With a flick of his wand, Humberto levitated himself upwards as the battle raged on below. His cloak billowed in the wind at night, but he didn’t need a mask. Not anymore. His face was already terrifying enough, a hodge-podge patchwork of skull, his former mask remnants, and burned flesh from a vigilante-cast acid curse.
When his feet touched down on stonework he was up on the parapets of the castle, striding towards one of the towers that would let him seek entrance inside.
But Remus wasn’t about to let a Death Eater gain an inch of ground. It had been only a moment before he’d decided that he was out for blood. There were too many Death Eaters, too many dead children and his baby waiting at home. He was out for blood. Up on the tower, he’d got a good vantage on Humberto and was able to appropriately prepare. His wand slashed to one side, a tumble of stone masonry crumbling at the Death Eater.
Remus followed that up with another slash, this time aimed at the Death Eater’s wand hand.
“Diffindo!”
The cascade of stone impacted against a shield the Death Eater had formed, but the sheer weight of the impact forced the Death Eater not only to halt his advance, but to take a few steps backwards. The shield dropped when the rocks had fallen to the ground in front of him, but that was too late to block the severing charm that opened up his off shoulder, and he hissed in pain.
But Humberto was all done playing tricks. It had gotten him nowhere. His wand raised, and then slashed towards the figure that had cast the spells: “AVADA KEDAVRA!”
“No!” Molly yelled, looking up from the spot where she'd been bandaging an injured student. With a quick flick of her wand and a muttered spell in Remus’ direction she hoped to fling him out of the way of the curse, and then cast a shield charm on the student before running in the direction of the magician.
Thanks to Molly’s quick reflexes, Remus found himself careening through the air where he landed against a pillar several feet away from the magician (and nearly off the balcony) but he used the momentum to right himself and with the better ground, instead chose to fire a disarming spell at the Death Eater.
Then, just in case, he backed it up a growl. “Reducto!”
The first spell -- Potter’s specialty or so he’d been briefed -- was batted away by the illusionist’s shield. The second slipped through, blowing apart his prosthetic hand he’d needed since that debacle in the Muggleborn Registration Commission. It hadn’t stopped there, destroying up his flesh and blood forearm too.
“Lamina!” the Death Eater cried, sending a flourish of flaming knives outward in a semi-circle towards all his opponents. Then, he whirled further, firing a flaying curse at his original opponent, one of those annoying first war Order members that were practically an endangered species.
“Duck!!” Molly yelled as the knives came at her, flattening herself against the floor as a bright red gash appeared on her arm. With the Death Eater's focus now on Remus she took her shot, with a cascata bringing everything near the Death Eater cascading on the floor.
One of Humberto’s cursed blades made it neatly into Remus’ shoulder with another still in the meaty part of his thigh and though the concussion and pain was great, they had to end this. He followed up Molly’s spell with a slash of his wand meant to sent Humberto tumbling over the edge of the castle wall.
The Death Eater, in his focused rage and anger, wasn’t focusing on defense. As the ground suddenly became a tripping hazard, littered with debris and scattered objects, Humberto stumbled, lurching to the side to press against the stone that marked the edge of the narrow walkway along the walls. “Aha, you’ve not seen the last of Hum—”
Lupin’s spell smacked him full in the chest. The magic swept him up, and pitched him off the castle walls plummeting to the ground below.
Molly barely reacted to the sight of the Death Eater disappearing over the wall, instead focusing on Remus. “We've got to get you patched up,” she said in a voice she hoped was calm and soothing, but with an edge. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling him to his feet with a surprising amount of strength she continued. “Lean on me, we'll get you to a real healer to take a look.”
Arthur Weasley v. Winthrop Abbott
It had come to this. A battle on the grounds of Hogwarts. It would be worth it, if it brought peace, resolve. Though at what cost? Arthur had to not think about it. Not fret over his children and their safety, trust they could fend for themselves they had made their choice they were here. He felt like he could already hear the earful from his wife.
As he turned down a corridor he came face to face with a death eater. His immediate reaction was to disarm, “Expelliarmus.”
Winthrop threw a slashing curse at the Weasley man before the Disarming Charm could reach his wand, but the effects had counterbalanced. Unpleased, he scoffed at the man and rolled his eyes. How noble.
"Truly take after Potter, don't you?" he inquired, before throwing another slashing curse at the man.
“Not something I would take as an insult,” Arthur retorted. He threw up a shielding charm just in time. Arthur sent a blasting curse in his direction hoping to send some shards of wall at his opponent.
That indignant comment was met with a roll of his eyes from Winthrop though he did have to duck as the shards of the wall came flying at him. "Flipendo!" he aimed the Knockback Jinx at Weasley, hoping to throw him off the balance.
Arthur was knocked back stumbling and thrown off balance as he sent a “Confundo” in the death eaters direction. The aim off as he went off balance as he fell backwards unable to completely reclaim his balance. He the ground, feeling like the wind got knocked out of him but knew he needed to get back up and quickly.
Not wanting to waste time by using children's spellwork, Winthrop chuckled a bit before he aimed a fireball, making sure to drop it just mere inches away from Weasley's feet. "Dance, Weasley, dance!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm moments later.
And dance Arthur did, attempting to dodge the fire until he sent a stream of water from his wand to put out the fire. Arthur felt winded after the effort, mental note cardio. Arthur sent a banishing charm in the direction Death Eater.
Winthrop quickly deflected the spell and smiled fondly, almost admiring this poor man's resilience. He aimed another blasting spell at Weasley and chuckled. "This can go on for awhile, my dear man."
Arthur deflected the blasting spell but caused it to hit the wall sending some shrapnel from the wall at Arthur. A few sharp pieces of wall hit Arthur cutting him making him wince before sending his own blasting curse in his opponents direction. “Well so can I.”
The incantation for the Shield Charm left Winthrop's lips at that exact moment, making the blasting curse bounce off easily, as it hit some wall nearby. "Hm, as entertaining as this has been, I better be off to fend others."
Winthrop shouted, "Confundo!" As the spell hit Weasley, Winthrop swiftly disappeared, fully intending to help others in need.
Bill Weasley v. Isobel MacDougal
Bill had heard an attempt at some werewolves to howl while in their human form, and for a moment, a shiver ran down his back. He took a moment to glance over at Fleur before he focused on the attackers that would soon be coming their way. This felt like it, the confrontation they'd all been waiting for. At the end of this night, it would be decided one way or another.
"Immobulus!" He shot the freezing charm at the first combatant he saw, the movement instantly kicking in his cursebreaker instincts.
Isobel missing that spell -- from a formidable Cursebreaker, no less -- was lucky in and of itself, but she wouldn’t dare leave the rest of this matchup to luck. She hissed at the eldest Weasley, before indicating at some nearby werewolves to attack the lad. “Come on!” she shouted at them, while she threw a Knockback Jinx at him.
Bill blocked the jinx easily enough, but now his attention was split. He needed to focus on the Death Eater, but he also couldn’t help but worry more about the werewolves. It wasn’t the full moon, but still…
He flung a round of stinging jinxes at all of the figures, his gaze focused on the Death Eater as he still tried to keep the werewolves in his peripheral.
Isobel flinched as she was stung by a few of the stinging hexes, though she managed to get by with ducking a few of them. She was distracted enough, but she thought of how Mr. Nott would not have been happy if she was distracted in a duel. Ignoring her pain as much as she could, she turned her focus back to Bill.
“Locomotor Mortis!” Isobel shouted, aiming the Leg-Locker Curse straight at her opponent’s legs. She wouldn’t let him get away, not when she had the werewolves by her side.
A shield charm took care of the curse easily enough for Bill, but there wasn’t much he could do against the physical attack of the first werewolf who attacked him. A punch in the face was quickly followed another barrage of stinging hexes, trying to keep the group back off him as best possible. He flung a wild banishing charm at the Death Eater before decking another werewolf that came his way.
“Ow!” Isobel protested as more stinging hexes hit her, though she didn’t have much time to react as the banishing charm sent her stumbling backwards, and losing her focus for a moment. Isobel turned to the next nearest werewolf, waving her hand in the general vicinity of Bill, as if to wordlessly say ‘What are you waiting for?’
