(Y/N)'s POV

"I can't believe this. I've always wanted to blow up something in Hogwarts, and on the day I finally get my chance I'm being led into a sewer system to go and de-fang a snake." I was being dragged along by the wrist as Ron collected some brooms from a cabinet.

Hermione, Ron, and I shuffled along the castle, finding Myrtle's bathroom, the only thing me distracting from my moaning was the nostalgia that came with it.

"Stop being a baby!" Hermione snapped as we swung open the bathroom door. We all but ignored Myrtle's wailing as we did, seeing it was getting her nowhere, she gave up and flushed herself down a toilet for attention.

We found the snake sink, shut up tight after we had escaped it all those years ago. "Ohh, can I blow this up instead?" I asked, almost pleading with Hermione as she spun the tap, not changing anything. She looked at me tiredly, "No."

"We have to use Parseltongue for this bit remember" said Ron, shifting his weight along the tile. I gestured to the sink, "Be my guest Ron." He took a deep breath and sort of glared at the sink.

"Hashashahhishi" came tumbling out of his mouth. "You alright there Ron? You smell toast?" I sighed, "You try it then!" I shrugged, "It's more like. Haaashhahiiishhi" I said, glaring at the snake. It remained solid.

Ron sighed; Hermione looked bewildered at this turn of events. But equally amused that we were talking nonsense to a set of taps. Smirking at us looking pleased with herself. "Fine, I'm blowing it up!" I said finally, giving up on subtlety.

"Wait. One more go!" said Ron, looking determined. I sighed. This time he seemed to go blank faced, his mouth barely moving, out of his mouth came something that was closer to a hiss then a word. Even without the satisfying 'Clunk!' the sink let out; I knew it had worked.

Just like it had done all those years ago, the sink sank. It brought a smile to my face, "Nice!" I said, high fiving Ron. The sink dropped and in its place was a copper looking tube that led down to the chamber.

"It's not as big as I remember." I commented, then I saw something and jumped in excitement. "It's still here! Look!" I pointed to a faded dark spot on the side of the tunnel, leading down in a streak for a few centimetres.

Ron chuckled and shook his head, Hermione inspected it, "What is it?" I was so happy she asked. "That, my dear Hermione, is the bloodstain from the exact spot where I broke Lockhart's nose." She took a step back from it and wrinkled her nose.

"That is vile" "That is wicked" I corrected. "I was such a cool kid." I said proudly, "Yeah, what happened?" joked Ron. I stuck my tongue out at him and gently shoved him towards the tunnel.

He went down first, hanging his legs over the edge and pushing him forward. Hermione looked worried as we heard him impact the floor below. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked quickly, I shook my head, "No, that's why I made Ron go first" I winked.

"I heard that!" echoed up the tunnel. Followed by "Come down. It's safe!" We did so, I went first, then Hermione, I caught her before she hit the bottom, rather smoothly if I do say so myself, she quickly got flustered and wriggled out of my arms.

"Follow me, I'll give you the tour!" I chirped cheerily. "Watch the rat bones" I said to spook her a little, to my delight, there was a little 'crunch' beneath our feet, and she gave a little shriek. I felt like a teasing twelve-year-old again.

As promised, I took Hermione on a tour as we delved deeper into the chamber, "This is a really big snake shedding, over there is where Lockhart pretended to faint." I pointed to the rocks obstructing us, "And the aftermath"

We cleared the debris so adults could shuffle through it, it took no time at all, unlike a few years ago. This was all new territory for them both, so they followed my lead towards the big door that stopped us.

"Parseltongue again. You want to try 'Mione?" I asked, she shook her head, "No thank you, and how is it that you and Ron can speak it in the first place?" "Harry talks in his sleep" we said in tandem. "Haven't you noticed?" asked Ron fairly.

"N-no, of course not" she said, holding herself a bit, there was a twist in my stomach, but I put it aside. "Dean falls out of the bed, Seamus kicks his covers off, both he and Neville snore, and Ron wakes up a lot, mumbles to himself, then goes straight back to sleep."

I explained their habits that I had come to accept over the years, she just said, "Thank you for the information?" and kept walking. "You're welcome" I sassed, "Well, we don't go on walkabouts halfway through the night and wake everyone up!" defended Ron.

"I wish you bloody would!" I nudged him and he spoke to the door, after a few tries the snakes coiled backwards, swinging the door open. As it did, the air seemed to pour out of it, stale and heavy as we entered.

I breathed in as we entered and regretted it, my nose wrinkled, the taste of dust and decay clung to my tongue. "Blimey!" said Ron, Hermione was amazed, "Look at this architecture!" she cried like a kid on Christmas.

I had to agree, even after all these years, it was an absolute marvel. The room emanated nobility and power. The Chamber was flanked with towering pillars that were entwined with carved wood, and the Statue of Slytherin was at the far end.

