January 23, 1944
Saturday Afternoon
Harry and Elaine were moving as quickly as they could whilst assuring there were no other beings of any kind watching them. The knowledge that there was one lurking in the forest, watching and likely waiting for the right time to strike out at whoever crossed it, was warning enough for them to be eternally vigilant on their journey to Professor Dumbledore. Harry wasn't sure how the old man was doing, but by this point and with Grindelwald having the Elder Wand, it had to be going poorly for him.
Any battle of endurance would be lost horribly against a person with the strongest wand in existence, twice so when the person fighting the one with the wand was still recovering from some sort of magical illness. It was a miracle the fight was still ongoing, but who knew how long it would continue? After all, it only took one lucky landing of a spell anywhere on your body for the duel of survival to end in failure.
"Harry," Elaine whispered, her voice barely registering, such was the softness of it.
"What is it?" He asked back to her, his head swivelling all around as he looked for whatever had caused her to pause.
"It's occurred to me that, very shortly, we'll be engaged in what's likely to be the toughest fight of our lives. One can plan for it, speak of it and think of it as long and carefully as they'd like, but the sudden onset is something else entirely - seeing the spells within one-hundred yards shows the authenticity, should it ever have been doubted," Elaine swallowed and brushed aside a particularly large, fairly spike-ridden branch, not minding the barbs or how it tore at her sleeves. "Stay to my rear and simply fire as many spells as you can, as long as you can. We'll overwhelm him, you, myself and… our Professor."
Harry nodded. That had been the plan all along, he wasn't sure why she suddenly thought it needed reiterating or anything of that sort… well, there was one way he could find out. Their bond had been subdued since her assistance in allowing him to close it with Occlumency - contain may work better when he thought about it - but it was still possible to reach out when he allowed those protections to drop.
When they were alone and in bed, intimacy heavy in their actions, he didn't mind extending a portion of him to feel her affection once he'd learned how to do just that. Words were wind, as he'd heard and whilst that wasn't always true, the sense of feeling another person's, well, feelings, was indescribable. Truly, so long as he lived he doubted he'd ever know how to describe her emotions as he felt them. All he could say with absolute certainty is that he loved the way her mind focused on him with the utmost feelings of affection and love as they were felt on her behalf.
"I'll be fine, the same as you," Harry said, smiling at her when she chanced a split-second look over her shoulder. "We'll be back in Hogwarts, in our bed even, by the end of the day. Who knows, maybe we'll be given a better place to stay for a week or two since we're the ones who would have defeated Grindelwald, right?" When he finished with his question, a nervous, forced chuckle escaped him too. It wasn't that he didn't think they'd win, he absolutely knew for certain that the two of them and Dumbledore would be enough… injuries, wounds, whatever you called them on the other hand could potentially be quite grievous.
He wasn't ready to see Elaine with any level of serious injury or in any horrible level of pain. It wasn't solely her that he thought about, but all of his friends from both this time and his proper one. If there was one thing that Harry would never grow accustomed to, it was the myriad of feelings that took hold of you when a wounded or dying friend lay in your arms or on the ground. Nothing of that likeness could ever be normalised, nor should it be.
"I never thought I'd hear you say the words 'in our bed', it almost feels like a victory in and of itself. You'll be held to those words this evening, my love. I'll hold you to much and more, I'll reward you greater than ever before too - whatever we want will be ours or within our grasp," Elaine paused and took in a deep breath, her chest expanding as she turned her head to look towards a rather troublesome scene through the trees. "In the knick of time, that's what you were going to say.
Harry looked at her curiously and in response, she simply tapped on her head once, the message clear; it was a two-way bridge, their connection. As soon as he opened it up so that he could peer into her mind and take a glance at her surface-level emotions, she'd done the same to him with more success, as she always did. When he realised that, he didn't do much else but smile and survey the scene as she was now going back to doing.
Professor Dumbledore, the man he'd respected and knew to be as close to all-powerful as any wizard alive could be, was very obviously fighting a losing fight. With his body jumping and dashing all about, a feat impressive for a man of his age and health, the old Professor was rarely given the chance to counter. He had to stay completely reactionary, his lungs rapidly rising and falling while his breathing looked to be failing. Rarely would he even fire off more than one smell and when he did so, Grindelwald would very easily brush it aside.
That wasn't to say the other man was invincible or untroubled with the current fight he found himself deadlocked in. No, Grindelwald looked far from relaxed and sure of himself. It wasn't like the papers or his propaganda machine this time around, for Harry could see the beads of sweat and the strain of exertion in his movements. He was old like Professor Dumbledore, his face looked gaunt in a similar fashion to the good Professor's, but it was clear that his magic was more potent at this point in time.
"What do you suggest we do?" Harry asked, swallowing as he whispered directly into Elaine's right ear. "We could skirt around the treeline and stay undetected until we're directly behind him. Once we do that, we could fire off a volley of spells and catch him by surprise. It should be over quite quickly if we succeed, yeah?"
Elaine shook her head firmly, not leaving room for any type of argument. "The direction you're suggesting we head leads to the lake, or rather, a tributary of it. While that isn't entirely horrible on its own, should he capitalise on it and send us back far enough, we could be at risk of causing whatever creature or creatures he has stationed in that area to attack us. Worse yet, should we be flung away, the chances of us surviving the spell only to die by some sort of water-based creature or magic are quite high."
Harry wasn't too happy with her words even if they were mostly true. It wasn't his pride that he cared for or a sense of honour, but rather, the fact that they'd have to attack Grindelwald from the side or head-on. He was fast and strong, and at that point, he'd be cornered whilst locked in a losing fight of his own which meant he'd throw caution to the wind for the sake of his own survival… on the other hand, there was nothing else they could do to fight him and they had to jump in before too much longer passed.
"The right side, or straight ahead which'll put us right beside Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, swallowing and reaffirming his grip on his wand in the event something suddenly sprang out at them,
"We'll attack from the right in the hopes of Dumbledore taking advantage of the distraction. There already seem to be anti-apparation wards up, I believe I stumbled across an anti-portkey one too in my cursory glance - the point I'm making is that, once we're committed, this fight won't end until one side is defeated. There won't be any retreat, not unless you'd like a spell to hit you in the back as you flee. We'll fight until his end and all the while, I'll be thinking about our different type of fight this evening when we celebrate a victory sorely earned," Elaine turned, pressed a kiss to his cheek and brought a finger up to her lips as she started pulling on his left, closer arm.
That was that. There were no more words for them to share with one another, for the time to fight had finally come after years of practice… he couldn't describe how ironic it was when he realised, finally, his first end-style of a fight against a Dark Lord was alongside another version of his original one.
His heart pounded when they readied themselves in their positions, wands grasped tightly and a spell at the tip of their tongues. One that, when joined together in midair against their common fold, would be tenfold in its strength. In other words, Grindelwald wouldn't have the chance or ability to do anything aside from dropping it.
Elaine's suddenly altered visage looked at him appraisingly, a flash of concern was seen too, or so he thought before he blinked and saw her face as it normally looked. "Launch yours the moment you see my wand lighting up, we'll not get another chance to do this."
He nodded and before he knew it, she was muttering as the tip of her wand grew colourful - it was his signal, and so he fired off the strongest, most self-assured maximized explosive spell that he could; bombarda maxima, it was called, and Merlin was the explosion something to be witnessed. Whether it was because of Elaine's magical strength, his or the simple tenfold work of their wands working in tandem didn't matter. What did matter, was the pure destruction left behind by the usage of those spells.
Where Grindelwald once stood was nought but a crater, water already pooling at the bottom of it thanks to the proximity of the lake and the generally damp conditions of the surrounding woods. Rocks had been flung in every which way, some of which even hit Harry or Elaine, but the most surprising vision by far was that of Grindelwald in a protective barrier, his body bleeding in a plethora of places as his near-blank eyes turned to focus on them.
Harry was deeply unsettled not by the man's blank stare nor being face to face with him, but by the fact that he was still alive and mostly well after being caught completely by surprise. Any other witch or wizard he'd ever encountered wouldn't be more than bits on the ground, as horrible as that was to think. Grindelwald, the worst Dark Lord in hundreds of years, was faster than he'd ever imagined and a fair bit faster than during the time they'd observed his fight with Professor Dumbledore.
As the Muggles would say, he'd left a reserve in the tank and he was now burning it. "Hello Harry," Grindelwald finally said, those two words being all that he could manage before he retreated quickly to his rear with the three of them now pressing down on him with spell after spell.
Professor Dumbledore had rallied, his strength momentarily returned as Grindelwald's had when he saw two students aiding him in the fight. His face wasn't even filled with curiosity or any other form of wonder at their presence, he was in no mood for questions or conversation, he was solely here to deprive Grindelwald of his goals and with the man now on his backfoot, his shields breaking as fast as they could be cast, it was safe to say he'd soon achieve that.
Harry fired spell after spell, each time his beam joining together with Elaine's as they cast the same spell with hers only delayed one half a second if that. Their connection, bond, whatever she called it, was still open. She was likely peering into his mind with every spell that he fired so that she could match it while she added in the occasional one of her own.
The power of their spells in addition to Professor Dumbledore's, were awe-inspiring even as he continued his offensive, the usually confident man that was Grindelwald was now quiet and focused with a look of deep concentration on his face; he didn't look worried, not once, his expression had even been giddy upon seeing Harry. It was as unsettling as the man's presence was, but Harry wouldn't focus on that as the spells kept whistling towards their target and the sounds of explosions, popped shield charms and grunts from the casters of those very spells assaulted his ears.
What else can we do?
That thought came forth from the back of his mind as he watched Grindelwald block another volley of spells from the three of them, his transfigured cover only just preventing a spell from hitting his lower body while his far above average shield charm prevented four spells from striking his upper torso. Harry's spells, Elaine's spells and Dumbledore's all together only had the man staggering backwards, but remaining undefeated.
Elaine pressed on when he chanced a look at her out of the corner of his eye and Professor Dumbledore, tired and struggling for breath as he was, also slowly made his way towards his target. As he watched the two of them, his own spells still launching but in a slower manner on account of his still semi-low stamina when compared to the two prodigies, he realised this fight was still a good deal above his head despite all the progress he'd made.
"Move!" He heard Elaine yell, her voice forceful and filled with viciousness a moment before he was yanked to his left with a spell destroying a portion of his hair.
Grindelwald had managed to return or fire a spell at him despite the constant barrage he found himself under. That wasn't good, not remotely, but things weren't at their worst - not more than a few seconds later, Grindelwald did a motion with his wand after bringing up a vast amount of earth as a barrier between their two sides that soon had a huge wall of bluish-green fire moving all about as if it were alive.
It reminded Harry of that living fire spell, the one that everybody was terrified of, but he didn't know the counter anymore than he knew the spell's name… wait, there was one spell he knew he could cast. He'd seen in it one of the books he'd read at the Goldhorns all those months ago, but it was lethal. The spell would break apart after roughly one second if that, and bits of horribly-hot fire would hit the person unlucky enough to be on the receiving end.
Harry didn't debate about using it as he normally would have, instead, he launched it while he saw Dumbledore using his wand against the mass of off-coloured fire that seemed to be directly controlled by Grindelwald. The two fought for its control like titans, their gestures and incantations even baffling Elaine if her features were anything to go by, but still, she fired spell after spell at him with the man only barely able to deflect, intercept or shield them away.
He looked at her, smiled again, and tore off in the other direction even while she rapidly called for him to stop in his mind. There was no stopping, he wanted to respond as he felt her emotions of alarm and dread. Grindelwald couldn't protect himself from all three sides and it showed when he was struggling for control over that spell while Elaine volleyed him with hers. All Harry needed to do was open up that third front, use the spell he recalled in addition to another one or two from Slytherin's own books, and the fight would be over. He cou- he was pushed to the ground by a force strong enough that the wind was knocked out of his lungs upon impact with the ground and the only thing that stopped him from forming a lump on the ground out of pain, was his adrenaline.
That adrenaline only just beat out the shock that nearly set in.
When Harry looked up, he saw Professor Dumbledore a few feet away and a half-second later, he felt Elaine's feelings of alarm and worry. They were deep, filled with anger, and her spells only grew in viciousness as he recognised them; their power grew too, her hatred for potentially harming him taking form.
He stood up after clawing at the ground and again, bounded as quickly as he could to the direction that he needed to. Grindelwald watched him the whole while, spells were flung to prevent Harry from reaching that position and at one point, the Dark Lord grunted, a jagged piece of rock visibly embedded in his shoulder and the meat of his body openly ripped with blood running down his chest.
Still, he fought the equally as wounded-looking Professor Dumbledore and countered Elaine in all of her fury. It was a feat that Harry respected even if the man himself was truly horrible. Unfortunately for Grindelwald, as Harry vaulted a felled tree and deflected a spell that seemed underpowered for the older man's reputation, that time of being horrible would soon come to an end for he'd finally reached the position he needed to.
It was then that Harry pressed on the offensive, his adrenaline forcing his body to overcome exhaustion and his magical ability at the peak of its performance. Spell after spell left his wand, many of them silently cast as they crackled through the cool, brisk air of the outdoors and towards the Dark Lord. Upon reaching the monster, who like always, was a man, they grew stronger thanks to the spells from his wand's sister.
