LAST TIME
"Excellent Mr. Potter," Marchbanks said. "Now as for defense—"
A swan patronus burst through the door, flying toward Dumbledore.
"Albus!" A female voice Harry didn't recognize, emerged from the patronus. "Our wards are under attack by Grindelwald! I am doing all I can to strengthen them but I won't hold him for long. Your phoenix can get through though! Come quickly."
All the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes vanished as he glanced toward Harry.
"Madame Marchbanks," Harry said, moving toward Dumbledore. "I think going against the greatest dark lord of all time should suffice as my open challenge. If it doesn't— well, I don't know what will. Let's go, Professor."
A screech rang through the room as Fawkes appeared in a flash of fire and grabbed Harry and Dumbledore by his talons.
"You know where to go," Dumbledore said and with a ringing screech, Harry and Dumbledore vanished from the room in a flash of fire.
Ch.75 The Terror of Europe
Fawkes' sharp talons dug into his shoulder and heat washed over his skin, prickling the hair on his arms. Red and orange flames swirled around him as the phoenix song rang in his ears.
His feet slammed into the hard ground and the flames cleared. Harry blinked the spots away, only for a bright flash of light to sear his eyes.
"What the hell?" He shielded his eyes.
Multi-colored jets of light smashed against an invisible dome, creating bright, colorful ripples where they hit.
"Albus, dieu merci, tu es là!" A lady stood behind them, her wand trained toward the sky. "Grindelwald et ses Acolytes nous ont encerclé!"
A flash of blue struck the top of the dome and the barrier trembled. White ripples ran down its length, like waves in the Black Lake.
The lady spat a few words and the ripples smoothened away for a moment, only for more spells to slam into the wards.
"How many?" Harry squinted at the dark figures beyond the line of the perfectly cut bushes and trees.
"Their numbers don't matter. Our problem is Grindelwald," the lady's blue eyes flashed in Harry's direction. She tossed her brunette hair over her shoulder. "You're Harry Potter."
"I am," Harry replied.
A loud gong rang and the barrier shook, sending crimson ripples over the wards. Behind the lady, the windows of the chateau rattled.
'That's bad.' Harry flicked his wand into his hand. 'Grindelwald's attacking the wards hard enough to create magical backlash.'
"Je l'ai trouvée!" A shout drew Harry's attention. A man stood on the balcony on the second floor, waving a short spear at them.
"Apportes-la ici!" The woman yelled and the man leaped off the balcony, pointing his spear toward them.
Instead of falling, he flew toward them, landing smoothly, right next to the woman.
"Je l'ai," the man muttered. "ça marche toujours."
"That's good." The woman replied in English, glancing toward Harry.
The man turned around, a surprised look flitting over his face. "Je ne m'attendais pas à ce que tu l'ammène aussi, Albus."
"Harry was around when I received the Patronus." Dumbledore's eyes flicked between Harry and the man. "I found it in your best interests if he came along too." Dumbledore glanced up as the barrier trembled again, purple and blue ripples cascading down its length. "We might need to hurry. The wards, as brilliant as they are, won't hold for long."
"You should drop the wards." Harry suggested to the woman who was strengthening the barrier. "And once they enter, re-establish every ward you can to stop them from going out. We will handle it from here." Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, you keep Grindelwald busy. I will take out his acolytes— The Knights of Walpurgis."
"Sounds fair." Dumbledore drew the Elder Wand.
Harry looked at the Hallow for a second before pulling out his Invisibility cloak.
"Let's give them an invisible enemy." Harry smirked, draping the cloak over himself. "Whenever you all are ready."
Dumbledore glanced at the lady who took a shaky breath and nodded. Her wand glowed a brilliant aquamarine and the ripples around them disappeared.
Spells crashed into the bushes and the trees, blowing holes in the neatly trimmed garden.
The woman's eyes darkened.
"Ils paieront," she scowled at the nearing cloaked figures.
Harry felt the hairs on his skin prickle as a shimmer of magic rose around the house.
'They have put up their own wards to stop us from escaping.' Harry's eyes latched onto the figure in the center, who was walking toward them with his hands shoved in his pockets.
