Lordships, Marriage and Manipulations.
Chapter 14 - The End of Sixth Year.
UPDATED - You guys honestly aren't prepared enough for this chapter. Trust me.
Disclaimer: As always, I (in Snape's voice) obviously don't own Harry Potter, rights are retained to JK Rowling.
Harry sighed, telling the Hogwarts elf to tell Dumbledore he wouldn't be long. The house-elf left and he turned to the group. They had all stopped having fun as they had been near the lake.
"I'll be fine." Harry said, telling them as they looked at him in concern. They knew Dumbledore wanted to take Harry to a cave, a place where Tom had obviously done some dark magic and could be keeping something dangerous within. They hated the idea of none of them following him as back-up or that it was Dumbledore who wanted to take him alone. After all, they understood how dangerous and manipulative the headmaster had been with Harry.
"Be careful; keep your guard up and watch your own back." Hermione told him sternly, hugging him tightly before kissing him deeply. Susan and Daphne did the same, offering their own little pieces of advice while Neville fist bumped him and warned him to watch Dumbledore.
Harry left the group, telling them likewise as he expected something to go down while both him and Dumbledore were gone from the castle. It was after all, a perfect time for Tom to try something.
He arrived at the Headmasters' office, a place he had barely gone to since he destroyed it after his standoff with Dumbledore a few months ago. As he entered, he saw Dumbledore finish preparing to leave, he immediately told Harry how most of this was going to go, with Harry behind Dumbledore and being careful as he listened to everything Dumbledore told him to do. Harry grimaced but agreed, knowing he wouldn't likely accept anything Dumbledore told him to do without thinking first.
Dumbledore said goodbye to Fawkes, who watched Dumbledore closely as he left, almost refusing to allow the old man to say goodbye as if he no longer trusted the old man.
Dumbledore brushed it aside, saying the phoenix was likely close to another burning day before leading Harry to the astronomy tower.
As they came up to the top of the tower, Dumbledore began telling Harry how he'd always seen Harry as a close family member, how he'd always wanted to look out for Harry and help him on his way to defeating Voldemort as best as he could. Harry gained an uneasy feeling, like this was some sort of way Dumbledore was trying to earn forgiveness or explain his side of things before something went terribly wrong. He drilled his occlumency to full power, knowing shit would hit the fan soon enough.
They apparated and Harry saw they had landed near the cave, in between the sea and the cave onto a rock. They apparated again, this time close enough to the cave to enter it but found themselves blocked by a wall of stone. Harry would have thought it was natural and they were in the wrong place, if it weren't for the foul sense of magic drifting from inside the rock and the way it looked out of place compared to the other stone around it. Likewise Dumbledore felt the same, as they continued to approach it.
"It needs an offering." Dumbledore explained before continuing.
"It needs blood as a sacrifice. To weaken those who seek entry." The headmaster explained further, pulling out a knife and looking at Harry. He remained motionless next to his teacher, knowing full well that Dumbledore likely wouldn't ask Harry to do it but ready nonetheless in case he did want him to.
He didn't. The headmaster sliced his own hand open before smearing the blood along the rocks, which opened to reveal the cave entrance. Harry was disgusted, his thoughts had gone to how the portal at Diagon Alley was opened and realised Tom had likely been inspired by that piece of magic he saw, to turn and twist it into this to protect his secret cave.
Dumbledore noticed that Harry didn't say anything as he sliced his hand and offered his blood, taking a note of it as he continued into the cave while his thoughts confirmed what the old man thought. Harry had no sympathy for him anymore, he was close to becoming fully dark and might one day just decide to leave behind all pretence of being a good lad, as Dumbledore believed Harry was currently doing.
The headmaster believed Harry had more than one secret he was keeping from everything, just as Tom had once did while he was at Hogwarts. Thus, the professor thought Harry was doing just as Tom did, pretending to be a good boy just because he was under the eyes of Dumbledore.
Harry watched Dumbledore closely as they continued into the cave, noticing how Dumbledore gave a small frown as if Harry had already done something wrong, or had noticed something suspicious about the cave.
They reached a cavern inside, completely void of light as the blackness echoed around them, a lake stretching out below them as they stopped from entering the water.
Dumbledore cast a lumos maxima, illuminating the whole cavern as they saw everything covered in water other than a small little piece in the centre, which seemed to have a basin and enough room for a few people.
Harry copied the headmaster, providing another source of light just to be extra safe and cautious. He eyed the water wearily, knowing full well since he was raised as a muggle that still water was very dangerous, especially still water that had likely seen some dark shit if Voldemort had sealed something important here. He asked Dumbledore how they were going to cross and soon enough, the headmaster held a chain connected to a boat to take them across.
On the small island, Harry was right, a basin awaited them made of crystal. Nothing else of note was there, but Harry knew Tom had laid his own magical traps to protect a horcrux that was supposed to have been inside the basin, protected by the cave.
Instead, the basin only held a murky liquid that reminded Harry of the still water in the lake that surrounded them. He knew he didn't want to taste it…
"We must drink it, to reveal what is hidden beneath the magic." Dumbledore stated, for a moment almost looking like he was about to continue speaking and eventually take the first drink for himself, before instead just looking at Harry expectantly.
"I'm not drinking that!" Harry exclaimed, stepping away from the basin and Dumbledore. Knowing fine well that this was something bad that Harry had been expecting to happen. Dumbledore continued watching him, never stopping the look of expectancy as he waited for Harry to take the potion he offered with a seashell.
"It must be drunk, Harry. I'll be able to help whatever affects the potion, more than you'd be able to do for me if I drank it instead." He explained his reason for wanting Harry to drink.
They argued for some time, Harry getting everything off his chest as to how he couldn't trust Dumbledore after everything he had done against him. Dumbledore then told Harry how he could barely see the boy as being anything but evil because of his reactions to the truth and how he couldn't understand the Greater Good being necessary.
Eventually, they reached a standstill, each knowing the other wouldn't back down. Harry sighed, knowing there was no other way to get out of the damn cave since Dumbledore refused to budge an inch about this.
Harry drank.
Instantly, he regretted his decision. The potion had been one of despair as everything Harry had never wanted to happen flashed before his eyes. He saw the deaths of Hermione, Daphne and Susan. He saw them be tortured and raped before being killed as everyone else was like Neville and Luna. He saw their families burn and their wealth and knowledge being taken by Voldemort. He saw the house-elves and goblins burn as Voldemort swept through Britain before continuing with the rest of the world. He saw Dumbledore blame him and his parents agreed, Sirius turning his back on him and leaving him alone in the afterlife…
It was a nightmare, Harry had never wanted to come across or let it happen.
