| The *other* Battle of Hogwarts...
_________________________________________ Or How Harry Potter really messed everything up- What would have happened if Harry had never seen everything Snape wanted him to See... ? Stupid Fanfiction of undescribable violence and chaos :-) By Sheila !!! _______________ "Look...at...Me..." he whispered. The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more. Harry simply threw the flask to the floor, where now it lay broken in a thousand pieces of glass... "Incendio!" he yelled, and the silvery substance burst into fierce, dazzling white flames. "HARRY!" screamed Hermione sharply, "Just what the heck have you done?!?" "Yeah, I reckon that silvery thing was important, mate..." said Ron, looking confused. "To hell with it" Harry whispered, "This is Snape we're talking about! Whatever this filthy piece of shit wanted to show me, I do not wish to see it... Something to humilliate me and my parents, I bet- Come on, back to the castle!" Then they heard Voldemort's thunderous voice and its message to Hogwarts and everything else, so they really hurried up- The three came out of the secret passage, ran through the now bloody and ruined grounds and entered the castle with great fear. *A few minutes later, at the Great Hall* Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Colin and many, many others lay dead on the floor, and while poor Molly Weasley still cried and sobbed over the corpse of her son, everyone else watched as Minerva McGonagall and Harry had a shouting row in front of them all. "Potter, your horrible plan is absolute madness!" "Professor, the only Horcrux left is Voldemort's stupid snake!" Harry bellowed, losing control of himself- "If we attack now with all our might, with everything we have, and we kill Nagini... we might, perhaps, have a chance to kill him off once and for all!!!" Harry had already told EVERYONE about the freaking Horcruxes thingy. "Harry!" screamed Hermione, crying- "You were not supposed to tell her... What, don't you respect Dumbledore anymore?" Harry laughed out loud, and it was a cruel, sarcastical laugh. "THAT OLD NUTTER OF CRAP?" Harry yelled, "He was off his rocker, Hermione! Lost all freaking marbles! I don't care! And look what I do with the stupid, useless Snitch he left me for God knows what mind-blowing schemes of filth!" Harry took out the Snitch and set it on fire as well. "There you are!" Harry had already lost his head after seven long years of problems, puzzles and near-death experiences, now desperate to just fight, fight and fight to the end- Hermione covered her face with her hands, and she kept crying with very loud sobs. "So you want all forces available, Potter? You want us to fight with everything we have?" asked McGonagall, towering over him and looking pretty furious- "To try our last chance, to attack them like nutters, you say?" "YES! Good, I'm glad you finally got it!" "All forces available...?" "What are you waiting for?" "VERY WELL!" yelled Minerva, losing her head just as Harry had done- "If the last Horcrux is the snake we might have, indeed, a good chance... Listen up, everyone! We've got to gather all forces available, and when I say all forces available, I mean ALL FORCES AVAILABLE! GOT IT? Now move, move, MOVE!!!" "But we have less than an hour!" protested Kingsley, who was covered in the blood of a Death Eater and had several gashes in his face. In that moment Harry screamed, suddenly collapsing due to the terrible pain coming from his scar- He suffered violent seizures on the floor, and his eyes turned black as he had, yet again, distant and mysterious visions of events taking place faraway from them. His surroundings disappeared in the darkness, and Harry was himself no more for now he was Voldemort, and he was in a cavern watching how hundreds and hundreds of Inferi came out of the black water... He could see his long and white hands, and heard yells of triumph and saw great, terrible flames illuminating the place. Roars of dragons, shadows in the darkness and flashes of swords... Ron hurried to help him, but Harry was already calming down. "What was it, Harry?" asked Hermione, helping him to sit up- "Is it You-Know-Who? What have you seen now?" "Yeah, it's... it's him" Harry muttered, still dizzy with pain- "I saw him in the dark lake of his cavern, and the Inferi were coming out of the water... I saw Death Eaters, so many of them, and dragons breathing fire... I saw dementors, and Goblins with swords, felt so much fury and rage... Hermione, he's raising an Army" Everyone remained in silence, horrified at Harry's words. "Harry is right" McGonagall explained- "After our violent resistance, I'm sure that Voldemort will want to attack us with all his might- He will take some time to assemble his army and organize the second