Clayton had to hand it to Eddie - he could throw a good punch, and the small CRACK he heard let him know that SOMETHING had been fractured, but he could barely feel it. His adrenadile was still pumping through his veins. Had it felt good to finally hit Eddie? ABS - O - LUTELY. Was it more about past grievances rather than the whole Neo-Alliance thing? DUH. But still, the fact that he had the nerve to be out here, trying to KILL people simply for being different, he had had enough. He'd deal with telling his best friend later than he'd tackled her boyfriend to the ground and then gotten PUNCHED by him.

"I'd like to see you try!" he growled at him before punching back at him, aiming right for that stupid smirk of his. He rolled off of him just as someone came up to the group - a guy he vaguely recognized as his brother. Of COURSE there were two of them.

Clayton wasn't THAT much of an idiot and realized the gravity of the situation. As much as he wanted to keep fighting Eddie and his brother, it was obvious he was outnumbered at this time so...time to take the cowards way out.

"GET HIM! He's sending out Killing Curses!" he yelled into the crowd, pointing at Eddie before turning on his heel and taking off into the group of Order members, shielding himself and opening up the way for someone else to take care of the Blaze boys.

He was enjoying his little fight with Clayton, but there was a war going on. He was going to hit him again, but he felt something fly past him as he moved. Realizing it was ropes he looked around for the caster. There were just too many people to figure it out so his eyes went back to Clayton just in time to see his brother, "He is no one. Watch your back." He turned and cast a shield as he saw a green light headed their way. "Damn, the goodies are starting to play." This was going to get fun.

He turned back to Clayton just in time to get a punch and watch him running away, "Get back here coward. I wasn't finished." He pointed his wand "Imperio" Oh he wanted to have more fun with this one, he didn't want him to leave. He knew Eivan would watch his back while he had a moment or two more fun with his prey.

Though it looked like the little mouse was able to move out of his direct hit so he turned and fired a killing curse at the first person in his sight.

Daisy had finally managed to get back on her feet and was about to fire more spells at the Blaze brothers when she saw a flash of green light emitting from the wand of the man that had tortured her. She fell to the ground, lifeless, her eyes open in a vacant, shocked stare.

Franklin Paton: Order (aligned)

Silent nods of his head were given to his fellow Aurors who had arrived on the scene. No words were needed in this moment. They all knew that. He had been on plenty of missions before with them to know that this silence was enough communication between them. They were bracing themselves for battle, one in which they would need to have each others back.

But it was the voice of his mother, Vanessa, that caused him to turn around and not bolt further onto the grounds of the school. He was not surprised to see her there, considering her healing expertise. "I will, Mum," he told her, giving her reassurance even though they both knew that he had been putting his life on the line for years now as an Auror. "Stay safe too."

"Same with you, Harry," he added to his sister Harriet. He tried to smile at her. Their family was putting a lot on the line already, even with Grace and his father not being present.

The shout and the zipping of spells caused him to turn his attention to the fight ahead. Without hesitation, he casted spells of his own toward the enemy: a couple stunners, a blinding spell, and a handful full-body bind curse.

Wanting to get into the thick of things, the man took advantage of his Animagus skills and transformed into a crow and flew into the air. Did he know that Hady, his wife, was there? No, but she would know where he was if she was looking up ahead and saw him hastily making his way closer to the castle, fully intent on dodging any spells that may be casted his direction.]

Regina Hawthorne: Order (aligned, different resistance group)

As she made her way onto the grounds, the sound of her surname caused her to turn her head ever so slightly. The voice was one she recognized, even if it was one she hadn't heard for some time. And, funnily enough, it brought a bot of a smile to her face amongst the chaos that was about to occur.

"I do have to admit, Zoryn," Regina responded to her, her tone serious yet somehow lighthearted simultaneously, "I never thought I'd see the day where we'd be reunited like this."

The comment the girl (for Zoryn was still that spunky little girl in her eyes) made caused the former headmistress to allow a laugh to escape her mouth. "You'd be surprised at how many tricks I still have up my sleeves." She had been keeping herself busy as a freelance curse-breaker since her days as an educator. Her bones were not as rusty or frail as one might think. Not to mention that she was a mere fifty-three years of age. There was still a lot of life left in her.

