Ron Weasley stared into the fireplace of Gryffindor's common room with an almost obsessed look, his hands gripping the arms of the chair in which he sat as though he wanted to rip them free of the seat. Around him, his brothers and sister were also staring quietly into the flames, the only noise being the occasional crack and pop as the fire ate through the wood before them; even Percy had abandoned his studies for the night, choosing instead to sit quietly with his family as they waited for word on their little brother. Outside, a torrential rain inundated Hogwarts as lightning ripped through the night sky and thunder shook the air around the castle; it was as though nature itself was giving a visual performance of the stress and anxiety that seemed to be consuming the Weasley family.
For nearly a week now, Ron and his siblings had taken up a permanent place around Harry's bedside in the Hospital Wing, only leaving when exhaustion or hunger forced them to do so. Never had Ron felt as helpless in his life as he did during that week as he stared down at his little brother's unconscious body. Under orders from Headmaster Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey continuously poured sleeping draughts down Harry's throat to keep the boy asleep; yet, even unconscious, Harry's body would periodically twitch, and the boy would groan as though fighting something off that only he could see and making Ron's feeling of powerlessness amplify as he watched his brother fight alone. Jaya, too, had become a seemingly permanent resident of the Hospital Wing; the little elf had immediately come to Hogwarts upon hearing what had happened to her master and could often be found spoon-feeding the unconscious boy or sponging Harry's brow whenever his fever would spike and cause the boy to break out in a sweat.
Finally, after a week of little to no word or activity from the adults regarding what would be done to rectify Harry's condition, Headmaster Dumbledore strode into the Hospital Wing with Ron's parents and told the children that Harry would be taken to a special room that evening, where, hopefully, he would be cured of whatever unholy curse was plaguing the boy.
Naturally, Ron and the others had tried to argue that they should be allowed to come, but their words seemed to fall on deaf ears as both Molly and Arthur, as well as Dumbledore, had adamantly refused to allow any such thing. It had been the first time that Ron had actually dared to raise his voice to his parents, all but shouting that Harry was his brother and he needed to be by Harry's side.
Sirius had been the only voice of calm, then, softly telling Ron and the others that he completely understood where Ron and the other children were coming from, but what was going to happen that evening would be beyond dangerous and that if the adults were busy worrying about the children, then they wouldn't be able to give their full attention to Harry, which is what needed to happen if they were to help cure him of whatever was ailing the boy. Ron and the others had grudgingly agreed to stay in their common room after that, even if they hated the decision with every ounce of their body.
As another roll of thunder exploded outside the castle, the windows shook with the violent storm, and Ron finally tore his eyes from the flames. He looked out the nearby window as the storm grew ferocity.
"Please…" Ron prayed to anything that might be listening, "Please don't take my brother from me…"
XXXX
Saul Croaker paused once more in his reading as he looked up from the scroll in his hands and stared at the floor where Harry Weasley was lying, making sure, for the fifth time, that the runic circle surrounding the boy was without mistakes and had been followed exactly to his and Carnage's instructions. Not far away, the boy's family stood beside Headmaster Dumbledore, all of them looking anxious for obvious reasons, and the boy's mother was wringing her hands nervously as they waited to begin. Knowing how important the ritual they were about to perform was, Dumbledore had moved the boy some hours ago to an almost abandoned part of Hogwarts, where they, and the ritual, would not be disturbed, and the process had begun.
Harry was stripped, save for a pair of boxers to hide his modesty, and placed in the center of the room as Dumbledore carefully painted three circles of runes on the floor around him. Once that was done, five black candles with additional runes carved into the wax were placed around the boy, forming a pentacle star. As Saul looked at the boy, he could see Carnage kneeling beside Harry, gently and methodically painting an additional set of tiny runes in a small circle around the boy's lightning bolt scar in blood-red ink with a delicate-looking paintbrush.
Not far away, Sirius Black was watching the process with crossed arms and narrowed eyes, and Saul almost sneered at the man; even though she was here to help, it seemed the Wizard couldn't let go of his loathing for Goblins, a sentiment that Saul was beginning to share after the week he'd had.
For nearly a week, Saul had worked tirelessly alongside the female Goblin, tearing through centuries of scrolls and histories, looking for anything that would separate the Horcrux from the boy without killing him. In that week, Saul had grown to truly despise the Goblin Nation, and especially the vow he had been forced to give in order to look through their records; some of the things he had read had, almost quite literally, made his mouth water with fascination. Magic that he hadn't even dared dream possible was laid bare to him, discovered thousands of years ago by the Goblin Nation while his kind were still scratching a living out of rocks!
There were spells that seemed to have been created by the gods themselves, and curses so dark that Saul would have thought them created by the devil himself. And that was why Saul was so enraged with the little blighters! Magic that could have catapulted the Wizarding World hundreds of years into the future were kept secret because the Goblins didn't think Wizards and Witches were 'responsible enough to learn of them.'
There was even a spell that the Goblins had created to take them to an entirely new world, should the need to escape Earth one day. The spell had been created as an 'escape plan' during the persecutions of the early sixteenth century as a way to leave the Muggles behind for good, and take the entirety of the Wizarding World, as well as all magical creatures and fauna, with them.
But before they could actually implement the plan, the Statue of Secrecy was enacted, making the plan no longer necessary; despite this, the Goblin Nation had kept the spell safe, just in case another need should arise, and Saul was nearly salivating with excitement as he read the reports from Goblin scouts who had actually travelled to this land, called 'The Nine Kingdoms,' just a decade prior, where apparently magic, as well as magical beings, were not only present, but far more tolerated. In fact, one of these 'Nine Kingdoms' was apparently ruled by the grandson of Snow White herself; Saul's eyes had nearly bugged out of his skull at that tidbit of information. Apparently all those so-called 'fairy tales' that the Grimm brothers had written were actually based on real events and the two brothers had learned of them when they'd accidentally traveled across dimensions to that world!
And that was but one of the amazing pieces of magical knowledge that the Goblins were currently hoarding, instead of sharing it with the rest of the Magical World.
Even as Saul and Carnage tore through the almost unlimited number of scrolls and books, searching for some way to save Harry Weasley, his mind was racing with ideas and plots to somehow break his vow and use some of the things he had learned from the Goblins. If Saul could even manage to replicate a tenth of what he had read, he could bring his world into a golden era of magic not seen since the days of Merlin!
After nearly a week of searching, Saul was beginning to wonder if there truly was any way to save the boy from Voldemort's soul, and was already resigning himself to telling Dumbledore that the only way to save the boy was to mercifully end his life before Voldemort's Horcrux completely took him over.
Finally, the day before their deadline, Carnage had managed to track down a record written by one of her ancestors during the reign of the Roman Emperor Caligula; the record was quite detailed and spoke of how Caligula had been, somehow, infected by a Horcrux, driving the young emperor insane and causing him to commit an entire library's worth of atrocities. It then spoke of a ritual that would, quite literally, rip the Horcrux from its container and free the individual that the soul was possessing, if they were strong enough to survive the procedure, that is.
The Goblins had abducted the emperor of Rome and unfortunately, while the ritual had succeeded, Caligula had become so despised by the actions done while possessed that he was assassinated, soon after being set free from the Horcrux's influence, by his own guards. Carnage had been almost apoplectic that such an important record had nearly been lost to obscurity due to her ancestor's mismanagement in properly filing it. Especially since it was well regarded as historical fact that no human being had even been used to contain a Horcrux before, at least it had been until that record had been rediscovered.
"Is everything prepared?" Saul asked, rolling up the scroll as Carnage finished her work and rose to her feet.
"Yes," Carnage nodded, "Now comes the hard part…"
"What do you mean?" Molly asked in a worried voice, making Carnage turn to her,
"This abomination has had over a decade to fester and grow stronger while hiding within the boy's scar. It will use every ounce of its power to try and stop us from removing it from young Harry. So, no matter what happens, no matter how it tries to manipulate you, you must not allow the ritual to cease for any reason. Is that clear? We've only got one shot at this."
"What happens if the ritual fails…?" Arthur asked in a small voice,
"Then, this will all be for naught," Saul growled, "And then, the only way to stop the Horcrux from completely taking over the boy will be to mercifully end his life."
"No!" Molly shrieked, "You can't! Sirius, tell them they can't!"
Sirius glared hatefully at Saul and the Goblin that the Unspeakable had brought with him, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the far wall; at the mention of his name, Saul turned to Sirius and quickly cut off whatever Sirius might have said.
