Part 4 – The Balance Regained

Chapter 13 – Gem Power

"You don't know me, Death Eaters," the Cloaked Figure said in the midst of the Forbidden Forest. "But I am a balance-keeper. I am the one Voldemort serves and your true master."

"I have guided you here today, to start a new age; an age where order and swift justice are not crimes! An age when there is no so called good vs. evil! An age where balance is kept!"

"This my friends, is my passion and my life. Voldemort, means nothing to me. You, mean nothing to me. But the fact is, no matter how inescapable you want it to sound, you cannot say that our paths are different! Because Death Eaters, they are not! We lie on the same path, and that path is to bring justice back to Hogwarts!"

"When we arrive we shall make the school a battleground! We shall take out the useless training these so-called wizards go through. We will take the Mudbloods out!"

"You may think I'm fanatical. I am not. You may think that I am crazy. I am not. You may think that I am just using you all for my own dark purposes. I am not. Let us benefit from this friendship and give glory to the name of pureblood."

"Men, you have your orders. Make the final plans tonight and you will attack tomorrow." The Cloaked Figure turned slightly. Was that Potter in the bushes over there? And why in the hell was he naked of all blasted things. He looked closer and saw that it was. Perfect. When he looked again, Potter was gone. He finished his speech with more sappy, politically drenched words and stepped off the stand.

"Voldemort, Potter is here," The Cloaked Figure said.

"Really? How do you know?"

"Because I saw him spying on us," the Cloaked Figure replied, smugly. He couldn't wait until he saw Voldemort's reaction to this.

Indeed it was good. Voldemort's face became slightly pink, for he was white to begin with, and his mouth bristled. "And you did not tell me because...?"

"You fool!" the Cloaked Figure spat. "Potter is no fool. You will meet him on your own time! I will not interfere." The fool. He was so easily manipulated and he did not even realize it.

"My Lord, with all due respect, I could have finally ended the Potter situation now."

"And if you lose! Are you willing to lose in front of some of your best Death Eaters, forever being branded as the idiot who couldn't kill Harry Potter." The Cloaked Figure grinned underneath his hood. "Who had countless chances to."

"That is beside the point-!" Voldemort raged.

"Careful Voldemort," the Cloaked Figure said warningly. "Just because Vivificus Auctorita doesn't exist, does not mean that I don't have other ways to keep you under control."

Voldemort fell dead, but did not speak. The Cloaked Figure stood, "You do have my permission however, to engage him in psychological warfare. Just do not kill him!" As if Voldemort could.

"Yes My Lord."

"Meanwhile, I will seek out and talk to Potter." After all, Potter is not a fool.

I always hate it when I have to keep the balance. It's so stressful, he thought and walked off.

The uncomfort grew as they journey through the forest, not speaking to each other on the way back. They did not hurry through the woods without looking back, nor were they speaking to each other. They knew what they had just shared, and they both were a little afraid of it, a little ashamed of it, and a little excited by it.

Slowly, foot by foot, they started to emerge into lighter sections of the forest. Harry turned to glance at Hermione, but she was keeping up. Something felt strange to Harry though. It was almost like a vaguely familiar presence swooping down on him. He had thought it might have just been since he was in here before, but he had a feeling that was not it.

He heard a snap under his foot as he walked over a stick, but that did not break his stride. Harry looked at the tree. It was leaning over. Surely it would fall at an angle like that!

Then he noticed that the other trees were swaying slightly also. What in the world? He shook his head. It was spinning and he couldn't control it.

It happened slowly at first, but slowly, faster and faster the forest was becoming a blur of motion. He tried to hold on to his head and shook it a little bit, which seemed to help. No it didn't. Never mind.

Stumbling slightly, he grabbed a tree and held on. What was happening? He thought he distantly heard Hermione say, "What's the matter Harry? Do you need to sit down," before he gave in to the ever swallowing blackness of the void.

His scar was in flames for the first time in seven years. It was his sixth year wasn't it, when he finally got rid of the awful pains. Now, he instinctively clutched at it, like a memory he did not want to lose. And there was the person to whom Harry knew would come.

Lord Voldemort.

His voice seemed to echo in the void, making it sound tall and menacing. "Harry Potter. Finally we end it."

"No!" Harry shouted. It would not end like this. He would fight Voldemort in person. That was the only way, but this mind struggle seemed so...cheap to Harry.

"Have you ever heard of a proper duel?" Harry asked trying to sound slightly miffed about this whole operation.

"Of course I have Harry, but never mind that! Just die!"

Harry struggled against the pain as the red body flashed around him. He felt terrible and wished he would just die. "Are you really this cowardly?" Harry shouted and laughed.

His taunt did not work. Voldemort didn't seem to care anymore because he had no pride. It would end right here, Voldemort would end it now."

He looked up, expecting to see Voldemort's foul face sneering at him, but instead saw Hermione.

Stay there Hermione he thought to himself, willing her to hear. Don't come into the void! But instead, she reached out her hand and pulled him up. He was lifting gloriously towards the light, away from Voldemort, away from the pain. He didn't even think about what had been plaguing him for months he was so relieved. He didn't think about that he eventually would have to meet Voldemort.

"Harry, I've seen it before. It's caused by stress!"

Harry shook his head. "No it wasn't," he replied. "It was Voldemort." Hermione opened her mouth slightly in shock, but then thought better of it. Her eyes were deep and unmoving, and he just stared, losing himself in the endless chasm of blue.

