POTTER RESURGENCE
Chapter 27
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K Rowling.
AN: Things get a little dark in this chapter, I guess it's about time this story lived up to its M rating.
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Lord Voldemort watched in satisfaction as the dome protecting the castle and its grounds disappeared. Now all that stood between him and his victory was a bunch of enchanted suits of armour and about eight mediocre wizards and witches. Even without his Death Eaters, this would not be much of a challenge, the challenge had been the wards and thanks to his new reluctant 'ally' _and he used the word quite loosely_ those had been dealt with.
He looked at the husk lying at his feet that had once been Gillert Grindelwald and shook his head. It was a shame that he had to die but there was no place for the both of them in the Magical world. Not to mention the ritual that had been used to cut off the wards from the ley lines required someone with massive amounts of power and there were only two people alive at that moment that fit that category.
Himself and Grindelwald.
Voldemort had had two reasons for freeing the other man, the first was to help him get past the wards and the other was to rally support to his side. They were never meant to stand as equals, and the plan had been to get rid of the older man once his reign was secure enough. Unfortunately, due to the years he had been imprisoned, Grindelwald was far from his peak and the ritual had drained him completely untill all that was left was a dry husk of a man.
Voldemort didn't know the details of the ritual, all he knew was that it had cost him two giants to burn out the wards along with Grindelwald himself. He never had much interest in Druid magic, not only was the knowledge of it rare but its effects generally didn't align with what he had always seeked in his younger years. He hated to admit it but Grindelwald had been much more knowledgeable than him concerning magic, at least that was the case before he had plundered his mind for all that the man knew.
Right now he had all Grindelwald's knowledge, he would however need to settle down and sort his mind to fully access it. But that would have to wait for when he has secured his reign over magical Britain. Potter thought he was being smart when he decided to keep all the children in the castle, not knowing that he was actually handing them over to Voldemort.
Once he had the castle under him, the children would be leverage for the masses' compliance. With their children's lives on the line, the people would have to fall in line, he wouldn't even need an army to subjugate them. Not if rebellion meant death to their sons and daughters. All Voldemort had to do was take the castle, and with over twenty-five trolls, eight giants, as well as a flock of dementors under his command, it was going to be child's play.
McNair had solicited about a dozen Death Eaters to help him keep a semblance of command over the creatures but those wouldn't even be needed in the battle for the castle. Voldemort glided forward and his army followed his example as he crossed what used to be the Ward line. He emerged from the forbidden forest and moved forward across the grounds, his Death Eaters right behind him while the creatures followed from a distance behind them.
The giants trampled on the groundskeeper's hut as the army drew closer to the castle. The dementors were floating almost leisurely above but Voldemort knew that all they needed was a command from him and they would swoop down on the defenders. Voldemort stopped his advance and assessed what awaited his army about fifty meters infront of him.
In the waning light of the day, he could make out about fifty suits of armor lined up in formation and a few meters behind them were McGonagall, Flitwick, Lily Potter, the half-giant, some girl with pink hair and five other wizards he did not recognize though one clearly had the signature ginger hair of the Weasleys. His sharp eyes caught sight of figures in the few open windows with their wands ready, he wasn't sure wether they were students or maybe the rest of the staff.
Without even moving any part of his body, he reinforced his vocal cords and spoke, his voice being carried across the grounds and towards the castle.
"I know that you are preparing to fight." He started, his voice sharp. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood, you people have already spilled enough in the last two days."
He paused, giving them a few seconds for his words to sink in before continuing.
"Give me the Potter boys...," He said. "...and you shall not be harmed. Give them to me and I shall leave the school untouched. There isn't a single one of you that could take me on, your efforts will be in vain, you will die unnecessarily when it all could have been avoided by giving the boys to me."
"You will only get to my sons over my dead body!" That was Lily Potter's voice. Despite being a mudblood, she was quite smart and had actually put up quite a fight on that night, almost as hard as her husband. And it was for that reason alone that he didn't kill her then, today it would be different. He was going to make her sons beg him to kill her.
