Thomas was still surveying the scene. Nodding slowly. ”Yeah. That or a battle scene from a superhero movie.” softly chuckles. But really though that’s what it looked like.

Other than that he really hoped that this was going to be nothing like Crete.

What in the name of Merlin was that boom? It could be well even over the sound of battle. His eyes darted around. ”What was that?”

Maybe Eddie was right, maybe they should head towards the castle and look for some new prey. Maybe they could even have a little fun with Claudine. Eivan really was having a good time out here, but he'd follow his brother wherever to make sure they had each others' backs.

What the hell? He started after Eddie but was soon thrown back as the ground exploded in front of him (thanks to the nonverbal Expulso). Eivan was dazed a moment and stuck under a little rubble, but once he got his bearings, he looked around wildly for his assailant, ready to strike back. Before he could find anyone, his eyes focused on a tree in air and headed his way. Thankfully before it could hit him, a spell hit it, smashing it into smithereens. Sweet.

He sent a crucio in the direction of where he thought the expulso came, then glanced over at his brother when he saw a rope of fire coming their way. "Eddie, look out!" he called out, but too late because at the same time, reducto was cast at him, throwing him back yet again. He hit his head on a rock on the ground, knocking him out momentarily and leaving him briefly defenseless at the plants vining up his legs, holding him fast to the ground.

Bart had been fighting, of course he had. His son was there and his mother was fighting along side the minister, what kind of man would he be if he let them do that without him. So he was there fighting along with this wife, though he begged her to stay home. If something happened to her he would never get over it.

Moving over the grounds he wished he had time to laugh and tell Chris about the time he used a braw as a slingshot on these very grounds, but now people were dying, bleeding, and everything was a mess. How did it get to this? How could the.. He didn't let the words even form because he heard someone yell.

"I can help, let me take one of them." He cast a protective shield and bent down to help.

No questions asked, and no one had BETTER ask him any questions about how he'd escaped Room and why he'd taken absolutely no one with him, but uh.... William W. Williamson, Groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor, was here now.

Here and... bleeding profusely from his face from where he may or may not have stumbled down from the top of the barns in a rush to check on his animals he hadn't seen in days weeks months years EONS. And yes, he had happened to land more or less on an improperly stored pitchfork. He was carrying a small hyper little black and white crup under one arm and a pygmy puff under the other, with a second pygmy puff riding in the hood of his robe.

His wand was in his left hand and he was looking around about where to go and what to do.

And, uh, he should probably start with his job as Groundskeeper. "Let's move everyone to the Great Hall," he announced in his loud voice, or at least as best as he could. He probably had a chipped tooth right now too that was giving him a bit of a lisp. "To the Great Hall, let's go, let's go. Groundskeeper here. Move on to the Great Hall." He half-gestured with the pup under his arm, who gave a loud BARK BARK of assistance.

As for the guy calling for help? Hang on, another GUY just got hit by lightning.

"Bro............" That had happened to HIM once TOO. WWW limped over to his side. "Are you fried?"

Simon had somehow gotten separated from his sister in all the chaos. He had seen a familiar Lion up ahead and if it were Zander. If it were, he’d have to see him in the end. Unfortunately fate had other plans and stole another classmate of his... Caleb Newell .... RIP ;_;. He bit his lip, looking down and wondering who would tell poor Sophie of her brother’s d..... yeah..... He sighed and readied his wand again for more conflicts.

The cost of war..... He never thought that he’d see one of his classmates ..... y’know... He didn’t want to say the word cause saying it meant they were gone gone.

After firing spell for spell against this crazy gaggle of fanatical supporters, he realized that his sister had ‘poofed’ from his side.

Huh???

Where had she run off to????? AND WHY did HE have this sinking feeling that he was going to be in trouble with his brother in law? Sheesh. Gryffindors and their heroics....

That was when he heard a cry for ASSISTANCE and he immediately made his way over to the man that had asked for help. He cast a quick protection charm and then headed over towards Victor and found that two other men had joined (Bart and WWW). One of them (Bart) looked VERY, VERY, VERY familiar. He was about to open his mouth to ask a question but then shut it when he saw that Victor was in a pickle.

