Harry Potter and The Rise Of A Champion
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Chapter Four: Through It All, Hope Still Remains
The days after Harry had recovered were very hectic for everyone at Hogwarts keep as it was unofficially named, news had broke of Dumbledore's condition and hope was diminished greatly, and reports were coming in that some people were going over to the death eaters. After the fifth such report Dumbledore sighed heavily to himself.
"I think we need to take some drastic action Harry, the light is losing hope. Soon there will be no one left to fight." Dumbledore said wearily from behind his desk.
"Don't worry; there will always be one of us fighting professor, and where there is one, there will soon be others. What do you intend to do?" Harry said in response to the headmaster's statement.
"I think we need to call together the army and reintroduce you. Clear a few things up and restore hope." He said.
"Hmm, sounds like a good idea, but from what I've been told I'm considered as bad as Riddle. Unless you have something extravagant up your sleeve to convince them then I don't think that they are gonna' believe it." Harry said with a frown. He hated that everyone thought he was a dark wizard. All that he and his family had sacrificed in the past should have been enough for the sceptics, but as usual the sheep had followed their shepherd, Fudge, and now look at what had happened.
"Don't worry Harry; I know exactly what will convince them. It will require a small demonstration on your part however." Dumbledore said with the twinkle in his eyes that had been more intense recently than in previous years. Harry had now identified where the twinkle came from, Hope. It wasn't amusement or knowledge, it was hope. When there was laughter, that gave the headmaster hope, when there was more knowledge that gave him hope, and when Harry was around that gave him hope, and if the pillar of the light wizarding community had hope then the rest did too.
"I'll do what it takes." Harry sighed.
"Good to hear it"
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"Welcome everyone; I am sure you are all curious as to why you have all been summoned here. To answer your question it is to dispel all of the rumours that have been running amuck. As you can all see I have lost the ability to use my legs, and my left arm, however I am not out of the fight yet. Do not loose hope because I can not be at your side during battle, do not loose hope because you have no one to lead you to victory, for in my fall comes the rise of a greater leader, of a greater hope, of a greater champion. I wish for you all to welcome back Harry Potter." Dumbledore said, opening the gathering of all white wizards that were not on duty, he was clearly visible to them all, floating on the stage with self sustained charms.
"He gives us no hope, he's a dirty traitor" Shouted one of the wizards.
"Tell me Cid, how could he be a traitor to the light when his very animagus form is a creature that is devoted unwaveringly to the light?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and then all but shouted "I Give you Harry Potter!" taking this as his queue Harry flew down from the support beams near the roof of the much expanded great hall to land next to Dumbledore on the stage and then transformed amid a collective exclamation of 'Ooohhhs' and 'Aaahhhs'
"Good evening, I trust you are all rested well from the battle?" Harry said as he gazed upon the only remaining fighters of light.
"How do we know that you're really Harry Potter?" a witch called out from the front.
"Is there anyone among you lot who knew me from my school days?" Harry asked, and when several people stuck their hands up Harry asked them to all come up to the stage.
"Okay then, I want each and every one of you to ask me a question or to do something you know only Harry Potter could know or do, okay?" Harry asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. The first up was Ron.
"How did we get to school in our second year?" he asked.
"After Dobby the house-elf blocked the barrier between platforms nine and ten we decided to use your fathers flying ford Anglia to get to school, though we got into a load of trouble once we got there." Harry answered confidently.
"That's right" Ron said as he stepped to the side to allow Hermione to go next, then Ginny, then Remus, then Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley, Fred and George, Katy, Alicia, Oliver Wood etc.
"Does any one else require any more proof?" Harry asked, and as expected was met with silence.
"Excellent, now I would like to clear some things up. The first of which is the accusation of me being the next dark lord. As you all know I have a great power, I don't like to boast about it but I have it. With that power I could have easily over thrown Riddle and taken his place long before now." Harry told them all with an even voice.
"So if you can defeat him easily why is he still here, and still a threat?" someone asked.
