The Lion Cub (HP SI)

Severus stared at the devastation before his eyes and did his utmost to keep himself composed outwardly. In his mind, he couldn't help but feel glee at the sight of the utter carnage that was the Nott Manor. The Nott family had their time under the sun, and he could say with some confidence that the world would be better off without the Notts.

However, he wondered what had happened to Theodore Nott. The boy was diligent in his studies but silent and withdrawn otherwise. But then again, the child came from a family of sycophants, so he couldn't expect much from their progeny.

"How dare they!"

Severus flinched as the rageful screech of the Dark Lord reached his ears. It was followed by a scream from one of the Death Eaters as the Dark Lord subjected a random wizard to the Cruciatus curse. The fury of the Dark Lord was such that he could feel waves of dark magic emanating from the terrifying man. It was not the deep knowledge of the Dark Arts or the sheer power that made the Dark Lord terrifying. The ease at which the Dark Lord used the Dark Arts and how naturally the man wielded it made Lord Voldemort the most fearsome creature on the land.

But all that raw power was wasted on the Dark Lord, who had become more unhinged as days passed. He doubted he was the only one to notice this but fear kept all the Death Eaters in line.

Severus had to admit he was somewhat surprised Potter had maintained a relentless assault on the Dark Lord's forces with ruthless precision. Dumbledore would've never stood for any attack that cost many lives and destroyed many families, even if those families were supporting the Dark Lord.

Severus noted with some approval that Potter showed no such considerations. In his mind, it was a welcoming change in the war and a change the Dark lord was struggling to cope with. 

The Dark Lord was accustomed to causing terror to his enemies, not the other way around.

The Ministry also played a part in the Dark Lord's current predicament. Severus had to admit Madam Bones had the guts to take on the Death Eaters head-on. Between Potter and the Ministry, the strength of Death Eaters had significantly plummeted. Most were under Ministry custody, and some were outright killed. The harsh stance of the Ministry was widely criticised. However, Minister Bones not only managed to stay firm in her policies but also weather all the political pressure from the different factions within the Wizengamot. He didn't know how this was possible as Wizengamot was ripe with factionalism, a fact the Dark Lord had used to his advantage in the past.

The Dark Lord was no longer as politically inclined or influential to manipulate the Ministry from the shadows. Such subtilities were alien concepts to the resurrected Dark Lord.

But the blow that came from the loss of Fenrir Greyback and the werewolves was the most significant blow the Dark Lord suffered. The fresh recruits of Death Eaters were nowhere near the skill or possessed the grit to seed terror into the wizarding community as the Dark Lord wished. So, this task was largely handled by Fenrir Greyback and his pack of rabid werewolves.

But Greyback was now dead, as were the most savage werewolves under the man's thumb. They had the misfortune of crossing wands with Harry Potter in a raid of Hogsmeade, which was supposedly a distraction for negotiations with the Acromantulas nesting in the Forbidden Forest. Severus knew the reasoning was bollocks. If discretion was what the Dark Lord was after, it could've easily been accomplished without an attack on Hogsmeade.

Instead, the Dark Lord wanted to terrorise the village and cause all sorts of ruckus. The Dark Lord's obsession with spreading terror had lost them the alliance with werewolves. Instead, the werewolves had turned on the Dark Lord's forces and chose to capture Death Eaters from across wizarding Britain. The few vampire clans aligned with them were now pulling back from their alliance because the Dark Lord could no longer ensure peace between werewolves and vampire clans. 

The Dark Lord had ensured the cooperation of werewolf packs and vampire clans by brokering peace between the two factions. That deal was now in tatters after the death of Fenrir Greyback. Though he hated the werewolf with a passion, Greyback had the power and influence to keep the many werewolf packs working as a cohesive unit. That same ability of Greyback made Dumbledore's efforts to pull the werewolf packs from siding with the Dark Lord.

But that was no longer a problem. While Severus would've loved to assign luck as the key factor in Harry Potter's current advantageous position, the rational part of his mind recognised there were other factors. In his opinion, Dumbledore could've done the same if the Headmaster had been a bit more practical.

'But of course, Albus had his principles.' Severus thought with a mental scoff.

