By David Mycock The Darkest Road 13

Walking the Path

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the vampire slayer or any other of the characters in this story they belong to Joss Whedon and whoever else created the characters used in this story. Any characters I created I own.

Pairing: Janna Kalderdash/Xander Harris (There will be other relationships in this story but this is the main one)

Summary: Xander and his friends continue their journey before finally heading to the Romany clans to challenge for control of the Lavelle Clan and finding answers to long buried secrets.

(Hogwarts)

Harry smiled as he arrived at the castle he had last seen three and a half months ago just before he had been sent to Azkaban, he looked to where Cole and Prue stood looking at the near by walls where the magical paintings were all shouting out their hellos in amazement

"Welcome to Hogwarts" he said to them "Welcome to my home" he added as Gabrielle, Susan and Hermione just smiled and began looking around noticing Alexander, Lilith, Sirius and Dumbledore coming towards them all of them were smiling

"We did it, the castle is ours" Sirius yelled feeling better than he had since he had escaped Azkaban and more confident they could actually defeat Voldemort and his army

"Status?" Harry asked

"All of the mini deatheaters we know of have been captured and transported out of the castle to saint Mungo's as we planned" Dumbledore answered "However it is possible there are others amongst the student population" he warned

"Don't worry about that Professor, once Alice and the others return from locking the ministry building down we are going to convene the whole school and make them do a magical oath if they don't they will be forced to leave the castle" Harry responded "And before you say anything we can't afford for there to be a spy in here with us" he added at the look on the old mans face which clearly told him he did not agree with this

"Sadly I am forced at agree with you Harry, I just wish it was not necessary" Dumbledore said as he remembered what his belief in people had already cost them and Harry in particular

"I know me either" Harry sighed before getting back to business "What about those ministry teachers?" he asked

"We sent them to the hospital as well" Xander replied "We don't really have the people to take care of prisoners" he added "Did you see Umbridge at the ministry?" he asked "She escaped and we all assumed she went there" he added noticing Harry's darkening look and the concerned one the three girls shared between themselves

"She cast a cruio on Alice and I sent two cutting curses at her and one of them made her fall down the stairs she was on" Harry replied "She broke her neck in the fall" he added but again refused to feel sorry for it when he considered everything she had done to other people

"What about Fudge?" Xander inquired not even bothering to ask how he felt about it having gone through the same thing when he had taken a life

"He's under arrest until this is over where he will be tried by the people for his crimes, with the ministry locked down no one can get him out" Hermione answered as Harry began to walk away obviously wanting some space "A house elf will feed him so he doesn't starve and the elf will have orders not to let him out" she added not liking using an elf but knowing no one else could be spared right now

"Is he going to be alright?" Prue asked as she watched her new friend walk off

"He will be, he is not upset about what happened to Umbridge but the closer we get to the final battle the more nervous he is going to get" Gabrielle answered "Taking Fudge down has lifted a huge weight off of him but the main one still remains and he knows it is going to take everything he has to win" she stated with a sad smile

They looked up as Amelia, Moody, Alice and Remus arrived by portkey, all looking quite pleased with themselves. Alice quickly looked around and noticed Harry was missing

"Where is Harry?" she asked

"He needs some space and I would guess he's gone to the room of requirement so he's not disturbed for a bit" Hermione answered "He'll want to talk to someone in a bit I know he will" she added

"Well until then I suspect we better lock down the school until we are ready to invite Voldemort here" Dumbledore said gaining the attention of the others who nodded and began to break into groups

(Riddle Manor)

Voldemort looked up as Lucius all but ran into the gathering looking very worried, every deatheater in attendance watched as he came to a stop and began to try and speak before dropping to his knees in pain as the dark lord Cruioed him for his disrespect

"Do not forget your place Lucius now what is it you want to say?" Voldemort warned him before asking what was wrong

"Yes my lord" Lucius gasped "My lord Potter has toppled the government and retaken Hogwarts" he reported "My son and nearly ever other junior member of our organisation was sent to saint Mungo's" he added knowing this was not going to go down well

