Ch. 152

"On whose authority?" Harry sneered back.

"Mine, and the Order of the Phoenix," she replied confidently.

"Yeah, right," Harry spat. "That Order of yours isn't even a legal organization, much less one with the authority to make arrests and issue punishments." He flicked his wrist, causing his black ash wand to slip into his hand from his holster. "Besides, if you want to take me, you'll have to take me by force."

"That can be arranged." On her command, every single wizard and witch in the room turned their wands on Harry, forming a circle around him, Snape, the bound Voldemort, and Shacklebolt.

"What is the meaning of this, woman?" Snape bellowed.

Madame Arretha glared at the potions master. "It is simple, Severus. You are all hereby taken into custody, for charges of illegal black magic, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, treason to the wizarding world, and crimes of war."

"Crimes of war? Are you kidding me?" Shacklebolt shouted incredulously. "Have you lost your mind, Madame?"

"Silence!" the woman slapped him across the face. "You have sided with the traitor, Harry Potter. Therefore, you are as guilty as he is."

A low chuckle could be heard from the ground, and everyone turned to look at Voldemort, who was laughing. "You see, Harry, this is the thanks you get."

"Yeah," the black-haired teenager muttered, "I'm starting to wish I'd let you wipe them out. This is getting annoying."

"There is still time for that, you know," Voldemort taunted.

Harry looked like he was considering it for a moment before shaking his head. "Look, this is getting stupid. Give me the goddamn staff so I can kill Tom here, then we can all go our merry ways."

Ron laughed. "What do you take us for? Idiots? If we give you the staff, you'll just kill us all after you kill him," he nudged Voldemort.

"Well, yeah, you're sure acting like a moron," Harry muttered under his breath. Out loud he said, "Shouldn't you worry about Dumbledore first? The old man's been knocked out over there." He gestured in the general direction and frowned. Thinking of Dumbledore made him think of Hermione and Bella. Bella! He needed to make sure she was all right. I haven't got time for this, he thought irritably.

"The headmaster is of no concern. I lead the Order now," Madame Arretha declared haughtily.

"Oh yeah, really getting sick of you now," Harry muttered. "Look, get out of my way, or get hurt. It's your call."

"Ha! You can barely stand, Potter, how do you expect to take on all of us?" Ron smirked, his wand held on Harry.

Like this, Harry replied silently, mustering his remaining strength to pull off one last spell. He quietly muttered the words to himself. "Blazing light, shatter strength forged hard in hellfire… Sublime Horn !"

A vortext of purple light flared into existence all around Harry, hurling the people standing around him into the air and scattering them all across the room. He stood quietly in the eye of the storm, breathing heavily from the exertion, along with Snape and Shacklebolt. The two older wizards eyed him in wide-eyed surprise, in awe at the power of the spell even as drained as he was. The blast subsided as quickly as it had appeared, dropping the Order wizards out of the air and onto the hard marble floor. Bones cracked and broke form the impacts, but Harry couldn't bring himself to care. All he wanted was for it all to end so he could go home with Bella.

Walking through the carnage he'd caused, he picked up the Rod of Dominion. Looking around for Voldemort, he kicked himself when he realized that his attack had also blasted the dark wizard away, and most likely dissipated any magic bonds the wizards had put on him. "Impressive, Harry," Voldemort's voice came from behind him. Harry spun around, spotting the dark wizard standing a few feet behind him.

"You know the prophecy, right?" Harry asked.

"Yes, though the same thing you told that Order hag applies to you… you have no idea how to unlock the Rod's true power," Voldemort answered calmly.

"Really," Harry gritted his teeth. All he really wanted was to run over to Bella and make sure she was all right. He could feel she was still alive through the bond they shared, which calmed him down somewhat, but he could feel she was weakening. And he had no idea what had happened to their child. The wound probbaly wasn't fatal, he realized, but blood loss may kill her anyway. He glared up at his nemesis. "And here I thought I'd just hold it up and think something like, 'Die, Tom,' and you'd drop dead."

Voldemort laughed. "You still have not realized it? That staff is more than just a powerful tool, or a weapon. It is a key to the universe itself. Without it, warlocks can tear holes into space, tear asunder reality… but that only lasts for a short time before nature reverses the damage. With the Rod… you control reality. When you rip into space, the hole remains. When you tear apart this dimension, it will not heal. You can create your own universe, or destroy this one, because with the Rod, nature will not interfere. That is the true power of the Rod."

"W-what?" Harry froze, unable to comprehend what Voldemort had just told him. "You're delusional!"

"Hardly, Harry," the dark wizard smirked. "Think of it. The Rod was suspended in its own dimensional pocket. It took both of us and our combined spells to tear reality apart for just an instant - just long enough for the Rod to fall back into our reality. Why do you think it has remained suspended there for all these centuries when any damage we did, any tears we caused, were healed almost instantly?" Voldemort threw out his hands, causing a cage of golden lightning to arc around and enclose him and Harry.

Magic crackled as the entire area around them shifted into tones of grey. Time seemed to slow down and finally stopped, just before everything faded to black, leaving the two adversaries floating in a see of nothingness, surrounded by a golden cage. "I just shifted us into another plane," Voldemort explained. "That is what the proximity of the Rod will allow me to do. Once I hold it…"

Harry glanced around, staring at the absolute blackness around them. "So, what happens if nature kicks in and seals the hole you've created, Tom?"

"We would be trapped here, for all eternity," Voldemort replied with a toothy grin. "On the other hand, here we can finally finish our duel."

Harry arched an eyebrow. "I don't think so, Tom." He raised the Rod and pointed it at Voldemort. "It's over."

"You can't kill me, Harry," Voldemort told him. "Remember? The killing curse will not affect me." He smirked arrogantly. "Besides, do you really want to do these unworthy idiots in the wizarding world the favor?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not doing them the favor, Tom. I'm doing it for myself. For everything you've taken from me, for everything you would take from me if I let you live. For everything you've taken from those willing to stand up to you."

"Not so noble now, are we?" Voldemort commented in amusement, seemingly unbothered by the fact that Harry now held the Rod of Dominion.