Guess who's back!!! Back again!!! Spathi's back!! Tell your friends! And guess what!! We are doing a super time skip!!! You may recognize the event in this chapter! But fear not, because we are splitting away from canon! The main plot begins...here.

8 months later...

May 8th, 2011

A glass ball hurtles towards my head, and I yelp, dropping to the ground.

"Woah!!! Calm yourself, Trelawney." I mutter.

"DIE DEATH EATERS!!!!" the seer yells. I shake my head in exasperation, and hurry in the other direction. The Battle of Hogwarts rages all around me.

Now, you might be wondering how I got here. And no, this isn't a fourth wall break, because I'm just thinking this in my head. It's not my fault you're listening in. Creeper. If you're a god, then no offense. Otherwise, offense is totally meant. Anyways, I'd spent the last several months protecting students from Uncle Severus's "wrath". Mostly I'd been annoying the Carrows and blaming it on the more favored Slytherins. It worked amazingly because they never punished them, no matter what happened. I'd also gotten really good at pegasus jousting.

No, I wasn't jousting against Blackjack. I'm not sure how that would work, seeing as he has no lance. Plus, what would I be doing? Running towards a galloping pegasus wearing ridiculously heavy armor? Hate to break it to you, whoever you are, but that's definitely not on my to-do list.

"Boo." I hear from behind me as I duck behind a column, and I tense up, startled. I whip around with my weapon raised, only to find Severus standing in front of me with a smirk on his face.

"Dude, not the time for jump-scares!" I scold, clutching my heart dramatically.

"What's the plan?" my uncle asks, completely ignoring my reaction to his sudden appearance.

"Plan? Um, I don't really have one?" I reply. Uncle Severus stares.

"You don't have a plan? You've been sneaking around a school for several months gathering information while I've been dealing with whiny Death Eaters and children, we're standing in the middle of what's expected to be the final and decisive battle of a long war, and you don't have a plan?" I cringe slightly, shifting to the side as a bolt of green light whizzes past my ear.

"Well, I do have a few ideas, but plans aren't really my thing." I respond. My uncle sighs.

"Alright, let's hear these ideas of yours." he relents. I grin.

"Well, there's a lake outside, and I have a suit of armor and a flying horse..." I begin, and my uncle rubs his temples. A wall explodes to his right, sending rubble flying through the air. Neither of us move.

"Oh, what the hell. Just do it." he grumbles after a crystal ball rolls up to his feet. He kicks the crystal ball away, and stalks off.

"I'll keep pretending to be a complete arse while you make a spectacle of yourself." he calls over his shoulder. I give him a thumbs up, put Annabeth's hat on, and start running towards the chamber.

I near the chamber and suddenly leap to the side as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger come running out of Myrtle's bathroom, hands full of basilisk teeth. I land a few feet up a wall and launch myself off, hitting the ground running.

"I'm not sure what the teeth are for, but it's a good thing we didn't take all of them, I guess." I mutter to myself as I dash into the bathroom and dive into the still open hatch leading to the chamber.

"How'd those two even get back up?" I wonder as I slide down the pipe. At the end of the slide, I tuck and roll to my feet, calling out to the chamber's door in Parseltongue. It opens just as I reach it, and I run to the statue of Slytherin, jumping straight off the ledge and plunging down to the deeper level of the chamber.

I sprint through the maze of tunnels, finally reaching Blackjack and quickly strapping on his armor (which I got Tyson to make for me) and saddle.

"We've got to go." I tell him, breathing heavily, and he nickers, spreading his wings and flying towards the trapdoor that leads to the Forbidden Forest. I activate my armor and weapons while he flies, and by the time we burst aboveground, I'm geared up and ready to go.

We rise above the forest, moving towards the castle, which is crumbling and flashing with multicolored lights. Somewhere in there, my uncle is playing a very dangerous game.

Anger rushes through my veins as I think about all the things that the Death Eaters and Voldemort have done to him. 

About 100 feet below me, the Battle of Hogwarts continues on. I'm hovering right above the Great Hall, which is missing part of it's ceiling. I nod to myself, determined.

"Meet me on the ground." I say to Blackjack, and he neighs in agreement. I bring out a small bottle of that potion I invented all those months ago and unstopper it.

"Three minutes of energy and increased healing speed. Time starts now." I comment, and down the contents.

Then, I leap off his back. As I fall through the sky, I scream in rage, the sound echoing all around the battlefield.

Winds whip around me as I descend downwards. Time seems to slow. Death Eaters and allies of the Order of the Phoenix alike stop fighting and watch me fall. I can hear my heart beating, but it's slow.

