Harry Potter and the Last Stand
By: Winston Noble
A/N: Ok, so this chapter wasn't originally planned this early on, but I was inspired to show the skills Harry got from sparring with moody last year. Anyway, what I said would happen this chapter doesn't happen, but it will next chapter.
Chapter 5: Trials of Cunning
A heavy weight was on his shoulders. He struggled to move. His entire body screamed in pain but he couldn't give up. He watched as she was dragged along. Two men in dark robes, towering above her broken form, held her by one arm each and dragged her through the cold stone darkness before them. They remained unperturbed by his cries of pain and worry. They were cloaked and hooded, their faces turned forward, staring into the everlasting darkness.
Her legs trailed the ground behind her. Her head hung low in defeat. Harry watched helplessly as she was dragged away from him. Her brown curls covered her face. Her robes were torn and bloody, her form was lifeless and her eyes were closed. She never heard him cry out for her. She never saw him crawl towards her. Trying desperately to pull his beaten, bloody, and broken body forward to catch her. She never saw him, or heard him. She would never open her eyes and look at him again. She couldn't. She was gone.
As he watched them take her. He watched them take her away from him, the last bit of anything that he had. He couldn't catch up. Their strides were swift and powerful, and his broken body was unable to keep up. He dragged a tremendous weight behind him and he had not the ability to look back. He could never look back. He had to keep moving but he couldn't. With each motion his body became even more exhausted. His legs gave out and he felt no more pain from them. He felt nothing. He couldn't use them. But she was still being taken away. He had to keep going.
He dragged himself forward with his arms. His useless legs trailing behind him like a rag dolls. He felt a pain like no other. It was pain beyond that which could be caused by any spell or torture device. It was a pain of the heart. It was all he felt. All physical pain was lost on him. His body was numb with defeat. With each pull of his arms, they snapped just a little more. He cried out for them to stop. He tried to grab for a wand that wasn't there.
The men walked on and noticed nothing, the motionless body of his salvation trailing behind them. Slowly, the darkness engulfed them and Harry lost the last bit of hope he had ever had. He cried out in pain. Louder then he had ever before, "NO!!!!"
Harry shot up awake. He was drenched with sweat. Darkness surrounded him. His body was sore all over and the cold stone did nothing to help his aching body. He groped for his wand. It was nowhere to be found. His robes were torn and he began to shiver. His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and by doing so they told him his glasses were cracked.
He heard a whimper. He turned to see a small girl. She was sobbing almost silently into her arms. She was in torn Hogwart's robes and her head had a bad cut on it. He decided not to bother her. He had other worries. He got up to his knees and studied the area around him.
His surroundings were far from friendly. The walls were cold stone, encrusted with grime and filth of centuries of no cleaning. He was in a cell and the bars were old and rusted. He could make out dozens more cells with bodies on the ground in them. Small amounts of light filtered in through one area that Harry figured to be a trapdoor in the ceiling. A masked figure snoozed loudly on a chair in the corner outside the cells.
Harry got to his feet and moved around the cell. It was cramped and uncomfortable. He moved over towards the girl. She looked up at him, "Who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?" Harry said sweetly. The girl was two heads shorter then Harry. She had brown wavy hair and amber eyes. She looked to be about eleven and she seemed so familiar. Harry's thoughts of her age were confirmed by the way her eyes widened with glee childishly when she heard his name.
"I'm Courtney Sholars. I've read about you! You're the boy who lived. Are you going to save us?" she said quickly and excitedly. It clicked… Harry had found mini Mione.
"I'll do my best to try to get us out," Harry smiled. He noticed a large cut on her arm. He ripped off a part of the sleeve of his uniform and wrapped it around her arm; pulled it tightly to pull the wound together, and then said to her, "Keep your arm elevated so it doesn't bleed as badly. Stay here while I look around."
Harry moved towards the cell bars and looked around. His eyes had become even more fit to the darkness. He studied the bars. They were old and extremely rusted. With a little force they might bend just enough for someone to get out. Harry placed an arm on two adjacent bars and pulled.
