Harry Potter and the Power of the Past
Disclaimer: All JKR's, not mine.
Summary: This is a complete AU- Harry Potter is a 21-year-old wizard, who's on top of the world. He's rich, in love, and loved by all, but his life is turned upside down as a spiral of events leads to the ultimate battle between good and evil. Can Harry lead the fight for the light, but yet manage to keep his life together?
A/N: Thanks for the reviews everybody. Oh, and review again!
S/N: Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
S/N 2: Well, it's coming to an end. This is a set up chapter, and by my count, there should only be another three chapters left in the story, with perhaps a few chapters afterwards to serve as an epilogue. Just so you know, everything that is to come is hidden within this chapter and the next one, see if you can figure it out.
Chapter 34: Doom…
Immediately, they all ran to the downed wizard, each with nothing but worry lining their faces. Tonks dropped to her knees and rolled Harry onto his back, lifting the wizard's head gently onto her lap. "Harry, hunny, wake up." She whispered, rubbing his cheek with her left hand as tears rushed to her eyes, begging to be let go. Her gaze shifted over to Hermione, who was lifting up Harry's shirt, inspecting the wound that he had been gripping: it was black, and was slowly moving up and down his body. At the moment, it was about the size of a cantaloupe, but it would grow, and when it did, when it reached his vital organs, he'd surely be dead.
Hermione knew she had to act quickly: she flicked her wand out and cut Harry's shirt off of him, allowing everyone to see the wound, which resulted in an audible gasp. "Go and get the vial he mentioned, Sirius!" She barked, and the wizard ran to the floo and disappeared in a torrent of green flames a second later.
Upon reaching Harry's fireplace, Sirius sprinted as fast as he could to the workshop, skidding to a halt in front of the bookshelf. Seeing the parseltongue book, he pulled on its spine and opened the secret door that was behind the bookshelf. Very few people knew about this room, only around five or six, and even fewer people knew about the other rooms that were hidden; in order for those rooms to be opened, different books had to be pulled, a clever charm that granted a lot of security to Harry's secrets. Sirius quickly scanned the table as he searched for the gold vial, and then moved over to the shelves: it wasn't there. He checked by some potion ingredients that were in a canvas bag that Harry had just bought, but there was no gold potion within. He desperately rummaged through the drawers of the desk, hoping that it was somewhere within them: again, nothing.
Cursing to the heavens, Sirius ran back to the fireplace and flooed back to Grimmauld Place. "It wasn't there!" He breathlessly said, speculating if Harry was delirious or had just mistaken where he had put the vial.
Hermione was still working on Harry, trying all the magic that she knew to stop the wound from moving; her wealth of knowledge, however, was quickly running dry. She ran her wand over Harry's body again, muttering incantations all the while, fighting the curse with whatever spells she thought would work. "The Condicto Cocktail," she said, keeping her attention fully on the wound. "Is something I don't know how…I can't make it."
Sirius gulped down the lump that was in his throat, the realization of the fact that not only could he not make the potion but he hadn't even heard about it before that point, quickly consuming him. "Can either of you?" Sirius questioned, whirling around and staring at Bill and George. Both the Weasleys shook their head slowly, glancing down at Harry's body, wondering what was going to happen to their friend.
"Sirius, floo call Snape, get him to make it." Tonks cried, holding Harry's head in her lap. If neither Sirius nor Hermione could make it, then surely Snape—who was one of the best in the world when it came to potions—could. Sirius' eyes went wide with disgust, and he began to shake his head, but he stopped as Tonks' voice rang out through the air. "What's more important, you're pride or Harry's life?" She screamed, looking at him with her angry and worried eyes. Hermione shivered at the loudness that penetrated her ears, but continued to swish her wand above Harry's wound.
With a fire in his stomach and his hatred for Snape released for the moment, Sirius jetted over to the fireplace, threw the green floo powder into the fire and called out "Snape's office." Appearing in the darkened stone room, his eyes roamed about, searching for the office's owner. Sitting at his desk was the longhaired, sallow, bat-like wizard, who was one of the best potion makers in the world and possibly Harry's only hope. "Severus," Sirius said, his worry masking the hatred that he felt for the man.
"Black, what do you want?" Snape replied, looking down at Sirius with nothing but contempt; the same emotions would be written on Sirius' face if not for Harry's predicament.
"I…I need you to make the Condicto Cocktail, please." Sirius said, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Why should I?" Snape scowled, rising to his feet and walking closer to the fire.
"Please, Severus, it's not for me…it's for Harry. He'll die if you don't." Sirius replied, worrying that he, with his actions to Snape in the past, would indirectly and unknowingly kill Harry. If that had happened and Harry had actually died, he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself.
"Potter needs it?" Snape questioned, his eyes wide with what seemed to be panic. Lily, he thought to himself, remembering the promise that he had made to her and Dumbledore all those years ago. "Fine," He growled, taking hold of his emotions and not letting Sirius see them. "It'll be an hour or two before it's finished, so make sure you have someone who's competent stop whatever curse he's been infected with from expanding or infecting him any further." He smirked as Sirius' eyes narrowed at the insult that he threw at him and then turned back to his desk.
Making sure to bite back his pride, Sirius said, "Thank you." He disappeared from the flames a second later, allowing Snape his privacy. The wizard looked around his office, trying to gather everything that he would need for that difficult potion. The Condicto Cocktail was a potion that could settle a bodily curse to the point where it was stagnate, and, if the wizard was strong enough, erase the curse all together. Not many could make it, and not many would even think about giving it to a patient, for it wasn't only difficult to make—and the ingredients were hard to get—but it could very well kill the person who took it if they were too weak. Potter, he knew, was anything but weak, having been blessed with magical reserves more than most could comprehend. After he checked over everything, he left his office in a hurry and headed over to his private store-cupboard that was down the hall from his chambers, hoping that he had the full list of ingredients.
"Is whatever you're doing working, Hermione?" Bill questioned, whispering into the witch's ear. Harry had been moved into Regulus' old bedroom, and was now occupying the freshly made bed; Tonks sat in a chair by his side, gently stroking the top of his left hand. George, Sirius, Andromeda, and Ted stood off to the side, looking at Harry with worried eyes.
"Honestly?" Hermione replied, lowly, hoping that Tonks wouldn't overhear her. "That was a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it might be all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in that one spot for the time being, but…" She frowned, allowing Bill to finish off her sentence however he wanted to. She had never even heard of this 'Condicto Cocktail,' and as such, she had no idea what it could or would do to help him.
"We told him breaking into Gringotts was impossible." George muttered darkly, hating how, with all his cleverness and wit, he was as helpless as a school child. "He must have failed."
"Harry doesn't fail." Sirius snapped, striding over to the table that they had laid Harry's possessions on: there was a small bag, his wand, his invisibility cloak, and his broom. He grabbed the bag, opened it up, and looked into its depths. Reaching in, his hand wrapped around a metal object, and he immediately pulled it out, allowing it's golden glint to light the room. "What the…" Sirius whispered, studying the object for a brief moment, before he noticed the badger that was engraved into the gold. "He did it! This is what he was going in for: Hufflepuff's Goblet." He exclaimed, a large smile coming onto his face, happy that Harry's suffering wasn't in vain.
"How do you know?" Hermione questioned, looking at Sirius with a frown. Did Harry tell Sirius what it was that he has been doing these last few weeks? Did he trust him more than he trusted her?
Sirius glanced at her nervously, and then shrugged, coming up with a story quickly. "I talked to him last night, asked him just what it was that he was going for. And he said that he was specifically going for Hufflepuff's goblet." Hermione looked at him, not really believing what he said, but didn't say anything more. There was a loud noise that came from the floor below, as if someone was yelling out something. Cocking an eyebrow, Sirius threw open the door and tried to listen in.
"Someone tried to rob Gringotts!" A voice screamed, Sirius recognizing it as Neville Longbottom's. He left the room to investigate what the wizard knew, with George, Bill, Hermione following behind him, leaving Andromeda, Ted, and Tonks alone with Harry.
"I'm scared, mom." Tonks cried, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief that Ted had given to her. They were puffy and red as they stared down at her husband, who by now was sweating profusely and convulsing every so often, clearly fighting for his life. That black mark looked as if it was burning deeper and deeper into his skin, though, due to Hermione's magic, it was staying exactly where it was. "He's always been so powerful, so strong, it's…it's disturbing seeing him like this."
"He is strong, hunny." Andromeda said softly, moving over to sit beside her daughter. She pulled her into a tight hug, pushing a few strands of Tonks' pink hair behind the woman's ear. "He'll get through this; he'll come back to you." Ted nodded from where he was standing, silently agreeing with his wife. If anyone could survive this it would be Harry Potter, the only person in the world who had survived the Killing Curse.
"What's all this racket about?" Sirius grunted, coming into the kitchen where Neville, Despereaux Barnaud and Hestia Jones were sitting. He rarely saw Hestia anymore, besides Order meetings, because Remus was too busy with both Hogwarts and keeping the werewolves from entering Voldemort's services that Hestia never came by during her free time to spend time with Remus. Instead, she spent most of her time with Sirius' lover and her best friend, as well as Order member herself, Emmeline Vance.
"Someone broke into Gringotts just a half an hour ago. I was there," Neville said, his eyes wide with alarm. "The goblins kept us there for all this time, preventing me from coming here straight away. Do you think it was You-Know-Who?" Then, not waiting for an answer, he continued, "They didn't get anything though, the goblins said they tried to break in but was stopped by the curses and wards that are on the vaults."
"Did they say what vault the person tried to break in to?" Bill questioned, wondering if Harry truly succeeded or not. Sirius said he did, but he questioned the validity of it and whether the man was just saying that to raise people's spirits.
"Vault…vault 223, I think." Neville replied, trying to remember what it was the goblins had said. "Yeah, vault 223, that was it."
"223?" Bill said, unable to stop the laughter that was welling up inside him. "223? The git actually wanted the goblins to know he tried to break in. I assume he didn't actually want them to know the real vault that he burgled, so he did something to the wards of vault 223 as he left." Half of the people in the room looked at Bill confusedly, not knowing what it was he was talking about, as they had no idea that it was Harry who had broken into Gringotts. "Clever."
"Hermione!" A voice from the second floor cut through the air. The male voice belonged to Ted Tonks, who stood at the top of the stairs, calling for the muggleborn witch to come back up into the room. "Come quick." Hermione swiftly bolted from the kitchen, heading straight for the stairs, where she saw Ted looking down at her. Everyone else in the room, except for Sirius, had run at Ted's voice, as well, while Sirius ran off the other way towards the fireplace. "He's woken up, he's mumbling something. He called for you." He supplied for her, turning and running into Regulus' old room.
Hermione quickly skidded to the halt upon reaching the room: Neville, Despereaux, George, Bill, and Hestia coming into the room a second later. "What's happened to Harry?" Neville questioned, gasping at the condition his friend was in. Harry was pale and sweaty, and his body was seemingly running a fever. "What happened? Was it Death Eaters? Did they do this to him?"
"It's complicated, Neville." George replied, hoping that he wouldn't have to answer any more questions; after all, coming up with an answer would be much too difficult at a time like this, what with Harry's life on the line. Seeing he wouldn't get answers, Neville's gaze went back to Harry, who had just yelped in pain like a dog would after stepping on its tail.
"Verweilen Subsido counter-jinx." Harry coughed out with his eyes closed and his back arched. Even to a blind dementor, his pain could be visibly seen; it was so intense that, if you concentrated, it was almost palpable. "It's the only way to prevent it from moving any longer. It's overpowering everything else you've tried." Sure enough, the blackened and burned wound, which was once the size of a cantaloupe, was now expanding outwards: slowly, but noticeably. Harry screamed out in excruciating pain again, gripping the wound as it moved towards the left side of his chest, inching closer and closer to his heart. "AHHHH!" He yelled as he twisted and rolled in the bed, all the while being attacked by the powerful magic that had entered his body.
"Oh, Merlin," Tonks cried, spinning her back to her husband, unable to watch him writhe around in pain. She felt an arm wrap around her, and she turned, crying into the person's shoulder, not knowing or caring whom it was. Her father wrapped his arms around her tighter, calming her down with soft strokes to her hair.
Hermione rushed over to Harry, trying to remember the wand movements for the Subsido counter-jinx. Letting out a deep breath, she moved her wand about, and said, "Verwesido." That, however, just seemed to make the pain worse as Harry let out a louder and even more primal scream of agony. Bill, knowing the anti-jinx, moved closer to Harry, seeing if there was anyway he could help or anything that he could do.
Then, as if hearing Harry's screams, Cedric ran into the room, appearing out of nowhere. He pushed Bill and Hermione out of the way, taking out his wand and flicking it towards the wound. "Palus." He recited, kneeling down next to Harry. Holding his wand point to the wound, in the middle of it specifically, he muttered, "Certo Vista." That seemed to do the trick as Harry calmed down a bit, his screaming having stopped for at least the time being. Cedric rose to his feet, and then turned and looked at the occupants of the room, Sirius having arrived when he was tending to Harry. "What in Merlin's name caused him this? Did he tell you what it was? And," He rounded on Sirius, looking at him with an intensely angered gaze. "Why didn't you call me sooner?" Admittedly, he was busy at work, but he would have dropped everything in an instant to help or protect Harry, his best friend.
"It's the Igneus Animus Ardens curse." Snape supplied, strolling into the room with his black robes billowing behind him. He gave Sirius a smug look as he passed him, reveling in the fact that the man was useless in the situation. "It's arcane, goblin created, and extremely powerful."
"What does it do? What's wrong with him?" Ted questioned, not knowing anything about that curse. By the looks of everyone's faces, the only other person besides Snape who knew about it was Sirius, and he himself didn't look too thrilled that that was the curse Harry was fighting.
"It's probably burning his soul." Snape shrugged, as if he didn't care either way, though the way he was looking at Harry betrayed his seeming indifference. "Move away." He ordered, taking out a chalice of golden liquid that somehow hadn't spilt in his pockets. The liquid was so bright that if one would look at it for a few seconds, they'd have golden disks in their vision for a couple of days. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to Harry, he tilted the cocktail into the wizard's mouth and down his throat. "You're usually supposed to do anti-jinxes while feeding someone this, but Granger and Diggory have already done all of the ones that I know of, it seems. If this works, and it most likely will, the black wound should contract within five minutes time and his own magic will do the rest."
"Verwesido," Cedric whispered into Hermione's ear. "You did well with that anti-jinx. I can see you're frazzled, but that probably saved his life; the reason he was screaming like that was because of the direction it was moving towards, not because you did something wrong."
"If I didn't do anything wrong, then how come you had to come and do your magic?" Hermione snapped, clearly taking her failure to heart; her incompetence could cost a good friend his life. She didn't know if she could take another death of a friend in this war, having already lost Roger.
"Precaution." Cedric shrugged, though it was half-heartedly. He didn't know what she was doing before he got there, which prevented him from further soothing her nerves. "I've heard about this curse, Hermione, and he should have been dead already. You saved him, you know that, right?"
"Maybe." Hermione whispered, looking down at the floor. Cedric opened and closed his mouth a few times to say something but couldn't decide on what, so he turned his attention back to Snape instead. Snape was still forcing Harry to drink the cocktail, and after another minute, Harry finished the last of the potion. After that, Snape placed the cup down on the nightstand, rose to his feet, and left the room without saying a word; not needing or wanting a thank you, it seemed.
They all waited with bated breaths for Harry to wake up, and as the clock ticked down, many in the room began to lose hope. Five minutes passed and still nothing had happened, the room was silent other than the soft whimpering of Tonks. Then, as the minutes neared ten, a pulse seemed to emanate from the black wound, and it slowly reeled back, leaving what was once blackened skin bright red. While the black wound retreated, Harry's color began to come back to him and his temperature subdued; he began to stir in his bed, as well. Tonks gave out a relieved sigh, hugging her father, and skipping over to Harry's side, intent on being the first person the wizard would see upon awakening.
She stood in anticipation as she waited to see if he would open his eyes or if he was still in too much pain to. After a few minutes had passed, he awoke with a moan, his eyes bloodshot and tired looking. "Harry!" Tonks jumped towards him and wrapped him up in her arms, relief written all over her heart-shaped face.
"Stop." Sirius suddenly exclaimed, noticing Harry was still a little woozy. "Harry is there anything else we need to do for you? Will you be okay?" He questioned, knowing that Harry might only be conscious and cognizant for a short while.
"Invigorating potion." Harry mumbled, his voice crackling as he spoke. "My body will…need energy…it needs to fight off the curse the rest of the way."
They all looked around at each other, no one moving or doing anything. "Someone go get it, buy it, brew it, do whatever you have to do to get it." Ted Tonks ordered after he saw no one was taking the initiative.
Neville nodded dumbly and rushed out of the room, nearly knocking over Tracey Davis when the woman came to see what the commotion was about. She gasped when she saw the state that Harry was in, her face horrorstruck. "What happened?"
"He got attacked by a few Death Eaters." Sirius said, loudly enough for the whole room to hear. He didn't want to have to answer everyone's question individually, fearing that he would start to contradict himself after awhile; instead he hoped this would placate all of their curiosity. He noticed Regulus had pushed out the troll that was in the picture across from his old bed so he could view Harry's situation for himself. He gave his brother a slight nod when he saw that he had Sirius' attention, telling him everything would be okay in his silent way. Phineas Nigellus came into the picture just then and after whispering a few words with Regulus, he quickly rushed back to his other frame, presumably to tell the portrait of Dumbledore what had happened.
Harry gingerly reached for the wand that was on the nightstand, recognizing it as his own, but stopped when Cedric grabbed his hand. "Whoa, don't move Harry, just tell me what you need." Cedric questioned, preventing Harry from moving by pushing him back down onto the bed. "A spell?"
Harry nodded, and then using his finger to simulate a wand, he made the letter 'S' in the air, showing them what movement they needed to make. "On the wound, say 'Emendo.'"
Tonks was nearest to his wound, so she was the one to say the spell. She put her wand tip up to his abdomen, and while the black wound had disappeared, the section was still red and very hot to the touch. She made the wand movements that Harry demonstrated, and quietly muttered, "Emendo." The spell seemed to work for what it was supposed to do, as Harry laid back with his eyes close, clearly relieved of some of his pain. The wound, however, had little to no improvement from the looks of it, except for perhaps becoming a little cooler than it was, though it was still very much hot.
Despereaux Barnaud inched over to Tracey, giving her a slight elbow to the arm when he was finally next to her. "Hi." He said, flashing her a small smile that seemed out of place given the circumstances.
"Hi, Despereaux." Tracey replied, a mixture of both happiness and worry on her face and in her voice. Her gaze moved over to Despereaux for a second, before returning back to Harry on the bed.
"He'll be okay." Despereaux consoled her, seeing that she was upset.
"I hope so, but it's not that." Tracey said, turning and walking out of the room. She knew Despereaux was behind her, so she continued to say what was on her mind, needing to talk to someone. "I'm fearful to talk about it because I know its so selfish and petty in comparison to what he's going through, but I see him there, halfway to death, and just realize how much I miss having someone. We dated for close to two years in Hogwarts, you know? Heck, if I didn't get dragon pox and break it off with him to prevent him from catching them himself, we might have married one another; though, I doubt it, he never looked at me with the same affection that he looks at Tonks with." She saw Despereaux's crestfallen face, she quickly explained herself. "No, no, its not like that, I'm not jealous of Tonks or anything, I don't love Harry like that anymore. I'm just lonely, that's all, to be quite honest. Other than my best friend Daphne, I don't really have anyone. My brother is a traitor who tried to kill Harry, my parents agree with Voldemort's principles of blood supremacy for the most part, and no other member of my family is alive."
"Well," Despereaux started slowly, making sure he chose his words wisely. Having a father who was a Death Eater, he could really relate to her troubles and he figured that's what was drawing him to her; besides the fact that he was attracted to her, of course. He ran his eyes over her face, and noticed that she didn't have the signs of a previous dragon pox infection, such as pockmarks or a green tinge to the skin color; it seemed as if she was normal, which made him question the validity of her statement, but he did not voice that question. "If you ever need to talk or something, you can always come to me. I know we really don't know each other that well yet, but…" He drifted off, allowing her to finish it off how she wanted to.
"I'll take you up on that sometime." Tracey smiled, giving him a hug. "I have to go see Daphne, can you please let me know if something happens to Harry?"
"Sure, but he'll be fine." Despereaux replied, waving to her. She returned the wave and walked down the stairs, exiting the house into the streets of London a few seconds later. Despereaux returned to the room Harry was in, wondering where his good friend Neville was with that invigorating potion that Ted had sent him to get.
A half an hour later, Harry had just taken a small vial of invigorating potion that Neville had purchased from the apothecary in Diagon Alley. The effects were immediate as it made Harry a lot more awake, his eyes losing their redness as well. "I wonder what happened to that Condicto Cocktail that was in my work room, I know I had one more left up there. Are you sure you looked in the right room, Sirius?" Harry questioned, rubbing his wound as he played around it with his wand. Sirius had relayed everything that had transpired since he passed out on the first floor, and now Harry was trying to figure out just where that cocktail potion went.
"We'll talk about it later, but I'm pretty sure, yeah." Sirius answered, not really worrying about it. "Just do what you have to do to get better, we all know the invigorating potion hasn't healed you, it's just made you stronger."
"There's really nothing I can do, though." Harry sighed. "The Condicto Cocktail makes it so if you're magic is strong enough to heal you from the curse you were infected with, you will survive. If its not, you'll die, it's really as simple as that. All I can do is just help heal the physical wound that the curse inflicted, that's about it. We should know by tomorrow if my magic is strong enough or not."
"Well, if that's the case," Tonks said, grabbing Harry's wand from his hand. "You shouldn't be playing with this."
Harry pouted for a second, before giving a huff and laying down in his bed. "I guess you're right." His eyes flicked over to Hermione, who was aimlessly staring out of the window and looking up at the gray sky above. "Thank you, Hermione, you really came through for me today. While I wasn't conscious most of the time, I could feel the magic that you were using and it was good."
"All I did was make you hurt even more, don't thank me." Hermione replied, turning around and walking over to him.
"That's the point of the spell, Hermione." Harry told her, sitting back up in the bed. "It stops the curse from moving, and turns it against itself; it fights itself rather than the person's body. Pain is the key, because without it, it means the anti-jinx wasn't performed properly."
"I'm just glad that you're all right, Harry." Hermione murmured through her tears, changing the subject. "I'm going to go spell Viktor, I'm sure he'll want to come and make sure you're okay."
"Thank you, Hermione." Harry said again, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I mean it."
She gave him a smile, and bent down and kissed his forehead. "Feel better."
"I will." He replied, watching as she walked out of the room. Harry yawned and moved further down into the bed, getting more comfortable.
"Come on, everybody out." Tonks ordered, ushering all the occupants of the room to the door. "Harry needs his sleep if he wants to get better." They all agreed, and after giving him their wishes for him to improve, they all departed, leaving Harry and Tonks alone in the room. When Tonks turned back around to face Harry after closing the door, she couldn't help but smile as she saw Harry already fast asleep. She made a move to the chair that was next to the bed, but before she was even able to take a step, there was a soft knock on the door, forcing her to turn back around to open it.
"Severus told me about Harry." Remus Lupin said quietly; his face was scratched and he looked older than the last time Tonks had seen him just a few days before. "Is he all right?"
"He's okay," Tonks said, opening the door a little wider so Remus could see Harry's sleeping form. "He's sleeping now, though."
"Oh," Remus murmured in a tone mixed with disappointment and understanding. "I'll come back later then."
"Harry would like that." Tonks replied, then, adding, "Are you okay, Remus?"
"I was at a werewolf camp and had a run-in with my good friend Greyback," Remus growled with hate-filled eyes. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me."
"Good, I just wanted to make sure." Tonks smiled. "I'll see you later."
"See you." Remus said, before turning and heading down the stairway into the main hallway of the house. Tonks took a seat next to the bed, her gaze firmly fixed on Harry's breathing chest; it rose and fell steadily, a fact telling her that he was okay, that he was alive and safe. Truth be told, she was scared witless when she saw him before, so weak and in so much pain. She understood that he was still in pain, but this was different: this pain wasn't pushing him towards the threshold of death. She didn't know how long she watched him sleep, but she fell asleep herself soon after that, exhausted by the stress that the day brought on her.
Five hours later, Harry had just woken up from his nap when there was a knock on the door. Tonks jumped up from her chair, thinking it was Remus, and opened the door with a grin. She was surprised that Sirius was standing on the other side of the door, instead of the werewolf that she expected. "Is he awake?" He questioned her, hoping that his godson would be able to talk.
"Sure is." Tonks replied, shuffling to the side and allowing Sirius into the room.
"Hey there, tiger." Sirius said, walking over to the foot of Harry's bed. Tonks walked around to the other side of the bed, leaving the door open for visitors to come in and check on Harry if they wanted to.
"Padfoot," Harry smiled, glad to have someone else to talk to; he hated looking at Tonks, knowing that he had put her through so much emotional pain before. "I do have a nickname like yours, you know. Its Snowpaw."
"Snowpaw?" Sirius cocked an amused eyebrow. "Snowpaw? That's clever."
"Thank you," Harry puffed his chest out in pride. "It was either that or Whitefang."
"Isn't that a muggle book?" Sirius asked, recognizing that name from somewhere.
"Yes, but I didn't know you could read." Harry laughed.
"I'm guessing you're okay since your sense of humor has clearly returned." Sirius questioned, suddenly turning serious. He was really scared for Harry's life before, and didn't like to see him hurt or in pain like he was in. "You had us worried there for a bit."
"Yeah, I should have been more prepared and had made sure there was a Condicto Cocktail where I told you it would be. Its my fault, really." Harry answered, his gaze moving to Tonks.
"Nonsense." Sirius replied, shaking his head. He paused for a second, and looked out the window, the lights from the city enthralling him with their beauty. "I guess I should read up on my anti-curses and anti-jinxes." Sirius laughed, though there was no joy in his tone. "I was at a loss of what to do for you, if it weren't for Cedric and Hermione, I'm afraid…well, you know."
"Sirius, you're the smartest and one of the most powerful wizards I know, you knew what to do, you were just worried, that's all. And, was it not you who got in touch with Cedric?" Harry replied, knowing what he was saying was the truth. "Plus, I think being in Azkaban for twenty years has really stunted your knowledge about magic because the spells that Cedric and Hermione were performing are rather new, some of them having been invented just over three years ago."
"When I was in Azkaban." Sirius nodded, understanding. He went into the corner where an old blanket was thrown about, and he looked over to Harry. "Do you mind if I stay here?"
"Not at all." Harry said, grinning widely. It had been awhile since he had seen Sirius in his dog form, and truth be told, he missed just running around as an animal with him like they used to do before Voldemort returned.
"Goodbye Tonks," Sirius waved to the confused witch, who watched as Sirius transformed into a large black dog and plopped down onto the blanket.
"He's a dog!" Tonks exclaimed in excitement. "I was wondering what he was when I saw him transform when you both were fighting off those wolves, but since we were running as fast as we could, I couldn't really get a good look. I thought it was a bear because it was big and black, but the rest of them never knew you had transformed, they thought you were just fighting them with your wands."
"I can tell." Harry agreed, remembering that night with sadness: it was the night Dumbledore died. "After all, no one has come talked to me about being an animagus since that night."
"Don't worry," Tonks kissed the top of his head. "Everyone was too scared to look back and notice that you were a tiger. The cutest little tiger this world has ever seen, I might add." She finished with a wink, making Harry smile.
"Knock, knock." Hermione's voice came from the door; Viktor was standing behind her, peeking his head over her shoulder to look at Harry. "I have a visitor who's been wanting to see you."
"Viktor!" Harry exclaimed, motioning for them to come in.
"Hello Harry." Viktor replied in his Bulgarian accent. "Are you okay? Hermione said you were hurt, but she didn't tell me to vot extent."
"Well, that was probably for the best, you'd be worried if you actually knew." Harry answered, knowing how Viktor got. He studied Viktor a little closer, and for the first time, noticed his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in days. "Everything all right with you?"
The Bulgarian looked over to Hermione, who bit her lip in response. "Vot's with the dog?" Viktor inquired quickly, changing the subject as he looked over at Sirius with a questioning eyebrow.
"I borrowed him from a muggle friend of mine with the hopes that it helps Harry heal quicker." Tonks replied as she gave them an awkward smile, hoping that would suffice as an answer.
"What's wrong, Viktor?" Harry prodded, seeing the tension that had filled the room all of the sudden. "You're my best friend, you can tell me anything."
"Hope we're not interrupting." Cedric's voice came from the doorway before Viktor could answer. They all turned their attention to him, and waved both him and Gaetana, who was behind him, into the room. Both of them walked in after closing the door and immediately noticed the discomfort in the room, as if someone was about to reveal something but was stopped for some reason. "Did I say something?" Cedric questioned, his gaze moving around before stopping on Viktor, who was staring at the floor.
"It's been two weeks since Roger died." Viktor mumbled, though the entire room heard him clear as day. "I still feel that grief everyday; you don't haff to valk into the places you used to vork with him every single morning. You're not reminded of him every single time you go to vork like I am. I cannot do it, its too hard, too much. We had so much vork that we were doing together and now that burden is completely on me."
"You don't think we realize that it's been two weeks?" Harry snapped, but his tone wasn't angry. "Why do you think I risked my life and bloody broke into Gringotts so quickly? I want this damn war, this awful fight against Voldemort over and done with already. He's taken my parents, my grandfather, my unborn child, and my best friend, trust me, I feel grief everyday as well."
"I didn't mean to imply…I'm sorry." Viktor mumbled, tears welling up in his eyes. "Things are just changing so quickly." He looked over to Cedric, who was staring at the wall, shut off from the emotions that were inside of him.
"If you need help with the stores," Harry began, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. The feeling of malaise that was inside of him the past two weeks came flooding out, gripping his heart and mind with its frozen clutches. "I can help you or I'm sure Sirius would be more than happy to." He looked over to the black dog in the corner and gave a small smile when he saw it nodding and wagging its tail.
"No, this is my contribution to the fight. I haven't done much compared to all of you, I know, but this was Roger's and my way of helping out, by doing everything you would normally do if You Know Who vas not around." Viktor replied, adamant about keeping his responsibilities. "The Quidditch Store, the Owl Emporium, the apartment building, I take care of them all, and I'm glad to do it, I just miss him, that's all."
"All three of us do." Cedric whispered, breaking his silence that had started when Viktor had mentioned Roger's name. His anger had dissipated over the last two weeks, and now he was stricken with depression, tormented by his fond memories of Roger.
"Tell them." Hermione whispered in Viktor's ear, catching the attention of Tonks, who was standing right next to her.
"Tell us what?" She questioned, looking from Hermione to Viktor.
"Lisa came to us last night," Viktor said in a low tone. "She's pregnant."
Everyone's eyes went wide at the pronouncement, surprised and saddened by it. "Oh, no." Gaetana gasped, bringing her hand up to her mouth. While it was true that she didn't know Roger like the rest of them, she was still friends with him and felt awful for his daughter when he died, and now hearing that his wife was pregnant with another child, she felt even worse.
"When…when did she find out?" Tonks asked, her brown eyes floating over to Harry, who was silent on the matter, clearly startled and possibly hurt that neither he nor Cedric knew about it.
"I guess either yesterday or the day before." Hermione answered, rubbing Viktor's back in a circular motion.
"Is she scared?" Gaetana inquired, knowing that she would be scared if she were in a similar situation.
"She just misses him so much." Hermione replied, looking over to the witch. "Her parents moved in with her to help take care of Harmony and to make sure she doesn't seclude herself from the world. She's really depressed."
"She hates me." Harry said, quietly. "She blames me for getting him killed."
"When did she tell you this?" Cedric inquired, confused by why Lisa would have such thoughts. Harry would never, ever do anything that would risk Roger's safety; he cared about the man too much to do such a thing.
"After the funeral, when we were at the gathering." Harry replied with a shrug.
"When you vent over to talk to her?" Viktor questioned, and after seeing Harry nod his head, he added, "You are not to blame for Roger's death, Harry. She is just depressed, that's all."
"He should still be here." Cedric murmured with his eyes closed, his mind drifting off to an idea that he had. He gave out a long sigh, and then reached down and took Gaetana's hand in his. "Everything's changing so quickly. We have all lost something in this war, but I don't want to lose anymore of you." He looked over to Gaetana, giving her a smile, his confidence rising with every word that he said. "I think we should get married after all of this is over."
Tonks and Hermione both gasped at what he said, while Viktor and Harry both jolted their heads up from the floor to look at Cedric. "Are you serious?"
Cedric nodded, giving the silver-haired witch a small smirk. "I know we've just started together, but my best friends are here, your best friend is here, I felt that they should know my intentions."
Gaetana looked up into Cedric's eyes, searching for something it seemed like. She then ran her gaze over to Tonks, her best friend, who was smiling in anticipation and got the information that she needed. "You're on, Mr. Diggory." She said in her half-Italian, half-English accent.
The reaction in the room was immediate. The sadness that was almost palpable before was now gone, and in its place was hope, the hope that this war would be over soon and everyone could get back to their lives and finally be happy again. The girls went over to Gaetana and engulfed her in their arms, hugging her and offering her their congratulations. The guys, meanwhile, gathered around Harry as he was still in the bed, and hugged each other like brothers, internally thanking Cedric for giving them some happiness while their thoughts were on Roger, Lisa and their unborn child. Sirius barked from the corner, his tail wagging harder than ever before.
"When I'm better, we'll discuss how we can help Lisa." Harry whispered, and both Cedric and Viktor nodded in agreement. The group left to get a celebration dinner soon after that, leaving Harry and Tonks alone in the room with Sirius still in his dog form.
There was a soft tap at the window, and Harry turned his attention towards it, giving a small smile when he saw it was an osprey. Tonks went over and opened it, allowing the bird entrance into the room; the bird hopped into the room, and flew over to the bedpost and landed on it, using it as a perch. "Nymphie, do you think you can go get me a butterbeer, perhaps? Oh, and a piece of parchment and a quill, I have to write something to Kylie."
"Sure, Harry." Tonks grinned, a knowing look on her face. She quietly left the room and closed the door behind her, allowing Harry some privacy. Immediately, the osprey jumped off the perch and transformed into Kylie with a pop.
"I heard you were hurt." Kylie said, straightening out his clothes with his hands. He was wearing normal muggle clothes, jeans and a sweater, lacking the hood that he normally wore. "Though, I don't necessarily believe the story that Tracey told us. Attacked by Death Eaters? Who could possibly get the drop on you?" Sirius, from his spot in the corner, gave a bark, and Harry flinched in response.
"I forgot about him." Harry murmured, knowing that Sirius barked to remind Harry that he was still there.
"When did you get a dog?" Kylie cocked an eyebrow, having a suspicion that it was an animagus, though he did not voice it. He had always thought that Harry had wanted to become an animagus because someone he knew was one, but could never identify which person it was; he had thought it was Remus, but after finding out he was a werewolf, he eliminated him from contention.
"Never you mind." Harry waved it off. "I actually got cursed by Gringotts."
"Ha," Kylie grunted, a smile coming onto his face. "You were the one who broke in? I hope you got what you needed. Its all over the papers, the Prophet even released a new edition to cover it."
"I did, but my only question is does Voldemort know yet?" Harry asked, his voice and demeanor serious. If Voldemort did know, then his subterfuge and cover would be blown, and the Dark Lord would know that Harry had somehow gotten information about his Horcruxes. If that happened, it would only be a matter of time before Voldemort went searching for his Horcruxes and find out that almost all of them, barring Nagini, had been taken already.
"He's not in the country." Kylie replied, furrowing his brows. "He's off in Romania or something, searching for some wand maker."
Harry snorted at that, shaking his head slightly. "He's still looking for the Elder Wand?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Kylie shrugged, not being privy to that kind of information. "All I know is that Quirrell and Crouch are in charge for the time being." He ran his gaze over Harry's body, seeing if he could spot what was wrong. "You sure you're okay, right? Do you need me to do anything for you?"
Harry rolled his eyes, flattered that so many people were concerned about him. "I'm fine, stop worrying."
"Your wife is returning back upstairs, Harry." Regulus announced, coming back into the troll's picture for a moment. He gave Kylie a bow and smiled at his brother in dog form before leaving, allowing the troll to take his place once again.
"That's my cue." Kylie grinned, walking over to the window and opening it enough for him to fly out. "If you can, check your journal, I'll write any information that I get in it."
"Will do." Harry nodded. "See you."
"Bye." Kylie replied, and with a pop, turned into an osprey and flew out of the window.
"Not a word, Sirius." Harry said, sternly. The dark barked in response and laid back down onto the blanket.
Later that night, the Death Eaters were called into a meeting. Quirinus Quirrell and Barty Crouch, Jr, stood in the center of a large Death Eater circle, silently walking around them. Their wands were mockingly held in their hands as they stared at their comrades, matching smirks on their Azkaban-marked faces. "There is a rumor that one of our own attacked Harry Potter with a powerful curse sometime yesterday or today." Crouch began, his tone neutral. "Is there any truth to this?"
"Potter? Who did it! Who? HE IS MINE!" Bellatrix Lestrange screamed out madly, remembering the humiliation that the wizard had put her through by hitting her with that jinx. She had lost the ability to see color in her right eye, a lasting effect that magic could not repair.
"Don't kid yourself, Bella, Potter is our master's to kill, not yours. Plus," Quirrell grinned, looking at the black haired witch. "You are no longer of any importance to us and haven't been since Potter beat you, so why don't you run along now and let the grown-ups talk."
"You better watch your tongue, you filthy mudblood lover." Bellatrix sneered back, gripping her wand from under her cloak. She reached up and took off her bone mask, allowing everyone to see her face: she still was a good-looking woman, but a part of her face was marked in a light shade of pink, where the jinx that Harry had thrown at her had made contact.
"Mudblood lover?" Death Eaters questioned, as a murmur gripped the circle.
"Let me guess, you're referencing the fact that I taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts before moving over to Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Quirrell laughed. "Do you even know what I taught those students? I taught them what makes muggles so inferior to our kind. I groomed future Death Eaters, didn't I, Flint? Montague, I taught you as well, didn't I?"
"Yes sir." A Death Eater, who had one of the newer masks that were made out of silver, said, taking a step into the circle. "You made sure we understood that they were inferior to us in everyway, without arising the attention of Dumbledore. Really, it was a splendid job on your end."
"How many of you know that Quirrell and I are good friends?" Barty Crouch said, interrupting the argument that was taking place. A few people raised their hands, Severus Snape included. "I'm not surprised more of you don't know about it. We were in Ravenclaw together during Hogwarts; we were in the same year and in all of the same classes. We tortured mudbloods in the hallways, and we were good at hiding our tracks. When we left school, Quirinus wanted to travel the world but I said no, instead I devoted my services to our master. When I heard that he was in Azkaban, having joined the Dark Lord's forces, I was proud of my friend, so very proud. What I'm trying to say, and let me make this clear, Quirrell does not love mudbloods, Bellatrix is just misinformed."
"Misinformed?" Bellatrix snapped, unbridled rage rising in her stomach. "Was it not you who denied our master when we were being tried for torturing Longbottom and his miserable wife? Was it not you who begged for mercy from your blood traitor of a father? Was that not you?" She laughed as the memory of Crouch fearfully pleading like a sniveling coward for his father to have mercy on him popped into her head.
"I did those things because I am not a lunatic like you are, Bellatrix." Crouch retorted. "I saw an opportunity to get out of my punishment and go after our lord instead of wasting away in Azkaban. It might have worked, too, if you just learned to shut your mouth."
Bellatrix growled and moved to strike Crouch, but was stopped when her husband, Rodolphus, grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the circle. "You will get your chance," he whispered. "But now is not the time."
"Back to the point, who was it that attacked Potter?" Quirrell again questioned, looking around at every Death Eater.
Kylie leaned over to Snape, who was standing to his left, and in a low enough voice that no one else could hear him, he said, "One of us is going to have to take the blame."
Snape agreed, and took a step forward. "It was I, though I wasn't actually attacking him. I appeared in Knockturn Alley and an Auror threw a curse at me; Potter, who was there on his own business, just got in the way, or else I would have hurt him even worse."
"Very well." Crouch nodded. "Do we know anything about the Gringotts incident that happened a day ago?"
"It was a bewitched Auror." Snape said, again, tying both incidents into one. "He's the one that threw a curse at me; later on, I caught him snooping around, asking questions about our master, so Rosier and I put him under the Imperious Curse and told him to get himself killed by the goblins."
"Is this true, Rosier?" Quirrell barked at the older man, who looked at Snape and Kylie, and then gave a hesitant nod. "Why didn't you just kill him?"
"We wanted to torture him, sir, and what better way to do that then to have his own people throw him into Azkaban?" Rosier admitted. Then, gaining more courage, his voice got louder. "After all, how many of our kind have been thrown into those cells? How many of our kind have died fighting the battle that we all know is right and fair?"
"You two sure have been active." Crouch muttered, giving them an investigative glance.
"It was the same Auror that threw a curse at me." Snape replied, knowing that he had to say something. "I would not be active if he hadn't been nosey."
"Right," Quirrell replied. "Our master will be returning in a short time, a day or two from now we believe. In order to better serve him, we would like a progress report on all of your active missions. Macnair, you first, how are you and Greyback doing?"
"We are ready and waiting." A thin, cloaked Death Eater replied. "Greyback, as you know, is at our camp, keeping everything in line. That's why he isn't here tonight."
"So you are prepared to act straight away if need be, then?" Crouch asked, wanting reassurance from him. The Dark Lord ordered him to make sure everyone was prepared to attack at a moment's notice before he left, and Crouch would not fail in that task.
"Yes," Macnair nodded vigorously from under his hood. "I've gathered everything the Dark Lord has asked for, with a few additions by Quirrell's unique ability and of my own choosing."
"I wouldn't call my power to sway trolls unique, Macnair." Quirrell laughed, remembering the time he had used his persuasion over trolls during his days in Hogwarts as a teacher. "After all, anyone with halfway decent intelligence can seduce those boorish brutes."
Crouch rolled his eyes and moved onto the next Death Eater, not wanting to hear Quirrell gloat anymore. "And you, Yaxley, have you accomplished what you were told to do? You've had many months since your last success, Yaxley, or rather should I say since your son has had success. Speaking of which, where is young Carelton these days?"
Yaxley gulped down the ball that was in his throat, his eyes moving over to Rabastan Lestrange's masked face. His thoughts drifted back to the day where Rabastan told him to get his son hidden as soon as possible, advice that he had taken to heart. "He's visiting a friend in France, and as for my assignment, I have gotten a few officials under my spell, however, it will be a few days until I have someone of great importance."
"The Dark Lord will not be pleased." Quirrell scolded, shaking his head in a mocking fashion. "And the search for the coward Malfoys, any word? Crabbe and Goyle, you and your sons were assigned to that, were you not?"
Two large and round Death Eaters took a step forward on one side, while larger and rounder Death Eaters stepped forward on the other side of the circle. "Yes, sir." One of them said, coughing to clear his throat. "We have been unsuccessful thus far."
"Pansy Parkinson!" Crouch screamed out, turning around and staring at a small Death Eater with a feminine figure and a silver mask upon her face. "Draco was your boyfriend, was he not?"
"He was." Pansy answered quietly, disgraced by Draco's actions. She was willing to run with him, but he left her alone and now she was reaping the repercussions of that action. "I have no idea where he is, if that's what you are implying."
"No idea whatsoever?" Crouch cocked a threatening eyebrow.
"As I don't associate with traitors, again I tell you that I have no idea." She frowned underneath her mask. She was an average looking woman, neither beautiful nor ugly, but was quite cute when she smiled, something she rarely ever did anymore. While students in Hogwarts had made fun of her or mentioned her pug-like scrunched face in retaliation to whatever she had done to offend them, her facial features had changed by the time of her seventh year, taking away that insult from everyone who wanted revenge on her tormenting. Looking around the Death Eater circle, it was just then that she realized she was alone on her island, no one to turn to or go to, and that terrified her to no end. "I don't associate with traitors." She said again, this time more to herself than to anyone else.
Quirrell looked over to a group of Death Eaters, trying to remember whom it was that he had taught. "What about all of you who went to school with Draco? Warrington, Cornfoot, Flint, Montague, do you know where he is?"
"We were never his friends." They all replied in some form or another.
Crouch sighed, and after a moment's silence, he looked over to the Lestrange trio. "Bellatrix, they're your family, perhaps you're hiding them from us?"
Bellatrix's violet eyes flew open at that allegation; they were wide with rage. "Never! I will prune my family tree if need be in order to secure our loyalty and purity."
Crouch gave Quirrell a smile, both of them loving their power and their ability to get the other Death Eaters riled up. "My Azkaban comrades, you're still loyal, are you not?" Quirrell questioned, giving them all a pointed look.
"Aye!" The group yelled, clearly excited at the prospect of the death and violence that Crouch and Quirrell promised.
"Good," Quirrell nodded. "Do what you're assigned to do and meet here promptly tomorrow when we call." And with that, the meeting was over, and many of the Death Eaters disapparated, while a few stayed around to chat with their friends or acquaintances.
Three such people were Kylie, Snape, and Rosier, who were all walking over to one another, making sure to stay far enough away from the rest to make sure they were not overheard. "You could have told me what you were doing before you threw me into the wolf den like that." Rosier said when they got to a spot that was far enough away.
Kylie, from underneath his Death Eater garment, pointed over to Snape. "It was his idea, he said he wanted to test your worth."
"What if I screwed up?" Rosier questioned, internally wondering if they had intended him to fail or not.
"It would have been your problem, not mine." Snape drawled apathetically, truly not caring about what would have happened to the old man. He looked at Rosier's eyes from underneath his hood, trying to infiltrate his mind with Legilimency. While he was unimpressed with the older man's mental defenses, he knew that they would suffice since Voldemort would not question his loyalty as much as he would newer Death Eaters; after all, Rosier had been apart of Tom Riddle's gang way back in Hogwarts, one of the only people who knew the Dark Lord before he was infamously known as Voldemort. "You're doing this for Evan?"
"Why else would I risk my life?" Rosier snapped at the mention of his dead son. "He was everything to me and he died needlessly in a stupid war for a stupid cause."
"I liked Evan, he was my friend in Hogwarts." Snape mentioned, remembering how he and Evan would discuss dark magic during their years at Hogwarts; he was an above average wizard and had some potential that was unable to be tapped due to his death.
"Yes, I remember, though I don't believe either of you considered your relationship as a friendship." Rosier replied, smiling at the happy thoughts of his son.
"Snape doesn't have friends." Kylie murmured, before getting thrown a scowl by Snape, who then turned and walked out of the room. Kylie looked over to Rosier before shrugging and apparating away, leaving Rosier alone with the rest of the Death Eaters.
At twilight the next night, the Death Eaters attacked the quidditch match between the Holyhead Harpies and the Appleby Arrows that was being played. While the stadium was not filled to capacity—it never was anymore with the Dark Lord around—there were enough attendees to cause a stir, and the Death Eaters exploited it. They alit the wooden stands up in orange flames, while they attacked the panicking pedestrians with jinxes and curses. The three poles that stood on one side of the quidditch pitch were destroyed with a few well-placed spells, completely shattering before they even hit the ground. Just as the fire consumed the entire stadium, Aurors and Hit Wizards arrived, followed closely by the Order of the Phoenix.
