The Final Lesson
Written by: HoshiHikari
Disclaimer: I do not own HP! That's right, the characters still all belong to J.K Rowling As for the plot, it might have been done before, so I won't take credit for that either
Summary:
He is tainted by evil. He had lost all emotions, all feelings all humane senses. He had become heartless, soulless towards all living creatures. The final straw had snapped. How could Harry save the world and bring light into a world consumed by darkness, when he, himself is the cause of chaos and destruction? When he himself is the Dark Master, the Half-Blooded Prince?
He is a werewolf, a dark creature, tainted by the goodness of people. He is the remaining Marauder, given the responsibility and the burden to raise young Harry. Now that Harry's gone evil, to what lengths would his guardian goes to protect him, to save him, not only from the world but from himself? Can Remus bring back the Harry that was once adored by everyone? Will Remus be able to teach Harry the most important lesson of all time? Can Remus teach Harry how to once again be humane, to have a heart and a soul? Will he, Remus be persuaded to give up, and cross over, when all is lost, and Harry is past being worth saving? Or will he stick by his beliefs, run out of time, and in turn pay the ultimate price?
NO SLASH! NO SLASH! in fact, Romance is not important, nothing romantically, and if there is, its not meant at all!
Author Notes: "…." talk Italic thoughts/dreams /…/ Parseltongue Snake language underlinetext/letter/writings bold/italicslyrics from songs (if any)
Author Notes note: Don't know if anyone knows…or have notice. I posted Chapter 1 of 'The VPMWPV' which is the prequel to the 'Reign of Darkness'. Basically about the life of the VPMWPV. Who they once were and how and what led them to became the people they are now. What drove six victims of the world to step onto the path of Darkness.
Stregaonce again, thanks for the pic. Spent some time just staring at it, (slightly obsessed, but the more I look at it, the more amazing it seems).
Of course Dumbledore thinks 'I can help' will be accepted. He's still in the world of holding himself with the highest state, thinking that everything that he says and do goes and is final. Back up a bit. I don't think Harry ever landed in prison (yet, it is in the summary, but it didn't happen yet). I suppose you could say his gift is a magical credit card. I highly doubt Harry's mind still has the capacity of letting such a place exist.
Ops, I did contradict myself, didn't I. It should have been just Padfoot and Prongs did not approach him, waited, then since nothing happened, approached him.
Ah, the veil. That was part of the presents all along. It took me a while to decide who should be the one to give it to Harry. Snape happened to be a random lucky choice.
Still going to defend the Light on this one. Producing a fragment of Sirius in any form to use to drive Harry insane is out of their game. If it was like, 'who the hell cares, as long as we win' then what difference would there be between the Light and the Dark side.
It should be quite clear which side Sirius is on 'if' he does appear. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever of where to place him. He's as dark as his name.
Plots within plots. That's exactly how everyone's mind should work.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I'm going to update my bio often so please check it out!
Chapter 23 The Battle of Forged Alliances (Part I)"Attack! Attack!" Hagrid yelled directing the battle at the northern front, leading the giants, whom he had managed to get Madame Maxime to help convince them to fight on Dumbledore's side, through the main entrance, breaking the first wards of defense, after two weeks of fruitless advances.
"Stand your ground!" Lucius' magnified voice overrode the half giant's. "Don't hold back! Use everything you've got! Kill them!"
Flashes of assorted colors were fired in all directions. The spells came in consecutive waves, one after the next, quick and accurate.
"Avada Kedavra! Crucio! Imperio! Protego! Supefy!" Malfoy bellowed, switching from one spell to the next. However, the giants, which had been the Light's front line of defense weren't easy to take down at all. No one spell alone seemed to affect them at all. In fact, giant blood, like dragon blood made them difficult to take down. In fact, the ratio in which one giant fell dead was roughly about 50 dead Death Eaters.
"Steady men. Steady! Our enemies shall not step any closer. They shall not pass!" Malfoy bellowed, knowing that it was easier said then done. Having giants as enemies, as proven by past wars, was a very bad idea, a very, very bad idea.
"Wingradium Leviosa!" Flickwick piped up, levitating the last piece of rubble that blocked the back of the Manor, after one of its walls was forcefully blasted away. Crash! The gigantic stab of stone fell with a thundering, deafening thud. Dust and debris flew in all directions. When at last it cleared, Flickwick's army composed of vampires and Ministry officials stormed into the Manor, fighting off an awaiting group of Death Eaters, led by the Lestranges.
