Hey everybody, how's everybody doing? Sorry I took so long with this, lost my muse, but I found it. Hope you not mad. So anyway, here's chapter seven. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter


Ch 7: Duel of the Fates

Harry was no stranger to fighting for his life. His six years in school had seen him fight Dragons, Dementors, and Dark wizards; and his life afterwords had been near constant war. Still, dueling Salazar Slytherin, even a mental copy of the man, was a prospect he didn't think was favorable to him. Not that he had a choice in the matter.

There would be no countdown to start. This wasn't a duel; it was a fight of survival, one Harry needed to win.

Harry's wand arm lashed out as he shouted, "Bombarda!" Salazar made no movement as a shielding spell formed in front of him, which would have blocked the blasting spell, if Harry had been aiming at him.

Instead the spell impacted the ground a foot in front of Slytherin, kicking up a large amount of debris. The shield intercepted said debris, but harry hadn't been aiming for hitting Slytherin. As soon as the cloud of dust blocked Slytherin's line of sight Harry ran.

'I'm gonna need some cover,' Harry thought; the vast, empty plain they were on was not conducive to his fighting method. 'Guess it's time to change that.'

Harry swept his wand over the ground and shouted, "Lithos!" Gray stone pillars shot out of the ground at various angles, some over twenty feet to Harry's left and right and stretched thirty feet in front of him.

Harry ducked behind the nearest pillar, just in time to avoid a jet of dark purple spell-fire. Not wanting to give Slytherin the opportunity to simply blast down the pillar, Harry raised his wand to the sky and chanted "Avis gyrfalcon."

With a loud bang, a cast of falcons, three dozen of them, shot forth from Harry's outstretched wand. They flew up over the stone pillars before moving to attack Slytherin. The visage of Slytherin looked impassively at the incoming flock, waiting until the birds of prey began their attack decent to raise his wand. With a firm bark of "Evanesco," the attacking flock vanished, leaving only disturbed air as proof of their existence.

While Slytherin had been preoccupied by the flock, brief as it may have been, Harry had made his way through the maze of pillars. 'I know it was only a distraction, but he took them out way too quickly,' he lamented. With a quick reference of his gift, he knew Slytherin was making his way towards the pillars. His gait was calm, though his posture was alert.

'He's confidant he can beat me,' Harry thought, 'but not too much too take advantage of it. Dispelling all the birds with one Evanesco, well he certainly lives up to his reputation.'Knowing that Slytherin will find him sooner rather than later, Harry's mind raced to find some solution.

'Fighting him head on is suicide. Even if he doesn't know any spells from the last 1000 years, which I can't be sure of since he's seen my memories, he does have more experience. And I can't use ambush tactics if I have to make new cover after every attack.'

Harry's eyes widened as inspiration struck. The stone shaping spell he used early produced far more pillars than he had wanted. 'If that spell made more because that's what I needed, then maybe…'

What he was about to do was risky. The spell readied upon his lips was not meant to do this, but perhaps, it was the intent and what the spell meant to Harry that was the important part.

"Arboris!"


Potter Manor was the project of Ralston Potter. The then head of the family, holder of the famed Cloak of Invisibility, was well aware of how unpopular his options on Muggles were. Most of his colleagues in the Wizengamot were neutral on the matter, preferring the status quo, there were a sizable minority that advocated for war with the Muggles.

It was that faction which made Ralston nervous. Any party that openly wanted war could go to extreme lengthens to provoke it, even eliminating opponents to the position. And while he was confidant with his skill with a wand, a safe place for his family came above any notion of pride.

Deciding to return to his family's roots, so to speak, he elected to build this new manor near Stinchcombe, home of his ancestor Linfred. The nearby woods, The Forest of Dean, would serve as an excellent natural barrier to intruders, and would be better once he was done with his modifications.

The Potter line had many who were skilled in Herbology and Ralston was counted among them. It took him several months to lay the spells into the various plants in the wooded area surrounding the modest manor. When he was done, the plants could be moved to obscure the pathways through the woods, attack intruders that got past the more mundane repulsion charms, even from a defensive ring around the house that could withstand some of the most potent spellcraft.

And he bound the magics of his woodland defense to one spell: 'Arboris.'


The empty expanse of the mental battleground shook as soon as the word left Harry's lips. Unlike with the pillars, the ground did not give way as trees burst forth, rather, the gray ground melted away; the now liquid-like environment molding in trees.

Harry wasted no time once the battleground became familial ground. He run through the trees, eager to put some distance between him and his opponent. He drew upon his gift to keep tabs on Slytherin, finding another use for it as every imperfection on the ground sprang into his mind as he reached them. In only a few minutes, he had put a considerable distance between.

Harry came to a stop near a particularly large oak, leaning against the mighty tree. He sensed Slytherin was still near the stone pillars, making his way slowly towards the treeline. 'He's not in any particular hurry,' Harry mused as he caught his breath, 'is he that confidant, or does he want me to attack him?'

Even with the advantage of the forest, Harry wished he had Hermione and Luna here. Slytherin's casual dispelling of his earlier attack proved that the figure lived up to his creator's legendary status. Against someone with that much power and skill, three had better odds than one.

'Wait,' Harry thought, inspiration striking like lightning, 'we were hit by the same spell. The same spell that Slytherin's a part of. And we're in my mental space. That means that I should be able to draw Luna and Hermione here!'

After confirming that Slytherin was still some distance away, Harry set to summoning his lovers. With a wave of his wand a large, perfect circle formed on the ground. Runes began to form within the circle; their nature and orientation designed to focus the spell.

With the circle complete, Harry began to ready the spell. Even with the quick and dirty nature of the circle, he was confident this would work. He had to be. With closed eyes and steady breath, Harry focused his mind, drawing upon his memories of Hermione and Luna; every morning waking up with them beside him, every laugh to stave of the harsh truth of the world, every tear shed when that harshness came crashing down upon them.

With these memories of Luna and Hermione firmly held in the front of his mind, Harry poured them into his magic and cried out "Expecto Patronum!"


Within the darkness floated two young women, one blonde, the other brunette. Neither were aware of the other, trapped in their own personal hells of loss and ruin. As they were forced to endure visions of death, a beacon of light broke across the horizon of their fabricated nightmare. Warmth filled the cold, still air over the fields of death, the unmoving figures of dead loved ones fading away as the white dawn broke.

The two women were blinded by the sudden light, as their vision returned they saw the other in the now empty plane. Before they could speak, the light moved, becoming more distinct, until a great stag of brilliant radiance stood before them. The two shared a brief look before they reached a hand to the figure of light; Prongs, the patronus of the man they loved.

Fingers barely made contact with the lighted pelt before the stag bloomed into a greater light. A tugging sensation pulled at the two, the sense of a firm, but gentle hand grasped around their extended hands. They were drawn into a passage of light, moving faster and faster until a flash found them standing in a sylvan setting, met with the grinning visage of one very relived wizard.


Harry had barely lowered his wand before a blond missile crashed into him, followed a second later by her brunette counterpart. Harry felt what they had experienced from Slytherin's trap/test, pass into him, their mental link working better than it had ever in the physical world. He sent back reassurance along with what had transpired between him and the Slytherin replica. Mental magic was a such a handy shortcut sometimes.

The three separated, and while Hermione and Luna began to apply their wits to formulate a battle plan, Harry checked on Slytherin's location.

"He's still a fair bit away," he reported, telepathy was well and good but it ate away at their magic and they'd rather not waste anymore than was needed, "I think he's a bit distracted by the woods."

"Not in a hurry is he," Luna remarked as she traced her wand in an elaborate fashion, eyes flicking between Harry and Hermione.

"He doesn't have a reason to worry," Hermione replied, "He's got all the time he wants. His purpose is to test his heir. If Harry needs some time to make some plan to win, he'll let him."

