Harry Potter and the Resistance

by HarryPotter21

The Battle for the freedom of the world is going horribly wrong. Join Harry and company as they try to save the world. Please continue to review and stay tuned for the sequeal.

12. Christmas

Christmas

Phoebe called in some help and pulled some strings so that the square mile of property behind the Phoenix Hall quickly turned from a pile of varying white snow to a frozen green jungle. The jungle resembled one that is more common in the steamy heart of the Dark Continent. After the nymphs finished dancing the garden into creation, Phoebe spent the next two days placing charms and other dangerous obstacles in the shadowy depths. A number of magical creatures could be spotted every now and then poking out of the vines before slinking back when a nasty yellow zap hit them on the nose. Phoebe waited until Friday to inform the physical training class that the obstacle course would be their first semester final.

"You're joking!" Harry exclaimed. He knew the type of creatures placed in the forest having had to transport a number of them through the wards. "Does this count for Piper's final as well?"

Phoebe laughed. "This maze should be a piece of cake. And no, Piper is making her final a written one this semester."

"When do we start?" Hermione eagerly asked. She had her organizer out of her desk in a flash; her inked quill hovered in expectation.

Phoebe looked at the clock on the back wall above the door. She looked down at her desk where her lecture notes sat and frowned. "In an hour. Just enough time for you all to pack dinner and breakfast along with a blanket."

Caleb sank deeper into his seat. "Could you explain this trail?" His voice was soft and scratchy; he was still recovering from a nasty bout of the flu.

"You all have to work together as a team to make your way through the jungle, dueling the various creatures and spells that lay in wait for you to cross paths with them. You are to each gather the brazil crystals in the center before noon tomorrow." Phoebe ticked each item off with her finger. "I'll be grading you on your performance inside the jungle and the time it takes you to retrieve the crystal. The crystals will transport you directly back here where I'll be awaiting your return." The bell rang. "Be quick! You only have fifty five minutes before you have to be in the jungle."

The dumbfounded students strode out of the classroom at a brisk pace. They had been expecting the finals to be hard, but this was not something any of them suspected. The jungle, they had all thought, was going to be part of some training session for Harry. Most of them had already figured out that Dumbledore was training Harry privately.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked Caleb quietly.

Caleb looked up, shifting his eyes off his feet. "I don't know."

"Nervous?"

Caleb nodded. "That place is made to test all of your guys' strengths…I'm only a second year student. I don't know how to perform half the spells that we've done over the semester."

Harry smiled; his eyes brightened. "You just have to stick close to me or your brother." Harry waited for Caleb to walk through the door into the kitchen before he entered. "You'll do just fine."

Caleb nodded and gathered up the food already packed for him. The house elves seemed to have gotten wind of their little excursion. The bags were stuffed with survival food and gear along with some bizarrely colored potions. "Err…what is all this stuff?"

Harry shrugged. "No clue. But it seems like everything is packed for us."

"Want to get a head start?" Wyatt asked. "I mean the sooner we get this thing done the better." Everyone agreed and they all headed down to the hidden door that opened to the snow-covered path that would take them to the entrance of the jungle.

"Did you see any snakes in there?" Ginny asked.

Harry shook his head. He was leading the group using a simple heating spell to melt the snow that covered the muddy path. "I haven't really been in the jungle, just close enough to release the animal."

Ethan came up behind Harry. "What kind of animals have you seen?"

"A manticore, two acromantulas, a dozen or so weird purple lizards, nothing too dangerous." Harry shoved a rather heavily compacted part of the snow out of the way with a wave of his hand. "But I'm sure that Phoebe has other things in store for us that I don't know about."

They were wandering around the jungle for half an hour before they finallycame to an obstacle. Four tiny purple lizards wandered across their path. One of them stood on its hind legs so it reached six inches and made this deep rumbling noise. The earth around the tiny reptile began to vibrate and the waves slowly began to grow. Casey raised his hand in front of him and the earth responded by creating waves that canceled out the ones made by the lizard. Another lizard began pounding the earth with its tail. Nothing happened until the tenth strike. A tiny stone about a quarter of a centimeter in diameter shot off the floor and straight into Brendin's chest. The stone went straight through the surprised teen before lodging itself in the trunk of a tree.

Daelan caught the falling boy and laid him softly down on the jungle floor. The wound started to seep blood quickly and soon there was a puddle of blood where Brendin lay. Wyatt and Harry were busy fighting off more of the lizards' bullets. Harry was struck several times in the hand but the stones simply shattered bones without breaking the skin. Finally Wyatt got fed up with battling the lizards and sent a wave of superheated air at the tiny creatures. The creatures screamed and wailed, as they were burnt alive. In a matter of seconds, the four lizards were nothing but dust and bones. Wyatt turned around and dropped to the floor. He placed his hand over the wound and started to heal it.

"What's taking so long!" Caleb asked between sniffles.

Wyatt stopped healing and looked up. "He almost died that's what. That stone ruptured his heart."

Brendin came around and cringed. "Well, that was painful." He sat up and looked around him. "Whose blood is all this?"

"Yours," Harry stated. He and Chris were keeping a look out for anymore of the lizards or other obstacles.

Wyatt waved his hand and the blood disappeared and Brendin's clothes lost the hole and blood stains. He went over the tree that had the stone lodged in it and whistled. "The stone almost went straight through this trunk as well."

Chris nodded. "I guess size doesn't matter."

Hermione asked the question running through everyone's mind. "What were those things?"

Casey, still a bit shaky from seeing his best friend nearly die, was slumped against a tree. "They can control earth. Almost as well as I can."

"Did the Earth tell you anything about them?" Chris asked. He was the most knowledgeable in the group when it came to elementals.

Casey nodded slowly. "It was a soft whisper that could not go unnoticed, like a mosquito flying near your ear. It kept repeating amellusterrus."

Wyatt's brows furrowed. "My Latin is a bit rusty…but I think it translates to purple earth."

Brendin wryly chuckled. "That is so helpful."

They set off once Brendin could stand up again. They were much more careful and at the slightest rustle one of them cracked and used magic. The rustle turned out to be the wind or a poor rat and the person felt extremely stupid.The trees were thinner now and some sunlight spotted the ground so it looked like a leopard skin. The flowers were a deep dark purple or brilliantly white. Wyatt had forced them all to wear conjured gas masks when he noticed the plants. He claimed they were some African plant that released pollen that paralyzed those unfortunate to breathe some of it.

"You alright?" Leah asked. Brendin had been walking slower and kept rubbing his chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Brendin hid the fact that he just felt a shooting pain across his chest. "Just a bit exhausted."

"Should I ask that we take a rest?" Leah asked cautiously.

"No!" Brendin's voice was hard. He softened it, "Not yet. Let's wait until we're out of this patch of flowers."

Brendin placed his arm around Leah's waist and continued walking briskly to catch up to the rest of the group. They entered another patch where the canopy above completely blocked the sunlight. This area was cooler and a strange rumbling breeze blew along the path as if it was funneled there. Wyatt removed his mask and the rest followed his lead. They continued down the path but Leah stopped as she felt the weight Brendin was placing on her increase.

"Brendin, are you sure your ok?" Leah asked.

Brendin was deathly pale and his forehead was covered in tiny beads of sweat. He nodded and tried to carry on but his leg gave way and he stumbled to the ground. Leah stopped him from falling hard but she got too much of a fright to keep him upright. The others had swung around a bend and were out of sight. Brendin's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he began to convulse.

"HELP!" Leah screamed. "HELP—WYATT, HARRY, ANYONE!" Her voice died as the jungle around her absorbed the vibrations. There was no sound except for the breeze and Brendin's strangled breathing. "Come on Brendin, stay with me."

A small orange-feathered bird stuck its head out of the ferns. It cocked its head slightly and hopped out into the open. It made a soft chirping sound like it was curious and bobbed its head slightly. It was the size of a small chicken, but instead of having wings it had two tiny two-fingered arms like a Tyrannosaurus-Rex. Its tail was the length of its body and it spread the feathers out so that they fanned out like a male peacock's would. It hopped closer and sat down watching Leah.

Leah looked up, "Go away!" She sobbed. Brendin had stopped convulsing but he was still pale and his breathing was shallow and inconsistent.

The bird stood up and hopped closer; it was now close enough to hit. Leah raised one arm and smacked the bird on the beak. The bird scampered backwards and chirped angrily. It rubbed the beak with his hands and started to hop toward Leah and Brendin again. This time it was more aggressive. It pecked Brendin's leg and scampered back out of Leah's reach.

"Go away, you damn animal!"
The bird stood up and cocked its head again. It opened its mouth and an ear-piercing screech issued out of its tiny mouth. The bird attacked quicker and deadlier this time. It drew blood in two places before retreating. The screech seemed to have attracted the attention of two more birds. The three surrounded the two helpless teens and slowly closed the distance. The first bird jumped onto Brendin's body and raised its head back to peck at the unconscious boy. Leah was too busy fighting off the bird that had grabbed her finger. The bird struck at Brendin's face and suddenly exploded. The other two birds disappeared into the jungle with a squawk.

Harry ran forward and hugged Leah. "It's alright, Leah. They're gone." Leah was shivering and refused to let Harry go. Harry stayed still and softly pried Leah off him. He checked Brendin's pulse. "We need to get him to Wyatt."

Leah stood up slowly in a daze and mindlessly followed Harry. Harry levitated Brendin in front of him with one hand. His other hand was held tightly in the grasp of Leah. They reached the rest of the group who were sitting on the banks of an ice-cold river.

"Wyatt," Harry called.

Wyatt appeared out of the jungle moments later. "Where were they?"

Harry pointed down the path. "They were being attacked by those damn raptors."

Leah perked up. "You know what those things are?"

Harry nodded. "A group of ten attacked us; that's when we noticed that you and Brendin were missing. We stopped here and Wyatt went looking for you in the jungle while I backtracked."

"He was poisoned." Wyatt pulled out a vial of gray sludge. "…How many of the raptors attacked you?"

"Three," Harry answered. "I killed one and the other two disappeared into the jungle. This test is more dangerous than we thought."

Wyatt healed the wounds the raptors had caused and then did the same for Leah. "We need to rest before we carry on. It is three o'clock now and we must be a at least a third of the way there."

Ron came up the bank and joined the conversation. "We should be able to spare an hour. We can eat, snack and clean up before heading out again."

Brendin awoke just as the group was getting read to leave. Harry and Wyatt had spent the hour along with Chris constructing a chair that they would be able to levitate easily. Leah and Harry helped Brendin into the chair and with a wave of a hand the chair floated off the ground by a foot. They started down the riverbank and Daelan used his control over the water to create a dry path through the river.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. They ran into four werewolves that turned out to be nothing more than extremely powerful illusionment charms. A giant king cobra attacked them as night fell, but Harry was able to talk the snake into guarding them for the night in return for freedom when the trial was over. They sat around the fire and enjoyed each other's company before turning in for the night.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked. He was going around their small "camp' and waking up those still trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

Brendin rubbed his chest and cringed. "It's still tender."

Harry sat down next to him and took a closer look at the skin. The wound no longer existed but where the stone had entered there was a blotch of angry red. He carefully touched the spot and watched the expression on his friend's face as the pain receptors shot impulses to his brain. "It's still infected." Harry handed Brendin a small pill. "This should numb the pain." Brendin just stared at the pill. "Relax, it's just Tylenol."

Harry disappeared out of the tent once he saw Brendin swallow the pill. He headed back to Wyatt's tent. Wyatt was busy bottling the last of the Vanquishing Potion he and Harry had made when everyone else had gone to sleep. "This stuff should blow up anything it hits."

"The wound is infected." Harry stated, ignoring Wyatt's pride over the potion.

Wyatt's shoulders slumped. "That's what I was afraid of. You gave him the pain killer?"

Harry nodded. "Just like you said."

"We'll have to be quick." Wyatt pocketed a few vials and gave the rest to Harry. "I looked up those lizards last night in the Book of Shadows. They're nasty little buggers. The stones that they throw are covered first with a dark magic spell that is impossible to heal completely."

"Why would Phoebe place us in so much danger?"

Wyatt shrugged. "She might not have known or thought we knew what those creature were."

"We should leave now." Harry whispered. "We can afford to fail bloody dueling class if it means keeping Brendin alive and healthy."

"We can't." Wyatt smiled sadly. "There are wards up that stop orbing, blinking, and apparating."

Harry sighed in defeat. "I'm going to kill Phoebe when we get out of here."

"You'll have to get in line." Wyatt laughed.

The group left after a rushed breakfast. Wyatt led the way and Harry took up the rear along with Leah and Brendin. The majority of the obstacles they came up against were spells and charms. A couple of the raptors attacked again but Wyatt scared the creatures off with the potion. Twice the group ran up against physical obstacles that required them to climb down a cliff or manipulate the elements to force their way through a giant boulder.

Finally after three hours of exhausting hiking they entered a clearing. In the center sat a table with the brazil crystals. Wyatt took a step into the clearing and his foot rapidly sunk into the floor.

"Damn it," he cursed. "Quicksand!"

Caleb came forward and placed his hand just above the quagmire. His hand burned a furious red. The sand began to boil and contract as the water boiled and left the ground. Wyatt steadied the young boy as the stress started to affect him. Caleb stopped and fell backwards onto his bottom. His breathing was hard but he was smiling.

"Clever, Caleb." Wyatt complemented.

He took a step onto the ground and a puff of dust rose. They went over the table and each grabbed a crystal. The seventeen exhausted and dirty teens arrived flat on their faces in their dueling classroom.

"Brendin, follow me." Leo called out.

"The rest of you go up and shower," Phoebe stated. "You all stink."

The following week was hell as the teens crammed to gather enough information to pass their pre-NEWTs. Ron, Draco, and Ginny were the worst off; they were not used to having exams so early in the year. Hogwarts had it exams only at the end of the year with the occasional midterm, a constant in Potions. Seventh year was different as NEWTs were held at the end of the year. Not wanting to waste an instructor's time the professors gave pre-NEWTs tests before Christmas. Those who did not pass were not allowed to take the NEWTs at the end of the year unless they kept their marks above 'O' for the remainder of the school year.

"If I hear anything more about the ways to vanquish a demon I'm going to scream!" Ginny complained as they all took a few minutes to eat lunch before rushing up to the library to study for Transfiguration.

Wyatt smiled. "Well, just think: one more exam and then we're free for two weeks."

"If you pass the exams," Hermione reminded them.

"Shut it, Hermione!" snapped Ginny.

Harry smiled but quickly frowned at Ginny when Hermione's eyes fell on him. "I'm going up to fetch more ink. I only have enough for another half a foot." He disappeared.

He reached his bedroom and scratched through his drawers searching for his inkbottles. "I know I had at least one more…"
"Talking to yourself, Harry?"

Harry turned around and smiled. "Exams can make people do crazy things."

Cho smiled. "Well you'll be glad to know that none of you failed Charms."

"That's great!" Harry returned to his searching. "But it doesn't help me at the moment."

Cho shook her head. "Perhaps I should have failed you, then."

Harry stopped and frowned. "Now why is that?"

"Accio, inkbottles!"

The bottom drawer of Harry's bedside lamp stand opened and out came four inkbottles. Harry grabbed one out of the air and banished the rest back into the draw. He blushed and muttered a thank you.

"Now why couldn't you have thought of that?" Cho admonished playfully.

Harry smiled and shrugged. "Again, I blame the exams." Cho smiled and came to sit next to Harry. They leaned closer together and kissed.

Harry reached his seat just in time. The bell went off and McGonagall entered the classroom locking the door behind her. He ignored Hermione's glares and Ron's questioning glances. McGonagall placed the pile of papers in her desk and turned around.

"Today you will take only a written exam, but on the day of the NEWT your exam will consist of a practical part as well. I expect all of you to receive an 'E' or better on this and the actual NEWTs if you wish to graduate from Transfiguration." She picked up one of the tests. "There are twenty-two questions and you have an hour to complete all of them. Read the instructions carefully as some questions will require no more than the name of a spell." She pointedlylooked at Hermione who smiled guiltily. "And yes, the instructors will take points away for writing more than what is required."

The exam was fairly straightforward as Harry expected. Transfiguration was no longer explanations and understanding the mechanisms behind spells. That was what the OWLs were on. The NEWTs were on knowing which spell to use when and the differences between a number of charms and Transfiguration spells that had the same out comes. He was writing his last sentence when the bell rang and the papers appeared in a neat pile on McGonagall's desk.

