Wow! Almost 500 reviews…! I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. Thank you so much, guys.
I decided to keep the story in this section instead of jumping to the x-overs section.
Hope you enjoy this update!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
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Chapter 22: Merry Christmas! Pt.2
The world shifted in a flash of fire, and I shifted from being upright to falling on my ass, clutching my face in pain. I should have expected something like that to happen as soon as I got here.
"My, that looked quite painful." Dumbledore commented, waving his wand, conjuring a shield around us.
"Should've figured I'd get hit by random bits of debris as soon as we got here." I said, finally letting go of my face. It would've hurt much less if I ready for it, but there was no point in crying about it any longer. "My mistake."
"That is quite all right, Harry." Dumbledore was warily looking around, likely analyzing our surroundings as I recovered from the blow.
I got to my feet, and did the same. Strangely enough, we were not right in the middle of the action, which made it even stranger for that errant rock to have hit me. In fact, there was no possible way I could've been hit by anything at this distance. What the hell happened?
Flashes of multicolored lights appeared all over Azkaban's rocky terrain, signifying the presence of battle. The prison could be seen overhead, an enormous looming building which gave off incredible feelings of sorrow and despair; as if it was made for this kind of thing.
The fact that it was raining quite heavily only added to the horrid atmosphere. This is where Sirius stayed for 13 years? My heart clenched trying to even fathom such an existence.
Dumbledore lowered his wand. The shield surrounding us fell away, the cold chill of the air hitting me, making me feel quite uncomfortable.
"What a nice place." I dryly commented, fixing my eyes upon the fighting. There really were hundreds of them, marching towards the prison's entrance. At least, the Order had the advantage of higher ground, as well as even surfaces from which they can easily cast spells. However, no spells were coming out of the entrance. Had they completely shut themselves in, hoping to wait for reinforcements?
It seemed most of Voldemort's recruits were having trouble going uphill on such treacherous rocky, wet terrain. I supposed it made. Azkaban not only kept prisoners in, it kept intruders out. The place was built like a fortress. I supposed that holing themselves in and waiting for help was not that bad of an idea. It would give them time to assess their losses and recover, if needed.
However, even with such advantages, it would only be a matter of time until they lost.
"Indeed." Dumbledore said noncommittally. "It seems the enemy is not yet aware of our presence."
"Wait." I said suddenly. No deathly chill in the air—aside from the regular feeling of cold that was simply the natural weather of this place—, no feelings of despair. "Where are the Dementors?"
"I was wondering when you would notice." Dumbledore said, and pointed to the right. I followed the path, and stared.
"What're they doing all the way over there?" I blurted out, wiping the rainwater off my face in vain. In the distance, over the sea, the Dementors were packed tight together, swirling around in an inky mass of blackness. And above them, floated Voldemort.
I blinked. He was definitely floating.
He could fly?
"Shit." I swore and reflexively reached for my scar, wondering why it wasn't burning with pain… Only to remember it was no longer there.
Dumbledore eyed me for a moment. "I do not believe he is aware of our presence, either."
"That's a relief." I said, feeling a bit hesitant. "Though, whatever he's doing, it can't be good. And the floating… I want to do that."
"Agreed, but we have the matter of the hundreds of recruits to— ahem— deal with." Dumbledore said in an attempt to keep me focused on the situation at hand.
I needed to make objectives, and reach those objectives without distracting myself. Multitasking would get me killed in these situations.
I just have to keep moving forward, one step at a time.
"What's the plan, then?" I asked, feeling completely out of my element. "Realistically speaking, we are both quite powerful in our own right; but not so much that we can take on hundreds of wizards and live to tell about it. Not to mention Voldemort is still back there and might intervene."
"Agreed. We cannot simply beat them with brute force, or even skill." Dumbledore said ruefully.
"So subterfuge, traps, the like?" I asked, an idea forming in my head. Dumbledore nodded.
I drew my wand out. Well, since the only other Parselmouth here is busy screwing around with Dementors…
"Serpensortia! Serpensortia! Serpensortia! Serpensortia! The hell are you staring at, old man? Start conjuring! Serpensortia! Serpensortia!" I barked out at the surprised wizard. That seemed to jolt him back into action, and he began conjuring snakes for me, as well.
