Chapter 25: The Final Battle
Harry and Sean were now left in the Great Hall with Voldemort and Scrimgeour; the silence in the room spoke volumes for the long-standing conflicts between the four of them. Harry wanted to clear some things up about Scrimgeour before he would leave Sean to do his job.
"You've been infiltrating the Ministry since you started there?" he began unraveling. "You've been protecting the Death Eaters, that's why there have been so few arrests."
Scrimgeour nodded to all of this and began to show his fangs. Harry continued on, "and I suspect you kept trying to get me to become your poster boy so that you could have arranged to have me easily sacrificed at this point."
"Very clever I must say," Scrimgeour began in answer, "truly Dumbledore's man."
"One question," Harry said, "why did you arrest and hold Stan Shunpike?"
"My dear boy," Scrimgeour said sinisterly, "I prefer to feed on living people."
Rage entered Harry as he envisioned Stan Shunpike restrained in some dungeon and being drained of his blood little by little day after day in order to sustain the life of this demon.
"Enough of this" Voldemort barked out, "I will destroy Potter and afterwards keep both your heads as trophies."
"Quit talking and let's end this" Harry barked out to Voldemort.
With that Scrimgeour motioned for Sean to come with him in order to give Voldemort and Harry sufficient room to carry on their fight. Sean first went to the green bag on the floor and retrieved a small bag that looked like a beanbag with liquid inside it, and then followed Scrimgeour out.
After they had gone, Harry and Voldemort stood across from each other and stared at the bane of their existence. Harry had emptied his mind, denying Voldemort access, so Voldemort resolved to use other means to cause Harry to let his guard down.
"You have grown strong and learned much, Potter" he began, "but you cannot hope to defeat me. Better wizards then you have tried to beat me, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, and your parents…they all died by my hand or by that of lesser wizards."
"This is the end Riddle" Harry said using Voldemort's birth surname. "Everyone that has been standing between us is dead or otherwise engaged tonight. All my protectors and your minions are gone, it is down to you and me." Harry finished this with strength and emphasis in his voice.
Voldemort responded with a tone of confidence and malice, "And who do you think that favors more?"
Harry said nothing, nor made any move against the Dark Lord, Voldemort searched Harry's mind and only found water. Harry took his wand and put it between his pants and his right leg.
"I believe we both know that this will not be settled with wands," Harry said to Voldemort remembering the last time they dueled.
"Indeed" Voldemort agreed as he conjured a sword into his right hand. "By the sword then?" Voldemort asked as the blade of his own sword began to glow white.
Harry drew the sword of Theseus from the sheathe at his left hip and responded to Voldemort with "by all means" as the blade began to glow white.
Scrimgeour got to the astronomy tower and turned to face Sean. "You fight well" Scrimgeour said, "but soon you will be dead."
Sean said nothing and merely stood across from his enemy. Then he did something that took Scrimgeour completely by surprise. The Vampires spoke and wrote in a language that Scrimgeour himself had developed. It was a combination of ancient Hungarian and Latin. The Order of St. George had taught it to all of their vampire hunters since Sergei Romanovich shared it with the Order after becoming a Knight himself.
"It is you who will soon be dead Rufus Scrimgeour" Sean answered. "Or," he began again, "should I call you Raiganzi Adrian Bognar?"
Scrimgeour tensed at the use of his given name and the language he had developed for himself and his creations. He now looked with a keen interest at the young warrior before him and spoke in the vampire language.
"I recognize the language I developed for myself and my children," Scrimgeour began, "as well as the symbol of the Order of St. George around your neck," he said referring to Sean's crucifix, "but you cannot be a Knight, you are too young."
Sean responded to this in the vampire language with his usual monotone, "You made me," he said with emphasis, "the night you killed my parents and left me alive. A Knight on your trail found where my mother hid me and brought me into the Order."
Sean said the next part in a cold voice that reflected the righteous anger he had towards the head vampire who was now standing in front of him.
