Title: Different Paths (12)
Author name: E. C. R. Potter
Author email: ecrpotter@hotmail.com
Category: Action/Adventure
Sub Category: Drama
Keywords: Harry Voldemort Different Paths H/H D/G
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto story arc.
Summary: Tom Marvolo Riddle, Harry James Potter. Two wizards, with incredibly similar beginnings, who
journeyed on different paths. Such different paths that inevitably, they could only lead to a collision course. And
collide, they do. H/H and D/G.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various
publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc.
No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. It is also based on a plot line based on
a story owned by Nobuhiro Wazuki, Jump Comics Inc., Fuji Television, Studio Gallop, and other publishers. No money is
being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended from them either.
Author notes: Can anybody wait till June 21st? On the one hand, we could very well say five months is
a long wait but on the other hand, we can say we've waited three years, what's another five months? Whichever
way, the release of Order of the Phoenix gives me a decent deadline to complete this fic. Hmm, five months, that should
be long enough to finish.
Dedicated to the 7 astronauts who lost their lives on the shuttlecraft Columbia.
Chapter 12: The Stellar Patronus
Back at Dover Harry's pride was being crushed. Throughout most of his seventh year, Harry had been praised about just how powerful he had become, that his powers rivaled Dumbledore's. Though he had never let it get to his head, after being told so many times that his powers rivaled Dumbledore's he had come to actually believe it. Now, he was being proven wrong.
Harry fell onto his knees panting heavily. Dumbledore looked out over the cliffs, perhaps looking toward the northern shore of France. "Come now Harry, surely you can land at least one spell on me," he said, not in a mocking way, but rather in a tone stating the obvious.
Harry gritted his teeth and pulled himself up into a standing position. He had already been sparring with Dumbledore for hours but hadn't been able to land a single spell on his mentor as of yet while he was already rather beaten up. "Remind me why I'm doing this again?" he muttered.
"I have already explained," said Dumbledore still looking over the cliffs. "You may have proven yourself worthy enough to learn the Dark Magic Cleanser but you've yet to prove that you are strong enough to bear it. Therefore, I'll only teach you the spell if you successfully land a spell on me before noon tomorrow."
"Noon tomorrow," Harry muttered. He took a deep breath and once again tried to fire his spells at Dumbledore. Dumbledore however constantly either deflected or blocked Harry's spells. Whenever Harry tried to outmaneuver him with his Quidditch trained reflexes, Dumbledore constantly beat him to the punch with moves Harry wouldn't have thought possible from a man so aged.
This continued on for hours and Harry was still unsuccessful though he was definitely being worn down. Soon, night fell and the almost full moon shown in the sky. Harry was clearly exhausted but he didn't seem to want to give up. "I...can still...do it..." he said, his feet dangerously swaying.
Dumbledore looked over Harry his blue eyes showing concern. "Harry it is late, you are exhausted, you must get some rest."
"NO!" exclaimed Harry. He took an unsteady step toward Dumbledore, still swaying. "I've...only got till...noon tomorrow. I can do this."
Dumbledore sighed. "If I must, I must," he said. The wizened wizard muttered a spell and Harry fell to the ground in a deep slumber. Dumbledore lit a fire right next to Harry and sat down opposite him. As he tended the fire, Dumbledore glanced up at the stars and started remembering...
It was a bright sunny summer day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although all of the students were away home on summer vacation the castle was highly decorated and filled to the brink with people that ranged from Hogwarts faculty to Hogwarts alumni and many of their relatives. They were all guests at a wedding being held that day at the school, a wedding between two of the most prestigious people in the Magical world. It was indeed a joyous occasion that eclipsed that usual doom and gloom of the height of Voldemort's power.
In the Gryffindor Common Room, the bride was making the final preparations to herself before the actual ceremony. Lily Evans looked herself over in the mirror as she smoothed out her pure white wedding gown. She looked absolutely breathtaking, her dark red hair cascading around her shoulders and her emerald green eyes shining with a sense of bliss and love for the man she would see in just a few minutes standing at the altar. Her porcelain face had just the slightest touch of make up, just a little blush and a hint of lipstick. Lily didn't usually wear make up but today was her special day.
She had just finished adjusting her veil when the portrait hole entrance opened and Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stepped inside. He smiled at Lily and said, "You look absolutely beautiful my dear."
Lily smiled back at him. "Thank you Professor..."
"Lily, call me Albus. You're no longer a student here."
Lily nodded and said, "Thank you Albus. Is it time already?"
"It is," said Dumbledore.
A slight blush crossed Lily's face as she asked, "How is he doing? He hasn't run off or anything has he?"
Dumbledore let out a jovial laugh. "I dare say Lily, that James is absolutely anxious to see you. Unfortunately, he was so nervous this morning that Mr. Black had resort to drastic measures to make sure he breathed properly."
Lily let out a small laugh. "He's not the only one who's nervous," she said.
Dumbledore smiled and lifted his hand, "Shall we proceed?"
"Let us," said Lily as she took the offered hand. She let Dumbledore lead her out of the Common Room. After walking down the halls for a few minutes Lily spoke up again, "Pro..Albus I want to thank you again for being the one walking me down the aisle, giving me away to James. I just wish..." Lily pushed back a sob as a lone tear rolled down her cheek, "I just wish my parents were still alive, to see me on my day."
Lily's muggle parents had been killed in a Death Eater attack nearly four years previous. Lily' sister Petunia, whom was already jealous of her gifted little sister completely disowned her, blaming her for the death of their parents. The memory still haunted Lily.
Dumbledore didn't say anything but smiled at her to show her his understanding. After another moment of silence, Lily spoke up again, "Albus, about that offer you made to me some time ago, the offer I said I would answer when I am ready. Well, I've made my decision, I want to accept your offer to learn the Dark Magic Cleanser."
Dumbledore examined Lily with stern eyes. "Why this sudden change, Lily?"
Lily sighed. "At first, when you offered to teach me the Cleanser, I wasn't sure I could handle the responsibility: such a powerful spell in my own hands, and the thought of abusing that power. But then, James proposed and I started thinking. With Voldemort still at large how could I possibly protect James or our children if we decide to have some? If the power to protect my family from Voldemort is within my grasp then what's to stop me from taking it?" Lily stopped and looked up at Dumbledore. "I'm sorry, am I rambling?"
"No Lily, I understand perfectly."
* * *
"Oh dear God, Sirius! Why isn't she showing up yet? What if she's lost? What if she changed her mind? What if Voldemort has decided to attack and she's hurt or..."
Sirius Black smacked a near panicked James Potter on the back of the head, trying to get him to calm down. "Prongs, buddy. Relax. She'll be here." They were standing in the Great Hall in front of an altar and a large crowd of guests. James as the groom was wearing a black tuxedo and a black dress robe over that. Sirius being the best man was wearing a matching outfit.
"Easy for you to say, Padfoot! You're not the one getting married!" snapped James.
"Just relax, you know she's going to show up here any second," said Sirius. As James took deep breaths trying to calm himself, Sirius turned to one of the groomsmen. "All set Moony?"
Remus Lupin grinned at his friend. "All set Sirius. I set it to go off the instant you snap your fingers."
Sirius grinned. "You're evil, you know that Remus?" he whispered.
"Hey this was your idea!" whispered Remus.
All whispering stopped that moment however as the doors to the Great Hall opened revealing Lily on Dumbledore's arm. The crowd silenced as they marveled at the beautiful bride while James was starring wide eyed, his mouth hanging open at the beautiful woman whom was about to become his wife. Sirius had to nudge him to remind him to breath.
Lily quickly looked around the Great Hall and realized that Petunia hadn't come. This saddened her but that melancholy feeling was dashed as soon as she saw James waiting for her at the altar. She let Dumbledore lead her down the aisle.
Lily beamed at James and James couldn't help but grin back at her. Dumbledore led Lily up to the altar and passed her along to James and the two stood in front of the minister. The minister spoke, rings were exchanged, vows were said, and by the time the minister gave them permission to kiss, Lily had tears streaming down her face though both she and James were beaming at each other. Finally, their lips met in a breathtaking kiss whereupon Sirius snapped his fingers causing fireworks to erupt throughout the entire hall, startling the entire crowd. Lily and James remained completely oblivious to this as they continued to kiss and occasionally whisper, "I love you," between kisses.
Dumbledore woke up with a start realizing that he had dozed off. It was morning now and the fire had gone out during the night. Harry was stirring and Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at Lily and James's son. Harry sat up, yawned, and stretched a little. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Dumbledore smiling at him. "Um, Professor, what are you grinning at?"
"I'm just remembering the past Harry," he said. He passed a bowl of oatmeal to Harry. "Eat, we have a long day yet."
Harry took the bowl of oatmeal and finished it off in no time. Dumbledore also left behind some fried eggs and toast before he set off for the cliffs ahead of Harry. Harry finished the eggs off quickly as well but he stopped for a moment when he came to the toast. Immediately his thoughts went back to his fourth year the morning after Harry had been selected as Triwizard Champion. The image of Hermione with a stack of toast and the assurance of her belief in Harry's story that he didn't enter the tournament was an image that had been forever engrained in Harry's head. Harry smiled as he nibbled on the toast. 'I wonder what Hermione's doing this morning,' he thought. His thoughts wandered to images of what she might be doing early in the morning, perhaps sleeping peacefully in bed whereupon the rays of the dawn sun hits her face causing her to wake. Hermione getting up and stretching cutely in those pink pajamas Harry loved seeing her in, and then she heads to the shower... 'Whoa! That's enough!' Harry thought. He cleared his thoughts and took off after Dumbledore.
Unfortunately hours later, Harry was still having no luck. No matter how many spells he employed or how many strategies he used, he could not land a single spell on his mentor. Finally, there was only twelve minutes left before noon. Harry was on his knees, panting and starting to get desperate. Dumbledore looked over him with a searching gaze.
"Giving up already?" he asked with a neutral tone. "It is my belief that it is within your ability to be able to land a spell on me within the next few minutes. However, if you do not believe you can do this, you will not be able to do this."
Harry gritted his teeth and stood up. "I can do this!" he hissed. With a boost of magical energy, Harry leapt high into the air. Twisting downward in a half summersault, Harry let out a loud cry as he pointed his wand toward Dumbledore. He wasn't aware of what spell he was using and he was only marginally aware of Dumbledore conjuring a deflector ward. All he was aware of was that he was falling down toward his mentor, his wand shining with one final desperate spell directed toward Dumbledore.
There was a flash of light as Harry came crashing down on Dumbledore's ward followed by darkness.
* * *
A young mother was humming as she nursed her newly born baby son. Lily Evans Potter peered down at her baby; her green eyes shining with love toward the child who shared her eyes. "Harry," she whispered as she stroked baby Harry's raven locks. She started humming again.
"How are my two favorite people doing this evening?" Lily looked up to see James Potter enter the nursery.
"Hello handsome," she said with a smile. She turned to Harry and whispered, "Look Harry, Daddy is home."
"Hello beautiful," said James causing Lily to blush. James grinned as he approached his family. He swooped down on Lily and gave her a passionate kiss before turning to Harry and whispered, "Hello son. Have you been giving Mommy a hard time again? Good for you."
Lily playfully swatted James before kissing him again. Soon, the kiss grew rather passionate and frenzied and things were really starting to heat up. Luckily Lily managed to gently push James away before they ended up performing activities that would've traumatized baby Harry. James looked slightly disappointed but agreed with Lily's "Not in front of the baby."
James started cleaning up the nursery as Lily started humming again, gently rocking Harry trying to get him to sleep. She opened her mouth apparently about to sing something when she turned to James and asked, "Love, what was Harry's Zodiac sign again?"
"July 31st?" said James facing his wife once more. "Leo, the lion."
"Of course, silly me," said Lily. She turned to Harry again and softly started singing:
"Listen child, hear my words,
When darkness falls and evil stirs,
Listen to my words so you may live,
Your life be saved by the words I give,
Astra Patronum Leo."
Harry woke up with a start. He realized that tears were streaming down his cheeks and he wiped them away angrily. Harry rarely had dreams about his parents however, and whenever he did they were usually nightmares about the night Voldemort had murdered them as he had first experienced when he encountered the dementors during his third year. He had never had a dream of the domestic bliss of his family before Voldemort's attack and he treasured the dream.
"Ah you're awake," said Dumbledore, beaming at Harry. Harry realized he was still on the cliffs of Dover. Groggily he stood up.
"What time is it?" he groaned.
"A little past one in the afternoon," replied Dumbledore. "You were unconscious for about a hour and a half and after a desperate spell like that, I wouldn't be surprised. Of course," Dumbledore lifted his right arm to show that his forearm was singed, the skin under the torn sleeve slightly burned, "it was because of that desperation that you were finally able to land that spell."
"I did it?" Harry exclaimed his eyes wide.
Dumbledore grinned. "Of course you did Harry, I never doubted you for a second. Now, follow me, it is time for you to learn the Dark Magic Cleanser."
* * *
Minutes later, Harry and Dumbledore were back in front of the former headmaster's cottage. Fawkes's tears had healed Dumbledore's arm and Harry was well rested and eager to learn.
