Welcome back dear readers to the last chapter of "The Devil", where we see What Harry chooses to do, and we begin to understand what he'll embrace in the end.

But for now, let's end this Hunt.

On with the show.


Fleur Delacour

Fleur deflects and dodges, she blocks and steps through the mists to gain distance to cast a spell, but no matter what she does Harry is on her in a heartbeat. Twirling, spinning, dancing, he was like a whirlwind of spears all aimed to take her life, he wasn't as strong as the lieutenant nor as skilled, but what he lacked in that he made up for it in raw speed. Her sword was only being used to parry and block the incoming death blows from him as Fleur cast spells to keep him back. Fire and smaller explosions gave her breathing room for a moment before Harry would come at her from another angle and the dance would start again.

Needless to say, Fleur was having the time of her life.

This is what she wanted, to walk that knife edge between life and death, to exchange blows with a worthy opponent, to fight as if her life depended on it because it did, and it was fucking glorious! She parries the next two incoming strikes, holding back the spear just for a moment to raise her wand, the words burning in her mind like how her eyes and throat burned because of the iron in the air, a thin red wire emerges from the tip of her wand before she lashes out with it like a whip at Harry, keeping him back. As Harry dances out of the way of the wire Fleur laughs loudly, she could feel the blood pouring from her mouth as Harry deflects the wire with the blade of his spear, though everything else the wire hits glows the red-hot orange color of heated metal and begins to spark.

The wire extends and does its job of keeping Harry away from her as Fleur dances about, her movement becoming more erratic as she does, cutting red hot lines across the ground, rocks, and trees. She swings it wide and Harry takes the bait and charges at her before she quickly brings the wire back down at Harry clipping his shoulders before he spirals off to the left to avoid the wire hitting his neck and Fleur capitalizes on the opportunity.

With the wire still dancing in the air above Harry Fleur lets out a cry of "Ignis!" causing everywhere the wire had touched to explode like a fire bomb. Flame, sound, and hot ash touch almost everything as Fleur is knocked back by the force of her own explosion, if it wasn't for her ringing eardrums she would have laughed at the sound of Harry's cursing. He was knocked back as well, his pauldron shatters thanks to Fleur's charm work and, he lands into a roll before slamming into a tree, he ignores the pain thanks to the Hunt and pushes himself back up at the same time Fleur does. She watches as the boy picks himself up and looks around the cage he had made to trap her in, most of the snow was either melted or covered in soot, all the trees were burning, and large chunks of the earth were scattered about, but all he does is start laughing at the sight as if it was a joke to him that Fleur didn't get.

"What's so funny, Half-Blood?!" Fleur yells, her voice coming out horsed and raw thanks to the Iron.

Harry was breathing heavily, blood flowing from a wound in his hairline. The scarf had either fallen away or burnt to a crisp in the last explosion but it was no longer hiding his soot, blood, and sweat-covered face. His mad grin reflected Fleur's almost perfectly, he reaches up and grabs the ruined piece of armor on his shoulder and pulls it off before tossing it to the ground. "I'm just remembering something my aunt once told me after we got back from church," Harry says with a bloody grin, the fresh burn on the side of his face twisting as he smiles, "She told me I was going to be a homeless addict consorting with loose women and destined to go to hell because of it," Harry tells Fleur as he bends his knees once more and letting his wand drop into his hand.

Fleur snorts before waving her wand in a circle, causing more shells to twist into existence before her and fill with fire, she watches as Harry does four sharp reverse J's, his lips moving in a whisper before broken earth lifts around him and form into spears of jagged and hooked iron, Fleur smiles at him, the boy was going for the kill, Good.

She was doing the same after all.

Harry started first and with a quick slash of his wand, the spears he had created lunch at Fleur at high speed, smiling Fleur returns fire at the boy. The shells and spears collide in midair and explode, raining shrapnel and smoke down between them. Fleur begins to move her wand to prepare for another volley to send at the half-blood when he bursts from the smoke and flame, Fleur backpedals but soon realizes she won't be fast enough to avoid the spear aimed at her head. She jerks her head left while swinging her sword at the haft of the spear knocking it further off course, but she doesn't avoid the blade completely as she feels it slice through her helmet and the hooks and barbs digging into her flesh and slicing open the side of her face.

