{Chapter 11: Aftermath}
'Good God, what happened?' Harry Potter was used to many things, floating around in complete darkness was not one of them.
'Dueled Malvolio, got the crap kicked out of me, deliberately apparated through potentially lethal wards to get in a lucky shot…and I blacked out. DAMN! If we lost Albus will never let this go.'
"Very true." Albus' clear telepathic voice ripped through the silence.
"Albus?" Harry's mind sent out a wave of magic through the dark looking for his mentor.
"Stop. Don't strain yourself. You're on the border still. Just hang on for a few more minutes." Despite not being able to see his master's face he could all but feel the elder man's anxiety behind the calm façade.
"You gave me quite a scare." Harry latched onto the message and replied.
"Well, since you're healing me is it safe to assume we won."
"Indeed. You're little stunt almost doomed us all though. You really should thank Riddle right now."
"His little blood ritual's got me bound to earth?"
"That is my theory."
"So why can't I wake up?"
"When Malvolio lost consciousness, his spells went into a cascading explosion. Your body suffered extended exposure to the corrosive agents and was all but destroyed."
"So why can't you just give me a vial of your patented unicorn extract?"
"You don't have a digestive system at the moment, your throat is gone, and I will not risk diluting your blood with an intravenous transfusion."
"How the hell is my heart beating?"
"It isn't. Your body is in stasis at the moment and I am trying to repair your major injuries so that your magic will send you into a healing trance."
"What took you so long? I was getting slaughtered."
"I was trying to remove his army, that's why I sent you through the wood as a diversion. I left a magical prompt at the portal to let you know it was safe to enter and then I went in through a different entrance. They didn't even notice my entry into the citadel."
"So did you have any trouble?"
"Yes I did, Malvolio has an interesting apprentice."
"He give you much trouble?"
"Yes, She was undoubtedly my most difficult opponent since I dueled Tom in 1980."
"Thanks, I feel really loved now."
"Harry, you are hardly a dangerous opponent.
"That is why you had me fight Malvolio. He wouldn't see me as a threat and he would try and take me alive."
"That, your notoriously good survival rate, your improved unpredictability, and your ability to perform well under pressure were all factors."
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment?" There was silence over the link and Harry began to worry.
"Albus?"
"Harry don't try to fight this."
"Fight what? Albus what are you-" Pain ripped through his limited senses. Suppressing his urge to fight the burning force that pushed in on him from all sides causing waves of pain to slam into every fiber of his being, had Harry's mind not been shutting down from the overwhelming onslaught of sensation he would have likened the pain to being covered in lava at the bottom of the Mariana's Trench while having your blood boiled by a continuous current of electricity.
Unimaginable pain, inescapable pressure and continuous exposure, and then it ended.
Moonlight filled his vision, the feeling of cold stone, the smell the smell of burned flesh and acidic residue, the sound of heavy panting, and the taste of blood and saliva flooded his senses in the absence of the indescribable pain.
Harry snapped into a sitting position and whirled around surveying the room. Malvolio was bound in a massive stone construct. The white carrara marble that lined the room was repairing itself. The carcass of the monster he'd fought was lying in pieces in at the bottom of the massive chamber. The Cloak of Invisibility and Albus' armor sat discarded. Fawkes was lying on the ground beside him feathers dull shades of orange and grey. Albus was kneeling opposite of Fawkes wheezing in tired shuttering breathes, eyes lined with tears, blood drippled out from the side of his mouth and from his nostrils, his face looked drawn and gray, his beard was thinner and a pile of ash lay beneath a bloody stump of a shoulder.
"God Dammit Albus! What the bloody hell happened?" Harry reached for his wand only to realize it was gone. This brought about the realization that instead of his holster, pants, shirt, or even underwear he was now garbed in loosely linked rags that were comprised of charred cloth and ash that fell away from his body every time he moved, revealing more and more of his pristine unmarred skin.
'The hell?' A quick once over and he realized that his body was flawless. After grabbing his forehead with frantic fingers he realized not a single scar was on him, every mark was gone!