"Not really, he's already moving faster, the winding path is shifting to lead him away from us, but I don't think it'll buy us much time," Harry informed them, "But looks like I used that time he gave me for the best, got the two best witches I could ever hope to find."

Hermione shook her head, "With some time left over to flirt." Her somewhat smile faded to a light frown as it was time to get serious. "So what's our move?"

"I vote for conjuring a herd of Snorkack as a distraction before we hit him in ambush," Luna supplied, wand still moving.

"No mass conjuring, too much magic and you saw what he did to my falcons," Harry said, brow furrowed, "but an ambush could work. He doesn't seem to be able to read my mind now, maybe because of the woods, but I doubt he knows I summoned you two."

Hermione nodded, "We have the element of surprise. He'll be ready for a one on one not three on one. Harry, how long do you think you could keep him 'distracted'."

"Not long," came his reply, "Your history books weren't lying about his talent for mind magic. He'd probably see through most illusions and a snare would take to long to set up without you two keeping him off balance, ruining the ambush, unless.."

He trailed off, his minding racing. "He'll notice if someone besides me casts a spell at him, but I think I can fix that problem."

Harry extended his left hand and began to trace a sphere above it with his wand. The long hours and day hunkered down at the Potter ancestral home had left the trio all a bit restless when they weren't planning attacks, training, or indulging in some distractions of the flesh. Each found a hobby to remedy this; Luna had her art managing to use some of the local flora as paints when her supplies ran low, Hermione took to brewing finding the method relaxing, and Harry found he liked to tinker.


He could dimly remember when Dudley got a building set toy for Christmas, one his cousin had played with a whopping ten minutes before discarding. Harry had been able to enjoy the set for a short while before Petunia found him with it and discard the whole while locking his in the cupboard for a few hours as punishment for playing with something not his own.

While no children play sets were at the Manor, there had been a journal left by a Great Aunt Tamara, who had been utterly fascinated by all sorts of magical items. Her notes and musings had lit a fire under Harry, in his experience most wizards duels were wand against wand. A few extra tools would help him and the girls to survive.

And what started as an attempt to devise some unexpected aids for his endeavors became a skill as valued as flying and the mind arts.

(Line)

What formed in his hand was a sphere of the size of an American baseball, made of thin glass with two bands of rune inlaid silver going around it on the horizontal and vertical lines. A soft red light burned at the core of the bauble.

Harry levitated it over the Hermione how took it gingerly, a critical eye upon the runes. "I didn't know you made a new toy Harry," she commented, "A contained spell ready to be 'cast' when the glass breaks. Clever."

"I hadn't made it before we came back. I had the idea and the runes worked out so I present the Spellbomb."

"And since it's your magic in the bomb, it won't give us away," Hermione exclaimed, "How many can you make?"

"I think ten each, filled with a blasting curse, is what I can manage without overextending myself," Harry noted, "Luna, what do you think.."

He didn't finish his query as Luna let out a small cry of triumph as she whipped her over Harry and Hermione. A weight fell upon their shoulders as a long duster style coat materialized on both of them.

Harry surveyed his new attire. It fit him well, crafted of dragon hide of deep black. Hermione's was of similar fit and make, her's green opposed to black. Luna had not left herself out, a brown coat adorned her slim figure.

"Good," Luna said with a nod, "they came out perfect."

Hermione, ever practical and knowing of Luna's creative mind, had already began to run spells over her coat. "Dragon hide with added protection from piercing and impact damage, increased spell resistance. Luna these are incredible."

Luna beamed. "You missed the anti-nargle charm, but thank you. I had a great grand cousin visit the American West once. Never took off his coat when he came home. His ten gallon hat did make it hard to go indoors thought. Too tall."

Neither Harry or Hermione had time to comment of Luna's extended family, as a large boom echoed through the woods. Harry tracked Slytherin to within three hundred yards from them, blasting the thick groups of trees to advance.

"Ok time to move," Harry said, quickly crafting the needed Spellbombs, "A disillusionment should keep them invisible until the break. Hit Slytherin after I break of the engagement, keep him guessing where I am."

