AN - Hey all!!! Thanks again for your reviews. I am really sorry this chapter is behind. I have been contemplating how I want things to pan out, and this was what I decided on. And I take longer to write fight scenes. Anyways, enough excuses. Here is the next chap!!!
Thank you again to Teri, because she is always patient with my stupid mistakes, and talks me through everything. You rock so much, thanks for working with me on this story!
Chapter Thirteen: Attacked Again?
Harry and the other two friends sat around Godric's Hollow and thought about what they wanted to do next. Other than the fact that they knew they only had two more Horcruxes to go, and the fact that one of those two was an ungodly large snake, they had no clues; they were lost. The only Horcrux that remained a mystery was the object of either Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's. If that wasn't vague enough, they didn't even know what it was.
Another problem that was about to arise was the fact that Hogwarts' term had started two days ago. September 1st had come and gone without a hitch, which surprised Harry to some extent. Something was bound to happen. It was blatantly obvious that Harry wasn't at school, thanks to a wonderful article in the Daily Prophet.
Harry Potter turns down Head Boy Badge!
The famous boy-who-lived turned down the position at Hogwarts this semester and it is a mystery as to why he did not come back for his final term at Hogwarts. The seventh and last year is the hardest, and the NEWT exams are held in that year, yet Harry Potter and his friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, did not show up Monday morning on the Hogwarts Express. We can only extrapolate on why he would be motivated to decline the Head Boy position at Hogwarts. Some say it is because Albus Dumbledore is no longer headmaster, or even alive anymore. Others say that he too busy fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. While still others say that he is just sitting at home snogging his new girlfriend, Hermione Granger.
I hate to say in papers like this, that I told you so, but I did. Three years ago now, I pointed out that Harry Potter and his friend Hermione Granger were closer than they wanted others to think. But now it seems that my guess has hit home. We can only wonder what Harry Potter is really doing. But we can be sure that he is not, nor will be, at Hogwarts this semester.
Rita Skeeter
Harry growled while his eyes danced across the page. Without even lifting a finger or saying a word, the paper in his hands burst in to flames and ceased to exist.
"Oy! I was still reading that!" Ron said from behind him.
Harry grinned and snapped his fingers and the paper reappeared. Ron grabbed it and started to mumble about bloody powers.
"Well, we can expect anything at any time now," Hermione said from across the table, drinking her morning coffee. Harry swirled his cup and nodded.
"I just wish Dumbledore was still there. I would feel so much better if he was, the students would be better protected," Harry mused.
"Well, at least Order members are there. Lupin is teaching DADA, and I believe Tonks is his assistant," Hermione said thoughtfully. "The castle will be under close watch, which you can be sure of." Hermione finished, and took a swig of her coffee.
"Well, that's better than nothing," Ron mumbled, and sat down. He was about to dig into his ham and eggs when he glanced at Harry, who grinned. Ron narrowed his eyes.
"Go on, play with my food, you can't run forever, Potter," he growled dangerously.
Harry had to laugh. Mess with Ron's food, and you got a monster.
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Later that day, Harry and Ron were pouring over maps, and Hermione was reading more in her Arithmancy book and fiddling with the leftovers from Harry's ring. It was quiet and peaceful in the house, where it was only the three of them studying, but that never lasts.
The fire burst with emerald flames, and Gabriel's head appeared in sight.
"Harry?" he said, and Harry looked up.
"Yes, sir?" he replied. He then he remembered Malfoy. "I think you owe us an explanation for our fourth member," Harry said, leaning back.
"Yes of course, I do…but not now, this is important. We just got a last minute report from a source. Hogwarts is under attack as we speak. The Death Eaters came out of the forest."
Harry didn't even have time to respond. The three grabbed their cloaks, and he grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms hard. Side along was difficult, but Harry knew that he could get passed the wards.