Grindelwald's shield cracked, the man fell over and a sound left him that Harry would never forget. The wheeze, the rattle, it was as if the man's soul was leaving his body and the sound was made audible.
He hoped he'd never hear such a thing again.
When Grindelwald fell, his magical fire construct that Dumbledore had been battling him for control of, ceased to be. No longer did it attempt to murder the three people who fought for freedom upon the island of their homeland. Elaine, she rushed towards Harry as soon as Grindelwald had begun to fall over and by the time he was fully on the ground, she wasn't but a few feet away from him… where she promptly forced her lips upon his in one of the most aggressive kisses he could ever recall having.
He could feel her intensity, anxiety and all of the other emotions she'd sent through their link during the rather brief battle.
"You're never to do something so stupid again, Harry," Elaine said when she finally pulled back, chest heaving, bits of her clothing torn and her body bleeding. "You aren't protected the same as I am. The risk that you took to win this battle, it can never happen again, not until I've found a way to keep you with me for all of eternity as we promised - you understand that, don't you?"
Elaine's voice was different. He wouldn't describe it as unhinged or out of the ordinary, but it wasn't either of the voices he was used to on her behalf. It was worrisome… Professor Dumbledore!
Harry pressed a kiss back to her lips before he tore over to the wounded man who'd begun to lie down against a tree, his head resting against the trunk of it as he looked towards the water. Hogwarts' lake was barely visible through the trees thanks to the many explosions, fires and violently overcast cutting spells that'd been used in the fight. The ground and surrounding area almost looked as if the Muggles had fought, such was the level of destruction that was visible.
"Good afternoon, Harry," Dumbledore wheezed, smiling and with that expression on his face that made Harry do the same despite the circumstances, their exhaustion and the other man's serious condition. "Nature's a beautiful thing, wouldn't you say?"
"I would, sir," Harry responded, swallowing as he tried and failed to stem the bleeding of a wound he'd failed to notice on Professor Dumbledore's upper-right arm. "Elaine! Can you help, please? I can't - the bleeding won't stop, it seems cursed."
Elaine took a breath, cast a glance over her shoulder, and moved closer. She looked off still, but he didn't care once she'd come over and decided to help him take care of the Professor. He would have normally been surprised at her knowledge of healing spells, but he recalled that she'd learned a great many of them solely for his benefit. Her obsession with death was but one of the few real similarities that she had with her male counterpart.
"It is cursed, but I can undo it. Stay still, Professor, we'll have help join us shortly," Elaine said, her voice calm and reassuring to the old man as she began making intricate gestures with her wand.
Professor Dumbledore furrowed his brows and made to speak, but he couldn't. Harry tried to help the man by summoning water from one of the nearby streams, one that he reckoned he'd drank from decades in the future, but his exhaustion was worse than he'd thought. His arm almost refused to lift itself and his throat felt tighter than normal.
"Elah," He tried, his voice failing him just as the Professor's had when he'd tried to speak, and so he looked over to Elaine in the hopes of alerting her.
She looked up at him, her eyes curious and vaguely confused, but then, they were filled with fear; genuine fear, primal and horrifying. He saw a flash of green, he felt a whirling of wind, he pushed himself away from the other two whilst making his wand… but he failed. Harry couldn't fight the exhaustion without his adrenaline, and so he fell onto the muddy ground, his eyes only barely making out a blur of movement and light from the direction of Grindelwald's corpse.
Had he faked it?
Harry thought that question clearly to himself before he was once more rolled onto his back, two pairs of hands picking him up as he heard two feminine voices talking, one far more passionate than the other. He swallowed, shook his head, and used all of his willpower to look to either side of him as well as the direction of Dumbledore.
For whatever reason, the man was staring endlessly at Grindelwald's body which was once more, unmoving. It didn't even look as if it'd moved in the first place, but he'd seen the light flash from that direction and he'd seen the spells impact his body again, no shield saving him this time around.
"Harry," Elaine said, her voice finally reaching his ears as she waved a finger in front of his face. "You did it. Grindelwald's gone."
Harry blinked a few times and look down to where his wand was hanging in his hand. He didn't recall using his wand when he'd fallen on the ground, but now that he thought about it, he'd wanted to and had even aimed it towards the man who he'd initially presumed to be dead. Elaine had checked for the three of them, which meant even she had been fooled into thinking he was gone.
