FicWad

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, then it might well belong to J.K.R or to some of her affiliates. Or to some random people out there. I only claim my OC:s and plot.

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Chapter Five: Tainted by Darkness



Dozens of cracking sound erupted outside of an old manor. The DMLE had arrived to the Dark Lord's headquarters.


The Auror Commander Rufus Scrimegour watched the Riddle Manor with an unreadable expression for few seconds before giving the attack signal.


Nearly hundred wands rose simultaneously. A storm of multicoloured streaks travelled through the courtyard and impacted on the wards woven around the manor. The wards become visible as a purplish hue around the building, and the first volleys of curses were deflected towards the sky. Fist it seemed that the wards would hold, but then a spell managed to penetrate it. The spell hit the stonewall with a deafening crack. Part of the wall had exploded, showering dust and debris everywhere within dozen meters. In less than a minute the wards were completely shattered.


Ten four-man-squads of Aurors entered the Riddle manor through every entrance. DMLE personnel outside the Death Eater Headquarters begun setting anti-Apparation and anti-portkey wards. They weren't intending to let anyone escape. Rufus smirked. The Dark Lord's second rise will be stopped today. Hopefully they could end it permanently this time.


Suddenly the whole manor exploded in a tremendous blast of green fire. The courtyard was showered with burning debris. Many of the witches and wizards outside were killed or wounded by the particularly fast travelling or heavy debris. Those who had been inside had been vaporised.


Rufus lifted his head from the ground where he had thrown himself to avoid getting hit by the blast debris. He witnessed the destruction around him. Over half of his forces had been wiped out in a single explosion. And half of those who had survived were wounded. He could hear pained wailing all around him.


They had walked directly into a trap. Damn it!


He stood up. "Everybody, take the wounded and Disapparate!"


It was futile. Someone had already set up anti-Apparation wards. Scrimegour frowned. "Had someone manage to get the wards up?"


"We didn't have time," said Auror Shacklebolt, who was standing ten meters behind the Auror Commader.


Rufus turned to face the Auror. "Then who-," he begun, but railed off as he saw dozens of humanoid shapes pouring into the courtyard from the manor gates, twenty meters from him. He instantly recognised what they were. They were living dead; corpses animated by Dark magic.


"Inferi!" he shouted. "Use fire spells! And somebody get the anti-Apparation wards down!"


The remaining Aurors and Enforcers begun casting all kinds of fire spells into the masses of Inferi.


Their concentrated fire was having definitive results. The Inferi were burned faster than innocents during Grindelwald's reign, still it wasn't enough. The Inferi soon reached them and the situation went completely chaotic as everybody fought to stay alive among the sea of living dead.


They could have still 'won', but then the situation got even worse as dozen or so of black robed men and women appeared. The white masked Death Eaters immediately begun to launch Unforgiveables at the surviving Ministry personnel. What concerned Commander Rufus Scrimegour the most was not the black clothed, white masked Death Eaters, but the one black robed wizard not masked.


Lord Voldemort had arrived into the battle scene.


*


Harry closed the door behind him. Tonks would be very useful for him indeed. He couldn't help but to smile. Things were going very well. His primary mission was already completed. The old fool was dead. That alone would secure Dark Lord's favour.


Unless something extraordinary would happen, he would disable the Ministry today. And then the Dark Lord would grasp the ultimate power.


Still there was that problem with the prophecy. The old cocker was probably just trying to manipulate him, but he couldn't take the risk, at least not if it can be so easily confirmed true or proved as false.


Few people looked at him funnily as he walked through the Ministry corridors dressed in hospital clothes. Harry smiled to them as response, inwardly smirking at the thought that they won't be smiling for long. His Imperiused assassins would soon reach their targets and the Ministry Headquarters will fall into total chaos.


"Harry! What are you doing here?" somebody asked from behind him.


Harry turned towards the speaker. "Ah... I was actually looking for you, Savage."


The traitorous Auror looked at him curiously. "What do you want? I thought you were supposed to be in the Auror Emergency Clinic."


"I changed plans," Harry said with a shrug. "There is something I would like you to do for me, Franz. I left something to the Emergency Clinic and I would like you to take it with you as you go to Weasleys. I will follow you as soon as I can."


The Death Eater smirked. "I guess I can do that for you, Harry."


"Good," Harry said. "Did you, perhaps, do the other thing I asked?"


"Yes," Savage answered. "I 'instructed' few people about your wishes."


Harry chuckled. "I gather they were very receptive?"


"Indeed, they were," Franz Savage said with small smile on his lips. "Have a good day, Harry."


"I will," Harry muttered as he continued his way towards the Department of Mysteries.


*


Nymhadora closed her eyes for a moment. After taking a fortifying breath, she looked at the ancient Headmaster, "Let's do it."


"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked. "I haven't even told about the effects of such bond."


"Whatever it will do, it cannot be any worse than what the bond is doing now!"


"I hope you are right, Nymhadora. In any case, we don't have time for long debates." Albus Dumbledore lifted his wand. Well, it wasn't really his wand, but Tonks'. "Prepare yourself."


Dumbledore begun chanting something in a language centuries dead. Bright, multicoloured sparks of magic left his wand tip and started spiralling around Tonks. These sparks gathered and formed themselves into runes that took arcane orbits around the female Auror, spinning faster and faster.


Dumbledore's chant continued and within few minutes the runes were shining with a brilliance of the Sun.


Then Dumbledore's spell reached its peak. The runes latched themselves into Tonks' body. She screamed, more of surprise than any actual pain. She felt like she had been just doused with boiling water, but strangely she felt no pain. It was only slightly irritating. And then it ended.


She blinked. That's it? She didn't feel any different. Perhaps there really wasn't any terrible complications because of the bond?


Exactly at that moment she was struck by a blinding rush of images, feelings and memories. Her head felt like exploding at the sudden pressure of foreign thoughts.


Someone else's memories flashed through her eyes faster than she could possibly follow. She wasn't aware that her legs stopped supporting her and she slumped on the floor, her mouth wide open in a silent scream.


The memories flow slowed down a bit, and now she could actually make sense of them...


"How dare you?! You useless freak!" her uncle was yelling at her. "How dare you use your freakishness in my house?!"


"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she whimpered in an absolute terror, taking few steps backward.


Her uncle looked at her murderously. "Not good enough, boy." A second later Vernon's large fist slammed into her face.


Her nose broke with a wet crack, and she released a muffled wail. She was slammed backwards, crashing into the wall behind her before sliding down in a heap, her legs unable to carry her anymore. The world was spinning around her. She closed her eyes.


A second later she opened her eyes and stepped in over her dying aunt, kicking Petunia hard to her face and smashing some of her innards under his heels in the process, and saw Vernon rushing into the lobby. Nymphadora grinned. He was sparing her of the trouble finding him. Probably the first useful thing he has done in his miserable life. Tonks' lips formed into a sadistic smile as she pointed her wand's business end towards the fat idiot. "Infurnacio!" she yelled. How sweet that word tasted on her lips...


White hot flames surged out of her wand tip engulfing her uncle in fiery death and setting the wall behind him in flames. Vernon's burning body hit the floor soft thud. For a second she regretted killing her uncle as his burning remains smelled even worse than he usually did.


As the memories flashed through her mind, Tonks begun to laugh. She didn't really know why, but somehow it was so ironic. She laughed until tears came to her eyes, and then she begun to cry.


*


Few minutes earlier:


The greatest Dark Lord in the century, and perhaps even in the millennia, surveyed the scenery around him.


Most of his Inferi were destroyed. Their still smouldering bodies were scattered on the scarred courtyard of his filthy muggle ancestors. Their destruction didn't matter, they would have stopped working in less than a day, anyway. The Inferi had been quite sloppy work. He had been in hurry and hadn't wanted to waste any magic. The only spell used on them had been the Corpse Animating Charm. Without dozen or so more preservation spells laid on the living dead, the animating magic within them wouldn't last longer than few days.


Still they had done their job magnificently. Scarlet robed Aurors and black robed Enforcers were laying on the ground in growing pools of red liquid. The Dark Lord smiled. He had missed the invigorating smell of blood. How he had missed wizard to wizard combat! It was the ultimate thrill, the truest test of one's self worth. And once again he had proved his dominance.