"An understandable sentiment, especially coming from a mother." Voldemort said. "But Lily Potter doesn't speak for you, because when I decide to come for the boys myself, it won't be only her body that I'll step over, it will be all of you. You have thirty minutes to consider your decision and after that, I'll not hold back."
Voldemort turned to look at McNair who was a few steps behind him. "Wait here, if anyone so much as takes a step towards you, kill them all. Except for the Potter mudblood, I want her alive."
"Where are you going, my Lord?" McNair knew he had made a mistake the moment the words eft his mouth. He looked at the man before him in trepidation but Voldemort wasn't even looking at him.
"Nowhere that concerns you." The Dark Lord replied before he flew off, without a visible support.
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"He can fly?" Flitwick asked. "How is he doing that?"
"That's not important." Lily shook her head. "What's important is that he has given us thirty minutes. Long enough for Sirius and the others to arrive."
"Even if Sirius and whatever people he's left with once he's finished taking the ministry arrive, it still won't be enough against that." McGonagall gestured towards the dementors, trolls and Giants. "We're going to have to take out the Dark Lord himself and hope the army will dispell after that."
"I don't think any one of us can 'take out' the Dark Lord. It would probably take all of us just to keep up with him." Bill said. "While simultaneously keeping those creatures from destroying the castle."
"I know two people that can take him." Tonks commented. "Let's just hope that wherever he has gone, he stays there long enough for them to arrive."
"Oh, no." Bill groaned. "If he has gone where I think he has, then we may not have that long."
"What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked.
"Harry suspected that Voldemort will try to break into Dumbledore's tomb, and so we left him a nasty surprise cued to his magic signature." He explained. "I very much doubt he'll be willing to wait for the thirty minutes when he comes back."
"Why would he want to break into Dumbledore's tomb?"
"Harry believed, and I'm quoting here that 'they'd have probably buried him with his wand had he not given it to me and the Dark Lord knows that as well'." He replied. "He said that after his visit at Nurmengard, Voldemort will be very interested in the wand and the first place he will look will be the tomb."
Everyone looked at him, before they all turned to look in the direction of the tomb. Neither of them had been paying attention to see where he had gone but if Harry was right, and at this point none of the people present would be willing to bet against him, then Voldemort had certainly gone after Dumbledore's tomb.
*Boom*
The grounds shook with a loud explosion and they all turned just in time to see a flash of white light and a dark figure being hurled through the air. Across from them, a rumbling of heavy footsteps started as Voldemort's army started running towards them. They could make out McNair and the other Death Eaters trying to control the trolls and Giants to no avail. High above, the dementors swooped down towards the defenders, eager to enjoy the feast they had been promised.
The battle had begun.
"Patronus, everyone!" McGonagall barked and they all complied.
Lily smiled as her trusted companion appeared. The silver doe, a reflection of her husband's Animagus form stood protectively before her, ready to tackle anything that came even close to her. Around her, all sorts of silver animals appeared ready to protect their masters as all nine people apart from Hagrid, that had been selected to stay on the ground were not only capable of summoning a Patronus but also able to maintain it while concentrating on the fight.
Hagrid on the other hand was a force all by himself. At eleven feet, he was almost as tall if not taller than some of the trolls and with his massive crossbow, he was picking them off one after the other. And that was not even considering a physical fight, not only was he stronger than them, he was smarter and a far better fighter. With Hagrid on their side, the suits of armor as well as their long range spells, the trolls won't be much of a problem. The eight giants however, those were certainly going to be a problem.
The suits of armor also started moving forward, not breaking formation. Against witches and wizards, the eight-foot suits of armor wouldn't have been much help other than their strength in numbers but against trolls that barely had enough intelligence to differentiate between friend and foe, the enchanted suits would be a great help.
There was a loud crash as the first group of trolls barreled into the suits. Hagrid had already killed five of them before they made contact and he was now focusing on the giants. His crossbolts which were the size of small spears were not doing much to stop on the giants' charge as they kept coming closer even as they were peppered with them.
He seemed to be concentrating on one which had over ten bolts sticking out of its torso and chest. Lily could see that it had actually slowed down a little and it stumbled slightly when another bolt hit it in the chest right next to the first one. While the others kept sending fireballs at the giants right over the suits and trolls, Lilly conjured five long spears and sent them hurtling through the air.
