with the castle. She did a cursory check, barely brushing the web of spells and fates, and cursed at what she found. She'd left a piece of herself within the the web, and it would take at least a year for it to fade. Syaoran and Eriol would kill her if they knew how careless she'd been.

She hoped it wouldn't come back to haunt her.

Sakura sighed. At least, starting tomorrow, she'd have Tomoyo's help. She would be a godsend.

"Orenda-san?" she called softly and a small spark of light flared into existence on her shoulder. "What's the nearest class?"

The Rithlan bobbed down the hall and led her through the crowded halls. Sakura kept as best she could as she was jostled by elbows and bruised by swinging book bags.

"Ow, watch it!" Sakura snapped futily, knowing that no one could notice her. She wondered which was better, attracting attention or being invisible with broken bones. She was saved from making a decision when she arrived in a stone classroom (not that every room wasn't stone). It was decorated with tapestries and several large cupboards were pushed against the wall. Most of the students were already in the classroom, taking out their textbooks. None of them took out any wands.

Maybe we were wrong, thought Sakura as she sat on the edge of the teacher's desk. Maybe they weren't as weak as we thought. Maybe they don't rely on wands alone.

Then the teacher arrived. She was rather tall and wore dark blue robes. Her eyes were hazel and her straight, bright red hair barely brushed her shoulder.

Sakura hopped off the desk and perched on an empty desk in the front row.

"Settle down," she commanded, "and turn to page 226. Miss Granger, please collect the homework."

A bushy-haired girl stood and made her rounds of the classroom. It was a small sized class as most classes go, Sakura noticed. There were perhaps only about 15 students, all of them around her age.

Sakura noticed what was written on the homework and groaned. The professor paused for a moment as if there was something troubling her, and then resumed teaching. Sakura glanced over at a textbook near her and confirmed her suspicions. This was a math class. A rather strange math class, but a math class nonetheless.

She sighed and exited the classroom. Even here, in a magic school, she couldn't escape it.

Sakura froze in the door of the next classroom Orenda led her to. All color drained from her face and she blinked rapidly. The ghost was still there, hovering in front of the class. . . teaching.

Sakura fought the urge to flee and forced herself to sit in an empty desk. She no longer quivered in sheer terror under the bed covers whenever the word 'ghost' was mentioned, but the fear had never really left her. She was surprised she hadn't seen any others; a place as old and powerful as Hogwarts would surely have its ghosts and fading memories.

It took her several minutes to calm down enough to listen to the professor. It helped if she didn't think of him as a ghost.

". .. . soon forgot the existence of magic, and wizards and witches were forced into hiding . . ."

Sakura yawned, already half asleep, fear forgotten. How could someone make something that should be very interesting so boring?!

". .. . witch trials followed soon after, killing innocents mistaken for witches . .. ."

Her head nodded forward, sleep reaching for her . . .

SLAM!

"Ow," moaned Sakura, rubbing her head where it had hit the desk. Her concentration had slipped and her notice-me-not spell had dissolved, but amazingly no one stirred and the monotonous lecture never faltered.

Slipping the spell back into place, the sorceress left the classroom. The class could tell her the secrets of the universe for all she cared; she'd only go back is she became an insomniac.

Sakura sighed and decided to explore the Kitchen. She didn't seem to be having any luck with classes.

On her way she passed a room that caught her eye and cautiously stepped in. Her eyes widened in delight. A library! Maybe they had books on sorcerers? Whether they did or didn't, the books would be useful.

Sakura walked around the room, familiarizing herself with the sections. One bookshelf looked particularly unpleasant and a sign at the top read 'Restricted Section.'

She found a promising bookcase that contained what looked like wizard myths and tales. It stood to reason that if sorcerers didn't know or couldn't remember anything about wizards and witches, neither would witches and witches know anything about sorcerers.

Sakura bit her lip as her stomach growled. Perhaps she should come back later? It would still be there when she got back.

The Kitchen turned out to be relatively close to the library, and for that she was grateful. Yesterday, as she made her way down the stairs, her knees had buckled rather than simply bent, and her muscles were still sore.

The kitchens were warm and brightly lit, with small, child-sized creatures with large floppy ears moving about everywhere, stirring this, baking that, carrying something else. It seemed a miracle that none crashed and nothing fell or broke.

The moment Sakura put a recognition spell in place of the other, she was nearly stampeded by the creatures. One of them, seemingly the spokesman, asked with a bow, "What would the Missus like?"

Sakura was overwhelmed by the subservient, eager to please attitudes of the crowd. "Um, perhaps a sandwich? Turkey?

She was ushered over to a plush chair, and two of the creatures returned carrying a platter full of sandwiches, biscuits, and juice between them.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Ah. . . thanks."

"We is very happy to serve, Mistress," piped up one of them.

Sakura started at the word 'Mistress,' but calmed herself quickly. It was simply an honorific term. It didn't mean they knew what she was.

"Would the Mistress be wanting any more?" asked a particularly squeaky creature.

"This is plenty," she replied hurriedly. She hesitated and then continued. "I don't mean to be rude, but what are you?"

"We is house elves, Mistress, and my name is Dotty," replied one of the two who had served her with a bow. Sakura frowned. They were much different from elves - what she knew as the Fae - but perhaps they were a different breed or had just adopted the name.

Then she noticed the uniform that each house elf wore and was puzzled. It was some sort of cloth with a crest stamped on it. She sent out a tendril of her power and found that all of them were genuinely happy, so she shrugged and turned her attention to her lunch.

More of the house elves drifted off to continue their work as Sakura ate, but several always hovered near her, eager to please. She wasn't sure whether to be please or annoyed.

