Animal I've Become

Chapter 16

The Spirit of Vengeance

Camped out on the outskirts of the forbidden forest were at least six dozen tents pitched up, creating a small city. Dotted in and around the tents were small fireplaces and among these, Voldemort's followers engaged in small talk. Voldemort himself was in his tent, pouring over proposed battle plans once his forces had taken care of the protective barrier. Bellatrix, his second in command was beside him as he examined the proposed plans.

"You know there's more waiting for us once we get that barrier down my lord" Bellatrix said coming up to stand beside him.

"Of course I know that Bellatrix. Dumbledore wouldn't leave anything to chance once he knew we were on our way. Besides that's why in chess, the pawns go first."

Bellatrix nodded her head, knowing that Voldemort was referring to all the snitches who had spent the better part of the school year hunting down escaped and hiding muggleborns for the ministry. Taking her leave, Bella walked throughout the death eater's camp nodding to other death eaters as they passed by hurriedly to get information to either Voldemort himself or another high ranking death eater. Eventually she found herself at the front of the camp where a half dozen death eaters were firing off spells into the air, the spells themselves raining down onto the protective bubble, slowly eating away at it.

"Dolohov, how much longer till the barrier is gone?" Bellatrix asked.

"As of now, hard to tell Bellatrix, four to six hours at the most" Dolohov explained.

"Alright when its finally down, the Dark Lord's orders are to send the snitches in first to deal with any other traps waiting for us" Bella said.

…

Meanwhile in the kitchen, sorted by houses were the younger students from years one to four. Scattered on the floor were soft and squishy crimson sleeping bags. Most of the young students were sleeping while a handful remained up and talking with peers. Set in the middle of the kitchen was a long, low table where food and drink would appear every fifteen to twenty minutes. Outside in the hall there were a few teachers placing more spells and enchantments and even setting up a few non lethal traps just to be on the safe side.

Miles away from the kitchen, settled in the Room of Requirement; curled on her side was Daphne Greengrass. Her chestnut brown hair a curtain around her face. Laying beside her was Harry who was absentmindedly running his fingers down her back. Sighing, Daphne turned onto her back and looked up at him.

"That was amazing and perfect Harry" Daphne said reaching up and stroking his cheek.

Reaching up, Harry placed his hand atop hers, and smiled.

"I know, it was great".

"Lets stay for another hour before we head back downstairs" Daphne says running her fingers over Harry's chest.

"Hmm, I think I'm up for that."

Grinning rather evilly, Daphne pushed Harry onto his back and climbed on top of him. Positioning herself, she slowly slid down on Harry's length causing a shudder to slide down both of their spines. Placing his hands on her hips, Harry looked up at her. "I take it that you're ready for round two then?"

Smirking slightly, Daphne leaned down and nibbled on Harry's right earlobe, whispering "Yep".

…

Back in his tent, Voldemort was pacing a scowl plastered on his lips. It was taking to long for the barrier to be dealt with. He needed this barrier to be taken care of now so that he could end this and kill both Potter and Dumbledore once and for all. Mumbling under his breath at how incompetent his followers could be, he turned and left his tent. As he walked to the edge of the camp where spells and curses were being shot at the barrier, Voldemort could feel his new power pumping through his veins. As he headed over, a thought struck him.

'I wonder if I can destroy the barrier by myself with all this power now inside me?'

Upon reaching the edge of the camp, Voldemort decided to test his theory and told all his followers to stop firing at the barrier. Lifting his wand up high, Voldemort closed his eyes and poured every ounce of energy and will behind his next spell. As he did, a ball of blueish black light shot out of his wand and into the air, as the ball got higher in altitude it also grew bigger in size. With the angle on how it had been cast, the ball which was now the size of a softball struck right in the middle of the protective barrier. Upon contact, the barrier shattered, protecting the castle no more. With the barrier no more, a collective cheer shot through Voldemort's forces. Now the battle could truly begin.

…

Back in the room of requirement, Harry and Daphne were getting dressed, knowing that it would be only a matter of time before the barrier was destroyed. Once they were dressed, Daphne leaned forward for a kiss, when a large tremor shook the castle causing both her and Harry to stumble back slightly. When another tremor shook the castle, Harry and Daphne looked at each other. No words were spoken between them as they both knew what was causing the tremors. The protective barrier had finally been breached.

