Chapter 17: Settle for Nothing

I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from writing this whatsoever. The Harry Potter franchise is the property of Warner Brother's and J.K Rowling.

This chapter takes place in the month of July, and completely skips over the Quidditch stuff that canonically happens in May. This includes the promise Harry and Hermione make to visit Grawp in the forest for Hagrid if he is fired by Umbridge. Note; these things still happen, I just don't write about it here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The last two sections of this chapter, as well as the next three entire chapters all take place within the same day. Please, keep that in mind as you read to avoid any confusion.

"Locals believe the 'Ghost Rider' is the true depiction of an angel, stopping crimes and saving the lives of many, while Mayor Fisk wants it behind bars more than ever before; calling it an 'abomination to the justice system that a monster is allowed to run free and commit acts of vigilante justice without repercussion.' Fisk has instructed police Commissioner Jennings to shoot on sight with new weapons developed by A.I.M. to incapacitate the motorcycle driving vigilante."

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

Tracey yanked a fanged-frisbee out from midair, tucking it under her arm while she continued to walk.

"Hey!" One of the second year Ravenclaw boys shouted at her.

Daphne frowned from Tracey's right. They were in the middle of walking to their Astronomy OWL, Inquisitorial Squad duties were much like the one's belonging to a Prefect, which she had no interest in being. Daphne often insisted they act accordingly to any situations though. It caused a slight rift for a day or two between the girls. Tracey was unsure about her newfound power, and didn't rather like spoiling any harmless fun or taking away points for trivial things like the rest of her squad mates did. Daphne, however, took her role very seriously. Not in a power hungry way or anything, it was just how she was. Ultra serious, almost all the time.

"Just let it go," Tracey muttered, "I've confiscated it." But it was too late, Daphne had already turned around and began walking back towards the boys. Blaise shook his head, stopping along with her. He made intricate hand signs at Tracey. "I know," she sighed in return, "but she'll never stop."

"Ten points from Ravenclaw each," Daphne said seriously, "in accordance with Educational Decree number thirty-five, all items that have no educational value are banned."

Tracey resisted the urge to facepalm, it was honestly embarrassing.

The two boys looked mutinous, but they wisely said nothing.

Daphne caught back up to her and Blaise as they reached the Astronomy tower with some time to spare before the exam properly started.

They took their seats in a secluded corner near a window. Daphne and Blaise slightly farther out than her so as to discourage cheating, though the three would never dream of it. Tracey was actually glad for the separated desks, as she didn't have to deal with any of her classmates muttering scathing things about her as if she couldn't hear them. Her brother's actions had an affect on her own reputation in the house, and was now somewhat of an outcast to them.

She looked around, and most students were talking with their friends. She saw Susan Bones testing Hannah Abbot from across the room, Lisa Turpin was calmly staring straight ahead out of her window. And then her eyes found Harry, Weasley and Granger near the front of the classroom. Weasley looked nervous, but so did Granger, for some reason. She was the best in their year, what did she have to worry about? Harry looked like he didn't really care about this subject.

"You didn't have to take it from them, you know," Tracey said quietly to Daphne still not quite ready to let the interaction go, Blaise nodded his agreement.

Daphne shook her head and looked at Tracey. "And you should take your duties more seriously."

"What they were doing was harmless!" She hissed. "And besides, you can't tell me you're okay with the blatant abuse of power," Tracey accused, "there's new decrees every day, and she's even more worse than Snape with her favouritism!" It was true, while Snape normally turned a blind eye to Draco's and the other's bullying, for those that were in the Inquisitorial Squad, it was like they could get away with anything, so long as they didn't interfere with Umbridge's agenda.

Blaise had downright refused to join when offered when Umbridge had approached them all. Tracey was hesitant about joining up then, and now she knew it was with good reason. He signed something to Daphne and the girl scowled.

"I don't full approve, of course, but it benefits us!" She defended. "And really, it's quite harmless."

Blaise shook his head, looking back at his telescope as Professor Marchbanks announced that the exam was about to begin.

An hour passed, in which she calmly marked down the planets locations through her telescope.

And then it happened.

There was a loud bang from the grounds below the Astronomy tower.