'What is going on?'
The sound of his mentor collapsing and the Elder Wand rattling against stone brought him out of his reverie.
"Bugger it all Albus!" Harry muttered summoning the wand to his hand and casting a diagnostic on his mentor.
'Residual exhaustion, severe atrophy of magic pathways, the left arm is missing, his fifth rib on the left is missing, cauterized necrotic flesh on right calf, depleted blood supply, exploded right kidney, punctured left lung. Dammit all Albus!'
As the results of his diagnostic poured in Harry went through the older man's pockets looking for a vial of Albus' cure-all. Finding it in the older man's hidden left hip pocket he wasted no time pouring the fluid down the elder man's throat.
Harry watched in amazement as the elixer worked it's magic before a shriek from Fawkes drew his attention. He turned just as the bird burst into flame and fell apart in incensed ashes.
"Fawkes!" running his fingers franticly through the smoldering ashes he was rewarded with a weak chirp from a small chick that lay in the nest of ashes.
With a flick of the elder wand he conjured a silk blanket with another flick he transferred the bird and ash into the blanket before wrapping the mass into a loose sling which hung loosely across his chest.
Turning back to his still healing master he held the bundle of bird and ash like it was his firstborn child.
'Why isn't his arm healing?'
After casting another diagnostic Harry frowned. Both the rib and the arm weren't healing. After trying several healing spells Harry realized the injuries were permanent.
To say permanent injuries were uncommon would be an understatement. Amongst wizards of Albus and Riddle's caliber it was a freak occurrence. There were curses that possessed no counter, but most could be overpowered by sheer force of will. The only wounds that were truly incurable were those that were caused by sacrificial acts.
The elixer finished its magic and Harry ran over the man with a fine toothcomb. Sure enough the only injuries still present on the man's body were the missing limb and rib.
"Albus you've got to wake up now." The aged warlocks blue eyes fluttered open and master and apprentice looked eyes.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Harry." Albus murmered causing Harry to smile.
"That's my line you Old Coot" Albus chuckled and grabbed Harry's wrist in a vice-like grip.
"You've got my wand, Harry"
"Bollocks"
A crunch rent the air as Harry's wrist snapped and the elder wand dropped from the teen's hand. Harry grunted in pain as he was banished into the wall of stone that the platform they sat on was attached to. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to shield Fawkes makeshift nest from impact with his body.
Taking a deep breath to get some air back in his lungs he looked up at his mentor who was now sitting up and using the Elder Wand to clean off blood soaked robes and conjure a prosthetic limb.
"I don't suppose you'll fix my wrist?" Harry ventured as he pulled himself to his bare-feet.
"That won't be necessary" Albus replied not looking up from his craftsmanship.
Harry was about to protest before he realized that indeed his wrist was already healing itself rapidly.
"That's new." Harry said absently as he looked over the now healed limb.
"It is one of the side effects." Dumbledore said as he attached the completed prosthetic to the stub of his arm.
Harry looked at his mentor trying to catch the man's eyes.
"Side effects, as in plural? Anything I need to worry about?" Albus turned away from his apprentice and looked over at Malvolio's bound form.
"No, nothing that can't wait. You should go retrieve a new wand, I left a score of guards incapacitated about seven floors up go fetch one of theirs."
Harry was about to protest being ushered away before he realized it wouldn't be a good idea to argue with a man who was just getting over the permanent loss of an arm.
"Yes Sir, I'll be back in a moment." As Harry strode up the stone stairs he thought back over the night. It had been very sobering. After being the strongest at Hogwarts, and at Grimmauld Place it was irritating to remember exactly how strong he was.
Just because he could beat a bunch of has-beens and schoolchildren didn't make him an elite Sorcerer. Against Malvolio he'd been completely outclassed. Admittedly he got in his lucky shot but had Malvolio seen him as a threat he didn't doubt for one moment that his opponent would have crushed him in under a minute.
'Damn it all! Why am I so weak?'
Of course he'd only been working with Albus since April but he had the ridiculous advantage of two time turners. How was he not stronger?
The three factors in determining someone's level: Experience(or practical skill), power, and knowledge. Albus warned him that he would be able to just leap up to Riddle's level in a few months, maybe not even for a few years. Even if he dueled Albus and studied twelve hours daily he would still be years below Riddle in all three categories. And Riddle wasn't even the strongest!
As Harry turned down a tunnel away from the circular chamber he looked at the destruction around him.
Golems were in pieces everywhere, a few dozen werewolves were plastered on the walls, massive stone spears impaled stunned and electrocuted wizards and witches against the walls, long scorched trenches were gouged the floor and walls, and frozen ice covered bodies stood in battle ready positions perfectly preserved. Ignoring the majority of the destruction Harry began looking over the wizards for an undestroyed wand before pulling one away from a frozen man's clenched fist (accidentally snapping the man's fingers off in the process.)
Turning around, Harry began jogging down the staircase to where his master waited.
It wouldn't due to leave the old sorcerer alone. He wasn't sure how Albus had managed to resurrect him, but whatever it was had done a number on both the Old Man and on the phoenix resting against his chest.
He reached Albus just as his master gave a released Malvolio a hand up.
"I take it this means we're allies now?" Harry inquired as he reached the two men.
"For better or worse." Malvolio's deep voice replied smoothly. "So you're the new apprentice? I suppose I'll get the chance to repay you for your Crucaitus on a later date."
"Of course, Sir." Harry replied calmly keeping his voice in a polite tone.
"We'll meet you in Rome on the first for Dinner." Albus said jovially causing a small smile to form across the other Mage's face.
"I look forward to it. Now, if you two gentlemen will excuse me I need to figure out how many of my troops you killed earlier, Albus. You've been keyed into the wards so you can leave when you're ready." With that said the white-garbed warlock vanished without a sound.
"So how's the treaty look?" Harry asked telepathically as he picked up the discarded invisibility clock and summoned his dagger from the corpse at the bottom of the chamber.
"Excellent, he will assist in handling the old guard once you defeat Riddle. Amazingly he also volunteered to teach you after you reach the category four power threshold." Albus replied as he began to reattach his armor.
"That's…surprising."
"Your use of the Crucaitus must have had an effect on him."
"It was the only one of the five totally unshieldable spells I know that was practical given the situation."
"It was also proof that when backed into a corner you put winning above everything else, you used a forbidden category 5 dark arts spell without hesitation because the situation called for it. To someone as Machiavellian as Malvolio de' Medici that was concrete proof he needed to see to know that you have the potential to surpass your enemies."
"Glad I didn't disappoint." Harry had folded the Cloak of Invisibility and was trying to find a pocket that he could store it in.
"You should be. He was actually rather impressed with your growth. When I showed him the memory of your graveyard duel with Riddle he was shocked at how fast you've improved. That said he still see's you as weak."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Because you know you are still years away from being truly dangerous to someone of his caliber. If I hadn't shot him in the back with a lightning bolt you would have lost."
"Would have? Albus I did lose. I was dead! Which raises the small issue of how the hell you managed to save me."
"An irrelevant question-"
"Bullshit, I've regrown over two thirds of my body mass with zero scaring. You're missing an arm and a rib, and Fawkes just had a burning day almost half a millennia ahead of schedule. So I'll ask you again: what have you done?" Without even looking at his apprentice Albus pulled a firebolt out of his pocket and tossed it over to his apprentice before pulling out a second and mounting it.
"Are you even listening to me?" Albus took off on his broom and flew skyward like a rocket.
"Hold on Fawkes" Harry muttered to the bundle hanging across his chest. After receiving a soft tweet in response he mounted the broom and flew after his maverick mentor.
Flying was something Harry never found himself becoming bored with. There was something about being through the air at almost forty meter's per second that just made him feel alive.
'No offense Fawkes but this beats fire-apparition every day of the week.'
