Hey everyone,
THIS IS IT! The battle chapter that will determine the fate of James and Lily. I have to admit that I have been REALLY looking forward to this, but I am also glad that I saved writing this chapter until the 25th. I just watched Endgame the other day and it has me SO HYPED and in such a good, fulfilled mood that I am sure I am going to bring great honor to this epic battle.
LET'S DO THIS!

Venquine1990
Shout-Out To:
Guest
Wishfull-Star
V.L. Crawford


Chapter 76
The Battle Decides

4th of July 1995
Courtyard, Beast's Castle
Daphne's POV

After Professor Snape's rude awakening of what was actually at stake and after he started dueling the both of us in such a way it felt as if he had a team and we were outnumbered, did the teamwork and our renewed focus make it so that we worked better, harder and stronger. We managed to disarm the man a few times and even launched a few spells that I just know others would not approve of. But the Professor only said: "Good, make sure you use those."
A few of these were spells that my father taught me, both because I am the main Heiress to the Greengrass fortune and to keep bastards and creeps off of me and to help me keep my virtue intact. And while I didn't feel comfortable using some of these on my own Head of House, do I feel more than ready to use them against Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco may not know this, but those two are and have always been at the top of my Disgusting Bastard list – a list I know a lot of girls of various years and Houses have made over the years that they are at Hogwarts – and I have no doubt that the two aren't just at the top of my list. I also know that they quite nearly raped several girls over the last year, including three First year Hufflepuffs. And the idea that they would defile girls that innocent infuriates me.

Yet while we were dueling, do we all get shocked by loud screams, yells and sounds of cheering that suddenly erupt from the castle and Draco mumbles: "Guess the finals were won." I nod and Professor Snape says: "That chapter will probably finish soon. Catch your breath and discuss strategy while we wait." And the man pockets his wand as he says this. The two of us nod and I mumble:
"Let's agree on one thing, Draco. The Befuddlement strategy. We mix up our spell array between the usual Light stuff that we get taught at Hogwarts, our family spells and spells that we were taught to protect our legacy. We start with the former and make it look as if we need to warm up and then, when they look as if they want to start having fun, we open salvo. Agreed?"
Draco nods and mutters: "Agreed. And now I get why you've never lost a duel in your life." making me smirk before I decide to give the blonde one last warning about his old friends. "And why I'm still a virgin, unlike a few other unfortunate souls who I will be fighting this duel for." Draco's eyes widen, but before he can respond do the large castle doors open. Professor McGonagall steps out first and instantly waves her wand at the castle front steps.
Yet while I don't really see anything happen, do my eyes widen as I notice that, obviously through the use of an untraceable extension charm or something of the sort, the woman made it so that the entire school and entourage can fit onto the steps. Lord Hades summons a chair for himself at the front and center of the steps and Professor Snape comes to stand next to him as he snaps his fingers.

And instantly a cloud of smoke appears on the other side of the field while I also spot Riku summoning a protective transparent wall in front of the steps to make sure that no spellwork could accidentally hit the students or others. And from the cloud of smoke do the two boys who I also hated to share a House with step out, yet they hardly look like boys anymore and the sight of them terrifies me more than anything I have ever seen, even though my biggest fear is dragons.
Crabbe's beady eyes now seem to have some kind of yellow color added to their irises, he wears some kind of golden choker around his neck and parts of his robes are torn, the holes filled up with metal plates that are either black or purple colored. And Goyle looks as if every last one of his muscles has been overdosed with several growing or expansion charms. All in all, the two look terrifying.
Yet then I suddenly feel Draco lying a hand on my shoulder and realize that my whole body is showing the fear that I had been feeling, a fear that was also spotted by the two opposite of me as they are grinning and leering at me. And the disgusting lust and rage-inducing amusement that I can see showing in those leering grins takes away all of my fear and replaces it with determined ambition. I turn to Draco and give him a nod, not just to thank him, but also to assure him that I'm fine.

"Alright, so – how do you want to do this?" Lord Hades asks and Professor Snape answers: "We will hold an official Wizarding Duel. Showing of wands, a bow and then counting down from ten before the first spell is cast. If either side casts before I have reached one, they will automatically forfeit. Also there will be rules set by both leaders of both parties." At this Hades nods, while I also notice Crabbe and Goyle glaring at their former Head of House, as if they resent him for this.
"First rule then. Deadly spells can only be cast from your side. My fighters are already dead, so such spells will only slow them down, not actually kill them as you can't kill what is already dead." Lord Hades states. Professor Snape nods and states: "Second rule. No Physical contact. If either side physically attacks the other, they forfeit their rights and their victory." Lord Hades nods at this and the two then turn to the Beast, who hesitates and seems to think for a minute before he states: "The Duel continues until either side is entirely and by both individuals incapable of casting another spell. If both casters on one side lose their ability to send a spell to the other side, they lose the duel."

