Chapter 9: The Storm
The last Monday in July turned out to be a dreary day, the darkness of night never relinquished to the light of daybreak as a blanket of black clouds enveloped the sky. Gusts of wind howled and battered against the house shaking the windows and doors. The continuous rumble of thunder foretold the tidings of an ensuing storm.
Harry stood firmly in front of his opened window in a trance as he watched the power of the storm unfold before him. His body held erect and his hands spread just slightly out to his sides, palms opened and facing forward. It would have looked as though he were standing rebelliously in front of the ominous storm if not for the smile he wore on his face.
Harry had made quite a revelation during his Occlumency practice. He had finally reached a point where he could slow the thoughts racing through his mind with relative ease. The problem was that every time he accomplished this his senses would again go into overdrive. Sounds, smells, and tactile sensations eventually forced the clarity from his mind and the mounting frustration had led to a few magical outbursts. The outbursts scared Harry mainly because he was afraid that a ministry owl was going to come and tell him that his wand was being confiscated. But the unintended magic wasn't all that surprising to him, because he remembered too well all the times it occurred before he even realized he was a wizard. No, the true revelation came to Harry when he stopped trying to fight his senses from intruding and instead let them all rush in.
Harry was sitting in his room when it happened. Petunia and Dudley had left to go shopping and left him alone in the house. The silence of the empty house led him to believe that he might be better able to clear his mind without the distraction of all the noise from downstairs. So he set himself to it, and with a little will he easily chased all thoughts from his mind. Then it started again. First the sounds of the howling wind outside entered his mind, and then he could hear Hedwig pruning herself in her cage. As he fought to ignore these irritating distractions he felt his back start to ache from sitting in one position for so long. One after another the distractions began to mount until he could no longer concentrate on keeping his mind clear.
Usually at this point he would give up. He couldn't figure out how he was going to be able to force someone out of his mind if he couldn't even ignore small things like the wind. He felt utterly defeated by the constant ritual and, almost in anger, he gave in to the distractions. He concentrated on all the noises, smells, and feelings. He did it more to spite himself, to allow the things that annoyed him most to flow through his mind unchecked. Eventually this opened all his senses to more of his surroundings. He could hear the trees rustling outside and smell the flowers in the garden. It all flooded in, and Harry did nothing to stop it. Then with a flash everything changed. His room suddenly appeared in black and white, he thought for a second he'd gone colorblind. But then he looked up at Hedwig and noticed the vibrant amber glow emanating from her, the same that he saw in the trees and on the birds outside. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the pensieve, its contents glimmered a brilliant gold that shown from out of the open top of the container. He stood up and forced his eyes to blink but the view didn't change.
Struck in awe by the sights of the new world around him, Harry went over to the window to see if the world outside was awash in amber again. Sure enough it was, but this time through the glow he could easily make out the normal brown trunk of the tree and the green of the leaves. The same was true for the colors of the feathers beneath the birds, the mixture of the amber glow with the normal colors were mesmerizing. On the other hand, the houses, cars, and the like were dull with shades of gray just like his bedroom.
He took in the sights for some time, but he soon began to worry that it wouldn't change back. That he had caused some kind of irreversible change in his eyesight. But as he focused his mind to will it away, he realized something else. He understood that he had complete control of his mind. He didn't have to concentrate to slow his thoughts, they came to him as he commanded and left just as easily. The clarity of it all was striking and he consciously felt how simple it was to clearly think things through in this state of mind. Finally, with what could barely be considered effort he returned his vision to its normal condition.
Now on this Monday morning, Harry stood at his window on the eve of this storm reveling in the gift of his realization. His mind not clear, but completely aware of every thought and sensation that was coming to it. Harry found that he could see the amber glow of life at will now. He had also realized that he wasn't seeing the burning amber light so much as he was a part of it, he felt connected as though he was interacting with it. After some time, he could think and act normally while under the effect.
He watched the awesome energy of the storm and how it affected everything it touched. How the sky was ablaze with blues and purples swirling underneath the clouds. When a bolt of lightening would flash and race through the clouds Harry could see the electricity falling away from the bolt, spreading gracefully like a silky spider web. The amber light around the trees and plants burned higher into the sky than he'd ever seen. Wisps of purple and blue danced from beneath the clouds to reach down to the amber creating a vibrant explosion of color. Harry watched the storm embrace the world below it and thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Harry spotted something in the distance that had never appeared there before. It looked like a small yellow ball of light, that was parting the storms blue and purple glow as it flew closer. Whatever the little yellow ball was Harry could tell that it was coming towards his window. He immediately ran to his nightstand and got his wand. When he returned to peer out the window the object was much closer, but he still couldn't make out its shape. He stared confused for a moment longer, but when he was sure that it was on a direct path toward his bedroom, he closed the window and leaned against the wall to avoid being seen from outside. Whatever was flying toward him, if it was coming into his room it would have to break the window and he was going to be ready when it did.
His room was eerily quiet, and the black and white tones in which the image of his room appeared to him made the anticipation seem surreal. It was starting to rain and infrequent but heavy raindrops pelted against his window. The waiting was agonizing and eventually he couldn't keep himself from peering out. As he looked through the window he saw that the yellow light was right outside his window, but it had form now, in fact it was brown and only had a glow of yellow around it. Harry's nerves settled as he realized that it was an owl, an official looking one.
The bird knocked hard on the window and Harry opened it to let him in. His heart was still racing from the scare, but the bird didn't seem to notice as it flew right past him, dropped an envelope on the bed and then left. Harry watched the bird fly away and forced his vision to return to normal just so he could get a different look at what had just transpired in his room. He couldn't figure out why a bird would be so eager to get back out into that storm without even a drink of water or a moment's rest.
He turned to look at the letter on his bed and saw it was addressed to Harry James Potter. When he turned over the letter to read the return address, his stomach dropped.
Griselda Marchbanks
Wizarding Examinations Authority
Harry opened the envelope and saw two pieces of parchment inside. One was obviously his scores, but the other was a letter. Deciding to spare himself the bad news he feared the scores would have he turned to the letter.
The Wizarding Examination Authority would like to extend an apology for the tardiness of Ordinary Wizarding Level results this year. Due to discrepancies in the administration of certain examinations the Authority felt necessary to deliberate over the validity of selected exam results.
The Authority has decided that while it is not common practice to allow any exceptions to be made which alter examination results, events this past year must allow for extra considerations. As a result, The Authority has consulted with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to allow for the re-administration of the Astronomy Practical exams.
The decision between our two institutions is that students will be allowed to re-take this practical examination again at the end of their sixth year during the administration of the upcoming year's O.W.L.s. As such, each student has the option to accept the grade earned in his or her first attempt or may apply for re-examination. Applications must be submitted by August 1st.
Cordially,
Griselda Marchbanks
Head, Wizarding Examinations Authority
"That's interesting," Harry thought sarcastically,
"apparently watching your professors get hexed while you're taking a test isn't
commonplace. Well, at least they saved themselves from having to address
several letters from Hermione." With a
bit of reluctance Harry turned to the second piece of parchment.
HARRY JAMES POTTER
OF
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND
WIZARDRY
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS
Charms: Defense Against the Dark Arts:
Practical – O Practical – O
Theory – E Theory – O
Overall – O Overall – O
Transfiguration: Herbology:
Practical – O Practical – O
Theory – E Theory – A
Overall – O Overall – E
Potions: Care of Magical Creatures:
Practical – O Practical – O
Theory – E Theory – E
Overall – O Overall – O
Astronomy: Divination:
Practical – A* Practical – D
Theory – A Theory – D
Overall – A Overall – D
History of Magic:
Practical – N/A
Theory – N/A
Overall – P
O – Outstanding; E – Exceeds Expectations; A – Acceptable; P – Poor; D –
Dreadful
Student has displayed exemplary
results in: 6 courses
Student has received passing
Ordinary Wizarding Levels in: 7 courses
Please consult with your Head of
House by August 1st to establish course schedules for the following
term.
Harry looked over the parchment twice, and then looked out the window to make sure that he wasn't seeing any brilliant purple, blue, or amber glows. He was sure that his eyes must have been mistaken because it looked like his results said that he had an overall O in potions. It was hard enough for the young man to believe that he had earned six O's, but the fact that one of them was in potions made it unfathomable.
His heart leapt as the reality of it set in. He had earned five O's and one of them was in potions. He could see the look on Snape's face now. He had to tell somebody! He had to yell at the top of his lungs! In fact he took in a deep breath to do just that…
CRASH"AAAHHHHH!!!"