The old bars didn't budge an inch. Harry's fingers certainly hurt though. He looked around the room outside his cell. An old umbrella bucket stood in the corner opposite the hooded wizard just outside Harry's cell. Nothing much he could use.
Just below the wizards chair and a little to the right sat a bucket with a ladle sticking out the top. "Probably for when we get thirsty…not like that bloke will give us any," Harry thought. Then he got an idea. He got on his knees and stuck his right arm as far as he could out the bars. "Maybe if I can just…there!" Harry thought just as he reached out and grabbed the water bucket and pulled it closer to the cell.
He then considered his plan for a moment. After coming to a decision, he started undressing. He removed his robes so that he was in his muggle clothing. He then stripped off his shirt and replaced his robes. He then took a drink of the water and gave the girl a drink too.
He placed his shirt in the water quietly and moved it around. He made sure to get all of it thoroughly soaked. He removed it made a dire mistake. The water dripped from it and echoed noisily off the stonewalls. Harry's head shot up and looked at the figure in the chair. It snorted and then continued to snore.
He sighed and then twisted the shirt into a rat-tail and wrapped it around two bars. He then pulled with all his might. The bars groaned and slowly bent, but the wet shirt held strong. The bars continued to bend. Finally they met and would budge no farther. Harry unwrapped the wet garment and placed it on the two bars next to the previously bent ones. He repeated the process and the shirt still held strong.
The gap was small but Harry wasn't very big either. "Shh…stay here, I'll be right back," he said to the girl. She nodded and Harry tried to squeeze through the bars. His waist got stuck. He pulled perhaps a bit too hard. He broke free and stumbled forward onto the man's legs. The man sat up awake and looked down at the heavy weight on his legs.
Harry knew that it would take a second for the man to register what was going on, that would be enough to formulate a plan of action. He also knew that it would take another two seconds for the man to get his wand out and curse Harry: which would be enough for Harry to put his plan into action. Throw the man's temporary impaired vision into the equation and Harry stood a chance.
Harry moved like lightning and grabbed the wet shirt and hurled it on the man's face. The garment covering his face muffled his shouts. He stood and knocked the chair over while trying to pull it off his face. Harry then proceeded to the umbrella stand and grabbed an old cane.
The cane was made of dark wood and had a weighted grip made of silver or chrome. "Perfect," Harry thought. The death eater finally managed to pull the shirt off and find his wand. Still, Harry knew he could not possibly see Harry. Harry was well hidden in the dark corner. But it would not last long, the man would soon have his eyes adjusted to the darkness as well.
He whirled around and kept turning trying to find the missing captive. He turned to face the cell where the girl was kept and Harry took his chance. He lunged forward and raised the cane. The hooded embodiment of evil turned just as Harry's blow hit him in the shoulder.
Harry backed off; he needed the distance to have a chance of avoiding the spells. The hooded figure stumbled then fired a stunner at Harry. Harry dodged it and lunged again. The death eater sidestepped to the right and fired a disarming charm at Harry. Harry lost his grip on his weapon and was thrown in to the cell wall. The structure shook and vibrated from Harry's hit. The man raised his wand and sent another stunner at Harry.
He groaned and rolled to the right. The spell hit the floor just as Harry stood and grabbed his discarded weapon. The death eater was getting tired. "Forget the orders, I'll just kill him," the man thought violently. He raised his arm and began to mutter the killing curse, "Ava-"
Harry lunged forward for the last time. His back still ached from the cell collision. The death eater was about to end the fight. Time froze and Harry analyzed the situation. He had to stop the curse from happening. He could either destroy the wand, or stop the man from uttering the incantation. That gave him a few options.
He could attack the face or throat to stop him from talking, but in the man's current position, he could probably block the attack with his left arm and continue the curse with his right. Harry could also attack the stomach and knock the wind out of him, therefore rendering him unable to speak, but it would take longer for the man to fully feel the effects then it would for him to finish the spell. Harry's last option was to attack the man's hand. An attack on the arm would just divert the path of the spell, and in their current positions, it would probably still hit Harry. So his plan was to hit the hand hard enough to knock the wand out of the death eater's hand.
"Simple enough," he thought. Time sped back up and Harry brought his silver headed weapon crashing down on the man's hand just as he finished the first word of the incantation. "Avada-ahhhhh…"
The man's hand snapped under the blow and his bones cracking was heard throughout the chamber. His wand clattered to the floor as he doubled over in silent fits of pain. He gasped at his broken and bloody hand. He opened his mouth to scream but never got to it.
Harry registered the man's pain and saw the steps happening. Disbelief, silent fits, and then the screaming. Harry raised his bloody weapon and brought it crashing into the man's throat right before he could call for help. The man gasped his last breath as the silver and wood crashed through his trachea and esophagus. His eyes widened and he fell over.
Harry sighed. He picked up the death eater's wand and then tested it. It was short, stiff, and rigid. Harry doubted it would provide him with a good dueling assistant. He sighed and proceeded to the cells. "Alohamora," He muttered. Nothing happened. He sighed. "Figures," he thought.
He proceeded to try every unlocking charm he knew. Nothing worked. He racked his brain for something he missed. "Ah screw it," he muttered frustrated, "Virga mucro!"
The wand began to glow red from the tip to about half way down its shaft. "Stand back," he advised to the people in the cells. He placed the wand in between the bars and slashed it with force horizontally. It cut swiftly through the bars and left the edges of the cut bars hot and burning.
He continued it on all the cells until the captives were freed. He looked around and saw that the oldest one there besides him was only in fourth year. They all stared at him expectedly. This was bad. "Hand me that cane…that on there, yea that's it…hand it over here…Thanks." He asked calmly as they passed the bloody utensil to him.
Harry concentrated hard on hogsmeade station. He doubted he had enough energy to make a portkey past the Hogwart's barriers with a foreign wand. "Portus," he muttered. The cane began to glow bright blue, then settled. "Ok, you 3 over there, take this and hold on tight," he ordered, tossing it to them. They gripped it tightly but nothing happened. "Damn it," Harry cursed underneath his breath.
"Alright. Everyone listen to me. I'm going to make a portkey for all of you. Find something in the room and bring it to me, rip off a piece of your robes or something. When I'm done, we will need to make a break for it. We need to find a way out of here and outside of this area. It's the only way. There are wards stopping the portkeys from working so well need to get outside of them. Do not lose your portkey," Harry commanded.
"Why should we listen to you?" a small voice that reminded him of Zacharias Smith came out. Harry looked around and saw a small figure in slytherin robes. He opened his mouth to tell the little cretin that he could just stay behind when someone answered first.
"Because HE'S Harry Potter!" Courtney shouted out, "He already stopped that bad man and got you out so I don't think you are in any position to criticize!"
"God she's like Hermione…" he thought and smiled. The little figure backed off grudgingly. Slowly, all of them approached him one by one and he gave them a portkey. "Alright…here we go, follow me."
Harry slowly got up and pushed the trap door open slightly. The light burned his eyes but he squinted and looked around. One small man in dark robes was rummaging through a drawer in a large storage cabinet. He had his back towards them. As far as Harry could tell, the man was alone in the room.
Harry carefully aimed his wand and sent a stunner at the man. It hit him in the back and he slumped to the floor. Harry opened the trap door and stepped out. The chamber was just like the on below, it was made of stone and it was extremely dirty and shabby. The major difference was the absence of cells and the bright torches that burned in brackets on the walls. There was a desk in the corner of the room a few feet from the door. On top of the desk was an assortment of wands.
"Accio wand," he muttered, concentrating on his wand. A holly wand flew from the bottom of the pile and into Harry's hand. He turned to see the captives emerging from the trap door. "Alright everyone, you all have no doubt already purchased wands. Now I want you to concentrate hard on the mental picture of your wand and repeat after me: Accio wand!" Harry commanded. Voices rang out and several wands shot to the hands of their owners. They all were impressed. Slowly, the non-believers tried harder and eventually got their wands.
"Now, after we leave this room, it will get dangerous. I want you all to stay close. Do not stray behind. We could be attacked from all sides. I do not have the time to train you to fight. Simply remember this. If you see someone that isn't on our side, point your wand and say `stupefy', if you see a spell coming at you or someone else, move your wand like this, and say `protego'," he instructed, "everyone got that?"
Some nodded nervously, but most were quiet. "Alright…lets go," Harry commanded, opening the door. They ran out into a long stone corridor. Two deatheathers stood at the end talking. "Preamium!" Harry shouted. A bright green spark erupted at the tip of Harry's wand and hit the floor beneath the deatheathers before they could react. The floor erupted beneath them and exploded sending rock chunks everywhere. They both fell to the ground unconscious.
Harry reached the end of the corridor with the small students in tow. He slowly opened the door and peered out the crack. He saw a great entrance hall made of stone and as big as the one at Hogwarts, yet with none of the charm. It was empty and the walls were lined with doors similar to the one Harry peered out of. It was dimly lit by its one source of light coming from the ceiling, a large black chandelier with withering candles. Harry had an idea.
"Alright, everyone hold hands. Make a line and make sure that you are all connected," Harry commanded quietly. They obliged. Harry moved to the back of the line and started his spell work. One by one, the children faded from view. "Don't worry, I've only disillusioned you, it will wear off in about an hour. Here's the plan. I'm going to take out the lights and we are going to make a break for the door. Once outside, we will run until we get outside the wards or whatever else is preventing the portkeys from working. Then you will be taken to Hogsmead station. There, we will wait for help. Everyone understand? Everyone still have their portkeys?"
Everyone showed signs of saying yes. He disillusioned Courtney, who was the first in line, then took her hand and whispered in her ear, "We're going to make it."
He then proceeded with the plan. "One shot, then my position will be given up. Just…There! REDUCTO!" he bellowed, sending a solitary spark flying into the chain that held up the chandelier. The death eaters looked towards the source of the spark, but then looked up and ran for safety as the chandelier came down.
Harry disillusioned himself then led the group forward into the fray. He hoped the he could remember the position of the front door. He couldn't use light; it would give away his position. He hit something hard and stumbled. He felt the hard wood of the front door.
He led the group a short distance back, and then yelled, "REDUCTO!!!"
The door was blasted to splinters. The magical reinforcements were meant to protect it from outside attacks; it crumpled like tin foil. Harry led the group of children outside into the night. He looked around; woods surrounded them. They didn't look friendly.
Harry contemplated his options. He heard a death eater's shouts and listened to them start to give orders. No choice. He started to lead them off into the forest. A stunner shot out and hit one of the children. She slumped to the ground. "Pick her up!" Harry commanded. A burly fourth year lifted the small girl onto his shoulder. More and more stunners were being fired in different directions. "Fire stunners!" Harry commanded.
They all complied, but few were able to achieve the desired effects. None of the first years could produce a stunner, except for Courtney. Harry looked towards the looming stone structure. More and more figures were beginning to emerge. Their leader was at the door shouting commands. If the deatheaters kept coming, Harry doubted that they would make it out.
"PREAMIUM!" Harry shouted, sending a green spark at the arch above the doorframe. The stone cracked and shattered, and then the structure gave in and collapsed the door. The man shouting orders looked up just as he was crushed by the large amounts of rubble coming down on him.
The entryway sealed and deatheaters scattered about.
"You idiots! Find them! Lumos!" a harsh voice cried out. Light fanned out across the grounds and the deatheater identified the shadows of the escapees. "Get them!"
Stunners shot out towards them. "RUN!!" Harry shouted. He urged them forward into the woods. A stunner hit him in the back. His body went limp. He became sluggish. Two more hit him and he fell forward, fighting the urge to quit. A small figure crawled over to him and tried to help him up.
"Run Courtney…run…please…run…" Harry fought unconsciousness as more and more stunners rained down upon them. Another hit him in the back of the head and he collapsed…his vision darkened, and the last thing he remembered seeing was the form of a small girl trying to get him to wake up.
A/N: Ok so Harry saved the day again. People hate me I know. Oh well…
Anyway…sorry again this chapter wasn't like I said it would be…
But I got inspired.
Next Chapter: Dumbledore shares some more revelations. New friends are made, and people set out to find the friend missing in action.
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