"Ah, Albus," Grindelwald's heterochromatic eyes glinted as he neared. "I should've expected you to be here. I sensed something was amiss when the wards dropped."
"Gellert," Dumbledore took a step forward, stepping in between the couple and Grindelwald. "Go back with your followers. You won't find a victory here."
"I am not here to fight," Grindelwald's gaze flicked past Dumbledore's shoulder to the couple standing behind him. "I just need something from them." He smiled at the couple. "And of course, you both are still welcome to join me, Monsieur and Madame Flamel."
Harry's head whipped to the couple.
'Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel,' Harry felt dread well up in his chest. 'Grindelwald wants the Philosopher's stone. But Dumbledore told me that they destroyed it.'
"The stone is no more, Grindelwald," Nicholas Flamel spat, shifting the spear in his hand. "We destroyed it four years ago alongside every instruction to make one. You won't get anything from us."
"I am not here for the stone, I am afraid," Grindelwald shook his head. "It would've undoubtedly been an excellent artifact to have. But neither do I fear death nor am I desperate for gold. That's for my… British friend, I am afraid."
Harry watched the Knights of Walpurgis move, slowly surrounding them from all sides.
'Can't have that.' With a glance at Dumbledore and the Flamels, he moved away from them, stepping outside the loose ring Grindelwald's men had formed.
"Enough games, Gellert," Dumbledore declared. "Get out of here."
"Albus, you're surrounded by some of my best." Grindelwald spread his arms, his wand hanging loosely between his fingers. "You're in no position to make threats. But I promise I will be on my way if you just let me get what I want, old friend."
"I remember you said something similar to me before," Dumbledore's mustache twitched. "Something about the wand being all the superiority you needed. You asked me to join you or die. We both know how that went down, don't we?"
Grindelwald's eyes burned, his fingers curling around his wand.
"How can I forget?" Grindelwald's nostrils flared. "But even with Monsieur and Madame Flamel by your side, your chances of defeating me are slim. The wand in your hand will make as little a difference as it did for me all those years ago."
"We will have to see about that," Dumbledore's wand moved in the blink of an eye.
A bright flash of lightning flashed across the grounds only to burst apart against a bronze shield.
Harry took a deep breath, the ozone tingling in his nose, and pointed his wand to the ground.
"So be it," Grindelwald's bronze shield faded away. "Kill—"
The ground rumbled.
A smirk tugged at Perenelle Flamel's lips as she twirled her wand, allowing the wards to rise back all around the property.
Beneath his cloak, Harry tugged his wand upward and Grindelwald's eyes widened.
"NO!"
Glinting gray spikes shot up from the ground while a gust of wind from Grindelwald's wand ripped through the field, throwing several of his followers back.
The cloaked figures went sprawling back, the tips of the steel spikes barely grazing them.
Two spurts of blood blew up in the distance, the red liquid splattering against the ruined lawn. Harry bit back a curse as he saw the rest of Grindelwald's men roll to safety.
'Grindelwald saved most of them from the first blow,' Harry waved his wand in a circle underneath his cloak, pouring more magic into the ground. 'But I am not giving up.'
"No," Grindelwald went to save his men again, only to be forced to raise a shield as Dumbledore and Perenelle Flamel fired a barrage of curses at him.
"SHIELD YOURSELF!" Grindelwald roared over the gong of spells hammering into his shield. "Be wary of the ground!"
Harry twirled his wand underneath his cloak and more metal spikes shot up to impale the acolytes. Raw screams of pain tore from the throats of several cloaked figures, as they reacted, but not in time. Spiked poked through the limbs or torsos of the Knights. Their blood rolled down the steel, pooling on the ground.
'They're injured but still alive,' Harry let his magic feel the spikes. Closing his eyes, he curled his fingers tighter around his wand. 'Die.'
Screams of pain rattled his ears, drowning out the gong of spells being exchanged between Grindelwald and the Flamels. The smell of burning flesh wafted through the air and Harry stopped his spell, opening his eyes.
Charred bodies hung on the spikes, their eyes unseeing, their last screams having died on their tongue.
Only three of Grindelwald's Knights remained alive and unharmed.