As the other one headed his way, Isobel wasted no time with sending a severing charm at his arm, hoping the allure of blood would further instigate the werewolves nearby.
A quick deflection meant the charm just sliced his arm, the wound quickly starting to bleed. Bill suddenly had more attention from the werewolves than he wanted, and he focused on them rather than the young Death Eater. He let them land a few blows as he waited for more of them to get closer, carefully timing his next attack.
“I think you’ll find I’m not as easy to take as you think,” Bill informed the werewolves. With a complicated movement of his wand, he sent a bolt of lightning towards one of the wolves, the bolt splitting off into a chain to crash into those closest.
Isobel used his distraction as a means to send an agitated Avada Kedavra at him. It wasn’t fair that he wouldn’t just stop!!! And go away!!!
Groaning when the Killing Curse missed the eldest Weasley, Isobel tried to recall a different spell that she’d learned from Hugo. With a great deal of concentration, she sent a flaying curse at his skin.
Bill growled as the curse hit him on the shoulder, and he could feel the skin starting to peel away. He blindly threw a stunning spell at the Death Eater, before focusing on the counter-curse to stop his skin from continuing to peel away.
The stunning spell just barely missed Isobel as her Shield Charm was a fraction too late, but she was glad she missed it all the same. “Go!” she shouted at the werewolf, as if to indicate that the werewolf should have already been after Weasley now. “Get him! Kill him!” The werewolf growled at her, but seemed to realise that her command was more out of frustration and not due to her taking an active lead in anything.
She smirked as the werewolf approached him again, but this time, she was not going to wait around for more. “Hope you die, Weasley!” she sang, before drifting off for the Weasley man to be devoured by the werewolf.
John Dawlish & Jasper Williamson v. Clement Max
Unable to find Yaxley in the rubble on the floor below, Jasper ventured out into the grounds looking for him. The snake of a man had to be somewhere.
But instead he saw the back of a very familiar looking head. "Juice Cleanse?" he called out. And then followed that up with a flipendo. "You know, you could have just gone to therapy after she dumped your ass, mate, woulda saved you the whole permanent tattoo, neo-Death Eater gang sitch."
The flipendo knocked Clement back, but he was quick to his feet again, snarling at Jasper when he turned to face him. Killing him would be satisfying. “I. Dumped. Her!” He punctuated his lie with stinging hexes. “If anyone has lost it since our break up, it’s her. How are you liking dating a murderer?”
After his duel with Yaxley, Jasper barely felt the stings as they caught his left side, his left leg, and then the shield charm he threw up just in time. “How are you liking being a murderer, you insignificant asswipe?” Jasper shot back from behind his shield charm. Right as it started to disintegrate, he fired off the vertigo charm.
The vertigo spell hit Clement, who groped for the wall to keep himself upright as the world spun around him. With the hand not on the wall he sent a badly aimed freezing charm at Jasper. “I'll like it more when I kill you.”
Jasper easily avoided the freezing charm and returned a disarming spell. “Jesus, that’s not very creative, Max. You can’t think of anything more interesting than death? Hashtag End of a Wannabe Healer.”
The vertigo spell passing, Clement was able to block the disarming spell. “I'll leave the creativity to you and your crass poems. You should write your own obituary in preparation.”
Before Clement could attempt the Killing Curse on him, Jasper jumped in with a quick Pig-Latin Spell; but before he could do anymore than than, the air around them chilled more than usual.
Clem shivered as the temperature suddenly stopped. He'd never been to Azkaban, was unfamiliar and unprepared for the feeling that accompanied them. He was glad to still have a hand on the wall to keep him upright.
He had one advantage though, as a fellow servant of the Dark Lord it would listen to him.
“Ementorday,” he greeted weakly. “Attackway Asperjay.” He pointed at the former auror, that visual clue enough for the dementor to understand his garbled command and sweep towards Jasper with its long black finger extended.
Under any other circumstance, Jasper would have laughed - but it was like the very sound of it was sucked from his lips as the Dementor followed Clement's instructions (did Dementors care what language you spoke? Were they fluent in pig-latin?). It turned it's hooded face towards him. He shivered in the cold.
