78 The Beginning of the End

Right now Aurora, Harry, and Victory Krum were standing near an unconscious Fleur. All three of them had their wands in their hands. The two Gryffindors pointing their wands towards Victor. The cup was within their sight.

"Was it really necessary for you to use one of the unforgivable on a student," Aurora shouted in anger, Victor didn't say anything he continued to look blankly at the two of them.

"Screw this, Stupify," The Bulgarian champion instantly casted a shield before sending his own unknown curse, and just like that, a furious three-way duel started. Even though Harry and Aurora were personally taught by Blair. Victor Krum was able to stay his ground, maybe it was the lack of spell or combat experience, after all, Drumstrang was the only other school where duel from the first year was mandatory. Stunners, knockback jinx, body-binding, every spell which were harmless were used by Aurora and Harry. As for Krum, well he was using wordless spells that were unknown to them. But thankfully they were able to dodge and block most of them. Few of them even hit them resulting in injures on both of the Hogwarts students but they finally were able to stun him. After a brief moment, they both finally looked at each other.

"Now what should be done with the cup," Aurora said tiredly, as she took deep breaths, She had both of her hands on her knees, supporting her entire body.

"It's yours', after all, I never wanted to enter the championship anyway," Harry said, sitting on the ground, Also taking deep breaths.

"Don't be an arse, you worked just as hard as I did," Aurora gave him her usual glares. After all, how could she take the cup for herself when they both fought Krum.

"I am not going to fight you,"

"Yes, we both know I will win..." Aurora gave him a weak smug smile, "Let's grab it together, Hogwarts will win no matter who takes the cup,"

"It's unfair you know. We ganging up on Krum, then taking house cup all for ourselves,"

"You know what Ron says is true, You really are too dumb for your own good, Didn't you see, He used an unforgivable on Fluer, so he was automatically disqualified from the tournament. So get your ass up, We have a Tournament to win," Aurora stretched her hand towards Harry, Who firmly took it and gave her a nod.

"Good, On the count of 3, 2, 1" A familiar pull embraced both of them and the next thing they knew, they were greeted with the sight of a grimy graveyard filled with thick white fog instead of A festive atmosphere. Right now Aurora and Harry were laying on the ground, After all this time, traveling with Blair, they still haven't mastered how to land properly.

"I hate portkeys and apparations" Aurora cursed as she got up from the ground.

"Agreed," Harry said, getting up at the same time as Aurora.

"Where the hell is this place, another task?"

"I don't think so, Prof...."

"Stupefy.....Stupefy," Before they could realize they were stunned from the back. They couldn't even put up a fight because of tiredness due to their duel against Krum.

The next thing Aurora knew she was floating in the air, in an uncomfortable Horizontal direction. Unable to move or make any noise, all she could do was look where her head was turned, and in truth, it was not in a comfortable way.

In front of her were 4 men, standing near a 5 feet tall cauldron with some black sticky liquid boiling in it, One of the men was wearing a silver mask and black robe which was similar to the clothing of the Death Eaters she saw during the world cup. The other man looked like a mini version of Barty crouch, With no mustache and more hair. Beside him was a handsome black-haired man wearing an expensive-looking marron coat and was holding a bundle in his hand. She didn't recognize what it was as it was wrapped up inside a pitch-black silk cloth. The last person who was standing beside the handsome man really angered her, Peter Pettigrew, who was right now adding various ingredients inside the cauldron.

"Father is it wise to not call our Potion master for this," The handsome man who was holding the bundle whispered with respect in his voice. But Aurora could still hear him.

"No, I don't trust him completely. I have many questions for him after my resurrection," Aurora body hair stood up as soon as she heard the cold voice. It instantly placed fear into her heart.

"As you wish father, Wormtail do it quickly,"

"yes My Lord," The rat animagush hasten his pace of brewing.

"Corvus!, Never let hastiness drive your wheels, Always let yourself be in control of the situation.." The cold voice said, With a little anger in it.

"I am sorry father, I just wanted you to return to your former glorious self. As soon as possible," He bowed his head in respect.

"Good, With this body, I can touch new limits of magic in a year or two,"

"Yes father,"

"My lord it is ready," Peter turned towards them.

"Let the ritual began,"

"Yes my lord," Wormtail turned around picked up a bone from a grave not far away from them, and dropped in it in the boiling cauldron.

"My lord the second ingredient please," Peter turned towards the man holding the bundle.

Corvus just glanced towards the masked man. who hastily took out a Golden cup from his rob and handed it to Wormtail. The Rat animagus didn't waste any time putting the Golden cup inside the boiling cauldron. Then he went towards the boy and made a large cut on his forearm by which the boy finally became conscious.

