PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: pottervader

Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesized Six

Part: 57: Triple Play

Rating: Teens

Setting: AU

Status: WIP

Reviews: 14

Words: 5,695

Updated: February 2, 2010, 8:03pm

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57: Triple Play

Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR.

A/N: My sincere apologies for the long delay. I was busy between Christmas and New Year then had a bit of difficulty with the chapter. My beta thought the chapter seemed rushed but I hope you don't think so. I hope I won't take as long with the next one but real life, unfortunately, has priority over writing this so please be patient. I will finish this plus I still want to write a sequel. Again, please read and review.

From what he last said in Dumbledore's office, it seemed James had forgotten that his eldest daughter was taking her O.W.L.s this year. Of course, he need not have worried. Rose and Ginny managed to get through their exams without stressing themselves out, unlike a few of their classmates. Colin Creevey ran screaming from the Great Hall after their Transfiguration written exam on Tuesday. There were others who seemed ready to want to do the same.

So, every one of the fifth- and seventh-years breathed a sigh of relief when the last exam was over on the third Thursday of June. Ginny and Rose couldn't wait to see their boyfriends after that, letting them enjoy a bit of time with them in separate locations that evening. Unfortunately, the rest of the school still had one more day of end of the year exams the next day, so they had to wait another day to spend more time with Harry and Neville.

After breakfast that Friday, Rose and Ginny decided to do some flying since it had been two months since their last Quidditch match. They spent three hours racing around the pitch, with Ginny borrowing Harry's Firebolt and Rose using her Nimbus 2001 (a Christmas present from her parents and Remus), doing all sorts of daring tricks. Landing on the Gryffindor stands, they sat down and starting discussing their prospects of playing professionally, a dream both of them had had since they were little girls.

"I don't know if my mum will let me play on a professional team," Ginny said.

Rose snorted unladylike. "Dear, you'll have to remind your mum that the bond makes you a married woman and out of her control. She has no say in it. Harry, on the other hand, will love having his wife play professionally." She smirked at her best friend.

Ginny blushed. "I'm sure he would. But we'll have to wait for this stupid war to be over before I make that kind of commitment. I don't want to be doing something like that while Voldieshorts and his death munchers are about."

Rose was about to comment on how stupid that was, when she found herself no longer on the Quidditch stands, but in the middle of Hogsmeade. It was a version of Hogsmeade she had seen twice before — in chaos. She saw burning buildings and running people everywhere. Spells were being cast and screams filled the air. Death Eaters were all over the area. Then, just as suddenly, she was back on the stands with Ginny shaking her.

"Rose, are you all right?" she asked. "Was it another vision?"

Nodding her head shakily, Rose grabbed Ginny in a tight hug. "It's happening again. Hogsmeade is going to be attacked again."

Ginny stood up quickly. "Come on, we have to tell Professor Dumbledore. Let's fly to the Entrance Hall. It'll be faster."

Agreeing with her, Rose mounted her broom and took to the air. Turning around, she saw a sight that froze her blood. Several black columns of smoke were rising from the direction of Hogsmeade. "I'm afraid we may be too late."

*******

Harry was finishing his Herbology written exam when he felt something blossom from Ginny's side of the bond. They had turned their awareness of each other down to the barest minimum since Ginny started her O.W.L. exams to prevent distractions from their work. Harry's head whipped up when he realized it was panic and anger. He reached out through his bond with Ginny to see what had caused her panic.

"Mr. Potter," Professor Sprout began, "is there a problem?"

"I think so, Professor," Harry barely acknowledged her as he saw what was happening through Ginny's eyes." He was on his feet now. "Hogsmeade is being attacked again."

The other sixth-year students, except for Ron, Hermione and Neville, looked at him in confusion.

"How the hell do you know that?" Seamus asked.

"Language, Mr. Finnegan," Professor Sprout admonished. "But his question is valid, Mr. Potter. How can you be sure that what you're saying is true?"

Before Harry could say anything, Neville spoke up. "Professor, if Harry says Hogsmeade is being attacked, he's probably right. He wouldn't say that if he wasn't sure."

Harry didn't wait for the Herbology professor to say anything. He rushed out pf the classroom as fast as he could, intent on getting out of the castle and heading for the gates so he could Apparate to Hogsmeade and fight the Death Eaters.

"Harry! Don't you dare go there alone!"

Harry winced at the volume of Ginny's voice shouting in his head, causing him to slow down.

"I have to go help, Gin."

"I understand, but you can't go there alone. We have to warn Dumbledore first."

Knowing that she was right, Harry sighed and changed direction for the Headmaster's office. He arrived at the gargoyle guarding the stairs to Dumbledore's office just as Ginny and Rose arrived on their brooms.

Harry embraced Ginny, then Rose, before giving the gargoyle the password which Dumbledore had given him before for emergency purposes. Once they reached the top of the moving stairs, they found Professor Dumbledore already waiting for them, standing in front of his desk.

"Professor," Rose said as she hurried into the office followed by Harry and Ginny, "Hogsmeade is being attacked by Death Eaters again. I saw it just before it started happening."

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes lacking their usual twinkling and his face showing a bit more of his real age than usual. "Yes, I know. I put a charm on the village after the last one to warn me if anyone with the Dark Mark entered the village again. I've already informed your father and the members of the Order, most of whmo will be assisting the Aurors James will be sending."

"Professor," Harry began, "we want to go with you to help the village."

Dumbledore sighed. "I know, Harry, but we're leaving the matter to the Aurors. I suspect Sirius will be here soon with several Aurors to deal with the attacking Death Eaters. As far as I know, Tom is not with them, which make me suspicious since he would not pass up a chance to wreck havoc near Hogwarts. In addition, remember that the last time they attacked Hogsmeade, they attempted to get past the protective wards of Hogwarts while you and the rest of the students were in the village. I believe Tom assumed most of the professors were also in the village at that time. Luckily, most of us were still here so we were able to foil that attack."

"You think he might attack Hogwarts as well, Professor?" Ginny asked.

"It's very possible," Dumbledore said. "He tried once when Harry's parents were in their seventh year, in November of 1977."

"Oh yes," Rose said. "That came to be called the Siege of Hogwarts."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, they tried to attack us for a full week while holding the Auror force at bay before Tom was forced to leave because most of his Death Eaters had been captured. James and Sirius were quite instrumental in that fight, using the passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack to ambush Death Eaters. then sneaking more Aurors and supplies into Hogwarts on the way back."

"Dad's never talked about it," Harry said, frowning. "I think even Mum never mentioned it."

"I doubt they would," Dumbledore said. "They lost several friends during that week, including two girls who were friends of Lily's, Gail Arden and Aria Thompson. They were her roommates. In fact, they formed a trio of their own that often acted as a counterfoil to James and his group for most of their time at Hogwarts. Lily was so devastated when they were killed. It took James several weeks to break her out of her depression."

"Do you think they'll try the same thing, Professor?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure, Ginny," Dumbledore replied. "Tom may try a different tactic but I'm sure he plans on trying to take this castle one way or another. In a way, he considered this school his first real home because of the way he grew up. It's also a symbol of resistance to him. The presence of half-bloods and Muggleborns here is against his concept of blood purity. Taking it over and removing the ones he deems undeserving of a Wizarding education would be a tremendous victory for him."

"Isn't it a bit hypocritical of him, Professor?" Harry asked, "Espousing blood purity yet being a half-blood himself?"

Dumbledore smiled as he replied, "Yes, Harry, but since he stylizes himself as the Heir of Slytherin, he believes that fact to be irrelevant."

Suddenly, a stag Patronus appeared in their midst. The voice out of its mouth was James'.

"Albus, the Ministry is under attack. We're handling it. Stay where you are for now. Sirius and I don't like what's happening."

Harry felt his heart clench as he remembered Rose's vision before she was kidnapped. Before he could say anything, Rose spoke up.

"Professor, remember my vision before I was kidnapped by Nott?" she asked. "I saw the Death Eaters attacking the Ministry. Some of them were heading for Dad's office. You have to go help him."

Dumbledore placed his hand on Rose's shoulder. "I know you're worried, Rose. I agree that this development is troubling, but your father can take care of himself. He is very strong magically and has very competent guards. They'll be able to handle any threat."

"I hope so, Professor," Rose said, tears brimming on her eyes, "I don't know what we'd do without him."

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I know. We just have to trust things will turn out well. In the meantime, it would be best to mobilize the Defense Club and get ready in event of an attack. I will let the rest of the staff know what is happening. It is unfortunate that Kingsley left yesterday to report to your father. I must also ready the plan to evacuate the younger students if an attack happens."

"Professor," Harry said, "where are you going to evacuate them to? Both Hogsmeade and the Ministry are under attack."

"I know that makes it more difficult, but there is a place they will be safe for now," Dumbledore said. "Your father made arrangements for them to be Portkeyed to one of your hidden properties. Professors Vector and Flitwick will go with them to settle them in, together with one of the Potter house-elves, before coming back. Now, you three had better go."

