36

Nearly all the school was there when they reached the Great Hall. A great many looked frightened, jumpers and trousers pulled hurriedly on over their pyjamas. Some of the older students looked less ruffled, as if they had considered what to wear with a fight in mind. Indeed, there was a small gaggle of DA members forming at the end of the Gryffindor table, all apparently awaiting their instruction.

Silence fell across the hall as Dumbledore stood on the Gryffindor table.

"Hogwarts is threatened." He explained in a totally calm voice. "It is unsafe for you to remain in the Castle at this time." There were a few whimpers of fear but these soon stopped as Dumbledore spoke again. "Your House Prefects are going to lead all those under-age to the evacuation point. There are no exceptions." He added sternly as he spotted some of the younger members of the DA looking disgruntled. "I know that there are those of you well trained in defensive magic and, even though you cannot remain behind, I urge you to use your skills to protect those younger and more vulnerable than yourselves."

There was a slight disturbance as members of the Order of the Phoenix bean to file into the hall, gathering not far from the DA. Their faces were grim and set, ready for the battle ahead. Their faces broke into smiles as they saw Sirius appear through the doors along with Lupin and Tonks.

"You ready?" he asked, clapping them both on the shoulder.

"As we'll ever be." Kathryn sighed.

"Protection has already been placed around the castle but it is unlikely to hold for long unless we reinforce it." Dumbledore spoke again. "You must follow your prefects, calmly and quietly, and do as they-."

His final words were drowned as a different voice echoed through the hall. It was high, cold and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the very walls.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams from the gathered students, some clutching each other in terror. "But you have no chance. You cannot fight me. I do not wish to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood for every drop spilled is a waste."

The silence was deafening as they waited for the unseen terror to speak again.

"Give me Harry and Kathryn Potter," Voldemort said, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry and Kathryn Potter and I will leave the school untouched. Give me them and you shall be rewarded." There was silence still.

"You have until midnight."

Every pair of eyes in the hall was fixed on Harry and Kathryn. They could not move; they were frozen in the glare.

"They're there!" a high pitched voice shrieked. "They're there!" they recognised the figure standing at the Slytherin table as Pansy Parkinson. "Someone grab them!"

Faster than they could've believed, every Gryffindor in the hall turned to face the Slytherins, wands being pulled from up sleeves and in dressing gown pockets, forming a wall between them and Harry and Kathryn. This was followed by those at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Harry and Kathryn were shocked beyond words, nothing could ever be said to express the gratitude they felt.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," McGonagall's voice cut through the tension, "you will leave the hall first with Mr Filch and the rest of your house." There was a great grinding of benches and footsteps as the Slytherins trooped out of the hall, led by Filch and Mrs Norris.

"Ravenclaw's follow on!" slowly, all the tables emptied. Many Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students remained behind, with almost half of Gryffindor staying in their places. Before any more chatter could break out, Kingsley stepped forwards and stood beside Dumbledore.

"There is only half an hour until midnight," he told them in his deep, steady voice. "We must devise a battle plan. Professors Sprout, Flitwick and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the highest towers – Ravenclaw, Astronomy and Gryffindor – from where they will have an excellent vantage point from which to work spells."

"Remus, Arthur and Kingsley will take groups of fighters into the grounds." Dumbledore went on. "And we need some people to organise the defence of passageways into the castle."

"That sounds like a job for us!" Fred called, indicating himself and George.

"Excellent." Dumbledore smiled. "And I trust that you four will be operating as you see fit?" Dumbledore addressed Kathryn, Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"We will." Kathryn nodded.

"Just stay safe, and stay together." He reminded them. "Now, team leaders divide and organise your groups." People were still spilling through the doors, having arrived through the passage from the Hog's Head. Aberforth, Oliver Wood, Cho, Alicia, Katie, Angelina and Neville's grandmother were but a few of the faces they recognised.

From outside there was a thundering noise and they saw the instantly recognisable figure of Grawp walk past the windows.

"The've brought their own giants too." Hagrid arrived in the hall. "Grawpy's going the give us a hand with tha'."

"May luck be with you!" Dumbledore called after the teams of students, teachers and Order members as they left the hall to take up their positions.

"Let's go." Harry whispered to the three of them. Taking one last look at the Great Hall, they sprinted off out the doors and positioned themselves at the top of the staircase, waiting for whoever was going to come through first. Sure enough, there was a loud thumping noise and the great oak doors seemed to gradually buckle until a hole appeared in the middle. Hiding behind the balustrade, the four of them waited until they heard footsteps on the stairs before revealing their hiding place.

"STUPEFY!" the four of them cried, bursting forth to face the five Death Eaters that were making their way up the stairs. Flashes of green flew above their heads and they did not wait to see if they had hit anything, taking off down the passage and leading them further into the maze of corridors.

Ducking into an abandoned classroom, the waited as they heard what seemed to be a single set of footsteps walking up the stairs.

"Wait." Kathryn whispered and, before their eyes, she transformed into her animagus form. She returned to her normal self seconds later. "One," she told them, "halfway up the stairs. Smells like McNair." The four of them looked at her puzzled. "Wolf senses," she explained, "much finer than human ones."

"Stunners?" Harry asked.

"Couldn't I just tear him limb from limb?" Kathryn asked, feigning disappointment. "Give him a taste of his own medicine." She smiled wickedly in the darkness. "But alright." She raised her wand in front of her and led the way carefully out of the classroom. With the swiftest of movements she launched herself halfway down the stairs and, without uttering a cry, stunned him before she landed. Hermione instantly conjured chains and bound him securely in a broom cupboard; snapping his wand and locking the door on him.

"Not bad Hermione." Kathryn said as she raised her wand again, not wanting to be caught unawares.

"You're not too bad yourself."

"But not good enough." A cold voice sneered from behind them. They all whirled round to find them facing Antonin Dolohov. All they could do was dive out of the way. Harry ducked into the room on the left whilst Ron grabbed Hermione and practically fell into the room opposite. This only left Kathryn who, with nowhere to run, dodged the Cruciatus Curse that he sent at her.

"Incendio!" she cried, sending a bright jet of red flame out at him before he could open his mouth to send another curse her way. He shrieked in pain as the flames licked at his robes. In seconds, however, he had managed to extinguish them and was rounding upon her with his wand.

"PROTEGO!" Harry burst forth and created a shield between the two of them. His eyes flashing in anger, Dolohov turned and ran, ugly blisters appearing on his already twisted face. Following the noise of the ongoing battle, they found Ginny locked in battle with the great, brutish Rowle.

Running into the fray, Harry cast a shield charm between the duelling pair whilst Kathryn conjured a great, flaming snake that Harry had seen Voldemort use once. It circled Rowle, burning white hot and eventually engulfing him. His eyes flared in horror as the flames built; swallowing up his wand hand and turning him into a grotesque human torch. Once he was sufficiently disabled she extinguished the flames. The hallway was filled with the rancid smell of burning flesh as Harry, Ron and Hermione emerged. Hermione gave a small gasp of horror as she caught sight of Rowle's mangled body.

"Is he dead?" she whispered.

"No." Kathryn roughly shoved him into a room and locked the door. "But his wand's in cinders so he shouldn't be any more trouble."

"More importantly," Hermione gave her a searching look, "When did you learn to use Fiendfyre?"

"Does it matter?" she shrugged. "I found it in the Restricted Section if you must know. At the moment I think there are more important things to deal with." Cautiously, they made their way down the next corridor, wands raised and ready.

As soon as they reached the corner, the wall exploded in a fountain of dust and rubble.

"Run!" Harry yelled as another spell hit the wall on their left. The five of them scattered in different directions as they caught sight of about three Death Eaters waiting in the hall for them. Kathryn ran, her head bowed, at full pelt down the corridor as chunks of wall exploded above her when their spells missed.

"Sectumsempera!" she yelled, aiming her wand randomly over her shoulder as she ran. She heard a strangled cry; her spell had, amazingly, found a mark. Her euphoria at this, however, was soon stifled as she ran into the wall at the end of the corridor. Dazed, she crumpled to the floor in a heap and vainly tried to stand despite her spinning head as she heard approaching footsteps.

"Crucio." A sharp voice said and, seconds later, she felt as if a thousand hot knives were tearing at her flesh. She screamed wildly as the pain reached an unconceivable level and her head felt like it was fit to burst. Once the pain subsided, she caught a glimpse of the long, light brown hair flecked with grey that she knew belonged to Theodore Nott's father. She was too slow in reaching for her wand and her head exploded in pain again as he hit her with another dose of the curse.

"STUPEFY!" four voices cried behind him and, the next thing she knew several pairs of hands were pulling her up off the floor.

"You ok?" Harry asked her. "You're bleeding." She felt a small sting on her forehead.

"I'm fine." She brushed away the trickle of blood with her hand and looked down at the crumpled heap of Nott senior that now lay in the corner. "Thanks for that." She waved her wand and fine threads appeared; binding him tightly.

"Don't mention it." Ginny shrugged, turning to survey the corridor behind them, her wand raised. She let out a small gasp.

"What?" Ron asked as the rest of them turned to see what had shocked her. Their questions were answered when they saw the lifeless form lying in a large pool of deep red liquid.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked in a horrified whisper as they edged closer.

"One of Snape's handy little spells." She answered, looking down at the deep gashes that reached across Avery's neck and chest.

"But you killed him."

"He would have killed me." Kathryn reminded her. "I didn't think I'd hit anything." She deftly stepped over the pool of blood and continued on down the corridor. "Who was the other one?"

"Goyle Senior." Hermione told her. "But he scarpered when you hit Avery." They all raised their wands as they heard running footsteps getting closer.

"Neville! Luna!" they cried in surprise as their friends rounded the corner. "Are you ok?" Neville had a nasty black eye and Luna was sporting a deep cut along her arm.

"Fine. Been launching Snargaluff pods at them off Gryffindor Tower. They don't like that much!" Neville gasped. "What about you?"

"Just peachy." Kathryn commented sarcastically. "What's downstairs?"

"Plenty." Neville told them through ragged breaths. "Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Crabbe and Goyle's dads, Lucius Malfoy," Kathryn's heart skipped a beat, "and Greyback too. We saw them heading towards the doors."

"Right, let's go, and remember; stick together." Harry said, raising his wand and leading the charge into the hallway below.