TITLE: Harry Potter and the Dark Transfiguration

AUTHOR: Scorpio

FANDOM: Harry Potter

GENRE: AU; cause as weird as the Battle at the DOM was, it wasn't weird enough. I think that flinging magic at people & having magic flung back at you should have more consequences than a brief stay with Pomfrey & a depressed Boy-Who-Lived.

RATING: PG-13 (maybe R in spots)

A/N: I'm sorry if some of this seems confusing at first. Battles are always confusing due to lots of action happening all at once. This is true even for the people in the middle of the action, so a lot of it won't be explained until afterwards when all the facts are accounted for.

CONTINUITY: Starts in the 'Brain Room' at the DOM – some quotes & actions taken directly from book five.

DISCLAIMER: Everything 'Harry Potter' is owned by JK Rowling. Especially Ginny.

SUMMARY: The Battle at the Department of Mysteries; on crack.

The Dark Transfiguration

Scorpio

1 – The Brain Room

"Collo – aaaaaaaaaargh…"

Luna went flying through the air towards Ginny just as five Death Eaters surged into the room. Luna hit a desk, slid across the top of it and then over onto the floor. Ginny began to crawl towards her, dragging her broken ankle behind her.

"Get Potter!" shrieked Bellatrix.

The madwoman ran at Harry, even as he dodged around her and tried to dash across the room to the open door, prophecy globe held high over his head in one hand. Neville stepped between Harry and Bellatrix, pointed Hermione's wand in the evil witch's face and yelled, "STUBEFY!" The wand, of course, did nothing. Bellatrix didn't know that it wouldn't work however, and closed her eyes. When no spell hit her, she opened them just in time to run smack into Neville, the both of them tumbling to the ground in a tangled knot of limbs.

Meanwhile, Ginny was desperately trying to wake Luna up with "ENNERVATE!"

"Hey!" a wildly giggling Ron made his way to his feet where he swayed partway across the room. "Hey, Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn't that weird, Harry?"

Harry nearly stumbled and fell from shock and fear for his idiot friend. From the corner of his eye he could see Neville and Bellatrix wrestling over her wand even as Neville grabbed a handful of the snarled mess she called hair and yanked real hard. Behind them, Luna was coming awake with a moan and Ginny turned her head to deal with a Death Eater making his way towards them. Using a move that Harry had demonstrated to the DA a few times, Ginny pointed her wand and yelled, "ACCIO CHAIR!" and silently directed the suddenly zooming wooden desk chair to smash into the back of the Death Eater's head.

"Ron, get out of the way, get down…"

But Ron wasn't listening to Harry; instead it seemed that it was Ginny's words, or more accurately, her spell which caught his attention. Grinning goofily and pointing his wand to the large tanks on the side, he waved away Harry's concern.

"Honest, Harry, they're brains – look – ACCIO BRAIN!"

Everyone, DA members and Death Eaters alike, froze in absolute shock that Ron would do something so completely stupid. They all gaped as the top of the tank flew off and a brain burst from the green liquid. Spinning around in a wash of glowing illusions and dripping tentacles, the brain flew towards Ron.

"Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it. Harry, come and touch it, bet it's weird…"

"Ron, no!"

The brain began to wrap its tentacles around Ron's wrists and then worked its way up his arms to his chest. Ginny gaped in horror even as a few Death Eaters began to chuckle and snort. Ron's smile melted away into a frown of confusion and growing fear. He began to struggle against the clinging brain and flashed a pleading look up at Harry.

"Harry, look what's happen – no – no, I don't like it – no, stop – stop…"

"DIFFINDO!" Harry tried to sever the tentacles from Ron, but his magic merely seemed to flash on the surface of the brain before being absorbed into it. The force of the spell pushed Ron over onto his back and Ginny abandoned a woozy Luna to drag herself towards her brother. The brain began to pull itself up onto Ron's face even as he flailed against it.

"Harry, it'll suffocate him!"

A Death Eater shot a jet of red light at Ginny, but she ducked her head and rolled out of the way, smacking her broken ankle against the floor. Crying out with a howl of pain, she curled up and clutched at her leg.

