User:Sandpiper/Battle of Hogwarts
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| Battle Of The Tower/Hogwarts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Rise of Lord Voldemort | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
| Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts Staff | Death Eaters | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore |
Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Fenrir Greyback | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Approximately one dozen | Approximately one dozen | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| One death, one permanent injury, various non-permanent injuries | One death, some injuries, some captured | ||||||
The Battle of Hogwarts is a fictional battle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book of the Harry Potter fiction series by J.K. Rowling. It should be noted that the series of events are never referred to as the "'Battle of Hogwarts'" in the books.
[edit] Circumstances
Further to his investigations into the personal history and motivations of the evil Lord Voldemort, Professor Albus Dumbledore invites Harry Potter to accompany him on a quest to retrieve one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Harry, who believes that Draco Malfoy is up to something in the Room of Requirement, briefs Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley as well as giving them Felix Felicis, his luck potion. A summoning of the disbanded Dumbledore's Army is answered by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, and the five set up watch on Malfoy, and on Severus Snape, who is known to be a double agent, although Harry has long had reason to question where Snape's real loyalties lie.
Dumbledore, accompanied by Harry, leaves the school to begin the mission. Hogwarts is left in the hands of the senior staff, but Dumbledore has given no explicit instruction to monitor Malfoy or to expect any unusual activity. He has previously appeared to refuse to give credence to Harry's warnings about Malfoy's suspicious behaviour. Ultimately, it emerges that Harry is correct, however: Malfoy had joined Voldemort the previous summer, only to find himself increasingly afraid and under pressure from the Dark Lord to carry out the assassination of the powerful Dumbledore. After several amateurish attempts on Dumbledore's life, he has managed to repair a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, allowing an invasive force to bypass the anti-Apparition and entrance-guarding protections.
[edit] The Battle
Voldemort's supporters, including the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, are given the task of casting the Dark Mark over the school to lure Dumbledore to the Astronomy Tower. They are immediately intercepted by Ron, Neville, and Ginny, but Malfoy creates a smoke screen using Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder - a product of Fred and George Weasley's. As members of the Order of the Phoenix - Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley - and the teachers are alerted, the Death Eaters make their way to the Tower to cast the Mark. All the participants converge at the base of the tower.
Meanwhile, Harry and a gravely-injured Dumbledore recover a locket which they believe to be a Horcrux. They return to Hogsmeade, only to see the Dark Mark over the school. Madam Rosmerta, acting under the control of the Death Eaters, lends them two brooms, which they use to fly to the top of the tower. Severus Snape receives word of the Death Eater invasion from fellow professor Filius Flitwick, stuns him, and heads into the fray. As he leaves, he orders Hermione and Luna, patrolling nearby, to look after Flitwick - who, Snape claims, has "collapsed" - and stay well away from events upstairs.
When the Headmaster arrives, Malfoy is sent up to kill him as a test of his loyalty to Voldemort. Dumbledore immobilizes Harry under the Invisibility Cloak, but is then disarmed by Malfoy. The young Death Eater holds Dumbledore at his mercy, only to find that for all his defiance, he cannot bring himself to commit the murder. Dumbledore comes within moments of defusing the situation when additional attackers arrive. Snape rushes through the battle downstairs, both sides believing him an ally, and bursts onto the scene while Draco equivocates. Dumbledore and Snape exchange looks, as Dumbledore pleads "Severus, please". (The actual significance of these words - whether pleading with Snape not to kill him, or urging Snape to carry out some hitherto unrevealed plan - is, perhaps consciously, not made fully explicit in the text). Snape slays him with the Avada Kedavra killing curse.
The task complete, Snape signals an immediate retreat. As the Death Eaters scatter and head for the gates where they can Disapparate, those still able to give pursuit do so. Hagrid attacks the fleeing Dark wizards. Harry, freed from Dumbledore's spell, pursues Snape, finally coming to duel with him on the edge of the grounds. Snape orders Malfoy and the Death Eaters away on the grounds that Harry is to be left to the Dark Lord, and then deflects Harry's attacks while criticising his fighting style. Harry infuriates Snape by calling him a coward, and Snape retaliates by stunning Harry. The Hippogriff Buckbeak attacks, injuring Snape before he Disapparates.
[edit] Aftermath
Bill Weasley's face has been badly savaged by werewolf Fenrir Greyback in human form, causing incurable lycanthropic contamination. A Death Eater known as Gibbon was hit by a Killing Curse aimed at Remus Lupin. Several Death Eaters escape, but others are known to have been immobilized in the battle. A number of mysteries surrounding Snape's actions remain. A popular if controversial theory among the fanbase is that Dumbledore knew himself to be critically injured and wished for Snape to stay alive.
Minerva McGonagall becomes Headmistress of Hogwarts. It is unclear whether Hogwarts will reopen - the Board of Governors has yet to make that decision. Whether or not the school remains open, Harry and his friends decide not to return. They vow that, together, they will devote their lives to the destruction of Voldemort's Horcruxes and, ultimately, the Dark Lord himself.
Dumbledore is buried with full honours near the Hogwarts lake.
Although there has been no lasting damage done to the school and few serious casualties, the death of Dumbledore - referred to as the only wizard feared by Voldemort - signals a major victory for the Death Eaters.