He looked at Rufus Scrimegour was laying on the ground ten feet from him. The Dark Lord kept his distance from the defeated, but still alive Auror Commader, to not stain the hem of his robes with unworthy blood.


"Mr. Scrimegour, I have an proposition for you," The Dark Lord said in his customary hiss. "You are a powerful wizard, and I could use your strength."


The Auror Commander opened his eyes. He spit blood out of his mouth before answering, "I would rather die than serve you." His voice was dry and pained. No wonder, really, considering his condition.


Lord Voldemort's lips curved slightly upwards. He hadn't been expecting any other answer from the foolish Auror Commander. "That can be arranged," he said and lifted his yew wand. "Infurnacio."


A powerful tongue of bright white-hot flames was surged out of the Dark Lord's wand tip. The flames travelled the distance between them at astounding speed. Scrimegour screamed in pain as his robes and hair caught fire. The swirling flames enveloped him and within a hearth beat, the intense heat caused his skin to bubble and burn. The magical fire ate his flesh like a ravenous pack of piranhas. In few short seconds nothing remained of him but a churned skeleton. The Dark Lord released his curse, and lowered his wand.


"My lord! What shall we do to the remaining Inferi?"


Voldemort turned towards the speaker, a young blonde witch. She was one of Harry's recruits. The Dark Lord smiled. Taking that boy under his wings had, indeed, been a marvellous decision. Little nurturing of his hatred towards muggles and few careful words about the wizarding world had been enough to turn him into his cause. With promises of power and prestige he bought his loyalty. The boy had been a real sucker towards any acknowledgement due his traumatic childhood.


"Annihilate them alongside their destroyed brethren," Lord Voldemort said. It wouldn't do for the muggle police to find the bodies. The disappearance of the whole population of Little Hangleton will spread quite a chaos in the muggle world.


"As you wish, my lord," the witch said, and bowed. She had a nice suntanned skin and even her robe couldn't completely hide her curved figure. Perhaps he could use her as a more than a simple witch-at-arms. But work before pleasure, it was time to contact his protégé.


He reached for the boy through their mind-link. With his considerable skills in Legilimency it was very easy.


*


"Welcome the Hall of Prophecy, Mr. Potter," the Unspeakable who was accompanying him said as they stepped into a room full of shabby, wooden shelves filled with glass balls.


"Thank you," Harry said with a smile, as his wand whipped out of his pocked in blur. "Avada Kedavra."


The green bolt of profane magic left his wand tip and hit the older man squarely into his chest. The Unspeakable slumped down to the floor with a soft thud. Harry shook his head. Even these guys were far too trustful.


Harry looked yellowish labels affixed to the shell right beneath the dusty glass balls. It didn't take him long to find what he had been searching for.


He frowned as he read the label. In a spidery writing was written a date of some fifteen years previously, and below that:


S.T.P to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord and (?)Harry Potter


Harry cursed. It seemed that the old coot hadn't lied about the prophecy. Not that Harry had really even dared to hope that, as direct lies weren't exactly Dumbledore's style. Still, this would complicate things. Hopefully the prophecy would be cryptic and vague, open for dozens of different interpretations. Then he and the Dark Lord could simply ignore it.


He reached for the prophecy with his left hand, his fingers curling around the glass sphere. He had expected it to feel cold, but it did not. On the contrary, it felt very warm. Not hot enough to burn, but it was much warmer than the air around it. Harry could feel the magic pulsating faintly inside it.


When he was about to tap the ball with his wand, he suddenly felt his lords presence in the back of his mind. Did he suspect something or was it just a coincidence. He suppressed the small inkling of fear, and released part of his Occlumency shields and reached for his lord.


Milord? Do you need something? He voiced in his mind.


The Dark Lord's reply was immediate. How is your plan succeeding, my protégé?


Everything is going well, Harry answered, trying not to show his uncertainty. The old coot is dead, as is the Minister. The assassins are on their way and I have already send Savage to visit Weasleys.


Harry could sense the Dark Lord's elation. He knew that his lord hated the meddling old man even more than he did, which was an impressive feat all considered.