"Because if I were to be the next dark lord then I would have no problems undergoing the same grotesque transformations Tom Riddle and Draco Malfoy did, I would have no problems subjecting myself to the darkest of arts. Times may be bad, terrible even but I would sooner die than sink to such a level. I know trust has been destroyed but if you give me the chance I would gladly march on to the battle field by your side, not as a hero, or as a saviour, but as an equal!" Harry said, gaining more volume as he spoke. There was silence for the smallest of moments before the hall erupted in a wild cheer, a cheer so full of energy and life that it lightened the hearts of everyone, much like a phoenix could do.
"Thank you, Harry. And thank you to all of you, it takes a great person to admit they were wrong, and an even greater person to give someone a second chance. You have all displayed today what we have been fighting for, for centuries, never forget that it is there even in the darkest of times, never forget to love, be happy and have hope"
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The assembly that had taken place in the great all had renewed the fighting spirits in each and every member of the Keep, and those that were on duty and had not been able to join were either told of the happenings or watched them in the odd pensieve that was available. On a whole the moral was as high as ever and the desertions over to the dark side were less to zero a day.
"Ginny, could you go and find Harry for me, I need his help with this generator; I just can't figure something out" Hermione called to Ginny who was currently reading a book on charms on Hermione's bed. She quite often spent time reading in her friends private room, it was the quietest place to read, and Hermione was usually there for help if she got stuck with a particular piece of magic.
"Sure, just give me a second and I'll be right on it." Ginny replied. A few moments later she was off to find Harry, who was no doubt in his new set of rooms. She remembered a few days ago when Harry was shown his room and he had requested something of Dumbledore, though he wouldn't tell any one else until the room was finished. Once it was finally done both Harry and Dumbledore proudly showed off their work to the group of friends. Harry had requested a room that would mimic the room of requirements. Since then Harry would often lock himself in there with the excuse of 'brushing up on 4 years of no practice and getting acquainted with his new skills'.
Arriving at the room Ginny withdrew from her memories and was about to knock on the portrait that guarded the entrance when she heard the faint sound of his music. Of course if it sounded faint to her then it was very likely that it was deafening to anyone else within the room. Sighing Ginny provided the portrait with the password (Harry Potter is the Greatest) which was a private joke between him a Remus that had started up from a debate about pranking, escalating to an argument and finally finishing with a war in which Harry won, barely, due to his superior magic abilities ('I could have beaten him if could talk to snakes too' Remus had grumbled after 'the snake incident') and she entered his suite of rooms.
Looking around once inside she saw that he was in his Room of Requirements so she headed over to it and bracing herself she thrust open the door to be assaulted by the intense music, chop suey she knew by system of a down, it was one of the favourites of Harry's. The sight that beheld her in the room however was not at all what she expected. The room itself was completely empty, save for the CD player, but the room was expanded to about the size of the great hall. In the middle of the room Harry was floating in mid-air, supported by nothing but his own will and magic, he was wearing nothing but some loose fitting black cotton trousers, and she could clearly see from where she was that his toned upper body was covered in sweat and it was glistening from the light supplied by hundreds of small green balls of pure energy that glowed and sped around in the room, avoiding being hit by the multiple forks of lightning that were striking seemingly in a random pattern.
At the sight of it all Ginny couldn't move, it was all so beautiful, the lights, the lightning that flashed purple and the perfect sight of the man she loved, covered in sweat and concentrating solely on what he was doing, being calmed by the music (which was now Forest by system of a down). The sight was breath taking, and it made Ginny question the power that Harry really held, he was floating in mid air, controlling hundreds of balls of pure magic, while at the same time hitting them with bolts of purple lightning, all without the use of a wand. After a few minutes of watching him she came back to her senses and was just about to interrupt him when Harry spoke.
"Just a minute Gin, I just want to finish to this song." And true to his word once the song finished there were hundreds of flashes of light as Harry seemingly hit every single ball at once and dropped to the floor.
"How did you know I was here?" Ginny asked as Harry towelled himself off with a conjured towel, still with his back to her.
"There are many abilities that I possess, and reading ones mind is no exception, I had to let go of all blocks that I held in order to concentrate fully, I usually don't have that particular ability active." Harry explained.
"Then that means you were reading my mind the whole time I was here" Ginny asked with dread, she had been thinking about how much she loved him, and how hot he looked then.
"Well I wasn't then, I just knew you were there, but I did just then…" Harry trailed off, unsure what to say. He had heard Ginny's thoughts when she thought of Harry hearing what she was thinking when she first entered the room.
