September gave way to October amidst episodes of Death Eater attacks. The numbers of Death Eaters are growing at an alarming rate. At a very alarming rate. Every other day there have been new dark mark sightings, and the order was struggling to keep up with all the attacks and all the infiltration of the British ministry.
That was the situation that James had landed himself in along with his muggle-born girlfriend at the outskirts of Brecon. The Potter heir was considered to be one of the best duelists of his age, along with a certain Sirius Black. James' girlfriend Lily was also no slouch, although she preferred to settle arguments through reasoned discussions rather than through wand work.
Through meticulous planning, this ambush operation had been one of the most covert and difficult operation James had participated in.
The autumn breeze seemed to have died down as the thirty Order members crouched in the shadows of the nearby brick houses, waiting for the first sign of abnormal activity.
Looking at his watch, James let out a small breath. Ten minutes until lockdown.
Nine minutes.
The sky has begun to darken.
Five minutes.
Indigo was now streaked with the faintest of crimson.
Three minutes.
What is possible that their intelligence was faulty?
Twenty feet away, the hooded figure of Remus Lupin jerked slightly as if sensing something.
Then the world turned white. And then dulled to grey.
James didn't hear the first explosion. He didn't even feel the shock waves. In less than half a second, he realized that he had been hit with a wide range sensory displacement curse.
PROTEGO! Came the roar from all sides.
James jabbed his wand at himself and muttered: Finite. The world shifted and felt right again. Or at least the upper part of him felt right. His legs are already covered in blood as pain seeped through his physique.
James charged out of his hiding spot to a scene of devastation. Flames were bursting from a myriad of broken shops, while Death Eaters were already throwing curses around like candy while others were already dueling order members.
There were two dozen Death Eaters.
Damn. Episky Imprimo! Reducto! Incarcerous!
The first spell healed his leg with an odd squelching sound. The next two hit the nearest black-robed criminals, one exploded in a fine mist of scarlet and the other bond by thick ropes.
It was sheer luck that currently the Death Eaters were outnumbered.
Also, Voldemort was not here.
Still not being engaged in a fight by any Death Eaters, James shot a jet of silver light at the Death Eater dueling Lily some fifteen yards to his left and followed up with a full-body bind. The first spell was deflected by the Death Eater but the second one made contact, snapping the target's limbs together as Lily's punching hex rendered the man unconscious.
"Nice one Lils!" grinned James, forcing his girlfriend's head down as stray jets of green light flew towards them. "Now let's go and help-"
They both dodged again; a jet of green light detonated the soil near Lily's feet . The explosion knocked the couple away from each other a dozen feet as dirt filled the air.
Rubbing his eyes, James saw Lily drew back her wand and made jabbing movement. A dull roar filled the air as the devastation curse shot out and obliterated one of the shields of the Death Eaters, detonating it in a shower of sparks. Capitalizing on the attack, James shot several stunners and disarmers into the general vicinity and wasn't surprised when several wands shot into his outstretched hands.
Five down, twenty more to go. He thought as he pocketed the wands.
To James' right, Moody was dueling three at once and the Death Eaters were now using progressively darker curses. Mad eye could handle himself with those kinds of odds. The aged Auror was smiting with all kinds of assault. Magical or muggle. Light or dark magic. Once or twice, Moody even banished splintered wooden beams, fallen twigs, and summoned Death Eater robes into the crowd of Death Eaters that are still fighting. Then with a simple Incendio, multiple Death Eaters became dancing human torches.
Wish I could really fight like that.
His senses screaming, James only had time to erect a quick nonverbal shield as something that looked like a mottling curse made to struck his back. The shield didn't fully stop it as James felt pain shoot through his torso, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell.
Damn, now is not the time to admire spell works.
Pausing only to send a trio of silver lights at the nearest Death Eaters (who howled in pain but continued to fight despite severe bruising), the Potter heir looked around, still messaging his mid-section.
The source of the spell was then revealed to be a large Death Eater dueling Emmeline Vance and two other Order members simultaneously. The Death Eater was moving gracefully as the spells did little to bother him. Despite being three against one, the Death Eater was the one slowly gaining ground, and the Order members were falling back, deflecting and parrying mostly now as exotic spells seemed to stream endlessly from the dark wizard's wand. James levitated multiple stone markers as green lights blasted out of the Death Eater's wand and the stones subsequently exploded upon contact. James can see the black-robed figure snarling as he bathed the vicinity with white flames. Emmeline withstood it and retaliated with a fantastic combination of a memory charm, confundus charm, and two concussion hexes all in the blink of an eye. The other two order members were not so lucky as one of them tried desperately to quench the fire that had set his robes alight, while the other one was conjuring his own red flames and was throwing it back at the Death Eater despite his face is now a bloody mask.
