IX - The Slayer Rises
He could only sit there contemplating how unfair it was that he, instead of any other disloyal, unworthy servant, was chosen.
Never before had he summoned such effort in magically concealing his thoughts of doubt, fear and resentment from his Master, even if his body gave it all away uncontrollably. He was a sorry excuse of a wizard, crouched and trembling as he kept looking at every corner of the room - gestures he was always known to make but were now exaggerated.
"Wormtail."
"YES! Y-Yes, Master?" he squeaked, jumping up in alarm when the disturbingly familiar cold, high voice resounded all around him and the image of his Master appeared on the large mirror in front of him. He kept on breathing rapidly like a rat, squeezing the object in his hand that he clung to like his only weapon.
"What is it, my sleazy little friend?" taunted Voldemort. "Are you afraid?"
"N-No, my Lord, not at all-"
"HAHAHAHA!"
Voldemort's maniacal laughter made Pettigrew recoil again. He watched his Lord's glowing red eyes regard him with contempt, even disgust, and then the hideous transition he constantly made from cruel amusement to his usual imperious demeanor.
"Do not fail," commanded Voldemort. "Once more I will remind you to summon them the instant he appears. If we are signaled only from your panic through the connection, believe me, Wormtail, you will be so lowly and useless that if he doesn't finish you off, I will."
"Yes, M-Master, I won't fail. I won't lose."
The Dark Lord had gone before Wormtail finished speaking. The servant cursed under his breath and looked nervously around the room again. He waited.
For a while, the only sound he heard was the wind as it entered through a window, but the peaceful atmosphere did nothing to calm him down. He kept looking at the object he held against his chest protectively; it looked like a silver locket, with the symbol of the Dark Mark engraved on its metal surface, and it was halfway open, to be shut tightly only when the dreaded moment came. He was actually surprised at how afraid he was; he was a Death Eater confident in his superior abilities, but an opponent that could destroy the Lestranges was not one he would ever want to face.
A few seconds later, a subtle disturbance - one he could only sense with a wizard's intuition - caught his attention. His sensitive nerves caused him to stand from his chair so abruptly that it fell backwards and made a loud bang. Pettigrew winced at the sound and turned to look at every inch of the room, pointing his wand in every direction with his unstable hand and holding the locket with the other, his fingers ready to shut it as soon as necessary. Stupidly, he called out to his potential adversary, unable to control his shaking voice and instantly felt ashamed for it.
Then he froze.
The large wall mirror where his Master had appeared moments before was now covered completely in fog, like a crystal ball about to reveal an image. Pettigrew approached it slowly, pointing his wand in front of him.
A thin ray of bright blue light suddenly pierced through the wall mirror and came so fast that, before Pettigrew could react, it severed his left arm from his body, like a deadly energetic sword, and the locket he held was knocked away along with his body part. The shattered glass also flew behind the beam of light, and many of its shards stabbed him in different parts of his body, all at the same time. The entire mirror had exploded along with part of the wall.
Pettigrew fell backwards with the painful blow and before he could react, his wand flew out of his hand very swiftly, as if he had been hit with a Disarming Spell. Then he heard an oddly distorted, inhuman voice.
"Now you'll be completely helpless."
He saw his wand explode into a million tiny pieces of wood, as if by its own volition, before it touched the floor. Refusing to believe what he just saw, Pettigrew slowly lifted his head to look at his opponent, clutching his severed limb and already trembling.
Standing behind the giant hole in the wall, on the other room, was a faceless figure in dark garments, its arm still extended as blue light reentered it by accumulating on the index and middle fingers that still pointed at Pettigrew. Pieces of the wall were still falling randomly when the figure reappeared a few feet away from the fallen man within the blink of an eye, startling him.
"Afraid?" said the hideous, distorted voice of the figure looking down at him. Pettigrew couldn't move or look away. Then the attacker lifted a pale hand and took off the hood of its cloak, revealing its face.
