Harry Potter and the Return to the Riddle House

Chapter Twenty-Three

Battling the Death Eaters

Lupin and Tonks whipped out their wands and charged towards Moody. Lupin yelled over his shoulder, "Harry, go!" but Podmore, behind Harry, shouted,

"Not here! We're surround--aaaah!"

Tonks turned around and began sending spells at a horde of masked Death Eaters, apparently brought by the one that Snape scared away. Harry ducked to avoid a curse that shattered the dirty mirror behind him. There were yells and bangs and flashes of light everywhere. Death Eaters closed in on them from the hallway and the dining room, but they were trailed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, a group of Order members, and some people Harry assumed were from the Ministry. Harry saw one Death Eater sneaking up behind Tonks, who was trying to curse another one in her face, and Stunned him.

In the confusion, Harry managed to get past the beam that carried the Anti-Secrecy Hex and Disillusion himself again. He stood behind a grimy little end table with a vase of dead flowers and picked off a few masked men with curses.

The fight was brief but intense. Soon the Order greatly outnumbered the Death Eaters, and finally, a solitary figure raced out of the room and to the door, nearly reaching it before being Stunned by Hestia Jones. She, Lupin, Podmore, and Moody stood in the middle of the hallway, catching their breath. Tonks got up wearily from the floor, wincing.

"Are you all right?" said Lupin, helping her up.

"I'm fine, I just got knocked down. How is everyone?" There were a few people lying on the floor, most of them Death Eaters. Podmore was helping Shacklebolt to his feet.

"Snape is Stunned," came Moody's gravelly voice, "And judging by the blood on the back of his robes, I don't envy the headache he'll have when he comes around. But he's alive. So's Baird here." He nudged the fair-haired man Harry hadn't recognized. "Any more of ours?"

"Elliot's over here!" said Jones from the other end of the hall. "He's waking up..."

"Where's Harry?" asked Lupin. "Did anyone see what happened to him?"

"I thought I heard him hexing Death Eaters," Tonks said. "But I didn't see what happened to him."

"I think he's here," growled Moody. "He might have camouflaged himself again... d'you think he might have gone for Rachel upstairs?"

"Worth a look..."

Harry immediately turned and slipped toward the stairs at the end of the hall. He flattened himself against the wall as the Lupin and Tonks did the same, after reviving the man called Baird and Elliot Gallagher. (They tried to wake Snape up, too, but he was out cold because he slammed against the wall, not because of a spell. They could only Disillusion him as well and hope for the best.) Harry followed them as he had Snape, down a shorter corridor and up another flight of stairs.

They were joined by another small band of Order members, including the very shaky but determined Weasley twins.

There were now about fifteen or twenty of them, plus Harry, against an unknown number of Death Eaters. He was starting to get rather jumpy. He had no idea what condition Rachel was in, and just wanted to get back to Hogwarts with her. Lupin and the others were anxiously searching for both of them, but trying not to let the Death Eaters know he, Harry, was there. They spread themselves around a sprawling corridor and split into different rooms. Harry went with Lupin into the one down the very center of the hall. This door seemed larger than the others. As he opened it, Lupin yelled and called to the rest of them before firing off more spells. Harry gasped.

The room was medium-sized, but packed with Death Eaters. At the very back, against the wall, was Voldemort. Moody sent a blast of bluish light into the middle of them, taking out two or three Death Eaters; Lupin and Tonks charged in the opening and started cursing them left and right. Harry ran ahead to help, anything to get to Rachel. Voldemort shouted through the din,

"Potter! Come to me and we duel! Leave them to it!"

Harry wanted to get close enough to attack him, but Voldemort sent a wave of light through the entire room, bathing everything in a violet glow. Harry felt his whole body tingle and he was again plainly visible. Voldemort laughed and used the same spell Mulciber had used on Snape; Harry found himself soaring through battling Death Eaters and Order members. Some tried to get him back, but the masked figures took the opportunity to curse them without trouble. Voldemort passed through a door behind him and slammed it shut behind Harry, who heard it lock. He was alone in the small room with Voldemort, who was pointing his wand at his chest and laughing.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Dark Lord

"What did you do with her?" Harry demanded furiously. Voldemort smiled.

"Patience, Potter," he said, his high, cold voice echoing in the dim room. "I have been waiting to duel with you again, ever since that unfortunate episode a few years ago when our wands malfunctioned. Why, we were cheated out of a proper contest." And without warning, he gave Harry the same curse he had used on Rachel. Harry tried to block it but he was too late, pain ripped through his body like flames on oil; his head felt again like it had burst open along his scar. He then became aware that he was on the floor and stumbled to his feet, panting and confused. Voldemort was laughing again.

"I have been modifying my wand--an interesting combination of runespoor tendons infused in venom from my dear Nagini. Do you like it?" He tried to hit Harry with another Cruciatus Curse, but he ducked and yelled "Impedimenta!" Their spells ricocheted off each other; Harry's left a burn in the wall to the right, Voldemort's, a crater to the left.