She managed to eat very little of the food and hoped it wouldn't hurt their feelings. Even after packing enough to last a day, the pile was hardly even dented.

And she still hadn't told the boys about her cell phone.

Shrugging, she started out for the next class, only to discover that it was now their lunchtime. With a sigh, she waited, deciding to keep the recognition spell in place. People would be able to see her and think that they had seen her before. Their minds would supply the place. In theory, they should recognize her as a Hogwarts student, and she would provide her name when necessary, either by telling them or planting it in their minds.

~*~

"Eriol, this isn't going to work," said Syaoran with a scowl.

"What do you mean?"

The two boys were bent over a folder, seemingly staring at it blankly. Had anyone walked in on them, that person would have thought them mad. Thankfully not many people used the Room of Records. Not that they'd have seen the boys anyway.

"We've been working on this file for half an hour."

"We've almost dismantled the protection spells," Eriol replied. "We're down to the skeleton weave now."

"That's not the point," growled Syaoran. "It took us two and a half hours to get into Potter-san's and McGonagall-sensei's records. We may be getting faster on Dumbledore-sama's file, but at least we knew what we were looking for. Do you think they're going to let a Dark Lord's record just lie around, much less one that's in power now? Hell, we don't even know his true name!"

"Good point," said Eriol thoughtfully. "We'll just have to pick through someone's mind."

"You have no scruples, do you?" said Syaoran incredulously.

"Ummmmm. .. . nnnooo - waitwaitwait. Oh, never mind. No."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and gently slid his sorcery under a weak part in the protection wizardry. He winced as he twisted too soon and an alarm tried to break free of the barrier of silence. He was trained for fighting, not the disabling of foreign magic.

"Here," said Eriol, tossing him his cell phone. "Call Sakura and I'll finish this up. We didn't really get a chance to discuss things with her."

Syaoran stretched and grabbed the phone thankfully, punching in numbers with record speed. Eriol watched as his descendant's expectant look turned into a frown and he hung up.

It was Syaoran's turn to watch the other boy. A quick pull and careful unknotting resulted in a spell-free folder.

"What's wrong?" asked Eriol finally.

"Sakura's phone is out of order," Li replied shortly.

The blue-haired boy absently looked north, as if he could see the castle and its inhabitants.

"I'll see what's wrong," he said at last, softly.

Syaoran could tell that he had come to a decision about something else as well, but didn't press for once.

"All right," he said, and ruffled through Albus Dumbledore's papers.

~*~

"Harry, hurry up! We're going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

Sakura's attention immediately snapped over to a bushy brown-haired witch. A lean, messy-haired boy with glasses shouldered his way through the lunch crowd, and Sakura watched him through half-lidded eyes, examining his aura, reading his personality. "Harry Potter," she whispered.

The boy shivered and glanced over his shoulder before turning back to his friend.

Sakura made her way over to where they stood, and then followed them through the hallways, only partly listening to their conversation. Most of her attention was taken up fighting through a sea of students.

~*~

"Cold?" asked Hermione, having seen Harry shiver.

He looked at her, but didn't really see her. "Yes," he said slowly, looking over his shoulder once more. "It's a little cold in here."

Hermione could see him retreating into himself, hiding from the world. Don't go, she wanted to plead. Don't leave us out again. All during 6th year he would retreat from the world, leaving only an emotionless shell behind, as if an android had taken his place. Back then Draco had been the only one able to bring him back with constant success, using harsh, biting words. Eventually the four of them had brought Harry back to his old self, but the scars were still there, and they were the kind that didn't leave a visible mark. Sirius' death had been hardest on Harry and it had taken some work to get him to believe that none of it was his fault.

Harry's eyes snapped back into focus, as if he'd heard her silent plea, and Hermione grinned in relief. "Hurry or we'll be late," she repeated.

"I almost feel sorry for Ron," he commented, matching Hermione's long strides, "stuck with that old bat while we get to teach snotty 2nd years Defense. Then I remember that we have twice the work to do when we correct their work."

"Harry, please. You were a snotty 2nd year yourself not so long ago. And why do you take Divination, anyway? It's a complete waste of time."

"It's also an easy class," he replied easily.

"You're incorrigible."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know." Harry dodged Hermione's book bag and twisted to avoid running into another boy. He made a face upon returning to Hermione's side. "It's too bad Moody's back in time for me to make the second half of double Divination."

The witch rifled through the lesson plan. "A pop quiz and book work. Nothing new or strenuous today. I'll correct the quizzes and you can work on the Herbology essay we got this morning; I already finished mine."

Harry grumbled. "You're incorrigible," he said, mimicking her perfectly.

She swatted him. "Get going you. As of now I am a professor and should be treated as such."

"I'm a professor too," he protested. "At least for this next class."

She waved dismissively as they entered the classroom. "Yes, yes. Now help me take attendance."

Hermione was actually the one to take attendance, while Harry passed out the quizzes. There was a collective groan from Slytherins and Gryffindors alike.

"No one told us about a quiz," muttered Brian Jameson.

"Hence the term 'pop quiz,'" said Hermione brightly. "No talking."

"Ten points from Slytherin, Miss Anders," said Harry mildly, wand suddenly out. "and next time you try to curse a student you will have detention with Mr. Filch. Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Bauch, for provoking her. Get back to work."

He ignored the grumbling and headed to the teacher's desk as Hermione patrolled the room. His attention wandered from the essay topic ('Advantages and Disadvantages of Wolf's Bane'), and he found himself remembering Dumbledore's request in August.