"It's time Harry" Daphne whispered.

"I know come on lets get back downstairs" Harry said.

Upon getting back to the great hall, Harry watched as those gathered were preparing themselves . Hearing his name being called, Harry turned and saw none other than Johnny standing there, looking half in awe as he took in his surroundings. Many of the other students were also looking at Johnny wondering who he was and what exactly he was doing here.

"Johnny? What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Well I figured since tonight's obviously the night when all hell breaks loose, I figured you could use another Rider on your side."

At the words another rider, Daphne looked at Harry in confusion. At her confusion, Johnny filled her in and explained how he was also a rider and what he had done to make the deal. Once he was finished, Daphne gave him a small smile.

"Both of you guys made the deal for the right reasons. Not for glory nor greed".

…

Meanwhile outside, the snatchers had begun their advancement on the castle. As they made their way onto the covered bridge, they talked about how soon victory would be theirs. While they talked, none of them noticed the tripwire about a half way between them and the end of the bridge. Unfortunately for them, not even half of them would make it off the bridge. One of the snatchers wasn't paying attention and when his leg came into contact with the tripwire, a large magical explosion rocked underneath the bridge causing it to crumble. All at once, the snatchers began running towards the end the end of the bridge hoping to escape certain death. Sadly only five out of the thirty snatchers survived. Seeing the collapsed bridge brought a scowl to Voldemort's lips. With the bridge out while true most of his followers could apparate across the gap, the rest like the trolls, and dark veela couldn't. Closing his eyes, Voldemort gathered his strength and with a flash of light, teleported himself and the rest of his followers including the trolls, dark veela, vampires, dementors, and acrumantula's to the other side with the surviving snatchers.

Once him and all his followers had gathered in the courtyard, all they had to do was wait. They didn't have to wait long however, because after a few minutes, the great oak doors opened and Dumbledore walked out along with Harry, Daphne, Ron, Hermione, Johnny, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, and the rest of the order and those students who volunteered to fight and end this war. As he stood beside Dumbledore, both his wand and the sword of Gryffindor clutched in his hands, it took all of Harry's reserve not to change. Beside him he could also feel Johnny fighting to change as well.

"The time has come for this to all come to an end Tom, by the end of this night, one of us shall stand, the other shall fall" Dumbledore said.

"I agree Dumbledore, however the one who shall fall will be you and Potter" Voldemort said.

"Sir, I can feel the power rolling off of him, and it's so much. How did he attain so much more power in a short amount of time?" Harry asked.

"It appears that you've grown in strength and in power these last few months Tom. Tell me did it have anything to do with your horcruxes?"

"So, Dumbledore it's true you and the boy did figure out my secret eh? Well yes, you see I was able to locate a ritual that allowed me to pull my lost soul pieces back into my body amplifying my magical core and power. Now I will use my new power and kill you, Potter, and everyone else here who dares to stand before me".

At the mention of destroying everyone and everything, he ever held dear, Harry finally let go, the Rider taking over. Instantly his robes tightened and became tough and durable as golden flames swept across his body. In his hands, the sword of Gryffindor became swathed in the same golden flames. Besides him, Johnny had changed as well.

"Johnny help the order, but also watch out for my friends, especially Daphne".

"I Will Harry, you have my word".

As Harry changed, Voldemort couldn't help but gasp as he saw what happened. "What is this magic Potter?"

"Not magic, Voldemort. How does It feel to have all that evil inside you? All that power with those soul pieces? This ends tonight Voldemort".

With those words, the fight began. Spells and curses went flying as good and evil clashed. Harry ran straight toward Voldemort letting loose a powerful disarming charm while swinging the sword of Gryffindor, aiming at Voldemort's head. Voldemort was able to side-step at the last moment, turning on his heel Voldemort pushed his fist into Harry's back making him stumble forward slightly.

Harry turned back around just in time to dodge a cruciatus curse before firing back with a stunning spell. As Harry and Voldemort danced around each other, Voldemort's followers and the members of the order clashed as well. Sirius and Dumbledore dueled Bellatrix and Doholv together while Johnny used his hellfire chain to take care of the trolls and giants. The extreme heat from the hellfire was so intense that whenever Johnny wrapped the chain around the ankle of a troll or giant, they'd disintegrate to ash. With the biggies out of the way, Johnny focused his attention on both helping and protecting Harry's friends.

However while all this was going on, neither Harry nor Voldemort paid any attention. Their complete attention was on each other as they each tried to one up the other. Using the momentum from blocking a curse with the sword, Harry slashed at the side, slicing off Voldemort's right arm causing the dark lord to hiss in momentarily pain.

Tilting his head to the side, Harry glanced down at the severed right arm of Voldemort. For a few bare moments, the dismembered arm just laid on the ground, staining it black before turning to black smoke and rising up into the air and within a few seconds, the arm had appeared back in place, not even a scratch upon the skin.

"Well that's certainly interesting isn't it Harry?" Voldemort asked before sending a killing curse flying towards Harry. The strength and force of the curse slammed into Harry's chest knocking him back several feet, both his wand and the sword flying from his hands. As Harry laid flat on his back, the golden flames surrounding his skull extinguished. Grinning to himself, Voldemort walked over and hauled Harry's apparent lifeless body off the ground and up into the air.

"Well Harry, it looks like I shall be the victorious one and I shall build myself and my regime upon the bones of not only you and your friends, but this school as well. After tonight, the history books will just know of how you fell to me, your superior and how much you begged for death".

While Voldemort was relishing his apparent victory, he didn't notice a small golden flame flicker across Harry's hand before it was to late. Suddenly, Harry became swathed in the golden flames once again. Reaching down with one hand, Harry gripped Voldemort's right wrist and threw himself back, his feet moving up and colliding with Voldemort's chest kicking the dark lord away from him. Pulling himself onto his feet, Harry made his way over to Voldemort who was looking up at Harry with a look of pure fear in his crimson eyes.

Voldemort had never once allowed himself to feel fear, he was used to be the one doing the intimidating and fear inducing, not the other way around.

"Now Harry don't do anything you might regret. Think of what we could accomplish together, we can change the course of history of our kind, for the greater good" Voldemort said as he started scrambling backwards away from the advancing Harry.

"No Tom, this is over" Harry said as he hauled Voldemort up to his feet.

"Look into my eyes Tom, your souls are stained by the blood of all the innocent people who fell before you, now feel their pain".

In that moment, it seemed like time came to a crawl as Voldemort was forced to relive every single horrible thing he had ever inflicted on somebody. In his mind he saw him commit his act of murder, killing his muggle father and grandparents, and creating his very first horcrux. More images flashed by in a blur. The next image that Voldemort saw the clearest was that night on Halloween when he attacked The Potters. He saw him kill James with ease before making his way up to where Lily and Harry were and how Lily was pleading for him to just kill her and to leave Harry alone. As each memory came, they also brought with it the experience of what his victims felt. Finally it seemed like time had started flowing normal again and as it did, Voldemort's scream broke the silence before he slumped back, now comatose.

Harry dropped the comatose Voldemort to the ground, who laid there like a rag doll, his eyes charcoal black. Just like Umbridge was when Harry first used the penance stare. Turning around, Harry saw that everyone had stopped fighting and that death eater and order member alike were staring at him fearfully. Daphne pushed herself past Johnny who had changed back and walked up to Harry. As she did so, the flames dimmed slightly. Daphne proceeded to reach out to touch him, but Harry recoiled and turned away from her.

"I'm a monster, an animal".

"I'm not afraid Harry and you're not an animal, you used this gift to finally rid the world of Voldemort, and his followers will be sent back to Azkaban and you will finally have peace" Daphne whispered.

Turning back to her, Harry slowly changed back to himself and let him be pulled into Daphne's embrace. Sighing softly, Daphne pressed her face into Harry's neck nuzzling slightly. After standing there for a few moments, Daphne pulled away and led Harry back to where everyone was watching. With their master and lord now comatose, the remaining death eaters knew they wouldn't stand a chance and they all surrendered without a fight turning in their wands. Once the last death eater had turned in their wand, Kingsley and a few other remaining aurors escorted them to the dungeons to await transport back to Azkaban. With that taken care of, the surviving students and order members returned to the great hall while various teachers went to get the younger students and bringing them to the great hall so that they could be with their siblings and other members of their houses.

Johnny walked over to where Harry was and pulled him aside. "Come on lets go take care of Voldemort's body, you can use the sword and cut his body into pieces before lighting the pieces on fire".

