A dish best served cold

9

One Hour Earlier

Voldemort stood before his Death Eaters, their numbers over 200 strong. His plan, he thought, was great, and was bound to succeed. He had worked with his inner circle for two weeks to lay out what he was going to do.

"Today, we will strike fear into the hearts of all those that stand against us. All those who believe that those of lesser blood have any place in this world, shall fall! We will take Azkaban and bring the dementors to our side, where they belong. With their help, and our growing numbers, we will soon have complete and utter victory over all who oppose us. Now, we go to Azkaban. All those who are sympathetic to our cause, or who are willing to fight in exchange for freedom, shall be recruited. Those that are not," he paused, "kill them."

The clock struck 9, and as the bells started chiming, the portkeys being held by the Death Eaters activated. Thankfully for them, they had an inside man that would be lowering the wards for a one minute window, during which any and all transport into the prison was possible. Voldemort watched them go, and turned to look at his inner circle. "We are at a moment, when everything will shift. This day will be the turning point that will take us into a new era and a new empire." With that, they apparated away.

-HPHPHPHP-

Harry was in a tight spot. He was working hard to keep the dementors focused on him, and not on the vast number of vulnerable students below. His problem was that he only had one Patronus, and there were a lot of dementors. "Expecto Patronum! Prongs, keep them together!"

The professors had their hands full, battling to protect both the students and themselves from the attacks launched by Death Eaters. Then they heard the screams. The students were starting to be affected by the dementors, but fortunately for them, so were the Death Eaters. This gave the teachers an opportunity to cast some Patroni of their own. Dumbledore's phoenix, McGonagall's cougar, Snape's serpent, and even Flitwick's bunny rabbit, all helped to fight off the dementor's. It would only hold them off for a short amount of time, but at this point, something was better than nothing. It always was with dementors.

Down in the pandemonium, a red haired student caught sight of its prey. This chaos offered the perfect chance to advance the plan. A wicked smile grew stretched across the face of the predator.

-HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP-

Ministry of Magic

Kingsley Shacklebolt sprinted to the office of Amelia Bones. He had just received a distress call. It had come from Hogwarts. It was bad enough that they were being attacked by Death Eaters, but they were also claiming that there were dementors. This was bad news. They needed to get a response team out before Fudge heard. He would start talking about how it was a lie, and how the dementors were still under the Ministry's control.

Kingsley had no idea of the truth of the matter, but if they were being attacked and it was let go, children could be hurt or killed, and then angry parents we be calling for their heads.

"Amelia, we've just received a distress call from Hogwarts. They say there are Death Eaters and dementors!" Kingsley said, trying to catch his breath.

Amelia Bones was not a fast or quick woman. An injury she had received back in the first war had made it hard for her to move at more than a moderately quick walk, but right now, she was shooting out of that chair and heading for the door. She had a niece, Susan, at Hogwarts. The girl was precious to her. She wouldn't be letting anything happen, if she could help it. Not if she could help it.

They left the office quickly, and were about to make a call for all available hands, when in interdepartmental notice came flying into the room. Nothing special, until it opened and started speaking.