The Staff of Dreams

Fear swept over the town of Hogsmeade as the cloaked intruders came, wands aloft, through the streets. The villagers hid in fear, the past threat Voldemort and his Death Eaters still fresh in their memories. While they had lived in peace for nearly two decades, the scars that the dark wizards had left on the land still stung as though fresh. A few shop owners, braver than the others, were standing outside their doors and working to guide students to safety, wands at the ready to shoot off spells that would ward off the cloaked men. The teachers scattered through the streets, at least the few who had chosen to come to Hogsmeade for the day to get a break, either running to help students get to safety or were planning their best defense.

The four teachers situated a few feet away from the door of the Three Broomsticks eyed their surroundings and then after an exchange of glances parted ways and went on the offensive. They were outnumbered, but not by many and each were sure of their skill with a wand. They threw up defensive shields to ward off the spells that flew with no semblance of aim. It was peculiar, the dark wizards seemed to be more interested in the amount of spells they shot off rather than the accuracy and potency of their magic.

The streets were a scene of chaos, villagers running to their homes or trying to lure children inside to safety. Unfortunately some completely panicked and were simply ducking out of the way or hiding behind signs or in alleyways. Cassian started toward a mass of those who had cluttered together in the panic. One of the cloaked men was following them, shooting spells off left and right. It was mere luck that none of the children running away were struck. Cassian was surprisingly quick and light on his feet despite his bulky frame. He managed to catch up to the group with ease where he guided them to safety.

At the end of the alleyway they’d been huddled in, Cassian spotted an older woman, her wand at the ready while she stood guard to a group of what looked like first year Ravenclaws who were cowering in fear behind her with their wands held shakily forward in defense. She was whispering comforting words to them and telling them to stay back behind her but her hand was visibly shaking. The dark wizard in front of her laughed maniacally and muttered something under his breath. Strands of darkness sprang from the end of his wand, wrapping together and forming ropes that slithered around like snakes. The ropes sprang toward the witch protecting the students and she shrieked. They grabbed her arms as she attempted to fire a defensive spell to stop the ropes. Her wand fell from her hand and though the students grabbed at her cloak to try and pull her back, she was lifted off of her feet and into the air. The ropes surrounded her and wrapped her up tighter and tighter like a spider would with its web.

Cassian ran into the alleyway and pushed his left hand against the wall to propel himself to the right and around the dark wizard. The students were cowering, frozen in terror when faced with such an enemy. The witch entangled in dark slithering ropes was grabbing at the ones surrounding her face and attempting to pull them free so she could gasp for breath. She glanced toward the students and yelled for them to run despite her predicament.

“Protego!” Cassian swung his wand like a blade and the black ropes surrounding the witch fell to shreds and disintegrated into black smoke and ash. The witch fell to the ground as Cassian was unable to catch her. Instead he leapt toward the dark wizard who was waving his wand haphazardly toward him. Dodging a shot of red sparks as it flew by his head, Cassian tackled the dark wizard who nearly dropped his wand in the blow. Most wizards were not prepared for physical attacks. The students hurried to help the witch to her feet and to pull her away from the scuffle.

When the dark wizard swung his wand again, Cassian punched him hard in the gut deciding that he was too close to launch a spell of his own. There were frantic footsteps around the two and shouting from the students nearby that Cassian couldn’t focus on. He turned his gaze away to make sure another dark wizard wasn’t coming to their aid and ended up getting tossed onto his back by the dark wizard he’d had pinned. The students had finally shaken off their fear of the situation and were shooting minor spells toward them. Cassian swung his wand to throw up a defensive shield only to have it knocked out of his hand by one of the students who had managed a disarming spell.

Knowing he was vulnerable, Cassian scrambled to his feet and just in time. The dark wizard was up and shooting red sparks at him but luckily he dodged behind a trashcan just in time. The sparks ricocheted off the trash can but singed the metal. It would only take a few blows before the can was disintegrated. Glancing around with one arm over his head for protection, Cassian searched for his wand but couldn’t find it and cursed under his breath then winced when he realized the children were listening to him and shouting apologies.

As the trash can flew out of the way, someone jumped in front of him, her wand at the ready and holding a protective shield that absorbed the stunning spells easily that were shot off by the dark wizard. Hermione had heard the shouting and had come to his aid. Still holding her protective shield, despite its weakening from the sheer amount of spells being thrown her way, she turned to glance at him and threw him his wand that she had retrieved on the ground of the alleyway.

“Are you okay?” She asked, with a slash of her wand which destroyed her shield at once and threw a stunning spell toward the dark wizard who narrowly dodged it.

“Just fine, thanks.” Cassian chuckled under his breath and then glanced toward the students that were still struggling to help the bound witch free of what remained of the black smoky ropes that had entangled her. As they touched the ropes that stuck to her flesh, they seemingly grew tighter and spread onto the children like a sickness. “You get them to safety. I’ll hold this guy off. Don’t let the kids get spell happy, okay?”

