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"Viscera ruptura!"
The violet-black curse missed her by several inches but it had come close. Too close. Alexandra sent a quick Fulgur Magna in retaliation but the junior Death Eater hid behind a pillar.
The combat against the King of Snakes, which had begun optimally with the bat clawing out the eyes of the Basilisk, was now turning to a far darker outcome. Alexandra had been forced to let Tisiphone and the Basilisk resolve their quarrel of dominant super-predators alone. The Heir of Slytherin had sent two other Junior Death Eaters with his creature...which had left Alexandra somewhat baffled as to how many of the castle's pure-bloods had been recruited in this not-so-little conspiracy.
Seriously, counting the three she had killed and the one who had fled, they were right now reaching the number of six. How the Head of the House Slytherin and the rest of the teaching staff had not noticed that many potential killers inside Hogwarts' walls was beyond her.
"Sanguis glaciare!"
A white-red beam struck the top of the nearby pillar, too close for comfort.
"Viscera ruptura!"
This was becoming bad. Her two enemies were coordinated, and unlike the other imbeciles she had fought before, they were not launching Unforgivables right and left. She was pretty sure she was facing two elder Slytherin boys...but she could be wrong. What was sure on the other hand was that their arsenal of lethal spells was several times bigger than her own. And they had very rapid and lethal Dark Arts incantations in it.
"Reducto!"
"Bombarda Maxima!"
"Sanguis glaciare!"
Various bombardment spells and cursed crossed the courtyard of the third floor which had become by default their battlefield. With the destruction they caused, Hogwarts was soon going to need a lot of repairs before reopening.
Alexandra felt the urge to scream a few insults at her opponents but it wasn't going to solve anything. Unlike Carrow, these followers knew not to squander their advantages. The green-eyed witch had never realised how much the Slytherins were bound with the laws existing on different types of magic but now she did. In a fashion, the Gryffindors were really mad to taunt them with pranks and provocations. It was like grabbing the tail of an irritated animal and expecting it not to react with venom and fangs!
Speaking about the animal, Alexandra was forced to jump over the balustrade onto the moving stairs as the Basilisk shattered the place where she had just taken position. The beast was now completely mad without its eyes. Tisiphone constantly clawing its head was likely amplifying these bouts of madness.
By the dark soul of Sauron this snake was ugly! Over sixty feet of grey-green scales, an ugly head –which had not been improved by the bat wounds – a barbed tail and the incredibly long fangs. More problematic, it was impossible to kill. Alexandra had tried all the methods she knew. Throwing spells. Throwing sharp objects. Collapsing the pillars and the ceiling over its head. The Harpoon Charm, a complicated piece of magic she had considered her plan of recourse several days ago. Making sure the junior Death Eaters most dangerous curses were redirected against the reptile.
Nothing worked. The Basilisk resistance was simply unnatural.
Only the sword Glamdring seemed to be any use, her strikes with the sliver metal piercing the hard scales and drawing blood from the monster. The problem was that her attacks weren't touching anything vital. Either she lacked the strength sufficient to do it, or there was no such weakness in the Basilisk. Alexandra freely acknowledged she sucked on the subject of magical snakes' anatomy...by the way who knew the Basilisk's blood was a powerful acid?
Occasion to strike a fatal blow to the head of the Basilisk were alas few and far between. Assuming of course the head was a weak point of the King of the Snakes. And the opportunities became null when one took into account the endless barrage of the Death Eaters.
"Confringo!"
The high-level Blasting Curses were beginning to be quite tiresome when one was on the receiving end. More proof Alexandra was facing at least OWL-level students...and an incentive to finish this battle fast. The two junior Death Eaters had begun this round of hostilities well-rested. Not her.
"For Elendil!" The Potter Heiress screamed, channeling a side of her persona she would refuse to admit the existence in public...too many similarities with the dim-witted Lions.
Using the new move of the Basilisk as an improvised shield, Alexandra raced up the stairs and slammed Glamdring in the lower part of the monster's maw. Struck from below, the Chamber of Secrets' monster emitted an incredulous sounding hiss as the silver-sword went right to the hilt in its flesh, ravaging its vulnerable parts and hopefully touching the vital skull. Alexandra jumped away as the flow of oily blood poured from the massive wound, and just in time. The gigantic snake convulsed in agony and its tail went away impossibly fast.
Too fast.
For the second time in less than an hour, Alexandra was sent spinning. The meeting with the ground was as unpleasant as ever, but this time with victory surging in her heart the pain wasn't unbearable. The Basilisk hissed and shrieked in untold suffering, before slamming into what had been an ornamental fountain yesterday. Like the troll over a year ago, the rumble was so loud and powerful Alexandra was sure every dead and alive being inside Hogwarts had heard it.
"Yes..."
"NO!"
Alexandra stood up impossibly fast with what strength was left of forces in her legs. Her flight had sent her directly before one of the two Death Eaters. Her saving grace...there was no saving grace.
They were both at each other wand's point. There wasn't going to be any time to evade.
"Glacies-"
"Sanguis-"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The livid green light announcing the Killing Curse arrived without warning and struck the Death Eater straight in the middle of his back. It was so rapid Alexandra was sure the pure-blood had not even the opportunity for the words to arrive to his brain.
At first Alexandra thought it was his acolyte who had completely missed his target, but the other silver mask was crawling behind a ruined statue.
No, the responsible for this clean murder was in front of her, wearing a dark grey cloak decorated with a flamboyant red symbol she had never seen before: two black curved swords crossed on a red field accompanied by what looked to be black tears.
Raising her wand in precaution, Alexandra's mind clicked and she realised this face had figured prominently when she had searched photos of her family in the archives. The man had grown older with the years yes, but he was still recognisable.
"Peter Pettigrew."
The last member of the Marauders emitted a quick nod, before transforming into a rat and disappearing into a corridor with an impressive agility. Huh. At no moment had it been mentioned the man was a Animagus. In fact, the former friend of her father was a wizard described as 'low-average level' in the OWLS and NEWTS records.
At least I know why Scabbers reappeared. It wasn't Scabbers. Scabbers was eaten by Crookshanks. It was Peter Pettigrew all along. And that way he gained access to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Truly Hogwarts was a monumental disaster in term of security.
The black-haired witch turned to settle the accounts with her last enemy, but there was no one behind the ruined pillars and the mutilated statues.
"Only the Heir of Slytherin is left. OOOFF!"
Tisiphone had just chosen this moment to pose herself upon Alexandra's left shoulder, and the weight of the great bat was significantly heavier than Atalanta. Alexandra felt only gratitude for her new animal companion...until the bat decided to lick the blood on her clothes.
Yuck.
A stampede nearby interrupted her disgusted considerations. This time it wasn't the Death Eaters coming back for a new round. A large group of Lions had decided to rush in the melee. They however stopped at the entry of the devastated courtyard when they saw the battle was over.
"Potter," For the first time in two years, the Potter Heiress saw the Boy-Who-Lived blanching in fear. "What have you done?"
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