Harry's situation was not ideal.
He could dodge one of the killing curses and raise a shield for the two 'simpler' spells. However, that would leave him defenceless against the remaining Avada Kedavra.
Of course, if he had more time and distance from his foe, his choice of responses would have been exponentially bigger. Alas, that was the situation, and it was Harry's fault, for he got too engrossed in the resurrection stone; if his guess was correct, and he identified the item correctly.
On top of that, two silver artefacts in the room started to act up, and Harry had to analyse their exact usage if he had any hope of successfully defending himself against them.
'Ah, how do I find myself in these situations?' he wondered with resignation, ignoring the fact that he had given away his advantage and that he was complaining about a product of his own creation.
Thankfully, he wasn't as helpless as it seemed.
Harry used his skill with phoenix fire to immediately appear poised behind Voldemort, his wand aimed at the Dark Lord.
Needless to say, by leaving his spot, Harry removed himself from the conundrum as well.
Without pause, Harry started casting spells at his enemy, who was turning his body around to face him.
He first cast Dumbledore's freezing spell—Glacialis Lux Aeternum, a concentrated cloud of frozen space that shattered everything in its path. That was followed by another of the old man's, Arx Lumina Sancta.
Voldemort's eyes had bulged out, but he nevertheless raised the elder wand and muttered something that Harry couldn't hear, not that he needed to, as there weren't any spells like fiendfyre.
The demonic flames erupted from the tip of Voldemort's wand and took the form of a serpent that met Harry's spell head-on.
Harry thought he heard someone talking, but didn't pay the voices any heed.
The clash of the two spells was magnificent, a battle between two opposite elemental forces.
The freezing spell met the fiendfyre with a hiss of steam and crackling ice, neither yielding ground. Harry knew he needed to press his advantage while Voldemort was still adjusting to his unexpected position, and he poured more power into the spell.
Of course, his enemy didn't back down and copied him, pouring his own vast reserves into the hungry inferno.
Harry saw the world distort as magic became visible to the naked eye.
'Now, how did I handicap myself into this situation? I can't break off the spell, and Lumina Sancta got all but eaten and turned into fuel for this bastard's fire,' he thought and redoubled his efforts at extinguishing the fiendfyre.
That didn't have the desired effect and only magnified the magic seen and the damage that was being done to the room. If nothing changed in the next few moments, the spells' effects would no doubt prove too much for the floor and the ceiling and reach outside.
'Fuck me,' Harry cursed as he finally found out about the purpose of the two silver items that activated as soon as the battle started.
It appeared that Voldemort had done his homework.
'In two seconds, I won't be able to use Phoenix Fire to flash away.'
So he had two seconds to decide whether to stay and try his luck at bringing the Dark Lord down, or leave…
Unlike the first artefact, the other item had an active ability.
If Harry was reading the magic right, which he most certainly was, the item would act as a reverse kind of portkey and bring someone, or many someones, to the headmaster's office.
Harry doubted it was Dumbledore's magic, but regardless, he had to admire the creator's ingenuity.
'One second,' he counted grimly.
Harry really wanted to stay and fight Voldemort, taking another piece of his soul from the list.
However, his situation wasn't good at all.
He briefly entertained the thought of telling Fawkes to get Fleur so they could team up against Voldemort—the fact that she'd be ideal against fiendfyre was a big bonus.
Alas, it was too big a risk.
Not only would their means of escape be severely compromised, but they might also be walking into a Death Eater ambush, waiting to be slaughtered.
That's why Harry poured a crazy amount of magic into his spell and flashed away.
…
Fleur had just finished brewing her coffee, a simple cappuccino with a spoonful of white sugar, and walked to the house's rapidly growing library to grab a book.
'Hm. What should I read?' she mused and put her coffee down on a low table before walking down the racks filled with books.
Like a true book-lover, she let her hand glide over the books' spines as she searched for something to read.
'I'm not in the mood for studying… But should I start reading fiction in the morning? Dangerous,' Fleur contemplated, unable to decide her next course of action.
Theoretically, she could find something interesting to read for an hour or two and enjoy her coffee, and then start the serious studying. That would be ideal and solve her conundrum.
However, there was a possibility—a big one as well—that the book would prove too interesting and she'd be unable to put it down, thus continuing to read it until she finished or Harry came back home.
'Ah, to hell with it,' she decided and reached to grab a book that Harry had read a while back and wouldn't stop recommending. 'I bet he will be smug anyway.'
Pouting, she turned the book over.
'Norwegian Wood,' she read and caressed the cover, a vinyl disk with two little trees on it.
If she were to trust the few things Harry had mentioned about the book, then she'd be in for a huge treat. Apparently, Haruki Murakami—the book's writer—had a brilliant way of depicting human nature through his words, and wrote pragmatic sex scenes.
That wasn't what pushed Fleur to finally give the book a chance, though… really.
She opened the book to the first page, settling back into the armchair with her coffee beside her.
The melody of a distant song played in her mind as she began reading.
Harry made Fleur listen to the song—Norwegian Wood—as it was recurring in the book, and stated that she couldn't not listen to The Beatles if she were to live in England.
The scent of fresh cappuccino mingled with the crisp pages, prompting her to let out a contented sigh.
Perhaps this was exactly what she needed this morning—a brief escape before diving into her studies.
Suddenly, she was abruptly broken off her reading flow as Fawkes' voice sounded in her head.
'Harry has just started fighting Voldemort,' he stated.
"What?!" she shouted and shot off the armchair.
.
.
.
Discord Link... [https://discord.com/invite/NJ3WV9RVgR]
Patreon Link: [https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] or do a Google search of 'Patreon Fake Violinist'
Chapter 131: It's Finally Over