Title: Eyes of the Chosen
Author: Emcee
Summary: Following Macnair's attack on the students, Remus and Severus go to St. Mungo's. Meanwhile, Derek confronts Ron.
Author's Note: Thank-you to my muses, Rae and Fre and my beta and Pablo. This story is AU to "Order of the Phoenix". It is the sequel to Labyrinth of Illusion.
Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" and the characters, places and things related to it do not belong to me. They are from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling. They belong to her and her publishers. I am not making any profit from this fan fiction.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A Break
Hermione glared at Harry and Ron as they sat fidgeting in their seats. She rolled her eyes, leaning over and hissing, "Come on, it's Defence Against the Dark Arts. You like this class!"
Ron glared at Hermione, putting his books on his desk. "The last few lessons have been so boring! For a month we have done nothing but read! You would think as an Auror and former Dark Creature, Miss Tsukino would do something better than having us read all period!"
Harry hushed the pair of them. "Listen, she'll be here soon. She was probably just nervous."
Lavender Brown let out a squeal, jumping out of her seat.
"Oh relax, Lavender," Seamus snickered. "It's just a rat. It's all ready skittered away. Castle's full of them."
Miss Tsukino entered the classroom, her head held high. "All right. Hello class. Books away. We're going to be having a practical lesson." She looked over the class, before gesturing to the door. "Everyone file out."
The class grabbed their wands, standing up.
"Oh," Miss Tsukino frowned, "Leave your wands in your desk as well. You're not going to need them."
Harry looked at his wand, hesitant to leave it in his desk. In all of his time in the Wizarding World, he had always had his wand with him. The few time he had been without, he had gotten into trouble.
"Don't worry," Miss Tsukino said gently. "I know you're worried about leaving your wands here. Well, it's necessary. Wands are fragile, breakable." Ron turned a deep shade of crimson. "You can lose them easily. I need to teach you how to defend yourself without them."
Slowly, the class put their wands into their desk. Harry looked down at his, wand. He willed himself to put it in his desk. Why could he do it? He felt his stomach turning in knots.
"Harry?" Miss Tsukino called out. "Are you all right?"
Harry nodded, shoving his wand into his desk. "Yeah." He looked down at it on last time before shutting the top. "I'm fine."
He followed the rest of the class out. Sakura led them out of the school, to the paddocks behind Hagrid's hut. The Forbidden Forest shadowed the paddocks, just inches away from them. Various objects were set up inside. There was a pile of boxes, a few shrubs and some platforms.
"All right," Miss Tsukino called out to the class. "As I said inside, there are times when you could be without your wand during a fight. That's the main goal in any duel: Make sure your opponent is powerless. If you lose your wand, can anyone think of what the best defence is?"
Harry held up his hand. He had a good idea of what to do in that sort of situation.
"Yes Harry?"
Harry looked down at his feet, trying to push the memory of Voldemort attacking him in the cemetery out of his head. "Run."
"Exactly right. Five points to Gryffindor." Sakura pulled her wand from her pocket. "Run and evade, that's the best thing to do in this situation. I've set up this little course to see how well you can do. One by one, I'll call you forward. I want you to evade my attacks and get out of the paddock. I'll be firing stunners at you. And extra points if you can figure out how to disarm me. Once you get out, you're safe. Sound all right?"
The kids nodded uncomfortably. They weren't sure they would be able to get away from a trained Auror. Sakura pointed to Harry. "Potter, why don't you go through first?"
Harry nodded, looking Sakura in the eye. He glanced to his side for a moment, eyeing the boxes.
"Ready?" Sakura held her wand in front of her. "Go!"
She cast the first stunner. Harry ducked, moving one foot towards the boxes, then switched directions, scrambling towards the shrub on his other side. Sakura laughed, having to redirect herself, expecting him to go the other way. "Good going! But fool me once..."
"Shame on you."
Sakura whirled around, towards the Forbidden Forest. Something-- Someone-- was barrelling out. He was clad in black, face covered by a white mask. He threw a knife, burying it in Sakura's shoulder. The force of the hit sent her pitching over.
She tried to get it out, looking up briefly. "Run! Now!"
