Truth and Beginning
of Potential
Harry searched his concentration reaching new levels, he felt how far the Shadow had penetrated the magical world; much of it was now under the Shadow's control. The funny thing was no one thought they were 'conquered' they all thought of the Shadow as a liberator… Harry wondered why, what did the Shadow do to accomplish this? He found the darkness too dark to penetrate… Harry got up and gave a frustrated sigh, he hadn't been able to pinpoint her location; he was fairly sure that Ron knew… or knew where to find someone that did… Harry knew Ron wouldn't give up that information easily, but Harry could… persuade him. Harry disapparated. Harry stood next to Ron's main encampment and pulled up his cloak hood, it was time. Time to end this…
"Who are you?" asked a guard who raised his wand. Harry raised his hand and it flew into his hand.
"I AM," replied Harry in a deep, angry and amplified voice that echoed and made the earth tremble and the waters quake, "YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Many Shadowers came running out of their tent at Harry's voice. Harry smirked, it was time for them to face a real battle…
Harry drew Parbhakar, but this time he grabbed it in the middle, it shifted and transformed… into a staff, "I will beat Hermione's location out of you," he snapped very harshly. All the Shadowers stopped and looked at him in disbelief, Harry was seriously outnumbered, yet he had the confidence as though he were only facing a 2 year-old child in battle.
"Yes, you should fear me…" whispered Harry as the Shadowers backed up, "I have NO MERCY!" Harry rushed forward.
Harry looked around vaguely satisfied, he had beaten unconscious or done seriously dangerous magic on the entire camp… Harry had failed to beat any information about Hermione out of them… he sat down on a log near by. He would wait… Ron would have to return, Harry had already searched the entire camp… or what was left of it. Harry began to meditate; hopefully Hermione would be able to contact him.
Two days later; Ron came into his camp, he glanced around, it had been decimated, nothing was left, except a few sleeping tents and the command tent. Ron entered the command tent and looked around expecting a mess; there was nothing out of place, outside had been a complete mess.
'What happened here?' mused Ron looking around.
"I destroyed it," replied Harry from behind him.
"What?" asked Ron turning around.
"I've had enough," answered Harry, his eyes glowing flames, "It is time to end this… now. No longer should others die for the Shadow…"
Ron sneered, "Yes, that's your opinion," he replied, "But you cannot defeat us."
"That's your opinion,?" echoed Harry advancing. Ron made a swift punch, Harry caught it and twisted his arm, then gave him a swift kick in the side of his ribs.
"You are still not a match for me…" Harry trailed off as Ron hit the tent, "Alone… you… are… nothing!" Harry snarled pausing…. "Remember my warning?... may God save you, from me, for nothing else can…" he raised his hand and held Ron in place, "Now, where is Hermione?" Ron didn't answer, Harry looked into his mind; he saw infinite darkness. Harry concentrated as hard as he could… then some. Harry began to penetrate the darkness, he saw Hermione, tortured beaten… 'WHERE?' screamed Harry. A place erupted into his mind; Harry stopped and backed up, he had half his answer. Darkness surrounded Harry in the tent; Harry realized finally…. Ron had been under the control of Shadow and Harry just knew what to do to save them…
He stretched his arms towards the heavens, calling on his inner strength he had learned to call upon during his last Ascension. All light dimmed, but Harry started to glow as small streaks of light gathered, Shadow surrounded him. But light penetrated the darkness, Harry felt the despair… the despair from Death… when he had first faced the Shadow… fighting for his soul. Harry's nerves screamed in pain… Shadow gathered in front of Harry as light forced him too… Harry crossed his hands in front of him…
Light of infinite luminosity penetrated the veil of darkness as it flowed into Harry's hands and towards the Shadow. The Shadow screamed… an unearthly sound… the room became one of truth… revealed… the Shadows… illusion… they were an illusion… perpetuated by a web of lies and tangled truths rolled into each other. Evil incarnate, darkness that could be revealed in light…
Harry fell, light gone, his entire body ached, pain in his hands was absolutely unbearable, but he didn't cry out as tears leaked from beneath his closed eye lids. He knew only that this had been extremely painful, he hoped it would dissipate soon… The Cruciatus curse seemed almost merciful compared to this, his heart and soul felt as though they were burning… he could only hope he didn't somehow permanently scar himself in some obscure unknown way… he knew that whatever he had done was extremely powerful, something that had not been done in, at least, a long time… if ever, he asked himself if this was perhaps his destiny, to face evil no matter the form for the rest of his life, always putting the ones he loved in danger, always wondering if he would come home to Hermione, or would she be dead because he was always the "hero"? Harry resented the fact everyone looked to him in order to kill all the insane evil creatures in the world, why didn't others help? Maybe it was because all who had helped him before… other than Hermione and Ron had died… now Ron… was he dead? Harry slowly got up, the pain in his hands increased as they touched the ground, Harry attempted as best he could to rub the soot off his glasses as his hands ached as though rubbing them against sandpaper after a tremendous sunburn, then pushed them back on his nose and opened his eyes and looked at his hands in shock.
