Ding Dong Bell. Look Who's in the Well!

ooc:  yes.  they are.

The scene on the Hogwarts grounds had shifted drastically from how the night had begun. All of the students were now out of the water, dead or alive; all of the werewolves had transformed, rouge or not and the majority of the remaining students had made their way up to the castle. Bar the odd few: A Malfoy, Two Notts and another cluster of students lost in the crowd.

'We'll have to close the portcullis now!' Amelia called across to whoever was gathered by the Great Oak doors watching the scene across the grounds. 'I'll round up the remaining students and we'll enter another way.'

The majority of the chaos remaining in the ground was werewolves. Werewolves attacking werewolves, werewolves attacking Khaat Lupin and her party, werewolves attacking... Amelia's heart dropped once again as she saw a werewolf pounce onto a recent graduate, Alexander Nott.



'Hallie, get inside. GET INSIDE NOW!'Amelia screamed running out from the back kitchen door into the garden. The garden of Cooper cottage was overlooked by a dark forest. The forest was home to a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees. In the autumn Amelia had once allowed Hallie and Toby to play merrily in piles of leaves, keeping a close eye on them. Over time her children had become braver, wandering off into the woods. Up until the death of their Father he would be the one to make sure they were safe. There was never any threatening noises from the wood but Amelia had always been cautious, as any Mother was.

That evening Toby, who was due to start Hogwarts in a months time, had gotten into an argument insisting that he wanted to go and explore. In the end Amelia grounded her son, Hallie too for she couldn't hold herself but join into the argument. This was perhaps the biggest regret of Amelia's life. When you tell a child not to do something it only makes them want to do something more and, being the Mother of two overly bold children, they had done just that.

Unknowns to their Mother Hallie and Toby had ventured into the wood and now, now Hallie was emerging from the woods screaming and stumbled over the flowerbed. Behind her a sight that would make any Mother throw themselves in front of, sacrificing themselves for their children.

A werewolf had pounced down onto Hallie, it's teeth bared and ready to bite. BOOM. The sound of a canon had erupted from Amelia's wand, all maternal anger gushing up into her throat as the werewolf was blasted from her daughter.

'Get in the house, Hallie!' Amelia yelled again, although this was the last time for Hallie didn't need to be told once more after narrowly missing the teeth of a werewolf.

'Where's Toby? Where's you're brother?' Amelia asked as her daughter ran into her arms, tears streaming down her face. Amelia never heard what Hallie had said, her voice was too muffled and in the next breath the werewolf had regained consciousness and was advancing down the slope into the garden, this time joined by another werewolf. Little did Amelia know at the time that other werewolf was Toby Cooper.



'CONFRINGO!' Amelia yelled manically, fire blazing in her eyes. The rustling wind and the flash of lightning above made it an impressive sight. There the deputy headmistress was, in full fight mode, maternal adrenaline pumping and her wand casting spell after spell.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The werewolf was not only blasted off Alexander Nott in the nick of time Amelia had sent it bouncing further along in anger. Her son had been through enough pain, pain that tormented him every month, dented his character, forced him to feel exiled. Amelia wasn't about to have another person go through that trauma, not on her watch.

The deafening sound of a CLONG from behind her told her that the portcullis had been dropped, serving as a shield before the oak front doors preventing any from now entering or leaving the castle. That was strong enough, magically reinforced Goblin crafted metal the werewolves wouldn't be able to penetrate through.

'Mobilicorpus' Amelia casted, Alexander's body being the target of this. The boys boy rose vertically into the air, another wave of her wand and he was soon drifting off up to a window on the first floor. There was no use wasting time to bring him his state of unconsciousness, someone would find him on the first floor eventually.

'Stay with me!' Amelia said, grasping the traumatised Nott girl and pulling her behind her. The Professor could have asked her to find a way into the castle, heck it would have probably been a safer option but given the fact Anastasia seemed to shaken up to know where the castle even was Amelia deemed it her job to keep her by her side.

The next person whom needed saving was Isadora Malfoy. She wasn't moving, simply lay limp on the shore. None of the werewolves seemed to be heading her way, perhaps they believed her to be dead unless... Amelia glanced across and saw two werewolves engaging in battle, Blood being one of them. Not too far from them was Marcus Belby and Khaat Lupin. Amelia wanted to save them, provide them with back up especially seeing as none of the werewolves were attracted to the potentially dead Isadora Malfoy but taking Anastasia closer to them didn't seem appealing. Making up her mind Amelia ran, dragging Ana by the arm, to where Isadora's body lay. If she was dead she'd leave her, hope that Miss Nott would find the strength in her to find a different way into the castle whilst she went to the aid of Lupin and Belby.