“You got it!” Hermione looked determined but seemingly trusted him. Cassian shook off his robe and rolled up his sleeves, then held out his wand. Instead of going on the offensive he worked to dispel the multitude of red sparks that shot his way, mostly to buy Hermione time to free the witch and the students from the vile spell that trapped them in the alleyway. “Macmillan, open that window, hurry! Climb through and help your friends inside. Patil, you light the basement with your wand. No other spells!” Hermione was shouting orders at the students who were listening and jumping to action.

Cassian ducked when a stray spell shot through the wall and it began to crumble. The wizard didn’t have very good aim at all and seemed to be making up for it with quantity and strength of his spells. The wall groaned and threatened to fall so Cassian turned his wand toward the wall and held the bricks still in place. Red sparks singed at the back of Cassian’s shirt but he didn’t pull his attention away from the spell he’d performed. Thinking on his feet, Cassian shot a spell at the wall and a stick purple substance surrounded the bricks and hardened them into place preventing further collapse. Dodging out of the way of another series of sloppy spells from the dark wizard, Cassian turned on him and began firing spell after spell the way that his opponent had but with far more accuracy and potency.

When the dark wizard stumbled back, Cassian aimed a spell right between the eyes and watched as the attacker hunched over and held his face. His skin was swelling uncontrollably and blocking his vision. Growling and yelling with a thick accent, the dark wizard turned on his heels and ran blindly from the fight. Turning to look back at Hermione who was helping the last of the students through the window he was about to speak when she cut him off.

“I’ve got a handle on this, go!” She waved toward the chaos going on in the streets of Hogsmeade.

“Take a head count, start looking for missing students!” Cassian shouted as he started out of the alleyway to assist his friends in battle.

Malicia had lured one of the dark wizards away from the crowd and into a less populated area of the main streets of Hogsmeade closer to the edge of the woods. She could see Lia out of the corner of her eye fighting one of the men who had come out of nowhere to attack the people of Hogsmeade. Turning her attention back to the man shooting sloppy spells at her, Malicia fired spells back but only when she felt she couldn’t dodge the blows. Fluidly she waved her wand with a grace of a practiced witch while her opponent was practically sweating buckets to shoot off spells at the speed he was doing. A few times he even lost his footing and she’d guessed he’d never fought in such a battle before in his life.

She hoped if she could wear out her attacker, she could very easily render him unconscious and then go to assist her friend. Glancing at Lia again, she saw her friend meticulously dodging and battling one of the wizards but a second enemy was fast approaching and behind her back. Malicia waited to see if Lia’s instincts would kick in but saw that her friend was going to take a blow if she didn’t act quickly. Malicia shot a spell toward the man she was fighting and he flew onto his back, groaning on the ground.

“Behind you!” Malicia shot a stunning spell at the man going after Lia which sent him falling to the ground. Yelping in surprise, Malicia was hit with a spell by the man she’d knocked down! It felt as though fingers were all over her, grasping her and tickling at her. Laughing uncontrollably she fell to the ground and tried to ward off the weak curse often used by children to harass each other.

Lia watched the scene in both amusement and confusion, having not realized she was under attack by a second dark wizard but never dropped her wand or lost her footing. “Thank you!” She shouted at Malicia once she realized her friend would likely be able to handle the tickling curse. A spell from the other end of the road, shot by Nico who had noticed the predicament gave Malicia a chance to get to her feet and disable the spell. Malicia waved comically at her and Lia turned her attention back toward the man she had been initially battling who was still trying to knock her off of her feet and detain her. She rolled out of the way, rarely using her magic to protect herself since she didn’t deem it necessary. From years of hiding her magic from her family she’d become exceptionally light on her feet.

The man that Malicia had warded off was freed from the stunning spell by his comrade and got to his feet, firing shots at Lia who narrowly rolled out of the way and fell on her back, losing her footing on a loose brick in the road. Lia finally drew her wand, aiming spells at the two men who were coming after her while trying to roll away and find a time to get to her feet. The amount of spells being thrown her way and narrowly missing her were forcing her to stay close to the ground and she guessed this was by design.

Neville came running across the street to her aid and aimed a spell which was repelled by the second attacker but was sufficient enough to distract him away from Lia and to allow her time to get to her feet. Lia continued to shoot spells toward her attacker and to deflect the ones that came at her before making her way to Neville.

“You’re a life saver, Longbottom.” Lia smirked, out of breath and covered in leaves from having rolled too many times on the road.

“I do what I can. Are you okay?” Neville targeted a spell at one of the dark wizards knocking him in the stomach and forcing him to stumble backwards. He turned his attention fully to Lia to make sure the woman wasn’t injured.

“A little bruised up but I’ll be fine.” Lia offered a twitch of a smile before throwing up a protective shield against the onslaught of spells. “These guys are relentless! I can barely keep up!”

“Yeah, but if you get hit it’s not devastating.” Neville pointed to a scorched mark on the sleeve of his shirt.

