Harry Potter: A Brave Beginning

Author's Note: And so we have it; the next to last chapter of this story. I honestly was never sure if I was going to finish this one, so it's a good feeling to know that I actually managed to wrap things up. It gives me hope that eventually I'll manage to get one of my original stories finished, edited, and sent off to a publisher. (Here's hoping, right?) Anyway, without further ado, the (almost) final chapter of part one (of what may very well turn into seven stories).

Resurrection Termina

"Jason Todd?" Harry stared up at the man in disbelief. It took several moments for him to place the name. He finally remembered something that Neville had said in passing. "You were Robin!" he finally managed to stammer. Then, taking a quick step back, "You were dead!"

Jason began to laugh, the sound unsettling as it echoed through the empty streets. "Ah, yes. Fortunately, the dead don't have to stay dead, in this world," he said. He continued to stare down at Harry. "I'll bet you believe everything the Supers tell you." His tone was vitriolic and full of disgust. "Look at you, and your little costume. I bet you feel like you could really make a difference, don't you?"

Harry wasn't certain what to say; he wasn't even that certain what to do. He simply stood there while Todd continued to hurl insults at him, and at the rest of the superhero world. After several moments, there came a second voice.

"Let me through." it hissed. Todd stopped in the middle of his rant. "Turn around…" it hissed again.

"Yes, Master," said Todd. As Harry stood there he slowly began to turn around. Scar tissue was revealed up and down his throat, and when he had completely turned Harry stared in repulsion and horror at the second face that stared back at him; the face, Harry realized, that was usually concealed by the hood.

"So there you are," the voice gasped hollowly. Harry felt a sickening pain overcome him as the face glared down. "It has been…so long…to think that such a child would have been my undoing…"

A low, repulsive laughed echoed out across the streets. "But," it continued, "You are strong…so very strong. And you could be stronger if you would only come with me…"

The voice continued to drive itself into Harry's psyche. Despite himself Harry could feel it tightening up deep inside him, slowly unfolding itself through the channels of his mind. He pushed it away in disgust once he realized what was happening, once he realized that his mind was slowly being overtaken by this horrible figure.

"Never!" shouted Harry.

The voice began to laugh again. "He protests," it hissed.

"How are you still alive?" Harry shouted. "You should be dead!"

"Only the weak die," said the voice. "The strong…and the lucky…find ways to survive.

"I had been moving through the world, little more than a shadow, when I finally found the place that I had been seeking. The Lazarus Pit."

Harry felt a cold chill come over him at the mention of that place. He took a quick step back, wondering how he'd be able to escape.

"Of course, I had no body at that time. It had been wholly destroyed," said the voice. "So I had only to wait until an appropriate host was thrown into the pit. And that host came in the form of young Mr. Todd…so cruelly used by Batman, so desperate to find his proper place in the world. You were the perfect host, weren't you Jason?"

"Yes, My Lord," came Jason's voice. The decrepit face grinned.

"I have been inhabiting Jason for some time now. I have given him power beyond his wildest imagination. And in return, Jason has been watching the Justice League for me. Not too long ago, we stumbled across a man who was over 700 years old…Nicholas Flamel. We made a plan to steal the Philosopher's Stone so I could return to my rightful body and be a proper partner to Jason…but our plan was discovered and the stone moved here."

"And you've been the one after it, this entire time," said Harry. "You released Clayface, and Batman blew up the science wing to trap you in the corridor," said Harry.

"How unfortunate that Jason was played so easily by Batman, once again," teased the dark voice. Harry could see Todd tense up, his fists bunching in anger as those words were said. "By the time we returned this last chamber had been added. The stone is hidden in here, somewhere. I can feel it. But I have searched everywhere."

Harry turned first one way, and then the next. Gotham City, and according to the newspapers that littered the ground Batman defeated. The Chamber of Erised must have picked up on Todd's desires when he had entered, and an elaborate projection had extended out in either direction.

But why the chamber? Like the bearer of that dark voice, Harry could sense that the stone was somewhere close. And then it struck him. Both entities wanted the stone, but for very different reasons. Jason Todd wanted nothing more to destroy Batman, and Voldemort wanted nothing more than to return to life, and power. Neither of them actually wanted to find the stone - just to find the stone, and nothing more.

So that's what he had to focus on. Harry took one last look at Todd/Voldemort and broke into a run, jetting past them as he made his way up the streets of Gotham City.

"Find the stone," he thought. "Find the stone…"

All of a sudden a bright light flickered into life for a moment down one dark corridor. Harry changed direction and ran after it, listening as he heard Jason Todd's footfall come after him.

"He's mine to kill!" he heard Voldemort snarl. Harry ducked between two large buildings when he saw another glimmer of light.

After running for what seemed like ages he was finally led into a low basement. Darkness folded in around him, and the source of the light was finally revealed. A great and beautiful bird, almost as large as he was, alighted at the center of the room. Harry took several cautious steps toward it. The bird turned its head quizzically, staring up at him. Then without warning it began to shift, morphing into a human shape right before Harry's eyes.

"Good job," said Harry's mirror image, tossing the stone in a perfect arc to land right in Harry's palm before disappearing.

Harry shoved the Philosopher's stone into his pocket just as he heard footsteps approaching from outside.

"You thought you could outrun me?" laughed Todd as he appeared.

"I…I just…" Harry began to stammer.

"I've had enough of this game," said Todd. Then all of a sudden he saw Harry's hand moving away from his pocket. "What did you find?" he hissed.

"N-nothing!" Harry stammered. "I-I just…"

"He lies," came Voldemort's voice. "Search him."

Jason Todd moved forward, hand outstretched to grasp Harry by the arm. Then, the moment his hand wrapped around Harry's flesh, he screamed out in pain and surprise. Harry felt a low throb begin to pulsate through his head. He opened his eyes just as he began to smell the horrible, acrid scent of burning flesh. Todd yanked away his hand.

Like a burning ember, his glove had been burn and the skin underneath was burning brightly, glowing with fire.

"No!" Voldemort screamed. What happened next would take Harry days to remember in full, and even longer to understand what had fully happened. He rose up from the ground, wings spread out to either side. He shot up and glided down to land on top of Todd, his claws grasping the front of his costume. Todd tried to push him away, but his grip was too strong. He began to scream and lightning began to arc around him, piercing through his flesh.

He thought he could hear Voldemort escape, the spirit that had inhabited Todd's body disappearing into the shadows.

As Todd fell back, his glazed eyes staring up and into nothing, the simulation ended. Harry was now standing at the center of the mirrored chamber, and caught a glimpse of the thing that he had become. An enormous bird, just like the one that he had seen in the simulation. Iridescent feathers covered his body, from dark gold to turquoise to glittering violet.

He slowly transitioned back into his human form, and with a faint sigh collapsed unconscious on the floor.

He blinked his eyes open. Everything was blurry. Reaching out with one hand he found the bedside table and, fumbling for a moment, located his glasses. He slid them onto his face and looked up. Standing in front of him were three people. Miss Diana, in a fluttery dress, Mr. Kent in a pair of jeans and a flannel workshirt, and a somber-looking man who could be nobody other than .

"Wh-where am I?" stammered Harry.

"You're in the infirmary," said Diana. "At the headquarters of the Justice League."

"You'll be taken back to the school as soon as you've healed a little more," said Mr. Wayne. "You're little number in the Chamber of Erised did a little more harm than you realized."

"The…the chamber?" And then it all came flashing back to him. Jason Todd, and the Philosopher's Stone, and his transformation into…into what? He didn't even know what had happened to him. "The stone!" he gasped, sitting up quickly and feeling a strong pulsating start at his temple.

With her hand on his shoulder, Diana pushed him back down gently and firmly. "Don't worry about the stone. It's been destroyed."

"It should have been done sooner," said Mr. Wayne with a dark scowl. "Unfortunately our best judgment isn't always used in cases like these."

"How exactly do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Well," said Mr. Kent slowly. "We knew that Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone, and that he had found a human host," he said. "We didn't know that that host was Jason Todd, or just how aggressive he would turn out to be in his efforts to find it."

"Or that a twelve year old and his friends would be so persistent in figuring out what was going on, and track down the stone himself," said Mr. Wayne. "I even gave up and tried to have Neville stop you. Fortunately, that little spell you used didn't do any lasting damage."

"Neville was in this too?" said Harry. Now this time he did sit up, despite the pain in his forehead, and with a sigh Diana took a step back.

"Only toward the end," said . He glanced around at Diana and Clark Kent. "Do you mind giving us a moment?" he said.

Diana raised an eyebrow but, at Mr. Kent's insistence, she followed him wordlessly out of the room. Mr. Wayne pulled up a chair and sat down next to Harry. He pulled out a laptop computer and plugged in a flash drive, typing for a few moments before pulling up a screen with what appeared to be surveillance footage.

"I realized that you were investigating the stone just before Christmas Break. I sent Neville home with the tracking system so he could keep an eye on the three of you. It was Neville who decided to "share" the tracking system with the three of you. I wasn't aware he had done that." A hard gleam came into his eye, one that Harry couldn't quite understand. It looked to be mild irritation and pride, as well. He couldn't quite understand it.

He clicked a few buttons and pulled up a video on the computer. "You suspected Constantine for quite a while, I believe. That actually wasn't a bad guess. Constantine became a teacher here at Zatanna's insistence. She's suspected for a while now that Voldemort would be making his return. Constantine accepted the offer, but only because he had already heard a rumor that the Philosopher's Stone was here."

"He did want it?" said Harry.

"No. I wanted to be certain it was destroyed." Constantine stepped out of the shadows, scowling a little at Batman as he did so. "I went to England to find Nicholas Flamel, and a way to destroy the bloody thing. But you already know that, don't you?" he said with a smirk.

"Erm…" Harry felt himself turning a dark red. "I'm…sorry?"

"Never apologize," said both Mr. Wayne and Constantine in unison.

"I didn't really have any way of stopping you. And unfortunately Neville didn't follow his commands and helped you quite a bit. He did do his best to deter you from looking into the possibility that Nightwing was the one after the stone, but he had suspicions about Constantine too."

"Right. Here we are." Having finally pulled up the footage that he wanted Mr. Wayne twisted the laptop around to show Harry. He saw immediately that it was his confrontation with Jason Todd/Voldemort in the Chamber of Erised. Harry watched for a long moment, a chill running down his spine at the image he was presented with.

They watched for several minutes, until the moment when Harry transformed. His eyes widened as he shapeshifted into a large multi-colored bird.

"I really did that," said Harry, full of wonder.

"A Thunderbird," said Constantine. "And you spoke the language of the Old Ones. When you performed your magic."

Harry paused, thinking of what had happened after he'd been touched by the lightning right before embarking on his quest into the satellite.

"What does it mean?" asked Harry finally.

"It means," said Mr. Wayne, "that you're going to be a lot of trouble for us." He snapped the laptop and picked it up, leaving the room without another word. Now Harry was left alone with Constantine and he looked up at him nervously as he came around and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked first one way, and then the other, before pulling out a battered pack of cigarettes and lighting one.

"Fag?" he asked, holding up the pack.

Harry blinked, before realizing that Constantine was offering him a cigarette, then shook his head violently.

"Good choice. Cigarettes kill; I'm living proof of that." He lit one up, and paused for several moments. The glow of his cigarette cast shadows over his face as he looked thoughtfully into the nothing around him. "You caused me a lot of trouble. I was forced to leave the school for a while there. The Supers thought that I really was after hurting you and your friends, for a while there."

"I'm sorry," said Harry.

"Don't be. You did a good job. Don't trust anybody; that's the thing a lot of you kids have a hard time learning, holed up in this school." He stubbed the cigarette out and stood. "Just one thing, before I go." He turned to Harry, staring down at him. "You might want to keep the new language a secret. Voldemort wove his spells that way; it's not going to help you make friends if you go off spouting phrases like that where just anybody can hear you." he said.

Then without waiting for a response he was through the door. Harry stared after him for a moment, then turned around and curled up under the blankets and drifted back into a deep and welcoming sleep, where he didn't have to think about all the things that he had just learned.

He returned to his dorm room that evening, to find all of his friends waiting for him with several cases of soda, video games, music, and an enormous cake that Ron explained had been sent up to the Academy by his mother.

After stumbling back when Ron and Hermione hugged him and accepting greetings from Luna, Dean, and the rest, he found Neville sitting on Ron's bed looking about as miserable as it was possible for a boy to look. "Harry," he started, "I'm really sorry…"

"It's okay," said Harry. "You were trying to do the right thing…"

"But I could have messed everything up…" Neville sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm never going to be any good. As a sidekick, or a hero, or anything. I don't even know why Mr. Wayne…" He stopped, blushing. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"We couldn't have done any of us this without you," said Harry, reaching out his hand to his friend. Neville looked at it, and then looked up at Harry. "I think Mr. Wayne knew exactly what he was doing when he made you Robin."

After a long pause Neville reached out and took Harry by the hand. Then all of a sudden he grinned. "All right. Let's get this party started!" he said.

Constantine strode through the halls of the Academy, grateful that the halls were mostly empty. A few lone stragglers saw him and quickly removed themselves from his presence. He simply grinned at their insistence in staying as far away from him as possible.

He found his way to his office, bypassing the front room and moving immediately toward the small backroom. The candles roared to life as he entered.

A small dark shadow lingered like a stain on the floor at the center of the circle. "You failed," said Constantine conversationally as he lit a cigarette.

"You…failed…" said a raspy voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. It was an interesting diversion, seeing what the boy could do. He's proving himself to be even more powerful than his father ever was. Perhaps not as smart as his mother, but given time…"

There was a low hiss. Two glinting lights blinked forth from the shadow, like glittering eyes in pitch darkness. "I tire of your games. You must find another way of bringing me back to life."

"I don't think so," said Constantine. "To be honest, I was never really going to bring you back anyway. I already have enough on my hands to deal with to be resurrecting the…sorry, what is it you like to call yourself? Dark Lord, is it?"

The shadow began to gurgle, a sound that began to resemble an angry growl.

"Anyway, I'm not too keen on souls possessing other souls. We might have been able to strike a deal, if it weren't for the whole Jason Todd thing. As it is, I'm afraid that our little business arrangement is over."

"You…work…for…me!" the shadow hissed.

Constantine raised one eyebrow. Then, flicking the cigarette right into the center of the shadow, he kicked over the nearest candle so that the wax pooled heavily onto the stone floor. One by one the other candles toppled over. The circle broken, the shadow dissolved into the darkness and disappeared.

"Find somebody else to try and possess," said Constantine. "I work for myself."