Harry paused with his mouth open and his lungs still full of air. There had been a scream alright, but as far as he could tell it hadn't come from him. And nothing around his room had caused the sound of that crash.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE! YOU GET OUT OF HERE THIS INSTANT!"
That was definitely the angered scream of his Uncle Vernon. Somebody was downstairs, and from the sound of it they hadn't been welcomed into the house. At first Harry thought that maybe a member of the Order knew he had gotten his OWL results and had stopped by. But then he heard another scream, one that was horribly cut short.
"AAAHH…."
That was his Aunt Petunia, and now Harry had no doubt that the worst was happening. With his wand still in hand Harry threw the bedroom door open. The sound of more commotion coming from the living room was clearer now.
Smack, Smack!
Crash!
Harry heard the distinct sound of skin smacking hard against skin. Then there was a violent crash. He was at the top of the staircase now and could see several colors of flashing light reflecting up the corridor.
"NO. STOP! DUDL…"
Flash. CRASH!
"do it... now!"
By the time Harry had gotten to the base of the stairs he had heard the pleas of his Uncle and another loud crash. He thought he heard the mumble of some unknown voice but with all the commotion he couldn't make out what was said. Now with the exception of various broken and knocked over items that were still settling into place the only sounds were the muffled noises of the television from the living room.
Harry walked slowly away from the base of the stairs. There were no lights on downstairs and the hallway was shaded in darkness from the storm outside. Lightning flashed and illuminated the passageway in front of Harry for only a second. It was enough for him to notice the image of his cousin's body strewn on the floor below him. Lightning flashed repeatedly again providing enough light for Harry to clearly see Dudley's stiff and very pale body hanging half out of the cupboard under the stairs, the cupboard door broken and shattered around him. There was blood on both of his hands.
Harry reached the living room which was just barely less dim than the hall. With his wand drawn and mind prepped to unload a barrage of spells, Harry squinted to make out the dark images in the living room. What he saw was an absolute nightmare. The limp body of his Uncle Vernon lay awkwardly twisted on top of the now broken kitchen table. Aunt Petunia's body lay motionless and bleeding across the tattered couch.
Harry felt like he was in a bad dream as he slowly entered the room. He searched the room manically but didn't see anyone else in the living room, and the front door was closed and undamaged. He could feel every hair on his body standing on edge, and he kept hoping for his mind to snap out of this terrible hallucination. Something snapped but it wasn't his mind waking. The sudden explosion of pain that he felt in the back of his head surely wasn't his own doing either. He spun dizzily to see what hit him, but again there was nothing there. He stumbled back a few steps away from some unseen assailant, his feet a bit unsteady as a result of the blow. As he continued to stumble away while searching for the perpetrator that had assaulted him, he suddenly tumbled backwards. He had tripped over something that was beneath his feet, something that was still beneath his feet, and was wet – but couldn't be seen.
Another bolt of lightning flashed followed by a wall shaking crack of thunder, Harry could now hear the sound of heavy rain falling outside the house. A flood of fear washed over him as the realization of the situation he was now in clicked in his mind. He searched the dark room, for what he didn't know, something that could save him, something that would spark an idea in his mind. But no spark came. If he was correct in assuming what was happening around him, he knew that no one would be coming to save him. He was on his own, and probably outmatched. He knew that if he didn't do something this was it.
A wave of rage rushed over him as he felt the futility of the situation. How long would this last, were they going to continue to beat on him endlessly or end it quick with a killing curse? His mind stopped thinking about it, and the young Gryffindor resolved that if he was going down someone was coming with him.
"Accio cloaks" Harry whispered hatefully through gritted teeth.
Four cloaks immediately flew through the air, one that was covering the fallen body right underneath Harry's feet. Harry looked down at the person and saw a black cloaked Death Eater lying unconscious. His white mask was crooked and half off his face, blood ran from under the mask and the man was soaked in rain.
Two other wayward cloaks uncovered a pair of Death Eaters standing in front of him. Two more black cloaked and white masked individuals stood in front of the kitchen past the broken dinning room table on which Uncle Vernon's body lay. The Death Eater on the right was much shorter and fat, and a hood was pulled over top the head. The Death Eater on the left was tall and wasn't wearing a hood. Harry realized this because he could see dark black hair coming out from beneath the back of the mask. Both Death Eaters were wide eyed with shock at their sudden uncloaking.
Harry watched out of his periphery as a third cloak flew towards him as well, the direction the cloak was flying indicated that its owner was standing somewhere in front of the front door. He couldn't make out the characteristics of the person but he noticed that the mask on this Death Eater was red.
Harry didn't waste time waiting for his attackers to snap out of the shock of being revealed. He kicked hard away from the once invisible Death Eater he had tripped over and rolled to his right. Before he was all the way to his feet he sent a blasting curse at the short, hooded Death Eater and a stunner to the dark haired one on the left. Sirius had taught Harry how the wand movements required for the two spells combined seamlessly together, if you performed them correctly they could be cast as almost one continuous motion.
The first curse landed square against the smaller Death Eater throwing the would be attacker violently into the kitchen cabinets. Plates cascaded out of the destroyed cabinets and shattered over the now unconscious Death Eater. The second curse didn't hit the taller Death Eater, but the suddenness of Harry's attack only left enough time to for the assailant to jump clumsily away from the spell. The black haired Death Eater landed with a violent crash. The person's head smacked hard against the base of wall in front of the hallway that led back to the stairs.
Harry watched the Death Eater fall limp on the floor at the same time that he heard the scream of a spell being cast from behind him. Fractions of a second later the spell collided with him and he instantly felt a searing pain in his left shoulder. The force of the spell spun him around to face his attacker who was indeed standing near the front door. It was hard to tell but this, the smallest of the attackers Harry had seen, appeared to be the frame of a woman. He didn't have too much time to decide on the matter as the red masked Death Eater was already motioning to cast a second spell.
Harry knew there wasn't enough time to recognize the spell and produce the appropriate shield to stop it. Quickly he decided to fall to the ground hoping that the spell would fly over him. The maneuver was almost successful, as the cutting spell only grazed the right side of his face slicing at his cheek and ear. Unfortunately, when he slammed onto the floor a more agonizing flood of pain came over him as he heard and felt the bones in his left shoulder break.
He winced from the pain and reflexively rolled backward off the injured shoulder. Unknowingly, the shift saved him as a third curse from the same attacker landed in the spot he had just occupied.
Again Harry found himself facing away from the front door and looking at the black haired Death Eater. The tall individual was starting to stir from the errant fall and Harry knew it wouldn't be much longer before he would have to face this attacker as well.
All these sights and thoughts processed within seconds and Harry knew that if he didn't move again, another spell would be on him. He rapidly got his footing under him and flung himself up and against the living room wall. He could only hope that this action would evade any spells that were coming from behind. The attempt worked as a purple hex just missed the back of his neck. The situation was quickly becoming more than desperate. Harry was sure that if he didn't slow down the aggressive red masked Death Eater at the front door he was going to soon be caught in crossfire.
With a grunt he turned and faced the attacker near the front door. He saw the Death Eater was already starting into another curse and he braced himself for the worst, but then from out of the fireplace a large owl flew into the room. Fortunately for Harry it distracted the Death Eater for a moment and allowed him to better compose himself to cast a curse. The attacker, which Harry was now sure was a woman, looked over to the owl and then back to Harry. Then Harry heard one of the most despised sounds in his life, from behind the white Death Eater mask the laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange rang out.
"Ha, wee little Potter's got no one to help him now!" Lestrange cackled. Her eyes flared behind her mask, "You're going to die just like my pathetic cousin!"
The mysterious owl paid no mind to the surrounding circumstances. It just dropped its letter on the floor and hurriedly flew back out the fireplace. Harry looked down at the letter and then back up at Lestrange. He was instantly enraged as he realized that it was his godfather's murderer attacking him, too much so to be bothered over some stupid letter.
His blood was boiling from the witch's taunts but the anger couldn't overcome the intense pain in his shoulder and face. Blood was running down his face and onto his neck and his right hand was shaking with adrenaline. He watched as Lestrange brought her wand above her for what very well might have been a final attack and realized if he was going to do anything it had to be now.
Before Lestrange could bring her wand back down, Harry snapped his wand just to the left of her, "REDUCTO!" he screamed.
The wall next to Lestrange exploded! Splintered wood and white drywall dust filled the air where Sirius Black's murderer once stood. Harry stared at the chaos of it, trying to see if his attacker was still there. What he saw was the image of something brown floating towards him through the dusty air. He made to run but the image cleared and he realized that it was another owl. "What the hell is going on!" He shouted.
The sight of the owl was beyond perplexing. It continued to fly towards Harry when he heard the sound of the Death Eater behind him recovering and grumbling incoherently. Whether it was enemy or friend, this owl was also was going to be ignored. Harry wasn't sure what impact, if any, the explosion had on Lestrange, but he was positive that he didn't have much longer before the recovering Death Eater in front of the hallway, was going to attack him.
Turning away from the front door, Harry sprinted toward the Death Eater in front of the hallway leading to the stairs. As soon as he was close enough he kicked him viciously across the face. The Death Eater fell limp again but Harry didn't stop to watch as he leapt over his cousin's body on the way to the stairs. Just as he rounded the base of the stairs a curse flew from out of the dust filled living room and smashed into the bottom banister on the stairs. The wooden pole exploded and sent splintering shards of wood flying everywhere. Harry tried to keep running but a large shard of wood lodged into the back of Harry's leg and forced him to collapse onto the stairs in pain.
He couldn't wait to assess the injury, he had to keep moving, so he pulled himself up the rest of the stairs and limped into his room. Tumbling through the doorway he slammed the door shut behind him and fell to the floor.
Now that he was out of immediate danger he was no longer able to calm the panic or ignore the severe pain from his extensive wounds. His face and leg burned, but the pain from his shoulder was excruciating. It was everything he could do to keep his eyes focused and stay conscious. He looked down to his leg and saw the large piece of splintered wood sticking gruesomely out of it. Without thought he reached down and wrenched the impaled object from him.
Harry's frantic state only escalated as he heard rustling downstairs, Lestrange's screaming voice echoed through the house as she cursed angrily while she revived her accomplice. He could hear them stumbling through the wreckage as they made their way up the stairs and toward his room.
He knew there had to be a way, something he could do to get himself out of this, but (literally) for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. He searched his room for a place to hide. He looked to the window as an escape, but the black sky outside offered no solution to his dilemma, if only he could apparate or if he had a portkey.
The sounds outside his door grew closer, and Harry settled on the idea that his best plan would be to stand behind the door and hope to surprise his attackers as they entered. He pushed himself up onto his good leg and leaned unsteadily against the wall. He didn't have to wait long as his door was kicked open and the first Death Eater was into the room.
"Stupefy!" Harry screamed.
He watched the tall, black haired Death Eater fall limp to the floor, but before Harry could manage another spell he heard Lestrange scream one of her own.
"Incarcerous"
Harry was instantly wrapped into the binding of magical ropes and dropped to the floor. The pain in his shoulder and leg exploded as the ropes tightened around him, digging into his injuries, and again he felt consciousness slipping away.
Smack!
"Stay with me ickle-Harry!" Lestrange hissed as she sent a hard backhand across his face "I want to get a little more pwaytime in with poor little Potty. My Lord told me that I can't kill you, but he didn't say anything about making you wish I would!" She was no longer wearing her mask, and Harry could see several cuts on the right side of her face.
Lestrange summoned Harry's wand to her hand. "My Lord is going to very pleased with me when I deliver this wand to him. Once he has this there will be no one who can stop him."
Tap, tap, tap!
Lestrange looked up and another wicked smile curled on her lips. "I think the ministry would really like a word with you Potter. Shall we see?" The witch strolled over to the window.
The sound of the raging storm outside filled the room as Lestrange opened the window and retrieved the letter. Opening it an even bigger smile grew over her face. "Dr. Mr Potter. We have received intelligence that you performed the blasting curse at forty-three minutes past blah ba-blah ba-BLAH!" Lestrange read mockingly from the letter.
"Worthless despicable fools the lot of them. How do you think we found you Potter? The ministry is easier to read then a book! All it took was to instigate a little fuss over the improper administration of a certain exam. Then we had all the time we needed to gather enough people to follow each OWL result to its destination." Lestrange hissed.
The sound of Lestrange's voice disgusted him. He willed against his bindings while she talked but between the pain and Lestrange's revelation of how she had found him he couldn't manage to break them.
"I doubt you've read enough books in your time to have what it takes to judge how easy it is to read the Ministry. It's obvious you're just a filthy lap dog for Voldemort. Let me free and I'll give you a bone to fetch!" Harry spat.
"Don't you dare say my Lord's name." Lestrange hissed as she smacked Harry across the face again. Blood from Harry's face smeared across the back of her hand.
Tap, tap, tap!
"Oh look Potter, see how accommodating the ministry is they've sent you some more letters, I guess you've been a bad wittle potty now haven't you." Lestrange said. "Guess I should punish you!"
Lestrange picked Harry up and flung him across the room to the floor in front of the window, the momentum caused his head to fling backwards through the glass pain. Rain and shards of glass fell over Harry as he writhed from the impact.
Lestrange turned to her fallen partner. "Get up you worthless scum! Enervate!" The stunned death eater shook from his unconscious state. "We don't have much time and I want to get some more punishment in on Potter here before we take him to our Master." Lestrange told him.
Harry watched the interaction between the two Death Eaters. He tried to focus again on breaking the bindings, but now he could feel the back of his head bleeding and cold rain was pouring over him through the broken window. Lestrange was turning back to him now and he feverishly set his mind to breaking the bonds.
"So Potter, where was I? Ah yes, I think I owe you a crucio don't I?" Once more, Lestrange raised her wand to set the painful curse on him.
Pop!
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Dobby appeared in the room in front of Harry and with a snap of his fingers and a flash both Death Eaters were thrown backward. Lestrange flew clear out of the bedroom, while the other assailant crashed violently into Harry's closet.
Dobby turned and faced Harry. "Harry Potter is terribly injured, Dobby must get his Master from here immediately!" The elf snapped his fingers again and the magical ropes disappeared
Harry looked over Dobby's shoulder and saw Lestrange getting back to her feet.
"Dobby look out!" Harry screamed.
But a flash of red light flew into the room and struck Harry's protector square in the chest. The elf was flung from his feet and smacked against the wall before falling to the bedroom floor.
Harry could now feel every inch of his body writhing with pain. He shivered as the cold rain pouring in on him soaked him to the core. His mind fought furiously to temper the anguish of it all, but the sensations were too great. Harry watched as the injured witch got back to her feet and slowly made her way back to the room. He could feel the violent gusts of wind blowing through the window and see the room light up as lightning flashed in the sky. He looked over to Dobby's still body and his heart burst with guilt.
His mind couldn't control the mass of sensations that came over him and the flood of it all made Harry feel sick. He stopped trying to fight it and gave into the pain. Then with a flash everything changed. His room again turned to shades of black and white, he looked over to Dobby and saw a faint flicker of yellow light around the elf. Ignoring the approaching Death Eater, Harry crawled away from the window and over to injured elf. Then he heard Lestrange's voice again.
"I guess I get to take another one of your pets Potter. First your dog and now your house elf. Well at least the house elf put up a bit of a fight before I killed him!"
Harry looked up to the witch and saw a crimson red glow around her, it wasn't beautiful like the glow he saw in the storm it was repulsing. It appeared frail and loathsome and didn't dance so fluidly around her, rather the light seemed rigid against her features. He stared as the image of Lestrange through the glow, and as he watched he saw a green ball form from the core of Lestrange's body. It was small at first, developing from the lower area of her stomach, but it grew in size and began to travel up to her arm and down to her wand. The sound was muffled to his ears but he heard Lestrange hiss the incantation of the killing curse.
Time slowed as his mind began to comprehend what was happening around him. The ability to process information without the distraction of an unfocused mind was lightning fast, the pain and panic was gone from his thoughts. He didn't feel cold, or wet, he only saw the magic forming from the witch, coming from her core, from out of her body, out of her stomach. He watched the green ball emanate from Lestrange's core and instantly the source of her magic, how she created it made perfect sense to him. He looked down to his own glowing form as the realization of what that meant flooded over him.
Harry watched the blue light that surrounded him flash red as he pulled at his own core, willing his mind to summon the curse from his stomach. He felt it grow hot and as he shot his arm forward he screamed, "STUPEFY!" The curse exploded from the end of his hand and exploded against Lestrange before she could finish her killing curse. Lestrange was heaved from her feet and smashed through the wall outside of Harry's room. A sickening crack echoed through the hall as her body was embedded into the wall.
The power of the moment over took him, he watched Lestrange's body settle gruesomely into the plaster and wood and knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he unleashed some more damage. Harry snapped his gaze over to the other fallen Death Eater and turned his pointed arm at him. He saw a yellow light flash around him as he pulled once more from his core. He clinched his fist while it pointed at the Death Eater and motioned his arm to the window above him. The motionless body of the Death Eater flew from its slumber and launched out the window.