"How did this happen?" Voldemort asked in a dangerous tone

"He somehow go the people on his side, so far I have not been able to find out how" Lucius replied knowing he was close to be killed for his latest failure "It is possible with all the information that was leaked about Fudge's corrupt dealings and his crackdowns on the people they were just ripe for Potter to convince them to help him" he speculated

Voldemort closed his eyes and tried desperately to open to the link to the boy so he could find out how he had managed to do this but as before there was no response. He felt a terrible rage begin to burn inside him as he realised his plans were beginning to fall apart mostly because of the stupidity of his followers and the luck of Harry Potter

"I want you to find out how he managed this" he finally ordered "I then want you to find out how many of our junior members are still at Hogwarts and once that is done I want it made clear they are to capture Potter and bring him here no matter what it takes is that understood" he added with narrowed eyes

"Yes my lord at once" Lucius responded nodding in understanding as did most of the other deatheaters who quickly scattered to get out of the room before Voldemort lost his temper including Lucius

Voldemort watched them go and growled in hate as he thought over what he had just learned, damn Potter and damn that old man Dumbledore who of course must have helped. He had to start planning an attack soon before Potter could turn his attention to trying to get any help from the other magic races.

He knew all of his junior deatheaters at Hogwarts who had been in Slytherin house would have been found but he doubted they knew about his followers in the other houses, as usual most people always suspected those in the snake house and that was just the way he liked it because he allowed his other followers to operate without been watched go closely and were more useful for spying.

(Other Realm)

Cassandra was quite pleased to see the successful operations and was even more pleased to see Hogwarts back in the right hands, these had both been huge steps in finally been ready to fight Voldemort and his army. Alexander and Harry had been very good in their roles as leaders and it would do them both well for the future to know they had what it takes to be a leader because they had to know their roads would not end with Voldemort or Radrik.

No neither was stupid enough to believe their journeys would truly end there; another would just start as with all people. Still the more confidence they had in their abilities the better for any future adventures they would have.

"They both did well" Tanith said breaking her train of thought "Granted I think Harry could have reacted without killing Umbridge but still he led a very successful operation" he mused

"Harry did not intend to kill Umbridge Tanith" Cassandra shot back a little annoyed with how that had sounded "I was not surprised by his fast reaction to Alice been cursed" she added "Umbridge did not cast a stunning spell or some other useless spell but the same curse that put her and her husband in the hospital for fifthteen years" she reminded him "She got what she deserved and had she survived the war she would be standing along side Fudge in been judged by the people and considering what she has done to children as well as other people I would not be surprised if she was given the death sentence" she finished

"I have to agree, she has numerous crimes to her name Tanith" Jonas said to his fellow power "Once the people leaned what kind of woman she really was they would have wanted her dead, this way she has got off easy" he continued "And I agree with Cassandra it was not Harry's intent to kill Umbridge when he fired his spells at her but to stop the assault on Alice a woman he is beginning to trust and grow close to as it should be considering she is his godmother" he went on

Tanith could not help but acknowledge these points and he had to remind himself once again this was a war they were in and deaths were to be expected.

"You are correct I once again forgot just what it is they are involved in" he said with a shake of his head "And I agree Harry did not intend to kill just to wound" he added

"In war Tanith nothing is certain" their lord finally spoke up "No plan goes without a hitch, no one comes out of it without been changed in some way" he reminded them all "Harry is not in this for revenge, if he had another option he would not even kill those who are against him but he knows they will not rest until he and everyone of his friends are dead and so he does what he has to ensure their safety" he continued "Umbridge chose her path long ago and she never felt remorse for her actions and her last act was to try and cause pain on another human being, Harry acted to protect his godmother and sadly for him his actions caused her death but Harry knows had she lived and escaped she would hurt someone else just because she likes hurting others so he does not feel the pain of having caused her death" he explained "Before this is over all of them will have most likely been forced to take a life but they do this to protect as have others all the way through time and will do in the future as long as our war continues to wage" he stated

The others could only nod their help knowing their lord was correct in everything he had said, many of the wars fought on earth were due to the war between the higher powers and the lower powers and would not end until there was finally a winner. In the silence that followed they are turned back to the viewing pool and watched as Neville was called to the headmasters office

(Hogwarts)

Harry, Alice, Frank and Augusta looked up as Neville entered the headmaster's office looking slightly nervous. He gave his grandmother a quick hug but he did recognise his parents as they were still wearing the glamour's they had put on.

