Demigods at Hogwarts 2 (Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince)

Chapter 24

Annabeth POV

The Death Eaters made a break for the stairs. I drew my dagger in my right hand and wand in my left, but Nico held a hand out, telling me to stop. I was half-tempted to keep going anyway, but I checked myself. This was a situation involving death, and Nico was undeniably the most reliable source I had in that department. They all filed down the narrow steps, the echoes of their footsteps growing weaker.

"We can't take them now, they aren't fated to die yet. There's more yet to come, and for that we have to leave the wizarding world. We'll make sure the wizards survive tonight, and then we have to leave."

"Are you sure?" I stowed my wand, but kept my dagger in my hand. Just in case.

"I'm sure Hecate will say. Let's get Harry."

Harry was no longer lying prone on the ground, but had stumbled to his feet, and looked upward at the headmaster's body as if he wasn't quite sure it were true. I don't think anyone had predicted that this was how the night would end. Not on such an ordinary night. Surely Albus Dumbledore should have died in a great storm, and had the skies weep for him. Instead, it was cloudless, hardly a night to be remembered, but for the tragedy that had unfolded here, at the top of the Tower.

"Harry!"

He looked up and saw Nico and me.

"You two were here, and you did nothing?" His face was pale, and I wanted to go over and offer him a hug, some reassurance that his grief would get better, but he wouldn't take that well.

"We knew as much as you did, perhaps less. We couldn't have predicted what Snape was going to do."

That was only a half-truth, really. Nico would have known roughly what was going to happen, but I wasn't about to tell Harry that. He would only direct his anger toward us, and that would help nobody.

"Let's make sure everyone else is safe, they're all fighting downstairs. We'll talk about this later."

"I'm going to go find Snape." Before I could reach to stop him, Harry sprinted past me, dodging Percy as he climbed up onto the tower.

"Sorry I couldn't get up here sooner, I couldn't get out of the fight." A thin trickle of blood ran down Percy's arm, but otherwise he was unharmed.

"No matter, it wasn't as though your presence would have changed anything. We're going to make sure all the Death Eaters are gone from the castle. Quickly," I said.

Nico was the first to descend the stairs, then Percy, and then me. I glanced back over my shoulder, as if something would have changed. I could scarcely believe that Dumbledore was dead, but I didn't have the time to fret about it now.

There was still fighting in the corridors of the school, but Snape's run seemed to have drawn the Death Eaters away. There were a few injuries, but no deaths amongst the Order, or the staff and students of Hogwarts. Regrettably, there had been no Death Eater casualties either.

Harry had pursued Snape to the boundary of the school, but he had apparated away, taking Draco with him. Us demigods had stumbled back to the dorms, only to find ourselves transported to some strange white realm, with mist swirling around us, creating vague building shapes. I looked over at Hazel, since this was definitely her area of expertise.

"Hecate's realm," she explained, "it was like this at the crossroads in Italy."

As she said it, the goddess herself appeared. She was her usual, beautiful self, with inhumanly glowing skin, and eyes that were a bit too bright. Goddesses could appear however they liked, though, and none of us were fooled into thinking that beauty meant kindness.

"Hello demigods. You have done admirably in your mission, and have assisted me greatly over the last two years. I hope you have found some advantage in them, and have learned at least a little of the great art of magic. It is much to my regret that I must inform you that you cannot return next year. The tides are turning in this world, but fate has revealed itself to me, and all will be well in the end, thanks in part to you five. You may finish this year, attend Albus' funeral, and then I will see that you are back at Camp for the summer."

The five of us nodded, and we were returned back to the common room, finding it exactly as we had left it, apart from the presence of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville.

"Where the hell did you five come from?" Ron asked, staring at us as if we were aliens.

"Gods interfering again. We're leaving at the end of this year," Thalia said. She was probably looking forward to getting back to the hunt, but I would miss her almost constant presence after so long being separated. This had been a pleasant reprieve from the arduous task of being a demigod, even if we'd been dealing with other problems.

"Will we see you again?" Hermione asked, her face to the floor, hiding her expression, but I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"I'm sure you will. Perhaps not in the next year, but we'll see each other at some point," I responded. Knowing my luck, fate would be knocking on my door in a year with another insane magical quest.

"We'll have to make the most of our last weeks then," Harry said firmly.

"Indeed," I said.

"But first, bed," Percy said, yawning widely.

I would miss the castle, the place that had grown to feel like home over the last two years. I would miss the wizards too, but I would see them again. I would keep practicing my magic, honing my skills, in case we were ever needed again.