Chapter 21: The Orb
"But what if I mix up the goblin rebellion of 1612 with the 1752 one? Or what if they try to trick us with the clauses of wand usage?" Hermione said, frazzled.
Ron, who sat beside her in the great hall having breakfast said with a full mouth. "Don' worry 'ermione. Your tha brigh'es 'itch of our age."
"Yeah 'Mione, the brightest itch of our age." Harry joked, making fun of Ron.
Hermione barely appreciated the joke, giving him a brief smile before pouring her nose back into a massive book in front of her. Harry shook his head and went back to his breakfast.
"I don't envy you guys and I'm certainly not looking forward to next year." Ginny said from a few spots down the table.
"It's the last one, we'll get through it. At least D.A.D.A was an easy pass." Ron said, this time with a clear mouth. "Cheers for that mate."
"You all applied yourself, that's ninety percent of the work." Harry said sincerely.
Hermione stood up and closed her book with a loud snap. "I'm going to get in some last minute study, see you guys later." Kissing Ron on the cheek she left, presumably for the library.
"Gross," Ginny said.
Ron simply grinned in response. Harry smiled, happy for his friends, although regretting it when Ron directed his attention to him. "Say Harry, when are you going to stop being a loner and ask someone out?"
"Why am I being roped into this? Ginny's the one who had a problem with it."
"Ginny's my sister so I don't want to hear about any romantic entanglements of hers." Ron explained, Ginny had a 'fair enough' facial expression to that and turned to speak to one of her roommates.
Harry shook his head. "No entanglements for me mate, not enough time. Wouldn't be fair to the person."
Nodding, Ron replied "Good point, although that makes you no less of a loner."
"I'm going to cop this for as long as it's true aren't I?"
Still laughing at his own jokes, Ron managed to reply, "mate you'll be copping shit from me as long as you live. Best friend duty, you understand."
Joining him in laughter Harry replied, "All too well."
He's there again. The corridor, the door… the room with the shelves and now there are voices. A tall man, in row 97, surrounded by people in cloaks. He speaks to them.
"Well done my followers, with the weapon in my grasp not even Dumbledore will be able to withstand me. Avery, how long will this take?"
A snivelling man replied. "An hour, milord, at most."
A high pitched laugh echoed through the chamber. The first man spoke again, "my friends you will witness the birth of my destined triumph. Rejoice for the world will be ours for the taking!"
The assemblage of men and women cheered. He struggled through the group to reach the man in the middle, he had to reach him for some reason. Stumbling into the middle he came face to face with the man.
The man smiled, he knew that smile, before whispering so quietly into ear, "It's over Harry, you've lost."
'Voldemort'
Thrust back into reality Harry clutched his scar for the first time in months. Drawing his hand back he saw deep red blood smeared across his hand. Gathering himself, he realised he was still in his History exam.
'The fucker is the cause of my dreams. Now he's in the department of mysteries acquiring some kind of weapon. This is it, the attack for the year. I need to stop him.'
"Are you quite alright Mr Potter?" Madame Marchbanks asked, helping him up off the floor.
"Yes Ma'am, I think I just need some air, I was done with the paper anyway."
"Oh that's alright I understand the stress of the exams, you take care of yourself okay?"
"Yes Ma'am." Harry said impatiently. Madame Marchbanks walked away and Harry searched for Daphne, catching her eye he motioned with his head to the exit and she nodded. Walking briskly towards the doors, he left and waited for her to come out. She wasn't alone however, Hermione, Ron and Neville were behind her as she reached him.
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
Harry didn't answer for a moment, wondering if he should involve her before realising, he's probably going to need more back up than Daphne. "Voldemort has made his move. He's in the ministry right now with several Death Eaters about to acquire some kind of weapon and… I'm going to stop him."
The four others took a moment to take in the information. A new voice piped up from behind them.
"What's the plan boss?"
"Fight the dark arts with this fearsome quintet?"
"Seems like they need some help brother."
"Too right old chap." The twins said. Although they did their twin speak, they wore serious faces and nodded to Harry with resolve. Ginny simply stepped forward and looked at Harry, waiting for the plan.
Hesitating, Harry cleared his throat before speaking. "Alright, here's the plan. We use a floo to get to the ministry, from there we move as two teams. Myself, Neville, Ginny and Ron will take point. Hermione, Fred, George and Daphne will take the rear under disillusionment. Only reveal yourself when I say so. If we engage Death Eaters, try to circle around them and take them out from behind."
"I like the plan Harry but just one little snag, why is the snake invited?" Fred asked with a small amount of animosity.
"Because I trust her with my life and, more importantly, your lives. She's nearly as good as me when it comes to combat magic and she knows how I operate." Harry explained.
"That doesn't mean we should trust her." George said warily.
Before Daphne or Harry could jump to her defence, Ron stepped forward and addressed the twins. "Harry says we can trust her, so we trust her. If you can't handle that then it might be best if you two leave." The twins looked at each other a moment before turning to Daphne and giving her a nod. Harry grasped Ron's shoulder appreciatively before turning to the rest.
Hermione spoke up before he could, asking the question he hoped he wouldn't have to answer. "Harry, why not take this to Dumbledore?"
Daphne came to his rescue however, "Dumbledore would have to mobilise too many people, we can notify him through snuffles on the way." Hermione's eyes widened and she flicked towards Harry who nodded his approval.
With that out of the way Harry called them to action. "We make for Umbridge's office. I know for a fact that it hasn't been cleaned out, the floo network should still be connected. You guys go on ahead I need a word with Daphne."
"Alright you heard him, let's go," Ron said, pushing them towards Umbridge's old office.
Harry leaned on the wall when they were out of eyesight. He noticed his hand shaking and brought it up to his face to examine it.
'I wonder if this happened the other times I was about to run into danger.'
"Are you ready for this?" Daphne asked.
"I am, they're not. The consequences of today are on my head as much as Voldemort's."
Walking closer to him, Daphne slapped him hard across the face. "Get your head in the game Potter, lives are at stake." Nursing his injured face, Harry looked at her in surprise. "You've got a plan, a good one at that. We'll do our jobs, you do your job and we'll make it through today."
"You're right. I'm thinking we're going to need reinforcements though."
"I agree. Give me the mirror, I'll call Black on the way so you can focus on how we're going to fight the Dark Lord." She said accepting the mirror in her outstretched hand.
"Let's go put our skills to the test."
With a flash of green, the group burst out of the floo network into the massive ministry auditorium. The eight huddled together closely as they crossed the entrance hall towards the elevators. Harry looked at Daphne in confusion.
"Is it usually this empty?" Harry asked. He was met with a shake of the head and worried but alert eyes.
Cramped in a ministry elevator, Daphne pressed the 'Department of Mysteries' button. The trip down was done in silence as everyone was incredibly tense. The tension was cut when the elevator stopped abruptly and said in a sweet voice reminiscent of Umbridge.
"Department of Mysteries"
The group looked at each other for a moment before advancing out of the elevator. Harry recognised the corridor they were in as the same one in his dreams and the door at the end solidified that. Turning to the group he issued his orders.
"Okay, this is where the teams come in. I'll cast disillusionment charms on you and you'll follow closely behind. If shit hits the fan, listen for either mine or Daphne's voice. The rest of us will need to be on guard for any Death Eater traps. I will scan for wards but still be on the lookout for the enemy. Voldemort may be here and I can not stress this enough, do not engage. You will die." The rest looked at each other in a mixture of fear and resolve. Harry began casting the charm on team two and once he was done he moved to Daphne who hadn't applied it yet. "Are you ready?"
She looked at him, easily masking her fear with confidence. "It doesn't matter, we're here. Let's just get it done." She then cast her disillusionment charm and disappeared from sight.
Harry nodded appreciatively, "good enough." Harry turned to the door and opened it for what felt like the hundredth time because of his dreams. Sure enough, the room with high stacked shelves was on the other side.
Ron whispered in wonder beside him, "the hall of prophecy."