Speaking off, the woman sprang to action when the shouting and spell casting started. She gave Zoryn a nod and a quick 'stay safe out there' before she departed, casting spells of her own at the approaching Neo-Alliance members -- a variety of nonverbal stunners, leg-lockers, impediment jinxes, and stinging jinxes.

Evelyn Hemlock: Neo-Alliance

Silence was her secret weapon, until her fellow followers made themselves known. Seeing that the war had began, she did not waste a second in disarming the nearest anti-Neo-Alliance person next to her and started running toward the people who firmly believed in the Greater Good. She was now with her kind, the pure, the future of the wizarding world, the people she knew wanted her daughter and others like her to live in a better place.

As more people pushed their way toward the castle, Evelyn casted a few Cruciatus Curses. She didn't care who was hit as long as it was the people who wanted to put an end to the work that had been put forth for the Greater Good.

A shield charm was casted to protect herself from any oncoming spells. This only lasted so long as a spell made contact. The Severing Charm that had struck her cut her robes, going deep enough into her left arm to cause her to bleed. Her teeth clenched, the pain searing. But she channeled her anger, shouting a Statue Curse that was immediately followed by a Blasting Curse.

Eivan didn't wait around to see if his Crucio hit his target. Since it had been a split-second change in direction, he considered it more a wayward spell and it would either hit someone or wouldn't. But what he was more concerned with were the spells flying towards him. Was this really gang up on the Blazes hour? Please. He quickly deflected the ropes cast at him and sent back a wide Sectumsempra in the direction it was cast, not even bothering to see who was there.

"Whoa. Getting feisty," he grinned devilishly as he turned out of the way just in time to see the green flash whiz past him and Eddie. "Did she just switch sides?" Cute. Eivan sent his own Avada Kedavra after the woman running away (Lucille), again not bothering to see if it hit its mark. This was the most fun he'd had in awhile.

As for the woman he'd stepped over and avoided her spell in her apparently weakened state, he couldn't help the chuckle at his brother's killing blow. "Nice one." Where else could he have a little fun?

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY?" he called out, soon sending lightning bolt after lightning bolt at those who dared to oppose the Neo-Alliance.

Kitty was silently watching the fight from his vantage point behind the tree—given that he knew virtually nobody on either side of this thing, it was hard to tell who; his only indication were the ones wearing big hoods, or whether or not they seemed to be acting like a maniac. Or if they, you know, casted an Unforgiveable. That was a pretty dead giveaway.

There seemed to be two that were giving a bunch of normal-seeming people trouble (Eddie and Eivan). And when one of them (Eivan) started asking about who wanted to play, Kitty knew who he was gonna take on. If there was one thing he loved, it was taking cocky people down a notch.

Looking up at the tree he was under, he thought it wouldn't make sense to leave it useless. "Oppugno," he said, pointing his want at it. Watch out Alliance, the Whomping Willow won't be the only tree to look out for now!

Kitty walked out from under his tree and wordlessly cast an Expulso at the man shooting lightning, hoping to catch him off guard. Teach him a thing or two about drawing attention to himself.

Dodging spells left and right, Missa had lost sight of a lot of people. You think you know what it would be like, but it was unlike anything Missa had ever known. The sheer violence from both sides was throwing her off completely, things that she wished she could unsee but just couldn’t.

Suffice to say, Missa felt very much overwhelmed by it all. It was a struggle to keep standing too, especially since some hits she had received she wasn’t even sure where she had gotten from. The remarkable thing was, she had never been more alert. It was why in the midst of the chaos, she was quick to whip around the moment she heard Gabriel call her name.

....

Cursing loud, she moved toward him the moment he went down! ”Gabriel! What did you do?!” She was barely able to ask when it started raining lightning bolts around them. Casting a shielding charm around them, she quickly tried to pull him away from the line of fire, ”Can you get up?!” Though - she wasn’t sure pulling him away would help in anyway as she spotted the maniac (Evian) sending these bolts.

Filled with adrenaline and rage unknown, she aimed her wand at him and shouted, “REDUCTO” Because she really wouldn’t mind seeing him blast into smithereens at the moment.

Hady Paton - For the Order

There was barely time to breath, let alone be able to locate anyone she knew right away. Yet, she did. Somehow in the mist of running around like a chicken without its head, ducking and dodging spells while firing out her own, she found that flash of blonde hair she knew so well.