The three Gryffindors nodded and Harry led Ginny and Rose out. He started going over the plans they had made with Kingsley on how to defend the castle. As he did so, he hoped he and Rose would see their father after today.

*******

Twenty minutes earlier, in the Ministry

James sat down wearily as he returned to his office from another meeting, this time with the Department of Sports and Games about new rules governing player salary caps. Of course, he loved Quidditch as much as any other wizard, but that sort of thing shouldn't be so complicated that the Minister of Magic had to be called in. Still, it seemed that, even with the war, the ordinary, boring details of Ministry life continued on.

It was especially hard this week since Arthur Weasley, who was his deputy, was in France,-meeting with counterparts from other European ministries to finalize plans for coordinating efforts against Dark wizards all over the continent.

To top it off, the twins were sick with a terrible cold, forcing them to stay in bed. Having just turned three, Daisy and Andrew were ordinarily all over the place, making it difficult for Blinky and the other house-elves. Confining them to bed would make them irritable and prone to bursts of accidental magic. So Lily elected to stay home with them. She also wanted to make sure it was something ordinary and not the start of a Dragon Pox infection.

As he thought of his youngest children, a silver phoenix appeared in front of James and the voice of Albus Dumbledore came out of it. "James, Death Eaters have entered Hogsmeade again. I'm afraid it's to suffer from Voldemort's followers again."

James grimaced and pulled out his communication mirror and called out, "Sirius Black."

Sirius' face appeared on his mirror. "James, what is it?"

"It's Hogsmeade again, Sirius," James said. "I just got a Patronus message from Albus. You better head out there with as many people as you can. He didn't say anything about how many there are, so assume that there are a substantial number."

"All right, James," Sirius said. "Since we don't know how many there are, I'll bring half of the Aurors force, including Kingsley, and half of the DMLE wizards. I'll have someone make sure the students stay in the castle. I'll be leaving Frank in charge while we're at Hogsmeade."

"Good," James said. "Keep an eye out. Since it's exam week, I doubt there are any students there, which makes it suspicious. The last two attacks occurred on a Hogsmeade weekend. I have a funny feeling about this. Be careful, Padfoot. I don't think I could tell Sam if anything happened to you."

"I'll do my best, James," Sirius said. "Take care while I'm away. Over and out."

James watched his best friend's face fade from the mirror, contemplating the last thing Sirius had said. Thinking about it, it struck him that Sirius may be right. It made no sense to attack the village of Hogsmeade in broad daylight when Hogwarts was in session, especially while exams were going on. There were sure to be no students in the village. What was Voldemort up to, then?

He walked to the door of his office and opened it. In the foyer of his office, Percy Weasley, who was still his secretary, and his two bodyguards for the day, Gordon Trent and Edward Brooks, looked up from their positions around the room. "We're on high alert, boys. There's a Death Eater attack on Hogsmeade. Percy, come on in. Gordon, Eddie, stay on alert. Let no one into this office for now."

Percy followed James back into his office while the two Aurors took up guard positions facing the main door. James had just retaken his seat behind his desk when he felt his mirror vibrate again. Why is Sirius reporting already? He probably just got to Hogsmeade, James thought.

Activating his mirror, he was surprised to see the face of Frank Longbottom looking at him, framed by smoke. He could see the flashes of spells behind him.

"The shit has hit the fan, James," Frank said. "We're under attack."

"Death Eaters," James asked, "How the bloody hell did they get in the building? The wards we placed on the fireplaces and Apparition Room against the Dark Mark should have kept them out. If the wards were broken, they would have triggered the alarms."

"I don't know," Frank answered, "All I know is that, about five minutes after Sirius and his team left, over two dozen Death Eaters Flooed in and began hexing anyone they could see. In the confusion, several of them managed to get to the lifts. They may be headed over there."

"All right, we'll be ready," James said. "Do you have enough Aurors with you? I know Sirius took at least half of the force with him."

"Including myself, there are fifteen Aurors plus ten MLE officers," Frank answered. "We're splitting into teams of five to take them down. We have some of those marble-sized globes with the Stunners in them that you released to us last week. We'll try to use them to take out the Death Eaters, especially if they're in crowded areas."

"All right, Frank," James said. "Stay in touch and, for Merlin's sake, be careful. I'd hate to tell Alice or my future son-in-law that something happened to you."

