THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Chapter 14: Now you die.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.

AN: So, things got pretty dark last chapter but that was part of what I imagined would happen had Voldemort truly taken over the magical world. Also about Loki, he enjoys chaos, he doesn't care about Harry or the magical world and Odin gave him free range to do what he pleased so long as Harry ended up at Asgard. And so, Loki being Loki opted to cause as much chaos as possible, it doesn't mean that he couldn't have done it in other ways, it's just that from what I understand, watching these little humans kill each other because of his manipulations would be highly amusing to him, and if it got Harry to return with him to Asgard, then all the better.

Now I didn't mean to bore you lot with all that but a couple of you have pointed out why Loki hadn't gone with other methods that would have had Harry go to Asgard without all this 'trouble' and my answer is that Loki would have chosen the most amusing and fun way, atleast to him. What I have shown is an example of what I imagine would be one of those ways. Thank you, and now unto the battle of Hogwarts and what will determine the fate of magical Britain...if there will be one at all...

-TRNT-

January 8th 2003

Hogwarts

"What are we going to do?" McGonagall asked. "There's barely enough of us to hold back the Dark Lord alone, much less an army."

"We fight." Dumbledore said. "We have seen what a young Tom is capable of, we don't want to see what the adult one will do if he takes the castle."

"But Albus, there's only six of us." Along with the three if them, there was Sprout, Sinistra and Slughorn and neither of the other three were much of fighters. "I think evacuating would be best."

"We do not have the time to evacuate all the students, Tom and his army are already marching towards the castle." He replied as he led the way towards the great hall. "We can only hold them back long enough for the Order to bring reinforcements."

"They are aware?"

"Of course, I summoned Alastor as soon as I was freed." Dumbledore replied. "He should be mustering any capable fighters as we speak."

"But how long can we hold them?" Flitwick asked.

"All three of us are more capable than we give ourselves credit. We can keep them busy enough for the other professors to organize the students. " Albus replied. "And I'm sure Mr. Potter won't mind helping_ Harry?"

In the rush to meet the approaching enemies, none of them had noticed that the boy wasn't with them.

"He left as soon as the alarm started sounding." Filius said. "I don't think defending the castle was on his mind at the moment."

"As much as I wouldn't mind having him by my side during the fight, this is hardly a place for a twelve-year-old." Albus said. By this point, they had arrived at the double doors the led outside the castle. "Besides, he has done more than enough by liberating the castle and killing the basilisk. Now it is upto us to defend it."

He pushed the doors, probably opening for the very first time in weeks. The cold air that hit him was a welcome relief, one he hadn't even realized he had been missing this much. He led the way untill they reached open grounds with a clear line of site of where he knew Voldemort's army was coming from. Not that much could be seen in the darkness, but that could easily be solved. Pointing the Elder Wand up, a ball of light flew from it and shot towards the sky. Initially no larger than a palm, it started growing while getting brighter by the second untill the grounds were illuminated as if it was the middle of the day.

"Well, that should come in handy." Minerva commented, clearly impressed. "How long will it last?"

"As long as I draw breath." Albus looked away towards the other end of the grounds.

They now could see Voldemort's army which was less than a hundred meters from where they were standing. At the very front was probably Voldemort himself, he looked nothing like the monster they all remembered from the last war and instead there was an older version of the boy who had taken over the castle. Right behind him was his inner-circle, none of which were wearing masks and many were former inmates at Azkaban. Behind them were no less than thirty Death Eaters amongst which were transformed werewolves despite it not being a full moon. There were even a couple of trolls at the back but no more than a dozen.

"Now, I know what I'm about to ask you may be hard for you and likely go against your principles." Albus started, gathering his magic as the army drew closer. "However, the safety of the students is paramount. We have failed to protect them before, and we won't fail yet again this time, this war needs to end here and now."

"What exactly are you saying, Albus?" Minerva asked though they all knew what he meant.

