"Who's Nem?" Nessa asked Cassie frantically as her dearest friend asked about them. Were they important? But she couldn't really help if she did not know who that person was. She didn't really have time to think about that any further or hear Cassie's response, because she soon scream as a spell of flames came near here, throwing up a "Protego!" just milliseconds before fire would have burnt them both.

This was terrible! Nessarose wasn't a fighter! Sure, she could cast some spells and had a lot of passion inside her that she thought would do her well, especially when it came to protecting her loved ones. But she came here to get one of those most precious to her, not necessarily to engage in battle.

"Cassie, where's Hope? Gemma and Jackson?" They had no business being in a place like this and she only wanted her own child and Cassie's to be safe. She was just about to suggest they get the heck out of here and go get their kids when she heard someone calling their names. "Leo!" she called out as he approached and hugged his wife. "Leo, now's not the time to catch up. We need to make sure the children are safe."

Well, it was good to know that the children were safe, according to Cassie. But as much as she trusted her best friend, she needed to see Hope for herself. And she knew Cassie was right. She did need to fight. She'd done it once before and she apparently would have to do it again, but it was necessary for the children!

She readied her wand, but there were so many coming upon them and casting so many spells that even her deflecting shields didn't seem to be enough. She'd need to be more assertive.... But it was just then that she saw the flash of green headed towards them and she SCREAMED.

It was too late.

"CASSIE!! NOOOOO!!!" Her best friend since they were children fallen dead in front of her. Nessa heard the screams coming from her, though they sounded so far away. No time to process this to mourn or cry, she was still in shock as she turned and fired spell after spell with fury at the Neo-Alliance crowd - stupefy and incarcerous and fulgari and bombarda. HOW DARE THEY!!

Shreya had been momentarily distracted by the sweet Kitridge reunion. As a result, she was nearly hit by the powerful stunning curse. "PROTEGO MAXIMA!" she blurted at the last second, waving her wand to create a shield over herself. The triple stunning curse rebounded off of it, but the cast brought with it enough force to knock Shreya off her feet yet again. This time, her head hit the ground, knocking against the stone with enough force to make her see stars.

She blinked heavily, eyes immediately watering from the pain. One hand reached toward the back of her head and came back coated with blood. Shreya wiped it on her robes before pushing herself up again, sending a nonverbal knockback jinx toward the group once she regained her footing.

Although her arm felt heavy, Shreya raised her wand again, prepared to send a blasting curse toward the pursuing group.

But the flash of another green light interrupted her.

"CASSIE!!!!" she yelped, hand clasping over her mouth in horror at the sight of the bubbly, beautiful Cassie Kitridge....her lovely colleague....dead. She hurried to the Divination professor's side, chest aching at the sight of her lifeless eyes. Shreya turned back to the Neo-Alliance, a new fire blazing in her eyes. They had taken too much from Hogwarts. And from this world. And they needed to pay.

She fired off three disarming spells, two stunning spells, and four Confundus charms, all in the span of a few seconds. Her head was aching, and her leg was on the verge of giving out. But her friend was dead. She would not let them get away with it. "Can anyone get her off the bridge?!" she managed to call out between spells, partially because she had overheard Louise discussing the plans to blow up the bridge, and partially because she couldn't take looking at her dead colleague any longer. Cassie Kitridge deserved a peaceful resting place. One with flowers and happiness and all the nice things. She didn't deserve to be here, in this awful war zone. They needed to move her somewhere safe. If she could only hold off the Neo-Alliance long enough to find an opening to move her.

Valencia ran from the spare office toward the yelling. She ducked an incoming curse and slid out of the way of falling rubble. Her eyes widened seeing the fallen on the bridge. She hypothetically knew what to expect from this. She'd read. She'd studied. She knew what war entailed.

She gritted her teeth and took in the scene -- rubble, chaos, fire, blood...

... bodies...

She wasn't sure how long it would take her (or if she would) be okay with having to hurt someone, so she cast a nonverbal Incarcerous toward one of the alliance members.