attack, so maybe we have several hours! Now hurry up!" Everyone ran and left the blood-stained hall behind, and truly, really began to summon all the forces they could probably gather together that day... __________________________ A gray and cold afternoon, a ghastly wind from the North, the whispering of the forest, the mystery and the horrible, terrible fact that no one had even the most insignificant idea of what was going to happen now... The atmosphere was very tense and mystical, no one dared to move. And there he came, Bill riding a thestral through the burned, blood-stained grounds of Hogwarts Castle... He went directly for McGonagall and stopped beside her, and there it was, just what Harry had asked for: A big bloody Army quickly assembled with All Forces Available. McGonagall, like most of them all, had painted her face with colours of the Houses of Hogwarts -she was wearing scarlet and gold, naturally- and she was also wearing, with proud, a large Gryffindor banner that now acted as a Cloak. Her thestral was somewhat bigger and scarier than Bill's... She still had her big witchy hat, and the Gryffindor Sword, which she had taken out of the Sorting Hat a few hours ago, was hanging from her waist. And behind her lay the Army, and the History of Hogwarts had never seen something the likes of this madness... They had called back all the evacuated younger students -even the poor little first years- and now Hogwarts' full thirteen hundred pupils were ready for the battle, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna were in the first row just behind their former teacher of Transfiguration. The students were flanked by twelve Green Welsh dragons, which, having arrived just in time thanks to the efforts of Charlie, were very angry and uneasy and formed the strongest part of Hogwarts Army... All the Professors and the staff -even Madam Pomfrey and Mr. Filch, who was now clutching a Muggle baseball bat- were there as well, together with the full Order of the Phoenix, or what was now left of it anyway. But there was more: Seven hundred statues and Armors, that now were alive thanks to McGonagall's spell, had joined the army... not to mention the fifteen hundred inhabitants of Hogsmeade, led by Aberforth, and seven hundred House-Elves under the orders of Kreacher. The little elves had armed themselves with knives, saucepans and forks, and were ready to follow any order at once and attack with no mercy... Huge banners of all the four Houses were dancing with the wind above the Army, and many students, especially the younger ones, had borrowed maces and swords from the castle's corridors and halls. The Centaurs had come too, like three hundred of them, and this means that a full-scale Army exceeding four thousand members was standing behind Minerva McGonagall now, and who knew what was going to happen... "I hope you're happy, Potter!" McGonagall yelled, and he glared up at her- "Well, what news?" She demanded from Bill. The castle behind them was all unstable and smoky, looking as though it could collapse any moment and bury them all to death. "We're outnumbered, though not by much" Bill said, and he was breathing very fast. "How many dragons, then?" McGonagall asked, having some trouble to control her thestral. "Thirty Horntails, maybe more" "Thirty Horntails...!" said the little, horrified voice of Flitwick, who was riding another thestral beside them both- "We... We have no chance!" "Hagrid is dead" Bill muttered, tragically- "They tied him to a tree and slit his throat with a dagger... It seems Grawp has fled, and my Fleur is nowhere to be seen!" "Damn it!" McGonagall said, matter-of-factly. "Minerva, they're coming" Harry could see how pale and sick Bill was looking now, and he really felt scared- "No wonder they took all day, they've got the greatest, bloodiest Army I've ever seen! What are we going to...?" In that moment, countless birds came flying out of the Forest a quarter of a mile away from them- The poor things looked terrified, and then, after a creepy and long, unnatural silence, the ground began to shake... They could hear the distant sound of marching troops, they stared at the faraway trees... and then Voldemort's Army began to emerge, slowly and inexorably, from the deep darkness of the Forest. __________________________ Voldemort came first, with his long black robes and his red eyes gleaming, and he had not only the Elder Wand in his hand, but also the very same magical shield he had used against Dumbledore in that duel at the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix Lestrange was to his right, hoodless and proud, and to the left of the Dark Lord was a mysterious Death Eater with big, brilliant blue eyes that were clearly visible in the darkness of her hood. Hundreds and hundreds of Death Eaters came out of the forest, marching elegant and proud, stamping the ground to scare the enemy, wands in their hands and flags with the Dark Mark high above them... And there came the huge Hungarian dragons, breathing fire and roaring to the sky, twelve enormous and horrible giants flanking them all. Scary Inferi -that had just been taken out of certain black lake- were marching behind the Death Eaters by the thousands, and among them came the Goblins, a full thousand of them that, proudly armed with swords and armour of their own, had come to pay allegiance to the Dark Lord. Three hundred Acromantulas came the last, and Voldemort's army quickly began to take positions facing the forces of Hogwarts... "So many..." said Ron, gaping impressed at the magnitude of the enemy Army- But he was not the only one that was scared, for them all, every single member of the Army of Hogwarts, was now terrified at the mere sight of this. Hermione was sighing, her face painted with scarlet and gold... Harry was glaring, the first years were petrified and they all watched in awed silence as seven hundred Dementors, coming out of nowhere, glided soundlessly like shadows and formed a line at the front of Voldemort's Army. The Dark Mark's flags whispering with the wind, the wands ready, the furious dragons, the proud Goblins, the Dementors eager to suck souls... "Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothing!" said Ginny, her face painted too, trying to cheer everyone up. Luna, who was to Harry's left with her face showing the Ravenclaw colours, looked at him with a mad face and the usual dreamy look in her eyes. "My mother tells me she can get me out of this mess" she said, smiling with glee- "But she's pretty sure you're fucked!" and she laughed out loud like a lunatic, receiving an angry, reproachful look from her friend. McGonagall had her wand ready in her hand, the sword ready to attack... ____________________________ Voldemort was sneering, looking at McGonagall's Army with both despise and delight. "Quite a lovely... gathering" he said with his high and cold voice, and then he glanced at the mysterious Death Eater that was standing to his left- "Wouldn't you agree?" Her face could not be seen, but her blue eyes gleamed when she glanced back at her master- and then she gave a slow and solemn nod, her long and silvery blond hair flying beautifully with the wind. It seemed that Voldemort wasn't surprised at all to find a whole Army waiting for him at the doors of the castle, so maybe his blue-eyed new friend, who had very long silvery hair, had already told him that Hogwarts was preparing to fight to the death. Bellatrix, on the other side of the Dark Lord, looked ecstatic with the moment... "Forces of Hogwarts!" Voldemort's voice could be heard a dozen miles away- "I admire your bravery and pride... Lord Voldemort is merciful: Hand over Potter, and you will be spared! Do it not... And every one of you will die today!" Nagini hissed at the feet of her owner, hungry, eager to swallow little first years... Bellatrix was hopping with pleasure like a little girl, and now there was laughter coming from every single corner of the great Dark Army. "Forces of Darkness!" said McGonagall's magically amplified voice- "We admire your bravery and pride... Hogwarts is merciful: Hand over Voldemort, and you will be spared! Do it not... And every one of you will die today!" Bellatrix gaped, the laughter quickly died, the wind seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden and Voldemort looked utterly displeased with what McGonagall have dared to say. "Insolent bastard!" said the Dark Lord, his big red eyes shining with cold fury- "I want McGonagall's heart in a plate! DRAGONS!" In that moment the mysterious blond Death Eater raised a hand to her left, her blue eyes gleaming in the darkness of her hood... and then Lucius Malfoy, who was riding a large and scary thestral just a few meters behind them, rode forward and began slowly a long journey that followed a straight line in front of the army. He was holding high a beautiful silvery banner that showed the blue figure of a dragon, and then his powerful, echoing voice broke the freezing silence of the field: "DRAAAGONS FORWAAAAARD...!" __________________ The thirty Hungarian Horntails advanced slowly to the front, the large formations of Death Eaters moving aside for them to pass... The ground was shaking, the monsters were roaring with delight... McGonagall was glaring, Harry looked like frozen, the younger students were so pale, the dragons had formed a line now and Hermione, looking up at the sky for a few seconds, sighed with sadness and stared at the monsters waiting for the imminent attack. Voldemort smiled with cruelty and glee, and then, after admiring the impressive