There had been a shortage of qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, 'qualified' being a relative term (Gilderoy Lockhart came to mind, and he grimaced). Anyone brave enough to take the position was needed for the war, and a teacher's hours were never flexible. Moody and Lupin would teach when they could, but they needed another person who was not a member of the Order that would need to disappear unexpectedly. Harry had been shocked when he turned out to be the third professor, but he couldn't truly refuse. He had experience, was head of Dumbledore's Army, and had become much less prejudiced since acquiring Draco as a friend.

Professor McGonagall had suggested having Hermione help him. This Harry found much more plausible. She was the best student in school, advanced in knowledge, and overly organized.

The two of them would make up work for classes they missed while teaching.

At first Harry had been hesitant and inexperienced. He had quickly adapted to the situation, and they no longer questioned or tested him.

He had to adapt to survive. Those who didn't or couldn't adapt in these times died. Sometimes they died anyway. He couldn't bear to read the Daily Prophet anymore and he had come to despise Fudge, for what he did and didn't do.

His thoughts returned to Moody and Lupin. Harry hoped they were alive. Safe and well were foreign to him, but alive. . . . Alive was as good as it got.

"Harry," a voice murmured, and a hand tugged at his sleeve. He gazed unseeing at a girl's face before blinking and recognizing Hermione.

"Harry, Moody's back. We can go."

He looked down at his parchment and realized that it was filled. When had he finished the essay? He couldn't remember.

"Good afternoon," Harry greeted Moody quietly as the last of the students handed in their quizzes.

"Get some sleep, Potter," the scarred man growled. "You look awful."

"No time for beauty sleep," Harry replied with a grin as he and Hermione left. "Doing your job and all."

The ex-Auror barked a laugh, scaring a timid Gryffindor girl on her way out the door.

"See you at dinner, 'Mione," Harry said as they parted ways.

"See you," she replied.

~*~

This was rather boring, Sakura thought glumly. The students were scribbling on an old-fashioned piece of parchment, the brown-haired witch/professor was patrolling the room, and Harry Potter was staring off into space. She couldn't leave since she was committed to trailing the boy with the scar.

Granted, it probably would have been more interesting if she knew what a Fernunculus Charm did. And what Gillyweed was. And why the two should never mix.

And why in the world was a student teaching anyway? She'd already read more minds than was decent, not that reading any mind was decent, mind you. She doubted the reason was near the surface of his mind, anyway. Abstract thoughts were harder to glean than names, say, that were almost always foremost in one's thoughts, no pun intended.

She wondered when class was over, and wandered around the room, examining books, and jars, strange objects that seemed to be haphazardly slapped together. One object looked almost like a remote control, except remotes did not have labels reading, "Stun" "Maim" "Kill" and "Extra Crispy." Remotes also didn't have a safety lock with enough spells to nearly blind her for several minutes with just one Glance.

That thing was definitely not people-friendly.

Sakura-sama.

Sakura jumped and nearly dropped a glass jar containing very disgusting, not to mention dangerous-looking, liquid.

Who. .. . ?

She floated up to the north-facing window and crouched on the ledge. A small, black cat-like creature with dragonfly wings hovered in front of her.

"Spinel-san?" she whispered in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Master Eriol sent me when he couldn't reach you on your cell phone. He and Li-san were worried and sent me to look for you."

"Heh," said Sakura sheepishly. "I forgot to tell them that the phone. . . er. . . exploded."

Spinel blinked. "It exploded," he repeated

"Yeah." She proffered her hand for his inspection. "The scars are nearly faded."

"How did it explode?"

"I was making a call, and I didn't realize that there would be. . ." she paused, trying to think of an appropriate term, ". . . magical interference."

"I suppose I should be heading back, if that's all?" said Spinel.

"You didn't fly the whole way here, did you?" Sakura asked horrified.

"Eriol-sama dropped me off about an hour's flight south of here. I thought I'd make it easy on him and get as close to England as I could before he checked on me."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest or something?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I shall be fine," Spinel reassured her tonelessly. "I am not lazy like Keroberos."

There was nothing she could say to that, so she bid him farewell and turned just in time to see Potter-san leave. Sakura's Key glowed briefly and a card in her pocket answered its call.

"Fly," she murmured and sighed as she stretched large white wings. Soft, downy feathers fluttered gently in the movement. She looked out at the gray sky and saw Spinel disappear into the fog that rolled in.

Then she leapt from her perch and glided to the door, her wings disappearing at the last minute so she landed lightly on her feet. It created only a gentle breeze that barely disturbed the papers, and it had taken her weeks to learn.

Partway down the hall she met an aging wizard strolling in the opposite direction. She thought nothing of it until Harry said, "Hello, Headmaster."

"Good afternoon, Harry," he replied.

Sakura examined him. He looked rather eccentric, with his silvery beard tucked into his belt and blue and gold robes. His half moon spectacles were perched on a crooked nose and a certain sparkle in his bright eyes belied a happy nature. Albus Dumbledore was an awe-inspiring figure, but he appeared no more dangerous than her own grandfather.

A peek at his aura proved her false. It was a pulse of silver fire with over a century of experience behind it. He was the equivalent of a low- to mid-level sorcerer and it shook her.

Sakura realized that she truly had no idea what she was going up against. She'd had no idea a witch or wizard could be so powerful. And there was something about them that sapped power from a direct magical attack. Her shoulders hunched as if bowed under a great weight.

Perhaps it would be harder to spy on him than she'd thought.

She had a deep sense of foreboding about this whole mission, but she simply took note of it and pressed on, following Harry Potter up several flights of stairs. She wouldn't abandon this world. Not now.