"I'm saying that no holding back." He confirmed. "Do whatever it takes to end this fight today."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I've ever been of anything in my life."

"Who is that, though?"

Someone had just appeared right besides Voldemort. He was dressed in a clearly expensive dark suit and had his hands in his pockets. He looked fairly harmless as he smirked at them but the power around him was enormous and they could feel it even across the ground between them.

"Loki." Harry said softly, his disembodied head hanging in midair next to Albus. None of them had seen him arrive. "Someone you do not want to fight along with Voldemort."

"Who is he and how do you know him?"

"Let's just say, we have met and keep it at that." Harry looked at the headmaster for a second before he threw the hood of his cloak over his head and it too disappeared. "Good luck, headmaster."

A second later, they saw the man, Loki frown slightly before he disappeared as well, startling Voldemort and his allies. Dumbledore took advantage of that and attacked. A bolt of red light erupted from his wand and covered the distance between them faster than any spell anyone there had seen before. Voldemort barely managed to deflect the spell in time, it ricocheted off the shield and slammed into a death Eater behind him leaving a hole in his stomach. He dropped dead the next second.

Before any of them could truly process the fact that Albus Dumbledore had used magic intending to kill, he struck again, as did McGonagall and Flitwick. The battle for Hogwarts had began.

-TRNT-

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere in Africa." Harry replied as he stowed away his invisibility cloak. They were in what appeared to be a tropical area with a couple of trees, bushes and shrubs. "You should watch out for mosquitoes, I hear they're quite popular around here."

"What did you expect to gain by bringing me here?"

"It is me you want, I figured we should have our little scuffle somewhere else from the wizards."

"It seems you have grown a couple of balls, so much that you fancy a fight with me." Loki smirked. "And it appears that you've grown into your powers, but you have a long way to go before you match me in a fight."

"It appears you have been busy." Harry noted, not bothering to comment on Loki's words. "What exactly are you hoping to get with all these manipulations."

"It always amuses me seeing you humans squabble over the most trivial of things. Your little magical world will be no more once I'm done with them, and then I'll move onto the rest of the world." Loki said. "And at the end of it all, you will be left with nothing, your world will be gone and you will beg me to take you with me back to Asgard."

"So all this was just so I could go with you to Asgard?"

"No, my reason for coming here was to get you to Asgard." Loki replied. "All this as you adequately put it is the beginning of your people's suffering, which will keep growing untill you learn the error of your ways and swear allegiance to me."

"And what do you get out of this?"

"Entertainment, mostly as you watch the people you care about suffer and eventually die." Loki said with a grin. "And at the end of it all, I'll have a loyal subject serving under me."

Harry stared at the Asgardian while Loki just kept smirking at him.

"You need to leave earth, Loki of Asgard." Harry said, drawing his holly and phoenix feather wand. He had picked it from McGonagall's office while he had been searching for the basilisk. "This will be your last warning."

"Oh, really?" Loki raised a curt eyebrow. "And if I refuse? Will you kick me out yourself?"

"I'll only fight you if I have to." Harry said as he pointed his wand at the god. "I'm hoping to avoid it altogether."

And then he spun around while simultaneously summoning a whip of water and lashed behind him at what appeared to be empty air which caught an invisible and completely surprised Loki, wrapping itself around his torso. The illusion of the one he was talking to disappeared just as Harry adjusted his wand, moving it over his head and slashing the whip and Loki who was attached to it over his head and into the ground on the other side, hard. And then he did it again, slamming Loki on one side before bringing him back on the other. Harry did this for about half a minute untill he was breathing heavily from the work out before dispelling the whip and flinging Loki's battered form through the air and away from him towards the small lake on their right.

