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The Shadow of Death
Chapter 17: Wit Beyond Measure
"Are you sure?" Dumbledore's snowy hair whipped through the air as he took in their shadowed surroundings. "There is nothing in that direction."
The deep dark of night pressed against Harry with palpable force. Goosebumps pricked at his skin from under his scratchy grey robes. His hand rose to scratch his vibrating scar.
"I am sure, Headmaster." Harry stared down the looming hall, sweat beading down his back as his body shimmered into existence. "The sensation is stronger in that direction."
"Then lead on, my boy." Dumbledore pulled his wand and the two set off.
Their hurried steps echoed off grey stone, painted black by clouded skies. Shadows leapt at them from suits of armour lining the walls. The diligent, silent guardians of Hogwarts seemed as giants, warped by some unknowable, perverse magic.
'How have I not noticed this until now?' Harry's hand tightened around the Elder Wand.
A gush of air echoed from behind and Harry stopped. He looked behind them but saw only an empty hall. Harry pushed his magic into the runes etched in the corners of his eyes.
Dumbledore's hand landed on his shoulder, his grip tight to the point of pain. Harry turned his head. He had never seen his master's eyes so grave.
"Come," the older wizard whispered. "We must hurry. We know not how long it will remain within our reach."
Nodding, Harry pressed forward, pushing thoughts of the noise from his mind.
"It is here." Vision blurring from his scar's tremors, Harry pressed his hand against a blank stretch of wall. "But it is also not here. Something is obscuring it."
Dumbledore waved his wand over the wall in flowing motions. Harry turned and watched the hall.
His heart hammered in his chest, the sound thundering in his ears. Wind whistled down the empty hall, murmuring a mournful tune. Whispers sprang from the shadows that crept toward them in an inexorable advance.
Harry's knuckles whitened around the Elder Wand, his hand trembling with straining muscles.
'Judgement knocks,' it whispered in his mind. 'You are so close. I have waited for so long.'
"I can make neither head nor tails of this magic," Dumbledore said, rapping his knuckles against the stone wall. "But I know I have been here before. There is something here. Dobby!"
Crack!
"Headmaster Dumbles calls for Dobby?" The elf looked up at Harry, his green eyes wide. "Dobby does not like Headmaster Dumbles's companion! Dobby can feel him, he's a bad wizard!"
"Nevermind him, Dobby." Dumbledore knelt down. "Can you tell me what is hidden behind this wall?"
The elf bounced on its heels, a mad gleam in its large eyes.
"Headmaster be meaning the Come-And-Go-Room, sir!" Dobby nodded, his ears slapping against his face. "Elves be using it for cleaning supplies, sir."
"And how would we make use of the room?" Harry stepped toward the elf.
Dobby took a step back and looked up at the Headmaster. Dumbledore nodded.
"Bad wizard needs be walking in front of the room three times." Dobby began pacing. "Like this. Bad Wizard must be thinking of what he want the mostest, and the Come-And-Go-Room be's giving it ."
Dumbledore placed his hand on the creature's shoulder and smiled. Tears of joy leaked from its eyes and it began to vibrate on the spot.
"Thank you, Dobby." He stood to his feet, smiling down at the elf. "You will receive a bonus this month for your excellent information. You may go."
Dobby's choked sob echoed down the hall as it snapped his fingers.
Harry paced in front of the wall. "I need the horcrux."
He scowled and set to pacing again. "I need the room with the horcrux."
Nothing.
Growling, Harry turned to the Headmaster. "The elf's information is no good."
"Perhaps you are being too specific." Jewellery glistened in the dim light as Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I have used this room before, inadvertently at least."
They turned to the wall. Silence fell over the pair as they pondered what they should request.
"Ah," Dumbledore exclaimed. "I believe I have a solution."
Harry waved at the wall. Dumbledore's smile fell.
"Prepare yourself, Harry. We do not know what we shall face." The old wizard began pacing. "I need to hide something."