"Leaving me alive was your greatest mistake" he said in the same tone, but with more spite. "I will kill you here and now. If I die also, then so be it."
Scrimgeour now decided to abandon all pre-tense and fight Sean as a vampire, and with magic.
"I will fight you as Raiganzi Adrian Bognar, there is no need for dual identities between us."
Sean nodded before interjecting, "Enough talk," in his thick Irish accent, "we end this, here and now."
A sinister smile crept to Raiganzi's lips as he began to speak, "I do remember your parents, they were that pathetic Irish couple that I satisfied a hunger with all those years ago when I was on the run. I remember the woman was so beautiful to me that I decided to make her mine. Then she was killed in Romania by…" he paused and his voice developed a sickly amused tone, "was that you?"
He could tell by the angered appearance of Sean's face that he was indeed the one who had killed her.
"Tell me," the vampire said to Sean, "was one of those swords you have strapped on the one you used to kill her?"
Sean reverted back to his emotionless face as he pointed to the katana with his right hand, unstrapping his weapons and dropping them to the ground as he did so.
"As a matter of fact, this is the sword I used that night." Sean added the next part with resolution. "And after I beat you down with my bare hands, I will kill you with it."
Sean crouched down and retrieved a pair of black gloves that were held to his katana sheath with some rope. The gloves were thick and heavy, with several steel balls embedded in them to inflict extra damage. Sean put on the gloves and got into his fighting stance, facing Raiganzi with a determination to emerge victorious.
They stood facing each other for a few moments, each one willing the other to make the first move. They stared each other down, Raiganzi showing his vampire red eyes and baring his fangs as he held his wand in his right hand. Sean remained in his stance holding his fists upright, ready to spring into action at any second. Neither of them made the first move…they both moved forward at the same time.
Harry and Voldemort ran at each other with all the pent up rage and hatred they had, the one for the other. Voldemort's sword was magic like the one Harry was using, so the two of them were equally matched. Voldemort thrust his sword forward towards Harry's heart, Harry swung his sword under Voldemort's, hitting it up and then kicking Voldemort hard in the ribs. Harry followed this with a turnaround kick straight to Voldemort's sternum, causing him to stagger a few feet backward. Harry stopped and waited for Voldemort to make his move.
"Impressive," Voldemort said still maintaining an air of confidence. "But you do of course realize there is no way that you can beat me…I will destroy you, it is only a matter of time and you will die."
Harry paused but never lowered his guard "Then why are you hesitating?" he asked coldly.
Voldemort let out a menacing hiss and charged forward once again. Sean's training had pushed Harry's already impressive reflexes to a point that surpassed every kind of standard. Voldemort brought his sword in all directions as Harry blocked and parried. Voldemort was no stranger to sword fighting and was holding his own against the boy who lived.
Sparks of white light emitted as the blades of the two magical swords collided. Harry blocked another thrust, then brought a perfect left hook across Voldemort's face. As Voldemort staggered back, Harry ran in for the kill. He brought his sword toward Voldemort's throat; Voldemort was able to move out of the way, but not completely as Harry's sword slashed the left side of Voldemort's neck.
Voldemort brought his leg up to Harry's chest and kicked him back a couple of feet. A smirk covered Harry's face as he saw Voldemort cover the slash with his hand.
"First blood to you Potter," Voldemort said with disgust, then he fought dirty, "crucio!"
Harry was hit by the spell and fell to the ground in pain. He came to only to find Voldemort bearing down on him with his sword. By the time Harry was able to bring his foot up to Voldemort's face and get away, he had several slash marks on his shoulders, ribs, and forearms.
Harry got to his feet and saw Voldemort with his wand drawn and his sword in the other hand. Harry took out his wand and uttered a quick mendo charm for his left shoulder. He ignored the pain and did the same for his right shoulder. He then threw his wand up to the area where the faculty had been sitting.
"Why don't you keep your wand boy" Voldemort spat with venom in his voice.
"I don't need it to defeat you" Harry said back to him, the blood from his slashes still staining his arms as blood trickled from his wounded ribs.
