I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Defiance of Fate
Chapter 11 – Aegis Aeternum
Harry looked around as he helped set up the medical tent. Some were using their wands to unfurl the tent and implant the stakes. Others unshrunk crates of materials or levitated cases of things that could be shrunk. He looked at the terrain around them, eyes narrowed.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"The ground looks kinda weird," Harry said, pointing.
Jack looked. "Oh, that's a crater from an explosion."
"Really?"
"Yup. Bombs and missiles make those kinds of craters. Some are caused by explosions at ground level or below it. Others are combinations of impact ones like from missiles hitting the ground."
"Like from Muggle weapons?"
"Yeah. I did a little joint venture with parts of our No-Maj military and learned a bit there."
"Why would there be those kinds of craters here in the middle of Sep territory?"
Jack frowned. "Good question." He and Harry walked to the closest one and he waved his wand over it. "It's mostly magic actually. There's a lot of magical residue."
"Bombardment and explosive curses aren't usually this uniform," Harry murmured as he bent low, looking at the crater closely.
"Depends on the caster. How much control they have over their own magic and the spell itself. I knew a guy that could make a perfect circle with his bombardment spells."
"That makes sense," Harry said. "So if a person wants to just cause damage or isn't being careful, it looks more ragged and destructive."
"Yeah. The more power you pump into a spell like that, the less refined it is." Jack looked around some more. "There was probably a fight or a battle here before. Maybe fighting between the No-Majs."
"People just fight no matter what, don't they," Harry said softly.
Jack gave him a sad smile. "Yeah. They just use different things to fight with."
-0-
Harry was restless. Setting up the new forward operating base took time and he thought it was the idea of being in enemy territory before the defenses were set up was the cause for his disquiet. Yet after they set up the base and implemented the protections, he still felt off. He wandered about, checking the boundaries of the camp.
The spells they cast and the wards they made were strong but Harry still felt vulnerable for some reason. Almost exposed. He looked past the outer defenses, pensive. After a moment he went back to the UK unit area and knocked on the captain's tent.
"Come in."
Harry ducked through the flap. "Something's weird," he said without preamble.
Dawlish and Vance looked at him. "What do you mean?" Vance asked.
"I don't know what, but I'm getting a weird feeling being here. Almost like we're being watched."
"They checked the area for scrying spells," Dawlish said in a calm tone.
Harry blinked but was not about to question Dawlish's new attitude towards him. "That's good but something feels off. Like…I don't know how to describe it really."
"I feel something too," Vance said. "After weeks of hard fighting, the last week to get here we were barely opposed."
"It was much smoother than any other point in the campaign," Dawlish admitted. He scratched his leg. "We know their forces are much smaller now and they're on the back foot. That said though…"
"Let's go to Command," Vance said. "See what they think."
It turns out they were not the only ones. Most of the unit commanders had gone to the tent and General Okoye was looking at a map.
"Healer Potter," Captain Sauveterre greeted Harry.
"Hello Sir," Harry said back. "What's going on?"
"We are waiting for the scouts to return. Something seems a bit strange so we are all here to prepare for the worst."
"I thought so too," Harry murmured.
After a few more moments, the tent flap opened and the scouts walked in. Blaise nodded to his captains and friend before standing at attention.
"We got into visual range of the capital," the lead scout said. "There are barely any defenses that we could determine aside from shielding. The ground leading up to the capital is strange, more of the craters."
"We did not find too many on approach," a wizard with a Japan patch said. "This was clear ground."
"Right," the scout said, "but on either side of the camp are the craters and more as we get closer. That's not all." He tapped his temple with his wand and gathered some memory material. He dropped it into Okoye's Pensieve and soon an image swam into focus over the liquid within.
Okoye tapped the Pensieve with his wand and murmured. A hanging frame filled with shimmering fluid shuddered and the image was soon shown in the frame for all to see.
"What is that?" Meyer asked.
The capital city was far in the distance from the viewer, the lead scout in this case. Over the highest tower hung a tiny speck but it shone brightly. Throughout the memory, the small light speck seemed to change in intensity, growing slowly brighter.
"I have no idea honestly," the scout admitted. "It's magical though. We could feel it from as far as we were."
The tent flap opened and an ICW wizard ran in. "Enemy contact!"
"Where?" Okoye asked.
