Title: Harry Potter and the Staff of Merlin

Author: Legolas-gurl88

Disclaimer: J.K., not me.

Author Note: Sorry for delay and grammer problems. I wrote this quickly because of time.

Story time!

()o()o()

33. Deadly Moves

"You heard what I said, Potter, don't dawdle!" screeched Frost angrily, dropping the Invisibility Cloak and pulling out her wand, pointing it at Harry. "Give it to me."

"How-- how did you--" Harry asked as his friends watched Frost advance on Harry, who took several steps backwards. His hands became sweaty as he gripped the staff, his wand in his pocket once more.

"Escape?" Frost laughed. "The Dark Lord knows how much I sacrificed for him! He helps those who help him!"

"It wasn't in the news--"

"Stupid boy," said Frost quietly. "I only escaped an hour ago, maybe two. They're looking for me now, but they will never find me. The Dark Lord will protect me."

"You horrible, horrible witch!" Hermione sobbed behind Frost. Harry saw her eyes glint happily as though she were having the time of her life. In the faded light of the room, Harry could see how hollow her face had become since he last saw her in the courtroom. She looked like a gaunt skeleton, rising from the dead.

"Shut up, girl, or I'll be forced to take out all of you." she said, pointing her wand at Hermione. Harry's heart skipped a beat. How dare Frost threaten his friends? Anger began to boil in the pit of his stomach and he surprisingly felt a sudden heat rising through the staff in his hand. At the top, where there was a knot, blue light began to glow and it shot itself at Frost's hand, causing her to drop her wand. Hermione rushed forward and took up her wand. The blue flash continued to play around Frost's hand and she screamed in pain. Finally, the light died away to reveal her hand as a mess of bursting boils, cuts, and mutilation.

Harry stared at what he had done to her hand. She breathed heavily and let out a war cry. From her spot a few feet away from Harry, she pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. The staff rolled away from his hand as he wrestled with her. Taking her fist back, she readied it to hit Harry's nose, but as she brought it down, he caught her wrist with his hand, but she merely drew back her injured hand and sank it into his stomach.

The wind was completely knocked out of Harry and he gasped for air as she took her hand and sank it into his ribs. Harry allowed his head to clear of pain and he used his strength to roll over and now he was on top of her, straddling her, both hands clamped around her throat.

Despite lack of air, she cackled. Using the last of her strength, she pulled her leg back and kicked him off of her. He landed several feet away on his back, his head hitting the ground painfully. Harry could hear Hermione and Ginny shriek as he landed, a white light searing in front of his eyes and he scrambled to his feet and Frost did as well. Breathing heavily, the two of them stared at each other.

In all the confusion, the staff had rolled out of Harry's hand and now lay several feet away from Frost. Once she realized this, she gave a shout of happiness and ran for it. Before she could touch it, Harry dove for it and grabbed it firmly by the middle, rolling quickly around and pointing it at Frost, who stopped in her tracks, mutilated hand extended.

"Get away," Harry said dangerously. Knowing perfectly well what Harry was capable of with the staff in his possession, Frost eyed him and backed slowly away. Once she was at a safe distance, Harry struggled to his feet, staff still pointed at her. "You can't win. There are more of us than you."

At this, Frost's half-moon glasses, so much like Dumbledore's only with a malevolent glint to them, brightened and she smiled yet again, sending shivers running down Harry's spine and he knew that he was quite wrong with his statement.

"You underestimate my power, Potter," she hissed. "When freeing me from Azkaban, the Dark Lord gave me the power only he previously had and could bestow. The power to call my associates." With that, she reached over with her disfigured hand and pulled the left sleeve up past her elbow to reveal a tattoo of the Dark Mark, painted permanently into her skin. Harry ran forward, knowing what she was about to do, but it was too late; with her thumb, she pressed hard upon the Dark Mark and it instantly began to glow black.

"Now, Potter, be a good boy and give me the staff before my true colleagues come along and we might spare your friends."

"And Harry?" Ginny asked bravely, clutching her wounded arm. Frost rounded on her and Ginny fell backward into Hermione and the two of them quivered.

