章 35: War

The day after Christmas, I was woken up by a patronus barging into my room at Grimmauld. The ethereal cat looked at me and spoke in McGonagall's voice.

"Professor Dumbledore just passed away in his sleep. He asked me to inform you," it said and disappeared.

So, Dumbledore died. He did not go out with a bang like in canon. Instead, he passed away in his sleep in the Hospital wing. We all knew it was coming, going by how weak he had gotten. He did tell me that he would die within the week, and he was correct.

"Shit," I said as I grabbed my wand and got up at once. It looked like it was time.

It was time to spring the trap once the news reached Voldemort. Dumbledore had left behind clear instructions to Pomfrey and McGonagall to not immediately publicize his death. He wanted to give us one last advantage. We were in control of when the news went out. Mainly so that we could time our trap well. Of course, he didn't know what we had planned. But he was intelligent enough to know that the news of his death is a weapon in itself if used correctly.

We had been preparing a lot though, so we didn't need that advantage per se. But I would not say no to it. We could use a few extra hours. The more we delayed it, the more time Riddle had to cook up whatever he was dishing out.

With a flourish, I sent out a patronus of my own and grabbed my Knights communicator. With short moments of my wand, I was clad in my uniform. I didn't bother activating the helmet right now. The time for masquerades was at an end.

Ever since I got the Elder Wand, the holly wand wasn't really doing it for me. Maybe it was the uniting of the hallows that severed all semblance of the old Harry, or maybe it was something else. I was not the same Harry this wand chose anyway. I still kept it on me, of course. But I stopped using it. My aspen wand became my daily driver while the Elder Wand became the hidden trump card. This time though, nothing needed to be hidden. I had to come down on Riddle like the hammer of god. There was no room for failure. So, I holstered my aspen wand and grabbed the Elder Wand.

"Dobby, Winky, Kreacher, get ready. We are going to war," I said as I moved towards the fireplace.

Within seconds, I was exiting the floo inside the Room of Requirement. In the span of the next few minutes, the rest of my team followed suit.

We walked as one, through the numerous corridors to the hospital wing. It was late in the night, so nobody was roaming the hallways. Not like there were many people in the castle in the first place.

It was the Christmas hols. Many students were back home. More than the usual amount stayed back because Hogwarts was safer than their homes. It still wasn't a significant number though. Just a little more than the norm. Only those truly afraid, those having shit protections, and the ones who had no family stayed over. In general, the public opinion on the war was that we were winning. There had been so many dead Death Eaters, after all. Almost the entirety of Riddle's army had been slaughtered either by us or by the Aurors. Those that got taken prisoner were not looking at a bright future as well.

Everyone was still aware that Tom was still out there. So, things did not go back to normal just yet.

Nonetheless, it was still for the best if there were fewer people in the castle when we triggered the trap a good distance away.

Moreover, those that I wanted to stay were still here. Mainly Malfoy. His house got wrecked, and his family, dead. So, he had no other option but to stay and finish the task given to him by Voldemort. Which got inadvertently fulfilled anyway, since Dumbledore had just died. Not like Malfoy was aware. Not like he was aware of anything at all. He was compromised by my sixth path. He would do what I wanted him to do.

It's not like he had any room to complain. He wanted to do this. He wanted to bring Death Eaters into the castle. I was just giving him the opportunity.

We soon walked into the hospital wing. McGonagall glanced at us and did a double take. She then stared at us disbelievingly. I guess she was shocked by our uniforms. Which was to be expected. It was not like we were going to forsake our helmets during the fight. We would be wearing them. It was pointless to have these useful things commissioned otherwise. We just needed some of these people to know, so that they would coordinate with us properly. Minerva McGonagall would be more inclined to work together with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, than she would be with mysterious Owl and Athena, no matter how competent the mercenaries seemed to be. The same was true for the rest of the Hogwarts staff.

Her eyes were red. She must have been crying due to Dumbledore's death. I did ensure that I had a somber expression on my face. But I couldn't really bring myself to cry.

"When Professor Dumbledore told me that the prophecy was real and that you needed to be informed of his demise post haste, I should have guessed it was something like this, Mister Potter," she said while facepalming.

"You know how it is, Professor. Whenever there is trouble, it's always us thre- well, us two," I said. Hermione, on the other hand, did not bother with a response. She still did not like the Order.

"Indeed. And given that you have the red trimmings on your uniform, I suppose you are Owl?" she asked.

"Yes."

"He told me to withhold the information of his death until you were all ready. I was told that the Ministry and Gringotts will do the same. Please do know that I am not entirely happy with this arrangement. But I will do as he requested. So, when will you be ready?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning," I said.

"That soon?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. We have been preparing for a while. His Death Eaters are gone. It's just him. We are still accounting for some stragglers. The main reason for the hurry is him," I pointed toward the bed Snape was resting on.

"Severus? Why him?" she asked.

