"Hermione, you're going to be fine," Seamus laughed at his fellow lion.
She was panicking about the exams, "We are going to be taking some of our NEWTs tomorrow, how can you be so calm about it?"
"Because we've been studying and training with you, babe," Draco said from behind her. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her back into his chest. "Take a breath and collect yourself. Harry and Daphne should be the most worried, they are graduating."
"And they just had Kairos as well," Blaise pointed out.
Hermione turned around and hugged Draco. She buried her face into his chest. She only stood at his shoulder, something that was common in their group. His hand came up to rest on her head, gently massaging her scalp.
It soothed her.
============================
The day of June twenty-second was a bright day. There was barely a cloud in the sky but there were warm winds. That morning during breakfast the castle was ordered to spend the day relaxing. There was no point in stressing about last-minute studies.
She might have been the brightest witch of their age, but she stressed a lot. Well, technically, Daphne was the brightest witch of their age. Then again, was Daphne really a part of their generation? It was something of a joke between them all that Harry and Daphne were meant to be born generations ago.
"You're stuck with us, so deal with it," Harry would say in jest when they picked on him about it. The comment only served to fuel the laughter and good time.
Every member of Clan Potter that resided as a student in Hogwarts Castle found themselves out at the Black Lake. It was a day of joyous laughter.
However, their fun day only masked the unease they were all feeling.
============================
As the day progressed, Harry's unease grew. Daphne seemed just as uneasy as he did and Hermione noticed.
"Harry?" She asked with worry laced through her tone.
They were in the middle of having an early dinner. Most of everyone was in the Great Hall, having to prepare for the early exams. Something happened suddenly that had Harry, Daphne, and McGonagall scramble from their seats.
"Maisey!" Harry called loudly. His voice was distressed.
The elf popped in front of him. "Yes, my Lord?" She asked.
She was promptly given Kairos, who began to fuss as she left her father's arm. Harry's voice was hard as he gave a rare order, "Potter Manor, now."
He began to march swiftly towards the doors of the Great Hall. Daphne, Neville, and Luna were just behind him. The others were scrambling to get up.
"Hogwarts," The two Heirs and Lord said loudly. "Siege is being brought upon you. Wake and defend those of your charge."
A pulse of very old magic followed their command. It was felt throughout the entire Castle as the faint sound of an explosion sounded in the difference.
Harry had his wand in his hand so quickly that it looked as if he drew it after casting several Patroni. He flicked the lions away sharply, causing them to disappear.
His wand was at his throat next, "Fifth years and below! You are to follow Professors Sprout, Flitwick, and Evans into the second-floor girls' lavatory. You are to follow every command given by those three to an exact letter or you may very well meet your end today."
"Years Six and Seven. Some of you are to follow them. Those that want to stand and defend this castle, stand now and follow me to arms."
His orders were followed by quickly scrambled teachers and students. Those of Clan Potter that were able to fight were gathered around Harry. It was at this moment they were reminded that he was at the center of this war.
They knew full well that some of them could get hurt or worse. Harry was their brother and friend though, they would stand with him.
"To arms," His voice growled out.
Daphne turned and took the heads of Tussisss and Sshasssk into her hands, her voice a whispered hiss, "Riddle has a serpent. You must find her and end her, but be careful. She is much your size and powerful."
"Dobby," Harry called. He gave his order even though he hadn't shown yet, "You are to ask the Room for the Diadem. You will find the Sword of Gryffindor in the Head Office, use it to destroy it."
Another explosion sounded outside the castle. Harry turned to look at his friends. The Great Hall was empty of all lower years. Every sixth and seventh year, other than the followers of the Dark Wanker, were standing around them. The professors were at the front of the crowd.
Harry gave them all a hard stare before he pushed open the large doors of the Great Hall. He led them out of the Entrance Hall.
"PIERTOTUM LOCOMOTOR!!" McGonagall called loudly as she faced the Castle. Some watched as the many suits of armor and weapons throughout the castle came to life.
"Hogwarts is threatened! Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!" She ordered strongly.
The spell was a testimony to her strength. It was clearly a very advanced charm. She could be heard saying lightly, "I've always wanted to use that spell."
"Professors," Harry called their attention. "You and the students are to stay near the Castle and defend against those that come close. I don't bloody care if you have to cut down your own mother or father. I don't care if every last one of us ends today."
"This is Hogwarts! We are those of the Green Isles! WE DIDN'T FALL TO ROME!! WE WON'T FALL TODAY!!" He called out loudly.
His visage was one of righteous fury. He would be dealing with Voldemort himself, their jobs were to protect the castle.