Luna pushed herself into a sitting position; her own face etched with pain and shot a spell back at the Death Eater over Ginny's head. "ENGORGIO!" The Death Eater's nose suddenly swelled up to the size of an overripe watermelon and he tipped over onto his face with a wet fleshy splat and a spray of blood.

"Aaahhh!" Neville let out a yell of pain as well, although his was not from a spell. Instead, the young man was hitting Bellatrix on the top of her head with one hand in order to convince her to let go of his other hand; which was currently in her mouth and clenched between her teeth. "She's a bloody biter!"

Harry, of course, reacted to all of this in the only way he could. He panicked. Unlike most people, however, his panic had nothing to do with himself. He was panicking on his friend's behalf. He had the vague idea that if he escaped with the prophecy, the Death Eaters would chase him and his friends would be safe. Believing that Ginny and Luna could care for Ron and Hermione and hoping that he could lure Bellatrix from Neville and the others would follow, Harry turned smoothly and kicked Bellatrix in the back of her head.

She spit out Neville's hand and turned slightly and watched Harry dash away yelling, "Bitch!" Her head turned back to Neville just in time to see his large and bloody fist come sailing directly for her face. Her nose exploded in a spray of blood and a blast of pain.

Harry made it two steps towards the door when a spell caught him in the back. He stumbled and fell into an uncontrolled roll of flailing limbs. Pain sizzled along his nerve endings and he instinctively curled up around the prophecy globe and his wand. He felt as if he was melting and being turned inside out at the same time. And the itch! Every inch of his skin itched so bad that if he could scratch, he'd scratch himself bloody.

Something horrible and painful was happening to him, but he wasn't sure what. He tried to ignore the pain in his body and the fear caused by the fact that he was sprouting tawny golden fur all over his twisting body. Instead he began to try dragging himself towards the door he was so close to.

"INCENDIO!" Ginny's voiced echoed round the room, followed quickly by the spell on Harry stopping midway and Malfoy's voice muttering foul words as he extinguished his burning robes.

As the pain in his body began to recede down to manageable levels, Harry was able to think a little bit better. It became clear that Malfoy had been trying to turn him into some sort of animal, but Ginny had stopped the curse from completing by setting the arrogant bastard on fire. He also noticed for the first time that the sounds of battle were coming from in front of him as well as behind.

Suddenly, hands reached down and pulled him up against a strong chest covered in worn and patched clothes. Remus Lupin's voice echoed in Harry's ears like a soothing balm, "Oh, Harry. What happened to you?"

He didn't have time to answer that, however, as Malfoy's voice rang out from behind them, "CRUCIO!"

When no pain came, they both turned to look and saw Ginny Weasley writing on the ground, her spine arching back and her voice a breathy gasping whine of agony. Neither had time to do anything to help her though as Luna pushed away from the wall and pointed her wand at the blonde Death Eater.

"DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO!"

She cast two cutting curses in a row. The first hit Malfoy high up on his wand arm, leaving the bloody limb hanging from a thin strip of muscle and spinning his body around from the force of the spell. The second cutting curse was off its mark because Malfoy had moved and instead of hitting his arm or hand, it connected directly with the back of his skull. Blonde hair, bone fragments, blood and gray bits of brain flew out in a spray around his head like a twisted and evil halo. Then, Lucius Malfoy crumbled to the ground and died.

Everyone in the room paused to watch in horror as a puddle of red blood grew around Malfoy's head, and then as one they all turned to stare in shock at Luna. Her face was white as a sheet and her wand hand trembled. For once her normally dreamy eyes were focused completely and intently as she stared at the corpse of the man she had just killed.

"Merlin, no…" her voice was a tight whisper. "I didn't…, I was aiming for his wand, not…" She swallowed loudly and began to sway on her feet. "I killed him."

Pivoting on one foot, Luna spun away from everyone, bent over at the waist and threw up all over the floor.

Movement from the corner of the room where Ginny's chair-bashed Death Eater was beginning to stir grabbed Lupin's attention and he shifted Harry's weight over to one super strong arm and pointed his wand with the other.

"STUPIFY!" He shifted his aim to the Death Eater behind Hermione's crumbled body, "STUPIFY!" Finally he aimed his wand at Neville & Bellatrix, "STUPIFY!"

"Miss Lovegood!" Luna turned her head weakly and wiped her chin with her jumper sleeve.

