Chapter 6: The Good, the Bad, and the Extremely Big

When Harry next awoke, it was bright and sunlight was streaming through the windows. He had looked up and seen Dumbledore sitting in a chair, apparently waiting for him to wake up. After having a discussion with him about Voldemort, how the stone was supposedly destroyed in his fight with Quirrell (he wisely kept his mouth shut), and how noble he was, he got discharged from the hospital wing. Glad to be out of there, Harry went down to the Great Hall for lunch.

The rest of first year passed relatively peacefully for Harry, he went to class, aced his exams, and got into the occasional spat with Malfoy and Weasley. Needless to say, he always came out on top. He spent even more time in the RoR reading books and practicing magic. When the end of term exams came around he passed all of them without even trying.

His summer was pretty standard. He got his homework done in record time, continued reading, practiced his martial arts, and continued trying to pull off the animagus transformation. He got closer and closer every day.

When his letter came around he scoffed at the Lockhart books. After all, everyone knew he was a fraud. Nonetheless, he went to Diagon Alley and picked them up with his other school stuff.

When he got back to school, he simply picked up where he left off last year. Though Lockhart's class was a joke, he enjoyed his other classes, even Snape's as the teacher seemed to begin to like him. Everything was going well until Halloween when Filch's cat was petrified. These petrifactions continued all throughout the year. In mid December, Lockkhart started a dueling club.

FLASHBACK

"Can everyone see me, can everyone hear me," Lockhart called out as he pranced around on the raised platform. "Excellent. Now, as you all know, Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to put together this little dueling club. However, before we begin, I feel that a little demonstration is in order. So, My assistant Professor Snape and I, shall be having ourselves a friendly duel."

Snape's lip curled at being called an assistant and Harry Knew that this was going to be anything but a friendly duel. "Now, on my mark. Three, two, one, go!"

Immediately Snape shot off a disarming spell and sent Lockhart flying backwards. Harry started sniggering quietly in the background, girls started trying to make sure he was ok, and boys started cheering for Snape.

Groaning, Lockhart sat up and exclaimed in a surprisingly bright voice, "Excellent idea to show them that Professor Snape, though it was entirely too easy to predict what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you I could have done so fairly quickly. That students was a disarming spell, and as you can see, I have lost my wand, ah thank you Miss Granger."

Lockhart must have sensed that Snape was about to start throwing curses at him, as he started to divide the students into pairs. Harry ended up paired with Weasley.

As Lockhart said begin, Harry let Weasley have the first shot. He shot out a tickling hex at Harry. Harry merely tilted his head and allowed it to fly past. Weasley threw another and Harry dodged again.

Getting angry Weasley tried to taunt Harry. "What's wrong Potter, too weak to cast a spell. I wonder how ashamed your parents would be to know that they had a weak son."

Incensed, Harry immediately pooled magic at the end of his wand and shot off a blasting curse at Weasley. The bolt of light flew at Weasley so fast, that he only had time to look surprised before he was blasted into the students behind him. Harry then summoned Weasley's wand to himself as Weasley lay on the ground groaning.

Satisfied that Weasley was down, Harry turned and looked at the other duelers. They all seemed so weak dueling with school yard hexes and jinxes. Only a few looked like they could do anything with a wand.

Lockhart tried to regain control of the situation by shouting out, "Stop, stop." However, no one could hear him over the cacophony of shouting voices.

Stepping up and taking charge, Snape flourished his wand and said, "Finite incantatum." A haze of smoke came out of his wand and when it cleared, everyone was back to normal.

"Thank you, Professor Snape, I'll take it from here." Lockhart said. "Now I think I should teach you how to block unfriendly spells. Let's get our two strongest duelist up here, Hmmmm, Potter, Malfoy your up."

Sighing Harry, stepped up to the stage. "Now when I say go Mr. Malfoy is going to shoot a spell at Mr. Potter, and Mr. Potter is going to attempt to block it."

Taking his side of the platform, Harry simply stood there. When Lockhart said go, Malfoy immediately shot out a stunner. Harry waited until the last second before he moved. Almost too fast to see, he deflected the curse away. Malfoy shot another and another all of which were deflected by Harry. When Malfoy paused to take a breath Harry acted.

He swished his wand and shot off a set of conjured ropes which trussed Malfoy up like a Christmas gift. Bowing he stepped off the stage.

END FLASHBACK

After that no one messed with him. Classes Continued and he continued to read ahead. He also continued to work on his animagus form. He was getting quite good at it too. He could now change the majority of his body but was still working on his head and torso.

In addition, the attacks continued. They seemed to be getting progressively worse. First, there was the cat, then that one second year whose name Harry didn't care to know, then that ghost and the other Hufflepuff second year, and most recently Hermione and the sixth year Ravenclaw prefect. Harry wasn't too worried though, it wasn't really bothering him. Well it wasn't until he came across a great big bloody snake in the Hallway.

FLASHBACK

Harry was walking along the corridor minding his own business, when suddenly he sees the youngest Weasley come around the corner. The only problem was her eyes were red and there was a basilisk behind her.

"Kill the boy!" The girl screamed.

Crap, thought Harry. Here we go again. Harry drew his wand and quickly shot off a blasting curse at the snake. He was surprised when the snake simply shrugged it off and struck at him with foot long fangs. Instincts kicking in, along with years of martial arts, he moved backwards as fast as he could and shot off a piercing curse at the snakes eyes. The snake seemed to sense its impending injury and moved almost too fast to see.

One moment it was there, and the next it was twenty feet closer to him on the other side of the hall. On accident, Harry caught the basilisks gaze and stared it straight in the eyes. He could feel his death approaching, could feel the sickly feeling of death magic working its way over him, when in a fraction of a second, something darted from his clothes and covered his eyes. Arnine had just saved his life.

At the expense of her own.

As she wrapped around Harry's eyes, she too caught the basilisk's murderous gaze and went stiff around his head. Not realizing what had happened, Harry called out her name, but she remained still.

With dawning horror, he reached up and gently pulled her from his head. With tears in his eyes he set her down and looked at the approaching basilisk. Learning from his mistake, he looked at the beast's open mouth and dripping fangs as he flexed his magical muscle for what would undoubtedly be the hardest fight of his life. He called up waves of magic in his body in rapid succession, just as quickly releasing them, as he stared at the approaching monster that had taken his one friend from him. The one person who had been there for most of his life, who had cared for him, and who had loved him, and he in return loved her. As his magic stretched itself out for the first time that he would ever really let it lose, his hair began to dance in a nonexistent wind, and his eyes lit up from within glowing green with unending might. As the basilisk got closer he stretched his arm with his wand in it out and prepared to destroy the thing that had taken Arnine from him.

SCENE BREAK

In another part of the castle, Albus Dumbledore looked up from his bowl of lemon drops as he felt magic the likes of which he had only felt from two other people besides himself, stir within the castle. He sensed it welling with fury and prepared to exit his office in such a hurry that he nearly stumbled over his robes. As he left he sent a patronus to the heads of house telling them to take all students to the great hall.

SCENE BREAK

Harry stared at the basilisk's mouth as it approached him. As it got to within twenty feet of him, he willed the stone beneath it to rise up and smash it against the ceiling. A section of floor rose up like a wall beneath its head and slammed it into the ceiling with enough force to cause the whole corridor to shake. Still in berserker mode, Harry made another section of the wall slam into the side of the beasts head and smash it against the opposite wall. As the monstrosity tries to regain its bearings, Harry capitalized on its momentarily dazed state.

He sends two quick and overpowered piercing curses at the beasts eyes hoping to gouge them out. The first connects and blood erupts from the magical creatures left eye. However, the small gap in between curses gives the basilisk enough time to duck under the other as it screams as much as an overgrown snake can. The curse strikes the wall and gouges a two foot hole in the wall. The fact that the other barely destroyed a six inch in diameter eye shows how truly magically resistant these creatures really are.

The basilisk continues its crusade towards Harry as he curses mentally. Hoping to again distract the animal so that he could destroy the other eye, he sends to simultaneous walls of stone into either side of the creatures head. There is an audible crack as the beast roars in pain. The extent of the damage is revealed as the basilisk opens its mouth and it hangs lopsided. Several teeth and both fangs drop to the floor, forever separated from its mouth. While the beast is disorientated, Harry quickly sends another piercer at it.

This one connected but not with its eye. The beast had seemed to sense the danger and moved. Instead the curse struck its mouth, and yet another tooth fell out. Blinded by pain and rage, the Basilisk moved toward Harry with astounding speed. Harry, Praying that it would work, willed the floor to move again. This time, however, he made a large stone spike rise from the floor.

Directly under the creatures chin.

It rose up and pierced through its chin, into its mouth, through its brain, out the back of its head, and stuck it to the ceiling. Harry let out a relieved breath. That fight was over. Just as that thought went through his head, the beast, in its death throes, smashed its tail against his chest. Harry was slammed in to the wall.

Momentarily confounded by the pain, Harry didn't notice the girl walk up to him.

"So this is the great Harry Potter. You are more than I expected, stronger than I expected. No matter, you, as will everyone else, will fall before the might of Lord Voldemort." Instead of a young girls voice, a teenage males voice came from her throat.

Coughing Harry stood up. "Voldemort, you say. Huh, no wonder the basilisk was so easy to kill."

The girl snarled out in the teens voice," You will find that I am not such easy prey." She sent a quick spell at him and he dodged it as well as he could. It smashed into the wall behind him and sent a chunk of it crumbling down and pelting him with small pebbles and large chunks of rock. Focusing through the pain, Harry sends chunks of the wall at Voldemort who merely knocks them out of the air with his wand. Harry can feel the difference in their strength and it was great. While he might be the more powerful, he had the feeling that this Voldemort was more skilled.

Almost carelessly, Voldemort banishes the basilisk teeth at him one after the other. Harry dodges the first and banishes the rest back at him. Voldemort merely swishes his wand and they are all directed around him. Suddenly Voldemort gestures with his wand and smiles. A smile like that should never be seen on an innocent child's face but alas there it was. Harry had no idea what Voldemort had done until he felt a burning in his mid section. Looking down, Harry saw a fang sticking out of his stomaching. The fang he had dodged had been summoned by Voldemort and had pierced right through his back and out his stomach.

Harry realized that he had only moments to live and for the first time in his life, he truly felt fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of dying. Fear of not being able to experience the things he had wanted in life.

He suddenly heard laughter and looked up as the pain started to spread from his stomach and up to his heart and down to his legs.

"So this is what becomes of the great Harry Potter. Killed at the Hands of the one he was so famous for defeating. Tell me Harry, how does it feel to know that you are dying. To know that there is nothing you can do to stop it." The girl laughs with Voldemort's laugh again.

As the pain becomes unbearable, Harry drops his wand at the same time he drops to his knees. The fear is still there, but it is also with acceptance and anger. If he was going out he was taking Voldemort with him.

Fighting through the pain he grits out, "I'm not dead yet you prick." With the last of his fading strength he wandlessly summons the other fang from behind Voldemort. Realization and horror dawned on Voldemort's face and he tried to dodge. He nearly succeeded but the fang caught on the pocket of the robes the girl whose body he was inhabiting was wearing. For some reason Harry didn't know, he roared in pain and black stuff came dripping from out of the girl's pocket.

The last thing Harry sees is Voldemort screaming in apparent agony as Dumbledore rounds the corner with a magnificent gold and red bird flying behind him. Then the pain becomes to much and his vision fades to black

A.N.: yeah it's been awhile. But the inspiration struck and I figured I would go ahead and do another chapter despite the fact that it has been six months or so since my last update. I suppose sorry doesn't cut it.