Chapter 19

Invincible

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Lucie's head was buzzing. A thick headache was spreading from the back of her head all around to her forehead. This must be what a hangover felt like - from what she'd seen from older Shadowhunters, not from her own experience.

But Lucie hadn't drank any alcohol, nor anything else in that area. Maybe she had hit her head hard enough on stone to pass out. But why?

Her senses kicked in one by one. The ground beneath her was hard and cold. And wet, for some reason. Water was soaking through her clothes. As she regained the feeling in her limbs, she shivered from the cold.

Voices reached her ears. Two to be exact, both male. One of them belonged, unmistakably, to Harry Potter. Lucie didn't recognize the other. Its tone was cold, piercing, yet shallow at the same time, as if there wasn't a whole body behind it projecting a full voice to the outside.

She decided to stay lying on the ground for the moment. Maybe if she could figure out where she was and who else was speaking, then she could prepare herself for what was to come.

"I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school," the cold voice continued, the words reaching Lucie clearer and clearer by the second. "But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

By the Angel, that was him. That was the Heir of Slytherin, and he was standing mere feet away from her.

Her heartbeat picked up its pace. Lucie risked opening her eyes just a tiny bit. Most of her field of view was blocked by another person on the ground. It was girl in Gryffindor robes, her equally red hair splayed across the floor. She was incredibly pale and had her eyes firmly shut. Lucie recognised her face from the Great Hall, maybe she was one of the Weasley siblings? But why was she here? Lucie had heard that the Weasleys were blood traitors, but still purebloods. So why was she here with the Heir of Slytherin - in what could only be the Chamber of Secrets, Lucie realised as she let her eyes flicker around the room.

It was a huge stone chamber with rows and rows of stone snakes lining the main corridor. The floor beneath her was splashed with water. The Heir was a tall man who couldn't be more than a few years older than Lucie. He had dark hair and was also incredibly pale. His figure was strangely blurred around the edges. It was hard to concentrate on his features.

Now that she had stirred from her original position, Lucie got more and more uncomfortable on the ground. Her back was aching and her muscles were sore. All she wanted to do was stand up and get her body moving again. She scanned the girl in front of her again. The Gryffindor couldn't be petrified, her eyes were closed, right? So was she dead?

Lucie tried to concentrate her hearing on the girl and tuned out the Heir's continuing monologue. She was breathing, but only barely. Just then, the conversation shifted.

"What is a Slytherin, doing down here then? Unconscious?" asked Harry, to her right. She quickly shut her eyes - she was supposed to be unconscious, after all.

"She just followed Ginny into the Chamber, I presume, and wanted to see what the great work was all about," the Heir said nonchalantly. "Unfortunately, when I took my form out of the diary, she was already lying on the floor." He clicked his tongue. "I really would have loved to make her acquaintance."

Lucie did her best not to visibly furrow her brow. It hadn't been the Heir who had taken her here? And he wasn't that interested in her. Then why had he sent her threatening messages all year?

She slid a hand down her robes, moving forward inch by inch - not to attract attention. When she reached the pocket, her hand grasped for thin air. There was nothing there. Her wand had been taken off of her. Lucie clenched her teeth together. She wasn't carrying her stele with her either. Just her dagger, but she didn't want to reach down her boot just yet. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"I see someone's awake."

Lucie blood turned icy cold.

The shallow voice grew closer. "Well then, get up, will you?"

She yanked her eyes open and scrambled to her feet. There was no point in moving slowly now. Standing, she could see the Heir clearly. His features were sharper than before, but there was still a curl of hair on his head that kept flickering in and out of place.

"What is your name?" He asked her, his eyes fixing her on the spot.

Lucie looked at him in confusion. He didn't already know? "Lu - Lucie Radcliffe."

"Hm, I haven't heard that name before ... You are in Slytherin?"

She nodded quickly.

"Do you speak Parseltongue?"

She shook her head.

"Then how did you get here?"

"I-" She didn't know. Lucie looked around the chamber, passing Ginny's silhouette. "I followed her." She pointed at the Gryffindor girl. Maybe it was that simple. Lucie had no idea how the other girl had got here as well, but perhaps he would buy it.

