The most terrifying part of preparing for a battle, Harry thought, was the waiting. June 1st had fallen upon them, and while they had kept up appearances regarding business as usual to the rest of Hogwarts, The Order of the Phoenix and the Sphinx Club had been working very hard behind the scenes to ready not only the safe evacuation of students, but also the proper defense of the school.
It had started with a private meeting between Harry, Dumbledore, Susan, and Amelia Bones, although Harry and Susan were really only there as a cover. To everyone else, this had merely been a small get together to celebrate Harry and Susan's engagement, Dumbledore acting as a chaperone. To them though, it was a time to request the support of aurors for the assault on Hogwarts.
Amelia was initially furious that Susan was expecting to fight in the event at all, but the Hufflepuff girl had fought back considerably, saying that it was her fiancee who was in the most danger, and she wouldn't want him fighting without her there to watch his back. She owed him a life debt for saving her from Voldemort before, and wasn't about to just sit back and wait while Harry saved everyone again. She would be participating, and if Amelia was so worried, she would find aurors to join them.
Susan's outburst had been surprising, but Amelia had only smiled and mentioned how much like her father she truly was. A small contingent of aurors, ones who wouldn't be noticed as missing the day of, and were unquestionably loyal, would be dispatched to Hogwarts via a private floo immediately once exams were over for the day.There had only been 15 who matched that description, but a further five would be in Hogsmeade and could be ready to assist within moments.
That just left everyone where they currently were, looking over the map of Hogwarts one last time in the Great Hall, as they made final plans. "There's only four entrances we need to cover, here, here, here and here." Harry said, pointing out the locations on their map. "Charlie, Nym, Luna, Hagrid, and Susan should be good near the forbidden forest there. I imagine if they're going to have anyone coming from that location, they'll be supported by that giant clan. Are you all sure you can handle that?"
Charlie Weasley shot a wide grin, his arm wrapped around Nymphadora's shoulders. "I don't think those lousy Death Eaters have any idea what's coming for them. They won't make it past us." He assured, before continuing. "Luna's idea really was fantastic though. Shame she's got no interest in dragon taming, I'd have killed to have her in Romania."
"I don't think I'd be very happy being so far away from Harry." Luna said, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "Perhaps I'll make my own sanctuary here in Britain."
"Topic for another time. Neville, Hannah, Cedric, Professor Sprout, and Cho. You guys sure about your corridor?" Harry asked, glancing over the section. They had without a doubt what was expected to be the main thoroughfare, but that had been exactly why their team was picked for it.
"As long as we're good to fall back here once it gets lit up, I think we'll be fine. I imagine we'll manage to get at least 20 of them completely incapacitated before we need to fall back, more if they bunch up like we think they will." Neville said, shifting his harness around. Harry was frankly terrified with Neville's ingenuity, and it showed with what he'd constructed. Neville had constantly been fascinated with the various predatory plants of the wizarding world, and had theorized one could use them on offense. To that end, he had somehow created a harness that placed two Peruvian Man-Eaters over his shoulders, that through use of a plant communication spell, would attack targets at his discretion. Harry had seen what the plants could do when left to their own devices, but with an actual intelligence calling the shots, he was interested to see how they'd manage against the Death Eaters.
"Alright, the aurors have the other two corridors, and they'll have the armors to back them up." Harry said, looking at one of the other entrances. The aurors had been put together because they had more experience working with each other than anyone else. The Sphinx Club and the Order of the Phoenix had to rely more on being crafty and surprising, which left little room for the strict, disciplined actions the aurors took. "Everyone know where they are to fall back to?"
"Yes." Came the cry from those who would be on the front lines. Realistically, the plan was to just pick off as many Death Eaters as they could while funneling the remains into the Great Hall. Harry and Dumbledore would fight Voldemort there, and they just needed to make sure the number of other Death Eaters were manageable. Every one that fell in the entryways was one that didn't need to be dealt with later. Giving up ground wasn't an issue, but losing fighters was. Aside from the tragedy that would be the loss of life, it also made the rest of their position weaker. There were just under sixty fighters, expecting to hold off against roughly three hundred. Purely numbers wise, that meant they each needed to take down five, assuming they couldn't rout them.
"Then I believe it is time for the students to be relocated to the Room of Requirement." Dumbledore said with a nod. "Minerva, Pomona, Filius, Septima, please inform the prefects and begin moving the students. Those of you who aren't actively fighting, please go with them." He added. Unsurprisingly, Snape had been called away immediately once classes were over for the day, making it even more apparent that the assault was coming. "To the rest of us… I believe we may wish to attend our stations. We have guests arriving soon, and I dare say we must try and give them a very warm welcome." A light chuckle had gone through the crowd at that, and Susan and Luna came up to Harry giving him one last kiss before they went to their stations. Various Order members were stationed along the routes, acting as additional support, and cover for when the first force needed to fall further back. They were likely to be attacked on multiple fronts, but the hallways made excellent choke points. It would be very hard to push through them.
"We will win, Harry." Hermione said, grasping his hand tightly. "You know as well as I do that there is no way Voldemort will be prepared for what we have in store. He simply couldn't imagine we could get all of this ready in time."
Harry nodded, hoping to absorb some of Hermione's optimism about the situation. She was correct that they had certainly made Hogwarts nearly impenetrable, but he couldn't help but worry still. There was still so much more they could have done, had they more time.