With a pair of nods, Hermione and Luna took their collection of Spellbombs and faded from view as their disillusionment took hold. Harry headed out, ready now to take on Slytherin. With his loves at his side he felt he could on the world.


Slytherin was not someone to hand out compliments, but he was finding these woods as impressive as they were infuriating. He knew the woods were a part of his opponents home, the young man's memory had featured them, but his knowledge on how they worked was limited. The flora could move, covering the paths tread by his would-be heir and they turned this duel into a tracking expedition.

A flash of vibrant red streaked towards him from his left. A ducking roll and quick flick of the wand sent to spell into the trees now behind him. His prospective heir stood next to a mighty tree, wand aloft. Slytherin noted the addition to his attire, as the squared up, "An interesting choice in clothing. I take it there's more to it than an ascetic choice?"

"You'll have to find that out yourself," the Potter responded before he dove back behind the tree, casting an arc of slickly yellow as he took cover. Slytherin parried the spell, a rather powerful acid conjuring, before starting his advance.

The woods grew thicker as the duelist continued their deadly dance. The heavy canopy cast a gloomy shadow over the forest, falling back only as flashes of arcane power issued forth from the combatants wands.

Slytherin could appreciate how his opponent was fighting. Not as a brash lion, trying to overpower him, but more as a snake, moving and waiting to strike at the best time. But he wouldn't give him that opportunity.

A bubble of black water grew from his wand, poised to strike. A figure move from behind a tree to his right, a wave of amber now between them. Slytherin let loose his spell with a sharp flick; the black water burst forth, the dark wave intercepted the attack and dispersed it, before crashing into the tree cover.

Slytherin's eyes darted about as he circled around. He was playing this a bit to defensively and was prepared to go on the offense once more, when the sound of glass breaking drew his attention to his left, and an explosion followed a scant second later. Dirt and debris impacted his shield but even as he turned to where he believed the attack had originated, another explosion tore the tree some feet behind him.

Slytherin wasted no time even as wood splinters dug into his back, firing blasts of deep violet into the tree cover. His spells tore through the trees as he took off, banking on his volley dislodging Potter and throwing of his balance. But as he moved to find a more favorable position, several more blasting curses met earth and wood and he responded in kind.

This pattern repeated for far too long for Slytherin's liking. He couldn't pinpoint where his adversary was. Perhaps the woods themselves were the origin of the explosions? His musing was cut short by another blast, very near to his head. His quick spell craft blocked it, but did nothing to prevent the ringing in his ears.

The ringing was something that stood out to Slytherin. He had experienced his fair share explosions, potions and spells becoming unstable, angry rivals, drunk relatives; but something about this ringing sent his instincts off.

With a dramatic flourish, Slytherin conjured a large amount of his dark water, setting it to warp round him in a sphere. Once secure, he focused on the ringing, finding an odd pressure accompanying it. A pressure like that clued him into what was happening.

He drew his arms across his body in an x and as he threw them outward, as will his magic out. A wave of magical wind burst the black bubble and shook the trees, and one Harry Potter stumbled from his cover, hand clutching head.


As Slytherin retreated from Luna and Hermione's bombardment , Harry kept pace, wand trained on the retreating Founder. The mental snare he was going to trap him in was a delicate bit of spellwork. It didn't trap the victim in an illusion but rather made it so the effected only saw, heard, smelt, what Harry wanted him to.

The only drawback was the need for the target to be distracted from the caster, hard to make something right in front of someone just not matter to their eyes. Even as Harry layered the bewitchment on Slytherin, he knew that the snare wouldn't be able to fool him long. He was too skilled, he'd find something to tip him off.

As Slytherin retreated into his watery sanctum, Harry hoped that Luna and Hermione would get into position as soon as possible as he felt the spell being prodded. The shock wave of magic Slytherin sent out did its job of breaking the delicate spell weaving, and had the unfortunate side effect of overloading Harry's senses. Sudden brightness and deafening noise sent him stumbling from his cover.