Nodding in agreement, Harry stood up and followed Johnny outside and down to where Voldemort lay still comatose. Lifting the sword of Gryffindor above his head, he swung it down decapitating Voldemort's head from his body. Harry then followed this up by chopping off Voldemort's arms, and legs before quartering his torso. Grabbing his wand, Harry gave it a flick, the pieces and parts catching fire. As the flames flickered, cremating Voldemort, Johnny placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed it. "You did so well Harry, your parents would be so proud of you. I am as well because you were able to make the most of this curse".

"Thanks Johnny, I'm just glad that this curse was able to give me the edge to defeat him".

Together, they turned and went to head back inside when Mephistopheles appeared before them. As he did, Johnny started to change into the Rider when Mephistopheles held up his hands. "Relax Johnny, I'm not here to start anything".

"Then why are you here?" Johnny growled.

"To congratulate Harry on defeating Voldemort, and to remove the powers of the Rider as he no longer needs them".

"Wait if you remove them, then does that mean that Sirius will die?" Harry asked.

"No Harry he will not die until it's his time."

"Alright then, take the powers back."

Snapping his fingers, Mephistopheles removed the powers of the Rider from Harry's magical core. As they left him, Harry felt as if another weight had been removed from his shoulders. Once he was finished, Mephistopheles gave a brisk nod to Johnny before disappearing. With Mephistopheles now gone, Harry and Johnny returned to the great hall. Finally after seventeen long years, the threat of Voldemort ever achieving his desires and dreams were no more.

…

~*Epilogue*~

During the summer months that followed after the battle, Hogwarts castle was repaired and there was funerals for the fallen defenders of the school. Apart from these events there was also the trials and imprisonment of Voldemort's surviving followers. After the battle and during the trials, Kingsley Shacklebolt was appointed the new Minister of Magic.

At once, Kingsley took it upon himself to get the trials moved along at a faster pace as many of the remaining death eaters had declared that they were forced to fight by means of the Imperius curse. However what was the most surprising moment in the trials was when Lucius Malfoy took the stand and testified that near the end, he had taken his wife and son and fled Britain, having been fearful for both his and his wife and son's life. With this testament, Lucius and his family were taken off the hook while the other followers found themselves locked in Azkaban for the rest of their lives.

After the trials and imprisonments had finally been dealt with, Minister Shacklebolt began to set aside plans and ideas on how to change the Ministry for the greater good. Getting rid of very old laws that would discriminate against both Muggle-Borns and others like goblins, house elfs, etc. It would be hard and Kingsley knew that it would be, as many of the old families feared change, but it was something that needed to come to fruition, if the magical world wanted to avoid someone like Voldemort rising in power ever again.

…

Harry of course following the battle returned to Grimmauld Place to live with Sirius. Between the two of them, they were able to fully return the old Black house to its former glory, although not as quite as It was before. It was less dark and depressing and more light and full of life. Harry's friends along with Remus and Tonks would come to visit during the summer. It was during one of these visits that Ron and Hermione told him that they were going to try being boyfriend and girlfriend. Harry of course wasn't surprised by this as he had a suspicion that they were interested in each other.

Finally after three long summer months, it was time to return to Hogwarts for the final year. During the train ride, Harry, Daphne, Hermione, and Ron were able to get a compartment to themselves. When the trolley witch came, Harry bought for them a load of cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, and chocolate frogs. They spent the time talking excitedly about what they could look forward to for their final year. As they chatted and ate their treats, they didn't notice a shadow pass their door before the door itself swung open to reveal Draco Malfoy. Silence befell the whole compartment as Draco looked around at everyone.

Chewing on his bottom lip, Draco entered the compartment and walked over so he was directly in front of Harry. Draco of course knew that Potter and the others had seen the article in the Prophet when his father took the stand to testify against his comrades. Slowly, Draco extended his hand and Harry took it, shaking it. Withdrawing his hand, Draco left the compartment and looked back at Harry giving him a curt nod. Harry returned the nod before Draco left. They hadn't become friends, but they found a kind of respect for each other. It was needless to say that Harry's seventh and final year at Hogwarts was first and only normal year he ever had.

A/N: End of Chapter 16 and End of Animal I've Become. Please Read and Review and I hope you've enjoyed this crossover of Harry Potter and Ghost Rider.