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)
Strega: yes, your picture is a great source of inspiration. Still can't thank you enough for it.
Ah yes, Snape's character. Some what hard to do, and different from the original plan which was to actually set it to his point of view where the readers know exactly what is going on. Yes, this way it's much more interesting, and still gives no signs of the workings in his mind.
It should be quite clear exactly where everyone and everything should stand in Harry's view, priority wise. Nothing and no one should stand in his way between what he has and what he wants and needs.
Point on giants. What you said, is pretty much true and very un-Lightish to do. If that is un-Light like, then what's to come, what's in stored for them and (maybe some others) is very devious.
I have to agree with the point on Dumbledore. To me, he seems somewhat a strange choice. He's not necessary level headed and his tactics could be used by anyone in his position. The thing that gets at me though, with his ways is that he doesn't tell anyone anything important until the last minute, when things could have been different if it was told earlier.
'When it time comes, he will choice, he must chose.' . I couldn't find it back in the chapter. However, I am pretty sure I meant 'When time comes, he will choose, he must choose'. No, grammar mistakes will occur, thus you do not have to make another picture. However, getting another one would be appreciated. I love those drawings.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I'm going to update my bio often so please check it out!
Chapter 24 The Battle of Forged Alliances (Part II)It was just as surprising to the Death Eater's as it was to their enemies. Step by step, they found themselves retreating as Dumbledore's Army advanced. The only thing that was clear was that the Death Eater's found themselves in the center of the Potter Manor as the separate armies found themselves joined together and surrounded on all sides by the enemy. Bella and Lucius, the two leaders who were the Prince's Left and Right handed man/woman found themselves back to back with each other.
The battle had temporary ceased as both sides gathered their strengths and took the time to recover. The entire army that Dumbledore led, now circled around the group of Death Eaters, forming one circle after the next so that from an aerial view, to a hawk it would have looked like a gigantic target.
"So they are nothing more then cowards." Dumbledore was saying, taking a stand in front of his army, leaving a gap between himself and the rest of his followers, the same way Bella and Lucius was. "Abandonment of his soldiers' at the most critical moment." The old man was saying. "Hard to believe, but it is possible." He gestured at the two obvious ring leaders of the Death Eaters. "However I must congratulate on your success and effort in the superb defense. I must say, I wasn't expecting much, especially when neither the Prince nor his supposed guardian is around to fight." Dumbledore took in a breath. "Though I will say the effort has been wasted, I'm afraid the end has come. Now before I unleash the final blow to vanquish the Dark off the face of the Earth, I offer one chance of surrender. Take it now."
No one moved. The two leaders stood their ground. Seconds turned into minutes and it seemed to drag on into eternity.
"I'm afraid that won't work." The Prince's voice swept the room as he materialized before Dumbledore, taking a stance in front of the two temporary leaders. "You see, they are here to take and execute orders. I don't believe surrendering was one of them." He said coldly, as his right eye seemed to pierce a hole through his opponent's body.
Dumbledore studied the man as his gaze traveled down to the wand the other was carrying which was still thirteen and a half inches, Yew. He briefly wondered why Harry would use such a wand, when he could use his own which would definitely cause 100 times worst damage as it was his own. Still, Dumbledore didn't look down upon this wand as it did once belong to Lord Voldemort.
"My Prince" Bella and Lucius acknowledged. Harry ignored them. Instead, he raised his wand. With a quick movement and incoherent words, he conjured a barrier around himself and Dumbledore, marking it with a ring of fire. The oval drawn was gigantic, as it seemed to touch one end of the wall to the opposite. The Manson itself seemed to grow inside as both armies were separated a great distance from their leaders.
"My, my quite an army. Vampires, Giants, assorted Magical Beasts, Ministry members, Order members, Hogwarts staff and students. I must say you come prepared." He quickly scanned the group. "Though I don't sense any werewolves." He seemed to rub his chin as though remembering. "Ah yes that's right. Werewolves are brilliant creatures, they've known better to remain neutral then join you lot. They are loyal creatures when treated properly." A short pause. "Of course they're neutrality won't remain long. Soon very soon, the pack will be behind me. After all, I do have acquaintances with some of the upper werewolf hierarchy. In fact, I may comfortably say the Alpha already stands behind me." He seemed to catch himself there. "but then again, we aren't here to compare armies are we? No, no not at all." He shook his head.
Harry rolled up his sleeve. "Let's finish this, shall we." Before Dumbledore had a chance to react, Harry sent the first spell.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Dumbledore dodged left as he had anticipated such a spell. Raising his own wand, he screamed "Petrificus Totalus," followed quickly by the stinging and then stunning charm.