Penelope's instincts were screaming at her to move, to get back into the fight, but every part of her ached. Except her right hand. She willed it to keep her grip on her wand, but she couldn't tell whether it actually moved (it didn't) or if it even was still holding her wand (it wasn't; said wand had rolled about a meter away).

It was hard to tell if the ringing in her ears was fading with all the screams and explosions in the background, but suddenly there were voices that were closer. Panic shot through her, fearing it might be Neo Alliance members here to finish her off. But fortunately her vision was clearing quickly, and the faces of fellow Auror Espinosa and Paul Myers.

She didn't quite catch everything they said, but she got the gist of it. She needed to get moving again. Left arm moving clumsily, she grabbed onto one of them in an attempt to pull herself up and get her feet under her. Her eyes caught sight of her other hand, the motionless one. "My wand-" Where had it gone?!

The scene was chaotic, and it equally put Emma on edge, as it gave her a thrill. This was why she was a hit witch. Not people dying. Of course not. But the fighting, the duelling, the feeling like she was making a difference in the world. It might not have fully felt like that right now, but it was enough. She was on her toes, ready to do her bit, ready to get rid of these neo-alliance idiots. They couldn't win, and Emma was going to try her hardest to make sure they didn't.

After she'd cast her spells, she instantly threw up a shield charm. She didn't want to leave herself exposed. And it seemed like that had been a good idea, with suddenly bits of rubble coming over to the side of her. She scowled, but directed her wand at the rubble instead, using the levitation charm to grab the rubble, and then direct it towards the neo-alliance idiots. Hopefully it would hit nobody on the Order side. But then maybe they shouldn't have a little more awareness of where they were.

The distraction of the rubble had caused her to pause, and in actual fact take a few steps back from where she had been going. Emma stopped, shook her head, and then refocused. Although distracted, she didn't miss the man that was making his way towards her, and she quickly gathered her thoughts, before sending a non-verbal Incarcerous in his direction. Hopefully that would cause some inconvenience for him, and stop him coming for her.

Kurumi was safe, but those Alliance goons weren't going to give them any time to rest and recover. This was all about making fast decisions and hoping they were the best decisions possible. Like blowing the bridge... young Miss Bones seemed to think it was a good idea, but to lose one of the only ways into the castle just to spite the goons on it...

It seemed like a moot point, though, since a young woman (Chloe) took a series of stunning spells and went down hard. "We need to regroup. Get behind some of that masonry and out of range," she pointed toward safety, hoping that Bones would help Kurumi with Newell's body. "I'll cover you both."

Sort of. Vivi threw herself toward where Chloe lay on the ground, flicking her wand at the gathered Neo-Alliance followers. A glittering whip snapped from the end of her wand, swiping at their collective knees. Hopefully the girl could be reenervated easily.

Oliver Petrov: Order Recruited
There were people dying. Yes, Oliver had known it was going to happen. This was a war. People would get hurt, people would die. Either of those two things could just as easily happen to him. But it was one thing to understand the reality of the situation, and quite another to see it happen right in front of you. Not for the first time did he feel like he was in over his head here. But his resolve did not waver. Save the kids. That's why he was here. Save the kids and then go home to his own.

Oliver was really trying to stay aware of everything going on around him. But it was chaos. The fiendfyre was gone at least. One woman had taken care of that, thankfully. His spell had hit, which he was quite proud of. And then another flames were coming his way. He reacted instinctively, throwing his arm in front of his face to shield against the oncoming danger. But that wasn't a super effective strategy against fire. While he did manage to shield his face, the flame whipped against his forearm, singing away part of his sleeve and burning his arm. And it hurt, a lot. Oliver gritted his teeth against the pain, trying not to let it make him lose focus. His arm felt like it was on fire. A quick glance told him that it was not actually on fire, just feeling the effects of the burn. His gaze narrowed in on his attacker and he brandished his wand at her. "Petrificus totalus!"