LUB-DUB

My sword-arm is raised above my head.

LUB-DUB

My battle cry has not yet ceased. I idly wonder whether I have better lungs than most because I'm a son of the sea.

LUB-DUB

I refocus as I fall past what's left of the ceiling of the Great Hall.

LUB-DUB

I brace myself as the ground approaches.

LUB-DUB

Time resumes.

I land on the ground in a crouch and slam my sword-arm into the ground. An earthquake expands outwards from where it's embedded into the floor of the Great Hall, and any windows that haven't already been destroyed shatter simultaneously.

"This is going to suck when I run out of energy." I think. I've got about a minute and a half left, so I need to make the most of it.

I stand, full of adrenaline, and wrench my weapon out of the floor. Conveniently, I am facing the front of the Great Hall. I raise my other hand into the air, and bring it down. The water from the lake explodes into the room, and forms into hands that wrap around the Death Eaters and tosses them across the hall. They land painfully in an unceremonious heap near the front of the room. Blackjack thunders in, wings spread and head raised high. He comes to stand next to me.

The Great Hall is silent in shock. I climb onto Blackjack's back. Any second, this potion is going to wear off, and I don't want to be standing on my own two feet at that point.

Suddenly, a voice echoes through the hall.

"What is this? Who are you?" a sibilant voice asks. I turn in the saddle, prompting Blackjack to do the same. We face the doors, seeing Voldemort himself standing in the entrance to the hall.

The potion wears off at that exact moment, and I struggle to keep myself upright. Everything hurts.

"I asked you a question." Voldemort's voice is quiet, but I can hear the anger in it.

"Well, I don't feel like answering." I reply simply.

"How dare you speak that way to me?" he snarls, fuming, and I yawn.

"How dare you be a sadistic arse?" I retort, and I am highly amused when several people gasp. Voldemort points his wand at me.

"Avada Kedavra!" he casts. I swear in Horse as the green bolt comes towards me, not having any energy to move.

"Language, boss." Blackjack says, spreading his wings and leaping into the air. The spell passes harmlessly below us, hitting a Death Eater who was unfortunate enough to be in the way.

"Thanks, Blackjack." I say, breathing out a relieved sigh as we hover near the ruined ceiling of the Great Hall.

"No problemo. Now hold on tight!" he whinnies as Voldemort raises his wand again. I hurriedly do as he says.

"DEATH EATERS, TO ME." Voldemort yells. 

"Take cover!" McGonagall screams at the same time. Death Eaters surge forward to point their wands while the allies of the Order of the Phoenix rush to the edges to the hallway. I immediately see the strategy, which surprises me, to be honest.

Basically, I'm going to draw the attention of Voldemort and his Death Eaters while the Order takes them down from behind. I'm bait. 

Lovely.

"ATTACK HIM." Voldemort screams, and I duck down and hold on as tightly as I can.

Green lights fill the air, and Blackjack goes straight downwards into a spiraling dive worthy of an X-wing fighter. The Star Wars vibe doesn't end there; Blackjack pulls out of the dive and flies down the hall, the green bolts of light just barely missing us on all sides.

"IT'S A TRAP." I yell teasingly at the Death Eaters, who look confused for about two seconds before the Order members start firing red bolts at them. A minute later, almost three quarters of the Death Eaters have been incapacitated, leaving only the most capable of them standing.

Blackjack swivels around and halts in the air, hovering in the middle of the Great Hall as the wizards stare at us.

I spread the fingers on my right hand, causing the long blade of my dagger-arm to retract, leaving me wearing the gauntlet. I quickly grab a piece of ambrosia and pop it into my mouth. Then, I put Riptide in pen form in my left hand, holding it tightly. As I sit there, my energy starts to return slightly.

"You, on the pegasus. Kneel before me, and I may spare you yet." Voldemort commands. I raise my chin in defiance.

"No." I say simply. I'm a bit worried, though. I'm still not up to the power levels I need in order to do anything effective.

In the crowd, I can see Severus looking at me, able to see through my bravado. I shake my head at him, signaling that he wait. He nods ever so slightly.

"Crucio." Voldemort suddenly casts, but not at me. The spell hurtles towards Blackjack instead. I leap forward off his back, using my shield to protect the pegasus. I land on the ground in a crouched position.

"Blackjack, get out of here." I tell him, and he gives me a worried look.

"You sure, boss?" he asks. I nod, rising to my full height.

"I'm sure." With that, Blackjack suddenly shoots into the sky, where he's safer.

I realize that I stand in the middle of the two sides to this war. In front of me, are Voldemort and the remaining Death Eaters. Behind me stand what's left of the Order of the Phoenix and almost all of the surviving wizards that fight for Hogwarts. Harry Potter stands at the front, glaring at his arch-enemy. Only one wizard completely on their side is not physically with them. He stands to Voldemort's left, his face carefully blank.

Bellatrix stands on the other side of Voldemort, grinning madly as always. She looks at me with an insane glee, eyes sparkling like shattered glass. I wonder whether she's always been this way, or whether something broke her irreparably.

Voldemort himself contemplates me with narrowed red eyes, twirling his wand between his fingers. I stay still.

Finally, he speaks.

"Bellatrix, Lucius, and Severus. The first of you to strike him down shall be rewarded greatly. But be careful. I don't want him dead." I meet the eyes of my Uncle, whose lips are pressed together as he tries to be subtle about his concern. My mouth twitches slightly as I offer him a slight smile, reassuring him. Lucius reluctantly walks forward, and Bellatrix practically dances in excitement.

"Yes, my lord." The three chosen Death Eaters chorus, bowing towards Voldemort.

"One... two... three... go." The "Dark Lord" counts down, and suddenly, a wave of spells that promise pain soar towards me. I dodge away from the first spell, and then literally smack a second spell out of the air with my shield, sending it into a wall. I leap and twist in the air to avoid another two.

It's kind of interesting that Voldemort chose these three. Of course, it seems like the natural decision; they're all in his inner circle, and he trusts them the most. But more interesting to me is how different their fighting style and emotions towards fighting me are.

Bellatrix is blindly loyal to Voldemort; she'd actually die for him. She yells her spells maniacally in between taunts, which in most cases would be a bad idea, but she manages to fire them consistently, barraging me with spell after spell. She enjoys using Crucio a lot, but also works in some particularly dark hexes. To be hit by a single one of them would be extremely painful, and she's so relentless that it works for her.

Lucius is more neutral; his family comes first in his mind. He mutters his spells at a volume that is just able to be heard, but does not sound as piercing as Bellatrix's screams. He also maintains a steady stream of curses, but they are not nearly is intense. He uses more standard battle spells like Stupefy, although the occasional Crucio and dark hex is thrown in as well.

Severus, however, isn't on Voldemort's side whatsoever. His fighting style is much more fluid then those of the other two, and it's also completely silent. He's highly creative, combining his surroundings as well as his quick mind to cast very crafty spells. He focuses less on his opponent, and more on what he can use against them. And he casts one spell at a time, like someone playing chess, favoring the attack of weaknesses more than he favors brute strength or speed.

The three of them circle around me, and if Severus was not on my side, I would not be able to fight against them. Instead, I just focus on blocking what I can while Severus shields me from the rest. I feel like he's using occlumency to predict what the other two cast but I'm not sure. I wish the wizards defending Hogwarts would help me in some way, but I know they're just being smart. I'm an unknown party who is doing well enough against their enemy that I'm making a large impact, yet they don't know if I'm on their side or whether I just hate Voldemort. So they're letting me battle it out against Voldemort's forces, not knowing that I'm an ally and that Severus isn't actually trying to take me down.

However, we can't keep the charade up for long. Although I've been stalling while I regain my powers, I'm physically exhausted. Eventually, I slip up, and Bellatrix lands a spell to my stomach, causing me to fly backwards.

I crash to the ground face first about 10 feet in front of Voldemort. Groaning, I try to stand up, but am interrupted by another spell hitting my back, knocking me flat again.

Voldemort looks down at me in interest.

"Who are you?" he questions. I raise my head and prop it onto my hands, elbows on the ground.

"Your very own pain in the arse." I quip, smiling innocently at him. His face contorts in anger.

"Crucio." he casts, and suddenly I feel like daggers are working their way into my skin. Fire burns my bones and poison spreads through my blood. It almost feels as painful as bathing in the Styx - that is to say, it hurts like Tartarus. Still, I literally grin and bear it, although every muscle in my body is locked, including the ones in my face. I'm pretty sure I'm grimacing more than I'm smiling now.

Voldemort frowns when that's the only reaction he gets from me, and ends it abruptly. I try not to immediately just collapse in relief, and kick my legs a bit.

"Crucio." he tries again, more forcefully, and I become rigid once more. The pain is worse now, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of showing it. After a few minutes of agony, during which my teeth begin to hurt from clenching them so hard, he ends the spell, and looks at me in confusion.

