Fairborn Adventures
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Chapter 98
October 1st, 1978
Cold rain pattered down on his head, soaking his hair and drenching his robes. It trickled down the charred flights of stairs, washing away the pools of blood that had formed underneath the fallen defenders of the Castle.
A pair of scarlet eyes, burning bright like coals, watched him with child-like curiosity, a faint smile hovering on thin, pale lips. The rain boiled away before it could dampen the fabric of Voldemort's dark robes. It sent faint spirals of steam twirling upward, like smoke from a blown-out candle.
"You've read one too many children's books," Harry jested, squashing the churning pit of anxiety in his gut. "There's no Master of Death, there's no flight from him either. All any mortal can hope for is to part as his equal."
"I have no equals, not you, not Dumbledore, not even Death could count himself among them." Voldemort's crimson eyes narrowed, and the bodies at his feet jerked with each step he took forward. "It doesn't matter what powers his little toys grant you, they're inconsequential against my might."
'I suppose we will see about that soon.' Harry flexed his fingers around the Elder Wand.
The dark sleeves on Voldemort's arms smoldered away, baring pale skin. "But for the sake of destroying your legacy, I shall yank the Wand and Ring from your cold, lifeless body, then your girl will hand me the Cloak and conclude the set. You're the last obstacle, the last enemy, Harry. The one challenger I have been waiting for, who rose amidst the endless sea of the unworthy. And with your fall my destiny will be sealed."
"Never." The Elder Wand hummed, sending ripples of warmth up his arm. "I am your destiny, I am your fate, Tom. It was me who initiated every last action to see your demise. It will be my dream that prevails after tonight, not yours."
'My sunset.'
"You're naїve, Harry." Voldemort's face twisted into a glare. "The moment you killed the Headmaster was when you sealed your own fate. Together the two of you might have posed a nuisance, a threat even, but never alone." He stroked the yew wand lovingly between long, bony fingers. "Perhaps the fool underestimated you in his old age, but I shall not repeat his mistakes. I learn from them. All along he saw the same thing I saw in you, the potential. But you chose to waste it on a fleeting dream, the love of some silly girl, her golden hair and shallow promises, instead of seeking where true power lies."
"For all our similarities we seem to have very different definitions of what dreams are worth pursuing." Harry studied the ring on his finger with the ghost of a smile.
"Wizards of our caliber can never coexist, Harry. There can only be one who is here, one who is great." Voldemort thrust his wand high into the air.
Magic pulsed from him in potent ripples, banishing aside the corpses and tossing them like rag dolls into nearby walls and crumbling pillars.
'So now it begins.'
The Elder Wand snapped forward, unleashing a storm of spells. Voldemort deflected them away, sending them hissing left, right, and above him with lazy flicks from the tip of the yew wand before he returned fire.
'He's not faster than me. That means I can win.'
Harry twisted around and ducked underneath the flaring curses. Sharp, biting stone splinters and raging heat washed over his back with each spell that scored long, dark scorch marks on the walls of the Castle's entrance.
"If you destroy the entire school it'll take decades to find what you came looking for underneath all the rubble," Harry quipped and apparated to the other side of the courtyard, slashing his arm like a whip. "Perhaps you'll have died of old age by then."
A torrent of clawing, gray magic burst from his wand, eating deep into Voldemort's silvery shield and forcing him back a step.
"The Diadem." Scarlet irises widened before raw fury blazed in their depths. "My last horcrux..."
Voldemort's blood-soaked feet dug deep into the hard stone tiles like the ground was soggy mud, steadying him before he swept his wand forward with a roar.
"I will tear you limb from limb, like petals from a flower, just like you've torn my anchors from me, Harry. Only your death can offset the debt and restore my immortality!"
"You're afraid." A rush of triumph poured through Harry's veins, bringing a small smile to his lips.
'Time to test my powers.'
He dodged the next spells and drew magic into the tip of his wand until the ache in his lungs became unbearable and the Elder Wand burst with silver sparks.
A brilliant, white flash tore over the courtyard. It melted the charred stone tiles and withered any bodies it passed over, striking Voldemort's golden dome of magic flush, and tossing him off the edge of the destroyed bridge.
'Perhaps that was foolish.'
