"That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end"
-Lisa Hand
Chapter 2 Power To Protect
"They're coming..."
Backing away slightly at the terrified, horribly certain Boy-Who-Lived, Hermione Granger and Ronald and Ginny Weasley stared at their frozen friend.
Eyes wide and rattled, Harry Potter staggered backwards. For a moment, he just stood there, staring with those stricken eyes at the unyielding floor.
Abruptly, he straightened, and then turned so suddenly that his friends were taken aback, even more so by his wild eyes, like a panicked beast. "Run!"
Ginny blinked in surprise. "What?"
Shaking his head wildly, scar an inflamed ruby color, the Boy-Who-Lived looked the epitome of the crazy hero... or maybe just a crazy. "Run!" he shouted again, and tore off down the corridor, towards the stairs.
"Harry, what about Dumbledore!" Hermione called after him, a note of flustered panic in her voice.
Whirling, Harry blinked nervously and yelled, "Wake him up!"
"Harry!" Ron cried out, and grabbed his shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes, a note of fear in his eyes and voice. "Mate, what's wrong?"
"They're coming! Don't you understand!" Harry shouted angrily.
"Who's-" that was all Hermione could say before an unmistakable, terrible, chilly feeling settled into the room.
"Dementors..." Ginny breathed quietly, fear entering her voice.
Dear Tom...
She stumbled to the floor, clutching her head. "No, no, no, I won't do it," She chanted brokenly, tearfully.
"Ginny!" Ron grabbed his sister and pulled her backwards, where Hermione was already.
"The Dementors must be downstairs," Harry whispered softly, the screams of his mother's last moments permeating his ears before he managed to pull himself far enough away from the stairs.
"But how-" Hermione's eyes widened and she gaped. "The wards?"
The Boy-Who-Lived gave her a grim nod. "We need to run. Wake up the professor."
"No need Harry." Albus Dumbledore said calmly, leaning heavily against the wall.
"Professor!" Four relieved voices cried out in unison.
The Headmaster gave them a small smile, full of sadness and sorrow. "Mister Potter is right. You must run."
Hermione cast him a strange, piercing look. "You meant we, right, sir?" She asked nervously.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No." A chorus of protests broke out, but he silenced them with the raising of his hand. "I must stay here and buy you the time you need to escape." He looked directly to the Boy-Who-Lived. "You must survive, Harry. Only you can undo what is happening."
"What is happening professor?" Harry asked quietly.
The professor sighed wearily. "Tom has given himself fully to the Darkness, and now it has consumed him, as it will consume this world and all others."
The students shot him a questioning look. "Other worlds?" Hermione asked skeptically.
To this, Dumbledore gave her an amused smile. "But of course. Our world is but one world amidst an endless sea of worlds." His face darkened. "But now the Darkness is consuming the worlds, starting with here." Once more, he looked to Harry. "You are the only one who can undo this."
"How!" Harry shouted, frustrated. "How can I save all these worlds, when I can't even save-" He broke off, a pained, sorrowed look on his face. They all knew what he was about to say.
Sirus. Cedric.
They expected this sixteen year old to save, not just one world, but all of them?
Madness.
He fell to his knees, whispering hoarsely, "I can't save anyone..."
Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt in front of him, her earth brown eyes looking into his. "You saved me." She murmured quietly.
Harry gazed at her in astonishment.
"She is right, Harry." Dumbledore said, a hint of pride in his voice. "You saved Miss Weasley when you were but a boy. You have escaped Lord Voldemort" the other's winced "Four times.. I know you can do this."
Hermione and Ron, not fully comprehending but still getting the basic understanding, nodded fervently in agreement.
"You and Ron saved me from a troll."
"You've pulled me out of more scrapes than I want to remember."
The Boy-Who-Lived gave Ron a sad, wry grin. "But I pulled you into them."
Groaning, his best friend slapped him on the back. "Harry, you're my best friend. My brother. I haven't always been there for you, but I'll try."
"Me too Harry." Hermione agreed, eyes shining with tears and happiness.
Ginny gave him a look. I told you, she whispered silently.
Harry nodded in acceptance. He stood. "Okay then... how do I do it?" He asked, his trademark determination now resonating in his voice.
The Headmaster smiled proudly, not hiding any of the warmth from knowing that despite all obstacles and torments, this boy- no, this man- was unbowed, undaunted. "You must open the door."
The door? Words flashed in Harry's mind
The day you open the door is both far off and very near.
Before Harry could say anything, the chilly evil of the Dementors returned. Dumbledore's persona changed immediately into his terrible, awing look of raw, relentless power. "Go Harry. There is a fireplace in Sirius' room. And remember, your heart is your greatest weapon." He shouted, then placed himself at the opening of the stairs.
"Dumbledore!" Harry shouted, trying to pull him back desperately, but Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, after getting a look from the Headmaster, grabbed Harry and dragged him backwards.
The look was plain.
Protect him at all costs... he must not fall.
Each of the three accepted and cemented the vow in their own hearts.
As the students rounded the corner, trying to find some other means of escape, Albus Dumbledore gave a small, quiet sigh, and then dropped the Headmaster persona forever. Now he was back to what he always hated... a warrior.
Eyes now dancing with untold power, air crackling about him as if charged with his energy, drawing himself to his full, regal height with wand drawn, he seemed every inch the greatest sorceror of the age.
And then the first of Voldemort's minions stormed the stairs.
Dementors, made more terrible by the awful Darkness that now dwelled in Tom, bearing the crest of that evil.
Steeling himself, the Headmaster roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A silvery phoenix tore through the air, casting its phoenix song, strengthening Albus but doing nothing against the Dementors, who normally were at least irritated by that song.
Luckily, the Dementors were still vulnerable to a Patronus, making it easy for his Fawkes Patronus to drive them off. As they fled down the stairs, however, something else took their place.
A swarm of shadowy, buggy, tiny creatures with large yellow eyes and feelers converged on him like a black tide.
Not quite sure how dangerous this new threat was, he decided to hit them with a powerful spell nonetheless. "Conglaciare!" he shouted, waving his wand in a wide arc, and a blast of arctic wind cut through the air and froze the first wave. In another moment, they shattered and dissolved into midnight smoke.
But for every one that was halted, three more swarmed over. There were many... too many, and would easily be able to overwhelm the professor in moments.
Except that this was Albus Dumbledore, champion of Light, the only one that the Dark Lord ever feared. With a powerful thrust of his wand and a cry, he sent a massive wave of fiery white light that annihilated the attackers.
As the smoke cleared, the Headmaster breathed slightly, relieved. However, it was to be in vain, as a second swarm of the shadowy creatures swelled up and flooded the stairwell. And behind them, larger shapes, but smaller than the Dementors, loomed ominously.
Like a black tide, they relentless assaulted Dumbledore.
Remus Lupin panted wearily, watching as his Stunner sent a Death Eater crashing into the wall, only to feel numb horror as his enemy got back up again.
There seemed no way to defeat the much smaller group of Death Eaters, who could take tremendous punishment and continue fighting. The source of this must have been the new mark on the Death Eaters, a dark purple heart crossed out with crimson lines, planted squarely on their chests. Whatever it was, it changed each and every one of their scents considerably.
"Frangere!" the angry vermilion light of the Shatter Curse blasted the mask of a second Death Eater, sending shards of the white mask into the face of the dark wizard. However, the man didn't even flinch or scream, instead sending forth a Shadow Flame Curse, which accented his blood streaked face, shadowing it with black light.
A hastily erected Shield Charm barely managed to deflect the stream of black fire, and then Remus counterattacked with a barrage of Strike Spells, which lifted the Death Eater bodily and into a wall. A large amount of the navy blue spells struck the strange crest, shattering it.
To his amazement and relief, the Death Eater did not get up... but then to his shock, the wizard dissolved into black smoke.
For a moment, he stared, open mouthed at the smoke that drifted lazily up into the sky. Then a Killing Curse rocketed past his head, causing the werewolf to throw himself to the ground.
Pulling his mind from the spectacle, he yelled to any Order members in hearing, "Hit the Crests! The crests!"
Nodding, the remaining Order members renewed their fight, none of them noticing the sky getting darker, and darker.
Not noticing their fight was utterly meaningless.
A whistling noise echoed throughout the stairwell as the Fire Whip Spell smashed into the line of creatures, annihilating them with its force.