Please be alive. Please be alive. Amelia thought drawing closer to Isadora.


(OOC: I may have misread that Isadora was unconscious, let me know if anything different and I'll edit!)

His eyes widened. The night came in, as dark as it was before. Brice woke up on the shore, and heard something going on. He was warmed up by three stacked jackets, and upon looking around, found out they were possesions of the people that he saved. His cat was besides him, also awake, and somewhat wet. He stood still, but he was extremely clumsy. He tried to remove the warm jackets, but was stopped by the students.

He was extremely drowsy, breathing in a slow and shallow way. He tried to say that he was fine, even though he wasn't, but all that came out was a slurred mumble. He couldn't walk. The two boys carried him along to a crowd of people, while the girl carried Leala. His vision blackened again.

Minutes later, he was in front of the Oak Doors, many students around him, whispering and pointing at him. He was alive. Turning his face to where the train once was, he saw it wasn't there anymore. The only place that wasn't submerged was gone. But there was more... werewolves, or at least he thought so. Something happened. People were dead. It was total chaos.

Surprisingly, though, the people that were alive didn't seem panicking as much. Sure, they still were, but not as much as when it happened. He wondered how many people had died. He couldn't help but feel a little bit of worry about all the people he had met so far. Apollo, Amber... Faith. Those were the first three that came to mind. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't. There was no--

He passed out again.

Once he woke up, he was lacking concern about anything. He felt his pulse getting weaker. He couldn't die... he shouldn't have saved those people. Maybe he was dying... He felt Leala rubbing his hair and meowing. Someone kneeled near him, feeling his pulse and there was a scream. Brice couldn't die, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't give up so soon. Not... so...

His vision blackened again.

Michael saw things turning sharply. He looked at his 'twin.' The students looked like most of them were inside. There were a few stragglers. But there were some civilians on the grounds too.  That concerned him and his 'twin.'

The 'twin' looked at Michael grimly. "You know what to do, Michael."

"Are you sure, Oz?" Michael asked, knowing it might well seal the fates of a lot of people.

"We have no choice.  Go," the man said. "I'll cover you as long as I can."

Michael was with him.  For whatever it meant, Michael was still with him. Despite the consequences of Robert's decision that were swirling in Michael's head, despite that he himself was to be a first time father at age 62 in December, despite the fact that once the gates were closed, the humans on the grounds still were outnumbered and outmatched by the werewolves, Michael was still with him.  Michael saw he had a bit of an opening in the melee and he ran for Professor Cooper.  He was summoning himself up on the inside. Robert had asked a great deal of him over the decades. This seemed like more still.

"Cooper!" he shouted. When he got to her, he looked at her. "Take any civilians inside that you can. Please.  The students who are still straggling might go with the adults." He paused looking deeply at her.  The next bit was going to be against her nature.

There was no way for him to communicate with her now that the new order had come directly from the Minister of Magic.  He wanted Cooper to hold the school and let the war on the grounds be removed from faculty and students. Robert saw no choice. And, reluctantly, Michael agreed.  He had seen Cooper fight, and on more than one occasion.

As much as Robert might want to redirect her, Michael had a feeling that the Deputy Headmistress wasn't going to surrender her school or her grounds on the say so of an old man who wasn't part of the faculty here. He would relay the message, but he had his own misgivings that she'd follow it. He had visions of her looking at him absurdly and telling him what a piece of shit this whole idea was. He was hoping, later, this would be a moment they could all laugh about and tell a story of their own about.

"Then, no matter what. Go inside. Lock yourselves in. And close the gates. Don't open them until its over. We'll finish it."

This would mean that those who were fighting the werewolves would have to fight either until the werewolves left the same way they came, or it would be a fight to the death.  If they won, it was all good. If not, the werewolves would be trapped on the grounds and eventually forced to fight each other out of hunger. Robert was counting on those in the castle being able to hold tight, either way, until it ended. Crappy plan, Michael thought, but he didn't see a better one being offered up.  And Robert was willing to take responsibility for this crappy plan and its potential crappier outcome.

Cooper was to leave them to it and protect everyone else by sealing them in the castle. If Cooper could close the gates quickly enough, the half that Khaat and Marcus had lured outside would not be able to get back in.

