Defending the Light
Summary: Harry makes up his mind to do anything to destroy Voldemort, with no idea it'll include werewolves, elves, the Veil, the Chamber of Secrets, Azkaban, exotic new powers, and… a secret identity? Will he be able to keep his secrets without losing everything else?
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
I've been receiving some reviews from non-existing chapters along with a review telling me that I have a chapter 11 that is really chapter 1. Sorry about that if anyone got confused. I was re-posting chapter 1 and must have screwed something up.
Voldemort's red eyes narrowed into a shape not unlike a cat's, a cat who's about to pounce on a hapless mouse. That Professor Dumbledore was right, (the calmer you said something, and the smaller quantity of words it took you to say it, was very effective indeed) was just one of the many thoughts that ran chaotically through Harry's mind.
Chapter 11: A Very Sirius Situation
Everyone could only stand stalk-still as the Dark Lord's mouth twisted into a portentous sneer. Harry felt shockwaves of, well… shock, flood through his body. He wasn't ready for this. He needed more time. At least there was one thing he could count on; at least, he hoped he could count on it: Voldemort's pride.
"Let me guess?" Harry stated as nonchalantly as he could manage, "You sent some of your Death Eaters to distract the Ministry and get Dumbledore out of the way, snuck into the Department of Mysteries with the intent of finding and killing me, but didn't, so you followed me in here. So tell me, did you kill the Order members up there, or did you capture them so they could watch me being tortured and then killed?"
"Personally, I've always hoped to kill you in front of a crowd," the Dark Lord stated just as nonchalant as Harry.
The air was so thick with tension, Harry was sure he could actually taste it, and if he moved, it would be in slow motion.
In the distance Harry was sure he could hear Aberforth stopping the others from interfering while whispering to them, "Don't worry, he'll think up a brilliant plan of escape! At least, sometime this millennium, he will."
Harry, on the other hand, had no clue what to do, and was no closer to coming up with a brilliant plan than he was of befriending Dudley. He really wished that Aberforth would just shut his big mouth, take his goat genitals, and Disapparate somewhere far, far away. Disapparate… wait a second.
"Plan to use the Cruciatus on me again?" Harry asked keeping his wand pointed at Voldemort as he slowly placed a levitation charm on his invisibility cloak with wandless magic, thanking Merlin it was so dark in the portal.
If the Dark Lord had had eyebrows, Harry was sure they would have disappeared behind… well, he took that back, Voldemort didn't have a hairline either, "I do not know what you are trying to gain by asking me these questions, Potter, but I assure you: buying time will not make things go any easier on…"
CRACK!
Before Voldemort could finish his sentence, Harry had thrown the cloak over himself with wandless magic and made an extremely loud noise come out of his wand. Quite simple to do, really, and it could give an entirely different impression of one's magical expertise.
"Apparation!" Voldemort shrieked, "You can't Apparate or Disapparate in here!" he turned to Aberforth, his wand posed to attack, "this is your doing old man, and you will…"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs from underneath the invisibility cloak.
Before the Dark Lord had a chance to react, he was thrown up against a wall and his wand was in Harry's hand. That was easier than he'd expected.
Or not…
"You don't happen to have anymore brilliant plans up your sleeve, do you Harry?" his father asked him as the Dark Lord's wand flew out of Harry's hand back to it's master and Voldemort started to arise from the spot where he fell.
"Just one," he responded nervously. "RUN!"
At his order, Remus conjured a stretcher and Aberforth quickly levitated Sirius onto it before they both took off. Apparently, they were expecting Harry to follow, or at least Remus was. Harry wouldn't put it past Aberforth to leave him behind. But at the moment, he could only look back at his parents who were using whatever powers they had in the portal to hold Voldemort back.
"Harry, we love you! Now pick up your feet and run!" Lily shrieked.
So Harry started running, feeling as if he were leaving an enormous chunk of his heart behind. After only a few meters he felt Voldemort advancing and barely eluded a huge bar of red light coming straight at him. Even with the balls of blue light above his head (and thank Merlin for those), Harry couldn't make out Voldemort behind him. He couldn't sense him either, like he had Sirius. Apparently, you had to understand the person you felt as well as know them, and Harry was sure he didn't understand the Dark Lord at all. At least, and he knew this from the connection through his scar, Voldemort couldn't sense him either.
In the next few minutes, Harry threw a couple of spells down the tunnel, but none of them hit their target. Nothing hit him either though, or even tried to hit him. All was quiet, not the kind of comfortable quiet that you hear before you fall asleep. The portal sounded like death. Voldemort was toying with him somehow; he had to be. Harry's heart beat faster and faster as he ran. But still he heard and saw… nothing.
Harry let himself slow his pace a tad, hoping above all hope that Voldemort had lost him. Maybe he'd gone down the darker side or fell off a ledge or something. Harry knew that was nothing but wishful thinking though. He might as well hope that someday the Dark Lord will get trampled to death by stampeding buffalo in some kind of freak accident. Then, from about five meters away a gargantuan ball of deadly looking white light appeared and started careening towards him. The ball was so large no amount of pressing against a wall would keep Harry out of its path.
"Constant vigilance, damn-it!" Harry berated himself as he tried helplessly to circumvent coming into contact with what would most likely be the death of him in one way or another.
And to top it all off, he got the Indiana Jones theme song stuck in his head.
Then he noticed a ball of blue light further to the right then all the others. 'Remember that, the nest is two steps away from the light further to the left then all the others. Or to the right, depends on what direction you're walking in' he heard Aberforth say in the back of his mind. Meaning that if he could just reach the nest… but the ball of light was too fast, and too close to where he was running. With what he was sure was the last of his energy; Harry shot forwards in a burst of speed full-force towards the nest. He was sure he wasn't going to make it, the ball of whatever-it-was was gaining on him and he was positive it was only a couple centimeters from his back. With all his strength he dived en route for the gap in the floor of the portal. And he made it.
Harry breathed the biggest sigh of relief he had ever had. Then he realized with a feeling of horror, that Professor Lupin, Aberforth, and Sirius had nowhere to run and his heart sank. He was going to kill Voldemort! Then he saw him walking leisurely down the portal. He was laughing. Harry's scar burned so intensely, that at that moment, he felt as if his head would split open. Glee. Not his emotion, Voldemort's.
Deciding in a split second that it would be better to try the Killing Curse with wandless magic since it couldn't be tracked that way, he didn't trust Fudge not to throw him into Azkaban even if he did (and Harry was sure he wouldn't) kill Voldemort before whispering the words, "Avada Kedavra."
He had aimed for the throat, hoping against all hope that he could at least weaken Voldemort before… well… he had no idea what he was going to do after that. The spell hit, but what it hit was not Voldemort. It was some kind of chain that had been around Voldemort's neck. Harry uttered a quick 'Accio' before it could make a sound clattering against the ground.
"Who's there?" Voldemort's harsh voice cut through the atmosphere like a headsman's ax, bringing death to those who encountered it.
"Shit," was about the only thought Harry was capable of. He hadn't even weakened Voldemort, just gotten some stupid chain-like thing.
Then he looked down at what he had gotten from around Voldemort's neck. It was indeed a chain, but for the first time he noticed what was attached to it. It appeared to be a rock smooth and shiny piece of rock that caught the glow of blue light in the most captivating way. It wasn't controlling as the mirror had been, but still captivating. Harry remembered Aberforth's warning about shiny things. He quickly dismissed the warning and raised the rock and chain to throw it at Voldemort's head as a quick distraction. At the last moment, he changed his mind, and flung it into his backpack just in case.
"Hiding, are we?"
Harry snapped his head up and ended up nose to nose with his worst enemy.
Before he could even think straight, Voldemort had said, "Imperio!"
It was almost a relief to have the wave of unadulterated bliss overtake him. No worries about whether his friends were in danger or whether the end of his life was closer then ever… Merlin, this was not the time to go off into La-La Land!
"Now Potter," he heard Voldemort say from somewhere in the back of his mind, "Why don't you start by telling me how it is that you keep being such a nuisance to me today."
"Make up a lie, make up a lie..." a part of Harry's mind screamed at himself.
But another part of Harry wanted to obey Voldemort's orders and just tell him the truth. Apparently the Dark Lord had thrown every bit of magic he could manage into the curse, it was much harder to block than anything he'd been through before.
Not mentally prepared to argue with himself, Harry ended up satisfying both parts of his mind, "Aberforth Dumbledore is more powerful then he seems. He works in ways no one expects. Not even you. And his work is always closer to you than it seems. I can sense his aura back there."
Hermione would have been proud. Harry pointed to a spot just behind the Dark Lord, where he could indeed sense Aberforth's aura, it wasn't the strong feeling he got from sensing the real person, but a kind of residue that must have been left as the man walked by. He had no idea why he could sense it. Maybe a part of him understood Aberforth for reasons his mind could not yet fathom. But whatever the reason, Voldemort, not being able to sense a single lie, turned around sharply, ready to face a more suitable rival than a fifteen-year-old boy. This gave Harry just enough time to throw off the rest of the Imperius Curse and wave a quick Killing Curse at him. Voldemort was able to block the curse, but it did give Harry enough time to get a head start down the portal.