"Stupid girl," said Frost. "The Dark Lord has been hunting Potter all of his useless life. Do you think I would really let him go? Just be thankful if you can save your own skin tonight!"

"If you kill us," said Mark, his voice shaking, "you'll be caught. It would look quite strange that six Gryffindors disappeared at once."

"Yes, and it would be so simple for them to find you as well," said Frost contemptuously, "what with the Dark Lord and Potter being the last remaining Parselmouths."

"How did you get down here, then?" Ron asked angrily.

"I followed you down here, under my invisibility cloak." she said, pointing to the cloak that lay on the ground in a heap. She turned back to Harry, who still held the staff out. Frost eyed it warily. "Give me the staff. Do not make me tell you again, Potter."

"So Voldemort can use it? Never." said Harry. Frost hissed.

"Do not say the name of my master with your filthy mouth. If the Dark Lord did not want to kill you himself, I would do it for him in an instant. I would not play with fire, Little Potter."

Harry would have answered, but suddenly, there was a swishing sound of cloaks on wind and several figured materialized out of thin air before Harry's eyes. Each individual was wearing again the pale mask that marked them Voldemort's followers. Behind one of the masks, Harry could see the familiar grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy, a traitor to the Ministry of Magic.

"Hello, again, Potter," his drawing voice came from behind the mask. He unsheathed his wand from the inside of his billowing sleeve. "Thank you for retrieving the weapon for us. Now hand it over."

"Never," said Harry. The top knot of the wooden staff began glowing blue.

"Careful, Malfoy," said Frost. "Potter's found out how to use that thing." She held up her ruined hand and Malfoy eyed it before turning back to Harry.

"Potter, do not make this a repeat of last year, or I will have to get violent."

"Not that you care what happens to us anyway." said Harry. Malfoy laughed, his mask blocking the full sound of malice.

"I do not, but the Dark Lord would. He has grown even more powerful since last year, biding his time until his moment to strike you again."

The blue jet of flames playing around at the top of the staff, threatening attack suddenly shot from the wooden knot and to the face of one of the Death Eaters standing behind Malfoy. The Death Eater shrieked in pain, scratching at his deteriorating mask, his face becoming more mutilated.

"Lift it off! Lift it off!" Malfoy yelled, running to his friend. Hoping Harry could possibly strike a deal with the Death Eaters, maybe even save his friends, he willed the spell to stop its work. When the glowing blue flame disappeared, the attacked Death Eater shuddered and fell onto his stomach, unconscious, but still breathing. Harry looked over at his friends. Hermione was shielding her eyes from the gruesome sight of the Death Eater's mangled appearance. Ginny was sitting on the ground, watching everything. Ron, Mark and Neville were standing side-by-side, wands pulled out and ready to fight.

"You weren't pardoned by Fudge," said Harry to Malfoy. "He wouldn't pardon you after seeing what you really are."

"It took you long enough to come to the proper conclusion," said Malfoy, standing up. Two other Death Eaters swooped forward and picked up the unconscious Death Eater, carrying him off. "I thought it wouldn't take you so long, but your addled mind is slowing. Fudge was under my Imperious Curse for nearly two years."

"Your Imperious Curse?" Harry asked.

"Don't you remember, Potter? The day of your hearing? You saw me and him talking and I took him to his office. There, I performed the curse."

"Then why did he send you to Azkaban last year?" retorted Harry, clutching the staff firmly in his hand, ready to attack anyone who came any closer to him.

"The Dark Lord's orders. Don't you think it would have looked suspicious if he pardoned all of us after we were revealed; thanks to that fool, Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore's no fool," said Harry defensively. He scanned the area to see if there was a way he could walk to his friends without being stopped, but they were being guarded all around.

"He's next to die-- after you." said Malfoy, holding up his wand. "Now, give me the staff or I will have to take it by force."

"You can forget about me handing it over," said Harry. For a split second, Malfoy's eyes widened in anger and he pointed his wand at Harry's head.

"Crucio!" he shouted, but Harry was quick on the uptake. He dove to the right and rolled over and over, the staff falling from his grasp once again. Stopping short a few feet from Ginny, Harry scrambled to his feet and pulled out his wand. Another Death Eater was already running at the staff.

