Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related plot events and characters are the property of JK Rowling.

Summary: PostHogwarts. Harry must deal with the horrors of war, and in doing so he will embrace his heritage and leave a lasting legacy on the world.

A/N: As you'll see, the story carries a rating of M for valid reasons. Please read and review! Oh, thanks to Mr. Williams for the title of the chapter.

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Chapter 5: Battle of the Heroes

His scar had warned him of this. Voldemort had done something particularly nasty this night, and he was painfully aware of it through the link. Harry focused on the pain in his scar, trying to recall the images that had been relayed to him. Diagon Alley…some very large building near Ollivander's…yes, there it is…the Orphanage. There were no outward signs of damage, but who knew what lie within.

Harry got up and crept down to the common room. It was December and the castle was quite drafty, so he had put on his winter robes over his pajamas. The common room was empty, as was to be expected at this late hour. Harry glided over to the fire and sat down on the couch, collecting his thoughts. He stared into the fire as images from his dream came to him. He knew it was more than a dream, though; his scar didn't hurt unless something was happening and the images were usually precognitive.

He had seen about twenty Death Eaters enter the Orphanage, causing it no exterior damage. About forty-five minutes later they all left, just as silently as they had come. They congregated outside of the Orphanage and Apparated away as a group. The building stood silent and almost serene in the wake of the activities of the Death Eaters.

Harry had a very bad feeling about this. The Death Eaters rarely did things subtly, and the fact that they hadn't left any outward signs of their presence was quite disturbing. The second thing that Harry cringed at was how many children occupied the Orphanage. Whatever had happened in there couldn't be pleasant. He sat mulling things over, finally deciding that he had to go see what happened. He had to know what the Death Eaters were up to.

He left the common room and headed toward McGonagall's office. He unlocked the door with a simple Alohomora and headed to the fireplace. He grabbed the floo powder and threw it into the fire. The flames turned a sickly green, and for a moment he was reminded of the Killing Curse. He hesitated, but after realizing what he was doing, stepped into the flames and yelled, "Diagon Alley!"

There was a brief sensation of being sucked through a vacuum, and then he was tumbling out of a fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron. He stood up and brushed himself off, looking around as he did so. The Leaky Cauldron had very few customers due to the late hour, but they were unsurprised to see the visitor from the floo network. People came and went all through the night because Diagon Alley was the hub of the English Wizarding world.

Harry ignored those around him and exited the pub. He looked around for a moment, making sure that the street was fairly empty, and then began hurrying his way towards Ollivander's and the Orphanage. No one paid him any attention, which was good for him because he was away from Hogwarts when he was supposed to be in bed. He stopped at Ollivander's, eyeing the Orphanage curiously.

There were a few lights visible from the outside, but otherwise the place looked like it should at 3 am in the morning – silent, dark, and waiting for dawn. There were no outward signs of any type of disturbance, but Harry was cautious anyway. He tested the area for any charm or curse traps, and finding none, walked toward the building. He approached the door and looked up the many floors of the place. How many kids were in there? Two hundred? Four hundred? He didn't know, but he was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this.

Harry took a deep breath, held his wand at the ready, and opened the doors to the building. The first thing he noticed was the lack of security at the front desk. The lobby was completely deserted. He looked around carefully, and then saw what he had feared. The guard was lying on the floor, face frozen in the shock of a Killing Curse. Someone had trampled on his wand, splintering it and driving it into his outstretched hand.

Harry cringed at the sight for a moment, but then cocked his head as some noise came floating to his ears. It was very faint, but it was also unmistakable. It was the sobbing of a small child – several small children, in fact. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he listened to it for a second. He was fighting the urge to just turn and run, pretending that he had never seen the Death Eaters enter and leaving, doing whatever was in store for him. Harry was a better person than that, though, and he steeled his resolve and moved past the desk. He carefully stepped over the body of the guard and made his way into the first floor corridor. Every 15 feet or so there was a door on either side of the hallway, and there was undoubtedly one or more orphaned children housed in each of these rooms.

