Chapter 35
"Her?" Grindelwald threw his head back and laughed. His voice was still amplified and the sound of it echoed through the night. Harry heard some of his men joining in with the sound. As if they all knew it was laughable for anyone to challenge Gellert Grindelwald.
What they didn't notice, or perhaps simply didn't care about, was the hunter green aura radiating off of Emily as her hair billowed out behind her. She stalked past Harry and focused her attention on Grindelwald.
He continued laughing in his manic way, as if the thought of her presence was nothing more than a humorous aside. She slashed out her right wrist and a thin beam of sky blue light shot from her. It fired across the battlefield, a tracer against the dimming light of the day. Grindelwald seemed to not notice, laughing into the darkness, until the final moment.
He threw up a spectacular silver shield before him, a wall of pure magic rising deep into the night sky. His gaze shot straight toward Emily in the instant before her spell hit, a look of smug power on his face.
The blue light hit his shield, and passed clean through.
Grindelwald's eyes flashed in surprise as the shield shattered. The blue beam continued toward him and he dived toward the ground. It smashed into the ground behind him and exploded outward.
The entire battlefield shook as blue light flashed around the area. A second explosion followed the first, knocking him off of his feet. He felt another shockwave blast through the area as he pulled himself to his feet.
The area behind Grindelwald for a good hundred meters was completely flattened. It glistened like glass in darkness as Emily and Grindelwald slung spells at each other. She fired another salvo of spells at Grindelwald, he countered, dodged and fired more back at her.
"Me," Emily confirmed as she readied more spells and rushed off toward Grindelwald.
It turned into a sort of dance as they shot around the battlefield. Harry watched for a moment, waiting to see a proper time to join in and assist her with the fight, at least until four of Grindelwald's supporters appeared around him. They tried to end the fight before it started with four synchronized killing curses. It wasn't a bad strategy, he thought as he shifted into mist and slipped away from the four spells.
They kept firing at him as he shifted away. Annoyance flushed through him as he knew he'd have to take care of that problem before he could assist Emily. He let his eyes scan the battlefield as he flashed around it.
He saw Neville and Entwhistle were leading a group of Aurors against another, far larger, group of Grindelwald's supporters. To their left, Emily and Grindelwald continued to spar, their spells growing less identifiable with each passing moment as power filled the air.
A handful more of the supporters broke from the group and joined the ones chasing him. He shot himself behind them, grinning to himself as one of them shrieked in terror as his mist surrounded him. The woman threw her arms up before the mist could hit her.
Harry shifted out of it inches before her. He pressed his right palm into her stomach. A quick blasting curse sent her hurtling across the battlefield with a chunk of her stomach missing. He didn't bother to watch where she landed.
The initial four attackers appeared around him once more. It was a rather nice trick, he thought. They worked in almost perfect unison. Enough that he wondered if there was some type of mind magic at work.
He'd heard of spells that could form a link between close friends. It had been very popular during some of the Goblin Revolts and one of the Crusades, although he couldn't for the life of him give the numbers of either.
As Wizards grew more powerful it fell out of favor. He hadn't done enough research into why to know for sure. But if he had to guess, it had more to do with people disliking the feel of someone in their head. He could certainly relate to that.
He also suspected that if someone was more powerful than the others in the link they would be able to take control of it. And in doing so, force others to be prisoners in their own minds, forced to obey. But he also knew that could be a two way street. And why they often tried to have at least four wizards in the link. One may be able to overwhelm the other three, but three could also do the same to one.
He wondered what it was like, as he flashed around them. They continued to evade with him, giving him surprisingly little time to react to anything. More seemed to join the fight with each passing moment. He tried to probe at their thoughts, wondering if he could find a weakness that could cripple all of them at once.
Nothing came to mind. In fact, nothing at all radiated from them. He couldn't even sense magic. Which was a little odd, given that he could see they were doing it. But wasn't something too alarming in the middle of a battle, given he was otherwise distracted.
