Chapter 8: Halloween
Harry stood in the dueling ring. He faced his opponent and evaluated him. His name was Stan Wilkens, a 7th year Hufflepuff. He was thin and Harry guessed that he would be good at avoiding spells and such. But, he wouldn't be a problem. Harry bowed to his opponent.
"Expellimarius!" Stan yelled. Harry dodged the spell easily; it wasn't aimed well and then responded with his own spell.
"Glacious!" The temperature of the room suddenly dropped and his opponent's actions became slower, his nerves numbing. Harry then cast a quick warming charm on himself and hoped that his opponent wouldn't think to. Harry followed his spell up with, "Skade Smerte!" aiming at Stan's hand.
"OWW!" yelled Stan as he grasped his hand, dropping his wand accidentally.
"Harry saw his opportunity and yelled, "Accio wand!" Stan's wand came flying towards Harry and he caught it, ending the duel. Harry bowed to Stan who grudgingly did the same.
Cheers erupted from the stands.
"Good job Harry!"
"Nice try Stan, you'll get him next time!"
"Nice pain curse Harry!"
"Quick thinking man!"
Harry sighed. He didn't want the attention, but neither did he want to lose a duel he knew he could win, with both hands tied behind his back. His and his friends powers had grown considerably in the month that had passed. He decided against showing his elemental powers in this duel. In fact, if it could be helped, he wouldn't use his elemental powers in any of his duels. He didn't want unnecessary questions. He advised Ron, Hermione, and Angie to do the same. They had all agreed.
Harry spotted his friends in the stands and gave them a slight nod, they all understood what it meant: meet in the study. And so, Harry left the room and teleported to the study, a minute later his friends followed.
"Very nice duel Harry, well fought, well won," commented Angie.
"Thanks Angie, I really wish that I didn't get so much attention when I win though."
"Well, attention can't be avoided win you win a duel against another student two years ahead of you," added Ron.
"That is true," vouched Hermione smiling.
"Oh well, what are we gonna do today guys?" Harry asked them, smiling mischievously.
"Well," replied Ron, "we do need to practice more with our elemental powers."
"Yes," said Harry thoughtfully, "Nel'shira told me to have us all trained to a high level as quickly as possible." Harry lowered his head; he along with Nel'shira alone knew what was approaching. And Harry knew the day was rapidly approaching.
Harry had been secretly training. Every other night he would slip out of his bed and teleport to the study. There he would stay up until three and work with the book, The Powers of Death, and learn more and more about his element, and new spells. He was far more accomplished than he let even his friends believe, who thought that Harry was but a little more powerful than they were. Oh how wrong they were thought Harry often. He felt bad about hiding his true power from them, but they could not know what he was capable of, especially of his inherent abilities as heir of Gryfindor.
'God, I wonder what is wrong with Harry?' Angie asked herself. She had often noticed that Harry drifted off into his own thoughts. And when he did, she could see that he was troubled. She had made up her mind a week ago to talk to him about it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. At that moment Harry looked up and saw Angie, and she was reassured by his grin.
"So," Hermione began, "can I look through your books for something to help me with my light powers?"
"Sure 'Mione," came Harry's reply. Then seeing the others looking at him he added, "Yes, you two can as well." He smiled at their grins. Harry had never imagined that Ron would willingly pick up a book, but Harry found that his friend read earnestly when it came to training his powers.
Harry watched them all pick out their own books and waited until they had slipped into the knowledge that those books contained. Then he stepped into the next room, the dueling room. He conjured an opponent and began to practice using his death element, and that alone to fight the enemy. Considering that Harry had only known that he was a death elemental for a month. In fact, even Nel'shira had been surprised by his progress. 'Soon,' he had told Harry, 'you will be a master, maybe faster than even I thought.'
Harry did not dwell on this however and began to use his death element to hold back the illusion. He started off by creating a sort of void between himself and his opponent, which would leach any magic that was tainted by a wand. Then he started on an attack that would leach away his opponent's power, weakening him far faster than just dueling would have, and actually making him weaker permanently. After finishing this spell, he conjured a sword using wandless magic, and went about cutting his illusion to shreds. When it was all over, Harry did it again. The magic came easier and easier to him every time. And Harry wanted to be able to harness that power in a split second decision.
It was roughly an hour later that Harry tired and decided to stop for the day. He walked back into the main room and found all of his friends still deep in their studies, and practicing light amounts of their elements. Harry clapped his hands loudly, and all three looked up at him.
"Ron, I believe you and I have a little bit of planning to do for tomorrow," Harry said slyly as Angie and Hermione regarded him strangely.
"Yes," answered Ron, also slyly, "I believe we do." With that Harry and Ron stepped into the fourth room of the study, the room of heirs.
*************
"Okay, so do you have the spell down Ron?" Harry asked him.
"Yes, I think I can now do it with my eyes closed and my body half asleep," replied Ron.
Harry chuckled. "Alright, tomorrow right before the dance, we will do it."
"Alright, meet me in our dorm at five o' clock."
"Alright," came Harry's reply, "I'll be there." With that they walked back out of the room of heirs and stumbled upon Angie and Hermione in the dueling ring, they were practicing for their up and coming fights. Hermione was clearly winning, that is until Angie threw an energy beam at her. Hermione found herself on the ground, barely being able to avoid the spell. Angie took control of the advantage now presented to her.
"Stivine!" Angie yelled, effectively freezing Hermione. After hitting Hermione with the spell, Angie walked over and simply plucked Hermione wand from her hand. Then she unfroze Hermione and handed her back her wand.
"Good job Angie," said Hermione.
"Thanks," came the reply, "you did very well yourself. I just barely got you with that spell."
"Yeah, I know," said Hermione. "Your energy beam scared me there for a second," she added laughing.
"Uh, yeah, I probably shouldn't have used so powerful a spell eh?" Angie chuckled.
"Probably not," this time Harry spoke, "people will become inquisitive. And we don't want that," Harry said, then he added, "yet." With that Harry said to them, "We should all probably get to bed, I mean, Halloween IS tomorrow."
They all readily agreed, and soon all of them were in their dorms, Hermione and Angie sleeping, Ron and Harry talking. Soon however, even the boys fell into a deep slumber.
**********
The next morning when Harry awoke he found that Ron was already up. 'Whoa!' thought Harry, 'Ron is never up before I am.' Harry quickly dressed and headed down to the common room, where he found Angie, Hermione, and Ron waiting for him.
"It's about time!" said Angie in a teasing tone. "Huh?" was Harry's only reply.
"It's noon!" said an exasperated Ron.
"NOON?!" came Harry's startled reply. "How in the hell did I sleep that long?!"
"I don't know, maybe it is because you always sneak out of the room at midnight," offered Ron.
Harry could feel the expression creeping up on his face. It was obviously saying 'how could you have known about that?' Then came the question that Harry was dreading.
"So, who are you meeting at an hour like that?" Harry blushed, "If you must know, nobody. I go to the study and work on my elemental powers. That is all, I swear to you."
"Sure." they all eyed him strangely, and Harry met their gazes with a determination. He forced truth through his eyes and all of his friends saw this. They knew that Harry wasn't lying.
"Alright," said Angie, "let's get you some lunch."
"Lunch?" asked Harry, "Oh yeah, I missed breakfast. That's my favorite meal too," he added as an afterthought.
**********
"Harry? Are you ready to do this?" asked Ron.
"Yea, this is going to be great," snickered Harry.
"Yea it is," Ron laughed, "How long do you think before one of them figures it out?"
"I say that Angie will within the first two hours. But 'Mione might too. I don't know! All I know is that I'm gonna have a hard time not laughing while they call me 'Ron'."
"Yeah, and I'm gonna have to reply to 'Harry'."
"Oh well, lets do this."
"Fourrur."
Ron and Harry walked to a nearby mirror, and both laughed aloud. "They are never going to know," said Harry to Ron - or was it Ron to Harry. They looked like each other, and sounded like each other as well. They continued their bout of laughing and then composed themselves and headed down to the common room.
They didn't need to wait long for their dates, soon Harry heard them coming down the stairs, and he and Ron stood to await them. What they saw was shocking.
Angie descended first, her normally long brown hair curled tightly in a bun behind her head. She was wearing a blue dress that had fake stones on it, making it shimmer as she moved. Her dress was low cut at the top and was quite revealing. Harry - or rather Ron, (A/N: I know that this is a bit confusing. Harry is feeling this) felt his heart rate pick up and his breathing quicken. But she headed towards Ron, who looked like Harry.
'Darn, I should've thought about this consequence beforehand,' thought Harry. Ron however, was positively beaming. That was, until Hermione came down.
Hermione's normally curly hair was straightened, and curled in the back much like Angie's. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her tightly. Harry nearly choked when he saw her. But then remembered that Angie wouldn't be happy after she found out that 'Ron' was really Harry. So after the initial shock of seeing their girlfriends, both Ron and Harry regained their composure and led their dates down to the Great Hall, where the dance would be.
"So," Harry began as they entered the Hall, "would you like to dance?"
"Of course," was Hermione's reply.
So, Harry led Hermione out to the dance floor and proceeded to dance with Hermione. Harry had found a book on how to dance over the summer and decided to read it so he would not embarrass himself this year as he had the last year. It was then that he noticed something that Angie had been saying.
"You dance much better than you did last year."
'What?' Harry asked himself. 'Something is wrong here. Angie can't have known how badly I danced last year.' Then he looked at Hermione, and asked her, "Do you remember when Harry and I rescued you from that troll in first year?" Harry took careful note of the wave of confusion that passed over Hermione's face before she answered.
"Of course I do," Hermione said. "It was rather brave of you two."
"Oh, not really," continued Harry, "We just felt that we owed it to you after what we did. I'm so glad you forgave us for playing that prank on you, making your hair green."
Harry waited for Hermione's reply, when it came a smile crept over his face. "Yeah, that was rather mean."
"HEEERMIIONE!" Harry called, and not to his surprise, 'Angie' looked over at him expectantly. Harry just smiled.
"Alright you two, the game is up, change back into yourselves."
"What are you talking about Ron?" asked 'Angie'.
"Oh, I believe you two changed into each other. 'Hermione' here Harry, affirmed that in the first year we rescued her from the troll because we felt bad about turning her hair green."
At this a laugh came from Ron, and 'Angie' sighed. Then she nodded to 'Hermione' and they both dispelled the disguising charm that they were using, making them look their normal selves. "How did you figure it out?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I believe you commented to Harry that he danced better than he did last year, which would've been impossible for Angie to know, since SHE wasn't here last year." Hermione hung her head. "Don't be ashamed, in fact I think Harry and I here," he pointed to Ron and himself, "have something to show you as well."
With that, both Harry and Ron dispelled their disguising charms and turned back into their normal selves. Both Ron and Harry (now themselves) started to laugh at Hermione and Angie's surprised faces.
"To think," said Harry between laughs, "That we tried to play the same trick on each other!"
That comment brought both of the girls into laughter as well, and all four were laughing at their failed jokes. Everyone else, was staring at them strangely, including some teachers.
After the fits of laughing subsided the quartet resumed their dancing and feasting. The party went late into the night and it was one o' clock before Dumbledore announced that the party was over and sent everyone to bed. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Angie all walked to the Gryfindor common room together.
"Wow, that was a lot of fun," commented Angie. "I don't remember a time as a muggle when I have had as much." Harry blushed and the quartet entered into the Gryfindor common room. Ron and Hermione said good-night to each other and went up to their dorms, leaving Harry and Angie alone.
"Harry, I want to thank you again for making me a witch. You've no idea how much it means to me, being able to use magic. I love magic, I love the feeling when I'm working with it, I love that it was you that gifted me with it." Angie leaned in slowly and her lips connected with Harry's.
She felt as though she was being shocked as his lips caressed hers. Angie gave into his kiss and parted her mouth a little wider. Harry sensing this took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. Angie couldn't suppress a slight shudder as Harry ran his tongue over her own, massaging it. As Harry retracted his tongue Angie lightly closed her lips on it, sucking on it. When she parted her mouth again she felt Harry nibble slightly on her lower lip, and she began to feel more than being shocked, she began to feel aroused. Angie hugged Harry tighter, pulling his body into hers, and began to kiss him even more vigorously.
As Harry felt Angie pulling him even closer to her he too became aroused and also vigorously renewed the passionate kissing. Harry couldn't think, he didn't want to; all Harry wanted to do was give into whatever Angie was doing. He wanted her, and judging by the way she was indulging herself in him, she wanted him as well. But Harry's conscience was trying to reach him.
Angie pulled Harry out of the common room and into the hallway. Then she pulled him into the next room that they came to, it was deserted, except for a couch and a rug in the middle of the room. There she began to kiss Harry with a renewed frenzy, and there were no complaints from him. Complaints that she could hear that is, Harry's insides were in turmoil.
'WHAT AM I DOING!' Harry thought as he allowed himself to be dragged out of the common room by Angie. 'One, we are going to be caught. Two, I don't know how far she wants to go. Three, if it goes too far, could she get pregnant?' As Angie pulled Harry into the room he forgot temporarily his fears because he was pulled into her again.