============================
"Damn!" Professor Evans swore loudly as she led the large gaggle of students to the second floor.
When she entered the lavatory, she hissed loudly. Harry had told her where the Chamber of Secrets was located several weeks ago. He had transformed the Chamber into a shelter for students. The entrance was still the slide but was now charmed for anyone to land upright. He cleared the caved-in wall and opened the door to the Chamber.
"You are all to go down and follow the marked path," She ordered strongly.
It took nearly twenty minutes to get everyone down and into the Chamber. The Perfects had their orders to keep everyone calm. Rosie closed the door to the Chamber, locking everyone inside.
She, Flitwick, and Sprout were quick to follow a tunnel that led to just outside the library on the third floor. They made it to the Entrance Hall in time to hear Harry's speech.
============================
"My Lord," Lucius called.
The wave of magic that came from Hogwarts reached into the mountains and Hogsmeade. It alerted the Forbidden Forest that battle was upon them.
It also undid the damage that Voldemort had done to the patchwork of wards around the school. It caused a large, powerful barrier to shimmer into life around the Castle and grounds.
Voldemort grew angry at seeing the ward. It wouldn't matter much as his beasts were inside the forest by now. It did mean that he needed to work just a bit harder to take Hogwarts.
He turned to his army of wizards and witches. They were roughly six hundred strong, plenty enough to take a school of children. He didn't know that some of such children were waiting for him, or that they were trained like a barmy bunch of bastards.
Upon his order, his army fired at the ward. Hundreds of spells connected with the ancient magic at once. It took several minutes of spell fire until the protections gave a groan of magic before flickering. They slowly died away.
The army of Death Eaters marched on Hogwarts. It took several long minutes to walk the path and grounds. Voldemort stopped roughly a hundred meters from the Castle as he saw the awaiting children and professors.
He lifted his ivory white wand to his throat "I'm a benevolent lord, so I shall give you all this one chance to surrender to me. I only want Harry Potter and his family," He called loudly.
The strong voice of Harry answered him, "You want me? Fine. We are wizards, not common animals. I owe you a rematch from that graveyard."
His voice was angry and held power.
"Dolohov, you are to lead the those with my Mark. You are to deal with all that attempt to get in my way," He removed his wand from his throat. "Lucius, you will lead my army upon the Castle itself. The beasts will be upon them soon, add to such chaos."
"Yes, my Lord," They answered him with happiness and excitement in their tones.
Voldemort was still very angry over the loss of Bellatrix. Now was time to Potter why he was nothing but a boy.
============================
Harry was followed by his Knights as he strode forward. They were all donned in their many armors. He could see the faces of Alecto and Amycus Carrow. Of Lucius Malfoy. Antonin Dolohov. He saw the visage of the Lestrange brothers.
He also thought that Lady Crabbe and Goyle deserved medals for laying with their uglier-than-sin berks of husbands. He was thankful that their sons held some visage if their mothers, he wouldn't have been able to stomach their faces otherwise.
Harry and Riddle were given a wide breadth of range from their followers and friends. They were given roughly thirty meters of space and stood several meters apart.
"After you fall today," Riddle began. "I'm going to take my rightful claim from you. I'm going to take your titles for my own and wear them as trophies."
His voice held a hint of mad laughter. Harry remained a stoic visage.
"Your claim of Heir of Slytherin was always a misunderstanding on your part," Harry explained.
Riddle snapped sharply, "And what would you know, boy? I am of Salazar Slytherin, the fact I am a Parselmouth is proof enough."
"Allow me to give you a history lesson," Harry said evenly. "You are of Salazar Slytherin Junior, a nameless boy who was adopted for sharing the ability and given the name of his father. He held no blood ties to the House of Slytherin."
"Salazar did have an Heir though, well Heiress. She was of the Evanshade family and kept secret. The Evanshades and Slytherins were merged and eventually became the Evans."
The gears within Riddle's mind were spinning quickly. "You lie!" He said madly as he threw a spell at Harry.
Harry dodged the spell but continued talking, "Jamison Russel Evans was Heir Slytherin! Lily Potter nee Evans was Heiress Evanshade! If my parents had taken their titles they would have been Lord Slytherin and Lady Evanshade!"
He continued to dodge spell fire. It kicked off the war around him. His friends began to clash with the Death Eaters that faced them. The army of followers raged loudly as they began on the castle.
Through all the chaos he could hear the popping of Apparation. The main forces had arrived.