Then the Death Eater moved. He lashed out with a black whip that curled around Emmeline's wrist and cinched tight, leaving a smoking stump in its place. Then in a single motion, he ducked below the red flames and made a grand sweep with his wand.
The three order members were blasted backward with breakneck speed. Their limbs flailing helplessly in the air.
Arresto Momentum! James thought. The three figures slowed and landed softly forty yards away, but did not get up.
James made to intercept the victorious Death Eater, but then a scream diverted his attention. Lily Evans and one of the Prewitt brothers were fighting a Death Eater that was either drunk or on some magic-enhancing drug. The aim was poor but the sheer volume of magic was making the pale face of Lily Evans lighting up as if she were on a stage show. Even at this distance, James can see her sweating profusely. A large gash was on the side of her cheek. Snarling wordlessly, the mahogany wand in his hand flicked and turned. A static buzz rippled through the air and tore through the backside of the dark wizard despite the standard Protego around him. The Death Eater crashed to the ground and climbed clumsily to his feet as James ran towards Lily. But before he could utter a single curse, Sirius was there and he was violent. Without even restoring to his wand, he merely drew back the fist and sank it as hard as he could into the jaw of the Death Eater.
The Death Eater crashed back onto the ground and moved no more.
Seeing the approaching James, Sirius grinned and made to give James a high five while James only grimaced in response. Turning to Lily, James made to say something, anything. But then her hand rested against his chest as they locked gazes. James looked at the beautiful woman before him, nodded, and planted a kiss on her forehead.
" Stay safe." He murmured. Lily nodded.
" Whoa you two- " began Sirius.
But he broke off, and James saw why. Sturgis Podmore was twisting on the ground some thirty feet away, clearly under the pain of the Cruciatus.
Without another word, the Marauder duo sprinted to their fallen comrade and his opponent, a large man who seemed more like a troll than anything.
"Sectumsempra!"
Sirius' advanced cutting curse cleaved a gash onto the torso of the troll-like man, who howled in pain and the Cruciatus curse was lifted. James could see the trollish face clouding with anger as the man sent a jet of silver light and a Killing curse in their direction.
Pulling Sirius down with his offhand, James yelled "Abverto!" into the night.
As soon as he yelled, three pairs of eyes widen in surprise. Or rather two in surprise and one in fear. The warlock level deflection charm was devilishly tricky to use and takes years in order to perfect the casting. As it were, the silver light was caught at the tip of the mahogany wand and flung back at the ugly Death Eater in a graceful arc, who was hit in the face by his own spell. At once his face started to melt, and he dropped to the floor, his breathing labored.
Sirius whistled and gave James an appreciative pat on the back.
"I can't see what is going to stop us this time," said Sirius, while simultaneously deflecting jets of straying grey light at nearby Death Eaters. "We are going to make them wish they had never messed with the great marauders."
" You would have thought some of them will have remember that we had some of the best scores on DADA in thirty years." Chuckled James as he pointed at one dark robed figure that looked suspiciously like Evan Rosier. Raising his wand, James started his self-invented spell chain, the initial wide arcing wand movement transitioned into the sharp jab of a banishing spell and rocketed at Rosier's exposed left side. Rosier collapsed onto the ground, but not before his upper body turned into half a slug.
" Nice one haha!"
" Yeah, kind of wished that it was Snivell- "
" Oh shite, is that Edmund?'
The said person's head was positioned at an odd angle as crimson blood ran down a cut on his skull and into his eyes. Even at this distance, James knew it was bad.
Without waiting for a further reply, Sirius took off. James made to follow, but then he skidded to a halt as two Killing Curses missed him by inches, cast from behind.
James turned around and saw the Death Eater who had previously bested three Order members simultaneously.
Ten yards apart, there would be no chance to simply turn tail and run.
So be it.
The large Death Eater turned his head to look at James. Surveying him. Both wands began to move, one tip glowing green and the other scarlet. Then without warning a bolt of green and the rush of wind seemed to flash towards him.
James Potter wasn't called a Quidditch prodigy for nothing.
