Harry felt happier than he had in months while preparing for the upcoming Quidditch match. He was given three days off of dueling lessons for try-outs, since he was the captain of the team. Quite a few students from every house came to test their abilities, and after several hard decisions, Harry had chosen two from each house, and himself as Seeker. Ron and Ginny were the Gryffindors.
The DA met every Sunday evening, as Harry had planned, and each time they trained, Harry was surprised at how sure he was, and how quickly the members of the DA learned what he taught them. There was always something missing, though. They could never do the spells quite as effectively as Harry could, nor could they block them every time as he could. That’s why I’m trained differently, thought Harry.
His dueling lessons with Moody and Garrison continued, each night more difficult than the ones preceding it. Though Harry had mastered the material from his earlier lessons, the more recent spells and curses he was learning were more effective and could overpower what he knew. By learning in this manner, Harry was beginning to understand how much he didn’t know and how dangerous a full-scale duel really was.
Most of his classes were also getting difficult. Transfiguration was almost impossible. While November was slowly passing by, the class was beyond Animagi and onto several other forms of Transfiguration, such as turning large objects into very small ones, and vice versa. Dark Arts was easier due to his nightly dueling, but the lessons were structured differently, and he found himself doing more research on spells and countercurses than he ever thought he’d do.
Healing was by far his most difficult class. Even Hermione was struggling to keep up. Garrison had them all work with and without their wands while doing spells. As it turned out, Healing could be done without any wands or potions, but simply by the touch of a hand and the thought of a charm. No one in the classroom was able to do such advanced magic, but the notion was appealing. For the first time in his life, Harry found himself looking forward to Potions. It was the only class he was doing exceedingly well in, due to his studies over summer. That gave him an edge going into the class and he found it helped him greatly on exams. The rest of his schedule was mostly to occupy whatever free time he had with studying and pointless facts about topics he would never need to remember. Thanks to his dueling lessons, Charms was all too easy, as was Astronomy. Even Herbology seemed easier thanks to Garrison’s constant work with plants and herbs.
After a stressful week of try-outs, dueling lessons, and schoolwork, Harry was thankful to sleep in on Saturday morning. That day would be the first practice for the new Quidditch team, and he was greatly looking forward to it. As it would turn out, the day was perfect for such a practice, and the team was in good spirits. After several attempts, they worked well as a unit and were able to ask a few of their former teammates from years past to make a second team to play against. The makeshift game lasted the rest of the afternoon with the score 30-35. Both teams were great, and Harry knew he had some alternate players should someone be injured.
That night, Moody and Garrison worked with Harry again, this time on a subject Harry dreaded.
“It’s about time we start teaching you how to use the Unforgivable Curses,” started Moody. “I know it’s not ethical, but in times like these, you need to protect yourself by any means necessary. We don’t use them often, except for emergencies.”
“Like the Muggle Ministry?” asked Harry.
‘Yes, that’s a prime example. And if you’re hoping to kill Voldemort, you’ll need to learn how to use the Killing Curse. So what you do is the exact opposite of a Patronus Spell: you think of the most hateful feelings you have, focus your anger as you did in a few of last night’s spells, and shout the curse. We have a rat for you to practice on.”
“I don’t feel comfortable doing this, Professor,” said Harry timidly, not wanting to perform these curses on a defenseless animal.
“I thought you might say that,” said Garrison. “So I brought something else for you to work with. Come with us.”
“I don’t think he’s ready for that yet,” muttered Moody in Garrison’s ear.
“We need him to be. If he’s not able to defend himself by now, then what use is it to proceed?”
The two men led Harry outside the front doors of Hogwarts into the Forbidden Forest. When something moved to the left of them, all three had their wands out.
“So you have come, then,” said a foreboding voice.
“Yes, the boy should be ready by now,” replied Garrison. “Come on out and show yourself.”
Harry heard steps being taken, but they didn’t sound like footsteps. As the figure came out of the bushes into the light from his wand, Harry recognized him. It was Bane, the centaur.
“You know this young one cannot handle me in a one on one confrontation, I assume,” Bane said, more a comment than a question.