After a few minutes, Harry finally snapped out of it and said, "How far do we have?"

"We're almost there I think Harry, only we're-," she continued at Harry's prompting, "we're a little lost."

Harry nodded. This looked vaguely familiar, and he was sure that once his mind was clear, he would be able to think of the way out.

"Let's just wait here a bit," he said smiling. She looked at him and sighed. "Harry we have to make up for lost time. You were out nearly ten minutes."

"But we don't know where we are," Harry protested. "If we go the wrong direction, we might end up wandering and wasting even more time."

"So then what are our choices?" Hermione asked, her hands, again on her hips.

"Well, we can wait until I think of it, waste five minutes, but be sure that I know the way and we'll get out. Or we can choose to go in a direction randomly on the slight chance we might find our way out."

Hermione grinned. "I like slight chances. That's when we seem to work best." Harry saw determination in her eyes, and a spark he never usually saw.

"So you want to go on."

"Harry, I'm pretty sure that if we go that way," she replied, pointing to a path leading to the right, "we'll find the way out."

Harry sighed again, but relented, mumbling, "You're usually the rational one."

It was just another sign that he had matured since Hogwarts, thinking with his head, not his heart. So much had changed since then, there was such difference in people's motivations since then. Politics were minimal at Hogwarts, but now, people were always calculating, always trying to find the situation that would suit them best. Harry hated it.

He followed her slowly until they were some feet away from where they just were. The forest was growing darker again, and Harry thought he saw the leaves becoming thicker overhead. There was absolutely no possible way that this was the right way.

Harry just continued. He had to give Hermione the chance to prove herself. He had to almost let her fail. The problem was, was that right now, that could prove fatal to Hogwarts.

"I knew it was this way," Hermione fumed, kicking a log.

"Just forget it okay? We'll find another way out," Harry replied, tiredly. "Let's just sit and rest for a few moments." Harry sat down on a log to his left and kicked out his feet, as if it was the most comfortable chair he had ever sat on.

Reluctantly, Hermione sat down next to him, her face red, and fuming. Harry did not say a thing. He knew the emotional turmoil Hermione was going through right now, and did not want to break into her thoughts. He, especially, knew how bad it was to have someone prying at your thoughts.

Thus, they sat in silence a few moments. Harry looked around, and grinned slightly. How ironic was it that they were lost in the Forbidden Forest? How many times had they been in here before? Although, Harry had to admit, they had never been this far in before.

"Harry?" Hermione spoke up quietly.

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Do you think you can kill Voldemort?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted looking at the ground, "but I'll try."

"I know you will," Hermione said, trying to reassure Harry about his plight.

Harry smiled sadly. "Well, if you didn't say that, I'd be a little worried." He turned to face her. "Hermione, this battle will be like nothing you've ever seen before."

"Why?"

"Because we can't kill each other with magic," Harry shrugged it off. This was old news anyways. "We'll have to kill each other with Muggle weapons."

Harry stood up. "I'm going to have a look around, and see if anything rings a bell." Hermione nodded, and he walked off into the vanishing blackness.

Harry walked around the woods, until he finally got through, out of the earshot of Hermione. "Come on Cloaked Figure, I know you're around here," he mumbled. He had seen him a few minutes ago, as they were walking towards a partially cleared spot in the woods.

"Yes I am, Harry Potter," he heard a voice to his left. Harry spun.

"You said you wanted Voldemort dead," Harry raged.

"And I do. But like I've always said Harry Potter, keep your friends close, and your enemies...even closer."

Harry looked at the man in disbelief. No way could he be manipulating Voldemort. It was practically impossible.

"Harry Potter, the final battle is coming, and you must be prepared."

"Prepared for what? I thought you had taught me enough all ready."

"Almost, except for one thing."

"And what is that?"

"Vivificus Auctorita, Harry Potter."

"The Gem-Power Spell?" Harry gasped. That was a legendary spell where you would gain unimaginable power, by sealing it in a stone, but you would lose it if the stone broke, becoming weaker than one could possibly imagine.

"The very same," the Cloaked Figure replied.

"You're not going to...do that on me?" Harry asked, a little afraid.

"Voldemort has it as well. He will crush you like a pig. But...if that's what you want-,"

Harry sighed. He would have to, if he wanted to save the World. "Alright."

When Harry got back, he looked at Hermione. She blinked, and then looked up. Her face brightened in astonishment, and she stood. "Harry, I remember."

"Remember what?" Harry asked, not daring to believe.

"Just follow me," she replied, as if Harry would trust her with directions again. Harry wasn't so forgiving.

"Wait a minute Hermione," Harry said, and stood. "Where are you-,"

"Just come on," she replied and grabbed his hand. Harry, still trying to break free, finally accepted it, and they journeyed farther in the direction they had just come from. As they walked farther, Harry's trepidation lessened as they were getting farther and farther.

Finally the trees started to thin after about ten minutes. Harry looked up, "Hermione,
you-,"

"Yes I know, Harry just come on. We have to hurry." Harry had seen Hermione like this rarely. She was bound a determined to figure get back to Hogwarts. It was a fire that was only reawakened when a breath of oxygen came inside her body.

Finally the trees cleared, and standing in front of them was Hogwarts castle. It glittered in the moonlight, unaware that the final battle would take place under its graceful spires and towers.

Harry sighed. "Let the final battle begin," he said, and, ignoring the feeling of forbidding he got when he did, raced up the grounds towards the Entrance.