“Hi. I can take the other bloke or I can defend you guys as you move them inside, ” he said with a curt nod as he scanned the battlefield, looking for his sister or his sister’s friend. Huh. Hopefully they were okay. “Great Hall, yeah?”

What the blasted, he looked down and saw the rope taking his wand he cut it away before getting back to his feet. Whoever sent that would pay, "Avada Kedavra" for you, "Avada Kedavra" for you, "Avada Kedavra" for everyone. He just shot them all randomly in every single direction one after the other as he moved back towards his brother.


Turning he used his wand to cut the vines off Eivan and pulled him to his feet. Checking over him, Eddie made a choice even though he wasn't ready to give up the only thing he truly ever probably cared about right in front of him he had to do it for the family, the business.

"I think it might be time to go. We can figure out another way once we get out of here." The war might end but their work wouldn't be done.

Eivan had been knocked unconscious momentarily, so he was rather dazed and woozy once he felt someone pulling him up. Oh... Eddie. "What happened?" he asked gruffly, not waiting for answer as he scrambled for his wand and stood on wobbly feet. Looked like that was a close one, so it was a good thing his brother was watching his back.

"Time to go?" But he was having fun and they were winning, right? He also knew they worked better from the shadows though, and he listened to his older brother. If Eddie said it was time to go, it was time to go. "Alright, it was fun while it lasted," he grinned and started out with his brother, his wand gripped tightly as he sent out a few crucios into the crowd just for fun.

Cinna had not seen or talked to her son in months not even one letter. She had been worried sick about him. She was angry and anyone who knows her she’s not a witch to be messed with. Especially when it was her family. So naturally when she heard the broadcast she knew where she needed to be. Her husband of course was reluctant to let her go. She got it, she didn’t want him to go either. Logic was they both go… together. Her baby was there, their boy was there.

As she moved through the battle casting protective shields, dodging debris with her husband by her side. Her focus was to get to the castle as soon as she could. There was so much death and destruction around them. She heard someone call her help too heading over. ”Simon?” Hey look it was a classmate of theirs. No time to catch up though. ”Whatever we do let’s do it do it fast. I can defend you guys too.” They had to keep moving no time for a big plan or anything. Especially with that kid throwing around the killing curse like he was.

When the crucio-ing finally stopped, whether due to the caster being incapacitated by Céline or losing interest, Lars would not know. He lay motionless on the ground for a few moments, exhausted beyond belief. Who knew pain could make you so tired? Not him, he had been lucky enough in his many fruitful years to avoid such intense pain. Until now, he supposed. He took several deep breaths. His grandson he knew could take care of himself, but his little favorite granddaughter? The child wouldn't hurt a mouse. And he didn't even know which house she'd been sorted into, thanks to the moratorium on mail in or out of Hogwarts all year. Another deep breath, and he hoped she had joined his own house of Ravenclaw. It seemed right, she was smart for an eleven-year-old. He heard a boom come from the direction of the castle.

Reinvigorated by his little post-Crucio rest on the ground and his concern about the boom, and encouraged by the thoughts of seeing his two middle grandchildren, Lars crawled around until he located his wand, which he had apparently dropped.

Arming himself hadn't been a priority when he'd been in excruciating pain, you see.

Wand aloft, he rose slowly to his feet. He couldn't move too fast, you see, because he was old and still had a little lingering pain. But he had to get up. He had to move forward. His grandchildren needed him. Nevermind his oldest and youngest granddaughters whom he'd left at home. He took a few steps toward the castle and the boom he'd heard, then saw green flashes of light flying from the direction of one man. Suddenly fueled by adrenaline, the old man leapt out of the way of the first spells, spry in a way he hadn't felt in years.

He wobbled a little, steadying himself by outstretching his non-wand arm.

He reached a little too far.

The green light collided with Lars Svensson's open palm.

His other hand relaxed, dropping his wand. His face slackened. His knees gave out. Lars Svensson crumpled to the ground, collapsing again in a little heap of man. This time he felt no pain.

He was dead.