They were burned… completely burned, He had never had this type of thing happen after something like this… but this was far more powerful than anything he had ever done before. Harry pushed himself up, cringing as his hands stung. Harry got up, he felt severely weakened; he fell back down. Harry groaned, his hands were burning again… worse if possible. Harry felt the side of his face and then looked at his hand, it was covered in blood, he knew his ears had started bleeding, he ignored the ringing in his ears and pain in his head as he looked around as much as he could from this vantage, 'It looks as though a war had broken out in here,' mused Harry, 'Then a tornado ripped through it…' He concentrated on healing himself, but nothing happened. Harry slammed his hand down on the sand and immediately regretted it. Apparently, he was drained or something, Harry again got up and headed out, but stopped Harry looked down, Ron was slumped over, Harry felt for Ron's pulse. It was strong, so Harry picked him up and carried him to Hogwarts. Harry winced as his hands burned terribly from picking Ron up, not to mention Harry was bending under Ron's weight.
Harry stood in front of Hogwarts, several Aurors and Aden Malvina stepped out of the door, they had seen him coming from the gates. Harry ignored them and continued towards the double large doors entered the castle.
"What are you doing here?" sneered Aden.
"I'm the Headmaster, that's what," replied Harry brushing past him.
"Stop him!" Aden cried to the Aurors.
Harry snapped around and dropped Ron, "You want to fight? I just defeated an entire army, what's a couple of Aurors?" Harry snarled pulling out Prabhakar. The Aurors backed up a little, they pulled out their wands, Harry waited as they shouted different spells; he ducked and watched as many different spells flew over his head. Soldiers from the Shadow poured out, a few dozen, Harry cursed under his breathe, this wasn't good. He jumped from his crouching position and knocked over one of the Aurors with his feet, jumping off him and hitting another and flipping onto his feet. He turned around to face them. Harry concentrated and shot a widespread curse at all of them…
They fell as it hit them, Harry went to each of them and muttered something while waving his hand over them, Harry looked at his hands; both were now healed completely. One of the Aurors got up holding his ribs; Harry took a defensive position as the Auror approached him with his wand. The Auror was close enough, Harry jumped forward and thrust his palm into the Auror's chest, the air rippled with power as a Repulsion spell hit the Auror, he flew back and hit the ground hard. Harry picked up Ron again and headed for the Hospital Wing, he would have Madam Pomfery take care of this one. Harry walked into the castle and up to the Hospital Wing, he dropped Ron into one of the beds and left. When he reached the hall all the classes were letting out. Harry ignored the students until they all pointed their wands at him Harry stopped for a moment, this was weird. Harry turned around, the students yelled different spells, Harry ducked and ran.