Frank chuckled. "I'll try, James. I'd like to be present if and when my boy weds your daughter. I'd also like to walk my own daughter down the aisle when it's her turn, though I hope that's not for many years." His face grew serious once more. "You just keep out of the line of fire for now. I'll let you know if we need help." Frank's face disappeared as the mirror cleared.

James sighed and turned to Percy. "You better tell Gordon and Eddie to be ready. We may have visitors in a short while." Percy nodded grimly and left the office. James drew his wand and thought of Lily and his children before shouting, "Expecto Patronum!"

His stag Patronus appeared and he gave it a message for Dumbledore. "Albus, the Ministry is under attack. We're handling it. Stay where you are for now. Sirius and I don't like what's happening." He then sent it off to Hogwarts.

James then opened the drawer of his desk, revealing several round, marble-like objects in different colors sitting in an open box marked with the Weasley Wizard Wheezes logo. These were the items Frank was talking about. For want of a better term, the Weasley twins just called them Magical Stun Grenades or MSGs, since they were based on Muggle grenades, but contained a Stunner that was set off when they violently stuck a solid object. Fred and George were busy developing other varieties.

Thank Merlin the Weasley twins developed these things, with the help of Remus, Lily and Harry. Ingenious, really, he thought.

He put several into his pocket before closing the box and drawer. He got to his feet and walked around the desk, headed for the door. Then, a tremendous explosion rocked the office, throwing him off his feet. He rolled to a prone position near the side of the room, out of line of sight of the door just as the latter flew off its hinges to crash into the far wall.

"Knock, knock," a menacing voice said. A hulking form appeared in the doorway. James recognized the face of the man, Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf looked around and spotted James, still on his belly. The man grinned evilly at James before hunching down.

Without hesitation, knowing that a Stunning spell may not be strong enough to knock out the werewolf, James drew out several of the globes out of his pocket. Just as Greyback started to jump toward him, James threw the globes at him. They struck the evil creature in mid-spring, triggering several explosions that threw him backward into the outer office.

James quickly moved forward in a crouch toward the doorway. The red beams of three spells flew over his head from the outer office. He quickly threw more of the globes into the office foyer, resulting in more explosions and smoke to fill the outer office.

He cautiously moved forward and peered into the room from the side of the doorway. Through the smoke, he could see that the outer door had been ripped violently from its hinges, just like his inner door. The furniture in the office had been thrown around by the blast. The bodies of three Death Eaters were in the middle of the floor. Of Greyback, he saw no sign.

Quickly, he put the three Death Eaters in Full-Body Binds and conjured ropes around them. He cast another spell to clear the office of smoke. He heard a groan from the side, coming from behind Percy's desk. He moved toward the sound, his wand at the ready. Looking around it, he was relieved to find Percy, propping himself up on his elbows and rubbing the back of his head.

James knelt beside Percy and helped him to a sitting position. "How are you feeling, Perce?" he asked.

"A bit dizzy, Minister," Percy said. "But otherwise, just a bit of soreness in the back. I got thrown against the wall when they blew the door in. I assume Gordon and Eddie got them, since we're still alive."

"I'm afraid it was me who got them," James said. "There were four of them, including Fenrir Greyback. I got three of them but Greyback seems to have fled. I haven't seen any sign of Gordon or Eddie, but the office is a mess. You sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine now," Percy said, getting to his feet. He swayed a bit but remained upright, waving off James' attempt to assist him. "We should see if Gordon and Eddie are all right."

James wasn't convinced Percy was all right, but decided it was more important to find the two Aurors. Together, they levitated the upturned couches and armchairs upright, revealing the bodies of the two Aurors.

James hurried over to them and looked for any sign of life. To his relief, both were still breathing. Raising his wand, he woke them up, eliciting groans from them.

"Easy now, boys," James said, helping Gordon to a sitting position. "You both got knocked about from the explosion."

"Sorry, Minister," Gordon said. "We didn't expect them to blow down the door like that."

"Well," James said, "in a way, you're both lucky. If you were upright when they came in, they may have AK'd you or Greyback, who was with them, would have torn you to shreds. As it is, I managed to capture three of them but Greyback seems to have got away."

"What do we do now, sir?" Eddie asked. He had been helped up by Percy.

"It all depends on the situation elsewhere in the Ministry," James said. "We've got these three but we don't know what's happening overall. Personally, I'm just itching to get out there and take a few more down."

Just as he said this, James felt his mirror vibrating. Pulling it out, he activated it and saw Frank's face appear again on the mirror's surface. "How's it going, Frank? I hope you don't have bad news."