Truthfully, throughout the whole fight, he'd felt like a spectator. His mind hadn't been able to comprehend completely the sheer level of violence and skill showcased by the other three individuals even if he'd somehow kept up with them… mostly. There weren't many people in the world that could've done what he had, but it was clearer now than it'd been ever before that he was a level below them in terms of skill as well as raw magical power.
Again, Harry tried to speak but the back of his throat felt stuck shut thanks to phlegm and other obstructions from the numerous blasts that had happened during their brief, hellish fight. Merlin, even tired and with the few injuries that he had, Harry still couldn't help but look around at the surrounding land.
The forest was on fire, there were a few animals visibly dead from their places of hiding and as he looked through the trees further, he spotted dozens of bodies in a further away clearing; some in gold and others in a deep, royal purple. Corene had gotten involved or the fight had ended naturally, it didn't matter to him and so again, he looked towards Professor Dumbledore to see how the older man was doing after such a lengthy fight.
As he'd previously been doing, he was staring at Grindelwald with an unmoving expression and eyes that blinked not once. It was unnerving now, to the point that Harry tapped Elaine and motioned towards Dumbledore, hoping that she understood his message about further aiding the man. His shoulder wasn't bleeding any longer, but he still looked horrible.
"There's no point in further aiding him," Elaine responded, accurately guessing his request and shaking her head as her eyes found his. "The Professor lurched forward to intercept a spell meant for you - I don't know why he did it, only that he used the tree as a springboard and used himself to shield you. You have my apologies, you seemed to respect him a great deal and from what I could tell, he thought fondly of you."
He had to mishear her, his mind said to himself. Professor Dumbledore was fine, the man had looked to be in poor health at the end of the fight, but they'd saved him. Grindelwald, in the end, had been a man like any other and against three people - two of whom had the power of ten - he had fallen just as everybody else in the world would have. Justice had been served for the thousands of lives lost and Professor Dumbledore had to live through the reconstruction. It was necessary; Harry had barely been given the chance to speak with the man in this time as it was!
"Potions," Elaine said, stopping the trio as the other person, Corene he guessed, paused to withdraw the aforementioned items from a pack she now had over her shoulder.
"Three," Corene answered. "Red, Yellow, Orange. Alert me if he has a reaction to the third, I'll begin the runic markings to aid in his recovery, as you deemed necessary."
Harry wasn't sure what runes would be doing for him, but he drank the potions as Elaine offered them and watched as she did the same with another, matching set. At one point, she even swapped potions with him, trading one from her set for one from his set of the same exact colour. When she saw him notice that, she smiled and pressed it against his lips. Only with that third potion down the hatch, so to say, did he finally feel as if he'd recovered sufficiently enough to stand and speak.
"What was wrong with me?" Harry asked, shaking his head as he leaned against a nearby tree for stabilisation. "What happened back with Professor Dumbledore? I saw a green flash of something and rolled back. You said I killed Grindelwald, but I didn't even recall casting anything, I only remember waving my wand in his general direction."
"You pressed yourself too hard, magically speaking," Elaine responded, answering his first and likelier easier question. "Magic is the same as anything that resides within your body. It can be depleted the same as energy, strengthened through its persistent use and grown in capacity by that very same thing. You were overcasting everything, it was commendable and brilliant to watch, but I'd like to suggest you refrain from doing so in the future, else you'll feel the same as you did. Ah, I should mention this too, the old magic that you were studying took a bit too long for it to aid us in our fight… there's a reason it's no longer used, powerful as it is."
"I'll recover, right? I didn't cause any lasting damage because of what I was doing?" Harry asked, momentarily allowing Elaine her victory over him in regards to her 'old' magic comment; she was right, just not completely, in his opinion.
"As I said, it's similar to anything you do to your body. If you can exert it, you can recover by taking time away from using it overly so," Elaine answered, the girl transfiguring a nearby rock into a couch that was very promptly occupied by her and him both whilst Corene continued moving around various items within her backpack. "Grindelwald feigned death a spell, potion or ability that I'm currently unaware of. I've not a clue why he attempted to murder you as he did when considering it was he that had such a fascination with your family and he that wished to capture you."
Harry swallowed and looked back whence they came, the area still burning and likely worse than it'd been doing just a few minutes ago. "You're sure he's really done this time, right? I don't exactly recall hitting him with anything, but I do remember seeing a few spells flung off in his direction - even saw them hit him in what I think was his chest."
"I can say with absolute certainty that yes, he is dead. It's not surprising when one considers that it was a killing curse that hit him, one that you cast despite your position on your back pressed down and into the muddy ground," Elaine pressed up against him, one of her hands seeking out the closer of his as she pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. "You have my sincerest apology for our inability to save Professor Dumbledore. I never saw eye to eye with the man, but that doesn't mean I wished for his death when his political capital wasn't all that far away from mine and his teaching was exemplary."
He looked at Elaine to see if she really meant those words and from what he could tell, they weren't a flat out lie. Professor Dumbledore was gone, he had to come to terms with that and what made him feel worse than the man's passing was the fact that Harry didn't feel the way that he should. Only a few tears had been shed when he thought about Professor Dumbledore's passing… it was because this man, he wasn't really Professor Dumbledore as Harry had known him.
They looked the same, spoke very similarly and even had much of the same fire, but this one had been more aggressive with his way of speaking as well as his actions. Beyond that, he'd been a bit more snippy and easy to annoy; the man was a different one from the one he'd known, he concluded. All that as it was didn't change that there was a portion of Harry that truly did feel bad for the man's passing. He was a master wizard and stronger as well as wiser than most people would ever be. There were likely many inventions, laws and lives that wouldn't be changed for the better with his absence. That thought was the most sobering of them all as he fell into a bout of relaxed reclining against Elaine, the burning forest as their backdrop.
"Aster's fine."
Those words roused Harry from the zoning he'd been doing and he looked towards the source of the speaker, Corene. She looked fine, not a scratch on her or a rip in her clothing which couldn't be said for Elaine or him.
"The others?" Elaine asked with her voice firm and without any obvious tinge of worry as Harry reckoned his would have had.
"As far as I'm aware, our losses were minimal on account of Aurors and volunteers bearing the brunt of the wounded or dead. When they saw us attacking, they joined forces and spearheaded the assault on Hogsmeade, which aided in the lack of any high number of losses on our account," Corene stated with her eyebrows creasing with what looked to be a hint of concern or something of that sort; it made sense when one realised her father was directly involved in the conflict. "Forgive me, but recovering the bodies of Grindelwald and Dumbledore would aid us, wouldn't it?"
Elaine nodded after a few seconds of hesitation and began to rise from her seated position, pushing Harry back down ever so lightly when he made to follow after her. "Corene and you, Harry, will stay here. Allow yourself a few minutes more of rest and stay within the wards, it'll quicken your healing, the stinging is bacteria being removed."
Harry didn't feel any stinging, so he figured he wasn't infected with anything but nonetheless he reclined back into the comfort of the couch while Elaine went back the fifty or so yards in the direction of the bodies. It was finally beginning to hit him, as she'd said it would now that the conflict was, by and large, resolved. Dumbledore was gone, dozens of others were likely killed that he'd known or seen and worse were the visions he could finally allow himself to revisit in the depths of his mind.
The gore and viscera, bits of human or house-elf that were spread throughout the entirety of Hogsmeade. It was something that flashed to the forefront of his mind every time he blinked and worse, something that lingered when he closed his eyes in an attempt to rest. He doubted the ability to sleep would come naturally for quite some time, but luckily there were potions that existed to ensure a calm, dreamless night's rest.
There were warnings not to drink them too often or make a habit out of it, but those could be ignored for some time.
"Corene?" He asked when he realised any additional rest or attempt at doing so would be pointless.
"Yes?" She responded, simple and straight to the point as was usual.
"Do you have a rough number of how many people we've lost? I know the Aurors and Volunteers at Hogsmeade… they didn't… well…" Harry couldn't speak, his voice refusing to work as he found himself choked up once more thanks to the things that he'd seen. Merlin, none of it felt real, none of today had, much less the past hour.
"I'm currently unaware of the losses we've suffered save for the fact that none of those especially close to you are amongst them," Corene said, her head cocked as she set one last runic sequence into the ground around them. "You're still fine, yes?"
He nodded instinctively at her question. "Fine enough. Whatever was in that potion did the trick, thanks - could you tell me how that other fight ended up going too? I saw a bunch of them laying on the ground, dead, I guess."
"I did as you requested and avoided getting involved unless there was an especially good moment to take advantage of, there was only one and as such, I interceded near the very end of the fight when seven were all that was left standing," Corene nodded towards her backpack where a letter was only just visible. "I was given a token by the newly appointed Head Auror Maxis before he quickly apparated away with the heavily injured Deputy Director of his department. It will prove helpful."
I don't doubt that in the slightest, Harry thought, his eyes back on the ground she'd been working runes into. "So am I supposed to be feeling or seeing something, or is it working all by itself? I have to admit, I've only been gradually getting tired again."
"Of course, one of the potions I gave you and Elaine both is meant to encourage a good rest. One of its side effects is fatigue that only builds until you fall into a deep slumber - it's intentional. How else would your body rest appropriately and sufficiently enough?" Corene's expression turned knowing as she moved towards him, urging him to lay down. "Elaine is returning with the two bodies as you suggested. We'll make our way to the others, then to whoever is currently in charge, where you'll be highly respected and praised for your work against Grindelwald from here on out."
"That's the plan, is it?" He asked, the thought far sourer to him when Dumbledore's death was added to it.
Corene finally sat down beside him, prim, proper and professional as always. None of the violence, death or anything else for that matter seemed to get at her half as much as it'd done to him. "Yes," she said simply.
"Everybody knows how it went down, Harry," Elaine's voice added, elaborating when Corene failed to do so. "Together, you and I saved Professor Dumbledore from a fate of internship filled with torture. His death doesn't lay at our feet, we'll not forget to mention how he aided us and assisted in wearing down Grindelwald. That won't be omitted, nor will the fact that you are the one who killed Grindelwald with me at your side, your strike happening when I managed to break his guard and our partnership declared the best of the MIllenia."
"Sounds like you're trying to make us out to be the new Merlin and Morgana," Harry commented, swallowing and finally feeling a tad more at ease thanks to her presence.
It was weird that his mind felt more structured and peaceful the closer he was to her. She wasn't evil, that much was true, but she most certainly didn't align herself with the forces of good. Not when she made mention of murdering Grindelwald without any hesitation or how cold-hearted she was in allowing the Aurors and Volunteer adult wizards to march to certain doom. Sure, they were more likely to win than a bunch of Hogwarts students, but together, could their numbers have overwhelmed the invaders?
Elaine's face was right in front of him, worry as readily apparent as it'd been during the course of the battle. "You're losing focus far easier than you usually do," she commented, one of her incredibly cold hands settling on his forehead as she moved even closer, their noses touching. "Fine - stay by my side for my sake and yours both. We'll be busy well into the evening now that this is over and I'd very much like it if you aided me in these interviews we'll soon be facing."
"Interviews?" Harry questioned, furrowing his brows as she aided him into a standing position, the sounds of people moving closer to them now reaching his ears and the worries of who those people were making him reach once more for his wand. "
"Ours," Corene said, the singular work directed at him with a pointed look to where his wand was.
Elaine gave a brief nod over her shoulder to Corene before she answered his question and turned his attention away from where it'd been drawn; the two shapes covered by blankets that she'd transfigured were no longer necessary for him to look at. All of those emotions could be held at bay if he simply kept his attention away from them.
"We'll have one, perhaps two, before the day is over. They'll wish to know how Dumbledore fell, how we bested Grindelwald and likely a few personal questions deeply related to the war for the sake of propaganda purposes. Many witches lost their wizards today and a fair few wizards lost their witches. Morale is an important factor politically, economically and beyond - the Minister isn't selfless enough to worry about them beyond that reason," Elaine didn't need to add the last comment, but she did with a meaningful look sent solely to him as if she was already showcasing why it would be best that the two of them take charge of the British people.
"Okay," Harry found himself saying.
He could fight it, say that it was stupid or unnecessary, but she was ultimately right. As horrible as he felt, as tired as he was and with all of the pain from the many minor injuries he'd had still lingered, it was the right thing to do if he wanted to make his future life easier instead of harder. Elaine, one way or the other, would use Grindelwald's rather anti-climactic death into a story that likely grew all the more impressive each time she told it. That was who she was, how charismatic she could be and how important the position of power was to her.
"You're fine with all of it?" Elaine asked, her eyes squinting at him as a look of curiosity and more worry made its way through her usual mask despite the group of people now within thirty yards of them. "We'll have a conversation, alone, when we make it to friendlier ground. I'd like to speak again regarding what last we discussed before we began this small journey."
"We can do that," Harry said, smiling at her and thanking her when she handed him a wand, one that he'd seen many times over; it was Professor Dumbledore's, the one that Harry recognised from his own time that the Professor had likely kept for more important matters despite how weird having two wands was.
Words weren't necessary, Elaine's look as they made their way over to the others and his in response were all that was needed between the two of them. She knew he loved her, he'd said the words for Merlin's sake.
"I love you too," Elaine whispered, grinning at him and looking as beautiful as ever; blood, dirt and scorch marks be damned, her compassion this day alone had shown she was far from Voldemort and with some ball bit of luck, she'd only draw further away from that potential future.