Before he knew it, spells and curses were hailing down the tunnel at him as he ran. Apparently the Dark Lord had abandoned all strategy and was now content to do anything to just get his quarry in his possession. Harry had never been more thankful for all those years of dodging blows from Vernon and Dudley. Just as that thought circulated into his mind, a huge beam of orange light that, like a missile, locked onto its target, was coming towards him. Not able to think of anything to do but run, Harry braced for some kind of shock or explosion or something, but it never came.
"Harry!" Remus was running towards him holding off the curse with all the power he possessed.
But it wasn't enough.
Before Harry could do anything, he and his ex-professor were half a meter in the air unable to move a muscle. Then, to everyone's amazement, none other than Sirius Black burst onto the scene.
Harry had seen dueling this viscous only once, and that was when Dumbledore and Voldemort had been fighting in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. He made a mental note not to EVER piss off Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Padfoot and Prongs may have been a team when carrying out pranks, but it was Padfoot and Moony who had been dueling partners for so long they appeared to move as one unstoppable force. But to the Dark Lord, they seemed nothing but a small nuisance. Like a couple of doxies the needed taking care of before he could return to his main goal.
In the confusion of the duel, Harry found the perfect opportunity to interfere without being noticed. He wished Aberforth would show up, because Voldemort was about to blow them all to smithereens if something didn't happen soon. Thinking fast and forgetting his wand was in his hand, Harry sent out a large-scale shockwave out towards the Dark Lord with wandless magic. It was a spell he'd only read about, never done, and he had forgotten that he was supposed to aim at the ground beneath the subject in order for the waves to shift upwards. What happened next was something no one expected.
The shock waves (seismic waves as a Muggle scientist might call them), invisible to the naked eye, traveled upwards to the ceiling of the portal and the entire place started to shake as an enormous pile of rock broke off and fell partially in front of and partially on top of Voldemort. Harry could only stand there, eyes wide, until Sirius and Remus both grabbed him and took off. From the noise coming from where the ceiling had collapsed, it was apparent that the Dark Lord was attempting to get out and having difficulty doing it.
Before they had run three meters, Harry found himself in the air and speeding towards the entrance to the veil. And before he could react, he found himself smack-dab in front of Aberforth Dumbledore. Looking around him, he could see Remus and Sirius were just as shocked as he was.
"I just remembered something," Aberforth said gravely, "I haven't read my newest copy of the Quibbler yet. We must away."
"OK," was all Harry managed to say in a hoarse voice. Suddenly an enormous bang erupted from down the portal. Voldemort was loose. "Everyone grab hold of the rope," he shouted. "NOW!"
To his surprise, everyone did. One tug and it shot up into the air a lot faster than any of them expected. Except maybe Aberforth. Nothing ever seemed to surprise the man. How Harry had the time to muse about Dumbledore's younger sibling in the few seconds before the foursome came crashing through the Veil was something he was sure he'd never figure out.
Speaking of which, the Death Eaters on the other side weren't entirely sure they'd figure out how a fifteen-year-old, a werewolf, an escaped and injured convict, and what was certainly a lunatic managed to escape the most powerful Dark Lord since Grindelwald. The Order Members who were currently being held hostage were wondering the same thing.
No one had time to ponder for long though. The second the former occupants of the Veil were in good range, which didn't take long at all, they all started shooting every spell they deemed useful at any Death Eater in sight. Remus, always one for sensibility, took on the task of quickly freeing the other Order Members. As Harry picked off a few more Death Eaters, he found his lack of dueling experience catching up with him as he took on a Death Eater that was easily three times his age. Glancing around the room, Harry could tell that they were outnumbered two to one; he had to do something quickly to change the way things were going. Half the Order Members were down already. He could only be thankful that no one was dead yet. Voldemort must have ordered for any prisoners to be taken alive.
Luckily for Harry, the Death Eater he was dueling got caught in some very un-friendly friendly fire. Harry decided to make a run for the door to get some backup. He quickly sprinted out of the chamber and made his way down the corridor outside.
"Going somewhere, Potter?"
Harry jumped around to the all-to-familiar voice of Bellatrix Lestrange. Pointing his wand at her chest he shot a reducer hex at her. She blocked it effortlessly.
"I don't particularly like it when someone messes up what I put quite a bit of effort into. I will make you pay. Crucio!"
Much to Bellatrix's annoyance, Harry dodged her curse just as easily as she had blocked his.
"Get away from him, Bellatrix," another voice came from behind him. It was Sirius.
As Lestrange turned to face her cousin, Harry slowly started to back up towards the door.
"Well, well, well… if it isn't mutt-man come back from the dead. The old coot was right about something after all."
"Let's finish this Bellatrix. You look disappointed that you failed during our first duel. I'd like to see you disappointed more often."
