How lucky for you all that I'm going on vacation starting today (Thursday), and have to update a day in advance. Perhaps a review or two will fall my way as a reward. ;)
Enjoy!
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Chapter 23: The Prince and the Potter
"You're outnumbered Lucius," said Harry. "Step down."
"Not a chance," replied Malfoy. "Besides, in terms of skill we outnumber your little children five to one at least...now that you don't have those ghastly muggle weapons. So uncivilized."
"I wasn't aware war was about being civil," replied Harry.
"I suppose not," snarled Lucius. "But this is where you meet your end."
"You think I've traveled to the depths of hell and back to lose to some death eater?" asked Harry with a cold laugh. "No, the only person who stands even a remote chance of killing me tonight is your lord."
"You speak as if you think you're going to win," said the elder Malfoy.
"No," said Harry, aiming his wand at Lucius, the bracelet now visible on his extended arm. "I know I'm going to."
"And what's that?" chortled Lucius. "Some charm bracelet the mudblood gave to you?"
"Apparently your knowledge of ancient artifacts isn't all that great if you don't even recognise the bracelet of the king," said Harry, taking pleasure in watching Lucius' face grow serious quite quickly.
"You jest," replied Lucius.
"Nope, not jesting," grinned Harry, repeating the words he once said to Bella.
"But can you use it?" asked Lucius. Harry's smile faltered a bit at this; it occurred to him that he had no idea what powers it gave him or how to use it. "I see not. Very well then, m'lord. Have at you."
With a flick of his wrist, Lucius sent a jet of green light at Harry, causing him and the students behind him to scatter.
"Attack them!" yelled Harry. "Use the desks for cover!"
Spells were immediately flying all over the classroom, shattering glass and splintering wood as Lucius barked out orders to his own minions.
"Stop using simple jinxes and start trying to kill them!" bellowed Lucius at his death eaters, some of which had been casting Reductor Curses to destroy the desks.
"Mirrors, Harry," whispered Hermione in his ear urgently. "We need mirrors!"
"Go tell them," said Harry, in reference to the students. "Conjure ones for those who can't."
Hermione nodded and scampered off into the mess of desks to tell the others.
"You seem to be outmatched, Potter!" yelled Lucius over the noise of the conflict. "You're not even trying to kill us!"
"Don't need to!" replied Harry. "You'll do it for me!"
The hesitation from Lucius was all Harry needed, and he hoped Hermione had managed to inform most of the students of the plan.
"Now!" yelled Harry, and five dozen mirrors appeared before the death eaters, sending their own curses back at them, their screaming sounding through the classroom until all that was left were the echoes of the finished battle.
"That worked well," called Hermione from a little way away, still crouched behind one of the desks.
"Yeah, but Lucius got away," said Harry, standing up once he was sure none of his opponents were still alive. "Bastard ran for it."
"You don't think he'll try and ambush us, do you?" one of the younger students asked, as everyone else stood up too.
"If he tries, he won't be able to," smiled Harry, pulling the Marauder's Map from his cloak and unfolding it. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
The map began to draw itself as it had done so many times in Harry's past, and when it was finished, Harry laid it out on one of the remaining intact desks for everyone to see.
"There he is," said Hermione, pointing to the dot of Lucius Malfoy who was running along the second floor corridor.
"Probably going to tell Voldemort about the bracelet," said Harry, scanning the map for the Dark Lord, but he was nowhere to be found.
"I don't see him either," said Hermione, reading his train of thought. "He might be hiding."
"True," said Harry, diverting his attention to the dungeons. Inside the potions classroom were the names of the seven students, with Severus Snape standing just outside the door, but that wasn't what concerned Harry. Horace Slughorn was hiding in the potion's office.
"How could he keep himself hidden in there?" asked one of the students.
"Professor Slughorn has an affinity for turning himself into furniture," replied Harry with a scoff. Quickly scanning the rest of the map, he determined that Trelawney and Draco were nowhere to be found, while Hermione's parents were being kept in the Divination Classroom at the top of the North Tower.
"I count about forty or so left in the castle," said Hermione, talking about the death eaters. "Nothing we shouldn't be able to handle."
"I agree," said Harry, picking up the map. "To the dungeons."
Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the group ran out of the classroom, and took the nearest set of stairs to the dungeon hallway. As they neared the corridor, Harry slowed down and halted everyone behind him. Peering around from where he was, he could see Snape standing motionless just outside the classroom.
"I see him," whispered Harry. "Alright, here's what we're going to do, we're going to - "
'You're going to do what, Potter?'
The voice was in his head, and not of Voldemort's, but of Snape's. Harry said nothing, he merely froze and prayed he was imagining things.
'No, you are not imagining things,' said Snape. 'I could hear your thoughts a kilometer away.'
'So why haven't you blown the alarm yet?' replied Harry in his head.
'Because there is no need to,' said Snape. 'The Dark Lord knows you're here, and that you won't simply leave those captured alone.'
'So what are you going to do?' asked Harry.
'Me?' replied Snape. 'Nothing. I'm going to stand here while you cast your stunner and pretend like I'm affected by it, while you rescue those pitiful people in the classroom and Slughorn who is right now cleverly disguised as a maroon chintz armchair in my office.'
'And why would you do that?' asked Harry skeptically.
'You really doubted Dumbledore's confidence in me?' replied Snape disdainfully. 'You may be James Potter's son but you are without a doubt much more of a fool than he was.'
'You killed Dumbledore,' pointed out Harry.
'As if I had a choice,' replied Snape. 'Draco was never going to do it. He didn't have it in him. The moment I arrived up there it fell to me, not only because of the Unbreakable Vow I had with his mother, but because the Dark Lord expected it.'
'Speaking of Draco, where is he?' asked Harry.
'I do not know,' replied Snape. 'Hiding, most likely. If he isn't on that infernal map of yours then he's safe. Or dead.'
'Prove to me you're on our side,' said Harry, wanting reassurance.
'Potter, you are wasting time and being an idiot,' replied Snape. 'I have already told you what you need to do, and as every second ticks the Dark Lord's army draws closer to this castle. Get on with it already.'
"Stupefy," said Harry softly, aiming his wand at Snape. At jet of red light flew from it and impacted cleanly, sending Snape sprawling to the ground.
"Harry?" asked Hermione, as Harry moved out from behind the corner, his wand still trained on the presumably unconscious Snape.
"Get everyone out," said Harry. "Slughorn is disguised as a maroon armchair."
"How do you know?" asked Hermione.
"I'll tell you some other time," replied Harry. "Just do it." When no one moved, he looked over his shoulder. "Now!" he barked.
Immediately the group sprang to action, the students rushing forward and wrenching the door to the classroom open, while Hermione went to the office and got Slughorn.
'At least you've wisened up some,' said Snape, as Harry stood over his body.
'Won't Voldemort kill you for this?' asked Harry.
'I am counting on your ridiculously average skills to destroy him,' replied Snape. 'I would assume you haven't done something so foolish as to attack without destroying all of the horcruxes.'
'You knew?' asked Harry.
'Of course I knew,' spat Snape. 'Dumbledore always told me everything.'
'What did you do to convince him you were on our side?' asked Harry as the tortured students started being helped out of the classroom behind him.
'I gave him your parents,' replied Snape, his voice changing to a tone Harry had never heard him use before.
'What do you mean?' asked Harry.
'The night the Dark Lord went to Godric's Hollow...I knew about it, and I told Dumbledore it was going to happen.'
'Dumbledore would've prevented it,' said Harry.
'He tried...but he was too late,' said Snape. 'I found out about it about an hour before it was to happen. I alerted Dumbledore the moment I got away for a moment but by the time he arrived the house was already destroyed. That's how he happened upon your father's invisibility cloak, as it were.'
'If he was there, why did he send Hagrid to pick me up?' asked Harry.