~*~

Spinel Sun sighed as he flew through the forest. Perhaps it would have been more comfortable to wait, but he'd had another reason to want to leave. Something was wrong in the forest. He sensed that not all was well, and he hoped to catch a glimpse of it, an ambition that was difficult in such thick fog.

Nothing seemed out of place, though Spinel would be the first to admit that he was more at home in a library than a forest. He sighed and circled once, lazily, glimpsing a red deer bound off in the distance. Perhaps his fear was simply paranoia.

He headed off south at a steady pace, so intent on getting home that he nearly missed the flicker at the corner of his eye.

Most likely another deer, thought the small creature, but decided to investigate anyway.

Suddenly shapes rose out of the mist and Spinel swooped behind the cover of a large tree. Slowly, carefully, he circled the clearing before speeding out of the forest and into the open air.

He rose as far as he dared before transforming into his true form, and trusted the sun to hide him, no matter how it hid behind the clouds and mist. He was a creature of the sun and it would help him.

Spinel's wings were unaccustomed to the speed at which he was flying, but he had to get close enough to call for his master before it was too late.

~*~

Sakura looked around in interest at the classroom she had just entered. Cushions were strewn over the floor near low wooden tables. On top of each table was a deck of cards. . . no, several decks, she saw at last, some old, some new, with many different designs on the back. The heat was stifling, but she welcomed it after the drafty halls of the school. A curtain hung in a corner of the room, and a window was located opposite.

She seated herself in front of the window near Harry and a red-haired, freckled boy, as a woman emerged from a room behind the curtain. She drifted to the front of the room in a whisper of cloth and clink of many bracelets, eyes magnified by her glasses.

"Mr. Potter, avoiding windows will save your life today, but there isn't much hope for the future," she said suddenly in a misty sort of voice.

What a way to instill confidence in a person, Sakura thought wryly as Harry simply rolled his eyes. If she'd been worried about how he might have taken such a prediction, she was reassured. Negative thoughts wouldn't help him at all during this war.

Two minutes into the class, Sakura suspected the woman was a fraud.

Five minutes into the class she was sure of it.

The teacher - professor - seemed to have no idea that the environment was rather conducive to divination. A relaxed atmosphere in which the diviner was expecting nothing would produce the best results. The teacher was such a dingbat, throwing out random "predictions," that Sakura, who always tried to see the good in a situation, was forced to admit that she was nearly as fake as fortune tellers could get.

Her attention kept wandering and she often found herself nodding off. Apparently she wasn't the only one having trouble focusing, Sakura noted when one somewhat chubby boy toppled over.

She found herself staring out the window, dreamily noting that it seemed as if Hogwarts was a world unto itself, isolated, ending a few yards from the walls when features became lost in the fog.

Again she was nearly lulled to sleep, and caught herself, jumping to open the window. The lock was stuck and it took some straining before it flew out with a bang.

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly to the class. "I was having trouble focusing on the . . ." she looked at the cards in front of her with a frown, "lesson," she said finally, failing to remember what the cards were called.

"Back to work, class," said the professor - Trelawney, she gleaned from Harry's mind.

Sakura turned back to the window, not really caring whether she got in trouble or not. She couldn't stay awake, but she'd had enough sleep.

Something hovered at the edge of her senses, something very very wrong, and her thoughts were hazy, as if they came through a curtain of gauze.

"Of course," she whispered. "Windy."

The spirit flew from her card and a burst of air scattered the bespelled fog, blowing it back for the second it needed her to see to the edge of the forest.

Windy responded to her Mistress's unspoken wishes by blowing harder, steadier, beating back the fog that had brought sleep and unawareness with it.

"Death Eaters!" shrieked Sakura. "They're coming!"

The class murmured worriedly, tones sounding almost panicky.

"Nonsense," said Trelawny in her faux mysterious voice. " I would have sensed-" She stopped talking abruptly at the glimpse of the dark figures. "You," she snapped, her vague expression gone. "Dean. Ring the alarm. NOW!" she bellowed when he hesitated in surprise.

"What are you waiting for?!" she demanded of the rest of the class. "You know your positions. GO!!"

Sakura watched, impressed at how quickly they moved without running into each other or slowing anyone else down. Then it occured to her that they'd probably done this many times before, and it saddened her. What must it feel like to live in the middle of war?

She staggered in the doorway when the alarm sounded, like a massive bell, ringing, ringing, giving her no relief from the sound. She reached the stairs and saw that they had begun moving themselves. Apparently the castle helped its occupants in times of crisis. The students headed in one of two directions: down into the bowels of the castle, or out doors on the second floor that led outside. The smaller children went down, she noticed. The older ones went to defend the castle.

She retreated silently back into the tower room as the flighty professor ran out, skirts bunched in one hand. Sakura needed a better vantage point, and the tower would provide it.

She quickly ran to the window and threw it wide open, pulling herself up onto it.

Don't look down, she chanted to herself as she carefully felt the roof of the tower. There was a ledge about an inch wide that she could grasp onto. As luck would have it, this was the only tower with a sloped, tiled roof and no walkway.

Sakura bit her lip as she tried to decide what to do. If this was an all out battle, she'd need every bit of her magic. Her upper body strength wasn't enough that she could just pull herself up by her fingertips, though, and although the tiles created some purchase, it wasn't enough to really help her until she was actually on the roof.

Perhaps there was a rope? The sounds of battle didn't register as she scoured the room for a rope, but her heart pounded with the need to hurry, to make a difference before people died. She couldn't stop a war by herself, but she'd do everything she could.