"RUN!" Grindelwald roared at them, batting away a pink curse. "GET OUT OF HERE."
Beside Dumbledore, Nicholas spun his spear, a beam of yellow flying from its tip toward the nearest man. The silver shimmer rose in front of the man, only for the beam to shatter through it, punching a hole in his chest.
Red, viscous blood spurted, splattering across the green grass and the man crumpled to the ground, his arms flopping about.
His companions edged away toward the boundary of the wards, a golden shimmer materializing around them. A yellow spell from Nicholas' spear ricocheted off the shield, tearing a chunk of the bushes on the far side of the lawn.
'They are not important now.' Harry's gaze moved across the lawn toward Grindelwald.
The Dark Lord's wand moved in a bluish blur, bursting any spell that came at him to sparks.
'I've never seen a defense like that.' Harry aimed his wand at Grindelwald's back as the dark lord defended himself against Dumbledore and Perenelle. 'But let's see if it can stop the killing curse.'
Multicolored sparks rained around Grindelwald's feet as Dumbledore and Perenelle barraged him with spells while Nicholas attacked the retreating followers.
"Avada Kedavra," Green light burst from Harry's wand, soaring toward Grindelwald's undefended back.
Grindelwald threw himself to the ground, the light of the killing curse shining over his robes as it sailed over him.
The curse struck the marble wall of the chateau, blasting a hole through it.
A golden dome rose around him as a bolt of lightning arced toward him from Dumbledore's wand. Electricity cracked down the golden dome as Grindelwald slowly rose to his feet, a hand on his back.
His heterochromatic eyes narrowed as they ran across the lawn.
As another spell splashed against the golden dome, Grindelwald spun around, magic roaring from his wand.
Around the lawn, spikes crumbled to dust and the bodies of the Knights fell to the ground, splashing into puddles of their own blood. Dumbledore and the Flamels stumbled back while the soles of Harry's feet tingled as magic washed all around him.
'He can't find me under the cloak.' A smirk tugged at Harry's lips. 'But if Dumbledore and I fight him alongside the Flamels, we can kill him today.'
Grindelwald's eyes shone as he turned to face Dumbledore again. "You found the second hallow, didn't you?" Grindelwald breathed as a blasting curse burst against his shield. "The Cloak of Invisibility passed down Ignotus's line."
Dumbledore's arm froze mid-cast while the Flamels raised their eyebrows.
"It is with the Potter boy, isn't it?" Grindelwald's golden shield faded away. "And he is here, hiding under it. Two hallows, so close together." He looked around, his eyes glinting. "Come out, Potter!"
'Under the cloak, I cannot fight him properly,' Harry observed Grindelwald as the man looked around the lawn with crazed eyes. 'A single spell will give my position away. And he cannot use the cloak anyway.'
Harry pulled the cloak off himself, stuffing it back into the moke-skin pouch.
"No, let me see it," Grindelwald stepped forward, only to dance away as a spell flashed past his ear.
"Sorry," Harry pointed his wand at Grindelwald. "But if you want to see the cloak, throw down your wand and surrender. I will even let you touch it once you're in chains."
Grindelwald paused, his eyes rising to meet Harry's own.
Harry felt a slight tug at his waist and flicked his wand, ripping apart Grindelwald's summoning spell like a cobweb.
"That won't work," Harry said. "If you want to see the cloak, throw your wand down. I promise I'll show it to you."
"That is not an offer I can take, Mr. Potter." Grindelwald shook his head, raising his wand, its tip glowing a faint purple. "How about you give me the cloak and I will… leave from here, sparing all of you."
"I am not sure if you noticed, but between all of us, you're out-numbered, out-powered, and out-skilled." Harry waved at the Flamels and Dumbledore who stood behind Grindelwald. "Not to mention, the moment you try to break the wards or escape, Dumbledore and I will blast you to pieces. Surrender."
Grindelwald's fingers tightened around his wand as he looked around. Dumbledore and Perenelle raised their wands while Nicholas pointed his spear at him.
"I see," Grindelwald murmured, turning back to meet Harry's eyes. "But you see, young man? I am a man of many talents."
