Chapter 46 – The King of Snakes

Harry came back to himself in a daze. A persistent thudding at the back of his head told him he'd hit it as he fell from the basilisk. But that would have to wait. The last thing he remembered was the basilisk being swarmed by acromantulas.

He grasped around for his wand, finding it – fortunately – not far from where he'd fallen.

Groggy, Harry got to his feet and looked around the gardens – although not much garden remained. He'd burned away the bushes and shrubs, and the chaos that followed had rendered the lawns into a muddy, spider-strewn hellhole. The battle was ongoing, having been joined by teachers, the bolder members of the press, Ministry, and Inquisition – and more than a few of the older students.

Let them deal with it for a while, Harry thought to himself. He needed to check on the basilisk.

Harry swept his gaze around the chaos on the battlefield in search of the giant snake, and found it embroiled in vicious combat with several acromantulas some distance away. It had coiled its gigantic form in a wide arc around the students, shielding them from the worst of the battle.

It seemed to be handling itself well, as one acromantula had only five legs left, but Harry didn't want to chance it.

Wand in hand Harry moved towards them, spewing fire as he went. Some smaller spiders scurried away in search of easier prey, but a larger one stood its ground. Some long ago processed bit of trivia in Harry's mind told him it was a female – and quite an old one. Dimly, Harry recalled reading that her age would grant her an increased resistant to certain classes of spells.

"Incendio maxima!" Harry cried again. The spell had worked well on the bushes, after all. Jets of flame shot from the end of his wand, but the acromantula leapt over them – and right over Harry, too.

Fuck, Harry thought. He'd forgotten – or perhaps never known – they could do that. He glanced around him in search of some back up, and saw that he wasn't quite on his own. There were others around him, although not many as the bulk of the freed hostages had gone another direction.

His spell had set vast swathes of the grass and only plants on fire, an inferno that raged on around him. It would block some of the more cowardly acromantula from helping, Harry supposed… as well as put off some of Harry's potential helpers.

Well. Harry would have to manage. Acromantulas were spiders, not wizards, and Harry had duelled Voldemort once. Or a version of him, anyway.

"Confringo!" Harry said, jabbing his wand at the acromantula. The spell hit but did little other than dent its carapace – a far cry from the explosive reaction he'd had from the other. Dimly, Harry recalled reading that age would grant her an increased resistant to certain classes of spells.

Fire, then, Harry thought. He could conjure a non-magical fire easily enough.

Harry swept his wand around in a wide arc, conjuring fire as he went.

The acromantula jumped again, right out of the way of the flames. Harry kept at it, and the acromantula kept jumping.

"Stay still!" Harry groaned. He could try a Stickfast Hex, but he didn't think it would work. Too weak. Unless he made a quick modification, but… he tried it anyway – to absolutely no effect whatsoever.

"Ugh!" Harry cried. Spell resistance was great… when it was woven into his clothes or an intrinsic feature in his boots. Less so on an aggressive, man-eating giant spider. Fire would keep her away, but she would keep Harry away from everything else, too.

And glancing around the field, he saw that the other acromantulas were doing more or less the same thing. And there appeared to be more of them than there had been before. Reinforcements from the Forest, Harry supposed.

Spouts of red-hot flame shot from Harry's wand as he kept the acromantula at bay. Every time she advanced, Harry hit her with a torrent of flame.

And then she jumped.

Only for the cycle to repeat again and again, all the while the basilisk battled to protect the hostages and the Death Eaters clashed with others on the field. There had to be a way to get the acromantula stuck in one place. His Blasting Curse wasn't quite strong enough to do what it was supposed to do, and Harry didn't feel confident enough to modify it on the fly.

The Stickfast Hex was probably too weak to manage it, even in the hands of a much more experienced wizard. It was just too weak of a spell.

Conjured chains? Harry wondered as he and the acromantula circled one another, ringed by ash and flames. It could work, but unless he got them around the body just right the acromantula would simply jump away.