Through the mist of it all, Hady had been slowly attempting to work her way closer to the blonde that she knew was her husband. Her Frankie. The father to their four children. The man who currently didn't even know she was here. Although with how well he knew her, he should know that she wouldn't have remained at home.

Hadleigh cast spells left and right (Bombarda, Confundo, Incarcerous) as she moved through the crowd intent to get closer to the castle. All the while trying to keep a well place shield charm on herself.

Finally when she was only feet away from Frankie he changed right before her eyes and flew off! Of course he would do that! Leave it to him to become a crow and make her chase after him. Still dodging jets of bright lights, the brunette did her best to keep her sight on the crow and follow after him.
*****
Evan Donovan - For the Order

This was insanity at its finest and Evan was ready to take it on. The time was now to take back what was right, fair and just. To take down the alliance and restore how Hogwarts was meant to be.

Gripping his wand tightly in his hand he joined the fight. Somewhere in the mix of chaos he knew his family was fighting for the same side as him. It was knowing that his kids were somewhere inside the castle that fueled him to keep pushing forward. It was them he was fighting for. He needed to get to them.

Dodging spells and flying debris, Evan tried to cast spells as quickly as he could. Several stunners, freezing charms, stinging hexes were all sent towards the enemies.

Chaos reigned. The Neo-Alliance followers were able to shield and return many spells sent by those who ran through the battleground and left, or who were then taken down. Others took hits. Jets of brightly coloured light still flew everywhere, the green of the Killing Curse liberally mixed in with all the rest.

Deflecting the spells sent towards them by one man (Daichi), one of the followers shrieked in laughter, all the while sending spell after spell his way: Stupefy! Impedimenta! Crucio! As he focused on attacking, however, the follower was entirely without defences.

Intent as they were on fighting the group they could see, several followers were taken unawares by a sneaky little so-and-so (Dorian). One hit the deck, unconscious, another fell face down, rigid as a board. Two of the Neo-Alliance who noticed this, but retained their fingers and their wands, jumped into action, and shielded the last of the spells. "Bombarda!" cried one, in the direction they thought the attack had come from, while the other thought more strategically, and yelled, "Homenum Revelio!" That should reveal their little friend... plus anyone nearby who'd had the same idea.

Those Neo-Alliance followers who had run around to flank the invading forces had been prepared for attacks, and most deflected the incoming spells easily, but some spells hit their mark. One follower was hoisted into the air as though by his ankle, and immediately hit with a stunning spell that knocked him unconscious. Two more suddenly became confused as to their direction and intentions, veering off course, bumping into each other, and then squabbling over which way the battle was. But the attacker (Gabriel) was knocked back soon after.

This old codger (Lars) was clearly out of his depth. One follower defended against his attacks, the exploding charm achieving nothing more than a little shockwave on their shield charm. With a flourish, they responded. "Crucio!" Meanwhile, easily blocking one woman (Roxanne)'s disarming spell, another follower leapt forwards and brandished her wand at her, conjuring a whip from the tip of her wand, aiming for the woman's neck.

There was no time to stop and laugh at the woman (Marcy) who had gone down with a nasty case of torture curse, but the Neo-Alliance followers were laughing in spirit. At least until the caster of the curse was suddenly blasted backwards, knocking over several fellow fighters like a game of Greater Good Ten-pin Bowling. "Confringo!" fired back a man still on his feet, in the direction of the bowler (Sophie).

What was going on here, in the middle of the battle? Hadn't they taken care of this guy (Scottie) once already? They had, and some of the followers had been thrown backwards by the Minister for their trouble. To break up the lovefest - for the Greater Good - one follower cast a Tempest Jinx in the vicinity of the revived man and his little girlfriend (Regina). Plus anyone who happened to be nearby - the more the merrier.

The followers of the Neo-Alliance were delightfully surprised by some of the nastier spells sent their way by these opposing fighters. It would almost be a shame to kill someone who was clearly of like mind, willing to do whatever it took to achieve their ends. If they didn't kill him, maybe those ones could be turned to their thinking... after dealing with the consequences of their fighting. One follower threw up a shield to protect from the worst of the old man (Ignatius)'s spell, and several more from further back responded with a barrage of stunning spells. A short distance away, a bunch of followers were taken hostage by the shrubbery, and the one that got away stared wildly around, before firing off curse after curse in an attempt to find and take down the sneaky attacker (Horatio).