Back at the astronomy tower, the vampire and the Knight were engaged in a heated battle. Raiganzi would move quickly, and was throwing out spells left and right in an attempt to kill or injure Sean. Sean was wiser than to attack blindly and wasted none of his energy in dodging the spells thrown at him. He would swing his fist or attempt to kick at the demon he had been hunting for the last sixteen years but had not yet done any real damage. Sean did not let his anger blind him though; he knew that sooner than later Raiganzi would slip up and he was determined to seize that opportunity.
On the vampire's next attempt, Sean's patience would be rewarded. Raiganzi planted his feet on the ground and shouted "avada kedavra" as a green light emitted from his wand.
Sean sprang forward with a speed he had not shown before, spinning away from the green beam that emitted from Raiganzi's wand. This caught the vampire by surprise; Sean dodged the spell and then came at Raiganzi with all of his strength and rage. Sean reigned down on Raiganzi with a flurry of punches to his upper body and throat and followed through with devastating elbows to the head. He then hit him with several knees to his ribs and body until Raiganzi began to spit up blood.
Sean finished his barrage by grabbing the back of Raiganzi's head with both his hands and bringing it down onto his raised knee. Raiganzi fell to the floor injured. He had suffered broken ribs from Sean's assault and for the first time in his entire existence was bruised and broken. Sean stared at Raiganzi from a short distance away and held up his bloodstained gloved hands. Sean felt that he should say something, but he realized that words were not needed at this point.
He stopped as Raiganzi began to laugh a fiendish laugh.
"What's so funny?" Sean asked as he looked at the beaten figure of the head vampire.
Scrimgeour responded with, "You really think that I would come up here alone?" Comprehension dawned on Sean as he heard a few figures come running at him. He turned around to see at least seven vampires running or floating through the air toward him. Sean knew that he would have to destroy them quickly, so he sprinted for his weapons. But before he could reach them, he was engaged in battle.
All of them attacked Sean at once, he fought them off as best he could, but the numbers of enemies and his lack of weapons were overwhelming him. He would kick one to the ground and then have to punch another to the ground. Then he would foot sweep another and heel kick another. By the time he was moving on to more of them, the others would be on their feet. He kept punching and kicking at his enemies, always being sure that he was moving closer and closer to his weapons. Eventually, he reached his weapons and brought up his two knives.
With his knives in hand, he made short work of Raiganzi's pawns. He stabbed the first two straight through the heart with either of his hands. Then one lunged at him, and Sean ducked under the attempted blow, moved behind the vampire, brought his arm up in front of the vampire's face arching him backwards, and then ran him through the heart from behind. The four remaining vampires decided to charge him all at once. Sean stabbed two right off with his knives, and then kicked one to the ground. He then used one of his knives to cut off the other's hand and then brought the other knife through its heart. As he did that, he threw the knife used to cut off the hand through the heart of the one on the ground…they were beaten.
After a brief pause, one knife still in his left hand, Sean looked to try and find Raiganzi. He figured that his pawns had given him time to heal himself and that he would be using dirty tactics to win. Sean crept around carefully, then Raiganzi apparated in front of him and, with a newly conjured sword, slashed Sean around his legs and abdomen before bringing his sword through Sean's left foot.
Sean vomited blood from the pain, and then brought his right foot up into Raiganzi's face. Raiganzi fell back with his sword in hand and hit the ground with a loud thud, dropping his wand upon impact. Not wasting a moment, Sean ran forward and took up the wand. As Raiganzi lunged for Sean, he did a complete back flip, landing on his right foot and brought his knife through the wand, destroying it.
Raiganzi was infuriated, and the angrier he got, the cooler Sean would get, despite the major wounds and fatigue he had already sustained. Sean had learned to tune out pain; he was now angering Raiganzi even more by standing on both his feet despite the almost overwhelming pain he felt in his left.
Raiganzi hadn't even knocked Sean down, and now Sean could sense that his time had come. He moved around on his feet some, and then Raiganzi charged at him with a loud scream and made to hit away Sean's knife and then bite his neck.