He paused at the first door on his left. He listened for a moment, and felt his heart deaden at the sobbing of what sounded like a small girl that was coming from within. He put a hand to the knob and turned it, feeling a sense of dread as he did so. His eyes widened in shock when he saw what was in the room.

A small girl, of no more than eight, was huddled in the far corner. She was sobbing to herself, and the reason was very apparent to a dumbfounded and disgusted Harry. She was naked and bloody, and had been very clearly sexually abused. There were scratch marks over her body and her clothes lie torn on the floor. There was a large yellow bruise forming on her face, as if she had been struck. The floor she was sitting on was mess, and Harry could only imagine why. She looked up in horror when the door opened, and upon seeing Harry, started to shake and cry violently.

Harry was too shocked to do anything for a moment, but then moved into the room to comfort the small girl. The closer he came, however, the more violent her shuddering became. She started to moan a little, so he stopped. His brain was racing, but it was also in denial. He refused to accept what he was seeing. He did the only thing that he could come up with, and conjured a blanket. He wrapped the girl in it, trying to calm her as he picked her up in the warm mass of the blanket. Seeing that she wasn't going to calm down anytime soon, he carefully placed her on the bed in the comforting cocoon of the cover.

He looked at her for a moment, trying to digest what had happened here, but his mind still refused to accept it. He left the room and crossed the hall to another door. He listened and heard sniffling from within, but this time it was clearly a boy. He opened the door and stared at what had transpired in this room. The boy was still clothed, but he was lying on the floor, shuddering in agony. He clearly had been given the Cruciatus curse and was suffering the after effects. Harry could only think of conjuring another blanket and wrapping this boy the same as he had the girl, and placed him on the bed. He tried to calm the shuddering for a moment, but the boy was in too much pain to really even notice.

He left the room and went to a few more rooms, finding the same scene in each of them. The girls were mostly naked and in varying degrees of stress. They had all been noticeably sexually abused and their bodies were battered and bruised. None of them were older than ten. The boys had all been given the Cruciatus curse and left shuddering on the floor. They were also no older than ten. Harry conjured a blanket for each of the children and wrapped them in it, placing them on the bed with a few words of comfort before he left for another room.

After about ten rooms, Harry decided that something more than he was doing must be done. He raced back to the lobby and out the front doors. "Sonorus," he muttered, amplifying his voice. "BRING HELP TO THE ORPHANAGE! THERE WAS A DEATH EATER ATTACK ON THE CHILDREN. BRING BLANKETS AND WARM CLOTHING!" He didn't wait for a response as he rushed back inside, muttering, "Quietus," as he went. He proceeded from room to room, finding the same as he did in the first ten, and tried to help them as much as he could.

His mind was still reeling from the initial shock of what he was witnessing, but it was quickly catching up to him. His breath was coming harder and harder and he had a hard time keeping his fists and stomach unclenched. He barely noticed the people that had started to come into the Orphanage upon hearing his cry for help, discovering what had happened and helping the children as much as they could.

Harry climbed the stairs to the second floor and pushed open another door. There was a very small girl in this room – no more than six years old – and she was in the same state as the others he had seen. He was suddenly overcome with disgust and had to back out of the room for a moment. He retched into the hallway, doing so for so long that in the end it was nothing more than a dry heave. After it had stopped, he wiped his mouth and went back into the room. He conjured a blanket and wrapped the small girl in it. She wasn't crying, perhaps because she was so young and couldn't comprehend what had happened to her. She had a shell-shocked expression on her open face. It tore at Harry's insides to see such a young and innocent witch be tormented like she had. When he picked her up in the blanket, her wide and unseeing eyes focused and moved to his face. They lingered on his eyes for a second, taking in his emerald gaze, before moving to his forehead. They widened further when she saw his scar.

"Mr.…Mr. Potter?" she asked him.

He was astounded that she had the presence of mind to speak. "Yes, sweetie. What can I do to help you?" Harry was trying not to let his anger or disgust show in his voice.

"I-I'm not su-sure," she said, stuttering a little as her mind tried to understand what had happened. "Why did they do this to me?" she asked as he set her on the bed and sat beside her.

Harry's eyes teared up and he could barely contain his emotion. The little girl and her innocent questions were too much for him.

With a shaking voice, he replied, "I don't know why. They just like to hurt people…" he trailed off as he saw her start to cry.

"W-why would they want to hurt us? We ne-never did anything to them," she said as the tears began to fall freely from her large brown eyes.

Harry smoothed her hair as she began to sob. She leaned into him and cried hard into his chest. He hugged her and tried to comfort her, but her mind was finally seeing what happened. Harry was experiencing the same thing, as his mind opened up to what the Death Eaters had done in the Orphanage. The tears started to flow from his eyes, and he didn't try to stop them. He cried with the little girl, holding her tight as she emptied her emotions onto his robe.

They barely noticed the shouts of activity that were carrying through the Orphanage as more and more people came to help and discovered what had happened. Harry's emerald gaze was wet with tears, but it slowly hardened as he listened to the heaving of the young witch he was holding on to. Deep in the green depths flickered something very unpleasant – unadulterated hatred. They would pay for this. They would all pay. Every single one of them.

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"Harry." Someone was shaking his shoulder.

"Harry." The person started shaking his shoulder harder.

"Harry!" The person smacked his shoulder. Harry sat up and looked around. He was in his Gryffindor dormitory.

"Why are you crying?" It was Ginny who had woken him. She was looking at his face, which was wet with tears. He cleared his head, trying to force the grogginess out of his mind, and realized that he had been dreaming. His mind had recalled that horrific night in Diagon Alley.

"Bad dream," he mumbled, and sat up. He had sat with the girl, whose name he had later learned was Helen Davis, until more professional care arrived. Once he assured the small girl that he wouldn't forget about her, he Apparated back to the Hogwarts gates. The floos out of the castle were one way, so he had to trudge across the snowy grounds and through the sleepy castle to get back to his bed. His mind had still been in shock, but he never told anyone what he'd seen.

"What was it about?" Ginny asked him. There some concern evident on her face, but Harry noticed the fear. She must still be upset about last night, he thought to himself. He stood up and stretched.

"It's not important. Wanna get some breakfast?" he asked, looking at her face. She studied his gaze for a moment, deciding on whether or not to press the issue, and finally just let it go.

"Sure." She was silent as she watched him slip on some more appropriate clothing, and walked with him from the dormitory.

When they got to the common room, she asked him, "So…why did Dumbledore want you to stay last night? You just went straight to bed when you got back…"

"He wanted to talk," was all Harry said. He wasn't in the mood to talk too much after that dream, because it recalled in him the horrible empty feeling he had when he left that place. The hate had also returned, and it burned through him like a hot wire.

"Oh. Care to tell me what about?" Ginny could tell that he was being especially moody at the moment, but that never stopped her from trying to get him to open up. She knew that Harry always felt better when he had spilled some of his pent-up emotion.

Harry sighed. The emptiness was eating at his insides like a rampaging flobberworm, but he knew that he couldn't share what he'd seen with her. It was just too…awful. He would live that memory and those images for the rest of his life, as well as the overwhelming feeling of hatred that had accompanied them. He couldn't remember a single time in his life – not while with the Dursley's, not while fighting with Snape or Draco, not even when Voldemort had killed Cedric – when the hatred had been so incredibly powerful and consuming as it had while he held the shaking girl in his arms. It burned through his body like a sharp, hot knife and there was nothing that he could do to make that cold and ruthless feeling stop. Just thinking about how those…pigs…took advantage of everything that lay in their paths made him sick and he wanted to rip their bloody heads off.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, somewhat timidly. His emerald gaze had gone icy and, if she was being honest with herself, it frightened her somewhat. She had seen this gaze during the war a few times, and nothing had stood in his way when he got like that. Killing Curses had flown brutally and inexorably from his wand on those days; no Death Eater or other creature of the Darkness had stood in his way. She had always assumed it was because Voldemort had killed his parents, but she couldn't help thinking, at this moment at least, that there was something even more driving him into that hatred.

"Mm? Oh…sorry babe…" She relaxed as the hardness drained from his eyes a bit. "I was just caught up in the dream."

"What was the dream about?" she asked, but regretted it immediately as he flinched violently. A dead look came onto his face, which in some ways scared her even more than the cold hatred he had just been expressing. His eyes were lifeless – they stared hollowly at the space in front of him, seeming to mirror the thousands of souls that he felt he was responsible for.

"You don't want to know."

"Harry – Harry! Look at me!" she exclaimed.

Harry stopped and stared straight ahead for a minute. He sighed and brought his eyes to meet hers. She forced back a cringe as she met that dead gaze.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right? Absolutely anything. You know that right?" she questioned.

He nodded in the affirmative, but the deadness was still boring into her brown eyes. What is going on here? This is worse than his normal moodiness. He just killed Voldemort – he should be happy, rejoicing, ecstatic even…the war is over…Ginny thought, dropping her eyes because the dead gaze was making her too uncomfortable.

Harry hardly noticed though, because he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts again. There was a flicker of that hatred there, but for the most part it remained dead.

"Well?" she asked, a little impatiently.

"Well what?" he said. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but he was exasperating her.

"What was the dream about?"

Harry sighed loudly this time, shaking his head in defeat. "I can't tell you—at least…not yet. Maybe someday…but right now it's just too close and painful to share with anyone else." He was rubbing his temples, as if he had a headache.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense, you know. Come on, Harry, you know as well as I do that it's good to talk about things that are bothering you. You can't bottle up these thoughts and feelings forever!"

Harry muttered something darkly in response, but refused to meet her eyes as they continued to walk to the Great Hall.

"What was that, Harry?"

"Look, you don't want to know what the fucking dream was about!" he said, momentarily surprised at his own outburst. He glanced over at the hurt look on Ginny's face, and repressed a groan that threatened to escape his lips.

"I'm sorry…it's just that I have a lot on my mind and most of it isn't pleasant. I'm sorry for yelling at you…you know how my temper can be sometimes," he explained, a half-hearted smile forming on his lips.

She just rolled her eyes at him and looked away, slightly put out but not altogether too angry with him. I can only imagine how many things he really does have on his mind, at the moment…

"Well, anyways…you never answered my other question," she reasoned, looking at him pointedly.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "And that was…?"

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed in mock exasperation, chuckling at his short-term memory difficulties. "Gods, Harry, are you sure that brain of yours is still working? Dumbledore, you fool. What did you and him talk about last night?"

He was silent for a moment, contemplating how much of what they had spoken about he should tell her. "Well, we had a discussion about magic…what it is and how it works…um…that's about it—wait, actually, I forgot to tell you last night." Harry slapped his forehead in mock frustration, smirking sideways at Ginny as he did so. She was somewhat relieved to see this playful side of Harry, but her curiosity was piqued.

"Yes? What did you forget to tell me?"

"Well, you see, today after lunch I'm dueling Albus," he grinned. He had forgotten how much he was looking forward to it. He glanced over at Ginny, but was surprised to see that her face had lost its color and her jaw was gaping.

"Trying to catch flies or something, Weasley?" he asked, sweetly.

She snapped back to reality and glared at him for a second. He knew she hated being called by her last name, especially by him. She thought it was cold and distant and very inappropriate.

"What do you mean, you're dueling him?" she asked, forgetting her anger as she realized what Harry had said.

"Just that. I'm dueling Dumbledore," he replied, rather serenely.

She stopped outside the Great Hall and turned to him, hands on her hips. Her scowl intensified as she saw the wistful look in his eyes.

"Harry! Snap out of it! What are you thinking?"

He eyed her for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"He's the most powerful wizard alive, Harry. Hell, probably since the Age of Merlin. How could you possibly hope to have a chance against him?"

He returned her scowl with a highly indignant look of his own. "What are you insinuating? Do you think I'm weak? Is that what you think, Ginny? You think I can't handle myself? Well, I have news for you. In case you've forgotten already, I was the one who took down Voldemort. I was the one who ended this bloody war," he spat, his anger returning as quickly as it had gone away earlier.

She realized her mistake too late. Harry hated it when people called him weak or a coward. They risked their necks insulting Harry like that, and she certainly did not feel like incurring the wrath of Harry Potter at the moment.

She shook her head at Harry and said, "Look, that's not what I meant. You know that I would never call you weak. Just be careful, alright?" She gave him a pleading look, hoping that he understood her.

Thankfully, he nodded and grinned at her, the anger that had so suddenly risen gone in a flash. His emerald eyes were now warm and inviting, in sharp contrast to the glint they'd had a few moments before.

"Sure thing. Let's eat, babe. I'm simply staaaahving," he said in a coy manner, making her laugh. They walked through the doors to enjoy their breakfast.

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Harry stood on the steps to the castle, looking out across the grounds that had become like home to him. He watched as all of the students and faculty, besides him and Dumbledore, congregated out on the wide front field and sat in the chairs that had been set up. He sure went all out for this, didn't he? Harry mused. Dumbledore had the chairs set up and made sure that everyone in the school was out there to watch them. Harry was terribly excited for this, but he couldn't help the slight sense of apprehension, either. Ginny's words had gotten to him, and he was a tiny bit afraid of dueling with the extremely powerful headmaster.

He did say we are evenly matched, though. That's got to count for something, but Harry was broken from his thoughts as a hand rested on his shoulder. He looked over to see Dumbledore standing next to him.

The first thing that Harry noticed about the Headmaster was his appearance – it was completely different than what he looked like normally. His elegant purple robes had been replaced by white battle robes. These were sleeveless and had legs like pants. They were of a very light and comfortable but extremely strong material. Just above the left breast was the figure of a phoenix, and above the right breast was the Hogwarts crest.

Dumbledore noticed Harry looking at his robes and smiled. "You like, Harry? I thought you might. Want one for yourself?" he queried, raising a questioning eyebrow at his young charge.

Harry looked down at his school robes—black and boring. He only had to think about it for the briefest of seconds before nodding at Dumbledore, who smiled a bit and took out his wand. He muttered something and pointed it at Harry, transfiguring his school robes into similar battle attire.

Harry's robes were very similar, except for two things: a stag replaced the phoenix and the Potter family crest replaced the Hogwarts crest. They were light and airy and allowed for a much-improved range of motion.

"Thanks, Albus. These are great," he said, smiling at his Headmaster.

Well, he certainly seems to be in a better mood today, thought Dumbledore. This duel is just what we both need. He can blow off some steam and I can see what he can really do.

"Shall we?" Dumbledore asked, raising a hand toward the gathering crowd. He and Harry walked to the small podium that had been set up in front of them all and waited for everyone to settle in. Once they had, Dumbledore raised his wand to his throat and muttered, "Sonorus."

"Quiet. Quiet please." He waited as everyone stopped talking and looked up to him and especially Harry with curious faces. There still hadn't been an official word on just what Harry had done to defeat Voldemort.

"As you can see by our attire, Mr. Potter and I have planned something special for you all today." He paused for dramatic effect, before continuing on. "We have decided to perform a bit of a friendly duel." He briefly smiled at the murmuring that started, and then said, "This has two purposes. The first, sorry that I am to say this, is so we can show off a bit. The second, and more importantly, is to show you all some techniques in case any of you ever have to fight for your life." He ended on a more serious note, giving his students his best stern look, allowing the twinkle to falter for a second. He needed to impress upon these students exactly how important knowledge of dangerous and effective offensive and defensive spells was.

"I know that the war is essentially over, so you may be asking yourselves why that is important at this point, but in the words of my old friend, 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!'" Many students jumped at his loud outburst, but that was followed by the sound of a hundred sniggers as people realized he had just stolen Moody's favorite line.

Harry couldn't help but laugh lightly at his Headmaster's antics, but he also felt a deep sense of regret when he recognized the truth behind those words. Who knew what kind of evil lurked out there, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting witch or wizard that happened to pass by?

