Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters, places et al. are owned by J.K. Rowling

A/N: the end draws nearer... :)

Chapter 21

To the untrained eye the house looked like an ancient, quirky tree, its branches laden heavy with snow. Elizabeth stepped close to the 'door', a wooden arc of roots and knocked. For a moment nothing happened. Then she heard someone mutter and seconds the door creaked open and an ancient wizard looked out at her.

"What on earth-" he snapped then stopped as he recognised the Inspector. "Oh, you!" He opened the door wider and waved her in. "Come on in! It has been some time. What brings you here?"

"Thank you, Master Gurant," she replied. The inside of the house looked just as ancient and wrinkled as the wizard. Books and mysterious object covered every surface and the smell of parchment and old books lie in the air. "I came here because of that ancient, well, dark magic. You remember?"

"Oh yes, yes," he said. He walked over to a small fireplace and sat down in a deep and plush armchair and pointed at the one opposite to him for her to sit down. "I do remember; very interesting matter, yes."
I need your help," she said, "if you can help, that is, but I have a question first." She paused for a split second. "Has there been anyone else asking you about this kind of magic? From the ministry? Or someone else?"
Master Gurant's forehead wrinkled in deep thought and after several seconds he looked at her again. "No," he shook his head. "Not one, apart from you of course."

"Figures," she muttered, then cleared her voice. "Anyway, what I need to know is: Is there a way to detect it? It's usage, or where it is used?"

Gurant's forehead wrinkled again and stayed that way for several minutes, then he suddenly sprang out of his armchair with an agility that seemed to belie his age and dove into one of the ubiquitous mountains of books. He kept muttering things, but she didn't understand what he said or what it meant. After nearly twenty minutes he let out a triumphant shout and quickly strode over to the fireplace with a book in his hand that looked like it was older than Merlin himself.

"I haven't tried this, mind you," he said apologetically, "but there's this spell here, that was used in battle against a Shadow Lady of old myth, Mefuy, Mafey, or something. Very complicated spell, very expensive ingredients. But if it really works, it should detect any magic of that kind within a limited area."

Elizabeth carefully took the book and read the spell. The writing was so ancient, she barely could decipher it. With the help of Gurant, she transcribed it into a more readable form on a simple parchment.

"Mind if I ask you why you need it?" Gurant looked at her curiously.

"No," she smiled. "Not at all. I am about to go hunting. And it is difficult to hunt if you don't know where the prey is."
"Young Inspector," the ancient wizard said with more than just a twang of sorrow in his voice. "I advise you to be very, very careful. If all the myths are true, you may not want to go hunting for something like that."

"If I won't do it, no one will. Justice has to be served." She almost shone with conviction.

"Sometimes," Gurant whispered, "justice is bought at too high a price. I wouldn't want you to die for it."

Several weeks later…

Harry stepped out of the shadows into a large round room, stairs running up the wall to the left of him, and a corridor left the room to his right. All was dark, but not to Harry's eyes. Except the sounds of the wind outside he didn't hear anything.

He silently walked into the room, towards the shadows keeping around him. He knew that his victim was sleeping in his bedroom, down the corridor. He reached the corridor and carefully entered it.

"Lumos!" someone whispered to his left and suddenly he was struck by harsh light. Shrieking, he backed away.

"Mr. Potter," a female voice said, "you are under arrest."

Harry was stunned for a moment and so it took him a moment to fully understand what was said. Instinctively, he had called forth more darkness, blotting out the feeble light from the wand. He moved forward again, and in the room to his left, from where the light came, a woman and a young man stood. He remembered her, but it has been weeks…

"Inspector Banish," he simply stated. His voice was not human anymore, it was something – else. Dark, ominous, coming from everywhere around them. He saw both humans shiver slightly and he chuckled. "Leave, while you still can."
He let the darkness down a bit, so she could see, or more likely not see, him. She breathed in heavily, but did not waver. When she spoke, her voice still managed to hold conviction. "You are under arrest for breaking and entering, multiple murder, and torture. It took me a while, but I got you. I will not let you kill another human being, as guilty as he may be."

Harry laughed in his unearthly voice. "And what makes you think you can stop me?"

"I found you," she answered. "I can stop you." Her voice never hesitated.

"A stunning feat, I give you that," he bowed his head, "but I will not let you stop me. I have a destiny to fulfil. If you do not leave, you leave me no choice."

"You would kill me? An innocent?"
"I would weep, of course, but I do what must be done. There is nothing you can do to stop me."

"You will have nowhere to go, no one to turn to after you leave. You can kill me now, sure. But I made sure the information reaches people. They will know and you can no longer pretend to be Saint Potter."

"I think you underestimate me, Inspector," his harsh voice lashed out at her. "I can go to places you have never seen and you will never find me. You won't keep me from my destiny."
"But what about Mr. Malfoy?" she asked slyly.

Harry didn't really move. He didn't walk. His body dissolved into a cloud of darkness and suddenly reformed into Harry just inches from the Inspector's face.

"If you mention him one more time, I will rip you apart and feast on your soul!" He hissed, and his voice seemed to lose even more humanity as he spoke. The Inspector was now truly startled and took a few steps back, shaking heavily. The darkness around him started wavering, shivering, and coming closer. "What saves you is him, his love and that he believes in me. He's my anchor to humanity. If you take that away or threaten him, you will die."

A sound from behind him made him turn. The intended victim seemed to have woken up over their struggle. He was reported to have a very deep sleep - sadly, not deep enough. The mid-aged man looked truly shocked at the clouds of darkness in his house. He had his wand in the left hand and was raising it.

Harry extended his right arm absentmindedly, which turned into an amorphous, black tentacle that raced for the victim. It struck his chest dead-centre. His high-pitched screams resonated through the floor and walls and then it was over. The lifeless husk of a man slumped to the ground, all life sucked out of him.

"Where were we?" Harry said to no one in particular, and then his face turned, no, flowed around and stared at the Inspector. "Ah, you. You see what I can do. Just stay silent and run away now. It would be the best for you. And remember, I can always find you."

The shadows withdrew, folding around him and he prepared to leave. He could still kill her, he knew it. But something still shied away from it, despite his tough talk. He couldn't go back, or rather stay, at Hogwarts, but he no longer needed to, anyway; there are a million places where he could hide, and do so comfortably. While he slowly left, the Inspector watched him with a stunned expression. So brave, and yet so out of her depth…

"Avada Kedavra!" someone shouted. His senses felt the green bolt approach and told his mind to react. It was pure and raw instinct; he dissolved into nothingness and only felt a slight tingle as the bolt slashed through the place his body was microseconds ago.

"Potter!" A voice terribly familiar hissed. He looked at the source and there he was, in all his glory, Voldemort, Lord of the Death Eaters and currently slightly irate.