Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this story is inspired by 'A Shattered Prophecy' by Project Dark Overlord.

Note: Hello everyone. I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. As the world is in lockdown, I figured, if I can't write now, I can't write at all. Please, please, please forgive me for not updating in so long. Life has been crazy lately. But, as I'm home now, I will be focusing on updating pretty regularly. Stay safe, stay home and read ;) Cheers!

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Silence followed Lucius's words, with every eye, and wand, trained on Harry. But Harry kept his eyes on Lucius, holding his heavy gaze. Behind him, Harry sensed Damien, Ginny, Ron and Hermione huddling closer to him, gathering behind his back - and he knew exactly why. He didn't have to look around the hall to know the Death Eaters were shifting towards them, tightening the circle around him and the four terrified teens.

"Be sensible," Lucius tried, walking towards Harry with careful, measured steps. "There's nowhere for you to go. We have you surrounded."

Harry clenched his hands into fists, his green eyes darkening. But he still didn't speak.

Lucius's gaze flickered to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Damien, crowded behind Harry. "You may very well be able to fight us, Harry," he nodded to the group of underage wizards, "but can they?"

Harry stilled, and Lucius smiled in obvious relief. Taking advantage of the situation, Lucius stepped closer, and spoke softly, "Surrender Prince. Come with us, and the children can leave without harm."

Harry hadn't moved, not to take out his wand and fight, or step forward and take up Lucius's offer, but he felt a hand suddenly grip his wrist. He looked over his shoulder to meet Damien's terrified eyes. Damien shook his head, his grip tightening. Harry could read Damien's silent plea as if it were spoken aloud, 'Please don't Harry! Don't surrender! Don't go back to him.'

Harry knew what would happen if he went back to Voldemort; he would be forever lost to his true family. Voldemort would memory-charm him so he went back to hating the Potters, after punishing him of course for trying to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. He might just kill Harry instead of slaving him to his commands. If Harry was honest, he preferred the latter fate. He would gladly die before being manipulated again.

Harry's gaze went from Damien to Hermione, to Ron and Ginny. The other three looked downright terrified, but they too gave Harry fierce looks, as if to say, 'Don't you dare surrender!' Harry looked back to Damien and gave him the smallest, briefest of smiles before he turned around to face Lucius once again.

Seeing the strengthened resolve in Harry, Lucius tried desperately once more, just as the Death Eaters came to stand in a circle, wands aimed at Harry and the four teens. "Please Harry, don't make this difficult."

Harry held his head up and finally spoke. "Come now, Lucius." His voice rang across the hall. "When have I ever made things easier?"

A look of regret flashed on Lucius's face. "Very well," he said. "Have it your way, Prince."

The spells came at Harry all at once from every direction. Harry's wand was in his hand faster than anyone could see. A flick and Harry's full-body shield exploded around him, engulfing the four teens too. The multitude of spells hit the brilliant blue and was swallowed at impact.

Damien watched through the blue haze as the Death Eaters continued to fire spells at them. Not one of them made it through Harry's powerful shield. But Damien knew it couldn't last forever. He could already see the strain on Harry, shaking his brother's strong arms. A sheen of perspiration had broken across Harry's forehead, and the wand in his hand was trembling with the force of holding the shield in place as it was battered with spell after spell and hex after hex. Damien looked down at his chest, his hand coming up to touch the Lahyoo Jisteen under his clothes. The powerful stone was charmed to protect against Death Eaters' attacks. If Damien stood before Harry, before his friends, he could protect them.

Just as Damien straightened up, gathering the courage to become his brother's living shield, he noticed the second wand in Harry's hand. Before Damien could wonder what his brother was planning on doing, Harry extended his arm, effectively standing with his arms stretched out to either side. One wand was feeding power into his shield, the other was pointed directly at the glass display holding the Golden Quill. Harry locked his eyes with Lucius, on the other side of the blue transparent bubble, and smirked at the look of panic on the blond Death Eater when he realized what Harry was about to do.

"Reducto!"

The jet of light shot out of Harry's wand and struck the glass case. It shattered in pieces leaving the Golden Quill standing proudly. For the briefest of moments nothing happened.

Then a terrifying sound filled the hall.

The Death Eaters continued their relentless attack on Harry but their attention was pulled to the screeching, high-pitched wail echoing around them. The four teens still standing inside Harry's flickering blue shield looked around, in time to see black smoke seep out from the embedded jewels decorating the walls of the gallery. The smoke poured out and pooled on the floor. Out of the dark swirls of smoke, figures emerged.

Harry saw the horror in Lucius's eyes as it registered what Harry had done.

Within seconds, the entire hall was filled with these strange figures. Dressed in black combat outfits, faces hidden behind black helmets, they had swords in their hands, or what looked like hands at first glance. Damien felt his stomach turn when he saw that these strange men had long gleaming swords attached to their wrists. They had no hands.

The strange figures swarmed as one towards the wizards gathered next to the Golden Quill. The Death Eaters were forced to change targets, from the Dark Prince to the sword-wielding men rapidly approaching them, just as Harry predicted they would.

The moment the attack on Harry ceased, he dropped his shield and swiped the Golden Quill, lifting it off the pedestal in one swift move. His scar flared with pain the moment he touched the Horcrux, but Harry bit back his groan.

The next moment, Harry was running, the Horcrux in one hand and Damien's hand in the other. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were at his heels, leaving Lucius and the Death Eaters to fend off the attack of the dark clothed, sword-wielding men. Harry heard Lucius's cry, commanding the Death Eaters to "Stop the Prince!" but they were too busy dodging the swing of the swords coming at them from all sides.

Harry didn't get far. Eight dark clothed, sword-handed men blocked Harry's path, halting him. Harry turned and shoved the Golden Quill into Ron's hands.

"Whatever happens, don't let go of it," Harry instructed.

Ron nodded, his fingers tightening around the Horcrux.

Harry had his two wands in his hands once more. He held them out, darkened green eyes surveying the eight figures before him.

"What are these things?" Ron asked as he clutched the Quill close to himself.

"Korakilees," Harry answered, without looking away. "They're here on Voldemort's orders to protect his Horcrux. They're his creation," he explained. "They won't let us leave with it."

"So what are we going to do?" Damien asked.

Harry's grip tightened on his wands. "Whatever we have to," Harry replied, his jaw set, eyes blazing. "I'm not leaving here without the Horcrux."

Silently, Damien pulled out his wand. Hermione and Ginny already had theirs in hand. Ron jammed the Quill into the pocket of his robes and held his wand in his trembling hand.

Harry looked at them, first in surprise, then with silent pride.

"Use Reducto," Harry instructed, as the Korakilees swung the swords menacingly before stepping towards them. "Aim for their helmets, and if you can, bring up your shields."

All eight Korakilees acted as one, launching themselves at Harry and the four teens. Harry aimed at two of the men. The red flash of his Reducto curses was reflected in the black helmets before they were smashed on impact. The four teens managed to hit four Korakilees, striking them as Harry had instructed, cracking the dark helmets. Hermione screamed when she saw these creatures didn't have faces. There was just a huge gaping hole; no eyes, no nose, no mouth, nothing.

"How can they see us?" Hermione yelled as she threw another Reducto curse at an oncoming Korakilee.

"They can't, they can only sense the object they are supposed to protect," Harry replied as he dodged the swipe of the sword of the last Korakilee, before bringing it down with a well-aimed hex.

The moment the eight Korakilees were defeated, Harry found another swarm surrounding him and the four teens.

Damien threw two Reducto curses, in fast succession. "Does that mean they can only sense the Quill? They can't sense us?" he asked.

"No, they can sense living beings as well," Harry replied, as he kicked one Korakilee in the head while throwing a curse at another.

No matter how many Korakilees the five teens attacked, more just kept coming. Even the ones that had their helmets smashed were getting back up and blindly making their way back towards the teens, swinging their swords.

Harry's senses were on high alert, his magic sizzling around him as he fought Voldemort's deadly creations. He felt the sensation of a spell coming at him before his peripheral vision caught the flash of light zooming at him. His shield came up just in the nick of time, swallowing the Stupefy curse. Harry turned to look at Lucius, who had sent the spell at him, trying to catch him while he was distracted by the Korakilees. Harry did nothing but held Lucius's eyes for a moment. A heartbeat later, both Lucius and Harry had several Korakilees descending upon them, pulling their attention away from each other.

