Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Thanks for my beta Irihi Safaia and all reviewers
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Friend or Foe
Chapter 20: The Beginning of the War
"Avada Kedavra." Voldemort stood emotionlessly as the old wizard who dared to raise his wand at him dropped dead on the ground. The screams of panic around him intensified. Wizards and witches alike raced away from him, only to be trapped as an army of inferi advanced from the other side of the alley.
Voldemort had no intentions of killing them all, but he wouldn't tolerate anyone who dared to stand in his way, nor would he restrain his servants from causing any kind of mayhem. Death caused fear, and with fear, it would not be long before the most strong-willed ones bow down before him.
Power. In the end, it was all that mattered.
His attack had caught the wizarding world completely by surprise; no one had expected him to attack Diagon Alley. It was the ultimate display of power, with one of the most important places in Wizarding Britain as its stage.
A red beam hit the ground several feet behind him. Angered at the boldness of the attack, he turned around sharply, just in time to see the second curse shot towards the Death Eater standing right behind him. The Death Eater dodged at the last second and swiftly pointed his wand at his attacker.
"Expelliarmus!"
The wizard's wand flew out from his hand onto ground and he recoiled under the wand point of the Death Eater.
"Kill him," Voldemort commanded when the Death Eater made no move to eliminate the wizard currently under his mercy.
The Death Eater stiffed, but otherwise gave no indication of hearing his command. Voldemort narrowed his eyes.
/Potter,/ he hissed threateningly in parseltongue.
The wizard and Wormtail, who was standing behind him, flinched at the sound of the serpent language. Potter kept his wand trained on the wizard but was still unable to utter the curse. Voldemort was starting to get impatient at the boy's hesitation when he felt a strong sense of self-loathing coming from Potter.
"Avada Kedavra."
Potter shut his eyes as a flash of green beam hit the wizard in the chest. He lowered his wand, his hand trembling slightly. Voldemort spared the dead corpus a glance before forcing himself to continue advancing; he had wasted enough time as it was.
He strode along the alley, killing only when someone tried to actively attack him or block his way. It was strangely satisfying to see Potter was still staying close behind him. The hood and the white mask had concealed Potter's face, but that did little to hide the boy's feeling, and it was distracting him.
He had known and, though reluctant, had accepted the fact that Potter's presence would only serve to distract him, but it still hadn't stopped him from summoning Potter to this raid and commanding the boy to kill. Those decisions had come almost naturally. He wanted something. Not to see the boy suffer, but rather, he wanted some… confirmation.
A sudden change of the magic around him alerted Voldemort that the anti-apparition ward of Diagon Alley had been activated, telling him that the Aurors and Dumbledore's men had arrived. In an attempt to capture his followers, those idiots were arrogant, or brainless, enough to close off one of the most direct escape routes, caging themselves and those they were so determined to 'save' with his best armies.
He raised his wand as the first team of Aurors approached. The raid had finally begun. Let the whole world witness the return of Lord Voldemort and see for themselves how weak those who claimed to have the power to protect them actually were.
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"Expecto Patronum!" Remus gritted his teeth as the seemingly endless lines of enemies advanced. The Ministry had sent out as many men as they could, but few had experienced a crisis like this, even fewer had experience against Dark Creatures like the inferi, dementors and-
"Traitor!" Only his enhanced senses allowed him to avert Greyback's assault from behind.
Acting purely on instinct, Remus spun around as Greyback greedily lunged at him with an inhuman speed. He grabbed Remus' wrists and soon the duel turned into a physical fight between the two werewolves.
It was obvious that Remus was losing. In terms of physical strength, he was of no match for Greyback. But all the Aurors and order members who had accompanied him were engaged in a fight of their own. Remus knew he had to hold on, or-
He was knocked backwards as a black blur lunged at Greyback from the side. The enraged werewolf howled as he tried to shove aside his attacker – a great black dog.
Remus paled. He forced himself to focus on the fight instead of the person who was supposed to be staying at home.
With the combined efforts of the two of them, they managed to push Greyback back, but they were unable to keep the werewolf from escaping.
Remus stared down at the dog barking victoriously beside him. What was Sirius thinking? There were aurors everywhere! Hadn't he promised to stay at the Headquarters?
"You are not supposed to be here, Padfoot," he hissed.
The dog looked up at him with a determined look that Remus knew all too well. Sirius was not about to be left behind.
Remus couldn't say he didn't understand Sirius' feeling. He knew his friend longed to get out of hiding. Knowing it was too late to send Sirius back at this point, Remus shook his head and returned to the battle, now with a barking black dog running alongside him. As long as Sirius stayed in his animagus form, Remus wouldn't mind another helping hand. It didn't take an expert to know that they were losing.