Angie was suffering from a similar feeling. She was berating herself for doing this, yet she couldn't stop. She wanted Harry too badly. Angie broke off the kiss for but a moment as she slipped Harry's shirt off over his head. Then she undid the back of her own dress. 'This is going to far,' she thought to herself as she continued.
Harry slipped Angie's dress off of her shoulders, leaving her chest covered only by her bra and he bent down to kiss her neck. Angie felt chills run down her spine as he placed light kisses down her neck and down onto her chest and then she felt nothing, Harry had pulled away. Angie looked up at him.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"Angie, I'm sorry, I just can't - I can't do this," came the reply. Harry picked up his discarded shirt and put it back on, then waited for Angie to put back on her dress.
"Is it something about me?" Angie asked fearfully.
"No!" said Harry, "No of course not. I - I just can't Angie. All while I was kissing you I felt this voice inside me trying to pull me back, and I couldn't ignore it. There were so many things that could've gone wrong Angie, and I just don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"Nevermind - let's go back to the dorms."
"Harry, please tell me what is wrong."
Harry didn't answer as they walked down the corridor down which they had come and they reentered the common room.
"Angie, I don't know what to say, except that people come and people go, time passes and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. I believe that my time may come far faster than another's." With that Harry left Angie in the common room with tears in her eyes and ascended the stairs to his dorm.
***********
I "Harry."
"Nel'shira?"
"Harry, there is not much time. You must finish your training with me tonight. It is imperative that you be able to conquer death. You will learn one more spell with me. Then I believe you will be on your own. Tomorrow, it will happen," urgency and sadness were apparent in Nel'shira's voice, and Harry was scared.
"Are - are you sure Nel'shira?" Harry asked hoping that his mentor would say 'no.'
"Yes my child, I am sure. Now to do this spell." /I
************
Harry awoke in a cold sweat. It was three o' clock in the morning. And today was the day. Harry's life began to play in his mind, his time at the Dursley's, his friends, his school, Nel'shira, and the vision. Harry shuddered. Today that vision would become reality, and Harry knew what must be. Harry immediately teleported to the study, and found what he wanted, battle gear.
Godric Gryfindor had not simply left powers to his heirs, he left his own things as well, and the battle gear that Harry now held was one of the things bequeathed by Godric. The first pieces that went on were guards. Harry slipped the leather guards on his elbows, wrists, and shins. Then Harry put on the belt, which had a holster for his wand and potion vial holders. Finally he donned the battle robe. This robe was imbued with many protective enchantments and bodily enhancement charms. With this robe on Harry could move faster, and was stronger than without it.
Then Harry slipped many throwing knives into the holders built into the leather guards and belt. Then he placed his wand in its holster. Finally he slipped his sword into its sheath on the back of his battle robe and teleported to Dumbledore's office.
To say that Dumbledore was surprised to see Harry, dressed as a war assassin teleport into the midst of his office would have been a severe understatement. And Harry could barely restrain his laughs at Dumbledore's expression and reaction. When Harry had been pieced back together inside Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster had tried to jump out of his chair and take out his wand at the same time. The result was the Headmaster falling backwards and landing on the ground in a heap.
Harry helped Dumbledore off the ground and simply said, "Hogsmede will be attacked tonight. Voldemort himself will be there, alert everyone. I will be there as well." Before Dumbledore had a chance to tell Harry that 'No, you will not be there,' Harry had teleported back to the study, where he began to touch up on his spell casting and muggle fighting arts.
It was 4:30 when Harry decided to stop tiring himself and alert his friends as to what was going on. He also decided to check on Dumbledore's progress afterwards. Harry teleported back into his dorm where he found Ron sleeping.
"Ron, wake up."
"Harry, its too early go away."
"Ron, Voldemort is going to attack Hogsmede today."
"Urmph. just go away."
"RON! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF THE BED RIGHT NOW!" That did it, Ron jumped out of bed as Harry screamed right into his ear.
"HARRY! What in the HELL was that for?!"
"You wouldn't get up," said Harry matter-of-factly. "Well you didn't need to make me deaf. Now what were you saying?"
Harry sighed. "Ron, Voldemort will be attacking Hogsmede today, I am going, the rest of you may choose. Harry added this last part even though he knew what their response would be.
"Are you kidding? Of course you know we are coming as well. One elemental will not be enough."
"You are right Ron, sadly, but four will be plenty. Come, lets go get Angie and Hermione."
"Ummm - Harry - How are we gonna get them up. they are in their dorms." Harry grinned as he took out his invisibility cloak.
"Uh-huh," said Ron waving his hands, "you are alone in this one."
***********
Five minutes later, Harry came running back downstairs followed closely by two very angry girls.
"Harry Potter! Get back here this instant! You are never allowed in our room!"
"Angie, 'Mione, peace, I needed to get you up. Voldemort will attack Hogsmede tonight, will you help me and Dumbledore and the resistance against Voldemort fight?"
Angie and Hermione's angry scowls were replaced by a 'what did you need to ask for' look. "Of course we are going with you, what do you think we are? Fair weather friends?"
"No not at all, but I did want to give you the choice. Come now, we must speak to Dumbledore."
"Harry," Angie began, "Where did you get those clothes?"
"They were Godric's," replied Harry. He wanted to distance himself from Angie today, but that seemed that it would be impossible. He couldn't get her hopes up, as he knew they would come crashing down. Soon enough they found Dumbledore. He was running to the owlrey and came crashing into the quartet.
"Oh, sorry about that, got to get this letter off, oh Harry!"
"Yes professor, we need to talk to you."
"Oh, yes, well meet me at the door to my office, and I'll come as soon as I have sent off this owl."
"Alright Headmaster," said Harry and he led his friends to the Headmaster's office where they waited. They did not wait long however and Dumbledore soon appeared around the corner, looking less frantic but most assuredly not relaxed.
"Now, what is it Harry?"
"Headmaster, Angie, Hermione, Ron, and I will be joining in the defense of Hogsmede." It was a statement, not question.
"And what makes you think that I will let you?" asked Dumbledore inquisitively.
Harry replied calmly, his friends standing behind him and lending him their support, "I don't think Headmaster, that you can stop us." With that Harry nodded to his friends and they all teleported back to the study, leaving a startled Dumbledore in their wake.
'I must ask him later how he does that,' Dumbledore made a mental note to himself.
************
Harry paced around the study, his friends sitting on the couches in front of him. He knew that they were ready, but he couldn't help but feel nervous about the whole thing. And yet at the same time, he knew that they were necessary to the defense. It was nearing noontime, and Harry, Angie, Ron, and Hermione had spent the hours touching up on their elemental powers, and strengthening some wandless magic spells.