"Accio!" Harry said, his voice ringing in the din, but the Death Eater hurled himself at the staff, landing on it as it scooted a few inches towards Harry. He was surprised it hadn't snapped under the heavy weight of the Death Eater. The dark figure stood, the staff clutched in his hand, but dropped it in surprise as Mark hurtled himself at it, ramming into the Death Eater's back. The staff clattered to the ground once more and Neville dove forward, taking it up and throwing it back to Harry, who caught it with his left hand.

Frost ran forward, shouting and hit Harry head on, knocking him to the ground.

"Neville!" Harry yelled, throwing her the staff. He caught it back and began to run around the room. On the other side of the room, there were tunnels upon tunnels. Without a thought, he darted into one of the tunnels, disappearing completely. Harry was confused by the fact that none of the Death Eater's saw this, but in the rest of the chaos, no one noticed Neville leave with the staff.

"Wait!" someone yelled. "Where'd the staff go?"

"Someone took it!"

"Where's that boy?"

"He took the staff?"

"Where'd he go?"

"Where is he?"

"Look! Tunnels!"

"He must have gone down there!"

"After him!"

Each Death Eater spoke and they came to the easy conclusion as to where the staff disappeared to.

"Frost, stay here. Make sure Potter and the others don't escape!" said Malfoy as he and the rest of the Death Eaters took off after Neville. Ron ran forward and kicked Frost off of Harry and pulled his friend to his feet. Frost lay a few feet away, attempting to clamber to her feet.

"C'mon," Ron called to Ginny, Hermione and Mark, "before she gets up."

But just as they ran past her, she used her wavering energy to grab Hermione's ankle, dragging her to the ground.

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron yelled, stopping and turning around and Frost pulled herself and Hermione to their feet. Her arm was around Hermione's throat and her wand was pointed strait at Hermione's heart.

"Let her go," said Harry, pulling out his own wand.

"What if I don't? You can't hurt me, Potter." said Frost dangerously. "As for me… I think you need to be taught some lessons-- lessons that your Muggle family hasn't taught you. That life doesn't come easily… and doesn't end easily."

With that, she pointed her wand at Hermione's head and shouted, "Crucio!"

Hermione's screams echoed off the walls into a hundred times. Harry and Ron flinched as they watched Hermione crumple to the ground in agony. Mark and Ginny also watched Hermione, unsure of what they could possibly do to help.

"Let her go! Stop it! Stop it!" Harry pleaded, watching the twitching figure of his best friend. Frost, however, did not stop. "STOP-- IT!" Harry yelled and out of pure gut feeling, he took a running leap and landed strait on top of Frost. Hermione's screams were cut off and she lay, twitching on the ground. Harry, however, did not see as he pulled back his fist and sank it as hard as he possibly could into Frost's stomach.

Frost did not yell in pain, but instead, struggled to turn to her side and vomit excess water and blood. She kicked Harry off her and he rolled before he landed so he would not hit his head again, landing on his stomach instead. His wand flew out of his grasp again and he struggled to reach it while still laying on his stomach. Frost jumped to her feet, blood running down her chin. Scooting forward, Harry reached for his wand, but Frost stepped on his hand, using all her weight to cause him pain. He yelled and tried to jerk his hand back, but she kept her foot down, pressing harder and harder. Harry heard his bones groan and knew they would break if she continued to press down. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ron running forward to help Hermione up and pull her to safety.

Harry, out of desperation, used his weak hand to punch Frost's leg, hoping she would stop crushing his wand hand. To his surprise, she did. Without stopping to think of why she would do this, Harry clambered to his feet, holding his hand which was already beginning to bruise.

"You've tried my patience too much, Potter," said Frost, a mad glint appearing from behind her glasses.

"D-- don't kill Harry," Hermione gasped from behind him. "P-please."

"Shut up, Girl!" Frost shouted. Anger boiled in Harry's stomach, but he could do nothing: his wand still lay too far away from him. For a split second, he thought of doing magic without his wand, but that though vanished as quickly as it had come. If he could barely levitate a pillow from inches away, there would be no way he could do any serious damage to Frost without his wand. "The Dark Lord wants Potter alive. Have you not been able to get that through your thick skull yet? However, he said nothing about any of you."

