CHAPTER 94: The Wrath of Olympus (Part 3)

Birmingham

9:25 p.m.

Albus could feel the sweat drop from his forehead as he struggled against the final fiendfyre mutation in the city. This was the biggest by far, having torn through all of Victoria Square before heading for the city centre where Albus had managed to intercept it. The creature - nearly fifty-feet long with the tail of a scorpion, wings of an eagle, and face of a rhinoceros - had resisted all of his attempts to extinguish it, not only evading the massive bursts of water that were flying around the city trying to trap it but also actively attacking Albus himself in an effort to stop him from starving the creature from more souls.

He'd lost track of time, and in his attempts to extinguish the beast some of the Death Eaters began to notice, forcing Albus to divert his attention to apprehending them or pushing them away. It wasn't a permanent solution, at least not yet since the fiendfyre creature proved too big of a distraction for other Death Eaters to come in and help their peers. But at least it allowed him to continue uninterrupted as he flew the muggles out of the danger zone and kept constricting the beast into a smaller area.

Thankfully, he wasn't forced to deal with the Death Eaters for much longer as various Aurors came to his aid and fought them off, causing most to apparate away to cause havoc around what remained of the city. Some even tried to help him subdue the fiendfyre, but Albus instructed them to round up the Death Eaters around the city. This creature was far too dangerous, the latest creation of Hephaestus, and by far the most destructive the Death Eater had designed. The Aurors would serve as nothing more than added fuel to the fiendfyre if they were to stay.

The slow process finally paid off as Albus managed to surround the beast in a massive floating whirlpool. It lashed out, using its tail to pierce through the water and pierce him, but Albus dodged its attacks as he flew around it, lighting up the city as he dissolved into a mass of light as when he did. He used those small breaks he had between the attacks, floating water from all over the city and launching it at the flying ball of water and fire. It wasn't until the massive sphere fully covered the fiendfyre beast, along with ten separate streams of water all piercing the water and restraining it, that thousands - tens of thousands of voices cried out in agony. A deafening sound, heartbreaking and unnerving at once, but one which signified the death of the creature as it was suddenly extinguished, creating a large cloud of smoke that began expanding and covering the air.

When Albus landed in the middle of the city square, with the water descending from the sky above as it sought out the nearest sewer grates, he took a moment to regain his composure. It had been various years since something had demanded that effort from him, but thankfully it wasn't something that would stall him for more than a minute before he travelled to the other cities. But before he could, a cloud of darkness crashed onto the ground and revealed a lone figure standing there. He was wearing the same dark cloak as the others, but what differentiated him from the others was the horned mask covering his face. It took Albus a moment to identify the man standing in front of him."

"Good evening, Barty," he said calmly.

"Albus," the other man greeted, if only a bit curtly. He'd encountered Barty various times before, and the man had proven to be one of the most dangerous threats to Voldemort's pantheon. And with the Dark Mark in the sky, escaping from the city wouldn't be as quick as he had hoped.

Albus began walking, only for Barty to immediately mirror his movements. He looked around the city, taking in the scorched destruction around him. "Despite all that you had done, I never believed you would be capable of leading a massacre like this one," Albus said evenly. "Do you still believe what you're doing is right here?"

"It's what's necessary," Barty rebuked.

"Death is rarely necessary."

"It is here," he said emphatically. "The muggles are only becoming more powerful with each passing day. How longer until they find out about us? Ten? Twenty years? How much longer until they have the ability to obliterate us?"

"And doing this is ensuring they never do? Not only are you giving them a reason, you're the ones exposing us to them. Not the other way around."

"We're striking first," Barty said snidely. "If they're going to find out about us, it'll be on our terms. And this time, they won't win the war."

"There was no need for a war to begin with," Albus said, putting a little more force to his voice.

"Have you ignored what our own history has taught us? It's them or us, Albus. There's no future where we coexist. No matter how much you try to wish it into existence, sooner or later one will have to eliminate the other. I'm simply making sure we're the ones that remain."

Albus had a strong suspicion Barty was trying to stall him. And though he had promised Rufus he would get around to the other cities, taking one of Voldemort's right-hand men from the board was an opportunity that couldn't be ignored. Not just because of the impact it would have on the Death Eaters, but because of the intelligence they could gain from him.

He pulled out his wand, and Barty did the same.

"It's only once we all stop believing in peace that we curse ourselves with war."

Barty didn't answer, instead, he surged forward and cast a barrage of curses at him. But Albus had been ready for it, lifting his wand he raised the floor from beneath, creating a spiral of bricks that caught each of the curses before they launched themselves toward Barty. The Death Eater destroyed each of them with ease, even managing to cast a shield to stop Albus' disarming charms and apparate away right as the ground below was about to capture Barty's feet.

Albus blocked Barty's curses, keeping his shield up even as he began transfiguring the surrounding environment into projectiles and other methods of subduing him. But Barty managed to avoid them all deftly without even stopping sending his curses as he began apparating all around him. With nothing left to do, Albus sent a shockwave all around him that broke his own shields, but also caught Barty right as he was landing from an apparition. He stumbled to the ground, and Albus immediately began shifting it around him, trapping Barty's arm to his body as he began to raise him to the sky and constrict him more.

Barty struggled against the rocks, even trying to apparate away only to be stopped by the enchantments Albus had placed on those bricks. And just as Albus had been about to cast a stunning charm to entirely stop him, the restraints suddenly exploded, a result of a carefully placed blasting curse from Barty's wand. The structure was split apart, leaving Barty enough room to squeeze out of his restraints and land on the other structure, and launch a few more curses at Albus. Immediately propping up his shield a few feet in front of him, Albus stopped the spells only to be surprised as Barty apparated right in front of him and struck him in the jaw. The hit was disorienting, but Albus took the opportunity and quickly cast a stunning charm. But by the time he had managed that, Barty had already apparated behind him and began to cast more curses.

He had several pieces of debris from around them fly and intercept the curses, turning around and placing a new shield only for Barty to apparate to the opposite side and continue his assault. Albus was left disoriented by the physical blow, making him slower as he stopped Barty's attacks and sent out some of his own. His head began spinning, and his vision turned blurry, which was precisely what Barty wanted to happen. Knowing he couldn't continue for longer, Albus focused his attack on the entire area rather than just Barty. Turning his wand in a circle, pointing to the floor, before launching it up, Albus watched as all around him plumbing tubes began piercing the ground and rising far above their heads.

The move took Barty by surprise, forcing him to apparate away only to be struck on the leg by another tube that was only just coming up the ground. Staggering on his feet, Albus used another one of the tubes to grab his leg and apparated away in an instant. Appearing right in front of Barty, Albus launched another stunning charm, only for Barty to explode into a ball of darkness and fly away before he had even cast the spell. Albus followed him without hesitating, exploding into a streak of light in pursuit of Barty.

The two battled in the air, trading spells as they flew around the city. Though Albus was more sparse with his use of spells, trying to pin Barty down using their environment as he had buildings come to life and swallow Barty into them, only for Barty to easily dodge around all the structures inside the buildings and burst through the window. He attempted to launch cars at Barty, transfiguring them into traps and enchanting them against apparition while in the air. But all of his attempts were either dodged or blasted.

Barty wasn't just a good dueller because of his fast reactions, he was also quite cunning and extremely resilient. He could cast more than a couple of curses in a single second, all with nearly perfect aim and using his head to predict Albus' patterns. It forced him to stay behind in his pursuit and be more careful with his actions. He was far from being as powerful as Voldemort, and not as intellectually smart as Gellert, but Barty was one of the few people Albus had never managed to truly beat. All of their previous encounters had ended with Barty escaping. This wouldn't be one of them, Albus promised to himself.

Slowly but surely, Albus began catching up with Barty. He was getting closer and his attacks were getting closer to actually hitting the Death Eater. Of course, Barty continued to deflect and swerve past his attacks, but Albus could feel how the pressure he was enforcing was slowly beginning to affect Barty. He'd begun making more mistakes: Crashing against one of Albus' transfigurations as he dodged his series of stunning charms. Barely avoiding one of Albus' stunning charms, forcing him to redirect his path completely. The mistakes hadn't been crucial, not yet, anyways, but if enough piled up, they would prove dangerous for Barty.

