1,605Thank you all for the reviews. Harry Potter is not mine this is a story from a fan.
(BSC 6 C14) C205 It is starting to get real.
It was really starting to get real in Hogwarts. The lessons the friends had made were all practical and the theory was just some talk with very little writing. Games were given to improve the spell work because if you did it with fun you could practice it better.
On the battle side of Hogwarts, it was almost the same thing. Everyone was practising in every way. Healers were handling all the wounded that came from the hand-on-hand combat. Many of the men were grumbling about Veelas learning too much from Emma Granger. Some were using the Imperius curse to get people from one end of the room to the other. Those were the Battle healers. They were on the battlefield and taking care of the first and immediate life-saving healing before the patient would be taken away by a house elf. Others were using the Leviosa charm to flote people between debris.
People were firing Stinging hexes on the metal ducks to get some target practice. The fun part was the water balloons that were thrown at them by the students of Hogwarts. It was a practice that was held once a day. Students would throw them and the Army would pop them with cutting spells. If they were lucky the kids would get wet. If they mist them they themselves would be wet. It took them almost three weeks before half of them didn't get wet and the students were.
#*
The Grandmothers were standing on top of the balcony of the highest tower looking down at the grounds. Zanita was with them just as Gabrielle was sitting on her shoulder. They were looking down at the way Bella and Harry were drilling the air brigade. Dan Granger had told them how a lot of battles started in the air. None had wanted to go there until a couple of days ago. "Minerva you know what happened to get them to do this. You know why they are thinking about an air attack" Augusta asked her.
Minerva shook her head sadly as she looked at how Bella and Harry dove down and attacked a couple of men that were standing on the ground. With a wave of her hand, four chairs appeared behind them and they all sat down. Minerva gave a deep sigh as the image of a bloody Neville and Harry appeared in her mind. "Yes I know" she whispered.
Start Flashback
"Wel, two days ago" Minerva started. "Two days ago in the middle of the night, there was an attack on a Wizarding inn near the coast. It was just after an elf had appeared that told us Grindelwald's men had arrived. A couple of minutes later the elf came back telling us that they were attacking the inn just for practice. What some don't know but we did was that it was also a safe house for Muggles who knew about Magic. Also, for the Muggles who had magical family members staying at Hogwarts. They were there to take a boat to the mainland. Because it was a muggle way to travel it took days before they could. In the meantime, they were taking shelter there to be safe for the Death Eaters".
"Why didn't they come here and let us help them," Grandmere asked her.
"They are afraid of us and they had their reasons. Most of them had lost family members because of the Death Eaters. We are all the same to them, and they just don't trust us. It has taken Emma and Narcissa a lot of time to convince them to leave by boat just to be safe. Now the trouble is that only ten people could go on that boat at any time. The rest were waiting there and saw people leave day after day. It was on that one day the boat came back sooner than normal".
Minerva stopped and a tear dropped from her eye. She had seen the memory of one of the Squibs that had been there. They were now safe at one of the houses on the Peverell estate but the reason was not as good. "What I saw in the memory was not something good and it really drove our kids to anger, an anger, I have never seen in them before".
Flashback on hold
"Well we have not seen the memory, but just tell us what you have seen," Augusta asked her as she was clearly on edge at the way Minerva was dancing around the subject.
"It is hard to say. Not only for what I have seen in the memory but the kids have seen it right at that moment".
"Minerva, what have they seen? What aren't you telling us".
"No, I can't It is just too hard. Just knowing is bad enough".
"Tell us Minerva" Augusta almost snapped.
"Alright, alright," Minerva told her. "Grindelwald man had intercepted the boat and killed all of the people on it. It was something we knew could happen but the way they had done it was not. When the kids got there they saw it all. Those monsters had not only killed them but also beheaded them. The bodies were piled up on the deck while the heads were hung high enough on the bow for everyone to see. Like they were trophies for them. Most of them were kids their own age".
It was the first time they all heard the old Battle axe curse like a drunken sailor.
"When they saw it they just went beyond mad" Minerva went on. It was now Minerva took a moment and started to tell the story of that one particle night.
Flashback continues.
The friends and Minerva were sitting around in the middle of the night. "Why do you have to stay up for the war," Minerva asked them.
"We are training ourselves to have little periods of sleep during the day. With those little breaks we want to be ready at every time".
"I think it is a waste of time, but let's see how you handle it for a couple of days Minerva told them. "I can understand the way of thinking but if you ask me you need at least a couple of hours of sleep. Those hasty periods of sleep are good for in-between but not for all the time".
The friends all looked at Minerva and were slowly seeing the wisdom in her words. As they looked at each other Minerva knew they were having one of their talks. So when a House-elf popped up between them they all took a jump. The house elf bounced from left to right while rubbing his little hands together. Hermione was the first with him and asked what happened and why she was so nervous.
"Dipsy has a bad thing to say. Dipsy is very afraid". The friends all gathered around the elf with Minerva at the side looking on. Hermione was comforting him while she pushed her slowly to go on. "Dipsy has seen a bad man from bad longbeard. They have killed people on the boat".
Flashback on hold.
Minerva stopped talking and looked at the others in the room. She had now told them how they knew the men of Grindelwald had arrived. Augusta saw and heard the hesitation and went to sit a little closer to her long-time friend. As she looked over her shoulder she saw Poppy standing in the doorway listening to the story. She also had her wand in her hand and it told Augusta she was keeping a close eye on Minerva.
Flashback continues.
At first, I just didn't understand what they knew. It was made clear when they told me it was the escape route for the muggles and squibs. So they rushed out and returned all dressed in their war armour, weapons and all. Before they left I was told to get Amelia up and ready to assist. They did not know who or what they would find but they wanted her just in case. While I did what I had to do I heard Bella and Daphne telling me everything in their mind about what they saw. They told me about every step they did. After it, I saw it for myself in that memory. Only Poppy, Amelia and I had looked at it. They arrived at the dock far away from the boat and slowly made their way to it. Amelia told me they had to do it so they would not be surprised by an attack if they appeared in the middle of it. This way they were at a distance and could plan their own attack better. I could see the boat but not much else because it was still too far away. When they got closer, I too could see the heads hanging on a string on the bow of the boat. It was horrible to see and to know it was the first thing they saw was just sickening.
The kids didn't bad an eye at it and just walked on. I could feel the anger and not only from Harry. The girls were even worse. So they just walked passed the boat and walked straight to the inn where the muggles and squibs were taking shelter until they could get away from it all. They all knew there was an attack so they did not have the luxury to see if the people they were helping were alright. Harry didn't wait and just threw a blasting hex at the front of the inn and blew away almost all of the front of the inn, away with one spell. It was in the front of the inn they saw Girls naked sitting on the ground and men tied up.
In the corner stood a couple of men who all held them under wand point. Now by the looks of it, the girls and women were made to undress in front of them all. But the men had been manhandled, You could see it by the blood on their faces. All of them were covered in blood and it put their anger to the next level. The friends stepped backwards and asked them all to come out so they could settle this right here and right now.
Flashback on hold.
"Let me guess those men from Grindelwald did come out and they did want to play the game," Augusta asked. Minerva nodded slowly.
Flashback continues.
They didn't just come out ready to fight. No, they came out blasting every dark curse they could think of, at them, right away. Before the kids could react Harry was already hit by a cutting curse in the side. They weren't holding back and were ready to kill them all. Now I felt the curse cutting through my side and knew I could not wait any longer. I turned to Amelia who was already at my side and told her to go right now right away. It would still take them about ten minutes and I could only hope the kids could hold out so long.
Now I did feel a lot of spells hitting Harry and it told me they hit everybody. When I saw the memory it was even worse than the feelings. Those men were blasting to kill and the kids were not holding back either. They weren't fighting anymore. They were killing machines many people were afraid of. Spells were crisscrossing all over the place. Those men were in shape and were not holding back. The friends were hit and were giving back just as hard. Harry took a cutting curse to the ribs and sent one back which separated a lower leg from the rest of the body. Bella was making her way closer to the men with Daphne at her side. It was clear they could not win it by spell fire because those men had more experience in fighting dirty. So for Bella and the others, it was simple. This had to be a hand-to-hand combat and they would bring them down.
Bella jumped up as Susan threw a Metal ring that knocked the side of the head of one of them. Blood was pouring out but that man kept on fighting. Bella landed as the one who just had his head cut open struck Susan across her chest. Bella jabbed him with her short swart. She mist as the man spun around he avoided the jab but never saw Daphne who followed Bella and sliced her knife across his upper leg going really deep.
