23Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and a few OCs, everything else belongs to J.K Rowling.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with her friends, the young Dutch druid tried to muster all of her courage, her left hand tightening on the ivory smooth handle of her wand even as her right readjusted its grip on the long hilt of her sword. Over in the distance behind the loose line the four of them had created, a child screamed and she almost felt her heart stop. How it had ever come to this, she had no idea, but now that it had, she was sure that she would stand and fight. Even as the air began to freeze around her, she and her companions stood firm. Off to the side she heard the soft muttering of Rowena as the Celt tried desperately to think of some solution to this problem even as the ragged black shadows came into sight, drifting towards them. In the back of her mind, long forgotten memories began to stir, despite her best efforts to ruthlessly force them aside.
Every second brought the demons closer and closer to the place they were to stage their last stand in this blasted war, and with their presence came the bitter wind that seemed to drag the very life out of the air around them. Demetors, the devil's spawn. Back by the castle a loud explosion signalled that the wards they had placed around the castle and their students were being attacked by the main force of this task, confirming their suspicions that this had been a distraction, however, the lack of pain meant that they had stood firm against the assault. A quick feeling of relief washed through her as the wards did not even flicker under the barrage of curses thrown at them, though the emotion was soon pulled from her and she was acutely reminded of the creatures that needed to be stopped. Glancing right she saw Godric scowl and level his sword even as he nodded, giving the long awaited signal.
As one, the four of them sprang forwards, lashing out with both blades and magic, desperation lending strength to their attacks, though each movement become more and more sluggish, the air around them leeching the energy from their bones. It was like moving through thick mud and the young woman could not stop the wave of despair that crashed over her. Why did they even believe that they could win? There were only four of them against a whole army of enemies, there was no way they could defend the children… but that did not mean that they could not give it their all anyway.
All around her, the night air was lit up by countless coloured beams though they seemed to have very little effect on the monstrosities that just kept edging closer, despite the best efforts of them all and her sense of hopelessness only grew with each passing second. The flashes of silver could occasionally be seen as the swords caught the light of the curses, but the metal did little more to deter the beasts than the magic and, when a searing pain flashed through her chest, she had to clamp down on the sick feeling to stop the tears from blurring her vision, the last protection of their students had fallen.
"Salazar, Rowena… protect the school, maybe if you can stop enough of his minions, the fool will withdraw. Go!"
The sharp bark of the famed battle mage sent the other two off towards the large stone monument they had been protecting, and Helga could not help fearing that that would be the last memory she would ever have of her friends, their cloaks flowing behind them as they darted up the lawn and into another battlefield. Before long, she was standing back to back with her oldest friend as they tried to hold off an enemy they could never wish to beat. Her arms burned from the strain of keeping them moving for such a long time, and her magic reserves were flagging in a way that reminded her of another time a long while ago back in her home land. The day her life fell apart before her very eyes…
Buildings that she had known since she was a small child smoked all around her, nothing more than smouldering ruins, but she paid no heed of these as her burned feet carried her down the shattered stone path way. Each step brought her more pain and more tears distorted her vision, but she couldn't bring herself to stop until she reached the largest building in the village.
The temple that had been her home for as long as she could remember was nothing more than a few broken stones and cracked wooden beams. Bodies laid scattered across the ground in a haphazard manner and when she reached the nearest one, shock drove her to her knees, her torn skirts pooling on the ground her as she leaned forwards to ascertain what her eyes were telling her.
Master Gaius, the chief priest of their druidic temple and the closest thing she had left to a father lay broken on the very foundations he had once blessed on a daily basis, the thin trails of blood slowly turning his white hair a dark crimson. It was a picture she would never forget.
As she knelt there, both of her small hands gripping one of his cold, wrinkled ones and allowing her grief to overcome her, he had awoken for the last time, shifting gingerly, each twitch filled with pain that filled his face, though he did not stop until he had pulled the pendant of the chiefs from around his neck and pressed into her shaking palms, naming her the heir to a settlement that no longer existed, but she accepted it anyway. She had nodded as she clutched the metal disc firmly and he had smiled as he took his last breath, leaving the 9 year old girl alone for the first time as he fell limp in her arms. For a long time she would not move, sitting there and holding him close in a last embrace until the night had long since fallen and her muscles ached from the strain.
With a gasp, Helga felt her foot slip, sending her tumbling to the ground and pulling her out of the memory that the dementors had evoked in her mind, and dimly she became aware that the tears streaming down her frozen cheeks were not just from the memory. A muttered oath drew her eyes to Godric as he stepped in front of her, keeping her safe even as his sword swings slowed and the spells from his wand became infrequent before he too stumbled on the slick ground. Despite her frantic searching, she could not find her wand anywhere, and the effect of the demons had her fighting the urge to just lay back and accept death, but they couldn't!
An icy chill that almost burned had her clutching at her throat, her fingers closing around the pendant that had rested there undisturbed for the last 10 years, but was now crackling with a strain of magic she had never felt before. The second she her skin came into contact with the disk however, a strange feeling darted through her that drained her energy and sent her crashing back to the ground.