More followers streamed through the battle, intent on stopping anyone else from getting through and reaching the castle. While a few spells sent by one man (Franklin) hit their marks, many remained standing. In a moment, jets of red and green light were aimed up into the sky, in an attempt to take down the Crow Man, and the woman (Hady) going the same direction on the ground. The rest took on the woman (Regina), returning her stunners and jinxes - one follower springing forth to brandish their wand an aim a potentially deadly purple flame charm at her, in the midst of the chaos.

The giggling idiot (Kitt) who had sent several Neo-Alliance followers tumbling down with his adorable little bombarda, before hiding behind his tree, had not been forgotten. Especially when said tree joined the onslaught. As the giggler sent an Expulso towards one of the Neo-Alliance sympathisers, another follower sent exactly the same spell to the tree the young man stood near. "Expulso!"

Just as Order members continued to come, Neo-Alliance followers continued to take them on. As another man (Evan) joined the scene and added his spells to the mix, one particularly wily follower cast a spell at the ground, conjuring vines to emerge and try to bring the man down.

Heraclitus Blackthorne had been hanging back to the side, apprising the situation before rushing in, as was his preferred method of dealing with things. Unlike his father and brother, who were barging on ahead into the thick of things--Ignatius could handle himself, but he shouldn't be encouraging his youngest son, Horatio, to put himself in the midst of danger.

Suddenly Heraclitus saw a barrage of stunning spells fired toward his father and impulsively threw out a powerful shield charm in front of the head of their house. He wasn't quick enough to protect Horatio, though, and saw his hapless brother go down under what he hoped was only a stunning spell. Unfortunately for the Alliance, Horatio's spells on the vegetation did not need their caster to be conscious to keep working; like a plant set in the earth, once rooted, they kept growing on their own, until the spell was ended. Which, given Horatio's present condition, wasn't going to be any time soon--hopefully some other wizard skilled in Herbology would know how to cast the counter-spell if it eventually got out of hand, because Heraclitus had never paid much mind to that study. Heraclitus shot off a barrage of hexes (and was that a curse or two in there?) as he cast 'Mobilicorpus' on his inert brother and moved him towards the sidelines.


Hereclitus is taking his brother to the healing area after this, if nothing happens to him in the meantime

Everything seemed to be happening so quickly and Amelia Adara suddenly found herself separated from her daughter, wondering where Chloe had run off to... She only hoped and prayed wherever she was, she was doing okay. Chloe was smart and Amelia was fairly confident her eldest could handle a wand well, even if she also knew Chloe maybe had a small reckless streak. Casting a shield charm, she ducked and dove to avoid being hit with the flashes of light seen zooming across the grounds and wondered for a fleeting moment if her skills would be more useful in the healing station.

Seeing a fallen comrade, however, Amelia realized the neo alliance people seemed to be not be backing down and it was casting spells against them that was where she would remain. Only, before she could do anything else, Amelia felt pain shooting through her whole body as she was on the receiving end of a cruciatus curse cast by one of the alliance members (Evelyn Hemlock). The pain was unimaginable and worse than any quidditch injuries she had ever experienced combined with child birth. Re-casting her shield charm once the pain subsided enough, she sent several stunning spells at the mobs of alliance wizards, hopeful at least some would make progress.




Not knowing her way around Hogwarts too well, as she'd only spent one year at the castle and her boundaries were limited back then, Louise maintained her footing by the wild boars, shooting various spells at the neo alliance members and determined to prove she was adept at defensive and offensive spells. She might not have been the auror that Frank Hamilton was in the states, but she was his daughter and surely he passed some chivalry down to his offspring.

She hovered near to stone boar statues, using them as her own personal shield and sent incarcerous toward the cluster of neo members, hopeful it would be enough to deter them. Least until she could sort through and figure out her next move.

Out here on the battlefield, surrounded by allies and enemies and those of unsure alliance, spells flying everywhere, Jake was aware that any spell could be fired at him without any notice. He was prepared to be his own back-up. He was prepared, too, for the worst spells to hit their mark, and knew someone else would jump in to take over this fight if he lost.

