A lot of things happened at once. Nem had just BARELY missed her spell (by sheer, incredibly dumb luck), he cast a giant serpent of FIRE at her (really? he knew fiendfyre? that shouldn't have surprised her), AND more of those nasty Neo-Alliance hobos were coming out from the castle behind her. She was sandwiched between Neo Alliance hobos and there was a fiery serpent coming after her. Great.

"Protego Maxima!" Louise shouted, guarding herself from the stunning spell and the the flying rubble. She was starting to think that coming out here was a bad idea. Her jinx hadn't even done anything and now she was going to get burnt to a crisp. And she hadn't even found her mum yet...

In the split second that all that had crossed her mind, she found a new resolve to stay alive and fight. She HAD to see her mum, at the very least, before she died. If she died. Hopefully she wouldn't die?

Speaking of, there was a flash of green light... Two, at least, but one of them hit somebody. That was two deaths she had witnessed in the year. Her resolve grew again. As did her anger.

Louise turned her attention to the Neo Alliance hobos that were coming from the castle. Surely there were enough people pointing their wands at Nem to keep them occupied.

"BOMBARDA!" The redhead shouted, thrusting all of her energy into the spell as she sent it towards the crowd of hissing and snickering bad guys. She had practiced this spell in Rosier's class where he had the dummies crying like real people. So if it hurt, they could blame him.

It was all kid, kid, kid, wasn't it? Not that Nem minded that too much, they supposed. They liked to be underestimated. Underestimation usually let to unpredictability, which in turn led to nasty little surprises.

The middle of a battle, in a skirmish on a bridge, surrounded by enemies, was not an ideal place to put one's Fiendfyre skills into practice. Nem, however, seemed not to notice the danger, or, if they noticed it, they simply did not care. The giant, flaming serpent, and its two targets were at the centre of their attention for the moment...

... until the first Bombarda (Chloe Adara) aimed at the stone sent them reeling, staggering all the way over to the other side of the bridge, bits of rubble pelting them as they went. Coughing through the dust, and using their shoulder to rub at a dribbling cut over their eye, Nem redoubled their attention on the fire. One serpent had become two during the momentary loss of concentration, and they now writhed around each other up above, occasionally striking out at Bones and Kitridge. They did not even have a moment to concentrate on laughing outright at the grounding comment from that one woman, but there was certainly a maniacal grin on their face all the same, made all the more unnerving by the light of the Fiendfyre.

How many times did this Krafft woman need to be told to relax? Was the monologuing necessary? Nem was about to shoot a comment at her about exactly that, when she piped up again, giving it the big 'I am'. Well... if she thought that was going to get her anywhere, she was very much mistaken; she wasn't the Big Man, and Nem didn't much like her tone.

The Kitridge woman did not need to bark her own orders or attempt to disarm, and was in fact being nothing short of stupid with the latter. Without the opportunity to block, Nem had to launch themselves sideways to avoid the disarming spell, to keep hold of their wand and thus, control of the fire. She was already being dealt with, so Nem focused instead on cancelling the Fiendfyre spell. The twin serpent flames remained behind, towering in the air, lunging and flaring but still under control for the moment. Still contained. Call it a gift. The blonde woman (Vivi James) had seemed so eager to handle it a moment ago, before her friend or whoever walked himself into a Killing Curse. Real shame.

As they backed up a few steps - still being pelted by stray pieces of debris and staggering slightly from the force of any and all explosive magic, stumbling over on their ankle at one point - one more spell was sent their way, and Nem happened to catch sight of the caster. They ducked, sprang back up, and sent a second lightning bolt spell, nastier than the first, at their attacker (Penelope Grimm). For all the malice behind the spell, their expression was suddenly clear, inscrutable.

In one swift movement, Nem turned towards Krafft, whom they now stood a few steps behind and who must have been fairly preoccupied with all the incoming spells, even with the back-up of the Neo Alliance followers. If one or two of those attacks made contact first, it was all for the better. Nem raised their wand at a huge heap of debris that had found itself piled up on the bridge some distance away, great chunks of bridge and stone wall from the more destructive spells, a gargoyle or two. With a levitation charm, Nem gathered all the rubble up in one spell, concentrated the lot into a slightly tighter mass, and with almighty force and nefarious intent, sent the lot, as one, flying down the bridge at speed and directly into Simone Krafft.