Frank gave a deep sigh, "I'm afraid I do, James. They managed to break into the whole cellblock at the bottom, even the secure cells. They sprung the lot, James, everyone we were holding there over the past six months, even that kid of Malfoy's. We managed to get a few while they were trying to leave, but most of them got away using Portkeys."

"Bloody hell, Frank," James swore, "That's very bad."

Frank nodded, "I know. There are still several Death Eaters running around the building so I can't find out where they went. How's it going at your end? Are you all right?"

James nodded his head, "A few of them came here and knocked out the doors and ruined the furniture, but we got three of them with the magical grenades. Greyback was part of the group but he didn't like the grenades and bugged out. I only hope he isn't still in the building."

"Hopefully, he's left already," Frank said, then a smirk appeared on his face as he continued, "As for you, Minister, just stay where you are. I know you. You and Sirius always love being in the midst of the action. But it's different now. You're the head of our government, so losing you would be a disaster. They've already tried once to get you. Don't make it easy for them by going to them. I don't want to have to face Lily if anything happened to you because of that."

"All right, all right," James said, "I'll be a good boy and stay here. Thank Merlin Lily is home taking care of the twins and not down in the Department of Mysteries or I wouldn't be so cooperative. But please update me on the situation as often as possible. There's something going on today. They've already attacked Hogsmeade, yet they also attacked the Ministry. I'm worried that they have enough people to attack both places simultaneously. What if they have even more men? Remember all those foreign wizards we were apprehending last year? The three we captured look Slavic to me."

"That's a scary thought, James," Frank said. "We haven't been able to intercept any more groups sneaking in, but that doesn't mean they haven't managed to."

"I know," James said. "We'll look into that as soon as this crisis is over."

"All right," Frank said. "See you after we've made sure there are no more Death Eaters in the building. Over and out."

James stood up and walked over to the remains of the outer door. After looking it over, he decided that it was too badly damaged for a Reparo to fix. He'd need to set up wards around the door to prevent any more unwanted visitors. The two Auror bodyguards were now feeling better so he had them stand guard outside under Disillusionment Charms while he and Percy quickly set up protective wards around the door and outer wall. Once they were done, he had the guards move back inside the office and stand ready. He walked back inside his office and sat down.

Going over what had happened in the past hour, he realized that this was one of the visions Rose had seen before her kidnapping. It all fit – the Death Eaters coming in through the Floo, firing on the crowds in the Atrium, several of them getting on the lifts in the panic and those Death Eaters getting out at this floor.

We should have been more vigilant. James sighed. Hopefully, this was the extent of the Death Eater activity for the day but he had a feeling it wasn't. If it wasn't, there weren't enough Aurors and other DMLE officers to handle another major problem.

Just then, a silver phoenix appeared in front of him. The voice of Albus Dumbledore came out of its mouth, sounding very serious. "James, you were right. The attacks on Hogsmeade and the Ministry are not the worst of it. The alarms around the castle have gone off. We are under attack."

*******

Harry and the members of the Defense Club were gathered in the Room of Requirement when the alarms of Hogwarts started ringing. The rest of the students were in the Great Hall. The entire Defense Club looked at each other, knowing what the ringing chimes meant.

Harry took a deep breath and felt Ginny's hand cover his and give it a comforting squeeze. He looked at her and was met with a determined look in the deep brown eyes he loved.

"All right, people," he called out, "it's time. The castle is under attack. We've been training for months now for a situation like this. You've all done well in our simulations but this is the real thing. I know we've been in fights before, but we're better prepared and have the home advantage. This time we have a plan. Group up into the teams we formed in the last session we had."

In the last session, they had the members of the DC grouped into several teams to simplify assigning to defensive positions Ron had marked all over the school. There were now a hundred and twenty-five members in the DC so they were divided into twenty-five teams of five members each. Each member would be given a mirror similar to the ones used by the Aurors to facilitate communication with Ron, who would coordinate the defenses.

While the other DC members formed up into their groups, Harry activated the Marauder's Map. Looking at it, he saw that a huge group was gathered at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, on the side of the castle near the road to Hogsmeade. Instead of names, some of them were simply identified as 'giant', 'troll' and 'werewolf'. There seemed a lot of them, at least five giants, six trolls, and a dozen werewolves.

There were also a hundred Death Eaters, most of whose names he didn't recognize and sounded foreign like Karl Schmidt, Petar Samsonov, Borys Kalpinski, Jacques Lebouf, Marco Giamatti and Nikola Theopolous. However, he could also see the names of Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Greg Goyle Sr., Vincent Crabbe Sr., Thaddeus Nott and Lucius Malfoy.

Then, Harry saw another name appear, followed by his scar prickling in severe pain. Ginny was by his side in an instant, holding his hand, allowing the pain to ebb and disappear.

"He's here," he said. "Voldemort's here." He looked around to see fear appear in the eyes of most of the others. "Don't worry. Just keep out of his way. He's my responsibility."

"Not yours alone, you prat," Ginny said as she gave his hand a painful squeeze.

Harry winced as he answered, "Yes, dear." The other students laughed, easing the tension in the room.

Ron then took charge, directing teams to their positions in the castle. Harry felt grateful for the tactical and strategic skills of his best mate. After receiving their assignments, the members of the DC were given their communication mirrors by Hermione and Rose and headed out for their positions.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Rose, Ti, Maggie and Neville headed for Gryffindor Tower, which would serve as the command post for the defense of Hogwarts. Once in the Tower, Ron sat down with the Marauder's Map in front of him and Rose took a seat beside him. While Ron watched the movements of the Death Eaters on the map, Rose would go into her Seer trance from time to time to see what may happen in the future. With these measures, they hoped to be able to counter any moves the Death Eaters made.

Ti and Maggie would stand watch over Ron and Rose, being the best-skilled duelists in their respective years. As much as Neville wanted Maggie to stay with him or evacuate with the rest of the third- and lower-years, he knew he couldn't force her to. He just hoped Ti would be able to protect her if trouble came to the Tower.

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Neville were to be part of the students who would defend the castle from the grounds in front of the steps. Ron called each teacher on their own mirror to assign them to an area of the castle to support the DC teams there. Just as he was done talking to the last one, Professor Sprout, the castle rocked violently.

"It's the wards," Harry said. "They're breaking through."

The four of them sprinted out of the Tower and headed for the Entrance Hall. They arrived at the bottom of the main staircase just as a loud bang sounded that shook the castle again. The door of the Great Hall opened and Dumbledore stepped out of that chamber.

"They've brought the wards down," he said gravely. "All the third-year and below students have been evacuated. I trust your fellow students are ready."

"Yes, Professor," Harry answered, "as ready as we'll ever be."

Dumbledore nodded and pointed his wand at his throat. "Sonorus!" "Attention, stand ready, Mr. Weasley will give the signal when to begin casting your spells." "Quietus!" He turned his attention back to the four Gryffindors. "I guess it's time we took our own positions. Harry, in spite of your success in earlier confrontations with Tom, I think you should let me face him this time. We don't want to risk you until we can undo his protections."

"I'll try, Headmaster," Harry answered. "But if that monster tries to harm any of my friends, I can't stand by and not fight him."

Dumbledore sighed. "I guess that's as much as I can hope for. All right, let's go."

"Yes, Professor," all four said simultaneously before dashing through the front doors.

Once outside, they joined the other students in front of the entrance steps. With them were Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout, who stood just in front of the students. Harry and the other three took their posts just to their left. Dumbledore descended the steps and stood beside Professor McGonagall.

Harry felt his mirror warm up. It was his father.

"Harry," James said, "what's happening there? Are you all right?"

"Can't talk now, Dad," he replied. "They've broken through the wards. We're ready to fight. There's a large group of about a hundred Death Eaters with several giants, trolls and werewolves. Dad, Tom's here. Send help when you can."

"Will do, son," he said. "Be careful, Harry."

His face disappeared from the mirror's surface to be replaced by Ron's. "Harry, they've started to move out. Voldieshorts is hanging back with Malfoy and a few others. Harry, that git Draco just came in, along with Theodore Nott. Rose isn't handling it well, wants to come down and kick his arse but Ti and Maggie managed to talk her out of it. Take care, Harry, and take care of my sister."

"I can take care of myself, Ron," Ginny answered angrily.

"Whoops, okay, okay, so you can," Ron quickly said. "I'll update you soon." His face disappeared from the mirror, leaving his sister to fume.

Harry, feeling the need to redirect her anger, took her hand and mentally directed her attention to the line of black cloaks now visible in the distance. "Don't mind Ron now, love. We have bigger problems. You can hex him later."

Ginny huffed and nodded her head. Harry heard her through their bond vow to do just that when they had sent Voldemort's forces packing. Harry took a deep breath and faced the oncoming dark forces, ready to defend his school, teachers and fellow students.

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