Nothing. There was no help for it. She'd have to use her magic at least a bit.

Sakura crouched on the window ledge, then sprang for the roof. Her fingers grasped the overhang and she brought herself partway up before she felt herself slipping. A small spurt of magic boosted her up onto her stomach, and she scrabbled in a very undignified manner to get her lower body up.

Luckily there was a pole with a weathercock on top, and she grabbed onto it, breathing hard as she stared a long, long way down to the ground.

"Right," she muttered faintly. "Calm down and find out what's happening."

Then the protective barriers around the castle disappeared, and she 'eeped,' realizing that the Death Eaters could fight freely.

~*~

"Don't worry Severus. I shall just have emergency barriers in place, that you know nothing about."

"Is this absolutely necessary, Albus?"

"Voldemort must not suspect that you are less than loyal to him. If you do not give his army access to the castle he will wonder why. I know that you did not know when he would be attacking. As you said, 'He does not tell everyone everything.'"

". .. . As you wish, Headmaster."

~*~

Just as quickly, two hastily constructed barriers were put up, one to prevent 'Apparation' and the other preventing entry into Hogwarts for certain witches and wizards.

Sakura's eyes swept the field. Students and professors manned the wall surrounding the castle. Several hovered on long slender objects near the cliff and above the lake, watching to make sure no one came up from behind. Apparently, to those with magic, normal barriers weren't as formidable as they were for those without magic.

A pinpoint of light appeared over her shoulder.

"Orenda-san," she said in surprise and relief. "Would you mind doing me a favor? Could you watch out for Harry Potter?"

The Rithlan blinked out of existence and Sakura returned her attention to the battle. Men in black robes and creatures of dark, evil habitats and death surrounded the castle.

A siege? she wondered. Can they hold out against a siege? Won't the students have an advantage?

But the morale. What would happen to the morale of the wizarding world with their savior and children trapped in a stone castle? Their government would send reinforcements, yes, but there had to be weak points in the castle's defense, and then it would only be a matter of time before there would be slaughter and death and despair.

She remembered what Eriol had told her. 'They're slowly losing ground to this Dark Lord. It's beginning to look hopeless for them, and from then on, it's a downward spiral. They need something to believe in, to hope for, with every fiber of their being.'

An explosion caught her attention. A hole appeared in the bottom of the wall near the gate.

"Hoshi no chikara o himeshi kagi yo! Shin no sugata o ware no mae ni shimese! Keiyoku no moto Sakura ga meijiru! Release!! Earthy!"

The wall rebuilt itself, trapping a Death Eater who was halfway through. He screamed as he was slowly crushed to death. The few who had made it behind the wall were quickly taken care of by one of the professors, but not before severely burning a 5th year girl. She was taken into the Castle to the Hospital Wing.

It was like the time she had been asked to be the target at her high school's volleyball practice. Holding several balls at a time, doing some quick shifting to catch the next one coming at her, emptying one hand just in time to catch another one coming at her. She had been quite adept at juggling volleyballs, but she could barely shift more than two or three spells at once, never mind casting or terminating more than one.

There had to be something more Sakura could do. Rebuilding broken walls, shielding students, throwing back enemies. It was all well and good, but it wasn't getting rid of the army. They just kept coming! More students were being taken off the wall, and she saw a tall, willowy professor crumple, her head hitting the stone before Sakura could react.

"Dammit!" Sakura raged, tears blinding her as a scream was abruptly cut off. "I need to end this. I have to." She needed something large and showy to scare them off. Her normal reserves were low, but there was her dark side she could draw from. Her personality wasn't quite balanced. She leaned more toward the brighter side of the yin-yang, and as a result, her darker energies gathered and could be used once every several years as a strong backup. It was what she needed now, and she began to plan.

~*~

Syaoran froze, dropping a sheaf of papers as a loud booming roar began faintly and grew in volume until he had to cover his ears. It brought him little relief. The sound was more felt than heard, thundering in his chest until he thought his ribs would break with the pressure. It slowly ebbed away and he staggered over to the room he had left Eriol in.

"What happened?" he asked the pale boy. "What was that? Why aren't the wizards reacting?"

"Spinel's telling me that there's danger, an emergency of some kind. It was a last minute idea when I created him, but this is the first time he's had to contact me this way. Only sorcerer's would feel it, which is why the wizards and witches in this building haven't reacted."

Syaoran blanched. "Is it Sakura? Is she in trouble?"

Eriol frowned. "Let's get to Hogwarts. Now. I'll grab Spinel on the way." He bit his lip. "Damn. I sent Ruby Moon on an errand. I hope we won't need her."

"Let's just go," growled Syaoran anxiously and disappeared a split second before Eriol did.

~*~

Harry felt the sweat trickle down his back, but he ignored it, ignored everything but protecting his first true home. Everything was chaos, and if he didn't focus, if his attention was distracted for even a second, he could be taken down. Hex and counter-hex and curse and charm. Many of the students had little experience in a battle and some rather unorthodox means were used to defend themselves and others.

Some of the more creative ones protected those who needed time to cast a more powerful spell. Some students worked in groups, others alone. They used their talents, the quicker ones moving over the wall, giving help where it was needed, the more clever working with those with more magical potential.

It was working so far, but how long would their stamina last?

An explosion threw him to the floor, and he noticed, to his horror, a hole in the wall at ground level.

A group of seventh years, two professors, and a hippogrif hurried to dispatch those that made it through, but they would be overpowered. . .

Harry blinked in surprise as the wall rebuilt itself, and wondered who had worked such a complicated charm.