beauty of the terrible formation of beasts, he simply looked at Bellatrix and gave a very casual nod to her. "Dragons Ready!" she yelled, her face radiant with triumph- "FIRE!" _____________ It was like a blast, like a powerful thunder and a shower of sparks, and then thirty dazzling fireballs were soaring through the sky... They rised very high and then fell to the ground describing an arch, and the forces of Hogwarts looked up at them with the wands ready in their hands. They waited for the very last second, they prepared to do their best... "Protego!" yelled hundreds of voices all over the army, and the fireballs crashed and exploded against the invisible shields- "Protego, Protego!" The explosions were powerful, fire was everywhere and many students freaked out, a situation that worsened greatly when one of the fireballs managed to get past the protections and hit with violence a group of young third-years. The powerful shockwave sent burning students flying through the air amid awful screams of agony and terror, and then McGonagall screamed: "DRAGONS FIRE!!!" The Green Welsh dragons sent twelve fireballs against the Dark Army, but they all were stopped by a casual flick of Voldemort's wand... Now the students were fighting off the fire with magical water from their wands, and they could see that Bellatrix, in the other side of the field, was ready to send yet another wave of fireballs against them. McGonagall could feel the cold fear that had taken hold of her Army, and when she looked back at them she saw that even Kingsley was cowed... Now was the time to act, before everyone panicked, she had to be brave and give the order to attack. Everyone knew that they had to kill Nagini, to kill Voldemort at any cost... And there, under the sad and gray cold sky, McGonagall advanced slowly twelve steps with her thestral... She looked at the enemy with a dreadful look in her eyes, smoke and flames were all around her and her Gryffindor cloak was dancing with the wind. "Hogwarts!" she yelled with a powerful voice, and then she unsheathed the Gryffindor sword- "CHAAAAARGE...!" McGonagall rode out with unbelievable pride, and the Army of Hogwarts charged at once with great cries of war... __________________________ Official Soundtrack for the battle: Our Solemn Hour, by Within Temptation !!! _____________________________________ Voldemort's rage at this was dreadful, his eyes were like fire, his shield was ready, his wand pointing directly to the charging forces of Hogwarts- The Dark Lord gave the order with a swing of his arm, and the entire Dark Army charged at once. The air was now full of screams and cries from both sides, the banners and flags were rippling on their way to the fight and the ground was shaking under the combined weight of the armies... McGonagall riding proudly with the sword in her hand, Harry running faster than he had ever ran in his life, Hermione glaring, Luna laughing, Neville ready to get his revenge, Mr. Filch with his Muggle baseball bat, Kreacher with a saucepan in his hands... Voldemort screaming in fury as he charged, Bellatrix running with a fanatical glow in her face, Fleur still hooded and her long hair rippling behind her like a flame, seventeen hundred Death Eaters charging as one, the countless Inferi, the giants wielding their clubs, the Goblin swords shining, the Horntails roaring with pride... The Dark Lord sent a Killing Curse flying straight at McGonagall, but she intercepted the green light with a slash of her sword... and Harry, just seconds away from the moment to fight, saw both of them disappearing in a dazzling flash of white light. And there, under the gloomy gray sky, the blood-thirsty armies crashed in the middle of the ruined grounds of Hogwarts... _______________________ Flashes of green light, many dead bodies quickly falling to the ground, fire and explosions, curses and spells, protective enchantments stopping beams of light, an acrid black smoke everywhere and endless cries of pain... The teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix had met the first lines of Death Eaters while the students took on the rest of them, and soon it was a total madness full of corpses and infinite curses flying everywhere- The people of Hogsmeade and the statues and armors faced the Inferi and the Dementors in battle, and Voldemort's Goblins were already fighting to death against the House-Elves. There was blood flying like when you water a garden -many duelers were using Sectumsempra- and the flames coming from the dragons of both sides were burning people like cardboard, deafening roars of the beasts and awful screams of agony and fear. A rain of Avada Kedavra blasts fell upon a charging group of third years, Neville's Grandmother was setting Death Eaters on flames, Lucius finished