The curse might have hit the demon, but nobody was sure if it had had the desired effect. Gerald had pulled back when struck though he didn't fall as cuts appeared everywhere on his blackened body. Instead of flowing blood, however, each wound released a puff of smoke as if having torn into ash...and even though that was exactly what it looked like his body consisted of, an unfamiliar liquid matching his new skin color began spotting from the injuries.
The beast paused, looking down at himself as if he didn't know what was happening either. He quickly recovered his mind though, and set sight on the wizard who had cast the spell. Catching the auror off guard, Gerald swiped the long blade-like claws that his arms had returned to.
Harry jumped, but was unable to avoid the blow completely. The claws successfully cut into the side of his arm enough to create deep gashes and make him lose control of his wand. The wooden weapon plopped onto the floor as the demon rose a second arm and swiped at the senior Weasely, who mostly evaded the attack, parrying with a defensive spell that caused Gerald to jerk his claws away.
Ginny, Hermione, and Ron simultaneously cast the stupefy charm, as doing so had been what stopped Gerald before, but the demon was in full control this time and immediately leapt backward as the word left their lips.
He threw his curled body through double windows that had been hidden by curtains. The creature was just barely small enough to pull off the maneuver. His wings as well as the tips of his blades did catch on the fabric, however, ripping it as he fell down two stories to the ground below.
Oliver managed to get up once more and rushed to the broken glass and peered out as did the rest of the wizards in the room. Upon landing, the demon gazed back up at the others, cocking his head to the side, his bright eyes shone like headlights. He made the same powerful screeching sound as before, bony wings extending to their full length and then moving rapidly towards the group, stabbing wildly at them.
Harry spun to his side, Ginny ducked, and Ron and his father fell back further into the room to get away, but Hermione took the opportunity to grab hold of one of the long, pointed bones. Gerald responded by retracting the wing, taking the witch with it.
"HERMIONE!" Ron yelled, jumping up and bolting to the window.
The rest of the demon retreated as well as its full attention was put on the woman who was apparently too heavy for the thin wings. She had somehow pushed off of the bone and was now strattling Gerald's back. Ron, frightened by the scene, hopped through the open window frame, aiming his wand at the dirt below and creating a small bubble to take the brunt of the fall away from him.
Just as his other companions followed the redhead's lead, demon Gerald bucked almost like a horse, throwing Hermione from his back and immediately when the action ended, used his cloven hooves to kick Ron to the ground before he was able to cast an attack.
Oliver was the last one to join the new battle ground, prompted to jump when Harry pointed his wand, now held by his left hand, and shouted, 'INCARCEROUS!' once and then re-positioning his aim, a second time. The first spell conjured ropes that wrapped around the demon, forcing his arms and claws to his side while the second failed to properly reign in Gerald's wings.
Flicking the binds away from the skeletal spikes that protruded from its back, the demon screeched once again while attempting to break the cord wrapped around his torso. This time the noise was louder and it lasted longer...
A bright red energy, matching the demon's eyes, collected inside its open jaw just like that at the tip of a wand when a wizard used it. The ball of light grew to an enormous size and the wizards were too startled by the strange magic to react at first.
Fortunately, Oliver knew how to counter the attack...and stop the demon.
Stepping forward, past the aurors, past their wives and Mr. Weasely, Oliver held his own wand high and aimed at his friend. His wounded arm struggled to keep the weapon in position and the strain showed in his movements and on his face, but he persisted. Silver strands of light gathered at the end of the wand, becoming more pronounced and brighter.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the wizard finally ordered.
In a bright beam of nearly white energy, the form of a large hawk appeared, flying and screeching back at the demon. Oliver held his ground, determined to keep the spell powerful and fend off his now purely demonic friend. The company watched in awe as Gerald closed his jaw, smothering the energy, and then stepping backward away from the patronus Oliver had summoned.
How about the Patronus Charm?
Harry thought back to the session with Gerald at the beginning of it all. He had come to the ministry to be registered in their system and to prove that he truly did not need a wand and wasn't simply trying to hide his used spells by concealing his weapon.
Gerald had become somber at the mention of the spell. Sorry, he had said, I can't cast a patronus.
Neither Harry nor Ron or even Saul Croaker had thought much of it. The Patronus Charm was an advanced spell...not something everyone was capable of. It required a massive amount of energy and took a great toll on the caster. At the time, they had simply thought Gerald wasn't strong or experienced with the magic enough to use it, but watching the creature retreat from the silver bird of prey...
The dark being that Gerald was...that was what kept him from being able to channel a patronus of his own. His own energy negated the capability.
The light coming from Oliver's wand started to flicker then...his arm was weakening and twitching...his body wavering. He wasn't going to be able to keep it up.
Harry and the others hurried to stand alongside the wizard and summon their own patronus. Just as they began to speak, Oliver lost control of his spell, the light and the bird disappearing at once. In the brief instant between its death and the completion of the new incantations...A cold burst suddenly came upon them...chilly, bony grips taking hold of each of their wrists from behind...attempting to free them of their wands.