'It would've looked extremely strange if Dumbledore showed up at the place Voldemort was supposed to be, somewhere that Voldemort wasn't even supposed to know about only a few minutes after the attack. Albus was extremely powerful, but even he wouldn't have heard about news that quickly. So instead he sent Hagrid, and avoided tipping his hand at all of the fact that he had advance information.'
'I don't know why...but for some reason I believe you,' said Harry.
'Because it's the truth,' replied Snape. 'Now hurry up, Granger's parents are waiting.'
Harry turned and saw the last of the students being helped out of the classroom, Slughorn standing off to the side with Hermione.
"Everyone's all set, Harry," said Hermione.
"Have them go back with Slughorn," said Harry, not turning away from Snape. "We need to get your parents alone."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"The ladder to Trelawney's room makes it impossible for many more than two people to get in without being completely vulnerable," replied Harry. "Move."
The rest of his group moved away with Slughorn, leaving Harry, Hermione, and Snape in the corridor alone. Once the group was out of earshot, Snape brushed himself off and got up.
"You're awake?" said Hermione rather loudly.
"Quiet down, Granger, or else you'll alert everyone to my intentions," said Snape. "I will be hiding in the entrance hall. Once you rescue her parents, we will travel together to safety."
"How can we trust you?" spat Hermione.
"It's okay," said Harry.
"What?!" exclaimed Hermione. Snape rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Keep a tighter leash on her, Potter, or she'll get you caught."
"How dare you," said Hermione, making to advance on him, but Harry held his arm out.
"Trust me, Hermione. We can let him go. If he runs to Voldemort he'll just die alongside him."
"How pleasant," droned Snape facetiously. "Now get a move on." And without another word he walked off in the opposite direction.
"Let's go, Hermione," said Harry. "We can't linger."
"How could you let him walk away like that?" asked Hermione.
"Because he's on our side," as Harry turned back towards the stairs that would take him up to the North Tower.
"How do you know?"
"It's a bit of a story, and I'll tell you when we get back," replied Harry.
"You sound just like Dumbledore," said Hermione. "Telling everyone to trust Snape but not saying why."
"I suppose I do."
"And look at what it got him."
Harry stopped mid-step and turned to face Hermione, who looked properly ashamed for what she had said.
"I will forgive you for that," said Harry.
"I'm sorry," whispered Hermione.
"Do you trust me?" asked Harry, repeating the words he had said to her so many months ago.
"Of course," she nodded.
"Trust me this one time," said Harry. "I promise."
"Okay."
"Now let's go get your parents back," he said, taking off for the tower.
They ran for a while until they reached the spiraling staircase that would take them up to the top of the tower, and which point Harry stopped and opened the map.
"There are three guards stationed at the base of the tower and two more inside the room," said Harry. "So we'll stun the first three right away and bind them."
"Sounds good to me," said Hermione, drawing her wand.
They ran up the stairs and, upon arriving at the landing, downed the three death eaters with little difficulty and bound them with anti-magic ropes Hermione had bought along.
"Now what?" asked Hermione.
"You should go first," said Harry, looking up at the closed trapdoor. "That door is soundproof, so the guards up there won't have heard what just happened. Because you'll go first they won't be expecting you and you should be able to find cover before they can react. I'll go second and hopefully won't be hit while I'm coming through."
"Alright," said Hermione, and moved towards the ladder, but Harry grabbed her arm and kissed her passionately before she could react.
"For luck," smiled Harry.
Hermione nodded and placed her wand between her teeth, Harry doing likewise as they both scaled the ladder. When Hermione reached the top, she looked down quickly at Harry for confirmation. Harry nodded and he heard her take a deep breath as she forced her way through the trapdoor and quickly dove for cover as spells began to fly.
Without hesitation, he pointed his wand at the ceiling of the classroom.
"Accio!" he exclaimed, and was quite pleased when the spell worked as he intended and he flew into the air above him.
"Stupefy!" bellowed Harry while still airborne, aiming at one of the two death eaters who were both so taken aback at his entrance that it caught one of them square in the chest.
