Chapter 23
A gasp rang around the hall as all present realized just what Harry was proposing to the head Auror.
Shaw spun around and faced the younger boy with a smirk on his tanned face.
"Are you sure you want to do this Potter? Do you really think you can beat the head Auror of the Ministry of Magic?" he asked, looking quite arrogant and sure of himself.
"Yes" was the only answer he received as he was pinned with the piercing eyes of the boy.
"Very well Potter, we will do this your way, but all here are witnesses to the fact I tried to discourage you from taking on a full fledged Auror. Weasley, you may return to your classmates, you will receive full marks" he said curtly, not taking his dark brown eyes from the insolent boy before him.
No one could believe what was going on before them, Harry Potter was willingly going to duel with the head Auror, and without a wand none the less. Dumbledore though, had a bright twinkle in his eyes that had been absent for far too long.
The other professors, all but Sirius and Remus, were anxious about what was going to happen, knowing full well that there was no way that Harry could beat Shaw. Of course they knew he was capable of wandless magic, but the few occasions he had done it with much power to their knowledge was when he had been angry or startled. Never had he done it knowingly and with full control in a situation like this. Sure, he could perform charms and such easily enough, but to duel and defend oneself at the same time would surely exhaust the boy.
Shaw slowly backed away from Harry until he was standing at the opposite end of the stage with a wide smile on his face.
"Lets get this started, shall we Potter?" he asked tauntingly
"If you insist" was the reply as Harry gave the Auror an almost mocking smirk
They both inclined their heads to their opponent, one brown, the other black, but neither took their eyes from the other.
Shaw raised his wand at the boy, who in turn just stood unblinking and unmoving.
"I warned you boy! Stupefy!" he roared, but to his amazement, the boy remained stock still until the last possible moment when he raised his arm and carelessly flicked his wrist, and the curse shot up and hit the enchanted ceiling with a loud bang.
Shaw looked stunned, but only for a moment before he shot a freezing curse at the boy, this one though was sent toward the left hand wall, where several students had to duck to avoid it.
The Auror was outraged that the boy was able to deflect his curses so easily, without even moving more than his hand and wearing an almost bored expression on his young face.
He continued to shoot curses at the boy, in rapid succession, and was getting more and more frustrated as the minutes dragged by with himself still the only one fighting.
"I thought you said you were going to defeat me Potter!" he yelled as another of his curses was successfully deflected into the ceiling. He was met by a small smile as an answer.
"Well, Potter, if I'm not enough of a match for you, let's see just how much you've got" he growled while still keeping his eyes locked with the emerald ones
"Your call sir" was the quiet reply
"Wilkins, get up here!" he bellowed, and a shorter man with sandy blonde hair joined his superior on the stage.
"Potter, this is my second in command, Adrian Wilkins, let's see if you can take on two at a time shall we" the menacing grin on his face grew wider as Harry nodded in acknowledgement.
Wilkins moved to another side of the stage until the three duelers formed a triangle facing each other. All three bowed their heads again before the curses began to fly at Harry, who was again making little effort and still deflecting everything that came his way with grim determination.
"I knew he was good, but not this good" Ron muttered to Hermione, who could only nod in agreement "I'm glad it's not me up there, I wouldn't have stood a chance" he added as an afterthought.
They continued watching their best friend duel against the two most powerful Aurors in the entire ministry in awe, and were joined a couple of minutes later by Ginny who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, I'd say he proved his point, wouldn't you?" she asked the open mouthed couple
"Uh, I guess you could say that." Ron muttered as answer, never taking his eyes from the stage. The three opponents had been at it for a full ten minutes though, when Harry decided to begin firing his own curses at the two Aurors.
While his right hand was continuing to deflect the curses fired from his two opponents, he raised his left arm and bright flashes of blue light made their way to the pair of Aurors facing him without Harry having to say a word.
Both men rolled on the marble floor to dodge the unknown curses and within an instant were on their feet again and firing their own spells back at the boy. After about ten minutes of the constant pattern of dodging and firing curses, all present could tell that the Aurors were beginning to suffer from the strain, their reflexes slowing and their spells losing strength. This was when things took a definite turn for the worse for their young opponent though.
He had just blocked the stunning spell yet again from Wilkins when another one came from his left side, sent by one of the observing Aurors seated next to the stage. Harry turned quickly as the flash of blue light caught his eye and he deflected it with ease, and he was just turning back to face Shaw when a blood red curse no one had heard spoken hit him hard and square in the chest.
