Chapter 12. Consequences

POV Simus Finnigan.

- Come on, Ron, hang on, just hang on," Seamus encouraged his hovering friend to the best of his ability.

Ron was dead pale, and instead of his left arm, he had a red gash around his shoulder. His brother, Percy, had managed, in the heat of battle with the aggressive macaques, to cast the tape spells on Ron that Miss Charity had shown them in Household Magic when they had started school.

Now he was lifted up by the Locomotor spell, which left him floating in the air, unable to move on his own - the boy had lost a lot of blood and was in painful shock from his severed arm.

Seamus could still see the primates playing with his friend's arm, tossing it among themselves and dragging it away.

There was chaos going on all around. Seamus had been distrustful of Brandon at first, the upperclassman who had advised him to stay close to him before the feast. But now that the boy had saved his life several times from another particularly frisky monkey, he decided to do his bidding without question.

They went down the stairs in a square formation, with the seniors in front and behind, and the few remaining freshmen in the center of the formation.

There weren't many of them left - the part of the group that included Harry, Dean, and Sally-Anne had to go to the fourth floor, traveling there along with the staircase moving up, where they fought off the attack. He hadn't seen Kyle and Hermione since the attack had started, and could only hope that they were alright.

He felt very lonely without most of his friends, and the uncertainty of what was happening was frightening and depressing.

Looking back, Seamus noticed two more macaws being knocked out with spells by the upperclassmen and the others retreating back.

- They've fallen behind! - shouted a panting Brandon to the others.

- Let's head for the Hospital Wing, I hope it's open now," Percy said, his voice filled with concern for his brother.

There were crowds of students running everywhere, and the lower they went down, the more there were. Once on the first floor, Seamus saw a classmate lying on the floor.

- Wait, there's Riona! - he snapped out of formation.

This was the second time this girl from his department had fallen down. A week ago it had been a couple of fractures, which Madam Pomfrey had quickly mended. However, now it was much worse - the girl's head was split open, and a small pool of blood was dripping onto the floor.

- Let's take her with us, she needs treatment too! - he said to the seniors.

- 'Yeah she's dead, leave her alone,' Brandon answered him, 'Shit, Zoe's dead.

- No!" Seamus just couldn't believe the girl was dead, "Neville, help me get her up! She'll be cured!

Together they managed to lift Riona's body, and, straining, dragged her, throwing the girl's pale arms over their shoulders. The group waited for them, but the upperclassmen only shook their heads in silence. Lavender and Parvati were crying, but Seamus held out hope that the classmate could still be saved.

"Magic can do anything," he thought.

As they reached the first floor and the main staircase, they were confronted with a picture of incessant fighting. Many students were lying wounded. Some were being taken to the hospital wing, while students from different courses and faculties stood in a row, preventing the flow of beasts from the Great Hall from entering the floor.

As they got closer, some of the upperclassmen joined the defense of the marble staircase. Just at that moment, students of that faculty began to rush out of the door leading to the dungeons, where the Puffenduys' living room was, en masse.

- We couldn't get through! - shouted a senior Puffendui student to the other students upstairs, casting another spell at the approaching pig, "Our barrels have turned into huge badgers, there are dozens of them! They don't attack, but they won't let us pass. And they're very strong, even explosive spells can survive.

- We have the same thing, - answered one of the defenders, - and in our dungeon is a huge snake. So we had to retreat here. If the animals all came at once, we would have been broken through long ago, and they are coming in wave after wave. Attention! Knock the beasts out of the left side! Help the Puffenduys get to us! Ingleby! Fawcett! Knock those damn birds out with your quick charms, they're a pain in the ass to distract us! Hey, Gryffindors! How's it going upstairs?

- There are beasts almost everywhere, and it's harder to fight them on the stairs," Dylan, a senior, replied, "We ran into a pack of monkeys, and all the faculty lounges are guarded by our faculty symbols, for crying out loud. We got separated from the others.

- That sucks. There's a hell of a lot going on in the classrooms too, so hiding in them isn't an option. Take your wounded to the hospital wing, and get in here to help contain these things. Since there's no safe houses, we'll stick together.

- We'll do that, we'll be quick," the Gryffindor nodded and they continued their march to Madam Pomfrey in a safer environment - the students had managed to knock out the transformed beasts on the first floor, and they were holding back the new ones.

The door to the hospital wing was wide open, but the doorway was enchanted with a thick veil.

