Return of the Lion

"He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,"

2 Corinthians 1:10

Chapter 5: Deliverance of the Camp

Seamus Finnigan was looking toward one of the concentration camps from one of the hideouts. He was part of a wizarding resistance group that was on a mission to liberate the concentration camp. The hope was that they could then convince the liberated muggle resistances to join with the magical resistances.

"This is going to be impossible," muttered Seamus. His group was composed of former Gryffindor students who were all fighting the dark forces. They were in an underground bunker, which had a lookout post that was disguised as a rock.

"Way to go with the optimism," said Ginny Weasley with the sarcasm she had inherited from Ron.

"Well think about it though," shouted Seamus looking frustrated. "What hope do we have? Even if we can liberate this camp, how is that going to change the tide of the war?!"

"He's right," said Lavender Brown who was sitting in a far corner over a crystal ball. "My inner eye shows dark times ahead of us." Parvati Patil, who was sitting next to Lavendar, nodded her approval with a gloomy face.

"Are you out of your minds!" yelled Ginny, her red hair flailing around. "And you call yourselves Gryffindors! If you..." Ginny would've continued if a silent alarm hadn't suddenly ringing.

"W-what's that?" asked a groggy looking Neville Longbottom. He had just woken up in the sleeping bag in another corner.

"We've got an intruder," hissed Dean Thomas. He and the other's started to draw their wands. Ginny however, motioned for quiet.

"Don't worry," she said. "Fred and George designed all the traps in this bunker. We're perfectly safe." As if on cue, a scream was heard. "You see, that's the intruder getting caught in one of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes traps," said Ginny looking smug.

"Well let's go get this intruder, than," said Dean. The Gryffindors all made their way deeper into the bunker where the scream had come from. Sure enough, they found a young man struggling in a net that was glowing with a yellow light.

"Don't try breaking out of that," said Seamus. "It's a fool-proof dark wizard catching trap."

"Well it would work perfectly if only it had caught a dark wizard," said the man looking annoyed. Ginny immediately recognized him with a gasp.

"Ron?"

"Ginny." Ron grinned at his sister.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I'd explain if I didn't enjoy being caught in some net."

"Oh, sorry," said Ginny. She muttered an incantation and Ron fell to the floor with a thud. He groaned in pain as Ginny helped him back to his feet.

"Ron? Why are you here?" asked Lavender.

"Oh I just figured I'd sell all of you to You-know-who," said Ron while grinning. When the others just stared at him, Ron sighed and said, "I'm here to join you guys."

"Good luck," said Dean. "We don't stand a chance against the wardens of this camp. They've got security trolls all over. And this one monster."

"Monster?" said Ron with a raised eyebrow.

"W-we think they've got a c-chimaera in there," stuttered Neville looking frightened.

Ron simply shrugged and said, "We can worry about that later. In the mean time, just get everyone here ready to attack the camp in about a hour."

"WHAT?!" shouted all of the resistance members. "You expect us to get ready in a hour?!"

"We mustn't!" said Parvati. "If Professor Trelawny were here, she'd predict how this sudden attack would end in disaster."

"Well, Trelawny's words will really discourage me," said Ron sarcastically. He grinned when Lavender and Parvati scowled at him. "Don't worry, everything will go fine. There's a bug in the camp right now, or should I say lion."

* * * * * * * * * *

It was past curfew in the concentration camp. All of the prisoners were locked up in the tiny bunks made of concrete. These bunks were designed for a maximum capacity of ten people, but were crammed up with at least thirty prisoners in each. Under the snow, the roads had gravel spread out over them that was painful for the prisoners who were bare foot.

Security trolls patrolled the camp, brandishing their clubs stupidly. These clubs were feared for knocking many a prisoner's head off for trying to escape.

A large lion was prowling through the snow in the camp that night. He was mostly moving around in the shadows, avoiding the trolls. With cat-like movements, he easily avoided the potential threats he encountered by slipping into places where no human could enter.

The lion was looking for the warden Death Eater who was in charge of the camp. If he could bring down the head of the camp, then the stupid trolls could easily be brought down.

