Wild cards
Chapter 29
…
Learning he was a wizard, Harry thought his life was on an upward trend. He understood all the weird occurrences in his life. He found there was a place for him in the world bigger than a cupboard under the stairs. He'd learned there were people that actually wanted him.
Staring up at the five-headed behemoth he would have gladly given all that up just to not be there. The chaos exploding all around in the gallery went completely unnoticed, his full attention taken up by his imminent demise. So full of fear his mind had simply shut down.
A single head reared up then lunged, mouth open wide to swallow him whole. He didn't expect to be saved. That didn't stop it from happening, but he wasn't expecting it.
The stone man with the oversized hands tackled the massive head, saving Harry from becoming a snack but not from being thrown into the air by the breaking floor. That restarted his thought processes and he was running as soon as his feet hit the floor.
Running quickly, he quickly ran into a problem, that being a lack of anywhere to run.
"Harry!"
It was John. Harry altered his course and made a mad dash for The Destroyer. Along the way he barely avoided being crushed by the Limestone Smasher as it was cratered into the floor.
"John!"
"Glad to see your alright" the gruff man said.
"We have to get out of here" Harry shouted, his fight or flight instinct having made up its mind.
"Love to" shouted John, "doors on the other side of that."
Harry looked at the five-headed horror, currently distracted by a group of wispy dragons, and felt the need to curse profusely.
"Bollocks!"
"I know what you mean" The Destroyer flinched when his dragons were simultaneously snuffed out, "If I ever catch that bloody Italian…"
Harry didn't have to hear the rest. He was having the exact same thought, but it would have to wait. With the distraction gone, they were now the center of attention.
As one all five heads struck. As one all five heads slammed into a wall of energy that knocked the whole beast back. The glow of the Enhanced Reflection faded, and a furious Harry glared at the stunned monster.
"This was supposed to be a fun day!" he screamed, slamming a card down onto his board, "Flame Harpy!"
The two men vanished in a cloud of black soot and the dazed chaos dragon was given a moments pause. It didn't last. One head went down to investigate and took a barrage of fireballs in the face.
Angered, the other heads moved to join and came within range just in time for a sonic assault. The Magdog's bark cleared the soot cloud and sent the five heads flailing in confusion.
The two fire beasts charged, taking advantage of the dragons weakened state. Harry panted from the exertion of the summon while John the Destroyer stood stunned.
"When did you learn to summon?"
"Day before yesterday" he replied.
John would have goggled if there'd been time, "Bloody hell" he said instead before summoning his Ukrainian Ironbelly to join the assault.
With the three monsters at melee range John pulled a card called Munition box which turned out to be full of various non-magical weaponry including a dozen grenades and a bazooka.
Harry didn't have anything like that and he was too small for any of his own weapons, save one.
"Magical Star Rod!"
The little exploding stars weren't all that effective, but it felt better than just standing there doing nothing. Though as their enemy regained its sense he wondered if it really mattered how he felt.
"Damn it all, we need more teeth" John shouted, pitching the last grenade.
Harry looked down at the cards, miraculously, still in his hand. He had but a half moments hesitation about this course of action. After what had happened with the Dullahan, could he trust something similar wouldn't happen with this.
His harpy committing explosive suicide on one of the dragon's head brought home the obvious conclusion. It would not matter. Either this thing would kill him or his own monster would.
He slammed the card onto the board and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Magmus Rex!"
His voice could barely be heard over the battle. The sudden shaking of the floor got everyone's attention though. Geysers of flame erupted from the ground. The center of the floor crumbled then melted and a massive long jawed beast with a prominent sail on its back emerged.
All attention was on him and he announced his arrival with a roar like a thunderclap exploding in the ear.
The Magdog and Ukrainian Ironbelly disengaged as the chaos dragon turned its full attention on the newcomer. It opened its mouths to roar a reply. Magmus Rex was having none of it. It opened its maw and fired a beam of concentrated heat at one of the heads.
Already damaged by the harpy the head took the hit then fell to the ground, lifeless. The other heads shook in shared pain then turned murderous eyes on the one responsible.