“Really?” Lia seemed surprised and recalled the tickling spell that Malicia had fallen prey to and wondered if those attacking them had prepared at all for the onslaught. They seemed awfully inexperienced for people who had planned to attack a town filled with practiced witches and wizards. The only thing they really had going for them was the fear left in the wake of Voldemort and his skilled Death Eaters.

“Yeah, still be careful. They’re up to something.” Neville nodded and glanced toward where he could see Hermione by the buildings, counting children and escorting them to safety. She looked overwhelmed and he hesitated to continue firing spells toward the dark wizards.

“Go help her, we’ve got this. There are more kids than these fools and she can’t do it herself.” Lia urged, seeing his upset. Neville nodded, patted Lia on the shoulder and then ran to assist Hermione in her attempt to make sure all the students who had taken part of the Hogsmeade weekend were safe. Lia watched him go and saw Theodore fighting nearby and about to become victim of one of many stray spells flying through the air.

“Teddy, duck!” Lia shouted before turning her attention back to the men who were coming after her. Theodore ducked just in time out of instinct and the spell hit the dark wizard he’d been fighting and sent him flying across the brick.

“Thank you!” Theodore got to his feet and ran after the man who had gone flying.

Lia turned her attention back to her sweaty opponent only to find him running toward her, slashing his wand wildly. Each swing was like an invisible blade coming at her to tear at her flesh so she ran backwards, dodging and jumping the wild slashes and blows, all the while stumbling and trying to keep her footing. Backing up she bumped into someone else. Glancing quickly over her shoulder she saw the telltale long black hair of Malicia and realize that she’d been cornered by one of her attackers as well.

The girls ducked simultaneously when a sign overhead fell from a stray spell hitting it which sent it crashing to the ground. Glancing over her shoulder, Malicia locked blue eyes with Lia’s purple ones for a quick second. She could tell that Lia was thinking the same thing she was. They had to try and get the dark wizards out of the populated streets of Hogsmeade and to somewhere safer. What would it matter if they kept the dark wizards busy when they were sending so many spells every which way that it would likely collapse the buildings with students inside of them?

Both girls shot off stunning spells and then bolted toward the forest, side by side and dodging the blows that followed which were sloppy due to the way they’d surprised their attackers. Three cloaked men followed them into the forest and through the tree line. The telltale snap of apparition rang through the trees and they guessed that reinforcements were on their way for the dark wizards. From the sounds of the cracking, Malicia and Lia guessed there were three more in pursuit of them bringing the total to six though there was no real way to be positive.

Neville heard the sounds and followed the girls into the forest, sending spells at the men who were surrounding them in a clearing just inside the woods.

“You two okay?” He shouted, a hand next to his mouth, deflecting a spell away from him and hitting a nearby tree.

“We’re fine!” Lia shouted back but one of the men surrounding them and shooting spells aimed his spell at the tree which came to life. The limbs and sticks of the tree came down like vines and began to surround the girls, tying them together back to back. Neville was temporarily distracted by something they couldn’t see but Lia was hoping that he would notice their plight and offer them some assistance.

Malicia wriggled, her wand arm held awkwardly high above her head but still free of the tangled vines that were continuing to tie them tighter and tighter together in an attempt to strangle them into unconsciousness. Thankfully she was still able to cast a few spells here and there to protect them from further harm.

“I’m sure I’m the last person you want to be tied up with.” Malicia chuckled, struggling against the vines. Lia laughed under her breath and tried to free her hand.

“It could be worse, you’re clean at least.”

“Flattered, truly.” Malicia surrounded them with a protective shield that would likely only last for a few seconds given their predicament. “I could use some help getting us out of this.”

“Oh yeah, let me just summon my super strength to get these vines off my arms.”

“Didn’t you used to have super fast reflexes?”

“I’m not a super hero.” Lia laughed.

“A super-what?” Malicia furrowed her brow, clearly not getting the muggle reference. If nothing else, it felt good to know she could still joke around with Malicia even in the most serious of situations and when they were at odds with each other. The fighting they’d done was starting to feel petty considering the circumstances. She knew Malicia hadn’t intended to hurt her and she probably needed Lia to step up and come to her aid with something she wasn’t sure how to handle on her own. Malicia on the other hand was just hoping to get out of the vines and trying not to consider that the Staff of Dreams could have something to do with the attack on Hogsmeade. Had she unknowingly put these people in harm’s way by following the path to it?

Neville and Cassian hurried down the hill to aid them, followed by a dark wizard who was madly shooting spells toward them to prevent them assisting the women. Neville pointed toward Lia and Malicia who were finally succumbing to the strength of the vines now controlled by several of the wizards. Neville tripped and fell face first into the leaves of the forest floor and Cassian jumped over him, narrowly avoiding tripping over his friend. Rushing still down the hill into the clearing, Cassian leapt onto the wizard who had begun the creeping of the vines in the first place and they both fell to the ground. Cassian rolled off of him and hurriedly jumped to his feet. The wand flew out of the dark wizard’s hand as he fell onto his back, the wind knocked out of him.

