Harry Potter and the Darkness' Bane
by Dementis Scriptor
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There are forces in this world that defy explanation; times when even the most fundamental laws of nature seem to turn a blind eye. There are instances when the most unlikely of circumstances can conspire together to produce results that otherwise never would have been possible.
And there are people in this world who act as focal points for these deviations from normality.
Enter Harry Potter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know, I know, you all thought I did, and now you'll probably never speak to me again. Not only that, but I'm not making any money off of this. At all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Doesn't that just suck?
Chapter One: Endings
"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." – T. S. Eliot
"Oh, bloody hell!"
The otherwise peaceful night was disturbed by the annoyed voice of a young man of around sixteen, who hastily dove behind a bush to avoid a speeding jet of red light.
Harry Potter was not in the best of moods at the moment. Not that he was ever in a good mood lately, but that was to be expected while he was living with the Dursleys. Some days he barely kept himself from cursing his relatives' mouths off, the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry be damned. Over the last year or so, his temper had been on an almost non-existent fuse, and living with the Dursleys was not helping things. They seemed to delight in doing everything in their power to try and push him over the edge, knowing that he couldn't retaliate without breaking the law.
No, it was quite normal for him to be in a bad mood. But what he was currently feeling went far, far beyond that. A bad mood? No. Not at all. He was bloody well pissed off!
"Stupefy!" yelled Harry, pointing his wand at a random, black-robed, hooded Death Eater. Said Death Eater couldn't move out of the way in time, and fell to the ground with a thud. This did little to raise Harry's spirits, since the reason the Death Eater couldn't move out of the way was because of all the other Death Eaters who were currently surrounding the house.
Jumping out from behind the bush and sending out a random bunch of spells, Harry barely avoided a Cruciatus Curse as he ducked behind another bush, this one slightly closer to the front door. The stench of burnt hair filled the night air as the curse flew overhead. Raising himself slightly, another stunner on his lips, he just managed to drop back down as a nasty bone-shattering curse slammed into the wall behind him.
He was outnumbered and outclassed, and he knew it. His only chance was to stay alive until someone showed up. Hell, even Snape would be a welcome sight at the moment. Unless, of course, Snape was there, in the form of a psychotic sociopath intent on killing him by any means necessary. Somehow, Harry couldn't rule out the possibility.
Absently, he wondered how the Death Eaters got there in the first place. He was supposed to be safe here; that's what Dumbledore had said. Well, apparently nobody had bothered to inform the Death Eaters of that fact. He didn't have much time to wonder, though. Survival first, then explanations.
"Reducto!" shouted Harry, aiming for the ground under a cluster of Death Eaters that were approaching him and causing them to disperse quite nicely.
"Incendio!"
"Crap!"
Harry made a running dive behind yet another bush, this one directly to the right of the front door, as one Death Eater got smart and set his hiding place on fire.
Earlier in the summer, Harry had been extremely disgruntled at having to dig up the front garden and plant the bushes. Now, he was grateful he had, as they were the only thing keeping him alive at the moment. He wasn't quite sure what they were, and hadn't really cared that much at the time. He decided now that, if he survived long enough, he would and plant a few wherever he ended up living.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Although, survival didn't seem too likely at the moment, Harry mused, barely managing to roll out of the way as a Killing Curse shot straight through the hedge, impacting low on the house and cracking the foundation.
Harry knew he needed to get inside if he was to have any hope at all of staying alive. The bushes were nice and all, and had kept him from dying thus far, but he didn't think they'd continue to do so for very long.
Distractedly, Harry watched as a small garden snake tore across the lawn as though hell itself were on its heels (not that it had heels). It was muttering something to itself about the end of the world. Apparently, it had made its home under one of the bushes.
Struck by sudden inspiration, he hastily blocked a stunner and put up a makeshift shield to cover him for a few seconds.
"Serpensortia!" he whispered, making sure to pour enough power into it to make up for the near-silence of the incantation. Luckily, his current 'fight-or-flight' emotional state made up for any problems he might have had, and the jet-black snake that appeared was over ten feet long.
