Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 162 - Potter's Army

Let's get ready to party :)

"...We have already placed protection around the school," McGonagall was saying. Al was sat at the top of the Slytherin table with Daphne, and many of the Order members were sat at the Gryffindor table across the room. George was there too...if she could just grab hold of him for two minutes she could tell him she was pregnant. "We therefore ask that you evacuate quickly and calmly-"

A cold, hissing voice rang out in the room. Voldemort's voice. Some students screamed, others cowered with their hands on their ears. "I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are valiant, but I do not want to fight. I have great respect for the people of Hogwarts. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. You have until midnight."

Silence filled the hall once more, everyone looking at Al or McGonagall, who shared a single grim look. But before the evacuation could continue, someone else spoke. "Well?" Pansy Parkinson said from further down the table, "Where is he?" There were mutters round the room, and more eyes focused on Al. "Al? Where is he?"

Al cleared her throat. "Harry's in the castle," she lied, but her voice didn't waver. "We won't be handing him over. And I'm willing to stop anyone that tries." There were mutters of approval, and some of the DA members stood up, clapping and cheering in agreement. To Al's great surprise, Blaise Zabini stood up too, and so did Millie, the sixth year Slytherin prefect. More and more students stood up, and Al grinned at them until McGonagall called for quiet.

"Those of you who are of age may stay and fight," she said to much approval, "The rest of you please follow your prefects out. Slytherin house, please leave first." Millie and Brandon, the sixth year prefects, led everyone out with Slughorn, Theo, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle among them. Not many students remained: Al, Daphne, Zabini, two sixth year girls, and a sixth year boy.

Ravenclaw went next and Marlene, Luna, Terry, Michael, Anthony Goldstein, Cho Chang, Padma Patil and a few other sixth and seventh years Al had never really spoken to stayed behind. Hufflepuff had the most students so far staying behind. Ernie, of course, Hannah Abbot, Al was pleased to see, sat with her friend Susan Bones. Even Zacharias Smith. "No," Ernie said to Anne, who was in the process of climbing under the table. "No, you're going with the others!"

"I want to fight!" Anne protested.

"You're underage, and my mum would kill me!" Ernie said. "You're going with everyone else!"

"Al will let me," Anne said, and most of the eyes in the room once again found her.

Al hesitated. Anne was a very good duellist - one of the best there was. But she was underage, and the risk was too great. "I'm sorry, Anne," she called sincerely, "You're too young." Anne's bottom lip trembled, but she resorted to a heavy sigh before storming from the Hall with the straggling Hufflepuffs.

"And Gryffindor!" McGonagall called. Only about half of Gryffindor rose from their seats, resulting in McGonagall going along and pulling people from the group if they were too young. "And don't think I haven't seen you, Doherty!" McGonagall called to the Slytherin table.

One of the sixth year Slytherin girls - now joined again by Millie and Brandon - turned very pink. "I turn seventeen at midnight!" she protested. "Should I just come back then?" There were a few uneasy chuckles, and McGonagall sighed.

"You can stay." Everyone wandered over to the Gryffindor table, where the plan was being laid out. "Goldstein, Patil, Chang, Lovegood, and Blake, you're to go up to Ravenclaw tower with Professor Flitwick," McGonagall said. "Macmillan, Bones, Smith, Finch-Fletchey and Zabini you're going up to the astronomy tower with Professor Sprout. Brown, Patil, Thomas, Finnegan, and Bell, you're coming up to the Gryffindor tower with me. Everyone else will be split into groups led by Kingsley, Remus, and Arthur."

The three groups of six headed off to the towers, with Sprout having a quick word with Neville before she left, and McGonagall whispering something to Ron and Hermione, who hurried off too. Al was inclined to talk to George, but before she could he ran off with Fred, Lee Jordan, Hannah Abbot, Marlene, and Brandon to make sure all the secret passageways were covered.

"Dursley, you're with me," Kingsley said, and she went over to where he stood at the top of the Hufflepuff table. Neville, Bill, Terry, and Angelina were there, among others. It seemed everyone else were battle-hardened Order members. She saw Daphne going over to Arthur's group, and Millie and Michael Corner were with Remus.

"Remus's group is taking the back entrance near the Quidditch pitch," Kingsley was saying, "And Arthur will be taking the front gates."

"Most of them won't enter through the front gates," Al pointed out, "Too narrow. They'll be looking at the forest."

"We know," Kingsley said grimly, "That's the one we're taking." Terry looked like he might be sick, and Neville put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Al drew her wand and tied her hair back. "Twenty minutes!" Kingsley called. Remus's group of about sixteen headed out first at a jog, followed by the group Al was in, comprised of thirty-one members, followed by Arthur's group of twenty-two members.

As Al stepped down the stairs and headed across the lawn at the front of the group, the cool night air chilled her to her core. Or perhaps there were dementors there. She'd find out soon enough. They reached the lake and stared at the outskirts of the forest, panning out. Waiting. Near silence echoed across the grounds, the tension building. Al wanted it to start so badly she thought she might be sick.

There was a thundering boom that shook the earth around them, followed once again by complete silence. And then there was a faint rumble coming from the forest, growing ever stronger as the moments wore on. It stopped.

Al gripped her wand, pointing it at the very outskirts of the forest, ready for their invisible attackers to charge. The night enveloped them, and she couldn't see, but she could sense some sort of presence there. The silence stretched completely.

And then suddenly, with no warning at all, green lights shot from between the trees. The people around Al dodged these perfectly, but it seemed that wasn't their biggest problem. There was an ungodly roar, coming from more than one beast, and eleven giants lumbered through the forest boundary to face them, towering over them, bigger than buildings.