To this we all nod, not just Lord Hades and Professor Snape, but Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and I and Sora is actually the one to shout: "Duelists, show your wands and bow!" And while all four of us do the former, do we only bend our upper bodies as far as we dare to, Crabbe and Goyle obviously suspecting us to curse their unguarded backs as much as we suspect them to. We come back up and Sora starts to loudly count down to one.
And thanks to his own training is Draco the first to cast a curse, actually embodying Potter and trying to instantly disarm Goyle. Yet Crabbe jumps in front of his friend and the spell gets deflected by one of the pieces of metal that is shown in the torn holes of his robe. The bastard smirks, the look in his eyes that makes it look as if he thinks he's already won and actually rips his whole robe off, my eyes widening as I see that his whole chest area and shoulders are made of the same metal.
"How is that possible?" Draco asks and Riku yells: "He must have been training with Large Bodies. Be careful. Those guys can only be hit from the back." And instantly I understand the look in the bastard's eyes. I spot Hades looking down at Riku, but the teen just retorts: "Those two have known Draco and Daphne for years. I'm just evening out the playing field." At which the God of Death only rolls his eyes, yet he keeps quiet.

"We've got a problem." Draco growls, but I start to smirk and mutter: "Not at all. Just wait for my signal and curse Crabbe to your heart's content. Leave Goyle to me." Draco looks at me confused, but I focus only on the duel. I raise my wand and cast a strong cutting curse into the air to the right of me. And while this makes Crabbe burst out laughing, does my smirk turn into a grin and I swish my wand, causing for the charm to turn with an arch and hit Goyle in the arm.
Crabbe turns around and I instantly give Draco a small hand-gesture, to which my partner nods and starts to throw one curse and jinx after another at Crabbe's unguarded back while I make sure to keep the bastard of a bully in that direction by casting and redirecting one hex after another jinx after another curse. And while Goyle is able to counter some of them, do most of them hit.
"How?" Draco asks between two of his curses on Crabbe, who is obviously getting quite agitated, who clearly wants to turn around and curse Draco or me, but who is now focusing on deflecting the curses that Goyle is unable to counter and I use the time I need to redirect some of them to explain: "A family gift. The Greengrasses have been born with this ability for generations." Making Draco smirk.

Then suddenly does Crabbe roar in rage and he casts a single curse, one that terrifies me as it causes for a wave of boiling lava to erupt from his wand. Instantly Draco and I start to cast freezing charms, but I stop with this a second later as Crabbe shouts: "AVADA KEDAVRA!" And I jump to the side, pushing Draco out of the way of the deadly curse. And while we groan as we fall down, do I hear a pair of fingers being snapped.
I look up and notice a huge gap appearing in the center of the field, the lava falling in. I look at the audience and spot Lord Hades glaring at Crabbe and Goyle, who are – to my shock – actually glaring back. "New rule. Each team works solo. They can only stand side by side and defend each other from the side. No physical protection. Try that again and I will consider it breaking the No physical contact rule, meaning you will lose, Crabbe." Yet this clear reprimand is only answered with more glaring.

"Those two have lost it. They think way too high of themselves. Professor Snape wasn't wrong to warn us. We just can't underestimate either of them. We have to consider this a duel, not just for the souls of the Potters, but for our own as well." I think and just by looking at Draco do I know that he thinks the same. We get back up and take our positions, side by side, wands at the ready.
Sora counts down again, this time down from five and instantly after he calls out the final number and yells: "NOW!" Do all four of us start to cast. Curses, hexes, jinxes, charms, enchantments and everything else shoots back and forth and while Crabbe and Goyle obviously try to make us be far apart enough we can't defend the other, do Draco and I use our reflexes to get back together every time we have to dodge away from each other.
Crabbe manages to break Draco's left kneecap, but the boy proves that he has been playing Quidditch for years and that the rest of his body is still fully functional as this does nothing to his ability to remain close. And while Goyle actually casts several curses at me that are supposed to make me lust after him, curses that dad taught me last summer, do I block them all with the counters that dad also taught me during these lessons.
Goyle even tries to cast the Imperius on me and while it hits and I feel the same, happy, peaceful sensation overwhelm me, do I instantly break free as I hear his voice in my head. "Undress yourself, you tramp. Show me what is mine. Show these stupid freaks that you're mine." And I instantly retaliate with a curse that, if it had hit, would instantly put an end to these fantasies of his.
"AAAAARGH, ENOUGH! Come here, you bloody slut!" Crabbe suddenly yells, half an hour into our duel and after he seems to recognize the curse I send to Goyle and to my utter horror does he charge straight at me, actually throwing his wand to the side and his hands raised up to my chest height. Instantly I cast a spell to make a special kind of shield appear in front of me, but then hear another snap of fingers coming from the side.

