CHAPTER 95: The Wrath of Olympus (Part 4)
Hogwarts Castle
9:50 p.m.
The Great Hall was still in chaos, even now more than when Umbridge had first left as a vicious cycle of panic had been incited by the very students themselves. The teachers had done everything they could to bring order, with one of the Ministry's going as far as to send out deafening bangs - presumably meant to shock them into silence - but it only served to stir up more fear as half of the students began shouting they were under attack. With everyone running around, it was nearly impossible to keep yourself standing without being run over by the mass of people. It was even harder to keep track of someone across the room as they disappeared into the sea of black cloaks. But Theo managed to do just that, manoeuvring all over the Great Hall, managing to keep his eyes locked on Longbottom as he did so.
The moment Montague burst into the room, Theo had felt his back tense as he went rigid. He could do nothing but watch as Elijah manipulated everyone in the room, warning about the very threat Theo had no doubt he was a part of.
"This is it," Theo had whispered, turning to Pansy. "It's happening."
Pansy didn't respond, instead keeping her eyes locked intently on Montague. Theo had felt his stomach sink, he searched around the Great Hall until he found Longbottom, looking like he was ready to sprint towards Elijah but was somehow managing to stay in place. And just as he had resolved to intercept the boy before he could talk to Montague, the entire Great Hall had exploded into the chaos it was now in.
"Come on!" Theo yelled to Pansy, standing up, but it was already too late. They'd pushed through everyone they could, with even Draco, Daphne, and Blaise following behind them, but getting through everyone quickly enough proved impossible. By the time they had reached the centre of the hall, Montague was gone, but Theo managed to catch onto a glimpse of Longbottom and didn't lose it.
He was much less gentle this time, actively knocking people over as he followed Longbottom and the four Weasleys through the crowd, always just slightly behind them to manage to catch them. At one point, he heard Pansy screaming something at him. Draco and Blaise too, he had thought. But the Great Hall was too noisy, he had only managed to register their voices, not their words. Still, if he could hear them they had to be nearby, so Theo didn't wait for them as he continued with his pursuit.
Suddenly, the five of them ducked under a group of seventh-year Hufflepuffs, and Theo's heart nearly stopped as he realised he had lost them. "Out of the way!" He screamed, pushing a group of sixth-year girls to the ground, knocking himself over in the process. He barely had time to yell out a quick "Sorry!" before jumping back to his feet and forcing his way through the Hufflepuffs, only to find himself at the edge of the crowd. His eyes immediately wandered, looking through the abandoned table where the teachers sat before he watched as the door right behind the teacher's table was abruptly shut.
Someone pushed into his back, nearly knocking him to the ground as she came around him. "Come on!" Theo said, instinctively knowing it was Pansy as he grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the mass of people. The two of them ran across the room, so hurried they didn't turn to see if any of the teachers had noticed them as they reached the door and immediately left the Great Hall.
"Where are they?" Pansy yelled out, her voice clear for him to hear now.
Montague wouldn't have come here without a purpose, Theo reasoned to himself. There was no reason to go to Hogwarts and warn everyone about the Death Eater attack. Not unless that wasn't his primary motive.
"They're going to the Ministry," Theo panted out, turning a corner as he listened to footsteps getting closer. "What's the nearest exit to the castle?"
"Umbridge would have shut the gates," Pansy said. "The Aurors are with her. There's no way they could leave the school grounds."
"They can fly out," Draco's voice called out from behind them. Theo immediately stopped, planting his feet firmly on the ground right before he was knocked over by the blond. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What'd you do that for?"
"What are you morons doing?" Pansy lashed out at the other three Slytherins who had followed them.
"There's no time," Theo bit out, picking himself back up and trying to recognise the corridor they were in, looking for the fastest way to get out of the castle and into Madam Hootch's broom cupboard.
"Why is Longbottom going to the Ministry?" Daphne asked.
"Never mind that," Pansy said.
"You're still not going to tell us anything?" Blaise rolled his eyes.