He had read up on Loki during his time at school in preparation for their next meeting. Knowing that he was a norse god had helped him alot as now he knew where to look if he were to understand his opponent. And what he had found was very enlightening indeed. It turns out that Loki, god of Mischief, had a bit of a weakness towards water and that submerging him in water temporarily takes away his ability to do magic as his brother Thor was reported to have done once. There was nothing to prove any of this, only that one of the worshippers had once witnessed the two gods sparring only for Thor to beat Loki by submerging him in water.

Even if it turned out not to be true, Harry knew Loki was still disoriented from hitting the ground so many times that it would take him a number of seconds to come back to his senses, extract himself from the water and come after Harry again. Enough time for Harry to do what he had planned. As it happened, the area Harry had brought them to used to hold a worship center for the Norse gods, and it was on this very grounds that the supposed spar had happened, as was the lake where Loki was submerged. This area was spiritually closer to the gods than any area on earth, and now as the almost unconcious Loki was being flung towards the lake once again, Harry could do what he had planned all along.

He gestured with his wand and a large circle appeared on the ground and then he started tracing norse runes in the air with his wand. Fiery squiggles started appearing and one by one flew into their designated place inside the circle as soon as they was finished. He was working fast, knowing that Loki could appear before him any second now. He had filled about three quarters of the circle when he suddenly dropped his wand and spun around before clapping his palms together releasing a concussive wave of magic in the air, catching the formerly invisible Loki who had leaped through the air to sneak up on Harry. The frustrated and enraged god was swept by the wave of magic and tossed right back into the lake.

Harry picked up the wand and continued drawing the runes untill all the runes were done forming a complete runic pattern on the ground. He then started casting lightning and directing it into the rune pattern and the runes started lighting up as he fed the circle with lightning. He was using both his wand and his free hand and he could feel the wand heating up in his hand. Slowly the runes lit up, agonizingly slow as he pumped more lighting into the circle. The poor wand, already at its limits exploded, momentarily disrupting Harry's concentration and that cost him as he failed to follow the tracking charm he had tagged on Loki at the beginning.

He had already covered the distance between Harry and the lake and he slammed into the boy with all the force of a freight train. Harry was sent flying through the air and before he could even reach the ground, Loki appeared and caught him midair with his left hand. He then punched him with the other with such force that had Harry been normal, his head would have been separated from his neck. Loki then raised him higher and punched him again, this time letting him go and leaving him to fly helplessly through the air once again. Harry bounced on the hard ground numerous but before his bouncing had even stopped Loki appeared once again and kicked him in the ribs, the strength behind the kick displacing any air he had in his lungs and lifting him off the ground.

When Harry stopped bouncing on the ground, he realized he wasn't breathing. He tried to suck in air but his lungs refused to respond. Blinking, he looked up to see Loki standing over him with his hands stretched towards him.

"With barely a gesture, I can rip out your barely formed lungs and heart or your spinal cord and you wouldn'tbe able to do anything about it." Loki said and Harry got a good look at his tormentor. He didn't look very good, there were clear bruises on his face, his suit had been damaged alot and was still dripping with water. There were even blue spots on what was visible on Loki's skin but Harry had no idea what they meant. "And that is exactly what I'm going to do."

The murderous look in Loki's eyes was enough to convince Harry that the god wasn't bluffing. And so he did the only thing he was left with, and teleported. Loki seemed to have anticipated this as just as Harry came to his decision, the god leaped forward and grabbed what remained of Harry's coat and the two disappeared together, only to appear in the very same position as before. Harry teleported again, and as he expected, Loki caught him and they went together, however this time, they appeared far above the ground. Harry had expected this and he summoned magic to keep him suspended while Loki was suddenly pulled towards the ground.

Before the other man could recover, Harry disappeared and reappeared next to his rune circle. Without wasting any time, he starting pumping lightning to it with both palms untill Loki slammed into him once again. He didn't bother slowing his flight this time and Loki caught him midair once again and slammed him into the ground.