Eventually, the lion spotted something in the center of the camp. A fat Death Eater, who was clearly the warden, was walking toward a young girl of about twelve, flanked by trolls. The lion also spotted prisoners looking at the girl from the windows, expressions of terror on their faces. The girl looked terrified as the Death Eater walked up to her.

"Muggle," hissed the Death Eater. "You stole some of the security tolls' rations. Did you not?" hissed the Death Eater. The girl was visibly shaking and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"P-please sir. My m-mother is s-sick. I o-only wanted to g-give her some f-food."

The Death Eater laughed. "Ah yes, well everybody must take care of their mother. But of course, you still broke the rules, therefore you must be punished."

"P-punished?"

"Death!" hissed the Death Eater. The girl shuddered and fell to her knees in front of the Death Eater.

"No, please!" she begged. "My mother! She needs me! She would die without me!"

"Well then, you have nothing to worry about," said the Death Eater. The girl wearily looked up into the grinning face of the Death Eater. "She'd be joining you soon anyway."

"No!" screamed the girl. As if that was the cue, the prisoners started rushing out of the bunks, curfew forgotten as they tried to make it to the girl before she was mercilessly executed.

"Do any of you fools really think you can save this girl," hissed the Death Eater. All of the prisoners abruptly stopped. "You'll all be punished for breaking curfew. But first, I'm going to finish this muggle scum before your very eyes."

The Death Eater raised his wand toward the terrified girl and started to mutter the killing curse. Suddenly, the lion sprung out of his hiding place and pounced on the Death Eater with a mighty roar! He covered his body over the frightened girl and growled at the trolls who were closing in on him, their clubs raised. The Death Eater slowly stood up, looking shocked.

"A lion? In England?" he wondered out loud. It was also clear that all the prisoners were thinking the same thing. However, they didn't really care since for some strange reason, this lion seemed to be against their oppressors. The girl hesitantly petted the lion as the lion gently nudged her. She was mesmerized but the beautiful emerald green eyes of the lion.

"Thank you," she whispered before she ran away. She disappeared into the crowd.

It didn't take the wizard long to figure out the secret of the lion. "Get him," he ordered the trolls. "He's an animagus!"

The trolls lumbered toward the lion, waving their clubs over their heads. The lion remained in a crouching position while the trolls lumbered closer. Suddenly, he leapt onto one of them and sunk his fangs into the throat of the troll. From that troll, the lion pounced onto another one and slashed his claws into its face.

Another troll swung its club down, but the lion rolled out of the way as the club crashed into the snow. The lion leaped forward and sunk his claws into the troll's arm. The troll howled and pain and tried to fling the lion off. In the process, the troll rammed its club into a number of the other trolls surrounding it. The lion simply clung out to the trollfs arm, never letting go. Finally the troll fell down, exhausted.

That left only one troll. The troll swung its club down as the lion pranced back and forth, avoiding the club. Eventually, the lion pranced behind the troll, whereupon it leapt onto the troll's back. After much thrashing about, the troll sank down, exhausted.

The lion silently crept up to the Death Eater. "Don't think just because you beat a few trolls you can beat me," said the Death Eater. The quiver in his voice however, betrayed his fear.

The lion simply edged closer to the Death Eater. Suddenly, the Death Eater shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" The lion simply leapt out of the way of the green light of the killing curse, leaving behind a smoldering crater. The Death Eater fired a number of other killing curses and the lion simply dodged each of them. The Death Eater suddenly panicked. He pointed his wand toward the crowd. "Surrender or they die!" he shouted.

Before he could fire any curses however, the lion suddenly leapt in front of him and transformed! A gloved left hand grabbed the Death Eater's throat while a wand was pointed into the Death Eater's terrified face. What was previously a lion was now a young man in scarlet and gold robes, a black cloak, and a tattered black hat. Emerald green eyes shone behind a pair of glasses and a lightning bolt-shaped scar was clear behind messy black bangs. The Death Eater immediately recognized the wizard.

