(Author's Note) You can stop preaching and whining about the previous chapter. I am well aware of the fact that the incident at MagiTech isn't going to go uninvestigated. I mean, I LITERALLY had Sirius comment on it in the chapter! I would think you guys would have a little faith in me by this point in the storyline.
Although, perhaps I should've expanded on some of Fenrir's reasoning and beliefs in the chapter. The way I envisioned Fenrir making these decisions is due to the differences in societies of the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds. The way I see the WW working is that a business (unless owned specifically by the Ministry) is always a private enterprise owned by a single individual or family line (i.e. Olivander's Wand Shop). There is no such thing as an 'employee owned' business. And when the owner(s) die, the business is essentially left in limbo until either the Ministry purchases it or some other individual. What Fenrir did was basically claim the business as a spoil of war, in WW society, by killing Sirius and naming himself the new owner. And while many of you could refute by saying that Fenrir must've spent time in the Muggle World, I disagree. If he is even half of the monster he is portrayed as in the Wizarding World (Werewolf curse aside), there is absolutely no way I could him being anywhere else but in a high-security prison cell. No, I think he stayed away from the Muggle World because he was raised in the Wizarding World, only going to the Muggle World to hunt or gain new pack members on occasion.
Alas, he doesn't have FUCKING CLUE how businesses are run in the Muggle World. He knows MagiTech does business with them, but nothing of how it is actually conducted, the legal loopholes, and insider trading that goes on behind the scenes. To put it bluntly, he's a half-educated English pirate trying to run a multi-billion dollar Japanese computer factory while being unable to speak or read Japanese. He is NOT going to have an easy time of it. Plus, all of the Muggle world governments are now watching and waiting for the slightest chance to seize MagiTech for themselves. And let's not forget the other MagiTech factories going up around the world. While the London branch may have fallen, who's to say THEY'LL acknowledge a murderer like Fenrir as the new CEO?
I hope that this answers some of your concerns.
The Lightsaber
#24: Grand Magic Finale, Part 1
By: Aminta Defender
Astronomy Tower
A tad earlier
Lights flashed outside the window and Draco grimaced. Behind him stood other students, curious enough to sneak out after curfew. He could hear Granger arguing with her little Weasley. Besides him stood Zabini, and together they observed the light show.
He scowled when students let out gasps of horror as giants descended into the forest.
"We've got do something!" a Hufflepuff shouted and Draco rolled his eyes.
"Like what? We can't take down giants. They can."
As if to prove his words, a flash of orange appeared next to the giant, and then it was gone. The students in the tower murmured and a Ravenclaw, who had grabbed a telescope, shouted out in surprise. "It blew up! It blew up!"
Turning away from the captivating scene, Draco leaned against the wall, "Yes, Potter and company do the impossible again. Hurray us."
Granger scowled at him and he winced as a stinger that struck him. "Perhaps you should remember what is at stake here."
"Yes..." Draco drawled. "Some poor giants are dying. What was the oaf's name? Hagrid or so? Should we send a sorry note? Those are his brethren dying out there."
A burst of heat appeared next to his abdomen and he looked down in surprise. A young first year glared at him, holding a modified lightsaber, resembling a dagger more than a saber. He quieted as he stared at the boy, the willingness to kill shining in the eyes.
"Death Eater scum," hissed the child, "Why even bother coming here? You must be rejoicing at the death of our comrades."
"Bruce!" shouted Granger. "Leave him alone."
The lightsaber dagger—lightdagger, perhaps?—turned off and Draco couldn't resist making another stab at the kid, "Yes, listen to the mudblood... Bruce... There's nothing you can do. I only signed up to annoy the toad."
It was a lie. There were many other reasons he had decided to join this little group of resistance. The word "mudblood" tasted bitter in his mouth, but he had still said it.
Granger, though, didn't know and her old fire, long buried by Umbridge's policies, resurfaced. The wand in her hand, not the one she had gotten from Ollivander, but another one acquired through more dubious means, pointed at him, small sparks flying off of it. Zabini backed away as Weasley appeared, clutching his own lightsaber.
When she shoved him out of the door and into a small abandoned classroom, he didn't protest. When the cutting curse flew past him, cutting his cheek and causing a pearly drop of blood to be released, he didn't react. Finally, the wand lowered and she moved in closer, her eyes still livid.
"What are you playing at Malfoy?"
Raising his hands, he shook his head, "Nothing, Granger, nothing."
The wand was pointed at his chest again, "Yes Malfoy, that's the problem. You're playing at nothing! I refuse to believe that over the past few months that nothing in your views has changed. When Voldemort banned lightsabers you kept yours. When Umbridge began to confiscate our wands, you kept your silence. You never helped her but you never helped us."
Draco sneered reflexively and crossed his arms, "So? Aren't you grateful for all I've done for you? This... study group... would have never lasted this long without me. So maybe Granger you shouldn't look a gift into the mouth."
"Oh yes, " Granger hissed the wand moving into his personal bubble, "We'd be nothing if it wasn't for you. Yet when others wanted to throw you to Umbridge so they could get some reprieve from her, nothing happened. You want to know why? Because I stopped them! All of us would be slaves to her if we were just as selfish."
Having enough, Draco pulled out his own wand and glared at her, "Then what are you complaining about? Perhaps I should teach you how to respect your betters. And to make one thing clear, if the toad hadn't received permission to use veritaserum to get the truth, I'd have turned you all in." Triumphantly, he hissed, "Stupefy!"
Surprise flashed across her face and she shouted, "Protego!" The red spell dissipated against the invisible barrier, "Petrificus Totalus!"
His limbs snapped together causing him to fall to the floor with a deep thud. Surprised eyes found her face, he hadn't expected her to be so fast. He was the sorcerer.
"Listen Malfoy," she began, "Your neutrality ends now. Right now Harry is beating up the Ministry and Voldemort is somewhere nearby probably watching. It's gonna be a bloodbath. It wouldn't surprise me if Umbridge called on us and forced us to march to battle. There's no neutrality here, this affects everyone."
Draco tried to scowl but his mouth refused to move. He couldn't believe that she had him at his mercy. Annoyed at himself, he tried to access his powers and do something he had seen Weasley practicing: to move objects without touching them.
The wand pointed at his temple, "You're either with us or against us, there's no other way. It may not have been declared so officially, but this is war. And in war enemies are taken care of. There's no time to be nice. Where do you stand Malfoy?"
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Forbidden Forest, Lycan-Centaur Camp
April 9, 1996
Ten minutes earlier…
"We've lost," Harry said with solemn certainty.
Bane, Hendrick, Tanja, Magorian, and Dudley all glanced up at him. Though they didn't want to admit it, they agreed with the young Sorcerer. They all knew how powerful a Sorcerer was and they also knew that they were now heavily outnumbered.
"I can't believe that the Ministry would do this," Dudley said quietly, frowning deeply as he tried to work the pieces together. Looking back at Harry, he said, "You said that this Minister of Magic was an idiot, right?" At Harry's nod, Dudley's raised his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "If he's as stupid as you've said, then how did he think to create Sorcerers to fight against you? You've always said that Sorcerers are the boogeymen of the Wizarding World and that it's very illegal. Surely he'd know that he couldn't keep this a secret forever. What's his reasoning?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted as he stood up. "But we don't time for this discussion. The Wizards are on the move again, with the Sorcerers. We're not equipped or trained to fight against Sorcerers. We'd lose quite decisively and they'd burn the village without a second thought."
"What've you got in mind, Potter?" Magorian asked frowning, not liking what the boy was saying.
"You must leave the forest," Harry said bluntly. "Load up in the Warlock. Go with the Lycans. Find a new place to live, far away from here."
"No!" Magorian barked angrily. "These woods have been our home for centuries! They are all that is left of our once-grand territory! To abandon them is to abandon our traditions, our magics, our way of life, our very identity!" Although he was looking at Harry, it was clear that his words were aimed at Bane and his thoughtful expression at Harry's suggestion.