Out of breath Harry slowly lowered his arm. He propped himself up against the wall under the window and slowly watched the colors of his room fade back into sight. As the sight disappeared the pain returned. Harry shut his eyes hard as the pain throbbed at him. When he opened them he saw his room light up from another bolt of lightening and shake from the accompanying thunder. As cold rain poured in on his damaged body he looked over to his dying house elf.
AN: A little early with this chapter, though I'm sorry to say that I won't be posting chapter 10 until next week (Wednesday at latest), hope this isn't too bad of a cliffhanger. Again the imagery was hard to manage, hope I succeeded in creating a scene your mind's eye could picture. As always, thank you for the reviews and amazing insight I've received. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment and make suggestions about Voldy's canon personality, very helpful.
After this chapter I'm going to post any responses to reviews in the review area because, like I said, I don't care for long Author's Notes and I'm too long winded to keep responses short.
I added something to the AN in chapter 2. A reviewer r pointed out a quote that I paraphrased from the movie Dogma without acknowledging so. Totally an oversight and absolutely correct for r to point that out. Sorry about that. Kevin Smith is a genius, Jersey Girl comes out next week too, can't wait to see it.
zorro x(and other's who commented on ships) – I'd love to hear about some of the concepts you think are overused, honestly. I have an idea and some are pretty hard to step around without writing some level of an AU fic, but if I knew what others thought these overused concepts were I would definitely work to add more twist to them later on to keep things somewhat unique. As for the ship, don't expect Harry to find any soul mate; don't expect him to even look for it. The honest truth is none of the characters have really stepped forward in my mind to be Harry's love interest. As an author some ships require much more work to make believable without just throwing a huge twist into the established Potterverse (Hermione), some are set up for an easy transition (Ginny); either way each bring their own baggage in how they fit with Harry. I'm sure everyone sees this. The theme of romantic love is too important to leave out, but for me I have to keep it in the context of a sixteen year old. Thanks for the review.
ADJ – Hope you don't have any bald spots. =) I really appreciated your input about Occlumency good stuff. (thanks a lot, you just made the fic a chapter or two longer). My hardest work is going to come in developing the characters, and I will do my best not to short you there. The more I write the more I realize what a monumental task JK takes on with each book. It's easy in the summer when there's mainly Harry and few others. Is there anyone Harry can trust more than Ron? Thanks again for the review.
templar1112002 – Ginny's development has less to do with romantic notions, though I'm not convinced she wouldn't take her shot at Harry if she thought the possibility was there. I know that I would have done the same with some of my crushes, even after I was over them. I really appreciate all the input. Thanks for the review.
Rhinemjr – I'm glad the Occlumency passages were confusing. I figured if I couldn't understand what the hell I was trying to say you might not either =).
MidKnight – (Ever had that Tyler Durden (sp?) feeling – Fight Club style). Maybe you're me reviewing when I think I'm sleeping, or am I you writing the story when you're sleeping. Awesome input and alarmingly close to all I've considered. Though if I think it would be hard to get around to predictable ships, imagine the work it would take to develop Tonks in that role. We'll store it away to cook for now. Though I'm not going to sleep tonight to test my theory. rofl As always, thank you for your reviews!
Halstead – thank for the links, I started reading Rise of Chaos today, the spell layering idea he/she created is awesome (wishing I had thought of that!). Your right of course about the updating speed, not only the interruptions but story complexity makes the chapters harder to write too. Thanks for the review.
Jabba1 – I should have just referred my comments about the ships to your review, nail on the head that one. Thanks for the compliments and definitely more Winky in the future, I love the house elves. Thanks for the long review and your input!
Laura – I appreciate the fic suggestion, I will give that a read. Your input on Voldemort was helpful too. Glad your liking the story, thank for the review.
HermioneGreen – about Sirius and the pensieve, I can't give that away (sorry). But at the least I can tell you that the lack of memory requires Harry to have to cope with the fact that the man himself is gone, but still offers the opportunity for all of Sirius' potential to still find it's way into the story. I was really upset that JK offed him, poor Harry.
Mikee – I can't say how much I blushed at your review, you would have appreciated the happy dance…well maybe not, but it was funny to see. It made me want to post chapter 9 the same day just to get one last one out there before you got to the end. Thanks for your review.
Thanks again for all the reviews. Hope this chapter was to your liking. Again, I won't post comments at the end of the chapters anymore, but rather in the review section. If you all know a better way, or would prefer I stay with this format let me know. ~ Omagic