Chapter 50

Chapter 50

ELIZABETH WHITE

Elizabeth watched the scenery begin to move slowly as the Hogwarts Express began to toil away toward its destination. She was pacing up and down in the Prefect compartment as she waited for this year's prefects and Head boy and girl to show up.

Despite the war simmering out in the world, the atmosphere on the Express remained quite the same as always. The students still laughed and loitered between the compartments as the Prefects tried to get the rowdy bunch to settle down. There were the usual laughs and pranks, and she couldn't help but smile as she saw them enjoying their time before school began.

"So, tell me how's the new job treating you?" the only other person in the compartment suddenly spoke up. The auror-turned-professor sat in the seat opposite to her, sipping a cup of tea as the scenery began to blur in the windows. Elizabeth looked up and shrugged.

"It's been fine, how about you? I thought you told me that you were only going to be teaching for a year?" Elizabeth asked with a raised brow, as she recalled their conversation from last year. Nymphadora Tonks, had a smile on her face as she nodded.

"Yeah, I had thought so as well but what can I do, I have rather enjoyed teaching here at the school. What about you, how's Bones treating you, from what I recall she could be quite a hard ass?" joked Nymphadora, and Elizabeth smirked and shook her head at the antics of the so-called professor.

"She is quite a witch, and somewhat of a slave river but the pay kind of makes it all worth it," she replied. With Britain currently at war, the Minister was swarmed with work, work that usually got delegated to her two secretaries, one of whom was her. The workload was quite massive, and their paycheck at the end of the month reflected that. And Elizabeth didn't really mind the work, it had taken her some time to settle down, but she could feel herself getting better every day.

"Woohooo, working for the Minster does have its perks…" and then before the DADA professor could say anything, the compartment doors opened, and students began to walk in. Lead by the Head boy and girl with their distinctive batches, this year it was a rather serious-looking Ravenclaw pair with the signature badges pinned to their shirts. The Hufflepuff prefects gave her a small wave, and she smiled back reminiscing about the times she had worn the uniform just a bit over half a year ago.

"Alright, everyone please form a circle," she said politely and the prefects and Headboy formed a semicircle around her. She counted the number of students and found one of them missing, and it was the male prefect from year five. That was Malfoy from what she recalled? She looked towards Pansy Parkinson, the female prefect from the same year.

"Where is Malfoy?" she questioned, and she saw the girl's expression shift before she replied with a shrug.

"He wasn't feeling well, but don't worry I will pass on your message to him," said the girl, and Elizabeth frowned yet could only nod despite the sense of unease rippling through her. Her fingers tightened over her wand, as she looked around at the rather nervous crowd of students gathered around her.

"OK, then let us begin," she said as Nymphadora Tonks joined her.

"Now, most of you may already know me, but I am Elizabeth White and I graduated from the school last year and am now working as Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic," she began and saw the students shift slightly at her words.

"Now, as most of you are aware, we are facing a war with the violent terrorist group being led by a Dark Lord, we often call the Death Eaters," and she saw a couple of Slytherin growl at her words. Though she didn't stop and continued.

"And for your safety, the school has decided…." But she stopped mid-sentence as one of the prefects suddenly hissed in pain while gripping his head.

"Ssss," a very familiar boy, clad in Gryffindor red wearing round gold-rimmed glasses, suddenly hissed in pain, making her frown. Hermione Granger was immediately at Harry's side, face pale and worried as she spoke slowly.

"What is going on, Harry?" she questioned as Nymphadora Tonks joined in and led the boy to a seat. Elizabeth herself could feel the air thicken and had a rather ominous feeling. She reached into her pocket and took out a gold coin from out of her pocket before she suddenly cracked it, deciding to trust her instincts.

"There is something wrong here," she whispered into the fake galleon and was about to speak up again when suddenly a pale Harry Potter spoke up from the side in a quivering tone.

"He is here," and dread pooled in her heart as the students in front of her shifted nervously.

