The Caterwauling Charm had been called off by the time Lindsay arrived in Hogsmeade because Harry Potter was already at Hogwarts and the battle was underway. The portkey dropped Lindsay in the alley where she'd first met a vagrant named Itzal Grace. It was quite dark, and she could hear the sounds of battle coming from the school; wand blasts, yells and screams, and a variety of roaring and growling of magical creatures. Lin's blood went cold, but she was determined to press on. She had to find a way to get to the school unnoticed. She was in an enclosed alley and had only one direction to go. As she stepped forward, her shoulder bag snagged on a trash can and toppled it over. The can hit the ground with an audible "Oomph!" and an assortment of valuable items rolled out of it.
"Mr. Grace," whispered Lin, "what are you doing in a garbage can?"
"Hidin' from the mob," replied the old wizard as he climbed out of the trash can and scrambled to his feet with surprising agility.
"Have you been looting?"
"What?" said Grace, affronted. "Me a thief? These are heirlooms. I'm just keepin' 'em from the Snatchers. Bunch o' thieves, that lot."
"Okay, I don't have time to chat. I have to get to Hogwarts—"
"To Hogwarts?" repeated Grace. "Are you mad? There's a war goin' on."
"Please, Mr. Grace, I have to get to the school, and I need a safe place for my baby—"
"Oh, no!" said Grace, shaking his head vigorously. "I'll not take responsibility for a baby."
"I can't take him into a battle."
"You're on your on."
"Please, help me."
Grace looked her over and said, "I remember the kindness you paid me, young lady. And because o' that I'll help you get into Hogwarts safely, but that's all I'll do. Understand?"
"Fair enough."
Grace extended his arm for Lindsay to take. He apparated her to the backside of Madam Puddifoot's tea shop. "Puddifoot's got a nice little garden back here," said Grace as he pointed his wand at the latch on the garden gate. "It's not open to the public." The garden was small and consisted mostly of pink and white rose bushes and a variety of cherub statues. Grace went straight to the largest cherub in the garden. He tapped his wand against a corn on the cherub's foot, and it squealed "Ouch!" as it grabbed its foot and jumped to one side revealing an underground stone staircase. "Ladies first," said Grace.
Lin was less trusting than she'd been when she'd first met Itzal Grace, but she had no choice but to trust that he was helping her. She descended the dusty old staircase, and Grace descended behind her with his wand lighting the way. She stood on the last step and could go no farther because the tunnel, although quite wide, was completely caved in. Lin immediately thought that she'd made a terrible mistake.
"This used to be clear," said Grace, "until Dumbledore caved it in."
"He purposely collapsed the tunnel?"
"Aye, he did. I didn't think much of it at the time. Dumbledore was an odd man. But in light of recent events, it was a clever thing to do. A small army could convene down 'ere, and the tunnel leads straight to Hogwarts' fourth floor."
"Why did you bring me here if the tunnel is impassable?"
"Raised by Muggles, were you?"
"Uh, yes."
"It's all too obvious. Dumbledore charmed it so I could meet with 'im privately."
Lin smiled. "You're an informant?"
"I am no such thing! But I am inclined to share a bit o' gossip now and again as any sociable person would."
"Will the charm work? I mean, Albus is gone."
"Some magic dies with the wizard, that's for certain; but it depends on the charm and the wizard. When Albus Dumbledore charms somethin', the charm sticks." Grace stood on his toes and reached as high as he was able. He tapped a small stone and said, "Turkish Delight."
The rubble in the center of the tunnel began to roll and disappear into the great mass of debris, revealing a high-ceilinged narrow pathway.
"This is as far as I go, young lady." Lindsay thanked him and turned away. Grace caught her arm. "If we meet again, know that I'll protect my own hide at all costs. Understand?"
"I understand, Mr. Grace."
The two parted ways and Lindsay jogged along the tunnel. She slowed her pace when she heard battle sounds as she knew she was close to the tunnel's end. She took time to steel her mind against whatever she might encounter once she entered Hogwarts proper. She envied Severus' ability to compartmentalize his emotions. She secured her shoulder bag before stepping into the hallway. She didn't want another accident like what had happened in the Hogsmeade alley. Itzal Grace had been forgiving and helpful. Lindsay doubted anyone at Hogwarts would be. They probably all thought her a traitor and wouldn't be gentle with her if she crossed them.
Lin slowly shifted the mirror that blocked the passage and poked her head out. There was so much noise that it was impossible to tell if others were nearby. Instead of trying to sneak out and hope no one would see her, she bi-located and her second-self ran to one end of the hallway. There was a pack of Death Eaters being held off by a group of students led by Professor Sprout. Lin had only one way to go. She jumped out from behind the mirror and bolted to the other end of the corridor. A great blast outside took out some of the wall and nearly knocked Lindsay off her feet.
Seconds later two Dementors flew in, spotting her instantly. Lin closed her eyes as they rounded on her. Severus could do this with his eyes open and often reprimanded her for not doing the same, citing that the enemy should always be held in one's field of view whenever possible. But Lindsay wasn't Severus and Dementors terrified her. The only way she could totally divorce all emotion from her conscious mind was to focus while keeping her eyes closed.
The Dementors stopped in mid-flight. To them, Lin had instantly disappeared from sight. Collecting her emotions and sending them to the dark recesses of her mind made her invisible to them. They felt around the area where she'd been standing, and they even touched her several times, but were unable to see or sense her so they moved on.