An old wooden door, chips marring its dull surface, shimmered into existence on the third pass. Creaking metal hinges ground against his ears as the door opened. Harry felt as though he were being shaken by a mountain troll.
"It is here," Harry grunted, his body tense. "The pull is strong."
Echoes of whispers rang through his mind, but he could not make out the words. Harry's body moved of its own volition into the dim room.
Rubble towered over them from every angle, the piles teetering over them like swaying mountains in the still air. Dust and decay filled his nostrils. Broken instruments flopped at the bottom of the piles.
Harry moved forward, deeper still into the chamber.
Wood groaned, struggling to hold the giant mounds. Books fluttered on tattered covers, their pages tearing as they bit at one another. Small skeletons crunched under their feet.
His eyes never moved from his path, his head rattling and his vision fogging as if he were watching himself from above.
"Harry?" Dumbledore's distant voice called out from just behind him.
He stopped, his head swimming, and fell to his knees. Dust stung his heaving lungs. Chilled sweat poured down his body in streams of tickling liquid.
The buzzing stopped.
Harry looked up. They had stopped in front of a bust of an ugly witch. A diadem, bright against the faded stone, sat glimmering upon her head.
The echoes screamed in his mind. He reached forward, fingers twitching. 'Close. So close.'
Smack!
Harry withdrew his hand. The echoes retreated back to the shadows.
"Thank you, Headmaster." Harry stood on shaking knees.. "That is Ravenclaw's lost diadem. I have seen it in the common room."
He took a step back and sent magic through the runes in the corners of his eyes. Miasmic whisps stretched from the headpiece. Black, clawed hands grasped at him.
Harry cut the flow of magic. "This is it."
Icy air flowed over his soaked robes, forcing a shiver through his body.
"Why do you seek my mother's diadem?" An ethereal voice sounded behind them.
They turned and were greeted by a ghost, her beautiful face twisted in a snarl. Silver blood stained her dress in flowing streams, the drops of glistering liquid disappearing into nothingness before they struck the floor.
"Grey Lady." Dumbledore bowed. "It has been many years since we have spoken. We seek to destroy the diadem."
"I hate that name." The Grey Lady floated toward the diadem, her face painted in sorrow as her hand passed through it. "Another asked me about my mother's creation fifty years ago. He perverted her soul, her life's work. How can I be sure you will not do the same?"
"You have known me for nearly a century, my lady." Dumbledore placed his hand over his heart. "You know I would do no such thing. We will destroy it."
A sad smile crossed her face. Harry shivered again when her icy hand ran over his skin.
"I know you, yes." She floated behind the young wizard. "But not him. The stain on him is old… but it lingers yet. How can I be sure of him?"
"Because I can speak to his character." Dumbledore laid a hand on his shoulder. "He will seek to destroy it."
Her calculating silver eyes looked over him, seeing everything at once. Thick silence settled over them.
Her eyes never leaving him, the Grey Lady nodded and floated to the side. Dumbledore reached deep into one of his robes' many pockets.
"It will be dangerous." She indicated the diadem with her hand. "He twisted it, defiled it, and forced me to watch"
Goblin steel glinted in the dim light as Dumbledore raised the sword above his head. Blue eyes narrowed on the tiara. Sweat trickled down his temples, disappearing beneath white hair.
His face twisted as he brought the sword down. Sharp metal whistled through the air. Harry watched, breath trapped in his lungs, as the blade neared the diadem.
CLANG!
Harry covered his ears, the clashing of metal vibrating his body. The sword flew from Dumbledore's hand, coming to a spinning stop at his feet. The Grey Lady watched on, morose.
The diadem was unharmed.
"Headmaster, the aspect-"
An ethereal scream ripped through the air. The Grey Lady collapsed as if the strings holding her aloft had been suddenly cut. Her translucent hands fisted in her silver hair, eyes bulging as black veins crept up her body.