Albus Dumbledore's chest heaved with exertion as he watched the shadows dissipate into a black miasma.
A score of the small creatures, as well as half a score of a new type, a vaguely human shaped creature about a meter tall and with a purple heart crossed out by red lines on its chest, appeared. Silently but tenaciously, they stormed the stairwell.
Knowing that at this rate, his magic would be far too drained, the Headmaster put his faith and fate in one more spell. Out of all the spells he had learned in his century and a half existence, he had used this but once, when he dueled Grindelwald at the end of the Black War, also known to Muggles as World War II. Dangerous and powerful, it could easily magically cripple lesser wizards.
Feeling the power surge through his hand and into his wand, Dumbledore pointed his wand, glowing at the tip with deep amethyst light, at the seething mob. Power resonated about, the fabric of reality twisting and bending beneath the gathering force of the spell. "ULTIMA!"
The devastating force of the Ultima Spell completely devoured the shadowy creatures in its purple-black luminescence, shattering the stairs and scorching the walls, annihilating the very atmosphere it struck. As the energy finally spent itself on the bottom of the stairs, it dissipated with a large crack as the air rushed back in, along with a fog of black and white smoke.
Warily, the Headmaster glanced at the complete darkness that now eclipsed the view of the bottom of the stairwell, wand held high, ready for anything, except that he had no more magic. His reserves had been utterly depleted by the Ultima Spell, and had nothing more to give.
A high, cold laugh echoed from the Darkness, from within the Darkness. "The Ultima Spell, Dumbledore? You are desperate."
Sighing, the professor replied resignedly, "Show yourself Tom."
The Darkness manifested itself, forming a tall, skeletal shape, with crimson pinpricks gazing outwards, before finally revealing the Dark Lord. He glided towards the bottom of the stairs, darkened crimson eyes appraising the greatest sorceror of the age, and finding him lacking. "This time, Headmaster, you will be the defeated." Lord Voldemort hissed spitefully, but he made no move to attack.
Albus Dumbledore looked at him with a pitying expression. "Tom... you've given yourself completely over to the Darkness. You've wrought a terrible wrong on this Universe." His gaze hardened slightly. "And that will be your downfall."
Bloody eyes sparked with rage. "My downfall!" the Dark Lord spat viciously, "This is my ascension, Dumbledore. This world... no, all worlds will become mine."
"The Darkness does not protect or preserve, Tom. You will merely destroy all things, before you destroy yourself." The Headmaster replied, his voice tight and controlled despite his fatigue.
"You understand nothing." Lord Voldemort retorted angrily. "The Darkness will consume all things, and a new world, my world, will be born from the blood and ashes."
"You and your world will be damned for eternity to nothingness. You have given away your heart, Tom. And without that, you are nothing." Dumbledore said, his tone almost lecturing.
Raising himself to his full, imposing height, the Dark Lord roared, "I AM THE DARKNESS! I AM ALL THINGS!"
"You are nothing." The Headmaster replied tersely, his sapphire eyes pitying. "You never understood what it meant to be human Tom... and now you never will."
"Enough talk." Lord Voldemort snarled, his tone laced with disgust. "I will take your heart now, and with you, will fall this world."
Albus Dumbledore still looked at his executioner with pity and remorse. "Even if you take my heart, plunge this world into the abyss Tom, you will never win."
The Dark Lord's eyes had a small spark of amusement. "If you are talking about the Potter boy, don't be foolish. I will deal with him as soon as you are gone."
Shaking his head, the Headmaster said softly, "You underestimate him. You underestimate his heart."
"I've heard enough old man!" Lord Voldemort shouted, and in a single movement, without even touching the broken stairs, appeared right in front of the Headmaster, his arm raised. With a terrible smile, he plunged his shadow covered hand into the chest of Albus Dumbledore.
The Dark Lord laughed sadistically, gleefully as he pulled free that spark of light, the heart of the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and absorbed it into himself. Albus Dumbledore's lifeless body toppled to the floor with a soft thump, drowned out by the echoing laughter of the demon responsible.
At long last, the Dark Lord had bested the greatest sorceror of the age.
Throughout the world, the death of Albus Dumbledore, while not actually known, was felt. The shadowy creatures suddenly doubled in number, and became far more resilient to an attack. The sky, if possible, darkened further, as if the heavens themselves shook at the death of the Headmaster.
As if the entire world had somehow been weakened by the demise of its greatest protector.
But the question remains... why?
One person in particular felt the death of the Headmaster, someone only a flight above. Harry Potter stumbled to the floor, hearing a sudden scream from the fabric of reality. "Something's wrong..." he murmured weakly, distractedly, leaning against the wall.
Ron grabbed his arm. "Come on mate, we gotta keep moving." He said softly, tugging on his friend's arm.
"R-right." Harry said haltingly.
And then the screams started.
Ron and Harry turned sharply, and were horrified to see Hermione kicking away some... shadowy thing.
"What the bloody hell was that!" the redhead shouted, shocked as he pulled the brown haired girl backwards.
"They're here..." the Boy-Who-Lived whispered, yet it was not fully his words. Or perhaps it was, and he merely did not understand their importance.
The shadow blinked up at them with feral yellow eyes, and its small claws opened up. As it was about to strike, it was struck by a brilliant red light.
Ginny looked at where the creature had been before she struck it with the Stunner, and found it laying against the wall. "Is it out?" Ron asked nervously, his legs pulling him backwards.
In answer, the foot tall creature leapt forward, its claws narrowly missing Ginny's chest. As it landed, it was struck by a barrage of spells, and dissolved into black smoke.
"What... was that?" Ron gasped, looking around anxiously as he placed his wand in his pocket.
"No idea." His sister replied, her wand still out.
The Darkness became heavier, and from the direction where they had come, a swarm of those same, bug-like shadows crawled towards them.
"Oh s-" Before Ron could finish his expletive, Hermione and Ginny pulled him backwards, with Harry following. They burst into Sirius' room, and caught sight of the cobweb strewn fireplace, complete with dust and soot. Not much of an escape route.
"Come on!" Harry shouted, urging them on.
"Where do we go?" Hermione asked, her voice a mix of fear and panic.
"Hogwarts should be safe." The Boy-Who-Lived replied, grabbing the pot of Floo powder and handing it to his friends. "Let's go."
"You first Harry." Ron said quietly, pushing his best friend slightly.
"But-" The raven haired boy turned back, looking at them.
"We'll be right behind you Harry." Hermione assured him adamantly, smiling.
"Alright..." Harry turned and grabbed the Floo powder, stepping into the fireplace, wincing as dust and soot fell on him. "Hogwarts!" The flames engulfed him, that familiar dizzying feeling overtaking his senses-
And he was thrown forwards, right back out of the fireplace with a loud thump.
"Harry!" his friends shouted in unison, helping him back up hurriedly.
"What happened?" Ginny asked, biting her lip nervously.
"Something's wrong with the Floo..." Harry trailed off, glancing at the door. "Oh no."
The shadowy creature was back... and he brought plenty of friends.
Ron swore an oath, and they drew their wands. Before Harry could blink, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron crowded in front of him, creating a human shield.
"What are you doing!" the Boy-Who-Lived shouted angrily.
"You heard Dumbledore Harry. You're the only one who can fix this. So we need to keep you safe." Ginny said quietly, raising her wand. Her voice had a slight tremor in it, and her hand shook slightly.
"Its our turn to protect you mate." Ron added, much calmer than his sister.
"No! I won't let you!" Harry nearly screamed, trying to push his way past his friends, but they held firm.
The shadows swarmed, claws flashing and gleaming in the dim light. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione fired off their spells, still keeping Harry back. The creatures retreated, lurking at the doorway, waiting to mass their strength again.
"Ginny." Ron said quietly, and his sister turned towards him. "Get behind me."
"What!" His sister exclaimed, eyes narrowing. "I can fight too."
"I know." Ginny's eyes widened as she heard the calm, proud tone in her brother's voice and the smile on his face. "That's why you need to keep Harry safe."
"Right." Hermione whispered softly, nodding.
"So when we give the signal, take him out of here. Try to get to my room, I have my broomstick there." Ron whispered, a resigned, yet slightly fearful tone in his voice.
Ginny felt a small tear run down her cheek. "Ron... Hermione..."