Those principles only ended up helping murderers, and the worst scum of the wizarding world was the Stark truth. It was the reason that emboldened many to join the Dark Lord once again. But new recruits were hard to come by with the recent merciless streak of the Ministry and Potter. After all, no cause could write away the deaths of dear ones in the family, especially in the close-knit family groups of purebloods.

'At least the Ministry is correcting that mistake.' Severus thought.

Severus immediately schooled his features when he saw the Dark Lord march out of their temporary stronghold near Glastonbury Tor.

"Let's go, Severus." The Dark Lord hissed, his amber eyes blazing with fury enough to burn the whole world down.

"Where are we going, my lord?" Severus asked softly.

"We are going to Godric's Hollow. I'll burn that accursed place to the ground." The Dark Lord snarled.

"My lord, we have a plan. Let's stick with that plan instead of changing our planned target."

"Enough with the plans, Severus. None of my plans have gone right, thanks to that blasted boy. He is behind this all. He was the one to turn the day of my resurrection into a bloodbath which cost me my most competent Death Eaters." Voldemort thundered with spittle flying from his mouth.

Severus was slightly surprised to get the confirmation from the Dark Lord about that incident in the graveyard. He suspected Potter was involved somehow, and he had said so to Dumbledore, but the Headmaster wouldn't hear it. Just like the Headmaster had stubborn, bordering on suicidal beliefs about the goodness in pureblood lunatics following the Dark Lord, the man had the same outlook on Potter.

Somehow, 'love' was involved in all of this.

Whenever he brought up Potter's change in attitude and possibly the boy's involvement in the graveyard massacre, Dumbledore always pivoted to Potter's ability to love. Dumbledore believed that Potter's ability to love would somehow disseminate into all his other actions and life choices. The Headmaster also had the quirk of bringing up his own case whenever that conversation was brought up. It was a strange justification to use, considering he was the cause of Lily's demise and the tragedy that befell her family. It was true he took responsibility and desperately tried to save her and her family by immediately coming to Dumbledore with the information that the Dark Lord was targeting her child.

While his actions may have helped Lily and her family go into hiding, they ultimately resulted in the death of his oldest friend and her husband, leaving Harry Potter orphaned. The Dark Lord also killed other families because he informed the man of the incomplete version of the prophecy. All of those deaths were because of him, and not a day goes by that he curses himself for the choices he made.

But no amount of regret would absolve him of his crimes. He knew this for a fact, no matter Dumbledore's honeyed words of forgiveness. He knew in his heart that he didn't deserve anything when he had caused such horrendous damage to his oldest friend and one true love.

Severus was prepared to face the consequences of his actions, and therefore, he said nothing further as the Dark Lord gathered all his forces to attack Godric's Hallow. He waited patiently for an interval where he could find some privacy, and it came when the Dark Lord went away to gather the Dementors. In that brief moment of privacy, he waved his wand in a pattern familiar to most Order members.

"Expecto Patronum."

A doe made of silvery vapour slipped out of the tip of his wand. He raised his palm, and the doe settled on his palm where he muttered the message for it to carry. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the doe away into the darkened night.

Severus watched his patronus guardian fly away with a contemplative look. He had sent the patronus straight to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the only one in the Order to take his message seriously and at least doublecheck to verify instead of dismissing the information entirely.

Now, all he could do was hope Potter was prepared to face the Dark Lord and fulfil the prophecy.

*****

Harry was peacefully asleep in his bed at Potter Manor when he was unceremoniously woken up by Dobby, of all people.

"What is it, Dobby?" Harry stifled a yawn as he got out of bed.

"Sir, there is Mr Volkov in your fireplace. He insists he needs to speak with you." Dobby said in a rush, which made it slightly harder for Harry to follow.

"What did you say again?" Harry managed to mutter out while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"It's is I, Ivan. You need to get a grip, Potter." shouted a familiar voice from the fireplace.

Despite being under the grip of sleep, Harry managed to waddle his personal study and saw for himself the face of Ivan Volko sticking out of the flames in his fireplace.

"Why are you disturbing me this late in the night?" Harry tiredly asked while plopping himself into an armchair sitting conveniently close to the fireplace.

"It's early morning." Ivan corrected.

"Is it? I didn't know because I was asleep like most normal people." Harry glared at the man.

"We've got actionable intelligence that the Dark Lord is about to strike at Godric's Hollow."

Harry sat up straight at that particular news.

"How do you know?"

"The DMLE got tipped off from an unknown source. Kingsley Shacklebolt was the one to share the intel, and the Minister has marshalled all her forces…"

Harry didn't hesitate to jump to his feet. This was a good opportunity, with the Ministry gathering their forces to confront Voldemort. He'd be a fool to waste such an opportune moment to finish off Voldemort for good.

"I'll be ready in a short moment. I'll meet you at the extraction point." Harry said in a rush, not waiting for Ivan to complete.

"Dobby!"

His trusted elf was by his side immediately.

"Sir?"

"I'll need coffee. Lots of coffee."

"Right away, sir."

The elf popped away, leaving Harry to prepare for the fight that was about to follow.

"Mr Potter."

Harry was so startled by the sound he dropped the pair of basilisk hide boots he was holding.

"Mr Ollivander. I'm sorry if I woke you up." Harry said, eyeing the battered man apologetically.

"No… no…" Ollivander waved dismissively from the doorway, "I wasn't getting much sleep anyway. But I can't help but wonder why the rush this early in the morning…"

A look of understanding flashed through the aged lines of Ollivander's face.

"There has been attack." Ollivander breathed deeply.

Harry understood the situation was delicate. He had allowed the old wandmaker to rest in his home because the man was suffering from long exposure to the Cruciatus curse. Most of Ollivander's family were outside Britain, and they were hard to reach in a short time with the war raging. So, he took it upon himself to host the old wandmaker in his home.

"Very perspective of you. But don't worry. Everything is under control. You just need to rest, and everything will be over soon." Harry assured the man.

"No, you do not understand. I told him… I told him about the brother wand effect. He will be prepared." Ollivander warned with a regretful look.

"I had no choice." he whispered.

"Tom isn't the only one prepared for this meeting." said Harry, "Trust me, I've got this. If we're all lucky, it'll end here."

A few minutes and three cups of coffee later, Harry joined the meeting point dressed for battle. He was in his basilisk hide armour, boots and even arm guards made of the best hide to get some quality protection from spell fire in case he was in a tight spot. The hit-wizards under Ivan's command brought their own gear, mostly comprised of dragonhide armour and boots.

"Why did the Dark Lord change his plans? We knew he was planning a big attack on Diagon Alley." Harry asked once he met with Ivan.

"You took out Rosier. It's only natural for him to think his plans are compromised." Ivan said with a shrug.

"He is lashing out." Harry muttered.

Ivan chuckled as he collected a couple of rune balls and pinned them against his tactical belt.

"Something like that. I'd say he is barking mad and wants to wipe the very existence of you from the world."

"The feeling is mutual." Harry muttered.

"Yes, I got that feeling. That's why we'll not be pulling back on our spells. We go there to kill without hesitation. No more holding back or taking prisoners. Let's end this fight today."

Harry just nodded jerkily, not voicing his thoughts on the matter. While he had no qualms about killing Death Eaters, he only went for the extreme measures as a last resort. But he supposed this was a last resort.

"Potter, this is not the time to hesitate. We go in and kill anything wearing a mask and black robes," Ivan said before they entered the battlefield.

"I know." said Harry after taking a deep breath, "Let's end this."

*****

When Harry arrived in a swirl of colours twisting around him from the portkey magic, he was greeted by the sight of widespread destruction, screaming and a blazing inferno eating through the erstwhile peaceful streets of Godric's Hollow. 

Harry had to deflect a chain of spells that came his way and provided ample cover for Ivan and his men to settle a defensible barrier to hide behind.

"Well, we are right in the middle of a fight. I thought you said we'd be far away from the fight, Frederick." Ivan shouted over the screams and the roaring flames with a displeased frown while Harry took refuge behind the giant granite wall Ivan had made, strengthened by other enchantments.

"I'm sorry. It has to be some sort of interference. We were not supposed to be this far inside." Frederick shouted back.

"Well, there goes our plan to sneak our way in and take out as many Death Eaters."

"It doesn't matter. We fight our way…" Harry trailed off as an unnatural chill settled in on the village.

"Oh, that's not good." Ivan muttered.

Harry noticed the fires raging around them get dimmer and a cold breath coming out of everyone. He stood up immediately and glared into the dark night, where he could feel the unnatural presence of the Dementors.