He pleaded with it to stop, for Dumbledore to stop shovelling the potion down his throat causing more agony for him and flashes to appear for him to view. He pleaded for water to wash the vile taste away and for Dumbledore to help him get away from the cave. Instead, Dumbledore continued. He continued until there was nothing left in the basin, the last dregs of the potion vanished and inside sat a locket.
Harry had enough of his mind left to realise the locket was a fake, of Salazar Slytherins' locket, of the one he had found in Grimmauld Place with Kreacher. He pleaded for Dumbledore to help him now that the potion was gone, to get him to safety or to give him a drink since the locket had been obtained but the headmaster did nothing of the sort.
"Harry, my boy…" Dumbledore started, looking deep into Harry's eyes which caused him to think the headmaster was about to mention to him about how much he looked like his father but with his mothers eyes. Something Harry had heard constantly since entering the wizarding world six years ago…
Instead, the headmaster didn't say that and Harry knew what he was doing instead, he was reading his mind while his occlumency was down from the potion of despair.
Dumbledore grinned, he saw a lot of Harry's memories, from training with Flitwick to discovering Salazar's portrait down the Chamber of Secrets. He saw how Harry had already discovered the horcruxes and dealt with them with the goblins. He saw Harry accepting the jobs to take out the Lestranges, Dolohov and Greyback as well as the job to fleece the American bank for the goblins.
Damn old fool even watched as Harry went through his rituals, even with his three girls…
'Fucking creep.' Harry made sure he thought, seeing the smile slip from Dumbledore's face as he saw that thought in his mind.
The headmaster saw how the goblins first contacted him about Sirius's death, about the inheritance and how all this began in the first place, he almost swore as he realised the goblins had ruined everything, all his plans for Harry.
He turned away, dropping his gaze from Harry and thought hard as he eventually spoke to Harry.
"Well, it seems a lot of the work has already been completed, thanks to you, my boy. Even if this locket is useless," He continued, looking at the locket that they had originally come here for, the fake Slytherin locket.
"The only good thing about this trip will be getting rid of you. I mean after all, what better way to ensure another Dark Lord doesn't rise after Voldemort is defeated, then by leaving you here to die?" He asked Harry seriously.
Harry had expected this, in one way or another, but wasn't expecting him to want him to die before Voldemort had been dealt with. He managed to mutter out a word.
"P-prophecy…" He said, gathering together as much strength and willpower he could gather while Dumbledore responded to try and get himself out of this mess.
"Ah yes… The prophecy. I believe with you dead Voldemort will seem invincible, at least until Nagini dies and I manage to end him myself." Dumbledore revealed, saying he wasn't worried about the prophecy in regards to letting Harry die.
The headmaster turned away from him, ready to just depart from the island and leave the cave. Harry let him. Knowing full well it would be easier to survive without having another wizard trying to kill him while dealing with the potion.
As Dumbledore left, he summoned his elves. Instantly, they appeared, almost all of them…
Dobby, Kreacher, Mentis and Elphas all stood before him, snapping their fingers as they magically sent the other elves away instantly as they took in their surroundings, seeing the small area they had to stand and the lake where they were.
Kreacher took control of the situation, having been here before with his other master, Regulus. He banished the other elves and ensured none of them touched the water, summoned some clean water for Harry to drink and try to regain himself while he quickly explained to the other elves about it all.
"Death… in the water, do not touch it. Master needs water and to leave this place before the dead awaken." He said, urging the other three elves to try and get Harry up but the potion was still in effect. Their movements caused the rocks to shift and disturb the water.
As the water became more disturbed, Kreacher groaned, knowing that a slight shift in the rocks had been more than enough to awaken the dead. Instantly, he had the other elves doing their very best to move Harry and stop the dead from grabbing onto them but their luck had run out.
Dumbledore it seemed had ensured anti-apparition and portkey wards were put into place while leaving the cave, the elves had just arrived in time beforehand but now they were just as stuck as Harry was.
Harry groaned as he saw the dead creep up closer to himself and his elves, he heard their screams as they fought as hard as they could before eventually starting to become overwhelmed and be grabbed, slowly being dragged towards the water.
The pain and misery from the potion of despair was still coursing through Harry, but he fought it as much as he could. He gripped his wand, letting the magic soar through himself and the wand on its own volition as he uttered the words and magic sprung fourth.
Fire…
Harry somehow found the strength to stand, his magic burning through his veins as it did around him as he waved his wand around himself. A ring of fire followed his wand around the pedestal and the island. The fire burned through the dead, the inferi, without pause. They let go of his elves, who gasped and stumbled back to Harry, clutching his legs as his magic continued to rage all around them.
The inferi burned, the smartest of them delved deep back under the water but Harry wouldn't let any of them survive, to be used at a later point or to continue living the existence Voldemort had forced them into having. He burned the lake, his fire turned into fiendfyre, becoming stronger as it turned into the shape of a lion and a phoenix. The water bubbled and hissed as it evaporated.
Harry saw the last of the creatures stumbling towards the exit, hoping to avoid the fire by leaving the cave but they weren't fast enough, Harry laid the dead back to proper rest as each one burnt to a crisp. His elves gasped, seeing the amount of destruction and power Harry held as his magic went to work.
Once it was over, they helped Harry over to the other side to the exit and helped him drink more water. After a few moments, Harry knew he needed to get back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore needed punishment for leaving Harry there to die, but he also needed to ensure his friends and girls were safe.
His elves didn't refuse him. Kreacher took half a minute as he looked over the remaining burnt corpses, offering a small silent prayer for his old master that was obviously somewhere in the pile of inferi.
He knew they were at rest now, all of them, and that was where he tried to find solace.
Harry had the elves take him back to the astronomy tower, the wards of Hogwarts had after all had let him in without issue, as if they recognised him as a student or that a student that the headmaster had just tried to kill. Either way, Harry found himself in the tower, it took him a minute, but he realised the elves had taken him just below the top of the tower, as Dumbledore stood at the top. They hadn't wanted him to just pop in right in front of him and potentially be stunned or killed, after all.
Harry saw Dumbledore gazing at the stars, the night slowly creeping in as the sun set, only the brightest stars being visible at the moment and yet the Headmaster still gazed at them as if in wonder.
Harry knew otherwise, the old man was staring at them in contemplation, trying to find the reason and the Greater Good within his actions of leaving Harry to die in the cave, to find the strength to forgive himself for doing what he'd done.
Before he could go up to confront the old man, someone else did instead, beating Harry to the punch. Draco arrived, his wand pointed at Dumbledore who remained clueless as he stared at the stars, or at least he seemed clueless…
"You're not a killer Draco… At least not yet." Dumbledore said before turning around. Draco stood there, obviously still debating what to do as his choice wasn't fully made. The two talked for a few moments, as Draco revealed he had been tasked with killing Dumbledore from Voldemort, to which Albus revealed he had known all along; how Draco had failed from killing him with the necklace, to poisoned wine, to even the vanishing cabinet and to even now. Draco almost raged, showing how desperate he was as he knew Voldemort would kill him if he failed this task, as he had failed to secure the Black inheritance and his father had failed before him time after time.
"You are not a killer, Draco." Dumbledore repeated, Harry knew he had likely cast some spell by now to compel Draco to listen to him, or be manipulated in some other way, the same way he'd been doing to Harry for so long. Draco however, had other plans…
He had found a way for more Death Eaters to join him during this attack, bringing back-up to ensure nothing went wrong during this attempt due to the other previous failed attempts…
"Bellatrix…" Dumbledore stated, seeing Draco's aunt appear beside him, as well as some other Death Eaters.
"And how, if you wouldn't mind, explaining how you all got within my castle?" Dumbledore asked calmly. His demeanour shifted slightly, and Harry could tell he was now much more prepared for a fight then when it had just been Draco.
"Love to, my dear Albus, but I'm afraid we're on a bit of a tight schedule." Bellatrix replied, Harry could tell she was barely controlling herself, the excitement of the moment was getting to her and she was eager to both begin and finish the task her master had given her.
"Oh, are you sure? Can't spare a minute for an old mans' curiosity?" Dumbledore pressed, clearly wanting to know how Draco had gotten them inside Hogwarts.
"The passage from the shrieking shack…" Draco muttered, answering his headmaster. Bellatrix whipped around to him and ordered him to be silent, to not give any more information away but Dumbledore was pleased to have already gotten what he had wanted.
"Ah, it seems I'll likely have to close that one soon enough then." He responded, causing Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters to giggle as they exclaimed Dumbledore would never have the chance.
Snape appeared, who took in the situation in stride, as if he had been a part of it all from the beginning, only Harry who had his own vantage point below, saw the look pass from Snape to Dumbledore and back again, to know something was up between the two.
"What are you wasting time here for, get on with it." Snape drawled out, pointing his own wand to Dumbledore.
"Severus… Please…" Dumbledore intoned, for a moment, even Harry believed the old man was begging for mercy even though he had just seen the look pass between the two of them. Then he understood what was about to happen. Or at least believed he did.
"Avada Kedavra." Snape replied, shooting his killing curse towards Dumbledore…
Harry barely had time to process everything that happened, Dumbledore had shifted ever so slightly before Snape had cast the killing curse. He saw Dumbledore's eyes change as if he was altering the plan the headmaster must have already had.
Albus allowed himself to fall over the railing of the tower and began falling just as the killing curse went over where he just was, to everyone else like Draco and Bellatrix, it seemed like Dumbledore had been hit, and killed before falling over the edge. Only Harry and Snape, it seemed, knew Dumbledore had fallen before the killing curse had actually managed to make it to him and had barely missed him.
Dumbledore fell and seemingly hit the ground below the tower. Bellatrix looked over the railing confirming the kill before laughing maniacally and casting the dark mark. She and the others left the tower quickly, apparently having other plans within Hogwarts before leaving to rejoin Voldemort. Harry however, had been able to see Dumbledore apparate as he fell from the tower, knew that he was both alive and somewhere, just either within Hogwarts or somewhere else, Harry wasn't sure.
Instead, whatever hit the ground below them, Harry knew wasn't Dumbledore, likely an illusion or a transfigured object to resemble him.
His mind spun in circles, racing to put together the pieces as he knew Snape and Dumbledore had likely planned out part of this together. That Dumbledore might have actually wanted Snape to kill him before now, but that the plan had likely changed since Albus had discovered the horcruxes were already destroyed and had left Harry to die.
Harry knew Dumbledore likely believed he could finish what he wanted, to end Voldemort once and for all and go down in history as being the only wizard to defeat two powerful Dark Lords, before dying himself due to the curse from the Gaunt ring.
He followed the Death Eaters, intending to find out what else they had planned within the castle and to stop them from hurting any students or other professors. Bellatrix mainly wanted to destroy everything they passed, from statues to portraits to windows…
Draco remained silent, contemplating what had actually happened and how Dumbledore now seemed to be completely dead, by his own hand or not.
Even Snape was unsteady, as he knew as well that Dumbledore had changed the plan, whatever it was, since Dumbledore wasn't actually dead yet.
Harry discovered they intended to either bring down Hogwarts wards or to shift them under their control, for Voldemort to gain access to the castle and easily take over it. They were about to split up for another group to locate Harry and to try to capture him or at least kill a few of his own supporters when Harry did them a favour and revealed himself for them. Stopping them from breaking apart and separating.
"Itty, bitty baby, come out to play?" Bellatrix sang, delighted at Harry's presence. He had already stopped them from continuing to try and take over the wards, all of them watched Harry carefully, awaiting his move as Bellatrix taunted him.
"Bella… If you were still part of my family… I would tell you your Lord isn't a baby. But why bother?" Harry responded in kind, eager to see her reaction as he knew she would turn violent very soon.
"A Lord?" She sneered back at him before continuing.
"You couldn't be a Lord if you tried darling, once my master kills you, Draco will take back what was his and restore the House of Black to what it once was! By taking me back into the family and giving me back my family magic!" Bellatrix almost screamed back at Harry, who grinned in response.
"Will he now?" He replied, before shooting back at how that wouldn't reinstate her marriage to the Lestranges' or even bring back her dead husband. He then taunted her as he told her how Andromeda and Narcissa had already restored the House of Black and they just needed more members which would soon be born into the family.
Draco grew paler as his mother was mentioned and Bellatrix snarled at the mention of her sisters.
"You worthless half-breed! The House of Black will never be yours!" She screamed before beginning the duel that Harry anticipated was coming.
She threw curses at him and spell-chains, showing off her ability to duel as best as she could as the other Death Eaters, Snape and Draco included, backed away from the area and watched as Bella went to work and Harry responded in kind.
The spells traded were dangerous and lethal, any one of them would have killed Harry if they had hit but none of them ever did, he dodged most and blocked the others with shields.
Harry grinned as she realised he was still standing after everything she threw at him, causing her to begin sending another round and volley of the spells. Harry responded in kind, throwing his own spells and even demonstrating his own family magic, he threw every Black magic at her, knowing she would be able to counter it even if she was no longer part of the family, as she would still be able to understand the magic coming towards her.
She grinned as Harry expected, knowing the magic and countering it easily but it did as Harry wanted, it lowered her guard…
Harry continued, trading spells with Bella as the others watched and even began trying to throw their own spells in between, Snape holding Draco back and protecting him from rogue spells. Then Harry revealed his trick, he'd send a load of Black magic to Bella, again knowing she could counter it all, before also sending some Potter family magic to her. She never saw it coming as she focused on the Black family magic, until eventually the Potter magic hit her and she paused, completely stunned but aware of her surroundings as the duel ended and Bella had lost.
Harry wasted no time, he started slinging spells at the other Death Eaters, even Draco and Snape joining in as they defended themselves from Harry's spells. Soon he had overtaken the group of them, only Draco and Snape still stood against Harry as he paused.
"You have a choice." Harry stated, making it clear that if either of them wanted to live then they would have to surrender to him and allow him access into their minds to confirm they were fully surrendering, then he would accept nothing but a magical oath confirming they were done with it all, the war. If they wanted to stop, now was the time.
Both Draco and Snape both seemed to want to, or at least they were going to accept his offer, before Draco bared his arm and told Harry it was too late. He flung a spell at Harry, causing Snape to have to join him due to the unbreakable vow Harry had previously discovered Snape had swore, to protect Draco.
Harry duelled them, but they managed to protect themselves as it seemed they knew it was useless fighting Harry and instead retreated as they blocked his spells and sent back their own to stop him from advancing after them and following.
They left Bellatrix, which almost confused Harry as he had intentionally left Bellatrix open to be revived from his spell to lure them closer in, but Harry saw Snape clearly making the choice that she either wasn't worth trying to rescue or he simply didn't want to as he dragged Draco from harm.
Harry was left with a bunch of Death Eaters and a frozen Bellatrix before the office of the Headmaster. He summoned everything from the downed Death Eaters, as he usually did, just in case they were either still alive or in case Bella got any ideas before he eventually unfroze part of her.
He forced her gaze as he went deep into her mind, there he learned a great deal of the truth. He knew Bellatrix was insane, but this was out of the box.
Harry was for a moment, reminded of when Dudley had watched Batman when they were younger, how the Joker had somehow indoctrinated Harely Quinn, a doctor and a psychiatrist at the time, into becoming the manic crazy girl she was as she loved the Joker. As he looked into Bellatrix's eyes and therefore her mind, he saw the exact same thing that had happened to Harely Quinn within Bellatrix.
She had been abused, tortured and spelled almost like Harry had but worse, into supporting Voldemort, from everyone around her. From her parents, to her husband - Rodolphus, to even Voldemort himself. They had tortured her and broke her further and further until she had no choice but accept the reality to survive, to accept being a servant of Voldemort completely until she was utterly devoted to him.
Harry was sickened.
For a moment, he actually thought this was what he had been close to becoming. A servant and a loyal follower. Only instead of Voldemort being his master, it would have been Dumbledore.
He didn't know what to do. His mind screamed she was too dangerous to leave, even for a moment, even frozen as she was and that she needed to die. But another part of him knew it was horrific what she had been through, a part of him wanted to try to save her as someone else should have done long ago for her, and him as he remembered wishing someone would while he was kid locked in his cupboard.
He sighed, knowing now was too late to try saving everyone. Maybe, if he had more time and Voldemort wasn't currently waging war…
He processed everything else he learnt from Bellatrix's mind. Voldemort's plans. He had wanted Dumbledore dead to spread fear and chaos while also attacking the Ministry at the same time. After he would have both the Ministry and Hogwarts under his control, he would hunt for Harry if he somehow survived Hogwarts after Dumbledore had died.
He also planned to summon the army he had hired after getting a loan from the other two major banks, his little minion army from around the world awaiting access once the Ministry fell, they would be his workforce to ensure the rest of the public remained in line.
Then he planned for his conquest of the other countries in Europe, he had already decided to follow Grindlewald's path, to resemble him so his old followers would join him instead of doing nothing as they currently were.
Harry also saw the truth about Neville's' parents, Bellatrix would be needed herself to unravel the magic she had cast upon them, as well as being reinstated into the Black family to do it too. Yet Harry knew she never would, even if he allowed her to do so, all because of how badly damaged she was, she wouldn't ever consider doing anything to help her master's enemies.
Harry had no choice but to ensure she didn't do any more damage to the wizarding world. He was both happy and sad, happy to avenge Sirius but sad as he knew Bellatrix never actually wanted to kill Sirius. It was like she had been tortured into a different form of an imperius curse…
Still, Harry killed her. She dropped to the floor as Harry ensured she wouldn't feel any further pain, cutting her neck open and ensuring she died swiftly. The blood spilled and pooled around his feet, he sighed, knowing another member of the House of Black had been used and tossed aside by Tom Riddle.
He hadn't had much time. He ensured the other Death Eaters were all dead or at least powerless and restrained before leaving them, he wanted at least one of them alive so they could tell the tale of what happened to whoever found them, likely McGonagall.
Other than that, he really didn't have much time…
He knew Voldemort was currently attacking the Ministry once more, only this time for total control instead of just the prophecy. He refused to take any of the others as he had last time, knowing Voldemort was going to be there ensured he wasn't going to risk any of his friends' lives. He called his elves, asking them to take him from Hogwarts to the Ministry…
As he appeared, he dived. Barely seeing a flash of light coming towards him before he moved on instinct. He recovered with a roll and saw destruction, littered around him. Everyone was duelling.
Death Eaters littered the main hall of the Ministry, in full regalia and sending spells everywhere as the killing curse flashed left, right and centre. Auror's stood against them, broken up from a united line as they engaged separately into their own duels, a tactic the Death Eaters seemed to be using against them as they switched halfway between duels and attacked someone else's partner. A shady but effective tactic, Harry realised.
The auror's were backed up with every hit wizard and specialised unspeakable that could be spared, each throwing their own spells to do maximum damage to the most amount of enemies that they could. They looked like they were winning, but only for a second before the Death Eaters seemed to fight back with everything they could.
Harry saw Amelia and Rufus in the thick of it, each holding their own with a group of others as Voldemort fought them specifically. He stood in the middle, avoiding each spell like it couldn't touch him while they gave him everything they could.
Harry had barely taken in the scene, before Dumbledore suddenly appeared, a flash of red and gold light as he appeared with Fawkes, who sang proudly but also looked so very disappointed with Dumbledore. Like this would be the very last time he took Dumbledore somewhere and the last time they would be together. A tear even slipped from the phoenix's eye as he swooped around the Ministry, sticking high to the ceiling.
Albus and Tom didn't speak to each other, instead they flung spells at each other like they had been awaiting each other. Like old friends who had resumed a battle they had both paused a long time ago, and in a way they were, as they continued the battle they had begun here at the Ministry over a year ago.
Amelia and Rufus tried to aid Dumbledore, but were pushed out of the way and into the fight with the other Death Eaters. They had to ensure their aurors weren't completely defeated against Tom's forces.
Harry had to admit, as well as everyone else like the Death Eaters and even the aurors, some of which had of course paused as they watched Tom and Dumbledore fight, that they were powerful wizards. Like they were titans of magic, fighting on a different level than any of the others, as the spells flew between them.
Harry had seen it before and knew he could continue for quite some time, so he decided to get to work before making his presence known.
Rounding up some of the worst Death Eaters proved to be easy work, seeing as the majority he targeted were in awe watching the fight, like some auror's were. He was lucky no auror tried to take him out, seeing as they were in the fight of their lives, but luckily, they had seen he wasn't wearing the Death Eater garb.
A heavy handful fell as Harry silently took them out, even flat out engaging three of the strongest ones remaining and quickly ending them before he decided now was the time to end it. He approached Dumbledore and Tom, ensuring most of the others moved back as Amelia nodded to him, knowing he was joining the big battle.
"ALBUS! THOMAS!" Harry roared, getting the effect he wanted as the sonorus died from his throat. The two wizards; the Dark Lord and the Leader of the Light paused their epic duel as they turned to Harry's voice, seeing him standing there as he waited for the battle to resume.
Harry smirked, feeling both the confusion and anger radiate towards him. Dumbledore was clearly confused as to how he escaped the cave while Tom was raging that he hadn't died, like Dumbledore in Hogwarts, or at least stayed there while he tried to overturn the Ministry.
"Daddy's back…" Harry uttered in the moment, taking their stunned silence in stride.
They spared no further words. Harry didn't allow either of them to have the first spell be cast so he shot his own. His spells were equally shared between Voldemort and Albus, which was noticed by the wizards who remained watching. They were confused as to why the Chosen One was also fighting Albus Dumbledore, a figure of the Light, for their protection against Voldemort. Yet they couldn't ask why of course due to the fight that escalated in front of their very eyes.
Between the three of them, the spells rocketed in every direction, exploding, cutting and even disintegrating everything they touched instead of their intended targets, one of the three wizards who cast them.
Voldemort, of course, was just like Harry and was attacking both Albus and Harry at the same time, looking gleeful as if he was enjoying himself immensely. Meanwhile, Albus seemed to be having a tough time, defending himself against both Harry and Tom while slinging the odd spell out himself at one of them.
Harry did his best, going completely full out, even taking a moment to pause in between some spells and his shields to down the last of the vial of liquid luck he had Dobby retrieve from his trunk before leaving Hogwarts.
He went into complete training battle mode, making full use of the training Salazar and Flitwick had both taught him throughout the year. He accepted the very good possibility of his death during this fight, seeing as it was clearly a tough battle and an odd echo pulsed in the back of his head that Nagini was still alive so Voldemort wouldn't die completely even if Harry did win this fight. But still he fought, and would do so until one of them had taken his last breath from him, or until he had taken theirs.
Dumbledore almost stumpelled, Voldemort decided to focus on Harry, seeing and realising that Harry was also fighting Dumbledore. Tom tried to take advantage and succeeded. Dumbledore accepted the pause from Tom's attacks on his own and responded in kind against Harry. The tide shifted.
It was no longer a three way battle between the three titans of magic, this time it was two against one and Harry was the one…
Between dodging every other spell and casting his own in response, Harry barely had time to recognise some of the spells sent his way. From Dumbeldore and Tom combined, the knowledge, skill and even experience well outweighed what the 16 year old boy had brought to the battle. He might have had strength and even a good bit of knowledge and training, but that was just it, Harry was still 16, not even a man in the eyes of wizard law since he wasn't 17. He was emancipated sure, so he had the legal rights of an adult, but his magic still hadn't reached his last majority so he wasn't at full power, unlike these two bastards in front of him.
Harry gritted his teeth, he hadn't survived a fucking thousand year old basilisk, a group of a hundred bloody dementors and even a fucking death-trap of a wizard competition to go down easily against two powerful wizards. Not these two specifically. One who had killed his parents and marked him as his equal in life and death, and the other who had manipulated everything else from him and took advantage of him like he was a weapon, like he was a Hallow that he had wanted to use just as much as he wanted to gather them.
The power raged within him and the magic responded in kind, the battle was already epic as Harry held his own against the two wizards but then he stepped it up another notch. He unleashed his core in a magical frenzy as he tugged the necklace of the Deathly Hallows around his neck. The cloak donned him instantly while the ring appeared on his finger, the Elder wand settled between his off hand while his main gripped his actual wand tighter in his grip.
For a moment, Dumbeldore and Tom were stunned, by both the magic Harry had produced to stall them and the fact that Harry had disappeared in front of their eyes by using the Hallows. Dumbledore instantly connected the pieces as he realised Harry had the Elder wand and likely the Resurrection Stone. Tom took a little longer but also realised Harry had the most powerful wand in existance to use against him.
Still, he grinned instead of showing fear, believing his horcruxes would protect him from death from even the strongest wand in the world.
Then Dumbledore had to drop the fucking bomb.
"He's found your horcruxes Tom, only Nagini remains." He said, not even looking at Tom's face as he continued to scour the battlefield, looking for Harry even while he was under the invisibility cloak. Harry shook his head as he fumed, angry at Dumbledore for revealing the truth, he was worried for a moment that Dumbledore would eventually find him under the cloak as he nearly always did before, until he remembered the cloak was blood-bonded to him, meaning it was stronger than ever so the trick Dumbledore had once used would never work again.
Still, Harry didn't remain under it for long, he positioned himself and got ready to reveal himself. Not a moment too soon either, as Tom looked ready to start murdering anyone and everyone at Dumbledore's truth bomb.
"Here!" Harry shouted, sending his own stunner at Dumbledore and his own volley of spells at Voldemort from very close to Dumbledore. It almost worked, but unfortunately didn't. Dumbeldore deflected the stunner and just moved out of the way in time for Voldemort's spells to flicker past him, touching the bare ends of the long beard he had.
Harry sighed, disappearing once more under the cloak as he moved from the spells. He had hoped Voldemort would have been able to take out Dumbledore but his plan had failed, he wondered for a second whether the liquid luck had run dry or not before shaking his head, knowing he probably would have been dead already if not for Felix helping him out.
He knew it would be pointless trying again, but still he tried once more. Using the same plan, however this time he stood in the middle of the two wizards trying to kill him. As he sent his spells, using both wands to send the exact same spells both ways, he shot at them both before disappearing again and ducking as he moved just out of the way, in time for the wizards to throw their own spells back at him.
