Bab 168: CHAPTER {200-202}
****OLD-FRIENDS-REUNITED (III)****
~~FLASHBACK~~
"So, what is your new 'Lord' planning?" Albus asked, emphasizing the Lord part. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Gellert was working under someone. Yes, Harry was stronger than the two of them combined, but he knew how prideful Gellert was, so he couldn't understand how Harry managed to get him to work for him.
"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~" Gellert clicked his tongue with an amused look on his face. "It is not as simple as you might think. I have no idea about his plans or what he is planning… I didn't even know about this attack until a few hours ago" Gellert revealed with a shrug. It was obvious that Albus was trying to fish for information, and even though Albus was his dear friend, he wasn't feeling generous.
"So, you are just an expendable pawn for him?" Albus asked, trying to get a rise out of Gellert.
"Not really, none of us are expendable pawns for him" Gellert corrected Albus with a soft smile on his face. "By the way, let me give you an advice… Stand aside and let Harry do whatever he wants to do" Gellert advised, but he was certain that Albus wasn't going to listen to him. After all, Albus was an animal of control… Well, at least he tried.
"I cannot do that, my friend" Albus declared in a hard tone while shaking his head.
"Then we are at an impasse" Gellert declared, losing any hint of amusement from his face. Albus also shifted into his battle stance and got ready to fight as he knew what was coming… Last time, Gellert was able to catch him off-guard and they wouldn't be standing here right now if Minerva and Filius didn't come to his rescue. He glanced toward the Wand in his hand…
Somehow, Gellert was back in his prime, which meant that Gellert was now much stronger than him. Even Harry was several times stronger than him and he was only able to match Gellert thanks to the Elder Wand, so if he lost the Elder Wand then there would be no hope for the light no matter how much he tried…
To be honest, after the Elder Wand failed to break through Harry's barrier, he was certain that he won't be able to beat Harry in a straight fight, which meant that he had to entrap Harry in some sort of trap and the Elder Wand was a must if he wanted to set up such a trap. So, he needed to win this fight… He couldn't lose the Elder Wand at this stage or there was no hope for the Light side.
Albus was the first one to cast the Spell and Gellert quickly returned the favor. Their Spells clashed in mid-air and both of them were pushed back when it happened… Albus grimaced before twisting his wrist to increase the output of his Spell. Moments later, Gellert was starting to get pushed back, but instead of matching Albus' power, he simply stepped aside and allowed the amalgamation of their Spells to pass by him and it struck the rubble, melting the rubble.
Instead of paying the melting rubble any mind, Gellert flicked his Wand over his head, launching several pieces of rubble at Albus.
Albus quickly moved his hand and raised a shield with a flick of his Wand to protect himself from the rubble and he was surprisingly fast for someone of his age… Then with a quick twirl of his Wand, Albus Transfigured the rubble into pillars and dropped them in front of him and moments later, one of the pillars exploded when Gellert's Blasting Curse struck the pillar which was aimed at Albus.
Albus internally smirked and cast a couple of Spells from the gaps before another pillar collapsed when Gellert's Bone Breaker struck the pillar. Meanwhile, Gellert growled in frustration when Albus was saved by one of the pillars for the second time… Gellert could easily destroy the pillars in one go, but doing that would take time which would give Albus time an opening to attack him without getting worried about a counter-attack.
He scowled unhappily when another one of his Spell struck a pillar and Albus used that small opening to attack him with a Jelly-leg Jinx. Thankfully, Gellert was quite sharp and he noticed the Spell coming at him, so he easily managed to dodge the Spell and he used the same momentum to twist his body around and cast a water blade Spell at Albus…
The blade easily sliced through the pillars, but Albus easily managed to defend himself from the water blade by casting a flame whip. A chuckle escaped Gellert's lips before he cast a lightning whip at his opponent as an answer to the flame whip… Gellert realized that this is exactly what he was missing in his life… Yes, he sparred against both Harry and Jacklyn, but Harry was simply beyond his league and Jacklyn was still pretty weak.
Then there was no thrill of danger in the spars… He knew that Harry wasn't going to kill him and Jacklyn simply wasn't strong enough to kill him, but it was different with Albus… If he made a mistake, then he would be down and if he got captured, then the ICW would most definitely kill him this time while at the same time, he was going all out as he wanted to beat Albus.
