Chapter 49

Chapter 49

ALBUS DUMBELDORE

The whole room shook as the fiery warrior made out of black flames roared and stomped Gellert's dragon. Albus could feel the massive strain of the castle's magic to maintain the room under the heavy stress of such a fight.

Sweat rolled off his forehead as the three blur dragons began to rush forward towards Edward as Gellert brought down his wand. Though hidden behind the circle of flames, he did not miss the massive smile on Gellert's face despite the obvious hints of exhaustion evident on his face.

"ROAAAAAR!" the dragons rushed towards Edward with a roar as the warrior eery black eyes narrowed. And just as the first dragon descended towards the boy, the massive warrior punched it to the side, as before using its elbow to bring down the second dragon who bit it at its side.

"ARGHHH!" The warrior screeched in pain, yet its troubles were only just beginning, as the last dragon headed straight for it at massive speed and hit it straight in the chest.

Edward was pushed back as the black warrior tried to keep away the massive dragon's maw away from itself. He saw Gellert's eyes glint as his dragon suddenly opened its maw, as a torrent of flames bubbled in its mouth.

Edward's eyes widened, and his student began to weave his own wand in an intricate manner as the armor around his warrior's face shifted. And just as the dragon preened its neck, ready to unleash a storm of fire on the warrior clutching its wings. Edward's warrior opened its mouth as well, as plumules of fire escaped his lips.

"ROARRR!

"ROARRR!"

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

The two manifestations of magical flames spew a torrent of flames simultaneously. One a striking blue, and the other pitch black. The whole room shook as two torrents of flames met with a massive explosion as the two wizards controlling such massive beasts fought to overpower the other.

Their magics were evenly matched, as was evident, for none managed to push back the other, and Albus could only watch the eighteen-year-old Edward in awe as he fought Gellert on equal footing. Albus had fought with Gellert in the past and could tell that age had done little to hamper the man's magic, and yet Edward fought the man on equal footing.

The magic in the room shook violently at the clash of their wills. And that was what those flames were, the will of their casters. And then he felt the magic in the room burst, and he was forced to close his eyes as the room exploded due to sheer strain from the collision of their wills.

BOOOOM!

Albus squinted his eyes as the storm of light dissolved itself, and as the debris cleared, he watched that the two challengers still stood tall. They were both injured and with dirt and grime covering their clothes and faces. Albus was about to step forward to put an end to the duel, yet he stopped as he saw the smiles on their faces, and he was reminded of times of his own youth when he and Gellert would duel to test their mettle against one another.

He smiled as he stopped and watched as Gellert wiped off first from his face before speaking up.

"Ohh, it seems you have been keeping quite a number of cards hidden, young Edward," teased Gellert, and Edward just shrugged as his eyes glinted in excitement as he stood straight himself.

"Ohh, I can say the same to you," replied Edward, and Gellert had a small laugh before his body shimmered, and Albus saw the man weave his wand quickly in a very recognizable pattern.

"Then let us continue," and with that, Gellert vanished in a blur, leaving young Edward perplexed at the spell. The young man scanned his surroundings, yet there was no sign of Gellert.

Then suddenly, Gellert appeared right behind the man and fired off a quick couple of spells.

"ARGH!" Edward was too late to react, and one of the spells hit him, making him grunt as suddenly Gellert appeared above him and fired off another couple of spells. Once more, Edward could barely react, yet this time he was able to block the spells. Yet Gellert appeared at his side, and the routine repeated. Gellert had used this technique in the past as well.

Edward's eyes scanned the room for Gellert, and yet he was failing in completely blocking Gellert's attacks which were beginning to leave their damage. And suddenly, the young man clicked his tongue and waved his wand in a circle.

"Papillions!" Albus heard him mutter and watched as a horde of butterflies appeared out of thin air and began to circle the young wizard. And just as Gellert appeared and fired his spells, Edward didn't put up a shield, and the attacks were stopped as they hit a pair of butterflies who shimmered out of existence, giving Edward enough time to mount an offensive of his own.

And then the dance began; Edward's new spell rendered Gellert's attacks moot, and the young man began to push Gellert back, and then when once Gellert appeared behind him, Albus watched as Edward brought down his wand, and the horde of butterflies surrounding him rushed towards Gellert who was to slow to react and was forced to conjure a torrent of flames to get rid of the attack.

Albus frowned as he saw Edward muttering a chant, and suddenly magic circles appeared around Gellert, and chains rushed out of them and began to wrap themselves around Gellert's body, stopping his movements.

Gellert was quick to react and tried to cut them off, and just as he was about to free himself, a bolt of lightning whizzed towards him, just as the chains held him in place, and Gellert was forced to use his hand to conjure a shield.

CLANG! BOOOM!

The massive bolt hit the hastily conjured shield with a small explosion, and then, just as Gellert had managed to free himself out of Edward's magical binds, the duel was decided as Edward held his wand right at Gellert's neck, its tip lit ready to do its holder's bidding.

"I believe this is it," came the voice of Edward, and there was a sense of pride in his tone as he saw Gellert's eyes shift towards the wand before he slowly nodded and raised his hand in surrender.

"Indeed, it is," said Gellert, and then Edward nodded and placed his wand back in his holster before immediately collapsing to the ground. He began to huff massive gulps of air.

"Whew! That was quite something," said the young wizard as Albus took out his own wand and waved it around to repair the damage done to the room. Despite his injuries, Gellert still stood there and nodded.

"Indeed, it was," replied Gellert as he glanced towards him as he stepped towards them. Edward still sat there on the ground, huffing as he looked towards him. And Albus didn't miss the massive smile and sense of accomplishment on his face.

"That was indeed quite an impressive and singular duel, and I believe neither of you have any objection to the result," he said as he looked towards the two of them. And both of them shook their heads, showing that they considered the duel fair and the result acceptable.

"Then I believe, in the duel between Edward Wright and Gellert Grindelwald, the winner is Edward Wright," he said, making the official statement. And the young wizard smiled as Albus turned towards the young man.

"I must say, I have never seen finer spellwork in my whole life," Albus complemented the young wizard who finally stood up, though Albus didn't miss how he winced in pain.

"Thank you for the compliment, Professor," said Edward. And then Albus turned towards his old friend, who was eyeing Edward with a sharp gaze. Edward looked towards Gellert, and then Gellert began.

"Then I believe it is time for me to uphold my end of the terms," started Gellert, yet Edward raised his hands, stopping the man.

"I believe that is no longer needed," said Edward making both him and Gellert frown. Both of them looked at each other as Edward looked straight into Gellert's eyes and spoke in an extremely serious.

"I have a pretty good idea about why we had this duel, so you don't need to explain yourself."

And he saw Gellert smirk at those words before h suddenly nodded. Edward put forward his hand, and after staring at it for a moment, Gellert shook his hand.

"Then I can leave this earth in peace knowing that there is someone there to protect our kind in case my dreams ever become a reality," said Gellert, and the young Edward nodded.

"And I pray it never comes to that!"

0000

SIRIUS BLACK

Sirius Black groaned as he watched the two teenagers finish packing their trunks for their fifth year at Hogwarts. Today was the first day of their fifth year, and the two were about to leave for school, leaving him with a massive headache.

"I do not like this, both of you. Dumbledore himself permitted the use of the floo to reach the school this year. Then why are you so adamant about taking the train" he groaned in frustration at two teenagers who continued to defy him.

"Both of us are prefects, Sirius; we cannot just skimp out on our duties. Plus, I never agreed on using the floo," came the retort from Hermione as the girl closed off her trunk. Sirius's gaze shifted towards Harry, who stood by her side and simply shrugged.

"What she said! Plus, going to Hogwarts on the train is like a tradition. If we use the floo, then we show that he has won," Harry replied stubbornly, and Sirius could only groan as he sat himself down on the sofa, frustrated by his two teenage wards.