'Damn.' Harry thought, really thinking that one of them would have been down and out by now. Instead the two wizards had again reflected Harry's spells and sent their own in each other's direction. Their spells had stuck each other and fizzled out or each echoed around the main halls as they exploded and ripped up the ground where Harry had been moments ago.
"Come out Harry, come out to play." Voldemort taunted every now and then as Harry tried to work out a plan. Dumbledore remained silent, peering into every direction as he tried his best to sense Harry out.
The ministry at this point was in tatters. In complete disarray even, as bodies lined the ground between the three wizards, along with rubble and glass. Amelia had nearly tried to join the fray but Harry had ensured she stayed back, casting a ward to ensure no one else intervened until only one of the three of them remained standing, whoever that would be…
Amelia had been forced to continue fighting the remaining Death Eaters, who at this point were lacking in numbers and still the majority of them remained watching the fight as their master fought both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.
Harry saw no other option, he knew he would likely lose unless something drastic happened, so he pulled out every hail mary he could and used them. He downed a few potions quickly while under the cloak, a pepper-up and some strengthening potions as well as a wit-sharpening one, they wouldn't do much of course, but every little helped seeing as Tom and Albus had no time to down the potions themselves.
He then summoned everything else he thought he could use right now; from decoy detonators to peruvian instant darkness powder to even any other potion he had that could distract or hurt either Tom or Albus that he could use. He set everything off together and hoped for the best.
As the room filled in darkness, the decoys blasted sound and more clouds around to thicken the darkness from the powder. The potions exploded, clearly hitting at least one of their targets and doing at least some damage to one of the manic wizards trying to kill him. Harry also moved, he remained under the cloak but spent no time as he spun around slinging spells in every direction as if he was a cowboy in a shoot-out during the Wild West, only blind.
He thought a few must have hit, as pain echoed around him in the darkness and of course some spells were flung back his way. Luckily, Felix had guided him into lying prone on the floor as they zoomed overhead past him.
The room quickly cleared, between Dumbledore and Tom, the darkness lasted moments before they removed it and Harry got to see the damage he had done. He laughed but also nearly spewed as he saw what had happened. Dumbledore had become bald due to one of his potions and Tom had nearly the same effect, however the potion seemed to have hit him right in the balls, as his robes melted and revelled his shrivelled up dick and balls, or whatever was left of them as Harry realised he must have sacrificed that part of himself in a ritual or something.
His laugh however, had given away his position and as he moved in response. More spells flung towards him. He revealed himself and the battle commenced once more in full. The spells ranged from power and scale as they became more violent or epic at times. Harry ensured he used the cloak as much as he could while listening to Felix in his head about which way to go or what to do next…
The battle raged, and raged.
Honestly it just didn't stop, soon enough the Ministry had cleared out the Death Eaters that remained and had already summoned reinforcements. To either watch or provide support, Harry didn't know, as he constantly remained locked between Voldemort and Albus. Eventually, even the press arrived, taking in the scene in silence and awe as the three wizards continued to rage around the room like a storm upon themselves.
Harry even for a second, thought he saw Hermione's bushy hair, or Daphne's glittering eyes and even Susan's smile before he concentrated back on the fight, unable to allow himself to be distracted even for a second to confirm if they were there or not, or if he was just seeing things.
Harry didn't know how long they had been fighting, it felt like hours, or even days. But in reality they had probably been fighting for a few minutes. Harry was wrong, they had been fighting for days…
It was coming up to a full three days within the next hour and yet none of them showed any signs of stopping or slowing down. They were tired of course, but the magic and the adrenaline of the situation kept them going, never letting them pause for a moment as the magic was traded between them. Death itself seemed to be standing on the sidelines waiting for one of them to fall, or maybe even all of them.
Harry continued, as he had over the past three days, slinging spells and dodging them, retreating into invisibility or using some darkness powder or another one of his gadgets to catch a breath half the time, seeing as he knew they weren't going to help him win the battle. Dumbledore, of course, looked the most worn out, his bald head covered in sweat as was Tom's, but Tom wasn't lacking in breath as Dumbeldore was.
Harry had screamed a few times in frustration too, clearly thinking the scene was unfair as Dumbledore and Tom had joined against him, a 16 year old boy instead of being fair and having the three way duel Harry had expected at the beginning.
The only thing that made Harry feel a bit better, was how he was still alive. It was three days of constant fighting after all, Felix had long worn off from him and Harry had been worried that was all that had been keeping him alive, but it seemed he was wrong. His training and now the constant experience he was getting showed he was better than he thought and while not fully capable of easily ending Tom. He was at least more than capable of holding him and Dumbledore both together at a standstill.
There had been times where he thought one of them would tap out, or simply retreat from the fight. But it was clear none of them would be doing so. Tom had also seen the crowd that had now gathered around them and he knew if he retreated no one would ever follow him again. Likewise, Dumbledore believed he would be questioned or assaulted almost immediately if he did the same, seeing as he wasn't even fighting against Voldemort now and was openly helping him trying to kill Harry Potter.
Harry thought that if he retreated, everyone would lose any hope they had and would likely let Voldemort win against them, only if he died a martyr would they likely believe they still had a chance to fight and win in his name against these two wizards.
They had even traded barbs throughout the three days they had duelled together. Harry switched from Albus to Voldemort as they each reacted differently to his taunts. They had tried to do the same to him of course, or more specifically, Voldemort had tried. But Harry had long gotten used to taunts as Voldemort should have been with the bullying they had both been through. However, Tom had grown used to not being insulted as Lord Voldemort, whereas Harry wasn't still quite over how bad his previous bullying had been for him. The taunts were useless against Harry but effective for him against Tom.
Once more, he disappeared under the cloak. This time another drop of instant darkness powder helped him survive a bit longer. Harry realised the people watching the duel must have been using wards and runes to protect themselves against the spells, as if treating it like the duel of the century instead of what it was, an all out survival against three powerful wizards…
He almost groaned in frustration but sighed quietly instead, ensuring his position wasn't given away. He realised he could try using a few wards and runic arrays he had to try and get an advantage.
Reappearing, Harry tossed the runic arrays into the darkness, letting them use their magic against his two foes as he began quickly organising some wards for the two to fall into if they stepped within. He managed to get a few up but knew they would still have to step inside them for the wards to even work and that would be a task itself.
For a moment, before the darkness disappeared, Harry thought he saw his friends all gathered looking both ready to join him at any moment that they could, but also concentrated on something as if a ritual of some kind. Harry felt a bare pulse of energy being directed his way, not from Tom or Albus but from his group of friends. He realised that they had somehow managed to try connecting their magic to his, as if to boost him up after the long three days he had already spent duelling. He smiled.
Then Harry realised two things. One, that Voldemort was likely doing the same with his Death Eaters, draining them through their dark marks to be able to keep up in the fight, meanwhile Dumbledore was clearly lacking but was surviving on experience and age alone. Two, the instant darkness had worn off, and Harry had been exposed.
It was a close call, Harry had nearly been fried like an egg as he stood there for a second too long, the spell had clipped his robes. Any closer and it would have clipped a vein or even completely severed his arm.
He then got hit flat out by another spell, this time from Voldemort as Dumbledore had slung the first. This spell landed flat against Harry's chest, knocking the breath out of his lungs and severing his robes on his chest. Luckily, instead of blood oozing out and soaking his front, Harry grinned as his armour was revealed.
Harry had, after all, provided the goblins a while ago with what remained of the basilisk. They had given him back a chest plate made from a mixture of goblin steel and basilisk bone, hide and skin. As much protection as they could provide. Unfortunately, they couldn't provide a full armour set, like gloves or a helmet, but a chest plate was good enough for Harry. Especially as Voldemort lost the grin on his face at hitting Harry flat out, before turning to utter fury that Harry had a basilisk vest.
That only meant however, now the cat was out of the bag, that Tom and Albus ensured all their spells were directed to either Harry's legs or head as their duel continued.
Harry responded in kind, deciding to aim for Dumbledore completely now that the old man was clearly on his last legs, his reserves if you would.
Tom saw what he was doing and even almost allowed him to go ahead and finish the old man off, after all, he hated Dumbledore just a little bit more than Harry but could see Harry had the same anger to the old man as he did. But instead, he knew the fight between himself and Harry would be even worse than it currently was as two on one, thus Tom defended his enemy against his mortal enemy.
'It really is the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Harry thought, once more dodging massively painful spells and slinging his own back at them. He hadn't used the killing curse so far during the duel but was almost feeling like it was worth trying, as Dumbledore had clearly given in to the urge, likely around the second day mark while Tom had of course thrown them around like spare coins to the homeless.
Harry had almost jumped for joy as Tom walked into one of his runic traps, he became both paralysed and disorientated as the wards activated and kept him in place. Within a moment, Tom had ripped the wards from inside out, Dumbledore barely having time to send one spell his way to help him out before Tom was back in the game.
Harry, however, had took the time to not only send his own spells to Tom, to both distract him further and keep him busy, but to also do their fair share of damage; had then also turned back to the Headmaster, using the moment of one on one to turn the tide back against the old professor. He used everything but battle transfiguration against Dumbledore, as he knew that area was his specialty, instead using charms as one of his main branches of magic against him.
Albus was prepared, but still was tired after three days of duelling and got hit by at least three different spells, one blinding him, another turning him yellow from head to toe and another locking his jaw together, stopping him from saying spells but not silent casting.
Tom recovered before the last spell had hit Albus, Harry barely having a second to catch his breath as he turned once more back to Tom.
This time as he continued to go all out, Harry used everything including transfiguration battle magic against Tom, he didn't have a clear expertise as Albus did, unless you counted the killing curse as a specific branch of magic. But Harry knew a bit of everything would eventually catch Tom off guard, especially if he expected a charm instead of a curse to be coming his way.
Harry eventually landed some good hits of his own with his spells, slashing Tom's robes like he had done to Harry's chest, even causing leg-lock for the Dark Lord for a moment as the first year spell hit him.
'Damn fucking spell.' Harry thought to himself, weaving between spellings, thinking he should have sent a fucking cutting curse instead of the leg-lock spell as he saw it hit Tom.
Dumbledore re-joined the duel, his blindness easing away and his jaw unlocked as the professor had worked fast, ignoring the yellow that blazed all over him.
Harry had no choice, it seemed, as the battle continued to rage as it had around them for so long already. He was prepared to start throwing his own unforgivables around and began doing so hard and fast, from the imperious in Albus's direction to a crucio in Voldemort's before sending both a killing curse each, Harry sent them their way. He heard a gasp go through the crowd and a voice he recognised but couldn't hear properly say something like;
'Well what do you expect him to do after three days, fighting for his life?' But again, he turned it out as he saw Albus dodge the imperious and Voldemort had actually laughed as he battered the crucio away with his wand.
The killing curse had been a different story.
Harry had almost thought he had hit Voldemort, having missed Dumbledore entirely as he moved out of the way. Voldemort however stood and accepted the curse face on, he blocked it of course, at the last second. But for a moment, Harry had thought he'd had him.
They both stepped their game up in response however.
"Now, now, my boy… There is no need for that." Dumbledore had said quite casually, as if he wasn't in the middle of a three day long duel for his life against the boy.
Voldemort tutted, nodding along with Dumbledore with a smile on his face, almost as if proud of Harry and very clearly enjoying the duel as it was a game and some entertainment combined. Harry rolled his eyes, ignoring the taunts as they both clearly began stepping up the duel even further then the level of madness it already was.
Tom used fiendfyre and Albus began using a mixture of his own spells, from rock golems being formed and shockwaves being sent through the ground to where Harry stood, to even using water to stop Harry from escaping the rock and fire heading his way. Harry lunged across the floor, jumping over the shockwave and battering the rock golems with powerful reductors, before beginning his own battle of dominance against Voldemort's serpent of fiendfyre.
Just as he thought he was making some headway, Albus summoned his own fiendfyre, a phoenix of demon fire that began to descend down to Harry as the snake coiled around him stopping his escape. He was trapped, between the demon fire of his enemies…
During the duel, Harry had noticed Fawkes had remained in the ministry, it was clear he was unhappy with Dumbledore, from the moment he had begun throwing spells at Harry to the moment he flat out joined Voldemort against Harry, Fawkes had watched and seen it all. From that second, the bond had broken between the two and Dumbledore hadn't realised obviously as he was caught up in the moment, but Fawkes had watched from Harry's side of the battlefield. It was something everyone else had realised, as though Fawkes couldn't help Harry, he sang a song that was both empowering Harry but also sorrowful for Albus and Tom as it drained them slightly.
As Harry had noticed this, how his strength was a little stronger due to the song, and how likewise Tom and Albus must have been suffering from the opposite effect, Harry realised that Dumbeldore's bond with Fawkes had been maintaining his strength for so long…
While the bond was broken, Albus still had a lot of juice to burn through from being bonded with a phoenix for so long; all these years, which was why he had been able to keep up with Tom and Harry for so long during the three day duel. The bond had empowered him as the dark mark empowered Tom, how Hermione and Harry's friends were trying to empower him with their own ritual…
But none of that would save him from the fiery demon fire. He almost thought that was it, that there was nothing else to be done to save him from this moment, from the duel being ended and him becoming a martyr at best.
Then Harry had a kick me moment as he nearly slapped himself on the back of his head. Magic was magic after all, it could save him even without a spell being known or created for this exact moment, magic could still do the impossible.