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The three pops that normally accompany apparition, were lost in the sound of the battle raging around them. The calming presence of Dumbledore was of course lost, but the effect that Hogwarts had on Harry would always be the same; home. And of course, as was true with anyone's home, there is a sense of fierce protection that lays within a person for it. Harry's true home was under attack, and his body was responding to it. Adrenaline surged through him, and he felt magical energy rush through his veins and entire being.
"You did it again, Harry!" Hermione breathed next to him, surveying the ground in front of them.
"No time now. I want this to end." Magic cackled around him, and Harry was sure that his eyes were glowing a bright blue as he spoke. He could feel it in him, the power that he was supposed to have. It was raging inside of him like a wild flood of freezing ice and searing fire.
In front of them he could see children fighting, Gryffindor colors flying, and faces red with anger. He could also see the teachers backing them up, Lupin and Tonks were visible as fighters, and so was McGonagall. There were curses being fired all over the place. Most distressing of all, Harry could see students unmoving on the ground. A few scattered along the edge of the lake, and a few under the same trees that Harry, Ron, and Hermione used to study under. They must have been outside when it happened.
Anger joined with the already flowing magic that was ripping through Harry. He was shaking, and he could feel the air around him start to charge with his own magic.
"Let's end this," Harry growled, and surged forward. Something about his magic level must have changed, because when he ran forward, everything slowed for a moment. Time seemed to slow. In a nanosecond, Harry was there in front of the Death Eaters. They were surprised, and tried to hit him, but before they could even move their wands, Harry had killed three. The blue curse that Harry had yet to name removed them from the earth faster than they could even blink. The ring on his finger seemed to be glowing from the inside with a power that Harry didn't know himself, but his hand flew left and right destroying anything that stood to defy him.
In the midst of all this however, one single noise broke through to Harry. It was a scream, a scream of pure terror, and to make it worse, it was his name. Hermione was screaming his name. If he had moved fast before, it was nothing compared to how fast he moved now. He might have apparated, because in a second he was there by her, but it didn't matter. Hermione was inside a protective bubble of magic that even Harry couldn't do anything to. Behind her, a familiar cackling voice was heard.
"Like my new curse, Potty?" Lestrange asked venomously.
"You will let her out now," Harry said in the coldest voice that he had ever let pass his lips. If it had scared her though, she didn't show it.
"Oh no, wee Potty, I'm going to kill her first." It was then that Harry realized that all the Death Eaters had their wands on him. It had been a set up and he had fallen for it. Now, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all going to die.
"No," Harry growled. And all the magic in him that had been suppressed for seventeen years built to a crescendo inside his body. He could feel it all surging within him, like he had tapped into a new power. It was flowing into him. He wouldn't let his friends die, not for another one of his mistakes. His eyes were burning blue and the air was charged.
The Death Eaters took a step back when they saw this, and Harry could feel their fear.
"You won't hurt anyone. I'll give you one last chance. Leave right now," Harry spoke in a commanding voice.
"Potty, you're about to die, no matter what you do."
"Fine, you made your choice."
Harry closed his eyes. All the magic that he had felt in his life, every drop of it, was pouring out of him now. He reached his hand up into the air and the ring exploded, and with it, a wave of pure magic blasted away from him and every Death Eater that it hit, simply turned to ash. Close to two hundred Death Eaters, died instantly, mere piles of dust lying where they were a moment before. The curse was lifted from Hermione, and she fell to the ground looking up at him in awe.
When Harry opened his eyes, he saw all the students looking at him, and the teachers standing stock still. Hermione was still staring at him with awe, and Ron was nursing a bleeding arm, yet he was slack jawed also. The silence weighed upon all of them. Yet through the silence, one thing was heard; a phoenix song was trilling through all of it. The blasting notes of the song immediately brought all of them to a calm center that they didn't have a moment before.
"Your hair, Harry!" Hermione whispered, breaking the silence.
"What about it?" Harry asked, while the teachers tried to gather the students back into the school.
"It's white. Pure white!" She cast a mirror charm so Harry could see himself. And sure enough, it was white as snow. Actually, it was white as Dumbledore's had always been.