"Neville it's good to see you again" Harry said with a smile at his friend "I hear you've led the D.A very well in my absence" he added

"No one else wanted the job and seen as I was part of the group you chose to take to headquarters to train it was decided by Luna and Hannah I should lead" Neville said in reply feeling proud Harry though he had done a good job

"Neville I've asked you here because just before I launched these attacks I led another mission to saint Mungo's to try and heal your parents" Harry finally said after a few minutes silence shocking Neville "Leo and his friends are whitelighters and they have the ability to heal and so I asked them to try, Neville they were successful" he added with a smile even as he fought his own emotions and ignoring the wishful thinking someone could do this for him

"What?" Neville asked completely shocked before turning to his grandmother and the two strangers who smiled at him as they put their wands to their faces and cancelled their glamour's

Neville's face took on a very shocked expression almost unable to believe his parents were standing in front of him before he began crying as he was swept into a hug by his mother and joined a second later by his father.

"I'll leave you to get to know each other" Harry said in a pained voice that was not missed by Alice and also did not miss the longing look on her godson's face before he left the office but for now she had to focus on her son and see what kind of person he had become in their absence.

Harry found Sirius and Remus waiting for him near the entrance to the headmaster's office

"How did it go Harry?" Remus inquired both he and Sirius noticed the look on Harry's face before he schooled his features to show a more focused look

"Better than expected, I guess we won't see them for a bit" Harry replied battling his longing to see his own parents and knowing it was not possible "Come on we better go and see if there are any other deatheaters in this school" he said as he led them towards the great hall

"Are you alright Harry?" Sirius asked is godson knowing that must have been hard on him and reminded him of what he had lost

"I will be Sirius I will be" Harry responded surprising them both that he had given an honest answer instead of his standard 'I'm Fine'

They entered the great hall to find it full, Harry paused as he began to feel uneasy and he stopped walking followed a second later by his two companions

"What's wrong Harry?" Remus whispered

"I don't know but I feel uneasy" Harry replied looking around at the faces of his fellow students noticing Ron's face near Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Zacharias Smith and Cormac Mclaggen and felt a hard shiver run down his spine something was very wrong here as he looked from Mclaggen to Smith and noted their faces were looking at him in anger "Watch those four" he ordered as he began to walk to the front of the hall once again

As he passed the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables Smith, Mclaggen and Corner pulled out their wands and began firing spells at him, Remus and Sirius. Harry fell as he was hit in the leg with what must have been a bone crushing hex as it felt as if his left leg had been broken, Sirius was hit with a stunner but Remus managed to get a shield up and fire back hitting Mclaggen in the face with his own stunner.

Harry managed ignore the pain from his leg as he noticed Corner crawling towards him with something in his other hand as he shot off spells with his wand, he knew it had to be a portkey and he had a very good idea where it would take him. Focusing on the situation he launched spell after spell at Corner as the rest of the hall finally seemed to wake up from their shock at the attack and began to help even as seven more students began to attack them, Corner was finally taken down from behind by a very angry Ginny Weasly and Harry knew why she had dated him before been forced out of Hogwarts by Umbridge's takeover.

She knelt next to him as Gabrielle and Susan joined her at his side as the fight began to die down, he looked around and noticed Sirius was once again awake and firing spells at Ron and Terry who were both glassy eyed and obviously under the imperious curse, finally they fell to the floor as the twins Fred and George managed to sneak up behind them and take them down with stunners. Silence settled over the hall as everyone watched as those who had attacked them were bound in ropes and portkeyed out of the school as the others had been.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked as Hermione joined them looking very annoyed as she looked down at Ron who was slowly coming round and looking very confused at what had happened