A high, cold laugh rent the dust-filled air. The room shuddered and the tiara fell to the floor. Metallic squeals pierced his ears as legs sprouted from it.
The diadem lept from the bust, scuttling across the stone floor like a spider.
Dumbledore stepped forward to intercept it. Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
The diadem lunged through the air, wrapping its spindly legs around the Grey Lady's head. Metallic clicks intermingled with booms of falling debris and the ghost's inhuman screams.
The metal construct warped and melted around her face, muffling her yells. The veins on her grey skin wriggled before bursting like pustules.
Black ooze slithered from the wounds until she was hidden from view. The screams stopped, her body falling still, and all within the room fell silent as a grave.
Thump.
The black mass twitched.
Thump.
It writhed, a clawed hand scratching at the floor.
Thump.
The mass stood. Red eyes glowed beneath the ooze.
It opened its mouth. Ichor burst from the body in streams, forcing its way into the creature's mouth. Its neck filled and stretched like a feeding snake.
Harry's eyes widened.
A ghost, once beautiful in her solemnity, stood before them. Her skin was cracked, blackened muscle peeking from beneath. Her body was almost solid, as though she were almost a spirit but not quite alive. Red eyes shimmered with malevolent intellect.
Atop her head sat the jittering diadem.
"Rowena Ravenclaw," Dumbledore whispered. His knuckles creaked around his wand.
"Not quite," the figure spoke. Two voices intermingled, one male and one female. One soft and one high and sibilant, distorted and unnatural as its body.
"Tom," the warlock hissed.
It smirked and raised its hands. The room around them shifted, furling in on itself, until they stood in an endless white void.
"I am more and I am less." Smoke wreathed its body. "I am what I am. I am Rowena Ravenclaw and I am Tom Riddle. Yet, I am not either."
"What do you want?" Harry stepped forward, his wand pointed at the spectre.
A shrill laugh escaped its chapped lips. Skin peeled from its cheek and fell into the abyss. Pus oozed from the wound, black and foetid. It smiled.
Maggots wriggled between rotten teeth.
"I was content lying as I was." Its red eyes narrowed at them. "I provided my master with life eternal, but seeing as how you've awoken me from my slumber… I would prefer if we played a game."
"What sort of game?" Dumbledore's cautious question echoed through the white void.
Its foetid smile strained, it tapped its head with a yellow-clawed finger.
"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure." It disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
"And the terms?" Blue eyes scanned the abyss.
A cold, high laugh rumbled through Harry from all directions.
"The terms are simple, Albus Dumbledore." Colours sprung into existence and twisted around them. "If I win, you both die and I consume you. If you win, I die."
"And if we do not agree to your terms?" Harry growled.
"Then you both die." The bodiless entity sighed. "But that would be a most boring affair."
The colours stopped swirling. Heat beat down on their backs. Sand extended as far as the eye could see. Invisible waves rippled off the dunes.
Sand crunched behind them. The two whirled around in a flash of robes. Their crackling wands were raised an inch from the face of a Sphinx.
"I have only one colour, but not one size." She licked her paw, claws gleaming like pearl daggers in the sun. "I am stuck in the bottom, yet easily fly. I am present in sun, but not in rain. I do no harm and feel no pain. What am I?"
Harry lowered his wand, surprised the creature had not attacked them. He placed his hand on Dumbledore's extended arm.
"It will only attack if we answer incorrectly."
The older man shook his head. "We cannot be sure of that. It may be a trap."
But the Sphinx merely continued to groom itself. "You have one minute to answer my riddle. I will not attack you in that time."
"Repeat the riddle." Sweat dripped down Harry's back.
His mind spun as he listened to the riddle. His eyes fell to the creature's long claws. She grinned at him, her pearly teeth glistening in the harsh desert sun.
"Thirty seconds, humans." Her fur rippled above her muscular body.
Harry looked to Dumbledore, blood surging through his veins.