"Protego." The Prince sneered, lazily as the spells repelled against his shield. "You've got to do better then that if you want to defeat me."
"Crucio! Imperio! Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra!"
"Serpensortia!" A basilisk erupted from the tip of the Prince's wand. He conjured chairs from thin air which was then blasted away by the killing curses.
Upon first instant, Dumbledore as did the rest of them shielded their eyes. Though the snake was only a mere image of the real thing, it could still exercise its powers.Brandishing his hand as a whip, the old man vanish the snake as it charged towards him.
"Pity, you don't like snakes?" The Prince sounded hurt. "They're the best friends man can have."
Dumbledore ignored him. He swirled his wand in circles, muttering curses under his breath. He wasn't going to be distracted, not now, not when he was gathering his magic before him, creating a very binding black light.
Harry scoffed. "Oh my, so you have touched on Dark Magic before. Powerful Dark Magic."
"Perhaps." Dumbledore said simply. "The best way to cure poison is to use poison. The only way to defeat evil is to be evil." By now, the man was emitting a Dark aurora, that no one present would have thought him capable of. The raw magic that escaped Dumbledore formed a black shield around him.
"I ask you once more Harry Potter. Will you surrender or will you accept your miserable cruel and devastating end that hungrily awaits you."
Harry took one look behind him at those who had faithfully followed him in such a short period of time. No one seemed fazed by the threat. "Do your best" he said, as he swirled Voldemort's wand in a similar motion that Dumbledore was heading. The difference of what was beginning to produce was startling. The Prince was surrounded in white Light, pure white light that grew by the minute.
The watching groups felt themselves held their breaths as the two most powerful wizards faced off with what they believed would determine the victor. Both the Prince and his enemy seemed to concentrate solely on producing what they believed would ultimately lead to the other's destruction. Seconds, then minutes, then a century seemed to have come and gone. The auroras from both were intense as the whole room was either consumed entirely by Light of Darkness. Even from a distance, the viewers watched as beads of sweat formed and began dripping onto the floor.
Then suddenly Dumbledore released his built up power, shortly followed by the Prince unleashing his, though it was clear that since the old man had a head start in building it, his concentrated powers were far greater and seemed to overwhelm the Prince's as it devoured the Light within it's path.
Remus watched the young man's retreating back. To say the least, he was worried, the way any parent or guardian would, any loved one would, any true friend would, when one was to be sent off to battle. Since the Prince had no one beside his guardian left, to back him up and support him, for good or for bad, Remus felt the responsibility of it upon his shoulders. He had a good reason to worry, that reason that Harry was out fighting, leading an army against the rest of the world, particularly Dumbledore would be there, and he was not a man that Remus felt secure enough to have Harry battling against something that he knew was bound to eventually occur.
He threw his arms up in frustration, only to cause extreme pain to erupt throughout his body. He cursed out loud, frustrated, feeling quite helpless, and defenseless at a time of war. Knowing and accepting that, the thought now crept into his mind of what if he had gone along with his charge's initial plan, to throw himself into an empty cell and play the part of the innocent, the tortured, the one waiting for rescue. However, that minute the thought entered his mind, it quickly left him.
No, I cannot do that. I cannot and will not abandon Harry, not at a critical moment such as this. He needs me now, needs that supporting pillar. I cannot, will not let him face Dumbledore alone.
A hissing noise interrupted his thoughts. He looked over and saw Harry's pet snake slither up to him.
"Your Master sent you to protect me didn't he?" he asked, although he knew that he could not understand the snake's reply. The snake seemed to know that as well, for it nodded its head in response. Ignoring the pain, he lifted his hand to seem to pet it.
"I owe your master so much, that I am afraid I will never be able to pay off." Lupin spoke not caring if the snake understood or not. "If I wasn't in such a terrible state, I'll help him fight off Dumbledore." The snake slid up his arm and coiled around it, resting it's head on the warm surface.
And that's the truth. On the surface Harry seems to Dark and Evil, unredeemable. However, I know better, the old Harry still exist in there somewhere. If it wasn't for Voldemort…
Remus again cursed loudly. He truly believed that Voldemort still existed through his charge, no, he knew the Lord did as he had seem the man for himself, and was positive that he was using his charge as a means to continue his evil deeds. He believed that he was the only one who could truly see that, as the rest of the world believed that Harry had indeed turned against them.
