Monday, the 22nd of July, dawned to brilliant summer skies at Potter Manor and Harry and Hermione woke, happily wrapped up in each other with the pleasant memories from the night before. They traded a dozen small, sweet kisses and woke slowly as light filtered in around the sides of their curtains. The tempus alarm had been set for seven and they crawled out no more than ten minutes later, after a slow start to appreciate each other. Then they enjoyed a joint shower that was a bit more hasty than either would have preferred, but they had a houseful of guests that they needed to join for breakfast.
The Potters arrived on the veranda for lunch under the beautiful skies at a few minutes after half past the hour and found all but a few of their guests already seated. All of the Aurors were seated with their squads and all the hit wizards were with the squads they were assigned to. There was a feeling of anticipation in the air, but it didn't affect appetites as everyone ate heartily of the usual fine spread that the elves had provided. Harry felt a bit nervous, but more than anything he was ready to have the day done. Hermione squeezed his hand and they went to sit across from Amelia, Sirius, and the Weasleys. As soon as he started to eat, Harry's stomach settled and his appetite made itself known.
Once everyone was done eating, the elves cleared the tables and Kingsley stood to address the group.
"Alright, it's a quarter past 0800. The duel as you know is at 1200. I want us all there and in position by 1100. That includes the platforms, but we've got the setup worked out on those. I know this is the hard part of an operation where you have to wait in the last hours, but let's use this time. Check your equipment and armor. And watch those in your squad. If you see something out of place on someone, tell them. Even a tear in a robe can cause something to catch during battle. For those who have mirrors make sure you test them also and get them positioned where you want them. Move around a bit and ensure they don't shift. Lord Potter has also made us some medical portkeys. Each person will get two and I'll be handing them out shortly. Activation password is Reagan and the portkeys will take one person only. The portkey will drop the injured in the arrival hall here where the elves will be waiting as security. If there's a security breach an elf will remove any hostiles off the property. Otherwise they will take the person to the infirmary for treatment immediately. Now, at 1030, we will be leaving via portkeys by squad to the duel site. Squads 1 and 2 go first as recon. We've kept monitors on the site and there shouldn't be any issues, but just in case, there will be a three minute delay before the other squads portkey with 1 minute delays until everyone is on site. Once everyone is on site, you all know your positions. Platforms are priority one to be set up. The Potter allies that will be snipers on the platforms should be in place and set up no later than 1100. I expect the squads all in place and disillusioned before that. Any questions?"
Kingsley paused and waited, but no questions were posed. None of these details were new, except for the specifics on the portkeys, and then it was just the details since portkeys were often used to move the injured away from the action during raids. The extra security that Harry had added onto the portkeys was a bit unusual, but he was being paranoid about bringing people into his home and worrying about the portkeys falling into enemy hands. Kingsley hadn't minded, even if he had thought it was a bit excessive. With no one posing questions, Harry stepped up to stand by Kingsley and say a few words as well.
"Before everyone goes to get ready, I just wanted to thank you all. I know this is your job, but I appreciate you all backing me up. It was my idea to call this duel and bring this war to a final conflict. I also want to thank you for working with myself and all of my allies over these past few days to train us as much as possible despite us being civilians. It's been an honor to work with you. It's also been a pleasure to get to know a good number of you on a more personal level after hours. I hope you know that I count you all as friends."
Harry didn't want to go overboard so he just gave a small nod as he met the eyes of a few of those who he had come to know more over the past days. He then stepped back and rejoined the rest of his allies as Kingsley dismissed everyone to their tasks and the group all gradually dispersed around the manor. Harry stepped to the side and signaled for all his allies. He also tapped Dumbledore on the shoulder and asked him to collect all the Order members. Once the thirty odd civilians were gathered, Harry led them wordlessly to the lord's office. He had one last arrangement that he had been working on with Kingsley that had only arrived the day before. It had actually taken help from France and it hadn't been cheap, but Jean Louis had helped once again, even if Harry did hate having to wait until the last minute. As soon as the doors closed, everyone found seats where they could and Harry addressed the crowd.
"Alright everyone, I have one more last minute item. I've been working on this for days, but I didn't want to say anything in case I couldn't get these for everyone. I know you've seen me disappear into my office a good bit. Well, I've been making a fair few international floo calls to Monsieur Delacour in France. Kingsley tried to help, but the resources here were already stretched. I wanted all my allies to have standard Auror armor robes. Apparently the DMLE budget is so strapped that Kingsley hasn't been able to buy new robes for the squads for nearly four years. Just getting robes for new recruits is the best he can manage. Amelia is working on changing that, but it will take time. Anyway, at most he could find me a half dozen used robes. Hermione and I could have some custom tailored, but again it's a time issue. Thankfully, France has a surplus. They also were able to work with their friends in Belgium and get a few robes as well. I don't know what excuse was used. I had to pay of course, but that's of little consequence. Now, I guessed on sizes and bought a few extra. Since all this has been continuing to happen in the last days, I added in the Order members who joined us. Hermione helped on estimating sizes, thankfully. So…Giley, Dobby!"
The elves popped in, levitating hanging racks of robes in shades of black and grey. Two more elves joined them and immediately began going around the room, looking each person up and down as they visually sized individuals and then went to the robes and pulled out ones that they thought would fit. As the elves worked, Amelia shook her head and turned to Harry.
"Alright, I'm impressed Harry. I turned my armor robes in when I became Minister because I knew how short on supplies the department was. I actually wasn't looking forward to fighting without them, but Kingsley told me he was 'looking into it'. Obviously he knew about your plan. I had no idea the French had this much extra. I'm jealous."
"Well it wasn't easy to get them to work with me at first. Jean-Louis really made the deal. After all of this is done, I'm donating the robes to the department. I'm not planning on doing any more fighting after this."
"Well thank you Harry. Armor robes are legend. Not just anybody gets them. I really had no hope of ever getting the chance to use any."
"I just wish I could have had them available for training, but we do the best we can."
"Well we have a bit of time yet. I'm going to wear mine and get used to moving in it for a few hours."
"A capital idea. And thank you Harry for including myself and the other Order members."
Harry gave a nod to Dumbledore and then let Dobby fit his robe to him. Soon everyone had a robe that was a good fit, although a couple of the witches had to have theirs shortened a bit. Those were the only adjustments though and the elves had the changes made in minutes. Finally, everyone applied their mirrors to their robes and then went downstairs to the training rooms for a bit of practice.
Downstairs they found a couple of squads doing some basic warmups, but the squad leaders stepped aside and let the civilians get used to their new robes for about forty minutes. The Aurors were surprised to see the new gear, but welcomed the fact that everyone would have a bit more protection. Shortly before ten everyone decided to call an end to their mild drills. The robes were a bit heavier than they were used to, but moved well and nobody had any issues. Everyone then made their way to the veranda where all the squads were beginning to assemble in preparation for the beginning departures at 1030.
At precisely 1030, squads 1 and 2 portkeyed out in formation. Harry couldn't help but give a small sigh. The start of the battle had begun. The first soldiers were moving into position on the battlefield he had chosen a week earlier. Hermione squeezed his hand as they heard Kingsley receive the all clear mirror call from the squad leaders. Next to portkey were squads 3, 4, and 5. This included the platforms, as well as all of the embedded Order members and allies. The Potters were personally with squad 3 and arrived on site at 1038.
As soon as the platforms arrived, the teams assigned to them went to work immediately on their setup. The practice and mockup at the manor paid off and all the platforms were in place with runes activated before the 1100 hour that Kingsley wanted. The first platform was Ron, Emmeline Vance, and George. Second was Susan, Madam Longbottom, and Luna. Third was Blaise, Xeno, and Ginny. The fourth and final platform was Neville, Fred, and Mundungus Fletcher.
The decisions on who to pair up had been made to split couples, as well as to mix the couple of non-combatant Order members among the allies. Both Emmeline and Mundungus had participated in some of the drills, but it was obvious that neither would be much good in the heat of the fighting. Madam Longbottom meanwhile conceded that she was past her prime, but still had a sharp eye and volunteered for the sniper role. Xeno meanwhile was always an odd one and seemed to find it hard to keep track of battlefield strategies. Still, he had quite good aim when given a target, so he was assigned a sniper role as well. As for Fred and George, they diligently practiced with their sniper teams, but also contributed some of their famous potions and all of the platforms were stocked with bins of potion grenades that could be thrown and cause secondary effects to distract Death Eaters while they were being fired upon.
By 1100 all the squads were in place and all had their additional people including the allies and Order members in place as Kingsley had directed. The sun was moving higher in the sky and everyone was waiting as the hour drew nearer. Harry stood toward the front, near a large boulder, ready to step forth as the challenger. His outer robes displayed all his house crests, but he made sure to push the Gryffindor crest forward to prominence.
As everyone was settling in to wait at a few minutes past the hour the entire group was startled by a ripple in the air and a barely audible series of pops that brought everyone to attention and almost brought a rain of spellfire down on the group of individuals that appeared suddenly in front of Harry. Then the unusual robes were recognized and the tension abated just a bit as Kingsley took a cautious step forward. After a few quiet words he confirmed the identities of the group and they left to assume positions wherever they wished. The Unspeakables had arrived.
The final 50 minutes or so was an agonizingly long wait for everyone. Harry was glad for his mental link with Hermione that allowed him to at least carry on a conversation while the rest of the group maintained silence. He was forward with squad 1 and Kingsley, while she was thankfully back and east with squad 4. She wasn't initially happy with it, but other Order members were there as well since they were civilians, so she couldn't complain.
At around ten minutes to noon Kingsley tapped his mirror and began to signal his squad leaders. Everyone around started to shift as muscles were eased and every group was ready for what was to come.
Finally Harry felt that the noon hour must be imminent when the sound of numerous incoming apparitions rent the air. The Auror squads were all well back with easy visibility to where their foes had appeared downfield. Harry quickly assessed what he saw and it was easy to pick out the seasoned troops as they arrived in neat lines, much as the Auror squads did. Then there was a more rag-tag group that appeared to be bunched together that surged forward without much order. Harry suppressed a head shake. Even the civilians in their group were better trained after a few days than that. As the apparitions and a few portkeys finished depositing Voldemort's troops, a gust of wind blew through with a foul malevolence. On that tide came an additional thirty or so odd wisps of black smoke that soon settled out to become the forms of Voldemort and his elite inner circle. When the Dark Bastard himself finally arrived in the front, he looked across the field at Harry and he knew it was time.
I love you Hermione. It's time to finish this.
With that, Harry left all of his friends and family and began the slow walk across to the center of the chosen space that he had selected for his duel. He had his wand out, up in front of his face in the manner of professional dueling. He was using all of his Occlumency to project a calm front as he gathered his magic. As he did so, he felt a hum about him and the land itself almost seemed to call to him. Yes, this land was indeed special.
As Harry approached, Voldemort did the same, walking in similar measured strides as both marched in toward each other in the manner of proper duelers. Once they were three meters from each other, they stopped. Then Harry cast a sonorous and issued his formal challenge.
"I, Harry James Potter, heir of Godric Gryffindor, come here today to call forth a duel upon the head of Tom Marvolo Riddle, heir of Salazar Slytherin, as recompense for his murder of my parents and his attempts upon my own life. I call this duel under the old laws of our ancestors from the times of the illustrious Founders. May there be no cease until one of us gives of our life. Let Magic be our arbiter and let no man interfere. So mote it be."
"I, Lord Voldemort, last of the line of Salazar Slytherin, of that name I no longer choose to take, accept your challenge. Let Magic be our arbiter and let no man interfere. So mote it be."
As soon as Voldemort finished his acceptance of the challenge, a ring of blue flames sprung wide around the two of them, at least a hundred meters in circumference. Within the ranks on both sides of the fight there were gasps of shock at the display and then everyone watched as the two fighters observed the formality and barely bowed to each other before the duel began.
Harry remembered the graveyard as he briefly bent at the waist in a vague bow and Voldemort did the same to initiate their duel. Then he didn't even bother looking up before he began casting and neither did Voldemort. Harry's first cast was a strong and wide reducto that he sent at the same time as he stepped wide from the avada kedavra that was Tom's first cast. Really, the dark lord wasn't even very original. The reducto Harry started with was aimed at his opponent's legs and the ground. It missed the legs, but it did kick up a bit of a crater in the ground and a lot of dust and debris that got in Tom's face, which caused the briefest delay in the next cast and Harry would take any advantage as he cast a strong shield before conjuring a flame whip that he had been working with Dumbledore on for the past few days.
