"Stop it!" hissed Daphne, looking at the woman with as much hate as
she could muster. "He's just a thirteen-year-old boy! What has he
ever done to you?"
Bellatrix laughed as she observed the twitching boy on the ground.
"It's the very fact that he exists, the bastard child of a Mudblood
having gained the title of Scion of the Lestrange family."
"Pathetic," spat Daphne, trying to control the shaking of her limbs,
ignoring the searing pain in her body. "To think a woman of your age
would hold a grudge against a small boy just because you and loser
of a husband couldn't have a child!"
SLAP !
A red handprint could be seen on Daphne's pale face as Bellatrix
glared at the girl. "Don't you dare insult my husband, Greengrass,"
she shrieked angrily. "Don't you dare judge Rodolphus without
knowing what you're talking about. He loves me more than anyone in
the world and I will not allow you to disrespect him! Be warned, do it
again and you won't like the consequences. Had you insulted the
Dark Lord, I would have killed you on the spot!"
"I will insult anyone who brings pain to my fiancé. I haven't forgotten
what you and your husband did to Harry," replied Daphne furiously,
pulling Dylan close to her protectively, his head against her bosom.
"Dylan is your nephew ! Killing nameless, faceless people is one
thing, but your own family ? You really are an insane bitch, aren't
you, Bellatrix? No wonder the Houses of Black and Lestrange was
nearly driven to extinction by having people like you in charge."
"Not another word," said Bellatrix dangerously, her wand pointed at
Daphne's forehead, the tip glowing. "Do you know who I am? I am
Bellatrix, the eldest daughter of the Most Ancient and Noble House
of Black, one of the most powerful families in all of Magical Europe! I
have always known about my responsibility. Do you think I don't care
about my family? Open your eyes, Greengrass! You would know the
duty of the oldest sibling; I was trained by the elders in the family
since I could barely walk! Who do you think taught Sirius everything
he knows about politics? It surely was not his parents! Uncle Orion
was too focussed on his business ventures and Aunt Walburga only
cared about her parties. I took care of him and Regulus since the
time they were little boys."
"If Sirius is a successful Minister, it is because of me ! If Sirius is a
powerful wizard, it is because of me ! If Sirius has as much control
over the Ministry and Wizengamot, it is because I taught him
everything I knew, trained him since he was a boy, and looked after
all my siblings like an elder sister should. I have done my duty to my
family, and it pains me every day that my cousin was manipulated
into joining the wrong side of the war. Trust me, Albus Dumbledore
will pay for what he did to us, causing a rift in the Black family by
interfering in our affairs. Andromeda is still alive only because she is
my sister, even though she married a filthy Mudblood! This bastard ,"
she spat at Dylan, "is the son of a Mudblood whore! He is a stain on
the noble line of Lestrange, and as the Head of House, it is my duty
to get rid of him."
"Not good enough," Daphne sneered at the woman. "Don't
rationalize your actions, Bellatrix, because nothing can ever justify
your exploits over the years. You honestly don't care about anyone
but yourself. You may say that you care about your brother and
sister, but if Voldemort ordered you to kill them, you wouldn't hesitate
for a second, would you? Why? Because the Dark Lord's word is the
law! You wouldn't hesitate to kill Sirius if your master orders you to
do it, am I wrong? Where's the love you have towards your cousin
then, Bellatrix? You're nothing but a drone ! You're as good as an
Inferius!"
Bellatrix's face contorted in rage, but the insane glint was suddenly
back in her eyes. Over the past two weeks, Daphne and Dylan had
the pleasure of meeting the woman every day as she tried to
convince them to join the Dark Lord. In that time, Daphne had
realised that Bellatrix's moods were highly mercurial. She would
converse with them for an hour, talking about a variety of subjects,
acting as though they were friends, and then start torturing them all
of a sudden, feeling a vindictive pleasure in hearing them scream.
She seemed quite unbalanced and insane.
If Daphne didn't know better – being the daughter of a Healer made
her recognise a few symptoms – she would honestly say that
Bellatrix had two personalities within her – one who was probably the
original Bellatrix, who was dark, intelligent and yet loved her family
passionately, and the second being the insane woman who didn't
care about anyone but her husband and the Dark Lord, killing
everyone in her path without a second thought. Daphne didn't know
when the disorder started, but if what she had heard from Bellatrix's
original personality was true, it was due to losing the ability to bear
children that started it all. That had traumatized the woman very
deeply. Bellatrix should have been in St Mungo's under the care of a
mind healer, but of course, for her crimes, she was sent to Azkaban,
where the illness only got worse.