"I like it no better than the rest of you! If you truly think I would take pleasure from the death of a child, then I can assure you that such an assumption is false! But the fact is that this ritual will temporarily use the boy's own magical core as a battery, thereby empowering the Horcrux within. The goal is to use the boy's core to purify his body and force the Horcrux out, but if it fails, then the piece of Voldemort's soul will be able to assimilate the core into its own being. There will be nothing left of the boy to save!"
"If…" Sirius began before stopping, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath, as though the words hurt him more than any wound possibly could, "If the ritual does fail… I will be the one to put Harry down. He's my godson, the responsibility should fall to me."
Molly all but crumpled into her husband's arms at the words, and Arthur held her tight to his body as he felt a wave of unbearable sadness rip through him; this could very well be the last time he ever saw his son alive, and the idea of saying goodbye to his boy filled him with a pain that he didn't think possible.
"Wait! Before we begin, I need to retrieve something!" Molly cried suddenly, breaking free from her husband's arms and all but racing out the door of the chamber.
"Are you bloody kidding me!" Saul snarled after the sprinting redhead, "We need to start this now! We cannot wait!"
"Molly said wait," Sirius growled, "So, we wait. Whatever she needs to retrieve must be important, else she would never go to retrieve it."
Almost five minutes later, Molly returned with something bulging in the pocket of her dress; Saul stared at her for a moment as he waited for her to explain what could have possibly been so important, but Molly simply glared at the man.
"Now, we can proceed," Molly said sternly, her hand resting on the bulge of whatever it was she had brought.
"Unbelievable…" Saul sighed, shaking his head in derision as he waved his hand and instantly causing the candles to catch fire, painting the chamber with dancing shadows.
"This ritual requires the power of three," Carnage growled, "Saul and I make two, so who wants to be the third?"
"I will," Dumbledore replied instantly, "I owe young Mr. Weasley more than I can possibly repay, but perhaps this will help a little towards that debt."
"Albus!" The Weasleys and Sirius all cried at once,
"I'm Harry's godfather, it should be me!" Sirius snapped angrily,
"I'm his father, it should be me!" Arthur raged back, taking a threatening step forward,
"He's my son!" Molly added.
"I understand well your anger," Dumbledore said placatingly, raising a hand for calm, "But, and this is not me boasting, simply stating facts, none of you are nearly as strong as I am, magically speaking. I dare say that this will be the most grueling battle that I have ever participated in, and if the ritual is to succeed, it will need someone equally powerful to participate in it."
"Oh, that is such a bunch of bollocks!" Sirius snarled, only to stop when Carnage cut his rant off at the start,
"No, he's right! This ritual will depend not only on the boy's own inner strength, but also on our power to keep going until the boy's core can purify the Horcrux and force it out! And, as capable as I'm sure the three of you are, Dumbledore is far more powerful by margins!"
The three shared a look for a moment before falling back into an angry, resigned silence as Carnage continued speaking.
"Now, once the Horcrux is ejected from the child's body, it will be defenseless. Without a host to draw upon, it will quickly begin to break down and try to escape; the runes surrounding the boy should keep it trapped, but should the spirit prove to more powerful than we anticipate, I've taken the liberty of enacting some countermeasures."
"Such as?" Sirius asked with a raised brow,
Rather than reply, Carnage clapped her hands together; instantly three purple runic circles glowed into existence around Molly, Arthur, and Sirius, while another set, these ones in white, appeared around the doorframe of the chamber's only entrance.
"These circles will keep you safe, and the ones on the door will keep it locked in here with us," Carnage smirked, relishing the shocked looks on the faces of those around her, "No matter what happens, you must NOT step out of your circle! If you do, there is a very real chance of the Horcrux latching onto you in its desperation to survive being sent into the void. Do you understand? No matter what happens, no matter what you see or hear or how the Horcrux tries to manipulate you, you. Must. Not. Move."
The three adults nodded that they understood, causing Carnage to nod as well before directing Saul and Dumbledore to their respective spots; a moment later, the three of them were standing in a triangle formation around the boy.
"Very well, then…" Saul whispered seriously, licking his lips for a moment, "Let's begin…"
As one, the wizards and Goblin raised their hands with their palms facing toward Harry's unconscious form and began to chant in a language that none of the watchers could understand, though judging by how goosebumps began to spread across the watcher's bodies, perhaps that was a good thing. As the group watched, the three layers of runes surrounding Harry began to glow, and then began to slowly rotate in an almost clock-like way; the top layer rotated to the left, while the middle rotated to the right, and the final layer followed the top one.
As the chanting grew in intensity, an enormous tower of flame suddenly exploded from the candles, nearly touching the ceiling for a moment as Harry's body began to twitch, slowly at first, but then more violently, as though the boy were having a seizure. Suddenly, Harry's eyes shot open, and his body arched so violently that those watching thought his back might break; a moment later, the boy screamed in agony so loud that the watchers had to clamp their hands over their ears.
As the chanting continued, the flames on the candles diminished to their regular height as the runes carved in the sides began to glow with power; as that happened, black smoke began to billow from Harry's scar and swirled around him before it began to cover him from head to toe, as though it were a warm blanket. Once the smoke had completely covered the boy, it began to spread outward until it hit the invisible wall that the runes had created and began to spread upwards, as though searching for where the barrier ended.
As the group watched, the smoke rose up the invisible barrier like a dark wave, until it reached the roof; after a moment of this, the smoke completely covered where Harry had been, creating a large impenetrable black shadow that seemed to churn and billow angrily, as though alive. For a moment, those watching could do nothing but stare in horror at the darkness that seemed trapped mere feet from them; that was inside Harry?! How had the boy lasted this long!?
A moment later, the smoke suddenly retracted as the group watched, springing backwards violently until the group could once again see Harry, standing with his eyes closed and his arms held out as though welcoming the smoke back into his being. As the smoke poured into his body, a black robe suddenly began to form around the boy; this robe, however, was different than any the group had ever seen. Rather than just lay still as an ordinary piece of cloth should do, the robes seemed to shift and move as though Harry were wearing a literal cloak of black ink.
A moment later, Harry opened his eyes and the three watchers gasped in shock; Harry's beautiful green eyes had been replaced with a blood-red pair, with snake-like slits in lieu on pupils. Slowly looking around himself, a cruel smirk began to spread across Harry's face,
"A purification ritual? How quaint…"
Sirius suddenly felt his mouth go dry and found his heart racing as he heard Harry speak in a voice that had haunted Sirius' nightmares for more than a decade; beside him, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius could see Molly grabbing Arthur's arm in a death grip as she and Arthur suddenly turned white.
"Do you honestly think you can hold me?" Harry continued, "That your pathetic little barrier will do anything but crumble in the face of my power?"
Turning back to Sirius and the others, Harry smiled cruelly, and Sirius couldn't help but shiver at the image; his godson should never have such a cruel expression on his face, and Sirius hated Voldemort all the more for putting it there.
"I'll make you all a deal… Drop the barrier and let me out, and I give you my word that I will spare your lives. Or, you can continue this farce, and when I do manage to get free, I will beg you to kill me before I am through with you."
The watchers said nothing in reply, and Harry growled angrily at their silence before turning his attention to Dumbledore who, while still chanting, looked horrified at Harry's appearance.
"Ah, Headmaster Dumbledore, it's been too long since our last conversation… I must say, I find it surprising that you would willing subject this boy to such a ritual. Surely you know what will happen when you fail… I thought you were against such dark methods, though I must admit, it does bring a smile to my face to see you brought down to my level."
Dumbledore turned even paler, if that were possible, at Harry's words, and stumbled for a moment in his chanting before he continued in a weary voice. Seeing his words had no effect, an ugly look spread across Harry's face; a moment later, the boy stumbled back as though struck and he growled angrily before delivering a punch to the wall of the barrier.
"Let. Me. Out!"
As Sirius and the others watched, Harry began to furiously beat his hands and feet ineffectively against the barrier; when that didn't work, the boy began screaming in apoplectic rage and running at the invisible wall, slamming his shoulder against it repeatedly. After a few minutes of this, Harry's screams of anger turned into cries of pain, and he ceased his attack on the barrier as he grabbed the sides of his head as smoke began to slowly billow from his scar.
Molly closed her eyes and pressed her face into her husbands chest, not wanting to see her son in such a state, any longer; it was too much, no mother should have to see their child like this!
"Mum…" A voice said softly, making Molly's eyes shoot open as she turned back to Harry, who was now kneeling on the floor, his red eyes replaced with their normal ones, which looked frightened, "Mum, what's going on? Why does it hurt?"
"Harry…" Molly breathed, almost taking a step forward, only for Arthur to pull her back before she could step out of the runic circle, "Arthur, what are you doing! That's Harry!"
"No," Arthur snarled angrily, "It is not! You may fool my wife, monster! But you cannot fool me! You are not my son!"
"Dad…" Harry whispered painfully, tears running down his cheeks, "You said you loved me… That you would always love me…"
"I DO love my son!" Arthur screamed in an almost deranged voice as his sobbing wife fought to free herself from his arms, "I have loved him from the moment he came into my life, and you are not him! Release my boy, you abomination! LET HIM GOOOO!"
Harry's green eyes flashed scarlet with rage and he opened his mouth to retort before his head snapped to the left as though someone had punched him across the face; falling onto his back, Harry began to scream in agony, rolling across the ground and clawing at the scar on his forehead as the smoke continued to pour from it, at an even faster rate than before.
Flipping onto his front, Harry ran toward the barrier on his hands on knees, snarling like an animal as he did so; when he reached the barrier, Harry jumped high into the air and slammed his fists into the invisible wall, creating a large ripple that spread across the barrier for a moment before dissipating.
For the next several moments, Harry snarled and heaved like a savage beast as he repeatedly jumped at the barrier's walls, looking for any weakness that he could exploit to escape.
Finally, Harry ended his assault and stood in the center of the runic circle with back arched and his arms hanging lifelessly at his side as he glared hatefully at Sirius and the others watching his failure.
"I wonder how James Potter would react…" Harry gasped, "If he knew how much of a failure his so-called 'best friend' was…"
Sirius grit his teeth and tried to swallow down his growing rage as Harry smirked cruelly at him and continued in that hated voice.
"Abandoned his duties as godfather to pursue revenge and stupidly got himself locked up in Azkaban while the child he was supposed to be protecting was abused!"
Sirius squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out Voldemort's words, even as they hammered into Sirius like physical blows as Voldemort continued.
"And now, you are about to fail the boy again by standing by and doing nothing as these fools slowly kill the boy! Don't you see?! Harry and I have been together for so long that there is no way to sperate us any longer without killing the boy! If you destroy me, you destroy him!"
"Don't listen to it, Sirius!" Arthur snarled back as Sirius paled and took an involuntary step back at Voldemort's words, "It will say anything to save itself!"
"I loved James…" Sirius whispered back, his voice growing stronger as his anger overrode his fear that Voldemort might be right, "He was my brother from the moment we met to the moment YOU MURDERED HIM! I promised him that I would protect Harry, and I failed that promise once because of you, you monster! I won't fail James and Lily again!"
Harry growled angrily at that before suddenly grabbing his head and screaming in agony as he fell to his knees, the chanting growing louder at each passing moment.
XXXX
Freak's arms were wrapped around his knees as he sat alone in his cupboard and quietly sobbed. He didn't know how long it had been since Uncle Vernon locked him in here, Freak had long since lost track of time in the darkness of his prison. And yet, for some reason that he couldn't explain, Freak couldn't shake the feeling that this was wrong, that he didn't belong here; flashes of memory would come to him in the stillness of the dark, flashes of dancing with a beautiful blonde teenager that made his heart sing for reasons he couldn't explain.
Of a woman with fiery-red hair singing to him and another red head, a boy about Freak's age, softly as she laid the two of them down to sleep. Of a man with long, black curls laughing jovially as he taught Freak how to play a game with a flying golden ball; but as quickly as the flashes came, they would disappear, and Freak would once again be alone in the darkness of his cupboard.
Suddenly, the cupboard began to shake violently and Freak let out a cry of alarm as he was thrown this way and that; as he desperately tried to find something to grab hold of before the shaking killed him, Freak's eyes widened in shock as large crack began to form all around him. Outside the cupboard, Freak suddenly heard an animalistic scream of anger and pain as he was thrown against the far wall with a cry of pain and terror; as quickly as the shaking began, it suddenly came to an end, and Freak was once again alone in the darkness of his prison, the only light coming from the multitude of cracks that had suddenly appeared all around him.
"Harry…" A voice suddenly called out from seemingly nowhere and all around him simultaneously, causing Freak's head to shoot up in alarm as he searched for the voice's origin.
"Harry…" The voice called out again softly, "Come back to us… Please come back…"
Though he couldn't see who was speaking, Freak felt a warm safe feeling spread through him, and he felt as though he knew the speaker; as though the speaker's name was on the tip of his tongue, yet just out of reach. It was a woman speaking, Freak realized as he desperately tried to remember who she was; a moment later, the violent shaking began again, and Freak was once again thrown across the room as more cracks began to appear around him as the animalistic screaming once more began.
XXXX
"HE IS MINE!" Harry screamed in rage as he knelt in the center of the runic circle, holding his head in agony as the chanting thundered around him, "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! I AM THE GREATEST WIZARD TO EVER LIVE! RELEASE ME! I WILL RIP THE SKIN FROM YOUR BONES AND USE IT TO DECORATE MY THRONE ROOM!"
As Voldemort continued to alternate between screaming in pain and spewing violent threats against them, Molly suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out what she had gone to retrieve before the ritual began.
Holding the small stuffed bear in her hands, Molly brought it to her lips and delivered a soft kiss to the bear's head before speaking softly.
"Teddy… You saved my little boy twice in the past… Please, save him again. Bring our boy back to us…"
Suddenly, a violent wind began to blow throughout the chamber as the chanting echoed all around, as though the speakers were shouting at the top of the lungs while magically magnifying their voices.
As Harry's cries grew into screeches, a bright white light suddenly surrounded Teddy, causing the three watchers to stare at the bear in shock for a moment before the light passed easily through the barrier and slammed into Harry, sending him sprawling onto his back and instantly losing consciousness.
XXXX
Freak had finally managed to find a way to brace himself as the cupboard continued to shake, when suddenly the door was violently ripped from its hinges and a pale arm reached in and grabbed the boy; roughly pulling him out of his prison as Freak shrieked and squirmed.
A moment later, the thing pinned Freak against the wall and the boy got a good look at what held him, causing him to cry out in terror; it looked to be an amalgamation between a man and a snake.
The creature, for that was the only thing Freak could describe it as, was wearing a black robe that billowed, even though there was no wind around it to cause such a thing. It was tall, bald-headed, and earless, with glowing red eyes that had cat-like slits in lieu of pupils; whats more, large scales were spread across its face, and its nostrils were missing, a pair of snake-like slits in their place.
"Your parent's silly little ritual will fail!" The creatures hissed, a forked snake tongue flicking out from behind jagged fangs as it spoke, "You belong to me, boy! And I will never let you go! Your soul is mine!"
Freak cried out in terror as the creature continued to shake him; had he been more aware of his surroundings, Freak would have seen that the cracks he'd seen in his cupboard were now spread out all around the pair, leaving blinding light in their wake.
A moment later, something large slammed into Freak and the creature, sending them both sprawling; Freak immediately tried to climb to his feet, but the shaking had spread out beyond the cupboard and he found the task almost impossible. As he lay against the wall, he saw the creature wrestling with what appeared to be an enormous brown bear, and while the bear was putting up a courageous fight, the creature appeared to be gaining the upper hand, using its long claw-like nails to slash at the beast.
As Freak watched in sick fascination, a name suddenly popped into his head, as though it had always been there.
"Teddy…?"
The bear had just picked up the creature over its head and thrown it hard against the far wall when it heard Freak's words and turned to him, seeming to wink at the stunned boy, who suddenly broke out in a huge smile.
"Teddy!"
The creature snarled and hissed as it rose back to its feet, causing the bear to turn back to its adversary and issue a deep growl.
"Your stupid beast will not save you from me!" The creature snarled, "I am Lord Voldemort, and I will not be bested by a filthy Half-blood and its pet!"
By this point the so named 'Voldemort' looked as if he were on his last legs; black blood oozed to the floor beneath him from dozens of different wounds, including three slashes that Teddy had delivered to the man's face from the top of his skull to where his left ear should have been.
"Teddy's no pet! He's my best friend!" Freak yelled back angrily, "Get him, Teddy!"
Teddy issued a thunderous roar at that and charged forward faster than should have been possible; before Voldemort could do anything other than cry out in shock, Teddy was upon him, violently slashing and biting as he ripped Voldemort to pieces.
"Harry! Don't do this!" Voldemort screamed out, causing Freak to stare in confusion; who was Harry?
"Think what we could achieve together!" Voldemort continued as he began to fight a losing battle against Teddy, "We could conquer the whole world together, and rule for an eternity!"
"I don't want to conquer anyone…" Freak mumbled back, "I just want to go home… I want my mummy…"
Freak could hear the woman's voice again, calling out to him, and somehow, he knew that's who the woman was; he didn't know how he knew. He just did.
