Different Paths

Chapter 18: Harry vs. Draco

"Draco Malfoy?" said Sirius. "You sure?"

"Positive," said Harry. "There is no way I'd mistake this feeling. I've known him far too long." He took a step toward the doors.

"Are you sure you want this?" asked Sirius. "You know time is a bit of an issue, the longer it takes, the more danger those at the Leaky Cauldron are going to be. If you square off against Draco Malfoy right now, it's only going to eat up more time."

"I made a promise, Sirius," replied Harry. "I promised Ginny that I would bring Malfoy back to her. If I let this opportunity pass, I may never get the chance to fulfill that promise again." So saying, he opened the door and stepped through.

Sirius shrugged and turned to Yasmin. "So he says. Sorry lady, but we're going to take a bit of a detour here."

"Hmph, as if I care," sneered Yasmin. She followed Sirius into the room. However, as she soon as she had closed the door behind them, Yasmin scrambled up to the second floor landing, where several small gray owls were perched, hidden away from the wizards.

Horace's room was a library. Practically every open space in the room was covered by tens upon tens of bookshelves, leaving only small corridors between them for walking through. 'Hermione would've loved to see this room,' thought Harry. 'It's got nearly as many books as the Hogwarts library.' Unlike the Hogwarts library however, there was very little light in the room, more like the restricted section at Hogwarts. And there, standing at the other end of the room, surrounded by bookshelves, stood Draco Malfoy, his wand drawn.

"So you have finally come," said Draco. "I have waited long for this day."

"Pity, I wish I could say the same," replied Harry.

"Oh?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "Well I am sorry to have been a disappointment then."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," said Harry. "I've wanted to finish things off with Draco Malfoy for quite some time myself. However, the one I wanted finish off with was 'Draco Malfoy', not this Dark Side riddled husk before me."

"Dark side riddled husk?" said Draco. "Big words Potter, but that's not going to stop me from finishing you off."

"Big deal," said Harry. "In your present state I could beat you without using any magic!"

"Then lets see how well you hold out to that boast!" said Draco. Having said, that he fired a curse straight at Harry.

* * *

A small gray owl flew into the room and onto Horace's arm. He removed the small note from the owl's leg and read it. "It's from Yasmin," he said. "It's an update on what's happening right now. Grindelwald and Snape are currently engaged in a duel while Potter and Draco Malfoy seem to be facing off in my room."

Voldemort looked mildly interested. "Oh is that so?" He turned to Seth and said, "Well Seth, Potter and Young Malfoy's duel will probably drag out for a while so you should probably take this time to prepare for your duel."

"Why do you assume that the duel will drag out?" asked Seth.

"A matter of perspective," said Voldemort. "Potter has superior magical power to Young Malfoy, but Young Malfoy is willing to use more of his power. This generally places the two of them on an equal footing. In a duel between equals, the duel usually tends to drag out." The Dark Lord chuckled. "In fact, it may ultimately play out to our advantage."

"Why is that, Mr. Vodemort?"

"It's highly unlikely that either Potter or Malfoy will come out of their duel unscathed. That will make it easier you for you when you face him since Potter won't be at his full health any longer. In the unlikely event that he actually manages to get through you, I still have enough faith in your abilities to have sufficiently worn Potter down. Furthermore, while I believe that Snape will end up defeating Grindelwald, Grindelwald is bound to have down some serious damage to him, further enlarging my own odds."

"That is all good Mr. Voldemort," said Seth. "But what about in the event that Mr. Malfoy defeats Mr. Potter?"

Voldemort laughed. "Well if that happens, I'll just kill Draco Malfoy and claim the title of "Most Powerful Wizard" for myself."

* * *

As Draco's curse came flying toward him, Harry swept some books off of the bookshelf next to him, causing them to fly around all over him. The books served as an effective barrier for the curse, causing it to ricochet around, completely missing Harry. Draco tried to close in Harry, but Harry threw more books at him, managing to distract Draco. In the meantime, Harry managed to maneuver his way behind a bookshelf. With one mighty shove, Harry pushed the bookshelf over, causing it to come crashing down on Draco.

"What the?" Draco didn't have time to react as the books and bookshelf came crashing down on him, completely burying him in rubble of paper and wood.

"There you go, piece of cake," said Harry. However, he was soon taken aback when the rubble suddenly burst forth in a blaze of green magic. Harry hurriedly threw another bookshelf down onto Draco but Draco spun around shouting, "Cyclonus Diffendo-Hex!" and slashed right through the bookshelf.

Harry barely managed to dodge out of the way as Draco yelled, "Magicus Ensis!" and slashed at him with his blue magical blade. Draco continued slashing at Harry, backing him up into a corner. Finally, Harry had no choice but to shout, "Magicus Ensis!" and block Draco's blue blade with his own green one.

'Good Lord,' thought Sirius. 'He forced Harry to use magic. He made Harry eat on his own words: "In your present state I could beat you without using any magic". If Harry had been the challenger rather than the challenged, he would've lost his magical powers for breaking a Fundamental Rule!'

Harry was thinking something along the same lines. 'He's even more powerful than I thought. This could be a bit of a problem.' Undaunted, Harry beat Draco back with a quick kick to his stomach. He quickly readied and his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

Draco easily blocked Harry's disarmer and chanted, "Praestigae Multiplico," creating several illusionary Dracos that quickly surrounded Harry. Thinking quickly, Harry leviatated the many books around him, and flew them at the various Dracos. One of the books hit one of the Dracos on his face, and Harry charged straight at him brandishing his magical blade, only to realize to his horror that the "Draco" was another illusion. He barely managed to spin around and block the real Draco's blade.

"Just how much power did you use to actually make one of your illusions solid?" hissed Harry. "Just how powerful are you?"

Draco didn't answer. Instead, he chanted the words, "Draco Incendio!" A dragon of flame burst forth from Draco's wand, and blasted Harry into the wall. Grimacing in pain, Harry barely managed to gain the necessary focus to dodge another curse fired at him. Before he had the chance to scramble to his feet, Draco was standing over him.

"You're holding back," Draco said.

"What?"

"I said, you're holding back. You clearly have no intention of killing me, how do you expect to fight at your full power if you don't intend to kill me? Are you mocking me?"

"Mo...mocking you?" Harry sounded incredulous.

Draco seemed to be seething behind his emotionless façade. "I have spent months training myself, driving myself to the very brink of death for this day. I have come to the very edge death far too many times than I can count so that I could be powerful enough to final beat you? And when the time comes, this is what I get? If this is your best, you're a complete disappointment Potter."

Harry glared at Draco. Angrily, he swiped away some blood on his lip with his thumb and said, "You're not the only who nearly trained themselves to death."

"Oh?"

"Do you have any idea what I've been doing these past few days?" replied Harry, standing up once again. "I've been training with Dumbledore, nearly to death as well. In fact, I was just about prepared give my life up if not for a valuable lesson I learned that day. Still, in the end it all became worth it when I managed to master the Dark Magic Cleanser."

Sirius suddenly spoke up, "Hey wait a minute Harry! You never said a word to me about training or the Dark Magic Cleanser!"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Sirius. It just slipped my mind."

Sirius laughed. "No harm done. I guess for compensation, I'll just be the first one to see this Dark Magic Cleanser of yours, before even Ron or Hermione do." Harry nodded and turned his attention back to Draco.

"You're bluffing," sneered Draco, though he appeared to be unsure.

"OK then," said Harry. "If that's what you claim, then I'll use my full power now. But without killing you."

"You're bluffing again! There is no way you could use your full power without killing!"

"Care to find out?" said Harry, raising his wand toward Draco. For about a full minute, the two duelers simply glared at each other.

Finally Sirius spoke, "As the Americans would say, the ball's in your court now Draco Malfoy."

"What?" Draco cast a quick glance to Sirius.

