Final Battle at Hogwarts

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April 16th 2006, at roughly the same time as the the battle at Diagon Alley and the razing of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came under attack as a result of the use of an ancient artefact - in this case a dark horn - blown by the Lich Commander once his ship - The Naglfar - had berthed upon Hogsmeade's shore. The act raised from the dead all creatures within earshot, a range which unfortunately included not only Hogsmeade but also the entire of Hogwarts' grounds, and the Forbidden Forest. These undead included but were not limited to: a herd of Acromantula, and Albus Dumbledore himself.

Preparations

Although they were not targeted in this particular attack, the school had been preparing for an assault under the assumption that they would once again be targeted, owing to the morale damage that could be done by once again, attacking the Wizarding World's children, the presence of a large number of refugees from the other fronts, and presence of Carmilla Crowe in the school.

The school building itself was still locked down at the time, to protect the refugees and students, with patrols of staff and volunteers from among the refugees. The volunteers also included many recent alumni whose duties were to keep watch and order inside of the school. During this time the staff, able refugees, and 6th and 7th year students were encouraged to brush up on their combat skills individually or in groups, marking the largest organized effort towards creating a Hogwarts Defense Force since Dumbledore's Army.

At the same time, mass preparations were made in the infirmary to prepare to take on casualties from the anticipated Hogsmeade front. Students and refugees not inclined toward combat or had no finesse with healing (or those that were too young to help with the defence) were secured in the Slytherin dungeons.

The Battle Begins

Due to the distance from the school and the physical fortification provided by the castle, the occupants of the castle had about an hour's warning before the battle began. During that time, Tomal Saichairi (who took charge of organising the castle's defense) placed the most skilled witches and wizards in the front hall of the school while skirmishers were stationed in several corridors to stall anything which may breach even the full-frontal assault. Smaller patrols were also stationed among the battlements where they could warn of of any other breaches of the walls.

Those that were apart of the defense were instructed to make primary use of the Stunning Spell, Stupefy, as to avoid friendly-fire. Intially most complied, yet those capable of more advanced magic, or the use of melee weapons, eventually diverged. Staff were given more leeway in their choices owing to most of those fighting in the battle being members of The Order.

Lydia Rancourt, a Hogwarts Alumna and Antithia, was once again given the task of keeping up morale among those fighting by feeding off their negative emotions.

Reinforcements Arrive

As the Militia and Order of the Phoenix retreated from the razing of Hogsmeade to the castle, believing it to be a safe haven, they found themselves in the midst of the battle being waged between the staff of Hogwarts and the numerous human and beast infirni, along with many of the Death Eaters who followed them there from Hogsmeade. Although the injured were taken directly to the infirmary, those still capable of fighting served to reinforce the now outclassed and outnumbered Hogwarts Defence Force.

The presence of several members of the Order of the Phoenix, as well as the tactical input of the leaders of the Hogwarts and the dispatch of the Militia, allowed the defense of Hgowarts to succeed until the magic animating the corpses expired, and the remaining Death Eaters retreated with the news of the Defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort.