Chapter Twenty-six; Balance of Power
Harry stared fearfully up at his godfather, his heart pounding in his throat. Sirius returned the stare blankly, not moving a muscle.
'Sirius?' Harry whispered, his voice quivering.
Sirius raised his wand.
'Stupefy!'
Harry stumbled backwards. The spell struck the floor at his feet, barely missing him. Slowly, stealthily, Sirius stepped down from the podium, his wand trained on Harry.
'Sagitta!'
A swarm of arrows flew through the air, sharp and deadly. Without pausing to think Harry shouted, 'Ignis scutum!'
A wall of fire erupted around him, flaring outwards. The arrows hit the wall, bursting into flame as the wall fell. A ring of ashes remained scourged into the floor.
Sirius continued his approach.
'Sirius, I don't want to hurt you!' Harry nervously held his wand up, trying desperately to recall a stronger barrier spell.
Voldemort smiled, very much amused.
'That's a shame, since he wants to hurt you.'
Sirius lunged forward, a huge fiery halo surrounding him. He flung it at Harry - the heat of it struck Harry so hard he nearly fell as he bellowed a counter-spell, conjuring a barrier of rushing water, flowing through the air between him and the fire. It hit. The two spells flared out in all directions; blasts of heat and ice cold water intermingled and vanished, cancelling each other out.
Spells flew thick and fast through the air, Harry trying his hardest to conjure a strong enough shield but each attack shattered his efforts, only just powerful enough to deflect the spell. And still Sirius continued his advance. Harry was gradually being driven back, trying to keep a reasonable distance. But if this carried on he'd end up against the wall and then what? He couldn't attack Sirius. He couldn't.
'Sirius, fight it!' he shouted. 'You can beat the Curse! Throw it off! You don't want to hurt me!'
But still Sirius fired spell after spell, his dark eyes blazing. He was nothing more than Voldemort's puppet, unable to stop. The spells he was using were becoming more powerful, more deadly, and the shields could barely stand up to them.
With no other choice, Harry went on the offensive.
'Impedimenta!'
The Jinx blasted through the air. Sirius blocked it without batting an eye.
'Impedimenta! Stupefy! Impedimenta!'
Sirius quickly blocked the first two but the third struck. He stumbled, his leg collapsing under him. Harry held his ground. The Impediment Jinx was in no way permanent. Sirius would be back on his feet in a matter of seconds. Harry's head was spinning. What could he do? If he continued to stun Sirius he'd only continue to fight back to the point of exhaustion, and Voldemort was sure to push him beyond that.
Attacking Sirius was not an option. Harry was not prepared to risk his only real family. But if he didn't, Sirius would kill him and there was nothing he could do stop himself.
Sirius was back on his feet. Taking a deep breath Harry stepped forward, shouting every hex he could think of that would slow Sirius down.
With expert precision, Sirius deflected each spell in turn. But as Harry cast another Impediment Jinx, Sirius, instead of blocking it, reflected the spell. It bounced back. Too late Harry tried to fling himself out of the way; the spell struck his legs, all the feeling in them vanished in an instant. They'd gone completely numb. As he fell, his wand slipped from his grasp. It rolled just out of reach.
Panicking, Harry tried to drag himself forward, stretching out his hand to grab it.
'Impedimenta!'
Harry's arm went numb. Helplessly, he lifted his head. Sirius was standing over him with his wand aimed directly at Harry's heart.
'You can not win, Potter,' said Voldemort coolly. 'Do you yield?'
'Never!' Harry spat, straining to reach his wand with his other hand. It was a mere inch out of reach and he couldn't move any closer, his legs would not respond.
Voldemort heaved a dramatic sigh.
'If that is your answer…' He smiled coldly at Sirius. 'Then I suggest you bid farewell to your beloved godfather.'
Shaking with fear, Harry met his godfather's hollow stare.
Something flickered in Sirius' eyes. His face twitched. His arm shook slightly, the wands aim wavering. Harry's heart thudded painfully fast in his chest. Sirius' body shuddered violently, a familiar blaze sparking in his eyes. But the Dark Lord roared, 'Destroy him!' and Sirius obeyed, shouting out a deadly curse.