"Give me a moment, Harry." Dumbledore looked up at the glaring sun.
His muscles tensed when the Sphinx's smile broadened. Sand, carried by a harsh wind, stung the exposed skin on his face and hands. Her eyes glinted red in the sun.
"Ten seconds," she warbled
"I...I…" He readied his wand. "Will we lose the game if we fight?"
The Sphinx growled, her beautiful features morphing into a nightmare. Saliva dripped from her gaping maw.
"Five seconds."
Harry's wand jumped into motion. A wall of fire separated them. He grabbed Dumbledore and ran in the opposite direction.
"Three seconds!" Sand exploded in front of them.
The Sphinx stood before them, her large paw in the air.
"One second."
"A shadow," Dumbledore yelled. "You are a shadow."
The Sphinx lowered her paw. Harry watched her with cautious eyes.
"You figured it out when you turned away from the sun." Disappointment suffused her words. "Very well. You may proceed."
"To where?" Harry only saw sand and blue skies.
The Sphinx smiled as dark ichor sprang from the ground around her. It enveloped her and she grew.
Harry backed away, her shadow growing and extending over the distance. They ran in her shadow. Her body blotted out the sun's rays.
Sand swirled around them. Her feet sent tremors through the loose earth. The Sphinx laughed, the sound rumbling through his body. Harry looked over his shoulder.
She had grown to the size of a building. Harry tried to disapparate but his magic refused to follow his request.
The Sphinx opened her maw and his heart stopped. Shapes and shadows writhed within, groaning in torment. She was too close to avoid.
Light fled the world.
And he fell.
Hands clawed at his robes, pushing him further into the miasmic abyss. Snapping teeth echoed into the void around him. Light flickered at the end of his wand and was snuffed in an instant.
Screams rang in his ears. He could not be sure if they came from him, his mind, or the demons surrounding him. They screeched and gnashed. His robes tore and his skin prickled.
Fire coursed through his veins.
"Escape," its voice called, "or be consumed."
Red eyes glimmered in the distance. He thrashed against the grasping limbs. They forced his mouth open. A long slimy object slithered down his throat.
His lungs burned and the eyes loomed closer. A cold cackle pierced the void, fire springing from the eyes.
The demons fled its advance.
His tattered cloak, drenched in sweat, wrapped around his body.
'I do not know what to do.' His eyes felt heavy. 'I do not want to die. Please! Not like this!'
A cold, rasping chuckle filled his ears. The Elder Wand vibrated in his hand. Magic surged through his body and Harry's hair stood on end.
Heat and ice issued from the Wand. He could not see it but the power was unlike any he had felt. Yet, it was familiar.
Pained shrieks tore the air. His body was pulled from all directions. Air stole from his lungs as he burned and froze. Needles stabbed his skin. Rot and ichor danced over his skin like demonic spiders.
The dark burned away and he fell to his back.
Light pounded his eyes, the world blurry. He heard faint breathing to his right.
Fuzzy white met his distorted vision.
"You s-survived." He coughed, sand, blood and slime splatting against the ground. "How… what?"
"I do not know." Dumbledore rolled over to face him, his chest heaving. "Whatever you did is what released us. What spell did you use?"
He looked down at the Wand gripped in his hand. "I do not know. It just… happened."
"So you survived." They turned at the voice, their eyes narrow. "A pity."
Harry stood to his feet.
"We won your game." He raised his wand. Dumbledore did the same from the ground. "Now you die."
It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Red eyes blinked open across the star-strewn sky. Shrill laughter sounded from all around them.
"Not yet," it whispered, amusement in its voice. "Not when there's so much left to do, so much fun to be had. Can you survive?"
Magic flung them through the air. Harry caught sight of Hogwarts in the distance. Dumbledore fell into the Black Lake with a splash.
Wood splintered, stabbing into his back. Harry opened his eyes. He had landed in a small, dark hut. Dust filled his lungs.