He needed something that would actually stop the acromantula. Harry cast a few half-hearted spells at it while he thought. Casting his mind backwards through the year, Harry realised he could use the same tactic on the acromantula as he and Tracey and had used on Diggory and Flickey. Harry just needed to be faster than ever before.

Ground into mud, Harry thought. Acromantulas were heavy enough that it would sink into wet enough mud. Harry moved as quick as he could, visualising the transfiguration faster than he'd usually dare. Then, as the acromantula started to sink, solidified the mud. He didn't know a way to turn mud into concrete, but he felt like he'd done enough to stick the acromantula down.

He regarded it warily. The acromantula seemed to have realised it was stuck, the ends of its many legs trapped within the mud hardened to stone. If it jumped, it would probably rip its own legs off.

Good, Harry thought. But then… what to do next? He could just leave it, but that seemed ill-advised.

"Stupefy!" Harry tried, but the struggling acromantula merely shrugged off the spell. Harry sighed.

"Spell resistance, right."

Tucking the part of him that objected vociferously behind an occlusion, Harry conjured a great inferno and then left the acromantula to its fate. Not only did he need to reach the basilisk, he wanted to check on his friends, too.

The basilisk moved through the mass of spiders with apparent ease, its massive coils knocking the invaders from their paths while its gaping maw literally crushed its opposition. And behind it stood a group of terrified students and various others. But the basilisk seemed to be handling itself well enough in the discharging of its duty, so Harry turned his attention elsewhere.

Fire blanketed the battlefield. Harry's own blaze had never quite gone out, but the teachers and others had added to it many times over. Smoke billowed out from the fires, thick and acrid. Teachers and older students battled a seemingly never-ending horde of acromantulas, and through all that the Death Eaters attempted to pick off the defenders.

Pockets of students had been cut off from the main group. Harry spotted one such group near to him – Hermione and what looked to be a collection of first years. Harry made his way there as fast as he could, keeping up a Shield Charm to avoid any errant spells from the Death Eaters as he did so.

He was glad for it too, as moments later a torrent of hexes smashed against his shield. Harry spun to look on his assailant, but he was wearing a mask.

Let's see if I can unmask you, Harry thought, dropping into a stance more suited for duelling.

"Flipendo!" Harry cast, testing the man's defences. "Locomotor wibbly!"

The Knockback crashed into the Death Eater's own Shield Charm, but in the smoky haze, Harry missed with the Jelly-Legs. The wizard hit back with a sickening violet spell that Harry had to dodge for fear it was something completely out of the ordinary.

Well, he's not bad, Harry thought as he sized up his opponent. I've just got to—

A scream.

Harry's head whipped around searching for the source and saw the first years with Hermione surrounded by an acromantula and a Death Eater working in tandem.

Harry grunted.

He looked back at his own Death Eather. He'd have to leave him until later. Or never. Or for someone else.

"Serpensortia!" Harry said, conjuring a big, fat snake near to the Death Eater. The cat was out of the bag – or perhaps the snake out of its nest – with his Parseltongue anyway, so Harry spoke directly to the snake. "Attack that man! Attack all the hooded men!"

Leaving the snake to its command, Harry hurried towards Hermione and the first years.

"Oi!" Harry shouted as he neared them. "Leave them alone—come get me instead!"

The Death Eater turned but the acromantula stayed just where it was. Harry could work with that.

As Harry approached, the Death Eater fired off a series of spells, but Harry recognised all of them. Hexes all, apart from a minor curse that bounced harmlessly off Harry's Shield Charm.

"Impedimenta!" Harry cast, hoping to slow down his opponent.

The Death Eater dodged, and Harry saw she was a woman.

Ah, shit. Shouldn't have told the snake to attack just the hooded men, he realised. Well, that was done, and hopefully there wouldn't be too many witches on their side to begin with. Behind the Death Eater, Hermione had conjured a wall of fire to block the acromantula's approach.

At least that situation was in hand.

"Confringo!" shouted the witch. Harry threw himself to the floor, dropping into a roll before conjuring fire in a wide arc.

"Flipendo!" Harry cried as he got to his feet. "Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"

He missed.

Too wide with the flourish, Harry thought as he got back into a more defensive stance.

The witch hit back, this time with spells Harry didn't recognise. There had been far too many of those that day – Harry felt like he was operating with a totally different spellbook. Which he supposed he was, given the Death Eaters weren't above using properly Dark magic… but it made him vulnerable.

Not knowing was a weakness.

But not one he could confront just that moment. So Harry used what he knew, and what he knew well.

"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Flipendo!" Harry cast in quick succession. Schoolboy spells though they were, cast with enough force – and enough times – they'd crack a Shield Charm. He just had to keep up the barrage. Fortunately, the Death Eater witch didn't seem especially good at duelling.

As Harry hit out with spell after spell, the witch maintained her Shield Charm, missing several key opportunities to hit back while Harry's spells floundered. But her loss was Harry's gain, and after a particularly hard Knockback, her Shield Charm shattered.

She flew backwards, onto the ground.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry said. "Stupefy!" Wandless and unconscious, hopefully she'd be unmasked after everything ended. Harry caught her wand and rushed forward to help Hermione with the acromantula, which had got some back-up.

"There's no end to them…" Harry muttered as he swept his gaze around the battlefield. He'd known they had a colony in the Forest, but the swarm of them looked to be unending. What had started with only a handful had grown into something far less manageable.

No wonder the Ministry expedition had failed.

Still, despite being outnumbered, Hermione held her own against the three acromantulas facing off against her and her first years. A ceaseless stream of fire poured from the end of her wand and danced in the air – a neat little trick, and one Harry didn't know himself. Not a standard conjuration, anyway – keeping the acromantulas at bay.

But they didn't seem at all inclined to leave.

"Confringo!" Harry said, aiming for the smallest of the three giant spiders. It jumped at the sound of his voice, avoiding Hermione's fire just barely.

The heat spread out in waves from where Hermione walked in a calm circle around the first years. Oppressive against his skin. But it burned without smoke, which was enough for Harry to simply ignore his discomfort.

He tried again.

"Reducto!"

His Reductor Curse smashed into the legs of one of the spiders, blowing them clean off. The acromantula jerked away with a scream, trailing its blue blood in a mess on the ground.

"Levioso!" Harry cried, lifting another into the air. "Flipendo!" He knocked the spider back, sending it swirling through the air.

But another one filled its space quickly enough.

"We need to get the first years away!" Hermione shouted through the chaos. "I can handle myself if we can get them back to the others!" She glanced back at where the basilisk defended the main cohort of students and other civilians.

"Right!" shouted Harry. He looked over to the basilisk, who was still dealing with more acromantulas than anyone else on the field. Which was fair, he supposed, since it was a fifty foot long snake with death for eyes and venom stronger than practically anything… but that didn't leave it much room to manoeuvre.

So Harry would have to figure something out himself. He could join his fire with Hermione's and try to create a path for the first years to run away. That seemed like the best option. But first, he had to get their attention.

"Oi!" Harry shouted. He cast a quick spell at the acromantula nearest to him, but it bounced off. The acromantula turned anyway, a laborious movement all legs. "Leave them alone! Pick on someone who can fight back!"

"Your time is over," the acromantula said. "The Forest will be ours, and your castle shall crumble to dust."

It leaped at Harry.

"Flipendo!"

The spell struck it on its relatively softer underbelly and sent it sprawling backwards through the air, though it landed just short of Hermione's flames.

A shame.

There was still one acromantula behind Hermione, but her wall of dancing fire kept it at bay. With some luck it would grow bored and seek out easier prey.

"What's the spell you're using?" Harry asked Hermione. "So we can join it."

"The incantation is—" Hermione started to say, but she stopped abruptly. "Harry! Look!"

Harry whirled his head around and saw two more acromantulas approaching. He spewed fire from his wand and attempted to go closer to Hermione. Wand in hand, Harry backed away, conscious of Hermione's blaze – and of the advancing murderous giant spiders.

And then, from behind him, a voice.

"Arania exumai!"