The don't tell me what to do was implied.

Time to go. Enemies everywhere. Nem sprinted for the edge of the bridge without waiting to see the result of their attack, and Grindelwalded their way right over the side, wand at the ready for the descent.

Caught in the initial fray and separated from Vivi for entirely too long, Kurumi had wanted to continued forward towards Hogwarts proper but soon found herself veering off when she caught what was going on in the distance. Namely the eruption of fire that was no simply flourish of Incendio.

Sheesh she would never again complain about wrangling Hungarian Horntails or feeding their hatchlings bottles ever again!

"VIVI!" she shrieked as she approached the scene just in time for a horrifying jet of green light to shoot towards her friend...only to see it strike another who had put himself between the blonde and the Killing Curse. And now he was dead. The chaos ensued and there were two pillars of flame in the form of serpents that needed tending to...along with the body of the man who had just saved one of her best friend's lives. And they...they couldn't just leave him here.

Slashing her wand upwards to deflect an on-coming spell, Kurumi darted forward and nonverbally cast a Glisseo on the ground so she could slide more quickly towards the fallen figure. His eyes were still open...and she couldn't bear to look at that...it was just...just too much seeing the lights gone. So with another flick of her wand she had conjured a blindfold and then it was quick work with a Featherlight Charm to give her any chance of carrying him elsewhere.

And was that...LOUISE?! What in Merlin's name was SHE doing out here?!

"LOUISE BONES! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE, YOUNG LADY! YOU'RE MOTHER WILL HAVE AN ABSOLUTE FIT! NOW COME HELP ME WITH HIM!"

The girl was positively no match for Fiendfyre and she would need help clearing a path towards the triage.

Wand thrust forward once again, she sent a series of switching spells towards the Neo Alliance adversaries closest to her pseudo niece. Spells with the intent of turning legs and arms into fins incapable of standing nor gripping a wand. Perhaps a fish head or two in there as well. She likewise just barely caught a glimpse of a smaller body falling over the edge of the bridge and then a monstrous mass of rubble flung at the woman who almost seemed to be leading the attack on this portion of the Hogwarts grounds.

Focusing back on her nameless fallen comrade, Kurumi glanced upwards and hoped Louise had actually followed instructions. One could never be too sure with Gryffindor teenagers - speaking from experience. Tugging on his arms, the Featherlight Charm doing wonders here, she hoisted him on to her back for an awkward piggyback and resumed reflecting spells as they came.

The kid's fire was getting really hot and Simone was starting to get annoyed. Maybe she should have just taken them out first even if the boss said to keep the kid safe and that they were a good resource. She only worked with certain people and trusted less, but right now she had to keep from burning up and keep from a spell taking her out when she was being distracted by people on her side.

Sending another killing curse towards the group she didn't get to react in time to a stunning spell that came at her and unlucky for Simone just as the stunning spell hit her the rubble that the kid sent at her slammed into her head. A loud crushing sound could be heard before the impact sent the woman flying off the side and down to her death.

C O U L S O N__B R A D S H A W // order aligned

In all honesty, if Elodie hadn't reminded him to shower more often, Coulson could have easily been mistaken for the wrong side. Perhaps that was something he might be able to use to his advantage. A surprise attack of some sort if he played his cards right?

But his focus was not lost, the chaos of battle around him felt more like a familiar dance, wand flickers and footwork moving him through the clouds of smoke and flying rubble with near ease. The verbal promise he'd made to his girlfriend... and the silent ones he'd made to his children, keeping his eyes sharp and his ears open. His green eyes found a familiar form in one Penelope Greenwell, a short nod given to her as he approached her side. What a mess this was. Taking a short moment to take in everything happening, his eyes caught sight of the student and Kurumi with... a body?

Perhaps it was his fatherly instincts kicking in, but he raced toward the two, casting an extra thick cloud of dust between them and the neo-alliance members before diving through it himself to meet the two ladies.

