Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Whatnot

The one fighting Percy started to back off, quickly. His hood slipped and we saw a high forehead with streaked hair.

“Hello, Minister!” bellowed Percy, sending a jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. “Did I mention I’m resigning?”

“You’re joking, Perce!” shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells.

Thicknesse fell to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred grinned at Percy.

“You actually are joking, Perce. . . . I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were—“

The air exploded. We were grouped together with the Death Eaters at our feet, and in the one moment where there was hope and it seemed like we would be alright, my entire world ripped apart. We were thrown through the air, and I heard the screams of the others over my own.

Struggling out of the wreckage, I searched for them in the semidarkness as wind blew in from the side of the castle that had been blown apart.

I heard a terrible cry that stabbed at my heart because it was the kind of pain that could not be caused by curse or fire. My breath caught when I saw the three red-headed men grouped on the ground where the wall had been blasted.

“No—no—no!” someone was shouting. “No! Fred! No!”

It didn’t register until I heard the name, Percy said Fred’s name and it was like a slap to the face and I fell to my knees by his body. Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling motionless, and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms?

My mind whirling with the impossibilities that were plainly laid out in front of me, I barely noticed the tears streaming down my face or my breath coming as ragged sobs.

“Get down!” someone shouted, but I didn’t know who and I didn’t much care.

Percy lay across Fred’s body, shielding it from further harm, and when Harry shouted “Percy, come on, we’ve got to move!” he shook his head.

“Percy!” Ron grabbed his brother’s arms and tried to pull him up, but he wouldn’t budge “Percy, you can’t do anything for him! We’re going to—”

Hermione screamed, and that’s when I looked around to see a monstrous spider trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall. Harry and Ron both blasted it off the wall.

“It brought friends!” Harry called. “Let’s move, NOW!”

He pushed us ahead of him, helping Percy gather Fred’s body.

“Here,” said Harry, and they placed him in a corner where a suit of armor had once been.

The tears blurred my vision as I kissed Fred’s cold cheek, then left him there, not even able to glance back.

“ROOKWOOD!” Percy bellowed, sprinting after the Death Eater.

Hermione pushed both me and Ron behind a tapestry, calling for Harry at the same time. Tears still streaming down my face, I looked around trying to figure out what to do.

Hermione was restraining Ron, trying to keep him from running after Percy.

“Listen to me—LISTEN RON!”

“I wanna help—I wanna kill Death Eaters—”

That’s it, that’s what I had to do, I wanted to help to. I tried to move past her but she pushed my shoulder back and I felt Harry grab my arm. Ron was still struggling.

“Ron, we’re the only ones who can end it! Please—Ron—we need the snake, we’ve got to kill the snake!” said Hermione.

That wasn’t enough, that wasn’t nearly enough. Killing the snake would not bring the satisfaction of revenge, of punishment for killing Fred. I knew I was sobbing uncontrollably now, but I couldn’t do anything about it and I sank to the stone floor.

“We will fight!” Hermione said, I could hear the tears in her voice as well. “We’ll have to, to reach the snake! But let’s not lose sight now of what we’re supposed to be d–doing! We’re the only ones who can end it!”

I wanted to find the rest of the Weasleys. Fred turned out to be not quite as invincible as I always imagined him, so who’s to say George didn’t have the same fate? I needed to find him.

“You need to find out where Voldemort is, because he’ll have the snake with him, won’t he? Do it, Harry—look inside him!”

I sat against the wall, hugging my knees to my chest and waited for Harry to tell us what to do.

“He’s in the Shrieking Shack. The snake’s with him, it’s got some sort of magical protection around it. He’s just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape.”

“Voldemort’s sitting in the shrieking Shack?” said Hermione, outraged. “He’s not—he’s not even fighting??”

“He doesn’t think he needs to fight,” said Harry. “He thinks I’m going to go to him.”

“But why?”

“He knows I’m after Horcruxes—he’s keeping Nagini close beside him—obviously I’m going to have to go to him to get near the thing—”

“Right,” said Ron, squaring his shoulders. “So you can’t go, that’s what he wants, what he’s expecting. You stay here and look after Hermione, and I’ll go and get it—”

Harry cut across Ron.

“You two stay here, I’ll go under the Cloak and I’ll be back as soon as I—”

“No,” said Hermione, “it makes much more sense if I take the Cloak and—”

“Don’t even think about it,” Ron snarled at her.