The older gentleman who'd joined her in helping Penelope was right, they couldn't stay here, not with Penelope injured. The auror shook her head, trying to clear the buzzing in her ear and then nodded her head in agreement. "The Great Hall. There are healers in there." It wasn't going to be an easy path to take, but Emilia had never shied away from a fight in her life. And before she had a moment to think about how they'd get there, one of the neo-alliance members was sending whips of flame in their direction. For a fleeting moment, Emilia wondered what Andrei would do. This was his area of expertise, after all. And then she knew. Narrowing her eyes, the brunette transformed the fiery whips into great snakes, channeling her rage and the creatures back towards the woman who'd tried to attack them.

Turning back to Penelope and the older man, Emilia looked around for the wand her fellow auror had dropped. "I-I got it. Can you get her on her feet and get moving? I'll catch up."

Nessarose was blinded with fury and grief, a horrible passion she hadn't experienced since the passing of her nephew. And somehow this was different, dare she say worse, to witness firsthand the slaying of her best friend. She wanted someone to pay, but she also just wanted to curl up into a ball and sob her eyes out.

It was only when she heard someone next to her asking if anyone could get Cassie off the bridge did she return to her senses. Well of course she and Leo would take care of Cassie. Didn't she see them both right there?

"Leo!" she pleaded to the man who just lost his wife and who she was sure was in complete shock and grief. "Help me get her to the castle, please! Shield us." It would do no one any good if they were hit with spells while trying to get her into the castle or at least away from the battle, so hopefully he had the faculties to shield them. Nessa conjured a stretcher and levitated Cassie onto it before directing it with her towards the castle.

KURUMI RASTING | ORDER ALIGNED

She felt her toes leaving the stone...and then the entirety of her feet did as Vivi used her entire body weight to stabilize and save Kurumi's life. The integrity of the man on her back as well - he was, after all, someone's son...and she could not help but imagine herself as a mother not being able to say goodbye if it came to this. Which only reminded her that her daughter was somewhere inside that castle. Her son, Eiji, was still in Japan and with her brother...both certainly dealing with the things over on their end. Considering the options, she felt Eiji was safest with Ryunosuke. He would keep an eye on his nephew and...there were less distractions over there than here.

Kurumi found herself scanning the area on the look out for Missa. Panting heavily and feeling as though her heart were about to leap right out of her chest, she reached down to clutch her rib cage when was in excruciating pain at the moment. Not enough so that she could not hear her friend, rightfully, fuss at her. "He is someone's son," she reiterated more to herself than as an explanation to Vivi. "...but point taken." And then she turned her head to look at the blonde and smiled. "...thank you."

Her eyes widened a bit at the suggested to blow up the bridge, one that Louise seemed keen to execute herself, but Kurumi was uncertain. But she could hardly think about some stone bridge when she knew precisely where her daughter was. "We have to get there...even if it means taking those damn staircases." The moving ones. The ones a 13-year-old her had been tempted to mattress surf down at the suggestion of a few older Gryffindors. The same staircases that led to the corridor where she, a third year, and Riley Sinclair, a seventh year, had bowled using the helmets on the suits of armor and made an absolute mess of the armor gallery.

Basically, Vivi's next planned sounded like a much better option.

"Over there then," she nodded with a firm point up ahead and just off to the left. "That'll put us on a good trajectory for inside as well. We need to hit the bridge with something...cleanse it of those followers...don't suppose our little group conjuring a massive tidal wave would do the trick." Though the thought of killing another person was not something she could fathom, not even now. Perhaps they could wash them to the other side of the bridge at the very least.

Grunting and adjusting her hold on the man once again, Kurumi hissed a few breaths before propelling herself forward and taking off towards the masonry to duck behind.

Had Charlotte and Henry STOPPED moving since this all began? No. Did Char have any plans to stop? Also no. It was really lucky that her husband was as fit as he was from all those years of Quidditch because he was more than keeping up with her and Char was reassured to know that he would be there at her shoulder any time she looked for him. She'd overheard some of the injured in the Great Hall saying they had come from the stone bridge, and since she and Henry hadn't yet gone there, they opted to head that way next. Maybe there were some more injured unable to move under their own steam.

