Chapter Thirty-One: The Power He Knows Not

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

A/N: Chap 30 review responses are in my forums. Please note that as has become tradition, when we're so close to the end I choose not to keep people waiting. So, this and the final chapter have both been posted today. Thank you for reading.

Chapter Thirty-One: The Power He Knows Not

Kyle Katarn knows it's a trap.

Diagon Alley lay deserted. All the shops were closed; their wards magically sealed. In the utter silence of the alley itself, one could hear could the constant, distant thrumming of Muggle London.

The only movement was the quiet scurrying of a rat along the edge of the alley. The rat was large, even for his kind, with scruffy graying fur and a nicked tail. As it approached Knockturn Alley, the rat suddenly shimmered and grew progressively larger until it became a man walking hunched over in the gloom.

The man's dirty round face twitched, as if it held whiskers still. He continued up the dingy, narrow Knockturn Alley until he rounded a bend near an old, boarded up apothecary and came across a blind cul-de-sac densely packed with a large crowd of witches and wizards in black robes and silver masks. At their head stood Voldemort himself, clad in black but with no mask. At his feet sat two dirty, beaten teen-aged girls, each gagged and bound.

"Report, Wormtail," Voldemort whispered.

"Potter and Bones are standing near the Leaky Cauldron," the obsequious wizard said. "I searched but could find no trace of anyone else."

"What did your rat's nose smell?" Voldemort demanded.

"Bone's perfume, m'lord."

"And Katarn?"

"No sign, m'lord."

Voldemort stood in silence a moment. "He seeks to ambush us," the Dark Lord finally said after consideration. "He is a warrior, that one. He will be on the rooftops, I am sure. Likely with others of Amelia's little band. Jugson, take twenty men on brooms and sweep the rooftops. Kill anyone you see."

The chosen wizard bowed and began pushing his way through the crowd of Death Eaters with a band of other fliers. When they were in the air, Voldemort nodded in satisfaction. "It is time, my friends. After this night, nothing will stand in our way."

With the barest flick of his wand, Voldemort forced the two weeping girls to their feet so that Wormtail could push them forward. They emerged into the alley like a processional—dark robes rustling in the relative silence of the evening.

His intended victims saw him and stiffened noticeably—even Bones did not bother hiding her fear. At the front of their processional of death, little Susan Bones began squealing something at her aunt through her gag until Wormtail conveniently silenced her.

Despite the obviousness of the situation, the two began walking toward them, Harry Potter and Amelia Bones both. At twenty paces apart, both parties stopped. "We came as agreed," Amelia said, her voice firm and strong despite her expression of fear. "Release the girls."

Voldemort raised his hand, and at that signal his forces quickly spread out to either side and raised a series of anti-apparation jinxes over the whole alley. "My dear Amelia," he said. "You do understand that you are not leaving this alley. None of you are."

"Don't think you can…"

A quick, efficient killing curse cut her off before she could say another word. Voldemort thought the explosion and sparks as she fell backward odd, but the terror on Potter's face distracted him sufficiently. "Ahh, Harry, now it is just you and me. Oh, wait, not quite yet. We need to dispose of all distractions, don't we? Wormtail, kill…"

And that was when, from his hovering ship three hundred meters above the alley and easily a hundred meters above the highest of Voldemort's broom riders, Kyle Katarn fired his Tenloss DXR-6 Disrupter Rifle. The thin beam of non-harmonic energy pulsed through Voldemort's magically generated body in a split second, ripping apart the individual molecules despite the magic binding those molecules together. The Dark Lord had only a second to scream in agony before he was reduced to a pile of ash.

It happened so quickly the other Death Eaters could only stare in shock. It was the sound of laser cannons that made them look up. The Preening Crow had decloaked, and two small anti-personnel laser cannons were using powerful AI targeting computers to pick off Jugson's broom squad two or three wizards at a time. The terrified wizards, having never seen or even heard of such weapons, much less a spaceship, flew around desperately without any obvious destination. Many resorted to moves learned playing on the Slytherin or Ravenclaw Quidditch teams, but the computer was faster than their merely human reflexes and in mere seconds they were destroyed.

"Kill everyone!" Wormtail screamed in terror. He looked down to dispatch the two girls but saw in horror that they were both gone! Potter, though… Wormtail had to shout to summon the hatred to cast the Killing Curse, but he succeeded regardless. Potter sparked and exploded just like Bones did as he fell, lifeless, to the ally stones.

The animagus ran forward to confirm the kills but slowed in confusion. Where Bones and Potter had fallen, he saw what looked like metal golems. The one laying where Bones had fallen was motionless and dark. The one that lay where Potter fell had one light on where a right eye would have been on a human. "Hello," a static-filled, garbled feminine voice said. "I am D-DH532. How may I be of assistance?"