The man went down while Susan, Hermione and Neville were battling a couple of other men. They too had fought their way to the man and were now fighting with their weapons. Neville tried to hit him right on the head but he was blasted away from only a couple of feet that was between them. The Goblin armour took the most of the blast but Neville still coughed up blood. It drove Hermione to insane heights of anger and she swung her ball with spikes right at the head of the man and let's just say he lost it after that moment.
It was at that point Amelia walked into the battle from the side. By the looks of it, she could not do much to help them. The battle had been shifted from the front of the inn to the big marketplace in front of it. Amelia was making sure she placed an anty Muggle ward around the area so no Muggle could see it. And for those who did they were obliviating at the spot. For the battle itself, she could only look on just to keep out of the spellfire between the two groups.
Those men had been trained in spellwork but also in hand-to-hand combat. The advantage the friends had was that they could send spells from close by with their weapons and the others could not. They tried but were not as good as the friends were. Killing curses and deadly cutting curses were almost the only things Amelia saw changing between them all.
Flashback on hold.
Minerva hung her head as she told them about the memory she had seen. It was one they all would watch later on with the rest of one half of Hogwarts. Most of the family would join them but this was just to prepare them all. Minerva had felt the pain of Harry and the two girls. And it was a surprise to her that they could still fight this way while they too felt the pain of the others. "It really hurt me when I felt it all but even more when I saw them stumble into the castle. We came so close by losing two of them".
It was the one thing the family had not seen. Only Minerva, Zanita, and Poppy had seen them walk in as they were brought in by Amelia and Sirius. The others were on the roster for the next shift. Sure they could be called to help but only when they needed them.
After a couple of moments and a little drink of water, Minerva went on.
Flashback continues.
Amelia just had to look on as the kids were hit several times. Susan was blasted on her leg and lost half of it. Daphne was blasted across the area and hit a wall where she slumped down. When those two went down it flipped the fight in their favour. Not only Harry pulled out magic we have never seen before but so did Neville, Bella and Hermione. Hermione put a shield up so high and strong it drove the men of Grindelwald back. Neville lifted almost a hundred bricks out of the street as Bella shot them all to dust. Hermione dropped the shield and Harry blasted all the little rocks that came from the bricks at the men. It was a wall of little pebbles and it was blasted away by the men. They did blast away the pabbles but not the barrage of cutting curses that came after it. As three bodies dropped to the floor the others apparated away to get to safety.
Flashback on hold.
"Let me tell the rest Minerva" the voice from Amelia sounded as she stepped around Grandmere. "I was there and they were not all there anymore. I almost lost my niece that day and it still amazes me how they did it". Amelia gave Minerva a hug and stepped to the edge as she looked at the friends who were clearly training harder than anyone, or ever before.
Flashback continues.
I looked on and was already running to the fight when I saw Susan go down. Susan lost part of her leg and Daphne looked at it as if she had already lost her life and she forgot to look out for herself. When she was blasted against the wall I knew I had to help them even if it was too dangerous for us all. They would not suspect us to jump in so we could make a target of ourselves when we did. It was then I saw the shield the bricks and the blasting hex that pulverised them all.
When I saw it I thought the friends were pulling back and this was a way to shield them long enough to escape. I never thought they would use the dark Cuttingcurses to get back in the fight and to show the men of Grindelwald they would not back down. A lot of the men were hit and they had to flee or they would all lose their lives on the spot. Right after it Bella and Harry rushed to Susan as Hermione and Neville went to Daphne. Harry used a burning spell to close the separate part of the leg of Susan of what was left of it, while Bella almost collapsed at the spot next to her. I took Susan in my arms and wanted to Apparate back to Hogwarts but I could not. The moment the friends had left, I had to deal with the men of Grindelwald that were left behind, meaning their bodies. I gave that job to another so I could help the friends and deal with it later. Zanita had placed the Castle on half lockdown. It meant that people could get out but none could apparate in. Only Harry Neville and Daphne could. But they were too weak to do it. Susan who could also do it was even less. She was clearly in shock at seeing what was left of her leg. The only thing that was left for me and Sirius and for some others to side apparate them to the gate of Hogwarts.