Of course even someone as practiced as Dumbledore couldn't create a portkey that traveled over a thousand kilometers. Fawkes' most powerful asset wasn't a battle skill or even her healing abilities. Rather it was her ability to travel anywhere in an instant. Admittedly she was limited in her ability to transport people, especially through wards around enclosed spaces. It was a miracle that she'd gotten them al1 to the Island with only one stop in the middle of Sardengna.
For trips that were around one thousand kilometers there were two options: Chain apparition, repeat International Portkeys or flight.
Since chain apparition to unfamiliar locations became more difficult at longer distances, and ministry issued portkeys were obviously out of the equation, flight was the only option. As Harry flew through the air spinning like a bullet from a rifle, before blasting out of the citadel at a little over 200 kilometer's per hour he could honestly say he was pleased with their travel arrangements.
Getting a lock on his master, who was traveling north by northwest, Harry launched into pursuit.
A standard issue Firebolt was advertised as being able to reach speeds of two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. After removing the useless kick stand and a few of the less important enchantments the broom was capable of breaking the three hundred mark. As the wind blasted off small fragments of his partially incinerated battle gear, which now was tattered ashy looking pants that cut off below the knee and a shirt the only covered his left shoulder and wrapped around his stomach, Harry realized why there were speed limits on most schoolchildren's brooms. Anyone who lacked the ability to wandlessly strengthen their bodies with magic would probably go blind and bald from the wind pressure.
'Ah sweet understanding.'
Despite the frigid wind that wracked his body Fawkes, who was safely bundled against his chest, emitted waves of heat that ran down his body heating even the tips of his exposed toes.
As the wind roared by deafening his hearing Harry locked his eyes on the faraway form of his mentor. He was catching up to the aged sorcerer slowly but steadily.
'He probably isn't able to fly as fast now that he's missing an arm and a rib. Plus he's got that heavy armor on.'
There was a little over seven hundred meters between them.
'With any luck, I'll reach him before we reach the Tyrrhenian sea.'
The flight was uneventful for the longest time until the duo reached Catania at which point Harry had thrown caution to the wind and soared down to take in the sites (as much as one can when they are one hundred meters off the ground flying at three hundred kilometers per hour in the middle of the night.)
And as they left Sicily behind and tore past Filicudi and Salina Harry was only ten meters behind his mentor. It wasn't until he was that close that he realized that trying to talk to someone telepathically while both individuals were traveling at eighty-three meters per second was probably a bad idea. And so he spent the next two and a half hours of the flight performing barrel rolls, dives that brought him within an inch of the sea surface, and upside down ascents that would have ripped the wings of any pilot foolish enough to attempt them. As they blasted over Sanremo at five fifty five Greenwich Mean Time Harry was more then ready to stop flying.
Luckily they were in an area that allowed Albus to give Harry an accurate idea of the coordinates for the next few legs of the trip: Sanremo to Lyon. Lyon to Paris. Paris to Bristol. And finally, Bristol to Hogsmeade.
Six thirty found a tired barefoot ragged Harry Potter, an exhausted Albus Dumbledore and a chirping Fawkes in the Headmasters office.
"So…" Harry began sending out a telepathic message.
" Our total casualties? An arm, rib, one extremely awesome coat, one suit of body armor, one pair of boots, one pair of gloves, one wand, my infamous scar, and about ten years off the end of my life. Did I miss anything?"
Albus, who was removing his armor, nodded absently.
"That is a fair evaluation."
"Excellent then on to business." Harry replied walking around the office and placing the small sleeping phoenix chick and the bundle of ash on the golden fireproof roost.
"Business?" Albus' bemused tone flitted through Harry's head and the teen turned to lock eyes with the Warlock.
"Yes, business. Like what it was you did to bring me back from the dead."
Albus' face hardened.
"Harry you really do not want to know."
"Oh, no. I think I do. I really think I do."