The lighting whip clashed against the flame whip, and plasma started to drip on the floor… The plasma was so hot that it started to melt the stone floor and the two of them immediately pulled back their Spells at the same time, leaving a deep gash on the floor for the lightning whip and a charred mark for the flame whip… Though instead of wasting any time, the two of them cast a Spell again at the same time, but this time, Albus wasn't quick enough to dodge the Spell.
The bone breaker meant for his chest hit him on his Wand arm and he could only stare in horror as the Elder Wand slipped out of his shattered hand, but before he could do anything a Stunning Charm struck him on his chest and he silently slumped down on the floor. Even though Albus was down, Gellert didn't lower his guard as he didn't forget about the blasted songbird.
The said bird screeched… 'Just as I expected' Gellert internally grinned. He knew that the blasted songbird would come to save his master. "Avada Kedavra" Gellert hissed and the green beam struck the Phoenix and it fell on the ground, completely lifeless… Alas, the damn bird wasn't dead. It would return to life after some time, but by the time it would return to life, they would be long gone.
Now, that the Phoenix was finally down… Gellert breathed out in relief and he had to admit, the fight was a lot of fun…
~~FLASHBACK ENDS~~
"You can have the memory if you want" Gellert suggested as he finally finished recalling the fight. He knew that Harry wasn't planning to kill Albus, so there was a chance that he might get another chance to fight his old friend… 'I wonder if Harry would agree to rejuvenate him?' Gellert wondered inside his mind. After all, he only managed to win against Albus so quickly because Albus couldn't keep up with him.
"I will, but before that, there is something else I need to do" Harry accepted the offer with a nod before he turned toward Albus. "Take him to one of the basement cells after you get someone to fix his arm" Harry ordered and Gellert nodded his head in understanding. In the meantime, Harry decided to head toward the infirmary as he wanted to check on the injured and get a proper look at the dead.
So, he disappeared in a pillar of flames, leaving Gellert on his own to deal with Albus… Harry arrived inside the infirmary in a pillar of flames and after asking around, he quickly found where the injured were being kept. All the injured including Jacklyn were put to sleep by the healers, so he wasn't able to give them a piece of his mind, so he decided to head toward the morgue.
He arrived inside the morgue and stared at the bodies covered by white sheets and the sight made him clench his fists in anger… Nobody from Lost Garden was supposed to die, after all, it was supposed to be an easy mission, but the reality was a bitch… |You shouldn't feel bad for them, Hadrian… I am certain that none of them would have wanted you to mop around, especially Himera. Though you should avenge them| Lily explained, and after some silence, Harry nodded his head in understanding.
Harry took a deep breath and started to make his way toward Himera's body… He wanted to see if he could still extract the X-Gene from her body and preserve it or not. He always wanted to experiment on her X-Gene as he wanted to use it for the body he was planning to build for his mom… He arrived in front of the body and removed the cover to reveal Himera's bare body, which was also missing the head.
Her head was beside her body, but it was kept under another white sheet… He removed the white sheet to reveal her head and he couldn't help but feel the loss when he stared at the peaceful look on her face… He genuinely cared about the woman, but now she was gone. Even though she was gone, Harry decided that he would keep his promise and destroy Hydra for her. He took a deep breath and he was about to start casting some Spells on her body when something clicked inside his mind.
He stared at the neck and the head… |What if I…|
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****THE-CATASTROPHIC-AFTERMATH? (I)****
Himera shot up with a gasp and her hands immediately went to her neck. She started to frantically rub her neck with her hands and after a few seconds, she finally sighed in relief when she realized that her neck was still intact… 'Fuck! That was a weird nightmare' Himera slumped in relief. It was really such a weird nightmare, she remembered she kind of lost her head out of the blue and died.
"That wasn't a nightmare" A very familiar voice casually pointed it out from the side and she slowly turned her head to find Harry sitting on a table with a book in his hand. He finally closed the book with a snap and placed it down on the table. "You did lose your head and you did die, at least, technically… That is why we are in the morgue right now" Harry said as he pointed at her bed.
Himera looked down and found herself lying on a steel bed… She was completely naked just as the day she was born, but she didn't pay it any mind as Harry had already seen her naked, so there was no point in trying to cover herself and she had other important things to deal with, such as her technical death… Though there was the fact that she wasn't ashamed of her body and she wouldn't mind showing it off.
"What…!" Himera tried to say something, but her voice came out to be extremely hoarse and raspy. So, she cleared her throat and moments later, she was finally satisfied with her voice. "What happened?" Himera asked with a frown as she tried to climb off the steel bed, but Harry stopped her from doing that, so she simply decided to keep sitting on the bed.
