The air in the graveyard was still and silent in the aftermath of the ritual completion. Harry let his magic extend, threading into the air and the stones while his Enemy examined his new form with calculating excitement in his shining red eyes. Voldemort flexed his long, skeletal fingers and casually conjured a flowing black robe around himself. He looked up at Harry floating above him and a wide smile split his inhuman face.
"You have grown strong indeed, my Nemesis. I expected nothing less."
"Voldemort. I would say that it's lovely to see you again, but… it's really not."
The Dark Lord laughed, high and cruel, as Harry felt his malevolent power begin to permeate the graveyard, brushing against the edges of Harry's own. Deep in the Dark underlying reality, Harry felt the hostile and twisted magic of his Enemy join him beneath and within the fabric of the world.
Voldemort rose into the air, floating before him as eyes backlit with crimson glee remained locked on his own glowing emerald orbs.
Harry's stomach tightened in anticipation, and he suddenly remembered the plan. He sent the emergency signal through the bracelet and called to his Ice Queen's soul, so far away.
Voldemort's back. Graveyard, no idea where. Powerful wards.
I'm coming. Stall him. Don't you dare die on me, Harry.
Yes, my Queen.
"You feel it too, don't you Harry? The call of the never-ending Dark, the truth of the world that only we can see."
Harry grudgingly let his focus slip from his connection to Hermione and tried to think of a response. The longer that he kept the Dark Lord talking, the better.
"Yes. Paradoxes and impossibilities. The universe is empty, yet also abundant. Nothing is real, yet it is all that is. Reality only exists as we experience it. You and I just experience more."
Voldemort cackled, mad and joyous in the night. "You do see, Harry. You see more than many, maybe more than any before you. Do you not understand now, why I must have my Wings?"
"They are the gateway to something more, to something beyond this thin fabric we both are within and are composed of."
"You know the true nature of the Soul, my Nemesis. You know that we are not this pathetic meat and bone. The Other is the evolution of the soul, the ascension to a state of perception that dwarfs even ours. I cannot remain chained to the earth now that I have tasted the heavens. And neither can you, Harry Potter."
Harry looked up at the endless sea of stars behind the wards overhead. "Even the smallest motes of dust upon the wind are important to one and other, Voldemort. I will not allow you to chase these Wings at the cost of so much pain, so many lost dreams. The value of a person is not determined by how heavily they tread upon the world."
The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed. "And so, you too remain chained. I will do what I can to break those shackles for you, my Nemesis, so that we may see just how high you can soar."
Voldemort's blanket of oppressive magic grew teeth and attacked just as Harry sensed two glorious stars approaching from the north.
…
Yes, my Queen.
Hermione took off from her seat in the stadium with a flash of ice-blue power. Even as screams followed her through the air over the crowd, she landed in the staff section beside the headmaster.
"Harry has been abducted and Voldemort has returned. I'm going after him."
Dumbledore nodded gravely as the minister of magic dropped his lime green hat and spluttered in outrage and shock next to him.
The headmaster spoke quickly. "Alastor has apprehended Bartemius Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He is showing signs of long-term Imperious use. We suspect that he was intentionally kept away from Hogwarts during the tournament to avoid the truth being discerned by the Eye of Fjolnir. He used his ministry head status to enter the maze and place several spells on the cup immediately before the task started, and almost made it to the edge of the grounds before Alastor caught up with him."
Fudge finally found his voice. "This is absurd-"
Hermione cut him off. "I'm going to find Harry. I can tell that he is in a graveyard somewhere south of here, but that's all that our connection tells me at this point."
There was a flash of pure white light as Luna landed next to her. There were further screams from the crowd as anyone who wasn't accustomed to her wings reacted in shock.
"I'm coming too! Harry forgot to bring any treacle tart to bribe Voldemort!"
The minister looked decidedly off balance and apoplectic as he was ignored. The headmaster just nodded again.
"Good luck then, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood. Godspeed."
Hermione summoned her power, and they took to the skies together, their bodies tearing and healing from the acceleration as they rocketed south like comets through the night.
…
Harry immersed himself within his power like never before. He had fought countless duels with Mad-eye, but none compared to this.
He could already tell that his battle with the Dark Lord would take place in two planes at once. On the surface, he dodged blasts of crimson power while he sent answering attacks of his own, spikes of stone growing from the ground as the air scythed out in razor sharp blades while thick chains of emerald fire sought to distract and destroy Voldemort's body.
Underneath, in the empty Dark within the fabric of the world, he and his Enemy fought a different kind of battle.
Voldemort's power was equally, if not more, potent than his own. Even as he tried to push forward and rip the Dark Lord's malevolent soul apart, so too did his Nemesis attempt to unmake his very being. Harry's power constantly twisted and coiled, tearing and shredding any parts of Voldemort's magic he could isolate and overpower before moving on. Always he had to keep the ruby shards of power from getting too close, always he had to both defend his own soul while he attacked simultaneously.