"The idea has merits. Since he is not currently here…" Dumbledore said as he began to silently conjured snakes by the dozen. His magical skill was indeed quite impressive.
"Well he has an army, why shouldn't we?" I grinned, and grimaced while I wiped at my face once again. The amount of rainwater here was ridiculous.
After about half a minute of this, we both stood in front of at least a hundred and fifty— likely agitated due to the cold weather— snakes.
§Fuck am I doing here?§ One snake hissed out irritably. I couldn't make any of them out, most of them being dark skinned, easily camouflaged by the terrain.
§Where are we?§ One of them hissed out.
§Why is it so cold?§ Another was shivering madly.
§Who… Am I?§ Okay, then. Didn't even know conjured snakes had senses of identity.
§I think those guys created us.§
§Mommy?§ This was getting downright strange.
§The fuck? Does that thing even remotely look like you? Don't call him mommy! He's male!§ But luckily some snakes were smarter than others.
§Hey! DON'T TALK ABOUT MOMMY LIKE THAT! I'll kill you!§ While some snakes were simply ruthless!
§I'd like to see you try, pipsqueak!§ The snakes began to snicker. How did they accomplish that? No idea.
§Okay, that's enough!§ I yelled out at the huge army of snakes, feeling both amused and irritated at the situation. §You all have a job to do.§
§A job, you say?§
§What's this 'job' thing you speak of, creator-man-child?§ One of them hissed curiously at me.
§Why should we do anything you say?§
§Because I created you?§ I said, not really sure how to answer that.
§Yeah… Fuck you, human. I was enjoying a nice lie in the sun, and you just bring me here!§ Balthazar would have liked this one's attitude.
§But… I thought I just created you? How could you have any memories of what you were doing before?§ I answered back logically.
§That's beside the point! Just because you created me doesn't mean I wasn't doing anything before that.§ Looks like my answer seemed to enrage it.
§That doesn't make any sense!§
§It makes perfect sens—§
§You're stupid, I don't want to talk to you.§ I decided, before quickly addressing the majority of the snakes. §Basically, I need your help to restrain or kill about two hundred people.§
§Interesting.§ One of the bigger snakes made itself known, likely the leader of this pseudo-army. §And why should we help you, then?§
§Because… Well, I hadn't actually thought that through, to be honest.§ I admitted with a shrug. §I just assumed you would be ready to strike at our enemies while they weren't paying attention.§
§It is not an entirely unreasonable assumption.§ The leader mused curiously before looking right at me. §And since you are providing us with a source of warmth, and a meal...§
§So does that mean you'll help?§ I hissed hopefully. The snake gave me a long, considering look, before nodding in compliance.
§It shall be done. We await your signal.§
Awesome! Looks like we were in business. I turned to Dumbledore, who looked a little curious at the exchange.
"Don't ask." I started before he could say anything. "I had to convince them to help us."
"Strange." Dumbledore observed.
"You can say that again." I muttered and wiped the water off my face yet again. Did I mention this place sucks?
"Strange." Dumbledore repeated.
"...Did you dig through the many layers of dust to find that sense of humor, you old fossil?" I retorted without any heat in my voice. A grin was pulling at my lips. It was pretty funny. I needed that.
"Indeed." The old man deadpanned, before he became serious. "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." I sighed and shook off the tiredness I felt. "We've got allies that need some back up. Let's go."
The snakes parted for us as we made our way forward.
§Let's go!§ I hissed out, the sound of it threatening and cold. §Your lunch is ahead of us!§
The snakes darted forward, slithering in the direction of Azkaban's entrance at great speeds.
I glanced at Dumbledore.
"I'm going ahead." I declared, feeling a little confident. "I wasted too much time trying to convince the snakes to help us out. I can rush in from behind Voldemort's recruits and cause mayhem and confusion among their ranks."
"That is acceptable, Harry." Dumbledore nodded, slowing down his pace a tad. "Now, go."
I gave a nod, and reached into one of my many backpockets. I fished out a vial filled with a thick, turquoise liquid.
