Reality twists 35/39
Dec. 21st, 2011 06:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herumtreiberChapter: The hidden Horcrux
Author:
Genre: Post DH, romance, adventure, time travel
Rating: R
Epilogue compliant? No
Chapter length: ~3,840 words
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters, nor do I make any money from writing these stories.
Warnings for the fic: Angst, threesome, violence, noncon, character deaths (not the protagonists)
Summary: Harry/Draco/Daphne. Draco in Azkaban, plus time-travel. Explores the idea of powerful magic pitted against a nuclear bomb and the implications for the world. Noncon - evil Hermione and Ron – Atlantis may appear later on, and another meaning of the Prophecy. How a Time Turner can win a game. Very ecological use of the Fidelius charm; Dementors abound, but...
Table of contents
34. Harry's revenge
Draco wanted to harangue Narcissa to leave at once, but he was distracted by the presence of numerous Dementors. He also heard the ominous Apparitions and saw the menacing black figures suddenly appearing in the Malfoy garden. It would be enough to sink him into despair, but he also chanced to see the artful arrangement of some chairs, indicating a promise and encouragement in the Malfoy code.
Severus and Iolande reacted at once, they took out their wands and cast Protego shields around themselves.
Harry was overwhelmed by the ruthlessness of the attack, the apparent simplicity with which they bypassed the wards, which were reputed to be stronger than those at Hogwarts. He then saw Seamus take out his weird glove, and he showed a silver hand!
A voice spoke then, the one voice that Harry thought was definitely behind him, a thing of the past: "It is a magnificent thing that Malfoy has done for us, isn't it? Today I eliminate my greatest enemies and take control of the Wizarding World, as is my right!"
The figure walked ahead of the others, the cowl came down and the sunlight shone on the face of Lord Voldemort, who looked like he did in the Diary, only about 40 years old. He appeared to be the picture of perfect health, notwithstanding the fact that he had been definitely dead.
Harry felt the immediate need to submerge himself in the thought-universe, to analyze the endless correlations and find a place where Voldemort did not crow about having Draco's help. He bitterly mused about the nature of prophecies, they are a device of the mortal mind and are open to endless interpretations. A prophecy may become known, and it won't happen for decades or centuries. Everybody was so certain they knew the meaning of the Prophecy that they acted blindly: Voldemort, Dumbledore, himself. The fact remains that Deneb Malfoy also fulfills completely the requirements of the Prophecy. Therefore that would imply that Voldemort would appear again and face off Deneb.
It would seem that Voldemort's hidden horcrux was the Sword of Gryffindor. In the other future, where Harry reigned supreme, the Sword was safe under the aegis of the Protection Charm, but here and now, the Charm was ineffective, the Sword had been stolen and the horcrux obviously used. It was bitterly ironic that the procedure used to save reality placed the world under the dangerous path of the maniac Lord.
He could imagine Draco saying that he preferred a world under the Dark Lord than the world ceasing to exist. Coming back to Draco, he integrated all data about him, but even before coming to a conclusion he knew that he trusted him. In his mind he returned to the conversation in Snape's office, where he had said, "Draco wants Potter to love him and trust him."
He had had visions of Draco's life under Voldemort and they weren't pretty. Draco had been forced to submit to the Twit in order to save his family. There is no way in hell he would plot to raise the Dark Lord to fall back into that submission. On second thought, knowing Draco, maybe he would do that, but only if he had a counter-plan to sonorously trounce the Dark Git. Harry shuddered mentally, knowing how many of Draco's plans went ballistic. Above all, the blond was resourceful; Harry would stick to that cunning and Slytherin guile and see what comes.
Harry was jolted out of his mental contemplation by the sudden attack of Lucius Malfoy on Draco. It went on very quickly, and without Lucius shouting Expelliarmus or Accio, the Elder wand flew from Draco's hands to Lucius'. Simultaneously the Slytherins Goyle, Blaise, Pansy and Millie took out their wands and joined the menacing figures in black. At first glance it looked like a dastardly plot of the Slytherins to raise the Dark Lord and wreak vengeance.
Before anything else happened, Harry had to ask, "How? How is it possible that you are alive and I did not feel it through the scar?"
Voldemort answered sardonically, "I used Occlumency to guard my thoughts, also the connection seemed to have weakened due to the intervening period when I was not conscious."
"It was important that you remain unaware of our plans, like the witless fool you are! So I let you and your playmates to feel free, while I laid the trap underneath your feet, to spring at precisely the right time. I had thought to lure you to the home of your Muggle relatives and break you there, but you proved to have more grit than I thought and escaped that ambush."
Voldemort continued, "But now we will get rid of you and the traitor Malfoy. Lucius has another son that he can raise to properly serve me. Lucius' help in dealing with you goes a long way to make me forgive him. His position as Chief Warlock will also come in handy."
The Dark Lord turned to Severus and taunted him, "Snape! I guess I will have to kill you again. The second time will be even better, I promise." Severus snarled and tried to throw a curse, which the Dark Lord easily dodged.
When he turned to goad Draco, the blond Slytherin cut him off, "I also have some things to say to you, Dark Twit of the Utterly Banal World, namely, Anti-apparition wards up!"
Everyone felt the magic of the wards as they slid into place. Draco continued, "Anti-portkey wards up! Anti-Dementor wards up!"
Next Draco said, "Accio my wand," the Elder wand flew from Lucius's hands to his. Draco yelled, "Slytherins, attack!" and the Slytherins who had gone among the black cloaked figures purportedly as allies, started hexing them strenuously and indiscriminately.
Draco started to fight, he was flanked by the imposing figures of Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Iolande Auerbach fought with the precision of a professional Dueler, her technique was flawless and relentless. Some cloaked figures thought she'd make an easy target and were definitely crushed as a result.
Neville Longbottom defended himself as a true Gryffindor Lion, heedless of the perils when he ventured forth to rescue his friends from the enemy fire, and it felt so right to fight alongside the Slytherins, whose taunts he had long endured, whose warnings had saved him repeatedly.
Pansy fought like a devil in disguise. No one expected her petite figure to offer much resistance, and they were taken in by deceiving appearances. Pansy fought to right wrongs she felt were done personally to her.
Gregory Goyle reflected on his friend Crabbe, whose mind was poisoned by Voldemort's teaching, whose death went completely unnoticed by that man. He felt the keen injustice of it all, and wanted to forget that if only for a bit. He fought with a dogged relentlessness that was very effective.
Blaise Zabini fought for sheer enjoyment of the fight. He had an irrepressible spirit and wanted to fly high, and he knew that the Dark Lord would not allow him to be free, not even a little, hence his grudging acceptance of the leadership role assumed by his erstwhile crush, Draco.
Millicent Bulstrode had always been the overlooked one. She wasn't as beautiful as Daphne or as vivacious as Pansy, his classmates tended to forget her, which could come handy sometimes. Her family was not as high in the Death Eater hierarchy as others. Still they had been saved from cruel retribution by the timely warning of Lucius Malfoy. The elder Malfoy had always seemed to know where the wind blew. When this plan was proposed, Millie accepted it wholeheartedly, knowing they would have to face this enemy some day. Better do it now when they were prepared than sometime in the future, when they all had kids and slower reflexes.
All in all, the Slytherins and friends faced about 30 individuals, among whom were many outstanding Dark wizards, and also former classmates like Finnigan and Kirke. The more informed individuals chose to attack either Harry or Draco, knowing that the Dark Lord would be grateful to whoever killed these wizards.
Harry fought veritably like an enraged griffin, moving with the flow of the battle and the duel, and effectively surprising his opponents with the precision and power of the curses he cast. His swishes and flicks were performed with verve and determination, his voice steady and calm as he delivered the curses. The enraged Gryffindor was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Draco's fighting technique was deceptively simple. He didn't project the same thunder that Harry did, instead he worked almost unobserved, elegantly moving his wand and directing the sometimes lethal curses to their targets with deceptive ease. Looking at Draco, one would have the impression that he was just performing a practical test of his skills, instead of the life-and-death battle he was engaged in. It was part of the Malfoy mystique. However much Draco had changed, that style would remain with him forever.
Lucius fought alongside Draco and gloried in the battle. For some time he had despaired of ever reaching his son again, after having let him down when he was sent to Azkaban, and Draco was forced into service with Voldemort. After all the struggles of the long and protracted fight, after Draco got them free, he fell in disfavor with his son. He endured because he loved him and Narcissa, and wanted to be there for him. After Draco bound his powers, he had to become used to a whole different way of performing magic. Then Draco restored his powers. He seemingly offered a new start. Being Malfoys, they fell to discussing strategies to deal with many enemies.
When the couriers of the Dark Lord came, Lucius arranged the whole plan with the Slytherins. They didn't tell Draco because they could not afford a leak, or a change of behavior on the part of the Silver trio. Now Lucius had the chance to fight and help his sons, and if death should take him, it would be only right.
Iolande definitely proved that she was more than a knowledgeable Healer, able to hex and curse with the best of them. Her style was direct, with no frills and little sarcasm, contrasting with Severus. Her hexes were delivered inevitably at the right moment and place. She never faltered, and to an outside observer she would have easily seemed to be the most powerful of all the combatants.
Severus Snape fought with Slytherin guile, often casting debilitating curses, intending to weaken the enemy by attrition. The miscreants would have to deal with their fallen comrades' cries of pain. Being Death Eaters, they wouldn't care; still, they could not help but feel the emotional weight of expecting something awful to come their way.
Daphne Malfoy battled with the Death Eaters with the aplomb of a pureblood witch used to the vagaries of the powerful. After her Conception Charm went haywire, going from 1 year to 67 to 9993 years, she knew that probably Draco and she faced awful odds. She observed what happened as Lucius seemed to turn on Draco and the Elder wand flew to Lucius's hands. In the distance she could see Narcissa, holding Deneb and looking at the commotion. She didn't understand why her mother-in-law didn't take her son to safety.
She couldn't breathe when Draco insulted the Dark Lord and called up the wards, his Elder wand and lastly ordered the Slytherins to attack. Finally, a plan convoluted enough for Draco!
Unfortunately in the mêlée the Slytherins didn't notice that Daphne had been suddenly left alone. Voldemort saw her and approached her. When Daphne realized the peril she was facing it was too late.
Voldemort grabbed her hand and chortled, "The Malfoy bitch! I'll make sure that the Malfoy race ends with you."
Harry and Draco noticed this interaction and were powerless to interrupt because they were facing the hexes of several Death Eaters, among them were Andrew Kirke and Seamus Finnigan.
Voldemort shouted "Morsmordre!" and directed the wand to Daphne's abdomen, intending the curse to carve a death's head over Daphne's womb, rendering her sterile.
The light left the wand and approached Daphne.
When Harry cast the Conception Charm, he created it in such a way that he asked the magic to guide and protect the germinal cell. Until the conception and birth took place, Harry's charm had some features of a Protection Charm.
The magic detected that if it let the spell affect Daphne, it would go against the original injunction. So when the light reached her, it was rebounded to Voldemort, where it nestled in his face and carved the skull and snake in his cheek and nose. It hurt a lot, and Voldemort screamed.
Draco freed himself sufficiently from his antagonists and shouted to Daphne, "Use the portkey!"
A dazed Daphne took a few seconds to understand, then she shouted, "Excalibur!" the ring-portkey operated and took her to the Marauder's Cottage.
Even though the Dementors were somewhat contained by the wards, Voldemort ordered them to attack. Draco addressed them shouting, "You don't have to listen to him! I understand some of your pain, how you have been cast in such an awful role by seemingly unfeeling powers. I know you are really beautiful, heavenly beings. I cannot take your curse from you, but I can tell you that you don't have to follow that man. You are free to decide, as much as you can decide in your state."
The Dementors remained where they were and they did not approach the humans.
The mêlée continued, and the help of the Slytherins proved crucial. Having taken the enemy by surprise, they were in the ideal position to wreak havoc with the would-be Death Eaters. Severus and Iolande seemed to delight in using exotic hexes.
Unfortunately Draco didn't notice that Narcissa had not left via the Vanishing Cabinet. She remained in the garden, apparently infuriated by all the mayhem caused by the miscreants.
However, Voldemort saw her, and he knew he had the perfect way of hurting those traitorous Malfoys. He immobilized her and cast a sphere around them. A translucent silver sphere was plainly visible from all sides of the battlefield that started the day as a bonding reception. This got them the attention of the combatants. Draco and Lucius saw the sphere, Narcissa and Deneb trapped inside, and felt themselves die a little.
Voldemort gloated, "I will show my followers how to deal with traitors! Young Malfoy is a good for nothing populist, and the elder Malfoy dared to betray my trust! Let them see how their mother and son are killed!"
Draco ran toward them and launched himself at the shield, knowing that he would come late. It all depended on the damned prophecy now. As expected, he crashed into the sphere and couldn't get in, nor could he get the sphere to disappear using his magic.
The Dark Lord turned towards Narcissa and Deneb and mockingly said, "Aren't you going to beg for my indulgence, Cissa?"
Narcissa answered haughtily, "I don't beg. If you kill us, do it fast."
Shorn of his entertainment, the Dark Lord shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" The ominous green light of the Killing Curse shot toward the blonde madonna with child. The light seemed to strive to get to Deneb, but didn't quite reach him. It was stopped and floated in mid-air for a stunning second or two, before being inexorably drawn back to the Dark Lord.
Draco was weirdly conscious of the passage of time, it seemed to telescope and become slower. He saw Iolande move her wand and effectively destroy Voldemort's sphere. He wondered how it could be that such a normal witch could invalidate a spell cast by the Dark Twit.
Everyone thought that the green light would reach Voldemort and it would be the momentary end of the monster. However it was stopped by a shield and dissipated. The shield was cast by Draco.
Harry privately thought that the day had had enough entertainment to last him a century, without having Draco saving Voldemort's life! Draco looked at Harry, rolled his eyes, and commented sulkily, "Need I remind you of hidden Horcruxes, Potter? If the Dark Twit dies or something, he will just be reborn again. We need another solution. Help me to cast an Immobulus and hold him in suspension."
Harry realized the wisdom of his mate's words and helped him to render the Dark Twit immobile.
Draco paused for a few seconds, as the sounds of the battle around them raged momentarily, and then intoned in a calm, carrying voice, "I call upon the help of the Healer of Souls, that he can do his job, that he can heal a mortal soul!" "Healer of Souls, hearken to us! Help us in memory of your past life!"
Suddenly there was a shower of golden sparks, and near Draco appeared a majestic being. Blond as the sun was he, with magnificent wings. His clear complexion indicated the purity of the Alpine snow, alabaster skin was complimented by silken robes.
Draco moved Voldemort's body near to where the Healer was, and said, "Healer, this poor man has surely a corrupted soul. If we let him live, or even if we kill him, his evil soul will find a way to come back to this realm and haunt us, wanting to become the Ruler of the world. He will pose a lesser threat if his soul is balanced."
"I beg you to use your powers and heal his soul, that the world may live in peace."
The Healer approached the prostrate figure of Voldemort, who was struggling mightily to get rid of the Immobulus cast by Draco and Harry. The Healer then Kissed Voldemort, and within the next two minutes, Healed his soul. Voldemort resisted as much as he could, but there was nothing he really could do. The Healer magic was relentless, easily bypassing any defenses Voldemort might have set up beforehand to protect his soul, it sought to redress the imbalances in his soul and magic.
By the time the Healer finished with his Kiss, the battle was decided: the Slytherins and friends had prevailed and all black-cloaked ominous figures were captured or dead.
The Dementors had been held in check by the wards, but it appeared that seeing the Healer had brought up some strange emotion in them, they were fidgeting.
Draco addressed the Healer and said, "Thank you, Healer." Then he turned to the Dementors and said, "That's what you can be when you are free from the curse. Go, and sin no more!" The Healer vanished in a magnificent shower of golden sparks, beginning with his diaphanous wings. The Dementors slowly withdrew.
Harry asked imperiously, "So that's it? You're gonna let Voldemort go free?"
Draco scoffed and said, "Of course not, Angel. I am not a Hufflepuff that believes in the goodness of the world, or a Gryffindor hell-bent on trusting anyone who isn't Slytherin. Severus, tell me, are there any Mirrors left in Hogwarts?"
Severus managed to detach himself from Iolande and answered sheepishly, "Yes, there's the Mirror of Despair."
Draco said, "Then it's high time that Voldie makes the acquaintance of said Mirror. I will then take it to the ocean and drop it. Voldie will spend eternity in that Mirror, feeling despair. No matter how many Horcruxes he has left, he won't be reincarnated if he is trapped in the Mirror."
HRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRH
A subdued Voldemort was taken to Hogwarts, where an officious Draco put him in the Mirror of Despair. Draco shrank the Mirror and put it in his pocket.
Draco found Andromeda and Antares in the Headmaster's office, he told them to come back to the Manor. Andromeda was keen on checking Draco's bona fides and subjected him to what seemed an exhaustive test on being Draco Malfoy. He recognized that his aunt may have been nervous, and answered her questions succinctly. Eventually Andromeda relented and she and Antares returned to the Manor.
He had a strong hunch that he was supposed to be someplace else, he felt a weird sense of homecoming calling him.
At any rate, Draco got back to the Manor. Harry sent a Patronus message to Daphne asking her to come back and telling her that they had won the battle. After some time, Daphne came back through the Floo system. She hugged Harry, and Draco approached his green-eyed lovers and held them fiercely.
He, Daphne and Harry finally were duly consecrated as mates. He had a small talk with Lucius and thanked him for the warnings he had left via the Malfoy code. It was providential that only a month ago they had discussed what to do in the case of an attack. Draco had suggested that if assailants showed up, Lucius would pretend to be in their side and would appear to take away Draco's wand, while in reality it was Draco who sent the wand to Lucius, thus remaining its master according to wandlore.
He also chastised Narcissa. He said indignantly, "Mother, I'm very disappointed in you! I told you to get out but you decided to stay, as a result, Voldemort almost killed you and Deneb! That is unacceptable, you must learn to listen to me."
Narcissa appeared suitably chastened. However, Draco did not see her nudge deliberately Antares, so he would go and demand that Draco carry him. Immediately Draco complied and his temper started to disappear. Narcissa wasn't a Slytherin for nothing, and living with Malfoys had made her pretty able to get her way when she wanted to, which was always.
In the course of the interrogation of the prisoners in the Malfoy dungeons, Draco interviewed Seamus Finnigan. The Irishman admitted that his hand was used in the ritual to resurrect Voldemort. Asked about the location of the Sword of Gryffindor, he admitted (under Veritaserum) that the Sword was in his apartment. Eventually he coughed up the address, Draco went to the apartment and got back the Sword.
Back in the Manor, he went to his room, took out the Sword, and rubbed his signet ring, calling on Griphook to discuss some affairs.
The sound of goblin Apparition was heard and Griphook appeared, bowing to Draco and saying, "Lord Malfoy, how may we serve you?"
Draco replied, "I have something that belongs to you, which I will return shortly. I only hope it is better guarded in the future." He took out the Sword of Gryffindor and presented it to the goblin, hilt first.
Griphook was visibly awed, he grabbed the Sword and bowed deeply, "We are in your debt, as always, Lord Malfoy."
