Skirmish at the Seventh Floor Corridor

"But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of dueling filled the corridor. Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts."

- Description.

This conflict was fought as part of the Battle of Hogwarts, on 2 May, 1998. After Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters managed to break the protective enchantments around Hogwarts Castle at midnight of 2 May, 1998, the Death Eater forces managed to fight their way into the Castle. As Percy and Fred Weasley duelled two masked Death Eaters (one of them Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse) on the Seventh Floor Corridor, an explosion blew up half the corridor, killing Fred. The corridor was then attacked from the outside as Acromantulas climbed the building, and Death Eaters fired curses inside.

Background
"Good girl! They look like they might be breaching the north battlements, they've brought giants of their own."

- Aberforth Dumbledore, during the Battle of Hogwarts.

After Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters managed to break the protective enchantments around Hogwarts Castle, the Battle of Hogwarts began. Duels broke out in the grounds as the Death Eaters made their way toward the Castle. A while later, the Death Eaters had made it to the foot of the Castle, and used giants to breach into the north battlements. As Death Eaters penetrated its walls, duels started breaking out in the corridors.

The duel


Just as Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle left the Room of Requirement after their conflict inside, yells and noises of duelling filled the corridor. Percy and Fred Weasley were fighting two masked and hooded Death Eaters nearby, sending jets of light flying in every direction.

The hood of the Death Eater who was fighting Percy slipped revealing his identity — Pius Thicknesse, Minister for Magic. Percy shot a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who fell to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him. Fred, meanwhile, brought the other Death Eater down with three separate Stunners. Percy made a cheeky remark to Thicknesse about his resignation from the Ministry of Magic, which amused Fred.

At that moment, however, an explosion sent Harry, Ron, Hermione, Percy, Fred and the two defeated Death Eaters flying, as most of the corridor was blown away letting the cold night air in. As Harry and Hermione struggled to their feet in the wreckage, Percy and Ron knelt beside the lifeless body of their brother Fred, "the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face".

A body, presumably one of the Hogwartians up in the towers above, fell past the hole blown into the side of the Castle. Death Eaters in the grounds below had started shooting curses into the corridor, in hopes of hitting one of them. The Forbidden Forest Acromantulas were climbing the building, and one of them tried to climb through the huge hole. Harry and Ron fired Stunners, sending the enormous spiders rolling down the building.

Crouching low, to avoid the flying curses, the group carried Fred's lifeless body into a niche where a suit of armour had stood earlier, so that it was hidden and protected from further harm. Harry noticed that Malfoy and Goyle had vanished, at the end of the corridor were now many people running backward and forward. Augustus Rookwood was pursuing a couple of students and Percy sprinted off in his direction with a roar, to avenge his fallen brother.

Looking into Voldemort's mind, Harry found out that the Dark Wizard was in the Shrieking Shack, expecting Harry to come to him in order to destroy his last Horcrux, Nagini. Before they could leave, however, two more Death Eaters noticed them. Harry, Ron and Hermione used a secret staircase concealed behind tapestries, having charmed the stairs into a chute, so that they could move faster. As the Death Eaters ran after them, Hermione turned the concealing tapestry into stone and the two Death Eaters crumpled against it with sickening crunches.

Aftermath
"We will fight! We'll have to, to reach the snake! But let's not lose sight now of what we're supposed to be d-doing! We're the only ones who can end it! You need to find out where Voldemort is, because he'll have the snake with him, won't he? Do it, Harry — look inside him!"

- Hermione Granger to Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter after this conflict.

This skirmish, albeit brief, had at least two casualties (both of them Hogwartians), and heavy damage was sustained to the Castle. A massive hole was blown into the side of the building, exposing the corridors inside, making people crossing them easy targets for the Death Eaters on the grounds.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows