"Parseltongue/Dragon tongue"
"Normal talk"
'Thoughts/Soul channel'
§ - § - § - § - § - § - § - § - § - § - § - §
Ozeth thrashed around in pain, his humongous body causing tremors in the area.
'What's happening?! Did that sword really have basilisk venom on it?' he questioned desperately while trying to stop the substance from causing him any more damage than it already had.
'Alright, I can manage to purify this,' the ancient monster thought with renewed hope as he managed to decontaminate a small portion of the unknown substance.
That's when he felt it…
A foreign presence inside his soulscape.
'IT CAN'T BE!'
The Abyssal Reaver felt pain like never before in his life as the petrifying presence grew inside him, corrupting his sense of self.
He felt fear.
'It's the human's fault. If I slay him, everything will go back to normal,' he concluded and with a course of action decided, he acted.
ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
He let out a roar of both pain and fury.
The despicable human had just stabbed him again.
Ozeth's eyes flashed bright red as he uncurled his wings and with a strong push, both prey and hunter, found themselves in the air.
"I'll kill you human, even if it's the last thing I'll do," he promised.
The dragon performed a spiral climb and quickly ascended to the skies using his powerful wings, doing many manoeuvres on the way trying and failing to throw Harry off him.
Nothing seemed to work and for some reason, his tail was twitching by itself.
Ozeth rolled, turned, rotated, and suddenly changed his flying speeds but Harry persistently stayed on his back, albeit slowing down with the stabs.
"Why don't you just flash away to safety and let the dragon die by itself?" hissed Ash from his neck as he looked down.
They were high as hell and Asmodeus, unlike Harry, didn't have a knack for potentially lethal situations.
There was also the fact that Harry's sticking charm had almost failed a few times and could still do so. That wasn't a comforting thought.
"I don't have experience apparating or flashing while moving at such speeds and I'd rather not try that now. I like my body parts as they are," he replied, stabbing the dragon again for good measure.
ROARRRRR.
'Did the human multiply? How are there so many of them on me?' Ozeth wondered, unrelenting with his attempts.
"For fuck's sake, just ask Fawkes then!" Ash said distraught.
'I can deliver you on the ground alive if you wish it,' sounded an amused Fawkes through their ever-active soul call.
Even though the phoenix wasn't as fast as the dragon, he was still flying behind them, flashing near whenever they flew too far away.
'First, I don't like how you said alive and not safely,' Harry replied equally amused, 'and Ash, I plan to kill this bastard,' he finished with a steel voice.
Harry wasn't being childish by deciding that, not entirely at least.
Part of his decision was because of pride and anger. He wanted to show the world that he, Harry Potter, wouldn't be stepped on anymore. He had to make a show of strength!
The challenge he had issued against Ozeth was also weighing on his mind. He heard people whispering, begging him to honour his words and kill the dragon.
And lastly, he wanted to do it for himself.
If he managed to kill the Abyssal Reaver, without running away, he could accomplish anything…
The trio couldn't continue their conversation because the dragon suddenly started breathing flames, on himself.
"Draconis aegis," Harry incanted steadily, materializing the same darkness from before and fending off the flames.
Fawkes changed his position, not wanting to become a fried chicken!
"Those are some lukewarm flames oh Black Dread! I hope you don't plan to kill me with those," Harry taunted the dragon after some time behind the shield; unlike before, the flames were lacking in both power and heat.
And after all, angry people were not always wise, or dragons in this case…
The Abyssal Reaver seemed to agree with Harry's mocking as he suddenly stopped breathing its dragon flames.
'Did he give up? Should I crawl to his head and finish him off like the basilisk?' Harry considered, looking at the bloodied scales of the dragon.
"Ozeth, my child, how far you've fallen. You are being bested by a single human, a child at that! Sacrificing my life for yours was a mistake…" the Black Dread heard a disappointed voice.
"HUH? MUM? Are you alive? Where are you, I can't see you!" the dragon mumbled perplexed, looking around and confusing the soul-bonded trio.