Meanwhile, as soon as the duel began, the combatants behind both fighters charged toward each other. The groups fanned around the circle of flames that encompassed the duel and a few looked to watch, but soon everyone was too busy with their own smaller duels. The forward squads of Aurors met with the inward circle of Death Eaters immediately and also focused on Fenrir's pack that was running in at terrible speed from the west side. Mixed in with the squads were the Unspeakables, who kept disappearing and reappearing randomly and firing curses that could only be identified about half the time. Still, they were always helpful, so the Aurors didn't complain and just made room for their weirdness. When the werewolves ran into squad two, the Unspeakables produced some kind of potions in small globes that exploded in mid-air and began to throw them around randomly. Thankfully whatever was in the globes seemed to do nothing to regular wizards, but sent many of the werewolves to the ground screaming in pain.
While squad two was dealing with the bulk of Fenrir's pack, squad one included Kingsley and Dumbledore and were glad for the extra firepower as they dealt with most of the Inner Circle Death Eaters, including all three of the Lestranges. Bellatrix was her usual crazy self, spouting off insults in between a range of foul dark curses and unforgiveables delivered in her strange baby voice. It would have been funny if she hadn't been frighteningly dangerous, as emphasized when a dark purple curse hit one Auror causing him to go down and not come back up again. During a brief moment that Kingsley had to glance at the man, he saw that most of his organs had exited his body and knew that he was beyond hope as he spun and engaged Rodolphus once again.
As the forward squads were tasting the fury of the best of the Death Eaters, the rear squads were just engaging the lesser squads of Death Eaters, who although lesser organized, were still starting fresh and full of adrenaline. They came out firing a lot of curses that, while not original, were still plentiful. Unfortunately for a few of their own they weren't always accurate. From the sniper platforms, those with an aerial view watched some of the early carnage and began to take out targets who soon became even more confused as they tried to figure out where they were getting hit from. It soon became apparent just how disorganized the dregs of Voldemort's lesser ranks were. When one group doubled back on itself after losing a dozen members from sniper fire they literally congregated directly under the platform that Fred was on and he took advantage of their folly as he deposited some leftover failed potions experiments on their heads. Soon the fifteen men were running in all directions screaming in pain as the viscous goo coated their bodies, causing painful burning boils on every bit of skin it touched. Shaking his head, Fred high fived Neville and returned to firing piercing hexes out across the field at selected Death Eaters.
While individual battles raged across the battlefield, the most important battle continued inside the ring of blue flames as Harry put everything he had into battling Voldemort. In the first five minutes of battle he had already used every curse he had and was now linking together chains of spells as he weaved and dodged within the circle. He knew that he would never match Tom for arcane knowledge, but he was pouring everything he had into the battle and hoping it was enough. He had more to live for certainly. As the battle waged on, time became irrelevant. The battle was like a dance, flowing in and out, with a continual pattern. Although it changed, it seemed to return to similar sequences at different points. When they had begun, Tom had insisted on talking and taunting, but he had since ceased that since Harry refused to respond. Harry was too busy analyzing his opponent's moves. He had read books on magical dueling as well as fencing and was trying to find a weakness in Tom's strategy, but was not able to. As the battle continued on for twenty and then thirty minutes, Harry felt fatigue setting in. Both he and Tom had achieving very minimal victories. A small slash there, a small hit there. Harry was feeling bruised and battered and he thought perhaps he was showing it. Looking at Tom, he didn't look near as bad as Harry was beginning to feel. Then Harry thought of Hermione and he strengthened as he felt her not far away and she was doing well…
A few hundred meters to the south of the ring of blue flames, Hermione Potter was being forced to focus on her own battle. She was with squad four, midway back in the battle. It was a compromise position. She wouldn't agree to be put in a safe position on a platform, but she wasn't up in the front either. Even she had to admit that she would be a hindrance in squads one or two. And it wasn't like squad four was bored. They were rushed by a wave of young Death Eaters only a couple of minutes after Harry had initiated the duel. She had tried to keep a light touch on Harry's mind, but as soon as she had started fighting, she had needed all her focus.