A chorus of 'Ouch!'s cried out as several people bumped their faces into their telescopes as they jumped from the sound, herself included. They all peered out their windows. Tracey didn't have a great angle, but she could see several figures surrounding Professor Hagrid's hut. She recognized one of them - was that Umbridge?

Professor Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.

"No!" Granger cried out.

"My dear!" One of the professor's said in a scandalized voice. "This is an examination!"

But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star charts anymore: Jets of red light were still flying beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him. He was still upright and fighting, as far as she could see, anyway. Which, admittedly, wasn't much.

"Be reasonable, Hagrid!" A man shouted.

"Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!" Hagrid roared.

Tracey could just barely see the outline of a dog jumping up at some of the assailants, before a red spell knocked it to the ground where the dog stayed down.

Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground, and threw him out of Tracey's field of vision.

Somebody had squealed as the castle doors opened again, adding a bit more light to the scene for only a few moments. The professor watching over them said something in indignation again, but nobody was listening.

"How dare you!" The unmistakable voice of Professor McGonagall shouted angrily. "How dare you!? Leave him alone! Alone, I say!" Professor McGonagall yelled. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such-"

Multiple people in the classroom screamed. No fewer than four Stunners had shot from the figures around the cabin toward Professor McGonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams collided with her. For a moment she looked luminous, illuminated by an eerie red glow, then was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

Tracey's mouth was agape, and as she turned to look at her friends, they too, look horrified. It was an expression she'd never seen on either of their faces before. A terrible, sinking feeling had settled at the pit of her stomach. What was she apart of? What was she enabling by aligning herself with this woman? Even as Hagrid managed to knock two more people out, she stayed stock still.

"COWARDS!" Hagrid bellowed his voice carrying clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT - AN' THAT -"

Hagrid bent down, and though it was hard to make out, Tracey was pretty sure he'd picked up the stunned dog and slung it over his giant shoulder.

"Get him, get him!" Umbridge screamed, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists. Indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and begun to run away with the dog still hung around his back; Umbridge sent one last stunning spell after him but it missed, and Hagrid, running full-speed toward the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.

The professor watching over them spoke feebly. "Um... five minutes to go, everybody."

The city of Oslo was beautiful. He'd never been before, even though Johnny had always wanted to. There was a field trip mentioned by his Norse Mythology teacher at one point, but the class was discontinued before that could come to fruition. There was beautiful architecture everywhere, and he wished Hermione could see it. Oslo was a city entrenched in green, sprawling fields filled with trees almost everywhere you looked, but it was also a city with history. As a kid, he always loved Norse Myth. The nine realms and their lore was extremely fascinating, and stories of great heroes like Thor inspired him. But now, to know that they were real? It changed everything.

What would have been a wonderful trip, was now one that put him on edge. Every street corner they turned, he was on the lookout. Sirius, Tonks, Kingsley and himself were all dressed inconspicuously. He was missing his trademark jacket already, the plain gray sweatshirt he was wearing making his skin itch.

If frost trolls were real, there was a whole legion of other terrible Norse creatures that could be lurking around. They seemed to keep out of human affairs for the most part, but that didn't make him feel any more at ease. Things were changing, if some decided to join up with Voldemort, something was egging them on to make more appearances. It was a miracle that there hadn't been a worldwide event already.

Sirius was enjoying the sights, as was Tonks to a degree. Kingsley looked as alert as Johnny was though.

"The museum's just up ahead," Kingsley said quietly, "the muggles that gave us directions were right, we might be here for awhile."

It was an architectural marvel, shaped like the bow of a Viking boat. A long line spread out into the plaza that they were in. Tourists, no doubt.

"Don't suppose we could confund them," Sirius muttered as they joined the queue. A muggle couple ahead of them were talking excitedly in a different language Johnny recognized as Spanish. He tuned them out as Tonks responded to Sirius.

"I doubt that'd be a popular decision if Dumbledore or the Ministry found out," she said.

"Since when do you listen to authority figures?" Sirius said incredulously.

"Like you're a shining example," Tonks shot back.

"Enough," Kingsley said, slipping his wand out and holding it by his waist. At once, people started leaving the lines, and those behind them looked on in confusion, before shrugging their shoulders and moving forward. The people getting out of line seemed confused too, but they kept walking away.

The queue was getting shorter and shorter by the second. The couple in front of them increased the speed of their talking, speaking such rapid Spanish that Johnny could no longer fully understand them.

They got closer to the entrance of the museum, Johnny kept looking around every once in a while. Every person was suspicious to him.

A woman walked by a shop diagonal to him, they locked eyes as she passed, but eventually she turned a corner and disappeared.

Fuck, he was way too on edge.

"Be ready," Kingsley's deep voice warned quietly, "we're almost in."

Sure enough, they had kept moving up, and were now only two or three yards away from the entrance. Closer and closer they went, Johnny's wariness and paranoia rising every step.

The person at the front desk just inside smiled at them and said something in Norwegian that he didn't understand, but it was clear she was asking for payment to get in. Johnny went to Kingsley's right as Tonks went left and Sirius behind. Together, they covered up Kingsley's wand, which was being used to confund the worker. She blinked, before speaking again in Norwegian, waving for them to go through. The Spanish couple were still ahead of them by a bit, there were a few more people coming in behind them.

Tonks frowned as they made their way inside, but said nothing of it.

The museum was actually really cool, he would have loved to take the time and properly explore it. But they were here for one thing. Johnny was on the lookout for Laevateinn. There was hardly ever an actual account on what it looked like, the stories varied so much, so he had to check the display plates for the names.

People milled about, and Johnny understood why the line was so long to begin with. The place was packed.

His eyes roved over every display. The other three were staying nearby, but not overly so. He noticed the Spanish couple looking at a small wooden stick with intricate carvings inside a glass case. A few more people were uninterestedly looking at other items close by, frequently shooting glances at them, and then Johnny realized - a wand. They were looking at a wand.

Johnny turned to look at Sirius, begging for the man to look up at him. He did, after a few moments of pretending to browse, and Johnny jerked his head in the direction of the Spanish couple.

"-atacer ahora!"

Sirius' eyes went wide just as Johnny's did, and he ducked as Sirius yelled; "Get down!"

A jet of green light narrowly missed his head, and Sirius too had to move out of the way. Three more spells of various color were sent his way, Johnny rolled to avoid them. Everyone that was a normal person went running for their lives, multiple people were screaming.

"¡Quédate quieto, puto!" The man shouted at him.

Fat chance of that happening.

His chest burned, his skin melted away, and the Rider was released.

Several of the other people milling around the couple sprung into action as well, slingling spells at him. Most had no effect, though he knew to dodge the green ones, just in case.

Their eyes went from angry to terrified in seconds once they realized they were doing absolutely nothing to him. Their fear sent a thrill through him. If Johnny could grin, he would. A part of him was scared by that, his control was slipping a little. So many sinnners in one room...

Sirius, Kingsley and Tonks returned fire now, and two Death Eaters caught red spells to the chest and were sent sprawling to the floor.

Just as Johnny was about to join in and wrap things up, because honestly, this was a bit of a joke, and unearthly scream came from the entrance. All eyes were focused there, even the Death Eaters had paused in their relentless spellfire.

Skeletal warriors dressed as Vikings were digging themselves out from the very earth itself, rusty axes and swords held tightly in their bony grip.

"Draugr," he said, almost not believing it. Though after the frost troll, he supposed it shouldn't be surprising they'd recruit more forgotten creatures.

The Death Eaters got over their shock, one of them even crying out.

"¡Nuestro Señor envía a los muertos para que vengan y nos ayuden!"

Well, fuck.

A yellow spell caught Tonks in the chest, and sent her flying through a display. Johnny felt fear for the first time as the Rider, but there was no time to check on her.

"I'll handle the Draugr!"He called to Sirius and Kingsley, who had returned fire and taken cover behind pillars. "Keep the Death Eaters busy!"

The Draugr advanced slowly towards him. Johnny didn't know if it was because they were wary of him, or their decrepit limbs couldn't move that well. But suddenly, two darted at him with alarming speed, jabbing their swords at him.

He dodged the one on the left, but the one on the right caught him in his arm. He hissed, a black liquid coming out of the wound.

That wasn't supposed to happen. Fuck, this might be harder than he thought. Unused to having to actually dodge, Johnny was nearly overwhelmed when two more Draugr jerked forward at him. This time though, he was able to shoot flames out at them. The two closest were incinerated, and the others moved back.

Smart.

There were six more in total, but Johnny couldn't rule out more appearing. He had no time to look back, no time to see if his friends were alright.

The Draugr weren't afraid of him, which presented another interesting challenge.

Fiery chains erupted from out under his jacket sleeves, wrapping around two axes and yanking them away, turning the metal into ash. That meant two Draugr with only shields.

He darted forward, punching one of the undead warriors so hard in the face that its head popped off. The Draugr crumpled to the floor, while the other one hit Johnny hard on his left shoulder. It barely hurt as much as the stab wound had, and Johnny shot a hand out to grab it by the neck. With scary ease, he yanked its head off.

Four left, and despite their loss of numbers, they still shuffled towards him without fear, without hesitation. Though he supposed they didn't have anything to worry about, they were already dead. One got too close, Johnny poked his shield and watched it light on fire, burning to ash soon after. He gave the Draugr a shove with one hand, sending it sprawling as another darted forward. He raised a leg and kicked out his enemy's from under it. Bones snapped, and yet the Draugr still crawled towards Johnny, trying to reach out and grab at him. More flames shot out of his gloved hand, ending its existence. He got slashed across the chest, and it stung like hell. Johnny retaliated swiftly.

Two left, the one that was knocked down returning to its feet. People were still clamoring to get out, the Draugr swiped at a retreating woman and got her on the back. She screamed and collapsed. Johnny rushed forward, punching the Draugr across the room, its bones flying out everywhere on impact. The last one cut at his leg, but more hellfire put an end to that.

"Rest," he said to the defeated spirits, "I hope you find Valhalla."

With the skeletal Vikings done for, he turned back to his friends. Tonks was back up, though she seemed to be bleeding from her head, Kingsley's robes were ripped a little, but he otherwise appeared fine, and Sirius was favoring his left leg. A good number of the Death Eaters were out cold.

Only five of the eleven were still fighting, spread out behind pillars and display cases.

He walked towards the nearest one, the Spanish woman, her eyes widened when she saw him approach, but it was too late. A jet of red light hit his chest but it did nothing, he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed. Her neck gave way soon after.

Another Death Eater had seen, a lanky one with scraggly black hair. He pointed his wand at Johnny, and bellowed; "Coelum!"

A wispy but fast white spell whizzed straight at him, so fast he barely had time to dodge. Johnny shifted to his left, but the spell caught him in the still bleeding wound on his right arm. The force send him into a glass display case, destroying it entirely, but he was still on his feet.

Fuck, that hurt.

It was the same spell used at him before he met the Order, the one that nearly killed him thanks to Blackheart opening up a large wound.

He didn't have time to wonder how it could harm him, for another white spell shot at him. Johnny was just able to move behind a pillar to dodge it. Thankfully, Kingsley sent a spell the Death Eater's way, a red one that caught him in the shoulder, knocking him out cold.

Johnny shot another chain out at a fast speed, a sky blue circle of sorts was sent to try and block it, but the chain broke right through, wrapping around the Death Eater's head and lighting it on fire.

Two more fell to spells from Sirius and Tonks, until there was only one left. The Spanish man. It confused Johnny a little, he thought that they were based in Britain, could Voldemort have branched out that much? Spread his poisonous dogma that far?

"¡Eres una inmundicia! ¡Los aplastaré a todos!" He shouted, even as they advanced on him. His wand flew out of his hand and into Sirius grasp, who laughed a little at the man.

"Rotten luck, that."

Johnny raised his hand, was about to kill him, when a red spell hit the man in the chest, knocking him out. Tonks had stunned him.

"No point in killing him," she muttered.

Just then, the doors to the entrance burst open, multiple men and women in violet robes rushed in, wands out and pointed at them. A woman shouted something in Norwegian, jutting her wand out forcefully. He didn't need to understand the language to realize the situation.

