Supernova

A/N: This story is a slight departure from my other stories in the "The Magic's in the Music" series, in that the song in question wasn't released until a number of years after the scene I'm inserting it into. That said, this one didn't just grab the muse, it kidnapped her, chained her to the wall, and refused to let go until I finished this story to its satisfaction. I hope I've done so, I'd like to be able to work on other things now. If I come up with a different song that was released before year 3 and it strikes the muse, I may write an alternate story.

A/N #2: The italics are taken verbatim from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, pp384-385 and then p.410 and p.411 (Scholastic Edition).

And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter. . . . He felt himself fall forward onto the grass. . . . Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry opened his eyes. The dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him. . . . The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away. . . .

Something was driving the dementors back. . . . It was circling around him and Black and Hermione. . . . They were leaving. . . . The air was warm again. . . .

And then the brightness intensified, slowly at first before increasing faster and faster, forcing Harry to look away before he was blinded. And it was a good thing he did, because shortly after doing so he saw and felt it flash brighter than ever, seemingly visible through the back of his head. When that happened, a warmth surged through him, burning away the last of the Dementor's chill and making him feel exactly the opposite; rather than feeling like he would never be warm again, he felt almost as though nothing could cause him to be cold again. Unfortunately for him, feeling safe and warm wasn't enough to overcome the exhaustion he felt, and he passed out.


Harry stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. He could hear yelping in the distance. That meant the dementors were closing in on Sirius. . . . He and Hermione would be running to him any moment. . . .

/* The Echoing Green "Supernova" Supernova (2000) */

And then, a realization hit him like a blinding flash. In retrospect, he would even say he saw one in the back of his mind, as the song came to him unbidden. As the opening synth began to play in his head, the hairs stood up on the back of his neck and he looked towards the lake. Somewhere on the opposite side was Sirius, and himself, soon to be attacked by soul-sucking demons.

/* 0:31 */

And then the Dementors began to appear out of the darkness, individually at first and then in larger and larger groups. They came from all directions, converging on the opposite side of the lake, drawn by Sirius but willing to feed on any soul they found. The energy of the song was rising, and within him he felt a a fiery glow that he'd never felt before, yet was strangely familiar. With a flash of realization, Harry sucked in his breath as he remembered nearly losing his soul, then shook his head. No. No, he repeated to himself. No, it didn't happen last time. And it sure as hell wasn't going to happen this time either. Not on his watch.

/* 1:17 */

He began to move towards the lake, still too far away to be affected by their chill yet knowing somehow he wouldn't feel it; the opposite in fact – the more Dementors arrived, the warmer he felt inside. As the heat inside him grew, he moved faster to reach the shore in time. Approaching the edge of the lake, he saw the flashes of silver caused by his prior failed attempts at a Patronus, and then they were gone and he knew what he had to do. Focusing on the warmth of the song as the chorus rose, he lifted his wand and screamed,

/* 1:48 */

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. He screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake. He saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming dementors. As it closed on them the glow brightened, mirroring the glow that was now coming from Harry's eyes had there been anyone there to see it. The light intensified, slowly at first and then faster and faster, as his Patronus galloped around the Dementors. But strangely, instead of dispersing them, it herded them as a group back over the lake as it forced them away from where he knew he had nearly lost his soul.

Once it had pushed them away from their quarry, the Patronus began to circle them, herding them into a tighter and tighter group as the glow intensified, despite the Dementor's desperate attempts to escape. "Not this time," Harry repeated to himself. Then, as his Patronus grew even brighter in response to his thoughts, he resolved, "Not ever again."

/* 2:57 */

As the song crescendoed into the second chorus the glow in his eyes reached blinding intensity and he concentrated on the warm feelings he had felt when he was on the receiving end of his Patronus, feeling the power surge even more. The Dementors were nearly on top of each other at this point, the Patronus circling them tightly before suddenly turning and diving into their midst. There was a blinding flash and he felt the warmth all the way on the other side of the lake, only this time he was neither exhausted nor overwhelmed by it; instead he reveled in it, knowing that he and his godfather were alive, and that no matter what happened with Fudge and Snape in the infirmary, everything would be OK.

For a moment all he could see was a fuzzy whiteness, and he blinked his eyes to try and clear it. As the blinding light faded he could feel the power of the song dissipating, rightly assuming that the threat was no more. When blindness faded, he saw something he didn't expect.

/* 3:50 */

Hovering in front of him were hundreds, maybe even a thousand small balls of light, each glowing with the intensity of a miniature sun. But before he could contemplate them, he heard Hermione gasp behind him.

"Harry! What…" she asked, unable to properly form the words.

/* 4:05 */

It was then that he saw that there were also bits of black cloth floating down over the lake, and he realized what he was seeing. This was the last remains of the Dementors, and these were the souls they had consumed. It was at that realization that the orbs began heading towards him, first one at a time and then more and more until they were all coming at him as one. As the song drove through the final chorus they began to fly through him, each one passing on a feeling of gratitude and warmth before flying up into the sky.

Turning to the sky he watched as the souls moved into a distinct pattern, unrecognizable at first before resolving into the shape of a Phoenix. The Phoenix flapped its wings; once, twice, and a third time, before giving a silent cry and bursting like a firework. As the song wound down, the souls began to twinkle, falling towards the ground before before finally fading away.

/* End */

It was only after they had fully faded that Harry turned to face Hermione, his eyes no longer glowing. Holding up a hand to forestall her questions, he said, "I'll explain it to you later, let's go rescue Sirius."

"How?" she asked, then groaned as Harry approached Buckbeak and bowed. The Hippogriff bowed back deeply, as though honored to carry him, before Harry vaulted up onto its back and held out a hand.

"Don't worry, Hermione, between Buckbeak and I, I think we could outfly a Dragon right now."

She took his hand and let him pull her up, barely getting settled before Harry had the majestic animal take off. Leaning into him for support, she replied, "Don't tempt fate, Harry!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Harry laughed. "You know what, Hermione? Right now I don't even care. I just destroyed the Dementors, what's a little Dragon?"

"Harry!" she shouted, but anything else was lost as he urged Buckbeak faster towards the castle. Nothing could shatter the feelings of warmth and happiness he was feeling right now, especially since Sirius was alive and soon would be safe.