Pettigrew's lips curved into an "O" shape, as if beginning to breathe out the word "Potter", and all color had gone from his face. He immediately noticed the dark, twisted smirk that made the face look very much unlike the young boy he remembered.
Next thing he knew, he had been thrown to the other side of the room by means of a whip-like thing he barely had time to see, of the same color as the previous beam of light, and indescribably painful. He fell on the floor so harshly he had no air left in his lungs to cry out with.
"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Shame, shame, Pettigrew. Are you supposed to be a Death Eater?" asked the attacker calmly, approaching him slowly. "Pathetic."
The voice had changed; it was no longer distorted. It seemed human but still unusually calm and icy, completely unfitting for the one that used it. Pettigrew summoned all his strength and dived toward the locket, determined to somehow shut it, even with a stub left as his arm, but the attacker had appeared next to the locket within a second and kicked it aside, away from the fallen, blood soaked man.
"Then again, nothing more could be expected of you," sneered the attacker with disgust. "Oh, and what's that you had?" he added with a horrible, playful tone as he pointed at the silver object. "A little tool to summon your friends?"
The locket burst into a million tiny shards, again without apparent cause. Pettigrew shrieked, and the attacker laughed. Then he blinked and realized the intruder was holding him up by the neck of his robe.
Something on the other's expression changed dramatically, and Pettigrew saw the eyes flash red and the sharp fangs that grew slightly within a second as the mouth opened, and then there was a horrible, sharp pain in his neck. The movements were so fast his eyes could barely follow them.
Bewildered completely, Pettigrew felt an excruciating tightness inside, concentrated on his chest, and a pressure directed toward the wound on his neck. He felt like the core of his being was being sucked out of his body.
Then he heard the laughter faintly and saw the other's crazed expression, the blood soaked mouth, all blurred out and confusing. Pettigrew knew he would collapse like a raw piece of meat if he were released from the painfully tight grip.
"Please, forgive me!" Pettigrew cried, tears falling uncontrollably. "Your parents would have wanted-!"
"Reduced to begging, are we?" interrupted the attacker. "What would your Master say?"
"Please!"
The response he got was more laughter and then the sharp pain of fangs piercing him again as painfully as possible. The horrible sensation came again, but this time it was so intense he was sure he would die. His mind suddenly went blank and only came back after he felt a huge blow on the back of his head and realized he was laying face down on the floor. The intruder had pushed him hard against the wall after releasing him.
Pettigrew was shaking all over. He was surprised with every movement his body was still able to make. Somehow he managed to climb up to his knees and look up at the vampire in front of him that continued to laugh and smile evilly at him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he watched his eyes glow momentarily with a red light - exactly like Lord Voldemort's.
"What are you?" Pettigrew yelled with horror, and immediately darted out the room, staggering and falling on the floor and whimpering like a frightened child. His entire body was throbbing. He didn't know how he made his way out of the room and into the corridor. He felt chills run up his spine as he heard the creature's laughter change into insanely delighted cackles. The voice was so loud his ears were about to bleed.
"Running away, Wormtail?"
Pettigrew burst into the kitchen, and in absolute desperation, dove for the fireplace and buried his face inside a bag of Floo Powder he kept beside it.
"Why cling so desperately to your absolutely worthless life?"
He managed to hold a decent amount inside his mouth and then attempted to stand up without having limbs.
"YOU'RE NOTHING. YOU LIFE IS NOTHING."
An unnaturally powerful hand grabbed his hair and pulled him away from the fireplace with a force he was sure would tear his head off his shoulders. His feet dangled above the ground for a few more painful seconds before he was thrown on top of the wide dinner table, facing upward. Within an instant, his opponent was standing right above him, holding him against the table with his foot on his neck, throttling him. All hope lost, Pettigrew was reduced to sobbing.
There was a look of utmost revulsion on the Avenger's face, who otherwise looked thrilled as he finally reached inside the inner garments of his battle robe for the knifes that were attached to his wide belt. He took out the first one and held it in front of Pettigrew's face.