When we got there both Neville and Bella collapsed. Hermione and Harry were the only ones that were able to walk into Hogwarts. How they did it I do not know because I would have been out before I was apparated to anywhere".
Flashback on hold.
As Amelia stopped she was interrupted by Poppy who went on where Amelia had stopped as she stepped between them.
Flashback continues.
"They didn't. When you brought the others in I placed them on the beds. You and the others left to go over everything you had seen. You knew the friends wanted to know it all so you had to go back to inform them of what was left. I already told you that Susan would be fine because Harry did right by burning the wound. I turned around when you had closed the door. I saw Harry placing Hermione on the bed and the moment he placed the blanket over her he slumped down to the ground next to her. Like always he held on until the last was safe and he could look after himself.
End Flashback.
Poppy placed her hands on the shoulders of Minerva and went on. "I looked them all over and I can tell you if the battle had gone on they would have all lost their lives, or close to it. It is a wonder they are even training out there at the moment. But I came here to invite you all to the other side so you can see the battle they had for yourselves. I do not know why but Harry told me you all needed to be there. He said he wanted all of the others who will be fighting in this war to see it. They all have to know what they are up against. If they want they could still get out or they are all in. He also told me he wanted them to look at it now so he can do something else later on".
"SHIT, NARCISSA" Minerva screamed. The looked she got from all the others told her enough. They wanted to know what it was and they wanted to know it now. Minerva swallowed by those looks but she went on to tell them. "Narcissa had come back with Emma late last night. They had found the Veelas and went right to the friends when Nolwenn had told her about the fight they had. Emma rushed to the side of Hermione and Narcissa to Bella and Daphne. There they were informed and I bet you he wants to do something about it right after it". Poppy just nodded as Amelia jumped to her feet. She was not going to the other side of the castle but right to the friends to find out what they were planning and what she could do. Halfway down the tower she was joined by Gabrielle who landed on her shoulder.
#*
Grindelwald was sitting on his throne. Voldemort was next to him and waiting for the men of Grindelwald to join them. He had gathered up all of the Death Eaters and told them to see what a real Army looked like. The one thing he did not understand was why they were so late. They could not Apparate over the ocean but they could from the moment they placed a foot on the ground. They had not done it or they had not yet landed so to say. Grindelwald rose from his seat and started to walk from left to right. He was worried but he could not show it to his and Voldemort's followers. He was glad he only told them about his man coming and what kind of men they were. Now he did not tell them about the training they did and he wanted the Death Eaters to join them when they got here. "Now they are only running a little late. Knowing them they are in a fight and are eager to show how we will run this place. You do well to show them respect when they get here. Now to repair you all I will tell you that they will train each morning and every night. They will stay away from the bottle until the battle is done. They will party when the time is right but not before so you will have to shape up".
Voldemort raised to his feet and stepped next to Grindelwald. He might be a Horcrux of his master but that does not mean he can humiliate his Death Eaters. They might not be as good as his men. At least he knew his men were not all that great. But they were still his men and most of them had served him right in the first war. If it had not been for Lily and Alice he would have succeeded and his better half Grindelwald could have remained Albus like he had pretended to be at the time. "I have to tell you" Voldemort started when Lucius felt something slamming against the wards on the manor.
"My Lord".
"Crusio" Voldemort screamed as he dropped Lucius where he stood.
"Aaahh People Ahhh at Aahhh Wards" Lucius screamed as he twisted in every angle. Voldemort dropped the spell and looked out of the window. He did not see anything and he just realized he was looking at the back of the manor and not the front. So he pointed to one of the junior Death Eaters to go and see who it was. It was only a second later he was blasted through the door of the room and he landed before the feet of Grindelwald who had just stepped in front of Voldemort.
It was only a second later his men stumbled into the room all bloody and cut. "My Lord we have" one of them started to say before he slumped to the ground.
Lucius had gotten back to his feet and started to laugh. "Those are your man. They cant even arrive before they lose a little battle" and he laughed some more. The next he knew was that he was looking at the end of a blade. There were no words exchanged but there was that hatred look in the eyes of the one who held the blade against his throat.
Grindelwald stepped next to him. "Walter" he started. "What happened why are you looking like this". Grindelwald looked around at his men and saw that his man didn't look like they had a little battle but a big one. It was then he ordered them to be taken care of as he and Voldemort went with them to hear what had happened.