"You all must stay in your seats. I do not want any stray spells harming any of you. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded at him, most of them trying to think of what Harry could possibly do against their Headmaster. They all had some idea of how powerful he was…how could Harry hope to match that? He had taken out Voldemort, but that was something out of necessity, not power.

"Quietus. All right, Harry, I'm going to put up shields around them. Don't worry about them, ok? Go all out," he said, eyes twinkling marvelously. Harry nodded and watched as Dumbledore erected a complicated shield around the audience before turning to him and motioning him away from them. There was a large, open space between the school and the crowd—more than large enough for a duel.

"How about we start with our wands?" Dumbledore asked Harry. Harry considered what he meant for a moment, and then realized that they were going to start as a normal duel. He nodded at the old man. Dumbledore raised his wand at Harry and bowed. Harry followed suit, tensing as a sudden gust of wind rushed around them. Both of their battle robes whipped fervently in it, before it died as suddenly as it had come.

This is it…don't hold back, Harry thought.

There was a deep silence as both men stood there, looking at each other intently and waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Incendio!" Harry yelled suddenly, watching as three huge balls of roiling red flame shot from the end of his wand. He saw Dumbledore's shield flash up around him and rolled to the side as he heard Dumbledore yell "Expelliarmus!" He would not lose his wand that quickly. The balls of flame ricocheted off the shield, flying off toward the crowd. Harry watched in horror for a moment, forgetting about the shields, but then relaxed when he saw them splash and explode up against them. The crowd recoiled. The momentary lack of concentration was enough for Dumbledore to get him, though, and he flew backwards off his feet as a bludgeoning curse caught him painfully on the shoulder.

Still on his back, he yelled "Protego!" as he saw some balls of flame headed his way. They bounced harmlessly off. Harry jumped to his feet and saw more coming his way, so he Apparated a short distance away. He fired off several bludgeoning curses toward Dumbledore before Apparating again, this time firing off a Diffindo. He Apparated away immediately after.

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Ginny recoiled against her chair as the three huge fireballs came toward them, marveling at how much raw power Harry had at his disposal. She'd seen him fight before, but it was never with any sort of variation in his spells. It was usually either a stunning spell or a Killing Curse.

She gasped as she saw him hit the ground from what appeared to be a bludgeoning curse. He leapt to his feet and started Apparating from point to point very quickly, firing off spells at each point before leaving again.

Dumbledore started doing the same thing. They were Apparating so quickly that it was almost impossible to follow their movement about the field. Occasionally one of their shields would flare up in protest as a rogue spell hit it, but for the most part they were easily avoiding each other's offensive spells. The shield in front of the crowd flared up suddenly as a large black ball of flame came from nowhere and hit it, causing some to recoil before they tried to train their eyes on the fighters again.

"Damn, he's fast…" Ron said, trying to follow Harry's movements. "I didn't know that he could fight like this. This wasn't how he fought the Death Eaters…" he said, trailing off as he caught sight of Harry. He fired of that intense ball of black flame before Apparating away again.

Hermione was digging her fingernails into her face. She couldn't believe that Harry was holding his own so well against the only one Voldemort ever feared. He was moving like lightning, dictating the pace and form of the battle as if he was superior to Dumbledore. She watched him with a sort of awe, and with some envy in her eyes because, even though she may be the smartest witch in centuries, she certainly couldn't practically apply it like Harry could.

"What is that black ball he keeps using?" Ginny asked, as she watched another huge ball of black flame speed toward where Dumbledore had been a moment ago.

"Flamma atrum," Hermione said. She was too preoccupied with the duel to notice Ginny's shocked look.

"Isn't that a really powerful Dark Arts spell?" she asked, looking at where Harry had just been standing. The ground exploded where she was looking, no doubt due to a Reducto Dumbledore had cast. She flinched a bit. They certainly aren't holding anything back, she thought, rather grimly.