As she lay there, unable to move and feeling as though a great weight was pushing her back down in to the earth below her, she could only watch as one of those monsters drifted closer, lowering its hood to reveal a face of fetid grey flesh that was only broken my a black hole where the mouth should be… a hole that was pulling in a deep rattling breath that made her shiver despite her previous paralysis. Not wanting to see death as it came, she closed her eyes and screwed her mouth shut, resigning herself to never seeing any of her dearest friends again as she waited. However, a strangled shout from Godric had her eyes snapping open reflexively before she quickly closed them to avoid being blinded by the bright white light that seemed to be chasing the dementors away.
When her eyes had finally adjusted to the new arrival and she no longer had to squint, the dementors were not within her sight and, instead, were replaced by a quartet of ethereal animals that almost seemed to make the air warmer just by their presence, though that may have just been an effect of the absence of the monstrosities in the dark cloaks. Looking closer, she could see Godric stepping forwards, his hand raised tentatively to touch the nearest of these creatures… a large stag with full antlers and a large eagle perched proudly on its back. Slowly, she managed to push herself to her feet, though the effort made the world swim before her eyes, so that she could examine their rescuers properly. A stag, otter, eagle and horse… all of them glowing like a unicorn. They were beautiful .
She was about to do the same as her friend and reach out to touch them before a shout off to their left drew their attention and the animals seemed to respond to it like a command, running back towards the sound and illuminating the small group who were rushing towards where she and Godric stood in a confused daze. The leader seemed to be the tall boy with bright green eyes who greeted the stag as an old friend before looking the two of them over closely.
As the new arrivals seemed to examine her, she took the opportunity to look them over herself. There were four of them, none of whom looked any older than her, though they were all battle worn and covered in battle scars that she had never seen on any so young before. Each of them was strangely dressed, the girls immodestly so as she could clearly see their knees through the outer robes they were wearing , though they seemed comfortable in the clothing as though they wore it every day.
Seeing as though she was watching them so closely, she clearly saw the green eyed boy's gaze flicker to the slightly taller girl beside him, the one who was cradling the otter in her arms, a question in his gaze, and she saw when the girl shot him a worried frown back before stepping forwards to speak, however, the words made no sense to her.
Obviously snapping out of his reverie upon hearing the girl's voice, Godric stepped forwards, eyeing them suspiciously, though the relief in his countenance could not easily have been missed.
"Who are you young ones, and why are you here?"
It was a little sharp, and rude given the fact that these four had just saved them, but Helga let it slip given the present circumstances, as well as the fact that the four of them did not seem to comprehend what had been said to them. Now all three of them were looking imploringly at the brown haired girl who's eyes had blown wide in disbelief. Quick as a flash she had her wand out, causing the battle mage in front of her to fall back into a defensive stance, but she only waved it in a strange motion, muttering something under her breath before turning to them and speaking slightly louder.
"Did it work?"
Her pronunciation of the English language was strange, but at least now it was understandable and Helga nodded to her smiling warmly at the ones who had likely just saved their lives.
"Yes it did… though I have never heard of a charm that could do that before. Not that we are ungrateful for your aid, but, who are you all? I do not recall ever having met you before. "
At this the girl frowned once again shaking her head in a way very similar to Rowena when there was a puzzle that she could not find an answer to. Instead, it was the green eyed boy that answered, though his eyes kept flickering over the two of them as though uncertain who to focus on, his hand clutching his wand tighter as he drew attention back to himself.
"We are just some people passing through but… what is happening here? Why were the dementors after you? They normally don't attack people like that."
What did he mean, 'they did not attack people'? Dementors had always been drawn to the living, and the attacks had become even more frequent now that they had sworn their allegiance to the dark lord Samahin. Still, if they had helped the two of them before, they could very well help them again and the druid found herself scanning their auras to find any hint of malevolence, but all she could find was a hint of concern that had her smiling once again.
"You must be aware that you are in the grounds of Hogwarts surely… and it is no secret that the dark lord is targeting the school. This night he has decided to attack, and the dementors were here to keep us distracted from helping the students. My name is Helga Hufflepuff and this is my friend Godric, we are two of the founders of this school which is why we were targeted. Will you aid us in this fight?"
It seemed as though her words had turned the four to stone as they gazed upon her in various stages of shock before all turning back to the boy once again, confirming her first thought that he was the leader of their small group. One by one, the glowing animals seemed to fade away as their hosts released the spell now that the danger had gone and still the seconds dragged on until the red haired witch doubled over laughing.
"What was that you said about having a quiet year Harry?"
At this, the others seemed to come out of their trances and join in with the laughter all but for the boy, Harry, who merely tilted his head up to the sky as though glaring at the moon, muttering a curse under his breath before stating in a flat monotone something that seemed to make the others laugh harder, though it only confused the two founders of Hogwarts who were looking at them as though fearing for their sanity.
"I swear, what did I do in my past life to deserve this?"
Managing to straighten up, the red head stepped forwards and looped her arm around his shoulders in an inappropriately intimate gesture before grinning up at him.
"Everything Harry, absolutely everything."
There you go, I hope you liked it. I know I shouldn't be writing any more new stories right about now, but this plot bunny was practically driving me mad as it wouldn't leave me alone. Review? Please?