Clocks winked into existence across the night sky. They ticked and the red eyes blinked. Stars fell from the heavens in raging infernos.
Crash.
"Who is real?" the voice asked. "Who is not? Time ticks and your lives fade. The ticking stops? The answer to the riddle is quite simple. Will you survive?"
"Headmaster?" His voice sounded from dozens of locations.
Harry's eyes narrowed and he made his way from the hut. He raised his right arm. A hundred clones copied his action perfectly.
"Harry?" A sea of voices came from the Black Lake.
A hundred Dumbledores stood by its edge, dripping water onto the ground. As one, they pulled their wands and pointed them at one another.
A wave of tattered grey tore across the castle grounds. Harry growled under his breath. Each of his doppelgangers copied his actions perfectly.
'Perhaps I could destroy them?' he thought as he neared the gaggle of Dumbledores. 'No. I cannot take the chance that they would copy my spell. The results could kill all of us.'
Their pounding feet stilled against the cold earth. Harry pulled a knife out of his robes and held it up to one of his clones.
They all pocketed the knives.
"We will not be able to ascertain who is real in such a way, Harry." Dumbledore flourished his wand and dried himself. "That is far too straightforward. We must outsmart this horcrux."
Their combined voices beat against his ears.
"And how do you propose we do that, Headmaster?" Harry looked between all of the identical wizards. "I cannot tell who the real you is amongst all the imposters. The doppelgangers are perfect."
Dumbledore tapped his half-moon glasses with his wand. The lenses glowed under his spell's effects. Harry shielded his eyes against the intensity.
"And the magic between all of us looks and feels exactly alike." The glow subsided and they sat. "This is most troublesome."
"The answer will be simple," Harry said, "something often overlooked by most wizards."
Red eyes blinked down on them from the dark sky. Humour and hatred shimmered within their collective gaze.
'This is unlike anything I have encountered. The room's powers were augmented during the horcrux ritual.' Harry looked at his clones through narrowed eyes. 'It is impossible for mundane magic to do something such as this.'
Flame leapt to life in his hands. It crackled and warmth spread through his body.
"Is there any difference between my flame and theirs?"
Dumbledore shook his head. Harry grumbled and extinguished the flames.
"Time slows for you both," the horcrux called. "And when the clock ceases, your souls shall be mine. My power will grow and the world shall despair at my strength."
Ticks, slowing between each strike, echoed across the grounds. Harry looked at the doppelgangers.
"If we cannot differentiate between the others we will be consumed," Dumbledore muttered. "But we cannot do it ourselves. We require another."
"Nobody knows we are here or how to get in the room, Headmaster." Harry pounded the ground with his fist. "Our best course of action is to kill a single doppelganger at a time and hope we do not kill the wrong one."
Dumbledore smiled and stood to his feet. Red eyes narrowed from above. The air vibrated with the horcrux's growl.
"Fawkes," their voices called out as one.
Flames rose in a small column in the middle of the Dumbledores. The phoenix rested on one of their shoulders. The others disappeared in puffs of black smoke.
Harry smirked.
"Winky." The elf appeared in front of him and the other Harrys disappeared in a similar manner. "Is this the best you can do? Surrender and let us be done with this farce."
Winky and Fawkes disappeared and the room swirled around them. The ground opened beneath them and they fell once more into the abyss.
"You may have won the last two games," the horcrux hissed, "but you will not succeed in the last. Both of you will be mine."
Their feet touched down on stone and the Room of Requirement materialised around them. They fell to their knees as the room quaked. Towers of rubble creaked and groaned before slamming into the ground.
Long-forgotten items flew in twisting tornadoes as the ground cracked, fire spurting from the dark depths.
Red eyes glared at them across the room. A sadistic smile adorned the spectre's face.
"So," Harry said, "you finally want to fight."
The Elder Wand crackled in his hand. Dumbledore stood to his feet beside him, blue eyes glaring at the horcrux.
Blood pounded in his ears.