Andromeda joined him as she sipped her tea as looked towards him with a cryptic smile. Sirius frowned and raised her arms.

"What?" he asked, perplexed by her gaze, and she simply smiled.

"Well, I believe this is karma. I never thought I would see the wild Sirius Black struggling with teenagers like this," said Andromeda with a smile, and he stilled at her words as his eyes narrowed.

"I was never as stubborn as these two!" he retorted, and all three of them stopped and looked towards him, and Sirius squirmed under their collective gaze as Andromeda scoffed.

"No, you were worse," she said, making him groan.

"Aghh, it's a simple issue, both of you. Using the floo will be so much safer and quicker. Why do we have to argue about this," he complained, and Hermione wasn't in the mood to listen.

"AS I told you, it isn't about quick or easy. It is about principle. Plus, didn't the Headmaster say that there would be Aurors on the train? So, there is no need to make such a huge fuss about this all," replied the little family genius, and Sirius just shook his head as he raised his arms in surrender.

"Fine! Fine, but I want both of you to be extremely careful and vigilant. And I want to hear from you as soon as you reach eh school," he relented, and both Harry and Hermione nodded with a small smile.

"Come here, you two!" he said, and the two of them came up to him and hugged him as he ruffled their hair lovingly. Sirius saw Andromeda smiling at him as she sipped her tea. Then both of them left his side as they rushed to finish the last of their packing, as Andromeda spoke up.

"I never thought that I would say these words, but you seem to have grown up Sirius," said Andromeda, and Sirius shrugged as he watched the two of them put on their Prefect badges as they finished packing their luggage.

"I am just worried about them," he said quietly as someone else joined their discussion. Nymphadora plopped herself on the sofa right beside her mother.

"Ahh, don't worry about it. I will be there with them, and Elizabeth is bringing four Aurors with her. I will try and keep an eye on these two," said the Auror-turned-Professor as she picked up her mother's cup and began to sip without any remorse.

"Manners! Nympadora!" screamed Andy as she slapped her daughter's hand, making her put down the cup.

"Mum! It's just tea, and it's just Tonks. TONKS!" retorted the young witch, and Sirius smiled at their regular banter. Harry and Hermione walked behind her and spoke up.

"We are ready, Professor Nymphadora. It's time to leave," they said in a jolly tone making the little metamorphagus's hair turn red in fury as she stood up angrily.

"ARGH! It's Tonks! Just Tonks!" she screamed as the two broke into a small giggle at her antics. Then she turned to face her mother, who was once again sipping her tea peacefully.

"I am never letting you name my child. Never," said the young Tonks before she bolted out of her room as Andy simply smiled cryptically.

"We will see about that."

0000

In the Malfoy manor, the very air was thick with malice and magic as the Dark Lord looked at his most loyal servants kneeling in front of him. They were the most loyal of his servants, and he had handpicked them for this mission.

The doors to the room opened once again as the youngest of his followers stepped in. Most of them preening with honor at the chance of getting to serve him. He stood up from his seat as the doors closed once more.

"For years, I have fought to bring true justice to our society. I have fought to push back the plague that threatens to disrupt the very balance of our world," he began. Anger and pain sear through his body as he raises his right arm, now made of silver due to damage left by Dumbledore.

"Today, our struggle ends! Today the wizarding world shall learn the truth of that night twelve years ago. They shall learn the truth about the prophecy, and then I shall finish what I started all those years ago as I strip them of their last hope!" he said finally.

"Today shall mark the beginning of the next era of Britain's magical world!" he finished, and the tension in the room was palpable.

0000

Hours later, Britain's magical world would be surprised by a special edition of their most famous newspaper, the Daily Prophet. And with that single piece of paper, the wizarding world of Great Britain shall enter the most tumultuous time of its history.

The paper will have the following headline on its first page.

THE END OF YOUR FINAL HOPE!

by Lord Voldemort

0000

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