I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Hello everyone, hope all are doing well. Tomorrow would have marked 11 weeks from when I started posting this fic, and it all led to this chapter. Not only is it the third chapter from the end, it is one of the last milestone chapters. I really hope you all enjoy it.
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Harry Potter and the Stone's Heart
Chapter 15 – Symbols
Harry apparated near Hogwarts, just outside of the boundaries of the grounds, holding hands with Hermione and Luna. Ron and Susan appeared right behind them and slightly farther away.
"Your side-alongs are very good," Luna praised, smiling up at Harry. "Very smooth and very accurate."
"What is that?" Hermione asked, before Harry could respond. They realized that there was a lot of wind blowing around them, making the trees creak and groan. The surface of the Black Lake rolled and roiled, the wind creating large waves that slammed against each other.
"Holy shit, the castle!" Susan gasped, pointing.
Hogwarts blazed with light. Parts of the walls shone brightly and others were dim and dark. Some windows flared with light and motion and some were pitch black, darker than the night's sky around them. Even the stones seemed to undulate and flex under some unseen pressure.
Harry ran up the path with his friends behind him and he saw a small cluster of individuals at the closed front gates.
Flitwick gasped with relief seeing Harry. "I was just about to call for you," he cried running to meet them.
"What happened?" Harry asked, looking up at the castle.
"It just started, a few minutes ago. The air felt thick and heavy and the stones were groaning," Flitwick explained hurriedly. "Then all of a sudden, everyone within the castle was forced out! Something pushed all of us out and we were forced outside of the grounds even. Elves, people, even the ghosts! And none of us can get it!"
"Are the suits of armor fighting each other?" Ron asked, eyes wide. Peering through the bars in the gate, they could see statues and suits of armor fighting one another, a cacophony of crashing stone and clashing metal.
"We even tried to see if any of the portraits from other places could enter the school and even they can't!" Sprout said, wringing her hands together.
"Helena!" Harry shouted, looking at the ghostly forms. One flew to him. "Helena, it's more than mourning, right?!"
"Yes!" she said, nodding wildly. "What you felt, what we felt, the loss, it was more than that! Something was missing!"
"What was?" Susan cried, looking between them.
"Before I was forced out, I felt its return," Helena continued, staring at Harry. "But the castle, the castle is in distress! It hurts, it's afraid."
"It pushed everyone out to protect them," Harry said and Helena nodded in agreement.
Everyone turned, hearing an incredible low and loud groan. The ground shifted, causing a few to stumble and cry out. A deep rumbling filled the air and they saw trees begin to shiver and shake and not from the wind.
"Susan, back to the Auror Corps. Bring anyone on duty and call in a medical team. Go to Hogsmeade and get ready to protect the Village in case the magic goes out of control that far," Harry ordered. Susan nodded and ran down the path and apparated away.
He turned to Ron. "Help the professors try to stabilize the area and keep others from getting too close. We don't know what will happen if the magic gets even more out of control."
"Surely you're not thinking of going in?" Flitwick asked, eyes wide. "Can you even? We have been repulsed so far!"
Harry looked at the castle and walked to the gates. He stumbled slightly, the ground shifting beneath his feet and the immense pressure from the school's magic impeding him. He managed to get close enough to grab the bars, to touch the symbol of the school's crest on the gates. "Hogwarts!" he shouted over the tumult of magic and sound. "Please let me in! I'm here to help! I can try to stop this!"
After a heavy moment, the gates swung inward and the pressure lessened enough for Harry to go flying in. He tumbled slightly, rolling and then regaining his feet. Hermione and Ron and the others had tried to follow as soon as Harry entered but the gates swung shut once more and the pressure resumed, forcing them back.
"Go!" Ron shouted. "Do what you got to do! As soon as we can, we'll be coming in to help!"
"Harry!" Luna shrieked, getting his attention. She raised her arm but put it back down when Harry understood her meaning, just barely seeing the handle of another wand in her sleeve. "Be careful!" she shouted when he shook his head.
Harry looked around at the chaos around him, at the castle shuddering and the statues and armor fighting. "Take me to where he is," Harry whispered. After a moment, he turned on the spot and apparated with a loud crack.
"You're not supposed to be able to apparate in Hogwarts," Hermione said, wearing a big smile despite the uncertainty of the situation.
"Just Harry casually doing shit others can't," Ron said proudly.
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Harry landed on the stone floor, crouching down with his wand drawn. He looked around quickly, recognizing his surroundings. Magic was wilder here, the air thick and heavy like before a thunderstorm. He could feel the hallway around him flexing, constricting, but the stones he stood on were stable. He ran down the hall, seeing the sky in front of him and the immense bell hung beside the ancient clock. The large pendulum was frozen in place, the gears of the clock groaning from pressure.
A man stood in the entryway, wearing a dark cloak with the cowl up. He was facing the open sky, looking over the rest of the castle and the grounds. At the last moment, he spun, and he held a wand in one hand and a stone in the other.
Harry shot a stunning spell at the man who blocked it with a shield charm. The man flicked his wand and a series of glass vials flew into the air and exploded all around Harry, releasing thick cloying clouds and sputtering drops. A window between them opened suddenly and a blast of wind carried the fumes out into the open air.
Using the distraction, Harry shot a slowing charm at the man and then disarmed him, sending the man's wand flying out into space. The man ducked behind a pillar and another glass vial came flying out from behind it. It struck the stones between him and Harry and a gigantic explosion filled the space, sending shards of glass and stone and fire all around.
Harry dove back, escaping the worst of the explosion. He ignored a few tiny cuts made by hurtling shrapnel and made a glowing shield in front of him.
"Plenty more where that came from!" the man shouted from cover.
"It's over!" Harry shouted back. "It's over, Dennis!"
A pause filled the air and for a moment, even the castle subsided. A hoarse chuckle filled the air and Dennis walked out into the open, throwing his hood back. He was just like the last time Harry saw him on the night of the Mark, with even darker rings beneath his eyes and his eyes full of mirth and hate. He held the stone in one hand, and a clear vial full of green fluid in the other.
"How did you figure me out?" Dennis asked mildly.
"The person who helped figure out the Slow-Go, figured out the sleeping potion part of it, they had dark rings under their eyes. Same with Professor McGonagall. I remembered that so did you, when I saw you during the visitation and the press conference," Harry said.
"Isn't that what you call, circumstantial evidence?" Dennis asked mildly.
"Sure, but that's on top of the other evidence," Harry continued. "A Senior Unspeakable was able to get an image of one Alatar Pallando from the memories of the Muggle Smugglers, that was then confirmed with Yaxley. Got a picture, and now that I'm thinking of it, looks a lot like you even with the different hair color. And the name, it's a Tolkien name. Now that's also circumstantial, but most Purebloods just accepted the name as it was, unless you heard about it from Muggle literature.
"Then I remembered that you and Lavender were the last reported to be in contact with McGonagall before she…passed." Harry said nothing else, noticing a tiny twitch and wince from the other man. "And I had to think, why would Pallando employ both Magicals and Muggles? Many wouldn't do that for both. Especially since they seemed so hellbent on breaking the Statute and exposing everyone to everything. If I took in McGonagall's passing into account with everything else, piecing it all together, you were pretty high on the list."
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you?" Dennis asked acidly.
"Mostly," Harry said. "Not everything though. I think I know why, but I don't know for sure. And I really want to know what that is," Harry said, pointing at the stone in Dennis' hand.
Dennis looked down at it. "Just like you, Harry," he said, still looking at the stone. "Blundering your way through things, thinking you know it all, and knowing nothing."
Harry did not say anything, watching. He looked around sharply when he felt the hallway tremble around him once more, magic and stone both. He felt it at the same time Dennis clenched his hand around the stone. Harry stared at the stone carefully. He could just barely see it move slightly, and not just from Dennis holding it. It looked like it was beating…
"That's Hogwarts' heart, isn't it?" Harry asked slowly.
Dennis looked at him with surprise. "How did you know that? I had to research for years before I could find even a hint of its existence."
"I can feel the school's feelings," Harry said honestly. "That day, it felt more than loss when we found McGonagall. It felt unsettled, in actual pain. I didn't know what it really meant, not even when I visited again. But now, it certainly feels like that."
"Just like you again," Dennis hissed angrily. "Taking the hard work of others! Benefiting from it! Your friend Hermione, the professors, now me! Ignoring all the hours I spent reading and searching, all that time I worked hard. Stolen again, by you."
"How did you figure it out?" Harry asked, inching closer.
Dennis took a step back and held the vial above the stone. "Don't do it," he warned. "Alchemist acid will completely destroy it."
"You with it," Harry said, standing still.
"I'll still get what I want," Dennis said, eyes blazing. "Put your wand away. Now!"
Harry slowly did that, slipping his wand into his wrist holster. "And what is that exactly, what you want?" Harry pressed. "Why are you so determined to destroy the school? What has it done to you?"
"What has it done? What hasn't it done?! It's the source of everything!" Dennis shouted. "Our current society, the Death Eaters, Voldemort! All of it! Every cancer Wizarding Britain had endured, every scar, every injury, done by people who went to this school!"
"That's because it's the biggest school in the country!" Harry said, incredulous. "Of course the majority of students who became a part of Wizarding Britain went here! You can't blame the school for them!"
"Of course I can! They weren't stopped, they were enabled, empowered! They learned what they needed to do here, made their connections, got strong because of it! And what did the instructors do? They encouraged it! They did nothing to stop it! Fucking Voldemort and his classmates came from here and ruined lives from what they learned here! What they could get away with!"
Dennis laughed at Harry's expression. "And you're part of the problem, Harry Potter."
"I have spent years trying to do right," Harry growled back. "Years. I have served Wizarding Britain and her people, kept them safe. Brought justice."
"Justice? More corrupt laws that you choose to enforce! The Ministry is only one person away from being terrible! When Voldemort came to power, so many people lost everything, lost their lives, because of one man! He made things happen and the government failed to stop him! And with him gone, it's empty promises to do better, that it won't happen again. Ha! There have been so many coups before, changes in power! And it's always the Purebloods deciding it all and the Muggleborns too weak, too desperate to be included to fight back!"
"Things are better now!" Harry shouted. "Not perfect, but better! We've made strides, changed things, made positive and progressive change!"
"Too late!" Dennis screamed. "Too little, too late! Where were the protections before?!" He glared hatefully at Harry. "They forced us to come back. Before we didn't have to and we weren't going to that year, but they forced us. They threatened my parents, my poor Muggle parents, promising to kill them if Colin and I didn't come back! Like any of the others. They wanted us here to torture, to abuse. You weren't here! You were running around while we suffered here!"
"I did my best," Harry said, gut clenching.
"It wasn't good enough," Dennis hissed. "We endured. We did what we could to survive. My brother was a true hero. He protected us. He saved us. And how did you repay him? When you showed up? HE DIED FOR YOU!" Dennis bellowed. "HE STAYED AND FOUGHT AND DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Harry said nothing.
"I lost my brother," Dennis continued. "And I got home and told my parents what happened and they died soon after. All the stress, all the fear, the heartbreak, it got to them and they died. One after the other. And I was alone in this world. Two worlds even, where both didn't want me. Both hated me for what I was."
"How does it feel, Harry?" Dennis asked, tears carving lines down his face. "Killing my brother and my parents? Killing my family?"
"Colin fought for what he believed in," Harry said, his voice cold. "I never asked for him to fight-"
"Don't you dare pretend you cared about him!" Dennis shouted, interrupting him. "You hated him! All he wanted was to be your friend and you ignored him! You thought he was annoying when he idolized you. He got petrified because of you, lost most of a year and you did nothing. Not a sorry, not a thanks. You didn't even try to make it up to him.
"And he still liked you! He made excuses for you! I begged him to run, to not fight that damned night and he said no! He chose you over us again and he died because of it!"
"He died doing what he believed in!" Harry thundered back. "Just like I was ready to do, that I did do! Ron, Hermione, so many others fought and so many died fighting for a cause! Not for me! Never for me!"
"No, but because of you," Dennis said. "Their blood is on your hands too, Harry Potter."
The men stared at each other for a moment.
"What exactly do you hope to accomplish?" Harry asked, mind racing. "So you do what you want, destroy Hogwarts. How does that help?"
"It forces Wizarding Britain to examine itself," Dennis said. "It forces them to lose their greatest and most cherished thing and makes them feel the loss. Then they are forced to rebuild and do it better. The Purebloods are shown that they don't change, they're still clinging to when they were in power and want to be. The rest are shown how Muggles can do more with the knowhow, the resources. That Muggleborns, even the smallest and least important of them all, are capable of showing what we can do. And what we will do."
"What if it doesn't?" Harry asked. "What if they rebuild and nothing changes? What if your actions just prove that the fear mongering and the preconceptions are valid? What if they fuel the fire you are trying to put out?"
Dennis stared at him. "Then Wizarding Britain doesn't deserve to exist," he said with grim finality. "And I'll still get what I want. For actual change to happen and for everyone to feel as empty and powerless as me."
"So in the end, it's about making others hurt like you? To feel your pain? Instead of channeling that, using all of your abilities to make things better, you want things to be worse?" Harry took a gamble. "What makes you any different than the ones before you then? What makes you any better?!"
"Damn you!" Dennis hurled the vial at Harry as hard as he could. Harry leapt and just barely caught it, cradling it carefully and praying that he would not accidently break it. He rolled, holding his hand to his chest as Dennis reached into his robes for another vial. As he held it up, the pillar he was standing beside exploded, sending shards of stone everywhere. Dennis jumped back with Harry shielding his head and once the debris and dust settled, he slowly stood while Dennis stood there with a fresh bottle in one hand and the Heart in the other.
"Damn you," Dennis repeated, his words dripping venom. "I'm nothing like them!"
"Are you? You tested the drug on innocents!" Harry shouted back, rolling the bottle away carefully.
"Innocents?!" Dennis laughed scornfully. "What innocents?! People who were Snatchers and worked for the Corrupt Regime, who loved doing what they did! They were criminals that escaped punishment! Like the ones you helped! Seriously, you helped Parkinson? Bulstrode? Greengrass? Why did you help them and not us? The ones who actually helped you?!"
"I was trying to help as much as I could!" Harry shouted back. "They weren't responsible for their families! They atoned, they made their apologies and worked to better things! And I have helped us, I've helped all of us. And I made it my goal to bring justice to every Death Eater! Every single one! And I have done that!"
Harry stared at Dennis. "And you're so lost in your idea of revenge that you want to punish everyone. Introducing a drug that harms so many different people. Risking our lives by breaking the Statute, inviting open conflict. Wanting to destroy the school to spite future generations. All because you want everyone to hurt."
"That's right," Dennis said coldly. "Why do others get to live happily on. I have nothing! NOTHING! NO ONE WITH ME!"
Dennis smiled. "And you can't say you haven't done the same. The great Harry Potter, the proud Auror. Alone. Not seeing friends. Not making new ones. No family of his own. Making sure everyone still sees you and show that you're the poor little orphan boy to be pitied. 'Look how hard I work'. 'Look at my sacrifices!'"
Harry swallowed hard. "It was never about me," he said.
"Now who's being hypocritical," Dennis snorted.
"I did what I had to do," Harry said angrily. "I do what I have to do!"
"No one asked you to!" Dennis shouted.
"And I never asked for anyone to die for me!" Harry shouted back.
The two men stared at each other.
"What next, Harry?" Dennis asked, breathing heavily. "What's your next attempt at making me see reason? Are you going for the trite, 'What would Colin think? Your parents?'. Going to try and guilt me with my dead family?"
"No, it wouldn't be fair to them or you," Harry said quietly, surprising Dennis. "And it wouldn't work."
"No, it wouldn't," Dennis repeated, looking a little pale.
They stood there in silence.
"So, what are you going to do?" Dennis asked.
"Wait," Harry said sadly.
"Wait, for what?"
"For that." At Dennis' obvious confusion, he pointed. Dennis looked down at his front and gasped, eyes wide at the sight of dark red blood staining the front of his robes. The blood ran down his side, drenching him, and slowly pouring out onto the stone.
As soon as he was distracted, Harry pointed his hand at the Stone. "Accio Heart!" The Stone shot out of Dennis' hand and his abortive snatch for it sent him falling. Harry ran forward and caught the Stone, shoving it into a pocket, before sliding on his knees, catching Dennis before he hit the ground. At Harry's touch, the Stone stilled and the castle followed suit. The pressure in the air lessened and the air became calm.
Harry held Dennis, looking down at him. He pressed his hand to the wound and felt around, taking his wand out and casting a few spells. Eventually he stopped and looked down at Dennis sadly.
"You killed me," Dennis gasped.
"That was the castle," Harry said slowly. "When the pillar exploded. I didn't do that. She…Hogwarts disagreed with you and was defending herself. Since you didn't react, I guessed you still have the after-effects of all the testing in you. Dulled your feeling."
Dennis coughed wetly. "And you watched me bleed."
Harry nodded. "I figured I couldn't convince you."
"So you killed me," Dennis repeated. He glared triumphantly up at Harry. "How does it feel, Harry? Knowing you're the reason my whole family is dead."
"I hate it," Harry said, voice heavy with regret. "And I'll carry that knowledge with me until the end of my days. Same with the knowledge of everyone who died because of me."
Dennis looked up at him. "I don't regret it," he said softly, his voice shaking. "Any of it."
Harry said nothing.
"You have what you want now," Dennis said bitterly. "Hide everything, blame it on a nameless crazy person."
"I never wanted this, and no, I won't let that happen," Harry said. "Your story will be told, and people can judge for themselves who was right and who was wrong. I swear it."
Another beat of silence.
"They…they said you died that night," Dennis said.
"I did."
"Did it hurt?" Dennis asked, his voice even quieter.
"Not terribly," Harry said quietly. "Like falling asleep. And I saw them. When I did."
Dennis closed his eyes. "What if…what if they don't understand?"
"If Colin could forgive an immature arsehole who thought he was annoying for no reason at all, I'm sure he will understand and still love someone that he truly loved," Harry said thickly. "And your parents too, since they raised boys who loved so much. And if they don't understand at first, you'll have a long time to talk to them about it."
Dennis nodded jerkily.
"Dennis?"
He opened his eyes a little, his vision swimming. "Yes?" he whispered.
"She didn't die," Harry said softly. "McGonagall. You didn't kill her. We found her in time. She was only asleep."
Dennis coughed and his lips curled slightly. "Thank you," he whispered before dying in Harry's arms.
Harry waited for Dennis to stop moving completely before he put him down gently on the stone floor. He climbed to his feet and gave all the frustration within him, all of the pain, the despair, all of his emotion a voice. He screamed, a loud sound of pure rage at the world around him. The castle shook with him as he howled and he screamed until he could not scream anymore. Then, he slowly bent and picked up Dennis' body and began to walk away from the clocktower to the ground so far away.
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"Harry!"
By the time Harry got to the courtyard, Ron and the others were running to meet him.
"Everything's fine," Ron said with obvious relief. "No damage to the castle aside from statues and suits of armor. The grounds are okay, and Susan said Hogsmeade is safe. Did you get him?"
"I did," Harry said tonelessly. "Case closed."
Ron's smile died as he saw who Harry was carrying. "Oh fuck," Ron said and the others gathered around, also looking at the body in his arms. "Dennis?" Ron asked, his voice a whisper.
Harry nodded slowly. "Case closed," he repeated. He shook his head when Ron moved closer to help. "I got him," Harry said.
Ron nodded. He looked at the others and they formed up around Harry and it was a somber crowd that walked with Harry as they went into the castle proper.
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Arnie1701 - She's very much back.
Amerc14 - Well, not bad at all.
OtsutsukiRaven666 - Hope you liked the reveal.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - Nope, especially one so strong in every meaning. It was a good brainstorming session. Thanks for reading.
Lady of the Snakes - I'll have to make it out there one day.
61394 - Not a bad guess at all.
odonnellzoo99 - The last cliffhanger, of this fic. Maybe. I need to read it. I also heard Stardust the book wasn't as good as the movie oddly enough.
alix33 - She deserved her outpour of emotion.
poka - She's a wonderful character. Yup. I tried to not make Harry the only smart one. I wanted all the characters to provide their own thoughts and areas of expertise.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Looks like you were right about that theory. Good show.
choquain - I do like it when I'm able to keep canon personalities to a degree, and have them feel right given the setting. I got a lot of criticisms before about not writing people according to age and personality and have tried to do better ever since. Glad you like it.
TheSphynx - Ta daaaa. Hope you liked it.