"There's a lot of them here!" Char said as they approached, careful for the most part to stay on the outskirts rather than run directly into the fight as she might have when she was younger. She wasn't here for fighting though. Her St Mungos badge caught the light reflected from little spell flashes and Char scanned the scene in front of them. Fiendfyre? At least THIS bridge wasn't made of wood. Quite a few.... dead. Quite a few injured too. Priority had to go to the injured, and she could see some aurors trying to help but that just meant they wouldn't be able to fight so much didn't it? She and Henry could free them up, help the injured, so the aurors could use their skills and hopefully turn the tide.

"I don't think we can get to them." She added. "But we can provide cover so they can get to us, I think."

The softness of Kurumi's heart was one of the reasons that Vivi loved this woman, let her children call her Auntie Rumi, put up with constantly being plied with biscuits even when she was trying to stay in Auror shape... and it was a reason that her friend might die today. So Vivi was going to have to protect her friend at all costs.

She paused beside the fallen woman (Chloe), checking for vital signs even while she was watching the Neo Alliance squad for any signs of weakness or injury. It was going to be touch and go to get past them while carrying someone, but she liked Kurumi's idea about entering the castle from this point. It made sense, didn't it? The Entrance Hall, assuming it had been breached, would be full of fighting, while this entrance only had a few idiots left.

She liked the idea of the tidal wave too. But first... the injured woman. Unconscious, stunned, but breathing evenly. Vivi wrapped an arm around her and started dragging her back to Kurumi and Bones. Someone crouched at the base of the bridge, and Vivi gave her (Char) a cursory nod. Was she here to fight? She looked like a healer type... "Summon her! She's just stunned."

The death of the professor not a cause for huge celebrations, she was merely another irritating obstacle out of the way. The Neo-Alliance follower who took her down turned their attention instead then to the other woman (Nessa), shielding and replying to each spell with a curse, until the Bombarda exploded at their feet, blasting them several feet backwards into another of their number, who hit another, who in turn hit another. Dominoes.

Spells were still slipping through the shields, which were now less in number as more Neo-Alliance followers took part in the onslaught, determined to stop the attackers from invading Hogwarts. The slighter the defences came, the more spells got through, and numbers of the Neo-Alliance faithful had noticeably started to dwindle. Those who were not insensible on the ground from earlier exchanges of spells, incoming rubble (by Emma), bound by ropes (by Valencia), taken out by knee-whips (Vivi), or otherwise obviously out of action, simply stumbled around in confusion (by Shreya). There was a three-way wrestling match between three Confunded followers over who would take possession of the remainder of the rubble that had sent Simone Krafft to her demise. One woman wrestled with huge, angry snakes that had once been fire ropes (by Emilia), and tripped over a colleague who had been taken out by a full body bind curse (by Oliver).

Only a handful of Neo-Alliance fighter remained on this bridge, but they were not ready to give up. Determined, and willing to take the risk, those that still stood and fought gave up their defences entirely for the sake of a last-ditch barrage of spells, certain they could take out this band of misfit fighters with one big push. Stunners, body binds, curses, flames, and Knockback Jinxes flew at every Order-aligned individual still in sight.

Oliver Petrov: Order-Recruited
Oliver was aware of the group a bit behind him. He had to be aware just in case any enemies tried to sneak up behind him. So he knew they were on his side, but he didn't have enough time to actually know who they were. He was focused on the Alliance in front of him. His spell hit, which pleased him more than it should. He knew he wasn't as useful in this war as others. Noelle, for example, would be much more competent than him. But he could hold his own. Well, he had so far at least. Was it actually his own skill or was it sheer force of will pressing him onward? Either way, it was a bit impressive that he was still standing.

Though that might not be true for long. As the members of the Alliance sent over a barrage of spells he did his best to throw up shield charms. But there were so many it was difficult to fend off them all. He managed to cast another body bind curse but unfortunately it meant he had to drop his shield. One of the knockback jinxes from the other side hit him square in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. He ended up sprawled on the ground, the wind knocked out of him and his head spinning a bit. But he was still alive and his wand was still gripped tightly in his hand, so he was still considering it a win.

