Bane 26
For this chapter, Harry is deep within his Firefox persona. The egg spell was created by Kethry in "Swordbreakers." See the end of this chapter for more.
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
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Chapter 26
Firefox stood on his balcony surveying the Pitch, watching the late afternoon, early winter sun glinting off the impressive shielding that protects the stands. Winky had out-done herself in preparing his attire for this battle.
His long white hair had been plaited into a long braid that ran down his back. Clear crystals and white ribbons had been worked into the braid. He was wearing long silvery Tayledras-style robes with full sleeves. Again, silvery beads and crystals were embroidered into the fabric. The exotic robe was impractical for this type of duel, but Firefox was going for show, as he was taught by his flamboyant father â Firesong.
Firefox had spent the last half-hour pulling on the ley-line that ran under the Pitch. He had set those shields within shields around the Pitch. He added a lock to the shields around the stands to keep everyone within the stands. That should keep the most inquisitive from joining him and getting in the way.
People started arriving to take their place a few minutes ago, as per his instructions. He had lied to them when he had said an hour before dusk and hoped everyone would be in place before Riddle and his miscreants arrived.
Many of those that came raised their eyebrows at his choice of fighting robes. Several of the women commented on how elegant it was, compared to that of the headmaster's.
Firefox noted the headmaster's bright robes with its clashing colors and moving sun, moon and stars as the old wizard made his way to his seat and shook his head.
That old wizard still did not believe in anything Firefox has said or done, and Firefox was convinced that the older wizard would try to interfere with this duel. Thankfully, he couldn't, as the young mage saw to keeping everyone behind those impressive magical shields.
Although the Unspeakables had promised to keep an eye on the headmaster for him, Firefox hoped it would be enough. Albus Dumbledore never was one to take a back seat to anyone; hopefully, this duel would convince him it was time to retire.
Checking the sky as the sun was still about the tall tree line of the Forbidden Forest, it was an hour before dusk. Firefox sighed.
Riddle should be here any time. Although he had said at dusk, which was about an hour away, Riddle would arrive early, that was a given.
It was almost show time.
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In what could have once been considered an elegant ballroom for an upper echelon family of the British nobility, a tall emaciated man stood in front of a large group of people wearing black robes and white masks. He was clutching a very wadded up parchment.
"How dare he! I am no coward! I am the mossst powerful wizard in the world and I SSSSHALL ssshow thisss upstart how powerful I am! Luciusss, my ssslippery friend, you will come along. The ressst of you will follow, but remain unssseen on the Pitch. I need you when I call for you. Place yourself around the Pitch to do the mossst damage."
A low growl reverberated off the ruined ballroom walls.
"Go. Wait for me outside the wards of Hogwarts. We shall march in unsssseen."
A roar of rage erupted before sounds of loud claps of thunder rang throughout the tainted ballroom, as the dark lord and his followers left.
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Firefox stood in the middle of the Pitch, alone, waiting. The sun was just touching the tree line and the shadows lengthened, creeping across the Pitch.
Thankfully, Keiryn and Salazaar were waiting in the Gryffindor Locker Room. They would stay out of the way, unless the shielding fell. Both knew that Firefox trained for this moment, and if he could take on two demons from the Abyss, he really didn't need their help.
The faint sounds of apparating could be heard in the distances.
Firefox smirked, villains can be so predictable.
Winky popped beside him, taking the outer robe from Firefox. Under the robe he wore would be called Heraldic whites, except for the exotic silver beading and green trim that decorated it. A herald he was not but for a magical duel . . .
The most vile dark lord with his masked second strolled confidently into the Pitch with his invisible Death Eaters trailing behind him.
"Potter!? Are you prepared to die?"
Firefox smiled as he raised his arms, raising the shimmering walls of light. Voldemort took a step backwards as the shield walls surrounded him and his second.
"POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Firefox wanted to smirk, wanted to make snide remarks but his fathers would tan his hide if he did. Duels are not something to joke around with.
