Here's another chapter. I have one more to go! And my exams are nearly over! Yay!
And a disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter related material!
HARRY
POTTER
AND THE STAFF OF VIGOR
~ ~ !!! ~ ~
CHAPTER 17: LOSS DOES NOT MAKE ONE STRONGER
"Bloody hell!" Harry ran over to her and pulled her up against him. Her eyes looked up at him blankly and Harry felt a lump in his throat.
He dropped her body roughly and was about to stand when he saw her breathing slowly. He quickly sank back down beside her.
"Thank god," He muttered, pointing his wand at her chest, "Innervate!"
"Harry," Ellanora frowned and sat up quickly, "Oh! Where are they...where's Ron?"
"He attacked me," Harry explained, "I had to stun him. But he's all right. He's behind some rocks where he can't be seen. Come on, you have to get out of here."
Ellanora nodded, "I didn't imagine it being this bad...where are you going?"
"I have to fight Voldemort," He noted her shocked expression and added hastily, "You don't understand. Only I can kill him. I have to."
"Then I'm staying." She said firmly standing up. Harry didn't have time to argue. He nodded at her and gave her hand a squeeze before leaving her. He stopped a few meters away and frowned, gazing around the clearing. Too much was happening. Snape was here, Malfoy was fighting Deatheaters, Ron was evil and unconscious, Ellanora had nearly been dead and Voldemort was fighting Dumbledore.
Hang on.
Voldemort was fighting Dumbledore?
That wasn't right. Harry didn't like it but the prophecy said he was supposed to be fighting Voldemort. The Headmaster could get killed and Harry didn't want anyone to die, especially after his scare with Ellanora. He took a moment to cast her a glance, she was fine. She had found Malfoy and they were both battling against some Deatheaters. Harry shivered.
There were so many Deatheaters. He didn't have a clue where they had come from. At first there had been barely twenty or so and now, even with the ones that had been stunned, the amount had shot up to nearly thirty. Harry glanced over at the crowd of Deatheaters again and realised now why there were so many and why he had shivered. They weren't all Deatheaters. Some were Dementors.
He shook his head and his attention snapped back to Voldemort. He had to kill him. There was to be no more delaying, tonight was going to be the night that Tom Riddle, murderer and evilest Wizard of all time, would die.
Harry ran over to Dumbledore and Voldemort who had stopped shooting spells at each other and were instead having a heated feud.
"Even you should have known power such as this should not have been tampered with!" Dumbledore yelled. Voldemort sneered.
"Only a senile old man would shroud to such power," Voldemort's eyes flickered over to Harry, "Or a stupid little boy!"
"Harry..." Dumbledore turned from Voldemort to his student in concern, an action he should have thought through more thoroughly.
"Stupefy!"
"Professor!" Harry exclaimed as his Headmaster collapsed on the ground. He made to go over to the body but Voldemort's cold voice froze him.
"It's just you and me now Harry. Leave the old man. It's just you and me." Voldemort told him icily. Harry glared at the thing in front of him. The remnants of a man driven from normality by his need for power.
"Tonight you're going to die," Harry said slowly, "You've hurt too many people this time. You hurt to many people last time. It has to finish."
"Too right you are. Not about me dying but about this finishing," Voldemort's eyes narrowed so that they became tiny slits, "I have waited too long and I have worked too hard to let you stop me. You have escaped me too often and because of you I have been forced to hide like some...some hunted animal."
"You are an animal." Harry muttered.
"Maybe," Voldemort paused, "We are all animals Potter. We kill each other to climb a ladder of power. That is all life is."
"No it isn't. Life is about being as good as..." He trailed off as Voldemort began to laugh.
"Good?" Voldemort scoffed, "You show me a Wizard, Witch or even a Muggle who has never strayed to the side of...evil...in their life. You show that to me and my belief in humanity will be restored."
"I doubt it. You're too evil to ever be good!" Harry told him.
"There is no such thing as good and evil. Merely weak and strong! You are weak! Look at your need to protect others around you! You distract yourself...so much that it makes it simple to kill you." Voldemort raised his wand.
Harry did the same, "You can try, but it's not going to happen."
Voldemort smirked.
"Give it your best shot Harry!"
The seconds passed by slowly. Harry knew what he had to do. He had to use a Forbidden Curse; the one that had killed his parents and so many others. He had never done it before but as Voldemort's arm raised in the air and his enemy's mouth opened Harry knew he would have to. It was either kill or be killed and he knew killing was the best way to go about it, for everyone.
"Avada Ked-" Voldemort began.
"Avada Kedavra!" Harry exclaimed as the rest of the spell from Voldemort's mouth echoed around the cave clearing.
It happened again, Harry groaned inwardly. The two beams of green light from both wands shot out and hit each other, causing Harry's body to convulse momentarily. Harry waited a minute for his body to float off the floor but thankfully this time he stayed grounded.
"Again?" Voldemort was also mildly surprised. Harry gritted his teeth and clutched his wand fiercely. This time he wouldn't let go and this time Voldemort would lose because Harry wasn't going to run away.
"Hope you're up to it!" Harry said with determination. Voldemort glowered.
"You are no match for me!" He snarled, leaning forward. Harry thrust his hand up, hoping to change the connection of the light from their wands but nothing happed. Significant moments passed by and still nothing happened. Voldemort was getting frustrated and Harry was getting angry.
It was a few minutes later before Harry was struck with a horrid realization. He wasn't going to be able to kill Voldemort with his wand and Voldemort wasn't going to be able to kill Harry with his. Harry was going to have to go about it the Muggle way. He was going to have to use his hands and destroy the Wizard without the aid of magic and he wasn't sure he was able to do that.
"This isn't going to work." Harry said menacingly, more to himself that his enemy. Voldemort growled.
"That is fine. I should know by now that my wand will not be able to rid this world of you. I have another source of power however." Voldemort lowered his wand and Harry's arm dropped to his side. Harry felt his legs give way as he sank to his knees, exhausted from the tiring ordeal. Voldemort turned his back to Harry and picked up the Staff of Vigor. Harry had not seen it until now and as Voldemort faced him again clutching it Harry closed his eyes and struggled to get up.
"Exactly," Voldemort taunted, "You are weak. This is exactly what I mean."
"I am not." Harry muttered yet he felt exactly the contrary to what he said.
"Lie to yourself Harry, I know what you are." Voldemort informed him. Harry looked up warily.
"And what's that?"
"Helpless. Just like your parents were," Voldemort raised the Staff and paused, "To think, I'll be ending the bloodline of the Potter's forever. What a relief to the world it will be."
"I am not powerless," Harry said fiercely, gaining strength, "And neither were my parents! And neither was Cedric or Sirius or any other person you killed!"
"Feeble-minded beings!" Voldemort spat, "I will fill you with hate and greed and you will kill those you love before I kill you myself!"
"It's not going to happen." Harry stated firmly, rising to his feet. He couldn't let that happen, but as Voldemort forcibly pushed the end of the Staff into his chest Harry began to think otherwise.
"It could go the other way, I kill your friends and then kill you," Voldemort glanced over Harry's shoulder, "But it seems I won't have to go to the trouble of that!"
Harry couldn't help it. He turned around automatically and saw Ginny and Hermione enter the cave clearing. Edward hobbled in after them and laid down near the passageway. The group began to shout and the fight that was being carried out elsewhere escalated in hostility. They were all in danger and it was all because of Voldemort. He turned back to the Wizard who was sneering over at the group. His eyes glinted darkly and Harry knew that Voldemort would indefinitely try and harm his friends one way or another. He had taken Harry's family away from him and his friends were all that Harry had left. Now Voldemort was going to take them too.
"I'll make you watch too," Voldemort's attention was drawn back to Harry, "I'll kill them all in front of you, torture them until they'd wish they were dead. I'll use the Forbidden Curses and rid them of..."
"I'm telling you that you won't!" Harry snapped lunging himself at Voldemort. Voldemort has obviously unexpected the attack and his eyes widened as both he and Harry fell back to the ground.
They struggled against each other for a minute before Harry stood up triumphantly, holding the Staff of Vigor in his hands. Voldemort rose cautiously and his eyes darted from Harry's face to the Staff and back again.
"You shouldn't use that. You wouldn't know how." He warned and Harry was glad to note a slight tremor of fear in his voice. Harry raised the Staff and pointed it at Voldemort.
"It looks simple enough." He said, his face impassive.
"Wormtail!" Voldemort exclaimed. Harry heard a few yells of shock from behind him followed by a scream but he kept the Staff fixed on the dark Wizard.
"This is the end." Harry yelled raising the Staff. Yet instead of shooting it out at his enemy he brought it forcibly to the ground with as much energy as he could muster. The Staff snapped in half and Harry felt a wave of power sweep over him, nearly knocking him back. Voldemort cried out angrily.
"No!" He moaned, "Do you have any idea what you have done? Power like that can never be made again! Never!"
Harry heard footsteps from behind him and decided to turn this time, pulling out his wand as he did so. He came face to face with Voldemort's most loyal servants; Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. They pointed their wands at Harry menacingly.
"Don't you dare!" Snape's voice warned. He was crouched on the ground but his wand was fixed on the Deatheaters. Dumbledore was sitting up and gazing up at everyone dazedly but his concentration was returning fast and he too raised his wand.
"The Staff," Voldemort muttered, "He destroyed it."
"Master," Lucius pleaded, "Please tell us what to do."
Voldemort glanced up and took in the sight of numerous wands pointed at numerous people.
"Master..." Bellatrix pleaded, urgency evident in her voice. Voldemort sighed and glared at Harry.
"There will be a next time Harry," He warned, "A time when I will catch you alone without the protection of older and more powerful Wizards and I will destroy not only you but everything important to you."
Harry raised his head defiantly; "Just you try."
"Bella, Lucius, Wormtail," Voldemort eyed Dumbledore and Snape's wands warily, "Come, quickly."
With a series of popping sounds all four Disapparated from sight. Harry let out a relieved breath. He could wait a while now before facing Voldemort again and until that time came he would let the dark Wizard dwell in his mind as little as possible.
He hurried over to Dumbledore who was being helped to his feet by Snape.
"Professor are you alright?" Harry asked worriedly. The Headmaster smiled a little.
"I think this old man can put up with a bit more." Dumbledore replied. Harry couldn't help but grin.
"We did it! We beat him for now! We took on everyone and no one got hurt." Harry told him. His grin disappeared as Dumbledore shook his head gravely.
"We were not so fortunate. Your friend..." He began.
"Oh Ron," Harry shook his head, "He's alright Sir! I stunned him but he'll be fine." Harry frowned.
"Yes Harry he will be. The Staff is destroyed and its power ceases to have affect. But I am not talking about Mister Weasley." Dumbledore directed his gaze over to Harry's friends. Harry's breath caught in his throat and without a second glance at his teachers he made his way over to his friends.
"What happened?" He yelled, "What happened? Whose hurt?"
He did a head count and his heart started beating rapidly when he noticed Ellanora was missing. She couldn't be dead, he thought frantically, he thought she was before and she wasn't. She just couldn't be.
"Potter," Malfoy turned and stopped him from colliding into them, "We couldn't stop it."
Hermione glanced up at him as he approached them more slowly. She had tears trailing down her cheeks.
"It's not fair." A voice muttered. Harry's heart began to beat even faster when he recognized the voice.
"Ella?" He frowned and stepped into the group. She was standing up and staring at the ground and didn't seem to hear him.
"What happened? Are you alright?" He walked over to her blocking everything out. She continued to stare at the ground, her expression stony.
"Ella?" Ron appeared at her side and Harry thought he saw Ron's eyes evidently moistened in the faded light of the cave, and despite the situation mentally noted to himself that his stunning spells were not very strong. Harry turned and looked at where Ellanora was gazing and his heart stopped beating altogether. He stopped breathing. He couldn't move. He was frozen and all he could do was stare.
Edward was lying on the ground and Harry could tell that he wasn't stunned. He hadn't been hexed to look still and his eyes were wide and blank and he was sprawled out in such a manner that Harry knew he was dead.
* * * *
Harry finally drew his eyes away from the body and turned to Ellanora. She wasn't blinking and was as still as a statue. Harry opened his mouth to speak but he didn't know what to say. He didn't have anything to say.
Ellanora dropped to the ground and picked up he brother, pulling him to her.
"Edward," She said softly, "Come on Eddie. Wake up. We're finished now. We can go home. Come on Eddie...come on, wake up."
Harry's eyes became hot as Ellanora began to get more frantic.
"Eddie! Come on! Wake up! Get up!" Her voice trembled and she was breathing heavily.
"Ella..." Harry knelt down beside her. She looked up at him and her grip tightened on her brother as tears began pouring down her face.
"Harry! He...he jumped in front of me...that...the Deatheater was aiming at me and he...he jumped in..." She began to sob, "He won't wake up Harry."
"I'm so sorry Ella." Harry said softly. She shook her head and her hands began to trail under her brother's arms.
"Usually he...he wakes up when I tickle him...but he's not...he's not moving...Eddie!" She picked Edward up further from the ground and enveloped him in a hug.
"Ella he's not alive." Ginny whispered. She was crying quietly and her voice was full of complete and utter remorse. Ellanora looked shocked.
"He's not! He can't be!" She looked down at Edward and began to rock him back and forth, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you. Do you understand? I love you more than anything! Please...please come back...please don't...don't....don't leave me..."
Harry and the rest of the group remained quiet as Ellanora cradled Edward further and stood by helplessly as she begged them to help her wake him up. Dumbledore and Snape joined them and they were also silent. Dumbledore seemed to age significantly as he watched the girl while Snape's face remained impassive even though his eyes were full of anguish.
It was nearly half an hour later when Dumbledore stepped closer to Ellanora and addressed her quietly.
"Miss Egon...Ellanora...come on...we have to leave." He said as gently as he could. Ellanora shook her head furiously and wrapped her arms as tightly as possible around Edward's body. She gazed up at Harry and continued to cry.
"Harry! Please help me bring him back. Please help me...he's all I've got...please Harry, please..." She pleaded. The hotness returned to Harry's eyes as he edged towards her.
"Ella...I'm sorry I can't," He whispered reaching out to her, "Come on. We have to leave."
Ellanora wouldn't move and again shook her head.
"You can't make me! I need him! Edward! Ed...E..." She began to sob so strongly that it was hard to understand her, "Please Harry, help him."
Harry put him arms around her and gently pulled her into him. She gradually let go of her brother and wrapped her arms back around him, crying into his shoulder. Harry remember how she had told him that she thought it was weak to cry and how he thought the same, but at that moment as memories of his parents, Cedric Diggory and Sirius came floating back into his head he didn't think he cared whether or not he showed he was weak. His eyes traveled to Edward's body and his hand went up to rub Ellanora's back soothingly as tears willingly slid down his face in a release of emotion that had been a long time coming. He cried silently with her a little while longer before Dumbledore gravely persuaded them to leave.
* * * *
Harry walked beside Ellanora as they exited the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore had another Portkey that returned them to Hogwarts grounds minimally into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
Ron was on the other side of Ellanora and speaking to her comfortingly. He was clasping Hermione's hand tightly and she was leaning into him, tears still glistening in her eyes. Ginny and Malfoy were also walking near them while Snape was ahead and Dumbledore trailed slowly behind.
"There's the castle." Ron muttered as the building came into sight. Hermione sighed.
"I...I never thought I'd be so glad to see it." She said shakily. Ron's grip tightened on her.
"I never, ever want to go through something like that again," Ginny whispered, "People our age shouldn't have to. I'm reporting this to the Ministry of Magic."
Malfoy sighed a little, "I'll assist you with that one."
They began to talk a little more, feeling safer because of the close proximity of where they were compared to the castle. Yet Harry remained quiet, as did Ellanora. He wanted to reach out and hug her again but she shifted away if someone touched her and her gaze remained fixated on the ground.
"Alright," Snape turned towards them, "I suggest we go to the Hospital Wing first and then you all retire to your dormitories. I cannot imagine how exhausted you must all be. Is that alright Professor?"
Dumbledore walked up to front of the group and his eyes traveled from sullen face to sullen face.
"Yes," He nodded, "You have all been wonderful and I cannot possibly ask anything more of you."
The students mutely nodded and began making their way up to the castle. Ellanora didn't move and was gazing up at the castle worriedly. Snape followed the rest of the students while Harry and Dumbledore waited for her.
"Can I wait here for a while Professor?" Ellanora mumbled. Dumbledore paused for a moment.
"Certainly Ellanora. Whatever you wish," He leant towards her, "I cannot imagine what is must feel like to sacrifice what you did tonight but I want you to know that you are an incredibly brave and beautiful person."
Ellanora nodded meekly and Dumbledore turned to Harry, raising an eyebrow. Harry opened his mouth to ask if he could stay and wait with her but Dumbledore nodded curtly before Harry spoke a single word and turned and walked up to the castle, his back hunched and his expression hollow.
Harry looked after their Headmaster sadly before focusing his attention on Ellanora who was back to staring at the ground.
"When do you want to go back up?" He asked her quietly. She glanced up at him and he saw tears in her eyes again.
"I don't want to...to back up there tonight. I don't want to be near anyone and I don't want the memories of anything," She paused, "Is there somewhere else I can go?"
Harry shook his head, "I don't think so."
"I don't care where, as long as it's safe and away from everything." She told him. Harry's eyes lit up a little.
"There is one place." He told her. She stared after him blankly as he made his way over to the Whomping Willow but followed him nonetheless.
Harry reached the base of the tree and picked up a long stick. It took a little while for him to spot the knob that would open the secret door to the tree because he hadn't used it in so long, but he found it eventually. He pushed it in with the stick and the Whomping Willow stopped moving as a hole appeared at its base.
"He was right," Ellanora said quietly thinking of her brother, "There was a passageway."
"Yeah." Harry examined her for a moment before urging her inside. They crawled down the passageway before coming to the entrance that led into the Shrieking Shack.
"Where is this place?" Ellanora wondered. Harry smiled a little.
"It's the Shrieking Shack, no one really knows about it," He paused for a moment, "You'll be safe here. No one will know where you are."
She nodded, "And where can I..."
"Oh," Harry walked forward and pushed open a door revealing a bed, "You can sleep there if you want to spend the night. It's a little dirty but there's probably a spell that will clean it up or...something..."
Ellanora had raised her wand and muttered, "Elutriate."
The dusty, damp smell of the room disappeared and it smelt and looked almost homey. Harry was impressed and pointed to the bed.
"Um, you can...can sleep there. It's probably not that warm and stuff...but it's away from everything," His eyes watched her as she went and sat on the end of the bed, "And everyone...Ella?"
"Yeah?" She looked up at him. He made to move towards her but stopped himself and sighed.
"I'm really...really sorry about-" He began.
"I don't want to hear that you're sorry Harry. It's no ones fault but my own." She lowered her eyes. Harry frowned and walked over to the bed to kneel down beside her so they were eye level.
"Don't say that. It's not and don't you dare think that it is." He told her firmly. She scanned his face for a moment and shrugged.
"Okay then," He stood up, "I'll leave you alone and come back tomorrow."
He turned to walk away but stopped when he felt her grab his hand.
"Don't...don't go Harry. Can you stay with me tonight? Please?" She looked up at him hopefully and Harry pulled a face.
"Oh course I will."
He let her lead him over to the bed where she climbed in under the covers and let him go. He hopped on top and turned to face her so they were looking at each other.
"Edward was a good kid." Harry said softly. Ellanora closed her eyes and sighed.
"I know. I love him." She opened them and tears began to run down her face again. Harry wanted to reach up and wipe them away and he didn't hesitate this time and did just that. He went to remove his hand but Ellanora put her own hand on top of his.
"Night Harry." She whispered.
"Night."
He watched her fall asleep with a strange feeling. He couldn't explain it at first but eventually it struck him as love. He would never let anything happen to her or let her get hurt again and he knew he'd not only never felt this way about a girl before but also that he would never feel this way about a girl again.
Her breathing slowed and Harry's stomach felt heavy as he continued to gaze at her. She mumbled her brother's name in her sleep and Harry shifted over to her and put his arm around her, drawing her close, before he too drifted off into a restless sleep.
For once, he didn't dream about the cave and instead dreamt about a blue-haired boy who had saved his sister from death and ultimately been passed the punishment instead. Harry knew he would always be grateful to Edward for that.