"I'd say Salazar Slytherin was pretty full of himself. Wouldn't you?" I joked to them, fulfilling a need that I didn't know I had kept with me all these years and resisting the urge to high five myself. We walked through the passage, our footsteps echoing across the room.

I continued the tour, pointing around the room, "This is where Snakeface Jr. threw me and I broke my fingers and my wrist, over there was where my hatred of the full body bind first began."

"That's where I clocked him one, that's were your scarf saved my life Hermione, and that's the hole I left as I flung curses at Riddle and-" I stopped talking as I saw it, the skeletal remains of the basilisk.

Colossal and imposing, even in death, its teeth still bared, and it's bones a bleached white, the sockets of its eyes were empty, but I still avoided them. I don't know why.

They still held a sort of hold in them, when I finally investigated them I almost shuddered, it was still as frightening as ever. But I found it comforting that some of the area around it's face was blackened, a contrast to the bone that surrounded it.

I walked down the length of the snake, tracing my fingers across the bone and the burn marks still present across its body. "And this. Is what remains of Salazar Slytherin's Monster. It used to hide in the mouth of that thing." I pointed to the partially destroyed statue.

"And right here, on this very spot. Is where I destroyed Tom Riddles Diary with the sword." I pointed beneath me. As I walked back Ron looked at his watch, "We best not hang about, it's nearly midnight"

remembering our task, I nodded and we began pulling the fangs from the basilisk with little effort, I felt almost disrespectful. If it hadn't tried to kill me, I would have felt a lot worse about essentially desecrating the corpse of a rare and majestic creature.

Once we had separated the fangs from the beast Hermione fished in her purse for the Horcrux. "Here it is!" she pulled out the cup, trying to pass it to one of us, I shook my head, for all I knew this one would have a fake Hermione kiss Neville if I did it.

Ron was in agreement with me, he turned to Hermione, "You do it" he said firmly, she shook her head, "I can't" I put my hand on her shoulder, "Yes. You can" I encouraged her as Ron pressed a fang into her hand.

We held the cup steady, both of us pinning it to the floor. She knelt beside it, taking a deep breath, she shared one final glance with me and then rose her hand high above her head. As she did, I began to hear whispers and murmurings from the cup.

But before it could do anything, she swing downwards, as the fang pierced the cup it made a sound as if a bell had been struck, it echoed throughout the chamber, perhaps even the castle, and there was a single breath where nothing happened.

Then, like a balloon deflating, it skidded across the floor, the great echoing noise giving way for a deep rumbling, we were startled to our feet and it was a good ting too, the water that was either side of us started to bubble.

As we backed away from it, there was an eruption, a tornado like torrent of water rose high above our heads, almost taking the form of a humanoid, the shape of a face was semi-visible beneath the water.

As we backed against a wall and stood there, unable to flee, it collapsed upon us like a great sleeping beast, soaking us to the bone. My only thought as I spat out what I could only assume was sewer water was "That wasn't as bad as last time."

There was a brief tension in the air before giddiness arose in my chest, we were one step closer to defeating Voldemort, the others shared my happy sentiments, we all cheered and hugged in joy. I kissed Hermione deeply, then almost retched, "Sorry...water" I said as we both gagged.

We quickly retreated from the chamber, it was ten minutes to midnight as we flew up on a broom through the bathroom tunnel and out into the castle, it took another two minutes to find a familiar face.

He skidded around a corner and with a yell of mingled relief and fury he saw us with our arms full of large, curved, dirty yellow objects, Ron with a broomstick under his arm. "Where the hell have you been?" Harry shouted.

"Chamber of Secrets," said Ron. "Chamber — what?" said Harry, coming to an unsteady halt before us. "It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" said Hermione breathlessly.

"Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't got rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The basilisk!"

"What the — ?" "Something to get rid of Horcruxes," said Ron simply. Harry's eyes dropped to the objects clutched in our arms: the great curved fangs, torn, it dawned on him and he beamed at us.

"But how did you get in there?" he asked, staring from the fangs to Ron. "You need to speak Parseltongue!" "They did!" whispered Hermione. "It was mostly trial and error" I explained. "we got there in the end." Said Hermione happily.

"So, we're another Horcrux down," said Ron, and from under his jacket he pulled the mangled remains of Hufflepuff's cup. "Hermione stabbed it. Thought she should. She hasn't had the pleasure yet."

"So, what's new with you?" As he said it, there was an explosion from overhead: We all looked up as dust fell from the ceiling and heard a distant scream. "I know what the diadem looks like, and I know where it is," said Harry, talking fast.

"He hid it exactly where I hid my old Potions book, where everyone's been hiding stuff for centuries. He thought he was the only one to find it. Come on."