I smirk, despite the soreness in every part of my body.

"Is that wand working properly?" I ask. For some reason, the idea of this seems to really piss him off, but before he can do anything, I leap at him.

When I say I leapt at Voldemort despite lying ten feet in front of him, I mean I literally launched myself off the ground towards him, hands outstretched like a tackling football player. But I do something a teeny bit different: I turn into a coyote.

I knock Voldemort to the ground with my front paws, and am a little disappointed when he doesn't let out a yelp of surprise. It's kind of weird actually; he just falls to the ground on his back without even a word. It makes me think of that tree in the forest that people can have entire debates over. However, I don't have that much time to think about this, so upon bowling Voldemort over, I start moving (first making sure to step on his face) towards the Death Eaters.

I slip as quickly as I can through their ranks, biting randomly, clawing at robes,  and darting through legs, causing the closely knit wizards to stumble and fall around in a panic. They don't have enough time to aim at me as I weave in and out of the crowd, causing them to lose their balance and crash into one another. It's a very comedic scene, and whenever I get the chance, I seize their wands with my teeth and break them. After about a minute, I've snapped twelve wands, knocked over. seven people, scratched four, and ripped the robes of nine.

When they start to get up, I decide that it's time to retreat. I dash out of the chaos and run to the middle of the room, reverting back to demigod-wizard as I move.

By the time I stand in the center of the room, Voldemort and all of the remaining Death Eaters are back on their feet. Bellatrix buzzes frantically around Voldemort as he brushes himself off. He brushes her off as well, and she falls silent, nodding rapidly as she returns to her position at his side. Severus shoots me an affectionately annoyed look.

"You insolent child." Voldemort starts, eyeing me in a frustrated fashion.

"Quite creative, and unexpectedly resilient, yet such an annoyance." he continues, apparently fascinated by my existence.

"Um, thank you?" I reply, unused to getting compliments from evil wizards.

"Tell me, where did you learn to use your magic? You're not from Hogwarts or Durmstang. Surely I would have heard of you by now." Voldemort wonders.

"My Uncle taught me most of what I know, although I learned my more special skills on my own. But I owe him much, and I'm very thankful for him." I answer honestly for once.

"You waste such skills by fighting against me. Join my ranks, young wizard, and you will be powerful beyond compare. Help me extinguish the plague of the mudbloods- what have they ever done for you?" Voldemort hisses.

"You know, I'm a half blood. I grew up in the muggle world. And you know what I learned, living there? I learned that muggles have good and bad sides to them. Yes, they are ignorant of many things. Yes, they don't have magical blood. But that doesn't mean that they are beneath us. I believe that all of us are human at our core. The difference is that while we have abilities, they just adapt, and they figure out ways to do things that we can't. They accomplish things that we never even dream of because they lack what we have. And while there are some things we can do that they'll never be able to do themselves, they continue to try. And along the way, they discover how to do things that we could never accomplish. So I will not fight with you for that reason. Furthermore, you're really evil and cruel and sadistic and that's really not my thing." I reply.

"A half blood, you say? Interesting... and you claim that the weak, pathetic muggles can do something that we cannot? That I cannot? What can they accomplish that I could not do much more easily?" the wizard sneers.

"Well, I mean, they put a man on the moon? And created highly destructive weaponry? And also, they made the internet. Do you know what the internet is? It's amazing. The internet is amazing. Technology is amazing in general, but you don't know anything about that, do you?" I point out. I'm met with a lot of confused stares and bad attempts to pronounce the muggle terms I've used.

"The mudbloods are not more capable than we are. You delude yourself by thinking that they could possibly do anything that we could not. We have magic. They do not. Even the simplest of minds should be able to understand that. However, I see that I cannot sway you. It's a shame that such power be wasted, but..." Voldemort sighs, and raises his wand to the air, sending up a shower of sparks. I hear two distant roars, and look out of the Great Hall to see a distant shape flying towards us as well as something moving within the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

When both creatures come into view, my eyes widen.

"What the- did you genetically alter them? Because neither of those creatures naturally look like that." Voldemort looks at me quizzically, and I realize my mistake.

"Right, you don't know what genetically altering them means. Never mind." I say. Voldemort smiles slightly.

"You are admittedly powerful, but even I cannot be in two places at once. So tell me, which one will you fight? The Runespoor, or the Hungarian Horntail?" he asks. I take a good look at both creatures.