Harry drew himself back up with a deep breath and blinked away the floating, green spots. A low throb settled in his limb; ozone evaded his nostrils with each breath.
'But I have to attack, I won't survive staying on the defensive for long...'
Dark, smoldering robes crowned by a pale face ascended from the depths of the cliff. Voldemort floated above the abyss, supported by nothing but a faint magical glow beneath blood-soaked feet.
"Come and witness my might, Harry." He spread his arms, his cold laughter drifting over to Harry: "How could you ever hope to match me?"
'Like this.'
Harry thrust the Elder Wand toward the ground, coating it with his magic. Thin spikes of stone burst from underneath the tiles of the courtyard, zipping up at Voldemort.
"Disappointing." He tore them down, one by one, with long, smooth slashes of his wand. Pale fingers curled into a tight fist as he raised his arms above his head. "Perhaps some motivation is due... A reminder of my power..."
Scratching, clawing, and grinding sounded from the abyss below Voldemort.
A bony hand reached over the edge. Withered fingers sought footing onto the cracks of the rough stone. A thick, golden signature ring stood proudly from blackened flesh, displaying a griffin.
'No!' Harry choked, lowering his wand. 'Please don't let it be true.'
Charlus Potter heaved himself over the edge of the abyss and limply rose to shaky feet. His robes were torn and scorched; his arms stood off his body at strange angles with the bloodied bones of his elbows sticking out of the flesh.
'Why?' A tight, bright point of cold welled within him, clawing at his heart. 'Why did he have to come?!'
The warm, hazel eyes Harry had gotten used were bloodshot and empty. A dead face twisted into a snarl as it stared at him, barely showing any resemblance to the man he had gotten to know as his grandfather.
"He fought bravely and vigilantly, everything one would expect from a Potter," Voldemort spat, his cold laugh drifting over to him. Harry caught a cruel smile of amusement on his pale lips through the veil of tears that obscured his vision. "Alas, it was not enough... He was no match for me, as you won't be either!"
An army of inferi climbed up from behind Charlus, jerking and spasming onto their hands and feet. Torched witches and wizards from Hogsmeade, their skin raw and charred. Aurors and hit wizards from the Ministry, their red robes torn into shreds, hanging loosely off deformed bodies.
Voldemort's wand washed over the corpses, bathing them in an eerie green aura of magic. The inferi hurled themselves forward. Charlus' defiled corpse lunged ahead of the pack, jaw snapping, fingers curling, ready to tear Harry apart.
'I'm sorry, Charlus.'
Harry hardened his heart, forcing his gaze away from the golden ring. He bathed the horde in roaring Fiendfyre. It engulfed his grandfather and those that followed him, melting flesh off of bones until the possessed bodies turned to ash.
'I'm sorry I failed you.'
Foreign magic washed into the inferno, coating his own bubbling hatred and wrestling him for control. The cursed spell tore free in a brilliant jet flame. It seared at his face as it snarled over the stone tiles.
Harry leveled the Elder Wand at the crimson hell and forced every drop of power he could drag up through it.
'A sunset, not a storm.'
Marlene's soft, warm smile and bright blue eyes were hurled into the flames, quenching them until their ravenous, angry screams perished.
A volley of spells raced through the thick, black smoke. Harry forced the world past him and apparated behind the pillars to his left. He sliced the stone into thin freebies, forcing his arm faster to hurl them into Voldemort's back.
Steaming stripes of dark fabric tore free from Voldemort's robes and wrenched outward. Like a pack of furious serpents, they snapped against the projectiles, smashing them into rubble that he swept back with a flick of his wand.
Time stood still. Their spells clashed in the middle of the courtyard. Crackling beams of magic showered sparks down onto the crimson-laced blanket of dark dust. Their magic seared the air, leaving faint ripples, withering the vegetation, and bursting the weeds in the cracks underneath their feet into sizzling flames.
Sturdy veins crept up from the abyss behind Voldemort, twisting and wrenching into black snakes that he sent lunging forward. With a low hiss, Harry's aura flared brightly, melting the reptiles into a thick, smoking, bubbling paste of dark scales and red flesh.
"No parselmagic against me, Tom."
Voldemort growled and batted a string of crimson beads of light from the tip of his wand at an unnatural speed. A bright flash and deafening clap boomed over the courtyard as they connected with the sizzling bubble of magic Harry threw up around himself.
He winced and staggered back upon impact. The ground around him began steaming with each consecutive hit. Heat seared through the soles of his shoes, licking at his feet.
'Enough!'
Harry abandoned his defense and apparated back up to the entrance. He slashed the Elder Wand down, forcing his magic into the blood-soaked stairs and sweeping loose, crumbled stone tiles at Voldemort.
Voldemort's spell obliterated the tiles in a brilliant white flash. Harry apparated away as the crackling beam of lightning sliced through the Castle's stonework like a knife through cake. Suddenly it whipped back around, racing towards him once more.
'It's getting hot real soon.'
Harry flicked the Elder Wand and closed the air around Voldemort, crushing his flaring aura with brutal force. He wrapped it tightly around his opponent's arms before yanking it down, forcing the yew wand to point straight at the ground.
Voldemort screamed in agony. The veil of his magic tore free in a burst of sparks.
White light seared at Harry's eyes as the beam of lighting exploded. He drew his strength into a thin veil of light and blinked away the bright spots in his vision until the courtyard came back into focus.
'Did he survive that?' Harry gulped in a few deep breaths. He steadied himself on his knees and glanced around. 'Surely he can't recover from that quickly?'
The Castle's entrance and the entire courtyard were in ruins. Mounds of shattered tiles, rubble, and dust scattered around. Molten stone steamed and smoked from where Voldemort's own spell had clashed with the ground.
"See, Harry." Faint whispers drifted over to him and the smoke was swept aside by a cold, unnatural breeze.
Pale pink skin crept back over scorched and blackened flesh. Voldemort robed himself again, standing tall in a shivering mantle of vapor so hot the tiles beneath his feet gleamed and crumbled. "You're hopelessly outmatched."
'No!' Harry stifled a flare of fear. 'It doesn't matter how powerful he is. I won't lose.'
His fingers flexed around the Elder Wand, ready to strike when suddenly a dome of magic rose over the Castle in tight weaves, sending tingles down his spine.
"And now you're surrounded," Harry chuckled, gesturing behind Voldemort where red and gray-robed silhouettes thrust their wands into the night sky, threads of their magic forming a giant net. "Trapped and cornered..."
Voldemort glanced over his shoulder. His lips curled into a cold grin when his gaze returned. "But they're not trapping just me in here, Harry."
"You're right, they're trapping both of us in here." A bubble of mirth rolled from Harry's lips and he shook his head: "Killing two birds with one stone... or perhaps just letting the two snakes kill each other?"
'But only one of us has a chance of returning this time.' Harry's heart wrenched, sinking into a dark, cold pit. 'Still, anything could happen in the meantime… I can't risk it…'
"They fear you almost as much as they fear me now and they barely even know the truth about you, Harry. But it feels good, doesn't?" A fanatic spark of hunger dwelled in Voldemort's scarlet irises. He twirled the yew wand in his fingers, showering the ground in silver sparks. "Do you see now how strong I have made you? Everything I tore away only made you more powerful. If only our circumstances were different..."
'No! No more things being torn away from me.' Harry's breath misted in the air. 'After tonight, I'll finally be free.'
Raindrops froze around Harry, shattering as they fell to the tiles. Hoarfrost crept over the ground, freezing the pools of blood until their smooth surface sparkled in the flames.
Voldemort's crimson eyes narrowed, his pale wand rose threateningly.
"-but circumstances can't always be changed," Harry hissed, thrusting his arm forward.
Two ripples of magic smashed together at the courtyard's center in a roaring, growling storm.
Bright sparks fountained over ruptured stone tiles. Debris and dust were hurled up high into the night sky, collecting underneath the net of wards above them. Stray beams of magic erupted from the whirling cloud, crumbling to dust any of the walls, roofs, and pillars that survived the initial clash.
'I need to be free.'
Harry's limbs throbbed with each second he held the connection. The ache bit deep, lacing his thoughts and blurring his vision but still he clung to it, his jaw clenched tight in pain.
The storm grew stronger. Flickering beams of magic wrenched from within its whirl, scorching deep, glowing marks across the ground.
'Help me.' Harry pleaded, staggering a step back and clutching his bare, trembling wand arm with his free hand. 'Please, help me!'
