Different Paths

Chapter 25: Duel against the Dark Lord ~ Round 2

Harry roared. Literally, if anybody had been listening from a distance, they could've very well have mistaken his deep roar as that of a lion. The sheer magic power surrounding his body blasted forth with astounding power. Despite the roof above their heads, the ceiling appeared to come alive with dark clouds of rumbling thunder and flashing lightning.

'You know, you really had me worried there Harry. Thanks for showing us that you're still alive,' thought Sirius. He tried to move his right hand and grimaced at the pain. He glanced down at the bloody mass that was his hand and sighed. 'I'm completely useless now. And if I'm not mistaken, so are Snape and Draco Malfoy. It's all up to you now Harry, you have our faith and hopes.'

Finally, Harry produced his wand and yelled, "Come on! Let's finish this!"

"Very well," hissed Voldemort. He too took out his wand and pounced on Harry, much to the horror of Yasmin who had been constantly glancing at her watch.

"No!" she screamed. She turned to Horace and grabbed his shoulders. "You must stop this duel now! It cannot continue!"

"What?" exclaimed a confused Horace.

"Tom's... Tom's body... three years ago when Pettigrew revived his body... the spell wasn't completed due to Pettigrew's incompetence! Our Lord's body is too unstable to contain his vast magical powers: if he exerts himself over fifteen minutes, his powers may become too vast for his body to stand, and nobody knows what might happen then!"

"What?" exclaimed Horace. But as he started thinking, everything started to fall in place. Before Voldemort's fall during his first encounter with Potter, Voldemort had set himself up as the sole master and lord of the Death Eaters and none contested his supremacy. After his return three years ago however, Voldemort had founded the Elite Ten from amongst his most powerful Death Eaters and let then do most of his dirty work while he governed the whole business.

'Of course,' thought Horace, 'that is why our lord founded the Elite Ten, to help him govern in his potentially weakened state while still showing his followers that he was the one in full control! If that is so, then there is only one thing I can do!' "My Lord!" Horace pulled out his hidden wand, apparently ready to break the First Fundamental Rule and barge into the duel, much to the shock of Sirius, Snape, and Draco. Instead of breaking up the duel however, Horace threw his wand over the wall of the arena.

"Horace?"

"We must believe, Yasmin!" shouted Horace. "We must believe in our master, in Lord Voldemort. If even Potter is able to surpass his limit, why can't our lord? This is the moment of glory! This is the moment of honor! And who are we to break this up. My faith is that Lord Voldemort will emerge victorious!"

Amongst all this, the duel was continuing. Harry leveled a powerful curse at Voldemort but the Dark Lord simply managed to shrug it off. He reached forth and once again managed to grab Harry's throat. 'Damn! Not again!' thought Harry.

"Fall by one trick, fall by the same one again," gloated Voldemort. "Crucio!"

'Oh no, not this time!' "Deflector Ward!" Just before the Cruciatus Curse hit him, Harry managed to reflect the curse with a well-timed deflector ward from a swing of his wand. A shocked Voldemort screamed in pain as the reflected Cruciatus Curse rippled through his body.

"My Lord!" screamed Yasmin.

Harry wasn't about to miss this chance. Swinging forth his wand, he yelled, "Stupefius Expelliarmus!" The combination stunner-disarmer blasted Voldemort away, but it neither stunned him nor disarmed him. Undaunted, Harry next yelled "Maximus Reducto!" engulfing the Dark Lord in a large explosion.

"Yes! He managed to get two spells in one go!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Ha! He's not done yet!" said Snape.

"Potter wouldn't let an opportunity like this pass with only two spells!" said Draco.

Draco was correct. Harry yelled, "Triad Maelstrom - Typhoon, Cyclone, Hurricane!" Three powerful windstorms blasted forth successively, battering Voldemort's body around.

"Five hits in a row!" shouted Sirius.

Voldemort was far from done however. "Magicus Ensis Inflammarae!" The Dark Lord's flaming magical sword slashed right into Harry.

"Yes! Direct hit!" exclaimed Yasmin. Harry might as well have not felt any pain however. Amongst the flames of Voldemort's sword, blazing green eyes glared into blood red eyes.

"Magicus Ensis!" Two magical swords locked on each other in contact, golden sparks flying.

'Incredible! Absolutely incredible!' thought Horace. 'At first I often questioned my master's obsession with Harry Potter. But now, I know for certain. This power, the sheer power Potter radiates. Why, for our Lord, defeating Harry Potter is indeed that absolute equivalent of conquering Britain. The fate of Britain is intertwined with the fate of Harry Potter!'