"Professor?"

Lupin didn't bother to correct her that he wasn't a professor anymore; instead he nodded his head toward Bellatrix and Neville. "Pull Mrs. Lestrange away from Mr. Longbottom."

Nodding her head and taking a deep breath to steady herself, Luna tucked her wand behind her ear and moved over to the two stunned people tangled on the floor. She nudged Bellatrix away with her foot and then grabbed Neville by his arm and pulled him off of her.

"Luna, help!"

Luna turned to look over at Ginny and saw the girl desperately trying to pry the brain off of her brother. With one last glance down at Bellatrix, she nodded and dragged Neville over to Ginny and Ron. Laying him down as comfortably as she could, Luna began to help Ginny by trying to unravel the tangle of tentacles wrapped tightly around Ron's body.

Harry, seeing this, was torn between wanting to help his friends and wanting to know what was happening in the other room where he could still hear fighting going on. The choice was taken from him when Lupin spun him around so that he was facing his godfather's best friend. The older man was studying him with an expression somewhere between fear and anger.

"Harry! What are you and your friends doing here at the Ministry?" Lupin shook his head briefly. "And what in the name of Merlin happened to you?"

Harry glanced down at himself and saw that he was still covered in golden fur and that his body was contorted into an oddly comfortable stance despite his twisted legs and strangely formed hips.

"Malfoy hit me with some sort of transfiguration, but stopped when Ginny set his robes on fire. I'm not sure what, though."

Then he grimaced as best he could with his altered mouth and jaw. He held up the glowing glass orb containing the prophesy and handed it to Lupin.

"That's what we came for. I had a vision that Voldemort was torturing Sirius in order to get this. Malfoy and his lot of Death Eaters basically demanded I hand it over. When I didn't they started to curse us."

Lupin stared at the Orb of Prophecy in his hand and growled out, "Bloody Hell!"

Harry was shocked that the normally calm and laid back man would curse so bluntly, but he didn't have time to ponder that. Back in the room containing his friends, Luna and Ginny had finally managed to pry the brain off of Ron. Unfortunately, it let go of the redhead very suddenly and caused Ginny to topple backwards and lose hold of the brain when her broken ankle was jolted. The brain flew through the air and hit one of the Death Eaters. This woke him up from being stunned.

This started the whole mess up again as the Death Eater instantly began to revive his comrades. The Death Eaters began groaning and groping for their wands. His panic and adrenaline still riding high, Harry didn't even pause to consider what would be best. He just went with instinct to get his friends out of there.

Aiming his wand at Neville, he hit the boy with an "ENNERVATE!" and then yelled out, "Luna, float Ron out of there and have Neville carry Ginny. Ginny, defend everyone as best you can."

Then he turned his aim slightly and shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!" at a Death Eater whose nose looked as if it had exploded at one point and now hung loose over his lips. The Death Eater's wand was torn from his hand even as he flew backwards and into a wall.

That seemed to be the cue everyone needed to get moving. Luna pulled her wand, grimaced slightly and then cast a spell on Ron that caused him to float into the air. She grabbed hold of his robes and began to tow him towards the doorway leading to Harry and Professor Lupin. Neville simply scooped Ginny up and flung her over his shoulder in a fireman's hold and began to run to the same doorway.

One of the Death Eaters shouted, "IMPEDIMENTA!", but Ginny countered it with a hastily cast, "PROTEGO!" The spell bounced off of the shield spell and splashed against the wall leaving a scorch mark.

That was apparently enough time for Bellatrix to get a hold of a wand, however. She stood in the middle of the room, her hair a snarled mess, her robes torn in the fight with Neville and blood streaking along her cheek. Her anger and madness caused her magic to roll in the air around her as she lifted her wand and pointed it at Harry and Lupin. "CRUCIO!"

Lupin's werewolf strength and fast reflexes saved them both as he dropped to the ground and dragged Harry with him. The curse sizzled the air as it rushed past them and hit the door behind them. The door was demolished, leaving nothing but smoking splinters of singed wood floating through the air. The sounds of magical battle increased dramatically.

Just then Luna dashed past them dragging along an unconscious and floating Ron followed by Neville with Ginny hitched up over his shoulder. "Cub om, Hawwy! Huwwy ub!"

