Chapter 18
Everyone was quiet when they gathered for breakfast the next morning.
No one seemed eager to speak as they woke up over eggs, toast, and bacon. Harry tried not to burn his tongue as he sipped his tea rapidly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.
As they finished eating, Harry took a deep breath and stood up. His worried gaze sought out each of them around the table, before he nodded determinedly. "We can do this," he said simply. "We're ready, and one way or another, this ends today."
Ginny stood up and made her way to his side, slipping her hand into his. "Let's make sure it ends in our favor," she replied.
They all chuckled weakly, before leaving the table and making their way to the entrance hall.
Harry pulled out his medallion and signaled Minerva, before he pulled out several lengths of rope. "These portkeys will take us to the entrance of the secret passage. I made them yesterday."
They all shared the rope between them, and a moment later, Harry activated the portkeys, and everyone disappeared from the comfortable castle.
XXX
Harry had told Minerva a specific time, so when they got to the cave, they had to wait a while. Harry wanted them to be in position early, so that they were ready to act as soon as the Death Eaters left the castle.
Shortly before noon, Harry signaled for them to put their ear transmitters in, as he pulled out the Marauders Map and whispered the activation phrase. He bit his lip, his bright green eyes focusing on everything around him as he shifted into battle mode.
"Is anyone there?" he asked.
A moment of silence, and then –
"Harry, old chap, how absolutely spiffing to hear from you!"
Harry was pretty sure that was Fred, but it was harder to tell the twins apart when he couldn't see them.
"Just jolly old chum!" That was the other twin, and Harry shook his head amusedly.
Another voice chimed in, and Harry greeted Cedric warmly. "Thanks for helping us out with this," he said to the older man.
He could hear Cedric's smile in his voice at his reply. "Hey, I'm happy to be here. You don't even have to ask."
"What about shopkeepers, and shoppers?" Harry asked, not wanting anyone to be caught in the middle of this.
"The DA got the word out for people to stay home," Cedric assured him. "There shouldn't be too many people doing their shopping today."
"And we contacted several reliable shopkeepers," Sirius assured his godson, making his presence known over the transmitters. "We told them to open up and then go home, so it looks like they're available for business, in case the Death Eaters get suspicious."
"Are we nearly ready?" Minerva's voice joined them, and Harry nodded, though he knew they couldn't see him.
"On your mark," he informed them. "We'll make our move when the Death Eaters leave."
XXX
Minerva glanced at Sirius and nodded. "Fred, George, give us two minutes and then start your attack. Amelia, are your people ready?"
Amelia's voice chimed in affirmatively. "Just tell us when."
Amelia had been in place with the Aurors for the last half hour, waiting for the signal.
Minerva smiled grimly. "Let's go."
XXX
Fred and George grinned at each other as they began preparing the devices they had managed to hide throughout the Alley the night before. Magi-grenades, with spells ranging from blasting hexes to stunners, were placed strategically throughout the Alley, ready to explode with an activation code; it was an improved-upon design from their previous magi-grenades, which worked by pulling a pin. These ones would only go off when the twins were ready.
They had also hid many other little tricks and treats for the Death Eaters, which could only help them, considering how much opposition they were expecting once it became known that they were attacking Voldemort's followers.
Fred and George knew that they would likely be facing the Death Eaters alone for some period of time – hopefully not too long – before Minerva, Sirius, and the rest joined them. Which made their hidden toys all the more important. It would give them an advantage, and hopefully take out some of the opposition while they were at it.
Precisely two minutes after Minerva's order, the twins nodded as one, and spared one last glance towards their back room, where the healers were set up and ready, before they raised their wands and whispered the activation code. They were rewarded for their actions at the sounds of multiple explosions and cursing coming from outside.
George smirked viciously. "Let's give 'em hell, Gred."
Fred returned the smile. "Took the words right out of my mouth, Forge."
And together, the twins immediately rushed out the door of their shop, and into the chaos.
XXX
Studying the Marauders Map intently, Harry only had to wait five minutes before he saw names begin congregating in the Great Hall and Entrance Hall; soon after that, they began disappearing in groups.
He supposed it would make sense; the wards had fallen when Voldemort had attacked the school before Christmas, so it was now possible to disapparate and portkey from the grounds. He was certain, however, that Voldemort would have wards in place to let him know if anyone other than his Death Eaters tried to take advantage of that. Or maybe it was that only those with a Dark Mark could portkey or apparate to or from the castle. Either way, it didn't really make much difference.
He folded up the map and put it in his pocket, before going over to the boulder that housed the secret passage. Opening it revealed a dark hole that seemed to stretch on forever.
Harry and Ginny were the first ones through, but the rest followed quickly behind, afraid to lose them in the oppressive darkness of the tunnel.
When they reached the end of the passageway, Harry pulled out the map again, and used his wand to illuminate it. He studied it for a few moments, before nodding to himself and putting it away again.
"Right," he whispered, all of them drawing close so that he could speak without raising his voice, "there's about fifteen Death Eaters still in the castle, but it looks like most of them have left. You-Know-Who's not here." He didn't want to speak Voldemort's name, as the Taboo would most likely kick in, and alert the Dark Lord to their presence at Hogwarts. "We all know the plan, yeah?"
Everyone affirmed that they knew what they were supposed to be doing, so Harry pushed open the exit, and led the group into the bare stone room. When they had all entered, the door they had come through melted back into the wall, until it was impossible to tell that there had been a door there at all.
Everyone looked around with interest as Harry crossed the room, opening the door that led to the rest of the castle.
No one was in the hallway outside, which Harry already knew since he had studied the map, so the group exited the Room of Requirement.
Harry didn't speak as he nodded to his friends, and as agreed, they all split up, heading to different parts of the castle to complete their separate tasks.
XXX
Minerva knew they were outnumbered, as the Order and their allies attacked the Alley. They were fighting well, but the Death Eaters just had sheer force on their side.
The group of Death Eaters had arrived right before Harry had contacted them that morning, so it was just a few minutes before they launched their surprise attack.
The Death Eaters only floundered for a moment, before they were firing back, and like that, the fight was on.
Minerva dodged a sickly orange curse and ducked behind a wall, catching her breath. "Harry, I suggest you hurry. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep this up."
Harry's voice was grim across the transmitter. "Just give us as long as you can. It's a big castle."
Minerva rolled her eyes, but left her hiding place and engaged the nearest Death Eater.
XXX
Amelia knew that she and her group had surprise on their side, but that was pretty much it.
The Ministry building was filled with Death Eaters and sympathizers, and she had only a small group with her. All told, she had as much of the Auror corps that had escaped when the Ministry had fallen in December that she was able to get in contact with, which totaled nearly 30. Some Aurors had been too badly injured, and some hadn't wanted to fight anymore. More had fled the country, or gone into deep hiding, and she hadn't been able to reach them.
There was a guard at the employee entrance to the Ministry, but several Aurors easily took care of that, and immediately began to enter the building. The employee entrance could let in ten at a time, and the visitor's entrance let in six, if they squeezed.
Amelia sent some of her group to the visitor's entrance, and the rest went through the employee entrance, waiting a few seconds in between, to make sure they didn't land on top of each other.
As Amelia had guessed, the Death Eaters were not expecting an attack that morning, so it took them a few moments to get themselves together. By the time they started firing back, all of the Aurors were inside, and the fight was picking up.
There was quite a bit of opposition, but what heartened Amelia were the wizards and witches who recognized what was going on, and started attacking the Death Eaters as well.
The lobby had descended into near chaos, with Death Eaters attacking the Aurors, and Ministry employees that hadn't felt the need to go into hiding under the new regime either joining the Aurors, joining the Death Eaters, or just trying to escape the madness.
Frank and Alice had chosen to go with the Aurors, given the choice between that and the Alley. It was probably more dangerous, but they had worked in this building, and they knew it well. They wanted to help their fellow Aurors, and Amelia was happy to have their assistance. The couple led a group through the lobby and to the lifts, heading towards the upper levels, while Tonks led another group in the opposite direction, and Amelia took a final group towards level one.
They all knew they were outnumbered, but as far as things went, Amelia thought they were holding up pretty well.
At least Voldemort wasn't there. Yet.
XXX
Ginny, Ron, and Hermione quietly navigated the hallways between the Room of Requirement and the headmaster's office. Ginny hadn't wanted to separate from Harry, but they thought she would be able to get passed the gargoyle because of their bond, so it was necessary to split up. The only thing they could do was be quick about it, so she could get back to Harry faster.
They reached the gargoyle without seeing a soul, and Ginny allowed herself to relax slightly. Not completely, just a little. She looked at the stone guardian, and swallowed. "We need to get in," she said softly, not wanting her voice to echo in the silence.
The gargoyle turned its head towards them, and seemed to study them for a moment, before it nodded austerely and moved aside.
Ginny wasted no time in leading Ron and Hermione up the stairs.
XXX
Daphne and Luna were a little put out at their job, but didn't argue or complain, knowing it needed to be done. The two girls headed up to the Astronomy tower with the Marauders Map to keep watch. There were still nearly fifteen Death Eaters in the castle, though thankfully, Voldemort wasn't there. Harry hadn't known whether or not to be relieved at that, since the Dark Lord may be attacking their friends and family at that very moment. It was also possible that the megalomaniac was at Malfoy Manor. It made them all nervous, not knowing, but there wasn't much they could do about it, except be ready.
Once in the tower, they set up several disillusionment charms and wards to keep anyone from finding them, before they settled down with the map between them, to inform the others if any unfriendlies were close to finding them.
XXX
Harry, Neville, Susan, and Blaise immediately returned their attention to the Room of Requirement once their friends had left. Harry closed his eyes and walked past the stretch of wall three times, asking for a place to hide something.
He knew there was a chance – a rather terrifyingly large one – that they were completely on the wrong track with their plan to search the Room of Requirement, but it was the only real lead they had, so they had to do it.
He hoped they weren't as off track as it was possible they could be, as he opened the large door that appeared for them.
All four let out groans as they stepped inside and saw the cathedral-like room hidden behind the unimpressive door.
The room was enormous, and filled from floor to ceiling. There were shelves packed with objects, and piles of what Harry endearingly termed 'junk' in his mind. It would take forever to search the whole room.
Knowing that they didn't have any time to waste, the group spread out and began searching.
Through the ear pieces, they kept in contact, making sure the others knew their locations, as it would be easy to get lost in this massive room.
After ten minutes, Ginny informed them that they had the sword, and she, Ron, and Hermione would come back to help in the search.
For half an hour, the group looked for the horcrux. Ginny broke off from Ron and Hermione, going to find Harry as they entered the Room, while Ron and Hermione headed in a different direction, trying to cover more ground.
After another few minutes, Daphne's voice chimed in their ears. "Hurry it up, guys, Death Eaters are reappearing in the castle."
Harry paused briefly. "Where?"
It was easy to hear the worry in the Slytherin's reply. "Five in the Great Hall, four more heading in from the grounds." She hesitated, and then swore. "Make that eleven on the grounds, and eight in the Great Hall. Did we trip some sort of alarm?"
Harry bit his lip. "Aunt Minerva? What's going on at the Alley?"
Minerva's voice was breathless, indicating she was hard at work. "Death Eaters are disapparating. Harry, what's happening?"
Harry gritted his teeth. "They must have received some order to get back to Hogwarts. We're going to need some help here."
Minerva inhaled sharply. "We'll do the best we can, but there are still a fair amount of Death Eaters here. Be careful."
Harry took a deep breath, and looked at Ginny. She nodded, just once, and he smiled slightly.
"Daphne, Ron, Blaise, Neville, go set up a perimeter two floors down. Keep the Death Eaters back and give us as much time as you can. Luna, stay where you are and keep us informed. Susan, Hermione, stay here and help us search. Our window just decreased significantly."
They all gave affirmatives, and followed Harry's commands, hurrying to get into place as quickly as possible.
Amelia spoke up over the transmitter, sounding tired but victorious. "We've retaken the Ministry," she informed them, to their relief. "It's a bit of a mess here, but we're working it out. Harry, I'll try to get a team there as soon as possible."
Harry nodded, though he knew she couldn't see him. "Thanks. Will we be facing Death Eaters from there as well?"
Amelia sighed, running a hand through her hair as she observed the chaos around her. Bodies were lying all over the place, some moaning in pain, others silent. She saw both allies and enemies on the ground, and already, had people triaging the injured, to determine who needed to be removed to St. Mungos immediately. "I saw some Death Eaters leaving, but we couldn't stop them." She paused briefly and took a deep breath. "I think Umbridge was leading them."
Harry clenched his jaw at the mention of that hag. He knew that they couldn't do anything about it right now though, so he forced himself to reply calmly. "Just hurry back here," he implored. "We need more time, and we can't hold off all the Death Eaters alone."
Minerva chimed in again. "This battle seems to be winding down. Most of the Death Eaters have either left or are down. I'll be there soon."
Harry sighed in relief, and refocused his entire attention on finding the horcrux.
Together with Ginny, Susan, and Hermione, they continued to comb the large room, determined to find something useful, but knowing their time limit.
Several floors down, Neville, Ron, and Blaise met up with Daphne, and they set up wards to hopefully stall the Death Eaters from getting closer to the Room of Requirement.
"Professor McGonagall is here," Luna's voice informed them. "She's brought around twenty people with her. The Death Eaters are engaging, but there's a few heading towards you. More Death Eaters are arriving as well."
"Thanks, Luna," Blaise replied. In this moment, he was happy that his girlfriend was safe. No matter what happened to him, she had to be all right.
They could hear the battle begin, even from so many floors up. They were stationed right by the main staircase, and they could see flashes of spellfire illuminating the floors below them. A couple of Death Eaters made it past the fight to their perimeter, but they were easily dispatched.
For almost five minutes, things seemed to be going well. Luna kept them informed of the battle raging out on the grounds and in the Entrance Hall and on the stairs. More Death Eaters were arriving, but so were more fighters for their side. Amelia had come, along with twenty Aurors, including Kingsley, Frank, Alice, and Tonks. Sirius showed up in the second wave of supporters coming from the Alley, along with Remus, Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur. Molly and Arthur had arrived with Minerva, as had several of the DA, including Cedric, and some of the Order. More of the DA and the Order arrived with Sirius.
"We've got a problem," Luna's voice was clearly worried. "Voldemort's here. He's on his way up to the Entrance Hall from the Slytherin corridor. You've got about two minutes."
"Thank you, Luna," Minerva replied.
Harry paused in the search, and glanced around worriedly. They were on borrowed time now. "Neville, you guys go down and help out."
"Got it," the Longbottom heir said, sounding slightly relieved. He trusted Harry, and would follow him until the end of time, but he really didn't want to stand guard and wait, when he could be doing something useful.
Harry, over here. Ginny's mental voice was full of both fear and excitement.
Harry quickly made his way over to where all three girls were waiting for him. They were huddled around an end table. Sitting on the table was an opened, battered box. Though the outside showed much wear and tear, the inside was lined in velvet, and sitting on the lush pillow was an old-fashioned tiara.
Harry's breath hitched and he raised his wand slowly, levitating the tiara out of the box and manipulating it until it was hovering just a few inches away. Inscribed on the inside was the phrase, 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'.
He looked up and met Ginny's sparkling gaze. "This is it," he confirmed.
Hermione beamed, and Susan grinned.
"So, now we destroy them, right?" Hermione clarified.
Harry nodded and set the diadem on the floor before looking at his wife.
"Ginny, you found it, you destroy it."
Ginny gulped and nodded jerkily. She took the sword that she had held onto throughout their search, and grasped it tightly with both hands.
Harry stepped back, pulling Hermione and Susan with him.
Ginny gasped as she felt an evil presence try and force its way passed her Occlumency barriers. It was as if the horcrux knew what was about to happen, and was trying to stop it.
With a loud cry, she swung the sword down and cracked the diadem in two. Something black leeched out of it, and after a moment, Ginny made herself look away.
Harry was watching her with relief, and Susan and Hermione both looked startled and afraid.
"Guys, not to hurry you along, but we could use some help down here," Ron's voice broke in, and they all forced themselves to laugh shakily.
"We're almost done," Harry replied.
Down in the Entrance Hall, Neville was about to chime in, when movement across the hall caught his interest. Something large was slithering across the floor, and he recognized it as Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Before he could do anything, the snake reared up and drove its fangs deep into the leg of a nearby Auror.
The Auror dropped immediately, and Neville was tearing across the hall. "I've got eyes on Nagini."
"Be careful," Harry implored. "Her venom's poisonous, remember."
Neville nodded, though he knew they couldn't see him.
Harry looked back at the others, and held out a hand towards Ginny. His wife immediately passed him the sword, and he took out the ring, placing it on the floor next to the broken diadem. For a moment, he studied the ring he strongly suspected housed the Resurrection Stone, and wondered randomly whether or not destroying the horcrux would destroy the properties the stone supposedly held.
Not the time to start worrying about that, Ginny chastised him.
Harry glanced at her and shrugged sheepishly, before he drove the sword down, cracking the stone right along the line that had been used to represent the Elder Wand.
When that was done, he looked up, focusing on Susan. "Susan, you destroy the cup."
Susan gulped and nodded, taking the sword that he passed her with shaking hands.
Harry pulled the cup out and placed it on the floor next to the ring. Susan, like Ginny, felt the evil presence as she raised the sword, but ignored it easily thanks to her Occlumency shields. She brought the sword down ruthlessly, and this time, a high-pitched shriek wailed out from the broken cup, before dissipating in the oppressive silence that followed.
Harry took a deep breath, and pulled out the locket. Without prompting, Susan passed the sword to Hermione, knowing that Harry wanted each of them to destroy one.
Hermione tried to bring the sword down on the locket, but it just bounced off. She frowned, rubbing her wrist gently, having jarred it with the sudden motion.
"Why isn't it working?" she asked, confused.
Harry bit his lip. "Kreacher tried to destroy it, remember? He thought that the key was to get it to open, but he couldn't make it happen."
"Harry…" Ginny trailed off, and Harry looked at her sharply, understanding the direction her thoughts had been heading.
"You're right," he realized. The others looked confused, so he elaborated. "Parseltongue. Voldemort speaks it, Slytherin spoke it; the key to opening the locket must be using Parseltongue."
"But you lost the ability," Ginny said, disappointed.
Hermione bit her lip. "What about your phoenix abilities? Could you get through this the same way you got through the door at the Gaunt Shack?"
Harry considered briefly. This wasn't exactly a ward, but it could be possible to get through it. He wasn't trying to destroy the horcrux this way, just make it possible to do so. And the ward on the door to the Gaunt Shack had been a Parseltongue ward. This had to be similar. He furrowed his brow and held out one hand, concentrating hard. A soft glow began to form, brightening intensely, the same way it had when Harry and Ginny had brought down the ward protecting the Gaunt Shack. A moment later, the locket clicked open.
Something started to rise out up, but Hermione didn't wait for it to form, before she drove the sword point into each side.
The locket cracked loudly, and began smoking. After a moment of silence, Harry gathered the broken horcruxes and placed them back in the sack he had used to transport them to the castle. He shrunk the bag down and put it in his pocket.
Hermione wordlessly handed the sword to Ginny, as she looked around at the group, wide-eyed. "So this means…"
Harry nodded. "Nagini, and then Voldemort."
They all inhaled sharply, and without another word, spun around and made their way towards the exit, and the fight that they could hear as soon as they stepped into the hallway outside the Room of Requirement.
They reached the Entrance Hall a few minutes later, and faltered slightly. The battle was clearly weighted in the Death Eaters' favor, despite the numbers the light side had. The Death Eaters just had more. Voldemort was engaging Minerva, Molly, and Amelia, and was giving the three women a run for their money.
On the other side of the Hall, Daphne, Ron, and Blaise were facing off against Bellatrix Lestrange. Though the trio of seventh years were advanced, they were still working hard just to keep the deranged witch at bay. She was slowly gaining ground, so Harry directed Hermione and Susan to go help them, while he and Ginny continued on into the battle, picking off any Death Eaters they could reach.
Ginny gripped the sword in one hand, and her wand in the other, firing spells with a ferocity that she only really showed in battle or on the Quidditch Pitch.
A few Death Eaters recognized Harry's presence and were quick to inform their master. The Dark Lord glanced over at the teenager that had caused him so much trouble, but he couldn't let his attention waiver, as he was currently occupied, and loathe as he was to admit it, the trio of women were definitely making him work for victory.
Harry knew he had to focus on the battle, so he couldn't worry when Ginny left his side, pulled away by the flow of fighting.
He blasted away a Death Eater built along the same lines as Crabbe and Goyle – perhaps one of their fathers – and came face to face with the woman who had made the start of his fifth year incredibly difficult.
Delores Umbridge smiled sweetly. "Potter." Harry growled, and Umbridge's smile widened. "So glad I ran into you. I did have something I –"
Harry decided not to wait for her to finish whatever sick speech she had been planning. He reached out with his left hand, and flicked his wrist. The battle had already partially destroyed the Entrance Hall, and there were piles of stone and rubble all over. Harry's gesture caused several larger pieces to fly over, effectively knocking Umbridge out and leaving her pinned, should she somehow manage to regain consciousness. Not that Harry was worried; judging from the size of the gash on her head, she wouldn't be in any shape to fight any time soon. She probably deserved worse, but Harry just didn't have time to deal with her just now, so with a grim smile, the wizard just clutched his wand tighter and jumped back into the battle.
Neville was having his own issues. Nagini was surprisingly adept at dodging spellfire. Or perhaps not so surprising, considering the circumstances. He had tried everything, and still, the snake evaded him.
He was about to cast another curse, when a Reducto hit the wall behind him, and he fell under the weight of crumbling stone.
He was unable to do anything as he watched Nagini slither closer. The snake rose up slightly, its fangs bared, nothing but death in its intelligent gaze.
With a cry, Ginny appeared as if out of nowhere, the Sword of Gryffindor nothing more than a silver blur in her hands as she swung it down. The snake's head separated from its body, flying up, before it landed a few feet away.
With a few flicks of her wand, Ginny moved the rubble off of Neville, so that he could stand up, which he did rather shakily a moment later.
"Thanks," he said, rubbing his arm gently.
Ginny nodded, glaring at the decapitated snake. "That's for my dad," she told it savagely.
Neville rested a hand lightly on her arm. Looking back at him, she nodded again, this time more softly. Together, the two returned to the fight.
Harry, it's time, Ginny informed her husband.
Across the hall, Harry knew what she meant. All the horcruxes were taken care of. There was only one piece of Voldemort's soul left to deal with.
He dispatched of the Death Eater he had been fighting, and turned to face the Dark Lord.