"I am fighting for my life and I will not allow you to destroy this world. We must all live in harmony with our world and magic. We don't give those without access to magic enough credit, as we do not educate them. Blood does not matter. Magic does."
Firefox stood regal as he called up his magic by pulling on the ley-line. Levin bolts snapped and sparked from his hands as he sent them towards his enemy.
Voldemort raised his wand and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
The levin bolts blasted through the sickly green spell, splitting it in half and forcing those halves into the shimmering shielding.
Outside the shield, Lucius Malfoy ripped off his mask and started firing spells upon spells to free his trapped lord. Soon, every Death Eater that came started firing at the dueling pair.
Firefox pulled more on the ley-line and shouted a word of power in Tayledras.
Suddenly, every Death Eater was surrounded in an egg-shaped, human-size, dome of energy, including Riddle and Lucius Malfoy.
It worked just as a famous white sorceress once created it to be. It was mostly used as a teaching tool to help break young training mages of bad habits. The mage spell encased the wayward student in a mirror-like egg-shell. Any spell fired within would reflect bounce around until it hit the student, who couldn't truly duck.
The sorceress tweaked the physical spell to over-throw a tyrant once. Of course, Firefox learned the spell in one of his history lessons as the white sorceress had been an ally to the many clans, and the ancestress to the Weapons Mistress of Valdemar.
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To set the spell against Riddle and his thugs, Firefox had cornered the Potions master in his own office a few days before he had issued the challenge.
"So all I have to do is let you study my mark and you'll remove it?" Severus Snape snarled at Firefox. "No one can remove it. Get out!"
Firefox sighed and with a wave of his hand, the snarky professor was immobilized. "Well, I tried the easy way, now the hard way." He ripped the man's sleeve off and began to poke and prod the dark mark, all the while as the professor loudly threatened and cursed at him.
When he was finished, Firefox looked seriously at the man. "Are quite through? I have what I need. Also, I can still remove it. It isn't that hard. Riddle thought he was very clever, but in the end, he made one fatal flaw. He didn't anchor it properly."
Severus Snape glared at the teen, not asking the obvious question.
Firefox traced a line with his finger. "This line is tied from your magic core to his. It's what is keeping him alive and powerful, but the mistake is, if you have enough power or access to a better magical power source, you can call back your magic. If I break it, just about here, it'll break his hold on your magic. Now then, do you want to be free of him or not?"
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Firefox smirked as he had set the spell and used the dark mark as a trigger around the Pitch.
'Dark Lords can be so predictable,' he mused again.
:Quit day-dreaming and get on with it!': Sal's mind voice broke through his musings.
:Just going over what needs to be done.:
:Hmppf!:
Around him there were flashes of spell fire. Most used a severing Charm to break the dome. Several were flashes of a sickly green. Suddenly, those domes melted away as those inside it died from their own Killing Curse.
Shaking his head, Firefox turned his attention back to Riddle. The look of surprise and anger on his face.
"I know you can hear me. This isn't over with." Firefox gave a wave of his hand, causing the egg to rise off the ground. "Mr. Weasley,
Professor. Come with me."
The ritual needed to be finished. Dusk was starting to fall as Firefox started to walk out of the Pitch. Arthur Weasley and Severus Snape had been standing with Keiryn and Salazaar under Firefox's invisible cloak, safe and very well hidden.
As the men joined Firefox, the small crowd up in the stands started to follow. Many were stunned at how easy the Boy-who-Lived had taken out all those Death Eaters so effortlessly. Some questioned if all of the shielding spells and security had been necessary, after all.
Firefox knew he needed to finish the ritual on a sanctified ground for it to work. The only place he could find was the clearing where he had called on the Star-eyed the first time and where She had answered. It seemed fitting. He sent up a silent prayer, hoping this will be done.
Professor, you and Mr. Weasley stand at the north and south ends of the clearing," Firefox informed them, as he placed the magical, opaque egg dome in the middle of the glen.
Quickly, the young mage raised the extra shielding to keep the gathering spectators from interfering with the rest of the ritual.