"Yeah…I guess it is…" Hermione said thoughtfully, realizing for the first time that it was indeed a very powerful dark spell. She was surprised that Harry was using it. Just then, another of the large black balls crashed into the shields around them—unbeknownst to them all, however, that particular section of shield had just collapsed and left them unprotected.

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"Flamma atrum!" Harry cried, before Apparating to another spot. It was the most powerful non-lethal spell he knew, so he didn't care that it was a Dark Arts spell.

Dumbledore had looked shocked that Harry would or could use it, but the look was brief because he had soon resorted to using spells of any art, realizing that Harry was taking this duel very seriously.

He cast his own Dark Flame, trying to predict where Harry would be next, and sure enough, Harry had Apparated directly into its path. It ricocheted off his shield, which flared brightly in protest and almost collapsed under the strength of the spell. It hurled off toward the crowd, but Harry paid it no attention. The shields in place would stop it.

Just before he Apparated away again, he sensed that something was wrong. He looked over to the shields, and feeling with his magic, started in shock at what he sensed. One of the bloody shields is down! He watched in horror as the spell Dumbledore had cast raced toward the hole, almost seeking it out. He could think of only one thing to do, and Apparated to get in front of it.

"Protego!" he bellowed, strengthening his weak shield.

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Ginny watched the ball of flame in fascination as it rapidly approached the shields around them. It was black – so black that it seemed to suck away the daylight around it. The flames licked at the air around it, roiling into itself and the swirling mass of dark flames within.

She started in shock as a figure Apparated in front of them all and yelled, "Protego!" It was Harry, and he was inside their shields. She watched in confusion for a moment, but then cried out in realization as the sphere of blackness collided with Harry's protective barrier and rocketed up into the sky. He had just saved them all from being horribly burned by dark magic.

Dumbledore Apparated in next to Harry, holding his hands up in a gesture of a momentary stop to their duel. He eyed Harry for a moment, silently thanking him for the presence of mind to stop the ball before it hit the crowd.

He turned to the crowd and said, "Sorry about that. My deepest apologies to you all. If it wasn't for Harry's quick thinking I'm afraid that it would have hit you all. Perhaps this should end now." He saw the looks of horror on some faces in the audience, and sighed in resignation. How could the shields have failed? They were the strongest defensive spell he knew, and would tear apart a person if used on an individual. They were meant to protect structures or large groups. Could Harry really be that powerful?

Harry broke his train of thought by placing a hand on the old man's arm. He smirked sideways at him, surprising Dumbledore with the gesture. "How about we take this to the next level and throw away our wands?"

Dumbledore's eyes gleamed in understanding and he nodded. He turned to the crowd. "I'll throw a double shield up so I can assure you this will not happen again." He raised his wand and muttered the incantation, throwing up new shields and strengthening the ones already in place. Harry had already begun walking back toward the center of the open space.

Dumbledore turned to join him, smiling inwardly at thought of what was to come.

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Ginny watched as Harry and Dumbledore headed away from them again, still reeling a little from how Harry's quick thinking had saved her and countless others. He's so selfless…I doubt he ever thinks about himself…

She heard Hermione's sharp intake of breath and looked up quickly. She gave a gasp of her own. Dumbledore had thrown down his wand Harry was doing the same. What the hell?

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Harry eyed Dumbledore expectantly, waiting for the man to begin. A familiar light started to glow from his mentor, so he lost himself in his own thoughts. His mind was still somewhat affected from his dream, so the only emotions that came to him for a few moments were anger and hatred. He didn't want to fight Dumbledore like that, though, so he pushed those thoughts away and focused on something more pleasant.

Ginny…it will always be Ginny…I just love her too damn much, he thought smiling to himself. He felt the warm and familiar sense of overwhelming love and desire, and lost himself for moment. He had come to know that blank period as the transformation, and waited expectantly for it to finish. It lasted only a few seconds however, and when he looked up he saw that Dumbledore had completed his, too.

The Headmaster was engulfed in a turquoise aura that swirled and swung around him. His battle robes were flapping in the 'wind' and his beard was trailing over his shoulder. His eyes had gone brilliantly blue, the twinkle completely taking over. There were flecks of a hard yellow color mixed into his mostly turquoise aura.