Fleur screams in pain but plants her feet and turns her body to shoulder check the half-blood, knocking him over in the process, just before the boy hits the ground Fleur's wand dances, sending a charm at him before she stabs at his neck with her blade. But Harry is too quick and rolls out of the way of the blade before his own wand is in hand pointing at Fleur's feet with his spell screaming out and the earth around her shattering and thrusting up in the form of iron spikes to skewer and impale her. She jumps out of the way, her armor taking the brunt of the damage as Harry jumps to his feet getting ready for another charge, Fleur, with her wand still trained on him cries out her own spell.

"Ignis!" She yells, and Harry's side explodes, sending the boy flying into the wooden wall he created for his trap.


Long Island, New York, Cabin 8.

Artemis was on her feet, and none of the hunters dared move.

Artemis' eyes were wide, and none of the hunters dared speak a word.

Artemis' jaw was locked, and none of the hunters dared breathe.

Her head was locked forward with her hands gripped into tight fists, her eyes darting back and forth seeing something her hunters couldn't, but each felt her worry and fear, for they themselves had the same feelings about what was happening. The announcer had stopped commenting on what was happening with Harry and the half-fae after Harry did something that shocked Artemis, making her jump to her feet.

"Get up, Harry, Get up!" she hisses through her teeth as the announcer was talking about the duel between the two other champions. From the sounds of it both were evenly matched between the girl's impressive display of enchantment magic and transfiguration and the boy's skills in dueling with magic and the quickness of his spells but none in the cabin cared about that, "Yes! Yes! Keep moving damn it! Keep her on the back foot, you have the advantage in speed, use it!" she yells.

Artemis' jerked her body left and right as if she was dodging an attack, "Yes! Kick that fae fuck in the face!" she cheers, her smile widening by the second, "Yes! Iron! Use iron, Harry! The dust will hurt but if you can wrap her in it she won't-NO! YOU FOOLISH BOY YOU'RE GIVING HER MORE-ARRG!" She screams before throwing her hands in the air, as she begins to pace in the cabin as her hunter's heads follow her back and forth.

Atalanta's head pokes out of the bathroom, "Oi!" she shouts out, "What are we screaming about my lady?" she asks, watching the goddess pace for a few seconds before Artemis speaks up.

"Harry!" she yells back, clearly frustrated, "He's being a fool and keeps sending spears at the fea and she just keeps blowing them up and sending the shrapnel back at him!" Artemis yells back angrily.

There's a pause before Atalanta yells back, "Well, how many times has he done that?" she asks.

"TWICE!" Artemis yells infuriated, her hands clench and unclench as she paces back and forth.

"Give him a minute!" Atalanta calls back as she goes fully back into the bathroom to help Daisy.

"What is that sup- YES!" Artemis begins to say before suddenly crying out in a cheer.

"Told you!" Atalanta yells from the bathroom with a laugh, "Harry is pretty good at turning things to his favor, once he sees it a few times!" she yells from the bathroom.


Harry Potter

It was like an electric shock up his spine every time he took a breath through the choking smoke of the burning area around him, it felt like everything was moving through thick sludge but him, he could hear his heartbeat in his ears, feel the stretching of his face of his own smile. Every time he felt his spear meet her sword it would send vibrations down his arms and into his chest almost making him laugh with each strike, every time they locked weapons being able to force her back brought a giddiness he couldn't describe, a rush that he was growing to love. Was this why Teacher smiled every time she spoke of the fights that she enjoyed, why her eyes always danced when she spoke of Lugh or Manannán and her fights with them, because of the overwhelming sensation of knowing her own power?

Was he enjoying this because it was proof? Proof that he could fight a dangerous otherworldly being on his own? That he was no longer the scared and broken child hiding in his cupboard wanting the world to go away and wanting to be saved all at once? That he could finally fight back? Or was it because of something else?

Was it because of what he was? A Demigod and a Magician, someone born and (for the lack of a better term) "bred" for war? Or was it because of who his mother is? Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, the Chased Maiden, the Hunter of Monsters? With the Hunt pumping through his blood and bones and the sweet call of it in his mind, was he just following what was his mother's nature or was it his as well? What did Anand tell him?

"Hero?"

"Hunter?"

"Killer?"

"I wonder which one you'll embrace in the end,"

Harry honestly didn't know what she had meant by that, he already knew he was a killer and had accepted that the whispers of Cait-Saith echoing In his ears "Death Becomes You," but it wasn't the only voice that came to mind, "I think we're two peas in a pod me and you, we're both hunters by our very nature and you can't sit there and tell me you don't enjoy it," Fleur had told him in the Chamber of Skye as she professed her desire to fight and kill him. Harry had told her that they were nothing alike, but that was a lie, he could see that now.

They both enjoyed the hunt, and the fight, knowing that they could overcome their prey with skill and speed, to chase them down and corner them or kill them with one swift strike, what drove them to do it didn't matter, the Hunt or the Eldritch power flowing through the Half-Fae, neither mattered in the face of the two. They were fighting because both loved the hunt and the fight itself, past the hedge Harry had enjoyed fighting and killing the cursed Fae trying to eat him, it had proven to him that it was just the Hunt pushing him to fight and hunt, it was also Harry's want, he couldn't ignore of denying it any longer.

So, as Harry dashed through the smoke and fire, knocking the shell that Fleur had launched at him with his spear and ducks under the next one, he saw her smile matching his own, "If she wanted a death match, then she'll get one!" Harry thinks to himself as he goes to gore the Half-Fae with his spear. She parries the attempt before spinning out of the way, but Harry follows up with a slash on her blindside thanks to an earlier hit, she hadn't had the time to get used to it, his spear catches her side, and he feels the plate crumple under the force of the blow and drags his blade across the armor hoping to saw into it and draw more blood to feed the eager Hunt in his mind egging him on. Fleur lands in a roll, lashing her wand out mid-roll, and summons a wall of stone from the ground to stop a follow-up from Harry, half a second later the wall grows bright orange before the front of it bubbles and expands. Harry tries to quickly sidestep the range but knew he wouldn't make it causing him to jump out of the way covering his head with his arms, he felt the following explosion rattle his bones and debris pelt his body at high speed.

His armor takes most of the damage as he rolls before he lands in a crouch and takes off behind what was once the wall Fleur hiding behind and blitz her with his dance, stabbing and slashing at her semi-exposed thighs, she falls back trying to use the wire trick but spins and kicks her in the chest before his wands snaps to his hand and creates twin grasping lions made of pure iron. A spell that would normally put him on his knees in burning pain does no more than tingle thanks to the reinforcement of the Domain of the Moon. The lions burst from the ground, sinking fang and claw into Fleur and ripping right past her armor, Harry could hear the sizzle of her flesh as the iron sank in, her spell failing as she dropped her sword and a scream ripped from her throat as the lions pin her in place.

Harry quickly stows his wand before he lines up his spear with her Heart, "Your heart is mine!" he screams before charging forward, Fleur rips her arm from the lion's mouth before imposing it between her and Harry. He thinks it's far too late to stop him, but Fleur has another idea as her smile grows through the pain as she points her wand at her sword, and both items turn a deep orange color just before both went off like two bombs as the spear began to piercer breastplate, consuming them both.

BOOOOOOOOM!


Angelina Johnson

An explosion rocked the earth, almost making her and Krum lose their footing, both turning to the large tower of wood that sprung up not too long ago, buckled and began to collapse with fire starting to crawl up the side of it.

"HARRY!?" Angelina screams, horrified at the sight of the falling tower, knowing her seeker was located inside of it, she had almost started running towards the falling tower before she reminds herself the best way to help him right now was capturing the Hind, she turns back to Krum, who was looking at the tower with a grim face, with her eyes narrowed and determination set in her bones. She is ending this Now! She grips the Sword of Peleus harder before snapping her wand up moving in a complex pattern showing off that Krum wasn't the only one who knew how to chain spells together as ice and snow reached out like grasping hands and tree limbs became like snakes as the shoot out at the Bulgarian champion.

As the tree limbs wrap around the wand arm of Krum the ice and snow hands pull themselves up becoming featureless bodies of ice and snow and begin to swarm him, he swings his axe and cleaves through two of them in one swipe before he has to bring it up to block an overhead strike from Angelina with the haft of his axe as the tree limbs wind themselves around his body. As Angelina locks weapons with Krum, she feels the ghostly grip of a firm hand wrap around her hand and shows her which way to turn the blade to send it up the haft to the head of the axe before turning the blade and wedging it between the head and haft of the bearded axe before Angeline twists under Krum's arm, spinning in place to bring up her knee into his stomach causing the Legacy to gasp as the air was driven out of his lungs.

Then, in one flawless maneuver, Angelina disarms Krum and flings his axe deeper into the woods before turning and running, leaving Krum behind as she charges off deeper into the woods. She runs as fast as she can, drawing on more and more of the Hunt, she was close she could feel it, and in the Moonlight that cut through the treetops she sees them, deer tracks leading off to the northwest and Angeline doesn't hesitate to follow them, as she looks up to see where they lead she notices something strange. The tracks were appearing as she ran and only in the Moonlight as if something was leading her to the Hind, she hears thunder above and storm clouds begin to roll in from the direction she was running towards with lightning dancing in between the clouds.