"We don't have time for this discussion," Harry reiterated, starting to turn around and walk. "I'll go stall the Wizards. Stay or flee, the choice is yours but I'll buy you some time."
"Potter," Tanja said softly, her voice momentarily stopping Harry as he glanced at her. "What you've done for us, we may never be able to repay. Spread the hope you've given us. Thank you for all that you've done." A slight flush of embarrassment crossed Harry's face at Tanja' words. But he quickly nodded to her before turning and quickly marching away.
"Bane, we can't leave!" Magorian declared, loudly and angrily, attracting the attentions of nearby Centaurs and Lycans. "Where would we go?! The Wizards and Humans rule this planet and control its lands with an iron grip! No matter where we go, we would be hunted down! We must make our stand here and fight!" Many nearby Centaurs raised their voices in agreement with Magorian and his passionate argument.
"No, you must leave," Dudley said, climbing up onto a nearby cargo container so that he stood level with Magorian. "Leave these god-awful woods to rot in the hands of the Wizards! Let them think they have won the day! Let them believe you've turned tail and fled! Let them waste time and effort trying to find you again! You will have the last laugh!"
"You underestimate just how powerful and dangerous a Wizard hunting party can be, boy!" one of the Centaurs called out from the gathering crowd. "They always have and always will find us! Why do you think we've been trapped in these woods for so long?! They will find us if we run! They will bring us back here! And they'll exterminate or enslave us once again! We must fight here and now!"
Dudley was unmoved by that. Instead, he grinned. "The Wizards have always won the wars before today. They think their magic is unstoppable and unbeatable! Well, look at what we've done these past two days! We've fought them! We've killed them! We've pushed them back! When they brought in outside help to try and overpower us, we still triumphed against them! If not for these new Sorcerers, we'd have won!" Despite his rather heartening words, the reminder of the coming attack quickly dropped shoulders and hopes of victory.
Undeterred by the sudden drop of morale, Dudley continued, "The Wizards think they will win the day, like they always have. That they will once again beat down and cripple those who would fight against them for what they feel you don't deserve. But do not despair! Let them think they've won this battle! Years from now, your children and children's children will look back on this day and proudly say that we didn't give up! We didn't LET THEM WILL THEWAR! THEY WILL CHEER AND ROJOICE AND DECLARE THAT ON THIS DAY YOU LEFT BEHIND THIS FILTHY, DARKNESS INFESTED PRISON THAT THEY'D LOCKED YOU IN AND REDISCOVERED YOUR FREEDOM! LET YOUR CHILDREN FOREVER REMEMBER THIS DAY AS YOUR DAY OF LIBERTY!"
A deafening cheer roared up from the gathered Centaurs and Lycans alike, their spirits rejuvenated and now much more willing to leave the Forbidden Forest forever. Dudley's face was solemn as he looked over the cheering crowd. He wasn't sure where this speech had come from. He had only said what he'd felt needed to be said. He had only wanted to convince Magorian that Harry was right. That it was no longer safe in the Forbidden Forest and that the smartest choice would be to leave. He hadn't intended to make a big spectacle out of it. He hadn't even known that he could sway the Centaurs with just a few words like that. Maybe he should consider becoming a politician?
'Nah, not enough excitement in that,' Dudley decided after only a split second consideration. Below him, Bane and Tanja began bellowing orders, getting the Centaurs and voluntary Lycans to rush back to the village to grab any essentials. Jumping down from the container, Dudley returned to where he'd set his blaster. Checking its charge, he nodded in satisfaction before starting to count how many extra clips of ammo he still had. Five clips were still in his satchel, good, that meant he had easily 250 shots.
"You're going to help your cousin, aren't you?" a familiar voice asked as a large presence approached him from the side. Dudley gave Bane a firm nod as he slung his blaster rifle over his shoulder before reaching in to grab a few grenades.
"You are a good person, Dursley," Bane said, earning Dudley's attention again. "I want you know that, no matter what happens, you've been a champion and friend to the Centaurs. To every child born after this day, the name 'Dursley' will mean 'hero'."
Dudley flushed, feeling uncomfortable and pleased at the same time. "I did what I thought was right."
"Indeed," Bane acknowledged. Gesturing off to the side where Hogwarts was, he said, "Now, go out there and give them hell."
Hogwarts Grounds
He was surrounded by Aurors, Hitwizards, and even a couple of Unspeakables. He could recognize them based on the different colored robes they all wore. The Aurors wore their usual maroon and red, most of them were torn, muddied, and bloody at this point. The Hitwizards deep navy robes weren't much better in terms of condition. Though the grey robed Unspeakables were among some of the better ones who weren't as torn up, mostly because they were researchers and not fighters. In fact, he counted less than a dozen of them in amongst the wall of 200 maroon and navy robes.
But it was the column of cream-colored cloaks that drew and held his attention. Harry couldn't see any of their faces and expressions because of the blank masks they wore, but he didn't need to. He could feel what they were feeling. He could feel their mounting aggression. He could sense their growing impatience and eagerness, the awe and joy of feeling so much raw magic coursing through their bodies. He could pick out their over-inflated sense of self-worth and purpose and duty. But nowhere in any of that jumbled bag of emotions did he detect any remorse, reluctance to fight, or even compassion.
As he was discarding his old school robe that he'd been wearing over his armor, Harry called out to the new Sorcerers before him, "Who are you? Who do you represent?"
"Does it really matter, Potter?!" one of the Aurors to his left called out, his emotions every bit as obvious on his face as they were in his voice and presence. "We work for the Ministry and we're here to restore order!"
"You're here to enslave and exterminate a race of beings who had simply been trying to protect what little of their home they still have left," Harry corrected sternly, his gaze not leaving the silent group ahead of him.
"We're not the bad guys here, Potter!" another Auror yelled. "Just come quietly! There's been enough bloodshed already!"
"We can agree on that, at least," Harry said, even as he unclipped his lightsaber and drew out his wand. "But we all know that there's still one last fight left." Igniting and pointing his lightsaber towards the cream cloaks, he said, "And I know for a fact that none of them would accept a surrender. Not without removing my head from my body. Isn't that right, whoever you all are?"
Rather than answer verbally, the masked Sorcerers started moving, spreading out to further encircle Harry. Harry waited patiently for them to get into position. It would put him at a disadvantage if they started trying to overwhelm him with their numbers, but it was still a small amount of time that he hoped the alliance would be using to escape. Glancing around at the inner circle around him, Harry hefted up his lightsaber into a high defensive stance with one hand while his other held his wand off to the side with its tip already glowing brightly with magic. Closing his eyes, Harry reached out into the currents of turbulent magic around him, sensing, searching, waiting. With experience earned from long hours of meditating on the crystal ball, Harry allowed his conscious self to swept aside, to embrace the magic around him. He felt it as it came to him, giving him a unique 360-degree image of his surroundings, fully aware of everything. He used that new viewpoint and the emotional sensations of his aggressive opponents to predict and know what was coming.
Suddenly, he swept his lightsaber down and to the side, deflecting a curse skyward. At the same time, a transparent shield sprang out of his wand and absorbed a trio of more spells launched at him. Sensing the buildup of power and the rise of temperature behind him, Harry sprang up high in the air, somersaulting over a massive fireball that had been sent at his back. He landed lightly on his feet, watching briefly as the fireball was negated by one of the Sorcerers who'd been in front of it. Spinning around, he swung his lightsaber and deflected five more curses with ease, two of which he noted had been the Killing Curse. Raising his wand as he channeled his magic, Harry brought it down towards one side. Underneath the line of attackers, the ground suddenly turned molten and fiery, causing many of the surrounding Sorcerers and Wizards to scramble away as they fumbled for the counter-curse. Pointing two of fingers forwards from his lightsaber, Harry launched a strong telekinetic blast at another section of the rings around him. Though the Sorcerers were able to brace themselves against the attack, portions of the blast slipped through between them and sent several of the Wizards behind them flying.