"Want me to refresh your memory?" he asked as he slowly leaned down toward the Death Eater, his honeyed voice somehow even more terrifying than the previous one. After the tip of the knife poked the face and made it bleed, he moved it to the man's right shoulder.
"You killed Cedric," he said matter-of-factly, and then stabbed the body part so hard the crimson liquid splashed all over his face. Pettigrew screamed. The Avenger's expression and tone remained exactly the same.
"It's your fault Voldemort came back." He stabbed the man's other shoulder with another knife twice as hard, then took out two other knifes from his belt very slowly so he could listen to Pettigrew's agony.
"Also..." he continued. "...It's all your fault Sirius was sent to Azkaban."
He stabbed the man's right leg and moved the knife in circles inside of it, intensifying the screaming.
"...and most importantly, because of you, my parents were killed...I hope you haven't forgotten..." His voice should have reflected anger but instead it was perfectly calm and icy.
He stabbed the remaining leg with such force the bone almost broke. And at that particular moment, the faces of his relatives came clearly into the Avenger's head, filling him with the deepest rage and hatred, all directed at the man right in front of him. As this happened, he could feel his power rushing through his veins, strengthening so suddenly that it projected outside the surface of his body, making him glow with the slight tinge of color of his magical aura, the same color that suddenly filled his murderous eyes.
"IT'S ALL YOUR BLOODY FAULT!" he bellowed into the man's face, then took the longest blade and pushed it into the man's chest, and his blood splashed all over the walls and table. "I will reverse the terrible mistake I made years ago of letting you go! Face justice, little man!" screamed the Avenger, losing all of his previous calm.
Everything was getting darker around Pettigrew but his fear could no longer intensify. He somehow managed to whisper. "T-They'll come."
"Can't wait!" yelled the Avenger with a crazed expression of excitement, and then he stood up straight, looking down at the dying man with shining eyes. He extended his arms and summoned every bit of magic inside him, silently commanding it to accumulate. He brought his right hand before him, his index and middle fingers pointing forward, and focused his mind on one goal. Light from his aura began to concentrate on the tip of his fingers, emanating from them and expanding outward.
Within seconds a sphere of blue light that looked like a very large flame surrounded his entire hand. It grew and intensified as he lifted up his arm and made a fist with his hand, sending all his strength and power to that particular body part.
The Avenger let out a cry of fury until the sphere almost burned his own skin, and then with the grace of a vampire he dropped down and directed his fist toward the man's chest. The fist went through the man's body and through the dinner table as well, leaving a perfectly unnatural hole across flesh and bone that allowed him to see the floor below.
A large amount of blood and organs fell on the floor and for a moment the only noise in the room was of the splashes. The Avenger stood up straight and watched the pool of scarlet liquid expand in every direction.
"That was a merciful death for you, Pettigrew."
His tone was now purely emotionless. He licked the blood on his hands and savored it with pleasure, then thought, "Scourgify", and the blood that had spilled on his entire body and garments instantly vanished.
The Avenger closed his eyes for a few moments. With his mind's eye, he could see it; a large group of magical beings moved surprisingly fast toward him, like beams of light speeding though an invisible, magical web that connected all of their kind.
Grinning with delight, he lifted the hood up and his face became a shadow again. Then the room was filled with the combination of popping noises and the bangs of spells. The black smoke characteristic of Death Eater apparitions had created a dim cloud that encompassed them all, darkening the room. Many loud, arrogant voices screamed all kinds of powerful spells that merely bounced off his supernatural body and left him unharmed. He didn't move an inch and allowed this to continue for a long time, laughing at the others' efforts to bring him down and enjoying the pleasure of possessing such inhuman strength.
"It's useless," he declared, his voice distorted again by his charmed cloak. He lifted his hand and slapped off one of the beams of light, causing it to return as an intensified wave of color that made a handful of Death Eaters burst into pieces. The Avenger cackled excitedly as he created a long, whip-like beam of light that emanated from his fingers, and swung it around in a wide half-circle. Only three Death Eaters were able to Dissaparate in time before the beam hit; the other ten received the blow and a splash of crimson burst out of their bodies. Then they received another blow in the same spot but from the opposite direction, and were severed in half simultaneously.
The survivors were frozen in shock for one fatal moment; the whip-like beam had returned to its source and the light accumulated in the middle and index fingers. Bright specs of light came flying from all over the room toward the same spot, creating a shining blue sphere. The Avenger then pointed it at the pair of Death Eaters standing closest to each other, and the sphere expanded forward within an instant, blowing them into oblivion along with all the walls of the house behind them.
The remaining Death Eater stepped away from the destruction and threw curse after curse at the faceless figure using all his power, but to no effect. The Avenger turned to him and repeated the same movement, but shooting only a beam of light at one of his legs.
He reappeared right next to the fallen man. "Tell your lowly half-blood Master this," the Avenger declared before he disappeared from the scene. "Soon, I will make him squirm like the worm he is and I will destroy you all!"
The Death Eater burst into blue flames that disappeared after a few seconds, leaving him screaming on the floor with very severe burns while still grabbing his newly severed limb. His agony was so intense he barely noticed when a new group of Death Eaters Apparated all around him. Then he saw the hideous, frightening face of his Master, looking down at him with narrowed, glowing red eyes.
"Who is the cause of this disgrace?" roared a furious Lord Voldemort.
"My Lord...the Slayer is powerful, indescribably powerful!" the fallen Death Eater managed to cry out hysterically. "He had no face, literally! He said he would destroy us all!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
The pitiful burnt man knew no more. Even with their masks on, the followers were unable to hide their horror.
"If you want to live, prove that you are useful to Lord Voldemort. Prove it to me now!"
They knew exactly what their Master meant; trembling, they turned and disappeared amongst clouds of black smoke.
His face was showing again. He had arrived at his destination surprisingly fast, even by vampiric standards.
Harry Potter made his way toward the common room entrance. Still filled with adrenaline, he felt extremely proud of his progress. The exhaustion he felt was nothing an additional dose of Enertentia or Re-Vitilizaing Potion wouldn't fix right away. Yet he craved some peace and quiet if only for a little while. As he approached the entrance, he concentrated his powers and willed it to open as quietly as possible, without alerting the annoying Fat Lady.
His mood improved as soon as he saw the only person he cared was there, waiting for him faithfully. He went directly to her.
She immediately stood from her armchair, watching him affectionately. "Harry..."
"Listen, I want to talk to you in private…" He trailed off. Her eyes had widened as she studied him from head to toe. "What?"
"Why on earth are you wearing Slytherin robes?" she asked, puzzled.
Confused, Harry turned sideways to look into one of the mirrors on the wall. He had to blink a couple of times, suddenly feeling more than ever like a weak mortal for not noticing. He was wearing green and silver, instead of the usual scarlet and gold Hogwarts Uniform. He saw on his chest, instead of a lion, a large silver serpent. For a while he was lost in his thoughts, blocking out the irritating voices around him. He had never read all the books about Hogwarts Hermione always recommended, but at least he knew that this was definitely not normal. And he simply couldn't have put on the wrong robe! As soon as he had returned to the castle, he changed back to his school robes, gave the Charmed Cloak to Henry…
It was then he finally noticed everyone else. In his mind, they had been hiding in shadowy corners, unimportant, almost nonexistent. But now he could almost physically feel the narrowed pairs of eyes on him. Great distrust and fear radiated from them.
Great.
The Gryffindors were staring at him from head to toe like he was a the biggest jerk. He looked back at them with absolute indifference.
Ron walked toward him, his eyes filled with hostility.
"What's your problem now?" Harry asked irritably, looking away.
"I knew it," said Ron smugly. "Now it's confirmed. I've seen you with Malfoy and now look at you. What the hell?"
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to leave. He had no time for stupidity.
"It's in your very face," cried Lavender Brown with a brokenhearted expression as he walked past her. "Anyone can tell you've gone dark. YOU, of all people! I can't believe you."
