Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 106: Rescue Mission
"Expecto Patronum!"
Constructs of light were flying across the sky, and dementors let out loud cries that showed their displeasure.
"Careful!"
One of the New Order members was able to break the lock of the door that led to the last floor of the fortress, but as soon as he opened it up, he was welcomed by a barrage of bullets.
A small squad of kobalos demons had been standing in wait, ready to kill the first one who dared to venture inside.
"Protego!" A wizard stood in front of his injured companion, blocking the bullets.
"Take those blue demons down, quickly!" Moody led the charge inside, shooting spells at the small demons.
The dementors flew away, only to regroup on the lower levels.
The assault on the Azkaban fortress had officially begun.
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"Huff… huff…" Tonks had to lean against the wall to avoid falling, but her eyes were constantly scanning her surroundings.
Without even noticing when it happened, she realized that she was now alone.
She could still hear sounds of battle echoing in the distance, but the wizards and witches who had been fighting at her side for the past hour were no longer there.
"Dead…" She had been so focused on avoiding getting killed after being ambushed by those nasty shadow demons that she even lost track of where she was.
Tonks found herself at the entrance of a large chamber.
"The dining hall?" It was very different from the cozy hall she remembered from the time she spent here as a newbie auror.
It almost felt like that was ages ago, but only a few months had passed since she lost her friend and was resigned to work with her old instructor.
"Grr…" She gritted her teeth as she went to move her legs.
Her eyes moved down and saw a deep cut on her right calf. She didn't even realize when that happened.
The adrenaline must have kept her from feeling any pain, but that was passing now.
Tonks took another healing potion from her belt. "Shit… last one."
After pouring half the contents of the flask on the wound and drinking the other half, she felt much better.
The leg still ached, but she would be able to run if needed.
Tonks began to make her way across the hall, very slowly and with extreme care.
Her destination was only one floor away.
What worried her was that, despite all the demons they had encountered so far, Harry Potter himself was yet to make an appearance.
Meaning there was a good chance she would be the first one to encounter him.
As much as she wanted to make him pay for what he had done to her in the past, Tonks was not arrogant enough to believe she had a chance of fighting the Demon Lord by herself.
Just then, she heard a loud noise coming from the other side of the hall, where the kitchen was located. It sounded metallic, as if someone had knocked over a bunch of cooking utensils.
Tonks gripped her wand firmly, and the moment she saw a small red figure emerging from the room, she fired. "Terebrare!"
Her piercing jinx went through the head of the unlucky imp, killing it instantly.
"Hiiiiii!" The small red demons always moved in large groups, and as the first one died, the others let out a loud noise that resembled something akin to a human laugh.
Something they had learned about imps was that they cared little for their comrades and would often use each other as meat shields so they could reach their prey.
Tonks saw a dozen more of those red little monsters come out running at full speed.
'If they surround me… I'm dead.' She had to remind herself that she was alone.
Her eyes shifted to the stairs she had just used to get here. There was no chance to make it across the hall, so she could only run back to where she came from.
"Ignis!" She threw a barrage of fireballs at the wooden pieces of furniture that were scattered across the dining area.
"Diffindo!" When the imps were about to pass by the burning tables, she made them explode into a thousand pieces.
Tonks did not waste a second to see the effects of her magic, but was sure that she had gotten at least a few of them.
Her legs moved as fast as possible, and she reached the stairs.
By the sounds they made, she knew that the remaining imps were getting very close to her, but she had no time to look back.
As soon as she reached the fourth level of the prison, and without turning her head around, she fired another spell. "Bombarda!"
The cracking noises of the stone breaking apart were combined with the cries of the imps.
Tonks knew that this would not be enough to collapse the entrance, as Azkaban's walls were all heavily enchanted to resist destruction.
'Only need a second.' She made a sharp turn to the right and rushed straight for the nearest window.
Without hesitation, she jumped outside, and this time, she could see at least half a dozen imps jumping after her.
One of the nasty creatures managed to latch onto her leg, but she had bigger concerns right now, as she was free-falling toward the rocky ground of the island.
Tonks made use of her quick reaction to blast a spell in the opposite direction, propelling herself back against the building, and was barely able to use her left hand to reach one of the barred windows.
"Ahhh! You bastard!" She looked down at the imp who was holding onto one of her boots and had used its long, sharp nails to dig into her flesh.
"Get… off!" Tonks used her other foot to stomp on the head of the creature, forcing it to release her and fall to its death.
With the most immediate threat neutralized, she could return her attention to the window itself.
"Reducto!" She had to apply a lot of power to her spell to affect one of the metallic bars, and it was enough to make her vision blurry.
However, she was immediately rewarded by the sight of the bars breaking apart, giving her enough space to crawl back in.
"Who are you?"
Tonks was startled by the sudden voice asking her a question. When she moved her sight toward the sound, she finally found what she had been looking for.