"Don't stop. You have to keep moving. I've got your back." ahem, and for the young lady. "What are you doing out here? Where's your head of house? Get inside. Now." He may have growled a little more than intended, eyebrows stitched together in that usual Coulson grimace.

Rubble was flying everywhere and it was that and the fiendfyre striking that kept Louise occupied. Thankfully, her shield charms were strong and she managed to keep the fire at bay. Little bits of rubble pelted at her from different angles, but the intensity of the fire was enough to distract her from that. Whatever charm it took to take out the fiendfyre was beyond her, but she knew that the Good Blonde Lady across the bridge was attempting to control it. Louise did her part and channeled a gust of wind from her wand, picking up a good chunk of the fire, and directed it right towards the group of Alliance lackeys that had emerged from the castle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Evil Blonde Lady get smashed by a large pile of rubble... that seemed to be coming from Nem? Had she seen that right? Regardless, she then saw Nem jump off the side of the bridge and Louise then realized that she had no idea what was going on.

Then she heard her name.

The Gryffindor looked up and saw her basically-adopted aunt Kurumi stooped down beside the body of the man that had taken the impact of the killing curse. Relief flooded her mind, thankful to see a familiar face. That probably meant that the Minister was here - and if the Minister was here, then her MUM was here!

Right, back to battle. Now that Nem and Evil Blonde Lady were gone and the fire was headed towards the Alliance hobos, Louise broke into a sprint towards Kurumi to help her with the.... the..... dead guy. She tried not to focus on him. "I'll clear the way," she said as she reached Kurumi, her wand already in motion to clear a path free of rubble so they could go inside. Focusing on clearing the rubble would help her NOT focus on the dead man that was hanging on Kurumi's back.

THEN she heard the lovely, condescending demands of a new arrival (Coulson). "I'm not a child," Louise spat back at the man between shield spells and rubble-clearing spells. She was seventeen (OF AGE, THANK YOU) and she was strong and she was helping, no matter what anyone said and she wasn't going to listen to this random bloke.

Chloe's disarming spell did nothing, except that it was deflected BACK to her.... which she had fortunately managed to shout a "Protego Maxima!" in time. Yes she learned from the last time, which is why she wasn't fighting Simone ALONE. Also her fury raged at her boss even more but before she could think over what to do next, many things seemed to happen quickly in the next few moments with flashes of light and dust from her bombarda spell, that was somewhat effective.... and one struck her former schoolmate as he fell lifeless.

"Caleb!!! No!!!" Chloe's eyes widened as she turned back to the alliance members, feeling emboldened. But not enough as one of the alliance spells broke through her shield charm and knocked her back on her bum.

And the kid who was aligned with the alliance and had cast fiendfyre (where he learned that, Chloe could only speculate) had turned on Simone sending fallen rubble her way??? Wait, who was the kid aligned with then?? Had he been feigning aligning himself with the neo alliance?? But before she had the chance to to really pay too much attention about the kid, he was gone ... and soo was her boss lady, as she fell over the side of the bridge to her death, presumably. One gone, hundreds more to go. Woozily, the former gryffindor uprighted herself sending some knockback jinxes towards the alliance members in hopes to get some more ground gained. For Caleb, who was now on the back of someone else (Kurumi) and Chloe felt a sense of appreciation for the woman to not leave his body there to rot on the bridge.

Followers of the Neo-Alliance swamped the bridge, some casting protective shield charms around the group, but many now locked in combat or throwing out their own attacks. These idiots, they just didn't see, they were too short-sighted to understand that this was all for the greater good. Lucien Rosier was leading them into the light, and not only that, but they could put their talents to use, they could enjoy themselves. They could have fun.

As more Order attackers joined the scene, more spells went out to meet them. One follower saw a woman (Shreya) send a stunning spell at Simone, and instantly at her in retaliation, "Incarcerous!", as a second launched another attack on the woman who had been crucio'd (Cassie). "Stupefy!"

Gargoyles were raining down upon the group thanks to one of the attackers (Vivi). Some followers took to blasting these out of the sky or back in her direction, some blocked their impact with more shields, but a few were not fast enough. A bonk to the head from one gargoyle sent one such follower sprawling to the ground, insensible, only for another to lose her footing as she backed up over him in her haste to get away from the blast from the brat's (Louise) Bombarda.

Krafft had the right idea. A handful of followers were keeping an eye on the interaction between Krafft and the kid, and a moment's lapse in concentration was enough for one follower of lofty stature to take a Confundus Charm (from Penelope) to the head. They guessed what was coming a second before it did, and several Neo-Alliance followers leapt into action, but too late. Cursing and shrieking in their rage, they sent jets of deadly green light over the edge of the bridge, after the escaping traitor, spells from the confunded individual going far too wide every so often.

Fury redoubled the fire in the rest of the Neo-Alliance followers. Killing curses flew every which way, from those who had not suddenly found themselves with fins in place of arms and subsequently dropped their wands. A small group of followers split away from the main group to start handling the portion of fiendfyre that had been left behind by the traitor brat, and been blown their way by the red-headed one.

One follower caught sight of the group starting to form around the body (Kurumi, Coulson, Louise, (Caleb)), but found his view of them obscured by a cloud of dust before he could cast. No matter, they tried anyway. "Bombarda!" Meanwhile, another Rosier fan was thrown backwards down the bridge a good ten feet, but thankfully his pals were there to cast several stunning spells back at the perpetrator (Chloe). "STUPEFY!"

Nessarose Glendower really had no business being in a life or death battle. Sure, she was a competent witch and had helped save the population of Hogwarts from some angry acromantulas back in the day. But she was a very peaceful person who simply loved children and the performing arts. Was she really capable of defending against bloodthirsty criminals without getting herself killed?

On a regular day, she might say no. But today was different. Today was the culmination of many months without any sort of contact from her young, fragile daughter or her best friend whom she entrusted to look out for Hope. And she knew there was something very, very wrong with that well before she heard the Minister's announcement. Once she did hear it, this mama bear sprang into action.

The scene she stumbled upon was chaos, but she was able to shield spells as she made her way towards the castle with one thing on her mind - her daughter. The flashes of green light were harrowing. Oh my heavens, was that poor child dead? Her wand tightly gripped in her hand, Nessa felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw him being dragged away from the battle sight. She was near positive that he was once one of her students. How heartbreaking.... But there was no time to mourn, lest she fall the same way.

There was so much fire too, causing her to look around in a panic. Was it fienfyre? Nessa wasn't sure she ever even saw that in person, but she was certain that's what it was. Best to get out of the way of that. But it was just then that she saw her dear friend crumpled on the ground. "Cassie!" she cried and rushed to her side. Oh no, those ruffians were NOT shooting any more spells at Cassie and she cast a wide "PROTEGO!" at the Neo-Alliance who cast their stunning spell at her, followed by her own "Stupefy!" right back at them!

Spells and rubble and debris flying everywhere, and amidst it all, Penelope spotted the two familiar faces of Kurumi and Coulson. Merlin how she wished these sort of reunions were actual reunions, instead of spotting old friends in the middle of a battlefield.

Speaking of which.

She managed a silent Protego just in time for the lightning bolt spell from the Fiendfyre kid, but she wasn't fast enough to block it completely - the shield only stopped the worst of the spell.

The lightning struck with a loud crack of thunder, and Penelope went flying back. She hit the ground hard, rolling a couple times before landing on her back, dazed, ears ringing, and seeing stars.

Emilia Espinosa: Order Recruited

Something was wrong with her hearing. A blast gone off too close to her, cutting up the left side of her face and causing a constant buzzing in her left ear, worse than any muffliato charm she'd ever experienced. It had disoriented her at first, but the key to survival right now was movement, and so she pushed on with the angry incessant buzzing of a bee she couldn't feel or see, heading towards the roaring flames on the stone bridge. If anyone had been consumed by those flames...

It was chaos as she fought her way forward, wand up and silent spells flying towards the neo-alliance members. She was working smarter not harder, using the rubble to shield her when she could, aiming at specific enemies, trying to focus. That was until she saw a co-worker go down.

Emilia took off towards her fellow auror, throwing up a shield around them both as she dropped down to check the woman for injuries. "Grimm, get up. Come on. We can't stay here."