The Shield Charm was her go to spell right now. Regina tossed out a stunning spell or two in a Neo Alliance member, but she was mainly playing defensively.

Until one of Evelyn Hemlock's stray Cruciatus Curses slipped through.

The pain was unlike anything she'd felt before, worse even than the agony she'd been inflicted with nearly nine years ago and every month since. Sharp, fiery knives sliced through her, knocking her to the ground, a scream tearing itself from her throat.

The effects lasted only seconds without prolonged intention to keep it going, but they felt like the longest seconds in her life.

And then came the Tempest Jinx. The air crackled with electricity. There was a blinding flash of light and a loud crack of thunder.

And Scott Ferguson was on the ground.

"SCOTT!" Ignoring the pounding in her head and the buzzing in her ears, she dragged herself toward him, somehow still holding onto her wand. Blinking back tears, there was at least a little relief when he sat up, but he needed medical attention immediately.

Fortunately there seemed to be a few people around tending to other wounded, along with a...man with a crup and pygmy puff now at Scott's side??

Still seeing red, Sophie's focus was almost solely in the group she was now dealing with, even though there were jets of light flying all around her.

She would've been glad about her spell striking so many of the Neo-Alliance followers in one go, but one: she wasn't in the place to feel any good feelings right now, and two: a Confringo had been sent her way.

Slashing her wand upwards, she blocked it while glaring at the caster. Before any of them could have the opportunity to do anything else, Sophie's wand-arm had swung back as she mustered the power and energy to jab her wand forward, casting her own Confringo back at the group, finishing off with yet another Bombarda Maxima.

Thankfully the Cruciatus that had been cast on her didn't last as long as it could. Marcy was panting as if she had run 10 miles when she looked up, holding her wand up to block anything else that might come her daughter's way. She hadn't been quick enough this time, but at least Sophie was paying more attention now.

The Herbologist had decided to stay close to her daughter, for now at least. As the younger witch was investing in all sorts of offensive magic, Marcy chose to focus on the defence side of things, for the sake of them both.

She moved forward when Sophie moved forward.

Ignatius was ducking spells and firing them back right and left, and some FOOL (Eddie) was shooting off Killing Curses right and left, with no apparent design.

Suddenly he heard a loud voice and looked up to see a strange individual giving orders--and carrying creatures under every arm, it seemed (was that a krup?!?) Ignatius Blackthorne was disinclined to take orders from this person, but his suggestion, that they get up to the Great Hall, was a good one, in accord with what Ignatius himself thought--they needed to get up to the castle. So the regal old man began to maneuver over in that direction.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something and whipped his head around. It wasn't--it couldn't be! Just for a moment, he thought he'd caught a glimpse of his middle son, Hamlet. No---surely not. That fool surely hadn't been stupid enough to come here to fight with this latest band of "wizards who are going to take over the world and tell everyone what to do"! Ignatius had known his son had been spouting some of this "wizards should be free" nonsense, but he couldn't believe his son had actually come down here to put action behind words. But if he had been here, Ignatius could catch no sight of him, and so continued moving warily toward the voice who'd been calling them to go to the castle.

He chuckled as his brother sent out another curse. Just because he was injured didn't mean he could have a little more fun. Eddie sure felt he did his part in this war even if it wasn't looking good their side, it was a start. The war could end but the fight wasn't going to be fully over.

"Yeah, it's best if we get out of here." He sent one last killing curse for good measure and kept close to Eivan in case he needed help walking and headed out of the gate to slip out before it was to late.



So many lives were lost and Bart was afraid to scan the area. What if he saw Wade or his mom laying on the ground. What if he came across one of them while helping bringing in the injured and the dead? He swallowed hard and pushed it out of his mind. "Yeah, lets get these guys to the Great Hall." He nodded at the others and lifted the woman (Grae) in his arms.

"Cinna keep your eyes open and a shield around you. Christian and B need you safe." The boys needed them both safe, but they needed their mom and Bart was not going to let anything happen to her, he'd rather it be him if it came down to it. Watching and staying close to the ones that could shield him he started walking.

