Chapter Twenty One: Grindelwald’s Castle
Ginny, Ron, and Hermione watched with concern as Harry raged about the lack of information as he paced back and forth in the room. He had gathered them all together, sealed the room, and begun a ranting explanation of what he had just learned from Remus and Tonks. Fawkes was perched in a corner of the room, and was obviously a little more impressionable than the older, more mature Fawkes, because he was singing menacingly along with Harry’s tirade, and looked quite frightening.
“Harry, this really isn’t that much different than you not telling anyone about the Horcruxes. Some information just can’t be shared with everyone,” Hermione tried reasoning with him calmly while Ron nodded.
“That’s right, Harry,” Ron added. “Why don’t we just wait and try and go with Tonks and Lupin when they go. It will give us an excuse to be there, and we can help Hagrid.”
“No!” Harry shouted, “I promised we weren’t going to change our plans. We were planning on leaving tomorrow, and that’s when we are leaving.”
“What if we run into the giants, Harry, how are we supposed to fight them if Stunners won’t work?” Ginny wanted to know.
Ginny’s calm voice seemed to calm Harry down as well. “The Conjunctivitis Curse would be very effective, and you can scare them with fire and loud noises. If we need to, Reductor Curses and Cutting Hexes will work, but if we start really hurting them we’ll probably have to kill them, because then they won’t stop fighting.”
Hermione nodded at his description of the effective methods of fighting giants, until he got to the part about killing them, when she paled slightly.
“We… We can’t go planning to kill them, Harry!” she spluttered, while Ginny nodded adamantly.
“I’m not letting anything happen to Hagrid!” Harry exclaimed forcefully. “He cared for me more than my family, and he brought me to the Wizarding World. Whatever it takes, if I can help him, I’m going to.”
Ginny watched him for a few moments before walking over and wrapping him in her arms.
“What do we need to take with us?” she asked calmly.
***
Fawkes transported them to a clearing in the woods, not far from the main gate of the castle and closer than the giants in the area usually came. There were anti-Apparation wards in place all around the castle, placed there by Grindelwald himself, but Fawkes was able to move through them as easily as he moved through the wards at Hogwarts.
As they approached the castle gate, Fawkes flew from tree to tree providing Harry with a panoramic view of the area around him. He was still somewhat disconcerted over the sight of Fawkes flying while he was walking. Neither Harry nor Fawkes could sense anything amiss, but the feeling that something was wrong wouldn’t leave them. Harry could see by the way they were walking that the others were also nervous. The forest around them was deathly quiet, Harry realized suddenly, and Fawkes could neither sense nor see any living creatures nearby, except for themselves.
Finally, they arrived at the gate, and looked up at the ruined castle. There was a thick portcullis in front of a massive iron strapped wooden door, surrounded by crumbling stone that still seemed as though it could repel cannon fire. Just in front of the gate there was a tarnished plaque that Ron read aloud.
“Never forget the price of allowing evil to grow un-contested. It is the responsibility of all those who love truth and justice to always oppose those who would deprive the world of it. Complacency is the only evil that can truly defeat the light. Remember those who fought and died here, who refused to let that evil triumph, and brought peace again to the world,” Ron looked up as he finished reading, his face solemn.
“Dumbledore wrote that,” Harry said quietly, not sure exactly how he knew, but certain nonetheless.
“He’s right,” Ron said firmly. “While we and the Order try and destroy the Horcruxes and defeat Voldemort, the rest of the Wizarding World seems content to let it continue. The attacks on Muggles and Half-bloods continue every day, but as long as magical homes aren’t destroyed, people seem content to ignore the problem. My Dad is laughed at every day for his defense of Muggles, while the ministry is trying so hard to reassure everyone that it has everything under control, and no one knows who to believe.”
“Well, this time we are the ones who are fighting and refusing to let evil triumph,” Hermione put in. “The rest of the world will thanks us when we’re done, and be grateful they didn’t have to lift a finger, but we still have to fight.”
“Let’s just hope that none of us have to die for it,” Ginny stated darkly, ending the conversation.
