A/N: Well here is the next chapter. I know that I promised that Harry would duel in this, but I just couldn't get that far. I tried my hand at a little tiny bit of Romance and a little of angst and found that not only can't I write them well, but I almost can't write them at all. For those of you like me who hate the Harry/Ginny ship, you'll hate the first parts of this chapter, but you'll love the end.
Warning: There is a human sacrifice written in pretty graphic detail in this chapter. I have sufficiently marked it off, so if you don't want to read it you can skip it. It is not vital to the story, but I think it is the best part of the chapter so read at your own risk.
Three quick knocks at the door caused Harry to awake from his slumber. He attempted to pull himself from the bed, but a weight held him down. Another, single, knock sounded at the door. Harry reached over and grabbed his glasses from his bedside table. Putting them on the world came into focus Harry saw what was holding him down.
A shock of red hair was covering his chest. A slender arm was wrapped around his waist. The second set of three knocks came at his door and Harry slowly, carefully untangled himself from the little redhead and began to make his way towards the door. Halfway there and Harry stopped suddenly realizing that he was completely starkers. Grabbing a robe off the ground, Harry quickly slipped it on and then quickly opened the door, allowing Severus Snape into the room.
"What do you want?" Harry asked.
"Like you don't already know, Potter." Snape replied looking pointedly towards Harry's bed, then back at Harry with an eyebrow raised.
Harry looked over to his bed, then back at Snape, a questioning look on his face.
"Stop playing around." said Snape with an exasperated look on his face. "Have you thought how you're going to get yourself out of this one?"
Harry's face still bore a look of questioning as he look towards his bed for a second time. Whatever Snape was here for obviously had something to do with his bed, but Harry could think of nothing wrong with it. Granted it was still messy, but the House-Elf would be around to tidy it up when it brought Harry's breakfast. Surely, Snape wasn't checking up on him to make sure Harry was making his bed.
A movement on his bed drew his eye, but Harry relaxed as he realized that it was just Ginny stirring in her sleep. What could Snape be here about? "GINNY!" Harry exclaimed, causing said redhead to sit bolt-upright exposing her breasts to both Harry and Snape.
"What?" Ginny asked thinking something was wrong.
"Nothing." Harry said quickly, blushing and turning his back on her. "Go back to sleep."
Snape continued staring at Ginny until she pulled the blankets up to cover herself. When she was fully covered Snape turned back to Harry and asked, "what do you plan to do now?"
Ginny's mind was reeling as the memories of last night were brought back to her. She had been frozen stiff, the second she laid eyes on You-Know-Who. He was more terrifying than she had ever imagined. What happened next was really foggy, but she remembered being levitated onto a bed by Harry. As he turned and began putting wards up on the door, Ginny had been snapped out of her stupor. When he turned back to her she slapped him hard across the face, kicked him in the shin, and then slapped him with her other hand.
'Are you finished?' he had asked, to which she replied by grabbing hold of the collar of his robes and slamming her lips against his. At first he was hesitant, but soon fell into the kiss and even deepened it. What happened next, Ginny would remember for the rest of her life.
She had fallen onto the bed, pulling him down on top of her. They had removed each other's clothing in a flurry and Harry had entered her quickly, completing her for the first time since he had rescued her down in the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry, like any man experiencing his first time with a more experienced woman, climaxed not long after he fell into a rhythm.
That was alright with Ginny though. She had been dreaming of this moment from the time her mother had given her 'the talk.' They had sex several times that night, into the morning, and with each time Harry's stamina had improved. Until finally he had sent Ginny through an orgasm and they were both spent.
Ginny laid back down with these thoughts flowing through her head. Soon she had fallen into a contented sleep with a smile still on her face. Her dreams were coming true.
Harry's thoughts, too, were on the happenings of last night. He was so wrapped up in relieving every moment of the night that Snape had to repeat his question three more times before he made himself heard.
"What do I plan to do?" Harry answered Snape's question by repeating it. "What do you think I'm going to do? Get her out of here somehow!"
"And you're just going to throw everything away for one silly little girl? I thought when we began planning this you vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to get the job done. Now you're risking everything for a little tramp?"
"Now is not a time to anger me Snivellus. I'll give you that warning. Now either help me, or get the hell out of here."
Snape looked as though he would like nothing better than to hex Harry right there, but held off. He stood as though to leave, but sat back down after a moments indecision. "Very Well." was all he said.