SPOILER!!: WWW & Regina

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

No questions asked, and no one had BETTER ask him any questions about how he'd escaped Room and why he'd taken absolutely no one with him, but uh.... William W. Williamson, Groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor, was here now.

Here and... bleeding profusely from his face from where he may or may not have stumbled down from the top of the barns in a rush to check on his animals he hadn't seen in days weeks months years EONS. And yes, he had happened to land more or less on an improperly stored pitchfork. He was carrying a small hyper little black and white crup under one arm and a pygmy puff under the other, with a second pygmy puff riding in the hood of his robe.

His wand was in his left hand and he was looking around about where to go and what to do.

And, uh, he should probably start with his job as Groundskeeper. "Let's move everyone to the Great Hall," he announced in his loud voice, or at least as best as he could. He probably had a chipped tooth right now too that was giving him a bit of a lisp. "To the Great Hall, let's go, let's go. Groundskeeper here. Move on to the Great Hall." He half-gestured with the pup under his arm, who gave a loud BARK BARK of assistance.

As for the guy calling for help? Hang on, another GUY just got hit by lightning.

"Bro............" That had happened to HIM once TOO. WWW limped over to his side. "Are you fried?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Text Cut: Evelyn Hemlock, Neo Alliance, Scott, WWW

The Shield Charm was her go to spell right now. Regina tossed out a stunning spell or two in a Neo Alliance member, but she was mainly playing defensively.

Until one of Evelyn Hemlock's stray Cruciatus Curses slipped through.

The pain was unlike anything she'd felt before, worse even than the agony she'd been inflicted with nearly nine years ago and every month since. Sharp, fiery knives sliced through her, knocking her to the ground, a scream tearing itself from her throat.

The effects lasted only seconds without prolonged intention to keep it going, but they felt like the longest seconds in her life.

And then came the Tempest Jinx. The air crackled with electricity. There was a blinding flash of light and a loud crack of thunder.

And Scott Ferguson was on the ground.

"SCOTT!" Ignoring the pounding in her head and the buzzing in her ears, she dragged herself toward him, somehow still holding onto her wand. Blinking back tears, there was at least a little relief when he sat up, but he needed medical attention immediately.

Fortunately there seemed to be a few people around tending to other wounded, along with a...man with a crup and pygmy puff now at Scott's side??

Scottie hardly registered the animals the savior man was holding, but he blinked a whoooooole lot at him. What was he doing? Sitting on the ground, staring up as the noise blasted around him. His eardrums felt numb; his elbow's throbbing was growing stronger. His body was still vibrating. "F-fried?" he asked, as if his processing skills were off.

He did spot his wand nearby. "Wand!" he scrambled - more than he could handle as he cried out in pain, his elbow clearly...cracked, broken, whatever. Regina was soon by his side, and he just closed his eyes. "I...am not....fried........." he took a deep breath. "I...just hurt......." he managed to get out. Someone needed to help him up. His legs felt like jelly and his elbow was painfully PAINFULLY getting worse. Could they just levitate him?

Maybe he was fried. He couldn't think properly. Sentences hard. No good.

Right, boss. Nem had never, ever, not even once, done something duncelike. Gorsh. If only Bernie were able to see Nem's face instead of having to rely on their cold, flat tone.... she might start an argument about how stupid and cocky that statement was.

But she couldn't see; she had to just trust. It was dark outside. Nighttime, in fact. Um. It was so weird being outside in the fresh air for a moment, breathing in the scent of the outdoors with almost no guard hovering over her. She shook herself, a chill running right through her, and did her best to keep up with Nem's much longer legs. Of COURSE she wasn't going to get distracted. Maybe. It's just that there were a lot of things happening right meow, and so many sounds of screaming and dying, and---

Oh, they were outside already. At the Winged Boars, in fact. "Um." Bernie pulled on Nem's hand to get them to stop. "I'm going to run out those gates and give hell to anyone who tries to stop me," she informed them in a small, little voice, "but before I go...." Well, she couldn't see them properly, so she just leaned into the body that was attached to the hand she was holding, and gave Nemesis Upstead a bit of a proper clingy hug. Alright? She did her best with what little her Disillusioned self could see. And she didn't let go. Not yet.