In a fraction of a second, he twisted his wand and aimed his exploding jinx in the way of the Killing curse, while he made his second spell collide with a sickly yellow spell from his opponent. The curses rebounded off each other and both were forced to duck. James caught sight of his opponent's long pale twisted face and gave a cocky smirk.
"Impressive dueling style, Mr- "
" Dolohov." The man sneered. " Not that it matters since you will be dead within the minute."
"Your accent, Serbian?"
" Very good, Mr. Potter. Very good."
James raised his eyebrows. But before he could make a comment as to how Dolohov knew his name, there was a whoosh indicating a portkey arrival.
Frank and Alice, two of the best wands in the order, have arrived with what seemed like an entire operating unit of Aurors.
James turned back to smirk at Dolohov but had to twist his head hastily to avoid a decapitation curse and several spells he would rather not know the name of. Stepping back to gain distance for maneuvering, the former Gryffindor Quidditch captain negated ten successive curses by simply weaving and dodging, hoping to get a read on his skilled opponent and hoping on the off chance that Dolohov will tire himself out before himself. And if that doesn't work, well, he had an entire legion of Aurors to fall back to.
Dolohov seemed to sense his tactic and changed his own swiftly. He stepped to his right, casting single syllable spells at James' left shoulder and forcing him closer and closer to the other Death Eaters fighting nearby.
Damn, thought James, grunting with effort as he pushed off a trident of blood boiling curses with a mobile shield.
The casting rate was becoming faster and faster.
He tried his best to resist, but Dolohov simply deflected his spells back where he was already casting. Dolohov was sneering now, confident in his own abilities, and the two duelists drew inexorably closer until –
Boom!
" God Prongs, you must be slipping if you are getting dominated by this sausage-faced- "
Sirius has joined the fray. Dolohov looked momentarily surprised and his spell casting was interrupted when Sirius sent two piercing hex right at Dolohov's chest before conjuring dozens of birds and bees and sent them attacking from virtually every angle. James watched as Dolohov was forced to throw up a shining shield, unable to dodge, or step any closer to James or Sirius without being hit straight away by potential curses from his blind side. Two or three of James' Confundus either sizzled out against the shield or hit the stray birds.
There was a brief moment when Dolohov was completely obscured from view before the world exploded in chunks of bird feathers. The Death Eater was now firing what seemed to be the entire contents of the Black library at them.
The two marauders blocked and parried in equal measure, slipping in nasty bone breaking hexs and scorching jinxs from odd angles, some even on a curved route. "Protego," hissed James, deflecting a stray full body bind that someone, maybe Gideon, has sent at a Death Eater moments ago, towards Dolohov. James then burst into action. Concusso, Confringo, Vovexta, Levicorpus, Sectus, Avis.
But Dolohov was equal to them. Or perhaps even greater than their combined puissance. The pair of Gryffindors got their first spike of shock with a dark spear that Dolohov conjured, which Sirius had intercepted with an overpowered bombarding curse just in time. The two spells had collided with a resounding sound that James was sure made the entire battlefield tremble. Both the marauders were blasted back several feet.
They were screwed.
Motes of light gathered around the duelists' wand tips as they fought for supremacy. James and Sirius are now edging away from one another so as to divert the Death Eater's attention and spell power. James poured as much power into the Auror spell chains he knew, his wand a blur as he didn't even bother deflecting, merely sidestepping lethal curses with the tiniest gaps and hoping to attack the Serbian from the side.
If he could get enough time to do another transfiguration…
James had to give it to the foreign Death Eater. No wasted motion. Faster.
AbhorreoSectusFulminiEffoioExpulsoFrulaCancendus
Or may be another try at Abverto?
ReductoDeFlunctusInvextoSanguiniNexCorrsoConfundo
Dimly, he knew that actively dodging the curses has perhaps wasted too much of his stamina.
Just a few more minutes, just a few more.
And then, Lady Luck intervened, this time in the form of Frank and Alice Longbottom.
The marauders breathed a sigh of relief.
If there is anything James admired about the couple, it's the sheer timing and elegance they chose to appear.
As it were, Dolohov's next attack ( several killing curses and a black ball of energy) was thrawted by a huge jet of water conjured by Alice, which blocked the attack and sent Dolohov slipping slightly on the wet ground.
