Chapter Nineteen – Hakaikyu
Harry ran as fast as he could. It had been a while since he had run like this; perhaps even since the battle of Hogwarts a little over twenty years prior.
'Get every teacher you can find. Students, guests, Hogsmeade residents. Anybody who can summon a Patronus! Spread them in teams around the castle! ' He had yelled at Teddy before leading his small squad in a panic-induced dash down to the Hogwarts grounds.
As they reached the lake's shore, the enormous figure of Rubeus Hagrid greeted them with a 'Harry wha' the hell is goin' on?!'
'Hagrid get in the castle NOW! Gather any student you find and get them down into the dungeons!' Ordered Harry.
The half-giant did not need to be told twice. With a nod, he ran up the hill and into the castle.
An otherworldly chill enveloped Harry a moment later. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation. A cascade of horror, the army of Dementors approached the castle with a wind of a thousand rattling breaths.
Not here. Not now. Not with his children in harm's way. Not with anybody's children in harm's way. Not a single soul would be lost today because Harry Potter couldn't protect them adequately; he would make sure of it.
Everything had gotten much darker in the past few minutes. The bright mid-May sun had given way to foreboding clouds and suffocating fog. The lake froze over as frost covered the grounds.
Harry took a deep breath. It had been so long ago – twenty-four years ago in fact – that he had stood on the shore of this very lake, protecting Sirius and his past self from a terrible fate. He was willing to bet all the Galleons in his vault that some of these Dementors were the same ones he had fought in his third year. And just as he drove them all away back then, he would now banish them from Hogwarts once more.
It wasn't just Sirius he had to protect now. It was the entire future of the Wizarding World. Innocent children – some of them members of his own family – who would surely be a feast for the Dementors –
'Merlin's pants, what are we waiting for?!' Called Rasmi over the sound of the Dementors' unnerving breaths. 'Expecto Patronum!'
The same Thestral Harry had seen once before sprang out of the young man's wand. A quick surge of warmth and brightness swept upon Harry before the silvery winged horse flew up towards the coming horde.
Harry felt another short wave of warmth to his left, and another one behind him, and then another. Before long, Hermione's otter, Ron's Jack Russell terrier, Neville's hog, and McGonagall's cat all shot up in the air following Rasmi's Thestral. Harry concentrated hard on Ginny, his children, Ron, and Hermione. He thought of Christmas Eve with everyone.
Christmas Eve is when all this mess with the Dementors began…
No. He can't think of that now. Harry concentrated again on his children. He would fight a billion Dementors if it meant protecting them…
'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'
The familiar stag shot out of Harry's wand with a bright white flash. The dark army slowed down and swerved to the left, towards the castle.
'We can't let them flank us!' Yelled Harry. 'Keep your Patronuses between them and the castle!'
They all did as Harry said, running to their left to keep up with the Dementors.
Sleet started pouring all around them. Harry felt cold and wet to the bone. I've got to carry on, he thought to himself, I have to keep everyone safe…
The Dementors changed direction again. This time splitting up, with some going back towards the lower grounds, and others flying backwards fast and around to the other end of the castle.
'There aren't enough of us to keep holding them off like this!' Called Ron in a panic.
'Teddy's supposed to keep watch on that side,' answered Harry.
As if on cue, several Patronuses lit up in the darkness on the other side of the looming castle. Teddy must've gathered a few of the teachers and the older students. Good, thought Harry, we can contain this.
The Dementors to Harry's right regrouped again and flew upwards, trying to overpass the group.
'Don't let them! No!'
'Harry we can't keep this up forever!' Called Hermione. He could sense the fear in her voice, too.
'Well, what do you suggest we do, Hermione?!' Retorted Harry, spinning around and sending his stag upwards. 'There's no way to kill or capture them, we have to keep trying to drive them away!'
The big bright Thestral, Rasmi's Patronus, flickered above them. With one last flap of its bony wings, it disappeared without a trace. The Dementors pushed down harder onto them as the single strongest Patronus of the bunch was now gone.
Harry turned around to face Rasmi in anger. 'What the – '
'There is a way…' said the young man darkly, putting away his wand. He had a weird expression on his face, serious, almost menacing.
'What do mean "there is a way"?! WHAT SORT OF NONSENSE – '
'There is a way to kill them.'
'What?' They all said collectively.
'I'm going to need some time to prepare though.'