A crack and sharp pain brought him back to the battle with a cry. His humerus had been broken by a well-aimed curse. Determinedly, he turned back to the fracas. If it wasn't his wand-arm, then he wouldn't worry about it until later.

Harry saw Professor Sinistra crumple from the corner of his eye and signalled one of the medic students for help.

He thought he heard his name called faintly from behind him. Ducking behind the stone barrier on tope of the wall, he turned to the courtyard.

A green light flared, and before he realized what was happening, a shooting star sped past his ear. There was silence, and then an explosion of light, blinding him, and showing everything around him in sharp relief.

"-ter! Potter!"

"Malfoy?" he asked dazedly.

"Potter, what the hell did you do?! Not that I'm complaining, but whatever spell you used stopped the Killing Curse! No spell's supposed to stop the Killing Curse!"

"I didn't do a spell," Harry said, feeling doomed to being perpetually confused. "There was this little spark of light that sped by me, and then light go boom."

"What are you, a five year old? I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." The blond scowled. "Stupid idiots missed one of the Death Eaters that came through the wall. Back to work Potter. This isn't over with yet." Draco disappeared, scuttling behind the barrier back to his position.

~*~

As Deputy Headmistress, Minerva was somewhat in tune with the castle, so she was the first to notice when the barriers built into the very stone of the castle disappeard.

"Albus, I hope you know what you're doing," she murmured. Then she realized that he wasn't anywhere to be seen. What was he doing now?

Two hastily set up barriers winked into existence, reassuring her as the group of Death Eaters and magical beasts advanced on the castle.

Severus was, of course, nowhere to be seen in order to protect his secret allegiance.

A repulsive odor drifted toward her on the wind and she nearly gagged, overcome by her powerful sense of smell. Tears streamed down her face and she thought she would suffocate.

"What is that?" asked Rachel, a sixth year Slytherin with a knack for healing spells, covering her nose with her sleeve.

"H-har-pies," the Transfigurations Professor choked out.

Rachel was crouching down to avoid being hit. She reached into her healer's kit. "Here, professor," she said, proffering a handkerchief.

"Th-thanks," the woman said, voice muffled. "Alert the defenders on this s-side of the wall. T-tell them to watch the air."

"'kay," the Slytherin agreed and scrambled off.

Minerva doubled over, coughing as soon as she had left. The smell was getting worse and there was only so much a handkerchief could do to block it.

She glanced skyward, and her pupils shifted to those of a cat. There, a whole flock of harpies to her right. Minerva took careful aim and said quite calmly, "Incendio."

Three of them went up in balls of flame, thanks to the oil that coated their feathers. The others screeched, a sound like nails on a chalkboard, and scattered. Several others went up in flames as well, and still others dropped like stones, stripped of feathers or weighed down by steadily increasing gravity.

Minerva's nose and eyes cleared up and she managed to take a deep breath of smoky, magically charged air. Next a chill ran through her and she shivered. Voices whispered in her head, growing steadily louder and more powerful.

"Mother! Papa, don't. Papa, you're hurting her! Mommy!"

"Run, Min. Get away, hurry!"

Through the fog that clouded her brain she heard a quavery voice say, "Ex-expecto P-patronum."

The voices receded to a whisper and she saw a tiny whisp of silver out of the corner of her eye.

"Come on, Longbottom! You've done this in D.A. On three."

Happy memories, thought Minerva.

"One," said Draco, flinching as a spell shot by his ear.

"Two." Neville mouthed the word with the Slytherin.

"Three!"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

To everyone's mutual surprise, four voices shouted the incantation, resulting in a burst of blinding light similar to the one that had stopped the Killing Curse aimed at Harry.

When they could see again, four white animals were haranguing the Dementors, pushing them back away from the castle.

A whispy hawk dove at them from the air and despite everything, Neville was grinning, watching his creation.

Minerva's lioness was almost too bright to look at as it herded the group of Dementors back with the help of Draco's cobra.

Professor McGonagall's mouth quirked when she saw the puffin waddling after them and turned to see whose Patronus that was.

"Not exactly the dignified Patronus of a Seer," Sybil Trelawny commented with a frown as Neville and Draco stood open-mouthed, staring at her.

"I wasn't aware that you could produce a Patronus, Sybil," said Minerva.

"A Seer," said Trelawny, once more adopting her airy tone of voice, "does not reveal all she knows for fear of Fate's consequences."

This brought Neville and Draco out of their stupor and all of them turned back to the battle in time to see a stag Patronus flare into being off in the distance with Alice Tunnerman's large dog Patronus.

A sudden shrill scream caught her attention and she watched student tumble off the wall in horror.

"Mobilicorpus!" bellowed another student, barely in time to stop her impact.

Minerva quickly chanted a powerful shield spell as the Death Eater's aimed at the two. Their spells rebounded and hit wizards, witches, and Dark creatures near the spellcasters.

Please God, she thought desperately. Let them give up. I'm not sure how much more we can take.

~*~

Sakura knew that direct attack spells wouldn't work well on wizards and witches, though she had no idea why. Their main weak point was their wands. They depended on the wands, and if she destroyed them, they would be vulnerable.

Something flashy would be best, and flashy spells took little power to cast.

Once she had planned out what she needed, she began the casting of her spell, drawing on the strength of her darker side.

"Fly," she called, twirling her staff. Black wings materialized on her back and everything about her seemed tinted a darker shade. She called upon the shadows, called them to her, and they came. A black aura seemed to crackle around her, and as she took flight, her shadow kept pace on the ground. But it wasn't her shadow. The darkness pulsed, seeming to reach and grow, or shrink.