Angelina feels the spells hit her back and reflected off by the Auror robes as she runs full speed through the forest, the cracks of apparition behind her and the baying of hounds coming from the direction she was running to. Lightning flashes out and crashes to the ground and in the distance she sees it, flashing gold in between the trees.


Harry Potter

He couldn't breathe, every time he tried to draw breath his ribs would burn with pain, he couldn't see, the concussion clouded his eyes with a blur, and he couldn't hear, the ringing in his ears far too loud. He pushes himself up on shaking arms that barely supported him, he could feel blood running down his face and from his ears. He looks down squinting to see his outer shirt in ruins and his armor buckled inward in his chest, he quickly slips his hand under the armor and pushes on it to give him some breathing room, he must have pushed too hard because it crumbles under his touch and falls to the earth. Harry calls on the Hunt to suppress the pain he feels as he pulls out his wand and waves it over his ribs and feels them pop back into place, he screams at the feeling and it still hurts to breathe but at least he could now.

Harry pushes his glasses up to wipe the blood from his eyes and looks around, he couldn't see Gaé Bolg anywhere, he had let go of it as he jumped back at the last moment to escape the blast, Teacher would kill him if she found out that he did that, there was now a large crater in the ground thanks to Fleur's spell that had thrown him back like a chuck of wood from the epicenter of the blast. The tower of wood that he created to trap Fleur was now nothing but large chunks of burning wood scattered about, Harry was honestly surprised that they hadn't been crushed by one as he stands on shaky legs. He sees silver shine in the firelight and sees a bloody Fleur stand up as well, her wand and sword gone thanks to turning them into improvised bombs. Her armor was no more than a crushed mess, as Harry watches her pull a blade from her belt before cutting the straps that held her armor away and doing the same first aid Harry had done.

She stands on shaky legs as well, turning to look at Harry with a concussed stare, as Harry starts to move toward her, he feels the back plate of his armor shift uncomfortably before pulling off his jacket and letting it fall to the ground before pulling the tattered remains of his over shirt off and feels the back plate fall away as he walks around the crater. Fleur eyes him for a moment before reaching down and pulling the chainmail up and over her head and letting it fall to the ground before standing and slowly starts walking toward Harry with a simple parrying dagger in hand.

Harry stows his wand with a practice motion before reaching behind him to draw the silver hunting knife he had worn since he first got it, he was going to finish this like a hunter, his prey deserved at least that much respect.

As the two finally move around the lip of the crater, Fleur charges, looking to sink her blade into Harry's chest. Harry steps back just in time and takes a swipe at her next with his hunting knife, Fleur jerks out of the way just in time to avoid getting her throat sliced open but Harry still carves into her, but no more than a flesh wound as both hunters trip over their own feet and land on the ground, their bodies exhausted and battered from their fight. Both push back to their feet and begin to attack each other again, elbows, knees, hands, and blades, everything was used to try and beat the other down enough so they could slip their blades into the heart of the one they saw as prey.

Fleur broke Harry's nose with a punch, Harry busted her lips with a strike across her face before slashing out with his blade to take out her last eye, she dodges the slash and tries to stab him, but Harry blocks with his bracers right before Fleur knees him in the stomach. Wrap her arm around his neck she tries once more to plant her dagger into his ribs, Harry slashes the arm holding on to him before he catches her other hand, he screams as he feels the knife plunge through his hand but keeps his grip on her hand as he pushes her back. Both hunters get the same idea as they swing their heads forward, head-butting one another, their heads meet with a crack as new wounds open and both their heads fly back.

Harry, for a moment, is back in the Chamber of Secrets, head-butting the shade of Voldemort, and with a grip on Fleur's hand, he yanks her back towards himself, and in one moment their eyes meet.

One set slitted vertically.

One set slitted horizontally.

Both beasts of the Hunt, both looking to kill their prey, and neither knowing nor caring why.

Fleur's eyes widen when Harry plunges his hunting knife into her guts, Harry can barely hear her gasp over the ringing in his ears, but catches Fleur as she slumps forward, her head falling onto his shoulder, her ragged and pained breaths louder than the ringing in his ears for a moment.

"G-guess it-its t-time to fin-finish th-this, Wee, Little 'Arry," Fleur says as Harry feels her struggle to stand on both legs, her injured arm trying to do something, "It w-was a-a pleasure an-and a j-j-joy to fight y-you, b-but t-the hunt is o-over," she tells him, her breaths coming out in ragged gasps before she pushes herself off of Harry and standing with what Harry could only assume is pure willpower looking him in the eyes and harry watches as her eyes turn back to a powder blue and she smiles softly at him, and then as quick as a viper Fleur draws another blade from her side, Harry's own eyes widen before twisting his knife and cuts his way out of her along the seam of her belly, blood splatters across the blacked earth and begins to pour from her stomach before Fleur slams into him and then falls to the ground with Harry standing over her.

He looks down at her bleeding and still body at his feet, he wobbles back and forth, almost all strength leaving him, He sees the oddest thing.

The handle and hilt of Fleur's dagger sticking out the side of his chest.

"Oh," Harry says to himself, "That's not good," he says before tilting back and falling to the ground.


Angelina Johnson

She could see Krum running full tilt and as fast as he could, Quick-Stepping over and over just to keep up with Angelina's Hunt enhance speed as they both chased the Hind through the woods, both giving up on sending spells at each other in favor of chasing the Hind down as the storm overhead grow worst and worst, the baying of hounds growing in number as the thunder rocked the world with each flash of lightning. Krum was quickly overtaking her as she can see sparks of electricity flashing off of him, he reached out to try and grab the Hind but the construct dodged his grab; that's when he jumped at it with a quick step to fall on it.

Of course, Krum would try and catch it, he was a seeker after all, but Angelina bends her knees and in a burst of speed, jumps at the both drawing back the sword in her hand she aims.

Lightning flashes, throwing shadows in the dark forest.

The shadow of a giant horned man can be seen with his spear arm drawn back under Angelina Johnson.

For a moment her eyes glow with the full power of the Hunt as the Horned God bestows his blessing upon the girl.

And Angelina throws the sword with a scream.

Because Angelina Johnson was a Chaser and she had never missed a shot.


The Stands

"That's it! That's it! The Hind is down! Angelina Johnson has killed the Ceryneian Hind! Hogwarts wins!" Ludo Bagman announces as the gathered schools break out into screams and applause, all except a small group of students.

They were worried, as soon as Harry had conjured the tower the charm that made it possible to watch the fight went haywire enough that Ludo Bagman had to immediately focus on Angelina and Krum, or else the charm would have collapsed onto itself, and every time the man tried to switch back he couldn't get it to look inside of the tower. He had stopped broadcasting for a moment to speak with the judges before turning back and just focusing on Angelina and Krum. Then the tower had come crashing down, harming whatever charm or enchantment they had used to keep track of everything, Bagman, while looking worried and nervous, soldiered on with his commentary.

No one seemed to know what had happened with Fleur and Harry, but by the time the small group had looked over to the judge's seats after the task was called, Zoë, Madame Maxime, and Headmaster Dumbledore were gone.


Harry Potter

"The Moon and Stars are beautiful tonight…" was the thought in Harry Potter's head, his breathing was uneven and he could taste the blood pooling in the back of his throat as his vision began to grow dark. He doesn't know how long he was laying on his back before he heard the trampling footsteps from the underbrush followed by screams of his and Fleur's name.

"Harry!"

"Mister Pott-"

"Albus, she's losing a lot of bloo-"

"I'll fucking kill her my-"

"Get away from my student!"

"Lady Nightshade, Contain your-"

"-Poison blade-"

"Harry-"

"You need to keep your eyes open, Harrry~"

Harry feels warm drops of water on his face.

"Harrrry~, -You need to keep your eyes open, please, Harrrry~"

"Don't die, please don't die little brother, just keep your eyes open, fight Harrrrrry~"

"-His vitals are dropping! We need to get him to Saint Mon-"

"Harrrrrry~"

"There you are, My Harry,"

The last thing Harry feels is ice-cold arms wrapping around him, cradling him, before he's pulled downward….

And Harry Potter, knew no more.


The Devil

amidst the inferno at the bottom, two souls stand back to back looking into two mirrors. One is a boy in a silver jacket holding a reddish-silver spear with silver-slitted eyes.

The other is a girl in armor holding a silver sword. Both look into the mirror with determined looks as the forest around them is consumed by fire, but in the mirrors are not the reflection of themselves, but of each other.


Chapter done!

And whooooooo-boy was it a chapter.

Yes, both Artemis and Cernunnos interfered in this, Artemis by showing Angelina the path to the Hind so the task could end faster so they could save Harry, and Cernunnos because he thought it was badass and decided to bless the Hunter who was chasing down the prey to kill it and not capture it.

And just in case you haven't figured it out, Fleur is a hard counter to just about anything, because explosions are pretty much a hard counter to, well, everything.

Kingsaxcul, Out.