If Chris hadn't seen it, she wouldn't have believed how fast Fergus was. He was partially there yet he was fast, Chris kept losing him in the crowd and had to run faster to keep up with him. However, when Chris suddenly turned a corner after Fergus, she had taken only a few steps down the new corridor when the window to her left broke open with a deafening, shattering crash. As she leaped aside, a gigantic body flew in through the window and hit the opposite wall.
Sothing large and furry detached itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung itself at Chris.
"What the -- Fang? Hagrid!" Chris yelped in surprise, fighting off Fang the boarhound's attentions as the enormous bearded figure clambered to his feet.
"Chris, yer here! Yer here!"
Hagrid stooped down, bestowed upon Chris a cursory and rib-cracking hug, then ran back to the shattered window.
"Good boy, Grawpy!" he bellowed through the hole in the window. "I'll see yer in a mont, there's a good lad!"
Beyond Hagrid, out in the dark night, Chris saw bursts of light in the distance and heard a weird, keening scream. She looked down at her watch: It was midnight. The battle had begun. Chris cursed under her breath trying to look for Fergus but Hagrid blocked her view.
"Bliy, Chris," panted Hagrid, "this is it, eh? Ti ter fight? Hav' ye seen Harry?"
"Yes, he is gone to do a job. Listen Hagrid, how did you --?"
"Heard You-Know-Who from up in our cave," said Hagrid grimly. "Voice carried, didn't it? 'Yet got till midnight ter gim Potter.' Knew yeh mus' be here, knew that mus' be happenin'. Get down, Fang. So we co ter join in, an' Grawpy an' Fang. Smashed our way through the boundary by the forest, Grawpy was carryin' us, Fang an' . Told him ter let down at the castle, so he shoved through the window, bless him. Not exactly what I ant, bu' –"
"Christina, we really need to get going," Fergus suddenly appeared beside Chris looking impatient.
"Yeah, the fight has started I know," Chris mumbled under her breath.
"Christina, I --" Fergus began but suddenly sothing occurred to Chris.
"Hagrid, you said you ca through the forest, right? Which ans that side is not really protected, is it?"
"I an nobody would be stupid enough ter co through that way -- there are Centaurs and other creatures --" Hagrid tried to assure Chris even though he was surprised about her question.
"Hagrid, can you bring as many creatures as possible to barricade the forbidden forest entrance? They don't have to fight or anything, but they will alert us if Maligno or Riddle tried anything from that side. Also, give the Centaurs a little nudge if you can, see if they want to help. We need all the help right now," Chris spoke hurriedly looking out the window, sparks were flying everywhere as the Death Eaters and Maligno's minions were trying to break down the school's defense.
"Chris, ye sure--" Hagrid spoke looking a bit startled but determined, but on the other hand, Fergus looked panicked and unsettled every passing mont.
"Just do it Hagrid and help others, I really need to get going," Chris said noticing Fergus, and quickly started walking before breaking into a run. After a mont they were out of the hallway, Chris glanced at Fergus again. "You really can't tell what's going on? Like right here? Without going any further? I really need to go back and help others fight."
"No," Fergus didn't even look at her, and his voice strained. "What you really need to do is co with ."
Chris didn't argue anymore and followed Fergus running as fast as she could. After spending so many years at Hogwarts, exploring the castle, Chris thought she had a pretty good idea about the secret rooms and shortcuts in Hogwarts, however, Fergus proved Chris wrong. Within minutes Chris and Fergus reached a secret room in the tallest tower in Hogwarts Castle, the astronomy tower, and from there they climbed a springing staircase leading up to a trap door, which opened on the roof of the tower. Chris wobbled a little bit as she climbed out taking in her surroundings.
The Astronomy tower was used to teach astronomy because of its height, but right now Chris was standing on its roof, from where she could see the entire school and all the boundaries under the fluorescent moonlight. The castle's east gate, where the students arrived every year in Thestral pulled carriages; the south grounds and Hagrid's hut, which led to the forbidden forest; and the black lake at the northwest corner of the castle, which looked as calm as ever. For a split second Chris looked down at the ground under the tower and rembered Dumbledore lying there lifeless. She felt cold all over again, reliving the mont when she watched Dumbledore falling down, while she stayed tied, lying on the cold stone floor.
"Christina," Fergus's soft call brought Chris back to the present.
Chris quickly looked up and t Fergus's gaze.
"Fergus, why are we --" Chris was about to ask why were they there but before she could, she noticed Fergus's gaze locked sowhere over the boundaries of Hogwarts.
"He has brought his beasts, Christina," Fergus muttered as Chris followed his gaze and scanned the castle boundaries again, this ti thoroughly.
But she failed to see what Fergus was looking at but she understood what she was talking about.
"You an the beasts - the animals he made?" Chris asked shocked.
"Yes, and more," Fergus replied still looking at the distance, and finally this ti, Chris noticed sothing huge in the distance and an unlikely gasp escaped her mouth.
"Giants?" Chris almost scread as more than one gigantic human-like form grew bigger and bigger in the distance. Chris understood why Hagrid thought his half-brother Grwap was the smallest of the giants because the giants marching toward Hogwarts were twice Grwap's size, even from this far Chris could see how big they were and a chill went down her spine imagining what would happen if they enter Hogwarts. Chris sputtered, "But the Giants will destroy --"
"Everything. That's what they are planning. At least Malgino is," Fergus said glaring at the darkness beyond where Chris assud Voldemort and Maligno were waiting as their army attacked. "For the Dark Lord, this is just a way of getting Harry Potter while enforcing his power, but for Malgino, it's completely different. Malgino wants to destroy Hogwarts. Weren't you wondering why the Dark lord or anyone ntioned you and asked you to be delivered to them in exchange for rcy?"
"I was but what is --"
"This is the reason you were never ntioned. Maligno is smarter than the Dark Lord, he knows he simply can't tempt people to give you up since he tried to do that last year and failed terribly. So he took a different approach, he is not going after you, he is going after what you are supposed to protect," Fergus t Chris's eyes, his eyes burning with hate and pain.
"He is going after Hogwarts. If there is no Hogwarts, the protector of Hogwarts is defeated," Chris's words were barely a whisper. Maybe for the first ti tonight, she was this terrified. She always knew the night could take awful dangerous turns at any mont. But she was sure Maligno wouldn't get in and as long as she unlocks the founder's powers first, they would be fine. But now nothing looked certain. Can she access the power of the founders to protect the school if there is no school left? But then again, if there is no Hogwarts, can Malgino get the power? "Fergus, doesn't he need the school to stand to get what he wants? You can't be the successor of the founders if there is no school the founders created, right?"
Chris tried to hold onto the last bit of hope but it was imdiately crushed.
"No, I think he found a loophole because he feels extrely confident ab--"
Fergus's voice got drowned by a loud bang that shook the entire school building and grounds. Chris stumbled and almost slipped off the roof but her reflexes kicked in and she backed away from the edge of the roof quickly. The bang was followed by screams, she tried to look around where the sounds were coming from. A cold sweat ran through her as she almost scread in her talisman, worried.
"What's happening? Ginny? Colin? Luna?"
"Voldemort himself just broke our defensive shield. Chris, they are coming."
[To be continued]
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