Hogwarts DXD
ESKK: Lets get this brand-new chapter started, faithful readers.
(Start the Hogwarts Express)
The Bael Peerage were gathered in the Hogwarts Express as they made their way to Kings Cross. It was December and Christmas was right around the corner. During this time, they had been preparing for the inevitable Rating Game against Rizer and his harem. They had used whatever free time they had for the preparations which included researching strategies to utilize, practicing their magic, and training their bodies for what was to come.
From what Harry understood Rizer was like the Phoenix his family was named after, they're fire allows them to rise back up when they were knocked down. This is what made Rizer a dangerous foe in battle despite how much of a ponce he was. The first thing they planned to do after they settle in was to seek out the Deathly Hollows wherever they may be hiding. Hopefully, Harry's cloak will point them in the right direction to the other two Hollows with the aid of Stonehenge.
While Hermione tried to display a calm mask, the truth was she was freaking out. The way she studied so violently was proof of that and Harry knew this well. It was almost like she was trying to plan for every eventuality in the Rating Game. Hermione intended to win at all costs just so she can keep Rias's location a secret and not marry that poor excuse for a Devil.
"So, the plan is set, we'll begin training at a Bael Safe House after Harry is moved from Grimmauld and while we begin the initial training Harry and Hermione shall go and retrieve the other Hollows." Daphne said giving the finer details of their plan. "Once you have the Hollows, we can get to the serious training so that we can be prepared for whatever the Phenex Peerage will throw at us." Daphne added making clear what needed to be done.
"The soon Harry can get the Hollows the sooner we can have the edge to beat Rizer." Fleur added as she was right to be concerned with victory. The Quarter Veela turned Devil was no fool the Phenex Family are formidable and thus would need to be faced with every advantage they can muster.
"Harry are you ok?" Hermione asked as she looked to Harry with concern.
"Oh yes... just thinking is all." Harry said as he looked out the window before turning to face Hermione. "It's just what Ddraig said that I need the Balance Breaker if I wanted to beat Rizer." Harry said as he looked to his left hand. "I'm just not entirely sure how I can beat him if I can't get that power." Harry said as he then clenched his hand into a fist.
"We'll find a way." Hermione said getting Harry's attention back to her by taking his hand in hers.
"Yeah, your right." Harry said smiling at Hermione.
"We don't need to worry too much." Luna said as she smiled a bit. "A close bond is a good way to break past your limits." Luna said getting their attention as it got Harry and Hermione thinking for a moment.
Before they could ask her to go in depth on that comment the door opened and from it, Ginny and the Weasley Twins stepped into the compartment. "Pardon I hope we aren't disturbing you." Ginny said as Harry looked to her.
"If your here to ask us to forgive Ronald then you can forget it." Hermione suddenly snapped but then Fred and George cut in.
"No, we're not." Fred began as he looked to Hermione.
"We just felt." George continued hoping to lighten the mood.
"That you were in the right." Fred went on for George.
"And Ron was out of line." George said revealing that the twins had her back.
"Mum heard what happened we told her about it." Ginny said and in turn got down to it. "Needless to say, she was livid with Ronald and considering what had happened to Harry had shaken her loyalty to Dumbledore." Ginny went on and thus it was clear what was going on here. "Sorry to say we won't be joining you for Christmas at Grimmauld." Ginny announced much to the groups surprise. "Mum and dad don't want Ronald to have any distractions while they sit him down to catch up on all of his schoolwork." Ginny said and thus this proved to benefit the Peerage.
"How long will he be grounded?" Harry suddenly asked a bit worried for Ron.
"Until he brings home passable grades on his OWLS." Ginny said and thus it was clear Ron will be having his nose to the grind until he shapes up. "But even then, they won't lighten up on him much they expect him to have equally similar grades or better on his NEWTS." Ginny added which meant Ron was in that much trouble with his parents.
"That will destroy him." Hermione said as she suspected Ron will not be having a good time with this.
"No kidding." Ginny said in total agreement with Hermione's assessment. "Anyway, we came here to apologize on behalf of all the Weasley's for one bad egg in the pile." Ginny said hoping to avoid forging a feud between them.
"Ginny no one blames your family for how Ron turned out, he made his choices so he can live with them." Harry said assuring Ginny that they don't hold Ron's actions against his family.
"Thank you." Ginny said and thus they nodded to them. "Anyway, we'll be heading out now we're supposed to be keeping Ron out of trouble." Ginny said and thus she and the twins took their leave of the Bael Peerage for the time being.
"Well, it's nice to know not everyone is cut from the same cloth in terms of family." Hermione sighed once the Weasleys were gone.
"But this may help us, less security and less obstacles in the way." Daphne said as she was hoping for the best outcome from all of this.
"Let's hope it's all we can do at this time." Harry said knowing his luck had its own limits.
"Speaking of hope." Hermione trailed off getting Harry's attention. "Did you hear that Sirius was finally getting a trial?" Hermione asked Harry who then smiled to this showing he did hear about it.
Ever since Fudge, was ousted by Amelia the woman had made some headway in fixing the damages Fudge had caused. After all the time he had overstepped his boundaries as Minister Amelia had a lot of work to catch up on, one of them being getting Sirius Black a trial and getting her Aurors properly trained. With all of this in the works Voldemort would have a tougher time when he strikes.
"At this point I'm expecting him to greet me as a free man." Harry said with a small smile on his face.
"Of course." Fleur said as it was a formality at this point. Sirius is freed and can finally be Harry's godfather as he should have been.
(Scene Break That Night Azkaban)
At the dark prison as Dementors were flying about, no one knew what was about to happen that night, no one but the death eaters.
As their dark mark began to become active as the snake in the skull's mouth began to move, the sigh of their master has come for them, as a voice was echoing within the wind with the sound of the wave from the waters below was muffling it, but the next thing anyone knew, a powerful quake was felt as one side of the Azkaban prison suddenly exploded or maybe was rip apart by a powerful force created a large opening within the prison itself as one dark witch emerge from the shadows saw the destruction and could not help but let out a mad laugh.
Many other soon realize they were freed as they soon escape as they either turn into a black cloud and flew out of the dark prison without the Dementors stopping them at least most of them, as others try to escape on foot but didn't get as far, but for the ones that did escape them reach the mainland and far away from Azkaban.
The one dark witch that did escape was Bellatrix Lestrange, mother of Gemini, as she soon started talking to herself, "I'm out and feel warm again, the dark lord had come back to us at last… now I then Gemini, where is are you my sweet little devil, mommy's waiting for you."
In her mind Bellatrix believe her son is still alive and waiting for her, as she cannot wait to find him and bring him to the dark lord so they can finally be together once again, as she smile and give out another mad laugh.
(scene break Grimmauld)
At the Grimmauld, the entire place seem to be falling apart, not the building but the Phoenix order morale as ever sense Harry's uncle attacked him, the entire order had splinter off, some people were there, while others were missing as they didn't come, and with the Weasel gone due to what happen with Ron, the place was a bit empty, and seem a bit messy.
As the house elf Kreacher was doing his best to clean, there was just so much he can do with Sirius ironically helping with the cleaning, with a knock came at the door, Sirius stop for a moment as he yell out to someone, "Can someone get that!?"
"I got it," Tonks came forth as she came to the front door and answer it, as she smile to see who it was as she said, "Wotcher Harry, Hermione!"
"Hey Tonks," Harry greeted Tonks as she stood aside and said, "Come in you guy, and who are the guest?"
"Trusted friends from school," Harry said as Luna look to Tonks and said, "Hello there, I'm Luna it's nice to finally meet you."
"Thanks," Tonks said thinking the girl was nice as Luna went on saying, "You'll make a great addition to the group, I hope we can get along quite well."
"Ah… okay," Tonks said now a little confused on what she meant but leave it be as she went on in the house as Daphne came up next saying, "I'm Daphne, but you already know that."
"Ah, Greengrass. Yeah, I know you, you're in my fourth period class. One of the smartest kids, just up with Hermione," Tonks said as Daphne nodded and came in as Fleur walk in next saying, "Fleur Delacour."
"Ah, the teacher assistant to Professor Flitwick, I am surprised you see you here," Tonks said as Fleur said to her, "Well just because I am a teacher assistant, doesn't mean I can't have friendly relationships outside of teaching, can I?"
"I guess not, nothing wrong with that," Tonks said as Fleur smile a bit as she lean in and said in a whisper, "Especially with a certain cute boy that you wish to take to your bed chambers."
"Oh, I know that." Tonks said as look towards Harry without think much of it and soon realizing what Fleur just said, as she give a blush to that as she said, "Wait I mean-
Fleur didn't say anything else as she just walk by her while giving a wink as Tonks face palm herself and said, "Bloody hell!"
"Hello Nya," Kuroka said as she walked in pass Tonks, as the Metamorphmagus look at her and thought, 'Wait… do I know her from somewhere?'
With that Tonks close the door as the group came to the dining area as Sirius came in to meet the group and said, "Ah, Harry, you came!"
"Sirius!" Harry said as he came up to the old animagus dog and give him a hug as he return it before they back away from each other as Harry said, "I saw the good news, you're getting a trial, and a proper one."
"Hard to say on Proper, but it's would be good to see an old lovely face I've haven't seen sense I got locked up," Sirius said as his thought went to the person who would be giving him the trial as Sirius came back to reality as he remember where he is at and said, "Anyways, sorry for the mess, ever sense what happen with you and your former friend Ron, things gotten a bit neglectful."
"Its fine Sirius, and I'm sorry I didn't realize that things would turn out this way as well," Harry said as Sirius patted Harry on the back and said, "Its fine Harry, not all friendship will last forever, I should know."
Harry nodded as he knew what he meant, meaning to Peter Pettigrew, with Sirius soon take notice to the girls that came with his godson and Hermione as he said, "So Harry, who are yours lovely friends here?"
"Friends from school," Harry said as Luna soon said, "And hopefully more than that."
Harry and Hermione is surprise that Luna would just say that, even the other girls either blushes or smile to this, even Ddraig could not help but laugh at this in Harry's head, and he wasn't the only one as Sirius couldn't help but laugh as well and said, "Harry you lady killer, just like your old man before he settle with your mother."
"I did not need to know that." Harry said as while he didn't know much about his father other than a few stories Sirius had told him before he had to escape from Authority as soon enough Remus came in as he saw the group and Harry as he call out, "Hello there, am I missing the party?"
"No Moony, Harry and his friends just got here," Sirius said as harry came up to Remus and greet him as well as he said, "It's good to see you again Remus."
"Same here Harry, would you be staying long?" Remus ask with Harry said to him, "Ah just for a little while, me and everyone else are going to be heading to Hermione's other father place for a visit."
"Oh, well at long as you are now how about you lot relax and explore the place, while I'll get something cooking, tis just as glamorous as Mrs. Weasley cooking but I can still make a good meal," Remus offers as Hermione nodded and said, "That sounds wonderful."
With that Remus nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll see you all later. Padfoot, would you mind giving me a hand." Sirius nodded and said, "Sure, in a moment."
With that as the girls left leaving the two alone as Sirius turns to harry for a bit and said to him in a low tone, "Now Harry my boy, I know you're a young man, with some Urges, but I would suggest of waiting to do it elsewhere. These walls are very thin."
"I-it's not like that, we're just friends," Harry said as Sirius patted his back and said, "That what they all say. Good luck my boy and remember to have some after morning potions on hand."