What is that…excitement? I can definitely feel excitement coming off of him. There's something else though…apprehension? Yeah, that's it. He's mostly extremely excited but there is a slight apprehension. What's he afraid of? Surely it couldn't be me, Harry thought.

Dumbledore eyed Harry for a second before realizing what the green aura meant. It was the same color as the young boy's eyes, and it felt warm and cozy. It was love. It was very powerful love, too. He smiled at Harry, thankful that it wasn't the anger or hatred that he'd thought it would be.

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There were noises of confusion and shock from the crowd because most of them hadn't seen this new side of either Harry or Dumbledore before. They didn't understand what was happening and why they were suddenly engulfed in colored auras. Harry stood up there with his green aura swirling around him, looking much older than the seventeen years he was. Dumbledore stood in his turquoise nimbus, looking every bit as powerful and intimidating as Harry. The thing that ruined the feeling of intimidation, however, was that both men were smiling, almost stupidly, at each other.

Ginny looked at Harry with a knowing smile, sensing the love she had felt during the fight with Voldemort coming from Harry. She felt…excitement coming from Dumbledore. Hermione and Ron just watched, very enthralled by what they were seeing.

Harry raised his hands, palms up, and conjured two crackling green orbs of energy. They floated there for a second, but then he reared back and hurled them at Dumbledore with an inhumanly speed. There was a bright green flash and a blur as Harry moved almost as quickly, almost too quickly to be called moving, and was standing behind Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed to be expecting this, however, and ducked as the balls came at him.

He whipped around to where the balls should have hit Harry, but he only saw Harry smirking at him, having caught the two balls in outstretched hands. Dumbledore's aura flared outward and upward, engulfing them both and a large space around them in the violently swirling cloud of light. The green balls died quickly as the Headmaster's magical essence touched them. Ginny forgot everything that was happening around her as she focused her whole mind on the battle raging in front of her.

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Harry held back a feeling of surprise as his opponent's aura engulfed him, watching as his orbs of energy died away. Dumbledore was almost chuckling at him.

Harry surged his own energy and watched as his own emerald aura flared outward, forcing back the Headmaster's turquoise essence. The two auras fought with each other as the two men battled with their minds and their will power, trying to hold the magical strength of the other back. The point at which the auras touched sparked and sizzled dramatically, causing the air around both men to waver. Turquoise lightning shot up into the sky mixing with emerald-colored bolts.

The auras were now raging against each other, but it was merely the manifestation of the battle raging inside Harry and Dumbledore. He's …too …powerful…argh…must hold him back…Harry thought, trying to add even more energy into his battle.

Sensing that Dumbledore was about to heave a final surge upon him, he tensed up and gathered all of his magical reserves, rushing them outwards in a final act of supremacy. Dumbledore did the same thing at almost the exact same time, and there was a bright flash as the two waves of energy collided against each other. The air caught on fire and there was an intense pressure wave. There was a loud BOOM, which echoed off the castle walls.

Both men were thrown backwards, instantly descending from their enhanced states when they lost their concentration. Harry landed on his back about 20 feet away. He looked up and saw Dumbledore lifting his head to survey what had just happened. He started to laugh and soon after Dumbledore did the same.

They got up and moved towards each other, both still laughing. When they got to the object of their humor, they stopped and looked down into it. There was a crater in the ground, about 5 feet deep and 15 feet wide, caused by the meeting of the two waves of energy. The dirt itself seemed to be on fire in the hole.

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, trying to suppress his mirth at the amount of power they had both released.

Dumbledore waved his hands, causing the protective shield around the crowd to collapse. He looked at Harry with a grin on his face.

"That was something, Harry, eh? You are a very powerful wizard, indeed."

Harry grinned sheepishly at his Headmaster's compliment, replying, "Still couldn't beat you, though…"

Dumbledore shook his head lightly and smiled, laughing a bit at who he considered to be his favorite student of all time.