HP/LOTM: Visionary - 439

Chapter 439: Extermination, Bad News from Dobby, Setting Out to Rescue​

The gorgon’s snake hair opened its jaws at Harry, and several pillars of light blasted out, scorching magic tearing through the air as they streaked towards Harry and the other two.

Harry refused to give ground. He lifted his wand, and the power of resentment was instantly transformed by the power of love, condensing beside him into a blood-red shield. The beams slammed into it and rebounded at once, detonating in a violent explosion near the gorgon and leaving seared scars across the surrounding ground.

At the side, Ethan moved in perfect sync with Harry. He swung his wand hard, as if cracking a massive whip, and the flames covering the ground gathered with each motion, twisting into a spiralling drill of fire that spun at terrifying speed.

“Fiendfyre!”

As Ethan spoke the incantation, the blazing drill shot out like an armour-piercing round, flashing past in an instant and punching straight through the gorgon’s abdomen.

Harry seized the opening. A Patronus Charm burst forth, summoning a gigantic stag. It stood proud and imposing, muscles taut, legs bent slightly as it gathered strength.

Then it kicked off the ground. Dust exploded beneath its hooves as its body pitched forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, surging ahead with astonishing speed, every movement sharp and powerful.

Its antlers, as keen as spears, rammed straight through the gorgon while it was still in mid-air. Harry’s magic surged into Tom’s body, and golden flames erupted across the gorgon in an instant.

“I’ll add one more shove!” Ethan raised his hand and poured hell’s power into it.

Resentment and hell were highly compatible. One embodied retribution in kind, the other embodied karmic payback, and together they matched perfectly with the blood feud between Tom and Harry, so…

Whoosh!

The golden flames on Tom’s body shot into the sky, so intense that even the faded First Layer of the Deep Realm was stained with a faint hint of gold.

They watched in silence as Tom’s soul turned to ash within the fire.

“Harry, you’ve grown stronger,” Sirius said sincerely. His godson was already like Harry’s father, a formidable wizard in his own right. Perhaps it was time to think about retiring.

“We… won?” Ron still did not dare lower the Sword of Gryffindor.

“Of course,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes. “Two core holders of the Deep Realm’s kings, fighting against the remnant soul of a single holder. You think she could flip the table?”

“Let’s leave. This place makes my skin crawl,” Hermione said, hugging herself and rubbing her arms.

“Go.” Ethan grabbed them and bored a hole through the boundary between illusion and reality, sending them back to the real world.

At the same time, still in Romania, Tom once again felt her remnant soul being destroyed. This time, she finally could not endure it any longer and set off immediately, preparing to return to Britain.

But the moment she left, Edmond, stationed at a port on the Nile, received the news at once.

“No idea how many people Aiden planted in her camp, but they can even pass along the exact time she left,” Edmond muttered. “That cannot be a low rank.”

He clenched his fist. The note in his hand crumbled into ash. Then he picked up the receiver on his desk and dialled.

“Miss Nura, pass the word along. It’s time to attack.”

…

The group who had returned from hell made their way back to the Hog’s Head Inn. In a ripple of space, Dobby arrived.

“Harry Potter, Dobby is so happy to see you safe,” Dobby said, his voice bright with relief.

“Forget them. What about the information I told you to investigate?” Aberforth came out from the back kitchen, instantly stealing Dobby’s attention.

“Oh, yes. Those… bad wizards took Lovegood’s daughter, Mr Ollivander, and the goblin Griphook,” Dobby said. “They are being held in… the bad Malfoy’s house.”

Dobby shrank in on himself as he spoke. Even after being freed from the Malfoys’ contract, he still struggled to insult them, and his hands drifted towards his head as he edged closer to the bar again.

“Dobby, stop. You’re not the Malfoys’ house-elf anymore. Don’t punish yourself!” Harry cut in quickly.

Only after receiving a new wizard’s order did the ingrained compulsion finally stop working on Dobby.

“Luna’s been taken?” Ethan asked. As a Ravenclaw, he naturally knew that odd, lively girl.

“So, we’re going to rescue them?” Sirius raised his brows at him.

“Of course. We’re the vigilante duo,” Ethan said, leaning into the drama for a moment.

“But be careful,” Aberforth warned. “Malfoy Manor is one of their main bases. It won’t be easy to break into.”

“Dobby…” Dobby lifted a hand. “Dobby can take you inside.”

The wizards present all drew in a breath.

Some wizarding families cast Anti-Apparition charms over their homes, but for convenience, they rarely accounted for house-elf magic. That made the creatures wizards looked down on most, yet those who could still use magic, the one loophole in countless forbidden places.

“All right, then let’s go now!” Harry sprang up, eyes shining.

“But… Dobby can only take two people,” Dobby said, his ears drooping with guilt. “If there are too many, the travelling time will become longer, and that will put you in danger.”

“It’s all right, Dobby. You’re already amazing,” Harry said, then looked around at everyone.

“Only two. Who’s coming with me?” Harry asked.

“No need. Ethan and I will go,” Sirius said, raising a brow. “We’re more experienced with this sort of thing, and our teamwork’s better.”

“No. I have to go,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Malfoy Manor might be hiding a Horcrux, and I’m the one who can sense it.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Ethan suggested. “With the two of us, as long as Tom Riddle doesn’t move in person, no one should be able to keep us there.”

“Done.” Harry nodded.

The two of them began packing separately, bringing along alchemical items and potions, just in case.

Hermione could not hide her worry. She straightened Harry’s collar, then shoved the book Aiden had left into his arms.

“Be careful,” Hermione said softly.

“Of course.” Harry smiled.

Nearby, Sirius tugged Ethan aside and started fussing at him in a low stream of words. “I’m leaving my godson with you. We’ve been together this long; you’re basically half an uncle to him. Protect him properly.”

Ethan, abruptly promoted by an entire generation: “…”

Then the two of them stepped forward. Dobby took their hands, and with a twist in space, they vanished.

Scottish Highlands, inside the Malfoy family’s dungeon.

Dobby brought Harry and Ethan in. The dungeon was dark, damp, and oddly spacious, but two or three figures were slumped inside, adding the smallest hint of human presence.

“Harry Potter.” Luna smiled when she saw him. She looked mentally steady, as if she had not been tortured.

“Are you all right, Luna? Mr Ollivander?” Harry hurried over, checking them quickly.

But at that moment, the sound of an iron door opening suddenly rang out from above the dungeon…