Warning – this is a violent chapter. And smooshy kisses to my beta-pal Spacegal19!
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Chapter 34
The Final Battle
Monday, August the 14th, dawned clear and warm. The faintest of breezes occasionally stirred the air, but there was a stillness that spoke volumes of how solemn the day was. Harry dressed slowly and deliberately, checking his wands, holsters, and armor countless times, and doing the same for his friends.
He has spent the week constantly listening in on Riddle, who was terrified to the point of running away. Every time the 'most powerful wizard in the world', as he referred to himself, started to consider not showing up, Harry would egg him on with subtle mind manipulation, or out right breaking in and taunting him. Riddle was a sleep deprived, bed wetting, barely walking pile of goo. But Riddle would be there.
Harry sent Winky to Hogsmeade to fetch Griphook, who was waiting with the Goblin army for the wards to let them in. She returned with Harry's adoptive father and King Flailhide. They shared an early morning breakfast in Godric's Suitcase with the twins, Tonks and Remus, Hermione's folks (whom Dobby popped over from South America), Luna's father and Neville's Gran. The taste in the air was serious but optimistic. The Quidditch stands and goals had been removed, and Winky had fetched the spy canvas from the headmaster's office and placed it outside of Hogwarts, aimed at the battlefield.
"The Goblin Army is waiting outside of Hogwarts" the king mentioned casually.
Harry knew it was not a matter of saying 'oh you didn't have to' – the Goblins had much riding on this war. If the wizards lost, Gringotts would be broke. If the wizards won, they had an excellent chance of raising their status with men. He nodded at him gratefully, and asked Hogwarts to raise the wards to allow them entrance to the grounds.
Harry walked over to his fireplace, and whispered farewell to his parents and Sirius. With proud tears in their eyes they hugged each other, as they could not reach out and touch the son they were so well-pleased with.
The time to meet at Hagrid's hut was at hand. The centaurs, fairies and gnomes were there already, as was the Ministry and Order. Harry stood and placed his hands on Griphooks' shoulders.
"Father – Urush-Gai – thank you for all you have given me. You have raised me to be a Goblin warrior; you have called me your own. I have sent a copy of my will to Gringotts – please handle the issues if I do not make it. I hope to make you proud in battle."
King Flailhide looked on with approval. Griphook embraced Harry. "My son I am already proud. You will do the whole world honor today."
Harry turned to Winky and Dobby. "Dear friends – if I do not make it, my will contains a long list of people who may adopt you. You will never be homeless again." He grabbed them both in a heartfelt hug, and kissed them on their wrinkled heads.
"Harry Potter, sir" Dobby sniffed, "we house-elves are all fighting with you."
"Then we can't lose, Dobby" Harry smiled at him with no trace of teasing.
Winky grabbed Dobby in a hug. "Dobby return home to Harry Potter and Winky", and she gave the surprised elf a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off to her room crying.
Harry's final private words to Hermione were sent via the mind, not to be shared with the group, as were Luna's and Neville's to each other. Gentle kisses for luck were shared, and the group elf-popped to Hagrid's Hut, leaving Mrs. Longbottom, Winky, and Hermione's folks in the trunk, facing the telly with taunt nerves.
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Dumbledore was in a rage yet again. He had always planned to stride out to the battlefield, Godric's sword at his side gleaming in the sun, and 'sadly' watch Harry fail at his task. With dramatic tears in his eyes he would defeat Voldemort, sparks flashing from his sword, his phoenix singing at his side. The world again would honor him, bestow him medals and accolades, and modestly he would retire back to Hogwarts where the magic flowed from the very stones, empowering him beyond what any of the ministry fools could fathom.
But no – the very castle had turned on him and here he was, trapped in his office again. He glanced out the window at the Quiddich pitch, and furiously noted how many magical beings began to gather for the battle. A battle that couldn't possibly be won without him - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
Fudge would miss him and come looking for him. Perhaps Cornelius could blast those stupid gargoyle steps into next week, and he could still save the day. If Harry somehow managed to kill Voldemort, in the heat of the clean-up battle he could obliviate enough people to make it look like it was done with his help. After all, he was the most powerful wizard in the world!
And the frustrated wizard paced the floor even more.
