Different Paths

Chapter 14: Dreadnaught: HMS Hell Bearer

"Ah, here it is," mused the Dark Lord. He, Seth, Yasmin, and Horace had just boarded a small run down fishing ship docked on the harbor in Liverpool. It was night and the only sources of light were the stars and the nearly full moon. "This is it, my final weapon that will lead us to victory!"

Yasmin, looked over the fishing ship with clear disgust. "My lord, must we advance upon Hogwarts on such a dump?"

"A weapon is a weapon, Yasmin," said Horace. "If it does the job, than who cares what it looks like?"

"But still, I would've expected some thing far more magnificent, far more intimidating. Something that would've signaled to the world that Lord Voldemort has indeed returned to full power!"

"Ah, but that is precisely what it is," said Voldemort. When Yasmin gave him a confused glance, he continued, "You wouldn't expect me to hide my weapon in plain sight would you? Oh no, this is nothing more than a glamour hiding the true form of my weapon. In this way, I can dock it right here in Liverpool in plain sight of everyone, Muggle and wizard alike. No one would dare suspect what it truly is since it only appears to be a fishing ship. But here, Yasmin, let me show you what it really is."

Voldemort muttered an incantation, making the glamour invisible to Yasmin, thus allowing her to see the fishing boat's true form. Yasmin gasped.

"Take a good look my dear," said Voldemort. "This weapon is a symbol of my power. This weapon is a symbol of my strength, my appeal. This is weapon symbolizes the culmination of everything I have fought and worked all these long years. Seeing it now, this representative of my power, do you not find me more attractive?"

Yasmin glanced at the Dark Lord, her eyes shining with admiration and a blush staining her cheeks. Seeing her reaction, Voldemort's laughter rang through the night.

* * *

Back in London, hidden in the darkness of night, three Death Eaters scurried across Charing Cross Road. Looking around wearily, the Death Eaters ducked into a nearby alley. The lead Death Eater notified his comrades for silence and pulled out his wand. He muttered, "Incendio," and set a few of the nearby garbage cans on fire.

"I do hope you realize that arson is illegal," said a voice from somewhere above. Startled, the Death Eaters looked up to see Ginny Weasley, dressed in her Order of the Phoenix uniform, standing on the rooftops, glaring at the Death Eaters. "But I guess you can't help yourselves since it's a little too damp to light fires in Azkaban."

The next instant, the Death Eaters were surrounded by about a dozen Hit Wizards and Aurors, all having their wands trained on the Death Eaters. Four Order wizards and witches had also joined Ginny on the rooftops: all glaring at the Dark Wizards. Realizing that they were outnumbered, the Death Eaters grudgingly surrendered.

The celebration was short lived however when another Hit Wizard arrived on the scene. "Twenty Death Eaters have been sighted near St. James Park!" he yelled.

"All right everyone, lets go!" yelled Ginny.

"Yes ma'am!" shouted the Order Witches and Wizards taking off after Ginny whom was already leaping away on the rooftops.

On the ground, Hermione and Ron arrived on the scene running, just as Ginny and the Order members leapt over them on the roofs. "Your sister's amazing, Ron," gasped Hermione, trying to catch her breath. "I would've never thought she could run the order this well. Not to mention she seems to be getting the Order and the Ministry to cooperate perfectly. There's always been so much suspicion between the two."

"Well, they always say Weasleys are just big wad of surprises wrapped in red hair," shrugged Ron. "Now lets go after them, I'm not about to let Ginny take all the glory."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I do hope you're more concerned about stopping the Death Eaters than stealing the glory from Ginny."

"Well of course that's my main concern. What kind of person do you take me for?" snapped Ron rather heatedly. Hermione took off after the Order before another bickering fest could take place between them.

* * *

"Seen anything yet?" Flame asked.

"No nothing," said Cassandra. The Elite Ten were hidden on the top of Big Ben, looking out over the rest of the city. "No fire, no smoke, no light, not even a bloody flare."

"Typical Death Eaters," drawled Grindelwald from his leaning position behind the others. "Can't even burn a city down. Well, I suppose we should lend them a hand."

"What for? Our Death Eaters can do the job perfectly without our help," said Icicle. "Don't you agree with me Angelus?" Angelus said nothing and remained in a meditative posture.

"No, I'm with Grindelwald on this," said Cassandra. "The flames should've started long ago. We should check it out."

* * *

St. James Park was a virtual war zone. While the Aurors were holding the Dementors at bay with patronuses, Hit Wizards and Death Eaters were firing curses at each other. However, as the ranks of the Hit wizards and Aurors was augmented by the arrival of more and more Order Members, it became clear that there was no way the Death Eaters could stand their ground.

Two cowardly Death Eaters decided that the odds were too great against them and decided to make a run for it. However, as soon as they turned around, they ran straight into Cassandra Frost.