"What is the last thing you remember?" Harry asked as he Conjured a stool for himself to sit on and with his other hand, he Conjured an oversized plain-looking t-shirt and handed it to Himera, who accepted the clothing article before putting it on while she started to remember what happened…. It only took her a few moments to recall everything.
"Yeah, shit happened and I lost my head… It felt really weird to die" Himera admitted with a grimace. "So, what happened to me after I 'died'?" Himera asked.
"Your body went into some sort of stasis to preserve your organs and brain… That is the best I can come up with for the time being. Though I don't know if your body would have grown a new head or your head would have grown a new body with given time" Harry slowly explained and Himera nodded her head in understanding. "I simply placed your head near your body on a hunch and moments later, the cut on your neck started to heal" Harry added with a smile.
"I see…" Himera mumbled as she once again rubbed her neck. This was the closest she ever came to dying after she became a mutant and to be honest, it was an eye-opening experience for her… While she never wanted to die, dying for real made her realize that she really didn't want to die again and she would do anything to avoid that… "Thanks for not burying me, I guess" Himera thanked Harry with a tight smile on her face.
Harry stared at her for the next few seconds before a smile appeared on his face… "I am glad you are back, Himera and I am sure that the others will be too" Harry slowly stood with a smile on his face. While she was still unconscious he wondered if he should ask her to participate in some experiments after she woke up as he wanted to learn more about her X-Genes, but after playing with the idea for only a couple of seconds he dropped it.
After all, considering what she went through under the tender care of Hydra, it was highly unlikely that she would agree. Though she might have agreed to become his lab rat after she became fanatically loyal to him or at least extremely loyal to him, which would probably take a lot of time if he didn't twist her Mind with Magic, but he didn't want to do that… He may not be a good guy but did have some limits.
So, she simply decided to cut off her right hand and collect some blood from her while she was still unconscious and stored them aside for further testing… It didn't take her long to regrow a new hand before she finally woke up… It did make him feel a bit guilty, but he simply couldn't miss the chance as she could basically survive decapitation. The value of her power increased in his eyes thanks to that.
"I don't think you would need a healer to look you over, so you can leave as I don't think you would like to stay over in the morgue for the night" Harry said in a mirthful tone and Himera agreed. She didn't want to stay in the morgue for the night. Though why Harry didn't take her to a room while she was getting healed was simply beyond her. "Call a house elf and get something to eat, I bet you are hungry" Harry suggested, but Himera wasn't feeling hungry or anything.
With that said Harry turned around on his heel and started to leave… Himera stared at his retreating back with a complicated look on her face before she finally decided to speak up… "Harry" Himera called out nervously. Harry stopped and turned around to give her a questioning look… Himera hesitated for a bit before a determined look appeared on her face.
"I want to become strong. I don't want to experience death again, but if I have to, then I don't want to go down that easily" Himera declared with a determined look on her face and Harry simply smiled at her words… He was really happy that she finally agreed to train under him and become stronger. He never offered to train her as he wanted to see if she had any desire to become stronger in the first place or not.
After all, it would be impossible to train her to become strong if she didn't have any intention to, but now that she asked him to train her, he would be happy to oblige… If she managed to become as strong as Katerina, or even Jacklyn, then she would be a nightmare on the battlefield, especially with her X-Gene…
"Good. I expect you to be at the training ground at 4 am sharp" Harry declared before he disappeared with a soft pop, leaving Himera to her thoughts before she finally climbed off the steel bed and decided to leave…
~~Wizengamot Chambers, Ministry of Magic~~ (A few hours later)
It was utter chaos inside the Wizengamot Chambers… People could be seen screaming at each other and there was so much pandemonium that even the Auror guards looked completely helpless… It had been a few hours since Harry Potter, Gellert Grindelwald and the Lost Garden as a whole attacked Hogwarts and then left after crushing the Ministry forces with overwhelming power.
Though that wasn't the end of it… Apparently, they also kidnapped Albus Dumbledore and that alone was enough to send the people of Wizarding Britain into blind panic… Alas, Albus Dumbledore wasn't the only one kidnapped… The Lost Garden also kidnapped Igor Karkaroff along with some of his students and within them, there was Victor Krum, a high-profile International Quidditch Player.
Bulgaria would be crying for blood due to such a transgression and there was a chance that they would send their own forces to deal with the matter…
Unfortunately, that wasn't the last blow to the people of Wizarding Britain… Apparently, everyone in the high-security wing of Azkaban escaped and all the Azkaban guards were dead. While a couple of them were murdered, most of them were kissed by the Dementors… Amelia tried her very best to convince the Minister that it was Voldemort who broke them out, but the man simply refused to believe her.
He was completely convinced that it was Harry Potter and Gellert Grindelwald who broke them out… They simply used the attack at Hogwarts to carry out the deed without alerting anyone. According to him, Harry Potter was a Dark Lord and he was planning to take You-Know-Who's place. That was why he freed his followers from Azkaban… He even suggested that it was probably You-Know-Who who was masquerading as the Boy-Who-Lived.
After all, how was it possible for a one year old babe to beat a terrible Dark Lord as You-Know-Who?
Amelia was so frustrated that she almost punched the Minister and his pet toady, but she was stopped by Connie before she could punch the living daylights out of the Minister and pink abomination… Amelia glared venomously at the Minister from her seat while the Minister was trying her best to ignore her glare… Then all of a sudden, Amelia felt her body freeze, it immediately sent her into panic mode, but there was nothing she could do.
She felt someone sit beside her and then she felt that she could move her head… She slowly turned her head to find Sirius Black sitting beside her… It was obvious that he was responsible for her current condition, but she started to wonder how he managed to cast a Spell within the Wizengamort without triggering the alarms and why did he decide to make such a move in the first place…
"Just look at that… Pathetic isn't it?" Sirius asked as he looked around in disgust. "These people basically run Wizarding Britain and a simple reality check was enough to send them into panic mode. It doesn't bode well, does it, Madam Bones?" Sirius asked in an amused tone and Amelia's eyes grew comically wide when she realized who was actually sitting beside her.
After all, the person sitting beside her didn't talk or act anything like Sirius Black…
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****THE-CATASTROPHIC-AFTERMATH? (II)****
There was only one person she knew who talked like that… Though how he managed to infiltrate the Wizengamot Chambers was simply beyond her. The Ministry lacked security as the public entrance was open to anyone, so it was pretty easy for anyone to infiltrate the Ministry building itself, but the Wizengamot chamber was completely stacked with various types of security and protection Wards.
Then how did he even manage to sit on the Black Family seat without being the Lord Black, she knew not… "It looks like you have a lot of questions and I don't mind answering them, but if I let you speak, you aren't going to scream are you?" Harry asked in an amused tone, only to receive a defiant glare from her. "After all, I am not worried about myself…" Harry took a small pause.
"...I am worried about them" Harry said as he gestured toward the crowd. "If you scream or try to alert anyone then a fight will break out… The Auror guards and some of the brave Wizengamot members would try to subdue me or capture me, and then I would have to kill them for their foolish attempts. You don't want to be responsible for so many deaths, do you?" Harry asked mockingly.
Amelia hatefully glared at him for the next few seconds before her shoulders finally slumped down in defeat… Harry was right, she couldn't alert anyone of his presence or people were going to die… After all, Amelia wasn't delusional enough to believe some third-rate fighters could beat him when he had easily crushed all of her Aurors and Hit-Wizards with extreme ease.
So after considering all of her options, she simply gave him a nod with a defeated look on her face and Harry, who was disguised as Sirius, simply gave her a smile before she felt that she could move her mouth again… "You are a monster!" Amelia growled at him. It was probably a bad idea, but after what he had done, after the number of people he had killed, she wasn't able to stop herself.
Harry snorted in amusement at her words… "It is a matter of perspective, Madam Bones" Harry waved his hand in dismissal before he frowned. "Maybe, I am a monster, but so are you in the eyes of a child whose parents were sent to Azkaban by you" Harry pointed out and Amelia stared at him in outrage, but before she could say anything, Harry spoke up again.
"Let me tell you a story…" Harry trailed off as he leaned back in his chair to get more comfortable. "There was a single mother, whose husband was killed in an accident just after their child was born… They weren't rich, but they were getting by, but after her husband's death, the bills started to pile up, their debts started to stack up… With each month, she started to become more and more desperate…"
"Then when she was finally neck deep in debt, she received an offer from a shady man. They wanted to use her to launder their dirty money… At first, the woman refused, but after taking a good look at her child, she ultimately accepted the job. All of a sudden, everything started to get better for her… She knew what she was doing was wrong, illegal, but she kept doing it so that she could afford a good life for her child"
"Years passed away, and then all of a sudden, someone like you, a believer of justice and righteousness appeared in their lives. You arrested the mother for her illegal activities, but the child was now big enough to understand what was happening. The child saw you arresting his mother who loved him more than anything… The only family the child had and voila! You are a monster!" Harry finished with a grin.