"Grades for all of your classes will be posted tomorrow and not a minute sooner." McGonagall sat down behind her desk. "Class dismissed."

"Harry, focus!" Uur shouted. The two teens were outside in the courtyard during a heavy snowfall.

"You try and focus when you can no longer feel your lower extremities!" Harry snapped back. He was up to his to his waist in snow. Uur, being an Elf, remained above the snow; he barely left footprints.

Uur shook his head and motioned with his hand. A green vine sprang out of the snow and attacked the trapped Gryffindor. Harry raised his hand in a defensive movement and the vine snapped in two. "There, you can do it."

Harry smiled and forced a vine of his own to attack Uur. The Elf dodged the tiny green train of intertwined vines and blew out a breath of fire. The vine withered and died in the heat of the flames. Harry blew out with all his might and a whirlwind surrounded his distant cousin. Uur brought the flesh-ripping wind to a halt by stepping through it. He was smiling.

"I believe that what ever was ailing you has been overcome." Uur dusted off his robes.

Harry nodded. "I agree. But I still wonder what caused it."

Uur shrugged. "Harry, you should not concern yourself with such things. Earth and wind are two of the most difficult elements to control. Fire and water can be conjured by the elemental but earth and wind have to already exist; they can't be conjured." Uur paused. "The fact that a mortal can control all four elements to the degree you do is unheard of. Not even Wyatt can do the things you do with fire and earth."

"Don't remind me," Harry groaned. He slumped to the floor with his face in his hands.

Uur laughed and sat down next to his friend. "We both carry the same burden; one that neither of us asked for. We are to lead the two most prominent magical sects into the next era of their existence…" Uur's voice trailed off.

The four griffins landed in the snow close to the two freezing teens. They wandered off toward their cave but the young male broke off from the group and crept closer to Harry and Uur. He wandered around them slowly until he brushed against Harry's slumped shoulder. He roared softly and trotted back to the cave with his head held high.

"That griffin likes you, Harry." Uur commented softly. "I guess we are not alone as we like to believe."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked; his voice muffled.

Uur got up off the snow. "We have allies that have not shown themselves yet. Ones that could change the tide of the war."

"Is that what Father Christmas is bringing us?" Harry sarcastically commented.

Uur ignored Harry's tone. "Winter has been the change of the course of many a war."

Uur pulled Harry out of the snow. Harry carefully followed the Elf back inside to the warmth of the roaring fire.

Harry stood in the middle of the street looking around. The streetlight above gave the fog around him an orange tint. He waited, listening for the approaching footsteps of whoever had summoned him. Then he heard the sound of heavy boots hitting the tar. Out of the fog came a cloaked figure that remained hidden in the shadows despite walking straight into the light of the lamp above.

"Who are you?" Harry questioned.

The figure answered by pulling back his hood. The face was scared and leathery, and yet the body language told Harry that this man was hardly crippled from age. The gray hair damped the light that struck it rather than the light bouncing off. The lips were parched and cracked. The eyes however, were bright and fill of life. They changed colors every few seconds but kept returning to a vivid almost glowing violet. The man slowly smiled and bared his two one-inch fangs.

Harry conjured up a fireball and threw it at the vampire. The vampire moved at a speed that was most inhuman. The fireball disappeared into the engulfing fog. The vampire did not retaliate; he simply stood with his arms tucked into the sleeves of his black leather coat.

Harry paused with a second fireball ready in hand. "Who are you?" The man seemed so familiar.

The vampire started to roll his shoulders and Harry heard the sound of bones mending, the horrible crack and sickening squelch. Then out of the vampire's back extended two enormous bat-like wings. He unfurled the wings to their fill length, six feet, before folding them back inside his coat. "Do you remember now, Harry?"

Harry was frozen to the spot. His own emerald eyes shifted to a lighter shade of green. "Impossible!"

The vampire laughed. "I knew Dumbledore could not block those memories off forever."

"But how?" Harry was now worried as memories that were clearly not his own or any other Potter's ran across his mind, memories of murdering innocents and other vampires. One memory stuck: the memory of being declared one of the four ruling vampires after their father's murder by a werewolf.

"You, Harry were once one of my children. Before Voldemort came and destroyed your family." The vampire cracked his neck as his wings disappeared back under his skin. "Have you never wondered why you took to magic involving the mind and the sword so quickly?"

"Yes," Harry voiced, "But I just wrote it off as natural talent." His eyes retook their usual emotional emerald green as the memories faded back into the depths of his consciousness.

The vampire nodded. "As they are," he paused, "to an extent. We have much to discuss, Harry, and very little time. It is dangerous for me to be away from my throne for so long."

Harry followed the vampire into the fog. "I never got your name…" The vampire paused very briefly before he glided back into the mist.

"I am Antonius…"

Harry and Wyatt snuck around another bend in the Underworld. Using an anonymous tip from one of the Enluuned who had taken to spying for Leo rather than disappear like the Elders, they were tracking down a powerful potion brewer. The potion brewer was supposedly making a potion that would allow Voldemort to control the drinker's every movement. It was to be a replacement from the Imperious Curse that could be fought off or dissipated over time. This potion could not be fought by any amount of mental stubbornness and was permanent.

They finally reached the demon's liar after a few close calls with some upper level assassins. They entered the chamber but the demon was not there; the potion, however was sitting in the middle of the room stewing. Wyatt gathered a vial full of the solution and was about to destroy the rest when Harry stopped him.

"Not yet." Harry hissed. "We still need the guy to tell us how far along the stuff is and if there is anymore."

"So? What has that got to do with destroying the potion?"

Harry shook his head in annoyance. "If we destroy his baby, I don't think he is going to be in much a speaking mood."

They waited in the shadows until a man in rags that smelled of sulfur shimmered into the room muttering. "Bloody humans, have no sense of time and precision. If Snape were doing this, Snape would do that! He asked me to do this because he doesn't trust the greasy git; why does he want me to become like him?"

Wyatt struck in a flash. He had the man pinned to the floor with a dagger to his throat. "It's not nice to keep guests waiting, Chit."

Harry stepped out of the shadows and set up an alarm to warn them if another demon was coming. "Is the potion ready?"

Chit trembled but kept his mouth shut. Wyatt pierced the skin and heated the blade so that it burned the skin. "Ok…OK! The potion is almost complete."

"Where are your notes?" Harry asked, evenly shuffling through the papers strewn on the counter along the wall.

"O…onnnn…the…un…undddder the…" Wyatt pressed the knife closer to the skin and Chit screamed. "In the gold box! The gold box!"

Harry opened the box and gathered the notes. He folded them and placed them in his pocket. "Now, one more question. Is there anymore of this stuff out there?"

"Nnnnnnnooooo." Chit stammered.

Harry smiled. "Thank you for your help, Chit." He pulled out a potion vial and threw it at Chit. Chit exploded and turned into a pile of ash.

Wyatt moved over to destroy the potion, but the alarm went off. In shimmered a demon dressed in a blood red cloak. His face was pure white but under each eye were tattooed lightning bolts. His eyes lacked the iris and pupils of normal human eyes and they were perfectly white; not a single blood vessel could be seen. His face held no expression.

He raised one of his hands and Wyatt flew across the chamber. He hit the wall and burst into blue orbs. The demon focused his attention on Harry who already had a boulder hurtling at Nihilus. The boulder stuck Nihilus and spilt into two pieces and continued along its path until it hit the wall. Nihilus had Harry under his own form of the Cruciatus Curse. Wyatt reformed and threw an energy ball at Nihilus before charging with Excalibur raised above his head. Nihilus kicked out side ways and his foot connected with Wyatt's stomach. The Twice Blessed Child collapsed to the floor trying desperately to catch his breath.

Harry came to see Wyatt lying on the floor attacking like he was having a seizure. Harry stood up, his leg still twitching from his own experience under Nihilus's glare. He summoned Excalibur into his hand and threw the sword with all his might at the demon. Excalibur went straight through Nihilus's neck. Wyatt stopped convulsing. Nihilus grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of his neck. Excalibur dropped to the floor.

"You're the first to hurt me in all of my existence." Nihilus's voice was an echo of an echo. Harry could barely hear it and at the same time he wanted to rip his ears off to stop the pain. "It is a pity you serve the wrong side, Harry Potter."

Harry focused the rage and frustration he was feeling because of hearing Nihilus talk into his core. He had been practicing the spell that he had used accidentally during the attack on DC. The power driven by his emotions started to tremble and fight against its encasement. Harry stretched out his hand and released the built up energy. Nihilus flew backward but stopped a few feet landing softly on the floor.

"Impressive, Harry Potter, most impressive." Nihilus nodded. "We'll be seeing more of each other hopefully." The demon shimmered out.

Wyatt got up from the ground and looked around. "What happened?"

"He left," Harry stated. "Let's destroy this potion and get out of here."

Wyatt raised his hands in front of him and the potion boiled and turned a horrible brown color. The potion let off the smell of rotten eggs and burnt hair before exploding all over the wall. Wyatt and Harry protected themselves from the explosion by becoming translucent, a recent advancement of Wyatt's molecular control. Confident that their job had been done, the two orbed back to Phoenix Hall.

Harry awoke the next day to his room fully decorated for the Yule season. His bedding was of Father Christmas mustering his sleigh through the cold winter night. The presents were falling one by one out of the gigantic sack that sat behind the jolly old man. The reindeer were galloping through the air and every ten minutes their bells would jingle in rhythm with their hooves. In the corner where the weird elegant potted plant usually stood was a miniature evergreen pine tree. Tiny silver lights flashed on and off at random to the point Harry thought he would have a seizure if he stared at the tree much longer.

Harry got dressed and wandered down to the dining room, also decorated for Christmas with snowflakes falling from the ceiling and disappearing before touching anything but air. He was the only one down except for Dumbledore who greeted Harry heartily before leaving the room with a piece of toast in hand.

"Ok, what's with the decorations?" Wyatt asked when he entered the room a few minutes later. "Last night everything was normal and now all you can see is red, green and white."

Harry shook his head and continued eating his oatmeal. "You're not much of a morning person are you?"

"Not when I get woken up by a fat man screaming 'ho ho ho' on the top of his lungs." Wyatt sliced up a banana and conjured up a bowl of granola. He placed a dollop of fresh plain yogurt on the top and dug in.

"Black or white?" Harry asked. He was up and pouring himself a cup of hot tea.

Wyatt swallowed. "Black coffee, please."

Harry gagged but nonetheless poured a mug full of the liquid. He placed two spoons of sugar in his tea and one in Wyatt's coffee. "So what do you make of Nihilus?"

"He is one scary demon." Wyatt took the offered mug with a nod of thanks. "You seemed to have been able to contend with him though."

Harry shuddered. "We were lucky to escape yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Caleb asked coming through the sliding door from outside.

Harry finished his cup of tea. "Nothing, Caleb…We just ran into some trouble during our mission in the Underworld." Caleb dropped into the seat next to Harry. "You and Brendin are still running?"

"Yep," Caleb placed his hand around the cold cup of milk and the milk instantly started to steam; he added in a package of powered hot chocolate. "He is running an extra two laps today."
Wyatt's eyes bulged. "Why!"
Caleb shrugged. "I guess he wants to make up for missing last Saturday."

"Crazy," Wyatt shook his head. "We were in the jungle last Saturday!"

Harry looked outside. "He is supposed to be taking it easy. The inflammation still hasn't gone down completely."

"Brendin never takes it easy," Caleb bitterly commented. "He played an entire soccer game once with both of his knees practically killing him in pain. Ever since then he has had shooting pains in his knees, especially after running."

"So why does he continue?" Wyatt asked. "If it hurts him why does he do it?"

"Because to him it just another obstacle to overcome," Leah entered still in pajamas and her shower robe. "He thinks if he can overcome this pain, that he will reach some higher level of excellence."

"He is more than likely going to land up with two badly messed up knees." Wyatt stated.

Harry left the dining room and headed up to the library. He wanted to research more information on vampires. His dream about that old vampire had occurred twice after the first time. Each time in a different setting but the conversation was exactly the same. He had learned from his great grandfather's journal that the Potters had numerous connections that the Ministry and other Light families believed to be questionable. They all shut up however when the Potters' connections paid off.

One entry in particular had caught his eye; it was on the Coven. The Potters had left England for the United States when Harry's grandfather was still a baby. They had remained in the States until young Charles received his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. During their time in the States the Potters had been visited by a number of high-ranking vampires. The vampires were looking for some help from the Potters; the vampires had fallen into some trouble with an extremely powerful werewolf gang. The Coven was weak at the time since their Elders had recently switched.

The entry did not go into much detail and much of the information was lost. The book seemed to have been placed in a puddle of water and the ink had run, creating blotches and running whole sectors. Harry was able to decipher that the Eastern Elder and Western Elder offered their services to the Potter family should they ever need it. Harry had been searching the archive for any book that related to the Coven. A number of books talked about vampires in general and many more spoke only on the ways to protect and defeat the immortals.

"Why are we so obsessed with everything being so black an white?" Harry hissed to himself as he read another title that told him the book was absolutely useless to his quest.

Harry finally found a book with its cover falling apart and the title so degraded that it was illegible. He opened it to the front page and smiled. The title was written in masterfully woven calligraphy. The pages were covered in dust from decades of sitting in the shelf. The black ink of the title shone brilliantly out from under the gray dust, Vampiric History. Harry blew the dust of the page and coughed as the dust flew down his throat and everywhere else, working out the words, by Melinda Potter.

Harry turned the page and started to read. Melinda Potter was his great grandmother, or at least that is what the family tree on the wall behind him declared. He knew from the journal of Melinda's husband, William, that she was the one who convinced William to listen to the vampires' plea.

Of all that is written about our most feared brethren, I have very little to say. Most books and experts on these matters lump all cursed immortals into two categories: vampire and werewolf. Few books separate the werewolves into the two unique curses. The first is the one where during the full moon the cursed has no choice but to transform into the very creature that cursed him or her. Many under this curse are in fact good people; but because of fortune get discriminated against because of the reputation of the second type of the virus. These are the werewolves that can shift into their hideous form by will and keep their human mind during the transformation. They attack and kill out of choice, not instinct like the first.

But I digress. This book is on the vampire, although both species share the misfortune of having a sect that gives the entire species a dark name. Vampires are split into three separate sects and a number of scholars have slowly begun to accept the fact. The first is similar to the first curse of the werewolf; the mortals bitten by a vampire and driven to feed on blood by instinct. The second curse is the one unique to the Wiccan vampires that alienated themselves from even rest of the underworld of demons. The third prefer to be called necromancers. They are not driven by instinct to feed on blood or by the greed of power. They are the guardians of the magical world and protect it from itself. Assassins who kill those vampires, werewolves, and the occasional dark wizard who threatens the security of our treasured world—

Harry was rudely snapped back to reality by a book hitting him in the back of the head. "What the hell was that for?"

Osric and Chris smiled guiltily. "Sorry, Harry."

Harry grumbled something under his breath and returned to his reading. Another book came zooming at his head but this time he was aware enough to deflect the encyclopedia into the side of the bookshelf behind him. He got up and after marking his page snapped the book shut. "What are you two doing?"

"Playing cricket," Osric replied simply.

"With books!"

Chris smiled. "Well, this house doesn't have a single cricket ball or bat."

Harry caught the next book and placed it down on the table. "You're a bloody witch; conjure a damn ball."

"Ok," Chris pointed his hand at the table and it turned into a thousand balls of all shapes and sizes.

"OUT!" Harry snapped. He transfigured the balls back into the desk. Smiling, Chris and Osric shot out of the library before Harry could rant and rave anymore. "Too much sugar and Pepper-Up Potion." Harry sat back down and opened up the book. He got half way through the next page before sensing someone else's presence. He grabbed the book and blinked into his room. He locked the door, settled down in his chair, and began reading the book. He remained in this position until Cho came looking for him around dinnertime.

Christmas dinner was a rushed affair. It seemed that Voldemort had decided that today would be the perfect time to start stretching his boundaries south. He controlled much of Africa but his grip was not totally below the equator. He had minor battalions of new recruits and Muggle infantry invading countries at random. As soon as the Order arrived, he would pull his forces out. The one place he seemed to refuse to back out of a fight was South Africa. He had sent a large, more experienced battalion to torch the two Muggle capitals, Cape Town and Pretoria.

