The Battle of Little Whinging
Chapter 2: The Battle of Little Whinging:
Little Whinging, 2001
“ Crucio” screamed Bellatrix, becoming enraged when the Transfiguration Master conjured a marble block to protect herself.
“I really wish you had not done that dear Bellatrix…” said Dumbledore, raising up his wand to transfigure some lampposts into attack dogs to keep Rodolphus entertained.
Sirius,meanwhile began hurling curses at Rabastan, who deferred to his signature curse, a modified version of the Cruciatus Curse
“Tormentum terrorifica!” This new creation of his managed not to burn the nervous system, but to inflict the pain of a thousand knives stabbing the brain, inducing madness quicker on to the victim. It had caused many problems for St Mungo, because the victim ended up in a vegetative state, but not dead.
Sirius ducked for cover and began his attack
“ Stupefy” cast Sirius. It was part of Dumbledore’s plan in order to arrest them and interrogate them on how Voldemort knew where to find and why kill Petunia
“Protego”
Sirius, deciding to up his game, began to change the repertoire to lesser known curses taught to the Heir of The House of Black
“Shadow Hand!” This particular spell, invented by a Lord Black during a Goblin Rebellion, created a shadow hand to attack the enemy on the back, causing physical petrification. It left the mind completely awake, creating a sensation of impotency that caused an involuntary lowering of their Occlumency shields.
Sadly, Rabastan knew this curse, as his father had seen it in action during Grindelwald’s War, and apparated on the spot. Sirius, not being one for surrendering, began to cast in earnest, switching to elemental spells, followed by his adversary.
“ Aguamenti Maxima!” A potent stream of water exited Rabastan's wand knocking back Sirius.
“ Scutum Ignis!” Rabastan wasn’t the only adept in elemental magic, and Sirius preferred element, fire, was one of the most prolific in spell variation.
With his shield, Sirius managed to stop Rabastan long enough to knock him away with a wind gush. Then, he decided to do something reserved only for the Lord of the House of Black, which since his grandfather’s passing a few months ago meant him.
“I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, do banish thee, Bellatrix Druella Lestrange, for your crimes against wizardfolk and your kin, from the Most Ancient and Noble Black Family! Be gone from our tree, and may the Family Magicks judge you!” Having said that, Sirius almost fainted, for he had just invoked one of the most ancient magics in the world. This was one of the first spells invented by the first head of the Black Family, the grandson of Morgana LeFay. Therefore, it acted on a magic almost gone from this world, only maintained thanks to the Ancient Houses that still existed.
Bellatrix, who up until this point had been duelling both Dumbledore and McGonagall, keeled over and ended face forwards on the ground, trembling in pain and screaming the most profane of curses, referencing her grandfather, Sirius, God and her enemies.
Then, the forgotten Rodolphus Lestrange summoned his magic, and as Lord Lestrange welcomed her wife into his family. They had not done so before due to the ancient and powerful status in the Black Family, which gave Bellatrix an empowered magical core. Now, with no Family Magick to supplement her, her power reserves had gone down rather drastically.
“I, Lord Rodolphus Reinhard Lestrange, welcome my wife Bellatrix Druella Lestrange, née Black, into the Noble Lestrange Family! May you grow into it and help it prosper!”
That gave Bellatrix a boost, albeit a smaller one than the one given by the Black Family Magicks. With her pain ended, Bellatrix began her rampage once again, banishing the unexpecting McGonagall into the wall of Number 3 Privet Drive. Dumbledore now had to contend with Bellatrix on his own, and realised that he could not hold his previous strategy of stunning and arresting, at least not with this adversary.
“ Terra Confractus!” Dumbledore hurled at Bellatrix, one of his most recent creations. When in impact with the street, it began to break in two, causing her to lose her balance. With a distracted Bellatrix and a knocked down Rabastan, Sirius and Dumbledore focused their fire on Rodolphus.
“Diffindo!” Sirius cast and with luck, he ended up cutting his right arm from the elbow, taking with him his wand and good aim.
“HOW DARE YOU, YOU BLOOD-TRAITOR!” Bellatrix, now even more enraged against her cousin and ex-Lord and Head of House, began to scream in a rambling way.
Rabastan woke up from his fall, and realising that the fight was lost, hurried to his brother and sister-in-law, and portkeyed out of Surrey.
“That went well, didn’t it?” said Sirius, drying the sweat from his forehead.
“Sirius, I was thrown against a wall. My patience is at its limit. Please, refrain yourself from joking tonight. Take into account the death of James and Lily as well. Please, THINK, for once in your life” Minerva was very angry and emotional, specially when talking about her star pupils, and so her Scottish brogue shined through.
“And, by the way, what ARE you doing here Sirius? I thought Albus had only told Hagrid and I where he was going tonight, and his plans with baby Harry”
“Yeah, I was getting to it now”
“Sonorus! Hagrid! Get down here, the fight is over! They ran away, and there is no more danger! Quietus!” Sirius turned serious and began to glare at Albus, who was inspecting the corpse of one Vernon Dursley.
“So, Albus, will you explain to me why you had Hagrid bring Harry here? When I am specified in James and Lily’s will as Harry’s Primary Guardian, muggle, magical or otherwise?” Sirius said, with barely refrained sarcasm.
“Well, you see Sirius my boy, when Lily protected Harry, she invoked an ancient magical protection only extended by blood-relations. As Mr and Mrs Evans are deceased, I thought Petunia to be the perfect way to protect Harry from outside dangers.” Said Dumbledore, for once in his life being honest with someone.
“But Albus, Lily always told stories of how Petunia hated magic, and her by extension, since receiving her letter. The one time James and Vernon met, it was a wonder they didn’t get physical from how many insults they hurled against each other.” Sirius was shocked by both the fact that Lily had invoked ancient magic, and that Albus didn’t know about Lily and Petunia’s relationship.
“Albus, Sirius is right on the relationship between the Evans sisters. I still can remember Lily’s first year, when I could find her in the common room crying over an unopened letter from her sister. And at graduation, the poor Mrs Evans tried to console her when she told Lily about Petunia’s storming out of the house and only sending her a note informing her of the wedding and her being now “Petunia Dursley”. By then, Lily had a stoic face, as if this was normal behaviour from her sister” Minerva informed Albus.
“That is all well and good, but I thought Petunia would love her nephew, as all aunts do! But, thanks to Tom Riddle and his infamous Death Eaters, that is all for nought. Let's check the house to see if there are any survivors.”
Hagrid had landed by now, after trying and failing several times due to him being worried about Harry.
“I will stay here with the Baby, and will shout if anything comes. Don’t you worry about us.” Hagrid would protect Harry with his life, already in love with how the baby’s eyes seemed to change from green to red in a flash.
Albus, Minerva and Sirius went inside, and found the body of Petunia Dursley Evans sprawled over the floor in an eagle position, her eyes blood-red from the torture.
Albus decided to spare themselves any more Death Eater-gore and cast Homenum Revelio . A bright red spot came from the cupboard under the stairs, indicating the presence of a life human in the house.
There they found the sleeping Baby Dudley Dursely, and Minerva picked him up to check him for injuries.
“Albus, if you please?”
“ Libellum Sanitatis! ”. Albus cast a basic diagnostic spell to check for basic injuries in the baby, happy when none came through.
“It seems to me that Petunia had the exact time to hide her baby inside the cupboard before Bellatrix and the Lestranges got inside. We should thank magic the baby is alive, and strive for him to be safe for now onwards”
“But, Albus” Minerva interrupted “You mentioned the need of a living relative to sustain the blood protection. Does that include babies?”
“No, I am afraid this particular protection requires an adult, for it focuses on both the adult, the child, and their common sense of home. A baby has no home, nor does he feel attachment to more than his family.” Albus saw how his plans were crumbling in front of him. There were no more able-receivers for the protection, and Harry would be at risk.
“What are we going to do Albus?” said Minerva, worried about the baby’s safety. “If you want, I can take him in in Hogwarts and care for him in my spare time” The Head of Gryffindor House was a busy woman, and for her to be willing to sacrifice her very little spare time to Harry moved both Sirius and Albus.
“Or” interrupted Sirius “We can follow Lily’s will”
“What will?!” said Albus “ I thought they made one will for both of them, and that was that!” He could not believe that Lily had not told him about the will, he was supposed to help them!.
“Oh yes, but she made it after her marriage to James. The day she found out she was pregnant with Harry. She had decided to burn it after the war, as it would not be needed, but alas…” Sirius had only found out because Lily, in a fit of hormones, had told him to take it to Gringotts for safe-keeping.
“What does the will say, Mr. Black?” Minerva was anxious to know if Harry would stay with them or not, already looking forward to getting the grandson she never had.
“Well, in it Lily mentions the existence of a cousin from her mother’s side. It's a first cousin, would it work, Albus?” Sirius knew in a passing way who the cousin was, having met him once for the wedding, and was looking forward to him meeting Albus.
“Yes, depending on the closeness between the invoker and the receiver, but it should work” Albus was relieved to know all hope was not lost.
“Was Lily close to him?” asked Albus.
“I believe the cousin in question visited on a summer basis, and after he was orphaned in a car accident, spent some time with Lily and her family recovering from grief and hiding from the press” Sirius was enjoying the elder wizard’s face of shock. Poor Albus, always trying to be one step before everyone else, and for the first time he was shocked!
“Wait Sirius, did you say press? Who exactly is this cousin?” Albus was still trying to comprehend, see if he could guess the cousin by the context.
“Anthony Edward Stark, CEO of Stark Industries.” Sirius said gleefully.
“Albus, he means…” Minerva was shocked. Being a half-blood herself, and although living full time in the magical world, people like Tony Stark still made enough of a shock for her to find out.
“Yes, my dear, he means the self-named Iron Man.”