- What is this? How do I get through? - Dylan touched the protective barrier and it pushed his hand back, "Hey! We've got critically injured people in here! Let us in, damn it," the boy drew his wand, "my ward broke her back! Madam Pomfrey!

- Hey," a staggering clawed man came up to us, "it's impossible to get through, we've tried that. The barrier was put up so students wouldn't hide from danger in the Hospital Wing. But it only lets through those who are too seriously injured.

- Okay, thanks for the information, crow," Dylan nodded curtly to his apprentice and used a spell to direct the hovering Faye Dunbar toward the barrier.

The girl was sucked inside and they never saw her again, and through the veil it was impossible to know what was happening to her on the other side.

- Weasley, get your brother in there too. Fucking hell, that little girl set you up," the senior spat on the floor, "now you can't get away with it. Well, I'll give her a...

Percy repeated Dylan's actions, and Ron was just as absorbed in the barrier.

- Come on, it's not her fault she got jumped by that monkey," the other senior replied, "If you missed your ward's safety, don't blame it on her.

- Shut up, Parks," Dylan stepped close to him and gave him a threatening stare, "don't think that if you're a year older I can't kick your ass for saying that.

- Hey, hey! Back off! - The senior girl who was in charge of Lavender Brown's safety intervened, "You found a time and a place, too. Let's go help the others, and you can discuss your fights when this nightmare is over.

Seamus, while the upperclassmen were sorting things out, led the unconscious Riona, along with Neville, to the barrier, whom he received in the same manner as the previous wounded.

- There! It worked! So she's still alive, huh? And she'll be cured," the fact that he had succeeded in saving his classmate gave Seamus strength and hope for the future.

- I know she cracked her skull and wasn't breathing when we approached," one of their bodyguards said.

- Hey, can they let me in? My arm's kind of broken! - The other boy began to break through the barrier, but the barrier wouldn't let him through, and with each attempt he pushed the student away with more and more force.

- Only the badly wounded, Al. Your arm doesn't count, and your right arm's intact, so you can do magic. Besides, what are you going to do, leave your Longbottom here? To be eaten? - replied the girl who had separated the upperclassmen who were snarling at each other.

- Right... Shit. Okay, let's go to the stairs, we don't need another attack in the closed corridors.

- A reminder to all of you," a senior named Perks addressed Seamus and the rest of the freshmen, "no matter what happens, each of you stick to your senior. Your survival is of the utmost importance to us, and please don't make it even harder for us. Just stay behind and don't stop us from dealing with the monsters.

The freshmen took note of this information once more, and the Gryffindor squad joined the defending students on the stairs.

The beasts continued to attack them endlessly, and there was no end in sight. Seamus, as well as the rest of the freshmen, which included children from other faculties, did not take part in the main battle. Their only task was to keep an eye on the other directions, to warn the others of an attack from the flanks or rear if anything happened.

But it didn't take long for Seamus to fulfill this task. He felt resentful that other, older students were risking their lives and putting forth their full strength to hold back a horde of transfigured beasts. Was he memorizing repulsion charms after school today with Kyle and Harry for nothing? He could help! He can help, to the best of his ability.

He found a spot by the right hand railing, where he had a good view of the monsters running. By now the floor was littered with pieces of wood and stone, and more and more enemies were running, jumping and crawling through them.

The first spell was followed by a second, and then a third. Seamus enjoyed casting spells in the thick of battle, even if not every beam from his wand reached a lively target.

- When are they going to stop? - exclaimed one of the older students, "My arm hurts already, I've never done so much sorcery before!

- Take a closer look at the remains of the animals," another student replied, "they're slowly moving into the Great Hall. Otherwise there'd be a mountain of junk here by now. I bet that's where the junk is going to become a tiger or a wolf again, which is why they never run out.

- Shit, look! Rhinoceros! His horn is glowing!

Seamus himself noticed the massive gray colored carcass that was gaining acceleration, turning towards their staircase.

- Focus on him! Don't let him... Shit, Bombarda!

The charging rhinoceros was coming at them with all its weight, and though it was stopped by a hail of spells from dozens of wands, its horn had managed to break through many of the students' protective charms, which shattered into vanishing shards upon contact with the animal.

- A new wave! A big one!

After this incident, the intensity of the beasts increased by leaps and bounds, and the students found it increasingly difficult to hold back the onslaught of attackers.

The final straw was an eagle swooping down from the ceiling.

The bird managed to stamp its feathered body into the main crowd of students, and before it died, it managed to injure five of the defenders with its talons and beak.

