On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads
Enigmaris
Chapter 40: Voldie's Next Attack
Summary:
Harry's scar pain proves true once again and Voldemort attacks. But where? And is Draco going to actually go?
Notes:
Merry Christmas (for those who celebrate!) and for those who don't happy update day and holidays to you! Once I update this I'll be going to a theater to watch the new Star Wars movie so send me good vibes because based on what I've seen online...
I'll need the vibes.
Updates might be late next week. I'll be traveling home next week and I might not have internet to post on time. Please check my twitter for more information if my next update isn't up when you expect.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The attack, when it came, came to London.
The only warning the four of them had was Harry's scar erupting in pain and blood began to pour out of the scar.
And it was the four of them, Draco had agreed, in his own way to go with them. He had kept complaining that they were forcing him and that they were inhumane but none of them had even asked more than once. To Harry it seemed that Draco just wanted someone to put up a fight with him so that he could claim he'd been forced into doing the right thing.
All Draco ever wanted to do was fight. He goaded Hermione into debates about magic or muggleborns (all of which he lost), he argued loudly with Ron in DA meetings about pureblood culture and honor (which he won only about a third of the time). Most often though Draco was constantly trying to get Harry to fight him. Ever since their confrontation before rescuing his mum, Draco had become more intent on getting Harry to fight him.
Harry had no idea why either.
Was Draco feeling the same rumbling rage that Harry had been carrying around when he'd tried to punch his dad?
Or was just Draco just an asshole?
Ron thought Draco was trying to test Harry. Ron pointed out that Draco wouldn't want to totally betray Voldemort unless he thought Harry could actually win. Which he didn't know because so far he hadn't seen Harry use complicated magic since his transformation. Harry didn't see how a duel with Malfoy would prove if he could take on Voldemort. But who knew what went on in Draco's head?
Harry only knew what was going on in his own head. (Well most of the time.)
What he knew right then was that they had to get to London.
"Are we ready to portkey to London?" Hermione asked.
"Harry, you good?" Ron asked.
"I'm fine, the pain's already fading." Harry said. "Malfoy, you'll stick with me okay?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Because I'm a demi-god and you can use my practically invulnerable body as a meat shield?" Harry suggested, his voice only half sarcastic.
"Oh. Well then."
"Is it that surprising that I don't want you to die?"
"I can assure you that feeling is not mutual. And you could be bringing me into a trap."
"Merlin, Malfoy if you don't want to go then don't." Ron said.
"And have you take all the glory Weasel? I think not."
Everyday Harry regretted more and more reaching out to Malfoy. He had been annoying before as his rival, but that meant Harry only had to deal with him in small doses. Now Draco was always around, and he didn't get any less bothersome over time. Harry dealt with it because he had to. Frankly if he didn't reach out to the Slytherins and the purebloods and everyone else that had been on Voldemort's 'side' then it didn't matter who won the war, the war would just be fought again and again and again. They needed unity even if that meant dealing with Draco Malfoy.
Harry cleaned the blood off of his face with a towel and then stood up from his chair. They were all dressed in their armor (those who had some) and had their weapons ready. Hermione pulled out a rope, specially designed to take them to Thor's location, wherever the battle was going to be, Thor would be there.
"Okay, Draco." Harry said. "For the last time do you want to go or not? Because if you don't, I'll hex you to sleep right now and leave you alone in the room of requirement."
"I owe you a debt Potter."
"Do. You. Want. To. Go." Harry asked causing Draco to groan.
"Yes. Yes fine. Happy now?"
"Overjoyed Malfoy. You've made me overjoyed. Now grab on."
He rolled his eyes but grabbed the free part of the rope that Hermione, Ron, and Harry weren't using. Once his grip was firm Harry spoke the password.
"Assemble."
Harry still didn't like portkeys but after using the Bifrost so often he felt far more comfortable with it. They landed in an alleyway in Diagon Alley, Thor was there, hammer drawn.
"Thor." Harry said. "We're here."
"Nephew!" He greeted turning to smile at them. He reached into a pocket and pulled out four communicators, Hermione took two and put one in her ear while explaining to Draco how they worked. Draco looked bemused by the very idea. "The Death Eaters have just appeared, there is no sign of You-Know-Who but he will likely appear once you do."
"Got it. Any sign of dad?"
"He's shifted to an American." Thor said. "With a very unique nose."
"Right."
"All four of us together then?" Ron asked. "Where has the least coverage?"
"There is Knockturn Alley and the Bank."
"We'll take the bank." Harry said. "No need to give dad a heart attack by going in Knockturn."
"Go with victory." Thor ordered.
"We will."
Diagon Alley was a mess.
Fred and George could be heard cackling in the distance, their forms obscured by smoke and spell fire. There were buildings on fire and the shouts and screams of death eaters and civilians alike. Smoke filled the air like a thick fog and Harry felt a chill dance along his skin that reminded him of something but he wasn't quite sure what.
The three of them immediately spread out into a triangle formation to cover each other. Draco stumbled a bit and Harry pulled him so that he was standing behind him.
"Watch our backs."
"R…right."
"Just shout if you see someone." Ron said. "And don't fire any spells at us."
"I'm not an idiot."
"Could've fooled me."
"Come on. Let's get to Gringotts." Harry said. "Does anyone know the way from here?"
"Just follow me." Draco scoffed, pushing his way to the front.
He started striding confidently through the destroyed streets. Harry rolled his eyes and jumped forward to follow. Draco didn't make it more than teen feet before almost getting his head blown off by a dueling group of Death Eaters and some shop owners. Thankfully Draco managed to cast a shield spell in time. The three of them rushed to his aid, Hermione roughly pulled Draco back by his robe and Harry jumped up.
Remember Lokison, remember what my Brenna taught me.
Harry's eyes tracked over the entire scene, three death eaters against a woman who sold Harry his school quills.
A Valkyrie has three goals:
First, protect the innocent.
"Ron. Shield Madam Hopper and get her behind cover."
"On it."
Second, stop injustices.
Harry looked at three death eaters as Hermione fired spells to distract them from their quarry. Ron grabbed at Hopper's hand and pulled her away to safety, a shield spell up. He looked at the rubble on the ground and nodded to himself, he lifted his hand and in a flash of purple flame summoned his sword to his hand. Then with his other hand he cast a spell on the larger bits of rubble.
Third, and most important, a Valkyrie always wins.
Harry jumped up onto a floating piece of rubble, using the momentum to dodge a wave of spells from the three Death Eaters.
"It's Potter! Get him!"
Harry hopped from rock to floating rock, dodging spells, until he was close enough to his first target. Tyr had taught him a lot about how to fight and he'd taught him in a way that felt right to Harry. He jumped down from the rock and into a roll. He jumped up right in front of the Death Eater, sword up to block the first spell they fired, a cruciatus. The spell's energy was absorbed into the blade and Harry grinned.
No magic user will use spells in close quarters or they'll hurt themselves with the backlash. Use that to your advantage Lokison.
The Death Eater tried to get some distance between them but Harry didn't give him the chance. He used his sword to guide the man into the proper position and then he got in very close, grabbed his wand arm and twisted. The man's arm dislocated with a pop and a scream, his wand fell to the ground.
This technique means injuring your opponents as little as you can. If you can break an arm instead of a leg do it. If you can dislocate a limb instead of breaking it, all the better.
From behind him Harry heard a few shouts of spells and Harry lifted a hand summoning rubble to act as blocks. The spells exploded the rubble into dust before they could reach Harry. Harry finally cast a stunning spell on the Death Eater he'd just fought. He turned around to see Ron and Hermione, along with Draco subduing the other two.
"Ready to keep moving?"
"Perhaps you should lead." Draco said. "I'll just give the directions."
"Good plan." Harry said in his most sarcastic voice.
They only ran into five more Death Eaters on their way to the steps of the bank. In their ears there was chatter from the Avengers coms, keeping them up to date on everyone else who was fighting Death Eater and any new information that they might need. Hermione spoke for their group of students, telling the Avengers when they downed Death Eaters so that their location could be marked for pick up.