The vines loosened and collapsed around the girls. Lia held her hand out and summoned the discarded wand away from the dark wizard who disapparated once he realized he’d been disarmed. Neville got to his feet and nailed one of the other wizards with a stunning spell. Injured dark wizards were disapparating and being replaced by unscathed ones and yet the girls were still surrounded by four wizards who were working on gaining control of the vines that were wiggling on the ground. It was like they couldn’t quite control the spell that had been used to summon them in the first place.

Cassian watched his friends and once he was sure they were okay, ran through the forest to chase after a handful of the dark wizards who were trying to get away from them. Malicia watched him go and then sliced her wand, destroying the limbs of the trees that were coming after them. Willing them to float into the air, she used them as projectiles to attack the wizards surrounding them.

“I’m tired of this, it’s time to take control of the situation!” She growled in annoyance and Lia nodded to agree, joining her friend in an attempt to use the vines that had once strangled them to their advantage. She couldn’t help but wonder how the other teacher’s were fairing and if Theodore was alright.

Theodore, on the other hand, had thought to go after the girls when he saw Neville returning to find someone to help him go after the large group of dark wizards that had chased them into the forest but had been stopped by wizards that were apparating on the edge of the tree line. They initially ran past the trees but he blasted one in the back and they turned their attention to what was going on in the square. Theodore lured them further into the square when he became aware of what sounded like the cheering of young wizards nearby. Students who had refused to stay inside and idly sit by and watch their teachers take on the darker wizards were taking up arms.

Throwing caution to the wind he hurried to the group of wizards. Theodore recognized one as Collin Andrews. He was being cheered on by a few of his friends, each from different houses, for having stunned one of the dark wizards who had spotted them on the streets of Hogsmeade and had come after them.

“Get inside!” Theodore shouted in a scolding voice, raising his wand to another dark wizard who came to aid his friend. The group of students ducked and yelped when a third dark wizard approached from behind and shot a spell toward them. Theodore ran to their aid, standing several feet in front of them and shooting spells left and right to keep the two new villains at bay. After hesitating for a mere second, the students jumped forward to help. “Hey, what did I just tell you?”

“We’re helping, professor!” Collin shouted, his confidence thick in his voice. Theodore couldn’t help but think he was just like his father; over confident in his abilities and too stubborn to do what was instructed by someone older and wiser. As he opened his mouth to tell the children that the best thing they could do to help would be to duck and cover his wand flew out of his hand. Theodore turned around and saw a redheaded Ravenclaw covering her mouth in surprise, looking sheepish and apologetic.

“Aspen!” A Gryffindor boy nudged her shoulder in annoyance. Collin rushed forward and threw up a protective spell in front of Theodore as one of the dark wizards hurriedly shot spells at him, trying to take advantage of his unarmed state. Frank Longbottom ran forward and tried to scoop up Theodore’s wand from the ground to hand back to the professor but the dark wizard shot off a spell and sent the wand flying into the air.

“I’m sorry professor!” Aspen yelled then shrieked as a dark wizard came bounding at them, one of the three that had followed Theodore from the trees. Collin turned his shield to protect the young girl who was still gasping in terror. Theodore, still unarmed, turned toward the wizards near him and decided he didn’t need his wand to fight this battle. The wizards were so poor a shot he could easily dodge the blows and get close enough to incapacitate at least one of them. Punching the closest dark wizard hard in the jaw after grabbing his wand arm to direct it away, the wizard jumped back, blood dripping out of his now wounded jaw.

Aspen stepped around Collin and Frank and disarmed the bleeding dark wizard, snatching the wand in mid-air is it flew toward her. Frank patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, complimenting her on her shot.

Theodore ran back to the group, hoping to snatch the wand from Aspen to use at least until he could get his back when a puff of smoke surrounded him and engulfed him in darkness. It was a thick black powdery smoke that became thicker the more he lingered inside of it. He found his shoes stuck to the ground, preventing him from escaping the powder. The spell didn’t seem normal, like it had been concocted via potion to use in case of an emergency. Theodore couldn’t help but think it seemed like a familiar practice but couldn’t place his finger on it. The dizziness the dark powder was causing certainly didn’t help the situation. He could barely hear the children shouting and the sound of spells being shot his way in hopes of either freeing him or incapacitating him further; he wasn’t sure since he couldn’t see the source.

Suddenly the smoke began to clear and Theodore collapsed to his knees and coughed, attempting to catch his breath. Cassian rushed over to him and offered him a helping hand to his feet and then handed the man his wand before hurrying off. It seemed like Cassian was a little faster than the others and was willing to spread himself thin to protect them. Theodore got to his feet and shot a spell toward the wizard in pursuit of Cassian, and then ducked a second one from the one who had caused the darkness to shroud him.