They all hit, it was hard to miss against such a large target. One spear embedded itself into the giant's shoulder, the other three into its chest and one directly into its throat, it stumbled but it didn't fall over, clearly the spears hadn't gone deep enough. Lily prepared to conjure more spears when over a dozen other spears whistled over their heads from the windows and flew straight at the giant.
The people in the castle had noticed what she was doing and had decided to act. There was no way it could survive something like that and sure enough, the giant fell on its knees, spears sticking out of its head, eyes and neck. However it wasn't just dead yet and as a final act of defiance, it crawled towards a large boulder and using its remaining functional arm, prepared to hurl at the castle.
Before it could raise its hand however, two large bolts of lightning fell from the sky and slammed into it. Lily could see two figures flying towards them and for just a moment, she thought it was her sons. But then another bolt flew through the sky and and slammed into another giant. It wasn't fazed at all and kept on its path, trampling over its nearly-dead companion and finishing it off. The flash however illuminated the other two figures.
Neville and Draco Malfoy.
"What are they doing here?!" McGonagall barked as she sent a stone gargoyle flying directly into the midst of troll and armor battle.
"I would think to help." Tonks snarked, sending more long-range spells of her own at the giants that were now less than a seventy meters away from their position. The horde of trolls were even closer. "Incase you haven't noticed, the empty suits of armor are doing more damage than_ incoming!"
The seven remaining giants had clearly seen what their fallen comrade had been trying to do and had taken a page from his book. Seven boulders, even bigger than the one the dead giant had been trying to throw were hurtling their way towards the defenders. At this point the daylight had completely disappeared and only the constant spell fire and light from the many Patronus was illuminating the grounds but they all could clearly see the approaching shadows of death.
"Scatter!"
McGonagall didn't need to speak twice. Everyone was already running before she even opened her mouth. Lily didn't even know what direction she was going but all she knew was that she needed to get away. She stumbled and fell only to look up and see a shadow growing bigger as it approached her. She knew it was the end for her, there was no way she was going to survive that.
Closing her eyes, she sent an apology to both her sons and James before surrendering to her fate. Just as her eyes closed, she heard voices shouting, and then a loud explosion that came almost too close for her liking, as well as a huge gust of wind. When the wind stopped, she could feel someone shaking her. Her ears were ringing and she could still feel her brain rattling in her skull. But she was alive, and just as that realization sunk in, she noticed that it had grown cold. Very cold.
"Professor, we need a Patronus, now!" Hermione barked.
Lily blinked, she could see fragments of the boulder that been about to crush her all around them. And trying to get her attention was Hermione along with Luna, Susan Bones, Habbot and Ginny Weasley. The girls were all shivering as it grew even colder around them. Lily tried to collect her thoughts but her mind just didn't seem willing to cooperate.
The dementors had taken the defenders' momentary lapse in concentration and had swooped in. Lily tried to lift her wand and summon a Patronus but her body refused to move, clearly still in shock from her near-death. Three dementors were drawing near the group and Lily could feel memories tugging at her occulmency shields. The girls were even worse off.
It was a cruel kind of irony for her to survive being crushed to death only to have her soul sucked out. Along with her students who had just saved her life.
"Expecto Patronum!" Lily heard Tonks shout and a silver jaguar appeared and slammed into the dementors, dispersing them. Lily stared at her son's Animagus form as it ran circles around the group, snarling at any dementor that dared to come close. She made eye contact with Tonks as the girl ran and helped her up.
"You're alright?" She asked and Lily nodded. "And you lot?"
The others also nodded.
Lily looked around. Even with Tonks' Patronus protecting them, the dementors around them were growing in number. It was like they desperately wanted to get what they had narrowly been denied. Lily needed to pull herself together before it was too late, as she could feel the effects of the dementors bleeding through the Patronus' protection as they became even more in number. She could already count no less than eight and more were converging on their position.
"Expecto Patronum!" Two voices shouted in unison and Lily had never felt happier to hear those two voices in her life. Even as a wolf and Padfoot joined Harry's spectral Animagus form, she could feel her strength return as the group was envolped in warmth.