Occulmency is an obscure branch of magic. And like most of the branches of magic there are very few true masters of the practice. A little known fact about Occulmeny known only to the masters of the art was that the original purpose of the practice wasn't self defense. No, Occulmency was originally a trap that drew someone who made eye-contact into the user's mind and then sealed the victim in an inescapable world where they would live a life constructed of memories both real and counterfeit until they were released. If the victim escaped they would usually loose their minds and be reduced to a perpetually confused state stuck between reality and the occluded world they'd been trapped in. That said, Albus Dumbledore was a master Occlemens and when he realized Harry wouldn't cease until he knew the truth he yielded and pulled the curious teen into his mind forcing the boy to live through the event from the perspective of Albus Dumbledore:
Lightning flies from my wand tip and strikes the Medici at the base of his skull. I didn't hold back, but I need not worry, something so weak couldn't possible kill him. I know he's fallen unconscious when the spell cascade collapses in a massive series of explosions. Usually an uncontrolled outburst like that wouldn't be cause for concern but Harry has probably fallen unconscious and that means that he can't avoid the corrosive, smoldering smoke that Malvolio's creations typically produce. I bolt down the stairs, transforming the stone around the Prince of Medici into a prison, locking his body in place. As I run down the steps I use a whip of fire to carve strengthening, and magic draining schemes into the stone construct. As I transform and banish the smoke away while running towards Harry's form I feel my stomach clench in anxiousness. When the smoke clears Harry Potter is almost gone. Fawkes appears beside me in a burst of flame illuminating Harry's injuries for my viewing pleasure:
Skin gone, bones burning away, all the muscles and organs of his upper left abdomen melted together in a soup, brain exposed to the world behind the disfigured remains of his skull. No matter how many horrors I saw back at the fall of Grindelwald I never became numb to the sights and smells of carnage, even as I clean the disfigured corpse and put a stasis charm into place I feel my body shaking in revulsion. I can feel it faintly, Harry's tired confused consciousness barely there just outside . I can only postulate that Riddle's new body must be acting as a tether for Harry. Regardless of how, he's alive so I can save him still.
I begin throwing off my armor as I send out a tendril of my consciousness looking for my renegade student.
"…DAMN! If we lost Albus will never let this go." His thoughts are faint but they are there. I just need to keep him thinking and on the edge where I can pull him back.
"Very true." I send out my reply to his thoughts as I begin carving the schematic for the blood, bone, and flesh transfer.
"Albus?" I feel him send out his already weak consciousness in search of me.
"Stop! Don't strain yourself. You're on the border still. Just hang on for a few more minutes." As I finish quelling my reckless apprentice I realize that I don't have the magic to bring him back. I can't believe it! The pair of us just defeated the most powerful sorcerer in Mediterranean and I'm not strong enough to perform this ritual? It's ridiculous!
Fawkes lets out a loud cry and I look at my companion who has leapt atop Harry's waist and is bobbing her head between his and her chest.
"Fawkes are you mad? Cross-species transfer will probably kill…him." Of course, I should have seen it. If he is still alive now even when his heart is gone and his blood is dust of course he can survive the transfer! He's legally dead as it is. Even if it doesn't work I'll be able to try something else.
As I alter the schema to incorporate Fawkes blood and magic I begin speaking to Harry again.
"You gave me quite a scare." Harry latched onto the message and replied.
"Well, since you're healing me is it safe to assume we won."
"Indeed. You're little stunt almost killed us all though. You really should thank Riddle right now."
"His little blood ritual's got me bound to earth?"
"That is my hypothesis."
"So why can't I wake up?"
"When Malvolio lost consciousness, his spells went into a cascading explosion. Your body suffered extended exposure to the corrosive agents and was all but destroyed."
"So why can't you just give me a vial of your patented unicorn extract?" I almost chuckle, only Harry would be so casual about drinking a unicorn's life force.
"You don't have a digestive system at the moment, your throat is gone, and I will not risk diluting your blood with an intravenous transfusion."
"How the hell is my heart beating?"
"It isn't. Your body is in stasis at the moment and I am trying to repair your major injuries so that your magic will send you into a healing trance."
"What took you so long? I was getting slaughtered."
