Chapter 44 – The Wrong Thing For The Right Reason

Harry Potter, The Jedi That Would Not Die

Chapter 44 – The Wrong Thing For The Right Reason

Outside the shield the fighting was furious; there had been many casualties on both sides but by far the worst fighting was between Bellatrix Lestrange and her opponents. The quartet had been slowly pushing their incredibly skilled opponent back before a lucky spell caught Daphne and knocked her out. The shock of her falling threw the others for a split second, long enough for the inquisitor to take advantage and launch spells which took out Ginny and Luna a fraction of a second later.

Neville was suddenly left alone to face the person who he knew to be responsible for his parent's current hospitalised states, he was completely outmatched.

"Come on little Longbottom," she cackled, "Is that all you can manage, your parents put up a much better fight."

That was the wrong thing to say, even to the much more grown up Neville who had picked up the mantle of Harry Potter when he left. Neville's rage immediately got the better of him and he went completely on the attack at the now grinning form of his parent's destroyer.

Bellatrix batted his attacks aside as it they were nothing more than annoying flies before launching a string of attacks of her own which instantly blasted him to the ground shattering his hastily raised shield, breaking his arm and sending his wand skittering away across the floor.

"Poor little Longbottom," she teased before her voice turned to ice, "Prepare to be reunited with your precious parents."

Then the unexpected and miraculous happened.

"Cru…" She was interrupted as a mass of feathers and wings flew into her and attacked her face sending her stumbled backwards.

"Arrr! What the! Get off!" She exclaimed as she fell to the floor, just as something old and leathery landed in front of Neville drawing his attention.

It was a hat…a familiar hat and he had the sudden unexplainable urge to reach inside it.

Back at Hogwarts in the remains of the Raven a piece of metal that had been carefully stowed for the journey and had then been forgotten about in all that had happened since the landing flashed out of existence completely unnoticed by anyone.

As Neville reached in his hand closed around something which was revealed to be a sword as drew it out.

"Blasted bird!" swore Bellatrix a split second before there was a flash of fire and a startled squawk as a pile of ash fell to the floor between them before the furious bloodied and cut up face of Bellatrix turned back to him. "Time to end your sanity Longbottom."

Time slowed for Neville as her wand rose towards him, unable to stand easily with a broken arm he did the only thing he could do and awkwardly threw the sword with a strength he did not know he had.

Bellatrix face froze halfway to a curse as she felt the impact before slowly looking down and saw the sword buried at an angle in her stomach before dropping to the ground and looking in the direction of the dome and stretching out her hand.

"Master…help me?"

Voldemort smiled; an expression which slowly crept up into a grin before developing into an almost mad laugh.

Around the room many of the fights were slowing to a stop either at Harry's questioning statement or the manic laugh that was coming from Voldemort.

"It's not possible," Harry muttered to himself before raising his voice. "Sirius killed you."

Finishing his laugh Wormtail-Riddle flicked his wand in the direction of the now non-existent doors and the shield dome around the two of them shifted; shrinking and re-shaping as it flew towards the door hole before sealing itself over the gap and turning opaque to block any from getting or seeing in or out.

"Ah Harry, now we can speak plainly at last." He then chanted what sounded like a very complicated finishing spell before smiling as the many years and layers of cosmetic spells around him started dropping away one by one very slowly revealing his artificial limp and a Wormtail who looked like a hybrid of his former self and the Voldemort he had fought in the graveyard. His more prominent rat like front teeth appeared to have receded back into their original position, whether through another cosmetic spells or a long departure from his animal form Harry knew not. His hair was much fuller and cleaner though it was now completely white and almost doubled the size of his head though it looked slightly distressed as if it had been attacked by a high wind giving it a slightly mad look. Wormtail's nervous twitching was also completely gone and had been replaced by an air of unnerving confidence complete with evil smirk, but lastly and most distinctly his face had lost much of its definition and colour like Voldemort's after his resurrection but whereas Voldemort's was grey Wormtail's was an almost ghostly transparent white. He looked like someone had sanded down his features down which also resulted in a more slit like nose and the extremely pale complexion along with prominent veins.

This was not the same Wormtail who had snivelled before Harry in the Shrieking Shack many years before, this was not the Wormtail who was the weakest of the Marauders, this was the Wormtail who was somehow powerful enough to protect himself and confident enough in his skills and power to take down any who thought differently.

"You are sort of right, I did allow everyone to think Sirius had killed me…Again. When he severed my tail, you have no idea how painful that was. It took many days of careful healing charms and nasty potions to my spine and lower back to restore the damaged muscle and bones."

"Why?"

"I would have thought that was obvious Harry," he replied. "When you and your friends started winning I knew what was going to happen so I had to hide and when My Lord went for Padfoot just after he had bitten my tail off I saw my chance. If you won I was dead and if we won I could just have staggered out from behind a tombstone and claim I had collapsed from my horrific injury which was much worse in my human form I can assure you. By the time I heard your ship leave I had managed to scamper my way up to the house and was safely back in my human form."

He paused for a moment and looked into the distance in recollection.

"I spent a couple of weeks hiding there is a secret room before daring to return for news of what had happened and when I heard that you had left I came to a decision. I had spent a year alone with the Dark Lord and in that time he had had me cast or scribe many dark and powerful spells for him, several of which were of his own creation, some of which were so ancient that their creators are now nothing but dust. All of said spells were either about extending life or becoming more powerful, and that's not even counting those he had collected and created before his fall when you were a child which I was sent to recover. I went back and retrieved all the notes, scrolls and documents, as well as retrieving the Dark Lord's wand and Nagini of course," he said gesturing with said weapon to the enclosure where the snake hissed at him, evidently not enjoying her new home. "I could not be seen by the Death Eaters without her if I wanted them to believe. I cast the spells on myself and conducted the rituals in secret, even the ones the Dark Lord considered too dangerous, though saying that there were some he had cast himself that I refused to even contemplate."

Harry could not help but pray that said rituals were those regarding horcruxes or this would just be the start of another very long hunt. Harry could not help but compare Voldemort and Wormtail to what the jedi knew of a Sith doctrine called the Rule of Two. It was said that the Master would train an apprentice until said apprentice was strong enough to kill the master, take his title of Sith Lord and start training his own apprentice. Unknowingly it seemed that Voldemort had done the very same to Wormtail, he had shown him all the knowledge he would need to take power and when Harry had defeated Voldemort Wormtail was free to take his place.

"You have no idea how painful they were but when I was finished I was more powerful than the Dark Lord ever was so I reached out to the Death Eaters. After spending so much time with the Dark Lord I knew how the Dark Mark worked and it was easy to fool them into thinking it was the Dark Lord's call, the fools followed blindly after a round of crucio's especially when they realised how much more powerful their 'master' was than before. You can probably guess most of what happened after that. I've been using dozens of spells to keep myself concealed all this time, but it seems that even my disguise was not perfect. I might have been able to mute the sound my arm made when it touched things but it seems you too have an artificial limb and I could not prevent the sound from its side of the collision with my arm. You know Harry I should thank you, without you none of this could have happened."

"I didn't defeat Voldemort to help you Wormtail," he replied.

"Oh not just that Harry, I mean ALL of this is because of you; it was you who made Sirius and Remus spare my life, it was you who defeated the Dark Lord when you were a child so that when I came back to him he needed me to do his leg work and to collect all his research, spells and stores of knowledge, it was you who brought Sirius to the graveyard providing me with my second apparent death, it was you who then defeated the Dark Lord again allowing me to take up and surpass his mantle, it was you who left and allowed me to take over Wizarding Britain without interference and it was you who brought together all my enemies before me today and will now allow me to put Malfoy back in his place by being hailed as a hero for defeating you thus reasserting my claim to power."

Harry realised that he was right; between himself and Voldemort they had created the Wormtail before him now, Voldemort had unwillingly provided him with everything he needed to grow powerful and Harry had removed every obstacle and provided every bit of unwilling assistance that he needed.

"It's just unfortunate because now that you have uncovered my deception in front of all these witnesses they are all going to have to die."

Those in the room on both sides who had not stopped before did so now, even the former death eaters were now worried.

"Well I can't let anyone outside this room know who I really am. No, when I leave this room I will be the last victorious survivor of a terrible rebellion led by the criminal Harry Potter who then goes on to free the Ministry from said rebels. I will be a national hero for this; I might have to award myself with a second Order of Merlin."

There was an unspoken thought that went around the room followed by questioning looks between the individual Wizengamot members and the liberating army; they were not the thoughts or looks of a group thinking together but rather those of everyone coming to the same conclusion by different means. When the decision was arrived at the majority of the hall unconsciously synchronised and redirected their wands to the new Dark Lord standing at the centre of the room, definitely not fighting for or with each other but rather all agreeing with the old phrase.

'The enemy of my soon to be murderer is my slightly better chance of living through this.'…Highly paraphrased.

Fearful Wizengamot members, confused attackers and angry betrayed Death Eaters all turned their wands on Wormtail and as the dozens of spells raced towards him he did the most unnerving thing he could which was only witnessed by Harry…he smiled.

A split second later there was chaos, just as the spells were going to reach him Wormtail raised Voldemort's wand above his head and a transparent silvery dome of light appeared over him, every spell which hit it rebounded off at seemingly random angles sending many in the room diving for cover and many more down permanently as some of the darker spells found their unintentional mark.

Harry and Aayla immediately raised their blades in defences of their allies and started reflecting as many spells back to the shield as possible only for them to bounce off again.

Wormtail did not remain in his shield for long and after flicking his own wand into his other hand darted out in between spells and began running through the groups of people, not paying any regard to their allegiance, dispatching them with a terrifying ease; some disarmed, some unconscious and still more dead.

Despite his advanced years and billowing robes Wormtail moved at an unnaturally terrifying speed. With the agility of a cat (or maybe a rat) he dodged between all the spells thrown at him and only deemed to let ones hit and shield he would raise when he wanted them to rebound towards his opponents. When describing his movements later Harry would explain how he had never seen anyone without the Force behind them move that fast, they knew Voldemort had delved into many dark areas of magic in order to extend his life and make himself greater than any other wizard and he no doubt would have cast said enchantments on his new body had Harry not destroyed it in the graveyard, Wormtail's abilities were clear evidence that those dark enchantments worked and he later wondered if it was possible that some of those rituals had managed to tap into the dark side of the Force.

Harry watched despairingly as Wormtail dived and slid feet first through a group containing an injured Neville and a couple of others and watched in horror as spells erupted from his wand and the back of their legs exploded in a mist of red blood before the trio crumpled to the floor, crying out in pain as their destroyed muscles and tendons gave way under them.

Not able to see that happen again Harry Force Sped himself into Wormtail's side just as he was about to dismember a group of what appeared to be former Death Eaters, how the tables had turned, so that both of them flew into the Wizengamot seats obliterating a row of benches as they collided.

The pair righted themselves quickly but before Wormtail could raise his wand again Harry darted forward and attempted to impale him on his blade. At the very last second Wormtail jinxed to the side and hit the back of Harry's hands so quickly and sharply that his lightsaber dropped and fell down the rows of seats out of sight.

Reacting quickly he grabbed at Wormtail's metal wrist and held it out of the way before activated the electromagnet in his palm to prevent him breaking free but in doing so he did not expect the punch that landed in his gut from his other hand a split second later. It was strong enough to empty Harry's lungs and lift him partially off the floor, but thankfully not so strong that the magnet holding their arms together was overcome. The spells Wormtail had cast upon himself had evidently increased his physical strength as well as speed.

What occurred next was a one armed fist fight, with the pair locked together by the metal limbs while they punched and blocked with their normal arms. Harry was vaguely aware on the edge of his senses that, now that he was distracting Wormtail, the fighting around the hall had started up again. His Master and Alema had moved in front of him and were trying to stop the Wizengamot members, who did not want either of them alive, from trying to take them both out while they were distracted.

Harry managed to get in a lucky shot and sent a Force push into Wormtail's side which sent the pair tumbling end over end down the rows of seats to the hard stone ground below. As they hit the ground Harry deactivated the magnet and rolled away but saw two figures dart passed him before he could get back up and just as he was righting himself he heard one dreadful word.

"Crucio!"

Looking up Harry was just in time to see both Aayla and Alema fall mere feet away from reaching the new Dark Lord, who had one wand pointed at each, and start to convulse in pain before him.

"Wormtail, stop it!" he shouted, panic rising within him, he knew what prolonged exposure to that spell could do.

Raising his wand to attack again Wormtail merely flicked one of his wands away from Alema in his direction without breaking the torture spell used upon her and sent Harry's wand and his visible lightsabers flying to the other end of the room amongst a small pile of fallen men and women.

Immediately retrieving his remaining lightsabers Wormtail did the same with his jedi like speed and despite Harry's rock hard grip and the magnet managed to rip them out of his hands by pulling him of his feet and sent them flying to various areas of the room.

"What are you going to do now Harry, you are unarmed, your allies and enemies alike are almost all defeated and these two will probably end up in the beds alongside Longbottom's family, I hope they are all very happy together?"

Harry attempted to Force Speed his way towards him and managed to cover four meters before the wand again was pointed in his direction and he felt himself lifted up off of the floor suspending him in mid-air and the same word was uttered again.

"Crucio!"

A pain Harry had not felt for a long long time cursed through him but despite his own pain he was most hurt by the agonised screams of his two twi'leks, there was nothing he could do.

He managed to open his eyes and look upon the scene; there on the ground were the two writhing women and standing just behind them, one of his wands extended towards him was Peter Pettigrew with a sadistic smile on his face. Harry knew he didn't have the power to face him, he knew of no technique that he could use to fight someone who could maintain four complicated spells at once. He was just aware of a spell flying in from behind him but that too was swatted away by Wormtail as it if were nothing more than an annoying insect.

Harry knew none of them could withstand the pain for much longer without serious mental damage; he could not bear to hear the sounds of two of the most important people in the galaxy to him screaming out in pain. He must do something but what was there that he could do.

Harry felt his anger at that sadistic smile burning inside him, he had never been the best at reigning in his emotions but almost any jedi would struggle under these conditions. Gathering all the Force power he could muster in that moment he threw his hand forward intend on Force Pushing the snivelling little worm so hard back into the seating that he would never get up again.

Launching the power through his outstretched hand a Force Push was not what emerged. To the surprise of all around blue lightning leapt from his fingertips and struck Wormtail in the centre of his chest. The blast lasted no more than a moment but it launched the Dark Lord backwards over five meters and in the same second all three of the tortured felt their pain stop.

As Harry dropped to the ground he looked first at both Alema and Aayla and breathed in relief that they were no longer in pain, though neither was in any position to stand either. Transferring his gaze to his hands Harry immediately realised what he had done and looked at his extremities in horror. He had used one of the worst Sith techniques known; Force Lightning and what's worse considering what had caused him to channel that technique he did not regret it.

He heard a stirring from in front of him and saw an angry Wormtail climbing to his feet. In that moment several thoughts ran through his mind, he had to attack him now, but the only thing so far that had managed to stop him was a Sith technique. Would anything else work? Did he have a choice?

In the end he came to the only decision he could, getting to his feet he threw his hand forward again and channelling the same power and emotions he did before. The lightning once again leapt from his fingertips and struck Wormtail in the chest.

The attack had much less power this time as the lightning looked less intense but despite that Harry was able to maintain the attack which sent Wormtail back to the floor writhing in pain. Glancing sideways briefly he noted both Alema and Aayla attempting to climb to their feet; they were ok.

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt his emotions start to come back under control but despite this he maintained the flow of energy towards the Wormtail and as he did so, those around him watched fascinated as the lightning cursing from Harry's hands slowly changed from a bright blue to an emerald green but got weaker still as it did so.

Harry lost track of how long the spell went on for, as he regained control maintaining the attack grew harder and harder to the extend where he had to close his eyes and squeeze them shut in order to maintain focus and maintain the immense flow of energy It was only when his Master's voice filled his head that he was snapped back to reality.

Harry…Harry you can stop now…We're ok, he's down.

Her words shocked him out of his concentration forcing him to open his eyes as his attack finally failed and he dropped to his knees panting.

His Master was beside him and helped him to his feet again where he was able to look upon the smoking form of Wormtail; alive but very much out of it. Standing over him was Alema, blaster at the ready, still evidently suffering from the after effects of the curse but with both Wormtail's now slightly charred wands in her hand and her foot pinning down his metal limb.

"It's ok Harry, you won, and it's over." The rest of the room had come to a stop again whilst watching the end of their fight and this time it appeared to be over for good.

"No…not yet," he panted as he pulled away from her and made his way over to the enclosure on the far side of the room within which Nagini was going crazy, feinting strikes towards any who came near the glass. She was obviously intelligent enough to know that Wormtail might have been her jailer but at least he allowed her to live.

"Can someone find me my weapons?" he breathed, he did not have the energy to start hunting for them now either with the Force or magic. A couple of wizards ran up with his wand and two of his lightsabers, they appeared to be Wizengamot members but after the fight they had just witnessed they seemed to be in fear of him and were shaking so hard that they nearly dropped his wand when he reached out to take it from them.

Returning his lightsabers to their places he raised his wand in one hand while focusing on the snake with the other.

The angry reptile floated off the floor of the tank, still attempting to strike outwards but without anything to push off from that just resulted in her flailing about in mid-air.

With his wand he banished the glass before swapping to his lightsaber.

"Goodbye Tom," he said quietly as he pulled the angry snake towards him and swung his blade.

On the far off planet of Dagobah the spirit of the Dark Lord Voldemort who had been growing in strength by the day suddenly felt a vital part of himself disappear before his presence began to unravel terminally.

"What? My horcruxes! No! POTTER!"

The head and body of the snake hit the floor about a meter apart. When Harry turned to go back to where Wormtail was he saw that he had been bound by the unspeakables, four of whom had their wands pointed at him and appeared to be layering some kind of magic blocking wards around him to prevent him moving or casting.

"Harry," Wormtail gasped as his head rolled towards the young jedi.

Harry slowly went over and knelt beside him, on his guard despite the layers of enchantments that were being placed around him to prevent him trying anything. Most of the rest of the room's occupants (who had not surrendered) had gathered around the fallen figure.

"D…don't let the dementors get me?" he gasped, fearful for the first time since the confrontation started, this was the Wormtail he had first met in the Shack again, he had been on top of the Wizarding World and now he was being thrown back to the bottom of the heap where he belonged. Harry looked at him hard for a few seconds before leaning down to whisper to him.

"If I have my way, you will spend the rest of your life in their presence for what you did to Si-"

"Traitorous Worm," someone screamed. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Arry no!"

Harry spun around, igniting his lightsaber as he went, but instead of seeing a curse flying at him he saw platinum blonde hair, a green flash and a body falling.

A split second later over a dozen curses flew at the half dead Lestrange and made her completely dead, but Harry did not notice this as he looked at the body that lay in front of him…very still, it took him a good three seconds before he dared to try and speak.

"Fleur?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took so long, wanted to get this chapter right, still not overly happy with it but it's as good as it's going to get.

I know I said this would be the last chapter but this was a natural break point so although there is two chapters not one I am posting them both at once.