'How much time do you need?' He asked Rasmi.
'Can you give me roughly two minutes?'
'We can try…'
'I need you to get them all in one spot for me, as densely as you can.'
'We aren't exactly in a position to get them to do anything mate!' Called Ron. 'There's no – '
'Brooms!' Bellowed Harry. 'Summon brooms from the pitch, then enclose them over the lake with Patronuses!'
'Brilliant! Like we did in Loxwich! Accio broom!'
As Ron's Patronus vanished, the Dementors pushed even harder down. A faint whistle sounded just barely over the revolting rattles of the Dementors. Withing a moment, an old, beat-up looking broom shot through the mist into Ron's open hand.
Without hesitation, Neville did the same, with the absence of his Patronus giving even more leeway for the Dementors' onslaught.
'I'm going to need someone to stay here and protect me while you go and try to contain them,' called Rasmi.
'Right,' said Harry. He turned to McGonagall, 'Minerva, you stay here on the ground with Hermione, and I will – '
'Accio broom!' Called the headmistress. 'I've been riding brooms since before you were a twinkle in your father's eye, Mr Potter,' she said as she grabbed another old broom which zoomed over from the pitch.
'Gather Teddy's team to help you too!' Yelled Harry after McGonagall, as he watched her ascend toward the darkening sky.
'Right then,' he exclaimed while noticing Hermione's mouth twitch a little. 'Let's do this Hermione, just like in our third year!'
She gave him a faint smile. Her otter running around, encircling the three of them, along with his stag.
Harry concentrated again on his Patronus, with the thought of his children fuelling his struggle against the Dementor. He had never had to face so many of them with so little external support.
Rasmi sat down on the ground between Harry and Hermione. With his eyes closed, he began to mutter in a strange tongue Harry did not recognise.
'I really hope you know what you're doing – '
The young man indicated Harry to remain silent with his finger. Harry's momentary frustration was ended abruptly by a rogue Dementor that breached their circle. Harry had to send his stag closer to himself to shield Rasmi from the dark figure.
Hermione's Patronus flickered. A frigid chill ran through Harry's spine as the familiar screams of his mother began ringing in his ears again.
Just then, out of the darkness came a few dozen rays of light. Teddy's team had arrived along with the rest of Harry's squad, and he brought some more backup.
As the Dementors near him began to scatter upwards again, Harry noticed the unmistakable figure of Aberforth, riding a broom behind a silvery goat, and leading a small group of Hogsmeade dwellers from above, enclosing the dark horde.
Harry's Patronus grew brighter at that sight. He sent his stag on another charge upwards, pushing some of the last Dementors into a tight sphere.
'Get them over the lake!' He screamed at the other combatants.
The airborne group of wizards and witches to the southeast – mostly composed of seventh-year Hogwarts students – backed away with their Patronuses toward the Great Lake, as the group from the northwest – led by Neville and McGonagall – pushed harder from their end.
The giant orb of Dementors moved swiftly with the direction commanded by the two squads, while being compacted densely by the bottom and top groups. The horde was now in a perfect position, just as Rasmi had requested.
'I hope you're ready now!' Called Harry as he turned back toward the lad.
'Pretty much ready,' he replied calmly.
Harry hadn't noticed before, but the young man's body had been seemingly surrounded by a bright blue aura that radiated heat. Rasmi got up from the ground and pulled out his wand. He placed his left hand underneath his wand hand and began drawing circles with his wand over it.
'Hakaikyu,' he muttered.
Slowly but surely, the bright blue, hot radiation that surrounded the young man's body concentrated into his right hand and through it into his wand and out onto his open left hand. A strange ball of white-hot light began to take shape in his left hand. Rasmi flinched as it scorched the skin and flesh around his hand and arm. Not a moment passed, as the ball of light grew larger than a Quaffle, then a pumpkin, and then a Quidditch hoop. Grander and grander it grew until Rasmi had to release his left hand and float the gigantic ball above his head with his trembling right hand.
A loud screech tore Harry from this stupendous sight. Harry had never heard such a sound before. It was the Dementors. They screamed in fear, trying to fly in every direction, toward the Patronuses enclosing them, then recoiling in pain back into their dense sphere.
The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up. The intense heat and energy of the massive sphere of bright blue light hit his body like a gargantuan wave, searing the tips of his hair and clothes. It was almost as large as the Great Hall by that point.
Harry turned again to face Rasmi.
The young man looked at him with a painful grimace. 'I – AAGGH – I – I don't think I – I can do much better than this… Tell them – tell them all to – to get out of the way!'
Harry pointed his wand at his throat, 'SCATTER NOW!'
Just as he commanded, the wizards and witches on brooms dispersed in every direction, their Patronuses vanishing and their figures disappearing through the mist.
Before the Dementors could fly away themselves –before they could even realise what had happened – Rasmi had swung his right arm in their direction. In its full enormity, Rasmi's sphere had descended upon the dark horde, with an ear-piercing bang and sunlike brightness.
Harry could feel the wave of heat hit his body with the force of a thousand Bludgers. He was thrown in the air backwards, falling hard on the grassy hill behind him.
The searing heat had intensified, setting ablaze his robes and the grass around him. Just as Harry thought he could not bear it any longer, the bright light vanished, and the air cooled down again.
Relieved, Harry got up and looked around. The gigantic ball was nowhere to be seen and neither was the horde of Dementors. A brilliant sunset washed the grounds of the castle with bright colours. Harry wiped sweat and soot off his forehead before –
*THUD*
He looked over to see Rasmi's unconscious, singed figure lay flatly on the ground ahead.
Harry was running again. This time with Teddy by his side.
After sending Rasmi to the Hospital Wing and making sure everybody had survived both the Dementors and the blast, he grabbed Teddy by the hand and led him through the crowd and back into the castle. Their job wasn't done yet. They had to question Montgomery and Goyle. They had to squeeze all the relevant information out of them before whoever was behind it all could get to them first.
They ran up flights of stairs and through empty corridors, ignoring the befuddled sounds of the portraits around them.
'Do you think he'll be fine?' Asked Teddy with a worried look.
'I think so,' answered Harry between breaths. 'If my guess is correct, I would say he's performed this curse before, to finish off Mortedigne and that Japanese dark wizard.'
'That… thing though. Pretty scary, wasn't it?'
'I can't even imagine what sort of magical power you need to possess to conjure such a thing…' said Harry. 'Here we are,' he added as they reached the door to the Transfiguration teacher's office.
Harry kicked the door open to a gut-wrenching scene. His niece, Molly, and her friend Riya were laid, unmoving and frozen against the wall to his immediate right, while the two grown men they had been tasked with guarding were sprawled on the floor of the office ahead of them.
'Molly!' Called Harry as he rushed to check her pulse. He laid his hand against her neck to feel a weak, warm beat on his fingers. She was alive. He then checked Riya's neck for signs of life too – they had both been stunned but not harmed in any other way.
Now relieved, Harry turned around to see a grim look on Teddy's face.
'They're both dead,' sighed Teddy, gesturing at Montgomery and Goyle's bodies at his feet.
'What?! Are you sure?!' Inquired Harry as he ran over to check for pulse on the two men. They were both cold to the touch and stiff as a board.
'The Killing Curse…' whispered Harry as he got back up.
'Merlin's beard…' whispered Teddy.
'No. No, no, no, NO!' Yelled Harry, turning back around toward the unconscious girls. He pointed his wand at them, 'Rennervate!'
A flash of light, and the two girls woke up with a startle.
'Uncle Harry?' Asked Molly with confusion.
'Molly, I need you to focus, please,' said Harry as calmly as he could. 'Do you remember what happened here?'
'What? I – what happened? Why are we on the floor? Did somebody – '
'Molly please, I need you to tell me what you remember. Did somebody come in here?'
'Oh, Harry I'm so, so sorry!'
'Never mind that now Molly what did you see?'
'We haven't seen anything Mr Potter…' muttered Riya sadly on Molly's right side. 'I think I saw a quick flash of red light, and then maybe a green one after that… It all went dark so fast… I'm so sorry…'
Sorry again for the delay!
For those of you who don't follow me on Tumblr, I was on the road again and I didn't have time to properly edit this chapter until yesterday!
What did you think about this epic showdown? We finally know (sort of) what Rasmi's curse from the first chapter is called and what it looks like when it's being formed. I've been sitting on this one for a while XD
Next up, either 1 or 2 chapters left (haven't decided whether to split them up or combine them into one). It'll be Albus' perspective that will finish this book.
Hope you all enjoyed this one!
Paul
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