Nothing happened.
Around the cauldron, the Death Eaters raised their wands towards the smoke rising through the hovering ring. The smoke curled in on itself and began to compress, slowly
starting to take shape.
Harry tugged at his bonds again and tried another spell to remove them. Again he failed.
He just could not move his wand enough to cast properly. Not all the ‘swish and flick’ practice in the world helped when your hands were tied behind your back. Apparating was still his best bet, even though he could not move much more than an inch. Hopefully, it was enough.
Above the cauldron, the smoke congealed into a frighteningly familiar form. In the distance Harry heard a church bell start to chime; it was midnight.
“Come, oh Dark Lord,” cried Malfoy excitedly at the ghostly image. “Come back to this world and face those who have waited for you. Come and get WHAT YOU TRULY DESERVE!” he screamed.
The other Death Eaters, still holding their wands towards the apparition, took a step backwards from the cauldron.
Ghostly! In a horrified moment of clarity, Harry understood what Malfoy was trying to do.
He was trying to raise the ghost of Voldemort and put it into a body!
Voldemort floated, half-formed, above the levitating ring. From the waist down it was still vapour, but the upper half was as fully formed as any ghost Harry had ever seen.
Harry crouched down and then flung himself hard against the ropes, moving as far as possible, while once again trying to Apparate.
Instantly he felt the familiar sensation of being forced through a very tight rubber tube, and then he was standing behind the Death Eaters. The ropes and gag had been left behind, and he wasted no time in raising his wand.
“Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy,” shouted Harry.
Although his mouth was dry from the gag, he managed to get the three spells out in one breath.
At the sound of his Apparition, Malfoy had instinctively thrown himself flat on the ground, so Harry’s first curse flew above his head. Nott and Goyle were not as fast, and took hits in the chest and leg respectively. The third Death Eater yelled in fright before dropping out of sight.
Harry was forced to duck and take cover as Malfoy rolled behind a headstone and started throwing curses back at him.
“YOU FOOL POTTER!” Malfoy screeched, from behind his headstone. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING.”
Harry crawled around to the other side of a headstone, and tried to find the third Death Eater. If he could keep Malfoy talking, he would be able to keep track of where he was.
“I know exactly what I am doing," he called back. "I am stopping you!”
“YOU IDIOT, THE SPELL WAS FINISHED.”
Harry looked over the top of his cover and saw the smoke drawing back through the ring and into the cauldron, which started shooting sparks high into the air.
“THE DARK LORD IS GOING TO RETURN UNLESS WE KILL HIM NOW!”
It took a second for Harry to register what Malfoy just said.
“What are you raving about, Malfoy? He was already DEAD. YOU BROUGHT HIM BACK!” he shouted, and then threw a few of curses towards the headstone Malfoy was hiding behind. Chips of stone flew as a couple hit it and the others flew harmlessly over the top. The third Death Eater was nowhere to be seen, and Harry was worried he might be circling around.
“DO YOU THINK HE WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO RELY ON HORCRUXES ALONE?” Malfoy was still screaming hysterically, but his words gave Harry reason to pause.
“What do you mean?” he called back, still searching for the other Death Eater.
Harry could hear Malfoy gasping for breath just a scant dozen metres away. Beyond that, he could see the cauldron boiling even more furiously than before. Voldemort had told Harry personally that he had tried many things to achieve immortality. Was Malfoy telling Harry he had succeeded?
“He made a ring that would bring him back as a ghost,” said Malfoy. “I thought nobody knew about it, but I found it, and figured out how to use it.”
Harry had no idea if Malfoy was just playing for time while the other Death Eater was sneaking up on him, or if he was telling the truth. Either way, Harry could not just lie there and wait. He decided to make a run for a large gravestone not far away. It offered more protection and was on the side away from where he had last seen Jorkins, the third Death Eater.
“Why, Malfoy? Why did you bring him back? He was defeated!” Harry hoped Malfoy would be distracted enough answering not to be ready to hit him as he leapt up and ran for the better position.
“SO I COULD UTTERLY DESTROY HIM, YOU FOOL!” screamed Malfoy again.
