------------------------ CHAPTER 26: An Army of Hope ------------------------
Without a moment of delay, Shauna abruptly jumped on Harry just as a jet of blue curse hurtled past his ears, missing him by mere inches.
"Voldemort..." he realised with disgust. Harry made a frantic attempt to fish out his wand from his pockets but it seemed to be too late. Lying tangled on the ground, he and Shauna were utterly surrounded by the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Their wands were immediately snatched away.
A current of indescribable fear was flushing Harry's heart of all its strength when he shifted his gaze upon the sight of the wizard who had murdered his parents. That horrid sensation was terribly overruling; draining any fragments of hope within him and causing to feel that death was the only way to fully overcome it. Lord Voldemort's physical appearance was no different from before, but the manifestation of all the evil he radiated throughout the Forbidden Forrest was enough to prove that this man was completely unstoppable.
For the first time in his entire life, Harry was frightened of him.
"So, we meet again..." The Dark Lord hissed, pointing his own phoenix-feathered wand at Harry's forehead. "It seems that scar of yours has bonded us even closer than I thought." Then he stirred his probing eyes towards Shauna. "Who's your lady-friend, Potter? Ah... isn't she's the one who almost managed to defeat me? Tell me girl, what spell did you use to conjure and fire those mighty snakes at me?"
When Shauna didn't say anything, the Dark Lord aggressively grabbed her and pulled her so close that his putrid face was no more than a few centimetres away from hers. "When I question someone, I EXPECT THEM TO ANSWER ME!"
"LET GO OF HER!" Harry shouted trying to launch himself on Lord Voldemort but he was instantly seized by his henchmen.
Shauna was exceptionally defiant, as a daring expression was forming on her face. The Dark Lord retained his tight hold on her, waiting for his answer but Shauna didn't utter a sound.
"If that's the way you want it..." Voldemort cracked, as raised his hand in the air and slapped Shauna so hard that collapsed nearly meters away on the ground.
"SHAUNA!" screamed Harry, yanking as hard as his leftover strength would allow him. He then turned in the direction of the Dark Lord. "LEAVE HER ALONE! Your fight is with me, not her!"
Lord Voldemort let out a cackling laugh. "Don't you see Potter, that I'm playing games with you? I'm nowthe Necromancer, and it would just be simply boring to kill you and your lady-friend with a simple flick of my wand. Where's the excitement in that? Where's the thrill?"
"You bastard..." Harry's voice was barely above a whisper.
All of a sudden, Shauna swung her leg forward and she kicked Voldemort so forcefully that it made him fall flatly on his face. Crawling on all fours, Shauna managed to grab his wand and snap it into two just before the Death Eaters came and grabbed her by the arms.
"YOU FOOL!" The Dark Lord bellowed with fury blazing out his eyes; he instantly rose from the ground and shouted. "DO YOU THINK THAT I NEED A WAND WHEN I'M NOW THE MOST POWERFUL BEING ON EARTH?" With that, he clasped both is hands together and conjured a ball of blood red fire. The flame's brightness was so intense that it lighted up half of the Forbidden Forest. Voldemort brought the ball of fire closer to Shauna's face and voiced. "Do you what this is capable of, m'dear?"
Shauna gritted her teeth furiously in response.
"This will melt and liquefy your pretty little face." The flame was millimetres away from her face and Harry could see that Shauna wasn't even a little bit frightened of it. Her visage was well composed with that same audacious appearance, and she smirked at the Dark Lord.
"Bring it on, Voldie..." invited Shauna menacingly.
Harry was very much appalled at her impudence and so was the Dark Load. But instead of being infuriated at Shauna, he just sneered at her and then made the red ball of fire fade away. "You're a bold lass and I can appreciate that in people. And that's why I've decided to let you go."
It was Shauna's turn to be shocked. "What...?"
"In fact..." Lord Voldemort continued. "I'm also going to let Harry go. RELEASE THEM." He ordered his hoodlums.
There was an uncanny moment of confusion between the Death Eaters. They looked at each other under their blackened hoods, wondering whether they heard their Lord correct.
"I SAID RELEASE THEM... YOU FOOLS!" Voldemort hollered louder this time. They did exactly what they were commanded.
Harry eyed Shauna and conveyed a look of utter uncertainty as they were given their wands back. But when he glimpsed at the expression on her face, he deduced that she was just as baffled as him. What was Lord Voldemort trying to do?
"I feel like very much like a challenge and a game of cat and mouse seems like an ideal solution... don't you think?" The Dark Lord's terrorizing eyes bored into Harry's. "You children are free to run around the forest, and I'll do my best to hunt you down. How does that sound?"