"Hang on a moment!" said Ron sharply. "We've forgotten someone!" "Who?" asked Hermione. "The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?" "You mean we ought to get them fighting?" asked Harry.

"No," said Ron seriously, "I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbies, do we? We can't order them to die for us" I felt a great swell of pride as Ron became part of the S.P.E.W. crew.

As we freed the house elves from the kitchens, I paused, a ticking sound intensified in my ears, I knew I should go somewhere other than the Room of Requirement, it was ten to midnight. "I'll meet you there!" I called, nicking a broom and, darting off in another direction.

"What? Where are you going!" cried Hermione. "I'm giving Voldemort a present for his big day; he'll open it at midnight. You'll see!" As I sprinted across the castle, I collided with Professor Lupin.

"Professor take me to the battlements; I have a surprise for Voldemort at midnight. Something to slow him down." He nodded and we sprinted up there. As we reached the peak of it, I watched in amazement as a dome made of glimmering light seemed to encapsulate the castle.

We met Kingsley along the way, "Afternoon, are you here to arrest me?" I joked, "I think there are bigger issues at hand. And rest assured, should we survive the night, and if I am elected to office, I will see to it personally you receive a full pardon"

I smiled, "Well, you'd have my vote as long as you did me a little favour after all this is over-" He cocked his head and asked what, but I was stopped in my tracks, pointing to something on the horizon of the forbidden forest.

An army of Death Eaters, monsters, snatchers, and supporters of Voldemort were waiting just outside the barrier, launching spells that ricocheted of the bubble harmlessly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Dark Lord himself was there.

"I expected there to be more music, maybe some war drums at least" I swallowed some nerves, Kingsley chuckled, "Somehow, I don't think the Dark Lord is one for theatrics" I nodded, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"You've clearly never heard him try to give a speech" I chuckled, trying to calm my heartbeat. "Seriously though, whenever I pictured this in my head there was always an orchestra playing in the background."

They both let out grim smiles, "Why do you think he opts for theatrics, what does he wish to convey?" Lupin enquired. I muttered under my breath, "I've got an unbeatable wand, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough."

Cracking a nervous smile I realised I couldn't even count how many figures there were shifting about in the darkness. For the first time, my heart sank at the prospect of a fight. "There is a lot more of them then I thought there would be though"

"It's the quality of one's conviction that determines success, not the number of one's followers." Lupin stared straight ahead as he said it, as did Shacklebolt. "Who said that?" he enquired "Me." For the first time, they looked at each other, sharing a fatalistic smile.

Before I could do my own theatrics, my heart dropped as Lupin said, "Speaking of quality" and Tonks rushed past me and Kingsley, leaping into Lupin's embrace.

He hugged her deeply, but clearly was as shocked as I was. "You shouldn't have. It's Teddy who needs you." "He'll sleep 'til dawn and snore like his father. It's you who needs me tonight." As touching as it was, I couldn't allow it.

"Absolutely not! As Godfather, I am Vetoing this right-" Tonks gave me a glare that was shockingly like one of my mother's "I'm doing this. Like it or not" she said, "NOT!" I argued, but as we got into the final minute before midnight, my attention was drawn elsewhere.

"This isn't over!" I called as I took a running start. "What are you doing!" she called out as I jumped towards the battlements edge. "Being the shield" I said as I balanced precariously on the edge. "Hey Kingsley, remember you asked me to teach my charm? Watch and learn."

I elevated my wand to be level with the crowd shifting menacingly outside the bubble. He caught on. He bellowed, "You could die!" " I nodded "Yeah, but at least I can die as I lived, being really loud and a pain in the ass for Voldemort."

I slammed my eyes shut, holding Dumbledore's gift to me in my free hand. "Ok old man, if you were ever going to intervene from wherever that fall from the tower sent you, now's the time." In my mind's eye I imagined the twelve hands of the pocket watch, ticking away.

I watched it get closer and closer to the stroke of midnight when our deadline was up. Then, in a great twist of metal, all the hands began to spin like a compass, a great winding noise accompanying it, then they stopped.

Most of the twelve hands stopped on exactly where midnight should have been, each with its own metallic wind that ended in the same 'Clunk' that reminded me of the Chamber of Secrets.

One of the hands remained ticking. Then, it came to me, the words that had been escaping me for years. Like a secret whispered in my head I could imagine the words in my mind.

As the final hand lined up with the others, it was as if the face of the watch caught fire, contained only by the glass that held the clockwork in place, like a sun behind a glass window. Shining bright and beautiful.

I was pulled out of my own mind by an echoing scream from beyond the treeline, a bright beam of light impacted the shield that surrounded the castle from a single source, a single wand. An ungodly scream split the air at it impacted the barrier. Voldemort had begun the attack.

