Hiiiii I'm back long enough to deliver this update which I think feels rushed and maybe a bit short but also I have like no time and I left you on a cliffhanger so here you go!

- Spathi

I collide with the Runespoor as a fully-grown Maeonian drakon, using two scaly legs to tackle the snake around the waist (do snakes have waists?). The surprised reptile and I crash into the ground, all three of its hissing jaws straining to bite me. Its eyes are wide in shock, and I don't blame it, to be honest. I went from tiny but intimidating bite-sized human (do wizards consider themselves human?) to thatisnotaminorinconvenience in about 0.2 seconds flat. Stunned by the mother of all growth spurts, the Runespoor (I decide to call him D'Artagnan - Dart for short) struggles under my clawed grip, uncertain of how he should proceed.

Suddenly, something whacks me in the back of the head. I turn to see what it is, and am met with the sight of a barbed tail coming towards my eyes. I quite like my eyes, so I close them with the intent of letting the thick hide of my eyelids shield them from the impact. Instead, the tail wraps around my neck and starts to squeeze.

My eyes snap back open.

"That was not what I expected." I choke out, squirming in the magical snake's grip.

"That's the idea." Dart replies, slitted eyes narrowed as he tries to maintain his hold.

"Hey, you're learning battlefield sass! I must be having-" I shift into a coyote, finding myself falling freely through the air for a second before switching back to drakon and delivering as close to a devastating haymaker to Dart's jaw as possible.

"-quite the impact on you." I finish as the Runespoor staggers (or more accurately, flops) backwards. I leap forward, pouncing on top of the magical snake before he can recover. He hisses in protest.

"Merlin's sake, you're heavy." Dart complains, all three pairs of eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Well, I had a big breakfast." I reply, jerking backwards as a set of fangs comes a little too close to my snout for comfort. My grip loosens and Dart takes the opportunity to slip free. All three heads suddenly slam into my underbelly, sending me flying backwards towards the lake. I shift back to human midair, twisting into a perfect dive. I barely feel the impact.

Bubbles shoot upwards as I descend deeper into the lake. I can feel my energy returning, and I sigh in relief. It'd be nice to stay down here forever, but unfortunately, it's not really the time to kick back and relax. I swim quickly upwards, poking my head above the water to see what's going on. The Runespoor, although exhausted, is advancing slowly but threateningly towards the school. Meanwhile, the wizards are still fighting amongst themselves. Bellatrix in particular can be heard cackling as she revels in the destruction all around her. There's nothing new to note, except maybe the dragon that's hurtling downwards at a ridiculous speed.

Wait, what?

I squint, looking at the Hungarian Horntail that seems to be diving towards the ground. My uncle seems to be right in front of its snout, wings tucked in and arms at his sides as he shoots through the air. My jaw drops open as I realize what he's doing.

I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one.

About 100 feet before he hits the ground, my uncle shifts into his Hebridean Black dragon form. His wings snap open, giving him just enough lift to pull out of the dive. As he rises back into the air, the Horntail slams into the ground at full tilt. The resulting impact is quite literally earth-shaking. A circle of earth explodes outwards as a crater is formed with the limp body of a gigantic dragon at its center. When the dust settles, everyone's attention is on the crater, as well as on the wizard who caused it. He hovers above them all in human form, wings beating gently as he surveys the battlefield. His robes billow dramatically, and although I'm too far to see it, I can tell that his expression is completely blank. I smile.

My uncle looks really cool right now.

I notice that the Runespoor has nearly reached the Great Hall. The poor thing is completely worn out, but he is persistent in his goal. I frown and thrust a hand towards him. Seconds later, Dart's been wrapped in a watery fist, which plunges itself into the lake. After a minute, I make the lake spit the poor Runespoor out, tossing the unconscious snake into the crater with the dragon.

"Hey, Uncle Sev!" I yell, causing a spiraling bridge of water to lift me out of the lake and onto the shore. I walk casually over to the edge of the crater, prompting my uncle to descend to meet me.

"What's up." he deadpans, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you just pull a Wronski Feint on a dragon?" I ask, trying not to laugh. Severus nods thoughtfully, an amused glint in his eye.

"Perhaps." he replies shortly, and I shake my head in mock disbelief.

"Bloody Hades." I say, and then snort, the image of a disgruntled Hades covered in blood popping into my head. I briefly wonder what would happen if I chanted "bloody Hades" three times in a dark room in front of a mirror before remembering that I'm kind of in the middle of something.