And just as Albus was about to reach Barty, he was stopped by a sudden flying light appearing in front of him. Albus stopped mid-air, watching as it transformed into a silver weasel. "Albus!" Arthur's voice came out of the Patronus. "We've tried holding off against the fiendfyre, but it's got out of control! We need your help!" There was a massive blast that came from the Patronus, as well as various screams. "We're at the Tower Bridge in London. Get here now!"

The Patronus dissipated, revealing Barty standing on a rooftop a few streets away. Albus felt his heart slow down, the decision made before it was even presented to him.

Hogwarts Castle

9:45 p.m.

"The Ministry," Longbottom echoed Elijah's words, his eyes gaining a faraway look as he gripped into Elijah's shoulder even more painfully. "Hermione's at the Ministry."

Elijah watched as Longbottom turned out to him, his eyes so clearly exposing the reaction he had wanted from the boy. "Neville, you can't," he urged, keeping his face as serious as possible.

But the boy didn't listen to him. Instead, he turned back to the two Weasleys behind him, both looking as pale as Longbottom himself. He could see their silent conversation. Feel it more than actually read it. But he didn't need to. Elijah knew Longbottom well enough to know what his reaction would be.

"Neville," Elijah pressed, coughing for good measure.

Longbottom turned towards him once more. "What did you hear?" He demanded.

"What?"

"The Death Eaters. Why are they going to the Ministry? What are they after?"

"I- I don't know," Elijah sighed helplessly. "They were rather vague, and I didn't get a chance to ask." Longbottom grimaced, and though Elijah could see the boy's brain making the connections, he decided to give him a small push. "Neville, don't. If you go to the Ministry they'll kill you."

"If I don't go they'll kill Hermione," he hissed, and verbalizing what the three kids were thinking only made the two Weasleys look even more sick at the thought. "I can't stay here."

"Neville…" Elijah trailed off, knowing he didn't need to say anything else. Over the course of the past four months, he'd grown to know the boy rather well. He had learned to read him like a worn-out book he'd had for many years now. Of course, he hadn't known then, when he had sought out the boy at that New Year's ball that his relationship with him would become the crux of their most important mission so far. But it had all worked out for the best in the end, yet another unforeseen gift from Potter's sudden defiance this past year.

He idly wondered where he was right now. Dolohov had been rather certain the boy would try to face him in London, but Elijah wasn't entirely convinced. Regardless, it didn't matter. Wherever Potter was tonight, he wouldn't be anywhere where he'd pose a threat to his plan.

"Mister Longbottom," a dull voice drawled from behind him, causing even Elijah to look up in surprise as Severus Snape glowered down at them. "I believe you were told to stay in your seat."

"Forgive them," Elijah intervened. "Professor Snape. It's my fault. Neville was only concerned for my well-being."

Snape stared at him intensely. "That does not excuse Longbottom's breaking of the rules. Ten points from Gryffindor, each," he added as he turned to the two Weasleys. "I suggest you return to your seats and remain there until Headmaster Umbridge says otherwise."

"Yes, sir," Longbottom gritted out, and the three turned around and began making their way through the sea of students.

"Miss Weasley," Snape called out at the final moment, his voice as cold as Elijah had ever heard it. "Given how our dear Miss Granger has found herself… indisposed, as of late, I suggest you take over her role as the responsible Gryffindor of your little band of delinquents and make sure your brother and his pig-headed friend don't do anything stupid. I will not be so generous again if I catch either of you three breaking the rules again tonight."

"Yes, sir," the Weasley girl said hastily before grabbing her brother and Longbottom and disappearing into the crowd with them.

Elijah looked up, giving Snape a weary smile that was not returned. Neither said a word as Snape levitated him across the Great Hall, successfully getting the students to part and make way for him as the other teachers attempted to bring order to the room. It was only once they left the room, with Snape locking the door behind them, that Elijah allowed himself to drop his mask completely as he tried to push back the lingering pain he still felt even after the potions the matron had given her.

It wasn't long before Snape barged into the infirmary. "Out!" He barked at the matron. "I'll tend to this one myself." For a moment, Elijah thought the woman would shoot an insult to Snape and disregard his orders. But it was clear this wasn't the same woman Poppy Pomfrey was. She was weak-willed, a Ministry drone who would rather report Snape to Umbridge than stand up for herself. She had a sour expression as she hurried out of the infirmary, slamming the door behind her as she did.

Snape didn't waste any time, casting a series of spells at the door that turned it blue, then gold, then purple, and then they all faded, and it was brown once again. And the moment they had their privacy, Snape turned towards him, an ugly smear crossing his features. "What," he began emphatically. "What are you doing here, Nemesis?"

Elijah stood up from the stretcher, limping to the nearest bed as he took off his robe and revealed his bruised and battered body. His entire body felt like it was being burned with every step he took, and though Snape's expression didn't change much, he could tell he was surprised by his appearance. "Make yourself useful, Circe," he said emotionlessly. "Start treating me."

The words seemed to snap Snape out of his shock, as he immediately began fishing potions and salves from the cupboards. But instead of serving them out in glasses or applying the salves himself, he simply pushed one of the tables near the bed and dropped them all onto it without any care. In another life, Snape would have been a terrible matron. Elijah, though, wasn't too bothered by it. It's not like he had been expecting a warm welcome.

He began applying the salves all over his body, feeling as the cuts immediately healed and the bruises disappeared. And though he had already drunk a few potions at the Great Hall, he began downing them all. It wasn't recommended, it would make him crash in the morning. But he needed his strength for the night.

"I do hope the Dark Lord is aware of this stunt you've decided to pull," Snape said as he did so. "I doubt he would see your spouting off about Death Eaters and massive attacks all over the country as anything other than treason."

Elijah looked up, giving a small snot as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Everyone is aware," he said, lighting it up. "Everyone important, that is."

"What are you implying?" There was an edge to Snape's voice.

"Nothing," he said, before pointedly adding. "Nothing that should concern you, at least."

Snape turned around, walking to the nearest window and gazing outwards. Elijah stared at the professor's reflection. His face was entirely blank, and yet it was clear to see that he was slowly figuring everything out without Elijah having to say a single word. "Why wasn't I informed of this?" Snape asked after a few minutes of silence.

"There was no need," he answered simply.

"I'm stationed at Hogwarts for a reason," Snape pressed. "If you were coming, I should have been told."

"Zeus thought it best you didn't know. It would be unfortunate if you had been caught and rumours about you being a Death Eater once more began circling around again, wouldn't it?"

Snape glared at him through the reflection but didn't say anything for a while. He continued to study the grounds, his eyes occasionally moving as they began analysing another area. By the time he spoke again, Elijah had finished cleansing himself of the damage he had sustained, robing himself once more before moving to stand behind Snape as he too, stared out into the grounds, watching five figures hurrying along the dark path as they headed towards the entrance gates.

"What are my orders?"

"The Dark Lord doesn't want you to get involved. Not tonight, at least."

"Does he want me to pass a message to Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore should already be out there, responding to our attacks. You won't be seeing him until all of this is over." Elijah responded, feeling a small smile creep onto his face as the gates opened in the distance. "I'll be fine here for the rest of the night. You should probably return to the Great Hall. I'm sure the rest of the faculty will appreciate your help reigning in the panic I've caused."

London

9:45 p.m.

Harry rushed through the rooftops of London, apparating a few at a time while running in the intervals to keep his momentum through each apparition. He gripped his wand, perhaps a little too tightly as he'd fought off the urge of using it for the past hour. He'd been running around the city, depending on the knife and Bedivere's enchanted items as he'd fought off the few threats he'd encountered. But not once had he let go of his wand, and after training for years on end, it had become an inhuman struggle not to give in and use it. Whether it was to cast a few blasting curses or even to make his night a little simpler. Still, beyond a couple of spells here and there he hadn't used it much, still feeling rather well in how strong his magic felt.

Unfortunately, the more time he spent around the city, apparating after Death Eaters and saving idiotic muggles who had found themselves in danger, he had begun running out of the items Bedivere had left for him. And after being forced to use his last item to save Rufus bloody Scrimgeour of all people, Harry was left more desperate than ever as he now had nothing he could use to survive the night beside his wand and Longbottom's invisibility cloak. Not that the latter would help much, especially not as he was running right into the gigantic inferno hell-bent on destroying the Tower Bridge.