Thus, Harry did the impossible. He summoned his own demon, only this time it wasn't made of hell fire, it was made from heavenly water. After all, if fiendfyre was apparently from hell, then his water could come from god damn heaven, if he willed it to be. He wasn't sure where the hell the water had actually come from, but was fairly sure it was likely at least holy water from somewhere within London, above the Ministry.
It formed into his own animal, a stag, after his father with a very clear water lily hanging from it's antlers and charged the serpent which was coiling tighter around Harry, as the snake reared back from the stag it charged, aiming its antlers to do straight through the serpent completely.
Harry didn't pause there, he summoned another creature from the water, after all, a stag couldn't handle both fire demons. He smiled to himself as he saw another figure emerge from his holy water.
'Heavenly water/fiend water?' Crossing through his mind briefly as he nearly got distracted, he shook himself out of his thoughts and focused back on the duel, watching as a large water dog or wolf-like creature tackled the fiery phoenix out of the air. Both the serpent and the phoenix wailed almost lifelike as the water hissed and steamed as the demons cooled and eventually died from the water. Harry's own creatures joined their elemental opposites in death as the fire burned the water out.
Tom and Albus had almost been stunned, watching Harry create his own version of a water demon. The crowd around them certainly had been as they were all gobsmacked. The steam had barely cleared before Albus and Tom both stuck again, this time at once with the same spell.
The killing curse.
Harry sent his own back to the two, using both wands as he was still trapped between the two because of their fiendfyre.
What resulted was magical alright.
As Harry and Tom had already experienced a very similar type of thing, they knew what was happening, as did Albus, who had of course, explained it to Harry after he had survived it against Voldemort the first time. Priori incantatem.
Like it had once in the graveyard during Harry's fourth year, his spells met the spells from Tom and Albus and collided, creating a magical effect. A barrier once more wrapped around the three of them, only this time no spells were reflected from the reverse spell, nor were previous souls of the dead emerge, like his parents, for Harry or to help him.
Instead, the three remained locked there, their spells colliding with each other for a long time as each fought for dominance, while Harry fought both of them for dominance.
None of them wanted to be the one to break it, Albus knew better and even Tom did when Harry had used it to his advantage from the graveyard. As their wands remained locked between the spells, like lightning was arcing between the three of them, they did each hear strange things.
Tom heard voices telling him he was a monster and shouldn't have been born, it only angered Tom further but a part of him guessed the voice was possibly his mother. Albus for a second, heard his sister; telling him faintly, 'not again.' as soon as that was said however, her voice disappeared and Albus instead heard Minerva McGonagall, asking him clearly;
'What did he think he was doing for heavens' sake?' Her tone twinged with her native Scottish twang as her anger was clear as day, Albus was attacking his student, a boy he had once thought of as part of his own family.
Harry himself heard a voice, but instead of it being faint or even spirit-like, it sounded like Hermione; she seemed devastated but said to him, 'this has to happen, or it won't end. It shouldn't have been like this…'
It was all Harry heard, before one of them, none of them knowing which, broke the spell lock and the killing curses bounced around to hit their targets.
Two hit who they were aiming for, only one survived…
Voldemort saw the familiar green light he took comfort in, coming towards him and smiled. Knowing full well that the killing curse would do nothing to him as Nagini was alive, what he hadn't know of course, was that Hermione and the others in Harry's inner circle had took the chance to raid Malfoy Manor as they discovered how the three wizards were locked in an all out duel.
Nagini had died long ago, but Voldmort hadn't had the chance to feel the void she had left, as he had to focus on the duel.
The killing curse hit him, but he didn't die, instead it turned him paler than ever, as if some part of him did die, but not enough for him to completely leave this plane of existence. Not that it mattered, either way he wouldn't be able to leave the Ministry, whoever else survived the duel would either finish him off, or Amelia and her gang of aurors' and Harry's inner circle would. He had no more of his own Death Eaters to use as bait or a shield while escaping. He would die in the Ministry just like someone else did from the duel.
Dumbledore himself dodged the curse, barely moving his old and frail limbs out of the way just in time for the curse to sail past him as it had many times previously in his life. He was barely recognisable however, the duel had taken so much out of him he barely looked like he had a few more days left to live, never mind anything else. Harry realised that of course, this was his own hail mary, to try to defeat Voldemort for his legacy while he could before his cursed blackened hand took the remaining life from him.
He might have survived the duel and the last killing curse being thrown, but he wouldn't survive much longer afterwards.
It was Harry, who got hit by the other killing curse. He might have laughed or smirked as he thought he wouldn't have died, after all, he had managed - thanks to his mother - to survive one killing curse, who was to say he couldn't survive one more?
Not only that, but he had mastered Death, after all, uniting the Hallows had to account for something, right?
Surely, it had ended up hitting him over the basilisk vest that would have provided at least some protection someway, right?
But no. Harry wasn't protected from the basilisk vest, or his mothers' sacrifice or even from Death itself.
Harry was hit with the killing curse.
Indirectly. But hit nonetheless.
One thing was in the way of Harry being completely stuck by the curse. It not only ended up saving his life, but likely became apart of fucking it up…
Harry remembered hearing Hermione above most of the others, screaming his name. He barely heard Daphne and Susan but believed he also heard them pleading for him to be okay.
He then heard a lot of everything else, everything else was messy.
Between Amelia calling for the duelling wards to be brought down and to swarm upon Voldemort, to Dumbledore calling Harry's name out as well, like the girls had, Harry could barely hear them all.
Voldemort had begun attacking everyone he could, intent on doing his best to escape after the long duel but becoming surprised as he was soon overwhelmed by a lot of pumped up wizards who were both strengthened by witnessing Harry's fight and devastated he had been hit. Either way, they ensured Voldemort and later Dumbledore would be going nowhere.
It had all happened so fast, Harry had barely had time to notice what had happened for the wards had fallen and they swarmed Voldemort, Dumbledore and himself.
They hadn't even been close to getting to Harry, before he looked down at himself and saw what had happened. 'Why did he feel both alive and dead at the same time?' He remembered barely thinking to himself, before discovering the answer.
Just above his chest and over the basilisk vest, a green glowing light shone brightly as it both shined and pulsed as if following Harry's heartbeat. Harry knew something was wrong instantly. No killing curse remained visible as it worked its magic, especially not like this.
It took a few seconds for Harry to realise what had happened, a little later it seemed than Hermione since she had obviously screamed his name as she realised.
His time turner had taken the brunt of the killing curse. It had activated.
Harry barely thought about what that meant, before the time turner clicked, activated and he disappeared; from the Ministry, from that time, from reality itself…