Harry pulled out his wand, and the others followed suit, before they magically opened the gate and entered Grindelwald’s castle. It became quickly apparent that the castle had been searched and looted several times over, although some things were obviously magically charmed to resist movement. Harry steered them clear of such objects, feeling the dark intent and purposes behind their placement.
When they entered the great hall, the others were given an example of the dark magic they were unable to sense as Harry could. Just inside the doors, two suits of armor stood on pedestals, seemingly identical to those in Hogwarts, except that these were equipped with large maces. They were walking past them when a shouted warning from Fawkes in Harry’s mind caused him to throw out a defensive shield around all of them. At that exact moment the suits of armor sprang to life, bringing their maces crashing down on shield. Both suits of armor immediately reset themselves, becoming lifeless once more. Ginny and Ron had both cried out, startled, while Hermione stood wide eyed and was shaking slightly, though she had acted quickly enough to raise her own shield. Harry was somewhat amused that the shield only covered Ron, and Hermione blushed slightly before letting the shield disappear. Harry decided not to mention it.
“Keep your eyes open, everyone,” Harry said, as he continued forward calmly.
“Right,” Ginny muttered, while noticing for the first time the rust colored stains beneath the two statues.
They continued searching the castle, though they didn’t run into any more dark surprises, and didn’t find anything indicating the presence of a Horcrux. Unfortunately, it was a huge edifice, and there was too much to search in one day. Finally, they opened a large door on the ground floor that opened up to the courtyard. The room inside was large and mostly empty, and Harry could sense no magic at work inside. In short order the room was cleared, cleaned, and secured with strong wards, and Harry conjured sleeping bags while Hermione created a smokeless fire and Ron unpacked food. Ginny was delighted to see the squashy purple sleeping bags she remembered from their night in the Great Hall when she was in her second year.
“A final tribute to Dumbledore, Harry?” she asked quietly.
Harry blushed slightly. “I always thought it was funny, the way everything he conjured was usually purple and very comfortable. I think he enjoyed the reactions he got out of people.”
“Well, don’t start conjuring things like that in public, or people will think you are crazy too,” Ginny said jokingly.
“You just don’t want to be stuck with a boyfriend who likes purple,” Harry retorted.
Ron interrupted them with dinner, and after everyone had eaten they climbed into their sleeping bags, exhausted. Hermione had brought a fairly detailed map and had outline a search pattern that would have the castle cleared in three days, though no one was looking forward to spending so much time in the dark and forbidding castle.
***
As usual, Harry’s eyes snapped open after only a few hours of sleep.
Time to find Hagrid, he said to himself, summoning Fawkes and casting extra protection spells around the room. The others did no more than stir slightly, and Harry was glad. He knew that all of them would protest his leaving alone, but he knew they couldn’t spare time from the search from the Horcrux, and the others needed to sleep. Harry could feel a growing pressure within himself to finish his task and be free; he could also feel that Voldemort was growing more eager to have his only threat removed and fully begin his reign of terror. A final confrontation was coming, and Harry knew it would be soon; he just needed to make sure that he was ready and that the confrontation came on grounds chosen by him and not Voldemort.
Fawkes transported Harry from the room, leaving the protection wards intact, and took him up to a high tower where Harry was able to transform and take flight. His enhanced hawk vision allowed him to scour the grounds around the castle, and he began flying in a spiral pattern around the area, flying farther out every time and looking for any traces of the giants and Hagrid. After about an hour, Harry found them approximately two miles away from the castle, in a canyon between two heavily forested hills. Had they not been giants, Harry was certain he wouldn’t have seen them. As it was it was kind of obvious.
He soared down to the trees surrounding the giant community and landed, perched where he could observe everything that was going on. Though it was nighttime and most of them were asleep, the giants who were awake were still a raucous group. Their guttural language was hard on the ears, but Harry found that he could understand them well enough. There were several conversations going on, and it took Harry a while to distinguish between the one about whether a rock made a better weapon than a club and another about cooked as opposed to raw meat. Clearly the giants were not intellectuals. Finally, though, Harry heard a conversation that interested him greatly; it was a discussion between a very large ugly giant and a few others, concerning what the village was going to do with some prisoners. The details were difficult to catch, but Harry got the distinct impression that the greater portion of the conversation was how they were planning on cooking them.
