The Forbidden Forest stretched along a portion of the eastern boundaries of Hogwarts Castle. The Forest occupied a great footprint of numerous square kilometers. The trees were thick and had seen the passage of many ages. It was well into the evening, and with only a quarter moon the boughs that loomed over the forest floor smothered out any moonlight or starlight that might have illuminated the Forest. There were thin paths that snaked throughout the trees, paths that were created over the period of a millennium since Hogwarts was built and founded by Merlin's apprentices. The Forest was home to a multitude of magical beings and creatures, the most notable being the Centaurs, Acromantulae and other varieties to numerous to mention…the Forest had become a Reservation from the encroaching march of non-magical civilization and even from wizards.
However, deep within the boughs and trees of the Forest, walked four people; in the lead was Harry, dressed in the silver white robes with gray trimming and hood; a design worn by the Alterrans in the latter stages of their Empire's existence and something which Merlin often wore amongst the wizards and non-magical alike. His Naquadah black staff glowed slightly to light the way. To Harry's right was Albus Dumbledore, who had asked if he could wear the Alterran robes as well. A request Harry easily consented to…every wizard or witch could retrace their lineage at some point back to the Alterrans…though it was a history long forgotten and had to remain lost in the mists of time.
Hermione and Neville took up the rear guard and were dressed in the ubiquitous gray Resistance combat robes they always wore on assignment. Their walk continued unabated for nearly half an hour until Harry raised his bent arm with closed fist. The small group stopped immediately at the silent command.
'We are being followed and encircled,' came the distinct thoughts of Harry into the minds of the other three.
'Who is it?' thought Neville.
'Centaurs, I believe,' thought Albus.
'This is weird,' thought Hermione, obviously referring to the means with which they were 'speaking' to each other. In his pocket Harry had a small obsidian triangular stone, which was linking the conscious thoughts of all four of them together. It was a device of Alterran origin, much like a handradio, its pickup range was a hundred meters, but with another matching stone you could conceivable remain in touch anywhere on the planet.
A movement in the trees caught their attention and a Centaur stepped into the field of dim light coming from Harry's staff. The Centaur was black haired and wild looking, and carried a bow with an arrow notched, though it was lowered.
"Bane," said Albus in greeting.
"Albus Dumbledore," said the half-man, half-horse coolly. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, my companions and I just felt like taking a stroll, then we decided we might as well see what we could do about the nasty little problem of Death Eaters using Hogwarts as a base of operations," said Albus with an odd grin. Bane looked at Albus shrewdly as if trying to decide whether the old wizard had finally gone off his rocker. The moment passed and the Centaur looked up into the sky. "Strange portents are in the heavens of late, a new star hovers over the land. The star of an Ancient One…" Bane looked down and his eyes fell on Harry. "Harry Potter…and yet not…yet an Ancient One nonetheless," said the centaur.
"Will the Centaurs challenge our passage through the forest?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow; not feeling in the mood to stargaze with a Centaur.
"If you are here to liberate Hogwarts Ancient One, then we will not stand in your way," said Bane, staring at Harry intently. "Often we have to drive off dark wizards who would use the forest for the gathering of supplies to fuel the rise of their 'Dark Order'. It's a tiresome duty and some of my fellow Centaurs have been slain."
"Your efforts are appreciated by the Resistance and the Council of Races," said Harry solemnly. "Mars will shine tonight."
"But will it wane?" asked Bane, looking up to the sky again.
"Perhaps," said Harry. The Centaur looked down again and bowed his head slightly at Harry, and with a cantering of hooves turned on the spot and disappeared into the darkness of Forest. The small group set off again when Harry felt the Centaurs leave. Another ten minutes passed and finally Harry called a halt again. They were standing in a small clearing and the reason it was there at all was because of a few large stones that lay in a haphazard pile; the heavy stones were overgrown with moss and a few hardy plants had made their homes between them.
"Is this it?" asked Hermione uncertainly. Harry didn't answer but walked forward and tapped the nearest stone with his staff. It looked completely solid and normal. Albus frowned as he gazed at the stones with his own prodigious senses…and was left baffled. There had to be some form of magic or trace over the entrance, if indeed, this was the entrance, but there was nothing…normal.
"Very clever, Slytherin," said Harry eventually, after gazing at the stones for a few moments.
"What is it?" asked Neville.
"What we see before us is an illusion," said Harry thoughtfully. "It might not sense that way to you Albus, but there is a small localized null magic field around the entrance."
"Null magic?"
"It's impossible for a wizard to perform magic within its area of effect," he explained. Neville curiously walked towards the stones and incanted a simple Light Charm with his wand…nothing happened…no light flared from the tip.
"Amazing," said Albus nonplussed, "the knowledge of producing such a null magic field was lost ages ago."
"Thank Merlin himself for that," said Harry darkly, "can you imagine what such knowledge would do in the wrong hands." The group shuddered at the thought. "But the illusion of the stones is powered from outside the null field and as such, it is not affected."
"Making any wizard believe, it's just an ordinary pile of rocks, ingenious," muttered Albus.
"But remember, this place was made for the Basilisk to come and go, so we have to pretend to be the King of Serpents," said Harry, and walked out of the null field and reached into a pocket of his robes. He pulled out a shrunken trunk, that had once belonged to his Clone and since his capture and 'death' had fallen into Hermione's possession. She had remembered of it not long after the destruction of Slytherin's Locket. There were a lot of useful things in this trunk. Harry gestured with his hand at the small trunk and it expanded to its full size. Just short of a meter in width and half a meter wide it stood fifty centimeters off the soft earth. He twisted a knob on the front to the sixth position of seven, and undoing the latches popped the lid open. Inside was a numerous selection of Potion bottles and ingredients…after searching amongst them for a while he pulled out a dark tinted glass bottle with a sludgy tar black substance inside.
"Of course," said Hermione with an air of wonder, "the venom harvested from the Basilisk you killed in second year."
Harry carefully uncorked the bottle and walked forward carefully to just outside the edge of the null magic field. He shot his forearm forward and arrested the motion, causing a smattering of venom to coast through the air and land on the stones in a streaked line. The others then clearly heard Harry hissing in Parseltongue. The effect was immediate. The stones began to glow white and with a slight ripple of distortion vanished to show a slanted hole in the earth, the light from Harry's staff clearly showed that there was a tunnel beyond.
"What did you say in Parseltongue?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Open," he replied, looking amused.
"You're joking?" she said incredulously.
"Don't look at me," said Harry with a shrug, putting back the bottle of venom in the trunk, shrinking it and back it went into his pocket, "but I've got a feeling that the Basilisk I fought wasn't the cleverest of snakes. Tom Riddle had to keep telling it what to do during our confrontation. So I think that Salazar Slytherin didn't have much to work with in terms of brain power or creativity and couldn't make the password something complex."
"Is this our only obstacle?" asked Neville, looking apprehensively into the tunnel, that sloped relatively gently deeper into the earth.
"I think there will be more wards along the way," said Harry, he reached into his pocket again and produced another Alteran communication stone and handed it to Hermione. "You and Hermione will remain at the entrance, while Albus and I will journey further, I will signal when we have a clear path. Then send your Patronus to Shacklebolt and the rest of the Resistance forces."
She nodded, looking slightly unhappy at being left behind. Harry turned towards Albus and gestured towards the hole, "Shall we?"
He led the way into the darkness.
It was nearly an hour later when Harry stumbled out of the open mouth of the huge monkeylike visage of Salazar Slytherin within the Chamber of Secrets. He was breathing heavily and wearily sat down, resting his back against the vast relief sculpture. After a few moments he felt composed enough to look out at the vast chamber before him that narrowed down into the corridor with serpent statues guarding either side in some sort of bizarre honor guard. His memories of this place from his Clone were naturally among those that were most vivid, all the near death experiences were.
Only a few scattered remnants of bone were littered about the chamber, as the dead Basilisk had long ago been harvested for everything of value that could be found. There was a rustle of robes and a grunt of exertion from the mouth of the statue and Albus now stood next to him his wand lit and shining brightly to scan the Chamber for any threat.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
"Penetrating those barriers and keeping them breached took a lot out of me," said Harry, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
"I would imagine so," said Albus heavily, "wards of such strength and age aren't easily pushed aside, no matter what inside knowledge you've had as to their construction."
"Indeed," he replied, "can you tell Hermione to send the signal?"
"Certainly," said Albus, understanding that Harry wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. 'Hermione! We're in and the way is clear! Send your Patronus.' Thought Albus focusing on the mental link that Harry's rather fascinating device had created in all their minds.
'Patronus is away,' came her thought in reply.
'Be aware that it is a long and cramped journey through the tunnel,' thought Albus, 'there are also runic markings at certain points that is critical to remain undisturbed.'
'What do you mean?'
'Harry drew and empowered words or 'runes' (for lack of a better word) in the same strange language that Merlin's Journal is written in,' thought Albus, his curiosity and fascination streamed through the mental link. 'I believe that they were placed to disrupt the wards enough for our passage. It would be poor form to disturb them and cause a ward to crash down back in place…that disturbance would be enough for Severus Snape to detect the breach.'
'I'll brief the assault force before they go in,' thought Hermione, the mental link's 'telephone handset' was metaphorically put down.
Albus turned to find Harry pulling out his trunk again, and this time produced some food, which he began to devour hungrily. The older wizard conjured a chair for himself and sat down to wait.
Harry put the shrunken trunk back into his pocket, but then reached for another pocket for where he produced an Asgard Jewel device. Albus looked curiously at the device and clearly recognized the Norse runes on it, he watched as Harry placed it on the floor below his legs.
"Albus," said Harry, "I'm going to meddle about with Time for a few moments. So, please, do not approach me." Before Albus could do so much as voice a verbal protest a cocoon of blue energy flashed around Harry and disappeared. In astonishment he watched, as Harry seemed to move extremely fast for a few moments before he settled back into stillness, his eyes closed. The only clue as to something happening was the fact that Harry's breathing seemed to be extraordinarily fast and his face was occasionally twitching at an incredible speed. Albus opened his senses and did a rare thing…he gasped. Time around Harry was moving ten times faster than normal.
Meddling with Time was something wizards as a rule tended to avoid; so many problems and the potential for the disaster of Paradoxes came with it. But Harry seemed to do it with the casualness of flicking a light switch. Such an attitude could only come from superior knowledge or arrogance and ignorance of the danger…but somehow Albus knew the former was true.
Half an hour passed and there was a blue flash of light as the energy cocoon collapsed around Harry. It was clear that the Time distortion was no longer in effect as Harry now simply looked like he was asleep and breathing deeply at a slow pace. Albus decided to let the younger wizard continue sleeping for as long as possible, a decision that was made moot as a grunting of effort was heard from the mouth of the statue, causing Harry's eyes to snap open in alarm but relaxing when he took cognizance of his surroundings.
Harry stood with a groan, stretching his arms and yawning impressively.
"How are you, my boy?" asked Albus, getting up from his chair and vanishing it.
"I'll manage," said Harry, picking up the Asgard Jewel device and putting it back in his pocket. A dirty looking Kingsley Shacklebolt stumbled out the statue at this moment and regarded the surroundings with keen interest.
"So this is the Chamber of Secrets," said the Head Auror.
"Indeed," said Albus, "rather too sinister for my taste but it feels good nevertheless to be within Hogwarts again."
"You weren't spotted?" asked Harry in turn.
"We flew in small groups coming from multiple directions and kept ourselves disillusioned," said Shacklebolt. "The goblins will have the most trouble, but I think they'll manage."
