Hermione Granger (cerebralwitch) wrote in wished, @ 2010-06-07 22:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! final battle |
Who: Almost Everyone
When: June 7, 1998
Where: Hogwarts
What: The Showdown
Warning: Death and Destruction!
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There wasn't any turning back, now. Everything had been set into motion, and the only way it had a chance of ending well was if they left - immediately. The Order would be arriving soon, the students who had been waiting to rise up all term would be stepping in to do their part, and every one of them would have the same goal in mind, the end that could only come if, this time, the three of them actually finished what they had set out to do almost a year ago. It was easier, in some ways, to leave the relative safety and comfort of the Cottage when it was an absolute certainty that friends and family and the last force for hope would be waiting for them. More than that, they would be relying on them. There was no more time to buy.
No departure could ever go perfectly smoothly, of course - they would need every advantage they had, but even so Ron was adamant that it was past time for books as Hermione made a few last frantic notes in the seconds before they finally left - but in the end they went together, perhaps for the last time, a little subdued by Harry's grim determination. They formed a close group just outside the house, and, without another word, Apparated to Hogsmeade.
Everything was oddly still as they made their way into the basement of the twins' shop, and into the tunnel that would take them into Hogwarts, now enemy territory. The low ceiling muffled their hurried steps, and the only echoes came when the passage rose ominously to accommodate the entrance to the castle. They didn't hesitate; there wasn't any time to do so, and there wasn't any point. One by one they climbed out into the third-floor corridor, wands drawn and ready to finish it all, one way or another.
Beyond what they knew lay only what they suspected - that as soon as they stepped onto the ground of Hogwarts castle, they were found out.
Harry's scar burned for just a moment, painful and hot, and he winced and raised a hand to it, but then he pushed the pain away. That connection would serve later, maybe, but for now they had things to find and destroy. Still, it was a reminder that they were not leaving this without things being settled. Even as they took their first steps through the hallways, Hogwarts was closing down around them, Death Eaters' marks burning to summon them to their duty. And the Order arriving to fend them off. It was all in motion.
"This way," Hermione didn't slow as she started moving down the familiar passageways of Hogwarts.
Beneath them, around them, the world was beginning to end.