Destiny Trilogy: The War

Chapter 9: Battle Cry

"This is it."

"The big one."

"The one we've all been waiting for."

"Enough with the Oliver-Wood-impressions!" Alicia exclaimed as she swatted the twins.

They were up against Hufflepuff today, but this year Hufflepuff had become quite a force to be reckoned with. After their surprise victory over Slytherin, they were now in second place.

"They're only behind us by forty points," Angelina reminded them.

"And this is the last year for most of us to bring glory to Gryffindor," Fred agreed with exaggerated sombreness.

"Then let's get on with it!" Katie said, grinning.

They walked out onto the pitch to the deafening cheers of the spectators, who were either wearing red or yellow rosettes. The Slytherins, out of the race for the Quidditch Cup, were mostly decked in yellow even though they usually disliked Hufflepuffs for "being a bunch of duffers". A small group of them flashed their 'Potter Stinks' badges from last year at him.

"And here comes the Gryffindor Team!" yelled Lee Jordan, who was acting as commentator for the last time and seemed to be determined to go out with a bang. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Ladon. Hell of a side we have this year, haven't lost a single match--"

The Slytherins booed loudly.

"And here are the Hufflepuffs! Quite a strong side this year as well, with their new captain Aaron Fawcett!"

There was a smattering of polite cheers and applause from the rest of the Houses, while the Hufflepuffs roared with determined vigour. Aaron had been Cedric's best friend.

"Captains, shake hands!" said Madam Hooch.

Aaron and Angelina grasped each other's hands in a firm and polite handshake.

"Mount your brooms!" said Madam Hooch. "Three... two... one..."

Before Harry could take off, he felt his stomach clench into a tight knot. Emblazoned on one of the Hufflepuff banners flying stoutly in the wind, were the words 'For Cedric'.

"He would have wanted a fair match, Harry," Katie said, clapping him on his back. "No pulling back."

"He would have," Harry agreed softly, and took off into the air to the cheers of crowd.

"Ouch, that had to hurt - Gryffindor Beater Fred Weasley forces Goodwill to drop the quaffle, Gryffindor's Alicia in possess - nope, Hufflepuff Chaser Midgeon gets it back from her, she dives, shoots - look out for that bludger!"

Kera narrowly missed getting hit by the heavy iron ball but managed to grab the quaffle before it went through the hoop.

"Excellent save there by the Gryffindor Keeper, beautiful track record she has this season--"

"Jordan..." McGonagall hissed warningly.

"Okay, okay...Gryffindor Captain Angelina Johnson with the quaffle - avoids a bludger - Argh, no - Hufflepuff in possession..."

Harry flew around high above the pitch, scanning for the familiar glint of gold, trying to keep out of the fray below him.

"Hufflepuff Chaser Goodwill aims, he shoots, Gryffindor Keeper coming down to block it--wait, is that a bludger chasing after the quaffle?"

One of the Hufflepuff Beaters had aimed a bludger so that it was just behind the quaffle and now both were zooming at an incredible speed towards Kera. Taken by surprise, she quickly got out of the way.

"HUFFLEPUFF SCORES!"

From his position in the middle of the field, Harry saw Ron scowl darkly. Despite himself, Harry couldn't help grinning as he heard Ron shouting out advice to his twin brothers from the stands.

"Nice bludger work there by Beater Macmillan, anyway Gryffindor in possession - Angelina dives, she sc - nope, stopped by opposing Chaser Midgeon - she zips off towards the Gryffindor goals - go Weasleys! Great shot there by one of the twins, Katie takes the quaffle, whizzes around the Hufflepuff defence - SHE SCORES! That's an equaliser!"

The Gryffindor side cheered loudly and waved their banners brazenly at the hissing Slytherins.

"Hufflepuff back for another attack, Chaser Midgeon passes the quaffle to the Hufflepuff Captain, Angelina comes up to block it - damn, he got through that one - closing in on the goals now, he shoots--"

There was a mad rush as the Weasley twins tried to manoeuvre the two bludgers away from the two Hufflepuff Beaters.

"And there's Hufflepuff Beater Mockridge with that follow-up bludger shot that's looking to be the Hufflepuff trademark this match...and he SCORES! Twenty - ten to Hufflepuff!"

