Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Katling

Story Summary:
Harry suffers a terrible injury at the Dursleys that leaves his ability to face Voldemort in doubt. But with the help of Remus Lupin and a mysterious new teacher he has a chance to become more than he was before. Features a grudgingly neutral Snape and a Ginny who knows what she wants or rather who she wants.

Chapter 34

Chapter Summary:
The Battle continues - we get some Priori Incantatem and some mind work. Snape takes a risk Harry wins...... Then we get the aftermath.
Posted:
08/28/2004
Hits:
5,428


Chapter 34

Harry stared calmly at Voldemort, who stared back.

"Get out your wand, boy," the Dark Lord hissed.

Harry raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure exactly what Voldemort had planned; surely he remembered the Priori Incantatem that would occur if they duelled. He switched his cane to his left hand and pulled his wand out of his robes with his right.

"Good," Voldemort said gleefully. "Now we will duel, Harry Potter. There will be no mysterious phoenix magic to save you this time. I have strengthened my magic above and beyond anything you or Dumbledore could manage."

It was all Harry could do not to gape. He didn't know! How was that possible? Voldemort did not know that it was the wands themselves that caused the Priori Incantatem and not the magic within either of them. All of a sudden, Harry's spirits soared. He might just get through this alive. He levelled his wand at the Dark Lord.

Voldemort chuckled at his actions. "I will give you one last chance, Harry," he said. "One last chance to save yourself and join me. Think of what we could do together. We could rule the world!"

"Never!" yelled Harry and Voldemort chuckled again.

"Then you die," he said and pointed his wand at Harry.

Harry steeled himself. He knew it wouldn't matter what spell he used just as long as he cast it at the same time.

"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort intoned.

At the same time Harry yelled, "Stupefy!"

The two spells impacted and again the golden thread linked the two wands. Once again the force of the Priori Incantatem took them off the ground and Harry heard phoenix song. He raised the hand holding his cane and looked Voldemort in the eye.

"Legilimens," he said quietly and much to the surprise of the Dark Lord.

Harry was very startled to find himself within the Dark Lord's mind. Huh, he thought to himself, I thought that would be harder. It was with Snape. It was at this point that he felt Voldemort's awareness come hammering at him.

*Fool boy!* Voldemort snarled. *What do you hope to achieve with this? To have your mind burnt out? Why fight me? Join with me. I can give you anything.*

*There is nothing you can give me that I would want.* Harry said and suddenly dove deeper into the Dark Lord's mind.

*NO!* screamed Voldemort and he dove after Harry.

Harry whipped around Voldemort's mind, staying one step ahead. The Dark Lord seemed unable to anticipate his moves and Harry exacerbated this by increasing his zigzagging around. He flew through memories and knowledge; somehow he was able to retain some of the information he saw made him feel sick.

Outside of their minds, the battle continued...

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

When the Priori Incantatem was diverted by Harry, the Death Eaters were stunned. They watched as their Lord and Master and Harry Potter slowly circled each other, still connected by the thread linking their wands. The Hogwarts defenders were still for a moment until they realised something different was happening. Then Dumbledore called for them to attack. As though waking from a long sleep, a slow rumbling roar built throughout the defenders and then they broke and ran down to join battle with the Death Eaters.

Voldemort's forces were stunned for a long moment and then turned to face the more immediate danger. Within seconds the battle was raging as fiercely as before, though this time the Hogwarts defenders had a definite advantage. The Death Eaters were thrown by what was happening to their Lord and were constantly shooting glances over to where he and Harry still hovered. They ignored the large black dog who ran through the many people.

When Padfoot reached Harry's Battle Guard he stopped and transformed back. He stared at Harry and Voldemort for a minute before turning and, with a quick sequence of Finite Incantatem's and Enervate's, freeing and waking Harry's five friends. Ron and the others stared at the sight above them in disbelief.

"He wasn't kidding about that, was he?" Ron whispered.

Just them Remus ran up to them.

"Dammit, Sirius," he gasped. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Ron looked over at the two men. Sirius had his eyes glued on his godson and was oblivious to anything else. Remus had clearly taken a few hits on the way over. One of his eyes was blackened and he was clutching at the ribs on his left side.