A blinding flash of scarlet light erupted from his wand - Harry screwed his eyes shut, the light blazing through his eyelids, bracing himself. There was an alarming, deafeningly loud crack followed by an explosion of dazzling white light.
For a moment Harry lay still, wondering if he was dead. Was this what it felt like to be dead? His legs didn't even feel numb anymore, the feeling had returned …
His brain suddenly caught up with the fact that he wasn't dead. He wasn't even hurt. Eyes snapping open, Harry was stunned to find a glowing haze of beautiful golden light swirling around him. A warm glow was shining from underneath his robes. Harry reached a hand down the neck of his robes and drew out the talisman.
The talisman felt as light as air; the jewel had turned from jet black to a fiery scarlet, shining with a strange inner light.
A roar of fury tore through the air; jerking his head up, Harry could see Voldemort's evil face screwed up with anger and frustration.
With renewed strength, Harry leapt to his feet. The talisman flared briefly as the light drew back towards it, fading slightly as warmth flowed back into Harry's body. The only feeling that echoed this sensation was that which came with phoenix song. For a moment he could almost hear it, lending him strength … courage…
Voldemort screamed at Sirius to attack. In spite of his efforts to fight the Curse off, Sirius obeyed. The curse flew straight at Harry … and was engulfed as the talisman emitted a brilliant flare of pure white light, slashing through the air in front of him.
Harry grinned broadly with relief. He didn't quite understand how this had happened but he certainly understood the look of fear that flickered across the Dark Lord's face.
BOOM!
The doors of the Great Hall shuddered as something slammed against them.
BOOM! BOOM!
The Death Eaters nearest the doors started backing away slowly. Then both the doors were forced open, slamming against the walls before bouncing back.
A gigantic werewolf came hurtling through the doorway, snarling ferociously as it bolted across the Hall and skidded to a halt beside Harry, seemingly un-surprised at the mysterious glow that surrounded him. Upon his back rode Ron and Hermione. They leapt off the wolf's back, wands ready, faces set, and moving swiftly to stand on either side of Harry. The werewolf took a cautious step towards Sirius.
'He's under the Imperious Curse,' Harry hissed urgently. 'He can't throw it off.'
'Harry, you know you're crazy, right?' Ron whispered. 'Coming down here on your own?'
Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Did I?'
Voldemort swept down from the podium, his cloak flaring out behind him like the wings of a dragon.
'Enough of this!' He roared. 'You dare to defy me? Do you honestly think you even have a chance of winning?' He laughed sadistically, turning to the Death Eaters. 'Kill them!'
Ron, Hermione, and Remus braced themselves for the assault.
Nothing happened.
Not one of the Death Eaters had moved.
Voldemort's eyes flashed dangerously. He looked beside himself with fury.
'Did you not hear me? Kill them!'
One Death Eater stepped forward. He reached up to his hood and let it fall back.
It was Neville Longbottom.
Ron and Hermione stared as each of the Death Eaters drew back their hoods. The Gryffindors emerged as one from the shadows, their wands aimed at the Dark Lord.
Voldemort's scarlet eyes darted from one to the next, the truth dawning on him. Tia had all but disappeared into the shadows behind the throne, cowering there. Voldemort turned to Sirius, raising his wand -
'EXPELLIARMUS!'
The combined efforts of all the Gryffindors together blasted the Dark Lord off his feet with such force that he hit the back wall with a sickening, bone-crunching thud! He slid down the wall, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor.
Sirius' eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed. Harry made to run to his godfather but Ron and Hermione grabbed his arms, holding him back.
'Wait! It could be a trick.' Hermione warned before Harry could throw them off.
Nevertheless, Remus raced past them to Sirius. He circled his friend from a short distance, trying to detect any sign of movement. Moving in swiftly Remus cautiously nudging Sirius with his muzzle, barking softly in his ear. There was no response.
There was a flurry of movement to their left; Professor Torr came running out of the shadows. Harry raised his wand.
'Don't move!' he shouted.
Professor Torr paid no heed. She dropped to the floor beside Sirius, frantically feeling his neck.
Remus let out a warning snarl, but made no more to attack her as she drew her wand. An incantation passed her lips and a shower of rose coloured dust flew from her wand.
Remus' ears pricked up. He leaned over, shoved Sirius' shoulder hard and gave a loud bark.
Harry could have cheered as Sirius slowly sat up. Looking about, his face broke into a relieved smile as he saw his friend, but it faded to a confused frown as he realised that Professor Torr was also on the floor next to him. Her face split into an adoring smile. Sirius scooted backwards into Remus who let out another snarl, a clear 'Keep away' warning.
A sudden glare of poisonous green light flared out from the podium. In a blaze of black fire Voldemort rose into the air, his power radiating from him in a despairing wave of darkness.
Everyone drew back as fear gripped them; except Remus who moved to stand over Sirius, shielding him, growling with his hackles raised.
Voldemort's terrible face turned to Professor Torr.
'You insignificant fool,' he hissed. 'You dare to betray me?'
He flung her across the room with a furious sweep of his wand. She scrawled on the floor, shrieking in fright and pain.
'You deserve to die,'
'No!' Professor Torr frantically scrambled to her feet.
Voldemort pointed his wand at her and a howling wind roared through the Hall, whipping her robes, cloak and hair. Harry, Ron and Hermione were rooted to the spot as their professor began to change.
Her long, shiny dark hair faded to a dull brown, thin and lank. Her face changed shape, her eyes darkening. Her slender figure gave way to a thin and shapeless body. A plain and very frightened looking woman stood where their professor had been. She stared at her hands, then felt her face and hair, her mouth open in a gasp of mounting panic. Breaking down in tears, she moaned softly, 'No … oh God no …'
A hideous, lipless smile graced the Dark Lords face.
'But you deserve humiliation so much more,' he cackled before turning to the Gryffindors, Sirius and Remus. 'And now for the rest of you – You shall die.'
Voldemort threw back his head, screaming an ancient language long forgotten by any other wizard living. The snake that lay on the podium writhed as though in pain, hissing angrily. She began to grow, larger and larger. Within seconds she was the size of the Basilisk Harry had faced in Slytherin's secret chamber.
Voldemort strode forward, shouting in Parseltongue. 'Kill them! Kill everyone in this room! Kill them all!'
Nagini slithered off the podium, her monstrous body moving with incredible speed towards her closest targets; Remus and Sirius.
Remus growled more loudly still, baring his teeth, preparing to spring. Sirius had frozen, staring wide-eyed as Nagini hissed menacingly, raising her ugly triangular head about to strike.
'VULNUS!'
A jet of blue light slammed into the snake's blunt snout. Nagini jerked back, spitting in pain.
'Get away from him!' Tia aimed her wand with a shaking hand but her voice was loud and clear. Nagini turned to face her as she fired another hex.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stared, dumbfounded, as the woman threw a furious glare over her shoulder at them.
'Well, what are you standing there for?' she shouted.
Harry raised his wand.
'Attack!'
At his command, the Gryffindors around the Hall snapped out of their reverie and into action.
'STUPEFY!' they roared.
Jets of red light soared through the air, striking Nagini all along her body. She thrashed violently, spitting in anger. But the spells didn't seem to have any effect.
Sirius transformed into the great black dog, turned and bolted, Remus at his side. As soon as they were out of range of the snake, Tia broke away from the fight.
'Here!'
A wand was thrown through the air. The dog leapt and caught it neatly in his jaws. In an instant, Sirius transformed again, spun round and bellowed 'Fulguritus!'
A gigantic bolt of lightning flashed through the air with a deafening crack. Nagini shied away, dropping her head lower.
The Weasley twins rushed forward, flicking their wands sharply; two lassos of orange light flew out, looping around the snakes' snout. But before they could pull it tight, the snakes' tail came swinging towards them. It struck George hard in the chest, sending him flying. Fred ducked as the tail came whipping lethally over his head.
Harry frantically searched the Hall for a sign of his godfather. He caught sight of Sirius by the right hand wall firing spells at the snake's eyes.
The woman he knew as Professor Torr was beside him, helping them fight. Just whose side was she on?
'Harry!'
Harry turned just as Ron and Hermione cast the Impediment Jinx. Harry quickly did the same; the three spells striking the snake on her upper body.