"Got it!" Theo shouted, primarily to himself, right before he sped off again. Thankfully, that stopped the discussion in its tracks as everyone began trailing after him, no one willing to be left behind. They followed him throughout the hall, stopping right in front of the portrait of Podric Batworthy where Theo ran his fingers across the underside of the frame, finding the latch and pulling at it, revealing a hidden door that opened slightly. They sprinted through the passage until they reached the spiral staircase. The group descended the stairs, nearly toppling over one another as they hurried inside the crowded space. Several screeches of "Ow!" or "Watch it!" echoed inside the spire, and just as they were all about to knock each other over, Theo jumped over the last few steps and reached the dungeons. They ran for minutes, crossing what felt like the entire dungeons, passing the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, before going back up to the ground floor where they stumbled upon the three Gryffindors, who had stopped at the intersection ahead.
Theo stopped for a moment, his mind racing as he thought what the best way to broach the topic would be. But before even a second passed, Pansy pushed past him and yelled out "Stop right there!" The five Gryffindors turned back at them, somehow pulling their wands out of their robes and training them on the Slytherins
"Woah!" Theo shouted, raising his arms and trying to calm the situation before the Gryffindors did what they do best: shoot before thinking. He was tempted to turn a glare at Pansy, having quickly come up with a dozen different ways to handle this better, but looking at Longbottom's face, dark and filled with hatred, he instantly knew that he couldn't afford to take his eyes from him. There would be no reasoning with him. Not tonight.
"What the hell is your problem?" Ginny shouted at Pansy, her wand shaking in her hand.
"What do you think?" Longbottom bit out. "They're trying to stop us."
"Well, obviously," Pansy rolled her eyes. "We told you as much last night. It's not some big secret."
"I told you?" Longbottom turned back to the turning between the four Weasleys around him, keeping his wand trained on the Slytherins. "They knew. They planned this-"
"Planned this?" Theo sputtered.
"Don't pretend you don't know!" He snarled at them, his eyes deranged, and Theo almost felt a shock wave of raw magic hit them as he did. "You… all of you! You're just like Potter. Always acting coy. Always pretending you're nothing more than normal, regular students. But I know better. You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool me!"
"He's off his rockers," Draco whispered, and Blaise nodded slightly.
"Neville," Theo forced out. "We're trying to help you-"
"I'm not letting you kill Hermione!"
Theo blinked, and he wasn't the only one at a loss for words. It didn't even seem that the four Weasleys could think of anything to say. The air began feeling suffocating, Lonbottom's emotions, his magic, choking them slowly. Theo needed to calm him down, to at least be willing to listen to anything they said. Even if just so that everyone else could breathe properly again.
"Neville," Ron Weasley tried to get his attention, but Longbottom ignored him.
"Whatever Elijah told you, he's lying to you," Theo said, trying to talk as slowly and calmly as he could. "He doesn't care about you. The only reason he came here was to make sure that you go to the Ministry. It's a trap, you have to see that."
"Yeah, because you're suddenly so trustworthy all of a sudden," Longbottom remarked snidely.
"You can't trust Montague."
"Elijah didn't want us to go! He warned us about the attack. He told us it was a trap. He doesn't want us to go to the Ministry!"
"Oh for Merlin's sake-" Pansy was furious now. "He's manipulating you, you bloody moron!"
Neville's eyes lit up, and Theo acted immediately. Grabbing Pansy and pulling her down to the ground, barely avoiding the red lightning curse that ended up hitting Draco, launching him across the room before crashing onto a wall.
"Stop!" Theo shouted before anyone else could cast another spell and quickly turned to Ginny pleadingly. "If you go, you'll all die."
"If we don't, Hermione will!" Weasley exclaimed.
"You aren't going to go save her from a petty muggle thief," Theo snapped. "These are Death Eaters. Actual Death Eaters with a whole lot more experience and brains than all you three combined. Just think for a fucking moment!"
"You can't stop us," Longbottom said coldly.
"Let them try," one of the twins said darkly.
"We wouldn't mind a little rematch against ickle Nott, there."
Theo ignored him, looking desperately at the two competent Weasleys. He knew they knew he was right. They weren't as trusting of Montague as Longbottom, and though the threat to Hermione's life was an extra incentive, they were right on the edge of listening to him. "Just please listen to fucking reason."
"If you don't want to come then you don't have to," Longbottom suddenly snarled, making both Weasley turn to him. "I'll just go alone like I planned to."