"Time to give you a taste of your medicine." Loki declared and then grabbed Harry by the legs. He lifted him over his head and slammed him into the ground, swung him over and slammed on the other side and then repeated the actions. Harry lost all sense of understanding as the ground met his body over and over and it was all he could do not to lose consciousness, only the knowledge that all the runes had been lit when Loki interrupted him for the second time kept him conscious as he waited for something to happen.

And then it did. There was a bright light over the runic circle, and when the light disappeared, there was someone standing in the middle of it. He was very tall, even taller than Loki and well-built; he has very large biceps and long, muscular legs. Fair-skinned and blue-eyed, he had golden blonde hair that fell freely upto his shoulders. He was wearing what appeared to be armour designed similar to what Loki had been wearing the last time he fought with Harry only his was black with silver circles along the torso, with silver chainmail sleeves. He has red wristbands, a large golden belt and blue pants and completing the assortment was a long red cape over his shoulders.

In his hands was what Harry had been looking forward to see most when he read about the spell that was used to summon the gods. He had taken a gamble that it would work and summon Thor to take care of his brother and it clearly had worked, atleast on the summoning part. In Thor's hands was what could only be Mjölnir, a mystical hammer forged from the heart of a dying star. Apparently, Odin himself stated that Mjölnir's power has no equal, as either a weapon to destroy or as a tool to build. Mjölnir, which resembles a mallet rather than a war hammer, has a number of elemental powers all of which Harry wouldn't mind witnessing but now was not the time as he had summoned Thor for a reason.

When the Norse gods were summoned, the person who did it could ask for one favour and it would be upto them to decide whether to indulge them or not. Harry had hoped that asking Thor to take his brother away would work especially if he told him of all that which Loki had done. Thor being hung up on justice, there was a very good chance that he would listen to Harry, also there was a chance that he would just join his brother and help him destroy the planet. And in that case, Harry would truly be screwed.

Loki dropped him on the ground as he stared at his brother. "What are you doing here, brother?"

"Your return to Asgard has been requested." Thor declared, his voice ringing with authority. "I was just being given instructions on what to do with you when I was summoned." He looked back at the summoning circle and then at Harry. "What have you done, brother?"

"I am here on father's mission."

"Your mission has come to an end." Thor said as he strode towards Loki and grabbed his arm. "And you are coming with me."

"Of course, no need to get all handsy." Loki shook of Thor's hand and straightened. There was a flash and the suit he had been wearing was replaced by his armor and he smirked at Harry. "Untill we meet again, Harry Potter."

Before Harry could say anything, a beam of rainbow colored light shot from the sky and engulfed the two brothers before it shot back to the sky and disappeared. He fell back on the ground, breathing heavily. He could feel pain in places he hadn't known he had, but now was not the time to rest. Shevaun was still at Hogwarts along with his former acquaintances, and when he had left, the castle was being besieged by an army with only three people as its defense, he just hoped he wasn't too late.

-TRNT-

Sirius and the rest of the members of the Order were seated at the large dining table when the summons came. After taking the kids to Regulus' room, he had come back only to have Molly chew his head off for letting a girl and a boy sleep in the same room. Arguing that the girl was Harry's girlfriend didn't help matters and he ended up being ordered to go up and tell them they can't sleep together. He knew they wouldn't listen, Harry was James' son and that came with a stubborn streak unrivaled anywhere in the world and if what he had seen so far was any indication, the girl was even more stubborn than Harry.

He wasn't looking forward to the conversation, not that he planned on putting much effort in convincing them. However, when he went there he found no one and he knew immediately that they had left, how they had done that without him being notified by the wards, only Merlin knew. While they were still processing that, they realized the Invisibility cloak was missing, as was the lighter, the only thing that could locate Harry. Sirius was impressed, they had not only managed to slip out right under the Order's noses, but had also gone with the only way to find them as well as a means to hide in the unlikely event that they are found.