It had been a startling sight, even for Harry, as he watched both monstrosities fight and slowly merge into the gigantic beast that towered over him - even as he was still thirty blocks away from reaching the bridge. And though he had done everything he could to avoid them all night, apparating in the opposite direction the moment he saw one of them flying towards him, he found himself running straight towards the bridge. His whole body knew it was wrong, both his conscious and subconscious minds knew it was the stupidest decision he could make. But Harry didn't have to be right there at the bridge for him to know it would be packed with muggles and other idiotic wizards trying to stop them. And for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to ignore that.

He hated himself for it, but it didn't slow him down.

Harry landed on the roof, nearly falling over the ledge with how fast he was going. It was the end of the road, there was nothing in front of him but the river that led straight towards the Tower Bridge. He could see it clearly now, the terrifying flaming beast that had finished fully merging, standing at the centre of the bridge as it used its paws and tails to lunge at everyone around him. People's screams reached him as the vaguest of whispers, and though the sounds of the carnage were barely heard, they echoed inside Harry's mind over and over again, somehow feeling louder each time.

He thought about apparating directly but stopped himself before he did. There had been a reason why he'd been slowly making his way through the city, attempting something, so stupid would be suicidal. And even from that distance, he could see that there was nowhere nearby that wasn't safe. Cars were flying, and the structure itself seemed to be collapsing directly onto the bridge. He searched for somewhere nearby, a safe spot he could apparate that was nearby the bridge, but he couldn't find anything nearby. Fire and curses lit up every street he could have used, warning of surprise attacks that could kill him before he even had the chance to react.

"W-What do we do?" Harry's ears barely registered the words. Looking down at the street below, he saw two young men in Auror robes standing there, gaping at the battle on the bridge while visibly shaking.

"Call for fucking backup, I don't know!" The other one whispered.

Harry sneered at them, his eyes immediately snapping up back to the bridge before his mind suddenly clicked, and he realised something he'd missed. He turned on the spot, apparating right behind the two morons before running and yanking the broom from the Auror on the left. "Oi!" He exclaimed, and from the corner of his eye, Harry saw as the other one pulled out his wand. But by the time the man cast a spell, Harry had apparated away. When he appeared, he immediately plummeted downward, the River Thames twenty feet below him, but well before he could hit it, Harry put the broom between his legs and sped off to the Tower Bridge.

The sound got clearer as he neared it, but it wasn't the screams or crashing sounds that made Harry's grip on his broom falter, but the blood-curdling roars of the beast as it attacked everything in sight. What once had been the tail of the snake had changed into eight weird octopus arms coming from beneath the lion as they attacked everything in sight. He gulped, feeling his will waver, before holding on tighter to the broom and pushing forward.

He stopped thinking. Stopped feeling. Or at least, he stopped focusing on it. He couldn't remember moving, his body seemed like it had taken control of his mind as it burst into the Tower Bridge and was immediately faced with death all around him. He ducked and turned, twisting in the air as he managed to dodge a large boulder that had been falling straight toward him, only now it was going to land on a group of muggles running away. His eyes widened, and before he knew what was happening, he darted upwards, barely missing a flamed tentacle that had tried to bat him away from the bridge.

In a second, he apparated away, still flying his broom when he reappeared right in front of the falling boulder. The world seemed to slow for a moment, as Harry pulled out his wand and launched four blasting curses at the thing. He was flying nearly as fast as his own spells, ducking under the rock as it was blasted to pieces, flying only a few feet above the group of muggles right as everything returned to normal and he sped away. He dodged a burnt-up car that the beast had aimed at him, flying at nearly ground level, zigzagging through the abandoned cars and muggles who were running away. Seeing a glint of orange from the corner of his eye, Harry raised his wand and produced a shield of water large enough to cover his entire body right as the lion's head breathed a massive burst of fire at him.

"AHHHHH!" Harry screamed, feeling as the fire pierced through the shield and burned his arm right before he titled his broom and rose rapidly through the air, only to notice a large hole in the bridge near where the creature was standing. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, couldn't hear anything beyond the creature's roars, and yet he still changed directions completely and flew downwards into the hole, evading the lashing tentacles and another burst of fire as he did. Crossing into the darkness below the bridge, the world stopped as he heard the sound of someone crying out. They weren't calling for help, but whimpering loudly as their body begged for it.

