The Mage Knights

Chapter 16: Horrors of Azkaban

"Harry, wake up...wake up." Harry let out a groan and stirred a little. "Come on mate, open your eyes."

Harry's eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was the concerned face of Sir Ronald Weasley. "Great," he grumbled. "Your face just had to be the first face I get to see in the afterlife."

Ron grinned. "Well Harry, as guide to your first day of being dead, it is my painful duty to inform you that you are still very much alive!"

Harry suddenly bolted up right. "What?!" he shouted. "I'm alive?! But I was hit by the killing curse!" He finally registered his surroundings. The position of the sun indicated that it was late morning, and he had been lying right outside of the now sealed entrance to the Caverns of Power.

Ron's grin grew wider as he pointed at Harry's chest. The experimental protection charm Snape had given Harry was glowing with an eerie green light. As soon as Harry picked it up, it crumbled to dust.

"Snape's protection charm. It must've absorbed the Avada Kedavra curse, causing it to simply knock me out rather than kill me." Harry looked up at Ron and grinned. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but thank God for Snape."

Ron snorted. "Oh yeah, thank God for Snape. He added some of his specialty flavors to the mandrake draught he made for me. Wonderful taste, yech!" He pulled Harry up to his feet. "I came here as soon as the petrification wore off and found you lying on the ground. By the way, where's Hermione?"

Harry suddenly turned pale and his eyes widened in horror. "Oh my God!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hermione woke up with a headache. She groaned as she stirred and tried to pull herself up.

"Good morning, my little mudblood," came a voice from a shadows. Startled, Hermione quickly stood up. Her legs were weak and she nearly fell back down. She had been lying on the cold stone floor of a dark, gloomy dungeon cell. The only source of light came from an open door, and it was extremely cold.

Icicle emerged from the shadows with a smirk on her beautiful face. Hermione glared at her as she took a step towards her. "Of course, you can't really tell if it's morning or night here in this dungeon. Welcome to Azkaban fortress."

Hermione shuddered a little but managed to hide it. "What do you want with me?"

"It's not you that we want, my little mudblood," snarled Icicle. "It's those rings that we want." Hermione looked down at her hands and saw that the two rings of the Lion and the Phoenix were still there.

"I suppose you're wondering why we didn't take the rings from you," said Icicle. "Well, as it turns out, they can only be removed if you remove them yourself. I only found this out after you blacked out. That's why I brought you here." She took a step towards Hermione. "Now would you kindly hand me the rings?"

Hermione hissed "Over my dead body!"

"You know, that can be arranged," said Icicle, stroking her chin. "But if that happened, nobody would be able to take the rings off of your fingers." Icicle stepped back and said, "I suppose I must use more drastic measures." She raised her staff and said "Imperio!"

Hermione went into a daze as a feeling of tranquility blanketed her mind.

"Remove the rings," commanded Icicle. Hermione's hands started moving towards the rings. But just as she was about to remove the rings, she heard a voice in the back of her head: Wait a minute. I don't want to take the rings off. Why am I doing just that?

"Remove the rings."

No, I think I'll leave them on, thank you very much.

"REMOVE THE RINGS!"

"I WON'T!" Hermione felt the curse lift as she shouted.

Icicle grinned. "I'm impressed," she said. "There are not too many people who can fight off the Imperius Curse. Never mind, I still have other methods. Crucio!"

Once again, Hermione collapsed in sheer pain! The screams that she issued and the tears that leaked from her eyes were not enough to show just how much agony she was going through! After what seemed to her was an eternity, but was actually only a minute, the curse was lifted.

"We have plenty of time," sneered Icicle. She yanked Hermione to her feet. "You can only take so much pain before you will be begging us to let you take the rings off." She raised Hermione's arms and placed her hands in shackles that were hanging from the ceiling. Hermione whimpered as pain ran through her arms and shoulders. She was hanging from the shackles, the toes of her shoes barely touching the floor. When Icicle removed her shoes, she had no contact with the floor what so ever.

Icicle placed her hand on Hermione's chin and lifted her face up. "I will see you again, my little mudblood." She slapped Hermione in the face and tore off her white and blue robes. She then stormed out of the dungeon cell and slammed the door behind her.

Hermione was left alone with her thoughts in the pitch dark. For the first time, she recalled the events that had led up to her predicament. She recalled how Harry had taken the killing curse to save her life. 'But they weren't able to kill me anyways,' she thought. Tears were falling down her cheeks. 'Harry died for no reason! I'm all alone now! Harry's dead!' Hermione started sobbing.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Back at Hogwarts, Harry was pacing back and forth across the meeting room. Seated at the table in the middle of the room were, Ron, Hagrid, Dumbledore, McGonagoll, Sirius, Remus, and Draco.

"I'm going to Azkaban," said Harry with grim determination. "And none of you are going to stop me."

"Right," said Ron. "You're going to barge into the fortress, fight off the dementors and Death Eaters, and save the damsel in distress."

"Exactly."

"Uh, Harry, I was being sarcastic."

Harry ignored him and continued pacing. "We won't barge in there, that would be too dangerous. It'll probably be best to sneak in somehow." He stopped in mid pace. "Ok, I've got it. We'll take a ship from Bueaxbaton Port and sail to the island where Azkaban Fortress is located. We can sneak in through the north side where the guard is always the weakest. It may take time to locate her but I have a hunch that she's in one of the dungeons on the north western sides, that's where they imprison muggle-borns." He promptly turned to the others. "Whose with me."

"I am," said Ron straight away with no hesitation. Harry beamed at him.

Sirius spoke up, "Remus and I will go with you..."

"No!" said Harry. "We need you and Remus to stay here and mobilize the armies. If all goes well, we'll be prepared for the final battle right when we return."

"But Harry," said Remus. "What about the dementors."

Harry grinned. "You forget Remus, that you're the one who taught me how to use the patronus charm." He took on a more stern tone as he said "All right, who else?"

Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, "I request that you take Sir Draco Malfoy with you."

"WHAT?!" Draco looked absolutely horrified. Dumbledore simply beamed at him.

"Would it not be the perfect chance prove where your loyalties lie?" he said.

"Fine," Draco grumbled. "I'll go, but only because she has the rings with her." Ron didn't look too pleased.

"All right then," said Harry. "We'll take Floo Powder to Bueaxbaton first thing tomorrow. In the mean time, we should get some sleep."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

That night, Harry was out on the balcony of his room, looking up at the stars while stroking Crookshanks.

"You seemed troubled, Harry." Harry turned around and so Dumbledore with his pet phoenix, Fawkes, on his shoulder.

Harry sighed. "I can't help but think about Hermione in Azkaban. Nobody deserves that, especially her." He looked back up at the stars. "I love her."

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I figured as much. She was also just as fond of you as you are fond of her. But she was very self conscious about her social standing."

Harry sighed again. "I should've known how she felt about me, after she kissed me at Ginny's celebration. It was after that kiss that I started developing feelings for her." He made a weak smile. "Guess I don't blame her about being so self conscious of our social standings. I mean, the idea of a Gryffindor prince marrying a farm girl would sound absurd if it hadn't happened before."

Dumbledore smiled as Fawkes flew up and perched himself on Harry's shoulders. The phoenix started singing his enchanted song, inspiring hope and courage to build up in Harry's heart. "I'll save her," declared Harry. "I swear that I will get her out of Azkaban on my parents' souls. I'll love her with all my heart and I promise to make her happy!"

Chapter 17: The Rescue

Hermione shivered in the cold. She was no longer in the shackles and was relieved of the pain in her arms and shoulders. However, the thin rags that covered her body did little to block out the freezing cold as she lay on the stone floor in a corner of her cell. She hadn't seen anyone since the Death Eaters had released her from the shackles, given her the rags and placed the Cruciatus Curse on her again: it seemed like ages ago. She had no idea how long it had been since she was kidnapped, her sense of time long gone in the continuing darkness. She was hungry, only given a few bare scraps to eat though she had plenty of water.

And there were the dementors.

Dementors: vile creatures of the dark and evil. Over two meters tall in dark, billowing cloaks, with rotting, corpse like hands and their faces hidden under their hoods. They glided around outside of her cell, sucking away all positive thoughts that came to her. They were the source of her despair and misery, and whenever they were around, all possible happy thoughts and senses of hope were sucked away from her.