The Death Eater smirked, "My, my… if we were still in '76, Uncle Procyon would certainly have put you under a very nasty curse for that crack. I was his favorite niece after all…"
"My father is dead Bella, and good riddance too. Anyone who dubs you as 'favorite niece' has got to have something seriously wrong with them."
They were dueling vigorously now, and Harry still couldn't manage to unlock the damn door. Voldemort must have put some kind of weird locking charm on it. Trying his best to embrace the same magic he'd used earlier against Voldemort, Harry's forehead was soon drenched in sweat.
"Since Uncle Procyon can't take care of you anymore, perhaps I'll take on the duty."
Harry became more and more panicked as he heard Bellatrix throw more and more Cruciatus curses into the string of hexes she was sending at his already weak and injured godfather. He just managed to get a flicker of a magical aura. He could sense the magic Voldemort used on the door. It was strange, like the weave on one of the many patches that adorned so much of his clothing.
"Concentrate," Harry told himself, with no idea of what he was doing, "Come on, Potter. Envision yourself picking apart the threads of magical aura…"
Step by step he could feel the spells on the door coming off. Harry concentrated harder and threw increasingly larger amounts of power behind what he was doing. Suddenly, Harry fell back. It felt as if an enormous rubber band had just snapped in his face. And somehow, somewhere inside of himself, he knew the door was unlocked.
Sirius was lagging in the duel, and Harry could tell he was using up the last of whatever energy he had. But before he could get the door open, both Sirius and Bellatrix were frozen in midair.
"Now, now," Aberforth stepped into the hall, Remus right on his heals, "Why don't we solve this little problem with a small hand grenade?"
Harry's eyes widened. A grenade? Was this man completely insane? Apparently he was. Remus took off the spell holding Sirius and grabbed his arm before rushing towards Harry, who didn't need to be told to run. On the other hand, Bellatrix, not knowing much about Muggle weapons, seemed immensely confused about the whole thing. But Harry had no time to worry about her. Just as the grenade exploded, so did the door. Sirius, Remus, and Harry all dived into the main corridor, much to the surprise of the dozens of the Aurors and Ministry officials standing outside the door.
"Harry," Sirius asked weakly, "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did Lestrange get out alive?"
"Who knows?" Remus replied as he, though weak himself, helped his two friends off the floor.
"Who cares?" Sirius asked, "Just one less Death Eater we need to worry about."
"She is alive." Everyone turned to see a calm and collected Albus Dumbledore, who had apparently run into the Department of Mysteries as soon as the door blew open and taken down every Death Eater in sight.
A bunch of haggard Order members followed him out, escorting a group of equally haggard looking Death Eaters. With the exception of Bellatrix Lestrange, all of Voldemort's captured followers just glared silently at everyone around them.
"You got away this time Potter!" she screamed, "But the Dark Lord will return, and he will find you. And I will find you. When I get my chance Potter, I'm going to make you pay! I'm goin to hurt you worse than if I'd put the Cruciatus on you. You'll envy the Longbottom's when I'm done!"
"How dare you!"
Somewhere in his mind Harry could hear Sirius yell something back at Bellatrix, but everything started going foggy. His little spat with wandless magic had drained his energy to an all-time low. He hadn't felt this crappy even after the third task. In a daze, he rubbed the back of his head, but something felt wrong, very wrong. When he looked at his hand it was covered in fresh, crimson blood.
And to make matters worse, the last thing he heard before he passed out was a whisper from Aberforth:
"I'm afraid she's right. Very afraid. And this world will spin as it never has before. No matter which side of The Prophesy is fulfilled."
Just wondering: After book 6 comes out, will you guys still want to read my story? I have this HUGE plot all planed out and written down in an enormously insane and detailed outline, and it'd be a shame to leave it unwritten.
Next Chapter: Elaina's Past, Neville's mischievous side, bubblegum wrappers, an incredibly Loony volunteer, a major dose of angst (don't worry too much about it, I can't stay completely serious for very long), and The Unauthorized Biography of Harry J. Potter: The-Boy-Who-Lived.
BTW: 'Procyon' is the name of a star; it means "before the dog" in Greek. In the northern hemisphere, Procyon rises just before the "Dog Star," Sirius. (I think I'm incredibly clever for coming up with that)
I will be emailing everyone who: (a) asked a question in a review, (b) gave good constructive criticism in a review, and/or (c) wrote a particularly long and useful (note emphasis on this word) review. If you were not contacted and feel sucky about it… well, em, sorry.My email address is hyperlinked on my Author Page and you can complain to me about it. But if you read about all the stuff I'm involved in on my author page you may get a better idea of my schedule. But don't complain until about five days after this is updated. I can't be sure how long it will take to respond to everyone.