Kapitel 1583: 45
Chapter 45: The finale
Good morning everyone.
Here we are, the finale of A Whole New Life. When I started posting this story last August, I didn't think that it would last that long or that it would find people who enjoy it. I am incredibly thankful for each and every one of you.
As you see, this is not the last chapter, you'll get an epilogue next week, and I'll simultaneously post the first chapter of my new story, "A Cat's Tale", another H/Hr with Dumbles, Weasley bashing, love potions etc., but it will start in fifth year and will bring Lily Potter back into the world of the living. I hope that some of you will be interested in that.
Until then, have fun reading this chapter :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The moment Merlin's wand cracked, Albus Dumbledore started to scream loudly, he was angry like never before. He nearly had it, but the fucking bastard Potter had to snap the wand. And so Albus did something stupid and impulsive.
He threw an explosion curse at the statue and at Potter on it, which did hit the arm of stone-Merlin and caused it to get shattered.
Harry saw the curse coming, but it was too late to escape it now. He did take a second or two too long to gloat over the fact that he had snapped Merlin's wand - which was indeed a powerful artefact.
He had known about it ever since the afterlife when he had talked to the old man. Aside from some pointers in regards to battle magic (which Harry had gladly applied once he was better with elemental magic, Merlin's strongest discipline), Merlin had told him about his wand - and Avalon.
Once, the island had been rather normal. Yes, it was above a very strong crossing of power lines, maybe even the strongest, but it was visible. A coven - the Lady of the Lake and her followers - lived there and discovered the healing properties of the little pond and the strange ambient magic. Many mages had been jealous of it, for example the druids from Stonehenge, and so they devised a plan, together with Morgan Le Fay and Merlin. The gems in the rocks underneath the island had magical properties, and so they used them to their favour.
They engraved hundreds of runes in the subterranean crystal deposits (which supercharged the runes) to "remove" the island out of the normal realm and hide it "elsewhere." Said gems were a key to the ward and allowed them to cross over onto the island. And with that the myth of Avalon was created.
Not many objects were in existence that allowed entrance, Arthur's crown was one of them, and so was the sword of Galahad, as he was the new "Keeper of Avalon." A few others were given to important people, but they and their secrets were lost to time. All of them but the sword and crown were location-based and worked from just one place for security reasons.
Due to the secrecy, a few things too powerful for the world were hidden here - Arthur's crown and Excalibur as well as Merlin's sword and wand, or Morgan Le Fay's staff and a few others. But to be beyond careful they weren't put into the graves but hidden in plain sight in the statues on top of the grave.
Harry had considered going after this wand, but he hadn't needed it. It was indeed more powerful than the Elder Wand, and so there was a certain risk to bringing that back into the world. Ignotus' wand had been a great backup at the beginning, and with the Elder Wand since the first confrontation with Dumbledore he was well enough equipped.
But now the old meddler had somehow managed to stay alive and get a hold of one of the Avalon portkeys, so it had to be destroyed.
And what a great feeling that was. Sure, it was kind of awful to destroy a both powerful and historically important artefact, but the released power was exhilarating.
Just in the last moment he managed to put up a shield, but not a really strong one. The entire arm of the statue exploded and he got blasted away, just to land on the ground and hit his head. His world got dark.
Filius was still duelling Nathaniel, and the only reason he hadn't won yet was his age (making him a little bit slower in comparison to his duelling circuit times) and the fact that Nathaniel was very adept with dark and rare curses. Usually speed of casting won against that, but countering some of those was rather complex and exhausting.
Sirius had rushed forward once Dumbledore and Rookwood had come back up again and as Dumbles started screaming in anger he tried cursing Augustus Rookwood, who had lived just a few cells down from him back in the day at Azkaban. Rookwood had blocked and immediately began to retaliate, creating another very impressive duel between the two of them. In comparison to the Filius - Nathaniel duel they were a bit more destructive, rather cursing wildly at the other instead of exchanging and dodging rare and/or powerful curses that could all kill with one hit.
And once Harry got blasted across the island, Remus too lifted his wand and without hesitation cursed Dumbledore into the back.
Or well, he tried to, because the angry old man (what a lovely description) was very well aware of the werewolf behind him.
In the previous timeline, Remus would have probably not been a match for Albus Dumbledore, but the fact that he spent the last four years either at Hogwarts or at Potter Manor, surrounded by tomes and grimoires, training to be stronger, made this Remus a very skilled fighter. He didn't have Albus' experience, and neither his strong magical core, but the wolf inside him gave him an extraordinary physical strength and more stamina, which meant he could hold back Albus at least for a while.
Not that the old man was happy about that.
"Remus! You owe me everything, I let you into Hogwarts, I gave you a job. Why betray me?"
Moony sent a stunner paired with a bone breaking curse (well, the stunner was hidden in the other curse so that might not be noticed) while replying to the old meddler.
"Why betray the light and plot against Harry? He was and always will be my priority."
He heard the incantation of the killing curse, which he simply couldn't believe. Albus Dumbledore using that spell seemed a little…unbelievable. Still, Remus had to deal with it, and he was good enough at conjuration to block Albus' killing curse with a conjured rock.
Nathaniel was slowly getting exhausted, because while the half-goblin was a bit slower due to his age, his stamina was much better than his own. And damn, that man was quick. No longer duelling champion speed, but way beyond his speed.
His way of staying alive was to use every last trick he had left, every spell the Dark Lord or the Family Grimoire had taught him, those that barely anyone still knew. There were a few ways to counteract curses: a shield, dodge them (which was exhausting), overpower them with a powerful/more energetic curse or to use a valid counter curse (the most basic example would be blocking an incendio with an aguamenti ).
The latter method was the most efficient one, but you needed a lot of experience to be able to identify and counter all the curses within seconds. And that's why Nathaniel used a lot of ancient, exotic or rare curses, because the most efficient counters to those were usually not known to your opponent. With that you were able to quickly exhaust your opponent.
On the other hand, his spells were exhausting too and the half-goblin started getting more and more into the offensive.
Filius saw the change in his opponent, who truly was a gifted wizard and had a great repertoire of spells. Nathaniel was getting weaker and weaker so Filius shifted from deflecting and overpowering curses to throwing spells faster and faster.
He didn't want to kill Nathaniel, despite the wrongs he had done, he still had a family and besides, he wasn't going for excessive violence if unnecessary. After the Battle of Hogwarts, he didn't need more blood on his hands. And that was why he did something very dangerous and morally grey, though he didn't really expect it to work.
The Nerve Destruction Curse was rather unknown and was a red flash of light remarkably similar to the stunning spell. What it did was to take away the nerve function of a human being, and that permanently. Basically, it would slowly (okay, within like two minutes or so) paralyse the victim until the heart and all other organs stopped working too.
The only reason why he dared using that spell was because during his mastery he had found a successful counterspell against the effects. Reversal was still not possible and would never be, but he could stop its spread. And since he knew that Nathaniel Parkison wouldn't stop fighting against him, that was not a bad solution. He'd be still alive at least. The choice between potentially paralysing the man quite severely and killing him was an easy choice.
Not that he really believed it would work.
The mean thing with that spell was that the usual counter for the stunning spell - like which it looked - did nothing against it. A shield though could block it. It was quite a gamble.
But a gamble that actually worked.
Nathaniel Parkinson wondered why the stunner just ignored the counter curse, only to realise what he'd been hit with the moment it hit. He dropped his wand and gasped for air as he fell on his knees. The spell was progressing quickly, quicker than it should, but maybe Flitwick had overpowered it a bit.
The Charms Professor hurried towards him, picked up the wand and cast a diagnostic charm to watch the Nerve Destruction Curse.
Once everything below the waist was no longer working and numbness slowly started to affect the arms, Filius silently cast the counter and the spread stopped. Now only one more thing to do.
Filius began chanting and weaving complex structures with his wand, aiming at permanently binding Parkinson's magical core and making him basically a paralysed squib. Harsh, but he was alive and could see his family, despite being a convicted felon, a mass murderer and an escaped terrorist.
While Parkinson was being magically bound by Filius, Sirius was still duelling with Augustus. And this fight would end with one of them dead, that much was clear, and Sirius had every intention of being the survivor here. He would have to get back to Amelia and their unborn child.
Not even in the first war he had to dodge as many killing curses and other quite lethal curses like in this fight. Augustus was certainly ruthless and scary, but other than Nathaniel by now reckless. He had followed Riddle for the power and the knowledge the Dark Lord had promised, apparently "much more than the DoM could ever show him." And he went to Azkaban for that. Still, he had recognised Voldemort's strength, and so he hadn't given up on him. Not until he saw just how crazy he truly was. Horcruxes were beyond insane, and so many were even worse.
So he was ready to escape and study on his own, make the powerful discoveries he always wanted to make. And that was when Albus Dumbledore found him, with an offer he definitely couldn't refuse. And no, it had never been about Merlin's Wand, and he wouldn't have wanted it either. There was a difference between a powerful artefact making you strong and knowledge making you strong. But Albus Dumbledore had - or would have, he had thought - both. Besides, the encryption was way too interesting to ignore.
And he had been totally invested into the whole "helping Dumbledore"-thing, even more than Nathaniel. If Dumbledore would lose now, there was no help for him anymore. The two strongest magicals gone, and he probably being sentenced to death. He had quite literally nothing to lose and everything to gain.
He tried getting Black with a variety of curses, some being well-known, others nearly unknown. But damn, that man was fast, and he was strong. And, Augustus couldn't deny that either, the Black Family was very knowledgeable when it came to combat magic, and it seemed as if Lord Black had been studying his grimoire very properly.
Sirius was getting frustrated with his opponent. Not because he feared he might lose, but simply because that stupid Death Eater either attacked him with something insanely absurd or just blocked the attacks he sent after him.
In a very brief moment of peace as Augustust had to dodge a particularly nasty entrails expelling curse, he checked how the others were doing. Filius appeared to be finishing a core binding on Parkinson while Remus tried his best at fighting Dumbledore. Harry was still nowhere in sight, causing him to get all upset and frustrated.
He had to finish this fight.
And as a whole generation of witches and wizards could confirm, Sirius Black wouldn't be Sirius Black if he wasn't a crazy prankster. Sure, many of their pranks were way too bad, he now knew that, but it was beyond all doubt that he was probably just as innovative and creative as the Weasley twins. And that was what he would use to his advantage now.
That, and his big sword.
While dodging a blasting curse he grabbed his second wand with his left hand, and he managed to hide the motion well enough so Augustus didn't realise. Now it was time for a Marauder classic, a coloured smoke spell.
The area between the two wizards got filled with Gryffindor red smoke that quickly expanded towards Augustus. At first the former Unspeakable just shook his head and sent a chain of blasting curses through the smoke, but none of them seemed to have any success. That was, because Remus and Sirius (James and Peter had helped too, but barely in comparison) had created it so it could absorb jinxes and hexes. The whole intention of that was so they could prank someone and then hide their escape with the smoke, and if someone tried to throw stunners or stinging hexes at them, the fog would absorb them and just spread more. They had never tried it with curses, but Sirius could now say with confidence that the smoke absorbed most of the curse's power.
A little additional thing was that the smoke created an intense itching if someone touched it (excluding the caster and those he mentally included in the spell - intent was still the most important thing in any spell), which was exactly what happened to Augustus.
Augustus Rookwood felt the itching and quickly made a few steps backwards, trying to use the usual dispelling spells and failing at that. Since he didn't consider that the smoke was just itching some people, and not everyone, he didn't expect Sirius to do what he did.
Holding his wand in his left hand and the Black Patriarch sword in his right hand he ran straight through the smoke, ready to cast and hit at the same time.
And since Augustus hadn't moved that much from where he stood when Sirius used the spell, the Black Patriarch found him without any problems.
The last thing Augustus Rookwood saw was Sirius Black just appearing out of thin air - or well, rather out of red smoke - screaming like a madman and swinging his sword. He tried to run, but he was so caught by surprise, that the goblin-made sword just hit him and cut once across his chest, leaving a deep gash.
He fell on his knees and only felt the tip of the sword being pushed forward into his chest, but then his world got dark.
Sirius pulled the sword out of Augustus' chest and rushed towards Remus, who was by now starting to struggle a little. And so, Albus had two opponents, quite formidable ones, but he was Albus Dumbledore.
Hermione was waiting for the healers to release her after a brief checkup and a few restorative potions, when the visions of what Harry were coming back slowly. Around the time the McLaggen wards fell, they were on the boat, while she hunted down Weasley they had arrived on the island, once Ron was dead, Harry had snapped the wand. That was less than ten minutes ago (the healers were pretty quick these days). She had only seen fragments - which happened in moments of great danger, need, fear or something similar, as they had found out over the years - but she had seen something. Then the curse of the old meddler shattered the statue and Harry got blasted away. He hit the ground near the shore and landed on his head. Hermione had felt him go unconscious. She knew he was alive, but he wasn't awake yet.
Now though he was slowly coming back, and Hermione just had to help him, so she closed her eyes and sent him as much of her power as she could.
Harry immediately sat up straight once he felt the power surge. Hermione was there, and she had taken out Ronald. She was fine.
Now it was his turn, he would have to take down Dumbledore.
He was not too great with healing charms, but good enough to close all the wounds the fall had caused him. Yes, his head hurt and a healer would have to look at that later, but only after he had finished his mission.
Back on his feet he reached out to the Hallows, feeling their presence and strength one by one. The wand feeling warm in his hand, the cloak resting on his shoulder and feeling…like his father was with him, one could say. And then there was the ring, whose stone was softly glowing. He would do what he'd never done before today. He would use it.
Harry took a breath and then stepped forward, into the shadow of a big rock, just to disappear into the shadows.
He stepped out of the shadows again at the foot of Lady Morgan's statue, not too far away from the battlefield. Sirius and Remus were fighting against Dumbledore while Filius just finished up a core binding. The charms professor would join the others in a moment too, it seemed.
In his head he heard Hermione support him, she knew what his plan was and she wanted him to do it.
"ALBUS!"
All fighting stopped as Harry walked towards them. Sirius and Remus were relieved, Filius just grinned, and Albus was surprised.
"Harry. Things could have gone so differently, but you had to follow this path.""
"Oh, I know very well how things could have gone, old man."
"What? You..oh. That explains it. How?"
"You'd love to know that, don't you? Hermione and I came back, to correct what you have done. And now I'll show you something you once told me."
"And that would be?"
"The power of the prophecy - love."
Harry closed his eyes as he touched the Resurrection Stone with the tip of the Elder Wand. John, his reaper, had told him that summoning spirits wasn't a good idea since they would fade away completely at some point. Yet he would still summon spirits now.
A quiet, yet powerful, mystic melody started playing somewhere and a wind was getting up as the Invisibility Cloak started billowing. No one moved, everyone was frozen, though if it was just fear or a supernatural power actually freezing them, they would never know.
Then four glowing figures emerged out of the Stone, just like with a Patronus, very unshaped and blurry at first, but slowly taking on human features. The first one of the figures to step forward was an elderly woman with very distinct blue eyes.
"Albus."
The former headmaster was completely lost for words and just seemed confused and overwhelmed.
"M…mother?"
"My boy, what happened?"
A second figure emerged and walked up to Albus, putting his arm around his shoulder - and no, it wasn't his father, summoning him would not have been a good idea.
"Yes, big brother, what happened? That is so unlike you."
Aberforth Dumbledore was looking young again, and his appearance made Albus even more lose his mind.
But Harry wasn't done yet. Oh no.
The two remaining figures walked up to Albus too, and once they took shape, a tear ran down Dumbledore's cheek.
"Ariana, Gellert. What…"
"Oh brother, how could you? Your obsession drove you into madness."
"Yes, it did. Albus, my old friend. You killed me. You're lost, accept it."
And suddenly Albus felt his age catching up with him. He had done great things once, but now he was nothing but a disappointment to those important to him. And then the four spirits surrounded him, talking to him, but he didn't listen anymore. He couldn't.
What had he become? Ariana's soft words didn't reach him anymore, he couldn't bear hearing the disappointment in his sister's voice. Abe's deep voice wasn't filled with criticism, but sorrow over a lost brother. His mother, his stern yet loving mother, whom he had lost way too early in life, was just standing there and cupping his cheek softly. She didn't have to say anything, he understood either way. A mother always loved her child, even if she was disappointed. But to be the disappointment just hurt.
And then there was Gellert. The only man he had ever loved, and the man he had killed in cold blood. It didn't matter what he said, Albus wasn't able to comprehend anything at that point, his presence alone made Dumbledore hate himself.
Harry saw how the glowing figures surrounded the old man and talked him down, saw how they made tears stream down his face. But what he hadn't expected was what followed.
A part of him had expected Dumbledore to overpower the spirits and attack, but it didn't seem like that would happen. No, much the opposite.
At some point, the old man gasped for air and held his chest before collapsing.
Harry ran up to him, which interrupted the spell and made the spirits fade slowly, but not immediately. Kendra kissed her son's forehead, and so did Ariana after her. Both Abe and Gellert just squeezed Albus's shoulder before fading away, and the mystical tune stopped playing.
Sirius, Remus and Filius were standing next to the kneeling Harry just moments later, with the charms professor casting a diagnostic charm.
"Harry, it's his heart. It's failing. I think what you did there rattled him that it was finally too much."
Now that he was laying there, gasping for air and taking his last breaths, he didn't seem so evil and dark anymore, but rather like an old and sad man. In some way, Harry had to pity him.
"Don't worry, Albus. Always remember: To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."
And with those words, those he had once said to Harry after his adventure in first year - only during the last timeline though - Albus Dumbledore took his last breath on the island of Avalon, located there where he had spent most of his life. On the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Not much later, the quartet levitated the body onto the boat and left the island. Because Harry was actually rather curious about it - and because he knew Hermione and Amy were at Hogwarts with Minnie - he tried commanding the ship to not go its usual route but leave Avalon and take them into the real world. And it actually did that.
And so Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall and Amelia Bones were the first people to witness the ship of Lord Gryffindor appearing out of thin air on the Great Lake and heading towards the pier where they were waiting. It was an impressive sight, and to see the four fighters standing on deck was making the whole thing even better.
Harry was standing at the front of the boat, the big sword of Lord Galahad on his back and the wind playing with his hair. Next to him there was Sirius, who still held that one-handed sword in his hand (and Amelia was thinking he looked quite dashing). Remus and Filius were just a few steps behind them, talking quietly and enjoying the feeling of the sun's warmth on their skin.
Just a few minutes later, they reached the pier, and Harry quite literally jumped off the ship and ran towards Hermione.
Somewhere halfway they met and collided, ending up in an incredibly powerful and tight hug (followed by a kiss that was beyond intense). Sirius and Amelia were barely better, but Amy didn't run, she rather waited for her hero (still with the sword) to come to her and hug her.
Minerva couldn't be prouder of them, once again her two favourites, the two who were like grandchildren to her, managed to save the world.
Her look turned a bit more grim as Filius levitated the two bodies off the boat while Remus levitated the still living Nathaniel Parkinson.
Amelia was the first one to speak.
"So he's dead and the wand…"
"He's dead. I used the Hallows, or to be precise, the Stone. I called upon his loved ones as a distraction, but his heart just…gave up. It was too much for him. Rookwood is dead, Parkinson is paralysed and has a bound core."
"His heart just…the spirits must have been hard on him. And the wand, Harry?"
"I was quicker than him."
He reached into his pocket to grab the two halves of the wand, showing it to everyone before throwing them into the air.
"Fiendfyre!"
A relatively small flame formed, barely bigger than a quaffle, and took the shape of a dragon before incinerating the falling pieces of wood. Merlin's wand was no more.
And when Filius levitated Dumbledore's corpse off the pier and towards the castle, Fawkes returned. He hadn't been seen since the then-headmaster's arrest, leaving his master for his betrayal. He sat down on Harry's shoulder and softly sang. From now on he'd stay with the true light wizard who saved them all.
When they all left the pier, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and whispered into his ear:
"Now that it's over, don't leave my side ever again. Stay with me!"
Harry didn't even began to argue that it had been Hermione who left to hunt Ronald, he knew it wasn't about that. No, it was a promise. No more dark wizards or adventures anymore. Just peace and quiet from now on.
"I will, Hermione. I'll stay by your side forever. I promise."
Notes:
So, I hope you liked that ending, next week we'll wrap everything up. Let me know what you think :)
Thank you, all of you, for reading and commenting :)
See you next week
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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