Harry ignored the pulsing in his ribs long enough to parry Voldemort's next strike, then brought his leg up into Voldemort's groin and kicked him away long enough to accio his wand and perform mendo charms on his mid-section. Voldemort had already done the same for the slash on his neck, but now he was becoming tired of this fight.
"I grow tired of toying with you boy," Voldemort said icily to Harry as Harry again threw his wand aside. "Prepare to die."
"You first" Harry answered in the monotone voice he had acquired while training with Sean.
They had been fighting for nearly thirty minutes and were both very tired. Both had been wounded and had mended their wounds, both were determined to triumph. Their motives were what separated them the most. Voldemort wanted to win so that he could become the great ruler, the heir of Slytherin he was said to become. Harry wanted to keep his loved ones safe and honor his parent's sacrifice by carrying on their family name. They both knew that this next time they ran at each other would be the last time, neither of them wanted this to continue any longer.
Harry and Voldemort both began to walk slowly around the room that had become their battleground. Neither one of them glanced away from the other; Voldemort seemed to be trying to glance inside Harry.
"Dumbledore has taught you well" Voldemort said in a low and menacing voice, "but not well enough."
Harry knew that Voldemort was trying to play mind games with him, and he would not dignify him with a response. Voldemort continued to walk around as Harry did so, then he continued to Harry.
"You have obviously come far in learning occlumency and illigumency, but not even Dumbledore could have known how skilled I am. I see into your mind Potter, I see that you still remember when I killed the pathetic witch and wizard you call parents. I see that you want to save your pathetic friends, especially…"
Harry tensed as Voldemort paused, Harry knew that Voldemort knew. "The mudblood," Voldemort said with confidence and venom in his voice. "I tried to get you to go after the foolish Weasley girl who opened the Chamber of Secrets so that you would drive away the know-it-all mudblood. But you two came together anyway…how romantic."
Despite all his best efforts, Harry was losing control; it took every ounce of determination and self-mastery that he had gained through training with Sean to keep his mind focused on being empty.
"You realize," Voldemort began again, "that even if by some miracle you survive this fight. I will continue to pursue and destroy you and those whom you profess to love. Who knows, perhaps she will even become a part of my forces, or my harem."
"Riddle!" Harry yelled with fury as he charged at his enemy Harry had heard enough at this point and wanted to end it once and for all.
Voldemort calmly defended himself against Harry, blocking his blows and then attempting to strike. But then, Voldemort realized to his horror that Harry had not only learned to not attack blindly, but to let anger fuel his fighting. The two of them clashed in an epic struggle as white light emanated from their swords whenever they collided. Eventually, Harry brought his sword down onto Voldemort's and the two held their swords together as they gazed into each other's eyes.
All the hatred, malice, and anger the two of them felt for each other were in their eyes as they faced each other through the blades of their swords.
"You won't get anywhere near Hermione" Harry said to Voldemort in a monotone voice garnished with righteous fury.
"And how is that?" Voldemort asked in response as the two of them pushed away from each other.
"Because you can't kill people when you're in hell" Harry spat back.
Harry grasped the sword of Theseus and ran at Voldemort as he ran at Harry with his sword poised to go through Harry's heart or throat. In one instant, Harry realized the importance of being ever vigilant as he saw what Voldemort planned to do. His mind being emptied and in the right frame to adapt instantly to his opponent, Harry dropped to the ground in a full split just as Voldemort approached…and brought the legendary Greek sword into his enemy's chest.
They both paused; Harry to look into the face of his archenemy, Voldemort to react to the mortal wound he had just received. Harry bounced off his thighs to his feet, but did not let the sword move. Voldemort had a look of shock on his face and his eyes wide open as Harry stared into his face. The night air made it's way over Harry's head and through his short crew cut as he looked and contemplated all that had happened and this new culmination, and then he spoke.
"For all my life," Harry began to speak to the bane of his existence, "you've hunted me. You've murdered everyone who cared for and protected me…everyone who tried to give me a happy childhood. Now you see, that you sealed your own fate when you stole my innocence."