A second wand slipped from Grindelwald's sleeve into his left hand, a smirk curling on his face. A black shimmer billowed from both his wands, creeping toward the corpses of his followers. The grass and shrubs shriveled and blackened, crumbling to dust as the magic rolled over it.
Harry felt bile rise in his throat. The temperature plummeted and goosebumps erupted over his skin, the smell of rotting eggs making his head spin.
'What is this magic?' Harry tightened his mental shields, his focus ebbing back into place. 'This is bad. Whatever it is, is beyond unnatural. I have to stop him.'
He raised his wand. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
A wall of blackened dirt rose in its way and swallowed the curse.
Around the lawn, the black shimmer touched the corpses of the Knights, seeping in through their skin. Their veins turned black their skins rotting as the bodies twitched. The blood flowed back into their wounds, forming a mass of black lumps over their skin.
"Gellert, STOP!" Dumbledore roared, his face pale. "Stop this madness!"
A spell arced toward Grindelwald but he waved his wand in a blue shimmer, bursting the spell to sparks.
"It is too late, Albus," Grindelwald glanced at Harry. "If I cannot get the cloak, I need to take what I am here for. Have fun dealing with these."
The eyes of the corpses melted away, revealing burning pits of white fire. They opened their mouths, their jaws stretching and their skin tearing to reveal unnatural, sharp teeth.
'They are Inferi, but they are not,' Harry swallowed the bile that rose within his throat.
A blinding yellow beam of magic shot toward Grindelwald from Nicholas' spear.
"STOP THIS, GRINDELWALD!" He roared as Grindelwald moved out of the way of the curse.
The golden beam speared into a rising corpse, throwing it to the ground. A few drops of inky, black-colored blood flowed out of its wound, sizzling on the ground, melting the stones it touched. Not even a second later the wound closed and the corpse rose back to its feet.
'They're not normal at all,' Three of the corpses took a step toward Harry, their sharp teeth glinting in the glow of the white flames inside their skulls. 'Inferi don't just heal. I need to destroy them once and for all.'
Harry pictured Voldemort's sneering face, allowing the hate he felt to well up in his mind.
"Fiendfyre!" Angry red-orange flames spewed from Harry's wand, drowning the nearing corpses in a sea of flames.
Grindelwald met Harry's eyes through the swirling flames, a smile tugging at his lips. He turned around to look at Dumbledore and the Flamels who were pushing back the rest of the corpses.
'Grindelwald might turn these flames at them,' Harry followed Grindelwald's gaze.
With a grunt, Harry pulled back the flames, extinguishing them.
The corpses screeched, smoke curling off their blackened skins. The white fire in their eyes glowed brighter, as they waddled forward.
'That's impossible,' Harry slashed his wand. Chains rose from the ground and wrapped around the corpses. 'Not even Horcruxes can survive Fiendfyre. Nothing can.'
"It won't work," Grindelwald's voice rang, followed by the snap of the conjured metal chains.
Harry took a step back as the three corpses clawed their way forward, leaving the metal chains in tatters.
"DON'T LET THEM BITE YOU!" Nicholas screamed, pushing back one of the corpses with a spell from his spear. "They are the Draugr. If they bite you, you will turn into them! Contain them!"
Harry flicked his wand, and a thick wall of steel formed between him and the nearing corpses— the Draugrs.
"You seem to know a lot about them, Monsieur Flamel," Grindelwald flicked his wand and the spear flew out of Nicholas's hand.
A Draugr leaped at the Alchemist, sinking its teeth into his calf.
Nicholas' scream was drowned by Perenelle's shrill one as she blasted away the corpse, making her way toward her husband.
"Perenelle, NO!" Dumbledore pulled her back, banishing Nicholas away from them with a flick of his wand.
"Kill me!" Nicholas Flamel raised his head as blackness crept up his veins and his skin began to rot. "Please, Albus."
Dumbledore raised a trembling hand, a wave of magic blasting away the Draugrs nearing them.
"Please, Albus," Nicholas croaked, pushing himself up by his elbows, the skin on his arms darkening. "Quickly."
Dumbledore closed his eyes, and jabbed his wand.
A burst of white lightning hit the ancient Alchemist, blowing a hole in his chest. Nicholas Flamel gurgled and fell to the ground, a mixture of black and red blood pouring from the wound, sizzling on the ground.
"NO!" Perenelle struggled against Dumbledore's grip while the Headmaster averted his eyes.
Harry's eyes slid from Nicholas's dead form to Grindelwald, who stood in the center of the lawn with a twisted smile on his lips.
"It is tough, isn't it, Albus?" Grindelwald said and Dumbledore's eyes snapped open. "Choosing between what is easy and what is right."
Around the field, the Draugrs stood still, their claws digging into the blackened dirt.
"You monster!" Perenelle roared, a curse arcing from her wand toward Grindelwald.
He swatted the curse away, the smile on his face turning into a grimace. "For all it is worth, I didn't want to do this, Madame Flamel." Grindelwald said. "I would never wish to spill magical blood, let alone of someone as talented and pioneering as your late husband."
Perenelle let loose another curse at the dark lord who raised a shield, blocking it.
"You have my deepest condolences and apologies," Grindelwald continued as the corpses around the field screeched, clawing their way forward. "I would've stayed but I am on a tight schedule. Don't let these get out of here, will you, Albus? I won't have control over them for long."
The spear that Nicholas Flamel had been wielding leaped into Grindelwald's hand. The tip of the spear glowed and Grindelwald slowly rose into the air.
Harry's attention was drawn back to the corpses as the wall he had conjured, melted into a puddle, white flames washing over the bubbling metal.
'They can breathe fire and survive fiendfyre.' Harry backed away. 'And they can heal from wounds and rip metal chains. I need to destroy them completely.'
"Ekriski Aposyntheto!" A golden beam of magic spiraled from Harry's wand and hit the nearest Draugr.
In a brilliant flash of golden light, the corpse was blasted to pinpricks of golden light.
Harry staggered back while the other two Draugrs were thrown back several feet. In the distance, Grindelwald landed on the balcony and disappeared into the Chateau.
'I can't let him take what he wants.' Harry breathed deeply, waving his wand over himself. With a thought, he rose into the air. 'He cannot escape without coming back out though.'
Looking down, he saw Dumbledore protecting Mrs. Flamel from the nearing corpses while she feebly helped, tears flowing down her cheeks.
'I cannot blast every single one of the Draugrs with the destroyer beam. I will pass out before I kill half of them.' Harry flicked his wand.
The corpses screeched as several of them were pulled closer together, their claws digging into the blackened ground. Flames spewed from their mouths, melting the pebbles.
Harry held them together, keeping himself steady in the air.
"Ekriski Aposyntheto!" He roared and the golden spell spiraled down toward the small pile of writhing Draugrs.
In a brilliant flash, the beam tore through several of the corpses. Dust rose while peebles rained around the lawn. Golden sparks shone in the dust, casting a glow on the Draugrs that were left.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught movement through the windows in the Chateau. Barely a moment later, the side wall of the chateau exploded in a shower of marble and Grindelwald flew out of it, the spear in his hand.
Without a second thought, Harry pushed himself forward, flying in his path, spells soaring from his wand.
Grindelwald twisted in mid-air and swung the spear, its tip glowing a brilliant blue. Harry's spells curved out of the way, blasting into the Chateau behind Grindelwald.
"You replicated Voldemort's flying spell," Grindelwald raised an eyebrow as he hovered in the air. "Unaided flight is an impressive feat. One Albus and I never achieved. Thankfully, now I have other means."
"What did you take, Grindelwald?" Harry growled. "What did you steal?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Grindelwald grinned.
Harry slashed his wand, a pale yellow spell streaming from his wand. Grindelwald spun the spear, batting the spell away.
"You should be more worried about the Draugrs, Potter," Grindelwald looked to his left. "Albus cannot fend them forever and neither can he escape. And I don't have enough control over them now."
"You used necromancy to reanimate constructs you don't even have control over?" Harry blinked.
"Draugrs are the restless dead, dear boy. They can be set on a path but eventually, they will go free with a single purpose in mind." Grindelwald grimaced. "To kill everything that is not them and turn them into Draugrs."
"You're insane," Harry said. "If they get out of here, the world will be doomed."
"Perhaps I have faith in Albus and you," Grindelwald tilted his head. "And as you told me, I had no other option. I couldn't defeat Albus with the Elder wand in my hand. I certainly can't now, since he has the Elder wand and you are here with the Cloak of Invisibility."
"Let's settle this here then," Harry glanced sideways, checking on Dumbledore who was still fending off the Draugrs, trapping them in cages. "You and me instead of you and Dumbledore."
"I am afraid you'll have to go and help Albus, dear boy." Grindelwald waved the spear in Dumbledore's direction. "And while I admit that you're good— much better than I had been when I was twice your age… you're not in my league yet, dear boy."
Harry scowled, firing a bolt of lightning at Grindelwald who swung the spear again, blocking it. The spear's tip flashed and a stream of yellow flew at Harry, battering across the shield he raised.
A wand slipped into Grindelwald's left hand.
"Dual wielding," Harry flicked his phoenix feather wand into his hand. "Let's dance."
Spells curved from both his wands toward Grindelwald, who floated higher in the air, avoiding them. Another beam shot from the spear toward Harry who twisted out of its way.
Arcs of purple lightning flashed from Grindelwald's wand only to splash against a silver shimmer. Another beam from the spear slammed into the shield, cracking it like a mirror. The faint remainder of the spell clipped Harry on the shoulder.
A hiss escaped Harry's lips as a trickle of blood began to soak his shirt.
"I draw first blood," Grindelwald batted away a curse. "Now, goodbye."
Dozens of sharp silver needles shot toward Harry who flew out of its way. The needles burst against the wards behind Harry, and cracks spread.
A beam shot upward from Grindelwald's wand and with a tremendous bang, the wards shattered.
"Until next time, Mr. Potter," He waved his wand and disappeared with a sharp crack.
"Bloody hell," Harry cursed as his last spell blew the roof of the chateau to pieces.
With a last glance, he flew back toward Dumbledore.
The Hogwarts headmaster had conjured humongous metal containers. Screeches rang from within as Dumbledore layered the container with enchantments, sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Professor," Harry greeted, his gaze slipping toward Perenelle, who was crying beside her husband's body. "I am sorry for your loss."
Dumbledore gave a jerky nod, continuing his work on the container.
"Shouldn't we destroy them?" Harry frowned. "They can rip through steel."
"The Department of Mysteries will be examining them," Dumbledore said, his voice dull. "There has been enough death for a day."
Harry flinched. 'Nicholas Flamel was to him what he is to me. He had to kill his mentor to save him from a fate worse than death.'
Harry looked at Perenelle who was still sobbing over her husband's dead body. With a glance at Dumbledore, Harry walked toward her.
"Madame Flamel, I am sorry for your loss." Harry said softly.
Perenelle whirled around to face him, her eyes burning.
"Sorry?" She whispered, tears streaming down her cheek. "That's all you can say?"
She rose to her feet, her fingers curling into fists. Her eyes darkened as she stepped nearer.
"You could've saved him," she spat. "You could've given him the cloak and let him go! But you didn't!" She jabbed her finger into Harry's chest. "You chose your cloak over my husband! How dare you come here and say that you're sorry?"
Harry closed his eyes, squashing the flair of annoyance. "Madame Flamel, I am sorry I didn't save your husband in time. I should've stayed with you all instead of going around to kill the Knights."
Perenelle turned on her heel and stormed off to the Chateau, banishing away the debris in her way with a wave of her hand.
Harry turned around to look at Dumbledore who didn't meet his eyes. He stood stone-faced in front of the metal container, his wand clutched in his hand.
"You did what was right, Professor," Harry said. "You saved him from a fate worse than death."
Dumbledore didn't reply.
'They are both reeling from Nicholas Flamel's death,' Harry turned to look at the body of the fallen Alchemist. 'But I need to find out what Grindelwald took from them. And I need to do it before it is too late.'
AND… DONE! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
A huge thanks to Mughil, Anax and Nanu for betaing this chapter.
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Guest: FFN glitches every now and then. Refresh in 5 mins and you'll get the chapter tbh.
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