A flash of blinding light and acromantulas closest to Harry flew through the air, propelled by whatever spell it was the newcomer had used.

"Nice one," Harry said, turning.

It was Theodore.

He stood there, ash over his robes and face, his hair in disarray, wand in hand. He had a miserable look on his face, but otherwise seemed resolute.

"Hermione!" Theodore said. "Let's get the first years out. Quickly." He joined Hermione in creating fire, then turned to look at Harry. "You'd better go," Theodore said, pointing in the distance. "Daphne and your Hufflepuff friends need some help."

"I—" Harry said. He certainly hadn't expected Theodore to help. Stand huddled in the middle of the mass of students, maybe lend a few spells from the safety of the group… but certainly nothing like he was doing. But none of that mattered, since as Harry looked in the direction Theodore had pointed, he saw that his former friend was right.

Daphne, Ernie, and Susan were corned by a Death Eater.

"Listen," Theodore said. "Arania exumai. It's a spell for banishing spiders. No complex movements—just the incantation. It's a kind of banishing spell, but specifically for spiders."

"Right," Harry said. "Nice one. Thanks. I'll—I've got to go."

Harry rushed off, confident that between them, Theodore and Hermione could deal with the threats long enough to get their first years back to the group. If nothing else, Theodore had knowledge of obscure magic and Hermione was both capable and brave.

Harry got the chance to try out his new spell soon after that. Several acromantulas approached him as he wound his way through the chaos – fire and mud, even the occasional walking bush running around flailing in wordless misery. Keeping in mind what he knew of banishing spells, Harry swept his wand.

"Arania exumai!" he called. Bright light flashed and struck the acromantulas, sending them sprawling away from him. Very useful, Harry thought. Trust Theodore to know a spell specifically for banishing spiders.

He kept his attention on his friends. Capable witches and wizard though they all were, none of them were that great as duellists. And the Death Eaters knew some very Dark spells.

"Flipendo!" Harry cast at the Death Eater's back, knocking them forward. Then, a Summoning Charm. "Acco hooded robes!"

The spell yanked the Death Eater's robes towards Harry, dragging the Death Eater backwards.

"Petrificus totalus!"

The Death Eater tumbled to the ground as stiff as board.

"Stupefy!"

Harry rushed to join his friends.

"Everyone alright?"

"You mad bastard!" Ernie said as soon as Harry arrived. "Come in here riding a bloody basilisk!"

"Is Millie safe?" Daphne asked.

Harry nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, Millie and the others. But what about you three?"

Daphne and Ernie shared a look, then both glanced at Susan.

"I'm fine," Susan said, although she was pale. Paler than usual with laboured breathing. Harry looked her up and down and saw a great tear in her robes, and a bloody wound. "I've just got to see the healers, that's all."

Susan was upright, at least. Despite the bleeding – and there was a lot of blood – she seemed in decent enough spirits.

"Bitten by an acromantula," Ernie explained. He gestured to the once-pleasant lawns. "Got separated from Mum and the other teachers when you burned down the hedges." He paused. "Not your fault—you did the right thing. But we got caught by one and Su got bitten…"

"I said I'm fine," Susan said again. "And now Harry's here we can get back to the teachers so I can get some help. Will you come with us, Harry?"

"We didn't want to move because Susan needs two of us helping," Daphne explained. "But when we're doing that we can't… I mean… none of us are as good as you are at spells, so we'd need to do one or the other and…"

"It's fine," Harry said. "Let's just get moving. And Theodore just taught me a spell…" Harry said as he guided his friends back to the teachers. The way back was fraught, but thanks to Harry's new spell and his friends' quick thinking, they made it.

The atmosphere inside the corral was no less tense than that outside, although it was perhaps a little less fraught. It felt safer, anyway, which Harry thought was a good thing for all the students there. Protected by a ring of teachers, Inquisitors, Ministry men and press, it was the safest part of the battlefield.

Not to mention the giant basilisk slithering around the perimeter.

Once they were safely inside, Harry helped his friends get Susan to Ernie's mum. He didn't know if there were any qualified mediwizards about, but Mairi surely knew some basic healing charms. And Harry thought that Ernie felt safer going to her, anyway, which made sense.