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Harry looked around the crowd of hundreds with approval. There were scores of witches and wizards there – all the Weasleys, including a strong and even noble appearing Ron and Percy. All the Hogwarts professors were there, with the exception of Dumbledore, which frankly caught Harry by surprise. The Ministry was here in full force – it appeared most if not all the aurors were present, all departments were represented, and Madame Bones herself led them. Hundreds of witches and wizards from Britain stood, waiting expectantly for orders.
The centaurs stood, stomping the ground proudly off to one side of the crowd, testing their bows and checking the fletching on their arrows. Magorian trotted over and stood by Harry's side, and the Chosen One greeted him in the centaur tongue.
The full Goblin army stood at parade rest in formation, chanting war tunes that gladdened the hearts of the crowd. King Flailhide and Griphook stayed with the Founders, drinking the exciting anticipation for the battle to come that only a Goblin can taste and understand.
Hagrid and Grawp stood waiting with Harry. Hermione and Luna each held one of Grawp's hands and hugged his massive arms, as the giant wept with the realization he was accepted. Hagrid thumped him on the back with tearful pride.
Countless house-elves and fairies scattered through out the crowd, with wizards looking on in amazement. How had the Boy-Who-Lived rallied such an assorted army?
It was that moment, mere minutes before the army of magical beings was to march to the Quiddich pitch, that Fudge chose to appear and make a stand. Arrogantly, the portly ex-minister strode into the grounds and up to Harry, with a rag-tag group of wizards following.
Harry eyed the group with impatience. There was a dozen aurors, and perhaps twenty assorted witches and wizards, and each one of them radiated dissatisfaction and ambition. Fudge had gone out of his way to find anyone who hated their job and thought they deserved better, and obviously made all kinds of shallow political promises to them in return for their backing. Standing by Fudge's side was Delores Umbridge, with a hideous ear-to-ear smirk on her toad-like face.
"I have come to take my Ministry back" Fudge stated boldly to the 200 plus aurors and Madame Bones. She simply raised an eyebrow. "You, Harry Potter, I arrest for crimes against the wizards, stirring up a riot, and acting without ministry permission."
Amelia Bones stepped forward, her eyes flashing. "Cornelius Fudge, you were stripped of your job by the Wizengamot. You will cease this nonsense at ONCE!" Her wand was clenched in her white knuckles, and despite his false bravado, Fudge took a step backwards.
The cowardly egomaniac chose to defy the obvious reality in front of him. He spun on his heel and whipped out his wand, pointing it at Harry. "Expelliarmus!" he sputtered, and the spell, a weak one at that, bounced off Harry's shields, and was absorbed by his armor and family rings. It didn't even tickle. Fudge stood staring at his wand and Harry, back and forth, mouth hanging open like a fool.
"Fudge," Bones growled dangerously, "what do you think you are doing? Lord Potter-Black is here to kill Riddle!"
"No, no – he can't! He's just a boy! He's a kid who's full of himself and will get us all killed! Can't you see that! You need me to lead you – not some child!" Fudge was babbling – in his vivid imagination he had pictured taking Harry down with a simple forth year spell. The wizards and aurors in back of him were looking very sheepish and embarrassed, and more that a few started to inch away from his side.
Fudge noticed he had lost the small group's confidence, and with a white-hot fury again aimed his wand at Harry and started the forbidden words "ava…."
The disillusioned aurors had enough. With barely a glance at each other, several at once threw a full body-bind hex at the ex-minister, who froze in place and landed heavily on the ground. Harry sighed sadly, and turned to Dobby. "Dobby – please pop him into the Great Hall – we will deal with him later." The elf nodded and was back in seconds.
Bones looked at the nervous group of would-be traitors. "I imagine" she stated tersely, "that Fudge offered you each rewards, promotions, and perhaps gold for your backing. You can see now what a fool's errand it was. You now have a choice – follow Lord Potter-Black and myself against Riddle, or you can leave. Any aurors who choose to leave will naturally face charges when this is over. If you choose to stay and fight Riddle with us, any penalties will be greatly reduced."
With that, Harry looked at his chosen group of friends. "It's time" he simply stated. Pointing his wand to his throat, he muttered "soronus" and stood on Hagrid's shoulders to address the crowd.
"Friends! Magical friends of all backgrounds! The time is now to end, for once and all, the evil that is Tom Riddle and his followers. His lies and deceit have ripped the very fabric of our communities for too long. For decades we have been poisoned by his influence – fear, apathy, arrogance and prejudice. His time is OVER! Fight with me now for a better tomorrow – a future where all magical beings are equal and honored!"
The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts. With Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Hagrid, Magorian, King Flailhide, and Dobby in front, and close behind Griphook, Madame Bones, Tonks & Remus, the Weasley clan, and much of the Order. The hundreds of beings marched the short distance to the Quiddich pitch, where Harry swiftly dropped the wards long enough for Riddle and his minions to enter.
It had crossed Harry and Amelia's mind to let only Riddle in, and leave the rest of his army leaderless outside the wards to let the aurors clean up. After much discussion, they came to the conclusion it wasn't honorable, but mostly they didn't want the risk of losing any of the dark fighters who ran away. Better to contain the battle and deal with it at once.
The grounds were eerily silent as Riddle and his forces slithered, glided and walked in. He had werewolves, who were potion-induced into their monster forms, vampires, five giants, and under one hundred wizards and witches. Bella was close to his side, cackling insanely, and dementors floated hungrily above, chilling the air. The dark side was vastly outnumbered – a fact which wasn't lost on Tom as he eyed the vast army in front of him with anger. But he smiled a wicked, oily smile – Harry's group would fight a fair and noble fight. He would fight to win.
In movies there is always brave posturing and bantering when the rivals meet face to face. In books there is always the verbal barb that cuts to the heart of the bad guy, before he fights with rage and foul play. There is always that minute or so to catch your breath and plan your first move. This wasn't the movies.
So much happened at once that eye witnesses never go it completely straight. Many mini-battles broke out at once, with slavering werewolves launching themselves on the aurors, dementors swooping down from the skies, and what ever dark wizards Riddle mustered concentrating their spells on Harry.
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Still trapped in his office, Dumbledore rubbed his arm in boiling rage as he watched the battle erupt below. How could he get down there? Harry had managed to dredge up an army of amazing numbers – terribly outnumbering Voldemort's. At this rate Harry would succeed without him!
He howled a primal scream of rage, pain, impotence, and selfish anger.
In the battle below, beings closest to the castle heard a scream of such emotion and volume, despite themselves they glanced back at the tower from where the sound came. But they went back to fighting and didn't give it another thought until after.
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Bane chose the moment the battle started to turn and fire a magical arrow at Harry. He hated the boy of prophecy more than any other arrogant humans. Riddle was no match for this crowd – the centaurs could take care of him and the ministry and go back to being kings of the forest.
Bane was an idiot. Luna saw the arrow out of the corner of her eye, and thrust her shield between it and Harry, who flashed a quick smile of thanks, and resumed taking care of the death eater in front of him. The black centaur's treachery did not go unnoticed – Magorian, with a neigh of anger, shot an arrow back – the phoenix-fletched one that Harry had made, and Bane the betrayer was no more.
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The dementors floated down, hungry and eager. Voldemort promised them a feast, and what a buffet was spread below them! The fear and terror rose on clouds of emotion, filling their dark senses with the closest thing to lust they could perceive. Voldemort was worth working for if this was how they were going to be fed!
But what was this? The dementors were not bright creatures – they were beings of dark magic, not capable of rational thought. They worked on hunger, animal instincts, and orders. They slowly turned and spun in bewilderment. Thousands upon thousands of glittering fairies flew swiftly to meet them in the air. They broke off into like-color tribes and each dementor found it self encased in a sphere of glowing, tiny beings, holding hands and singing songs of love and goodness.
Dementors are beings of dark despair that suck all the happiness out of a person, leaving a husk of nothing but negative memories and emotions behind. Then they dine on the soul, feeding on it like a choice epicurean morsel. Once the soul is consumed, it is destroyed forever. The only way wizards know to battle a dementor is to raise a patronis – a light shield formed of joyful thoughts that the dementors can't bear. The fairies are beings of light whose strength is magic of enforcing health, love and healing. It was a toxic combination.
As the fairies sang and cast spell after spell at the surrounded dementors, the dark creatures felt pain for the first time in their lives. They felt the fear they caused. They felt defeat as they slowly withered and died, one by one, leaving nothing but black sooty ashes floating to the ground.
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Delores Umbridge had watched the ugly little house-elf disappear with her beloved Minister Fudge. After forcing a submissive look to her face during Bone's chewing out, she dissolved into the crowd of wizards and beasts waiting for the battle. Potter would pay for humiliating Cornelius like that. He would pay.
The malevolent witch bided her time once the battle erupted. She threw a few half hearted hexes at random enemies, but concentrated more on making sure she didn't get hit with a stray spell while inching closer to Potter. She spotted him in the distance, fighting like a tornado, throwing hexes, curses, sword slashes and more with blinding speed and fury. Her eyes narrowed with unnatural hate. This mere boy had caused her so much humiliation and aggravation. And nobody messes with Delores. Even her housemates in Hogwarts knew not to mess with her. Even the rest of the Slytherins learned to respect her.
Finally Umbridge found her self close enough to Potter to hurt him. She gripped her wand with white-knuckled determination, an evil grin spreading on her flabby face. But, unfortunately for her, someone saw what was going on in her hate-filled head.
Dobby had just finished body-slamming a vampire across the pitch, when he saw a figure wearing a disgusting pink fuzzy sweater slide past him, an unfriendly look in her eye. What did ex-professor Umbridge want here? She wasn't battling – she could have easily taken down that Death Eater approaching from her other side. She didn't even see him. She was glaring at his beloved Harry Potter's back with frightening hatred.
The house-elf found himself swelling with indignation. He remembered Winky telling him how their beloved Master still had nightmares regarding the blood quill that witch had used on him. He recalled how Umbridge refused to believe that You-Know-Who had returned, and punished his beloved Master for saying so. Dobby recalled Mistress Hermione saying Umbridge tried to cast an unforgivable on his Master. And as she raised her wand and started to aim it at his Master's back, Dobby knew he had to act.
Dobby reached over and snapped his fingers at Umbridge. A puff of smoke and loud pop, and on the ground was a very fat, bloated toad in a fuzzy pink sweater. The toad looked around, gave a loud croak of outrage, and started to hop off the battleground.
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Grawp's eyes glittered as the battle ignited. Hagrid was using a log to bash in the heads of werewolves, so he looked for something he could use. Not finding any logs handy, he picked up a struggling Death Eater by the legs and used him as a club. The Death Eater did not appreciate it, but he didn't protest for very long.
They made a great team, wading into the tiny humans, goblins and centaurs waste deep and swinging at anything wearing black with a mask. It was fun! Then Grawp's eyes spied his former tribe, fighting Hagrid's friends across the field. He remembered Glurg – always hurting him, pushing him, making him feel bad. Well now Grawp had friends, and friends worth fighting for! He would teach Glurg.
Running over to his former tribe with earth-pounding steps, Grawp roared with the voice of years of frustration, and lunged for the Glurg, Hagrid right behind him. Goblin, human and centaur gladly backed off to let the giants fight their own, and avoid getting squished beneath enormous feet and packed between ginormous toes.
When the battle of the giants was finished, few noticed, being caught up in their own individual struggles of life and death. But Luna and Hermione heard the death cry of the brave Garwp and knew they would have to cry later. Grawp lay broken on the ground, as did the other five giants that came with Tom Riddle. Hagrid was seriously injured, his left arm tore clean off his body, but Fawkes came and cried on his grievous wounds and healed him. With a grunt of thanks to the phoenix, Hagrid rose and grabbed his log and waded back, one-armed, into the fray.
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Hermione, right before the start of the battle, sent word to Marvin the squid. "My friend – our battle is starting in just a few moments! Please warn the merpeople and keep yourselves safe!"
"Friend Hermione! What can I do to help?" the squid came back to her mind.
"Keep yourself from harm, my friend. You are one of a kind and I don't want you hurt!" She cut the connection and resumed hexing a vampire into the beyond.
Marvin sent word to the merfolk and came to the top of the lake to watch. The scent of blood and fear overwhelmed him. He could pick up several telepathic voices in the sea of land peoples, including two very close by. He swiveled his giant eyes over to the shore and observed.
The twins and Percy were faced off with Bella Lestrange. She was drooling and shrieking with glee, blood lust, and madness. They were firing off hexes and shields, while the twins were mind-speaking back and forth on the Weasley Network "you do the shield', and 'oh – block that – she is aiming for Perce', and 'boy I hope Harry is all right'. Bella was holding her own – unable to feel pain with her insanity, she was practically unstoppable.
Marvin listened with interest. The two red-haired men were fighting for Harry, Hermione's fiancé! Marvin was certainly on their side then. The crazed witch shooting dark spells at them with abandon was not something he wanted to side with. With a long tentacle, he scooped the rabid woman up and kept her bound helpless, suspended in the air.
Fred, George and Percy just stood there gaping at the helpless witch turning purple in the tight grasp of the squid. "Hello – my name is Marvin" a voice came into their heads. "Do you by any chance know James Weasley?"
The twins looked at each other in amazement. They were talking with the giant squid! "Er, James Weasley was our Grandfather. I'm George, this here is Fred, and the brother here who can't hear you is Percy."
"Oh joy!" Marvin gushed "Friend Hermione said there were two Weasleys who would be able to speak with me! Will you be my friends too?"
"Marvin, we would be proud to be your mates, but, um, we are kind of busy right at the moment" Fred replied, taking down a pair of hinkypunks heading for them.
"Of course you are – I'd be honored to help. What would you like me to do with this?" and the squid shook his tentacle bound captive. It pulled Bella closer to his eyes and said "oh – sorry – never mind. I guess I was a little too excited."
Marvin dropped Bella on the shore where she landed with a sickening wet 'plop', mangled and crushed. Fred and George grinned at each other while Percy turned faintly green, wondering what was going on. "Wicked!" the twins crowed in unison.
"Marvin new friend, if you want to do that to any wizards or witches wearing those same robes and mask; go right ahead!" George told him with excitement.
"Yah! Goblins, centaurs, and elves are cool – they are on our side. But vampires and Death Munchers – go for it!" Fred added.
"I will talk with you soon, new friends!" Marvin called with merriment as he scooped another Death Eater into the air that wandered too close to the lake's shore.
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The boggarts could have been nasty, but as soon as a pair of evil vampires opened the large crate that housed them, gnomes came running out of the surrounding forest and field, darting in between the fighter's legs, and shooting spells on the creatures. The boggarts barely had time to sense a single fear before they all found themselves turned into fluffy little bunnies. And they couldn't change back.
Many bunnies died that day. The clean-up crews after the battle could not figure out why so many rabbits had wandered into the middle of a raging war to be crushed and trampled under foot.
But many rabbits managed to escape into the wood and meadow. For years afterwards students would swear the bunnies of Hogwarts could be seen changing color from time to time, and the color seemed to reflect the mood of the observer. Naturally, parents and friends would tend to scoff. Why would a rabbit change color?
Because it was the only ability the boggarts had left.
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The battle was in full swing now, noisy, bloody, and not the clean stuff of heroics you typically read. Men were growing tired, magical beings concerned for their future, and Riddle getting just a touch cocky, when the surface of the lake broke.
There, peeking out of the water was the hundreds of heads of the merfolk. They smiled at the crusade taking place and closed their eyes.
In an instant everyone's minds was filled with music. Indescribable music – song that filled the souls of those fighting for the light, and thrust a red-hot dagger of fear in every heart battling for the dark. It was song with out words they knew, played on instruments never formed, and never heard by a flesh and blood ear,
And combined with Fawke's phoenix song, it gave the light the courage and strength needed to rally.
Argus Filch, new wizard and proud of it, was fighting next to Professor Flitwick's side. Although he hadn't learned more than a few hexes and blocking spells from his beloved teacher, he practiced hard day and night, delighting in his newfound ability. He wanted to prove himself – to the world, and particularly Albus Dumbledore.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a green spell speeding toward the tiny charms professor. Without a moment's fear or hesitation, he threw himself bodily in front to block it, and was killed on the spot. Argus Filch had redeemed himself.
Does this count as a cliffy? Evil laugh….