Hermione thought of Harry often, and when she did so, she was filled with hopelessness. Harry was dead! She would never see him again, even if she got out of Azkaban. Tears would fall from her eyes as she whispered his name: "Harry..."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

One of the largest disadvantages Mage Knights had was that they could not apparate. When the Death Eaters had conquered the Kingdom of Gryffindor, they had managed to spread special wards throughout Magiterran that prevented apparation by anyone aside from themselves. As a result, the Mage Knights always had to physically travel to their destinations that were not connected by Floo Powder. Since Azkaban fortress was located on a rocky island, a few miles south of the Kingdom of Slytherin, the only way the Mage Knights could get there was by ship.

The trip from Beauxbatons to Azkaban took about a week and a half. Harry was very frustrated by the amount of time it took to get there, but it was their fastest available form of transportation. It was a very dangerous trip, since the Slytherin seas were often stormy and the shores around Azkaban were very rocky. Ron spent most of the time battling seasickness. After much time however, the Mage Knights had finally made it to their destination.

Harry, Ron, and Draco made their way up to the foreboding fortress. Azkaban was a large, old fortress built entirely out of dark stone. There were very few windows and the area seemed to be in perpetual darkness. The three of them were soon standing outside of the northern wall. The main entrance was on the south side, but that was the last place they wanted to enter from.

Harry and Ron examined the stone wall before them. "You have any idea how we can get inside?" asked Ron.

"Not a clue," replied Harry. "There could be some hidden entrance or something around here, but unless we take a closer look..."

"Reducto!"

Harry and Ron were horrified as Draco blasted a large hole into the wall.

"What are you doing?! Blowing our cover?!" demanded Ron.

Draco simply shrugged. "You wanted an entrance, I just made one." He strolled into the fortress and Harry and Ron grudgingly followed.

"Lumos." The Mage Knights' blades gave off a bright light that illuminated the darkness as they made their way through Azkaban. After searching for some time, the three Mage Knights entered a large chamber and stopped abruptly. In the chamber were Icicle, McNair, Crabbe, Goyle, Wormtail, Crouch II, and about a dozen dementors! The Death Eaters were completely shocked to see Harry, Ron, and Draco in Azkzban.

"Mage Knights?! In Azkaban?! How?!" shouted McNair.

"Harry!" shouted Ron. "Go! Find Hermione! Now!" He raised his sword. "We'll take care of this lot!"

"What?!" yelled Harry. "Are you crazy?! I'm not going to leave you alone to fight them!"

"Go, Dammit! Hermione needs help more than we do!"

Harry hesitated for a moment before he tore down a different corridor. "Follow him!" yelled Icicle. The dementors swarmed after Harry. 'Good,' thought Harry. 'That means Ron and Malfoy will only have to deal with the Death Eaters and not the dementors!'

After running down the corridor for some time, Harry suddenly turned around and faced the dementors. Thinking up a happy thought, namely the fact that he would see Hermione again soon, Harry raised his sword and bellowed "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver image of a stag leaped out of Harry's blade. 'My father had the ability to transform into a stag,' remembered Harry as the patronus charged at the dementors. Soon, the dementors were driven away by the stag and Harry was able to continue his search again.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Ron was having a hell of a time fighting off McNair, Crouch, and Wormtail. Sounds of metal hitting metal constantly rang throughout the chamber as Ron's sword made contact with McNair's battleaxe and Crouch's two single edged swords. "You're a fool, Weasley," taunted Crouch as Ron worked to deflect the blades that were flying his way. "Did you really think you could defeat all of us just yourself?" Ron simply growled and fought more fiercely.

Draco, meanwhile, was having his own problems.

"Crucio!" Draco dodged the curse fired by Icicle. Before she had another chance to fire another curse, Draco leapt forward and swung his sword down. The blade connected with Icicle's staff.

"You're a traitor, Draco!" sneered Icicle. "You betrayed us and became a Mage Knight! Lucius was oh so disappointed in you!"

"Consider it, my greatest privilege!" snarled Draco. He shoved Icicle away and swung his sword at her again. The blade and staff once again connected. Draco placed a few well-aimed kicks on Goyle and Crabbe so he could concentrate on Icicle. Icicle attempted to knock Draco off his feet with her staff, only to have her attacks blocked by Draco.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Harry checked a number of cells without luck. Finally he came up to a small, metal door in a secluded part of the fortress.

"Alohomora." The door unlocked and flew open. Harry stepped inside. There, lying in a corner, was Hermione. She was pale, dirty, and thin. She was dressed in thin rags, her hair was in knots, and her cheeks were tear stained. To Harry, however, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Hermione's eyes went wide as she looked up at the doorway. "H...Harry? I...it can't be! Y...you're d...d...dead!"