It was exhausting in a way he had never felt before. He could feel Voldemort's corrosive presence in the Dark wearing down his soul even as he tore into the crimson evil of the man's own.
On the surface, he could feel Hermione and Luna attacking the fortress of wards from the outside, trying to find a way through or around even as the lone Death Eater maintained and repaired them. They were making progress, but it was slow.
Connected to his Enemy in the Dark like this, he could sense the truth. Voldemort had indeed mastered the other fragments of Creation, in addition to the Resurrection Stone. He could feel their endless souls within Riddle's own. The Crown of Madness sped and expanded the Dark Lord's mind, dancing with malevolent glee. The Unbroken Chain strengthened his resolve and his spirit while it reveled in its bond with its master. The Holy Grail constantly stitched his fractured and broken soul together even as it sobbed with sorrow.
And at the heart of Voldemort's fragmented soul, the Resurrection Stone sat like a spider in the center of its great web, its soul so intertwined with Riddle's own that it was difficult to tell where one began and the other ended. It whispered to him even now, that destined Death was folly.
Harry had the unsettling realization that the fragments of divinity mastered their hosts just as their masters bonded with them.
Harry threw himself backwards as Voldemort almost caught him with a spear of indomitable crimson power. Harry countered by simultaneously ripping into Voldemort's soul with his power in the Dark while on the surface he used the new trick that he had finally caught Moody with. Harry infused the sparse grass and shrubs in the graveyard with his power and found what he was looking for.
Carbon.
With a twist of his magic, he reformed the compounds within the plants into a new arrangement. Carbon nanotubes were incredibly thin, wonderfully strong, and razor sharp in the correct circumstances.
His focus on the construct cost him, though. His magic in the Dark faltered and Voldemort invaded his soul. Harry winced as his soul screamed and cracked and he felt the Dark Lord's glee at perceiving the Blade of the Castle within him.
Harry refused to lose his opportunity and he gripped the nano-thin strands of matter with his power, pulling them with lighting speed at all angles across the graveyard.
There was an explosion of blood and viscera as Voldemort and his sole Death Eater were cut to pieces, grotesque jigsaw puzzles of flesh.
Harry cried out in pain and crashed back to earth as Voldemort instinctively shredded his soul from the inside, even while the Dark Lord's own body fell apart. At least his Enemy was forced to withdraw from his soul to handle the damage.
Harry felt the Holy Grail scream as Voldemort drew on its power to repair his mangled body. At least the manic Death Eater would not be so lucky.
Harry idly wondered if this was really the first time that he had killed anyone. He hadn't even stopped to consider it before ending him.
Harry got to his feet and flooded his power into his soul, drawing on the Light of the sword, the Dark of the cloak, and his connection with Hermione to try and repair the damage.
Across the graveyard from him, Voldemort also stood. His body looked no worse for wear now that the cup had done its work, but he looked truly furious for the first time. Harry felt that he had been correct; Voldemort's desire for a Nemesis only extended to the point that he maintained control.
Without the Death Eater to continually fix the wards, Angel and his Ice Queen would be here in no time.
"Enough of this farce!" Voldemort's voice was saturated with power and rage. "Return to the Dark, Harry Potter. We will meet again when I have my Wings, and I will end your soul."
Harry felt a great surge of magic while Hermione and Luna furiously fought to bring the wards down.
"Fiendfyre!"
…
Hermione ground her teeth in frustration. She could see Harry, feel his brilliant soul as he fought, but these wards were strong and slippery. Voldemort had months to lay his trap, and it showed. Even as she called on the Blade of the Castle and worked her magic into any fractures or weak points she could find, she felt like she was constantly taking two steps forward and one step back. Especially with that damn Death Eater working furiously to repair the damage.
She froze momentarily when she saw the Dark Lord and the Death Eater explode into bloody chunks.
Harry just had to do everything the most gruesome way possible.
Voldemort reformed, but the Death Eater stayed down. Or more accurately, stayed in pieces.
She redoubled her efforts, blue threads of power extending from her outstretched hands as she ripped and tore at the dome of wards. Beside her, Luna did the same, great torrents of divine white power pouring into the shield.
They weren't fast enough.
She faltered again as a tsunami of demonic fire exploded from the Dark Lord. She could feel an alien and warped soul within the blaze of red and black flame, and she recoiled from its ocean of evil intent. Voldemort looked up at her and met her stare with a furious ruby glare of his own for just a moment before he disappeared, the wards apparently having no hold on him.
She barely had time to look back at Harry before the sentient fire reached him. He also looked up at her, a resigned look on his face as his emerald eyes met hers.
The wards were consumed by the demonic fire.
The green light faded from Harry's eyes.
And the tide of cursed flames rolled over him, his body gone within an instant.
Her heart broke and she panicked for a brief moment before she felt the familiar feeling of safety and home within her soul.
Hey there, Ice Queen. Can I catch a ride?
She wanted to cry and laugh and punch him all at once.
You can punch me when I get a body back, don't worry. For now, we need to get out of here. That fire is nothing to sneeze at.