'Danger!' his Sorcery screamed at him. Jumping up and backwards, he slid down low to the ground as a large beast passed through the space he'd formerly occupied. Looking up, he spotted a massive lion-type of golem similar to the one he'd fought with against Kingsley a while ago. 'Danger!' Rolling to the side, he dodged a large hooked appendage as it slammed mightily down to the ground where he'd been. Rising up to his knees, he slashed upwards with his saber and hacked off a fair portion of the large stinger of a scorpion-type of golem. Continuing his swing, Harry lashed out at it with a powerful blast of lightning, charring and incapacitating it. 'Danger!' The shaking ground around him was all the warning he needed. Leaping up, he watched as a pair of large arms and hands clapped together in an attempt to have squashed him between them. Landing lightly upon the still-clasped hands, he bounced off them and came to a stop in front of the three summoned golems, glancing over his shoulder at the gorilla-type. Standing up straight and confidently, Harry smirked as he switched off his lightsaber and pocketed his wand back in its holster on his waist.
"I see you've done your research," Harry said loudly, speaking to all of the masked attackers. "Golems are troublesome to deal with, but not unbeatable. And I've spent a lot of time practicing since the last time. You'll have to do better than this."
It seemed his words had provoked several of the Sorcerers. Through unspoken agreement, the three golem controllers had their beasts momentarily cease their attack. In the following calm, Harry watched and waited as five of the Sorcerers in front of him approached. They reached into their robes and extracted some ornately colored rods, each gleaming golden or silver or some other precious metal. Then, suddenly, numerous blades of bright and deadly red sprang to life. The sight actually caused Harry to flinch back in surprise, eyes wide as he stared in disbelief. But he quickly recovered, eyes narrowing in contemplation and anger.
"I see you've found my lightsaber designs," he growled out, more furious at himself for leaving them behind to be found than at the Sorcerers for actually using them.
But despite his anger, he couldn't help but stare in contemplation at the different designs that were on display in front of him. Indeed, aside from the red blades that seemed to radiate with the same darkness as their owners, no two of them was alike. The first reminded Harry of a broadsword, with two smaller extensions at the base of the blade. The second's blade wasn't rigged and straight, but hung out of the emitter shroud like a whip. The third was actually a lightpike, though the blade was admittedly longer than the half-blades the Centaurs preferred to use. The fourth's handle was at least double the usual length and had a blade sprouting out of either end of the hilt, forming a staff-type of weapon. And the last weapon was definitely the most bizarre and interesting, a double-bladed weapon that had the two emitters mounted on a ring-like structure that was sending the blades spinning at high speeds. A quick glance at each of the Sorcerers told what he feared. They all had lightsabers.
"Let's see how good those new designs are," Harry offered, holding up his lightsaber in a defensive stance.
As seemed to be the case, none of the lightsaber wielders said anything. Instead, two of them leapt forward in tremendously powerful jumps that no non-Sorcerer could've achieved. Bringing his lightsaber up, Harry parried the stabbing crossguard saber to the side, incidentally also interrupting the spinning blades of the ringed-saberstaff and causing the attacker to stumble back. The crossguard came up from that low position in a swing for Harry's legs. Having sensed and anticipated that strike, Harry somersaulted away and was forced to dodge again as the gorilla raised its arms for a strike. Growling slightly in annoyance, Harry reached out and grabbed the gorilla's closest arm. With just a flex of his magic, he launched it into the gorilla's arm, searching for fault lines and the veins of magic that held it together. Within just a split second, the light exploded from those fault lines and veins throughout the entire creature's body. The eruption of light and Harry's intruding magic caused the rock to crumble and collapse, the gorilla disintegrating before him.
Harry grinned in triumph, he'd been yearning to exercise that particular technique he'd learned from the crystal ball for some time. But his elation was short-lived as he was forced to spin around and hold up his lightsaber defensively. Through an exercise of the user's will, the lightwhip that his blade intercepted suddenly coiled tightly around his blade and held on tightly, preventing him from moving it. Frowning, Harry tried pulling it free but he saw crossguard and lightpike on the attack. Hitting his saber's button, he switched it off, catching the whip-user by surprise as the weapon suddenly went slack and fell limply to the ground. He thrust his arms out to the sides and blasted the crossguard and pike away. Switching his saber back on, he caught the attacking saberstaff in one hand while jabbing his free hand to side and launching lightning from his fingertips at the spinning saberstaff. As freaky and dangerous as those spinning blades were, they weren't meant to catch an attack like lightning due to their rotating nature. The lightning easily slipped past the spinning blades and struck the user, only momentarily but it was still enough to send the person to the ground in electric agony.
Rotating his saber to catch the rising second blade of the saberstaff, Harry kicked out suddenly and caught the user in the stomach, knocking them back and away. Once that attacker was safely away, the whip-user launched his weapon forward. With his magic boosting his speed tremendously, Harry ducked under the snapping whip and launched himself forward in a slide, his blade little more than a rising blur of blue. There was an audible metallic clipping sound as his blade sliced through the emitter shroud just above the fingers of the Sorcerer, catching the person by surprise who stared down at the precisely severed hilt with all but obvious awe. Not wasting the opportunity, Harry drew out his wand and launched a Stunner practically pointblank into the Sorcerer, sending them spinning up and backwards into the wall of Aurors beyond.
A loud roar alerted Harry to the onrushing lion golem. Turning he held out his hand and caught the lion in his grip, picking it up, and throwing it as far away as he could. It would eventually come to land and disintegrate in the Black Lake behind Hogwarts off in the distance. Sensing danger again, he spun around and held up his lightsaber, catching the swinging blades of the crossguard and saberstaff and pushing against them in a blade lock.
Grunting and heaving for breath as he fought against the combined strengths of both opponents, Harry glared up at their masked faces. He knew that he was in trouble. It was taking all he had just to keep up with these guys! If they were trying to win through a war of attrition, they were definitely on the right track. He knew that in a battle of pure magical might, even as heavily outnumbered as he was, he could probably still win. But when he had to also fight against lightsaber-wielding enemies at the same time? He was going to lose, most assuredly.
By: Aminta Defender
Within Hogwarts
When the ministry revealed their latest card, gasps went throughout the room. He hardly heard them though as he too of running, his feet pounding against the stone floor. Somewhere an Umbridge enforcer yelled and a spell came to his lips. The student who had dared to betray Hogwarts fell down to the ground in a dead faint.
"At it lass!" Shouted the portrait next to him and he spared a glance at the strange knight, "Don't dally, you silly boy! A quest you have and complete it you must."
He took off running again, but he could have sworn that the portrait murmured, "Just like Myrddin," whoever the hell that was. It didn't matter though as he neared the window of the second floor. Time was of the essence. Magic coiled around him and stirred like a dragon rising from its long slumber. Whatever was happening though was pushed out of his mind as he approached the window. Focus on the present. His best mate needed him.
He jumped.
A few spells shot through the empty air that he had once occupied. The traitors were too late to stop him. Soon they'd pay for their crimes.
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Shrieking Shack
It was silent in the shack. Too silent. If one were to have been inside it at that time, they'd have felt like they'd been dowsed in a freezing cold rain, so terribly cold that it burned. Their survival instincts would've been screaming at them to flee as fast and far as they could possibly go. They would've felt like there was a terrible, frothing beast inside and it was just seconds away from pouncing and squeezing the life out of their bodies. Indeed, that was the aura that had descended so heavily upon the Shrieking Shack. The aura was so oppressively powerful that it was even felt in the nearby village of Hogsmeade, adding further credence to the rumor of being haunted, and causing many people nearby fearful of even glancing up at the building.