"And yet you cannot kill me." The horcrux raised its arms. Debris flew across the room and formed a shapeless mass. "Not so long as this room is mine. Your bodies will rot and fester within these walls and I will be free to leave."
Dumbledore's eyes widened.
"You have a plan," Harry whispered.
"Yes." Dumbledore flourished his wand. The Sword of Gryffindor flew into his outstretched hand. "You must fight this abomination. Keep its attention solely on you."
Harry planted his feet into the rumbling ground. Wind whistled in his ears and flames licked at his tattered robes.
An earth shattering roar pierced the maelstrom. The shapeless masses coalesced into gigantic golems. Their misshapen feet pounded against the floor.
"And you?" Harry stepped in front of the Headmaster.
The golems swung their fists, toppling what little remained of the garbage heaps. The horcrux rose in the air, its red eyes gleaming down on them.
"I must wrest control of the room from the horcrux." Dumbledore's body shimmered into invisibility. "I fear this is a fight you cannot win alone, Harry. Hold them off as long as you can."
His footsteps faded into the maelstrom and the golems charged.
Magic flooded him, his body vibrating violently. Harry disappeared as the constructs brought their fists down.
The force of the impact sent quakes through the room. Dust sped away from the area and the horcrux let loose a cold, high laugh.
Harry appeared on the back of the construct and jammed the Wand in its shoulder. An explosion rocked the golem, its arm blown apart from the force of the spell.
Jumping, Harry unleashed a torrent of flames upon its companion. Wood turned to ash and metal liquified under the heat. He cut the flames.
Ash and liquid metal fell in sizzling globs at its feet.
The horcrux laughed. Junk flew through the air and repaired both constructs.
"If that is your best, Harry Potter, then you will die by my hands."
A torrent of dust-covered items ploughed into him from the side. Harry slammed into one of the piles, buried beneath rubble.
Breathing in shallow gasps, his lungs burned beneath the immense weight. Dust filled his tight lungs and debris dug into his joints.
Harry pushed his magic outwards and the rubble blew out from him. He staggered to his feet.
The constructs loomed over him. They each lifted a leg, their movements slow yet powerful.
'They will be repaired if I attack them directly.' He jumped back from their attack, shards of wood nicking his skin. 'So long as there are items in this room I cannot stop them.'
Diving, Harry dodged a group of brooms barrelling toward him. He rolled to his feet to avoid being bound in enchanted ropes.
The constructs roared. Rubble spewed from their mouths and flew toward him.
Harry pulled his obsidian sword from his robes and disappeared.
'I cannot destroy everything in the room,' he thought as the world flew by him in an incomprehensible blur of colour and sound. 'I could easily kill the Headmaster if I did.'
His body took shape behind the horcrux, his black blade held above his head. Its gleaming red eyes turned on him. Harry swung with all his might.
And the blade passed through the spectre.
A monstrous clap banged off the walls as he fell through the air. Light filled his vision and his muscles seized as the apparition's spell reached him.
Lightning coursed through his body. A scream wrenched from his throat, the smell of charred flesh and blood filling his nose.
Bone crunched against the stone floor, pain blurring his vision. The obsidian blade clattered against stone just beyond his reach.
Harry twitched against the hot, cracked floor.
His body spasmed. Smoke unfurled from his tattered form.
Reaching out with the Elder Wand, Harry used a spell to store his blade elsewhere.
Stars swam in his vision, darkness enveloping its edges.
He stumbled to his feet and blood dripped at his feet. The bone of his right arm had pierced through his skin. Breath catching in his throat, Harry suppressed a yell as he crafted a splint.
The ground shook and shadows fell across him.
Harry yelled as he raised his wand to the sky. Vast chunks of stone tore from the ground at his command. They pummelled the constructs.
Debris whistled past his ears as the ramshackle golems were torn to pieces. A fanged frisbee zoomed past, tittering as it left a deep gash on his cheek.
His chest heaved, sweat and blood darkening the stone beneath him, as stone pounded the floor around him. Harry stumbled through waist-deep rubble.
"Is that better?" His vision blurred. Magic thrummed in his body. He shook as he raised his wand. "You will have to do better if you wish to kill me."
The horcrux loosed a shrill laugh, its red eyes glimmering with glee. The diadem winked in the room's dim light.
It raised a clawed hand. Stone and metal shuddered and slammed into one another.
"I still have the Room, Harry Potter." Mouldy, black teeth appeared from behind its cracked lips. "Your attempts are amusing, but futile. Allow me to show you true power."
A rush of magic blew him from his feet.
Snap!
Pain lanced through his body as he tumbled into a pile of rubble. Sight left him and his lungs burned. A wet cough caused Harry's body to spasm.
Iron coated his tongue.
A roar shook the room. Harry's eyes widened at the blurred form in front of him.
"Ch-chimaera," he rasped.
It was made from stone and metal. Its claws and teeth glistened in the fire that coated its body. Stone clacked and metal screeched as it lowered itself to the ground.
Intelligent, burning eyes narrowed on him.
It opened its mouth.
Harry raised his wand. Magic crackled to life around him as blue flame filled his vision.
Heat seared his skin as the fire seared past him. Smoke filled his nostrils. Harry's golden dome reddened under the heat.
His skin reddened and blistered. Harry's tattered grey robe smouldered at the edges. Sulphur and iron coated his arid mouth.
Cracks shot through his shield. The roar of flames drowned all other sounds.
And the shield collapsed.
Harry twisted to the ground, his wand trailing him. Wind buffeted his lowered form and the torrent followed.
A gasping, choked breath escaped his bloodied lips as he swept his wand in front of him. Fire and wind leapt at his command.
It covered the stone chimaera. The creature snapped and clawed at the flames.
Harry's body trembled as he stood to his feet. Smoke filled his vision as the molten rock of the floor around him cooled.
The chimaera's roar rattled his bruised and broken bones. Debris shuddered at his feet. Harry winced as the torrent broke apart.
The construct was mostly unharmed. Heated metal claws and teeth gleamed red in the dusky room. Molten stone dripped from its maw in viscous globs, sizzling on the ground below.
Primal rage burned in its demonic eyes.
Harry raised his shaking hand. The Elder Wand's tip jerked in his grip. Magic buzzed around him. The air crackled and the tip of the Wand glowed white.
Stone, fire, water, and air twisted around him. Harry's knees clacked against one another. His vision dimmed and he choked on the putrid smoke in his lungs.
The chimaera opened its mouth and roared.
'NOW!'
Bone crumpled under the backlash of the spell. A lance of pure, white energy sheathed in the elements burst from his wand. Harry fell to his back and watched as the spell whistled through the air.
Its light disappeared into the construct's dark mouth and the chimaera exploded.
Wind and debris tore Harry's skin. Stone battered his broken body. Fire blistered his skin. Steam hissed in the air.
Breaths escaped him in wet wheezes. Blood poured from his mouth and stuck to the skin of his chin.
The sound of breaking glass broke through the air and the horcrux screamed.
Stone rumbled and magic faltered. The Room shouted in ethereal torment.
'Dumbledore completed his task.' A smirk cracked his burnt lips.
The horcrux screamed, ichor pouring from its body as it fell to the ground.
Steel glinted red in the light and slashed through the air. He could not move.
Flaming tendrils pierced and tore apart the nerves in Harry's chest. Blood spewed from his mouth.
And he smiled as Albus Dumbledore appeared atop the litter, the Sword of Gryffindor twirling in his hand. His face was a mask of pure rage.
Steel cleaved the air and a pulse of magic buffeted his numb body. A shrill scream of torment rent the air. Stone rained from the skies.
"-ry...injuries...not long." Dumbledore's voice floated on a breeze, distant. His wrinkled face swam in his eyes
Harry smiled, a cough tearing his lungs to shreds. Crimson speckled pure white hair.