Unfortunately for them, it looked like her sadistic part of her
personality had suddenly taken over.
"Well, I think it is time for another round, don't you, baby Dylan?"
cooed Bellatrix. She cackled when Dylan hid his face behind
Daphne. "What about you, princess ?"
Daphne's breathing quickened as she wondered what she could do.
The room they had been provided was very tiny. She didn't even
know where in the manor they were. There was a small window in
the corner but she knew without a doubt that it was artificial. There
were no beds either, forcing her and Dylan to sleep on the hard floor.
Only one lone toilet was conjured in the corner and food – if it could
be called food – was provided twice a day. Daphne tried her best to
look after Dylan, but it was proving to be difficult. Bellatrix was
targeting the boy more often than not. She would not let her break
him!
"Come on, Dylan," said Bellatrix in a babyish voice, pouting. "Aren't
you going to play with Aunt Bella? I'll make it fun, I promise. Crucio!"
Dylan braced himself for the spell to hit him, but instead, he heard an
unholy scream from Daphne. His eyes snapped open when he saw
the older girl in front of him, her arms around him, trying to physically
protect him from the curse.
"Oh, look!" said Bellatrix, cackling in delight. "Someone here wants
to save little Dylan from the Cruciatus Curse! Lookie, lookie, nephew!
You finally found a new Mummy! Your pathetic Mudblood of a mother
didn't want you and you settle for a teenage girl instead? Tsk, tsk.
Such a sad and pathetic life, isn't it, Dylan? Too bad Daddy Harry
isn't here too. Then it would have been a complete family!"
Dylan ignored the mad ramblings of his aunt as he tried to help
Daphne off the floor. The bond between the two of them had
deepened considerably over the last two weeks. Dylan had always
looked up to Daphne, but he had now come to regard her as highly
as Harry, his affection for her as much as he felt for his brother. No
one other than Harry, Daphne, Sirius and Amelia had done so much
for him before and he vowed to protect Daphne by any manner
possible as she had done for him.
"A-Are you okay?" he whispered after Bellatrix had left for the day.
Daphne nodded as she rested her head on his shoulder tiredly. Both
of them seemed to be running a fever. "Let's continue with our
Occlumency exercises," she rasped. "The Animagus transformation
is the only option available to us."
"I know," murmured Dylan. Tears pricked his eyes as he croaked,
"Thank you, Daphne. Thanks for everything."
Daphne smiled slightly, squeezing his hand. "It is the duty of the
older sibling to take care of the younger ones," she said softly. She
tried to joke as she said, "At least you aren't as annoying as Astoria."
The mention of his girlfriend brought more tears to Dylan's eyes. The
two of them hugged each other tightly as they tried to survive the
pain. But their hope in Harry did not fade.
He would come for them. They were sure of it.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
"Ah, you must be Evan Wilson," said Lucius Malfoy as the tall man
walked forward. "The self-proclaimed assassin, welcome to our
testing ground. I received a letter from Madam Umbridge about your
abilities."
"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you as well," said Evan, but did not
extend his hand in greeting. "I have heard a lot about the Dark Lord
and I decided that our goals are similar. I would like to offer my
services to him as an assassin, which is why I'm here."
"Your record indicates nothing about your past targets and
strengths," said Lucius, staring at the man suspiciously.
"That's my speciality," Evan replied smoothly. "I have taken care of
numerous targets for both personal and professional reasons over
the last few years, but I have ensured that no one has ever tied them
to me. I entered the field quite recently, so I still have time to build
my reputation."
"And why should the Dark Lord hire someone who admits that he is
inexperienced and new to the job?"
"Because of my talent, Lord Malfoy, my talent. Isn't that why you are
testing us here for the next two weeks? My talent in magic should
more than compensate for any lack of experience on my part."
Lucius stared at the young man in front of him. Wilson was nothing
impressive to look at and he doubted the boy was barely past his
late teens. The assassin's record had stated that he was from
Sweden, but Lucius couldn't be sure. After all, languages were
hardly a problem in the magical world. It was barely an afterthought
as there were translation charms and potions to deal with such
barriers. He wondered if the young man could even survive the first
day of the test, let alone the next two weeks.
"Fine, assemble with the rest of the witches and wizards present,"
said Lucius coolly. "We still have a few more assassins we're waiting
for. We'll begin in an hour."