"Hermione! I'm alive," said Harry with a smile on his face. "Snape's charm absorbed the killing curse." He kneeled right in front of her. Hermione apprehensively placed a hand on his cheek to confirm that she wasn't seeing things. As soon as she realized that it was indeed Harry in front of her, she threw her arms around him and sobbed on his shoulder.

"I...I thought that I would n...never see y...you again." she said between tears.

"So did I," said Harry as he hugged her back. He just sat there for a few moments, letting her cry on his shoulder. After her tears had subsided a little, Hermione pulled away.

"Harry, why did you say that you loved me?" she asked. Confusion was written all over@her face.

Harry smiled at her. "I was being honest with you, just the way you were being honest when you told me that you loved me."

"Why?" asked Hermione. Her head was a jumble of confusion and tears started to build in her eyes again. "I'm a farm girl, you're a prince. Shouldn't it not be possible?"

"Well, someone should've told my dad that when he married my mum," said Harry with mock seriousness. He smiled at her bewilderment. "Hermione, my mother, Lily Evans, was muggle-born. She was a farm girl, just like you. And yet she married my dad, the heir to the throne of Gryffindor. That's why she was a champion of muggle and commoner rights, because she used to be one of them. Social standings never mattered to the Gryffindor Royal family, and they sure as heck don't matter to me!"

Hermione gave Harry a small smile as more tears streamed down her face. Harry leaned forward a little and their lips met. It was a simple kiss, but it still showed the strong passion and love that the two felt for each other. After a few minutes, they parted. Harry was grinning and Hermione had a shy smile on her face as tears of joy fell from her eyes.

"I love you, Hermione."

"I...I love you too, Harry."

"Come on. Let's get you out of here." Harry waved his left hand, and Hermione's rags transfigured into her usual blue and white travel robes and shoes. Unfortunately, she was too weak to walk so Harry put his hands under her knees and back and picked her up.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, for saving me."

Harry beamed down at her. "It was my pleasure." He carried Hermione out of the cell. Unfortunately, there was someone waiting for them right outside. Harry stopped when he saw the man with a malevolent grin on his face. It was Tom Marvolo Riddle!

Chapter 18: Potter and Riddle

"Greetings, Harry," said Riddle with a grin. "I see we meet again. Here to save your friend?"

"Tom," acknowledged Harry. "I doubt you would let us pass freely, would you?"

Riddle laughed, a high-pitched laugh that didn't suit him well. "Of course not. This time I'm not here to just observe you. I actually plan to kill you." He said all this very casually.

"Love how you put it," said Harry. He walked slightly away from Riddle and put Hermione down near the wall. "I'm going to have to take care of this," he whispered to her. "Just trust me."

Hermione took Harry's hand and squeezed it a little. "Harry, be careful." Harry nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. He then stood up and faced Riddle.

"If it's a duel you want, it'll be a duel you'll get." said Harry as he drew his ruby encrusted sword. Riddle grinned and drew his emerald encrusted sword.

"We must observe the formalities," said Riddle. "First we bow," Harry and Riddle both merely lowered their heads, never taking eyes off of each other. "And now, we duel!"

Riddle shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" the same time Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" The green light of Riddle's killing curse shot out towards the red light of Harry's disarming curse. However, as soon as the two lights connected, it transformed into a single gold thread that connected the two blades. Both Harry and Riddle were absolutely astounded as the golden thread started humming and vibrating. Riddle raised his sword and broke the connection.

"Prior Incantatem," muttered Hermione.

"What?" asked Harry, never taking his eyes off of Riddle.

"The reverse spell effect," said Hermione. "You two must have brother magical cores. Both from the exact same magical creature."

Harry stared at Riddle and stated "Phoenix feather."

Riddle simply nodded and said, "Who would've imagined that we've both have magical cores from the same phoenix." He raised his sword and smirked. "Well then, Potter. Since we can't duel the magical way, we'll have to duel the more traditional way." Harry also raised his sword.

For an agonizing minute, the two simply stared at each other. Then, quite suddenly, the two duelers leapt forward and the two blades collided into each other with immense power! Red eyes and green eyes glared at each other as the two blades rubbed together, causing sparks to fly. Then, abruptly, the two broke apart and jumped back a little.

A second later, the two sprang forward again, the blades constantly hitting each other in speeds that seemed to be humanly impossible. There was no offensive or defensive in the duel, Harry and Riddle simply blocked and attacked in high-speed succession. The two blades once again rubbed against each other as the two duelers continued slashing at each other. If looks could kill, both Harry and Riddle would be dead three times over.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Ron dodged McNair's axe as he rolled backwards. In the process, he managed kick Wormtail in the nose, thus knocking him out. Ron rolled away from another one of McNair's attacks. As he did so, he managed kick at McNair's right shin, knocking him off balance. Suddenly, McNair screamed: he had fallen on to the blade of his own axe and was killed!

Ron had no time to react to McNair's death however as Crouch suddenly swung down his two swords, crossed together. The crossed blades connected to Ron's sword as he raised it vertically in a defensive posture. As the three blades rubbed against each other, Crouch smirked at Ron. "Well, young Weasley. It looks like you've received an invitation to the land of the dead!"

"Yeah, well you can be my date!" Ron kicked at Crouch and knocked him off his feet. Crouch scrambled back up, and their blades continued to clash.

Right behind them, Draco and Icicle were also dueling. "Avada Kedavra!" shouted Icicle. Draco dodged the green light and shouted, "Impedimenta!" Icicle blocked the curse, but was nearly caught off guard when Draco leaped at her. The sword and staff clashed again. "You will die, like the traitor you are!" sneered Icicle. Draco simply glared at her and continued slashing his sword.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The sounds of blades clashing against each other sounded throughout Azkaban. Harry and Riddle seemed to be equally matched at first, but Hermione saw that Riddle was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand.

Harry swung his sword at Riddle, whom dodged by leaping up a little. He then managed to place a swift kick in Harry's midsection. Harry rolled backwards and leapt to his feet. He was getting exhausted and needed to think up a quick plan.

"You are good, Harry Potter!" smirked Riddle. "But, not good enough! You know as well as I that you can't win against me!"

"Yeah, well I think you should postpone the victory party, because we're getting out of here!" Harry pointed his sword forward as if using a spell. Instead of sending a spell at Riddle, however, he shot a white light at a small rock on the ground between the two duelers.

Harry suddenly lunged at Riddle, swung his sword sideways and deflected Riddle's sword away. He barely caught the name Salazar Slytherin written on Riddle's sword's hilt as he hit the ground and rolled over to Hermione. He took hold of Hermione's hand and shouted "Accio Rock!" Suddenly, the rock Harry had enchanted flew towards him. As soon as he had caught it, both Harry and Hermione disappeared! Riddle stared at the spot Harry and Hermione had been before. He grinned.

"Impressive."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was just around when Ron and Draco found themselves back to back that Ron felt something. "Harry! He's got Hermione out of Azkaban!"

"How do you know?" asked an irritated Draco.

"I just know!" snapped Ron.

Draco had no time to argue as both Icicle and Crouch shouted, "Stupefy!" At the last minute however, both Ron and Draco ducked and the two stunning curses ended up hitting Crouch and Icicle.

"Ok, that takes care of them," said Ron. "Now scram!" Both he and Draco made a mad dash towards the way they had entered the fortress!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hermione opened her eyes and tried to adjust her sight to the blinding light. She spent a few minutes adjusting to the blinding light before realizing that it came from the sun. After not seeing it for such a long time, it was a beautifully welcome sight. Hermione realized that they were on the deck of a ship, anchored by a rocky coast. She blushed as she realized that Harry was carrying her again.

"How did we get out?" she asked.

"I made a rock into a portkey," said Harry. "Transported us right to the ship we used to get to Azkaban." Harry didn't say much as he seemed to be deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Riddle. It looks like his sword originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin."

"The founder of the Kingdom of Slytherin?"

"That's right. I own Gryffindor's sword because I'm his descendant, but what about Riddle? What relation does he have with Slytherin?" Harry stopped talking as he saw Ron and Draco run towards their ship. "We'll think about that later," said Harry as he smiled down at Hermione. "In the meantime, we should get you some food." Hermione smiled back at him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Enervate."

Icicle opened her eyes and saw Riddle grinning at her.

"Get up Icicle," he said. "Wake the others, and go deliver a message to Lucius. The final battle is at hand!"