With an increasingly rare display of consciousness, the Abyssal Reaver realised that he was having delusions…
"YOU ARE DEAD HUMAN!" he barked furiously and let out a magnificent roar.
Ozeth's once shiny black scales, were now lacklustre, as if devoid of life.
'That's probably good,' said Ash as he saw what caught Harry's attention.
He was about to reply when Ash, like before, shouted in his mind, 'He's preparing to breathe dragon fire again!'
This time though, it was unneeded.
Harry could also feel the build-up of magic happening in the dragon's throat.
'What the hell?' he thought while moving his wand.
"Draconis aegis," he cast once more, pushing as much power on the shield as he could, he felt that he'd need it.
Just to be safe, he also waved the hand that was previously holding the legendary blade, casting a wordless protego.
Harry's untrained magical sense allowed him to feel the crescendo of Ozeth's magic concentrating, and by the time he finally unleashed it, it had reached terrifying levels…
'I won't survive through this one,' he realised as he saw the bright pink, almost white, flames coming his way.
He let go of the dragon and even cancelled the protego shield he had up to throw a depulso in front of him, slingshooting away.
His sudden departure wasn't fast enough though as the flames still reached him and made a quick word of his shield.
"AARGHH," Harry let out while gritting his teeth and barely managing to recast a wordless Draconis aegis that was weaker but somehow managed to just survive the barrage before cracking.
'He's finally off me. I can survive,' Ozeth thought with a spark of madness in his eyes before diving down.
Harry knew it was the end, the do-or-die moment.
Even as Fawkes cried on his wand arm, quickly healing him of the burns, he conveyed his intention of staying and fighting.
"Multum gravitatis," he murmured, increasing his gravity and subsequently his falling speed.
He also managed to make himself faint…
When he came back to his senses, he had reached a dangerously close distance to the ground distance.
He immediately cast the general counter spell, returning himself to normal free-falling speed.
"Finite Incantatem."
Contrary to what one may have believed, the dragon kept up with the falling human and because of Harry's change in speed, he was now inside his attacking range.
'I won't survive another volley of dragon fire. I have to kill him with a single spell,' Harry thought sluggishly, observing the closing Abyssal Reaver.
Ozeth was hurt.
The few scales he barely held on him were ashen.
His now-revealed hide was almost all pink and was filled with awful scorch marks.
'I'm not that much better,' Harry thought as his lungs clenched shut and protested, refusing to let him draw breath.
His vision was blackening.
The barely manageable pain was hitting his mind like a hammer.
Someone was screaming.
Someone was hissing.
Harry remembered that he had to cast a spell.
To kill.
Kill, kill, kill!
He had to kill the dragon.
One spell.
He was closing on the ground.
One spell.
Someone was screaming.
He pointed his now healed right hand towards the dragon.
'Lucky,' he thought absentmindedly.
He somehow hadn't lost his wand while falling.
Harry reached deep inside him, searching for the piece of Salazar's magic that he knew was there.
When he found it, he jumped at it and then everything stopped…
Harry wasn't falling anymore, Ozeth was simply staring at him with an open maw, he idly noticed some pink sparks in there.
Ash was curled on both his torsos and Fawkes', who seemed to be crying on his chest.
'I wanted to do something, but I forgot about it,' Harry thought annoyed.
He felt it on the back of his mind, slithering in and out of grasp.
'I'll have to apologise to Asmodeus the senior when I see him,' Harry mused as he looked at his clothes.
The once green battle robes were black as charcoal and heavily burned, sporting some holes. However, they still held up and they definitely saved his life up there.
Suddenly, one word materialised in his mind.
Kill.
'That's right, I need to kill the dragon,' he remembered.
'What spell should I use though?' he wondered as countless spells flashed in his mind.
He could conjure dragon fire and shove it on Ozeth's face.
'See if he likes it when it's used against him.'
Dragons had very good fire resistance though, so despite his burns, that wouldn't be a smart move…
'What about lightning? A brief cursed lightning bolt. I bet that would look glorious,' he mused, fantasising about the result.
He was about to open his mouth and intone the incantation for the dark lightning spell in dragon tongue, but he stopped…
There was one other spell that felt even more fitting, one of Salazar's better, or perhaps worse, creations.
The world seemed to restart as Harry smirked.
He drew a triangle.
There was fire in Ozeth's mouth.
He drew a circle.
The fire was heading his way.
Harry finished with a straight line as the fire closed in on him.
"Neco," he whispered as blankness overtook him, or was it the world that had gone dark…?
Ozeth's eyes widened in fear as the human spoke in his tongue, and in the next moment, they lost their spark…
Everything stilled.
He was falling.
Someone let out a trill and he slowed down.
He kept slipping in and out of consciousness.
'What was that?' he sluggishly wondered while trying to open his eyes.
Something huge had just crashed.
'Oh, I'm on the ground,' Harry observed, wincing as someone cast a lumos near him.
Trill.
'You were reckless, child,' accused Fawkes through their soul bond.
The phoenix was once again, shedding tears on Harry's wounds.
'I know, but everything worked out in the end,' he replied weakly, already feeling better as Fawkes' tears performed their miracles. However, he also felt every single one of his reckless stunts now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping through him.
"Dumbledore's coming along with the other judges," Ash hissed from under Harry's head.
He was acting as a makeshift pillow…
'Can you flash us away Fawkes?'
'Only after I finish healing you,' came the bird's reply; he sounded as calm as ever.
"Oh, Harry, my boy… What have you done? You've killed the dragon," Dumbledore said in the most 'I'm deeply disappointed in you' voice Harry had ever heard coming from the man.
As the man drew closer, Harry realised it was he who cast the light spell that was hurting his eyes.
"The dragon that was also trying to kill me, need I remind you," Harry said back, evenly, trying his best not to show weakness despite his circumstances.
Dumbledore was no doubt about to pull some other bullshit from his ass but Harry cut him off.
"Do you mind?" he hinted, nudging at the older man's wand.
If he was to be interrogated while unable to move, he'd rather not have to strain his eyes just to look.
"Of course, but you'll have to dispel that dark spell you cast first," Dumbledore replied, pointing at the darkened sky.
'Did I do that?'
'Yes,' came two replies in his mind.
'Wow, that's kind of cool, not gonna lie…'
Harry opened his right hand and intended for magic to bring him his wand.
Magic, not one to disappoint, did as asked, and brought Harry his magical focus which was on the ground next to him.
"Finite magicae," he hissed lightly, wondering whether that parseltongue spell would be enough to dispel his last spell's effects.
His sudden slip in the language of snakes made the onlookers flinch and step back.
Luckily for all, the magic counter spell seemed to work as the dark clouds that had gathered, started dispersing.
"Where and when did you even learn such vile magics, young man? Was it while you threw another childish tantrum and skipped your classes? We'll have to talk about your actions and their consequences later in my office," the headmaster said, deep inside his grandfatherly persona.
Yeah, Harry wasn't going to do that…
The only reason he wasn't trying to crawl away was because the other judges were there and Dumbledore wouldn't dare harm him in public.
He had an image to hold after all…
"Of course, headmaster," he said, not showing any signs of defiance to the older man.
'Are you finishing soon?' Harry asked the phoenix.
'Yes, don't worry. There's no way you will be having "a talk" with Dumbledore again, not any time soon,' Fawkes stated.
"No, the boy should be thrown in prison! He cast the killing curse as soon as he got inside the pit and who knows what that last spell he used was," shouted someone.
Harry, with a great deal of effort and help from Ash, turned his head to see the person who spoke.
The man was tall and thin, not unlike Dumbledore, and had a cringing cheerful demeanour that showcased his yellow teeth.
'Karkaroff,' he realised, almost laughing out loud.
During his seclusion, Harry had not forgone to read upon the first wizarding war of the magical Britain.
Needless to say, he knew every caught death eater by hand, including the man who had just talked.