At time when he reached the shore the moon became full. He felt tingling in the spine, and had enough time just to take a deep breath before the change started. In all this rush he completely forgot that it's full moon now. And now it was too late for going somewhere where he will be alone and where he couldn't hurt someone.

Pain rushed through his limbs making him scream. The wave of pain fastly caught every part of his body, every cell of his. His sight started to mist and his teeth became longer, sharper, Bastien squeeze them when his bones started braking, every single one, and healing in different way shaping skeleton of the werewolf. Tears fall from his eyes as his body changed, fur grew and muzzle lengthened.

When transision was over he stopped squeeze the grass. His sight become more sharpened, so his human sight now seemed pathetic, blurry and weak. He could now see everything. Dark wasn't a barrier for him anymore. Every moverment, every color was bright and clear now. And his hearing, he could hear everything, if he knew who all this people are he could determine where they are just based on their voices. He heared their paws hitting the floor, of the rest of his kind, currently his enemies.

He raised up going down on all four paws, focused on their steps, their breathings and started running.
He was still new enough so he couldn't control the beast in him nor he knew can he control it at all, so he facused on werewolves knowing that's the only way he has if he doesn't want to hurt humans. He need to be focused on something so the beast in him would be busy.

Sebastien passed through the middle of the battle, kids were screaming when he passed, adults tuurning their wands in his direction. He hoped no one will cast a spell, that would slow him down, and they are already gone too far, he needs to reach them as soon as possible. Bastien forced his paws to move even faster, his mucles were burning but he ignored it. He needed wanted to reach them.

The girl was breathing. There was blood trailing through her hair and had splattered all down her front, a head injury. As if the healers didn't have enough problems but at least Isadora Malfoy was alive, another addition to the line of dead bodies wasn't what Amelia had wanted. Of course she hated the entire situation, the fact that there was even a line of dead bodies, however, there was still a bubble of relief swallowed at the feeling of a light, dulled breath against the Professors cheek when she knelt down to listen.

Unlike her method of essentially throwing Alexander through a first floor window, Malfoy appeared more fragile and her head injury would need to be monitored but before the Deputy Headmistress could come to a conclusion as to how best to transport her to the school someone had called her name.

Michael Tremaine. At least she thought it was him, unless it was his twin - Amelia didn't quite know who was Michael and who wasn't, nor was the Professor aware of the fact Mr Tremaine didn't infact have a twin and that polyjuice potion was in play. He was telling her to retreat, take all the students back to the castle and lock themselves in. Of course that had been the Professors plan but to then abandon the Lupin clan, let them take on the werewolves had never been on her agenda. As long as the werewolves were on the grounds of Hogwarts, even within Hogsmede Amelia felt it her obligation to fight them off. She had been the one to request aid from the villagers via her patronus, she wasn't about to just let those tucked up in bed be torn to shreds - or worse: transformed.

'I'll come back out.' Amelia told him. 'I'll make sure everyone is safe, then when I return I'll lock myself out. It's the least that I can do!' She called back not listening for an answer.

'Anastasia.' Amelia began conjuring a stretcher and placing Isadora securely onto it as she spoke. 'I need you to go back to the castle, use the locomotor charm and take Miss Malfoy. I'll round up the other students.'

The Gryffindor nodded but Amelia wasn't one hundred percent sure that she had registered what she said. 'You understand?' Another nod.

'TO THE CASTLE NOW!' Amelia shouted, casting a snorous charm upon her throat so that any stragglers and villagers aiding the defense against the werewolves could hear. Thankfully the adults listened, running up to the portcullis which was re-opening for them and any students they grasped along the way.

Amelia too headed up a little behind Anastasia and the levitating Isadora. Rushing across and helping any students who seemed too injured to make it on their own, occasionally stopping at a face-down body to turn it and discover they were no longer alive, that sickening feeling in her stomach bubbling at the realisation.

Within an impressive two minutes the entrance Hall was overflowing from the amount of people in The Great Hall. The nurses from the hospital wing had cautioned off an area to the left of the grand staircase where people were lay on conjured stretchers and sitting on stools brought up from the kitchen by the house elves. A few parents that had arrived on the scene were embracing their horrified children whilst older students were casting heat charms on those younger than them to dry them off - for a moment Amelia thought Pansy Parkinson-Nott was also doing the same but soon realised that she was asking for quotes.

'Dad!' Anastasia shouted across to Theodore Nott, her state of shock quickly evaporating for her.