“Or I could – “ I said, quietly, but Hermione was trying to argue with Ron now.

“Ron, I’m just as capable—”

Before she could finish, the tapestry was ripped open.

“POTTER!”

Two masked Death Eaters stood there, but even before they had their wands raised, Hermione shouted “Glisseo!”

The stairs beneath us turned into a slide and we fell down it, so fast that the spells the Death Eater sent at us went way over our heads. We slid through the concealing tapestry at the other end and hit the opposite wall.

“Duro!” cried Hermione, pointing her wand at the tapestry.

There were two sickening crunches as the Death Eaters behind us hit the newly stone tapestry.

“Get back!” shouted Ron.

We all flattened against the wall as a herd of galloping desks hurtled past, followed by McGonagall.

She didn’t seem to notice us, her hair flew all about her as she turned the corner and screamed, “CHARGE!”

“Harry, you get the Cloak on,” said Hermione. “Never mind us—“

But he threw it over all of us. We ran down a staircase and into a corridor with duelers. We held our wands aloft, but there was too much of a chance of hitting one of our own.

“Wheeeeeeeeeeee!”

The noise came from above us and we looked up to see Peeves whirring around, dropping Snargaluff pods onto Death Eaters heads.

“Argh!”

Some of the tubers had hit Ron under the Cloak, and they hung in midair as he tried to shake them off.

“Someone’s invisible there!” shouted a masked Death Eater, pointing.

“LET’S GO!” Harry yelled.

We ran, heads down under the Cloak, through the corridors, slipping in Snargaluff juice every now and then.

“I’m Draco Malfoy, I’m Draco, I’m on your side!”

Malfoy was on the landing in front of the main staircase, pleading with another hooded Death Eater. Harry stunned the man as we passed and Malfoy looked around, trying to see who saved him.

Ron punched him in the face as we passed, saying “And that’s the second time we’ve saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!”

Malfoy fell to the ground, his mouth bleeding, looking bemused. There were more duelers all over the stairs and in the hall. There were Death Eaters everywhere, and students ran while carrying or dragging injured friends. We hurried down the marble staircase and two bodies fell from the balcony above us. Almost in the same instant, a furry, snarling thing flew by to bite into one of the bodies.

“NO!” shrieked Hermione, blasting Fenrir Greyback from the limply struggling body of Lavender Brown.

He hit the staircase and tried to stand back up, but suddenly a crystal ball struck him on the top of the head with a crack. He slumped and didn’t move again.

“I have more!” shrieked Professor Trelawney from over the banisters. “More for any who want them! Here—”

She heaved another from her bag with surprising athletic skill and waved her wand, causing it to fly across the hall out the front window.

Screams echoed around us as the front doors burst open and the giant spiders from before scurried in.

“How do we get out?” yelled Ron over all the screaming.

Hagrid had come thundering down the stairs, brandishing his flowery pink umbrella.

“Don’t hurt ’em, don’t hurt ’em!” he yelled.

“HAGRID, NO!”

Harry ran after Hagrid, bent almost double to avoid the curses flying around.

“Harry!”

We sprinted after him, running through the front doors out onto the grounds. We reached Harry when he skidded to a stop and we watched in horror as the surge of spiders engulfed Hagrid and carried him into the forest.

“HAGRID!”

A giant foot crashed down near us, causing us all to jump. We looked up to see an actual giant, nearly twenty feet tall. It smashed its fist through a window, glass raining down on us.

“DON’T!” Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione’s hand as she raised her wand. “Stun him and he’ll crush half the castle—”

“HAGGER?”

Grawp came bounding around the corner of the castle. Sadly, comparing Grawp to the giant above us, he looked rather…not giant.

The one trying to crush people through the window turned around and roared, stomping towards Grawp. The two giants launched themselves towards each other and began wrestling.

“RUN!” Harry yelled.

As we avoided flying limbs the size of tree trunks and ran towards the forest, we noticed a sudden chilliness in the air. We saw the shapes moving from out of the trees before realizing what they were. The sounds of the battle behind us dimmed in a way that only dementors could cause.

“Come on, Harry!” said Hermione. “Patronuses, Harry, come on!”

I raised my wand with them, but I was already feeling the hopelessness, especially with Fred gone. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember something happy.

“HARRY, COME ON!” screamed Hermione.

Our patronuses flickered feebly, going out.

That’s when I realized that nearly all of my memories of Fred were happy. He may be gone, but we’d always remember him in a good light.