“He’s been taught quite a lot over the past month, and he needs to be tested,” said Garrison. Harry looked at his professor, who had an expression on his face that demanded no argument. Moody stood idly by, leaning on his staff with his face passive but alert.
“Follow me,” said the centaur. Several minutes later, the group was deep in the Forest, coming in to a clearing. Harry heard a whisper behind him just before they stopped.
“This is where we shall see if you are ready,” said Bane. “Draw your wand.”
Harry drew his wand slowly, then turned to his professors.
“Is this really necessary?”
He was not able to ask anything more after that, as he was knocked down by two hooves to his chest.
“Always keep your attention on your opponent, even when you don’t intend to fight at the moment,” the centaur spat out, charging again.
Harry side-stepped Bane and shot a stunning curse at him. Bane dodged it quickly, turning around and picking Harry up, throwing him across the clearing harder this time. Once he landed, the centaur started stomping, forcing Harry to roll out of the way. Remembering his lessons, Harry put a charm on himself which made him hover above the ground and out of stepping height. He landed softly a short distance away and looked around. He couldn’t see a thing anymore. Moody and Garrison weren’t even visible.
Listening to his surroundings, Harry heard Bane breathing quietly to his right. It was unusual not being able to see his opponent.
“I can’t see anything,” he said, more to himself than to anyone else.
“I put a blinding curse on you so you won’t be able to see,” replied Garrison. “Your eyes can deceive you at times, as you’ve seen during your lessons.” Harry was kicked again by the unseen centaur.
“Use your instincts only. Try to feel where your opponent is and be sure to hit him. One miss in a duel could lead to your death.”
Harry stood still for a moment, listening once more. He heard galloping from behind him and knew he had to act quickly. He placed himself under the invisibility charm and dodged at the last moment, feeling Bane’s hooves on his robe sleeve. Harry crouched quietly, thinking of what to do next. He felt a leg brush against him softly before another kick sent him flying. He got up and whispered the clone charm. He placed the illusion next to a tree he felt against his back and walked away. He heard the charge coming, and when the centaur hit the tree, Harry shouted, Expelliarmus! There was a grunt as some trees collapsed with the weight of his opponent. Harry took the invisibility charm off and shouted triumphantly.
Unfortunately, Harry had acted too soon, as he heard more galloping and was thrown back into a tree. He screamed as he felt a sharp part of the trunk sticking out pierce his arm all the way through. He then heard Bane rear up and felt the sting of a kick to the head. It freed him from the tree, but he was now bleeding profusely. He stood up and shouted five curses in a row at where he pictured himself standing earlier. Another collapsing sound followed as he felt dust being spewed in his direction. It was then that his vision was returned.
Harry looked in front of him at Bane, who was covered in wounds, had a broken leg, was immobilized, and confused as to who he was. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he jumped, a curse on the tip of his tongue ready for whoever was next.
“Expelliarmus!” shouted Moody, and Harry’s wand was sent away from him.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, Potter,” said Garrison, and healed the wound on Harry’s arm with a couple different charms. He also touched Harry’s temple with his wand, and Harry felt his energy come back to him. This allowed him to stand straight again without pain.
“Why did you do that to me?” Harry demanded in a loud voice.
“Because it was done to me,” responded Garrison, “when I fought Voldemort. Tomorrow night you have off to do as you please. The following nights you will return to your dueling lessons. However, next Monday evening, you will meet us at the front door of the castle ready for a second duel with Bane. I have something I must attend to, so Alastor will walk you back.”
Garrison turned and walked away. After a few steps, he turned around with a grin and said, “Not bad, Potter.”
“Not bad is right,” agreed Moody after they had returned Bane to his normal, angry state and started walking back to Hogwarts. “I thought Garrison was right in thinking you weren’t ready when you kept getting kicked. You also let up the invisibility charm too early. For your first outing, though, it was better than we expected.”
“Professor, what about this duel with Voldemort Professor Garrison keeps mentioning?”
“I’m not sure if I’m the one to tell you about that. What I will say is that he knows what you need to take on evil in its purest form, and tonight you proved that you are on your way to being a formidable opponent to Voldemort.”
“How did you get Bane to agree to this? Aren’t centaurs very strongly against interacting with us?”
“They are indeed. However, Bane seemed to need an outlet for his anger, and we told him we’d have a fight for him in a little while. The rest of the centaurs didn’t know about it. Rest up, Potter, because next time will be more difficult.”
Harry’s arm hurt the rest of the night and the whole next day, but he was starting to get excited. Finally he was tested in a duel (of sorts), and he was still standing. Another fun thought popped into his head: the game was only a week away!
The next week went by faster than Harry could have imagined. Classes were a lighter load, his lessons weren’t as difficult, and the team was working better than Harry had imagined it. By the time Sunday rolled around, Harry was as excited as ever. He dressed in the locker room with the rest of his teammates, and all wore smiles with their uniforms. Since they were a team made from three houses, they chose to have elements from each house on the uniforms. The color was Blue with a crimson lion’s head ion the back and a golden badger on the front. Brooms at the ready, Harry lined them up before taking a step back and admiring his friends.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for a game all year!” he exclaimed, and the team cheered with him. “And even though it’s only one game, let’s make it the best game any of us has ever played!”
With that, the team marched behind the doors and flew out onto the field. Harry couldn’t restrain himself as he did a couple tricks with his broom and garnered some applause from the crowd.
“Enjoying yourself?” said a cheerful voice behind him. Ginny had flown close to him to talk before the game.
“I thought I’d wish you luck, Captain,” she said with a mischievous grin as she leaned in, kissed him on the cheek, winked at him, and flew off. Harry closed his eyes and smiled, breathing in the perfume she’d left behind. Before Harry could think clearly again, the game had already started. A golden blur in front of his face woke him from his stupor. He spun around and flew after the Snitch. The higher he got, the harder it was to see through the clouds. Harry also noticed a part of the sky that was deathly cold as he flew through it, but paid no attention, as it wore off quickly.
Harry lost the Snitch after some searching and flew back down. When he got within view of the field again, the two Hufflepuffs had already been knocked out of the game, as had their replacements, and one Ravenclaw had the entire Slytherin team after him. Harry made a choice right then and dove straight into the middle of the green-robed team. It was a Wronski Feint, angled to perfection. Two of the Slytherins lost their brooms due to the velocity of Harry’s charge and fell to the ground. When Harry pulled up, he heard a roar from his half of the crowd and did another trick in appreciation.
The game raged on, both teams now with only five players. The Bludgers were slung back and forth menacingly as Harry’s team and the Slytherins continued to play neck-and-neck. After an hour of playing, the Ravenclaw student who was chased before fell, and Slytherin took the lead in a 5 on 4 player game with a commanding score of 120-70. With almost no defense, Harry had to play as a Beater, a Chaser, and the Seeker. To say the least, he was exhausted. When he wasn’t looking, Harry was rammed from behind into one of the goal posts and almost fell off his broom.
Once he’d recovered, Harry noticed Draco Malfoy flying hard and fast into the sky, looking back at him with a sneer. Harry shot up after him, determined to win the game for his team. Strangely enough, when Harry was even with Malfoy, Draco backed off entirely, hovering in place with the sneer as evident as ever. The only Ravenclaw left had followed Harry to make sure Draco wasn’t going to try anything. Moments later, Harry had his fingers around the Snitch. What happened next was an occurrence Harry never forgot.
As soon as his fingertips touched the Snitch, the color turned from gold to a dark green. The small sphere then extended to a length of about fifteen feet before Harry noticed a fanged head that looked all too familiar: Nagini. The snake dove for Harry, who flipped around his broom to dodge the incoming serpent. The Ravenclaw behind him was hit instead with the lethal bite and both fell to the ground. Harry was stunned, and started to shiver. He noticed his shaking wasn’t because of fear, though. He turned around and saw a nightmare come true.
Seven Dementors, followed by at least a dozen Death Eaters, were flying directly at him, casting spells as fast as they could say them. Harry dodged them all as he flew hard for the ground. When he could see the students below, he put his wand to his throat, said Sonorous! and shouted, “Death Eaters! Run!” The students heard him and started to evacuate the stands. Harry soon realized that the spells that he was dodging weren’t all aimed at him. Several hit the grand stands below, collapsing one section with several students still trying to escape. Harry looked in stunned silence as the structure imploded, caving in on itself and crushing the students still on it. The wreck then erupted into green flames. By the time Harry thought he saw a spot to land, he had to rear up quickly, as the grass had been Transfigured into thousands of small blades. Chaos surrounded him as he looked at his surroundings.