They both sat in silence both contemplating ways of saving Ginny's life, when it hit Harry like a sudden epiphany. "I got it. I'll teach her how to apparate! Then I'll just tell Voldemort that I was unaware that she knew how to apparate. I'll probably be tortured for not knowing better, but I can take a few minutes pain. I'll begin teaching her right now." Harry said in a rush, standing. He was beginning to make his way over to reawaken Ginny when Snape stopped him in his tracks.
"Perfect, idea! Shame it won't work. Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't have thought of that? Problem is the only way for people to apparate in or out of here, is to have the Dark Mark. Unless, you know how to make the Dark Mark, which you don't, that idea is shot. Same goes for Portkeys. No Portkey will work on this premises unless made by the Dark Lord's own hand. Use your head Potter!"
Harry sat back down, his head in his hands. For Ginny to get out of here, she would need the Dark Mark. For her to get the Dark Mark she had to swear allegiance to Voldemort, and Harry highly doubted that Voldemort would allow that to happen. If only there was a way to fake the Dark Mark. Harry thought to himself. That's when it hit him. They didn't have to fake the Dark Mark! Ginny would just have to become someone that already had a Dark Mark. She could do that by drinking a Polyjuice potion.
"What about..." Harry began but was cut of by Snape.
"Yes, Polyjuice could work. No, I don't have any. No, nobody I know would keep Polyjuice in their Potion supply. The penalty for having Polyjuice potion without a Ministry approved license has a fine of 1,000 galleons plus seven years in Azkaban. Nobody is stupid enough to risk it." Snape shot down Harry's idea.
"You can just make some then. I know you have the ingredients in your personal supply."
"Do you never pay attention—how the hell do you know what ingredients I have in my personal supply?"
"Oh, Me, Hermione, and Ron made a Polyjuice potion in our Second Year. It took us a month—shit it takes a month to make Polyjuice doesn't it. There's just not enough time." Harry exclaimed, pounding his fist onto the table for emphasis.
"Impossible! No second year is skilled enough—so you did steal from my personal supply. You're lucky we're not at Hogwarts, you be expelled so fast..."
"I didn't steal it you idiot. Hermione did. And, no I didn't steal the Gillyweed in Fourth Year either. That was Dobby." revealed Harry. "Ugh! This is just so frustrating I can't think of anything!"
"Think of anything for what?" asked the sleepy voice of Ginerva Weasley.
"Of how to get you out of here." Harry replied simply.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"You don't think that I would leave you here to die do you? We're trying figure a way to get you without blowing my cover." Harry stated simply.
"Wait—so you're," and then it apparently clicked and Ginny realized what was going on, because she sprang from the bed and crushed Harry's lips with hers. "You're not evil!" she exclaimed as she broke away for breath.
"Er, Ginny?" Harry said prying her off him. "How about you get some clothes on?" Harry queried blushing deeply at Ginny's state of nakedness and turning his back.
"Better yet, do you have a place that I can shower?" Ginny asked, seemingly unashamed of being naked in front of both Harry and Snape. "I haven't showered since yesterday morning."
"Through there." Harry said, pointing to the bathroom, refusing to look at her. "No shower, just a bath." Harry informed.
"Even better." Ginny said and had to restrain herself from skipping to the bathroom. Last night Ginny had forced herself onto Harry, thinking it would be her last chance before she was killed. She was under the impression that Harry was evil and would soon be killing her. Now though. Now she may just have a chance at her dreams and have a life together with Harry. The would have children and raise them together and be the best parents ever.
While Ginny was going over these thoughts Harry was going over thoughts of his own that were on the complete other side of the spectrum than Ginny's were. What the hell has gotten into Ginny? She was never this forward before. And last night, wow! I never in a million years expected that to happen, or for it to be that good! I had always thought of her of a little sister. Okay, that's gross. Note to self: Quit thinking of Ginny as a little sister.
Harry was snapped out of his musing as he caught the smirk on Snape's face. "What the hell is that look about?" Harry snapped at Snape
"Potter, you may be my superior within the Dark Lord's forces, but in here and everywhere else, I still am and will always be your superior. You'd do well to remember that, or you may find yourself on the receiving end of my wand." Snape snarled before settling into his smirk again.
"Well what is the smirk about?" Harry demanded, ignoring Snape's threat.