Harry gathered his exceptional power, pooling it deep inside him before letting it explode. He directed the blast at the approaching Korakilees, flooring them.

"Come on," Harry yelled at Ron and grabbed Damien before tearing his way forward.

Spells flew at him from the Death Eaters, trying to stop him but Harry repelled them, waving his wand to knock them back to hit the Death Eaters or Korakilees.

Leaving the Death Eaters to battle the Korakilees, Harry and the other four escaped the gallery, bursting past the heavy doors. The moment Harry and the four teens were out, Harry turned and swiped at the doors, swinging them shut. A spell of Harry's sealed them, ensuring neither the Korakilees nor the Death Eaters could chase after them.

He didn't stop though, he turned from securing the doors and continued running, the others following him closely. He only stopped when he had put a good distance between him and the gallery, so much so that only the top of the gallery's glass dome was visible. Harry came to a panting stop, dropping his hands to his knees, and took a moment to catch his breath. He straightened up to see the other four standing before him, looking shaken up, breathing harshly, but with bewildered half-smiles.

"We did it," Hermione breathed. "We got out of there, and we got the Horcrux."

Ron, looking immensely proud, pulled the Golden Quill out of his pocket and held it up, beaming happily. "All things considered, we did well. It could have been a lot worse," he remarked.

"How could that have possibly been worse?" Ginny asked, annoyed.

A tremendous crash answered her. Harry turned and saw in the distance, the magnificent stained-glass dome of the gallery smashed and a cloud of black rose out to pool out into the street. The Korakilees weren't quite finished with Harry yet.

Harry turned back to a stunned Ginny. "You had to ask!"

All of them turned and ran down the street. It was no use though. In a matter of minutes, the Korakilees had caught up with them, chasing at their heels. Harry threw a few well-aimed hexes behind him, but it barely slowed them down.

Harry was aware that they were leading these deadly creatures to the small muggle town that bordered the magical world. But he was at a loss of what he should do, there was nowhere else for them to go. The street they were approaching was bustling with muggles.

That's when he noticed the car pulling up, the muggle rolling down his window to speak to a group of men outside a pub. Harry sped up, darting across the road, the four teens blindly following after him.

Harry didn't waste a second. A wandless, non-verbal spell had the car door open of its own accord, much to the bewilderment of the muggle. Harry didn't give the man a chance to wonder what was happening. He reached in and hauled the man out, throwing him across the street so hard, he knocked into the group of muggles he was talking to.

"Get in!" Harry commanded and the four teens quickly scrambled into the car.

Harry was in the driver's seat, Ron in the passenger. Hermione, Ginny and Damien had piled into the back.

"Hey!" the muggle whose car had been hijacked by a group of teenagers cried out, scrambling to his feet. "Stop! What are you doing?"

Harry didn't give the man a chance to fight for his car. The keys were in the ignition, the engine running. He spotted the Korakilees spilling out, crossing the road towards them. Harry released the handbrake and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The car shot forward, before the car's rightful owner, or the Korakilees could reach it. Ron, in the seat next to Harry, yelped at the speed and quickly reached to buckle in his seat belt.

Harry barely noticed, his attention was on the swarm of Korakilees chasing after them. He swerved the car harshly, turning corners so sharply the occupants were rattled around. Quickly, Harry led the chasing Korakilees away from the muggle town, and down a long stretch of road, with nothing but green fields on either side.

Despite Harry's breakneck speed, a few of the Korakilees managed to grab a hold of the car and climbed on top of the hood. Damien ducked just in time as the window next to him smashed and a Korakilee pulled back it's sword-hand, intending on impaling him. Hermione's Reducto successfully threw it back, clean off the car. The window next to Harry was still rolled down, and from the side mirror, Harry spotted another Korakilee hanging off the side of the car. Harry waited until it got closer before throwing his elbow out of the window, smashing the Korakilee's helmet. The black figure fell from the car. But as two Korakilees fell, many more clambered on top. Harry pushed the car to its limit, swerving this way and that, trying to fight off the swarm of Korakilees.

"Harry! Where did you learn to drive?" Ron asked as he held onto his seat for dear life.

"You don't want to know," Harry replied as he made a sharp turn that sent the inhabitants of the car falling to the side.