"Professor Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute and a known Death Eater who served Lord Voldemort. The only reason you are not inside Britain's homely prison, Azkaban as you know, is because you turned in several of your fellow Death Eaters. Tell me, are you sure you want to press force the issue? Know that if you want a fight, you death scum, I'll give you war," Harry finished, his eyes flashing to a killing-curse green and making the man go ashen white.
'You'll probably want to know that you killed Ozeth a moment before the time countdown concluded,' supplied Fawkes through their bond, causing a smirk to appear on Harry's lips.
His occlumency was starting to slip and so was his control of his emotions.
Getting healed had increased his fatigue even more…
"Er, Mr. Bagman..." drawing the plump man's attention.
"My bad, I meant Mr. Crouch… Please remind our companions about a champion's rights, yawn, during a task," he muttered, unable to stop the yawn from worming its way out.
Harry's words caused the tired-looking man's eyes to widen.
"What Mister Potter is talking about, as you too should know, is that no champion can be pressed charges for their actions during the tasks. Taking in mind that every single spell we saw the young man cast was before the task ended, nothing he did could be counted as a crime," said the man, his narrow toothbrush moustache twitching whilst he talked.
"They are trying to mess with the dragon's body," Ashe hissed, garnering everyone's attention.
Some even were so shocked that they drew their wands on the snake.
"What the fuck are you doing? SStop pointing your wands at my face and my familiar," Harry growled and despite his pathetic position at that moment, he managed to look threatening.
The fact that he had just slain a dragon and darkened the skies helped.
'We can leave when you are ready,' said Fawkes, pleasing Harry now that his escape was secured.
Upon hearing his words, everyone but one stashed their wands in their respective holsters.
"Now, can someone explain to me why are the dragon handlers trying to move away my possession?" Harry inquired, doing his utmost best to conceal that his body started shaking.
"What are you talking about, my boy?" Dumbledore finally managed to jump back into the conversation.
"I'm confident that you all saw me declaring a right to conquest to the dragon and that it was accepted. So unless you want the dragon handlers to tempt magic by trying to take what is mine, I advise you to tell them to stay their hands," Harry rasped.
It was now taking inhumane efforts for him just to stay awake.
"And pray fucking tell, why the fuck is Snape here with you and still pointing hisss wand at me?" he asked, closing his eyes as they became too heavy.
Harry didn't catch the man's scathing remarks as Fawkes flashed them away.
"We're inside the chamber," he heard Asmodeus hiss before finally allowing Morpheus to take him in, allowing him to escape the mundane world's presence.
[BREAK]
Albus Dumbledore was having a very bad day…
"Dumbledore, did Potter just disappear?"
"Yes, I'm afraid your analysis is correct my dear Ludo," answered the older man, looking exactly his age and inwardly calculating the shortest way to a calming draught.
The boy had gotten strong, far too strong, in a very short amount of time.
'Not even a whole term passed since young Harry started showing signs of rebelliousness,' he observed.
It was worrying and it reminded him of another one of his students during his time at Minerva's post. A young chap named Tom Marvolo Riddle, and even then, the future dark lord was falling short when compared with the raw talent Harry started displaying…
'That last spell he cast was truly worrisome. I've never heard of anything like it,' he thought, moving closer to Ozeth's body.
Uncaring about the audience, Dumbledore waved his wand over the corpse while murmuring in a language that none near him understood.
He was casting esoteric diagnostic spells, trying to figure out the dragon's cause of death.
'Hmm, what's this? It feels familiar… Wait— It feels like the killing curse,' he realized with terror, letting his display of mock cheerfulness crumble; he had gone white from worry and his wrinkles seemed to multiply.
He immediately turned around and started walking away, heading towards his office.
'I need to make new plans. Somehow, Harry learned a soul spell capable of killing a dragon. He has become a wild card, and with the rhythm he's improving, he'll become a danger to the light sooner rather than later. By the end, we may have to bring two dark lords down. I just hope he won't try creating horcruxes,' he mused.
