Harry Potter and the Legacy of Merlin

Chapter 17

Nemesis

"No!" Harry yelled. The ropes around him fell off. He waved his hand and the jet of green light turned away inches from Hermione and hit him squarely in the chest. Dumbledore ran to him. He stumbled backwards and fell, murmuring, "Protego!"

Except Dumbledore and him, everyone was surrounded by a massive shield of shining light. Assured that everyone was safe, Harry made a supreme effort and stood up, though his body screamed at him not to. Ignoring his pain, he advanced towards Voldemort.

"Grandpa," he hissed, "How do you expect me to be loyal to the murderer, not only of my parents, but also of my best friends?"

Voldemort flinched. Everyone was shocked that Harry had survived the Killing Curse, let alone stand up to fight after that.

"How did you do it?" Voldemort asked him.

Harry laughed softly, but his laughed echoed everywhere. It was creepy. It was scary. It was terrifying. Everyone except Dumbledore shrank back from him.

Voldemort swallowed visibly, fear evident in his red eyes. "Join me, Harry," he said again, "I will give you all you want."

"You don't get it, do you? I want nothing to do with you or your minions," Harry said coldly.

"Why are you blowing your life away? For these people?" he pointed at the students and professors engulfed in the shield and continued, "These people who won't even volunteer to help you, even though you're in mortal danger? These people who are happy to put the entire responsibility of the safety of the world on a sixteen-year-old? This old man here who has never done anything except manipulating your life in such a way that you were left with nothing but misery? Don't you get it, Harry? It's only you willing to die for them. They won't die for you!"

"Will you?" Harry asked quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione, Ron and Lupin straining to come to his aid through the shield and Hagrid, Snape and McGonagall holding them back.

Voldemort was speechless.

"Will you die for me, Grandpa? You won't. You will kill me at the first chance you get. You talk of giving me all I want? Can you give me my family? Can you give me Sirius? Can you give me the love and friendship that some of these people have given me? You forget, Lord Voldemort, all the happiness I have known in my life has been given by these people. What have you given me except misery?"

"You leave me with no choice, Harry, then," said Voldemort. "If you're determined not to join me, you must fight me. Why do you want to die, Harry?" For a second, it seemed that Voldemort's gaze had softened, his red eyes and resumed the green of Tom Riddle before he was Voldemort, but it was quickly replaced by red.

Harry laughed again, making everyone shiver. "Gone soft? Very well," he said and whipped out his wand. He raised his wand and bright white light shot out of it and settled in a circle around him and Voldemort. The spectators held their breaths.

The duel started. Everyone watched, fascinated. They were duelling so fast that their motions were blurred. No one noticed Ginny sneak behind Dumbledore.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry suddenly saw Ginny behind Dumbledore, halfway through making the same slashing curse that had been used on Hermione last year. Using his Seeker skills, Harry ran and pushed Dumbledore out of harm's way and Ginny's curse completed on him. Voldemort's curse also hit him from the back at the same time.

Harry collapsed on the ground, bleeding profusely. He managed to stupefy Ginny and looked up at Dumbledore from the ground. With a superhuman effort, he muttered, "Tell him to go away and never come back...I don't want to see him..." Dumbledore nodded, and walked towards Voldemort. Harry fought to remain conscious, knowing that if he died, the shield would fade. He had to hold up till Dumbledore drove away Voldemort.

Dumbledore was facing Voldemort. His Death Eaters had backed away; they had felt Dumbledore's power radiating off him. Students within the shield gasped. None had seen Dumbledore that angry before.

Voldemort flinched. "I didn't mean to hurt him, Dumbledore," he said.

"Leave Hogwarts immediately, Tom, and never come back here again. And pray for your own good that Harry doesn't die. If anything happens to Harry, Tom, I swear I will kill you with my own hands," he said, his voice very cold, his eyes furious.

Voldemort backed away. He knew that Dumbledore was perfectly capable of killing him; only his goodness had held him back. He also knew how much he loved Harry, and realised his words were true. He vanished with all his minions.

Eyes half open, Harry saw Voldemort disappear. He smiled. Hogwarts was safe. Then a velvety blackness engulfed him.