"No!" Wormtail whispered. He turned back to see where Death Eaters stood caught in their own anti-apparition jinxes as they cast curses up at the floating spaceship. As Wormtail watched, a small silver ball fell into their midst, unnoticed by those looking upward. It suddenly erupted in a sphere of blinding white light. The concussive force of the explosion blasted him back off his feet where he landed with a painful thud.

With effort, he picked himself up and saw, numbly, that almost all the Death Eaters were dead or so badly injured they could not stand. From the alien craft above came enemy broom riders—Amelia Bones and her band.

He considered cursing them but knew the battle was lost. Instead, he scrambled to his feet and turned to flee into the Leaky Cauldron when the air in front of him rippled in a surprising fashion. James Potter's old invisibility cloak fell away to reveal a blazing-eyed Harry Potter and two teen-aged girls. Their bonds had been severed; their gags removed.

"Harry!" Wormtail said. "Wait…"

He caught the sound of an alien sword of unearthly fire buzzing toward him, and then nothing.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

In Malfoy Manor, Severus Snape stood over a cauldron stirring a healing potion for what he assumed would be a variety of injuries. Like Voldemort, Snape knew Kyle Katarn enough to know that the old man would not walk into an ambush without a plan of action. However, he also knew that Bones and Katarn did not have enough allies to mount any type of sustained resistance against the sixty wizards Voldemort had available to fight.

The number used to be higher, but Katarn had already proven his prowess as a fighter.

The door behind him opened and Lucius Malfoy walked in. The once proud man had been broken so thoroughly only a shadow of the Malfoy family remained. His shoulders were bowed by the unbearable weight of his wife's long torture, and by the near death of his only son and heir.

He glanced about the room warily before seeing Severus. "They've left, then?"

Severus frowned before he realized that Voldemort, in his infinite mercy, had allowed Lucius the luxury of treating his wife and son instead of fighting. "Yes, an hour past."

"Narcissa took soup earlier," Lucius said. "It is the first she's eaten since…she ate a few spoonfuls."

"That is good," Severus said neutrally. Unlike Bellatrix, Severus never hated Narcissa. Her cruelty was never intentional—rather her slights against him were simply a product of her upbringing. She never noticed his discomfort with her glib comments on his blood status because for her, he was what he was, and she took neither pleasure nor pain from it.

Lucius nodded and started walking back the way he came. Severus knew the man was casting about in a desperate gamble for solace or support, but even within his own house he had little hope of finding it.

The potion master's meditations were interrupted, however, by a screeching wind that blasted through the stained-glass windows of the hall. Lucius and Malfoy both spun to watch as the visible wind tore through the room, ripping away ancient, precious tapestries and overturning centuries-old chairs and benches until it slammed into the snoozing, impossibly-large snake, Nagini.

The snake writhed so hard from its nest it fell from the divan that it had claimed as its home and thrashed about on the floor. Moments later, it went very still before raising its head. Severus's chest constricted as he saw red eyes glowing from the snakes' head. "Severus," a ghostly whisper of the Dark Lord's voice called. "I need you. Come to me, now!"

Trembling, Severus approached the snake as it coiled itself and raised its head almost to eye level. "My lord, is that you?" Severus asked. "What happened?"

"I have been betrayed!" The snake hissed with Voldemort's voice. "But the fools could never understand. Death holds no dominion over me! I am immortal, and through you, I shall live again!"

Severus has only a moment to scream before the snake struck, sinking its fangs into his shoulder.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

Harry Potter was in a position he never, in a million years, thought he would be in. He found the position to be at once exhilarating, exhausting, and utterly terrifying.

Two attractive teenage girls were hanging on to him with every ounce of strength either possessed. Susan Bones clutched at his left hand, vacillating between tears and hysterical laughter. Occasionally, she worked herself up to professions of sincere thanks accompanied by kisses. Nor were the kisses restricted just to Harry's left cheek.

Hermione clung to his right arm. She wasn't gibbering, though her eyes were red. Both girls bore bruises from their captivity, but from the Force alone Harry could feel that neither was terribly injured, just terrified. Hermione didn't kiss him like Susan did, but she clung not just to his arm, but clasped his right hand in hers so hard his fingers were slightly numbed from it.

Harry couldn't help but wonder how Anikol would have responded to the situation. Or, perhaps, the young Emperor.

The three of them sat in a conference room in the Ministry of Magic while a befuddled Rufus Scrimgeour fought a losing shouting match with Amelia Bones and Kyle Katarn. The rest of Amelia's team huddled in the far side of the conference room while other aurors from Scrimgeour's brief tenure held the room entrance. Harry knew the discussion was important and that he should be listening, but it was impossible to pay attention to anything but the two girls sitting so close to him on either side that he could feel their bodies through his robes. Susan's tear-filled kisses were very nice, though he was concerned about Hermione's relative silence.