Amethyst's distraught voice screaming down the phone. Felicity's dead body slumped against his door. Luca, afraid and angry, demanding he stay with him in Romania. His mother's funeral. The glint of triumph and greed on Zabini's face as his eyes met hers at the coroner's office. He was losing. He was always going to lose.
helplessly, angrily, miserably tied down with the chains of guilt shaped like an albatross around his neck this was his fault, he brought this onto himself
get up, think of luca, the time he was born, the time you kissed his hair when he fell asleep in your arms, the way that his soft breathing against your chest reminded you why you had to fight why you had to make the world a better place, not for you, no one cares about you, but for him
limbs weary, joints aching he lifts his wand— The Dementor opened its mouth and began to feed.
With the Dementor focused on Jasper, Clement’s own fog of sadness started to lift and while his first instinct was to take the opportunity to run away and let the Dementor finish off the former auror, part of him couldn’t help but see this as an opportunity. Yes, the dementor would likely suck the soul out of Jasper but it would be so much more satisfying to kill Maddie’s currently helpless new boyfriend himself.
Clement aimed his wand at Jasper.
“Expecto Patronum!” came a booming voice, as a silvery-white colt appeared through thin air and set its sight on the Dementor closing in on Jasper. John Dawlish encouraged his Patronus to drive away the Dementor, as his own sight set on Clement.
John kept his face emotionless upon registering that face and instead raised his wand to throw a Confundus Charm at his former classmate.
Clement attempted to throw up a shield, but the pig latin curse was still in effect and the spell failed, the Confundus hitting him. “Atwhay areway ouyay oingday erehay?” he asked John, wand still raised but the jumbled mess coming out of his mouth only confusing him further.
It took John a moment to register what had happened to Clement and despite it not being the best moment for it, he let out a brief chuckle. His face returned to the sternness it was used to over the years within a split second, and John’s eyes wavered to his Patronus.
Once again, his focus shifted back to Clement. “Fighting people like you,” he spat out bitterly.
Clement took John’s moment of amusement to silently cast a counterspell. “Igneus Liquidus,” he shot at John, testing that his voice was back to normal.
As the acidic liquid exploded mere inches from John’s body and sent the liquid splattering over his body, he yelped as the pain struck him. He groaned, both in pain and agitation, but he didn’t have time to react to very much else. He retorted with a Blasting Curse, and quickly put up a Shield Charm, making sure there was no debris headed his way after the fact.
With his spell saying abilities back, Clement easily shielded himself from the blasting spell debris. But John’s patronus had taken care of the dementor and it was only a matter of time before Jasper was back on his feet, even if weakened. He didn't like his chances against two former Aurors. So with a strong slicing spell aimed at John to keep him occupied, Clement slunk away into one of the castles many hallways.
John was momentarily distracted as his attention was on his Patronus, making sure the Dementor had left. He dropped his wand, just in time for the slicing spell to hit his left arm, cutting deep into his flesh. He yelled in pain as the blood oozed out of his flesh. With every last amount of concentration he could muster, he mumbled a temporary healing spell before trying to focus his energy on Clement again, except that slimy git had managed to slip away.
Aberforth Dumbledore v. Ignatius Travers
With the resonating sound of old, aged wood splintering and breaking apart, the front doors to Hogwarts castle finally gave up.
It didn’t matter that Aberforth had been reinforcing them with magic against the onslaught to buy some of the wounded more time. The Death Eaters and their creature allies beyond had been relentless. It all came down, large pieces crashing to the ground while other, smaller splinters exploded inward.
Aberforth’s shield caught the spray of wood, and then he was already banishing a large half-section of the once great oaken door into the belly of a giant that was the first through the breach, and likely responsible for most of the damage to begin with.
Ignatius followed the giant into the castle with a large grin on his face, robes billowing in a dramatic fashion and a lack of mask on his face. He didn’t see the point of that, not now. Not in what he was sure would be their greatest moment. They had too much on their side. The giant who was bound to step on someone at some point was proof of that.
He shot off an acid spell at the first person he saw.