I glance over to our audience of wizards, who are staring at us in complete awe. They've apparently decided to forget about their war for a while.

Suddenly, the Olympics being a pan-hellenic tradition in Ancient Greece makes a lot more sense to me. After all, if the biggest battle in a decades long war involving the entire Wizarding world can be stopped to watch two people fight some magical creatures, the Ancient Greeks probably had no problem doing the same thing on a larger scale.

No one's moved in a little while, so I attempt to break the silence.

"What's with the expressions? You look stupefied." I joke. Voldemort tilts his head, assessing the situation with his weirdly red eyes. He then proceeds to do something unexpected.

He cackles in glee.

Uncle Severus and I both frown, confused.

That is not the reaction we were looking for.

"How extraordinary." the dark wizard muses, apparently delighted.

"I'd suggest you surrender," Uncle Severus says, defiance shining from his glittering black eyes. A wicked smile stretches across Voldemort's face.

"I wonder..." He reaches to his right, pressing a pale finger to Bellatrix's left arm, and I realize too late what he plans to do.

Uncle Severus lets out a cry of pain as the Dark Mark burns, doubling over and gripping his arm in agony. At the same time, Voldemort uses his left hand to send a Killing Curse my way, forcing me to drop to the ground to avoid it. I curse, standing back up to see my uncle being dragged towards Voldemort by silver ropes. He lands at the dark wizard's feet, barraged with a slew of Crucios and gasping in pain.

"How dare you..." Voldemort says softly, regarding my uncle with a look of utter disgust. Severus scoffs.

"How dare I what? Betray you?" he starts. The dark wizard looks as if he's about to say something else, but my uncle cuts him off.

"Of course I'd betray you. You're a sadistic imbecile with the emotional control of an infant and an inferiority complex the size of Britain. Furthermore, you're a manipulative liar who claims to be the pure-blood heir of Slytherin when in truth, you are a half-blood and a disgrace to the house of Salazar. You have no honor; you don't keep your promises, and you shame the name of Slytherin. You say you are a great and powerful lord, yet have such a ghastly complexion and you lack a nose. If there's anything the Muggles can do that you can't, it's alter your features so that you don't look like you ran into the wall at Platform Nine and Three Quarters and promptly fell into a pile of baby powder. Anyone who could do so must be capable of magic after all. I'd also like to inform you of the fact that you are a coward. You are so much of a coward that you tried to kill an infant, and you failed. A bloody baby defeated you, and you dare to come back claiming to be an all powerful wizard? You're pathetic, Tom." Severus rants.

If the situation weren't so dire, I'd laugh because Voldemort just got burned, big time. As it is, I tense, taking in the dark wizard's flabbergasted and offended expression and waiting for a good time to move.

"How dare-" he tries, but my uncle interrupts him. Again.

"Merlin, you're unoriginal. You just used that phrase. Don't you have anything new to say?" he complains.

Voldemort's expression twists in anger. He produces a large vial filled with a emerald green potion from somewhere, and I see Severus's face go paler than it normally is.

"You recognize this, of course." the dark wizard says as he hands the bottle to Bellatrix. She cackles, uncorking the vial and leaning over my uncle.

"Perhaps it's time you test your own creations." Voldemort suggests. With that, the contents are forced into my uncle's mouth, and he begins to scream. The Death Eaters laugh. The Hogwarts fighters stare in horror.

For a moment, I glance away from the scene. I make eye contact with Harry Potter, whose eyes are the same green as that potion. I can see a glint of recognition there - he thinks he knows what was in that vial. And on top of that, he's about to do something. There's a golden snitch clutched tightly in his hand, and something tells me it's important that I wait.

Despite every bone in my body screaming at me to do otherwise, I nod at Harry, forcing myself not to rush forward just yet. He nods back, raising the snitch to his mouth. I watch it inexplicably crack open, and frown in confusion. If I squint, I can make out the faint outline of familiar spirits hovering around him.

"Tom." Harry calls, walking resolutely forward. Everyone watches him do it. I sigh, biting my lip to try and distract myself from my uncle's obvious agony. I start to taste blood but ignore it, fingers twitching in impatience.

What is this, a tennis match? You'd think someone else would do something.

Voldemort turns, a curious look in his scarlet eyes.

"Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. You've come to die, at last." he breathes. Harry shrugs.

"Pretty much." he admits, and everyone in the hallway simultaneously does a double take. I'm no less confused, but I'm praying that this dude has a plan.