The now sixteen Death Eaters were hurling curses at the students not in Slytherin and hitting quite a few. Several students now lay lifeless on the bladed surface of the ground. Others were bleeding from different parts of their body or were unable to breathe. The professors came running onto the field, followed shortly by the Order of the Phoenix. Harry saw Ginny and Ron fly to that group, and he followed. The remaining members of the DA joined them, and the retaliation force was assembled.
Before they could formulate a plan, Nagini was levitated into the middle of the group, separating it. The Death Eaters further divided the Order and the DA, isolating one or two at a time. McGonagall was the first to lose the battle as she was hit with several spells. Unfortunately, she was just one of the injured. More students fell as well while the rest of the school fled to the castle. When two Death Eaters followed, Hagrid clotheslined them. Harry grinned, as three other Death Eaters were killed by the Order and two more were brought down by the DA. Lupin and Tonks fought back to back, knocking a Death Eater off his broom. Ricky Li jumped into the air and did a spin kick, which knocked another Death Eater off his broom. Before he could recover, Ricky stunned him and ran to fight some more. Neville was also shouting spells at the incoming attackers, eventually using the clone spell and luring in another Death Eater. He missed him with the follow-up spell, however, as his adversary noticed what was happening and quickly flew off.
The Order of the Phoenix was trying to put on a show. Moody and Garrison had double teamed one of the Dementors and were slowly but surely killing it with a combination of spells Harry had never seen before. Whenever a Death Eater would try to interfere, one would stop their spell and take care of the distraction. The other professors were hurling curses and spells at anyone wearing black, but hit very few. Even Slughorn was on his feet defending Hogwarts. Harry wished hopelessly that Dumbledore were still alive to fight with them.
Though these small victories were encouraging, the amount of students and Order members that were hurt or killed was astounding. Harry ran all over the place looking for his friends, ignoring the blades cutting into his feet. He found Hermione fighting by herself. She was standing, but her clothes were torn and she had several scratches on her face. She also didn’t seem to notice Malfoy approaching.
“Hermione, turn around!” Harry shouted. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up, clearly not hearing what he was saying. When she turned around, Draco threw a knee into her stomach, which knocked her over. He then started kicking her over the bladed grass to a clearing. Just as Harry was about to act, he noticed the Dementors had gathered in one section of the Quidditch field. As the nearest one moved aside, Harry noticed they were attacking Hagrid. The half-giant was swinging his big arms around the air hopelessly, not hitting the Dementors as they quickly started sucking the life from him. Desperate, Harry ran in their direction. When he was about a hundred meters away, he screamed, Expecto Patronum! A silver stag shot from his wand in the direction of the Dementors, making Harry smile that it was over for them.
The stag hit three of the Dementors, knocking them away from Hagrid, but dissipated before it could hit the rest of them. Harry stood in shocked stillness as the remaining three surrounded Hagrid, giving him the Dementors’ Kiss. A moment later, the half-giant and Keeper of Hogwarts’ body fell to the ground, drained of life.
Harry wanted to scream, but felt unable to. Four more Death Eaters looked over Hagrid’s body, which snapped Harry back to reality. He ran up to them, hurling the cruelest curses he could think of at all of them. Three of the four Death Eaters were stunned by Harry’s outburst as the fourth backed away. Harry had no time to mourn, however, as he remembered his other friends were in trouble.
Hermione now writhed in pain and covered in her own blood at the feet of Draco Malfoy. Harry ran as fast as he could to her. Where’s Ron? he thought fiercely, knowing his friend should be there. He felt guilty for thinking accusatorily, though, as he wasn’t sure if Ron was safe either. I’ll help Hermione first, then I’ll look for Ron and Ginny. The closer he got to Hermione and Malfoy, the more hateful he became, as he could now hear Malfoy’s taunts.