"H-Harry...Potter?"

"Whom did you expect?" said Harry with a sinister grin. The Death Eater looked positively more frightened than ever.

The Death Eater managed to squirm out of Harry's grasp and backed off. By now, the crowds were cheering Harry on.

"Donft think I'm finished yet!" yelled the Death Eater. He placed two fingers on his lips and blew a shrill whistle. A monstrous creature suddenly leapt in between the Death Eater and Harry.

It was a chimera. It had three monstrous heads. Its main head was the head of a lion: flames were gushing from this head. Its body was the body of the goat, including a goat's head right behind the lion's head. It had a snake's tail that ended in a snake's head, fangs shining menacingly.

The crowds backed away in fear. Harry however seemed unimpressed as he smirked at the chimera. Suddenly, he started hissing in parseltongue. He seemed to be conversing with the snake's head. Eventually, it seemed as if the snake's head was convinced that Harry was not an enemy. The lion's head seemed to recognize Harry's animagus lion nature and also recognized Harry as a friend. The two heads also appeared to have convinced the goat head as well.

The Death Eater recoiled in horror as the chimera wandered away. "W-what...what happened?"

"Oh I don't know," said Harry with a thoughtful look. "I guess all I have to say is...Stupefy!" The Death Eater slumped unconscious.

* * * * * * * * * *

"This had better work, Weasley," hissed Seamus. A small army of resistance wizards was gathered in front of the camp.

Ron grinned. "Trust me Finnigan," he said.

With a cry, the wizards and witches charged into the camp brandishing their wands. However, they were startled when they found all of the prisoners already liberated and surrounding something in the center of the camp; they were cheering. The Death Eater warden was tied up and was lying in front of all the trolls who were all piled up. Sitting in top of the pile of trolls, his legs crossed, was Harry Potter. All of the wizards and witches, except for a grinning Ron, gaped at the Boy who lived whom they hadn't seen in two years.

Harry simply beamed down at the wizards. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. "

Psalm 23:4

Chapter 6: An Attack on Hogsmeade

The news of the liberation of the concentration camp near Manchester spread like wildfire through Voldemort's empire. Rumors that Harry Potter had returned were welcomed by the oppressed and they dared to hope once again, that the Boy who lived would once again finish Voldemort off. It was possible that the return of the lion would indeed be the downfall of the serpent.

In Located in the spot where the Tower of London formally was, stood the massive fortress tower of Parselrock, the center of Voldemort's empire. On the top floor of the massive fortress was the throne room of the Dark Lord. It was a dark chamber that was a perfect replica of the Chamber of Secrets hidden underneath Hogwarts, with massive pillars decorated with snakes, and a massive statue of Salazar Slytherin at the end of the chamber. In front of the statue was a massive, black throne that was decorated with dragon claws. Seated on the throne was a being of utmost terror.

He was tall, nearly 6 feet 6 inches, had a thin white face with pulled up skin that made it look like a skull with a lipless mouth and a pair of slits for nostrils. His white hands had frighteningly long fingers that made them look like spiders. He had black hair, and was wearing elegant black robes with silver hems. But the most frightening aspects of him were his eyes: scarlet red eyes with slits for pupils that resembled a cat's eyes. This was the instigator of the so-called "darkness", the ruler of the Dark Order, the Dark Lord Voldemort.

He was flanked by a dozen dementors: vile creatures about two meters tall, dressed in dark robes, and with hoods that hid their horrendous faces.

In front of Voldemort's throne were two beautiful woman, both clearly in their mid twenties. One of them had waist length blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She was kneeling in front of the Dark Lord. The other woman had short brown hair and cold hazel eyes. She was standing behind the blonde woman, staring straight into the Dark Lord's eyes. They were both wearing tight, revealing black robes and it was also fairly obvious that these two women were sisters.

"So tell me, Icicle," said Voldemort. "Do you think the rumors are true?"

"My lord, it certainly appears so. Harry Potter has returned,h said the blonde woman who was evidently Icicle. "According to rumors, he has come back as a Battle Wizard, far more powerful than most."

The other woman chuckled. "Oh, so my little sister is frightened of a few rumors."

Icicle sprang to her feet and sent a death glare at her sister. "You will not speak to me that way in front of our master, Flame!"

"Oh really," said Flame with a nasty smirk. "Whichever way, Icicle, it is no longer necessary to worry. I have already dispatched an entire legion of our forces to Hogsmeade. They will finish Potter off!"

Icicle stared at her sister, speechless. Voldemort however let out a high-pitched laugh. Flame frowned.

"Does something amuse you, my Lord?"

"Flame, Flame, Flame," said Voldemort while shaking his head, a grin on his face. "You must understand that if Potter truly has become a Battle Wizard, it will most likely be the legion that you just sent that will be finished."

Flame spluttered but was unable to say anything. Icicle smirked at her before she turned to Voldemort and said, "My Lord, what do you suggest we do about Potter."

"Gather the Killer Elite," said Voldemort. "They are probably the only ones on our side who can fight a Battle Wizard on our terms."

"I will get on it right away," said Icicle. She smirked at Flame as she turned around and strolled out of the Chamber. Flame glared at her before following her out.

* * * * * * * * * *

The liberation of the concentration camp in Manchester had been a tremendous success in many ways. Now, muggle resistance groups were willing to accept the fact that not all wizards and witches were evil, and at least in Britain, they were willing to join forces. By New Years, people were daring to hope again, all because of Harry's return.

"Who would've ever thought," said Sirius Black as he, Harry, Ron, and Remus were walking along the corridors of Hogwarts. "That just your return would make such a difference. I mean, sure people believed in you because you are the Boy who lived, but now you actually seem to have the abilities to match your reputation."

"Sirius, its really nothing," said Harry. "I just received more training than the average wizard. Anybody can do things I can if they went through what I went through these past two years."

"Yeah but Harry, the fact that it's you makes a big difference," said Ron looking excited. Harry chuckled.

"You know, we really missed you these past two years," said Remus. "Especially Hermione."

Sirius and Ron immediately went silent. Harry sighed and gazed out of the window. "I missed everyone as well. It was sheer torture not being able to contact anyone for a full two years. Now, I'm back and yet..." Ron was startled to see that Harry was slightly shaking. Sirius however, seemed to understand what was going on in Harry's mind and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We're all worried about Hermione, Harry," he said. Harry was holding back tears and his teeth were gritted. "At least we know that she's alive."

"But that's all we know!" yelled Harry, turning around to glare at them. We don't know where she is or how she's doing! For all we know she could be sick! Or hurt! Or worse, some sick Death Eater could be raping her! I swear by God, if anything along those lines has happened to her, I'll never forgive myself!" A few tears actually rolled down Harry's cheeks.

Ron opened his mouth to say something but found that he couldn't. These were things that Ron was also afraid of and he also saw that Sirius and Remus had the same fears. Harry turned back to gazing out the window.

"You know she was the one I missed the most of all," he said. "No offense to you guys, but the two of us grew so close to each other during the years we have known one another. Being away from her was...is like not being fully alive. I feel like she completed me in ways that...hey what's that?" Harry seemed to have spotted something in Hogsmeade. Ron, Sirius, and Remus looked out the window to see what was happening and gasped.

Hogsmeade was under attack by an entire legion of Dark Creatures!

"They're attacking the village!" shouted Remus.

"Oh, well spotted," said Ron and Sirius at the same time.

"Accio Firebolt!" shouted Harry. His broomstick flew out of the broom shed and sped toward the window. "Go get the others," said Harry as he mounted the broomstick. "I'll hold them off in the mean time."

"Will you be OK?" asked Sirius. He, Ron, and Remus looked concerned.

Harry grinned. "Don't worry. A fully fledged Battle Wizard can't be beaten that easily." He sped off toward the village as Ron, Sirius, and Remus ran off to alert the resistance.

