Daisy Potter and the Weapon (Book 6, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 25 - The Battle of the Astronomy Tower

Dumbledore had Apparated us to where he said was the cave Riddle had taken two of his peers to terrorise them when he lived at the orphanage. We entered the cave after Dumbledore sussed out the enchantments surrounding it, and we discovered a vast lake inside with an island in the middle, where there was a basin with a locket at the bottom of it. Dumbledore made us force him to drink the potion that was inside the basin, preventing us from just taking the locket.

And now he had begged us for water. Before I could tell him not to, Harry had taken some from the lake to give to Dumbledore - and suddenly, everywhere I looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, men and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I yelled, pointing my wand at the Inferius that had Harry's arm. It released him, falling backward into the water with a splash; he scrambled to his feet, but many more Inferi were already climbing onto the rock, their bony hands clawing at its slippery surface, their blank, frosted eyes upon me and my brother, trailing waterlogged rags, sunken faces leering.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry and I bellowed, backing away as we swiped our wands through the air; six or seven of them crumpled, but more were coming toward us. "Impedimenta! Incarcerous!"

A few of them stumbled, one or two of them bound in ropes, but those climbing onto the rock behind them merely stepped over or on the fallen bodies. They walked on, unfeeling, their shrunken hands outstretched toward us, and as we backed away still farther, I felt arms enclose me from behind, thin, fleshless arms cold as death, and my feet left the ground as they lifted me and began to carry me, slowly and surely, back to the water, and I knew there would be no release, that Harry and I would be drowned, and become two more dead guardians of a fragment of Voldemort's shattered soul...

No. No! I don't want that... I don't WANT this...

And then, through the darkness, fire erupted: crimson and gold, a ring of fire that surrounded the rock so that the Inferi holding me so tightly stumbled and faltered; they did not dare pass through the flames to get to the water. At the same time, something burst inside me; the Inferi dropped me; I hit the ground, slipped on the rock, and fell, grazing my arms. I crouched on the rock as my hands pulsed with white light, something feathery wrapping around me.

Dumbledore was on his feet again, pale as any of the surrounding Inferi, but taller than any too, the fire dancing in his eyes; his wand was raised like a torch and from its tip emanated the flames, like a vast lasso, encircling us all with warmth. The Inferi bumped into each other, attempting, blindly, to escape the fire in which they were enclosed, attempting to get away from me, who was glowing so bright that Harry, freshly dropped by his own gang of Inferi, was shielding his eyes from me.

Dumbledore scooped the locket from the bottom of the stone basin and stowed it inside his robes. Wordlessly, he gestured to me and Harry to come to his side. Distracted by the flames, the Inferi seemed unaware that their quarry was leaving as Dumbledore led us back to our boat, the ring of fire moving with us, around us, the bewildered Inferi accompanying us to the water's edge, where they slipped gratefully back into their dark waters.

Shaking all over and glowing, I thought for a moment that Dumbledore might not be able to climb into the boat; he staggered a little as he attempted it; all his efforts seemed to be going into maintaining the ring of protective flame around us. Harry seized him and helped him back to his seat. Once we were all safely jammed inside again, the boat began to move back across the black water, away from the rock, still encircled by that ring of fire, and it seemed that the Inferi swarming below us did not dare resurface.

"Sir," Harry panted, "sir, I forgot - about fire - they were coming at me and Daisy and I panicked -"

"Quite understandable." Dumbledore murmured. I was alarmed to hear how faint his voice was.