The sudden changing direction of the Cruciatus Curse from the one boy (Eivan) almost took Jake by surprise. Rather than attempt a solid shield, or even to dodge, something had him holding his ground. Call it duellist's intuition, but he was not remotely surprised when a solid shield appeared in the path of the Unforgivable, and in the moments it took for it to disappear again, Jake chanced a glance towards his protector. Tomasz Łaska. No time for verbal gratitudes or acknowledgements just now, but he returned the favour at once. Rather than casting any shield charms, however, Jake instinctively reached out and grabbed Tomasz' arm, pulling him quickly in towards him in case the non-verbal spell that came back his way was one that could not have been blocked.

The faces of these two Neo-Alliance followers had already been committed to memory, in case he were to lose sight of them in the fray. When the girl went down, Jake had to instantly compartmentalise any and all thoughts about what he could have, and should have done. Aurors were authorised to use Unforgivables in certain circumstances, and this was clearly one of those times, but for the fact that he risked more on their side following his lead. If he could just take them down without resorting to it...

Releasing Tomasz' arm after a second or two, Jake threw a shield charm up in front of himself and circled quickly around the fray. Lining up both of the boys (Eivan and Eddie), he brandished his wand like a whip, producing a fire rope in an attempt to ensnare the two Neo-Alliance fighters at once.

It was impossible to know how long this woman's body had been there, and Charlotte couldn't say she recognised her, but in her latest swoop through the battlefield, having already been back and forward a few times to ferry away the injured, she pulled the body onto a levitating stetcher. With her wand drawn, and knowing Henry was nearby and had her back, she made good on extracting the body. Wasn't it terrible that she was getting good at this? This shouldn't be a thing in anyone's skillset and yet....

She kept her wand ready to shield herself and the dead fighter, or to blast her way back through, but ultimately she slipped through and disappeared from sight again, taking the young woman's body with a much care and regard as she possibly could.

Char would be back.

There would be more.

Annnd there was no more time for barbs trading, as the fight started proper. Archer immediately threw up a shield charm to catch a rouge spell coming at her, returning fire just as fast. It went on like this for quite a while.

Several minutes later, she caught something that nearly stopped her own heart…..

Unfortunately, Roxanne wasn’t so lucky with the next spell. The rope wrapped around her neck, constricting her windpipe. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as she gasped for breath. She was going to die here, wasn’t she? Everyone was too busy to notice her predicament as she uselessly grasped at the ropes, trying to at least loosen them so she could scream for help.

……one of her former classmates, Daisy Swann, just dropped like a fly. Just, one minute she was alive and the next, she was lying on the ground with blank eyes, hit by the killing curse. Archer watched in pure dumb shock as the former Hufflepuff was carried off by what she assumed was a field medic. I mean, why else would she have conjured a stretcher.

She didn’t notice what was happening with Ms. Carter over there, otherwise she really would’ve freaked.

Evan Eastwood - Order Aligned

Hi, Evan Eastwood here. A spell or two had just missed her but she was-so far- not dead. She'd have called it a miracle if it wasn't for the storm trooper aim on the Neo-annoyance members. She was dodging streaks of red, blue and green, her limbs moving as fluidly as rushing water, and all the while there was a manic grin on the Ravenclaw's face. No offense, but Eastwood blood bled for times like this, for fire and floods- for bruises and burn- for the crackle of danger in the air above. Evan directed her spell at the coward who had sent out the Cruciatus curse. "Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, her knuckles whitened.

It was a damn good thing Evan was watching the annoyances carefully, otherwise she might have missed the whip as it slashed through the air, wrapping wickedly around a woman's neck not far from her. Without a second thought, Evan moved, slicing her wand with purpose "Diffindo," she shouted out, racing toward the woman being strangled. And for good measure? She shot a wicked stunning spell at the punk playing dirty.

"you guys suck!" In case they didn't know.

Damien Anderson-Beflort - Order Aligned - Circle of Friends

Damien liked Hogwarts best when it wasn't under attack, but that seemed to be the exception, not the rule. He had not been here in... well, much longer than his boyish good looks would admit. The castle looked broken, beaten, cold. Damien's heart sunk right down to his boots at the sight, but rather than be disheartened, his resolve was strengthened all the more. They were going to take the castle back from those monsters, and they'd do it with all their love, and all their pain combined.