"It is time to head out to Hogsmede to plan the defense," said Harry to the others, who all continued to look at the floor. "Whatever happens, be careful, be strong, and win. We must win this battle. Let's go." With that the four teleported to the edge of the castle boundaries and began the decent to Hogsmede in silence.
They arrived and split up, each helping out where he/she was most needed. Harry asked to be left alone, and none questioned him. 'Well,' he thought, 'here goes nothing.' With that thought Harry began to summon his element, and summon lots of it. All movement stopped as the witches and wizards felt the massive amounts of magic moving around them. They feared that it may be some spell of evil that Voldemort was working, but since there was nothing that anyone could do about it they set back to work. Hermione, Angie, and Ron however, knew exactly where the magic was migrating too, and they looked at Harry with awe, their mouths hung open.
As more and more magic was pulled around Harry, he began to glow with power. Nobody was blind to that effect and soon all had stopped what they were doing and were pointing and staring at 'the boy who lived.' Harry's aura went from a light green to a bright emerald, and everyone present could feel the raw magic emanating from him. Then suddenly, it all stopped, and Harry stood up, glanced around at all the people who were staring at him, and headed for Dumbledore.
"Oh my god," said Ron to Hermione and Angie, "is he really that powerful? Could you feel the raw amounts of magic? That was amazing." This last statement was not said in exclamation, but in reverence.
"How could he be so powerful?" Angie asked. "Did anyone recognize what it was used for?"
"No - it must be for his element. By the way, he never told us what his element was did he? Strange." Hermione pondered why this was so.
"Nope, he never did. Just another one of his secrets I suppose. Why does he have so many?" Angie asked. 'Why does he have so many.' the thought re- echoed in her head.
As Harry walked stoically towards Dumbledore, he was thinking about what he had just done. 'God, I hope this works.'
"Sir," Harry began, "I want you to know this. If anything happens to me there is a bag of letters in my room that I want delivered according to the instructions on each. Thank you." Harry began to walk away but Dumbledore called to him.
"Harry, do not talk like this. Nothing will happen to you. You will be safe," said Dumbledore, unsure about the words he was speaking.
Harry sensed the Headmaster's confusion. "That as it may be professor, I know what will happen today, and nothing that you do or say will change it." Harry walked away, looking calm, but actually in turmoil.
'No,' thought Dumbledore, 'this cannot happen. I will not let anything happen to that boy. If anything were to happen to him, I don't know if I could forgive myself. Not to mention it would be a moral blow to the entire wizarding community.'
Harry marched to where Sirius was sitting. "Hello Sirius. I'm glad you are here today," Harry gave his godfather a hug. "I want you to know that I will be okay, not matter what happens."
Harry, don't say things like that. Don't wish ill upon yourself. Nothing will happen to you.
"Sirius, the outcome of this battle has already been decided." Harry's rigid posture broke as he added, "Just remember, I love you like the parents I never knew. Bye Sirius."
"Harry - Harry wait," Sirius choked out, but Harry had begun his walk towards Ron and Hermione.
Angie witnessed all of this. 'Oh my god,' she thought, 'he is saying good- bye to everyone, does he know something that we don't?' She stared at him while he was talking with his other friends. He left them and began to walk towards her. Angie could see Ron and Hermione's confused and troubled faces. He approached her.
"Harry, what is going to happen to you?"
Harry gave a slight chuckle. "So, figured it out have you? Do not worry Angie. Everything will be explained to you later. But for now, stay strong," Harry reached out and touched her cheek to wipe away a tear, "and win Angie, win." With these words he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
'A good-bye kiss?' thought Angie as he pulled away from her. "Harry, whatever happens, don't leave me -" she whispered.
"Angie," he began silently, "you must understand, what will happen here today is already decided. Remember, I love you." With these words he leaned in and kissed her one more time and walked away, leaving a crying Angie behind. Dusk approached.
************
All of the defenders of Hogsmede were in position as dusk donned over the city. Very soon, a single cry tore over the town, "MORSMORDE!" The dark mark flew into the sky and hundreds of death eaters rushed forward from the woods throwing curses at whomever they saw and setting buildings ablaze. The defenders attacked, Harry leading the way. Harry sent a wall of darkness in front of him which killed all death eaters as it touched them. Their screams of pain as their flesh was ripped from their bones could be heard throughout the battlefield and many other death eaters became demoralized by the fate of their comrades.
Soon, the death eaters were faced with a new problem. Angie had called upon a firestorm, which now raged over the main concentration of death eaters. Their hastily erected shields saved precious few and most fell screaming as they were burned alive. As the firestorm ended she called upon the plants nearby to entangle the frightened death eaters and they did her bidding, holding the death eaters, which were then taken down by spells from others.
Ron was throwing every curse imaginable at the death eaters, which he cloaked with the power of his shadow element. When cloaked, none of the spells he used could be blocked, and so the only option was to dodge them, but even that was difficult because they could not see the spell coming towards them.
Hermione was seen calling a ball of pure white light from the sky. She directed this ball of pure energy towards a large group of death eaters who were holding down some aurors. The ball of energy positioned itself directly over the death eaters and then exploded, momentarily blinding everyone. When they could see again, thirty charred bodies remained where thirty death eaters had stood moments before.
Curses, hexes, and charms were flying everywhere. Friends and foe alike were falling, and then Harry saw someone come out from behind the death eaters. Harry would have recognized those red eyes anywhere. Voldemort himself had joined the battle. Harry erupted in a fury. Unsheathing his sword, he cut down the two closest death eaters.
"Crucio!" The spell came flying towards Harry's back from a nearby death eater. Hearing the word Harry spun around bringing his sword up in a wide arc. Harry's blade connected with the unforgivable curse and with a shower of white sparks sent it back to its caster, whom it hit. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain and agony.
"That is him! It's Harry Potter! The Master wants him dead!" This cry alerted many of the death eaters to Harry's presence and they all began firing curses at him, curses he was hard-pressed to dodge and block.
Harry's sword became a blur as he twirled, swung, and struck with it, parrying curses, and cutting death eaters. The curses stopped when Dumbledore came with Sirius and some Hit-Wizards and relieved Harry of the attackers. Harry's mind again raced to Voldemort. Time seemed to freeze and Harry saw Voldemort lift his wand, but it was not aimed at Harry, but at Angie. Harry saw, rather than heard, the words formed upon Voldemort's lips, "Avada Kedavra." A flash of green light streaked towards Angie, and Harry knew what he must do. He sprung himself to the side, directly into the path of the curse, shielding Angie with his own body. The curse hit him straight in the chest. He fell, dead.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Angie screamed as she saw Harry fall, his body limp, and his eyes closed. Voldemort began to laugh, an evil laugh, as everybody stared at the lifeless body of Harry Potter.
