𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 ☼ 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆

↘︎ chapter seventy-eight

"And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?" asked Harry with a drop of hope in his voice.

They all shook their heads. Finally, Harry and Luna decided to go to Ravenclaw Tower and take a look of the statue or Rowena Ravenclaw, because she was wearing the diadem. It had been a long time, but Harry and Luna didn't return from the Ravenclaw Tower. Marley was beginning to worry, and after Neville heard the students' multiple footsteps, she realised it was time to move out. In this time from the Hog's Head appeared the whole Weasley family, along with Lupin, Tonks, Brielle, Noelle, Kingsley and Oliver Wood, Bill and Fleur, Katie  Bell, Alicia Spinnet.

Most of the students had merged with the crowd, finding those from their home. Evacuation was apparently taking place. There would probably be a battle. Within minutes, Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood stood out from the crowd and approached the big group from the Order.

"Harry, what's happening?" said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school — Snape's run for it — What are you doing here? How did you know?"

"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."

"What first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised," Harry said. "We're fighting."

There was a great roar and a surge toward the foot of the stairs; he was pressed back against the wall as they ran past him, the mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry's old Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading up into the main castle.

"Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand; she took it and followed him back up the stairs.

The crowd was thinning: Only a little knot of people remained below in the Room of Requirement, and Harry joined them. Mrs. Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Marley, Bill, and Fleur. The final decision for Ginny was to stay in the Room of Requirement. She didn't want to go at home, but stay and fight for Hogwarts, but Mrs. Weasley didn't allow her that.

"What about Marley?" asked Ginny desperate.

"I'm nineteen," Marley replied. "Ginny, I know you want to fight. But think, you're so young and you don't deserve to die. Mrs. Weasley is just worried about you. All of us are. Stay here and be safe."

"I can't-- I-- I--" Ginny trailed off, tears of anger filled her eyes but she didn't say a word, just sat in one of the armchairs reconciled.

There was a scuffling and a great thump: Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up on the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said, "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I — I —"

It was Percy Weasley. Fred and George were scolding him, but Mrs. Weasley just hugged her son. After he apologised multiple times, the group headed for the Great Hall, where the whole school was gathered.

"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall.

Everyone was preparing to evacuate the underage students, led by Filch and Madam Pomfrey.

"We have already placed protection around the castle," Professor McGonagall was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects —"

But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear: There was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had once commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

"But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" shouted Pansy Parkinson from the Slytherin table.

Before anyone could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of Harry had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

After all the underage students were taken out and only the overage were left and members of the Order remained, Kingsley went on the raised paltform to the High Table.

"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor — where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus" — he indicated Lupin — "Arthur" — he pointed toward Mr. Weasley, sitting at the Gryffindor table — "and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school —"

"Sounds like a job for us," called Fred, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nodded his approval.

"Brielle goes with Marley to make sure there's no one underage in the corridors--" continued Kinglsey. "Noelle and Noen too. Split up in two groups, now let's go!"

"See you in a bit," Marley told George. "Be careful."

"Always," he said and they kissed before she left the Great Hall with her mother.

"You know," said Brielle with a smirk, "if we survive after all this, then George gets my blessing."

"What--?"

"Don't be silly, M. I know you're going to get married one day. But first, we have to protect Hogwarts."