Chapter 16: Betrayed

The months following the completion of the house seemed to pass by in a whirl for Harry. He spent most of his time with Dumbledore in his apprentice studies, or researching. The time that he didn't spend learning, he spent teaching. The reply that he had received via Tronza turned out to be not from Ron, but from Hermione. She had apparently spent some time researching the laptops and enchantments Harry had used, and then had come up with a combination of spells that would allow for easier communications between the four of them. Harry immediately followed the steps Hermione had laid out on how to add himself to the 'Magicnet,' as she called it. So now they all spent every evening logged on and learning from Harry, who even went so far as to create a (very) mediocre variation on a website, to help them visualise some of the concepts that he was explaining. They didn't just spend all of their online time learning, however. Due to Fudge's restrictions on contact with Harry, they would also spend a good amount of time talking. Or rather, Hermione and Harry would type, while Ron and Ginny would narrate what they wanted Hermione to type for them, as they were from a pureblood wizarding family, and weren't as familiar with the layout of the keyboard as Hermione was.

Lessons with Dumbledore were upped a notch, as Dumbledore had worded it, once they got back into their routine following the completion of the house – especially now that Harry had a new (and more powerful) magical focus at his disposal. They now followed this schedule: in the mornings before breakfast, Harry would get all of his physical exercises out of the way, while Dumbledore prepared the duelling arena to simulate different situations, from a forest to a full-scale battlefield. After the exercise, Harry would clean up while Dumbledore cooked or prepared breakfast; and then they would both have a mock duel in which Harry would hone his skills, using both wandless (or rather focusless) magic and focus magic. After the duel, the two would sit down and watch a replay of it, thanks to a magically-improved camera on Harry's laptop that would follow the targets and always keep them in its sight. During the replay of the duel, Dumbledore would comment on certain areas that Harry needed to improve upon, or that he had already shown improvement in; and then they would discuss what Harry could have done differently, especially regarding "thinking outside the box."

After their duel and discussion session, they would both have a light lunch, and then turn their attention to one of Harry's many research projects; but they usually ended up going back to the Multimagus form, as it was nearing completion. Already they had added another ability to Harry's growing list. It was Dumbledore's idea, actually. He had thought of it one night after reading Harry's research into wandless magic, and he broached the subject during one of their research sessions. The ability and procedure to attain it were remarkably simple, and even Dumbledore was able to achieve it. It was simply the creation of a magic channel-pool in the left hand and halfway up the arm, but not attached to their core – save for the tiniest of strands that allowed only small spurts of magic to pass. This technique let them draw free magic from the environment into the channel-pool, and either mould it or release it harmlessly – meaning that any curse that was fired at them, whether from a weak, medium or moderately powerful wizard, could be absorbed, moulded with a small burst of magic, and then either thrown back or released.

After the research session, Dumbledore tutored Harry, drawing on his vast knowledge of the wizarding world. These lessons included spells, and similar magical knowledge. Some of this effort was redundant, because Harry already knew a vast amount of spells, and had gained great proficiency in spell creation and modification to deal with the escalating war. However, Dumbledore impressed upon Harry the importance of such knowledge for later on after the war, when the wizarding world would need to rebuild itself. (Dumbledore insisted that he would be the one that they would look to, to lead that effort.) So they spent a few hours each evening before dinner discussing different magic, laws, social standings, etc.

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"Why the long face?" Dumbledore asked on Sunday at dinner. (Sunday was a day off for Harry, so he spent much time talking to his friends.)

"I've been talking to the others a lot lately, particularly Ginny; and she has been saying that Dean Thomas seems a little off, not acting like himself. So I was wondering if he could have been put under the Imperius Curse by a Death Eater. Maybe they're hoping that his involvement with Ginny would make him privy to our whereabouts, and the situation at Hogwarts. What do you think?" Harry asked the ex-headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Hmmm, this is a difficult question. Indeed, your suspicions might prove correct; though I am hesitant to assume it, since your close friends were recently discovered to be acting under the same curse," Dumbledore said in his "researcher mode," as Harry called it.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked the aged sorcerer.

"Perhaps it is merely a case of jealousy?" Dumbledore ventured.

"I don't know; why would he change his whole personality if he was only jealous?" Harry said, asking himself as much as the ex-headmaster.

"Hormones motivate teens to do many strange things; it is the one subject that I don't even attempt to understand," Dumbledore said, as he switched back to senile mode.

"Well I still don't trust him. I think I'll tell the others to keep the whole laptop thing a secret, at least for the time being," Harry said.

Later that evening, when he had logged on at the pre-arranged time with the others, he recounted his conversation with Dumbledore to them, and asked them if they could keep everything they discussed to themselves.

Harry: Hey guys, I was just talking to Dumbledore about something that has bothered me for a few days.

Hermione: What is it, Harry?

Harry: Well, you know what Ginny has said about Dean. I got to thinking that maybe he could have been placed under the Imperius Curse, like you and Ron were. But Dumbledore seems to think that the Death Eaters wouldn't try something like that again, so soon after their last attempt. He just puts Dean's behaviour down to jealousy over something or other, but I don't agree. So could you guys keep what goes on here a secret, at least for a while?

The response was a long time in coming after Harry had sent his last message, and he was getting a bad feeling about it.

Hermione: Sorry, Harry, but Ginny says that they had a big argument last night, and it ended in her telling him what's been taking up her time, about talking to you and all of the spells and such. But I don't think he knows where you are.

Harry: Well, that complicates the situation, but it could be worse. At least only you four know where we are.

Hermione: Actually, Seamus found out. Ron accidentally let it slip, but we swore him to secrecy.

Harry: Okay, but please, please, no more slip-ups.

After that, the conversation turned to a lighter note, as it usually did; and by bedtime, the fact that his location had been leaked was firmly out of his mind, and he got some restful slumber.

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"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry bellowed, lifting a large rock over Dumbledore's head, who was recovering from a blinding spell Harry had cast, in retaliation for the summoning and banishing Dumbledore had repeatedly subjected him to for ten minutes.

"Reducto!" Dumbledore shouted, pointing his wand at the rock.

"Accio!" Harry shouted at the debris, and then banished it towards Dumbledore. He held his left hand away from his body and drew some of the magic from the spell, as he had been doing for the last few spells that had been exchanged. The residual magic from the summoning spell seemed to have provided enough power for Harry. Dumbledore banished the debris away himself, but he wasn't prepared for the magic bomb Harry had created being hurled at his head. There was no way to block such magic in time, so Dumbledore had no choice but to dodge, effectively running into a stunning spell. Harry finished it with a summoning spell to catch his wand, and then a full body bind and freezing charm just for extra measure.

Harry tensely walked over to the prone form of his mentor to inspect him. The last time he had seemingly won, he had let his victory distract him, and failed to notice that Dumbledore had managed to overcome the stunning spell, thus losing the duel himself.

Doing a quick scan with his wand, he found that Dumbledore was indeed out for the count; and then he spent the next five minutes basking in his victory before remembering to revive the ex- headmaster.

"Very well done, Harry! You performed admirably; I must say I wasn't expecting the magic bomb."

"I was counting on that, sir," Harry said with a large grin plastered on his face.

"It seems that you are almost ready, my boy," Dumbledore said with grim satisfaction.

"It doesn't feel like it, though. I mean, how can I kill him, when he is probably immortal by now?" Harry asked, showing his doubt for the first time.

"There will be a way, Harry. The prophecy says that he will be killed by your hand. And when that happens, or heaven forbid he kills you, then he will either be as mortal and dead as can be, or he then truly will be immortal – unless another seer prophesizes another champion," Dumbledore said.

"I'm glad you have faith in my abilities; but I really don't see how we are going to get through this. We still have no way to find out how far along he or Malfoy are with their immortal aspirations," Harry said grimly.

"I very much doubt that Malfoy will become immortal; Tom would reserve the right only for himself," Dumbledore corrected, and then added, "Harry you have a lot going for you: Elemental, wandless, mind-reading, a crystilite focus, two animagus forms," Dumbledore listed, before he was cut off by Harry.

"I only have one at the moment, we have yet to test the other; and until we get some more magic replenishing potions, I'm not trying it. And I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage," Harry said.

"Not to worry; you will have the greater advantage of surprise. There are more ways than the killing curse to kill someone in the wizard and muggle world, you know," said Dumbledore.

Harry sighed in resignation. No matter how much he tried to fight it, he had a destiny laid out for him, and a path to follow.

"I …" Harry was just about to say something to Dumbledore when there was an enormous explosion coming from the outskirts on the other side of the village. Harry glanced quickly at Dumbledore, who nodded his head, and they both disappeared with two small 'pops.'

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As they arrived at the scene of the explosion, they found the inn they had earlier been staying at aflame, with the Dark Mark hovering over it, and Death Eaters chasing after the panicking villagers. Beyond the Death Eaters, Harry could see a small contingent of Voldemort's Dead Army, surrounding a cloaked figure that was undoubtedly Malfoy.

"Where do you think Riddle is?" Harry asked over the noise, as he and Dumbledore made their way over to a large group of Death Eaters attacking a small group of villagers.

"He should be here; the only excuse for him not being here would be…" Dumbledore trailed off.

"Another attack!" Harry exclaimed. Seeing Dumbledore's confirmation of his theory, Harry joined the battle with vigour. He blasted the group of Death Eaters away, after summoning the power of their loose curses, and then cast a group stunning spell on them. Meanwhile Dumbledore had decided to make a start on the Dead Army, who were now marching towards the village, with Malfoy remaining where he was.

"Reducto!" Dumbledore shouted, as he pointed his wand at the army; and then he threw a severing charm at another group with his left hand, after summoning some free magic.

"Accio!" Harry shouted at a Death Eater that was approaching a child. As the spell hit, the Death Eater was pulled back down the alley he had been cornering the child in, and was impaled on a lost bit of wood from the inn.

"So, wittle baby Potter has come out to pway!" a whiney, sickening voice said from behind him: Bellatrix Lestrange.

Turning himself around as quick as lightning, Harry hurled a Dark Arts spell at her; it burned the skin away from the area of her forearm it touched. She screamed in agony for only a few seconds before she began laughing. It all reminded Harry of that night at the ministry: he had cast the Cruciatus curse at her; she had started screaming for only a few seconds; then she had begun laughing. The trip down memory lane caused Harry to temporarily block out the events that were taking place before him. He let down his mental shield enough for his mind-reading ability to work again. It was this that saved Harry's life.

"Now's my chance," he heard Lestrange think; and just as he brought himself back to reality, he saw a green light only inches from himself. Doing the only thing that he could think of, Harry thrust his left hand into the path of the curse, and hoped against hope that she wasn't one of the most powerful witches.

Bellatrix's eyes widened in shock and horror as she saw Potter thrust his left hand into the path of the killing curse she had just fired, absorb it, and then throw it back at her. The last thing she ever saw was the grim satisfaction on Potter's face: he had finally got revenge for his godfather.

Once Harry had dealt with Lestrange, he turned his attention once again to the battlefield to see many of the Death Eaters retreating. Deciding it was better to let them go and deal with them later, Harry sought out Dumbledore, and after quickly scanning for his magical signature with his magical eyesight, he apparated over to him.

"Professor, how many have you taken out?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"About 250, but they keep on coming! It seems everything they touch withers and dies; I've had a few close calls myself," Dumbledore said.

"Then Malfoy must be controlling them; I'll go deal with him," Harry said; and before Dumbledore even opened his mouth to protest, Harry had apparated away.

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This was easier than I thought, Draco smiled to himself. The Death Eaters would destroy the inn and force Potter and Dumbledore into the open, where his master's Dead Army would take care of them. Dumbledore would be a problem, but by the time he reached Draco he would be too exhausted to put up much of a fight. His master would be pleased with him.

Just as he thought that, he noticed a large explosion in the front ranks of the Dead Army, and then a large explosion of blood. Moments later, he heard an ear-splitting shriek, followed by laughter that could only come from his aunt.

'Looks like Potter and Dumbledore are here, but they should at least be injured from the inn explosion! Unless..." Draco thought to himself, until he was cut off by the loud sound of multiple apparation 'pops.' Meanwhile several more explosions had taken place in the army, and the numbers were beginning to thin.

"What is going on?" he asked himself out loud.

"You're losing," a voice answered. Draco spun around, and was confronted with none other than the Boy-Who-Lived himself.

"So, Potter, you managed to escape the inn unharmed! No matter, you won't last long against me," he said with his usual smirk on his substantially disfigured face.

"Escape? I was never there to begin with. Though I am curious where you got your information about where I was staying," Harry answered smoothly, putting to use his more Slytherin qualities.

"That does not concern you, Potter! Now, know your place, and bow to me or die!" Malfoy sneered.

"You think you can kill me where your half-blood master has failed so many times?" Harry asked, now trying to sound cocky and over-confident.

"You liar! My master is of the most noble line of Slytherin!" Malfoy almost screamed, making Harry smirk to himself. He was getting on Malfoy's nerves and making him angry; angry people don't always think straight.

"Be that as it may, his father was not; he was but a mere muggle named Tom Riddle," Harry said in that same silky smooth voice.

"You shut your mouth and don't speak such rubbish, you muggle lover!" Draco replied, trying to regain his composure.

"Or what?" Harry asked, knowing the answer.

"Crucio!" Malfoy screamed. Again Harry stuck his left hand out – but this time not in front of the curse, only discreetly by his side, to absorb as much of it as he could. In not even a second Harry was flooded with pain; but this pain was bearable, if very irritating. Keeping his smirk in place, Harry said, "Is that it?"

"But h-how?" Malfoy stammered.

"Do you really think that you are untouchable? That you and your master are the only sorcerers alive? How arrogant of you! Though I suppose that's all we could have expected from a snotty pureblood like you," Harry said, now lowering his voice to a dangerous level.

"Impossible! You're bluffing! Our spy hasn't reported anything about that!" Draco said in a smooth voice; though his eyes, however unnatural they had become, betrayed him.

"Well, shall we find out if I am?" Harry asked; and not waiting for a response, shot a ball of fire at Malfoy – who, to his credit, kept his head in the situation. With a deep breath, he swallowed the fire before shooting it back at Harry, who banished it easily.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Accio!"

"Imperio!"

"Reducto!"

"Ignituis savren!" Draco shouted, finally lifting the bar. Harry easily countered it, and shot back with a laceration spell that had been altered by the Dark Arts to lacerate multiple sections of a body part simultaneously.

"Potter what are you doing? That's Dark Arts!" Draco exclaimed in shock, after he had dispelled the attack (suffering the loss of the tips of his fingers – nothing serious to the apprentice of a necromancer).

"I would think that's obvious: you are a dark wizard, yet you do not limit yourself to Dark Arts; I am a light wizard, and I do not limit myself to the Light Arts," Harry replied, and again began firing off curses. But this time he was doing so at such a pace that Malfoy had little time to actually defend or fire off any spells of his own. From a distance he looked as though he were dancing instead of dodging curses.

Harry was beginning to get frustrated with not being able to hit Malfoy with a single spell, so he decided to pre-empt Malfoy's next move by reading his mind. As a result, Malfoy was hit with a disarming spell. But before Harry could do anything more, he was hit from behind by something heavy. It was then that he realised he had underestimated Malfoy's skill. It appeared he had some control over wandless magic, and the disarming spell succeeded in opening a window, as it were, for him to concentrate long enough to attack Harry.

"Not so great after all, Potter!" Malfoy sneered, as blood dripped to the ground from his fingers.

"Don't underestimate me, Malfoy," Harry said; and a split second later he was in the air, levitating himself, to the shock of Malfoy. He began transfiguring rocks into stags, which immediately charged for Malfoy who had summoned his wand and was blowing them up, looking around all the while with wild, feral eyes for an escape route. After a few seconds of random blasting, he finally noticed a clear path into his lord's army, and began heading towards it. But as he approached he stopped in shock: one of the stags was dancing! And another was… laughing… and another was… wobbling around on unsteady legs.

