It was a sight of utter chaos that greeted Harry as he burst through a secret passage way and rounded the corner leading to the great hall. The first thing he noticed was that the hall's doors had been blown from their hinges. Next was the charge he could feel in the air caused by the sheer volume of magic being used. Curses rained from the sky as cloaked figures battled their way through the castle's occupants with relative ease, and in the center of it all was his goal, Voldemort and Dumbledore. He moved forward quickly and quietly so as not to draw unwanted attention to himself. All of the eyes in the great hall seemed to be focused on something and those that weren't were riveted to the legendary duel being fought in their midst. This suited our young hero just fine as he was able to slowly sneak his way towards the fight dodging stray curses and stepping over the bodies of the dead and wounded on his way. He had almost reached his target when a stray piercing curse passed directly in front of his nose. He turned in time to see a Hogwarts student in green and silver battling two death eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange and another masked figure were slowly forcing the girl into crossfire, though she was responding remarkably well forcing the two to dodge and shield a flurry of attacks that no student should know, much less have the skill to perform. He had turned and was about to move forward again, after all he was here for his own reasons not interfere in every fight, when he caught sight of the girls eyes and he abruptly changed his plans. His wand flew into his hand and in less than a second he had turned and was filling the air with curses that hadn't been seen in nearly six hundred years. Ancient blasting, fire, piercing, and dismembering spells rained down on the pair of death eaters. The unknown man fell immediately to a skull shattering spell, but Bellatrix turned just fast enough to dodge and defend against the onslaught. She wasn't Voldemort's right hand without reason. She was deadly and second only to her master in skill in battle. The ferocity she was confronted with though had her completely on the defensive moving away from her victim towards the corner of the room. Harry followed closely keeping up a steady stream of attacks. He launched a quartet of decapitation hexes and as she twisted to avoid them he was rewarded with a momentary lapse in her defenses that a less skilled opponent would never have noticed. He wasted no time on taking advantage of the situation and moments later the most feared witch in England found herself pinned to the castle wall suspended above the floor by a metal stake through each shoulder. Before she could register what was happening he followed it with a weak bludgeoning spell that slammed her head into the stone and forcing her into unconsciousness.
The threat controlled he returned his attention to the battle flowing around him just in time to see the defense buckle and a wall of curses begin to descend on the stranded students. Thinking quickly he brought his wand around while weaving an intricate spell pattern that pulled the great tables from where they had been moved to the side of the hall and forced them to form a floating wall in front of the innocent bystanders. As the curses impacted and tore through the barrier the shards of wood reformed and continued to protect the children. It wouldn't last long but if someone had enough sense it might hold long enough to move the students out of the hall. Luckily someone was doing just that. He noted a beautiful young woman who couldn't have been much older than himself, Professor Vector if memory served, had already begun moving them to the far side of the hall where the staff entrance was located. The remaining seventh years provided additional protection for the group by shielding the few curses that made it through the table blockade. Fortunately the makeshift barrier covered the entire route to the door. As she reached the end Vector turned and before following the last student through she raised her wand with the back of her hand facing out in a sign of respect and nodded to him. He returned the salute with a bemused expression. Maybe he still had allies in England.
That line of thinking was cut dramatically short as he came face to face with his former transfiguration professor. "Mr. Potter?!" a surprised looking Minerva asked, "Is it really you, after all these years?"
"Come now Professor surely I haven't changed that much," was his crisp response.
"The headmaster warned us years ago that we hadn't seen the last of you. He was convinced that you had survived," she stated as her demeanor turned noticeably colder.
"Well, the old goat always did know more than was good for him."
"He also told us that you had started down a dark path, despite his best efforts and those of Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger," she interrupted. "The similarities between you and Tom were always so staggering I suppose it wasn't much of a stretch for you to follow in his footsteps," She stated with absolute conviction. Though her wand remained steady her face betrayed a deep sadness as she continued, "And now you have returned as he did. I'm glad James isn't here to see what you've become."
Green eyes flared with an inner fire as they narrowed in aggravation. True he had expected to receive such a reception, but it was maddening how ignorant the wizarding world continued to be. "And so Minerva you continue to wander blindly ignoring the truth that sits so plainly in front of you."
"Its clear you have come back consumed by darkness just as Albus predicted. How else could you have become so powerful? You never displayed any particular aptitude and you were always a below average student. Yet you just killed without remorse and dealt with Bellatrix as though she was a first year."
"I see you refuse to be swayed. You stand firmly behind Dumbledore as always. Please stand aside madam I have business to attend to." And with that statement he made to move around her, but she side stepped to remain in his path.
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that Mr. Potter," Minerva said coldly as she raised her wand. "Our world has enough monsters. If we have learned anything it is that to let evil go unchecked is unacceptable. We allowed Voldemort to thrive to long in the dark and it has lead to war, we will not make the same mistake again. The aurors have been searching for you for years. By ministry decree you are to be killed or captured on sight."
That part caught Harry slightly off guard. Used of deadly force was highly regulated in the wizarding world. The ministry didn't even authorize that kind of action against death eaters. The only other wizard who had received such a sentence was Riddle himself. They would cut off their nose to save their face, what was Dumbledore playing at? This would require further thought, but now was not the time. At least Minerva wouldn't be much of a challenge. She was a powerful witch, but he was an instrument of war that thrived in combat. Alone she wouldn't last long.