With an ear shattering final roar, Teddy bit down onto Voldemort's skull as the monster screamed in agony and denial; rearing back, Teddy finished Voldemort once and for all as he ripped the monster's head off its body, completely in a brutal display of Carnage that caused black blood to spurt from Voldemort's neck like a fountain. A moment later, Teddy opened his jaw and dropped the severed head to the floor as Voldemort's body crashed down beside it; the room was now completely bathed in bright white light and as Freak watched, Voldemort's body began to transform into black smoke before quickly evaporating as an unholy scream of terror echoed around them. Once they were alone, Freak immediately jumped to his feet and crashed into the bear, wrapping his tiny arms as far as he could around the bear's waist.
"You saved me again, Teddy…" Freak whispered as the light grew in intensity, enveloping them both a moment later.
XXXX
As Sirius and the other's watched in horror, Harry's back suddenly arched again as the black smoke poured out of the boy's scar like poison from a wound; this continued for several more seconds until, at last, the last of the smoke seemed to have been released and the boy collapsed to the floor lifelessly. A large black cloud hung over the boy and violently slammed itself into the walls of the barrier as an inhuman scream echoed from within it.
"Now!" Saul cried out, his voice raw from use, "Finish it!"
The three chanters cried out one final line as one before clapping their hands together, creating a thunderous echo to sound out across the chamber; the candles instantly went out and the three layers of runes blazed with light, creating three pillars that stretched toward the ceiling and beyond. Were they outside, they would have seen the pillar of light extend past the castle's walls and into the night sky above.
The black cloud released one final cry of terror and pain before the light consumed it and it disappeared as the group watched in shock; a moment later, the pillar of light descended, slamming back to the floor in an incredible display of power that sent everyone within the chamber off their feet, crashing into whichever wall was closest to them. The runes blazed one final time before finally, they stopped spinning and the light dissipated, leaving the occupants to groan in darkness as they slowly clambered to their feet.
"Did it work…" Sirius asked in a scared whisper, "Is Harry alright?"
Carnage quickly made her way over to the boy and began to examine him with a strange forked object that glowed green as she waved it around him; after several moments of this, she looked at the worried group and smirked.
"The child lives and is free of the abomination that once inhabited his scar. I suggest we return him to the Hospital Wing and see if the ritual did any lasting damage."
"Agreed…" Dumbledore said softly as he slowly and painfully climbed to his feet, "That ritual took much more out of me than I had expected, I can only imagine what it did to young Harry…"
"You go right ahead and do that…" Saul growled as he dusted himself off, "I'm going back to my office, I've had quite enough of this 'adventure,' and I believe this repays my debt to you, Albus, in full! I have several new projects to begin and would very much like to begin them. If you will all excuse me!"
Without another word, Saul stormed out of the chamber, grumbling under his breath about 'idiots nearly getting him killed.'
As Sirius bent down and picked up his godson, he heard a sudden noise in the corner of the room and turned to see what it was as Molly and Arthur gathered around him, fussing over their son.
Seeing what had caused the noise, Sirius nearly dropped the boy as his eyes almost bugged out in shock; sitting in the corner of the room, was a small bear cub that looked eerily like the stuffed bear that Molly had pulled from the pocket of her dress. With a yawn, the cub gave itself a sudden shake before making its way over to the group, who were staring at it in shock.
"Teddy…?" Molly breathed,
"Oh, bloody hell…" Sirius added.
XXXX
Author's Note:
Okay, time for a well-deserved rant! I don't make money for these stories; in fact, I don't get anything from them whatsoever, except enjoyment. I write as an outlet and as a way to relax after a long day's work or when I'm feeling stressed out. So, when dozens of people PM me cursing me out and insulting me for not updating fast enough, all it does is make me not want to write anymore. I'm sorry if it takes me a while to put out the new chapter but I have a life outside of writing Fanfiction, and as much as I want to, I can't put out a chapter a week like I used to when I first began this story, no matter how much I might want to. I've already stated NUMEROUS times that I intend to finish every story I began, so you don't have to worry that I'll one day abandon it. Okay, now that the rant is over, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed making it. Harry is no longer a Horcrux, and I'm sure you all want to know,
"Well, how is he going to save Luna from the Chamber of Secrets, now?"
Guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out, won't ya?
I hope you all like the 10th Kingdom reference I dropped into the story; it's by far one of my favorite fantasy movies, and if you haven't seen it, do so immediately, you won't regret it!
Until next time, which I promise won't be three months this time, peace!