The Korakilees were still on the car, and no matter how fast Harry drove, or what he did, he couldn't shake them off.

Without any warning, a sword came through the roof, almost nicking Hermione.

"Duck!" Damien cried, and the three of them squashed themselves to the floor of the car as far as they could to avoid the blade.

The sword was hastily withdrawn and then re-plunged, this time it was nearer the front of the car, and it sliced into Harry's arm.

"Harry!" Ron cried, watching as the sword was once again withdrawn, but it left a horrid cut across Harry's bicep.

"Ron, take over," Harry instructed, gritting his teeth to deal with the pain in his arm. Ron unbuckled himself from his seat and took over the wheel, as Harry transformed his wand into a sword and began climbing out of the moving car, pulling himself up and out of the open window.

Ron moved in to Harry's seat, keeping his foot on the accelerator to maintain the speed of the car. He tried hard not to swerve the car, not wanting to accidentally throw Harry off the moving car. At this speed, Ron didn't even want to imagine what would happen to him.

Damien saw Korakilee after Korakilee dropping from the car. He turned to look out of the back window, to see Korakiless thrown off and left rolling in the road, where they paused for a few moments before turning to smoke and disappearing.

After a few minutes, Harry reappeared. He pulled himself back into the driver's seat after Ron carefully manoeuvred out and back into the passenger seat. All four teens were staring at Harry, who was panting, trying to catch his breath after the battle on top of a moving car. Other than the nasty cut on his arm, he looked relatively unhurt.

"You okay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

Damien twisted to look behind him once more. "They're gone," he said. "I think they've given up."

Harry looked at him through the rear-view mirror. "They won't give up, not until they get the Horcrux back."

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out the Golden Quill, staring at it. "Maybe you should destroy it then, sooner rather than later."

Harry didn't say anything, but he turned his head to look at the magnificent, priceless artefact in Ron's hands. He stared at it, his eyes locked on the object that housed a part of his father's soul. Harry's breath caught in his chest. No, not his father. Not anymore. He was never his father.

"Harry!" Ron's cry made Harry snap his attention back to the road, his hands clenched around the steering wheel, in case he had to swerve out of the way. Instead, Harry's foot slammed on the brake and the car came to a bone-jostling halt, almost unseating all of them.

No one complained though. Not a word was uttered to chastise Harry, because their breaths were caught in their chests, eyes fixed to the sight before them.

Standing in the middle of the road, staring directly at them, was none other than Lord Voldemort.

Ron was staring at the sight with disbelief, even though he had been the one to notice the Dark Lord first, and had yelled at Harry in a warning. Hermione, Ginny and Damien were deathly silent, their mouths open, and eyes wide.

Harry didn't move. His emerald green eyes were fixed on the Dark Lord, holding his ruby-eyed gaze. Then, Harry's eyes darkened. His hand reached out and put the car into gear.

"Harry?" Ron said fearfully.

Harry didn't speak. Instead, he revved the car and took off. He changed gears, gathering speed, heading straight for Lord Voldemort.

"Harry!" Damien called from behind him. "What are you doing?"

Harry didn't reply.

Lord Voldemort didn't move but watched as the car drew nearer.

"Oh my God!" Ron was panicking. "Harry! Stop!"

Ron knew there was no way the Dark Lord was going to let a muggle contraption anywhere near him. He would blast it apart, and Ron feared all of them would be ripped to pieces with it.

But still, Harry sped towards him, racking up the gears until the car couldn't go any higher. Rage had overwhelmed him, darkening his eyes to almost black. His mind was racing through the pictures he had seen in his parents' hidden albums. James throwing a giggling baby Harry into the air and then catching him again, planting little kisses on him. That image morphed into an angry James, grabbing a three-year-old Harry and throwing him to the ground, before beating him mercilessly with his belt. But it wasn't James. It had never been James. It had always been Voldemort. Harry ground his foot down on the accelerator, pushing against it with all his might.

The car was roaring it way forward, heading for a collision that no one would survive.

"Harry!" the cries came from the three behind him, but Harry paid them no heed.

Ron threw up a hand to shield his head, eyes closed. His other hand was still clutched around the Horcrux.