Shouts and screams let Sakura know that the ones on the ground and wall had seen her, but she was detached from it all, face frozen into a blank mask.

The moment she was above the field the snap of wands breaking announced her loyalty. Blackness rolled before her and behind her, and every Death Eater it touched found themselves holding broken wood.

After the first moment of shock, the army tried to attack her with spells, but they fizzled out the moment they touched her. The few holding bows and poisoned arrows shot at her, but the arrows simply veered away at the last moment to strike someone - or something - in the crowd.

Sakura cleared a large swath of the army before disappearing into the trees. Once out of sight she alighted on a sturdy branch and put her hands on her head, breathing heavily. It had taken more out of her than she'd thought it would.

A howl, crystal clear, seemed to hang in the air long after the creature had fallen silent.

Syaoran, she recognized emotionlessly. I wonder what he's doing here?

There was a moment of complete silence and then, as Sakura peeked at the field, certain people seemed to go crazy, howling and yipping and fleeing. She looked at them with her Sight and saw the features of a wolf overlapping those of the human. Werewolves, she realized.

Their wolf nature had overpowered their human side at Syaoran's howl. They subconsciously recognized Syaoran as an alpha male, someone too powerful for them to battle, and so they had submitted to his command and fled.

~*~

Harry suddenly found Ron and Ginny at his elbow.

"What's going on?" Ginny whispered fearfully. "Who - or what - was that?"

"I don't know," Harry replied.

"No one's seen Dumbledore at all," Ron said. "It looks like that thing was on our side; look what she did to You-Know-Who's army. But this really doesn't look good, mate."

"Voldemort's not here, though. I would have felt the danger before they'd surprised us if he was." A thought occured to Harry. "Is everyone okay?"

"That Anderson guy is in critical condition. His skin was melting off before we got him to Madam Pomfrey. He's the worst case, though, as far as I know," Ginny replied.

"What's -"

Ron was cut off by a long howl that raised goosebumps on their arms.

"Professor, what's wrong?" asked Hermione worriedly.

The moment the howl had rung over the battlefield he had tensed and taken a step backward, hands clenched into fists. Sweat beaded his brow and she was afraid he was going to bite through his lower lip. An unearthly moan reverberated deep in his throat. Hermione wasn't sure if she should keep her eyes on him or on the field.

"The. .. . Wolf," he gasped out.

Hermione wasn't sure if he was talking about himself or the creature that had caused the werewolves in the Dark army to flee.

"He wants me. . . to run. I can't. . ." Lupin's lips pulled back in a feral scowl, bearing his teeth.

"Professor?" asked Hermione, frightened. There was still a week to go before the full moon. He shouldn't be acting like this.

"I have to. . ." His voice was strained and his body was trembling.

"Wait," she said, an idea occuring to her. She quickly cast several different calming charms over him as well as an advanced lethargy spell.

Remus' trembling ceased and he relaxed, wincing as he saw the crescent marks of his nails on his palm. "Thank you," he said shakily. "25 points to Gryffindor."

~*~

A pale grey wolf fell upon the army in front of the main double doors, every bite or swipe of claws deliberate. Soon his muzzle and paws were red with blood. The only ones to see his large golden eyes were those who died with that knowledge, with the knowledge that an intelligent being was taking his revenge upon them.

No one noticed when the raven first showed up, but he quickly drew attention. His black feathers had a bluish sheen and his claws and beak were wicked sharp as he dove at heads and eyes.

"The Morrigan!" some of the more superstitious people screamed, and many broke down and Apparated as they ran from the chaos.

"Retreat!" a voice bellowed and the creatures fled to the forest as the Death Eaters Disapparated.

"'The Morrigan,'" Eriol muttered huffily as he appeared next to Sakura. "Honestly. Do I look like a female to you?"

Sakura allowed her wings to fade and released her Dark self as Syaoran lurched to the base of the tree, face and hands streaked with blood. "Do you really want me to answer that?" he asked weakly before his knees buckled and his leaned over to vomit painfully, his heaves wracking his slender body, hair plastered to his head. Sakura, now that she was back to normal and weak, felt nauseous herself.

She allowed herself to hang from the branch before dropping next to Syaoran. He was still heaving even though nothing was coming up.

"Syao-kun," Sakura crooned, holding him as he calmed down. "Syao-kun, aishiteru. Zettai daijoubu dayou." Everything will be all right.

But she wasn't sure if it would.

"I've never killed anyone like that. I've never killed anyone before," Syaoran said finally, wishing he had something to wash the taste of vomit out of his mouth.

"How did you know what was happening?" Sakura asked finally once she was sure Syaoran was okay.

"Spinel Sun saw them on his way back to England and managed to contact me," Eriol replied somberly, as he tried not to think about what he'd just done on the battlefield. "Right now he's asleep in my mansion. He's exhausted from flying so far and contacting me."

"And Ruby Moon's leaving him alone?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

"Actually, she's not home right now. She's running an errand for me, and I'm not sure when she'll be back."

"What's this errand?" Syaoran asked suspiciously. It wasn't his nature to linger over anything for too long, even killing.

"She's just looking for a group of people," Eriol replied evasively, and Sakura and Syaoran knew they wouldn't be getting anymore out of him.

"I'd better get back to the school before the barriers go back up," Sakura said with a sigh. She stepped in the direction of the castle before pausing and turning back to them.

"This can't happen again," Sakura said quietly. "We need to know what this Dark Lord is doing."