Kurumi was here. In the middle of being attacked by murder!fire and watching the student who created it throw himself off the bridge after... throwing the blonde Alliance interloper off first, there was this moment of absolute clarity and calm. Kurumi was here, and she was taking care of Newell. Kurumi had saved Vivi's life before, and the Auror was relieved to have a friend at her back again.

There were other Aurors on the scene now, including Emilia and Penelope, and Vivi turned her attention back to the fiendfyre. Kurumi and the Aurors and the professors and even Miss Louise Bones could handle the fighting, but this fire was going to take out the whole castle if it got out of control. Vivi was glad she'd taken all those training sessions on countercurses and Dark magic before the Ministry went to Hades in a handbasket.

She began some complicated wand motions, then had a thought. "BONES. Where are the kids? What's the fastest way to get there?" She was honestly tempted to suggest they take out the bridge to prevent the Alliance from using it to get in or out of the castle, but it also prevented their own entry. This battle wasn't about defending an old building - it was about getting to the children.

Paul didn't have time to witness Caleb's demise - his reflexes were still DECENT for his age, but that was just it - his age. Decent FOR his age. He was hit, his body hitting the ground as he writhed in pain from the torture spell. Paul had many years under his belt, and perhaps this wasn't the first time he'd been hit with this spell, but it was still difficult to keep his composure. It was necessary, though. To keep thinking, to work through it.

As he came down from the spell, he felt the warmth of the chaos!flames, his panting sending him into a panic as he scrambled to his feet. There was yelling - a familiar looking woman was yelling at a younger woman who Paul took to be a student at the school. He was glad to witness the complete and utter DEMOLISHMENT of the Alliance lass, though. Who in the world had casted FIENDFYRE? Was it her?

More Alliance members made an appearance. More somewhat? familiar faces materializing. Paul felt a whoosh past his ear - it was green - and he seemed to spring back into action. "Penelope Grimm," he croaked as he rushed to her side, joining the other young lady. He send a nonverbal jelly-brain jinx at multiple of the Alliance guys. "We've got to get out of here if we want to avoid the Fiendfyre - " he said seriously.

Shreya had been the one stunning, but she felt like she was the stunned one—everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her spell hit its mark, and at the same time, a pile of rubble, propelled by none other than Nemesis Upstead, slammed into the woman's head. Shreya's eyes widened as the blonde tumbled off the side of the bridge, into the depths below. The professor cast a narrow, perplexed glance toward the Slytherin before he departed—the student who had caused so much distress over the past term. The student who had basically sentenced her to the Room. And they had just tag-teamed on killing someone. A Neo-Alliance follower, of all people.

Her mind was racing, but she had no time to waste. There were curses flying left and right—including an Incarecerous spell, which was just about to hit Shreya square in the chest before she sidestepped it. Her legs wobbled as she briefly lost her balance on a piece of rubble. She fell to her knees to stop herself from falling over the edge, a jagged piece of rock slicing her pant leg open. Blood warmed her thigh, and she gritted her teeth as she heaved herself back up.

She sent a few nonverbal jelly-legs jinxes and full body-bind curses toward the pursuing group of Neo-Alliance followers—trying to buy the injured woman (she thought she had heard the name Penelope) some time. They needed to get her out of here.

Oliver Petrov: Order-recruited
Oliver had been focused on pushing forward to the castle. That was where the kids were. Making sure they were safe was his first priority. Of course, moving through the grounds hadn't been easy. He had fallen at least once, and one of the knees on his jeans had torn. But by some miracle he had made it to the stone bridge.

And was immediately aware of... fire. That wasn't great. "Aguamenti," he tried instinctively. You know, water beats fire and all that. But he quickly realized that this was no normal fire. Fiendfyre? He had no idea how to deal with that. Hopefully somebody more capable than him did. In the meantime he gave it as wide a berth as he could on the bridge, and prepared to turn right back around and flee if it got out of control.

Oliver was trying to stay aware of those around him. Making sure Victor was okay. Knowing where enemies and allies were. He didn't recognize most of the people on the bridge but - "Paul!" He was a little surprised to see his favorite former professor (who he had finally gotten used to not calling professor). But there was no time for reunions here. He aimed his wand at the crowd of Neo-Alliance supporters and sent off an "Incarcerous!"