"Excellent... this is what I have been craving," he whispered, his red eyes glowing. Harry sent another Impediment Jinx at him, but he glanced it off without even looking away from Harry. They sent another set of curses flying at each other, and Harry barely dodged one, feeling a searing twinge on his shoulder. He had almost been hit in the face. But he didn't pause; he barely had time to deflect Voldemort's next spell, a white bolt of light that still sent an odd surge through his body even as he blocked it. Harry ducked low and managed to hit him; Voldemort flew back a few feet but somehow stopped himself in midair, landing on his feet to Harry's left and striking him with another curse. Harry was thrown back and slammed into the wall. He threw another curse at Voldemort as he glided towards him and was forced to swerve sharply. But he was still smiling.

"This is child's play, Potter," he said, blocking another Stunner from Harry. "Tell me when you're ready to really fight!"

Harry sent a barrage of curses at him; Voldemort moved like lightening, deflecting every one, until, finally, he yelled and was thrown back like Harry, who leapt to the side and tried to hit him while he had the chance, but found himself lifted against the wall, nearly up to the ceiling. Harry felt like there was something around his throat; he choked.

"You're starting to annoy me, Harry," Voldemort said, a small smudge of dust marring the otherwise uniform colorlessness of his face. "That damn prophecy won't matter very much if you're dead..." He shouted "Expelliarmus!" and Harry's wand soared out of his hand. He became vaguely aware that there was an upsurge of noise from the connected room, but could not give it much attention.

"Any last words, Harry?"

Harry choked again and tried to draw a complete breath, Voldemort laughed maniacally and shouted,

"AVADA KED--"

Quite suddenly, Harry found himself flying across the room, for no understandable reason. Voldemort screamed in frustration, and Harry saw a flash of color. He looked to the door and overwhelming relief washed over him. Dumbledore was standing in the empty doorframe, his purple robes billowing around him and his face set like marble. He waved his wand and was encased in a sort of misty glow. Voldemort's curse was absorbed into the haze, making it brighter for a second.

"Go, Harry!" came Dumbledore's deep, commanding voice.

"Potter will stay!" Voldemort yelled, and sent another blinding white ray at Dumbledore. Harry was pulled to the door by Dumbledore's power but held by Voldemort's. He saw, for the briefest instant, the image of a fiery snake; Voldemort might posses him again like last year, the pain would surely kill him... but Harry had grabbed his wand. He screamed "Protego!" and concentrated with all his might on the spell. Everything flickered, and he felt like two chains where pulling on him, tugging in opposite directions. He was suspended for an instant, he felt like he was floating in water. Everything was paused, it was like time had slowed, when he heard Dumbledore say, just in his ear,

"Go, Harry. It is not time for this battle yet. I will take care of him." His voice was clear through the haze, when every other sound was muffled, slow, and distant. The headmaster sounded calm and serene. Suddenly, there was a rush and it was normal again; Harry felt himself jerk back and soar to Dumbledore. He saw Voldemort's face, contorted with fury, before feeling as though his body had been flung backward. He suddenly found himself back in the corridor, facing the doors where the Death Eaters had been. The room seemed empty. He heard someone running behind him.

"Harry!" It was Lupin. "Are you alright?"

"Uh... I'm fine," he said. "Where's Rachel?"

"We're looking for her. Come with me, the Death Eaters are mostly gone; we're sending our injured to St. Mungo's before they wake and start attacking again..."

"Shouldn't we help Dumbledore?"

"No--trust me, Harry, we'd just be in the way. He wants you to be safe, and he knows what he's doing. All we can do is leave him to it. Come on!"

He followed Lupin down the stairs; the next corridor was nearly empty. Harry saw Snape, conscious again, and somebody else in the background, looking into rooms and passages, and his anxiety returned. Malfoy had told Snape she was alive... please let it still be true.... A cry came from the shadowy distance; it was George Weasley.

"Professor! She's here, hurry!"

Snape rushed down the corridor; Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder when he started to follow. Harry glanced at him. Their eyes met and Lupin slowly lowered his hand. George said,

"I'll go and get some more help!" and ran down a connected hall. Harry entered the small room just after Snape.

Rachel was lying, abandoned, in the center of the room, her hands free but very still. Snape knelt beside her and lifted her into a sitting position.

"Rachel--Rachel! Can you hear me?"

Harry stood behind him, his heart thudding. Rachel's eyelids fluttered and she stirred. Her eyes opened and looked like she was trying gather breath to speak, but gave it up and closed her eyes again, kind of collapsing into her father. To Harry's slight surprise, Snape paused, then just let her stay for a moment, his own eyes shutting tightly. Harry pressed a hand wearily to his own cold face. When he looked up, Snape was easing her back, trying to see if she could support herself.

"Rachel, this is important; can you see me quite clearly? Is anything blurred or dim?"

Rachel started to say something, but before she could speak, her eyes closed again and she started to fall back; Snape caught her and cursed. Harry stepped forward uncertainly. Wait, she was just looking around--she's fine... was Snape checking her pulse?

"Lupin!" Snape yelled over his shoulder, his face bloodless. "Did you get a Portkey?"

There was a small pause and Lupin came into view, carrying an old vase.

"Here! Harry, you go with them... I'll keep watch for Dumbledore," he said breathlessly, glancing at Rachel. He looked worried. Snape slid one arm behind her neck and the other under her knees, and lifted her easily. He and Harry both touched the cracked vase. Harry looked desperately at Rachel before the familiar hook behind his navel jerked and he sped back to Hogwarts.