"We're counting on you Ginny." Hermione said, smiling slightly.
"Right, so don't mess this up." Ron added wryly.
The redhead slapped her brother's arm lightly. "Alright, same to you." She replied, a slight choke in her voice.
"What are you three talking about?" Harry asked, slightly suspicious, having only heard Ginny's early exclamation, and still being held back by Hermione, out of hearing of the whispered conversation.
His best friends turned to him. "Harry... remember, we love you." Hermione whispered softly.
"We'll always be right with you mate." Ron chipped in, smiling.
"What-"
"Now!" Ron and Hermione charged the shadows, wands held high. The creatures, surprised by the maneuver, scattered before them. The Boy-Who-Lived let out a surprised cry, and tried to grab them, to pull them back.
"Ron! Hermione!" he shouted, in a vain attempt to pull them back. Before he could, he found himself being dragged forward by Ginny, towards Ron's room.
"What are you doing!" Harry shouted angrily at her.
"Not letting their sacrifice go in vain." The redhead replied quietly.
Harry sputtered, and was about to shout when he heard the sounds of battle. He turned slightly to see his best friends battling against a score of the small, but dangerous creatures.
"RON! HERMIONE!" he yelled again, desperate.
"Just go Harry!" Hermione cried out, wincing as her Shield Charm was shattered.
He caught one last glimpse of his best friends, battling valiantly against the mob, and then was pulled around the corner, and he could see them no more.
As Ginny dragged the struggling Harry Potter into her brother's bedroom, she finally released him from her vice grip and scanned the room for Ron's Cleansweep. Before she could, the redhead found herself pulled around and slammed against the wall by a furious Boy-Who-Lived.
"Why the hell didn't you let me go back there!" Harry shouted, eyes shining with tears and voice tense with fury. "You had no right to do that!"
"They made the choice Harry. We'd have been gotten too if they didn't." Ginny replied quietly, glancing away.
"You had no right!" The raven haired boy hissed angrily, his face inches from hers.
"How dare you!" The redhead screamed back. "That was my brother, and my friend! I cared about them too!"
Before the shouting match could continue, a creaking noise of the floorboards being crunched was heard. They turned towards the door, where the shadows had converged again.
All the rage and fury that Harry had been holding since those past few minutes had gone by were boiling now, raging at the creatures who stole his best friends away as he fell to his knees.
Where was this damned "Power the Dark Lord knows not"! If his power was so damn great, where the hell was it!
Tears poured down his cheeks as he wept for his best friends. He felt a slight shifting, and Harry looked up to see Ginny Weasley, standing resolutely in front of him, firing off spells valiantly, but ultimately futilely. She screamed as one slashed her torso, sending rivulets of blood splattering to the floor. One shadow leapt straight for her, its claws cleaving the air, right for her heart.
Harry's anger soared, and he leapt forward, swinging his fist in an effort to push back the creature. He would not lose another friend, not today.
Something warm and powerful surged through his veins, changing him subtly, yet irrevocably.
In a brilliant flash of light, his swinging fist was gripping something solid and metal. Before Harry could react, the new object struck the shadowy creature, destroying it on contact.
In front of him, the shadows shrunk back in fear of the golden radiance.
"Harry... what is that?" Ginny asked breathlessly, wincing at the wound in her side.
The Boy-Who-Lived looked at his hand and gasped in surprise.
In his hand was an oversized key of some sort, with a slightly shorter length and much thicker blade than the sword of Gryffindor he had used in his second year. Its handle guard was a square shape of deep amber, protecting a brown, soft hilt. At the end was a keychain, from which dangled a peculiar shape; three circles, a large circle with a smaller one attached to each side. The end was even stranger; a flat crown shape jutted out of the right side of the tip.
"I don't know..." Harry bit his lip, "But I think... I think somehow, I do."
"Yeah... that doesn't answer my question." Ginny said quietly.
"It's called the Keyblade." The Boy-Who-Lived whispered softly, gripping the weapon tightly, not knowing how he knew that. When his instincts screamed at him to drop the unfamiliar object, his heart told him otherwise. It felt... it felt as though he was holding a part of his heart in the palm of his hand, or meeting an old friend from childhood.
It was his, and it would give him the strength to protect his friends.
That was enough.