"Now, observe carefully, Harry," said Dumbledore. He pulled out his wand and said, "Magicus Ensis." A sapphire blue blade of light emerged from Dumbledore's wand. Dumbledore twirled the magical sword around, the blade of light singing in the air.
Harry blinked. "Whoa."
"The Magical Sword Spell," said Dumbledore. "This spell is a particular favorite of mine." He flicked the blade upward and pointed it at Harry. The blade disappeared. "Go ahead and try it. The words are 'Magicus Ensis'."
Harry nodded and shouted, "Magicus Ensis!" He jumped back a little when a brilliant emerald green blade of light erupted from his wand. It was about a meter long and it's light surrounded the actual wand as well. Noticing the blue color of Dumbledore's blade and the green color of his own, he decided that the blade's color mimicked the color of the wizard or witch's eyes that was using the spell.
"I did it!" exclaimed Harry. He felt extremely excited at having apparently mastered the Dark Magic Cleanser after only one try. He started twirling the wand around, the blade swirling in the air.
Dumbledore, gave Harry a stern look. Without any warning, Dumbledore said, "Expelliarmus." Harry's wand shot out of his hand, much to his surprise.
Harry was clearly confused. "I don't understand. I thought the Dark Magic Cleanser was too powerful to stopped by a disarmer. What's wrong with mine?"
"There was nothing wrong with your Magical Sword Spell," said Dumbledore. "In fact, I am rather impressed that you've mastered it this quickly. But understand this Harry, mastering the Magical Sword Spell is only the first step in learning the basics of how to conjure the Stellar Patronus."
Now, Harry was even more confused. "Huh? The Stellar Patronus? What's that?"
"Why the Dark Magic Cleanser of course," said Dumbledore. He grinned when he saw that Harry was speechless. "Why my dear Mr. Potter. I never actually said that the Magical Sword Spell was the Dark Magic Cleanser; just that it is a particular favorite of mine. In fact, it is a particular favorite of Wizard Duelers; anybody whose studied advanced dueling spells can use it. You just assumed that it was the Dark Magic Cleanser."
"Professor," Harry groaned. Dumbledore chuckled. Suddenly his face grew serious.
"I must still stress out that you should still familiarize yourself with the Magical Sword Spell," said Dumbledore. "You and Voldemort possess brother wands. By it's very nature, the Magical Sword Spell is the only spell the two of you can use against each other that will prevent your wands from locking into 'Priori Incantati', with the exception of the Stellar Patronus. You must learn how to wield the magical sword."
"OK," said Harry. "But I'm hear to learn the Dark Magic Cleanser, er, I mean the Stellar Patronus."
"Of course," said Dumbledore. "But before I teach you the actual spell there is some background that is vital for you to know."
"OK."
"Harry, do you know why I initially wasn't going to teach you the Dark Magic Cleanser?"
Harry thought for a moment. "At first you said you weren't going to teach me it when I said that I wanted to learn it so that I could use it to defeat Voldemort."
"That is correct," said Dumbledore. "You see Harry, aside from yourself there have been two other people whom I had wished to pass the spell to. Fortunately for one and unfortunately for the other circumstances prevented me passing the Stellar Patronus along to them."
"Oh."
"Harry, the first one, the wizard whom I initially wished to pass the Dark Magic Cleanser to was Tom Riddle."
"What?" Harry sprang up to his feet. "Voldemort? But wasn't he..."
"Believe me Harry," said Dumbledore chuckling bitterly, "he may have been in Slytherin, but if you had told me what Tom Riddle was going to become later on back during his early years I would have laughed and said you were out of your mind." Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Before Tom Riddle turned over to the Dark Side, he was the most intelligent, brave, and honorable wizard ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts. He was truly one of a kind and I decided early on, that he would be the heir of the Dark Magic Cleanser and started instructing it to him. Then, during his sixth year, there was the whole fiasco with the Chamber of Secrets. I had my suspicions that he was behind those attacks but they weren't confirmed until the following year after I defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald. Shortly after his defeat, Tom Riddle blinded Grindelwald to prevent possible competition. I only found out that bit of information years after the event but I had already stopped teaching Riddle the spell after the situation with the Chamber of Secrets."
Harry was intrigued by this story. Dumbledore continued speaking.
"It amazes me how similar your origins are with Riddle's. Both of you are what he would consider to be half-bloods, orphans, raised by muggles, in rather abusive backgrounds, which I must apologize to you since I am partially responsible for that in your situation. You even resemble each other, although there is no immediate family connection between you two. And yet the two of you have journeyed on such different paths. You chose to be a Gryffindor when he chose to be a Slytherin. He gave into the hatred and prejudice he learned from the muggles raising him while you simply glanced it off. He turned over to the dark side while you have become one of the foremost defenders of the light side. It is how the two of you have traversed on such different paths that will make the difference in whether you learn the Stellar Patronus or not."
"I...I think I understand sir."
"Indeed. For you to learn the Dark Magic Cleanser it is vital that you and Voldemort remain on different paths. Different as those paths are, there is always the possibility that you could still journey down the same path as him. Wishing to learn the Stellar Patronus for the sole purpose of defeating Voldemort would constitute as a selfish act. If a selfish act were your motivation you will fail to master the Stellar Patronus. However, you said your motivation was to prevent any more pain to come to the weak and helpless. That was the same motivation displayed by the other one who was supposed to learn the spell, and I have no doubts that you will master the Stellar Patronus because I believe that she would've mastered the spell had she lived long enough."
Harry perked up. "Wait a minute Professor, is this other person..."
"Yes, it is Lily Evans, your mother," said Dumbledore. "I had been teaching her the Dark Magic Cleanser for some time but she took some time off when she became pregnant with you. Before she could come back to finish the training, Voldemort attacked. You know the rest." Dumbledore grinned. "For that reason, I have been secretly smuggling the basics of the Stellar Patronus into your regular Hogwarts curriculum. The only thing you will need to do is take the final test."
Harry was a little stunned at this. "Why, thank you sir. And, er, what is this final test?"
Dumbledore started pacing again, his face grave. Finally he took a deep breath and said, "I'm sure you are aware that the Avada Kedavra curse cannot be stopped. However it can be deflected, by the Stellar Patronus." He took another breath. "Harry, to master the Stellar Patronus, you must be able to deflect the Avada Kedavra curse; that is the final test."
"What?!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes wide and his face pale. "But that means..."
"Yes Harry," said Dumbledore his face grave, "failure will mean death."
Harry blanched, his face pale and his knees shaking. He grabbed a branch on a nearby tree to steady himself. He opened his mouth though nothing came out. Finally, he managed to mutter, "B-bloody hell."
Dumbledore sighed once again. "If possible, I would've hoped you didn't have to carry this burden. Like I said before, I could go down to Voldemort's lair and use the dark Magic Cleanser on him myself. However, I am old, and it is highly unlikely I will survive a duel against Voldemort, especially if I use the Stellar Patronus on him. If I perish without passing the Dark Magic Cleanser on, future generations will fall before the Dark Side."
Harry took a few breaths and steadied his feet. Finally he spoke, "Well, I suppose I'm going to be killed by Voldemort anyway. Why not do him a favor let you do the job for him?" He grinned to show that he was only kidding. Dumbledore however looked slightly alarmed.
"Harry, do you not expect to survive your duel against Voldemort?"
Harry hesitated for a moment before he said with an emotionless voice, "No, I do not expect to live. But I'm ready to throw my life away to defeat Voldemort."
"Then, I am afraid, you will fail the test," said Dumbledore. Before Harry could say anything Dumbledore continued, "You can think about that during the night. The basic workings of the Stellar Patronus is rather simple: it is more or less a combination of the Magical Sword Spell and the standard Patronus Charm. Just activate both spells at the same time. However, whereas the standard Patronus can be conjured by a happy thought, the Stellar Patronus is conjured up with another thing along with happiness. The requirement of the test is that you figure out what that other thing is, it will save your life. The test will take place tomorrow morning. Good luck." With that, Dumbledore went back inside his cottage leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.
* * *
That night Harry couldn't sleep and was thus sitting under a tree gazing at the night sky, observing that it would only be about two or three days before the full moon. A part of Harry believed that this could very well be the last night of his life. Perhaps, his biggest regret was that he wasn't spending the night with Hermione.
A lot of thoughts were crossing Harry's mind that night: Voldemort, Hermione, his parents, the Stellar Patronus, Hermione, his parents, the Order, Hermione, his parents, Ron, Hermione, his parents. He tried to think about Dumbledore's words. He couldn't exactly figure out why he would fail the test if he was ready to die. After all, wasn't he expected to sacrifice his life for good?
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl...stand aside, now..."
"Not Harry, please no take me, kill me instead -"
Harry shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts from his head. However, he simply could not dislodge his mother's voice and words. "Not Harry..." he muttered before finally drifting off to sleep.