I can't believe it took this long to understand why Draco always said Gryffindors were idiots.
Then a familiar, very wimpy boy abruptly entered the common room. Harry never noticed just how unbelievably fragile Colin Creevy was, maybe because unconsciously he thought of himself as a comparison, or maybe because at that particular moment he was very, very annoyed.
"Harry! Message from Dumbledore!"
His new strength made him feel like he could accidentally break someone in half and that was just the physical change that came along with the power. Already his body was not lanky anymore, although he knew he had a long way to go before it could come at all close to Henry's strong build.
Slowly, gathering all his self control, he extended his hand toward the small boy to receive the roll of parchment. He tried to block certain unexpected dark thoughts from his mind when the boy smiled stupidly at him.
As he left, he directed all his mind power toward his Maker and urged him to take care of their minds for him, just in case.
"Changed to Slytherin House?" asked Severus Snape incredulously, unable to conceal his disapproval.
"I'm afraid so, Severus," answered Headmaster Dumbledore. Standing on the other side of the desk was an equally surprised Harry, still staring down at the awfully familiar and dirty Sorting hat.
"I thought it had given me the right to choose before..." whispered the student absent-mindedly while he attempted to communicate with it somehow, but without success. It remained silent and motionless, like any normal old hat, and Dumbledore continued to stare at Harry, studying him like he usually did from behind his half-moon spectacles.
"It has spoken," said Dumbledore in his trademark calmed, casual tone. "I'm afraid there is no way to know the reason behind this highly unusual and sudden change in Sorting. But we have no other choice but to follow the School Rules. From this day forth, Harry, you belong in Slytherin House. The rare magical transformation of your robes is further evidence of your change in Sorting."
On top of the Headmaster's desk were his other transformed robes, brought by the House Elves moments before. The silver serpents on them shone brightly under the light of numerous candles.
"Severus, take Mr. Potter - "
A very loud noise suddenly interrupted Dumbledore. With a puff of purple smoke he vanished from his chair and reappeared standing next to a table containing many of his strange silver objects. The one making all the noise was shaking violently, but as soon as the wizard held it up, it became still and quiet. It expanded to create an empty space in the middle where the projection of an image suddenly appeared.
"Dumbledore, the attack is occurring now!" cried the face of Tonks, reflected within the strange object. "They're destroying Birmingham as we speak! The Auror Office has already sent the first squads."
"Contact as many members as you can and apparate in the city immediately," replied the leader of the Order, and the image faded away. Both Snape and Harry had gotten tense with the news, but Dumbledore, as always, remained perfectly calm.
"Harry, by all means, do not leave the castle," he ordered as he waved his hand and both his wand and his traveling cloak flew from the other side of the office into his hands. "Severus, inform the rest of the Order that they must report to the scene immediately."
Harry kept his best obedient expression as both the Headmaster and Severus Snape got out of his sight. Then he summoned all he could of his superior speed and went straight to the Room of Requirement.
The sky was completely covered with strange, dark mist and there was a distant but powerful sound, like that of an explosion.
"What was that, mommy?" cried a tiny child as she cowered behind her mother.
"Michael, Gaby, get over here, now!" called the mother, horrified as she saw humongous flames suddenly rise among the buildings of the city that was not too far away. Her two older children ran toward her and her husband, who took the little girl in his arms and ran along with his wife, who held the hands of the other two.
Scattered screams could be heard from the people that crowded the street as they ran out of the stores along with all the others, creating a stampede. Close by, some of them got into cars and raced away, and then the sound of car horns mixed with that of more explosions, which got closer with each passing moment, intensifying the chaotic atmosphere.
The family of five was merely feet away from their car when a perfectly unnatural sphere of flame collided with it and caused it to explode. The sound mixed with hysterical screams from all directions, as identical explosions happened all around. The couple held their children tight, desperately trying to protect them and incapable of understanding what went on. They could only cower, like all others, frozen with shock.
Then they simultaneously rose into the air very abruptly as if invisible cables attached to their shoulders were pulling them up.
