Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Seventy-Three

The walk was as long as it was dangerous.

Stray Death Eaters, huge spiders, and dementors attacked us every twenty feet. Battling them with an army of fifty-ish students was easier than it would have been alone, but it was still taxing for all of us.

The nearer we got, the louder the sounds of the battle became. Explosions shook the earth. Screams and yells made our steps frantic.

The only good news was that I didn't need to keep up morale — everyone backing me was growing more and more frantic by the minute, not to mention furious.

I understood their anger; how dare Voldemort attack Hogwarts, our home? How dare he put innocent people in danger? How dare he threaten our lives and futures as we knew it?

Once we reached the castle, that anger turned to outright rage.

Hogwarts was in ruins. The seemingly invincible walls that had protected us our entire time at school were now crumbled and destroyed. The place we had come to love was a shadow of its former glory; giants had overrun the courtyard and smashed the fountain to bits; the bridge had collapsed completely; the towers were ablaze, chunks missing from various attacks.

My chest burned, and my vision tunneled. My legs carried me forward before I could say a word, but luckily I didn't have to; the fifth-year boy from before let out a scream of fury, and the rest followed him. They charged onto the castle grounds, firing spells at Voldemort's army before they even saw us coming.

I watched, awe peeking through my outrage. This was the wrath of the Slytherins.

The battle was fierce. Death Eaters pummeled the Defenders of Hogwarts without mercy. A few Slytherins fought alongside the Death Eaters, and when they saw their housemates joining the fight, they cheered — at least until they realized which side we were on. Unfortunately for them, they hardly had a second to shout in anger before they were knocked cold by a well-aimed spell.

My housemates dispersed into the chaos. I lost sight of most of them within seconds; I prayed they'd hold their own in the fight.

Of course, I didn't doubt their talents, nor the fury driving them. I just hoped it would be enough.

I barreled into the entrance hall, ducking under jets of green and red light and leaping over motionless masses on the ruined stone floor. I tried my best not to look at the faces, in case I saw someone I recognized, but I couldn't exactly avoid tripping over them if I wasn't looking.

I glimpsed familiar faces — classmates, rivals, people I might have called friends at some point. Every step I took was another answer to a question I didn't dare ask — a girl who couldn't have been older than twelve was lying facedown in a puddle of what looked like her own blood; a boy from my year lay pale and unmoving amidst multicolored jewels scattered from the broken House hourglasses; students shuffled through the fight, hauling mangled bodies between them.

My stomach felt ready to twist inside out by the time I reached the end of the hall. To keep from losing my mind, I focused all my attention on a single goal: Find them.

And by them, I meant the only two people I'd returned to Hogwarts for.

Everyone else, I could stand to lose. Just not them.

I flung myself onto the marble staircase, my feet slipping in some liquid I decided not to investigate, and narrowly dodged a curse to the head.

I whirled, finding a masked Death Eater charging at me, wand raised. I whipped out my own wand, casting a shield spell as the Death Eater bellowed, "CRUCIO!"