Cedric was leading the Order into battle in Harry's stead since he was still cooped up in bed. The Death Eaters were outnumbered for the most part, but unlike other raids where they would retreat, they decided to stand their ground and fight. Cedric was dueling Quirrell individually, while Hermione and Viktor dueled Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, creating a weird double date. After nearly fifteen minutes, the battle was not going the Death Eater's way, as many of their numbers began to fall be it by injury or being stunned. That changed, however, with the arrival of the Dark Lord, who immediately gave them the upper hand.
"He's here, Neville." Despereaux fearfully grunted, watching as a figure walked towards them, not a hundred feet away. He sent a few Aurors that were in his way flying into the air with nothing but a flick of his wand. "He'll mow everyone over, we can't stop him. We'll be dead before we even brace ourselves to fight. Even Harry can barely take him."
"And Harry was trained and tutored by Dumbledore personally, specifically to fight him." Neville mumbled, fear rising in his stomach. He had only seen Voldemort duel once against Harry, and even then, Harry was clearly fighting a defensive battle, somewhat overmatched. If Harry is overmatched, Neville gulped, then how can I possible be able to last a minute against the Dark Lord? Out of nowhere and with barely an audible pop, an aged figure apparated in front of the two. His gray cloak was flailing in the wind and he held his wand in his left hand.
"Leave him to me." The man said, hoarsely. Without another word, he headed straight for Voldemort, his stride easy and his wand by his side, seemingly confident that he would not only survive but also thrive in the encounter. Nearing Voldemort's oncoming form, he stopped and stood there, readying himself for battle. Voldemort continued his march, reaching the aged wizard after a minute or two, pausing just twenty feet away from him.
"You want to fight, old man?" Voldemort mocked, flipping his wand in his hand like a person would a baton. The man was thin, and looked almost decrepit, though he did have a wild look about him that made him seem quite dangerous. His brown eyes gleamed in some emotion, though Voldemort couldn't distinguish what it was exactly.
"Old man?" The aged man said, affronted: he didn't think he was that old. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" He raised his wand to his chest, wanting to be prepared for any attack that came. After all, he was over a hundred, and his reflexes weren't what they used to be.
"I neither know nor care." Voldemort sneered, wondering why this wizard, a wizard who looked barely better than a muggle, could possibly have so much confidence. He flicked his wand, sending a sickly green beam at him: the spell known as the Killing Curse.
Expertly, the aged wizard both dodged the curse and summoned up fiery cords that raced towards Voldemort in one swift motion. Voldemort conjured a shield, and the cords clanged off of the metal loudly, dropping to the ground where they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before Voldemort knew it, however, the old man had sent another attack, this time a beast made completely of flame that rushed towards the Dark Lord, its mouth wide open and ready to consume him. Voldemort swished his wand high into the air, and there was a loud gunshot-like noise, and the fire-beast was transfigured into glass, which was then blasted apart, sending shrapnel each everyway.
The glass flew towards the aged wizard, and he swiftly twirled his wand, transfiguring the glass that neared him into sand, which crumpled to the ground, being blown away by the wind. The aged wizard sent a Killing Curse, having no qualms about the Dark Arts, at Voldemort, who apparated away with a swirl of his cloak, allowing the curse to hit the ground, harmlessly. The aged wizard studied the area with his brown eyes, scanning it, waiting for the Dark Lord to reappear. Sure enough, with a burst of red light, Voldemort apparated in, immediately sending a curse at the duelist. The aged wizard flicked his wand and a brown orb-like sphere of energy came flying out, colliding into the red curse of Voldemort; they bounced away from each other, with one smashing a nearby boulder to pieces.
They both circled around, their wands held firmly in their hands and their eyes staring at each other. Then, running up towards them, Cedric, Hermione and Sirius came and surrounded the Dark Lord. Voldemort, seeing that the number of Death Eaters had fallen, ordered them all to leave, allowing them to disapparate away and leave their master alone. He flashed the aged wizard a scowl, and before the Order could descend upon him with their magic, he apparated away, retreating to fight another day.
The Order members gathered around the old man, giving him a curious gaze, not recognizing who he was. Without saying a word, the old man left, disapparating with barely a pop. Hermione furrowed her brows, trying to remember where she had seen him; she remembered something, something to do with Harry, but didn't know what it was exactly. Cedric, too, was deep in thought, knowing that he had seen that man before. Aberforth Dumbledore, he questioned to himself, wondering if it was Dumbledore's brother. He shook his head and apparated away, wanting to get back to Headquarters to tell Harry what had happened.
AN: The etymology of the spells of my own creations-
Verweilen Subsido counter-jinx: Verweilen, which is German for "stay," and Subsido, which is Latin for "remain or subside." What it does is it basically forces a jinx or curse that has infect somebody to stop working for a short period of time.
Palus: Palus, which is "stay" in Latin, and basically stops any magicks within someone's body, it's used specifically in conjunction with the Condicto Cocktail.
Igneus Animus Ardens curse: Igneus, which is Latin for "fiery," Animus, which is Latin for "courage," and Ardens, which is Latin for "burning." Its goblin created and incredibly powerful; it attacks somebody's magic, turning it against that person. The more the person fights the curse, the hotter the person gets, basically burning them from the inside out.
Certo Vista: Certo, which is Italian for "safe or sure," and Vista, which is English for "prospect." It is used AFTER spells have already been used and searches for the best spell that has been used on the person, eliminates all the rest, and enhances the best one. It's kind of like a computer anti-virus that shuts down everything in your computer, preventing you from basically doing anything.
AN: Here is a list of Death Eaters and Order members again, in case you were interested or have forgotten. The Death Eaters are listed in terms of rank, with the highest at the beginning and the lowest at the end. Remember, these are the Death Eaters with the Dark Mark, as there are others who do not have the mark but still fight for the side of Voldemort. The Order members are in no specific order.
Death Eaters: Crouch, Quirrell, Pettigrew, Bellatrix, Travers, Dolohov, Rodolphus, Macnair, Gibbon, Avery (the father), Snape, Rabastan, Mulciber, Jugson, the Carrows (2), the Crabbes (2), the Goyles (2), Stephen Cornfoot, Rosier, Kylie, the Notts, Greyback, Yaxley, Avery (the son), Marcus Flint, Graham Montague, Pansy Parkinson, and Cade Warrington.
Dead: Rookwood, and Zacharias Smith.
Captured: Thorfinn Rowle, Selwyn, and Scabior.
Defected: Draco, Lucius, and Narcissa Malfoy.
Spies/disloyal: Kylie, Snape, and Rosier.
The Order: Harry, Tonks, Remus, Sirius, Cedric, Hermione, Viktor, Bill and Charlie Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Kingsley, Severus Snape, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Kylie, Mundungus Fletcher, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Terry Boot, Gaetana Robards, Wayne Hopkins, Lilyre Moon, Aberforth Dumbledore, Despereaux Barnaud, and Neville Longbottom.
Dead: Dumbledore, and Roger.
Inactive: Hagrid, and McGonagall.
Disloyal member: Tynan Davis.