Understanding (Neville Longbottom)

43

When it began, it wasn't subtle: the dome of protection collapsed very early and all I could see was a sea of people and creatures running up towards us.
As soon as the dementors came into view the gentle bear turned towards them, its snout tight in a scary dangerous roar leaving for all to see long silver fangs.
I have no idea who I fought against in the early stages of the battle: they were still too far away to be any more than dark figures.
In rapid succession I sent three Stupeficium, an Imperio, a cutting spell, a tying one, a levitating one... All in the first couple of minutes. Then our adversaries got close enough to engage in one on one fights; I protected myself from an Avada Kedavra and made the wizard who had thrown it slide and hit his head; I put another two down and then flipped the soil under Kingsley's opponent.
But there were too many.

"They're getting in!" I screamed to the older wizard

"All we can do is filter as many as we can" he answered before hitting someone over my shoulder.
I turned to look at the figure on the ground, his hand still clutched a wand pointing in my direction.
Kingsley was already fighting someone else.
I looked up to be faced with a big group of wizards running. If we had to filter them, we would do it right: I melted the ground under their feet and they all fell up to their waist.
I wasn't being careful enough though: Shaklebolt stunned someone who was about to hit me and who I hadn't seen.
Head in the game, Josie! My uncle's voice rang in my ears.
This was war. I should have fought like it!

I was just in time to put a mirrored protective spell in front of me, and a witch got killed by her own spell sent back.
That was it.
Shots of green flew all around me as I produced a whip of energy out of my wand. I made it turn a couple of times and made it crack, before wrapping it around the legs of a death eater fighting against Melinda; the man went down and she finished him with a stunning spell.

I received a big cut on my thigh. I didn't know where it came from, who had done it, but it fucking hurt!
I threw my whip around the neck of a witch and brought her down to smack her forehead on the ground.
A wizard surprised me by entering my space very suddenly so I exchanged my whip for a white and blue flame which burned his hands. The wizard fell on the ground, clutching his hands to his stomach but before I could hit him again, a pain that I knew so very well hit me.
Someone was using the Cruciatus on me and they weren't holding back. The only other time I had experienced something like it was when I had almost died. Panic invaded me as I wriggled on the ground without control, none of my muscles obeyed me.

Between the pain though, I heard Kingsley's voice as he yelled "Stay down!"
He threw a bomb like enchantment and everyone within a five feet radius lost consciousness.
My pain ended.
I was finally able to breathe, I regained control over my body and found my wand next to my hand; I got up in a lot of pain and slower than I would have wanted. As I was standing up, I saw, without being able to stop him, a Death Eater hitting Shaklebolt.
Blood gushed out of his side like water from a fountain.
"No!"
I levitated a rock and smashed it into his skull with all the strength I could muster. As Kingsley fell on his knees, both his hands pressing on the wound, I did something I had never done before and only read about in books: summoned a Firestorm.

I knew the incantation and the ample arm movements required but I had never witnessed its strength: the ring of fire that surrounded Kingsley and me left us plenty of space to move in its center and the heat of the flames was almost unbearable. It seemed to scare the Death Eaters enough so that they didn't try to get close. I kept moving so as to not be an easy target, but still I received numerous cuts, the worst (also because I had to keep making the large movements) on my left shoulder.
Kingsley had had time to heal himself now and he was standing even if slightly green and targeting the Death Eaters in front of us.
We were at a disadvantage though. And many of us were out. I didn't have the courage to look down at the faces.