The man that had slammed Lucius against the wall closed his eyes. He pulled away the blade and dropped Lucius to the ground. After a little nod, he followed Grindelwald to the place he had indicated with his hand.
When Lucius got back to his feet he joined them so he too knew what those men had done to let them down. He even motioned for the others to follow him so they could hear and see it for themselves.
As Grindlewald joined his men in the infirmary at Malfoy manor, he walked straight to Walter his top man or his right hand to hear his side. "Walter, tell me what happened". Walter looked to the ground. He knew he could not show weakness to his master but he had been weak. Before he could open his mouth Grindelwald stuck him right across his cheek. Some of the Death Eaters that had walked behind Lucius gasped at what Grindelwald did. Voldemort had never used his hand on them but Grindelwald just did. To their shock, they saw this Walter take it and dropped to his knees asking for forgiveness.
Lucius looked at the other Death Eaters and saw this Walter. This giant of a man went down on his knees. This man had arms bigger than Grindelwald's legs combined and he still went down. He had muscles bigger than anybody they ever saw. Still, he sat there on his knees crying and begging for forgiveness. He hadn't even told what had happened but he still was asking for forgiveness for the failure he had bestowed upon the name of Grindelwald.
"My Lord" Walter started. "We did as you asked. We looked and found the route they used to smuggle away the Muggles and Squibs. We had found the boat and when it was filled with children we took hold of it. We killed them all and hung their heads on the bow of the boat like we always do. We do not take prisoners and we do not back down for anybody. We went to that inn and played Havoc on everyone inside. It was then a group of youngsters came and interfered. They were young and we made the mistake to underestimate them at the time. They attacked and they attacked us hard".
Grindelwald waved his wand and a throne appeared in front of the kneeling Walter. He sat down and gazed at his right-hand man. He shook his head slowly from left to right. As he turned to the right he saw Voldemort had taken a seat next to him and looked at this giant of a man. "I think he ran into Potter and his annoying followers".
Grindelwald only nodded at the words from his own and knew Voldemort was right. There were no others who could have done it. But he had to know what had triggered them to be so brutal because Harry only was this hard when he cared about someone or something. "Are you telling me you weren't able to beat kids"? Grindelwald screamed as he hit him again across the cheek, it turned red in a second and you could see the handprint shining on the face. "Did you train at all. Did I not provide you all with money to make sure you and your men were in top shape to handle the next war when I called you".
Walter hung his head and knew he had not done what his master wanted him to do. He had failed his Lord just like they had done the last time. Sure they had helped him when he got out of that hell hole he had billed for others. Nermingrad was the worse place on earth and he had been there for a couple of years. "Yes my Lord, you did. We used it as you told us and trained harder than ever before. You gave us even more than we needed and we used it to be even better but it somehow was not enough. When we got here we did like we always did. We took over the boat and went into the inn they used as a hiding place. As we took over the inn we beat up the men and undressed the women to have our way with them in front of the men. It made us feel like the old days".
Walter looked at the ground as the things he had done played through his head. His Lord would not think twice about the things he and his men would do as entertainment or reward. But losing two men was something he would not appreciate, not without a good reason. "We never thought there would be an attack on us the first time we were here and just wanted to make sure they would all know we had arrived. We would have used the woman and after it, we would have killed them and half of the men. Then we would let them go so they could spread the word around. So we hurt them and made the girls and woman undress. Just when we were about to show them what we would do the entire front was blown away from the inn we were in".
"POTTER" Voldemort snapped. Walter looked at the person sitting next to his Lord and growled in his throat. Before he could do something Voldemort struck him across the cheek just like Grindelwald had done before. Walter got big eyes because it always hurt more when you pushed your magic behind it. He could feel the magic and it was the same magic as his lord. As Walter looked at Voldemort he could see Grindelwald smirking next to him.
"Now we did not know how they done it or how it was done. But we immediately went on the attack and blasted everything we knew at the. They were short or young and they fought like Goblins. They did not look like Goblins but they had their weapons and were clearly trained by them. Not only that but they knew spells we have never seen before. We have trained ourselves to fight together but they fought like they were one. they knew where every one of them was and we were with twenty while they were with six, if I counted right. I have to tell you the truth my lord we were outnumbered and we were with a whole lot more than they were".