From their kneeling positions, all of the gathered Dark Wizards were glaring in silent rage at the images they were seeing in the window they'd created. Each of them were as furious as the next, though some of them were hiding it better than others. Voldemort was one of them, although the ominous glow of his red eyes were more than enough to expose his own wrath.
He knew what he was seeing. Those glowing blades that sprouted from metallic hilts could only be one thing. He had instructed, quite clearly, that those weapons were to never be used or created again. And yet, here was not only the original weapon but many, many more of them! He could not let this stand! He would not let these abominations remain! Clearly, he would have to personally handle the situation himself since no one else seemed to understand the overwhelming importance of his decree.
Just as he was about to rise to his feet, he paused. If he were to go out there now, he'd expose himself to the Ministry as a whole and the Minister himself. That was something he really didn't want to do just yet. The Ministry had been making things so easy for him these past few months, allowing him to rebuild much of his old power base. If possible, he wanted to extend that for as long as he could to better and further undermine the Ministry from within. Not only that, but the remains of the entire Auror Corps were out there on the field. As powerful and skilled as he was, even he hesitated to face more than 200 Wizards of notable caliber like that. But then again, they were much more focused on detaining and capturing the Potter boy, who was busy fighting for his life. To compound matters, there was the new police force out there that he hadn't even known about beforehand. While the magic they used wasn't anything new or exceptional beyond the common Auror-level spells and curses, the fact that they could keep up Potter was both interesting and foreboding.
'But if I don't strike now, I may never again get the chance to destroy all of those weapons at the same time,' Voldemort rationalized. It was a very tempting desire and an extremely conflicting moment of indecision for the Dark Lord. He carefully contemplated the pros and cons of each action and inaction, how they could affect his plans for the future, who had the most gain for either choice, and most importantly how he could turn this to his advantage.
But as he was glared down at the image, he saw something that he hadn't before. Harry Potter was panting. The fight was tiring him out. How often could that happen to a Sorcerer? And as much as he wanted to remain hidden, Voldemort suddenly found himself a golden opportunity. Killing the boy would be so much easier when he was tired and unable to fight at his best. And he wanted to kill the boy, personally. To finish what he'd started all those years ago. And if he had to expose himself to the Wizarding World as a whole to do so…all the better! The thought of having them watch his triumphant return while simultaneously watching their best hope of defeating him get executed in the same instant? Ooooh, the thought was giving him goosebumps of eagerness!
Standing abruptly to his feet, the ritual of maintaining the window was shattered by his movement. As the magic faded and the window vanished from existence, along with the large basin it had been in, Voldemort gazed around his circle of followers. Raising his hand towards Bellatrix, who was the closest to him, he grasped her forearm and pressed his wand to her Dark Mark, sending a surge of magic into it and activating the summoning for his followers. He released her a moment later as a series of pops and cracks filled the air around them. He did a quick count and saw that almost a hundred new arrivals had answered his call, filling up the Shrieking Shack to almost past its capacity. Most of them were young new recruits who'd joined since his rebirth or 'redeemed' old members. Nearly all of them were worthless individually, but together they would make for good cannon-fodder against the Aurors while he hunted down Harry Potter and those new lightsaber-wielding Auror force.
"It is time to reveal ourselves!" he cried out. Pointing out the window towards Hogwarts, he declared, "The Ministry has brought all of its Aurors to exterminate the Centaurs, but instead they have been destroyed! The Aurors are less than half of their original number! Come, my friends! Let us go help the Centaurs in their fight against the Ministry!"
Though most of them didn't understand the context or reasoning behind Voldemort's decision, all of them realized just what he apparently wished to accomplish. By destroying or crippling the Auror force completely, they'd face far less resistance when they marched to conquer the Ministry later on. And by them focusing on the Centaur herd ahead of them, they wouldn't be watching for the Killing Curse that shot up behind them!
A deafening roar of battle-lust filled the shack as the Death Eaters and their Dark Lord prepared to attack.
Hagrid's Hut
"Bloody hell," Moody couldn't help uttering in astonishment, his magical eye focused solely upon the massive clash that was happening just a few dozen meters away from Hagrid's hut. "That is…an intense fight." And as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he was finding himself feeling quite a bit impressed by the evil little sorcerer and his opponents. It was times like these that really made him feel his age and the many injuries he'd sustained.
"I…I don't understand," Doge said quietly, looking both very concerned and scared in equal parts. "Where did they get those weapons? What are they anyway?"
"Forget that!" Hagrid said urgently, very worried as he too stared out the window. "We need to help Harry!"
"No!" Moody barked immediately. "This mess is the boy's own fault! Let him deal with the consequences!"
"But he's just a child!" Hagrid said imploringly, looking around quickly at the others. Finally, he looked over at Dumbledore, who was eerily silent as he stared at the window. "Dumbledore, please! Tell him we need to help Harry!"
Before Dumbledore could so much as move his lips, Vance spoke up, "I agree with Moody. None of this would've happened if the boy had been smart and stayed where we could protect him, especially from himself. He will never learn if he doesn't have to face his mistakes and bear the consequences." Hagrid glared angrily at Vance for that remark.
From where he was cowering at the side, Fletcher quietly said, "And I'd rather not go out there and get caught in that shitstorm! Have you seen how fast their moving or the types of spells they're using?!"
Diggle quickly added, "We would need an army to go out there with any hopes of even doing anything anyway. We're only seven people here!"
"And yet there's only one boy out there taking on an army!" Hagrid said angrily, glaring at all of the gathered Phoenix members. Looking back at Dumbledore, his expression turned pleading. "Professor, please! We need to help Harry!"
All eyes glanced over at the as-yet-silent Wizard, who was still gazing out at the battle with a contemplating gaze in his eyes. He was carefully watching and analyzing. A few short moments ago, Harry had pulled a simple but brilliant trick. He'd created a large circular platform around where he was standing, raising him two feet in the air. Not only did this give him a better field of vision, but it was just at the right height to make it difficult to climb onto, slowing his attackers from reaching him. Along with the fact that it was barely five paces across, too little space for more than three people to be on and fight with those light-sword weapons of theirs. This gave the boy a much-needed advantage.
"We will wait, for the time being," Dumbledore said firmly, his voice soft but carrying. He glanced at his minions as they looked at him questioningly, Hagrid looking especially betrayed for a moment. "Not because we're outnumbered or that Harry doesn't need the help. No, we'll wait because this fight is something very important to the Ministry. Important enough that I know Tom will be here nearby, also watching. He will see that the Aurors have been losing this war, that the Minister has created a new fighting force, and, most importantly, that Harry seems to be losing."
"You wanna use the boy as bait to draw out Voldemort," Moody guessed, ignoring the others as they flinched at the name.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, nodding. "He will see weakness in the Aurors and Harry. He will most assuredly want to capitalize on this. And he will not like seeing so many of those light-swords that Harry created being used. Severus had informed me that he wanted all such weapons destroyed when he learned of them. He will attack, and likely very soon. Prepare yourselves."
"What are our objectives?" Moody demanded, already falling into his combat mindset.
"We will help the Aurors fight against the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said immediately. "We will try to delay Voldemort from reaching Harry. But, most importantly of all, we must make it obvious that we are aiding the Ministry against Voldemort, not helping Harry escape or his fight with the Centaurs."
"But, Professor—!" Hagrid said, objecting to that last declaration.
"For the moment, Hagrid," Dumbledore interrupted gently. "The Ministry sees Harry as an evil Sorcerer inciting war with the Centaurs against them. While I am sure that is not the case, we cannot act too rashly before we know the truth. For all we know, as sad as it is to admit, Harry's motivations for helping the Centaurs are still unknown and could be potentially as bad as the Minister would have us believe. We must wait to learn what he's been trying to achieve here before we take action for or against him."
"Finally starting to realize the truth, eh, Dumbledore?" Moody asked gruffly. The old man was stubborn, but this issue had really getting on his nerves with his reluctance to see the obvious writing on the wall.