He slowly raised his wand with its tip, cackling with magical power.

"Tonitruum Fulminata."

With a clap of thunder, a massive bolt of lightning snapped out of his wand, illuminating the night sky. Miniature arcs of lightning rained down the sky as thunderclouds formed overhead, hiding away the starry night. Unholy screams came from the darkness as the innumerable lightning bolts struck down the Dementors.

"Lightning to deal with Dementors. That's a novel way of handling them." Ivan gasped as he stood on shaken legs.

"Why do you think these creatures prefer to hide away in caves and castles? The Patronus charm can repel them, but this… this'll destroy them for good." said Harry.

"Huh! Good to know." Ivan patted his shoulder.

"As you said, we fight to kill." Harry grinned before focusing his attention on the spell.

One by one, he executed the Dementors with bolts of lightning, leaving nothing but smoking remains of their tattered cloaks and sometimes only ash. He strengthened the spell when he noticed some were fleeing the village to save themselves, but he directed the reach of the spell to strike them down as well.

When Harry felt the last Dementor was struck down, the air around him crackled with anticipation, heavy with a silence that felt poised to shatter. That brief moment of silence was broken when several distinct cracks of apparition reached his ears. He was ready with his wand and pointed at the new arrivals, but those turned out to be aurors.

"Harry! What're you doing here?" Tonks was the first to notice him, and she ran towards him with a glare.

Before he could say anything, the ground beneath Tonks' feet exploded violently. Harry put up a hasty shield to save himself from the debris. Tonks and the three aurors that arrived with her were thrown off their feet.

"Potter!" Voldemort hissed.

Harry found himself staring into the twin blazing red eyes.

"Riddle." Harry greeted back, but that only infuriated the Dark Lord.

"You continue to meddle in affairs beyond even your comprehension, Potter," Voldemort hissed, his voice a sibilant menace. "You stand between me and my destiny."

"What is your destiny? Scaring toddlers and being the villain in bedtime horror stories to young children?" Harry snarked with an amused look.

More cracks of apparition were heard, and this time, masked Death Eaters came, but they were immediately engaged by Ivan and his men.

"You know nothing, you insufferable brat." Voldemort screamed while flicking his wand aggressively.

A serpentine flame erupted from Voldemort's wand, curling and twisting into a blood-red serpent before racing towards Harry. Harry parted the air before him with a swift, fluid motion, creating a vacuum. A sphere of vacuum conjured by his will sucked away the flames, and then he pushed out with a telekinetic blast, which dispersed the remainder of the flames. The houses around him were flattened by the blast, and Voldemort was swept off his feet even though the Dark Lord had tried to shield himself.

"What's the matter, Riddle? You're already on the backfoot this early in the game." Harry goaded slightly. 

The words barely left his lips when Voldemort's wand lashed forward, emitting a burst of green light—the Killing Curse.

Harry swiped his wand, and the ground raised in front of him like a barrier, absorbing the Killing Curse. Upon impact of the spell, the rocky barrier shattered, but Harry was prepared for it. With a slight twist of his wand, he transfigured them into small metallic balls, which he banished straight towards Voldemort.

The Dark Lord hastily conjured a purple shield, but a few metal balls managed to sneak in. The rest were burned away by the shield charm. Voldemort tried to banish the metal balls that sneaked in, but they morphed into inflated metallic balls and exploded outwards. The shrapnel from the explosion bit into Voldemort's body, making the Dark Lord howl in agony.

Harry batted away a curse that came at him from the side and retaliated with a blast of highly energised plasma from his open left palm. The Death Eater that dared to take a sneak shot at him was reduced to a glob of melted fat and bones.

"What is the matter, Riddle? Are you afraid to fight me when I'm grown up? Are you only comfortable waging a battle when I'm an infant?" Harry goaded, and just as he hoped, Voldemort became enraged.

Voldemort bellowed out in rage and conjured a sphere of dark energy between his free hand and wand. It cackled menacingly while swirling around with unstable magic.

"Die!" Voldemort yelled, unleashing the spell where serpentine tendrils of dark energy lashed out with venomous intent.

Harry immediately put up a shield, and everything before him went dark.

AN:Only two more chapters for the story to end. After that, the Sequel story Pax Elysia will start.

To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf