Merlin's initial draft seemed the most likely to work at a glance. He, like Rosie, proposed time hopping through alternate realities. Completely ahead of its time. Merlin never finished the draft, however, because he could not foresee a way to power such a ritual without significant human cost. Merlin estimated it would take hundreds of thousands of human lives sacrificed for one person to use it.
Power was not something Tom had to be concerned about. Jump-starting the Hades' ritual to what occurred at the Rosier manor would have taken two to three human sacrifices. One incomplete stone did that.
Rosie had already stockpiled a hundred. They were easy to make. She could make up to three a day before she exhausted herself.
Using Merlin's draft as his base, Tom continued to wheedle out the specifications.
Man really was a genius, appreciated Tom. Some of Merlin's ideas were things even Tom doubted he would have thought of. The wizard made leaps in logic that genuinely impressed the last descendant of Slytherin.
After Rosie and I live our second lives, perhaps we should do this again and jump back to Merlin's time? Tom mused. If only to have a long discussion with him. What would it have been like to be his classmate at Hogwarts, I wonder?
A tantalizing idea.
"Sir!" Sil said shrilly as she appeared on his desk.
Tom lowered his teacup back onto his saucer. "Yes?"
"Hog—Hogsmeade is under attack! B-By V-Voldemort, dementors, and monsters. Mistress is there," fretted Sil. "Sh-She told me to tell you and Fenrir, sir."
It only took Tom a second to process, accept, and act upon that information.
"Tell Fenrir to come here immediately. Alert Berit to shut down the village and ready defenses," ordered Tom, standing up. "Go."
Sil disappeared as Tom quickly hurried out of the office and into their bedroom. He and Rosie had prepared go-bags in the event either of them were under attack. Tom changed into his combat gear, and grabbed Rosie's duffle bag along with a small black box.
Fenrir was already at the front door by the time Tom had finished preparations.
"We'll be going to Hogsmeade," told Tom as he stepped outside. "I need you to round up worgens you trust that can handle Death Eaters, dementors, and other dark creatures. Split them into groups of five and have them—"
Tom waved his wand in the air, conjuring a very crude shape of Hogsmeade. Tom touched five points outside the village.
"Each one goes to a point here," said Tom as he handed Fenrir the black box. "There are five stones and five pieces of paper in this box. Give each group one stone and one piece of paper. Tell them to place the stone at the center of the paper, then tap it with a wand and repeat Incipe. Once you have relayed your instructions, find Rosie at Hogsmeade and give her this duffle bag. She'll know what to do next."
Fenrir accepted each item and the orders with a grimace. "And yeh?"
"I am going to activate the village defenses then head to Hogsmeade to assist," said Tom.
"I'll see yeh there."
"Indeed."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
(Rosie)
"Fenrir, I need you to go find Harry and protect him at all costs," I told him.
"But—"
"Fenrir, I've got everything I need right here," I said, patting the duffle bag. "Harry doesn't. I can't concentrate if I think my twin is in danger. Please, my friend?"
The worgen let out a small groan, his tail drooping. "Fine!"
Fenrir threw back his head and let out a long howl that was echoed by dozens more scattered throughout.
"Brought some pals?" I asked him.
"Some of us liked the taste of Death Eaters," said Fenrir with a feral grin. "See yeh, Rosie. Stay safe."
"Safe as can be," I promised him as Fenrir headed away. "Come on, Boobo—"
I turned to look for Booboo, my pal was already sucking out the soul of a Death Eater below.
"Oh," I said. "Okay, you have fun with that, honey."
I rummaged through my duffle bag before I pulled out an enchanted crossbow. A Dark artifact I had procured from the Lestrange vault and added on a few of my own ideas to. It conjured its own bolts as long as a witch or wizard was holding onto the holster. The bolts were incendiary, causing a small explosion of fire upon impact.
It wasn't something that would be very effective against a wizard—shields would stop the bolts—but it was perfect for those damn spiders. It would be faster than any spell I could cast, and significantly less taxing on me than spamming Accio.
I didn't need good aim. As long as one bolt touched any part of the spider, the entire monster would light up like a tree doused in gasoline.
I had to admit it made me smile the first time I heard the acromantulas scream from being set on fire.
Ahhh. That's nice.
I had faith in Fenrir's ability to reach Harry faster than I—and most importantly, protect Harry. With that in mind, I could redirect my efforts to meticulously murdering the enemy opposition. I hid on the rooftops, firing bolts at any monsters that got too close. If there were any vulnerable Death Eaters, I either snapped their necks with my Accio or watched Booboo go num num like the cutie patootie little death machine was.