If he's actually going to just let Voldemort kill him, I'm going to find his soul in the underworld and kick his podex.

The dark wizard aims his wand carefully at Harry's face. Harry does... absolutely nothing except for whisper at the ghosts I think I saw around him. I might have been hallucinating, though, so I'm starting to worry about his mental health. That probably says a lot.

Voldemort flicks his wrist after a few minutes, sending a green light directly at Harry. He makes no effort to move. The spell hits him dead in the chest, and he keels over. I stare at the fallen wizard, hoping his soul can hear my thoughts, which go something like this:

Uh, Harry? Yeah, hi, I was just wondering: what the actual f-

"NO!" Professor McGonagall screams from somewhere in the crowd, her voice rising over the rest of the horrified screams. The Great Hall explodes into chaos as the Death Eaters and the Hogwarts fighters begin to battle once more. I ignore them all, concentrating on my sudden realization that Voldemort had fallen over as well.

What is going on here?

On a hunch, I make my way over to where Harry lies on the ground, arriving just as he opens his eyes and lets out a low groan. I reach down and haul him to his feet.

A house-elf runs by with a knife, screaming bloody murder. I ignore the questions I have about that, focusing on the boy in front of me. I have questions for him too, but somehow, it doesn't feel like the right time for that.

"That was so bloody weird." he mutters, a little disoriented.

"Yeah? Well you can tell me all about it when my uncle isn't writhing in pain across the room." I respond, handing him his glasses. Harry puts them back on, blinking a little as I come into focus.

"That's probably a good idea." he says. He pulls out his famous invisibility cloak, draping it over his head and offering me a corner to duck under. I accept the invitation, deciding not to mention that I have a hat I could use, which is better in pretty much every way except for the fact that it can't hide multiple people.

I miss Annabeth.

We awkwardly shuffle through the chaos, making our way towards Voldemort, who is back on his feet and angrier than ever. He whirls in a circle, dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and an Auror I recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt at the same time, and I am taken aback by the amount of hate I can see on his pale features.

"At least he can die now." the boy who lived sighs.

"He can? Brilliant." I say. survey the room, noting that Bellatrix is fighting Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley, cackling all the while.

A Killing Curse almost hits the youngest Weasley, and Harry gasps, moving in her direction. But before he can do anything, Molly Weasley appears out of nowhere with a battlecry of NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH, and engages Bellatrix in a terrifying one on one duel.

It's honestly terrifying to watch. Lights fly everywhere as the Weasley matriarch and Voldemort's most loyal supporter go head to head, both witches having every intention of killing the other.

It's also the only fight that remains outside of Voldemort's three on one duel, which is equally as vicious. But I can't focus on any of that, because I have no idea where my uncle is.

"Have you seen Severus?" I ask Harry, who shakes his head.

"Go find him - I'll distract Tom." the wizard says, and I nod, slipping out from under the invisibility cloak and into the gathered crowd.

I find Severus slumped in a corner of the room, shaking slightly. His dark eyes look like broken glass. It's uncomfortably close to Nico's expression after Tartarus, and I swallow a lump in my throat.

"Uncle Sev?" I ask gently. He looks at me with empty eyes, and my heart seizes. Something is very wrong, and I can't do anything to help him until this battle is finished.

I blow out a shaky breath, trying to ignore the rising panic in my chest.

"Okay, just uh- just stay here." I say, wondering what I should do next.

Across the room, Voldemort lets out an inhuman scream of frustration. As if she'd received a cue, Bellatrix does something unexpected. She launches herself directly at Molly, knocking the Weasley Matriarch over. But instead of sticking around to do anything further, she whirls around, drawing a knife and hurling it with deady accuracy at McGonagall's back.

"Protego!" Harry yells, deflecting the knife before it can do any damage. Gasps echo through the hall as the boy who lived reveals that he has lived once more, staring down his enemy with a steely defiance shining in his green eyes.

Bellatrix moves to her master's side, looking all too eager to start another fight as she rubs at a necklace hanging around her neck. Something about it looks familiar, but now is not the time to think about it. Readying my weapons, I step out of the crowd, arriving at Harry's side at the same time that Ron and Hermione do. The four of us glance at each other, exchanging determined nods before we turn to face the pair of dark wizards standing in front of us.

It's time we ended this.

Yeah it's another cliffhanger, sorry. On the bright side, I could never leave you all eternally hanging, so you can be certain that I will be back when I can! Hope you're all doing well!

- Spathi