Meanwhile, inside the cottage, Dumbledore was talking to Fawkes. "So, it comes to this," he whispered to the phoenix. Fawkes twitched his head and gave his master a piercing look. Dumbledore stroked Fawkes's feathers. "Whether Harry passes the test or not, tomorrow will most likely be the day one of us goes on the next great adventure." After a brief moment of silence, Fawkes started singing his enchanting phoenix-song.
* * *
Morning came far too quickly for Harry's tastes. Before he had fully comprehended what had happened the sun was already high in the sky and he and Dumbledore were standing twenty feet apart facing each other. Harry looked rather sick while Dumbledore looked solemn.
"Are you ready Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry simply said nothing and continued starring down at his shoes. Finally, he looked up and said, "I am ready to give up my life to defeat Voldemort: I am ready to give up my life to learn this spell."
"Whichever way. I wish you luck." Slowly, Dumbledore lifted his wand up toward Harry and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
'So, this is what it has come to?' thought Harry as the green light rushed toward him. 'After a lifetime of fighting Voldemort I fall before not him but my own mentor? Talk about dramatic irony.' Harry's life flashed before his eyes: living ten years in a cupboard at the Durselys', receiving the acceptance letter to Hogwarts, meeting Ron and the Weasleys, meeting Hermione, searching for the Philosopher's Stone, searching for the Chamber of Secrets, encountering Sirius for the first time, competing in the Triwizard Tournament, meeting the Order of the Phoenix, growing closer to Hermione after her parents' death, the Slytherin Revolts, Fudge's assassination and the events that followed leading up to this moment.
Everything seemed to slow down. The single second it took for the green light to come engulf Harry seemed like hours to Harry. So many memories, so many regrets. More then anything, Harry regretted that he wouldn't be able to be with Hermione again, that he would be leaving her behind...
"Not Harry, please no take me, kill me instead -"
Lily's words flashed into Harry's head. His mother had sacrificed her own life so that he might live. And here he was throwing away that life she had given him. Here he was constantly ready to give up that life which Lily had valued far more than her own. Harry's own words flitted into his head: "But I'm ready to throw my life away to defeat Voldemort." But that would mean that he would be throwing away his mother's gift of life to him. He had so much to live for! He had to live, so that Hermione wouldn't have to suffer any more pain. He had to live so that his parents' sacrifice actually meant something.
"But I'm ready to throw my life away to defeat Voldemort."
"I AM NOT READY TO DIE!" Harry pointed his wand toward the green light of the killing curse, his green eyes blazing with life, and screamed the words he never even realized he had remembered since he was a baby: "ASTRA PATRONUM LEO!"
What happened next, was a blur to Harry. His wand emitted a series of lights that arranged themselves into the constellation Leo. A dazzling scarlet and gold male lion, clearly a patronus, burst forth from the lights and gave a mighty roar. Before Harry had truly comprehended what had happened, the lion patronus leapt toward the green light of the killing curse, causing it to deflect away into the sky.
Shocked, Harry dropped his wand. He tried to say something but suddenly found himself tongue-tied. The lion stepped in front of Harry, made a bow and faded away.
"My congratulations to you Harry Potter, you have passed the test," said Dumbledore. Harry looked up at him but said nothing; he was still in shock. Dumbledore continued, "You see Harry, whereas a standard Patronus Charm is activated by happiness, the Stellar Patronus can only be activated something similar yet different, the will to live despite overwhelming odds. Admirable as wishing to throw your life away for the sake of good is, there is no point in victory unless you live to celebrate it." With that, Dumbledore wheezed and fell to his knees. That snapped Harry out of his daze.
"Professor!" he cried. Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him.
"There is no need to grieve Harry," said Dumbledore. "Ironic isn't it that I give up my life to teach you not to give up yours? If I had been but a few years younger I probably would've lived after firing that killing curse but alas, I have grown old and weary and the curse was a little too much for me to handle. Do not grieve Harry, for I simply starting my journey to the next great adventure." With that, Dumbledore fell over much to Harry's horror.
"PROFESSOR!"
To be continued...
A/N OK, first the good news: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" due to be published on June 21st. Hooray! Next, the bad news...well I'm sure everybody knows what happened to the shuttlecraft Columbia. I wish to pray for their families and ask that God take care of the loved ones of those seven brave souls who lost their lives for the sake of mankind. God bless them. Next: We finally get to see the workings of Voldemort's ultimate plans for conquest.