"Okaaaaaaaaaay, bye." And. Um. Berns swallowed the lump in her throat. "Look me up if we have a school to go back to next year." Because even if she was escaping the OWLs this year, she wasn't escaping Nem forever. Hopefully.

Alright, yeah. WWW was going to do his groundskeeping job, even though he was FIRST and FOREMOST a Creatures man, and he was going to levitate the heck out of his fellow struck-by-lightning man.

"Let's get you to the Great Hall. I think there's triage there." He nodded and wiped a bit of blood that was dribbling out of his own nose. Just wiped it straight on his sleeve like a man, yes he did. He groaned at the sight of the blood on his arm and flicked his wand at the fried bro, nodding also to his female companion as he did so. "Will you help me?" Well, would she?

WWW could also toss them a pygmy puff to hold while he was at it. "Animals have healing powers, if anyone wants to take one of these off me," he announced to no one in particular, as though anyone who was at the Boars near him needed to hear it.

As the battle raged on, the followers of the Neo-Alliance had steadily dwindled in numbers. Many lay, stunned or otherwise, across the grounds in front of the gates. More and more were starting to come off worse from their individual fights.

One Incarcerous spell hit its target, the force behind the magic knocking the Neo-Alliance follower flying and bowling over the one right behind them. In retaliation, a third follower leapt over the pair, brandishing his wand at the attacker (Louise) and sending the same spell back in her direction.

The woman with the whip around her opponent (Roxanne)'s throat grinned spitefully, about to tug her wand back to tighten her grip, when another (Evan) jumped in to play hero. "Why you-...!" the woman screeched indignantly, pulling back her wand to cast another spell to ensnare the both of them, but her outburst cost her dearly. The little saviour's stunning spell struck true, and the Neo-Alliance woman slumped to the ground.

With one target (Daichi) successfully taken down by the Cruciatus Curse, his opponent might have been ready to step forwards and finish the job with another Unforgivable, but the world would never know, as the Confundus Charm struck true at the exact same time. The man stopped, confused, inspected his wand, and promptly lit his robes on fire. "AAGHHHHH!"

Those searching for their invisible attacker (Dorian) had just spotted him, hiding behind a tree. They prepared to send more blasts in his direction when, suddenly, one had their head encased with a pumpkin. The other had the smokescreen to contend with, but still sent several stunners through the smoke in the pursuit of the young man.

A small group of confused and likely confunded Neo-Alliance followers attempted to fend off a hodgepodge collection of animals (by Lars), made difficult by the fact that many of them had at some point been disarmed, and were now also ensnared by weeds keeping them rooted to the ground (by Gabriel). A stunner from one girl (Céline) took out a follower who rushed in to help, and a couple more (by Scott and Regina) dealt with the next. After that, less seemed willing to rush in and help. That, and there were fewer and fewer fellow followers available to do so.

The almighty BOOM in the distance served as a distraction only for a handful of the Neo-Alliance faithful, many of whom paid for the lapse in judgement by getting caught up in the beams of curses and spells sent every which way by both sides. The majority of the followers still left standing, however, did not allow themselves to be distracted, and instead continued the onslaught..

... only for a whole pack of them to be blasted back by a shockwave sent out by one man (Ignatius), sending several of their number flailing through the air. A few moments later, the same happened again, only this time thanks to the exploding charm and blasting curse sent by an Order-aligned woman (Sophie), which only half of her targets had managed to shield in time.

So many down, but it didn’t matter. Some were still left standing, and while the rest of their number had gradually been taken out, incapacitated and ready to be taken into custody, those who remained weren’t giving up. As well as Bombarda and Stupefys, Crucios and Avada Kedavras were liberally dealt out in every direction, the Neo-Alliance attempting to make up for their decimated numbers with the ruthlessness of their spells.