He was striding in behind Sophie Brown and Zander Adair, striding in like the world was at their feet and the wind at their backs. He had heard Talia's call and almost immediately hiked it to the manor, calling his parents and Barton to the fray before heading off to seek out the very couple before him. There had been no doubt in his mind they'd be fighting and though he had wanted to dissuade them both, one look at their faces told him no words would shake their resolve.

They weren't dying. Damien had lost too many (Rorie, Paris, Amelia... ) and he would be damned if he let the Neo-Alliance took another friend. Sleeves rolled up, shirt tucked. Wand held tightly in hand, and a few clever little tricks tucked away in his pockets, the Gryffindor was as ready for this battle as he would ever be. "You know, I don't know why I was expecting music, but I'm pretty disappointed." His tone was light, but the grin on his face didn't reach his ice blue eyes.

He knew that a battle would mean chaos but to be actually part of it now was indescribable. Concentrating on the mad laughing member of the Neo-Alliance, Daichi cursed under his breath as the opponent deflected his spells with ease. The thought that these maniacs had been with the children all year send a shiver down his spine and he was secretly relieved that his son was not of Hogwarts age anymore.

He put up a shield charm to stop the stupefy , had to jump to the right to avoid the next curse and then….stopped momentarily in his track as a bright flash of green light on his right hit his colleague (Grae Fairfield) .You know how they say that events like these happened so fast for the victim that they didn’t even have time to react? It was the opposite for Daichi . Even if he did not come to know Fairfield that well, he was still taken by shock and it looked as if it happened in slow motion. And then as the world seemed to speed up again he frowned in concentration as he send a powerful Confundus charm at the same time the member of the Alliance had casted their unforgivable curse. Having no defense, it hit his chest and Daichi fell down on the ground with an excruciating painful yell as his body began to twitch and writhe on the grass. He hoped his Confundus charm had hit its target.


His accidental collision with the Minister for Magic himself (He was definitely NOT going to tell his father about this) , caused the young man to stumble in his path towards the trees. He checked if the Minister was okay and after seeing him running forward after a quick healing spell, Dorian went on his way as well.

Still ‘invisible’ like a chameleon and hiding behind the tree, Dorian could not help but grin as his spells hit multiple alliance members causing some to fall down unconscious. He even let out a laugh which he knew would be masked by the blasts all around them as one of members actually blasted a tree a couple of feet away from him with a bombarda curse. As long as he kept this tactic up he could —

A sudden swooping feeling could be felt through his body and it did not take very long before the former Ravenclaw knew what it meant. The human presence revealing spell had been casted on him.

Knowing he had a kind of magical tracker on him now but also knowing that he could not stay in place any longer, Dorian waved his wand to create a smoke-screen using the ”Fumos!” charm and send a non-verbal 'Melofors' combined with a Homing spell through the smoke and in the direction of the Alliance before trying to make his escape to the left.

It felt like Caroline couldn't get here fast enough. She did wait to see which of her older children were coming. As if she didn't already know, at least she had one that she wasn't going to have here in the battle. She could honestly say that she was relieved that Emma was with Connor and the kids. She spotted Carter just in front of her as she entered. "Carter!" Dodging a piece of flying debris, moving closer to him.

Reaching out she grabbed onto his elbow. Wand held tightly in her other hand. "Help me get to the great hall, other healers are their." She didn't loosen her grip on him as she pulled him toward, ready to deflect any spells in their path.

-----------------------------------------------------

Thomas was not a Hogwarts Alumni, nor did he attend the school. But this is where this war ended up. He was not going to let his best friend and coworker come here alone. He was a fair dueler, and was a dang good Cursebreaker. Many of which he remembered and remembered well. Especially the ones that left scars, every scar on his body had a story. He gripped his wand and a long wide scar appeared across the top of his hand. Yeah... that one hurt.*

"So this is Hogwarts?" He turned to Bella. The school was huge... not the point right now.The battle already seemed to be thick here. Not the welcome he was expecting. He was already casting Protego maxima moving deeper into the battle.*

Did he know the girl he killed, nope, did he care, nope. Eddie just smirked at his brother as he started to send out more spells at people. "Alright, we need to move closer to the castle, fight there where it matters." He was tired of dealing with so many beneath him. Moving quietly around he sent another killing curse into the crowd as well as a few stunning spells.