Frank meanwhile flicked his wand lazily, directing two vibrant, crimson bolts of magic into Dolohov's shining shield, and watched it collapse under the combined assault of the four fighters. Finally, with a ripple of air, an incapacitation spell struck the Death Eater in the sternum and he dropped like a stone to the floor.
"Whew, that was… an animated duel." Whistled Sirius under his breath. His face was blackened but otherwise looked fine.
"Says Sirius Black with a blackened face. Quite fitting I'd say." Laughed Frank, simultaneously sending stunners with impeccable precision at the remaining two Death Eaters that were still fighting.
Alice laughed. But then sobered up as she looked at the bodies littering the battlefield.
James followed her gaze and his heart sank. Edmund Smith, Gerald Bones, Sven McKinnon were all lying on the ground with three red-robed Auror or hitwizards, their glassy eyes unseeing.
"We should send everyone to Mungo's for checkup. Take the spare Auror's portkey."
Everyone who heard nodded.
"What about these-" said Lupin, who was looking slightly pale. Probably due to the approaching full moon.
"We need to secure them for identification," said Frank in a clipped tone. " the DMLE is going to have a field day."
Sirius smirked. " Time to take out the trash."
" We still need a thorough cleanup though. And someone needs to file reports for all the casualties for the office." Said Frank, pinching his nose as he flicked his wand. " Perhaps me, Alice, Sirius, James, the Prewitts, and Edgar could stay. The others can either report back to the office and return to work or call it a day."
"We should keep Remus here. He may be able to detect things due to his… gifts."
"Oh good point, now Lily- "
" I'm not leaving James' side! And that's that."
" Fine! Now Williamson, kindly take the injured and deceased to St. Mungos along with your unit. But leave the Death Eater bodies here so we can do a thorough headcount and secure them."
"Now, who do we have here?"
It was ten minutes into the cleanup. And the smell was starting to get to James. A half-destroyed mask was levitated from the man's face and James stared into a pair of vacant eyes, watching as the recognition passed through Sirius' eyes. "Well now, that's interesting. Is this ickle little Roddy Lestrange? "
Sirius' wand's tip lightly tapping against his thigh. " Then where is your cousin? I mean this kind of family reunion-"
" Shut it Prongs. The anti-apparition wards are still up, and we know sure as hell no Death Eater is smart enough to use a portkey. Their masks will just fly off."
James laughed.
The sky is now dark indigo, with several clouds overhead, masking the moon partially.
" You know," said James after a brief pause, " Next time we should bring my cleansweep with me. I move like molasses on the ground."
" Yeah, and a victory parade would-"
A flash of lightning forked overhead. And a rumble of thunder.
Slowly, all the remaining fighters looked toward the sky.
Though the crescent moon was half obscured by the slow-moving clouds, and there are no street lamps nearby due to the fight several moments ago, the silhouette of a skeletal figure can be seen less than a hundred yards above the Order members.
Another lightning forked overhead. And this time they saw him. Clearly.
For a moment, he stood in the air, solitary and draped in darkest of black that seemed to suck in the remaining light, like a Superhuman character greeting his earthly subjects.
"Oh shit," James heard Sirius mutter.
Voldemort's magic was oppressive, even at this distance, and then, sure enough, an instant later all manners of restrictive enchantments fell into place, blocking off all avenues of magical escape. James was sure not even a broom would be able to function in this suffocating blanket of magic. The ambient magic felt wrong. It felt dangerous. Like something oily trying to crawl under his skin. Distantly he heard the others gasp. It was astounding that someone could give off this kind of presence. Regardless, there was no way he'd forget the feeling anytime soon.
Then slowly, under the gaze of the nine remaining fighters, the dark lord Voldemort , standing well over six feet tall, landed lightly on the ground, twenty yards from the nearest Order members. James could distinctly hear a hiss as Voldemort's bare feet touched the black asphalt.
No one breathed.
"Impressive," Voldemort declared finally, surveying each of them in turn. "An entire branch of follower wasted."
Voldemort's eyes then flickered towards the distant houses, seemingly considering something as his red eyes narrowed. " Esteemed member of the Order of the Phoenix." He hissed the last word like a curse. "On one hand, I could kill you all now and not have to worry about you making trouble for me down the road," he smirked, and the tip of his bone-like wand glowed a malevolent green in an almost sensual manner. "On the other hand, if I send some of you back... that will leave quite the impression I think. One should not actively spill magical blood after all."
The pitiless red eyes lingered on someone to the far right.