“Are you enjoying this, Granger?” sneered Draco. “You and that stupid Potter were always such a great team. Where is he now? Where’s Dumbledore now? You’re all going to die, and I’m glad I’m able to be the one to kill you. I’ve waited seven long years for this, you filthy Mudblood! This one’s for my father.”
“Avada Kedavra!”
Harry saw the green spark, but it didn’t come from Draco’s wand. Instead, it hit Malfoy square in the chest and threw him back several meters. Suddenly, Ron appeared next to where Harry was standing. He’d been under the invisibility spell. Ron quickly moved alongside Hermione and helped her to her feet. Harry, relieved that his friends were safe, turned around and saw the remaining six Death Eaters retreat, Apparating in mid-air. They were followed by the Dementors. The first strike had just finished.
Harry walked through the field of death, tears falling freely down his face. The bodies that littered the ground seemed innumerable. This hit too close to home. What was worse is that the Order predicted it would happen, just not when. Not like this. Harry started crying more as he looked around him at students that he’d befriended over the years. He longed for the days past when there wasn’t the danger and death that his world now encompassed. Everywhere he looked there was devastation. It wasn’t just the bodies, either. The grass was red with the blood that had been spilt by both good and evil forces. Death Eaters, students, Order members, and DA members alike had died that day. There was even the body of the Dementor Moody and Garrison had killed. The grand stand that once surrounded the Quidditch field had completely collapsed, ending even more lives before their time. Passing by many classmates, Harry’s heart leapt as he saw the one he had been so close to stopping.
Dropping to his knees, Harry’s tears fell on the body of Hagrid, whose once joyful and spirited eyes now held an eternal, blank, lifeless expression. Next to his body, as if to further the irony and pain of not being able to save his friend, the Golden Snitch lay, dead as the giant next to it. Harry stood and looked around, seeing through his blurred vision so much death. How could someone do this? he thought to himself. Now he knew what Voldemort was capable of. Now he knew why they called him the Dark Lord. And now he knew what it would take to stop him: a miracle.
Glancing a few feet from him, Harry recognized a familiar broomstick cleaved in two. It was Ginny’s. Frantically, Harry ran through the field, each step soaking his robes in dew and blood. His heart stopped at the sight of a body with long red hair not three meters from him. He walked slowly up to Ginny, falling to his knees once more. Harry picked up the girl’s body and held it to his chest, howling in the pain his heart had no way of expressing. Wrapping his arms around his fallen friend, he noticed a heartbeat that wasn’t his own.
“Ginny? You’re alive!”
Harry lifted Ginny and carried her to where his other friends were. Ron was just as scratched up as Hermione was, both bruised and bleeding. Neville had a broken nose and several fingers bent backwards, but he wore a look of determination. Ricky was limping but seemed to be alright. Several other members of the DA gathered to where Harry was standing, shaken and hurt, but still standing. Harry was in the worst shape of them all. His arm was broken in three places; one of the bones had pierced the skin. Until it was pointed out to him, he didn’t notice it. Ron had to help him carry Ginny after that. The Order was now gathered around a clearing in the field. Lupin waved them over vehemently. When they were within the confines of the group, he spoke.
“Let’s get back to the castle. There’s nothing more we can do at the moment. We’ll return later.”
Voldemort had the first strike, and he hit so close to the heart that Harry was not able to stop crying the entire walk back to the castle. Hogwarts, his home, had suffered the most devastating attack in its history, the number of casualties over three dozen. The hatred of the Dark Lord could be felt by everyone still breathing, as the air seemed instilled with the emotion. In Harry’s heart, what was left of it, he knew that things would be even more desperate now. The remaining Horcruxes were no longer a priority, but an obligation. He could not allow this to happen again, especially to those closest to him. He refused to allow it, and vowed to find the way to gain a measure of vengeance against the one being he hated more than anything.
Harry Potter & The Silhouette Of Eternal Benevolence by JourneyJosh
Chapter Notes: Harry has his first challenge from his Dueling instructors against a live opponent. This lesson is harder than the previous, but gives a decisive verdict as to whether Harry is capable of defending himself or not. Following, the Quidditch game which gives every Hogwarts attendee something they'll never forget.