Chapter 416: A Hound’s Vengeance
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20 May 1995, The Otherworld
He didn't have time to look around too much; a gigantic hound, almost the size of a building leapt from the shadows, and ran towards them, denting the floor with every step it took. Harry immediately pushed Daphne behind him, as he prepared for the coming fight. Harry gasped as Nimue's words sank in and he realized who he was facing, "Fenrir."
The gigantic wolf was about to approach them when he slowed down his perception of time to properly analyse the situation. He could tell from a casual glance that the monster wasn't a physical being, much like his 'brother', the World Serpent. It was also obviously gunning for him, not that he could blame it too much.
He didn't know much about Fenrir's weaknesses or powers really. In Norse mythology, the wolf was a child of Loki, who was bound by Odin in fear of Ragnarök. It was prophesized to swallow Odin, killing the king of Gods. Of course, given that Ragnarök was a vastly different event here, Harry couldn't exactly rely on that information.
But he could rely on his Arcane Hearing. He could feel the echo of every movement the monster made in the world around him. It wouldn't be wrong to say that there was an 'otherworldly' tinge to it. Magic seemed to dissipate entirely the moment it came into contact with him or his shadows.
Harry tested and expanded the space between them, hoping to give himself a bit more room to breathe, only for the wolf to run through it as if it didn't exist. Harry dodged, pushing Daphne out of the way once more, and retaliated with a bolt of Lightning in the monster's opened maw.
It seemed to have stung the thing slightly, but nothing more. He tried to follow up, only for the monster to disappear into a shadow. Harry though, had to dodge when he felt shadows try to stab him in the back and release a pulse of light that was their complete magical antithesis.
The spell shielded him briefly, but he knew that it wasn't anywhere near enough. Harry slowly gathered a spell, using Solomon's magic, for efficiency's sake more than anything, and he created a ball of light that illuminated the cave with the hope of trapping the wolf in his own shadows.
Unfortunately, the beast leapt out, right before the attack, connected, and ran towards Harry, only to be caught by surprise as the young wizard turned the ground into quicksand. Daphne covered the entire cave with vines to hold down the beast momentarily, and Harry used his Ice Age spell.
White mist appeared from Harry's wand, completely solidifying the wolf, stopping it at a molecular level, immobilizing the wolf completely. Harry knew that it was a temporary binding at best, given the canine's natural ability to somehow negate magic. He could already feel his spell slowly being dismantled, one layer at a time.
To buy himself more time, Harry ran forward and touched the vines that Daphne had conjured to bind the beast, only this time, freezing them in time completely. It was something he had been playing with at the time, but he never really got the opportunity to use it properly in a fight. With that done, he also created a field of slowed time, which should theoretically slow down even the beast's magical negation. After all, everything was bound to time eventually.
The young wizard gave Daphne a soft smile, "Nice work with the vines."
"You weren't too shabby either. I guess you're not the only one who's good with this adventuring stuff."
Harry rolled his eyes, "We'll talk about it later. For now, let's focus on getting out of here. The longer we wait, the more likely Fenrir is going to escape. It's not a physical being and so physical restraints aren't going to hold it for too long."
"Do you have a plan?" the blonde asked.
Before he could respond, he felt an explosion which caused the time enchantment around the wolf to fracture, falling like broken glass, somehow. The ice that froze the beast started to chip away, and the wolf opened its maw, motioning to bite through the vines.
Reality itself recoiled at the act as if it was wounded, as a white tear literally cut through the vines, time magic and all, as if it didn't exist, creating a breach in the dimension itself.
He couldn't quite understand what he had just seen, even to his Arcane Hearing. It felt like a multiversal breach, much like the one he had created when he was stranded in another universe, but with literally nothing on the other side.
It took a little while for Harry to realize what it was. It wasn't just a breach. The breach was a consequence of the original effect. He literally cut through space and time to break the vines, no, it was worse, its effect broke reality itself, just to cut a few vines. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Theoretically, this thing could literally cut through anything, destroy anything. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he understood that his magic negation was built on the same concept. The wolf made microscopic tears in the dimensions that Solomon discovered, destabilizing any magical effect. The prophecies of his swallowing Odin in Ragnarök made a lot more sense now that he understood it.
There was no doubt about it. Fenrir was a weapon, much like the World Serpent. An effect like that just wasn't natural and it reminded him a bit of Jörmungandr's fang, only it was an attack on itself, instead of being used as an entry point for the serpent's venom.
Well, that didn't matter much; it seemed like he'd have to kill the wolf the same way he did the World Serpent. He yelled at Daphne, who had just conjured a plant to redirect one of the wolf's paws, hoping to trip him, to no avail, "We need to keep it still for a bit. I have a plan!"
The blonde nodded, "Yes. I have an idea."
Harry didn't like that Daphne was there with him, fighting against something this dangerous, but he trusted her enough to make a good plan and to, at the very least, ask for help if she was over her head. She should have learned that lesson back in Olympus.
Instead, of worrying about her, he focused mostly on using Solomon's magic. He was slower with it than he liked, lacking enough practice to do it on instinct like he did most of his other magics, but he would make do. He was trying something he had thought about doing for a while but never got the opportunity to test it.
