Capítulo 15: Hellfire. Part One
It was getting dark. The clouds on the horizon, brightly illuminated by the last rays of the sun, stood out on the sunset side, but the other colours were no longer discernible. The dragons, sensing Harry's mood, had almost all gathered on the platform that led to the terrace, peering through the lighted windows. The smaller dragons hovered nearer to the door, pushing each other alternately, but there was still a vivid sense of unease among the lizards. The dragonlances, brazen as they were, flew into the living room and were distracted by the shiny artifacts above the fireplace, unable to find their master. Kreacher had no time to snatch up the "toys" and put them back on the mantelpiece. The House Keeper frantically fought the little dragons, grumbling that his master had unleashed the young ones, but not hurting the brazen lizards. Even Adrynne was not concerned about the cubs anymore as she craned her neck to watch for her master, feeling the alarm bells ringing, the adrenaline surging through the veins of everyone in the house.
At the same time, in the laboratory, something was simmering and bubbling in several cauldrons, emitting not so pleasant aromas, but Harry, patiently stirring, counted to himself. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven... Sirius nodded approvingly, and looked to the next cauldron himself. Dobby waited patiently beside the door, ready to oblige if only his master hinted. A whole battery of vials was packed in a special box, which Sirius shrunk down as soon as he'd poured the potions and tucked into his pocket, along with a packet of porcupine needles.
While Sirius was packing, Harry dashed upstairs to his room, shushing the tailgaters in the process, and grabbed glass balls stuffed with instant darkness powder and some other not-so-pleasant surprises. The Weasley twins were experimenting with fragile objects to avoid stuffing such a necessary thing into paper bags. The glass fit perfectly. A special spell was used to fashion hemispheres out of glass, then gently fill them with powder or potion, and glue them together with the same spell. The Weasleys made their first batches with great care, arranging tests. On whom they tested them, Harry did not know, and frankly, he did not want to know. The shipment of balloons had arrived a month ago, along with a thank-you letter. Harry would never have thought he'd need them like this. Carefully placing a dozen or so marbles in a pouch, Potter quickly flew downstairs. The dragons snorted impatiently, resembling saddlehorses, while the others, having calmed down, scattered about the Chapel Lagoon once more. It seemed like an eternity to Harry, but in fact it didn't take two hours to get ready, even considering how long it took to prepare the potions.
The small vigilante squad, led by Potter, had dismounted well before midnight. The whole household was left to Dobby and Critcher.
No one was to be seen in the cemetery, but it was possible that the Lord had posted a guard. Black and Potter shifted into their animagic forms, both of them beasts of dark hide, not easy to spot in the dark, and Potter asked his godfather to cast a dye spell over their snow-white wings. They ran the perimeter: Sirius on the ground, Harry above him in a circle. And so it was, the two revelers were standing near Tom Riddle Senior's grave. The spell detected several vampires as well.
Simuran threw himself to the ground and, before the mages knew it, threw a couple of non-verbal curses - the uriwans fell softly to the ground, ending their lives more humanely than they deserved. With a wave of his wand, Sirius swept the bodies away from the freshly made graves, filling them generously with earth. The vampires were a little more troublesome. They glided expertly through the shadows, but suddenly a powerful flash of Lumos Solem caused them to crumble to ashes. No one came to the bright flashes of the curses. So these servants of the Lord were enough. Voldemort underestimated Potter, but that was only to his advantage.
****
I scouted the area, deployed the lizards, and conjured up anti-apparatus shields. The Hebridean black dragons dug in on three sides, covered by invisibility spells; Junsheng was hiding on the fourth. Harry and Sirius had placed vials of explosive mixture in strategic locations: one vial against Tom Riddle Senior's grave, several more near him, and the rest scattered evenly around, marking them with "glow sticks". The explosions were planned on cue - unforgivable curses.
Here one should note the role of Sirius who, in order not to suffer from adding the last ingredient, suggested sticking the porcupine needles into the corks of vials at a certain angle so that with a slight shock they would touch the potion which would lead to powerful explosions. All in all, everything was ready. All that was left was to wait for Voldemort.
****
It all took an hour. There was still one more to go before the appointed time. Finally, a company of mages apparated to the cemetery. Two of them were dragging a tightly swaddled Louise Stone under a levitation spell. Despite the restraints, she was shivering, her dress was tattered and a trickle of blood ran down her nose. The girl stared up at the tombstones in horror. A few more of the Upivans quickly dispersed around the perimeter, giving off some pretty good fighting skills. In the middle, a couple of feet high, the Dark Lord hovered, grinning wildly in an eerie grin. Beside him, sweeping the ground in a floor-length corseted gown, Bellatrix strutted proudly, giggling madly and flicking her wand.
- So, where is Harry Potter? Come on out, we've got your girlfriend! - Bella giggled wildly again, and launched a couple of curses at places where the uppies weren't standing, assuming Potter would be hiding behind the large tombstones that had shattered into tiny crumbs. With a disappointed sigh, Leistrange looked at the Lord.
- Calm down, Bella! He'll come. He cares about the girl! In the meantime, we'll have some fun! Cruz-cio! - The Dark Lord once again threw the unforgivable with a graceful gesture. - Scream, you silly girl! Let the Chosen One see and hear what the weight of the magical world awaits when I kill him for the last time! He won't be able to stop me!
Incarcero slept, and Louise crouched in pain again, but did not utter a sound. She would hold back for a long time, but finally she screamed, arching in the dark cemetery grass. The lord enjoyed her torture, swiping his wand from side to side. At that moment, Potter emerged from behind a nearby tombstone.
- Let her go! - Harry's eyes glanced around angrily at everyone present. - And then you will die quickly! I promise!
As much as Potter wanted to blast the whole cemetery to Mordred, he held back, channeling the energy within himself, concentrating it on his fingertips. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sirius' black side flicker, and knew it was time.
- The Dark Lord is immortal! - Bella shouted to the entire graveyard. - He will rule this world when he kills you!
She laughed wildly and took a step to the side and made the biggest mistake of her life - stepping on one of the 'fireflies'. Harry threw his hand up and sent a non-verbal Crucio at Leistrange. Immediately there was an explosion. The wreckage of what had just been a mad woman scattered around, dwarfing the other mages. The Upivanians stared in disbelief at what was going on around them. The lord was angry. Lightning flashed, brightly marking the area.
****
A fight broke out. The Weasleys attacked Potter, throwing Avads at him. Harry, not thinking twice, tossed the orbs the Weasley brothers had given him. One of the Weasleys fell into a small but deep swamp, drowning in the green mire. A second, surrounded by a dozen angry bats. The third, stopped, began groping his face, which had swollen inordinately, pulled his whole body to the ground, and soon the gorged man could not even stand up, floundering like an upturned bug.
Sirius, meanwhile, made his way over to the tormented girl, released Louise from her spells and, pouring a couple of vials of strengthening potion into her, sent her to Yunsheng's side. He crawled a little further away and soared into the sky, carrying his precious burden away from this nightmare. Dobby and Kreacher would take care of Louise, and she didn't belong here at all.
- Avada Kedavra! - The lord wasted no time and came too close. Harry barely had time to get out of the spell line and sent a Sektusempra. Voldemort kicked back and put up a shield. Another blast rang out and for a while all sound died down. After a few minutes some gorged man stepped forward:
- Harry, join us! The Dark Lord will grant you immunity and a place in the Inner Circle! You'll get lots of power and money!
Potter looked at the speaker in amazement. Unbelieving his eyes, he squinted: indeed, Ronald Weasley, the redhead! Hatred flared up in him with renewed vigor:
- What did the Lord promise you personally? Glory? Money? You're a poor, jealous Ronnie! You'd rather lick the Dark Lord's ass than fight for your rights?
Weasley turned red and instantly pointed his wand and roared:
- Crucio!
Potter recoiled and the fight was on again. No one dared to interfere in the duel, and the Lord seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. Harry wondered at the Lord's behaviour, but there was no time to think. He successfully countered the redhead's onslaught, not forgetting to tease:
- Well, look what we've learned! Sectusempra! Ron, you'll never be happy and free, envying everyone who's any better at anything than you. Protego! But you made your choice. Flippendo Tria! And you've also hurt those I care about! Protego maxima, Avada Kedavra!
The former friend threw himself over himself, struck by the green beam, and collapsed, gazing into the bottomless, black sky with empty eyes. A peacefulness appeared on his face. Strangely, Harry felt nothing: neither joy nor sadness. He reached over and pulled up Weasley's left sleeve, where the Mark stood out in all its glory.
Sirius had always supported his godson as best he could. He patted his arm, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, letting him know that he was there.
The other Weyrwolves stiffened, awaiting orders, no emotions evident behind their chiseled masks, but their movements were less assured.
The lord, seeing that the newfound servant had been foolish and dead, pointed his wand at Potter and roared:
- Crucio!
At the same time, about a hundred potion vials exploded, showering the clearing with sparks and pieces of tombstones, and Ingvarr and his consorts breathed flames from three sides. There was such confusion that the Uppivans began blasting at each other, not knowing who was friend and who was foe.
The cleverest tried to apparate out of the chaos, but they could not, and found their deaths in the fiery breath of dragons. The Dark Lord rose into the air like a Dementor, throwing spells at the lizards. After what seemed like an eternity, all but one of the Lord's servants perished. There was a smell of burning flesh, and the smoke was beginning to eat away at his eyes.
Snape dueled deftly, and even gracefully, with Sirius, and both of them were bypassed by dragonfire. The potter's mantle was very expensive and protected against such things, and Sirius had an artifact. But that didn't stop them from sending the darkest and most terrible curses at each other.
Snape was crafty, but Black, for that matter, was Black. Their family had been dark at all times, and that knowledge had been instilled in Sirius almost from cradle to cradle. Spells were sent out nonverbally, and only bright flashes of every colour illuminated the trashed surroundings. Sensing the onslaught of his adversary, Snape turned into a raven in a leap and wanted to flee the battlefield, but not in time. Sirius deftly shackled the bird with a sphere of darkness and, turning it into a human, cursed and bound it. Sif was happy to take over Snape's guard.
****
Voldemort stooped to a scorched clearing where two men stood. Looking up with red eyes at what was left of his loyal followers, the Dark Lord grew furious:
- You're going to die now anyway! Avada Kedavra!
- Protego maxima! - Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere. A duel ensued, compared to which all the previous ones had been child's play. The lord lashed out with unforgivable, darkest curses which streamed greyly towards Dumbledore. He fought back easily, putting up mirror shields, taking cover behind conjured objects, sending up glass needles.
Harry tried to intervene in the fight, attacking the Lord. Immediately he was thrown aside by the Headmaster's powerful spells. Taking cover behind a nearby tombstone, Potter contacted Sirius and gestured towards Dumbledore. Both of them simultaneously struck at the Headmaster from different directions:
- Stupefy! Petrificus Totalum! Incarcero!
- Stupefy! Petrificus Totalum! Incarcero!
The Great and Bright Mage of the Modern Age fought off Harry's spell, but missed the second and fell stone dead to the cracked ground, bound hand and foot. But, surprisingly, the Lord also stopped and froze like an obedient puppet, as if lost in space. A frightening hunch hit Harry, as his gut clenched into a tight lump and his blood boomed, rushing noisily through his temples. Potter's pupils stretched into a thin line and his eyes turned yellow, betraying an extreme degree of anger. He called the headmaster's body to him, stepped further back, and released the prisoner's head:
- Enerweit! Finite Incantatem!
Dumbledore blinked, shaking his head.
- Harry! What are you doing! Let me finish the fight!
Immediately from the other side of the cemetery came the sound:
- Potter! You can't defeat me, and I'm not afraid of your dragons! After you die, they will all serve me faithfully!
Harry sighed and stunned the headmaster again. The shrieks subsided. Voldemort, too, fell silent. Then Potter emerged from his hiding place, approached the Lord closely. He stood motionless.
- Avada Kedavra! - Harry stepped back a few paces, "Adesco Fire!
The Dark Lord was burning, spreading the sickening smell of burnt meat. After a couple of minutes, Harry extinguished the Hellfire and asked Ingvarr to breathe on the corpse. He stomped a little closer and held the flames for a few seconds until the former Dark Lord's body disintegrated into ashes. Several dark swirls separated from it, which swirled into a single funnel and scattered into the dark sky. Harry's scar pinged sharply and fell silent.
After ordering the dragons to burn all the corpses to the ground and return home, Sirius picked up Snape, Harry picked up Dumbledore, and they apparated into the Vale.
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