Harry could not help but blush to what Sirius is saying as the man just laugh at Harry's embarrassment before he left to join Remus in the kitchen to talk… Privately.
Once hidden away in the kitchen Remus casted a privacy charm before the two Marauders got down to speaking. "Padfoot I'm sure you've noticed by now." Remus said as Sirius sat on the chair.
"Kind of hard not to." Sirius said as he still had some old Auror reflexes. "I thought it was just the aftermath of what happened to him, but this is different." Sirius said scratching his head a bit.
"He's seemed to have gained a slight aversion to light and for some odd reason is capable of seeing better in the dark." Remus said as he had one more thing to add. "Plus, after the last full moon my senses are still heightened, and Harry's scent is different." Remus added and thus Sirius got worried.
"Different?" Sirius asked getting worried over the possible implication of a fake.
"Not in the way you fear... he's still every bit Harry but his scent has changed." Remus said unable to put his finger on it. "To be frank he smells like someone who was freshly turned but yet shows none of the signs." Remus said as he knew that Werewolves and Vampires had expenses to be amongst people. For werewolves it was the wolfsbane potion for Vampires it was a lotion akin to sunscreen.
"You think he might be hiding something?" Sirius asked with concern etched deep into his voice.
"Perhaps but if we push him at this stage, we run the risk of pushing him away." Remus said and Sirius had to admit that his friend was right. "So, I say we should wait for him to approach us about it on his own terms but if he doesn't, we may need to consider pushing the matter." Remus said and in turn Sirius sighed finding this a bit frustrating on his part.
"Very well then." Sirius said and thus simply let it be hoping it was not anything to serious. More so he still had a trial coming up and he had already gotten in contact with a lawyer to defend his case.
"Now then how much longer until the Household is under Fidelus again?" Remus asked as he had concerns about the group being here.
"Not long, once the Goblins make sure the place is curse free, we can get this place hidden again with me as the Secret Keeper." Sirius said as it was also another reason the Order wasn't meeting here anymore.
"Well best hurry up with that, less we find ourselves caught with our pants down." Remus said and thus they went back to it.
(Scene Break That Same Evening)
"I really hate lying to Sirius like this." Harry said as Harry and Hermione prepared to depart for Stonehenge.
"I know Harry and I wish we didn't have to but the sooner we get this done the better." Hermione said as she could not be 100% sure Sirius won't try to stop them or worse. "Lying to you was and still is one of my biggest regrets." Hermione said as they had a job to do, and they needed to do it. The rest of the Peerage was going to stay behind while they start their search at Stonehenge. With the Cloak of Invisibility stowed away in Harry's pocket folded up they began their departure via a portal.
"Just make it back before Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin figure out what's going on." Daphne said knowing that they had to be fast about this.
"I understand." Harry said and thus standing next to Hermione the pair vanished through a portal.
(Scene Break Stonehenge)
The pair had arrived at their destination in a flash of Topaz yellow light. This time Harry was sure, this was his new favorite form of magical transportation. It had been instantaneous, and he hadn't wavered one bit on arrival. Looking around the pair saw that they made it to their destination intact thanks to the Devil's natural ability to see in the dark.
"Ok we only have a small window of opportunity Harry we need to make every second count." Hermione said and thus they started to make their way to Stonehenge.
"So, I forget why Stonehenge is so important for our needs?" Harry asked as they made their way to the structure.
"It's like I told you, so I could do a ritual." Hermione said as they made sure to avoid any detection from possible guards in the area. "I'm going to try and locate the remaining Hollows with it." Hermione added clarifying the, how, of their task.
"But how can Stonehenge do that?" Harry asked and thus Hermione sighed to this.
"Harry it's probably one of the greatest accomplishments of the wand waving group of human based magic users, not that they remember it anymore." Hermione said as they made their way to the stone structure. "Knowledge of its use among humans has been lost for centuries, lucky for us, devil-kind has a much longer memory, and my father has information of it stored away in his archives." Hermione said just as they got to their destination.
"Really? How does it work?" Harry asked wondering what Hermione had to share about this information.
"It has many uses and I'm definitely not aware of all of them, but it can serve to amplify area-based spells." Hermione said admitting she still doesn't know its full use or even its original use. "I'm going to use it to try and track down the Hollows location across England." Harry said as she got ready to use the structure.
"Is that even possible?" Harry asked as he was now curious. "The magic involved sounds incredible." He added but then something bothered him. "Wait but wouldn't others have tried the same thing before?" Harry asked and thus Hermione smiled to this.
"Well, this kind of thing wouldn't be possible without an artifact similar to Stonehenge, and as I said before, there are no humans left who know how to use it." Hermione said putting Harry's justified concerns to rest. "Apart from that, the Hollows are known to be able to resist detection. I know what I'm about to attempt wouldn't work without you having the cloak here, as well as yourself." Hermione said as she had a theory on how to do this. With Harry being the last living descendent of the original holders of the Hollows it gave him an edge as something of a living Deathly Hollow at best or a pseudo-Hollow at worst. Like attracts like, Hollow attracts Hollow.
"Ok." Harry responded with a nod. "So, what do I need to do then?" Harry asked and thus Hermione smiled.
"Just go stand in the center with your cloak. I'll be ready to start shortly." Hermione instructed to which Harry followed her directions, stopping in the center of the circle, and started observing what she was doing. Hermione was moving around to some of the different stones, touching them for a moment, other times releasing small amounts of her yellow-colored magic into them. As the minutes passed, Harry could noticeably start to tell that the sky was brightening. The sun would probably be out soon which meant they would have to hurry.
"I'm ready." Hermione said to which Harry nodded in response to this.
Hermione then stepped up close to Harry with a look of deep concentration on her face. She began to glow softly once again. After a moment she extended out one of her hands and placed it on his shoulder. He gasped as the light started to envelop him. He was surprised to learn that he could actually feel it. It seemed warm and soothing to him, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that it held an inner hostility towards any it deemed an enemy.
She let her hand drop from her shoulder back to her side again. The light around him didn't fade. Her eyes were squeezed closed tightly, as her own aura began to brighten even more. Harry could feel the waves of magic come off of her now. Then without any previous indication, she thrust her hands out to either side of her.
What happened next was simply spectacular. Harry knew that there were some moments, where things just fall into place at the right time, causing wondrous results often not seen again in the person's life. This was one of such moments. Just as Hermione thrust her hands outwards, the sun finally broke the horizon. It was because of this that Harry stood in awe, watching Hermione, standing with her hands outstretched, back arched, and her beautiful brown curls shining in the sunlight, she truly was beautiful.
Harry felt the power around them spike, as Stonehenge itself started to glow, visible even in the new morning sunlight. A moment later, even if it wasn't visible to the naked eye, Harry could feel a big wave of magic leaving the area in all directions.
"Here we go!" Hermione said and as she spoke, a teleportation circle flashed into existence a few feet away.
"Ok!" Harry responded as he began moving towards it.
"I've got a lock on one of the Hollows… I'm not sure which." Hermione admitted which was good for them. "I could sense the other, but for some reason that teleportation circle refused to form." Hermione said and thus Harry understood.
"Ok let's focus on this one first and then get the other afterwards." Harry said as it was better to get it done now rather than wait on it.
"My thoughts exactly." Hermione said as she stepped up beside him in the circle, once again gripping his shoulder. With another flash of light, they were gone, leaving no physical trace that they were ever there.
(Scene Break)
The pair arrived in a flash of topaz light and when they did Harry took a moment to observe their new surroundings. His first impression of their new location was that it was in the middle of nowhere. Even in the low light of the rising sun, all he could make out was green. He was pretty sure Hermione had teleported them into the middle of a forest. Despite how harmless their surroundings were, something didn't seem right. Rias must have felt the same way, as she too remained silent, and was glancing around warily, her clear blue eyes narrowed.
It took Harry another moment to figure out something else that didn't seem right. It was the sounds of the forest around them, or rather, the lack thereof. Even at this time in the morning, there should be the sounds of birds in the trees, squirrels and chipmunks scurrying through the underbrush, and yet there wasn't. The forest was silent, eerily so.
Taking a deep breath in through his nose in order to calm his suddenly frayed nerves, he almost gagged. Something around here smelled rotten. He figured it must be a dead animal. That was a smell he'd recognize anywhere. Many years earlier, before Harry had even known about the existence of magic, Dudley and his friends had started picking on one of the neighbors' cats. Of course, after torturing the poor thing, it had succumbed to its wounds, where his panicked cousin had left it in the garden. It had started to rot and smell much like what he was currently experiencing. This had led his aunt and uncle to discovering the carcass soon after.
Of course, Dudley claiming that Harry having been the one to kill it, had horrified them. He'd had been forced to retrieve the body with his bare hands, as his uncle hadn't wanted to dirty his tools, and return it to the neighbor. It had given him nightmares for months. Of course, now, Harry found the whole thing amusing, just because he imagined his family's horror was more likely due to the fact, they probably thought he was sacrificing animals in some kind of magical ritual, rather than being upset over the fact that the animal had been killed in the first place.
"This area is saturated in powerful dark magic," Hermione said sensing the evil in the air.
"She's right, partner." Ddraig spoke as the green gem glow flashed to life from Harry's left hand. "Someone had set up several obstacles here no doubt to weaken or stop us." Ddraig said as whatever was done here his instincts were telling him to rip and tear his way through.
"This could be dangerous, stay close to me." Hermione said and thus Harry nodded to this.
"BOOST!" Ddraig invoked as Harry summoned the Boosted gear to his left arm just in case he was needed.
The duo set off forwards through the brush, which he finally figured out was in fact a path. It looked like it hadn't been cared for in so many years that he still had a hard time differentiating it from the rest of the forest. While Rias walked slightly ahead with a tangible sense of grace, Harry stumbled clumsily after her. The tree roots were thick, and the fact that he couldn't help his eyes from following the distraction that was the fascinating swaying of Hermione's shapely posterior, led to much tripping on Harry's part.
The trees finally split after a few minutes of walking, dragging Harry out of his ruminations. "Why do I feel it won't be as easy as walking up to the shack and opening the door?" Harry said as he knew with his track record problems were going to arise.
Hermione then shot him an amused look, "It's never that simple." She said before her face turned serious. "I don't think we have any choice but to cross though." Hermione said and thus it was time to move in. "But I'm sure whatever wizard designed this didn't take devils into account even if the Devil in question is Cambion." Hermione said to which Harry feared that it may currently be a Devils own pride or arrogance talking.
Harry surveyed the clearing before them with trepidation. It looked like normal ground, but Harry knew that meant almost nothing in the world of magic. "Ok let's go." Harry said staying close to Hermione before they both took a step out into the clearing simultaneously, holding their breath. Nothing happened. They took another step. And another. Harry almost wanted to laugh at how all their caution was for naught. Of course, fate chose that exact moment for everything to go to shit.
The ground rumbled dangerously, as Harry felt his feet start to sink. Before he knew what was happening stone hands seemed to be erupting from the ground. Harry cried out in shock as he jumped in surprise as he felt one of the hands grab his ankle.
"Harry! Are you ok?" Hermione cried out and in turn Harry began glancing around wildly for Hermione. Harry then noted Hermione was no longer beside him. Following the sound of her voice he noticed her floating through the air, her devil wings extended.
"Why didn't you just fly us both over this in the first place?" Harry grunted trying to rip his leg free.
"I… I didn't think about it." Hermione admitted blushing that she forgot about their wings. "Why didn't you?" Hermione countered and Harry forgot he also had Devil Wings now.
"She has you there, partner." Ddraig spoke and thus Harry rolled his eyes before he used the Gauntlet to start punching the hands on his ankles free despite the fact he was sinking. "Hey, don't use me like a Caveman would!" Ddraig cried out with indignation over what Harry was doing.
"Harry, just hold still." Hermione said and in turn Harry saw what Hermione was about to do. She then released her power of destruction so that it hit the ground near his legs. The crimson energy demolished the nearby magical constructs and seemed to break whatever enchantment was causing him to sink. The backlash causing him to stumble backwards and land on his back.
He sat up quickly, watching Rias fly towards him, only to gape at the next thing to erupt from the ground! It was a giant stone snake nearing the size of the basilisk he'd killed in his second year. "Hermione!" Harry cried out and in turn Hermione stopped, looking at him in confusion, only to take in Harry's stare over her shoulder. She spun around immediately, just in time to take the first strike by the snake. She went flying through the air, crashing into the forest on the edge of the clearing.
The snake turned towards her as she struggled back to her feet. Grabbing onto one of the trees for support turned out to be a mistake as the ground began to shake once again. The property's trees started to sway back and forth, groaning as they came alive. Vines shot out of the darkness wrapping around Hermione's wrists and ankles, restraining her. If Harry wasn't currently fearing for both of their lives, he might have found the sight of her tied up in shredded clothes extremely interesting.
Harry realized immediately that he needed get the snake away from Hermione. If he still had his snake speech Harry could have possibly stopped the creature from attacking. Roaring out Harry attacked the creature slamming Ddraig into its face while using his wings to boost himself. "BOOST!" Ddraig invoked doubling Harry's power once more to do some damage. But this served to anger the creature as it the several tones snake shaped stone came hurtling towards him.
"Shit!" Harry cursed as all he could think of in that moment was that if he really had to fight a serpent this size again, he could've at least been given the Sword of Gryffindor again beforehand. But as if called by his desire for it the sword stabbed into the ground near Harry causing him to go wide eyed to this. Acting fast Harry grabbed the weapon and drew it and sliced at the stone snakes side causing it harm with the attack. Harry was surprised to find the Sword appear like that but then looked around for the source when he noticed a familiar sight of azure blue wings. Gemini was here hovering over the ground with his arms crossed as a silent observer of the situation.
Seeing Harry's eyes on him Gemini scoffed to this and spoke up. "Well, what are waiting for Potter, get in there and fight!" Gemini demanded as he wanted to get a read of how powerful Harry was at this stage.
The stone snake rose back up and roared at Harry only to be met with a loud explosion ripped through the air. Eyes flying open in shock, it took Harry a moment to figure out what he was seeing. There was a large crater of missing stone from the snake's neck. Looking around he saw the enraged face of Hermione, her demonic aura fluctuating wildly. A quick glance to where she'd been before revealed a pile of ashes, all that remained of the previously attacking vegetation.
"Hermione!" Harry called out as Hermione soon kneel down, no doubt she was exhausted a bit after fighting those vines a bit as she said to him, "Go for it, Harry while its distracted!"
"Right!" Harry said as he raises his boosted gear as Ddraig invoked the power again as he called out, "BOOST!"
Harry leap at it as he tries to strike it with his fist, but the stone snake seem to be aware of what harry was about to do as it suddenly moved out of the way as Harry missed his strike, he wasn't done yet as he spin a bit as he swing the sword in hand and gave the snake another cut with it, no doubt it wasn't expecting that as Harry charge at the snake again and gave it a strong punch to its body which creating cracks in its body, but not enough to smash it.
Suddenly the tail of the stone snake swing around, striking harry at his side as he gasp and went flying into some trees that broke upon him impacting against them, as Harry gasp for air and spat out some blood as Gemini called out, "What the matter Potter, too much for you? do you need mommy to help you out?"
"BOOST!" Ddraig double Harry's power again, as he grit his teeth, no doubt what Gemini got to him as he charge at the snake again, faster this time, as he was going to put all his combat training into use as he sees the snake tail coming at him again as he remember what Daphne taught him in sword play.
(flashback)
Harry was kneeling down exhausted as he drop a training sword to the ground as Daphne said to him, "Come on Potter, we still have another hour before a water break, stand up and position yourself."
"How can I? I can't even keep up with you, as you always seem to strike first before I can," Harry said as Daphne sighed a bit as she relax her stand a bit as she said, "I'm use to sword fighting, but I'm not training you to attack, I'm training you to evade."
Daphne try to give an example as she pull out her wand and cast a wordless spell as she brought forth a training dummy that was within the room of requirement as it held up a training sword as well, with harry standing up on his own, as Daphne said to him, "When you know an enemy is going to be charging at you with a clear intentions to attack you, but have no time to counter attack, then the best thing to do is avoid it, by either step back or side step."
The training dummy soon came in for an attack as Daphne waited for the right moment, as the dummy thrust its sword at her, she sidestep at the last moment as she explain, "At the moment the enemy attack will strike, as after that the enemy would be wide open for an attack!"
Daphne strike thrust her sword at the dummy as her sword at the dummy chest, beating it as it stop and slump down, as daphne move the dummy back where it came from as she turn to Harry and said, "This is basic, that can be used in a sword fighting or in any given battle, it's just a matter of how to apply it in a fight."
(flashback end)
The snake tail was close of hitting harry again as he could only act quickly on his feet as instead of going forwards, he push back, jumping backwards of avoiding the snake tail as it smash into a tree.
At that moment, Harry plunge forward as he thrust the sword stabbing it into the stone snake's tail as it could only hiss in pain and flank Harry off as it did as he rolled on the ground big time back in the area he was at as Gemini, "Come on boy, is that all you have? At this rate you will never win any battle like this."