I'm glad Iris went flying with Hedwig today, I thought. I'd hate for her to get frostbite from all the dementor presence—or worse, hurt trying to protect me.
My sweet little Iris wasn't a fighter, after all. She was my cuddle buddy first and foremost.
I didn't count how many died by my hand.
I didn't think that was something I wanted to know.
At some point, I stopped renewing the stealth charms. I was entering combat so frequently that it would be a waste of my energy to constantly refresh them.
As I hopped from one rooftop to the other, I heard a familiar voice.
"There you are."
I looked down at the streets as Tom floated up to stand beside me on the rooftop.
With a smile, I asked, "Missed me?"
"Terribly," he said. Tom tossed me a vial with red liquid inside. "Here, drink this."
"What is it?"
"Antidote."
"For what?"
"Sedative."
"For—"
"Yes."
"What, no dramatic one v one?"
Tom scoffed. "Last time I did that I got my foot blown off. Why would I risk that again? I'm not some cannon fodder Gryffindor."
I grinned. "No, but you are my favorite drama queen."
"Just because I appreciate a certain atmosphere for some events does not make me a drama queen."
"Oh, so you don't have a record to listen to whenever you want to brood—"
"That is completely different, and I don't brood."
"Sorry. Scheme."
He narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Don't drink the potion, pass out for all I care."
I chugged the antidote. "Blech."
Booboo drifted back over to us, dragging the rapidly decaying corpse of some poor witch he had sucked the soul out of. Booboo used his other hand to greet Tom with the spirit fingers.
Tom stared at Booboo. "My God. You actually trained a pet dementor."
"He's not a pet, he's a friend," I corrected. "Right, Booboo?"
Booboo wiggled his fingers at me.
"Beautifully said," I praised him in a cooing tone.
Tom scoffed. "Enough. Let's go find that husk and be done with it."
"Right behind you," I said. "Any clue how we're going to find hi—it, I mean it?"
Tom's lips twitched into a brief smile. "You, dear."
"Me?"
"It's raiding to find you," he said. "It wants to use you as leverage against me. Make yourself nice and noticeable, won't you?"
"The thief inside me screams no. But the drama queen in me is praising hell yes."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
After some debilitation, I decided to spam my flash-bang spell. It was flashy enough to draw attention, and there weren't many people who knew the spell. Voldemort should be clever enough to conclude I was the one casting it.
As I spammed it, a few more Death Eaters approached but they were dispatched by Booboo or Tom.
It took a solid five minutes until Lord Voldemort showed up, and unfortunately for me I was pretty winded. I had cast a lot of spells, and I felt the drain on my magic. I was fit, but everyone had limits and I was definitely at mine. It took a lot just to stand up and not wheeze.
Lord Voldemort descended upon the snowy floor of Hogsmeade in a whisper of shadows. Red eyes gleamed underneath his hood as he lazily pointed his wand at me.
"Surrender, and I'll spare your brother," he said in that high-pitched soft voice.
"You—don't even—have him," I panted.
Holy smokes I am so tired.
I couldn't even scrounge up terror. There were too many dementors in the air. All I could feel was a cold oppression of peace, coupled with exhaustion. My legs trembled, and I shakily held up my wand.
I've got one good shield charm, I thought. Or one good summoning.
If I was fast enough I could summon some nearby rubble to block the killing curse. Although it was, understandably, still a big risk.
Voldemort smiled cruelly. "So certain of that, are you? Look around you. Listen. Feel. Hogsmeade will be wiped out, nothing but a pile of burning rocks by the end of the day. You and your brother's fate was sealed the moment the prophecy was made. The only choice you have now is how painfully you will die—or—if only one of you has to die. Surrender, and your brother will get to live a long happy life. Resist and—"
Lord Voldemort toppled over.
I stared at his unconscious body. "What?"
Tom hopped down from one of the rooftops, waving his wand to conjure bindings. The ropes flew towards Voldemort, wrapping round his limbs.. "There we go."
"What? What was that?"
"I told you, sedative."
"He was monologuing!"
"Perfect time to use it, he was clearly breathing," dismissed Tom.
"But—" I gestured. "This feels lame. I feel like I've been cheated from witnessing an epic battle."
Tom raised an eyebrow. "The battle best won is the one never fought."