off Arthur Weasley with a killing curse while riding through the battle, Flitwick paralyzed Yaxley with a body-bind attack and Percy yelled in agony while Greyback, roaring like a beast, fell viciously on him and began to devour him alive... Kreacher crushing Goblin heads with his saucepan, a first year cutting off the leg of a Death Eater with his sword, the yell of a House-Elf when a Goblin sank his shiny blade deep into his chest, the Dementors sucking souls and a Giant squelching Professor Sprout with his club like a roach. Harry was already covered in blood, sending Avada Kedavra blasts and using Sectumsempra against every Death Eater he could see... his glasses were askew and he was yelling of rage, thinking of his parents and eager for revenge. One Death Eater fell dead at Harry's feet, throat slit and blood spreading on the ground... "Bastards!" Harry screamed in the very center of the massacre, wielding his wand like a madman- "COME FOR ME! Sectumsempra, Sectumsempra, SECTUMSEMPRA!!!" Heads, arms and bright red blood flying through the air, legs instantly cut off and Death Eaters falling to the ground- "Is that all you've got, IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT??? AVADA KEDAVRA!" The Centaurs were battling the giants -Harry saw one of them falling dead to the ground, covered in arrows- but the Acromantulas were coming to help, their horrible hairy legs twitching horribly as they walked with their poisonous fangs ready to bite. Now Bane, Ronan and Magorian were surrounded by them, being cut to pieces by countless bites of the monsters... McGonagall was riding her thestral through the battle, throwing killing curses and delivering deadly sword slashes at all Death Eaters she could reach- Hermione dueling three Death Eaters at once, Ginny sending curses flying everywhere with her red hair rippling like fire, Luna yelling something about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Neville delivering Sectumsempra slashes at all the hooded figures he could see... A huge black armor swirling his chained ball with pride and then delivering a devastating blow on the head of a Death Eater, Mr. Filch fighting bravely with his Muggle baseball bat, the Inferi tearing students apart... Dead elves and dead goblins covering the ground, the smell of the blood, a Green Welsh dragon stamping the Inferi, first years of Hogwarts running through the smoke with maces in their hands, the long tail of a Horntail crushing entire families from Hogsmeade... It all was a total nightmare, a horrible scene full of violence and blood. A Dementor was sucking the soul out of Kingsley, so Bill and his mother hurried to help: They both raised their wands and prepared their Patronuses, but then a high voice said not faraway from them... "Incendio!" Bill burst into flames, yelling in pain and collapsing in an instant... and Molly had barely a second to watch how the now blood-covered and hoodless Fleur, laughing happily like a girl with a new toy, pointed her wand directly at her. "You treacherous piece of...!" "Crucio!" screamed Fleur, and she laughed with glee while Molly's horrible screams filled the air around them... "Come on Fleur, there are enough of them for both of us!" said Bellatrix, torturing happily an entire dozen of first years and sliting open Pomfrey's throat with a casual flick of her wand... "Right, Bella!" Fleur answered, and finished Molly with a dazzling Killing Curse. Death Eaters were falling everywhere with arrows in their heads, the Acromantulas were burning, the statues and the armours now laid shattered to pieces, the dead students were countless and Voldemort was nowhere to be seen... _____________________________ The legendary Battle of Hogwarts was for sure the scariest, deadliest and bloodiest day that the Wizarding History in Britain had ever seen, and after thirty brief minutes of violence and death it had all come to an end... The castle was almost destroyed by the fire and the explosions, the grounds had been turned into a cemetery of decay and the lake now was red with the blood of those who were slain. McGonagall, Harry, Flitwick, Ron, Luna, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville managed to escape the carnage as best as they could, and they quickly fled the country flying together to the East. The rest of the army was annihilated, but they all fought bravely and Voldemort's forces suffered great casualties as well: The Dark Army lost a full thousand Death Eaters -Lucius, Dolohov and Yaxley included- not to mention fifteen dragons and ten giants, and only thirty Goblins survived the fierce fighting against the brave Elves of Hogwarts. Nearly all the Inferi were destroyed by fire spells, the Dementors had fled and now all of the Acromantulas laid dead on the grounds producing