"Better get me to the hospital wing my leg is broke" he replied as he leaned back against the floor "Headmaster please make sure no one leaves this hall before they give their magical binding oath they are not working against us" he ordered as Sirius used his wand to make him float

"Of course" Dumbledore answered seeing again how right Harry had been to demand such a thing as he watched Sirius float his godson to the hospital wing followed by the four girls and Madam Pomfrey

He turned back to the hall and began to explain a little about what was going on before telling them that if they did not make the oath they would be forced to leave the school until the war was over. As one the remaining students and teachers gave their magical oaths that they were not working against them or deatheaters. Satisfied Dumbledore clapped his hand and a feast arrived and he sat down and watched as everyone took seats and began to eat, he noticed Ron and Terry were both looking very angry at what they had been forced to do

(Other Realm)

"That was close" Jonas said with a shake of his head "Had Harry been captured the whole thing would have been for nothing" he added

"True but Harry was not captured, he knew something was wrong he felt it helped by Hogwarts herself" their lord said "Not that he realised she was helping him, so few of them know the castle has sentience anymore, that she is alive through the magic of the founders" he added with a smile "But Harry will learn this fact very soon because for this fight I am sure Hogwarts will gift him the use of the sword he pulled from the sorting hat in his second year" he told the others

"The sword of Godric Gryffindor my lord?" Tanith inquired with a surprised expression

"Yes, nearly ever wizard is taught how to use a sword and Harry has been trained to fight with a sword by Alexander and his friends" their lord replied "Voldemort himself also knows how to use a sword and I believe it is possible they will rely on such things as they both know when it comes to their wands neither can truly win without evoking priori incantatem and see as Voldemort has lost to Harry twice in such circumstances I would not be surprised to see him resort to a sword thinking he would be better trained than Harry is such things" he added thoughtfully

"I agree my lord" Cassandra spoke up "Voldemort would not suspect Harry to have been trained in such a way" she added "Still I am sure Harry will be shocked when the castle makes her presence known to him" she said with a smile which was shared by the others before they focused once more on the viewing pool

(Hogwarts)

Xander walked out of the castle followed by Crow, Wilson, Blake, Moody, Frank, Tonks, Shacklebolt and Alucard, they were going to set up the traps for the coming fight. The large field was good enough for a pitched battle Alucard told them as they got to work knowing it would take some time, Xander looked back to the castle knowing at this moment the Goblins, Veela, Vampires, Werewolves and the witches and wizards who had volunteered to help them and given their magical oath were now arriving and setting up their camps.

They were all so close now to the fight and Xander was beginning to feel the same as Harry as they both knew they would be two of the main leaders of this fight. Intense training was now taking place within the castle and would continue until tomorrow when Harry with the help of the charmed ones would send a message through astral projection to Voldemort baiting him to come and fight them. He closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer they would come through this without loosing too many of their forces before getting back to work

Inside the castle Harry was speaking with Ragnok and Aria about strategy for the coming fight, he was interested in their idea of hiding a flanking force in the forbidden forest which would attack once the battle had begun. He was also thinking of visiting the Centaurs In an hour or two and see if he could convince them to aid them as well before dismissing the idea because he knew from his past meetings with them they held very little regard for any witch or wizard bar Firenze

As soon as the traps were set and the next day dawned he would send contact Voldemort through astral projection thanks to the Halliwell sisters powers and goad him into bringing his army to Hogwarts and attacking then where Dobby and his fellow house elves would lock them in with the anti travelling wards they had secured in a raid led by Moody and Shacklebolt.

(Riddle Manor next day)

Voldemort looked up his death eaters gathered in his chamber to report on what they had found out, he frowned as Lucius, Mcnair, Rudolphus, and Snape came forward very nervously

"Well what have you found out" he growled "Report" he snapped in no mood for their fear of his actions

"My lord it seems Potter performed a magical oath to convince the people of your return" Snape said with a sneer "They know now the truth, he got the better of Fudge who has not been seen since the ministry fell, it is in lockdown at the moment and no one can get in" he continued "Hogwarts is also in a lockdown, there is no way inside that in know off that is not covered by the castle's defences" he reported

