A New Snake

Chapter 36

The silence was deafening. No one made a sound. No one moved a muscle. Even the wolf was silent. Everyone was on guard, prepared to fight if need be. After a few moments that felt like eternities, Voldemort raises his wand straight into the air, whispering a spell, and the dark mark appeared in the sky.

A scream was heard in the crowd of students and in the next moment all chaos broke out. Thousands of wandless students ran for their dorms. The teachers, Harry, Lily, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Draco, and Blaise all had their wands out and at the ready.

Voldemort yelled, "Do whatever damage you can, but Potter is mine!" Then the Death Eaters charged towards the castle doors. The doors slammed and tables, furniture, decorations, anything they could find was levitated and moved to block the door. Prefects were instructed to send wandless or students 4th year or below back to their dorms. A Gryffindor Prefect tried to bring Ginny with them, but she told them off so thoroughly that McGonagall simply told them to leave her be. They blocked off the door leading to the rest of the castle as well. But the door between them and the Death Eaters wouldn't last for long. They'd been trying to force their way through for nearly 5 minutes, but that was long enough for them to collect themselves and prepare for the coming onslaught.

Then Voldemort yelled, "ENOUGH!" And the doors flew off their hinges, sending everything behind them flying as well. In marched the Dark Lord's Army, casting spells as they went. Those students who had their wands stood around the professors and cast shield spells, protecting those more experienced so they could begin a counter-attack.

As they fought, chunks of the castle, torn off by spells, flew every which way. Witches and Wizards on both sides were falling. Tables, chairs, stones, and anything else they could find were thrown by both sides of the battle. Even as Death Eaters fell, more came to take their place, but there was no one to replace the fallen professors. They were trapped in a losing battle.

It was a horrific scene. The mangled bodies of lesser-known professors little the stones of the Great Hall while the dropped Death Eaters were simply unconscious. As Harry stood with his friends, holding the shielding spell, he wondered why the professors cared so much about spells that could truly hurt someone in such a time of life and death. They were going to lose. So many people would die. Anyone left alive would be at the mercy of the Dark Lord.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as if time had somehow slowed. Harry looked around himself. He saw his friends and classmates putting all of their energy into the shield spell that would mean nothing soon enough. Harry had to make a decision. The only reason they were there was that Voldemort was after him. If he stopped this... But that would be stupid. Voldemort wouldn't stop after he had him, he would just keep killing. Then it would all be for nothing. But if he sacrificed himself for the world, maybe it would be something like what his mother did for him? Maybe Voldemort's magic wouldn't be able to hurt anyone?

Lily could see the cogs whirring in Harry's mind, "No, Harry. Don't even think about it!"

"You really need to quit with all these sacrifice-yourself-to-save-everyone-else plans." Hermione chimed in.

"Have either of you got a better idea?" He asked. "At this rate, we'll all be killed and it will all be for naught anyway."

"Harry Potter, don't you move a muscle from where you're standing!" Lily shouted.

But he had no choice. Because at that moment, Their world froze. All spell-casting stopped. No one could move. No one, that is, other than the Dark Lord. He stepped through the crowd of his Death Easters to where Harry was standing. He stood before him, pulled him from the ranks of students, and let time unfreeze.

"Now, Mr. Potter. It is time that you face me, one on one, once and for all. I challenge you, to a wizard's duel."

If everyone weren't afraid for their lives and the life of their saviour, they might have thought it funny that the Dark Lord was asking for a Wizard's Duel. But they all knew he wasn't really asking.

"Now in accordance to the laws of the Wizard's Duel, we will bow to each other." Voldemort bowed to Harry, bending at the waist. "Now it is your turn." And when Harry refused to move, "Now, come, Mr. Potter. Didn't those relatives of yours teach you any manners? Bow." He tried using imperio, but again Harry refused to do any more than a slight inclination of his head. He would not bow to someone so unworthy of that respect.

Before the duel could begin, however, Lily jumped forward, "I'll be his Second. You can't have a Wizard's duel without seconds. Everyone knows that."

The Dark Lord seemed almost impressed with her gall, gave a curt nod, and summoned Bellatrix, his right hand, from the crowd of his Death Eaters. "And now, we may begin."

Voldemort made the first move, choosing right out of the gate to try the killing curse, which Harry deflected with a shield charm. This went on for a long time. Voldemort would attack, and Harry would block. He made no move to attack, simply waiting for the right moment, hoping to tire out his opponent magically before doing anything too magically strenuous.

When the Dark Lord made a minute pause in his once-steady stream of curses, Harry took his shot. He'd spent the whole time trying to think of a spell that might do some real damage, even if it just kept the evil wizard out of his hair for a while. He remembered Severus teaching Lily and him a spell to use only in emergenies, one that they were told only to whisper. He would use that, but it would be smarter to de-wand his opponent first.

And that's the first spell he cast towards Voldemort, "Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, just as the Dark Lord went the Killing Curse. The light of their spells met between them and joined their wands together in some strange light show. Then they were in a battle for whose spell would reach the other first, the meeting point moved depending on who was putting the most force into their spell.

At first, Voldemort had a strong lead, forcing the green light of Harry's nightmares towards his wand. And every centimeter that the light moved towards him, Harry pushed harder with his own magic until he was slowly gaining ground back. The red of Harry's expelliarmus overtook Avada-Kedavra-green. But something else strange happened. Out of Voldemort's wand came these ghostly figures. The first was an old man that seemed strangely familiar, the second was his father. He almost expected his mother to follow, but she did not. Only other ghostly strangers. The figure of James Potter moved first towards the wolf, touched her face a moment, then moved to join Harry.

"You've done well, Harry. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you all this time. But know that I'm always watching over you. And I will wait for you in the afterlife when your time comes. But that is still for some time.  

"For now, let'd focus on moving past this little obstacle. When I say so, disconnect your wands and say that spell of yours. Don't hesitate, you will not have another chance.

"When your wands disconnect, we will disappear, but don't worry. I believe in you. You have so many people who believe in you. Now, on my count of three, disconnect your wands. Ready? One... Two... Three!"

On three, James and the other ghostly figures charged at Voldemort and Harry tugged their wands apart. Upon the disappearance of the figures and the lights, Harry cast his curse.

He whispered, "Sectumsempra."