He had heard about what had happened to the Longbottom’s. They were tortured to the point of insanity, but Severus knew the whole story. There was an explosion and they were found to be the only survivors. The explosion, he found out, was caused by this glowing force that came from the couple. It exploded outward and destroyed the building they were in. The death eaters who tortured the Longbottom’s had gotten out of the building before it collapsed. Severus, in the coming years, had tried to discover the true magical origin of what had unfolded. He was never able to put a name to it. The destructive force most closely resembled the power of an obscurial, but the key difference was the use of magic, not the repression of magic, that had caused it.

So, when Severus had seen Harry start to glow blue, he knew what was coming. So did the Lestranges and Barty. They were the first ones to react, backing up hastily and doing their best to escape the room. Severus knowing he needed to get Harry out of Malfoy Manor, ducked behind a large stone pillar to deflect as much damage as possible while observing the chaos. Other death eaters pulled out their wands, beginning to slowly migrate to the nearest exit. 

The doors slammed shut of their own accord, as if a strong breeze had occurred. Death eaters attempting to flee found that the doors would not budge, sealing everyone inside. Suddenly, the blue glow changed auburn and erupted forcefully into the room. Severus cast a shield charm, only to find himself thrown backwards. Whatever the magical cause of this force, it was so powerful it could not be deflected. Impacting the wall, he heard the sharp crack of his head snapping against the wall. He watched as other death eaters, more unprepared than he, were thrown into the air or across the room. He did not see what happened to Voldemort, who had stood stoically in the same spot. 

There was a structural groan that could be heard around the room. Severus looked at the pillar he had originally standing behind to see that there was a sharp line through it, like a knife through butter. It shifted slowly in place, the groaning coming from the movement of rock against rock. A glow of yellow caught Severus’ attention off to either side of him. Small fires had sparked throughout the room. He had to get Harry out before either danger killed him. He could see Harry laying in a bundle in the middle of the floor. Severus moved slowly, the room spinning slightly from his head impacting the wall. As he started to crawl, the room began to shake. Cracks had formed along the ceiling which was unable to support the floors above. 

Severus moved faster, half crawling half throwing himself towards Harry. When he had traversed the one hundred foot gap between them, Severus pulled out his wand. He drew a circle around the two of them, mumbling protego totalum under his breath as he did so. A translucent shimmer formed around the two wizards when the shield charm had been finalized. Severus knew there was no way to get out of the manor until its destruction unfolded. Severus pressed his fingers to Harry’s neck, feeling a thready pulse under them. 

“Come on, Harry.” Severus verbalized

He waved his wand over the boy thrice, muttering a few healing spells. Severus kept his eyes to the ceiling. The protective enchantment would keep them safe for the time being, but if the onslaught of collapse was too great, it could become overwhelmed and fail. He snagged the boy’s wand, storing it in his robes. Severus pressed his fingers to Harry’s neck again, seeing some color return to Harry’s pale face. The pulse, while still thready, was noticeably stronger.

Severus’ attention was quickly pulled from the boy as he could feel the ground shake. Debris began raining down from the ceiling, trapping death eaters in concrete. He could feel a pressure like force as large chunks of the ceiling hit the protective enchantment. It was like a bad storm, beginning as a drizzle and crescendoing to torrential downpour. Unsure of when the enchantment would fail, Severus moved to cover Harry with his own body. He could see the stone pillars collapsing around the room. They fell like dominoes, one after another sounding an earthquake. Severus looked up, watching the closest pillar topple in their direction. He said a silent pray for the shield charm to hold as the pillar made contact. Severus could feel the pressure squeezing in closer to him as the pillar deflected and rolled to the floor. The charm was close to failing. Another pillar fell in their direction. Severus braced for impact, waiting for the protective enchantment to fail. The pillar hit and rolled to the floor. Severus felt the pressure pop, notifying him that the charm had finally failed. 

He would have recast the protection, but the onslaught of structure was too much to move. Concrete, brick and steel careened down around them. Severus shoved his wand into his robe sleeves, covering Harry’s head with one arm before covering his own with another. The debris assaulted Severus’ exposed body. Pain ripped through Severus’s body but he did not cry out. He breathed through it, gritting his teeth, waiting for the collapse to stop. The pain suddenly stopped but Severus could still hear concrete hitting the floor. He felt warm in his core and he knew that he was using magic to protect them. He had somehow wandlessly and wordlessly cast a protective charm.Severus gave himself a moment to be impressed. He was a master at wordless magic, but had never been able to perform wandless magic. Despite knowing that, he refused to move in case his conjecture was wrong.

It became eerily silent. He took three deep breaths before moving. Severus looked up, seeing a haze of dust float through the air. He could not detect movement from anyone in the room. Attempting to move off of Harry, pain ripped through Severus’ leg. He turned his head, noticing part of a pillar trapping his leg. Severus swore to himself out of pain and frustration. It would be much more challenging to get Harry out with a broken leg. 

“Reducto.” Severus’ voice echoed, blasting the debris from his leg. 

Severus’ vision turned dark. He knew was magically weakened. While he was planning on using a levitation charm, he knew that there would not be enough energy to apparate the two of them. He breathed deep, which caused him much pain. His vision returned to normal. Severus moved off of Harry, groaning as his body groaned in pain. He propped himself into a sitting position to survey his leg. His pant leg was torn and he could feel it swelling. He was able to wiggle his toes but not without pain. 

“Ferula.” Severus pointed his wand.

Bandages wrapped tightly around Severus’ leg. It would splint it for the time being, until he could obtain better care. Severus knelt and turned towards Harry. Rolling him over, Severus surveyed the boy. He seemed to come out of the collapse unharmed, Severus’ body large enough to protect him. Severus wrapped his arms under Harry’s armpits, around his chest, and stood. Slowly he began to drag Harry out of the room. He took his time, stepping over debris gingerly as he had to transfer weight onto his broken leg. He dragged the boy through an exit where a door should have been. This short distance was already enough to make Severus out of breath and sweating with exertion. The pair moved through what would have been the entrance way and out into the night air. Severus set Harry down slowly. Severus fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath. The chill of the night air felt nice on his warm, damp skin. Severus looked at what was left of Malfoy Manor. What use to be an elegant mansion was now a decrepit skeleton. Jagged walls of the first floor was the only thing left to see. 

The exterior landscape was still in pristine condition. The fence and outer hedges were still standing without any evidence of harm on them. It was this outer layer that held the anti-apparation charm. Severus resigned himself to taking one more deep breath before returning to his mission of getting Harry to safety. It took him seven minutes to drag Harry the length of a quidditch pitch to the outer gate. Once outside the gate, Severus grabbed Harry’s arm and they apparated. 

Landing hard on his back, Severus inhaled deeply. His world spun quickly, his body shaking from effort. He could hear Harry groan, the first time Harry had shown a sign of life since this whole escape began. Severus rolled over fast, throwing up in the grass below him. He crawled over to the other side of Harry, trying to stand. Almost instantly, Severus crumpled back to the ground. He was in so much pain, his body unable to regulate itself. He knew that his magical core was straining. He would eventually lose consciousness. He turned to see the vastness of Hogwarts castle towering above them. Severus searched through his robes trying to find his wand. He hoped that it was somewhere around them, coming loose from his hand on impact. 

Severus removed Harry’s wand from his robes as his vision darkened quickly. He flourished the wand in the air, a high pitched screaming of the caterwauling charm reverberating off of the stone castle walls. Severus felt his eyes roll into the back of his head as his body became limp and he fell unconscious.