Hermione quickly stunned the other one and Harry landed quite unceremoniously on his arse with a loud thud.
"Mum! Dad!" yelled Hermione, running over to her parents who were blindfolded, bound, and gagged by the front of the classroom. Harry frowned as he saw the bruises on their faces, and Marilyn's leg still broken in an unnatural angle.
"'ermione?" asked Dennis Granger. Hermione quickly undid the blindfolds so her parents could see her and Harry rushed over to assist with undoing the ropes.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Marilyn and she and Dennis quickly embraced their daughter in a tearful hug. It occurred to Harry that he had never formally met Hermione's parents and was suddenly overcome with a slight nervousness.
"We need to go," said Hermione quickly. "They'll be looking for us...what's wrong Harry?"
"Oh, er...nothing," said Harry. "Yeah, we should get moving."
"Alright, then," said Dennis moving for the trapdoor, but quickly jumped out of the way as a blast of green light came shooting up through.
Harry instantly conjured a mirror on the ceiling and fired a stunner back down through the trapdoor, which he assumed hit its target based on the shriek that followed.
"Wow," said Marilyn in awe. "That was rather impressive."
"Thanks," replied Harry sheepishly.
"Harry," breathed Hermione. "Look."
Harry turned and saw Hermione looking out the window onto the grounds where the battle was still raging, a full blown melee now taking place between the groups and the death eaters.
"Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?" asked Harry.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about," said Hermione, pointing off into the distance.
Harry squinted out at the grounds. In the very far distance, Harry could see traces of a brightening sky, but he had no doubt that wasn't what Hermione was referring to. Looking out past Hogsmeade, he saw what seemed to be an immense shadow moving very quickly towards Hogwarts. Quickly, he glanced in the sky and due to the full moon determined that there were no clouds to cast any shadows.
"Oh bloody hell," said Harry. "Voldemort's army."
"We have to get out of here. Now," said Hermione.
"Hurry," said Harry, helping Hermione's parents over to the trapdoor and down the ladder. "They'll be here in less than ten minutes."
"Are you alright to run?" asked Hermione, as they reached the landing.
"I am," replied Dennis. "Your mother might not be...they got her leg badly when we were captured."
"It's fine," said Harry, conjuring a floating stretcher. "We can carry you."
"I won't slow you down?" asked Marilyn.
"No," said Harry, as Hermione helped her mother onto the stretcher. "We need to go."
They quickly made their way to the entrance hall, which was devoid of Snape or any other death eaters.
"Snape?" called Harry into the emptiness, the echoes of battle reaching them through the now closed doors.
"That took you far too long," said Snape, emerging from the broom cupboard Harry and Hermione had once hid in four years prior. "We must hurry."
"Yeah we know that already," replied Harry, wrenching the front doors open.
"Bloody hell," said Dennis, his mouth dropping.
The battle was still raging fiercely, but Voldemort's death eaters had reached the gates and were now pouring onto the grounds and engaging the students. The Weasley Twins' fireworks were going off left and right, disorienting the death eaters, but it was clear that they alone weren't going to be enough.
"Shite!" exclaimed Harry. "We have no way out!"
"We have to make a break for it," said Snape. "Or we'll be completely locked in."
"Let's go then," replied Harry, grabbing the front of the stretcher and sprinting out and to his right, feeling the anti-magic field take effect again.
"Where the bloody hell is Remus?" asked Hermione, exasperated.
No sooner had the words left her mouth, than there was an enormous explosion at the front gate, sending death eaters flying into the air with shrieks. Through the fire left from the explosion came an enormous mob, pitchforks and torches held aloft.
"I TOLD YE TO LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE G'DAMMIT!" roared the man in the front, wielding a somewhat-familiar double-barreled shotgun.
"McCleary," breathed Harry. "Remus got all of Godric's Hollow!"
"Let's not linger," said Snape. "The Dark Lord will by now have surely - "
"Surely what?" asked Harry, watching as the villagers plowed forward, mowing down the death eaters as they advanced. When Snape didn't respond, Harry looked at him and was surprised to see a look of incredulity on the former potions master's face.