The lesser ranks of Death Eaters may not have had finesse, but they were dangerous enough. There were also half again more of them in numbers than there were Aurors in squad four. It seemed that Voldemort had been recruiting from Eastern Europe and had brought in more troops than they had originally counted on. She had been pushed to her limits as she used everything she had been learning and practicing in all her training. Each time she seemed to take one opponent down, another took their place. Nearby, she saw glimpses of Molly Weasley fighting with an amazing strength and tenacity that she would never have never guessed at. As the fighting calmed, she had a chance to move closer to the Weasley matriarch and saw how tired the woman looked, although the fire still burned in her eyes. She also saw that Molly had a number of small wounds on herself, much the same as Hermione did. They were lucky though that the group was not very organized and within the first quarter hour they had sectioned them into a dozen small pieces. At least three of those smaller groups were easily stunned and bound when they had started to argue among themselves. Another group hadn't even been able to communicate because they'd been separated from their translator. It was quite a mess. Within forty minutes of the start of the duel squad four had their quadrant of the battlefield secure with rows of stunned and bound Death Eaters, the majority of them foreign.
With her own battlefield chaos past, Hermione disillusioned herself and crouched down to meditate and restore her connection to Harry. She was tired and she had a few bruises, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she reached her husband…
As Hermione had a lull in the battle things were not going as well for everyone else. Squads one and two had whittled down the worse of the inner circle Death Eaters, but it had not been easy and they had suffered heavy losses, not the least of which was Kingsley's left hand. Dumbledore had been amazing given his advanced age, which was showing exponentially with each passing minute. A full half of the two squads had fallen and only half of those had managed to be portkeyed back to the manor for medical care. The inner circle and Voldemort's best fighters had also taken heavy losses, but stubbornly Bellatrix, Yaxley, Macnair and Rowle were still fighting strong a full forty minutes into the battle and they directed another twenty or so elite fighters around them.
The battle was continuing on as it had been with squads one and two receiving support from the nearest platform, providing sniper shots as best they could to the fast moving fighters. It was Macnair who finally realized that some of those who were falling were not taking shots from the immediate battlefield. Although busy dueling the second in command of squad two, he began to look around and try to analyze what was happening. When he finally landed a bone breaker that took his opponent to the ground, he acted faster than anyone was able to predict. Before the snipers on the platform could react, Macnair had his infamous axe off of his back and in the air as he ran across the field and toward the trees, screaming like some Norse berserker. Once he reached the trees, he was a madman, swinging wildly at whatever he could not see, gouging trunks everywhere and taking out branches wildly. Unfortunately, his axe managed to hit the supports of the platform that Ron, Emmeline, and George were on. Before they could act, the platform was falling ten meters to the ground. All three cast charms to slow their descent or soften their fall, but that only took care of the immediate fall. Soon all three were on the ground with Macnair and his axe flailing nearby.
While squad one was remaining quite busy, squad three had joined squad two and the Unspeakables to finish off the last of Fenrir's pack. Whatever was in the strange globes the Unspeakables had thrown had worked to an extent, although the larger wolves had just been injured to a point of madness and had been harder to subdue. Worst of these was the alpha wolf himself. Fenrir had killed two Aurors and maimed three others and two Unspeakables before he had finally been killed. Squad two had used up nearly all of its medical portkeys and many of those who were left behind wondered if their friends would ever fight alongside them again. In total it took nearly an hour to contain the pack and the two dozen additional Death Eaters that had joined them.
Beyond squad four the rest of the squads also wrapped up their fighting quickly, finding much of what squad four did; a large force of recently recruited poorly trained foreign fighters that were easily overcome and confused in the heat of battle. Of course there were still casualties even within these ranks, including Order member Dedalus Diggle, who was left back due to his age. He was a bit slower and suffered a violent cutting curse that caused severe internal injuries. His was one of the most severe injuries in squad five and was medically evacuated twenty minutes into the fighting.
While the backup squads finished mopping up the dregs of Voldemort's army, Hermione reached out mentally for her husband and dug deep into herself as she willed her strength and stamina into Harry. Across the field of battle, Harry felt her touch just as he dodged a sickly pinkish-purple curse and went rolling sideways, feeling the static of whatever the spell was brush through his hair as he came all too close to finding out once again what matter of arcane studies Tom had been delving into. The move though only showed him that he was slowing down as each minute of the battle waged on. As he finished the roll though, he felt the unmistakable touch of his Hermione and then the infusion of power as she pushed into him. The feeling was amazing and he felt almost giddy with relief. Then his training asserted himself as he finished his roll, popped to his feet, and simultaneously fired a linked spell chain of two fire curses, a cutting curse, and a reducto. All were fired as he looped to his left, moving with Tom as his opponent seemed annoyed with his quick response and responded with a shield that wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the cutting curse, which clipped Tom's leg as Harry slid under the edge of the shield. If it had been the beginning of the battle, Harry wouldn't have gotten through the edge of the shield, but even Tom was beginning to show a bit of fraying around the edges.
While Harry was receiving his second wind thanks to his link with Hermione, the battle was passing the fifty minute mark and squads one and two had most of the inner circle Death Eaters down with the exception of Bellatrix and Yaxley. They were also backed up by an additional nine elite fighters who were all that were left of the thirty elite fighters that had surrounded the inner circle for support at the start of the battle. Of the two squads, a full third were had been evacuated with medical portkeys and a half dozen would never fight again. It had indeed been just as difficult and horrible of a battle as they had all predicted.
It was as the battle was nearing the fifty minute mark that Kingsley and Williamson finally took down Bellatrix together. Unfortunately, while they were achieving that victory, behind them one of the elite fighters that had been all but wrapped up by squad two decided to launch one final curse before he finally died with a bone breaker to his chest. The curse was a wild shot fiendfyre that went wildly out of control and hit two other Death Eaters and an Auror before finding a wealth of fuel when it hit the nearby trees. Soon everyone was screaming as they knew that there was a platform nearby and it was Dumbledore who, exhausted as he was, conjured a massive bubble of water and sent it to the forest. Meanwhile squad four and those not actively fighting in squads two and three went running to assist. The problem with fiendfyre was that only specially conjured water or very powerful finite spells would work to control it and only the most powerful of wizards could conjure or cast what was needed. While everyone worked to do what they could, Blaise, Xeno, and Ginny evacuated their platform post haste. Unfortunately, both Xeno and Blaise broke bones getting off the platform and all three discovered they weren't able to move faster than the fire. They made it out, but not without serious or critical injuries. Eventually, after a full twenty minutes, Dumbledore's water bubbles finally contained the raging fire beasts. It had taken everything the old man had left though and he had collapsed from magical exhaustion immediately after.
With the boost of power from Hermione, Harry pushed forward and threw everything he had at Tom. Time ceased to exist as the world was nothing but the small patch of singed and churned earth within the blue flames that they now inhabited. As they passed an hour, Harry launched a ferocious sequence of spells that broke Tom's shield. The last spell was a flame whip that looped on Tom's wand arm. Willing all of his renewed power into the spell, Harry let out a primal scream and poured his magic through his wand before giving an almighty yank that caused Tom to give a matching scream before he was sent flying and landed hard on his back ten meters away. Although it had taken a lot from him, Harry pulled on his connection with Hermione and focused on their love as he immediately began a second spell chain just as Tom was jumping up and raising a shield again. It wasn't quick enough though as Harry landed a sectumsempra and a reducto that pushed Tom back into the magical blue flames that outlined the dueling ring. The flames in return pushed the opponent back, knocking Tom forward. As Tom struggled to stand upright, he had the first 'avada' out of his mouth when Harry's cutting curse hit him. Since he still wasn't completely upright, the spell took off the top of Tom Riddle's head, immediately stopping the second half of the spell from ever being uttered as Tom Riddle's blank eyes looked at Harry one last time before he fell face first into the dirt. It actually took a moment for Harry to realize that it was done. Finally. After all the training and all the studying he had taken down Tom Riddle with a simple cutting curse delivered at just the right moment. With that thought, Harry collapsed to his knees in exhaustion as the magical blue flames died, indicating that the duel was recognized as complete.