Harry whipped his head to him and thought about the implications. 'The weapon is a prophecy? Is he looking for a prophecy that tells him how to win? Or is it the opposite and it tells of how he'll lose so he can avoid it? Either way it can't fall into his hands.'
Walking slowly down the isles, counting the numbers as he went he realised just how large his room was. They had been walking for five minutes and only just reached row ninety. Indicating to the others to stop, Harry cast his thermal vision and noticed around eight figures in the darkness up ahead.
Whispering Harry addressed everyone, "eight ahead, team one will go in slow and spring the trap. Team two surround them and only fire if I say patronus."
The group nodded their understanding and followed him further into the room. When they reached row 97, it was Neville who noticed something on one of the rows.
"Harry, this one is about you." He said shakily. Pointing towards an orb on the shelf beside them.
Staying on guard, Harry walked towards the prophecy container and read the label.
'S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D: The Dark Lord and Harry Potter'
Reaching out to grab it he felt a hand on his arm.
"Leverage." Daphne whispered to him.
Harry nodded imperceptibly before snatching it from the shelf. Almost immediately a booming voice rung through his head speaking the cursed words:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Before he could process the words however, a silky smooth voice spoke from the darkness.
"Well done Mr Potter, you have just made perhaps the worst mistake of your life," Lucius Malfoy said walking into the light, exposing his matted hair and dark circles under his eyes.
"Lucius, I see Voldemort has been treating you well." Harry said sarcastically.
"You dare speak his name half-blood!" A deranged voice screamed from behind Lucius. Bellatrix Lestrange walked into the light beside Lucius and Harry heard Neville shapely intake a breath,
'Not yet Nev. Just wait' he thought.
"My dear Bella, your master is as half-blooded as I am." Harry said, taunting her. It worked well enough as she raised her wand to likely strike him down however Lucius stopped her sending Harry a calculating look.
"Now Harry, you wouldn't be trying to get my colleague to make a grievous mistake by attacking you would you?" Lucius asked hypothetically, already knowing the answer.
Dramatically swishing the prophecy around, Harry enjoyed the panicked look on Lucius before responding. "Would I do that to you Lucy?"
"Enough of this Malfoy, let's just take the redhead girl and see how long she lasts under the cruciatus." Antonin Dolohov said from Harry's left.
Harry's mocking smile morphed into a sneer and he bit out harshly. "As entertaining as that would be for you, I'm having much more fun tormenting old Lucy here. Why, I might even use this memory for my next… patronus."
At once several explosions happened at the feet of the death eaters. The timing was poor however as three of team two were slow to react and the others had erected shields. Dolohov was not so lucky, the man had no lower legs and was screaming in agony. Harry wasted no time and cast fulmus and an arc of lightning raced towards Lucius who barely shielded in time. The blonde was blown backwards by the force of the spell and struggled to stand.
"Everyone move now! To the door!" Harry called out. Both teams one and two, who were now no longer disillusioned, sprinted towards the door they had entered. Harry shrunk the prophecy and put it in his pocket for safe keeping. They reached the door with ease because the death eaters were still recovering from the attack however the problems returned when they exited the room in a different place than the initial hallway.
"Where do we go Harry?" Hermione asked. Looking around Harry realised they were in a circular room and there were about a dozen doors revolving around the edge.
'Curse this damn place.'
"Just pick one and try it, team one will cover." Harry said and team one formed a sort of wall around team two. Hermione opened a door which led to a lab of some sort however the room was full of floating brains with tendrils sparking with unknown magic.
"Maybe not that one." Daphne supplied
"Agreed." Hermione replied.
Stepping back and letting the doors revolve again, Hermione opened a door to a long room with sparkling gem-like lights floating in the air. At the end of the room there was a chamber where the sparkling light originated from.
"They're coming through!" Ginny shouted.
"Team two get in there!" Harry yelled. Team two jumped into the room as team one traded spells with three death eaters at the other end of the door room. The door to the room team two went into shut behind them making them panic. "It's okay, Neville, open a door. We'll cover for you. Ginny, Ron no holds barred, hold them back for Neville."
Neville opened a door whilst ducking the spellfire and leaped in immediately. The room was dark and was emitting a low humming sound. Neville realised he was surrounded by large solid orbs which were circling around the room methodically. Ginny and Ron followed after him and looked around in wonder. Harry was about to follow when the door shut behind him. He could hear Ron faintly yell before the door spun away with the room.
Turning to the centre of the room again he noticed more death eaters had flooded in. Bellatrix stepped forward with an arrogant walk. "Little, bitty, baby…. Potter. All of his friends have abandoned him, how sad. Give us the prophecy, Potter, and I will make your death less torturous than that of your friend's."
Scanning how many doors there were, he formulated a plan. "What a generous offer… counter offer: I leave here with the prophecy and you all get tortured into little whimpering messes. Any takers? No? That's fine you don't get a say." With that he cast a smokescreen and ran to his right, casting illusions of himself opening every door in the room and walking through them. He heard chaos behind him as he quite literally fell into the room he chose.
The room was dark and looked a lot like an old Greek or Roman theatre, however, in the middle was a raised rock with an arch. The arch had what looked like a piece of cloth billowing in its centre even though there was no draft. Harry could hear whispers originating from the arch and they grew stronger as he got closer.
'The veil of death, that's here? I need to study this thing, it might give me a lead on Voldemort's horcruxes.' Just as he was about to touch it, he heard a commotion from another door at the back of the auditorium.
Four death eaters swaggered into the room, wands at their sides. They all wore masks so Harry couldn't recognise them. One of them called out to him, "the orb for your life Potter.' Not wasting time on a response, Harry flicked his wand upwards and sent a blasting curse at their feet. Three of the four men shielded in time however the fourth wasn't so lucky and was blasted backwards, colliding with the back wall with a sickening crunch.
'One down, three to go.'
"Everyone okay?" Hermione asked, panting. Team two had made it into the room Hermione had picked together and were regaining their bearings.
"Just chipper." One of the twins said mumbling.
'What in the Merlin do we do now? This place is a maze and there's no telling where the others are.' Daphne thought.
"We need to find the others." Hermione said shakily. Clearly the chaos had taken a toll on her. "Let's try and find a way to—"
"We need to get out of the ministry, there are too many Death Eaters for us to handle. We can get out and get help and hope they get here in time." George said.
'Cowards. How are they able to call themselves Gryffindor when they run at the first sign of trouble." Daphne thought bitterly. 'On the other hand I don't want to die with these idiots, clearly their merit is only found in the labs.'
"Yeah we'll go get Dumbledore and the Ord…. others."
Rolling her eyes, Daphne spoke up for the first time. "If you are so afraid to abandon your friends and family then go. I may be a Slytherin, and a selfish one at that, but we all said we'd be there to support Pot— Harry and I for one will not be breaking that oath. If you want to go and warn Dumbledore then be my guest, in fact I think you should, even that old fool would be more useful than you two right now. I for one, will dredge through this nightmare of a place and assist Harry in smearing the walls with the blood of scum."
Finished with her speech and ignoring the shocked faces of the three Gryffindors, Daphne marched past them and to a door at the end of the room. Putting a hand on the door handle she threw it open to reveal the revolving doors room, clear of Death Eaters thankfully. "Come on," she called. "There are lives at stake, remember."
Hermione and the Twins rushed to follow her and made for the centre door to return them to the initial corridor, the twins rushed through whereas Hermione turned to look at Daphne. "Just hold out, I'll be back with reinforcements."
"Who says reinforcements aren't coming?"
"But that whole tirade at the twins...?"
"They're scared, too scared to act. Get them to safety and stay there, Harry and I can handle this till the cavalry arrives." Daphne explained, before picking a door and opening it. "Go, you're running out of time."
Hesitating slightly once more, Hermione looked around in desperation hoping for another answer to present itself. Disappointed by the universe, she turned and rushed to catch up with the twins. Daphne, now alone, peered into the room she picked, her eyes were met with the iconic flashes of spellfire in the middle of an amphitheatre-like room with a strange rocky arch in the middle. However, what caught her attention more predominantly was the fact that beside the archway, Harry was duelling three Death Eaters simultaneously.
Activating her disillusionment charm, Daphne dropped into the room and circled behind them. Careful not to hit Harry or get hit by his stray spells, she aimed her wand and silently cast incendio, setting one on fire. As one of the other Death Eaters managed to put out the fire, Harry and Daphne had focused their attention on the third man by casting blasting curses at him from opposite sides. The opposing forces resulted in the man being crushed to death instantaneously, the blood and chunks of human composition rendered Daphne's disguise ineffectual and the two Death Eaters finally saw their mystery opponent.
There was a lull in the fighting, everyone slightly horrified at the gory display they had just witnessed or caused. Before the fighting could start once more, one of the doors slammed open and Death Eaters flooded the room, dragging Ron, Neville and Ginny in with them. The two death eaters next to Harry and Daphne turned into black smoke and flew to their comrades who had circled around the room.
Lucius Malfoy strutted down the steps toward Harry and Daphne, making eye contact with Daphne when he addressed her first. "So your family has chosen a side. Poor choice girl, I had thought your father a cunning man. Perhaps not."
Daphne responded. "I have chosen a side, my family's wishes are of secondary relevance. We Greengrass's are free thinkers, unlike the slaves you have brought with you today."
Growling at the girl but taking the blow, Lucius turned to Harry and glared at him. "You have fought valiantly Potter, to kill Avery and cripple Dolohov is no easy feat. However your luck has run out, or should I say your allies have. The situation you now face is simple, the prophecy or your friend's lives. Decide now or I will simply kill them and take the prophecy from your corpse."
"Don't do it Harry!" Neville cried out only to be silenced by his captor.
'Well this isn't ideal. There is going to be bloodshed here, perhaps we could cause the roof to collapse and regroup in the chaos or create a thick fog and escape. None of it matters if I can't signal Harry.' Daphne thought quickly, turning to Harry she found him to be…. smiling?
"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Please don't lie to me, you know that I know that you know you can't kill me. Voldemort has claimed my life for him, and only him, to take so do not make threats you can't keep. Now about the prophecy I would like some reassurances. Of course you'll have to provide safe passage for my friends and I out of the ministry, no double crosses in the elevators or anything like that." Harry said with a spring in his step, all the while openly holding the prophecy in his palm. "Oh! And I'd be a terrible leader if I didn't ask about medical bills, tell me will you be paying for the scrapes and bruises my friends over there are going to need mended? If not I simply must protest—"
"Stop it! This isn't a time for bargaining! You can make no demands here!" Lucius interrupted, screaming so wildly that spit flew out of his mouth.
Smirking, Harry once again pocketed the prophecy and replied, "No, but I can distract you."
At his words, the room exploded into action as it was fired upon from above. Sirius, Remus and Tonks were flying on brooms and pelting the death eaters with spells from the air. Ron, Ginny and Neville broke free of their captors, wandless, and took cover in a rocky trench.
Blocking a spell, Daphne back pedalled, bumping into someone behind her. A glance told her it was Harry and they were now back to back in the centre of the room.
"You ready?" He asked
Without hesitation, she replied. "Of course."
"Let's take them."
Then they were casting, within an arm's reach of each other they repelled Death Eaters together. Keeping the focus on them so that Harry's wandless friends didn't get hit. He would redirect spells into her opponents and she would do the same, working in tandem they incapacitated two more death eaters who tried their luck against them. Spinning down to her right to avoid a spell, Daphne found that they had switched opponents yet their casting remained as effortless as before.
'This is exhilarating, the power is rolling off of us in waves, I cannot wait to view this in a pensieve.' she thought.
"Potter!" A voice called out, it was Lucius ascending the dais in the middle of the room to challenge Harry. Blasting his current opponent out of the way, Harry took a few steps away from Daphne and squared up with Lucius. "You have been a thorn in my side for the last time, the Dark Lord will reward me to no end with your capture with the Prophecy."
Glaring back at the Pureblood madman, Harry raised his wand and replied. "You still have to beat me and you may find that task more difficult than expected."
"I am a Lord, you are but a child."
"Come, let me show you how much being a Lord is worth in the face of true power."
Pressing the attack first, Harry fired three bone breakers at the man's arms and head. Lucius deflected them into the ceiling and returned fire with a deep purple spell. Unable to identify it, Harry simply ducked and let it fly over his head, firing a banisher at the feet of his opponent. Lucius shielded it and sneered, casting a volley of low level dark cutting curses which Harry continuously deflected into the floor.
Pointing his wand at the floor Harry transfigured some rocks into needles and banished them at Lucius who managed to only partially shield, taking several to the shoulder and chest. Taking advantage of Lucius' disorientation and pain, Harry aimed a banisher at his feet again which Lucius barely sidestepped.
'If he barely moved before he'll be less likely to now. Just like Moody, except nowhere near his skill.'
Harry fired four stunners to get him used to shielding and pushing him back. As Lucius stepped back on the last one he slipped on a rock and fell to a knee. Harry transfigured the rock into another needle which stabbed through Lucius' leg and pinned him to the ground. Lucius cried out in agony and weekly lifted his wand towards Harry. Stepping forward and batting the wand to the side, Harry levelled his wand at Lucius's head.
"Do you see just how wrong you were? You're not a Lord, you're nothing." With that Harry stunned him twice for good measure. Turning to face the room, Harry saw that the fighting had died down mostly with only four death eaters still fighting one person each. A cackle echoed throughout the room which diverted Harry's attention to further up the amphitheatre where Tonks was lying unconscious with Bellatrix bearing down on her. Harry and Daphne both directed their wands to the Death Eater and fired off spells crackling with power. Bellatrix noticed them at the last second and dived away to avoid them before turning into that same dark mist from earlier and flying high into the chamber.
Harry turned to Daphne to tell her to protect the others in time to see her get tackled to the ground by a presumed unconscious Death Eater. Before Harry could cast a spell however, Ron leapt from his hiding place and grabbed the assailant and punched him right in the jaw. The man was either weak or already battered enough and went down in that one punch to Harry's relief. Ron turned and offered a grateful Daphne a hand.
"Thanks for the save." She said, taking his hand.
Hoisting her up Ron smiled, "no worries. I don't believe we've met properly, I'm Ron, Ron Weasl-HURH" Ron's hand slipped from Daphne's as he fell to floor, a massive wooden stake protruding from both sides of his chest. A maniacal cackle reverberated through everyone's ears, all but two turning to the source. Bellatrix Lestrange, standing on top of the arch, wand outstretched and wild grin plastered on her face. Three spells raced towards her from Sirius, Remus and Daphne but she escaped in the smoke once more, through one of the doors leading out this time. Harry fell to his knees next to Ron and clutched his hand. No words leaving his mouth, just tears and attempts to find the right things to say.
Ron squeezed Harry's hand hard and looked at him as he convulsed and bled out. Coughing up blood, Ron gasped out, "Ha- Ha- Ha- Harry I'm-m-m scared."
"I know, I know it's going to be alright. You'll be okay." Turning to the room he yelled, "Somebody get a healer!" A hand rested on his shoulder and he saw Sirius at his side shaking his head. "No that's not good enough, we have magic, we can fix it!"
"H-H-Harry ma-mate, it's o-o-okay. Ju-just don't leave m-m-me alone." Ron struggled out.
Turning back to Ron, Harry said through the tears, "I'm right here mate, don't you leave. You said you'd be there to make me cop shit for as long as I live."
Ron smiled despite the pain weakly replying, "S-s-sorry." His eyes turned glassy and he stared off into nothingness. "I love you Hermi…." Ron's head fell to one side and his arms went limp.
"No! Ron! You stay with me brother!" Harry cried out shaking his best friend's body.
Sirius crouched next to him and held him. Harry angrily broke free from his grasp and regained his dropped wand. He turned towards the door that Lestrange had left and angrily walked up the amphitheatre until a hand grabbed his arm. Daphne met his eyes and bore into his soul for a moment, sharing his pain and grief before speaking.
"Together."
Harry nodded his head and the two of them made their way out of the department of mysteries and up to the atrium floor. They heard voices ahead of them but instead of caution this time Harry kept moving forward.
"I'm sorry milord I could not acquire it, the reinforcements, they came just in time." Bellatrix whimpered.
Lord Voldemort, standing tall in the atrium of the ministry for magic and regarded his most loyal follower dispassionately with burning red eyes. "Of all my followers I did not expect you to fail me Bella, in fact you were sent on this mission to ensure that failure was not an option
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry please forgive me lord. I was able to kill the red headed friend if that is any consolation lord." She grovelled.
It was then that Voldemort noticed the presence of the advancing Harry and Daphne to which he smiled a toothy smile. "You may stand Bella, we have guests. We will discuss your failures at length when we return."
"I don't share your optimism for her survival." Harry said, addressing Voldemort.
"Harry, you've become quite the violent young man recently. How many deaths have you caused today? Including your little friend by the way."
Growling at the man turned monster, Harry remembered the whole reason for this little trip. "Don't you mean how many deaths this little trinket has caused?" He said palming the prophecy and resizing it to its original size.
Voldemort stood a little straighter and his eyes grew colder. "Do you have any idea what you possess, Potter?"
"I do. This is what I think of your little prophecy heist plan." Harry said before dropping the orb and crunching under the heel of his shoe. Voldemort screamed at him in rage and yelled out, "Kill him!" Bellatrix and Voldemort raised their wands and fired curses at Harry. Neither of them being killing curses, Harry and Daphne erected one large shield together and prepared for a difficult fight.
Voldemort composed himself and smiled at Harry again before leaning down to Bellatrix and saying "Kill the spare" without ceasing to stare at Harry. Harry simply gave no inclination to what was going on in his mind. Entirely focused on the coming duel.
Daphne circled to his left to line up with Bellatix, glancing at Harry and then back at Voldemort, she spoke. "I get that you're angry but play this smart. He's in a whole different league from what I've heard, I'll try and beat the psycho but you need to hold out till then." Harry seemed to hear her as he calmed himself down for a moment and gave Voldemort a death stare.
Harry once again fired the first spell sending a powerful arc of lightning at Voldemort's head. The Dark Lord smiled and fired the same spell to lock their wands in a battle of power. The spells melted the ground beneath them and crackled with an intensity Harry had never seen. He poured magic into the struggle but realised he was still losing the fight.
'He's trying to drain me of my remaining magical reserves. I'm going to have to get crafty.'
Casting an illusion that looked like it was flying at Voldemort's face, ready to punch him, distracted his opponent enough to break the connection and the spells dissipated. Voldemort fired a blasting curse through the illusion into the wall of the atrium which triggered a cascade of brick and rock. Harry transfigured the debris into needles and fired them at his opponent. Voldemort cast a shield which looked like it was swelling with magical energy and once the needles had all been absorbed Voldemort harnessed that energy and sent it back at Harry in a dark stream of pure magic. The move was too powerful to shield so Harry sidestepped it barely and cast one of the more devastating spells in his arsenal. Whispering 'tenebrama' black flame spewed from his wand directly at Voldemort who could not dodge or shield, forcing him to take the effect of the spell on his left arm. The flames slithered up his arm until he dispelled them. The Dark Lord stared at his burnt arm and then at Harry, healing the wound as well as he could, he laughed.
"Well done Harry! Well done indeed. Dipping into the arts is the first step down the road to greatness, too bad you will not make it very far. Let me show you how to cast dark flames." Voldemort whipped his wand close to his mouth and bright orange flames spewed out his wand and knit the form of a serpent.
'Madman! Casting fiendfyre in the centre of Magical Britain.'
Turning to see Daphne and Bellatrix in awe of the magical spectacle, Harry searched for an answer. Spotting the fountain in the middle he summoned all the water he could and morphed it into a shield just before the snake could strike him. The snake reared back and Harry morphed the water into a net which pinned the snake down, dousing it in so much water that it dissipated. Wand arm hanging exhausted at his side, Harry and Voldemort regarded each other ignoring the duel going on beside them.
"You have impressed me, Harry. Clearly, I have made an impression on you. Tell me, was it Dumbledore who trained you? I thought he was too scared of your mind not being your own." Before Harry could respond, Daphne cried out in pain. The distraction gave Voldemort enough time to send a banisher at Harry which sent him flying across the atrium. "Sentiment is a weakness Harry, your concern for your friends makes you vulnerable."
Standing from where he landed, Harry began to circle Voldemort. "You're right to a certain extent. They will always be a target for people like you. But they also give me the strength to face people like you, without them I wouldn't be as strong as I am."
"You are a fool, Harry Potter, and you will lose everything." Snapping his wand up again he fired the killing curse at Harry's chest. Sidestepping the accursed spell, Harry ripped up the ground behind Voldemort and summoned it towards himself. Voldemort apparated to Harry's right and shot a bone breaker at his leg which Harry narrowly avoided. A banisher followed and sent the unbalanced Harry flying once more.
Quickly getting to his feet he noticed a dark purple curse flying straight for his head. Harry spun to the side, evading the curse and shooting a glacier at Voldemort which went wide. Voldemort laughed at Harry's failure but stopped when he saw Harry's satisfied smirk. Turning he saw the glacier embedded in the wall with blood dripping from it and Bellatrix standing where she had been moments ago however with only one arm.
"Milord?" She said confused before collapsing to the floor. An exhausted Daphne turned her wand to Voldemort and prepared to join Harry in the fight. Voldemort now stood in front of the fountain, Harry and Daphne blocking his exit to the floo. Sneering he raised his wand to engage the two in combat, before he could fire though, the green fires of the floo roared and Dumbledore ahead of half the order stood ready in the foyer. As if to make matters worse for the Dark Lord, the other side of fireplaces roared as well, ministry personnel flooding the entrances.
Cornelius Fudge stomped forward until he realised just who had caused all the commotion. Like a deer in headlights, he stood stock still and gasped, "he's back!"
Realising he's been exposed and his plan was in ruin, Voldemort apparated to Bellatrix and fired a spell at the back of Daphne's head. Reacting on instinct, Harry threw his arm out and the spell collided with it, the pain came quickly as he felt his bones break and he prepared for further attack but relaxed when he saw that they were gone. He and Daphne collapsed and leaned on the edge of the fountain. Dumbledore raced over to him and began healing his arm before he could comprehend what was happening.
"You foolish boy, do you not know your own importance?" Dumbledore admonished.
Harry nodded towards the smashed prophecy and Dumbledore followed his gaze, "I do now."
Dumbledore's eyes widened and whatever he was about to say was interrupted by an anguished scream. Looking past Daphne, he saw Sirius and the others walking into the atrium, carrying Ron's body. Sirius knelt down and laid the body on the floor, an assortment of redheads and a brunette surrounded his best friend, their anguished cries echoing across the ministry. Harry locked eyes with Dumbledore and gave him a 'we'll talk later' look to which Dumbledore agreed to by leaving and joining the Weasley's
Turning to Daphne he took in her appearance. Her blonde hair was matted with blood and dust, her forehead had a large gash on it and she was nursing her off arm with her wand arm. "Thank you for backing me up today." He said gratefully.
She turned her head with what looked like great difficulty, "That's what I signed up for."
Snorting he groaned and pushed himself up to the edge of the fountain. "That's true, but you were brilliant today. You didn't need to help me with Voldemort or Bellatrix."
"We're allies, your fights are my fights and vice versa." She said simply.
Harry stood and helped her up with his good hand before replying, "that sounds an awful lot like a friend to me."
Staring at him, she hummed her agreement and reinforced it with, "I suppose it does yes. As your… friend, I should probably tell you we need to get out of here. As much as I know you want to stay with Granger, we're going to be detained if we stay."
Harry nodded his agreement but still cast a look at the group of mourning friends and family. He caught Sirius' eye and motioned him over. Sirius checked on them and then portkeyed back to Grimmauld Place before then apparating to Hogwarts gates where they parted ways after much reassurance on Harry's part that they'd be okay to get to the hospital wing. Harry and Daphne collapsed in separate hospital beds next to each other and allowed sleep to overtake them.