"Guys," Doge said, gesturing out the window. "Am I seeing things or is that…?" The Order of the Phoenix quickly returned its gaze back out the window and stared with wide eyes at what they saw.
Forbidden Forest
Nestled behind a fallen tree trunk that one of the Giants had knocked over earlier, Dudley carefully aimed his rifle, sighting through the scope. He couldn't help smiling as he watched his cousin out there single-handedly take one a whole army. He had known Harry was an impressive fighter for some time, but it was still heartening to see it firsthand. Harry was completely dominating the fight upon that platform he'd created. Each time one of those lightsaber cream-cloaked guys managed to jump up on it, Harry would spin around to face him, block or parry a few strikes before pushing, kicking, or blasting them back off the platform and into the circle of the navy and maroon cloaked Wizards. Each time the Aurors or the Specters would try to swarm him with spells and curses, his lightsaber would begin to spin around his body so fast it was little more than a blue blur, deflecting any and all magic that came his way. For magic he couldn't deflect, a translucent blue shield would form around him from his wand and absorb the attack easily.
But as incredible as Harry was, Dudley could see that he was really starting to tire out. His moves were getting just a little bit slower, his reaction times dulling, he was having more trouble pushing a man out of the circle, he was breathing heavier and sweating quite noticeably hard under his armor. They were wearing him out by overwhelming numbers and lack of rest, not giving him a chance to recharge his spent magic. His perception of the fight was starting to lessen and narrow, making his somewhat less aware of his surroundings and impending danger.
Like the new Specter that had jumped up on the platform behind him, red lightsaber raised and already starting to swing towards his exposed back. Dudley saw the shot and immediately took it, squeezing the trigger. The bolt struck the Specter right in the side of his head, blowing out his brains in a shower of gore and throwing him bodily to the side in the process. Harry flinched at the sudden death, turning and glaring over at Dudley. Dudley could tell that Harry immediately knew where he was, just from the look in his eyes. But despite the disapproving frown, he gave him a subtle nod of thanks before spinning around catching another attacker's blade.
Turning his scope slightly, Dudley saw one of the gathered Specters hefting up his lightpike in preparation to hurl like a javelin. Just before the man could, Dudley fired again and caught the man square in the chest, killing him instantly. By this time, the Aurors and Specters had managed to pinpoint the general direction his shots were coming from. The closest Aurors to him turned and started throwing up shields while the Specters began keeping closer watch in his direction. Smirking at the challenge, Dudley fired his rifle again. But instead of aiming for the Wizards or Specters, he did something unexpected. His bolt clipped the blade of the attacking Specter Harry was facing, ricocheting off and flying in a different direction, coincidentally striking one of the other Specters who had been caught by surprise. 'How'd you like that trick, you inbred bastards?'
As the gathered Wizards flinched back from the completely unexpected kill shot, Dudley fired again. This time he deliberately aimed at the ground in front of the feet of one of the shield-bearing Aurors. The Wizard visibly jumped in fright as his concentration on his charm faltered and the shield died. Immediately, Dudley fired again, aiming over the Wizard's shoulder and hitting the Specter behind him in the back. Just as he was about to shoot again, he stopped when he spotted something out of the corner of his scope. And he wasn't the only one who stopped.
A series of green lights suddenly flew forward into the crowd and slammed into at least twenty of the gathered Aurors, all of them getting thrown forward and collapsing lifelessly on the ground at the base of Harry's platform. The rest of the Aurors and Specters all stopped their fighting as their suddenly turned to the side in surprise at where the new attack came from. What they saw caused many loud cries of panic and disbelief, loud enough for even Hogwarts students off in the distance to hear.
With Voldemort at the front and a massive snake of some kind at his side, an army of Death Eaters stood before them. All of them were clad in flowing black cloaks that seemed more like captured smoke and mist than actual clothing and were wearing gleaming masks of silver shaped in the likeness of skulls. All except for Voldemort at least. His face was unmasked, but Dudley dearly wished it was. He was sickly pale, with a flat, slitted snake-like nose, and glowing red eyes that held nothing but malice in them. The triumphant sneer on that face was every bit as hideous as could be imagined as the Dark Lord gazed upon the panicking Aurors, Hitwizards, and even a few of the newly-minted Specters.
Dudley, however, was frowning. He could see Voldemort's lips moving, likely making a speech of some sort to the gathered crowd of his enemies, but Dudley couldn't hear it. Not that he would've cared what that monster was saying anyway. Instead, he sighted down his scope yet again and pulled the trigger, aiming for Voldemort's black heart. Voldemort must've heard the shot, for he turned in its direction and held up his wand. A shield as black and gleaming as obsidian materialized just in front of him as the bolt neared him, absorbing the shot as easily as a stonewall. Lowering the shield slightly, a now frowning Voldemort glared off in the distance where Dudley was hiding. Despite himself, Dudley couldn't stop the slight shiver that ran down his spine when those red eyes turned towards him.
After just a moment though, Voldemort turned and gestured his free arm forward. With a loud battle cry, the gathered Death Eaters roared as they surged forward. Even though they outnumbered them at nearly two to one, Dudley blinked in surprise when many of the Aurors and Hitwizards turned to flee rather than stand and fight. "What a bunch of bloody cowards," he muttered darkly, glaring at the fleeing Wizards.
Though, to their credit, the number of fleeing Aurors was substantially fewer than it could've been. And none of the Specters fled, instead they simply turned back to Harry. Harry had used that little distraction to the best of his ability, drawing in as much magic as he could while trying to catch his breath. It may have given him his second wind, but it wasn't enough, not nearly enough to face the remaining 45 Specters alone. Then, to Dudley's great surprise, the gathered Specters were suddenly blown to the side on one portion of the circle by an invisible telekinetic blast. Looking back the way it had come from, Dudley had just enough time to catch a flash of red before a figure dressed in the black robes of Hogwarts dropped down beside Harry. The new person immediately swept his hands out and to the sides, launching another powerful blast of telekinesis and sweeping aside even more of the Specters.
He didn't recognize the face, but the red hair and freckles easily clued Dudley in that this must've been one of Harry's much talked about friends, Ron if he remembered right. Grasping something from his pocket, Ron held up and ignited his own blue lightsaber blade as he positioned himself at Harry's back. After a moment of talking to one another, the two reunited friends surged forward to attack the quickly-recovering Specters. If Harry had been impressive on his own, him working alongside his friend who was also clearly a Sorcerer was just flat-out amazing! The two seemed to fall into a synchronized fighting unit, Harry defending and supplementing with occasional magic attacks while Ron was all about offense and off-balancing their enemies. And, unlike Harry, Ron didn't seem to hold much value for the lives of the Specters. Whenever he had the chance, Ron would hack off or stab through a Specter's limb, whether an arm, leg, or even his head. Harry seemed to try to dissuade Ron at first, but a few yelled comments from the redhead soon had Harry reluctantly following his example. Dudley found himself nodding in approval. Finally, Harry was no longer holding back!
Pulling back from his scope, Dudley surveyed the battle as a whole and it was incredible! Unlike the second battle, where the Lycans and Centaurs were sniping at the Wizards from the forest, the Aurors' battle lines were actually holding remarkably well. Despite the many bizarre types of magic that were being thrown about, the battle strongly reminded Dudley of a documentary he'd seen in school about ancient battles during the Middle Ages. But, unlike with their Muggle counterparts, neither side of the Wizards were really trying to close the distance, always trying to maintain a comfortable breathing space between each other. While the Aurors outnumbered the Death Eaters, the Dark Wizards seemed to be at the advantage because of their more liberal use of dark curses, particularly the green killing curse. More Aurors were dropping dead or forced to break the lines to dodge due to those spells than the Death Eaters were. It was a very impressive battle, just by the sheer size and scope of it.