a stench of unbearable strength... but all these loses were nothing, nothing if compared to the loss of the Dark Lord himself: Apparently, at some point during the fray Voldemort had tripped with a House-Elf, fallen to the ground and hit his head on a rock, getting instantly killed- And sadly for him, a few minutes before this his beloved snake Nagini had died in a terrible way. The monster had been crushed to death with maces by a gang of particularly vicious Ravenclaw first years, who never knew that they succeeded in destroying the sixth Horcrux and doing their part to bring down the Dark Lord. ___________________________ Voldemort's surprising death left the surviving Death Eaters in confusion, and they stayed arguing for hours in the grounds until Bellatrix and Fleur, blaming each other for the loss of their master, lost control completely and had a terrible duel. The fight lasted all night, and those who witnessed it have written of the terror and the awe they felt as they watched these two extraordinary witches do battle... in the end Fleur won the duel, and she, taking control of what remained of the Dark Army, quickly rose to power and turned herself into a Dark Lord. Today, some say that Fleur had planned it all: The siege of Hogwarts, her betrayal to her husband and her friends, the preparation of both armies, the battle, Voldemort's death, her duel against Bellatrix and finally her taking over of Britain and Europe, where she instaured a reign of terror the likes of which History had never seen. Tens of thousands died trying to stop her, and the legends of her cruelty and power would remain forever etched, generation after generation, in all Wizarding minds... Fleur and Bellatrix eventually became friends -more than just friends, some say- and Bella was declared Queen of England, left behind to rule while Fleur lived in a huge castle of ice in the highest part of the French Alps. For many years no one heard about McGonagall and her little group of heroes, and rumours said that they were alive and living somewhere in Romania... planning, perhaps, to someday come back to Britain and take revenge at last... However, the sad truth is that the most famous of them did not manage to survive for very long. _____________________________ *A Few hours after the battle, late at night in a deep Romanian forest* It was a freezing night somewhere in the Romanian Carpathians, with a great, white full moon shining amid thousands of twinkling stars... "Oh, Harry!" Hermione was saying, sobbing in desperation- "Harry... Don't die Harry, you cannot die, please don't die..." Harry Potter, still covered in blood, had lost his glasses in the battle and was now laying amid grass and rocks... He had serious trouble to breathe and his eyes were wide open, one of his hands holding his invisibility cloak and the other covering a dreadful open wound on his chest. It was like a vicious slash done by a terrible sword, already rotting with loads of red blood coming out without a stop... "It was... her" Harry muttered, and his voice was collapsing in pain- "I still can't believe that she betrayed us..." "Mate, you cannot die!" yelled Ron, kneeling beside Harry and Hermione- "What are we going to do without you? Harry, you have to resist! Please..." "There's nothing to do" said McGonagall, standing a mere ten feet away and looking down at them with a mournful look in her eyes- "We have no dittany, nothing- I hope dear Pomfrey was here with us... What a shame she didn't make it" Harry began to cough up blood, Hermione crying and sobbing on his chest... "Harry!" said the broken voice of Ginny- "I cannot bear the thought of your agony..." She had appeared suddenly, still covered in blood from the battle and showing many scratches and wounds... her beautiful red hair was a total mess, and she was crying even harder than Hermione. "Please..." Ginny said as Harry looked up at her- "Drink this- It will numb your pain" She gave Harry a little bottle of dark glass, and watched with sorrow as Harry drank it in one gulp- But as soon as she had turned around and walked away crying her eyes out, he looked to his right and spit the poison out. "This is not so bad..." Harry said to Hermione- "After all I'm going to go on, and I shall see my parents again, and Sirius..." "Harry" she sobbed, without looking up "Harry, don't..." "Hermione, you were my sister... and Ron, you were a brother for me" McGonagall was crying in silence, Harry began to choke again, Ron covered his face with his hands and Luna, standing beside McGonagall with tears in her face, looked up and stared at the infinite stars shining above them. "Please tell Ginny that I loved her" Harry said- "Fight, Fight..." His right hand slackened its grip, and the invisibility cloak slided down to the