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Harry flattened himself on the ground as a curse flew pass him, missing his head by an inch. Panting, Harry pushed himself up from the ground and prepared to defend himself against the fully-trained auror that seemed determined to bring him down.
Harry flinched at the look of hatred and disgust on the auror's face. The auror was young- he couldn't be more than thirty- but he was fast. While it was said that the aurors were not as strong as they used to be when Voldemort first rose to power, Harry knew better than to underestimate his opponent. Even with Harry's experience with dueling, he knew his odds were slim against any auror, who had had specialized training for years.
"Stupefy!" yelled Harry. "Impedimenta!"
The auror deflected the first spell and dodged the second one with relative ease. Harry knew he had to change strategy; he couldn't win. Scanning his surroundings with a quick glance, Harry realized that he was currently standing in front of the Quidditch supply store. With a plan forming in his mind, Harry edged closer to the display window, clenching his wand tightly. The auror sneered and sent another two curses towards him. Harry waited until the last second before couching down, letting the two curses to fly pass his head and shatter the window directly behind him.
Jumping away from scattering glass, Harry raised his wand and sent the two display brooms towards the auror before he had time to recover. The few seconds of distraction were enough for Harry to end the duel with a stunner.
Harry pushed himself up and searched for his… companions. Wormtail was nowhere to be seen; he had probably run away like the rat he was when Harry was assaulted by the auror. Voldemort was a short way ahead of him, dueling with five aurors at the same time before Flourish & Blott's.
Harry took a moment to note the damage around him. The shops were long abandoned by their owners, only a few were brave enough to stay and defend their properties. That was not a wise decision. Locked doors and windows served little purpose against the Dark Lord's minions and the dementors roamed every corner of Diagon Alley like a cloud of dark mist. Diagon Alley had been one of his favorite places ever since he first entered the wizarding world, seeing it in such a state made everything seem… unreal, like it was all a nightmare.
Had he not joined Voldemort then, would this have happened? He glanced at the corpses on the ground. Had he chosen to play his role as The-Boy-Who-Lived, would they have lived?
One of the aurors was hit by Voldemort's killing curse; the impact of the curse sent his body a few yards backward. Closing his eyes briefly, Harry raced over to where the Dark Lord was and pointed his wand at the nearest auror.
There was no turning back now.
"Impedimenta!" he yelled.
The auror dodged the attack a moment too late, having been focusing on the Dark Lord. Harry's curse managed to hit the auror's side, sending the auror backwards.
Taking the chance, Harry raised his wand. "Stupefy!"
The auror rolled away from the curse and stood back up with a speed relatively slower than the auror Harry had dueled earlier. Harry looked up to see his opponent for the first time, and froze.
"Tonks."
His whisper had gone unheard with all the noises around him. The witch was so unlike the one Harry had gotten familiar with during holidays. Any hints of clumsiness and immaturity were gone. Tonks moved with confidence; her eyes shinning with determination.
Harry relied on his seeker reflexes to dodge the next few curses from Tonks, his mind was still in shock with the identity of his opponent.
He should have expected it, of course, but he hadn't really considered the possibility of facing someone he knew in a direct duel.
Tonks knew a great deal of spells and curses, but she lacked the speed to be a good dueler. Her being a Metamorphmagus also gave little help in an actual duel.
Still, now without the element of surprise, Harry only managed to barely keep up with her. They exchanged curses for a short while until a horrible scream reached their ears
Instinctively, Tonks turned towards her fallen comrade; and that was a horrible mistake. She narrowly moved away from Harry's next curse, but was unable to recover fast enough to dodge the disarming spell following it.
Tonks was sent onto the ground as her wand flew out from her hand. Harry grabbed the wand and pointed his own at her. The anti-apparition ward was in place; there was no escape.
For the second time that day, Harry found someone under his mercy. He approached Tonks slowly, struggling to keep his wand steady. Tonks looked up at him from the ground. Her face was blank, but her eyes betrayed her fear.
Harry averted his eyes. There was no way he would do what he had done to that wizard earlier.
"Stupefy," he whispered.
Shaken, Harry turned away from Tonks' limp body just in time to see Voldemort kill off the last auror. Harry didn't know what had caused that horrible scream earlier, and he didn't think he wanted to either. He nearly threw up at the scene before him. There was blood everywhere. None of the three aurors looked like they had had a quick death.
As if sensing his gaze, Voldemort looked up from the three deformed bodies on the ground. He took in the state Harry was in, then he glanced at the unconscious form of Tonks. Narrowing his eyes, he walked towards Tonks, wand outstretched.
Knowing what the Dark Lord had in mind, Harry stood protectively before Tonks, holding his breath as Voldemort approached.
