Chapter Eight: First Blood
As she screamed to Harry about the Death Eaters, Ginny pulled out her wand, determined to defend him since he was blind. When she saw the shield he threw up, its size and power amazed her, and she had a sudden feeling that it might end up being the other way around. As her parents and the others starting lobbing curses, back at the Death Eaters, Fred and George turned over the table they were standing by and starting firing from behind it. She saw Harry wave his wand at her, Ron, and Hermione while maintaining the shield with his other hand, and saw faint auras appear around Ron and Hermione, and assumed there was one around herself as well.
Harry then dropped the large shield and shouted “Fulgio!” Ginny’s hair stood on end as a brilliant bolt of lightning arced out from Harry’s wand and grounded on the floor just a few feet from the largest knot of Death Eaters who hadn’t quite gotten inside yet. The ground there exploded and Death Eaters went flying in every direction, and Ginny used the distraction to start hurling stunners at the Death Eaters who were still standing.
Harry also started firing curses, and although he fired an incredible number of spells in a short period of time, it was obvious he was firing towards the sound of the Death Eater’s voices as they sent their own spells, and most of the time they had already moved. Surprisingly, Harry made no effort to dodge their spells, but always seemed to know when to raise his shield, and nothing hit him. Ginny also noticed that spells that she didn’t manage to dodge always seemed to glance off an invisible wall just in front of her. She felt a rush of gratitude for that, as several Death Eaters had targeted her at once, and she couldn’t dodge or block all of them herself.
Since the lightning bolt, the Order seemed to be holding its own against their unexpected antagonists, but suddenly she heard one of the Death Eaters shout “Pertundo” aiming at the table Fred and George were shielded by. She screamed in horror as the spell drilled through the table and Fred fell back bleeding profusely, and crying out in pain. George also screamed in fear and rage, and started firing fiercely back at the Death Eaters advancing on his position while standing over Fred’s body.
***
Harry was still trying to fire at the sounds of voices shouting unfriendly spells when he heard the twins and Ginny cry out. He paled at the cries of anguish, and tried desperately to come up with a way to end the battle quickly. Fawkes was invisible and hovering above him, warning him every time he needed to raise his shield, and suddenly inspiration struck.
“Alitis!” Harry shouted, pointing his wand out at the room. Dozens of large, squawking ravens shot from his wand, and started attacking the Death Eaters. None of the birds did much by themselves, but they distracted their targets, and provided noisy beacons for Harry to strike. Harry began firing stunners rapidly, and once the Death Eater they were attacking was down, the ravens would move on to another. In minutes, all of the Death Eaters were unconscious, and the ravens vanished.
In the comparative silence, he could hear Ginny sobbing, while George was desperately calling for help. He couldn’t tell if anyone else was hurt or not.
“Fawkes, get Madame Pomfrey!” he shouted, and turned to where he had last heard Hermione. “Start binding the Death Eaters, the incantation is ‘Alligo,’” he told her, demonstrating the wand movement. “Someone, lead me to Fred!” He demanded. He felt a hand on his arm, and assumed it was Ron, and felt himself being led across the room. Ginny was still sobbing and screaming uncontrollably, George was nearly hysterical, and they had been joined by the tormented cries of Mrs. Weasley.
He knelt down and felt his pants immediately soak through with blood. Ignoring this, Harry began waiving his wand and his hand over Fred’s body, muttering spells. As he worked he could hear Hermione moving throughout the room casting the binding spell, and heard Moody join her. Slowly the wounds closed, and the bleeding stopped.
“Calm down,” he told Ginny, George, and Molly who still hadn’t recovered. “He’ll need a Blood Replenishing potion, but he’s fine.” Ginny hurled herself at him, hugging him tightly, and he put his arm around her as well.
“That’s another Weasley that owes his life to you, Harry,” Arthur said as his voice broke with emotion.
“Is anyone else hurt?” he asked.
“McGonagall and Tonks are both unconscious,” he heard Remus shout.
Harry was about to have Ginny lead him to the others when Fawkes reappeared in the room singing out in alarm. Harry received the image of Madame Pomfrey sealing the doorway to the hospital wing and waiting with her wand raised as though she were expecting attack, followed by a view of three Death Eaters on the other side of the door.
“Are they hurt badly?” he asked frantically, pulling out his wand again and standing up.
“They aren’t bleeding, and their breathing is normal,” Remus answered, although he sounded somewhat frantic, no doubt because of Tonks.
Harry nodded, and pushed Ginny away from him. She called his name in confusion, her voice sounding hurt.
“The hospital wing is under attack,” he said. “I need to go help Madame Pomfrey!”
With that he raised his hand and caught Fawkes’ tail feathers and disappeared in a flash of flame.
***
Ginny stared speechlessly at where Harry had just been. He was blind and blindly rushing into an unknown situation, with no one to watch his back.
Swearing, she ran from the room, and could hear her parents frantically calling her back, and she saw Ron and Hermione sprinting alongside her.
When they reached the hospital wing, however, all they found were three unconscious Death Eaters. Harry was bleeding from several places, but none of the wounds appeared to be serious. He was kneeling next to an unconscious Madame Pomfrey, while Fawkes was shedding tears into a horrific wound in her chest. The wound was closing itself when they rushed in. At the sound of them arriving, Harry fired a stunning spell and raised a shield around himself and Madame Pomfrey. The stunner hit Ginny directly in the chest, and she felt unconsciousness claim her.
***
“Harry, you idiot, it’s us!” Ron shouted angrily, diving out of the way of another randomly placed curse. Harry immediately stopped firing and dropped his shield.
“How was I supposed to know that?” he demanded angrily. “Help me get Madame Pomfrey into a bed! Fawkes will you search the castle and see if there are any more Death Eaters here?”
Hermione floated Madame Pomfrey into a bed, while Ron rushed to Ginny’s side.
“You stunned Ginny, Harry!”
Harry’s face went white, and he stumbled over towards Ron’s voice.
“Is she okay?” he asked desperately.
“She has a lump on her head from when she fell,” Ron answered, as he picked Ginny up and laid her in a nearby bed. Harry felt Ron’s hand on his arm guide him to the bed, and he waived his wand over Ginny’s head. He sagged in relief, as he discovered that she wasn’t badly hurt. He healed the lump on her head, and then said “Ennervate.” He heard Ginny moving, and then felt her take his hand.
“Thanks for mistaking me for a Death Eater, Harry,” she said sternly, though he could tell that she was joking and not really upset.
Fawkes appeared again and trilled out an all clear.
“Ron, go to the Great Hall and tell everyone to come here and bring everyone that’s wounded. Hermione, go find where Madame Pomfrey keeps the Blood Replenishing potions, and get enough for both her and Fred.”
“What do you need me to do?” Ginny demanded, getting out of the bed, determined to help.
Harry smiled at her and answered, “I need you to stay with me so I don’t curse any more of my friends on accident, and so I don’t trip over anything.”
After about a half hour, everyone was in the hospital wing, conscious and in good health except for Fred and Madame Pomfrey. Harry had done most of the healing himself, though he was helped by Professor McGonagall once she was woken up. Except for Fred and Pomfrey, most of the injuries had been limited to minor cuts and bruises.
“How did they breach the wards?” Molly demanded angrily from Fred’s side.
“It must have been through the secret passages,” Remus answered, “Peter would have told them all about them. I’ll go see about sealing them all now.”
As Remus left, Moody came back in.
“I contacted the Ministry; they’ll have people here to pick up the Death Eaters as soon as possible. We captured 14 of them alive,” he told them.
“Weren’t there more than that?” Ginny demanded from Harry’s side.
Moody looked somewhat uncomfortable answering, but said, “Three of them were killed by the lightning bolt.”
Everyone watched as Harry’s face went pale and he stood in shock for a few moments, before he wavered on his feet. Only Ginny’s arm around his waist kept him upright.
“I didn’t mean to kill anyone,” he whispered.
Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley all had tears in their eyes at the sound of the anguish in his voice, and Ginny hugged him tightly in compassion.
“You saved all of our lives, Harry,” Mr. Weasley said, walking over to put a reassuring hand and Harry’s shoulder. “They were overwhelming us, and that lightning bolt scattered them enough to give us a chance. Even after that, we would probably have all been killed if you hadn’t taken most of them out.”
Harry didn’t look like he was listening. He had started shaking, and was clutching Ginny to keep himself upright. They led him over to a chair, and he sat down, though the trembling didn’t stop.
Moody left, claiming he needed to meet the ministry workers to keep them away from Harry, and McGonagall and Tonks left to go find Remus and help him secure the castle. Harry sat clutching Ginny’s hand for an unknown amount of time, lost in his tortured thoughts. Ginny was watching him closely and rubbing his back with her other hand, clearly waiting for him to accept what he had done.
Ron and Hermione were quietly talking to each other and holding hands while George was standing next to Fred’s bed with an unreadable expression. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were watching all of them, unsure of who to comfort.
“They were after me,” Harry finally said slowly. “They thought I was in the hospital wing, and must have heard everyone else in the Great Hall. They sent most of the Death Eaters there to keep you all busy while the other three were supposed to finish me off. They thought I would be helpless.”
“Well, you certainly showed them otherwise,” Ginny stated firmly, “and don’t get any funny ideas about saying all of us are in danger because we’re connected to you, Harry. We love you and we’re not leaving you alone, and killing those men while protecting us doesn’t change anything.”
Harry turned towards her, and hesitated before responding.
“The thought had never occurred to me,” he lied, finally smiling weakly. Ginny smiled back and kissed him warmly. Everyone was heartened by the exchange, even George.