- Ah, my nose! - cried out in pain as some Puffendude held onto the bloody center of his face.

- Damn, we're running out of time to react! There's too many of them! We have to retreat! - screams came from everywhere as the room became more and more crowded with aggressive animals.

- Where can we retreat to?! - Simus heard the voice of a furious Dylan in the heat of battle, "The situation is no better on the floors, and the furniture in the offices can also turn into monsters!

- We need a good place to hold our defenses or barricade ourselves in! Who's got any ideas!?

- The courtyard! Two narrow entrances, the openings can be used to fire off spells, and the place itself doesn't have any things that can transfigure," one of the ravens shared the plan.

- Yes, but if they catch us there, there's no way to escape! We'll be like mice in a jar.

- There's no other way out! If they break through one entrance, we'll go out through another. No objections? Then let's get started! We're moving steadily toward the courtyard! You three, scout ahead," the seventh year Slytherin pointed to the smaller students, 'the first year students in the center, you and you,' he pointed to the others, "stand and watch the other passages on the sides. The rest of you, fall back and don't forget to throw those things back! Let's go!

For all the commotion and exhaustion of the students, they still managed to form a proper formation and move deep into the castle. Seamus watched with open eyes and marveled at how the students were so skillful in a combat situation, how they helped and covered each other, how they acted as one, accomplishing the task at hand and saving their own lives.

"We'll grow up, and we can do the same. All of us together."

Not counting the beasts advancing in front, they didn't encounter any ambushes or surprise attacks along the way, as they did on the third floor. They reached their destination safely.

The green square of the courtyard accommodated them all, but they did find themselves in a rather cramped position there.

- Seniors to the windows! Those of you who are adept at protective charms, put them on the aisles at a rapid pace. We'll wall them up with transfiguration, so they'll never come near us!

Orders were given, spells were cast, and the exhausted students were replaced by fresh ones, giving them time for a brief respite. Those who were crippled were given the opportunity not to participate in the guarding of the passages, and on the way here they were joined by a girl who knew a lot about healing spells, and was now attending to the many wounds and bruises of the students.

The beasts were very numerous, and their bodies filled all the corridors on four sides. But they couldn't get inside, as in such a crowd the large animals couldn't get the proper acceleration to tear down the barriers that had been set up.

For a while, Seamus heard nothing but squeals and growls from all sides, and this cacophony made the boys gnash their teeth.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The sounds of animals disappeared, and the boy even thought at first that he was deaf. But no, the carcasses flickering in the openings disappeared, having turned into a variety of things of the Hogwarts interior, into stones and boards, into the remains of furniture.

- Is it over? We did it! Yes!

- Finally! Another Halloween is over!

- Yay! I'm gonna pass out right here, if that's okay.

Cheers and cheers erupted from everywhere, and the animal invasion was stopped.

Seamus even got a hug from Neville, Lavender, and Parvati, the only other Gryffindor classmates that were present. All this time, the boy had been worried about his other friends, and now he was full of hope to meet them and share all the adventures he had accumulated.

End POV.

***

- I still can't believe it, but you managed to accomplish your goal after all, Golden.

- Yes, McGonagall gave me as much as fifty points for that, but I mentioned you and Diggory too.

We were standing at the top of the astronomy tower. I was waiting for Hermione. Olivia was finishing up with a patched up Cedric.

- Don't worry, I've been your guardian angel," she grinned, "I'll get some of the credit for your accomplishments, too. So I owe you one. If you need anything, you're welcome, but let's do it next year, okay? I've said too much today.

- And if I don't make it to sophomore year, I won't have to close my debt? - I smiled," I said.

Olivia laughed:

- You'll live to see it, I'm sure you will. You're a smart one, and that's one of the most important parameters for survivability here.

- Oh, thank you. It was nice to hear from a senior girl, and a compliment was a celebration.

- But," she shook her finger, "we're just following the rules, so don't make us feel guilty for ignoring you. That's the way it works around here.

- Come on, I don't mean it.

Hermione's slow footsteps came from upstairs.

- What's up? What did the professor want from you? - I asked the girl when she got to the last step.

- No reason. She assigned me to write an outline on the interactions of the transfiguration-related charms I've seen today.

- Hmm, why do you have such an extracurricular assignment?

- I don't know," Hermione shrugged, "so, shall we go into the living room?

- Yeah," Olivia got up from the floor she was sitting on and stretched her neck, "you go to bed, I'll take Diggory to the hospital wing. Oh, it's going to be crowded.

- I saluted the girl, "Thank you for your angelic guardianship.

- You're quite the blowhard," the senior girl tsked, and we said our goodbyes, going our separate ways.

In front of the entrance to the living room were the remains of a lion, which appeared to have been created from a large slab of marble, unbeknownst to me. We were among the first to enter Gryffindor tower, but our classmates were right behind us.

- Kyle! Hermione! - Harry and Dean came running up to us, followed by the ever disgruntled Sally-Anne, "It's so good to see you! Are you okay?

- Yeah, I'm great, guys," I hugged the freshmen like family.

- We were waiting it out in our classroom," Hermione shared with the guys, "and then Kyle figured out how to stop everything and got fifty points for it, imagine that!

- Wow!

- Wow!

- Where have you guys been? And what do you know about the others? - I asked my classmates.

- We got separated," Harry stopped smiling, "Our staircase went upstairs, and we haven't seen any of the others. We need to find out what's up with Ron, and how Rhiona is doing - I saw her get thrown downstairs.

- I saw that too," Hermione confirmed.

- We'll wait for them here, it's too late to go out anyway - we'll be leaving soon. Tell me where you were after you got to the fourth floor.

- We wanted to go back, but the ladder went to another passage of the third floor... The forbidden one," Harry whispered the last word.

- Yeah," Dean supported him, "and imagine, the seniors flatly refused to leave the stairs! Well, we went, and there were no animals there! No animals at all!

- Dean's right," Harry nodded, "Our guards, once they knew there was no danger, left us on the third floor to wait for the chaos to end. They told us not to go through any doors, but to stay in the corridor.

- And you obeyed?

Dean shook his head:

- We heard a noise behind one door, so I decided to take a peek. And there was a three-headed dog! About as tall as Hagrid!

- And what did you do?

- Yeah," he waved it off, "what could I do? I saw it, showed the others how the monster sleeps on its chains, and closed it back up.

So Fluffy is present in his place. I didn't want to risk checking it out. I had nothing else to do but explore the third floor out of curiosity. But now, after Riley's story, things are starting to fall into place, and the puzzle pieces are slowly coming together.

- Wait, so you spent all that time there? And no one attacked you? - I asked, when I finally understood the meaning of what the guys had said.

They just nodded. Brilliant. A safe place existed, but it was only for freshmen. I couldn't even think of that! Did Dumbledore really think we would guess? It was unrealistic for me, much less the others. This is crazy.

We settled down on one of the couches, waiting for the rest of the Gryffindors. I went to wash my face to get my appearance in some semblance of order. I can't wait for Ms. Charity to teach us the purification spell. Because we won't be going through transfiguration Evanesco anytime soon, since it's considered disappearing subject material.

Soon, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati walked into the tower.

- You're safe! I knew it! - yelled Seamus and came hugging all of us.

- Shh, Seamus, you're going to strangle Hermione," I said, laughing at the loveliness of our Irishman.

- You should know the battles we've been in! How we defended ourselves against hordes of monsters! It was awesome!

- Seamus," Lavender interjected, "it wasn't cool at all. I seriously thought I was gonna-- I was going to die. - The girl sobbed and cried, causing everyone else to have to comfort her.

- Where's Ron and the others? - Harry asked, "Do you know?

- We managed to get them to the hospital wing," Seamus reported, "Faye broke her back, Ron... Well, you know. And Riona... - Seamus' face had changed, and the joy of the meeting was gone, "She's been through a lot. We found her downstairs and took her to Madam Pomfrey, but- The seniors said she wasn't breathing... But the barrier let her through! What if magic could do that?

Few people had adopted Seamus's optimism, but no one had suggested aloud the possibility of another, darker outcome.

We chatted for a while about our experiences. Seamus talked about the battles below, Dean shared the three-headed dog and theories about why it was there.

I didn't talk too much, because I didn't want to expose Olivia. She'd told us some very valuable information about a forbidden corridor that some of the freshmen would have to enter. And I'm pretty sure exactly who that will be. The only question is, what will we meet there?

With my eyes I cooled the heat of another story from Hermione, who just couldn't wait to share it with her classmates. The girl never gave anything away, but she was on the very edge. I'll have to talk to her about it. Then, first, rest.

- I'm exhausted. Let's go to our bedrooms, and tomorrow we'll talk about everything else and find out how our guys are doing," I said, and the tired guys went to their rooms.

So Halloween was over, leaving behind only bright painful impressions of the guys, and filled with students in hospital beds.

***

Hogwarts in the morning was no longer reminiscent of yesterday's battles. There was no slab at the entrance, no piles of stones and boards on the floors, and the doors and furniture in the Great Hall were in good order.

Into the hospital wing we never succeeded in making our way. A good half of Hogwarts was here: some had come to check on injured friends, and some had asked for healing help themselves.

- The Hospital Wing is overloaded! Visits are canceled, and new patients will only be admitted in critical condition," Madam Pomfrey said to the crowd of students, "so don't distract me from my work unless you want to know how angry I can get.

After those words, the only people left in the Hospital Wing were those who couldn't move around on their own. We, relying on the reaction of the senior courses, followed suit.

No one had canceled classes that day, so Hogwarts was back in session rather quickly, despite the horrors of last night.

Of the forty-nine freshmen, only thirty-five were in class. The rest were in the Hospital Wing, but those present also showed multiple bruises, cuts, and abrasions. The ravens were the least likely to show up - only seven of the thirteen showed up for class.

- We scattered, a huge crow nibbled at many of us at the entrance to the living room, and Roger managed to run into a lion near your tower," Stefan Kornfoot told us, "Michael got separated from us at once, and we never saw him again.

- I told you to stay out of our living room," I said, annoyed, "I hope yours are all right.

- Thank you, Kyle. And I heard your voice at the time, it's just that Roger was already near that lion at that moment. I hope Ron and the others are okay, too.

Ron and Faye did join us for lunch. Instead of his left arm, the boy had some sort of magical cocoon, glowing with a dark blue light.

- Ron," Harry rushed to his friend, "you're okay. What happened to your arm?

- Madam Pomfrey said she attached the arm," shared a quiet Ron, who had bags under his eyes, "I'm filled to the brim with blood potion, and I'm very hungry.

- Sure, sit down!

- There's no feast of course, Ron, so just this stuff," I pointed to our table.

- I'll eat anything right now.

- Where's Riona? - Seamus asked him, "Did they leave her in the hospital wing for now?

Ron frowned and put his head down:

- No. Madam Pomfrey said she died. She also asked me to tell you that she was very sorry for her loss, and that.... A piece of Riona will always be with us...

This has been a real heartbreak for the team. The quiet Riona O'Neill, who I knew only that she loved potions. That made eleven of us. Here came the first victim.

The girls were crying, the boys were frowning, and everyone was expressing their own grief for their dead classmate in their own way. Hardly anyone could call her a close friend, but for these two months we got used to each other's company, and to realize that here she was sitting at the next desk, and now it will never happen again, was difficult for all of us.

The force of attraction didn't just leave Riona. Fell once, and she was lucky. Fall a second time, and her luck ran out. It was very sad.

- What's your cocoon? Are you just going to walk around with it? - Harry asked Ron after a while, when the realization of the loss had released the students at least a little.

- No, Madam Pomfrey said it can be taken off after lunch. My shoulder is itching, help me get this weird layer off.

Ron began to pry at the base of the cocoon, and soon enough it deflated, changing color to black and leaving only a sticky film behind.

- Ew, that looks a little gross," Lavender said, "but don't put it on the table.

- It doesn't even smell," Ron justified himself by sniffing the remains of the cocoon.

Layer by layer the film disappeared, and the boy threw it under the table, seriously thinking he was being discreet. Everyone saw it, of course, but they didn't say anything.

And then the skin began to show through. When the last piece was peeled off, Ron showed his left hand to the others, clenching and unclenching it without much trouble.

- It seems to be working well," he commented on his feelings.

- Ron, it's... Do you notice anything? - I asked the boy gently.

- What? I don't know what you mean.

- The hand. There's no freckles on it.

- Oh, I didn't notice at first. It's okay that they're gone.

- Ron, it's smaller. Compare the fingers on both hands.

He did as I said and everyone could see a slight, but still noticeable difference.

- Geez, what am I supposed to do, wait for my hand to grow back? Why did it get smaller?

Ron still couldn't grasp the obvious truth that was giving me goosebumps.

- The thing is. Ron, that's not your hand. I think it's Riona's.

There was silence after I said that, and Ron's lower lip quivered as he looked at his left hand again.

Madam Pomfrey had turned out to be completely right. Riona's piece would indeed be with him now for the rest of his life.