It was because of this that in the end pushed Remus to willingly play his role as guardian, even when knowing that he was taking orders that wasn't from his charge but from Voldemort himself. He bided his time well, keeping this secret to himself. He needed to be close to Harry if he wanted to do anything of difference, and exposing it would be a very bad idea. Besides he had already figured out the only way to go back to normal was if Voldemort separated his identity with Harry so that he could be destroyed separately. Any other way, would mean Harry's death as well, and it was something he could not afford. To complete the former and not risk the latter, he knew that only he himself would come close to accomplishing.
In the mean time though, Remus ignored his thoughts on Voldemort and continued to ponder exactly why he choose not to take the easy way out.
Because you know there is no easy way out. You know you can't pretend to play innocent because you aren't innocent. Because of your choices they will never accept you as who you. The point of no return has long passed, there is no path but moving ahead.
The nasty voice in the back of his head said.
Even if they did let you get away with it, weather knowing you as Avenger or not, you won't ever live with a clean conscious. You have done things that the even you yourself cannot forgive yourself for, how can you expect the world to do so. You are just as guilty as everyone else associated with the Prince.
Lupin shook his head vigorously at that, only to cause searing pain to rush though his head. The snake was watching him intently, giving him a very uncomfortable feeling, but not as uncomfortable as feeling defenseless and feeling terrible that he was helpless, that he couldn't protect his charge and required his charge to protect him.
"I can't stand it anymore. I'm going in." he said to the snake as he forcefully stood up, only to fall back onto the bed. He found that his muscles did not support weight at all, let alone movement. The snake seemed to have understood his decision as it uncoiled from his arm and slithered under the bed only to return with Remus' wand it its mouth.
Remus stared at the snake, shook his stiff head and seemed to shrug off the fact that the snake was under order's that were more then protecting him. He now briefly wondered if he had suddenly choose to go to the cell, would the snake have given his wand back, or would it have bitten him for betrayal to its master, as that task would have been quite easy.
The first spell Remus tried to perform was the healing charm, but found himself too weak to do it as it required too much energy. Afterwards, he tried a pain reliever, only to find that he had to continually use the spell every five minutes as he was too weak to create a stable one. In the end, he resorted to the simplest spell that would help. It was a full body numbing charm.
The numbing charm was simple, an elementary school charm. It wasn't complicated at all, but he considered it as a last resort. Use minimally it could ease physical sense of touch to certain areas of the body. However, in this case, Remus' entire body ached, so that he needed cast one for his entire body. To loose the sense of touch, the sense of physical feelings at this rate was dangerous. Although it would ease pain and possibly stop it, it would also mean that the person the numbing charm was cast on would not feel frozen or know that they were being burned or physically injured, liked stabbed until it was too late. In another words it wasn't a state in which one would wish to fight a battle in. However Lupin found himself with no choice left, and after weighing the outcomes, he choose to use it as it was more important to him to be fighting next to his charge at a time such as these, then his own physical recovery.
In mere minutes the spell took effect and Remus found himself in a much more comfortable state. To test his success, he brandished his wand and summoned his favorite weapon, the daggers. Gritting his teeth, he levitated two daggers, pulled up the back of his shirt so that flesh was exposed and then have it pierced his back. Immediately, blood was drawn out, but there was no pain, no pain at all.
Well this is it. There is no turning back now.
Carefully, and skillfully, he carved first the letter 'A' and then 'V' and then 'E' until the word Avenger glistened in crimson. Below that, he wrote 'vincocustos'. As a foreground, he put up the Master's Mark in which he had tweaked a little so that it represented himself, the mark that the world identified him as. Still something seemed to be missing. He thought a bit, before carving a wolf howling and a moon above it.
In the end, the final outcome was a full moon on the top center. Floating eerier below was the Dark Mark, or more precisely his own mark. Below that was the howling wolf. To the left of the scene was 'Avenger' and to the right was 'vinco custos'. After the carving had been finished, he placed a charm on it, so that the masterpiece came to life. The moon would rise, taking form of its many phases and the wolf would howl, sleep and act in every way like its real counterpart. The Mark, his unique mark was glowing green, would come and go, appearing and fading the way it would if it was cast upon the sky. The only thing that was left non magical was the words, left there, etched on his back.
A hiss of approval seemed to have come from the snake. "You like it don't you?" Remus said, magically slipping back into his Avenger uniform. Conjuring a mirror, he stared at himself, noticing the extremely bloody state he was in after producing his own tattoo. Throughout the whole process he hadn't felt any pain at all, thanks to the numbing charm. However, now it was obvious through his experiment, that if he wasn't cautious enough, he might suddenly die from extreme lost of blood as he could not produce a healing charm himself for it took too much energy. Besides if he could, he would have done so already. Instead, he conjured some bandages and wrapped his outer injuries so that it healed quicker and would prevent his sudden fainting during the upcoming battle.
