Chapter 2 : The Order's Last Stand
I do not own Harry Potter
Author's Notes:
Next time, it's all out war between Harry and Dumbledore! It'll also be the last chapter before we go back in time. I'm planning 3rd or 4th year, but eager to hear your thoughts since I haven't written that far yet.
Pairing is still undecided. I'm leaving it up to you guys. So far, there seems to be a draw between Fleur and Daphne.
Enjoy!
"Afternoon, Professor" Harry greeted politely, as if he'd spotted her in the school corridors
"Potter" she replied anxiously, wand aimed at the other's chest
"What's wrong Professor? Am I unnerving you?"
"Reducto!"
A light blue jet of energy emerged from McGonagall's wand, thudding against her former student's non-verbally cast shield...If she was going to die, it was going to be with her head held high - she was going to fight.
"Not in a mood to talk? I'm afraid I insist!" he taunted, firing a magenta beam from his own wand.
Minerva ducked right and replied with a cutting hex, aimed directly at Harry's head. In response, the now 'Chancellor' simply moved his neck to a side, the spell harmlessly moving past him, and chopping a tree a few feet behind.
"Haven't you heard about climate change?"
"Confringo!"
Thud!
The spell crashed against a shield again
"Pultare Saxum!" a barrage of sharp, small stones conjured out of thin air hurled themselves towards the 'traitor'.
However, they froze mid-air.
"Stones?! Pathetic!" mocked Harry "This is what a real attack looks like! Gladdi Saltare!"
Each of the stones rapidly transformed into sword-blades, then each acquired some sort of enhancement- some became aflame, some crackled as if charged with electricity, some became green and oozed of vapour, as if highly poisonous, some started dripping with a black, viscous fluid... Each then switched its directions, and flung themselves towards their original caster.
"Protega Maxima!"
A deep blue, wide-area shield materialised around McGonagall, as the witch braced for impact
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Minerva was pushed back slightly as the projectiles made impact. She strained herself to hold the shield.
However, not keen on inviting another attack, she repositioned herself, cut-off the shield and ducked out of the way of the incoming attacks, with an agility unexpected of someone her age.
"Fulmen!"
Bolts of lightning charged towards the Transfiguration master, who in response pointed her wand to the ground and chanted "Aggerario!", the earthing spell.
The spell made contact with a wicked crackling, however, Minerva was unharmed, dirt being insulated after all...
"Vapulanido" a Bludgeoner-hex made way towards the Head Gryffindor, only to be met with another shield.
This time the shield broke on impact and McGongall received a blunt blow on her left arm, and was knocked down. However, she rolled over and was back on her feet, firing a bone-crusher in response, desperately trying to ignore what seemed to be a dislocated shoulder.
Harry notched up his speed. Rapidly casting curse after curse, Minerva was restricted to ducking, dodging and shielding. Credit to her though, spell after spell came and went by, but she was not hit again. Until...
"Ossis Fragmen!"
A bone-breaker landed on her calf, and she fell over, in considerable pain.
"Ossis Fragmen!"
Another bone breaker struck her on her other calf, effectively rendering her immobile.
"Expelliarmus!"
Minerva was now wandless, her weapon sailing across into Harry's waiting arms.
"After all this time, I still end a battle with a disarmer... and you say I've lost my way" he remarked with a hollow laugh
Making his way over to the highlander, he knelt down next to her. "...It doesn't have to be this way" he said with remorse
"Right. All I need to do is turn my back on everything I fought for...just like you" she muttered through the pain
"Still think I'm the bad guy? Still think I'm some sycophant who enjoys killing? Think I'm just another Voldemort?"
"No, I don't. I know so"
Harry sighed "I did what had to be done. If I didn't step up, we'd have obliterated one another"
"Oh, we avoided that, did we? And talking about needing to be done - does that involve subjecting children to work in factories, surveilling every movement your 'people' make, or to let murderers walk over the innocent as they please too?"
Unexpectedly, Harry seemed contrite. "I can't let things go back to the way they were... it'll have all been for nothing otherwise. Things will change, I swear on it. A day will come when our world has balance enough not to need someone like me. I know I've trampled every possible liberty... and I'll be the first to admit, it hasn't turned out like I expected, but I can't turn back now..."
"And we're supposed to wait till you think the time is right to end your reign of terror, is it?"
"...Yes"
McGonagall let out a bitter laugh "No... You're not just Voldemort, you're even worse... You actually believe the garbage that comes out of your mouth... Savior? Hero? You're nothing more than a brute" damned Minerva.
Harry closed his eyes, straining as if trying to ignore the impact the words just had on him "Then you never knew me-"
"Spare me the justification... go ahead, finish it"
McGonagall closed her eyes, part bracing, and part fearful of the final blow. However, it never came. Instead, Harry pressed the central gemstone of her bracelet with her opposite thumb, releasing the Order's secret communication network. McGonagall eyed him in horror. How did he know about this? And more importantly, what was he going to do with it?
Daphne was surrounded. One moment she was hustling over to McGonagall, the next she was surrounded by the IIA. Realizing any over smartness was going to get her killed, she dropped her wand and raised her hands.
"Surprised?" came a voice from behind her
Daphne turned around to see - Lucius Malfoy, Director of the Imperial Intelligence Agency.
"Lucius, I see you've lured us into a trap"
"Clever girl" he complimented, the condescension and arrogance not having waned by an inch. "Lord Chancellor knew you might show up here. The rest is of course, my craft" he finished with a smirk.
"Restrain her, and follow" Malfoy ordered, pacing ahead.
"How do you live without honor, Malfoy?" spat Daphne "Serving one master after another... how do you look at yourself?"
"In fine linen and an embarrassment of riches" Lucius responded "I was originally meant to spend my life in some dingy old cell out in the North Sea... but I showed my worth... showed just why I was as valuable as I seemed. And here I stand - serving a new master, with all the comforts of my old life and more"
"You really think he trusts you?'
"Of course not. He's not foolish enough to trust me, but I'm not foolish enough to try and double-cross him either" Malfoy admitted "...Enough chitchat, you will follow"
"All this effort...for a fake" declared Harry, tossing the supposed ancient artefact to a side.
McGonagall had passed out - or, more accurately, he'd had to knock her out because she was struggling too much.
A short interval later, he was joined by Malfoy - Daphne in captivity.
"My Lord."
"Excellent, Lucius."
Greengrass gave a scoff "A bad nosejob, a buzz cut and presto - you've brought Voldemort back"
"Daphne" he greeted, his eyes landing on a pair of tight-looking shackles "...don't cuff her"
"And this changes what exactly" she said bitterly, as one of the goons released her from Dimeritium (magic restraining) shackles. "What's your plan, Potter" she asked frigidly
If Harry was hurt by the cold treatment, he didn't show it. He simply answered "To see how highly your leader values you"
Crack!
Dumbledore, followed by Bill Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Aberforth Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley landed in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by scattered IIA guards, Lucius Malfoy and Harry Potter, who was eyeing Dumbledore
"Took you long enough"
"What can I say? Have a habit of being fashionably late"
"Witty as ever"
"So what will it be, Harry? More meaningless fighting?" questioned Dumbledore
"To the point then" shrugged the former student "...Where are your headquarters?"
"That all? How about we surrender our wands too?" interjected Tonks
"I'm assuming Professor McGonagall and Miss Greengrass are bargaining chip?" cut in the Headmaster
"Bingo. But not just them" Harry replied with a hard look, before snapping his fingers. Just then, four guards, carrying a person each came to the forefront. They were holding Neville Longbottom, Astoria Greengrass, Tracey Davis and Severus Snape captive.
"Missing someone?"
"You bastard!" yelled Daphne, looking at the bruised and battered form of her sister
"Who's the rat" asked Bill
"Bill?" his father looked at him questioningly
"Oh come on! He's got the last two teams that went out, caught Daphne perfectly, even knew how to use our protean-bracelets - he's got an informant!"
"He's right" acknowledged Harry "You have a leak, Dumbledore"
All of a sudden, several guards began to transform, shedding their mundane uniforms and unassuming looks. Tonks said what was on everyone's mind -
"Polyjuice"
"Precisely" voiced Lucius with a smile, as several of the New Government's top lieutenants became recognizable. This was all an elaborate ambush.
"I'll ask you again, where's the hideout" Harry posed to Albus again, agitation creeping into his hitherto composed voice
Upon the latter's silence, he looked over to Tracey
"What?" asked the Slytherin alumnus
"I'm sorry"
"Wha-"
A shrapnel impaled her in the back, the light leaving her eyes before her body hit the ground. Tracey Davis was dead.
"Traceyyyy!" cried out Daphne, tearing up at the loss of her oldest friend, as the rest of the Order looked over to their once ally for this cold-blooded murder in despair.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Once he calmed himself, he turned back to his old mentor "As you can see-"
"-you are prepared to fall to any level. Very well, I will co-operate" conceded Dumbledore, over hysterical objections from his fellow members.
"Fawkes!" he yelled out, before releasing a ferocious discharge from his wand he'd secretly drawn. The light was so bright that it blinded all within the clearing. Then, flames materialized as Fawkes the Phoenix appeared - but not over Dumbledore.
Instead, the fabled creature appeared a few feet away from the action, before disappearing just as quickly. However, as Harry managed to catch a glimpse, the bird took Sirius Black in tow with it.
Before he could act however, in the same instant, Dumbledore flung this unknown spell towards him. Realizing the potency, he cast his strongest shield, and even then, he had to strain himself to contain it.
Meanwhile, while the light show was proceeding, Daphne kicked Malfoy in the unspeakables, before rushing over to the rest of her rebels. The rest caught on, firing three bludgeoners towards the remaining hostages, who were watched by actual ordinary IIA Operatives, who newsflash - weren't the most capable wizards. Snape, Neville and Astoria ducked just in time to avoid the blow, as their captors were knocked to the ground. In the same instant, Bill and Tonks put up area-wide shields around the three, while the rest shielded those in the center, as well as put up conjurations just in case someone fired an Unforgivable. Harry had prohibited usage of Unforgivables - to create some sort of semblance of a legitimate Welfare State, however, that didn't stop old reflexes to emerge in some part of his armada.
One volley of spells later, the Order had regrouped at the center, flanked by the Empire. They stood back to back, covering every possible angle.
Harry stood still, directly facing Dumbledore. So this is what had taken him so long, he'd been quietly messing with the wards. He didn't even need to try to know, he was now stuck in Dumbledore's wards. There was only one way out now...
"One last time, dear friends! We have to hold them as long as possible! Then, life or death, we've won regardless!" roared Dumbledore, rallying his troops
And in a flash, another volley of spells rained down, and pandemonium ensued.
Knock Knock
"Who's there?" answered Andromeda Tonks
"It's Sirius, open up, there's no time to waste!" he replied hastily
"Sirius?!... Alright then, which relative accidentally became your first kiss?"
"Great Aunt Phyllis on my 7th birthday! Now hurry!"
Sirius all but pounced inside as soon as he could fit through the door. He rushed up the stairs, towards the second floor, where their workstation was.
"Wait, Sirius!" shouted Andi, rushing behind him
He yanked open the third door, finding Hermione Granger frantically working on their time-travel apparatus
"Please tell me you have it" the brown-haired girl pleaded
"I do" he assured, joining her on setting up the runes.
And that's a wrap!
Thanks for reading, I'll see you all next time.