The Death Eater bent down, pulling the decorative knife out of Sakura's shoulder. He cleaned it on his sleeve, running towards the students.
Ron was frozen in fear. He had seen this man before in his vision. He had used that same knife to murder Jakhori.
"Ron!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the collar, hauling him off. The man wielded his wand, pointing it at Hermione. "Crucio!"
Hermione screamed, crumpling to the ground, twitching slightly. The Death Eater reached for Ron. Neville now grabbed at Ron, pulling him away from Hermione's body.
Harry was trying to cross the ground, to get to the Death Eater. His heart was thundering in his chest. How did the Death Eater know they were going to be outside?
"Stupify!" Miss Tsukino cried out, brandishing her wand. The Death Eater hauled Hermione off the ground, making her catch the spell in the chest. He then threw her hard. Hermione was like a ragdoll, hitting the side of Hagrid's hut with a dull thump.
The Death Eater kicked Miss Tsukino back to the ground, stepping on her wand, cracking it in half. "I prefer the old fashion ways myself. I'm sure you-- of all people-- understand that." He brandished his knife, ready to plunge it into Miss Tsukino.
Harry jumped on the Death Eater's back, fighting to get the wand out of his hand. He flailed, trying to get away. Harry held on tightly. His fingers were beginning to slip. He grabbed onto what he could.
He was soon thrown to the ground. His fingers were still clutched around the Death Eater's mask. He turned to Harry and he finally saw who it was. He hadn't seen this man maskless in almost two years.
His name was Walden Macnair. He was deadly. Voldemort had said it himself, how Macnair liked to torture people.
In his moment of distraction, Miss Tsukino kicked Macnair hard in the stomach with both feet. She got up, turning to Harry. "Run now. Get everyone inside!"
Harry didn't run towards the castle. He ran to Hermione. She was unconscious, still twitching slightly. She was bleeding, having hit Hagrid's hut hard. He looked to Miss Tsukino. He needed to help somehow. He cursed himself for not hiding his wand in his robes. Instead he actually put it away.
Macnair waved his wand, using the banishment charm. Miss Tsukino flew backwards. She hit the platform she had set up. Harry heard bones snap. Miss Tsukino stayed down, her body turned at strange angles.
Macnair completely ignored Harry, looking around furiously for the other students. He spotted a group of them heading towards the castle. He started to wave his wand, preparing a spell.
"No!" Harry bellowed. The boxes shattered, showering Macnair in debris. He ducked, trying to avoid the shards of wood.
Harry then saw Miss Tsukino on her feet again. She was limping terribly. Her cheek was sunken in, blood matting her hair down. She leapt at Macnair, wrapping her arms around his neck.
But no, there was something different about what Miss Tsukino did. Macnair was trying to throw her off, but her fist was locked beneath his chin. He tried to force her off and--
There was a sickening, wet crack. Macnair fell to the ground, his hand still wrapped around his wand. Miss Tsukino didn't get up, she simply laid on her back. "Get Dumbledore," she rasped, before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Harry didn't waste a moment. He got to his feet. His heart ached to leave both Miss Tsukino and Hermione there, but he didn't know what else he could do, without his wand.
He ran to the castle. The other students were in the front hall, confused. Ron was fighting to get away from Neville, Seamus and Dean.
"I need to get back out there!" He yelled. "Hermione and Harry are out there! They'll be..."
"I'm all right," Harry said, winded. "Hermione's unconscious, so is Miss Tsukino."
"What about Macnair?" Ron growled.
Harry panted, running a hand through his hair. "I think he's dead. We need to get Dumbledore. Neville, you get everyone into the Common Room, all right? We'll get McGonagall to come. We've got to go."
Neville nodded firmly. There was a strange glint in his usually cheery eyes. He looked almost angry. No, he looked furious.
Harry and Ron ran towards Dumbledore's office. They almost ran into Remus on the way there.
"Harry, Ron... Why aren't you in class?" He noticed their bedraggled appearances. "What's happened?"
"We need Dumbledore," Harry gasped, "Hermione and Miss Tsukino are hurt. We were attacked during class."
Remus didn't turn to give the password. Instead, he turned down the same corridor Harry and Ron had just come up, breaking into a run. "The password's Chocolate Frogs!" He yelled back.