"I was just thinking of how funny it is that you are willing to risk your life to save little innocent Ginerva Weasley's life, when the truth is she is far from innocent at all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked in a low dangerous voice.
"Well if what learned from listening in on some of my Slytherin students conversations, little Miss. Weasley has been becoming quite friendly with the male population of Hogwarts. What was it that they had called her? Ah yes, they called her the School Broom Stick." At Potter's quizzical look Snape decided to elaborate. "'Everyone has had a ride.' they could be quoted as saying." By the look on Potter's face Snape could tell that his plan was working. Though he was very good at hiding his emotions, Snape had survived this long by knowing how to read people like an open book. If Potter had his wand on him, Snape was positive that he would be on the business end of it. Despite this, Snape still went in for the kill. "In fact, if my sources are correct, which they most certainly are, she was in the process of pleasuring young Draco Malfoy when she was kidnaped."
Snape had expected an explosion, and from the old Potter he surely would have gotten one. This new Potter obviously took his training seriously, which Snape was thankful for, and could keep his anger in check. Truthfully, Snape disliked verbally abusing his students. Not so much Potter, but the rest of them he disliked abusing. But, Potter needed to see things clearly. If he had any hope of defeating the Dark Lord, Potter would need to complete his training under him. If he blew his cover trying to save this girl, there would be no hope for Potter and thus no hope for the wizarding world.
When Dumbledore had first come to him with the idea of Harry defecting to the Dark Side to train under the Dark Lord himself, so that he could learn to defeat him, he had thought the idea preposterous. But, when the Headmaster had revealed to him the Prophecy, Snape knew it had to be done.
"What exactly are you getting at Severus?" Harry questioned after pulling himself together.
"What I'm get to is if she is really worth blowing your cover over?"
"What would you have me do? Go through with the Ritual. Sacrifice her life to gain power?"
"Exactly." Snape said simply.
"I can't do that." Harry answered immediately. "I won't become more like him, than I have to." Harry said this so softly that Snape almost didn't hear him. "Now we have today and tomorrow to think of a way to get her out of here without blowing our cover. After that, we'll fight our way out."
"Who's this 'we?' If you're foolish enough to try and fight your way out, you'll be doing it on your own. I for one will not be risking my life or my position to save one silly little girl. We are here to try and save the world not an individual person." Snape lectured before exiting the room.
Can't the boy just see reason? Snape thought to himself. I want to save the girl just as much as he does, but there's just no way to do it. And it was true. Despite his cold demeanor to just about everyone, Severus Snape hated seeing life end needlessly. But, he was also a person who knew when there was no other way, and this time there was no other way. If only Potter could get rid of his 'Hero syndrome' and see what is so obvious.
Snape knew that if Harry went through with the Ritual, he would get the power that he would need. It wouldn't be enough to defeat the Dark Lord, but it would be getting there. Snape, like every other member of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle, had completed the ritual himself. Of course he had used an animal sacrifice, not a human. The only person Snape knew of to have used a human sacrifice, and still be living today, was the Dark Lord himself.
When and if Harry completed this Ritual, Snape knew that he would be more powerful then all of the Death Eaters who weren't in the Inner Circle. Of those within the Inner Circle, Harry would be stronger than half. Of the half that he wasn't more powerful than he would be on par with. The rest would only be slightly stronger than him. But, when Harry would reach magical maturity, Harry would be more powerful than any of the Death Eaters.
Of course, Snape knew that power wasn't everything. Even after the Ritual, should he go through with it, Harry wouldn't be able to beat a single Inner Circle member in a straight Duel. He would be hard pressed to defeat a lot of those Death Eaters not in the Inner Circle. Once the Dark Lord taught him how to duel—only the Dark Lord himself and Dumbledore would be stronger than him.
If only he could look past the 'Damsel in Distress' and see this.
Harry couldn't believe what Snape was suggesting. Harry couldn't imagine sacrificing anyone's life just to gain power, let alone Ginny. It's not that I love her—whatever that is—but she's Ginny, Ron's little sister, and one of Harry's first friends ever. I could never do what Snivellus is suggesting. Could I?
A small 'pop' signified the arrival of the House-Elf. "What would master Harry Potter be liking for breakfast?" The Elf asked in a squeaky, scared voice.
"Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, toast, and orange juice." Harry answered coldly. "For two." he added as an after thought. He had almost forgotten about Ginny even though he had been think about her seconds before.