The dragon is probably around three times as big as the standard Hungarian Horntail, with long bronze horns and a spike covered tail. It doesn't seem too different, other than the size difference, but the Horntail is also the most dangerous dragon to exist. I'm not really eager to fight it.

On the other hand, the Runespoor is a lot larger than it's supposed to be - generally, they're like six or seven feet long, but this one is around the length of the Lydian Drakon from the Titan War. All three fangs drip with venom, which is new because usually only the right-most head has poison. And something else that's different: the tail is barbed like a scorpion's. Which probably means that it contains a toxin. Great. Just great.

I turn to answer Voldemort's question.

"Lucky for me, I don't have to, because I'm not fighting alone. My uncle's here as well." I tell him.

"Really? Your Uncle is in this room? You must have high confidence in his abilities if you think he will be able to aid you in this fight. But I do not see any unfamiliar faces here. Who is he? Who do you believe has such power?" The pale wizard mused, looking at the wizards fighting against him in interest. They whispered among themselves, none of them knowing who it could be. Which makes sense, because none of them are my uncle, obviously.

"The real question is whether he wants to deal with the dragon or the snake." I quip. All eyes are turned towards the Order of the Phoenix and the other adult wizards who have taken up arms against Voldemort. They shrug helplessly, not knowing what was going on.

Severus glances over at the two beasts, which have almost reached the castle. I can practically see his mind whirling as he first looks at the Runespoor, which is within a couple hundred feet of the lake, and then considers the Horntail, which soars high in the air.

"I'll take the dragon." he announces into the silence, and every single head in the room snaps towards him in shock. Voldemort looks like someone slapped him in the face with a fish.

Severus ignores the stares, striding forward to meet me in the center of the room.

"Right, so you deal with the Horntail, I'll tackle the Runespoor, and the Hogwarts Resistance will fight the Death Eaters. That seems like a good plan. Anything you want to add, Uncle Sev?" I summarize, smirking. He smirks back.

"Just one thing." He turns to Voldemort.

"Expecto Patronum." Uncle Severus casts, and there is a chorus of gasps as a silvery doe erupts from his wand and canters around the room. Voldemort looks thunderstruck.

"You- but- since when?" he grits out, struggling to speak through his rage. Severus smiles sadly, and I know what he's going to say even before the word comes out of his mouth.

"Always." he shrugs, and spreads his wings. The appearance of the leathery limbs stuns Voldemort long enough for Severus to leap into the air, shooting towards the Horntail. The Horntail roars as it sees him, and follows him as he continues flying upwards. They both disappear above the clouds.

"Go Uncle Sev!" I cheer, clapping. Everybody stares. I stop, and look around.

"What? That was the coolest dramatic reveal and exit ever!" I defend myself. The Runespoor shrieks as it comes up the path to the entrance of the school and I suddenly remember that I also have a magical reptile to fight.

"That's my cue! Bye!" I yell, and dash towards the entrance. Naturally, all the wizards follow me instead of fighting each other. I guess they want to watch the battle. Go figure.

I stand my ground just outside of the school. The Runespoor slithers towards me, all three heads hissing angrily.

"Leave this place!" I yell. It halts about five hundred feet away, confused.

"I cannot leave before I do what my master commandsssss." it replies in a three part chorus, sounding a bit dazed. I frown, looking over at Voldemort.

"What did you do to this poor creature?" I ask him, forgetting that Parseltongue isn't a common language.

"You can speak with snakes as well... I don't understand why you continue to resist me. Clearly, you're on the wrong side." is his response.

"Clearly, you're too blinded by your desire for power to see anything." I retort, turning my attention back to the Runespoor. I hear Voldemort order it to attack me, and I quickly run through my options.

I could try fighting it head on, but it has three poisonous heads and that takes me back to the painful memories of Zoe facing Ladon and the fight against the Lydian Drakon. I'm not nearly as skilled at dodging as Zoe was, and I don't have any flying chariots, a prophecy, or an electric spear.

I could also try to use the lake somehow, but that would drain me pretty quickly unless I fought from the water. If I didn't beat it fast, I was pretty much screwed, and even if I was submerged in the water, this thing was huge and had three heads. No, I need something better.

I smile as I remember one other trick I have up my sleeve. I put away all my armor, and stash my weapons in their collapsed forms, leaving nothing but my half-mask on. I think I hear someone call me insane from behind my back but I'm not sure.

I break into a run, charging straight at the Runespoor.

"Here goes nothing!" I think as three pairs of fangs dripping with venom dart towards me.

Time to even the playing field.

Okay, that's another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! See you in an indeterminate amount of time!

- Spathi