Disclaimer: I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!

-Chapter Twenty-Two-

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When Harry woke up he found himself looking at the ceiling in Hagrid's cabin. A heavy object on his chest indicated that Fang was resting his head there, and he could hear Hagrid himself over by the fireplace.

"What happened?" he asked and tried to pry Fang off of himself.

Hagrid looked up. "Found ye lyin' by the edge of the Forest two hour's ago. Now, what were ye tryin' ter do in the Forest at this time of the night? Ye didn't go and seek out the Ammon Nuru, now, did ye?"

Harry opened his mouth to tell Hagrid that that was exactly what he'd done, and found himself unable to say anything else but: "No, I didn't. I thought I saw a Death Eater."

"But what were ye thinkin'? Ye couldn' take on one of them; ye should 'ave gone and got a teacher, 'Arry."

"I know that," Harry replied acting shameful. 'Damn that Nuru for cursing me.'

'Well, I for one think it's for the best. What if you really had told Hagrid about him? You know he would've gone out at once to search for it,' the voice replied. 'And I warned you that this might happen, did I not?'

'Yes you did.' The Gryffindor sighed and gladly took the cup of tea the half-giant offered him. 'But I can't say it was a total loss. We got to know about the Royal Eagles and Excalibur.'

'Yes, and nearly got killed in the process, but that's another thing.' The voice muttered sarcastically.

Harry suddenly realised that Hagrid had been talking. "... an' I dunno if I'm goin' ter report ye Harry. But Death Eaters on Hogwarts grounds? Tha'tis bad, really bad. I reckon Dumbledore won' like these news. Of course we 'ave to tell 'im, waddya think? But please 'Arry, please promise me not ter to summat like tha' again." Black, shining eyes stared at him. "Thought I'd lost ye, when I saw ye lyin' there." Hagrid sniffed.

Harry's heart went out to the half-giant and he stood up, walked over to Hagrid and hugged him. Hagrid gladly hugged back and sobbed onto Harry's shoulder.

"Hagrid, I promise you, you won't get rid of me that easily. It takes more than one Death Eater to do me in."

'No, it takes two squadrons of them, and even that's not enough.'

'Shut up for once, this is a very dramatic moment.'

"I... I believe yeh, 'Arry." Hagrid straightened. "Oi, look at what I did ter ye shirt!" he quickly found a handkerchief and started to rub on the wet spot.

"It's alright Hagrid, I'll do it this way." Harry took out his wand and waved it. A second later his shirt was just as it had been before Hagrid got all emotional. "There, that's better. How much is the clock?"

"Five in the mornin'."

"I better head back then; no need for the others to wake up and find my bed empty and worry when I'm totally alright." Harry pulled his cloak around his shoulders and walked to the door.

"Yeah, I'll see ye in class, an' come an' visit me soon." Hagrid sniffed once again.

"Of course I will, and Hagrid," the half-giant looked up. "Thank you." Harry whispered before closing the door after himself. It had been a long time since he'd have to rely on someone like that, and the words felt weird rolling off his tongue. 'Whatever happened to Terry Boot?' he asked the voice.

'He was taken to the Ministry, questioned under Veritaserum and released an hour after he got there.' The voice replied. 'Fudge didn't believe that Voldemort is back, and sent the boy home saying he had had a nasty shock. I don't think Boot's going to return to Hogwarts any time soon.'

'Neither do I. Damn that Cornelius Fudge!'

'My thoughts exactly.'

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Harry stood on the top of the Astronomy Tower. It was a clear night and the thin, new moon rose behind him and the countless stars twinkled overhead. He was watching the magnificent creature come closer and closer.

The Royal Eagle was huge, with an 18 feet wingspan that said something. The golden feathers shone in a ghostly light in under the pale moon, the beak was pure silver as were the claws. Black, intelligent eyes watched him warily as the Eagle landed on the tower.

//Hello.// Harry said and bowed.

The Eagle bowed back. //Hello to you too, young one. The Ammon Nuru has told me everything and has asked me to take you to Avalon.//

//How will we get there?// the green-eyed young man asked.

//Sit on my back,// the Eagle turned and Harry crawled up on the broad, warm back, careful not to break any feathers. //Hang on!// and with that they were in the air.

Neither of them noticed the group of black-clad people at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

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Flying with a Royal Eagle was completely different from flying with a broomstick, even with a griffin it had been different. The Eagle's flight was so smooth that Harry nearly fell asleep on its back, luckily the voice kept him awake singing horribly off-key.

By the time they were over flying over London Harry knew that he preferred to be flying with a griffin. At least they talked more. The Eagle was silent as the grave.

//Get ready young one, we're nearing Avalon,// the Eagle said after hours of silent flight.

//Where is it?// Harry asked and looked around. He spotted an island coming up in front of them, looking like a dark cloud in the horizon.

//Straight ahead. You humans would call it Oronsay. It has been disguised by Merlin himself to look like a normal island. And Camelot has been hidden as well.//

//Oh.//

'Intelligent answer Harry.' The voice spoke up.

'Shut up, and may I recommend you take singing lessons?' Harry replied as the Eagle landed on a rock and he slid down. //Which way is Camelot?//

The Royal Eagle pointed with his wing. //That way. Be careful young one.// With a sharp cry the Eagle took flight and was gone.

Harry shook his head and started to walk the way the Eagle had pointed. It didn't take him long to reach his destination. A ruined wall appeared, and beyond it he found several others. There was a certain magical aura to the place, and Harry didn't want to break the peace and anger the spirits that might be resting there.

'Where to?' he asked the voice as he looked around. You'd expect the walls that still stood to be overgrown with moss and climbers, but there was nothing. There was even hardly any grass growing at the base of the walls.

'Search for the sign.' The voice replied.

'The sign?'

'That's what I said; the sign is different from person to person, so I can't help you with that. Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it.'

'I hope you're right.' Harry said and started to look around. A flash out f the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned. A stone in one wall was glowing and in the stone there was a carving of a hand. He went over to it and examined it. The hand looked just like his own did, and he sighed. 'How much more cliché can it get?' he thought as he put his hand into the carving.

Nothing happened.

He waited for a while, but still nothing happened.

Harry turned disappointed and was about to head back to the place where the Eagle had dropped him off. However, he didn't get far. Strong arms gripped him, and another pair took his wand from him.

"So, Mr Potter, we meet again." Voldemorts red eyes shone with delight. "And here I was spending my time planning to lure you out of Hogwarts, when you do the job from me. And so far away from people, Potter; you picked the perfect place to die."

Harry remained silent and just glared. He had noticed something happening behind the group of Death Eaters. A dark green light had appeared, it was so dark it nearly went as one with the night. Slowly a magnificent sword appeared in the light and hovered a few feet off the ground. A plan formed in his mind.

"Any last words Potter?" Voldemort asked.

"Lets kill him right now, My Lord," the Death Eater holding him said, grinning.

"For once I am going to go along with your wishes, Rookwood. Hold him still, I'm going to do this the old way." The Dark Lord rolled up his sleeves and drew a knife from his robes. It was the same one they had used on Harry in the Third Task two years ago. "Expose his throat."

Rookwood roughly yanked Harry's head back by his hair. Harry hissed in pain.

'You know, if you want to survive this you really should attack now.' The voice advised nervously.

'One of your better ideas.' Harry replied. Suddenly he went limp and Rookwood had to catch him. He could hear the Death Eater spitting and cursing enough to make a company of sailors blush.

Just as the man was leaning over him to yank his head back again, Harry kicked him straight in the face. Then he used the speed he had gotten from Arana the time she had given him her blood, and ran between the confused Death Eaters.

"After him you idiots! Don't let him get away!" Voldemort yelled.

"Stupefy!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

However, Harry ducked all the curses that came his way, thanking all the gods that had ever existed and would exist for his leyrie blood.

"NO! Don't let him get to the sword, you idiots! That's Excalibur!" Voldemort shouted once he realised what Harry was heading for, and the rain of curses and hexes was doubled. "Accio sword!" the Dark Lords voice boomed over the others, but it was too late.

Harry had put on a last burst of speed, and reached Excalibur seconds before Riddles charm. His hands wrapped around the handle - it was long enough to hold with both hands - and he felt a jolt of power run through him. It nearly knocked him back, but Harry hung on. He drew the sword from its scabbard with a practised grip and held it up in the moonlight.

Excalibur lit up. A green fire surrounded it, lighting up the whole place. Harry could feel the incredible power that ran through him. None of the Death Eaters - not even Voldemort himself - dared to say anything.

'Harry! Snap out of it!' the voice yelled. 'You can drool over the sword afterward, right now use it to defeat the Death Eaters and give Voldemort a beating he won't soon forget.'

Harry smirked and opened his eyes. They were the same colour as the fire that surrounded the sword, and the Death Eaters retreated a few steps. They all knew they were in trouble, and all of them began shaking when Harry raised the sword.

"Say bye, bye boys." The Gryffindor said and brought the sword down. There was a flash of green light and every Death Eater was lying unconscious on the ground. Voldemort himself looked at his defeated followers, then up at Harry and sneered.

"Once again Potter, I seem to have underestimated you," the Dark Lord said. "But mark my words, next time you won't be so lucky." Before Harry could do anything Voldemort raised his wand and yelled: "Avada Kedavra!"

The spell was meant more like a distraction, but Harry ducked nevertheless. You never knew when Voldemort was involved in something.

The Dark Lord himself had chosen this moment to apparate away with a quick pop, leaving Harry alone with ten unconscious Death Eaters, and a glowing sword.

'So, what are you planning to do with Excalibur and these lazy idiots?' the voice asked.

'Excalibur's time has yet to come,' Harry replied and sheathed the sword. 'Until then we need to hide it somewhere safe. The Death Eaters on the other hand...' he grinned.

'Ooooooo, this is going to be fun! I just love it when you grin like that!' the voice exclaimed and Harry laughed.

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Harry smiled and exited the bathroom. Excalibur would be safe.

'Explain to me once again why in heavens name you hid the most powerful sword of our times in the Chamber of Secrets?' the voice asked.

'One: because only I and Voldemort can get down there; and two: Hogwarts is the safest place on earth, and the chances of Voldemort reaching Myrtle's bathroom is zero to none.'

'Zero and none is the same thing Harry.'

'Exactly.'

'Ah, smart. And those Death Eaters?'

'I think Snape is having fun right now.' Came the reply and Harry's eyes twinkled as he headed off to Gryffindor Tower.

Down in the dungeons a pissed off Potion Master was woken up when an enormous screeching was heard from his living room. Grumbling and cursing he stood up and walked into the other room. There he found a letter hovering in the air by the bedroom door.

'Dearest Snape,

I hope you and the RAV will enjoy my little... present to you. I even gift- wrapped them. Aren't they cute?

Rex Chase'

Severus looked up and couldn't help but grin. Ten Death Eaters lied unconscious on the floor bound together with one big, red, glittering bow.

'Chase you devil.'

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That's it people. Next chapter will be the last.

Thanks to:

myrhfire, CatatonicReaction, Naia, WolfMoon, insanechildfanfic, Witchmaster, gaul1, Janice, Korinna Myorin, chaser1, BratPrincess-187, Confuzzler, Hitokiri Battousai, Arizosa, neha, Dragon Tamer47, JerseyGirl03, SSSRoaB, A-man, slate07, WeasleyTwinsLover1112, water drifter and bogdan-ag.

A special thanks to zimagesto who dedicated her 'Green Flame Torch' story to me. Check it out, it's pretty cool!

And check out the new story from jess0007, 'Saga Side Story: The Disappearance'. It's a multi-chapter story. Tell her what you think.