So far the students had been kept out of the fight but with the constant appearance and disappearance of Order members made dinner an extremely stressful event anyhow. The house elves, much to Hermione's surprise, hand carried the dessert into the dining room. Harry just asked for a large slice of pecan pie when an Elf dressed in the full uniform of the royal guard burst through the doors.

"Where are your manners, Corporal?" Uur questioned with annoyance.

"Sorry sir, but your father requests your presence…immediately." The company fell silent waiting for Uur's answer.

Uur stared at the Elf's face. His eyes gazed straight into the other's eyes and the officer struggled to remain standing. "Inform my father that I will be along shortly."

"Yes sir." The Elf saluted once and about faced. He disappeared in a flurry of wind and green leaves.

Uur stood up and smiled sadly. "I must leave."

"Why?" Harry asked. "What's going on?"

"You will be informed shortly," Uur pulled out a tiny gold medallion and tossed it to Harry. "This will allow you entry into my kingdom." Uur disappeared in a similar fashion as the guard.

Dumbledore and McGonagall apparated directly into the dining room seconds later. Both were flushed and had the telltale signs of coming from a battle. The two looked around and noticed Uur was missing.

"I guess they broke through." McGonagall muttered.

Dumbledore turned to face the anxious students. "Voldemort has attacked Table Mountain."

Harry frowned. "We already knew that. Why was Uur rushed away?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Table Mountain is the last open entrance to the Elven and Dwarven kingdoms. They shut the one in Germany after the balrog attack." Dumbledore was speaking fast and refused to meet any of the students' eyes. "It seems that Voldemort's forces have broken through again and are attacking the Southern Elven Kingdom." All the students were up and out of their seats. "This battle is too dangerous and you are not ready to face this amount of danger."

Wyatt looked at Harry who nodded. "We're not abandoning our friend to fight this fight alone." Harry pulled out the medallion and Wyatt waved his hand over the group. The students turned into green orbs and the orbs flew out the window.

Dumbledore and McGonagall smiled at each other. "This fight is not lost, yet."

The forest around the teens was quiet. Harry and Wyatt were discussing which way to go quietly. It was Caleb who stopped the arrow from hitting Wyatt. He pointed at the arrow and it turned into a pile of ash. Wyatt spun around to glare at the place where the arrow came out of and it seemed as if a part of the tree was moving and casting a shadow different from the rest of the tree.

"Show yourself!" Wyatt commanded. The Elf look bewildered as she stepped out of her camouflage. She stared at the group of teens and tried to disappear back into the cover of the forest. "COME HERE." Wyatt shoved his will on the Elf.

The Elf slowly walked toward them, fighting every step. "Who are you?"

"I am Wyatt Halliwell." Wyatt released her from his spell. "And I'm friends with your king."

The Elf dropped to her knee. "Milord Wyatt, how may I be of service?"

Wyatt pulled the Elf back onto her feet when she refused to do so by herself. "Where would Uur be stationed?"

The Elf looked up bewildered. "The last I heard Lord Uur was still amongst you at Phoenix Hall."

Harry stepped forward. "Where is the battle?"

"At the edge still," The Elf replied, "But there is a balrog and more are coming."

"How far is the edge?" Harry questioned.

"Eight hundred meters to the west," The Elf looked back into the forest. "I will show you the way."

The closer to the battle the stronger the smell of sulfur and burning wood got. Still the sounds of battle could not be heard and their Elf guide seemed to speed up. They broke into a clearing to see a lone balrog searching through the ruins of a stone building. The Elf stopped dead in her tracks.

"This was the first outpost." She had tears running down her face. "My husband was stationed here."

Ginny placed an arm on the Elf's shoulder. "He may still be alive…they might have just retreated."

Chris nodded. "I don't sense much death here…just a lot of residual power."

The balrog could be heard sniffing or at least that is what Harry thought it was doing. It sounded like an airplane's engines running backwards. It tilted its head toward them but did not seem to notice them. It turned back to the building and carried on rummaging through the debris.

"I think we better get out of here before it figures out we're here," Harry whispered."

The balrog shot up and turned around. It smiled and took a step toward them.

"Too late." Wyatt hissed.

Harry raised his hand out in front of him and a flood of water shot at the balrog. The balrog stumbled backwards and the superheated water hit its chest and hardened the lava. It roared and huge lumps of rock tumbled off its chest and slammed into the ground. The balrog charged and sent Harry and Wyatt flying when it ran into the shield they were sustaining. It reached down and took a swing at Caleb. Without thinking Caleb touched the arm of the balrog with his hand and the balrog dropped him to the floor. It looked down at its arm and blew softly on it; the ice that had formed melted away.

The balrog rose to its full height and extended its wings. Its body glowed a bright orange and the teens and elf dropped to the ground to escape the heat radiating out of its body. Wyatt crawled slowly toward the Elf.

"You need to lead everyone to the next outpost." Wyatt whispered. The balrog continued to radiate heat but remained still as a statue. "Get these guys out of here so Harry and I can deal with this thing."

The Elf nodded. She stood up and dashed away from the battle. Everyone besides Harry and Wyatt followed her under a blue bubble. Wyatt waved his hand and the bubble streamed back into him. "Never done that before."

Harry smiled. "Let's show this thing who it's dealing with."

Harry jumped up and used water again to force the balrog back. He kept the water going as long as he could. Wyatt threw energy ball after energy ball at the demon. Most of them dissipated in the heat surrounding the balrog but the few that hit left gouges in the balrog's 'skin'. The balrog roared and Harry's water evaporated into steam and Wyatt dove out of the way of two of his own attacks.