Five minutes later, the House-Elf returned laden down with plates of food. Fifteen minutes after that Ginny came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her frame. She merrily dug into her still warm breakfast—thanks to a warming charm—while Harry still pondered his current dilemma.
The deadline was now fast approaching. The two days had flown by as days tend to do when you are dreading an upcoming event. The ritual was now a mere two hours away. And as fate would have it, Harry had come up with no viable option of escape for Ginny.
He had yet to tell Ginny of the upcoming disaster, hoping instead, that she would enjoy her last two days of life blissfully ignorant. Enjoy her last days she did. As did Harry. It was two days of sexual exploration for Harry. Every time Harry would get 'excited,' Ginny would put his 'excitement' to good use. In those two remaining days Harry had left his quarters for a total of maybe fifteen minutes.
It was in one of those few trips out of his quarters that he had learned how truly hopeless escape was. He had been summoned by Voldemort during one of his and Ginny's sessions, and for the first time was late for a summons.
After a bout of the Cruciatus curse, Harry was informed that every single Death Eater would be present to witness the Ritual. If Harry had thought he had any hope of escape by fighting his way out it was completely quashed with this information.
Now the time was here. It was now or never. As Harry began dressing in full battle attire Harry called Ginny over to begin explaining what was about to happen. About how they were both about to meet their deaths in a few minutes.
"What's up Harry? You ready for another round?" Ginny asked and began taking off what little clothes she had on.
"Ginny wait." Harry started putting his hand on hers to stop the removing of clothing. "There is something very important that I have to tell you right now."
Seeing Harry's serious expression and the clothing he was wearing, Ginny knew now was not the time to interrupt. She sat gently down on the edge of Harry's bed and asked, "What is it Harry?"
"Ginny there is something that I haven't been telling you. The reason you were brought here—the reason you are here–I'm not going to let it happen. I'd die before I let it happen, but the reason you are here is to be a sacrifice."
"What do you mean a sacrifice?" Ginny asked. Despite Harry's reassurances that he would not let it happen, she was beginning to become frightened.
"Voldemort wants me to undergo a ritual. A ritual that will give me more power. A ritual that requires a live sacrifice, to be done properly. You, Ginny, are meant to be that sacrifice."
"WHAT!" Ginny screamed. "You can't let that happen! I don't want to die! I don't want to lose you again! There's so much I want to do in this life. I can't die yet..." Ginny kept going on in this manner, saying reasons that she didn't want to/couldn't die, her words becoming less coherent as she went along.
"GINNY!" Harry had to shout to get her to shut up. "I told you that I wouldn't let that happen, I'm going to get you out of here!" Ginny visibly relaxed at these words.
"Thank Merlin. When? How are you going to get me out of here?"
"That brings me to my next set of bad news." Harry started solemnly. "Snape and I have been trying for the past two days to come up with a way to get you out of here. The only 'viable' option is the front door."
"Great! When are we leaving?" Ginny asked.
"We're going to try and leave as soon as I'm finished getting ready." Harry said, before continuing to get dressed.
"Wait, what do you mean try and leave?"
"I mean exactly what I said. We are going to try and leave. Unfortunately, the chances of us getting out of here alive are about 20/80, the 80 in favor of us dying horribly painful deaths. I was recently informed by Voldemort that every single Death Eater is going to be here to witness the ritual. My best guess is that there are about twenty-three Death Eaters who live here 24/7. Then there are the twenty-plus Death Eaters who have already arrived for the ritual. Not to mention the thirty-plus that have yet to arrive, I'd say that we are shit out of luck of escaping.
"For one thing, you don't have a wand, and even if we could somehow manage to battle our way through the seventy-plus Death Eaters we still have to contend with Voldemort and there is no way and hell that I could beat him with my current skill level. So, we are basically the living dead right now. At least we'll go down together." Harry added trying to lift her spirits.
Ginny didn't say anything. Harry always had a way of leaving her speechless. Ever since that first time that she had seen him at the Burrow, Harry had always had the power to take the words right out of her mouth. Growing up she had always imagined that there was nothing that Harry Potter couldn't do. Then when he saved her from the Basilisk, that only served to strengthen her conviction that Harry could overcome anything.
Now here he was admitting to her that he had come upon odds that no wizard in the world, not even himself, could overcome and he was joking about it. He was resigned to his death and for what? For her. She couldn't believe how calm he could be about it. He had already sacrificed so much for this world, never asking for anything in return and now he was about to was about to make the ultimate sacrifice on the slim chance that he could save her life.
She couldn't let him do that.
If he died, the world stood no chance against Voldemort. She didn't know how she knew this, but she knew it to be true.
It was time for somebody other than Harry to sacrifice something. In that moment she had made her decision.
Harry, meanwhile, had finished dressing and was now throwing everything he owned into his trunk. If by some miracle he made it out of here alive, it wouldn't do for him to leave all his stuff behind. He also decided to pack all the books of Voldemort's that he had. If he could make it out he would need to continue his training and as far as he knew, these books were one of a kind.
As he was tossing the last of the books in, he was stopped by Ginny's hand on his shoulder.
"Harry." she said. When Harry turned and looked into her face, he at once knew that something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"Harry, I can't let you do this." she stated simply.
"Do what Ginny?" Harry asked confusedly. "If we escape, I'm going to need all this stuff. The trunk can shrink down in size so it can fit in my pocket." he explained.
"Not that, Harry. I can't let you go through with this. I can't let you risk your life in order to save mine. You're too important."
"Ginny, you don't know what your talking about. Just help me finish packing all this stuff and we can get out of here." Harry insisted, turning to continue packing.
"Harry you know better than me the hopelessness of the situation. There's no way we'd get two steps out of this, this building alive. There's no hope for me left, but there still is for you."
"What are you saying?" Harry asked, but he knew what she talking about.
"Harry, if you die, there will be no hope left for the world. I know in my heart that you will be the one that has to defeat Voldemort. I'll help you accomplish that any way I can. I now know that I can do more for you dead than alive. If you can gain more power by sacrificing me, than so be it. I'd rather die knowing that I helped you at least this once, than knowing that I caused your death."
"No." Harry stated simply. "We either leave together, or we die together. Now either help me pack this shit, or get out of my way and I'll do it myself. We leave in five minutes so be ready." Harry tried to step past Ginny, who had moved in-between him and the trunk he was packing, but she wouldn't move. "Get out of the way Ginny." Harry said, beginning to get angry.
"No."
"I said get out of the fucking way!" Harry yelled pulling his wand and pointing it at her chest. For the first time that Harry could remember, his wand wasn't steady, but shaking uncontrollably.
Ginny wasn't moving. She looked as calm as ever. How can she be so calm at a time like this? Harry wondered to himself. This only served to fuel his anger. Not at her, but at himself. Anger towards the world. Anger towards whatever supreme being was in the sky pulling his strings. But, mostly anger towards everything that was Voldemort.
"What will you do hex me?" Ginny asked, and Harry immediately dropped his wand to his side. He knew he would never hex her. "You're acting as though you have a choice in this matter. You don't. If you know anything about Weasley's, it's that once they've made up their mind about something, it stays made up, no matter how wrong it is." Ginny explained with a small smile.
Tears began rolling down Harry's cheeks. Ginny was forcing Harry to perform the ritual. What's worse, Harry knew he could stop her, but he wouldn't. He would go through with the ritual. Not because, Ginny was forcing him to, but because no matter how wrong he thought it was, he knew deep down that it was the right thing to do.
What was one life to the lives of billions? If Harry didn't go through with this sacrifice, he knew billions would die. Who was he to make that decision though? Did he have the right? Apparently he did, because he had made the decision, and he would sacrifice that one life to save the billions.
Ginny didn't say anything, she just wrapped him up in a warm hug.
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF A HUMAN SACRIFICE. JUST KNOW THAT IT IS IN KNOW WAY BASED ON FACT. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ THIS PART DON'T. JUST KNOW THAT HARRY DOES SACRIFICE GINNY. I WILL LEAVE ANOTHER NOTE LIKE THIS WHENEVER THE GRAPHIC PART OF THE SACRIFICE IS OVER.
As much as Harry wanted to be with Ginny in her last hours, it just couldn't be. He needed to study the ritual as vigorously as he could. He had already memorized everything the ritual involved, but he wasn't taking any chances. There was a lot of chanting involved on his part and he would not screw it up.
Ginny sat silently on Harry's bed. A tray of food beside her, left untouched. She was of course having second thoughts, but she would not let them change her mind. She would see this through to the end. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Harry's sigh and the shutting of his book.
"It's time." He said simply. Voldemort had just called him through his Dark Mark. "You know what to do?" Harry said, not really questioning or stating. Ginny merely nodded. "Stupefy." Harry said pointing his wand at her. He would levitate her to the Meeting Hall, and hopefully she would never have to wake again. He wanted to say goodbye to her, but had decided against it. That would testing his resolve too far. "Wingardium Leviosa."
Harry quickly left the room, Ginny floating in front of him. Too soon, he was standing at the doors to the Meeting Hall where the ritual would be place. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry pushed open the doors and walked to his destiny.
The meeting hall was almost completely dark. There was only a light shining on Voldemort showing only him and the chair he was sitting on. There was also a ring of light showing all of the Death Eaters in their circle. There was a little gap for Harry to enter and when he did the gap closed off immediately. When Harry reached Voldemort, he kneeled and kissed the hem of his cloak. God, how he had hated that. "My Lord." He greeted simply all the while the hate was rolling around in his head. He quickly submersed it though.
"Welcome, Harry. We are all ready. I see that you have brought the guest of honor." Voldemort joked to which all the Death Eater laughed. Harry didn't. "Revive her."
Shit Harry thought before doing as he was told. Ginny blinked her eyes into consciousness. She quickly remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Acting afraid wasn't necessary though, she was truly scared.
"Welcome, Miss. Weasley to your death." Voldemort said waving his hands at the room around him and all the lights turned on. Please spare me the theatrics. Harry mentally rolled his eyes. "The Ritual Circle, has been provided for you my Apprentice. Take her there and strip her of her clothing."
Ginny true to what she agreed to do began to fight Harry all the way. Harry using his superior strength, pinned her arms against her sides and carried her there. When they reached the Ritual Circle, he set her down and she decided to really sell it. Slapping Harry across the face and kneeing him in the groin, Ginny broke free and began to run only to be met with a Cruciatus curse from Voldemort.
After about thirty seconds of the curse, Voldemort lifted it. And Harry summoned her back to the Circle. Any fight that was in Ginny, even the fake fighting was gone. Harry quickly, but carefully removed her of all her clothing, baring her to all the Death Eaters.
"Commence with the Ritual." Voldemort commanded.
Harry hesitated for a moment before removing his outer robe and shirt. He then removed the large knife that he had within his robes. Setting the knife by Ginny's side, Harry began positioning her body. She was placed in the direct center of the huge circle measuring ten meters in diameter. Her head had to be pointing directly north. Her arms east and west respectfully. Her legs were spread eagle. Ginny was supposed to fight during this process, but she didn't. Either she couldn't, or she didn't want to out of fear of another Cruciatus. Tears of pain and fear were running down her cheeks.
Harry began the first part of the chant slitting both of Ginny's wrists. The blood flowed freely out of the cuts and onto the floor, all the while Harry continued chanting in a monotone voice that did not seem to be his own, but was.
As Harry's words began to take effect the blood began to take on a life of its own tracing the intricately drawn runic Ritual Circle. When the blood finished tracing every last part of the circle, it began glowing red as Harry finished his chanting. On the last word, a red force field shot up to the ceiling along the outer-circle creating a glowing red tube of a shield. This effectively enclosed Harry for the duration of the ritual. Nothing could get in or out of this shield now, not even the Killing Curse could break through. The only way of bringing it down was to finish the ritual or when the caster of it died. It also froze Ginny where she lay. She could still breathe and talk, but not move. She would be unable to move ever again.
Taking a deep breath, Harry prepared himself for the next part of the ritual. Sitting down on Ginny's stomach, he began chanting anew. Slowly, as he began chanting a hole began to open in front of him, above his head. It started out the size of a needle, but soon began to get larger, until it was about two meters in diameter.
The hole was impossible to see into, leading into another dimension as some liked to think. All that was seen was black smoke constantly swirling around, and what looked like red lightning trying to escape but unable to do so.
Harry, mentally began to prepare himself for the hardest part of the ritual. Still, chanting the same thing over and over again, to hold the dimensional gap open. Taking the knife into both hands, Harry raised it above his head, all the while chanting the same thing over and over.
Harry began the last part of the chant different from the rest. This, along with the ending of Ginny's life would allow for the gap to become fully open and allow for a single spirit, or demon–depending on which version of the description of the ritual you read–to be released from its prison and inhabit the hosts body giving the host more power along with a few special gifts, different for each person who undergoes the ritual.