I sighed. "Yeah... I guess. So what are—"
Tom flipped Voldemort over and then did something odd with his wand. He muttered a spell I didn't recognize, but it made Voldemort seize for a bit until a small white orb flew out of his mouth and into a jar Tom had prepared. Tom immediately put a cap over it, then put the jar in his pocket.
"Okay," he said. "I've got its soul fragment, how do you want to kill it?"
"You did that way too easily."
"I'm a genius wizard who has had months to prepare. Why wouldn't it be easy?"
"Your ego is getting out of hand."
"Don't be silly," he dismissed. "If you don't choose how it dies, I'll just slit its throat and be done with it."
"That is way too boring," I protested. "Let me think... um... Okay, give me five minutes."
Tom stepped away from the body. "Have at it."
I eagerly rubbed my hands together. "Heh..."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Despite Voldemort being taken care of, it still took another solid hour to eliminate the remaining forces. More and more worgens showed up to assist after we told Sil to let Berit know that Voldemort had been defeated.
But at the end of that hour, I proudly presented Voldemort's head on a pike.
There was an uproar of celebration. Screams of joy and triumph from the aurors as I was hoisted into the air.
Everything was a bit of a blur after that. I had to answer a lot of questions and repeat a practiced story that Tom made up for me. When I was finally released I had to repeat the story several times for Sirius and Harry who listened with rapt attention.
News broke out the following morning.
The death toll, along with the headline that Voldemort had been defeated once and for all.
It was bittersweet. It might not have been the canonical Battle of Hogwarts, but it was still a huge battle. There were a lot of deaths—a lot. Some students were killed.
Children.
That couldn't be dismissed, or understated.
Innocents were murdered that day. People who were minding their business, living their own life, suddenly thrust into a massacre not seen since in England since the last war. The scars of the survivors would linger for years to come—physical and mental.
I was happy Voldemort was finally dealt with, but I wouldn't ignore the fact that many had to die for that to happen.
The students were mostly at The Three Broomsticks and so they were able to hole up in there during the assault. I had been told through the grapevine that Theodore and Harry were particularly impressive in creating the defenses and commanding the cowering students. I was grateful that my friends had stuck close together and consequently they survived.
Not everyone was that lucky.
Mothers were lost. Fathers. Daughters. Sisters. Brothers.
A lot of deaths.
There was no Battle at Hogwarts. But I had to wonder if the death toll was still similar... or perhaps even greater as a price for my meddling.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
With only a few weeks left in the year, my sixth year at Hogwarts ended quietly.
Tom, as promised, got rid of the jinx on the DADA position so Snape was able to keep his post (although he already expressed an interest in retirement because let's be honest, he hates kids). Slughorn promised to remain for at least one more year at Hogwarts to give Dumbledore ample time to find a Potions replacement.
Voldemort was gone. The Dark Marks vanished with him.
Although not because he was actually dead. Tom knew how the Dark Marks worked and severed their connection to Voldemort so they would fade upon his "death." Otherwise, the Death Eaters would just assume he'd return again.
There was no lingering tension in the air as the Ministry refocused its efforts on continuing to shift to the Light side.
Hermione and I kept working on safely freeing the House Elves—a project I suspected we would not finish prior to my time jump, but that was fine because I believed we could finish it separately if need be.
The Malfoys and Notts returned before the year ended, meeting up with their children in Hogsmeade for a very loving family reunion.
The worgens were heavily credited with assisting the Ministry at Hogsmeade—and I paid all the media outlets to paint them in the best light possible—and in doing so I felt it was finally safe for Lunar's Orchid to open its doors to everyone.
It was a turbulent semester, but things were healing at the end.
Things were looking up once more.
I hoped things would remain peaceful for many years to come.
ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
Sorry for those who wanted some kind of epic battle. I hate fight scenes. I hate them so much. So very much. Fuck that shit. I didn't wanna write it. :)
We have technically concluded the main chunk of the story. Next chapters will be epilogues + bonus chapters. Home stretch everyone!
63 - Year 7
64 - Graduation
65 - The Bucket List / Ending Notes / Questions
66 - Bonus (pt 1)
67 - Bonus (pt 2)
Answer: With the use of Deus Ex Machina I get a neat little scythe that lets me rip open a temporary portal to "hell" from the Doom-verse and send them straight through. :D
Question: You are a seventh year Hogwarts student. You cannot bring any Muggle items into Hogwarts because all of your bags were checked at the start of the year, and your mail is monitored. You cannot leave Hogwarts. How do you survive the Battle At Hogwarts?
See y'all July 1st, 2021~
Reviews are love!
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