Chapter 28: Against Voldemort
Harry smiled slightly as he saw the almost transparent figure of his father and then his mother, who followed after James Potter appeared. The rest of the people gasped as they saw the figures of Harry Potter's parents coming out of Voldemort's wand.
"Harry, you have to hold on!" James exclaimed loudly as he looked at Voldemort.
"Don't tell me what I already know, old man," Harry smiled even harder. These were merely echoes, not ghosts or full souls. It was a shame, was what Harry thought. It would have been nice to be able to meet his parents for real. Although, even if they were just echoes, his heart leapt with a bit of happiness and excitement as he heard his parents' voices.
Harry made use of his great control and sent more spiritual energy into his wand, making the now golden jet of light grow a bit larger. And, while holding his wand tightly, he pulled out Taurus Horn from his belt and pointed it at Voldemort.
As Harry pressed the trigger, a small sound was heard from Taurus Horn and, in a single instant, a bright red light was fired at an astonishing speed. Voldemort opened his eyes in surprise, knowing that he couldn't dodge properly. Even if he took a step back and stopped fighting Harry, he would still be hit by the Expelliarmus, sending him flying for a few meters. And, if that happened, he would be at the mercy of other spells from Harry.
But Voldemort didn't become a Dark Lord simply because of his charisma. He was an expert in magic. So, he moved his hand and cast wandless magic silently; knowing the curse was coming towards him, he blocked it with his own.
Reducto!
Both curses collided, creating a bright light before disappearing. However, Harry fired once more. Voldemort gritted his teeth and cast wandless magic again, blocking the Explosion Charm with the same charm, creating an explosion between the two, causing the ground to crack a little and pieces of dirt to fly out.
The spectators were shocked, especially the older and older ones, who recognized Voldemort. And those who could recognize them, screamed his name in fear, causing the students to scream and try to run.
Hearing the screams, Dumbledore blinked and snapped out of his shock to see Harry pull out a weapon that looked Muggle, but that shoots magic. The headmaster stepped forward and fired a jet of fire that turned into a whip and hit Voldemort, sending him flying with burns on his right arm.
"Dumbledore!" Voldemort shouted in fury, looking the headmaster in the eyes.
Madame Bones screamed at that very moment, ordering the Aurors to attack with all their might. The golden rays that had blocked Harry and the Dark Lord in a dome had disappeared, allowing the Aurors to attack.
Harry jumped back, taking four steps at a time, staring intently at Voldemort, and ready for any attack against him. However, he only saw Voldemort gritting his teeth before sending out a pulse of magic in the form of a dark mist before disappearing completely from everyone's sight.
The Aurors looked around, expecting sudden attacks, but when they only heard silence and did not see the Dark Lord, they realized that he had escaped. Madame Bones growled under her breath before looking at Dumbledore.
"You were right, Dumbledore! I had my doubts at first, but now no one can deny the Dark Lord's return!" she said forcefully, angry at the people who were the cause of this and at the same time worried about the future of Britain.
"Mr. Potter!"
"Yes?" Harry looked at Madame Bones curiously.
"Your performance was exemplary and also a huge help to the Ministry of Magic and Britain. If it weren't for your planning with Headmaster Dumbledore, then everyone would deny the Dark Lord's return, preventing the Magic Enforcement Department from doing their job."
"My sincerest thanks."
Harry waved his hand back and forth: "Don't worry, it would be a nuisance if no one believed about his return. However, I would like to ask you a favor."
Madame Bones nodded.
"Do an interview about this. If you don't, Minister Fudge will become a nuisance to your department. And, in that interview, incite the people to move on their own and defend themselves," Harry paused for a few moments before looking at Madame Bones seriously, "Despite having the power to stand up to the Dark Lord, I have neither the intention nor the time to protect everyone, much less sheep hiding behind others. If the people don't stand up for their rights and safety, then you can sit back and have tea while Voldemort destroys all of Britain."
"Harry is right...", Dumbledore walked over slowly with his hands behind his back. "While Harry was a bit aggressive in his way of portraying things, he is still right. People need to stand up for themselves. Because if at some point in the future, another Dark Lord appears, there will be no one to stop him like there is now with Voldemort."
"I am not immortal and I do not have the answers to everyone. Which is what people seem to think. And Harry, while an amazing young man, will not lift a finger in the event that another Dark Lord rises, not unless people come out of their dreams that a person... a hero will always appear."
Madame Bones nodded, understanding perfectly. She was of a similar mindset to them. However, she had not thought of giving an interview. And, now that Harry mentioned Fudge, she mentally cursed at the repercussions that could happen if Fudge denied everything, even more so with the present and escaped the place on his own.
"You can rest assured. I will do just that, and I had planned from the beginning to encourage people to protect themselves anyway," she replied seriously.
Harry just raised his arms and stretched his back a little. In his opinion, it wasn't a bad battle. A little short, lasting only as long as necessary for the plan to work properly. But, he would have liked to fight a little longer. It's not that Harry is becoming a battle maniac, but being one of the strongest people in his world, he didn't have many challenges other than magic research. This was the same reason why he thought about playing with Voldemort weeks ago, because he didn't have much else to do.
The good thing was that now he wouldn't really have to do too much, just wait for the perfect moment to exterminate Voldemort, was what Harry thought before his thoughts strayed to what he had planned to be able to finish Hogwarts, even though it was just a step towards being able to graduate.
. . .
Harry sighed as he finally finished the last Owl task. It had been two weeks since the third task ended and things were a little hectic. However, compared to the three days after Lord Voldemort's return, then it is certainly an improvement. People barely left their houses and simply waited for the news to come from the newspaper or the radio broadcast.
Minister Fudge was barely able to do anything when Madame Bones decided to give interviews just one day after Voldemort's return, and that in the early hours. Fudge was sweating from people shouting at him from all sides to do something. Sadly, Rita Skeeter was on task three, so she was able to post about Harry Potter fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The repercussions, however, were severe for many purebloods. Lucius Malfoy, who was captured, was flooded with Veritaserum and spoke as much as he could before falling unconscious from the truth serum. Madame Bones showed no mercy to the male head of the Malfoy family.
The method by which the Dark Mark is obtained...
Names of pureblood family heads...
Acts he committed...
Acts others committed under Voldemort's orders...
Threats...
Betrayals...
Everything Lucius Malfoy knew and the acts he committed came to light two days after Lord Voldemort's return. People were outraged, especially the half-bloods and muggle-borns. And even if they had a lower opinion level than the purebloods, they were supported by the purebloods who were against Voldemort. The purebloods Lucius mentioned were captured and imprisoned, awaiting questioning; Dolores Umbridge was imprisoned for obstructing the actions of the Authors and the DMLE. And, one of the most important things: Cornelius Fudge was dismissed by the Wizengamot chamber for not being able to look after the welfare of the magical community of Great Britain.
In another day, the next Minister for Magic will be voted on.
And, Harry, who witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort as well as having managed to drive him back, was invited to the assembly. The Wizengamot was actually not a court of justice and parliament run by the heads of houses of various ancient houses. However, it would not be unusual for many to have bought a seat on said court, or to have inherited a seat. Especially the latter, if a son of someone who holds a seat on the Wizengamot is really suitable for the position, it is not so bad for him to inherit that position. After all, no one would say much when that person is truly capable and does his job properly as asked. Sadly, the people who have inherited a position were never what they expected and, honestly, they were difficult to remove, hence the reason why the Wizengamot is in such a deplorable state compared to what it was in ancient times.
A good grasp of magical laws, being born in Britain, caring about the community: its safety and well-being, being a legal adult, having no criminal record, having scored a maximum of five above expectations (Grade E) on the NEWT tests; these were the basic requirements to even be able to apply for a position on the Wizengamot.
Harry could only shake his head at how corrupt Britain's magical court was. It was a small relief that several of those people had been imprisoned thanks to Lucius Malfoy's interrogation.
Harry, out of all the people he knew, could only think of three who might actually be a good choice for Minister for Magic: Dumbledore, Tiberius Ogden, Madame Bones, or Augusta Longbottom. All four were currently part of the Wizengamot, unfortunately, Dumbledore would have to step down from his position as Chief Warlock if he was elected as Minister, as well as leave his position as Headmaster, so it was difficult for him to accept. Ogden was someone who respected Dumbledore, a man of great knowledge and intelligence, as well as having impeccable morals. Not much could be said for Madame Bones, that woman was tough and had what it took.
Now, Augusta was someone he didn't know very well, but he was aware of being just as morally impeccable as Tiberius Ogden. Plus, even at her age, she was incredibly good at dueling. At her age, she had wisdom and cunning; of course, she was also a more rigid woman when it came to changes. They all had their pros and cons, but certainly more than acceptable options for the position.
"Did you finish everything, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as he approached Harry, who closed a door behind him. They were currently in the Ministry of Magic, more specifically, in the Department of Magical Education, where the magical examination authorities took their OWL tests.
"Yes... I am confident in passing all the tests I did with exceeding expectations," Harry nodded and said confidently.
"That's good news," Dumbledore smiled, but his face slowly changed to a much more serious expression.
"However, I would like to show you something important. Please, if you follow me."
Harry raised an eyebrow before nodding slowly and starting to follow Dumbledore. The two walked while somewhat ignoring all the people running, walking fast or shouting about everything that had happened regarding Voldemort. They had a lot of extra work to do in order to do something better. Harry was a little surprised when he arrived at the Ministry to be able to do the tests. Apparently, Madame Bones' words had served quite well to wake people from their dreams.
When they arrived at the place, having gone down several floors of the Ministry, they came to a place guarded by a person. It was a room full of shelves with dull orbs and other bright ones.
"At first, I didn't want to show you this. I didn't know how you would respond or act to such a thing. However, you have now matured a great deal in a short time and have become stronger," Dumbledore said before extending his hand and making an orb with a few words written beneath it.
SPT to APWBD
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter
"This is a prophecy given to me by Professor Sybill Trelawney when I was interviewing her for her position at Hogwarts."
Harry blinked, a little surprised that Dumbledore told him about the prophecy, and even brought him to the place where he was. Harry took the orb before taking out his wand and listening to the prophecy.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord draws near... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
_______________________________