Valencia didn't have long to celebrate the Alliance members falling. The remaining ones were shooting spells back. She rolled out of the way of one spell just to be hit by another. She quickly patted out flames from the sleeve of her robes before shooting back a Bombarda.

Valencia held up her shield as she started to make her way toward a fellow ... what were they even called? The good guys? Anyway. She kept the shield up while offering her hand behind her to the guy sprawled out on the ground. She kept her eyes focused ahead though, ready for anything that might come their way.

KURUMI RASTING | ORDER ALIGNED

Her back up against the rubble, Kurumi scooted over closer to the edge so she could peer over it. A few spells struck the stone that guarded her, sparks flying in every which direction, and she squeaked in surprise while clenching her eyes shut. Vivi was just...amazing. Even during their Hogwarts days Kurumi had never doubted the Ravenclaw would make for a brilliant auror...so this was really special to get to see it in action. Very different from an escort to the reserve and helping bottle feed a baby dragon. That was practically a magical petting zoo depending on the mood of the hatchlings on the day. Another spell later and Vivi shouting suggestions pulled the violet eyed woman back to what was actually going on instead of internally fangirling her friend.

"Do you think the lake's waters are too far away?" she called out while taking another peer at things. It was either that or one of them conjured while the other morphed it using the hydro-kinetic spell. Father had always taught her how to use her surroundings to her advantage, something Ryunosuke had reiterated in kendo training as well, and if they could just manipulate the water from below and engulf the bridge where these people were...they could trap them. "...guess we'll find out."

See how that cookie crumbled.

Head peering around the stone again while Vivi continued to provide a bit of cover, Kurumi spotted other groups on the bridge as well. There could be something here that the Neo-Alliance did not seem to have and that was teamwork. Each member of this fanatic group seemed to be acting on their own, erratic and almost flippant, but they could be different. They could be a team.

"OI!" she called out to the other Order sympathizers on the bridge. "THE LAKE!"

Her wand pointed downwards, Kurumi began her spellwork and watched as a jolt of icy-blue light shot forth from her wand and down...down...down to the water below until it struck the surface and scooped a bit off the top like an ice cream scooper. Of sorts. Teeth grit and eyes squinting as she focused, Kurumi carefully warped and lifted her bit of water upwards to trap those remaining Neo-Alliance members...and hopefully others would follow and join their sphere with her own. They could take out the remaining threat on the entire bridge if they all worked together.

...and then the aurors could arrest them.

Laila felt glad to know that they were getting through to the Neo-Alliance supporters. They were dwindling. She evaded the knockback jinx and cast a 'PETRIFICUS TOTALUS' at her attacker. She quickly turned and hit another with a 'BOMBARDA'
Laila noticed this. Wow, this hadn't struck her.She followed suit and started scooping up the water, focusing with every cell of her body.

Vivi had positioned her unconscious burden close enough so the medics at the end of the bridge could grab her. Perhaps Kurumi would be willing to hand Newell's body over to them, as well. It would be easier to make it up to the sixth floor without having to find a safe place to leave him along the way.

Kurumi had begun to siphon water from the lake, a bit of impressive magic over a distance. Her sphere of spinning water rose toward them. Vivi hoped the rest of those Order aligned on the bridge would take Kurumi's advice. THE LAKE, indeed.

Time to make waves. Vivi pointed her wand at the lake and mimicked Kurumi's wandwork, watching as her own spell zipped along to the water and siphoned up lake water into a wildly spinning sphere. It took some focus to bring the sphere over the ravine and up toward the bridge where it joined Kurumi's. "I can't hold this for long. It's a bit unwieldy for me."