"Shut up!" Harry said as he got back on his feet as then Ddraig called out, "BOOST!"
Harry can feel the effect of his boosting, as much he trains, he knows his limits of boosting were 10 times when he was in good shape, and 8 times when his body is worn down, and he's sense this snake got in a few good hits on him already, Harry was at the halfway point, but he held his ground as he let his body adjust to the boosting power as the stone snake was upon him as it seem it was about to pounce on him as tis open its mouth wide with huge fangs showing as it came down at harry stood his ground, not moving to face the snake head on as he remember his lesson from Luna.
(flashback)
Harry was suddenly knock back on his butt as he had his boosted gear out, with Luna stood before him as she said, "Not bad Harry, but you need to have your footing better and strengthen your core, otherwise you will keep falling on your rear end again."
"It's not always easy to do," Harry said as he stood up on his feet as Luna said, "Well the Queen piece has all the characteristics of knight, bishop, and rook. You could focus on two of aspects at a time, but it does make it easier to just focus on one at the moment, if you can learn how to keep standing after taking a punch, then you have master half of a rook's ability, while the other half is to throw a punch."
"I already know how to throw a punch," Harry said as Luna smile as she said, "Yes you do, but at a normal person level, which isn't to be a sham of, as I didn't get my strength at first… until I saw a boxing match that Hermione took me too, to help me understand how to stand and fight better, and from there on I learn how to grow with my power, like I was building up myself like a tower or a castle, as once you get a strong foundation done, you can stand strong on your own."
(flashback end)
Harry position his right foot behind him as the stone snake came down upon him, Harry stood strong as the ground around him shattered, as Gemini could not help but smile at this site as it seem his rival has potential in him after all, as he sees Harry holding back the fang of the snake with the sword while pushing up against the blade with his gauntlet.
Harry reel back his left arm, with Ddraig calls out again, "BOOST!" He soon throws his fist while he twist his feet a bit, cracking the ground even further as when his punch strike the snake at its head, its cry out as it flew backwards into more trees.
With that Harry could only kneel down exhausted after that as he was reaching his limits a bit fighting this stone snake, as he think he had got it Gemini spoken up saying, "Watch out boy, you didn't kill it quite yet."
Harry look up and saw the snake was getting back up having a huge crack around its head, but wasn't enough to stop it as Harry said, "I got one shot at it then."
"Don't worry partner I got your back," Ddraig said as he knew Harry has an ace up his sleeve as Harry stood up and prepare his final attack as he had accidentally learned this move while practicing the bishop characteristic of the Queen piece.
The snake went at full speed at harry as he prepare himself for his next attack as he remember the lesson Kuroka, and Fleur gave him.
(flashback)
"Wandless magic is a more advance version of magic, while wands and staffs that most magic user would have to focus their magic through for accurate spell shots, but it's not always as powerful," Kuroka said as she twirl around a small ball of fire in her hands to show she can use magic without the use of a magic focus as Harry soon ask, "So would that mean wandless magic isn't as Accurate itself?"
"Well at first yes, but with practice and training, you can learn how to control the accuracy of a spell, so at best a wand is more or less a crutch," Kuroka said as Harry soon said, "Alright but how does one use wandless magic without a wand?"
"It's easy to do so, it's just not many people would notice it, but accidental magic is a form of wandless magic itself, as I believe the story of blowing up your aunt is accurate?" Fleur said as Harry could not help but laugh at that thought, as the old bat deserved it, and said, "Yeah, that right, and now that I think about it, I also accidently made the glass at the zoo vanish as my cousin fell into a snake exhibit and let the snake out as well."
"Well, that's a start, tell me harry what were you thinking during those time when they did happen?" Kuroka asked as Harry thought about it and said, "Well for my cousin I thought of him being stuck in a glass box to see how he would like that, and for my aunt… well I wanted her to blow her up, but instead of blowing up, she inflated like a balloon."
"Ah I see, you used an inflation charm on your aunt without realizing it, as sometimes magic would follow the person will but it would have a mind of a its own as well so in a way you did blow up your aunt, but you blow her up like a blimp," Fleur said as harry soon said, "That makes a lot of sense, but how do you use and control wandless magic?"
"Well let's start with using it first before control, so let's focus on using magic on these dummies I set up for you," Kuroka said as she point to three dummies all set up for target practice as Fleur said to Harry, "How hold up your hand harry."
AS Harry did so with his left hand as he took aim as Fleur went on saying, "Now imaging a stream of water flowing through you, like small rivers within your body but instead of water its magic and let it flow up to where you want it to release it."
Harry try so as he tried to imagine rivers of magic flowing in his body as he think he got a feel for it as he said, "Alright, I think I got it, but now what?"
"Now try casting a spell like you are casting with a wand, but with your hand instead, try a knockback Jinx," Fleur said as Harry did so as he call out, "Flipendo!"
Nothing happen at first as Kuroka could not help but giggle a bit as Fleur soon said, "Don't worry, it won't always come out on the first time, keep trying until you get it to work."
Harry keep trying after that, as he try and try, but nothing was coming other than small spark of magic that didn't do anything, as harry was getting frustrated as he said, "Come on work!"
"*Sigh. This isn't getting anywhere. Harry how about we take a break, as I can see you are trying to use a spell but you're wasting mana for it," Fleur said as Harry spoken up saying, "Just give me a moment, I know I can do this."
"She's right Harry, you should take a break Nya," Kuroka said as harry wasn't going to give up just yet as Harry said, "Not yet I think I got an idea. Boosted gear!"
"BOOST!" Ddraig call out as harry summon forth the gauntlet as the girls were surprised by this as Fleur said, "Wait harry don't !"
"Come on Flipendo!" Harry called out but instead of a spell, the gauntlet brought forth a red orb of energy as Ddraig calls out, "DRAGON SHOT!"
A red beam of energy fire out and hit the dummies, destroying them as Harry was knock off his feet for that as the attack stopped after that as harry went, "Whoa… did I do that?"
"Amazing," Fleur said as she was surprised that Harry had manage to do something like that, as Kuroka said, "So powerful Nya! It is almost on par with Hermione power of ruin."
"How did I do that?" Harry question as Ddraig answer him saying, "When you focus your magic into your arm when you were trying to cast a spell, you accidentally sent the magic within the boosted gear releasing it in a blast of power called dragon shot, with double the magical energy you use increasing the power behind the shot."
"Oh, I thought if I try to use a spell with the boosted gear on, I thought I could focus and fire the spell off instead," Harry said as Ddraig said to him, "I am not a magi focus, I am a dragon with great powers that has yet to be unlocked, if you wish to learn wandless magic then you must do it without relying on me to do so."
"Sorry, I didn't realize it," Harry said as Fleur came up to him and said, "Its fine, harry, but at least you have a new power to use if needed."
"Yeah, but now we got to clean this and fix everything up now Nya," Kuroka said as the mess harry made was a bit much as there was a small creator of where harry shot the dragon shot at and destroying the dummies in the process as Harry said, "Oh Bloody hell, Hermione is gonna kill me."
(Flashback end)
Harry prepare his attack as he let his magic flow through him as a red energy orb was forming as the snake saw this as Harry point his arm out to it and called out, "Fire!"
"DRAGON SHOT!" Ddraig call out as with all the boosting had harry build up a lot of power to use as when he fired it the stone snake was engulf in the red energy as it hiss out in pain, while it seem to have denigrated, as harry just ended the attack after that, with Hermione surprise to see what harry did, as she can say it was powerful attack maybe as powerful as her Power of Ruin.
Harry took a breath as he drop the sword of Gryffindor, and started walking over to Hermione as when he reach her, he ask, "Are you alright Hermione?"
"I'm fine Harry," Hermione said as harry help her to her feet as Gemini was clapping his hand to this as Harry and Hermione look up at him as he said, "Bravo Potter, Bravo… but I think you should double check if the snake was dead or not."
Harry quickly look over and to her shock, he saw a hole in the ground where his blast hit at, as very big one that seem to be the same size as the stone snake, as at that moment, the ground below the two started to shake as the two quickly gotten out of the way as the stone snake emerged from the ground showing its body was cover in a black burn marks with parts of its body seem to have partly melted by the extreme heat of the attack, but survived it by going underground.
As Harry and Hermione were now face to face with the snake and Harry didn't have any energy left, and he drop the sword away from them as Gemini soon said, "What are you going to do now Potter? AS far as I can see it, you and your master are going to die a pitiful death, all because you are too weak."
Harry didn't know what to do at this point, but Gemini is right, they were going to die because harry wasn't strong enough to take down this stone snake, as he look to Hermione as she was already burden with exhaustion of using the ritual to find the first deathly hollow and fighting off the vines that had her trap.
He wasn't going to let her down, he going to give his all, even it mean putting his life on the line as he said, "Ddraig, please give me the power to destroy this thing. Feel my overwhelming emotions and Boost my power to the max!"
Suddenly the gauntlet was glowing giving off a powerful red aura. The stone snake backed away as it felt the power coming from harry as Hermione was shock to see this, knowing what this was, as Harry soon calls out, "Boosted gear!"
"Yes, that's it, the time has come!" Ddraig announced as Harry was confused but then saw the reason. "WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER SCALE MAIL!" Ddraig cried out and thus armor began to form up on Harry spreading across his body the armor formed covering Harry in a crimson red suit. Soon enough Harry found that he now stood wearing a suit of armor the Scale mail armor. As the armor had formed a pair of wings shot out from his back releasing burst of energy causing the Stone Snake to move back in terror of an apex predator.
Up in the sky Gemini smirked with his eyes closed before he began to take off. Nothing more for him to see here, he got what he came for in the end and then some. Flying off Gemini flew back to Hogwarts where he was staying for the Winter holidays.
Grabbing the Sword of Gryffindor once more Harry charged into the fight this time with increased fury using the sword like had been trained to use it. The Snake roared and went on the attack as well Harry was fast, but he was still not use to this power. Still, he leaned to make do as he punched the Snake in the face causing it to be blasted back by the strike.
"Harry!" Hermione cried out in surprise as she saw Harry's strength. Looking up she saw that Gemini was gone and then began to wonder. 'Did he come here to help?' Hermione wondered finding it odd that Gemini would do this for Harry.
"Partner! This creature is a construct of magic, a Golem for lack of a better word." Ddraig said as he looked to his partner.
"What do you suggest we do?" Harry asked as he figured Ddraig might have an idea.
"Simple we disrupt that magic and cause it to come undone." Ddraig said and in turn Harry nodded.
"Alright." Harry said and in turn he got ready.
"BOOST!" Ddraig called out doubling Harry's Power. The Snake attacked again, and Harry dodged the attack. "BOOST!" Ddraig repeated as Harry knew what the plan was. After the 10 seconds ran through again Ddraig did it again. "BOOST!" Ddraig called out and thus Harry knew it was now or never.
Harry then roared and attacked only for the creature to bite down on his arm and began working to tear it off. "Ddraig now!" Harry called out and thus Ddraig got down to it.
"TRANSFER!" Ddraig invoked and thus he transferred the power he built up into the Snake causing it to react. Its body began to glow as it released Harry. It roared in pain as the power it received was disrupting the magical flow judging from the red glow in the cracks. Seeing her chance Hermione acted as she formed the Power of Ruin between her hands.
"Now DIE!" Hermione called out and released the power causing the entire beast to be atomized in a single moment leaving only a crater behind.
"We did it." Harry said as he landed on the ground and in turn the armor vanished into red particles.
"Yes, we did." Hermione said grateful for this victory. "Now we just have one last thing to do." She said before turning towards the ramshackle building. The two headed up the front steps, taking in the dead snake carcass nailed to the door with distaste. "Guess we might as well go in." Hermione said and thus they opened the door.
Harry looked around the inside of the old shack in distaste. After he had crossed the threshold, he'd felt on edge inside this place. It was hard to pinpoint but there was something evil about this place.
"I can feel the Hallow. It's in here," Hermione said but despite her words, Harry noticed that she was frowning. He just raised his eyebrow in question. "There's something else though. It doesn't feel right. I think it's been cursed or tainted somehow." Hermione said which was bad news for them because if the Hollow was tainted that might complicate their goal. "We'll need to be careful but Harry whichever one it is, don't pick it up before we're sure it's safe." Hermione urged knowing that one wrong move and the world loses another Red Dragon Emperor.
Harry nodded to this and in turn Hermione began to walk across the room. Stopping in one of the far corners, she wasted no time in ripping up one of the loose floorboards and tossing it to the side. Reaching her hand in she pulled out a small box. She gave it a look over and thus sighed a bit. "No point in wasting time." Hermione said but then Ddraig cut in.
"STOP!" Ddraig warned Hermione before she did, something.
"What is it?" Hermione asked looking to Ddraig.
"The Hollow I suspected something was wrong with it, not just the curse but the nature of the Taint." Ddraig said as he spoke. "It's been itching the back of my head for some time now, starting from when you reincarnated Harry." Ddraig said as he looked to the group.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked and thus Ddraig got to why he stopped him.
"It seems the soul piece that used to be inside you Harry was the youngest and this one is the eldest." Ddraig said and thus they realized what this was. "I've seen this sort of magic once before the Hollow has been made into a Horcrux." Ddraig asked causing Hermione to gasp in horror and shock.
"A Horcrux?" Harry asked and thus Hermione explained what it was.
"Harry it's a vile piece of magic even Devils would never tamper with something so insidious." Hermione said as she glared at the box with as much hate as she could muster. "The Horcrux is an item that's turned into an anchor for your soul by attaching a piece of your soul to it." Hermione explained as she looked to the box. "A ritual is normally done first but it ends by the act of murder, rape, or a similar or more insidious acts." Hermione explained as she looked to the item. "I read about them in my birth fathers archive." Hermione said and in turn they had to do something.
"We can't take the Hollow with that fragment inside it." Ddraig said which meant bad news for them.
"Then what can we do?" Harry asked and thus Hermione spoke up.
"The only way to destroy a Horcrux is with either Basilisk Venom or to destroy the item entirely." Hermione said as she had read that bit of information too.
"But the only Basilisk is back at Hogwarts... and I can't open the path anymore." Harry said facepalming himself there.
"Why are you complaining the sword has the venom on it?" Ddraig asked and thus Harry went wide eyed.
"Wait what?" Harry asked and thus Ddraig looked to Harry via their link.
"You mean you didn't know? The Sword I can smell the venom inside the blade." Ddraig said and thus Harry looked surprised by this.
"Oh of course." Hermione moaned face palming herself for that one. "What doesn't destroy it only makes it stronger." Hermione said as she clearly read that a while back. "Harry when you killed the Basilisk with the sword you impregnated the blade with its venom which means we can purify the Hollow now." Hermione said and thus Harry understood.
"Set the box on the ground and open it from afar. Once its open do NOT hesitated and swing that sword down." Ddraig said and thus Hermione nodded. Placing the box on the ground Hermione put some distance between herself and the box before using her wand to open it. When it did Hermione felt drawn to the ring even from this distance.
Harry followed Ddraigs instructions and readied the Sword of Gryffindor, spinning, before he slashed downwards onto the ring. The first thing he noticed was the loud unearthly scream, and then the magical backlash hit him. Flying through the air, he felt himself collide with Hermione. Harry wouldn't say that he didn't like the soft landing he received, but he was sure it couldn't have been comfortable for her, so he scurried to his feet as quickly as possible.
"Sorry about that," Harry mumbled feeling embarrassed about that.
"It's fine Harry." Hermione said just happy that the danger is over. "Anyway, what happened to the Hallow, was it destroyed?" Hermione asked focusing on their whole reason for even coming this far out here.
"I don't know." Harry said as he looked to where the ring had landed after the blast. "Let's see." Harry said before the two walked over to the fallen ring carefully. As he crouched down, he was finally able to see what was left. The metal band of the ring was split cleanly down the middle, from where the sword had struck, yet to his surprise the stone was completely undamaged.
"Is that the-" Harry began and in turn Hermione cut in.
"Resurrection Stone," Hermione said finishing Harry's thought for him. "Yes, I think so." Hermione said and in turn Harry gulped nervously. He was suddenly aware for the first time of all the possibilities an artifact of that name possessed. "Harry…" Hermione said as she was giving him an understanding look.
"Right…" Harry said before he scooped the stone up in his hand, barely feeling the small tingle of magic that shot through his body as he did. He dropped it in his pocket, promising himself to explore it later. "Let's get out of here." Harry said and while standing back up, Harry finally felt the weariness set in. Taking Hermione's arm, the couple stumbled out of the building, intending to teleport away. They both came up short though at the sight before them. Harry was looking into the shocked face of his Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked shocked to see Harry here of all places and with a red gauntlet with which was most familiar.
"Well crap." Ddraig cursed as he saw that this meeting was going to get awkward fast.
(TBC)
ESKK: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will join us next time. So, until we meet again be sure to leave a review before leaving and as I always say on here, ja-ne.