Harry stood in the dueling ring. He faced his opponent and evaluated him. His name was Stan Wilkens, a 7th year Hufflepuff. He was thin and Harry guessed that he would be good at avoiding spells and such. But, he wouldn't be a problem. Harry bowed to his opponent.
"Expellimarius!" Stan yelled. Harry dodged the spell easily; it wasn't aimed well and then responded with his own spell.
"Glacious!" The temperature of the room suddenly dropped and his opponent's actions became slower, his nerves numbing. Harry then cast a quick warming charm on himself and hoped that his opponent wouldn't think to. Harry followed his spell up with, "Skade Smerte!" aiming at Stan's hand.
"OWW!" yelled Stan as he grasped his hand, dropping his wand accidentally.
"Harry saw his opportunity and yelled, "Accio wand!" Stan's wand came flying towards Harry and he caught it, ending the duel. Harry bowed to Stan who grudgingly did the same.
Cheers erupted from the stands.
"Good job Harry!"
"Nice try Stan, you'll get him next time!"
"Nice pain curse Harry!"
"Quick thinking man!"
Harry sighed. He didn't want the attention, but neither did he want to lose a duel he knew he could win, with both hands tied behind his back. His and his friends powers had grown considerably in the month that had passed. He decided against showing his elemental powers in this duel. In fact, if it could be helped, he wouldn't use his elemental powers in any of his duels. He didn't want unnecessary questions. He advised Ron, Hermione, and Angie to do the same. They had all agreed.
Harry spotted his friends in the stands and gave them a slight nod, they all understood what it meant: meet in the study. And so, Harry left the room and teleported to the study, a minute later his friends followed.
"Very nice duel Harry, well fought, well won," commented Angie.
"Thanks Angie, I really wish that I didn't get so much attention when I win though."
"Well, attention can't be avoided win you win a duel against another student two years ahead of you," added Ron.
"That is true," vouched Hermione smiling.
"Oh well, what are we gonna do today guys?" Harry asked them, smiling mischievously.
"Well," replied Ron, "we do need to practice more with our elemental powers."
"Yes," said Harry thoughtfully, "Nel'shira told me to have us all trained to a high level as quickly as possible." Harry lowered his head; he along with Nel'shira alone knew what was approaching. And Harry knew the day was rapidly approaching.
Harry had been secretly training. Every other night he would slip out of his bed and teleport to the study. There he would stay up until three and work with the book, The Powers of Death, and learn more and more about his element, and new spells. He was far more accomplished than he let even his friends believe, who thought that Harry was but a little more powerful than they were. Oh how wrong they were thought Harry often. He felt bad about hiding his true power from them, but they could not know what he was capable of, especially of his inherent abilities as heir of Gryfindor.
'God, I wonder what is wrong with Harry?' Angie asked herself. She had often noticed that Harry drifted off into his own thoughts. And when he did, she could see that he was troubled. She had made up her mind a week ago to talk to him about it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. At that moment Harry looked up and saw Angie, and she was reassured by his grin.
"So," Hermione began, "can I look through your books for something to help me with my light powers?"
"Sure 'Mione," came Harry's reply. Then seeing the others looking at him he added, "Yes, you two can as well." He smiled at their grins. Harry had never imagined that Ron would willingly pick up a book, but Harry found that his friend read earnestly when it came to training his powers.
Harry watched them all pick out their own books and waited until they had slipped into the knowledge that those books contained. Then he stepped into the next room, the dueling room. He conjured an opponent and began to practice using his death element, and that alone to fight the enemy. Considering that Harry had only known that he was a death elemental for a month. In fact, even Nel'shira had been surprised by his progress. 'Soon,' he had told Harry, 'you will be a master, maybe faster than even I thought.'
Harry did not dwell on this however and began to use his death element to hold back the illusion. He started off by creating a sort of void between himself and his opponent, which would leach any magic that was tainted by a wand. Then he started on an attack that would leach away his opponent's power, weakening him far faster than just dueling would have, and actually making him weaker permanently. After finishing this spell, he conjured a sword using wandless magic, and went about cutting his illusion to shreds. When it was all over, Harry did it again. The magic came easier and easier to him every time. And Harry wanted to be able to harness that power in a split second decision.
It was roughly an hour later that Harry tired and decided to stop for the day. He walked back into the main room and found all of his friends still deep in their studies, and practicing light amounts of their elements. Harry clapped his hands loudly, and all three looked up at him.
"Ron, I believe you and I have a little bit of planning to do for tomorrow," Harry said slyly as Angie and Hermione regarded him strangely.
"Yes," answered Ron, also slyly, "I believe we do." With that Harry and Ron stepped into the fourth room of the study, the room of heirs.
*************
"Okay, so do you have the spell down Ron?" Harry asked him.
"Yes, I think I can now do it with my eyes closed and my body half asleep," replied Ron.
Harry chuckled. "Alright, tomorrow right before the dance, we will do it."
"Alright, meet me in our dorm at five o' clock."
"Alright," came Harry's reply, "I'll be there." With that they walked back out of the room of heirs and stumbled upon Angie and Hermione in the dueling ring, they were practicing for their up and coming fights. Hermione was clearly winning, that is until Angie threw an energy beam at her. Hermione found herself on the ground, barely being able to avoid the spell. Angie took control of the advantage now presented to her.
"Stivine!" Angie yelled, effectively freezing Hermione. After hitting Hermione with the spell, Angie walked over and simply plucked Hermione wand from her hand. Then she unfroze Hermione and handed her back her wand.
"Good job Angie," said Hermione.
"Thanks," came the reply, "you did very well yourself. I just barely got you with that spell."
"Yeah, I know," said Hermione. "Your energy beam scared me there for a second," she added laughing.
"Uh, yeah, I probably shouldn't have used so powerful a spell eh?" Angie chuckled.
"Probably not," this time Harry spoke, "people will become inquisitive. And we don't want that," Harry said, then he added, "yet." With that Harry said to them, "We should all probably get to bed, I mean, Halloween IS tomorrow."
They all readily agreed, and soon all of them were in their dorms, Hermione and Angie sleeping, Ron and Harry talking. Soon however, even the boys fell into a deep slumber.
**********
The next morning when Harry awoke he found that Ron was already up. 'Whoa!' thought Harry, 'Ron is never up before I am.' Harry quickly dressed and headed down to the common room, where he found Angie, Hermione, and Ron waiting for him.
"It's about time!" said Angie in a teasing tone. "Huh?" was Harry's only reply.
"It's noon!" said an exasperated Ron.
"NOON?!" came Harry's startled reply. "How in the hell did I sleep that long?!"
"I don't know, maybe it is because you always sneak out of the room at midnight," offered Ron.
Harry could feel the expression creeping up on his face. It was obviously saying 'how could you have known about that?' Then came the question that Harry was dreading.
"So, who are you meeting at an hour like that?" Harry blushed, "If you must know, nobody. I go to the study and work on my elemental powers. That is all, I swear to you."
"Sure." they all eyed him strangely, and Harry met their gazes with a determination. He forced truth through his eyes and all of his friends saw this. They knew that Harry wasn't lying.
"Alright," said Angie, "let's get you some lunch."
"Lunch?" asked Harry, "Oh yeah, I missed breakfast. That's my favorite meal too," he added as an afterthought.
**********
"Harry? Are you ready to do this?" asked Ron.
"Yea, this is going to be great," snickered Harry.
"Yea it is," Ron laughed, "How long do you think before one of them figures it out?"
"I say that Angie will within the first two hours. But 'Mione might too. I don't know! All I know is that I'm gonna have a hard time not laughing while they call me 'Ron'."
"Yeah, and I'm gonna have to reply to 'Harry'."
"Oh well, lets do this."
"Fourrur."
Ron and Harry walked to a nearby mirror, and both laughed aloud. "They are never going to know," said Harry to Ron - or was it Ron to Harry. They looked like each other, and sounded like each other as well. They continued their bout of laughing and then composed themselves and headed down to the common room.
They didn't need to wait long for their dates, soon Harry heard them coming down the stairs, and he and Ron stood to await them. What they saw was shocking.
Angie descended first, her normally long brown hair curled tightly in a bun behind her head. She was wearing a blue dress that had fake stones on it, making it shimmer as she moved. Her dress was low cut at the top and was quite revealing. Harry - or rather Ron, (A/N: I know that this is a bit confusing. Harry is feeling this) felt his heart rate pick up and his breathing quicken. But she headed towards Ron, who looked like Harry.
'Darn, I should've thought about this consequence beforehand,' thought Harry. Ron however, was positively beaming. That was, until Hermione came down.
Hermione's normally curly hair was straightened, and curled in the back much like Angie's. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her tightly. Harry nearly choked when he saw her. But then remembered that Angie wouldn't be happy after she found out that 'Ron' was really Harry. So after the initial shock of seeing their girlfriends, both Ron and Harry regained their composure and led their dates down to the Great Hall, where the dance would be.
"So," Harry began as they entered the Hall, "would you like to dance?"
"Of course," was Hermione's reply.
So, Harry led Hermione out to the dance floor and proceeded to dance with Hermione. Harry had found a book on how to dance over the summer and decided to read it so he would not embarrass himself this year as he had the last year. It was then that he noticed something that Angie had been saying.
"You dance much better than you did last year."
'What?' Harry asked himself. 'Something is wrong here. Angie can't have known how badly I danced last year.' Then he looked at Hermione, and asked her, "Do you remember when Harry and I rescued you from that troll in first year?" Harry took careful note of the wave of confusion that passed over Hermione's face before she answered.
"Of course I do," Hermione said. "It was rather brave of you two."
"Oh, not really," continued Harry, "We just felt that we owed it to you after what we did. I'm so glad you forgave us for playing that prank on you, making your hair green."
Harry waited for Hermione's reply, when it came a smile crept over his face. "Yeah, that was rather mean."
"HEEERMIIONE!" Harry called, and not to his surprise, 'Angie' looked over at him expectantly. Harry just smiled.
"Alright you two, the game is up, change back into yourselves."
"What are you talking about Ron?" asked 'Angie'.
"Oh, I believe you two changed into each other. 'Hermione' here Harry, affirmed that in the first year we rescued her from the troll because we felt bad about turning her hair green."
At this a laugh came from Ron, and 'Angie' sighed. Then she nodded to 'Hermione' and they both dispelled the disguising charm that they were using, making them look their normal selves. "How did you figure it out?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I believe you commented to Harry that he danced better than he did last year, which would've been impossible for Angie to know, since SHE wasn't here last year." Hermione hung her head. "Don't be ashamed, in fact I think Harry and I here," he pointed to Ron and himself, "have something to show you as well."
With that, both Harry and Ron dispelled their disguising charms and turned back into their normal selves. Both Ron and Harry (now themselves) started to laugh at Hermione and Angie's surprised faces.
"To think," said Harry between laughs, "That we tried to play the same trick on each other!"
That comment brought both of the girls into laughter as well, and all four were laughing at their failed jokes. Everyone else, was staring at them strangely, including some teachers.
After the fits of laughing subsided the quartet resumed their dancing and feasting. The party went late into the night and it was one o' clock before Dumbledore announced that the party was over and sent everyone to bed. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Angie all walked to the Gryfindor common room together.
"Wow, that was a lot of fun," commented Angie. "I don't remember a time as a muggle when I have had as much." Harry blushed and the quartet entered into the Gryfindor common room. Ron and Hermione said good-night to each other and went up to their dorms, leaving Harry and Angie alone.
"Harry, I want to thank you again for making me a witch. You've no idea how much it means to me, being able to use magic. I love magic, I love the feeling when I'm working with it, I love that it was you that gifted me with it." Angie leaned in slowly and her lips connected with Harry's.
She felt as though she was being shocked as his lips caressed hers. Angie gave into his kiss and parted her mouth a little wider. Harry sensing this took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. Angie couldn't suppress a slight shudder as Harry ran his tongue over her own, massaging it. As Harry retracted his tongue Angie lightly closed her lips on it, sucking on it. When she parted her mouth again she felt Harry nibble slightly on her lower lip, and she began to feel more than being shocked, she began to feel aroused. Angie hugged Harry tighter, pulling his body into hers, and began to kiss him even more vigorously.
As Harry felt Angie pulling him even closer to her he too became aroused and also vigorously renewed the passionate kissing. Harry couldn't think, he didn't want to; all Harry wanted to do was give into whatever Angie was doing. He wanted her, and judging by the way she was indulging herself in him, she wanted him as well. But Harry's conscience was trying to reach him.
Angie pulled Harry out of the common room and into the hallway. Then she pulled him into the next room that they came to, it was deserted, except for a couch and a rug in the middle of the room. There she began to kiss Harry with a renewed frenzy, and there were no complaints from him. Complaints that she could hear that is, Harry's insides were in turmoil.
'WHAT AM I DOING!' Harry thought as he allowed himself to be dragged out of the common room by Angie. 'One, we are going to be caught. Two, I don't know how far she wants to go. Three, if it goes too far, could she get pregnant?' As Angie pulled Harry into the room he forgot temporarily his fears because he was pulled into her again.
Angie was suffering from a similar feeling. She was berating herself for doing this, yet she couldn't stop. She wanted Harry too badly. Angie broke off the kiss for but a moment as she slipped Harry's shirt off over his head. Then she undid the back of her own dress. 'This is going to far,' she thought to herself as she continued.
Harry slipped Angie's dress off of her shoulders, leaving her chest covered only by her bra and he bent down to kiss her neck. Angie felt chills run down her spine as he placed light kisses down her neck and down onto her chest and then she felt nothing, Harry had pulled away. Angie looked up at him.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"Angie, I'm sorry, I just can't - I can't do this," came the reply. Harry picked up his discarded shirt and put it back on, then waited for Angie to put back on her dress.
"Is it something about me?" Angie asked fearfully.
"No!" said Harry, "No of course not. I - I just can't Angie. All while I was kissing you I felt this voice inside me trying to pull me back, and I couldn't ignore it. There were so many things that could've gone wrong Angie, and I just don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"Nevermind - let's go back to the dorms."
"Harry, please tell me what is wrong."
Harry didn't answer as they walked down the corridor down which they had come and they reentered the common room.
"Angie, I don't know what to say, except that people come and people go, time passes and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. I believe that my time may come far faster than another's." With that Harry left Angie in the common room with tears in her eyes and ascended the stairs to his dorm.
***********
I "Harry."
"Nel'shira?"
"Harry, there is not much time. You must finish your training with me tonight. It is imperative that you be able to conquer death. You will learn one more spell with me. Then I believe you will be on your own. Tomorrow, it will happen," urgency and sadness were apparent in Nel'shira's voice, and Harry was scared.
"Are - are you sure Nel'shira?" Harry asked hoping that his mentor would say 'no.'
"Yes my child, I am sure. Now to do this spell." /I
************
Harry awoke in a cold sweat. It was three o' clock in the morning. And today was the day. Harry's life began to play in his mind, his time at the Dursley's, his friends, his school, Nel'shira, and the vision. Harry shuddered. Today that vision would become reality, and Harry knew what must be. Harry immediately teleported to the study, and found what he wanted, battle gear.
Godric Gryfindor had not simply left powers to his heirs, he left his own things as well, and the battle gear that Harry now held was one of the things bequeathed by Godric. The first pieces that went on were guards. Harry slipped the leather guards on his elbows, wrists, and shins. Then Harry put on the belt, which had a holster for his wand and potion vial holders. Finally he donned the battle robe. This robe was imbued with many protective enchantments and bodily enhancement charms. With this robe on Harry could move faster, and was stronger than without it.
Then Harry slipped many throwing knives into the holders built into the leather guards and belt. Then he placed his wand in its holster. Finally he slipped his sword into its sheath on the back of his battle robe and teleported to Dumbledore's office.
To say that Dumbledore was surprised to see Harry, dressed as a war assassin teleport into the midst of his office would have been a severe understatement. And Harry could barely restrain his laughs at Dumbledore's expression and reaction. When Harry had been pieced back together inside Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster had tried to jump out of his chair and take out his wand at the same time. The result was the Headmaster falling backwards and landing on the ground in a heap.
Harry helped Dumbledore off the ground and simply said, "Hogsmede will be attacked tonight. Voldemort himself will be there, alert everyone. I will be there as well." Before Dumbledore had a chance to tell Harry that 'No, you will not be there,' Harry had teleported back to the study, where he began to touch up on his spell casting and muggle fighting arts.
It was 4:30 when Harry decided to stop tiring himself and alert his friends as to what was going on. He also decided to check on Dumbledore's progress afterwards. Harry teleported back into his dorm where he found Ron sleeping.
"Ron, wake up."
"Harry, its too early go away."
"Ron, Voldemort is going to attack Hogsmede today."
"Urmph. just go away."
"RON! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF THE BED RIGHT NOW!" That did it, Ron jumped out of bed as Harry screamed right into his ear.
"HARRY! What in the HELL was that for?!"
"You wouldn't get up," said Harry matter-of-factly. "Well you didn't need to make me deaf. Now what were you saying?"
Harry sighed. "Ron, Voldemort will be attacking Hogsmede today, I am going, the rest of you may choose. Harry added this last part even though he knew what their response would be.
"Are you kidding? Of course you know we are coming as well. One elemental will not be enough."
"You are right Ron, sadly, but four will be plenty. Come, lets go get Angie and Hermione."
"Ummm - Harry - How are we gonna get them up. they are in their dorms." Harry grinned as he took out his invisibility cloak.
"Uh-huh," said Ron waving his hands, "you are alone in this one."
***********
Five minutes later, Harry came running back downstairs followed closely by two very angry girls.
"Harry Potter! Get back here this instant! You are never allowed in our room!"
"Angie, 'Mione, peace, I needed to get you up. Voldemort will attack Hogsmede tonight, will you help me and Dumbledore and the resistance against Voldemort fight?"
Angie and Hermione's angry scowls were replaced by a 'what did you need to ask for' look. "Of course we are going with you, what do you think we are? Fair weather friends?"
"No not at all, but I did want to give you the choice. Come now, we must speak to Dumbledore."
"Harry," Angie began, "Where did you get those clothes?"
"They were Godric's," replied Harry. He wanted to distance himself from Angie today, but that seemed that it would be impossible. He couldn't get her hopes up, as he knew they would come crashing down. Soon enough they found Dumbledore. He was running to the owlrey and came crashing into the quartet.
"Oh, sorry about that, got to get this letter off, oh Harry!"
"Yes professor, we need to talk to you."
"Oh, yes, well meet me at the door to my office, and I'll come as soon as I have sent off this owl."
"Alright Headmaster," said Harry and he led his friends to the Headmaster's office where they waited. They did not wait long however and Dumbledore soon appeared around the corner, looking less frantic but most assuredly not relaxed.
"Now, what is it Harry?"
"Headmaster, Angie, Hermione, Ron, and I will be joining in the defense of Hogsmede." It was a statement, not question.
"And what makes you think that I will let you?" asked Dumbledore inquisitively.
Harry replied calmly, his friends standing behind him and lending him their support, "I don't think Headmaster, that you can stop us." With that Harry nodded to his friends and they all teleported back to the study, leaving a startled Dumbledore in their wake.
'I must ask him later how he does that,' Dumbledore made a mental note to himself.
************
Harry paced around the study, his friends sitting on the couches in front of him. He knew that they were ready, but he couldn't help but feel nervous about the whole thing. And yet at the same time, he knew that they were necessary to the defense. It was nearing noontime, and Harry, Angie, Ron, and Hermione had spent the hours touching up on their elemental powers, and strengthening some wandless magic spells.