But most impressively, in a very dark and foreboding way, was the way that the Dark Lord himself was handling the battle. Unlike his minions, Voldemort was closing the distance, walking with a serpentine grace that was identical to the snake at his feet. Few of the Aurors seemed brave enough to attack him or the snake directly. What few that did had their spells easily batted aside as though they were mere nuisances to him, without him even breaking his stride in the slightest. He responded to those attacks by viciously launching dark spells of his own straight back the fools who'd dare attack him. Dudley could guess just from the direction he was walking that he was heading for Harry's side of the battle.
Movement off to the side caught Dudley's eye. It was a small group of Wizards hurrying to join the battle, seeming having been hiding or watching from that shack that was positioned near the forest edge. Though the distance was considerable, Dudley had little trouble recognizing the long white beard and bizarrely-colored, shimmering cloak that that Dumbledore guy seemed so fond of wearing. And aside from that crazy, mad-eyed bastard who'd attacked him in Mr. Black's old home, the rest of the group were strangers. But he was willing to bet they were also members of Dumbledore's little club as well. It was actually pretty entertaining to watch Dumbledore slam into the Death Eater side of the battle with all the power and devastation of a tidal wave striking a port. The fearsome black Death Eaters just gave way to the old man's magic, some even turning and fleeing from the very sight of him!
Bringing his gaze back to his scope, Dudley sighted down it and started taking shots at the Dark Wizards. 'Like shooting fish in a barrel, I barely even have to aim,' Dudley thought, smirking slightly as he shot down an especially large and brutish shaped Death Eater. After taking that shot, Dudley heard the familiar cracking pops of teleportation around and behind him. 'Dammit, I forgot to change positions!'
Climbing to his feet, Dudley started running to the side, towards a large set of boulders and foliage. As he ran, he swung his rifle over towards the nearest pop and opened fire. He didn't see it, but he did hear the man cry out in pain as he was struck. In answer to that, several voices started shouting out names of spells as they attacked, most of which he didn't recognize due to the weird incantations. Throwing himself to the side, he dodged what looked like a scything blade of energy, a small but fast bullet-shaped piercing curse, and a red stunner. Mounting a fallen tree trunk, he threw himself up and into a flip, shooting his rifle as he caught a glimpse of another wizard. The shot hit the man in the chest, cutting him down.
Landing in a tumble, Dudley shot back backwards to his feet, keeping his front to the wizards as he shot again. This shot didn't hit the wizard, but the tree trunk he was hiding behind, blowing up the trunk and showering the man's face with deadly wooden splinters and shrapnel. Continuing to back away, Dudley fired again at the next wizard, missing his shoulder by an inch. In return, the masked man's curse struck Dudley dead center in his chest, knocking him backwards and yanking his rifle forcefully from his grasp. With a loud cry, he landed heavily in the midst of the boulder pile that he'd been running for.
Panting heavily, he fumbled for his satchel. Pulling out two vials of potion, he quickly drank them down. The potions were a strengthening elixir that boosted his strength, and a quickening agent that heightened his reflexes and senses tremendously. Of course, as a Muggle with no innate magic to speak of, these particular types of potions were only temporary boosts of ability. 'Gotta stall, wait for them to kick them,' he realized. But even as he did, he could feel his sense of hearing already starting to grow stronger and more sensitive. He could hear the sounds of the boots of those damn Death Eaters as they crushed the dead and rotted undergrowth. Just from the sounds of those footsteps, he could tell they were starting to advance on him, trying to start circling around and flank him.
Climbing to his feet but staying crouched behind the boulders, he grinned as an idea came to him. "Hey!" he called out, poking his head up. He had enough time to see several of them before he had to duck back down as a jagged bolt of lightning flew where his head had been. Apparently, they weren't willing to take any chances with him.
"WAIT!" he cried, thrusting his hands up over the boulder in a surrendering gesture. Thankfully, the Death Eaters hesitated, curious as to what he had to say. "You're probably wondering 'this guy's the hero, so why wear a mask,' right? Well, that's so bad guys and my adoring fans can't follow me home!" He waited for a second, practically able to hear the eyebrows rise in men's disbelief at his ridiculous statement.
That was when he could feel a fountain of strength beginning to grow within his chest and quickly spreading towards his limbs. 'Almost ready.' Grinning even more broadly, he used one hand to point towards one of them, "This guy's got the right idea. Yeah! He wore the brown pants so you guys can't see him shit himself!"
In response, the selected individual cast a curse at the boulder. Dudley quickly ducked down underneath the boulder, just in time before it literally and violently exploded in a shower of dust and shrapnel. Waiting for a long few moments while holding his ringing ears in pain, he saw the dust starting to settle and revealing that his hiding spot had been compromised. Standing back to his feet and holding his hands forward again in a surrendering gesture, he cried out, "Wait! Wait! Wait! You guys only work for that no-nosed, red-eyed, cock-sucking psychopath! So here's what I'm going to do! I'm going to give you all the chance to lay down your wands and in exchange for preferential, bordering on 'gentle', possibly…even lover-like treatment!"
Even without his newly-enhanced senses, Dudley could've seen the sudden tensing in rage that passed between all of the five men. As the Death Eaters were in the midst of casting five simultaneous Killing Curses, Dudley had already dropped back into a deep crouch position, hiding behind the remainder of his boulder shelter. The five curses passed over his head with hair-raising proximity before impacting harmlessly against the boulder behind him. Yanking out his two pistols, he called out, "Fine! Commando-style!"
With a mighty leap that far exceeded anything he could've done under his own power, Dudley jumped upwards in a spin, dodging the fast follow-up curse of one particularly fast Death Eater. As he spinning, he popped of a shot and hit the same man right in the head, blowing out his masked face. "One!"
The sudden retaliatory strike caused the others to flinch away from the newly-made corpse as they stared down at it in horrified surprised. In the time it took them to return their attention back to him, Dudley had already landed and was lunging forward. Firing twice more, he hit another wizard in both his knees, dropping him to the ground with loud cries of agony as his legs were blow out at unnatural angles. "Two!"
The three remaining wizards quickly teleported away, finding new spots to hide behind around him. Turning towards one of them, he bounced to the side as he held up his pistol, shooting into the tree. Unlike with the rifle, the less powerful pistol shots didn't deeply penetrate or otherwise affect the tree. But that was okay, he was already grabbing one of his grenades, pulling the pin with his thumb before gently tossing it towards the tree. Of course, 'gently' was a relative term since the bomb struck the tree hard enough to embed it within its trunk. Nonetheless, the unexpected attack caused the Death Eater to flinch in surprise away from the swaying tree, but also froze him in place. By the time he started to recover, the grenade exploded, consuming him and the tree in a fiery maelstrom.
"Y es tres!" Dudley laughed out as he gave a little victory dance. This new level of strength was amazing! Was this what it felt like to be a Sorcerer? He'd seen Harry lift some pretty heavy objects since they'd been reunited without any strain and without the aid of any magic that he could identify. If this was even close to that level of strength, Dudley was finding himself suddenly momentarily but very deeply jealous of his cousin.
That was when he was shot in the ass – literally! – by a powerful stinging curse that sent him sprawling to the ground. In his tumble, his head slammed into a nearby rock with enough force to actually crack it, jumbling his mind. He just laid there limply, seemingly dead to the world as the last two Death Eaters cautiously approached him. When they were close enough that dodging was impossible, he lifted the pistol that was wedged between his legs and shot, hitting the man in the chest. As the man dropped dead, the final Death Eater popped away to a new hiding spot.
"Fooouuuurrrr," Dudley groaned out as he rolled over and gingerly pushed himself back to his feet, being very careful to not jostle or strain his injured rear. "Ugh! Ow! Right up Main Street!"
Pulling himself up into a semi-erect stance, Dudley took a long breath, trying to sooth the stinging pain in his prostate. Turning as he heard the pop! of the last Death Eater reappearing nearby, he spotted the man standing upon the same rock pile that he'd hidden in earlier. Taking another of his grenades, he casually tossed it towards the man without even pulling the pin. Quite expectedly, he heard the man teleport away before the grenade even landed and pop back just a few meters off to his side. Raising his other arm, he took the shot and hit the man right in the chest, knocking him back and down. "And five."