However, at some point Hermione moved the hand she held from his leg to hers, turned to him, and between Susan's professions of eternal gratitude and a promise to do anything she could to repay him, whispered, "It's not over yet, is it?" The softly whispered question was enough to make Susan halt her blubbering and blink in confusion. Harry, though, could only admire Hermione's clarity. "He still had the snake," she added.

"No, I don't think it's really over yet," Harry admitted.

Abruptly Hermione stood, leaving his right side oddly cold, and stomped out of the room. The startled Ministry aurors made no move to stop her. Harry started to stand but Susan pulled at his arm. "Harry, don't leave me, please!" she pleaded.

He looked down at her lovely oval face, framed by burnished coppery hair. She held his left arm to her breasts, clutching it desperately. "I have to, Susan," he said softly.

"But Harry, you saved me. You save me. That means…"

"It means I am a Jedi," Harry told her gently as he carefully, and with some regret if he were honest with himself, extricated his arm. "I would do the same for anyone."

"But Hermione…"

"Hermione…" Harry stopped. "You're safe, now, Susan. Your Aunt is here. But Hermione also needs me."

It was hard for Harry to understand how quickly Susan was able to calm herself. Her eyes watered, yes, but all gibbering stopped as she looked up at him. "And you need her," she finally said.

There was no point in denying it, so he just nodded.

"Well, I suppose there's always Cedric," she said with a sad smile, all hint of blubbering gone. "You'd better go, then."

"Thank you, Susan."

He spun to follow Hermione. The aurors this time did try to stop him until Kyle's voice overrode the arguments. "Bring her back here for now, Harry," the old Jedi said. "No one will try to stop you."

Harry paused and then realized that of course Kyle would be paying attention. The aurors in front of him glanced nervously to the hard-faced old Jedi and probably remembered that this was the man who did not just hurt the Dark Lord, but likely killed him just an hour past. They stepped aside and Harry rushed after Hermione.

It didn't take long to find her—she stood in the abandoned atrium staring at the garish fountain of "Magical Brethren" with her hands across her chest. Harry slowed from his concerned trot and walked to her side. Without a word, he put an arm around her shoulders.

"I hate this place," Hermione whispered. Though she wasn't sobbing aloud like Susan, a steady stream of tears ran from her face. "I absolutely hate it. I hate wizards and witches. I hate how bloody stupid everyone is. Magic is so…so…wonderful, and amazing. And yet those who yield it are such evil, idiotic buffoons!"

Harry had no idea what to say, so he just continued to hold her. After a moment, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I thought I was going to die."

"I know."

For the first time, she sobbed. Still unsure what to do, Harry made no effort to resist when she spun into him, grabbed onto him with a death grip, and sobbed into his chest. Instead, he put his arms around her and found himself rocking slightly, staring into the distant shadows of the ministry and trying to understand how he could possibly make any of the situation better. The sound of her sobs was almost unbearable to him, bringing him to the edge of tears himself not because he was hurt, but because she was.

Finally, though, the worst of the sobbing passed. He sensed her start to pull away and released his own grip. She backed away and wiped her red nose with a wad of tissue. "I must look a fright," she whispered in a thick, hoarse voice. "Mum always said I should never cry around anyone else, but I just…"

"You look beautiful." And she did. Harry realized, as he stood staring at her, that Hermione was beautiful, red nose and swollen eyes and everything. She blinked up at him, though in fact he only had an inch or so on her, and whatever she saw made her cheeks tint red.

"You believe that, don't you?" she asked softly.

Harry, not trusting himself to speak, nodded. He opened his mouth to tell her—to tell her that she was the most beautiful person that he'd ever seen; that he loved how strong she was, and how kind. He was going to say so much to her, but the moment he drew breath to speak a deep, black agony stabbed into his mind from his scar.

His words turned to an agonized shriek as pain worse even than the Cruciatus burned through his soul.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

Hermione had no idea what Harry was going to say, but she found herself leaning forward in anticipation, as if whatever he said had the possibility of changing her whole life. Despite all the terror of her capture and the way the werewolf leered at her and licked her neck like he would a candy, her entire day boiled down to a pair of earnest green eyes telling her that she was beautiful.

He opened his mouth to say more, and then screamed.

Hermione jerked and then watched in horror as Harry flung himself backward hitting the floor with a hard crack even as he grasped his forehead with both hands. His whole body convulsed in time with his screams. "Harry! Somebody, help!"

She rushed to his side and tried to hold him down so he'd stop cracking his head on the hard tiles of the atrium floor, but he was too strong and in too much pain. "Help me!" she screamed again. He was flailing so hard she threw herself on top of him, struggling with all her might to keep him from hurting himself. It all came to an end when an invisible wall of magic struck her like a brick and sent her stumbling back numbly.