Harry grasped as a slimy sensation crawled over him. He looked down to see him covered in Slytherin's black water, the wizard himself approaching. Harry reached for his magic, only to find it slip away.

"It will do you no good," Slytherin said as he regarded his captive, "My binding will draw away your power."

Harry grimaced and he still struggled against the bonds. "So now what? You kill me and go after Hermione or Luna?"

"No," came the curt reply, "They aren't the one who could open the Chamber. And yes, this test has reached its conclusion. You fought well but you did not best me."

Slytherin raised his wand only be be met with a grinning Harry. "Who said I was done. Still got one or two tricks up my sleeve. Like this. NOW!"

Harry threw himself down as twin rays of white made their way towards Slytherin. If the attack phased him he gave no indication as he formed a shield to intercept them. The impact let loose a blinding flash and Harry rose to his feet, a flash of blue from behind dispelling the watery binding.

Slytherin came out his defense with a flurry of spells, ones Harry blocked or deflected. Harry's offense was backed up by spells from the distant trees. Slytherin was pinned, one foe facing him and two on the periphery.

But the Slytherin simulacrum was not finished. He blocked a triple assault with a wall of conjured water before he set the black tide upon Harry, its form twisting into a basilisk. A spell from the woods behind Harry impacted the basilisk with no effect. Harry himself rolled away a watery bite as Slytherin found himself deflecting a number of spells from the far woods.

'If its a battle of constructs, I've got just the spell,' Harry thought as he pointed his wand at the earth. "Terrous Dictum!" The earth groaned as it from the soil a stone claw emerged, followed by the avian head of a hippogriff. The water-formed basilisk reared on the new combatant, only for the stone beast to prove as agile as its inspiration. It dodged the snake's fangs and counted with a viscous swipe of its granite claws.

Confidant his summon could deal with the basilisk, Harry joined back on the assault on Slytherin. Hermione and Luna still held their cover but several of the trees near them were torn asunder by spell fire. 'Time to end this.'

Harry charged forward, wand alight with ghostly white light. In a flash, Prongs was at his side, illuminating the woods in his light. Slytherin, distracted by Luna and Hermione's attacks, fired a quick blasting curse. It missed, tearing a chunk out of the tree to Harry's left. Harry willed Prongs to attack and the ethereal stag bared its antlers, and struck Slytherin square in the chest.

Prongs knocked Slytherin back several feet. Before the ancient wizard could right himself, twin ropes of white ensnared his torso. A third so joined, trapping his legs. A moment later Slytherin found himself surrounded by two witches, a wizard, a stag Patronus and a stone hippogriff. And he laughed.

"Yes, yes," he proclaimed, the trio who bested him stunned by his outburst, "that is exactly the sort of successor I want. I take it you brought forth these two when you first broke off our engagement?"

"Yes, he did," Luna supplied as Harry and Hermione were still gobsmacked, "He can be quite clever."

Slytherin opened his moth to reply when the world shook. "It looks like the time has come," he said solemnly.

"The spell's ending," Harry asked.

"Yes, once I was unable to fight, the enchantment began to restore you," Slytherin responded, 'You'll wake up a few moments after you fell into the spell. And on behalf of Salazar Slytherin, I name you Harry Potter heir and successor to his line. The Chamber is open to you and your consorts. I bid you three well in your endeavors."

As soon as his last word left his lips the world fell away into endless white. Soon the trio became aware of the cold, damp stone they lay upon. They pulled themselves up, a little uneasy after they had gotten used to their older forms. The doorway before them was no longer full of darkness, instead a large study was open to them. Warm balls of fire floated above the shelves full of books and scrolls. Another door waited to be opened across the on on the opposite wall.

The trio shared a look. They weren't getting any sleep tonight. Together the crossed the threshold, ready to see what treasures Slytherin had amassed and left for his proven heir.


So one duel to the death done, who knows how many left. My muse won't tell me. Wonder what secrets Slytherin's hidden study will hold. Tune in next time to find out. And I promise it'll be less than nine months.