"What's happening?" Remus asked, clutching at Sirius' sleeve.

A large black raven landed next to them and transformed into Severus Snape. He too stared at the hovering figures before turning to Harry's friends.

"Did any of you hear what was said?" he demanded.

One by one Harry's friends shook their heads, except for Neville. The young Gryffindor looked up into the stormy face of the teacher he feared the most and swallowed.

"You....you mean after the P...priori Incantatem s...started?" he stammered. Snape nodded impatiently and Neville continued. "Legilimens. Harry said Legilimens," he said softly.

A grimace crossed Severus' face. Of all the damn fool moves to try...he stopped and turned back to the floating figures, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. Suddenly he stopped and looked around.

"Orinda," he yelled as Harry's Battle Guard and Sirius and Remus turned to stare at him. "Orinda!"

He jumped backwards with a yelp when the orange and black Runespoor appeared at his feet then crouched down and offered his hand. The Runespoor considered him for a moment and then crawled up into his hand and wrapped himself around Snape's wrist. For the first time, all three heads turned to face Snape. He found this regard somewhat disconcerting; previously only the right head had acknowledged him.

"Can you take me to where Harry is?" he demanded of the Runespoor. "If I can reach your mind, can you take me to where Harry is?"

The others gasped but Snape ignored them, keeping his concentration on Orinda. Finally the Runespoor's three heads nodded and Snape closed his eyes in preparation.

"Are you mad?" Remus yelled, grabbing his shoulder and wrenching him around. "You can't use Legilimancy on an animal. They don't think the same way as humans, you could get lost in there."

"Do you have a better idea?" Severus snapped angrily. "The Dark Lord has spent years training his mind. Harry will be destroyed if he stays in there too long."

Remus closed his mouth and stared at the Potions Master until Sirius came up behind him and pried his hand away from Severus' robes. Sirius looked up at Snape.

"Find him, Severus," he said quietly, barely audible over the sounds of the battle raging behind them. "Find him and help him."

Severus nodded and looked down at the Runespoor wrapped around his wrist. He hesitated then stared into the eyes of the right-hand head and whispered, "Legilimens."

His mind swirled into that of the snake and for a moment he was completely lost. Foreign thoughts and sensations threatened to overwhelm him. He was just about to scream when he was jerked out of there.

*All is well, Black Snape.* Orinda hissed in his mind.

"How...how is it that I understand you?* he asked wonderingly. He had never been able to understand the Runespoor before.

*Your venture into our mind has changed you, Black Snape. You needed to understand so your mind tried to find a way. In our mind it found that way.* Orinda said calmly.

*I speak Parseltongue now?* Snape asked with growing glee.

*We know not of this Parseltongue.* Orinda said dismissively. *You understand us, that is all we know. Now come, things do not go well for our Sightless One.*

Severus sent his assent to the Runespoor and quickly found himself dragged along until he reached a double set of shields. He could see them, one set lying within the other.

*Our Sightless One, our Harry, lies within.* Orinda said. *We cannot reach him but we can sense he weakens. You must help.*

Severus sent an absent-minded burst of assent to the presence of the Runespoor and began to examine the shields. He quickly realised that he needed to find a joint weak spot as the shields lay so closely aligned with each other. He searched around the shields, his frustration growing. Then Orinda's mind touched his again.

*Over here, Black Snape. Over here lies what you are looking for.* Orinda hissed.

Severus allowed himself to be drawn over by the snake and there in both shields was the weak spot he had been looking for. He threw himself at that spot and began digging at it. It was when he was digging at the second of the shields that he felt it dissolve under his mental hands. He looked at the shield in surprise, realising that the inner shield must be Harry's; that the boy must know he was there. He turned back to the presence of the Runespoor.

*Go Black Snape.* the Runespoor hissed before he could speak. *We will anchor you."

Severus turned and dove into the Dark Lord's mind.

He quickly located Harry; the boy was obvious. He was diving and darting around madly but he was radiating a weariness that would soon overtake him. Severus waited until he was at the apex of one of his swoops and leapt after him. They collided and, much to Severus' relief, they meshed almost instinctively. Severus took over the movement of their entity and steered them towards the deepest depths of the Dark Lord's mind.

*Wh...what?* Harry/Severus said in surprise. *P...Professor Snape?*

Severus ignored him for the moment and buried them deep in the darkest corner of the Dark Lord's mind that he could find. He felt the Dark Lord swoop past them but he had not seen where they went and he passed them by. As soon as the active presence left, Severus turned his attention to his student.

*Are you alright?* he asked urgently and received a feel of assent in reply. He squashed his urge to strangle Harry for his idiocy. With any luck, he'd have ample opportunity later. Unfortunately he had forgotten about the way things were transmitted within a mesh.

Harry chuckled wearily. *I thought you were supposed to protect me from Voldemort, not do his job for him.*

Severus snarled half-heartedly. *We have to get out of here.* he said instead. *You do not have the training to take on the Dark Lord in this manner.*

*Yeah, I was starting to realise that.* Harry/Severus said. *Anyway, I think I have an idea for when we get out.*

*Are you ready?* Severus/Harry said as he readied them to leave.

*Yeah, let's do it.* Harry/Severus replied.

Severus gathered them together and shot out into the Dark Lord's mind again. Voldemort was there waiting for them and he rushed towards them.

*You will die, Potter!* Voldemort screeched.

Severus ignored him and rushed towards the hole he had made in the shields. He threw them out and Harry automatically reached out. Severus garnered some amusement out of Harry surprise when his mental hand was caught by the Runespoor again. They were dragged back into their own minds by Orinda and Severus suddenly found himself falling to the ground, still staring at the orange and black snake wrapped around his wrist. He quickly pushed himself upright and looked up at the hovering wizards. He could see when Harry came back to himself as the boy suddenly gasped and shook his head.

As Severus watched the bead-like protuberances on the golden thread began to move. Harry seemed to ignore them as he raised the hand holding his cane again.

"Avada Kedavra," Harry said calmly and a green light shot out from his hand to hit Voldemort in the chest.

Voldemort screamed; a high-pitched scream that caused everyone on the battle field to clap their hands over their ears and look around for the source. As such, everyone there saw what happened next.

Smoke began to appear, rising from Voldemort's very skin and shortly afterwards, fire blazed around him. The Dark Lord burned as Harry watched on. He burned and screamed until finally he seemed to draw inwards as though he was about to implode. Then he exploded. Harry and those closest to Voldemort were thrown metres away and everyone on the field was knocked unconscious.

Thus no one was in a state to see the dark shadow fly off into the sky.

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

"Do you think he..."

"I'm sure he'll be..."

"...did you see..."

"...hope I never have to do that again."

Harry drifted, listening to the voices that seemed to fade in and out. He was comfortable and warm and he really didn't want to open his eyes. He took a deep breath and muttered something then turned over and went back to sleep.

Ron and Hermione had whipped around when they heard the movement from Harry's bed. They watched as he settled back into sleep and grinned at each other. Finally Harry had moved; they had been so worried.

"Was that Harry?" came a hoarse voice from behind them.

They turned around to find Sirius struggling to sit up.

"Sirius!" Hermione scolded as she rushed over and pushed him back down. "You know you're not supposed to be sitting up." She fussed over him for a moment more before Ron limped up behind her and engulfed her in his arms.

"Leave off, Mione," he said gently. "He was just worried." He looked at Sirius. "Yeah, it was Harry. I think he's just asleep now, rather than unconscious."

Sirius sighed with relief. All of those who had been caught in the near vicinity of the blast had come around except for Harry. Even Snape had recovered consciousness yesterday afternoon and he'd been the closest to the blast. Three days Harry had been unconscious and they had to have been the three longest days of Sirius' life.

Hermione patted him on the shoulder. "We're going to head back up to the Tower," she said softly. "We promised Madam Pomfrey that we wouldn't do too much and I think if we keep hanging around here she's going to take to us with her wand."

Sirius smiled at the image. "You're probably right," he agreed.

The two young Gryffindors smiled at him and left the Hospital wing, hand in hand. Sirius sighed again and settled back into the bed. Remus was refusing to tell him exactly what had happened in the battle, insisting that he should wait until the whole thing could be told to Harry as well. Sirius suspected this was only half the truth; he rather thought that Remus didn't want him getting overly excited. Of all those who had been near the epicentre of the blast, he was the one who had been the injured the worst. While all of them had been thrown some distance by the blast, he had somehow managed to land badly. He wasn't sure how, being unconscious at the time, but he had broken his shoulder quite badly. Madam Pomfrey had been able to stabilise the shoulder and fix the damage but he was stuck here, flat on his back in bed, until she was sure that nothing was going to be damaged again by unwary movement. He sighed again; he was bored. There wasn't really anyone to talk to eith! er; most of those left in the Hospital wing now were severely injured and were mostly being kept unconscious to allow their injuries to heal. He would have had Snape to amuse himself with but the Potions Master had been allowed to leave the Hospital wing this morning. He sighed again and shut his eyes, willing himself to sleep.

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

"Really, Albus, I don't think it's necessary to disturb the boy."

"My dear Poppy, I do not intend to. I merely asked you to check whether the young man was awake yet."

Harry drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. Blackness. He sighed and initiated his Oversight, sighing again with relief when the energy fields bloomed around him. He levered himself up onto his elbows and saw the energy colours of Madam Pomfrey and the Headmaster standing and talking near the door to Madam Pomfrey's office.

"It's alright, sir," Harry said quietly. "I'm awake."

Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore turned in surprise and they walked over to his bed. He could see their smiles in the ghostly outlines over the energy fields. Madam Pomfrey fussed over him for a moment, checking him with her wand, before turning to the Headmaster and levelling a finger at him.

"Five minutes, Headmaster," she said sternly, "and not a second longer."

The Headmaster chuckled and Madam Pomfrey headed back to her office.

"Well, Harry," Dumbledore said kindly. "How are you feeling?"

"Um, okay, I think," said Harry. "I mean, I'm a little sore but I'm okay."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said, pleased. "We have been quite worried about you."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"My dear boy, you have been unconscious for three days and asleep for the last day," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh," Harry said a little stunned then he sat up. "Ginny! Ron! Hermione! Sir, what...how is everyone?"

The Headmaster gently pushed him back down on the bed. "Relax, Harry. Your Battle Guard are all fine. A few minor injuries, that is all. Remus is asleep in his room; it was the full moon last night. Sirius is sleeping over there." Dumbledore indicated with his hand and Harry levered himself up enough to see his godfather sleeping on his back in the next bed. He collapsed back onto the bed as the Headmaster continued. "And Professor Snape has returned to his quarters as well."

Harry sighed with relief and then went very still. "What happened, sir? How many were injured? How many were..." Harry's voice trailed off.

The twinkle faded from Dumbledore's eyes and he became quite serious. "Not now, Harry. We will tell you everything but not now. Tomorrow will be soon enough and Madam Pomfrey would have my head if I upset you now."

Harry nodded, a very unhappy expression on his face. "Yes, sir," he said. "I guess you're right." He paused and thought for a moment. "Is Voldemort...dead?"

Dumbledore frowned. "We don't really know, Harry. We believe he may be but we could not find his body anywhere. None of us could imagine how he could have survived that."

"I sense a 'but' there," Harry said.

"You are correct," Dumbledore said tiredly. "He has survived this sort of thing once before. We know that he must have been experimenting deeply with this odd crystal magic he found. He could not have taken the wards down so quickly and easily without it but whether it has allowed him to somehow survive yet again, I do not know."

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"We recover. We celebrate our victory, we mourn those we have lost and we live life as best we can, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smile. "There is nothing else to be done. I shall endeavour to discover if Voldemort's survival was possible but until we can get a definitive answer either way we can do nothing more than move on."

Harry nodded slowly then smiled. "I think that sounds good to me."

The Headmaster was about to respond when Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office.

"I've given you ten minutes, Albus," she said sternly but with a kindly glint in her eyes. "Now I must ask you to stop pestering my patients."

Dumbledore chuckled. "As I greatly value my life, I shall abide by your wishes, Poppy."

The mediwitch scowled good-naturedly and shooed the Headmaster out of the room. She returned to Harry's side and smiled to find that the young man had again fallen asleep.


Author notes: Thanks for all the reviews.