Three more Aurors that were partnered with Shacklebolt struggled through the mouth of the statue. And so began an incredibly slow process of getting everyone organized. Every few minutes another group of five Aurors would crawl into the Chamber of Secrets. Eventually a total of ninety Aurors including Kingsley stood congregated in the dark Chamber. Then a squeaking and flapping of wings was heard as a veritable swarm of bats poured out Slytherin's mouth.
The bats swooped into the air above the Aurors and soon after the swarm began to divide itself into much smaller groups that fluttered down to empty spaces on the ground like falling sand. The smaller groups of bats began to coalesce into humanoid shapes and eventually sinister looking vampires in varieties of black clothes and capes materialized.
Twenty minutes later the Aurors and Vampires had to make room for a half company of Goblins. They were bedecked in enchanted leather armors and carried various weapons, from enchanted crossbows, swords and axes to even a few enchanted matchlock rifles.
Following the last Goblins were Neville and Hermione who had to struggle through the now rather crowded Chamber to make it to the front where Harry, Albus, Shacklebolt, Drakul and Goblin Commander Griphook were coordinating their forces.
Harry drew the assembled forces attention when he walked forward and tapped his staff on the ground, the headpiece flashing with power.
"Greetings my comrades-in-arms and fellow magical beings," said Harry powerfully, his voice seemed to resonate in everyone's ears and yet the sound was somehow contained within the assembled force. "Today we take back this bastion of learning that was stolen from us by the Darkness. Yet it was not only a school, it became something far greater than that during the mid stages of the war…it became our refuge, our stronghold, a fortress of Light standing brightly amidst the Chaos."
"We are here to take it back. Not for wizards, not for vampires, not for Goblins, not for house-elves, but for every magical being on these British Isles…if not the world. The world needs us, fight for it!"
"Hear, hear!" came the shout from the assembled.
"We have a precious opportunity here, right now!" said Harry, his emerald eyes glowing with power. "While I was resting after breaching the wards I learned something that can only be the workings of Fate itself! And perhaps of irony!"
"Tom Riddle, that pretentious fool who calls himself Voldemort, is here, now! Above us in the castle!"
Hermione gasped and she saw how Albus's face became grave but determined. The Assembled forces began to look troubled.
"Do not give in to fear! That is his weapon! Your job is to take care of his minions and supporters; it is my job to face him! Stick together in your assigned groups, secure the sections of the castle you have been assigned, look out for each other and you will speak of this day to your grandchildren and sires far into the future!"
Hermione had to give it to Harry, he certainly could motivate. She felt electrified by the sheer weight of his presence as if she had static all over her. This was another big difference from the previous incarnation of Harry. The 'old' Harry was never one to step forward and be assertive in anything. This one stood at the head of army as if he had done so many times before; and who was to say that he didn't, if he did indeed live another lifetime in some other plane of existence.
"Hermione," said Harry in a commanding tone, "send a signal to the elves, they are to apparate into the castle and deliver their…surprises." Hermione nodded and sent off a Patronus that disappeared into a nearby wall, on its way to the house-elves.
Harry turned to Albus and nodded. The old wizard now addressed the assembled.
"You all have your marching orders," said Albus, "myself, Mr's Potter, Longbottom and Ms Granger will take a direct route to the Headmaster's Office, and then to the Great Hall. These are the most likely locations where our key targets will be; Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange or any other members of the Inner Circle. If you are to come across any of them, defend yourselves as necessary. But do not engage Voldemort, retreat if you see him and call for Harry."
Harry nodded and turned around to lead the way with the three others following in his wake. They stopped at the massive round vault-like door with coiled serpents decorating it and that acted as the locking mechanism. A brief word in Parseltongue was all it took and the door opened. A few meters behind them Team 1; consisting of five Aurors, three Vampires and a fire team of five Goblin warriors walked together in a loose formation.
They had to bend low to cross the part of the tunnel where it had once partially collapsed and finally the four of them congregated at the circular landing where the nexus of the plumbing system was. It was this that had allowed the Basilisk to move about unseen around Hogwarts during his Clone's second year at the school. Harry walked towards the main pipe that had acted as the primary route into the school proper and with a simple command of 'Rungs' in Parseltongue handholds appeared within the pipe that would allow someone to climb back out.
He brushed his thumb over a certain part of his Naquadah Staff and it instantly shrunk in size to allow him to safely put it away in a special inner pocket of his robes. The journey now continued with the rather long climb from being well underneath the level of the Lake up into the School itself.
They reached the end of the climb well over twenty minutes later and they had to stop on numerous occasions to let Albus catch his breath. It was obvious that his physical stamina was not what it once had been and that he was reluctant to reinforce himself with 'magical' energies; since he wanted to keep those for the battles that was no doubt to come. Finally, Harry had to give the last command in Parseltongue for the octagonal handwash basin arrangement within Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom to part and open for them.
He carefully poked his head out so that just his eyes peeked past the lip of the manhole-like entrance in the floor. The musty bathroom was in near darkness, except for the light from the corridor slitting itself through the gaps in the thick wooden door leading into the first floor bathroom. With a brief concentration his vision shifted through the various frequencies of infrared light scanning the room for any heat sources. Satisfied he placed his hands on the lip and vaulted himself onto the tiled floor of the bathroom. His staff was unshrunk in his right hand a moment later and he bent down to give Albus a hand up, followed by Neville and Hermione.
Being as quiet as possible Team 1 also entered the bathroom. This team's duty was to initially support Harry's team and help them get to the Headmaster's Office. Team 2 and 3 entered and now it was time to surge out as the bathroom didn't have enough room to accommodate the entire attacking force.
Harry paused at the door, putting a hand to its latch and took a deep fortifying breath. Since this was the first floor of Hogwarts, the chances that they would run into a Death Eater or similar minion were very high. There was the danger that the strike force could be bogged down in the bathroom and turn the battle into a siege of attrition…that was not an option.
Hence this was where the house-elves came in. They were armed with the permission to use their magic, and a host of items from Fred and George Weasley, all perfectly suited to creating chaos and confusion. Harry nodded towards Hermione. Her wand came up and another messenger Patronus surged away from it and down into the floor. The effect was heard a mere five seconds later.
