Harry Potter and the Galator Chapter 29
Now you see them, now you don't
Ron met up with Lavender and held her hand. He practically dragged her as they ran through the woods away from where Harry stood. He heard hexes and jinxes being hurled at them and even saw one hit Lavender, but the jinx bounced off of her as if she was wearing an invisible shield. He kept throwing jinxes and hexes haphazardly over his shoulders. One of his jinxes actually hit one, but the other kept going at them. He veered off to the left and pulled Lavender into hiding behind the bushes.
She looked up at him and he could see the terror in her eyes. She agreed to help Harry, but she never imagined she would be in any real danger. Ron gathered her up in his arms. He'd never felt so brave in his life as that moment when someone depended on him.
"We're okay," he whispered. "But keep still and be quiet. I think Harry put some additional shield on us. We could throw jinxes out, but none of the jinxes they send us affect us in any way. I saw one bounced off of your lovely arse." He made her smile and it momentarily took away the fear in her eyes.
"Do you think whatever shielding charm Harry put on us would work on the unforgivable curses?"
"I don't think so. Hermione was hit with the crustascious curse and whatever shielding charm Harry put on us is not strong enough to protect us from those evil charms."
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about all the other jinxes, right?"
"I think as long as he's alright and able to concentrate, we're okay." Just as he said that they heard a twig break. Ron and Lavender readied their wands and Ron signaled Lavender to strike on the count of three. On the third count they both stood up and yelled out multiple jinxes at the death eater. After the onslaught of jinxes, they looked and found Avery with jelly legs and boils. Ron quickly muttered the binding spell on him.
"Come on, let's go try to find the others." They quietly walked in search of the others.
"Ginny, come here!" Malfoy quietly screamed at her. She gave a yelp when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Malfoy immediately covered her mouth so as not to give away their hiding position. He turned her around slowly so she could look into his eyes. He saw the relief immediately replace the tension and fear she first felt when she stiffened to his sudden movement.
"Oh, Draco. I'm so glad it's you."
"It's Okay, Love. I convinced the two fools following you that I could handle you."
"I was getting ready for them until you snuck up behind me, I was almost sure it was one of them."
"Never. I would have never let anyone touch you."
"Thanks."
"I didn't think I had to do anything. You were doing pretty good with that shielding charm."
"What are you talking about? I didn't cast any shielding charm."
"Well, someone cast some type of shielding charm on you. The hexes were bouncing off of you."
"Maybe Harry did it. We'll have to ask him later. Let's go find the others."
Neville kept running all the while sending hexes and jinxes over his shoulder. He didn't realize that he kept getting hit. He just thought he was getting better at dodging the jinxes. He was frightened for his life, but he was more determined not to let Harry down, anyone down. He was feeling a stitch in his side, but he kept running. He couldn't find a safe place to hide and they were too close to him for him to try to hide anywhere.
He heard a few hexes being shouted and the voices sounded familiar to him. He's probably hearing things, that's all. "Neville!" Ron shouted once more. Neville turned around that time and caught a glimpse of the red head bopping up and down. He stopped and panted.
Ron and Lavender made their way to him after he bound the death eaters that were trying to hex him. "Thanks guys!" he managed to breathe out.
"No problem, Neville. You okay?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Have you seen Ginny?"
"No, I went left when she went right and I didn't stop once."
"We're right here," Ginny called out to them. They looked and saw Malfoy with him. Ron glared at him. "Stop it Ron. He saved me."
"Come on, we don't have time to be arguing, we'd better get back to Harry," Lavender reminded them. Just then, the death eaters who where bounded disappeared one by one. They all raced to where Harry was.
While the others dispersed in many directions, he could hear hexes and jinxes being yelled out in different directions. He also heard death eater cursing at the fact that simple jinxes were being bounced off his friends' bodies. He felt pride at that moment for himself and his friends. His shielding bubble was working like a charm and although his friends were fighting grown wizards, he knew they were holding their own. He could feel them.
"So, it's just you and me, eh Potter" hissed Voldemort.
"Not while I'm alive," yelled out Sirius number two though he lacked conviction and courage.
"You think you can take me on Black! You're just a coward who hides behind others' powers."
"Well, you'll have to see about that now won't you?" he answered back with more conviction. Harry was a bit confused. He was sure the man standing next to him was scared out of his mind, but he was talking as if he would protect Harry with his life if he had to.
"Enough! Give me the galator, Potter!" Voldemort demanded.
"You'll have to take it from me, because I am not giving you a bloody thing!"
Voldemort let out a shrilling laugh. "You must think me a fool to fall for that. I know that the galator will not work if taken by force. You have to give it to me freely."
"Then I guess we're on a standstill because I will never give it to you freely." Harry was feeling Voldemort's anger. His scar was prickling even while he was blocking the pain, which meant the pain could have been unbearable had he not been able to block it off. He also new that Voldemort was livid. He could also feel the frustration, he was hoping he would be able to use Hermione, but since Hermione was out cold and could be dying she was not on top of his list as bait.
"Oh, and if I kill your girlfriend would that make you give me the galator."
"You may as well because I don't she would live through the injuries she's going through right now. It might be better so that she wouldn't have to suffer any pain." He was calling his bluff of course. He felt Voldemort trying to probe his mind and feelings and getting nowhere. His occlumency had vastly improved. "What's the matter, can't get inside my head?" he taunted.
"You will pay for your insolence Potter! IMPERIO!" Harry had been ready for his onslaught and resisted the Imperius Curse without any hesitation.
"Come on, you have to do better than that!" Harry wanted to curse him with his wand, but he knew that their wands do not duel well with each other. He found that out in his fourth year when Voldemort was resurrected and dueled with him. But at the same time he didn't want to perform wandless magic and reveal to the dark lord a skill that he had not yet perfected.
Voldemort was curios indeed. The Imperius Charm seemed to have no effect on the young boy. He remembered how long it took him to ward himself against that charm and it was certainly impressive that Potter had him beat by a lot of years. This made him even more curios. He was sure that he'd been getting extra training from that fool headmaster of Hogwarts. He masked his envy at Harry's skill and his apparent anger for not being able to use the imperius curse on him. He needed to think of a better way to get the galator away from him. It would not do well on the charms of the amulet if he killed Potter and take it from him, as far as he knew that was still taking it by force and the magic would not work for him.
Harry knew that Voldemort was running out of options. He knew he couldn't kill him because the galator would not work. He couldn't tell him that the galator would not work for him anyway, not correctly. He was not of the bloodline and that was more important for the power of the galator to work. Maybe he can wield the power of the galator, or at least pretend to use and perform his wandless magic. He wasn't really sure how the galator worked and Merlin didn't seem to want to enlighten him on that matter. He could pretend to use the power and if Voldemort got away from him at least he would think that he could perform magic without his wand because of the galator.
That was his plan anyway. Harry slowly took the galator out from under his shirt. Voldemort's eyes grew wide as well as the Sirius standing next to him. Voldemort didn't know what hit him. Harry held the galator in his hand and raised one hand towards Voldemort and yelled "EXPELLIRIAMUS!" Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand, but Harry didn't see it land anywhere and instead of being thrown back, Voldemort's image only wavered with a light flicker and he was upright again. There was shock on his face, but he'd recovered quickly and had his wand back in his hand.
Harry used the split second Voldemort wavered and ran to Hermione's side to check on her. But before he could do anything else, Voldemort screamed "CRUCIO!" Harry was unprepared that time, but right before he could react Sirius' body blocked the curse and took the brunt of it. He was thrown and hit a tree, then landed sprawled face down near Harry.
"Stupid FOOL!" Voldemort yelled out.
The impostor changed back to Peter Petigrew. As he lifted his head to look up at Harry he whispered, "We're even." He then passed out and for an inexplicable reason Voldemort disappeared when Wormtail lost consciousness.
Although Wormtail sacrificed himself for him, Harry couldn't take any chances and put a binding spell on him. He turned his attention to Hermione but heard a movement behind him. He felt the presence and knew that the person was consumed with anger.
"What did you do to my master?" the woman asked angrily pointing her wand at Harry.
Harry turned around slowly and stood face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange. "I didn't do anything to your master. He disappeared when Wormtail passed out."
"I told him not to use this lousy excuse of a death eater," she muttered to herself more than telling Harry.
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind. It doesn't matter I have you right where I want you anyway."
"As if you can do anything to me," Harry answered her cockily. "I still have the galator remember." Her eyes grew wide with shock. She was almost sure her master had already removed it from Harry's possession with the amount of time she was gone. Good thing she got away too. Those kids were quick and seemed to be impenetrable with regular jinx. The only way she got away was by actually putting a crustacius curse on that red head. Her master will hear of that Malfoy's insolence. He actually cursed her instead of helped her. First she had to get away from Potter.
"You may still have the galator, Potter. But I don't think you know how to use it."
"Want to find out?" He felt her fear. She was actually unsure of herself probably for the first time in a long time. He anticipated her move and readied himself.
"CRUCIO!"
He lifted his hand and held the galator. "PROTEGO!" he countered. He made her believe that the power of the galator helped him ward off the spell though he would have just as easily detached himself from the pain without the galator. However, it did make Bellatrix fear him all the more and that was the desired effect he was trying to get.
She sent out another curse and he ducked to his right to avoid it. He inadvertently tripped, lost his balance and fell face first on the ground. He felt excruciating pain on his thigh. He tried to block it out and stood up. He saw blood gushing out of his leg. There on his right thigh was a piece of wood imbedded deeply within him. He screamed as he yanked it out and then turned to face Bellatrix once more. Before he could scream out a hex, Bellatrix disappeared with a pop as did the other death eaters. He could feel his friends relax as they let their guards down. He made his way back to where Hermione laid.
She still didn't stir from her unconscious state. He held his hand above her body and closed his eyes. He felt her as if he was performing and x-ray with his hand. He could feel all the broken muscles and bruised bones, but thankfully he didn't feel as if there were internal hemorrhaging. He concentrated and pictured the muscles being put back together and her bones being healed. She was so badly hurt he was afraid he wouldn't be able to heal her, but he kept concentrating on his task. He could feel Hermione gaining consciousness and felt himself getting pulled into the darkness. Then everything went black.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews…