Priori Incantatem Part 1
Wormtail approached Harry ... tying Harry to the gravestone.
"I guess we should be grateful they didn't expect you to duel him tied up and gagged," Lee Jordan said, looking ready to start hexing someone.
There was a split second ... considered running for it,
"Yes, Harry!" Hermione cried, tears rolling down her face. "Get out of there."
but his injured leg ... have stood were filled.
Hermione sagged into her seat. Harry had told her and Ron what happened in the graveyard. But this was a thousand times worse than he'd ever described.
Wormtail walked out ... without looking at him.
"Oh, goodie," Lee grumbled, "you don't have to duel wandless. Now it's DEFINITELY a fair fight."
"Yeah, ignoring the fact he's injured," Fred said.
"And underage," George continued.
"And just been used in a fucking necromantic ritual," George said, rolling his eyes when his mother scolded him for swearing.
Then Wormtail resumed his place ... glinting through the darkness.
"Taught how to duel?" Ron scoffed. "Sure, if Lockhart losing his wand counts."
At these words Harry remembered ... "Expelliarmus"...
"You did not learn that at the dueling club," Neville said. "Well, you did but I don't really know how. No one actually taught us it."
and what use ... by at least thirty to one?
Several people nodded. "He's not wrong," Draco muttered, eyeing his cousin nervously.
"You must have known more spells than that," young Ginny said, staring confusedly at her idol.
"Not really," Harry shrugged.
He had never learned anything ... the unblockable Avada Kedavra curse -
"Transfiguration," Albus said. "Using your environment to defend yourself. That would be the best defense against that particular unforgivable."
Albus grimaced. The mere idea that he hadn't prepared Harry for this when there had been a real risk it would come to pass. Protection and preparation, that was the two things Harry had needed from him and the two things his older self had utterly failed at providing.
and Voldemort was right ... He was quite unprotected...
Sirius whimpered at the mention of Lily and Severus looked distraught at the mention of his childhood best friend. Petunia actually looked like she might vomit. She loathed her sister but for the first time she was beginning to understand her sister's decisions.
"We bow to each other, Harry," ... Bow to death, Harry..."
"He's mocking you?" young Percy asked, horror evident in his tone.
"Voldemort liked to play with his food," Harry said, ignoring the flinches that passed around the chamber at the use of the dark lord's name.
The Death Eaters were laughing again.
"VILE! Evil cretins!" Mrs Weasley said angrily. "Laughing as he ridicules a child."
"Some of it would have been forced," Rookwood said. "It doesn't excuse it, but they were scared for their own lives and the lives of their families. Some of them, that is. Others were just sadistic bastards."
Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling.
Young Susan Bones moved over to sit with her aunt. She didn't want to listen to these books anymore. Her older self was not fairing much better as she cuddled up with Hannah Abbott, clearly crying.
Harry did not bow.
The lions all cheered. Even the adults looked pleased. Why should Harry keep dueling etiquette in this mockery of a wizard's duel?
He was not going ... before killing him...
More cheers, no longer just from the lions. They were all amazed by Harry's stubborn bravery.
he was not going to give him that satisfaction...
"Go Harry!" Oliver Wood called out over the cheers.
"I said, bow," ... Death Eaters laughed harder than ever.
Sirius snarled. He was feeling especially blood thirsty right now.
"Very good," ... the way your father died...
Amber eyes focused on Tom, Remus was really struggling to keep his temper in check.
"And now - we duel."
The Slytherins booed. This wouldn't be an honourable duel. It was offensive to all their traditions, as much as it was just plain cruel.
Voldemort raised his wand ... Cruciatus Curse.
"Two times?" Sirius muttered. People were supposed to go their entire life without even witnessing the cruciatus curse but to actually experience that pain twice, and not just in a lifetime but in one night. He couldn't put into words how proud he was of his son but also how utterly horrified he was that this was his life. His son's life. His precious Harry.
Vernon grinned. Finally someone was putting the freak in his place!
Tom noticed the grin and glared at him. "Wipe that grin off your face or I'll show you just how painful my cruciatus is."
Everyone turned to him in horror before they saw who he was glaring at. Then they frowned, having to reassess their opinions. Because for many of them, this was the first time in their lives that they actually wanted the Dark Lord to attack a muggle.