He did notice that whenever he strayed near the Aurors he drew a few more hostel spells his way, and sometimes a few more wizards to attack him. He figured that was knowledge worth keeping in the back of his head as he shifted away from the others.
They swarmed him again, but they'd been appearing in the same spots in the same order. He let power well in him and formed it into a small green sphere roughly the size of a cricket ball in his hand.
He pushed it forward right as they appeared around him once more, right into the path of where one would appear. As soon as the man flashed into existence he exploded. Harry shifted through the gap, throwing a barrier around himself to avoid the viscera that followed.
The blast stunned the grouping for a moment. It wasn't much of a delay, but any sort of stumble in combat could be costly, as they quickly learned. He grabbed one of them with his will and slammed them into the ground as they continued to chase after him.
He let them, leading them away from the group of Aurors. He noticed a well placed spell from behind him clipped one of his assailants. It wasn't enough to cripple the man, but it brought him to the ground and into the clutches of more of the Aurors.
Harry fled for a few moments, feeling the magic they were throwing at him, then, right about the same time he would have started to use the mist to fly away, he abruptly stopped and spun around.
Two of Grindelwald's supporters looked on the verge of apparating after him and their eyes flew open in shock as he spun to face them. Again, they reacted almost immediately, but the brief hesitation was all Harry needed.
He focused his power and threw a bolt of it at the man to his right. Green lightning erupting from his fingers as his eyes refocused on the man to his left. The follower on his right tried to shield it, but the lightning infused itself into the shield and shot out from it, spiraling through the silvery light and straight into the attackers wand, and then up his arm.
The man to his left drew a shorter straw. Harry slashed out his left hand and let the purple tendrils fly to him. Six of them impacted between his chest and neck and, after only the briefest flashing of power his upper body melted away.
Three more swarmed him in an instant. Harry felt himself retreat on instinct as he surveyed the new attackers. He pulled his left hand back and the tendrils sped back toward him, ripping through one of the attackers as they returned to him, a brief burst of power filling him as they did.
His flicked his right wrist, snapping his wand up at the other two. A nearly invisible orb flew from the tip of the wand and shot between the two men. They pressed forward, clearly thinking his attack missed.
But then it exploded behind them, forcing them toward him in a burst of magic. One managed to keep his feet as the other stumbled forward. Harry finished the downed man with a quick cutting hex and slashed his wand toward the next man.
They dueled for a few moments, the slashing of wands countering spells and jinxes as Harry continued to backpedal through the battlefield as they fought. The man put up a better fight than he'd have expected. But Harry had a low opinion of most challengers. All-in-All it took maybe ten seconds before the man stumbled and Harry ended it.
More fighters poured toward him. He could see some of the Aurors chasing after them, pincering them between Harry and their compatriots. They clearly saw him as more of a threat than the British and French Aurors. Or maybe they just thought eliminating Harry Potter would end all of the combat making it the quickest way to achieve victory.
Of course, if they thought that then it may have been true for them. While he suspected Emily would only become more emboldened by his death, some of the British and French may retreat if it occurred. And if they assumed their opponent would surrender after the death of their leader, perhaps it was true for them.
That made his eyes wander toward Grindelwald. Emily had forced him away from the Fudge and the other ministry officials. He saw Avery still guarding that contingent as they shifted away from where Neville and Entwhistle led the other Aurors, the glowing silver shield still encasing them.
Emily continued to force him back. It looked like she was winning, as a near constant barrage of magic poured from her and assaulted Grindelwald. She never seemed to stop and Grindelwald remained firmly on his back foot.
But Harry also appeared to be on the defensive. But he knew all he was doing was pulling people away from Fudge, Priya, Hermione and the others who he felt were more use outside of combat than in it.
Although, from what he'd seen of Grindelwald's forces, they weren't forcing the fight onto the politicians as much as they could have been. They may have known how that could backfire, as nothing galvanized a people quite as efficiently as a martyr. Or they could have just been more focused on the direct threat rather than the observers. And Harry didn't have any qualms that Fudge would surrender well before he would die.
He let his attention slip as he continued to back away, watching as Emily continued her assault.
It was oddly intoxicating to take in. And he didn't just think it was how his own brain reacted to seeing all of the magic vent off the two of them. Emily moved with a certain precision he'd have associated with fencing or dancing. Nothing at all seemed wasted in her movements. Every step was exact and used to spur her momentum toward her ultimate goal, every movement of her fingers, hands or arms led directly into another spell. And it all continued to flow as she moved.
It was, he realized, the first time he'd seen her truly let loose from a pure spectator standpoint. He didn't remember much about her fighting at the Ministry on that fateful night all those years ago. And since he'd brought her back there hadn't been much of the opportunity.
Sure, they'd thrown power at each other a handful of times in Japan. But there was something different about being able to observe from afar rather than having the slight thought in the back of his head that she may decide to try to kill him in any moment.
Her hair continued to whip behind her as she pressed forward. The wind and her movement accounted for some of it, he was sure, but with the amount of power billowing out of her he suspected the excess energy of it had more to do with it than the elements. The frenetic nature of the strands billowing about seemed such a stark contrast with every measured step she took.
He let his attention lapse for too long though, and was rewarded with a cutting hex to the ribs. He cursed as he turned to face his attackers, her imagined voice scolding his inattention in his head. He exploded the closest Grindelwald supporter before taking a quick moment to examine the wound. It was superficial at best, he sensed no lingering magic and it didn't even hurt. But it still annoyed him enough to turn his fury toward Grindelwald's supporters.
He didn't really think about what he'd do to the witch who'd managed to land a hex on him. He tried not to let the memory of the purple tendril ripping through her chest linger too long in his head. And tried to forget the feeling of how she tasted when the magic welled back into him.
He wondered if Grindelwald felt the same way with his own trick. Although from what he could tell, Grindelwald was able to empower both himself and others. While Harry could get some power back, it never lasted for long. Whatever the corruption inside of him was, it ate at the power until he returned, more or less to himself.
It was handy for a surprise attack or some quick use of power but it dissipated before he could make much of a use of it. Now, he took the stolen power and redirected it outward, letting shards of it fly before him like shrapnel. It was largely an ineffective weapon, but that suited him just fine.
Some of the attackers threw up shields on themselves or their friends. Some merely used their friends as an impromptu shield. Some dodged and ducked away from the oncoming shards. Some were a bit more clever and apparated ahead of the shrapnel, entirely negating it.
Harry followed up with a blast of force. It caught a few of those who'd chosen to apparate ahead of their compatriots. Only one of them didn't fall victim to the magic forcing them backwards.
He let the purple magic flare out from him once more, letting it shoot around and find its own victims as he focused on a handful here or a handful there. In moments he was so zoned in he saw nothing else on the battlefield.
If he was honest, he barely even noticed what the purple magic was doing. While in a sense he'd grown used to it. It didn't react much like his magic, especially when he unleashed it. No, his magic was always in his control. But the purple strands, while the felt like an extension of himself, didn't always give him that feeling.
The power never disobeyed him. It never even felt close to something like that. But something about it always felt foreign when compared to his other magic. Which, he supposed, it was. He ignored the sense as the power flared out and worked through his opponents. When he let it run wild it was less powerful than when he focused it.
But it was enough. It would stun or deplete anyone it touched. Some it may even focus on long enough until they were finished. That wasn't what he needed it to do now, though. And for the most part, that wasn't what it did. He let it flare out, he let it spread around, and he focused on the center of Grindelwald's soldiers and started to push them back toward the Aurors.
It was a fairly simple strategy. He'd be the hammer, the Aurors could be the anvil, and everyone else could be whatever the hell needed to be bashed into a helpful shape.
Okay, so it was a weak analogy. He didn't care. He stopped retreating in that instant and forced himself forward. He moved quickly, throwing power around in every direction as he pressed toward the Aurors.
They melted before him. It was almost intoxicating watching them crumble. Each moment spurred him further forward as the screams littered the battlefield. He didn't care. He pressed on, forcing them out of his way when necessary.
It didn't take very long. After only a few minutes the people fighting the Aurors realized they had a more pressing choice. He sensed their lines shifting around as they moved. And then a cadre of dark robed men appeared before him.
Harry thought nothing of it. He threw power at them as if they were the same as everyone else. Three of them flew back with the force of his spell, two did not. He focused on them, channeling every bit of power he could muster into a blasting curse. The two men responded by throwing up a glowing red variant on the shield charm.
His curse hit it and the shield shattered. But another quickly rose behind it, and then another, and another. His magic pressed through all three but the first two threw something different before him.
The blasting curse hit it and stopped cold. For a moment, Harry felt power drain from him as the spell was countered by Grindeldwald's soldiers. But it didn't disappear. Instead he saw the red glow shift, and in a moment, the power was flashing back toward him, followed by the laughter from Grindelwald's men.
He let it hit him. The impact of it on his hand sent a flash of pain through his entire body. It exploded around him, kicking up dust and debris. There was more laughing. Although it stopped once the dust cleared.
His arm shook uncontrollably. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the purple magic flaring against the red of the blasting curse. His own magic fought against the spell as red and gold power flared off of him, fighting to suppress the purple.
The five men stared at him. Their expressions darkened as they realized the fight wasn't over yet. Harry didn't let his focus waiver. He grit his teeth against the pain spreading through his arm and spoke.
"You can surrender now," he said, fighting to get the words out. He thought his shoulder might crack with the force of merely holding his arm still. The men stared at him, their wands all leveled at him. After a moment, laughter rose from them.
Harry bit back against the growing pain in his shoulder and figured that he'd at least tried to be lenient about it. Priya should be proud of him. He'd at least offered them a chance to make a better decision. Instead they laughed at him. Well, so be it.
"Fine then," he said. He forced his hand out, throwing all of the power from inside it at one of the black robed men. It fired from him with a speed he'd never even seen from a spell, zipping through the air and hitting the man before he could even slash his wand in defense.
The impact left nothing behind.
Harry slashed his hand toward the second one and purple magic flared around him, engulfing him. This time ribbons of flesh fell to the ground. The remaining three forced their magic at him and Harry countered it away with his hand. They made to charge him but a Killing Curse hit one in the back.
Entwhistle appeared over the corpse. The two remaining spun to face the new attacker, but all that did was let Harry finish the one on the left as Neville Longbottom hit the one on the right. The man's legs snapped and he fell to the ground in pain. Neville stunned him and a flick of his wand tossed the man off to the side. It was at least a moderately effective way to take prisoners. Although Harry wondered what the merits of it were.
"You good?" he asked Neville.
"Fine," Neville answered.
"How's everyone faring?" Harry asked as Aurors continued to flood around him. Some more of Grindelwalds supporters broke and fled, others stayed and fought. Harry took a few moments to catch his breath as the battle continued on. He cut down a few stragglers who got too close for comfort.
"There doesn't seem to be an end to them. I'm not sure where they're coming from. Most aren't very good. Some of them feel leagues stronger than they should," Neville said.
"He clearly found a way to take power from others and enhance those around him," Harry said.
"Yes, obviously from what Emily caught in Iran," Neville said. "Speaking of which. Why are you down here fighting with them when you should be helping Emily with Grindelwald."
"I don't think she wants my help," Harry shrugged. He saw a flash of magic from up and to his left. He let his gaze shift and noticed that Emily was floating there, her hair still billowing wildly behind her as she fought.
Grindelwald was floating perhaps fifty meters from her, their arms moved in a frantic series of motions he couldn't place at first glance. But he didn't need to know the specifics. They were countering each other as magic welled between them, power pooling into space between them.
"So?" Neville asked, looking utterly aghast.
"You know how she is," Harry shrugged.
"No. Not really. And I don't want to. But every minute that this drags on, more people are getting hurt, and more people will die. So help me Harry if you're making it last longer than necessary, I will take it out on you," Neville said.
Harry frowned, he couldn't help it. He didn't think he was being particularly obstinate but with Neville's reaction he wondered if his actions had been the best course. He thought he was helping the Aurors, but they were fighting just fine without him. Perhaps he should have rushed in with Emily. He'd always planned for them to fight this fight together.
They'd managed to distract him from that, to pull the two of them away from Grindelwald. He wondered if they'd planned it. A few more Aurors were starting to filter around him. And for a moment, he thought they might be winning.
As if to punctuate his thought power flashed from above him. He heard Grindelwald's pained yell before his attention focused completely up on the two figures. Grindelwald's body flew straight to the ground. He landed in the middle of the glassy clearing she'd made. The land cracked with the impact.
Emily, still floating above, lifted her hands, palms open, above her head. Harry felt more power flow to her. She closed her hands into fists and the ground responded. He saw the glassy sheen crack into thousands of pieces.
She brought her hands together above her head and all of the shards flew from the ground, straight toward Grindelwald. Harry felt the power swarm around Grindelwald as his eyes focused on Emily. He could see her wavering as she continued to force the shards toward him. She showed no sign of letting up.
And then power swirled from inside the shards. A burst of it cleared everything away from the field. Grindelwald pulled himself to his feet as Emily let her hands drop. She took one breath before restarting her barrage.
Harry couldn't be sure what Grindelwald did. He held up his arms, his hands moving in small circles as a cyclone started to form above his head, pulling power from everything around him. Suddenly the black robed figured pulled away from the battlefield. Harry watched in horror as they turned to husks. The power from inside many of them started to swirl all around him. It built for a moment before floating toward the man. It wrapped around him in a protective cyclone.
Harry felt his eyes scan the battlefield. More than half of Grindelwald's troops were pulled into the vortex. Their energy, their power, being left behind as the magic erased their bodies. And every bit of it flew into Grindelwald.
The whole thing took less than ten seconds.
Power exploded out from the man. Harry nearly tumbled over as the shockwave of it hit him. Emily faltered in the air, flying back and spinning away. She readied herself and peered down at the man.
He was alight in a golden power, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the darkness. His lips curled up into a smile and he flashed toward Emily in an instant. Harry saw her launch away, her hand gripping her stomach as she struggled against whatever magic fought to knock her out of the sky.
Harry reacted on instinct. He threw himself into the air, chasing after both of them. Grindelwald's speed was incredible. But he was Harry Potter, and he would not let this man harm any more of his friends.
The purple corruption spread out from his hands as he forced his way toward Grindelwald. It lashed at him, trying to sap his power as Harry drew every closer. Grindelwald ignored him.
Harry threw power at him, everything he could spare as he moved toward him. The tendrils hit Grindelwald and he could feel his body starting to grow numb.
It wasn't close to anything he'd ever sensed. Normally he could feel a sort of limit, or a sense of someone's ability. But now it was different.
He didn't want to think it was like there was nothing there. Because while that was his first impression, his brain told him that was incorrect. It was closer to the opposite. It was like everything was there. It was overwhelming as it flashed back to him. An icy chill accompanied it, numbing him as it hit.
He ignored it, throwing his own power against it as he chased down Grindelwald.
The man reached Emily before he did, right as she caught herself from his previous assault. Grindelwald threw more power at her. She shielded the first vestiges of his attack as a quick recovery before slipping away.
She countered his second blast with the same hand motions she'd used as they'd sparred earlier. This time, though, Grindelwald didn't join her in the dance. He merely thrust out his arms and the power blasted toward her.
Harry watched as she tried to brace herself against it, but it forced her back, pushing her toward the ground. He let it linger for a moment, before forcing more power into it, forcing her downward once more.
This time she caught herself against it. Her eyes were ablaze with fury as she glared upward at him. He knew her look well enough. She'd been one upped, and she hated it. And now she was looking for a way to throw all of that in his face.
Harry figured the least he could do was help her.
He started with a barrage of quick cutting hexes, sending them in patterns toward Grindelwald. The man didn't shield the first few but they gained nothing but superficial tears to his outfit and a burst of power in his general direction.
Harry avoided it easily and focused his energy in front of him. He focused until a quaffle sized ball of magma floated before him. Emily caught him out of the corner of her eye and drew her own power in, forcing a series of blasting curses at Grindelwald. The spells exploded around him but caused no significant damage. Harry could see her intention though, and he shot the molten ball of power straight at him.
Grindelwald didn't notice it until it was inches from him. He spun to his side, throwing up an arm and a shield as the magic impacted against him. It splashed around him and fell to the ground in a red cascade.
Some of it did get through his defenses. Harry couldn't help but smirk as he saw the blackened flesh of Grindelwald's arm. The man screamed, but Harry sensed frustration more than pain, and fired a barrage of his own spells around them. Some of them went for Emily, some Harry, but most shot toward the ground below them.
More pained screams filled the night air. Harry charged, throwing magic with him as he moved. Grindelwald met him head on. Wands and spells slashed around them as Harry shifted the fight back to himself.
Harry knew magic was escaping in every direction, he knew there were casualties below that could have, and probably should have been prevented. A small voice in the back of his head whispered that the more he lost control, the more likely something was to happen to his wife or his friends. And that he'd never be able to live with himself if that was the case.
But he silenced it. He had to. He knew that some things were, sadly, more important. And that if he didn't stop all of this right now, the amount of pain and chaos Grindelwald could cause would all be at his feet.
All he could do was keep fighting. It would end, one way or the other, but he wouldn't stop until it was over. Whatever that ending was, he'd find out soon enough.
Emily hesitated for a couple of minutes as Harry and Grindelwald sparred. She caught her breath and watched their actions unfold before her. At the first sign of Harry stumbling she joined her power into the fray.
They worked well together. Which surprised her, given that they never really did anything together. Well, that wasn't right. It made more sense if phrased that they were never cooperative. Even in their best moments together, it was far closer to a competition than anything else.
She didn't mind. She liked competition. Almost as much as she liked winning. The high that came with knowing, indisputably, that she'd beaten someone was unmatched. It was a feeling she relished above nearly anything else.
But now they instinctively knew there was no purpose in fighting each other. It didn't matter which of them prevailed, which did more damage, which was the hero. All that mattered was the end of the threat before them.
They melded into almost one unit, magic flaring out with every motion as every bit of power they could muster forced its way to Grindelwald. They alternated between elements, pure power, blades and any hex they could come up with, any spell that could work into their movements. They threw it all at Grindelwald.
And none of it mattered.
She thought she realized it before him. That wouldn't surprise her, he was always a bit slow. Sometimes, mostly late at night in moments she was feeling particularly low, she enjoyed that. Now, not so much.
Still, neither of them stopped. They kept fighting, pounding away at the man before them, waiting for something to crack, something to change, for anything to signal that they could stop.
It came from above them. She wasn't sure how he got the boulders up there without her noticing. But he'd done so. And he started to rain them down. They weren't the most difficult things to avoid. But they clearly weren't his targets. They started to pelt into the defenses of the wizards below them.
They grew larger with each passing moment as Grindelwald continued to summon the giant rocks. In a moment she saw what he was focused on.
The domed shield around the Minister and other officials was cracking beneath their weight. Some of the wizards inside it apparated away as the remaining supporters of Grindelwald advanced on their position.
It only took a few moments for the shield to break as the numbers became overwhelming. Others shot up to replace it, some vanished the falling rocks. But some of the rocks made it through. And Emily watched as two women pushed Fudge away from one, only for it to envelop them.
Harry abandoned Emily without a second thought. He shot straight to the ground toward the falling rock. His feet hit the ground a steps away from a stunned Fudge as he pulled himself up. The minister rushed toward the rock and joined those in vanishing the rocks.
Harry flipped the boulder away with a flick of his wrist and ran forweard.
Fumiko Avery and Priya Potter appeared beneath it. Priya had her wand in her left hand and a small shield floated around them. Her right arm was broken, and part of Fumiko's legs looked crushed. The woman moaned in pain as Alexander Avery rushed to her side.
Harry felt relief rush through him as he met his wife's eyes. They were side in terror as they gazed at him, then past him. She managed to muffle her pain but the terror grew deeper as she gazed upward.
"You okay?" he asked, kneeling on the ground next to his wife. She nodded furiously and looked toward her arm. It snapped into place and she winced. Her eyes closing at the instant relief from the properly healed bone.
"I'm okay. Go deal with him," she answered after a moment. She pulled herself to her knees and turned her attention to Fumiko.
Harry ignored her, largely because of the look of despair on Avery's face, and instead helped her with the woman's legs. At least until he saw her gaze shift toward the sky
Harry didn't have the time to turn, but he still caught a brief glimpse of the body as it crashed into the ground next to them. It was smoldering, part of the black dress burned away and some charred flesh visible on her arm and neck. But Emily pulled herself to her feet anyway. She winced in pain as magic worked to fix her back, undoubtedly injured by the landing. The burned flesh of her arm melted off, revealing freshly pink skin underneath. She was panting as she looked at Harry.
"This is stupid," she said. She turned her gaze to Harry for a moment and then looked over his shoulder. Harry turned to see Grindelwald land a few hundred meters away. The Aurors lined up against him. Some of his own followers shifted to join him.
"It's like fighting an unending wall," Harry said. Emily snorted at him. She made to cross her arms over her chest but fell to a knee as she did, panting with effort from the fight.
"Surrender," Grindelwald's voice rang through the night. "You've seen what I can do. You've seen your champion fall against me."
Harry watched as he held out his arms in an almost welcoming gesture. A few of the Aurors hesitated. Some even stumbled forward. Neville walked to the head of the group, wand in hand and threw out an arm.
"So you can kill us all like you're doing with some of their own men? Why would you follow him? He's clearly using you all," Neville said.
"Some sacrifices are necessary for deification," Grindelwald said. "The truly loyal will join me."
"Yeah, just saw that. Not sure they feel the same way about it as you do," Neville said.
"They understand their importance," Grindelwald said. "And only a handful of you must die. The world will be better with me heading it. All will be equal."
"Except for you," Neville said.
"Men are not equal to Gods," Grindelwald answered. He flicked his wrist, magic billowing toward Neville as if to prove his point. But Neville Longbottom was not a pushover. He held himself against the power for a few seconds before shifting away. He threw a series of spells at Grindelwald. They were ineffective, causing the man to merely raise his brows at Neville, a mix of annoyance and amusement on his face.
"What are you doing?" Priya hissed from the ground near him. Harry turned to her and said words he'd been afraid to admit most of the evening.
"I have no idea how to beat him," he answered.
"Told you," Emily scoffed. She pulled herself to her feet and limped over toward them. She winced each time her right ankle hit the ground until an annoyed slash of her hand fixed it. She bit her lip as the battlefield spell caused as much pain as it fixed. But Harry thought she didn't seem to mind all that much.
"For God's sake Harry," Priya scoffed her annoyance. "Just fucking kill him."
"Why does everyone think it's that easy," he retorted. "It's not like I haven't been trying."
"Told you," Emily repeated. She nodded at him and looked at Priya. "He's an idiot. You can do better."
"Hey," Harry scoffed, more anger rising in him than he would have expected from such a comment. Priya and Emily exchanged a look. Emily raised her brows and looked pointedly at the other woman. Priya hesitated for a moment, then peered toward Grindewald and Neville. Grindelwald was in the process of stalking toward him, overpowering him, menace in his eyes. And Neville had the look of someone who knew it would be over soon.
Priya looked back at Emily and gave her one curt nod.
Before Harry had much time to think of whatever they were doing Emily grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled him to her. Whatever he'd expected it wasn't her for lips to wind up on his. He blinked, thinking it wasn't the worst thing but that it hardly seemed like the time or the place.
And then he felt the stunner hit him in the back.
His entire body locked up as he fought against the magic. Such a basic stunner wouldn't keep him incapacitated for long. Really, just long enough to annoy him. He let his power well against it.
Except it wasn't. His eyes widened as much as they could under the influence of the stunning spell. He felt his magic shift away from from the stunning spell. Rather than try to combat it, it was being pulled away. He tried to focus, to bring it back. But it continued to shift away. To shift toward…
His lips?
He groaned and tried to fight it. To get Emily's lips off of his, to get away from her. But nothing he did mattered. He could only watch as he felt the power drain from him. He saw the purple smokey tendrils of it flare off of him, pulling out of his arms, his shoulders, his back, and shifting into her. He felt their power leaving him and joining her.
He struggled against her as much as he could. But there was nothing he could do. Her arms wrapped around him and her lips rested on his, the distracting part of the kiss ending as she held him and pulled the power from him.
Then something welled behind it. It started as a tingle in his lower back, not far from where the stunner must have hit him. It welled in him, and then started to burn through him. His eyes went wide as his muscles relaxed as the stunning spell drained away from him.
He saw gold and red flare against his skin. There was so much of it that his vision seemed filled with nothing but it. The entire landscape flickered with it as the last vestiges of purple shifted out of him.
"There," Emily said, her lips still against his. She took a step back but fell, landing on her backside with a wince. Harry blinked down at her as she curled her arms around her knees. Purple tendrils flared around her, biting at her, engulfing her. She rocked back and forth against it.
"Emily…" he said, staring down at her. He reached out, golden magic billowing off of his arm as power continued to well in him.
"End it," Emily hissed, not even bothering to look up at him. Harry moved to help her, to try to ease her pain, to do anything. He waved a hand over her and her expression relaxed, her eyes closed and she murmured something close enough to her thanks.
He nodded back and turned and watched as Neville continued to try to hold Grindelwald off. Some of the Aurors tried to help but were thrown back almost immediately. Grindelwald knocked Neville down to his knees with a burst of force and stood above him. Grindelwald loomed over Neville. He held his hand up in a way that sent Harry back to memories that weren't his. He'd seen him do the same thing in Emily's diary, where he'd tried to drown her. The water magic welled in his hand and he shot his arm down toward Neville's mouth.
The spell never came. Instead a golden orb exploded in front of Grindelwald's chest. All of the power blasted outward and Grindelwald flew backwards. He caught himself after a moment and looked up, fury on his face.
His eyes met Harry and the expression changed. The anger shifted into something else as his eyes widened. Harry kept walking toward him, letting power vent off of him. It swirled around him, golden and red in the darkness. Some of it healed Aurors without him even noticing. A burst of it brought Neville to his feet. And Grindelwald's anger turned to fear.
Harry said nothing. He looked at the man for a handful of seconds before taking a deep breath. It would end here, he knew. He'd face Grindelwald with every bit of power he'd had. Power he'd earned through years of struggle. Power he'd taken for granted. And unlike Grindelwald he could say the power was wholly his, and wholly under his aegis.
He snapped his left hand up and a golden shield rose around the Aurors and his friends. He stepped through it and looked at Grindelwald as the man pulled himself to his feet.
"Your move, old man," he said as their power rose to a crescendo and the battle resumed once more.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing I do appreciate all of the support I receive. If you wish to support me further the final chapters of this story, as well as the next tenish of my other, WIP Conjurations & Catacombs are available on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. Thanks again!