Then there was a rustling of a cloak as a deep baritone rung out.
" You will have to go through me first." Said Edgar Bones, standing in front of Lily Evans.
There was another rustle. " You would have to go through us also." Echoed the Prewitt twins.
Voldemort's lip curled up into a sneer, a taut leer that looked utterly like a mask.
" And we know why you are here." Supplied James quietly, addressing the skeletal fiend directly. " You had to make absolutely sure Albus Dumbledore is not here so that you could deliver a monologue safely to satisfy your vanity."
James could have sworn Voldemort's face tighten for a brief second before the expression was dispelled.
" Bold words from you, Mr. Potter." Hissed Voldemort, a mocking edge to his voice.
"Your lies could not, and will not deceive me, and they will not help you deceive yourself even if you are content to cower behind Dumbledore's robes. As a matter of fact, I think it is Dumbledore who would not actively seek out a confrontation with me." Said Voldemort amused. " There is no wizard that is truly my equal when it comes to magical prowess. Dumbledore's reputation may have fooled other, lesser wizards and witches, but deep down most of you know better," Voldemort murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, his crimson eyes sweeping around. " And most of you may have known, or at least suspected, that I have pushed the boundaries of magic further that it has ever been pushed. " The crimson eyes gleamed cruel and calculating, " Most of you come from noble wizarding stocks, and if you don't see the error in you ways, then I regret what must happen-"
"NOW!" yelled Edgar.
A dozen jets of light filled the still night air. The sheer amount of magic made the air thrum.
Voldemort hissed in annoyance as he jerked his own wand up, a blood red shield sprang into being, eating up all the curses as the shield flared a bright orange color.
"Foolish wizards! There will be no mercy for you all!" screeched the Dark Lord, slicing his wand through the air. But now everyone was now casting spells.
Edgar was slinging quick concussion hexes and borderline illegal curses at machine gun firing rate. The Prewitt brothers were throwing jets of fire that burned so bright that the castors themselves seemed to be reduced to velvety blackness in the fire's wake. Alice and Frank were going through some obscure Auror spell chains that seemed never ending. Meanwhile Sirius and Lupin are moving several feet to Voldemort's right, conjuring heavy manacles, knives, forks, chains and sent them flying at Voldemort at breakneck speed.
But it was Lily's magic that surprised James as he himself transfigured the asphalt near Voldemort's feet into glue and was working on turning Voldemort's robes into a cocoon of steel.
Lily was conjuring streams of smoke. Not just any smoke, but smoke that seemed to consist of shadows and light, or rather, light made of shadows. The streams twisted and turned, surging towards Voldemort, surrounding him and apparently trying to suffocate the Dark Lord.
Voldemort did not take a single step back.
The bone-like wand was a blur as Edgar's and the Longbottom's curses were canceled into a shower of sparks while Voldemort wrestled the control of the inferno from the Prewitt twins so that the fire became a protective ring that surrounded the skeletal wizard, and a second later the fire was burning away the objects that Sirius and Remus had thrown at him and turned into molten iron. A flick of the pale wrist turned the glue into molten glass that absorbed the second volley of curses from the Auror couple. The blood-red shield was still there, eating up stray spells and curses that came from odd angles.
Lily's charm, however, made the dark lord narrow his eyes with great concentration as he held out three fingers with his offhand. As Voldemort snapped his fingers, the streams of smoke were forced to the ground before spreading hoarfrost everywhere. The resulting mist obscured James' sight to such a degree that he gave up accurate transfiguration and simply firing the strongest curses (barring the unforgivables) he knew at the place Voldemort had been seconds ago. Meanwhile Frank who was nearest motioned James to crouch down as he fired an endless stream of grey-colored curses into the mist.
It wasn't enough.
Now the mist was mutating while circling faster and faster as though a tornado had touched down on the soils of England. James heard someone cry out but wasn't sure who it was as he transfigured blades of grass on the floor into knives and forced them to move against the gale-force winds, trying to create a wind current that would counter Voldemort's tornado.
And then-
"Avada Kedavra!" Came the voices of Longbottoms, Edgar, and the Prewitt brothers. Their scream launched the sickly green curses accompanied by the rush of wings that was visible through the swirling mist and an angry snarl was heard, and then the epicenter of the tornado suddenly exploded outwards. James saw his asphyxiation curses and severing jinxes deflected in a wide arc and then-
The world shifted on its axis.