"I guess this one is stronger than the one from DC," Harry commented. He redirected the spray of fire the balrog shot out of its mouth.

"We don't have any potion," Wyatt stated the obvious. "We're going to have to kill this one with the sword."

Harry looked at the balrog's skin. "Think Excalibur can pierce that?"

"It's going to have to." Wyatt said as the blue orbs between his hands formed into the sword. "Ready to distract it?"

"This time, don't get caught!" Harry muttered as he started to hurl fireballs at the demon.

The balrog stumbled backwards out of confusion more than the fireballs actually hurting him. They simply vanished in puffs of black shadow. Harry switched to throwing giant boulders that flew out of the earth and struck the demon. His eyes started to glow green. The balrog fought back and used its whip to shatter the boulders before they reached him. He struck down with his sword but the fiery weapon bounced off the air above Harry's head with a spark of green. The balrog tried again but Harry's magic protected him again. The balrog rose up for a third strike when Wyatt appeared above his head and drove Excalibur in so that only the hilt remained above the molten rock skin. Wyatt pulled the sword out as the balrog fell backwards onto its back crushing the remains of the destroyed outpost.

Harry's eyes returned to normal. "Now what?"

Wyatt shrugged as he collapsed next to Harry. Elves appeared all around him and started to dismantle the demon and take the parts to where ever they disposed of the sludge the dead balrogs usually turned into.

Uurande-tur appeared next to the two exhausted teens. "Come quickly. Voldemort's army is approaching and we stand no chance out here." They stood up and felt the wind around them whip through their bodies and then they were standing before a sea of green tents and the occasional fire. "This is our headquarters for this battle. Follow me."

They followed the king through the tents until they reached a giant tree in the center of camp. They climbed up the stairway that led slowly around and up the trunk of the tree. At the top was a small platform with a larger version of the tents down below. Sitting outside was a worried looking Uur and an exact duplicate both in heavy discussion with a royal guard.

The royal guard was the first to notice they had company. "Milord," he bowed. "Excuse me but I must be off to inform them of Lord Uurande's decision." He left quickly and quietly.

Uur rose up from the ground with a smile on his face. "When the others arrived without you I thought the worst had happened." He hugged both Wyatt and Harry. Uurande-tur cleared his throat. "Right, sorry…" He offered his hand to his sister, "This is Princess Elinohtar, the violet warrior and my twin sister."

Wyatt and Harry kissed Elinohtar's hand and bowed slightly.

"Elin, this is Wyatt Halliwell and Harry Potter." Uur said formally.

Elin smiled. "I know who they are, Uur."

Uurande-tur shook his head. "Speak formally when in front of guests, children."

Uur rolled his eyes. "They are my friends, father…and formalities waste precious time." Uur looked at the board the two had been poring over with the guard. "Mother requests your presence. The other families wish to know how they may help."

The High Lord nodded and vanished. Uur relaxed his shoulders with a long sigh. "Bloody formalities."

"Where are the others?" Wyatt asked.

Elin smiled, "A bit up front? You were being generous brother…they are down below eating and resting with the rest of the army."

"Why aren't we with them?" Harry questioned staring down Elin.

Uur broke the tension. "They wanted to carry on their chat with the scout. You two however need to be informed of the bigger picture."

"Which is?"

"Ten balrogs other than the one you killed are amongst the army marching in from the Cape Town entrance. The army totals ten thousand strong and includes wizards, vampires, werewolves, various types of demons, and Kuilenquale…"

"What?" Harry and Wyatt's brows furrowed.

Elin went inside the tent and came out with a picture of the ugliest creatures Harry had ever seen. "Kuilenquale are Elves most hated enemies. They plunder and pillage anything and everything, whether they need the resources or not. They have no respect for nature or anything else for that matter. They live in caves, which is the reason why their skin is colorless and their eyes are so big. They have huge disgusting yellow teeth that can bite through anything, and they're not afraid to use them. They are expert craftsmen so while their weapons and armor may look shabby it rivals our own weaponry in usefulness…." Elin fell silent.

Uur carried on. "They are the remnants of the fourth Elven kingdom. The Elves and Dwarves of that kingdom were allies and friends to all once, but Ash Goth corrupted them long before he ever started the Griffin Wars. He forced the two species to breed and create a new stronger species that had the immortality of the Elves and the sturdiness of the Dwarves. The children waited until their parents were old and they killed them before destroying the kingdom and declaring their allegiance with Ash Goth. The three other kingdoms of Elves and Dwarves fought against the Kuilenquale until the Kuilenquale were nothing more than a few rag-tag groups of wanderers. They disappeared into the mountains that separate the Northern Kingdoms from the other two."

"They have not shown themselves much until today." Elin finished. "They make up the majority of the approaching army but they fight best when in hordes." She took the picture back into the tent.

"We are planning to make a stand just north of here." Uur informed them. "We are hoping that you will lead a small group into the flanks of the army and cause as much confusion as possible."

Harry closed his eyes. "That's a good plan...except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"Voldemort is here to coordinate the battle."

Uur frowned. "So?"

Harry bit his lip. "Confusion will not give you too much of an upper hand. He will simply squash that section and continue to press the army forward."

"So?"

"Sooo," Wyatt explained, "It would be best if Harry and I did the confusion thing alone…." (To be continued)

AN: Well nothing to say. The next chapter will be out soon I'm sure. Spring Break is here so I'll have some free time…maybe. The big question is what do you think of the story. I'd love to hear if my hints at the ending are getting through to people so review please.

Next Chapter:

The battle begins, we meet some different creatures, and Harry begins to see the truth.