"I was trying to remove his army, that's why I sent you through the wood as a diversion. I left a magical prompt at the portal to let you know it was safe to enter and then I went in through a different entrance. They didn't even notice my entry into the citadel."
"So did you have any trouble?" I briefly recall dodging one thousand silver javelins, and a storm of iced fire.
"Yes I did, Malvolio has an interesting pupil."
"He give you much trouble?"
"Yes, She was undoubtedly my most difficult opponent since I last dueled Tom in 1980."
"Thanks, I feel really loved now." I can almost see his indignant face as his voice flits through my mind.
"Harry, you are hardly a dangerous opponent."
"That is why you had me fight Malvolio. He wouldn't see me as a threat and he would try and take me alive." While Harry speaks I cut Fawkes on her chest and dark scarlet black blood flows freely from her chest onto Harry's fresh corpse.
"That, your notoriously good survival rate, your improved unpredictability, and your ability to perform well under pressure were all factors." As I finish my reply I mark out my arm and rib for the sacrafice.
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment?"
I nod to Fawkes who begins pouring out magic that almost looks like a gold mist.
"Albus?" I can here the worry in his voice, and I pass my final warning as I feel the ritual latch onto my rib and crawl up my arm.
"Harry don't try to fight this."
Pain cripples me as my rib burns away inside my body, my mind freezes as the agony of my arm disintegrating overpowers my senses. I can't see, I can't hear, and I can't feel anything but pain as my magic tears away from my body.
The memory warped and Harry fell to the floor of Dumbledore's office.
"Any questions?" Albus' telepathic words pierced Harry's muddled mind.
"Yeah, what were the side effects you mentioned earlier tonight?" Harry replied pulling himself to his feet as he massaged away the headache he knew was coming.
Albus smiled benignly.
"Regeneration, perhaps a better grasp of pyrokinetic magic, far more effective skill apparating through wards."
"Sounds great, what are the negatives?"
Albus was quiet for a moment.
"You probably lost your ability to be an animagus. Given your heritage it was almost assured you would be able to gain the skill. I didn't mention this before but your father and grandfather gained secondary forms. Like metamorphs, animagi usually are usually from pureblood families who married other people with complimentary traits that would accommodate the skill."
"That's why Nymphadora is a metamorph! The Black's were capable metamorphism but they weren't expressing the trait because it was in conflict with some other trait and when when Andromeda married Ted Tonks the trait was expressed!"
"That is the hypothesis."
"So since I've got my blood mixed with Fawkes' I may not express the ability to become an animagus?"
"That's about the size of it." Harry let out a loud sigh.
"Well, that's a relief. I thought for a second you'd say I was going to start having seizures, become a hemophiliac or that my bone density was going to become nonexistent."
Albus raised an eyebrow.
"You are taking this rather well? I would have thought you would be a bit miffed."
Harry shrugged.
"For all we know my mother could have covered the trait. Besides, I need to get stronger fast and while the ability to turn into an animal at will would be useful I don't really have the time to waste learning to turn into something that probably won't help me against category four and five Sorcerers."
"You are really growing up aren't you?" Albus replied with a wane smile on his face.
"Guess you're wearing off on me Old Man." Harry said stretching out.
"It's seven twenty already? I'm going to bed." Albus raised an eyebrow.
"What about your classes? You can't just skip them." Harry smirked.
"Sure I can what are they going to do give me detention? Besides I took the N.E.W.T. tests last week. I don't have to go to school anymore."
"Don't Smirk Harry your-"
"Face will get stuck like that." Harry finished causing Albus to sigh tiredly
"You will be the death of me."
"Not funny."
"Still I suppose a sick day wouldn't be a bad idea."
"I died and you lost an arm. I think that's worth a day off as long as we aren't in a combat zone."
"Very true Harry. Get some sleep. I will see you in fourteen hours for dinner."
"Rest easy. Albus, Fawkes." Harry turned and walked out the door. Albus leaned back in his chair and smiled before looking at Fawkes and asking aloud:
"I wonder when he will remember that today is a Sunday."