"Lils!" Sirius shouted on seeing Tonks supporting her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Sirius." She replied. "You arrived just in time."
"Where's He?" There was no question on who Remus was referring to.
"We have no idea." Tonks replied. "Last time we saw him, he was being blasted by whatever protections Harry put on Dumbledore's tomb."
"Well, seeing how those blokes over there are most interested in you..." Sirius said, gesturing at the dementors. "I think it's safe to assume that he's about to join the party."
The dementors were at the edge of their protective circle, far enough not to be affected by the presence of three Patronuses but not too far to give the group any breathing space. However, more were coming, it was like all the dementors on the battlefield had decided that the group were the tastiest.
Around them, the battle was still going on. Three of the giants were dead and only four were left but those four were doing a great deal of damage. Sirius had indeed brought some reinforcements and they had divided themselves into four clusters to take down the giants. More than half the trolls were dead but, however even more that number of enchanted suits had stopped responding with only about a dozen still fighting. Students, mostly seventh years had also left the castle and joined the fray and were slowly taking down the trolls.
Along with Hagrid.
The half-giant was like a force of nature. He had discarded the crossbow and was now using his fists as well as some kind of pink club. Lily suspected it was his umbrella that usually contained the pieces of his broken wand. The club was certainly strong, taking direct blows from the trolls and not getting any damage and occasionally letting out a blast of energy that sent trolls around him flying in all directions. They had started giving the usually friendly giant a wide berth but he would have none of that.
He was practically hunting them down. Once he had one cornered, he only left it when it was dead, and if the others tried to overwhelm him he blasted them away before hunting them one by one once more. He didn't seem to care about what else was going on around him, it was like something had snapped inside him and all he could think about was taking down trolls. Given that he was evidently stronger than them, some of them were smart enough to stay as far away from him as possible, those were the ones the students took down.
Lily had fought alongside Hagrid in the last war but she never saw him doing this much damage. Perhaps it was Dumbledore's death which had affected him so, he had been locked up in his hut since last night, mourning his idol. The attack had found him at his worst, any inhibitions he usually had had been tossed aside and now he was more giant than human.
Around them, people were fighting for their lives. One Lily saw a giant swat a group of Aurors on brooms from the air even as it feel on its knees from its injuries. Another group of fighters were desperately running, trying to avoid being crushed as the giant they had been facing decided to escape. She spotted Kingsley, McGonagall, the Longbottoms and some other members of the Order fighting to take down the biggest of them all. She even saw Fleur and Krum as they too had arrived along with Sirius.
The last one, it seemed had decided to go down with the castle. Even as it was peppered by all kinds of things from spells to lightning, physical objects and fireballs, the giants kept attacking the castle. Having already taken some damage, that part of the castle was giving way and if something wasn't done about it, that entire tower was likely to go down.
"Where the bloody hell are the twins?!"
Lily instinctively opened her mouth to scold Tonks only to blink when she daw the girl's wet clothes. Only then did she realize that she too was soaked. How had she missed the fact that it was raining? And given how wet they all were, it had been raining for some time now.
That realization seemed to have jooted her fully awake and she stopped leaning on Tonks, standing on her own feet, she summoned her Patronus and the dementors floated a little further away from them. Remus and Sirius had already left while she had been observing the battle even though their Patronus were still around and only Tonks and herself were the only adults present.
"We need to get the children to safety and help the others." Lily said, surprising the others.
"Oh, you're awake, good." Tonks said. "Because we're about to have company."
"What?" Lily looked where Tonks was gesturing only to see a group of Death Eaters had surrounded them and was closing the circle. The small group had slowly been moving towards the castle and we're not too far from the courtyard.
She looked at the children to see that they were holding their wands ready for a fight. They weren't completely helpless, having together dispatched a few trolls that had tried to attack the group. From what she knew, Harry had been teaching them how to fight, not to mention she had seen Luna dueling so she knew the petite girl was pretty dangerous in her own right.