"Oh, Ernest! I was so worried that you…" Mairi started to say when they approached but stopped when she saw Susan. She brushed several students out of the way and conjured a divan-style chair, raised up out of the mud. "Sit here, Susan. Carefully, now—don't want you to lose any more blood."

Susan sat gently, helped by Daphne and Ernie.

While Mairi fussed over Daphne and cast what healing spells she knew, Harry knew that he had to get back out there to do something. Despite many of their number being killed, the ranks of the acromantulas had grown, and the others outside of the protected circle needed help. Not to mention the Death Eaters.

"Right, I'm going to get back out there," Harry said, turning to leave.

"Absolutely not!" Mairi said, still concentrated on Susan. "Harry, you've done a very brave thing today. A very useful, very heroic, thing. But you've done enough. Please, stay here with me where it's safe, and wait for reinforcements to come. The Ministry should send someone any moment now to—"

"The Ministry's not coming," Harry said. "The Death Eaters put up a spell. Owls and stuff can't get out. Floos are blocked. It's just us, and Fudge has got everyone—even the teachers—locked up at the castle."

"Well, the situation being as it is," Mairi continued, as if Harry had said nothing at all, "still warrants you staying here with us. Your basilisk is very helpful, but I don't imagine anyone else can control it. If we're to get back to the castle, we'll need its help, won't we?"

She looked over her shoulder at Harry.

"As you can see, we're still stuck. There are acromantulas on the other side of us—and a few more Death Eaters. They've got us penned in. If you can get your … pet? … to push through that way, perhaps we can escape."

"It's keeping us from being attacked the other way," Harry said. "If it moves, we get attacked from the other side—and block off the people out there from getting back." He squinted into the smoky haze. "I think Theodore and Hermione are still out there—others too. I can help them."

"Have you told Dumbledore what's happening?" Ernie asked, ignoring his mother and Harry's argument. "You know, with the mirror? Since you had to go to the—place—to get the basilisk? He's coming, isn't he? Otherwise I think we're fuc—not in a good situation at all," he said, trailing off as he glanced at his mother.

She appeared not to have noticed his swearing. Instead, she cast another spell on Susan.

"I did," Harry said. "But Sirius said Dumbledore's 'out' somewhere. So he might be a while… That's why I came out with the basilisk. Fudge wasn't letting anyone in or out, but…" Harry remembered exactly why Fudge hadn't wanted to go outside, and looked around. "Did… did the acromantulas actually eat anyone?" Harry asked.

"No, thank God," Daphne said. "They were going to. They said, but didn't get a chance to. The Death Eaters kept telling them 'not yet'."

"Actually, I don't think the Death Eaters want anyone to be killed," Ernie said. "They've had chances and they haven't take—"

A great, big bellow came from the direction of the castle. Almost like some sort of medieval horn call.

Mairi sighed.

"Oh, wonderful!" she said, standing and attempting to look over the crowd. Not that she managed it – she was no Hagrid, and the crowd was quite thick. "A sortie!"

Harry conjured himself a box to stand on, then took a look into the distance. Back at the castle the Entrance Hall doors had swung open, and out flooded a selection of teachers, Ministry officials, and enchanted bits and bobs – statues and suits of armour mostly, including a set of vicious flying boars.

"It's the teachers," Harry explained to the others as he looked on. "Teachers and some Ministry, and a lot of armour and statues. Must've activated the castle's defences—finally."

"Excellent news," Mairi said. "Now all we've got to do is wait, and we can get all these students back to the castle. We'll need help doing that, even with the reinforcements."

Harry looked around again. Most of the students requiring active protection were first and second years, although there were a good many third years there too. But most of the fifth years were out fighting, and some of the fourth years as well. Which meant it really was up to the third years to stay and help out, as there simply weren't enough teachers and other adult wizards around to manage everyone.

"Fine," Harry said, still stood on his box. "This is where I can do the most good, anyway."

And I can watch that lot from here, he thought, looking at the advancing column.