"Don't be daft," Ron snapped.
"We're not letting you go alone," Ginny added.
"Damn right, we won't!" The twins echoed.
"Fucking morons!" Pansy shouted.
"We're going."
"Ginny-" Theo tried, but Ginny shook her head.
"Hermione needs us," she said.
Theo wanted to tear out his hair, and gouge out his eyes. Do anything to get rid of this helpless, irritating, feeling of impotence that was drowning him. Not even Harry had ever made him feel like this.
"Come with us," she suddenly said, her voice sounding small.
"What?" Longbottom snarled, and the other three Weasleys turned to her in disbelief.
"If you truly want to help us, then come with us," she was begging now. And for the first time, it struck Theo that she thought she was going to die. She was expecting it and almost acted like it was an inevitability. As if she couldn't avoid it by just staying in the castle like he was begging them to. And even still, she was willing to go anyway.
"Go?" Pansy sniffed, and Blaise and Daphne also looked at them in contempt. "Are you mad? What would be the point of getting ourselves killed as well?"
"We won't get killed if we all go together," Ginny said.
"There are more important things in play than just bloody Granger!" Pansy bit out. "We're not going. And you're idiots if you think we're letting you go."
Longbottom laughed, a joyless, derisive sound. "I'm sorry. Did you just say you're not going to let us?"
"Theo," Ginny urged him.
"No," he said softly. "I'm sorry, but we can't. It's suicide. And as Pansy said, there are more important things here than just Granger."
Ginny looked like she had just been slapped in the face, and Theo couldn't help but feel like he had. He didn't know Granger, couldn't really claim he cared about her, but even still he didn't want her dead. But in this case, letting Longbottom go to the Ministry could end up being far more disastrous than trying to save her.
"Okay," Ginny eventually said, though she didn't look mad. "It's alright," she turned to Longbottom and Weasley. "Let's go."
"We can't let you do that either," Theo said.
"It's not your choice," Ginny replied. "Neville, shield."
"No!" Theo shouted, immediately running towards the Gryffindors. He wanted his wand back. Wanted to blast the shield away and get to them before they could escape. Maybe, if the five of them worked together, they might have even been able to make a dent in Longbottom's shield. But none of them had their wands, Umbridge had made sure of that, and Theo was left with no other choice but to physically crash against the shield. He hit it with his fists, striking the translucent barrier over and over again as he expressed his frustrations with a scream.
Ginny turned to him, giving him one final look that Theo couldn't quite make out, before pulling Ron and following Neville and leaving Theo and the others helpless to do anything but watch as the three Gryffindors turned the corner and disappeared into the castle.
"Ughh!" Pansy ground her teeth. "There has to be another way to get to them."
With a final punch at the shield, which still stood without even as much as a crack in it, Theo groaned and turned back to the other Slytherins. "It would be useless. We don't have our wands, and even if we did, by the time we'd get to them, they'd be flying off already."
"What's so important about stopping them?" Daphne asked. "If they want to get and get themselves killed, then why don't we just let them?"
"Let me guess," Blaise said before Theo or Pansy could respond. "You can't tell us."
"Shove it up your arse," Pansy made a face before turning back to Theo. "We have to try! If Longbottom gets to the Ministry…"
"We can't," Theo said. "Even if we got close, Longbottom could put another shield like that."
"Or wipe the floor with us again," Blaise added.
"No, I think it's best we stay in the castle." Theo turned around, trying to push down his frustration and clear his mind as he traced his finger along the invisible shield in front of them. "Maybe we can still some answers."
Blaise and Daphne turned to one another, seemingly having a silent conversation between the two of them.
"How?" Pansy asked.
"I think it's past time we introduce ourselves to Elijah Montague."
Liverpool
10:15 p.m.
It had been just over an hour since Aberforth gathered the Order at Grimmauld and assigned them all their cities to protect from the Death Eaters, and yet, it had felt like weeks since the battle started. He could barely keep himself up now, feeling as his knees wobbled, and his arms became too tired to fight as proficient as he had been before. Then again, maybe the fact that it was only a couple of nights before the next full moon wasn't helping either.
Liverpool was a rather large city, one that Remus hadn't visited before tonight, but the distance wasn't much of an issue when you had a mass of Death Eaters apparating all around it, seemingly trying to cause as much chaos as humanly possible. Fighting skirmishes with Aurors and killing any muggle that stood in their way before apparating away and trying to tear down another part of the city. Everything was in flames, and even though Albus had just flown into the city and began to deal with the fiendfyre beasts that had been doing most of the collateral damage, the Death Eaters themselves seemed keen to do as much as possible as well. And perhaps, if they were simply dealing with regular Death Eaters, the task wouldn't have been as gruelling. But there was a reason why Remus had been chosen to be the one to lead the Order members here in Liverpool.
More than being overrun with wizards, the city had become the hunting ground for nearly a dozen werewolves. It wasn't a full moon yet, but that had never been enough to stop those who had left behind their humanity and fully embraced what being a werewolf truly meant. Those who had turned to eating human flesh every time they got hungry, who stopped resisting fighting against the dark magic that was so crucial to lycanthropy and embraced it, allowing it to contort their bodies and twist their minds. They had grown taller in their human forms, with most reaching nearly seven feet - and those especially vile, like Greyback, being eight feet tall - bulkier, their teeth turned into disgusting fangs and their nails growing to three inches. Their backs curved, and some had even stopped walking like a human, instead opting to run on all fours.
Remus was only thankful the Death Eaters hadn't picked a full moon. A fully turned werewolf who had left behind his humanity was nearly impossible to stop. Even for him.
So, while the Aurors focused on saving the muggles and capturing the Death Eaters that had been apparating around the city, Remus - along with Hestia and Nymphadora - focused on dealing with the werewolves that had been running around the city. And yet, in only an hour, they had barely managed to stop four of them while eight still ran wild. While the Death Eaters tried to cause damage around them and distract the Aurors, the werewolves' only focus became killing as many people as they could. They were overwhelmed with possibilities, often leaving half-eaten corpses with their insides spilling out once they had found a new victim to pursue.
It was these trails of victims that the three Order members had been following, having come to the agreement that it would be safer to stick together given how dangerous the werewolves still were, regardless of the full moon. It had been the method that had worked for hunting down the werewolves they had taken out already. One Remus thought foolproof, and yet, as the three of them entered the outskirts of a large, abandoned park, a tingling of fear made its way up his spine. "Be ready," Remus said, lighting up his wand and moving slower. Hestia and Nymphadora both had their wands at the ready, having conjured shields that stuck with them as they advanced through the clearing.
The further they walked into the park, the more alarms began sounding off inside his mind. And his paranoia proved to be right a few minutes later, once they had reached the heart of the park only for werewolves to come out all around them. They were all there, the remaining eight werewolves surrounding them. All of them grinning, their mouths and chests still covered in the blood of their victims, but they weren't attacking. Remus could feel both Nympahdora and Hestia extremely tense, gripping their wands to their chests. And Remus knew what they were thinking without needing them to say it.
"It's no use," a voice spoke from the darkness, one that startled Remus to his core as he realised just how familiar, yet uncanny it sounded. He saw the figure in the darkness, and it slowly walked into the light. The werewolves parted around it and Remus Lupin walked out, wearing a confident grin that looked so out of place in his own face. "Apparition wards and all," the fake Lupin waved his hands in the air carelessly. "You're not going anywhere."
"Who are you?" Remus asked, feeling his chest clench with anger as he stared at his dark counterpart.
The fake Lupin snorted, walking about while twirling a wand in his hand. "I'm surprised you have to ask, Moony."
Remus narrowed his eyes, feeling the sweat in his hands as he raised his wand. "Wormtail," he growled.
The fake Lupin brought his hands to his face, making a shocked face as he gasped. "How would you have guessed?"
"You sure are acting brave now," Remus bit out. "Last time I saw you, you were on your knees begging for your life."
"Ah, well," the fake Lupin shrugged. "Appearances had to be kept, you know. And it worked," he tittered. "I mean, just imagine if I hadn't done so. Poor little Neville would have never begged for you to spare my life. And where would that have left me, huh?"
"I won't make that mistake again."
"Don't worry, old friend," the fake Lupin gave him a nasty smile. "You're never going to be able to."