"The fact that he got away would have spooked Riddle and caused him to fast-track his plans. Even though we haven't gotten him to say anything, Riddle would have expected him to. We don't want to give him more time," said Hermione curtly.

"What she said. If he knows that Professor is dead, he will salivate at the opportunity to strike back. Which might abort some of the other plans he would be making," I said.

"And does it have to be you lot?" she asked, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"He won't leave me alone, Professor. He just won't stop, prophecy or not," I said.

"And why does it matter? We are good at it. Way better than 'proper' wizards who don't give two shits about muggles anyway," Hermione bit out, causing McGonagall to jerk back as if struck. Neville immediately began whispering something in Hermione's ear, trying to get her to go easy on our allies for the impending fight.

"It doesn't matter, Professor. We have to fight, just like everyone else," I said.

McGonagall sighed and nodded hesitantly.

"What are we to do?" she asked.

"Please co-ordinate with Madam Bones for now. We will get everything ready by then," I said as I turned towards the portrait watching over Dumbledore. I knew that the occupant of the portrait had gone somewhere else, because the current occupant definitely would not have his portrait over here.

"Phineas, it looks like you've had a long walk," I said. Which was true. Phineas did not have a portrait here that he could directly teleport to. He must have had to walk frame to frame to reach all the way here. Looks like he was taking our deal seriously.

"Potter. I presume it is time?" he asked.

"It is. Inform all the portraits. We need to be on top of information. Especially on the upper-year Slytherins," I said.

"It will be done," he said as he began the long walk to his portrait.

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The next morning, it all started as planned. After breakfast, Professor McGonagall informed the gathered students that Dumbledore had died. As expected, the reaction was chaotic. Many were shocked. Some showed visible fear on their faces. Because it was obvious that Dumbledore's presence had been a deterrent. Finally, there were a few students that looked very happy with that news. Prime among them was our gimp.

Malfoy shuffled out of the Great Hall in a hurry after breakfast. His mind was already boggled with all the meddling I had been doing so far. But at this moment, I just pushed it over the edge. All emotion bled out of his face as his body moved on autopilot at a robotic pace. There, that was done.

Still under my invisibility cloak, I followed the git. I wasn't worried about Malfoy seeing me. He was too far gone to notice all that. I just didn't want to cause panic among the students. They were going into lockdown in a few moments. So, there was no need to add fuel to the fire.

We were all fully clad in our uniforms, helmet and all. The professors knew who we were, and that was enough. It gave us more freedom to move around without being asked too many questions.

"Artemis, I've got the snake. Is the box ready?" I asked over the communicator.

"It's ready," Luna's voice immediately cracked from the other end.

"Good. Vesta, how are things over there?" I asked.

"Everyone is ready. We're just waiting for you," said Susan.

"Alright. The moment Malfoy reaches the gates, we commence our operation. Everyone, take your positions," I said.

"I still say that I should come with you," said Hermione's voice over the network.

"Come on, Athena. We need people here too, just in case he does something unexpected. The reason why we are doing this in the daytime is to clip his nocturnal forces," I said. It was partly true. Having the operation now had the added effect of defanging any werewolves that joined up with Riddle despite what we had done to Greyback's pack. There were always bound to be some stragglers and other loners who would join him. But my main reason for keeping Hermione inside the strong wards of the castle was simple. I did not want her to catch a stray shot from Voldy. That would cause me to fail my mission. And that was not acceptable.

It was not like nothing else was going to happen. I have been having this niggling feeling for a long while that things are going to go tits up. That's why we had fortified the castle and had a lot of reinforcements.

"Fine," she grumbled over her communicator.

Right on cue, Malfoy reached the gates. It was time to move. I took off the invisibility cloak and picked out two brooms from my expanded pouch. I wordlessly threw one to Malfoy as I mounted my own.

There was no need to bark commands, a single thought from me was enough for him to follow my instructions. With a quick swish of the Elder Wand, I transfigured Malfoy's robe into the standard Death Eater robes and mask. It wouldn't do for people to look at his emotionless face and ask questions. I could always control him better, but it was an unnecessary strain on my magic and concentration right before the big fight.

We flew to the clearing near Hagrid's hut and came across the rest of the people who would be accompanying me for this specific part of the operation.

"All set, Owl?" asked Susan, as she stood alongside Madam Bones and a few of her trusted Aurors. They seemed to be on alert and were eyeing Malfoy warily. But we had briefed them about the plan beforehand. To them, Malfoy was doing this for a lesser sentence. Only my team knew the full truth of the reality.

"Yup," I replied as I took a mental headcount. Susan and Luna were here alongside Madam Bones, Tonks, Remus, and a couple more Aurors. The rest of the Auror team was patrolling Hogwarts under the leadership of Gawain Robards. Amelia didn't want Susan to come with us, but Susan would not budge. They just argued on and on about how Amelia had been stubborn during the attack at their house during the summer. So, Susan did not want to leave her aunt alone, lest she make some suicidal decisions once more. At the same time, Amelia did not want Susan to be here because there was a high amount of risk involved. In the end, Susan won that specific argument, and here we were.

I didn't want any of my friends to be here. I'd have been happy if they all stayed behind Hogwarts wards. But they would not listen.

Hermione was the worst offender. She was the one leading Neville and Hannah in their defense of the castle. Since she couldn't accompany me, she did not budge on this matter. She just wouldn't allow me to go on my own. Even though I had the auror team with me. To Hermione, we were her new family, and she did not accept me taking such risks.

Well, it is what it is. In the end, we have a good defensive force ready. And we have a strike team ready to spring the trap as well. Ideally, there was no excitement to be had. If everything went according to plan, Tom would be a sitting duck waiting to be shot. Alas, no plan survived first contact.

After finalizing everything, we took to the air and began flying over the forbidden forest.

Within minutes, we landed near the north edge of the forest. Right below, Pitt-upon-Ford. With a casual flick, I took down the concealment wards on the place so that everyone else could see what we had prepared.

The clearing was laden with runestones made using Cassiopeia's research. Some of them managed the concealment charms, while the rest of them were all for the surprise we had planned for Tom. Dead center of the clearing was the vanishing cabinet that Malfoy had been trying to get to work. Of course, we fixed it and moved it here long ago.

We could have moved it even further, but vanishing cabinets were delicate things. And we needed it to be somewhat accessible to us as well. The one in Borgin's had disappeared sometime before the attack on Hannah's place. Apparently, the Death Eaters had gotten spooked by so many deaths and removed such an obvious place where they could be attacked. So, there was nobody in that shop right now, ready to enter into this thing. But we knew that it was Rookwood who had taken it. Alas, they did not know that we had the other end in our control.

Someone in the group whistled, seeing the elaborate trap.

"This is it?" asked Madam Bones.

"Yes'm."

"Take positions, people. Get ready. We might or might not get Riddle himself. He might only send any lackeys he has remaining. Nonetheless, we need to be ready," she said.

As I mentally ordered Malfoy to trigger the dark mark and get in front of the cabinet, I layered an illusion of the Room of Requirement over the clearing. Just a small insurance, in case they get spooked and rush back in.

For a couple of minutes, nothing happened, but then the door of the vanishing cabinet opened and a figure clad in Death Eater garb stood inside the cabinet. I could not see what was on the other end of the cabinet, as it was dark on the other side. Neither did the Death Eater walk out of the cabinet. He just stood there, staring at Malfoy without saying a word.

We stayed hidden in our respective covers. There was no point jumping the gun and wasting all this preparation on just one Death Eater. We had almost all of them, so this must most be Rookwood. Knowing that I had to get him to take the bait, I controlled Malfoy to deliver the message.

"My mission is a success. I didn't do anything, but the old man is dead. They just announced it right now," he said with a little bit of eagerness in his tone. Had to sell it, of course.

Regardless of Malfoy's performance, the other Death Eater gave no outward reaction. Maintaining his silence, he abruptly closed the door, leaving us all confused.

"The fuck was that?" I mumbled.

For a couple of minutes, nothing happened. We also did not move out of the cover because we didn't want to be visible if the door opened once again.

And it did open after a while and the same person was standing there. But this time, there was no mask. It was clear as day that it was Rookwood. But there was something deeply off about him. His skin was pasty white, and his veins were popping with a blackish tint. The same kind of tint that Snape's stump had.

Without warning, Rookwood jumped forward and bit Malfoy in the neck. We didn't attack him, since we wanted more to come out of the cabinet. But it was still shocking. We expected aggressiveness of a different sort. Not of this feral kind.

Within seconds, I felt my connection to Malfoy snap. The moment before it got severed though, I got a picture of his mind completely being destroyed. It was similar to what happened to Snape. But unlike Snape, there was no advanced occlumency and unbreakable vow tying things together.

I didn't have time to linger on it though, as more and more people walked out of the cabinet.

Calling them people was a stretch. They were clad in similar black robes and were all having the same pallor as Rookwood. Apart from the skin and the veins, the creepiest part about it all was the pitch-black eyeballs- sclera and all.

It was then that I noticed the creepiest sight of them all. Draco's skin became paler by the second, and his veins started popping with the blackish tint. The black bled into his eyes, and within seconds, he too became one of them.

With a jolt, I realized what happened to all the missing muggles in the area. And the number over here was way lesser than the actual reported count.

This was not good, this was not good at all.

To punctuate my dread, Riddle walked out of the cabinet with an expression of deranged glee marring his face.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself. It was time to end this.

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A.N: Yikes, this took a long time mainly due to the number of times I kept slashing stuff. Anyway, the final fight has begun. This story is coming to a close in the next couple of chapters. I hope you liked this so far, and support my other works as well. Before Six Paths ends, I will start posting my latest project too. This is apart from Strawberry, by the way. Strawberry will be ongoing as usual.

If you want to talk to me on discord, please find the invite in the auxiliary chapter.