"DADDY!" screamed the little girl.
"Hold on tight, dear!"
There was no way they could comprehend how they all floated in midair, above the supernatural scene below, and were surrounded individually by strange and shiny spheres of light. They screamed again as beams of lights of different colors collided with their shields and caused loud sounds like a gunshots, but left them unharmed nonetheless. The spheres seemed to absorb the attacking beams of light.
Below them, a crowd of scarlet robed individuals appeared to be fighting against black cloaked and masked figures. The wizards were dueling each other with all their strength, throwing and repelling curses very fast and reappearing in different places in the process, producing puffs of smoke and popping sounds and more explosions. The Muggles inside the protective shields observed everything with horror and amazement. Luckily for them, they remained protected during the entire battle. Finally, the scarlet robed people seemed to have triumphed with much difficulty. The masked ones disappeared one by one as they got wounded.
The Muggles were then brought down and the shields disappeared.
"Who are you?" cried the horror-stuck father as he held his daughter tighter, staring at the strange, robed individuals that surrounded him just like everyone else. The one directly in front of him was a dark haired female Auror and she gave him a polite smile in response, then lifted her wand toward him and said, "Obliviate."
The Aurors carefully placed the unconscious Muggles on the ground. The spell was cast on each and every one of them, giving the same result, and after a while, one voice was heard clearly above all the others.
"Squad leader, orders!" called out one of the Aurors from the farthest side of the street.
"Standby and confirm memory modifications!" replied the leader of the squad, who took out a magical device that looked like an small crystal ball and asked to be informed of further instructions from his superior.
"Report back immediately," ordered the face presented inside the device. "The powerful ones have now arrived - All fighters report to the city NOW!"
Within a second all the Aurors had vanished. The Muggles were left sitting on the street and sidewalks, looking around at the destruction around them with blank looks on their faces.
A few miles away, Tonks watched in complete shock as an entire twenty story building fell down on the spot, like it had turned to liquid. She raised her wand to deflect a ridiculously powerful curse that came at her in the form of a beam of light, straight from the Death Eater that floated above where the building had been. Her horror overwhelmed her shock as she realized that her wand was unable to restrain it and would soon burst.
"Limit release!" she cried, left with no other choice. Immediately she felt an electrical current throughout her entire body, through her very veins, and she felt a numbing sensation. She used all her mind power to gather her strength and bellowed, "Repelius!"
The beam of light was reversed to its source, but the Death Eater easily dodged it. She reappeared in another spot an instant after her opponent had shot a sphere of flame at her.
Hundreds of Aurors dueled Death Eaters all around the chaotic scene, all of them dodging and repelling unusually strong curses thrown at them with surprising speed. Then there came a sound so intense it drowned out all others; nearby, Tonks saw some of the tallest buildings fall forward like dominoes. The unfortunate muggles close to them ran away screaming, while the wizards Apparated away immediately.
A large group of Death Eaters riding brooms soared from behind the fallen buildings, their wands throwing many beams of light with each second in every direction they pointed at. Their speed was overwhelming and the majority of Aurors were forced to cast protective shields around them before they were able to counterattack. The one that led the group was immediately recognizable; her wild mane of black hair billowed as she soared above the others, cackling in her trademark fashion, and throwing curses so powerful they made small craters wherever they fell. He entire body appeared to be covered with a strange red mist.
Tonks reappeared on the other side of the avenue a second before one of Bellatrix's fearsome spells would have hit her.
"This is madness!" cried Tonks to the Auror beside her, who expressed his agreement but then they had to dodge yet another beam of light and separated.
The strong pulsing sensation in her body forced Tonks to apparate in a concealed place among the remains of buildings. She needed to catch her breath, and she cursed herself for getting tired so soon into the battle.
"What the hell are they?" she asked herself in anger and disbelief. Their curses were more powerful than any she's ever had to fight against and all of them came unusually fast. Her body was already aching from the limit release.