"Dumbledore, wait. You've yet to give your score for Potter," shouted Snape from behind him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
The renowned potion master knew exactly how his employer felt about killing and dark curses.
'Can't have Harry thinking that what he did was in any way right,' the headmaster concluded swiftly.
"Ah, you are right Severus. Alas, Harry will get no points from me," he said, and due to his unwillingness to deal with the questions that were no doubt about to be thrown his way, Albus disapparated away.
"Bloody hell. He just left," Bagman masterfully observed again.
"He's not getting any points!" shouted an angry, plump man, not dissimilar to Fudge, who heard the last part of the conversation.
The owner of the dragon reserves in Romana then proceeded to remind them of the exaggerated rule that denied a champion their right to get scored if they slayed their dragon.
"We tried making it a passing requirement for the task, but the damn goblet wouldn't budge," he said.
There were some protests at that news, specifically from a very anxious McGonagall and an ashen-looking Moody. However, the two professors didn't achieve anything and the young dragon slayer found himself in the last place with no points in his name.
Snape was barely holding himself from jumping around in ecstasy.
[BREAK]
The smell was so familiar, so distinct.
He breathed in, feeling the natural scent of fine linens and fabrics that surrounded him. There was also an undertone of a burning cedar coming off from a hearth.
He was inside the chamber's secret room.
Harry was home.
Heaving a heavy sigh, he slowly got out of the bed sheets and sat on the bed's edge.
"You know, we should have practised some moves before the task," Harry murmured while starting to massage his temples.
For some reason, he woke up sporting a headache…
'Maybe, but I was mourning the loss of my lifelong companion,' said Fawkes and gave him a look that asked "Are you stupid?".
'Ah, shit,' Harry thought, realizing where the phoenix was going.
'Crude, but yes. I know you may feel disinclined to do so, however, you must let yourself mourn for Salazar's "death". As I understood, the late founder meant a lot to you,' finished the old avian.
"A lot? Salazar did not simply mean a lot to me…" he stated, standing up.
"He was my mentor. He was a man who sat down and listened to my whole life, getting downright furious at every wrong done towards me. He showed me how flawed my way of thinking was and gave me the tools to become a better man," he continued heatedly, covering his face with his hands.
"He sometimes displayed an unbelievable sternness but also had a heart to match it. In the start of his tutelage, when I was plagued by nightmares, I'd simply move in the room and sit in front of his portrait and he'd tell all about his adventures with Godric and the others until I fell asleep,' Harry finished softly.
"Sal, in a way showed me what it means to have a dad," he realized, letting his exhausted mental shields fall.
That night, Harry had cried for the man who had come so abruptly into his life before he was mercilessly snatched.
The fact that it was a consequence of his actions, wasn't a comforting thought and made him throw up.
Luckily, he knew how to cast the vanishing spell and some air-freshening spells.
As luck would have it, he was also very adept at casting the repairing charm which was needed in spades as he fell into a vicious cycle of destroying every object inside his room, before putting them back together.
'Are you done?' asked Fawkes, letting out a calming trill.
"No and fuck off. I thought we agreed that I should let some steam out," Harry replied during another of his destructive moods.
He momentarily tapped into his occlumency and masterfully stopped Fawkes' singing from influencing his mental state.
He also stumped the burgeoned annoyance that he felt towards the phoenix, not wanting to direct his rage at the fiery avian.
The next time Fawkes flashed in the room, he found Harry slumping on the bed.
'What no megalomaniac tendencies anymore?' he asked.
'Had I not known any better, I would have thought that the majestic, benevolent, and pure-as-they-come, phoenix, was just being sarcastic to me,' Harry barbed, slowly straightening his back and glancing at Fawkes.
'Are you feeling better then?' the avian asked, this time genuinely.
'I'll live.'
'Great, go take a shower then. Dumbledore stopped stalking around the arena about an hour ago but he placed some wards before leaving. Ozeth of course, is still here,' the third member of their little group announced.
'You are at the arena?' Harry asked through their soul channel, getting a confirmation from the snake.