The pain was so intense, ... he'd ever screamed in his life -
There was crying in the chamber. They children stared at the book in horror. While the adults looked on with rage in their eyes. A lone tear rolled down Albus's cheek. He wished that things had been different. That he'd done better. That his older self wasn't such a fool. That he wasn't such a fool.
And then it stopped.
Most people in the chamber sighed in relief. It was short lived however as the book continued.
Harry rolled over ... hand had been cut off;
"You would be," Poppy said. "Wormtail was likely on the verge of going into shock and you... well, the cruciatus curse sends your nervous system into a shock like state. Firing all your nerves up at the same time. Every single last one. There is no pain on earth like it. And the long term damage..."
he staggered sideways ... do that again, do you?"
"This is sick," Blaise said. "Twisted."
Harry didn't answer ... nothing he could do about it...
Seamus blinked rapidly as he tried to hold back tears. The children around the chamber were sobbing. Sirius grabbed young Harry and pulled him into his lap, partly to prevent himself from moving. He was very close to attacking Vold... Tom. He certainly wanted to. But he also needed to comfort the small child in his lap. His son needed him.
but he wasn't going to play along.
"That's our Harry!" George cried out, his own eyes shining.
He wasn't going to ... going to beg...
Everyone in the chamber looked towards the prince. Harry couldn't quite make out the expressions they were all wearing. It wasn't pity, at least. But he still didn't like it. It was a little too close to the hero worship he often saw.
"I asked you ... Imperio!"
"That won't work on Harry!" Dean shouted.
And Harry felt ... just answer no...
Alastor leaned forward. It was one thing to fight the imperius in a classroom setting, but would he manage it after being tortured. He wasn't even sure if such a thing was actually possible.
I will not, ... I won't say it...
There was more cheering, quieter than before but still there.
Just answer ... "I WON'T!"
The chamber erupted. "YES HARRY!"
And these words .... Perhaps another little dose of pain?"
"I'll kill him," Sirius muttered.
Petunia moved to grip her son in fear but Dudley pushed her off. His eyes were focused on his cousin. He couldn't believe how he'd laughed and jeered his cousin over this. THIS. This horror. It was worse than the horror movies he liked to watch. It was worse than anything he'd ever... Even worse than that demendy thing.
Voldemort raised his wand, ... curse missed him.
"Thank fuck," Ron said.
Young Ron looked on in shock when his mother didn't chastise his older self.
"We are not playing ... tired of our duel?
"This isn't a duel," Amelia said crossly as she held both her crying nieces.
Does this mean ... come out and play, then...
Lucius looked green as his mind went back to that night. He had been terrified as he watched a child younger than his own son tortured by that monster. And he'd done nothing. Too scared. Too selfish. Too... hopeless.
it will be quick. . . it might even be painless. . . I would not know. . . I have never died. . . . "
Harry crouched ... end had come.
"No. Don't you dare give up, Harry," Hermione cried.
Hagrid was crying buckets, a large yellow handkerchief covering his face.
There was no hope ... no help to be had.
Lucius grimaced at hearing his own thoughts returned to him.
And as he heard Voldemort ... kneeling at Voldemort's feet...
Everyone in the chamber, order members, ministry workers, death eaters alike, stared at Harry in utter amazement. The bravery. The tenacity. The strength. How was such a small boy capable of so much? Mother Magic had chosen well. He would be an outstanding prince. As much as they wished they didn't need to listen to these books, as much as they wished the war and the destruction was nothing more than nightmares and horror stories, they knew why they were here. Deep in their bones, they knew. This had to be witnessed. It had to be known. So it wouldn't happen again. But also to guarantee that Harry, Prince Myrrddin would be seen for what he was. A child. A war hero. A victor. Mother Magic's chosen.
he was going to die ... no defense was possible...
Sirius nodded. That was exactly what both Lily and James would do. Fight until their last breath. For their son. For what they believed was right.
Before Voldemort ... facing Voldemort.
Harry's friends cheered for him again. The sound echoed around the almost silent chamber. Harry was no longer hearing them though. He was stuck in his mind. Back in that graveyard. Back with Voldemort. Facing death yet again. He knew what was coming and he wasn't prepared to feel that loss again. Seeing his parents. Hearing their voices.
Voldemort was ready.
No one spoke. No one dared.
As Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"
Mrs Weasley cried loudly, folding in on herself. How was Harry still here? How had he survived this?