The Inadequate Life

The Dementors were utterly silent as they swarmed through the entrance from The Leaky Cauldron. They just kept coming-dozens, hundreds of them, filling one end of Diagon Alley completely, until nothing could be seen but a sea of black cowled and cloaked bodies.

“Dementors!” Oliver yelled into his headset. “Hundreds of the things! Get to the ground, now!”

The warning was unnecessary. Even high in the air, the four fliers could feel the effects of the Dementors’ presence. A cold that permeated, seeped into their bones, and made them feel like they’d never be happy again…

Angelina, Alicia and Katie had all experienced the feeling before, however briefly. By concentrating on their brooms, the solid feel of the grip in their hands, the three girls were able to bring themselves in to land safely. Each of them touched down near Quality Quidditch supplies with sighs of relief.

Krum wasn’t so lucky. He’d been higher than any of the others when the Dementors had started to appear, and he’d never experienced the sensation of chilling hopelessness that the Dementors caused. Unbidden, memories came to him; of flying lessons from a brutal, ruthless Quidditch teacher, pushing him for more than anyone could reasonably expect; of his mother, the way she’d been staring sightlessly when he’s excitedly rushed in to show he the painting he’d drawn her; of reading Hermione’s letter announcing her engagement, and the harsh resentment and disappointment mingled with joy for his friend…

“KRUM!” Oliver yelled as he saw Krum’s broom, far above in the distance, tilt down and plummet out of control towards the ground. “Krum—damnit!” he yelled and tossed off his Invisibility Cloak. Ignoring the Dementors as best he could, Oliver raised his wand, pointed it at the falling figure, and chanted “Arresto Momentum!”

Krum slowed a bit, but Oliver simply wasn’t powerful enough to counter gravity. And everyone else was dealing with the Dementors… “Arresto Momentum!” He shouted again. “Wingardium Leviosa!”

Krum was far too close to the ground. Oliver ran for the spot it looked like Krum might hit. In desperation he tried a Hover Charm, and Krum definitely slowed down a lot more, but he was still traveling too fast and might not survive if he hit the cobbles—

Oliver just managed to avoid being skewered by Krum’s broom, but he did take the brunt of Krum’s landing on his own body. He was slammed into the ground, fortunately thinking to put his arm up so he didn’t crack his head open. The impact drove the wind out of him completely, and the second impact with the ground was too big of a shock; Oliver’s eyes rolled back into his head and everything went black.

*****

“There’s s-so many of them,” Lavender stammered faintly.

The Death Eaters had all vanished into hiding places; apparently they didn’t want to risk being on the wrong end of an over-zealous Dementor. And besides, if Draco Malfoy was any indication, then it was possible that a lot of the Death Eaters were incapable of casting a Patronus, making them helpless against the magical creatures.

The Dementors were watching them, apparently confused as to why they weren’t running. “Is everyone here?” Lupin asked loudly, sticking close to Tonks, who was to his left. “We only have thirteen Patronus Casters, we’ll need every one to survive this!”

“Fourteen,” McGonagall said, stepping up to Tonks’ other side. “I count fourteen on our side at the moment, including myself.”

Lupin smiled and nodded. He glanced up and down the alley, where members of Dumbledore’s Army were scattered roughly in a semi-circle facing the mass of Dementors. Fred, George, Luna and Lee were close together to his far left, with McGonagall and Tonks between them and Lupin. To Lupin’s far right, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus and Dean were huddled together, and the three fliers, Angelina, Alicia and Katie, were ready as well.

Tonks nodded to herself. “Let’s do this,” she said, allowing her voice to carry. “Expecto Patronum!”

Silvery wisps shot out of her wand, but Tonks had trouble making it form a shape. The Dementors, added by the attempt at a Patronus, surged forward, silently flowing toward the seemingly small group of people.

Together, everyone was trying to cast their Patronuses. Shouts of “Expecto Patronum!” echoed across the deserted Alley, but no one could bring form to their Patronus—the Dementors’ effect was too powerful.

There’s too many of them, Tonks thought bleakly, barely able to stammer out the Patronus incantation as the Dementors bore down on them. We can’t do it. We’re going to die...

Her eyes streamed tears as wretched memories clouded her thoughts. Nothing was worth living for anyway; she’d made a wreck of her life, barely passed the Auror exams, wasn’t taken seriously in the department… she was worthless, and now Remus would see it for himself…

Remus! Tonks turned her head and looked at Remus. He was fighting to conjure his Patronus too—fighting at her side, he’d accepted that she was a part of his life now… and he had “something special” planned for her after the war. I’ll be damned if I’ll miss the chance at that something special! Tonks thought fiercely. “EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

A huge, snarling form erupted from the tip of Tonks’ wand. Its clawed feet landed on the ground hard enough for the thud to carry all across Diagon Alley. The Dementors pulled up short as the silvery, glowing werewolf uncurled to its full, impressive height; drool dripped from its enormous jaws, and it let out a low, menacing growl that made Tonks shiver with surprising pleasure. That sounded just like Remus!