Before anyone else could speak or Voldemort could reply a person seemed to appear in front of the dark lord, a person Voldemort recognised without question. He pulled his wand and cast the killing curse but it went straight through the figure

"That wasn't very nice Tom" Harry said with a smile "I come to visit you and you try and kill me where are your manners?" he asked his smile widening

"What do you want Potter?" he asked "Why have you come before me?" he asked a second later

"I am here to challenge you and your so called army to come to Hogwarts and fight us" Harry answered "Unless of course you're afraid of an under aged wizard and a prophecy which was given by a fraud?" he asked as he turned to look at the assembled deatheaters "Snape you will pay for my parents death I promise you that" he growled upon seeing the former potions professor

"Arrogant child" Snape sneered in response "You are delusional if you believe you can best the dark lord" he added

"I don't really care anymore I just want this over with one way or the other" Harry said facing Voldemort again "You say you are the heir or Slytherin correct?" he asked

"That is so Potter what of it?" he asked wondering where the boy was going with his question

"Then know this I am the heir of Gryffindor, I found out after returning to Hogwarts" Harry told him "This puts a new edge to our fight Tom, so now it comes down to which vision of Hogwarts will survive Salazar's or Godric's" he continued knowing by the look of the dark lord's face he was been very successful in angering him even though he was lying though his teeth about been the heir of Gryffindor

"And what proof do you have of this Potter?" Voldemort asked a little sceptical of this claim even as he worried he might be true

"This" Harry said as he lifted a sword into view and Voldemort's eyes narrowed as he saw it was the legendary sword of Godric Gryffindor itself an artefact that he had long searched for "Now are you and your so called army up to a fight or are you all really the cowards we believe you are?" he asked

"Lucius assemble my army we march on Hogwarts at noon" Voldemort ordered incensed by the boy's attitude as well as making sure he did not look like he was unsure what to do next

"But my lord" Lucius tried to object before been sent to the floor with a powerful cutting curse to his leg

"Do not question me get my army prepared to march" he hissed "As for you boy I accept your challenge and I will take great pleasure in finally killing you and all those who follow you no matter how small that number is" he added not believing for an instant that any one would have joined the order and the ones that the first wanted killed

Snape and the other deatheaters quickly ran off the rally the dark lord's allies for the coming battle leaving Voldemort to stare at the image of Potter

"This fight will end only one way Tom with my death or your own I don't care which I just want this to end" Harry said in an honest voice

"And so it will Harry so it will" Voldemort promised before leaving the chamber to prepare for the battle to come again not believing for an instant that the boy or any of his friends had found a way to counter the spell which kept him from truly been killed

(Hogwarts)

Harry breathed deeply as he felt the spell which had sent his astral projection to Voldemort end and he looked around with a smile at those who were standing in the hall with him

"Well did it work?" Xander inquired

"It did, he and his army will be here at noon and as close to it as possible" Harry replied

"He may turn up early so we better make sure we don't get court by surprise" Moody growled

"Good point set up watches for next four hours Amelia" Harry said after realising Moody was correct Voldemort might try and get the jump on them

"Get everyone prepared for the fight, we need as many potions as we can use before Voldemort turns up" Xander ordered to the assembled group

They all nodded and quickly broke up to begin the preparations for the coming fight, Xander joined Harry at the great doors to the school and watched as the soon continued to climb as the day truly began. Harry placed his sword tip first into the ground and knelt next to it and began to pray, Xander joined him a few seconds later and soon after that nearly everyone else no matter who they were joined them praying to whatever power they believed in for the right to claim victory.

(Other Realm)

Cassandra smiled as she felt the prayers of Alexander and Tara run through her as did her lord who felt them also, the battle was soon to begin and then they would find out how this war would end.

"Stay safe Alexander and hold the line" she whispered

(Hogwarts)

Xander smiled as he heard Cassandra's voice in his head and noticed Tara was smiling as well, he stood joined by the others who were all looking at him and Harry

"Hold the line" He cried raising his sword into the air

His cry was taken up first by Harry and them by the entire force they had assembled as they allowed their belief in their cause to fill them and make them believe they could win