"This much should be good for ten minutes, according to Snape's information." I muttered to myself, popped the vial open and drank up. The taste was dreadful, like eating rubber, but I forced it down.
The Strengthening Solution did its work, as I began to feel energy rush into my cells. I felt invigorated, like I had the strength to compete against Giants— and win. I clenched my hands shut a few times, making sure I could adjust how much power was put into the motion.
It was a good thing that I possessed the foresight to test this potion on myself multiple times in the past. With the increased strength and speed it granted me, I might have not been able to keep up with my own body's speed, which would result in tunnel vision, putting me at great risk. But seeing as I've already trained extensively with it, I shouldn't have any trouble.
I grinned, and channeled lightning into my body, supercharging my cells even further than before.
I gave Dumbledore one last look.
"Wish me luck."
I didn't wait for his response, and dashed forward, intent on causing as much damage as I possibly could. The sound of the constant rain slowly gave way to the sounds of fighting. The screams, roars, shouts of the combatants filled my ears, and it sparked a fire in me.
I felt the anticipation. The excitement. The odds were stacked against me, but this only made me even more excited. Too bad there was no music. I would've grabbed my mp3 for this, but that was just unwieldy. Just the fact that I supercharged my body with electricity would fry it beyond repair.
That's why I always made sure to keep my technology away from me when I was training. It would always short itself out. Even if it were possible for me to make it work, I wouldn't. You wouldn't go into a fight with one of your senses blocked, would you?
I remembered a particular scene from Blade Trinity, when Whistler's daughter— or was it granddaughter? The guy was old— put some earphones on because that's how she fought vampires. I had thought it was pretty cool, back then, but I scoff at it now.
I mean, think about it. First of all, the wire would always be in my way. While I'm fighting, my hands will move freely, with no regard to the dangling wire. Accidentally ripping them or cutting through them was a very likely outcome of those very movements. Even then, simply blocking my sense of hearing was cause for concern.
I could see them now; Voldemort's recruits. They were just standing there, lobbing spell after spell, trying to take down Azkaban's defenses so they could gain entry to the edifice to kill the Order members, and then release their imprisoned allies. Unfortunately for them, this place looked like it was built to withstand such things. It wouldn't last, of course, but it didn't need to.
I was going to end them.
"Take it down, already!" One of them shouted out in heavily accented English.
"Pipe down, would you? Let the Curse Breakers handle this." Someone else yelled out.
"Pipe down!?" The guy repeated, offended. "Say that again, and I might just come there and gut you."
"I would like to see you tr—" But the Death Eater's voice was replaced with a strangled cry, as he fell to the floor. He tried to move, but found that he couldn't. He looked down to see a sizeable python constricting the life out of him. Seeing as his clothes were already soaked with rainwater, no one got to see the stain of urine that would've appeared on his pants.
Similarly, many others were ambushed in the exact same manner, leaving them helpless to the mercies of the attacking force of snakes.
"That should even the odds a little." I grinned as I saw Death Eater after Death Eater fall over themselves. Most of them were slowly strangled to death by the offending snakes. Some of them, however, were unlucky enough to get bitten by the venomous ones Dumbledore and I had summoned.
Those particular affected Death Eaters began to shoot spells wildly and quite randomly, hitting their comrades with Killing Curses and the like. This caused further discord between the ranks, making my job even easier.
All in all, this was going much better than I expected.
There was still about a hundred of them, but I could work with that. One hundred is a much smaller number than three hundred. The poisonous snakes were very useful in that sense, since they could bite an enemy, move away with great speed, and then bite at another enemy. They would repeat this process until they drained all their venom, or they were killed.
I leaped over and maneuvered my way past the fallen bodies slowly being eaten by the constrictors, and began to unleash hell upon the rest of them.
I reached the first one, and channeled my energy into my hand.
"Edge!"
My hand didn't easily tear through his abdomen like I had expected. Even with my enhanced strength and speed, it took a moment for it to overpower the man's resistance and dig into his body. It felt easier to dig through his body, than to dig into it.
It wasn't as easy as killing Voldemort's Horcrux. Most likely, the Death Eater had been wearing protective armor. Dragonhide, perhaps? No.. It felt too flimsy. Perhaps enchanted leather?