* * * * * * * * * *

Due to its close proximity to Hogwarts, Hogsmeade village was one of the few places in the wiarding world not conquered by Voldemort. However, since the protective wards of the school didn't extend to the village, Hogsmeade was constantly prone to attack by dark forces. As a result, most of the villagers lived either underground or areas where they could take refuge in Hogwarts.

On that day, one of the largest forces of dark creatures attacked Hogsmeade. The villagers ran into hiding as a force of about three hundred creatures pillaged the village. There were goblins, trolls, demons, dementors, chimeras, manticores, and dragons. The Death Eaters, whom appeared to be the commanders of the great dark army, controlled them all.

"Potter!" yelled one of the Death Eaters as he had his dragon, a Peruvian Vipertooth, set what was the Three Broomsticks on fire. "Potter! Where are you? Come out and fight! Potter!"

Dementors started gliding forward, searching out anybody whom had failed to escape from the school. Before they could get very far however, a silver patronus, in the form of a stag, charged at the dementors and drove them back.

Harry Potter came strolling down street, his wand out and his face grim.

The dark creatures stopped in their tracks, as the Boy who lived walked up to just in front of them. He glared at the dark forces, which were astounded by the fact that their target had just walked up to them. Finally, one of the Death Eaters spoke.

"Harry Potter. So you have come."

"You didn't give me a choice," said Harry.

"Then prepare to meet your doom, Potter."

Harry grinned and crouched low. "Give it your best shot."

"Kill him!" The Dark Creatures unleashed their powers at the young wizard. Harry simply leapt out of the way and started running the opposite direction. The Dark creatures gave chase. Whenever one of them got close enough to physically harm him, Harry managed to knock them out with either a karate chop on the back of their necks, or a swift kick in the gut as he dodged their attacks.

Although Harry was running away from the Dark Forces, he didn't seem to be trying to escape from them. Rather, it appeared as if Harry were luring them away from the village. Finally, Harry stopped in the middle of a large clearing quite a bit of a distance from Hogsmeade. He faced the Dark Creatures whom had entered the clearing behind him.

"We have you now, Potter," said one of the Death Eaters. They all laughed as the Dark Forces drew in closer to him. Harry simply remained quiet as the creatures drew closer. Finally, when they were only about three meters away, he spoke.

"If I were you, I would run away as fast as I can."

The Death Eaters started laughing hysterically. "How foolish can you get, Potter?" said one of them. "Shouldn't you be the one who should be trying to run away?"

Harry's eyes startled to cackle with energy. He looked incredibly grim as he raised his hands in front of him, his arms outstretched. "You have no idea just how powerful a Battle Wizard is," he said. "The one thing I fear the most of all is my own power. Just imagine what would happen if anybody used it in the wrong way. Of course, your precious Dark Lord had the same power I do and he used it in a way I myself have vowed never to use. Now, if you donft run, you will experience first hand just how powerful I, and your master really are." Harry's hands started to emit sparks of energy.

"Is that all you have to say," said a Deaht Eater as the others laughed. "Kill him!"

All of the Dark Forces leapt at Harry just as he shouted, "Maximus Reducto!" There was a flash of blinding light.

* * * * * * * * * *

The wizards and witches of the Hogwarts resistance finally made it to the clearing where Harry had lured the Dark Forces. However, they stopped short and gasped at the sight that greeted them.

"Bloody Hell," muttered Ron. The others were speechless.

What was formerly the clearing was now a smoldering crater about the size of a Quidditch pitch. The shape of the crater indicated the blast had come horizontally. At the edge of the crater, where the blast had clearly originated, stood Harry Potter looking exhausted.

* * * * * * * * * *

Only about half a mile away, in the hills that surrounded Hogsmeade, there was a rider. This rider was wearing the silver and scarlet armor of a knight, including a helmet and visor that covered the entire features of the face. The rider also had a red cape but instead of a horse, the rider was saddled on a majestic stag.

"Harry has grown more powerful than we even imagined," muttered the rider in a clear feminine voice. The stag nodded in a way that suggested that he understood what the rider had said.

The rider pulled the reigns on the stag. The stag turned around and galloped away.