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Possession
Chapter XLII – Rise From the Ashes
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McGoganall blinked. Something had changed between one moment and the next and she wasn't quite sure what it was. As a teacher she had developed sharp eyes. It was only natural when dealing with the likes of Fred and George Weasley. She knew when notes were being passed around and without looking knew who was working and who wasn't. She could read the minute changes in her students expertly and adjust her class for that. And right now, she knew that something had changed, in much the same way that things changed when she was teaching, how all at once a class would go from not understanding to complete acceptance of the concept. That was an important but subtle change and this felt the same but she couldn't work out what it was.

The stark colours were still in evidence and she could feel the trembling of the group behind her at the sight. Not that she blamed them. The sight of Sirius cradling Harry was something that would haunt her forever. It was a sight of ultimate defeat and there was a chill in her bones as she considered it. Hogwarts was meant to be safe but Mr Potter seemed to have inherited his father's knack for getting into trouble, or maybe trouble went out of its way to find him. What ever it was, Hogwarts had let Harry down in the worst possible way and such a thing had not occurred since the true Heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle had been here all those years ago.

Minerva shook her head. Right now she had to get everyone, including Sirius into the safety of the Headmasters Office.

"Sirius!" She took a step forward and froze when it hit her what had changed. The man was no longer cradling Harry's body as supporting it and she gasped as his emerald eyes snapped open, the expression on his face changing from one of reposed to one of grim determination.

"I have to go," Harry said softly, his hood shadowing his face, as he raised his hands, allowing visible lines of energy to flow between his fingers. With a burst of light he was gone.

Sirius slowly rose to his feet, his black robes clinging to him. He looked at the small group with eyes of complete shadow. "I will protect him." His voice was raspy but recognisable and with no further explanation, Sirius followed Harry.

It wasn't until that moment that Minerva realised the full extent of the change and was shocked that she had not noticed it earlier. Harry had been the change. Harry had been the complete change. It had happened in an instant. His school robes had transfigured and had resembled the robes worn by Auror troops when they went into battle. She'd caught the flash of steel and knew he was armed but she had no idea where the sword had come from. But it had been more than his clothes that had changed. Harry had felt different. There had been about him a sense of contained power, of surety in his abilities that she had never felt in one so young. It had been disconcerting and she had only identified the feeling now.

Minerva shook her head. With everything that had transpired this evening, she supposed it was only natural that Harry would also change. The main forces were moving and he could be counted as the only one, not yet to move on this night. Now everything could be decided.

In the corridor where the two had previously been there was a multicoloured swirl of magic, that vaguely resembled the glyphs of symbols used in artithimacy but they were broken and some were swirling uncontrollably. Both McGoganall and Hermione frowned at the complexity of the glyphs that slowly began weaving themselves back together but it was Hermione who realised what they were first. "The protection spells..." she breathed both horrified and amazed at the practical demonstration of Hogwarts protection and the ease with which it could be broken.

Ginny moaned loudly, in a voice that begged... "No... I will... die for him..." she whispered brokenly before she fell unconscious again leaving the small group staring at the place where both Harry and Sirius had vanished as the Hogwarts wards slowly repaired themselves.

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Lucius shivered and struggled to draw breath. It was as if his lungs were also trembling. His limbs felt weak and an odd tingling spread through his body.

It was over... And it was over far more suddenly than he had ever dreamed possible. While he and the Dark Lord had fought, they had not yet truly begun to fight. The curses and charms they had cast had been serious but preliminary. The true battle would have come when they were both exhausted, and were drawing on their reserves of both strength and knowledge.

But it was over... One curse, which the Dark Lord could have countered, or dodged and it had all ended. One curse...

He drew another shuddering breath and stepped forward carefully. His footfall echoed loudly in the silence. It seemed impossible that it had ended so easily. The entire Atrium was filled with disbelief and all the gathered groups were watching the crumpled black robed form with eyes like hawks.

The Aurors had a sense of relief about them. The Dark Lord was gone and while it might mean the rise of new one, no one would eclipse Voldemort. The Vampires watched with a veiled but rising gloating. Dead, before them was a human would had sought immortality to take their control of dark but he had failed. They were the true immortals of the dark. The Death Eaters, both loyal and rebels were watching quietly, both sides too stunned to speak of a Lord who had always seemed invincible brought low by one most of them had considered gifted but never trusted. One or two Death Eaters narrowed their eyes as they watched their fallen Lord. Their Masters final words had not been those of a man fearing death, but were those of a man who's plans were unfolding neatly. His voice had been sure. There was more here than they understood and their Lord would except them to stand strong.

Lucius continued to approach the Dark Lord cautiously, his wand and sword held at the ready for any attack. The Dark Lord was not above ambush, even at this stage and in a battle where the winner took all, any tactic was valid, especially if it lead to victory. But if his former Lord was truly dead, then he would confirm it by taking his head!

A small serpent crawled out of the Dark Lord roles but Lucius disposed of it with a quick kick, sending it into a stone wall. It hissed buy lay still and Malfoy snorted his derision. Such things were hardly worth his time. He nudged Voldemort's body with one boot. It moved easily but limply. It appeared the Dark Lord was truly dead. His red eyes were glazed and stared outward blankly and his white skin was even more pallid than usual but his expression was not one of fear but was assured and the blond felt another shiver pass through him.

No! The Dark Lord was dead. He had won and once he took the head he would rule supreme and purebloods could finally take their rightful place.

"You were a powerful Lord until you became corrupted. Now is the time for a new Lord, for my rule!" Lucius raised his sword, grey eyes glowing as he prepared to strike. "Good bye, my Lord Voldemort!"

He drove his sword downwards to cleave through flesh and bone.

The clear sound of steel on steel rang through the Atrium and Lucius smelt ozone as he furiously blinked to clear his vision from the burst of light that had assaulted his senses.

As the stars cleared he heard murmurs from the gallery and looked towards the Dark Lord. Standing over Voldemort's fallen form was yet another black robed figure, their sword crossed against his and their face in shadow. The person was small though but by the pressure exerted through their weapon, they were very strong. The blond could see armour beneath their concealing cloak and he could feel waves of power rippling off them.

"Who..?" He breathed. If the Dark Lord had possession of a fighter of this calibre, every ranking Death Eater would have known it and feared them.

The figure seemed to chuckle, as they moved to stand in a ready position still covering Voldemort's body. "Lucius Malfoy, I presume?"

"And you are?" A note of arrogance crept back into the blond's voice.

The figure shook his head. "Not important," he murmured, as he looked around the Atrium, his gaze eventually seeming to come to rest on the Vampires. "Xeoaph..." he greeted the ancient vampire with an odd familiarity. "Your blood was tasty."

"What?"

There was that odd chuckle again. "Did you think the Lord Voldemort took your blood for himself?"

"That's not possible..." Xeoaph's voice trembled.

"Why not?" The figure shook his head. "It's not important any more, Xeoaph. It's over."

Xeoaph seemed to slump before the ancient vampire squared his shoulders and looked back, his blue eyes burning with the power of his species. "Not yet."

"As you wish," the figure said quietly, sweeping their sword before them. As the blade cut the air, magic flowed along it and in its wake broken charm glyphs shimmered before vanishing. Xeoaph hissed in pain as his wards were broken.

Lucius was forced back by the power and when he looked back he was surprised to see the figure supporting the body of the Dark Lord. Behind them both a black basilisk reared, red eyes flickering everywhere, its tongue tasting the air constantly. It hissed something that the newcomer responded to with a sibilant whisper as another taller figure appeared in front of them, wand held at the ready, black eyes burning as they swept over the Atrium before coming to rest on Lucius. The hood of the newcomers robe was swept back but the cloth drawn over his features hid his face.

"Internal squabbles should be concluded in private," the smaller figure said directly to the blond before amplifying his voice so that it was heard throughout the Atrium. "Death Eaters, retreat. It appears now is not yet the time for domination." As his final word echoed around the room, he vanished, taking Lord Voldemort with him. The taller newcomer nodded once, his black eyes never leaving Lucius' grey.

There was a moment of stunned silence before the taller man laughed coldly. "Get going Malfoy. He'll be disappointed if he can't present your head to the Dark Lord."

"But he's dead!" One of the Auror's objected.

"A state that is easily rectified if you know how." Black eyes shifted their gaze to Xeoaph. "You though, Vampire, are not an internal matter." A small curse of pure shadow flicked towards the ancient vampire but was intercepted by one of his children, a childe that screamed and was ripped apart by black shadows, blood, bone and gore splattering over the Atrium and raining down on those below.

The vampire's death was the trigger to everyone to move. The Aurors started screaming at everyone that they were under arrest, and stunning spells rippled out from their gatherings, hitting some but missing others. Death Eaters both loyal and rebels began apparating away although the rebels were unsure where their destination should be. No one had been expecting an outcome like this. The vampires retreated while under heavy fire from the taller wizard who had appeared in the middle of proceedings. Many of them fell in defence of their Father but eventually the remainder transformed themselves and flew to safety as the man growled in frustration before apparating himself as Auror's closed in.

Lucius stood stunned, looking at the place Voldemort had vanished. It wasn't possible. The Dark Lord just did not have any servant that strong and he would never be a pawn for anyone else. It wasn't possible. His dream couldn't have vanished like that. He could feel the power Xeoaph had given him fading from his blood. It wasn't over. It couldn't be over.

"Lucius Malfoy, you are under arrest for use of the Unforgivable Curses among other things. You are surrounded, surrender."

"It's not over yet!" The blond screamed as he apparated, several stunning charms, impacting in the air he had just vacated. I'm not defeated, not yet. A Malfoy doesn't lose that easily! The thought was snarled as Lucius fixed his destination. He didn't need the help of anyone. He would defeat the Dark Lord once and for all, and then there would be no question of his superiority.

He smiled. This was actually to his advantage. Defeating Voldemort alone would quash any notion that he was beholden to a vampire for the power to defeat his former master.

"Wait for me, my Lord. It's not over yet!"

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