Harry stopped, "Why the heck am I running?" he asked himself out loud as he turned and faced them. Harry held up his hand as another barrage of spells flew towards him, they all stopped in mid-air. Harry cast them aside and heard something whisper in his mind 'Haselay Sumatus.' Harry understood it… but where did that come from? Harry didn't stop to argue with it, "Expellius Shieldum lux lumi," Harry muttered. Light, but not as grand an amount surrounded him… Harry still felt his nerves screaming for mercy… But it couldn't distract him, he concentrated… Light surrounded him as a shield, ready… Light turned into a supernova-like explosion with no damage, it expelled outwards and covered Hogwarts, all the students screamed and fell, Harry collapsed again, his body was aching again… he again felt as though the Cruciatus curse would have been mercy compared to this… his soul was on fire as well as his nerves, he had thought the Cruciatus curse was bad… This was far beyond pain, his entire essence was in pain, something not easily explained, Harry looked around, Shadow has faded, but this was only their control, not their essence of illusion. Harry asked himself if he possessed enough inner strength to defeat them.
A few days later, Harry stood on the West tower, remembering all that had happened between him and Hermione, Ron came up behind him, "I'm really sorry mate," he whispered.
"It wasn't your fault Ron, you were possessed by Shadow," replied Harry looking over the grounds as the wind picked up his cloak and threw it behind him.
"But mate; so were you and Hermione, you fought him off," replied Ron.
Harry sighed, "Ron, you are not as mentally strong as we are, it took us a while to fight him off," commented Harry he paused, "Besides, I almost killed Hermione… that in and of itself is far worse than what you did…" Harry paused again, "Now I have to find her… and I will, it will just take time, but I'm glad to have you back… but I have something to tell you."
"What mate?" asked Ron with interest.
"I… may not return… I... may die," answered Harry not looking at him.
"What?!" Ron nearly shouted, "I just got my best mate back, and he's going to die?!"
"Ron, listen to me, I will stop at nothing to save her… nothing, but Shadow is not something that you can easily walk away from," Harry said carefully, "I will do my best… but I cannot make any guarantees I will make it back."
"Hey, you'd better, I don't want to lose my best mate again, okay?" replied Ron. Harry turned around; he heard approaching tears in Ron's voice.
"Ron… there are some things worth dying for… to me, she is one of them, if that's what it takes to save her… I will, just promise me one thing…" Harry started then paused, before continuing, "If I don't make it back… please… take care of her… okay?"
Ron didn't answer right away, "Umm… Harry, I will promise… but please mate, make it back, she will be devastated if you don't," he answered then Ron paused before continuing, "Why would you… die?"
Harry sighed, "I know Ron… I know she would…" he replied to Ron's first comment, but paused to consider the second, "As far as why would I die? That is a hard question… I can undo the damage…. everything Shadow and the release of the Shadow world has done… but I'm afraid…"
"Why?" asked Ron unsure, "You've faced death before."
Harry paused, he looked slightly sick, "It's not death Ron… I don't fear death… I fear that if I do… what may be necessary in the end… I will lose both my life and …. my… soul… But if that's what it takes to save Hermione… then I will…" he said quietly not turning around.
"Lose your soul?!" asked Ron incredulously.
Harry sat down, "Ron… I've got to start searching… would you mind…?" he asked not wanting to see Ron's look of horror if he realized it meant that he, Harry, would be completely destroyed, heart and soul, he would not enter the afterlife, nor stay in this one, he would simply not exist any longer, no longer able to think or feel… no longer able to do anything, he would just not exist.
"Not at all mate, find her… please," Ron replied walking down the stairs into the castle.
Harry searched and searched, for hours he sat there, his mind searching, but he couldn't find that place… that picture he had ripped from the Shadow's mind… if Shadows had minds. He apparated to the Three-Broomsticks to wait, the Shadows would come. Harry ordered a butterbeer and seated himself by the door.
A few hours later; Harry felt the door behind him open and the cold wind follow in the cloaked figure, Harry continued to drink and ignored the newcomer, other than watch him. The newcomer went to the bar and said something to Madam Rosetta, she pointed at Harry and the newcomer made his way over. Harry continued to ignore him, until the stranger sat down.
"Yes?" asked Harry bluntly. The stranger didn't answer right away, he just stared at Harry.
"You are looking for Hermione Granger?" asked the stranger.