"It is time to head out to Hogsmede to plan the defense," said Harry to the others, who all continued to look at the floor. "Whatever happens, be careful, be strong, and win. We must win this battle. Let's go." With that the four teleported to the edge of the castle boundaries and began the decent to Hogsmede in silence.
They arrived and split up, each helping out where he/she was most needed. Harry asked to be left alone, and none questioned him. 'Well,' he thought, 'here goes nothing.' With that thought Harry began to summon his element, and summon lots of it. All movement stopped as the witches and wizards felt the massive amounts of magic moving around them. They feared that it may be some spell of evil that Voldemort was working, but since there was nothing that anyone could do about it they set back to work. Hermione, Angie, and Ron however, knew exactly where the magic was migrating too, and they looked at Harry with awe, their mouths hung open.
As more and more magic was pulled around Harry, he began to glow with power. Nobody was blind to that effect and soon all had stopped what they were doing and were pointing and staring at 'the boy who lived.' Harry's aura went from a light green to a bright emerald, and everyone present could feel the raw magic emanating from him. Then suddenly, it all stopped, and Harry stood up, glanced around at all the people who were staring at him, and headed for Dumbledore.
"Oh my god," said Ron to Hermione and Angie, "is he really that powerful? Could you feel the raw amounts of magic? That was amazing." This last statement was not said in exclamation, but in reverence.
"How could he be so powerful?" Angie asked. "Did anyone recognize what it was used for?"
"No - it must be for his element. By the way, he never told us what his element was did he? Strange." Hermione pondered why this was so.
"Nope, he never did. Just another one of his secrets I suppose. Why does he have so many?" Angie asked. 'Why does he have so many.' the thought re- echoed in her head.
As Harry walked stoically towards Dumbledore, he was thinking about what he had just done. 'God, I hope this works.'
"Sir," Harry began, "I want you to know this. If anything happens to me there is a bag of letters in my room that I want delivered according to the instructions on each. Thank you." Harry began to walk away but Dumbledore called to him.
"Harry, do not talk like this. Nothing will happen to you. You will be safe," said Dumbledore, unsure about the words he was speaking.
Harry sensed the Headmaster's confusion. "That as it may be professor, I know what will happen today, and nothing that you do or say will change it." Harry walked away, looking calm, but actually in turmoil.
'No,' thought Dumbledore, 'this cannot happen. I will not let anything happen to that boy. If anything were to happen to him, I don't know if I could forgive myself. Not to mention it would be a moral blow to the entire wizarding community.'
Harry marched to where Sirius was sitting. "Hello Sirius. I'm glad you are here today," Harry gave his godfather a hug. "I want you to know that I will be okay, not matter what happens."
Harry, don't say things like that. Don't wish ill upon yourself. Nothing will happen to you.
"Sirius, the outcome of this battle has already been decided." Harry's rigid posture broke as he added, "Just remember, I love you like the parents I never knew. Bye Sirius."
"Harry - Harry wait," Sirius choked out, but Harry had begun his walk towards Ron and Hermione.
Angie witnessed all of this. 'Oh my god,' she thought, 'he is saying good- bye to everyone, does he know something that we don't?' She stared at him while he was talking with his other friends. He left them and began to walk towards her. Angie could see Ron and Hermione's confused and troubled faces. He approached her.
"Harry, what is going to happen to you?"
Harry gave a slight chuckle. "So, figured it out have you? Do not worry Angie. Everything will be explained to you later. But for now, stay strong," Harry reached out and touched her cheek to wipe away a tear, "and win Angie, win." With these words he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
'A good-bye kiss?' thought Angie as he pulled away from her. "Harry, whatever happens, don't leave me -" she whispered.
"Angie," he began silently, "you must understand, what will happen here today is already decided. Remember, I love you." With these words he leaned in and kissed her one more time and walked away, leaving a crying Angie behind. Dusk approached.
************
All of the defenders of Hogsmede were in position as dusk donned over the city. Very soon, a single cry tore over the town, "MORSMORDE!" The dark mark flew into the sky and hundreds of death eaters rushed forward from the woods throwing curses at whomever they saw and setting buildings ablaze. The defenders attacked, Harry leading the way. Harry sent a wall of darkness in front of him which killed all death eaters as it touched them. Their screams of pain as their flesh was ripped from their bones could be heard throughout the battlefield and many other death eaters became demoralized by the fate of their comrades.
Soon, the death eaters were faced with a new problem. Angie had called upon a firestorm, which now raged over the main concentration of death eaters. Their hastily erected shields saved precious few and most fell screaming as they were burned alive. As the firestorm ended she called upon the plants nearby to entangle the frightened death eaters and they did her bidding, holding the death eaters, which were then taken down by spells from others.
Ron was throwing every curse imaginable at the death eaters, which he cloaked with the power of his shadow element. When cloaked, none of the spells he used could be blocked, and so the only option was to dodge them, but even that was difficult because they could not see the spell coming towards them.
Hermione was seen calling a ball of pure white light from the sky. She directed this ball of pure energy towards a large group of death eaters who were holding down some aurors. The ball of energy positioned itself directly over the death eaters and then exploded, momentarily blinding everyone. When they could see again, thirty charred bodies remained where thirty death eaters had stood moments before.
Curses, hexes, and charms were flying everywhere. Friends and foe alike were falling, and then Harry saw someone come out from behind the death eaters. Harry would have recognized those red eyes anywhere. Voldemort himself had joined the battle. Harry erupted in a fury. Unsheathing his sword, he cut down the two closest death eaters.
"Crucio!" The spell came flying towards Harry's back from a nearby death eater. Hearing the word Harry spun around bringing his sword up in a wide arc. Harry's blade connected with the unforgivable curse and with a shower of white sparks sent it back to its caster, whom it hit. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain and agony.
"That is him! It's Harry Potter! The Master wants him dead!" This cry alerted many of the death eaters to Harry's presence and they all began firing curses at him, curses he was hard-pressed to dodge and block.
Harry's sword became a blur as he twirled, swung, and struck with it, parrying curses, and cutting death eaters. The curses stopped when Dumbledore came with Sirius and some Hit-Wizards and relieved Harry of the attackers. Harry's mind again raced to Voldemort. Time seemed to freeze and Harry saw Voldemort lift his wand, but it was not aimed at Harry, but at Angie. Harry saw, rather than heard, the words formed upon Voldemort's lips, "Avada Kedavra." A flash of green light streaked towards Angie, and Harry knew what he must do. He sprung himself to the side, directly into the path of the curse, shielding Angie with his own body. The curse hit him straight in the chest. He fell, dead.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Angie screamed as she saw Harry fall, his body limp, and his eyes closed. Voldemort began to laugh, an evil laugh, as everybody stared at the lifeless body of Harry Potter.