Somehow he knew what had happened. He had only heard of it being done before, the rumors and the hearsays of the greatest battles of all time.
Somehow the genius of Lily Evans saved their lives. His girlfriend had cast the space expansion charm the same moment Voldemort cast the space reduction charm on his opponents. The difference in magical power, however, jumbled up the relative positions of the fighters. The ground was also lopsided, uneven at certain places as though a terrible earthquake had passed through. One building nearby has been cleaved in half. Sirius Black, Edgar Bones were standing on the roof of another building, looking around as if they weren't quite sure how they got there.
Remus, the Prewitts were now standing to Voldemort's right some fifty feet away, on a plateau created by the space displacement.
Meanwhile, the Longbottoms and Lily were standing with him, directly facing Voldemort whose expression was now murderous.
" Well, well, well. Play time's over it seems." Voldemort looked around and then stood straighter, his long fingers lightly twirling his wand between them as suddenly the world turned black as tentacles as thick as a man's waist rose from the form of the dark lord while the bone-white wand traced movements through the air and a dozen killing curses rushed towards the two couples directly in front of Voldemort. The Dark Lord had a bored sneer on his face as the five other fighters continued to rain spells down on him from their vantage point, but couldn't find purchase as the dark lord blocked and parried the more powerful spells with his shield while he diverted the trivial ones with flicks of his long spidery fingers. Neither side seemed to be gaining the upper hand for the briefest of seconds with the two couples conjuring , summoning and engorging obstacles with desperate fervor, occasionally sneaking in an inconsequential attack that did little to slow the casting speed of Voldemort. Meanwhile, the five flanking attackers were just able to beat back the dark tentacles and return enough fire to keep the Dark Lord from using his entire arsenal of attack. That is until ominous hairline cracks started to litter the uneven ground.
Frank and Lily have orchestrated a frontal assault that consists of endless streams of conjured animals that attacked and defended the Order members; James had just magicked a nearby tree to life and was trying to smash Voldemort from behind. The wooden arms grazed the shield that was erected wandlessly by the dark lord, showering green leaves onto the ground like a thunderstorm, when the ground gradually heated up.
Voldemort dispelled the verdant rain, and now his intention became clear. Slinging another dozen killing curses forward to keep the defense honest, Voldemort stomped on the cracked ground. Lava spurted from every crevice, sizzling and burning everything in its wake. Desperate, James commanded two more branches to
block the killing curses, but Voldemort's wand was quicker, his spells cleaving the two appendages from the tree so James and Frank had to actively roll out of the way. A third branch caught fire due to the lava and was now trying to beat up the new tentacles and Voldemort's shield simultaneously.
Then with a dull boom, and the Dark Lord blasted the limb apart, but the branch was thrown forwards and upwards, and interfered with his killing curses, potentially saving a busy Alice Longbottom, who had crouched to the side, hoping to get a different angle of attack with single syllable bludgeoners.
Then a great rumble shook the battleground, and hundreds of lava streams shot from the floor, melting through asphalt and concrete alike, and formed hundreds of humanoid lava golems. The lava ropes pulled the conjured creatures away, burning and scarring them, sending them flailing back the way they came.
James heard Frank cursing under his breath as he saw that cutter and bludgeoning spells were useless against the lava creation. Meanwhile, Voldemort was slowly walking nearer, the smirk on his serpentine face ever-present as he twirled his wand in adroit motions.
This gave James an idea. Plunging his hand deep into his pockets, he pulled out the five stolen Death Eater wands, then held a grand total of six wands in his hands as he roared:
"Concusso Victus!"
Six jets of golden light crisscrossed on another, racing to get to the Dark Lord. From his side, the other fighters were flinging their own streaks of curses at the dark wizard. The red eyes widened imperceptibly, taking in the massive magical strike. Stepping back a large step, Voldemort's wand went through a figure 8 motion. A shining silver shield appeared out of thin air and deflected all the golden streaks at once, and while no visible damage to the shield can be seen, several deep, gong-like note reverberated from it.
Not wanting to give Voldemort a breather, James then summoned six streaks of grey smoke not unlike Lily had previously done, and then flicked all his wands upward and called his stag Patronus into existence hoping that Voldemort does not have the ability to see through this tactic.