Remus audibly growled, feeling as all the aches and tiredness he had previously felt went away as the primal anger in his body began taking over.
"Kill the girls," the fake Lupin said airily.
"No!" Remus shouted, watching as the eight werewolves immediately got on all fours and began rushing for them. Remus began launching curses at them, Hestia and Nymphadora joining them as well, but the werewolves were fast enough to dodge them. Some of them even stood up to launch curses at them before jumping back on all fours and continuing to sprint ahead. "Confringo! Expulso! Bombarda!" Remus shouted, the ground exploding all around them. But the werewolves kept getting closer and closer.
Suddenly a wave of darkness crashed onto him and Remus as a pair of arms grabbed him and flew away with him. Remus fought the fake Lupin's hold managing to tear himself away from his dark mirror only to crash onto the ground, nearly a hundred feet away from where Hestia and Nympadora had been left to fight the werewolves rushing towards them. "You!" Remus snarled, launching a bunch of curses that the fake Lupin dodged by flying out of the way.
In school, Remus had always considered Wormtail to be the weakest dueller of the four of them. He'd been good, above average even, but neither James, Sirius, nor himself had ever lost to him in a duel. And yet, as Remus now faced Wormtail, he wondered what was more plausible. That he had learned and practised a lot in these past couple of years, or that he had always let them beat him while at Hogwarts. It wasn't like Wormtail was unstoppable, but he pulled out a few moves that had Remus on the ground. Moves he would have never expected to see from the rat.
And yet, even with Wormtail's skill having improved the duel dragged on. Neither of them could land a blow strong enough to gain a clear upper hand and finish the battle. And as the duel continued and Remus became more desperate, he began to snarl out his words. To push more of his anger into the spells. To try a more aggressive approach than his usual style allowed. This wasn't any other combatant, after all, for years now he had wanted nothing more than to go back to that night at the Shrieking Shack and murder the bastard right then and there. And now he had his chance. Only it was proving much harder than he'd originally thought. And with Nymphadora and Hestia barely managing against the werewolves, Remus' attention was split.
And it was in one of those moments, where he looked on to the distance and yelled out to the two women, that Remus placed his shield just a few inches to the right and Wormtail immediately took advantage of that. Remus realised it only a few moments before the spell was about to hit him, and by then, it was too late for him to dodge. The violent pink spell hit him, and though Remus expected to be thrown across the grass for his intestines to suddenly boil him alive, the spell coursed all through his body, giving him goosebumps as it did, but Remus still felt nothing.
Remus turned his gaze upwards and felt the relieved smile on his face vanish as he saw the fake Lupin's smirk.
The world suddenly turned dark, his surroundings slowly disappearing as Remus was left standing inside a void of darkness. Trapped, completely alone, nothing else except for Wormtail's voice. "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Then he appeared, only a few feet in front of him, Wormtail still in the fake Lupin's form. Only now, it wasn't grinning. Remus had never thought he could give a more hateful glare than the one he was receiving from his dark mirror.
"Remus Lupin," he spat. The world around him began transforming, encasing the two of them in an endless passage of dirt, roots, and worms. And in front of him, the fake Lupin began morphing, his bones breaking, body contorting into agonizing positions. But worse was his voice, as it began turning less and less human as the fake Lupin kept talking. "The Kind One. The Prefect. The Golden Boy of the Marauders. A poor victim of his own condition." the fake Lupin - half human, half werewolf now - scoffed, the sound chilling to his bones. "Pathetic. Out of the four of us, you were always the worst one. You were only too much of a coward to admit it."
The beast towered over Remus, twelve feet tall, hunched over. And before he could react, the werewolf reached for him, mauling him across the chest and throwing him backward. Remus screamed in pain even before he crashed back to the ground, feeling every vivid detail of how his entire chest was torn open.
"It wasn't the lycanthropy that made you a monster. It was you!"
The werewolf launched itself at him, and Remus mustered all of his strength to roll away. He evaded the original attack, but the werewolf slapped him, throwing him against the wall of the dirt so hard that Remus completely pierced it and was left falling once more into a black abyss right before he landed in a bright room, covered in red and gold banners. He stood up shakily, clutching at his chest and looking around the room before his eyes landed on a young James Potter glaring at him.