grass... ________________________ Nineteen Years Later... It was a grey and cloudy afternoon, just as it had been that day, back then, when the now legendary battle had taken place... The freezing wind was whispering, and there, just outside of the entrance to the castle, a new Army of Hogwarts stood in guard facing the forest nearby. Minerva McGonagall was at the front of her forces, and she stared, with a sad and mystic look in her eyes, at the huge, scary army that Bellatrix had deployed for the occasion. The enemy forces were impressive, but Minerva looked calm and her Gryffindor Cloak, golden and red, kept dancing with the wind. She was riding a thestral, and five other old heroes were looking, equally thoughtful, to the distance- Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Neville, now nearly thirty seven years old, stood proudly right behind their former teacher in the first row of the Army. "After the disastrous Battle of Hogwarts, a few brave survivors and I fled the country and escaped to a far off forest in Romania... We lived there for Twelve long and difficult years, but finally came back to Britain and started The Resistance. We were hunted like vermin and many of our followers were slain, but it did not have the effect that Bellatrix had planned. Now the new wizarding Kingdom of Gryffinya has been created for those who seek peace, and I, Minerva McGonagall, rode out to pay homage to the Armies of the Dark Lord... And Accept her Endorsement of my Crown" Bellatrix could be seen very clearly, faraway, at the front of her own army. She was sneering, she giggled and her smile was very cruel, looking forward with glee to one of the best moments of her Life. Minerva Mcgonagall, remembering what had taken place at these very grounds nineteen years ago, pulled Harry's old invisibility cloak out of her sleeve and stared at it for several cold seconds... Her memories were so clear and sharp, and she remembered with love and appreciation the boy with glasses and a scar, their hero, the Boy who had Lived. Ginny and her friends noticed this and looked curiously at her, but then Minerva hid the cloak and stared, like frozen, at Bellatrix's forces again. The afternoon was so grey and so cold, just as it had been that terrible day... "Come, let's get it over with" said Flitwick, who was riding another thestral beside old Minerva... And they both started advancing, slowly, to go and meet Bellatrix and finish this for good. "Stop" Mcgonagall said all of a sudden... Hermione looked up at her again, and Ron, just beside her, clutched his wand tightly in his hand and kept looking to the distance. McGonagall was now listening to the deepest feelings of her heart, and while Flitwick looked at her, wondering what would she want to say, Minerva turned around to face the proud Army of Hogwarts... and now she spoke, on the verge of tears, with a high and clear voice. "You have bled with Potter!" Luna and Neville looked up at her in silence in a very deep, serious way, but she continued: "Now bleed with Me..." There was a freezing silence, and then, after seven seconds or so, Ginny Weasley walked forward a few steps and unsheathed with pride the Gryffindor Sword... She appreciated the beauty of the silvery blade with tears in her eyes, and remembered how Harry had saved her with it so many years ago. Her love for him was so powerful and pure, and it, coming from the deepest of her soul, gave her a moment of unbelievable strength... Ginny gave an incredible scream, her long red hair flew like fire and she threw the sword to the air- And there it was, the Gryffindor Sword flying like a dazzling beam of light and everyone looked up, so impressed, to watch... The sword flashed and swirled and finally it landed faraway from them, sinking neatly into the ground... and Ginny, looking around at her fellow heroes of war, began to scream a last name that meant so much to every single one of them: "Potter, Potter, Potter...!" Everyone followed her, and the roar of the army was like a deafening thunder of wrath and pride: "POTTER, POTTER, POTTER, POTTER!!!" McGonagall took out another sword and prepared for the fight, glaring at the enemy, and the impressed and scared Flitwick, looking back at the army, didn't know what to do... Five thousand wands rised high into the air, McGonagall pointed her sword at Bellatrix's Army and charged with a scream and then it all happened like Magic. The Army of Hogwarts attacked with violent and proud yells of war, and Bellatrix's puzzled face revealed nothing but fear and overwhelming surprise. "In the year of Our Lord 2017, Heroes of Hogwarts, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields of their magnificent castle... They fought like warrior poets, they fought like Hogwartians... And Won their Freedom" |