Midnight Duel, Midday Love
Midnight Duel
By Draco664
Midnight Duel
"Oh, fuck!"
Harry's uncontrolled vernacular outburst echoed in both the chamber and his mind.
Harry was too shocked at the sight of Voldemort's horrific otherworldly summoning that he let slip the first words that came to his mind. Fortunately, no one overheard. Unfortunately, this was due entirely to the fact that everyone's attention was focused on the presence of a living nightmare. A Shadow Demon.
Not that Harry recognised what the creature was.
He had spent the past several minutes searching for an exit, traveling back and forth through the dark corridors, noting with not a little dismay after the forth turn that he was in a labyrinth. The spell to make his wand point north wasn't functioning correctly; casting it just caused the holly wand spin in a slow circle. Harry had come to the conclusion that there were wards around the maze preventing directional magic from being cast. He made a mental note that he needed to add a muggle compass to his belt.
The dark, twisting corridors had turned him around on himself, and now Harry stared with a horrified expression into the same room in which he had arrived. The fact that he was looking into the cavern from a different entrance was not comforting.
In front of him, Voldemort stood straight, his arms held up and out, his legs spread in a wide stance. The Dark Lord's head was thrown back, an expression of ecstasy on his serpentine features. Even from this distance, Harry could sense the sheer volume of magical power thrumming through the Dark Lord's thin frame. If someone cast a spell to show magic as light, Voldemort would be incandescent.
Wormtail was slowly trying to stand on wobbly legs, Ginny was writhing desperately on the stone altar while tugging at her chains, her cries echoing unheeded in the vast cavern. But Harry didn't even register the pair's presence at first.
Standing on heavily muscled legs stood a true nightmare. The Shadow Demon's initial scream had made the earth heave and twist in agony, its presence an abomination to this plane of existence. Muggle scientists would be scratching their heads over the unexplained earthquake for years to come.
If the world survived that is.
Voldemort smiled and pointed to the creature, then to the altar, obviously giving it an order.
Harry swallowed nervously, praying that Sirius and the others would arrive soon.
He had no problem admitting that he was well out of his depth.
Voldemort stared into the infinite black eyes of his new minion. Upon its arrival, the Demon had immediately tried to exert its dominance, sending a backlash of darkness towards the Dark Lord. Left unfettered, not even a fully immortal Voldemort could have withstood such a crushing attack; but with the circle of power still humming with Macnair's willingly given magical force, the Dark Lord easily overcame the challenge. A malevolent smile crossed the serpent-like features.
"You are mine." he said simply. "You shall bring me the power I deserve, the power that has been denied me. As a token of my faith however, I have a gift for you!" commanded Voldemort. "Consume the daughter of my enemy."
With a roar of delight that again shook the foundations of the cavern and caused dust to fall from the ceiling, the Shadow Demon turned to face the terrified young witch. An horrific smile crossed the demon's canine features, the slavering upper lips curling to reveal the visible, but insubstantial teeth in its maw. With a low growl of anticipation, it slowly reached forth a taloned hand.
From one of the cavern's entrances, an unwelcome voice cast, "Alohomora!"
Ginny's desperate thrashings caused the now open shackles to fly from her wrists and ankles, sparks flying where one bounced off the Shadow Demon's seemingly rock-hard hide.
She maintained enough presence of mind to roll off the altar just before the demon's grasping right hand snatched at the space she had just occupied. Talons that ended in a point a micron wide gouged deeply into the stone, causing a spider web of cracks to rip through the altar.
Ginny looked up from the floor on her hands and knees, not sure why the manacles had released her. The demon roared its disapproval, one foot stepping up onto the abused altar, gripping the stone so hard that it cracked even further and then crumbled. Ginny's eyes widened in horror as she realised the true scale of this monster. Its foot was almost as large as she was. Pure black eyes stared down at the flame-haired witch, promising a painful death and an eternally agonizing afterlife.
"Miss Chang, you are not being at all helpful!" snapped the Divination professor. "Now please follow my instructions, I am the expert here."
Cho took a deep breath and prepared to let the small medium know exactly what she thought of her level of expertise. It was only McGonagall's stern, yet uncertain expression that kept her anger in check. The deputy headmistress had summoned Trelawney from her tower after speaking through the fire with Cho, but was now silently debating the wisdom of that action.
"Sybil, Miss Chang has shown that she has her own method of controlling her visions. Perhaps we should..."
"Minerva, please. You have repeatedly stated that you have no respect for the discipline I practice. If you wouldn't mind, please be quiet and let me do my job." Trelawney turned back to Cho. "Now, I want you to clear your mind, let the universal energies surround you, let them infuse you."
Cho almost growled with frustration, but did as she was bid. Clearing her mind was difficult, more difficult than she expected, but using a Chinese meditation method allowed her to eventually reach a state of calm. Try as she might though, she could feel no 'energies' surround her, or attempt to infuse her.
Cho let her breath out in a rush and opened her eyes. "Nothing. Just like the last three times you had me do this pointless exercise."
Trelawney drew herself to her full, yet still unimpressive, height. "Miss Chang. If you refuse to allow yourself to accept inspiration from..."
"Shut up." Cho snapped, her dark eyes flashing with inner fire. "Harry is in danger, and you sit here asking me to breathe in disgusting incense and focus on cosmic energies? This is how I get my visions!" Cho clenched her eyes shut, shunting away the flash of shame she felt from speaking to a teacher in such a manner. Harry. she thought. Focus on Harry.
Cho thought of what Harry looked like, his lean, toned physique. His long, dark, silky hair. Hair that was so very unmanageable. Those beautiful and expressive eyes. Deep pools of emerald green. Mentally, Cho remembered the tactile sensation of slowly tracing her fingertips down his muscled back.
Cho opened her eyes to a nightmare. She screamed.
The older witches jumped in fright. Both clutched at their hearts with such symmetry that one could be forgiven for thinking them sisters.
"Run, Ginny!" Cho screamed. "Run you stupid bitch!"
Cho alone heard the curious mix of her own voice and Harry's, as they both shouted the same words at the same time.
"Miss Chang! What is happening?" demanded McGonagall, concern, fear and mounting panic blending in her voice.
"Ginny!" Cho exclaimed. "She's about to be eaten! Creature! Horrible! Nightmare!" Cho spouted, too frightened to be able to form a coherent sentence. "Wings! Awful! Expacto Patronum!"
"Run, Ginny!" Harry shouted, frustration clearly evident in his voice. "Run you stupid bitch!"
Hoping that Ginny heard and acted on his shouted instruction, and praying that this would work, Harry minutely adjusted his aim, and then brought to mind the memory of kissing Cho after playing broomstick tag for a few hours.
The hours old memory easily brought an out of place smile to his face. "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, an unexpected shiver of remembered delight running down his spine.
The silver stag that burst from his wand was half again as large as the one that held off the hoard of dementors that had tried to kiss his godfather that fateful night at the end of Harry's third year. Leaving a trail of glimmering motes of floating silver dust, the shining image of James Potter's animagus form silently charged down the Shadow Demon.
Both Voldemort and Wormtail stood openmouthed at the sight as the stag crossed the gap, lowering its head before reaching the demon at the same time Voldemort's summoning managed to sink its claws into Ginny's leg.
Ginny's scream of agony was tinged with anger, while the Shadow Demon's shriek of rage hinted at the pain of being struck, but not pierced by eighteen glowing points. With one foot on the altar higher than the other, the enormous demon stumbled, losing its balance, falling to one knee.
Prongs raised his head, his antlers tearing at the Shadow Demon's hide, though still unable to penetrate the rock-hard skin. With a silent bellow, the silver stag rose on its hind legs and lashed out with its front hooves.
Where iron manacles had just bounced off the demon's hide, Prongs' kick connected solidly, forcing the demon to land awkwardly, the sound of its landing echoed throughout the cavern mixing horribly with the screams of hatred and pain.
Prongs was unable to avoid the counter-attack however, and was struck by a razor-sharp feathered wing. The mighty stag fell to the ground under the assault, silver blood streaming from a three foot long gash in his flank, but continued to lash out at the demon's legs with his own hind hooves.
As his patronus kicked the demon's feet from under itself, Harry drew out Ginny's portkey and banished it towards the girl.
Time appeared to slow down for Harry as he watched the portkey arc across the space between them. Halfway through the portkey's flight, from the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Voldemort mouth a spell. The thirteen-inch yew wand spat blue flame, surrounding Ginny's escape route with a flickering cage of blue fire. With a sharp retort, the portkey disintegrated, sending tiny shards of glass in all directions.
"Not this time, Potter. You've taken one of my play things today, but not this one." Voldemort snarled.
Suddenly, Harry clutched his chest, feeling as though fire was consuming his heart. He staggered back, and collapsed, landing hard on his backside. Looking up, he saw the injured Shadow Demon pierce Prongs' chest with claws sharp enough to rip through stone. The silver stag faded away.
Ginny gasped at Harry's fall, finally noting his arrival, and started desperately crawling towards him, leaving a trail of red blood behind her severely injured leg.
The three wizards and one witch in the room gasped in unison, each of them feeling the sudden sensation of a severe drop in magical energy. Harry likened it to the magical equivalent of flying too high on his broom, and having his ears pop.
Wormtail turned to his master. "The wards!"
Voldemort looked up at the stone ceiling, then over at Harry. With a feral grin, he pointed directly upwards, and turned to his summoned minion. "Destroy those who now attack me!" he demanded. "Feast on their souls!"
The demon stared at his master, then looked up at the stone ceiling. With a powerful leap of his legs, the Shadow Demon launched itself at the roof.
Dumbledore scratched absently at his bearded chin, examining the subtle but powerful wards that extended over an area of several hundred acres. "I wish Fillius were here." he muttered. "He'd probably know of a way to negate them quickly."
"Are they that strong?" asked Snape, who was nervously watching the large group of aurors debate amongst themselves the merits of just blasting their way in.
"No, I'm sure between just the four of us we could bring them down; I'm just not sure we'd be of much use afterwards."
"What do you mean?"
Dumbledore sighed. "One of the wards is designed to release a spell when broken. It may just be a magical warning signal, like a muggle alarm, but given the nature of the wizard who set them, I'd guess the release would be violent."
"What would Fillius be able to do that you could not?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps he could use the way they are overlapped to exploit a weakness, or perhaps he knows of a dispelling charm that the wards think came from within them. At least he would know, I'm making an educated guess."
Moody grunted softly, indicating he wanted to speak. "You sure this is the place?"
"We triangulated Harry's location here." replied Sirius, who slipped the ring on for a second. "Yes, Harry is nearby, less than a hundred yards away." he confirmed before removing it again. "Behind the wards too."
"I see nothing hidden, that's all." said the retired auror. Even when things are hidden with an aversion charm, I can see them. Invisibility is easy to see through. Wizard repellant doesn't work on my eye, and I can even see muggle false doors. All I see out there is grass!"
Sirius swallowed nervously at this announcement and looked out over the large, empty plain, the short grass gently waving in the wind. He raised his arm and pointed. "What about-" was all he got out.
Each and every witch and wizard, auror and teacher alike, were thrown to the ground by the violently churning earth. What had once been solid ground now acted like liquid.
It was over in seconds, but it took over half a minute before the group above gathered their wits.
"What, by Grindelwald's grave, did you do, Black?" snarled Snape.
"I didn't do anything." Sirius snapped back. "I just pointed out over th..."
Once more, though far less violently, the ground shook and trembled. All the aurors were staring at Sirius, who was looking at the tip of his own finger with a very comical expression of disbelief.
"Are you going to deny that was you too?" Snape asked sweetly, slowly rising to his feet.
While Dumbledore moved between the pair to prevent an argument, Moody looked over visibly changed landscape. Several tears had appeared in the grassy plain, some reaching ten feet deep or more. His magical eye rotating wildly, the grizzled professor gingerly lowered himself into the closest rift.
"I have no idea why my finger caused the earthquake, I swear!" shouted Sirius, looking around at the skeptical faces on the assembled aurors.
Snape, who actually believed him, couldn't help but take the opportunity to ruffle his feathers. "I suppose it is the same way you have no idea how Potter managed his little 'feat' or transfiguration earlier?"
Dumbledore placed a hand on each man's shoulder, realising that Sirius was close to breaking point. "Gentlemen, please. We do not have time for this. We need to come up with a way of bringing down those wards quickly."
Moody's faint voice caught their attention. "Right, now that I'm behind the bloody things, how do I bring them down?"
"Alastor?" blurted Dumbledore. "How on earth did you manage that?"
Moody shrugged. "While you were watching the kids arguing, I noticed that one of the rifts in the ground opens a gap under the wards. Now, how do I bring them down."
As Dumbledore and some of the aurors started offering advice, Snape and Sirius stepped away to the side.
"Sorry, I can't believe they didn't tell you." said Harry's godfather.
"What?" asked Snape, surprise clearly showing on his face.
"How Harry became an animagus."
Snape shook his head. "I'd have settled on just knowing that he was and animagus."
Sirius nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "You know the letter they let him take to Azkaban?"
Snape nodded. "The one from his father."
"That's the one. James wanted to make sure he got it at a particular age. When you activate the parchment it was written on properly, it becomes a guide, a textbook if you will, detailing the steps on how you can become an animagus. We created it to help Peter become one, since he was having a lot of trouble."
Snape blinked. "That doesn't explain how he managed to become a bloody phoenix! Even I know that you can't become a magical creature."
Sirius shrugged. "Probably ignorance paving the way. He didn't know that he couldn't, so he did it." Harry's godfather made a face. "We didn't bother putting many of the safety issues in the guide."
Snape rubbed his face with his hands, processing this new information. "Is there anything that boy can't do?" he asked plaintively.
Sirius shrugged, a smile full of pride on his face. "Not if he puts his mind to it."
A detonation that was felt rather than heard, and the pair turned to watch the wards evaporate harmlessly. Both Dumbledore and Moody looked pleased with themselves. Wodenbane stepped up, and started issuing orders to his troops.
Fifty yards away, the recently abused ground erupted, something bursting forth in a shower of turf, sod and stone. The thing spread its wings and hovered in mid air, magic obviously aiding its flight.
Few of the aurors were able to keep their wits about them, which is why only a half dozen spells struck the creature's hide as it dived at the tight auror formation.
Harry covered his head as dust, gravel and pebbles landed on and around him. The Shadow Demon had leapt through the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole through which grass, dirt and sunlight streamed through.
"No!" Harry screamed, instinctively realising that Sirius was out there. "Call it back!"
Voldemort sneered at Harry, though the effect was ruined by how dirty and dusty the Dark Lord's robes were. "Why would I do that, Potter?" he asked sardonically.
Harry's mind whirled, suggesting and discarding reasons. "If you let it go too far, it might break free of your control."
Voldemort laughed. With one arm, he gestured towards the portal to hell. "While Macnair's crystals remain in place, I maintain control of the Shadow Demon."
As quick as he could, Harry tightened his grip on his wand and pointed it at Voldemort. The Dark Lord's movements seemed languid and smooth, but were just as quick.
"So, Potter. Do we join our wands again? Imagine my surprise to find that our wands were brothers. That fact alone is why you were able to avoid your fate on the night of my rebirth. Well? Shall we?"
Harry swallowed, and slowly shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny stop her frantic crawl towards him, and slowly crawl back. Back towards the portal Voldemort had opened. She knows something! he thought to himself. "I only beat you because you had just regained your body."
Voldemort nodded, a smirk on his face. He raised his eyes, looking up at the ceiling, beyond which screams and cries of pain filtered down through the gaping exit hole the Shadow Demon made. "It would seem my new pet is enjoying himself." The red eyes returned to focus on Harry. "One thing puzzles me. I would like to know how you escaped the trap I set for your arrival."
Harry snarled back. "You'll have to get used to disappointment."
With a nonchalant shrug, Voldemort simply said, "OK." and shot a quick hex at Harry.
Harry easily evaded the spell, but didn't retaliate. Ginny was almost at the portal.
But Wormtail was more observant. Pointing with his silver hand, he blurted, "Master!"
Voldemort snapped his head around and focused on the young witch. A low growl escaped him, and the thirteen inch yew wand arced around to point at Ginny.
Harry shouted, "No!" and quickly cast the disarming spell he learned from Snape in his second year. "Expelliarmus!"
The spell sparked off Voldemort's shield, while the Dark Lord entombed Ginny's legs and torso in a glowing enchantment, freezing her in place.
"Well, it would appear that you have feelings for your rapist after all." said Voldemort, an evil grin on his face. With his free hand, he removed a small wooden rack holding some stoppered vials from his dark robes.
"These contain last potion your instructor ever made, Potter." he said, holding up the small rack. "You will drink one of them, or your friend will... erupt." he finished with a leer.
Suddenly, Ginny gasped in pain, her face quickly turning red, slowly darkening to purple as more and more blood was pushed away from her body by the crushing enchantment. Her breath hissed from her mouth, leaving her gaping like a freshly landed fish.
"Drink it, Potter." demanded Voldemort, extracting one vial and tossing it to Harry. "Or she will be crushed alive. She may die quickly, a vein bursting in her head, or she may die slowly, as her heart pumps lifeless blood."
Harry caught the vial one handed. Looking from Ginny to Voldemort, he swallowed nervously.
Harry gave the vial a surreptitious tap of his wand and a quick mumbled charm. Voldemort did not seem impressed.
"You think you can charm it? You don't even know what it is. Drink it!" the Dark Lord ordered.
Harry tossed the contents down his throat in one swallow. Instantly, the pain from his stomach left him gasping. He dropped the empty vial and grabbed his abdomen.
Voldemort grinned at Harry's obvious distress. "You just imbibed Serpent's tears, Potter. Your magic is now slowly congealing within your veins. Soon, it will weep through your skin, turning into crystals." The Dark Lord turned to Ginny, and removed the immobilizing spell.
The flame-haired witch collapsed to her knees, sucking in a lungful of air. She tried desperately not to lose consciousness as a wave of dizziness overtook her.
Harry too was on his knees. He leant forward and vomited the contents of his stomach onto the stone floor.
Voldemort shook his head. "Too late Potter, much too late. The potion is already working. Macnair vomited almost immediately, yet he was still turned into a muggle." He turned his vivid red eyes onto Ginny. "As for you. Imperio! Jump into the portal! Let your soul be torn apart for eternity!"
Harry let loose an unforgivable curse the instant Ginny started running towards the portal. "Crucio!"
The shocked expression on the Dark Lord's face faded quickly as the most painful spell ever devised tore through both his shield, and then him. For the first time since attaining the self appointed title of 'Dark Lord', Tom Riddle suffered under the pain and indignity of the Cruciatus curse.
Wormtail stood still, shocked at what had occurred. He looked aghast from Harry to Voldemort and back again.
Ginny dived for the portal, but with a wide swing of her arm, swept away half the glimmering crystals forming the magical collar Voldemort had on the Shadow Demon.
Once more the ground heaved as a scream of hatred and release echoed into the cavern from outside. All four occupants were thrown onto the floor, breaking the curse Harry had on the Dark Lord.
"It's not yours anymore, Tom!" shouted Ginny as she raised herself onto one elbow, her voice hoarse from the punishment she had suffered under earlier. "And neither am I!"
Voldemort's eyes widened as he stood, confusion and fear mixing in his expression. He turned to Harry. "How in Merlin's name did you...?"
Harry knelt and picked up an object in the middle of the pile of vomit, holding it up for Voldemort to see. "I put a freezing charm on your potion." he said simply, turning the frozen Serpents Tears.
Still stunned, Voldemort turned to Ginny. "How did you...?"
Ginny raised her left arm, showing the beautiful coil of unicorn ivory. "Charm bracelet."
Voldemort turned his head to look at the portal, and noticed the broken circle. The sight sparked him into motion. "You stupid bitch! You just released it on the world with no restraints!" He whipped his wand around to aim straight at Harry.
Time seemed to stop as a silver hand tentatively reached out and closed around the yew wand, and then broke it in half.
Wormtail looked straight at Harry, shrugged and said, "I'm so sorry."
With a titanic crash, the Shadow Demon slammed into the earth in the midst of the auror formation. The claws on its feet gripped and crushed several robed wizards into the soil. Howling with unholy joy, the demon swept its arm around in a wide arc, knocking over the closest aurors with its arm, dismembering the aurors further out with its claws.
Sirius paled so much that his skin was white. Recognising that Voldemort must have opened a portal to another plane of existence, he drew his wand and started casting offensive spells.
Taking their cue, the rest of the Hogwarts' staff joined in the magical battle.
With a quick snatch, the demon grabbed two aurors and leapt into the air, its massive wings gaining it altitude quickly. Once it was out of spell range, the wizards stopped their attack, only to find that the demon had no intention of letting them recover.
The corpse of one of the two captured aurors crashed down to earth, disrupting Wodenbane's effort to form the remaining aurors into ranks. What happened to the other was frightening in its bloodlessness.
The Shadow Demon brought its remaining thrashing captive to his maw, slowly opening its hideous mouth. Insubstantial teeth bit down on the auror, moving through the poor man's body without resistance. With a jerk, the demon pulled the auror's body away from its mouth.
To the surprise of those present, the now lifeless body came away whole, and was then dropped. What caused the shivers of horror in those present was the auror's now semi-visible soul, caught in the demon's teeth.
With a silent shriek of denial, the demon swallowed the soul of the doomed man's soul. Several aurors fell to the ground retching when they saw their colleague's face appear briefly under the demon's skin, beginning an eternity of screaming for help.
A groan spread through those on the ground, as the Shadow Demon grew several inches larger after consuming such a magically powerful meal.
Someone at the ministry was awake though, as several small detonations announced the arrival of more ministry personnel. Including several from the department of mysteries.
"Decoys!" shouted Sirius, as the Shadow Demon started to dive. He quickly transformed several blades of grass into dummies wearing auror robes. Dumbledore and Moody nodded their understanding, quickly mimicking Sirius' plan.
Fortunately for those present, it worked. The demon adjusted its course to land upon the recently arrived group of wizards, only to land on and crush the collected dummies.
Ducking and weaving amongst the flying pieces of transfigured decoy, the assembled troops finally managed some semblance of discipline, and the attack was taken up to the demon.
Several aurors disapparated then returned a few seconds later, holding brooms. In moments, an aerial contingent started containment measures, desperately trying to keep the demon on the ground.
With a quick leap, the demon moved to his left, causing the broomstick formation to adjust course. Fatally, that is, as the demon jumped back to his right, directly into the path of the aerial formation. It spread its wings and slashed the flying group of wizards and witches with its razor sharp feathers.
It dropped onto all fours and charged the main group of resistance, surrounding the professors from Hogwarts. Several massive boa constrictors summoned by Snape coiled themselves around the thing's legs, causing it to stumble into a thick stone wall, transfigured courtesy of Sirius. When the dust cleared, the Shadow Demon mearly opened its maw and screamed its defiance before attacking again.
With a charge that flattened a group of Unspeakables, the demon stood and leapt into the air. It turned to face those who it had been sent to kill, an expression of total satisfaction on its face.
Suddenly, it focused not on the assembled wizards, but on the gaping hole it made when it erupted from the earth. With a shriek of unfettered joy it dove at the hole with a single-minded purpose.
Which gave Sirius and Moody the opportunity to transfigure more walls for it to run into.
"Something's changed!" Harry's godfather shouted. "Keep it here if you can!"
Tactics changed accordingly, the demon now struggled to get past walls and break free of conjured bonds. But no matter what the wizards did, the invulnerable three meter monstrosity inched closer and closer to the gaping hole, leading down to Harry.
At the betrayal of his last remaining Death Eater, Voldemort spat out two unfamiliar words. Wormtail dropped to his knees and clutched at his left arm, squealing loudly. Less than a second later, smoke started rising from the tattoo on the silver handed wizard's forearm. Then, starting from the mark on his arm, Peter Pettigrew slowly burst into flames.
Harry wasted no time, transforming himself and flew directly at Voldemort, covering the distance in a single heartbeat. He quickly turned back and body checked the Dark Lord at speed, feeling a rush of satisfaction as Voldemort's breath exploded from his lungs.
But touching Voldemort caused his scar to burst forth with agony, and Harry growled loudly as he tried to fight off the pain in his head. Voldemort grabbed Harry's right wrist with both hands, trying to wrest away Harry's wand.
Harry quickly drove his knee into his opponent's stomach, causing the evil wizard to gasp in pain. He quickly brought up his left hand, still holding the frozen potion. With the speed of a striking snake, Harry thrust the ice cube into the Dark Lord's open mouth. Before Voldemort could spit it out, Harry clamped his free hand over the evil wizard's mouth.
The Dark Lord let go of Harry's right wrist, and tried to pull his left hand away. With a triumphant grin, Harry cast Finite Incantatem directly at Voldemort's face.
Red eyes widened in panic as the powerful potion melted instantly. It took all of Harry's strength and will power to keep his left hand in place as Voldemort struggled to tear his hand away.
Harry cast one last spell just as his hand was finally pulled away, a simple medical charm designed to trigger or test a reflex in a patient.
Voldemort swallowed.
The young wizard was tossed off the suddenly violently quaking body, as massive tremors wracked Voldemort's frame. The Dark Lord rolled onto all fours and retched in a useless attempt to get the very potion he commissioned out of his system.
Harry stood and stepped back, only to be grabbed from behind by Ginny.
Too exhausted to fight, he let her drag him away from the doomed Tom Riddle.
The pair watched in awe as Voldemort struggled in agony. He tore his robes from his body and rolled around howling.
The pair both noticed it at the same time. The tiny, glowing crystals that started forming on the snake-like skin. He was sweating magic, Voldemort's very essence oozed from his skin, before crystallizing and falling away.
It was over in less than a minute. The pitiful wretch of a man lay on a pile of brightly glowing crystals. Crystals that were glowing far brighter than Macnair's own. The painfully thin, quivering man rolled onto his side, gulping in lungfuls of air. Harry gently removed Ginny's hands, and looked down on what was left of the most powerful dark wizard in recent history.
"It's over." he whispered.
"Yes." whispered Ginny, tears streaming from her eyes. She looked at the thin layer of crystals strewn about. "Will we be able to fix the portal with those?" she asked.
Harry shook his head sadly. "The potion needs to be willingly taken to do that. I forced it down his throat."
Ginny swallowed loudly, realising what her impulsive action had done. "I hope they find some way to kill it." she said, her voice low and rough with shame.
A howl brought them out of their revreie. The demon fell through the hole to the outside world, twisting almost gracefully to land on his taloned feet less than two meters away.
Without a chance to say a word, Harry and Ginny were struck away to the side of the room by a flailing limb. The red-haired witch shouted her defiance, but was silenced as she hit the wall hard.
Harry landed awkwardly, and felt his ankle twist sharply. With a yelp of surprise, he rolled over onto his back, and scrabbled away from the demon. The Shadow Demon laughed at his antics, standing still long enough for the surviving aurors and professors to apparate down to the chamber from the top of the crater.
A veritable rainbow of curses struck the demon from behind, lighting up the chamber like a muggle disco. The demon didn't even acknowledge the spells. Harry could see Dumbledore frown in frustration, and send the unforgivable killing curse at the demon.
The powerful green spell struck directly between the Shadow Demon's wings.
The demon didn't notice.
Harry swore under his breath, and snatched his vial of phoenix tears from his belt as the demon leapt towards him. The ground trembled and shook as it landed in front of Harry, causing the young wizard to fall onto his back and fumble the vial into the air.
The thin glass shattered on Harry's forehead as he tried to both sit up and catch the falling vial, his seeker skills deserting him at that instant.
A sharp tingling in his scar indicated that the healing fluid was trying to heal the most potent curse scar in history. But not even the tears of the phoenix could manage that.
The demon lashed out, and grabbed Harry in one taloned hand. In an instant, the young wizard was unable to move any part of his body. Harry felt like he was held in a vice, on which at the flick of a switch, could crush the life from him with no effort what so ever. Harry's glasses fell from his face as he was drawn up to eye height.
To Harry, the universe suddenly went quiet. He could hear the roar of blood in his ears as it was pushed around his body, his heart beating one hundred and fifty times a minute. With a growing leaden sensation in his stomach, he found himself staring into twin pools of perfect blackness. Despair washed over him, fear infused him. The canine features of the massive face in front of him contorted themselves into some semblance of a smile, further draining Harry of the will to fight.
Not even Azkaban sapped the life out of his so quickly. All of Harry's defenses crumbled, one after the other. His stoicism, his will, even his determination wilted and vanished. Who was he to fight this thing? How could one person be expected to do so much, when others didn't do a thing?
The relief at seeing Voldemort permanently powerless vanished as if it never existed. Every insult from Malfoy, every putdown from the Dursleys, everything bad memory from his entire life flooded through him in an instant.
The Shadow Demon's gaze ripped through Harry's soul, tearing at it. Tears ran from Harry's exposed eyes, as humiliation and grief struggled for dominance. He was nothing, he would die a nobody. In a handful of seconds, the Shadow Demon had stripped away Harry's humanity. It tore away his life, finally exposing the core of just who Harry was.
With a low growl, Harry slammed his forehead directly between the Shadow Demon's eyes.
Sirius was the first to apparate into the chamber from above, and felt his heart skip a beat as he watched the Shadow Demon sweep Harry and Ginny away from the portal with one swing of its powerful arm. Ginny hit one wall hard and lay still. Harry landed awkwardly, but apparently still able to fight. Sirius launched the most powerful stunning spell he ever cast at the back of the demon.
A red streak struck the demon in the rump, sparks cascading from the point of contact.
The demon didn't even notice.
Dumbledore's deep and powerful casting voice intoned the forbidden phrase, "Avada Kedavra!" sending an iridescent green curse towards the demon.
The demon didn't even notice.
It leapt in the air and landed in front of Sirius' godson. The sudden churning of the earth that accompanied the demon's landing caused Harry to fumble something, which flew from his grasp and shattered on his head. Sirius gave a strangled shout as The-Boy-Who-Lived was snatched up in the demon's giant fist.
Dumbledore and Moody appeared on his left side, Snape appeared on his right. Together with the aurors who survived the demon's assault they launched every offensive spell in their arsenal.
Red spells blended with blues and yellows, pinks and browns. Spells that should cause the victim to collapse in pain mixed with hexes designed to turn gravity upside down. Gouts of fire combined with hailstones the size of Hagrid's fists to burn and freeze the demon's flesh.
Nothing had any effect.
Sirius groaned as his godson was lifted up to the demon's face. For a long moment did the Shadow Demon stare down Harry Potter, and it was easy to see even from this distance the effect that unholy gaze was having. The green-eyed boy wilted quickly, and appeared defeated.
Until suddenly Harry drew his head back, and slammed it between those twin pools of darkness.
The demon's head rocked back, and an awful sizzling sound was drowned out as a powerful squeal of pure agony filled the room.
Harry fell from the Shadow Demon's grasp as the otherworldly creature grasped its head and writhed around, seemingly in immense pain.
Harry cried out as he landed, his already injured ankle shattering on impact.
Sirius didn't even wait. "Accio Harry!" he shouted.
With a yell, Harry flew across the room, to be caught in the strong arms of his godfather.
"Harry!" Sirius yelled at him while hugging him tightly. "You do not NUT a demon!"
"Blame Remus." Harry slurred and wheezed, his eyes unfocused.
Both Sirius and Snape stared at him before simultaneously demanding, "Why?"
"He never taught me that."
"Enough, gentlemen." said Dumbledore, after performing a similar summoning on Ginny, who blinked her eyes open on being caught by the headmaster. "We need to leave quickly."
"No!" shouted both Ginny and Harry.
Ginny pointed to the portal. "It is open, I broke it open. Any demon can get through. I'm sorry."
Harry shook his head. "You chased that thing down here." he said, looking accusingly at the headmaster.
Dumbledore looked abashed. "Yes, but how did you manage to make it flee in the first place?"
Harry blinked. "Patronus charm."
Snape looked over at the demon, now stumbling from side to side, still clutching its face. The scene would almost be comical if it wasn't for the fact that the demon was hitting the walls hard enough to produce cracks from floor to ceiling. "You came up with a happy memory with that thing looking at you?"
Harry struggled out of Sirius' arms and stood up, his entire weight on his good leg. "See him over there?" he asked, pointing at the stick thin figure, trembling against one wall. "That's Voldy."
"Voldemort?" Wodenbane demanded, having joined the group."
Harry nodded, and looked at Sirius. "I forced a dose of Serpent's tears down his throat. He's a squib now."
"A squib?" gasped Wodenbane. "The Dark Lord... is a squib?"
Harry nodded, a smile on his face. "Will that do for a happy thought? Are you ready for a patronus charge?"
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