"Close your eyes until I say so, and then attack them!" hissed Harry, unconsciously slipping into parseltongue at the sight of the serpent. The snake hissed its understanding, just as another Killing Curse shattered his shield. Bracing himself for what could easily turn out to be a suicide move, Harry rolled out from behind the hedge.
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Reducto! Stupefy!" Sending out as many spells as he could, as fast as he could, Harry didn't even notice that he was still hissing in parseltongue. What he did notice was the unexpected change in the effectiveness of the spells.
The stunners, normally a dark crimson, were a bright blood-red, and tore straight through the shielding spells the Death Eaters had cast. The Disarming jinxes sent those they hit catapulting wildly into the air, their wands shooting out of their hands with the force of a bullet, and the blast from the Reductor curse, more than anything, resembled the explosion from a good size block of muggle C-4. Not really having time to think about it, Harry wrote it off as a side effect of his adrenaline rush and continued with his plan.
"Expecto Patronum!"
With no Dementors around, conjuring the patronus was relatively easy. Though it was of no real use, Harry hoped it would provide a suitable distraction. He was not disappointed, as the familiar form of Prongs burst from the end of his wand, but instead of the glowing silver animal he had expected, the stag was black as the night. Silently, it moved towards the Death Eaters, who stared wide-eyed at the creature before firing a barrage of spells at it, none of which affected it in the slightest.
Shocked at this strange occurrence, but unwilling to let it interfere with his task, Harry used the Death Eaters momentary distraction to point his wand towards the sky.
"Lumos Solarum!" he shouted, closing his eyes tightly.
The sudden burst of light nearly blinded him, even through his eyelids. When the light faded a few moments later, he opened his eyes and hissed "Now!"
The huge black serpent stealthily moved from behind the bush, following the path the black stag had taken only seconds before. The Death Eaters, blinded for the moment, were unable to even see the creature as it tore into their ranks, taking down nearly half of them before they could even begin to defend themselves.
Harry, of course, saw none of this as he ran for the front door.
"Alohomora!" The locks clicked and the door burst open. Without looking back, Harry scrambled into the house and slammed the door behind him.
"Colloportus!" Harry shouted, slipping back into English without even realizing it. The sound of the lock clicking told him the spell had worked. How well it worked remained to be seen.
Raising his wand again, Harry traced it through the air, a trail of gold flowing from the tip. As quickly as he could, he drew a crude model of the house. Summoning up as much energy as he could, Harry bellowed "COLLODOMUS!" and jabbed his wand directly into the center of the small model.
With a loud whooshing sound, the model exploded outwards, expanding beyond the confines of the hall within seconds. It stopped when the golden model reached full size, and seemed to merge with the house itself. A loud succession of clicking was heard, and several windows could be heard slamming upstairs. The whole house briefly took on a golden hue, shimmering for a few seconds before returning to normal.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the Home Security charm took effect. He was actually surprised it had worked at all, since he had never cast it before, and had first read about it only a week ago. Hopefully, it would hold up long enough for help to arrive.
"BOY! What the hell is going on here?!"
Whirling around, Harry came face to face with his rather beefy uncle. He was purple-faced and looked on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.
"Well?! Why the HELL are those freaks at my house?!"
Harry barely registered what his uncle was saying. He had noticed his Aunt and cousin staring out the front window. This in itself was not surprising, but Harry saw something that either no one else noticed, or no one else comprehended.
The lights in the house were still on. And it was dark outside. And there were people outside who wanted them dead.
His eyes widened, and he pointed his wand at one of the recessed lights.
"Lux Finis! Protego!"
Harry said the last bit with his wand directed in front of Dudley and Petunia, and not a moment too soon. Not a second later a rather unpleasant Evisceration curse shattered the window, and would have struck Petunia if not for the shield. As the spell rocketed back at its caster, all the lights in the house went out, courtesy of Harry's first spell.
