The Final Lesson
by Jardyn39
Chapter 25 - The Final Lesson
Harry and Ron were escorted from the Auror camp up the old entrance road from the bottom of the quarry by two Aurors that Harry did not know. They were shown the way by wand-light shining just ahead of them.
When they reached a dilapidated chain link fence, one of guards took Ron's wand from a robe pocket. He lightly touched the wand with his own making Ron's wand glow with a dull blue light. Harry recognised the charm, a temporary block to prevent the wand being used to perform magic.
Harry assumed that they didn't want to risk Ron firing at them as soon as he got his wand back.
The guard offered the wand out and Ron snatched it without a word.
The other one pointed to a wide opening in the fence.
Ron went through at once and Harry followed.
Ron was swishing his wand around with two or three fast arm movements until the glow had completely vanished. Harry wasn't too surprised that Ron had learned how to quickly counteract the blocking charm.
Harry turned back and realised that their escorts had vanished.
Gone too were the flickering lights from the camp. Harry suspected that a few moments ago the camp had relocated itself.
Harry's only regret was not having had a chance to properly say goodbye to Kingsley.
He turned back to face Ron who was standing in his now accustomed duelling stance. A smile grew across his face.
"Now who's gullible and naïve?"
Harry did not answer. Nor did he drop his guard.
"Fancy your chances, Harry? I've had a lot a personal tuition lately from Ollivander, I should warn you. Of course I was learning how to attack rather more effectively than the last time I beat you. Just a bit more useful that being shown some old memories, eh?"
"Who have you told about those old memories, Ron?"
"Ah, so you didn't come looking for me purely out of concern for me, then?"
"I am concerned about you, Ron. It's also true that I have been worrying about what secrets you might be giving away."
"You thought I'd do that?"
"I found it difficult to believe you'd do it willingly, but Ollivander is clever. So is Voldemort. What if they are working together?"
"So what if they are?" asked Ron, after recovering from a violent shudder.
"What if Ollivander is keeping you alive just long enough to learn what you know. I trusted you, Ron. If Voldemort learns what you know, we'll never defeat him."
"Stop saying the name," hissed Ron.
Harry sighed.
"Ron, you were going to tell me something earlier. What is it?"
"Harry, I'd have thought by now you'd have learned that people will say anything if it gives them some advantage. I'd didn't know I was about to be released, did I?"
"Tell me, Ron. You're running out of time."
"Time?" said Ron, laughing. "That all depends whose agenda you are following. Hasn't it occurred to you that you're the one who is running out of time?"
"I've known that for years, Ron," said Harry flatly.
"Plans can be complicated, Harry. Sometimes you don't even know you're acting in accordance with the plan. Perhaps, for example, I've just got to keep you occupied here for a short while?"
"Ron," began Harry, but he had to dive to avoid a hex fired at him by Ron. He deflected a second easily with a shield charm.
Harry straightened as soon as he realised that Ron had Disapparated away.
Harry let out a low groan to himself. Hermione wouldn't be pleased to learn that he's tracked Ron down only to fight with him and then let him escape.
A distant scream interrupted his thoughts.
He turned back to the opening in the fence. He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like the scream had come from down in the old quarry.
He took an uncertain step forward.
There was another scream, louder this time.
Harry ran towards the fence and pelted down the access road in almost complete darkness. Tripping in one of the many potholes, he fell and skidded forwards on his front. He came to a rest right at the edge overlooking the quarry.
The camp was gone, but there was activity down in the quarry. He could see flaming torches and what looked like a couple of tents.
Perhaps the Aurors had left a contingent after all.
He picked himself up and continued to run down the steep access road, stopping only when he reached the waterlogged floor of the quarry.
Fighting to control his breathing, he slowly approached the tents. So far he had not seen any sign of life.
He decided to take a look inside the tents and stepped out of the shadows into the flickering torchlight.
Harry was just passing a very familiar looking crate when the object left on top grabbed his attention.
He twisted his head to read the headline of the abandoned Evening Prophet.
"UPROAR AT HOGWARTS!"
"Students missing, feared dead."
Harry lit his wand tip to read the article properly. He paused a moment before touching the newspaper that just had to have been left there to catch his attention. Perhaps it was also intended to catch him, he reasoned. Then he realised it made little difference.
With his free hand he grabbed the newspaper, and felt the grip of the Portkey almost at once.
*
Harry landed heavily onto compacted sand. He was met with a roar of sound.
He finished reading the front page and then threw aside the paper. He had read a surprising amount during his short flight, and only needed to finish the last three sentences once he'd landed.
The paper had said that Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were all missing. The journalist had merely speculated upon what actually happened, but an official Ministry statement had confirmed the four who remained missing. It sounded like several other students had been hurt, though.
Harry looked around and was not entirely surprised to find himself alone in the middle of a large round arena. It had to be every bit a big as the first arena they had encountered when John Bateman lead them to attack Voldemort's camp. It even had tiers of seating extending high up all around, every one teeming with people yelling and jeering loudly.
He looked around to see if there as a VIP box. Maybe Voldemort would be here in person to see this, as he was on the Archive raid.
To Harry's disappointment, he could see no such viewing box. All he could see were row upon row of jeering masked wizards. He wondered sadly where Ron was watching from.
A crate appeared with a pop a few feet in front of him and hovered just above the ground for a moment. Then it fell heavily to the ground, breaking open.
Harry rushed forward when he saw who it was who tumbled out of the crate.
"Bear, are you okay?"
Bateman swore and rubbed his head. He shrugged off Harry's attempts to help him.
"Bear, it's me, Harry."
"Harry?" he said, looking up.
Harry smiled down at him and said, "Well, I'm glad I'm not alone. As you can see we're the entertainment again."
Bateman stood and looked around seriously.
"Damn," he said quietly, getting to his feet.
"Bear, they've got Hermione and three friends of ours from school. I don't know, but they may be here as well."
"They've got Mary too," Bateman said darkly.
"No," breathed Harry.
"I'm afraid the bad news doesn't stop there either."
"What else is there?"
"I hardly like to be the one to tell you."
"FRIENDS!" bellowed Ollivander's amplified voice. "Welcome! Welcome to the inaugural event in our new arena."
As the cheering and clapping got louder, Harry shouted, "What is it?"
Bateman looked down and Harry reached up to give his arm a reassuring squeeze.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me. Together, we can get out of here."
"That's part of the problem, Harry."
"Sorry?"
"I remembered, Harry. I remembered what it was I needed to tell you."
"Um, okay," said Harry, becoming a little concerned. It was uncharacteristic of Bateman to want to talk when there was fighting to be done. "You can tell me later. Let's get out of here and free the others."
"She isn't going to be freed, Harry. Not unless I fight."
Harry jumped away just in time to avoid the long blade that Bateman had swung at him.
"Oh!" cried Ollivander's amplified voice with delight. "It looks like our first combatants are eager to get started."
"Bear!" gasped Harry. "Is this really the only way? Surely if we fight together?"
"Sorry, Harry. It has to be this way. It's the only way I can be sure she'll be safe."
Bateman feinted with a lunge to Harry's right and almost got him with a slash at Harry's neck. He was less successful in avoiding Bateman's boot which kicked him several feet away.
Ollivander's laugh rang out above the roar of the crowd.
As Bateman advanced again, Harry fired a stunner.
Bateman flashed the blade and the spell bounced away harmlessly. His blade had been charmed to deflect spells.
Harry staggered to his feet, keen to keep some distance between them. He knew how good Bateman was with a knife.
"So, what did you remember?" asked Harry over the crowd's cheers.
"I remembered that I hadn't taught you something during our summer at Hogwarts."
"Really, what a shame. We can take a break now if you'd like to teach me."
Bateman grinned savagely and advanced again.
"Well, by a strange coincidence, my final lesson involves me attempting to kill you."
"How nice. Do many students graduate from the Bateman Combat Academy?"
Bateman laughed and threw the knife directly at Harry. He produced a shield charm out of pure instinct and it worked on the charmed part of the blade. The knife bounced off the shield and landed a few feet away.
Bateman had begun running forwards as soon as he had thrown the knife.
He knocked Harry's wand away and grabbed Harry's throat with both hands. Bateman launched himself ah Harry, making him fly backwards. They landed heavily, but Bateman refused to let go of his brutal advantage. Harry felt his windpipe being crushed under Bateman's strong grip. Bateman seemed unaffected by the painful sparks of magical energy travelling up his arms.
Harry struggled to get free but he knew it was useless.
As darkness crept into the edges of his vision, Harry fought for some way to survive this attack. He knew he only had seconds, and he knew all too well that Bateman would not release him willingly.
"Oh, dear," rang out Ollivander's voice. "It looks like Potter will be retiring early!"
Hatred of Ollivander and what he would be doing to Hermione and his friends boiled up inside him.
Harry couldn't see now, but he brought his hand up and touched Bateman's face.
He then let go the dark Kemmynadow magic and opened his eyes.
For just an instant Harry saw real fear in Bateman's eyes. One of Bateman's cheekbones seemed to collapse under his fingers. Then Harry heard the sound of Bateman's arm and hand bones breaking. After what seemed an age, Bateman's grip was loosened and he was thrown bodily backwards off Harry.
Harry lay there breathing heavily for a few moments before sitting up. He knew that being a wizard meant he would recover quickly, even from almost being strangled.
As the crowd's booing reached new heights, Harry stood and staggered over to Bateman. He reached down and picked up his wand.
Bateman was lying in a ball, nursing his crippled arms.
"Kill me," he pleaded.
"I won't kill my friends. I can fix you up."
"There isn't time, Harry. Don't leave me to become one of his experiments. Kill me and prove to me that I haven't failed you entirely."
"Is Mary here?"
"Yeah, but I don't know where she is. Do it now, Harry. Please!"
"Why are you so keen to die? You aren't afraid of pain. I'd have said you'd want to defy him, not give up like this."
"Harry, you don't understand. If you can't kill, what's the point in any of us carrying on?"
"You can't be serious."
"They're coming. Do it now!"
Harry stood and looked around. A dozen hooded figures were advancing on them from the far side of the arena.
He looked back down into Bateman's pleading eyes. Finally, he pointed his wand down and fired.
*
Harry knew that Bateman would be furious with him later, but he couldn't just kill him in cold blood. The spell he'd just hit him with was a Kemmynadow special, designed to give the outward appearance of death for several hours.
He knelt down and grabbed hold of Bateman's shattered and limp arm.
The cloaked figures all broke into a run just before he Disapparated them both away.
Harry grinned listening to the furious noises the crowd was making inside the arena. He couldn't quite believe that Ollivander hadn't thought to place anti-apparition wards around the Arena.
He quickly concealed Bateman's body behind a small hut and covered it with a stretch of canvas that was lying nearby. He then went in search of the others. The first place he would check was the large white tent that dominated the assortment of small tents and carriages that surrounded the arena.
Harry hurried over, wondering how long he had before the crowd started to spill out of the arena. As he ran, the angry noises turned back to cheering. He assumed another match had begun in the arena.
"Going so soon, Harry?"
Harry dived behind a cart just before it was hit by several hexes and burst into flames.
He made to run for the tent, but by then Ron was standing in his path. Harry knew full well that the only reason Ron had called out was to get him to stop. He was much more difficult to get as a moving target.
"Where are they, Ron?" Harry demanded angrily.
To Harry's growing feeling of trepidation, Ollivander Apparated just in front of the white tent. After lifting open one of the closed entrance flaps and briefly looking inside, Ollivander replaced the flap and then too a couple of steps towards them.
"They're not quite ready for you yet, Mr Potter. You see, it takes time to be so creative."
"If you've harmed any of them," threatened Harry.
"Ron, kindly keep Mr Potter entertained for a while, will you?"
Ron nodded with a cold smile as Ollivander turned and entered the tent, a wide grin of anticipation appearing on his face.
"Ron, how could you. You know who he's got in there, don't you?"
A scream rang out from the tent. It was impossible to identify who it was.
"Please, Ron. How can you stand to hear your own sister and our best friend being tortured?"
"What are you talking about, Harry?"
"Can't you hear the screaming?"
"There's no screaming, Harry."
There was another scream, this time louder.
"That's Luna," gasped Harry.
"What?"
"He's got Luna in there as well," shouted Harry, walking towards the entrance.
Ron lowered his wand and looked back at the tent. He was immediately blasted unconscious by a stunner.
"Oh, dear," said Ollivander nonchalantly emerging from the tent. "It looks like I will have to deal with you myself, Mr Potter. How tiresome."
*
The noise from the Arena seemed oddly subdued as they advanced on one another.
Ollivander gave an exaggerated sigh and said, "You don't need to say it, Mr Potter. I must becoming a sentimental old fool to have allowed Young Ronald to live this long. I can't tell you the trouble it's been keeping him from seeing inside my temporary accommodation. Just imagine," he added with a grin, "how upset he would have become seeing what I've done."
Harry responded with a barrage of hexes.
"Ah, indeed," continued Ollivander lightly, "I imagine you'll be a little upset too. Of course, I haven't really had time to get started, really, but my assistants have begun quite ably. Still want me to come over to your side?"
Harry fired again and this time Ollivander fired back.
"You know, I might just consider your offer now. The Dark Lord won't be happy when he learns that not only have I attacked you again without his permission, but that I risked the disclosure of his beautiful new arena as well. Ah, well. Never mind, eh?"
Harry enveloped Ollivander in flames blasted from his wand tip.
"Perhaps I should give you an update on the condition of your friends?" continued Ollivander conversationally as soon as Harry's hex died down. "The Longbottom boy put up quite a struggle. In the end they brought him along just as a punishment for the inconvenience he caused. There isn't much fight left in him now, of course.
"I was rather relieved to find that they had managed to come away with the three intended abductees. From what I understand, they may have killed several female students in their crude attempts to get the right ones."
Harry knew Ollivander was trying to goad him. He let the words just wash over him. Whatever Ollivander and his followers had done, there was nothing he could do to prevent it, no matter how bad it was.
"Ah, I can see I'm not going to be able to provoke you this time, Mr Potter. Shame, really, but I suppose it is about time you learned."
To the side, Ron began to stir.
"Excuse me a moment, will you?" asked Ollivander, quickly pointing his wand at Ron. "Avada Kadavra!"
Harry rushed forward. Ron had managed to roll out of the way just in time. The spell's bright green flash blasted the ground where he had been lying. Hard packed earth blasted up into the air.
Harry thrust his wand out and allowed the Kemmynadow free reign. His wand felt hot in his unshaking hand as his anger seemed to propel the dark magic out. Ollivander was hoisted up into the air. He tried to point his wand at Harry, but cried out in agony as his body was contorted and twisted in opposite directions until Harry heard his bones splinter.
Ollivander made a gargling noise and then fell limp. Harry pulled his wand up and Ollivander's body fell heavily to the ground.
Harry stepped towards him and took Ollivander's wand. Snapping it in two, he threw the parts away contemptuously.
He glanced down at Ron a moment before hurrying off towards the white tent. Ron was stirring slowly, apparently unhurt.
Harry hesitated before going inside when he reached the entrance. Bracing himself for the worst, he pulled open the flaps and entered.
Just inside, he froze at the sight before him.
-
AN: Now, that is a rotten place to break, isn't it? Worse still, given that I may not have time to edit and upload the next Chapter ("Ron's Tale") tomorrow.