"We won," he choked.
And his world fell to darkness.
—0v0—
She'd been here every day for over a week. Fleur hadn't left his side, though it wasn't due to any altruism on her part.
Fleur sighed, the scent of antiseptics leaving her for a moment.
She took in the familiar sight beside her. Potter's pale face stood stark against the white pillow. His already lean form had diminished over the days, making him seem only half alive.
He'd been through an ordeal, and she stood to benefit from it.
Following the Headmaster and Potter had been a foolish decision she'd made in the heat of the moment. She'd followed them to a blank stretch of wall and would've been found out if not for the Headmaster's interference.
Fleur had waited for nearly an hour before the two had emerged, smoke and fire nipping at their heels.
Dumbledore hadn't been any worse for wear, other than the blood covering his singed robes and beard. Potter, on the other hand, had been on death's door.
The Headmaster had taken her with them to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had barely saved the young wizard.
Fleur clucked her tongue against the back of her teeth.
The letter in her pocket didn't weigh her down for a change.
She smiled as Potter twitched on the bed. A flick of her wand saw a patronus sail through the ward's doors.
"You've 'ad me worried, 'Arry." His form stilled on the bed and he opened his eyes to glare at her. "The 'Eadmaster will be 'ere soon. We 'ave much to discuss."
Potter winced as he sat up in bed. Crimson bloomed across his white bandages and he laid back down. His green eyes watched her warily.
"You were there." His eyes narrowed. "You were in the hall. What do you know, Delacour?"
Fleur cocked her head, a smirk straining against her cheeks. He reached for his wand at the bedside table. Fleur bared her wrist, showing his wand secured in a holster.
"You will 'ave to wait for zhe 'Eadmaster." Fleur unrolled her sleeve, covering the Wand. "Zhere is much for you to account for."
"It does not matter." Potter huffed and turned his head. "The Headmaster will not allow you to remember. Things will go back to how they were, Princess."
She leaned forward in her seat, the smirk dropping from her face.
"But I do know zhis," she hissed. "You took my memories and altered zhem. You will never do so again or zhe consequences will be most severe."
Potter opened his mouth but was interrupted by Dumbledore entering the ward. Fleur smiled and leaned back in her chair as the Headmaster approached.
"Delacour," Potter snapped. "She knows. We cannot allow this, Head—"
A wizened hand raised to stop him in his tracks.
"I am aware, Harry." Dumbledore flicked his wand and took a seat in a throne-like chair. "I am also aware that you have altered Miss Delacour's memory in the past. You will not do so again."
His green eyes narrowed to slits.
"She cannot be allowed to know about me!" Potter sat up, the crimson stain creeping across the bandages covering his chest. "I do not see why you are allowing this."
"Sebastien Delacour is an important wizard," Dumbledore replied. "If word were to get out that you had altered his daughter's memories… Well, the fallout would affect us both. But, more importantly, I believe it is high time you address your relationship with Miss Delacour."
Potter curled his fists.
"You promised not to interfere in my personal life." His nostrils flared, face reddening in mottled patches.
"Yes, I did." Dumbledore nodded and stood to his feet. "But you only bring that up to benefit yourself. You cannot run from your problems forever, Harry. So I will break my promise to you. Perhaps someday you will learn why I am doing so."
"Zhank you, 'Eadmaster." Fleur nodded her head at the older wizard.
Dumbledore bowed. "My pleasure, Miss Delacour. Please forgive my ward's actions against you. I will see to it that he does not do so again."
He left them in a flourish of robes. Fleur turned her hawkish grin toward Potter.
"What do you know?" he growled.
"Zhat isn't important." Fleur stood and looked down at him. "I've watched you and I know enough to cause you trouble. And now, you will play by my rules."
His scowl deepened.
"And what are your new rules?"
Fleur flicked her hair over her shoulder.