But that was until he remembered that Voldemort and literally every parent out there who wished to see their kids again would like to get their hands on Harry. Thirty minutes later, they weren't any closer to finding a way to locate the boy. They all assumed that he had gone to Hogwarts to try and help his friends, but knowing the castle was under lockdown, there was no way he was likely to get in, except if he was let in by the one controlling the wards and by that point, he would be lost to them.

Either way, they had to try to help the boy. Everyone in the Order knew about the prophecy and the fact that only Harry could truly defeat Voldemort. If he were to die, then any hope of saving Magical Britain would die along with him and they would be left at the mercy of an immortal Dark Lord. That was not a future any of then wished to be part of, the thought of it was even worse than the thought of facing a basilisk.

And so they started preparing for the fight. Snape had told them that the Dark Lord himself was planning on going to Hogwarts, therefore there was a good chance that they would run into each other. However, there was no turning back now, their leader, Dumbledore was stuck there along with the other teachers and students, they had dallied long enough and it was time to put any plans they had made into action. And that was not to mention Harry, the boy had given Sirius a chance to freedom and now his life was in danger. Sirius was going to do everything in his power to ensure that he is not hurt, even if it meant fighting the basilisk by himself.

Once the enchanted glasses had been handed out, enchanted so the basilisk gaze would only petrify whoever is wearing them rather than instant death, the ten order members took port-keys to Hogsmeade, their destination Honeydukes. Here they could access the One-Eyed Witch Passage, a secret tunnel that led from Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeydukes Sweetshop. That way, they can fly through the tunnel and enter the castle going around the lockdown, the only problem would be once they had entered, the one in control of the wards could strike them down with a single thought. However, they all were willing to risk that.

"The wards are down." Moody declared, as soon as the portkeys dropped them in Hogsmeade, his magical eye facing directly towards Hogwarts. "There's fighting going on, we need to go!"

And without another word, he jumped on his broom and flew towards the castle, the others not a second behind. Sirius easily caught up with the older war veteran, thoughts of his godson making him push his broom to its limits and in a few seconds, he had pulled ahead of the group of wizards and witches. Remus wasn't far behind him, as well as Andy's daughter Nymphadora, barely out of Hogwarts herself and Moody's prodigy and apprentice. He glanced back at them and they both gave him nods, those two would watch his back no matter what, and he could concentrate on finding and protecting his godson.

The Hogwarts grounds came into sight, illuminated by a ball of light in the sky as if it was the middle of the day. He could see what could only be Voldemort's army advancing at the castle. Three figures stood on the other end, holding back the advancing wizards and witches. How the three were able to withstand that much spell fire, Sirius could only imagine, but they were holding their own. From his vintage point, he could see what was going on in the field. The central figure, who could only be Dumbledore was defending his two allies from the enemy fire while the other two, McGonagall and Flitwick attacked.

As he drew closer to the battle, Sirius marveled at the skill being displayed by the three Hogwarts professors. Dumbledore was defending his two colleagues against spell fire coming from over twenty people as well as Voldemort while the other two were slowly chipping away on the approaching army. They were holding back what appeared to be transformed werewolves and trolls along with the death Eaters themselves. However, they were getting tired, they were sporting several injuries, probably from spells that had managed to slip past Dumbledore and the distance between them and the army was growing progressively smaller, and fast.

It would seem that the Order had arrived just in the nick of time.

Seeing that he was in striking distance, Sirius pointed his wand downwards and shot an overpowered Bombarda right in the middle of the group of Death Eaters.

"Shields up!" Someone at the front, probably Voldemort himself shouted at his Death Eaters as the spell streaked towards them.

It hit the ground and exploded, those who had been lucky enough to cast shields in time were sent flying in all directions. The unfortunate ones were vaporized on the spot by the explosion of magic. After the amount of suffering these people had inflicted on the magical world, Sirius did not feel a shred of pity for them, he had been dying for a fight, and now he had gotten one. And so he flew over the disorganized army, concentrating his spell fire on one enemy at a time until he had overwhelmed them before going onto the next one. The other members of the Order landed and joined the fight, taking down Death Eaters and werewolves.

Sirius flew over the fighting towards Dumbledore and the others. Voldemort had left his minions behind and was approaching the tired Hogwarts professors, ruthlessly pressing his attack with his four most dangerous Death Eaters on his side. Sirius recognized all three of them as they weren't wearing masks. One was his insane cousin, Bellatrix, her cackling and screeching voice distinctive, next to her was Lucius Malfoy, his white blond hair unmistakable. On the other side was Antonin Dolohov, easily the most magically skilled of Voldemort's followers short of Bellatrix herself.

Next to him was Thorfinn Rowle, on par with the other three inner circle Death Eaters in both magical power and intelligence, those four were the most dangerous people alive. And with Voldemort fighting at their head, Dumbledore and his two professors did not stand a chance, especially considering the condition they were in at the moment. Sirius pushed his broom to go as fast as it could, and with his attention fixed entirely on reaching his former professors, he nearly missed the spell aimed at him, only realizing his plight when he was almost running into it.

Reacting on instinct, he leaped from the broom and plummeted downwards. He wasn't very far from the ground so reducing his momentum wouldn't have much effect, he barely managed to cast a cushioning charm before he hit the ground. Thanks to the charm, he wasn't hurt, but the impact had him seeing stars as his brain literally shook in his skull. He took a few seconds to get his bearings back as he staggered to his feet, just in time too as his instincts screamed at him and he barely ducked in time to avoid the figure that had been about to slam into him.

He spun around, thankful that his wand had managed to stay in his hand even after his fall. He saw the werewolf dig its claws in the ground to halt its momentum as it spun around and leaped at him again. He was ready for it this time, flicking his wrist twice, a stone fist leaped from the ground and intercepted the werewolf, hitting it hard in the chest and throwing it back where a silver tipped spike was waiting for it. The werewolf fell on the spike which impaled it through the heart and came out on the other side. It died instantly.

He heard another snarl before another werewolf leaped at him, this one marginally faster and bigger than the first one. Years of wrestling with Moony had drilled instincts in him and he wasted no time in transforming into Padfoot just before the large werewolf impacted him and together they fell. What followed was a battle of strength and skill as Padfoot and the werewolf bit and scratched, each trying to gain the upper hand. And it was in this process that Padfoot got a good look at his opponent, his blood ran cold when he recognized him, and then he saw red. This was the son of a bitch that was responsible for all Remus' suffering. Fenrir Greyback.

Before the fight could resume however, another figure slammed into Greyback. They were of the same size and Padfoot glanced at them as they snapped and snarled at each other. It seemed Remus had managed to trigger his own transformation as well and he had come to deal with his sire personally. Trusting his friend to handle himself, Padfoot turned and started running towards his initial destination, darting between the fighters at a speed that contrasted with his size. A number of Death Eaters froze at the site of the 'grim' and that cost them their lives. He passed by Hagrid fighting two trolls at once, the half giant looking more wild and ferocious than he had ever seen him.

Padfoot didn't spare them a second glance as he could see his destination draw near. While he had been distracted with fighting the werewolves, Kingsley and Moody had joined the fight against Voldemort and his four followers. Moody was fighting Dolohov while Kingsley fought Rowle, Flitwick was fighting Lucius and McGonagall Bellatrix. Of the four order members, McGonagall was having the hardest time, and that was where Padfoot headed. Despite how tired and injured she was, McGonagall was putting up quite a fight, but even as Padfoot watched, she was hit by a spell and she fell down, convulsing in obvious pain.

