The Four Swords of Hogwarts

Chapter 21: Nurmengard

Warning: Minor character death

********************************************************

Harry gazed around at his classmates attempting the newest spell in Defence: the Disillusionment Charm. He'd had it cast on him before, but had, naturally, never cast it on himself. Severus had introduced it only the other day and, so far, no one had been completely successful. Severus was wandering through the paired students, mostly snapping, sneering, and rolling his eyes.

He briefly wondered why the man had switched to Defence. Despite the stress of the classroom, Severus loved Potions and, at least in his memories, had never wanted to switch subjects.

"Potter, would you pay attention?"

Draco's annoyed voice pulled his attention away from Severus and back to his brother. He snorted and held back a laugh as he took in Draco's missing head except for a single eye. It was both hilarious and extremely disconcerting.

"It's...progress," he said and, by the narrowing of the floating eye, he knew Draco was scowling at him. "You missed an eye."

Draco cursed quietly and waved his wand, muttering, "Finite." His head shimmered and reappeared as the Disillusionment was removed. He looked at Harry, crossing his arms. "Well? Let's go, Mr. Power."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not like that's made any difference."

He went to tap his head to try the charm once again, but paused when he felt a very light ripple in the air around him. Ever since his magic increase, he'd found himself a bit more sensitive to the magic around him, especially Hogwarts'. He could detect changes in power and intent, at least sometimes anyways.

He looked around even though he was sure nothing would look different. He supposed he wanted to see if anyone else had felt the ripple. It didn't appear so as they continued to practice with Severus hanging over them.

"Let's go," Draco pushed, irritated.

"Did you feel anything?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned and shook his head.

"Something changed," Harry said, deepening Draco's frown.

"Well, ignore it and let's go," Draco said.

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco's snappish tone. The blonde had been more aggravated since their conversation the other day. He assumed Draco was upset that he'd had a friendship with Harry, but only Harry remembered. He understood. Being the only one that remembered anything was frustrating in its own way.

He was in the middle of the incantation when the ripple happened again. This time, however, it was followed up by an intense pain in his chest. He grasped his chest and gasped loudly, falling to his knees as his strength suddenly disappeared. He looked around, panicked, to find every other student had done the same thing. Everyone was on the floor, a hand on their chest, and gasping and groaning. The pain was joined by a strange pulsing. With each pulse, he could swear something was being drained from his body.

He found Severus whose face was filled with confusion and concern. He was trying to get answers, but no one seemed able to speak. Harry watched as the man eventually hurried over to him, crouching in front of him.

"What does it feel like?" Severus asked.

Harry took a few deep breaths through the pain. "Ball of pain...chest...pulsing...feels like...draining..." he gasped out, managing to pull his eyes up to see Severus' expression. The man's brow was creased as he examined what he'd been told.