"We can't fight them." Lily shook her head. She tried to look for a way out but she saw none. The Death Eaters were drawing closer and yet every other person was occupied with their own fight. "Though it seems like we won't have much of a choice."
"There's nowhere to run, mudblood!" One of the Death Eaters shouted at her. "This is the end of the road for you!"
The Death Eaters raised their wands, but before they could begin casting, the were interrupted by a piercing shriek as a shadow flew over their heads before coming towards Lily and the others. A few inches from the ground, it suddenly stopped and transformed into a person who landed lightly on their feet.
"I beg to differ." And with that, the figure slapped his palms onto the ground. The Death Eaters barely had time to comprehend his arrival before roots shot from under their feet and impaled their bodies before coming out through their heads. It was a gruesome sight, one that was made to appear even worse by the lightning that seemed to flash nonstop in the sky.
Lily was already moving before he even stood up. She grabbed her son and squeezed the life out of him. She could feel her heart beating fast and her body feeling weak from the relief but she just pulled him even closer. Hardwin didn't seem to mind as he was hugging her with equal fervor. After what felt like eternity, Lily finally pulled back. She ran her hands over his face.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, mom." Hardwin replied. "What about you, are you hurt."
"I'm fine." She smiled. "We all are."
Hardwin looked behind her and the others waved at him with relieved smiles.
"Where's Harry?" It was Tonks who asked what everyone had been thinking.
"He's somewhere around here." Hardwin replied. "Probably waiting for an opportunity to dramatically announce his presence."
He had barely finished speaking when a gigantic bolt of lightning shot from the sky and slammed into the only giant that had still be standing. It was so bright that it illuminated the grounds like it was the middle of the day. Lily looked away from the falling giant to asses the battlefield.
Everyone had stopped to stare at the spectacle. Everyone but Hagrid who was dispatching off the handful of trolls that were still alive with the same intensity that he had at the start of the battle. Impossible as it had earlier seemed, the battle had been won. A battle that had started with barely a dozen people now had over forty people, from students to Aurors to Order members and even wizards and witches from Hogsmeade that had come to help defend the castle. And that was not mentioning those in the castle that had fought from the towers and windows.
And with the death of the giant, it had been won. After the giant fell, the grounds were envolped in silence. They all knew that the battle had ended but they seemed afraid to celebrate. Like it was an illusion they were afraid would collapse if they made a single sound. And then it did collapse, in the worst possible way imaginable.
"You think you have won." Voldemort's voice was soft but clear. Everyone heard it clearly, like the speaker was standing right behind them. "I told you your efforts were futile but you didn't listen. I gave you a chance but you refused to take it."
Voldemort paused. It was like the whole world had stopped still to listen, not a single sound could be heard.
"You have left me no choice." Voldemort almost sounded regretful. "Now, you shall all die."
And then he started muttering what could only be an incantation. Lily didn't recognize it and exchanged a glance with an equally confused Tonks. She looked at Hardwin only to see that he was growing progressively paler by the second.
"Oh, no." Hardwin breathed in fear. "I know that incantation."
"What is it?" Lily asked. Going by the magic she could feel gathering around them, her son had good reason to be afraid.
"Inferi." Hardwin said and everyone gasped. "If he completes it, every dead thing around will rise up as his army."
"We need to stop him before he can complete the incantation!" Harry seemed to materialize from nowhere. "Can you find him?"
Hardwin nodded and closed his eyes while Harry cast as spell on his throat.
"EVERYONE, GET TO THE CASTLE!" He shouted, his voice magnified. "NOW!"
Lily found her body obeying the order without any concious thought. All around her, people were running to find the nearest entrance to the castle. The last sight she had of her sons was them transforming into their Animagus forms and taking off away from the castle. She tried to turn around, to call out to them, to go and help them, but her body refused to cooperate.
Against her will, she abandoned her sons and entered the castle. When she finally regained control of her body, she was in the Great hall like everyone else and the castle was in lockdown. The doors refused to open, neither did the windows. They could see what was going on outside however.
Voldemort had stopped muttering. For a moment, she dared to hope, that maybe the twins had arrived in time. But that hope disappeared as fast as it had come as the very ground seemed to stir. Like a great beast waking from slumber, the shadows seemed to move. The dark figures on the ground started moving and then slowly started getting up.