Simon’s brows raised in surprise when he saw another person that he recognized. A brief smile crossed his face and his grim expression momentarily brightened at the sight of an old comrade. Merlin. If only they were catching up on much different circumstances.... He hoped that they would all survive. The former Slytherin had a lot of ketching networking to do. Ahem. “Cinna. A pleasure to see you again.... I wish it were on better circumstances,” he mused before letting what would have been silence fill up the space in the conversation. However, they were admission a battlefield of chaos and silence wasn’t an option. He listened, nodding twice in agreement quickly. Yes. Cinna was right. They would have to move quickly and move now.

Scanning the ground, he bent over to pick up an unconscious (?) man (Daichi) so that he could carry him to the Great Hall. Hopefully the Healers would be able to help him out. Poor fellow.

Crouching down he went to pick up Daichi straight away and then realized that it may have not been the best solution. Simon Holden had never been a muscular young chap. No, no, no. He had much preferred the company of books and puzzles to kettlebells and dumbbells thus his form was completely wrong as he tried to lift said stranger off of the ground. However, he had managed to get the guy onto his back (thank you leverage and physics) so he could get him into the Great Hall.

“Cover us?” he suggested before following the group inside while carrying Daichi.

With spells and curses flying every which way, it was a combination of natural reflexes, years of experience, and sheer dumb luck that had so far kept Jake out of the line of fire. Well. Maybe not so much dumb luck, as liquid, but it was always going to run out sooner or later, and then it was all him.

And his reflexes. Still good, but not 'thirty years ago' kind of good, no matter how much he tried to convince himself. Jake had dodged and shielded plenty, but a stray(?) curse had come in from somewhere, hit him from behind, as far as he could tell, and momentarily incapacitated him just when he'd been about to potentially wrangle himself a Neo-Alliance allegiant.

Whatever the curse was, it had been one of the slice and dice variety; Jake could feel the wetness on his side, but the pain was not present while the adrenaline kept him going. He'd risked a moment to cast a rudimentary healing charm to stem the bleeding, re-assessed the general situation, noted the absence of his earlier marks, and swore loudly to himself. Their faces, though. He remembered their faces, clear as day. That would have to be enough.

Deeming his situation not yet dire enough to seek out a healer, Jake focused his efforts instead on this last remaining bunch of Neo-Alliance followers. If there was a coordinated effort to take them down, plus the other Greater-Good-aligned mingled in amongst the group still out by the broken down gates, this area would be as good as clear. Plenty had pushed on ahead, and Jake could only hope they were finding success in rescuing the kids and taking down more of the Neo-Alliance forces.

"One last push HERE!" Jake bellowed to those on the side of the Order still able to fight, ducking the red light of a curse, and stopping abruptly just before running into a green one. He send a wicked stream of flames towards the biggest group of Neo-Alliance followers still left standing, simultaneously attacking and marking the target he had in mind, and immediately followed it up with, "Immobulus!"

Never. Nem had never done anything duncelike, stupid, ill-advised, reckless, anything of the sort. Like, for instance, sending out a sneaky little curse towards someone very familiar on the way down to the gates, despite having told Bernadette not to get distracted. Despite being on the cusp of exhaustion, in no fit state to get caught up in another fight. No. Certainly hadn't done a thing like that.

Even if they had, it didn't matter, because they made it to the blasted down gates with Bernadette after all. Nem staggered to a stop, clutching at their ribs with their free hand and wincing as they straightened up and cut short the deep breath they had attempted to take. Invisibility - or close enough - really working out for them in that moment.

Were they tempted to peace out from this place, and go along with Bernadette? Not even for a moment. They were going to see how all this played out - from a distance - and then make a decision on their next step. In any case, Nem wasn't done here just yet.

Suddenly, hugging. Always Gryffindors with the hugging. Nem tried to reciprocate with the kind of presence they knew would be... appreciated. Expected. Perhaps the shock of running through a battle would be first and foremost on Bernadette's mind, and she'd be less likely to notice any shortcomings here; perhaps the fact that they were both Disillusioned was the perfect cover. Nem wrapped their free arm around her, leaned their head down slightly to quietly talk to her. There was more than likely an ear somewhere around here. "Run for Hogsmeade. You can break into a house and use the floo." Leaky Cauldron. Ministry. Wherever. Just a possible option. But now, yes. Time to go. "I will. Peace."