This alarmed Harry greatly, and he began flying from tree to tree looking for any sign of the captives, who he was reasonably sure were Hagrid and Grawp. Finally, he found a cave large enough to admit a few giants at once, its entrance guarded by two giants wielding clubs, that he was positive held his friend. The giants were already mostly asleep, and there weren’t any others nearby, so Harry landed outside of the giants’ view and turned back into himself. Using his sight from Fawkes, Harry cast two very quick and very powerful sleeping charms, ensuring the giants would not awaken when he entered the cave. Fawkes flew into the cave and Harry changed back into his Animagus form and followed, dreading what he would find. Not too far into the entrance, he found exactly what he had feared.
Hagrid and Grawp both lay asleep or unconscious on the floor, both looking battered and bruised. Harry changed back into himself once more and slowly approached his old friend, inwardly burning with anger over how he had been treated.
Suddenly there was a roar from the entrance of the cave, and Fawkes turned quickly to catch site of several angry giants rushing into the cave. Had Harry been thinking more clearly, he probably would have had Fawkes transport himself, Hagrid, and Grawp away, but the seething anger had burst into a potent rage, and Harry began throwing spells like mad. The first blasting curse hurled one of the giants back out of the cave, while the giant next to him was hit by a powerful conjunctivitis curse that left it clutching its eyes and howling in pain and anger, thrashing around and hindering the other giants. Several of Harry’s spells were failing to penetrate the giants’ natural defenses against magic, but enough did that Harry was holding his own. Then Fawkes, singing out in the anger that he shared with Harry, joined the fray.
Harry was reminded immediately of the battle against the basilisk as he was given a first person view of Fawkes charging the giants. The phoenix lashed out with beak and talon, causing the giants to cry out in rage. Frantically, they tried to swat at the tiny bird that was causing them so much pain, and generally ended up hitting other giants. Harry was suddenly aware of just how heavy a burden the phoenix could carry as he picked up one of the remaining giants and hurled it out of the cave. Fawkes then grabbed another and transported it to about a hundred feet above the ground outside the cave, where the giant was summarily let go. As the giant crashed into the ground with a deafening thud, Fawkes returned to the cave and found that all of the giants had been incapacitated.
Harry sent Fawkes out to see if any more of the giants were coming towards the cave and turned back towards where Hagrid was laying, intending to feel his way over and heal his friend. He was interrupted by a disarming spell that sent his wand flying out of his hand to fall noisily to the cave floor some distance away.
“Well, Mr. Potter… It seems we got much more than we bargained for this time.”
Harry was suddenly quite afraid as he heard once again the familiar voice of Bellatrix Lestrange, who began cackling gleefully. He sent out a call for help with his mind, asking Fawkes to come to his aid.
***
Hagrid awoke to the feeling of sound of something wooden clattering to the ground in front of him. He opened his eyes groggily, very mindful of the beating he had received, and found himself looking at a wand right in front of him.
He came fully awake instantly, knowing his best chance of escape lay right in front of him. Lestrange had been going on and on about how the Order was sure to send someone to find him, someone who would also be trapped and hopefully able to give more information to the Death Eaters. Hagrid had been quite thankful he didn’t know very much about the Order’s plans and secrets, but he had been dreading the help he had also known would come.
Trying to get a better feel for his surroundings, he looked up in time to see Harry standing in front of Lestrange, who waved her wand in a complicated manner and muttered an incantation that Hagrid couldn’t make out. A coruscating blue light flashed towards Harry, but a familiar flash of flame appeared between Harry and the oncoming spell. Hagrid grabbed the wand, sure that Fawkes had saved Harry from the spell, and ready to stop Lestrange from casting another.