"Get away from the window!" Harry shouted, dodging around his Uncle and over to his Aunt and cousin. With the lights out, at least the Death Eaters couldn't see them well enough to launch an attack. As Dudley and Petunia, surprisingly enough, did as they were told, Harry moved to the side of the window, peeking around to shoot off a few stunners, along with a few of the more unsavory hexes and curses he knew. From what he could make out, his Patronus had dissipated, but his snake was being tackled by no fewer than ten Death Eaters, and was putting up a hell of a fight.
It took a surprisingly short amount of time for the Death Eaters to notice his spells and start sending some of their own back. Harry decided that defense was more important than offense at the moment, and stopped his attacks.
"Reparo!" said Harry, waving his wand and watching the broken window piece itself back together. "Impervius!" More than just a water-repelling charm, this would keep the glass from shattering. While some spells could still make it through the glass, the window would stay in one piece and deflect spells of lesser power.
"BOY! You're not allowed to use that…unnaturalness here! You'll be expelled!"
Vernon sounded rather triumphant. While he was probably quite right, Harry just couldn't bring himself to care all that much. Expulsion or death? Not much of a choice, in his opinion.
"BOY! ARE YOU LISTENING TO A WORD I'M SAYING?!"
He wasn't, truthfully, but this brought his attention back to the Dursleys. As much as he didn't like them, they were defenseless, and for reasons he didn't care to understand, he felt obligated to protect them. After all, the Death Eaters were after him, not them. And it didn't look like reinforcements were coming anytime soon. It was time for a new plan. He had to get them out of here, and hopefully he could get out with them.
BOOM!
The house gave a violent shudder, and a flash of light was seen through the window. Peering out, Harry saw that his snake had vanished, and that the remaining Death Eaters were apparently cursing the house at once. They seemed to realize that he had invoked some form of protective magic on the house, and were now trying to break whatever spells he had used.
"BOY!!!"
"What?!" Harry snapped, annoyed at the interruption.
"Who the hell are those freaks?!" his uncle snarled, gesturing wildly at the window as the house gave another violent shake.
"They're Death Eaters," Harry replied testily, contemplating how to get everyone out of the house and at least a few miles away. "The servants of Lord Voldemort. They're here to kill me."
Floo was out, since not only did he not have any Floo powder, but he didn't have an active Floo connection. His broom was ruled out too, since even if Vernon, Dudley and Petunia could fit, and the broom could carry them, they would be shot down immediately, and the Invisibility Cloak would definitely not cover all three.
That also ruled out leaving on foot under the Invisibility Cloak.
"…after you, you freak! Never should have taken you in! I always knew you'd be the death of us…"
They couldn't apparate, since he didn't know how, and even if he did it was doubtful that he could take the three Dursleys with him. Not to mention the fact that the Death Eaters had most likely erected anti-apparition wards.
That left a portkey, which – aside from being illegal without proper authorization – he didn't have, and didn't know how to make. True, he had read a short explanation of the process in one of his books, but certainly not enough to attempt to make one. But really, what other choice did he have? The fact that it was illegal didn't really seem all that important at the moment.
"…LOW DOWN GOOD FOR NOTHING-"
CRACK!
A large split formed in the front door as the latest barrage of spells struck. Harry, who hadn't actually been listening to what his uncle was saying, made his decision as bits of plaster started to rain down from the ceiling.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry spoke, directing a large armchair over to lean against the door, before repeating the procedure with a couch and the kitchen table. Flicking his wand, he attempted to transfigure the furniture into something more substantial. The result was not quite what he had planned, but would probably do the job. The furniture looked much the same as it had before, only now it seemed to be made out of solid steel.
"Close enough," Harry muttered, glancing around for an object with which to make his first ever attempt at a portkey – illegally, of course. By now he was completely ignoring his uncle.
"Where are your freaky-friends now, eh? Sure, they show up whenever they want, ALL SUMMER, but when these…these…DEATH-EY FREAKS attack, they're nowhere to be found!"
"Accio!" The television remote flew across the room, and Harry deftly plucked it out of the air.