It was Nem who made to break them apart, naturally, in order to send Bernadette on her way, and to go and could find somewhere quiet to sit and bide their time. Before they had pulled away entirely, however-... a thought. "Wait." Releasing Bernadette's hand, Nem reached out near-blindly and, with perhaps surprising accuracy, found her face, and cupped it in their hands. After taking half a moment to recall the exact placement of her features, they leaned in and - "Give 'em hell," - pressed their lips to hers in a mutually Disillusioned kiss.

But just for a moment. Only a moment, because it was time for Bernadette Grantham to go.

So much was running through her mind right now. That whole 'flashes of life' thing. The fact that she wouldn't be seeing her son again. Her brother or their mother neither. That her last words to her baby boy had been to be careful, and there she was letting the enemy get the best of her. Oh, the irony.

Her vision was starting to go black when the relief came. Someone had severed the whip around her neck. Roxanne started gasping for breath again, filling her lungs with precious, precious air. She gasped a "thank you," to her savior before taking a deep breath and sitting up slowly. She knew better than to sit up too fast after nearly dying.

She also saw the strangling horror go down, thankfully.

Daichi would have let out a uncharacteristic laugh if he knew that his Confundus Charm had hit his attacker and saw him setting his robes on fire. But he could not. He wasn’t contorting his body in impossible positions anymore due to the caster of the Cruciatus Curse being a fiery mess at the moment but the aftershocks was still felt through his whole weak body.

He barely became aware of the sudden appearance of another man (Victor) who hovered above him until he spoke to him. The words were comforting which meant that he was not one of the members of the Alliance and if he could he would have relaxed. In a blank state of mind, Daichi looked around at the battle field but he wasn’t looking at the fight around them, he was searching for his son. He needed to know if he was okay and he even began to move up before he slumped back down on the ground. The pain of the Unforgivable was unbearable and as he felt a hand holding his own , his dark brown eyes widened when he realized what the man was going to do. ”No…” he uttered weakly and tried to move again. ”My so—“ The close range nonverbal stunning spell hit him and he was unconscious before he could finish his sentence.

Completely lost to the world, Daichi had no clue what happened afterwards. He did not know that the man (Victor) had called for assistance to bring him and Grae to safety. He did not know that the wooden bridge had fallen. Did not know that Bart, Cinna and Simon had arrived as backup. And neither did he know that the latter of the group started carrying him.

This place of unconsciousness was bliss.



”HA! LOSERS!” Dorian shouted from behind one of the trees and used the smokescreen he had created as cover before he moved. He had not waited to see if his pumpkin hex had worked , too risky. He ducked as he avoided a stunning spell , jumped over a log and pressed his back against the trees as several stunners flew in front of him. His side was starting to hurt and he pressed his hand on his side as his breathing became painful.

Daring to peek behind the tree, Dorian let out a yelp as a loud destructive sound could be heard close by and he was sad to see the wooden bridge collapsing in the distance. He hoped his father had not been on there… He had no time to think about it though , he had to get out of here first so placing a shield charm over himself, the former Ravenclaw Head Boy ran away and to the direction of the castle fast as he could.

Hamlet Blackthorne had been enthused with idealism when he apparated to Hogwarts to take place in the great battle for wizarding rights. Slipping through the crowd of wizards and witches at the gates, he'd managed to get into the grounds of Hogwarts and take his place fighting beside the other Alliance followers.

But as the battle wore on, Hamlet was becoming a little appalled at the violence of some of his fellows. Not just the violence and mercilessness of their spells, but the fact that many of them seemed to enjoy inflicting pain and death. Against their fellow wizards, mind you. Hamlet was beginning to doubt just how much all this was contributing to the greater good--this was thinning the magical ranks, not strengthening them.

A barrage of 'Avada Kedavra' spells from those around him finally alarmed him to the extent that he began to move around to the nearby trees and bushes, trying to get away from the source. Suddenly, he glimpsed his father--dear Merlin!! What was the old man doing here?!? Surely, after all his lectures, he hadn't come down to join the rebellion! But no--Ignatius appeared to be fighting for the foes of the Alliance. Hamlet hastily moved behind some bushes, before his father could see him.

Whew, that was a close one. Hamlet had never imagined that he would wind up fighting against his own family and was now starting to have serious misgivings about this whole venture. But before he had a chance to decide what to do next, he was suddenly hit by a powerful stunning spell, which knocked him motionless on the ground there in the shrubbery.

* * * * * * *

Ignatius surveyed the result of his stunning spell with satisfaction. There, that should keep the young fool out of trouble for a while. Ignatius would deal with his wayward son later, but for now, there was a castle to storm. In the meantime, Hamlet Blackthorne would be causing no more trouble.

Merlin, it tore her apart to see Scott like this. And it didn't help that despite the Alliance's dwindling numbers, they were still flinging spells with reckless abandon.

After a quick and determined Protego Maxima to deflect a couple stunning spells that had flown their way, Regina nodded. "Yes, of course!" Of course she would help. She'd do whatever she could, no smelly animals necessary. So she flicked her wand at Scott too to help levitate him, trying to be gentle and careful.

Bernadette would have cursed Nem herself, most likely, had she been able to see them and their curse-casting and rib-holding. She would NOT be happy with that. But she was happy with the advice, and nodded a little, about to break away and make a run for it when she suddenly felt her face in their hands.

Oh! OH! This was completely unexpected and yet completely... welcome? Bernie sighed and kissed Nem back, her Disillusioned face all shades of red now, not that anyone could see, thankfully. She let out a squeak of joy after THE MOMENT and took off per Nem's advice, practically SKIPPING through the chaos toward the Winged Boars. She may have even twirled around a group that was trying to levitate a man out of there, but she didn't even notice his singed LOOK.

She was happy, alright? Happy to be LEAVING THIS PLACE FOREVER. And? Also? Nemesis Upstead had kissed her on the lips?!?!!!?!!

Grantham out.

Just the sheer number of killing curses being cast by the people supporting the Neo-Alliance, or the members of the group themselves had convinced Elizabeth that the Order was right, not that she’d really needed much convincing when she had willingly offered her shop for a base of operations. This wasn’t a battle over wizarding freedom. This was outright chaos and if some of the ones who were likely on the fence over their propaganda hadn’t realized they had chosen the wrong side, that was on them. The petite blonde had dodged one too many green jets of light to feel sorry for them as she had continued pushing forward toward the castle. In fact, the bookshop owner was nearly at the level she had been back in school when she’d up and punched Rob for being ridiculous. Minus the possible concussion she’d likely had back at that point giving her now longtime husband a good reason for being protective.

She was beyond the point of holding back, as she shielded herself once more before pointing her wand at a clump of followers nearby, along with the ground beneath them even as the shockwave from the collapsed bridge had faded into echoes. “Confringo!”


His earlier tactic had apparently gone rather unnoticed amongst everything else going on in the field of battle, yet it had given Slade the chance to move further from the gates. The goal was obviously the castle, but, even with a strengthened shield charm on himself, he wasn’t fooled into thinking it would be simple. Simple had gone out the door as soon as the first killing curse had been cast, and considering it appeared the followers remaining on their feet had given up on generally aiming the curses they had sent out, the last stand looked like it was coming up sooner rather than later. Especially seeing as he had lost sight of the Minister long before.

Even so, he had fought his way over to the side of the man who had bellowed out an order (Jake), sending a shield charm out toward the group (Victor, WWW, etc.) working on transporting the injured and deceased. One last push. Sounded like as good a plan as any, and he sent a disarming charm the way of the group of Alliance followers that had been targeted followed by a severing charm for good measure.

Bella laughed lightly. "You know, for someone that actually lives an adventurous life, you sure do watch a lot of movies." she teased. "You really need a girlfriend." She quickly looked around as if this were the place to play wingwoman.

Heh.

Her head snapped toward the sound. "Something big fell." she said casting fire spells toward the remaining Neo-Alliance followers. "We should help take these last ones down before we go check."