Stunning and Paralysis Spells flew thick and fast through the air, each of them hitting their mark but to no avail. Not one made any impact on the snake except to enrage her further. The jets of light were disorienting her if nothing else; she didn't seem able to focus on a single target.
Tia suddenly rushed forward, Sirius at her side. Harry watched in horror as they both ran straight up to the snake. Thrusting their wands through the gaps between the scales, they shouted 'Glacare!'
Sheets of ice spread rapidly over the scales, crackling as the snake writhed.
To Harry's amazement, the snake seemed to have been rendered completely exhausted in an instant. Her movements were sluggish and laboured. But it didn't make her fangs any less dangerous. Finally discovering a target in close proximity, she lunged for Sirius.
In a flash of silver-grey fur, the werewolf dove past his friend and leapt upon the snakes' body, clawing furiously into the scales. Nagini missed Sirius as he threw himself out of the way, rolling back onto his feet and casting a Shield Charm as she swung her head round.
'They're cold blooded!' Tia bellowed. 'Use freezing charms!'
But this new strategy was thwarted almost instantly – a roar of fire rang out, a blast of intense heat blasting through the air. Voldemort stepped forward, his wand held high, sending hundreds of fireballs raining down upon their heads. Screams and shouts rent the air as people fell. Clouds of ash exploding all around them.
Unable to see, Harry covered his face, grabbed Ron and Hermione by their robes and tried to pull them towards the walls. A huge ball of flame struck the floor at his feet, throwing him off balance. Ginny appeared out of the ashen cloud, covering her head with her arms, shrieking in terror. Ron grabbed her, pulling her to him.
Rearing high into the air, Nagini twisted round lunged for the wolf; fast as blinking Remus jumped up and over the snake's head, landing awkwardly but immediately sinking his teeth into the snake, ripping and tearing at the back of her head.
Then with a sudden violent thrash of her tail, Nagini caught Remus a glancing blow; he tumbled off her back, yelping in pain as he hit the floor. He scrambled frantically to avoid the fireballs falling all around him, but his foreleg wouldn't support him. It was broken. Nagini drew her head back, preparing to strike -
'NO! STOP!'
At once, everything, everyone, froze. The torrent of fireballs ceased. A strange but tense silence fell.
Slowly, Nagini turned to the one who had spoken.
Harry, shaking with a combination of fear and excitement, stepped away from the others, hissing.
'Leave him.'
The huge snake swiftly drew back from the werewolf, her gleaming eyes fixed unblinkingly on Harry.
'What are you doing?' Voldemort roared, his eyes wide with astonishment. 'I said kill them!'
As Nagini wavered, Harry hissed, 'Don't. Don't harm them.' Stepping forward he added, 'Please.'
The snake reared up, her head almost high enough to brush the enchanted ceiling. Looking very confused her gaze shifted between the two Parselmouths, unsure of what to do. Everyone else stood very, very still, not wanting to draw the snake's attention.
'Kill them, I say!'
'No! Don't! Leave them. Don't harm them.'
Bewildered, the snake's head swayed drunkenly, first towards the Gryffindors, then drawing back, then edging forward again.
'Nagini,' Voldemort hissed. 'Look at me!' Obediently, the snake turned. 'I am your Master! You obey me and only me! Kill the boy! Now!'
Nagini swiftly twisted her long body round, slithering past the Gryffindors, firmly ignoring them in her haste to follow her instructions.
Harry stood perfectly still. Then, when Nagini was just within striking distance, he raised his wand above his head.
A shower of blue sparks flew into the air, raining down over Harry in a glowing haze. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny backed up as the light swallowed Harry up - Nagini shied away, the light almost blinding.
The light faded into nothing. A collective gasp echoed round the Hall. Where Harry had been now stood a tall, hooded figure, skin bone-white, a snake-like face with blood red eyes. A mirror image of the Dark Lord.
Ron's mouth fell open. Hermione grabbed Ginny to steady her before she fell over with shock.
Nagini simply stared, frozen with puzzlement.
'Master?' she hissed uncertainly.
Harry's hissing voice came from the pseudo-Dark Lords mouth, strangely calm.
'Nagini, please listen, do not attack me.'
'Then who? The humans? The wolf?'
'I do not wish for you to attack any of them. Leave them, please.'
The entire room seemed to be holding its breath as Nagini lowered her head, laying it at Harry's feet. Slowly, Harry reached out a hand, giving her a pat on the snout. She closed her eyes, hissing contentedly.
'Thank you,' he hissed.
Voldemort's rage broke over them all.
'What are you doing! I am your Master! When I tell you to kill, I EXPECT YOU TO DO IT!' he roared, breathing heavily, his eyes bulging.
Nagini opened her eyes lazily, almost ignoring him but her hissing had taken on a clear tone of annoyance. Harry continued to stroke her snout.
'Why do you put up with that?' he whispered. 'You shouldn't have to take that kind of treatment.'
Nagini looked round at Voldemort, her eyes narrowed. She moved swiftly towards him, her forked tongue flicking in and out excitedly. If it were possible, Voldemort actually went a little paler than before.
'Stop!' he ordered.
The snake kept coming.
'I said stop!'
Swiftly, silently, the rest of the Gryffindors backed away from the snake, moving closer to Harry. Remus, struggling to stand on three legs, limped out of the way of the snake's gigantic coils. Sirius moved swiftly across the Hall to help him, keeping his wand aimed at the snake.
'No! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!'
Nagini lunged - mouth open wide - fangs gleaming - a horrendous scream sliced through the air -
At that moment, the pseudo-Dark Lord's form shimmered, blurring - the illusion fell to reveal Harry, looking stunned at what he'd just done.
Nagini froze, then withdrew, cowering. Voldemort, barely able to stand, was covered in blood mixed with snake venom, his robes soaked through. Despite being horrible weakened, he managed to stand and cast a powerful series of spells; Nagini shrank to half her size; dragon wings burst forth from her body and she moved up against her Master as he levitated himself up onto her back. Turning his terrible face to Harry, Voldemort flashed him a nasty smile.
'You have not seen the last of me, Harry Potter. We will meet again … and next time you will not be so lucky.'
The back wall of the Great Hall exploded inwards; a cloud of dust and rubble choking the air. Through the dust, dark figures emerged, slowly and steadily marching inside. A wave of coldness washed over them all … white fog started to obscure their vision … faint screaming reached Harry's ears, coming from the depths of his darkest memories.
With a powerful stroke of her wings, Nagini rose into the air, disappearing into the dust cloud, taking her wounded Master with her.
The Dementors swarmed into the Great Hall, closing in on the Gryffindors. A few had already fallen to their knees as the fear took hold of their minds. Harry was about to summon the happiest thought he could think of, when he froze, his heart leaping right up into his throat.
Sirius!
His godfather was frozen in abject terror as a Dementor bore down upon him and Remus. Remus swayed, his eyes drooping. His legs went out from under him as he passed out. The Dementor passed by the wolf, reaching with its clammy, rotted hands, encircling Sirius' throat, forcing his face up. Blinking through the white fog that was clouding his eyes, Harry's vision cleared just enough to see a pair of blank, empty eye sockets and the huge, shapeless, fathomless mouth before its jaws fastened over Sirius' mouth.
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To Be Continued!
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Please review
All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated
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Authors Notes
*Voltora peers out of her hiding place, gulps and ducks out of sight again* I am not coming out until you put those flaming torches out and put down those pitchforks! You could take someone's eye out with those things! Namely mine!
Elebereth94 – *Voltora dives back into her hiding place and refuses to come out* What have I done? Um … *gulps* … er … I – I was under the Imperious Curse! Yeah, the Dark Forces made me do it! *assumes an innocent posture* Hey, I do love Sirius as much as the next rabid fan – you think I like torturing him like this? *pauses* Yeah, okay, I'll admit it's fun but that's only because I'm the author … I totally understand your pain, believe me! A good fic for Sirius fans is anything by PAR, although I personally love 'Family Life'. Highly recommended if you don't mind the occasional heart attack and screaming fits brought on by the Sirius-torture throughout. ^_^
Evol norgara – Tia's insane, you're insane, I'm insane … is there anyone around here who isn't? LOL. Poor Harry, he never seems to get the ordinary, teenager-type problems; it's always consists of 'My godfather is an escaped convicted murderer, I live in a world where nothing is ever what you first assume it to be and I've got a psychotic loony bent on world domination who wants to kill me.' You just want to give him zits or a cheating girlfriend to make him feel like he's normal! ^_^ Maybe he would appreciate the pie. Or the cake if you have any more.
Evil spapple pie – I can see that pitchfork, pie! *Voltora wisely keeps her distance* Actually I did have Tia killed in the original version. Nagini gobbled her up during the fight. *evil cackle* But she needs to hang around for a little while longer this time. Yes, the Peter fic is definably at the very bottom of the pile. The idea's just there in case I completely run out of other ideas for fics. Considering I've got about half a dozen planned, I doubt a Peter fic is going to show up anytime soon. Still, it'd be a challenge to write one, wouldn't it?
Christy – Yay! It's 'evil'! Just what I was hoping for. ^_^ *sigh* The fic is nearly at it's end. *sob* But then I'll be able to write a sequel at some point so it's not so bad.
Lil Lupin – I feel terrible torturing him! Honest! If you're referring to the Sirius fic too, I feel down right evil. But he's such a cool character to have in those situations! *evil cackle* No one likes to see him hurt but it makes for a great fic. How many fics do I have planned? Um … *thinks hard* At least five, including the Sirius fic. I don't know how I'm going to find the time to get through them all … oh, wait, yes I do – I can learn to like coffee and discover that there is such a time as 3 a.m. ^_^ *goes to put the kettle on*
Von – Ah ha! Surprised you then, did I? Yay me! And yes, Tia / Allison is pretty deranged. *rotates a finger by the side of her head* Slightly cuckoo. Insane in the membrane. Mad as a Hatter and all that. ^_^
MorganD – There you are!! *gives Morgan a hug* I was wondering where you'd disappeared off to. Glad to have you back! I've only read the first chapter of 'Hogwarts Letters', I do intend to read a bit more when I get some time – probably once I finish off another chapter of my next project; been quite busy lately.
*Grimaces and promptly bashes head on the keyboard, muttering a few rude words to herself* Yeah, Hermione did mean 'Don't worry,' *shakes head in utter disbelief* HOW? How did I miss that?? I won't put any blame on my Beta (well, not much anyway ^_^ ) but I just don't know how some of these stupid mistakes keep being missed. *bashes head on keyboard again*
I needed to change the perspective angle because I couldn't figure out how Harry would be able to uncover most of the plot elements. And it was fun to use the other characters. ^_^
Okay, Sirius acting like a zombie – notice the part when Tia forces him to look into her eyes and 'an indescribable calm washed over him' ? Poor guy lost the will to fight; being pretty confused he wasn't thinking too clearly. Whenever Tia is close by he can't help but think about how beautiful she is, how much he adores her, etc etc– that's the Passion spell bit. The Obedience spell she mentions just adds to her control over him and the Confundus Charm tops it off by totally muddling his mind; he can't recall everything that Tia does when they're together so he doesn't know for sure what she's been up to. *looks back over the last paragraph* Did that make much sense? Any at all? Sorry, I'm not the greatest of explainers. But in the end it wasn't solely passion or love that was to blame for Sirius' behaviour. Tia still loves him – in a very twisted manner – and she wanted to get him back.
Oh and Sirius suddenly returning to normal in the Great Hall? He got hit with the Cruciatus Curse which overpowered the effects of the other spells thus he could start to think rationally again.
Hhm, no actually, I haven't read anything by Tymothy Zahn – never even heard of him to be honest. That line is oddly similar though. Good author is he? Sirius told Tia that because he came to the conclusion that he was dealing with a mentally unstable woman and honestly wanted to help, as well as trying not to upset her or make her angry. You don't want crazy people mad at you; they tend to be unpredictable. He wants to help because he's a nice guy! He's not heartless. (Okay, with the exception of situations with Pettigrew but I'm sure we can all forgive him for that.)
You'd like to see a Peter fic? Hey about that? Two votes for it! I'll have to give it a chance after all. ^_^