Oddly, though, as the spell hit Fawkes, both Harry and Fawkes cried out in agony and dropped to the floor, Harry clutching his head and landing next to Fawkes, who lay in a crumpled heap.
“Harry!” Hagrid cried out in anger, before shouting a spell at Lestrange. The hateful woman had just long enough to look up in surprise before being hit by a stunning spell that blasted her off of her feet and into the cave wall. Hagrid didn’t give her another thought; though he had never been very good at magic, mostly due to his inability to remember spells and the right wand movements, the spells he could cast had always had plenty of power behind them.
Hagrid first woke up Grawp, who had really only been sleeping; he had been beaten as well, but was a great deal more resilient than Hagrid. Hagrid then limped over to Harry and Fawkes, and lifted them up gently. Their eyes were open and staring into space, and both were as limp as rag-dolls. Hagrid had no idea what that meant, but knew it wasn’t good. Rushing back to Grawp, Hagrid explained carefully that they needed to get to Grindelwald’s castle, where he knew the giants weren’t likely to follow them, and where he could try and get a message to the Order.
Grawp nodded his understanding, and both Hagrid and Grawp rushed out into the growing light of early dawn.
***
When Ginny woke up she became instantly aware that Harry was no longer in the sleeping bag next to hers.
“Harry!” she cried out, looking around the room in fear.
Ron and Hermione were instantly awake, and they were all shocked to find that Harry was no longer with him.
“He must have gone looking for Hagrid,” Hermione said frantically. “You know he only sleeps a few hours every night.”
“I should have thought about that before,” Ginny said, frustrated. “I should have known he would have gone out on his own, trying to keep the rest of us safe.”
“Well, let’s go find him,” Ron interrupted, “I’m sure he’s not in too much trouble.”
They quickly packed up all of their things and exited the room, where Ginny instantly turned into a falcon and flew up to a high tower, hoping to catch some glimpse of Harry. She wasn’t at all expecting what she did see.
A large figure was running through the forest towards the castle gate, staggering under the weight of something big cradled in its arms, and running from the much smaller figures of several cloaked and hooded Death Eaters who were chasing it.
Ginny quickly flew back to Ron and Hermione, resumed her normal form, and told them what she had seen. All of them rushed to the gate which Hermione opened with a few quick spells. By this time, the figure was fairly close to castle, and they could make out the large battered form of Grawp.
Grawp also caught sight of them, and shouted “Hermy!” while quickening his pace. He reached the castle just as the shouting Death Eaters came into view, and Ron and Ginny quickly shut the gates and sealed them with as many protective spells as they could think of.
Grawp gently laid down the unconscious figure of Hagrid, who was in turn clutching the unmoving forms of Harry and Fawkes. Ginny cried out in alarm and rushed to Harry’s side.
“Hermy, help Hagger!” Grawp cried out loudly, looking down at Hermione with a look of complete misery.
“Hermione! Harry’s not breathing!” Ginny shouted frantically, clutching Harry’s hand.
Hermione paled as she rushed to Harry’s side. She cast a few spells, and looked up at Ginny, who had tears streaming down her face, and hesitated.
“I don’t think he’s dead, Ginny,” she told the younger girl, unable to help the tears that were beginning to course down her face as well. “I can’t do anything for him right now anyway; I have to wake up Hagrid and find out what happened.”
Hermione was proud that her voice only cracked a few times. She was sure Ginny would never forgive this lie, but Ginny needed to be able to fight.
Hermione ran to Hagrid’s side, and began casting the healing charms she knew, hoping that she could do something. As she started, though, spells began impacting against the gate as the Death Eaters began trying to break through.
“Ron! Ginny! You have to hold them off!” she shouted urgently, while still trying to concentrate on the healing she was doing.
Ron nodded and grabbed Ginny’s arm; she looked back at Harry for a brief while, looking as though her heart had been torn out, before following Ron up to the ramparts where they could fire down on the Death Eaters.
***
Ron and Ginny reached the battlements over the gate and began firing down on the Death Eaters below them. Two of them were down before the rest became aware of the new threat, but they were quick to return fire, and Ginny and Ron were soon pinned down by one group of them, while another continued trying to batter down the gates.