"Such glory, such power," said Voldemort. "I cannot believe I am admitting this Harry, but this has been an honor. This duel has been most fitting for the new start of a new phase in the Dark Ages."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but this duel signals the end of the Dark Ages!" shouted Harry.

"The Dark Ages will not end, not so long as I am holding my 13 inch, yew, phoenix feather," said Voldemort.

"The Dark Ages will end. It was doomed to end ever since I took up my 11 inch, holly, phoenix feather," said Harry. Summoning up a happy thought of Hermione, Harry yelled, "Expecto Patronum!" Voldemort's dark powers were clearly on the same level as a dementor as the silver stag patronus blew the Dark Lord into the back wall, burying him underneath a pile of rubble from the demolished wall.

Harry fell to his knees, panting in exhaustion. 'Dammit! I exerted myself too much!' he thought. 'Please don't stand up, please don't stand up, please don't stand up...' Harry's wishful thinking was in vain however, as Voldemort emerged from the rubble, looking unscathed for all practical purposes. 'Blast!' thought Harry.

"Dear God, he took six powerful spells continuously and he still just stands there as if nothing's happened," said Sirius.

"Most Dark Wizard's would've been finished off by the second spell," said Draco.

"Just goes to show that he is not just 'most wizards'," said Snape.

Voldemort glared at Harry. "Play time is over!" he hissed.

Horace looked toward Yasmin and she nodded in confirmation. 'He's going to use Avada Kedavra,' Horace thought.

"Avada Kedavra," said Snape. "Unstoppable, invincible, and completely unblockable by any other spell."

"With the sole exception of the Dark Magic Cleanser," said Sirius. "And obviously, that will be what Harry will be using."

"But will he be able to use it properly?" asked Draco. "Potter's been severely injured and he may lack the strength and stamina for a Stellar Patronus powerful enough to defeat Voldemort."

"None of us can worry about that now," said Sirius. "It's a do or die situation now, and Harry has to be able to cast a proper Stellar Patronus."

Wearily, Harry drew himself to his feet. His feet were wobbly, he was bleeding profusely, and in fact he probably looked more dead than alive. However, his eyes still burned with a blazing fire directed at Voldemort. "It ends now," he whispered. Then, without waiting for Voldemort's move, he started moving his wand in the formation of the constellation Leo.

Voldemort recalled Seth's words: "It appeared to me that he steps his right foot during that wand movement and then further takes another step with his left foot while casting the spell. Since Mr. Potter is right handed, this opens a very slim margin where he is rather vulnerable." The Dark Lord stepped closer to Harry and readied his wand.

"Astra Patronum Leo!"

'Left foot!' "Deflector Ward!" Voldemort threw forth his wand straight into the open part over Harry's left foot. To the horror of Sirius, Snape, and Draco, Harry's Stellar Patronus was deflected up toward the ceiling.

"Yes! He's done it!" exclaimed Yasmin.

"My Lord! Victory is now yours!" shouted Horace.

Voldemort was fully aware of that. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry could do nothing as the green light of Voldemort's killing curse flew straight at him.

And it didn't connect. Instead, the green light was sucked into what appeared to be a miniature blackhole that suddenly appeared in front of Harry.

'What? A magical vortex?!' thought Voldemort. 'I can't believe this! By deflecting Potter's Dark Magic Cleanser, it's created a stream between my magical powers and Potter's magical powers creating a magical vortex!' Furthermore to Voldemort's horror, he found that the vacuum of the vortex had completely immobilized him.

"What? No My Lord!" shouted Horace as his and Yasmin's previous euphoria of victory instantly changed to sickening dread.

On the other side of the vortex, Harry had started speaking, "The Dark Magic Cleanser is a spell borne of pure good and the will to survive. It has never been beaten before and those whom are arrogant enough to believe they could beat it will find their powers sucked up in a vacuum, powerless to protect themselves from the full onslaught of the Dark Magic Cleanser. So it ends now! Astra Patronum Leo!"

Yasmin screamed, but she and Horace could only watch as the golden lion of Harry's Stellar Patronus blasted Voldemort's limp body nearly 20 feet into the air. The Dark Lord's form fell to the floor with a sickening crash.

"No! No! No! NO! NO! NO!!!" screamed Yasmin, looking on the verge of tears.

Horace paled. "No! It cannot be! It isn't possible! Lord Voldemort cannot lose!" he yelled.