"Bella take left! Rabastan right!" Rodolphus roared as he charged towards the center front offense.
"Cruicio!" Bella yelled, using her preferred curse. She was quite happy with insanity then death itself. It was one of those things in which Dumbledore would have called as 'a thing that was worst then death, itself.' It was quite successfully too, if one was to look at the after effect of the Cruciatus Curse on the Longbottoms.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Mobili-Death Eater!"
"Incendio" Sparks formed, followed the burst of fire. Flickwick's attacked missed a figure, and instead the flames latched itself onto the building. The charms professor shrugged, as it made no difference. For all he cared, the building could burn to ashes. Even though the Death Eater's knew of its possible damages, no one stopped in the midst of their battle to contain the flames. There was no time to do so, unless they were willing to sacrifice themselves, which had been made clear was not an option as Harry had made it clear that it was important that he had every able person to fight for him. The Prince had made it clear that he needed all the manpower he could get, and a Death Eater wasting his or her life to ensure the stability of the infrastructure was not worth it.
"Over here! I've found them!" McGonagall yelled as she gestured to Dumbledore. The two had found it possible to apparate into the Manor, although they did not understand why the Prince would allow it. It wasn't a ward that the Master would have forgotten. It seemed intentional, but at the time neither stopped to think of the reason behind it. After appearing in an empty corridor, the two had managed to avoid the battling areas as they wandered down the empty corridors to find the cells in which the prisoners were kept in.
"Albus!" Tonks cried out, first to spot the two new arrivals. Heads spun rapidly around, and a series of 'Albus', 'Headmaster', 'Professor Dumbledore' rang out, followed by greetings to the headmistress. Immediately the volume of the dungeons grew so that it was deafening.
"Silence!" Dumbledore said simply, in a normal conversation tone. The noise ceased immediately afterwards as people held their breaths and waited. The headmaster said no more as he took in the people around him, somewhat relieved that 3/4ths of those that had been taken the first time the Prince had tried to take over Hogwarts on graduation day, were still alive, if not healthy. In fact, it was quite obvious that all the prisoners had experienced at least ten Cruico's. Some though, were in much worst condition, those like the Weasley's, Hermione, Dean, Neville, Cho (whom he also noticed was the only one in a single cell), the adults and everyone else who had previously had a direct connection with Harry now existed in a fragile, but recoverable state between life and death.
"Where is Remus?" He couldn't help but asked, seeing that the man was no where in sight. The group of Prisoners' gave him a very confused look.
"Isn't he with you sir?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Shortly after we were placed here, he…" Dumbledore looked at her with a go-on look, while McGonagall had a stern look on her face. "He was the only one that managed to escape." Hermione continued. "We thought he returned…." She faltered as she realized that the man never made it back.
"I haven't seen him since the Prince captured you guys." He spoke quietly. "The Prince has kindly informed me that the man was alive when he handed his guardian to Avenger 'to finish off'." Dumbledore said more to himself then the others.
"Then he's probably dead." Hermione said softly. "Avenger would absolutely not have it if his position as the Master's guardian was threatened by another man who that responsibility fully belongs to." A short pause. "I assume a bloody battle ensured, Professor Lupin is not a man to back down of anything."
"Thank you for your insight, Ms. Granger." McGonagall cut in, before tuning to Albus. "We can discuss Remus' unknown state some other time. At the time we have a war to win and some people to free…" she said, making it clear that she was quite inpatient.
Dumbledore seemed to snap out of his self questionings. He nodded at the headmistress, who nodded back. Together, they pointed their wands at the cells doors and muttered all the spells they could think of which might cause the locked doors to open. However, everything that they tried gave no desiring result. Unknown to them was that once one ward was taken down, another automatically took its place, a stronger spell.
"You know, maybe if you kindly said 'Please' you'll get some unexpected help." A cold, but all too familiar voice drawled from behind them. The two spun around, only to be met with a Death Eater in full suit, leaning casually on the dungeon door. In the person's right hand was a single wand, while his left clasped onto many. Swinging his left hand, the wands flew out and scattered at the foot of Dumbledore.
"Snivellus" Ron was the first to sneer. "Come to do the dirty work again? Come to have fun just cause you're bored? Come to taut and torture and kill…."