"I said it's up to you now," said Sirius. "You clearly appear to have been thrown for a loop by Harry's claim, even suggesting that he was bluffing. Therefore, it's now solely up to you to continue this duel or not. However, need I remind you that in this duel, you are clearly the 'challenger' while Harry is the 'challenged'. Harry hasn't specifically stated that you can't forfeit a duel so forfeiting wouldn't necessitate a breaking of the Fundamental Rules of Wizard Dueling, meaning you'll keep your powers intact. However, because you are the 'challenger' in this duel, forfeiting will automatically make you the 'loser' and Harry the 'victor'. A dispute between wizard duelers can only be solved in a wizard duel. Since you are the 'challenger', you are obliged to see the duel through."

"I made a promise to the other Slytherins," said Draco, "that I would defeat Potter and become the most powerful of wizards. I'm not about to back out of that promise now. Praestigae Multiplico!" Draco once again separated into several illusionary "Dracos".

"Oh no, not this time," said Harry. "Maximus Reducto!"

"What?" Draco was caught unprepared as Harry created a large explosion that blasted away several bookshelves, the illusionary "Dracos", and the real Draco.

Draco managed to regain his footing and shout, "Draco Incendio!" blasting another fiery dragon toward Harry. Harry however suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the air right behind Draco. This time, it was a startled Draco who barely had enough to time to spin and block Harry's magical blade with his own.

"Short distance apparating," said Harry. "I only just learned how to do it the other day. Can't exactly do long distances yet though."

"So you weren't bluffing," sneered Draco. "This is a taste of your full power! Damn it! You really are the most powerful of wizards. But no matter, I made a promise to my deceased friends, the Slytherins that I would defeat you and become the most powerful of wizards! I am not about to back out on that promise now."

Harry gave Draco a searching look. "Tell me Malfoy, who did you really make that promise to?"

Draco blinked. "What?"

"I said..."

"I know what you said, Potter! And how absurd, I just told you that I made that promise to the long gone Slytherins!"

"Are you sure?" said Harry with a piercing look.

Draco was about to retort when suddenly, a long forgotten memory surfaced in his mind:

"Listen to me Draco. You are my son, my heir, a Slytherin all the way. I expect you to live up to those standards some day. I expect you to make me proud!"

"Yes father. I promise you that I will make you proud someday. I promise you that I will become the most powerful of wizards, more powerful than Harry Potter. I promise you that I will live up to the Malfoy name."

Draco blanched and his face became deathly pale as his emotionless façade quickly faded away. "No. No! NO! NO!!!"

"So it's true then," said Harry. "Your 'promise' to your former classmates was nothing more than a reiteration of your promise to your father."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Draco swung his magical blade around and Harry managed to deflect all of the blows.

"You're pathetic, Malfoy!" hissed Harry. "You may have grown immensely powerful these last two years, but underneath it all you're still Lucius Malfoy's son...no, heir! You just can't escape his shadow!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Draco had now forgotten about magic and smashed his fist straight into Harry's jaw. Harry reeled back a little but he was far from over.

"No damage done, daddy's boy! Come on, that the best you can do?" Draco roared and started firing random curses at Harry, none of which hit him.

"I'll say it again! The one I wanted finish off with was 'Draco Malfoy', not this Dark Side riddled husk that happens to be the heir of Lucius Malfoy, before me!"

Sirius flinched. He could tell that Harry absolutely hated himself for constantly ribbing Draco the way he was, but he also didn't have a choice. As far as Harry was concerned, the only way he could save Draco was if he could force Draco to examine his own psyche.

"Aaaarrrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!" Draco was now going nearly berserk as he fired curse after curse toward Harry. Harry constantly dodged the curses with ease.

Finally, Harry decided he had enough. He raised his wand and shouted, "Multiplicus Diffendo!" Multiple magical blades shot out of Harry's wand toward Draco. None of them seriously cut into Draco but they slashed at him enough to halt his rampage.

Draco was completely wheezing now, "Why...why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I promised Ginny that I would bring you back to her," replied Harry. "You know she misses you very much."

Draco hesitated for a split second. "She...she's a strong girl."

"She's also still only 16 years old. I know that's only a year younger than us but if you factor in the fact she's the youngest and only girl in a large family, she's still very much a child. When Remus suggested that I kill you, she burst into tears. Tears for you!"

Draco was now on his knees, clutching his head in his hands. "Remus...alive...I thought...I killed...him...Ginny...Ginny...crying." Suddenly that voice was back:

"Listen to me Draco. You are my son, my heir, a Slytherin all the way. I expect you to live up to those standards some day. I expect you to make me proud!"

"No!" yelled Draco, shaking his head. "NO!"

"You are my son, my heir, I expect you to make me proud!"

"Nooooo! Get out! Get out of my head!"

"You are my son, my heir..."

"GET OUT! GET OUT!"

"You are my son, my heir..." "Draco..." Slowly, Lucius's voice was being drowned out by Ginny's. Still, Lucius refused to go.

"You are my son, my heir..."

"NO!!! YOU'RE DEAD!!!! YOU HAVE NO MORE HOLD OVER ME!!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD, LUCIUS MALFOY!!!!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs. Slowly, ever so slowly, Lucius's voice faded away. What replaced it was the sweet yet feisty voice of a young red haired girl.

Draco took a few calming breaths. "Ginny...Oh Ginny, I'm so sorry." Then, Draco once again stood up, his gray eyes now shining with a new blue light. "Harry Potter, we have a score to settle."

Harry smiled. "Looks like I have the privilege of being the first to ever face the real Draco Malfoy." Then, he readied his wand, as did Draco.

'OK, now starts the real duel,' thought Sirius. 'And it's all probably going to boil down to one final spell. Young Malfoy is probably going to use that spell his father used to use, that 'Cyclonus Diffendo' thing. The spell Draco here used to take out Remus. Harry on the other hand is clearly going to use the Dark Magic Cleanser, a spell that's completely shrouded in absolute mystery. In this situation Harry is in the clear advantage, so what's Draco going to do?"

The answer soon became quite evident. To counter the complete mystery that was Harry's spell, Draco yelled, "Praestigae Multiplico!" creating multiple illusions of himself that struck first. As the illusions closed in, Harry was already mapping out the constellation Leo with his wand.

Admists this final strike in the duel, Sirius barely heard the scratching of a quill on parchment. Turning around, he was horrified to see Yasmin, standing next to several small owls, carefully writing down every detail of the duel. "Harry!" yelled Sirius. "This duel is being monitored! Don't use the Dark Magic Cleanser!"

"Cyclonus Diffendo-Hex!"

"Astra Patronum Leo!"

Fired at point blank range, the shining lion from Harry's wand immediately burst through Draco's curse and smashed into Draco's body. Draco screamed as his body was thrown in the air, every hint of Dark Magic literally ripped out of his body and instantly disposed. He fell on the floor with a thud, his body completely battered.

* * *

"My Lord, we've just received another owl from Yasmin," said Horace. He hurriedly removed the small note from the owl and started reading. "It appears Potter has managed to master the Dark Magic Cleanser! But no worries my Lord, Yasmin has seen the spell quite clearly, she is bound to have described how it works...ah, here we go. 'The Dark Magic Cleanser was...'" Horace turned over the note and blanched, "'too fast, couldn't see it'? Why that blasted woman!" Horace angrily shredded the note to bits as Seth laughed.

"No matter," said Voldemort. "I'm sure we'll get another opportunity to study Potter's Dark Magic Cleanser. Seth, go prepare for your duel."

"Yes, Mr. Voldemort."

* * *

Harry walked up to Draco. "Hey, are you OK?"

Draco was a complete mess. His body was completely battered, cuts and bruises littered all over him. He also was clearly worn out, having whatever trace of Dark Magic within his body completely cleansed out. Despite this, Draco smiled, his first true smile, and truthfully said, "I've never felt better." Draco took another breath and said, "That was..."

"The Stellar Patronus," said Harry. "A patronus borne from the caster's sheer determination to live. Nearly cost my life trying to learn it."

"Amazing Potter, you truly are the better wizard. Far superior to me."

Harry chuckled. "Oh come now, you certainly aren't that horrible. Why, the differences in our powers and abilities was about the equivalent of, um, a sheet of paper."

"Yes," said Draco. "A ridiculously thick sheet of paper."

To be continued...