He did. "So then you've come to see me finish my grand work?"

Again, she nodded. It was as simple as that. She would just follow the game he was playing at. He'd have to let his guard down at some point.

The Heir's lips curved into what one could interpret as a smile as he turned around and marched up to Harry again.

"Good. You've come to the exact right moment. I've just finished explaining to Harry here how I had infiltrated parts of my soul into Ginny so that I could act through her and continue Salazar Slytherin's mission. I'm nearly finished with my transformation, as you can see."

Ginny's face had turned an ashen tone. That explains it then, why she was here. But why was Harry here, too? Was he trying to rescue her?

"Now, Harry just asked why I cared so much about how he had escaped Lord Voldemort. Well, you see, Voldemort is my past, present and future..."

He pulled what Lucie recognised as her own wand out of his pocket and drew thin lines into the air. The shimmering lines arranged themselves into three words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

With one swish of his wand, the letters changed their order to form:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Lucie gasped. Delwyn and Seraphina, these two little geniuses had been on the right track. This situation she was in was going downhill very quickly. She found that there were far too many people in the Chamber of Secrets who shouldn't be here, including herself. There had to be a way to get back her wand and escape. All thoughts of actually facing the Heir head on, all thoughts of defeating him, were gone. This was the darkest Wizard of all time standing mere feet away from her. Sure, it was a memory. But it had already been enough to awaken the monster of Slytherin again. Who knew what else he was capable of?

She glanced over to Harry. He didn't look any more confident than she felt. But he continued on speaking and arguing with Voldemort. Lucie kept quiet. She didn't have anything she could say. As inconspicuously as she could, she edged closer and closer to the Heir. She had her dagger, she had one shot. Could a memory even be hurt by a knife? Lucie didn't have time for uncertainty. Her action just needed to distract him long enough to grab her wand.

Just then, music rang out from above. Lucie looked up to see the phoenix from Dumbledore's office gliding high above their heads. He swooped down and sat down on Harry's shoulder and dropped a ragged brown hat into his hands. Lucie immediately recognised the wretched thing as the Sorting Hat. What good could that be in this moment?

Voldemort must've thought so, too, since he began laughing - rather, shrieking - so hard that it echoed from all the walls. It was now or never.

Lucie dove down, grabbed the dagger out of her boot and lunged forward. In an instant, Voldemort whirled around and pointed her wand at her.

"Stupefy!"

He hit her with a blow that made her tumble backwards. While she could keep her dagger firmly in her hand, her wand flew out of his hands and all the way to the other end of the chamber.

Voldemort gaped at her. His eyes shrank to slits that stared her down furiously.

"You dare attack me?" he roared. "Then I guess the powers of Lord Voldemort, the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, will meet two tonight."

He turned to the back wall - which wasn't a plain stone wall, but a hundred foot tall stone statue that towered so high towards the ceiling that Lucie couldn't even make out its face.

Voldemort let out several hissing sounds. She could vaguely make out what was supposed to be the mouth of the statue slide open with a loud thud and reveal a black hole. Something was stirring inside. She didn't know what.

Panicking, Lucie whirled round to Harry. He was making his way to the other wall, his features displaying a mirror of her fear.

"Quick!" he cried. "It's a basilisk. The monster of Slytherin is a basilisk."

"And what the hell is that?" she yelled back as she joined him, her back to the wall.

"A giant serpent!"

"Of course it is," Lucie grumbled. What else could it be with Slytherin? The slithering from the black hole grew closer.

"You have to shut your eyes!"

"What?"

Harry gasped for air. "The stare of the basilisk is deadly. Don't look it in the eye!"

"Then how are you supposed to fight it?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut. Lucie quickly followed him, gripping her dagger more than ever.

There was a loud thud. A giant body landed on the ground. She could hear it moving in their direction. What could she do?

She didn't have her wand, but she still had her knife. She was a Shadowhunter, after all. A Redcliff.

Gathering up all her courage, Lucie remained by the wall. She could hear the basilisk hissing. With such a huge body, it must have huge fangs. The tail slithered across the floor, smashing a pillar to her left. The snake wasn't far anymore.

One breath in, one breath out. One breath in-

Lucie grabbed Harry and flung herself to the right, taking him down with her. Harry hit the ground with a rather unpleasant sound. Lucie rolled herself off and leapt to her feet again. The basilisk crashed into the wall head-on. However, it was quick to recover.

The tail came sweeping towards them. Lucie heard Harry scramble backwards. She had just enough time to jump up, over the thick end of the serpent. When it came hurling back, Lucie couldn't jump as fast again. She was hit right in the back. Lucie slid across the floor. Her dagger firmly in her hands, she was just glad she didn't stab herself while tumbling around.

She got back up on her feet, much slower this time. Her back was throbbing and pain was radiating from her rib cage. She might have broken a rib or two. Just as she was re-orienting herself, she heard the flapping of wings and scratching of claws.

"No! No!" Voldemort was shouting. "Get down there, stupid bird!"

Lucie gasped for air - a task that turned out to be excruciatingly painful. The phoenix - Fawkes, as Harry had called him - was attacking the basilisk. The serpent screeched in agony and its tail flailed around wildly. She took several steps backwards until she hit a stone pillar and crept behind it.

Then, the screeching died down. Fawkes flew away again.

"No matter! He can still smell you," Voldemort said before again pressing out hissing noises.

That could only mean-

Lucie squinted her eyes and looked up. Just in time.

She leapt over to the next pillar as the basilisk snapped at the spot she had been seconds ago and crushed the stone column right in half. Lucie took a look at its head. Blood was oozing out where she would have guessed the eyes to be. The basilisk was blind. He couldn't kill or petrify anymore with his gaze. They had to use it to their advantage.

Lucie looked over to Harry. He was pulling the Sorting Hat on his head. What was he up to? He should be running out of the way! She dodged the fangs of the snake and slashed at its body with her dagger while trying to get closer and closer to Harry. They had to work together if they wanted to kill the beast.

Just as she reached him, he yanked the hat off his head and pulled out - a sword. A long, shimmering, silver sword that was gleaming in a white light. Lucie stared at him in disbelief. He seemed just as surprised as she was.

"What now?" He yelled over the noise of the basilisk smashing yet another pillar.

"Do you know how to use a sword?" Lucie yelled back.

"Do I look like I know how to?"

She groaned heavily. "Just-" She jumped up to avoid being knocked over again by the slashing tail of the serpent. "Stab it with the pointy end and hold on to the other end as best as you can."

"I figured as much!"

"Good!" Lucie and Harry both dived to the side to not be hit by the basilisk. "Then do it! I'll distract it from behind." She got up and ran around the giant beast as if in a slalom course, dodging falling columns here and there.

"How come you're the one distracting?" She heard Harry shouting from a small distance.

"Because you've got the longer sword! You think I can kill this thing with a small dagger? Now stop talking and start doing!"

"How?"

Lucie took a careful breath in and tried to clear her thoughts. Where was the best place to stab it? Where it would actually be fatal? It needed to be done with one clean attack. The sword wouldn't go through the skin. That much she had already noticed. Her stabs with the dagger had been mere scratches for the basilisk.

"Harry!" she yelled back. "You've got to stab the snake through the roof of the mouth. It's the weakest spot. Can you do that?"

"I can try!" He didn't sound very confident.

Lucie ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach. This had to work. It just had to. Another crazy idea crossed her mind. Crazier than facing a giant serpent head on to attack its mouth. She had to distract, after all.

The Shadowhunter took a run-up and jumped. She landed on the low end of the snake's body. She rammed her dagger deep into its skin and held on, so she wasn't knocked off immediately. The basilisk thrashed around, giving Harry a moment to catch his breath.

Proceeding with that tactic, Lucie climbed higher and higher. With each step, she used the dagger to hoist herself upwards. She left deep cuts in the green flesh, but it still wasn't deep enough to draw blood. Finally, she reached its head. The serpent threw his head around, but Lucie was holding on.

"Harry! Now!"

