Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 177: Ambushed From All Sides

"Hello, Potter. Fancy seeing you here." Lucius Malfoy had a cruel smirk engraved on his face.

"Get out of the way, Malfoy. This is a terrible time for your juvenile plays," James said, his wand firmly grasped in his right hand.

"Is that a threat?... That's not very polite." Malfoy glanced for a second at Lily. "Are you trying to appear brave in front of your mudblood girlfriend? I'm even surprised you have time for that… After all, I heard a rumor about you getting engaged to someone else."

Rabastan frowned. He did not like hearing the reminder that his family was tossed aside for a house like the Potters. "Malfoy… let's get this over with."

"James…" Lily tugged at his robes as she spotted four more boys behind them.

It was clear they were trying to prevent them from running back to the village. But what caught Lily's attention was that one of those boys was her former friend, who stood at the back, staring directly at her.

"Severus, why…" Lily muttered under her breath.

In front of them were Malfoy, standing next to the wooden arch that led out of Hogsmeade, and Rabastan Lestrange, a bit closer to them.

Also ahead were four more senior students whom Malfoy had convinced to accompany them. So ten people in total, and they were all here to make sure James would spend the rest of the year in a hospital bed… or completely leave the school.

Both Malfoy and Lestrange wanted to make sure that their message was heard loud and clear: no one would offend their houses without paying a heavy price.

However, no one except James was aware of the danger that was approaching them from the skies, and it was doing so at a tremendous speed.

"Lily, stay away from Potter. Come over here now," Snape shouted at her.

"Severus… how can you join these awful people? I don't understand you." Lily frowned. "But I'm not going anywhere." She held her wand in her hand, ready to jinx anyone who approached.

The boys did not look very intimidated by Lily's determination and merely chuckled while getting closer to them.

It was then that Rabastan realized James wasn't really paying any attention to them and was instead looking up, with an expression of concern that he had never seen on him before.

"Potter! Look at me!" Rabastan became enraged as he aimed his wand at him.

"Lily, stay close to me. Don't move, no matter what," James told her.

Wisps of magic began to form around his body. They looked like tiny sparks of light to the beholders.

Lily watched them with shock. She had never seen a wizard concentrate so much magic in a single place to form luminescent shapes, but she had read about it in her books.

No one understood James's actions and thought he was getting ready to attack them.

The boys who were currently surrounding James began to get nervous and decided they needed to attack him while there was still a chance.

So they aimed their wands and were about to fire.

Malfoy saw something in the sky. However, it moved too quickly for him to understand what it was.

"Potter!" Rabastan shouted at him with pure rage. The tip of his wand gained an eerie shine.

This was as far as they got.

The warlock who had been chasing James descended from the air like a cannon shell.

"Gran Custodia!" From James's wand, a large translucent structure was manifested. It was shaped like a curved shield and was large enough to cover James and Lily completely, protecting them from the violent impact.

The five Slytherin boys who had been standing the closest to them were not as lucky, as nothing was there to shield them from the damage caused by the collision.

The shockwave generated by the meeting of these two forces was enough to send them all flying away, breaking bones and flesh in the process.

Snape, Rabastan, and Malfoy were fortunate enough to have been quite far from James and were only sent to the floor, but remained relatively unharmed.

Lily screamed due to the shock that the sudden attack caused her. Her eyes were now staring in awe at the aggressor in question.

On top of James's protective charm was now a person standing there, like nothing had happened.

It was a petite old witch. Her body was completely covered in some old, ragged black robes, and on top of her head, she wore one of those large witch hats that Muggles like to employ in their fantastical depictions.

She glared down at James through the transparent shield. "I finally found you… little thief."

James glared back at her. "I thought it had to be you…" The moment he felt the warlock in Hogsmeade, he knew there was only one possibility left for the identity of his pursuer.

"You are the witch from the antique shop!" Lily recognized her too, as she had been the one to accompany James on the day he bought the book.

The witch jumped from the shield with an amount of agility and speed that no one would think possible for a woman of her age.

She did a spin through the air and landed in front of Rabastan Lestrange as he was standing up from the floor.

"Lily… you're going to have to run back to the village," James whispered to her.

Malfoy and Lestrange stared at the old witch with confusion. They had no idea what had just happened.

All of a sudden, something fell from the sky like a meteorite, and now this decrepit woman was in front of them.

"Malfoy, who is this hag?" Rabastan asked.

The witch turned to look at him. "Oh? Are you with Mister Malfoy as well?"

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