Harry didn't think; he simply scrambled to his feet as best he could, reached out with one paw-like hand and grabbed Lupin even as he started to run after his friends as they fled from an enraged Bellatrix Lestrange.

The room they all entered wasn't a refuge however. Instead it was dark and forbidding with a tall stone arch in the middle of the floor. All around the strange stone fixture, members of the Order of the Phoenix battled against various Death Eaters. Harry recognized most of the people from both groups, including a healthy and alive Sirius Black who was dashing about and tossing off curses right and left. Voldemort hadn't been torturing him afterall.

Suddenly, a voice shouted "TARANTALLEGRA!" and Neville dropped Ginny even as his legs went immediately into a kind of frenzied tap dance. Harry turned his head to look and saw Dolohov laughing at the results of his curse.

Harry growled and returned fire at Dolohov in the form of "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Dolohov's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backward with a loud crash. He could hear Sirius's voice laughing in the background and calling out "Good one Harry!"

He didn't have time to call, however, since he saw Ginny roll over onto her stomach only to go pale with wide eyes even as she lifted her wand and pointed at someone behind their group. "DIFFINDO!"

The curse raced past Harry and Lupin even as they both dodged to the side.

"That wasn't very nice." The words called out in Bellatrix's oddly lilting voice came from the doorway they had just fled through. Soon enough, the twisted witch herself followed. "I'm gonna punish you for that. Enjoy watching your helpless brother scream."

With that, Bellatrix lifted her wand and aimed it at Ron. "CRUCIO!"

As fast as she was, she wasn't quite fast enough. With only a tiny warning, Luna had been able to cancel her floating spell on Ron. He dropped like a rock and crashed into the floor, but the pain curse sizzled the air over top of them as it rushed past.

"Sirius! NO!"

At first, Harry didn't know why Lupin was yelling in his ear about his godfather, but one quick glance was all it took. Bellatrix's spell had missed Ron only to travel across the room and hit Sirius. Almost in slow motion, he watched as Sirius fell over and started to tip into the veiled archway in the middle of the room.

Harry tried to run to Sirius, but Lupin had too tight a hold of him. Instead, he followed his instinct and raised his own wand, "ACCIO SIRIUS!" His aim was true and he felt his spell connect to his godfather, but he could also feel some strange magical force inside the veil tug on the man as well. Gritting his currently transfigured fangs together, Harry threw all of his magical power into fueling the summoning spell. Sweat broke out all over his body at the exertion and he began to pant.

Suddenly, the opposing force lost its hold on Sirius and he flew across the room at them. Lupin leapt to his feet and reached out to grab Sirius out of the air even as Harry gratefully cancelled the spell.

Somehow, during all of that, Luna had cancelled the spell on Neville and the two of them had dragged Ron and Ginny over towards a wall and out of the main line of fire. Lupin, with Sirius in his arms, turned to join them and Harry saw that his godfather was missing an arm. The arm that had fallen into the veil and which had been used to try and pull him in further until Harry's spell grabbed him was completely missing. Only a shimmering silver outline of it remained, looking much like the way a ghost's body did.

Horrified at his godfather's maiming, Harry felt his anger boil beneath his skin and he saw red. Turning, he pointed his wand at Bellatrix even as his brain replayed the scene when Luna had killed Malfoy senior.

"DIFFINDO!"

"DIFFINDO!"

"DIFFINDO!"

Bellatrix had managed to dodge the first cutting curse, but the second one caught her right in the Dark Mark, slicing off her left hand and wrist. The third cutting curse caught her in the leg as she fell in pain, removing her right leg from the knee down.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Not thinking, just reacting Harry cast "PROTEGO!" and the spell bounced back and hit Dolohov, sending him flying back into Auror Tonks and knocking her down.

"Dubbledore!"

Neville's voice cut through the fighting and caused many of the members of the Order of the Phoenix to cheer, but Harry ignored it all. His rage and horror over what was happening was too great. Instead he turned and saw in the far corner of the room that Moody was standing over the crumpled form of Kingsley, trying to defend them both from three different Death Eaters.

Aiming his wand he called out, "DIFFINDO!", "IMPEDIMENTA!", "STUPEFY!"

Rookwood caught the Diffindo in the mask, shattering it and sending him flying. The Impedimenta sailed harmlessly overhead another Death Eater, while Crabbe was hit square in the chest with the Stupefy causing him to keel over onto his face.

Lupin must have taken charge of his friends and told them what to do, because Luna and Ginny began casting "ACCIO WAND!" at every fallen Death Eater even as Lupin began to transfigure the floor around them to grab hold of them and not let go.

Harry took two loping steps towards Moody when his scar burst into a flame of agony that sent him crashing to his knees. Voldemort had arrived.

He could vaguely hear him give an impassioned speech about his immortality and righteousness before demanding the prophecy. Dumbledore responded with pleas for him to stop and give himself up as well as disappointment in the path he took. Part of him could understand that Dumbledore didn't want to be forced to fight his ex-student, no matter how evil and twisted he'd become but Harry also knew that Voldemort would never give up, and would never change. He just didn't understand why Voldemort stood there and listened.

At least, not until his scar exploded in agony once more and he felt his mind being pushed aside. His back arched and he screamed in agony at the invasion. Oddly enough, Voldemort echoed his movements, writing in pain and screaming.

Dumbledore must have understood what was happening though, because he stood up tall and literally radiated magic in a shimmer of power. "Tom! Leave Harry's mind at once!" Harry didn't hear the incantation, but a bolt of golden light left Dumbledore's wand and slammed into Voldemort. Instantly, the agonizing pressure in his skull left and Harry was able to think again.

"I don't understand. I've been able to access your mind instantly at any time until now. Severus worked long and hard to ensure you could not hope to defend against me thanks to your so-called Occlumency lessons. How could you keep me out now?"

Voldemort never got his answer however since his little speech managed to infuriate Dumbledore. That started a magical battle the likes of which few people had ever seen as advanced arcane magics flew back and forth.

Exhausted and his body throbbing with remembered pain, Harry was swaying in place even as Lupin dashed out and grabbed hold of him. Turning his head to look at his ex-professor he said, "I knew that Snape was a no good Death Eater. I told everyone that he was trying to make it easier for Voldemort to get to me. No one believed me except for Ron."

"Hush, Harry. It'll be okay. We know the truth now."

Lupin began to help Harry back over to where his friends and godfather lay when Fudge and several Aurors came stumbling into the room. They all looked around at the bodies of Death Eaters and Order members, at the several small skirmishes still happening and at the magnificent and terrifying battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort.

Fudge gasped in horror, "It's,…it's…Lord Thingy! – here – I – I – "

Harry gurgled a laugh deep in his throat. "Now do you believe me, Fudge?"

The Minister turned and looked at him, shock and confusion on his face. "Potter? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me! And that," Harry pointed towards Dumbledore and Voldemort just as the Dark Lord cast the killing curse at the Headmaster only for a large slab of marble to appear in midair and block it. "is the Dark Lord Voldemort, rising from the grave!"

Fudge paled as he and his Auror's ducked out of the way of flying shards of marble from the slab that exploded on contact with the killing curse. "I…"

"A full year, Fudge! He's had a full year to recruit new Death Eaters and to strengthen his defenses! All because you were more interested in the bribes of Death Eaters like Malfoy and Nott! You would damn us all to line your pockets with gold!"

"Now see here!" Fudge straightened up, his Aurors shambling around him, unsure whether to defend him or fight off the various Death Eaters still running about.

Fudge, however, didn't get a chance to finish whatever he wanted to say. Luna, with Ginny propped up next her; both aimed their wands at the Minister. "Go on and join your unholy Master and leave us alone!"

Fudge took a sharp step back and held up his hands, "Hey! Unholy Master? I'm not a Death Eater!"

Harry tilted his head sideways and studied the shivering and pathetic man. "No? Let's find out then, shall we?"

Aiming his wand at the Minister and the Aurors, Harry cast "ACCIO DEATH EATERS!"

Fudge, along with two of the five Aurors were lifted off of their feet and soared through the air at them. Luna, Ginny and Lupin all cast "STUPEFY!"

Harry had enough energy to smirk knowingly at the surprised Aurors left behind and then to turn to Neville and say, "Collect their wands, eh mate?" before the world began to swirl around him and darkness encroached on his vision. Before he knew it, Harry was slipping into unconsciousness.