In a loud clear voice, the young mage called out to them: "Everyone, think of all the wrong this so called Dark Lord has done to the Wizarding World. Those precious to you lost for all time. Think of the evil his followers have wreaked on the innocent lives."
Albus stepped forward to stop whatever was about to happen. He was now very convinced that Harry had turned Dark. The Ministry had outlawed rituals for a reason.
Rufus Scrimgeour wanted to have his aurors arrest this young and very powerful upstart, but so far he hadn't done anything yet. Although the ritual was a good place to begin, but he'd wait until the dark lord was taken care of. After all, it'd just be one more thing to add to the arrest warrant.
The shielding stopped everyone from entering the clearing and at Firefox's urging, they started to think of a world without Riddle and his Death Eaters in it.
Firefox raised his hand and spoke, "Oathbreaker, he stands judged; Oathbreaker to priest, Oathbreaker to mage, Oathbreaker to true man of his people. Oathbreaker, we found him; Oathbreaker in soul, Oathbreaker in thought, Oathbreaker in duty. Oathbreaker we brought him; Oathbreaker in thought, Oathbreaker in word, Oathbreaker in deed. Oathbreaker, he stands, judged, and condemned."
He brought down his hand and with a Word, released Riddle from his confinement.
Firefox spoke, "Let the Wall of Strength stand between this place and the world.
With each spoken word, a mist and light started to rise in a straight line between Severus and Firefox. Riddle, once freed, turned to fire a spell but the light and mist caught his attention. A translucent milky-white dome in appearance sprung up adding to the protection of those watching the ritual to those in the center of the clearing.
Firefox continued: "Let the Pillars of Wisdom stand between this world and the next and let the Gates of Judgment open."
Everyone that watched stepped backwards as people stepped through the light â young, old, familiar and strangers.
"Merlin!" one Unspeakable swore. "These are victims of Death Eater raids that didn't survived."
"But necromancy is illegal!" Rufus shouted.
"Hush, this isn't over," another Unspeakable chided. "This isn't played out. And for your information, this isn't necromancy."
Within the clearing, people started to ring the fallen dark lord. A young woman stepped out of the crowd, tears flowing her face. "My little Tommy, what have you done? I am sooooo sorry that I couldn't be there for you."
Tom Riddle stepped back from the figure of his mother, only to bumped someone else.
Turning, he stared into the eyes that once were the mirror of his. "I never knew you existed, son. I would've taken you in, had I known. Come it is time to go."
Suddenly, out of the mist and light the sound of a warhorse trumpeted, catching everyone's attention.
A large warhorse geared up for war trumpeted his entrance as a wind carried across the clearing smell of sun baked grass and hot summer days. On the horse sat a woman dressed in tight unrelenting black leathers. A glow of soft light shown around her and her black steed.
Her hair was braided into many dreadlocks that were held together by a sable cord. She had golden skin and sharp features. Her eyes were an endless pool of blackness and stars.
When she entered the dome, the people around Tom Riddle fell back as Firefox gave a bow of respect. "Greetings, My Lady. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. Here is the man once known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. Magic has deemed him unfit for your gifts."
She smiled as a sun-kissed wind swirled around her massive, impatient war-steed.
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A/N: Again with my rant. If you want canon, then why are you reading fanfiction?
That said, I would like to answer a couple of reviewers. Yes, I know that Snape, Arthur and Harry are wizards. However, Harry is the mage and priest. He had sworn an oath to the Star-eyed and worships Her.
For the ritual to work, Severus Snape needed to take the part of mage as he was powerful enough, according the JKR, just untrained. Plus, he had very strong reasons, according to canon, to go against the Dark Lord.
Arthur Weasley was the common man of good standing. He had been wrong by almost losing Ginny to a horcrux.
According to the ranking in M. Lackey's world, the Wizarding World would be considered Hedge Wizard World as they need a foci (a wand) to access their magic.
And as I said in the last chapter â I tweaked the oath breaker rite to fit the story. I needed three people to do the rite. Do the math.
Until next time. âGF