The shield around the school dissipated, as if it were a bubble that was just freshly popped, there was an audible twinkle it sounded like a mixture of wind chimes and shattering glass. Plumes of smoke rained down upon the castle as the Death Eaters descended.

There was a thundering of feet as his armies charged towards the castle, unhindered by the defences, I heard an explosion off in the distance, presumably the rear entrance, and for a brief second. I felt everything go dead silent.

I realised; I was only hearing my own breathing. I knew this was my moment, the ticking sound stopped. So as Voldemort's forces careened toward Hogwarts, I began preparing myself.

"Ok snakeface," I took a breath, steeling myself and psyching myself up, "What do you make of this?" I extended my wand to the sky where his spell had shattered the barrier. I looked up to the sky, and back down to my pocket watch, confident in the words I was about to utter.

"PROTEGO IGNIS ANIMUS" They were the simple words that empowered my wand. In that instant I felt an untold connection to this spell, as if my soul were being drawn out of my body by the flame. Something finally clicked in my mind, a final piece falling into place, a final tick of the hands.

And like that, the ticking in my head began anew, counting down to some other time, some other date perhaps, in which my life or my heart would be on the line, counting down the seconds of my soul.

A line of fire reminiscent of Voldemort's beam of energy spewed out of my wand, then silver wisps twisted out of the beam like a helix, wrapping around the fire, creating bight white and blue flames.

I thought of this castle, the friends I had made here, the hours I had spent laughing and crying, the hours I spent running down it's halls. Every class I had attended, every prank I had pulled, every step I had taken.

The teardrops I had spilled onto the floor, the blood I had shed in it, the hours I had lied awake worrying about something or other, the nights I was so tired I fallen asleep dreaming of exploring it. Hogwarts was my home. And I was going to protect it with my dying breath.

This conviction manifested itself within the fire and the flames. The wisps of fire at my wand's edges and the whites of the flame changing from shining silver, the reds of the flame becoming the deepest gold.

From this, from the flame of Hogwarts, it came bursting forth like a living being, screeching joyously, in opposition to Voldemort and all he stood for. A phoenix composed of pure, burning hot flame spilled forth from my wand.

It extended its wings brilliantly in a melodic cry. Warmth filled my entire being, I heard the echo of shock fall over Hogwarts. The phoenix sang one note, but it was still a majestic symphony.

And like that, it was gone, its brilliant flame giving way to a barrier to replace the last, a burning orb of golden flame that blazed brightly around Hogwarts, illuminating the darkness of the night.

The forces that had descended into Hogwarts where trapped inside the barrier, cutting them off from reinforcements, The small number of them that were foolish enough to try and retreat back through the barrier were turned to ash that scattered into the wind or were set alight by the flame.

Many the charging forces that had not been fast enough to stop there decent met the same fate. Hundreds of them stumbled, unable to change course in time as the barrier was set alight, leaving nothing more than ashes in their place.

Countless wards were alight on the other side of the barrier trying to destroy it as they had with the last. But any spell that passed through the flames were engulfed by them.

I could feel it from here, the burning, seething rage that Voldemort directed towards me, he knew it was me. It was as if we were looking at each other, feet apart. I felt his malice rattling in my head.

He felt my smug sense of pride at his anger. I hoped he could see me clearly, I hoped his mind was filled with my image, as I gave him a little wink and stuck out my tongue. He tried to fill my head with terrors and fears. It didn't work, I cast him out my head the second he did.

Strangely enough I felt at peace, for the first time since its conception, I was suffering no backlash from the spell, as I jumped back to the others I smiled devilishly. "Magnificent. Truly." Said Lupin as Tonks and Kingsley nodded in shocked silence.

"It won't hold them for long, but it will hold them." I said as I picked up the broom. As much as I would like to fight the issue of Tonks staying, it was of little consequence now. There was no simple retreat she could make. "Good luck stay safe" I said, exhausted.

I heard the windows below me shatter as the remaining forces attacked the castle. With a quick kiss to Tonks' cheek and a wave to the others, I raced a broom through Hogwarts and towards the Room of Requirement.

Ron's POV

As we skidded along hallways and barged through doors, we slowly headed towards the Room of Requirement. Not stopping for anything or anyone. That was until midnight struck. As we had expected, You-Know-Who destroyed the barrier around Hogwarts.

There was a stunned silence that seemed to grip all of Hogwarts, as the barrier collapsed, even we stopped to stare at the falling barrier. Unsure of what came next. My thoughts drifted to my family, all of them somewhere in the castle, in danger.

My heart began to sink as I heard the clatter of feet on earth, the whole castle shook. Then I had to shield my eyes, at first, I thought the sun had risen somehow, the others stopped too, looking at the new curiosity in the sky.

I cupped my hand over my brow to try to peer through the sudden sunlight. As I did, I felt as if someone had lowered me into a warm bath, or I had just stuffed my face with a Hogwarts feast, the good ones with extra trimmings during holidays.

I heard a song fill the air that made the feeling swell, from my head to my toes. I soon found myself grinning like we had won the quidditch cup or something. I looked at Harry who said excitedly. "Has Fawkes come back to fight?"

"I don't think that's Fawkes Harry." Hermione said, almost in tears. "Is it the teachers?" I asked, she shook her head, sounding exasperated. "Honestly. Doesn't it look familiar?"

"That's (Y/N)" she said proudly, wiping her eyes. I knew it looked familiar, "He's protecting the whole castle" I said, peering through the window. "There's no way!" Harry said in amazement, his eyes lit up. But I remembered what (Y/N) said as he left.

"I'm giving Voldemort a present for his big day; he'll open it at midnight." I repeated. "That's mental!" I said, looking at the barrier of fire he had created. "He pulled it off!" Hermione said giddily. "Is there anything that git can't do?" I smiled.

"Whistle" we said in unison as we started running down the now bright hallways, trained for that response since we first asked him. I reminded myself to thank him when this was all over and get him to teach me how to do that.

The door materialised on our third run past. The noise of the battle died the moment we crossed the threshold and closed the door behind us: All was silent. It was different from before; the hammocks were gone, and the room had changed drastically.

We were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students. I looked at piles upon piles and objects and felt hopeless, it was a needle in an endless haystack.

But something didn't make sense, if there was all this stuff in here, why would You-Know-Who think he was the only student to enter "And he never realised anyone could get in?" I said, wondering why he would consider it safe here, my voice echoed in the silence.

"He thought he was the only one," said Harry. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time . . . this way," he added, "I think it's down here. . . ." He trudged across a pile of books.

We passed the stuffed troll and the Vanishing Cabinet Malfoy had mended last year, then hesitated, looking up and down aisles of junk; he looked as lost as I felt.

"Accio Diadem!" cried Hermione in desperation, but nothing flew toward us. If it didn't work for the locket or the cup, why would it work for the tiara thing? I shrugged and carried on searching for a dusty old headpiece.

It seemed that, like the vault at Gringotts, the room would not yield its hidden objects that easily. "Let's split up," Harry told us. "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here. . . ."

Hermione and I sped off up adjacent aisles; I could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats. . . .

Right, Harry said it was on top of a cupboard, so really, I should be looking for one of those, that would lead us to the tiara. I kept my eyes peeled for the Ravenclaw crest or a wig. But just like the others, You-Know-Who wouldn't make it easy.

As I searched, I could hear Harry muttering to himself. "Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere . . . somewhere . . ." His voice got further away as I tried to scale a mountain of old textbooks to get a better look around.

As I clambered up, I looked around, the ceiling of the room was still at least ten feet above me even now, the scale of the Room of Requirement had surpassed anything I thought it could manage. I got an uncomfortable feeling after a while.

I was perched on the books, but something felt strange. I couldn't see or hear the others for the life of me, but there was still something up. Something felt off. Peering my eyes around the room, I saw Hermione's hair over a stack of old Quaffles.

I searched for Harry, but in doing so, I saw it. There it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard, on top of it, a pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig and what looked like an ancient, discoloured tiara.

I squinted to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was, but I saw a hand reach up to grab it, I think it was Harry, but the voice in the distance I heard from his direction, was definitely not. "Hold it, Potter."

Then, in a moment of horror and shock, I realised what was wrong with this room, what I had overlooked as we all split up, the sounds in this room all echoed, the walls were so high that sound reverberated around it, that's why I didn't realise. There were too many footsteps for three people.

I skidded to a halt and turned around. Hoping to spot Hermione as she wandered around the room, or at very least clear path to Harry, he seemed to be the closest to whoever had followed us inside. I felt like I was in a maze.

Every path I followed seemed to lead to a dead end of piles of junk, it took me a minute before I was able to converge at Harry's location, following his voice, and now I was closer, recognising the voices of Draco Malfoy and his mates.

I tried not to reveal my position, creeping along the floor as I got closer, wishing I had changed earlier, I was wearing my tightest jeans, they were the only ones that were clean after Gringotts.

Taking a risk, I tried to whisper to Harry, letting him know I was here. I simply called, "Harry." In a small voice. But, even as low of a whisper as It was, my voice still carried much more then I had hoped, and it echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall between us.

A troll like voice grumbled "Are you talking to someone?" and as I was trying to find a way around the fifty-foot mountain of old furniture, of broken trunks, of old books and robes and unidentifiable junk that kept me from helping my mate, he shouted, "Descendo!"

I didn't even have time to react, I took a half step backwards and made a desperate attempt to raise my wand as the wall began to totter, then the top third crumbled, before I could think of any way to stop it, I was being pelted by falling furniture.