"Lumos!" Harry's wand lit up, and he instantly saw it. It was a kid. Barely hanging onto a bent steel tube that the boy was using to hold on. Harry flew towards him, not bothering for any tactful approach as he grabbed him from below and the boy's hands immediately let up. Before anything else could happen, Harry hurried away, hearing an explosion behind him, but he didn't dare look back. The kid clung onto him, his arms draped around his neck as he cried into his shoulder, and though Harry wanted to hug him back and comfort him, he knew he couldn't.

By the time he landed on a street, the bridge was still visible in front of them but distant enough they were out of danger, the boy wouldn't let go. He clung himself to Harry, and though Harry tried to get him to let go, the boy wouldn't comply. Gripping at him tighter, Harry instinctively held him as well. It wasn't until a voice, a woman's voice, called out "Oliver!" that the boy instantly pulled away and looked back to see a woman running towards them. "Oliver!" she shouted again, and this time, the boy, Oliver, ran towards her. She caught him in a hug, holding onto him in such a way Harry had never seen before. In a way he doubted he would ever see before.

He didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to say. His heart was suddenly filled with pain, and yet, it was so different to any other pain he'd ever felt. It was indescribable, and in some ways, more painful than anything else he had experienced. But the kid was safe now, and Harry couldn't help feeling proud of that.

There was a sudden explosion from the bridge, and before his eyes, the water began rising. Taking form as it created a large torso that kept building up. Harry chanced one last look at the boy and his mother, allowing his mind to brand the image into his memories before he flew away and headed back towards the bridge.

The figure kept growing, the torso gaining a head with an extensive beard and long hair by the time Harry had reached the Tower Bridge. And just as Harry had begun to think he would have to fight this monster too, it began battling the burning lion (/snake/octopus?), its arms stretching out and trying to grip onto the beast. And once the fiendfyre itself began using its tentacles to attack, more arms sprouted off the water monster's torso to hold them all in place. Harry flew closer, and inside the figure, he could see someone trapped inside a bubble of air. An old man he recognised immediately as Dumbledore, focusing all of his power as he moved his wand so quickly and in so many different and eccentric moves, Harry couldn't keep track of them.

And though Dumbledore was still dealing with the beast, that didn't mean the damage was done. Harry flew along Dumbledore's water creation, twirling around its arms before diving into the bridge and landing on the ground. He began placing shields up, protecting the escaping muggles from the debris the fiendfyre was throwing around in its desperate attempt to fight off Dumbledore's creation. And before long, he noticed it wasn't just Dumbledore trying to hold it back, as various whips made of water began latching onto the creature from the other side of the bridge.

Harry kept putting up shields, feeling his magic struggle as he did. But he eventually managed to cover the entire left side of the bridge with it. He felt exhausted, his knees shaking and the mental stress from keeping those shields intact made him light-headed. He staggered, barely falling on his knees, and thankfully the burning lion hadn't attacked him. Instead, he was focusing on whoever was trying to tether him to the other side of the bridge. Harry used one of the walls to force himself up, trying to get a peak into who was helping Dumbledore but was unable to. He was about to give it up, let whoever it was fend for themselves, but it was at that moment that the creature decided to give up on its fight against Dumbledore.

The fiendfyre couldn't do anything to stop him, and it knew that. Which meant he began attacking the people on the other side. And once again, Harry tried to look away. Ignore it and keep focusing on keeping the shields up on this side. To pretend that wasn't happening. To justify that he had already done enough. That there was nothing he could do. "Oh, fuck me," he gritted out, stumbling on his feet as he summoned the broom to him and bolted away, making his way around the shields he'd put up as he headed for the other side of the bridge.

His vision was drowsy, but he could still see well enough to notice two figures standing there, conjuring dozens of whips to pin the creature down while at the same time trying to block or evade its desperate attacks. It wasn't looking to survive anymore, it was doing everything in its power to kill them. They knew it, Harry could somehow tell. Maybe it was by the fear in their stances or the way they kept going at it as if waiting for a miracle. But they knew they were going to die.