Screams, exclamations of surprise, anger, and various other emotions echoed around the castle. The crackle of magic and spells being cast was heard not a few moments later and that was their cue.
Harry pushed open the door and rolled forward. His staff swooped the legs out from under an utterly surprised Death Eater, who crashed to the ground, and lost the air from his lungs as he fell on his back. Standing upright Harry's staff swung viciously again and crashed against the temple of the Death Eater, knocking out the man instantly. Albus twirled his wand and metal manacles appeared to hogtie the dark wizard to render him permanently out of the fight.
Harry turned to the left and started down the corridor, the other fourteen following in a wall hugging formation. He could barely see Teams 2 and 3 heading in the opposite direction before they turned a corner and were out of sight.
Another Death Eater fell to the combined spells of Hermione and Neville as he was walking out of a room to the side. Here they briefly paused as four Aurors from Team 1 did a room attack to make sure that it was secure and free from enemies. Though they did have a permanent rear guard, it would hamper the team to turn around and fight if more Death Eaters had suddenly popped out after they had passed.
The castle was now a virtual cacophony of battle; screams, the crackle of spells, explosions.
The group's next challenge though was more serious. A group of three Dementors attacked with a menacing glide. A few Aurors in the group were clearly seen wincing as the happiness draining effect of a Dementor settled on the immediate area.
Harry's worst memories threatened to break out and splash over his senses; his dying mother's screams, the massacre of civilization's by the Goa'uld, the carrion picking off from the rotting meat of corpses, the guilt of his own failures to protect those very people. He shook his head like a dog shrugging off water and slammed his staff into the ground…bright white light started emitting from the head of the staff.
The true origins of Dementors were lost to wizardom, as were most things that were created before Merlin's time. A Dementor when first born is actually nothing more than an instinctual animal, but it had no soul. A dark shaman using a damaged Ancient Healing Device created the first Dementor, the shaman had also blessed the ravenous instincts of a hyena onto the animated corpse. As a Dementor fed on souls it gained some measure of intelligence from those; hence the fact that you can talk to a Dementor.
The Dementors stopped dead in the glare of bright light and actually began to quiver and spasm. Harry was emitting power on a specific frequency and wavelength opposite that of the life giving energy that had initially imbued the first Dementor. Then a virtual onslaught of Patronus Charms rushed onto the Dementors and the fiends (unable to absorb so much happiness at one go and unable to flee) literally burst apart in with muted flashes of energy.
They continued onward.
In the large central stairwell with the infamous moving staircases a battle of truly epic proportions was being fought. Spells and bursts of light shot upwards and downwards between the moving islands of marble stone. Aurors on certain staircases were streaming spells from behind the cover of the thick marble railings down towards another staircase where a group of Death Eaters was forced to alternately shield themselves and retaliate. Vampires in their partial transformation; with wings sticking out of their backs, battled in mid-air with claw and fang. They did it so fast they were mere blurs of movement.
Albus, Neville, Hermione, a few Aurors and the Goblin fire team took station (as there was no staircase yet for them to ascend) and started shooting spells, enchanted arrows and musket upward. They had to be very careful, as in such a chaotic situation; a friendly fire incident was not a matter of if, but merely when.
Harry focused on his staff and a moment later its entire length was sheathed in a wash of transparent blue power. The use of this was apparent immediately as Death Eaters above shot spells towards the newly appeared Team 1. The spells of various hues (except green, as a Killing Curse was a really exhausting spell to use in a protracted battle) streamed down toward them and then Harry began to twirl his staff in an infinity loop, as if it was a double bladed sword. Spells ricocheted back or shot off into a harmless direction whenever the glowing staff intercepted them.
"Watch Star Wars much?" shouted Hermione, next to him, shielding herself and retaliating with a nasty Whiplash Hex.
"I was inspired!" shouted Harry back with a lop-sided grin. To further prove it, he raised a hand and made a violent pulling gesture with it. There was a scream from above as a Death Eater was pulled from the fourth floor staircase, over its railing, and fell down to the bottom of the staircase with sick thud, which was inaudible over the bedlam of battle.
At this point a trio of hostile vampires managed to break free through the lines of the allied vampires and assaulted Team 1's position. This was the cue for Team 1's vampires to burst into action. They leaped up into the air, wings sprouting from their backs and met the attacking vampires attack with the ferocity of two cars crashing against each other at terminal speeds. Harry had to duck as a vampire claw came within inches of his head as the battle continued above them. But his focus was reserved to keep his staff powered and intercepting any offensive spells and sending them back to their casters and if that was not possible, sending them to other Death Eaters or to any hostile vampire.
On one truly 'cool' occasion, as Colonel O'Neill would've said, Harry managed to deflect the Slashing Curse of another Death Eater to cut up another Death Eater on a neighboring moving staircase, saving the life of an overwhelmed Auror. The Auror in question waved his thanks and continued in the battle.
Finally, an ascending staircase docked with their floor, allowing Team 1 to stream onto it, firing and deflecting as they went. The staircase started to move. Harry gave a sweeping gesture of his hand, and a hostile vampire was flung off balance, allowing a friendly vampire to get the upper hand and deliver a killing blow. The staircase finally stopped, allowing them to get off on the second floor. Where they had to enter into a fierce duel with four Death Eaters rushing towards the central staircase, clearly trying to add their weight to the battle. After a few spell exchanges Albus swiftly overpowered two of them with one spell; it picked both up before they could even think of sending another spell and smashed both their heads together, resulting in a heavy concussion for both.
A Death Eater sent a sickly yellow spell at Harry, who batted it away easily with his staff. Harry made a reverse slapping gesture with his left hand and the Death Eater flew into his comrade battling with Hermione. She made short work of both, throwing Permanent Stunning Spells. The majority of Team 1 rushed forward to cover the corridor as the rest turned back towards the central staircase, to wait for another ascending staircase to reach the third floor.
Luckily, they didn't have long to wait as one docked with the second floor a few moments later. This staircase had five Aurors and two Goblins from Team 4 on it; dividing their efforts to sends spells upward and downward. Team 1 rushed up the stairs and helped their compatriots by adding to the weight of spellfire. The air in the central staircase now had a distinct smell of ozone and smoke that was hardly pleasant to breathe.
Harry spent most of his efforts now into helping friendly vampires. Since if hostile vampires controlled the airy space of the central staircase it would make advancing further into the castle nigh impossible. So they ascended onto the third, fourth and finally fifth floor; Team 1's ultimate destination. Their ascent had made a clear difference, allowing them to secure the lower parts of the staircase letting more Team's surge onto those floors.
Harry led Team 1 along the corridor, securing classrooms as they moved forward. It was as they turned a corner that they encountered an enemy that they hadn't expected. The smell of rotten socks combined with the worst of public toilets entered their noses and then they had to dodge the efforts of not one but two fully-grown mountain Trolls trying to smash them into pulp with their huge clubs. The initial volley of spells from the Aurors bounced off the 'magical' hide of the creatures.
The Goblin fire team was more successful. Arrows and muskets lanced into the large monstrosities, making holes and turning them into something that resembled pincushions. Harry let the spell deflection ability of his staff fade and a bright yellow spell from the head shot towards the eyes of one of the Trolls; causing it to roar in agony and drop its club as it clawed at its eyes. The Goblins concentrated their fire on that one while Harry gave another gesture of his hand and the club in the other Troll's hand was swept violently aside and smashed itself onto its owner's head.
Two heavy crashes punctuated the fall of both Trolls.
"Well, that's slightly unexpected," commented Albus, picking himself up from the floor after he had to evade the rampaging Trolls. Harry knew what the old wizard meant; there had been no inkling from Goblin intelligence that Trolls were in Riddle's employ.
They finally approached the corridor they were aiming for…at its end was the Gargoyle statue that protected the entrance to the Headmaster's Office.
"Team 1," said Albus with twinkling eyes, "it's been a pleasure and honor, please, head back to the central staircase and continue the efforts in securing it." The leader of Team 1 nodded and lead his Aurors and Goblins back the way they came.
Harry whipped his hood up to cover his face in darkness and this time let Albus take the lead heading towards the Gargoyle. Halfway down the long corridor, the Gargoyle in question suddenly stepped aside to let two individuals pass it. Both were Death Eaters, clearly indicated by the style of their black robes, both were unmasked, clearly betraying their identities. One was male and the other clearly female.
Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape came to a dead stop when they saw that their way was already blocked. They had been attempting to coordinate the defense of the castle from the Headmaster's Office, but with the loss of the central staircase the tide had clearly turned and they were being systematically routed from the castle. He sneered contemptuously at those who stood blocking his path and preventing Lestrange and him from adding their weight to the battle, it was merely a cover to hide the surprise and unease at who was doing the blocking.
Standing there, looking surprisingly vital and healthy and still powerful was Albus Dumbledore. Severus knew he shouldn't have let Rookwood do that obscure curse on the old wizard, it had clearly taken too long and Dumbledore had clearly found a way to reverse it. The curse was Severus' attempt to throw the old fool's words back at him; 'There are worse things than death.' And he wanted the old man to experience it first hand.
Next to Dumbledore, similarly dressed in that strange combination of robes stood that damnable mystery wizard with his staff. This wizard had in the last two and a half months done more damage and wreaked more havoc than that pathetic Potter did in five years. Next to them stood the Granger Mudblood and the spineless Longbottom.
Harry gritted his teeth as anger began to rise within him at the sight of Severus Snape. The wizard responsible for informing Riddle of the prophecy that caused the death of both his parents. Bellatrix Lestrange had killed his clone 'brother's beloved Godfather and countless other atrocities; the most notable of which was the torturing of Neville's parents into insanity with the Cruciatus. Both had also taken part in the torturing of his clone brother. All that aside, Harry despised them both on sheer principle.
"Why hello my dear Severus," said Albus genially, "been keeping well? And Mrs Lestrange, feeling all right?"
Bellatrix Lestrange sneered at Albus' mock cheerfulness. Harry noted that her cruel thin face and long black hair with slightly manic eyes looked the same as ever since he last saw her through his Clone's memories.
"Neville?" asked Albus not taking his eyes off the two Inner Circle members. It was all the prompting Neville needed as the stout man stepped forward raising his wand towards Lestrange. Albus raised his wand towards Snape.
Bellatrix laughed mockingly, "Ooooh, I've so been looking forward to this day, ready to take your medicine Longbottom and join your parents?"
"I'm afraid that, for what he has in mind for you Mrs Lestrange, would be nothing compared to what you did to his parents," said Albus, his voice turning harsh as stone grinding against each other. "Severus, I hope you are adequately prepared, when it comes to you I'm afraid my patience has run out."
"Oh, no more chances then, Headmaster," sneered Snape, drawing his wand.
"You've had your second," said Albus, and without further pomp released a spell that literally shook the walls as it passed. Neville at the same time shot a powerful Flaying Curse at Lestrange. The dark witch had to conjure a powerful shield to protect herself and Snape had to fling himself to the side to avoid the curse from Albus which blew away numerous layers of brickwork and stone.
Harry and Hermione had retreated a few steps back to allow the duels to take their course. And the power on display was rather impressive. Snape was obviously no match for Albus, but the Death Eater managed to hang on by the skin of his teeth with a combination of evasions and dark spellwork that kept the old wizard busy; as it would be catastrophic not to properly counter the spells.
The fight between Neville and Lestrange was more contentious and fierce. Bellatrix Lestrange was clearly still a top-notch dark witch with extremely good reflexes. Neville found it extremely difficult to land a spell on her. However, it seemed to Harry that Neville had an edge in terms of sheer power.
After a minute of fighting, Snape was finally tripped up by a brilliant combination of quick spells from Albus. The old wizard batted aside a Shredding Curse and then faster than Snape expected shot a series of spells that summoned, banished and tripped the Death Eater at the same time. Albus had clearly fortified his own body again with his own prodigious power allowing for much faster reflexes and movement. A surprised Snape felt pushed from behind and from in front and his left foot was caught in front of his right causing him to fall ungracefully to the floor. A jet of purple light sealed his fate and he was rendered into the land of nod.
Albus levitated the body backwards and away from the ongoing battle between Neville and Lestrange. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw the old wizards began to wave his wand continuously over the prone Snape and murmuring under his breath; clearly attempting to transfer the anchor of the wards over to himself.
A cry of pain was heard the next moment as Neville slid backwards on the floor clutching his bleeding wand arm to his chest.
"Avada Kedavra!" hissed Bellatrix cruelly the next moment. A jet of green light sped inexorably towards the injured Neville. There was a flash of white light. An explosion sent fragments of something metallic shooting in all directions. There was a brief cry of pain. The distinct sound of a body falling to the floor.
The smoke cleared.
Harry stood with his staff's head glowing. A sheer transparent shield of white energy protected Neville, Harry, Albus and Hermione from the fragments of Trinium hull plating that he had ordered beamed to intercept the Killing Curse. He sent a mental thank you to the Achilles AI for keeping tabs on the situation and for managing to adapt the transporter frequency to match that of the wards surrounding Hogwarts.
Harry dropped the shield and walked forward towards Bellatrix Lestrange.
The witch was lying on her back, her limbs sprawled awkwardly, and a small pool of dark blood was on the floor. The reason for this was obvious, as an ugly mangled piece of Trinium shrapnel had seemingly sprouted from her chest.
The dark witch that had ended and ruined so many lives was staring with dead sightless eyes up into the ceiling.
Neville had managed to get up and cradling his bleeding arm walked haltingly over towards the body.
"She was just too fast," he said softly. Not sure how to feel about the fact that his longtime personal enemy after so long was finally dead.
"That she was," confirmed Harry solemnly.
"What the hell happened?" asked Hermione, also coming forward examining the scene. "It happened so fast, but for a moment I thought you actually blocked a Killing Curse." She didn't have to say that it was supposedly impossible.
"No," said Harry stoically. "I merely used the defensive technique that Albus pioneered. You know, summon something strong to stand in the way of the Curse. Only I didn't summon, I teleported this sheet of metal plating from the nearest metalworks factory. It's pure luck that the shrapnel killed Lestrange." Hermione looked at him in astonishment. "Luck favors the prepared."
"I am done," announced Albus, straightening up and with another wave of his wand metal manacles appeared and hog tied Snape.
"You have the wards?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow. Albus nodded his eyes looking distant as he absorbed the information the castle was relaying to him.
"There are still fifteen Death Eaters at large and fighting in various parts of the castle but they are being rounded up as we speak by coordinated actions from the remaining Teams," reported Albus.
"How many did we lose?" asked Hermione grimly; as she tended to Neville's wound with a few Healing Charms.
"I cannot give an accurate summation," said Albus his eyes dimming, "but it is clear from the amount of dead in the castle that there have been heavy casualties. Whether the numbers will come out in our favor is impossible to tell at the moment."
"What about Riddle?" asked Harry darkly.
"The doors to the Great Hall has bean sealed from the inside, I believe Teams 8 and 9 have fortified the Entrance Hall and are covering the doors," said Albus.
"Let's go," said Harry and walked away from the dead body of Lestrange and back down the corridor.
The central staircase was a mess; scorched and cracked stonework, burning paintings, and smoke. Then there was the bodies; mostly of Death Eaters, either dead, moaning wounded or unconscious. They solemnly passed the occasional dead Auror, not having the time to do anything more than take in the carnage. Those Auror's uninjured or well enough that they could still move were flitting about between the bodies, helping their wounded comrades or stunning wounded Death Eaters to keep them silent. House-elves were also seen tending to the wounded acting as temporary field medics of sorts using their own form of magic to heal.
The group of four finally walked down the massive staircase that led down into the Entrance Hall. There battleworn looking Aurors, Goblins and Vampires had erected a barricade in a horseshoe pattern around the main doors.
A tired Kingsley Shacklebolt who had rumpled robes with a few tears (he had probably gone hand-to-hand in a few fights) and a long gash in his cheek that was bleeding approached them.
"Albus, Harry," nodded the man towards them.
"The wards are ours," stated Albus summarily.
"Good," said the Head Auror with relief. "We've been trying to get into the Great Hall, but the doors are warded heavily. I take it that's because Riddle is in there?" Albus nodded. "Why didn't he leave or try to escape?"
"I believe we've accomplished the strategic and tactical surprise we were hoping for, and I don't think he considered the sheer numbers we dedicated to this attack," said Albus in thought.
"But what about an escape Portkey? Why doesn't he use one?"
"He won't," said Albus confidently looking closely at the doors and running a hand along the smooth wooden surface, "these wards are impassable to you, but not to wizards such as myself and Harry. I believe he wants a confrontation with me and with Harry (though he doesn't know its Harry) to gauge us…then he will try to escape and regroup."
Harry walked through the barricade and regarded the shut doors. "Hermione, Neville," he beckoned for them to come closer. "After Albus and I go through I suggest you either join the barricade here or continue in the efforts to secure the castle. You are no match for Riddle and would only get in the way."
Hermione nodded looking grim. "Good luck Harry," she said, tears welling in her eyes and before anything more could be said she grabbed Neville by the elbow and led them off back into the castle to continue the fight.
Harry turned around and joined Albus at the doors to the Great Hall. They each rested their hands on a latch and they felt the enchantment on the doors weighing them, much like the Voldemort boat that crossed the lake of Inferi. Making sure his hood was secure Harry felt the wards blink off and twisted the latch.
They walked through into pitch darkness and the doors automatically swung shut behind them, closing off all light. Above them the enchanted ceiling showed a brilliant starfield, but it was not enough to provide any visible light in the Great Hall itself. Then the fires of torches that lines the Great Hall slowly came to life.
The Great Hall was a shell of its former self; gone were the house tables and house colours. The mullioned windows that usually gave the Hall its pristine atmosphere was covered up in thick suffocating black curtains. The large fireplace along the right side that usually provided warmth in the winter was boarded up and sealed. And completing this milieu of darkness was the black robed figure sitting in a veritable throne where the Headmaster would normally sit during mealtimes. The throne had a distinct serpentine motif; the armrests were actually statues of stretched snakes baring their fangs towards anyone who would approach, around the backrest more serpents coiled intricately.
Tom Riddle aka Voldemort sat with an inscrutable expression on his pale serpentlike visage; his bald head refracted the torchlight on it; his red slitted eyes took all around him as he stared at Harry and Albus. Around the dark wizard's feet were curled a large snake also staring at them silently, occasionally flicking its forked tongue to taste the air.
"Albus Dumbledore," said Voldemort with a hiss pre-echoing his words, "I suppose I should congratulate you on a victorious battle."
"Why thank you, Tom," said Albus magnanimously. Voldemort's slitlike nose seemed to automatically pulse in anger at the hated name. "Though I'm afraid the battle is far from over."
"You wish to challenge me again?" said Voldemort looking almost amused. "You will fail."
"Ah, setting too much store in prophecy, are we?" said Albus narrowing his eyes. "That would be a perilous mistake Tom. I would've thought your experience of thirteen years as nothing more than a weak disembodied spirit would have taught you that lesson." Albus shook his head, looking like a teacher disappointed in his student.
"It does not matter, old man," sneered Voldemort, "I have grown since our last encounter, while you have diminished."
"Perhaps," admitted Albus.
"And if you think that foolish wizard beside you can even hope to challenge me, then think again," said Voldemort. "No one can match my power. Potter was your last hope and he failed. And now you are using the legend of Merlin to inspire an uprising against me? How pathetic. I stayed to see who had managed to best my forces, and I what I find is a burnt out old fool and an impostor. You are neither worthy of finding death at my hands…I will leave now, and let you savor your precious little victory…but you will never win the war."
Voldemort touched a specific part of his throne, which would essentially turn the entire thing into a Portkey and take him and his beloved Nagini to his hidden base of operations. The throne, Voldemort and Nagini disappeared for a moment…and then reappeared.
"What?" said Voldemort in surprise. Nagini hissed in anger. They had expected to settle into the Portkey effect, but they had crashed against something and landed back where they had been. The wards should not have stopped it. Snape made the Portkey that enchanted the Throne when he had held the wards. Even should the old man now hold them, he could not have ordered the wards to rebuff the Portkey.
Harry smirked under his hood and stared at the glowing Asgard Jewel Device in his left hand. It was emitting a specific frequency of power that scrambled any matter transmission within Hogwarts. He handed it to Albus who put it in a pocket for safekeeping.
"Did I ruin your dramatic exit, Tommy boy?" said Harry, walking forward. "Tsk, tsk, sorry about that old boy, but we have a score to settle. And it's not something that can be done by correspondence."
Voldemort stood in anger, wand already in hand. Nagini slithered menacingly a few feet away to give her Master more room.
"Who are you to do this, puppet?" sneered Voldemort.
"Oh, I'm hardly a puppet, Tommy," said Harry, the amusement clear in his voice. "If anything, it's Albus over here that's the puppet. All the events leading up to this day have been set in motion by me. From the moment you captured me all those months ago, to my death in Diagon Alley, the past two month surge in Resistance activity, to this very attack."
Voldemort's eyes widened. Harry reached up to his cowl of his hood and pulled it away.
"Hello Tom," said Harry mockingly.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" roared Voldemort and a powerful dark violet colored spell rocketed towards Harry before any more was spoken. Harry's staff glowed bright blue and a dome of light cocooned him and deflected the energy back to Voldemort; who had to dodge his own spell.
"What?" said Harry in mock astonishment, "no, hello, no chit-chat?"
Voldemort shot a sickly looking ray of red power towards Harry; who dodged in a blur of movement.
"Very well, be that way," said Harry, and an arc of lightning emitted from his free left hand to connect with the head of his staff…that was all the warning Voldemort had before multiple chains of directed lightning shot towards him. Voldemort had to conjure a large shining silver shield to protect himself and the lightning (attracted to the metal conductor) arced in towards it and scored multiple hits…scorching the shield badly. However, the load of power was too great and the shield became overcharged with electrons and started to discharge towards the closest route towards the earth…
A charge hit Voldemort the equivalent of a heavy grade cattle prod.
"Arrgghhh," cried the dark wizard and fell back, losing his balance. The conjured shield dissipated into nothing as Voldemort lost focus and shifted it to maintaining consciousness and bleeding off the power that was coiling its way through his body. Finally, he managed and got back on his feet.
"Electric, isn't it?" quipped Harry, feeling as if he was channeling Jack O'Neill.
"You are DEAD!" shouted Voldemort. The dark wizard opened his mouth wide, bringing his free hand below it and wand above. A long, thick, coiling snake of flame shot out of his mouth and rocketed at high speed towards Harry.
Lifting his staff so that it was parallel to the ground and his free hand, palm facing towards Voldemort; a thick white mist appeared in front of Harry and not a moment later the mist shot out a massive river of itself towards the incoming flame. The snake of flame writhed and screamed and tried to push towards its target but it was being withered away by the white mist until it finally withered away into black smoke.
"There are many paths to immortality Tom," said Harry with a raised eyebrow, "and contrary to popular opinion, the majority of them are not rooted in darkness." He twirled his staff like a drum majorette and a volley of silver energy darts lanced in towards Voldemort. The dark wizard managed to dodge out of the way of most of them but one or two scored glances on him. The tearing of cloth was heard and Voldemort stopped dead for a moment.
The dark wizard raised his left arm. A hole the size of a penny was in his forearm leaking blood and multiple similar holes had appeared along the wide sleeve of his robes. Voldemort looked really livid now.
'Crucio', he said viciously.
Harry dodged by moving across Voldemort's line of fire before the spell could hit.
"Already into Unforgivables are we?" said Harry with narrowed eyes. Blue energy appeared in a ring around his feet and surged up his body. It coalesced around his staff and left hand; a speeding comet of blue energy now shot towards Voldemort, the humidity in the air froze upon contact with the frigid energy and left a trail of ice in its wake.
Voldemort whipped his wand towards the comet and it began to slow down noticeably. A blast of flame followed which reduced the freezing energy considerably but Voldemort saw he wouldn't be able to dispel it all and had to dodge the now football sized comet. It impacted on the serpentine throne and it instantly froze over…looking like it had been sitting on the surface of Antarctica for a long time.
It was then that Harry felt an assault on his mind through the connection between him and Voldemort; the result of the failed Killing Curse all those years ago. Both combatants became absolutely still, neither moved. To an outsiders perspective it looked like Harry and Voldemort were trying to glare each other to death. However, the battle had now shifted to the mental landscape of mind and thought. For ten minutes Harry dueled Voldemort; using will power as a shield and thoughts, emotions and memories as weapons.
Harry gritted his teeth and let out a guttural roar. Voldemort was finally shot out of his mind with such force that it translated into the physical world. The dark wizard stumbled backwards a few feet, looking dazed but swiftly recovered.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of green light sped from Voldemort. Aimed not at Harry, but at Albus; who had been thoroughly enjoying watching the spectacle of this titanic battle. The old wizard had moved to the relative safety of the back of the Great Hall. Luckily, this meant that the Killing Curse had a fair bit of ground to cover before it could reach him. Albus flung himself into a sideways roll that he belatedly realized afterwards was more suited to be performed by a much younger body. The Killing Curse exploded into the wall behind which he had been standing, sending dust and debris into the air.
"I'm getting to old for this," he muttered grumpily, as he stood again wincing at his body's protests through numerous pains and aches.
Harry didn't bother to look back and see if Albus was all right, since that was what Voldemort was trying to achieve by attacking the older wizard. For his efforts Voldemort received a massive rippling bolt of energy from the head of Harry's staff that shattered another of the dark wizards conjured shields and a quick followup of a bolt of fire caused Voldemort's robes to catch alight.
It was an insignificant thing…if you had time to deal with it. Harry used the opening to fling his left hand forward and a telekinetic wave caught the dark wizard square in the face and launched him into the air as if he was shot out of a cannon. Voldemort crashed against the far corner of the Great Hall and fell hard to the ground.
"It's rather rude to target spectators," said Harry admonishingly, flicking his left hand back and forth with forefinger extended, "Naughty."
It was at this point that Nagini struck. The snake attacked from the side, mouth wide open, baring its fangs to sink into Harry's flesh. The snake bounced off Harry's personal shield that flickered into the visible spectrum with a green electric tint.
"I haven't forgotten about you Nagini," hissed Harry in Parseltongue. With a sweep of his hand the snake was banished across the room in Albus's direction. "You should do the honors Albus." Albus conjured an ethereal sword with a swish of his wand and animated it, and before the momentum of the snake could dissipate; the sword swung once, twice, three times.
"NOOOOOO!" screamed the hateful voice of Voldemort who was looking distinctly crispy around the legs as he stood up. There was an awful sound coming from the pieces of Nagini and a moment later a grey-black mist emerged only to be swept away by an unseen wind.
"Congratulations Tom," said Harry his staff's head now glowing permanently white…wisps of energy seemed to be coming out of nowhere and coalescing in a spiral around it. "I wish to welcome you back to conventional mortality." For the second time in Harry's life including the memories of his Clone, did he see fear enter into those pitiless red eyes; the first time being in the Graveyard in Little Hangleton when his Clone's wand linked into a power struggle with Voldemort's and today. "Six out of Seven…gone now…one more to go."
'AVADA KEDAVRA!'
The jet of green light came rushing at Harry, whom did not move to dodge or anything else. It was time to prove a final point before ending this.
He held up his left palm towards the oncoming energy…attached to it was an Asgard Jewel Device that he had prepared just for this occasion. No longer would this final curse have so much terror ascribed to it. The Device lit up with a white glow. Energy beyond normal human comprehension was turned to a relatively simple purpose…at least from the point of view of the Alterans and Asgard. Space itself bent and twisted in an inverted wedge in front of Harry's palm. The Killing Curse about to strike Harry suddenly twisted and changed direction. The green energy impacted a wall to the side and exploded, ripping out a chunk of stonework.
Harry dropped his left palm. Space twisted itself back in shape only to allow Harry to fling a large basketball sized collection of vacuum energy that had coalesced onto the head of his staff. It shot with the speed of a bullet and hit a stunned Voldemort (who couldn't believe what he had just seen Harry do) full on in the chest. It picked the dark wizard up and slammed him again into the wall.
The exotic energy snaked itself all over Voldemort also burning through him and a scream that was heard by every being within the castle resounded in their ears. It was a sound that no one would ever forget.
The body of Voldemort fell to the ground.
Harry and Albus cautiously approached.
Harry kicked over the still body and knelt to feel for a pulse. He stood again and looked at Albus.
"Dead," said Harry.
Albus nodded.
"Will you excuse me while I lay down for a while," said Harry with false cheeriness and promptly lay on his back, looking up into the starry sky of the enchanted ceiling. The weariness of channeling vacuum energy settled on him like a ton of bricks but he managed to stay conscious.
His revenge was taken. But all he felt was…nothing…there was no satisfaction…it was a hollow feeling. Harry didn't know how Teal'C could've felt like he did after killing Chronus…then again Harry hadn't been raised in a martial society.
Apparently, revenge is a dish best served cold. If that was the case…he didn't care for its taste.
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