"Ron!" Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight Hermione screamed, and I barely had time to protect myself with a shield charm and dive out of the way before innumerable objects came crashing to the floor on my side of the destabilized wall.

(Y/N)'s POV

It was chaos, utter chaos below me, spells burst through the air along every hallway in Hogwarts, the castle was in ruin, walls and floors torn apart and destroyed. The great tapestries that lined the walls were torn, windows were shattered, screams filled the air. This was a war.

I weaved in and out of the chaos on my borrowed broom, swooping down to aid my friends whenever I could with a few well-placed hexes and some luck, the problem was that because of the rising smoke from all the small fires and the utter disarray, I could barely tell where I was going.

If I didn't know the castle as well as I did, I wouldn't have made it this far. Dumbledore's pocket watch had become a lot more active since I had created the shield.

I felt the ticking noise drumming on the back of my head whenever I touched it and it was an early warning sign that allowed me to fly freely. I finally glanced the tapestry of the dancing trolls, so I reared up and ground to a halt.

I was desperate to get inside, but I didn't know what the others had asked it to get inside, so instead I did the next best thing to walking and ended up doing donuts in front of the entrance thinking to myself, "I need to find the Horcrux" with each rotation.

A grinding of stone filled the hallway and the door was gently pulled open by an invisible force. Suddenly, five people turned to look at me as I sped into the room, I recognised them and decided to do something drastic.

Aiming my broom towards the closest, I set myself on a collision course with Blaise Zabini, who's eyes were so wide at my appearance that it was a miracle they remained inside his head. As I heard him squeal in fright, I got worried I might kill him and slowed down a little.

He let out a panicked curse, it caused me to tumble off my broom into a heap. The broom hit him in the chest and with a sound that was reminiscent of someone kicked by a mule, he was knocked backwards into some furniture, which buried him.

They were too shocked to do anything and my adrenaline was at a near all-time high, so my mouth was running before I could stop it. "Afternoon boys, guess it runs in the family eh?" I said as I got to my feet ungracefully and raised my wand.

I lashed Goyle with a fire rope and he fell backwards, but Malfoy was quickest to react and I was sent rocketing backwards into a collection of stuffed Flobberworms. I shook my head and regained my bearings, watching Harry fight back as they were distracted.

Everything was a haze, out of focus and confusing. I think I had hit my head as I collided with the floor. Streaks of red and green dazzled my eyes, I couldn't tell the direction of either. Only one thing brought the world into focus.

As my eyes decided what to focus on, I saw a jet of scarlet light shoot past Harry by inches: a figure I knew to be Hermione had run around the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe's head.

It only missed because a blonde streak I think was Malfoy pulled him out of the way. "Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry: Their split second's hesitation was all Harry needed. "Expelliarmus!"

Goyle's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him; Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it.

Malfoy jumped out of range of Hermione's second Stunning Spell, and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe, which narrowly missed.

Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" again. Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet of green light. The wandless Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged toward them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came.

"It's somewhere here!" Harry yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk. "Look for it while I go and help Ron-" "HARRY!" she screamed. Then, words that were instantly sobering passed by Crabbe's lips. "Stop the Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!"

I saw Hermione dive aside, the spell missing her by less than an inch, my heart spiked in terror, shock, then that transitioned to anger. I was immediately on my feet. My fury powering my body through its stupor.

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE CRABBE!" I rushed towards him, intent on chasing him down, he looked at my face and turned, running as fast as his stocky legs could carry him.

I sent curse after curse at him, intent on causing as much damage as I could. Words came out of my mouth from nowhere, almost as if they were not mine, "That's my girlfriend you numpty!"

As I chased after him, striking him with curses and hell bent on leaving him in a puddle of his own blood, regretting ever uttering those words, he darted around a corner and turned on his heel. A roaring, billowing noise gave me a moment's warning.

I turned the corner and saw Crabbe running as hard as he could up the aisle toward me. "Like it hot, scum?" roared Crabbe as he ran. But he seemed to have no control over what he had done. He began to panic as he realised this fact.

Knowing there was only two ways this could go, I tried to calm him. Lowering my wand and reasoning with him like I would with a small child, using small words.

"Ok Vincent, just calm down, look at me" he did so, his eyes filled with panic, "We can stop it, just whatever you do, don't drop the-" the fire burnt his hand and in his hurry to run, he discarded his wand, sprinting away for the nearest exit. "-Wand."

I had one more chance to stop this before it started, I sprinted at the wand, that was now spouting fire like a faulty hose and used my silver hand to snap it in two, splintering the core with a flash of light.

I was hoping this would put an end to the flame before it got really started. I was mistaken, the fire had already begun to catch, the faces of beasts already rearing throughout the growing flame, it was already self-sustaining. There was only one course of action now. "Run!"