Amelia hatefully glared at Harry… She understood the story, but she refused to give him the satisfaction, instead, she decided to return the jab. "I can't believe I am hearing this from a monster like you! Do you know how many people you killed tonight? How many women became widows due to you? How many children lost their parents?" Amelia whispered furiously as he venomously glared at Harry.
"I don't care…" Harry deadpanned. "If they really loved their families then they should have surrendered. I spared everyone who surrendered, didn't I? Then again, the risk of death is in their job description. They should have kept in mind that they could die in the line of duty… Their families should have also known the risk" Harry finished with a dismissive shrug.
Meanwhile, Amelia was practically gaping at Harry… She could believe the Hippogriff shit he was spewing, but from his words, she was able to understand what made him tick… For him, 'Might was Right' and with the amount of raw power he possessed, it was a scary worldview. To be honest, if she could, then she would have loved to haul his arse to Azkaban just to stop Wizarding Britain from collapsing, but right now, she was completely powerless.
Even though the Ministry would like to believe that they could still win, Amelia knew very well that they had lost completely… The surviving Aurors and Hit-Wizards weren't going to stand against Harry and she had already started to receive resignation letters from the survivors… Harry's actions were enough to scare the people who were primarily responsible to uphold peace and stability in Wizarding Britain.
Now, she was certain that the Minister would try to shove everything under the rug to keep pretenses, but this incident wasn't small enough to shove under the rug and hope everyone forgets about it… It would come out and the riots would break out, but with the Aurors and Hit-Wizards unwilling to face him, the Ministry was going to collapse like a house of cards.
It was going to be a fucking catastrophe…
"How did you get in here?" After taking a deep breath, Amelis finally decided to change the topic. She was certain that there was some loophole in the Wizengamot chamber security, which was exploited by him, but there was a very small chance that he would give her anything useful, but she had to try… Even though the Ministry was going to collapse, she wasn't planning to give up.
"Well, it was easy to enter the Ministry. Your security was hilarious and I have to admit, the Wards around the Wizengamot Chamber are really strong, but not strong enough to stop me" Harry revealed and just like she expected, he didn't reveal anything useful to her. What was she supposed to do with the hippogriff dung he spewed if she didn't even know anything about the loophole in the first place?
"Why are you here? Did you come to see how much chaos you caused?" Amelia asked as she threw him a disgusted look only for Harry who was disguised as Sirius Black to place his hands on his chest with a mock hurt look on his face.
"That hurt…" Harry ground out with a mock pained look on his face and Amelia hatefully sneered at him. "Do you really think so little of me? I came here to console you…" Harry revealed and Amelia frowned deeply at his words.
'To console me?' Amelia wondered aloud inside her mind as she was completely taken aback by his admission. "The hell are you talking about? If you are here to console me for the people you ruthlessly killed then I don't need your consoling" Amelia spat out hatefully.
Harry seemed to blink at her in confusion. "Why the hell am I supposed to console you for them? I didn't even know their names" Harry admitted with a deadpan. "I am here to console you… After all, this is going to be your last day in the office" Harry explained with a frown and his words confused her even more.
'What the hell is he even talking about? My last day in the office?' Amelia wanted to snort at him when all of a sudden, she finally realized what he was talking about. She glanced toward the Minister, who seemed to be talking with his pink toady and some of his so-called high-class friends. Even Lucius was there, but he was looking kind of subdued.
Amelia slumped in her seat as she felt the ground beneath her collapse and her whole world started to fall around her… She had been working for the DMLE for at least two decades and she had been the Head of the DMLE for more than a decade and now she was going to lose her job so that some weak-arse politicians could remain in power… If Harry was right then Cornelius wasn't planning to shove everything under the rug, he was going to place the whole blame on her.
If she lost her job then how was she going to take her revenge on the people responsible for the deaths of her brother and sister-in-law? That was the primary reason why she slowly rose through the ranks of DMLE in the first place… So, yeah, her whole world was crashing around her… Is this what it came to at the end? She sacrificed her whole life for her job and now she was going to lose it for shitty politics?
'How is this fair??!!' Amelia screamed inside her mind.
"Don't worry, I am here for you" Harry said as he started to pat her back soothingly and she turned her head to hatefully glare at him, but her body was still frozen, so she wasn't able to punch his teeth in…
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