Oliver blinked up at the hand being offered. He took it gratefully and got to his feet. "Thanks," he said quietly to the girl. How old was she anyway? She looked like she was barely out of school. Or maybe still in school, even. It made him actually think about the fact that it was more than likely that some of the students were fighting. He would have if something like this had happened when he was still in school. But it wasn't fair. Children shouldn't have to fight. (And yes he knew that at 17 he would have resented because called a child but now that he was 28 he knew that's exactly what they were. CHILDREN.)

He heard the call about the lake and turned slightly toward that group. He wasn't sure what about the lake they were talking about. Then he saw a few people start pointing their wands at the lake, calling forth the water. Were they trying to wash out the Neo-Alliance members? That was a pretty cool plan. But Oliver had no idea how to do that spell. Agumenti made water. Accio summoned things...did it summon water? He wasn't so sure that would work. So he didn't think he'd be the most useful helping out with that part of the plan. But what he could do was protect them while they did their cool magic.

"Protego Maxima!" He would continue casting a shield to protect those working on the water from any offensive spells for as long as he could.

Leo looked his sweet wife over for injuries. One minute she had been lying on the ground but now she didn't look too bad off. He knew that magical injures weren't always visible. Cassie needed to get medical attention soon but they were in the middle of a war so there was no time for that. Nodding Leo took a better grip on his wand with resolve. "Yes, we have to defeat these Neo-Alliance goons to secure the castle before we go to the children and staff's aid." Turning with Cassie he saw the Neo Alliance followers that came straight for them. What happened next was something that Leo would never forget and something that he'd regret for the rest of his life. If only he had been a quicker spell caster than maybe he would have been able to thrown up a shield to block the spell that hit his beautiful and ever so vibrant and snappy wife and took her life away right by his side.

At the moment that Cassie sank to the ground it was like world stopped spinning and everything froze for several minutes while Leo tried to apprehend the unthinkable that he saw with his own eyes. Cassie was dead. Dead as in never being able to say as word to him again. Never wearing her pink dresses or snapping at him when she was irritated. Shaking his head he came to and let out a hollow scream of immense hurt and sorrow. "CASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIE!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Falling to his knees by his wife's side Leo took Cassie's hand in his and just sat holding it with tears streaming down his face. He heard and saw as through a far away tunnel how Nessa started to cast spell after spell in retaliation for Cassie's death at the Neo-Alliance followers. He knew he should help her. This was so wrong and Leo couldn't even think because of the horror. Cassie was supposed to be alive. They were going to take Jackson and Gemma home safely together when they'd won the war. This no.................

A woman's high pitched yelp (Shreya) that wasn't Nessa's shocked Leo back to reality somewhat as she came over to look at his wife's lifeless eyes before she turned her attention back on the battle.

He wasn't sure how exactly, but when Nessa came over to put Cassie on a levitation stretcher Leo managed even though he felt inconceivable grief and sorrow to rise to his feet and agree with his long time friend. "Yes, don't worry Nessa. I'll shield us." With his wand he fiercly casted "Protego Maxima!" over the three of them. Briefly he turned away with fire in eyes and strength in his wand to cast in quick succession at the Neo-Alliance followers still causing trouble around them. "Bombarda Maxima! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Confringo!"

Then he turned back to his dead wife and Nessa. "Let's get her to the Great Hall!" he said as they started walking towards the castle and away from the heat of the battle. Leo kept an eagle-eye watch backwards for oncoming threats because he didn't want to risk Nessa dying by his side too.

Ruthless as some of their spells were, many were poorly aimed in the last-ditch frenzy, and several of the nastier jets of light bounced off of each other in the fray to land wide of their targets, now that cohesion had been abandoned as well as defences. Blasting spells (Valencia, Laila, Leo) scattered their numbers further, and the followers backed up close to each other, unwittingly making a perfect target for the next attack as the bulk of their own spells bounced uselessly off shield charms (Leo and Oliver).

Over the chaos of the onslaught, the Neo-Alliance followers still left standing did not notice the sphere of water (Kurumi, Vivi, Laila) until it was almost too late.

"Wait, THE-"

Definitely too late.