Harry blinked and rubbed at his eyes, purposefully looking away from the already ongoing clean-up efforts inside of Hogsmeade. The village deserved much and more, as did the people who'd fought to retake it from Grindelwald's forces. Some small, useless plaque was the least of their worries. All of their families, the people who depended on them and for whom they'd risked everything, were left in the care of all of Magical Britain.
He would personally see to it that their needs were met regardless of who they were or what station they served in.
"Seven and Thirty-two, Elaine," Corene said, swallowing as she handed over a piece of parchment that had six different people's handwriting on it, at least six that Harry could easily determine were different from one another. "Your idea of using that specific potion worked, as was expected."
"You helped me in procuring it, don't think I'll forget that little cousin, " Elaine responded, saying Corene's new title with affection and mild reprimand all at once.
Elaine's not the most forgiving witch I've ever met, but she could be way worse, that's for sure, Harry thought, memories of his old life with Pansy and Millicent taking hold for ten or so seconds until he looked over to Elaine.
"Anybody that I know all that well?" He asked, not wanting the entire list of names at this point in time, only the information that he had explicitly asked for.
"No. Your list of friends remains at what it was, give ten-thousand or another twenty or so thousand, once the Ministry arrives with all of its propaganda and other authorised paper companies," Elaine answered, her lips morphing into a vicious sneer at the mere thought of the minister and those that always hung at his robes like babies… to quote her.
"I'd like the full list, Aurors, Allies and Hogsmeade Volunteers, just not today. We'll need to do something for them and their families, the injured too, they deserve the world after bloody well having saved it," Harry said firmly, his eyes briefly going back to Hogsmeade before he made himself turn away again, the image of a man crying over a small bundle threatening to undo everything Harry was storing inside of his mind.
Dozens of pops sounded, a few people jumping and reaching for their wands before they realised who the many new arrivals were; the Minister, his personal guard and an army of aides that followed after him whilst vying for attention or looking around as if they were hugely important to the day's events. That last group in particular greatly annoyed Harry, for the men and women who truly were important, were those already here or in Saint Mungos.
"Father is here," Corene said, pointing out the aforementioned man who was stood only a few people away from the Minister on account of his rather large political capital and equally as large vaults. "May I?"
Elaine nodded almost instantly and within half a second, Corene was moving at a slightly quicker pace than was normal for her in the direction of her father. It made Harry wonder if she truly was affected by everything the same as he was and that front of hers was nothing more than something she used to secure herself.
"Those men and women towards the back, they'll be coming over to us right after the Minister does - speak carefully, don't interrupt him and do mind his newest Chief Advisor. He's had half a dozen in his rule as the Minister, you met the third or fourth if I can recall correctly," Elaine said all of that with a smile on her face as she straightened out her posture.
Professor Dumbledore's body was already gone, recovered and sent to a place where it could be stored for proper burial rights. Grindelwald's, on the other hand, was laid visible for all to see… directly at their feet and in the mud. Nobody mentioned how undignified it was, few had looked away, most were sure to give a look that conveyed their feelings of hatred and fewer still would make a crude comment or spit at him.
Harry wasn't in the last group, nor was he in the first. Grindelwald deserved no proper burial, he didn't earn a funeral or any other final rights before he was sent off. Anybody who respected him beyond his magical prowess was the enemy of the magical world and needed to be dealt with. What remained of his followers had already been rounded up and sent off to the Ministry with nearly half of the Auror force as it was.
The rest who'd managed to flee wouldn't remain hidden for very long. Their faces were known as equally as their crimes were and while those were changeable, everybody would be on alert and looking for them. If Harry was given the power, he'd place bounties and rewards on every known follower of the man who'd allowed the war to get to this point.
Revenge wasn't often something he advocated for, but in this case, he liked to think of it as a form of justice for all those who had their lives cut short due to his horrid attitude and doctrine.
"They're taking their time," Harry said disdainfully, his eyes on the politicians as they shook hands with everybody whilst posing for photos that were likely meant to show that they 'cared' when they hadn't been anywhere close to the violence.
Elaine abandoned her pose so that she could press against him, her hand finding his. "They can take as long as they'd like. He's gone, the world's free and we can finally start towards our goal of fixing our nation - we'll start with the honouring of those who fell, as we should."
I really do love her, Harry thought, his lingering doubt on everything she said fully cast away as his eyes met hers with the flickering of still ongoing fires as their backdrop.