The Slytherins cheered and waved their flashing green 'Gryffindorks' banner back at the crimson supporters.

"Katie Bell passes the quaffle to fellow Gryffindor Chaser Alicia, Hufflepuff Captain Fawcett swerves to head her off--"

In her hurry to get out of the way, Alicia turned a little too sharply and wobbled precariously on her broom. Her Comet Two Sixty tipped suddenly and quickly to the side in an awkward and unnatural movement.

"Oh no! Alicia!"

The audience gasped as she lost her balance and slammed hard into the soft grassy pitch fifteen feet below. Aaron pulled his own broomstick swiftly to a halt and circled down to her, with Angelina and Madam Hooch close behind him.

"I KNOW YOU DID THAT!" Lee Jordan yelled into the magical megaphone. "CHEATING STINKING SLYTHERINS!"

"Jordan!" McGonagall said sharply, tugging the megaphone away from him. "You do not accuse the other Houses without proof!"

Meanwhile Madam Hooch had conjured a stretcher to bring Alicia to the hospital wing, as the two teams hovered in the air.

"We could call a rematch," Aaron offered.

"No, this is the finals. No rematches," Madam Hooch interrupted.

"Then I say we continue," Angelina replied, her jaw set in determination.

"And the game continues," Lee Jordan announced, still seething. "Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell closing in on the Hufflepuff goals..."

It was turning out to be the longest match Harry had ever played. Both sides were very determined to win, and the Snitch had apparently decided not to show itself at all. After about three hours, Angelina called a timeout and the very exhausted team sank down gratefully on the grassy pitch next to the harried and anxious reserves.

"Is Alicia okay?" Harry asked worriedly.

"She's regained consciousness," Gayle assured him, "but Madam Pomfrey said it was a rather nasty bump she had there."

Angelina called their attention back to the problem they had on hand.

"At this rate we're going to be playing all through the night," Fred complained, massaging his sore arm.

"It's crazy. Their defence is as solid as a rock," Katie said, furrowing her brow.

"At least we're even overall," Kera said. Her wrist was turning a nasty shade of purple under her black wristband after her last attempt to defend the goals had resulted in a painful collusion with a bludger.

"That bludger thing they keep doing...isn't it against the rules?" Francis asked.

"No, not if they hit the bludger after the quaffle gets in the scoring area," Ron explained absently, biting his lower lip and deep in thought.

"Now if only we could come up with a plan to mess up that move of theirs..."

"Or Kera could try a Starfish With Stick."

"No! Are you crazy? Maybe if we could mark the Beaters more closely..."

"No, what we really need is for someone to break up the Chasers," Ron said suddenly, his face lighting up. "Don't you see? They've been attacking in some sort of loose Hawkshead Formation!"

A grin spread slowly across Fred's face.

"I believe our ickle Ronniekins has a plan."

"Welcome back to the Quidditch Finals! The Gryffindor team is down to six members now due to some disgusting and barbaric--"

"Jordan..."

"--accident where Alicia Spinnet was thrown off her broom, purely coincidental that all the Slytherins have their wands up their sleeves I'm sure..."

The match went on at break-neck speed after that, both teams refreshed after their brief rest and armed with new plays against their opponents. Ron's plan to distract the Hufflepuff Chasers with a combination of bludgers and blocking from the two remaining Chasers went rather well, and they managed to score two goals against Hufflepuff.

"That's sixty to seventy, Hufflepuff still in the lead, but Gryffindor in possession again - Looks like Hufflepuff Seeker Wimple has seen the Snitch!"

Harry quickly spun his broom around to follow the other stockier Seeker, who was about twenty feet ahead of him. He pushed forwards, nudging his broom down into a steep dive.

"Harry Potter zooms around to follow him - Come on Harry, you can do it!"

He was shoulder-to-shoulder with the opposing Seeker now, as the Snitch plummeted straight down away from their outstretched hands. There was a sharp pain in his ears as the pressure built up from descending so suddenly, but Harry didn't care. They were less than ten feet away from the ground now, but the other Seeker wasn't giving up either.

"Come on, Harry!"

Using every last ounce of his will, Harry urged his Firebolt forward. Five feet...three feet...With a sound of desperation, the other Seeker pulled back up just as Harry's hand closed on the little golden ball.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"

Harry pulled out of his dive just before he hit the ground, an odd ringing in his ears.