Ron gritted his teeth in frustration as he fired a spell off and ducked back behind the battlements as five more spells fired up at him. There were too many of them for just him and Ginny to hold off, and as he shared a look with Ginny, he could see that she knew it too.
Ron pounded the stone wall with his fist in anger. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with Harry, but he was certain that if Harry were awake, he would be able to deal with the Death Eaters in short order, but now it was up to them to protect him. Their time training with Moody and Harry had left them far from helpless, but they would need more. Suddenly, Ron remembered the Death Eater attack in the graveyard and how Harry had been able to fly around to the back of the Death Eaters. Harry’s Animagus transformation had given him an edge in combat, Ron knew, and he needed an edge now. Harry and Ginny had shared everything they knew about the transformation, but Ron and Hermione had been quick to discover that it would take a lot more internal effort than they had suspected, while trying to discover what they really wanted. Now, though, Ron was absolutely certain about what he wanted; he wanted to protect his friend, his sister, and the girl he loved.
Suddenly the gates were thrown open and three of the Death Eaters rushed through, shouting in triumph. Ron motioned for Ginny to concentrate on keeping the rest out, and she stood and began firing courageously at the Death Eaters still outside the gate, preventing them from entering as well, her eyes alight with a fury that frightened him. The three that were in already were just passing below Ron, and they would be attacking Hermione in seconds.
Howling in anger, Ron leapt from the wall. It was thirty feet down to the Death Eaters, and Ron put everything he had into making the transformation. As he fell, he suddenly felt himself changing. His body grew larger, and his senses changed as well. His sight was sharper, and his hearing and sense of smell grew more powerful. He could see and smell the Death Eaters below him, and he knew he was going to land on them. He also realized that he felt no fear.
***
Hermione was just getting ready to revive Hagrid when she heard the gates open. She held up her wand, ready to defend herself from the three Death Eaters that were charging towards her. Their charge was interrupted, however, when a huge lion with a shaggy red mane landed on one of them, crushing him into the ground. The lion roared in challenge, batting another Death Eater aside with one swipe of a huge clawed paw. The last man tried to bring his wand up, but the lion pounced on him, biting him hard on the shoulder and shaking him around like a rag-doll before throwing his limp body aside. None of the Death Eaters moved.
The lion then became Ron, and he was closing and resealing the gates. Finally he turned back to her, and spoke.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
Hermione continued to look at him in shock and nodded dumbly, though tears continued to fall.
“I have to go back and help Ginny,” he shouted then, before rushing back to the stairs leading to the battlements.
Hermione watched him go, temporarily unable to understand what had just happened. She shook her head, deciding to think about it later, and woke up Hagrid.
Hagrid sat up suddenly, yelling out.
“Where’s Harry?” he asked, looking around and finding Harry lying next to him. “Hermione? What er you lot doin’ here? It ain’t safe!”
“I know, Hagrid! Ron and Ginny are trying to hold off Death Eaters at the gate. What do we do?”
“How did yeh get here?” Hagrid wanted to know.
“Harry and Fawkes brought us, but they can’t get us home. How did you get here?”
“McGonagall made me a Portkey,” he said gruffly, “and I was s’posed ter contact ‘em when my mission was finished.”
“Can you contact them now?” Hermione demanded.
“I can try,” Hagrid said thoughtfully. “I on’y hope the owl will reach ‘em in time.”
Hermione paled at the thought of waiting for an owl to travel to the Order and back, while Hagrid whistled and an owl that must have been waiting for him flew down to where they were. The owl appeared to be sleek and swift, but Hermione was doubtful that it would be able to make it to England in less than a few days. Hagrid scrawled a quick note and tied it to the owl’s leg, sending the owl on its way with a few words of encouragement. To Hermione’s surprise, the owl shot off into the air like a rocket, flying faster than she had ever seen an owl fly. Maybe we do have a chance, Hermione thought hopefully.