The Magmus Rex wasn't about to wait for it and rushed the bigger beast. So close, it was hard for the four heads to maneuver which let the saw mouth get his claws into the body and his teeth into a neck.
The other two monsters reengaged and the battle was on again.
"Well done lad" John shouted, but Harry barely heard him.
"One head. He took out one head. What will it take to beat this thing?!"
"Divine intervention" offered John.
Mind and body exhausted, the Destroyer's words still sparked a thought. He rifled through his deck till he came to the card.
"Divine intervention" he said, "or Heaven's wrath."
The older man looked at the card and the battle still in progress.
"That could kill us all" John stated.
"Could" Harry agreed, then he pointed to the battle, "Will."
John couldn't argue with that, "Give it to me. You haven't the magic left to cast this."
His shaking legs said the Destroyer was right and he handed the card over. John placed the card on his board, took a calming breath and focused.
"Heaven's Wrath!"
A bolt of lightning shot up to the ceiling. A massive dark cloud formed and grew at alarming speed till no sign of the ceiling remained.
"Oh boy" Harry muttered when the cloud began to flash.
In only moments the inky black cloud began to rain lightning. The Ukrainian Ironbelly went first, being closest to the storm. The Magdog was next, having climbed up on the behemoths back. Magmus Rex, still holding fast to its prey took several hits before it too succumbed.
The Chimeric Chaos Dragon flailed and roared in defiance of the storm as it rained white hot death. One head took a bolt too many and toppled, soon followed by another.
It was around that point the storm noticed there were others on the field it hadn't given a smite.
Harry looked up as the cloud above him surged. A faint memory surfaced, and he looked at the star tipped rod in his hand. Kneeling weakly beside him, John could scarcely move when the bolt came rushing down. The flash was blinding and the only reason he knew he hadn't been killed was because he was still in pain.
He cracked an eye open and could just make out the silhouette of Harry against the brightness.
"Harry!"
The boy tilted his head slightly in response, "I got this" he said in a voice that shook with power.
The storm collapsed suddenly, and the two heads remaining of the chaos dragon turned their attention on the glowing ball that was Harry.
The heads were leery, having just been assaulted as they were. The braver of the two heads roared and dove at its target. It was met halfway by a star of pure electricity.
The explosion created another blinding flash. When it cleared, the attacking head was gone and Harry was once again visible, glowing faintly.
John looked up at the final head as it zeroed in on the two of them.
"What does it bloody take to kill this thing!"
The answer came in the form of a long violet beam. Stunned and mostly dead already the blast punched right through the last head leaving a smoking hole where the left eye had been. The head waved then toppled to the ground. The beast lay dead for several moments before the summon finally broke and the creature vanished.
"You boys alright?"
The dark-skinned man in the maroon robes approached the two duelists cautiously. The four-legged machine with the giant cannon followed close behind.
"We're… we're okay" John said, adrenaline fading, "right Harry?"
Harry said nothing. The star rod fell from his hands and he followed a moment later.
The auror cursed and rushed to the fallen boy, "What happened?"
"He over exerted himself" said John, "and he's not the only one."
Toppling the rest of the way to the floor he joined Harry in blissful unconsciousness.
"Oh, Merlin's hairy balls" the auror cursed, sending off a quick spell for assistance.
Fifteen minutes later they finally showed up, "What took you so long?"
"Sorry Shack, they messed up the gallery pretty good."
"Would have been a lot worse if not for these two" said Shack.
The medi-witch had her wand out and scanning before he'd finished speaking, "Overexertion and magical exhaustion" she diagnosed.
"Little surprise" said Shack, "It took my strongest monster just to finish it. And it was already down four out of five heads."
The medi-witch barely noted what the auror said as her examination of the boy brought a startling revelation, "Shack, do you know who this is?"
He did, "You were on the outside team I take it. Everyone watching the last duel found out who he was."
"Well, yeah, I mean, it's just," she babbled, "I used to read my nieces stories about him but I never thought they were true."
"Probly weren't" truth was much stranger than fiction after all, "fangirl later. Now's the time to do your job."
Chastised, the medi-witch went about her duty, preparing the two wizards for transport to St Mungo's. At the same time in the back of her mind she was rehearsing the story she planned to tell all her mates at the pub later.