Quickly he turned around when he heard the sound of Collin shouting in surprise. The spell that Theodore had dodged had gone straight for the students and would’ve hit Aspen if Collin hadn’t jumped in the way to keep her safe. Collin was suddenly encompassed in the same smoky darkness but was being pushed harder and harder against the ground like something was compressing him at the same moment.

Cassian heard the yell and turned back to the group and stepped in between the dark wizards and the group of students who were trying desperately to free Collin from the spell that was pressing him to the ground.

“Get them inside!” Cassian gritted his teeth, shot a spell in the gut of the first dark wizard that sent him flying backwards then sent an array of fiery sparks around at the other two wizards who were catching up to them. Thankfully he had irritated them enough for them to continue following him rather than pursuing the students who were gathered near the entrance to the Three Broomsticks.

Aspen kept shooting spells at the darkness in hopes of expelling it but none of them seemed to work. She yelled for Collin and even tried to reach into the darkness to grab him but it burned and singed at her hands. Theodore shot several spells toward the darkness but couldn’t get it to relent. Frustrated, he looked around and spotted a bucket turned over onto its side. Frank caught his gaze, grabbed the bucket and brought it over. Theodore filled the bucket with water and then dumped it on top of Collin. The darkness fell away and Collin was left soaking wet on the ground, staring up at them with wide eyes.

“I’m okay.” He coughed after a moment with a cheeky smile. Aspen hurriedly ran to his side and wrapped her arms around him.

“You saved me!” She shrieked. Theodore helped Collin to his feet and then turned over his shoulder to make sure the dark wizards were still distracted by Cassian. The doctor was thick in battle with two dark wizards, one of the three had retreated due to the nature of the injuries Cassian had managed to cause. Cassian was bleeding just above his eye and squinting but wasn’t letting the injury hinder his focus.

Another dark wizard had appeared, his cloak floating like darkness through the air. There was something different about this man, and though they couldn’t see his face, the air of confidence surrounding him was intimidating. He was yelling to his comrades, pointing and guiding them, ignoring the spells that were coming at him left and right.

“Disband! Return to your posts!” The dark wizards paid him less mind than Theodore guessed that they should. Theodore stood guard for the children but having decided this man was some sort of leader, aimed his next few spells at the taller and stronger wizard. With quick reflexes, the newcomer blocked the spell, far more adept with magic than his comrades. The spell, instead of being absorbed, was propelled back toward Theodore and he was forced to block it himself and nearly stumbled backwards at the force of the returned blow. Clearly this new dark wizard had far more developed magical skill than the others who had attacked Hogsmeade. Despite having blocked Theodore’s spell, the new dark wizard made his way through the streets, uninterested in those who tried to stop him.

“Russell, you got this?” Theodore called out to Cassian who was battling the wizards in the street still.

“I’m fine, get those kids indoors and if they try to get out to help again they’ll have detention for the rest of the term!” Cassian growled, not turning his attention away from the battle he was amidst. Theodore noted that somewhere along the line, Cassian had become a rather adept fighter. Turning his attention away from Cassian he looked down at the kids.

“You heard him.” Theodore opened the door of the Three Broomsticks to find an aged Madame Rosmerta with a shaky wand in her hand ready to blast out a spell to anyone coming to attack the scores of students that she had protected behind her. “Take care of these stragglers will you?” Theodore nodded as Collin, Aspen and their friends hurried into the room and took a seat, each one of them checking on Collin repeatedly to make sure the boy was unscathed. “Longbottom?” Frank turned his attention to his teacher. “Man the door with one of your friends. Send sparks out the window if anyone comes to try and attack you.” Theodore slammed the door closed and waved his wand to lock it before rejoining the fray.

Down the hill in the clearing, Malicia and Lia had continued on the offensive and had chased away two of the four men who had come after them. They were quickly replaced by three more dark wizards, one who looked battle worn already, like he’d disappeared to heal and had returned quickly to the battle when he realized he was okay to fight. Malicia and Lia took turns putting up defensive magical shields while the other was attacking with disarming spells and stunning spells in hopes of warding their enemies away or knocking them down to interrogate them about who was behind the attack and why.

Some of the dark wizards had taken to throwing out dungbombs which Lia unceremoniously threw them back before they exploded, using her wand to shoot them back to their owners where they erupted in a puff of brownish soot.

“Nice shot.” Malicia turned to glance at Lia after she repelled one of the dungbombs back to the dark wizard and right in his face at that.

“Thanks, I’ve had some practice.” Lia smirked. Malicia widened her eyes when she saw a wizard rushing toward Lia, slashing his wand through the air, a spray of fire coming from the tip of it.

“Watch out!” Malicia dropped her protective shield and aimed her wand at the fire, a powerful spray of water coming from the end as Lia ducked out of the way. The water extinguished the fire but only slowed the wizard coming after Lia.

Squealing in surprise, Malicia was tackled to the ground by one of the dark wizards who had become frustrated with the failed attempts at magical domination. Lia turned her attention to the wizard who had come running at her and was now soaking wet. She shot spells at him but nearly had her wand knocked out of her hand by another wizard.

