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HP - Chapter 414: The Dark Lord's Army
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 07:32:09 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 414: The Dark Lord's Army
Things quickly turned from confusion to chaos when a large group of black-robed individuals descended toward the lake on broomsticks.
Their attire made them easy to identify for anyone familiar with the last war.
"Death Eaters!" Professor Flitwick yelled. "Death Eaters inside Hogwarts!"
"What?! What is the meaning of this?" Headmistress Maxime exclaimed, her voice rising above the growing panic. "Where did those men came from?."
"Protect the students!" McGonagall commanded, her wand already in hand.
"Death Eaters, you say?!" Mr. Crouch trembled at the mere mention of the name. "No... that can't be... The Minister assured me..." he muttered, his face pale.
Snape ignored the panic around him. These people were already terrified, and they had only seen the tip of the iceberg. His eyes moved to the skies, where the Dark Lord was about to make his grand entrance.
The two dozen dark wizards did not immediately attack. They simply circled the lake on their brooms like vultures, waiting.
But it soon became evident to everyone that this was only the beginning.
A large number of shadowy figures began to emerge from inside the castle, marching toward the lake at a brisk pace.
"James..." Lily whispered.
"I know. Stay quiet," he warned her. Now was not the time to draw attention to themselves. The opportunity to act would come later.
A dark army marched along the shore of the Black Lake, advancing toward the stands.
Screams erupted from the crowd as people realized the nature of the approaching creatures.
"Undead!" someone cried.
"Trolls!" another voice shouted.
It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.
At the front of the army, hundreds of sword-wielding skeletons moved in unnatural, jerky motions. Two glowing red dots burned like fire within their hollow eye sockets.
Behind them lumbered dozens of enraged trolls, bound by thick chains that their handlers struggled to control.
Further back, dozens of vampires strode leisurely, their faces twisted into delighted smirks at the thought of the feast awaiting them.
And towering over them all were six giants. Each was massive, even by giant standards, but one stood out from the others...not just for its size but also because it wore gleaming metallic armor and carried a massive cleaver over its shoulder.
"How did all these dark creatures get inside Hogwarts?" Mr. Crouch demanded. "And where is Dumbledore during all of this?"
"Yes, what happened to the wards?. They should not have been able to breach them so easily." Professor Flintwick said.
McGonagall frowned. She wanted to know that as well. Her eyes flicked toward Snape, but she noticed that he wasn’t paying any attention to the nightmare army. His gaze remained fixed on the sky.
"Severus... what is going on?" she asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was sure that this man knew more than he was letting on. He had been hiding something nefarious. "You know what is happening, don't you?!"
Without turning around, Snape replied in a cold tone, "You’ll see in a moment... He’s already here."
McGonagall frowned. She was about to grab Snape by the robes and demand an answer when the chaos around her increased tenfold.
Now, people were screaming and pointing at the sky....the same spot Snape had been watching.
When McGonagall looked up, she froze, her heart sinking at the sight.
Descending from the skies was a horde of dementors. Hundreds of them that almost formed a black cloud.
If that was not terrifying enough, at the center of this, was an impossibly large skeletal dragon, moving its bony wings around and flying thought the sky with its pearly white bones gleaming in the dim light.
It seemed so surreal that for a moment, McGonagall wondered if she might wake up in her bed, relieved this was all just a nightmare. But she didn’t wake up.
While the dementors spread across the sky, the skeletal dragon landed near the shore, opposite where the army had assembled, trapping the spectators in the stands with no way to escape. They were covering land and air, leaving them no way to go.
The Death Eaters on broomsticks had begun hovering near the floating platforms, pointing their wands at students and other school personnel.
"What do we do?" McGonagall heard Professor Flitwick whisper urgently from beside her.
She struggled to process the situation rationally while glancing around.
She saw some of the champions being helped out of the water. Krum and Cedric looked bewildered as they handed over their rescued hostages, clearly unaware of the chaos erupting around them. Fleur was yelling frantically, pointing at the water.
McGonagall still saw no sign of Harry Potter or his sister, but there was nothing she could do about that now.
An army of monsters was advancing along the lake, and a gigantic skeletal dragon had landed nearby.
‘What to do?... What can we even do?’ she thought, despair creeping in.
The situation seemed hopeless. But then, something occurred to her.
"Wait... where is..." If this was an army, someone must be leading it. And she could think of only one individual who could orchestrate such a terrifying spectacle.
Then she saw it.
Three figures were riding on top of the dragon. Standing on its massive skull was one who stood above the rest.
McGonagall’s blood ran cold when she saw the figure’s bright red eyes.
She couldn’t see his face from this distance, but the aura surrounding him left no doubt in her mind...this was the Dark Lord.
‘What do we do?’ Professor Flitwick’s earlier question echoed in her mind. "Is there even something we can do right now?..."
