Harry Thunderer and the Uru Hammer
Chapter One
"Whosoever Holds this Hammer…"
"NOW!" yelled Harry.
Behind him, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna all shouted "Reducto!" each one aiming their wand in a different direction, and five explosions rent the air around them, sending glass balls and shelves flying. "RUN!" Harry shouted, grabbing Hermione's robe and surging forward, elbowing one of the Death Eaters out of his way and raising an arm over his head to protect himself from the glass and wood raining down on them.
They had come to the Department of Mysteries to save Harry's godfather, Sirius Black from Voldemort, but had found only Death Eaters waiting for them, and the more Lucius Malfoy had crowed about it, the more convinced Harry became that Sirius wasn't here and he'd been tricked into retrieving the glass ball now tightly clutched in one hand, what Malfoy had said was a prophecy made about him and Voldemort.
Ron, Ginny and Luna were ahead of them, and as someone grabbed Harry's shoulder he heard Hermione shout "Stupefy!" and the hand released him. He, Hermione and Neville came to the end of row ninety-seven and turned right, then began running full-tilt toward the door ahead of them. They sprinted through the door, Harry slamming it shut as Neville made it through last, and Hermione pointed her wand at the door and shouted "Colloportus!" sealing it shut behind them.
Not seeing Ron, Ginny or Luna, they listened anxiously to the Death Eaters on the other side of the door make plans to search the area, then turned and ran through the room containing the bell jar with the egg hatching and unhatching in a weird cycle. They were nearly to the exit when a rough voice shouted "Alohomora!" and Harry dived under a desk, Neville and Hermione doing the same an instant later.
"Check under the desks," they heard a Death Eater say, and Harry poked his wand from under the desk as he saw a pair of knees bending down to look.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, then cursed as the man kicked his hand as he fell, causing his wand to fly out of his hand. The Death Eater fell onto a grandfather clock standing nearby, knocking it over. Harry rolled out from beneath the desk, looking frantically for his wand. Hermione slid out from under her desk and was preparing to hex another Death Eater sprinting toward them from the door they'd come through — she didn't notice a third man drawing a bead on her and beginning to shout the Killing Curse. But Harry did.
Grabbing for the desk to launch himself at the man, Harry's hand closed on a hard, round object, and he swung it instinctively at the Death Eater. His instinct proved correct — he batted away the man's wand and spoiled the spell. The Death Eater turned back towards him but Harry grabbed his new weapon with both hands and swung hard, knocking the man's mask away and sending him to the floor, unconscious.
Neville, finally coming out from under his desk (his robe had gotten caught) pointed his wand toward the last Death Eater and shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!" and then yelled "Oh, NO! — s-sorry, Hermione!" as her wand spun away; she'd begun to hex the third man as well. That fellow, watching her wand flying toward him, raised his hand to snatch it from the air, then doubled over as Harry slammed a shoulder into his midsection, sending them both sprawling.
Harry was practically on top of the Death Eater, whose own wand was pressed against his chest by Harry's body. He was trying to bring Hermione's wand to bear on Harry, who was hampered by the prophecy still clutched in his left hand. Too close to swing his new weapon at the man, he did the only thing he could think of — he pushed away the man's wildly swinging wand with his left hand, then reached down, grabbed the Death Eater's own wand and shouted "Stupefy!"
The man's wand shot a red bolt into his chest, knocking him out. Harry grabbed Hermione's wand and his own newly-improvised weapon and ran back to her and Neville. "Here's your wand," he told her hurriedly, looking around quickly. "We've got to find mine!"
"What've you got there?" Hermione asked, pointing at the object in his hand.
"Uh —" Harry glanced down at it. He was holding a plain wooden stick, a bit over three feet long, and slightly tapered. "I grabbed it off a desk —" he began, then noticed a tag fastened near one end. Holding it up to see better, he read
Giant's Primitive Wand. Discovered in Norway by Muggle couple on holiday.
Couple was attacked by three trolls guarding the object.
Age of wand: Undetermined.
Rec'd by ELD - Department of Mysteries: 5 Jun 1962
"Huh," Harry grunted, glancing at Hermione. "I didn't know giants used wands."
"They don't," Hermione said, frowning as she read the tag over Harry's shoulder. "At least, I never read anything about them doing that. Maybe they did, once, long ago. They've had this for thirty-four years," she said, noting the date on the tag. "I wonder — look out!"
Hermione suddenly pushed Harry down, and a spell whizzed by them as he fell to the ground. Two more Death Eaters had entered from the doorway at the other of the room, leading into the black hallway. There was a crash behind them as the spell that missed Harry and Hermione struck a glass-fronted cabinet full of Time Turners. The cabinet shattered and fell over, scattering broken hourglasses about the floor — then weirdly, everything began running in reverse, falling back together until it was intact once more, then falling apart again.
The Death Eater who'd missed cried, "Impedimentia!" a second time, knocking both Hermione and Neville off their feet.
The other Death Eater stopped, taking careful aim at Hermione. "Stupef—aaaargh!" he cried, grabbing his leg. Harry, on the ground, had smacked him on the shins with the stick. The first man spun around, confused — he hadn't realized Harry had attacked from the ground.
Neville recovered before Hermione and pointed his wand at the man. "Stupefy!" he shouted, and the first man fell over.
The other Death Eater, who'd been rubbing his shins, growled and straightened up, bellowing, "WE'VE GOT HIM IN HERE, IN THE —"
"Silencio!" Hermione cried, and the man's voice cut off suddenly. He spun around, his wand slashing at her, even as she turned toward Harry saying, "Harry, hit him with —!"
A streak of what looked like purple flames shot from his wand, passing across her chest, and Hermione gave a tiny, "oh!" and fell back onto the floor and lay motionless.
"HERMIONE!" Both Harry and Neville shouted in alarm. They each began crawling towards her as the silenced Death Eater ran towards them. Neville turned toward him, brandishing his wand. "Stupe—" he began, but the Death Eater simply lashed out with his foot, catching Neville in the face, and his wand spun away while Neville fell backwards, howling with pain as blood sprayed from his nose and mouth.
Harry growled in anger and swung back the stick, but stopped as the Death Eater pointed his wand at Harry's face, then reached up and tore off his mask. Harry recognized the long, pale face of the man from the Daily Prophet — it was Antonin Dolohov, the wizard who had murdered the Prewetts.
With a twisted grin, Dolohov pointed toward the prophecy in Harry's hand, then at himself, then Hermione. His message was all too clear: Give me the prophecy or get the same as her!
"Like you won't kill us anyway, the moment I do!" Harry sneered.
"Do'd gib id to 'im, Harry!" Neville said, holding a hand over his broken nose.
There was a shout from a room nearby, followed by a crash and a scream.
Dolohov, startled, turned toward the sound, and Harry took the opportunity, swinging the stick in his hand at the man's head. It connected solidly and Dolohov dropped to the floor, unconscious.
"Nice swing, Harry," Neville commented as Harry used the stick to drag Dolohov's wand toward him. They both crawled back to where Hermione lay.
"Hermione," Harry said, urgently. "Wake up…"
"Whad was dat spell?" Neville asked, looking at him.
"Dunno," Harry replied. Neville reached for her wrist, listening for several seconds. Finally he nodded.
"Dere's a bulse, Harry, I'b sure id is…"
"So she's alive," Harry said, relieved.
Neville nodded. "I dink zo."
Harry listened for a few seconds, hearing nothing else around them. Whatever activity had distracted Dolohov was no longer audible. "Listen," he said, trying to figure out how to get Neville and Hermione out of harm's way. "We're near the circular room, if you can get across it to the corridor leading to the lift, you can get Hermione to safety then raise the alarm for us!"
"Whad are you going do do?" Neville asked, frowning at him.
"Go find the others," Harry said, as if that should have been obvious.
Neville shook his head, splattering Harry with drops of blood. "We should stig togeddur, Harry," he said firmly. "De Dead Eaders are spread all ober de blace. We need to make as snall a targed as pob'ble."
Harry didn't like it, but Neville made sense. At least, as much as Harry could understand made sense. "But what about Hermione —"
"I'll carry her," Neville said, standing and wiping blood off his face with the sleeve of his robe. "You can fighd dem bedder dan I can, anyway." He began to pick up Hermione.
"Wait," Harry said, looking around. He still hadn't found his wand! He had Dolohov's but he didn't want to leave his own here. "Accio Wand!" he cried, pointing the wand to one side of the room. A wand came flying out of the dark and Harry caught it awkwardly, with two fingers of his left hand, the one still holding the prophecy. He stared at it — it was Neville's wand, and it was broken; apparently someone had stepped on it during the fight after he'd lost it.
"Oh, grade!" Neville moaned, seeing it. "My gran's going do kill be — dat was by dad's old wand…" He took it from Harry, looking at it morosely.
"Sorry, Neville," Harry said, distractedly. Why hadn't his own wand come to him? Had his thoughts been too vague about which wand he'd intended to summon? "You can have Dolohov's wand after I find my own again."
"Danks, Harry," Neville said, trying to hoist Hermione to her feet. "Uh, could you gibe be a hand —" But Harry had turned away, raising the confiscated wand to try another Summoning Charm.
"Accio —" but in mid-word a door along the wall suddenly opened and three people fell through it into the room. It was Ron, Ginny and Luna.
"Ron! Ginny!" Harry cried, startled but relieved, he ran toward them, leaving Neville staring after him, still trying to lift Hermione. "Are you all okay?"
"No," Ginny said, her voice strained. Ron giggled, and Harry looked at him in surprise, then concern. Ron's face was very pale, nearly chalk white, and something dark was trickling from the corners of his mouth.
"Hey, Harry!" Ron said, much too loudly. He grinned at Harry, his eyes unfocused. "Bloody hell, mate, you look like you're all messed up!"
Harry looked at Luna, who appeared to be unhurt. "What happened?"
"Ginny's ankle's broken," Luna said softly. "We ended up in this odd room filled with planets. For a while we were just floating around in the dark. Then the bad men found us, and one grabbed Ginny's ankle. I blew up Pluto in his face, but —"
"Harry, guess what I saw?" Ron asked suddenly. "I saw Uranus! Get it? Ha ha ha…"
Harry frowned. "What happened to him?" he asked Luna.
"I don't know," Luna shook her head. "He seems to be having more fun now, but I could hardly get him to come along with us."
"Well, he's coming with us now," Harry said firmly, looking around. "Luna, can you help Ginny? I'll get Ron."
"I can do it myself," Ginny said impatiently. "It's only my — oww!" She cursed luridly as Luna helped her to her feet.
Harry glanced at her curiously. "D'you kiss your mum with that mouth?" he asked, grinning in spite of their predicament.
Ginny told him what he could do with his mouth, making Neville blush; Luna wondered if the act she'd suggested was even physically possible. "If we get out of this," Harry muttered, holding a giggling Ron against his side as he'd done for his cousin Dudley months earlier, "I'll be sure to find out and let you know!"
The three pairs of Hogwarts students moved into the black circular room, and Harry tried to decide which one to pick. The flaming "X" Hermione had put on a couple of the doors had faded, so they were back to making a one-in-twelve guess at the door leading to the exit. They were within a few feet of one of the doors when a door across the hall burst open and several Death Eaters sped into the hall, led by Bellatrix Lestrange.
"There they are!" she shrieked. "Get them!"
Swearing to himself, Harry slammed into the door. It burst open and he dropped Ron inside, then pushed Ginny and Luna through. He grabbed Hermione and helped Neville get her through the door, then pushed it closed with his foot, yelling, "Seal it!"
"Colloportus!" Luna shouted, and they heard several bodies slam into the door from the other side.
"It doesn't matter!" A man's voice on the other side said. "There are other ways in — WE'VE GOT THEM!"
Harry looked around. They were back in the Brain room. He was still holding Dolohov's wand — he'd forgotten his own! "Neville — here!" he tossed the wand to him. "You and Luna begin sealing these doors," he said, pointing to the doors along the wall. They began running down each wall, sealing doors as they went, and Harry turned, hoping Ron still had his wand, even if he was in no shape to use it.
He froze. Ron was pointing his wand, not at Harry but at a tank filled with brains. "Hey, Harry!" he giggled. "Did you see? There are brains in this room —"
"More than there are in your head right now, you prat!" Ginny hissed, leaning against a wall where Luna had left her. She appeared ready to hex Ron himself.
There was a shout from the far end of the room — Death Eaters had burst through a door, and Harry turned to see Luna flying through the air. She hit the top of a desk, slid across it then landed on the floor and lay as still as Hermione.
"Get them!" Bellatrix shrieked again, and she and the four men behind her thundered down the room toward them, only to stop, wary, as Ron shouted a spell in their direction.
"Accio Brain!" Everyone in the room still conscious stopped to watch as one of the brains zoomed to the top of the tank, then sped across the space between it and Ron's outstretched hands.
"RON, NO!" Harry shouted. The brain was spraying what looked like ribbons of images behind it, like a reel of film unraveling. Instinctively he pointed the stick in his hand toward Ron, shouting "Protego!" but if it was a giant's wand, Harry apparently didn't know enough about how it worked, for nothing happened.
Ron caught the brain, and the tentacles of thought immediately began wrapping themselves around his arms. "Harry, lookit what's happening, it's — hey — no — stop! I don't want to —" But the ribbons had begun to twist around Ron's chest as well as he thrashed and twisted, trying to dislodge them.
"Ron!" Ginny screamed. "Don't move, I'll — Diffindo!" she cast the Severing Charm at him, trying to cut the tentacles covering her brother, but the spell had no effect. Then a red jet of light from one of the Death Eaters, who'd surged forward again, struck her in the head and she dropped to the floor unconscious.
"Crap!" Harry said. It was only him and Neville left now. Two of the Death Eaters leapt forward, shooting shafts of light at them, like arrows, that left holes in the wall behind them.
"Careful!" Malfoy's voice shouted. "I've told you fools — don't hit Potter, he may drop the prophecy!" Harry, who'd briefly considered giving up, as he couldn't expect to win against five fully-qualified wizards, realized he had an edge. The prophecy! He could use it like a lure, drawing the Death Eaters away from his friends, giving them a chance to recover and escape.
Holding the prophecy high in his left hand and swinging wildly with the giant's wand in his right, Harry dashed away as Bellatrix Lestrange sprinted at him, through the door the Death Eaters had come through. They all gave chase, and Harry silently prayed that Neville would find a way to help Ron as he passed through the doorway and into a new room.
But only a few steps in, the floor suddenly dropped away, and Harry found himself tumbling end over end down steep stone steps, until he landed flat on his back at the bottom of the pit where they'd seen the strange stone archway earlier. Above him Harry could hear laughter as the five Death Eaters he'd just left behind piled into the room behind him, while as many others were entering from other doors, moving down the stone steps toward him. Groaning, he rolled onto his feet, though they trembled below him, and glared at them, backing away until his legs hit the dais where the archway stood. He clambered up on it and turned back toward his erstwhile captors.
They had all halted and were gazing at him, standing there. Many looked as bad as Harry felt — a couple were bleeding, and Dolohov, whom he'd knocked out only a minute or so earlier, was leering viciously at him. He had Harry's own wand, and it was pointed directly at his face.
Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, hand outstretched once again. "Potter, you're done, your race is over. Now give me the prophecy!" he barked.
"Let — let the others go," Harry panted, "and I'll give it to you."
There was more laughter from several of the Death Eaters. Malfoy looked around, grinning. "You are hardly in a position to bargain, Potter. The odds are ten to one — or did old Dumbledore never teach you how to count?"
"He's nod alone!" a young voice shouted, high above them. "He's god be!"
Harry's heart sank. Bloody hell, Neville! he thought. You were supposed to run away, not come charging after me! "Neville — go back!" he shouted, but in vain.
Neville stepped into the room, pointing the wand he held at the nearest Death Eater. "STUBEFY!" he shouted, though no jet of red light emerged from the wand. "STUBEFY! STUBEFY —!"
One of the Death Eaters grabbed Neville from behind, pinning his arms to his side. The Death Eater was one of the largest ones there, Neville struggled and kicked, but to no avail, amid the laughter of the others.
"Well, Longbottom," Malfoy sneered, looking up at him. "It looks like your grandmother is about to lose yet another relative to our cause…I'm sure it will come as no great shock to her by now."
"This is Longbottom?" Bellatrix looked at Neville, a truly evil grin spreading across her gaunt features. "Well, I've had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy —"
"I DOE YOU HAB!" Neville roared at her, and he strained so hard against his captor that the man yelled, "Someone stun him!"
"No — no — no!" Bellatrix turned toward him, then glanced down at Harry. A maniacal joy was growing in her. "Let's see how long he lasts before he cracks like his parents — or before Potter gives us the prophecy…"
Neville's eyes found Harry's "DON' GIB ID DO DEM!" he shouted, as Bellatrix advanced toward him, her wand raised. "DON' DO ID, HARRY!"
Bellatrix pointed her wand. "Crucio!"
Neville screamed wildly. His legs buckled beneath him, and the large Death Eater let him drop, falling down several steps to the floor of the room, still thrashing and screaming in agony.
Bellatrix pulled up her wand, ending the spell, and looked up at Harry. "That was just a taster, Potter," she cackled. "Now, either give us that prophecy or watch your little friend here die the hard way!"
Hope was draining out of Harry. He could not let Neville be tortured that way — better for them to die quickly than give Bellatrix Lestrange and the other twisted Death Eaters the satisfaction of hurting them and the others. If only he'd had his wand, Harry thought, instead of this useless stick he'd found! Grimacing with frustrated despair, Harry slammed the stick down on the dais.
There was a blinding flash of light, and a clap of thunder shook the entire room. The Death Eaters instinctively covered their eyes, then looked around in stunned surprise. "W-what the devil happened?" Lucius Malfoy. He stared at the person now standing on the dais. "Where did Potter go?"
On the dais, Harry had been surprised by the flash of lightning as well, and didn't understand what Malfoy meant. He was still right here! Couldn't they see him? Even Neville, groaning on the floor next to the dais, was looking up, a blank expression showing no recognition of him. "H-Harry?" he croaked, looking around. "Where'd you go?"
"Dolohov! Macnair!" Malfoy shouted. "Stun that man! We must find out what he's done with Potter!" Harry, still a bit dazzled, was mentally assessing his injuries. Surprisingly, the bruises and bumps he'd suffered to this point seemed to have disappeared — he felt better at this moment than he ever had before! His strength and wind had returned, nothing was hurting him — then two taps on his chest brought him back to the present.
"What the hell?" Dolohov said, looking at Harry's wand in his hand, then at Macnair. "They bounced off!" Harry's eyes widened as he realized what had just happened — he'd been hit by two Stunners — two! — and he'd barely felt them!
"Everyone Stun him!" Malfoy shouted, and Harry watched as ten wands aimed and fired jets of red light at him. Weirdly, he watched the bolts come at him almost in slow motion. As the first one reached him, Harry swung with the stick in his right hand to bat it away.
But the stick was no longer a stick. It was a hammer, an honest-to-Merlin hammer, one that looked more like a war hammer than a carpenter's tool. It looked too big for him to even lift, but he swung it easily, effortlessly, knocking the red bolt back toward the Death Eater who'd fired it at him. Now, with his arms raised, Harry could see why the hammer felt so light in his arms.
His arms were huge. His biceps and forearm were rippling with muscles! Harry swung the hammer several more times, knocking the Stunners back toward the Death Eaters, who either dodged them or fell prey to the bolts themselves. When the volley finally stopped only six Death Eaters were still standing.
The entire room went dead silent. The Death Eaters stared at one another in shock. Lucius Malfoy was speechless. Only moments earlier things had finally started to go their way — the obnoxious Hogwarts brats were unconscious or neutralized, Potter was at their mercy, then suddenly — this muscle-bound stranger shows up, ruining everything! Malfoy stepped forward, pointing his wand toward the man on the dais, and said, "Everyone, take him —"
Suddenly, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley. Harry looked up, surprised and elated to see Sirius coming to his rescue. Though it hardly seemed like he needed rescuing now, Harry realized. Whatever had happened to him, somehow he was now a lot stronger and more powerful than he'd been when they'd arrived.
The chamber dissolved into a bedlam of shouted spells, shooting jets of light and bodies dodging crazily back and forth along the steps and walls. Harry saw Neville crawling along the floor, dodging spells, and moved toward him. At that same moment, a Death Eater leaped down next to Neville, pulling him upright and pressing his wand against the Hogwarts student's neck.
His eyes behind the mask were wide with fear, Harry saw — but holding Neville in front of him like a shield must've given the man courage. "Y-you took the prophecy from P-Potter," he said, nodding at Harry's left hand, where Harry still held the glass ball. "G-give it to me, or the boy gets — AAAAARGH!"
Harry had dropped the hammer and leapt forward, grasping the man's wrist and pulling the wand away from Neville's neck. But he'd grabbed hard and fast — there were several cracks as the bones in the man's arm shattered like fine crystal. He screamed in agony as Harry held him aloft, his forearm twisted in an unnatural direction, then dropped him to the floor.
Harry turned to Neville. "You okay, Neville?" he asked, his voice sounding nothing like it had before this — this transformation, or whatever had happened to him. Neville looked up at him uncertainly.
"Uh, yeah," the round-faced boy said, staring at the stranger who'd saved him. He looked closer, seeing — "Harry, is dad you?"
"Yeah," Harry smiled. "How'd you know?"
Neville pointed at his face. "Your eyes," he said. "They're green!" He looked as confused as Harry felt. "Harry, whad in Berlin's nabe is going on —?"
"No idea," Harry said, looking around. Nearby, Kingsley was dueling two Death Eaters at once, while Tonks stood about halfway up the tiered seats firing spells at Bellatrix. He could see Sirius and Malfoy trading curses. There was a funny sound near their feet, and Harry looked down, seeing an electric blue eyeball — Moody's — roll by them. At the same moment the large Death Eater suddenly loomed nearby. But his target, Harry suddenly realized, wasn't them.
"The hammer!" the Death Eater roared, standing over it. "It's mine!" Leering at Harry, he leaned down and grasped the handle. Harry tensed — he wasn't sure how much punishment his new body could take from a weapon like that. "Come and — uuuuh!" The Death Eater strained, unable to lift the hammer from the floor. Strange, Harry thought; it weighed almost nothing in his grasp. Surely this big bloke could lift it…?
But rather than allow him the opportunity, Harry stepped over to the man and gave him a backhanded slap across the face, shattering his mask and dropping the man to the floor like a dead weight. He picked up the hammer then rejoined Neville. "We need to get the others out of here, Neville!"
"Righd!" Neville agreed, then looked around at the bedlam occurring all about them. "Bud how?"
At that moment Sirius had fought his way next to Neville, having cursed Malfoy into unconsciousness. "Longbottom!" he shouted to Neville, "Where's Harry at? And who's your big friend?" Sirius nodded at Harry, who was smiling wryly at him.
"Harry's righd dere!" Neville jerked a thumb at Harry, unable to suppress a grin as Sirius looked at him in shock. "Dad's Harry!"
"Merlin's pants, Harry," Sirius said, in a tone of wonder. "What kind of hex did you get hit with?"
"I don't know!" Harry said, speaking loudly to be heard over the bangs and ricochets of spells going off around them. "I was on the dais, about to give up the prophecy to Malfoy, then — this happened!"
"We can sort that out later," Sirius said hurriedly. "You and Neville take the prophecy, get the others, and run!" He turned, blocking a curse from Dolohov, who was running toward them, then shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" freezing the Death Eater, who toppled over onto the floor. "Get going!" he said over his shoulder, running toward Bellatrix.
Harry nodded, but first walked over to Dolohov's immobile form and pulled his wand free from the man's hand. When his appearance changed, his clothes had transformed as well — instead of jeans, a t-shirt and trainers, He was dressed in a leather tunic and leggings, a deep blue that was almost black in color, and golden tan boots laced up with black leather thongs. A bright red cloak was affixed across his shoulders, and it was in the cloak that he found a pocket where he could put his wand for safekeeping. "Come on, Neville, let's find the others!" Harry said.
But as he turned, Harry saw Lucius Malfoy, who was awake again somehow, cast a spell toward Neville. Neville's legs immediately began a kind of frenzied tap dance. Harry leapt to his side. "Neville! Can you stand?"
"I — I d-don' know!" Neville said, watching his feet twitch and turn uncontrollably. He looked up at Harry. "I can'd make dem stop!"
"Let's get you out of here first," Harry said. "Then we'll deal with — what?" He was suddenly being encircled by lengths of chain, like the Incarcerous spell only more powerful. Within a few moments they had bound him from his chest to his wrists, pressing his arms against his sides.
"Now let's see what you can do, with your arms bound!" Lucius Malfoy jeered, moving cautiously towards Harry, around his left side to the hand which held the prophecy.
Harry began to panic. There was no way Malfoy could pry his hand open, but he was vulnerable to other curses once Malfoy realized that. He couldn't pass the prophecy to Neville, either — the Death Eater might Summon it as he was doing so. Just how strong was he?
Harry took a deep breath, tightening the chains even more around him, then pressed outward with all the strength in his arms. The chains holding him shattered. A length of them whipped around, slamming into Malfoy and knocking him to the floor.
Harry heard a small crack as he threw off the rest of the chains holding him. He glanced into his left hand; the glass ball there had shattered under the pressure of his fist as he broke the chains binding him. Well, he thought, at least Voldemort wasn't going to get it, now.
"Harry, look!" Neville pointed to the top of the stone steps, elation on his face. "It's Dubbledore!" Harry spun. It was indeed the Hogwarts headmaster, standing in a doorway of the room, his wand held high, his expression furious. He descended the steps rapidly, surprisingly spry for a man his age, and waved his wand at a Death Eater who'd seen him and began retreating up the steps in the opposite direction. The man was yanked back to the floor, bound with ropes as he hit the ground.
That left only one pair of combatants — Sirius and Bellatrix, on the dais. Nether of them seemed to realize Dumbledore was there. Sirius was laughing at her, dodging and deflecting her spells almost lazily. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he grinned, dodging a jet of red light from her wand, stepping in front of the archway and the veil that hung within it.
Her next spell struck him in the chest. Sirius's grin changes to a look of surprise, then fear, as he seemed to fall in slow motion to Harry's eyes. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. The veil fluttered for a moment, as if in a high wind, then fell back into place.
Bellatrix screamed, a triumphant cry, but to Harry it meant nothing — Sirius would be getting up at any moment from behind the dais, where he'd obviously fallen. Kingsley ran forward to continue the duel with Bellatrix. Harry waited anxiously for Sirius to step out from behind the archway, laughing at his little joke.
But Sirius did not reappear.
"Sirius," Harry called, trying to get him to reappear. "Sirius!" He leaped onto the dais, striding toward the archway.
"STOP!" Lupin, who Harry had barely caught a glance of before this moment, shouted at him. "Don't go through the archway!"
"But Sirius is in there!" Harry pointed toward the veil. "I have to get him!"
"You cannot!" Dumbledore declared. "He is — gone…"
"NO!" Harry roared; everyone winced at the force of his words. "HE — IS —NOT — GONE!" Dropping the hammer he was holding, he turned and bolted through the archway, even as both Lupin and Dumbledore shouted "Stop!"
The other side of the arch was not at all like Harry imagined. He was instantly gripped by a raging maelstrom, a wind that tried to pull him away from the arch into a swirling vortex of darkness. One of his now-powerful hands shot out, grabbing the edge of the arch, and he stopped, suspended over nothingness. Of Sirius there was no sign. "Sirius!" Harry shouted, hoping against hope that there was something nearby his godfather could have caught hold of to stop himself as well. "SIRIUS!"
There was no reply. Harry thought about letting go of the archway, hoping the winds would blow him in the same direction they'd taken Sirius, but that seemed very unlikely. He pulled himself back toward the opening. It seemed to take all his strength to reach the arch, but he slowly closed the gap, then lurched through, back into the room where Dumbledore and the other members of the Order were waiting for him.
Both Dumbledore and Lupin were standing on the dais when he came back through. Harry stumbled, falling to one knee, then looked up at them. "I couldn't find him," he gasped, "but he's got to be in there! Where —" Harry stopped, looking at them curiously, for both men were staring at him in shock. "Where does that lead to? Luna and I heard voices behind the veil, earlier."
"And you are —?" Lupin queried, and Harry realized they hadn't recognized him yet, in his current form.
"Harry Potter," he said, standing. "I suppose you'll want to know what —"
There was a bang off to one side, and Kingsley yelled in pain as Bellatrix bolted up the steps, shrieking laughter. Dumbledore shot a spell after her, but she deflected it, stopping at the top of the steps to turn and smile madly at them. "I killed Sirius Black!" she said in a singsong voice, then ran out the door.
Harry turned, looking at Lupin and Dumbledore with shock now on his own face. "Dead? No, that's not —"
"I'm sorry," Lupin said, the pain in his tired eyes convincing Harry, more than anything, that what he said was true. "Anyone who passes through the veil, dies."
"No," Harry shook his head, confused. He had just gone through the veil, hadn't he? "I was just there —"
"I would not have believed it possible if I had not witnessed it myself," Dumbledore told him, quietly. "You are the only person who has ever returned from the other side."
"But Sirius —" Harry turned toward the archway, desperately willing that Sirius would somehow appear again. Both Dumbledore and Lupin shook their heads.
"NO!" Harry shouted, looking toward the door Bellatrix had disappeared through. She must have known what would happen if Sirius went through the veil. "SHE KILLED HIM! SHE KILLED HIM! I'LL — I'LL KILL HER!" Breaking away from Lupin and Dumbledore, Harry snatched the hammer up off the floor, then turned and leaped a dozen steps in one bound, to the top of the chamber and through the door to the Brain room, moving so fast he was nearly a blur. He reached the circular room just as she went through the opposite side, slamming the door shut behind her.
The room began to rotate once again, and Harry stood, fury mounting as he waited for it to stop once again. He had to stop her! But he had only a one-in-twelve chance of picking the right door! The room came to a halt, and Harry stared at the doors, frustrated. How would he pick? With his newfound strength he could simply tear them open one by one, but that didn't guarantee that he'd find Bellatrix in time!
"Where's the exit?" he said to himself. "Which door is the way out?"
It seemed the room had been waiting for that question, for a door behind him immediately popped open, and Harry turned and bolted through it. In a few moments he had reached the lifts, and he heard one clattering and rumbling, its noise lessening as it moved away from him. Frantically he pushed the lift button to call another one, waiting impatiently as it clattered down toward him. When the grilles opened he dashed inside, pushing the button marked "Atrium" several times and watching the progress of the lift as it followed Bellatrix upward.
At the top, the lift had barely stopped before Harry tore the grille apart in his haste to get through. Bellatrix was at the telephone lift at the far end of the hall, but she turned back toward him. There was wicked elation on her face — she was still flushed with the thrill of murdering her cousin, but it was mingled with apprehension. She had no idea who this man was, who had spirited Potter away and routed her master's forces. Now alone and facing multiple opponents, she opted to cut her losses and leave, content with murdering Black. She ran into the telephone box.
It began to move upward. Harry bolted forward, but he could see the box would be out of view by the time he reached the far side of the Atrium. Angry, frustrated with not catching the woman who'd killed Sirius, he did the only thing he could think of — he threw the hammer in his hand, hoping to hit the side of the box and jam it before it got away.
The hammer flew, a gray whirling blur, unerringly toward the telephone box, striking the lower half and shattering it, spilling its occupant onto the floor below amid a crash of wood and broken glass. Then, amazingly, the hammer reversed course and flew back toward him! Harry caught it automatically, then stared in wonder at the weapon in his hand. What kind of hammer was this?
But, first things first. Harry grimly strode over to where Bellatrix was trying to extricate herself from the tangle of broken wood and glass she'd fallen into. She was cut and bleeding, but Harry ignored that as he reached down, grabbed her around the throat and lifted her into the air. She glared back at him with an expression of mingled hate and fear. "If you're going to do anything," she gasped, around the hand that was nearly choking her, "you'd best be quick about it, my lad! He'll be here any moment for Potter, and he won't be happy that you've spirited him away!"
"If you mean Voldemort," Harry said, noting her sharp intake of breath as he said the name, "I'm looking forward to seeing him, actually."
"You dare speak his name?" she hissed. "You should show more respect! The Dark Lord does not even suffer his followers to use his name, much less muscle-bound oafs such as yourself!"
Harry grimaced. It was in his mind to simply close his hand, to crush her throat, and be done with her. She had killed Sirius — and boasted of it! That thought filled him with hot anger again, and his hand trembled about her throat.
Instead, he dropped her onto the ground. She managed to stay on her feet, though wobbly, and while she stared at him in confusion he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out his wand. "Incarcerous!" he said, binding her.
She looked at the ropes, then gave him a sneering smile. "Too goody-goody to do Potter's dirty work, are you? Too bad — I'll find you again sometime soon, and we'll see how this ends when we both have wands."
"Where's Voldemort?" Harry asked roughly, ignoring her threats.
"Coming," Bellatrix replied at once. "You should be afraid, considering the pain in store for you."
"You both should be afraid," said a high, clear voice behind them. Harry and Bellatrix both turned to see Lord Voldemort standing in the middle of the hall, his wand pointed toward them. "Bella, where is the prophecy?"
"Master," Bellatrix's voice quavered with fear. "I — I do not know…Lucius thought Potter passed it to this man."
Voldemort's red-slit eyes turned toward Harry. There was an amused smirk on his thin lips. "He seemed to have you at a disadvantage, Bella, a moment ago." He pointed his wand at Harry's head. "Do you have the prophecy?"
"I did," Harry said flatly. "But I crushed it, by accident. It's gone."
Voldemort stared at him for several long seconds. Finally, he spoke. "I see it is the truth. How casually you sign your own death warrant, fool! Months of preparation — lost in a moment of clumsiness! But you will be punished first — Crucio!"
The Cruciatus Curse slammed into Harry, doubling him over. But it was not nearly as severe as the first time he'd felt it, in the cemetery in Little Hangleton, when Voldemort had first returned. He grimaced, fighting the pain, and stood upright again, taking a step toward the Dark Lord. Voldemort's eyes widened.
"It cannot be!" he breathed. "No one can endure this level of pain and still stand! CRUCIO!"
Waves of agony pounded Harry again, but he took yet another step in Voldemort's direction, closing the distance between them. Another step and he would be within striking distance of his hammer. Voldemort seemed to realize this as well, for he suddenly disappeared. The pain ended, Harry stopped moving forward and looked back toward Bellatrix.
Voldemort was at her side, an arm around her shoulders, his wand pointed toward Harry. "Mark my words, whoever you are. Your time is limited, as is Harry Potter's. He — and you — have thwarted me for the last time!" He and Bellatrix both disappeared.
Barely a moment later, a lift at the far end of the Atrium opened, disgorging Dumbledore, Lupin and Kingsley. At the same moment, several fireplaces swirled with emerald flames, their occupants dashing into the room with wands raised: Aurors from the Ministry, followed shortly by Cornelius Fudge himself, dressed in nightclothes and a robe but still wearing his usual green bowler.
"What the deuce is going on here?" Fudge demanded, rubbing bleary eyes—he'd been awakened in the middle of the night by one of his Aurors reporting unusual activity in the Ministry after hours. Seeing the headmaster approaching, his eyes narrowed in anger. "Dumbledore! You dare to come here like this, after admitting a plot to overthrow the Ministry? Seize him!"
But the Aurors gathered around Fudge did not appear eager to engage Dumbledore and the men with him. "Well?" Fudge demanded, looking at his men, and they began to turn toward Dumbledore. Before anyone could make any overt moves, however, Harry spoke.
"He was here to stop Voldemort."
Fudge looked sharply at him "Oho! Another one of your men, Dumbledore? I haven't seen this one before."
"I'm —" Harry began, but Dumbledore spoke over him.
"Not one of my men, Cornelius, but someone you should listen to, nevertheless." When Fudge looked at him skeptically, Dumbledore went on. "This is the Asgardian, Thor."
Fudge snorted. "Oh, really, Dumbledore! Another one of your quaint stories to amuse us on a warm summer night? Well, I was already fast asleep, thank you very much!"
Harry wasn't sure he'd ever heard of this Thor that Dumbledore had spoken of — why had the headmaster told Fudge that? But he'd already been bombarded with several nasty shocks today, not the least of which was losing Sirius beyond the veil. He would follow Dumbledore's lead, if only because he had no idea what else to do.
"Do you doubt who I am, Minister?" Harry said, staring coolly at Fudge, who looked a little uncomfortable being challenged directly. But he recovered and fixed Harry with an imperious glare.
"I have no reason to believe anything Dumbledore tells me, much less who you're supposed to be!" he snapped. He turned to the Aurors. "If you won't take Dumbledore, at least grab this man, for Merlin's sake!"
The Aurors raised their wands, as did Dumbledore, Lupin and Kingsley. For a moment it seemed a fight would break out. But Harry, not thinking, raised the weapon he had in his hand, the hammer, and shouted "Expelliarmus!"
Not only did the nearest Auror's wand fly from his hand, but so did every other wand in the room — even Dumbledore's, though the headmaster merely raised his hand in the air and his wand flew back into it. All the others scattered across the room, clattering to the floor out of reach.
"Merlin's beard!" Fudge exclaimed, after several moments of shocked silence.
Harry lowered the hammer. "No matter who you believe I am, or aren't, I tell you I did fight Voldemort —" several winces about the room "— he left only moments before you arrived, taking Bellatrix Lestrange with him. There are nine other Death Eaters below, in the Department of Mysteries, including Lucius Malfoy." Harry saw a shadow of fear cross Fudge's face. "Any concerns about that, Minister?" he asked.
"Er — no!" Fudge hastened to say. "None at all!" He looked at his men. "We'd — we'd better get down there and see what Lu— er, what those Death Eaters have to say about — about You-Know-Who!"
Fudge and the Aurors made their way to the lifts. They paused there for a moment as Fudge noticed the damage to one of the grilles. "Who did this?"
"I did," Harry spoke up. "Sorry.'
Fudge stared at the ruined lift for several seconds. "Ah. Yes. Well. That's very impressive. Er — come along, men." He and the Aurors disappeared into another lift. It began moving down toward the Department of Mysteries.
"Nicely handled, Harry," Dumbledore said, walking up to him. "I believe the Minister is now on the right track to admitting that Voldemort has returned."
Harry looked at him, his expression bleak. "I wish I'd known why he wanted me here tonight," he said, slowly. "I would have set the whole Ministry against him! Sirius wasn't even here, not until after we came to rescue him!"
"I'm sorry, Harry," Dumbledore murmured, putting a hand on his massive shoulders. "I should have ordered him to stay behind, at Grimmauld Place."
"He probably would have come, even then," Harry stated, flatly. "He didn't like being — being there alone all the time." His voice broke as he said this.
"I realized that," Dumbledore nodded. "But I also should have realized that neither of you would let anyone or anything stand in the way of rescuing the other."
Harry could only nod, mutely, at this statement. He'd hoped to go back through the arch and search for Sirius, somehow, but Lupin had said that anyone who went through the veil would die.
But Harry had passed through the veil, too! If what Lupin said was true, then why wasn't he dead as well?
Dumbledore, seeing the expression on Harry's face, reached up and put a hand on his shoulder, for comfort. "Harry, I daresay you've been through a lot in the past few hours. Why don't you go back to my office and wait for me to join you, and we can talk about this after we get your friends looked after."
Numb with grief, Harry simply nodded again. Dumbledore pointed his wand and a fragment of the shattered telephone booth zoomed toward them. Catching it, Dumbledore tapped the object (it was the phone's handset — a length of cord dangled from one end), saying "Portus." The handset shuddered in his hand, glowing blue for a moment. He handed it to Harry.
"I must speak to Cornelius," he said. "But I will be finished within 30 minutes, and then I will join you in my office. We can determine then what has happened to you. Please make yourself comfortable there."
Harry nodded for a third time, and Dumbledore quietly counted to three. The familiar sensation of a hook grabbing him behind his navel pulled Harry forward, away from the Atrium into a swirl of colors and sounds.
***
Voldemort and Bellatrix appeared side-by-side in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, the place he had chosen, some months ago, as his base of operations. Bellatrix stumbled and nearly fell into a nearby chair, but the Dark Lord seemed to take no notice. She watched him warily as he moved slowly toward the handsome, marble-mantled fireplace and waved his wand toward it: a fire suddenly crackled to life in the wood there. Voldemort stared into the flames for several minutes, saying nothing.
The door opened and a blonde woman stepped into the room, looking around anxiously. Seeing Voldemort, she hesitated, then said, "My lord —"
"Ah, the lady of the house finally greets her guests," Voldemort said softly, not bothering to turn around. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ignoring us."
"My lord, I apologize. I — I was awaiting your return. I must've fallen asleep." Narcissa glanced around the room once again. "Did Lucius and the others not return with you?"
"Your foolish husband and the others allowed themselves to be captured by the Ministry," Voldemort said, coldly. Narcissa's expression went even whiter than her usual paleness. "I suspect that they are even now on their way to Azkaban, for safekeeping, until the Wizengamot makes their sentences official."
"Lucius — in prison?" Narcissa was aghast. "But he and Fudge had an arrangement —!"
"Don't be naïve, Narcissa," Bellatrix said, her voice as cold as her master's. Your husband and the others were caught red-handed breaking into the Department of Mysteries and assaulting Dumbledore's favorite students! All the gold in Gringotts probably couldn't help him buy his way clear, if the old man wants him out of the way!"
"But —" Narcissa began, then stopped as she realized the state her sister was in. "Bella, you're hurt!"
"A few scratches," Bellatrix shrugged, though a few of the cuts she'd received in the fall continued to stain her black robes with red. "I will take care of them presently."
"You may leave my presence," Voldemort said, still staring into the fireplace. "I have no further use for you, Bellatrix."
"Master!" Bellatrix stood quickly. "I beg you — let me find a way to locate Potter and bring him to you, as penance for failing to procure the prophecy!"
"All in due time, Bella," Voldemort replied. "Before that, however, I want to know how the man who beat you was able to resist the Cruciatus Curse. I've never seen a human, Muggle or wizard, that could withstand the curse enough to stay on his feet. That bears investigating."
"He did seem much more powerful than a normal wizard," Bellatrix spoke resentfully. "He was able to throw that hammer nearly the length of the Atrium — it almost hit me when it shattered the visitor's booth."
"Yes, that hammer…" Voldemort mused. "An interesting weapon for a wizard to use. Very unusual." His red eyes turned toward Narcissa. "When your son arrives home from school I will have some errands for him to run."
If possible, Narcissa went even paler than before. "Draco? But there's no need to burden him, Master — I can do anything you require."
"Do you suggest that following my orders will be a burden, Narcissa?" Voldemort asked, with a warning edge in his voice.
Bellatrix was giving her a look that told Narcissa she was about to cross a very dangerous line. "No, my lord," she answered calmly, using the Occluding techniques her older sister had taught her. "I simply want Draco to enjoy his holiday time from school."
Voldemort smiled mirthlessly at her. "Surely, with his father in prison, young Draco will be anxious to even the score with those who put him there…"
That, even Narcissa couldn't deny. "I — I suspect so, my lord."
"Very well, then." Voldemort turned away from them once again, looking into the flames crackling in the fireplace. "You may both leave my presence while I consider my next course of action."
"My lord," both Bellatrix and Narcissa murmured, exiting quickly from the room. As the door closed on the room Bellatrix slumped, nearly falling until her younger sister caught hold of her.
"We need to get you fixed up," Narcissa whispered, quickly looking over the various scrapes and cuts Bellatrix had sustained. "I'm surprised you've lasted this long without fainting, Bella!"
Bellatrix's mouth twisted. "I would not dare show any weakness before our master, Cissy — the Dark Lord does not value failure."
"I know," Narcissa agreed. Holding her sister up, they made their way down the hall to Lucius's private study, where he kept several medicinal potions in case of emergency. Easing Narcissa into a nearby chair, she took out her wand and tapped several times on a seemingly empty curio. The door sprang open, revealing an assortment of vials and bottles.
Narcissa snorted. "I'm surprised Lucius trusted you with the key to that."
"He didn't," Narcissa said, taking out a vial of Blood Replenishing Potion and another potion to clean and heal the bruises and cuts her sister had sustained in the fall. "But I've learned I need to know as much as possible about everything going on in this house, whether he wants me to or not." She brought the potions over to a small table next to where Bellatrix was sitting. "Damn," she muttered, looking around. "I forgot to bring a spoon — I'll have to conjure one —"
"Don't bother," Bellatrix said, talking the Blood Replenishing Potion from her hand and simply taking a swig. "Ecch — that's nasty-tasting."
Narcissa found a clean cloth and began dabbing the healing potion onto her sister's wounds. Bellatrix watched with detached interest as each cut or scrape immediately sealed as a puff of steam rose into the air. She caught Bellatrix's eye and spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you know what the Dark Lord's plans are for Draco?"
Bellatrix gave her a calculating look. "Our master keeps his own counsel on such matters, Cissy. It is not for us to question him."
"But —"
"But," Bellatrix cut over her, "I am sure he will tell me before your son returns from Dumbledore's little nursery school, to ask whether I think him capable of performing whatever tasks our lord sets for him."
"What will you tell him?" Narcissa asked anxiously. Bellatrix's cuts and scrapes had been treated; Narcissa now took her wand and began fixing the tears in her robes.
"The truth, of course," Bella replied, with a grim smile. "Or at least, the truth he expects me to tell him." When Narcissa shook her head, unwilling to be appeased by her words, Bellatrix reached out, taking her sister's shoulders. "Cissy, you can't stop this. It will be a great honor for Draco to follow the Dark Lord's commands directly."
"But he's just turned sixteen!" Narcissa insisted. "He's only a child!"
"He's older than I was, when I decided to follow our master's vision," Bellatrix pointed out. "You can't mother him forever, Cissy."
Narcissa slumped, defeated. "I just hope our lord won't ask him to kill someone. He's so delicate, I don't know what he'd do —"
Bellatrix laughed, a sound that froze the words in Narcissa's throat. "Oh, Cissy! Hasn't he been telling you what he's been doing this year, working for that cow Umbridge from the Ministry, to maintain discipline in the school? I think he'll handle himself just fine, following our master's orders!"
Narcissa, resentful that her son had confided in his aunt but not her, said nothing. All she could do now is hope that her son would be careful, whatever he was asked to do. She did not want him to end up as her husband had, captured and imprisoned. Narcissa resolved to herself that she would pest her older sister until they discovered what the Dark Lord's plans for Draco involved, so that she might take whatever steps were necessary to make sure he would not fail.