It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 48

"POTTER!" Snape snarled, swinging around and raising his wand, but before he could utter a word, the Carrows shouted and fired off spells at Harry.  Draco and Neville hit the floor, which left Severus standing right in the way.  The spells hit him in the back and sent him flying forward, to land at Harry's feet. Almost instantly, the Carrows realized their mistake, but were hit by spells from Minerva and Flitwick, rendering them unconscious.

Harry bend over and checked Severus; he was breathing but knocked out.  Standing, Harry called to Poppy, "Perhaps you should take a look at him, Poppy."

Ignoring the Carrows, Poppy came hurrying down the center aisle and started checking Severus.

"You've killed the Headmaster!" screamed Pansy Parkinson, standing and pointing at Harry.

Draco and Neville were just standing up, dusting themselves off and turned to look at the Slytherin girl, then looked at each other.

"Was she always this dense?" Neville asked, with a crooked grin.

"Yeah, pretty much," answered Draco.  "Pansy, shut up and sit down!  The Carrows hit the Headmaster, you stupid cow!"

Blaise tugged Pansy back down onto the bench and hissed in her ear to shut up! They were still being covered by the members of the D.A. and wouldn't stand a chance.

Just then, as the rest of the students were climbing out from under the tables and back onto their benches, looking around, trying to see what was happening,  Lucius and Narcissa walked in the door.

"Oh dear, we seem to have missed all the fun, Lucius,"  Narcissa said, pouting.

"That's alright, darling, we'll try to be on time from now on!" replied Lucius. "Ah, there you are, Draco, finished dinner already?"

"Not quite, Father, never got started, come to that; bit of a hold-up.  Would Mother and you care to join us?"

"Oh, that would be lovely, dearest.  Goodness, is Severus all right?" Narcissa asked, as they approached the group gathered around Severus and Poppy.

"He'll be fine, Madam Malfoy.  A few days bed rest should set him right," Poppy smiled up at her.  "Oh, hello Mister Malfoy, how are you this evening?"

"Just fine, Poppy, do you need a hand moving Severus?"  Lucius gallantly inquired.

"That would be so kind of you, yes.  We'll just take him up to the hospital wing," Poppy answered.  "Minerva, I imagine this leaves you in charge for the time being."

"Indeed, Poppy.  Hello, Lucius.  Thank you for helping." Minerva said, as she walked up and looked down at Severus, lying on the stretcher Lucius had conjured. "Will he recover?"

"Fairly quickly, I image, Minerva. . .  those two are Death Eaters, but they are also, fortunately for Severus, lousy at hexes, " Poppy replied, smiling. "This way, Lucius."

Minerva turned to Narcissa. "May I ask a favor of you, Narcissa?"

"Of course, Minerva. What can I do for you?"

"Would you collect all of the Slytherins' wands, please.  Miss Granger and Mister Weasley will help you," replied Minerva, conjuring a basket, in which Cissa could place the confiscated wands.

There were protests from the Slytherins but they dropped their wands in the basket or handed them over to Ron and Hermione, none the less.  Pansy was furious and glared at Hermione, who smiled sweetly and yanked Pansy's wand away with barely hidden glee.

Professor Flitwick, in the meantime, had bound and gagged the Carrows.  As Harry, Draco, Neville and Minerva approached, he looked up, smiling.

"Hello, Mister Potter.  You're looking well!"

"You look in pretty good shape yourself, Professor. Glad to see you again,"  Harry replied.

"Your wand work was spot on, too, Filius," added Minerva.

"As was yours, Minerva!  Now, what do we do with these two idiots?" he asked. "And what do we do with Slytherin House, for that matter?"

"Slytherin House will be confined to the dungeons for tonight, while we fix the corridors to alarm if any of them try to get out of the castle. . . . which means monitoring the owls, too, so they can't send for help.  We'll continue the school as if nothing is wrong.  We will send everyone home for Christmas and then see who comes back.  It'll be our word against theirs, as to what happened here tonight, so . . . perhaps a bit of memory modification wouldn't be amiss . . . as a Christmas treat."

"That's cheating, Minerva!" Flitwick laughed. "Okay, then, here's our story: Severus asked for Draco, but Harry, Ron and Hermione showed up, Neville pulled Draco out of the line of fire, which led to Severus being accidentally hit by the Carrows.  Then Draco left with Harry, Ron and Hermione.  We'll leave the other students participation out of it, for their own safety. Most were under the tables and didn't see what happened, in any case."

"That will do, we'll change the memories of each grade of the Slytherins when they come to your class tomorrow, Filius. Then we'll give them back their wands . . . have them practice a non-verbal 'Accio'.  The others, I don't want them forgetting as it will give them hope for the coming battle."

"Well, if that's settled for the time being, let's have dinner . . . I can hear Ron's stomach growling from all the way back there," Harry laughed, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the other end of the Great Hall. "Then we'll make our exit."

"Sounds like a plan, Harry," laughed Draco.