"Yes," replied Harry leaning back, "You are one of the Shadows?"
"I am a Ministry Auror," replied the stranger, "I am here to tell you the terms of your surrender to the Ministry."
Harry raised his eyebrow, "I'll tell you the terms of your surrender, I don't have a reason to surrender to you," he replied.
"You haven't anyone left to fight for you," replied the Auror. Harry smiled a moment, he didn't answer for a few minutes.
"Who said I have to have someone else to fight my battles? You've taken my conscience, that was a big blunder, I will regain her at all costs," replied Harry.
"We don't think so," snapped the Auror.
"What you think matters not… Shadow is illusion… just as are your thoughts," Harry commented, not even slightly perturbed, "I, on the other hand, am not an illusion… besides; I just freed Hogwarts… by myself. I am far more powerful than you and Shadow can imagine… I will use every ounce of my heart and soul to destroy them if that's what it takes to free my love. She is all that is important to me…"
"You can't find her," said the Auror, "So, therefore you can't save her."
Harry gave him a wiry smile, "Not myself… but I think soon I will learn her location," came Harry's reply, "Until then, I will continue to teach at Hogwarts… then I will destroy Shadow when the opportunity presents itself. I am patient…"
Voldemort entered the room, Hermione pushed herself into the corner, "I've been informed you haven't told Ahriman what he wants to know," sneered Voldemort, "I've been asked to… extract it from you mudblood… not that you're worthy of my personal attention… Now the question… ah yes, how do you control magic with your mind?"
Hermione glared at him and spoke… "Hasuak Nashus," she replied angrily.
Voldemort looked slightly confused, "What's that mean?" he asked turning to the Shadow behind him.
"It means… 'up yours'… well approximately," replied the Shadow, "Some curses from the Ancient tongue don't quite… translate properly, but that's a close enough."
"Crucio!" Voldemort said almost lazily.
Harry jumped up, he felt Hermione's pain… great pain… no, terrible pain… as well as his scar searing he curled up in a corner of the room and cried. He still couldn't pinpoint her, this was just a general feeling… one the Shadow either didn't bother to, or couldn't, cover. He felt so helpless, he couldn't help his love and life, he wished he could kill whoever… it was Voldemort… but he was… "The Shadow must have brought him back…" Harry muttered angrily to himself… Voldemort was torturing her… but he couldn't find her so he could help… Harry felt this go on for hours and hours…
The next morning found Harry sitting on the West Tower… his cold rage seething, when he found Voldemort he would kill him the slowest most torturous way he could… or better yet send them into eternal torture… but all this was useless unless he could find Hermione… He knew who had done it… it was definitely Voldemort, cold rage seeped into Harry's heart, he would personally torture Voldemort when he found him. He could still feel Hermione being tortured.
His scar still seared, he wondered suddenly what they wanted from her, "FAWKES," Harry called.
The Phoenix emerged from flames about Harry's head and landed on his arm. Harry began to speak in Phoenix, "They sent all the other students back here. Do you know what they might want out of Hermione?" he asked.
The Phoenix nodded, "Dumbledore worried that Voldemort would want you in order to figure out how to control magic after he found out, you had much more control than he does," Fawkes replied.
Harry nodded thoughtfully, "But she doesn't know as much as I, why don't they come after me?" he asked.
"How are they going to get you? They've tried and failed several time," replied Fawkes. Harry opened and shut his mouth a few times; he couldn't believe he was that stupid! He hadn't realized that Hermione was a second choice, they couldn't captured him; so maybe, Hermione could tell them something, but didn't the Shadows know more about that than Hermione, or even he, did? They were far more powerful… weren't they? Perhaps it had something to do with something else… Harry wasn't sure, he would have to ask Michael if the Shadows where more powerful then… it seemed as though they maybe weren't. Or was it something else? Perhaps something he hadn't thought of? This was turning into a mystery.
Michael stood with the other Ancients, they had been successfully keeping most of the dead from escaping; 'But at what cost?' Michael mused, they were all mentally tired, because here, they had only their power that came from within their powerful minds, these were released by their Ascension… however, unfortunately for them, it came at greater expense, it was physically and mentally draining, verses that which came from the mortal world. Michael feared they wouldn't last much longer, especially since he was weakening, he knew Harry was starting to kill of the Shadows… Michael wasn't afraid to lose himself, but he did fear not being able to keep life and death separated now, until the Shadows were destroyed, the door would remain open to anyone, not just the Ancient ones. More of the evil dead began to mount an attack, there were so many… This world had had so many evil people… Michael sometimes wondered how they had survived so long… but remembered the he and the other Ancients had kept all of them trimmed down to size through the centuries, even when he had been evil, he had unwittingly kept them from being able to completely conquer their territories, it was funny how even bad people and things could turn into good…
"Michael, we can't last much longer," said Herk, "Our people tire, we haven't had time to rest."
"I know Herk," said Michael quietly; then added sarcastically, "Why don't you go ask them to stop for a while so we can rest?" Gaia looked at Michael, still she had never seen his face, she wondered why now, before it had never really occurred to her.
"Michael, why do you keep your face hidden?" she asked.
"I have my reasons," replied Michael staring straight at the approaching danger.
"Well, since we're going to be destroyed anyway, how about you take a minute to tell us?" asked Gaia.
"Guess I might as well, it makes no difference," replied Michael lowering his hood. It revealed jet-black hair, but his eyes were different, they weren't a solid color, they were alternating blue, green, brown, red and had some type of color that inspired hope… the element that could destroy or build any nation.
"Because, I am just different," came Michael's reply, "I have been since the beginning of my life, darkness was me, I was Pandora's box, dangerous to mankind, showed only malice towards them, I could make and break nations; I always, now, wear a hood to keep Hope inside. Whether good or bad, whether to make or break nations… I must keep Hope bottled up, or else Shadow would have taken over long ago…"
Harry sighed, he still had to wait for Shadow to find him… this was the hardest part… he didn't want to wait… he wanted to find her… he wanted to rip the world bare looking for her; he had already turned away the Shadows' agent; surely the next step was for one of them to come and attempt to regain control.
'Yet they may not. They may not believe they can take it again…' mused Harry, 'Only time will tell.' Harry paused his thinking for a moment, he wondered where Hermione was… he had felt the torture stop a few seconds earlier… he had grown used to it… now he felt lonely… he had been his only connection to Hermione… Tears began to fall, he went down the stairs leading from the West Tower to the Great Hall, Harry thought about all that had led up to Hermione and him… He knew that it was entirely possible neither of them would survive this; but he would do anything possible to save her, no matter what, he would save her. There could be no 'if', he owed it to Hermione's parents… and himself, if he lost her, he couldn't live with himself. She deserved better than him, by far, but yet, she chose him… why Harry didn't know, all he knew was that he owed her the love and dedication required to find her… no matter how long it took! He knew he could save her if he found her and he would search for his entire life if that's what it took. He was worried though, when he faced the last of Shadow, what would happen? He knew what lay beyond death… but what lay beyond the destruction of the soul? You couldn't just fight and defeat Shadow that easily, 'Harry, remember that there is an ultimate epitome of mankind… what separates us from others…' Harry heard Michael say to him. Then Harry realized what Michael had meant… it was a prediction perhaps… Harry now knew the ultimate epitome of mankind… but did not dare even think it. 'That's the one I'm not short on,' Harry snapped internally. Harry mentally beat himself for the self-pity he was offering himself, here he was thinking of himself when Hermione was being tortured… or worse! This was not quite the life he was hoping for with Hermione, he just wanted to settle down with her after Hogwarts, be a normal family, no dark wizards, no Shadows! He had had enough, he no longer wanted to fight; no more evil, no rescuing those in trouble, just to live a calm and loving life surrounded by Hermione and their children… Was this too much for him to ask? There was nothing he could do though… it seemed as if someone was throwing him all the curve balls possible in the shortest time period conceivable. He wondered… there was one possibility… but he wasn't even sure about what would happen in his last encounter with the Shadows…