Legions of men and women clad in red, blue, and purple appeared suddenly. The shouts of Viktor Crum cried out in Bulgarian. Jean Delacour issued loud orders in French. He could hear the growling laughter of Alastor Moody as he stared down swaths of wizards and witches. Aunt Amelia barked commands to her forces.
He nearly laughed as he saw and heard Arcturus Black vividly curses about 'jumped up little shites who've overgrown their mother's nipples'. He swelled with pride as Bellatrix Black stood with her sisters, slinging Black spells around them.
He was left to deal with Voldemort. He was still only dodging, having yet to draw his sword or use his wand. The tide of battle changed as he did.
============================
Lucius Malfoy was locked in a fierce duel with his son. Draco didn't allow his father to march on the small force behind him.
Hermione was a few meters away from him, battling Dolohov. The elite duelist would be tough for her, but he had faith in her.
The ringing of war sounded in his ears as his friends battled for their lives. Seamus, Astoria, and Ginny were helping their Carrow twins against their aunt and uncle.
Neville stood with Susan and Luna against the Lestrange brothers. Blaise was in combat with Barty Crouch Junior. He had lost sight of Peter but as the baying of Remus reached him, he knew that the rat would be getting a serving of justice. He was brought back to his battle as his father narrowly missed him with a spell.
"Draco! What are you doing?" Lord Malfoy raged at his son.
"Standing beside a brother," was Draco's only answer. His voice was hard.
He used blade and magic to close the distance between them. He used Transfiguration and Charms in his spell work.
============================
"We'll show you what we do to traitors," Alecto growled at her nieces.
Hestia snorted in defiance, "You call us traitors when we haven't even laid with the man we love, yet you bed with your twin."
"She's the only one worthy of my seed!" Amycus cackled loudly.
Alecto gave a mad grin as her hand fell to her stomach, rubbing in slow circles. She was too distracted to do anything about the powering piercing hex that left Flora's wand.
The spell tore a hole through her hand and wounded her stomach. It wasn't too deep but certainly opened her womb, ending any fetus within her.
============================
Hermione was hard of breath as she continued to use her spear to thrust at Dolohov. She was using a strategy of magical shields and stabbing at him.
Dolohov found that the girl was a very tough opponent, one of his toughest. They had already been dueling for nearly an hour already.
He let out a guttural cry of fury as he cast a sickly purple curse. His cry turned into a gasp of pain and suffering as the curse struck her side. He looked down to see her spear buried in his chest, the blade stabbing into his heart.
Hermione let out a pained scream of agony as Dolohov sank to his knees and fell over in death.
============================
Draco's ears rang loudly with the cry of his girlfriend.
"HERMIONE!!" Her name was screamed from his mouth as he cut through a spell offered by his father.
Lucius gave loud mocking laughter, "You're better than some filthy mudblood! You can still be forgiven, son!"
That was the wrong thing to say as Draco turned animalistic.
"MORTIUM FIENDFYRE!!" He raged loudly.
Black flames poured from his wand, coalescing around his sword. In a flash of movements, a flurry of fire, and with the sickening thud of his blade, Lucius Malfoy found his world tilting slowly as his torso was sliced in half from his shoulder to hip.
============================
Rodolphus Lestrange sneered deeply at Neville and Luna, "Here to take revenge for mummy and daddy, boy?"
"Maybe he'll thank us if we make him join them," the voice of Rabastan laughed loudly.
Neville raised his wand and the long sword in his hand. Luna stood with him, a short sword in her grip.
The brothers laughed about the fact that she didn't have her wand but she was about to show them just how dangerous she was with only the light marshal weapon.
The Lestranges were a powerful team with years of experience but they were pompous and arrogant. They had not properly trained or practiced in years. Opposite to that fact, Neville had practiced with a weapon since he was a boy. Luna had only been training for the past year and odd months. However, they were a skilled duo with natural compatibility. Both teams knew their partners well, but the youth were in better physical shape and battled as if it was second nature.
Well, it was at this point.
Rodolphus and Rabastion found themselves bereft of a few digits and maybe a limb.
============================
The Auror forces were outnumbered two to one. This only made them fight and claw for victory even harder.
Amelia was fighting with Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Cyrus Greengrass, and Augusta.
Cyrus was throwing Greengrass spells around with a few common charms. Kingsley and Alastor returned with what they were given. The two witches however were diving deep into their family magicks.
They were slinging spell chains weaved with a combination of their names and Potter magic. They faced down their enemies, ready to die for their cause. It also made the Auror forces battle harder.
Viktor Krum was a grim visage within the Bulgarian ranks. They were a unit of mad bastards.
Head Delacour was on the front lines with Krum and the Potter witches. His blue robes were tattered around his arms as he fought with his unit.