Everyone was safe and a calm atmosphere was beginning to return. As easy as it would have been to stay Amelia wanted to return to the Lupins. If it weren't for them more people would died, children would have been bitten and no doubt the werewolf population would have rapidly increased. They were the heroes of tonight and the least the Professor could do was thank them and finish the job off with them. The chances were they'd tell her to return and if they did, well, maybe she would but right now Amelia had an obligation.

Leaving the castle she waved her wand, strengthening the protective enchantments and closing the portcullis. Most of the werewolves had been driven off the grounds and into Hogsmede but there was still work to do. Spotting Michael and his twin Amelia began to sprint across the grounds, wand in hand and pointing at the werewolf they were fighting.

Ari took another swat at him, and it struck James, the claws making contact and ripping wads of fur and some skin along with it.  It stung, but more than that, it irritated him.

What was with Ari, anyway?  Where had Fenrir gone wrong? The boy was far too human for his own good. What was he saving the humans for? They were worthless, so far as James was concerned. If they weren't going to help grow the pack, then they were merely food stock.  He didn't see Ari out after Khaat for himself. Ari wasn't her type. Although, he didn't put it past Ari to have a fondness for lilies. Air fought like a girl anyway, or so James thought.

He lowered himself down on all fours and decided to get down to business. Ari had lost him his prey.  All this time, all this chasing, all the work, and Ari had lost her for him again.  He was more than a little angry about that.

He planned on killing the boy.  Screw Fenrir.  Fenrir didn't have any heart when it came to pack fights.  Pack rules always superceded any sentimentality.  And in a pack fight, the win usually went to the biggest, the strongest, the fittest.  Ari was just a wirey little shit.  Unless he slipped through James's claws, then James' win was just a matter of time.

He took a moment to calculate it, and then he flung himself full at the overgrown cub.

(ooc: Students, feel free to utilize npc healers to assist your characters if you need to, or help each other as you can)

Lily did not know what had happened, exactly. She had fallen asleep on the train and had woken in time to see water surround the train. Lily scrambled out to the hallway, where people were screaming and shouting, trying to find some safety in their emergency. That was when she had found Casey Weasley. The girls dropped everything that had kept them out of each other’s good graces and, hands intertwined, had run down the train looking for some escape. At the last car, Ducky Baker had opened up a hatch, having already pushed his friends out. He was the one to help Casey through, followed by Lily. As soon as they had done that, however, the train had groaned and creaked, and the train had convulsed. The girls reached for each other’s hands but Casey slipped away and a gush of water pulled Lily inward, knocking her head on the train, and darkness reigned.

Finn was being screamed at to evacuate, but she could not leave the edge of the lake. She and the Weasley girl defied everyone as they peered into the water, waiting for the people they cared most for. Finally, Ducky’s head broke the surface and he placed Lily on the shore. Finn nearly cried in relief, but they were all torn apart by a blasting spell. A professor grabbed Finn and Casey and dragged them away, kicking and screaming, while Ducky returned to the watery wreck in search of more students in need. Lily was left to her devices on the shore.

Lily’s eyes blinked open, slowly, groggily. She sat up, no recollection of what had happened that could put her in such a strange position. She turned her head and saw the bloodied face of a fourth year boy, clearly unconscious, potentially dead. With a gasp, she withdrew, whipping her head around to look for the source of the problem.

She knew Blood – as a werewolf, she had to know. She swallowed slowly and her eyes darted about – professors were at hand, but none were close enough to protect her. She was caught between the pack and the werewolf. She slowly stood, trying to look as small as possible. If anyone recognized her as a Potter – she was screwed.

((Sorry for the poopy post. Just needed to get some characters in to find where they might be needed.))

(ooc: sorry--bits and pieces from multiple folks here.)

Michael saw that there were still some straggling students that were struggling to regain themselves in order to get to the castle. They were trying, but it was a substantial blow for any of them to have survived a train crash and then be suddenly having to dash for their lives. He knew they would have to do whatever they could to help as many of those who were hurt or stunned to get inside.

One of James' werewolves was infuriated that the old humans were still there, still standing. They weren't a good food source, though. Too old. Still, they were annoyingly efficient, and a real pain in the butt. They needed to be eliminated.

He noticed the one human trying to organize the one who appeared to be somewhat of an alpha female here. Well, if he took out the old man, then the female might be rattled enough to not get herself together. If that did not prove to be the case, then then he would simply take out the female next.