"You were always weak!" He yelled, hurling a curse at Remus that threw him across the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Pathetic!" Remus looked up and saw a young Sirius snarl at him, sending a blasting curse to his arm that twisted it completely and left Remus on the ground, clutching at it as he fought back the tears.
A hand grabbed his hair and began pulling him across the room before throwing him against the couch. Remus looked up and saw a young Wormtail glaring down at him. "You never cared about anyone other than yourself."
"But you know that now," Another voice spoke, one that, through the pain, Remus couldn't recognise. And then, the world around him was shrouded in darkness once more, only this time, it only lasted for a second. He blinked and opened his eyes to see his face lying on the grass. He looked at his arm, seeing it intact, only he still felt the pain of it breaking. He could still feel every attack he suffered against his old friends. "Don't you?" It said.
Remus tried standing up, but the pain remained overwhelming.
"Don't worry," he heard a mirror of his own voice say calmly, and at that moment he felt something heavy being dropped on him. It landed on his shoulder, and before he had time to question what it was he saw Nymphadora's unseeing eyes only inches away from him. "You won't die." Another weight was thrown on him, and he didn't need to see Hestia's face to know it was her half-eaten corpse that was now crushing him against the ground.
Remus watched as the fake Lupin slowly walked around him before crouching and looking down at him. "Not yet, anyway. There's still Sirius… James' boy. Once I'm done with them, and you feel the weight of their deaths… I'll let you die."
London
10:30 p.m.
It was the laugh. The same laugh that had haunted Harry's nightmares for months on end. A vile, unsettlingly childlike laugh that Harry could hear all the way up on the building he had just apparated to. It had taken more than a couple of interrogations for him to find a Death Eater willing to talk and who actually knew where Dolohov was, so much that at the end the desperation had begun to consume him. But here he was now, watching as Dolohov stood in front of Buckingham Palace, using the cruciatus curse to torture a small boy while he forced two other adults to watch.
Harry felt as his blood boiled, his heart clenched, and bile rose up his throat. All the hatred he had harboured for the man ever since that day at the Three Broomsticks was accentuated by the scene in front of him. Without thinking, Harry sprinted and jumped from the building, using a quick slowing charm on his shoes that stopped his fall a few feet above the ground, one that managed to get Dolohov's attention as he turned to him, and Harry was startled for a second by his appearance. There was so much wrong with it, he looked like a walking corpse that had been stitched together. Especially by how the entire skin of his face was stapled onto the flesh, leaving various gaps that let Harry peer into his rotten flesh as he smiled.
There were no other words, Dolohov simply looked monstrous.
"Ah, Harry! Running a bit late, aren't we?" Dolohov laughed, his voice acting as a switch in Harry's brain as the anger once again overpowered the rest of his senses.
He didn't waste any time, launching a couple of blasting curses that forced Dolohov to drop the cruciatus curse on the muggle boy. The moment they hit the shield, Harry immediately apparated right past the shield and slammed his fist onto Dolohov's jaw. The man staggered backward, laughing as he put a hand to where Harry had hit him. But before he could do anything Harry apparated once more, landing in front of the boy and grabbing his arm, before apparating to his parents, and then finally apparating the four of them to the roof where he had landed a few moments ago.
"GO!" Harry yelled at them, uncaring of how they flinched at his words before he apparated back in front of Dolohov.
"And here I was afraid you had left me," Dolohov pouted at Harry. "I'm glad to see you're back."
Harry snarled at him, feeling the wand fighting back against him as he gripped it. A sure sign that he was starting to lose the fight to overpower it. He wasn't willing to lose his magic, not when the night had barely started. Besides, he wanted to enjoy this. Harry holstered his wand, and Dolohov's smile widened.
"Ready to join me, are we?" He giggled.
"No," Harry scoffed, reaching behind him and pulling out the knife. "I just want to kill you with my bare hands."
Somehow, Dolohov looked even more pleased. "There's my killer!"