"ahhh" He screamed in pain as the traitor extracted blood from it and dropped a few drops of it inside the boiling black mass.

"Father it's time,"

"Drop me in it, after that, drop your blood in it and then close the lead, and remember to not stop chanting until I retain my form,"

"Yes father," He dropped the bundle inside the cauldron before making a small cut on his hand with a hand motion, few drops fell inside the black mass as he closed the lead.

"Not a single mistake must be made in the chant, keep in mind, any mistake and you will pay it with your life. If the successful father would reward you,"

Wormtail gave him a scared bow, before going towards the cauldron and began chanting.

"Let's kill the spare, Master will deal with the boy himself," Barty jr said as he looked at the floating figure. He slowly took out his wand and pointed it towards Aurora. Looking at the death eaters' wand pointed towards her, Aurora tried to close her eyes but the spell wouldn't let her do it. "AVADA-KA..."

"Wait....What are you doing Barty, Do you think, I would keep her alive if she was a nobody, can't you recognize the young lady in front of you," Corvus said leisurely.

"My Lord even if she the daughter of the Ministry of Magic, It doesn't affect us,"

"But father would be displeased, If you kill the only daughter of Blair Bradley himself,"

"She is his daughter?" Barty looked at Aurora in shock, But after the initial reaction a small smile began to creep upon his face, and it was only a matter of time before he started to laugh maniacally, "This is good, really good...hahaha. My Lord may I at least torture her a little bit before our lord kills her,"

"Well, how can I say no to one of the most loyal followers of my father. Father won't mind even if you break her a little, After all, loyalty is always rewarded," Corvus said calmly before waving his hand towards Aurora. She fell on the ground injuring her elbows and knees which hurt like hell, But that was not important right now. The more important thing was that a crazy death eater was pointing his wand towards her.

"Do you know, Your mudblood father helped that old bastard in the arrest of me, Bella and Rodolphus, " Barty said venomously" He even killed Rabastan,"

His scrawl instantly vanished after finishing his sentence and a crazy smile crept upon his face.

"CRUCIO"

Before she knew it, Aurora was screaming her lungs out, She felt like a fire raging throughout her body slowly disintegrating her internals, Her lungs were on fire. she writhed, hitting his arms and leg on the ground. Being sheltered by her father, her entire life, The only pain she had ever experienced was few dislocations and broken bones from the quidditch and that's all.

"STOP IT YOU BASTARDS," Harry who was still restrained by the statue screamed in anger at the top of his lungs. He tried to free himself from it with everything he got, But failed to do so. As for Barty Jr, He ignored the shouts and continued to keep the spell on her without any rest, Aurora was already getting the feeling of slowly losing her mind.

"STOOPPPPP," Harry continued to scream tears seeping down his eyes. After all, Aurora was like his little sister which he never had. Agreed she was older than him by half a year but she acted like a small child. And right now seeing her crying in pain really made him wished that he was in her position.

No one knew how long the spell lasted, but then a cold voice came from behind.

"Enough"

Barty jr stopped instantly as soon as he heard the voice, He quickly turned around and bowed his head while descending on his knees. As for Aurora, She was now shaking badly, she was feeling extreme pain all over the body even after the spell was lifted. She was experiencing pain even by a trivial gust of wind. She was crying badly right now, and who would blame her. She couldn't even move properly without feeling any pain, So she continued to limply lay on the ground, Her nose was now touching the ground, resulting in her to inhale the dust.

*cough..cough*

"Pathetic," Voldemort who was standing in front of Barty said as he looked at the laying girl "Who would have thought that his daughter would have such low pain tolerance that you are on the verge of madness just by such torture, Wormtail,"

"Yes, my lord," The rat animagus came forward, still bowing his head.

"show me your hand,"

"My lord?"

The dark lord didn't wait instead he waved his hand over his severed hand and a silver hand grew would of thin air "Lord Voldemort always rewards those who are loyal to him,"

He then turned towards 3 of his kneeling followers.

"It's disappointing to see only 3 of my loyal followers with me right now,"

"Father I will take care of it. They must have already gotten the news of your resurrection. The inner circle is still in shambles, everyone is dispersed throughout the world. Right now we only have news about the whereabouts of 7 inner circle members and two core member, Both of them are in Azkaban," Corvus said, His head still bowed.

"Hmmm.....I'll leave it to you. Now let's move on towards the more entertaining matter," The snake-like red eyes focused on the girl lying in front of him, He ignored Harry completely.

"We meet again Miss Grindlewald," He made another hand motion with his long bonny hands and Aurora was lifted up just like that, dangling powerlessly in the air. The girl screamed in pain due to movement.