Looking around at the massacre he'd just dished out, Dudley couldn't help muttering, "Maybe I should make a living of this? I'm pretty good at killing wizards." Then a strange thought struck him and caused his near-jovial mood to instantly turn glum. "Dad would be so proud."
By: Aminta Defender
Abandoned Classroom
He stared at the unwavering wand, trying to get his mouth to move. He could feel her strength, her intent; nothing would stand in her way. Should he refuse, she'd destroy him. His mouth still refused to move though. Slowly he stretched out his senses and poked her mind, trying to get her attention.
She showed no sign of noticing his attempts. Trying to gather more strength to poke her mind again, he was interrupted by the door banging open.
"Sorcerers!" cried a young Slytherin, "They've got sorcerers! Sith alert, Sith alert!"
Granger turned away from him, lowering her wand, "What?"
"Fudge, Fudge, hehassorcersandthey'reattackingPotter!"
The lapse in concentration let him break free of the spell, "Slow down, dimwit. We have no idea what you're trying to say!"
The girl took a deep breath, "The centaurs beat back the giants but then Fudge came back with these other people with lightsabers, red lightsabers. They're Sith! Ron said Harry needed help against the evil sorcerers and then Fudge's army attacked and then Ron ran away!"
"What?!" shrieked Granger.
"Ron went to fight," the girl clarified. "Then the Mark went up into the air and You-Know-Who and his minions attacked."
Draco blinked, "Umbridge has minions? She left her office?"
Groaning, the Slytherin again clarified. "No, You-Know-Who! Vol-Vold-Voldemort! The Death Eaters!"
The decision was made, not out of fear, but because it felt right. The power within him coiled happily like an eager snake, it agreed. He couldn't stand by anymore. The decision had already been made before, now it was time to declare it. He would fight, fight for Hogwarts, for his... friends, for what was right.
"What are we standing about for? Let's show them what we've got!" He declared, the lightsaber flying into his hand.
Granger smiled at him. "Get the twins. We'll need their help. But let me be clear, anyone who hasn't been cleared by me personally isn't going into the field."
The student nodded and ran off to find the twins.
"May I go, General?" He asked mockingly, he wouldn't bow to anyone.
She nodded, "Yes." He turned to leave, "Malfoy wait."
He stopped and she held out a foreign black object. He grabbed it, noticing the peculiar shape and the strange weight it had.
"What is it?"
She smiled slightly, "A gun. In case you need it."
He looked at the strange object. It looked nothing like the rumored objects of deaths the muggles were supposed to have. It was a forbidden object for a wizard.
"I always imagined them to be longer. How does it work?"
"If it were any longer, Malfoy, it'd be a rifle," she said, pointing to the gun. "There's the safety. You reload here. Press that to fire."
He nodded and stared at the tiny thing capable of killing a full grown wizard. "Is it safe?"
"It kills, Malfoy. The bullet moves faster than the speed of sound. If the bullet doesn't kill, Malfoy, your target will still be in too much shock and pain to do anything... As long as you hit the target, also be aware that firing it is loud."
He nodded and gingerly looked it over again, making sure the safety was on before tucking it away in his cloak, "See you soon, Granger. I'd prep the infirmary."
"Don't worry Malfoy. We have a plan to lure the toad and her consorts out. Go make sure that Ron doesn't get killed in his stupidity."
Laughing, he saluted, "Aye Aye Captain!"
It was time to face his father.
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Hogwarts Grounds
He could feel it, like a dark storm crossing the horizon. Voldemort was coming closer and he was coming for him. Swing his saber, Harry deflected two more curses from the attacking Specters. Sweeping his blade back, he parried a stab and blocked a swing from the two in front of him. He could feel Ron's back pressed up against his own shifting and moving as the young Weasley fought off three more Specters with an ease that was quite surprising.
"You've been practicing, Ron," Harry observed, having to speak loudly over the clashes and explosions that were taking place around them.
"Yeah, Draco took Hermione's saber," Ron replied. "After she made me this one and with what happened with Crabbe and Goyle, we started practicing together every so often. It really helps when you've got a sparring partner."
"I envy you," Harry said bitterly. "I was only ever able to train with Dobby and my cousin. While they're both great fighters in their own way, they just don't have the strength or endurance to keep up."
"Or the stature!" Ron quipped, glancing back at Harry with a slight grin on his face.
"That too," Harry admitted.
"EXPULSO!" A large section of the Specter ring around them blew skywards, causing all of them to freeze momentarily as they took in the sight of the new fighter joining their midst. It was Hermione, holding her fist in the air with a brightly shining green crystal clasped between her fingers. Behind her, Harry could faintly see a line of mid- to upper-year students standing out in the grass field about a hundred paces away, lined up in a defensive formation with a wall of shields formed. If nothing else, Harry could guess they were likely here to form a perimeter against those who would stray too close to the school.
"Late to the party again, Hermione?" Harry called, smiling happily at seeing his last friend returned to him.
"Unlike some people, I don't drink dangerous and unknown potions whenever I'm feeling powerless," Hermione snapped, thrusting her crystal to the side and launching a green colored spell at one of the Specters who'd started to rush her. Instead of the spell being predictably batted aside, it exploded against the magical plasma blade, throwing the Specter head over heels backwards. "Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you two!"
Ron and Harry laughed as a sense of nostalgia washed over them. It was just like old times! Well…maybe not just like old times, but close enough!
That was when they sensed a familiar spike of hostility. All of them, even the Specters, turned and looked at the source of malevolent darkness that was now only a few short paces outside the ring. With just one nonchalant wave of his wand, Voldemort silently cast three Killing Curses in rapid succession, all of which struck the unprepared and even fearful Specters closest to him head-on. The sudden deaths were prompt enough for the rest of the Specters near him to back away, holding their lightsabers or wands in defensive stances.
"I have only one thing to say to all of you," Voldemort said softly, though his voice easily carried to all of his listeners as his gaze swept over all of the gathered Specters. "Those weapons are abominations of magic created by an ignorant upstart. If you destroy them, all of them, now, I will spare you from any more consequences." Returning his attention back to his primary target, Voldemort sneered at seeing Harry's sweating and exhausted form. "For you, Harry Potter, we have some unfinished business to attend to."
For a moment, Harry just glared at the creature who was more monster than man. Drawing in a deep breath and as much magic as he could to augment his fading reserves, Harry took the moment to assess the situation, the combatants, and the feeling of the magic in the air. The battle between the Aurors and Death Eaters was swaying back and forth as each side fought for dominance. He could feel it each time a Wizard or Witch was killed and their magic was cast out to join that of the world's around them. He could feel their fear, aggression, hatred, glee, and confidence as they fought against those their enemies. The large audience of watchers was a wide and vast kaleidoscope of emotions. Harry found it easier to associate those emotions to colors rather than individual emotions, creating a vast canvas of brilliance and darkness. Though the emotions he could sense most strongly were coming from the pavilion off to the side was fear, aggression, and denial. It was faint, but he could also feel Tonks' familiar presence off in that direction, away from the heart of the conflict, much to his silent relief.
But there was also something else stirring in the air around them. It was powerful. It was omniscient. It felt too unfathomably large to be any single person. It felt… It felt…like the world itself was now gazing down upon him, upon Voldemort, and what would happen. Waiting and watching with an utmost interest that was beyond anything a mere mortal mind could comprehend. Glancing subtly behind him, he could see Ron was also feeling the same thing. His facial expression as open and confused as Harry felt.
Quickly returning his attention back to his hated enemy, Harry nodded and stepped forward. "That we do, Tom. And this will be the last time."