In one swift motion, she pulled the dagger out and ran it back into the head with all the force she could conjure up. The basilisk howled and dipped its head back. Lucie rammed her feet into the base of its head which sent the snake diving downwards, his mouth wide open.

Harry stepped forward and drove the sword to the hilt into the top of its mouth.

The snake halted in its movements. Blood poured out of the mouth and all over Harry. He forced the sword out before the head crashed onto the ground. Lucie leapt off just as the whole body went limp.

They had done it! But it wasn't over.

Voldemort came walking over, still looking overly confident. Lucie turned back to Harry. He had collapsed on the floor. Blood was trickling over his arm where a basilisk fang had stuck itself deep into his flesh.

"The poison is more than enough to kill him," Voldemort sneered. "I'll just sit here and wait till his heart stops. Then I'll deal with you." He leaned against one of the remaining pillars.

"Harry!" Lucie rushed to him.

He was only able to utter faint mumbles.

"What? What are you saying?" She grabbed his arm. What had Wyn told her about deep wounds? She needed to stop the bleeding.

With one forceful yank, Lucie pulled the fang out. More blood was coming out of the wound. She quickly pressed her hand onto it and ripped off a strip of her robes with the other. As fast as she could, she wrapped the wound tightly and then continued putting pressure on it.

"Lucie." His voice was a mere whisper. "Go. You have to go."

"I'm not leaving you. Not after we defeated the monster of Slytherin together." She pressed out a laugh.

Lucie didn't quite know herself what was keeping her there. All she knew was that she couldn't leave without Harry. If only she had her wand, maybe she could try healing the wound with Magicae. She had to do something quick. Harry's eyelids were fluttering and she didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

All of a sudden, there was a rustling of feathers behind her. Fawkes landed on her shoulder. Something fell into her lap. Her wand. Lucie picked it up and wanted to point it at the wound, but the phoenix stopped her. Fawkes shook his head. He leaned over to Harry and wept. Tears fell from his beady eyes to the oozing wound on Harry's arm.

Harry let out a heavy sigh and relaxed in Lucie's arms.

"No, Harry! Stay awake!"

Fawkes leaned back and nudged her cheek.

"What?"

He nodded towards Harry's arm. There wasn't any more blood dripping through her improvised bandage. Carefully, Lucie unwrapped it to look at the state of the wound. Except there wasn't one. Not anymore.

"Fawkes? You-"

"Phoenix tears can heal," Harry said, his voice growing stronger with each word. He opened his eyes.

Voldemort had come to the same conclusion. "No! Get away, fowl creature!" Fawkes took flight again. "No matter, I'll kill you myself then." He pulled out Harry's wand and whipped it in his direction.

"No!" Lucie met his attack with her own wand. A jet of golden light streamed out of the tip and collided with Voldemort's green one. She needed to hold on with both hands. It cost her all her strength to keep her stance. But she couldn't let go. She had to hold on.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucie registered Fawkes dropping Riddle's diary in Harry's lap. He looked at it in confusion until his eyes lit up. Lucie saw how he grabbed the basilisk fang that was lying on the ground and plunged it deep into the diary.

Voldemort let out a scream and Harry's wand slipped out of his hand. The jets of light died down on both sides as Lucie collapsed onto the floor. Black ink was squirting out of the diary. It sprayed all over Harry and Lucie. A hole appeared in Voldemort's image, ink bubbling out of the edges. It spread out until it ripped him apart from the inside. With one last scream, the image vanished.

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A/N:

It's been a while... Sorry for the long pause, life just somehow got in the way. I promise I haven't given up on this story (Re Guest: Thanks for the lovely review!) and I've already made plans for continuing with a Part II! After this, we only have three more chapters to go for Part I, so that's exciting... It'll probably take awhile for me to start posting the first chapters of the next part, since I want to get more done before I start publishing again - so there hopefully won't be another big pause :)

As always, massive thank you to my beta reader SpaghettiWarlord! Thanks for sticking around! And thanks to you, my lovely readers, as well for sticking around :)

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"Thunder in my chest
Adrenaline in my veins
You better bring your best
If you wanna play my game
You want a war
You don't know what you're asking for"

Invincible by Ruelle