Shauna angrily positioned her wand towards the Dark Lord and hollered. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A dazzling green light was flashing all over the place, just as a luminous jet of the killing curse made its way in the direction of Voldemort, striking him squarely in the heart.
Nothing happened.
The Dark Lord guffawed with sheer delight. "YOU SEE... I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE! NOTHING CAN STOP ME! AND NOW... YOU WILL SEE THE POWER AND WRATH OF LORD VOLDEMORT!" With a mighty movement of his hands, he began to chant the ancient words of the energy within the Necromancer. The earth began to shake violently as five gigantic trees closest to them began to slowly rise into air. The sound of their roots and trunks ripping from the terrain was much evident to everyone as it was as Harry. At that exact moment, he grabbed Shauna's hand and started to back away from the uprooting trees.
"What a sight for the world to see!" The Dark Lord was boasting about his own strength and potency. When the trees were meters above the ground, they began to spin in an orderly circular pattern and then were suddenly...
"RUN!" Harry yelled, his face darkening with fear. He tried to pull Shauna but it seemed as if she didn't want to budge. "Come on..."
Shauna was transfixed in one place; she then feebly raised her wand towards the trees that were now powerfully hurtling in their direction. "Mobiliarbus!"
"IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" shouted Harry, pulling her again. Shauna yielded this time, and they struggled to scamper away from the plunging trees. Harry could hear a distant but identifiable cackle coming from Lord Voldemort somewhere.
All of a sudden, the ground cracked open before them and a giant wall thrust out of it, completely blocking their way. Harry turned around; the plummeting trees were going to crash into them in moments. There was no time to do anything... not even to raise his wand and utter a spell. So Harry just closed his eyes and began to pray...
The ear-splitting sounds unexpectedly stopped. Harry somehow managed to open his eyes, even though his heart was telling him that they were simply moments left till death was to prevail over.
"What's happening?" Shauna demanded; terrified at what she was seeing before her. The airborne trees appeared to be completely frozen in midair, inches away from their bodies.
By judging the mystified expression of the Dark Lord's face, Harry realised that this wasn't his doing. But then who...?
"Dumbledore!" Shauna screamed in triumph.
Harry rotated himself and saw a whole army of people approaching them. The Aurors from Ministry of Magic were marching, along with the faithful members of the Order of the Phoenix, the whole of Hogwarts staff and some older students including Ron and Hermione, led by Professor Dumbledore himself.
Voldemort noticed their presence only a second late. But for some reason, he found all of this quite amusing. "You can try to bring together the whole world and make them your allies... BUT STILL YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME, DUMBLEDORE!"
Professor Dumbledore pointed his wand at the Dark Lord. "You are correct in one sense, Riddle. But you've failed to truly estimate the power of good and strength of love. Not all magic comes from might or supremacy; most of it is rooted from trust, loyalty, courage and the sheer ability to love others. And that is what we are based upon, for we are an ARMY OF HOPE to the world..."
"Are you saying that you still have the audacity to battle me?" The Dark Lord was snarling. "Then so be it! I would simply relish killing each and every one of you!"
"And every one of us who dies battling the dark forces will relish an honourable death." Professor Dumbledore declared. "I can assure you that, Tom Riddle! For the wizarding world is no longer afraid of you!"
"YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID!" With that Lord Voldemort raised his hands towards the skies as he chanted the prodigious ancient curses. The air around them was beginning to change and fear was instantly enveloping the hearts of everyone. They sensed that destruction, death and bloodshed were imminent. Buy they were willing and prepared to die...
The war between good and evil had finally begun.
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"Come on..." Shauna grabbed Harry's arm. "We've got to get out of here!"
"But..." Harry tried to object, watching wizards and witches valiantly fighting Voldemort's great evil. "They need our help..."
"NO! Dumbledore is trying to create a diversion so we can stop Voldemort once and for all. Look!" Shauna pointed in the direction of the heavens. A sparkling white star was accelerating towards them, leaving behind a magical trail of stardust. Its sight was so breathtaking that Harry could have stared at it till the end of time.
"Let's go." she insisted. But before they could even move, a voice shouted. "Expelliarmus!"
Both Harry's and Shauna's wand flew out of their hands. They turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing elatedly behind them, complete with a smirk of victory on his face.
"Dad's gonna be so proud of me..." Malfoy was bragging about. "And imagine the look on the Dark Lord's face when I tell him that I've killed his greatest nemesis!" He idiotically pointed his wand at Harry and said. "I always wanted to do this, Potter. AVADA KEDAV..."
Ron suddenly appeared in the rear and struck him extremely hard on his head with a long tree bark. Malfoy instantly passed away and fell unconscious onto the ground.
