Bane 25

A/N: The Oathbreaker ritual is from "OathBreakers." I just tweaked it a bit.

Man, I could've used Frau's help in tweaking the reasons in this chapter.

Chapter 25

Knowing that Dobby had carefully placed the challenge to the Dark Tosser near him and not be seen, Firefox knew it was time to once more warn the headmaster and staff that trouble was coming to Hogwarts.

It was two days before the Winter Solstice, the Leaving Feast was well on the way. Firefox knew most of the students were leaving, but it wasn't enough.

His friends were staying because they knew something was up by the way he was acting.

He needed to convince everyone to leave.

Everyone in the Great Hall stopped and noticed that the individual who boldly entered was Firefox, not Harry. Dressed in his most elaborate robes, hair decorated with feathers and crystals flowing down his back, the young adept mage allowed a bit of power escape around him as he marched up to the head table.

Behind him were Arthur Weasley and Severus Snape.

Silence descended in their wake. Drama, once again, was being played out before the Hogwarts students.

The headmaster stood to greet the adept, not totally convinced that this show of power was necessary. The last time the teen had walked that purposefully into the Great Hall was to warn him that he was working on the wards and the pool of wild magic under the castle.

Albus had dismissed that warning, much to his determent.

Looked how that turned out. He, Albus Dumbledore, had looked like a foolish first-year.

What did the boy want this time? A quick glance at his potions master silenced any comment he would make. The headmaster could not afford to dismiss the boy again. But how could he turn this around?

"Harry, my boy, what can I help you with this evening?"

Firefox gave a slight bow before speaking in a clear voice that carried throughout the silent Great Hall.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. Oathbreaker, I name him," Firefox intoned, pulling out an athame. "Oathbreaker – he and all who stand by him. Oathbreaker once – by splitting of his soul to gain immortality. Oathbreaker twice – by the shedding of innocent lives. Oathbreaker three times – by trying to break a lawful given prophecy."

Everyone froze in their places as the candles that floated above their heads flared as a magical wind started to stir.

Severus Snape placed his hand over Firefox's. "Oathbreaker, I name the wizard once known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. Oathbreaker once – by offering up false platitudes. Oathbreaker twice – by the spilling of innocent blood. Oathbreaker three times – by swearing promises that he never was going to fulfill."

Arthur Weasley placed his hand over Severus. Harry had come to him and asked if he wanted justice for not only Molly's twin brothers, but for all those within the Order of the Phoenix that had been killed in the First War. After hearing what he had to do, how could he say no?

"Oathbreaker, I name Tom Marvolo Riddle and all who support him. Oathbreaker once – by commanding others to shed innocent blood. Oathbreaker twice – by committing crimes against my family. Oathbreaker three times – by the use of blood magic to possess the innocent."

Albus Dumbledore paled as secrets he had tried to keep hidden were touched upon. Before he could move to silence the ritual, magic held him frozen where he stood. This was old magic, older than any he have ever seen.

Firefox took up again his part of the ritual. He played the part of priest as he had sworn an oath to the Star-eyed to hunt down Riddle and bring him to justice. A small technicality, but he swore to a goddess to do Her will in this matter, after all.

He had gone to Severus Snape the day before, to acknowledge him as part-mage, and Arthur Weasley as a common man as the ritual required a third person. Priest, mage and common man and the fact they were wizards was irrelevant.

Firefox slammed the athame into the Hufflepuff table with Snape's and Weasley's hands still on top of his. Students near them screamed in terror at the sound of the blade hitting and sinking into the wood.

Magic flashed to seal the oaths.

"Oathbreaker is his name," Firefox intoned, finishing the ritual. "All oaths to him are null. Let every man's hand and magic be against him; let the gods turn their faces from him, let his darkness rot him from within until he be called accounting."

Turning to the shocked faces of the head table, leaving the knife still jammed into the wooden table, Firefox glared at the Headmaster.

"I need everyone out of the castle until after the Winter solstice. Students as well as all staff members, even those that live here year around."

"But why, my boy? Was that really necessary? Arthur, how did he convince you to go along with this foolishness?"

Arthur said nothing as Firefox held up a hand to stop him. "Needs must, headmaster. Now are you going to empty the caste for the Winter Solstice? Or ignore it as usual. Danger is coming."

"You said it yourself," Albus stalled, to give him time to think. "That the wards and magic is stable at the moment and that you are waiting until after the new year to work more on them."

"That is mostly true, headmaster, but you see, I need everyone out of the castle, as evil is coming to Hogwarts, and I would be remiss not to warn everyone that it is coming." Firefox studied the worried staff sitting at the head table.

"Nothing evil can enter Hogwarts, it is the safest place in England!" Dumbledore chided. "I assure you. . . "

Harry laughed, "I'm sorry to tell you, headmaster. Hogwarts isn't the safest place, as I have dismantled most of the wards. I plan on working on them after they settle some, after the new year. The faux wards that had been attached to the older wards once in your office are gone. No, nothing is safe at the moment. However, evil is coming, and it is best that everyone leaves for the holidays until I can start rebuilding the fallen wards. I want everyone gone by tomorrow."

"But such short notice. . . " Minerva McGonagall sputtered. "It isn't possible."

"Sorry, Professor, if I had announced it any sooner, he would've tried to stall and manipulate," Firefox explained, giving a wave to the headmaster. "Besides, did you really want to announce just how frail the wards are?"

"What evil?" asked Professor Flitwick, cutting into the argument.

"Why, Voldemort, of course," Firefox answered with a smirk. "I invited him to a duel. If he fails to come, magic will deem him a coward and weak."

With that, Firefox turned and left to the uproar of everyone in the Great Hall. That went well. Now, that thrice-damned hedge wizard's interest will be piqued. To lose status in front of his followers will propel him to act.

Well, nothing to it, back up to the headmaster's office for the fall out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Albus Dumbledore was at a loss. How had he lost control so badly?

Harry was once more sitting quite cozily in his over-sized bean chair, which, in the headmaster's mind, looked quite comfortable for someone so young. He had tried it after seeing that the boy had almost fell asleep in it, but found it was hard on his back getting out of. It had taken two pain-relief potions to kill the nagging back pain.

Sitting around the headmaster's desk was the Unspeakable that had befriended Harry and had visited the node under Harry's guidance, the four heads, Head Auror Pier Thickness and Minister Scrimgeour.

When everyone was situated, Firefox stood. Time to be "just plain Harry" was over. He was Firefox, Healer Adept of the k'Valdemar Vale. He stood tall, with an air of powerful, just as did his father, Firesong, when he was in a council meeting.

"Just so you know. I was adopted into the k'Valdemar clan by my adopted fathers, Firesong and Silverfox. I was trained to wield the wild magic that lives in the earth, to pull it from the ley-lines that flow into pools of magic, known as nodes. Although, in the Vale, I reached the rank of Master-class, here with a node that almost went rogue, I have completed my training and am now an Adept-class mage. My job is to heal this land, this castle, and rid it of tainted magic," he gave each a haughty look that rivaled one of his father, Firesong's. After all, it wasn't arrogance if he had the power to back it up.

He continued on, "Once long, long ago, a group of refugees fled into these lands, across the dimensions, through magical gates. They were met by a druid wizard that you all know as Merlin. With his help, they settled into these new lands and intermarried with locals who had magic in their blood."

He glared at anyone willing to interrupt him. "When I called on the Moon Lady, who is an aspect of the Star-eyed Goddess, She answered. I made a deal with Her. Because of that deal, I can tap into the ley-lines. I can call up the wild magic and I do NOT need a wand to do so!" To prove his point, Firefox's hands began to glow, and tiny bits of lightning sparked between his fingers.

"The deal was a simple one. One where we each gain from it. Her part was to give me a family to call my own, to be trained to fulfill my destiny. Training that the ones here failed miserably to give me."

The headmaster started to interrupt, but a flare of power and a look of contempt caused him to stop.

"Now's the time for me to finish my part of the deal. I have challenged the evil blood-path hedge wizard known as Lord Voldemort to a Wizard's Duel on the eve of the Winter Solstice in two days' time. Here at Hogwarts. I need everyone out of the school, so no innocent will be harmed. If you want to watch, so be it, but I can NOT guarantee your safety if he breaks the terms of the duel."

"What terms are those?" asked the Unspeakable.

"To come with only a second, one hour before dusk here at the Quidditch Pitch."

"Are you insane?" shouted Scrimgeour, jumping into the conversation. He had been warned by the Unspeakables not to interfere with this young wizard, but this was too much! "I won't allow this! We can't have the strongest dark lord in a century here waltzing onto Hogwarts! The wards will not allow it!"

"But they will," Firefox snapped back at him. "The wards, at the moment, are weak, over-worked and very damaged. They are due to fall on Winter Solstice. There is nothing I can do to stop it, and it'll take months for me to fix them. I need to allow them to calm down over the holidays, before I can work with them."

Everyone in the room paled at the comment.

Albus closed his eyes and bowed his head. He and the other headmasters were the most guilty. The Unspeakable had shown him the inside of the node, the true state of the wards, what Harry had been working with. It had been frightening and yet, he knew that he hadn't failed that badly. Hadn't he?

In the end, Firefox stated, "I can place protective and notice-me-not shields around the stands around the Pitch, but that is all I can do. No magic will be able to get through. If you want to be there, you must be there before he shows. I will be standing in the pitch waiting for him. I will be there along with Keiryn and Sal." He gave a glare at the headmaster. "I will be sealing the pitch so only he and one other can enter, and it won't be you."

"But Harry, my boy. . ."

"I don't trust you and I'm not 'your boy'!" Firefox held up his hands and made finger motions of quotation marks. "I stopped trusting you since you made me partake in that farce of a tournament and allowed Sirius to rot. You never helped me, were never there for me when I needed you, always testing me for your so called 'greater good.' You also took my god-father away from me, all for your 'greater good!' I DO NOT TRUST YOU TO HAVE MY BACK!"

The office started to rumble as Firefox put magic behind his words.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day, all the students left on the Hogwarts Express. Arrangements were made for those students that had been forced to leave until their families and guardians had been notified.

The Aurors and Unspeakables patrolled the hallways to make sure that everyone had left.

His friends, Hermione and Ron along with Neville and Ginny wanted to stay and help, but he had told them they would only be in the way of his preparations. They should return home first. Later was a different story.

Luna just kissed his cheek and offered, "Keep your hands free and your weapons loose.* May the Star-eyed find favor in your duel."

Firefox, however, missed the twinkle in the headmaster's eyes as the teen turned away from everyone.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The day before the duel, Firefox was out on the pitch, preparing it. He was now certain that Riddle had received more information about the duel and was trying to come up with a way to circumvent the terms.

The young mage had kept the terms simple and to the point. The wards were still strong enough to keep the blood-path wizard away until tomorrow afternoon.

The necessary shields were up and powered. He watched as the Unspeakables were examining/testing them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

That evening, a meeting had been called in the headmaster's office once more. This time it was the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione, Ron, the twins, Ginny and Luna were present by the request of the headmaster.

Molly tried to object. "They're children!" she shrieked.

"Yes!"Hermione shouted at the woman, staring her down. "But we have free will, as all of us do. You can't protect us forever. Not with this. We chose to follow Harry to the Department of Mysteries. We were there when you were not. You were never there! We were! Harry has assured everyone that there will be shields around the pitch, protecting everyone. We need to be there for Harry!"

There was nothing Molly Weasley could say after that. What she didn't know was Firefox, with Sal's help, had used mind magic on her to agree. He knew it was unethical, but Hermione was right, he did need his friends there. He needed them to see that he had out-grew them. They would always be his childhood friends, but now, he needed them to see that he was now an adult and they weren't.

During the meeting, he used a bit of subtle magic to keep everyone from gossiping about his plans, especially the adults. It wasn't permanent magic, just a bit of a push to keep quiet until it was over.

Hopefully by the Winter Solstice, it would be all over with.

0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Well this is almost done. Depending on how the battle goes in the next chapter, one maybe two chapters left.

*The quote was Shin'a'in and from "Storm Breaking," Chapter One).

The original oathbreaker ritual can be found at: valdemar. fandom wiki/ oathbreaker_ritual (Just take out the spaces. Fanfic doesn't like url addresses.)