Draco complained about the muggle device in his ear until Ron punched him in the shoulder and told him to shut up.
Then he started complaining about blood traitor brutality.
Then Ron pointed out that technically now he was a blood traitor too.
That stumped him silent for a good few moments.
When they got to the bank Harry looked up at the doors that were locked tighter than the entrance to Hel and nodded to himself. Frankly Harry didn't know much about goblins but he knew they probably wouldn't want to help him. They didn't like humans and for good reason. But Harry knew that that wasn't what was important.
"You guys going to be okay for a few minutes?"
"Why?"
"Gonna let the goblins know we're on their side."
"You can't go in there!" Draco said. "It's imposs-"
Harry didn't even let him finish. He tapped into that special magic his dad had taught him and teleported forward. He worked right through the wards that had been set in Midgardian magic and appeared inside the bank, where goblins were gathered in armor and yelling at each other in a language Harry didn't understand.
"INTRUDER!"
"Wait!" Harry said lifting up both his hands. "I'm bringing a message."
One of the goblins, one Harry had never seen before, glared at him for a moment. He was wearing more ornate armor than the other goblins and he also looked a bit older.
"Speak human."
"My friends and I, well I guess me especially, I'm offering your bank protection." Harry noted the looks of outrage and rushed to correct himself. Right warrior race. "Not because you can't defend yourself, you definitely can, it's just. This is a human evil that we created and that you've suffered. I don't think you should have to risk your lives."
"How do we know you speak truth?"
Harry dropped his sword, and his inner Tyr yelled at him for it, and lifted up his hand.
"Would a magical vow work?"
"Give it."
"I, Haraldr Lokison and Harry Potter, son of Asgard and Midgard, and child of prophecy, swear to defend your people from the evil that my kind created to the best of my ability."
Whispers burst out from the crowds and Harry heard Hermione shout for him through his coms.
"I've got to go." He said picking up his sword. "Duty calls."
Unlike the time Harry spoke to the Americans this time he left their presence feeling quite good about that interactions. He teleported back out of the bank and found his friends had erected barriers and were taking pot shots at a group of Death Eaters trying to storm the bank.
"How many of 'em?"
"Thirty at least."
"I think they know you're here." Hermione said.
"Recognize anyone Malfoy?" Ron taunted.
"They're all wearing masks Weasel. Of course I don't…oh wait. That one is Goyle's dad."
"Course it is, he's Hagrid sized!" Ron shouted.
"I've got an idea." Harry said.
"What?" Ron and Draco both asked.
"'Mione? You ever play that game as a kid? The Floor is Lava?"
"Of course, I…oh. Oh, Harry that's brilliant! You take the left and I'll take the right."
"Ron cover Hermione from fire, Draco you cover me, we're going to clear the stairs."
Hermione and Harry moved to opposite sides of the barrier. Ron and Draco listened to Harry and cast shields on them so that they weren't hit as they worked. Together they began to cast spells that heated the marble steps of the stairs. The white marble began to glow red from the output of heat and Death Eaters yelped in pain as their feet were burnt through their boots. About half of the Death Eaters teleported away, bettering their odds.
"Can you hold the heat?" Harry asked Hermione. She nodded and concentrated on her own spell, increasing her output. Harry teleported forward and began to pull the Death Eaters away from the stairs so that they were no longer swarming his friends. He mostly dodged and blocked spells until most of the attention was on him.
His friends and Draco began to start taking out Death Eaters from behind.
They continued to fight against the swarm of Death Eaters together, knocking out as many as they could. Unfortunately, the other Death Eaters would revive their friends so Harry was forced to dislocate more shoulders, which meant the Death Eaters couldn't use their arms and so they couldn't heal themselves, even if their allies revived them. It slowed them down some at least a little since healing spells required more concentration and vulnerability than was safe in a battle.
Tyr's training came in handy, especially for Ron who stayed on the stairs and started firing magically charged arrows towards Death Eaters and Hermione used her battle axe with less restraint than anyone, but Harry and Ron expected.