I tried again, the otter growing stronger, and then a silver hare, a boar, and a fox flew past us. We turned to see Luna, Ernie, and Seamus next to us.

“That’s right,” said Luna encouragingly, as if we were just practicing back in the Room of Requirement as Dumbledore’s Army before it became a real army.

“That’s right, Harry . . . come on think of something happy. . . .”

“Something happy?” he said, his voice cracking.

“We’re all still here,” she whispered, “we’re still fighting. Come on, now. . . .”

Harry gripped his wand tighter, there was a silver spark, and then finally, the stag burst from the end of Harry’s wand. It cantered forward, and now the dementors scattered, leaving the night air mild again.

“Can’t thank you enough,” said Ron shakily, turning to Luna, Ernie, and Seamus “you just saved—”

With an earth-quaking roar, another giant came lumbering out of the forest, brandishing a club taller than any of us.

“RUN!” Harry shouted again.

We scattered, three of us following Harry, but the others disappeared in the darkness again.

“Let’s get out of range!” yelled Ron as the giant swung its club again.

“The Whomping willow,” said Harry, “go!”

Panting, we finally reached the tree, standing just outside the range of its swinging branches. Ron levitated a twig that poked a spot near the roots and the tree stood still.

“Wait.” Harry hesitated.

“Harry, we’re coming, just get in there!” said Ron, pushing him forward.

We wriggled into the passage hidden in the tree’s roots. It was a rather tight squeeze, we had to all crawl. Harry went first with his wand illuminated. Hermione followed, then Ron, then me.

We heard voices as we neared the end of the tunnel, one cold and clear, one low and smooth. Being in the back, I couldn’t see anything that was happening or make out the words, I could only hear the rise and fall of voices.

I just waited quietly as Harry, under the cloak I presumed since I could no longer see him, monitored whatever was happening. Probably about fifteen minutes later, I heard an awful scream. I looked at Ron and Hermione in shock and they had similar expressions. Who’d been in the room with Voldemort?

“Harry!” breathed Hermione.

He pulled himself up into the room and we followed again.

Snape was lying on the floor, paler than usual and with a bloody wound on his neck.

When Harry approached him and knelt by his body, Snape grasped the front of Harry’s robes.

“Take . . . it. . . . Take . . . it. . . .” Snape rasped.

I wanted to look away, but couldn’t as something more than blood leaked from Snape. It was silvery blue and not really liquid, but not really anything else either. Harry shakily took a flask that Hermione conjured up and collected whatever it was coming from Snape.

“Look . . . at . . . me. . . .” Snape whispered at Harry.

Harry stared at the man on the floor, but nothing else was said. The hand on the front of his robes thudded to the floor and Snape moved no more.

Then, we heard the high, clear voice again and it sounded so close, I thought Voldemort was back in the room with us.

“You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”

“Don’t listen to him,” said Ron.

“It’ll be all right,” said Hermione wildly. “Let’s—let’s get back to the castle, if he’s gone to the forest we’ll need to think of a new plan—”

She glanced at Snape’s body, then hurried back to the tunnel entrance. Ron and I followed her.

We hurried back towards the castle, silently, the cold voice still ringing in all of our ears. It was unnaturally quiet on the grounds, and nearly deserted.

“Where is everyone?” whispered Hermione.

Ron led the way to the Great Hall. We stopped in the doorway. The tables were all gone and the room was full of people. Survivors stood in huddled groups, hugging each other and the wounded were being treated on the platform by Madam Pomfrey.

The most dreadful part was the dead lying in a row down the middle of the room.

Hermione and I followed Ron towards his family. With a shock, I saw the bodies lying next to Fred’s…Remus and Tonks. They looked so peaceful though, as if they were just sleeping. Mrs.Weasley was lying across Fred’s body, sobbing while Mr. Weasley cried silently and stroked her hair. George was kneeling by his head.

I knelt next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. When he looked up and saw it was me, he quickly pulled me against him, burying his face in my neck. I bit my lip, trying to stem the tears again as I hugged him tightly. I could feel him shaking and he made a sort of choked noise. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever seen George cry and it broke my heart. I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my face again.

Being surrounded by the Weasley family in all their grief, I knew I was done. I’m sorry Harry, but I can’t do it anymore. I can’t help kill the snake. I can’t leave them, I can’t leave him. I can’t. I’m sorry.

“I’m here,” I whispered, hugging George tighter.

“For now,” I heard him whisper back.

I shook my head “Forever.”