"Behind us! They somehow moved a substantial force in and they have reinforced defenses!"
"Are they advancing?"
"No, they engaged our rear guards but they aren't pressing in."
"Why are they not pushing towards us?" a wizard asked.
"No signs of the enemy ahead of us," a guard said.
"It's a bombing range!" Everyone turned to stare at Jack. "They herded us into their range and are going to hit us with whatever they have that made all those craters around us!"
"The back forces are there to keep us here!" Vance gasped.
The lead scout pulled a small mirror out of his pocket. He listened to it and his face paled. "I left an observer behind to watch and they said the light has grown in size."
"It's getting closer," Blaise said with dawning realization.
"There's anti-apparition wards!" Sauveterre exclaimed. "I cannot apparate!"
Cries of anger and fear filled the command tent as people realized what was happening.
"Quiet!" Okoye's voice cut through the clamor. "If we are to survive, then we must work together. The German and Western Hemisphere units will engage the enemy at the rear and try to break their lines. Where they are must be outside of the range of the incoming spell. If we can get across it, we will be fine. Everyone else, collect everyone central to the Medical tent and create as many protections as possible. Perhaps with our combined might we can weather the storm."
Everyone dispersed, shouting and organizing themselves. "Conjuration and Transfiguration specialists!" Harry shouted. "Start making walls, as many as you can. Make thin ones and reinforce with a shield charm and make another. If the spell coming is a bombardment, every wall it breaks will leech more energy instead of one super thick one. The more layers, the better!"
They scrambled and began doing so. The earth trembled as they created the new defenses right outside the tent.
He turned to Blaise. "Do you have your staff?"
Blaise flourished it. "Of course."
"Here, stand here." Harry moved Blaise to the middle of the Medical tent. "You're one of the best with stability spells and shielding. See if you can override the anti-apparition spell too."
"It'll be tough since we do not know where the source is," Blaise said. He stabbed his staff into the ground and began to pour his magic into it. A dome of energy grew from it, surrounding them all. The ground pulsated and he concentrated, his face contorting from effort.
"You can do it. If you can crack it, we can start apparating people away if we need to. At the least you can override it with your magic and protect us better."
"Too bad it took an emergency for you to lavish me with praise," Blaise said through gritted teeth. He froze. "Wait."
"I always compliment you. You're a great friend and I was lucky to have you. Later, go to my trunk, there's a false bottom. You know the password. Make sure people get them, yeah?"
"Potter! What are you doing-"
"Tell the Weasleys that I said you're a good man, and that you're kinder than you look. That's all they care about and Ginny likes you too, I think. She'll make you work for it but it'll be worth it."
Blaise tried to let go of the staff but it was drawing too much of his strength and magic. "You bastard! Don't do this! Don't do whatever the fuck you're about to do!"
"Sorry," Harry said with a sad tired smile. "I have to. Thanks for everything Blaise." He turned and ran out of the tent.
"Somebody stop him!" Blaise shouted but his cry was swallowed by the tumult of noise and incantations, by everyone else trying to do anything to survive. Blaise howled with rage and his magic howled with him.
-0-
Harry dodged past running magicals. Everyone was so fixated on their task, to try and survive the coming moments, none stopped him. The specialists he had organized were concentrated on right around the medical tent where people would be sheltering. It only took a moment for him to dodge around the perimeter and run past. He ran away from the center of the base towards the front, where the magical attack would be coming.
He looked into the sky and squinted. Far off in the distance there did seem to be a point that glimmered, like a star. He shook his head, trying to calm his pounding heart. He knew what he had to do and he did not know if he would have time to do it.
He opened a pouch on his waist and threw down flat stones with runes already inscribed on them. He put them in a distinct pattern and with his wand, carved lines through the ground to connect them. Finished, he stood in the center of the rough ritual circle that he created.
"Earth below, hear my plea, ground and center, provide stability." The ground beneath him shuddered.
"Air above, hear my cry, surround and hold down my magic." The air stilled.
"Fire around, hear my words, protect and purify." The space around him warmed.
"Water within, hear my call, fuel my magic, give and take." He felt his blood pound in his veins.
He flicked his silver scalpel out and cut into his left palm again. He let drops of blood fall to the ground. His wand tip touched his wound but he stopped. Instead he left the wound open and dragged his wand tip around the circle, touching each rune stone in turn. He felt his magic rise and he pointed his wand at the sky.