All of these thoughts went through my head in the time it took me to kill this man. I shook off the immediate feeling of revulsion and self loathing, and pulled my arm out of my target's chest with a loud squelch. How strange. I felt disgusted at myself, and yet... I was immensely enjoying it? What was wrong with me?
I shook my head. This was not the time to be weak willed. I had a job to do.
I rushed the next one, and did the exact same thing as before. This one was easier to kill. The next one was just as easy, and the next…
My mind fell into a red haze of blood and gore as I tore through enemy after enemy.
"He's tearing through us like a bunch of flobberworms!"
"Kill him! Incendio!" I avoided the flash of fire like one would avoid an attacking snail, before smashing a Breakdown Fist into the man's head, crushing his skull with ease.
"Shit! Shit! GET HIM ALREADY!"
I heard all those voices yell out in desperation and anger, but the noise didn't really register to me. I just kept on killing and killing and killing. I dodged spells as easily as I breathed. My vision was filled with an enormous range of multicolored lights, which I avoided at all costs.
"Avada Kedavra!" I saw it coming from a mile away, and ducked underneath it. It slammed into one of their allies, who had somehow escaped from the grasp of one of the constrictors, killing him immediately.
"Os Ruptor!" I sidestepped a dark blue jet of light, letting it harmlessly pass me by.
"Crucio!" One of them yelled out. There was no time to avoid it. I felt the curse slam into me, and felt… Nothing?
"I got him! I—" His cries of sickening joy turned into a short gurgle of surprise and pain as my lightning drill passed through his throat, and then his spinal chord right afterward, killing him instantly. I felt the blood stain my face, but it barely registered in my brain.
The Cruciatus didn't hurt me? Why?
"Did you see that?!" One of them yelled out.
"He took a Crucio and didn't even look like he was feeling it!"
"Can we even get this guy?"
"I don't know..."
"Don't lose hope, my fellows!" One of the Death Eaters stepped up. "He is but one man, and we are a hundred!"
Maybe around seventy-five, at this point of time; but who's keeping track?
The Death Eaters seemed to regain their senses, and began to fight back with fervor. Every time I got close to one of them, the ground would explode from underneath me, grazing me slightly. They stopped every attempt I made at killing one of them. They were getting faster, more organized.
Not good.
I created some distance between us, trying to figure out what my next move would be. Obviously, fighting up close was no longer an effective method. They had adapted to it rather quickly. What would I do now…?
Two slabs of rock jutted out of the ground suddenly, breaking my thought pattern. I looked to see two of them waving their wands at the rocks which held me in place. I struggled against my earthen bonds, slowly breaking them.
"I can't hold him!" One of them yelled out.
"Me either! If you're going to do anything, do it now!"
I felt my strength wavering. The Strengthening Solution was losing its hold.
"Let's see you live through this! Avada Kedavra!" The curse was joined by another few dozen Killing Curses, all about to converge into their target; me.
Was this the end?
I felt a wave of concussive force blast into me, breaking the rocks which held me down, and dropping me to the floor. Killing Curse after Killing Curse sailed harmlessly over my head. I stared stupidly at each and every one, wondering how I wasn't dead.
That was a close one. A very, very, very close one.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Dumbledore's voice shocked me out of my stupor, bringing me back to reality. The man was standing over me, a look of concern in his eyes.
"I… I—" I struggled to find the words.
The Death Eaters, on the other hand…
"It's Dumbledore!"
"Dumbledore is here!?"
"Call for our Lord!"
"No!" The same Death Eater that had encouraged the men before, spoke again. "We have already shown we can beat the first unknown wizard. There is no reason to call our Lord here. We can handle this."
"B-but..." One of the new recruits said weakly, as Dumbledore helped me up.
"Do you doubt our Lord?!" The pep-talking Death Eater retorted in a threatening tone of voice. "Our great Lord believes in us. He believes we can carry out this task while he accomplishes something much more important! We must follow his will!"
That seemed to kill whatever gripe any of the opposition had. I was hoping they would just give up and make my life easier. No such luck, of course.
