I don't own Harry Potter or BBC's Merlin.
Violence – Language
DZ2's Take Me Instead Challenge.
Plot: We all know that Harry has a bad habit of risking his neck for others, but what if he takes that self-sacrifice to the next level?
And then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded with pain. It was agony such as he had never felt in all his life; his wand slipped from his fingers as he put his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on the ground and he could see nothing at all; his head was about to split open.
From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say "Kill the spare".
"NO!"
Forcing aside the pain Harry threw himself forward, spreading his arms out wide as he realised exactly where he recognised the voice from. "Wait!" he yelled out, automatically protecting the older boy he had come to see as a friend, "Please don't!"
"Oh?" Voldemort's amused voice issued from the bundle in the hooded man's arms, a snake-like hiss to his words. "And why would I wish to do that Potter?"
"What?" Cedric blurted, looking between them in confusion, "Who are you?"
"Lord Voldemort" Harry whispered making a strangled snort escape Cedric's lips. "He's innocent!" he called out to Voldemort,"He doesn't deserve this! Let him leave".
"Really Potter?" Cedric asked as he pulled Harry to the side, raising his eyebrow at the hooded man, "You really think that's You-Know-Who? Maybe you are a little crazy" he joked under his breath.
"I'm not joking" Harry murmured, ""Please. Let him leave" he continued, "He's in the wrong place at the wrong time".
"What a shame" Voldemort drawled, "I only need you however Potter, so AVADA"
"NO!" Harry repeated, stepping forward with his arms raised, "I'll stay" he blurted nervously. "I'll stay, you just let Cedric go. Take me instead, I'll do anything".
"Hmmm… you drive a hard bargain there Potter" Voldemort hissed thoughtfully. "But no" he deadpanned, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Moving on instinct Harry threw himself to the side, jumping between Cedric and the blast of green light, feeling it striking him in the chest before everything went black.
Cedric grunted as Harry threw himself at him, knocking them both backwards and off their feet, Cedric's head slamming into the gravestone they fell against.
Scowling as he scrambled for his wand Cedric threw Harry off him, and rolled to his knees, aiming his wand at the man who had thrown the Killing Curse at them. Fighting through the wave of dizziness that rolled through his body at the sudden movement, Cedric fought down the urge to vomit as he kicked gently at the prone Harry.
"Get up" he hissed quickly as the hooded man let out a shriek of pain.
"YOU FOOL!" 'You-Know-Who's' voice snarled, "YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!"
Swallowing nervously as his mind connected the dots, Cedric slowly turned to meet two empty emerald green orbs, Harry laying there completely unmoving with an angry twist of his lips on his otherwise expressionless and still face. Feeling his mouth going dry, Cedric fell forward onto his hands and knees in shock, barely noticing as Harry's scar cracked open and leaked black goo. Feeling nothing but a kind of numb disbelief, Cedric looked up to stare at the murderer standing opposite him, one of the men (In one body or something since there was only one person there) snarling at 'Wormtail' that they'd need to find someone else to fulfill the ritual.
Feeling a rush of anger filling him Cedric forced himself to his feet and raised his wand again, gathering up his magic and sending an over-powered reducto at the hooded figure who, at the hissing man's warning, dropped the bundle in his hands and cast a shielding spell that shattered the moment Cedric's spell struck it. "Bombarda Maxima!" Cedric shouted, almost instantly thrusting his wand at the gravestone to his right, muttering out a spell before sending a quick fireball at the hooded man as the gravestone was transfigured into a stone dog.
"Petra canis vita animae" Cedric whispered, casting a series of spells at the hooded man to distract him from the glowing stone dog that suddenly came to life and shot off towards him. Thrusting his wand forward and sending a stream of ropes at the man, Cedric sneered darkly as the man flailed to avoid the ropes and stepped right into the path of Cedric's animated hound. Casting a second incarcerous, Cedric followed it up with a stunning spell, throwing a second one to be sure.
Vanishing his animated dog, Cedric eyed the graveyard once more to be sure they were alone before turning and stumbling back over to Harry, dropping to his knees as his eyes stung. He had died for him… Harry had died for him… Why? As much as he wanted to claim the opposite, he knew that he could never have done that for Harry. Cedric wasn't a coward but that didn't mean he was as brave or selfless as Harry was, sure he would have tried to help but he would never have offered himself up like that.
Wiping at his face Cedric shook his head, at least he could bring that hooded coward back to Hogwarts to face justice. That and Harry's body, he knew Harry would insist on bringing his body back if it had been him in Harry's place. And admittedly part of him wished it was, he still felt numb, he didn't know how else to feel about his death other than guilt…
Swallowing dryly Cedric stood again, turning around in time for a flash of light to blind him as his wand was torn from his grasp while he was thrown backwards. Scrambling to his feet again Cedric froze at the sight of the hooded man standing there, wand pointed at him and looking completely unstunned and unbound.
"Nice try boy" a voice hissed out as Cedric cursed himself for letting his guard down, "Kill him".
"Why?" Cedric blurted, edging away from Harry's body towards where he knew the cup was, if he could get to it then perhaps he could come back with reinforcements after all. "Why are you doing this?"
"The Dark Lord will rise once more" a whimpering voice came from inside the hood, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"ACCIO CEDRIC!"
As the bolt of green light flew towards him, Cedric was lifted off his feet and dragged back towards Harry's body, hitting the ground and sliding to a halt in front of Harry, eyes lifting up to meet two glowing gold irises.
"Harry" he exhaled in shock, watching as the dead boy slowly climbed to his feet with the ghost of a smirk flashing across his face.
"Hello Peter Pettigrew" Harry said softly, his voice echoing through the graveyard as Cedric stared at him dumbly, "I would recognise that quivering voice of yours anywhere".
"Harry" Cedric blurted, "How?"
Harry glanced over at him and grinned, "No bloody idea" the raven-haired boy confessed bluntly before his smile vanished and he turned back to 'Peter'. "Now… where were we?" Harry asked innocently before he was raising his hands, a trickle of fire sprouting from the tip of his wand and gathering in a ball of fire that hovered between his hand and wand, "That's right. You killed me".
Moving on instinct and obeying the whispers of the magic in his veins, Harry thrust his hands forward, reshaping the fireball into a stream that he threw at Pettigrew. As the rat animagus flailed and waved his wand wildly to redirect the flames to the side, Harry sent an added flippendo after him, watching as it knocked off his hood to reveal the rat-faced man Harry hated.
Eyes narrowing as they drifted down to the squirming bundle to the side, Harry changed the angle of his wand, instead focusing on Voldemort as a spell prepared itself on his tongue.
As Pettigrew retaliated, Harry snapped his wand to the side and he cast a silent protego charm, watching as the weak stunner splashed against the golden shield shimmering in front of him. Pulling his wand back Harry twisted it in a circle, the shield being sucked back into the tip of his wand before Harry thrust it forward and threw a bolt of golden energy at Pettigrew, lifting him off the ground and throwing him into an angel statue.
Turning back to Voldemort Harry let out a snarl as Pettigrew sent a spell at him from the ground, sending a non-verbal reducto at the animagus that betrayed his parents, watching as the 'man' scrambled to the side.
"Bombarda Maxima!" Pettigrew yelled as Harry shouted out "Expelliarmus!"
The two bolts of light connected in mid-air and Harry was treated to a repeat of earlier that year as they deflected off each other, forcing him to cast a shield to stop Cedric from being struck by his disarming charm as Pettigrew's exploding hex bounced back and struck the bundle Voldemort was in.
Harry froze and watched in horror as, with a piercing shriek, a black wraith shot up from the small crater in the ground and hovered in the air.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry incanted as the wraith started towards him, a golden phoenix exploding from the tip of his wand and shocking everyone present as the wraith screeched in pain at the sound of the phoenix song and changed directions, darting towards Pettigrew and forcing its way down his throat.
"Impressive" Pettigrew ground out as he straightened and cracked his neck slowly, "For a school boy" he finished as his eyes opened again to reveal red silts. "Then again, Wormtail is not the most talented opponent" Pettimort continued slowly, "Do you wish to try your hand against the might of the greatest Sorcerer to have lived?"
"Doctor Strange is here?" Harry asked innocently, the singing of his magic making him feel cheekier than he normally would be in a situation like this. (Not that he was complaining of course, he wanted to ride this high for as long as he could). He knew he couldn't defeat Voldemort, the best he could hope for was to distract him long enough for Harry to work himself and Cedric into position to summon the Cup and return to Hogwarts, hoping that the Cup was a return portkey as well.
Instead of asking who that was or even taunting Harry some more, Voldemort pulled out the big guns by yelling "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Twisting in place, Harry cast both a banishing charm and a summoning one, the first spell striking Cedric in the chest and knocking him away from the 'arena' as the second spell summoned a gravestone to intercept the killing curse. "Oppugno!" he shouted as the gravestone exploded into pieces, the shards of stone hovering in mid air for a moment before shooting through the air at Pettimort who blasted them from the air with a lazy wave of his wand.
Twisting his wand through the air Harry concentrated on what he wanted, gathering up more power than the spell called for as he raised his and before whipping it down at Voldemort. "Fulgens Ignis!" Harry yelled, knowing that he wouldn't be able to manage the spell silently as he had been doing since his 'death'.
As magic rushed through his wand a pulse of white fire exploded from the tip, hovering there for a moment before a circular beam of flames flew across the graveyard at Voldemort. Instead of striking Voldemort twisted his wand, muttering something and causing the fire to wrap around him like a dome before he continued chanting and raised his wand to point it at the sky.
Harry swallowed nervously as the fire rose up to form a long neck, two wings growing seconds later as Voldemort let out a dark laugh as the dragon made of white fire towered over them both. Raising his wand Harry tapped into as much magic as he felt was safe and took aim as Voldemort slashed his wand down at him. "Glacius Tria" he shouted, forcing as much power through his wand as he could and watching as three beams of ice burst from his wand and met the white dragon in mid-air.
He staggered back as the force of the collision sent a shockwave down his wand, Voldemort's spell overpowering his, slowly but steadily. As Harry was pushed back he let out a growl and poured more power into the spell, his magic twinging warningly at him and making him snarl as he dropped the spell and started casting a powerful flame-freezing spell on himself in time for the white flame dragon to roll over him. Fighting down his urge to giggle at the tickling feeling the spell induced in him, Harry instead took aim at where he knew Voldemort was and rapidly cast several reductos at the Dark Lord.
As the fire vanished, Harry watched Voldemort deflect his spells and thrust his wand forward with a whispered "Bombarda Maxima" which he quickly followed with an "Lumos Solem!" that fired a beam of sunlight at Voldemort. A shout of pain filled the air as Harry cut the spell off, a grin forming on his face as he watched Voldemort clutching at Pettigrew's arm that ended abruptly at the elbow. His grin vanished as Voldemort simply waved a wand over his arm and conjured up a hand of what looked like silver, flexing it slowly before his wand lashed out at him with a snarled "Crucio!"
Throwing himself to the side, Harry avoiding a red bolt of light and cast the first spell that came to mind. The jet of blue light flew true and struck Voldemort in the face, a strangled giggle escaping his lips as he watched violent looking pimples beginning to sprout across the Dark Lord's face.
"You dare cast such spells on me?" Voldemort roared angrily as he threw several balls of black-purple energy at Harry that he summoned gravestones in front of me, "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! CRUCIO!"
Harry once more dove to the side to dodge the bolt of red light that erupted from the end of Voldemort's wand, rolling up to his feet and raising his own wand as they both shouted out a spell.
Twin bolts of lightning collided in the middle of the graveyard, the Gryffindor Red of Harry's expelliarmus clashing with the Slytherin Green of Voldemort's avada kedavra, thin threads of electricity of both colors arcing out from the centre.
As a silver light starting glowing where the two bolts connected, Harry tried to push more magic down his wand, gasping in shock as he held onto his wand with both hands. A pained whine slipped from his throat as Harry a golden dome exploded from where their spells touched, flowing straight through both of them and spreading out to surround them both as Harry's feet were pushed back a step.
Letting out a groan Harry forced himself forward, the silver ball of light slowing in its path towards him and instead moving down towards Voldemort's wand. Continuing his so far lucky streak, Harry watched as the ball of light touched the end of Voldemort's wand, the Dark Lord letting out a startled honking noise that could fuel Harry's Patronus for the rest of his life. Suddenly three balls of golden light exploded from the end of Voldemort's wand and rose into the air, flying over and taking the shape of two familiar people and one unfamiliar man.
"Harry!" the man who looked like his father exclaimed, "When the connection breaks you must get Cedric to the portkey! We can linger a moment to give you some time, but only a moment! Do you understand!"
As Harry nodded shakily, unable to speak as he concentrated on keeping the ball against Voldemort's wand.
"Let go" his mother's voice echoed, "Sweetheart you're ready! Let go, run!"
Nodding again Harry focused his attention on the spell and prepared himself to run, jerking the beam to the side and causing the two faux-lightning bolts to shatter an angel statue. As the three spirits shot towards Voldemort, Harry spun around and ran straight at the dumbfounded looking Cedric, tackling the older boy as he summoned the portkey.
"REDUCTO!"
A blue bolt of light struck the Cup and it shattered into pieces, causing Harry to scramble to his feet, dragging the winded Cedric after him as he darted behind a small mausoleum.
"AURORS! FREEZE!" filled the air suddenly and Harry and Cedric exchanged shocked looks before almost falling over themselves to peer around the mausoleum, watching as the horde of red-robed wizards and witches swarmed into sight. "EXPELLIARMUS!" the aurors screamed as Voldemort twisted in place and turned into a black whirlwind that vanished, leaving the red spells flying true and striking their fellow aurors.
"Aurors" Cedric gasped out as Harry panted, "Thank Merlin. Harry? Are you okay?" the older boy blurted as Harry swayed in place.
"Yeah. I'm fine" Harry dismissed as a tall monocled woman led a squad of aurors towards them, "I'm fine" he repeated before falling forward and collapsing into Cedric's arms as everything went black.