Before any of them could twist to see these new people, Gerald had regained himself and the demon leapt forward again. This time, he used his wings to throw everyone to the ground, but the newcomers were much too fast to fall victim...instead making leaps themselves.
Harry thudded to the ground with a roll, his wand flying from him as well as the bones that were still wrapped up inside his robes. Arthur and his son were the first to stand again, but there was no point. Those new to the scene easily clutched the wizards' arms, tightly restraining them from further movement. Glancing around at his comrades, Harry saw that Ginny was the only one who had kept hold of her wand.
Not moving, but hurrying to cast an attack, she pointed the wand at a man who casually approached her and yanked the weapon away, kicking the girl in her chest with inhuman force. Yelling with the blunt pain, she fell onto her back, her body curling into a fetal position.
"HEY!" Harry shouted at the man who had attacked his wife, struggling to stand.
But before he could even blink, the man had come upon him, grabbing his robes at the neck and smirking to reveal yellowed teeth...one fang on either side. The vampires... He threw Harry back to the ground with the same super-strength, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
As the auror started becoming able to take in his surroundings again, he saw that three of these vampires had taken to trying to restrain a furious Gerald, still appearing as the demon. There were two men on either side of him with a hold on his wings and a woman at his front, who had hands on his upper arms. Even though he jerked about and tore into the creatures' skin, the vampires kept tight to him, never releasing from their grasps.
"Ger..." Oliver's voice was strained as he choked out the name. The male vampire that had thrust Harry into breathlessness had taken hold of Oliver's neck, making a show of squeezing it, lifting him into the air in front of Gerald.
Harry suddenly realized that the three vampires on Gerald and the one hurting Oliver were a diversion. Behind the demon, another blood-sucker appeared, leaping onto the demon's back and sinking his teeth into his neck and ripping a massive part of it away.
The attack hurt Gerald, but seemingly not as much as it shocked him...because the person on his back...was his lost friend, Brad.
Gerald continued to writhe about, trying to get away from the assault at first, but gradually, his movements ceased...and his form began devolving back into a man as he fell to the ground, still conscious though in a seemingly drunken state. The first three vampires moved away from the now human-looking Gerald and Brad removed his fangs, but kept upon his brother's back, carefully keeping him secure.
Harry glanced around again. Arthur and Ron were being held in the same position as before. Hermione, still on the ground, had inched over to Ginny and was trying to help her regain herself, a vampire looming over them both, chuckling. And the one with grips on Oliver's throat, lowered the wizard to the ground, but kept him in his hold. The vampire then gave a look...a silent command to his companions.
In a moment of panic as he saw the vampires holding his brother and father in law open jaws wide, Harry jolted forward, ignoring any discomfort as he reached for both his wand...and the pile of bones. The lead creature twisted his head to the auror just as Harry took the items into his possession and aimed his wand at Gerald's gift.
"Protect mine to earn yourself!" the auror barely managed not to jumble the incantation with as rapidly as he spoke it.
Just as the last word left his lips, the leader of the group of vampires had grabbed onto Harry again...but instantly let go upon seeing the wizard had released the energy bound to the loose bones he held. The man stepped backward, away from Harry with a hiss, his expression furious as he turned his attention on Gerald, knowing it was the necromancer's magic.
Gerald, aware enough to see what had happened, smirked at the auror as his old friend pulled him by his back and up from the ground, the other vampires joining him as they began slowly venturing away, taking Oliver with them as well. Mr. Weasely, Ron, and Harry all regained themselves and huddled about the witches, wondering what the finger bones had been charmed to do.
It didn't take much longer for them to find out. Raspy screams began sounding around the two groups. It was something Harry hadn't heard since just before Albus Dumbledore had been killed...it was the sound of inferi...or at least he thought.
A grey circle of fog started rising from the ground in front of Harry and his allies, taking the dirt from the ground to create the forms of mutated human corpses...appearing to be made of the same ashy dust as a dementor...but the beings weren't evil. They weren't soulless. In the presence of a dementor, all that could be felt was fear and emptiness. However, these...being around them invoked only sadness and pity.
Studying the summoned creatures, one gazed upon Harry...an expression of torment and anguish that the young wizard had never witnessed before. There were five...one for each person a bone had been stolen from. They crept toward the vampires, slowly at first, but then gaining the same inhuman speed as their targets.
The vampires did not try to defend themselves, but rather ran away from the 'ghosts' desperately trying to grab hold of the living bodies. Harry and the others watched intently as the vampires evaded the beings, slowly fading into the darkness one by one, leaving Gerald's minions empty handed.
The summoned creatures stopped...pausing in the distance and turning to face the wizards again, who had retrieved their weapons, aiming the wands nervously. In a mere moment, the unknown and unnatural beings were back in front of them...eyes full of sorrow quietly pleading to be let go...
Harry gazed down at the bones in his hand...then at the strangers standing before him...Unsure, the auror lifted the charmed items to show them what had been taken...then he nodded his head as if in thanks and confirmation they had done what they were cursed to. Their eyes closed as a breeze suddenly swept in...and blew their essence away, leaving nothing of them behind except the stolen bones...