It seemed the others had become aware of the encroaching presence of a living fire in the very flammable room, full of very many flammable objects. I could tell by Ron screaming, in a high pitched and cracking voice.

"AaaaAAH HE'S SET THE BLOODY PLACE ON FIRE! AHHH" He shrieked, and I couldn't blame him. I could feel the heat of the fire on my back even as I sprinted away as fast as I could.

Flames of abnormal size were pursuing us all, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.

"Aguamenti!" Harry bawled, but the jet of water that soared from the tip of his wand evaporated in the air. I shoved him forwards and yelled "LEG IT!" he took my advice, as did Draco, "RUN!" Malfoy grabbed the Stunned Goyle and dragged him along.

Crabbe outstripped us all, now looking terrified; Harry, Ron, and Hermione pelted along in his wake, and the fire pursued them, I was bringing up the rear. As we all turned a corner the flames chased us, they were alive, sentient, intent upon killing.

If I had more time, I could probably contain the flame, but this place was lighting up like a tinderbox and a fire of this size was more than one person could handle, even me. And it was only getting worse as it swept through the room.

Now the fire was mutating, forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: Flaming serpents, chimaeras, and dragons rose and fell and rose again, and the detritus of centuries on which they were feeding was thrown up in the air into their fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before being consumed by the inferno.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had vanished from view, Blaise was nowhere to be seen: We came to a dead stop as the fiery monsters cut us off and began circling us, drawing closer and closer, claws and horns and tails lashed, and the heat was solid as a wall.

"What can we do?" Hermione screamed over the deafening roars of the fire. "What can we do?" she said, panicking as I tried to repel the flame to the best of my ability.

"Here!" Harry seized a pair of heavy-looking broomsticks from the nearest pile of junk and threw one to Ron, who pulled Hermione onto it behind him, if it got her out of here I was all for it for once.

I knew a discarded broom was unlikely to support both Harry and I, I could see the tattered state it was in even through the smoke, so I screamed "Accio Broom!" The same one I had crashed into Blaise found its way to my hand within seconds.

Harry saw I was mounting my own, so swung his leg over the second broom and, with hard kicks to the ground, we soared up into the air, missing the horned beak of a flaming raptor that snapped its jaws at us.

The smoke and heat were becoming overwhelming: Below them the cursed fire was consuming the contraband of generations of hunted students, the guilty outcomes of a thousand banned experiments, the secrets of the countless souls who had sought refuge in the room.

I could not see a trace of Malfoy, Blaise, Crabbe, or Goyle anywhere: Harry swooped as low as he dared over the marauding monsters of flame to try to find them, but there was nothing but fire: I was more concerned with my own escape.

A voice erupted in my head that had remained quiet for a long time now, a cynical sneering voice, almost singing at me. What a terrible way to die. . . . It'd be your fault. . . .You didn't stop it.

"Harry, let's get out, let's get out!" bellowed Ron, though it was impossible to see where the door was through the black smoke. I heard a thin, piteous human scream from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of devouring flame.

I tilted my broom towards the voice. "It's — too — dangerous — !" Ron yelled, but Harry wheeled in the air and I joined him, scouring the smoke for people I had wished death on minutes ago. I searched for anything resembling a human, I almost gave up hope, until Harry pointed to something

He saw them: Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of charred desks, and Harry dived. My eyes were drawn elsewhere, searching for a face I hadn't seen since my arrival, dreading him being buried where I left him.

Heading across the room towards near enough that point, I finally heard a small voice, and saw a figure on top of a pile of objects, surrounded by a firestorm, like a castaway on an island. I streaked towards Blaise as he coughed and cried for help.

"BLAISE!" I said, sticking out my arm, hoping to grab him quickly, he saw me, his face gave a brief glimmer of hope, he reached his hand up as I got closer. He reached for me, but barely missed, the bookshelf he had scrambled to started to rock.

"HELP ME!" he screamed, I had to move constantly to avoid being attacked by the flaming behemoths beneath me. I couldn't hold him if I went too fast but couldn't slow down or I would risk dying myself.

I circled round, thinking fast, I pushed myself down on my broom, gaining speed, hanging on with only one arm, managing to get lower this time as fire trickled up my shoulder. I extended Pettigrew's hand towards it; confident it had a higher chance of holding his weight.

This was my last shot, the heat was rising, I could feel it, these were the last seconds we had before the fire devoured everything in its path, flying or not. I wished I had my Comet, the handling was much better than this broom, it couldn't turn to save its life, or mine.

I hurtled towards the Slytherin, "Jump!" I shouted over the inferno, I think he was reluctant, but was as aware as I was that this was his last chance, so as I got within a reasonable distance, he leapt off the junk pile.

I grabbed him just as the flames engulfed the junk around him, my hand holding his weight, but squeezing his arm so tightly the bone most likely looked like Harry's after his run in with the rogue Bludger.