"Move aside, Potter," said Voldemort in a dangerous voice.
"She's already unconscious. She poses no threat to you anymore," protested Harry.
"Someone who's working for both the Ministry and Dumbledore cannot be allowed to live."
"And why is that?" Harry retorted, fully aware that he had overstepped his bound… again. "What good does it do to you by killing off everyone? Her power can hardly threaten you and you know that." He held out Tonks wand and snapped it in half. "There, she's wandless, defenseless. Can't you show just a little mercy?"
Voldemort pointed his wand between Harry's eyes, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You will do well not to rely on your luck too much, Potter. Just because you survived last time doesn't mean you can question me."
Harry swallowed but refused to avert Voldemort's gaze. "Can't you?" he asked softly, referring to his earlier question.
A flash of something crossed Voldemort's eyes, but the rage in him leapt to replace that foreign emotion before Harry could identity it. The Dark Lord tightened his grip on his wand and brought it closer to Harry. Pain started to erupt from Harry's scar in response to the rage Voldemort was directing towards him.
Harry held his ground. "Please, spare her."
"Enough, Potter!" hissed Voldemort. "You should know by now I don't tolerate disobedience."
Harry knew he might have pushed Voldemort too far. Making sure he was still staying between the Dark Lord and Tonks, Harry slowly dropped to his knees and bowed his head, as he was expected to do.
"I am sorry, my Lord," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have questioned you."
Voldemort stared down at him. Harry fixed his eyes on the ground, holding his breath and bracing himself for whatever curse the Dark Lord might use.
Moments dragged by before Voldemort lowered his wand. He turned around and started to walk away.
Harry looked up in surprise. He glanced at Tonks, who was still unconscious but was certainly still alive. He couldn't help the small smile, nor the feeling of gratitude that seemed to be a mock to the destruction all around him.
Voldemort stopped in his tracks briefly and glanced back. "Come."
Taking in a deep breath, Harry pushed himself up and took his place behind Voldemort again with renewed determination.
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Albus surveyed what had become of Diagon Alley. His eyes were cold without a hint of the usual twinkles as he took in the terror Voldemort had caused. He had known for a year that this would eventually happen, but it turned out to be much worse than he had ever imagined. The implication of this massive raid was clear on everyone – The second wizarding war had begun.
Battles were occurring everywhere in the Alley. While Albus had helped to turn the tide to their favor in several of these battles, he still could do nothing as aurors and innocents continued to fall before his eyes.
He could recognize some familiar faces among the dead, but he knew it was not the time for mourning. He raced through the Alley, battling the Dark Lord's minions in a way he had not done for many years.
Seeing a team of aurors battling a short way down the street, Albus caught up with them and pulled the leader of the team aside after helping them to banish a crowd of inferi.
"Drop that apparition ward now, Andrew," he ordered the auror, who he recognized as one of his former students. "You are trapping the survivors here."
Andrew frowned. "That's the standard procedure of a large-scaled combat, sir."
Albus sighed. "I am aware of that," he said. "But the public are caught unaware this time, few of them have prepared an emergency portkey and you are blocking off their means of escape."
"But-"
"Andrew, saving lives always comes first," Albus stared straight into the young man's eyes and spoke slowly. "We are in a delicate situation, as I'm sure you are aware."
What Albus hadn't said out loud, was that the situation had gone out of control. The aurors, with the addition of those from the Order, were having a hard time holding Voldemort's force back. It was not the time to be concerned about capturing those that were responsible; their first priority should be to get the innocents to safety.
From Andrew's grim expression, he too seemed to understand the grave situation they were in. They, including Albus, had made the same mistake as they had when Voldemort first rose to power twenty years ago – they had all underestimated the ambition and power of Lord Voldemort.
"I will contact the ward team as soon as I can," said Andrew quietly. "Good luck, sir." He nodded to Albus before running back to join his comrades.
"And you," said Albus softly before continuing down the road, heading towards the central part of Diagon Alley.
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Remus gritted his teeth as he sent spell after spell towards his opponent, sweat dripping from his forehead despite the cold weather. Even with the mask and hood, Remus knew from the unmistakable blonde hair and the unique scent that the Death Eater he was currently dueling was none other than Lucius Malfoy, the man who had used every chance he got to display his disgust towards the 'tainted' blood. But as arrogant as the elder Malfoy was, he was no doubt a good dueler.
Remus jumped aside from the coming curse and advanced. He was not an auror, but his knowledge in Defense and his enhanced senses gave him advantages in battles that even aurors didn't have.
Two aurors were fighting their own battles behind him, aided by Padfoot, something that was worrying Remus to no end. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was bound to happen with Sirius being so close to the aurors.