Padfoot leaped just as Bellatrix ended the torture spell and started casting again. Going by the green glow at the tip of her wand, he knew exactly which spell his insane cousin was going to cast. She never got to finish it, because just as she finished the first syllable, she spun around as if sensing her impending end. Her eyes widened at the sight of the large black dog flying towards her, jaws opened wide and sharp fangs dripping with saliva. For a moment, her dark eyes which were normally insane gained clarity just as Padfoot's powerful jaws closed around her throat. She fell back from the weight and she was dead before she hit the ground.

Padfoot looked around just in time to see Flitwick strike down Lucius. The tiny professor also fell forward, alive but without any strength to stay on his feet. Kingsley had also killed his but it seemed he wasn't any better than Flitwick, the only evidence that he was alive was the rising and falling of his chest. Moody was still conscious, but he was lying on the ground, his legs missing as well as his left arm. His opponent or what was left of him was lying not far away from the veteran Auror.

Voldemort was still standing, not that he hadn't taken any damage, but he was way better off than his opponent. Dumbledore was on his knees, but it seemed he was only able to stay that way by sheer willpower. His face was covered with blood, and the tattered robes he was wearing were barely clinging on his skinny and broken frame. Voldemort stood above him like the angel of death himself. The ball of light in the sky flickered as Dumbledore seemed to fade but a backhand from Voldemort brought him back.

"You do not get to die easily, Albus." The man said. "It is going to be very painful, more painful than anything you have ever imagined." He pointed what Padfoot recognized as Dumbledore's wand at the headmaster. "By your own wand no less."

Padfoot found himself moving slowly, hoping to sneak on the Dark Lord but the man waved the white wand almost lazily and vines sprung from the ground and tied themselves around Padfoot, faster than he could dodge them. He tried to transform back but he couldn't, something was stopping him.

"Very interesting wand, you've got here, Albus." Voldemort said, looking the wand over. "I don't think I've seen anything like it before... feels almost similar to my family ring? Either way, now you die."

Padfoot watched helplessly while Dumbledore rose into the air from Voldemort's gesture, his limbs were bent at unnatural angles and he barely looked alive. The ball of light above flickered once again as the old man floated spread eagled before the Dark Lord. Fighting was still going on in the background but Padfoot paid it no mind, his eyes fixed on Albus' broken form, the greatest wizard of his time it would seem was about to meet his end.

Voldemort gestured with both wands on each hand and Dumbledore grunted as he started being stretched to all directions. The dark Lord was taking his time, clearly planning on enjoying this. Padfoot struggled to free himself to no avail, the ball of light in the sky kept flickering, giving the two wizards an eerie look as Voldemort continued pulling the headmaster apart. There was obvious pain on Dumbledore's face but the man refused to cry out. It seemed he had decided to go out without making a sound, and Voldemort was more than happy to indulge him.

As the stretching continued, Dumbledore started grunting, and Padfoot was sure any time, the man would give in and scream, that or his body was going to just break apart. Neither happened, one moment Padfoot was waiting for his mentor to die, the next things just changed. Had he not been watching, he would have probably missed.

Harry, for it could only be him given the messy hair and glowing emerald eyes, appeared right behind Voldemort. His righthand shot into Voldemort's back and there was a tearing sound. When it stopped, the Dark Lord fell down like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and Dumbledore fell right next to him. Harry was the only one left standing, his clothes almost destroyed completely, face full of cuts and bruises as were the other visible parts of his body. And in his right hand was Voldemort's spinal cord.

"Now you die."

-TRNT-

AN: So, that ends our latest chapter. A lot happened here and I feel like I need to make some things clear.

Loki's 'weakness' for water is canon actually, it was in one of the earliest comics he appeared in. My theory is that once he comes into contact, his frost giant heritage is triggered which temporarily makes him unable to use magic as frost giants can't do magic except related to ice. Either way, I wanted a weakness, found that one and went with it. As you saw, it wasn't entirely effective.

The summoning circle, think of it like the circle the bifrost leaves behind in the MCU whenever any of the characters uses it for travel.

Anything else not clear, please PM me and I'll explain.

See you next chapter.