Chapter 8

"Attacking a guest of Britain?" Dumbledore asked arching an eyebrow.

"It was the best thing I could think of on short notice," Fudge blustered.

"We'll have to come up with better charges," Dumbledore said.

"You're sure you want to send a dementor after him?" Fudge said.

"It is the only way to make sure he is gone for good."

Dumbledore leaned back in the chair behind his desk, sucking on a lemon drop furiously. 'The only question is can Azkaban hold him long enough to do what we need to?"

"I've had all the Unspeakables working on the wards for months. They should be strong enough. We've added enochian wards, demonic wards, and wards against the fae for good measure. Although the fae have been extinct for centuries."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. His head came up sharply and he stared at the door. "She's here."

The door burst open and Lily stalked in. Her eyes glowed like two orange candle flames. "Let my son go," she snarled.

"He attacked a citizen of a foreign country," Fudge said stiffly. We cannot allow this to become an international incident."

"He still hasn't awoken after what Harry did to him," Dumbledore said calmly.

"I can bring him out of it," Lilith said. "I will also talk to Harry just let him go."

Fudge shook his head. "See here Mrs. Potter, the boy attacked a judge in the Triwizard tournament. If Karkaroff isn't awoken, we have no idea what the consequences could be. It could cost the participants their magic.'

"That's crap and you know it," Lilith snapped. "You simply get a judge to replace the one that has become incapacitated."

"The answer is still no Mrs. Potter," Fudge said coldly. He stared into her eyes. "The boy is an abomination."

Lilith stepped towards him. The orange glow in her eyes spread to encompass her entire body. "Don't tempt me Minister," she said, "Or I'll rip the soul out of your body."

Fudge smirked. Reaching into the neck of his robes, he drew out a brass amulet etched with various sigils of power. "It took a long time to find something to ward me from such as you."

Lilith nodded at the amulet. "I thought all of those had been destroyed. It is only protection against life absorption or magical harm. I could still tear your body limb from limb with my bare hands."

Dumbledore stood, drawing his wand. "If you try, I will be forced to intervene."

"I already took that wand from you once Albus, don't make me do it again."

Red flames flickered at the end of Dumbledore's wand. "Not even you can survive a blast of Fiendfyre.'

Lilith tilted her head, staring at Dumbledore like a bird staring at a mouse. "Have you truly mastered that particular curse? One laps of concentration could burn this entire school to ash. Are you really willing to risk killing your students just to destroy me?"

"I don't think it would take much to end you," Dumbledore said. "I know your secret."

"What secret?" Lilith asked arching an eyebrow.

"That you only have a fraction of the power you once had. It would take time for you to pull the rest of your essence into this world. At your current level of power, you may break Harry out of Azkaban, but would you be able to escape afterword?"

Lilith smiled. "How do you know what you think you know is the truth? How do you even know fiendfyre would kill me?"

"Are you willing to endanger every child in this school to find out?" Dumbledore asked. The flames at the tip of his wand whipped back and forth as if blown by an invisible wind.

"This isn't over,' Lilith said.

"I'm sure it's not," Dumbledore said.

Lilith turned and strode from the office.

**HPS**

Lilith met up with Sirius in their quarters at Samaritan's rest.

"What are we going to do?" Sirius asked.

Lilith sank on to the sofa. "I'll have to bring the rest of myself here."

"Can you do that?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, but I need time. I'll be very vulnerable while I do this."

Sirius turned to face the door, arcane energies spitting and crackling around his fingers. "I'll protect you. How long will you need?"

"Twenty-four hours," Lilith said.

"Alright," Sirius said. "I'll by you that time."

"Thank you," Lilith said lying back on the sofa. Her body was suddenly surrounded in a cocoon of shadows. The shadows closed over her, hiding her from view.

Sirius looked at the cocoon for several moments. "Don't worry Harry," he said. "We'll be with you soon.'

**HPS**

Harry looked around his stone cell. The four walls were bare of anything. A bucket sat in one corner and a pile of blankets were piled in the other. He could hear howls and screams of pain and madness in the distance.

The cold of the cell sank into his bones. His temples throbbed with pain. He stood and strode to the window and stared through the iron bars. The grey ocean waters crashed against the rocky shore. "This place is depressing," he muttered.

He turned to look back at the walls, searching for the entrance he'd came in by, but saw nothing. He tried to reach out with his mind, but pain exploded in his head, driving him to his knees.

He struggled to his feet, swaying drunkenly. He fell back against the wall, panting harshly. The cell must be warded against the use of magic. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep warm.

As he exhaled, his breath steamed on the air. The moisture dripping down the wall froze into a thin layer of ice. He heard a rattling breath outside his cell. He took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the wall directly in front of him.

The wall vanished, revealing a tall figure standing in front of him. It had to duck its head to enter the cell. As it moved, it didn't appear to walk, but glided forward smoothly as if propelled by invisible wings. A long black cloak covered him entirely. A rotten scabbed hand emerged from the folds of the cloak. The hand reached for Harry, the fingers twitching like the legs of a giant spider.

"Dementor," Harry murmured. He new about these creatures from Sirius. These… things guarded Azkaban, drawing all warmth and happiness from their victims. Occasionally, the ministry would give them permission to eat the souls of the convicted.

Harry had asked his mother about them, but she knew nothing of them. She said they must have come from some other reality, but she didn't know what reality would've produced such fowl beasts.