He decided to blast the tree next to him just for fun when he saw a tree coming at him and his brother but other people on their side blew it up. "Nice" Maybe these people here were getting the job done.

Just as he went to take another step forward a rope grabbed his ankle.

Bella Keller Drechsler arrived with a grin. She missed this place. She hadn't seen it since her fifth year. "This is Hogwarts." she said.

"Looks like we arrived a little late to the party."

Which made sense. The cursebreaker had some kids to drop off before coming. But she wouldn't miss a fight. Especially one as important as this one.

"Scene reminds me of that mural in Crete." she commented.

Victor García Massey | Order aligned

Victor knew this would be intense and that was about the only expectation he had once the spells began flying. In some ways he wished he had brought Lobo with him, but ultimately he was glad that his pup was safe with Minerva on her father's farm. Which reminded him that Minerva's brother was here as well...and yet somehow he had managed to lose track of both him and Oliver. The three had the same aim goal, getting into Hogwarts, so surely he would reunite with them inside. Assuming...no, Victor would not allow himself to think of such things and focus on keeping his promise to Minerva first and foremost.

Something that...may be more difficult than he had naively anticipated previously.

Opting to physically dodge and roll out of the path of the first couple of spells that came his way, Victor positioned himself behind a large mass of stone just before a streak of green light collided with it. Sparks shot off in every which direction and Victor ducked down, scrapping his back in the process and felt his hip fall against something soft...but cold...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireheart

It was pure chaos.

Grae could barely forge a path ahead for herself in the midst of the flashes and curses. She sent a few knockback jinxes at the pursuing crowd of Neo-Alliance cronies, mixing in a disarming or stunning spell here and there. The former Gryffindor was surprised to see how many followers the group had amassed. She knew they were powerful, but she hadn't realized that their reach was this widespread. The thought disturbed her—the fact that there were so many evil people in this world.

Just as she was about to send a powerful Incarcerous spell toward a particularly mangy-looking follower, an undetermined jinx knocked her off her feet. Her hand bent back at an uncomfortable angle as she tried to save herself from falling. But it was too late. Another stray spell pummeled her shoulder. Searing pain shot down her arm. The scene wobbled in front of her as dizziness set in. Woozy and disoriented, her eyes tried to focus on something—anything. She needed to get closer to the castle. She needed to find her mother. Willing herself to stand up, she stumbled a bit as she attempted to rejoin the crowd.

But not before one of the stray killing curses struck true.

Before she could even let out a scream of terror, a flash of green light hit Grae Fairfield square in the chest.

...his heart stopped as his eyes looked into the lightless ones of the nameless woman. "...thank you," he whispered as he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and then peering around the stone and the path towards the castle. Not wasting another second, Victor quickly scooped the woman up in his arms and held her head against his chest. Victor had taken off at a sprint with the body when he heard the excruciating cries of a man (DAICHI!) nearby and the Spaniard skidded to a stop before doubling back to him. "Dammit," he spat, recognizing the influence of a Cruciatus Curse when he saw it and Victor's head spun around to look for the caster. But who knew where they were in this fray. "Stay with me, I've got you." Eyes darting around once again, Victor could think of only one solution seeing as it was virtually impossible for him to find the caster in all this...and he looked down at the man apologetically. If he weren't awake to experience this, perhaps it could spare him the agony of it all - like healers sedating and knocking out someone for intensive surgeries. Adjusting his hold on the woman and reading his wand, Victor took the man's hand as a sign of reassurance. "You're going to be fine," he attempted to shout over the rest of the noise before casting a nonverbal Stupefy at close range.

To knock the man out...to, hopefully, spare him the pain of an Unforgiveable.

Which would now left him with two bodies to get inside.

"ASSISTANCE!"

Lars Svensson, order-aligned

Still determined to get closer to the castle, to protect it, maybe to find his grandon and granddaughter, Lars very much tried not to trip again. He was an old man, but not so old he was ready to die.

He cast a couple human-to-animal transfiguration charms in the direction of the Neo-Alliance followers. Basic things, like ferrets and flamingos and frogs. Animals couldn’t use the Unforgivable Curses, after all. He followed it up with a basic shield charm and started another attempt to surge toward the main entrance of the castle.