"Leave them alone, Frost," said Harry, his left hand clenching, his right hand throbbing, thinking of the irony of both him and Frost having injured hands. "If you want to fight anyone… fight me."

"Yes, it would be much more telling to fight you and bring you to the Dark Lord so he could finish you off, wouldn't it?" said Frost, holding her wand up.

"Accio!" Ginny said from behind Harry, and he saw his wand disappear as it scooted towards her. "Harry!" she said, scooping his wand up and throwing it to him. He caught it, his joints creaking as he wrapped his injured fingers around it. Frost looked scared as Harry was once again equipped with his weapon. In panic, she pointed her wand at him and shouted the fatal curse, "Avada Kedavra!"

It went in slow motion. Harry heard the rushing sound of death and a bright green light flaring at him like a snake rearing it head, ready to strike him. Stunned and unprepared, Harry did nothing. He merely stood where he was, waiting for the spell to finally claim his life, as it had done to his parents. At the last minute, when the spell was dangerously close, he felt hands push him away and he lost his balance, falling to the floor on his shoulder. Turning on his spot on the ground, he looked up in time to see a taken aback Frost watch as the green light hit someone other than her target. In the light, Harry could not see who the figure was. But as the person fell to the ground, Harry was sure his heart stopped completely, his breath caught in his chest.

Ron crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide and shocked, staring at the ceiling, his mouth gaping, his limbs spread out… he was unquestionably… dead.

"Ron!" Harry shouted, his eyes beginning to water and he let them fall, not worried about who would see.

"Ron!" Ginny sobbed, running towards her brother.

"No!" Hermione shrieked and she ran right at Ginny's heels. The three of them reached Ron's body at the same time, kneeling down. Ginny was shaking her head, her hand on her brother's chest, shaking him disbelievingly, hoping that he would wake up.

"Ron, wake up… please-- Ron-- wake up… Ron-- please-- wake-- up…" Ginny said between her sobs. Harry looked into his best friend's blank eyes.

"Damn it, Ron, why? You shouldn't have pushed me." he said, angry at Ron for leaving them. He looked up to see Mark standing there, watching his Quidditch Captain's body, his jaw quivering.

Frost let out a shriek of laughter and Harry jumped-- he had forgotten she was there. Suddenly, he felt angry-- angrier than he'd ever felt in his life-- even when Sirius died. Ron. Why Ron? Why?

It was Frost, said the voice in his head.

He looked up into the eyes of the person who killed Ron. Her wand was pointed directly at him, ready to kill him too.

She killed Ron, the voice continued.

I'm next, Harry thought numbly. The others didn't seem to notice the threat, pointing strait at them.

Not unless you do something, said the voice.

Like what? Harry asked.

…Make her suffer.

It made sense to Harry. He could feel anger pulsing harder and harder through his body. Ron was dead. It was because of this… woman. His anger carried and he remembered Sirius falling through the veil. Cedric's wide eyes as he stared blankly at Harry. Cho screaming as the Cruciatus Curse hit her. Those people in Madame Puddifoots.

For too long had he sat back and watched his friends and family die. No more. He was going to avenge Ron, Hermione, Cho, Sirius, Cedric, everyone in the tea shop… his mother… his father…

I want to cause pain… Harry told himself, standing and pointing his wand at Frost, who looked shocked as she did the same to him, Let her feel an inkling of my pain… what she and others like her have done to me and my friends… to my family and my life…

… Harry told himself, standing and pointing his wand at Frost, who looked shocked as she did the same to him,

Do it now… the voice whispered.

"Crucio!" Harry shouted, his voice not his own, but deeper, more powerful and angered. To his surprise, Frost dropped to the ground and screamed. However, she did not stand back up and mock him as Bellatrix had. Harry , however, kept the curse going, draining all of his own anger and pain into Frost as she shrieked and writhed on the ground like a serpent.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, running up to him and grabbing his arm. "Stop! You'll kill her! Stop!"

"It's no more than she deserves. She's working for Voldemort. She killed Ron." Harry choked quietly. He turned and looked at Hermione. Her face was red and tears were streaming from her eyes, down her cheeks, falling to the ground.