Then a blast of light fell dangerously close to her, forcing her to re-enter the battle. Somehow she found her resolve; if she were to die in that place, it would be only after she's taken as many of them down with her. Among her comrades, she cried out with rage and attacked with every bit of magical power within her, using her apparition more effectively than ever to avoid the incoming attacks.
At last, she brought one Death Eater down, and as the figure fell from the broom, she saw something horrifying farther down at the end of the avenue, where there was a canal.
It was a tidal wave as tall as the buildings that existed moments ago. It was growing upward, very unnaturally, and right above it flew Bellatrix, her wand pointing down at the water. A beam of light connected both things. The few muggles still left now ran from the newest threat, and the Death Eaters laughed out loud in delight but continued to attack the horror-struck Aurors. Less than a minute passed when the wave took form and came speeding toward the city.
They watched helplessly as it approached until an instantly recognizable silver-haired wizard with purple robes that billowed in the wind appeared directly in front of the wave and stopped it from moving any further. Holding his wand up with both arms, he cast a powerful spell that caused the gigantic mass of water to draw back into the canal. Bellatrix roared Dumbledore's name furiously and jumped from her broom. She landed, growling furiously, on the surface of the water as if it was solid, the cloud that surrounded her becoming denser, and with quick hand movements she sent mass after mass of water of gigantic size toward the same target. The old man had to fire the same spell incredibly fast at each one in order to stop them, running back and forth on the edge of the city's concrete.
Then Dumbledore quickly cast a levitating charm on himself, masterfully apparated right next to Bellatrix and disarmed her with a spell. She was knocked down but when she collapsed the water merely softened her fall. She stood up looking completely dry and apparated ten feet away. Both were standing on the surface of the water of the canal, facing each other.
"WHAT?" shrieked Bellatrix at her opponent, her expression delirious. "I was going to stop the fires!" She threw her head back and cackled, then lifted her hands to show the Disarming spell had been useless. Dumbledore shot another spell but she disappeared under the surface of the water.
He pointed his wand at his feet and was lifted several feet up in the air. He waited for her to return by continuously checking in every direction, his wand ready to fight or defend. Then six different masses of water shaped like blades came at him incredibly fast from underneath, and he was able to dodge only half of them in time; the rest hit him so hard he was thrown back in the air and he had to wave his wand again to avoid sinking underneath the water like a rock. He was all but amazed at the display of ancient, elemental magic - so much that he began to fear for his life. Then he was forced to duel above the surface of the water with all his power, protecting himself at all times with a shield similar to a patronus. Bellatrix reappeared in different locations, continuously shooting a myriad of spells.
At the same time, the battle in the heart of the city was quickly worsening for the Aurors. There were already countless casualties from their side; most of the protective shields had proven too weak.
Tonks cried out the name of one of her comrades as she watched him fall, despite her growing inability to breathe properly. She had not been able to stop fighting with all her energy for one instant, the adrenaline causing her to forget her limits.
Then came a spell she deflected a little too late. Its sheer power knocked her back several feet until she collided against a pair of her comrades. They all crashed against part of a building on the other side of the street.
She was surprised she wasn't unconscious, but the pain still prevented her from moving. She opened her eyes to find an arrogant, unscathed Death Eater standing in front of them, pointing his wand. He waived it and Disarmed all three Aurors.
"Worthless scum, feel our wrath!" he yelled with hatred. "Avada Kedavra!"
The Auror on the left was hit first with the green light. The spell came again and the one right next to her fell as well, everything happening too quickly for her injured, exhausted brain. When her time came the Death Eater paused to laugh at her first.
His fatal mistake.
"Sweet dreams, my darling," he said with a disgustingly flirtatious tone. "Avada-"
A long beam of blue light severed the Death Eater's head at that exact moment, sending a wave of crimson through the air, a splash of it slapping her across the face, momentarily blinding her. She immediately wiped it away, stunned and horrified.
The beam had been like some sort of sword made up of sheer magical aura. Tonks blinked and searched incredulously for the source of the strange looking attack.
She gasped.