“Expecto Patronum!” Remus’ Patronus took form and joined Tonks’—a wolf, larger than any real one Tonks had ever seen. “I quite like the new form of your Patronus, Tonks,” Remus said casually.

“I find it rather inspiring myself,” McGonagall said with a wry smile. “Expecto Patronum!”

McGonagall’s Patronus, an impressively-sized puma, didn’t waste any time—it leapt right at the milling Dementors, scattering them as it ripped at them with its teeth and claws. Remus and Tonks’ Patronuses followed, and the three forms tore into the Dementors without hesitation.

All at once, the others’ Patronuses were taking form. Dean, perhaps inspired by the strength and power of Tonks’ werewolf, conjured up a giant grizzly bear, which laid into the Dementors like an animate boulder, smashing them with its enormous paws and grabbing them in its teeth, shaking them like rag dolls and throwing them aside. Parvati’s cobra wasn’t as mobile or strong, but wherever its fangs sank into Dementors, they steamed and melted, as though the shimmering serpent had its own type of poison.

All fourteen Patronuses took form, and laid waste to the Dementors, who found themselves the helpless ones. The Dark creatures fell by the handful, by the dozen, caught between Patronuses of wolves, bears, hyenas, snakes, falcons, owls and more. Finally the Dementors, their ranks decimated by more than two-thirds, scattered, fleeing in ones and twos. Many fled back through the passage to the Leaky cauldron, but a fair number slipped past the assembled D.A. and further into Diagon Alley.

“That was bloody incredible,” Lee declared breathlessly, watching his cow Patronus run down a pair of Dementors—literally.

“Your Patronus is a cow?” Fred chortled.

Lee shrugged. “My ancestors were all farmers. Hey, she’s huge and tramples Dementors when I tell her to, that’s all I care about.”

George shook his head in bemusement; Luna just stroked the feathers of her raven Patronus before allowing it to fade.

“I pity the Ministry officials who’ll have to cover up Dementors wandering en masse through downtown London,” McGonagall said.

“Down!” Remus shouted, and they all ducked as a Curse from an emerging Death Eater sailed over their heads. Four D.A. members returned fire, driving him back into hiding. “Don’t worry about that now, Minerva,” Remus advised. “We have more pressing matters. Now there are Dementors and Death Eaters running free in Diagon Alley.”

*****

Krum opened his eyes slowly. He blinked, not remembering where he was at first, and stared in confusion at the open sky. There was a heavy weight on him too…

“Krum!” a distressed voice cried. “Oliver! Oh, no! Viktor, can you hear me?”

“I—yes,” Krum said dazedly, and pushed up on his elbows. The weight on top of him was another man—Oliver Wood, unconscious. There was a broom, miraculously intact, twisted up with their limbs.

A girl came running up—Cho Chang, now he remembered. Cho Chang. Oliver Wood. Broom Flying—Dementors. Now I remember. “Is he all right?” Krum asked.

Cho rolled Oliver off of Krum as another young man—Justin—ran up. “I think he’s just knocked out,” Cho said. “He’s probably one huge bruise, but there doesn’t seem to be anything broken. He’s breathing all right.” She looked up at Krum. “What happened? Was it the Dementors?”

I’m…not sure,” Krum admitted. “The Dementors came, and I—don’t remember after that.” He looked around in a panic. “The Dementors—”

“Broken up and scattered,” Justin reassured him. “Just like Harry’s plan called for, all of us who could cast Patronuses got together and cast them. Most of the Dementors were killed, and the rest fled or scattered. The girls have taken flight again.”

“You must have fallen,” Justin added decisively. “Oliver must have gotten under you to break your fall.”

“He did?” Krum looked down at Oliver, who was having his mouth pried open to take a potion. “You must Heal him,” he ordered.

“We’ll take him to St. Mungo’s,” Cho said. “He needs a Healer, not a Medi-Witch Trainee—”

Krum whipped out his wand; Cho and Justin barely had time to yelp in surprise before he’d aimed and fired—hitting the Death Eater behind them with a Bamboozling Hex. “Take him,” Krum said, scrambling to his feet. “The Death Eaters return. Take him to St. Mungo’s now.”

Neither of them questioned Krum, or challenged his ordering them about. They collected Oliver in their arms, activated their Portkeys and disappeared.

Krum cast off a few more Curses just to make sure no Death Eaters got any smart ideas. Then he snatched up his broom. “Thank you, Oliver Wood,” he said, even though there was no one to hear. “I will make your sacrifice matter.” He swung his leg over the broom, and left a puff of dust behind as he launched into the sky.