Harry turned and his black eyes locked on the Golden Quill. The Horcrux erupted in flames and Ron let go of it with a yelp. The Golden Quill burst into a cloud of dust. At that very moment, the car ploughed into Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord faded into nothing more than black smoke. The car whipped through it and continued along the road.

Ron, along with the other three turned to look behind them, to see the black smoke fade away until no trace of it was left. They all turned around to look at Harry, who was still driving, his dark eyes fixed only on the road ahead.

xxx

Ron was glad to get out of the car. He stood with his sister and friends, the evening wind ruffling through his hair and clothes, drying the perspiration on his face. Ron stared at the sight under them, of traffic making its way along the motorway. Headlights were on, throwing light across the road, showing the way. It didn't reach them though, standing high up, on the bridge that arched over the motorway.

Ron let out a long breath. They had survived. Just like the time they were attacked by Daywalkers, they had survived this terrifying encounter, because of Harry. He turned his head to see the boy standing at a distance from them, just watching the cars and lorries pass under him. His eyes, Ron was relieved to note, were now back to their usual emerald green. He didn't know that Harry's eyes could change colour. It had been nerve-wracking to witness, to say the least, but Ron understood that his eyes darkening was linked to his ability to destroy Horcruxes.

He still couldn't believe it. Harry had destroyed a piece of Voldemort's soul with nothing more than a look. He glanced at Harry's silent form. He finally understood his Headmaster's valiant efforts to keep Harry alive and safe. As it turns out, Harry truly was the only one who could destroy Voldemort. But Ron knew it wasn't fair. Harry may have the ability to destroy Voldemort, but that didn't mean he wanted to.

Leaving the other three to their quiet thoughts, Ron walked over to Harry. Harry straightened up the moment Ron reached his side. He didn't speak though.

"What's the plan?" Ron asked. "Where do we go from here?"

Harry took a moment to reply. "You can apparate," he said quietly. "You can take Ginny and Hermione home." He paused. "I'll take Damien home."

"That's not what I meant."

Harry turned to look at Ron.

"I meant, where do we go from here in respect of Horcrux researching?" Ron explained.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "You don't go anywhere. You stop," he said. "After tonight, you should know how dangerous it is to track down Horcruxes."

"After tonight, what I know is that Voldemort is aware of what you are up to," Ron replied. "And that means he will be actively protecting his remaining Horcruxes. He will be laying more traps for you." He held Harry's eyes. "You need our help now, more than ever because hunting his Horcruxes on your own is just as dangerous for you as it is for any of us."

Harry shook his head. "I can defend myself, you lot can't. It's safer for all of you to stay out of this."

"We can't do that, Harry," Ron said. "Even if we wanted to, we can't, not after tonight. However many Death Eaters survived those Korakilee things, will go back and tell him about us, about all of us being with you. He will know that we are helping you." He held Harry's stare. "It's no longer safe for any of us. So the way I see it, if we are under threat anyway, we may as well fight against him and do what we can to help you."

Harry didn't say anything but looked away from him, staring out at the night sky, evidently running out of arguments.

Ron took a moment before asking, "How did you know he wasn't real? That he wasn't standing there?" It was the question that Ron had been itching to ask him, ever since he saw the illusion of Lord Voldemort fade away.

A small, sardonic smile came to Harry. He didn't reply but reached up to scratch his forehead. Ron understood. The pain in Harry's scar, or more accurately, the lack of pain in his scar had told Harry what was standing in the middle of the road was nothing more than a trick, set up to scare whoever had dared to touch his Horcrux.

Harry turned to face Ron. "It's getting late," he said. "We need to go."

Ron nodded.

As Harry walked past him, he halted. "Your brother," he asked, "the one who was hurt. Is he…?"

Ron shook his head. "He survived, but the attack by Fenrir Greyback left him…." Ron hesitated, unsure how to put into words the horror that Bill was enduring. "He's...hurt, and the Healers say, it won't ever fade, the scars."

Harry didn't say anything. He walked past him, halting only when he got near the car that was left abandoned on the side of the road.

"I'll contact Damy and tell him where to meet me," he said. "Damy can contact the rest of you."

Ron nodded and couldn't help but smile.

Harry didn't say anything and walked away, heading for Damien, to escort him home. Ron trailed after him, to take Ginny and Hermione with him, back to his home.