"Git..." Ron was muttering in disbelief. "After all that we've been through, Malfoy here seems like a challenge the size of a peanut." He handed Harry and Shauna their wands. "You two better hurry up and do whatever that you're supposed to be doing. There's only minutes left."
"This is it... Harry." Shauna declared with a hint of melancholy. Harry could easily see her eyes moistening with aching tears.
The three of them hurried away from the fierce battle that taking place between Lord Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore's new instituted Army of Hope. They followed the path of the ASTRALIS BONUM towards the pool of the light they had seen earlier in the skies. It was then Harry understood. "The Star is going to stop itself inside that silvery pool in a few minutes. And that is where you have to be when you channel the ASTRALIS BONUM's energy to earth."
Shauna nodded, indicating that she well comprehended. After a few seconds, they reached the patch of the Forbidden Forest where the silvery pool was shining upon. She submissively stepped into the light and waited for the ASTRALIS BONUM to take its position.
"You still have a chance. Please don't do this, Shauna..." Harry begged her, knowing her destiny would lead to her demise.
"Why not...?" Ron was surprised, and he looked towards Harry for an explanation.
"Shauna's the one who's going to die according to the damned Prophecy!" Harry exclaimed furiously.
There was a sincere look of hurt on Ron's expression. "Oh my God..."
"It's too late..." Shauna closed her eyes and shook her head. "The world is counting on me to save them, and if I can't give them that... then I can never forgive myself. Please try to understand..."
Harry didn't want her to die. It wasn't fair... he had finally realised that he was in love with her and learned to let go of Ginny Weasley's memory in peace. But now Shauna was going to leave him and he was going to lose her, forever...
"I love you..." These words weren't even a whisper when Harry declared them.
Shauna seemed to be trying her best to ignore him when she hoisted up her wand and simply uttered. "Tutis Contego!" A green blaze of light emitted from the tip of her wand and fashioned a defensive shield around herself and the silvery pool of light.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, taking a few step away from her.
There was no reluctance in Shauna's words. "The energy of the Noble Star is so piercing that it can not be withstood by anyone except for the Harry. With this shield around me, the energy won't be able to escape when I route its power to earth and thus it won't kill everyone else in the process."
Harry had to try one last time. Wiping his tears away, he pleaded his soul out to her. "Shauna... We'll find another way to kill Voldemort. Please..."
She sadly smiled at him. "If we can't destroy him now... then we'll never be able to kill him."
Harry felt so numb, so lost in the desolated fear of losing someone he loved so dearly. He never wanted to be happy again, never wanted to smile. For the world, it would be the supreme conquest if the Dark Lord was ridded of. But for Harry, it would be none other than a pure defeat... because Shauna wasn't going to be there to share the joy and happiness of the humanity's victory. He'd rather see the world in ruins and imprisoned in the atrociousness of Lord Voldemort, than to witness Shauna dutifully die in front of him. Harry knew what he was demanding was incredibly selfish indeed, but that desire was only rooted out of his love for her. And he would do anything for her...
"Can't we exchange destinies or something?" Harry demanded unthinkingly. "What if I channel the stupid star's energy and you can amplify it? Isn't there any way that I can die instead?"
Shaun's lips trembled; glistening tears were falling down her cheeks. "No... We can not turn away nor can we try to change what was designed for us. "
A feeling of maddened anger surged past Harry. "I don't want to live... not if you're not there with me!" His face automatically softened a little when he saw Shauna's touched expression. "Don't you realise that my love for you gives me right to keep you alive? Don't you understand that I love you with all my heart..." His tears wouldn't stop. He reached out his hand to touch Shauna, but was unable to because the protective shield was blocking him.
He watched her trying to refrain herself from revealing her true emotions, but it seemed at that moment Shauna couldn't take it any longer. With a confused look, she burst out crying. "Oh Harry... I... I ...love you, too. You're such a wonderful person and I'm going to miss you so bloody much. I'm sorry about all of this... and I wish things could have turned out differently. I didn't want to tell you the truth... until now because then you wouldn't have let me do this." She paused slightly. "I have always loved you, Harry Potter... since the day I met you all those years ago..."
There was something about her last statement that didn't make full sense to Harry.
Shauna then turned towards Ron and spoke through her twinkling tears. "And guess what... I love you too, Ron Weasley... with all my heart and soul. You've been the best brother ever a witch could ever have. Please... tell everyone that I love them very much, especially Fred and George. Oh... I'm going to miss their nasty pranks. And… tell mum and dad that... I will never ever forget them... and that I will always love them... no matter what happens..."
Harry was too dumbstruck for words to come out of his mouth.
It was Ron who dared to whisper. "Ginny...?"
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