Remus could feel that Malfoy was slowing down; the power behind his curses was gradually decreasing as well. Feeling it was his chance to end of the duel, Remus pushed Malfoy harder than before, trying to find an opening in his defense.
From behind him, Remus could hear the characteristic laugh of a woman who could only be Bellatrix Lestrange. He could hear her sadistic cooing voice, followed by a child's scream that nearly distracted him from his own duel.
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Bellatrix waving her wand mockingly before a small child. The two aurors and Remus himself were all too busy to do anything, except-
Panic struck Remus as he heard the familiar bark of Padfoot. Too late. The large black dog transformed just before he reached the child. Sirius pushed the child out of the way of Bellatrix's killing curse then turned around to face the Death Eater.
"Ah, my dear cousin," Bellatrix exclaimed in a mock delight.
Remus was forced to focus back on his own duel as Malfoy sent two successive curses at him. He barely managed to dodge the curses. Before he could send off any counter spells, a startled gasp from behind him stopped him in his track.
"Black!" an auror yelled in alarm.
Remus swore. "He's on our side!" he shouted out as loud as he could, not daring to turn his back on Malfoy, who had apparently caught on Remus' distracted state and was starting to gain on him.
Focusing back on his duel, Remus was dimly aware that Sirius had engaged in a duel with Bellatrix. He wasn't sure if his earlier claim that Sirius was on their side had any effect on his auror companions, but at least there didn't seem to be any curses flying at Sirius other than that from Bellatrix.
Determined to end this seemingly endless duel with Lucius Malfoy, Remus increased the intensity of his attack, using every advantages that being a werewolf had granted him. Malfoy was slowly pushed back and soon Remus saw his chance. Malfoy had paused a second too long after sending off a killing curse. Remus dodged the curse easily and raised his wand.
"Stupefy!"
Malfoy tried to conjure a shield, but Remus' curse was faster. It hit Malfoy near his heart, stunning him instantly.
Remus allowed himself a small victorious smile. He hadn't thought that beating Lucius Malfoy would bring him such a great satisfaction.
Turning away from Malfoy's fallen body, Remus was about to check on his other companions when every senses in him screamed danger. Before he had time to react, something hard hit the back of his head. He fell onto the ground and his vision blurred. The last thing he remembered before darkness claimed him was a woman's voice.
"Ah, Severus. How nice of you to join us."
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Harry crouched down to avoid the curse that was aimed at his head only to find another curse flying towards him. Rolling out of the way, Harry sent off a counter curse and pushed himself upright hastily. There were curses flying everywhere and it was hard to determine which curse was from which side.
He and Voldemort had encountered a group of about ten aurors battling with a smaller group of Death Eaters. If the Death Eaters were losing before, the situation had certainly changed the moment the Dark Lord had entered the fight.
It was a rare sight in the raid. Harry had never encountered more than five or six aurors fighting as a team together. Harry wasn't sure if it was because they didn't have enough time to organize and formulate strategy, or because they were simply lacked in number.
Harry couldn't spot Voldemort anywhere near him, but he was aware of the several Death Eaters fighting alongside him. He couldn't recognize any of them behind the mask, but he knew for a fact that he couldn't have held on this long against the aurors without them. It seemed that his life after meeting Tom Riddle in the past was never short of irony.
Those ten aurors seemed to be some of the best the Ministry could offer and all refused to be beaten so easily, even if it had become clear that the tide was not in their favor.
From where he was standing, Harry could see a lone Death Eater fighting an auror away from the main group, and it was clear that the Death Eater wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.
Harry hesitated. Should he help? But that was Death Eater.
And so was he. Whatever his intention had been, he was a part of them, and it was his responsibility to help.
The Death Eater seemed startled when Harry ran over to his aid, but continued to fight on after a moment's pause. It was a tough fight, and Harry could see that the Death Eater was not an experienced dueler at all, probably one of Voldemort's newest recruits. But luck were on their side, the auror was exhausted from his previous fight and outnumbered. In the end, Harry managed to hit him with a stunner when the auror was distracted momentarily by the other Death Eater's attack.
There was no time to rest though. Before he could recover from the exhausting duel, Harry suddenly found himself being thrown backwards by a powerful surge of magic. He narrowly avoided hitting his head on the nearby wall and landed heavily on the ground. The Death Eater that had just fought with him had taken the attack in full force and was knocked unconscious. Gritting his teeth, Harry quickly pushed himself to his feet. He pointed his wand at his attacker and froze as he caught sight of the pair of cold blue eyes staring straight at him.
Dumbledore.
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A/N: The first part of the raid in Diagon Alley. For those who want to see the big revelation scene, you'll get it soon. And in case you want to ask, Remus is still alive… for now at least.