Harry made it to his new cover without any spells flying at him. He scanned the area from his new perspective for signs of Jorkins. In the distance, between some headstones, he could see a leg sticking out from close to where Jorkins had been standing earlier. It looked like he had chosen to lie down on the spot and wait for Harry. Malfoy’s ravings made no sense to Harry, and he didn’t want to say anything in case it gave away his new position, so he waited quietly.
“You see, Harry, unlike the Horcruxes, the ring did not contain a part of the Dark Lord," continued Malfoy, “but it did contain a spell. I could not destroy the ring, but to leave it would be risking somebody following the same trail that I followed for five years, and possibly bringing him back. Can you imagine Voldemort as a ghost, Harry? He would finally be immortal.”
Harry could see one of Malfoy’s legs sticking out. He was sitting with his back against the gravestone, watching the cauldron. There was not enough leg to make a good target, and Harry still did not want to give away his position.
“I HATE HIM, HARRY. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I HATE HIM EVEN MORE THAN YOU!”
Harry bent down and, careful to keep as much cover as possible between them, started crawling.
“He killed my family. He killed all of our families, AND I WANT TO KILL HIM!”
Harry knew Draco was insane now. Nobody in their right mind would resurrect somebody, just so they could kill them again. Harry edged forwards on his elbows and knees, holding his breath for fear of Malfoy hearing him. He was exposed for a few metres before he would be right behind the lunatic.
“So I convinced the others to help me, so they could get their revenge too. Now it’s too late.” The last sentence was said in a sob. Had Harry been further away he would not have heard it. A few seconds more and he would be able to stick his wand in Malfoy’s ear as he stunned him. Then he could go after the other Death Eater, who still had not moved.
Then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. Harry looked up as a surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron. Through the mist, he saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.
Voldemort.
Malfoy leapt to his feet, his wand pointing at Voldemort and tried to scream the killing curse.
“Avada Kedav-” he began, but was cut off as the creature flew from the steam and landed heavily on him.
Harry saw its face, and it did not look like Voldemort. Instead of the skull-white face and livid scarlet eyes, this face was a worse horror. There were no eyes, but black pits where the sockets should have been. Its mouth was a gaping hole, more like a Dementor’s than a man’s, and the nose was just two slits. Harry could see its outstretched hands were claws.
Malfoy screamed as the creature drove him to the ground and knocked the wand out of his hand. Despite Malfoy's struggles, the creature lowered its mouth down to his face, making him scream even louder.
Harry leapt to his feet and threw a curse at the monster that looked for all the world like a Dementor performing the lethal kiss.
“Stupefy!” he shouted.
His spell hit the creature full on. It did not pay any attention.
Under its hands, Malfoy fought weakly, his eyes wide with terror. Harry could imagine that he saw life being sucked out, and the creature seemed to be swelling as it fed.
“Petrificus Totalus!” he yelled, walking closer. Again the creature ignored him.
“Sectumsempra!” he screamed, slashing with his wand. This was the most powerful curse he had ever used, and had once almost killed Malfoy. The creature ignored him and continued its foul meal.
Harry gave up casting and ran at it. He put all of his strength into a powerful kick at its head. The kick connected with a sickening thud and, to Harry’s astonishment, threw the creature off Malfoy.
“Avada Kedavra!” he yelled, pointing his wand at it.
A jet of green light shot from the end of his wand and hit the thing rolling on the ground. Harry could see it more clearly now, and it looked more like a man than it had just a few moments ago. It appeared that feeding on Malfoy had started to make it more human.
To his further astonishment, it didn’t die. It quickly rolled over and got to its clawed feet.
Harry stood stunned. He had never used a killing curse before, and knew it took a desire and willingness to kill that he had never possessed, but he had given it everything he had, and the creature was still going.
“Incarcerous!” he threw at it.
Instantly ropes appeared and bound the creature. It gave a mighty heave and the ropes exploded away into nothing. Then, before he could cast another spell, it leapt into the air and landed on him, bearing him to ground just as it had done Malfoy.
He managed to hold onto his wand. One snakelike arm of the creature held it down while the other gripped the back of Harry’s head and tried to force his face closer. Harry had one arm wedged between them and pushed with all his might to keep it away. Its gaping mouth was open and Harry began to feel the unmistakable pull of every happy thought he had ever had being sucked out of him.
All happiness was draining from him. Images of flying, of his friends laughing, of the births of his children, all of them and more slipped through his mind and started to disappear.
He struggled to hold onto a single happy thought, and concentrated as hard as he had ever done before: Ginny and young Sirius bringing him breakfast on his birthday. Nothing made him happier than his family. Waving his wand weakly, he cast his final spell.
“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Harry bellowed.
Out of the end of his wand burst a blinding, dazzling, silver stag. It hooked its horns under the creature and flicked it high into the air.
Harry rolled over and coughed up blood. The creature flew at him again, but the Patronus jumped between them and charged, throwing it back. Again and again the monster tried to get past. The stag was vicious in its counterattacks. Harry was still too weak and shaken to get to his feet. He could see gashes appearing wherever the stag’s horns hit the creature. He did not know if it would be able to destroy the Voldemort-Dementor, but at least it was holding it at bay, for the moment.
“Avada Kedavra,” croaked a voice next to him. A green light, much brighter than the one Harry had produced, shot out and stuck the creature in one of the gashes in its chest. It stopped moving as a piece of its ‘flesh’ fell off.
Harry swivelled his head around and looked at Malfoy. Propped against the gravestone, Malfoy pointed his wand at the creature and launched another attack.
“Avada Kedavra,” Malfoy repeated, so quietly it was almost a whisper, but the green light that sprang from his wand was just bright as the first. A ragged piece of the creature tore from its side where the spell hit another gash. The creature looked stunned and unsure of what to do.
Harry hesitated. He wanted to kill the creature, and Malfoy’s spells seemed to be working, but he was half expecting one to be turned on him at any moment.
Just then, the creature let out an unnatural scream, and turned to flee. Harry acted without thinking and cast a stunning curse at its back. The spell hit, and the creature stumbled.
Harry’s Patronus galloped and caught it up into its horns, then again threw it into the air.
Harry climbed to his feet and started throwing every curse he knew at it. The ones that hit holes made by the Patronus had the most effect, often ripping off more pieces. Beside him, Malfoy kept hitting it with the killing curse. He was taking longer and longer between each casting, and his voice was growing weaker. The green light from each curse was also showing signs of dimming, but they were winning.
Harry felt a surge of excitement, and did something he had never even considered trying before.
“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” he yelled, and then stopped at the shock of what he had just done.
He had never heard of anyone summoning two Patronuses at the same time, and he did not even know if it was possible.
A wave of weakness overcame him as another dazzling shape emerged from the end of his wand and flew into the night sky. It was not a stag, but a bird, a phoenix.
It did not immediately attack, but flew above their heads and began to sing. It was the same eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly song he had last heard on his birthday, and it filled Harry with hope and strength.
He stood still, exhausted, as the Voldemort-Dementor appeared to go insane at the sound and tried to escape, but was caught and battered by his stag Patronus.
Finally, the stag made a great lunge, and stuck its horns right through the creature. There was a blinding flash of light and a rush of wind that pushed Harry backwards. When he looked up again, the creature was gone.
The stag Patronus slowly walked over, not leaving any footprints in the sand, and, just as it had done many years ago on the shores of the lake at Hogwarts, stood still in front of him.
“Hello Prongs,” said Harry, as he reached out his hand, but it vanished before he could touch it.
“Very touching, Potter,” drawled a voice weakly behind him.
Harry spun around, wand ready, to face Malfoy. Draco was still slumped against the gravestone. He looked sick, and did not appear to have enough energy to raise his wand.
Harry lowered his wand and walked to stand in front of the dying man. Above them, the phoenix still sang. Draco looked weakly at Harry and smiled.
“You’re an idiot, Potter,” he continued.
Then turned his face up and watched the phoenix.
“What a beautiful song,” Draco whispered, smiling gently.
After a second, his head slumped down, and Harry knew he was dead.
The Return by bajab
Chapter Notes: Seems when I save this story br tags keep getting added and i ones disappear.