Harry shifted the blade from Voldemort's sternum through his heart, before Voldemort died, he heard Harry say, "I would look for the light to leave your eyes, but now I see that there isn't any there." Harry then withdrew his sword from Voldemort's black heart, the Dark Lord gasped his last and fell over dead.
Harry sheathed his sword and then dropped to his knees in front of the sight that was before him.
"It's over" he said out loud as he breathed a sigh that clearly conveyed him dropping a weight that had been on his back for far too long.
Before he became relaxed, he remembered what Sean had said to him some days earlier about what to do when this moment came.
"After you kill the Dark Lord…and you will kill him. Put the horcruxes on his body. Then take this," he held up a bag that looked like a beanbag but full of liquid, "and throw it on his body. This is napalm, and it will burst into flames as soon as it comes in contact with the air. Put the ashes into some kind of container, then dispose of it in the water…the deeper the better."
Harry dug through the large green bag and found the bag Sean had described and checked to be sure that all the horcruxes were inside. He put the green bag containing the horcruxes, including the corpse of Nagini, on top of Voldemort's dead body, and then dropped the bag onto Voldemort's chest.
When it didn't break, Harry took out his wand and yelled "inflamare," breaking the bag and inflaming the body.
Harry watched the flames consume the man who had ruined his past, "but," he thought with a smile, "I have my future."
Harry would go and find the faculty after he had contained Voldemort's ashes, for the time being, he satisfied himself with a sausage and a mug of pumpkin juice…they tasted better than anything he had ever had before.
Raiganzi ran forward and with a mighty move of his sword pushed Sean's knife to the side and then lunged forward with his bared fangs. Sean was able to bring his left hand around and punch Raiganzi in the head with the knuckle guard of his knife. This sent Raiganzi back a distance and he became all the more infuriated with the young Knight who refused to die.
"Accept your fate you foolish boy" Raiganzi barked to Sean, "and die at the hands of your superior."
Sean had moved to where his weapons were and carefully replaced his knife with his katana, he did it with such skill that Raiganzi didn't notice. Sean had lost so much blood that he didn't know how he was able to stand up.
"Come on" he baited the vampire as he held the hilt of his still sheathed katana with his right hand, "finish it."
Raiganzi ran forward and brought his sword up to bring it down on Sean's head. But in one fluid motion Sean unsheathed his katana and moved forward enough that the blade was behind his head, and Raiganzi's sword rested on top of it.
Swordsman that he was, Raiganzi knew what this maneuver was and that there was no escaping, and he was shocked. Sean knew that it was over…he was in position to perform the unstoppable.
"This is not possible" Raiganzi said.
Sean knew that it would all end in a matter of seconds, and he summed up all the feelings he was experiencing inside in five words yelled out in the vampire language, "to Hell with you demon!"
Raiganzi did not even attempt to make a move. Sean raised his sword to bring Raiganzi's blade into the air. Sean knew that the best way to kill a vampire was through the heart, but decapitation would also work. Sean then spun around to his left, decapitating Raiganzi. He turned around to face his enemy and watched as the body fell to the floor.
He sheathed his now blood-stained katana, picked up and stored his knives, and then limped over to where he had placed the napalm bag and took it over to where Raiganzi's body lay. He found the head and put it on top of Raiganzi's chest. His eyes found the ring on Raiganzi's right hand ring finger, and he removed it "for the trophy case" he thought to himself.
Then he threw the bag onto the corpse, he had done this many times before, including to his mother's body, and the corpse immediately burst into flames.
Sean waited until the flames had consumed the corpse, then with a few swift moves of his right foot, scattered the ashes around the tower. He now realized how much it hurt to stand, and that he was feeling very dizzy and faint with loss of blood. He remembered the way back to the Great Hall and figured he should check on Harry. He made his way down the stairs with his weapons in tow and across the hallway until he reached the Great Hall, leaving a trail of blood behind him.