The pain was still lingering when she was trying to get back to her feet. The fire was so hot and the noise was so loud. She was struggling to focus when she heard a familiar voice, Nessa, she was here. She was thankful for her friend since she cast a shield for the time being.

Getting up she looked over the area, "Nem is gone, did you see where they went?" She was trying to find which students were around, but the spells were coming close and she really needed to stay focused. Pointing her wand towards the followers she casted a few non verbal stunning spells.

Leobald Kitridge was not known for being a courageous warrior. He had though pulled his weight in battles in ages past, to defend the students of Hogwarts against different fiends of both the human and creature variety. After leaving the winged boars where Leo had reconnected with his former colleague Airey, he had had only one thing on his mind. He needed to find Cassie and the kids. He wanted to see with his own eyes that the bad people in hoods that kept sprouting their foul and hateful greater good words in every media that they could, hadn’t hurt his loved ones.

Heading towards the castle Leo saw flashes of green light and wondered if someone he knew had died. Regripping his wand he threw up a "Protego Maxima!"over himself and those closest to him unsure if it was friend or foe. It was better to be safe than sorry when so many spells flew back and forth in the air around him. Searching for the familiar blond head of his wife, Leo looked and looked from side to side. When he finally spotted her crumpled on the ground with Nessa by her side, his heart almost stopped in his chest in worry. After breathing in and out, several times to calm himself Leo gave up a shriek and threw himself into a run towards his wife and her BFF. "Cassie! Nessa!"

When he came to a sudden crashing halt by Nessa’s side, Cassie had already risen to her feet, again. Turning with worry to his wife Leo reached out to pull her into a hug. "Cassie, are you okay? You're not hurt?” Looking over at Nessa he said "It's nice to see you Nessa even if the circumstance could be better."

Emma Ferguson; Order Recruited

It was wrong that she found this thrilling. But she did. Emma loved battle, and she loved duelling. Of course, the getting injured, and people dying, wasn't something she loved. Quite the opposite really. But she knew it was bound to happen. It was something she had gotten used too, or at least thought about and considered in her mind so that she wouldn't be bothered about it. At least, not in the middle of a battle. Maybe she'd worry about it when she got home, but not know. As she came towards the stone bridge, she wondered if she should have stuck with her brother. But Emma also knew that being around Scottie during this would probably only distract her, and neither of them could afford that.

Coming towards the bridge she saw the familiar green lights. That was not a good sign, and she was praying that the spells hadn't hit their targets. She came upon the scene, seeing both Order and Neo-alliance people. And there was fire, and spells being thrown from both sides. It was chaos, and it was dangerous. Almost as soon as she got onto the bridge Emma was aiming spells at the neo-alliance fighters, sending stunning spells in their direction. She hoped they'd hit the target, because the more of them that were taken out the better.

And was someone dealing with that fire? Because that was not going to help, but she was kind of too distracted by trying to take down the neo-alliance fighters to think about that

Some of the Neo-Alliance Followers were so preoccupied with laughing nastily at one woman's (Shreya) trip, they took their eyes off the ball for a moment. One follower dropped suddenly to the floor, legs too wobbly to hold him up, while another went stiff as a board and toppled over. In response, three followers responded, shrieking as one, "Stupefy!"

The Order and their sympathisers may have been getting a couple of their own spells through, but the Neo-Alliance were no small force. As one of the old man (Paul)'s targets got himself jelly-brained, and immediately ensnared by the spell of the younger man (Oliver), another abruptly shoved them aside and onto their face. She brandished her wand at both attackers, sending forth whips of flame.

When a new player (Emma) entered the scene, some of the more eagle-eyed followers were ready for her. One easily blocked the incoming stunners with a large shield charm, while another shot back a non-verbal Incarcerous! and two more blew up the wall behind her, sending large chunks of stone and rubble tumbling down.

Effortlessly dodging the stunner sent by a newcomer (Nessa), one Neo-Alliance follower, quite literally, returned fire, "Incendio!" Mention of the traitorous brat - who needed to be hunted down, fast, if he wasn't already dead - by the other woman only incensed the group further, and a barrage of nasty curses was redoubled and sent in all directions again, including right back at the touching little reunion which had now increased by one more member (Leobald).

One wild-looking - and particularly... ripe - Neo-Alliance follower leapt forwards, cackling gleefully, and aimed a wand at woman at the Hogwarts professor (Cassie). "Avada Kedavra!"

For the Greater Good!

Leo, it was Leo, her dear sweet husband was there and he didn't look to bad off. That was good, she on the other hand had to look horrible, but there was no time for that. As he hugged her she couldn't help but hug him back even in the middle of a war. "The kids are safe, but we have to keep fighting." She turned and glanced at Nessa, her best friend since she was little and her husband fighting for the school they all worked at together at one time.

A she turned she saw the alliance coming at them, "Watch out." She jumped to sent a shield up to block the wand that was sending spells at Nessa, but with her distraction with Leo and her injuries from the curse she wasn't able to focus on all the people coming at them and a moment to late she heard the words, "Pro.." but nothing else came out, nothing further because she had been hit and she fell to the ground with her wand slipping from her hand and rolling away.

Text Cut: Emma Ferguson

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

Emma Ferguson; Order Recruited

It was wrong that she found this thrilling. But she did. Emma loved battle, and she loved duelling. Of course, the getting injured, and people dying, wasn't something she loved. Quite the opposite really. But she knew it was bound to happen. It was something she had gotten used too, or at least thought about and considered in her mind so that she wouldn't be bothered about it. At least, not in the middle of a battle. Maybe she'd worry about it when she got home, but not know. As she came towards the stone bridge, she wondered if she should have stuck with her brother. But Emma also knew that being around Scottie during this would probably only distract her, and neither of them could afford that.

Coming towards the bridge she saw the familiar green lights. That was not a good sign, and she was praying that the spells hadn't hit their targets. She came upon the scene, seeing both Order and Neo-alliance people. And there was fire, and spells being thrown from both sides. It was chaos, and it was dangerous. Almost as soon as she got onto the bridge Emma was aiming spells at the neo-alliance fighters, sending stunning spells in their direction. She hoped they'd hit the target, because the more of them that were taken out the better.

And was someone dealing with that fire? Because that was not going to help, but she was kind of too distracted by trying to take down the neo-alliance fighters to think about that

Ludwig: Neo-Alliance

So this was the great war that Esmee Carrow had promised, hmm? It certainly had been worth the wait, that much Ludwig could say. Having been one of the more recent recruits that had been housed in the castle, the man was itching for action, for a good fight, for blood.

Having been part of the spellcasting that had been taken elsewhere, his adrenaline was rushing through his veins. Even more so, his senses were drastically heightened, his desire to harm and bite and indulge himself were almost too much for him to control with the full moon being just a day away. His instincts were more animalistic at this point, and he certainly embraced it. He would show no mercy.

His next target, her scent in particular, caught his attention. As he stepped further along the stone bridge, he couldn't stop himself from licking his lips. Spells were cast (two Conjunctivitis Curses and a Blasting Curse) as he made his way toward her. He hoped the spell being cast her way and the falling rubble was enough to distract her long enough for him to attack.

Adjusting the limp arms of the deceased around her shoulders and neck, Kurumi peeked up at the sudden appearance of a masculine voice and it took her a couple of seconds to remember who he was - it was a little difficult to see through all the grit and grime of battle. "Coulson!" she smiled appreciatively as she hoisted the body more up on to her back and adjusted her arm. She could still remember the first day she had met little Elodie, slamming face first into a wall at King's Cross, and now here Kurumi was...looking at her husband.

Biting her lip, she nodded and started to move as Louise offered her wand as well. Moving as a trio, she looked between them both while also keeping an eye on any stray spells that may be coming their way. "I am under the impression that her head of house is otherwise indisposed at the moment," she grit out as she veered right to avoid a large pile of rubble. At least, if the words of her children were any indication of things. She knew from both Eiji and Rebecca that the Gryffindor head of house had, at one point, been Headmaster Trent himself. But the Minister's broadcast begged the question of just where this man was. Surely he would never have willingly allowed for the Neo Alliance to take ahold of Hogwarts and turn it into a stronghold. Headmaster Tate would have never and she held Headmaster Trent in the same regard. Father thought the highest of the man, after all.