"What do you want?" Harry asked the dementor. "Come to make me remember the worst things of my life?"

The dementor took a long rattling breath. AN icy chill filled the cell. Ice formed on Harry's eyelashes. He could feel every muscle stiffening from the cold. Distantly, he could here voices from deep in his mind.

"Wouldn't it be better if we stayed married for Harry?"

With an effort, Harry shoved the voices out of his mind, reinforcing his mental shields bit by bit. "Is that the best you've got," he growled.

The dementor took another step forward, drawing another rattling breath. Harry raised one hand, fire flickering in his palm. He made as if to throw the fire, but it flickered out before it even left his hand.

The dementor raised its scabbed hands and pushed back the hood of its cloak. Harry stared in disgust as the dementor's face was revealed.

The creature had no eyes, simply two holes covered in pale white skin. It had no nose or mouth, just an open hole where they should be. The hole closed, leaving the face a blank expanse of skin except for the indentations where the eyes should be. The hole opened with a soft sucking sound. It worked, writhing and twitching unnaturally. It spoke. Its voice was a low rasp.

"Wards,' it whispered. "Wards to protect us from your power. Hundreds of unspeakable combined their power to create a ward that suppresses your power. You may find a way to destroy it, but not before I eat your soul."

Harry snorted. "Like I'll let you do that."

"You don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice."

**HPS**

Dumbledore's head came up and he stared off into space. "It's time," A grim smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. Soon Harry will be gone forever."

**HPS**

Harry leapt backward, avoiding the dementors grasp. His magic didn't seem to work if it left his body, but what if it was still connected to him. Raising his right hand, he concentrated. A sword of solid light formed in his hand. The blade was at least two feet long. He swept the blade through the air, leaving shimmering trails of rainbow light behind it.

The dementor paused, staring at him in surprise. "Your Mother was the Mother of monsters," it rasped. "How can you summon a weapon of light."

"Why do people think light is always good and darkness is always evil. Light is a natural phenomenon, no more and no less."

"It doesn't matter," the dementor rasped. "How long can you maintain your toy. It won't help you.'

"We shall see," Harry hissed.

The dementor lunged forward, his scabbed rotting hands reaching for Harry's face. Harry brought the sword up, and slashed at the dementors extended hand. The blade of light opened long cuts in the rotten palms and fingers.

The dementor howled, jerking its hands back and cradling them against its chest. Wisps of sulfuric black smoke rose from the cuts, filling the cell with the smell of brimstone.

"You will pay for that," the dementor snarled. Forcing its hands down, it strode forward, the lower parts of its face opening. Harry stared into the black hole that served the dementor's as a mouth.

There were no teeth, no tongue, nothing to indicate that he was looking at a mouth. It was just a hole in the center of what passed for the dementors face.

"You seriously need plastic surgery," he murmured. He thrust his sword of light towards the dementors face, but the creature jerked its head back, avoiding the blow.

The dementor surged forward, grabbing Harry by the shoulders. Instinctively, Harry drove the blade of light into the dementors stomach. It let out a horrible choking sound, and tried to pull away. Harry pressed forward, twisting the blade viciously.

The dementor howled, more smoke pouring from its wound. Jerking his blade back, Harry swung his sword at where the dementors neck should be. It sliced through the robes and the flesh beneath as if they weren't there. The dementor fell backwards, its head rolling away from its body.

Black flames exploded from the dementors body, reducing the creature to ash in seconds. Orbs of light rose from the ashes, floating on the air like giant fireflies. Harry stared at the orbs, watching in fascination as they took on human shape. Several men and women stood facing him. They nodded to him before slowly fading away.

Harry turned towards the door, seeing another hooded figure standing in the entrance to his cell. Lowering its hood, it revealed the same blank face as the previous dementor. The lower part of it's face unhinged as it spoke.

"You have killed one of our brethren," it whispered. "We shall make you suffer.

"Brag it," Harry snarked. The sword of light in his hand blazed up brighter than before. "Let's dance."

The dementor lunged. Harry's sword flashed out, slicing the dementor neatly in two. The halves of the dementor fell to the floor, still twitching. They decayed rapidly, until nothing but dust remained.

As he looked up, Harry froze as he saw dozens of the creatures in the doorway to his cell. "Crap," he said succinctly. "This cannot be good.

The group of dementors charged, their rotting hands reaching for him. Bracing his feet, Harry began swinging his sword.

**HPS**

"What do we do Albus?" Fudge said hesitantly. He's already killed two of them and I didn't think that was possible."

"Neither did I," Dumbledore said, "but he is his Mother's son."

"But what if he kills all of them?" Fudge said ringing his hands.

"He won't," Dumbledore said. "Not even he is strong enough to kill dozens of dementors." He paused as he picked up another lemon drop. "And if he does, he'll be so exhausted the remaining dementors will be able to take him out easily."

**HPS**

Harry swung his sword of light and missed the dementor. Scabby hands seized his shoulders, pulling him to the ground.

Harry grunted, struggling to free himself as more icy hands gripped his legs. He looked up and saw a dementors gaping maw hovering over his face. He felt the icy mouth clamp over his.

It was as if his body was being filled up with ice water. All his strength drained out of him as if a plug had been pulled.

The screams could be heard all through Azkaban. Fire exploded in Harry's cell hiding everything from view.