As though it could lend its energy to the man, the snake, coiled around the man, in the exact pose that one would find the snake around the Master.
"Shall we defend Harry now?" Remus asked swinging himself off of the bed. He stood, for a while, regaining his balance, shifted his wand to his right hand, while holding a dagger in his left. Heaving a deep breath, he exited his room, in search of Harry.
The two powerful raw magic met at full force. At first, the black magic seemed to devourer the power that Harry had cast. It seemed to have gone straight trough, darkening the Light that was produced. The Darkness consumed everything within its path.
To everyone present it seemed unbelievable, surreal. After all, how was it possible that darkness could ever conquer Light, when the saying went "as long as there is light, there can be no darkness?" It seemed to defy logic. What was more; it was Dumbledore, a Light wizard producing Dark magic winning against a dark master who was producing good, pure magic. The irony concealed in it was dense and something that couldn't be understood by studying the surface.
Then it took an abrupt change. As the Darkness hit the center of the White light, it faltered, halted and seemed to be driven back by that light. The Black light did not back down with a fight. It struggled there, not advancing. Slowly, ever so slowly the blinding white light caused the other to retreat, growing as it fused itself with the opponent's magic.
Then the two cores met. There was a fierce power struggle. A loud rumble and then collision ensured. The two forces combined, and exploded, sending debris into the air, blocking what was going on from view.
Swish! Before anyone could react, they felt the wind pick up and a slicing sound ring against their ears. Then, they saw a bunch of things fly into the cloud of gray light that now surrounded both Dumbledore and Harry.
When the dust cloud disappeared, the Light's army gasped at what they saw, while the Dark had a smug smile plastered on them.
Six daggers were pinned merely 2 centimeter's in all directions surrounding Dumbledore, who too was surprised at the accuracy that the daggers came in. Ten feet away, forming a half circle was six more daggers. Looking past that was the Prince, being held up, and suspended like in mid air, as though his body was being clutched by a being. In front of him, standing quite protectively was someone that most people never lived to tell about.
The person was capped, robed and masked in black with silver seams. The only distinguishing features that identified him as who he was to the world and his opponents was the cape and the Dark Mark's found on the collar and the sleeve. Still some other thing's that now was found on the person that wasn't there before was the Master's snake, and if anyone noticed his back, they would have seen the newly made tattoo, as the blood had seeped through the inner bandages and now imprinted its crimson self on the back of his robes.
The hall fell silent as they stared at the new arrival.
Dumbledore seemed to smile as a spark of life glistened in his eyes. He picked up one of the daggers that were located to his right, pulling it out with force. He took it to eye level and then examined its magnificent structure, hand crafted with 'Avenger' printed clearly on the handle.
Slowly, Dumbledore took his eyes off of the dagger and then to Avenger. He noticed the man was half turned towards him and the other half staring fixedly at Harry who was still suspended in mid air. He wondered what it could have been that could have gotten the full attention of the man. He squinted his eyes, but could only see Harry's body.
Then, suddenly he saw it. Something or someone began to fade into view. As its shape drew clearer, Dumbledore could feel the winds shifting and a cold breeze sweep through the room. First legs, then a torso, then the upper body and then arms, a neck and finally a head.
All at once, an enormous gasp of surprise came from everyone except Avenger, who seemed to have anticipated this.
"So you've finally decided to take your own form, Voldemort, and not hide through my charge." Avenger spoke softly.
The figured smiled. He slowly bent down and carefully placed the Prince on the floor. Waving his hands, he gestured at the Death Eater's. Two of them exchanged looks before slowly and carefully approaching the thought to be dead Lord, who now seemed to have survived through his arch nemesis. The Dark Lord, or its shadow like figure that grew solid by the minute gestured at the unconscious Prince, and the Death Eater's took it as a sign to take the teen back.
"Yes, so I have. That isn't a surprise. After all, you knew all along, didn't you?" Then an obscure smile spread across the Dark Lord's face. "I could say the same for you. Never would I have imagined the day would come when we would be united on the same side, werewolf. My Prince can do such magnificent magic, uniting the world's enemies to form the same Master. After all, that is the only person that hereby links the two of us together. We both know the long line of intense hatred between us, enough that you've bided your time so well that you just can't wait to kill me the minute I leave the boy"
Avenger laughed coolly. "Why, Voldemort. You know me so well, the way my friends do."
At this Lord Voldemort let out a deep laugh, something that he hadn't done in a long time.
Well here's the second part to it. No, the battle isn't over, so yes, there will be a part III. Had to cut it short as it would have been too long to fit in a single chapter. Besides, a lot of things are being thrown out and needs to be absorbed.