He turned and raised his hand behind him, opening a portal, inside was fire and brimstone, the same abandoned part of Mephisto's realm that he had taken back from Norway when rescuing Hagrid. Waiting for them was an all black Mustang.

"Let's go," he said. Fuck, he was going to be so tired after this. The Norwegian Auror's fired spells at them, but it was too late, they were already through the portal.

Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until that afternoon. Harry would very much have liked to go back to bed after breakfast, but he had been counting on the morning for a spot of lastminute studying, so instead he sat with his head in his hands by the common room window, trying hard not to doze off as he read through some of the notes stacked three-and-a-half feet high that Hermione had lent him.

Many of his dormmates spent their precious few hours buried in books, one would think that Hermione had them all under the Imperius to be studying this hard. Lavender, who always spent an ungodly amount of time in the morning applying makeup, was miraculously seen without it, scribbling down notes at lightening speed. Dean was cursing under his breath at a table nearby Harry about goblin rebellions. Seamus and Ron had long since given up, the only two who were not cramming last minute like the rest of them. Instead, they were playing a subdued match of wizards chess while Hermione occasionally sent scathing looks their way from her seat by the fire, several books splayed out before her.

The fifth years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their overturned examination papers. Harry felt exhausted. He just wanted this to be over so that he could go and sleep. Then tomorrow, he and Ron were going to go down to the Quidditch pitch - he was going to have a fly on Ron's broom and savor their freedom from studying.

"Turn over your papers," Professor Marchbanks said from the front of the hall, flicking over the giant hourglass. "You may begin."

Harry stared intensely at the first question, he racked his brain for the answer, trying his best to remember the countless goblin wars he'd learned about from Professor Binns.

Eventually, he scribbled down an answer, though Harry rather felt like he'd missed a few important points.

In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?

Merlin, who'd know the answer to that? Most of the class was spent sleeping for a good majority of the student body.

He looked ahead for a question he could definitely answer and his eyes alighted upon number ten.

Describe the circumstances that led to the Formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.

I know this, Harry thought, though his brain felt torpid and slack. He'd been reading about this from Hermione's notes hours before...

He began to write, looking up now and again to check the large hourglass on the desk beside Professor Marchbanks. Harry glanced all around him, but tried not to make it too obvious lest someone accused him of cheating.

Goyle, who was to Harry's left, was simply staring at his paper, mouth slightly ajar.

Hermione was writing away furiously from his right, and he noticed Tracey doing the same a few desks diagonally away. An odd pang in his gut materialized, but he shook his head to snap out of it.

All around Harry quills were scratching on parchment like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot on the back of his head. What was it that Bonaccord had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein? Harry had a feeling it had something to do with trolls...

Think, he told himself, his face in his hands, while all around him quills scratched out never-ending answers and the sand trickled through the hourglass at the front. But it was useless, he'd never been great at studying, and he never payed any attention in History of Magic.

He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last. The black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors. Straight across the stone floor and through the second door. Patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, he had to hurry.

He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others. Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres. His heart was beating very fast now, he was going to get there this time. When he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows.

But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving upon the floor like a wounded animal. Harry's stomach contracted with fear - with excitement.

A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness, "Take it for me. Lift it down, now. I cannot touch it, but you can..."

The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long fingered white hand clutching a wand rise on the end of his own arm heard the high, cold voice say, "Crucio!"

The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless.

"Lord Voldemort is waiting..."

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance.

"You'll have to kill me," Sirius whispered.

A man in a leather jacket rushed towards Voldemort, and Harry recognized him as Johnny. His face was badly bruised, his jacket torn. Voldemort sent him flying into a shelf with a lazy flick of his wand. The shelf buckled, but did not give, and Johnny laid there unmoving, a trickle of blood rolling down his face from his head.

"Undoubtedly I shall in the end," the cold voice said. "But you will fetch it for me first, Black. You think you have felt pain thus far? Think again. We have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream."

But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his wand again, somebody yelled and fell sideways off a hot desk onto the cold stone floor. Harry hit the ground and awoke, still yelling, his scar on fire, as the Great Hall erupted all around him.