"Wormtail,"

"My Lord?"

"Give Miss Grindlewald her wand,"

The rat did as he was told, he quickly rushed towards the floating Aurora and placed her wand on the ground in front of her.

"Corvus" He reached out his hand towards his heir.

"Father," He respectfully handed him a creepy bone-white wand. which suited its master. Spreading fear just by a look. Who knows how many lives it has claimed.

"Now miss Grindlewald, why don't we start our duel," Aurora finally dropped on the ground, still slightly shaking badly. She slowly somehow picked up her wand before somehow managing to stand up. She finally looked up with her bloodshot eyes, tear trails on her face. There was a hint of fear in her eyes, maybe the first time she felt like that. In her first year, there was fear, but in that situation, she at least knew that there were chances of surviving, But in this situation, death was imminent. No one was coming to save her, not even her father like he always does. He was probably thinking that his little girl was still in the maze competing for the Cup.

She tried to calm herself but it was nothing but an unsuccessful attempt, She was still paralyzed with fear and no one would blame her for her current situation, Hell 99 percent of the wizarding population were scared to even say his name properly when he was thought to be dead, let alone face the monster.

She then glanced at Harry who was also looking at her with bloodshot eyes, there was anger in his eyes, not fear, Unlike her. He was after all the bravest of their lot, Always be the first to help his friends, She was just a brat who was under her father's shade that's all. She just gave him a small smile before slowly pointing her wand towards Death itself.

"Stupify," She sent a stunning curse towards the dark lord, Who easily blocked it. She couldn't think of any other spell at the time.

"You don't even know the basics of dueling, Let me teach you, stupid girl. First, you bow," He made another wand motion and before she knew it she was already bowing.

"Now we duel and don't use those pathetic spells, use everything you have learned from your father.."

Aurora again pointed her wand towards the dark lord. She took a deep breath before shouting.

"Scindo Viscum (Flesh flaying curse)-Lacero(Flesh cutter)-Bombarda Maxima," One after another lethal overpowered spells began to burst out of her wand, this were the spells she learned from the book as well as from her father and brother and despite it being overpowered it was not enough to make dark lord move from his place. He didn't even bother dodging, He easily continued to bloke the spells with the flick of his hands. It was as if they were no big deal, He was playing with her. One might think he would attack after her attack but instead, he continued to observe her closely, As if trying to figure out something. After a few more seconds, something flashed in his red eyes and he finally pointed his wand towards her.

"Well, who would have thought that there would be someone who managed to create a body before me. It's a shame actually."The Dark lord looked directly in Aurora's eyes, intensifying her fear," I never reach out my hand to anyone, So choose it wisely stupid girl, Join me and I would let you live," This shocked not only the two Champions but also the death eaters and his son. After all, when was the last time Lord Voldemort ever personally asked someone to join him. Usually, it would be the other way around, Hundreds of purebloods wanted to join him instead.

As for Aurora, she was more focused on the first part of the dark lord's sentence but instantly recovered from it...

"N.....N..Never" She sttuered, knowing that this would be her last words in this world, she still chose it, and it's not like she could dodge the spell that was going to come next, after all, she was too exhausted to move due to the fight with Krum and the earlier torture really took a toll on her body. Maybe this was it, The end of Aurora Nadia Grindlewald.

"Well, that's a shame.....AVADA KADVRA,"

Everything went in slow motion, She saw Thendrous green spell coming our of the dark lord's wand. Her life began to flash in front of her eyes, The chess match in her first year, Confrenting Sirius at the Shrieking shack, and her dance with her father at Christmas night. Now that she thinks about it, she never did anything that would make her father proud, All she did was cause problems for him. But he never complained, He kept on fixing her things without any objections. She could still remember the day when she asked him about the meaning of her name. 'Dawn filled hope' He answered, she was the hope in his life.

She closed her eyes as if ready to accept her faith. If she gets a second chance to live her life, she would be someone whom her father could be proud of, not a brat who likes nothing but mess around all day long.

'I am sorry father.' (A/N : Bye Bye Aurora)

And she waited for her doom. Suddenly an intense pulling force pulled her towards a certain direction. The next thing she knew she pushed against a sturdy body. The body was warm and safe, She felt like no one can harm her as long as she is with this person. As soon as she opened her eyes, she forgot all the worries, fatigue, and fear. Her father was standing tall looking, coldly at the monster in front of them. Right now his eyes were glowing brightly like a sun. He was also breathing heavily, She could also hear his rapid heart beating. He gripped her so strongly as if she would slip away from him if he let go of her. He slowly shielded her before saying only three words. "I am here" before turning around towards the dark lord.