She quickly realized that he was right, even at their current height, the flames were hunting for them.
"Luna!" She yelled over the rapidly approaching blaze, "Put us in the Bubble and let's get out of here!"
With a quick nod, the brilliant white sphere surrounded them just as the fire poured around it. Luckily it held firm, even as Luna grimaced. The expression looked decidedly out of place on her ethereal face, making the cracks of porcelain light much more menacing.
Go go go!
Hermione and Luna rocketed skyward, Harry's magic bolstering their own while they ran from the cursed flame.
…
They looked down at the ruined wasteland below. The fiendfyre had continued to rampage for miles in every direction, the village near the graveyard reduced to ashes. Harry could feel Hermione's boiling sea of conflicting emotions as she took in the damage that Voldemort had wrought.
There was nothing we could have done.
We… I… there must have been something, Harry! Something we missed. We sprung the trap on purpose, and now… so much death…
I know. But we cannot look backwards. We can process later, and it will be alright. For now, we must return to Hogwarts and work with Albus and the ministry.
You're right, I just… this is what we're fighting to prevent, right? The whole world, burned and consumed by Voldemort's lust for power.
Yes. We may have failed this time, but we will continue the fight, nonetheless. We will no longer be required to sit on the defensive while he works in the shadows. Once we resolve this mess, we will start our war in earnest.
Hermione nodded to herself as she reached for Luna's hand. With a twist of her power, she apparated them just outside the gates of Hogwarts.
…
Being apparated as a wraith was a very strange experience. Harry tried to pay attention while he languished in Hermione's soul, but being a spirit was quite distracting. The odd lack of physical senses while still receiving sensory information directly from his host body was both interesting and disconcerting. On top of that, his soul still felt fragile and cracked from his metaphorical wound at Voldemort's hand.
Hermione flew towards the beacon of light that was Dumbledore's soul. It looked like he was in his office with the minister.
If you could let me take the reins for a moment, I can take us through the wall.
He felt her agreement and he shifted to take control of her body. The blue light behind her eyes switched to emerald green.
"Luna, will you please go let Neville know what happened and tell everyone that we're ok? We have to handle the minister."
"Yep!"
Harry flew towards the office window and pulled on the Shroud within his soul to enter the Dark with Hermione in tow.
Oh, that was very weird. I don't think I like that.
Harry chuckled as they flew straight through the glass and landed in front of a very surprised minister and a grave looking Albus.
"What is going on?" Fudge exclaimed. "Do you just let anyone fly into your office, Dumbledore?"
Albus just chuckled tiredly. "I certainly cannot prevent Mr Potter and Miss Granger from doing what they please, even if I wanted to. I take it that things did not go well then?"
Harry let Hermione have control back. It felt rude to speak for her while possessing her own body.
"Yes. Luna and I found them, but Voldemort put up extremely potent wards. We couldn't get them down in time to stop him."
"What is this continued nonsense about You-Know-Who? He's dead!"
Hermione looked at Dumbledore. "You haven't told him?"
"I didn't think that it would be prudent while Voldemort still worked in the shadows, and so far, tonight…"
"You-Know-Who is dead! Gone! He was killed by the Boy-Who-Lived thirteen years ago, everyone knows that!" Fudge yelled, his face turning purple.
"… we have made little progress. Once again, Cornelius, I'm sorry to be the bearer of the inconvenient truth, but he was not. He was simply reduced to a spirit, and we have worked tirelessly to ensure that he could not return. We have failed."
"No! That's absurd! Even he can't come back from the dead! Where is Harry Potter, anyway?"
"Right here, minister."
Fudge jumped backwards at the green glow behind Hermione's eyes.
"What… what insanity is this?"
"My body was destroyed in my fight with the Dark Lord. I had to take shelter with my Ice Queen here in order to escape with my soul."
Fudge was backing away, his hands extended as if to ward off the situation.
"I don't know what you're playing at here, Dumbledore, but I'll have no part in it. You-Know-Who is not back. Whatever is going on there," he gestured to Hermione's body with Harry staring out of her eyes, "is clearly some kind of dark magic at play. I will have the Aurors here to question you all immediately." He looked like he was going to make a run for the fireplace.
Hermione took control of her body, her voice coming out in a tone of horrified awe. "You're really going to do it, aren't you? You're going to condemn countless more innocent people to torture and death with your fear and incompetence-"
"Miss Granger-" Albus started before Hermione cut him off.
"No, Dumbledore." Hermione's voice was ice cold now. "This cannot be tolerated. We are at war, and we will not be hamstrung at the starting line by this… coward."
Fudge backed into the wall as ice blue light shone from her furious gaze.
Harry. Is the policy still in place?
Of course.
Good. Break him for me, please.
Yes, my Queen.
Emerald light flooded the room as Cornelius Fudge's weak and cowering spark was drowned in Harry's power. Dumbledore's eyes widened with horror as they all felt the minister's soul shatter, and verdant light shone from behind his empty eyes.
…