"AURORS! CODE RED! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" she shouted through a modified Snorus charm, informing the four Aurors. And then suddenly, she felt cloud smoke envelop the train as the view of valleys from the windows vanished only to be replaced by a thick black smoke.

She gasped as the lights on the train went out. She raised her wand as Nymphadora spoke up from the side.

"We need to inform the school and evacuate the students!" spoke the DADA professor as she took out her own wand and joined her.

"I have contacted the Order with the emergency Galleon! We need to check the compartments!" just as she was about to continue, the door to their train compartment opened up once again, and a thick black cloud of smoke infiltrated the room.

"GET BEHIND ME!" she shouted as she pushed herself in front of the students, not missing the way how they had all paled. Then the sound of deliberate footsteps broke the rampaging silence.

As the thick cloud of smoke toucher her skin, she felt her magic shift in anger and disgust, and she felt a rather familiar sense of unease ripple through her being. The same sense of unease that she had felt about a year ago.

Though the person who stepped out of the smoke wasn't the Voldemort, she remembered. No, it was actually Draco Malfoy, or was it? Because from what she recalled, Draco Malfoy didn't have red eyes.

She felt the train come to a screeching halt as this not-Draco, stepped into the compartment with an ominous smile on his face.

"Who are you?" the ex-auror questioned from the side. And she stiffened as she saw a cruel smile appear on the boy's face.

"I am your reckoning," and then, in a blur, she saw him whip out his wand. And it was only by pure instinct that she slashed her wand upwards to raise a shield in time to block the spell aimed at her.

BANG!

Despite the shield, she was pushed back with her feet scrapping the floor. And Nymphadora was quick to react, as her wand blurred as she fired a barrage of spells at who she suspected was Voldemort himself.

She tried to reach for the aurors once again, yet there was no reply. She looked back and saw the Headboy and Headgirl standing in front of the prefects, their faces pale with fear, yet they both had their wands out.

She gave them a small nod and twisted her own wand.

"Stay behind me!" she shouted as she joined the fray and fired off a barrage of her own at Voldemort, knowing that the only thing she could do at this point was to buy time. Time for him to arrive!

0000

EDWARD WRIGHT

Edward Wright saw in the Great Hall, watching the magical spectacle fold in front of her. He wasn't quite aware of the sheer amount of work it took to get the school ready to House over half a thousand students for more than half a year.

The teachers bustled around, giving a final check to the preparations as the house elves popped in and out, as the whole castle got ready to welcome the students. Watching the Heads of the Houses titter around anxiously gave him some relief at being spared that.

"Ah, here you are," a very familiar voice interrupted his thoughts as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He smiled as Fleur gave him a small peck on the cheek. Edward turned around to face her and gave her a small kiss.

"Ohh, you should be careful now, Professor, what will the students think if they saw their new professor like this," she teased him, and Edward smiled.

"I believe they will think, what a shame it is that their young and gorgeous professor has already been ensnared by this French witch," he said, trying to make the best impression of an infatuated teenage girl. Fleur giggled at his words and tried to get out of his arms.

"What a shame indeed, though I didn't know you could do impressions like that. At least we know that you could make it as an actor if this whole teaching thing falls apart," she said with an actual nod.

And then, before he could say anything, the rather strict tone of his ex-Transfiguration professor made him stop immediately.

"Mr. Wright! Please try and keep such displays away from the eyes of the students," and Edward felt his face heat up as he got away from Fleur in an instant. He didn't miss the massive flush on Fleur's face as they both shifted nervously as McGonagall joined them, the corner of her lips turned up despite her tone.

"Good morning, professor," he greeted her with a smile, and she nodded as well.

"Good morning to you as well, Mr. Edward. Now, why are you sitting here idle? Don't you have anything to do," she said with raised brow making him squirm a bit.

"Well, actually, I don't. I have already submitted my lesson plans, set up my classroom, and posted the circular about the dueling club on the notice board," he said, counting off the tasks he had been assigned.

McGonagall sighed and gestured for them to follow her.

"Well, then, I believe I can find something for you two to occupy yourself with," she said before she looked down into the file and then spoke up.

"Ahh, here! You two could go and check the enchantments on the boats," she began as she looked up, her eyes focused on Fleur this time.

"I believe Albus told me that you were quite a prodigy at enchantments," said McGonagall with a smile, making Fleur preen up.

"She is," Edward cut in when she saw Fleur getting embarrassed. McGonagall eyes turned to him, lit up with a mischievous grin.

"Then I believe she will be perfect for the task. Why don't you take her to the lake then, Mr. Wright, and have her check them," Edward nodded, and just as he was about to lead Fleur out of there. He felt something in his pocket heat up.

He reached into his trouser pockets immediately and took out the fake Galleon. After Dumbledore had gotten a look at their creation, he immediately tasked them to make one for the order as well. And now each Order member had a fake galleon in their pockets, a way for them to communicate quickly in case of emergencies.

He saw an engraved 'EW' appear on the galleon first, after which a small whisper played out.

"He is here!" and he stiffened as soon as those words. Both Fleur and McGonagall were eyeing him with a worried gaze.

"What happened, Edward?" Fleur broke the silence, and Edward knew that he couldn't waste any more time.

"Voldemort has attacked the Express," and with those words, he closed his eyes. Dumbledore would have gotten the message as well and would be acting immediately.

"What!" exclaimed both of them in a worried tone.

"We need to tell Dumbledore," said McGonagall. Edward was busy trying to scan the wards, waiting for them to go down.

"He already knows," said Edward as he felt the wards shift, a small opening forming in them, allowing him to apparate away.

0000

VOLDEMORT

Voldemort scowled as he watched a barrage of spells hit his shield. The two witches were putting up quite an effort, yet it would all be futile.

His followers had already full control of the train, the four Aurors had tried to resist, yet they were no match for the best of his followers.

He continued to step forward slowly, watching in delight as the faces of the students paled. The effect of the potion began to wear off, and he felt his body shift as he morphed back into his own form.

He smiled as he saw fear lingering in their gazes. His eyes met a pair of green orbs, and he felt a slight ache in the back of his head before he pushed it back. The green orbs lacked fear, and that made him furious.

"ENOUGH!" he roared, and his magic rippled, pushing back the two witches, making them hit the walls of the train compartment.

"AGHH!" they groaned in pain as they hit the ground. He slashed his wand, burning away their wands before they could reach for their gain. Yet even without their wands, they refused to give up and pushed themselves to step in front of the students again.

He found it admiring and it reminded him of that night all those years ago.

"Your courage is admirable," he began but before he could finish, he was forced to stop as a spell whizzed past his ear. He smiled and looked up to see the sole survivor from that night had his wand out and lit up.

"Get back, Harry!" one of the witches spoke up, trying to push back the boy. Yet the boy was fearless, if anything, and pushed past her and faced him as an equal, his eyes glinting with magic making the very air crackle as if fate itself was intrigued by this.

"NO, I am done running!" shouted the boy, his voice strong as he tightened his grip around his wand.

"You are here for me, right? So, here I am," said his destined foe, making him smile. The boy was talentless and was decades behind him in terms of skill. Yet Voldemort could commend his courage for stepping up like that.

"What are you doing Harry? Get back right this instant!" spoke the witch again, trying to pull him back, but the boy was fearless. Voldemort was getting tired of the interruption, and in a blur, a spell hit the witch in the gut, sending her tumbling back.

BANG!

She hit the wall of the compartment and fell down, unconscious.

"You have courage, boy and for that, I shall grant you a quick death!" began Voldemort magnanimously.

"And with your death, I shall prove to the world that Lord Voldemort has no equal!" he snarled and twisted his wand, and his wand lit up in a green hue, just like that night all those years ago.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"EXPELLAIRMUS!"

BOOOOM!

0000

The last dance begins!

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