Even as Harry moved and sweated with exertion, he still felt a strange chill that grew and grew. It wasn't until he heard a woman screaming, begging for his life, that he knew. He punched a Death Eater hard enough in the chest to send him to the ground, but not hard enough to break a rib. Then he looked out over the chaos of Diagon alley. Where are they?
There!
Harry lifted up his sword and pointed the tip right at one of the streets furthest away from him. He couldn't see them but he could sense them, his dad's training coming handy.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A stag, much larger than Harry had ever cast before, burst from the tip of his sword and rushed towards the dementors. The energy coming off of the stag was enough to push Death Eaters away. The dementors shrieked and began to flee away from the alley. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't notice the spell coming for the back of his head until Draco tackled him to the ground and a bright green spell flew over both their heads.
"Pay attention scarhead!" Draco yelled as Ron shot a stunning spell on the Death Eater that had almost killed him.
Harry hissed in pain, the burning in his scar increasing.
"He's coming."
Harry pushed Draco off of him and both of them scrambled up. Draco looked at Harry for a moment, something stark in his gray eyes.
"Don't die Potter."
"Worried about me?"
"No. I just don't want to fail to repay my debt."
"Right. Pretty sure you saving my life just did that."
"Shut up."
"Behind the barrier. If he doesn't see you, you'll be safe." Harry said, Draco nodded and rushed to hide behind the hastily raised barrier at the top of the bank steps. "Ron. Hermione. Stay back and get ready to summon blocks for killing curses."
"We'll back you up mate." Ron promised.
"Together." Hermione swore.
And then he was there. Harry's scar started bleeding again and he turned to see Voldemort stepping forward through the rubble. His two friends stood on either side of him, wands drawn, and Harry felt brave. In his ears he heard the Avengers rushing to get there, his dad shouting for Harry to stay smart.
"What are you doing here Tom?" Harry shouted. "You're not going to win today."
"Stand aside boy." Voldemort snarled.
"You said the same words to my mother." Harry said. "And how did that work out for you?"
A killing curse was his response. Hermione, Ron, and Harry all used magic to pull the road in front of their feet up forming a barrier of cobblestones and cement that exploded on impact from the energy of the curse. Harry looked over at Ron who took a few steps back and pulled his bow from his back nocking an arrow.
"Lower it on three." Ron whispered causing Harry and Hermione to stand aside so that Ron could shoot between them. Ron counted down and when he hit three Hermione and Harry let the barrier collapse. Ron let off an arrow immediately that hit Voldemort in the shoulder. Hermione and Harry both followed that up with spells of their own that Voldemort managed to block.
"You won't keep me from that bank Potter. I know what you're doing."
Well that was news because Harry had no idea what he was doing. Why did he want to get into the bank?
"You're not getting into that bank." Harry said before looking up and smirking. "And look who's coming to stop you."
Thor roared and summoned a huge lightning bolt that would have hit Voldemort dead on if the guy hadn't teleported out of the way. Thor landed a moment later, forming a crater in the street. The duel began between the four of them against Voldemort. Casting spells and dodging the return fire. Harry stumbled around on the uneven street. He had picked up a few injuries from earlier fights and the pain from Voldemort's nearness was further weakening him.
Despite this it seemed like a majority of Voldemort's attentions were on the very angry and very vengeful god of thunder. The sky was quickly turning dark, the sun blocked out by thick rolling clouds. There was so much lightning in the air that Harry could feel it dancing along his skin. Thor was not holding back, his eyes glowing with godly rage. Harry ended up back near the steps of the bank, guarding it with Draco and his friends.
By the time the other Avengers began to arrive, Voldemort decided it was best to retreat, smelling far too much of static and burnt robes.
Unfortunately, before Voldemort left he looked at the bank and saw Draco standing there, a look of rage passed over his face.
"This isn't over."
Then he disappeared.
A moment later Draco started to scream.
Notes:
Updates might be late next week. I'll be traveling home next week and I might not have internet to post on time. Please check my twitter for more information if my next update isn't up when you expect.