"Harry," she whispered weakly. Then she opened her mouth and closed it several times, at a loss for words. Harry could hear the pain in her voice over the screeches from Frost.

"It's her fault so many people are dead." he said, his face turning red with effort to keep the spell going.

"But do you want to sink to her level… to be the cause of a death?" Hermione said. Harry sighed. Shaking, he lifted the curse and Frost's screams ceased and she sobbed on the ground, her arms wrapped over her head like a defenseless piece of vermin. Panting, Harry dropped his arm to his side and stared at Hermione. Then he let his head hang.

"Let's go find Neville," said Hermione quietly. "I'm sure he'll need our help."

Harry stared at Ron's body.

"He'll be here when we get back. Don't worry," said Hermione, tears pouring down her face.

"I'll come too," said Ginny, standing up, her eyes red.

"And me," said Mark, stepping forward.

"A-alright," said Harry. "Let's go."

()o()o()

They had been running for what seemed ages. The tunnels would fork off into different ways and Harry would always stop to decide which way to go. Each tunnel was dark and eerie. The only sound that could be heard were their footsteps as they ran deeper and deeper, unsure of what they would find.

Finally, they began to hear shouting.

"Where'd he go?"

"He was just here!"

They stopped and sank back into another fork off a tunnel, making sure the voices were not coming their way.

"Harry!" someone hissed and everyone jumped. They looked behind them and saw Neville cramming himself into the farthest corner to stay hidden, the staff in his grasp.

"Neville," said Harry. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." panted Neville. "I dunno how far they are behind me. Where's Ron?"

No one answered him.

"They sound close," said Hermione.

"Really close," Mark said, looking around the corner. Suddenly, he pulled his head back around. "Way too close!" he hissed to his friends. "They're just at the end of the tunnel!"

"What do we do?"

"This's a dead end!" Neville said, feeling around.

"Shh!" Hermione hissed. "Be quiet!"

The footsteps of the Death Eaters grew closer and closer. Everyone pressed themselves up against the wall, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The Death Eaters passed them, not looking left or right and once the last robe disappeared from their sight, Hermione pressed her finger to her mouth. Quietly, she snuck around the corner, walking in the direction the Death Eaters had come from. All of them tip-toed right after her, Neville brining up the rear with the staff.

The corner neared and the Death Eaters were nearly out of sight. Harry held his breath, hoping they wouldn't turn around randomly and see them. However, he jumped as he heard a yell and a crash behind him. Whipping around, he saw that Neville had tripped over his shoelace and was lying on his stomach.

"Hey!" a Death Eater shouted and they all turned and saw the six Gryffindors, Harry and Mark running to pull Neville to his feet.

"After them!" Lucius Malfoy yelled from somewhere in the group and the hoard of Death Eaters began stampeding towards them.

"Hurry!" Hermione yelled, but by the time Neville was on his feet, the Death Eaters slammed into them, causing Mark, Neville and Harry to fall to the ground again. The next few minutes, it was like a war zone. The Death Eaters used their wands in every way they could; shooting spells and jabbing them into the ribs of the students. Harry pulled out his wand.

"STUPEFY!" he shouted, and a red light shot itself at one of the Death Eaters. "STUPEFY!" he yelled again, searching the crowd for the staff. "Where's-- NEVILLE!"

"Here!" Neville's voice shouted, but Harry couldn't see him. He pushed his way through the band of Death Eaters, toward the direction the voice came in. Suddenly, he heard a shouting and another yell from Lucius.

"I've got it!" he shouted. "Fall back!"

The mob of Death Eaters backed off, Lucius in the front. Harry looked around. Neville lay on the ground, unconscious. Mark was not far from him, sitting up and holing his hand to his nose, which was bleeding. Hermione stood over Ginny, both their faces pale, Ginny clutching her wounded arm.

"Now, Potter," said Malfoy, totally unmasked, pointing the staff at Harry. "Stay still--"

Harry was unsure of what Malfoy was intending to do, but he never found out. At that moment, there was a loud, bodiless, reverberating shriek. Everyone looked wildly around, their eyes searching for what make the sound. Suddenly, a large flying figure swooped down on the Death Eaters. They all screamed, ducking as the form flew over them, knocking some of them in the back of the head with its back hooves.

"Buckbeak!" said Harry incredulously.

"What?" Hermione said. However, there was no more time for them to say anything, for the Hippogriff grabbed the staff from Malfoy's grip with his talons and flew off, into the dead end corridor that the students had been hiding in before.

"Ain't that the Hippogriff I was s'posed to kill?" said a Death Eater that could have only been Macnair.

"Yes, the one that injured my son!" Malfoy shouted. "Get it!"

However, before any of them moved, there was a loud crack from passageway that left everyone clueless. What was Buckbeak doing? Nothing happened at all, everyone staring at the corner, hoping the Hippogriff would appear from behind it soon. Finally, there was movement, but what came out from behind the corridor was not Buckbeak. Instead, the staff clutched in his hand, an old man appeared, staring at the scene before him.

Stunned, there was no movement as the old man looked at everyone who was watching him.

"Goodness," he said, then smiled.

L--

Sorry for not being able to post this a bit earlier. My muse just wouldn't come, no matter how hard I tried. So this chapter isn't as good as my last one, but hopefully the next one will be better.

JeanieBeanie- I'm sorry it seemed a little too familiar to J.K.'s books for you, but I had fun writing them. I'm glad, though, that you liked that Harry had a grave! I was spooked when I thought of that idea, but really proud that I'd thought of it. Hope you had fun in Wyoming!

Katie- Glad you liked it!

David305- Yeah. Sorry about the Wormtail/Wormtongue thing. I am also a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan. Like… HUGE! So I do get those names confused. Sorry!

Fern12- Yay for quick updates!

Pipaluga- You know, I was just realizing I hadn't heard from you in a while when you reviewed! It's weird how that stuff happens. Oh, I'd love to have a job picking strawberries! Instead, I shelf books at a secondhand bookstore. I'm glad you're still enjoying my story. Maybe you can buy the book wherever you're going.

Jeanne2- Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Starsmiles- I knew it: ) I was writing the thing with the tiles that fall away and was wondering how many people would say it reminded them of Indiana Jones! It made me laugh when the next day, several people had told me. My friend is a huge Indiana Jones fan, and from her, I'm beginning to be.

I it: ) I was writing the thing with the tiles that fall away and was wondering how many people would say it reminded them of Indiana Jones! It made me laugh when the next day, several people had told me. My friend is a huge Indiana Jones fan, and from her, I'm beginning to be.

Huggiebear- I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter… it's kinda morbid, what Harry can do with the staff, huh?

Mei1105- Yup… Indiana Jones! Can't wait to hear from you and Lady Mearie again!

Charming-Lynn- YAY! Lol!

Gogglehead Lover- Have a fun time in Mexico if I don't hear from you before that! And enjoy HP6!

TankerMDK- Wormtail shows up? I didn't know that: ) It was actually Frost.

Magicgirl45852- Unexpected guest? You mean Frost?

SiriusLeeBlack09- Wow! That's cool that your aunt is a lawyer! Sorry about the not-advice-taking… I've had this plot written out for the whole time I've been writing this story, and I couldn't sway it or else it wouldn't work right. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Nope, I don't like in California. Sorry, but I can't say where I'm from for my own safety from weirdoes on this site (not you!).

Drgn prncss- Yay! I LOVE THOSE KINDS OF COOKIES! Lol! I'm very angsty as well… I love angst, which is kinda sad to say, but I still stand by what I said. I think it would be more heroic for Dumbledore to die in the seventh book, if he were to die at all. Sad!

Mistopurr- I love swimming in pools at hotels, but I am very cautious of the ocean. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach, but it seems more dangerous to go swimming in the ocean! Boy, I'm hopeless! Lol!

Jorgeiscool- This is also a cliffhanger, but not much of one. What did I repeat myself on? Yup, evil numbers!

Wytil- Okay.

Thanks for the reviews, y'all! Next posting should be on Tuesday, June 28th. See you then!

May broomsticks be in your dreams!

Luv,

Legolas-gurl88

Next time- Voldemort comes into play, as well as two curious folk.