"He knows," said Snape, gripping his left arm. "He figured it out."
"Figured what out?" asked Hermione.
There was a loud crackling from above them, and lightning arced across the sky with a tremendous crash. And suddenly, Harry felt magic course through him again.
"He lifted the anti-magic field," said Hermione.
Jets of light suddenly lit up the field, and the battle became even once again as both death eater and villager fell alike.
"Go," said Snape. "While you still can."
"What?" asked Harry, but it was too late. A red glow suddenly appeared atop the Astronomy Tower, pulsing menacingly.
"Damnit, Potter, stop being a fool and run!" yelled Snape, shoving Harry away from him.
Harry scrambled away from Snape, taking the stretcher with him while Hermione and her father followed, until they were at the edge of the forest. Hiding behind trees, they watched as the glow started to gather at the apex of the tower, forming a dark red sphere crackling with energy.
"What the hell is he doing?" asked Harry from behind his tree, watching Snape stand facing the tower.
"He's ending it," whispered Hermione.
"What? How?" asked Harry.
Hermione didn't have to answer. The sphere of energy exploded into forks of crimson energy, rampaging untamed across the night sky for a moment, then converging and streaking towards their target standing facing them on the grounds below.
"It is time to end this game of yours my lord," yelled Snape.
He raised his wand to meet the blast and waited for its arrival. The energy struck the tip a moment later and, much to Harry's surprise, the massive column of crimson had frozen at the end of Snape's wand, as if he was holding it in place.
"So you serve Dumbledore to the death, even after killing him?" the voice of Voldemort asked.
"For the record," yelled Snape, ripping the left sleeve of his cloak off to reveal the Dark Mark. "I SERVE NO ONE BUT MYSELF!"
Harry watched with wide eyes as Snape used all of his strength and slowly muscled the tip of his wand to right above the Dark Mark.
The sinister laugh that he let out as the tip of his wand connected would not be one Harry would ever forget. The energy splintered into several thousand different bolts, and instantly flew over the battlefield, piercing the bodies of everyone on the grounds bearing the Mark.
The last piercing screams faded away into silence, before cheers erupted from the students and villagers who had survived the melee.
Harry stood and walked out from behind the tree, looking at the smoldering corpse that was Snape, his features barely recognisable.
"Guys!" yelled Neville, running over to them.
"Neville!" yelled Harry. "Where's everyone else?"
"We're all okay for the most part," said Neville, coming to a stop. "Ginny broke her arm, but she's alright."
"Good," said Harry. "We need to get back and regroup so we can - "
"So you can regroup, Potter?" the voice of Voldemort echoed over the grounds. "You will do no such thing."
"Says who, Tom?" bellowed Harry.
"Says me."
"Harry!" screamed Hermione. Harry bolted around just in time to see Hermione's feet leave the ground as she went flying up to the demolished Astronomy Tower.
"Hermione!" bellowed Harry, making to go after her.
"Harry, you can't!" yelled Neville, throwing out his arms.
"Why not?" exclaimed Harry.
"Because of the you know whats," whispered Neville. It took Harry a moment to figure out that Neville was talking about Nagini.
"Alright," nodded Harry. "These are Hermione's parents. Take them back to the camp, and then eliminate the problem."
"What about you?" asked Dennis, kneeling next to his wife.
"I'm going to get your daughter back."
And without a word, Harry sprinted off back towards the castle, his eyes glancing at the dead body of Snape as he passed it.
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I want to clarify something real quick so I don't get grief over it in the reviews. In canon, the Avada Kedavra is defined by Moody in Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14.
"There is no countercurse, there is no blocking it."
He does not say that it cannot be reflected, and since it is MY belief that magic works the same way light does (that is, exhibits properties of both particles and waves), I say it can be reflected. So nyah.
Love is the source of both humanity's greatest weakness and greatest strength.
Remember that well.
Next chapter, the exciting final battle!