Raindrops on Roses

Chapter 10: Fifth Year Part 3: Chivalry in Spades

2023

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If the first part of the Recent Wizarding History class had been uncomfortable, the next part was terrible. The forty-odd students sat in utter silence as McGonagall began the story of the Year of Terror, which began when Draco Malfoy had opened the way into Hogwarts for an army of Death Eaters, resulting in Albus Dumbledore's death.

After a while, Scorpius crossed his arms on the desk and leant his head on them, so that no one could see his face. Albus could feel the eyes of some of the Gryffindors glaring in their direction. And still they had to sit and endure an explanation of what the Ministry, under Voldemort's rule, had done to Halfblood and Muggleborn families. What Hogwarts had been like under the Headmastery of Severus Snape, how students had beentortured... Albus felt sick after a while, and Rose, Lizzie and Belinda were all pale and silent beside him.

He realised as the explanation continued that what McGonagall was telling them was, while horrible, not the whole truth. She was vague on the question of the Horcruxes, mentioning only that Harry, Ron and Hermione spent the Year of Terror tracking down powerful dark objects that were tied to Voldemort's power, like the diary. She didn't mention the Hallows at all. He exchanged glances with Rose, and knew that she saw the gaps in the story as well. He had no intention of bringing it up, however - anything to make this peculiar form of torture go faster.

And then it was almost over - McGonagall scrubbed the board clean and used it to illustrate the Battle of Hogwarts. A ragged cheer went up from the Gryffindors and a couple of Hufflepuffs when she described how Professor Longbottom had summoned Dumbledore's Army, but it soon faded as the old woman's voice cracked slightly, describing the fight that ensued. Students, teachers and others who had been killed in front of her eyes, or out of her sight.

"It was then we heard Voldemort's voice," she continued, gathering herself for the last part. "He told us that Harry Potter was dead, that we should surrender and our lives might be spared. There was confusion, and despair, for we had put almost all our hope on the shoulders of a seventeen year old boy." She sighed heavily. "We went out into the grounds, and I saw Professor Hagrid carrying Harry's body in his arms. I thought we had lost, then, and I was not the only one. Neville Longbottom then did something so foolhardy - and yet one of the bravest things I have ever seen - he defied Voldemort to his face. Voldemort summoned the Sorting Hat from the Headmaster's office, forced it onto his head, and set it alight."

Albus heard Scorpius gasp, and saw that his friend had come out of his ball of misery and was paying rapt attention. Lizzie had tears brimming in her eyes.

"I thought he was killed, another one of my students, killed. But then all was confusion, the giants and the centaurs began to charge from the forest - but in the next moment, Longbottom had pulled off the hat and pulled out a sword. I found out later that it the sword of Gryffindor that Harry had recovered from the Chamber of Secrets. And before any of us could realise what was happening, he cut off the head of the great Basilisk, that sat by Voldemort's side."

The class let out a collective breath.

"I found out later that Harry had asked him to do this, if he had the chance. The snake carried within it some of Voldemort's power, and he could not be killed while it still lived. But the fighting had begun again in earnest and we had no time to realise the meaning of what had happened. We were forced back into the castle by the fighting, and then... then..." She paused, as though momentarily at a loss for words. "Harry was there. Alive. To this day I am not sure of how he survived. He told us not to help, that he must fight Voldemort alone." Another silence, this once seeming to last for an age. "The duel was short, one of the shortest I have ever witnessed. Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, and Harry cast a disarming charm. The two spells collided, and Voldemort fell to the ground, dead."