Harry ignored the jibe, instantly springing into action as he apparated right in front of Dolohov. But Dolohov had been ready for him, casting a curse that Harry barely avoided by using his left hand and pushing away Dolohov's arm. The spell exploded right in Harry's ear, making him flinch and stagger backward slightly. By then Dolohov had fully recovered, launching a couple more curses at Harry that he was forced to evade by rolling and ducking all around him. Finally, he got his opening and Harry apparated once again, only this time he appeared a few feet above Dolohov and crashed down onto his shoulders.
Immediately, he tried using his knife and stabbing Dolohov in the chest, but before he could Dolohov doubled over and threw Harry to the ground. Twisting mid-air, Harry barely managed to avoid landing on his head, however, he heard his knife clatter a few feet beside him. Apparating once again, Harry evaded the curse that Dolohov had thrown at him before grabbing the knife from the floor and throwing it at Dolohov, who caught it in mid-air with his wand and then sent it back to him flying.
Harry rolled out of the way, barely avoiding it before he turned around and saw that Dolohov wasn't thinking of giving him back his only weapon. He continued using his wand to launch the knife at Harry, and even as he apparated all around him Dolohov didn't continue. It wasn't until Harry apparated right in front of Dolohov and tackled him to the ground that the Death Eater finally lost control of the knife, sending it flying into the night, out of both their reach.
"Now neither of us can play with the knife," Dolohov whined.
Harry growled, raising himself above Dolohov before he started punching him in the face. Once. Twice. He kept going, and Dolohov simply laughed. It wasn't until Harry grew restless and tried to pry out his eyes that Dolohov immediately went for his wand and cast a banishing charm that sent Harry flying before he crashed onto the ground.
"There you are," Dolohov smiled. "Such anger. Such violence. I was beginning to fear we had lost you but now… oh, a few weeks of sobriety has you more desperate than ever. I'm glad to see you've stopped denying who you are."
"And what's that?" Harry yelled, trying to stall as he looked around for the knife.
"A killer."
Harry stopped, turning back to Dolohov as he felt himself turn cold. "You're an exception."
"Am I now?" He laughed. "And how many exceptions have you had tonight? How many men have you killed on your path to me?"
"It's…" It's different, he wanted to growl, but it really wasn't, was it? He still felt that surge of power whenever he killed. That twisted glee that made him want to smile as he took a life. However, repulsed he was after, he relished in it during the act. And just because there was an active war about it didn't change he enjoyed it. Maybe, the dark corners of his mind whispered, maybe you enjoy it as much as Dolohov.
"Oh, you see it now. I know you do," Dolohov's smile somehow had an edge to it that cut Harry. "Stop lying to yourself and just give in!"
Harry growled, pulling out his wand and launching a few curses at Dolohov. But before they could hit him, Dolohov twisted in the air and disappeared. Harry looked frantically around him, searching for a glimpse of his red hair before he was suddenly hit with a curse on his right arm, right where the fiendfyre had burned him. Harry shouted in pain, dropping to one knee as he looked up and saw the rooftop where Dolohov was standing. Harry let himself get overcome with the anger once more, tried to ignore the searing pain as he gripped his wand and apparated to the rooftop where he'd seen Dolohov, sending out a couple of curses before his feet had even touched the ground only to find it empty.
Harry's eyes widened, and he ducked away right as another curse passed only a few inches above him. He rolled to his left, evading the other curses before standing up and apparating once again. And once again, the rooftop proved to be empty.
Dolohov led him around the city like this, making him chase and often mocking him from afar as he encouraged Harry to keep following him. Throughout all of this, Dolohov managed to land only one more curse, this time on Harry's ankle, before Harry predicted the roof where Dolohov was going to land. "Incarcerous!" He shouted now, no longer being able to do non-verbal spells as he began feeling more and more exhausted. A chain rose from the ground and latched onto Dolohov's ankle.
It was only a second before Dolohov managed to blast the chain apart, but it was all Harry needed as he apparated onto him and tackled him to the ground. But before either of them hit the ground, Harry felt as if a hook pulled at his navel, and then the two of them were apparated away. Their limbs twisted into each other, and Harry's own torso felt like it was impaled with something. The pain was unbearable. And then they landed on another rooftop and he was fine. The pain was still there, but he wasn't stabbed. Nor had he splinched.