*****

Hagrid had lost sight of Grawp. He hadn’t expected that to be possible, but with all the chaos, explosions and hexes and flying attackers and Dementors, it had happened. Now Hagrid was running about, taking down any Death Eaters that got too close, or (more often) dodging the hexes from Death Eaters too cowardly to show themselves, and trying to find his giant half-brother.

Just as he rounded a corner, Hagrid spotted Grawp. The giant was chasing down six more Death Eaters, his easy lope shaking the entire street and quickly gaining ground on the half-dozen clearly terrified men.

Hagrid began to move toward them—and then realized where they were heading. The Death Eaters were probably hoping to get outside the Anti-Apparition Field that Harry’d somehow managed to get erected and held—so they were fleeing toward Knocturn Alley. “Grawp!” Hagrid yelled, breaking into a run. “Grawpy, don’ go that way!”

Harry had described to Hagrid exactly what Fred and George’s “land mines” did, and Hagrid had seen the results first-hand; the ones who’d been unfortunate enough to step on the at the start of the battle were still dangling helplessly in mid-air. Hagrid didn’t know if the spells Fred and George had made up were powerful enough to work on a full-grown giant, or what effect they might have if they didn’t work fully, but he didn’t want Grawp to find out. “Grawp! NO!”

The Death Eaters ran straight into the “mine field”, heedless of the potential danger. One of them got snapped up by one of the traps, flipped upside down and shaken like a leaf. Booming out a laugh, Grawp followed the others.

Hagrid knew the second Grawp had stepped on one of the traps. It wasn’t able to turn him upside down, but it did jerk his leg enough to make him stumble and stop running.

Then the Jinx that turned the body to jelly kicked in. Like all spells, it wasn’t as efficacious on a giant as it was on a human—but it did have an effect. Grawp’s body rippled, as the Jinx loosened up his skin, muscles, tendons… his tough hide softened, making him squint and furrow his brow at the odd sensation.

The remaining Death Eaters seemed to realize what had happened. While Grawp was distracted, they all oriented their wands, and each shouted a Curse.

The five Curses struck Grawp simultaneously. It was difficult to tell which was more destructive, but someone had cast a Reductor Curse—and whereas before it would have only angered Grawp, now it blasted through his weakened skin and bone, taking off his head and most of his shoulders.

“NO!” Hagrid bellowed in anguish as the body of his brother fell. The Death Eaters grinned, laughing in victorious pleasure at their downed victim. Other Death Eaters emerged from hiding, congratulating the others…

Hagrid hit them like a charging bull, with the force of a volcano. His wand forgotten—snapped, in fact, when his hand reflexively clenched—he swung his redwood staff, cracking open skulls, snapping legs like twigs. The Death Eaters tried to scatter, but Hagrid was a dervish, a whirlwind, and he didn’t stop. Death Eater fell in a circle around him, their blood soaking his ever-present moleskin coat.

His redwood staff was twisted out of his hand when it got caught between one Death Eater’s arm and body, but Hagrid didn’t care. He was beyond thinking, beyond fear or logic or sorrow. He was rage, and with his bare hands he continued his slaughter, breaking the neck of a Death Eater in one hand, ripping the arm off of another. A roar erupted from his throat, deep, primal and terrible, as he took life after life in retribution for the loss of the last of his family.

One Death Eater was flung aside by Hagrid’s flailing arm. He soared a good twenty feet and landed hard, breaking his ankle. Somehow, he’d managed to maintain his grip on his wand; through a haze of pain, he raised his shaking arm, and focused on the mad thing still tearing his comrades apart: “Avada Kedavra!” he hissed.

The green light passed through Hagrid almost softly. A slow, gentle breath slipped past his lips; the light in his glinting black eyes faded, he collapsed face-first into the dirt and dust, and he didn’t move again.

*****

By the time Katie spotted Grawp’s decapitated body, and Hagrid’s berserk attack, it was too late. She wheeled in mid-air and headed for them, but the Death Eater got off his Curse before she could reach them. She let out a wordless cry as the Killing Curse struck home.

Unable to think around her grief, Katie balled up a fist and punched the Death Eater on her way past, the force of the broom-driven blow breaking his jaw and several of Katie’s fingers.

But of greater concern than Katie’s pain-laced hand was how the impact had thrown off her balance. Her broom began to spin sideways, so it was all she could do to hold on. And she was approaching a wall, too fast and out of control to stop—“Eeylops!” she cried just before she hit, and disappeared.

The Portkey made her appear in Eeylops Owl Emporium, but she’d lost none of her momentum. Still spinning, Katie just managed to redirect herself so she impacted with a wall displaying cushions for pet owls. She still hit hard, but it was infinitely better than if she’d hit the stone wall she’d been heading for. Falling to the floor, Katie cried out in agony as her ankle twisted painfully.

Thank Merlin I didn’t hit my head, she thought, biting her lip until it bled to keep from howling at the pain. At least, not too hard. “St. Mungo’s!” she growled through gritted teeth, and disappeared again.