"He did it!" exclaimed Sirius. "I can't believe it, but he's really done i..."

It was then, to the complete shock of everyone present, Voldemort stood up. Slowly, groggily but he indeed stood up. 'Damn!' thought Harry.

"That guy took seven continuous spells, the last one being the Dark Magic Cleanser," said Sirius. "Is he really immortal?"

"Probably the closest to immortal that you'll find in this world," said Snape.

"That last Stellar Patronus was even more powerful than the one I was hit with given that the Dark Lord was immobilized by that vortex," said Draco. "I'm not sure if he's actually immortal but he most certainly isn't mortal."

Harry wearily readied himself for another round as the magical powers around Voldemort startled swirling around, building up in sheer volume. It looked like Voldemort was readying himself for one final spurt of power.

However, the magic around Voldemort suddenly changed. It suddenly started vibrating very unstably. Voldemort even started screaming, as he seemed to be in pain.

"What?" muttered Harry.

"No!" screamed Yasmin. She suddenly dashed in front of Voldemort, shielding him from Harry. "No! You must stop this duel!"

"Huh?" said Harry.

"Wormtail's spell! Wormtail's spell that revived our Lord's body! It was unstable! If he fights for over 15 minutes, his magiks destabalize! And it's been nearly 30 minutes since the beginning of the duel!"

This news came as a complete shock to Harry and for a moment, he was stunned. That moment nearly cost him his life.

"Hesitating will be your fatal mistake. Magicus Ensis!" With a flash of light and blood, Voldemort stabbed Harry with his magical sword, right through Yasmin's chest.

"No!" yelled Sirius. He, Draco, and even Snape looked alarmed. Sirius would've have rushed over to Harry had not Harry managed glared at him once more, reminding him that the duel wasn't yet over.

Harry crumpled to the ground, clutching at the bleeding wound on his stomach. Luckily, he had caught on at the last minute what was happening and had managed to step back and avoid a fatal wound. Alas, the same could not be said of Yasmin who was now cradled in Voldemort's arms, bleeding heavily from her chest. However, the tears in her eyes were those of joy, not of grief.

"Thank... thank you... Tom... for such a long time... I have felt so useless... being able... to do nothing but... care for... your wounds. And now for the... first time I... was able to be of... use to you. Thank... you." She closed her eyes and laid her head down. "Good bye Tom... Yasmin will... be waiting... in hell for you to join... me..." and with those words, Yasmin Correllan drew her last breath.

Harry was now coughing up blood. "How... how could you," he gasped. "She... she was the one who meant more to you than... anybody. And even you... couldn't have just... thrown her life away like that!"

"You really don't understand anything don't you?" hissed Voldemort, his voice completely devoid of amusement, his arms still cradling Yasmin's body. "This woman understood me better than anybody, any person. She was the only one who knew me from the start and knew my every little detail. She means more to me than anybody and for her to give her life so that I can kill you is this most honorable form of death she could ever hope for."

"Indeed," said Horace. "I have never seen Yasmin this happy. In the very end, she has found true happiness."

"YOU CALL THIS HAPPINESS?!!!" yelled Harry. He tried to rise to his feet but found that he was too weak to do so.

"To each his own definition of happiness," said Voldemort rising to his feet. "Now, I must make sure Yasmin didn't give her life in vain. Goodbye, Harry Potter. Avada Kedavra!"

"Harry!" yelled Sirius.

'So it ends,' thought Harry, as the green light of the killing curse closed in on him. 'It's finally coming to an end. After all this time, I finally find the peace of death. Voldemort lives, but I've destroyed enough of his power that he won't threaten anyone for a while. Eventually, someone else will rise to finish Voldemort off. Someone else will follow in my footsteps after my death... After my death...'

* * *

"And in my heart I know you will come back to me but I want to hear you say it. I want you to promise me that you will come back."

Harry took Hermione's hand. "I promise Hermione, that I will come back. Because I love you too, and no forces on this Earth will ever stop me from keeping a promise to you."

* * *

'Hermione! NO!' Suddenly, Harry's eyes blazed with life once more, and with Herculean effort, he lifted himself back up to his feet. "Expelliarmus!" the simple disarmer fired from Harry's wand, was enough to connect the brother wands of Harry and Voldemort's into the golden threads of Priori Incantatem.

"I cannot die! I will not die! I promised Hermione that I would come back to her! I promised that I would be with her! And there is no force on earth that can stop me from keeping a promise to Hermione Granger! Not even you Voldemort!!!"

The golden threads of wands pushed at each other, in one final show of power. The magical power surrounding Voldemort was now so overwhelming that none save Dumbledore himself could approach the duelers, even if they wanted to.

'This is it this is truly it!' thought a delighted Horace. 'Lord Voldemort beyond his very limits! Lord Voldemort at his greatest hour! The most powerful wizard ever to walk the face of the planet! The one who will bring true hell to Earth! This is Lord Voldemort's hour of triumph...'

It was that moment when something truly unexpected happened: Voldemort's body burst into flame!

"Huh?" Harry wondered aloud. Horace was completely speechless, Sirius's jaw had dropped, and Draco looked shocked. Only Snape seemed to understand what had happened.

"Potter's Dark Magic Cleanser had a delayed effect," he said. "Due to Wormtail's botch up when he recreated, the Dark Lord's body, the Stellar Patronus couldn't cleanse out the dark magic out properly at first. However, due to the overexertion of fighting over 15 minutes, Voldemort's dark magiks have completely stabilized allowing them full access to Potter's Stellar Patronus. Since so much of Voldemort's life was intertwined by dark magic, the cleansing of them is fatal."

Voldemort seemed to realize that he was dying and his reaction was laughter. All throughout the chamber, the Dark Lord's laughter rang out, echoing along the walls as his body continued to burn away. By the time the flames had completely consumed Voldemort and Yasmin's bodies, Harry knew that the Dark Lord's last laugh would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Finally, there was nothing left of the once terrifying Lord Voldemort, and the fires died down.

"No! No! It cannot be!" screamed Horace. "My Lord cannot be dead! It is not possible! Not plausible!"

"Wake up and smell the roses," snapped Snape. "The Dark Lord is dead. Potter is still alive. Potter has clearly won."

"No!" Horace ran out the arena screaming like a deranged lunatic. Harry wobbled over to the others and would've fallen over had not Sirius grabbed him.

"Gotcha," he said. "Well, it's finally over."

"Yeah, its over," whispered Harry before he lost consciousness.

Sirius would've been more concerned about Harry had the entire arena not suddenly started shaking violently. "What the?"

Draco instantly recognized what was going on. "Dear God, Horace activated the self destruct! This entire lair is going to blow!"

"Well come on, let's get out of here!" yelled Sirius. He carried Harry's body as Draco tackled the doors of the arena. To their horror, they found that the door was shut tight; not even the Alohomora charm could open it. By now, the ceiling had started come loose and rocks were raining onto the arena.

Sirius was outright panicked, "That's it we're done for..."

"Oh get out of the way!" snapped Snape. He pulled out his black "Harpoon Potion" and used it to blast the doors open. Sirius and Draco lost no time carrying Harry out of the arena.

"Snape?" Sirius turned around and noticed that Snape hadn't followed them out of the arena. To his horror, he saw that the last burst of magical power had completely ruined Snape's already wounded legs and he couldn't get out of the collapsing arena. "Snape! No!"

Snape smirked at Sirius as the debris started piling up around him. "Well, get out of here already!" he said. And with that, what was left of the arena fell down into the abyss, taking Severus Snape with it.

"Dammit Snape!" yelled Sirius. "Don't think you can just die like that! Don't think you can just kick the bucket without settling whatever feud we still have between us! I'm not done with you yet Severus Snape!"

"Come on, we have to get out of here," said Draco. Using the map Snape had given him, Draco helped the still bitter Sirius carry Harry's form out of the collapsing lair.

* * *

When Horace came to, he found to his shock that he was lying in a field of grass. "What? How?" he exclaimed as he sat up.

"I see you're awake," said a familiar voice from his side.

"Angelus?" Horace exclaimed. "You pulled me out of the lair? Why! You should've let me die with Yasmin and our Lord!"

"So, Mr. Voldemort and Miss Yasmin have died?" said a melancholy voice from not too far away. Horace looked toward the voice and saw Seth Soran staring at the sky.

"Fate has decided who will live and who will die," said Angelus. "I for one will live. I have many sins to pay for and to pay for them, I must live."

"I too will live," said Seth. "I have a lot of questions needed to be answered, and I need to figure out a philosophy to live by. Might take a lifetime but I'll do it."

"Very well, I will also live," said Horace. "But in my case, I will continue to live to show why the Dark Ages must continue! I will live to ensure that Lord Voldemort's legacy is carried on!"

To be continued...