Harry Potter and The Jade Dragon

Chapter 28 ~ The Jade Dragon

Harry felt his feet slam into the ground, and his hand let go of the jade cup. Ron and Hermione were right next to him, as were Shan and Robert. Looking up, he saw that Jeanne and Professor Lupin were standing a short distance from them.

Harry looked around. They were standing in a clearing. It was night, and the dark sky was studded with stars. The air was bitterly cold, and the landscape looked all too familiar: bleak, wild-looking forest surrounded them, and towering over them was a mountain, smoke issuing from its peak. Further away, more volcanoes could be seen, stretching in a chain into the distance. He was back in Kamchatka.

Jeanne looked very pale, and she and Lupin had taken their wands out. Seeing this, the rest of them took theirs out, as well.

Lupin came swiftly up to them, Jeanne following.

"Deorg sent those jade cups," he said quietly, his eyes wary. "He must be around here, somewhere. It's best if all of us go back at once, especially you." He looked at Jeanne.

She was about to reply, but all at once a voice rent the air, shattering the stillness.

"Expelliarmus!"

Their wands all jumped into the air, curving in an arc high in the sky, and landed at the feet of a tall, hooded figure, which had just stepped out from behind a tree some twenty feet away, at the edge of the clearing. The figure pointed its wand at the jade cups, and they also shot away from the ground toward him, landing near the pile of wands.

Harry felt that familiar, surging force in his mind. Jeanne cried out in fear, even as Lupin conjured up a ball of white fire and hurled it at Deorg.

"Fight him, Jeanne," he said urgently, "As we practiced!"

He quickly turned to Robert and said, "Shield the others, and keep your distance. Try to get near the Portkeys if you can."

Jeanne was clutching her head, as if in pain. Deorg pointed his wand at Lupin and muttered something. A jet of brilliant red light shot out from the wand, but Lupin dodged it, and threw another ball of fire at him.

Deorg hurled a stream of red fire at Harry and the others, who had retreated some distance away, but Robert had erected a bright Shield around them. The fire smashed into the Shield, and it dissolved. Robert swiftly raised a second Shield.

"He's quite powerful," he said tensely, as another stream of fire smashed into the Shield, which trembled at the impact.

Jeanne was twisting around, as if in agony. Lupin was still hurling fire at Deorg, trying to throw him off-balance; but Deorg merely deflected them with a wave of his wand. Jeanne suddenly took a step forward, and stumbled. Her resistance was beginning to crumble. She turned to look at Lupin, an expression of terror on her face. Then, she slowly began to transform.

"No!" said Lupin urgently. "Fight him off, Jeanne! Raise a Shield!"

Deorg laughed coldly, and began pelting both Lupin and the group huddled under Robert's Shield with jets of bright, red light.

Lupin quickly dodged, or hurled handfuls of flame to deflect them; but he looked as if he was tiring quickly.

"How's Lupin doing that?" asked Ron, glancing at the pile of wands near Deorg's feet.

"It's the volcanoes," said Harry. "They contain some kind of magic. Lupin learned how to use it when he was doing research here, ages ago."

"He still hasn't taken the tonic," said Hermione, watching anxiously. "He may not be able to hold Deorg off for long. Robert, can't you do something?"