Put Your Curse In Reverse [Part 2]

Chapter 9 - Prejudice

He fell to the floor with a final cry. It all happened in the space between gasps: one minute the Auror was beneath a decaying black figure, and the next he was listlessly on his back, his eyes empty, his body eerily still. At least the fear in his eyes was gone.

Harry—like many others—had rushed forward as soon as the Auror had fallen back, but he—unlike the rest—didn't stop even after the dementor completed its kiss. He scrounged for a bit of happiness and energy, enough to shoot even a wisp from his wand, but he couldn't find it. He had known this Auror—Stein— since the young man was seventeen. He had watched him grow up. Watched him get married. He'd just had his first child in June. And now...

"No!" Harry cried. His fury was senseless. He shot a weak, non-corporeal Patronus at the retreating dementor; the effort it pulled from him made him stagger. He struggled to produce another Patronus, but the ongoing emotional trauma from the thousands of dementors had worn him down. He ran at the dementor like he might be able to chase it off like a dog, blind in his rage. He'd turned away for one moment. One moment. And now...

"Harry! He's gone!" the current Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Grey, quickly grasped Harry by the arm and yanked him back. "He's gone, it's over!"

Harry saw a flash of black from the corner of his eye; he snapped his head to the left and saw another group of dementors coming up from the opposite end of the hall, towards Ginny and Neville, and they both looked as exhausted as Harry felt. He felt terror creeping up his spine, and all at once, he realized that they were going to lose. They were outnumbered in the hundreds by creatures who didn't tire. They had all stopped producing corporeal Patronuses several minutes ago. They were all in a bad way. Harry produced a wisp and then a flicker. His core muscles were quivering; he was so magically exhausted that it was draining every ounce of his physical stamina, too. Around him, wisps surrounded the occasional meek animal form. The dementors weren't even close to retreating. Harry wanted to give up—he was tired, and all he could hear and see were the most terrible things (his parents dying, Sirius going through the veil, Fred's dying smile, Remus's body, Albus choking on blood). But he was able to dig up a brief flicker of James's first laugh, Albus's tiny hand in his, Lulu's first words. Ginny's smile on their wedding day. Laughing with Ron and Hermione at their kitchen table. It was enough to keep him moving forward. It was enough to produce a proper Patronus. But he didn't know if it'd be enough to get them out of this mess.

They wouldn't even last until the backup Aurors arrived at this rate. And if they couldn't hold them off...there would be nothing between the horde and their children. Unless...

He didn't give himself a chance to think it through, because from the moment the solution occurred to him, he knew it was their only chance. It would have to work. It would have to be okay. There was no other solution. He charged over towards Ginny and Neville. Luna got there before he did and shot off a wispy Patronus. It was only barely enough to hold the approaching group of dementors off. Harry could hear everybody yelling at him, frantically asking him what to do next, even Hermione and the current Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Around him was a cacophony of confusion, panic, and 'Harry! Harry!'.

"KEEP HOLDING THEM OFF! I HAVE A PLAN!" he shouted.

Hearing that he had a plan emboldened both Aurors and DA members alike, more than it probably should have. Harry desperately grasped onto Ginny's arm and pulled.

"Come with me, I need you," he said urgently, and without a moment's pause, she took off in the direction he was indicating.

"What are we doing?" she demanded. Harry led her through the Great Hall doors. She narrowed her eyes. "If you're trying to trick me into staying in here—"