Chapter 3
The Inferi
The crisp night air nipped at Harry's limbs causing his fingers to prickle. He stood at the very spot he just apparated staring at the scene before him. The night was silent and the air still. In the distance, the gates to Malfoy Manor stood like two shields protecting a warrior. Draco Malfoy lay on the ground mere feet in front of Harry. "Why is Draco on the ground? Is he dead," thought Harry. Whatever did this to Draco, must have been a force to be reckoned with. Harry would never admit it but he knew Draco was a capable wizard.
Harry cautiously walked towards Draco with his wand outstretched. As he approached Draco, he could hear slow breaths as Draco took in air. "So he's not dead," said Harry to himself. He pointed his wand at Draco and muttered, "Rennervate!" Immediately Draco took in a deep breath and while coughing he sat up like a corpse springing back to life. Harry dropped his wand and knelt down next to Draco patting him on the back. "Are you alright? What are you doing out here," he asked quizzically. It took Draco's eyes a second to come back into focus and he saw that lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead. "What are you doing here, Potter," snapped Draco.
Draco tried to stand but was still weak in the legs and almost fell over. Harry caught him and tried to help Draco up but was pushed away. "I don't need your help," said Draco falling back to the ground. "Fine, lay there," replied Harry coldly. "Now tell me what you are doing out here," he continued with finality in his voice. Draco stared at Harry. "Alright, I haven't the foggiest. I heard shouting coming from the muggle village and I saw these creatures running towards it. So I came out here to investigate and put some enchantments around the house so they didn't bother us. Next thing I knew I woke up with you standing over me," explained Draco. "What kind of creatures," asked Harry. "I don't know, I was too far away," said Draco, "What are you doing here." "I heard about the attack in the muggle village so I came here," replied Harry. Harry failed to mention to Draco that he thought he was the one attacking the muggle village. Maybe it was just wishful thinking to throw Draco into Azkaban the wizard's prison.
Then they both heard it. There was a groan in the bushes and something or somethings started to move towards them. "Draco," Harry asked, "Did those creatures look human?" "Could have been," said Draco with a crackle in his voice. As soon as Draco finished speaking, it happened. Gaunt bodies with very little flesh started pulling their way towards Harry and Draco. The moonlight lit colorless skin on the creatures that looked as though it was covering only a skeleton. "Inferi," cried out Harry, standing up. Draco looked at the creatures like he was frozen in time. He had heard stories and seen pictures of an inferius, which were reanimated corpses that would do their master's bidding, but he had never seen one in person.
Harry counted five, ten, and then he lost count. Draco pulled out his wand and shouted, "Crucio!" The curse hit one of the creatures but nothing happened. Harry thought back to when he was with Albus Dumbledore in a cave and they were under attack by Inferi. Dumbledore had created a ring of fire to fight the creatures back because being dead they do not feel pain. The creatures were just feet away from Draco and Harry with more on the way. Draco looked up at Harry with panic in his eyes. Harry reached into his pocket for his wand but it was empty. He looked to the ground and there he saw it: his wand, right where he had dropped it while he was trying to help Draco. There was no time to grab it, however, if he reached down to grab it they would be dead,. Then, a rope of fire shot out from Harry's wand and like a conductor conducting an orchestra, Harry moved his hands with grace directing the fire rope.
Draco was in disbelief as the fire flicked like a whip at the inferi. He had heard the rumors of Harry performing incredible feats of magic but he assumed there were started by star struck fans. There was Harry right next to him, however, controlling the fire while his wand sat on the ground.
More and more inferi clawed their way towards Harry and Draco. They were no longer tens but hundreds of them and they appeared to be giving up attacking the two men because many started to break off and head towards the Manor. "Harry, my family is up there," shouted Draco. All of the inferi had turned towards the Manor and started towards it. Harry reached for his wand with his left hand shouted, "Accio," and the wand jumped into his hand while the rope of fire simultaneously extinguished itself. "I have an idea but it's nuts," said Harry. "How can you do that," questioned Draco. Harry said, "Do you know how to conjure Fiendfyre?" ignoring the question."Yes, why," Draco said matter of factly. "I need you to shoot it at me," Harry said with hesitation in his voice. Draco said, "What! Are you insane, Potter?" Harry replied, "I told you it was nuts but I need you to trust me. It's the only way I see us saving your family" Harry flicked his wand and Draco flew backwards landing softly on his feet.. "Are you sure," asked Draco. Harry was not sure but nodded, yes.
Draco lifted his wand above his head with a trembling hand and pointed it directly at Harry. He knew how to conjure Fiendfyre but he had never used it. Fiendfyre was an extremely dark spell that killed his childhood friend Vincent Crabbe. Draco pulled the wand behind himself and while taking a step forward he thrusted his wand forward yelling, "Natus Ex Igne!"
What Harry did next surprised Draco. Harry stepped forward yelling the same incantation as Draco. Two giant flaming serpents raced out of the men's wands towards each other. The serpents opened their great mouths of fire and collided in the air. The serpents then morphed into a giant mushroom cloud that grew so large Harry wondered for a moment how far away it could be seen. Out of the cloud erupted a chimaera whose tail tied it to a torrent of flames. Harry moved his wand in a complicated motion that felt as though the wand was leading his hand. The chimaera turned, looked at Harry, and began chasing after the inferi. Draco had no idea what was happening. For a moment he began to lower his wand when Harry shouted, "No, I need you to keep feeding the fire." Draco pulled his wand back up and fire kept spewing from it. The chimaera split into a phoenix and dragon both attacking the inferi from different angles.
Harry and Draco started following the phoenix and dragon as they blazed a path leading to the gates of Malfoy Manor. Harry directed the bewitched flames while Draco kept feeding the flaming creatures with a constant stream of fire which caused them to constantly grow in size.
As inferi approached the gates to Malfoy Manor, Harry could see an elderly man casting spells at the inferi from the other side of the gates. He had the same pointed face as Draco and even though Harry had not seen him in years he knew it was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. The phoenix made of fire spiraled to the front of the gates and the dragon approached from the opposite direction. The remaining inferi were trapped in between them. The inferi tried to escape through the gaps between the phoenix and dragon but they whipped their tails at each other creating a ring with the inferi in the middle. Harry motioned for Draco to lower his wand. Slowly the phoenix and dragon walked toward each other with each step causing the ring of fire to become that much smaller. After a few moments the fiery creatures were standing face to face.
Harry full of sweat from the heat of the flames said in his mind, "Ferox Mortus," with a downwards flick of his wand. The flames vanished. All the inferi had been turned to ash. Lucius Malfoy looked at Harry perplexed. "That was very extraordinary magic Mr. Potter. One must be careful however. What would people think if they knew the Head of Magical Law Enforcement was capable of using such dark magic?" Harry was about to speak when he was cut off by Draco. "Shut up father! He just saved our lives."