He flung himself towards the old white haired human who was attempting to talk to the female who appeared to see herself as some sort of alpha here. He was hoping that the old human would just give it up quickly and not put up much fuss.

What had actually happened? One second she had been sitting calmly in the compartment with Anastasia and Baldric and then all of a sudden, she was frantically trying to find a way out of the train. More importantly, she was frantically looking for the younger girl who was like her sister. The train was quickly sinking and she realized that if she didn't get out soon, she wouldn't be of any help to anyone.

Please let her have already gotten off the train... The Gryffindor thought to herself as she ran off to where she thought there was an exit. The good thing was that the train was practically empty by the time she decided she needed to get out, with the few remaining people that she could see finding a way that would get her out as well. She was helped into the opening that a boy had found, along with the small group of people that were there and soon enough she gasped for air as she came up from under that water she had just been submerged in.

Glancing around, Hitame noticed that there was land not too far away from her and she swam toward it. She saw the fighting that was occurring and she wanted to jump into it badly, but she had more pressing matters to attend to, them she could get her head blasted off if she wanted to. She had to find Anastasia. Making noise with these.. werewolves..? What were those things doing there? Had they caused the train to sink? - around, wouldn't be good. She had to find a way around them so she wouldn't be harmed.

She was close to the castle, she could tell, but she wasn't sure if Ana was already there. But she didn't have much time to look around on the outside of the castle, with so much fighting and so many wolves around. It's my best bet. She thought, deciding that she would check the castle, considering people were crowding in there. Please.. Hitame ran to the castle's entrance, pushing her way through people when she got there as she searched for the younger girl.

Her wet hair bounced around her shoulders and back, having been soaked and left unruly. Hitame cared about anything but her hair right now. "Ana? Ana! Anastasia!" The sixteen year old called out, hoping the other Gryffindor would answer her.

---

Maddie was anxious. The Hogwarts Express had been attacked and Michael was there now, fighting against werewolves and putting his life on the line. And what was she doing? Nothing, at all. All because she was pregnant? "To hell with that excuse." Madeline Ross Tremaine did not let anything stop her from doing what she wanted. And what she wanted to do right now was go out there and fight. And nothing, not even her pregnancy, would keep her away from that. "Michael will probably kill me when he sees me, but I have to go. I can't just sit here and wait to hear if he's okay or not." she told herself. "Plus, I'm a healer. They'll need me there, whether he wants me to be there or not." she nodded as she got up from where she was seated and she apparated to Hogsmeade, where she knew was the closest place she would be able to apparate to since no one could apparate on school grounds.

Once in the small village, she noticed it was very quiet, Maddie made her way to the castle gates and onto the grounds. Almost immediately she found a young boy, maybe around fourteen, thrown on the ground holding his arm which seemed to be bleeding. She could tell that something else was wrong as well, he seemed afraid to move his leg, which had to mean that his arm wasn't the only thing injured. She approached the boy, reassuring him that she wasn't going to hurt him when he seemed terrified of her. "I'm here to help you, don't worry. Let me see your arm." The boy reluctantly stretched his arm out to her to allow her to check what had happened. He must have been running from something, a wolf no doubt, and was injured by the bark of a tree. Or a branch that was sticking out and was in his way.

She pulled out her wand and waved it over his wound. It wasn't too deep and a simple healing spell closed the wound. She wasn't going to clean him up now, since she had more important things to do, like tend to his injured leg. "Your leg. What happened? You don't seem to want to move it." she asked, noticing how it twitched and he winced at the movement.

"I.. I think I broke my ankle. I was running and I think I tripped on a rock, or something. But it was big and I hurt myself real badly." he explained. Maddie nodded. "I don't think it's actually broken, you might have just sprained it. The more you think about what you think happened, the harder it'll be for you to move or walk or do anything." she told him, knowing that he would say that he couldn't even move his foot or leg. "C'mon. Let's get you to the castle." she told him, lifting the boy up and letting him lean on her to support himself, as he bounced on one foot. "What's your name?" Maddie asked him. "Jeremy Peakes. What's yours?" the boy responded. "Madeline Tremaine." She replied back, moving as fast as she could with the boy who continued to hop as she led him to the castle. They had to be careful, she wouldn't want a werewolf to come by and decide that he wanted to attack them because he saw an older woman and an injured boy struggling to get to the safety of the castle.

She wondered just how safe the castle was though. Couldn't the wolves get in there too? It was a possibility, and it was one that Maddie wanted to think was slim. And it probably was, considering how many people were already in there and how everyone wanted to remain safe.