Heading the advice, Harry moved towards the room's bathroom.
The hot water, warmed by some ancient runes, fell on his skin, washing away the dirt and blood, his blood, that he got from the task.
It didn't make him feel any cleaner though…
He still felt dirty, even more so if that was possible.
His soul was dirty.
The water couldn't wash away his part in Salazar's death nor could it purify the dark lord's soul inside him.
And the blood in his hands, did it really wash off?
He started scrubbing his skin furiously as his breaths turned shallow and quick.
He only got back to his senses when he noticed the pain he was causing himself.
Harry took a deep breath.
With practised precision, he exploited his skill in the mind arts and steadily purged his bad thoughts.
He quickly finished his shower and moved back to the room.
"Ready when you are," Harry nodded to Fawkes who was perched on his bedframe.
He also caught the look of pity that the avian held before quickly concealing it.
The phoenix flexed its wings and took a single strong flap, finding himself sitting on Harry's shoulder.
With an all-familiar fire running through his being, Harry was flashed away.
"You are here," came a hiss that made Harry cringe.
Ash sounded as if he had spent hours upon hours slithering on the cold ground of Britain's November.
Even a non-parseltongue could guess that the snake was irritated…
"Yeah. Is the coasst clear?" he asked, not bothering to explain or come up with any excuse for his tardiness.
Ash could feel his emotional state, and Harry knew that his friend wasn't annoyed at him but about the fact that he had to slither on the wet and slippery ground all day.
Harry also felt that the snake was cold, prompting him to bend and grab him off the floor.
"Thanksss," he hissed in an undertone, moving inside Harry's robes and curling around his arm.
Harry's muscles tensed up and he shivered as the chilly scales of the snake made contact with his bare skin.
Luckily, the snake wasn't wet at the moment.
'That wasn't pleasant,' Harry stated through their soul link.
'I'm glad you understand my feelings. Now let's go inside the arena, they've yet to pull it apart,' he commanded.
Not needing to be told twice, Harry quickly went to the colosseum-like building, trusting Ash to inform him of any dangers that escaped his senses.
There was also Fawkes that was flying over them.
"Okay, can you feel the ward that Dumbledore placed?" Ash inquired as they made their way into the pit.
"Yess, though I can't tell what it doess."
"Go closer and try again then," Ash stated and Harry moved.
"Hmmm. The magic feelsss like it's searching for ssomething, albeit I can't tell what," Harry contemplated, standing just outside of the ward's range.
"It's looking for any kind of pressence inside it. If anything triggersss it, I'm ssure Dumbledore will materialise somewhere nearby, wand in hand."
"I could try the cloak," the parselmouth suggested, earning a nod from his companion.
However, Harry didn't simply rush inside now that he had a plan.
He started by walking around the pit's perimeter and applying a little gift of his own to the headmaster, in case he decided to show up.
An anti-apparition ward.
If Dumbledore decided to apparate inside the pit, he'd be surprised, to say the least.
"Okay, the preparations are done," Harry thought out loud, reaching inside his trustworthy pouch and grabbing his cloak.
Thankfully, he didn't have to use it during the task and it wasn't revealed to the public.
Putting the cloak on, the duo made their way to the dragon.
The ward didn't respond to their presence…
"Okay, here comes the tricky part," Harry said and removed the cloak, feeling the magic turning around him.
"Reducio," he cast, watching in fascination as the thirty-meter beast turned into a miniature dragon that was no bigger than his fist.
'If only magic thought that Malfoy was my property, I could do the same thing to him. Ant-sized Malfoy sounds golden,' he mused absentmindedly.
Harry quickly grabbed the dragon's now tiny body and flashed away, just in time to hear a crack followed by a pained yelp.
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I'll post another chapter tomorrow because I'm sexy.
Thank you, Meruem Astro, Noname, Kartik Dogra, jarrod dembitz, NotableRonin and Tom Bomb for subbing to me on you-know-where :']
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[d=i=s=c=o=r=d=.=g=g/NJ3WV9RVgR ]