Crabbe falls down, a hole appearing in the floor just in front of where he was running and closing right after. "Right, that's enough. We are settling this here and now. Draco, Goyle. Cast that first spell that Greengrass cast. At each other at the same time. Whoever loses his wand to that last wins. Greengrass, you're out. Put your wand away." Lord Hades loudly states, his annoyance clear to hear.
"But that slut –!" Goyle tries, but to this Hades roars: "NOW!" And this finally seems to scare the idiot on the other side of the field. I turn to Draco, who nods at me and I nod back. "Good luck." I say as I put my wand away and then walk over to the steps. Professor Snape makes a bit of space between him and Professor Sprout and I thank him with a nod as I take my place. Hades then glares at Goyle one last time and says:

"Let me make this clear. The Disarming curse is the only spell allowed at this point. If either Duelist uses any other spell, I will use their soul as punishment. Any objections?""Only the request that, if he does so, Draco's soul will be returned to his form after his punishment." Professor Snape, making Draco whiten. I already know this is only to make Goyle not feel as if he's being singled out.
Lord Hades nods and Sora counts down one last time, this time down from three as both Draco and Goyle aim their wands at each other. And at the count of one, do they both cast the Expelliarmus and to everyone's shock do the two curses narrowly miss each other, hitting their opposing casters and causing for both to be shot back. And to my concern does it seem to happen simultaneously.
"Eeeh, now what?" Roxas asks and Professor Flitwick flicks his wand a few times, causing for two sets of numbers to appear on either side of the battlefield. "Well, it looks like Mr. Malfoy lost his wand three seconds before Mr. Goyle did. I guess that makes this whole thing – a tie?" He explains, the whole thing sounding like a question asked at the end and Lord Hades shrugs as he says:

"Fine." Before turning to me, to my shock, as he says: "This was a tie, but you won against Crabbe due to him breaking the No Physical Contact rule, so you pick. James Potter's soul or Lily Potter's. Choose." Instantly I turn to Harry, feeling horrible that I am doing this to him, but both he and his parents, who are standing behind him, just smile at me. Yet I also spot Lord Black very subtly shaking his head and I instantly get why.
I turn back to Lord Hades and strongly state: "Lily Potter." Which makes a lot of those around me gasp and turn to the family, but even though I have my back to them, do I feel confident in the belief that Lord Black's grin just expanded. Lord Hades nods and snaps his fingers again. Goyle vanishes in a cloud of smoke and from that same cloud does another body appear, this one taller, leaner and a lot more feminine. Lily Potter smiles at me widely before turning to her son and friends. And Lord Hades disappears in another cloud right after.

At the same time
In the Underworld
Hades' POV

I pulled the soul of the young woman out of the River of Souls and got her body back from the other world by exerting a little more of my power than I would usually need as I use the smoke transport method. I use it to transport myself and move over to the shore of the same river, where I spot the soul of the woman's husband still floating. I look down at him and bark my order: "Go. Search out two other souls and wait here. The rules were broken three times, so three souls will be returned."
The soul looks at me shocked, but I just turn my back to him and move over to the right, passing the large double doors that look like fangs on the right of the river. I pass them and spot my two duelists, who glare at me as they see me. But this only further infuriates me and I snap my fingers, causing for their bodies to be paralyzed in a crouched down position with their arms stretched wide. The two yelp and their glares are instantly replaced with looks of fear.

"What the hell?""What did we do?" They ask and I snarl: "I am the Cheater. I create creatures that are supposed to be able to beat Blunder-Boy thanks to the extras I give them that they normally would never have and should not be able to have. Like your impossible muscle mass and your metallic body. Because of this, should neither of you even feel the need to cheat, let alone do so.
You broke the rules three times, so I needed to adapt my deal with that former Head of House of yours and make it look as if I just accepted the situation as it was. This is going to damage my reputation something fierce and if there are two things I don't like, it's Blunder-Boy and that. And the fact that you can look at me as if it's my fault is unacceptable. You two need a reminder of who's in charge here." And with that do I snap my fingers one last time before whistling on them.
The Hydra, the Rock and Wind Titan and Cerberus all appear, the first three from puffs of smoke and Cerberus from the other entrance. The two boys in the center look around terrified, or at least as much as their paralyzed states allow them, and I turn to Cerberus and Hydra as I say: "No eating, have fun, y'all." And while this is responded to by the boys starting to scream and cry and beg, do I just coldly walk past them, through the entrance Cerberus exited and back to my rooms.


Holy Hera, Hades!
So yeah, what did you guys think of that? I may not have made the battle as epic or blood-pumping as I would have liked, but battle scenes just aren't my forte. Now Lily Potter is back and James – alongside two others that I have already decided on – will return over time. I plan to return one at least every book, though I will probably use two significant chapters from GoF for them. James will return before PoA is finished.
You guys like,

Venquine1990