Several members of staff he recognised stood at the head of it – Madame Helix and her towering beehive hairdo; Snape had even managed to get away from the Ministry wizards, although Harry couldn't see Remus; and notable for his sheer size was Hagrid, towering head, shoulders, and torso above the rest.

"Now, Ernest, darling," Mairi said, "and you, Daphne—we're going to need help with the wounded. We've got more than we'd like and they're all going to need to be transported back to the castle safely. If the two of you can help me with that while Harry goes to help Isadora with the first years, I think we can get an awful lot done quickly!"

Harry stepped down from his box and vanished it. Already, the vibe in the protected part of the battlefield changed. There was an air of excitement, even, as people rushed from one spot to another to organise and manage various things.

Everyone formed up into a wide, squat column with remarkable efficacy. The wounded and the youngest children went to the middle, while the non-combatant adults formed its outer edges. After that it was just a matter of waiting.

But Harry wasn't waiting long at all. Soon enough the advancing column from Hogwarts crashed into the acromantulas with a cacophony almost orchestral in its diversity. Screams from the acromantulas; swearing from the Death Eaters, and a roaring that appeared to be coming from Hagrid.

The students moved forward at once, pushing through the opening created by the teachers, statues, and other defenders from the castle.

It was slow going. Harry had his wand out, ready to fight, but he didn't seem to need to.

The Hogwarts staff knew what they were doing, after all. While the animated constructs smashed into acromantulas and took the brunt of the onslaught, the teachers mopped up the rest. Hagrid roared to and fro, swinging an absolutely massive club topped with spikes. Harry assumed he'd got it from the armoury, but quite why Hogwarts had one that big, he had no idea.

"Arania exumai!" Harry said as an acromantula approached and got too close. It went spinning off into the crowd, trampled by the statue of a centaur.

"I'm an open-minded witch," Harry heard Professor Flamel say to a group of acromantulas as he passed by her, "but even I said it was a bad idea to let your colony remain in the Forest. All that intelligence and it always ends this way…" She seemed wholly unconcerned with the battle around her. She even wore her customary hat topped with a live bird.

Except the bird was fighting with her, even taking off and landing back on her hat. And Flamel herself cast all sorts of spells Harry didn't recognise, spells which alternately exploded, shrivelled, or transformed the acromantulas into various different things.

Definitely worth a look at later on.

Harry took a moment to breathe. Everything seemed to be going very well – his intervention had had exactly the effect he'd wanted. The teachers were fighting back, the defences had been activated, and the students were back to safety. Dumbledore would turn up eventually, and once he did—

"Potter," came a voice across the chaos. It was familiar, but not quite a voice Harry recognised. More a feeling than anything else. "Run off to the castle if you like, but I have your friends. The little rat-faced boy and the mudblood. Face me like a real wizard or they will face the consequences."

Harry froze. The voice. Lucius. The Malfoy-Voldemort Amalgam. Whatever it was. And the rat-faced boy and the mudblood could only be Theodore and Hermione.

"Fuck," Harry said as he slipped away from the column of retreating students to get back to the fray.

"Help me," Harry said to the basilisk as he passed by it on his way to Lucius. The Amalgam. It wasn't fighting any more, anyway, as most of the acromantulas had retreated at the Amalgam's message to Harry. Those that were left were harrying the retreating students, but the staff and the Hogwarts defences had that well in hand.

So Harry wasn't worried about that, and he felt like he needed a little bit of backup. And if it came to it, the basilisk could kill with its eyes – although he'd have to figure out how to avoid it killing Theodore or Hermione.

As Harry walked through the battlefield the acromantulas still present scurried away. The basilisk slithered behind him, head held high. Bloody wounds peppered its massive length, some parts of its torso having been denuded completely of scales. But it seemed defiant, resolute almost, and Harry needed the help.

Lucius was easy enough to pick out from the others, although only two Death Eaters still stood with him, The others had fled or been neutralised in some way, which Harry felt was a win. But each of them held one of the hostages.

Theodore stood still, but Hermione had been tied up. She'd struggled, knowing her. Well, at least Harry didn't have to worry overly much about Theodore – he doubted Voldemort would want to kill the pureblood heir of one of his generals. In Theodore's case, Harry assumed the threat was mostly just a threat.

But Hermione… well, mudbloods were expendable. Harry would need to be very careful there.

"Ah, you came," said the Amalgam as Harry approached. His voice was strange, neither Lucius's nor what Harry had expected from Voldemort's. It was different even to how it had been during his legilimantic vision. It seemed more… natural, almost, even though it was anything but. Harry wondered if it showed on his face, but he wore a mask. "And you brought my basilisk. How kind of you!"

"It's not your basilisk," Harry said. "It's its own… snake. It helps me because it wants to." Harry paused. "Because it knows what you are—or were. And what you did." He shrugged. "But that doesn't matter. Let Hermione and Theodore go."

"The boy, perhaps," the Amalgam said, glancing at Theodore. "The girl shall be an example."

"Theodore, Hermione—close your eyes," Harry said. "The basilisk is going to—"

The Amalgam laughed, a harsh thing.

"They have no eyelids, foolish boy. I know the basilisk's powers better than anyone, even you. Do you think me so foolish that I would not account for this?" He looked towards one of his compatriots, the one stood with Theodore. "Show him."

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a live rooster.

Shit. Harry remembered the words, saw them as if he was looking at them on the page of the book. 'The crow of a rooster is fatal to it'. But would Voldemort want to kill his own basilisk? The living symbol of his lineage, his heritage?

…and the only answer Harry could come up with was 'maybe'.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Harry asked. "Voldemort. Whichever you're calling yourself now. You want something from me or you wouldn't have gone to this trouble. So what is it?"

The Amalgam laughed again.

"This was not for you, boy. You are merely a… shall we say… an unexpected gift. A bonus." He looked up at the basilisk, although Harry couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not. "Basilisk, return to me, your rightful master. This boy has deceived you—he is not our great master's line. He is a pretender to a legacy not his own."

The bottom fell out of Harry's stomach as he considered Voldemort's words. He had lied to the basilisk. Perhaps only in omission, but it was a lie. And stood in front of it was Voldemort, it's true master. Or a version of him, anyway.

By that point, Harry was aware that there were several others approaching – teachers, he assumed, who'd heard Voldemort's announcement and wanted to check on it. Well, that was something.

"It's true that I'm not a child of Slytherin," Harry said quickly, looking up at the basilisk. "But there's more to being his Heir than just his blood. I speak with his voice; I wear his colours; and I want to protect the school just as much as he did. This man, Voldemort. He's attacked the school. People have been hurt. He was why you had to do your duty." Harry paused. "But where he attacked, I helped. I helped you do your duty, because it's my duty as well. I may not be of Slytherin's line, but I'm more his Heir than that thing."

The basilisk looked from Harry to the Amalgam in sequence, and then again, and again. It seemed genuinely torn between the two of them.

Time slowed to a standstill as Harry considered his options. The basilisk could turn on him. It could aid him. It could simply retreat to the Chamber, confused. One good, one bad, one neutral option. Fine. Less than ideal, but fine.

Or the Death Eater with the chicken could kill it. That was… not a great outcome either, but then at least nobody would have a basilisk, even if Harry would miss it on a personal level. Or if the basilisk attacked Lucius, they could kill Hermione. Or…

"The young Master speaks with wisdom," the basilisk said eventually. "I am a guardian, a protector; you would have me go against my very nature. The old Master would not approve of this. I knew him well; you knew him not at all."

Lucius raised his wand, but Harry was faster.

"Confringo!"

In an instant Lucius conjured a thick stone slab to catch the spell instead, but the peace was broken.

"Leave the girl!" Lucius shouted to his companion. "Do as you will with the boy, but kill the basilisk! Acromantulas, attack!"

Chaos.

The Death Eater holding Theodore fled, dragging Theodore with him, while the one carrying Hermione dropped her and lurched towards Harry.