As Harry watched from the sky, he saw Malfoy searching for a way out and finally finding one; so using his knowledge of 'thinking outside the box,' Harry began casting harmless jinxes on the stags – jelly-legs and the like – which appeared to have the desired effect, because Malfoy was stunned with shock. So Harry took advantage of Malfoy's lapse, and stunned him himself; and was just about to tie him up for the aurors, when a large group of the undead army landed from seemingly nowhere onto Malfoy, killing him instantly, causing his body to rot and turn to ash.

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DUMBLEDORE'S POINT OF VIEW

He watched as Harry appeared behind a shocked Malfoy, and the two began their pre-duel monologues. Dumbledore's lapse in concentration almost cost him and the villagers who were trying to help their lives, as a huge swarm of the dead soldiers began heading for him. One of them even came close enough that Dumbledore could smell its unique stench, besides the collective smell the "decayed brigade" gave off. He was saved, however, by one of the town folk, who fired off a reductor curse just in time. Returning to the battle, Dumbledore continued to blast the unnatural army away, until he could see that he and the others were beginning to make a definite difference to the size of it – though he knew that it was far from over if the aurors did not arrive soon. As Dumbledore glanced up again at the duel between Malfoy and Harry, he saw that Malfoy had levitated something behind Harry, who was seemingly unaware of the situation.

'I have to get there now!' Dumbledore thought to himself, and then he got an idea. Screwing up his face in concentration, Dumbledore extended his aura around himself, and then out further and further. The effect that it had on the army was rather surprising: one touch of it, and it appeared that they were just as insubstantial as water as they seemingly melted in on themselves. With this new method, Dumbledore now made faster progress toward Harry. Within only a minute, Dumbledore was nearing the ends of the ranks; but unfortunately he got careless in his excitement about getting to Harry in time, and didn't see the root that was sticking out of the ground; and so he tripped, making him lose concentration and the control of his aura.

"Aarrgghh!" Dumbledore cried out as he fell. 'Get up, you old fool!' he thought to himself furiously. Summoning all of the will power he possessed, he rose to his feet again, only to find that the ranks had closed in on him considerably, and showed no sign of stopping. So Dumbledore decided to do the only thing he could think of in this situation: panic!

Closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable, Dumbledore felt his emotions rush through him: love, sadness, regret; and then he felt determination. He was determined not to let Harry down, his prodigal grandson. With this new resolution, Albus Dumbledore, greatest magic user of modern times, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock, ex-headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and defeater of the dark wizard Grindelwald, did accidental magic, spurred by his emotions. Dumbledore's aura exploded around him, incinerating any of the nearby army, melting others, and blasting the rest away. When Dumbledore looked to Harry again he saw a group of stags, a pile of ash, and Harry floating above the whole mess.

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HARRY'S POINT OF VIEW

As he looked over to where he thought the dead soldiers had come from, he saw Dumbledore, his aura flaring, staring at him with shock and relief on his aged face.

"What happened, Harry?" Dumbledore asked him, once he had made his way over to Harry.

"After he hit me over the head and said his piece, I levitated myself into the air and conjured a group of stags to surround and attack him. But he found a way out, so I jinxed the stags with jelly legs, and tarantallegra, and others to shock him still. Then I stunned him, and was about to rope him up, when one of those bodies landed on him," Harry explained as he landed on the ground.

"Oh dear, I am afraid that is my fault! I…" Dumbledore was saying, but was cut off as the aurors arrived. (Late again, Harry noted.)

"What is this…" the lead auror began, but was cut off.

"Voldemort's apprentice attacked the village; we managed to defend it. I am certain that Hogwarts is being attacked by Voldemort's full forces as we speak," Dumbledore said urgently. "Gather as many of your men as you can, and get there now!" he commanded.

"Yes sir," the auror said, and then left to brief the others that had shown up with him.

"I think we had best get to the school; there is no telling what could be happening now," Dumbledore said to Harry as he picked up part of the rock that had hit Harry. With a quick "Portus," they were both gone to Hogwarts.



A/N: And that's it! Another chapter done, and my motivation back and better than ever. We're coming to the end of this fic soon; but fear not: there will be a sequel, plus 3 other fics I'm working on. This chapter was edited by David305, excellent beta!

Thanks to all who have reviewed and spurred me on. I doubt I would have got this chapter done now if it hadn't been for you people.

Until next time!

GG