But, honestly, her mother would be livid with Kurumi if anything happened to her so...just say alert, Louise Bones.

Did Vivi know how much she just continued to impress and be this powerhouse of a person? Kurumi could still remember when they were just teenagers and the blonde was helping the former Gryffindor with her runway walk for a Transfiguration project. Coaxing a bit of confidence out of the raven haired girl that she had never thought she had...and a bit of that glorious Ravenclaw sass Vivi was infamous for. And now, here she was, taming the Fiendfyre serpents, and causing this woman's heart to swell.

Her eyes caught another group [Penelope, Emilia, Paul) , but they were too far from her current path to engage with and it seemed as though there were others [Oliver] joining and...it was a moment where she just had to accept that it was simply impossible to try and keep an eye on everyone. Especially as a streak of some spell or another flew right by her and blasted a huge gap in the stone just a few yards ahead of where she was running. "KYAAAAA!" Her heels digging into the rubble and stone, trying desperately to stop her forward momentum before she fell through it - and yet she still maintained her hold on the man [Caleb], determined to get him back and not leave him out here.

Eyes wide and too focused on her own peril at the moment, she was unaware of the death of one of her daughter's favorite professors occurring just behind her.

Vivi had to shut out everyone, everything, and trust the process as she worked to quench the fiendfyre with an intricate counterspell. She essentially had to take over control off the fire and wrestle it down to an ember that exploded in a puff of sparks, and the amount of control and focus was a lot. But she did it. SHE DID IT, OKAY? The fire was gone, and she turned exultantly to Kurumi, only to find that the scene had devolved into a greater chaos than before.

Someone else had gone down in a flash of green light, there were blasting charms taking out the stonework and blasting craters, and the place seemed overrun by Alliance. They needed reinforcements, immediately!

Kurumi teetered on the verge of one of the craters, and Vivi threw herself at her friend, dragging her back from the edge. "I know you don't want to leave him, Rumi, but if you have to choose between him and you, please start choosing you. We can get him later." Vivi wiped her forehead, leaving a smear of soot and blood across her pale features. "What if we took out the bridge? Would it help?"

There was a lot going on here on this bridge and Chloe was doing her best to remain on high alert, her knockback jinx doing little to detain the alliance members who seemed to be doubling in numbers. Did they even have a chance? Were the children okay? She knew even if something happened to her, if Apollo made it out of here unscathed, she had loyal friends on the outside who would help care for him as one of their own but even so... that thought still terrified her.

Flashes of light and noises were distraction, but the former gryffindor would not be perturbed. She had to keep going. Until she wasn't, as she fell back again, struck by several stunning spells, paralyzed on the ground. Least she wasn't dead, but she was pretty useless for the moment.

Yes, Kurumi was right. Her Head of House was... well technically, who knew where the ACTUAL Headmaster was. Lucien Rosier, however, was probably hiding like a coward while the castle was being stormed.

Louise continued the journey with Kurumi, her wand staying up and slashing through the air to cast shield charms whenever it was necessary. A shield charm could not, however, protect them from parts of the bridge getting knocked out. Louise skidded to a stop, holding onto Kurumi so they would (hopefully) both stay ON the bridge.

Then that nice blonde lady who looked like she knew what she was doing was by their side, and made an excellent point about trying to save the living rather than the dead. Taking out the bridge was probably not a bad idea...

"The students - " Louise shouted over the chaos, finally answering the woman's question. "They're on the sixth floor. In a classroom." She was breathing heavily, sweating AND bleeding in a few places from.. who knows what. "Stairs? BROOMS! There's a broom closet on the main floor!" Brooms would be MUCH faster than running up six sets of stairs.

"I can take out the bridge!" she said next, working through her ideas out loud. Her bombarda was excellent, and she could take out a chunk without taking down all of the pro-order people who were on the other side. "And you can go find the students," she said to the cool blonde lady, "And Kurumi can carry him to the castle while I make sure she's not followed." By taking out the bridge. It seemed like a good division of talents and responsibilities, right?

Not a sixth year Gryffindor giving out orders. Never.