'Well, do it!' he shouted, and Ginny, whipped the reins sideways, pulling the dragon into a sharp backwards turn so that they faced the tower, and then shouted something unintelligible into its ear.
It reared back, and Draco had to grab at Rons jacket to keep him from sliding off. Flame burst from the dragons mouth, the color of molten lava, a cascading jet of fire that seared across the roof of the tower in a destroying, purifying blast. It was soundless and fierce and almost instant. Like a wave, it crashed across the roofs surface, obscuring everything from view — and just as quickly vanished.
Draco stared, and in the deathly silence that followed the blast of fire a terrible stillness seemed to descend, like the aftermath of a shattering explosion. Slowly he became aware of the rhythmic beating of the dragons wings, heard Ginnys sharp gasp, and Rons ragged breathing. They were both staring below them, and no wonder. The roof of the tower was bare; burned clean by dragon fire. The ugly sofa was gone, the dementors were gone; it was as if the top of the tower had been swept bare clean by some cosmic event. All that remained was the sword, which glittered, unburned and unharmed, in the middle of the bare empty expanse of scorched flagstones.
* * * * *
'What about Slytherin?' Sirius asked as they hurried after Fleur down a narrow, twisting darkened corridor. Long hallways led off in all directions, archway after archway disappearing into green-tinted mist. Creatures hurried by them — trolls brandishing heavy axes, banshees emitting low, sepulchral moans as they stalked by, veelas looking rapacious and clicking their beaks expectantly. Sirius now realized that the many Dark creatures he ?d seen rushing by him earlier had been racing outside, Called to the battle. Only the werewolves, freed from the Call by the potion Lupin had administered on the sly, remained in their rooms, blissfully unaware of what was going on outside the castle. When he, Lupin and Fleur had left, they?d left off basket weaving and moved onto a fingerpainting session.
'Where is he?' muttered Lupin in Fleurs ear as they stalked purposefully down the corridor. Fleur led the way, a determined light in her eyes. 'Wheres Slytherin?'
'I do not know,' she replied firmly. 'Nobody does. He left instructions that he was not to be disturbed, and nobody would dare disobey him, even if they could.'
'Did Do you get the sense that he's was concerned about the army attackingoutside the walls?' Sirius demanded.
Fleur shook her head. 'No. Whatever 'e is doing, 'e is not concerned about that.'
'My guess is that hes about to make a last bid to reclaim his powers,' Lupin said, as they turned a corner and came out into a large, circular room. 'He knows perfectly well that at his full power, he could flatten such an army with a thought….what is that?'
Sirius stopped alongside his friend and stared. Instead of a roof, this room was open to the sky, except where it was crossed over by four metal chains joined together in the middle. And from the middle, a fifth chain of brass, each link as large as a cartwheel, dangled down into the room, connected by an S-shaped link to the centerpiece of the room: a huge serpent, as big as a house, made out of overlapping plates of copper and glass. It was coiled around and around a tall marble pole, topped with a carved marble skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth: a sculpted Dark Mark. Sirius could see through the transparent parts of the metal serpents body to an intricate system of brass cogs and gears inside, turning in regular rhythm. Black steam puffed from its brazen nostrils, and fire flickered behind its huge empty eyes.
With a determined look, Fleur strode into the middle of the room, walking very quickly. As she moved towards it, the serpent began to slowly uncoil itself. Slowly its tail moved, extending outward towards her, sweeping across the floor. Fleur stepped over it, rucking up her sleeve as she went — Sirius saw her slender arm emerge from the white sleeve, the pale skin stained by the blister-black Mark just above the elbow — and then she raised her arm and pointed it at the serpent, her face contorted with intense concentration.
'Delenda!' she cried, and a bolt of green light shot from the Dark Mark on her arm, arrowed straight towards the mechanical snake, and disappeared down its throat.
As Sirius stared, transfixed by amazement, the green light from Fleurs Dark Mark vanished, and she collapsed silently to the floor in a crumpled heap. He looked sideways at Lupin, but his friend had already dashed forward, leaping over the serpents coiled tail in his hurry to get to Fleur. The serpent made no move to stop him as he lifted the unconscious girl in his arms; indeed it seemed frozen in place. Sirius might even have said that it was wearing a surprised expression. Suddenly, its head drooped, and there was a thud inside it, as if something had exploded. A good deal of white smoke poured out of its joints, and bright flashes went off behind its eyes. With a tearing noise, it collapsed in on itself, scattering bits of glass and copper across the floor like bright confetti.
Fleurs eyes were open now, and when Lupin reached the door and Sirius, she said in a firm little voice, 'Put me down now, please.'
Sirius helped Lupin set her on her feet (and could have sworn she was blushing slightly); standing, she stared past them, transfixed, at the destroyed machinery of the dragon. Then, in a hushed small voice, she said, 'Listen.'
They listened. Sirius imagined that Lupin, with his extra-sensitive hearing, probably picked up on the noise before he did, but eventually
'The wards are gone,' said Fleur. 'The walls 'ave fallen down, and the castle is open to attack.'
* * * * *
'Can I see him? Just for a minute?' Ginny begged.
Ben nodded. 'If you like, but hes not awake; the mediwitch gave him a Red Verbena Potion for the pain. He won?t be waking up any time soon. Your brother is out of this war, for the time being, anyway.' Ben touched her shoulder lightly. 'Go on; I?ll be waiting here.'
Ginny nodded and pushed the tent flap aside, and went in. Inside was a clean, well-lighted little room with white walls, a dark wooden floor, and in the center of the room, a bed. And on the bed lay Ron.
She walked over to the bedside and stood looking down at her brother for a moment. He lay on his back, his left hand heavily bandaged and stretched out beside him. She bit her lip. The moment they had landed the dragon in the clearing in front of the army camp, Ron had slid from its back, landed on the ground, and promptly fainted from the pain in his arm. Ginny had gasped when she?d seen the extent of his injury, and started screaming for Ben.
If she?d ever wondered what happened to an ordinary person who touched a Living Blade, now she knew. It
