Meanwhile, at Hogwarts… Pt.7
The professors were in the Great Hall while the frightened children hid beneath the tables.
The explosions striking the shield formed thanks to the golems kept resonating one after another, trying to break through it with sheer brute force. Each impact made the enormous windows tremble, and the echo traveled through the room, increasing the fear spreading among the students.
But some men had infiltrated using Polyjuice Potion long ago; for that reason, every now and then, a student would suddenly stand up and attack one of the professors without any warning.
That was exactly what happened with Crabbe himself, who abruptly jumped to his feet and cast a killing curse directly at Professor McGonagall. However, Flitwick, who seemed distracted but absolutely wasn't, reacted instantly. His reflexes were unbelievable; his wand, which he always held in his hand, moved so fast it was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.
Before Crabbe even finished pronouncing the lethal spell, he was blasted backwards and violently crashed against the wall.
The professor didn't even need to speak the incantation for his attack; after all, he had been a world dueling champion for several consecutive years in his youth.
Of course, this wasn't the first attempted murder they had suffered at the hands of the infiltrated students.
Flitwick rushed toward Crabbe and pointed his wand at the boy while softly murmuring, "Revelio."
Superimposed over the student's face appeared the features of a completely different man. Another impostor; yet another victim replaced through Polyjuice Potion.
"It's another one…" Flitwick said with a tired sigh.
He didn't want to attack students, but everything indicated that several of them had been kidnapped to take their places. The weight of that idea was unbearable.
"One more. Let us pray to Merlin that they are all safe" Professor Sprout said with sincere worry. No one knew what had happened to the real students.
"Has anyone seen Professor Dominic?" McGonagall asked with a tense expression. Of course, she had no idea all of this was the fault of the very same Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"There's no need to look for him; obviously this is internal work" Snape said as he walked into the Great Hall, pushing the doors open with a sharp movement. On each side, two seventh-year students who had volunteered as helpers were guarding the entrance, just like other older students protected the windows and access points in case the protective barrier failed. Fortunately for everyone, the shield was incredibly strong and resisted all attacks; the true problem was the infiltrators inside the castle.
"Are you sure, Severus?" Sprout asked.
"Yes. I asked a few questions to the ones I found on my way. They were very kind to answer every single one of them truthfully" he said in his cold tone as a small glint of threat flashed in his eyes. "They are mercenaries, dark wizards, and other kinds of scum who were hired long ago."
Then he murmured almost to himself, "And I also found some familiar faces…" but the other professors didn't catch that last part.
Snape scanned the students hidden under the tables. Some of them shrank even more, as if Snape himself were one of the attackers; although, in truth, many had always been afraid of him. Others avoided his eyes. Even so, the ones he was looking for were nowhere in sight.
"Where are Malfoy and his companions?" he asked upon noticing the absence of the group he had sent toward that sector after his last sweep.
"What? They never arrived" Professor Flitwick said, visibly worried since they were students from his own house. "Did you see them before? Were they alright?" he asked quickly.
"Yes. I sent them this way" Snape answered with an annoyed look.
"Then they must have taken a detour" McGonagall said, now equally worried.
"Hmph… of course they did" Snape muttered as he prepared to go look for the "idiots."
But at that precise moment, a reddish aura passed through the walls like an expanding pulse. The energy washed through every person present; the atmosphere shifted in a slight but unsettling way. The walls seemed to warp, changing colors for a brief moment, and the portraits altered their images as the people inside them screamed in fear at what was happening in their painted worlds.
The students' clothing also changed styles; some briefly wore modern muggle outfits, others ancient or medieval ones, and then futuristic attire before everything returned to normal.
Snape frowned as he watched his own robes transform into an ancient armor for a split second, only to revert back to their usual state. He stepped toward the exit just as another pulse passed through the walls.
This time, it felt like a magical scanner.
When it passed through everyone's bodies, it kept moving without reacting to anyone… except Snape. The professor's body began to glow with an intense red hue.
And before anyone could react, Snape vanished in a crimson flash.
…
A few minutes earlier…
"You do realize Professor Snape is going to be really annoyed if he doesn't see us in the Great Hall when he arrives, right?" Hermione said, looking at her companions.
Draco and Daphne nodded as if they had already understood her for the fifth time—ever since she started repeating it.
"We'll just look for Harry and come right back. We don't want him getting into trouble" Daphne said.
"I doubt he'll get into trouble" Hermione added quickly, because Harry was the strongest among them.
Just as they turned the corner, they suddenly bumped into others coming from the opposite direction.
They all drew their wands at once, ready to fire spells in every direction.
But they froze when they recognized the people standing in front of them.
Fleur, Luna, Astoria, and Ginny.
"What are you doing here? You should have gone to the Great Hall. Where are the twins?" Draco asked upon seeing the girls still wandering through the castle when it was extremely dangerous.
"Th-they went to look for Percy" Ginny said with genuine worry as tears filled her eyes.
The three of them looked first at Ginny and then at Fleur, waiting for an explanation.
"We found Percy Weasley on the way, but it wasn't him. He suddenly attacked us. The twins had some objects that they threw at his feet while I distracted him with my charm, and he ended up tied up. But it turned out he wasn't their brother; he was someone using Polyjuice Potion. They went to look for the real one" Fleur explained quickly.
"What? Polyjuice Potion?" Hermione said, shocked. "Wait, does that mean there are students who could be spies?" she asked again, feeling her stomach tighten.
"That's what we believe" Fleur replied, and only then did they notice she had never lowered her wand while talking.
"It's alright. They're our friends" Luna said with a soft smile.
Hearing her, Fleur finally lowered her wand with a sigh. The three were about to ask her something, but Astoria spoke first.
"Luna realized from the beginning that Percy wasn't Percy" Astoria explained with a proud smile.
"So they're using her like a human scanner" Daphne said, nodding.
"Guys! Over here!" a shout echoed. Everyone turned around quickly, wands raised.
It was Terry Boot, Seamus Finnigan, and Ron Weasley, all three covered in dirt as if they had been digging through the ground.
"Thank goodness we found you. We really didn't know where to go" Terry said, relieved to see his housemates.
"Sis!" Ron shouted when he saw Ginny, approaching her with a wide smile. Ginny was about to run to him…
But Luna grabbed her arm. "That's not him" she said, shaking her head.
Before Terry, Seamus or Ron could ask what she meant, multiple spells struck "Ron" directly in the chest. They came from Fleur, Daphne, Hermione, and Draco.
The impact sent him flying so far he ended up crashing his head against a ceiling beam.
Seamus immediately drew his wand, aiming at them, while Terry looked completely confused.
"He's fake. That's not Ron Weasley" Draco shouted, ignoring Seamus's wand and walking toward the fake Ron, who lay unconscious on the floor with blood coming from his head. "Revelio" Draco said, and for a moment the face of an old man appeared beneath Ron's.
Terry and Seamus froze at the sight. They had been walking around with a fake Ron the entire time.
"Percy and now Ron… where are my brothers?" Ginny said, looking as if she were about to explode from nerves and worry.
"It's alright, we need to find Harry first. He'll be able to help us search properly with his magic" Hermione said quickly, trying to calm her even though she herself was very nervous.
"Where could he have gone?" Daphne asked.
But at that moment, as if in direct response, a red pulse passed through the walls and then through them.
Every place it touched changed slightly. The decorative armor at their side first turned into Viking armor, then Greek, before returning to normal.
The paintings shifted backgrounds, as if they had been freshly repainted in an instant, and the girls' hairstyles flickered for a moment, changing styles as if someone were flipping through different versions of reality.
"What was that?" Fleur asked, surprised as she touched her head, where for a moment she had worn a small crystal tiara.
"It means it'll be easier to find him" Draco said, instantly understanding who was the only one capable of creating that kind of magic and where it came from. It came from outside the castle.
"Harry's magic" Hermione said, but even so she felt a sharp stab of worry in her chest, just like her friends. They had never seen Harry's magic do something like that. They recognized the red aura from Wanda's explanations about Chaos Magic, and they had even seen Wanda herself alter reality slightly, changing her clothes and other things.
And the only time they had seen Harry do something similar was when he almost lost control.
"We need to hurry" Daphne said with a worried expression, fearing what might be happening to Harry.