I apologize for the delay but illness has plagued my family for the last few weeks.
Edited by the mighty pazed!
Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!
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Chapter 21
Voldemort's head snapped around in rapid movements as he tried to take in the absolute chaos the night had become. First to the series of explosions and screams hidden from view deep within the boundaries of the forbidden forest, then to the newly headless corpse of his second in command, as it slumped forward onto its knees then fell chest first onto the ground with a liquid sounding 'splut'.
His eyes next chased the bounding green skinned troll as it carried its partner ever faster, only to take to the air with a mighty leap that carried the both of them across the entirety of the lake and into the mountains beyond.
His head sprang back to the gathered group of Death Eaters as he felt something wet splash across him, only to see Macnair's executioner axe fall from his now deceased fingers as his body began to fall, sans head.
A shrill whistle brought his attention back to the group, as a slender shaft fell among them, and erupted into a hail of sparks shooting out in random directions, dropping his faithful to the ground in a boneless mass whenever they found their mark.
Anger gripped him, his head swung toward the young man that stood smiling at him behind a shield banded in red and white and topped with a white star on a field of blue in the center, who was smiling widely at him.
"Something the matter Tom?" he asked quizzically. "Or did you just expect me to roll over and play dead?"
"POTTER!" he yelled as he pushed off the ground gathering his feet under him. "You will pay for this! Kill Him!" he roared, brandishing his wand wildly.
"I think they are a touch busy Tom," he said gesturing to the few remaining Death Eaters, that were now engaged in hand to hand combat with the Star Spangled Avenger.
"What?" He turned back toward the teen. "What have you done Potter?"
"I evened the odds Tom!" he replied, as he intercepted Voldemort's next spell with the shield, sending it flying into the sky.
Tony wheeled in the air, watching as the missiles impacted. "Count?"
"Positive impact on ten targets, Sir." said the cultured voice of JARVIS. "Six of which are currently ablaze."
Tony grumbled. "Payload?"
"We currently have enough for one more such pass," the AI responded.
Tony shook his head. "Okay, keep them ready, just in case… What say we keep their attention on us?" he asked raising his hands and triggering his repulsors, "And off of Spitfire."
"Indeed sir!" JARVIS agreed, as another of the targets lined in red on the heads up display disappeared to a sword in the hand of a blur of gold.
Hermione heaved the unconscious body of the mountain troll above her head in one fluid motion and sent it careening into one of its brethren, a wild smile on her face, pausing for the briefest of moments before charging towards her next target.
The ground shook under a mighty impact, sending her stumbling, as a deafening roar filled the night air. Glancing in the direction of her companion's cry, she saw him silhouetted against the full moon, arms outstretched in the midst of his roar, while at his feet lay a felled giant.
Her smile widened as she turned back to the trolls who now seemed to cower away from them. "Payback is a bitch!"
Clint loosed another arrow that impacted one of the Death Eaters below. "Why didn't you just kill him?" he asked.
Natasha adjusted her rifle, her head raised so she could keep an eye on the battle raging below. "For the same reason Steve didn't take him on and leave the others to us and Harry… He needs to do this."
Clint looked down at her, even as he released another shaft. "I thought you didn't buy into that prophecy stuff."
She chucked as she made an adjustment to her scope. "Not a bit. This has nothing to do with that. He needs to do this for himself, for his own piece of mind he needs to be the one to put this particular demon to rest."
Clint nodded; if there was anyone that understood the need to put something like that behind them it was Natasha.
Voldemort fumed as he went into a flurry of movement, casting spells with a speed that staggered imagination, only to be thwarted as each spell splashed or rebounded after hitting the seemingly impervious shield the boy held.
"I will kill you Potter!" he spat as he pulled his wand away from the barrage and cast a spell towards the lake. "If you can change the odds, so can I!" he yelled.
Harry's eyes went wide as he watched the surface of Black Lake begin to boil. "I do not know what has become of my faithful within the castle but we prepared for your return!"
It took a moment for his mind to make sense of what he was seeing, as shambling mounds began to move forward out of the water towards them.
"Inferi!" Harry said under his breath, as Voldemort's mad cackle filled the air.
"Indeed!" He laughed, as his attention turned back. "However that is just the beginning!" Voldemort said as he sent his Dark Mark into the sky.
A loud chittering came from the far edge of the forest as gigantic spiders began to pour out by the hundreds.
"Before this night is over you and your friends will all be dead, Potter!" the madman chortled as he renewed his assault, "I was going to end your life quickly, painlessly, but now I will watch as the acromantula and inferi tear you limb from limb!"
Hawkeye's eyes widened as he saw the events unfold below. "What the hell are those things?" he asked no one in particular as he nocked another arrow, and sent it sailing towards the mass of spiders.
"Harry said Inferi… zombies!" Hermione replied. "Burn them!" She grunted in effort as she spoke. "The Hulk… he's still fighting two of the giants! And I've got my hands full with these trolls! I can't get back!"
Natasha racked another round into her rifle and fired again as Steve's voice came over the coms. "Keep fighting, just get back as soon as you can. Tony? I hope you have some of those missiles left! Spitfire! Pull back, let them come to the clearing around the school Nat you back her up, I don't know what a headshot will do to a Vampire, but it's got to slow them down!"
"Roger," Natasha said shifting her position. "Fire? Bring them out next to the caretaker's house on the far side from the lake."
"On my way!" said the woman's voice. "Just try not to shoot me!"
"Clint!" said Cap, "Do what you can to hold off those spiders!"
"On it!" he said, as he thumbed the selector for his next arrow head, nocking it quickly and letting loose the explosive payload. "I've only got three of those left!"
"Noted! Tony! Get over here!" Steve grunted as he smashed his fist into another of the masked Death Eaters. "They are going to overwhelm us if you don't hurry!"
The scream of the Ironman suit's boot jets roared overhead as if in answer. "Keep your shorts on Rogers!" said Tony as he began to fire his repulsors at the mass of figures rising from the depths of the lake. "Alien invasions… Magic… Zombies… Hammer Horror and Giant Mutant Spiders! I had no idea my life was going to become so insane!"
"Welcome to my life!" grumbled Harry, as he weathered the barrage behind Cap's shield. "Ok… Fine! ENOUGH!" he yelled flinging the shield toward Voldemort, whose hastily cast shield spell sent it rebounding towards his actual target, Captain America's outstretched hand.
"I thought you wanted to destroy me with your own hand, Tom!" he yelled as his own wand sprang into his hand, and the first of his own barrage began. "Bombarda!"
Voldemort spun away from the curse, a rictus smile on his face. "You are defenseless now Potter! Without your silly shield! I admit I am impressed that you found something that could withstand my killing curse. You were a fool to throw it away!"
Even as he said the words, he began to realize something was different about this duel. The boy had always been quick, quick enough that in time he may have been able to become a great dueler, but now he was blindingly fast! His wand tip the smallest of blurs hidden by his longer sleeves!
"Avada Kedavra!" Tom yelled.
As Harry's chain of spells reached its end with a cry of "Expelliarmus!"
The magic of the two wands impacted in mid flight and exploded into a cascade of white light that filled the air surrounding them and burst into a pyre towards the heavens.
"There! Strider! That must be the sign my Uncle spoke of!" said the man sitting astride the pure white pegasus, dressed as a knight. "We must make haste!"
In two short strides the winged horse had taken to the air.
"You can not win Potter!" yelled Voldemort over the howl of wind around them. "No matter how much you may wish it! I have gone farther down the pathways of immortality than any other! I will never be defeated!"
Harry didn't answer, he just continued to push back against the magical force, keeping all of his focus on that single point. He smiled as the ball where their magic met began to slide slowly towards Voldemort.
Voldemort growled internally, he wished he had never listened to the rumors of the Elder wand! In the end it had turned out to be nothing but another story. If only he had spent the time finding another wand that had worked as well as his! Then this issue of the same wand cores would no longer be an issue!
He watched in disbelief as the mass of energy moved towards him, slowly true, but it was moving. His focus narrowed and the motion stopped. He would not lose to a mere boy!
Tony wheeled in the sky, lining up for a run across the mass of wet flesh that Jarvis predicted would be the most effective. "Alright here it goes, people! Legolas I'll be swinging your way after my run, I'll give the spiders a shot of my Uni-beam and try and help push them back into the forest!"
"Roger!" said a voice over his helmet speaker.
"Let's do this Jarvis, one pass over those… Things. Then all power to the Uni-beam, just leave enough for flight and directional control."
"As you wish sir!" said the voice of his AI. "Sir, I must warn you, however, that this action may well damage the focusing lens above your Arc Reactor rendering the Uni-beam inoperable."
"I know that JARVIS," Tony said as the last of the missiles left their launchers, heading towards their targets below. "But we need to buy some time!"
"Understood! Diverting power now," the voice said. "Ten seconds till you reach critical mass on your Arc Reactor sir."
"Calculate best firing line, and project it on the HUD," Tony ordered. "Fire on my mark!"
Seconds crept by as he watched the power levels climb, and he made the circle along the far edge of the forest. "FIRE!" he yelled just as the indicator touched the red zone.
A beam as wide as a man was tall tore through the night air and began smashing into the forest. Trees exploded and chunks of dirt and stone became deadly projectiles laying waste to the monstrous Spiders.
Seconds later the beam ended, leaving nothing but carnage and destruction in its wake.
"Power levels at eight percent," said the voice. "Recharging cycle for the Arc Reactor commencing. Sir it will be six minutes until systems will reach minimal combat levels… If you land that time will be cut in half…"
Tony nodded, sweat pouring down his face as he did. "Land us with Nat and Clint," he said, turning over flight control to the AI.
"Yes sir."
Tony took a deep breath, and grimaced as the pain in his chest slowly receded to a dull throb. 'That was a close one,' he thought. 'I need to build in a few more safe guards… I can't let the power drain get below ten percent again, at least until I figure out some other way to deal with that shrapnel.'
"Jarvis, check for damage to the Uni-beam," he said as they landed on the roof of Hogwarts.
"I already have Sir," the AI answered. "The lens is non functional."
Tony nodded. "Alright, when power levels reach twenty-five percent let me know and run a functionality diagnostic. I don't want any surprise about what is working when we get back in there."
"Understood sir."
His faceplate snapped open and he drew in a deep breath of the crisp night air, just in time to see the pillar of magic erupt from the two combatants in the clearing below.
"Whoa…" he said quietly.