"AVADA KEDAVRA-FLEMMASECTUM-REDUCTO-AVADAKEDAVRA-LERICO" He shouted in rage. His voice was filled with nothing but anger. Overpowered spells began to spew out of his wand one after another. This was a ridiculously heavy chain that was just meant for one thing, killing. After all who the fuck would cast 2 killing curses in on spell chain combined with a cursed fire cutter and flesh cutter. All of the spells were directed towards the newly resurrected dark lord.

The dark lord instantly disapparated from his position and apparated at his right before sending his own chain of unknown spells towards the enrage Father.

Blair casted a 'Protego maxima' before waving his hand towards Aurora. She was sent flying away from him before landing softly on the ground. As for the Dark Lords spell, The impact with the shields caused a loud bang that rang throughout the graveyard. The Dark lord continued to cast his spells one after another, Violet, Purple, White, And at last

"AVADA KEDAVRA"

This time it was Blair who disapparated from his place and apparated behind the dark lord.

"AVADA KEDAVRA,"

*Crack* Voldemort again disapparated.

"AVADA KEDAVRA"

*Crack* Blair also disapparated.

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

One can now only hear the sound of apparations and flashes of light. Both of the powerhouses disapparating and apparating from one place to another, Killing curses were flying everywhere. Few of them went by the three death eater's side. The person who doesn't know apparation might think this as an easy task. But in reality, it needed a high level of comprehension in magic to apparate so rapidly without splinching. Both of them were fighting this entire fight with only one spell, The Killing Curse, and whosoever failed to dodge the spell would die.

*CRACK* Another thunderous apparation came from the other side of the grave. All the 5 observers who were not fighting turned towards the direction, Just to see grave-faced Dumbledore calmly walking towards them. He already had his wand in hand as if ready to fight. Right now he was radiating an invisible Aura. Coldness dispersed a little as he saw Harry and Aurora alive. There was also a hint of relief in his old blue eyes. His eyes then fell on the furious fight that was going on right now. One of the killing curses even came towards him which he easily blocked by transfiguring a wall in front of him.

The old man then continued to walk towards Harry who was still stuck with the statue.

Corvus Took out his wand and began to send unknown spells towards the headmaster. Who effectively blocked them, With few wand flicks. Strangely enough, the old man didn't counterattack, Instead, his entire attention was now on to the release of Harry.

As for Corvus, He saw that his normal spells were not working so he decided to use more advanced spells.

*Crack**Crack* Blair and Voldemort apparated opposite to each other at the same before shouting.

"Avada Kedavra""Avada Kedavra"

Two overpowered jets of green light collided with each other....making a loud bang.

Now everything depended upon the caster's will and raw magic power. A large green spere began to form at the point of spell impact and after a brief second, it slowly began to move forward towards Blair who was looking a little exhausted. After all, no normal human body could bear so many apparations at such a short time. As for the Dark Lord, he was looking fine.

The large green spear came more closer to Blair and as it was about to hit him, He instantly apparated away.

Now he was breathing heavily, Thinking If he just had his battle gear and equipment with him, He would have poped a pepper up potion and would have continued fighting.

"Blair you have improved quite a bit. To be able to fight against me without any disadvantage is admirable. But you can never beat me in this life. I am still getting used to this body, we will meet again,"

Voldemort gave Dumbledore a glance and disapparted, but not before sending a killing curse towards Aurora who was now sitting exhausted, with a gravestone as her support. Blair hastily waved his wand and a wall was transfigured in front of her, blocking the curse. He then turned towards the remaining death eaters who were about to apparate and sent numerous cutters. But only managed to hit masked death eaters on his leg before he disapparated.

Blair then turned towards Aurora who was still sitting limply and walked in hast towards her before crouching down to her. He hugged her tightly. Today he was extremely close to losing her. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if that were to happen.

"I am sorry " He muttered in a hoarse voice. He was blaming himself for this. If he had just come a little early, she wouldn't have suffered so much, "I am sorry"

"It's not your fault," He heard a small voice from his chest where her head was buried. After that, both of them went quiet.

"Thankfully, Barty was able to snap out of the Imperio in time," Blair's eyes went cold at the mention of his name, "You can't blame him Blair, In this, he is also a victim. We must go,"

Blair nodded before picking Aurora up who was now asleep, probably tired with all this. He didn't apparate, instead, he began to walk towards the nearest road to call the Knight bus. He didn't want to wake Aurora up after all.

There was also resolve in his eyes, After all, he knew that the war was about to start and it was going to be more bloody than the last one.