"Going somewhere boys?" said Cassandra coldly. She ripped off their masks and gave both of them full kisses on the lips. Within seconds, both Death Eaters were having seizures and were clearly heading toward an early grave.

"Anybody else want to have a kiss?" said Cassandra. After that, absolutely none of the Death eaters even considered running.

"All right everyone, round them all up!" shouted Ginny from atop the roof of a nearby convenience store. The Order members, Aurors, and Hit Wizards all gave cheers and redoubled their efforts against the Dark Forces.

"Bloody Hell," muttered Ron as he observed his sister directing the army of wizards. Apparently he was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that his baby sister was now a powerful witch taking control of a complete war zone.

"She's incredible," said Hermione. `It's so amazing to think that this was once the little girl who always became a klutz whenever Harry just glanced at her,' she thought. `And now, here she is taking control and earning the respect and admiration of everyone on our side. I don't think I could run things this well if I were in her shoes.'

Hermione glanced up at Ginny, her eyes filled with admiration. However, her face soon changed to a look of horror. "Ginny! Behind you!" she screamed.

"What?" Ginny spun around, only to face the tall form of Grindelwald, holding a dagger over her head.

"Well, well, well. And to think that our plans were being spoiled by a little girl," said Grindelwald. "Well, just for that, I guess I need to teach you a lesson." Before Ginny could react, Grindelwald swung the dagger down.

* * *

A Horseless carriage stopped on Liverpool Harbor and three figures strode out. All three of them had raven black hair but one had greasy hair, one had shaggy long hair, and the third had messy hair that needed serious combing.

Sirius Black glanced around the dock and the various fishing boats moored there. "OK, now where is this secret weapon of Voldemort's?" he said.

"You fool," hissed Snape. "You really thought the Dark Lord would leave it in plain sight? He's probably disguised it with a glamour and hiding right in front of our eyes!"

"Look, lets just find it, OK?" said Harry. "You two can finish your argument la..." Harry abruptly stopped speaking when he heard the Dark Lord's laughter. The next thing the three saw, absolutely shocked and surprised them.

A run down fishing ship about fifty feet out on bay disappeared and in it's place appeared a true monstrosity. 500 feet long, 90 feet high, and 30 feet wide, it was a black battleship, loaded to the core with Armaments consisting of turrets, cannons, machine guns, and torpedo tubes, all of them at least a foot wide. Anybody with a decent knowledge of muggle history would've instantly recognized it as a pre-World War I Nassau class German Dreadnaught, the pride and strength of the German Imperial Navy during the early twentieth century. Written on the brow of the armored powerhouse was the name "HMS Hell Bearer".

From the bridge of the ship rang the laughter of the Dark Lord. "Well, well, well, come to wish me bon voyage have you Harry Potter?" said Voldemort. "Hmm, three wizards, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, and Sirius Black. Well, I suppose we can't disappoint our guests." Voldemort raised his arms and started chanting. A pale violet light surrounded Voldemort's hands and the ship. Slowly, the dreadnaught started levitating into the air.

"A Flying battleship," said Snape. "Now I've seen everything."

"Oh come on, its not that farfetched. Just a whole lot of levitating charms," said Sirius. "In fact, on a slightly smaller scale it might be useful for the perfect prank. Why didn't I think of this years ago?"

"Thank goodness you didn't considering I would've probably ended up the brunt of that prank," muttered Snape.

"It appears that our enemies our stunned, my Lord," said Horace.

"Then lets add to their perplexity," said Voldemort. The Dark Lord waved his wand, causing five of the cannons to point straight at Harry, Sirius, and Snape. With a shout from Voldemort the cannons fired a volley of high-powered magical blasts.

"Barrier!" screamed Harry. He, Sirius, and Snape instantly conjured a magical barrier, that just barely managed deflect the magical blast toward the bay, saving the city of Liverpool.

"That was close," said Harry. "Too close. We need to take out that ship now!"

"Well I'm your man, because I've got the perfect product," said Sirius. He pulled out what looked like a firecracker. "In my hand I've got what looks like an ordinary Filibuster Wet-Start Firecracker. However, in truth it is actually newly invented Wet-Start Dynamite, still experimental, only for Aurors. Now, here's the plan: you two get on that ship and distract the bad guys while I'll swim over to the ship, use some sea water to light the dynamite, and blow the ship up."

Snape snorted. "Black, I was one who always said you lacked half a brain but it looks like I was wrong: you lack a full brain."

"What? What the bloody hell do you mean by that?"

Harry sighed obviously exasperated. "Sirius, if that dynamite is part of the Wet-Start brand, you'll blow yourself up when you're swimming, not the ship."

"Oh," said Sirius taken aback. "Well, I'll get the dynamite onto the ship without getting it wet then. Just go!"

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to follow your ludicrous plan," muttered Snape. He still apparated himself and Harry to the dock of the dreadnaught however.

"Voldemort!" yelled Harry. "Come out here now! Come out here and face me!"

"Now, now Harry. All in good time," said Voldemort strolling out onto the outer deck. "In my years I have learned that patience is a trait well valued. It would do you some good to learn some yourself."

"All right Voldemort, get down here now and fight me, or are you too frightened?"

"You dare speak to our Lord that way," yelled Yasmin. The Dark Lord silenced her however.

"Harsh words, Potter," said Voldemort. "It does make me wonder if you actually have the power to back them up now."

"Indeed," said Horace. "There is something I am curios about though. Three arrived on the dock yet only two stand here on the ship. Now whatever happened to the third?"

"What indeed?" said Voldemort. "Perhaps these two are a decoy, hoping to distract us while the third sabotages the ship? If so, then where is that third one now? Maybe, still, out on the water?!" Voldemort swished his wand causing one of the machine guns to point out over the water where Sirius was using an anti-sinking charm to run on the water as if it were solid ground.

"No!" shouted Harry. "Sirius! Look Out!"

Harry's warning came a little too late. With a command from Voldemort, the machine gun started firing rounds. Whether those rounds were collected pieces of magical blasts or real bullets, Harry couldn't tell. All he knew was that there was no way Sirius could dodge the rounds.

Sirius didn't have to dodge them however. With lightning fast reflexes, Sirius crouched down and sent a searing burst of magical energy through his fingers into the surface of the water. With a loud explosion, the water burst upward, surrounding Sirius in a protective curtain of water. The curtain absorbed the rounds with no harm to Sirius at all.

"What?" exclaimed Voldemort, his eyes wide.

"That was Angelus's Double-Neutral Spell! How did Black use it?" exclaimed Horace.

Sirius didn't hesitate for a second. He hurriedly lighted the Wet-Start Dynamite with the curtain of water surrounding him and tossed it at the hull of the dreadnaught. The dynamite exploded on contacted, causing the battleship to fall back onto the water and immediately start sinking.

`Whoa, that stuff was stronger than I thought. I probably shouldn't be using that stuff any more,' thought Sirius.

"No, no, no, no, NO, NO! NO! NO!" Voldemort looked absolutely furious. "Damn you! Damn you three!"

"My Lord, we must retreat," said Horace. "There is nothing we can do here now."

"There was something I could've done here," hissed Voldemort. "This is failure is my fault, for underestimating these three. This mistake is my mistake I made in my own pride. And believe me, this will be the last mistake I will ever make."

"Your plan's failed, Voldemort," shouted Harry. There is no way you can attack Hogwarts now and I'm sure London's safe as well. You lose this round."

At that moment, Seth Soran showed up from behind Voldemort. "Such cockiness. Such brash. Mr. Potter seems to have gained another edge of confidence has he not?" he said. Silently he pulled out his wand.

Harry looked up and exclaimed, "Seth!"

"Mr. Potter. It looks like tonight will be the night we complete the duel we started in Graypine. Do you not agree?"

"Oh I agree all right," said Harry pulling out his wand. "Come on Seth, let's finish it right now!"

Seth was about leap down to the deck when Voldemort said, "Unfortunately Seth, I do not agree."

"Mr. Voldemort?" said Seth looking a little confused.

"Now is not the time," said Voldemort. "It appears that if I am to take Britain and Europe, I must first take care of Harry Potter once and for all before I can move to my continental agenda." Voldemort stared at Harry and Snape again and started speaking in a loud voice, "Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, listen to me now! Early in the morning on the day after tomorrow I want the three of you to show up at my lair at the Tower of London. There you shall face my Elite Ten one by one until you shall finally face me where we shall end this war with finality. I will only lift the magical guards surrounding my lair for the three of you. If you show up with any more wizards, you will not find me there. If you don't come on the day after tomorrow you won't find me there. I want you to understand that this will be the last chance any of you get to face me."

"Hmm, 10 against 3? Comforting odds," said Snape. "Still I agree with the terms. You will see me there on the day after tomorrow."

"Same with me," said Harry. "And I'm positive that I speak for Sirius as well."

"Very well," said Voldemort. "Than, we had better see you again on the day after tomorrow. And trust me, this time I won't be underestimating you."

"Well if that's the case, I guess we'll finish our little duel on the day after tomorrow," said Seth. "Until then, please take care."

"Lets go," said the Dark Lord. Horace seemed like he wanted to say something but had apparently decided to keep his mouth shut. With a flourish, Voldemort, Yasmin, Horace, and Seth Disapparated, leaving the dreadnaught behind to sink into the bay.

"Well, that's a relief," said Harry.

"So, now that we've bought a little time, what do you plan to do?" asked Snape.

Harry was about to say something when Sirius suddenly leapt onto the deck, looking like he had just taken a swim in the sea, which he had most likely had done. He wiped away his wet hair and shouted, "All right, Sirius Black is here! Now, where's Voldemort!"

Both Harry and Snape sighed.