Chains of light erupted from Aberforth’s wand, twirling around one another before splitting off to shackle around the giant’s hands, completing the loop and tethering to the with a shunk, burrowing into the stone. He had to make sure the creature didn’t proceed too much further as it could bring the whole ceiling down on them.
So distracted was the aged wizard that the Death Eater’s curse splashed across his side, dissolving through robes and into flesh with a smoky hiss.
Aberforth whirled, barely taking note of who his new opponent was, and transfigured the ground near the doors into quicksand.
Ignatius was able to sidestep the quicksand, but an animated suit of armour nearby wasn’t so lucky, slowly disappearing into the sand with its sword raised above its head. Ignatius sent it flying towards his opponent before engaging in an exaggerated yawn.
The sword was redirected mid-air, spinning around to stab towards the Death Eater as Aberforth had to avert his attention. Aberforth’s blasting curse sent an encroaching acromantula (blasted Hagrid) that had scuttled into the castle towards Travers as well, and then he swore: more were pouring in around the giant’s angry stomping feet.
The blade of the sword sliced Ignatius’s arm as it went by, causing him to let out a hiss of pain that was mostly drowned out by the sounds of giants and acromantulas. He managed to dodge the acromantula that came crashing into the wall behind him with a gigantic splat, but it gave him an idea. Lighting it on fire, he sent the flaming, oozing dead acromantula back at Aberforth.
“What the hell?” Aberforth exclaimed in reaction, having only just dispatched the next wave of acromantula before the Death Eater’s odd attack came out of nowhere. A giant flaming ball of spider wasn’t the dark spellwork he was anticipating, and his shield only gave the projectile something solid to impact.
And impact it did, exploding against, and then through the collapsing shield to shower the aged wizard with flaming, magical spider, toxins and all. Covered in cooked acromantula and smoking in several locations over his upper body, Aberforth snarled in anger, fighting through the pain rather than giving in, and with a reactionary wave of his wand collected the large, splintered remains of the oak door and sent them his opponent intent on flattening him against the stone walls in retaliation.
The door didn’t quite flatten him, but his shield only did so much. Large pieces of wood smacked into head, his chest, his legs. One piece impaled an arm. It left him momentarily disoriented, wildly shooting off the killing curse wherever it felt like landing.
Erratically aimed, the spell went wide by a foot as Aberforth stumbled to his left, bringing him closer to his shackled giant, and impacted with a burst of hideous green flame against the stone-wall behind the vigilante.
Any swift, well-aimed counter-attack was warded off by the fact that Aberforth was feeling the brunt of the Death Eater’s attacks now. His robes were in tatters and his skin was sizzling, burning literally as well as figuratively. And so he went for quantity over quality, several blasting curses leaving his wand after he regained his footing.
Ignatius was so tired of blasting curses. Even if he managed to miss the curse directly, the steady stream of debris in every direction had more than enough impact. Too much rock, wood, and metal rained over him, causing gauges and lacerations all over his body. But it was nothing compared to the first slab of stone that landed in front of him, blocking his view of his opponent.
It was no matter though. There were more opponents to face and defeat. The important part was that he was inside the castle.
It was the second slab of stone that mattered though, falling so fast that Ignatius didn’t have a chance to sidestep it. He barely knew what had happened before the rock was on top of him, and then there wasn’t anything left at all.
By the time Aberforth had levitated himself over the obstruction, his opponent was gone. He swore loudly, and then his attention was diverted by the sounds of fighting coming from the opposite direction.
Kingsley Shacklebolt v. Bellatrix Lestrange
The stairs started to swing away from the corridor Kingsley and Bellatrix had just fled from, a small clutter of acromantula clicking their pincers at them menacingly. It had been a moment of solidarity between the former Auror and the current Death Eater, their fleeing from the giant spiders, but now, out of the acromantulas’ reach despite one frenzied attempt at weaving a web large enough to reach them, the momentary truce was dead.
Kingsley whipped around to face Bellatrix and, taking a page from Potter’s book, sent a disarming charm at the woman.
Even with only half her vision and the distraction of a blood curt long scream from a portrait that clearly didn’t fancy spiders, the spell was easily deflected. Bellatrix let out a scoff. “Is that all Yaxley’s taught you since he started running that place?” And then with a taunting laugh, “If only they’d put me in charge.”
Kingsley laughed right back at her. “I don’t remember you being put in charge of anything, Lestrange,” he said lightly, aiming a bolt of lightning at her blind side. “Must sting.”
“The Dark Lord had more important things to put me in charge of,” she sneered after narrowly avoiding a direct hit from the vigilante’s spell. The air sizzled with electricity, charring the fabric of her robes and leaving a scorch across her right arm.
But the pain was nothing she couldn’t handle. After the Dark Lord’s torture, she could handle anything. And with the thought in her head, she swung her wand at Kingsley, a flaying curse followed by a booming, “Crucio!”
“Like what?” he asked, a single eyebrow raised. “Being in time out?”
A shield bore the flaying curse, but it was no match for the red flash of the cruciatus. Teeth grit against the fire sparking at his nerve endings, the pain still brought him to his knees and he swayed dangerously as the stairs continued to move through the air. He sent a few haphazard blasting curses at Bellatrix, looking for relief.
She managed to keep her balance and the curse trained on the former auror until the stairs gave an abrupt lurch, pitching her into the path of his last blast. She felt the bones in her right arm crack and she fell backward up the stairs. It was just at the edge that she stopped, and so did the stairs.
“What I’ve endured is nothing compared to what you will when he gets his hands on you,” she spat and with another jerk of her wand, she turned the stairs beneath his feet into a sheet of ice. What followed was a string of curses, some more menacing than others, hurled in the hope of sending the man over the edge.
It all happened so quickly. Kingsley was catching his breath from the lifted cruciatus, grinding out, “Voldemort doesn’t scare me.” And then the stairs weren’t really stairs anymore and he slid backwards on them, towards the foot of them and the gaping cavern of a castle beneath them. It was only a few floors, really, and he figured he could probably survive the drop, but the fall made him think of Gawain and how the woman before him had killed the other man.
If he was going down, he was taking her with him.
A hand thrown out, he caught himself on the bannister before he could fall, his feet dangling over the very edge of the stairs. “Glisseo,” he said, wand pointed not at Bellatrix, but at her feet.
Bellatrix saw the spell coming but could do nothing to stop it. As the stairs shifted again, flattening into a slide beneath her, she slipped and tumbled down. A rope shot from the end of her wand and anchored her to the banister just before she fell, leaving her dangling beside Kingsley.
The only thing she could do was aim a kick at his side, hoping his hold broke before hers.
“Fuck off, Lestrange,” he managed between grunts of exertion, kicking back out at her. He flicked his wand at her anchor rope, lashing out with a silent slicing charm.
She breathed out a “No!” as she watched her tether severed. She dropped off the edge of the slide, grappling for purchase on anything within reach. What she found was the auror’s foot, the only thing keeping her from falling into the depths of the castle.
The added weight of Bellatrix made Kingsley’s shoulder scream in pain. “No, yourself,” he called out to her, jerking his leg in her grasp. He could feel every single movement either of them made in his shoulder, though, and he was nearly ready to cut his own damn leg off. But he didn’t think he had it in him to fill Moody’s peg leg.
And then, he felt it. His shoe started to slip off his foot and he preemptively jerked his other leg out of her reach, hoping the movement would jar his shoe even further. It certainly jarred his shoulder.
It jarred Bellatrix, too.
She felt herself slipping, her pulse racing along with her mind as she tried to find a way out of this. There wasn’t enough time.
But if she was going down, so was he.
As his shoe slid over his heel and pitched Bellatrix into the darkness, she aimed her wand. As she fell, her wand erupted with green light as she sent killing curse after killing curse aimlessly up the stairwell in hopes one would hit its mark.
The first of the killing curses flew over Kingsley’s head and he flinched, drawing his face close to the ice that was quite literally freezing his bollocks off. The stairs started to swing away, each killing curse slamming into the stone and ice, spraying him with chunks of both. He tried to haul himself up, but the muscles in his shoulder started to quake.
He tried casting his own rope, but it went wide just as his fingers slipped. He tried again as he slid down the rest of the ice, but before he could even finish the incantation, he’d started to fall.