Though the incantation had not been heard by those in the hall, the instant it struck Harry, everyone knew what it had to be. He fell hard to his knees and rolled onto his side, curling his body as tight as was possible, his face and fists drawn tight as he convulsed on the ground in agony.
The observers' eyes were wide and everyone began to look frantically around the hall for the caster, but he was to be found on the stage, his wand held level and pointing directly at the boy, a look of glee on his face as he strode purposely forward.
"Well Potter, it looks as though even you can't withstand the pain Crucio" he said menacingly, coming to a halt about ten feet in front of the boy still convulsing on the stage.
Without lifting his wand, he called over his shoulder to the stunned professors and Aurors and the frightened students.
"You would do well not to interfere, because if any of you so much as tries to stop me, I will kill him" the intensity of his words convinced all present that he meant what he said, so all stood their ground, Ginny, Ron and Hermione only because their house mates were holding them back with all their effort though.
Shaw then turned all his attention back to Harry.
"Potter, answer one question for me" he said in a conversational tone
"Why don't you scream?" he asked as he finally broke the curse, looking curiously at the boy as he weakly pulled himself back to his feet and faced the man eye to eye.
"Well, answer me boy!" he demanded
"Why should I scream? To give you and those like you pleasure? Never" he said, his whispered words hoarse and rasping.
His defiance only furthered to anger Shaw who growled before bellowing "Crucio" at the top of his lungs, aiming for the boy again.
This time around though, Harry was prepared and he raised his arm, but this time he didn't divert the curse to the ceiling or far walls, instead, it was repelled off his out stretched hand and sent hurtling right back at Shaw, who, in his shock dove to the side and narrowly missed being struck, but as he fell, Harry raised his other arm and the mans wand came sailing into his right hand.
He quickly got back to his feet and glared at Harry.
"I now understand why my master tried to kill you when you were an infant Potter, but you can't keep defying your destiny, you will die at the hands of a dark wizard, and I intend for you to die at my hands today and even if you defeat me, another will succeed where I have failed. You can't hide from fate forever, all it takes is one curse and you will be destroyed" while he was giving his speech, he approached Harry until he was mere inches from the boy, who still refused to look away. "Your time is coming Potter, sooner than you may think" was his final growled threat before jumping on the boy, sending them both to the ground in a heap of black and blue robes.
Harry couldn't believe that he had allowed his concentration to slip onto Wilkins when he knew it was Shaw that posed the threat. When he had first set eyes on the man, his instincts told him that he was a follower of Voldemort, and he had decided immediately not to let him leave the castle as a free man. He had focused all his energies during the previous duels planning out how exactly he could convince the man to fight him, and thankfully he had been successful.
If there was one thing his imprisonment had taught him, it was the power to manipulate others through ones words, all in all, that was a good lesson to have learned.
When he felt the larger man hit him, he was unable to prevent the momentum from driving him into the ground with the other man straddling his frame and pinning him to the floor of the stage completely immobile.
He was unable to lift either of his arms to banish the man to allow him to get to his feet and he was becoming frustrated. He may be able to do magic without a wand, but he needed his arms to channel his power, and with both pinned at his sides, that was impossible and he was defenseless for what would happen next. He had taken Shaw's wand, but he hadn't counted on him having more than just the slender piece of wood as a weapon until he caught a glimpse of silver in the mans hand.
His eyes were wide and he was unable to suppress a scream as he felt the weapon penetrate his side between his two lowest ribs. The man above him was giving him a maniacal smirk as he looked into the boys pain filled eyes.
"Well, what an irony, the great Harry Potter defeated by muggle means, who would have though it could be this easy?" he whispered into his opponents ear, so quiet that no one else could hear him, and judging by the confused whispering, no one else had seen the blade besides himself and were wondering what would cause him to cry out in such pain.
The older man made the next mistake though by rising to his feet, already sure of his victory and turning his back to Harry to speak to the congregation of students, professors, and Aurors.
Ignoring what he was saying, Harry forced the black areas that were beginning to dim his vision away and raised a shaky hand at the mans back, sending him crashing to the ground stunned. Harry then got to his feet and stood over the man as he revived him, the hilt of the blade concealed within the folds of his black robes.
'Kill him'
The voice was back and stronger and more tempting than ever before and slowly, Harry raised his right hand and held it over the prone mans body.
A gasp rang around the hall as all present realized just what Harry was proposing to the head Auror.
Shaw spun around and faced the younger boy with a smirk on his tanned face.
"Are you sure you want to do this Potter? Do you really think you can beat the head Auror of the Ministry of Magic?" he asked, looking quite arrogant and sure of himself.
"Yes" was the only answer he received as he was pinned with the piercing eyes of the boy.
"Very well Potter, we will do this your way, but all here are witnesses to the fact I tried to discourage you from taking on a full fledged Auror. Weasley, you may return to your classmates, you will receive full marks" he said curtly, not taking his dark brown eyes from the insolent boy before him.
No one could believe what was going on before them, Harry Potter was willingly going to duel with the head Auror, and without a wand none the less. Dumbledore though, had a bright twinkle in his eyes that had been absent for far too long.
The other professors, all but Sirius and Remus, were anxious about what was going to happen, knowing full well that there was no way that Harry could beat Shaw. Of course they knew he was capable of wandless magic, but the few occasions he had done it with much power to their knowledge was when he had been angry or startled. Never had he done it knowingly and with full control in a situation like this. Sure, he could perform charms and such easily enough, but to duel and defend oneself at the same time would surely exhaust the boy.
Shaw slowly backed away from Harry until he was standing at the opposite end of the stage with a wide smile on his face.
"Lets get this started, shall we Potter?" he asked tauntingly
"If you insist" was the reply as Harry gave the Auror an almost mocking smirk
They both inclined their heads to their opponent, one brown, the other black, but neither took their eyes from the other.
Shaw raised his wand at the boy, who in turn just stood unblinking and unmoving.
"I warned you boy! Stupefy!" he roared, but to his amazement, the boy remained stock still until the last possible moment when he raised his arm and carelessly flicked his wrist, and the curse shot up and hit the enchanted ceiling with a loud bang.
Shaw looked stunned, but only for a moment before he shot a freezing curse at the boy, this one though was sent toward the left hand wall, where several students had to duck to avoid it.
The Auror was outraged that the boy was able to deflect his curses so easily, without even moving more than his hand and wearing an almost bored expression on his young face.
He continued to shoot curses at the boy, in rapid succession, and was getting more and more frustrated as the minutes dragged by with himself still the only one fighting.
"I thought you said you were going to defeat me Potter!" he yelled as another of his curses was successfully deflected into the ceiling. He was met by a small smile as an answer.
"Well, Potter, if I'm not enough of a match for you, let's see just how much you've got" he growled while still keeping his eyes locked with the emerald ones
"Your call sir" was the quiet reply
"Wilkins, get up here!" he bellowed, and a shorter man with sandy blonde hair joined his superior on the stage.
"Potter, this is my second in command, Adrian Wilkins, let's see if you can take on two at a time shall we" the menacing grin on his face grew wider as Harry nodded in acknowledgement.
Wilkins moved to another side of the stage until the three duelers formed a triangle facing each other. All three bowed their heads again before the curses began to fly at Harry, who was again making little effort and still deflecting everything that came his way with grim determination.
"I knew he was good, but not this good" Ron muttered to Hermione, who could only nod in agreement "I'm glad it's not me up there, I wouldn't have stood a chance" he added as an afterthought.
They continued watching their best friend duel against the two most powerful Aurors in the entire ministry in awe, and were joined a couple of minutes later by Ginny who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, I'd say he proved his point, wouldn't you?" she asked the open mouthed couple
"Uh, I guess you could say that." Ron muttered as answer, never taking his eyes from the stage. The three opponents had been at it for a full ten minutes though, when Harry decided to begin firing his own curses at the two Aurors.
While his right hand was continuing to deflect the curses fired from his two opponents, he raised his left arm and bright flashes of blue light made their way to the pair of Aurors facing him without Harry having to say a word.
Both men rolled on the marble floor to dodge the unknown curses and within an instant were on their feet again and firing their own spells back at the boy. After about ten minutes of the constant pattern of dodging and firing curses, all present could tell that the Aurors were beginning to suffer from the strain, their reflexes slowing and their spells losing strength. This was when things took a definite turn for the worse for their young opponent though.
He had just blocked the stunning spell yet again from Wilkins when another one came from his left side, sent by one of the observing Aurors seated next to the stage. Harry turned quickly as the flash of blue light caught his eye and he deflected it with ease, and he was just turning back to face Shaw when a blood red curse no one had heard spoken hit him hard and square in the chest.
Though the incantation had not been heard by those in the hall, the instant it struck Harry, everyone knew what it had to be. He fell hard to his knees and rolled onto his side, curling his body as tight as was possible, his face and fists drawn tight as he convulsed on the ground in agony.
The observers' eyes were wide and everyone began to look frantically around the hall for the caster, but he was to be found on the stage, his wand held level and pointing directly at the boy, a look of glee on his face as he strode purposely forward.
"Well Potter, it looks as though even you can't withstand the pain Crucio" he said menacingly, coming to a halt about ten feet in front of the boy still convulsing on the stage.
Without lifting his wand, he called over his shoulder to the stunned professors and Aurors and the frightened students.
"You would do well not to interfere, because if any of you so much as tries to stop me, I will kill him" the intensity of his words convinced all present that he meant what he said, so all stood their ground, Ginny, Ron and Hermione only because their house mates were holding them back with all their effort though.
Shaw then turned all his attention back to Harry.
"Potter, answer one question for me" he said in a conversational tone
"Why don't you scream?" he asked as he finally broke the curse, looking curiously at the boy as he weakly pulled himself back to his feet and faced the man eye to eye.
"Well, answer me boy!" he demanded
"Why should I scream? To give you and those like you pleasure? Never" he said, his whispered words hoarse and rasping.
His defiance only furthered to anger Shaw who growled before bellowing "Crucio" at the top of his lungs, aiming for the boy again.
This time around though, Harry was prepared and he raised his arm, but this time he didn't divert the curse to the ceiling or far walls, instead, it was repelled off his out stretched hand and sent hurtling right back at Shaw, who, in his shock dove to the side and narrowly missed being struck, but as he fell, Harry raised his other arm and the mans wand came sailing into his right hand.
He quickly got back to his feet and glared at Harry.
"I now understand why my master tried to kill you when you were an infant Potter, but you can't keep defying your destiny, you will die at the hands of a dark wizard, and I intend for you to die at my hands today and even if you defeat me, another will succeed where I have failed. You can't hide from fate forever, all it takes is one curse and you will be destroyed" while he was giving his speech, he approached Harry until he was mere inches from the boy, who still refused to look away. "Your time is coming Potter, sooner than you may think" was his final growled threat before jumping on the boy, sending them both to the ground in a heap of black and blue robes.
Harry couldn't believe that he had allowed his concentration to slip onto Wilkins when he knew it was Shaw that posed the threat. When he had first set eyes on the man, his instincts told him that he was a follower of Voldemort, and he had decided immediately not to let him leave the castle as a free man. He had focused all his energies during the previous duels planning out how exactly he could convince the man to fight him, and thankfully he had been successful.
If there was one thing his imprisonment had taught him, it was the power to manipulate others through ones words, all in all, that was a good lesson to have learned.
When he felt the larger man hit him, he was unable to prevent the momentum from driving him into the ground with the other man straddling his frame and pinning him to the floor of the stage completely immobile.
He was unable to lift either of his arms to banish the man to allow him to get to his feet and he was becoming frustrated. He may be able to do magic without a wand, but he needed his arms to channel his power, and with both pinned at his sides, that was impossible and he was defenseless for what would happen next. He had taken Shaw's wand, but he hadn't counted on him having more than just the slender piece of wood as a weapon until he caught a glimpse of silver in the mans hand.
His eyes were wide and he was unable to suppress a scream as he felt the weapon penetrate his side between his two lowest ribs. The man above him was giving him a maniacal smirk as he looked into the boys pain filled eyes.
"Well, what an irony, the great Harry Potter defeated by muggle means, who would have though it could be this easy?" he whispered into his opponents ear, so quiet that no one else could hear him, and judging by the confused whispering, no one else had seen the blade besides himself and were wondering what would cause him to cry out in such pain.
The older man made the next mistake though by rising to his feet, already sure of his victory and turning his back to Harry to speak to the congregation of students, professors, and Aurors.
Ignoring what he was saying, Harry forced the black areas that were beginning to dim his vision away and raised a shaky hand at the mans back, sending him crashing to the ground stunned. Harry then got to his feet and stood over the man as he revived him, the hilt of the blade concealed within the folds of his black robes.
'Kill him'
The voice was back and stronger and more tempting than ever before and slowly, Harry raised his right hand and held it over the prone mans body.