They were being overwhelmed by the numbers as hordes of Werewolves and Vampires erupted out of the Forbidden Forest. They ran into the middle of their ranks, causing disorder.
However, as Amelia watched a Manticore, several Chimeras, the herd of Centaurs, and the giant form of Aragog follow them, she couldn't blame them for running.
Aragog had agreed to participate in the Battle, but not his children. However, as the spider fell victim to twenty or so spells, his nearly one thousand children released hissing growls and stormed from the Forest.
The tides were turning.
============================
The full moon was low in the sky as the angry Acromantula hive descended upon Voldemort's forces. He had been fighting Harry Potter for nearly four hours now.
He brandished his wand in a downward flick, snapping the whip of flame at the teen. Harry shielded.
Riddle was casting with dark curses, hexes, and jinxes. He used charms and transfiguration in his defense. He was powerful and extremely fast with his wand work, but Harry upstaged him in spell work.
In this battle, he wasn't fighting Harry Potter the boy. No, he was in a battle for his very life against Lord Hadrian Potter-Black-Greengrass, Lord of his many Houses. It was a duel between his vast knowledge of the Dark Arts and the combination of common magic and Fanily spells of Harry's repertoire.
Harry was using his deep understanding of Transfiguration, Conjuration, Charms, and his Family Magicks. He was tweaking and modifying spells in the thick of the moment.
There was nothing but Harry Potter and Tom Riddle to him. His mind blocked out the cries and screams around him. He ignored the slaughter going on. It all died to white noise.
Their duel evolved from silent and mumbled casting to the deadly hissing of Parselmouth spells.
The pained growls of Daphne cut through his mind. He saw a flash of three Werewolves and a glimpse of a white tigress before he knew nothing but blind rage.
Riddle paused his casting as he was blasted back by a magical force. He felt the ground beneath his feet and the air around him shake as the young man released a thundering roar. The volcanic rage of the man turned into a destructive call of a beast as his form was replaced with that of an enormous lion.
Harry threw caution to the wind as his mate was attacked by the beasts. He disregarded all worry of what he might wake as he brought the entire Battle of Hogwarts to a pause.
Every beast, creature, and man was stopped as the power of Hadrian James washed over them.
============================
Draco was holding Hermione to his chest as Blaise limped over to him. He looked up from her face to see his family gathered around him.
Tears fell down his face as his Aunt Andromeda kneeled next to him. "Let me have a look at her," She told him in a gentle voice.
Draco laid Hermione down gently before standing. Narcissa wrapped her arms around her son in an attempt to comfort him.
"She's a mighty witch, that one," Arcturus spat in a weathered voice. "You'd better marry her after all this shite, boy."
Draco shook his head slightly, "She'll want to finish her education before marriage."
They were interrupted from speaking as the roar of Harry sounded in rage. His magic washed over them in brutal waves.
"Fucking Hell," Arcturus said lowly. "Just how bloody powerful is that boy?"
Rosie staggered over with a limping Minerva. The elder witch was letting out a peal of bubbling laughter as she basked in the feel of his magic.
Rosie was shaking from the feel of the magic, "By the Gods. Uncle, have you ever felt anything like this?"
"Not even when I watched that father of yours, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald duel," He groused strongly.
Narcissa shuddered, "What could make him this angry?"
"Daphne," Draco said simply as he pulled away from his mother.
He silently began to walk with Blaise, Seamus, Neville, Luna, Susan, Astoria, Ginny, and Tracey toward Harry and Voldemort.
============================
Riddle watched in shock as the mighty lion tore through a horde of humans, Werewolves, and Vampires. He watched as he killed all in his path to the tigress. The creature was a beautiful predator but not nearly as large as the lion that raged over her.
He used the moment of distraction to fire spells at his opponent. He watched as they seemed to bounce off the lion's pelt. It served to only enrage the beastly machine of death more.
Harry turned his attention once more to the murderer of his family. He stalked towards the man, shrugging off the dark piercing and cutting spells cast at him. He was ten meters from his prey when the man raged loudly.
"CRUCIO!!"
The beam of red light slammed into his chest. It lit his nerves in dull pain. He loosed a mighty roar as he continued his advance. His stride was steady and strong as if he didn't feel a thing.
The spell was ended as Tom Riddle tried to escape. He tried Apparating away but Harry was already within range. The sickening sound of his mighty claws tearing off Voldemort's head echoed throughout the grounds of Hogwarts.
A bellow of primal fury and pain loosed from the mighty lion as he put an end to the tormentor that haunted his life.