"Drink up, loverboy." Daphne said, before pouring a potion in her mouth and planting a kiss on his lips, forcing him to drink down the liquid. "Calming potion, keeps the nerves down. Shortened duration, because some anxiety is going to be good when the fighting starts, but you being twitchy before then won't help matters at all."
"And the kiss?" Padma asked with an eyeroll, although a small smile could be seen on her face.
"Remind him what he's fighting for, of course. That and I needed some too, my nerves have me shaking, so a bit of calming potion will be doing me wonders." Daphne said, a rare vulnerability in her voice. Harry looked down at her hands, and he could see how badly they were trembling. "I've got potions on hand ready to deal with anything. Wish I'd had the time for some liquid luck, but no dice. Just… Harry. I love you. I love you so damn much. So you better come out of this, because if you don't… I'm not sure what I'll do, but I do know you won't like it at all." She added, her words breaking before she wrapped her arms around him and crushed him into a hug. "I need you. So you can't leave me."
"I won't. I promise." Harry said, wrapping her up in his arms and kissing the top of her head.
She held onto him for a moment more, before pulling away. "I've got to go help Tracy with distributing potions. Hermione, Padma? You two keep him in line."
"Understood." Hermione said, nodding at her friend.
With that, they finished what remained of their preparations, as they awaited the assault.
Luna, Susan, Nymphadora, and Hagrid stood behind a barricade the half-giant had erected. Turned over stone benches and stacks of barrels made the corridor an attacker's nightmare, all but demanding any intruders blasting their way through, lest they be slowed to a snails pace trying to climb over it, which would only lead to them being picked off. Hagrid fiddled with his crossbow, normally an implement he'd used to deal with the bigger beasts that caused havoc for his thestral flock, like the peryton he'd made Harry's flute out of those few years ago. Today though, he wielded it to protect Hogwarts. To protect the students he'd come to hold dear. Hogwarts was his home, and he would defend it to his last.
"Ya' sure about this, Ms. Luna?" Hagrid asked nervously. While he had given his assistance in every way he could, the entirety of their plan for this corridor had been constructed by Luna, and relied in no small part on her unique advantages.
Luna simply shot him a dreamy smile. "As sure as I can be. I'm nervous and uncertain of course, but that's what it is. We just have to pick as many off as we can. Even one Death Eater stopped here is a victory, and I'm certain we can handle more than just one."
"Yer right abou' tha'." Hagrid chuckled, as he turned his ear towards the door. "I hear rumblin' I think they're coming."
"Then we best be ready." Luna said, before she walked her way over to one of the secret weapons of this corridor. Smiling at him, Luna asked. "Fluffy, could you please lower your head so I may ride you?"
The three headed dog lowered down one of his heads, letting Luna climb up onto it as she took position. Luna had quite a way of working with animals, and that had been the crux of her plan for holding this corridor. It was nearest to the Forbidden Forest, and that meant that hiding her own army had been rather easy.
Within a moment, the sounds of battle started, as Luna's plan began to go off. Once the giants were in sight, Charlie, who had been waiting outside, let Norberta off her leash, letting the age-old feud between Dragons and Giants begin again, the Norwegian Ridgeback began to strafe around the towering humanoids, flames shooting from her mouth as she roasted them to bits. Several Death Eater handlers were caught in the crossfire, which was a lovely bonus.
From the forest, a war horn sounded, as a platoon of centaurs with Firenz at the front readied long bows, peppering the oncoming forces with arrows. A swarm of acromantulas of all sizes also began to pour from the forest, subduing even more Death Eaters as they became new meals for the colony.
By the time the force had even made it to the doors, they only numbered 50 and 5 giants. By the time they'd gotten the doors open? 40 and 3 giants, the rest having been engulfed by a final sweep of dragon fire. The remaining Death Eaters rushed into the hallway, trying to avoid the beasts that were destroying them from outside, only to be met with the four defenders inside who started to pepper them with their own spells and crossbow bolts.
Hagrid was deadly with his crossbow, which was unsurprising when you remembered what he did with it. Perytons and griffins were his primary targets he had to use it for, and they were incredibly maneuverable airborne attackers, each of them far more durable than a normal human. Death Eaters were slow, limited to the ground, and far less durable than even the lamest of griffins. Hagrid had managed to knock off an additional five before they even made it to the barricade.
Nymphadora was a trained auror for a reason. She caught the bunched up group of Death Eaters with a powerful reductor, taking out several per shot, and forcing them to panic. Susan fired more precise controlled spells to pick off others, but her primary focus was on Fluffy.
While Susan never considered herself to be the best witch amongst her sister-wives, she did know there was one subject she excelled in far about the rest of them, and that was transfiguration, and over the past month, she had given all her focus onto one thing. The temporary transfiguration of flesh to basilisk scales.
Fluffy was a force of nature with his new protective armor. Spells could only bounce off of his hide as his three heads and powerful paws ripped and tore at the Death Eaters around him, spurred on by Luna's guiding hand. She had also assisted in a few spells for Fluffy, pre-cast before his basilisk scales so they wouldn't reflect off later. They'd been simple strength and speed augmentations, and the cerberus would likely be very sore once this was over, but she'd promised him some very juicy steaks after this, and for that, Fluffy would do just about anything.
The initial assault had tired them out, but it had also severely dropped the number of Death Eaters. As they fell back further into the castle, Fleur and Marianne covering their retreat with a wall of fire that caught even more Death eaters, only twenty of the original force remained, and as a few other order members fired spells at the scattered attackers, that number kept dropping.