All at once the fighters were swept into their watery prison globe, tumbling over each other, kicking one another out of the way as they tried to aggressively swim free and reach the outside air again. The shields thrown up by the Order now became unnecessary; the one or two Neo-Alliance followers who managed to keep hold of their wands were far too preoccupied to continue the fight, let alone land a decent hit.

No more attacks flew at the Order-aligned individuals from this pocket of fighters. All Neo-Alliance followers on the bridge had been taken out of the fight in one way or another - injured, knocked out, Confunded, bound, and now encased in a sphere of lake water. Neutralised.

Henry had no way of knowing if they had been here for hours or mere minutes as they continued to work tirelessly to help the injured and respectfully remove the dead. Time was speeding past, but he also had to stay vigilantly defensive to be sure they weren't hit by any stray spells. He wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to Charlotte.

Henry surveyed the scene once they arrived at the stone bridge, being careful to stay away from the cross-fire. The fighting was pretty heavy here too, or at least had been from the looks of the fallen. "Good idea," he nodded to Char and threw up a protego maxima. But soon after he cast the large shield to protect themselves and those around them, he noticed the giant sphere of water, giving him pause.

He watched for a moment, noting how it encapsulated most of the opposing side, and glanced back to Char. "That frees things up a bit." Since they weren't firing back now, but it was still important to be cautious. "I'll check on her," he gestured towards the unconscious woman (Chloe) who the other woman (Vivi) had drawn their attention to. He could revive her, but Char was the expert when it came to injuries if this woman had any or if there was someone else in worse shape.

He sprinted towards the edge of the bridge and knelt down by the unconscious woman before pointing his wand. "Rennervate." And then he threw up a shield again just in case, while she hopefully came to and he could see if she could walk or if he needed to carry her out.

Darting around rubble and running through the legs of several people, the silvery airy form of an opossum scaled a large stone and flopped on to its side. Playing dead for just a moment, the patronus climbed up one of the remaining pillars and leaned forward as the voice of the Minister, strained but strong, erupted out of the spirit guardian’s open mouth.

“Citizens...supporters and members of the Neo-Alliance...and supporters and members of the Order of the Phoenix alike...please...I implore you, lay down your wands. Lucien Rosier, leader of the Neo-Alliance, has fallen. This battle of divergent ideals and ideologies must cease. The path forward for the Neo-Alliance is at its end … though not without hope for clemency upon negotiation. This war is over. Rise to a higher dignity...and lay down your wands … so that no more of our people must die...so that we may restore peace…”

It’s tail uncoiling from around its roost, the opossum began to climb down but dissipated into thin air before reaching the ground.

She heard the auror but so much happened all at once that Char didn't think levitating an injured person through it would be wise. Who knew which of the neo-alliance might try and take a pot shot at her? She threw a few spells herself, and then ran with Henry as soon as things cleared, letting him try and revive her, while she cast her gaze about for others that needed help.

She spotted Oliver with a student and her eyes widened slightly. How many of them had been fighting? And were they okay? And where were the other kids????????????

... and then that happened. Char blinked. Was it over everywhere? All at the same time? Somehow was their luck that good?

"I'm a healer!" She called out to the aurors and the others who had been fighting. "I can help anyone seriously injured here, but there is more help in the great hall, so lets help each other get there." Charlotte's eyes fell on a still body and she added more softly but with just as much conviction, "Everyone. The dead are there too." So um. People could see if they had... personally lost anyone.

It was over. Hopefully. Lucien Rosier was dead. Laila sighed of relief. Her thoughts ran back to Kaira.he wondered where her little sister was. She prayed that she was safe.
She saw a healer coming through and her blood froze as she heard that the dead are in the great hall too. Was kaira..NO, she couldn't be. Laila shook her head as she looked around for people who needed help.

She noticed a man grieving over a woman. (LEO). She looked like his wife? Laila fought back tears, half empathising with the man and half dreading how she would react if she saw Kaira..NO NO..Laila pushed these thoughts away from her head and went to the man to help him. She looked at him, acknowledging his grief and held his shoulder reassuringly.