Blaise let out a scream of pain as I wrenched him onto the broom and booked it for the exit, the smoke in my lungs already choking me and making my eyes sting.

We soared through the billowing black smoke, hardly able to breathe: and all around us the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace, and an old, discoloured tiara .

As I flew out of the door, I swerved narrowly to avoid becoming a bloody mess on the tapestry of trolls doing ballet, taking my remark about this thing's handling back.

Blaise and I landed, coughing and spluttering, but safe. I managed to make my way over to him, "Incarcerous" he was bound by thick rope, but still managed to thank me, his eyes tired but relieved and thankful.

The door to the Room of Requirement had vanished, and Ron and Hermione sat panting on the floor beside Goyle, who was still unconscious. I pulled Hermione into a small but important hug as we coughed and heaved.

Holding tight for fear of losing her, I looked to Ron and gave a small nod, a silent thank you for getting her out safe, he nodded back. "C-Crabbe," choked Malfoy as soon as he could speak. "C-Crabbe . . ." "He's dead," said Ron harshly.

There was silence, apart from panting and coughing. Then a number of huge bangs shook the castle, and a great cavalcade of transparent figures galloped past on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust under their arms.

Harry staggered to his feet when the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: The battle was still going on all around us He could hear more screams than those of the retreating ghosts.

"Where's Ginny?" he said sharply. "She was here. She was supposed to be going back into the Room of Requirement." "Blimey, d'you reckon it'll still work after that fire?" asked Ron, but he too got to his feet, rubbing his chest, and looking left and right.

"Shall we split up and look — ?" "No," said Hermione, getting to her feet too. Malfoy and Goyle remained slumped hopelessly on the corridor floor; neither of them had wands. "Let's stick together. I say we go — Harry, what's that on your arm?"

"What? Oh yeah —" He pulled the diadem from his wrist and held it up. It was still hot, blackened with soot, but as we looked at it closely, we were just able to make out the tiny words etched upon it: 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'

A bloodlike substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem. Suddenly the thing vibrated violently, then break apart in his hands.

"Fiendfyre" whimpered Hermione, looking to me as I nodded tiredly, then set her eyes on the broken pieces. "It's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, how did Crabbe know how to?-"

"Well I didn't teach him" "Must've learned from the Carrows," said Harry grimly. "Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Ron, whose hair, like Hermione's, was singed.

"If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead." "But don't you realize?" whispered Hermione. "This means, if we can just get the snake —" But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of duelling filled the corridor.

At first, I thought it was the smoke I had inhaled, then I thought it was the fall I'd taken off my broom, but my head was throbbing, pounding. I finally realised that the pocket watch that was now engraved in the back of my brain was trying to get my attention.

I almost fell to my knees, something was going to happen, something that time had dictated would happen soon, seconds, I had seconds before it happened, I had to figure it out. I looked around for what. The Death Eaters that had passed my barrier had penetrated Hogwarts.

Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both duelling masked and hooded men. We ran forwards to help: jets of light flew in every direction and the man duelling Percy backed off, fast.

His hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair, "Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort.

"Did I mention I'm resigning?" "You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred, as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin.

The time was racing by in my head, every second felt as if I had been stood in it for an hour. I couldn't figure it out, but I knew I was running out of time. It was my charm, something to do with my charm, the ticking had started the second the spell erupted from my wand.

Counting down to something, something that was bound to happen as soon as my spell passed the air around the castle, I thought back. I thought to the countless wands scorching the sky trying to break it.

How long would it take them, had they begun a second charge? I looked out of a window, the sky was still on fire, they still hadn't broken through, new magic was not easy to deal with. If this was not the action the pocket watch was counting to, what was?

I looked back on the moments that had shifted how the clock ticked, I hadn't noticed the subtle shift in tempo at the time, but using hindsight I tried working backwards, looking for the events that had led up to this, I had only seen these changes as they collided into certainty.

Because if McGonagall was protecting the front of the castle with her army of statues, if the bridge to the back of the castle had already been detonated by the genius of pyrotechnics that was Seamus Finnigan. What would happen?

What would trapped, cornered, and angry Death Eaters do to the residents of Hogwarts, how would they allow reinforcements to enter the castle. How would they gain access to their prey?

With a gasp of horror, the event clicked in my mind, in line with the last click of the turning hand. In a thoughtless moment, my actions were all that counted. I raised my wand to the man I saw before me.

"Everte Statum!" the flare of magic flew from my wand, I hoped with all my body that I was fast enough, that in the final tick of the clock I would be able to change the events that time had dictated must pass.

As the spell rocketed forwards, Fred looked at Percy with glee. "You actually are joking, Perce...I don't think I've heard you joke since you were –" In that moment, the air exploded and a moment had passed, if fate was changed or not, I had yet to see.