She fell hard on the floor, biting her tongue as she hit, and stared numbly as Harry's body flew upright as if jerked by strings. His eyes…his eyes were red, just like Voldemort's, and he sneered down at her in contempt as he raised his wand.

The heavily booted foot came out of nowhere, it seemed, and slammed into the side of Harry's head with what should have been enough force to put anyone down. Kyle Katarn, over a century old, straightened from a kick that men a quarter his age would be hard pressed to make, and stared grimly as Harry stumbled back. He did not fall, though. Once again he straightened as if pulled by invisible strings.

"Katarn," he said in a sibilant, hissing voice. "The alien wizard. Did you think your little toy was really enough to defeat Lord Voldemort? I am forever, and you will all suffer! Starting with her!"

Hermione turned to look past Kyle where she saw a terrified grouping of witches and wizards staring at Harry with Voldemort's eyes. But with his last sentence, she ripped her eyes back to the want pointed at her. "Crucio!" he shouted.

Hermione tensed but she felt nothing, not even a pinch. Kyle slowly made his way to stand near her. "You can't hurt her!"

"I will destroy her! Avada Kedavra!" There was no light from the wand, nor any indication of magic.

"You can't hurt her because Harry won't let you," Kyle said in a flat voice. "Your control is an illusion, and temporary at best. Harry Potter, you are a Jedi! The Force is with you. You are stronger than this weak-minded parasite. His hatred is nothing compared to the power of the Force."

Harry gasped, clutched his head and screamed as he fell to his knees. Hermione started to surge forward but from his kneeling position his wand pointed at her again. "Avada Kedavra!"

Again, nothing happened. Hermione rushed forward again. "Fight him, Harry! You're stronger than he is! Fight him!"

The red in his eyes began to drain away, but the strain on his face was terrifying for Hermione to behold. Every tending stood out; every vein bulged. Spittle ran down his cheek. "Run, Hermione!" he managed to gasp. "Run, I can't….I can't…"

"I won't run!" She didn't bother to wipe away her tears. "I won't run from you, ever! You fight him, Harry! You fight him and you win! I can't lose you, Harry. Not after all this, not now! FIGHT HIM!"

"Hermione!"

She grabbed him despite his shaking and held him to her chest. "You fight him, Harry," she sobbed. "You fight him! Please, fight him!"

Suddenly he went limp, collapsing completely against her. She sobbed as she held him, rocking aimlessly. Kyle came and knelt down beside her—she could hear his knees popping from the effort.

Gently he reached down and placed a hand on Harry's head. "You did it."

"Harry?" She craned her head to look down and saw his tired green eyes staring up at her, ringed in red with tears of his own. He looked bruised and beaten, and she could feel wet from his scalp where he'd banged his head so bad against the tiles. "You did it, Harry!" she whispered. "You did it!"

"No, Hermione, you did," Kyle said.

Hermione blinked and looked up at the ancient Jedi in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There's only one power stronger than the Force. And without it, Harry couldn't have won. You saved him. Thank you." To her confusion, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head, as if she were his own daughter.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

Harry groaned then, and her understanding didn't matter. Others arrived then, including an older witch with a healer's bag. She began casting healing magic over him, concentrating mainly on his scalp.

Hermione stared down at the beautiful, heroic boy with his face against her chest and fought an urge not to sob again. His eyes closed but the expression of strain was gone, leaving only exhaustion.

"He's going to be okay," the healer said softly. She touched Hermione's cheek. "I never thought I would meet anyone even braver than Harry Potter. Well done, my dear. Well done."

Hermione nodded, still in a daze. However, even in her state she couldn't miss the raised voices from the clump of adults nearby. More people had arrived, many in Wizengamut robes. One loud voice rose above the others. "That's it, I resign!"

Hermione frowned as Rufus Scrimgeour threw his hat to the floor. "I am an auror, I never wanted the position anyway! I only accepted the nomination because no one was left alive to do it. You see the only decent candidate before you anyway!"

He pointed at Amelia Bones, and from the way many of the Wizengamut members started muttering, Hermione had no doubt she was looking at the next minister for magic.

"Will you help me get him out of here?" the Mediwitch asked.

"Where?" Hermione asked.

Another witch arrived—a surprisingly young-looking clone of the first, but with pink hair. "Watcher, Hermione. I'm Tonks, one of Amelia's band of aurors, and this is my mum, Andromeda Tonks. We're going to take you and Harry back to Hogwarts for now. Kyle's gonna stay here and help the Boss."

Not realizing Kyle had left, Hermione turned and saw that indeed the old warrior was standing by Amelia's side, arms crossed and heavy brows furrowed as he glared at anyone who disagreed with anything Amelia said.

"I want to stay with Harry," Hermione decided resolutely.

"Wouldn't dream of anything else, luv," Tonks said. "Come on, let's get this boy to bed. He's had a long day."