As he was about to plunge the knife into Ginny's heart, his emerald eyes met her frightened brown eyes, and suddenly a calm came over her, and she moved 'I love you' to him. This completely though him off balance and brought a pause to his chanting. He stumbled through the last part of the chant, barely managing to get it out, and not perfectly as it should be, before raising the blade high again and driving it into Ginny's heart. She gasped a moment in pain, before her eyes glazed over and the rest of her life exited her body.
Harry looked up to the dimensional gap, expecting to see a white smoke escaping from the swirling black, as the book had described it. What he saw shocked and scared him.
The black smoke was leaking out of the hole, falling to the ground as though it were a liquid. It quickly filled the inside of the shield from floor to ceiling. That's when the red lightning began escaping, striking everywhere, barely missing Harry.
END GRAPHIC PART OF RITUAL.
On the outside, Voldemort was seething with anger. The idiot boy had screwed up the ritual. The black smoke had quickly obscured his vision of the boy, and now all he could see was the occasional streak of red lightning. He had never heard of this happening. There had been other documented screw-ups of this ritual, Voldemort had witnessed some himself. All that happened in all of the documented cases was death of the caster, that was it. For the first time in his life Voldemort was at a lost of what to do.
The Death Eaters who knew about the ritual and had performed the ritual themselves, knew that something was wrong, but also knew there was nothing the could do. If there was something they could do none would have done anything anyway. All the could/would do was look on with a weird sense of fear.
The Death Eaters who knew nothing of the ritual and were learning of it for the first time, thought that this was part of the normal ritual and therefore thought nothing of it. All they knew is that they too had a weird sense of fear crawling over them, like nothing they had felt before.
Harry could see absolutely nothing, save for the occasional steak of red lightning. He was extremely worried and had that same weird sense of fear that the others had except multiplied about ten times. Suddenly, out of where he knew the hole to be, he saw a white light begin to appear.
There was an sound coming from the hole also. It was a cross between a roar and a groan. Then the light began to take on substance. Two large hands appeared, grasping where the edge of the hole would be. The roar/groan became louder as the thing began to pull itself free from the hole. Harry wanted to get up and run, run anywhere he could, but found he couldn't move.
As the thing pulled itself completely free, it fell to the ground. When it hit the ground it lay completely still, and Harry prayed to everything he could think of that it was dead. His prayers went unanswered as the thing began to stand and stretch.
Standing at its full height, the thing looked to be a little taller than Hagrid, but no where near as wide. Though it looked to be made of smoke, Harry immediately thought that this thing was built like a rock. Muscles, upon muscles, the thing looked as though it could crush an anvil in its bare hand.
"Finally," the thing spoke. "Finally, I am free of that prison" Though Harry could understand it perfectly, he was positive that the thing was not speaking English. He knew that it was a language that he had never heard before, that probably no one on earth had heard in many millennia.
"Who has..." the thing began, but was cut off as the still open hole began to emit another roar/groan. This time a light of bright yellow began to emerge. It too took on form and began to pull itself free. As it fell to the ground, it sprang to its feet instantly. It was nowhere near as large as the white thing. It was six foot seven inches at the most, and half the width of white thing. It, too, was built like a rock though, just a smaller form of the white thing.
"Who are you? It is not your turn! Go back to where you belong! This body belongs to me!" The white thing roared, and charged at the yellow thing.
Yellow nimbly dodged the huge fist of White that threatened to squash him like a bug. Leaping into the air it delivered a roundhouse kick to White's face, sending him flying into the red shield. If the kick had hurt, White showed no indication as sprang to its feet, only to be kneed in the stomach by Yellow.
White bent double, and Yellow grabbed hold of its head, connecting with three solid knees to the face before flinging White backwards into the red shield again. Yellow began to advance on White, but White was already on its feet and attempted a sweep kick. Yellow again easily dodged by jumping high into the air. White must have predicted this, because it reached into the air and grabbed hold of Yellow's leg.
Spinning Yellow around in a circle, White released its hold on Yellow's leg as it reached top velocity. Yellow flew at speeds that Harry couldn't believe, and collided with the red shield. Before Yellow could fall to the ground, White delivered a punch to Yellow's chest that would have easily crushed a humans bones to dust. Yellow apparently faired no better as it fell to the ground and lay there lifelessly.
Not taking any chances, White quickly walked over to Yellow's body and raised its foot above Yellow's head. Bringing the foot down with all the might it could muster, both Harry and White were shocked as its foot fell short of Yellow's head, caught by his hand. Yellow showed amazing strength as it held White's foot to a stand still. But, suddenly, Yellow swept at White's other leg with its leg, at the same time push upwards on the foot he held in his hands, causing White to overbalance and fall on its back.
Yellow was on White as quick as lightning plunging its fingers into what Harry assumed were White's eye sockets, ripping out its eyes. White roared in pain and attempted to punch Yellow, but it was already off its chest. White slowly got to its feet, attempting to ignore the pain it was obviously in and listen for any sound of Yellow.
Yellow easily dodged the punches and kicks thrown at it, before plunging its hand deep into White's chest, pulling out what Harry could only presume was its heart. White fell to the ground, dead and quickly began to evaporate into the air, as did the heart that was still in Yellow's hand and the eyes that were laying on the ground.
"Shame." Yellow said before turning its attention on Harry. "I will make good use of your body." It said before leaping at Harry. Harry attempted to shield himself with his hands, but it was useless. The thing had turned back into the yellow vapor and was entering Harry's body suspending him three feet in the air.
When the vapor was completely inside Harry the pain started. Every single inch of his body screamed in agony as his genetic makeup was changed. His bones began lengthening, his skin was becoming tougher, almost like a hide. The top of his head burned in two separate places. The area where his lower back met his ass also began to burn with the same pain.
Through the pain, Harry felt something in his mind, searching through all his memories. Harry immediately began attempting to push the invader out of his mind, but found it completely impossible. "Stop your fighting. It will be over in a minute and you, Harry Potter, will cease to exist." Came a voice inside his head speaking in the same language as the Yellow and White things had spoken in.
This cause Harry to fight even harder than before, but it was completely futile. Trying to force this invader out of his mind was like trying to hold water in your hands, it kept slipping through. Then an idea came to Harry if he couldn't force it out of his mind, he could contain it in his mind. Cut it off from the rest. Lock it off in a room all to itself. And he began doing just that. Instead of forcing it out, he forced it into the far recesses of his mind. The thing screamed in frustration and began forcing its way back to where it was, trying to assert its control over Harry's mind. Harry was having none of it.
Pushing back harder, Harry began hurling random thoughts and memories at the invader. Thoughts and memories of extreme pain. The invader screamed again, this time in pain as it was forced to live out those thoughts and memories. Thoughts of the Cruciatus curse. Memories of Harry receiving the Dark Mark, of him being tortured. This made it easier for Harry to force it back and hold it at bay while Harry built the walls around it.
The invader, sensing its eventual imprisonment, started shouting for a comprise. Promising to share the body. To help Harry out, to aid in the killing of Voldemort. While tempted, Harry was having none of it and continued with the building of the walls.
Upon completion of the walls, the invader began slamming against them in a futile attempt to escape. All it accomplished was for Harry to reinforce the walls. Satisfied that the thing could not escape, Harry rested and immediately fell into unconsciousness.
As he fell into unconsciousness, the invisible force suspending him in the air, dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground. The black smoke that had filled the inside of the shield immediately began to subside back into the hole. With it went the lightning, and when it was all gone the shield fell leaving Harry alone. The Ritual Circle along with Ginny's body had disappeared.
As Voldemort saw Harry's body, he immediately took in the changes. Harry's body was slightly larger, and more defined. Other than that the boy looked exactly the same, if not a little worse for the wear. Oh and then there were what Voldemort could only describe as additions to the boy's body. He'd figure that out later. Right now it was obvious that the boy need medical attention, he's breathing was extremely shallow.
"Narcissa, take Potter back to his room and provide all the medical care that he needs. Alert me when he awakens. Bella, go with her. We do not yet know what the boy has been through and he may not be himself. Protect your sister, but do not kill the boy, subdue him only." Voldemort instructed, and his instructions were followed instantly and without hesitation as always.
A/N: There you have it, the end of the chapter. Tell me what you think about it. I wanted to add this end note to tell you that Harry is not SPECIAL. The ritual did not go correctly, because he SCREWED up! Not because he's special. Well it was a combination of the fact that he screwed up, and the fact that he had a willing participant who loved him. No to date has had an actually willing participant for the Ritual, let alone one that loved them.
I promise that the next chapter will be action packed to the brim. It will contain the after effects of the Ritual, the duel that was supposed to be in this chapter, and Harry's first mission for Voldemort.