The last Potter folded space and time, focusing on every dimension the wolf inhabited. It was hard, but the soul stone was able to help him. Slowly but surely, he was able to detect them, before creating miniature breaches involving every single dimension. It made the spell extremely straining since it didn't use a proper soul for guidance, but Solomon's magic was able to make it efficient and parallelize the spell for each dimension without using too much magic.
Harry turned towards the wolf, only to be surprised to see Daphne grabbing her vines with her bloodied palms, which made the plans turn crimson. They started to incircle the wolf, binding it, and it was working, somehow resisting the creature's ability. The red vines first closed its maw, stopping the beast from biting into them as it did before, before slowly taking him down limb by limb.
It was absolutely brilliant.
Harry wouldn't say that he was an expert in blood magic, but he understood enough to realize that Daphne's gambit was masterful, to say the least. She somehow got her druidic magic to act as a channel of her own blood magic, to absorb the Energy Fenrir used to create tears in reality into strengthening the vines that bound him. It was a vicious circle, one that the wolf obviously hadn't expected. The more it tried to escape, the stronger the crimson vines became, and the spell barely cost Daphne anything other than the initial setup.
The beast would beat it when it inevitably realised how the vines worked, or it would eventually overpower them. Despite the brilliant use of blood and druidic magic, the vines could only hold so much power before breaking apart.
However, this gave Harry enough time to release his spell. A kaleidoscope of folded space and time flew out of his wand, fracturing reality itself into prismatic fractals.
The spell shot forward, shattering the air around it like a piece of jagged glass. Space and time rippled in its wake, bending and folding into sharp-edged prisms that refracted light in impossible ways. It was unstable, raw, and demanding more focus than Harry liked, but it was all he had.
The wolf froze for half a second, its silvery eyes locking onto the attack. With a guttural snarl, it opened its maw wide, tearing through the remaining crimson vines holding it. Dark, swirling energy poured from its throat, condensing into a tear in reality.
And then, they collided.
An unstoppable attack met an impossible defence, and the force of the impact seemed to rip apart the very air. Colours exploded in every direction, jagged rainbows clashing with streaks of black nothingness. The world twisted, folding in on itself as if reality couldn't handle what was happening. The ground and sky blurred together, and the horizon bent into spirals that made Harry's head spin if he focused too hard.
He felt the pull immediately—a sharp, gut-wrenching force trying to drag him toward the centre of the chaos. It wasn't just physical; it felt like it was tugging at his very being. He held his ground, gripping his wand tighter and pushing everything he had into the spell to stop the collapse.
The singularity at the centre of the clash pulsed violently, threatening to pull everything into it. For a second, Harry thought the entire world might actually fold into itself and disappear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daphne, her hands bloody but steady, doing her best to bind herself and him to the ground, to stop them from being sucked in.
Slowly but surely, the wolf started to be absorbed by the singularity, but somehow, it did not top. Harry saw Daphne struggling, doing her best to keep them grounded. The fear and desperation on her face, the panicked look in her eyes, and Harry couldn't do anything to stop it.
Harry slowed down his perception of time, trying to understand what he was missing. He refused to die here, he certainly refused to be the cause of Daphne's death. There was something he had been missing, something that was nagging him since the moment this whole thing began.
It hit him like a bolt of lightning, and he smiled faintly at the realization. Grindelwald. That was what made things feel so familiar. It reminded him of Grindelwald's last attack, which brought an entire dimension to their battlefield. The magic was different, of course, but the principles were the same.
And so, his answer was the same. He started to sing.
It came to him as an instinct, like every time before. It came to him whenever he needed it the most when he had no other choice, no other path to take. He sang, and the world listened. The world around him started to expand, the cave turned into an endless sphere of pure silver that overwhelmed everything around it, until it reached the singularity.
It seemed like it wanted to absorb Harry's realm, but he answered by singing even louder. It was a melody that wasn't physical, not something that anyone could understand, filled with complexities and layered on multiple dimensions.
With a roar, his realm expanded, swallowing the singularity, before fracturing into pieces. Exhausted, he slowly picked himself up, saw Daphne doing the same, and turned towards a familiar throne room, glaring at the fae that forced him into the fight.
The woman still had that smug smile on her face, only this time, it was awed, "I dreamed of this often, but it's very different to see it in person."
"What the fuck was that?" he asked, not in the mood for fake pleasantries and the like.
"That was you defeating the Philosopher's Stone's guardian, of course."
Harry noticed that her gaze wasn't at his face, but towards his hand, which clenched a red stone that pulsed with power. The Philosopher's Stone, Nicholas Flamel's prized creation, was in his hand.
He barely noticed Nimue making her way towards him and asked, "So, Peverell, did you learn your lesson yet? I have to say, it was quite an entertaining sight."
He remembered her saying something about this being a lesson before, but he had dismissed him. How on Earth was making them fight Fenrir some sort of twisted lesson?
Harry was angry. No, he was beyond angry. He was furious. He raised his wand, space and time being folded at its tip as if mirroring his anger, ready to be unleashed. She had the gall of endangering Daphne and call it entertaining?
The young wizard channelled the power of the resurrection stone, slowly making her choke in pain, and float towards him, unable to move at all. He spoke up softly – a stark contrast to his mood, "Tell me, Fae, are you entertained now?"
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AN: Writing this chapter was surprisingly hard, especially since the previous one came out a lot easier. Daphne is finally coming into her own and Harry had enough of Nimue's attitude near the end, especially now that he has the stone. Nimue's motivations will be in the next chapter. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.