First it was one troll, then another, two more followed and then one by one all the dead trolls were back on their feet, standing silently while staring at the castle. Then the giants started rising, almost agonizingly slowly, they stood up untill all seven were standing just as silently behind the trolls. But that wasn't the end of it, people started waking up as well, people that those in the great hall had just been fighting alongside now were waking up as part of Voldemort's army.
"Merlin." McGonagall breathed from Lily's side as they saw three members of the Order stand besides the trolls, their milky eyes staring blankly right back at them.
There was a mixture of emotions in the Great hall, fear, nausea, shock but most importantly, anger directed at the Dark Lord. But locked up in here as they were, they could only pray as their hopes and lives rested in the hands of the two Potters.
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"Harry Potter." Voldemort said by way of a greeting as Harry strolled over to him. "I'm surprised you came alone, surely you don't think you can beat me alone, do you?"
"No, I didn't come alone and as for thinking I can beat you?" Harry replied. "Well, I know someone who is destined to do just that."
"That would be me." Hardwin added from the other side of the Dark Lord. "You die today, Tom Riddle."
"You would have a better chance stopping my army than you would against me." Voldemort looked openly amused. "By the time I'm done with you, everyone in that castle will be dead. If it's any consolation, you'll not be lonely in the afterlife."
"Well, I can assure that when we are done with you. Not a single person inside the castle will be dead." Harry countered. "You of all people should know that Hogwarts is more than just a castle. As I understand you know some of its least known secrets."
"You know, like the Chamber of secrets." Hardwin added, as he moved. The twins were circling around Voldemort like planets around the sun, never staying in the same position for more than three seconds. "Or that magical room on the seventh floor."
Voldemort's amused look disappeared as he looked at Hardwin sharply. Only to turn his gaze to Harry when he spoke again.
"That's right, Tom." Harry said. "We found the diadem and destroyed it."
"You lie!" Voldemort hissed dangerously.
"No we're not lying and you know it." Hardwin said. "Even if you try to deny it, deep down you know that your horcruxes are gone."
Voldemort was completely speechless.
"Every single one of them, we found and destroyed them." Harry said, once again catching the Dark Lord's attention. "The locket, the cup, diadem, the ring, the diary and I'm pretty sure you saw what happened to Nagini."
Voldemort's eyes bore into Harry's, he could feel the probe as he tried to enter his mind and he let him. He showed him the horcruxes, every single one of them and how they had all looked like after he destroyed them.
"You die tonight, Tom Riddle." Hardwin said and Voldemort's furious gaze snapped to him while Harry dropped to one knee and started tracing something on the ground. He stared right back, ignoring Voldemort's pressing aura. "And even if you somehow survive, anyone could kill you. Right now, you're just another ordinary wizard once again."
"That is where you're wrong, boy." Voldemort said, magic gathering at the end of his wand. "I will never be another ordinary wizard!"
A concentrated beam of magic erupted from Voldemort and shot at Hardwin. But the boy had already been in motion before Voldemort could release his own, and he sent his own wave of pure magic right back at the Dark Lord. Voldemort moved to the side to avoid the wave and almost ran into Harry's own attack but somehow he managed to dance his way around that as well.
The twins hadn't stopped their pivoting, and the assault on the Dark Lord was coming from both sides and never at the same point. Voldemort, despite whatever injuries he had sustained when he tried to access Dumbledore's tomb was still in form. He danced around the spells with inhuman grace, and those he couldn't avoid he deflected while at the same time managing to return some of his own spell fire.
It had been some time since he face am opponent that forced him to give the fight his full attention, and tight now he knew he had to give his all in the fight. The boys were more powerful and skilled than he been led to believe, and they were certainly not playing around. He had expected them to be Dumbledore's dogs, the Gryffindor boy at the very least, instead neither one shied away from going for the kill. They were intent on killing him, and he could feel his blood pumping from the thrill of a real fight.