"They're gone…all of them. You wiped them all out, Harry!" Ron said, looking at his friend in amazement.
"Yeah, I guess I did. The Power he knows not I suppose…" Harry said with a snort.
"Potter, I would like to talk to you." McGonagall's Scottish burr was evident in her voice.
"Of course, Professor." Harry said amiably. He was actually getting tired. The vast amount of magic he had just cast was amazing, and he was starting to feel the effects of it.
The four walked straight to her office, and sat down in front of the desk that had once belonged to Dumbledore.
"Harry, thank you for today. Once again, we owe our lives to you. It is amazing, even though you no longer attend classes." There was some bite to that statement. "You protected us. Thank you."
Harry could only nod. What else was there to say?
"I want you to know something though, something that not many others know. And I only know because I was very close to Dumbledore for many years," she said, continuing.
Hermione immediately was interested. It was a history lesson for her.
"Years back, when Albus defeated Grindelwald, he did something much like you just did; an unnaturally large expander of magic. He wiped out their whole army, and Grindelwald himself. Then the same thing happened to him, all his hair turned white. It is supposedly a mark of a true White Mage. Merlin was also known for this. You are the youngest to have ever come to this, but the mark is clear. When a wizard unlocks his full magic potential, and he taps into it, his hair turns white like yours is now. In a few hours it will go back to it's usual color, but when the time comes and you tap into your powers again, it will change back. As I said, normally they are much older. I am amazed that you have shown this sign, but I shouldn't be. You always were amazing, Harry," she finished.
"So I am a White Mage?" Harry said.
"Yes, I assume that is the Power that he knows not." She smiled knowingly. "Right now, Harry, you are the strongest wizard in the world, other than Voldemort himself."
Harry let the new information sink in, and he could feel his body responding to the new seemingly endless vat of magic that was inside of him.
"I just wanted to let you know that, Harry; I thought it was important. You, of course, are welcome anytime in my school, because you truly are Dumbledore's man through and through." She smiled, and Harry knew there wasn't anything left to say, but only to leave.
The three of them left the walls of Hogwarts, and were about to apparate away when Harry saw Fawkes perched on the corner of the gate. He was staring at Harry knowingly.
"I'll always be here, Fawkes. I'm not abandoning Hogwarts," Harry said, and nodded respectfully to the Phoenix. Fawkes seemed to think that was enough, and he burst away in a fall of flames.
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"Harry, you do realize that you shattered your ring yesterday. I saw it explode when you…did whatever you did," Hermione said, looking down at her notes the next morning.
After a nights `rest,' Harry felt better. His adrenaline levels had gone back down to normal, and he was feeling better than ever. His white hair, had went back to normal after the nights rest, but it was still something to get used to, but he thought that it looked nice with the green of his eyes. More and more, Harry felt he was making Dumbledore proud by stepping into his shoes. He was a Mage now. Dumbledore knew he could do it, and now Harry knew it too.
"I know. I don't know why it did that…" Harry said, looking down thoughtfully.
"Remember how I told you that the only thing that channeled magic stronger than an Emerald was a Diamond? Well you broke the Emerald because you overloaded the stone. Therefore you would need to make yours out of diamond this time," Hermione said, clearly impressed.
"I suppose. What stones am I going to use for your two rings?" Harry asked, trying to take the pressure off of him.
"Mine is going to have to be a sapphire, and Ron's is ironically going to have to be a ruby. Sapphire because there is more complex spells going into it, and the Ruby because Ron does everything based on his emotions. And rubies generally transfer emotions better," she said, glancing at her notes.
"Alright, I'll have three new ones by tomorrow," Harry said, and smiled down at his best friend and lover.
"I love you, you know," Harry said, smiling.
"Yes I know," she replied and smiled back. She was just so cute, he had to kiss her.
"Thank you for saving me, Harry," she said softly.
"I'll always save you, Hermione."
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