Edgar was now sending severing hexes in complete succession, despite the fact that the smoke was hiding the true location of the dark lord. Then out of the smoke, six shining Patronus galloped out, catching the dark lord, who had dispelled the smoke and offensive spells, by surprise. The immense light of the ethereal creature pounced on the dark wizard as the several exploding hexes that went in quick
succession caught the snake man off-guard for the second time. The lava creations are useless against the insubstantial guardians, and the obscuring of Voldemort's vision made him lose control of the said golems. However, despite being put on the back foot, the surprise attack had only sent the dark lord back by a couple of feet as he fended off the guardian's attack. Sensing an opening, the nine order members let loose a string of powerful spells that lit up the night sky like an amphitheater, hoping that the combined might would finally be able to overwhelm the abomination that was Voldemort.
In response, Voldemort roared in fury as his wand twirled in his palm, dueling the nine accomplished duelists simultaneously. Now a visible dark nimbus was pulsing around Voldemort's frame, and the spears, fireballs, and blasting spells sent by the Prewett twins at full power reverted into nothingness upon contact. A split second later, copious water conjured by Alice Longbottom solidified the lava constructs into stone statues, unable to do Voldemort's bidding anymore.
Then a scream, or rather screams, filled the night. Edgar bones was screaming as a hand could be seen protruding from his chest. More distant screams indicated that the other undead had also joined Voldemort's army. One of the fallen Death Eaters was turned into an inferi and was killing the order members more effectively than its living counterpart. Fire lanced out of Sirius' wand again, cutting the inferi in half, but the inferi behind Edgar Bones had done its job. With one last hateful look at Voldemort, Edgar Bones dropped to the ground and moved no more.
"As I said, playtime is over." Laughed Voldemort while he batted away several multicolored spells and a fiery whip with one single motion. A large net, designed to strangle the Dark Lord was also parried as it was thrown several hundred feet into the night sky. " Now who shall be the next one I wonder?"
James could see his dark red eyes glowing like the color of the Cruciatus curse, and he knew it was it.
CRACK!
A sound that signaled an incoming apparition.
"My Lord!"
We're totally screwed. The Dark Lord alone is bad enough, now add his henchmen…
"Lestrange. Didn't I specifically told you to guard-"
"My Lord, Dumbledore has taken over the Yaxley base," she said with a noticeable waver in her voice.
"What? How did-"
But Voldemort broke off as several overpowered severing curse and Killing curses zoomed from the wand of the Longbottoms and Prewitts. Sirius and Remus were sending exploding shower of stones and cement, previously stone golems at the Dark Lord. James dealt with the remaining inferius with a bright fire, and with the combined power of the six wands, the fire burning continuously like an overpowered flame thrower, melting the skins of the undead and leaving only charred bones in its wake.
Then there was a blinding flash of light that momentarily obscured the scene.
In the time it took for James to reflexively blink, the cutting curse had torn through his hair and left a hot feeling near his left ear. Only his supreme reflexes as a chaser had prevented the spell from taking his head clean off. Retaliating with his own blasting curse and cutting curses, he desperately tried to find something to take cover from the now clearly incensed dark Lord.
Wait. If Bellatrix can apparate in, does that mean…
Dimly he knew what must have happened as he twisted on the spot. The moment the space reduction and expansion charms had interacted, the anti-apparition jinx must have been broken due to the backlash.
He reappeared forty yards above Voldemort. Knowing he only had a second to act, James drew a circle in the air and thrust the six wands downwards with both hands.
Deprimo Duri!
The air beneath James turned solid and fell with great velocity right on top of Voldemort. Voldemort yelled. Bellatrix screeched as she was thrown aside by some unseen force.
James landed ten feet away for the solidified air block, looking around warily as with several distinct pops, the seven other Order members appeared next to him, their wands drawn and looking around wearily. But before they could even draw breath, a great howl rang through, a singular note, loud and terrible that seemed to shake their very core. Numerous fireballs struck them from unseen vantage points even as they apparated away and put up shields against the attack. James alone did not apparate away as he held his shield against the onslaught, the lights flickering around the shield. Then James saw him again, as Voldemort was airborne, without the need of a broomstick, and a singular beam of wide hateful magic lanced down to where James was. It was only with sheer luck that one of the remaining stone golems provided temporary shelter as the spell, whatever it was, blasted apart the construct and James' shield, sending the Potter heir flying backward. The other combatant attacked the floating fiend without impunity but the Dark Lord was countering with ease as his robes flapped with unseen wind.