A sharp ache surged through him. Blood leaked from beneath his nails and trickled down the length of the Elder Wand. Whips of ebony mist ruptured from its thin tip in a dark beam, tearing a terrible scream from his throat.
His foe's eyes widened in shock.
The spell tore through Voldemort's hastily erected shield and smashed him against the flagstones by the edge of the bridge. He spluttered blood onto the tiles, wiping his lips with the back of his arm as he leaped right back up to his feet.
'It wasn't enough.' The ache sank its teeth further into Harry, then the pain exploded through him. 'Why wasn't it enough?'
He dropped to his knees, his ribs grating with each gasp. The taste of copper coated his tongue. Blood trickled free from his fingers, collecting in a small puddle to his feet.
"All that power... but too weak to truly use it." Voldemort bared his teeth and stepped forward, sweat trickling down the side of his pale skull. "And soon it will be mine alone."
'I can't lose.' Harry clawed up the last dregs of his strength and heaved himself to his feet. 'I promised Marlene. I promised her...'
"You're spent, Harry Peverell."
A bright silver ribbon snapped at him. It shattered his flickering, faint shield, and hurled him back against the steps with a sickening crunch that drew the air from his lungs.
'There's nothing left.' Harry hurled a gush of blood, forced his jaw up in an act of defiance and meeting scarlet iris that flared in triumph as Voldemort strode closer. 'I can't even apparate away, live to fight another day, because the Ministry has trapped us here.'
"Tonight you have surpassed my expectations for the very last time, Harry." Voldemort twisted his wrist and curled a single pale finger like he was winking him to come forward. "Your death is imminent."
A lonely droplet of crimson rose from the pool of blood to Harry's feet, sparkling in the light of the flickering flames as it hovered toward Voldemort's finger.
'I might come back-' Harry blinked away a single tear that swam in his vision. '-but any second I'm not here is one that Marlene is in danger.'
Scarlet red and emerald green eyes watched transfixed as the droplet narrowed in, separated by nothing but the thinnest veil of air from Voldemort's touch.
Then it made contact.
Harry's blood vaporized with an angry sizzle, leaving raw flesh in its wake, which did not creep back over with pale new skin.
"Impossible!" Voldemort flinched back with a hiss, eyes widened in terror, staring down at Harry. "What magic is this?!"
'My mother's. Still anchored in my blood.' Harry stared at the raw, blistering skin, then down at the wet wood in his palm. He grasped at the tiniest flicker of hope, desperately. 'So you knew what you did all along, didn't you?'
Realization flashed through Voldemort's eyes as well and he snapped back, his lips parted in a silent roar of anger. The yew wand snarled up, leveling straight at Harry's heart.
'A final sacrifice.'
Harry let the Elder Wand slide through his fingers from where it scattered over the blood-drenched stairs.
'For the magic that overcame time itself.'
White, searing pain, sharp as a needle, seared through him as a flash of purple struck him flush. Still, Harry reached up and grabbed the pale hand, tugging closer.
"NO!" Voldemort recoiled with a terrified scream, attempting to tear himself free as the blisters spread from where he was seized.
Harry threw his body against him and pinned him to the ground.
'Die!' He clutched his hands around the pale neck and squeezed while throbbing with pain himself. 'Just die!'
A wet warmth flooded his robes. Blood trickled from his lips, sprinkling over Voldemort's twitching face, right into a mouth torn open by a blood-coiling scream.
Wave after wave of searing pain exploded through where they were attached. A throbbing, pounding agony settled deep underneath his skin, narrowed towards his heart.
He ignored the sting of burned, withered flesh that rose to his nose. He ignored the black flames that tore through where his fingers were clenched around Voldemort's throat. He ignored it all, even when the flames ate into his own and his opponent's raw, red, weeping skin.
He ignored everything until Voldemort's howls and whimpers became fainter.
'My mother's magic, saving me once again.'
Harry let the last wave of agony wash over him with a faint smile. His eyelids became too heavy. His body trembled and buckled as he slumped down onto a foe that had long stilled.
'For you...'
A small warm smile and soft blue eyes grew distant behind a silver veil that darkened by the second.
'Because even if I never saw that smile again, I'd do it all over.'
The last flickers of light died. Then he too fell into blackness, swallowed in its endless depths.
'Just for you...'