“Mal, what happened to your shield?” Lia glanced back to Malicia only to see her wrestling on the ground with the wizard who had tackled her. “That would do it.” Lia turned back to the wizard who was coming at her when she realized he wasn’t going to relent and he was only going to continue with his spells. The wizards that had been driven back by the girls teamwork had caught a break at last and were coming at them full force, firing spells to try and knock them out. Lia managed to knock one of the wizards backward and send him rolling down the hill, but two more were coming after her since Malicia was seemingly subdued.

Malicia had pocketed her wand and was trying to scramble away from the man hovering over her in his dark cloaks. He was grabbing her hair and pulling her back. It was odd to think, even though she was being overwhelmed at first, the person she was fighting had clearly not been in many fights before in their life. Shoving her palm into his nose, Malicia caught the man off guard and he stopped pushing at her. She took the opportunity to maneuver her legs out from beneath him and kick him hard in the stomach. He rolled off of her and laid on his back, his hands over his stomach as he groaned in misery. Malicia rolled onto her stomach and glanced up at Lia who was dodging spells from one wizard and battling another.

Pulling her wand from her cloak again, Malicia fired a stunning spell at the backside of the wizard closest to her which sent him falling face forward into the dirt. The wizard that Malicia had knocked off of her had regained himself and was grabbing her by her wrists and trying to pull her away.

“Look out, Mal!” Lia shouted after knocking the second wizard back. Turning she saw Malicia being pinned down again and yelling in annoyance at the man who wouldn’t let her go.

“Don’t pull my hair, what, are you twelve?”

“Get down!” Lia shouted and then threw a well aimed disarming spell at the man holding down her friend. Malicia ducked her hands over her head as the man on top of her went flying backwards. Lia offered Malicia a hand to help her off of the ground.

“Thanks for that.” Malicia offered a small smile.

“That’s what friends are for.” Lia patted her friend on the shoulder and then turned her attention toward the wizards who had been knocked down and were recovering. They took one look at the girls who were still ready for battle and started up the hill to try and get away or get to a more level playing field. A deep, strong voice echoed orders somewhere on the streets of Hogsmeade and both women exchanged wary glances before heading in search of the source.

Samael walked through the streets of Hogsmeade, avoiding hurting onlookers but deflecting the spells that were aimed at him from windows and doorways. His men were dropping like flies and he was yelling the order to retreat. They weren’t prepared for such a battle, his men had too much training left to do. The fury he felt for his men was written all over his face. Using his magic he kept his cloak billowing in hopes of hiding his identity from the few wizards who might recognize him.

He sensed a spell coming at him from behind and deflected it and turned to view the source only to be struck with a second spell and knocked a few feet backwards. Nico stood in front of him, wand at the ready and prepared to duel. Samael didn’t recognize him but he was already annoyed enough to put him in his place. He swung his wand but Nico deflected the red blast with ease. How could his men be so stupid? They’d failed as a team and hadn’t gotten anywhere near accomplishing their actual goal!

Samael took the offensive against Nico who returned the blows in kind and blocked them with the skill of a practiced wizard. The teachers were starting to close in on the men who hadn’t disapparated and were overwhelming the dark forces that had threatened Hogsmeade but Samael didn’t relent.

While he battled Nico, each blow being matched artfully, he observed that the occupants of the town had started to gain confidence after watching the teachers battle the dark wizards successfully. The villagers were coming out of their shops and their homes and were joining them in battle and doing well at that. More dark wizards were joining in on the battle, cracks of apparition sounding every other minute to signal that more were coming to help them out against the villagers. Nico was clearly getting on his nerves and the blasts from their wands combined and threw them both backward.

Samael hurried back to his feet, swung his wand, whispered an incantation which made a puff of smoke like that of a viper and then launched at Nico. Partially surprised by the magic performed, Nico managed to cast a spell of his own that negated the large snake, resulting in a rather brilliant spray of lightning that flashed into splashes of molten fire. The whole of the square stopped to look at the terrific explosion in awe. Samael had to take several steps back to remain unharmed by the blow. As the smoke cleared, he raised his wand and shot Nico’s legs right out from underneath him.

Scattering onto his feet, Nico held his wand at the ready, his hands scraped up and his cheek bloodied. “You’re attacking a ministry official! Stop now and we can come to an agreement! This is your only chance.” He shouted but the other dark wizards were starting to close in on him and he was forced to turn away from Samael though he was far from finished with him. Making a path through the dark wizards he shot a stunning spell at Samael who turned and blocked it before shooting spell after spell angrily at Nico to try and get him to back off. He obviously didn’t care who Nico was.