Someone or something wearing dark garments was destroying each and every Death Eater in the exact same way, reappearing next to each one too fast for her eyes to follow. All she understood was that it possessed some overwhelming speed and that it decapitated the wizards by either swinging a hand surrounded by the same material as the previous beam of light or firing it at a target from farther away, creating the beam-like structure she just saw. She could also tell the thing was faceless, and for one fleeting moment she thought it was a Dementor.
All over the battlefield, Aurors watched with the same shock and amazement, as the being they had assumed was the Slayer executed their opponents. None of them dared to move. Tonks managed to stand up, enduring much pain with every single movement, but fell back on the floor after only a few steps. The limit release had strained every inch of her body.
"End limit release," she whispered weakly and then stayed motionless on the ground. The strong pulsing sensation slowly receded.
Over at the canal, Bellatrix looked up at the sky. As soon as she saw the faceless being flying through the air in the midst of battle, she shrieked with terror and disappeared within a cloud of black smoke.
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows with surprise. Still standing on the surface of the water, he looked at the dark figure in the sky and pointed his wand at it.
"Revelio."
In the tip of his wand appeared a cloud of blue light, with darker shades mixed into it. He took a glass vial from his robes and stored it inside with his wand. Then he looked back at the figure as it shot blast after blast of light of the same color toward his opponents and sometimes destroying, like insects, various Death Eaters with just one shot.
"The power he displays does not match his magical aura..." Dumbledore whispered analytically as he continued observing. "Interesting..."
The surviving Aurors standing in different parts of the city could only watch the being that had destroyed all the Death Eaters left on the scene - the Slayer, as they called it, going up very high into the sky, where all could see. He raised his right arm. Out of the index and middle fingers came a red beam that seemed like a normal wizard spell and it rose even higher into the sky, close to where the Death Eaters had previously cast their Dark Mark.
Gigantic scales of justice, made up of glowing, bright red light, appeared right above the green skull. Because of the color it stood out so much, the paling Dark Mark seemed small and insignificant below the new attention-seeking symbol. Wizards and muggles alike were all bathed in its red glow, like some extraordinary eclipse, and were forced to place their hands on their foreheads to see it clearly. Then its creator vanished from sight.
Tonks also watched with amazement while she lay in the same spot, next to many pits of fire and the ashes of Death Eaters. She heard someone cry out her name.
Soon, Remus Lupin was holding her lovingly against him after he had thrown himself beside her.
"How do you feel?" he asked urgently.
"Pain and exhaustion...remnants of the power," she answered with a strained voice. "I was saved by that killer..."
"We all saw, but please be quiet and don't move. Healers are on their way to the city as we speak, I will carry you -"
"I failed," she whispered miserably, her eyelids heavy.
"No, you did not," Lupin assured her softly. "You maintained the limit release all that time. It's a miracle your body endured it."
"Sort of..." Tonks replied as she winced. She tried to sit up a little, but felt a sharp pain on her side that forced her to cry out softly.
"My love, stay still, please," urged Lupin, holding her against him and softly stroking her hair. "It's over...for now."
"I'm a weakling."
"Nonsense. You are young, but not by far weak." He embraced her carefully, making sure not to harm her.
Then they heard familiar popping sounds around them; two other members of the Order of The Phoenix had Apparated. All of them displayed various wounds from the battle. Near to them, the Aurors that finally recovered from their shock proceeded to extinguish the fires with their wands, immobilize muggles in order to modify their memories, and gather the bodies of the deceased.
"This is an outrage!" growled Moody as soon as he materialized. "How could those bastards attain such power?"
"We must consult Snape," answered Lupin as he held Tonks in his arms and stood up, carrying her. "If their power increases again, next time we might not be able to do a thing."
"No difference there, really," interrupted Kingsley, his voice full of disappointment. "The Slayer won this battle, not us..."
There was an uncomfortable silence as they gazed at each other apprehensively. Then they looked up, almost simultaneously, at the glowing red scales floating on the sky above the paling Dark Mark.