"…left you to die, they did, and us along with you! Bloody Freaks! The lot of them should be-"
"Silencio!" muttered Harry, absently silencing his uncle in mid-rant. He would need to concentrate if there was any chance for this to work, and the Death Eaters would make that hard enough without Vernon's continued shouting.
He found it slightly amusing that he'd managed the silencing charm so easily, since he'd had some problems with it last year. He supposed that he had just needed the proper motivation.
"What did you do to him?!" Dudley bellowed, seeing his father lose the ability to speak and moving forward.
"Dudley, shut-"
CRASH!
The front door was blasted inward as though struck by a battering ram. The only thing that kept it from falling off its frame entirely was the now-metal armchair braced against it. Hopefully, the furniture would buy them enough time. Turning back to Dudley, he spoke in a deadly whisper.
"Shut up and do not distract me if you want to have any hope of getting out of this alive, do I make myself clear?"
Perhaps it was the no-nonsense tone of his voice, or perhaps it was the 'listen or die' look in his eyes, but Dudley obediently snapped his mouth shut and backed down.
Sighing deeply, Harry held the remote out in front of him, focusing all his attention on the muggle device. He remembered what little he had read on the creation of portkeys, and called to mind all he would need to know.
You needed to know four factors in order to create a portkey. Your point of origin, your destination, the location of the first two points in relation to each other, and the conditions for activation. Taking a deep breath, he began his attempt.
He focused on his current location – Number Four, Privet Drive – and remembered every little detail he could about it, from the surrounding streets to its geographical location. Then, keeping those thoughts firmly in his mind, he focused on his destination: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He figured that if they were going to escape, they should at least get somewhere that the Death Eaters couldn't follow.
Holding both locations in the forefront of his mind, he recalled what he could about the route he would need to take to connect the two. Most people would be unable to create a portkey to Hogwarts, not having any idea where it actually was in relation to anything else. Luckily, Harry did know, at least subconsciously. After all, he had traveled most of the route in a flying car once. Recalling that trip from Kings Cross to Hogwarts when he was twelve, and adding in the journey from Privet Drive to Kings Cross when he was eleven, he was able to get at least a rough idea of where one location was in relation to the other.
With his point of origin, his destination, and an approximate idea of where the two were in relation to each other all firmly held in his mind, he focused on the last factor: the conditions for activation. Some portkeys would activate whenever anyone touched them, others would activate at a certain time and date. Some would activate on a time-delay, counting down from the time of its creation. Still others required a password.
The easiest to make were those with a time delay, so that's what Harry would do, focusing on a countdown of one minute. Doing his best to concentrate fully on all four factors at once – a feat that was far from easy – he raised his wand, tapped the remote with it, and clearly intoned "Portus!"
For a second, it looked like it hadn't worked. Then, a faint blue glow surrounded the remote, and it wobbled in his hand, before the glow faded once more.
Harry was surprised by the sheer amount of power he felt flowing into the remote. Though hopefully a sign that it had worked, it left him thoroughly drained and he doubted he could put up much of a fight now. If the portkey didn't work…
"Come here, now!" he barked at the three Dursleys, who, sensing his urgency, didn't argue. With a glance at his watch, he began a mental countdown.
"All of you touch this!" he commanded, holding the remote out to them. Vernon glared at him, and Dudley looked like he thought Harry was an idiot. Petunia, surprising Harry once more, followed his instructions without complaint.
CRRREEEEAAAAK!
The horrible squeal of metal being twisted out of shape filled the air as several Death Eaters tried to blast their way inside. On managed to remove the remains of the door and sent several curses around the armchair, which was hardly recognizable after being hit with so many spells.
"Stupefy!"
The stunner hit Dudley dead on, and the house shook as he dropped to the floor. Whether this was because of Dudley's bulk, or because of the Death Eater's spells, Harry didn't know. Petunia screamed, and Harry growled in annoyance, sending back a stunner of his own.
"Engorgio!" The stunned Death Eater swelled like a balloon, expanding until he filled the entire doorframe, effectively barring anyone else from entering. Harry was rather pleased with his new approach to home security.
"Ennervate!" This was directed at Dudley, who groaned loudly.
"Up, Dudley!" said Harry, in no mood to polite. "Everyone into the kitchen!"
While herding the Dursleys into the kitchen, Harry glanced at his watch once more. He had about forty-five seconds left.
"Colloportus!" Harry locked the door behind them.
A crash and a squelching sound came from behind the door, and Harry had the sinking feeling that the Death Eater he had used to block the front door had just been removed in an unpleasant manner. Several spells impacting on the kitchen door confirmed this.
Harry put what little power he had left into a glowing azure shield that surrounded all four of them, and left him feeling dizzy.
"Everyone, touch the remote!"
This time, none of them objected, and obediently touched the remote. Another glance at his watch indicated that they had thirty seconds left.
It was then that a tapping was heard from the kitchen window, and all four people turned to it. A barn owl was sitting on the outside ledge, looking very self-important. With an annoyed growl, Harry jerked his wand at the window, causing the glass to vanish. The owl flew into the room, dropped a letter on Harry's head, and flew back out; the glass reappeared after it was through.
Tearing open the envelope, Harry was expecting a letter from Dumbledore, or some other Order member, or maybe even an Auror or something. He didn't know what they could possibly tell him in a letter that would help him, but didn't dwell on it as he hastily unfolded the parchment. It had to be good news, right?
He should have known better.
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that a no less than eighty-seven spells of varying types were used between nineteen minutes past ten and twenty-eight minutes past ten this evening, in a muggle inhabited area, in the presence of three muggles, and within viewing distance of eleven other muggles.
The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, as well as the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, has resulted in your immediate expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the unconditional forfeiture of your wand rights. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand(s).
As you have already received several official warnings for previous offences, and attended a previous disciplinary hearing for similar offenses, we regret to inform you that under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy there will be a criminal investigation into your actions. Your presence will be required at a trial at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the eighth of August.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
Improper Use of Magic Office
Ministry of Magic
Harry stared at the letter blankly, before snorting derisively and tossing it on the ground. It seemed that the ministry was still as incompetent as ever. Didn't anyone wonder why so many spells were being cast? Didn't it occur to them that something might be wrong? Apparently not. Well, let the ministry officials come. The way he saw it, by the time they arrived he'd either be at Hogwarts or he'd be dead. Either way, he wouldn't be greeting them.
Five seconds to go, and Harry was praying to any deity that might listen to let his portkey work.
Four…three…two…
CRASH!
The kitchen door was roughly thrown from its frame, crashing into the opposite wall as Death Eaters swarmed into the kitchen, curses bouncing off Harry's rapidly fluctuating shield.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
One…
The shield collapsed under the curse like a piece of parchment trying to dam a river. Harry didn't have time to move, he didn't have time to think, he didn't have time to do anything but stand there like a deer caught in the headlights.
The sickly green light of the Killing Curse struck him dead on…
…and there was a jerk coming from somewhere behind his navel…
The world went black.
A/N: Hello people. Happy Belated New Year, Merry Belated Christmas, Happy Belated Hanukah. If you celebrate something else, or if you don't celebrate anything at all, I hope you had fun.
This is the second piece of Fan Fiction I'm posting, and just to make it clear this is in no way related to A Matter of Time, my other fic. This is just a fun piece for me, and I really have no idea where it's going. Harry will be powerful, but not ridiculously so. He will work for his goals, and he won't always succeed.
This chapter starts right out with a big fight scene and a cliffhanger, so I'll tell you now that the next one will probably be somewhat boring in comparison. I really don't know when the next chapter will be out. It could be a week, it could be six months. Reasons for this can be found in my profile.
This does not mean I have stopped writing A Matter of Time. In fact, that fic will probably take precedent over this one, since I have a very clear idea about where that one is heading.
If you've read this far, I'm impressed. Let me just say that I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
-D.S.