"Oh god…I… please don't hate me Harry, I couldn't help it, I can't help it, I love you" Ginny cried out, but finished in nothing but a whisper, all the while looking to the floor. She hadn't seen Harry turn around and approach, so she was startled by the feel of his hands gently holding the tops of her arms.
"Ginny, I didn't know, I mean I knew but I didn't know it was more than just the friendly sort of love" Harry began softly, he was about to continue when Ginny looked up with disappointed eyes, with tears pooling in them and spoke.
"I knew you wouldn't feel the same, I knew you would use the 'I like you better as a friend' line, that's why I didn't say anything, why did you have to read my mind?! You knew I was here so there was no need!" Ginny said in a delicate voice at first but finished off all but shouting. Once she was finished she turned to leave as another song began to play, it was Bring Me To Life by Evanescence.
As soon as the words of the song hit his ears he knew he had to do something, something fast, something that he had wanted to do for so long, whether he knew it or not.
"Ginny! Wait!" he shouted and grabbed her wrist and spun her around, before she could say anything Harry looked straight into her eyes and said the words he had longed to say for years, the words he had longed to hear when he lived with the Dursley's when he was an infant.
"I love you" he whispered, his lips mere centimetres from hers. A gasp escaped her lips and Harry quickly drew her into his arms and kissed her tenderly on the lips, waiting for her to kiss back, and he didn't have to wait long.
When they came apart again they looked into each other eyes, looking for the slightest bit of regret, but finding only love, desire and happiness.
"You brought me back" Harry whispered into her ear as he leant down to kiss her on her cheek. His warm breath sent a shiver down her spine and she basked in the feeling in her heart. "It was you're feeling of love that made me come, it was you're love for me that saved me from the dementors. It was you who saved me."
"I felt you, I've felt you for all these years, when you're near I feel your love, I thought everyone could feel it, but I don't think they could. You stayed with me, protected me with your love… like with the love your mother protected you with." Ginny breathed, with her head tilted back and her eyes closed, lost in the feelings Harry was causing, and his touch on her skin, the closeness of his body.
After a few minutes of the tender embrace they both broke apart again and said at the same time, as they gazed into ach others eyes, loosing themselves in the depths of each others souls 'I love You' and sealed it with a kiss.
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It had been 15 minutes since Hermione had sent Ginny out to find Harry and she still wasn't back yet, so sighing in annoyance she set out to Harry's rooms to find him herself. Once she reached it however she saw something she had not expected, but was happy about nonetheless. Harry and Ginny were embracing and kissing, not the chaste kiss of siblings or friends, but a kiss of lovers, and Hermione could not be happier for them, she knew that Ginny had always had feelings for Harry and she was glad it was out in the open and that Harry returned the feelings, but she was also happy for Harry. In a time of death and war Harry was still able to find love, able to find someone that he could live for.
It was that last thought that completely froze Hermione to the spot. 'Some one he could live for… someone he could come back from the dead for. It was her, it was Ginny that gave him back to us' Hermione thought. With a soft smile she returned to Harry's sitting room and left a small note for him asking for his assistance when he got the time and then left the two alone.
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"What on earth is that!" Ginny gasped as they both made ready to leave the room. She had just noticed something on Harry's chest, aside from the gold lion pendant that she gave him for his birthday before her fifth year. Across Harry's chest was a large tattoo of a green and silver Quezacotl, wings spread across his chest with the tips resting just on his shoulders and the feet halfway down his stomach with the facing head slightly to the right of his neck. All around the image were also arcs of purple lightning. The whole thing looked amazing but she was surprised to see it there.
"Oh yeah, do you like it?" Harry asked sheepishly, now aware that he was not wearing a shirt.
"Well yeah, but when did you get it? I would have thought you would tell one of your friends" She said, looking a little hurt that he had kept a secret. Smiling at her being hurt at something as trivial as the tattoo Harry said "I would have told someone, only I didn't know I was getting it until I got it, and then it was only this morning it happened"
"Oh, so why is it there?" she asked, confused over the whole thing.
"Well you see when a powerful wizard goes through a significant transformation that was not brought on by natural circumstances, i.e. becoming a sorcerer then the magic used to achieve such a transformation leaves its mark. With dark magic that is usually in the form of disfigurement using the animal that represents the wizard, so snake for Riddle and Dragon for Malfoy, but for light wizards who do similar things the mark is usually in the form of a tattoo, as you can see by this" Harry explained, gesturing to the bird on his chest.
"Well that makes sense, I just don't understand why of all things a tattoo?" Ginny asked.
"Well I don't really know either, but I'm not complaining I rather like it" Harry laughed as he and Ginny got comfortable on his sofa. After his explanation they fell into a comfortable silence, each reassured by the others presence and it was a long while before Harry noticed the note that Hermione had left for him.
"Gin?" Harry said quietly, not sure of she was still awake. When he received no answer he was certain she was asleep so he softly as he could dislodged himself from her embrace and lay her down on the sofa, covering her with a blanket and leaving a conjured white lily by her head on the pillow he supplied for her before writing a note telling her he had gone to meet Hermione.
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"I see that you were finally able to find a break in your romantical rendezvous with a certain someone to find time for us lesser women" Hermione joked when Harry entered her room.
"You saw us then" Harry said with a smile and twinkling eyes.
"You looked good together. I'm glad you are both able to find happiness together, it's about time for you both" Hermione said with a smile.
"So what's the problem doctor?" Harry mocked.
"I'm having trouble getting this damned generator you left plans for to work." Hermione said in frustration. It wasn't often that she had to ask for help from anyone, so when she did it usually was a big problem.
"What's up?" Harry asked as he plopped himself down next to the object in question.
"Well from the tests I've ran it seems that the generator just wont work, it gives out a shield, well what looks like on but when I fire a spell at it, it just passes right through it and ricochets around inside. I've tried everything I can thing of, I just don't know what's wrong with it." Hermione explained, and as she did so she noticed the smile on Harry's face grow and grow.
"What is it? Do you know what the problem is?" She asked half in hope and half in despair. If Harry got it straight away he would never let her live it down. At the node from him she knew she was doomed.
"It's really very simple Hermione, I'm surprised that you didn't think of it already. You say the spell pass through but ricochets inside, well then I would think it is safe to say the problem lies in the spell." Harry concluded happily.
"It doesn't, at first I thought it did, but after I checked and double checked and even got Dumbledore to check and recast it, it still doesn't work" she said with frustration leaking into her voice.
Harry Potter and The Rise Of A Champion
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Chapter Four: Through It All, Hope Still Remains
"I'm afraid I didn't make myself clear enough, the problem lies in the type of spell used. You see when you bring something from the muggle world here, the wards make it go crazy, that's because a greater amount of magic turns the muggle technology backwards, reverses the results, but if the amount of muggle technology, or even electricity alone is greater than the amount of magic used then the magic is reversed." Harry explained to her with a small smile playing at his lips. The smile seemed to be contagious because Hermione began to smile too.
"So you mean all we have to do is to cast the spell work to have the opposite effect of what we want and it will work?" she asked with hope in her eyes.
"That's exactly what I mean, and it doesn't stop there Hermione, there is even a way to block the unforgivables with this shield, all we have to do is increase the amount of electricity used in the shield and to make the extra electricity run through the shield and when the curse is fired at the shield the electricity should have enough power to reverse the spell, not enough to completely change it but enough to either change from un-blockable to blockable, or from killing curse to life curse!" Harry said with a fully fledged grin.
A few hours later the shield was finished and ready to be put to use.
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A/N Terribly sorry for the long wait, it's been the Easter break here, and since I don't go to school I usually work when no one is around so I have peace, but my younger brother and sister have been off over the holidays and even before with the chicken pox, so I didn't get an awful lot of writing time in. however in the coming months hopefully I should be able to update more because I'll (hopeful) have a laptop so I can type in comfort.
To everyone who reviewed (and that's more people than I expected) thank you very much. I cant tell you all how good it makes me feel when I get a review from someone saying how much they love the fic. I want to thank you all for sticking with it even though I killed off Harry (if only for a small amount of time). The question about what happened to Harry's house will be answered in one of the next chapters (either the very next or the one after). Thanks again for the reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Until next time!
GG