Evan nodded as he walked towards the two dozen witches and
wizards, all of them looking at him as though he were a delicious
piece of meat – in other words, young, naïve, and vulnerable.
"Oh, lookie, lookie, everyone," said a witch, cackling with delight.
"We have a baby amongst us. What's your name, little one?"
Evan didn't answer as he calmly stared at the night sky.
"Oh, we have a shy one here," said the woman with a pout, but her
tone hardened. "What's the matter, dear? Too embarrassed to speak
to us? Look at me when I'm speaking to you, brat ..."
Just as her hands reached out to grab his face, Evan's wand was out
in a fraction of a second. There was just a pure ripple of magic as a
nonverbal torture curse was cast on her, making the woman scream.
It wasn't the Cruciatus, but it was still painful. Evan lifted the curse
just after a couple of seconds.
"I don't like to socialise," he said coldly. "I prefer to be alone, bitch .
Try to annoy me again and I'll end your miserable existence."
A non-verbal Blood-Boiling Curse was fired from his wand, missing
her by an inch, making the woman yelp in fright. The other assassins
backed off, though some of them looked at him challengingly.
There was a crystal suspended in mid-air, observing them. At Riddle
Manor, Lord Voldemort watched on his mirror as this boy took on one
of the older assassins in Britain in a fraction of a second. The woman
might be good, but she was also known for her attitude of backing
off, so it wasn't a surprise. What impressed him the most was the
sheer confidence and calm nature of Evan Wilson, the youngest of
the group of assassins. He decided to keep an eye on the young
man.
He watched as Lucius began with the test. First, it was targeting
randomly flying disks, with the witch or wizard in a stationary
position, in order to check the aim and accuracy of the assassins.
Evan Wilson passed the test with a perfect score. Then there was a
large box, magically expanded on the inside, within which all of them
had to enter and take on deadly challenges for a week and survive in
a duel against each other for another week. While all of them were
talented, one of them stood out in the Dark Arts section.
There was only one winner – Evan Wilson.
"Lucius, ask him why he wants to serve me," said Voldemort, a small
smirk tracing his lipless mouth. Lucius heard his master through the
mirror and repeated the question.
"Simple," said Evan coldly. "I hate Muggles and anyone who is
willing to get rid of those filthy beasts and has actually done
something concrete is worth my respect. The Dark Lord's record is
better than anyone else in recent years. I have also heard how
insanely powerful he is and I respect true power. I am willing to work
for him if he wants me."
Voldemort's smirk widened. Even through the mirror, he could see
the clear hatred in the brown eyes of the young man as he spoke
about Muggles. Yes, this would do.
"Bring him and the other selected recruits here, Lucius," ordered
Voldemort. "It is time we added more talented members to our
cause."
"Yes, my Lord," muttered Lucius as he deactivated the mirror.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
"Get ready, everyone," said Sirius. He looked at the group of the
twenty-five of the best witches and wizards in the Auror Corps and
the Department of Mysteries, which also included a couple of
members of the Order of the Phoenix. "This is it. When we receive
the address of Voldemort's headquarters, we attack. Wait for the
signal."
Everyone nodded as Sirius went back to listening to what was
happening. There was a screen on which a red dot kept flashing
every second, alerting them to a location they were monitoring. A
crystal was suspended in mid-air from which they could hear what
was going on. Unspeakables around him were working religiously,
applying finishing touches to a small silver instrument that was
puffing and releasing smoke.
"Here you go," said Croaker, giving them a small phial containing a
thick red liquid.
Sirius watched intently as the instrument gave out a red puff of
smoke.
"It's ready, Minister."
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
It had been nearly four weeks since they had been captured and
Bellatrix had finally decided that her torture wasn't enough and had
decided to experiment on how much more she could do before the
two of them snapped. Dylan had cracked under the pressure as he
had been unable to take it anymore. Bellatrix had actually bitten on
his arm, clawing the word ' Mudblood ' with her teeth. Coupled with
her wand and hurtful words, the nearly fourteen-year-old boy had
just not been able to handle it.
"I think I'm beginning to enjoy this," said Bellatrix as she cackled.
Licking her lips, she looked at Daphne. "I'll deal with you tomorrow. If
little baby Dylan can crack, so can you! I can't wait to see the proud
princess cry. It brings such warmth to my heart."
Grinning at Dylan's crying form, Bellatrix left the room singing, "I'm
going to kill my nephew, yay!"
Daphne moved over to Dylan as she tried to help up, but his body
was too weak and his spirit crushed. Bellatrix had used all of Dylan's
weaknesses and insecurities against him to work her way to his
heart as she crushed it. She didn't even have to raise her wand - her
words were enough to cause such damage.
"Dylan, Dylan, please," said Daphne pleadingly as she helped him
up, hugging him tightly. "Don't listen to her. You're not alone, you
know that. There are people who love you. You have Harry, Astoria
and I who love you, Dylan, don't listen to her!"
But Dylan didn't stop crying. "She's going to kill me," he sobbed. "I
can't take it anymore, Daphne, I really can't take it anymore. I just
want it to end. I want to go home! I want to see Harry again. I want to
see Uncle Sirius and Aunt Amelia again. I miss them all so much! I
want to be with my family. I want my life to go back to the way it was
before all this started. Why am I always alone? Why doesn't anyone
want me?"
"Dylan!" snapped Daphne angrily. "She's saying that to purposely
needle you, can't you see that? I'm still here! Harry will rescue us,
don't lose hope!"
"I've been a failure at everything. I couldn't protect myself, I couldn't
fulfil my promise to Harry to always keep you safe, I couldn't be a
good son to my father, and – and – Bellatrix was right! I don't
deserve to live!"
Daphne was terrified of what she was hearing. Did the torture finally
get too much for Dylan? Was it affecting his mind?
"Dylan, please ... DYLAN!"
She sent a wandless stinging hex to his cheek, making him double
over in shock. "Don't give up!" she said firmly, cupping his face.
"We're going to survive this, understood? We're going to survive!
Say it !"
"We're going to survive," repeated Dylan quietly.
"Yes," said Daphne, sitting in a meditative posture. "We will survive.
We have to survive. We are going to prevail. We will escape."
She wouldn't let him give up now ... not when they were this close.
Daphne's body began to change. Her skin darkened as fur began to
form on her body. It was yellowish-orange in colour with black
stripes. Her hands changed to form paws, but her face remained
human.
Dylan began to transform too. His body was slowly being covered in
grey fur with patches of brown here and there. The fur on his hands
and legs were completely brown, matching the colour of his hair. His
ears began to change too, becoming pointier. His teeth elongated
until the canines were sharper, but he too didn't fully change.
They were both close. It was only a matter of time before they could
fully transform.
Evan Wilson adjusted the basilisk hide vest he was wearing under
his robes. There were a dozen assassins here along with him being
taken to Voldemort. They were certainly not the top quality
assassins, but they would prove to be effective Death Eaters for any
sort of magical fight. Essentially, they were cannon fodder, just like
the rest of the lower level Death Eaters Voldemort didn't care about.
They were the ones on the front lines fighting for what they thought
was for the Dark Lord, only not realising that the Dark Lord didn't
care about them at all. The inner circle was the one filled with
exceptional warriors like the Lestranges, Rowle, Rosier and Dolohov;
Ministry workers like Macnair, Carrow and Yaxley; highly talented
people like Rookwood and Severus Snape; and political people like
Malfoy, Nott, Avery; and finally, those who were there purely for a
specific purpose and yet didn't really contribute much like Pettigrew,
Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle.
Evan tightened the hood around his neck as they walked. They had
been taken to different places via Portkey before being brought here.
He was not surprised. Until they were all marked or inspected by
Voldemort, they were a threat. They were taken to a forest clearing
where they were fully inspected for any magical tracking devices on
them.
"I'll be taking you to the Dark Lord's manor," said Lucius in a superior
tone. "Remember that you are to kneel before the Dark Lord when
he approaches you; never speak unless spoken to and do not make
eye contact unless he demands it. If you make any unnecessary
move, you would be killed before your wand can clear its holster."
Evan's face remained impassive and so were the faces of the other
assassins. It was their line of work; they knew not to antagonise their
prospective employer or client.
"Read this and memorise it," said Lucius, giving them a piece of
parchment. "Pass it around once you are done."
Evan stood at the very end of the line as he watched the piece of
parchment being passed around quickly. Just before it reached him,
he cast a wandless charm to cause a small diversion so that Lucius'
attention would not be fixed on him. In a couple of seconds he had
managed to get the man distracted, he wandlessly switched the
piece of parchment containing the address in Bellatrix's handwriting
to another similar looking piece which was fake. Since Lucius
already knew the secret, he shouldn't recognise the difference in the
switch.
Not yet anyway.
Evan squeezed his fist. A house-elf appeared silently in the clearing
and took the piece of parchment which was in Evan's pocket. The elf
disappeared just as silently before anyone noticed its presence.
There were a dozen cracks as they all Disapparated from the
clearing.
"Master Sirius, Twinkie did as ordered. This is the piece of
parchment that was in the wizard's pocket," said the elf as she
passed the piece of parchment to Sirius.
"Thank you, Twinkie, that is all," said Sirius quickly as he took it.
Reading it, he was able to picture Riddle Manor sitting innocently on
top of a hill in Little Hangleton.
The Fidelius Charm had been compromised.
"Pass it around," he said to Croaker who read it himself before
passing it to the rest.
"Form up!" barked Moody. "Divide into teams. Team Alpha, with me!"
"Team Beta, with me," said Croaker.
"Team Gamma, with me," said Amelia.
"Team Delta, with me," said Sirius quietly as his team assembled.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
"Well, well, well," said Bellatrix in a babyish voice as she walked
towards the dungeons. "It looks like it is time for my daily session
with our little babies! Oh! Who knew I would think of myself as a
mind healer?" she said as she cackled with laughter. Oh, she was so
amusing and she knew it!
She looked at the door to the room where Dylan and Daphne were
imprisoned.
"Look out, look out, baby Dylan," she cooed. "Aunt Bella is here to
kill you! And today she's going to take little Daffy too! Oh look, that
rhymes!"
Bellatrix grinned sadistically as he flicked her wand and opened the
door. Closing it, she turned, only for her eyes to widen in shock for
an instant as a massive tigress pounced on her. A large grey wolf,
much bigger than any mundane wolf came up to her other side and
bit the arm clean off where she was holding the wand. Bellatrix
screamed as her neck and arm broke in half, partially severed from
her body, and she fell to the ground. Blood was pouring from her
wounds and onto the floor.
"I never thought it would work," said Dylan, breathing hard, covered
in blood.
"It wouldn't have if we hadn't acted so soon," said Daphne as she
checked Bellatrix's body. "We only had a second to pounce on her,
otherwise she would have killed us. She wasn't expecting any sort of
attack and her overconfidence helped us, nothing more. Dylan! Look
at this!"
"Our wands!" Dylan grinned. "It was so nice of Aunt Bella to keep
them safe for us. Now let us get out of here."
"Wait, not yet," said Daphne quickly. She tapped her wand on top of
Dylan's head until he was nearly invisible. She did the same to
herself too.
"Disillusionment charm," she explained. "It may not work very
effectively, but it should help us be inconspicuous."
"Good idea," said Dylan. They transformed into their animal forms
and carefully crawled out of the dungeons, hoping there were no
anti-Animagus wards.
There weren't.
Who expected two teenagers who were locked in a dungeon for four
weeks with little food and constant torture – with no means of a wand
– to become Animagi and escape?
Overconfidence had always been the downfall of great men and
women in history. And history was about to repeat itself.
Karma ... that was the word to describe Bellatrix Lestrange as she
died a painful, agonizing death several minutes later, ignored by
everyone in the world.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
Thirty men and women Apparated to the village of Little Hangleton
and slowly moved forward, applying Disillusionment charms in the
process. They could view their target.
"Teams Alpha and Gamma, you are to engage any resistance we
find outside and then make your way through," said Croaker through
his magical communications device. "Team Beta will work on the
wards around the manor. Team Delta, be prepared to sneak in."
"Yes, sir."
"All teams report ready."
"Begin Operation Gatecrash," said Sirius, his eyes hard as steel.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
Lord Voldemort stroked his wand with his long fingers as he
observed the newest group of would-be Death Eaters. His eyes were
not on them all though. No, he was searching for one particular
person. This person had power, talent, and a strong hatred for
Muggles – the perfect candidate for a future inner circle member. He
would need such skills if he were to get rid of people like Sirius Black
in the future.
All the witches and wizards assembled got down to their knees, just
as they were instructed.
"Welcome, witches and wizards," said Voldemort silkily. "I have
observed you all over the past two weeks and I am impressed with
your skills. You all have shown the ability needed to become Death
Eaters. The mark I shall bestow upon you would be the greatest
honour of your lives. You will wear it with pride as it a mark that
shows who you serve – Lord Voldemort. The ceremony will begin in
a few hours, but first, I would like to talk to one of you."
"Alone," finished Voldemort, smirking at the youngest in the group.
"Evan Wilson, stay behind. The rest of you may leave."
Evan rose to his feet as the rest of them cleared the room. Once only
he and Voldemort were inside, he squeezed his hand tightly.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
"Algernon, it is nearly time," said Sirius through the tiny
communication mirror studded in his earlobe. "How much longer?"
"It's nearly done, Sirius," said Croaker as he twisted his wand in a
long, fluid motion, pointing it towards a silver instrument. This was
the ward interference device which Sirius had given the Department
of Mysteries after the attack on Potter Castle. Harry hadn't been
lying when he had told Dumbledore that Voldemort had destroyed it
remotely, but because of the distance between Riddle Manor and
Potter Castle, it had not worked as well as it should have. The
Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries were able to repair the
device and using Harry's blood, they were using the device to
interfere with Voldemort's hold of the protective enchantments
around Riddle Manor.
"The wards have been punctured," said Croaker through his
communications device. "All teams stand by! Teams Beta and Delta,
prepare to infiltrate the manor. Teams Alpha and Gamma, prepare to
engage the enemy outside."
Sirius waited. Any second now ...
"I must say, I'm curious about you, Evan," said Voldemort, his red
eyes not leaving the face of the younger boy. "You're quite talented.
But I'm more curious about your tale of why you hate Muggles."
"Oh, I hate Muggles alright," spat Evan. "It's because of my
childhood, really. I grew up in an orphanage amongst those filthy
beasts and I was abused because of my powers. But the reason I
ended there was because of this Mudblood . I assume we will
eradicate Mudbloods too, my Lord?"
"My record should prove that, Evan," said Voldemort with an
arrogant smirk.
"This Mudblood was the son of a Muggle and a squib," said Evan.
"He was a good friend of mine, to be honest. I really looked up to
him as he taught me many aspects of magic. But this Mudblood
didn't remain that way for long. He let his fears overrule his common
sense and I suffered as a result. This Mudblood also made a fatal
mistake. He took something which I consider to be the most precious
to me. You , Lord Voldemort, are nothing more than a filthy
Mudblood and a rabid dog and I'm going to reclaim the two people
you stole from me."
Voldemort's eyes widened as the boy's features melted and changed
right in front of his eyes. Red hair turned raven black, the
cheekbones became higher and more pronounced, the lips thinned
slightly, the skin tone lightened, the nose straightened and the brown
eyes changed to vivid, emerald green. The unimpressive looking
Evan Wilson was gone, to be replaced by the handsome face of
Harry Potter.
Neither of them waited even for a fraction of a second. The wands
slashed in the air as the battle began.
"ATTACK!" shouted Sirius. The team of witches and wizards behind
him followed as they burst through the front doors of Riddle Manor
and began firing spells at all the Death Eaters they could see. The
Death Eaters began fighting back and those who were guarding
outside called for reinforcements. Soon, there was a battle being
waged outside and inside the manor.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
The tigress and wolf stopped as they heard noises. Just then, they
saw Rookwood running towards the entrance, his wand drawn as he
spotted the attackers.
" Avada K –" said Rookwood, but he couldn't finish it before the
tigress and wolf attacked him. Daphne again pounced on his back
and twisted his neck, biting hard, while Dylan took care of the wand
arm. Within a minute, Rookwood was disarmed and dead.
The two animals growled as they ran forward. The Ministry of Magic
had arrived. Turning back into their human forms, they drew their
wands as they joined the battle.
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
Inside the throne room, the battle was deadly. Spells of every variety
were flying everywhere as Harry and Voldemort battled for
dominance. Voldemort was shocked that Harry had infiltrated his lair
and actually fooled him for two weeks! But then again, he had never
actually seen Harry duel before, so there was no way to recognise
the fighting style.
"You shouldn't have come here, Harry," taunted Voldemort as he
fired several Killing Curses at the boy. "You won't get out of here
alive."
Harry said nothing as he fired several curses with two wands in
hand. Held in his right was the Elder Wand, the so-called most
powerful wand in existence. He had learnt a lot from accessing
Dumbledore's memories and his new position as the master of the
Deathstick was something he was curious about. In his left hand was
his loyal Yew and thunderbird feather wand, as he used duel-casting
to the best of his ability. After just a few minutes, Harry realised that
the Elder Wand did carry a unique power. The spells coming from it
were more powerful than Harry had ever seen before. Pure ripples of
magic were all that he could see, a testament to the amount of
control and power Harry had through the wand. Harry felt as though
the Elder Wand was connected to him in a way he had never
realised before.
The walls and roof of the manor were being blown to bits as they
fought. The wood was transfigured into daggers which went flying at
Voldemort, those of which were again transfigured into jet black
serpents that Harry blasted to smoke. More animals were being
conjured and the room was filled with attacking tigers, wolves,
crocodiles, snakes and any other lethal creature or instrument. This
was Transfiguration, Charms and Offensive Magic at its best. Just
then, Voldemort released a large snake made of fire.
"You can't go against this, Harry!" yelled Voldemort as he laughed,
the Fiendfyre Basilisk snarling behind him.
Harry slashed his wand as he released an almighty gust of wind,
forming multiple tornadoes. The twisters appeared and surrounded
the Fiendfyre snake, forcing Voldemort to recall the deadly fire. Harry
immediately acted as he trapped Voldemort in the tornado, trying to
control him, but the Dark Lord escaped, banishing the tornado back
at Harry who disfigured it, completely destroying the manor and parts
of the village around them. The Aurors and Death Eaters all fled
outside, trying to save themselves from the debris and flying spells.
While it was true that the Death Eaters were skilled, there were only
three inner circle members left – Lucius, Rodolphus and Rabastan.
The others were just not well trained yet, so the Aurors were able to
gain the high ground.
"You can't dodge me forever, Greengrass," snarled Rodolphus.
"You'll pay for this! You killed my wife, didn't you?"
"I'll kill anyone who dares to harm the man I love," spat Daphne as
she danced around him, avoiding the curses. "You should never
have tortured Harry in the first place!"
"That filthy half-blood was asking for it," yelled Rodolphus. His eyes
darkened in hatred as he looked at the girl who reminded him even
more of his dead wife. It didn't take a genius for him to figure out
what had happened to Bellatrix. The fact that she was not here
fighting for the Dark Lord had clued him in and the blood all over
Greengrass' robes was an indication that the girl and his nephew
must have killed her before they escaped the dungeons. The loss of
the family bond with his wife was the ultimate proof that he needed.
Daphne used a wide range of Charms, her speciality, as she did her
best to bring Rodolphus down, but the older man was very skilled as
well. Finally, just as she managed to distract him for a second, she
transformed into a tigress and pounced on him.
Rodolphus' last thought was that he was going to join his wife before
the massive jaws ripped his neck from his body, killing him in
seconds.
"I can't believe you would betray your own father," spat Rabastan
angrily. "I gave you a chance to join me, Dylan, and you do this ?"
"I have no father," yelled Dylan as his spells got deadlier. "My father
is dead to me. I'm an orphan! My father would never have allowed
me to be tortured every day for four weeks!"
Rabastan dodged the spells and upped his attack. "I was only trying
to show you where you went wrong," he said furiously. "The Dark
Lord is all-powerful! He would one day be the ruler of not only Britain
but the whole world! Don't be a fool, Dylan! Come to your senses!"
"There is only one person who could ever be the ruler of the world,"
shouted Dylan. "And his name is Harry Potter ! Not that snake-faced
loser you call a master!"
Rabastan's eyes were slits of fury at the insult to his Lord. "Potter!
Potter! Potter ! If you love Harry Potter so much, then go join your
so-called brother in misery! Avada Kedavra! "
The curse sped towards Dylan who dodged it, but it was still too
close. The spell missed him by less than an inch. His grey eyes
darkened, glowing eerily. He transformed into a wolf and howled in
anger and pain of betrayal at his own father trying to kill him.
Rushing towards Rabastan, dodging curses with more speed than
any human, Dylan latched on to Rabastan's neck and yanked on it,
biting hard. Blood dripped from Rabastan's neck as it snapped, but
not before a dark cutting curse impacted the wolf.
Blood poured out of both man and wolf as they fell to the ground.
Rabastan looked at the grey eyes of the wolf and his heart clenched
in guilt. He shouldn't have done that. He had attempted to use the
Killing Curse on his own son! And now, he had accidentally fired
another spell that was slowly killing the boy.
In his final moments, he realised that he had been a terrible father.
He had been given a chance to get to know his son, but he had
blown it, putting the Dark Lord ahead of his responsibility to Dylan.
Worst of all, he had allowed his sister-in-law to torture his own son
for nearly a month.
Rabastan felt disgusted with himself. Oh, life was so unfair ... he was
so close to death and he couldn't make amends with his son whom
he had wronged so terribly. He hadn't even told the boy how proud of
him he was, and how much he truly cared about Dylan. Tears
pricked his eyes as he placed a hand on the grey wolf. Summoning
all the strength he had, he opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm so sorry, Dylan," choked Rabastan to the large, injured wolf as
he felt his life leaving him. "I failed you. Please forgive me."
The wolf whimpered in pain as Rabastan breathed his last. A few
seconds later, caring hands took him in their arms. "Don't worry.
We'll get you help soon."
Daphne was a mess too with blood all over her face and robes. She
had several cuts on her face, but right now she was worried about
the boy she had come to regard as her own brother.
"Hang in there Dylan," she whispered as she closed her eyes and
turned on the spot, both human and wolf Disapparating with a crack .
HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP
Harry gasped as a cutting curse grazed his throat, drawing more
blood. He was wounded badly. He had performed rituals to
strengthen his body, making him heal much faster, but they were all
weak as compared to what Voldemort had done to his body. He and
Voldemort had been constantly duelling and Harry had lost track of
time. Riddle Manor and parts of Little Hangleton were now nothing
more than rubble. Unknown to each of them, Harry and Voldemort
had just beaten the previous record of the longest and deadliest duel
in wizarding history – the previous record which was held by Albus
Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald for their duel fifty years ago.
This duel was for the history books.
Both Harry and Voldemort were feeling the strain of the duel now.
They had transfigured everything possible around them, had
charmed their environment to attack them, had cursed the life out of
each other, yet both were not willing to give up. Harry did not notice
a large snake slithering behind him, too focused on the battle.
Voldemort smirked, but Harry heard the angry hiss at the last second
and dodged. The fangs impacted his shoulder instead of his neck.
Snarling in fury, Harry slashed his wand and cut off Nagini's head in
one swift motion, destroying the final Horcrux. Pain was spreading
throughout his body as the venom infected him but Harry was not
done as he fired another powerful blasting curse, destroying the
Dark Lord's wand arm in the process. Voldemort looked furious,
especially at the death of Nagini, but he realised that staying here
was futile. Pushing himself up, he shot off into the sky, flying without
the help of a broom. It was a common misconception that a witch or
wizard needed a broom to fly. Just like wandless magic, broomless
flight could be achieved too.
Harry, not yet having fully mastered the art of broomless flight,
transformed into an eagle and flew after Voldemort. If the Dark Lord
managed to breach the anti-Apparition wards, then all their efforts
would be futile. He had to be killed.
Voldemort heard an eagle shriek. Just as he turned around to
investigate, the sharp talons of the eagle clawed his face.
Transforming in mid-air, Harry plunged Gryffindor's sword into
Voldemort's skull, killing him instantly.
Then the two of them fell.
"Catch them!" screamed Amelia as she saw Harry fall with
Voldemort, but it was too late.
Harry crashed to the ground. The Sword of Gryffindor was stuck in
Voldemort's head as he looked back at everyone with lifeless red
eyes, his body broken and mutilated.
Tom Marvolo Riddle had been killed by the boy who was prophesied
to kill him. It was all over. They had won the war.
"Give me a Portkey; we need to get him directly to St Mungo's critical
area! Quickly!" yelled Amelia. She checked for a pulse; it was very
weak. Blood was pouring from Harry's head and other places in his
body. He was losing blood at a rapid rate as the venom infected him.
She grabbed onto him and disappeared in a flash of blue light along
with another Auror.
Sirius limped forward, wiping the dirt and blood from his forehead.
"Status report," he rasped out.
"We've captured all the Death Eaters who are alive," said Head
Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt in a low voice. "We lost six Aurors,
Minister. Remus Lupin is also dead."
Sirius closed his eyes in sorrow. Even if he had not been close to
Remus over the last few years, they had been best friends for a long
time before that.
"Take the bodies to the Ministry morgue and bring all the wounded to
St Mungo's," said Sirius quietly. "Place a security detail around
Voldemort's corpse. Contact the Department of Magical Accidents
and Catastrophes; get the Obliviators to modify the memories of the
Muggles here and get them to repair any damage to the village too.
Instruct everyone that none of them is to talk to the media without my
express permission. I'll be at St Mungo's. I need to be with my
family."
Seeing Kingsley nod, Sirius Disapparated with a crack .