Voldemort's sneer widened in triumph at the boy's declaration. Sweeping his arms out to the sides in a grand gesture, the Dark Lord exerted his power and flung all of the gathered Specters away as though they were tumbleweeds blowing in the wind. As Harry was about to move forward and confront Voldemort, a hand grasped his shoulder. Glancing back at Ron, he just waited with a raised brow questioningly. In as serious a voice as Ron could muster, the redhead said, "We have a lot to talk about and even more to do when you get back. So don't waste any time."
Nodding, Harry turned and rushed towards Voldemort, sweeping his lightsaber forward and deflecting a Killing Curse sent at him. Behind him, Ron leapt over to Hermione and took up a position to defend her against any Specters that might again target her as they were recovering.
Deflecting six Killing Curses in less than three seconds, Harry continued his rush for Voldemort, bouncing from side to side and dodging even more dark spells sent at him in the process. He could feel Voldemort's growing frustration, but he could also sense the deep confidence and dark cunning that was going on inside that twisted mind. He needed to close the distance and cut him down as quickly as possible, to not give him any time to concoct a plan of some sort.
Crying out in exertion, Voldemort cast out an enormous fireball. Rather than try jumping over it and risk exposing himself to such a dangerous opponent, Harry thrust his free hand forward and molded the magic around him. Just as the fireball was about to reach him, it was suddenly split down the middle and cast flying apart in two halves before dissipating behind him. Not even ten paces ahead of him, Harry got a wonderful sight of Voldemort's surprised and even disbelieving face for all of a second before he regained his calm and cool.
In a burst of speed, Harry closed the remaining gap between them and swung his lightsaber in a dissecting slash through the creature's torso, aiming for his black heart. Strangely, he felt no resistance as his blade passed through the man's body. Skidding to a stop behind the man, Harry spun around to watch the body. Only to blink in surprise and give a start of disbelief at watching the man's image waver and evaporate like smoke in the wind.
"An illusion?" Harry couldn't help muttering in disgruntled surprise. He hadn't had any training in sensing or countering illusions, not even when he was in Hogwarts. With his crystal ball, he had admittedly focused much more of his time on learning how to handle the more mundane attacks used by most Wizards and Witches, even certain elemental attacks like fire and ice. But illusions? He'd never fought against someone who was skilled in them, or even had a passing knowledge in them, certainly not since he'd become a Sorcerer. How could Voldemort fool his sensory powers like that with a mere illusion?!
"You're not the only one with practice in the more esoteric branches of magic, Potter," Voldemort said, his voice echoing around the boy from seemingly everywhere. "I know all about you being a Sorcerer. I know that to face you head on is foolhardy, especially with that detestable weapon of yours."
"So you're going to hide behind illusions and try to curse me in the back, is that right, Tom?" Harry asked loudly, hoping to tempt the Dark Lord into exposing himself however briefly.
"Oh no," the man purred silkily. "I have no intention of facing you at all. There is no known manner in how to fight against a Sorcerer with mundane magics. But while Sorcerers may be the height of magical power and potential, they have one gaping weakness. Do you know what it is?" The mocking tone of his voice was all Harry needed to hear to know that Voldemort already knew that he didn't in fact know of such a weakness. "Allow me to demonstrate what this weakness entails!"
That was when Harry sensed a change in the magic around him. Voldemort began chanting in a language that Harry had never heard before and was utterly unable to understand. As the Dark Lord's voice began to rise in volume, the magic in the air around them began to twist, rip, bucking and thrashing about as though in pain. Harry wasn't sure what was going on, but he could sense that Voldemort was wrenching the world apart somehow.
"What are you doing?!" Harry yelled out almost fearfully. "Do you even realize what you're doing?! The magic, the world! It's in pain! STOP IT!"
Rather than listen to the pleas of his hated nemesis, Voldemort continued his chant, his voice now echoing with power and intent across the whole battlefield. It became so overpowering that even the battling Aurors and Death Eaters stopped their fights to watch what was happening. Sensing where the heart of the convulsing and twisting magic was coming from, Harry turned and watched with wide eyes as what he sensed quickly became visible to the naked eye. It started as a green spark bursting to life. Then it split, grew, widened, and convulsed, becoming many interlocking strands of pure magic that slowly began spinning. In less than a second, the convulsions ceased as the spinning mass of green magic began taking a bit more of a solid form. From that spinning mass, Harry could sense something…opening. Something from…beyond was there, watching, waiting. Reaching out with his hands, Harry tried to focus his magic at untangling the convulsing mass, closing what was forming, undoing Voldemort's spell. But his comparatively woefully low amount of power and his lack of understanding and knowledge at what was happening were no match to Voldemort's sheer force of will and intent.
With a sudden pulse, the green mass sent out a blast of magic that knocked many people, including Harry, off their feet out of surprise. But with that same pulse, the magic finally stabilized and formed what was obviously a portal of some kind. The portal was easily large enough to fit fifty men within from one side to the next and still have room for more. Echoing out from within that portal, a loud and unfamiliar shrieking roar could be heard.
"What have you done?!" Harry demanded, his voice being the only one that dared speak the question that all of them were wondering.
Voldemort gave no answer, or at least not one that could be heard as another and much closer shrieking roar could be heard. From inside the portal, a monstrously large shape could be seen moving closer. It was so large that even with the portal's size, it was still struggling to get through the cycling funnel that enveloped it. As it drew closer, Harry could make out certain features about it that caused him to start shivering and his skin to go pale in fear. Features like a monstrous pair of wings behind a set of equally large shoulders, a large beaked face with a crown of spikes swept back from its face, heavy armor plating over its chest and torso, and glowing red eyes that looked every bit as dangerous and evil as the blast of demonfire that erupted from its throat as its head finally cleared the portal. The demonic flames burst out and swept from one side to the side, creating a vast and scorching inferno that encircled around Harry and all of the surrounding Wizards, Witches, and Specters.
"A Sorcerer is the greatest magic user of this realm," Voldemort declared as he finally became visible just underneath the portal he'd created, a large glowing emerald the size of his fist being held up over his head. Wafting up from this glowing gem were tendrils of the same green magic that had created and opened the portal. Sneering in triumph, he continued, "But they have no defense against the magics of another realm, like the Demon World!"
Above him, the Demon pulled itself out of the portal at long last. Landing heavily enough upon the earth to send earthquake-like shakes through it, jostling even the foundation of Hogwarts, the Demon threw back its head as its wings swept open, letting out a deafening cry of triumph. The final battle had just reached an entirely new level of difficult.
(Author's Note) Heh, you know, 'Grand Magic Finale' really is a fitting name for this chapter title, maybe even for the battle itself. Bigtime thanks and credit go to Aminta Defender for this chapter! In case you guys haven't guessed it, this chapter (and probably the next one or two) are a joint collaboration between Aminta Defender and myself. What you've seen here will more than likely show up in his own story (Mayhem at Hogwarts) when he reaches this point in the timeline.
Also, this is the reason why that one of the things that pissed so many of you guys off back in Chapter 9 happened. With the world that I've created, the only way we'd ever get a chance to have any badass lightsaber duels to happen was if Harry willingly gave his enemy a spare lightsaber of his own. That's something that he (and no one else) would ever do. I needed a way to get the lightsaber designs out of his hands and become more widespread, that way the likelihood of a duel occurring would increase greatly. Trust me, I've wanted to write a lightsaber duel since before I'd even started this story! And I know that many of you have also wanted at one in this story as well. In case any of you are wondering how Fudge and the Specter's got these designs, let's just say that he received an 'anonymous donation' from Hogwarts at the same time that Voldemort was proclaiming that lightsabers were abominations.
For those interested, I was largely inspired for the end of this chapter by a game I've started playing recently: Dragon Age Inquisition. For those you who want a more visual image of what the Demon looks like, I am largely basing it on the Bahamut SIN of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Iam basing the Specters design on the Jedi Temple Guards of Star Wars. And if no one can see the Deadpool references, I'm going to be very surprised and disappointed!