Before Walter could go on he was blasted against the wall as Grindelwald rushed to his feet. He took one good look around and saw that he had two dead men. The others were hurt and even his right-hand man Walter wasn't doing that good. It was only half of his men who had arrived but if these had trouble with only six of them what would they do in another battle? He could go on and attack other places just to see what they would do. But seeing this he might as well through the cloak in the ring. The only thing they could do now was to train, train hard long and be ready for a battle at Hogwarts. He was in the advanced there because he had mapped out the whole place. He knew every corner and every stone in that place or where they were. He knew the beast and he knew the animals in the forest. Sure they were standing behind Potter now. But if he promised them the forest they would stand behind him.
He turned on the spot and looked at himself in the body of that Riddle boy. "We can't win this in small battles. We will lose too many men. It is clear they will kill us by just showing up. They already killed two of my men and they only did it because they clearly could".
These words made some of the Death Eaters that were standing behind Lucius swallow. They had been fighting this war and the last one on fear and fear alone. It had been the fear they placed in their enemy. They only had to deal with Lily and Alice Potter who fought back just like Mad-Eye. The Prewitt twins were like them but they had been killed in a battle where they had outnumbered them. Now they didn't feel like they were the hunters but they were the hunted. Grindelwald turned on them and before they could run he stopped them with his words. "As you can see they did not get the job done. Still, they held on and fought like I have not seen any of you do. But my men have hurt them and we will have you all trained by my men just so you could do it too. There will be forty more of my men coming our way and they will train you all and themselves at the same time".
Grindelwald turned to Voldemort. "What do you think, Little battles and lose a couple of people. Or are we going right to the big one and taking over Hogwarts?
Some of the Death Eaters looked doubtful at those words. So Grindelwald ordered all of them to take on Walter outside. He woke Walter up and told him what he had to do" Twenty minutes later Walter was back sitting on his knees in front of Grindelwald, while the Death Eaters were being treated for their wounds. They were not ready to take on Walter so they definitely weren't ready to take on the friends. So they either took little battles and lose every time or used the couple of months they had left to train and win the big one.
Voldemort walked back in and knew his tactic of fear didn't work anymore. This time he had to fight. He knew he always wanted them to show some backbone. Narcissa had even called him out on it and now he was regretting ever saying that. If he wanted to rule the world he had to not only defeat Potter but also himself. He could lock himself up if Grindelwald would turn on him. But that was for later. As he had looked at his Death Eaters fighting Grindelwald's men. He knew he had to have them because his men were nowhere near ready to take on Potter. they might take on the Aurors but never Potter and his followers. "Yes they will train and we will take Hogwarts for ourselves and after it, we will conquer the rest of Britain and then the world".
The months that followed were nothing more than hell for everyone. The Death Eaters were being manhandled by the followers of Grindelwald. They were getting better but so were they. Still, they weren't the only ones who were manhandled by them. The werewolves and Vampires were following their leaders and were manhandled by the men of Grindelwald. It did give all of them a kind of sinister feeling when Voldemort and Grindelwald were manhandling them. Hours turned into days, days into weeks and slowly they were going to the day of the big battle. As the day came closer their army was slowly getting bigger and bigger. It was a day of glory when the giants were walking into the front garden of Malfoy manor. That day there was a party to remember. It did cost Malfoy quite a lot of gold but nowhere near the dent Narcissa was doing to his gold without him knowing it.
After the giants, there were more Goblins, Vampires and Werewolves who joined them. Voldemort and Grindelwald were happy they even got a lot of Veelas to join them. Their queen was too young to rule them so some were glad to join them just to get back at the boy who stole their queen from them and who refused to bring her back. So by joining them they could get rid of the boy take their queen and show her the true way of a Veela.
It was also a surprise for the pure-blood Death Eaters that not only were the men of Grindelwald, very good fighters in magic and hand-to-hand. They were also into muggle armoury. They didn't know any of the weapons they used but it was clear they shot metal balls out of them. According to Grindelwald, they were a lot better than the ones then that Muggle had used to kill Lord Parkinson. So as the time drown near they knew they would make it.
This was it again for this week. See you all in two weeks.
Gr Winmau