The Death Eaters seemed to be readying themselves. They had already countered my close combat attacks. So, that left my Lightning Dragon's Roar, but it was too unwieldy in this situation. That left the use of my wand, and my long ranged lightning bolts. They didn't pack as much power as the Edge or even the Breakdown Fist, but there seemed to be no other choice, at this point.
"Lend me your ear." Dumbledore said quickly, sidestepping a jet-blue Bone Breaker.
"What do you have in mind?" I said as we began to dodge spell-fire, and return fire with our own.
"Use your roaring spell." Dumbledore simply said.
"You sure? I don't—"
"Just do as I say. There is no time to explain." Dumbledore said with a little irritation seeping into his urgent voice. He waved his wand and caused the ground in front of us to form a thick, earthen wall, which would buy us a few seconds at best. Just enough time for me to use my Lightning Dragon's Roar.
"This will drain me dry. Make it count." I said after a moment of hesitation, before repeating the process of collecting the energy necessary to unleash my strongest breath attack. Lightning circled around my body, converging into my mouth and seeping into my lungs.
The protective wall began to fall apart as more and more spells smashed into it with great force, eventually breaking it into many pieces, revealing the sizable remnants of the Death Eater army in front of us. They laughed uproariously, believing that victory was at hand.
I don't know what Dumbledore's plan was, but I would trust in his power.
I gave him a nod, and released my attack.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" And roar I did. The sheer wave of energy released from my body caused the very ground to shake. The powerful Lightning Dragonslayer spell exploded outwards, destroying everything in its wide path. Though, even with this brilliant attack, I would probably only kill a third of them...
I noticed Dumbledore on the edge of my vision, waving his wand, his face adopting a look of intense concentration. I gave a mental shrug, continuing to pour more and more energy out.
That's when I began to notice it. The rainwater! All the rainwater converged into a gigantic mass of water that enveloped the army of Death Eaters, which my Roar connected with. With vigor, I poured more and more energy into my blast, the water conducting the electricity into every single enemy trapped within the prison of water.
That's the beauty of lightning, it can be directed wherever you want it!
I continued in this fashion for a few more seconds, before cutting off the flow of energy, feeling very light headed.
There was nothing. No more shouting by the Death Eaters. No more Killing Curses, Bone Breakers, Cruciatus… The enemies in the gigantic dome of water were un-moving. Dead in their watery grave.
Dumbledore released his spell and helped to gently steady my body. Almost suddenly, the rain began to fall down on us. When had it stopped? Oh, right. Dumbledore was channeling the rain into his attack...
What was wrong with me?
I couldn't concentrate. Even standing felt really hard to accomplish, right now.
"Steady there, my boy." He said soothingly.
"I feel— I.. I can't conc— focus. I..." I forced each word out, unable to speak coherently.
"I understand." He said, waving his wand. It sparked with the bluish white light of an electrical spark. "Here. Eat up."
I nodded weakly, and began to feed on the energy. I felt the lightning slightly recharge my body, before the flow was cut off, causing me to look at Dumbledore in confusion. He looked extremely tired.
I shook my head, not feeling light-headed anymore, but still feeling incredibly weak. "I'm sorry, Albus."
"It is quite all right, Harry." The old man assured me. I did not look convinced in the least, but nodded anyway.
"Come." Dumbledore continued, heedless of his own injuries. How had I not noticed them before? There were a few deep cuts and some scrapes which bled freely in the old man's robes. I handed him some Essence of Dittany and a Blood-Replenishing Potion; then, I cast a shield above us, which granted us a momentary reprieve from the endless rain.
I couldn't wait to leave this place.
Dumbledore gave a nod of thanks, before taking the time to heal whatever wounds he could find. Then, he popped open the cork of the Blood-Replenishing Potion, and downed it one gulp, his face grimacing at the awful taste.
I dropped the shield, and we trudged back to the spot where Fawkes dropped us off, ignoring our summoned snakes feasting on the corpses of dead Death Eaters. I looked around, not really understanding what I was seeing.
The Dementors were gone, and so was Voldemort.
What had happened? Where did they go? Wasn't Voldemort here to break out his followers from prison?
The only answer I received was the endless pitter-patter of the rain around us.
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Harry won! Or... Did he, really?