He punched Dolohov again. The man cast a curse at him that Harry ducked under before once again pouncing on him and throwing both of them into the ground. Only they didn't land on the ground, instead, Dolohov screamed in pain and the two of them toppled over the ledge. Harry felt as Dolohov apparated them both away, once again the pain of an uncomfortable apparition blinded Harry, and before he knew it the two of them hit the ground.
"Do you think they'll accept you after what you did?" Dolohov growled at him, and this time, it was he who punched Harry. Harry ducked under the next one, kicking Dolohov before apparating away. But Dolohov quickly followed him and punched him again. "Do you think they'll ever care about you?" Harry blocked another jab from Dolohov, and just as he was about to strike back he saw a blue light and his leg exploded in pain. Acting on instinct, Harry apparated to get away from Dolohov, but the man followed him once again.
"You're nothing but a killer. A monster!" Dolohov launched another curse, but Harry apparated away to another rooftop, only this time when Dolohov apparated a few moments later Harry was ready. Punching him in the gut and reaching for Dolohov's wand, the two of them fought for it as Dolohov screamed at him. "They'll never understand you. They'll never want to!" Harry used all of his strength, taking advantage of his position as he pulled backward and managed to take the wand from Dolohov before immediately throwing it over the ledge. But at that moment that he turned around, Dolohov struck him in the leg he had cursed, and Harry dropped to the ground as his world exploded in pain.
He heard a crack, and though Harry tried to stand up the pain from the leg was too much. And only a couple of seconds later Dolohov apparated back to the roof once again before using the cruciatus curse on Harry. And now, truly, did he remember what it felt for pain to not be impeding, but for it to drive him to total desperation. He wailed around the ground, screamed his lungs out, and clawed at the ground. It didn't matter that his shoulder had been completely burned half an hour ago. That he couldn't even muster to stand a few seconds ago. He twisted and turned in ways he couldn't have imagined, all the small aches and pains his body had felt only moments ago were now completely gone, replaced by something much more unimaginable.
Suddenly Harry felt the curse lifted, and yet he still stayed on the ground. Still shaking from the effects of the Cruciatus. And before he could even move his head, Dolohov kicked and sent him rolling on the ground until he was right beside the edge. His body trembled, his mind still replaying the pain from the cruciatus all over again, and yet Harry forced himself to stand. Forced himself to look at Dolohov's fucked up face, wrinkled and with only a few staples holding it together.
"You're better off killing them all," Dolohov said coldly.
"L-L-Let's sta-start with y-you, th-then," Harry spat on the ground, watching as all the blood covered his shoe.
Dolohov launched a curse at him, but Harry apparated away right in time. This time though, he barely managed to catch himself when he landed, nearly falling to the ground. Dolohov smiled and made him dance, casting curses at him non-stop, forcing Harry to apparate again and again and again. He began laughing, and Harry kept at it, nearly falling every time, almost getting hit a dozen times, before he finally saw his opportunity after Dolohov had got tired and lowered his wand slightly. Like he'd done so nearly a dozen times before that night, Harry apparated right in front of Dolohov, the man's eyes widened slightly, and he struck him in the jaw. Only this time, when Harry's fist connected with Dolohov's face, he felt as the entire skin in Dolohov's face was knocked away, landing a few feet away from the two men.
Dolohov turned to him, his face nothing but a putrid green-red flesh as he gave him a terrifying smile. He grabbed Harry by the shirt and dug his wand into the underside of Harry's head. He was feeling the urge to apparate away. To do anything other than stand still, and yet, Harry forced himself to do just that as he realised, looking into Dolohov's eyes, that he wasn't going to kill Harry. "You want to be a hero so bad?" He said. "You want them to love you? So be it," he grinned before shoving Harry down to the ground. "I'm not going to let you sour my night. I still have many more little kiddies out there to enjoy. Catch me if you can, Harry!"
With a crack, Dolohov apparated away. And though Harry once again felt the urge to trail after him, he didn't. He felt something else too. A strong feeling he couldn't define, couldn't really understand. But one that kept him on the ground, shaking and still reeling from the cruciatus curse, lost in his own thoughts. But one thing was clear. There was something really off here, something that was bothering Harry so much, it drove away all his anger.
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 ;)
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