Defenders of Hogwarts (Harry Potter and the Two Worlds)
The Wizarding World has been exposed and forced to reunite with the Muggles. After months of riots, the UK government outlawed magic and carried out nationwide persecution of wizards and witches. The British Army is about to invade Hogwarts to cure every student and teacher of magic. Harry Potter and Luna Scamander head for Dumbledore's Grave to get the Elder Wand and save their friends and families before the magic dies.
Click here for the full story: "Harry Potter and the Two Worlds, " Birger, AO3
November 2019
The first wave of helicopters passed low over the landscapes surrounding Hogwarts. Their searchlights were now sweeping across the dark expanse of the Forbidden Forest. Ropes were dropped from the helicopters as battalions of British soldiers descended into the forest.
None of them had ever seen a place like this. The forest loomed like a living thing with trees older than civilization.
"Bloody hell," one of the privates muttered, clutching his rifle tighter. "Feels like walkin' into hell itself."
"Stay sharp," their captain hissed. "Eyes open. Anything moves, you shoot."
They advanced in formation, heading into the unknown. The air was thick, humid, and alive with whispers. Suddenly, the whispering stopped.
An arrow flew out of the darkness and buried itself in the nearest soldier's shoulder. He screamed and collapsed to the ground. Before anyone could react, a dozen more arrows followed, striking from the shadows of the trees.
"CENTAURS!" someone shouted.
Shapes emerged from the mist: tall, fierce beings, half man and half beast. Their leader, Bane, stood in the front.
"Leave this place, men of iron and smoke!" he thundered. "The forest does not answer to your queen or your false gods!"
The captain raised his rifle.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Gunfire split the night. The forest exploded into chaos. Bane fell to the ground screaming in agony as waves of bullets tore him apart. The other centaurs retreated behind the trees.
The soldiers fired wildly into the trees, cutting down branches and splintering bark. But the centaurs were fast. They moved like shadows and struck the soldiers with deadly precision.
Hundreds of centaurs charged toward the soldiers and fired their arrows. The front line of soldiers fell under the onslaught.
Then came the sound no human ear should ever hear. A thousand skittering legs approached. From the deeper shadows of the forest, Acromantulas poured forth. Giant spiders as large as horses descended from the treetops. The soldiers screamed as the creatures engulfed their vans and armored trucks, wrapping them in thick silk. Gunfire tore through the webs, but for every spider that fell, three more replaced it.
A soldier fired a grenade launcher, the explosion lit the forest in a blinding flash. The shockwave sent spider limbs flying and the smell of burning web filled the air.
The centaurs fought alongside the chaos, loosing arrows at both spiders and soldiers, caught in the madness of war. For the first time in centuries, the Forbidden Forest truly lived up to its name.
...
The distant thunder of helicopters had grown into a constant roar. The sky above Hogsmeade glowed an eerie orange, lit by the burning edges of the Forbidden Forest.
Aberforth Dumbledore shouted orders while running past Hogsmeade's fortified buildings. "Get everyone to cover! Lock the doors, seal the windows!"
Beside him, Madam Rosmerta rallied the terrified villagers; shopkeepers, students who had stayed behind, and old witches too stubborn to flee.
From the misty hills surrounding the village, military trucks appeared with headlights cutting through the darkness. A voice shouted over loudspeakers:
"By order of the Prime Minister, all citizens possessing magical abilities are under arrest! Lay down your wands and surrender immediately!"
Aberforth felt that the end was near.
"They've come for the children."
Rosmerta stood her ground.
"Then they'll have to get through us first."
With a wave of his wand, Aberforth conjured a barrier of blue flame across the High Street; a shimmering wall of heat that rippled in the wind. Spells from dozens of villagers arced through the air, striking the advancing soldiers. Stunners, disarming charms, and hexes burst like fireworks but to their horror, the soldiers barely flinched.
"They're resistant!" Rosmerta cried out. "Our spells aren't working!"
The soldiers returned fire. The sound of gunfire split the air. Sparks flew as bullets tore through the protective charms around buildings. The Shield Charms shattered like glass.
A villager screamed and fell. Then another.
Aberforth ducked behind a fountain. "Merlin's beard..." he muttered to himself. "They've made weapons to kill wizards."
Rosmerta pulled him toward the Three Broomsticks while dragging a bleeding witch by the arm. The tavern's wooden sign swung wildly in the storm as they burst through the door, slamming it behind them.
Inside, chaos reigned. Tables had been overturned as wounded villagers took cover. Rosmerta raised her wand and cast a series of protective charms over the windows.
"We can't hold them off much longer!" she shouted.
Aberforth's eyes blazed with fury. "Then we'll give them something to remember."
Outside, the pounding of boots echoed through the streets. The soldiers had reached the door, guns raised, flashlights cutting through the broken glass.
Rosmerta grabbed Aberforth's arm. "Don't do it—"
But it was too late. Aberforth thrust his wand toward the ceiling.
"Incendio Maxima!"
A roaring wave of fire exploded from his wand, engulfing the entire tavern in an inferno. The flames spread like a living creature, devouring curtains, tables, and beams in seconds. The soldiers stumbled back as the windows burst outward in a spray of molten glass. The firelight painted the sky crimson.
Rosmerta screamed as the heat surged around them. Aberforth seized her hand.
"HOLD ON!"
With a crack of displaced air, they apparated, vanishing just as the roof of the Three Broomsticks collapsed in flames.
From the hillside above, they reappeared, coughing from smoke, watching as the tavern burned.
Rosmerta fell to her knees, tears streaking down her face. "My tavern... my home..."
Aberforth stood beside her, heartbroken to see what had become of their home. Perhaps, Grindelwald was right about the Muggles.
"Better burned than taken," he said quietly. "We'll rebuild when this is over, if there's anything left to rebuild."
Below them, the soldiers advanced through the smoldering ruins of Hogsmeade. Gunshots echoed by the second, indicating that the soldiers were no longer taking any prisoners.
-
The first assaults had begun on land, but now the second wave came by water. Military boats roared across the surface of the Black Lake. Their engines echoed off the cliffs of Hogwarts like thunder. Inside the lead vessel, the soldiers sat tense and silent with their weapons ready.
"Orders are to reach the shore, breach the gates, and establish a perimeter," the commander shouted into his radio. "No mercy for armed resistance."
Nature itself had other plans, however. Beneath the dark surface, something stirred, something ancient and vast. The soldiers didn't notice the water bulging outward on either side of their boats until it was too late. A shadow the size of a house rose beneath them.
Then, with a sound like a mountain breaking, the Giant Squid erupted from the depths. Its enormous tentacles wrapped around the nearest vessel, crushing steel like tin foil. Soldiers screamed as the boat tilted violently, throwing men and gear into the icy water.
"OPEN FIRE!" the commander shouted. Gunfire echoed through the mist, but bullets disappeared uselessly into the waves.
The squid's massive eye glimmered with cold intelligence as another tentacle smashed through a second boat, splintering its hull. One by one, the invading craft were seized, capsized, or dragged beneath the water.
From the depths below, a haunting melody rose. The Merpeople had joined the fight. Armed with coral tridents and jagged spears of bone, dozens of mermaids and mermen burst from the waves, attacking the floundering soldiers. They shattered propellers with magic-infused nets, pulled men from the water, and dragged them down into the dark abyss. Some soldiers tried to swim for the shore, but shimmering hands reached from beneath and pulled them under.
The last surviving military vessel tried to retreat but a massive whirlpool formed at the center of the lake, sucking it down. In seconds, it was gone, leaving only silence and rippling waves. Only floating wreckage, helmets, crates, and burning fuel marked where the invaders had been.
The mermaids resurfaced briefly, raising their tridents in silent salute toward the castle's towers. Then they vanished beneath the depths once more.
-
The wind howled across the Hogwarts Bridge, carrying with it the acrid scent of smoke and the faint echo of distant explosions. Beneath the shimmering folds of the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and Luna moved quickly but cautiously toward the resting place of Albus Dumbledore.
Every few seconds, Harry glanced back toward the castle. The towers glowed faintly blue, encased in the Protego Maxima barrier that shimmered like glass against the black clouds above.
"Almost there," Harry muttered. His right hand clutched the cloak around them, the other holding Luna's arm to guide her through the darkness.
Then a low, unnatural hum filled the air. Luna's dreamy eyes tilted upward, and her expression turned grim.
"They're coming," she whispered.
From above the treeline, the night sky filled with attack drones meant to kill enemies from long distances. A moment later, missiles streaked down toward the castle in glowing trails of fire.
Harry and Luna ducked behind the bridge's stone archway as the missiles struck the shimmering dome over Hogwarts.
Each explosion sent a shockwave rolling across the valley. The Protego Maxima flared blindingly bright and then cracked like glass, and splintered into a thousand fragments of blue light before vanishing altogether.
For a single breath, there was silence. Then, from within the castle walls, came the screams. The wards had fallen.
Inside, teachers and students alike felt the world unravel around them. The floor of the Great Hall quaked; chandeliers shattered. McGonagall and Neville braced themselves as debris rained from the ceiling. Ron held Ginny tightly. The portraits wailed, the ghosts screamed warnings.
Inside the Room of Requirement, Dudley held Lily close, as the sound of distant explosions echoed through the stone. All the children panicked, fearing the worst. Albus Severus and Scorpius held each other tightly. Hugo hugged Rose. who looked like she might faint. James Sirius had dropped any impression of courage and was now pissing in his pants.
"It's all right," Dudley said. "It's... it's just noise, yeah? Just noise."
Lily buried her face in his chest, and he tightened his arms around her, desperate to protect the niece he'd only just met.
Above the castle, helicopters ascended like birds of prey. A massive helicopter hovered above the Astronomy Tower, floodlights cutting through the smoke as soldiers prepared to rappel down into the castle grounds.
However, the castle itself was not silent. A chilling chorus of laughter and wails rose from the walls. Out of the tower's highest windows poured a legion of ghosts led by the Bloody Baron. His eyes burned with cold rage, determined to defend the castle even while dead. The Grey Lady and Nearly Headless Nick followed close behind.
They swooped through the air toward the helicopter. Their screams pierced through the pilot's headset, causing him to scream in pain. Instruments flickered and died. The rotors slowed down.
"What the—? Controls are gone!" the pilot shouted.
The helicopter spun out of control, tilted sideways, and then plummeted, crashing into the Black Lake below, drowning every soldier.
Harry and Luna stood frozen on the bridge. However, more and more helicopters flew above them, towering over the castle.
"Merlin's beard..." Harry whispered.
Luna looked toward him.
"They're frightened, Harry. Everyone is. But you can't help them from here."
Harry watched the smoke rise above the castle towers.
"My family's in there, Luna... Ginny, the kids, Ron... What if—"
"If you falter now," Luna interrupted softly, "then Dumbledore's grave will be for nothing. You need the Elder Wand. It's the only thing that can end this."
Harry knew she was right and nodded, forcing the panic back down. The castle's cries echoed across the valley like a wounded beast, but he turned away from it, reminding himself to stay focused on the mission.
"Let's finish this," he said.
Together, cloaked in shadow, Harry and Luna pressed on across the bridge, heading toward Dumbledore's grave and the last hope Hogwarts had left.