Lia emerged from the woods and stopped short, shocked to see that there were loads of witches and wizards having come out of their houses to observe and fight the dark wizards. It was like a war zone in the middle of Hogsmeade. But the dark wizards had begun to change their tactics. Suddenly wounded dark wizards were returning to the scene and surrounding villagers. The ones who were too startled to run or were too scared were cornered and grabbed. The black shadowy ropes that had earlier surrounded the woman that Cassian had saved were surrounding people and tying them up. It seemed that they were trying to take the villagers as prisoners and Lia couldn’t help but get a sick feeling in her stomach.

Glancing behind her in search of Malicia, she saw Nico and Samael fighting at the end of the street, huge sparks spraying around them as they clashed spells back and forth. After staring in awe for a moment Lia searched around for Malicia, wanting to warn her friend that her ex-boyfriend and her supposedly-dead-but-not-actually-dead brother were engaged in battle at the end of the road but saw that Malicia had spotted the scene on her own and was already running toward them.

Deciding Malicia could handle it, since Nico seemed to be doing a good job, Lia looked for a way to help out the villagers who were being cornered by the dark wizards. The townspeople had taken to hiding again within their homes and shops since they had started falling one by one like flies to the evil wizards. She saw Theodore fighting against some of the people who were tying up villagers and was working on freeing them from their bonds. It was surprising to see him fighting the way he was. His wand had been put back into his cloak and he was throwing punches and tackling cloaked wizards left and right. Teddy’s nose was dripping blood from a blow he’d taken and Lia watched as he was thrown over the shoulder of a rather large wizard.

Lia whipped her wand around and caused the dark wizard’s cloak to start attacking him and strangling him until he fell over in an attempt to get it to stop. Hurrying over to Theodore, Lia helped him to his feet.

“Are you okay? What happened? You’re bleeding!” Lia grabbed a napkin from her pocket that she’d snatched while at Honeydukes and held it to Theodore’s nose comfortingly. He looked oddly unnerved until she started comforting and fretting over him. The nerves and fear she caught in his gaze faded into adoration.

“I’m fine, you worry wart. One of the kids tried shooting a spell out the window and got me right in the nose…” Theodore took the napkin from Lia’s hand when they realized they had been standing close together for just a moment too long. “These guys are trying to take people away. I don’t know why or where but they’re here to abduct people…”

Before she could continue, Hagrid came bounding from the other end of Hogsmeade. He had a black eye and looked even more haggard than usual.

“People’r goin’ missing!” He shouted frantically. “I don’t know if students are bein’ taken er not but I have to tell Professor McGonagall and alert the Ministry!” Hagrid glanced up the path through Hogsmeade that would take him back to Hogwarts so he could alert the headmistress of what was going on in the town below if she wasn’t already aware.

“You’ll never make it there on your own.” Theodore shook his head, balling up the napkin and shoving one end of it into his nose to stop the bleeding temporarily until he could get to Madame Pomfrey.

“That’s right. We’ll provide you cover so you can get up there quickly.”

“I tried ter send an owl but one of them nasty wizards shot ‘im down.” Hagrid looked disheartened that he’d lost an owl to the wizards but the sense of urgency wasn’t any lessened.

“We’ll worry about that after the fact, right now you need to go get the headmistress!” Lia nodded, looking determined to help. “Come on Teddy, you carry up the rear!”

“Why don’t you?” Theodore sounded muffled but walked behind Hagrid, blasting spells left and right to protect their friend who was a rather large target. Before they got a few steps away, the wizards began to rapidly apparate away, disappearing from view. Lia, Theodore and Hagrid stared around them in awe, unsure of how to proceed.

Malicia rushed up the hill to go after Nico since he’d helped her earlier in the day. Lia had gone off after Theodore and Malicia couldn’t think of what else to do considering the number of wizards that had filled the square. When the dark wizard he was battling turned to face her she could glimpse the familiar ice blue eyes that she saw in the mirror every morning and stopped short. Talking about her brother being alive had been one thing, but actually seeing him was another thing entirely. Was she supposed to go after him? But then again she’d been acting under the impression that her brother was dead for years.

Casting doubt aside, Malicia raised her wand to Samael and shot a stunning spell toward him but he turned just in time and blocked the blow. Samael stopped short and stared at his sister in surprise. Malicia continued marching toward him, wand at the ready. Nico stopped firing spells and watched the exchange in confusion.

“Stop this!” She yelled at him. Samael couldn’t avoid confrontation with her any longer and he’d sworn to his leader that he wouldn’t bend simply because he’d discovered his sister hadn’t perished with his parents. He couldn’t let it get in the way of what he knew he had to do. Malicia lowered her wand and hoped she could plead with him. “Don’t do this, whatever it is you’re into… I can help you!” Malicia wasn’t sure she really could help him but it felt right to say.

Samael knew it was too late for him to turn back but he couldn’t help but consider her offer. Malicia took another step toward him, wand in her hand but not held up ready to use. Hearing a crack of one of his fellow wizards disapparating, Samael snapped back to reality. Raising his wand he aimed it at Malicia and shot a spell toward her.

