Magic? || Years 5-7

Battle of the Astronomy Tower: Year 6

Clutching Ginny's arm, Amisty hissed in her ear, "Don't cast any curses or hexes. We don't know who we'll hit."

"Got it," came the hushed reply, followed by a rapid series of, "Lumos! Incendio!"

Nothing seemed to penetrate the darkness. Amisty couldn't see her hand in front of her face, let alone where she was stepping.

What was that spell Hermione was so good at? Those bluebell flames she used all the time.

"Lacarnum Inflamari!"

There was a flash of blue, just the barest flicker before the darkness swallowed it up. Amisty tensed, the sound of robes rustling brushing her ears. And footsteps. Far too many sets for just one person. Too heavy to be teenagers. One of them paused, just a few feet away from where Amisty and Ginny were standing.

The stench of blood and sweat drifted toward them, hot and rancid, and Amisty's breath caught in her throat as she slammed Ginny against the wall to their backs. Thankfully, Ginny kept quiet, but her grip had tightened around Amisty's arm.

"Leave them!" A voice snapped, somewhere off to their right. "We don't have time for this, Greyback."

Blood drained from Amisty's face, but she tamped down the bone-chilling fear threatening to rear its head.

Fenrir Greyback was in the castle.

Ginny squeezed harder.

"There's a Wolf here," Greyback said, his voice rasping and harsh, like a dog's bark. Amisty recoiled, the stone wall digging into her spine as she fought with herself. It was pitch black, so she could run, but she could also run straight into him. "I can smell her."

"Leave her!" The same voice snapped, farther away than before. "There will be time for this later. Let's go!"

Another wave of blood, the faintest hint of a snarl. Amisty's heart leaped to her throat, jackhammering against her ribcage. Then footsteps, lumbering away, taking the stench with it.

"Ron?" Ginny called into the darkness as soon as the steps faded, pulling a frozen Amisty along with her as they ran along the wall. "Neville?"

"Here!" Ron called back. "Come on, we need to get somewhere we can see properly."

It took longer than it should have, desperate attempts at fire and light spells just to see something even though they knew nothing would get through. By the time they stumbled into a corridor unaffected, the Death Eaters were gone.

Ron swore. Colorfully. "We have to find—"

"Ron?"

Lupin, Bill, and Tonks were staring at them from the far end of the corridor, eyes darting between their withdrawn wands and the schpeal of crude language spilling from Ron's mouth.

"There's Death Eaters in the castle," Amisty said in a rush. "Malfoy just came out of the Room of Requirement, set off some Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, I think, and they disappeared."

"Death Eaters?" Lupin echoed faintly.

"And Fenrir Greyback," Amisty added, a tad breathlessly.

Lupin's face seemed to age several years at the mention of the name, his jaw clenched as his shoulders hunched up. "We need to send word to Minerva and the rest of the Order."

Tonks nodded, her Patronus bounding off in mere moments.

"You four stay here," Bill said, turning his back as he peered around the corridor, unbeknownst of the explosion he'd just set alight. "We'll handle this—"