"Evanesco!" shouted Harry, vanishing the rooster before it could crow and kill the basilisk. "Fight the acromantulas," Harry told the basilisk. "I'll fight him!"

I don't need to win, Harry told himself. I just need to hold on long enough until help gets here.

Because as pleased with his duelling prowess as he was, Harry didn't think he could match Voldemort. Even the strange variant that was part Lucius Malfoy. But there were teachers and presumably Ministry officials on their way, so he just needed to last long enough.

Make sure Hermione didn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Confringo!" Harry tried, but Lucius conjured another rock to block the spell. "Impedimenta! Reducto! Locomotor wibbly!"

Nothing. Each one swatted away like a particularly useless fly with nothing more than a flick of his wand.

"Are you done?" the Amalgam asked, tone easy and pleasant, as if speaking over a cup of tea. "A juvenile attempt, but not without enthusiasm. Allow me to show you what you could have achieved, if you were not about to die."

Harry didn't bother to stand his ground. No Shield Charm would work against what the Amalgam could bring, and Harry didn't want to risk it. Instead, he lurched to the side.

"Flipendo!"

The Amalgam cast silently. First, a violent purple spell Harry recognised but didn't know. Harry dropped into a roll to avoid it. Next, a Reductor Curse stronger than anything Harry had ever seen. That time, he conjured a block of stone to meet the spell for him but got thrown back by the force of it anyway.

For every spell Harry tried, the Amalgam had a better one to combat it. If Harry conjured fire, Voldemort brought a dragon-shaped inferno. Where Harry tried a curse, Voldemort had something stronger. So Harry ran. He was fast, sort of, and if he could bait Lucius into following him, perhaps Hermione could escape.

Maybe a teacher would get through the acromantulas. Maybe… well, he was running out of maybes, but Harry wasn't about to give up.

"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Reducto! Confringo!" Harry cast in quick succession. He didn't bother with any of the fancy spell sequences or combos he'd used in his duelling – he'd quickly realised why those were consigned to the sports world. But he had to cast something, something to make the Amalgam alter his approach, otherwise he'd be dead.

He just needed to—

A bright, all-encompassing inferno spawned into the air on the lawns, too bright for Harry to look at directly even with his enhanced eyesight. He shielded his eyes. Ash and fading embers filled the sky as Dumbledore stepped out of the conflagration, his knobbly wand in hand.

Seemingly without stopping to consider it, Dumbledore flicked out with his wand and caught a spell from Voldemort right on the tip of his wand. What followed was too fast, too raw, for Harry to properly process.

Spell after spell poured from the wands of the Amalgam and Dumbledore. Flashes of light and sound; colours Harry couldn't name; torrents of sentient flame and plumes of moving ice. Dumbledore stood precisely where he'd spawned from the fire, moving only his hand and occasionally, his arm.

But the Amalgam appeared to be on the backfoot. Unlike Dumbledore the Amalgam had to move, and he moved backwards, retreating from the field as quickly as he could – at least whenever he wasn't dealing with some conjured thing of Dumbledore's.

Examples from every school of magic Harry knew – and many that he didn't – flashed before his eyes as Dumbledore and Voldemort traded spells. A transfiguration to block a curse; a construct made from mud and dead spiders; rather more pedestrian fire. From where Harry stood it was fascinating and unfathomable in equal measure.

A wizard's duel unlike any sport duel Harry had ever seen unfolded right before his eyes until eventually…

Eventually, Dumbledore stopped casting, and the Lucius-Voldemort Amalgam was gone.

Then Dumbledore turned. He glanced at Harry, then at the basilisk, and then finally at the dozens upon dozens of acromantula still on the field. Raising his wand high into the air, Dumbledore released a massive flash that sent the acromantula scurrying away.

That spell Harry recognised as a modified – and extremely powerful – example of arania exumai. The spider banishing spell, or whatever its name was.

Harry felt… Harry felt…

Tired, suddenly. It was as if some spirit possessing him had up and left, leaving his body a sluggish and awkward mess.

"To the castle!" Dumbledore said, his voice bellowing out across the grounds. "The day is won."