Harry quickly went to their aid, dodging the haphazard attacks from the beast right before he headed straight for a tall figure with red hair. Harry didn't slow his broom down as he used his free arm to grab him. Using the speed of his broom, Harry managed to pull him up and steady him right in front of him. The fiendfyre creature noticed this, immediately using his remaining tentacles to attack him as he flew towards the other man.

Dumbledore's water creature roared, and so did the fiendfyre beast. Its attacks became fiercer, and Harry could see it began targeting the other man as well with as much intensity as he was. He began running, trying to evade his attacks and protect himself with shields, but Harry could see it wasn't going to work for much longer. But through the red-headed man's screams and his large body covering his view, Harry was left with no other choice than to cast a blasting curse a few feet in front of the other man. It sent him flying away, his body crashing into the ground a few feet away, unconscious, but it had saved him from the last blast of fire the lion's head breathed out right before it cried out in a million voices.

The screech was too loud, that Harry immediately covered his ears and lost control of the broom. The two men landed on the ground, the broom breaking on impact as it send them rolling over what remained of the bridge's length. Harry groaned, his ears began ringing as he looked up and watched the creature burst into a massive cloud of smoke that covered the entire bridge in a mere second.

He stood up, finally letting the shields go down, but even that didn't help as he struggled to stay balanced. His magic, while feeling really weak, still had some juice to it. The problem now was that his body had been put through the wringer like never before. He felt over, bruises and cuts but nothing broken, thank fucking God. The red-haired man came into view, and with the madness around them gone, Harry recognised him as Mister Weasley. He barely spared him a glance, though he seemed just as out of it as Harry did.

He turned to the ocean, watching as the water creation began crumbling back into the river right before there was a bright sudden light, and suddenly, a man with a long white beard stood in front of him. He couldn't see his eyes. His whole face was blurry. The only thing Harry could properly see was the soft smile on his lips as he was looking right at him. Bastard, Harry suddenly thought, with no idea why that word had sprung on his mind. And before he knew what he was doing he apparated away.

He'd wasted enough time helping the Aurors and the Order morons with their jobs. He had his own priorities.

London

10:10 p.m.

The man was running, barely managing to avoid tripping over his cloak as he traversed through London. He had tried calling out for help, but no one had been there to listen. And he hadn't stopped. He'd screamed and screamed, tearing his throat out in an attempt to gain help from anyone who could hear him. It didn't matter that this was giving out his location, by now he knew the truth.

There was no escaping him.

"Help!" He cried out again. But no one was out there to hear him. "Hel-" Something tugged at his foot, and he managed to yelp right before his face hit the floor. He heard one of his teeth crack, felt the blood pour down his lip, but that didn't stop him. He began crawling, trying to reach safety, but he wasn't allowed more than a few seconds before whatever had tugged onto his leg dragged him back through the ground. The asphalt burned his skin, and the man cried out as he felt tears beginning to leave his eyes.

"Help!" He yelled once again, and this time, he heard an answer. Two cracks of apparition right beside him. The man laughed, almost maniacally. Two against one. But just when he thought he had been saved he heard a woman speak.

"Merlin, it's Potter!"

"Run!" Another voice cried out and then there were two cracks once more.

Leaving him alone.

Again.

Without an escape.

Bringing himself up to his knees, the man tried to stand up right before he felt Potter push him back to the ground. He heard something break, felt pain all over his face, and he could do nothing but cry out and plead. "Mercy!" He exclaimed. "Mercy, please!"

"Where is he?" Potter rasped out. His voice sounded weak, tired, but it somehow made it even more terrifying.

"W-What?"

"Where's Dolohov?"

"I don't- I don't- AHHHHH!"

A knife was jabbed right into the small of his back, and Potter twisted it and turned it around in a brusque display of his power over him.

"I will not ask again," his voice was almost monotonous. "Where is Dolohov?"

That's it for this chapter, thank you all for reading!

Welcome to the GRAND FIFTH-YEAR FINALE! Sit back and enjoy, we're going to be here a while ;)

By the time I'm posting this, I'm ELEVEN chapters ahead, and am about to finish writing the third arc of the THREE-ARC FINALE titled The Only One He'll Ever Fear! If you are interested in learning how to get early access to them, join my discord server using the following link: discord . gg / jyPfbGqhJT

As always, thank you for reading, favouriting, and commenting! I appreciate all of you! :)