Unfortunately, his lack of dueling experience meant his shield charm was not one that could block an Unforgivable Curse. Struck by the Cruciatus Curse from a Neo-Alliance follower, Lars tripped in pain and fell to the ground, limbs flailing as he struggled to breath through the unimaginable pain that followed. It felt like he had swallowed fire--not harmless bluebell style flames, either, but true burning fire that was melting him from the inside out. Logically, he knew this could not be the case, but logic would never ease physical pain. Only emotional pain.

But this was not emotional pain. This was pure, raw, physical pain, like nothing he'd ever experienced. Everything thought dulled in comparison to the pain from this curse.

*****

Gabriel Melo, order-aligned

Dragging...who was dragging him? Or, really, attempting, as he craned his head to see Missa trying to tug him...somewhere. He scrambled to his feet at her behest, reinforcing her shield around them just in time to block a couple more lightning bolts coming from one of those on the Neo-Alliance side.

Rude.


But, it seemed like others had lightning guy handled, so he focused his attention on a nest of Neo-Alliance folks nearby. Pointing his wand at the ground near their feet, he charmed whatever grass and other plants nearby hadn’t been trampled to death yet to grow faster, directing them to climb up the Neo-Alliance followers’ legs like a cluster of trellises. His mother would likely object to him using plants in battle...but by Merlin, a Castelobruxo graduate better be able to use a herbology charm offensively!

He followed his plant-growing up with a barrage of disarming and stunning spells. He’d like to see them attempt to retrieve their wands with feet all tangled in overgrown weeds.

Céline Myles - Order Aligned

When she'd heard about the battle at Hogwarts Céline had gone straight to her mam and dad's house, who -of course- had told her to stay home, let the qualified people sort this out. So of course she'd come straight here.
Her babby brother was stuck inside that castle. I'm coming for ye, Cal!!!!
Céline mightn't be the best at dueling, but she had a mean punch and had broken a nose before. How's that for qualifications???
She wasn't sure what she'd thought she was going to find upon arriving or if she'd thought at all, but this wasn't it.

Wand clutched in her hand Cel made her way up to the gates, uselessly ducking out of the way of any spells. She came to a full stop when just in front of her an old man went down. That was probably someone's granda!!!! That wasn't a fair fight, was it??? Céline aimed her wand at the first Alliance member she spotted and cast the first and only spell that came to mind. "Stupefy!"
Punching people really was more her thing.

A long and loud BOOM resounded through the grounds where the fighting was continuing to take place.

It was the terrible ear and heart-wrenching sound of the wooden bridge falling down.

Ignatius was aware of someone else's shield charms blocking some of the offensive spells coming toward him, but he was too preoccupied to try to find out who it was. (Heraclitus) His initial outrage spent, he was fighting more strategically now, moving deftly from side to side (yes, constant fencing practice will keep even an older man limber) and alternating between defensive and offensive spells, more aware of what was going on around him.

Suddenly there was a massive noise coming from the distance. Ignatius didn't know whether that was good news for their side or bad, but it fired his impatience anew. They were wasting too much time skirmishing with this first wave at the gate--surely not the most important of the Neo-Alliance followers, but merely wand fodder meant to delay them. That noise could have spelled danger to the school--to the students. They needed to get up to the castle, now.

Drawing back his wand hand, the elderly wizard let forth with a spell which shot forth toward the Alliance army like a great shock wave.

The short-lived relief Scottie felt when Regina agreed to the date - you know, assuming they both lived. He sent a quick stunning spell at a passing alliance member, completely unaware of what was about to transpire -

The Tempest jinx.

Right for him and Regina.

*CRAAAAAAAAAAACK*

The lightning produced by the jinx hit Scottie in his knee, sending him flying back as the ground between him and Regina crackled with the electric energy. The searing pain coursed through him, his skin flaring with the burns a lightning strike will inflict upon its unfortunate victims. Luckily his heart didn't stop - just quickened as he lay on the ground, his whole body in shock. His wand, tightly clasped by his hand, was charred to nothing. He needed medical attention...desperately....and he searched with his eyes for Regina. He felt like he couldn't possibly move...

He felt like his body was vibrating when he suddenly willed himself to sit up, groaning as he did so, his head spiNnNniNgGgGg....

"Wand...wand..." he croaked. Some...other pain was starting to register....something about the way the lightning had sent him flying...his elbow....something was cracked....the dull throb became stronger and stronger....