Nico rushed in front of Malicia and pushed her behind him then held up his wand to block the spell from hitting her. It hit the shield and forced them both backwards from the force of it, the spell burning with green and blue flames against Nico’s shield which he gritted his teeth to keep up.

Samael turned his back on the two and walked into the square. He whistled unnaturally loudly which drew the attention of the dark wizards. Suddenly they disappeared in an echo of cracking apparition until Hogsmeade was left in silence other than the crackling of the fading flames against Nico’s magical shield. Malicia turned back to look at her friends who were glancing around in confusion at the now empty town.

Just as Malicia was about to speak to Nico, the familiar crack of apparition once again echoed through Hogsmeade. Each teacher held out their wands defensively only to find that they were surrounded by Aurors and other Ministry wizards who came to their aid. Harry and Ron were approaching Lia and Hagrid in the middle of the town square. Nico grabbed Malicia’s shoulder, intending to ask her if she was alright but a handful of Ministry wizards started firing questions at him and instead he walked off with them, giving her an apologetic glance.

So Malicia headed back toward her friends and helped the villagers who had been tied up. Each witch and wizard had a thousand new questions and absolutely no answers.

The battle had taken most of the morning, but it had taken Lia and Malicia far longer to escape the wide, worried eyes and haunting questions that were thrown at them by every witch or wizard they passed. By the time they made it to the gates of Hogwarts, Harry had reported that six villagers had gone missing, but thankfully all of the students were accounted for. The two witches barely spoke as they made their way toward the castle, not out of anger or resentment, but from sheer exhaustion. The battle had been long, confusing, and unexpected. Malicia had gotten the curve ball of a lifetime, and Lia wasn’t sure how to comfort her. As they passed the lake, a sly grin crossed Lia’s face and without warning she pushed Malicia into the water and jumped in after her.

Malicia spit up water and gasped for air as she bobbed above the surface before glaring at her friend, “What are you doing?” She demanded. Lia spat a stream of water into the air like a fountain and grinned. Out of sheer frustration Malicia splashed Lia in the face. “What is wrong with you? We’ve got to debrief McGonagall and check on the students and…”

Lia splashed Malicia, sending a large amount of water into her mouth as she was berating her friend. “We can be late for the meeting and the students are fine, Harry already told us that.”

Malicia glared and splashed her again. “Why did you push me into the lake? This isn’t exactly the time for this nonsense!” She demanded.

“Because I’m an ass, okay?” Lia shouted, matching Malicia’s tone. Shocked into silence by Lia’s tone and choice of words, Malicia floated quietly next to her friend. “I’m sorry for freaking out on you before. I threw a bunch of low blows and said stuff that I shouldn’t have said and I’m sorry.” She said, her voice returning to a normal octave.

Malicia crossed her arms stubbornly. “And for not talking to me for a week?”

Lia nodded, “Yes.”

“And for making me hang out with Cassian this whole time?”

“Yes.”

“And for me having to listen to him whine about our fight and be all nosy?”

“Yes.”

“And for it raining last week when I went for a walk?”

“Sure, I’ll take that.”

“And for the sun being too ridiculously bright?”

“Absolutely.” Malicia’s face was absolutely straight as she started the more ridiculous accusations, but the more she said, Lia couldn’t help but grin.

Malicia’s eyes were full of mischief as she finally looked at Lia, “And for pushing me in the water?”

“Absolutely not. That crosses the line!” Lia said, taking her turn to cross her arms stubbornly. “The fight I’ll take responsibility for, even the sun and the rain, but I refuse to be responsible for you jumping into the lake. That was your own sheer folly.”

Malicia splashed her again looking offended. “You pushed me; I didn’t fall!”

Lia’s face became tragic. “I was so traumatized when I saw you fall into the lake and I jumped in to save you and you’ve just been yelling at me and blaming me for things.” She turned and began swimming towards the shore. “I can’t take this anymore, I’m going to my room.”

Coming up behind her quietly, Malicia jumped on Lia’s back, sending her under the water for a few seconds and laughing as she came up, her face disgruntled. After a few seconds of glaring at Malicia, who met her gaze with a look that clearly dared her to try to fight back, Lia gave up and laughed. Sopping wet and unable to control their giggling, the two girls hauled themselves up to the shore and found themselves leaning against the same tree that Lia had lain under a week before when the whole mess started.

Looking seriously at her friend, Lia waved her wand to dry their clothes, “Hey Mal, I still kind of wish you’d told me, but since you had to have someone partner with you, I’m glad it’s me.”

Malicia looked at the sky, “Yeah, looking back, some form of communication was probably in order.” She looked at Lia and smiled gratefully. “But since I had to go looking for the Staff of Dreams, I’m glad it’s with you too.”

“You’re looking for what?”

Lia and Malicia turned quickly, neither had been aware that someone else was on the grounds. With a regretful sigh they saw Cassian and Theodore behind the tree, their faces shocked and understanding dawning as all of the odd things that had happened to the girls clicked in to place. Once again, the night ended with way more questions than there were answers.