With the message sent, Hermione, Hagrid, and a happy Grawp went to join the battle.
***
When the gate had broken open, Ginny had stood up to keep the other Death Eaters back, and had taken a beating for it. By the time Ron came back she was clutching a gash in her side while doing her best to ignore a bad burn that ran from her shoulder and up the side of her face. Ron took one look at her and shouted in rage, throwing a barrage of hexes and curses at the Death Eaters gathered below. With fewer numbers, the Death Eaters were having a difficult time keeping Ron and Ginny pinned down, and were starting to grow tired.
Suddenly, Ron heard the front gate open again, and turned down to the courtyard to see who was coming in now, certain they were doomed; Ginny couldn’t handle the whole group again while he went to deal with whoever had broken in.
Then Ginny cried out in triumph, and he turned back in time to see Grawp run out and begin kicking and stamping on the attacking Death Eaters. Hagrid and Hermione both followed, casting stunning spells in rapid fire, and before long the Death Eaters were running or unconscious.
“Stop ‘em!” Hagrid shouted, “They’ll bring back more Death Eaters!”
Only two of them were still conscious enough to run, and they went in different directions. Ginny immediately turned into a falcon and flew after one, while Ron also changed into his Animagus form and raced down the stairs and out the gate after the other. He was sure he was some kind of big cat, after seeing his paws when he had attacked the Death Eaters earlier, and he was eager to find out just what he was and what he looked like. He was certain he would be quite intimidating.
He raced silently after the Death Eater, loving the ease with which he moved and his ability to track his prey. He ran until he was past the man and waited in his path. The Death Eater was watching the trail behind when Ron jumped him, slamming him back into the ground. The Death Eater didn’t even have time to scream before he was unconscious. Ron changed back into himself and levitated the man back to the castle. Ginny was similarly levitating the man she had followed and Hermione was still in the midst of binding the Death Eaters they had left behind. Hagrid was glowing with praise about them becoming Animagi, while Grawp had grown bored with everything and was wandering around the area pulling up trees.
As the last Death Eater was bound and stunned, Hermione raced up to Ron and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him hard.
“You saved me!” she cried, and then began sobbing herself. Ron began trying to comfort her, confused, before Ginny interrupted them.
“What’s wrong with Harry?” she demanded, while rushing back to his side. “What do we do?”
“I’m sorry, Ginny. He’s… he’s…” Hermione tried to finish, but couldn’t.
Ginny stood in shock, unable to comprehend what she was being told, while Ron sat down hard.
“No! He wasn’t even hit,” Hagrid shouted in disbelief. “Fawkes took the hit but both of ‘em fell. The spell was blue and sparkled; it wasn’t green.”
Hermione took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself enough to speak. “That sounds like a mind-neutralizing spell that would have incapacitated Harry and kept him from fighting them while they captured him. If he was connected to Fawkes mentally when Fawkes got hit, it could have changed the way the spell works.”
She rushed over to Ginny and wrapped her arms around her, trying to comfort her. Ginny shook her off, and knelt next to Harry.
“He’s not dead,” she stated firmly, taking Harry’s hand. It was cold. Ginny burst into tears again, and wouldn’t let anyone touch her as she fell over Harry’s chest.
“There’ll be Death Eaters coming before long,” Hermione said, “We need to get somewhere nearby where they won’t find us, but where the giants won’t come after us either. We need to take his… him home.”
In short order they had all of the Death Eaters locked in the room they had spent the night in, and cast most of the same protection spells and wards as they had before, but this time on the outside of the room. Hagrid, also crying now, had to pull Ginny off of Harry before picking up his limp body and cradling him in one giant arm before using the other to pick up Fawkes. Ginny said nothing before she turned into a falcon and flew above them to watch for any sign of pursuit, while Ron and Hermione walked ahead of Hagrid with wands drawn. Grawp followed behind, somewhat morose at having been told not to uproot any trees, though he was obeying well. The little group made their way out, leaving the castle, disheartened and stunned at what had happened, not even capable of thinking about what this would mean for the war.