"We won! Sweet Merlin, we won!" Katie squealed as she zoomed down on her broomstick to hug Harry, who was still clutching onto the Snitch.

The rest of the team descended on him, laughing and cheering themselves hoarse.

"Let's have a round of applause for both teams! Great game, Hufflepuffs, but splendid show from the Gryffindors, one down but still the overall winners..."

"We won the Cup!" Angelina and the twins yelled as the tangle of scarlet robes and broomsticks landed clumsily on the pitch.

"Kera! You were great!" Fred grinned, impulsively bear-hugging her. Kera made a sharp hiss of pain.

"You okay?" Fred hurriedly let go of her.

"I think my wrist is broken," Kera winced.

"I'll go with you to the hospital wing," George offered, still grinning maniacally.

"I hurt my wrist, not my legs," Kera replied with a slight smile. "I can manage. Go back to the celebrations."

"We'll save some butterbeer for you!" Fred called after her.

As she headed up the stairs to the hospital wing, a familiar boreal owl landed gracefully on the railing, hooting mournfully at her. With a flick, it dropped a letter at her feet. She unfolded the parchment with her good hand.

"'You did well'," She read softly.

The owl stared momentarily at her with its pale yellow eyes before soaring off into the bleeding sunset.

*~*~~*~**~*~*~~*

Harry stared up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall at the storm brewing overhead. The exhilaration from winning the Quidditch Cup had lasted a while, until Trelawney had reminded them that their assignment on what they had seen during their scrying session was due next week. Harry reflected with a humourless smile that she would be very pleased with his homework this time.

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, concerned. Ron turned around.

Harry hadn't told anyone about his vision this time, not even Dumbledore. Some part of him was nagging at him to tell someone before it became reality, but another part of him didn't want to believe it...and telling someone else would make it seem more real.

"Damn, we're going to be late for class," Ron said abruptly, in an attempt to be cheerful. "Gin, you coming?"

As they went out of the heavy oak doors, someone bumped into Ron.

"Watch where you're going, Malfoy," Ron glowered.

Malfoy, surprisingly without his two cronies, just turned around and smirked.

"You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Potter," Malfoy sneered.

Harry had a strange sense of déjà vu. That's what Tom Riddle said, Harry thought in a daze.

Before Hermione could stop him, Ron rushed at Malfoy and grabbed him by the front of his robes.

"I've had enough, Malfoy! Harry's going through enough without you making stupid insinuations like that!"

Malfoy looked pretty frightened by his sudden display of anger and frantically tried to pull away from him.

"Let go of me!"

"Ron!" Hermione said sharply, as she reached out to pull Ron back.

And then, they weren't there anymore.

Hermione stood as if frozen, her hands closed on thin air. Harry stared at the spot where Ron and Malfoy had apparently suddenly blinked out of existence, a horrible sinking feeling invading him when he remembered the vision he had seen in the water bowl during Divination. But wait...where did Malfoy fit in?

Then pandemonium broke out. All the students who had witnessed the sudden disappearance of the two boys started talking loudly or ran off in a hurry as if the spot they had stood at was now occupied by a lethifold, and some of the first years were so frightened they started crying. In Prefect mode at once, Hermione immediately set about calming them as the older students went off looking for the Professors.

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Ginny looking at him with tears in her eyes, worried and frantic.

A sudden thought collapsed on him like an avalanche. I've failed them.

All of a sudden, there were shrieks from some of the younger students. Harry looked up to see a black speck in the distance, which was coming closer by the minute. Without hesitation, Harry had his wand out and at ready, pushing Ginny behind him.

"Harry, I think it's a...bird," Hermione said, pulling them away from the window.

There was a raucous caw as a large black rook flew in, bearing what Harry recognised as a rather large Howler. Mrs. Weasley? Harry thought as he went forward to receive it.

"No, Harry!" Hermione grabbed his arm, and not a moment too soon.

The Howler exploded with a great boom of murky smoke, throwing Harry and Hermione on their backs. They coughed as the smoke twisted and twirled in hypnotic patterns, squeezing and contorting itself into a humanoid figure. A figure Harry could only recognise too well.

"Voldemort," Harry croaked, his scar smarting like a brand.

"I'm glad to see you have not forgotten me."

They heard a gasp and someone shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" from behind them. There was a blast of blue light, but the spell just went right through, bouncing off into the empty corridor behind it.

"Minerva," the smoky Voldemort hissed with a thin smile. "It's always a pleasure to meet old schoolmates. But surely you should know better by now."

"Leave. Professor Dumbledore will be here any minute now," McGonagall said, drawing herself up straight.

"Liar," Voldemort said. "I happen to know that he has been called away on...urgent business...at the moment."

"What do you want from me?" Harry asked.

"I want you dead, of course," Voldemort said coldly. "But I will give you a chance to fight me, like a man...like your father. No more Hide-and-Seek this time. A real duel."

Harry stared mutely at the not-quite-opaque figure of the Dark Lord.

"Well?" the monstrous figure asked, its face twisting into a horrible smile. "Is the Boy-Who-Lived up to the challenge?"

"What have you done with Ron?" Hermione asked in strangled voice.

Voldemort seemed to find this amusing.

"He is fine...for a while."

"If I meet you will you let him go?" Harry asked, fighting to keep his voice from trembling.

"He will be free to return to Hogwarts, if he pleases."

From its unsubstantial cloaks, the smoky Voldemort-figure produced a surprisingly solid looking ball-like object covered with some scraggly white fur and threw it out. It rolled and landed at Harry's feet. His stomach gave a sickening lurch. It wasn't a ball after all.

It was Karkaroff's head.

"A Portkey."

The memory came flooding back.

"Both of us," Harry said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. "You - you sure?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah... we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."

For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears: then his face split in a grin.

"You're on," he said. "Come here."

He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp towards the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held out a hand over one of the Cup's gleaming handles.

"On three, right?"

And now I'm about to take another one willingly. Harry thought as he reached for the gruesome object with its blood-shot eyes staring out accusingly at him.

"No, Harry! It's a trap, don't you see?"

"I'm not going to let Ron become another Cedric!" Harry said fiercely.

Harry looked Voldemort in the eye.

"I'll be there."

"Mr. Potter, you can't be serious!" Professor McGonagall cried, aghast.

"I'll be waiting for you," Voldemort sneered as his smoky visage dissolved slowly into nothingness.

"I cannot allow this!"

"I have to, Professor." Harry replied simply.

"Then you're not doing this alone," Hermione said resolutely.

"Don't you see?" Harry said in exasperation. "He wants me alone. This is my battle."

"No it's not."

"We're coming with you," Ginny said in a rare display of Weasley stubbornness. "I'm not going to let Tom hurt my brother."

Harry sighed, moved by the insistence of the two girls, who were now glaring at him with their most determined stance. Then something clicked in his brain.

"The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed..."

"Of course," Harry whispered to himself.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Everything's different now. Malfoy is in it."

"What's different now?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Never mind that. We've got to get to Ron."

Hermione and Ginny stepped up within touching distance from the portkey.

"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley...!"

"Now!"

Harry felt the familiar tug at his navel as he was pulled forward in a dizzying kaleidoscope of colours, with Ginny and Hermione on either side of him, his hand stuck to the grisly portkey by some strange force so he couldn't let go even if he wanted to...

His feet slammed into uneven ground and he stumbled against a tree root. Ginny bumped into Hermione, who grasped at a tree trunk for support. With a strangled choking sound, Harry let go of Karkaroff's head and watched in revulsion as it rolled away. Then he noticed a loose grip on his shoulder and turned around sharply.

"How did you...?"

"If it transported Draco in this way, I assumed it'd work for me as well." Kera replied, letting go of him as she tried to clear her head. "Better than holding on to that... thing."

"What did you come along for?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"To help my friends, Granger. Or was that too difficult for you to comprehend?"

"Where are we?" Ginny interrupted in a whisper as they took in the murky depths of the forest before them...the very same forest from Harry's vision.

"Cypress trees," Hermione observed, taking her wand out.

"Do you think we're in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Where is He?" Kera asked, scanning the trees around them.

"He's not near, at least not yet. We've got to find Ron, now," Harry said urgently.

It wasn't too hard. Before they had gone more than a few steps into the dark forest, the sounds of a full-scale shouting match reached their ears.

"I'm going to hex you into the middle of next year, Malfoy!"

"Ron!" Hermione rushed forward to hug him. "You're alright!"

"You had us so worried!" Ginny said as she too rushed to her brother's side.

"Ron," Harry heaved a sigh of relief.

"Harry...'Mione...Gin..." Ron was lost for words.

"How very touching." Draco sneered, a feeling of panic welling up and threatening to overpower him. They certainly hadn't come to save him.

"Let's get out of here. I don't have a good feeling about this," Someone said from behind him.

"Kera?" Draco said disbelievingly.

"You were expecting Crabbe and Goyle to come rushing after you, perhaps?" Kera asked wryly.

Ron stared at the two of them.

"You came to save him? After what he did to you?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Shut up, Weasel."

"Sod off, Ferret."

"Stop it, you two," Hermione said crossly. "You-Know-Who may be here any minute."

Ron turned white, and if it were possible for Malfoy to go paler, he did.

"Let's try to find a way out," Harry said, now much calmer after having found Ron alive and well.

"He said he wanted to meet you," Hermione frowned. "But he's not here."

"And I'd rather it stayed that way," Ginny said softly.

Kera stiffened abruptly and held a finger to her lips.

"Wha--?"

An eerie crooning reached their ears.

"Oh no," Hermione whispered.

Something that looked like a large lion was barely visible from behind a shield of trees, and it was slowly stalking towards them. There was a soft swish in the trees overhead as its extraordinarily long tail hit a branch, and Harry realised that the strange creature had a bulging stinger at the end of its tail, like a scorpion.

"What is that thing?" Ginny asked in a frightened whisper as both Ron and Harry moved to stand in front of her.

The monstrous animal moved out of the shadows to reveal a human face. It was a face of a peasant or soldier, crude and roughened by exposure to the elements and slightly scarred. Its eyes were pitch black and glittered strangely in the weak light of the forest. The creature grinned to show multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"I'm Deimos," The monster said in a low and would-have-been-charming voice, bending its lion-like body in a mocking bow. Ginny gave an unintelligible squeak.

"You're a manticore," Hermione said faintly.

"Indeed. My Master has sent me to kill you."

"But he said he wanted a duel!" Ginny blurted out.

"The lying bastard." Ron muttered.

"I believe he also asked for Harry Potter alone," Deimos said. "Fair's fair."

Then he launched at them. Ginny screamed and backed away.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, aiming his wand at the beast.

"The manticore's skin reflects almost every known spell!" Hermione shouted, ducking as the spell ricocheted off its skin.

"Well I think we know that now!" Malfoy shouted back as he ducked the scorpion-like tail.

"At this rate all we're going to do is hurt each other!"

"Try aiming for its underside!" Harry shouted.

"I heard that," Deimos taunted in a creepy sing-song voice.

"Potter, you are such an idiot! Internia Incendo!"

Kera dived to avoid the rebound only just in time.

"That's a Dark Arts spell!" Hermione cried.

"Who cares?" Kera snapped.

The six of them cast every single spell they knew in rapid succession at the beast as they tried to avoid its snapping jaws and lashing tail, but to no avail.

"Expelliarmus!"

"What in Salazar's name did you cast that for?" Malfoy yelled at Ginny.

The spell glanced off the manticore's back and hit Harry before he had a chance to react, throwing him on his back.

"Harry!" Distracted by Harry's fall, Ginny had tried to rush to his side, and the manticore had taken this chance to pounce at her.

"Watch out!"

Kera quickly pulled her out of harm's way, but lost her wand in the process. It seemed like everything was happening in slow-motion. Harry watched helplessly as the manticore lashed its deadly stinger at Ginny and Kera, his wand flung too far away for him to reach. So he did the only thing that he could think of--he dove in front of them.

The agony was nothing like what he had experienced with the Basilisk in his second year. There was a searing pain at his side as the stinger sank in deeply, spreading its venom like molten lava through his veins, racing towards his heart. He keeled over, feeling as if all the bones in his body were being dissolved by boiling acid, but he had no strength left to cry out in pain. So this is how it ends, Harry thought dully. He barely registered someone yelling and a strange echoing of distant voices calling his name...

And then the world went black.