Lin opened her eyes when she felt the cold of the Dementors move away. She had to make it to the third floor. She held Nikki tightly and ran as fast as she could. She gripped her wand tightly in her left hand; within seconds she was using it to deflect incoming spells. The attacking spells were coming so fast she couldn't follow all of them. She kept running and hoped her natural defenses would be enough to protect her. She did absorb some of the spells that hit her; a few of them hit her really hard, and she knew she didn't have the skill or power to duel the wizards that dealt them. Lin pressed on and told herself not to look back.
The staircase to the third floor was in sight. Lin heard shouting behind her and the spells flying at her stopped. She didn't look back to see who had intervened. The voices sounded young, so probably students. The staircase was moving and only half of it was intact. Lin ran down the stairs and leapt onto a passing staircase that was taking her in the wrong direction. She leapt onto another and followed it to the third floor. She ran down the hall to the badly damaged gargoyle guarding the headmaster's staircase, and it offered her polite greeting.
"As long as the heart beats, the body may live," said Lin, and the gargoyle moved aside.
Lin jumped onto the Headmaster's circular staircase and descended into the crystal chamber far below Hogwarts' foundation. The heat was unbearable, worse than she remembered, but she was frightened and had been running which heightened her sensitivity to the oppressive temperature and humidity in the cavern. She ran to the place Albus had shown her and laid her precious cargo on the floor of the crystal chamber. Lin was grateful that Nikki was impervious to the heat in his current state. Still trying to catch her breath, she placed her hands on the giant crystal and focused on finding Harry Potter, but it was Severus she desperately wanted to find.
Lindsay could feel Hogwarts' energy drawing downward away from the severely damaged castle. The school was trying to protect itself; trying to conserve energy until the battle ended and the rebuilding could begin. The damage to the castle was vast and almost unbearable to witness, but Lin had a task to perform and pressed on. She found Harry, accompanied by Ron and Hermione, exiting the castle and sprinting across the grounds. A group of Dementors descended on them, but were run off by a small group of students.
There was nothing Lin could do to aid the trio, who quickly ran away from the castle and out of Lindsay's sight. Lin next searched for Severus, but couldn't locate him. He too must be far from the castle. She turned her attention to Fred, but couldn't find him until she located George, who was kneeling over his twin's mangled body and sobbing piteously. She felt a terrible stab in her heart and nearly lost the drive to continue, but pressed on out of love for Albus, who'd done so much to help and protect her. She was determined not to let him down.
Hagrid was nowhere to be found, and it was impossible to locate Remus. Lin was hopeful that he was far from the fighting until she stumbled across Neville, who was pulling a blanket over Remus' face that had somehow been pulled away. The body next to Remus was obviously Tonks'; bubblegum pink hair peaked out from under the blanket that covered her face. Lin heard Minerva's voice shouting instructions and offering pep talks; she was rallying her troops and offering them all the strength she had. Neville had a drink of water and ran off to re-join the battle.
Lin could take no more and pulled her hands away from the crystal. What was she to do? Her task was to protect Harry, but she could hardly do that when she couldn't even locate him. Most of the people she'd come to love were already dead, and worse still, they died believing her to be a traitor. The ones that still lived thought no better of her. And where was Severus? Lin had never felt so useless or so helpless.
The heat was becoming unbearable and Lin felt weak and ill. Hogwarts sensed her distress and produced a cool breeze, but that cool dry air was a short-lived pleasure because it was damaging to the crystal formation that thrived in hot humid conditions. Lin pulled a large empty vial from her bag and used aguamenti to fill it several times with water. She poured some of the water over her head in a futile effort to combat the oppressive heat. She checked Nikki and didn't see any change in him, not that she'd expected any. Lin sat down to rest and collect her thoughts. She debated whether she should take Nikki up to Minerva or Molly.
Several minutes had passed; Lin wasn't sure how many because the heat and her anxiety were working hard against her senses. Lin felt a slight vibration in her pocket where she kept the amulet she'd made, and with the vibration came an overwhelming sense of dread. The amulet was trying to pull her somewhere, but she was afraid to leave. She'd been instructed to stay here, and Albus obviously knew quite a bit more than she. Her only solution was to bi-locate and send her second-self to follow the amulet's pull, but she had no idea how safe it would be or even if she could maintain a second presence over an unknown distance.
Lin appeared in an unfamiliar room mired in dust and scattered with broken furniture. She caught a glimpse of the back of Harry Potter as he exited the room. Severus lay at her feet in a huge pool of coagulating blood, enough blood to account for most of what should be in his body. She knelt next to him and felt his wrist for a pulse. He was dead, but his body was still warm. There was no time to lose. She unbuttoned his robes to get at his chest and to get a better look at his neck. His injuries were horrendous. The dittany she rummaged for in her bag could heal deep lacerations and burns, but it couldn't rebuild a crushed larynx or broken hyoid bone.
A faint blue light emanated from Lin's hands and softly illuminated Severus' neck and shoulders. Her second-self was already weakening and becoming less visible. Lin was using an enormous amount of energy trying to bi-locate across such a long distance. She healed what she could and let the dittany do the rest as she dropped it onto Severus' wounds. She spelled a blood-replenishing potion into his stomach and searched his robes for an anti-venom to counteract Nagini's bites. Severus kept a vial of anti-venom in an expandable brown-leather pouch and another in a pocket of his robes. She found the vial in his robes and spelled it into his stomach. Neither potion would do anything until there was life in Severus' body.
Lin placed one hand on Severus' chest and the other on the side of his ribcage and released a jolt of energy hoping it would revive his heart into beating. If she succeeded in restarting his heart, there'd be a chance of his having a stroke due to blood loss. She hoped the blood-replenishing potion worked before any damage related to blood loss could occur. Aiding his body in reviving itself was the easy part. Calling Severus back to his body was the true challenge. She located him, but sensed that he was already very far away, and he wasn't responding to her calls.
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