"Cruico" Snape hissed, not caring in the slightest bit that he was in front of Dumbledore while casting the curse. "What have I told you about name calling Weasley." Then in quick succession, faster then either Dumbledore or McGonagall could have thought possible, Snape sent a series of Stinging Hexes, Incendio, Jelly-Legs Jinx, ending it with a powerful Imperio in which he told the Gryffindor to bang his own head against the cell wall so that blood began to gush out.
"Severus!" Dumbledore said, being the first to recover. He places a hand on the man's shoulder, standing in between him and his target. "Enough." Snape growled, outwardly, before muttering a "He deserved what he got" which Dumbledore chose to ignore.
McGonagall meanwhile tried to heal Weasley's wounds with magic, but found that healing charms were repelled.
"Say the magic word." Snape drawled again, fumbling his wand, quite annoyed and inpatient. He gestured at the prisoners. "Or would you prefer working out the mechanics behind my Prince's brilliant mind? I daresay he's a superb Legilimenist, outwitting and surpassing his Professor in which he learned under."
"I won't doubt that." Dumbledore said casually, not missing certain words that his Potion Master had chose to used described his own brilliance as it was clear to both of them that in the end Snape was the one who accomplished his tasked and therefore would in the end be the only one that have ever seen and would ever see just exactly how the Prince's mind worked. It was quite clear the way Snape said it, that without him, Dumbledore would not survive the upcoming battles, for how could he, when things such as rescuing prisoners had created such a problem.
"Dear old Severus, my boy. I bid you spare the innocent, the men the woman the children who have been forcefully dragged into a position they wish not to be in. Who have done you no wrong? Who have not the slightest defense against Evil."
Snape rolled his eyes, although no one noticed, he raised his wand once more, pointed to the cell door and muttered a soft "Alohomora". Instantly, the cell doors opened with a creak.
Dumbledore's eyes couldn't help but widen in shock, before a gleam of pure triumph erupted behind the blue orbs. It was pure genius, never had it crossed his mind that only one simple spell was used. From the beginning he had assumed that the Prince would put up heavy wards to prevent escape as it would only seem reasonable. Apparently the others, the prisoners had thought so as well, for he knew that some were Animagus and could have escaped through the bars, while others like the Weasley twins were skilled at Muggle lock picking.
It had never crossed his mind that the Prince was simple, as he had atomically assumed the mind of an insane brilliant man, must have complex minds. However, he had over looked the simplest of things, and that was his mistake. Now that Dumbledore thought of it, the reason that perhaps apparition wards were not set was because people, with himself included, atomically think its there and therefore not try it. The old man couldn't help but smile. Harry had outsmarted them all in the simplest of ways, delayed the battle that should have occurred 2 weeks ago. If only they had known better, their offense tactics would have been that much simpler and all this fighting might have ended that much earlier.
Once out of his guardian's presence, the Prince paused to think.
/Karo. Stay. I don't trust Remus to stay safe, nor do I trust that he would stay locked up at all. I highly doubt that now that he is awake, he has enough patience to sit and wait it out. I am sure he's going to get into some sort of conflict. Even if he does, I am sure conflict will find him. I will not have time to protect him then. I'll leave that duty to you. Remember the identity he chooses is his choice. I am sure, when time comes, he will choice, he must chose./ There was a short pause, as Harry pondered and carefully choose his next words.
/If he chooses Avenger, then protect him, even if you die. However, if he chooses to live as Remus John Lupin then I give you permission to kill him. I will not tolerate betrayal. Like everyone else here, he has deemed himself worthy of the death sentence, dementor's kiss plus a life sentence in Azkaban combined. He has already chosen to abandon his former self the moment he refused to be placed in an empty cell. There is no turning back now. I will not have the man betray me at the last minute. Understand/
/Yes./
/However, I doubt that is the case. He is a worthy man, and one that's not Wormtail. I don't think he will ever take the latter course again. However, it is better to be safe then sorry. Precautions are precautions and it must be taken, just in case the worst case scenario ever occurs./
/I understand./ Karo replied, inclining it's head to its master, before carefully slithering off of him, and back inside. Harry watched his snake leave, before apparating away.
Again, some feedback would be appreciated! Things to bear in mind: 1) title (reason it's named such) 2) the double roles Harry, Remus and Snape seems to play, or finds themselves in. 3) those who participate in the war, and the side in which they take. Is it a true alliance? Or are there moles on both sides? Will people turn against one another at critical moments the way Snape seems to enjoy doing. The rest of the chapter is already being written! Review!