Hardwin stumbled and Voldemort siezed the opportunity. He sent a flury of spells at the boy, faster than he had cast before but the boy was nolonger on the ground. The moment he had stumbled, he had transformed into some kind of eagle and flown to the sky. All of Voldemort's spells met empty air and almost too late, he barely realized in time that it had been staged as the moment Hardwin stumbled, Harry too shifted gears and launched a flurry of spells of his own at Voldemort's back.
He had barely taken his attention from the Slytherin boy for less than a second to concentrate on the other one only for him to sieze on the opportunity presented by the momentary lack of attention away from him. Voldemort had spun around, to engage the twin on the ground and that too nearly cost him his life as the other came down and attacked as well. It was only his boosted reflexes and experience that he managed to find his way out of that as he called on his magic and shot into the air.
Without wasting a single second, he turned his wand towards the ground and launched a concentrated ball of cursed flames at the twins. There was a huge explosion as the ball of Fiendfyre reached the ground and Voldemort was pushed further into the air as the fire started spreading and mutating.
On the ground, the twins who had kept their bond from the start of the fight had been prepared. The moment Voldemort jumped into the air, they had dived together and Harry swiftly summoned the dome shield, just in time too as the ball of cursed fire impacted the ground less than a second later. He could feel his bones shake from the explosion but he swiftly shook it off and transfered control of the shield to Hardwin.
They had practiced the move numerous times during their spars before the third task and they almost knew it instinctively. While Hardwin couldn't summon the shield, Harry had realized that he could transfer control of it to his brother and have it feed from Hardwin's reserves. That way it could be maintained for longer as Hardwin was bigger reserves than Harry and at the same time, Harry would be free to concentrate on other things without worrying about keeping the shield up.
And that is exactly what they did. The moment he transfered the control of the shield, Harry let his magic envelope the flames around them. He could feel them try to wrestle out of his control as they had a mind of their own but Harry was almost a master in elemental magic and his will was made of iron. He pressed back, and thankfully they had not grown that much, not to mention the moment Voldemort launched the ball, he didn't bother trying to control the Fiendfyre.
Otherwise it would have been significantly harder or even impossible given the circumstances, for him to control them. And control he did as he pushed them away from their position which gave a panting Hardwin a chance to get some reprieve. He didn't dispell them however and even as they struggled to get out of his control, four large chains formed within their midst before launching themselves into the sky, right at the surprised Dark Lord.
Voldemort had been assured of victory. Skilled as the two boys were, there was no way they could survive a Fiendfyre attack, certainly not without preparation. He had not expected them to control the fire which was why he had no time to react when chains of fire suddenly shot from the burning inferno below and wrapped around his limbs.
He screamed in pain as the chains burned him while they pulled him and slammed him to the ground. By the time he arrived, half of his limbs had been burned off. He was still screaming even as Harry summoned his dagger and passed it to his brother. Hardwin pushed himself to his feet and staggered towards the limbless form of the Dark Lord and with one movement, just as he had seen Harry do in his vision, he sliced Voldemort's throat before wandlessy hurling him into the fire.
Five minutes later, a dark shadow with Voldemort's face emerged from the flames. He looked surprised to see he had not died and his red eyes looked at the twins before he made to leave. Harry wasn't having any of it though as he channeled magic into the ressurection stone and willed for the shade to be pulled back. Voldemort screamed in protest as he was pulled back and sealed into the stone which transformed from its usual crystal clear to black.
Harry exchanged a satisfied look with his brother. The fight was over, but there was still one last thing to do before this business with Voldemort could be finished once and for all. Harry reached into his robes and pulled out two vials of the 'Elixir if life'. He handed one to Hardwin and downed the other.
And with his magic fully replenished, he easily dispelled the cursed flames before pulling out Bill's watch. Hardwin took his brother's hand and they disappeared from the Hogwarts grounds. It was time to end this war for good.
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AN: Well, there we go with the latest chapter. Next chapter, I'll be truly wrapping up the events of the second day of the war and how it affected the magical world.
After the Voldemort arc, I was planning on starting another book as a sequel and where we shall truly have the xovers but I'm still undecided, so tell me which you would prefer. A continuation of this particular one or a new book with the xovers?