I have crushed the Auror force that they dared to send against me. The Dark Lord's voice echoed in his mind. Today we have destroyed the Ministry and the Order. To the victor goes the spoils. Soon the ultimate power will be mine.


Harry smirked. Then, allow me to be the first to congratulate you, your excellency. Then he hesitated for a moment before adding, I trust you will keep your part of our deal.


Harry, what is this? Lord Voldemort asked with deceptive calmness. Why are you suddenly doubting your lord? Have I ever lied to you, my protégé?


No, but... Harry didn't know what to say. As the seconds passed by and neither of them said anything, Harry realised something about himself. Even thought he despised cowardliness, he was a coward. So afraid of death, that it was overriding his loyalty and honour. Harry hung his head in shame.


Dumbledore, the Dark Lord hissed in his mind. Don't let him mislead you. What ever he said before his death, were undoubtedly half-truths designed to confuse you. And rest assuredly, I will always live up to my word.


Yes, Harry said as he released the breath he hadn't known he had been holding. You are right as always, my lord.


Suddenly Harry had a very peculiar feeling. Something was crashing against his Occlumency walls with ever growing pressure. Harry looked around him, searching for the cause. There was nobody there.


What is this? Voldemort asked.


I... I don't know, my lord. At that moment his shields failed and a maddening rush of images, feelings and memories surged into his brains. His head felt like exploding at the sudden pressure of foreign thoughts. His legs stopped supporting him and he slumped on the cold stone floor. He lost his concentration, and the link between him and his lord was broken.


Waves of unknown memories flashed through his eyes faster than he could follow. He tried to rewove the Occlumency walls, but to no avail.


Soon it ended, leaving only a weird presence into the far corner of his mind. He instantly rebuild his mind defences, and the presence vanished. Quickly skimming over the memories he had just acquired, he realised what had happened. Somehow Tonks had completed the Bond. Harry couldn't have guessed her to be capable of such magic. Well, nothing was lost yet, it was a simple miscalculation.


He lifted his head from the stone floor and saw a broken glass sphere less than two foots from his face. A figure, pearly-white as a ghost, fluid as smoke, had unfurled itself from the broken ball, and it was speaking:


...one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.


Harry cursed his luck. He had succeeded in smashing the prophesy so that he heard only the end, and he was soulbonded to an Auror! And even the prophecy had to remind him of his parents stupidity of fighting against their rightful lord. It seemed like the whole universe was against him today!


So, I have power to vanquish my lord? What is that supposed to mean? Harry thought with frown. Everyone has power to kill anyone, what one needs is an opportunity. Or did it mean that I could beat the Dark Lord in direct duel?


It was pity that he didn't hear the rest of the prophecy. Harry slammed his fist to the wall next to him. It was useless to contemplate over already spilled milk. What was done, was done. Now he should do something to the soulbond.


She would undoubtedly come for him, Harry concluded. And when she arrives, I will kill her.


*


The images slowed down, and Tonks awakened from her stupor. She blinked repeatedly as she tried to clear her mind.


She turned her head and saw the Headmaster laying on the floor unmoving. He wasn't breathing anymore... Dumbledore was dead. She closed her eyes and hung her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Headmaster," she whispered into the empty room.


Suddenly the door slammed open and Franz Savage stepped inside.


Tonks' wand hand moved in blur. She grasped her wand from Dumbledore's hand and pointed it at Savage. The Potter brat had said that Savage was a Death Eater. She doubted that the brat had had any reason to lie to her at that moment. "Stupefy."


The traitorous Auror swayed to his left side and neatly avoided the stunner. He flourished his wand and send a shadowy bolt at her.


She immediately cast a shield and rose to her feet. The bolt of Dark magic hit her purple shield and was deflected towards the ceiling with surprising ease. Her shield had barely weakened!


"I thought you were supposed be harmless," the Death Eater said.


"Well, I'm not," Tonks spat.


Savage smiled slightly. "Yes, I see that. It doesn't matter though, I can still easily beat you."


"We shall see," Tonks snarled. How she wanted to swipe that smile out of his lips...


The Death Eater answered with a barrage of deadly curses. The curses hit her shield and were deflected to random directions. None of the curses had managed to penetrate her shield.


Tonks didn't stop to ponder why, and immediately begun her offensive.


Multicoloured streaks of light travelled through the air as the two experienced combatants duelled. They dodged, sidestepped and deflected spells while simultaneously sending a continuous barrage of curses at the other. The spells were getting progressively Darker and Darker.


As the duel continued Tonks was quite surprised that she wasn't starting to feel any tired, actually, on the contrary she was feeling very powerful. She could nearly feel the magic crackling on her fingertips, never before had she felt such torrents of magic flowing in her, and it was the most exquisite sensation.


The female Auror spun away from Savages' paralysing curse, simultaneously launching a powerful reductor curse at the Death Eater.


Magic burned in her in a magnitude she had never even thought possible, but still she desired more. Her spells took more power as drank deeper from the corrupted well. What she didn't realise in her exhilaration was that the raw magic wasn't her own, it belonged to perhaps the most powerful wizard on the planet, Harry Potter.


Savage shot a Heart-Stopper at her, which she lazily deflected back at the caster. As the turncoat Auror was forced to dodge his own spell, Tonks had the perfect opportunity to end the duel. She didn't hesitate.


"Avada Kedavra," she said and the twisting green bolt of light left her wand, hitting the Death Eater a split second later. The fight was over.


Tonks left hand rose to cover her mouth, and the exhilaration left her as quickly as it had came. She felt sick. She hadn't intended to kill him... she had simply done it by instinct.


She blinked. By instinct? Since by when had she had instincts to kill?


*


A minute earlier:


The Ministry was in utter chaos. People were duelling on the corridors and offices. People were dying and nobody really knew what was happening. Some of their co-workers had suddenly begun casting Killing Curses at anything that moves.


Most people were trying to flee the Ministry Headquarters as fast as they could. They fled from a enemy that they outnumbered over twenty to one. If they had chosen to fight, they would have easily beaten the dozen or so Imperiused wizards and witches.


Of course, there was a handful of brave people that actually were fighting.


Arthur Weasley dodged a Killing Curse cast by Bertha Jorkins and send stunner at her. It was clear to him that she was under Imperious. What he didn't understand was how it was possible. The Ministry had wards to detect the mind control curse. And where was the Law Enforcement?


Arthur deflected Bertha's cutting hex back at her. She wasn't fast enough to dodge it and it cut a deep wound on her right tight, causing her to fall down with a shriek. A second later she was hit by Mr. Weasley's stunner.


Arthur looked at unconscious Bertha and wondered what he should do now. Suddenly heard a voice from behind him. He cursed in his mind. He had been careless and now he would pay the price.


"Avada Kedav-" The voice stopped mid-incantation. Arthur turned and saw a middle-aged man pointing a wand at him. The man was looking very bewildered.


They stared each other for a few seconds before the man spoke, "The Imperious just broke... I'm sorry I was about to kill you."


Mr. Weasley didn't know what to say to that, so he voiced the question he wanted a answer for. "Who cast it on you?"


"I don't know his name," the man said. "He was some Auror."


"An Auror!" Arthur exclaimed. This is looking really bad, he thought. If You-Know-Who has Aurors on His side and He is already strong enough to strike like this... I must send a message to Dumbledore and the Order... and to my family.


Arthur looked at the man. "We should get out of here."


"Yes... But how?"


"If I remember right, there is a fireplace nearby," Arthur said. "Follow me."


They reached the fireplace in less than a half minute. "You go first, Arthur said."


The man took a handful of floo powder and threw it into the flames. As the flames turned into green the man stepped into the fireplace and vanished.


Mr. Weasley stepped into fire and threw a fistful of floo powder into it and said, "the Burrow."


A second later he reappeared on his living room. But instead of his family, the room was occupied by six white masked Death Eaters. Every single one of them had a wand pointed at him.


"Avada Kedavra!"


The volley of twisting green bolts of light hit him squarely into his chest. Not surprisingly he was dead before he hit the floor.


The shortest Death Eater stepped forward. She looked at the dead body for few seconds before whispering, "Goodbye, father."


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Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, this was supposed to be the last chapter, and in sense it is. It got 'too' long and so I split it into two chapters.