" Bellatrix," hissed Voldemort. His voice was unnaturally devoid of emotions. " Kindly return to Yaxley manor. I will be there in 30 seconds."
Bellatrix was sobbing some twenty yards away. But she nodded and disapparated.
The pressure in the air was so tangible now that one could probably cut it with a knife as James groaned and lifted himself off the floor, small pieces of debris falling off his cloak as he did so. He pocketed three of the stolen wands so that he could use the remaining three in one hand.
Now is the endgame. He thought grimly.
The first spell from Voldemort created afterimages in James' vision even after he had apparated to safety. The subsequent detonation left a thirty-yard crater in the asphalt.
Water spurted from the ground and a certain hissing can be heard. The damaged water and gas pipes gave the fighters on both sides a temporary distraction. Voldemort's Yew wand gave a twitch as the pipes were wrenched free from the ground and became what looked like hundred-foot-long metal serpents. Water continued to pour everywhere and in a blink of the eye, Voldemort had wrenched control of the liquid too, as they converged and became a swirling waterspout, sucking up the debris of the destroyed pavements.
" FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" roared Frank. And there were several cracks as people disapparated from their initial position as Voldemort struck down with green lights.
Alice, James saw, was panting heavily, having spent too much energy prior.
Mind whirling, James summoned Alice to his side, just as Lily shot several flaming ball towards Voldemort with great velocity. A flash of silver light blasted forward with the sound of a hundred backfiring cars from Voldemort's wand, the force of which make James' air stand on end and forced the Prewitt brothers to promptly disapparate again.
Suddenly the fireballs exploded.
James could only marvel at the quick thinking of his girlfriend.
The methane due to the broken pipes were of such quantities that the bluish gas explosion shattered the thirty-foot-thick waterspout Voldemort had conjured just moments ago and the debris within the waterspout rained down directly on Voldemort. Meanwhile half of the iron serpents exploded, probably due to the residual methane within them. Whatever the cause, metal splinters were now also raining on the Dark Lord and only a burst of magical backlash from the yew wand prevented the dark lord from getting buried.
The Prewitts and Remus dropped their temporary shields, joining James and going on the offensive against Voldemort. Remus' spells were gleaming silvers while the brothers content themselves with bolts of lightning.
Next second they were blasted back by a devastator as Voldemort reappeared from the wreckage and landed next to Sirius and Sirius swiftly formed an advanced version of the shield spell, protecting the four of them. James, on the other hand, was able to successfully shielded against several of the spells due to the three wands in his hand and conjured a slab of marble to intercept several killing curses.
Voldemort glanced down at the group that had been knocked down by his devastator and his lip curled. He then stepped forward, out of the way of the Auror couple's offensive spells, realigned his wand and for the first time that night, verbalized a spell.
" Confringo."
The spell was said casually, not any louder than the whispering of leaves in the chill autumn air.
Then the magic burst forth. While the normal Blasting Curse was a dull orange, Voldemort's spell was almost blindingly white and the air around the spell was distorted as the smell of ozone can be smelt from thirty yards away.
James watched in horror as the curse slammed into not one, not two, not three, but four shields obliterated them in a magnificent display of light work and knocked the four grown men to the ground, unconscious.
With a grim expression, Lord Voldemort then turned and stared down the two couples, charging up his wand with something akin to an electric current. The wet floor sizzled, sent angry sparks everywhere but not one bit touching the Dark Lord.
The four remaining fighters stared back defiantly at the serpentine face, their wands rising in unison, ready for everything and anything.
Suddenly James' eyes darted right as another influx of magic and a loud karakaboom signaled the arrival of someone else.
In the shadows of the half-collapsed building, an entire legion of hit wizards led by Rufus Scrimgeour in the front.
There were confused yelling and gasps as the thirty or so members scrambled to get into formation at the sight of the dark lord.
Voldemort did not give them the luxury of assembling. He snarled in Parseltongue and then screeched out a foreign language that made multiple lightning fork from the dark sky instantly vaporing one unlucky hit wizard, while at the same time two dozen powerful cutting and bludgeoning spells were sent rocketing at the lone dark wizard.
They never made contact.
Giving the crowd one last contemptuous glance, Voldemort summoned several bodies to his side before-
"Morsemordre!"
In an instant, the entire battleground was bathed in an eerie green light as the Dark Mark was lifted a thousand feet into the air.
And then, Voldemort vanished, taking the injured Death Eaters with him.