"Ruby Moon is looking for the meeting places of Death Eaters in Scotland and England," Eriol said finally. "One of us can spy on this Voldemort, and Tomoyo can help the other at the Ministry."

Sakura sighed. "There goes my partner."

"I guess you could still have her, it'll just take longer to find the papers we need," said Eriol.

"No, that's okay. She'll probably be safer there, anyway. Ja mata."

"Ja mata," Syaoran and Eriol echoed.

~*~

"Albus?" Minerva called out softly as she opened the door to his office. "Are you here?"

Either Albus or Severus had restored the normal barriers, but she hadn't seen either of them, which, for Severus, was normal, given his isolated tendencies. However, it was very unusual for Albus not to be in the thick of things.

"Incendio," she said, pointing her wand at the coals in the fireplace. They immediately flared up and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to light after the dim gloom.

"Albus?" she asked, walking over to the armchair in front of the fire. She gasped. "Albus!"

The great wizard was slumped over in his seat, wand fallen to the ground, burns lacerating what she could see of his skin. For one heart-stopping moment she thought he was dead, until she noticed the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest.

Minerva wanted to rush to his side, but she was brought up short by an invisible wall. "What-?"

Then she was the lines and runes drawn on the floor. A Great Ritual, she recognized with horror. But what was it for?

Most of the runes were too complicated for her to decipher, but she knew one of the ones that kept repeating itself was shield, and another power. Castle was in the section that marked the restrictions, and that one that almost looked like the kanji for ear meant communication. This one - Apparition? Part of that rune looked familiar. The power source looked strange. It was like two beings had been combined into one.

She shook her head. What was she doing? Albus could have died, could still die! She tried to get to the fireplace so she could contact Poppy, but the shield blocked too much. It had been sheer dumb luck that her spell had gotten to the fireplace.

Minerva could feel her heart racing and she firmly clamped down on her panic as she raced out the door and down the steps, becoming a cat in mid-bound. Poppy. She had to find Poppy.

But how would Poppy be able to get past the shield to help Albus?

She abruptly changed direction and swerved around a corner, jumping onto the bookbag of a student to get by her without running into her.

"Was that Professor McGonagall?" asked Hannah in astonishment.

"Remus!" she howled in Cat as she sprinted into his office.

"Minerva?" he asked in surprise.

"What?" asked the dour man next to him.

"Severus!" she exclaimed as she transformed back into herself. "What are you doing here? Never mind, thank God the two of you are here!"

They stared in astonished, never having seen the stern Professor McGonagall so flustered or panicked.

"It's Albus. He's gone and done a Great Ritual, and there's a barrier, and I can't get to him! You two are knowledgeable on the subject are you not? Hurry!"

"Is he all right?" asked Remus as they sprinted out of the room.

"As far as I could tell. You two go up to his office and find a way to get past the barrier. I'll get Poppy."

Few students had ever seen Professor McGonagall run. No one could believe quite how fast she could go.

"Out of the way," she snapped at a group of students mingling in the hallway.

Needless to say, they scattered.

"Poppy!" she called as she burst into the Infirmary.

"Quiet," hissed the medi-witch. "These students need their rest if they're going to heal."

"Come with me," said Minerva quietly. "There's been an emergency."

"Who is it, and what's wrong?" asked Madam Pomfrey, gathering her medic bag.

"I'm not sure what's wrong." She leaned in close and murmured, "It's Albus," not wanting to panic the students or spread rumors.

Poppy paled. "Can we Floo?"

"I don't know. Try to the fireplace in the empty old Arithmancy classroom next door," said Minerva.

Both disappeared into the fire almost immediately, and then rushed to the Headmaster's office.

"We just got it," said Remus, face gaunt and paler than usual. Severus looked much the same. "It doesn't matter where you step, the circle's broken."

Poppy Pomfrey cast several diagnostic spells, and then selected several potions from her bag.

"Help me get this into him," she ordered Minerva.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, complying.

"Mostly it's extreme exhaustion. His heart is weak, but this potion should strengthen it right away. If you'd waited even an hour more, his heart might not have recovered. He's not as young as he used to be," Poppy announced.

"None of us are," murmured Minerva.

Severus looked over at Lupin. "There's nothing I can do for you. You were simply too weak to resist the call of this. . . alpha male," he sneered. "Do not bother me over such trivial matters."

"Severus," Minerva reprimanded. "Being a bit sociable wouldn't kill you."

"So you think," he retorted. "I've been told my hair would spontaneously combust should I so much as compliment anyone not in Slytherin."

"You've been told or overheard?" asked Remus with a raised eyebrow.

"It makes no difference," he scowled.

"I'm taking the Headmaster to the Infirmary so I can keep an eye on him, but he should be fine after some rest," Poppy said.

"Is rest the only cure you believe in, woman?" Severus demanded.

"Enough," Minerva cut in. "One of you find a house elf to clean up this mess."

"I'll go," Remus volunteered and slipped out.

"Severus, you can go reassure the student body."

"Lucky me," he grumbled and stalked out.

"Do you need help, Poppy?" she asked the nurse.

"Could you cast an Invisibility Spell? I don't want to create a panic if they see him incapacitated."

Minerva complied, and then the nurse used her wand to lift him.

~*~

A Great Ritual? thought Sakura, examining the remnants of the casting. It was one of the simpler ones she knew, powering a large, strong shield with the caster's own energy. It shouldn't have been a problem for someone of the Headmaster's skill. From what she could tell, the teachers thought him lucky to escape as he had. He shouldn't be more than tired even at his age.

Something strange was going on here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*note: the Rithlan is something I made up; it's a spell that lost it's purpose and slowly becomes sentient