"Aegis."
Silver light shot out of his wand. It shone brightly and went up above the camp. Once it reached the apex, it began to expand, forming a large hazy shield.
"Aegis Totallum. Aegis Maxima. Aegis. Aegis Totallum. Aegis Maxima."
With each incantation, more light flowed into the shield and it took a more distinct shape. It grew thicker, brighter, stronger. Yet Harry could still see through the shield and that distant speck was no longer so small. It was getting bigger.
It was getting closer.
-0-
"Astoria!"
Astoria ran up to Blaise. He was holding onto the staff for support, sweating profusely. "Here!" She held a vial of potion to his lips.
He drank it and shook his head. "No not me! The dumb bastard is doing it again! Get out there and drag his ass back, stun him if you have to!"
"No!" Astoria ran.
"Colin!" A youthful wizard nodded at Blaise and chased after her.
They ran around the perimeter wall. The witches and wizards had casted nonstop from the beginning and it was multi-layered and thick. They continued to cast, pushing themselves to exhaustion but they pushed gamely on. They knew their lives, and everyone else depended on it.
"You cannot go past!" someone cried at the end of the wall. Sophie reached out and grabbed Astoria's wrist. "It is not safe! The wall may become a dome and you will not be able to reenter!"
"Harry's out there!" Astoria shrieked.
"Why?!"
"Because he's doing some fool thing to protect everyone!"
Sophie bit her lip and followed after Astoria and Colin. She looked up and gasped as they ran. The speck of light was ginormous now. It seethed and roiled; a giant ball made of countless smaller ones. It made the air shudder as it approached them. She imagined she could hear screaming as it came closer. "Mon Dieu," she whispered in horror.
Astoria and Colin stumbled. The pressure of magic from the incoming missile made them trip and the immense aura that Harry's magic pushed out made them feel like they were walking through thick mud.
"Harry!" Astoria shouted against the storm of magic, his fighting the enemy.
"He cannot hear us!" Sophie shouted back. She could hear screaming now. Magic was warring with itself and the impact between the two incredible spells made the air shriek. "We must go!" She grabbed them both.
"No! We can't leave him!" Astoria tried to fight.
"I will not let his few friends perish when he is sacrificing much to save them!" Sophie argued.
"Wait!" Colin took his camera and shoved the bottom part into the ground, angling the lens at Harry. "If, if this is his last moments, then we have to see it somehow."
The first few balls hit Harry's shield. An enormous crack of thunder shook everything and Astoria and Colin fell over from the force of sound alone. Sophie stumbled and barely stood on her feet. She grabbed them and pulled them back, running.
"I'm so sorry my friend," she said as she ran, her tears ran faster.
-0-
Harry almost fell to his knees. The initial impact of the enemy spell had caused his shield to flex and shudder. He knew the Aegis spell would require a lot more energy than a shield charm, but it was supposed to be one of the strongest protective spells to ever exist. It normally required so much energy, it needed a ritual spell to maintain stability and stored magic of some kind to be the fuel.
He had used prepared runes and an impromptu circle to provide the ritual power. The incantation made things as stable as possible for the spell. He used his blood to kickstart the circle and to fuel the spell. A part of him knew that the Aegis had already done wonders in withstanding the initial impacts. They would have gone through a shield charm easily and would have done considerable damage to physical protections.
Another part of him knew that the Aegis as it was would not be able to stop the whole bombardment. More was coming and he knew the stronger blow had yet to fall.
He continued to incant, saying the words of the spells feverishly over and over, desperate to reinforce it as much as possible. To stop the missile as much as possible.
To save as much as possible.
Why do you fight so hard for those that do not appreciate you?
He shook his head, trying to shake the distracting thoughts away. They came anyway. The people he saw die in this war, the people who died in the last one. He saw the lines of wounded. He saw all the people he could not save.
He felt the weight of his failures pressing down on him.
The weight of the enemy spell hit fully. The aegis buckled, crumpling under the opposing force. He felt his magic screaming in protest, being forced aside by the mass of explosive magic full of mal intent. The aegis was weakening. Any moment now it would shatter completely and everyone below would feel the force of the spell.
"I can do this," he whispered. "I can save people without hurting anyone else."
He bit onto his wand and took his blade and cut deep into his hand. He threw the blood daubed blade into the circle, point first. His blood flowed down his palm, down his fingertips, dripping onto the earth. He spat his wand into his right hand and held it high.
"Aegis! Aegis Totallum! Aegis Maxima!"
The circle flared. It absorbed his blood and used it as energy. The silver light from his wand shone even more brightly. The shield far above shivered and it withstood the pressing missile for a long moment before it began to buckle once more.
"No! I can do this! I have to do this! Take it all!" Harry shouted with grim stubbornness.
In bloody defiance.
"AEGIS AETERNUM!"
Harry screamed with effort and pain. The circle drank of his will and power and channeled it up through him. He felt pure energy shoot through him, from his feet, up his side, out of his wand. The giant shield shimmered and it pushed the enemy spell back.
He no longer bled from his hand. His blood dissolved into the air as it left the wound. He could feel his blood burn as it left his body. The burning persisted, piercing the wound and he felt his veins catch fire. Deep in his chest, his heart beat frantically, trying to draw more blood through his body. He looked up and saw immense wings of white burst from the aegis shield, protective and terrifying.
He saw the light of the circle and his wand and the shield turn into one bright burning silver beacon.
Then everything turned dark and he saw only black, the utter absence of light.
Then he saw nothing.
-0-
Luna finally opened the door, no longer able to ignore the knocking.
"Luna, oh my goodness, are you okay?" Hermione gasped. Luna stood there with a vacant expression, skin pale.
"I…I don't know," Luna said finally. "How are you, Hermione?"
"I, well, I'm okay." She entered Luna's flat and closed the door behind her. She touched Luna's hand. "You're awfully clammy. Do you feel sick?" She touched Luna's forehead.
"I don't know," Luna repeated. "May I ask why you are here? I thought we weren't getting lunch until tomorrow."
"Well I heard something and came to tell you. I heard that the war is over."
Luna blinked. "Really?"
"That's what some people are saying at the Ministry. One of my old coworkers came over and told me. Nothing is official yet and the ICW hasn't made a statement but they said the fighting is all but over and that things have more or less resolved. The ICW won."
Luna began to cry.
"Luna! What's wrong?!" Hermione sat on the couch and brought Luna with her. "What's this?" She took the crumpled piece of paper from her. "Is this a photograph?" Hermione gasped when she smoothed it out. It was fuzzy and not from being crumpled by hand. The image itself was a little indistinct. It was a picture of someone from behind, wand up and left hand out. The wizard was facing away, staring at a swirling mass of something and a gigantic hazy shield and wings was in front.
The wizard had very familiar messy black hair.
"Colin sent it," Luna said, voice shaking. "All he sent with it was a small sentence. 'For luck'."
"What the devil does that mean?" Hermione asked, hands shaking. "What is even all this?"
"I don't know…" Luna said in a horribly small voice.
"Perhaps it's something that just happened and Colin took a picture of our friend mid-heroics," Hermione said with false-levity. "You know how he hero worships."
"But you said the war is over. Remember when the last war ended?" Luna asked. "How people cheered when they found out Tom was dead?"
"And Harry was fighting for his life," Hermione whispered.
"This feels just like then," Luna whimpered. "Have you received any post from him?"
Hermione shook her head.
"It's been days and days. He's never gone this long without sending something."
"Maybe…maybe we are just being overly sensitive," Hermione said, starting to cry herself.
Neither of them had the heart to say otherwise and they clutched each other out of shared desperation and fear.
-0-0-0-
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - That wasn't my intent haha. I did want her to be a fleshed out OC for the readers to discover the past and the differences as organically as I could. I'm glad you appreciate how nice they feel; together though. You know I work hard on my OCs. The Fleur letter really turned out nice when it was supposed to be a spacer surprisingly. I don't think I've seen a fic where Dumbledore did that so I thought it would fit the setting as well explain why Harry showed distaste every time he was mentioned. Thank you.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - Hedwig keeps everyone in line.
alix33 - Cuban coffee is very good. Hedwig would never torment people. Allegedly.
Urgwaew - Hopefully you will like them together as the story continues. Yeah, I tried to twist it a little and show Harry with different support in this, and hopefully it still fits overall as well as be a little different given the setting. Glad you still like it. All my best to you.